Well, here we are again..another measly post. But I figure tis better to offer this one smidgen of postling than nothing at all. Many thanks to my cousin who beta'd for me.. ) I needed some feedback on a snow day!

Anakin's laughter echoed dully from the adobe walls of the compound before it faded. Obi-Wan shifted in his chair and leaned forward expectantly, deliberately catching Anakin's eye. He raised an eyebrow in silent query, but did not ask again. Anakin sat up soberly, folding his knees and leaning his elbows on them. A thoughtful expression slowly overtook his roguish grin as he struggled to find the words to answer Obi-Wan's question.

"What do I know of Darth Vader?" Anakin smiled even as he asked it, though the smile did not linger. "I know many things about Vader. But to be honest, I'm amazed that Vader is still reputed to exist."

"He serves aboard the Executor right now." Obi-Wan told him. "Do you know him?"

"Of course I know him." Anakin said simply. "He's me. Or rather, the servant the Emperor desired me to become. More machine than man; twisted and evil."

Obi-Wan nodded silently, waiting for Anakin to continue.

"I knew you had taken on the name at the time.." Obi-Wan said softly, but stopped himself when Anakin started to speak.

"The Emperor intended for me to follow his teachings," Anakin began, "and at the time, I was eager to learn them. He promised me that they would save—" Anakin paused and then went on, though his voice was choked with emotion. "Vader was the name I took when I became his apprentice."

"So if you are no longer bound to him, then why does Vader still exist?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I wasn't supposed to live. At least, not as I am now. I believe that he intended for me to die." Anakin said flatly, turning to look Obi-Wan in the eye. Obi-Wan met his gaze steadily, and took heart in the way his padawan held his gaze. Their fight had nearly destroyed him, and yet; something had awakened in his apprentice that day. Despite the extensive injuries, the burns, the damage to his lungs; the depth of Anakin's strength had been unimaginable. It was as though having reached the boundary between life and death, he had been unable to go any further.

"What of Vader?" Obi-Wan asked, desperate to keep Anakin on the subject.

"Had I only been able to receive treatment in a Republic facility, I would not have healed so well." Anakin said softly. "It was not only my physical injuries that would have festered, but my spirit as well. I think the Emperor wanted me broken in body and in spirit." Anakin swallowed distastefully. "As you put it, a slave."

"So Vader, as he is now?"

"Little more than a myth, I imagine. A tool." Anakin chuckled mirthlessly. "A tale to frighten all good citizens of the Empire, and to keep the rebels guessing."

"A legend?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I have no doubt that the Emperor will seek another apprentice someday." Anakin looked uncomfortable.

"Your son." Obi-Wan said softly, and watched as Anakin's expression hovered somewhere between pride and anguish.

"I would assume so." Anakin admitted.

"We need your help, Anakin." Obi-Wan repeated softly.

"I don't see what it is you want me to do. To help kidnap the children? To destroy the Emperor? You don't know what he made me do, Obi-Wan. He took everything I was…he used me to kill.." Anakin's voice was choked with tears, a sob burst from him unexpectedly. "I thought I could stop.. I should have been able to stop him. I wasn't strong enough …I wasn't good enough!" his voice failed him, and he shifted onto his back. He studied the sky through tear filled eyes. "I should have been able to stop him."

"It wasn't just him, you know." Obi-Wan stirred from his chair and settled himself stiffly beside his padawan. "I saw it in your eyes on Mustafar. You wanted the power as much as he wanted you." Obi-Wan had withheld that observation from his apprentice for many years. But to hear Anakin speak so freely of it gave him the strength to voice it.

"Yes, I did." Anakin admitted faintly.

"What about now?" Obi-Wan asked sharply. "Do you still want it?"

"I wanted so many things then."Anakin said softly. "I wanted to go up into space and journey to every world just to see what it was like. I wanted to have a wife, and a family, like I never had before."

"You had all of that, Anakin. And it wasn't enough. You wanted more. But I'm not sure what it is you thought you were missing. Do you know what it is? Can you name it?" Obi-Wan reached out to put a steadying hand on Anakin's shoulder.

"No, I can't." he sighed shakily.

"What about now? What do you want now?"

"I want it to go back to the way it was, when it was just Padme and me. And we were just people expecting a child. I want to forget about the Emperor. I want him to forget about me."

"This is going to be with you for the rest of your life. Nothing just goes away. You'll have to learn to live with it." Obi-Wan said. "You have a simple choice. You can stay here and hide in the sand, or you can come with me to Coruscant." Obi-Wan got to his feet and dusted himself off. Out on the horizon, Tatoo I was beginning to rise. Anakin lifted his head slowly and blinked up at Obi-Wan in the gray light of dawn.

"What will you do if I don't go along?" Anakin asked.

"Plans will be set in motion." Obi-Wan said simply. "Something must be done. Evil cannot be left to endure."

Anakin remained seated for a moment, studying him intently. After a long moment, he reached up a hand and grasped Obi-Wan's tightly. His mechanical fingers were icy cold from the chill of the long night, but his grip was firm. Obi-Wan helped him to his feet and tried to release his hand, only to find Anakin still held it clasped in his own.

"I will go with you to Coruscant." He said finally. "For the children. But don't expect much good to come of it." Anakin released his hand then and walked away slowly. Obi-Wan shook his head as he took up his blaster rifle and folded up his canvas chair. He turned to watch as Anakin made his way across the compound and admired the enormous shadow his apprentice threw against the adobe walls. Obi-Wan waited patiently, studying the way Anakin's shadow grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely in the strengthening light.

A simple lesson to be learned, or so he had always thought. The more diffuse the light, the deeper the shadows. But with the right amount of light, even the darkest places will not linger for long.