A/N: I'm not dead!

….Also, did anyone else think Rogue One was better than The Force Awakens? There should be more movies with no romance where everyone dies at the end. Or maybe I've gotten cynical.

Chapter Sixteen

Never seek to tell thy love,

Love that never told can be;

For the gentle wind doth move

Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love,

I told her all my heart,

Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears.

Ah! she did depart!

Soon after she was gone from me,

A traveler came by,

Silently, invisibly:

He took her with a sigh.

Love's Secret by William Blake

Kneeling by a vaporator, Obi-Wan frowns as he removes the control panel. A small shower of sand pours to the ground. A sandstorm had hit the farm several days ago and sand trapped in the innards of the vaporators has caused them to malfunction. All the vaporators needed to be cleaned before the loss of water became severe. In the distance, the hum of a swoop bike greets his ears and Obi-Wan looks up to see Luke speeding toward the farm as fast as his bike can go.

Obi-Wan shakes his head. He can sense nothing but elation from the boy, so presumably he was just having fun. It was something his father would have done. The reminder brings no bitterness as it once had. Only nostalgia tinged with sadness. He had helped Luke buy a swoop bike for his fifteenth birthday last month after much begging and arguing. Obi-Wan's contribution combined with Luke's earnings had allowed the boy to afford a high-end racing swoop bike.

It had gone against his better judgment but his Padawan was very responsible, more so than Anakin had ever been. And it was nice that he no longer needed to pick the boy up from Tosche Station anymore. He sees Luke stop by the garage and take his bike in. A short while later, he senses someone attempting to sneak up behind him and he sighs. Luke has recently perfected cloaking his Force presence and has been attempting to catch him unawares.

"You will have to try better than that, young one," he says, flicking his wrist and using the Force to throw Luke into one of the small mounds of sand that had been scattered around the farm by the storm.

The boy groans. "You didn't have to throw me, that hurt!"

"Perhaps you ought to have landed better?" Obi-Wan suggests lightly, smiling.

"I bet you threw me just so you could say that," Luke accuses, scowling.

Obi-Wan laughs. "So suspicious, youngling! Here, help me clean the sand out of the wiring."

They kneel together by the vaporator and soon the task is complete, four hands being better suited to such work than two. They stand, Luke brushing sand off of his grease stained work tunic, and make their way to the next vaporator. This time Luke removes the control panel with the spanner in his pocket and is rewarded with a lap full of sand for his trouble. The boy swears under his breath as Obi-wan laughs. They finish the work in silence, having done this often enough there is no need for words.

As they head toward another vaporator Luke speaks. "Laze asked Camie out."

"Oh? What did she say?"

"She said no. She thinks he's too old for her," Luke replies and Obi-Wan stares at him, concerned. The boy is broadcasting a swirling mixture of anger, confusion and jealousy.

"Control yourself, young one," he chides, gently. Luke stops walking and closes his eyes, drawing a deep breath. When the boy releases it and opens his eyes, Obi-Wan can sense nothing but calm from him.

"Very good," he places a hand on Luke's shoulder. "You have been practicing your meditation."

Luke nods. "I've found it helpful, lately."

"That does not surprise me," he says, remembering the emotional pod race that had been adolescence.

Luke looks at him strangely but does not speak again until they are crouched before the next vaporator.

"Dad, why weren't Jedi allowed to marry?"

Obi-Wan cocks his head. "Why do you think, youngling?"

"Because attachments are dangerous," Luke sighs.

"That is what the Order came to believe in its later years."

Luke glances up at him. "What do you mean?"

"As you know, the Jedi Order has a very long history. It was only in the last thousand years, after the Ruusan Reformation, that marriages and romantic relationships were discouraged and eventually forbidden."

"You didn't agree with them?" the boy asks, surprised.

"I did at the time," he admits. "It is true that romantic relationships can cause one to be tempted by the Dark side. Love makes us vulnerable. The Order thought that the best way to rid itself of that weakness was to prevent two of the strongest kinds of love in the Galaxy: the love between spouses and the love between parents and children."

Luke frowns. "Love can make you hurt," the boy says, avoiding Obi-Wan's eyes.

"Yes it can. But I have come to the conclusion that it can also make us strong as well as selfless. I have seen many Jedi fall to the Dark side but most of those did not fall because they loved but because they did not love enough. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Luke replies. "Does that mean you won't mind if I ask a girl out?"

"That depends," Obi-Wan says. "On what you think you will do if she says no."

Luke's face falls. "I haven't thought about that. But I suppose we could still be friends?"

"I would hope so," Obi-Wan places a hand on Luke's shoulder. "You do not have to do anything. These feelings often pass with time, especially at your age."

Luke shoots him an exasperated look. "Do you think I should ask her or not?"

"It doesn't matter what I think, youngling. You have to do what you think is best."

Luke groans. "I think I liked it better when you used to just tell me what to do."

"Oh, but I still do that," Obi-Wan laughs. "How about this: stop wasting time and remove that panel."

"Slavedriver," Luke mutters, half-smiling.

"Always, younging."