A/N: I've decided to expand upon this vignette. (Obviously.) It should be a few more chapters, but shouldn't be too long. Regardless, hope you enjoy.
For those who don't know who Xanatos is, he appeared in the JA (Jedi Apprentice). He was Qui-Gon's apprentice, and turned to the dark side. The rest can be picked up pretty easily.
Thanks to the people who first reviewed this story as a vignette. I appreciate it a lot. :)
~*~*~
It was the absence of the light pitter-patter of rain that alerted Obi-Wan to the presence of the intruder. He had little money on him, and was forced to resort to 'lodgings' that were protection from the heavy rainstorm, and not much else. There was no door, and the room itself was small, smaller than many cells. From the smell of the place, it had been used by vagrants from time to time, when the 'owner' wasn't around to charge.
Throughout the night, Obi-Wan stayed awake, listening to the pitter-patter of rain falling outside the door. When the sound quieted, he knew immediately that something had to have interrupted the steady stream of water.
He soundlessly and quickly rose to a sitting position, lightsaber in one hand. A figure stood outside the door, wearing a dark and heavy cloak with the hood pulled down. A brief flit of panic wormed it's way into him as he wondered if the Twi'lek that had been killed a few days ago had accomplices. But as Obi-Wan watched, tense and ready to fight, the man threw back the hood, and took a cautious step in, after a moment of edgy silence.
Xanatos.
Obi-Wan exhaled in something akin to relief. A strange reaction, but considering the events of a few days ago . . . well. The encounter with the former Jedi had been full of mixed feelings – fear, relief, hope. Xanatos was looking well, if not exactly worry-free. His black hair was only slight damp, and fell past his shoulders. His midnight blue eyes stared at Obi-Wan deeply, his face tilted downwards, giving him an even more intense look. The broken circle scar was faded, almost invisible, something Obi-Wan hadn't noticed before.
The other thing he realized was his failure to realize who Xanatos was before he pulled back the hood. Obi-Wan's control of the Force, his trust in it, was slipping. It was something he had first recognized days before, but he was filled with fresh dismay.
Xanatos, looking awkward, finally broke the silence. He jerked his chin at the bundle besides Obi-Wan. "Is that the child?" he asked.
"Yes," Obi-Wan replied cautiously. Luke lay beside him, sleeping, curled up in Obi-Wan's cloak. It left the Jedi rather cold, clad only in a black tunic, pants, and his boots, but it kept Luke very warm, and that was the most important thing. Especially as young as Luke was. He also would have to get more milk for the boy soon, and that didn't promise to be easy.
Obi-Wan sighed, after another minute of silence as Xanatos . . . fidgeted. "Why don't you just tell me why you're here, so I can sleep?"
"I . . ." Xanatos hesitated. "You're not going to sleep anyway," he finished with a bit more confidence.
Obi-Wan gave Xanatos his best flat expression, refusing to blink at the silly dodge. "I don't know what you expect of me for what you did –" What was this? Had saving Obi-Wan been part of some plot after all? He had not thought so at the time, but the knowledge that Xanatos' had saved his life – and Luke's – was days old, and wariness took over.
"I don't expect anything," Xanatos said hurriedly. "I – I didn't have an ulterior motives, Obi-Wan." He paused, uncertainly, looking absurdly vulnerable to Obi-Wan's cynical eyes. "It was just . . . coming, sooner or later."
"You mean – the fact that you aren't dark?" Obi-Wan asked curiously, not really relaxing but more willing to listen to what Xanatos had to say. His interest at Xanatos' presence and attitude was growing by the moment. He had pushed the incident where Xanatos saved his life out of his mind, focusing on other things instead of pondering how out of character it was for the man.
Xanatos nodded. He cautiously took a few more steps into the shelter, eyes flitting around and finally resting on Luke. Not looking away, he spoke. "I came because you looked like you needed help."
"And what brought you to that conclusion?" Obi-Wan replied instantly.
Murky, dark eyes flashed up and met Obi-Wan's icy ones. "Quit the pride, Obi-Wan. It doesn't become you."
"Go to h –"
"I'm sorry," Xanatos jumped in, looking suddenly contrite, wincing, and making a complete turnaround. "I didn't come here to fight with you." He paused, but Obi-Wan said nothing, feeling suddenly tired and foolish. "You're not staying in this dump to lay low. Not with a child."
Obi-Wan sighed, angry at himself and frustrated with Xanatos. He rested his elbows on his knees, and put his face in his hands, rubbing it roughly to get some feeling. "No. You're right." He was being prideful; foolish. He looked up. "So you're willing to help, then." Without even knowing what I'm doing? Obi-Wan wondered.
Xanatos nodded again, somewhat hesitantly. The man was acting truly odd, at one moment seeming eager to please and the next falling back to his old, taunting ways.
The Jedi restlessly rubbed his fingers against one another, trying to stave off numbness. Luke slept on obliviously. "So you really have turned from the Dark, then," he said, not quite a question, but seeking confirmation nonetheless.
"Apparently," Xanatos whispered, eyes lowering. "Apparently," he repeated, with a shaky smile. He met Obi-Wan's gaze. "What do you need?"
"A ship and money," he said shortly.
"I can provide both," Xanatos said firmly. "I have a few here, and money accounts just about everywhere."
Obi-Wan nodded slowly. "Thank you," he said quietly. He paused, looking away, thinking fiercely. He knew there was something he should be doing, but he didn't know what it was. Nearly wincing at the internal struggle, he finally reached out for the Force. It came, as it always had, though Obi-Wan's bitterness at it – it and it's prophecy, at not telling the Jedi what was to come – lessened the strength of his connection.
His next words fell from his lips loosely, unleashed. "Come with me." He looked into Xanatos' astonished eyes. "Come with me, to where I'm going," he said carefully.
"Why?" Xanatos whispered, and Obi-Wan could see his hands were clenched into fists.
No backing out now, Obi-Wan thought. "How long has it been, Xanatos, since you were at the Temple? Since you touched the Light fully?" He paused, letting that sink in. "You fell, Xanatos. You don't recover with a snap of your fingers."
"What are you suggesting?"
"You need someone to guide you back to a firm path, Xanatos; someone of the Light. I don't see myself as the best candidate for the job, but I'm the Jedi who's around," Obi-Wan said matter-of-factly.
Xanatos still looked shocked, but he finally acknowledged Obi-Wan's point with a nod. "And what's in it for you?" he asked eventually, some suspicion in his eyes.
Obi-Wan pursed his lips, but decided to go for honesty. "If . . . if even you can turn from the Dark, then maybe Vader can." He ignored Xanatos' look of confusion. "Maybe . . . there's hope." His lips twisted into something resembling a smile, even as he forced searing tears back. Anakin, once again in the light? It seemed too much to hope for. Only the passing of years would tell. But hadn't Xanatos also been lost? He could not help but compare the two, as he had done days earlier. "And besides," he said, cocking his head, considering the former Jedi before him, "is it not my duty?" he finished dryly.
Xanatos looked at the baby, then back at Obi-Wan. "Then let's go," he said softly.
~*~*~
"If you were dead, or rather, thought to be dead, how did you retain your wealth?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.
Xanatos glanced back at him, trying to read the expression on the Jedi's face. Obi-Wan looked back at him calmly, showing none of the animosity of earlier, nor the broken exhaustion of when he had first met him on Corellia. He seemed rather on edge. However, considering what was happening to Jedi all over the galaxy, Xanatos wasn't surprised. He still looked rather . . . scruffy, but a shower at Xanatos' apartment and a change of clothes made him look like a normal citizen instead of a homeless man. The baby was remarkably well-behaved during the whole process, thankfully. Xanatos hadn't had to do much – just sit there and watch it while Obi-Wan got some food and clothing.
"I had a paper heir created. One that didn't really exist – 'he' inherited everything, and he was really me, so . . ." He shrugged. "Getting it so that I didn't have to appear in court was a little more difficult than expected, especially as big as Offworld was then, but a few well-placed bribes took care of that. I had to sell the company, of course – running it was too . . . public." Xanatos took a quick look at Obi-Wan again.
Obi-Wan merely nodded. The baby gurgled, and Obi-Wan absentmindedly soothed it with a few quiet words, gazing down in quick flicks. His eyes were constantly roving, never keeping still, and Xanatos could tell he was mentally assigning possible threats and escape routes in the spaceport. Xanatos hadn't noticed anyone giving them particular attention, just the usual motley crowd of businessmen and everything else. The spaceports were unusually busy, as well, crowded and dirty, and following anyone would be difficult without a lot of help.
Xanatos went ahead, smoothly cutting a path through the people, Obi-Wan effortlessly following. Obi-Wan remained silent, asking little, and Xanatos decided to wait until they were on board the ship before asking the questions he had. Obi-Wan hadn't even asked how Xanatos had found him, but Xanatos was overflowing with questions – the most important being the identity of the child.
The ship he had chosen was a beautiful ship of Nubian design. It was, like other Nubian ships, very sleek in appearance, weapons and other devices hidden beneath the hull, ready to unfold for use in a moment's notice. The others of her class were usually brightly colored, but the one belonging to Xanatos was a shiny silver and matte black.
Obi-Wan blinked when he saw it, looking rather surprised. Xanatos repressed the urge to ask what he was thinking, and silently led him into the interior of the ship. It was actually not a den of decadent luxury, like Xanatos would have insisted upon years before. As the years passed, and he grew sick of his darkness – and he did grow sick of it, eventually – he grew to like the sparse, elegant lines of it. He had bought it on a whim, but he used it most commonly these days. Despite that, he knew the Empire wouldn't know of it – Xanatos had stayed hidden throughout the years with total success. And he had no doubt Obi-Wan, like all the other Jedi, was running from the Empire and its bounty hunters.
"There are three rooms, a dining area, and the cockpit," Xanatos said as he stepped through the hatch into the cockpit, briefly explaining what the ship had. "The cargo area has all the supplies you need – including baby formula – and hard credits."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Thank you."
"We'll take off in a moment," Xanatos added, looking at the controls and then heating the engines. "Where are we going?" he asked, finally facing Obi-Wan.
The Jedi was expressionless, composed. "Yekken, for now." Yekken was a planet Mid-Rim, small population, famously lax spaceport laws. It wasn't precisely a haven for criminals, but those who didn't want to be found.
"Not our last stop."
Obi-Wan shook his head. "We have to make sure we aren't followed or that there are any records of where we go. That Twi'lek you killed might have friends – or enemies who were smart enough to keep up with what he was doing."
"Got it," Xanatos said, turning back to the controls and setting the coordinates as he prepared to take off. "You better go and strap down, not that I expect there will be any trouble."
"All right," came Obi-Wan's quiet voice. He heard footsteps going away, and tried to focus on lifting off. Wondering, privately, what he was doing. He had turned to the Light because he could no longer stand the Dark – somehow, as the years had passed, he had started to remember his days as a Jedi. Some dim remnant of light had remained in him, and taken root. And he began to take a careful look at himself. What he found was a continually desperate attempt to sate himself, to make himself happy with power and wealth. It didn't work, and when he realized it never would . . . The Light brought its own problems, of course – guilt chief among them.
But why Obi-Wan, of all people? He was practically blindly following the man. A man younger than him, a man he hadn't seen, hadn't spoken to in twenty years. He had seen sound bites of Obi-Wan, of course, very briefly when the younger man was a General in the Clone Wars, but that was it.
Why did he feel like Obi-Wan was his last hope to make peace with himself?