They visited the Lars' in honor of the twins' fifth birthday, and Luke was ecstatic. "THREE trips this month!" he said more than once. "Three!"
"You only love me for my landspeeder," Owen said gruffly, and they clamored over each other to assure him that was not so.
"...but it IS a cool speeder..." Leia added hopefully, and Owen rolled his eyes and hefted a child over each shoulder. "I'm abducting your charges, old man," he said and they shrieked in delight.
"Nooo! Uncle Ben, save us!"
"Oh no. Help. I'm trapped. I can't escape. Beru, how could you do this to me?"
"Feed you, you mean?" She looked him over fondly. "Someone has to." His face and body stayed as relaxed and contained as usual, but she thought he was a little embarrassed to be fussed over. She sat across from him. "You know, they're old enough for the school in Anchorhead now."
His head came up and he frowned. "Anchorhead? There's a school there?"
"Mm. For the homesteaders' and traders' little ones. It's open three days a week, although people who live as far out as we do only go once a week."
"That's..." He seemed actually nonplussed now, which was a first. "I hadn't even considered school. I had thought I would teach them at home. At least, that's what I had been doing."
"Oh, you've been doing very well!" Beru assured him, laying her own callused hand over his. "They are marvelous children, very well-spoken. You are wonderful with them and they love you completely. Only...it can only be good for them to spend time with some other people too, don't you think?"
He gave her a wry look. "Lest I corrupt them with my strange Jedi ways?"
"They DO have Core-world accents," she pointed out impishly, and smiled as his tension broke on a chuckle. "And their Huttese is terrible."
"Well, if their Huttese is terrible..."
And so, once a week Luke and Leia Jinn went to school in Anchorhead.
It was fine-mostly. From the moment of their birth to now, they'd only been out of his presence for a handful of days, staying with Beru when Obi-Wan had some duty that you simply couldn't bring a little one along for. The responsibility was terrifying stifling at first, even terrifying, but very shortly they became his greatest joy and comfort-Jedi, after all, are not made to be alone. Still, having them safely (if there could be such a thing) tucked away in the little building with a few long-suffering teachers and a handful of other children allowed him more time for things like supply runs, and nursing cups of alcohol in cantinas to listen for news of the Empire.
He worried, naturally. Some of the fears were even borne out; on the second school day they both came back with bloody lips and noses from a brawl the teachers described with great admiration ("They held their own really well, I have to say-and then afterward somehow talked the other guys into being their friends! You have a couple little negotiators on your hands, Ben."), and their vocabulary acquired a few choice additions. All things considered, however, the benefits outweighed the downsides.
...until, two months into school season, they both came back very quiet and thoughtful. Not sure if he should be afraid, he asked, "What has the two of you thinking so deeply tonight?"
The twins looked at each other, half-felt thoughts flickering over the bond between them. "...Uncle Ben," Luke finally said, "How come we don't call you Father?"
It was a lifetime's training in releasing his emotions to the Force that kept his voice light as he crouched down to their level. "Because I am not your Father, little one. I have told you-your father was my brother, your mother was my friend, and with them gone I am your guardian."
For his pains he got a simultaneous eye roll. "We know that," they chorused, and Leia continued: "But we live with you."
"Yes, you do," he said, smiling. "Does someone become your Father because you live with them?"
"No, but..." Luke trailed off in frustration and his sister jumped in.
"Who gives us food and water?"
She waited for a response, staring him down with her little arms crossed. "I do," Obi-Wan said, amused and rather flattered to see her turning some of his own rhetorical tools against him.
"Who gives us hugs and kisses?"
"Ben does!" Luke broke in, beaming, and flung himself into his guardian's arms, apparently in demonstration.
"Who teaches us things and tells us stories?"
"Ben does!"
Leia looked smugly pleased with herself, and Obi-Wan was struck all over again by her resemblance to his lost apprentice. "So," she concluded, "Aren't you our father-from assertive point of view?"
He gave up the battle and laughed aloud, pulling her in with the arm that wasn't around Luke. "From a certain point of view, yes. I suppose you're right."