Hi everyone!
Tonight's update was actually finished on time due to a positive report on my horse(s). I won't bore you with the details, but I'm happy to say that I will still be devoting my time to baby in another couple months, when he/she is supposed to make their debut.
He had never liked Tatooine. Even after his first visit, he knew that he never could have imagined such a wretched hive of scum and villainy. But the one thing Obi-Wan despised more than the lowlife was the blasted sand. Grasping the handle of his bag, he slowly made his way down the ramp and sighed, deeply, as the wind from the south brought a wave of fine sand particles into his eyes.
"Ben?" a voice called, and Obi-Wan opened his eyes to find Owen Lars waiting patiently for him in his speeder. "Over here."
"Thanks for the ride." Obi-Wan offered as he dumped his bag into the speeder's rear seat. Owen waited until he slumped down in the seat next to him before starting the speeder and heading for the outskirts of town.
"No problem. I needed to pick up some parts anyway." Owen shaded his eyes to look at Obi-Wan carefully. "How was your trip?"
"Good. It was…nice to see a few old friends again." Obi-Wan raised his chin carefully to meet Owen's eyes. He indicated with his eyes that he didn't want to talk about it while there was a chance that some passer-by might overhear. Owen pursed his lips but nodded, and neither man spoke again until they were well out of Mos Eisley.
"So..who did you go to see?" Owen asked quietly.
"Did you leave the speeder at any time?" Obi-Wan asked sharply.
"No." Owen gave him an amused smile. "I didn't even get out of the seat. So what say you stop worrying about the Empire finding you out on this damn rock, and just tell me what happened?"
"Fine." Obi-Wan threw him an annoyed look, but settled back in his seat. "I met up with Bail Organa briefly."
"To do what?" Owen asked quietly.
"To discuss some things." Obi-Wan answered shortly.
"Like what?"
"Nothing that concerns you."
"Since I've been harboring known Jedi fugitives on my farm for almost nine years, I say it concerns me." Owen said coolly. For a moment, both men stared at each other intensely before Obi-Wan gave in.
"All right, all right." He grumbled. "I went to see Bail to discuss our concerns over the High Chancellor's expected reaction to the—"
"Damn it, Ben." Owen snapped. "It's always the High Chancellor with you. Her title, not her name. Me and Beru might be dirt-poor farmers from a backwater world, but even we know she's got a name. Hell, we met the woman once. But neither of you seems like to call her by anything but her title. Leaving it all formal doesn't change the fact that you knew her then."
"Fine." Obi-Wan ground out. "We met to discuss Padme's reaction to the recent acts of rebellion. We also wanted to discuss the plans for the Rebellion's next move."
"And that is?" Owen asked eagerly.
"You got a lot of interest in the Rebellion for a man from a backwater world." Obi-Wan hedged.
"Got no one else to talk to when you're gone. Beru spends most of her time in the house unless I really need help. And Anakin—well, you know he doesn't talk too much these days."
"I suppose not." Obi-Wan looked uncomfortable for a moment, and then noticed that Owen was bringing them into Tosche station. "What are we doing?"
"I told you I needed to pick up some parts. Figured I'd wait til you were back so you could know that I didn't leave the speeder unattended for even one minute." Owen came to an abrupt stop in front of the junkyard and slid from his seat. "I got Wendek to pick out the parts I needed and set them aside for me. Won't be but a second."
Obi-Wan nodded for a moment, and leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. Owen asked a lot of questions, but the man was right. He did have the right to know. He'd taken them both in without question, and had hidden them ever since. Obi-Wan tried to help out as best he could around the moisture farm, tinkering with vaporators and helping to defend the farm whenever the Sand People had a mind to try and move in on it. He supposed Anakin was the reason Owen had taken them in in the first place. Although they'd only met the once, after Shmi had been killed; he was family in some way. And at least he was good at fixing things on the farm, Obi-Wan reasoned.
"Here we go." Owen chuckled as he flopped down in his seat again. "You asleep?"
"No." Obi-Wan opened his eyes as they left the small outpost and made their way out toward the Jundland wastes. "Just thinking."
"About?" Owen asked as he bumped the speeder up into a higher gear.
"I guess you got the right to ask about what I do."
"Damn right I do." Owen asserted. "So, what are you doing?"
"We didn't decide on anything, exactly." Obi-Wan confessed. "We tossed some ideas around. But the simple thing is that we could rebel against the Empire for a thousand years and never get anywhere. What we need is leverage."
"What kind of leverage?" Owen asked. "Like a weapon?"
"No, not weaponry." He gave the man beside him a shrewd look. "Did Anakin ever tell you how he was injured?"
"He's never said anything to me, Ben. You know that."
Obi-Wan sighed, deeply. "We fought. A duel to the death on Mustafar."
"That the volcano world I heard stories about?"
"Where'd you hear that?"
"In a cantina. But, go on."
"Anakin turned against the Jedi to follow the teachings of a Sith Lord. When I found out where he was, I snuck onto a shuttle and tracked him there. We fought, and he lost. He knew it. I couldn't just leave him, so I brought him to one of our old haunts on the rim. Those of us Jedi who were left were loosely congregated there, and I was able to find him a healer who could help."
Obi-Wan paused for a moment, and Owen waited, sensing that the story was not yet over. "Padme was lost to him. She thought him dead, and by then, the Emperor knew of her marriage to him, and that she was carrying his children. And he needed her. Needed her affluence to sway the remaining senators who might oppose him into his camp. So he took her." Owen nodded his understanding, and Obi-Wan paused again to take a sip of the water in his canteen. "The Emperor was the Sith lord. He wanted Anakin, but lost him in the end. So he took Padme. And he took her children. Anakin's children. They are as-yet untrained, but their power could easily rival his. As far as weapons go….The Empire's got all the good ones."
"You want to take the children away from them, don't you." Owen said softly.
"I've wanted to do just that for a long time now." Obi-Wan admitted. "But for what we need, one of them will do just fine. We need to even the odds."
"Do you hear what you're saying?" Owen demanded harshly. "They're children, not pawns, Ben!"
"I hear you. I know they're only children. But as of right now, if we do nothing, these children are already pawns in the grandest scheme in the galaxy. The twins will be the ones who suffer in the Emperor's delusions of grandeur. Their mother is lost to the Empire and Anakin has shut out the world. What hope do they have if we do nothing?"
Owen sighed. "This is the plan you were talking about with Bail Organa?"
"No, I didn't talk about it with Bail." Obi-Wan said softly. "We've talked about it in the past, but there was no way we were going to be able to waltz in and just take one of those children at such a young age. There was almost no point. We'd have needed to keep the child in hiding until we could raise it to an age where it could be trained in the ways of a Jedi."
"And now?" Owen hedged.
"The Force has its own will. It moves in its own time." Obi-Wan sighed.
"That's not an answer. No hokey religion controls my destiny." Owen retorted angrily. "Speak plainly.
"All right, I will. We weren't ready. The time wasn't right. The children are of an age where they can be taught. The Emperor has relaxed his guard somewhat. And Anakin has recovered from his injuries."
"What does Anakin have to do with it?" Owen disengaged the auto-pilot on the speeder as they slowly approached the farm. "Since he hasn't spoken to a soul in almost ten years, can't see how he'd be much help."
"Anakin's the only one who can pull it off." Obi-Wan offered distantly as Owen brought them to a stop in the courtyard. He slowly clambered out of the speeder and made his way toward his quarters in the shop. Owen watched him go before he called; "Dinner's in an hour, and if you got some time, I need to make a patrol around to the east end."
"I'll be there." Obi-Wan called back, and then disappeared into the relatively cool interior of the shop. He dropped his luggage on his cot and stripped off his traveling clothes to change into the relative comfort of his beige tunic and robe. It was as close as he dared get to his old Jedi robes. He spared a splash of water in the basin to wash his face of the grit from traveling in the speeder and then toweled dry. He considered briefly unpacking his bags, but changed his mind when a faint clanking began down in the shop. Turning, he slowly made his way out to where Anakin was intently examining the internal casing on one of the droids he'd taken apart.
"Hello, Anakin." He greeted. Anakin looked up at him briefly, and then returned to his work as though Obi-Wan had never spoken. It was always like that between them. Obi-Wan had at turns been mystified and then angry at Anakin's lack of response to him. He supposed at first that the boy had been trying to punish him for their duel and his subsequent injuries. But as the years had gone by, Obi-Wan had decided it was more that he didn't know what to say. In every instance, he'd simply turned away and let him go on about his business. But not today. For some unidentifiable reason, Obi-Wan found Anakin's silence unbearable.
"I saw your wife today." Obi-Wan announced, and watched as Anakin looked up at him sharply. His blue eyes narrowed, but he went back to work in silence without any other discernable reaction. "She looked as well as could be expected." Obi-Wan continued. "And the children, as well. Your son looks a lot like you. Your daughter resembles her mother."
Anakin was struggling to continue his work, his fingers skittered about the workbench and knocked down several small washers as Obi-Wan continued his speel. He knelt to pick them up and Obi-Wan knelt beside him. Anakin stood suddenly and backed away as Obi-Wan moved to pick up one of the washers that lay beside his hand. "Your son has been given an impressive gift, Anakin. A lightsaber. One can only guess what the Emperor might have been implying when gifting a lightsaber to a ten year old."
Anakin walked away from the workbench and threw himself moodily onto the couch. He bent over, leaning forward to put his elbows on his knees and covering his eyes. He folded in on himself, expressing his desire to not communicate any further. On some level, Obi-Wan felt sorry for him. But beneath his gentle exterior burned a seething anger. It was Anakin's inability to communicate that had gotten them into such a mess in the first place. It had been his padawan's irascible temper, his impetuousness, his reckless, unfettered behavior that had caused a rift. Prompted him to wed. Hastened his fall. After ten years and a life-changing duel, Obi-Wan's own anger and grief had more or less spent itself. But beneath his façade a simmering anger remained. They had run the gamut together from one end of the galaxy to the other. There were no places left to hide.
Nothing should be left hidden between them.
He flopped down to sit beside Anakin. Their knees touched but nothing more. After a moment's silence, Obi-Wan went on. He shared the tale of the Emperor's close relationship with his son. Padme's lingering illness. His daughter's beauty. How he had seen Anakin's old lightsaber hidden in Luke's robes…
"Enough, Obi-Wan." Anakin whispered faintly. His voice was little more than a rasp, unused in the last ten years. His eyes were dull and expressionless; where once they had twinkled in merriment or darkened in rage nothing remained. No life. No hope. In the years they had known one another Obi-Wan had seen him despondent. Seen him in rage, resentment and sorrow. But he had never grown accustomed to Anakin's apathy.
"Why are you doing this?" he whispered so softly that Obi-Wan almost didn't hear him. His lips moved, but no sound emerged. His body lived, but his spirit had fled. Obi-Wan felt his own spirit quail. If Anakin had not the strength to finish what he had started, then what chance did they have?
"You need to finish it, Anakin." Obi-Wan said sternly. He sensed more than felt Anakin's wary blue eyes snap up to his face. "Just because you stopped being Palpatine's apprentice does not mean that the evil ended there."
"It doesn't matter." Anakin muttered softly as he dropped his gaze to the arm of the couch and began tracing the washed out floral print.
Obi-Wan sighed aloud in exasperation. "It does matter, a great deal." He countered. "Your wife—your children, hell, the entire galaxy is being manipulated by the Emperor. He's butchering non-humans, Anakin. Just like the Jedi. Would you just stand by and let him have his way?" Obi-Wan paced the room anxiously, whirling about to face Anakin imperiously when he offered no further comment on the matter. His former apprentice had slouched down to lean his head on the back of the couch. Fueled by the anger he had long desired to give into, Obi-Wan clenched and unclenched his hands for a moment before he crossed the room in enormous strides and picked his padawan up off the couch and forcibly pushed him up against the wall.
"Anakin! You cannot pretend that nothing happened! Burying the past does not erase it." He held Anakin at arm's length for a moment, and then crushed him close in a hug. "I am sorry my friend. I am sorry for your pain, and for your loss. But think of this: your children are now in the Emperor's charge—he will use them to further his Empire. And when he is done with them, he will kill them. They are your children, Anakin. If you will not stand for them, who will?" he demanded breathlessly. "Your wife has all but sentenced them to a life of slavery."
Anakin had not stuggled to free himself, but had stood limply pressed against the wall. He looked up suddenly when Obi-Wan mentioned slavery, and his face hardened.
"Padme would never let him hurt them. Never! She would die first." Anakin's eyes flashed in fury, but not before Obi-Wan thought he saw a look of uncertainty cross his features.
"Would she? She is not your wife now, Anakin. Nor is she the idealistic senator she was ten years ago. Would she know if they were being manipulated? If she herself was?" Obi-Wan moved to block Anakin's path as he tore himself free and began to pace the room. Stepping in front of him, he forced the younger man to look up at him sharply.
"Ten years ago you were willing to sell your soul to that monster to keep your child safe. To spare your wife the agony of dying in childbirth. Will you not stand up to him now, to save your children from that fate? Will you not take a stand to rid the galaxy of this madman?" Obi-Wan watched as Anakin's face fell, and tears threatened. He turned and made his way to the window, running his hand over his scruffy beard; then brushed at his eyes and stared silently out into the approaching duststorm.
"We need your help, Anakin." Obi-Wan whispered. "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."
"It's all so far away from here." Anakin began softly, fingering the frayed edges of his tunic.
"You sound like Owen." Obi-Wan couldn't resist pointing out.
"I can't get involved again. What's done is done, Obi-Wan." Anakin said flatly. "I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can hitch a ride with your rebel friends to Alderaan or where ever you're going." Anakin met his eyes briefly before he turned on his heel and all but ran from the room. Obi-Wan sighed before whispering softly into the silence; "You must do what you feel is right, of course."
It was hours later when Anakin came to seek him out. Obi-Wan had accompanied Owen on a perimeter inspection and they had repaired one of the vaporators on the east side. Dinner had been a silent affair, with Anakin nowhere to be found. And later, when Owen and Beru had gone to bed Obi-Wan had offered to sit on watch, since the Sand People had been reported in the area. Obi-Wan had just taken up the guard and huddled in his robes on the chair outside the main compound when he sensed his former padawan emerge from the doorway behind him. Anakin moved silently and sank down to sit in the sand beside him. He leaned back and turned his face up to stare at the sky. Obi-Wan said nothing, sensing in Anakin a desire to speak. They sat in the chill for some time, neither moving nor speaking until at last Anakin moved to break the silence.
"I hate the sand," he began faintly, "it's coarse and irritating. And it gets into everything." To demonstrate, he picked up a handful and let it slip through his fingers. "I spent all of my childhood learning how to get the sand out of things and to make them work right. And then you, and Qui-Gon, and Padme came into my life, and I sort of forgot that to make things work right, sometimes you need to take them apart and clean all the sand out." Anakin let the last grains of sand slide from his cupped hands and inspected them carefully.
"Are you going to help us?" Obi-Wan asked quietly.
"What do you want from me?" Anakin whispered. "You want me to go back there, and face him? Fight my fear and win, is that what you want? I can't face her, knowing what—" Anakins voice broke unsteadily. "what I did."
"I don't want you to face Palpatine at all." Obi-Wan chuckled. "I don't have any grandiose plans of facing off with the Emperor. We'll confront him when the time is right."
"Then what is it you want me to do?" Anakin asked.
"I think it's high time we reunited you with your family."
"My family—?"
"We're going to have to face up to the fact that Palpatine intends to train your son in the ways of the Sith." Obi-Wan shifted to set his blaster rifle down in the dirt and then leaned back in his chair comfortably. "We're going to need to take your children away from the Emperor's influence if we are to have a chance of striking at him."
"You think we should just waltz in there and take them away? Just like that?" Anakin asked in disbelief. "It can't be done."
"That's why we'll need your help. You know the Emperor better than anyone else." Obi-Wan put a hand on Anakin's shoulder to soften his words.
"Tell me, what do you know of Darth Vader?"
Anakin stiffened beneath Obi-Wan's hand, his face was awash in emotion. For a moment, he feared Anakin would get to his feet and leave, never to speak to him again. And when Anakin started to shake, he feared something was terribly wrong.
"Anakin, what's wrong?" he demanded. His padawan flopped bonelessly onto his back in the sand and wrapped his arms about his belly. After a moment or two of silence, Obi-Wan found he was most unprepared for what happened next.
Anakin started laughing.