Star Wars
"A Different Path"
Summary: Nine years after joining the Emperor, two young prisoners have Darth Vader questioning his decision…and start him thinking about a different path.
Author's Note:Very AU.
Warning:This story will contain spanking.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; they belong to the great George Lucas. I'm merely borrowing them for this story.
Chapter 11: The Jedi, the Boy, and the Girl
"So, what now?" Han asked Obi-Wan, curiously.
They had arrived on Alderaan, only to come up with no more answers than when they arrived.
With the death of the Prince Consort, and the Princess missing, the leaders of the planet were doing everything they could to keep order and control.
They had managed to get vague reports about a large explosion occurring not too far from here, something about an Imperial space station or something, but that was it.
There were also reports that Darth Vader had been killed in the explosion.
Obi-Wan doubted that most seriously.
He had begun to suspect that Luke and Leia were with their father, but Vader had seemingly disappeared along with twins.
What could that mean?
"Hey, did ya hear me?" Han waved a hand at him. "Anybody home in there?"
Obi-Wan blinked, frowning at the boy.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to interrupt your elders while they're thinking?"
"No," the teenager said, smirking.
"Figures," Obi-Wan muttered, blowing out a breath.
"To answer your question, I'm not entirely certain what we do now."
"Well, that's just great," Han said, scuffing a foot. "What about my money?"
"Do not worry, youngling," Obi-Wan told him, "I'll keep my word, but my search is far from finished."
"So, let's go already," Han demanded. "I'm gettin' antsy just sittin' on my rear."
"You could not be sitting on your rear," Obi-Wan warned him, pointedly, "if you do not watch out…"
Han sighed. "Fine," he grumbled, crossing his arms.
Obi-Wan chuckled. "Do not fret," he assured him. "We will not stay much longer."
Just long enough for him to get some sense of where they needed to go, that is.
Han sighed. "But this is borin'," he whined, petulantly. "Why couldn't I just stay on the Falcon?"
"Because," Obi-Wan told him, "I look less conspicuous with you than I do alone. A man alone tends to attract attention."
"Oh," the boy said, "well, just hurry it up already."
Obi-Wan chuckled.
That was one of the reasons he'd brought the boy along.
The second was he wanted to make certain he didn't fly off or get into any unnecessary trouble.
Just then, he felt a tremor in the Force and stopped.
Han, not paying attention, bumped into his back. "Hey," he griped, "what's the big idea?"
Obi-Wan frowned, concentrating.
Reaching out with the Force, he tried to determine what had caused the sensation.
There was someone Force-sensitive nearby, he was sure of it.
And whoever it was had Jedi potential.
"C'mon," he told Han, "there is something I must see about."
"What?" Han asked, perplexed.
He did not answer, merely began following the tremor in the Force to its source.
The boy followed him, muttering the entire time under his breath.
He did not catch all of it, but he definitely caught 'crazy', 'damn', and 'old fossil'.
Obi-Wan smirked to himself, though he made a mental note to have another 'discussion' when they got back to the ship about respecting one's elders.
He turned down a side street, down an alley, finding himself at a dead end.
Han snorted. "Well, that was helpful," he stated, rolling his eyes.
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes. He was very certain there was…
He was drawn to a pile of trash that had yet to be collected, studying it intently.
"You got a thing for trash or somethin'?" Han asked him, snickering.
"There's someone or something here," Obi-Wan said, reaching to move some of the trash out of the way.
Suddenly, something popped out from the pile and made a dash for the mouth of the alley.
Obi-Wan concentrated and the fleeing individual was levitated off the ground.
A string of very color epitaphs was shouted back at him.
"Hey, he sounds like my kinda fella," Han said, smirking.
"Wonderful," Obi-Wan said, and gestured with his hand to turn the Force-sensitive around.
"Hey, it's a girl!" Han exclaimed, wide-eyed.
Indeed it was.
A very dirty little girl of about twelve years old hovered, glaring at them.
Beneath the hood of her ragged coat was what appeared to be bright red hair.
Her eyes were an intense emerald green, and at the moment they were all but flashing fire.
"Put me down!" she demanded angrily. "Put me down right now!"
"Only if you promise not to try and flee," Obi-Wan told her, firmly.
"What do you want, mister?" she asked, scowling. "If it's a street girl you want, there are much prettier ones that come out at night than me!"
Han snorted. "Who'd want a skinny little twig like you?" he asked, snorting.
"See," the girl told Obi-Wan, "even the scruffy boy agrees with me."
"Hey!" Han said, indignantly. "Who're you callin' scruffy looking, sister!?"
"That's enough," Obi-Wan told Han firmly before turning his attention back to the girl.
"I merely wish to speak with you, child. Will you let me if I put you down?"
The girl looked like she thought it over. "Do you got any food on you?" she asked, curiously.
Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes," he said, and pulled out an apple from his cloak.
"I'll stay and listen if you give it to me," she promised, "I swear."
"Very well," Obi-Wan told her, "but if you run I'll just levitate you once more. What I have to say is important."
The girl nodded, seemingly understanding.
He lowered her to the ground and handed her the apple.
She immediately began devouring it.
"And I thought you had quite the appetite," Obi-Wan commented to Han, smirking.
"Humph," the boy scowled, pouting. "I ain't scruffy lookin'."
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at him, but then focused on the girl again.
"Tell me, child," he said, "have you ever heard of the Jedi Knights?"
The girl snorted. "Course," she said, "who hasn't? What about 'em?"
"Were you aware you have the potential to be one?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
The girl laughed at that. "Me? A Jedi!" she scoffed. "I don't think so." She shook her head in disbelief.
"Well, I do," he told her, "and you do. You have a very strong presence in the Force."
"How do you know that?" she asked him, puzzled. "How'd you find me, anyway?"
"Not all of the Jedi were destroyed, child," he told her. "I am one, or I used to be. I sensed your presence in the Force and followed it here to you."
"Why?" she asked him, curiously.
"Because you have the potential to become a Jedi Knight," he told her again, "and I wish to train you."
"Why?" she asked again.
"Because," Obi-Wan said, his voice full of conviction, "the Jedi must be reborn if the Empire and Emperor is to be destroyed."
"Would I learn to do what you did to me?" she asked, curiously. "And get one of those laser sword thingies that they used to carry around?"
He nodded. "Yes," he told her, "though it will be a while—you are still young, after all."
"He is a potential Jedi, too?" she asked, nodding at Han.
"You mean the scruffy lookin' one?" Han asked, sarcastically.
She stuck her tongue out at him. He did the same.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at their childish antics, but then had to remind himself that they were children.
"No," he answered her question, "he my traveling companion and pilot—in return, I keep him out of trouble."
"You keep me outta WHAT…?!" Han sputtered, and then snorted. "That'll be the day, old man!"
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at the boy.
"Did we not discuss already the proper way you address me, young man?" he asked, sternly.
Han blushed at the rebuke, as well as the reminder of the promised spanking.
"I'm sorry," he said, wisely shutting up.
He glanced at the girl. "Do you have family?" he asked her, gently.
"Would I be living on the streets if I did?" she asked him, rolling her eyes.
"There is no need to get defensive, child," he told her, firmly. "I merely ask because I need to know if I must get permission from someone to train you, that is all."
"My parents were killed by the Empire a couple years back," she told him, bitterly. "They wanted to take me for some kind of training, and my folks put up a fight instead. I got away, but I've been hopping from ship to ship and planet to planet tryin' to dodge 'em. That's why I ran, cuz I thought you were Imperials."
"Well, we are not," Obi-Wan told her, placing a hand on her shoulder—which she shied away from.
He hid his disappointment, knowing he would have to win her trust before they could ever truly form any kind of bond.
"Now," he told her, "training to be Jedi takes much time and discipline. You must be willing to follow my instructions and guidance, and you must never try anything on your own. Do you think you can do all that?"
She nodded. "I think so," she said, smiling. "It's gotta beat crawling through trash lookin' for food, right?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "Right," he said, chuckling.
He realized then that he had missed having a youngling to teach and guide.
He only prayed he did a much better job with her than he had with Anakin.
Anakin…
Where was he now, if he was not with the Emperor?
:Go to Tatooine: a voice spoke to him through the Force suddenly.
It was a voice he recognized immediately, despite the twenty years since he'd last heard it.
"Qui-Gon," he whispered, feeling the presence of his old master wash over him.
:You'll find them on Tatooine: Qui-Gon's voice spoke again.
Obi-Wan smiled, understanding immediately who 'they' were, and looked at Han.
"I now know our next destination," he told him, patting him on the shoulder.
"Well, finally," the boy said, heaving a put upon sigh of relief. "Where to?"
"Tatooine," he told him, clapping him on the back.
"That stinkin' dustball," the boy complained, sighing.
Obi-Wan chuckled, shaking his head. "C'mon," he told them, "let's go to the ship."
He then glanced at the girl, who walked on his other side.
"By the way, I am Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and he is Han Solo. What is your name, child?"
"It's Mara," the girl told him, following them out of the alley. "Mara Jade."