Sorry to take so long! Things went a little crazy around here- work and school. Sorry! Part two is the same scene, in the other point of view.
I suppose it is time for the story to be told. Almost everyone has asked what happened down there. I have never been able to tell the story before now. It is a hard tale. But it is one that needs to be told- for the future if nothing else.
Those last weeks of the Republic were so utterly chaotic, that putting events into some form of coherent order is beyond what I could ever do. I suspect that not even the Team could do it. Yes I know what the younglings say. We are The Team, and we can do anything.
And everyone knows that one of the most pivotal events in those last days was- almost as important as when I put down the Jedi Rebellion- took place on some world that, were it not for the fact that these events happened there, is utterly insignificant, between just the two of us. Some people are hardly surprised by that. After all, they say, we are Kenobi and Skywalker. Anakin and Obi-Wan. We were a rallying point for the Republic. Now, we are heroes to the Empire.
Everyone knows when and why I renounced the Jedi Order- when I walked in on Mace Windu's assassination attempt. We have never told why and how my brother did.
Yes, I call him my brother. Our relationship has been complex, but the one thing that has remained the same is that we are family. And to call ourselves brothers is the easiest of solutions.
On Mustafar, our family nearly unraveled. It was neither of our faults. Rather, blame the council, for trying to separate us. We had both been pushed to, and perhaps beyond, our breaking points. It could have ended up very differently. We were within inches of a fight to the death. Does that surprise you? It is amazing what can happen when things go wrong. I have never understood it. If Master Yoda and Master Windu had been less critical of us both, we might have joined them. But because they saw us as a threat- and rightly, as it turned out- we were pushed away from the Jedi.
The Emperor had sent me to Mustafar, on an important mission. I was to find and arrest the Separatist leaders. When I arrived, they were dead, but I was able to deactivate the droid armies. And then I waited. I knew that he would come looking for me.
I could only hope that he hadn't been too caught in the lies of the Jedi to see the truth. If he couldn't- if he hadn't been able to see past the lies he had been told- we would have fought. I'm glad that didn't happen. I don't know which of us would have won- but I'm sure the loser would have been better off. To deal with killing my brother… that might have killed me, in the end. Thankfully, that didn't happen.
There were other minor problems to deal with, even if he did join the Empire. I won't go into them, but they have been solved. Like the younglings say, there is nothing we can't do.
When he arrived- I was not surprised, as some had thought. I knew he would come. After all, we are brothers. He vaulted out of his fighter, and unhooked his lightsaber. He left it unlit, and for that I was grateful. I spoke first. "I knew you would come. I've been waiting for you."
"Why?" He burst out. I could feel the anguish in this question. He was not asking why I was waiting for him. He knew the reason. He was asking me why I had left the Jedi, why I had fought against the Masters.
I smiled gently. "Because it was the right thing to do. Don't you see? We can have peace now."
He shook his head, desperately. "You've betrayed us, the Jedi, and the Republic."
I shook my head in return. "No, I haven't. We were betrayed by the Jedi, my brother. They are still betraying us."
He lit his saber then, and I followed suit. "Don't make me do this!" He begged. "Stop going down this path!"
I sighed- there were times when he could be amazingly dense. "I'm not making you do this. Whoever survived on the council, and sent you here is forcing this on you."
He shook his head, but I could feel that he believed me. (I found out later that it was Master Yoda who survived and sent him to me. Somehow, that didn't surprise me at all.)
"I know you don't want to do this- you don't want to fight me, to take the chance that you might kill me." I said. He winced. I guessed that he'd rather be anywhere but here. How had we nearly come to blows? We were at an impasse.
Something drastic needed to be done, some insane move for which the two of us were known for. Yes, I know how some people think about us, they say that we're both crazy. I prefer to say that the Force gives us plans that no one else could possibly hope to use. I stared at him, searching.
I knew what I was risking when I deactivated my saber. The move stunned him, but then my words surprised him even more. "I can show you why, if you truly want to know." I said.
His eyes widened. "Wh-What?" He stammered. He was startled, stunned, afraid, and also tempted. He wanted to come back with me. I dared hope then, that we might both get out of this in one piece.
I grinned at my brother. "You know that separate, we are formidable. Put us together, and there is no one who could stand against us. Everyone knows it. Together, we have the power to save those who would otherwise die."
"Who would otherwise die…" He whispered. I knew that was one of his biggest fears, losing those he loved.
He closed his eyes and shut off his lightsaber. At that moment, I regretted that I did not know exactly what he was thinking, but I knew he had to choose between the principles of the Jedi Order, and myself. I could only hope that he was more loyal to me then to the Order.
I held out my hand as he opened his eyes. "Join me." I said softly.
He shuddered, almost unnoticeably. I wonder, sometimes, if he even noticed. He stared down at my hand, and then at my face. "Yes. I'll join you." He said- and took my hand.
That is how he joined the Empire. Anakin Skywalker joined the Empire because I, Obi-Wan Kenobi, asked him to join. And I have always been grateful he said yes.
Last Post will be in a couple of days.