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Chapter 11:
The Force was quiet as Obi-Wan drove back to the homestead again, one more sign that the danger had passed.
A sign that Obi-Wan had been taught from childhood on to trust – trust in the Force.
And he did.
Otherwise he wouldn't even be here now and in a way trusting the Force was nothing else than following the will of the Force, which should be the essence of a Jedi's beliefs and actions.
Something that, of late, many Jedi had apparently forgotten or pushed aside. Instead they had become arrogant – to sure of themselves as master Yoda had put it so accurately already years earlier – to sue of their power in wielding the Force, forgetting that they were only vessels for the Force, that it flowed through them instead of being commanded.
And with that realization it was as if the Force opened itself up to him and let him see things with a clarity like never before.
Made him see everything.
Though his strength had always lain in the unifying Force rather than in the living Force, Obi-Wan had never experienced something quite like this – and it was unsettling to say the least.
'So that's what led to our downfall? Our arrogance?" Obi-Wan mused, and though it made sense, he found no solace in the thought.
On the contrary it was quite frightening to admit to himself that the time of the Order he belonged to, might have passed to make way for a new one – one purer in belief without the flaws of the old one.
A new generation, changed as they should have changed, instead of being to fixed on their old, and not necessary right as he was now forced to see, ways to adapt.
The only question was: Where should it come from?
As far as he knew Anakin, Yoda and he himself were the only surviving Jedi. Of course there would be Anakin's child (with such a father he or she just had to be Force-sensitive) – oh how he wished he'd been there when the child had been born (he'd felt that the birth would be soon on Mustafar)! – but the search for other suitable candidates would be long and arduous, even of they changed the age in which one was accepted or left it out entirely.
The Jedi Order might never again have as many members as it did in his youth.
Of course that could be the whole point of it, in this point the Force didn't make it's its
intention clear.
Sighing, Obi-Wan wondered why the Force deemed it fit to show this all to him of all people and why now for he had no way of knowing what role in the creation of the new Jedi Order the Force had in mind for him.
As quick as this sudden clarity of the Force had come, as fast it was gone again, leaving his senses bereft, when he entered the homestead, but the thoughts and ideas remained.
Owen and Beru were sitting at the kitchen table with blasters at the ready when he entered, worry on their faces. Upon seeing him, both of them jumped up, their expressions varying from shock to relief and a bit incredulity.
With a small cry, Beru launched herself forward as if to hug him, but remembered herself in the last second, stopping a meter in front of him – a fact he was profoundly grateful for; this was embarrassing enough as it was.
"You're alive!! How did you do that? And what about the Tuskens? How did you…" Beru blurted out breathlessly until he raised his hands in surrender, laughing, to interrupt the barrage of questions.
"Beru! Slow down a little, please! I can't answer all these questions at once."
Beru shut her mouth, blushing, as Owen looked on interestedly, but more reserved since he hadn't had the chance to talk to Obi-Wan before.
"Sorry," she said subdued.
"No need to be," he assured her still smiling. "And to answer your questions: I'm still alive because I bested their leader in a duel and the others withdrew after that."
He turned to Owen. "Though I need some tools to repair my lightsaber. For some reason it short-circuited."
Owen and Beru goggled at him.
"You defeated a Tusken without your lightsaber?!" they chorused awed. On Tatooine the Tuskens were said to be quite the warriors.
Obi-Wan shifted uncomfortably. He'd never been very comfortable getting praise and exceptionally disliked being in the middle of attention.
"I used one of those gaffi-sticks," he explained, trying to make them see that it hadn't been that big a feat.
When they continued to stare at him, he added hastily, "So where can I repair my lightsaber?"
"In the garage. That way," Owen answered automatically, pointing towards it.
"Thank you," Obi-Wan said and, without further ado, fled the scene before either of them could say another thing
Owen and Beru looked after him, Beru bemused, Owen more amused.
"What was that about?" she asked confused.
Owen smiled slightly. "I guess he just doesn't like to be worshipped."
Beru glared at him indignantly. "I didn't worship him!"
"Of course not."
Her glare deepened, but Owen was unfazed. After all you didn't live with someone for years and not get used to such things, though Beru was normally quite easygoing. But he sure didn't want to be in one room with her when she was really vexed…
At that moment it occurred to him that he still had to tell Beru what he'd found yesterday since he'd promised himself to tell her today yesterday.
He sighed, but now was as good a time as ever, so he started, "Beru…"
Down in the garage Obi-Wan had quickly and efficiently disassembled his lightsaber, having done it already numerous times – often in much more dire circumstances – and besides every Jedi knew his or her lightsaber intimately. For them a lightsaber was more than a tool, it was the symbol of a Jedi's connection to the Force – and a mirror of oneself.
Every lighsaber was different and much time and care was invested in building one.
Though lately, Obi-Wan reflected sadly, that aspect had been disregarded more and more. The war had degraded the lightsaber to a mere weapon, only a made to kill.
Looking for something that could have caused the saber to short-circuit, Obi-Wan sorted through the parts until he found traces of sand on the metal. A closer look revealed that some of the grains had come into the motivator, which probably was the source of the malfunction.
He frowned. Normally something like sand shouldn't have managed to get past the casing, but another closer look showed that a small part of the casing had been chipped off – probably on Mustafar or Utapau – which he hadn't noticed then and through which the sand could penetrate the lightsaber.
'My luck again' he thought grumpily, and then, drawing a deep breath, cleared his head and let the Force flow through him, carefully removing every single grain of sand from the motivator.
When he was sure that there were no grains left he let go of the Force and returned to full awareness again, felt the sharp stab of loss, the emptiness that always accompanied letting go of a deeper level of the Force for though the Force never abandoned him completely there was a difference between feeling it only at the back of his mind and being immersed in it. The former always felt bleak, even insubstantial, after the latter.
Obi-Wan was just putting the parts back together, when Beru entered the garage.
She hesitantly went over to the workbench he was standing at.
"Am I interrupting you?" she asked.
He smiled slightly. "Oh no, I'm nearly finished anyway."
She looked down at her feet for a moment, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I just wanted to thank you for saving us. And…we really didn't want to jump at you."
"You don't need to thank me, it's what a Jedi does after all. Besides you saved my life so it's only fair, don't you think?" Obi-Wan said, but when Beru opened her mouth to protest, he hurriedly added, "But I accept your thanks.
"And for the matter of jumping at me…Well if you'll ever be trapped in the midst of a hungry pack of Holonet reporters, baying questions at you, you'll know why I don't like it."
That prompted a laugh from her. "I can imagine."
"I wasn't the posterboy anyway. That was always Anakin's job. And thank the Force for that! I could just pass the buck to him, though I had to listen to him bragging about it afterwards then, "Obi-Wan said with a short laugh and for a moment he seemed absorbed in some sort of memory.
"You really care for him, don't you?" Beru asked thoughtfully.
Obi-Wan looked at her surprised. "What?"
"You really care for Anakin, don't you?" she repeated.
For a long moment he just looked at her silently, some unreadable emotion in his eyes, then he sighed, oddly sad. "Yes I do. What made you think that?"
She shrugged. "I noticed that you always get that particular look in your eyes when you talk about him. A mixture of fondness, exasperation and…well love," Beru explained, hoping she hadn't gone too far with the last bit.
But Obi-Wan just looked thoughtful and commented, "I didn't know one could see so much in my eyes."
"Actually they're quite expressive. And my Gran used to tell me 'If you're not sure about someone's intentions, look at his eyes'."
"Your grandmother sounds like a wise woman," Obi-Wan noted – Qui-Gon had told him something quite similar once.
"Oh yes, she was," Beru agreed fondly. "I just wish she were still here."
Obi-Wan smiled sadly. "Believe me, I know the feeling."
A comfortable silence, yet tinged with sadness, ensued, as they both thought of the people they'd lost.
At last Obi-Wan broke the silence.
"There's something else on your mind. What bothers you, Beru?"
Beru looked at him surprised that he'd noticed, but, after seeing his expression, accepted that he just knew.
"I don't want to burden you with our problems. You have more than your share of them already."
"But I might be able to help," he reminded her gently.
"Maybe."
But she didn't sound convinced.
He stepped closer to her, capturing her gaze and said firmly, "Beru, you and Owen saved my life. Every problem you might have concerns me, too. At least let me try to help you."
Beru sighed – what was it with her and stubborn men anyway? – then reluctantly said, "Owen just told me that he found out yesterday that more than half of our vaporators were damaged or broken in the storm we had two nights ago. The water of the remaining vaporators isn't even enough for only our own use. That water and the reserves will last a month at the most and we don't have the money to buy water or pay personal so that the damaged ones could be fixed in time."
She took in a shuddering breath and continued anguished, "As things are now we might have to sell the farm to survive and that would break Owen's heart. This farm is his life! The only thing he still has from his father."
Obi-Wan had finally reassembled his lightsaber as he listened to her and now pushed the activator button to test it. With the familiar snap-hiss the brilliant blue blade hummed to life and he swung it through the air in a few experimental passes until he let the blade shrink away again, satisfied that it was working.
There were a few more moments of silence as Obi-Wan thought that over. He wanted to help Owen and Beru and there was no particular haste to get to Alderaan, but staying in one place for too long wasn't a good idea either.
Though…as long as the Empire wasn't here he might just risk it…