Distraction: Chapter Eleven

For being seemingly slightly disabled, the little Jedi seemed more than able to maneuver the stony path up into the jagged ridge. I had been so close, having taken shelter at the base of the same location. His dwelling was a small domed hovel carved from mud that perfectly matched its surroundings. It could easily have been mistaken for part of the ridge, which I supposed was the point.

"Sit, you shall." He said when we entered, pointing with his walking stick toward a dusty chair. I had sand in bodily crevices I hadn't realized I'd had before now and didn't bother wiping off the seat.

"Master Yoda," I began, only to be interrupted.

"Tea. Tea, I shall fix you."

A drink sounded wonderful. I hadn't had anything since I'd left the cantina early that morning. I was parched, but I was also too eager to wait. I had questions.

Almost as if he were reading my mind, the Jedi Master scolded me and hobbled to the kitchen. "Time for questions later. A decent blend from a neighbor I've gotten. Try it, you should."

Neighbor? What neighbor? I hadn't seen any sign of anything living out there. Who would want to live here anyway? And why was Yoda here? He could've chosen any desolate system to hide in. Why this one?

"No sugar or cream for me, thanks."

His shoulders sagged as he poured dark, steaming liquid into two chipped, pottery mugs. He handed me mine and then retrieved his own before sitting on a narrow sofa across from me. He sighed before taking a sip. I mimicked his actions, delighted and surprised the concoction tasted better than it had smelled.

"Many questions, you have. Answer them all, I will."

Where to begin? Perhaps the most daunting one first. "Who am I?"

I watched him closely, ready to dispute any half-truth or outright lie I detected. Surely, this creature was honest. He was, after all, the leader of the righteous Jedi, was he not?

An additional wrinkle was added to the multitude he already had on his green forehead, and it drew his eyes together. Again, I felt a rush of power over me.

Apparently satisfied, he leaned forward onto his stick. "Who think you are, do you?"

Fine. We would play by his rules. "I've been mistaken for Obi-Wan Kenobi on numerous occasions, as a matter of fact," I told him.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, I knew very well. Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are not."

It pained me to hear it. What was I thinking? That I could take his place? I shouldn't have come here, I decided. No matter what, however, I would not be returning to Coruscant. I wondered if I had enough influence left to win a few hands in town. At least enough for a ticket off this sand heap.

My thoughts were interrupted by a tap on my knee. Yoda had struck me with his walking stick, and not delicately either.

"Control your thoughts you should. My student, much more careful would he be. When trained how to guard your mind, only then, useful will you be."

"Useful?" I couldn't help but reply with a scornful laugh. In this state I was about as useful as a teat on a bull bantha.

"Ahhh," he hummed. "Lack confidence you do. Fear, you feel. See it I can. Feel it in the Force, I do. Surrounds you, it does."

I hung my head. Ever since this all began, I had been plagued with doubts and yes, fear. I didn't know who I was or where I fit in any longer. "If you were in my position, you'd feel the same."

Once again, my leg was tapped, only this time it was a more sympathetic gesture.

"Spoke harshly did I earlier. Obi-Wan I said you were not, yet a shadow of Obi-Wan you are."

My face pinched in confusion. "What? What does that mean? Can't you be straightforward? Tell me the truth! Who am I?"

Another grunt followed by a look of disappointment. "The resemblance, uncanny it is. Inside your mouth, we should look."

"Wh…what did you say?" Did he have some sort of fascination with oral hygiene? Or had sand worked its way into his brain?

In quick succession to his comment, a shiny metal lid came flying from the kitchen into his tridactyl claw.

"For yourself, you should see."

I didn't understand, but I wasn't going to admit anything more. If he was insane, then perhaps I should humor him. In the state I was currently in, he could more than likely dispose of me fairly quickly. I had spied his lightsaber in the corner of the common area the moment I'd walked in. I was presently without one. It wouldn't be much of a fight.

I did as he asked and opened my mouth, using the reflective surface to study it. Teeth, gums, tongue. Everything seemed present and in normal condition.

"Hi dun unnerthan whu do nook or."

Again with the stick, he pried my lower lip down, revealing a series of dashes and numbers. I looked closely and then lowered the lid and shut my mouth.

"What is that?"

"A code. Used by cloning facilities, it is."

There was no hesitation or telltale signs he was lying to me. I had to look again and reversed the digits and dashes to gain a more accurate reading. The final number that followed two slashes was twenty-three.

Yoda seemed to know about this. Perhaps he knew what that meant as well.

"Twenty-three?"

"Your creation number. The order in which you were made, that is."

I allowed the possibility to sink in, only for it to refuse to go down without a fight. This couldn't be possible! I voiced my opinion, again revealing my lack of control to him, but at this point, I didn't care.

"Let me get this straight. Somehow and for some reason, somebody has cloned Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and I'm number twenty-three? Why? Why would anyone want to do this?"

Yoda looked at me with large, kind, green eyes that still showed very little sympathy. However, they did reveal patience. The type of patience that came from a long lifetime of dealing with idiots such as myself.

He was silently waiting for me to figure it out on my own. I knew the answer. I just didn't want to believe it.

"The Emperor." I stated flatly. "He's using clones of Kenobi to do his bidding. Just for his own entertainment? Or as a final retaliation to the Jedi?"

"Both, I believe," Yoda confirmed. "The Dark Side, difficult to see through, it is. Turbulent and clouded the Force has become."

I understood that particular statement better than anything he'd said so far. A Sith didn't desire peace. They thrived on malice and discontent. Even my own name reflected that: Malefic. Lord Malefic. I outwardly cringed as I recalled it.

"More questions, have you, hm?"

It was difficult to get past the first one. Although I'd suspected I had some type of connection to Kenobi, I didn't think I was an exact replica of him.

"Yes," I spoke with far less emotion. This next line of questioning was more intimate than discovering my own identity.

"There's a woman. A beautiful woman. Dark eyes and equally dark hair. I dream about her. I've had waking visions of her. She calls me by…his name."

Again, Master Yoda showed no sign of surprise. Surely, the Jedi aren't that stoic. And then it occurred to me: Why should he be showing surprise when…

"I'm not the first clone to sit here and talk with you, am I?"

"No," he stated simply.

"The others - Did they have the same visions?" I could almost guess his answer.

"Yes."

I closed my eyes. The room was tilting and I needed to find my balance. I searched inside for some type of support. Dark or Light. I didn't care at this point. I needed something!

Suddenly, a soft, soothing voice began telling a story. I kept my eyes closed but listened intently.

"Senator Padme Amidala, her name is. A love affair she and Obi-Wan developed. Obi-Wan's student, jealous he became. This jealousy, led him down a dark path, it did. At his hands, was Obi-Wan killed."

For some reason, learning of this particular betrayal hurt me more than anything else. I had considered Anakin not only a comrade but a brother. If I had feelings for anyone other than this woman, it was him.

"Sorry, am I. For you, for Anakin, for the Senator. Confused, you are. In the dark, Skywalker is, but in pain, the Senator is."

That got my attention. I opened my eyes and leaned forward. "Pain? What pain? Are you saying she's alive? In my last dream, I saw her lying still and thought she was dead. Isn't she dead?"

"Her spirit, still in this world does it reside but troubled it is. Waiting on you, she has been."

"I know," I mumbled, finding it more than a little difficult to take all of this in. I thought of pinching myself to make sure this wasn't just another dream, but the sand digging into my backside was proof enough. "What do I do? How do I find her?"

"Surrounded by darkness, she is. Only her life force I can read, not her location."

"I see," I answered, though I really didn't and I honestly had no idea what to do next. "Tell me one more thing. If I'm not the first clone of Kenobi to come talk to you, what did the others do at this point?"

"Different in small ways, they all were. Some angrier than others. Deny the truth, a few did. Two eaten by Krayt dragons they were."

That could've easily been me. I shook my head over my own foolishness. What had I been thinking wandering around the desert, blinded by a storm? From this point on, I was going to have to be a lot smarter.

Again Yoda waited patiently while I considered everything he'd told me. I studied each experience I'd had the past few months until finally, the light came on, so-to-speak.

"The palace. She has to be in the palace!" I said excitedly, disappointed my discovery hadn't even caused a twitch on Yoda's face. I calmed myself down, remembering this wasn't the first time he'd dealt with this. Hopefully, it would be the last. "I was following a clue I'd seen in a vision, which led me to the lower levels of the palace where I found a datachip. That's when I first suspected something was…wrong with me. There was top-level security down there, so that's where she has to be."

"Only in your mind is wrongness. Embrace the truth, accept and learn from your discoveries you should. If not, your undoing will they be."

I understood. I could either take this information, be brave and create a decent life from it, or I could run and keep running for the remainder of my existence. Running probably wasn't the best option. The Emperor had spies in every corner of the galaxy. Most likely, on Tatooine as well.

The best reason, however, was that someone was depending on me. Someone I loved. Funny. I loved her and I didn't even know her. Not really.

Following my decision, I glanced outside the single round window in the kitchen and saw the double suns dipping low on the horizon. Yoda once again read my thoughts.

"Too late and dangerous to travel it is. Sleep here, you shall."

"Thank you, Master Yoda," I told him, followed by a friendly smile. I truly was thankful for all the information he'd provided but realized my future was my own. The realization was both liberating and frightening.

I was exhausted and lay immediately down on the sofa he'd vacated. Yoda hobbled over and retrieved a worn blanket from a trunk and handed it to me.

"Cold in the evenings, it is. If you need me, in the next room will I be."

I spread the blanket over my legs and used my arm as a pillow. There was a lot on my mind, but if I was to make any plans the next day, I needed to get some rest.

Before leaving me, Yoda glanced back. "Good night, Obi-Wan," he said with as little enthusiasm as he had anything else.

Although I now understood my new reality, I had yet to come to terms with it. "You can call me Ben," I suggested with a grin. "Good night, Master Yoda."