Promise

"Luke," Padmé whispered. The medical droid slipped the child into Obi-wan's arms, perhaps assuming he was the father, and Padmé reached up to touch the tiny hand.

Take him. Obi-wan could feel the desperate, unworded plea in his mind as Padmé looked at the child in his arms, then at him. Keep my son, don't leave him here so I will not change my mind. As we agreed, remember?

How like a child herself she seemed at that moment, how little like the daring, reckless senator who had secretly married his apprentice. Even as she cried out in pain he could not help but see the vulnerability in her eyes. His mind was drawn back to that ever so brief conversation in her starcruiser…

"Obi-wan." Her eyes opened slightly and she whispered, "Is Anakin all right?"

He couldn't answer. She saw the agony in his eyes, and her eyes bespoke a quiet pain before they closed again. He stood to leave.

"Obi-wan." Her voice again. Padmé whispered, "There's… something I want you to do."

He stared at her for a moment, grief filled eyes focusing briefly on the slight form of the young senator. "What is it, Padmé?" Even his voice sounded exhausted.

Something in his tone must have caught her attention, for she opened her eyes again to meet his. "Over… there," she whispered. "By the corner, there's a – panel, a door. Open it."

Obi-wan slowly did as she asked. Over… here, a crevasse in the smooth white walls. He slid his fingers into it and it opened to reveal a Jedi robe, hanging carefully from a hook.

Obi-wan felt a powerful surge of grief as he saw it, knowing its former owner instantly. He diverted his gaze to find a familiar silver cylinder on the shelf. For a moment he stared at it, fascinated.

"Obi-wan?" Hesitantly, she asked, "Did you… find it?"

He found himself nodding. "I think so." Carefully shutting away the emotions it raised in him, he took it in hand and closed the panel again, then walked back to her side, examining the item.

'I'm not going to lose this one.' For a split second his mind flashed to the sight of a familiar young man, blue eyes shining in triumph as he held aloft the weapon now in Obi-wan's hands.

Blue eyes… or at least they had been.

"May I?" Padmé had somehow managed to prop herself up slightly, disregarding the pain as was her nature. She held out a hand. He nodded and handed the weapon to her, and for a moment she stared at it. A single tear trickled down her cheek.

Finally she spoke. "He… wanted our son to have it," Padmé whispered. A restrained sob shook her shoulders before she drew herself up again. "He… would have been a Jedi, Anakin wanted it so…" more tears escaped. "…badly…"

Obi-wan rested a hand on her shoulder. She drew a shaky breath and continued, "I want you to have it."

Obi-wan slowly accepted the weapon back, but as he drew back her hand grasped his wrist. "Wait!" He stopped and looked into her determined brown eyes. "I want you to promise something."

He waited.

"I want…" Padmé took a deep breath. "I want you to train him."

Obi-wan drew up in shock. The Jedi were all but gone, himself one of two known survivors. And even if he promised, she could not raise her son and have him trained as well…

Grim brown eyes met his. "Promise me," she repeated steadily.

Obi-wan lowered his head, unable to hold her gaze.

"I promise."

A single tear quietly slipped down his face to splash the hilt of the weapon in his hands.

Obi-wan drew out of his thoughts to hear the gentle tones of the medical droid. "It's a girl," he told Padmé.

She reached out weakly. "Leia…"

As her eyes turned back to his, he heard a note of heartbroken desperation in her tone. "There's still good in him."

Obi-wan could only look back helplessly, the hopelessness he felt surely showing in his eyes.

"I know there's… still…" Her voice drifted off, and she slumped back, eyes drifting closed.

It seemed mere moments later that Obi-wan looked up at Yoda's words. Tatooine… "I will take the boy there, and watch over him," he replied quietly.

I will train him, Padmé.

I promise.

(Author's note: The spelling of "Obi-wan" throughout this fanfic is intentional, based off the original credits of "A New Hope." The alternate spelling of "Obi-Wan" only appeared with the books.)