Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Star Wars. They are the rightful property of one George Lucas, who fortunately decided to share them with the world through his films. I'm merely borrowing them in the most respectful way to have some more fun. That is all.
AN; It warms my heart a lot of people are reading this, and enjoying it! I have great times writing these. I think there are a lot of moments in Obi-wan's life that are great material, and loads of them have not been in the movies!

Moments – series; not everything has been good in Obi-wan's life. This is just one...

There is no try

Do, or do not, there is no try. How many times have I, all the jedi in the Order, all the years that have passed, heard that saying? Master Yoda was now reaching 900 years. Obi-wan imagined him as a young jedi, already teaching the world his favourite saying. A surprise the world hasn't gone completely crazy, he thought. Or maybe it has. Inwardly he sighed.

But then again the small but powerful master was right. For a jedi there was only do or do not, no try. Only black or white, no gray. It sounded harsh and demanding, but the jedi life was. Raised from a very young age he was accustomed to it, but it was still a hard life. Everyone unfamiliar with the ways of the jedi would see the powers at their disposal and envy them. Who wouldn't want to be able to levitate things, know certain events before they unfold, be faster and stronger then everybody else? He knew a lot of people would jump at the chance to have such power, and used it to their own advantage.

And therein lies the contradiction, the point of conflict. The Force can give the user great power, enabling him to do things beyond the scope of a normal person. But if it is used for selfish reasons, for personal glory and gain, the user will be consumed by his greed and hatred. Greed, fear and hate lead to suffering, to the Dark side of the Force.

Obi-wan had always firmly believed in the Light side of the Force. He had devoted his life to it and the Jedi Order, giving up his life to fight injustice and evil in a galaxy filled with it. To him the distinction between the Light side of the Force and the Dark side had always been clear. He had always been taught in the ways of Light, and the Dark side was a distant threat, one easily held at bay.

But in the last years the Dark side had risen, and taken away everything he held dear. It had destroyed the Jedi order, killed nearly all of the jedi. The Light side had been reduced to a pinprick of light, shining like a single star in the vastness of space, fighting against the dark. In these last years he had learned and felt so much about the Dark side he feared the Light would never be strong enough to conquer it.

Recent events had also changed his perception about the Dark side, and the Force. He no longer saw it as two sides to the same coin, Light and Dark. He now knew the Force was a neutral power without sides. It governed the fate of all living things in the way it had been for thousands of years. Whether fate was good or evil depended on your own point of view, not the Force itself. It all came down to the person using it. The Force would provide the power, but the person was the one corrupting it. The user of the Force would utilize it to do things to help others, or to damn them. The Darkside resided in the person, not in the Force.

He looked down at the burning body of his former apprentice. Anakin had been brought to the Jedi Order to be a jedi. But it had been difficult. Even he had his misgivings when he had first seen the boy. But honoring a dying man's wish he had taken it upon himself to train the gifted boy. He had taught him about the ways of the jedi, the Light and the Dark. He had taught him as well as he could have.

But it hadn't been enough. Anakin had grown as powerful as they had all feared and had crossed over to the Dark side. No, he corrected himself, Anakin had changed and was now using his powers to perpetuate evil. He had chosen the Dark over the Light, and was as far from him as he could possibly be.

Do, or do not, there is no try. How many times had Anakin said to him he would try? Try to improve his skills in the lightsaber, try to have better emotional control, try to listen better to his teachings? With Anakin it had always been try, not do. The boy would attempt something, and if it didn't go as he wanted it to he would cast it aside, like a petulant child. And if he did manage to do it he would burst with pride over his own accomplishments.

Ignoring the tears in his eyes Obi-wan walked away from his dying friend. Anakin had always scoffed Yoda's saying, softly exclaiming the old master was growing senile. But to Obi-wan the words had never rang more true. There is no try. Anakin had forever tried, and failed. And now at the end of their duel Obi-wan held strong to the saying.

His emotional side begged him to save Anakin, to save the good he had always seen in him, to give him another try. But the jedi in him, the master and the person he was knew it was to no avail. Anakin was forever lost. He had tried and failed. Obi-wan might have failed Anakin in his training, but he would not fail his old padawan now. He walked away from Anakin. He did it with much grief but without hesitation. He did it. Do, or do not, there is no try.

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