AUTHOR'S NOTE Only a handful of chapters to go! The second and third stories in this series are finished, so once I'm done posting this one, I can start with number two – "What Fate Can Overcome" – right away. Enjoy the chapter!

Ages for Obi-Wan and Aragorn are taken from what canon information I could find. They should be accurate.

DISCLAIMER I made up Alar, but everyone else belongs to George Lucas and JRR Tolkien.

…

There was a ceremony in Rivendell to mark Mara and Alar's one-month birthday. All of the Elves in Elrond's house gathered with visitors, including Gandalf, Legolas, and a small party from Lórien bearing congratulations from Celeborn and Galadriel.

Mara grew stronger in the Force every day. Obi-Wan had never seen how Force-sensitive infants developed and it fascinated him endlessly. The Force opened her mind to emotions that no child her age would normally feel.

But some things that he sensed worried him. Mara was impatient. And there was a rift beginning to form already between her and her brother. It was almost as though if frustrated her that he could not feel the Force.

Aragorn assured him that he was overreacting. No infant could feel those things, he said. Do not worry so much about them.

He couldn't help but worry. He thought ahead to Mara's training. He would have to do it himself of course. There was no one else to do it. Although he felt guilty about it, he spent nearly all of his time with her while Aragorn cared for Alar.

The family of four was the center of attention at the party. Obi-Wan did not like the feeling. Try as he might, he could not find an opportunity to escape, nor did he want to offend Lord Elrond, of whose household he had unofficially become a member. So he shifted Mara to his other arm and took a deep breath.

Arwen appeared at his side. "Estel does not like these occasions either," she said with a small smile.

Obi-Wan looked to where Aragorn was proudly showing off his son to Legolas. "You would never know it by looking at him."

"I have known him for sixty-five years," Arwen said, sadness glinting in her ethereal eyes.

Frowning, Obi-Wan said, "That cannot be possible." Upon Arwen's nod, he added, "How old is Aragorn?"

A small smile appeared on the Elf's lips. "Aragorn is a descendent of the Dunedain – a people long ago descended from Elros, mortal brother of Elrond my father. Even the smallest drop of Elvish blood extend the life. Last year, Aragorn celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday."

"Eighty-five?" Obi-Wan repeated. Then he was quiet.

"Does this concern you?" Arwen asked.

Obi-Wan considered his answer. Then he found himself chuckling. "I am only thirty-six. He is too old for me."

The beautiful Elven woman lost the mirth in her voice. "He was too young for me."

Guilt washed over the Jedi. He had suspected that there had been a history between Aragorn and Arwen and he knew that his arrival was what had driven them apart. He found that he could not look her in the eye and chose instead to look at the wide-eyed little girl in his arms. "I'm sorry," was all he could think of to say.

"Such is the will of the Valar," Arwen replied. "Such things cannot be changed." She gazed at Aragorn. "He is happy with you. Your children bring great joy to Rivendell."

Obi-Wan smiled down at Mara and the baby smiled back. "I am glad," he said.

After a moment, Arwen said, "Look at me, Hyarion."

Reluctantly, Obi-Wan met her blue eyes. "Aragorn loves you," she said.

"And I love him."

"But for all of your love and good intentions, you are a stranger far from home," Arwen said. "If you leave, you will break his heart."

A lump formed as Obi-Wan thought of Artoo's still body encased in a crude stone tomb that Aragorn had helped him build. "I cannot return home," he finally told her. "I have been here for nearly a year. My people will have given me up for dead long ago. My home is on Arda now, with Aragorn and our children."

Arwen frowned and Obi-Wan inwardly cringed at his choice of words. Arda was the universe to the people of Rivendell, not merely a planet to be stranded on. Before she could ask any questions, he assured her, "I am not going to leave his side."

"Then I am happy for you both."

Legolas and Aragorn with Alar joined them. Legolas smiled down at Mara. "And how is Lady Mara today?" he asked.

Obi-Wan brushed his daughter's undeveloped mind and had to grin. "Dumbfounded by the commotion and a little sleepy."

"I think her brother agrees with that last part," Aragorn said as Alar yawned. The proud parents shared a grin.

With apologies, Aragorn and Obi-Wan bade the many guests goodnight and retired to their chamber, where they lovingly put Alar and Mara to bed. Obi-Wan lay awake long after Aragorn had fallen asleep, playing Arwen's words over and over in his mind. What he had told her about not being able to leave was true, but then he remembered his vision in Galadriel's mirror of flying away from Arda on a strange ship and seeing Padmé in labor. Eventually he fell asleep, fears and worries still gnawing on his mind.

For another year, the little family lived happily in Rivendell. Then, in the end of what Aragorn told Obi-Wan was the year 3016 of the Third Age of Arda, a strange storm appeared in the sky. It was the end of Obi-Wan's second year in Elrond's household and Mara and Alar were two weeks shy of their first birthday.

Elladan and Elrohir had gotten it into their heads to throw Mara and Alar a birthday celebration and, for once, their idea was quickly taken up by all the Elves of Rivendell. Aragorn and Obi-Wan preferred to stay out of the way and were out in the courtyard teaching the twins to walk when the cloudless sky began to crackle with electricity. Mara raised her bright green eyes up and looked on with mild interest, while everyone around her scrambled to take cover. Aragorn scooped her up and hurried inside to join the rest of his family.

"There's no rain," some of the Elves murmured. "And no clouds. How do you have lightning with no clouds?"

"This is not lightning," Glorfindel said. "This is something else."

Obi-Wan held Alar close. The toddler cried in protest and struggled to get down, but the Jedi only loosened his hold on his son slightly. A fear was growing in his heart as a familiar feeling tickled the back of his mind. It was a feeling that he had not sensed in a long time.

Ever since the day he crash-landed on Arda, his Jedi senses had been acclimating to the overwhelming presence of the Force on the planet. Especially while living with Elves, Obi-Wan had learned to diminish his trained abilities and block his mind from the constant battering of Arda's power. As Mara grew older, he began to shield her mind as well for fear that it would harm her if he did not.

All of a sudden his shields were broken down by a feeling from somewhere above. "No," Obi-Wan whispered. This couldn't be happened. Not after all this time. A hundred emotions raced through his head.

Where Aragorn held her, Mara looked at Obi-Wan with sad eyes. "Papa," she said.

Obi-Wan looked at his beautiful little girl and realized that his whole life on Arda would have to be buried. Mara struggled to get away from Aragorn. "Ada, down!" she said.

Aragorn reluctantly handed the toddler to Obi-Wan, who held both twins close. Aragorn frowned when he saw a tear streak down his lover's cheek. "Hyarion, what's wrong?"

Before Obi-Wan could answer, the strange lightning storm stopped. There was a silent moment, then all the Elves of Rivendell dismissed the phenomenon and went back to their daily lives. Aragorn was still concerned. "Why the tears, my love? What is going on?"

Obi-Wan did not have the heart to tell him. He did not want to say it out loud, for fear that to utter the worlds would make them real, though there was no denying what his heart told him.

Suddenly, Glorfindel reappeared at their side. "Hyarion," he said gravely. He, along with Legolas, Erestor, and Lord Elrond and his children, knew Obi-Wan's real name as well as the secret of his true home, but in Rivendell, everyone still called him by his given name.

"Glorfindel, what is going on?" Aragorn asked.

Obi-Wan squeezed his eyes shut, unable to look at either of them as Glorfindel said, "A ship. A ship landed in the lightning storm."

Aragorn gasped sharply. Obi-Wan could not deny the truth. Bail and Anakin had finally come to rescue him.