Person: I am truly sorry about the lack of updates. I admit that with the lack of any reviews recently I thought that everyone had forgotten about this story, so updates did not matter. Thank you for reviewing, and letting me know you were still there.

, you have got to be one of my favorite reviewers of all time. The new novel Never Doubt I Love is not yet out, and will come out on July 31st of next year! Thank you for all your love and support, it truly means the world!

FANakinSkywalker and Emilee Amethyst, your reviews made my day. Thank you for taking the time to leave them; you guys are so wonderful.

Sleep was almost an impossibility on the unforgiving stone of the floor- as if its cruel, unyielding hardness was not enough, the heartless chill seeped into his bones like liquid ice, running in shivers down his hunched frame.

Obi-Wan would have thought Anakin might provide him with heat, after all his complaining and sensitivity to such things.

Obviously, he could expect nothing from Vader.

Although it was unfortunately clear from the moans of anguish next door that he was being shown better treatment than the usual.

Sighing, Obi-Wan rubbed a weary hand across his stressed temple, closing his eyes laboriously and wrapping his robe tighter around his body. He couldn't be anywhere else, and it was good that he was here, but here- here the burden of the past seemed even more pronounced, its familiar heaviness settling upon his aching back with a weight crueler than even before. Here he did not just have the bright blue energy of Luke's eyes or the valiant stubbornness in Leia to remind him of what he had lost, but . . .

Master, you're getting old.

Obi-Wan lowered his head, clenching his eyes farther shut.

If only he could have seen all this then - that wisdom might have come earlier - that he might have seen . . . yet the Force had only brought its mighty, merciless hand down upon them, and now Master and Padawan alike lay broken, together but apart, the same but different, as they had always been, past the point of strength and redemption and reconciliation.

Now they could only fight, fight for what they still had . . . before it was lost as well.

The door banged open violently, harsh, blinding light flooding into the room and chasing away the quiet darkness of the cell. There was a charged silence, the air dangerously quiet, trembling with the furious raging of a thousand emotions.

Obi-Wan did not need to look up to know who was in the doorway.

"What do you want, Vader?"

A black boot stepped forward, slowly, menacingly, the voice a barely controlled snarl.

"What did you do to my family?"

"What can you mean?" Obi-Wan asked tiredly, eyes still fixed expressionlessly on the floor. "They're in your hands, presumably, right where you left them- unless you mean to tell me you've lost them?"

A loud boom reverberated around the tiny cell, coupled with a harsh intake of breath as Obi-Wan was hurled against the bench behind him. Reeling at the force of the throw, he gripped at the cold stone, pushing himself back up but still neglecting to lift his head to make eye contact with his assailant. "Don't . . . tell me tantrums are still a habit of yours."

"Maybe I wasn't clear enough the first time," Vader growled, striding forward to roughly force his chin up. "Don't talk to me that way, Obi-Wan. I am the master now, and you would do well to remember that."

It took willpower not to cringe away from the face under the hood, every plane, every angle so eerily the same. Every feature he knew well enough to be his own: the jagged scar and the strong jaw, the tousled dark blond locks and the harsh lines of hardship etched across the forehead- all except the eyes, a bright, cruel yellow, glowing with rage and malicious triumph.

Something twisted painfully in him at the sight.

"I doubt I will do well here regardless," he said quietly.

Vader's lip curled mockingly into a sneer, the smile horrible on a face that had so often had that very expression- only accompanied by mirthful teasing and playful banter. "No, you won't. But you may avoid some of the appetizer events."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You always did like to play with your food."

"Just be quiet!" Vader spat, the gloved hand moving down to grab him roughly by the throat, shaking him viciously. "Answer me! What did you say to them?"

Obi-Wan let out a weary breath. "I'm afraid I still don't know what you mean."

The grip on his neck became excruciatingly tight, the fingers clenching with horrible, merciless rage like iron bars closing in on his pulse. "My own family is against me, Obi-Wan- my own son and my wife siding with you against me! What lies and propaganda did you feed them?"

"Nothing. I did wish to spare them from the truth, as you might have figured from their ignorance of your identity. I only told them that you had died; but unfortunately your reputation as Darth Vader seems to precede you, even on a planet such as Tatooione. I could not pretend the Emperor's henchman simply did not exist, nor hide the egregious deeds he committed."

"Lies! You twisted their image of me- you took her from me- took them-"

"This again? Really, Anakin-"

The scolding slipped from his mouth without a thought, a habit- one so natural and common to his speech that he did not even realize what he had said until he saw the faint flicker in the yellow eyes, then the jaw clenching down hard as a scalding red bled out from the gold to line the blazing irises. The words he had meant to say died to a whispering halt on his lips, the name burning his tongue and tasting like acid in his throat.

"It's Vader." The voice ripped coldly through the air with savage ferocity. "Or do you need proof of who I am, Obi-Wan?"

He kept silent. Hadn't he always been the one to give lectures on purposefully baiting the enemy?

"Now, I'm going to ask again," the Sith hissed, "what did you say to them?"

Obi-Wan sighed deeply. "I only-"

Vader exploded, a fist slamming into the wall by his head as the yellow narrowed into slits so fine they might have cut. "None of your games, old man! I know you did something from the beginning- were you having an affair behind my back? Or did you turn her against me? Tell me!" His voice rose in shaking heaves of furious rage. "Tell me, Obi-Wan, why she loved me, or at least pretended to, and then all at once she ran off with you and betrayed me and now-"

"You don't think Padme still loves you?" Obi-Wan asked quietly.

With a sudden movement Vader released him - as if he had been burned - backing away with eyes wild and almost deranged. "I- I don't know!" he roared. "Nothing is the same, Obi-Wan! You took her from me; you took her and now she hates me, she won't let me touch her and she can't even stand the sight of me . . . And they're . . . " His chest heaved violently, his throat letting out a harsh breath. "They're the same . . . "

Obi-Wan sat stunned, the throbbing of his neck and rush of his freed pulse forgotten at the sight of a Sith so full of the characteristic hate and anger but yet in that moment so obviously different.

This wasn't just Vader but Anakin . . .

So what did that mean for him?

Trust your instincts, Obi-Wan.

His eyes fell on Vader's form- trembling with rage, yes, but also pain, pain that was curdling in wounds long left blistering.

And in it . . . he saw the brother that he loved.

Something swelled within.

"You have Leia," he said softly.

Vader shook his head, his voice rough and full of acrimony. "Barely."

"You know them- they are not yet lost."

"They are."

"An-"

"No!" he said furiously, whirling around to glare at him with scorching yellow eyes. "They're all gone, and it's your fault! Every moment, they hate, despise, reject, push me away-!"

"Anakin." Obi-Wan looked steadily into the incensed gaze, his voice quiet. "Have you ever thought about why?"

"How dare-"

"It is not too late, Anakin. Think about it; you know what you have to do. You know what they what- what she wants."

Whom she wants, rang unsaid in the shuddering air.

There was a loud crack as the bench broke into two, the fissure spreading like wildfire as the great stone toppled to the floor with a tremendous bang. Vader shook, his hands clenching- and then he was gone, the door slamming violently shut and leaving Obi-Wan again alone in the dark.

As he closed his eyes against the oppressive blackness, he only hoped that he was right . . .

That it wasn't too late.

Thanks to the above people, I have the next chapter up and written to be released on New Years' Eve . . . i hope you guys are excited.

Reviews, please?