A/N: Alright, I hope this doesn't confuse anyway, but I wanted a happy ending. As you guys probably want one too. Thanks for all the reviews and hanging in there with all the waiting.

Ch. 31: Oh.

"Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, please open your eyes."

Obi-Wan shifted, squeezing his eyes even harder. He didn't want to wake up. He was dead. The burn of Yoda's lightsaber still scorched his chest. He should be burning in the fires of Mustafar for betraying everything he held dear.

"Obi-Wan."

The man in question curled himself tighter into ball. The warm floor beneath him pulsed with aggravation.

"Kenobi."

Wait that voice! Obi-Wan cracked open his eyes at the new voice that said his last name. It couldn't be. So this was his eternal punishment, to stare Nyree in the face and wallow in self-despair for his mistakes.

Nyree wore a light blue dress, her hair falling down her shoulders. Worry sparkled in her dark eyes. Kneeling before Obi-Wan, Nyree stretched her hand outward. "Kenobi…all is fine." Reassurance flowed through the Force from her to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes and backed away. "You're not Nyree. Nyree can't…couldn't access the Force."

Nyree sighed, her shoulders sagging, "Obi-Wan there is much you don't know."

Glancing around, blue eyes took in the dark room. "Where am I?"

"Inside the room where the last chip was held."

Obi-Wan turned and glanced up at the first woman who called to him. "Austral."

Austral nodded, "You finally obtained the last chip."

"What do you mean? I died before entering the room."

"Obi-Wan…you are not dead."

Confusion flickered on his face. Pouncing onto his feet, his gaze flickered between the two women. "I'm dead."

Nyree was the one to continue, "Obi-Wan, Xanatos is not dead as well."

"I felt him die!"

"What you felt was an illusion, everything that has been happening to you has been such." Austral waved her hand and the Force shifted. "The Force sensed you are to be extremely important in the events to come. It wanted to make sure you were ready to handle your Saterine powers and help create a balance in the Force."

Nyree smiled softly, "This life you lived was a practice run, Kenobi. Your real life is waiting for you on the other side."

Obi-Wan backed away from the women, "Then the visions I had…were false also?"

Austral shook her head, "No, they were real."

"So, Anakin will become Darth Vader. Well, I'll just kill him again."

The older woman shook her head, "Stretch out with your mind, Obi-Wan. Feel the path that you left behind."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and crashed down on his knees. The galaxy was falling apart. Civil war was spilling out onto the streets millions of people were dying. The Jedi were stretched thin and many were falling into corruption. There was no hope left in the galaxy. Gasping, he opened up his eyes and started at Austral.

"The Jedi might have survived, Obi-Wan, but the republic dies. If Anakin had lived…"

"The Jedi would have died, but at least there would a government in control and hope in the form of Anakin's descendants."

Nyree's voice trickled over Obi-Wan. He stared down at the hand that killed the infant Anakin. "So you're telling me that for there to be hope for the galaxy, for the future, the Jedi must die."

"The Jedi of old, yes."

Anger surged through Obi-Wan, "I won't let that happen! This galaxy needs the Jedi, it needs a group of people with good hearts to watch over them."

"True, but you have seen what will happen if the Jedi of this era are allowed to live. Another Sith War will break out and we all know where that will lead."

Obi-Wan wanted to retort against Austral. He wanted to yell back, tell her that she wrong. But, from what little visions he had seen where Anakin had lived there was hope. A small hand touched his. He locked eyes with Nyree.

Nyree smiled softly, "Obi-Wan, you not need to worry about falling to the darkness. We were never meant to have children, you and I, but our love exists beyond the boundaries of life and death. I foresaw you when I was a little girl. Our plane crashed on Dathamoor. My parents died a year later and it was I that started the clan from which I pretended I came from."

The girl sensed Obi-Wan's heartache and begin to break once more. Pulling herself forward, she enveloped the man in a hug. "I've waited for you…for centuries. I joined Austral in this barren wasteland, waiting for you. You must be strong; the weight of the galaxy rests in your hands. The Force gave you one chance to live out a life where your choices will not affect reality. Yet, now you must trend softly. I have faith in you, Obi-Wan."

With that she placed a light kiss on his cheek, before stepping back. Austral came forward and placed a hand on her nephew's shoulder, "Do you now understand what must be done?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm so confused…I'm still trying to figure out weather I'm dead or not and…"

"The chips?"

The man nodded. Austral smiled, "Obi-Wan, the chips never existed. Each of the chips was only a fabrication of your own self-awakening."

Obi-Wan frowned in confusion, "What?"

"Yes, you learned of the Saterine knowledge but you also confronted parts of your own mind. The 'chip' from Dathamoor made you face your own evil and conquer it."

"How did I conquer it when I let it consume me after Xanatos' death!" snarled Obi-Wan.

"True, but in the end, you accepted its' existence and let yourself get killed by Yoda."

Obi-Wan sighed. "I guess…"

Nyree beamed, "By fully accepting your darker self, were you permitted to pass through the door and gain the last chip…and face your fear of death."

"You're saying that each chip not only was I confronting a part of my physic but a fear as well?"

"Yes and the last one deals with death."

Austral smirked down at Obi-Wan, "Feels familiar does it not?"

Obi-Wan nodded, "Yes, back on Badamoor…" Realization hit him and all he could say was "Oh."

A laugh escaped the older woman's mouth, "So much like my older brother. You take after him so much, Obi-Wan." Austral smiled warmly at him, "And that is why the Force now feels confident that you will make the right choices."

Nyree once more held his hand, "And you are never alone. If you ever need us, just call and we will come. I will come, my love."

Love poured out of the women as they held onto Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan allowed himself to be wrapped by the bright glow, allowing it to heal his shattered soul. It was then that the Force began to pull him back away from the dream world that he had existed in the past years or seconds between the living realm and the dead realm. He couldn't stop the tears from falling down his cheeks.

"I don't want to leave," chocked Obi-Wan. For some reason, he sounded younger.

Austral nodded, "You are not mean to trend this realm yet, Obi-Wan. Being dead for a couple of seconds is cutting it too close." With no more said, Austral's form began to fade.

Obi-Wan spun around, facing Nyree seeing her own face dwindling. "Why did it have to be this way? Why did we have to love beyond the our times?"

Nyree shrugged, "It is the will of the Force. The moment I saw you in my vision, I loved you with all my soul."

"Despite, our short time together, I feel the same way. I love you."

Obi-Wan and Nyree leaned forward and poured out their love through a deep kiss before the Force jerked Obi-Wan painfully back into reality.

-------------------

A pounding headache was the first thing he felt. His soul felt so heavy, being locked up back in a mortal shell. Cracking open his eyes, a bright light burned his eyes.

"Must be how a newborn feels," moaned Obi-Wan mentally.

Eyes adjusting now, he looked around and found himself in a familiar dirty, white room. Propping himself on his elbows, Obi-Wan began to search for another familiar person. He was present when Obi-Wan first awoke in this room, his face glowing in a sadistic glee. Finally, he spotted the man in question's form on the ground. Swinging his legs over the bed, Obi-Wan slid out and tumbled his way to the man.

Falling onto his knees, Obi-Wan shook the man's shoulders, "Xanatos. Xanatos wake up. Xanatos, please." A dark, familiar panic began to surge in his chest. "Please, not again…please….I'm not ready, not yet…please…"

"…not….ready…yet…" moaned a voice, "Did I miss something?"

A smile broke out on Obi-Wan's face as he watched Xanatos stir awake and slowly sit himself upright, "Xan! You're alive!"

"So it seems. What the heck happened? I feel like I lived an entire life."

Obi-Wan's smile faltered, a distant look capturing his eyes, "We did, Xan. The Force was testing me…and brought you along with me I guess."

Xanatos looked about the room, his mind reliving quickly the memories of his experience with Austral and Nyree. "Those women…"

"Yes, you can say they were the Force's messengers."

The raven-haired man ran a hand through his head, "They need to find a better way to deliver the message." Looking at Obi-Wan, Xanatos smirked, "I forgot how naïve you looked at this age."

Obi-Wan snorted, "Hey, being 12 or 13 was not an easy time for me you know. A certain man hell-bent on revenge made it a tad bit difficult."

Xanatos frowned, "Hey, you were the one getting yourself into trouble. It was all you're doing, I just happened to be by."

A silence fell on the pair before they burst into laughter. Obi-Wan felt a familiar red bond pulse weakly. "I guess, despite the Force's will, our bond still survived the onslaught."

Xanatos nodded, a sad look capturing his eyes. "Yes…"

Obi-Wan tilted his head, "Xan?"

The elder shook his head, "Nothing. Just thinking that those women were smart to get both you and me when you were dead. I remember…in reality…that the line went dead. I went over to your side and searched your mind, trying to bring you back. Next thing I know was that I awoke in the chair and you were alive. I guess that's when everything happened then…that practice run."

Obi-Wan nodded. But he could sense that Xanatos was hiding something. Xanatos glanced at Obi-Wan's frail form. "Guess get you cleaned up."

The boy nodded and the two left the hospital ward on the mining facility on Badamoor.

-Later that night-

Xanatos leaned against the railing of the balcony. It was strange to get a second chance at life, when you never really left the first one. Looking off in the distance, he felt Qui-Gon's search for Obi-Wan zoom in at the Agriculture crops. Soon, the man would come here and things could get messy.

Falling back in his mind, Xanatos replayed the events after he 'died' at the hands of the Sith. He knew that the creature was real and would haunt Obi-Wan's life, yet he knew the boy would not fall. With him as his teacher, Obi-Wan had learned to feel, learned to express his emotions whenever he liked. It was this plus the strong bond with him that made Obi-Wan fall so far. He had felt the whirlwind of grief shatter Obi-Wan's resolve, felt the boy tumble into the abyss of the Dark Side.

It was then that Xanatos knew the truth. He was never mean to teach Obi-Wan as much as Obi-Wan was never suppose to become a rogue Jedi. The boy was a Jedi, The Jedi. He was supposed to remain with them, be their loyal dog. Qui-Gon was supposed to teach him all these restraints, train in him the light. Their natural bond was no coincidence and only now was the Dark Jedi understanding why the Force let him become part of the fake life before.

He understood his destiny.

"Xanatos?"

Xanatos turned and saw Obi-Wan facing him, leaning against the rail. Worry was shining in his eyes, but Xanatos saw beyond that and into the soul of a very old warrior. Smirking, the Dark Jedi chuckled, "I guess we did not leave unscathed."

Ginger hair shook back and forth, "No." A pause before the child-once-a-man spoke again, "He's coming. What are we going to do?"

Xanatos narrowed his eyes, "Obi-Wan, you must go back to the Jedi."

Sea eyes sprung open, "What?"

"Qui-Gon is your true master, boy. I will only cause you pain and the path that must be fulfilled does not have me in the equation."

Obi-Wan frowned, anger surging in him, "Why…why? Can't you just return back with us Jedi!"

Xanatos smirked, "Life is unfair, Obi-Wan. I thought I taught you that. Besides, you are the hero and I a villain. My revenge is my foremost goal, even after what has happened between us."

The man immediately wanted to take back the declaration but bit his tongue. Obi-Wan looked up at Xanatos, pain etched in them at the betrayal of his brother. Then, his experience kicked in and all that shone now was a dead calm…a Jedi calm. Xanatos nodded mentally. Good the boy remembered and that will make him survive through life's hardships. Three guards appeared behind Obi-Wan.

Xanatos straightened his back and faced Obi-Wan fully, "Obi-Wan has been caught sneaking into the storage room. He is to be tossed over. Is that clear?"

The guards replied, "Yes sir."

"Then go."

Xanatos watched as one of the guards handcuff Obi-Wan's hands behind his back. As they lead the boy away, Obi-Wan stared at Xanatos. Just when the door locked, did a familiar smirk tug at the boy's lips and understanding light his eyes. For the first time, hope shimmered brightly in Xanatos' ink-stained soul.

-------------------

A/N: Whew, ok, hope that this all made sense. Pretty much, everything that you've read after Obi-Wan's little tickle with death has been a life the Force created in his mind while Obi-Wan was dead in reality. Nyree and Austral are Force ghosts and Xanatos was pulled into the fake reality accidentally. So, got one more chapter left and that is the epilogue. I told you it would end happy, but it's more a sad happy.