Part Three
Anakin Skywalker, secretly Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, walked into his apartment. He was followed by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Dark Jedi Master.
They were met by the twelve year old twins, Luke and Leia Skywalker, who were involved in a heated argument.
Luke broke off the argument for a second. "Hi Dad. Hi Uncle Obi-Wan." He turned back to his sister. "It's because no one would understand."
"Some people would." Leia insisted. "But if it was put in they'd remember all the Jedi propaganda and they'd rebel."
Luke shook his head. "Anyone who would is already rebelling, or supporting the rebellion." He argued.
Anakin lifted an eyebrow. "Just what are you two arguing about?" He asked as he took a seat nearby.
"We're doing a unit on the formation of the Empire in school." Luke started.
"We've been talking about the Jedi rebellion." Leia said.
"And how both of you left the Jedi Order." Luke continued.
"We got to read what you and Uncle Obi-Wan wrote about when you were on Mustafar."
"And we were wondering why you didn't write anything about the Dark Side or the Sith. I thought it was because no one would understand."
"And I thought it might make people want to rebel." Leia finished.
Obi-Wan smiled. "You are both right." He said. "Most people just cannot understand the Force. Those that can, in some small way, are still blinded by the Jedi beliefs. They might want to rebel."
"Oh." The twins said in unison.
"What really happened?" Luke asked.
Anakin smiled. He and Obi-Wan looked at each other for just a moment. Finally, the Sith nodded. "I suppose that you are old enough to know, now." He said. "We basically reported what had happened, though, as you noticed, we did leave out almost everything about the Dark Side."
"So you really turned because Uncle Obi-Wan asked?" Leia asked.
Anakin nodded. "Yes. I always trusted him more then any other Jedi." He smiled at his friend.
"Much to my relief." Obi-Wan added. "I hadn't been sure that his loyalty to me would be greater then his loyalty to the Jedi."
"You didn't realize that my loyalty to the Jedi was because of my loyalty to you." Anakin told him. "Otherwise I would have left the Jedi when I married Padmé.
"Uncle Obi-Wan, can I ask you a question?"
"You already did, Luke, but I'll give you another."
Luke wrinkled his nose in thought. "You wrote that you accidentally walked in on Master Windu's attempted assassination of the Emperor. But you told us that you knew that he was there. Why?"
Obi-Wan nodded in thought. "I see." I said. "This is- once again- a result of the fact that no one would be able to understand." He said. "It is very hard to explain the work and effort that went into that moment."
"Oh." Luke looked disappointed for a moment.
Obi-Wan sighed. "I will attempt to explain." He frowned for a moment as he looked off into the distance. "First of all, you should know that Emperor Palpatine is a very brilliant man." He started. "When I had just been Knighted, and had taken Anakin as my Padawan, he befriended us both."
"At the time, everyone thought that he was grateful for our help in freeing his homeworld from the Trade Federation. In any event, no one saw harm in the relationship." Anakin explained.
"He became something of a mentor to both of us." Obi-Wan said. "He encouraged us both to question blind obedience to the Council and to listen to our feelings. Most of what he said was very much like what Master Qui-Gon had taught me, so I listened."
"For ten years he was a confidant to both of us, and he encouraged us and our own slowly growing friendship. Once I was Knighted, Obi-Wan and I became more like brothers, and while the Council warned us against attachments, Palpatine reminded us that it was a part of human nature."
"Eventually, a rift formed between us and the other Jedi, despite the fact that I was named to the Council itself." Obi-Wan said. "We didn't like it, but there seemed to be nothing we could do about it. We were both regarded with suspicion, and not a little fear."
"Is that why you didn't have any trouble leaving the Jedi?" Leia asked.
"Well, it wasn't that simple, but that was part of the reason I renounced the Jedi Order." Obi-Wan said. "I came to the point where we couldn't trust the other Jedi, and Chancellor Palpatine shared that belief. At the time, we didn't know that he was the Sith Master."
The twins nodded. "Eventually, the Jedi Council mistrusted the Chancellor so much that they planned to take him out of office the moment that General Grievous was dead." Obi-Wan sighed as he remembered. "Your father was on Utapau at the time, when I found out that Palpatine was Master Sidious. I was almost ready to turn- to break free of the chains the Jedi had placed on me."
"Why? Why did they hold you back?" Luke asked.
"They were afraid." Obi-Wan said. "For all that they claimed that the Jedi did not know fear, they were afraid." He snorted. "They knew that I was powerful, and if I tapped into all of the Force, only Anakin would be able to stop me."
"So what did you do- when you found out about Master Sidious?"
Obi-Wan sat back in his chair. "I told Master Windu." He said wryly.
Anakin grinned. "Obi-Wan wasn't quite free of the Jedi."
Obi-Wan glared at him for a second. "I eventually followed Master Windu and the Jedi he took with him." The Dark Jedi tilted his head slightly. "It was then that I agreed to turn."
"But not to become a Sith Lord." Anakin reminded him.
"Why not?"
"Well, Leia, my master was killed by a Sith Lord- right in front of my eyes. I didn't want to become what had killed him. I was, and remain, willing to ally myself with them."
"So, you helped the Emperor destroy the other Jedi." Anakin remembered. "And then, when I came after you, you convinced me to turn."
"And your father became the Sith Apprentice." Obi-Wan concluded.
"Why, Dad?" Luke asked.
Anakin smiled. "I had several reasons for agreeing. Some of which you wouldn't understand."
"Oh." The twins knew that meant that question time was over.
"Now," Their father looked at them. "How much more homework do you two still have?"
"We have to write a report on the events on Mustafar, and we wanted to talk to you first." Luke said. "Don't worry; we won't talk about the Dark Side."
"Good." Anakin said. "Dinner is in an hour." He told them as they headed towards their rooms. He turned to Obi-Wan. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "I didn't expect that."
Obi-Wan smiled. "It's not a problem. I was expecting it soon. They're both very smart."
"I know. They're so much like Padmé, it hurts sometimes." The Dark Jedi glanced at the Sith, who smiled at him slightly. "It's an old hurt, my friend."
"I know. And I know the twins help."
"Yes. If they had died with her…"
"It didn't happen. And they will be strong enough to survive, unlike the Jedi." Obi-Wan reminded Anakin. "So, what was it you wanted to show me, before we were interrupted?" Obi-Wan changed the subject.
Anakin grinned. "You know how I was working on that little droid? It's finally finished." He got up and led the way out of the room, once again content.
Obi-Wan smiled. He thought back to that day, and couldn't help but once again think that things could have been very different. He was just glad that everything happened the way it had.
And that's all she wrote! Thanks for following me on this experiment- I think it turned out rather well.
A few notes: This was inspired by Matt Stover's wonderful novelization of ROTS, and by the way that Obi-Wan and Anakin were played in that movie. The friendship between the two of them was so obvious…
I also wanted to explore an idea that very few others seemed interested in. Namely, what if Palpatine hadn't tried to separate Anakin and Obi-Wan, but instead tried to turn them both? To do that, he'd have had to befriend them both. And this story was born. To be honest, I didn't realize who I was writing, until halfway through the first chapter.
I might revisit this universe again, in vignettes and short stories, if the inspiration strikes. If any of you have any ideas for a missing scene, just let me know.
Please let me know what you think of the story.