Where Am I Going To?
Part Three
Chapter Four
"There's still no response from any of the Jedi. And the holonet says that some senators were assassinated for plotting against…Emperor," the word was said bitterly, "Palpatine."
I know that voice. I heard it a long time ago….
"Plotting against. Sure."
Obi-Wan….
He was in a bright room, entirely white. He gathered they were in a ship, but what and whose he did not know. There was a reasonably sized rectangular table, at the head of which sat Master Yoda. But Master Yoda was dead….
"Through the Force other places you see. The future…the past…."
He was seeing the past.
Luke looked on, slowly gathering that all the occupants of the room were dead. How far back was this past? Not so far, but before he was born.
The first voice had been the man seated at Yoda's right, Bail Organa, Senator and Viceroy to Alderaan. At least, he had been, before it became powder. In the corner was the second speaker, the Master Obi-Wan he'd seen fight his father at Mustafar, and looking terribly dejected. Slightly worse for wear, Luke was sure this was after the fight, but not that far after. And seated on Yoda's left was….
Luke's beautiful mother.
She had obviously been crying, and if she wasn't now, she was only barely winning the battle to stay that way. He made a slow beeline for her, wanting to touch her hair and bend down to be on eye level with her. The latter he did. The previous he didn't dare.
"There, now, it's alright," he whispered.
She misses my father…
"Please don't cry."
But she didn't hear him. Nobody could hear him.
I cannot change the past.
"Hm, distressing, this is," Yoda agreed sadly, shaking his head. Luke noted he didn't really look younger. Healthier than in his last moments, but he doubted twenty three years made too much of a difference. He now turned in his chair, and Padmè wiped fiercely at her eyes, hating to lose face in front of the Jedi Master. "Of the children, Lord Vader knows?"
Luke stood up to relieve the pent tension in his knees, still staring down at his mother.
Oh, Force, she's pregnant with me and…and Leia….
The senator of Naboo shook her head, eyes still puffy and red. "I…I never got the chance to tell him."
"Unexpected, this is," sighed Yoda, and Organa reached a hand across the table to cover Amidala's with, trying to be comforting.
"What are you going to do, Master Yoda?" Organa asked, gaze flickering in the Jedi's direction.
"Hmm. Separated they must be, for their own protection."
"But Master Yoda, you can't just-"
"Of them the emperor must never know," and Padmè had to agree with that.
"Master Yoda," entered Obi-Wan softly, "if I might suggest….Separating new born babies is understandable in the situation, but… But the birth is less than seven months away. And surely…surely it would benefit both Senator Amidala and her children to be able to care for them for…at least a little while."
"Well and good this is, Master Obi-Wan," Yoda rebuffed slightly, "but where suggest you do we hide the senator until then, hm?"
"Alderaan," piped in Organa. "I give you free use of Alderaan, Padmè."
They shared a look, a thanking smile. Organa was a good person, he always had been….
"Dangerous this is, Senator Organa."
"We accept the risk."
"Master Obi-Wan," Yoda turned his chair back in the direction of the only other surviving Jedi. "How long think you necessary before leave their mother, the children can?"
Obi-Wan hesitated a moment, arms behind his back as he shifted his weight on the balls of his feet. "…A year?"
"A year is never enough time for children to be separated from their mother!"
"But all the time there is to spare, Senator," Yoda slightly snapped back at her. "Good, a year is. Yes, good…." He fell to silent contemplation, and Organa rose, going over to help Padmè out of her seat, causing Luke to instinctively back up. Not that it mattered. Organa could have put his hand right through him and not have noticed.
"Come on, Padmè," he whispered, helping her out of her chair. "Let's get you checked out by the med droid."
They walked toward the door, passing by Obi-Wan when Padmè paused. "Obi-Wan, I…." She stopped there. There was something she wanted to say, but she didn't know how to say it.
Obi-Wan merely nodded, and smiled painfully at her. "Well….I…." he tried to respond. "I tried my best, Padmè. I should have done better. But that was all I could do."
"I'm sorry."
"And so am I."
"Well."
And Bail took her along to the med droid after that. After a long moment, Obi-Wan sat down next to Yoda, and finally whispered, "HD-02 says that the twins are a boy and a girl. Padmè's already reluctantly picking out names."
"Miss her husband, she does."
"…Yes, Master Yoda."
"Broke the Code, young Skywalker did. Betrayed us all, he has."
"I…yes, I know."
"Hmmm…." Yoda hummed again, a living breathing testimony to disappointment and shattered hopes. "The Chosen One," he muttered slightly contemptuously.
"Master….What shall we do with the children once they're a year old?"
"Separate them, as I said."
"Yes, but….but where?"
"Senator Organa will take one. A daughter has he wanted."
"He will? But…but…Anakin's son?"
"Sense something of him, do you?"
Luke carefully slid into the seat next to Obi-Wan, watching the proceedings with painful interest.
"Yes, I…I'm not quite sure how to explain it."
"Sensed it I have too. Hm. To Tatooine, shall he go."
"Tatooine?" he cried, surprised. "But Anakin was born there, he-"
"Exactly. The last place Lord Vader should ever want to return, or think to look should he discover the existence of the twins, yes?"
"I do see your point."
"And family has our new Skywalker there. An aunt and uncle, yes?"
"Step-uncle, yes. Oh, it would be a good idea to raise him among family. Padmè would appreciate it. And what should we do with Padmè?"
"Sick our Senator Amidala is becoming. Very sick."
"Not sick enough to affect the children."
"No. Not yet. But too sick to live, she will become."
"I….have sensed something like that, yes…."
"On Alderaan shall she stay, until one with the Force she becomes."
"I…I suppose that's best, isn't it?"
Yoda gave Obi-Wan a hard look, and it was a gaze Obi-Wan could not meet. "Regret, you do, young Anakin's fall."
"Of course I do! Master, I…." he shook his head, giving up with a sigh. "I did love that boy. And I am sorry that I failed him."
"Hm," Yoda nodded. "Beyond these emotions you must rise."
"I know," he whispered forlornly, and Luke remembered their conversation that evening.
You didn't fail, Obi-Wan. Whatever you may say about it, you didn't fail.
"The young one you must protect now."
"With my life," he pledged, and Luke shivered, knowing how true those words were. Oh, dear Force, it wasn't fair….
"Of the children Lord Vader must never know."
"No."
"Good. Rest you should, now, Obi-Wan. Yes, rest. So shall I."
Of the children he must never know…
Everything around Luke grew dark and hazy, and he began to fight the growing darkness a bit, gulping in no small terror.
He knows me. All too well.
The voices of Yoda and Obi-Wan faded, and Luke felt himself falling out of his vision and back into the world of the real and the tangible, unsure of what lay ahead…
I won't let him have Leia.
…
Luke woke up to R2D2's persistent beeping, and he groggily opened one eye. He pushed his rag tag emergency blanket off of him, stretching and working muscles sore from sleeping a night on the ground. To have slept in the dead Jedi master's hut would have been wrong, and to continue directly on to Sullust in his state of mind unthinkable. The solution had been to crawl under a ratty sheet stuffed in his X-Wing for emergencies of some kind, and sleep.
And dream.
His poor, poor mother….
His father had never known. But why he turned nobody had explained. Only his father himself could say why.
And will I ask him? I don't know. If I must face him…and I must face him…
Luke began getting things ready for take off in the gloom of a Dagobah dawn, slow resolve creeping into his senses.
I will find the answers.
To Be Continued…
I was kinda looking foreword to this chapter. Didn't turn out like I'd hoped. Drat. Oh well. It's still pretty decent.
Schnickledooger: XD! Ahm, yes, well, the Paddy-girl line got me. Anyway, hope you do enjoy. I personally liked the whole bet with Qui-Gon thing myself.