10. Wild Blue Yonder
Many standard rotations passed before Ahsoka finally announced that they would be exiting hyperspace. They gathered together in the cockpit, where Obi-Wan got a good view of Anakin's apoplectic expression when they dropped into realspace and a familiar planet materialized at the center of their viewport.
"Tatooine?" Anakin practically snarled the word. "What the hell were you thinking, Ahsoka?"
Ahsoka scowled and snipped back, "Don't look at me like that. I'm just the messenger."
"Fine," Anakin bit out, "what was Padmé thinking?"
Ahsoka shrugged, expression turning thoughtful as she crossed her arms. "Considering how much you hate this place, she figured it would be the last place the Empire would look for you. That, and she was confident your brother would provide her sanctuary."
Anakin stared at her blankly. "...My brother?"
"Ahsoka, Anakin doesn't have a brother," Obi-Wan said.
Ahsoka threw her hands up, frustrated. "Like I said, just the messenger here."
Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged a look.
"You really have no idea who she might be referring to?"
Anakin grimaced. "…I can only guess it's Owen, my stepbrother."
"Ah," Obi-Wan said, suddenly understanding the source of Anakin's discomfort.
"My mother's dead. And it's all your fault."
Obi-Wan fought against the sudden pressure building behind his eyes, hot grief blossoming knifelike in his throat.
"I don't want you here. She'd be alive if you'd believed in my dreams. She'd be alive if I had freed her. Get away from me, Obi-Wan. Leave me alone!"
The old wound pulsated sharply, remembrance of words that cut so deep, Obi-Wan still had to breath carefully around them lest they puncture his lungs. It was all he could do; it would never heal; the regret would fester without end and the memory of holding Anakin as he wept would remain, because Obi-Wan would never―could never―forgive himself.
And when they had gone to war, Obi-Wan had almost been grateful, because that had been easier than trying to make amends. He had been too late and there was nothing he could do for it. It hadn't been until much later that he had heard the full story and learned about Cliegg and Owen Lars. Years later and Obi-Wan had nearly forgotten about them.
Now, he could find no words of comfort for Anakin, could not even look him in the eye. After all, Tatooine was not just the place of Anakin's enslavement, it was his mother's tomb.
Ahsoka's voice cut through the brittle silence, "Are you ready to head down?"
Instead of answering, Anakin moved haltingly and dropped directly into the pilot's seat, taking hold of the sublight maneuvers.
Ahsoka, unsurprised, took the co-pilot beside him. "Do you remember how to get there?"
"I'm sure a reminder would not be remiss," Obi-Wan forced himself to speak in Anakin's stead as he moved to stand at their backs, knowing they had little fuel to waste roaming over the planet's dusty surface.
Anakin huffed, but thankfully did not protest.
They remained silent for the remainder of the journey, allowing Anakin space to gather his thoughts. The last time he had seen Padmé…
Obi-Wan grimaced and shelved away the memory.
Soon, Anakin landed the ship at the farmland Ahsoka had guided them towards, and there was a tense moment in which none of them moved. Silence stretched, Anakin's agitation rippling in the Force, until Obi-Wan reached forward to squeeze his shoulder in comfort. "Don't keep her waiting," he said, knowing that there was nothing he could say to reassure him. What Anakin had done to Padmé had been wretched and no mere words would excuse that.
Anakin nodded roughly and stood to his feet, moving to exit the cockpit, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka walking close at his heels. The boarding ramp unsealed with a sharp hiss and lowered itself, inviting the unforgiving rays of the Tatooine suns at high noon and a fresh gust of scorched sand. As they disembarked and approached the Lars homestead, they were greeted with silence.
The three exchanged a guarded look and cautiously entered the archway of the main dome, leading down into their underground home.
"Master Ani!"
"Threepio," a familiar voice hissed.
"Mistress Padmé, there is no need to hide! Master Ani has returned at last," Threepio cheered, shuffling forward and entering the sunken courtyard. "Welcome home!"
"Thanks, Threepio," Anakin said, though he had only eyes for Padmé.
She appeared from under another arched entryway, reholstering a blaster to her hip. "Ani."
Padmé looked completely unlike herself, hair styled in a simple braid down her back and dressed in the light, coarse fabrics of a desert-dweller. But her gentle eyes were unexpectedly alight as she gazed up at Anakin with a terrible, sad longing.
"Threepio, come with us," Obi-Wan commanded, ushering him and Ahsoka back up the stairway. Fortunately, he did not protest and Obi-Wan was not forced to explain the concept of privacy to the overly inquisitive droid.
They walked out, straight back into a wall of heat.
"Threepio, where's Anakin's family?" Ahsoka asked, gazing curiously around the empty farmland and endless blue skies, lifting a hand to block the blinding light of twin suns.
"Miss Beru and Mister Owen have gone to purchase supplies in Anchorhead," Threepio helpfully informed them as they distanced themselves from the domed roof. "Commander Rex is accompanying them."
Ahsoka smiled. "When will they return?"
"I believe they said they would be back before nightfall."
"Threepio, why don't you go on ahead to the ship," Obi-Wan suggested. "I'm sure Artoo would appreciate you catching him up on everything he's missed."
"Oh, I suppose you are right, Master Kenobi," Threepio said reluctantly, but shuffled forward regardless. "Though I am sure whatever he has been up to is far more unseemly."
"We should unload some of our supplies," Ahsoka suggested, as they watched Threepio make his journey. "I doubt Anakin's family can reasonably accommodate all of us for very long."
"I agree," Obi-Wan murmured, crossing his arms awkwardly when he realized he could no longer tuck his hands into the sleeves of his Jedi robes. Perhaps, he could finally acquire more appropriate clothes for himself.
Obi-Wan dropped his arms as they began to make their way towards the freighter, sand rhythmically crunching under their boots. The silence should not have been uneasy, but Obi-Wan knew there were still a great many things that had gone left unsaid between himself and Ahsoka. And while it was not yet time to reveal the truth of Anakin's sin, there were still things he needed to say for himself.
"I understand that, as usual, you're playing politics."
Obi-Wan sighed, the memory of Ahsoka's acidic words replaying in his head. For all that he'd simply been doing the best he could at the time, she hadn't been entirely wrong. As the war had continued to rage, the politics had grown and intensified, until they had woven themselves into the very roots of every council meeting. Only now, Obi-Wan could see how far they'd fallen. Ahsoka being cast out by the Jedi should have been what opened his eyes to the reality of their dismal state, but he'd been too blinded by his trust in them, too fearful of his own attachment.
It wasn't until they reached the shadow of the ship that Obi-Wan paused at the edge of the boarding ramp.
Ahsoka was halfway up the ramp when she took note of his absence. She turned and stared down at him with a considering expression. "You really want to wait out here?" she asked sardonically, arching an eye-marking and gesturing towards the wind-swept sand swirling around them.
Obi-Wan gazed up at her, knowing that he could put this off no longer. They had been traveling together for weeks, but he had never quite found the courage. Now, he was beginning to realize that he might never; but if he could not acknowledge how terribly he had hurt her, then he had never been worthy to be called 'Master.'
"Ahsoka," he said. At his tone, a stiff curtain fell across her expression as she braced herself for whatever he would say next. And Obi-Wan finally spoke the words he had been too cowardly to utter since the day she'd found them in the Unknown Regions. "I am sorry," he said, keeping his eyes firmly locked on hers. "I failed you, when you needed me most."
And then, he sealed his lips shut, allowing every excuse to jam up his airways, threatening to choke him. Because he had fought for her, but he hadn't fought hard enough; not as hard as Master Plo, and certainly not as hard as Anakin. And he'd been glad then, that it was Anakin whom she'd been assigned to because she deserved nothing less than for him to go to the ends of the galaxy, if only to prove her innocence. Anakin had succeeded where Obi-Wan had failed, and yet, it still hadn't been enough, because she had still walked away from them.
A myriad of emotions wavered across the clear pools of her irises, the strongest of which Obi-Wan recognized as remorse. But before he could distinguish the rest via their Force connection, Ahsoka suddenly launched herself into his arms.
Obi-Wan froze.
Ahsoka had never been one to seek out physical affection, not like Anakin. And finally, as Obi-Wan cautiously wrapped his arms around her shoulders, he realized he had never once reached out to her, not even after she'd died on Mortis. His heart dropped, as he recalled the memory of her small, lifeless body limp in Anakin's arms, and his grip around her tightened considerably.
"I was so angry with you," she said, voice muffled against his shoulder. "But then, you were dead and I realized how little it mattered. And I regretted the way I spoke to you the last time I saw you in person."
"No," Obi-Wan said, "I should have apologized to you then. I'm sorry, Ahsoka. You deserved much better from me, from all of us."
"I know," she quipped, pulling back with an easy smile on her lips. "And don't you forget it."
"Of course," he said, voice dryer than the air around them as he finally followed her up the steep ramp, her sudden bout of warm laughter relieving the weight of remorse in his heart.
The air between them transformed into something friendlier as they spent their afternoon sorting through the supplies stored in the cargo hold, picking and choosing how much to unload and how much to keep in case they needed to make a quick getaway. And then, they carried the crates out, unwilling to use the Force, even out in the wide, empty desert, no matter how badly Obi-Wan's wounded side pulled and stung.
By the time they brought the last of it inside, Padmé came out to greet them in the courtyard. "They're awake," she said. "Would you like to see them?"
Ahsoka bounced forward to join Padmé without question, Obi-Wan following at a more cautious pace. He stepped into the makeshift nursery and found Anakin already holding one of his children, expression tender as he gazed down at the swaddled babe. The sight warmed him to his core and Obi-Wan remained under the archway, content to simply watch.
But then, Anakin lifted his face and Obi-Wan's world slowed to a halt.
Disbelief stretched across his limbs and a peculiar silence rang in his ears as everything he had ever been taught about the fallen, shattered with a single look.
Anakin's eyes―they were blue.
Anakin, fully unaware, smiled at Obi-Wan. "This is Luke."
His words had barely registered above the rushing in Obi-Wan's ears, when Ahsoka abruptly appeared in front of him, pushing the second infant into his arms. "Padmé said her name is Leia."
"Oh," he croaked, adjusting his arms to hold her more comfortably. She was so small, nestled in the crook of his arm, brown locks curling around pink cheeks. "Hello there, Leia."
She looked up at him with big, brown eyes, wrapping a tiny hand around his index finger, and Obi-Wan's heart melted. And suddenly, the withered hope in his chest began to gently blossom into something precious and luminescent as he gazed at her with the universe in his eyes.
"I cannot change the past, but…I can salvage what remains."
Anakin's words held a different weight now, because this was what remained; this was their future.
At the corner of Obi-Wan's vision, the shadow of Qui-Gon's ghost shimmered.
A/N: At last, the final chapter! Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed :) I appreciate you guys!