A flower quickly fading.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars in anyway shape or form, I just love to write in the wonderful universe and write things that could have happened.

I always wanted to hear the story of what happened to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker after the films and how they came back together. Since nothing has been written about the reconcilliation between Obi-Wan and Anakin in the EU I decided to write it myself.

I know Obi-Wan might seem a bit overly emotional and I know that's not how he normally is but I think that's how he would have acted in the situations I wrote.

Also I shall be posting this in three chapters.

Reviews are always appreciated

Enjoy and May the Force be with you...Always :) - Siri Kenobi95

The two lightsabers sizzled between us as we circled each other for the last time.

"You can't win, Darth," I whispered to my lost, former apprentice, hoping to reach through his darkness and hate and perhaps find that glimmer of goodness that still might be in him after all this time. Because deep down, where everything hides behind a locked box, I hoped that it was true. 'Please prove me wrong, Anakin. Show me you aren't fully gone!'

"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

'Becoming one with the Force.' That had beensomething I had wished for since I had arrived on Tatooine but knew I couldn't do because I had to watch over Anakin's son Luke; a task I took with satisfaction, glad for some sort of purpose in the blackness the galaxy had become.

"You should not have come back," Vader said, his voice lowered and dark, and my heart gave a jump in my chest. What did he mean by that? Did he still care about me or was he just saying that because he thought me a fool? His blade crashed down on me and I knew he thought me a fool. Anakin was truly gone; my assumptions after our duel on Mustafar had been correct. I heaved a sigh, feeling so much older than I really was...so old.

I raise my blade to block his, creating an explosion of sapphire and crimson. Then I felt a presence in the Force. 'Luke. His friends. Leia!'

Anakin – No, Vader - seemed to sense my distraction because he stopped moving and followed my gaze as I turned my head. Han, Chewbacca, and Leia were already half-way aboard but Luke was still standing there, staring at me with his bright blue eyes. They were so like his father's, and I could see a look I had seen on my former Padawan's face so many times; fear and stubbornness. He wanted to save me but he couldn't. I could hear the Force's voice, calling me home. And I couldn't kill Vader- not in-front of his son, even though he didn't know -and his defeat wasn't my destiny, that much was apparent from my failure to end him once and for all on Mustafar. 'And Luke will need you in a different way from now on', theForce had told me the moment we'd landed on this evil space station.

I turned back to Darth Vader and smiled. I was going home and I was saving Luke- saving him like I'd failed to do so many times for everyone else I had ever cared about. And I was making a gesture of repentance to my fallen student; because a parent should never outlive their child, no matter how twisted they had become.

I lifted my blade up before me, feeling it's comforting weight in my palm, smelling it's familiar hint of ozone wafting off it's blade, and sensed the Force swirl around me like a blanket.

I thought of everyone I had ever loved: Qui-Gon, Siri, Anakin, Bant, Garen, Reeft, Cerasi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Shaak Ti, Astri, Ferus, Didi, Dex, Padme, Bail, Luke, Leia- I let them fill me so that my love for them was flowing through my every nerve. I felt shock explode from Vader right before I heard the swing of a lightsaber. Pain gripped me at how easily he lashed out at me, though it shouldn't; he had been just as unmerciful on Mustafar. But before it hit me, I was gone, my body vanishing as my cloak fell to the floor. I concentrated on their faces as I slid towards the precipice. I managed to look down and see Luke still standing by the ship, shouting in horror and shooting with a blaster at the stormtroopers. He didn't stand a chance.

"Run, Luke. Run!" I whispered to him. I stayed with him till he was safe and in hyperspace; far away from Vader's iron grip. Then I let myself relax as I slid into oblivion and into the tender arms of the light side of the Force... calling me home.

As my mind swam back into consciousness, I could feel warmth tinging over my skin, as well as waves lapping against me, tugging and pulling at me like cool hands. For a moment I just lay there, letting the cool water caress me and the sun shine down on me. I felt like I could lay here forever, letting the warmth and coolness soothe my skin and my mind until I forgot everything.

Then I opened my eyes. Straight above me was a soft, yellow sun burning in a vivid blue sky. Light, wispy clouds drifted across the expansion, looking like small angels fluttering down to and fro, going their own way. I gingerly sat up, feeling the water drip down my exposed shoulders, suddenly feeling calm and full of energy.

'Is this what being one with the Force feels like? Is this what I've been striving for?'

I then realize that I am naked but I don't feel embarrassed like I normally would have been. I pushed my fists into the soft mud beneath me and stand, the ankle deep water still tugging on me like a youngling wanting to know exactly how Anakin and I had done this or that mission. Smiling ruefully, I rubbed a hand over my face and feel surprised when I feel smooth, youthful skin.

I peered down at my reflection and saw myself looking at least somewhere between eighteen and twenty-five. My hair was cropped short like I'd worn it as a Padawan but I didn't have the braid signifying me as one. My shoulder and leg, where I had been wounded by Dooku's blade, were blemish-less; the marks of defeat cleared away as if I had turned back the clock and grown young again.

I wiped the water from my face and ran my fingers through my hair, now brown like it once was without any of the streaks of white or gray I had received from the stress of the war, Anakin turning, Order 66, worrying, panicking, and grieving. All these emotions had refused to stop bombarding me for a moment ever since I unhooked myself from the pole in the arena, leaving me an old man.

I splashed through the water to the bank, which was slightly muddy and covered in lacy, light emerald grass.

Several paces away I noticed a Jedi Tunic and leggings stretched out across a dry piece of ground. In the center of these garments I saw...my lightsaber.

I sped over to them, reaching down and picking them up. I pulled on the under tunic , underwear, and pants, before I put on the tunic, feeling the compact fabric against my chest.

I smiled, finally feeling like a Jedi again. I reached out my hand towards the hilt on the grass and called my weapon to me. I turned it over in my palms, feeling as if I was holding hands with one of my dearest friends.

I recognized it immediately. It was the one I had wielded as an apprentice to Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. My eyes began to burn as I cradled the hilt lovingly in my palms. It was my most prized possession and the object closest to my heart. It wasn't just a weapon, it was a friend.

I heard footsteps trudging nearby and I glanced up to see a large, sprawling forest everything bright, yet soothing, in color. Everything was beautiful but for some reason I don't appreciate it was much as I should be. Then I realize, with a deep, rattling pang, that I am still not whole; my heart is a void, a piece of cloth with torn holes in it, possibly beyond repair. Sadness flowed through my chest, an echo of the grief I kept suppressed to my inner most self.

Ignoring the sickness I felt in my head, I decided to try and take my mind off the horrifying discovery by looking for the source of the footsteps I'd heard a moment ago.

Then I saw him.

He stood at the edge of the forest, hands clasped behind his strong back. His long brown hair blew in the breeze and a faint smile was on his lips as he gazed at me.

He looked young too, I noticed; younger than he 'd ever seen him, but it was him. And one of the holes in my heart was filled at seeing him whole and alive.

"Qui-Gon," I whispered, barely daring to believe it. I had spoke with him during my exile but never had I seen him; hadn't seen him since his funeral on Naboo where I thought my life had ended.

"Qui-Gon! Master!" I screamed, joy rushing up into my face and limbs as I tore towards him and ran into his arms. I felt so secure in his embrace, my face buried in the crook of his neck with his arms around me.

'He's here. I can't believe he's here.'

He drew back and held me by the shoulders at arms length, staring at me intently.

"Obi-Wan..." The sound of his tone causes a catch to wrench me in the depths of my chest, so that it suddenly hits me; he's here. I try to read his expression but find that I can't. What does he think of me?

Then I realize ,with a sharp pain in the breast, that I have failed him. I wasn't able to train Anakin properly and he turned to the dark-side. Not only was I to blame for Anakin's fall but I was also to blame for the Jedi Order's annihilation. If I had been more aware and not so attached to everyone in my life, none of those terrible things would have happened. My Master had only asked me one think and that had been to train The Chosen One, Anakin, and make him into a Jedi but I hadn't even been able to fulfill that simple duty.

I'd failed my Master, I had failed his last request.

My legs began to shake underneath me as the course wall I'd built around my heart after Anakin's betrayal began to split apart, the grief spilling out like blood, filling me with its stinging poison, which was more poignant and raw than it had been since I had arrived on Tatooine where, with the heat constantly bearing down on me, my grief had turned into a steady depression that would not abate.

Then the last bits of oldness inside of me were stripped away and I stood before him; my heart bleeding and my head bowed in shame. I lifted my face up to him and his kind features blurred as tears filled my eyes.

'I failed you. I failed everyone.'

I had failed the galaxy, I had sworn to protect. Billions had died because of my error.

Suddenly I couldn't stand anymore. My legs gave way and I fell forward into his arms.

"I'm so sorry Master! I failed you! I failed you all! I wasn't able to train the boy! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I sobbed into his tunic, all the grief I had bottled up inside of me for the last nineteen years bursting forth, flooding me with its burning white-hotness.

I remembered once again my failure at saving Qui-Gon from the Sith; how I let myself fall behind and get stuck, useless, behind a laser wall as he was struck down. I remembered my failure at being unable to save Siri from the Bounty Hunter Magus and the ship crash, how I couldn't heal her wounds- couldn't save her. I though back to how I failed to prevent Anakin's fall to the dark-side; remembered his livid, yellow eyes as they burned at me as the dark-side rolling off him in evil waves. All these things rushed over me until all I could see was him burning while he screamed "I hate you!" and how I realized he was truly dead.

My sobs turned into gasps as I buried my face into the crook of Qui-Gon's neck, my lips and facial muscles twisting and twitching as the air hissed in and out of me.

"I'm so sorry, I so sorry. I didn't mean to." His arms around me tightened their hold as I wept, like I had done for Anakin when he woke up after the Battle of Geonosis and saw his maimed arm. My torso shook and shuddered as my gasps turned into small jerks and hiccups, my eyes squeezed shut, my face warm against his thick robe.

Then shame burst into me. I had never lost control of myself like this in front of my Master. I hadn't lost control of myself to anything close to this extent since I was a Padawan.

I was known for my self-control so why had it vanished so fast?

It seemed that, after joining the Force and seeing Qui-Gon in the flesh, it had all melted away and left we a young child once again. I pulled back from Qui-Gon and turned away, hanging my head as I stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, gripping at the edges of my tunic with my fingers.

"Obi-Wan, there's nothing to apologize for. I am so so proud of you."

I turned back to him, face twisted in confusion.

"How can you say that?" I whispered hoarsely, tears burning down my already soaking cheeks.

"How can you say you're proud of me when I failed you."

He reached out and took my shoulder.

"Obi-Wan...you haven't failed me. You've succeeded in everything I could not. You managed not to act in revenge, you were able to control your anger and grief over everything that happened to you." He took my other shoulder

"Obi-Wan, you've turned out to be a far greater Jedi than I ever could be."

I raise my face to him.

"Its all my fault," I murmured brokenly, feeling the cold sensation of a lone tear trailing down the right side of my face.

"Its not your fault, Obi-Wan. My loss against the Sith was mine. Siri was able to make her own choices and chose to sacrifice her life to stop the bounty hunter from taking the Code breaker. Anakin chose to turn to the dark-side. It was his choice, not yours. He wasn't a child anymore, Obi-Wan. He was responsible for his own decisions. And no one could have stopped every clone who fired on the Jedi. You are only human, Obi-Wan. You are only human."

"But if I had paid more attention, if I had been more aware, Anakin might not have turned."

"Jedi do not think or worry about what might have happened. You know this."

I nodded again. I did know this and it was true. But it was still a hard lesson to learn; something I had always struggled with.

"Yes, Master," I whispered, staring at the ground once again, feeling the open wound grief had caused pulsate within my chest, the holes staring out at me like Sith eyes

Anakin.

I crossed my arms over myself, the image of him killing Jedi and the image of him burning on Mustafar entering my mind for perhaps the trillionth time.

"You still love him, don't you?" I heard Qui-Gon whisper. I meet his eyes for a moment, burning with shame and grief, before turning away again.

"My friend is dead," I said, my voice catching, remembering the red blade of Anakin- no, Vader- striking towards me without a thought, without hesitation, with a sick eagerness.

"I don't think so, Obi-Wan. There still might be some good in him."

Anger flashed up within me for a moment, before I shoved it away and I turned slowly towards him.

"I lost the last bit of hope about that when he struck me down," I murmured, sliding to the ground and crossing my legs.

"And he...killed them, he killed them in the Temple." I looked up at Qui-Gon.

"He killed my family, Master. He killed younglings. He caused Padme to die."

Qui-Gon stared at me in silence then said.

"Yet...you still love him."

A flash of a young Anakin running up to me, grinning, babbling about droids and who knows what, filled me, and for a moment, I am silent, afraid to say a word and crack.

I lowered my head, staring at my hands. Anakin was gone. I would never see him smile again. I would never hear him laughingly pull pranks on me. I would never practice lightsaber combat with him and I would never stand by his side. Together. One.

Finally, I nodded. I still did, even after everything he had done to the galaxy, to the Jedi, to Padme, to me.

"Its nothing to be ashamed of, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said, bending down and touching my shoulder with his large hand.

"But how can I love a monster?" I exclaimed, my head dropping into my hands.

"You don't love Vader. You love Anakin Skywalker. Vader isn't Anakin. Remember what you told Luke? You said Vader murdered Anakin. But I don't think Anakin is dead. I think he's in there somewhere." I shook my head, suppressing sobs.

"No, he'd dead." Qui-Gon was silent for a long time, his hand a strong, heavy reassurance on my shoulder. Then he spoke, taking my hand and pulling me to my feet.

"Come, Obi-Wan. There's someone I want you to meet."

He lead me through thick layers of foliage, everything bright and vivid with color.

I rubbed a hand over my face, wishing I could fill every hole of grief, blame, guilt, and anguish in my soul. One was gone, but a score remained, throbbing like a million bullet holes in me.

"Who are we meeting, Master?" I asked, pushing aside a heavily-leaved branch.

"Obi-Wan, it would give me great pleasure for you to start calling me Qui-Gon."

Smiling sadly, I said.

"All right, Qui-Gon."

Qui-Gon smiled and touched my arm to stop me as we reached a large clearing. I could see several figures doing lightsaber practice, their feet moving with eased assurance, their blades flashing in beautiful flurries of brightness.

"Who do you want me to see-" I start to ask when I see her. Siri is sparing with a young boy, her blade of violet spinning and clashing in synchronization with her opponent's, her back turned. Her shoulder-length blond hair sliced through the air around her face, her strong muscular body moving with a quickness and strength brought by years of extensive training.

My eyes filled with tears, my body beginning to shake as I stared at her; even though I couldn't see her face I knew it was her. I could tell by her slightly aggressive stance, the fierce tightness across her shoulders, and even the way her hair shines from the sun. I feel Qui-Gon's hand on my back, pushing me slightly forward.

"Go to her. She's been waiting for you; just like you have been for her."

I took a step forward, my heart beginning to throb in my throat as I took her in; watching how the sunlight creates a halo across the crown of her golden hair, how strong and how beautiful she looks. Then I feel something beginning to burn in my tunic pocket. I reached in and feel two object- Siri's warming crystal and Qui-Gon's river stone. Both are warm and I somehow can tell they are glowing as I touch them with the tips of my fingers. I took another step and as my foot brushes the grass of the field, it hits me.

She's here -right here. My whole body broke out in a sweat, my muscles turning to water, my skin warming, and my eyes filling with tears. I moved even closer until I was only a few feet behind her.

"Siri?" I whispered. She turned around, her face, young like mine, was shinning with health and youth. Her skin was covered in a film of sweat and her sapphire eyes were bright with happiness. And, just as my eyes meet hers, another hole inside of me is filled, my heart singing.

She took a step back from her opponent, her lips slightly parted, her eyes blinking in astonishment. She slowly turned her lightsaber off and slipped it onto her belt.

"Obi-Wan...?" she whispered, her hand reaching out to me, a foot moving forward.

Then her face lit up, a smile blossoming, making her look even more radiant.

I run to her then, my watery legs carrying me towards her, a smile spreading across my face, and happiness creating a supernova in my chest. When I reached her she threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and hugging me tightly. I hug her back, tears flooding my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time today, and falling down my cheeks like rain.

Leaning my head onto her shoulder, I closed my eyes, letting myself feel the joy of seeing her, the joy of hugging her again; something that felt like it happened a trillion life-times ago. I kissed the top of her head and a sort of completeness filled me. I'd waited eternity to do that. I run my fingers through her hair, just as soft and shimmer-silk as I remembered it.

She pulled back, and looked at me with her sad, steady gaze.

"I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan...Anakin-" she stops and looks down, her fingers still threaded through my hair.

'Anakin. Its always comes back to him and it's because I love them all and they love me.'

"I'm so sorry Obi-Wan...I can't understand what you must have went through. What you're still going through"

"Thank you," I said, taking her hand and gently pressing it with mine.

We stand motionless for a long time. Then I sit down, staring at the grass.

"I should have been there." Siri takes a seat beside me, her hand sliding up my arm and gripping my shoulder.

"What?" she asked, her voice soft. I turned to look at her, sweat breaking out across my face as I remember the holographic image of Anakin killing the Jedi; the image of Anakin's hand curling into a fist as Padme gasped before him, his eyes hard and full of darkness. My eyes burned and my stomach clenched from the memory, revulsion and grief swirling through my insides like some sort of poisonous gas. My hands start to shake in my lap, and the tears in my eyes threaten to spill over my cheeks.

"I should have been there for him. He needed me. If I had been there, he wouldn't have turned." Siri was silent beside me, her hand still a strong presence on my shoulder, her strength leeching into me, helping to stop the quaking.

Then she spoke.

"Obi-Wan, you thought you were doing the right thing. You and everyone else thought that once Grievous was killed the war would end." I rubbed the sides of my face with my hands, some of the tears escaping my eyes and sliding down my raw face.

"I know. My duty is to the Force." And it was true. No matter what, my duty, my life belonged to the Force but still my heart yearned for, and my brain remembered, Anakin.

'Oh my son, my brother, my friend, come back to me.'

"Anakin is still there, Obi-Wan. Deep down inside he's still Anakin." I shook my head, eyes shut tight.

"No...no, he's gone." I lifted my face to her.

"He killed almost everyone Siri. He struck me down. He strangled his own wife. He made her loose the will to live." I remembered her, small, cold, and broken on the hospital bed, so beaten by despair that not even her children could bring her back from the void. I looked hard at Siri and I feel my love for her flare up inside me and this time I don't have to push it away.

I reached forward and touched the side of her face with the back of my hand.

"I could never to that to you." She smiled sadly at me.

"I know you wouldn't. But Anakin never would have done that either. He loved Padme."

"Anakin's dead," I whispered, turning away from her bright, scrutinizing, blue gaze.

"There is still hope, Obi-Wan, I know there is." I sighed and shook my head, remembering the words Padme had spoken so long ago.

'But the Senate is still in tact. There is some hope.' She had been wrong. The empire had succeeded and now its only hope lay in the twins; the twins who didn't even know who their father was because I couldn't bring myself to tell them.

"Ferus is doing well. He has been watching Leia, like I watched Luke on Tatooine. Now he'll watch over both of them and help in the Rebellion," I said in a whisper, looking over at Siri again who watched me with sad eyes. She smiled.

"I am glad. I worried about him. So has Darra." I blinked.

"She's...she's here?" I asked in shock and disbelief.

Siri's smile widened into a grin.

"Of course. Everyone who ever lived is here."

"You mean Tahl is here? And Bant, Garen, Padme, Cerasi, Bail and Reeft? And...and Anakin's mother?" Siri nodded.

"Yes, everyone."

A rush of feeling overwhelmed me; a strange surge of happiness, grief, sadness, and wonder, all swirling in a whirlwind, carrying me away.

"That's...that's wonderful, Siri! I should- I need to-" Then I stop and stare at the horizon, my heart dropping into the soil beneath me.

"They'll hate me, Siri, I know they will. I'm the reason for Vader. I created the monster."

She grabbed my hand and pressed it to her cheek.

"No, Obi-Wan. They don't hate you. They don't blame you for Vader."

"Do you forgive me for not being able to save you, Siri?" I asked in a whisper.

She lowered my hand and stared at me with a gaze filled with explosions of emotion.

"Obi-Wan...that wasn't your fault." I turned away.

"I know...I'm sorry." I feel her hand beneath my chin, lifting it so I have to look her in the eye.

"Its all right. You've been through a lot and have been strong through it all; been selfless through it all. You can grieve now." The love, clarity, and pureness in her gaze overwhelms me and for what appears the millionth time today, I start to weep. Siri wraps her arms around me and holds me until I fall asleep.

Luke Skywalker is piloting his X-Wing fighter near the evil instrument the empire had created; the Death Star. Laser blasts fly by, taking out the X-Wings around him at an alarming rate. I can sense Luke's grief, panic, and exhilaration as he flies. But he isn't concentrating, he isn't focused like he should be in such a dangerous situation. He won't last much longer, that much is apparent. My heat begins to thunder in my chest. 'No...no, I can't loose you Luke. You are needed to save the galaxy and carry on the Jedi Legacy.'

"Luke," I whisper to him across space and time, across the galaxy, straight to his heart.

"Trust your feelings." He doesn't listen to me and just keeps flying. Then a TIE fighter appears behind him, chasing him relentlessly through the space above the Death Star. My mind screams in panic but before I can say a word another X-Wing fighter takes out the TIE fighter in a blast of pluming smoke. Then I sense a presence. HIS presence. Anakin. My breath catches in my throat as I see his ship take off, flanked by two TIE fighters. The three ships quickly dip into the trench where several rebel pilots are and quickly takes them out.

The fight continues until Luke is speeding down the trench at a rapid pace, his targeting computer in front of his eyes. He is using machinery instead of his instinct; instead of the Force. I float down to him, hovering at his side, my ghostly presence a protective blanket around him.

"Use the Force, Luke," I whisper to him, my voice coming from millions of leagues away as well as right behind him.

"Let go, Luke." I feel his hesitation, his distrust, his lack of assurance in himself.

"Luke, trust me." I wait for a moment, a moment filled with sheer agony. Would he listen to me, or would he, like his father, completely disregard me and do things his own way.

Then he reaches forward and pushes a button, sending the targeting computer sliding back into part of the seat board. He continues his rapid flight, the three fighters following him relentlessly. My stomach clenches as I sense Darth Vader's vessel lock in on Luke's small, feeble looking X-Wing. I am just about to reach over and grasp hold of Vader's mind when an unexpected shot comes ringing towards us and hits on the the TIE fighters, causing it to explode in a roaring ball of fire. I can tell its that smuggler Han Solo, the pilot whom we had hired to fly Luke and I to Alderaan. 'Thank you," I thought in gratitude to Han as the other TIE fighter collided with Vader's, causing him to careen away in a tumble.

Then, Luke shot a pair of violet lasers beams into the Death Star's weak point. I could feel his shock and astonishment as he blasted away with the remaining vessels. Space seemed to hold it's breath before a shudder reverberated through the Force and the evil monster exploded in a dazzling array of light; taking with it it's horrifying power of planetary destruction. Luke sat in shock at his controls, his ship bobbing at a stand-still in space.

"Remember, the Force will be with you. Always." I could feel tears welling up in me. Luke had found the Force in himself.

I awoke in the warm grass, a soft velvety night sky gazing down on me from above.

I sat up, face wet with tears and sweat.

"What's wrong? Are you all right?" I turned to see Siri stretched out beside me, blinking up at me sleepily. Beams of milky-white light slip across her features, accenting her beautiful face so much so that for a moment I am mute with wonder.

"I had a dream-wait, it wasn't a dream. I was in the Force. I saw Luke. I helped him into accepting the Force. I watched him destroy the Death Star." I spun around to face Siri who had sat up and asked.

"Siri, does...does this sort of thing happen to you?" she shook her head.

"I sometimes enter the Force to see how Ferus is doing but I've never done it unconsciously. You must have work still to do...and you must have something holding you to the world of the living." 'Luke, Leia.' I thought. And, in the darkness where I store everything I don't want to see, I hear another name. 'Anakin.'

I took Siri's hand and we sit there in silence until the sun rises over the ridge; just like we did in that cave so many years ago.

We walked through the forest, Siri and I, recounting missions together, jokes we had played, and stories about us and our Padawans.

"Remember when we went on that first mission together- on Kegan?" I asked as we step around a huge tree trunk thicker then twelve Wookies standing side-by-side in a circle.

"Yes, and we walked real fast because we wouldn't let the other lead."

She laughed and I smiled, not exactly ready to laugh just yet. Then Siri stopped and grabs my arm. I freeze for a second then hear her ask.

"Do you want to see your friends? I know where they are."

I nodded, exhilaration at the though of seeing some of my oldest friends shooting through me.

"Of course."

Siri took my hand and started to pull me through the thick brush, moving quickly and assuredly; the both of us using the Force to move branches and foliage out of our way. Then I looked at her hand in mine and felt a sinking feeling enter the pit of my stomach.

"Siri..." she stopped and turned to me, her eyes inquisitive.

"Yes?" she asked. I swallowed, looking at our hands again.

"Siri, does...does the no attachment rule still exist here?" she shook her head.

"No. Your Master and Tahl are living together and Darra goes into the Force all the time to watch over Ferus." She smiled, giving my hand a squeeze.

"So don't worry yourself." I smiled, squeezing her hand in return.

Grass crinkled underneath our booted feet and a cool breeze rustled the branches in the trees overhead. The air smelled of flowers; the place strangely reminding me of Ragoon-6.

"Siri, how are they doing? My friends, I mean."

"They're doing great. They can't wait to see you. Of course, Reeft still doesn't get enough to eat." I almost smiled at that but a weight of sadness pressed down on my chest.

We came to another clearing; smaller than the one Siri had been training in, but still quite large. Much to my surprise, I saw several cottages strewn across the clearing; small with thatched roofs.

"Bant, Garen, and Reeft all live there," Siri said, pointing to the nearest one; a large, stocky dwelling with a pool behind it. I smiled. 'Bant would need that wouldn't she?'

"And there is where your Master and Tahl live. And Cerasi lives with some of the people from her planet there." I took in each house as Siri pointed to them and I could see how they'd want to live there. Each one was fashioned in a symbolic way to their personalities.

Then, in the pool behind Bant, Garen, and Reeft's cottage, I heard a splash. I turned my gaze back to it and saw Bant cutting through the silvery ripples. I stopped to watch, warmth spreading through me. I hadn't seen her in a long time; such a long time.

"Goodbye, Obi-Wan. Good luck against Grievous," I had said when I was about to depart for Utapau.

I remembered seeing tears in her eyes as she took my arm, gripping it firmly. She'd been so worried for me. I'd smiled for her sake; told her I'd be back soon and we'd be able to pick up the pieces and return to our job as peacekeepers. I'm not sure whether either of us believed it but we'd had to. Of course I'd hadn't ever seen her again. She'd perished in Order 66; kind, sweet, gentle Bant mowed down like some common criminal.

My lips formed her name, reaching out to the Force, finding it easily, and sending a message to my friend. I watched as she paused in the water; the liquid wobbling around her small, but strong, frame. She spun around and her eyes light on me. She stared at me for a moment, her silver eyes looking dazed. Then, with a start, she kicked herself to her senses and propelled herself out of the water. A smile started to grow on my face; growing wider as Bant approached, her feet flying quickly beneath her.

"Obi-Wan! Oh my Force, I can't believe it!" she shouted joyfully, leaping into my arms her wet robes cool against my own. I hug her tightly, a calming sensation filling me for a moment, easing the pain in my head. She'd always been able to do that; even back when we were small children. We stood there with the wind blowing passed us in lukewarm waves.

Then she drew back.

"Garen, Reeft! Obi-Wan's here!" the door to the cottage immediately swung open and revealed the forms of two young men- two of my friends from my childhood.

"Obi-Wan!" the two ran to me, Garen reaching me first. The last time I'd seen Garen he'd been a feeble, unhealthy old man shivering on a bed but his skin practically glowed with health.

"Glad to see you, Obi-Wan," Garen said with a laugh, smacking me roughly on the back.

"Now the gang's back together again." Sorrow filled me just as simultaneously another hole in my heart filled at the sight of my oldest friends standing with me.

'Anakin is still missing.' I grabbed Garen's arm and pulled him into a hug. Garen stiffened for a moment; we'd never embraced before, but, after a moment, he returned it. I let go of him and embraced Reeft. We all stood in the sunlight, stretching out with the Force, all connected, all together. I smiled. I had been returned to my father, I was with the love of my life and my friends were around me but something was missing.