Chapter 19

Part One

Obi-Wan Kenobi sipped his coffee, and coughed upon realizing that it was too hot. He sulked, like he usually did in the morning, and plopped down on his hard futon, looking out the adobe window. From here he could see the distant surrounding cities and, most importantly, the Lars residence.

But that didn't matter anymore.

He hadn't done what Yoda had asked. He hadn't done what he had promised. He had failed, like he failed upon killing Anakin—no, Darth Vader.

The news of the death of Palpatine was a relief, but it made him wonder who did it—who committed such a felony. It was something he couldn't live with, not knowing who killed the most hated man in the galaxy. He had a sneaking suspicion it was Vader…

But no one had seen Vader in months. He hadn't landed on any planets—he wasn't recognized in the galaxy.

That brought him to another topic.

Luke, Anakin's son, was missing. Another thing he couldn't live with—Luke was missing. Obi-Wan had pestered Beru and Owen so much about that day when he went missing—he almost regretted it. Almost, but not quite. Luke was a light in the darkness, someone who would bring balance to the force, something his father never did, and never saw the opportunity to fulfill his destiny.

Enter Luke.

He sighed; his hands finger the remote to turn on the HoloNet news. The news was the only key to the outside world, for 'exile' on Tatooine meant going limited spaces. He could set off to find Luke, something he planned to do, but he would have turned but by now. There was no—

"Recent reports have told us that Darth Vader, dark lord of the Sith, second in command to the late emperor, was spotted in Theed, Naboo only a few hours ago. It would seem that the dark lord has disappeared after the death of his master, leading to believe that Vader was the real killer in his mess."

Obi-Wan sucked in a breath.

Naboo.

Naboo.

Padmé… he was there to find her…

"The plot twists when a few reporters were seen taking pictures of Princess Leia Organa, who was unaccompanied by neither her father, Organa, or a handmaiden, but a boy."

Another, deeper, fuller breath was sucked from him. If he weren't already sitting, he'd collapse into a chair.

A picture of no other than Luke came across the screen. "An unnamed boy, bearing resemblance to Darth Vader, took the Princess by the hand and they hid from the reporters, having enough."

Took the hand? Bearing resemblance to Darth Vader? Oh, my—

"That was when Vader appeared, with his red lightsaber igniting. The reporters scurried off, not wanting anything to do with Vader or his weapon that killed Palpatine. The rest is a mystery."

He had to phone Organa.

Moments later, a shadowy blue image of Bail appeared before Obi-Wan, and he frowned, noticing Obi-Wan's disturbed expression. "Ben Kenobi," he said, "I was expecting to hear from you by now." Bail's tone was rough, but not entirely mad. Obi-Wan hadn't done what he had come to Tatooine to do. He deserved this.

"Senator Organa, I apologize," he said. He cut to the chase, "Is it true that Leia is on Naboo?"

Organa solemnly nodded. "I couldn't refuse Vader—he pestered me into giving up Leia. After all, she is—"

"Don't say it," Obi-Wan held up his hand, stopping Bail, "There is no need. Leia is of blood relation to Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. Not Darth Vader. I assure you, they are entirely different people."

"How can you be sure?" Bail challenged.

Obi-Wan cocked his head, surprised by Bail's sudden tone, "I battled Vader, I've knew Anakin for thirteen years. We were a team, Senator."

"But did you or did you not know that Senator Amidala and Anakin were secretly married? You didn't," he answered, "How can you be sure that Vader hasn't been redeemed?"

Obi-Wan didn't even consider this. "That is impossible—"

"I don't believe so," Bail interrupted. "The man that was here assured me to call him Anakin, not Vader. I do not think that Vader would want me to call him 'Anakin'. Yes, the Jedi teach 'Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny'. I know that all too well, Master Kenobi. The daughter that I raised for eleven years showed signs of the force, but under your orders, we were told to ignore them. I've read about the force, Master Kenobi, and Darth Vader has, and will remain, redeemed."

Obi-Wan didn't know how to answer Organa. He didn't know what to say…

Had Anakin returned?

The shift in the force might as well have been other force users dying, others being killed—but it may have been Leia, Luke, and Anakin being together again. Anakin. Anakin…

"I need to go to Naboo."

"Good morning, Aunt Sola," Leia said in a singsong voice as she flew down the stairs. It was an early hour, but she always woke up early, especially when the weather was so perfect on Naboo, and the air was so fresh—she couldn't wait to get out into it.

"'Morning, Leia," Sola said, trying to hold back her yawn, but not succeeding, "My, aren't you up early?"

Leia nodded, taking her seat at the kitchen table. "I usually get up this early. I like the air at this time, and to hear the birds singing."

"Poetic."

Sola poured herself a cup of coffee, joining Leia at the kitchen table. "You've changed an awful lot since you first came here, Leia," she said, "I hope it's not to weird to talk about."

"Darth Vader has changed."

Sola didn't know what to say to this—she nodded, the words finally coming to her, "He's Anakin now."

Cutting her shuura fruit, Leia sighed, "Yes, I know," she said, "but I can't help but feel like he wants more—it's almost like he always wants more…"

Sola, too, sighed. "You're father misses your mother very much. We all do," she looked down into her coffee, stirring it slowly, musing on what Padmé would think of this—she didn't know. "I knew she would have loved to be—with you," tears formed in her eyes but she brushed them away before they could shed, "She always wanted a family of her own."

Leia couldn't respond. She didn't know how to respond. She didn't know how to handle the comments about Padmé when her father had told them to her, before Leia officially accepted him as her father. It was something she regretted now. She watched Sola burst into tears, burying her face in her hands.

She watched her. Placing a hand on Sola's shoulder, she caressed, "It's okay…"

Interrupting this mess, Teckla, the family handmaiden, strode into the room, announcing, "You have a visitor, milady," she told Sola.

"Who is it?"

"Someone by the name of Ben Kenobi, milady," she bowed.

Sola and Leia exchanged glances. "Send him in," Sola said, sniffling.

"Milady wishes you inside," the handmaiden told Obi-Wan.

Puzzled on who milady was, he followed the handmaiden's hand to the door, where he entered. He took him the quiet lake house, and he decided that this was where Anakin and Padmé had gone when she was sent to hide. In such a romantic place, it was no wonder they fell in love—

He caught sight of Leia. She was no more of a princess that he was, not blood, anyways. She never followed the rules, even as a child—he remembered getting midnight phone holos asking why she was crying, 'they tried everything', why she always levitated when she knew not to, for 'they told her to stop.' It wasn't enough. She was her father's child.

She had grown since he last saw her—she was five. He hadn't really seen her, either, just peeked into her bedroom, watching her sleep soundly. It was such a peaceful sight, Obi-Wan recalled, such a peaceful sight during the dark times…

"Ben Kenobi?" She echoed. God, she sounded like Padmé there.

He nodded.

"What are you doing here?"

Obi-Wan fiddled with her fingers nervously. "I—I—came to see… Anakin," he said. Wow, it felt weird to say that after all these years.

Leia gulped. "Oh," she managed to say. "Well he's not up yet."

"Obi-Wan?"

Both their heads turned to see Anakin at the top of the staircase, staring down at Obi-Wan was the most baffled expression she'd ever seen. He glared daggers at Kenobi, and then said, "What are you doing here? How'd you find me?"

Obi-Wan, too, gulped, feeling the lump in his throat slowly move down his throat, "The HoloNet said you were spotted here. Luke went missing. It all added up, Vader."

He made his way down the stairs, his eyes level with Obi-Wan's once again as he reached the bottom. They stood in front of each other, but Anakin took a step back upon realization that his old master might be here for another reason, a reason that he promised to fulfill many years ago…

"Don't do it," Anakin said lowly. He saw Obi-Wan's hand hovering over his lightsaber, and the Jedi Master flashed Anakin a puzzled look.

"Don't do it," he echoed, almost replying to Obi-Wan's puzzlement. "I stand my guard. You don't need to kill me, but if you want to—"

Obi-Wan's hand still stayed there, over the lightsaber, ready to call to the force so it could spring action ignite and the sounds in the room would be snap-hiss. But he didn't—yet. "Want to? Want to? I had never wanted to—ever. It wasn't my choice to come and seek you out on Mustafar; Yoda requested me to do so. I could have never faced the emperor."

It was a duty. A duty to come and find him—hunt him down—on Mustafar, where he would kill him, if not bring him back. He couldn't.

"All those years ago on that damn planet—I had to follow Senator Amidala," he could never get used to calling her 'Padmé', "She hadn't known that I was in her storage compartment on her cruiser…"

"She hadn't known?" Anakin roared. "You snuck onto her ship, and I killed her because you snuck onto her ship?"

"You didn't kill her then," came Obi-Wan's calm reply.

Anakin lowered his head so he was staring at the floor, "I know that now," he said solemnly, implying Luke and Leia.

"She was weak after you choked her, Anakin," he said, "But she had Luke and Leia, your children—and died shortly after." Remembrance of the day was hazy, for everything was one big blur to Obi-Wan, and probably Anakin, as well; he hardly remembered exactly what happened. "It was just too long ago…"

Anakin nodded, his eyes glazed over. He pressed his hand to his temples, and collapsed in a nearby chair.

He could hear loud stomps coming towards him.

"You killed her?"

It was Leia.

"You killed my mother? It was you—it was you?"

Anakin lifted his head, staring Leia in her big, brown eyes. Her face was read and long tears were coming down her face, and Anakin felt his heart break a little more upon seeing his daughter cry—oh, how she looked to Padmé, on that day on Mustafar.

"You're the reason Luke and I were sent to separate homes! You're the reason Luke was sent to a farm—he didn't belong there! I didn't belong as a princess—I never did. It was all you…"

"No, Leia, please…"

"It was all you! You're the reason for this empire; you're the reason that the galaxy needed a Rebel Alliance! You're the reason the Senators were all laid off—almost all of them. Oh, you're not my father. No father of mine, that is…

"…You're just Darth Vader."

A/N: Only part one of two in this chapter. I'll have that up ASAP, probably tomorrow. Feedback is love.