Obi-wan Kenobi stared at the hologram projector on board the Tantiv IV, trying to work up the nerve to make the call to Anakin Skywalker's step family. The only people who Luke would be safe with. Explaining the situation to them was going to be difficult, to say the very least.

This was all going to be such a shock to poor Owen and Beru. Tattooaine was outside of the Core Worlds. It was possible that hadn't even heard about the Purge yet. Let alone Anakin's part in it.

Obi-wan was tempted to procrastinate as much as he could. However he knew he had to tell them over the holo now while he had the chance. It wouldn't exactly be right to show up out of the blue on their doorstep with their brand new nephew.

He took a took a deep breath, and made the call.

Owen popped up in the projector. "Master Kenobi, you're alive." Owen looked and sounded surprised. Evidently he'd been keeping up with galactic news.

"Is Anakin okay? Is he with you?"

Obi-wan was crushed. He knew this conversation was going to be difficult but once reality set in, he realized he didn't know the half of it.

"Anakin is…something terrible has happened."

"Oh no." Owen whispered.

"I need you to listen to me very carefully. Anakin has a son, and he needs your help."

"What? How is that possible? Anakin was-"

"I know about him an Padme." He cut him off, wanting to get this over with. Although he was touched by the fact that Owen's first instinct was to cover for Anakin's illegal marriage. "I've always known." He admitted to Owen what he'd never even admitted to himself.

"Padme was pregnant. She gave birth to twins. She didn't survive."

"Twins." Owen mumbled. The poor man was obviously struggling to absorb all this.

"They can't be kept together. For their own safety. For the safety of the whole galaxy. Now we've already found a home for Anakin's daughter."

"We'll take the son." Owen agreed immediately. "But I don't understand, why can't the children be kept together?"

"Because if Anakin ever found the two of them-"

"So Anakin is alive? I don't understand. Why can't he find them?"

"Look, it's been a pretty bad couple of days. A lot of this would be best reserved for an in person conversation."

--

Obi-Wan Kenobi sat with Owen Lars in the living room of his homestead. Obi-wan had come to deliver Luke to his new family, and explain in detail the severity of the situation.

Half way through his explanation, Beru, Lars' wife had excused herself to put Luke to bed in his new room. Although Obi-wan was fairly certain he had seen her crying as she left, and suspected she did not want to hear any more details.

Obi-wan had recounted his last encounter with Anakin. He told them of how angry the once kind man had been. He told them how he'd hurt Padme. He told them about the pure evil Obi-wan could feel coming from Anakin as they fought. And finally, he told them about how he'd left Anakin to die, slowly.

Of course it didn't quite turn out that way. Once Palpatine publicly revealed his new apprentice, Vader, it wasn't hard for those who were in the know to connect the dots. So, Obi-wan informed Owen and Beru of this as well. They deserved to know what had happened to their brother in law.

And so now, Owen and Obi-Wan sat in silence, until the young farmer finally spoke in a bizarrely emotionless tone. It was nearly droid-like.

"Do you regret it?"

The Jedi looked up. Owen seemed to look 10 years older than he had when the conversation first started.

"How can you possibly even ask me that?" Kenobi's words felt heavy as they left his mouth.

Owen leaned forward. "Don't you dare deflect. I deserve an answer. Do you regret what you did to my brother or not?"

Kenobi responded quickly. "Do not forget that he was my brother before he was yours." It was a petty comeback. But it had been a very long day. Obi-Wan's patiences was running low.

"Answer the question." Owen said. His voice was quiet, but there was an underlying, ice cold animosity to it.

Kenobi merely looked at him for a moment. When he spoke, his throat felt tight, and his mouth, dry. He barely managed to hold back tears.

"Yes." The Jedi who was nearly always calm and collected teetered on the edge of a break down. "I regret destroying Anakin's life. I regret leaving the best friend I ever had to burn beyond recognition. I wish I hadn't even won the fight."

The Jedi's defenses started to crack. A tear escaped his eye and his voice shook as he went on. "I wish, more than I have ever wished anything in my life, that Anakin had defeated me. I might very well spend the rest of my life hating myself for crippling the boy who I was supposed to protect."

The two sat silent again, for what felt like a long time. Kenobi knew he couldn't speak anymore. If he tried, he would have truly broken down.

There was nothing else left to say. So Obi-wan stood to leave. But as he reached to front door of the Lars farm house, Owen spoke one more time.

"That wasn't what I meant." His voice still had the same icy, lack of emotion. "I meant do you regret letting him live. Because you couldn't finish him off, my brother is going to live the rest of his life as a slave to Palpatine. A slave." He repeated the last part, disdain dripping off of the last word of his sentence. "He was a slave before, to Watto, and now he's going to be a slave to this Emperor." He scoffed bitterly. "And I guess he was always a slave to the order too."

"That's not true." Obi-Wan responded quickly, out of instinct. Still, a part of him wondered if Owen was right. The Jedi Order had failed Anakin. Maybe if he had been allowed to live freely, things would have been different.

Owen allowed the silence to hang in the air, thick and oppressive. It was a silence so absolute it was almost a sound of its own.

Then finally, he spoke again. "You didn't have the guts to kill him. And now, who else will be able to stop him? Every last ounce of good in him is gone. And now he's going to bring evil to the whole galaxy."

Kenobi sat there, dumbfounded by what he was hearing. He knew it wasn't true. Not all of it anyway. Or at least that's what he tried to tell himself.

Still, the last words Anakin had said to him, maybe the last words he would ever say to him, echoed in his mind. 'I hate you!'.

His screams of agony, the flames. The smell of flesh burning.

'What have I done?' Obi-Wan thought.

Owen was right. There was nothing good left in Anakin. If there was any good in him at all, it had surely burned in the fire on Mustafar. Obi-wan's refusal to choose his fate, one way or the other had left his best friend in a state that was truly worse than death. There was no doubt that he would now he more consumed by anger and hate than he ever was before.

Owen was right, and he was wrong, he decided.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, barely loud enough for Owen to hear as he stood to go.

He reached for the button to open the door then stopped and turned to face Owen one more time. "You're wrong. Some day you'll see."

"Just stay away from Luke." Owen said simply. Almost indifferently. "I mean it. I don't want him involved in any of this. Ever. If I have anything to say about it, he's going to grow up to be a farmer. He'll have a good life. A peaceful life."

It hadn't occurred to Obi-wan that Owen would choose that for him. It was a sensible choice. Luke would not have an easy life working on a farm, but he would be happy. And yet, in his heart Obi-wan knew someday people would need Luke. And they would need him to be more than a farmer.

He'd have no peace that way. He'd have to fight, and hurt, and lose. He'd have to watch love ones suffer. He would have to fail, and ache and grow. He would have to sacrifice so much. And one day, he'd have to face his own father, and take his life. Because Obi-wan had chosen now to take it when he had the chance.

Maybe Owen was right. What kind of life was that for a boy? How could Obi-wan ask that of him? Was it wrong to expect him to do all those things?

"People will need him some day." Obi-wan began to explain in an uncharacteristically timid voice.

"Too bad." Owen said. "Everyone thought people needed Anakin. And look where it got him.

He was right. In logical terms Owen was correct. The path of the Jedi had lead Anakin to where he was. And it would be wrong to send Luke down that same path some day.

Yet another part of Obi-wan could not agree with this. Deep down he was sure he knew that one day, Luke would be needed, and he would answer the call. He felt it in the Force. He felt it in his heart.

Luke Skywalker was the Chosen One. He would bring balance to the Force. He would fulfill the prophecy.

But this wasn't the time to say that. Owen would never seen things that way. And who could blame him?

Obi-wan Kenobi had nothing left to say. So, without wasting any time on idle words, he turned and left the new home of Luke Skywalker.

--

The saber

Obi-wan trudged timidly up to the Skywalker ranch, with each step wondering if perhaps he should turn around. His boots felt like they were full of lead, and his knees felt like jelly. All these feelings only doubled when he spotted Owen on the horizon.

The moment Owen turned to face him, he almost stopped in his tracks. And when he abandoned his current task and began to approach him, he almost turned around and walked back to his speeder.

Obi-wan resolved to do what he came to do and continued walking until he and Owen were nearly within arms length.

Judging by the look on his face, it was clear Owen was not happy to see him. Unsurprising, considering how their conversation went yesterday. Although it was still strange getting use to this new side of him.

Owen had seemed such a kind, gentle fellow only a short time ago. But as soon as Luke had been placed in his care, as soon as he'd been told all that had happen, everything about Owen changed.

He was cold hearted now. Dry. Gray. He looked older as well. As though he aged a decade in the last week.

"What do you want?" Owen spat the question out.

"I brought something for little Luke." Obi-wan surprised himself with how nervous he sounded.

"Why didn't you leave it here when we last saw you?"

"I hadn't yet made up my mind that it would be a good thing for him to have."

"What is it then?"

Obi-wan reached into his bag and produced Anakin's lightsaber. He held it out to Owen, only for Owen to stare at it, then look back at him.

"He won't be needing that."

Obi-wan thought for a moment. "Anakin would have wanted him to have it."

"Considering Anakin doesn't know he exists, I can't imagine he'd have much of an opinion either way." He said coldly. "Besides, I thought we agreed Anakin was dead. So what you really mean is Vader would want him to have it."

Obi-wan flinched at hearing his old friend's new name. He wondered how many people had heard this new name. He wondered if any of them new that this Vader use to be a hero. A good man. His friend.

Obi-wan tried hard to carefully consider his next words.

"There may come a time that Luke needs-"

"No, there won't." Owen snapped. "I'll make sure if it."

Obi-wan searched Owen's eyes for the slightest hint of kindness, and found none. Still he said "Luke is the child of a person who was once a great man. And someday, Luke will grow to be a great man himself. When that day comes, he may be able to use this to help a great many people."

Owen looked disgusted. He shook his head before he spoke.

"You've learned nothing. Anakin was a good man, once. Before the Jedi twisted him into something else."

"Chancellor Palpatine-"

"No!" Owen shouted suddenly. "The Jedi!"

Owen looked around as if to see if anyone had heard him, and lowered his voice before continuing.

"He use to call me from time to time ya' know. Told me about all the things he struggled with. How he had to hide his love for his own wife."

Owen paused. He let Obi-wan absorb what he's was saying. He let the contempt show on his face.

"Your council forced him to treat the most beautiful thing he had in his life like it was something filthy, it shameful. The only beautiful thing he had in his life."

"That's not true." Obi-wan protested. He was surprised at how hard it was to get the words out. "Anakin was loved by his fellow knights. We were his family, he was my brother."

"How can you say that after what you told me yesterday? The way you left him…you did that to your brother?"

Obi-wan desperately searched for the right words. He found none.

"Look…" he began again with immense caution.

"You don't even have to give it to him. Not now or ten years from now, or ever. Just take the saber and keep it. If some day, you decide he should have it then it'll be your decision."

"It's my decision now." Owen said firmly. "And my decision is that I don't want that thing anywhere near him. Luke is going to grow up to be a farmer. He's going to live a happy life. Far away from all of your Jedi problems. And he's never going to touch, or even see a lightsaber."

The two men stared at each other in silence. After a moment Obi-wan felt himself unable to maintain eye contact anymore, so he looked down and the sand beneath him instead. He wasn't ready to give up but he didn't have any more words for Owen.

Anakin really had been a great man once. His son could grow up to be an even greater man. A man who could help people, and maybe even undo the sins of his father. Someday.

Obi-wan knew there was nothing he could say to convince Owen of this any of this. Owen's only priority was keeping Luke as far away from the Jedi, and the force as possible. Maybe that's how he would he happiest. But would that really be best?

"I don't want you coming around here anymore." Owen muttered bitterly. "Luke has me and his aunt to look after him. He doesn't need a Jedi in his life. If you really care about him, you'll stay away."

Obi-wan just nodded, without even looking up at Owen. There was nothing else he could say or do.

And then, without another word, he turned and left the Skywalker ranch, knowing he might never return.