THE SEVENTH RECEIVING (3ABY)
The bondmates' quiet life on Tatooine came to an abrupt end the day Obi-Wan saved nineteen year old Luke from a group of Tusken Raiders.
Naritha watched from behind a rock as Obi-Wan tended to Luke and then coaxed a little astrodroid from where it had hidden.
"Hello there! Come here my little friend. Don't be afraid."
The white-blue droid beeped and Naritha saw Obi-Wan smile, while a wave of nostalgia and worry seeped into the bond. He had recognized the droid. It was Artoo, Anakin's astromech and faithful companion during many a battle.
"Don't worry, he will be all right." Obi-Wan answered to the little droid's question, as Luke moaned.
"What happened?" Asked the young man, rubbing his head.
"Rest easy, son, you have had a busy day. You are fortunate you are still in one piece."
"Ben? Ben Kenobi! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Luke heard a noise and his head whipped around, but he relaxed when he recognized Naritha.
The woman stepped closer to her bondmate as Luke stood up and brushed his clothes.
"The Jundland wastes are not to be travelled lightly. Tell me young Luke, what brings you out this far?" She asked, feeling a pang as she noticed how Luke resembled Anakin.
"Oh, this little droid! I think he is searching for his former master...I have never seen such devotion in a droid before...there seems to be no stopping him. He claims to be the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he is talking about?"
Obi-Wan pondered what he had heard, his hand rubbing his ginger-grey beard, and Naritha listened to some of the questions buzzing in his mind: why did Artoo claim to belong to him? How had it ended up on Tatooine? Had something bad happened to Bail and Leia? Was this the time to reveal his true identity to Luke?
Finally he nodded, coming to a decision. "Yes, I know Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"I think my uncle knew him too," Luke added. "He said he was dead."
Obi-Wan's eyes widened in outrage. "Oh, he is not dead, not...not yet."
The young man tilted his head, not understanding his reaction.
"He is me. I have not used that name in public since I came here, a short time after your birth."
"Then the droid does belong to you."
"No, it does not. But I know it. Its name is Artoo and his golden friend is C3PO." Obi-Wan
suddenly looked up at the overhanging cliffs. He could sense the Tusken Raiders move behind the rock and realized they were too in the open. He wrapped his arm around Naritha's back and encouraged Luke to start moving toward home
"I think we better get indoors. The Sandpeople are easily startled but they will soon be back and in greater numbers."
§
Half an hour later Naritha entered the living room carrying a tray with three glasses of tea.
Obi-Wan smiled and picked one, sending her a "thank you" through their bond, while Luke refused the offer, busy as he was repairing the arm Threepio had lost in the fight with the Tusken Raiders.
"No, my father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter," he was saying.
"That's what your uncle told you. He did not hold with your father's ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved." Obi-Wan commented, still trying to decide how much he should or could tell to Anakin's son.
Naritha could feel her bondmate's confusion. Obi-Wan had been waiting for this moment for years, and they had talked more than once about what he should tell Luke, but now that it had actually happened, he found himself unprepared.
"You fought in the Clone Wars?"
"Yes, I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your father," Obi-Wan said, finally deciding to go for the truth—or at least how much truth he thought Luke would be able to handle.
"I wish I had known him." Luke murmured, bowing his head, and Naritha felt a tug to her heart.
"He was the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. I understand you have become quite a good pilot yourself. And he was a good friend. Which reminds me..." Obi-Wan stood up and opened a chest, rummaging into it until he found what he was looking for.
Anakin's lightsabre. The one he had picked up on Mustafar, before turning his back to the man he had loved as a bother…Anguish rose in him, even after all these years and the peace he had made with himself and his past.
Naritha felt it through the bond. Since its strengthening during the Sixth Receiving, she and Obi-Wan had become so close they were practically two halves of the same person. They could shield themselves, and keep their privacy, of course, but most often than not, they kept their shields down, letting their thoughts travel back and forth through the bond, so much attuned, so comfortable they were with each other.
Obi-Wan's anguish was her anguish, and she sent him a soothing wave, hoping he would not start to blame himself again. This was going to be difficult enough.
Obi-Wan nodded slightly in her direction, acknowledging her advice not to dwell too much in the past and returning to where Luke was still sitting.
"I have something here for you. It is your father's lightsabre. I am sure he would have wanted you to have it. I wished to give it to you before, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow me on some damned-fool idealistic crusade like your father did."
Luke turned the metallic handle in his hands. "A lightsabre? What is it?"
Obi-Wan briefly closed his eyes, remembering the time everyone in the galaxy knew what a lightsabre was and what it stood for. How was it possible that in less than twenty years the Empire had erased all the memories of the Jedi?
"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster, but an elegant weapon for a more civilized time. For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire."
Obi-Wan's tone was bitter, and Naritha walked behind him, squeezing his shoulders in support, as Luke ignited the sabre and watched the blue blade with rapt fascination.
"How did my father die?" He finally asked, switching off the weapon.
"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force." Obi-Wan said slowly, choosing every word with care. It was not the complete truth, but it was not a lie either. Darth Vader had killed Anakin Skywalker.
"The Force?" Luke asked, clearly puzzled.
"Well, the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together." Obi-Wan's voice became soft, gentle persuasive, full of reverence and Naritha threw an annoyed glance to Artoo when it interrupted that special moment with its beeping sounds.
Obi-Wan briefly smiled at her, then turned his attention to Artoo, trying to remember how the hologram unit housed inside it worked.
"Now, let's see how you ended up here, my little friend. The last time I saw you were on a ship headed for Alderaan…"
"I saw part of the message he was..." Luke's voice was cut short as the recorded image of a beautiful young woman was projected from Artoo's face.
"I seem to have found it," said Obi-Wan, as his eyes studied the hologram. He recognized her at once. She was so much alike her mother! The same eyes, the same hair, the same impassioned speech.
Leia Organa.
Leia Skywalker.
His eyes filled with tears, as Naritha started rubbing his back, trying to comfort him.
"General Kenobi, years ago you served along my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I am afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are my only hope."
There was a little static and the transmission was cut short, but they had seen enough.
Obi-Wan leant back against the divan, as Luke watched at him expectantly and Naritha felt a shiver run along her spine.
She had always known that one day Obi-Wan's duty to the galaxy would return to intrude on their peaceful existence, but now that it had happened, she found she was as unprepared as her bondmate had been to tell Luke the truth about his father.
Naritha knew Obi-Wan would do everything he could to help Princess Leia and the Rebellion. His eyes had darkened with determination, and his mind was busy planning and plotting.
For a moment Naritha was tempted to ask him not to be involved, to let someone else help the Princess, but she could not do it.
Obi-Wan was a Jedi before everything else, and he would not back off in front of duty. Or maybe he would do it, if she begged him hard enough, but he would lose the inner peace he had struggled so long to archive.
So Naritha silenced her fears and listened as Obi-Wan finally spoke.
"You must learn the ways of the Force if you are to come with me to Alderaan."
//I will come too// She said fiercely through the bond. //And don't even try to protest. It is useless. I won't stay here alone. I will come with you, facing at your side everything destiny is going to throw at us.//
//I am not going to protest. I wish you to be near me, no matter how selfish I am.//
//If you are selfish, then I am too.//
Obi-Wan smiled at her tone, and his hand rose to cover her own, still resting atop his shoulder.
Unaware of their mental conversation, Luke let out a brief laugh. "Alderaan? I'm not going to Alderaan. I have got to go home. It is late, I am in for it as it is."
"I need your help, Luke. She needs your help. I cannot do everything alone."
Luke paced the living room and shook his head. "I can't get involved! I have work to do! It is not that I like the Empire. I hate it! But there is nothing I can do about it right now. It is such a long way from here."
"That is your uncle talking," Naritha said gently, speaking for the first time.
Luke sighed, "Oh, my uncle. How am I ever going to explain this?" He used his hand to encompass the house, the two droids and the lightsabre he still held.
"Learn about the Force, Luke," Obi-Wan insisted.
"Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you are going." The boy insisted.
"You must do what you feel is right, of course." Obi-Wan finally said, leaving the choice to Luke.
As much as he wished to train the young man, he knew he could not force him to leave his house and the only life he had known.
Luke's choice was made for him when, that same day, he returned home to find it destroyed, his uncle and aunt killed.
The imperial troops had been directed to the farm by the Jawas that had sold the two droids to the Lars. By the time Obi-Wan, Naritha, Luke Threepio and Artoo arrived there, everything was ended and they could not do anything else but bury the dead, digging two tombs near those of Shmi and Cliegg Lars.