Author's Note: New chapter! Already!

I actually wrote Chapter 9 first, but then realized I needed this chapter to make the timeframe work out properly. So you get two chapters at once. I'm spoiling you. :)

Disclaimers may be found in Chapter 1. – vraie-rose

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Obi-Wan came out of his meditation with a start. Padme was shaking him, and not very gently. "Did you hear me?"

He looked at her, then glanced at the clock, then back at her, bewildered. "Padme, we're still over an hour from Alderaan. Is something wrong with Luke?" The boy seemed to be sleeping peacefully not far from them, but perhaps he was ailing?

She sighed and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "No, everything's fine. But, based on when Leia told Luke she was on a spaceship, she's probably already landed on Alderaan. I thought you should be awake to keep track of her and…whatever might happen to her."

Obi-Wan sat up a little straighter. "It doesn't quite work that way, but yes, I'm glad you brought me out of my meditation." He put a slight stress on the last word – Padme still seemed to confuse mediation and sleep. "I can sense Leia, a little, usually, but I've shielded her from Force-users, so…"

While he had been talking, Obi-Wan had reached out in his mind, to try to find Leia's light – and had run into somebody quite different. He bit his lip, and looked at Padme. Did the poor woman really need this extra burden?

He tried to continue, as if he had never abruptly stopped. "So it's hard to sense anything in particular…"

Padme interrupted him. "What was that all about? You sensed something, Obi-Wan, I know it!"

He looked away.

Padme sat in the pilot's chair. "Sith!" Obi-Wan looked up in surprise at the curse word, especially the memory-laden one. "I hate it when men treat me like the little woman! Tell me!"

Obi-Wan looked up and met her eyes. "There's someone else close to Alderaan. I don't know if that's where he's planning to land. He could have any number of other destinations in mind, but I'm beginning to think that this whole thing is Force-planned, and I have the distinct feeling that Alderaan is where he's headed."

His eyes told her what his words only hinted at. "Ani?" she asked in disbelief.

"Vader." Obi-Wan spat the word out, with unaccustomed vehemence. "Don't ever forget it, Padme. He is no longer your darling Ani. He is a evil, horrible Sith Lord who kills Jedi for sport and would kill you as soon as look at you. You hold the future in Luke and Leia, don't you dare forfeit it by falling prey to ghosts from your past." His anger spent, he said more quietly, "I won't let you."

It was Padme's turn to look at the man who'd been her and her children's protector, these past five years. She swallowed hard, then took Obi-Wan's hand in both of hers. "I would die for my children, Obi-Wan. You need not fear that I will have any mercy towards Vader, if meet we do. He means nothing to me any more – he killed my Ani."

Obi-Wan had never heard it put that way before, but it fit. He raised his eyes to hers. Her eyes faintly swollen from crying, red-rimmed with exhaustion, now strong with determination and conquered memories.

He felt at peace, knowing his decision was right, knowing exactly what he must do. "Padme, you must stay on the ship. Before I leave, I will establish a training bond with Luke, as well as a strong Force shield. If he tells you to take off, you must do so. That will mean I have failed, and it will be my last goodbye to you and Luke before Vader adds me to his trophy list. If I die, the temporary protection I have put around Leia will fail, and he will find her. If that happens, you must take off, to protect Luke. He will be our last hope, then."

He smiled, bittersweetly. "Padme, if I never see you and Luke again, may your days be long; may you find happiness; and may the Force always be with you."

She forced a smile onto her face. For the first time since becoming Padme's protector, Obi-Wan felt as they were truly friends, after all the fighting, all the disagreements, all the small crises. "May the Force be with us all, Obi-Wan Kenobi."