As I walk into the meeting room, Obi-Wan watches me with the heaviness of a man about to tell me he has killed my husband. I ease myself into a seat and he takes the one opposite. For a moment, there is silence, as we both collect ourselves.
I find my words first. "Is he dead?" The question is not accusatory but hollow with inevitability.
He inhales deeply. "In truth, I do not know. But I left him for it, wounded severely enough to be fatal."
I nod, empty. "You have done your duty."
"I wish I did not have to. It was a long, hard struggle between the two of us. I did not relish fighting him, wounding him. He is… was… like a brother to me."
"You do not have to defend your actions to me, Obi-Wan. I understand duty all too well."
He shifts in his chair. "And yet, there are some things that have become more important to you than duty."
"Anakin was that. I had hoped he might listen to me. Hear some sense and consider turning himself over to you. But his hubris has grown too strong."
Obi-Wan shakes his head. "We both did everything we could. I never expected, given his childhood as a slave, that he would be willing to go into custody – and whose custody would it be, when the Jedi Order is lost? Anakin is beyond reasoning. He is consumed by anger, by hate, by fear."
"And now, he suffers." I swallow. Did Anakin writhe in agony from his wounds as I did in labour? Did he take is final breath as his children took their first?
We fall silent again.
"It seems you have not suffered so badly as Anakin feared."
I nod. "Perhaps it was only a dream. Perhaps he interpreted the worst possible outcome from a vision. Perhaps his mind was manipulated in that direction."
"Sidious," Obi-Wan agrees. "He has played an invisible hand all this time; we can only speculate his reach. I, for one, am glad to see you well."
"Thank you, old friend. And thank you for bringing me here to ensure it would be so. To see the twins born safely."
A pause. I can tell that there is more. He has delivered the hardest news, but that is not the end of it.
"Tell me, Obi-Wan. I will mourn Anakin and so will you, whether he lives or not. But we must keep pace with this new galaxy we now inhabit."
He nods. "I had hoped not to burden you with this when you have the twins so newly born, but we have little choice in the matter. Since we arrived here," he continues," I have received communications from Senator Bail Organa and Master Yoda. Both are now on their way here to confer with us. In the context of this new Empire, they may be the only people we can trust. While I was tasked with confronting Anakin, Yoda went in pursuit of Darth Sidious and has been unsuccessful in attempting to disarm the threat he poses. So, while Anakin's fate is unclear, we are now citizens of an Empire controlled by a Sith Lord. We need to figure out our next move, as the only remaining Jedi and two Senators who still believe in democracy."
"I understand. We must discuss our place in all this. There is also the matter of my family on Naboo who are seeking refuge at the palace. And, of course, the twins." I sigh heavily. "I had hoped for a much brighter world for them to be born into. As Anakin's children, their discovery would endanger them."
Obi-Wan strokes his beard, in thought. "We have certainly been left with a mess of a puzzle. Yoda should arrive this evening, and Bail tomorrow morning. I only hope that together we can find a way forward."