Obi-Wan spent the better part of the next day rummaging through what was left of his meager belongings, most of which had been torched beyond recognition. He wasn't even sure what he was looking for. The life he had known before this Force-induced nightmare was beginning to become distorted by the various alternate realities he had created.
He glanced over toward the low sitting area by the window. At one point, he had draped the gray poncho his Master had worn on Tatooine over the back of the seat. It was a purely sentimental gesture as it was the only thing he possessed that belonged to Qui-Gon. He doubted it was even here any more.
Obi-Wan crouched down to reach for a scorched wooden box underneath one of the seats, hoping that somehow its contents were undisturbed. In his original life, the box had held a few precious mementos and holo-images. One of them had been of himself and Qui-Gon at a celebratory dinner on a planet he now couldn't remember the name of, and another of himself, Anakin, and Queen Amidala on the steps of the Theed palace following the Freedom Parade.
Obi-Wan lifted the box lid, expecting to find the images inside to be nothing but ashes, but slumped in disappointment when he discovered the box was empty.
Of course it was. In this life, he had fled the Jedi as a coward and Padme had been murdered. The Freedom Parade had never even occurred.
It seemed that no matter what he did, what changes he tried to make, Padme was the one who had suffered the most. And she never deserved it.
"I'm so sorry." Obi-Wan whispered in despair, falling sideways onto the dusty and ash-laden floor of his home and for the first time in what felt like at least four lifetimes, he slept.
When he awoke, the orange suns of Tatooine had moved to sit just above the horizon and the last colored filament of green was streaking across the barren desert sky.
Obi-Wan stood and straightened up his tunics, strolled slowly out to the cliff's edge and prepared to make his final decision.
A dreamless sleep had eased his mind somewhat and allowed him to have a better focus on what he needed to do.
Nothing.
It was now obvious to him that everything that had originally transpired had done so according to the will of the Force, no matter how badly he wished for it to be different.
He couldn't see the future as Master Yoda could, especially with the darkside clouding the Force. Who was to say that things would not get better? And was the past really so bad? Aside from the tragic events that had occurred in his life, there had been moments of joy and memories that he cherished. If he changed the past, those moments would vanish as if they had never existed.
He focused on one such moment now; standing at his Master's side – before Anakin -- before the darkside. When he first arrived on Naboo, and where he first met young Padme Amidala. A remarkable young woman in no matter which timeframe they met.
He thought he knew her, but suddenly realized he didn't really now her at all. Perhaps he could rectify that now.
"No." Obi-Wan said as he kicked a few pebbles off the cliff. It was too late for that. It was time to let the Force decide his path, which obviously was the one he had chosen to take in the first place.
Obi-Wan brushed off his tunics, took a deep, calming breath and mentally reached for the green ribbon trailing across the sky, which responded immediately to his call.
This was his last chance.
He would go back to the beginning. Back to Naboo. But this time around, he would not interfere.
No matter what.
