A/N As an avid fanfic reader, I feel certain I have used concepts from other authors. I just have read so much I cannot remember exactly who. I know the idea that Anakin's status as a former slave impacted his romantic life as well as his interactions with the jedi is a theme that numerous fanfic authors have picked up on.

"Father, Yoda is dying."

Instead of the recriminations he had expected, Luke had led him back to Yoda's home where the frail Jedi Master waited. Obi-Wan knelt by Yoda's bedside. Luke joined them. Padmé bent down to touch the jedi master's hand before quietly exiting. Feeling foolish, the giant in black armor laboriously bent his frame until he too formed a part of the tableau.

"Weak the light side is but grow stronger it must. A destiny is there Skywalker and you must …"

Yoda never finished his final injunction. The jedi slowly faded, becoming one with the force. Obi-Wan bowed his head, then slowly rose and edged past father and son to leave the cramped abode. After a moment, Luke followed after him.

Alone by Yoda's bed, Anakin acknowledged his role in the jedi's death. "I cannot be sorry even if your selfless actions to heal Padmé hastened her death." There was much he wanted to say – most of it rants against the jedi who had both nurtured and oppressed him. Moreover, Yoda's last words caused him great uneasiness and he cursed the prophecy the jedi still believed.

…

"Ben, what destiny was Yoda referring to?"

At this point Obi-Wan wasn't quite sure. "It's a long story, Luke."

"I'd like to here it."

"At one point, your father was…" Obi-Wan poised remembering how Qui-Gon was so certain Anakin would bring balance to the force as the chosen one.

Luke interrupted the old jedi's reverie "Actually, I would prefer it if you first explained about … you told me Vader killed my father. You lied to me."

"It was the truth, Luke. When Anakin became Vader he killed everything that was good in your father. It was the truth, from a certain point of view." He needed to remind himself of that. Especially with Vader a few feet behind him ready to assert his own version.

"You still expect truth from my old master. He once offered to surrender to a Separatist general purely as a delaying tactic. After all what does the truth matte to the jedi. They just deny everything. They just hide your children away for years and train them to see you as the enemy, train them to destroy you. But of course revenge is not of the jedi."

Obi-Wan stood up. "That is not the truth."

"It is from a certain point of view, old man. From my point of view."

"And you would do anything to warp your children the way you allowed Palpatine to warp you. Planning to turn Luke into a sith? Tried to turn his head with stories of power once you topple the Emperor? Only the dark side concerns itself with power."

"What about survival Obi-Wan? Did you foresee a life for my children after you sent them to kill me and the Emperor?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that, Master Kenobi." Padmé interjected. All three men turned to see the former Senator of Naboo standing coldly behind them.

"A Skywalker must bring balance to the force. We thought it would be Luke or perhaps…" Obi-Wan's voice faltered under Padmé's accusing stare.

"Or if my husband accidentally killed his son you then had one last hope. You would send his daughter. I told you there was still good in him."

"That's only the grimmest outline of…"

"I was dying. I trusted you. I trusted you even after you hid yourself away on my ship. I trusted you even after you fought Anakin – though if I had known… Obi-Wan how could you be so cold and unfeeling?"

"What else was there for us to do? Senator Organa and Mon Mothma continued the rebel alliance from the ideals you discussed in secret meetings. But more than a political battle, this has always been a conflict between jedi and sith. I would have gladly thrown my life away facing Sidious but even Yoda could not triumph. The Skywalkers have a destiny. If it is not for their father to bring balance to the Force than it must be Luke or Leia."

This was the moment he should make a stand. And yet, he was a coward. Yes, the Dark Lord of the Sith, the Hero with no Fear was a coward just as he had been all those years ago. Padmé was restored to life and for that he was grateful – more grateful than he felt comfortable acknowledging. And yet, even that which he had hardly dared to hope for was not enough. His children were in danger. They were idealists and nothing would keep them from seeking the thick of battle protesting the Empire's cruelty. Obi-Wan and his prophecy would compel them, would ensure that they take up roles from what looked like a tragedy worse than anything Palapatine had ever made him sit through at the opera. And he was still a physical wreck. In spite of his ability to wield the force how could he protect them? They would not even make it easy for him to try. He knew that with every fiber of his being. He should interject. He should reaffirm his role as the Chosen One. That was one of the reasons he had sought Luke so urgently? Wasn't it? But wouldn't he merely be choosing to expand the target on his family?

"You never really wanted me to kill my father, Ben?"

"Of course not. A jedi wants only peace."