Chapter Twenty

The irritating grains of sand pressed into the pores of his skin as Obi-Wan lay prone in front of his Tatooine home. He hated sand. Couldn't stand the texture of it, but right now, he found that he really didn't care that his face was buried in it.

He didn't care about anything any more.

He wondered how long he could lie there exposed to the harsh desert elements before he either died of dehydration or an attack from Tusken raiders.

It just wasn't fair. Why was the Force torturing him like this?

So distraught was Obi-Wan, that the sound of an advancing ship wasn't enough to rouse him from his present position. That is, until he recognized its descent thrusters.

There was only one ship that he knew of whose engines sounded like that.

Obi-Wan wearily raised his head and crawled across the ground to peer down the cliff into the valley below, only to groan as he recognized Anakin's Jedi fighter making its landing. He then saw Anakin himself exit the vehicle and began walking directly toward his home.

"Fine." Obi-Wan spat the word out along with the sand that had maneuvered its way into his mouth.

He picked himself up off the desert floor and hurried into his home, reached out his hand to call his lightsaber to him, but his call went unanswered, and his grip was empty.

As was his home.

It was the same simple, single-room dwelling that he remembered before, but it was completely devoid of furniture or any sign of his previous existence.

Confused, he was startled as his apprentice appeared in the doorway.

"Master!" Anakin shouted with a smile, following which, the young man rushed up to Obi-Wan and threw his arms around him, embracing him tightly.

Obi-Wan stepped back in shock and looked on his former student with profound wonder. He was dressed in the Jedi tunics and robes he remembered, but there was something uniquely different about the boy.

A trickling of emotion across the previously quiescent training bond he had once shared with his padawan revealed the feeling that Obi-Wan was finding difficult to distinguish.

Anakin was happy.

"Obi-Wan?"

A voice that had once caused him pleasure now sent a shiver along his spine, and he turned slowly to find Padmé standing in a doorway that was not present before.

She looked well, Obi-Wan thought as his eyes traveled over her slowly.

And pregnant.

At least six months, he noted before stumbling backwards into the wall behind him.

He was suddenly ready to renounce his former life, his Jedi training, his vows – everything.

The Force was cruel. Too cruel to play this kind of joke on him.

Not only was he not allowed to share his feelings with the woman he loved before he was literally ripped from her arms, but he was plunged back into a reality that was far worse than any of the ones before.

Instead of just having to deal with his apprentice's obsession over the young woman standing before him, this time around, he had to do so while being in love with her himself.

He just couldn't do it.

Perhaps the rainy season on Dagobah was over. He would go live there instead. Any place would be better than this scorched rock.

But wait. Why were Padmé and Anakin here? And where was Qui-Gon?

Before he exiled himself to live in a swamp, there were a few things he needed to know. He was about to ask his first question, when Padmé approached him and placed a delicate caress across his face.

And he discovered he couldn't speak.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine." He stammered out, surprised that his tongue could form the word. The recent memory of kissing her only added to the surreal nature of the moment and the confusion written on his face.

"Master, I told you not to vacation on Tatooine. I think the heat is finally getting to you."

Anakin stepped up and put his arms about the couple, ushering them through the doorway in which Padmé had appeared.

Beyond the opening was a short flight of stairs leading down into what Obi-Wan would call an oasis. The large room was flooded with sunshine from overhead skylights, the large assortment of various plant life basking in the rays. In the center of the room was a large working fountain that resembled Nubian architecture, with a matching ornate table and bench nearby.

Obi-Wan was numbly led to the table by Anakin, who continued in a teasing tone that the Jedi Master could not recall his padawan ever using before. "When you told me that you had purchased a place on Tatooine to be used as a vacation home, I thought you were crazy. But you've made the place real nice."

"Thanks Ani." Padmé replied before she laughed softly as Anakin helped himself to a bowl of fruit on the table. Padmé then left the two men alone to go to the kitchen for drinks.

Obi-Wan sat paralyzed, utterly perplexed and trying to sort out everything in his mind.

If he had purchased a vacation home on Tatooine, maybe Padmé had decorated it for him as a friend. And maybe she and Anakin were just here for a visit. A short visit would be best. He didn't think he could stand watching them together.

He leaned forward on one propped up arm, his mind a jumble of questions, watching Anakin munch away on a pali.

"When you do finally tire of all this sand and sun, Chancellor Valorum was telling me about a sweet little place for sale on Alderaan." Anakin continued.

"Chancellor Valorum?" Obi-Wan interrupted in a daze. "Don't you mean Palpatine?"

Anakin immediately stopped chewing, swallowing his last bite in one gulp. When he began speaking, he did so slowly, with enunciated words and a somewhat patronizing, but worried tone. "No. We arrested Palpatine two years ago after we exposed him as being a sith lord. Don't you remember? You were there."

Anakin took another bite. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Obi-Wan nodded his head slowly in affirmation but to tell the truth, he wasn't quite sure.