Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

Yeah! I am back! Thank you for your support, guys.

Now, I am proud to present Chapter Three: Awakening

When Luke had landed in the hangar, the elation around him was tangible. Despite his exhaustion and the crammed space he was in he became infected with the happy atmosphere. The rebels cheered loudly, when the cockpit was opened.

Squeezing out of the cockpit was a little awkward, but the man was still unconscious. Luke was a little worried since the man's breathing had become shallower as Luke neared the base. Looking down into the cockpit, Luke noticed how winded the man looked. Dark circles around his eyes contrasted strongly with the man's unnatural pale complexion.

"Luke! You did it!" Luke was interrupted in his thoughts, when he felt Han's hand on his shoulder pulling him down to the ground of the hangar for a joyful embrace.

On his other side Princess Leia latched on his arm and also joined them in their hug. "I'm so glad you came back!"

All around him rebels patted his shoulder proudly and cheered loudly about Luke's and the other pilots' success. In his periphery vision he saw Threepio chatting with Artoo animately.

Then Luke caught sight of the medical team he had requested. "I got a prisoner of the Empire in the cockpit. He isn't looking too well."

The medics nodded and proceeded to his fighter. A man had ascended the ladder and looked into the cockpit with a calculating look. With the help of two medical droid they had extracted the unconscious man from Luke's fighter and transferred him to a medical capsule.

"Prepare a full body scan." The medic ordered and left the hangar with the man Luke rescued.

Satisfied that his recuee was taken care of Luke redirected his focus back on his two hands who were at his sides.

"Who was that?" Han asked confused. Leia just stared into the direction the medic team had taken off to with a contemplating look.

Luke just shrugged. "I found him with the catalyst. They were using him for something, for what I'm not sure."

Han seemed suspicious. "You are sure he is not one of them."

Luke nodded confidently.

Han just sighed. "I hope you are right."

"Luke is right." Leia interrupted with a worried look. "I think I saw him in custody on the Death Star, too. He was quite confused and called me Padmé."

Han and Luke were surprised by this statement. "He will be alright."

Leia just nodded absentminded. "Let's go Luke. You must be exhausted and there is someone here, who would like to see you."

Luke looked at her with a questioning glance. "Who?"

Leia just laughed. "Let's just say an old friend woke up. A very, very old friend."

Luke needed a few seconds to understand her underlying message, then his face brightened. "Ben? He is awake?"

Princess Leia nodded with a bright smile.

"Did you hear that Han? Old Ben is awake!" Luke shouted in excitement.

"Kid, I'm standing right next to you." Han stated and went into the direction of the medical bay. "What are you waiting for?"

"Wait!" Leia stopped them. "First there is something you should know. The medics just confirmed it. Master Kenobi will never walk again."

When the three of them arrived in the medical wing, it was in an uproar. Multiple instruments were hovering in the air and spinning around uncontrolled. Medical personnel were hurrying hectically from A to B, while shouting orders.

"Sedate the patient."

"It's no use, we can't go near him."

"I'm sorry. Please stop this! Leave me alone!"

"We need security here!"

For a moment the trio stood at the door perplexed. Then Leia took command. "What is going on here?"

"Princess Leia!" A medic shouted relieved. "A patient who has just come in. He is disoriented and hallucinating. Also after we counteracted some drugs in his system he started displaying these strange... powers."

Luke was speechless watching the floating instruments with awe. "It's the force." He whispered astonished.

Leia turned around to face him just ducking in time when a random instrument flew towards her head. "Did you just say the force? Is that man you brought in a Jedi or our enemy?"

Luke shrugged still amazed at what he was seeing and... feeling. He had not noticed before but the man's force signature felt empowering. It was distressed, disoriented and panicked, the essence however felt so warm. Luke could not help but smile and stare at his surroundings.

A door to their right swished open and Luke's smile grew even wider. Old Ben was sitting in a hover chair looking a little worse to wear but he was alright.

"Master Kenobi! You shouldn't be out of bed yet and... What is happening here?" A medical droid stated as he followed his charge into the room.

"Old Ben!" Luke shouted delighted but Ben only had eyes for the man thrashing around in the middle of the room. Ben looked as if he could not believe his eyes. His mouth was agape and were those tears?

Luke saw Ben whispering something before he took off into the chaos of shouting medics and floating medical instruments. Luke was about to stop him fearing for his teacher but Ben maneuvered to the man without difficulty.

When Ben's hand touched the man's forehead something amazing happened. Suddenly, everything was still. Even the medics stopped dead in their tracks.

"Calm down, my very young Padawan. You are safe here. No one here wishes you harm." Old Ben whispered reassuringly to the man who was breathing unevenly.

Luke was the first to move towards the pair. The man was blinking, trying to get his bearings. He shut them quickly and started whimpering slightly. His hand groped around aimlessly until it found Ben's. "Ma... ster... I... sorry." He slurred.

"Shh, it's alright. Sleep now." Ben whispered. Luke could feel the force suggestion accompanying these words. It was as if all strength left the man's body. "Plea... se... stay, Mas...ter."

Shakily Old Ben squeezed the man's hand. "You are safe. Don't worry."

After their exchange it was silent for a while. A medic dared to approach the centre of the room. "Is he safe for treatment now?"

Old Ben just nodded and turned around. "Luke! I did not see you there."

Luke smiled. "Yeah. I noticed. It is good to see you Ben."

Ben just chuckled and glanced towards the man. "It does seem like a good time for reunions."

"Do you know him, General Kenobi?" Leia asked from behind them.

Ben nodded. "Yes, I did. A long time ago. However, we should take this discussion to a more private setting."

With this Ben turned his hover chair around and headed for the exit. Luke, Leia and Han followed him. Behind them they left the mysterious, but calm man in the capable hands of the medics.

Anakin had been swimming in and out of consciousness for days. The first thing he became aware of was his throbbing headache. Trying to open his eyes, he only saw white blinding lights. Panic gripped his heart. He was back at that awful place. The white walls, the coldness and oh the pain. He needed to calm down, he needed to focus.

Drawing in a calming breath, he was amazed that it worked. For the first time in weeks, he had a clear mind again. And with a clear mind came the memories.

He had lost against Palpatine. He was used as a means to destroy a whole planet. He... killed billions of people.

Hyperventilating he clawed at the force to find peace again, but more and more memories assaulted his mind. Memories that were not his own he recognized it now, but memories of the dying people of Alderaan. He was drowning in the screams and the pain.

Groaning, Anakin held his head. "Stop it!" He shouted.

Someone had entered his room.

"I'm sorry!" Anakin sobbed as the deaths he caused flashed before his closed eyes. "Stop!"

Then he felt a familiar presence and he latched on it with all his might. Master!

Anakin. Calm down. You are safe here. He heard his master's voice echoing in his mind. Let me help you.

Obi-Wan was Anakin's beacon in the dark flood of memories. Together they released the swirl of memories and pain into the force. After Anakin had calmed down, he began to notice slight differences in Obi-Wan's force signature. It felt older, wiser, but also dimmed.

With Obi-Wan at his side, Anakin tried to open his eyes once more. "Take your time, Anakin. You were unconscious for five days."

Groaning Anakin opened his eyes again. This time the whiteness around him did not disturb him as it had before since Obi-Wan was here. He was safe from Palpatine. Blinking, he waited patiently for his eyes to grow accustomed to the bright lights. After some seconds, he was able to make out blurred forms around him. Anakin tried to sit up but fell back on his mattress shaking from exhaustion.

"Ugh. Why am I so weak, Master?" Anakin asked and began coughing.

"The medics were not able to pinpoint the source of your weakness, but I believe it has something to do with the fact that your force presence is quite erratic." Obi-Wan explained. "We found you on the Death Star near the catalysm."

Anakin sighed and concentrated on returning his strength. "Yeah..." He began trying to sit up again. This time with the help of Obi-Wan he succeeded. His vision was still blurred and he blinked to get rid of it. He leaned against the wall and felt a glass of water pressed into his hands. "Thanks."

Anakin took a gulp of the fresh water and savoured the feeling of the cold liquid against his dry and parched throat. "Ah. This feels nice. I was drugged and I could not focus on well anything..." Anakin coughed and spilled some water, so Obi-Wan took the glass from him again. "But they talked a lot about midichlorians. I think they used mine to power up their... their..."

Anakin's breath hitched and he began shaking again. "Weapon." His eyes became unfocused as his mind wandered to those memories. "It's my fault." Anakin whispered defeated.

He was about to shut down again, when he felt Obi-Wan squeezing his shoulder. "Anakin, you are not at fault. Do you understand me?" Obi-Wan sounded very worried like at that time when Dooku had cut of his arm.

"You don't understand, Obi-Wan." Anakin whispered hoarsely. "I killed them. It was my fault."

"Who?"

Anakin paused, trying to calm down as the memories resurfaced again. "The Alderiaans. All of them." He whispered.

Obi-Wan was shocked, he felt this through the force. The already unstable walls around his minds began to crumble. "I'm so sorry." He cried.

Obi-Wan could not help it anymore and embraced his former apprentice. He was shaking and crying like the little boy he used to be, when he had just arrived at the Temple and realised how homesick he was. Obi-Wan patted Anakin's back soothingly. "It is not your fault, Anakin. Do you understand?"

Anakin was still shaking in his arms.

"You are as much as a victim as them. I know you and you would never hurt innocent people willingly. Anakin, listen." His former Padawan calmed down slightly. "This is Sidious's fault."

They sat like this for another ten minutes. Obi-Wan whispering soothing declarations into Anakin's ears, while the Chosen One calmed down enough to see some truth to his Master's word.

"Still, if it wasn't for me they would still be alive." Anakin stated as he rubbed his eyes. His vision had returned somewhat. "Sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Anakin. I am sure Sidious would have found another way to kill all of these people. He just likes to see you in pain."

Anakin was silent at these words. "You are right, Master. But I still have to live with this guilt and the memories." Anakin looked at his master again and froze. "Master... You... You are old! Your hair is grey!"

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Time does that to man with hair."

"The way you look like, you should be glad you have some left." Anakin joked and chuckled slightly but it did not reach his eyes. "What happened?"

Obi-Wan paused. "I believe you have been in some kind of stasis, maybe you were frozen in carbonite?"

Anakin clenched his fists and closed his eyes. "How long?"

"19 years." Obi-Wan stated solemnly, knowing how much this was going to affect Anakin.

Anakin stared at his former Master wide eyed. "19 years?!"

Obi-Wan just nodded giving Anakin time to sort his thoughts.

"I... When... But..." Anakin stared at his lap. The question, that had been on his mind since he woke up, was burning on his lips waiting to be spoken. Taking a deep breath he gathered his courage. "Padmé?"

Obi-Wan sighed. He had hoped to avoid this subject but he could not hide this from his former Padawan. "Anakin, I'm sorry."

Anakin had thought he felt bad before, but right now his world was crashing down around him. He was empty and cold. The wetness around his eyes had returned, but he did not notice. In fact he did not notice anything.

"How did she...?" Anakin asked. Obi-Wan worried about his hollow tone.

"It was Sidious. After you... turned him down, he was furious. He issued Order 66 to terminate all Jedi and became Emperor. There was nothing we could do to stop him. Since you were nowhere to be found, I stopped at Padmé's hoping to find you there. Imagine my surprise when she told me everything."

Obi-Wan chuckled hoping to rise some kind of emotion in Anakin. It did not work.

Sighing he continued. "We had to escape from Coruscant. Padmé was very stressed out and it only became worse, when her water broke. I do not believe I was more nervous in my whole life. It was just me, Threepio and Artoo with Padmé but somehow we managed."

Obi-Wan smiled at the memory, when he felt Anakin's gaze on him.

"She did die in childbirth, then? Just like in my dream." Anakin stated, looking like the broken man he was.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "She didn't."

This shook Anakin out of his dazed state. "She didn't?"

"It was an assassin. The right hand of Sidious. It was one of her initiation tests to proof herself to her cursed Sith Master."

"Sidious." Anakin growled in anger. "I hate him. He destroyed everything I hold dear! I will end him!"

Obi-Wan put a calming hand on Anakin's shoulder. "I understand your anger, Anakin, but please stay the man Padmé loved. Your righteous nature was very precious to her, don't cloud it with revenge and hate. It's what made the galaxy as dark as it is now."

It took Anakin some minutes to calm himself. He knew that Obi-Wan was right. He had even promised Padmé had he would never out of hate before he had taken off to face the Chancellor. It was the last promise he had made to her and he would be damned if he did not keep his word. However, it was still hard.

"I'll be okay." Anakin informed him. "I just need time."

Obi-Wan look at him uncertainly. "If you ever need me, just call."

Anakin nodded. Obi-Wan just sighed and turned his hover chair around to get out.

"Master?" Anakin asked confused. "Why... what happened to you?"

"Oh this?" Obi-Wan stopped and turned to face Anakin again. "I recently got into a fight with Sidious's apprentice. Seems like my old age caught up and I will be stuck in this chair."

Anakin looked troubled. "I'm sorry, Master."

"What's with you and apologizing today?" Obi-Wan chuckled. "I don't remember you ever being keen on giving apologies. It's not your fault, Anakin."

"Thank you, Master." Anakin whispered.

Obi-Wan nodded and added in an afterthought. "Oh! You also have two visitors, who are quite eager to meet you."

At Anakin's questioning glance, Obi-Wan elaborated with a smile. "Your children of course."

After a shocked silence Anakin asked with his voice barely concealing his happiness. "She is okay? Wait did you just say children, as in plural?"

This time Obi-Wan laughed out loud. The look on Anakin's face was just too funny. "Congratulations, Anakin, you are father to twins."

Hehe. That was a mean cliffhanger ;)

Next time! Skywalker bonding! Luke and Leia discuss the revelation of the identity of Anakin.

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