Chapter Forty-Nine: Obi-wan's Interlude

It was going to be a while before Obi-wan got used to seeing Ahsoka as the self-assured adult woman leading a rebellion that she'd grown into and not the lost young woman trying to find her place before the end of the Clone War. Or even the angry young woman who visited him on Tatooine not long after. Regardless, it was a relief to see her thriving, to have seemed to found her place in this dangerous galaxy they all found themselves thrust into…even if he still wasn't sure about her arrangement with Darth Vader.

Ahsoka always ended up doing whatever she wanted, however. So trying to talk her out of what she'd already made up her mind to do would be futile. Still, he couldn't help worrying about her. Not even because he completely disagreed with her. No. It was far worse. He worried because he saw her point.

He hadn't lied to her before. He hadn't gotten enough of a glimpse of Darth Vader to know whether or not Ahsoka was right in her assessment of him. But what little glimpse he had seen was achingly familiar. The dry sarcasm, the way he and Ahsoka went back and forth with each other, the propensity for cruel words when he was angry. Still, Obi-wan couldn't ignore the strong currents of the dark side in him, the way Vader, without second thought or remorse, cut down children with little choice in having being brought there. Maybe he was right and there had been no other options. But all Obi-wan saw was Darth Vader on a loop in his head killing the younglings in the Jedi temple with no remorse.

Obi-wan sighed. That was not a path he was going down today. It wasn't the way of the Jedi to brood on the mistakes and horrors of the past. He could only focus on what they could do now to affect a better future. And whether he could accept it or not, Darth Vader seemed to be the path forward.

He briefly wondered how long Ahsoka meant when she left him in her quarters at Alderaan's Palace and said she'd be right back. It had already been twenty minutes.

Just as he was contemplating some light meditation, she poked her head in the room. "Obi-wan?"

When he looked at her, she started into the room and said, "There are two people I'd like you to meet."

Then she ushered two children ahead of her. A girl with brown hair and dark brown eyes, and a boy with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. Obi-wan's heart stopped, his breath catching in his throat.

"Sorry it took so long," Ahsoka said as she closed the door behind her, trepidation clear in her voice. "They were in the middle of tutoring. And Breha would have had a long talking to with me about encouraging them when we already have problems with them ditching their tutors."

"Aunt Breha is exaggerating, Mama. We've only skipped tutoring twice this year," the girl corrected.

"I'm pretty sure this is the sixth time," Ahsoka replied.

"No. It's only been twice this school year," the girl continued.

"We're only a month into the new school year. At this rate, you'll have skipped twelve times by the time you're halfway through the Alderaan school year," Ahsoka said, giving the girl a firm look. "We're not arguing about this anymore. If you and your brother skip your tutoring again, I'll stop your shooting lessons for a month."

The girl huffed, and the boy, her brother, rolled his eyes and shook his head. Ahsoka noticed.

"Don't think I don't know that most of the time, it's your idea," Ahsoka said to him. "You're just smart enough not to argue about it."

The boy tried to look suitably bashful, but the corners of his mouth twitched before he gave up and just grinned.

Before Ahsoka could say anything to that, the girl cleverly deflected attention away from her and her brother's mischief and asked, "Who's he?"

"Luke, Leia, this is—"

"That's General Kenobi!" Luke exclaimed. "You were a Jedi. You were Mama's grandmaster when she was a Jedi. Are you a Jedi still?"

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. "How did you know that?"

Luke's eyes widened, and next to him, Leia smirked in smug satisfaction.

"Go ahead, Luke. Tell her how you hacked into Artoo's mainframe and managed to override the block on older recordings," Leia sang.

Luke cut Leia a firm look at her betrayal.

"You did what? Luke. They're blocked for a reason. And if you messed up, you could have totally wiped Artoo's memory."

"But I didn't," Luke said and hurriedly turned his attention back to Obi-wan. "Artoo did show me a picture of you, though. It was with Dad and Mama when you all fought in the Clone War together. You were younger, but it's still you."

"You're going to tell me exactly how you overrode the encryption block on Artoo's memory so I can tell your dad and he can restore it in a way that you can't get past it again," Ahsoka chided with a longsuffering sigh that was belied by the way she smiled afterward. Then she said, "Anyway, Obi-wan, this is Luke and Leia. Luke, Leia, you two apparently already know who this is. But General Kenobi was much more than someone your father and I fought in the Clone War with. He was a good friend of ours." Then Ahsoka looked directly at Obi-wan and said softly. "And he was a good friend of your first mother, Padmé."

Obi-wan didn't need the confirmation from Ahsoka to know exactly who the two children were. Leia looked too much like her mother. And Luke looked too much like his father. And they both had too much of the shining spark of fun and mischief that could commonly be seen in their father's eyes. A spark that had slowly but surely diminished and eventually disappeared as the Clone War dragged on. Still, Ahsoka's words only cemented in the Force what he already knew.

Luke and Leia exchanged a look with each other and then looked up at Ahsoka—their mother. There was obviously a very brief exchange before Ahsoka grinned and said, "You can talk to Obi-wan about anything. There's nothing you have to hide from him."

"Nothing? Even…" Leia trailed off.

"Even about your dad," Ahsoka finished.

Luke grinned and made his way over, offering his hand to Obi-wan and saying, "Hi. I'm Luke Skywalker. Nice to meet you."

Obi-wan took the boy's hand in his, taking a few moments to find words before saying, "I'm Obi-wan Kenobi. It's an honor to meet you, Luke."

Leia was both less impressed and less trusting than her brother. Though she approached Obi-Wan too, she didn't extend her hand as she said, "Leia Skywalker. In private. In public, we go by Organa. Will you be here long?"

"Just a few days. I have an important mission that needs seeing to."

"Like the ones you went on during the Clone War?" Luke asked. "Will you tell me about them? The ones you went on when Mom wasn't there. And can you tell me more about the Jedi. Mom said I can't decide if I want to be a Jedi until I learn more about them and their code. And… I guess that makes sense."

"I'll tell you both whatever you like," Obi-wan answered. Luke beamed, and even Leia couldn't hide her curiosity. They both began to climb on the bed but paused, groaning.

"We still have lessons," Luke sighed.

"Too bad we've already skipped so much tutoring, and it's only been one month into the school year," Leia said dramatically.

Obi-wan covered his mouth with his hand as he glanced at an outdone Ahsoka who was looking at her two children with her arms crossed. She walked over to them and poked them both in the head, saying something in her native tongue that caused both children to giggle. Then she said, "I suppose this would count as…supplemental tutoring. What better way to learn history than from a relic of it?"

Obi-wan frowned and sent Ahsoka a wry look that Ahsoka only returned with a smile. Any sympathy he had for her dealing with the two children was erased. Clearly, their biological parents weren't the only ones Luke and Leia gained their wit from.

"I'm going to take care of some things," Ahsoka said, kissing both twins on the forehead. "I'm leaving you in Obi-wan's hands. Behave."

Ahsoka left the room, and the twins climbed on the bed, tucking their legs under themselves. Luke began asking questions first, and it seemed that Obi-wan's answers only gave him more questions to ask. Leia seemed fine with this arrangement until Luke asked why he hadn't done something, and Obi-wan replied that it wasn't the Jedi way.

With the pretentiousness of a child who had just learned a new way to phrase something, she asked, "Mind elucidating on that matter?"

For whatever reason, Luke snickered. Leia looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled before turning back to look seriously at Obi-wan. An inside joke then.

"What matter?" Obi-wan asked.

"The Jedi. If that's not the Jedi way, what is?" Leia elaborated.

Obi-wan paused. The Jedi way. He didn't recall anyone ever asking that question before. There was no need to ask. When raised in the Temple, it was so abundantly clear what the Jedi way was that he'd never thought to ask it.

"The Jedi way," Obi-wan finally said, "is using the power that the Force grants people like us to help those who need it and spread peace and good into the galaxy."

Leia looked at Luke, uncertain. Luke shrugged and nodded his head to Obi-wan.

"Mama told us that one of the reasons she's not a Jedi anymore is because the Order wouldn't have let her be our mother and a Jedi at the same time." Leia frowned. "I don't get it, though. If that's what the Jedi are about, what is it about our mother that they wouldn't let her be a Jedi? She helps a lot of people now."

Of course, like their father, they would ask the hard questions. Taking little at face value.

"In order to have nothing that would prevent us from going wherever we need to go to help people in need whenever they needed it, we aren't allowed to have attachments. Anything that could keep us from serving others or make us harm others to protect our attachments using our incredible power," he explained. It was the simplest way he could think of without getting into philosophizing about the nature of the force and the light and dark side.

Leia scrunched up her nose at that. "Still doesn't make sense. Aunt Breha has a lot of power as the queen of Alderaan, and she always has to put her people first. But she can still be Winter's mama. Sounds like the Jedi are afraid of something that everyone else isn't worried about."

Luke sighed. "She's not trying to be mean. It's just…Talking about the Jedi makes Mama sad, even though she says it doesn't."

Obi-wan wasn't sure how their conversation took such a turn. But it was apparent Luke and Leia weren't allowed to talk about certain things often in Ahsoka's attempts to keep them safe. He wouldn't shy away from the hard topics now when she'd given them the okay to talk about anything with him.

"Ahsoka's not sad because the Jedi made her choose between you and the Order. I'm very sure your mother would choose you all again and again and never regret it. She chooses you every day. She's sad when she thinks about the Order because…" Obi-wan trailed off. "Because the Jedi way is to help people and spread as much good in the galaxy as possible. But during the war, we forgot that we also had a duty to help the people that made up our Order."

Because for all that they had been taught to spurn attachments, they had been too attached to their Order. Too attached to their traditions. Too attached to their position and proximity to the Republic and the Senate. Too afraid to do the right thing to protect one of their own until they could investigate and get to the truth of the matter.

"We put our attachment to our Order first," he continued. "And in doing that, we betrayed your mother's trust in us."

Luke and Leia looked at him contemplatively, reminding Obi-wan of their father when he was around their age.

Finally, Luke said, "Sounds like the Order could have used some help too then."

"Yes," Obi-wan said with a sigh. "We could have."

The question was, would they have accepted it? Would they have heard it? The Force gave him the answer without bidding. No. They wouldn't have. There were many times they'd been rightfully criticized and called out, knights falling to the dark side, and they'd ignored it.

"Let's… talk about something happier," Luke suggested.

"Great idea, young one. How about the two of you tell me about you're up to now?" Obi-wan asked. "What are you studying?"

"Mama's been teaching me how to use a blaster."

"And I'm learning how to pilot."

"We're going to be like Black Krayt and Pearl," Leia said proudly.

"Who are Black Krayt and Pearl?"

That prompted Luke and Leia to launch into great detail about one of their favorite holo programs. By the time Ahsoka returned, it was dinner time. At which point, Luke loudly exclaimed, "Good. I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Leia pointed out as the two left the room to find their dinner.

"I hope they didn't drive you insane, " Ahsoka said when they were gone. "They can be a bit of a handful sometimes."

"Ahsoka, I wouldn't have it any other way," Obi-wan says. "Besides. You forget. I raised their father. I'm used to Skywalker antics."

Ahsoka smiled a little, and afterward, silence settled between them. A silence Obi-wan sensed Ahsoka wanted to break but was afraid to.

"I don't hate you, if that's what you're wondering," Obi-wan said, saving her the trouble.

"But you should," Ahsoka blurted out. "Force knows, you should. I lied to you on Tatooine. Well…not lied, but I let you think they died with Padmé. And I shouldn't have done that. But I was just…I don't know."

"You were a young mother dealing with her own hurt and not wanting her younglings to know the same hurt," Obi-wan said understandingly. Wouldn't he take back all the hurts that the galaxy had ever dished out to Anakin and Ahsoka if he could have?

"I mean… Yes. But still," Ahsoka muttered. "I should have told you about them months ago when I told you about everything else. I—"

"Ahsoka. All this time, I thought I'd failed Anakin utterly and completely. Not only did I not see what Palpatine had done until it was too late, not only did I not notice how badly he was struggling, but I also didn't act in time to save Padmé."

"We both got caught up on Mustafar," Ahsoka said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"No. Before that. I shouldn't have used her to find him at all. I should have convinced her of the danger she was in and sent her into hiding."

Ahsoka snorted. "As if Padmé would have listened."

Obi-wan smiled at that. "But when she told me you'd gone to find him, I was so blinded by my fear for what you might be getting yourself into, of what Anakin might do next if I didn't stop him…my decision making was compromised. You did what I failed to. You got her to safety long enough to save her children, so they weren't additional victims in this entire debacle. And for that, I thank you."

Ahsoka gave him a sad smile and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Obi-wan. Take it from someone who's done her fair share of blaming herself. We can't worry about the mistakes of the past. We were all used as unwitting pawns of the dark side. And what's to say that anything we did differently wouldn't have led us to this point anyway. Or worse," Ahsoka said sagely. "We can only learn from our mistakes and avoid making them in the future. Maybe you did fail us. But you did the best you could under the worst of circumstances. We all failed."

For someone who no longer proclaimed to be a Jedi, Ahsoka indeed spoke and acted like a true Jedi would. His heart swelled with pride, and he was reminded of the words Anakin all but shouted at the Council as he argued her case after her trial.

"She's going to grow up and be better than all of us. And you almost lost her over stupid politics and technicalities instead of doing what was right!"

Obi-wan smiled. He'd certainly been right about that. She was better than all of them. "Technicalities" like being a mother aside. Speaking of that…

"So you're a mother now," Obi-wan stated. He'd taken the fact for what it was when he found out earlier, too in awe that Anakin's and Padmé's child—children—had lived. Now though. Now… "That's going to take some getting used to. I never would have seen you as the type, even though you got along fairly well with the younglings at the temple. To think. It seems only yesterday you were a snippy little teenager."

"Rex told me the same thing after he found out. And technically, I still was a snippy little teenager when the twins were born," Ahsoka said with a shrug. "By the way…Most people think I'm their first mother. Their birth mother that is. Even Rex asked me. I know you know that's not true, but if anyone asks, well…don't correct the assumption. If word got out that Padmé's children were alive, the Emperor would instantly know and come after them. But if—When. When word gets out that I'm alive, if they're Ahsoka Tano's biological children, then their father could be any human male as far as most of the galaxy is concerned. Even the Emperor would have to do some investigating first, even if he thought me and Anakin had something back then."

"It wouldn't be a hard story to sell. Lord knows the media had some fascinating stories to tell about your…How do I put this delicately? Your personal life."

Ahsoka's lekku flushed, and Obi-wan distinctly remembered the woman's discovery of such salacious rumors when she was a padawan. Torrent Company had mercilessly used it to get a good laugh until Anakin came to her rescue and shut down the discussion.

"Come now. Let's find dinner, " Obi-wan said, heading out into the hallway.

"Wait. Obi-wan," Ahsoka called, and Obi-wan turned back to the young woman.

"Yes, Ah—" Obi-wan was taken aback as Ahsoka quickly closed the distance between them and hugged him.

"I missed you, Obi-wan," she admitted. "And I'm glad you're here. I don't think I've told you that yet."

He stood awkwardly for a moment before sighing and returning the embrace.

"I missed you too, young one. I'm glad to be here, and I promise I won't leave you by yourself again."

End Part Five

AN: Patience is a virtue, my readers. I told you everything would be fine between Ahsoka and Obi-wan (or at least implied it). And Obi-wan finally met Luke and Leia. They just needed some time. Ahsoka needed time in particular because Obi-wan represents something that hurt her and that she's tried her best to distance herself from. The Jedi. She goes through a similar arc as she does in Season 7 where she's lost and has to be reminded what being a Jedi is and make peace with that. And she couldn't make peace with that when in her head with Obi-wan around when he represented the Jedi as they were to her. She needed the distance she never got in this universe from not leaving the order.

Anywho, I hoped you enjoyed. Keep the kudos, comments, and subscriptions coming. I appreciate it!