It has been a little under a year since I last posted anything, I would like to apologize for that. I have been very busy and have had major writer's block on what I'm planning to do next in Walking Alongside the Past and The White Demon. But I promise I am not done with those two stories in any way. I'd just like to finish writing the rest of the rough draft for both stories before I try to post anything.

Now I have this story, which I'm naming The Five Stages of Grief. There will only be five chapters in this story. If you like what you've read, I will consider writing another set of stories using the same characters. I am very excited about this story, I honestly started writing it when I heard the series on Disney+, Kenobi, had been postponed for a time, as a possible storyline/script for the show, but I decided not to try and send it to the director at all. I felt it might be more appreciated here.

So, please favorite and follow either/both the story or me if you like either my writing style or the plot, and be sure to leave a review. I love reading what everyone thinks of what I write.

"Talking"

'Thoughts and spirits communicating'

Chapter 1: Negatio (Denial)

18 BBY

Tatooine

A year has passed since Palpatine, otherwise known as Darth Sidious, proclaimed the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire, but not much has changed on the desert, backwater planet that was Tatooine.

For Obi-wan Kenobi, now known simply as Ben Kenobi, the planet has both become his refuge and his prison. His prison since the planet always forced him to remember his padawan and brother that he had failed. His refuge since it is the one place he is safe from the Sith and his brother, both him and the last light and hope he has for the future. Luke Skywalker.

Now, as the sun sets on another day, Obi-wan sat on a boulder outside of his small hut, looking out over the small town of Mos Espa. Sitting silently, he reaches out in the Force, finding the now year-old child and wrapping up the boy's Presence, before disappearing into the Force again.

For less than a minute, Obi-wan felt completely whole again. For the last year, Obi-wan had to go around blind, doing all he could to not be tempted to open himself to the Universe once more. For less than a minute, he could feel everything that he'd missed, and everything that he'd lost.

Opening his eyes and standing up, he took one last look at the small city before starting to go back to his home.

'Obi-wan.'

Stopping at his doorway, Obi-wan sends a small wave around him, searching for any Presenses close to him. Sensing what he did, he turned around, a sad smile on his face.

"Master. It has been a long time."

The spirit in front of him nodded his head. 'About fifteen years now, Padawan."

With a slight shake of his head, Obi-wan responded, "I am no longer a Padawan, Master. I haven't been one in a long time."

'I have never met a full Jedi Knight or Master who has not remained a Padawan in some way. Even Master Yoda still learns new things that he hadn't before. If that old troll is still learning new tricks, then you still have plenty to learn as well.'

"I'm no longer a Jedi now, the only thing I could learn now is how to live on this dust ball."

With a slight smirk, Qui-gon's spirit states, 'Then you are still learning.'

With a huff, Obi-wan went back into his hut, not sparing the spirit of his old Master another glance.

Now alone, Qui-gon gained a melancholic look to his face, he looked at the now-closed door. 'Little one. I'm sorry I can't be more help to you.' Looking away and into the distance, he sees a sudden reflection of something in the desert. 'Now what can that be?'

Glancing once more at the hut, he disappears.

About fifty clicks away from the little hut, another figure crouched on a small outcrop, watching the place the man had gone into his small home. Looking through the scope, the figure watched as the apparition disappeared before their eyes.

'Might I ask what you're doing?'

The figure dropped the scope back to around their neck, and quickly grabbed the large staff that lay on the ground beside them. Now that the figure was facing him, Qui-gon was surprised to see the being that now stood guarded in front of him.

'A lone Sand Person?' Watching as the figure remained unmoved, Qui-gon stays at a distance, 'Is there something you want with the man living in the hut over there?'

"'Ana la 'atahadath l'edilizia." The figure said, still unmoving, Just from the person's voice, Qui-gon could now tell that the person in front of him was female.

'Thuma yumkinuna altahaduth mithl hdha.'

After staying in a standstill for a few seconds, the Sand Woman sighed and lowered her staff. "You want to know what I want with that man?" Surprised at the woman's fluency in Basic, he nodded. "It is because of the cylindrical weapon he carries on his belt. I want to know where he got it and who else might have one like it."

'Might I ask why you want to know about that?'

The woman stiffened and turned her head. When she spoke, there was now a new edge to her voice. "It's personal." She points toward the hut in the growing darkness. "But I believe that this so-called 'hermit' could have some of the answers I need."

Rubbing his chin, Qui-gon started forming a plan in his head. Mumbling to himself, "I feel you and Obi-wan have quite a lot in common.' Raising his voice so the Sand Woman could hear him, he crossed his arms and said, 'Alright. I figure you don't plan to really harm him?' At the shake of her clothed head, he continues. 'I'd like to ask you something important.'

The Sand Woman huffed and turned away, starting to grab all of her things. "Now what could you want with an "uncivilized" Sand Woman like me?"

Lowering his voice again, Qui-gon raised his hand to the bridge of his nose. 'Maybe this might not be a good idea. There is an equal chance that this woman and Obi-wan will either get along or not want anything to do with each other. ' Raising his voice once more and watches her pack, he states, 'He was also hurt badly. In such a way that he refuses to speak to anyone about it. His whole world taken away from him in only a few seconds. If I'm correct, I think you were both hurt by the same person.' At that, he watches as she stops what she's doing. 'Please miss, he is like my son. This is one of his faults; he always blames himself if anything goes wrong. He's always done that, and I believe I'm somewhat to blame for that -'

"Save your hindsight for farther in your afterlife." Unknowingly, Qui-gon had looked away and now the woman was now standing in front of him, looking him directly in the eye. "I'll help him. No need to go and start crying on me."

As she finished, the woman began walking away. Qui-gon called out to her retreating form. 'Wait ma'am.' She stopped and turned to her side. 'May I know your name?'

The woman looked down, as if in contemplation, then looked back to him. "I have no name now." Before Qui-gon could speak, she stopped him. "But years ago, I was known as Zarana."

After a few days of watching the man, Zara was getting bored. He didn't really do much, and the only thing of interest that happens is when he avoided any Raiders, bounty hunters, or Stormtroopers. Now in her full tusken garb, she decided to approach.

Holding her staff, she waits for him to come out of his home, a silent hunter. After a few moments, the hermit appears.

Zara watched as it took him a few seconds to notice her presence. He turns to her, and Zarana watches as he looks over her.

"Is there something you want?"

Zara doesn't answer him, watching him through her mask and scarves. Instead, she pulls her staff forward and steps into a more threatening stance. She grinned as she watched his face change to a more wary look and saw him move his hand to his side, where she saw the silver cylinder. She knew the type of damage that the weapon could do, she'd seen it herself. And with that she knew she had to move quickly.

Sprinting forward, Zara grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward, moving to the side to let him fall next to her. To her surprise, he just stumbled and twisted back around, now knowing that this was hand-to-hand. Deciding that she was going to have a bit of fun, Zara brought a finger up and made a small motion to him, egging him on to fight her.

'What the hell is this Tusken up to?'

Obi-wan was now almost certain that this being was playing with him. As soon as he'd decided to not draw his saber, the other person's attitude had changed completely, from hostile to amused. He wasn't sure what to do now.

The Tusken moved their head around, almost like an exaggeration of the other rolling their eyes. Then, they pulled their staff forward. Before he could react, they twisted it, causing the staff to split in two, and tossed one half to him. Instinctually catching it, he was now even more confused. Watching the other, Obi-wan saw as the other pulled off their outer robes, revealing a tan skin tight suit that still covered the entire body, with gloves remaining on the hands. Because of this, Obi-wan could now see that the Tusken was a female, any other features were still covered by the suit and the mask that she still wore. The next thing he did shocked him.

The woman moved a hand to her face, pulling the goggles away from her eyes, revealing amber orbs that he felt could see into his soul. Putting the goggles onto a small pile that also held her robes, she motioned for him to do the same.

"You wish to duel?"

She nodded, twirling her half of the staff almost like a saber. He pulled off his cloak leaving him in his tunic. He tested the balance of his half and found it all to be balanced. Made to perfection if it was in halves or even, if he could guess, the whole staff.

She started to circle him, with him opposing her. Surprisingly, it was Obi-wan who attacked first. Jumping over her, he slashed his staff toward the woman's now unprotected back. She blocked the attack, then twirled around and fell into a more defensive pose. He moved again, now trying to sweep her legs out from under her. She moved back and lashed out at him in return, managing to hit his shoulder. Hissing at the hit that would only leave a bruise, Obi-wan jumped back.

"Not bad, ma'am. You know what you're doing." She bowed, not speaking to him. Obi-wan asked, "Two out of three?"

She shrugged, but got back into a fighting stance. Obi-wan realized that this was probably the most fun he'd had in the last year.

They kept dueling until sunset, it was only then that the Tusken woman held up a hand. Obi-wan handed his half of the staff back to its owner, who twisted it back into its full height. The woman nodded her thanks, before grabbing her robes and goggles before walking away.

"Wait." The amber orbs turned back toward him, not yet covered by the goggles once more. She pulled on outer robes, still watching Obi-wan. "Is there any chance that you will come back?"

She watched him for a second, before answering in a muffled voice. "We shall see. As long as the Force allows it."

The Tusken woman walked away, not letting Obi-wan ask her anything else. He watched her walk away, before also grabbing his cloak and shrugging it back on. "I wonder what that was all about?"

'As she said, you shall see.' Qui-gon had answered his silent question.

Obi-wan looked to his mentor, "Do I have a reason to believe that you have something to do with this?"

The spirit just smiled, not answering his former apprentice's question.

Obi-wan shook his head. "Then in any case, this is going to be an interesting change."

AN: Hope you enjoyed the story. As I said before, this is not a one-shot and there will be five chapters in this story.

Translations:

'ana la 'atahadath al'iinjlizia: I dont speak English.

Hope everyone enjoyed, I will not be putting any sort of schedule for this story as I'm still writing out the rest of the chapters, but I do promise that all the other chapters will be longer than this one.