Thanks so, so much to everyone who reviewed part one. It means so much.

IIIIIOIIIII

Part Two

He wanted to live in this moment forever. There was nowhere else to go, for the past and the future surrounded them, waiting to engulf them. Here, in the patch of sanity that was this moment, he was holding onto Anakin, and Anakin was clasping onto him. They were no longer on separate sides of an endless chasm.

Their fate was irrevocably sewn to one another. This, Obi-Wan had always known.

And it seemed then that their destined path was one riddled with cracks, crumbling at the very end. What could possibly become of Anakin now, after what he…

Obi-Wan bit his lip to gate a sob, but it slipped through, evading his attempts at control—as everything else had. Hot moisture pooled on his neck where his former apprentice was huddled. With spastic fingers, he stroked the sweaty locks of gold, closing his eyes against the clotted smoke and fire, bringing to his mind the image of Anakin as he had once been.

There, in the sweet, forgiving light of his consciousness, he saw his friend. Please, he begged, slipping into the comfort of his own periphery, Let me see no more than this.

For a few moments, he was allowed to breathe, every thought suspended as he clung to the body against his. I want no more than this. There was nothing that could equal this feeling, nothing that could possibly rival the rightness of it.

But his respite passed, like a dark, striated cloud over the Mustafar sun, and then the Force was shining in him, moving through his veins, telling him that they must wade through the uncertainty of the unfolding seconds.

There was danger. It was coming to them, coming to them quickly, on silent wings.

He needs to leave here. Obi-Wan blinked, lifting his head with weary reluctance from Anakin. He glanced at the horizon, just over the hill. And so does she. Something tingled in his chest, and he frowned.

"Master," Anakin was pulling at him, pressing his face in the thick layers of tunic, shaking violently.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan replied, rubbing the remnants of tears from his eyes. He laid his hand on a slick, warm cheek. "Anakin, we have to go."

Terror rimmed the blue of Anakin's widened eyes. "No. No…we…"

Obi-Wan looked down and took a breath before meeting that frightened gaze again, "There is nothing here for you. You…" He swallowed, "You can't run forever. You must be strong now. For your wife, for your children. They must be your focus now. You have to go to Padme."

Anakin sniffed, more tears freely descending his face, "I…I hurt her."

"You did," Obi-Wan nodded. He grasped onto the other's shoulders, "But there is a chance to change things. You must be strong enough to face your sins, Anakin. She needs you."

Anakin's head dropped into his hands, and he was taking deep breaths as Obi-Wan watched. Then he looked up, a pained, pure resolve glistening through the sheen of torment.

Obi-Wan helped him to his feet, and side-by-side, they ran up the loose, dark rock, towards the starship.

IIIIIOIIIII

Padme Amidala was no longer the young sovereign of a beautiful planet, nor the vocal, fearless Senator. She looked small as she lay on the flat, slender bed, eyes shut and head turned away. Anakin went to her side at once, fervently whispering her name through hitching sobs.

Obi-Wan stood apart from them, remembering how things had been so many years before, when they were merely children. He saw their bright, innocent faces, and the memory became another stab to the worn flesh of his heart. Certainly there was a connection between them, had been for over three years, but it was a desperate one, born of loneliness and lust. And the war had worsened it. He couldn't help but think he should have intervened in those early days of their relationship, when the ties were fresh enough that it would not have been a life-destroying severance. But he had been halted by the happiness he saw, in the too-old eyes of his Padawan. He had ached for Anakin's contentment. He looked the other way, and in doing so, missed much more than he could have envisioned.

He had studied the ancient tomes detailing the fable of the Chosen One, read and reread the prophecy that explained the power of the Jedi's greatest hero.

But he had always been worried what it entailed, for although it spoke of bringing balance, of returning universal equilibrium, it never included a word describing the damage any of it would have on the Chosen One himself. Many nights, he had roamed the Temple, brooding, wondering if someone with so much weight on his shoulders could ever attain peace, or discover a single, lasting joy.

He never entertained the idea that he, Obi-Wan, would have been enough to give Anakin that serenity. For Anakin, there was never satisfaction. His Master was never enough.

And so there was Padme.

And Palpatine.

He watched Anakin bend down, to run a tremor-seized hand along the sweaty brow of his mate.

A heavy breath fell away from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Still, I have failed you.

At that moment, Padme stirred, and with a faint moan, opened her eyes. Her lips pursed and delicate brows knotted, as she struggled through the ether of injury-induced slumber.

Anakin rested his thumb against the top of her cheekbone. "Padme…a-are you alright?"

Such raw vulnerability, and Obi-Wan felt a new set of tears spring to his eyes. He stepped closer, hearing her shallow breaths above his quiet footsteps.

She was in obvious pain, but when her focus fastened on Anakin, a relieved sigh escaped her. "Oh…Ani." She smiled tremulously, "You're…you're here."

"Yes, I'm here. I'm here, Padme." He uttered, pressing light kisses along her gleaming, sickly wet skin, "I-I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

She nodded. "I'm fine, now that I know you're here."

Then, for the second time in the span of an hour, Anakin broke down, crying as he carefully embraced his wife.

Obi-Wan permitted them a few minutes, his eyes fixed on the ground. He gathered the Force around him—and again, there was a flex, a twist he felt between his ribs. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Anakin…" The Master extended a hand, resting it on the bowed back. "Anakin."

Anakin swept his fingers up the line of Padme's jaw, and her slim fingers reached up, to wrap around his. Their grip tightened, then Anakin withdrew, turning to face Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan could barely conceal his sadness. This man standing before him looked as if he had lived his twenty-three years several times over, dark lines shadowing his pale gaze, hair hanging dead to his shoulders. Anakin moistened his lips, and murmured to his friend, "What will happen to me now?"

Obi-Wan could taste the stagnant air of the funeral pyre on his tongue, as though it had drifted through a score of years, to recreate the first moments of their relationship. Here he was again, in mourning, fire in the distance and Anakin filling his vision, asking so fearfully of his fate.

But this time, there was no fervent promise he could truthfully make. He could not say whether or not Anakin would be a Jedi.

Obi-Wan managed the smallest of smiles. "You will do what is right, my old Padawan. Only then will you know that ultimately, it doesn't matter what happens to you. In the end, we are all of the Force."

"I have…" Anakin shuddered and shook his head, "I've made a mockery of the Force."

Obi-Wan touched his forearm. "The Force cannot hate you, and neither can I."

Moisture glittered anew in Anakin's gaze. "Master…will you help me?" He gripped onto Obi-Wan at the elbows, "I think you're the only one who can."

Obi-Wan's eyes went to the window, while the prickle traveled his connection to the Force. And the next moment, he knew what he needed to do. He smiled again, taking Anakin's face between his hands. "I will help you, Anakin. I will tell you something you should've been told before.

"To fear death is to fear the natural cadence of life. There is no black magic that will save anyone from death. When…when my Master died, I couldn't understand why he had been taken from me. I saw him run through by a Sith blade,"

Anakin's eyes fell momentarily, broiling with shame.

"And I saw, terribly clear, the pain he endured. When I finally reached him, the signs of that pain had disappeared. As the last breath left his body…he was smiling. So often, I saw that smile in my dreams, and resented it. I was angry, because he looked happy as he was deserting me. But I've realized that he didn't desert me. He didn't choose to go at that moment, but he didn't fight the will of the Force, either. He joined with it, and became a part of its beauty. He was all I had. And I loved him, very much.

"There was a void in my life after he was gone. You filled that, Anakin. In that way…I could understand the rhythm of the Force, because it took something away, and gave something to replace it. The death of my Master was difficult to overcome, but I know that he is there in the Force, changing its shape as every spirit does. Making it stronger, and thus, making everything it touches stronger."

"I…" Anakin struggled to form the words, "I don't know if I can…if I can accept things that way."

But Obi-Wan's smile widened. "You will, Anakin. You'll understand."

Padme sat up, hands weaving absently over the large swell of her belly, "Why are you saying all this now?" She asked the Jedi, a vein of suspicion in her gentle voice. "Obi-Wan, is something…"

Obi-Wan put his finger to his temple, eyes half-closed. Now. It is here. He blinked, and took a breath, "Anakin, you need to take her away from here. The children are coming soon. Seek out a medical facility, as far from here as the contractions will allow."

"Children?" The lovers questioned in unison.

But he did not hear them. His senses were flooding with the new arrival on the unstable system. There's no more time. He inhaled, squeezing Anakin's hands. "Their safety is paramount, Anakin. Whatever happens, do what you can to protect that goodness, while preserving your own."

Anakin regarded him with disconcertment. "Master, what's going on?" From his demeanor, in his aura within the Force, Obi-Wan could sense that Anakin was aware of the Sith's presence. "You're coming with us. You're coming with me—"

Obi-Wan released his grasp, and took a short step backward. "My mission is no different than yours, friend."

"Master…."

"Anakin, remember what I've told you."

The younger man grabbed him by the shoulder. "Master, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do what needs to be done, just as you are."

Anakin shook his head. "This isn't right. It's my fault all this happened. I joined up with…with him."

"Your place is with Padme, and the babies, Anakin. This is what the Force wants."

"But I—"

"And here is where you will learn," Obi-Wan whispered, hugging his former apprentice fleetingly, "To let go of what you want, and do what the Force asks."

Anakin wrapped his arms around Obi-Wan. "No. Please, don't…I can't…"

Obi-Wan stepped away, taking in the sight of his apprentice, alive and whole, beside the woman who would bear two beautiful, Force-blessed children. It was a somber moment; he doubted he would ever be given the chance to see them this way again, and yet, he smiled. "You can, Anakin," He confirmed, "You can."

IOI

Obi-Wan Kenobi stood on the same heat-scorned earth where he had so recently been, watching the graceful little cruiser streak into the crimson sky.

And then, he was alone.

But only for a moment.

IIIIIOIIIII