Chapter 29
Departing

It was their last day of vacation on Naboo and Obi-Wan was up before the sun rose, as usual. He stretched out, focusing mainly on his right arm and leg which were still a tad stiff and weak, and then went through some quick meditation. Feeling more awake he showered, dressed, and headed down to the Palace's private dining hall.

The private dining hall was used for everyday meals as opposed to the much larger formal dining hall which was meant for large feasts and formal state dinners. The table was set for breakfast with a small buffet table set up off to the side. Since it was so early, it was mainly the Palace staff that was present, bolting down a quick meal before hurrying off to work on their chores.

As Obi-Wan put together his plate, the various servants nodded and called out their greetings. Once he'd been cleared to leave his bed two days after arriving at the Palace he'd made it a habit to come down here for an early breakfast. His first appearance had startled the staff, but they'd quickly become accustomed to it. In fact, Obi-Wan thought that they felt flattered that he, a famous Jedi Knight, didn't mind sharing a meal with them, ordinary servants.

Just as Obi-Wan was starting on a sweet roll, he got an unexpected surprise. Vader dragged himself into the room a full hour before he was usually conscious. The young man didn't really look awake, but he'd shaved, showered, and dressed. After gathering up a few pieces of fruit and some pastries, he stumbled over to take a seat next to Obi-Wan.

"Well hello there," Obi-Wan blinked. "What are you doing up so early?"

"No idea," Vader grumbled sourly.

"You just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep?" Obi-Wan suggested.

"Yeah, basically." Vader mumbled, munching on some berries.

"Well that does give you more time to spend on Naboo before we leave." The Knight pointed out.

"Yeah," Vader sighed.

Silence fell between them and the half-awake younger man poured all his energy into eating breakfast. Obi-Wan quickly finished off his own breakfast, but made no move to leave the table. Instead, he spent the time waiting for Vader to finish to think.

After Vader's first day conscious after his injury, the boy had been unusually quiet, even meek. It seemed his crying fit had drained all the fire out of him, he hadn't acted up a bit or let slip a single foul word. Even Padmé had commented on his altered behavior.

Then there was the whole crying episode itself. To see a strong, independent, nineteen-year-old man with a mouth as foul as any hardened space pirate collapse in on himself like that was…disturbing. And after the tears had worn him out, Vader had passed out in his bed and clung to him all night like a frightened nine-year-old. Obi-Wan had a great deal of trouble getting any sleep that night.

In the morning, Vader had fled and disappeared to the Palace hanger for most of that day. After that, the young man reappeared, hovering around the fringes of Obi-Wan's presence. He said little unless directly spoken to and even then said as little as possible.

Over the course of their stay he had improved slightly, but Obi-Wan remained worried. Recently he had taken to typing on a datapad late in the evenings. What he was writing was a mystery, though it seemed to help him, so Obi-Wan didn't press.

"Is there anything you'd like to do before we leave Master?" Vader asked suddenly, jolting Obi-Wan out of his musings.

"Hmm? Well, I was thinking of making one last visit to the Gardens." Obi-Wan shrugged.

"Okay," Vader mumbled.

The young man finished off his last sweet roll and gathered his used dishes together. Obi-Wan did the same and the two of them deposited their dishes in the proper bin. And then they ambled out of the dining room towards the Royal Gardens.

Vader trailed a few steps behind Obi-Wan as they wandered the Gardens. It was still quite early and the sun was still rising, making the sky a gradation of oranges and yellows. There were a few wisps of clouds high above, stained odd orangish-pink colors by the half-hidden sun. The air was pleasantly cool and filled with fragrance of the blossoming flowers and the songs of several local avian species. This morning had all the makings of a beautiful day.

For a solid two hours they wandered the paths of the Gardens. Sometimes Obi-Wan would pause to contemplate a patch of flowers, a bush, or a tree. Vader would patiently wait off to the side until the older man would move on. At the end of the two hours, they'd visited every corner of the Gardens except for one.

It was the same every time they took a good long walk out here. They would walk everywhere except down the one lonely path that led to the secluded corner where Master Jinn's memorial was located. Sometimes Obi-Wan would stop at the beginning of that trail and it looked like he thought about going down it, but he never did. And he was doing it again.

Obi-Wan stood at the head of the path and gazed over at the stand of ancient trees that sheltered the gravestone. After a long pause, he turned away and started to walk. Vader didn't let him get far.

Enough was enough. Obi-Wan was a grown man. A Jedi Knight that, rumor had it, was close to being promoted to Master. He couldn't run from the pains of his past forever. It was time he stopped.

Vader caught Obi-Wan by the sleeve and prevented him from taking another step. The Jedi blinked in surprise and turned back to look at Vader in question. Vader then wracked his brains in search of something to say that would draw the older man down the shadowy path.

"Why don't we go that way Master?" Vader asked innocently, glancing down the path. "We've never gone that way before."

He fought not to smirk as he watched Obi-Wan furiously think up some excuse to not go that way. But if he smirked, Obi-Wan would be clued in on the fact that Vader was purposefully dragging him down that particular path. So he kept his face innocently neutral and waited for Obi-Wan to give in.

"You're right," Obi-Wan sighed very, very reluctantly. "Let's go see what's there."

Vader stomped down his sense of triumph as he followed the very reluctant and slow-moving Jedi down the narrow path. The closer they came to the sheltered little clearing, the slower Obi-Wan moved, but at least he kept moving. If he stopped, Vader feared he might have to physically push the older man along.

It never came to that. Eventually Obi-Wan made it to within a few steps of the white stone spire. Then he came to a stop. And then Vader couldn't help but feel his pain.

For what felt like hours Obi-Wan just stood there, staring and hurting. No words, no tears, nothing but staring. Vader stood by feeling helpless and just a tad guilty.

What does one do in this sort of situation? Vader wondered. Should I…say something? Do words even apply to this? Or…what?

"The worst part was, I was only a few steps away and I could do nothing." Obi-Wan said suddenly, his voice soft and laced with a subtle tone of agony.

"Why couldn't you do anything?" Vader asked before he could stop himself.

"There was a force-field in the way." Obi-Wan replied. "It didn't shift in time for me to reach him." The feeling of grief rose, turning the serene shadowy clearing into something much darker, threatening, and depressing.

"Oh," Vader mumbled in a very small voice. The dirt under his boots was surprisingly fascinating.

"And when the barrier did shift…I lost my head and very nearly joined my Master in death." Obi-Wan continued softly.

"'lost your head?'" Vader blinked, peering up from the oh-so-fascinating dirt.

"Yes. I could feel him dying, yet I couldn't reach him, couldn't save him. And when I could get into the chamber, all I was focused on was destroying the Zabrak who had run my Master through. I lost my focus and let Darkness take me." The Knight murmured.

Wait…is he admitting to what I think he's admitting to? Vader frowned, staring in confusion at Obi-Wan's back.

"I fell down a shaft, and he almost sent me to the bottom. But I recovered myself and sent him down to the bottom instead." Obi-Wan spoke so quietly now that Vader had to strain to hear him.

"So…you won?" Vader asked hesitantly.

"I suppose you could look at it that way." Obi-Wan sighed.

"You don't though?" Vader inquired.

"No. I allowed myself to forget my entire lifetime of training, I almost lost myself, and it did nothing to help my Master." Obi-Wan shrugged weakly.

"But you remembered your training and you didn't lose yourself." Vader pointed out.

"It doesn't matter." Obi-Wan shook his head. "It never should've happened."

Vader pressed his lips together in a thin line and stepped forward to stand at Obi-Wan's shoulder. "So what if you slipped? You didn't Fall. You turned away from the temptation and you triumphed." He scowled down at the ground, grasping for the words he needed to pull Obi-Wan out of this weird funk. "Had I been in your place, I wouldn't have been able to do that. I would've Fallen."

"No, I don't think so." Obi-Wan responded after a long pause.

"Oh, and why not?" Vader frowned, confused and curious. "According to the teachings of the Jedi, I am beyond hope and forever damned to Darkness."

"If you had been in my position with a background like mine, a real Jedi Padawan raised in the Temple, I believe you would've stayed true." Obi-Wan explained. "From all that I've seen of you, I believe that before Dooku began to teach you, you were a good boy. If you had been discovered at an early enough age, I have no doubt that the Temple would've accepted you and you would've made a fine young Jedi."

Really, who knew dirt was so very interesting? It certainly lessened the mysterious stinging at the backs of his eyes. "I was a good kid," Vader managed after a while. "But then life caught up with me. The galaxy outside the Temple, the real world, is no place for nice kids. Chews you up, spits you out, and leaves you to rot."

"You're being negative again," was all Obi-Wan had to say to that.

"Yeah," Vader swallowed. "Sure."

Obi-Wan said nothing more and Vader really didn't feel like trying to start up a conversation. They just stood there, lost in their own thoughts. Obi-Wan was probably thinking Jedi-ish thoughts, maybe still beating himself up a little bit over Qui-Gon dying. Vader was trying to deal with the idea that Obi-Wan had a very un-Jedi-like opinion of him.

To think that Obi-Wan, a real, traditional-minded Jedi Knight, thought that he, a secretive, foul-mouthed, Darksider, had been a good kid. It blew his mind! It didn't seem in any way remotely possible! And yet he had sensed nothing but sincerity when Obi-Wan had said it. That…that was really something.

A chime suddenly rang out, making Vader jump slightly. He glanced over to see Obi-Wan consulting a chronometer and looking mildly annoyed. The chime, it seemed, was an alarm. But an alarm for what? A holo-drama?

"One hour until our flight," Obi-Wan clarified upon sensing Vader's confusion.

Vader glanced up at the canopy of trees, surprised to see how bright the rays of light that poked through were. Was it that late already? Where had the time gone?

"Let's go," Obi-Wan sighed, turning away from the memorial. "We have just enough time left for lunch and good-byes."

Vader nodded mutely and followed…

Vader stood off to the side in the Palace hanger, near the boarding ramp of the ship that would take him and Obi-Wan back to Coruscant and the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan was several meters away making formal good-byes to Queen Jamilla, Senator Amidala, and the Palace staff that had come to see them off. Vader fought not to fidget and wished Obi-Wan would hurry up.

While the Queen chatted with Obi-Wan, Vader noticed Padmé staring at him. He tried to ignore her, but he could practically feel her focus pressing on him. It was times like these that he really hated being Force-sensitive. And then she came over to him.

"Letting your master say all the good-byes for you?" She asked.

"Yes," Vader shrugged, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Why?" She inquired.

"Obi-Wan's the famous one, the hero of the Blockade. I'm just a nobody sidekick." Vader replied, admiring one of the sleek, artsy Naboo Star-fighters that crouched in the distant shadows of the hanger. "There's no real reason for me to say anything to anyone here."

"You're not a 'nobody'," Padmé protested softly.

"Hmph," Vader grunted.

Padmé shifted anxiously and seemed to work up the nerve to say something. "I owe you an apology." She said at last, causing Vader to blink in surprise. "I was very unfair to you before Geonosis. I jumped to unfair and insulting conclusions and was very uncooperative with all your efforts… I'm sorry."

It was several minutes before Vader recovered his ability to speak. "It's alright, I understand." Padmé looked almost horrified at his dismissal and he hurried to cut her off before she could make a verbal protest. "You didn't know me or trust me, you were under a great deal of stress, and your friend was in danger. I understand why you did what you did. There is no need for forgiveness." He shrugged. "What's done is done and I hold no ill will towards you."

Padmé looked stunned, then her expression turned sad. "You're really something else, you know that?"

"So Master has told me on several occasions." Vader smirked humorlessly.

She smiled very weakly in response and Vader felt a slight twinge. "Take care of your Master for me." Padmé commanded. "And…take care of yourself." Then she gave him a little hug and a spontaneous peck on the cheek, before withdrawing to stand back beside the Queen.

Vader had to fight to not fall over, blush madly, stare after her as she walked away, or in any way react to the fact that she had ever-so-briefly kissed him. By some miracle he managed a façade of outward calm. Inside, however, he was a shuddering mess. Holy kriffin' Hell she kissed me!

Thankfully, at that moment Obi-Wan finished his farewells and headed for the ship. Struggling to hold himself together, Vader went to Obi-Wan's side. They paused and turned back to face the small crowd and give one last bow before walking up the boarding ramp.

Once aboard, Obi-Wan headed for the cockpit to speak with the pilots. Vader retreated to the passenger cabins and locked himself in one of the rooms. With the lights dim, he slumped against a wall, then down to the floor. Curling up, he sighed shakily and finally allowed himself to blush and feel all faint.

Skywalker, you are in trouble… he moaned to himself as the deck-plates beneath him shuddered, signaling take-off and the journey back…