This story is the result of the Dare Challenge on where writers dared other writers to come up with a certain story they might not usually be inclined to write.
The Dare: My dare to you is to write an Obidala fic. Something where Padme realizes that Obi-Wan shares the same ideals and dreams for the Republic that she does. She must realize that Anakin's political views cloud their love and she wonders if their political differences could drive them apart. The vignette must contain a startling moment where Padme realizes that she's not only attracted to Obi-Wan's ideals, but sees him as a MAN.
What's more, you must also have Obi-Wan realize that Senator Amidala is disturbingly attractive and that he goes into some sort of a torturous internal monologue thinking about how different his life could be if he could be allowed to love and marry.
The setting, and how they come to these realizations is up to you. Anakin can be there or not, that's up to you.
Okay, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, let me say that this story certainly won't be a straightforward interpretation of that quite evil dare, so please without any judgments until the end.
Title: A Study of Transitions
Author: jlcleamus
Characters: Padme, Obi-Wan, Anakin
Summary: See above dare. To say anymore would be giving it away. It's gonna be kind of confusing at first, but everything will come together in the end.
Part 1: A Realization of State
They say dreams pass in time.
For Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker, they seemed to intensify with each passing day until the dreams threatened to drive her mad with mere sentiments. They were distractions, she told herself. They took her mind away from the voluminous load of anxieties that were so central to her everyday existence.
The war. The mere thought of the endless and pointless fighting shattered the very fiber of her being. She wondered if the suffering would last forever, and she prayed for an end to it. It didn't even matter to her which side won anymore. And that's what killed her inside, to know that the ideals she had based her life on did not exist anymore. Sometimes she prayed for death to silently sweep her away in the night. What was one life worth in a dictatorship, anyway?
It was in those moments that she reminded herself why she continued. Anakin. She lived for him. Or, was it more like, he lived for her? It didn't matter either way; she knew that it would kill her Ani if anything ever happened to her. So she continued to suffer through the mornings and wait for the night.
She rarely saw him anymore, anyway. His duties to the war kept him away most of the time. Again, Padme cursed the war for what it had robbed from her. But she cursed alone to herself in an empty apartment. And after she cursed, she waited for the night to come and the dreams to distract her. She could be happy in her dreams again, her dreams of a funny little boy with a penchant for fixing things.
Who am I?
He rarely made any attempts to answer that question these days. In a way, he was content in his prison. The shadows of the cave blocked away the harsh rays of the sun, and the nights brought to him a cool desert breeze if he was lucky. His captor treated him with courtesy. There were never beatings or anything of that nature. Just a cold and silent companion. There had emerged between guard and prisoner though an unspoken bond of trust. He trusted his captor to keep him safe, and his captor trusted him not to escape when he went into town for food and supplies.
It hadn't always been this way. He had a life once. An exciting and fulfilling one. He had many friends. Even a wife, once upon a time. A beautiful angel with deep dark eyes, long wavy hair, a heart of gold, and a spine of steel. That was all he remembered about her, unfortunately. A recollection of her name would have pleased tremendously, but he accepted what he did not have.
Life was simple as a prisoner. Almost a haven for him. He did not have to worry about responsibilities anymore. Eating, breathing, and sleeping were the only activities that he bothered with. Maybe some meditation on a tranquil night. His captor didn't mind that.
In a way, he did not welcome the inevitable event of rescue. But the rescue was nearing. He knew that his friends would come for him. Vague memories of a hero with no fear sprang into mind and disappeared as quickly as the desert rain.
Part 2: A Change of Directions
"I don't think the system works."
"Really? Well, how would you have it work?"
It always boiled down to that conversation, no matter how pleasant her dreams were. Whether it was innocent frolicking under the sun or passionate lovemaking under the moon, her dreams inevitably arrived at that one destination that made her so nauseous.
"People don't always agree."
"Then they should be made to."
"By whom?"
"Someone wise."
"That sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship."
"Well, if it works."
Padme relented that she shouldn't blame Anakin for his viewpoints. He had grown up as a slave and lived life as a Jedi, always taking orders. He had never known any other way. But neither had Obi-Wan. And yet the master was so different from the Padawan.
"What is your name?" It was his first attempt at conversation since coming back to consciousness.
His captor chuckled.
"You can call me Ben."
"Why are you keeping me here, Ben?"
The smile faded. "Because I can."
"They will come for me one day, you know. My friends will come and rescue me. Let me go now, I beg for your sake. You have been kind to me, and I do not wish any harm to come of you when they arrive."
There was almost a nostalgic despair on Ben's face.
"Do not think of your friends. To them, you do not exist anymore."
"I highly doubt that, Ben. Even if they forgot about me, my family would remember me."
Ben gave him an incredulous look.
"Your family?"
"My wife."
"Really? I didn't know you had one. Tell me about her."
"She is an angel. She is the most beautiful woman in the world."
"Aren't they all?"
"And she is powerful too. She is a Queen. Or maybe a Senator. I can't remember for sure. But she has connections. And she'll never stop looking for me. I know this to be true."
"If you know it to be true, then maybe it is."
A long pause. There was nowhere else the conversation could go.
"Who am I," he asked finally.
"How am I supposed to know," came the reply from Ben, "if you don't."
"You're the one who is keeping me here."
"I do what I must. Consider yourself to be a casualty of the war, I guess. Nothing more, nothing less."
Part 3: An Inquiry into Nothing
Her dreams were different these days. It was not Anakin that dominated them these nights. His absence in her sleep almost brought her relief. It hurt her to dream about someone she couldn't have. It had been so long since she had last seen him. Padme wondered if her husband had finally fallen victim to the pointless war.
It was, instead, the handsome stature of Obi-Wan Kenobi that now appeared in her dreams. It puzzled Padme that he could resonate so close to the inner regions of her mind. But she did not protest. Her dreams were different now. They calmed and relaxed her, such a contrast to her old turbulent dreams of Anakin. They wore her out, and she never felt rested when she woke up in the morning.
Still, it made her uncomfortable when she was awake that she was so comfortable with the thoughts of him. That she preferred those thoughts to ones of her own husband. Perhaps it was true that familiarity bred discontent. Sometimes it tired her to be the older one in the relationship, to have to constantly guide and soothe Anakin and feel the pressure of always having to act as his savior. Padme freely admitted to herself that he still lacked maturity, powerful as he may be.
Even though he stood several inches shorter than Anakin, Obi-Wan always seemed to stand taller than his former Padawan. Was it possible that height, Padme asked herself, displayed itself through experience rather than stature? She wondered if Anakin would always resemble a nervous boy when juxtaposed against the real man that was his Master.
And it haunted her to come to the realization that her dreams of Obi-Wan awakened the ideals that she had long believed to be dead and buried. Other than herself, it seemed like Obi-Wan Kenobi was the only other man in the galaxy who still believed in the fundamental principles of freedom and democracy. Principles that the government she now served was failing to even acknowledge.
Padme never denied to herself that such principles had little merit in the mind of her husband when he was waging his wars. He always preferred the stern rigidity of a command, whether he was taking or giving the orders. And it was her fault, Padme admitted, that she had been such a coward. That she had never confronted him and forced him to make a decision, a choice between her and her ideals or his blind obedience and ambition.
"I miss you, my love."
That startled her.
"Since when have you loved me?"
"I always have," Obi-Wan stated without remorse, "and I always will."
"Then let me come to you then. We have much to discuss."
"Come, my love. I have been waiting for you for so long."
"Where can I find you?"
"On Tatooine."
Decisions were so much easier when they were made in dreams. In a trance, she packed her bags the very next morning and set off on her trip.
She did not notice at any point of her journey the vessel stealthily following behind her.
"You know," Ben said surprisingly, "it is a foolish notion for you to believe that you have a wife."
"I have never been so certain of anything."
"You asked me a lot of questions yesterday. Let me tell you a little about yourself."
"So you do know about me."
"I know more than I ought to and less than I should. But one fact is certain: you are a Jedi."
"Me? A Jedi?" He averted his gaze from his captor and stared at his hands in disbelief. A Jedi signified power. That meant he had power. He had the power to escape his prison. He had always had it.
Ben read his thoughts easily.
"Do not think foolish thoughts of escaping, my friend, for I possess the same powers that you do. I too, am a Jedi. Or was."
Memories of his past burst through the dams and flooded his present. He remembered a grand temple, wise Masters, and friends. It had been his life. It had been his purpose. His name may still remain a mystery, but at least he now knew to what he had once dedicated his life to.
"Do you remember the Jedi Code?"
"Yes. Yes I do!"
"Do you remember how the Jedi feel about attachments?"
He hesitated, but not because he could not remember.
"Yes," he barely whispered.
Ben laughed almost maliciously, as if he took comfort in his prisoner's pain. "So where does this wife of yours fit in?"
But I love her, he thought. That had to count for something. The Jedi had to believe in love. It was the basic cornerstone of their ideals. How could they look down on his love for her, a love so pure and so true?
"Love is permitted, my friend. But not attachments."
No! But it was true. There was no way he could deny the attachment he felt for her, just as there was no way he could deny the love that he felt for her. Suddenly, he didn't care about the Jedi, nor the powers that came with it. He wished that he had never heard that word in his life. All he wanted was to love his wife and to live a quiet, peaceful life with her and bathe in her glow and her beauty.
"I hate you," he cursed to his now emotionless captor. "I hate you!"
Part 4: A Failure of Truth
She guided her ship gently down onto the hot Tatooine sands. Padme did not think anymore. She acted purely on an instinctive level, guided by stimuli that she barely understood. Her head felt weightless as her legs took her out of her ship and into a small cave underneath a ridge. There he was, the object of her intentions, huddled on a makeshift stool and staring at the wall.
"Obi-Wan!"
He heard her at once, but Padme only saw confusion on his face.
"Obi-Wan, are you all right?" Her legs started to quicken their pace.
Finally seeming to shrug off his indecision, Obi-Wan rose from his seat and sprinted towards her. The two met under the alcove of the cave's entrance, and the Jedi enveloped the Senator in a crushing embrace.
"My love! I knew you would come to save me!"
Before Padme could react, Obi-Wan reached with his dry lips for her face and showered her forehead and cheeks with kisses before moving towards her lips. She pulled back.
"Wait. Not yet. This isn't right. I'm married."
"I know you are. To me."
"What?"
He didn't seem to have heard her.
"Ben refused to believe me. He told me I wouldn't have been allowed to have a wife. But here you are. I knew you would come for me."
Nothing seemed to register in her mind now, besides the immediate conversation that seemed to conflict with every aspect of reality.
"What are you talking about? How am I married to you? And who's Ben?"
"Ben! I hate him! He's my captor, he's the one who's kept me prisoner here for so long!" Suddenly aware of something, Obi-Wan looked around the cave in agitation. "Where is he? He was just here a minute ago, before you showed up. He must have left while I was meditating. Funny I don't remember going…I don't remember him going into town."
"Obi-Wan…"
Padme didn't know how to react. To her relief she was interrupted by another ship coming to a stop besides hers. To her horror, it was her husband's ship.
The Royal Cruiser landed firmly on the ground, and the Emperor Anakin Skywalker, wrapped in a simple black cloak, stepped back onto his native soil.
Padme abandoned Obi-Wan and ran to her husband's side.
"Anakin," she pleaded. "I'm so sorry! This isn't what it seems. Please…"
The Emperor showed no signs of emotion.
"I know Padme," he said calmly. "I know."
"How do you know?"
"I knew I could count on you, Padme. I knew you would lead me to him."
Rage began to fill her heart as she stopped her begging.
"You used me!"
"I learned a long time ago the power dreams can wield over people."
"You used me," she repeated. "You gave me those dreams."
"It was for your own good," he protested resignedly, "and it was for the good of my Empire."
"Anakin Skywalker…"
He stopped her tirade with a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Shh, Padme. I knew that you would lead me to him, and I thank you. Now, my angel, it's time to go back to sleep."
Padme did not protest as her husband exited the grasp of her arms. She watched in a dream-like daze the Emperor approach his former Master.
Obi-Wan blinked at the harsh glare of the morning sun. It felt like he had just woken after a long slumber. And he found himself in a nightmare of memories. One thought stayed constant as he watched the Emperor, his old Padawan, approach him. He remembered the shock of betrayal.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi," Anakin stated in a monotone voice. Pulling out two lightsabers from his cloak, he tossed one to Obi-Wan and ignited the other. "The circle is now complete. It is time for you to face your reality."
The End
Well. There ya go. Please let me know what you thought of this one.