Chapter Twenty-One - Sith and Jedi

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Obi-Wan and Padmé moved apart. The Dark Side of the Force reached him, bathing him in its filth. Kenobi was in the presence of a Sith Lord, one who knew he was here. Carried on that wave was the personality, the Force sense, of the individual that generated it. The mind was more sophisticated and educated than the last time he'd been in this person's presence, but it had to be

Anakin.

Everything that hadn't made sense since Anakin's death – disappearance – fell into place at once. Anakin is Darth Vader. How did he survive? How could I not have seen this?

What have I done?

Obi-Wan couldn't just step inside the ysalamir bubble and hide; Vader would come in and find Padmé and the children.

Padmé. As quickly as he could without hurting Padmé, Obi-Wan propelled her into the house. "Go." Her Force sense vanished as she stumbled into the ysalamir-generated bubble. "It's Vader. Stay there, no matter what happens. He is beyond your ability to fight, he'll learn about the children if you come out. I'll be all right, even if I lose, I promise. He won't come in." He reached in, pressed his lips to hers again, once, twice. For luck. Kenobi retreated and stepped outside, then down the steps.

A lightsaber activated at the edge of the clearing, and white-red light reflected off of edges on gleaming black body armor. Obi-Wan pulled his old lightsaber hilt from its hiding place in the small of his back. He breathed deeply, finding his center, the peaceful calm through which he accessed the Light. Snap-hiss. Blue light glowed in the clearing, an answer to the red glare that approached.

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Padmé retreated into the house, dazed. Her heart was still thumping from Obi-Wan's kisses, but his words terrified her. A Sith Lord here?

Calm down, Padmé. Obi-Wan said he won't come in, even if his loses.

Even if he loses?!

Be calm, don't think about that. Okay, this house has to appear empty. Once again, Padmé blessed Obi-Wan's foresight in bringing the ysalamiri. No change in light or sound. Find Laurae. "Laurae," she called softly.

"Coming, M'Lady," the girl replied. She walked around the corner from the nursery doorway, grinning broadly. "It's about time," she began, chuckling.

"Quietly. Get your rifle. Darth Vader is here." Laurae's expression went from gleeful to frightened in less than a second. Both women moved to Laurae's bedchamber and, without turning any lights on, pulled out the Lieutenant's cache of blasters from her closet's upper shelf. Laurae unlocked it in the dark, then pressed a blaster and a power pack into Padmé's hands. She slapped another power pack into her favorite rifle.

"We can't interfere in their fight, I'll explain later, but you plant yourself outside that nursery door and shoot anyone who comes around that corner that isn't me or the General," Padmé commanded. She shooed the younger woman toward the back of the house, then wrapped a cloak around herself to better hide herself in the shadows. Padmé slipped her shoes off her feet. She moved just inside the parlor, blaster in hand.

"What are you doing?" Laurae hissed. She could hear weird sounds coming from outside, and flashes of light cast crazy shadows in the parlor.

"I want my best warrior closest to my children. Stay there, no matter what you see or hear, until you hear me or the General call for you," Padmé said.

"You'd be safer in there with them," Laurae protested.

She could just make out Padmé shaking her head in the darkness. "I need to keep an eye on what's happening out there." Laurae shook her head in protest. "Please, Laurae. Take the droids into the nursery and shut them down, too."

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Vader's weak eyes and keen Force sense scanned the clearing and the house. He thought he'd sensed someone else, but nobody was there now. Just Obi-Wan and him. Vader smiled – Just like old times. How ironic it was that the last living Jedi Knight should be his own knight-master. Though soon, he would stand alone, victorious over the last of the Jedi.

Obi-Wan's voice, calm and confident, drifted to Vader's ears. "Anakin," he said in greeting.

Vader struck with such force that Kenobi staggered. "That name is meaningless, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan shook his head to clear it. His arm ached. I've been riding a desk for too long, he decided. I can do this. She loves me.

Darth Vader understood it as clearly as if Kenobi had said the words. He snarled and struck in response. Even in the darkness, he noticed something strange about his former master's Force sense. Kenobi wasn't thinking of a friend; he was in love. "Even you couldn't last forever, Obi-Wan. I knew that if you ever got off your arrogant pedestal, you'd give in, just as Qui-Gon did, just as I did." Vader attempted to search the former Jedi's mind for some hint of whom he was thinking of, but Kenobi's shields were too advanced for Vader to get in. The blades sparked as they hit twice. The Jedi retreated a step, measuring up his opponent. Vader feinted to the right, then slashed left. Obi-Wan deflected the blow, wincing. "Didn't like that, did you, Kenobi?" Vader sneered.

"None of this had to happen, Anakin. I heard it from Yoda himself. You would never have had a Padawan, but they would have kept you in the Order." He's too far gone, I can't save him. What could I have done differently?

"Liar," Vader spat. The blades clashed again.

Full of sorrow, the Jedi chose not to answer. Anakin would believe what he wanted to believe. That was how he had always been. Misery threatened to overwhelm Obi-Wan, and the Dark Side teased him: Unleash your anger and squash him like a gnat, you don't deserve this. Instead, Obi-Wan breathed deeply, remembering his center of calm, and accessed it. He had to stay true, to keep on being who and what Padmé loved. He wouldn't disappoint or betray her, as Anakin had. He gathered his strength, swatting the sinister impulse away.

His lack of a reaction appeared to add to Vader's ire, for he advanced, jabbing forward. Pivoting, Obi-Wan sidestepped the thrust and swung his saber around, aiming for the Sith Lord's back. Vader reached over and behind his head, blocked the hit, then lashed out with a move that would have beheaded his opponent, had he not ducked.

The sabers were clashing, blurs of scarlet and cerulean flying faster and faster as the Jedi and Sith struggled for dominance. The warriors dueled for several minutes, neither of them gaining enough of an advantage, each searching for an opening, until...

Obi-Wan had wondered many times about what had gone through Master Jinn's mind as that mysterious Sith Lord began the sequence of strikes that led to his demise. The pause in the flurry of strikes and counters...the knocking of handle to handle as the Sith got Qui-Gon's saber out of the way...feeling the Sith's weapon hit his face, stunning him...then feeling the blade rip through his body.

Obi-Wan was about to find out; nothing could stop it. He could see how Vader would strike, but even the Force couldn't help Kenobi parry the blade in time. Inhumanly fast, Vader swept his blade around and, stabbing instead of slashing, drove the red saber into Kenobi's body. It sliced through clothing, flesh, and bone. Obi-Wan gasped and fell to the ground.

With a roar of victory, Vader used the Force to propel Kenobi away from him. Should have been prepared for that, that ugly Sith did this to me, too, Obi-Wan mused as his body flew through the air. He hit a tree at the edge of the clearing. Bones broke, and he fell to the ground again.

In his mind, carefully shielded from any probing, Obi-Wan smiled. Vader will think I'm dead and go, Padmé will get help, and healers will bring me around. We'll all be safe and together. He tasted dirt and sank into hibernation, a trance that would accelerate healing.

Obi-Wan's breath and heart stilled as he initiated the trance. His Force aura surged, like a bird launching itself into the air, then disappeared.

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