so it's been well over 2 years since i last posted a chapter of this fic. why the muses decided to turn their attention back to this fic, i have no idea. :) i'm just going with the flow. so for all of the wonderful readers who've been asking me to continue with this fic, here it is. it's not a lot, but i figured something was better than nothing at this point.

Part XV

Daddy was inside fixing Papa's arm. Even though Daddy'd told him to stay outside, he'd gone inside to see why the house was shaking. He stayed back near the bedroom door, peeking around the corner to see what was happening. There were tools all over the bed and Daddy had Papa's arm on his knee. They were talking very quiet and Luke couldn't really hear them. He leaned forward far as he could, but he still couldn't hear them.

"There's no use hovering about, Luke. We both know you're there," Daddy said without turning around.

Sliding around the door, Luke stood pressed up against the wall and watched them. Daddy fixed things all the time at home, but he never saw Daddy fix someone's arm. He'd never seen anyone with a metal arm. His friend Kaleon's daddy had a hand that wasn't real—it got twitchy sometimes when it wasn't working right—but it looked really real. Papa's arm was all metal and wires.

All of Papa's arms and legs were metal.

"How'd Papa get hurt?" Luke asked quietly, not wanting to make Daddy break Papa more. "Did it really happen on a fire planet?"

"It's a planet called Mustafar," Papa told him, staring down at his hand. "It's a long way from here."

"But how come Daddy hurted you? I saw Daddy hurted you, but Daddy loves you. You love Daddy too," Luke insisted, bounding across the room. He wanted to jump up on the bed, but stopped, bouncing on his toes instead. "The blue is all mixed together. That means you love Daddy lots and Daddy loves you."

Papa shook his head, looking at him this time. "You're too young to understand, Luke, but Obi-Wan betrayed me. He stole you from me before you were even born. He destroyed my life."

"That is not what happened, Anakin, and you know it," Daddy said in his serious voice, putting the tools down. "You aligned yourself with Sidious and left me no choice. You had destroyed everything I'd ever known.... The Temple, the other Jedi.... I had nothing left, Anakin, except the hope that you hadn't turned completely. When you tried to kill Padmé, I knew. I knew then that my best friend was dead."

Papa was glaring at Daddy when the room started to shake again.

"Do you really want one of your tantrums to hurt Luke?"

Papa looked right at him then so Luke stepped up to the side of the bed. Papa took a couple deep breaths and the room stopped shaking. When he was sure Papa wasn't angry any longer, Luke climbed up onto the bed so that he could see what Daddy was doing. There were bits of things everywhere, lots of burned bits, that Daddy was taking out of Papa's metal leg.

"Whatcha doin', Daddy?"

Daddy stopped what he was doing and looked at him. With his head, he motioned Luke closer so that he could see Papa's robot leg. Crawling across the mattress, Luke stared in wonder at all the metal bits that made up Daddy's leg. While he worked, Daddy told him exactly what he was doing and how it would help. Papa was mostly quiet, but said things from time to time when he thought Daddy should do something different.

"Believe it or not, I do know what I'm doing," Daddy told Papa, not looking up from what he was doing. "Now shut your mouth before I end up electrocuting you."

Papa's face got all scrunched up, but he didn't say anything else. He let Daddy fix his legs, first one then the other. He thought it was neat when Papa's metal toes started wiggling. Luke could hear the funny little sounds all the gears and things made when Papa moved. Papa moved a lot once Daddy fixed his legs. He was very fidgety and kept telling Daddy to finish with his arms.

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Obi-Wan had done it intentionally. Started with his legs to keep him pliable for just that much longer. Nothing Obi-Wan ever did was random. His former master analysed every single move, every single action, he made. So even though Obi-Wan claimed to have started with his legs because the components were larger and easier to work with, Anakin knew that it was because Obi-Wan wanted him to remain dependant. Wanted to keep him from taking his son and leaving.

"Regardless of whatever you and I want, Luke will make his own decisions on the matter." Obi-Wan's cool, emotionless voice grated on his nerves. "He's a very strong-willed boy."

"Daddy says I's stubborn. Only he says it in his quiet voice that I not s'pose to hear," Luke chimed in, grinning from where he sat near his feet.

"You should not listen to conversations that do not concern you." Obi-Wan's smile was quick and genuine. The last time he'd seen Obi-Wan smile like that was before he'd gone to face Grievous on Utapau.

It was the last time he could recall smiling as well.

"Not conversations if yer just talkin' to yourself," Luke informed Obi-Wan with the utmost seriousness a four year old could manage.

In those few moments he could see so much of Padmé in Luke. She would have loved their son, doted on him. Padmé would have been a wonderful mother only she would never get the chance. She would never see their little boy grow up and become a man. Would never see that bright, dazzling smile he flashed Obi-Wan.

"Did I really kill Padmé?" Anakin found himself asking as Obi-Wan bent forward to begin removing the burned out wires in his left arm.

Obi-Wan's fingers stilled briefly, but he didn't look up or even stop what he was doing. "Physically what you did on Mustafar didn't kill her. The injuries she received here relatively minor and she should have recovered. Even with the birth complicating her injuries, she should have recovered. I am at a loss to explain why she did not."

"I never would have hurt her."

"I never would have believed that you would turn to the Dark Side."

Obi-Wan spoke without inflection, without emotion in his voice, but Anakin could still hear the recrimination. When Obi-Wan looked up at him, there was only sorrow in his eyes.

"Luke, could you go fetch some water from the dispenser," Obi-Wan instructed, smiling fondly at the little boy.

The bed shook, jolting him as Luke bounced off the bed.

Obi-Wan waited until the boy was out of the room before continuing. "I'm sorry, Anakin. That comment was uncalled for, especially in front of Luke."

Anakin shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the components of his left arm. "You always were a better Jedi than I was."

"That's hardly true," Obi-Wan snorted, his ability for self-deprecation not having diminished over the past four years. "I've been struggling to keep up with you since you were twelve years old."

Anakin stared at Obi-Wan, unable to comprehend how the older man was able to be so calm and rational around him. Obi-Wan should have hated him, should have left him on the Death Star and made his escape with Luke. It was what he would have done had their situations been reversed. However, Obi-Wan would never do something like that. His former master was far too honourable.

"You should've left me on the Death Star to rot," Anakin told him, scowling at the top of Obi-Wan's head. "I'm responsible for the death of countless Jedi, younglings included. I helped to destroy the Temple. Why are you helping me?"

"No one is beyond redemption," was Obi-Wan's all-too simple response.