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| Exile by Jedi Gepper |
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The battered Jedi starship approached the outer atmosphere of the green-brown planet. Obi-Wan could sense the life everywhere even from this distance. It was a warm and welcome sensation to him. It seemed as if all that he had experienced lately involved loss.
Through the atmosphere, the starfighter descended into the fog. The guidance systems revealed no particularly suitable landing sites, though some would work with a careful landing technique. However, Obi-Wan Kenobi knew where to go. He was being guided be one stronger in the Force than he could ever hope to be. That being was Yoda, and he was the one sure thing seemingly left in the galaxy.
He put the ship down practically in the middle of a swamp. The ground held firmly, though. Obi-Wan gathered what little gear he felt he needed and began making his way through the vines and logs. He felt an eerie chill that he would do this again some time, but not in the same way. He could not place the thought exactly, as a premonition or just a random musing. It was beyond him for now. He could not dwell on it. There was so much to tell Yoda, so much to learn from the aged Jedi Master as well. Obi-Wan had never felt so desolate, so grieved. He needed whatever reassurance or hope he could grasp. He only saw hope in Yoda.
After some time on his hike, Obi-Wan saw before him a small hut of sorts. It may have been a tree at one time. He could see that round windows had recently been made in it, and he knew from experience that a masterfully used lightsaber had carved them there. A light emanated from the hut, and it called to him. He arrived before the hut, beheld the opening clearly designed for one of less height, and entered it without hesitation.
Ducking inside, Obi-Wan observed that the hut was sparsely decorated, as if someone not concerned with material things arranged it. It was cool but not cold. Fires were placed to strategically
light the home, if one could call it a home. There was a bed with a bundle of ragged blankets upon it. There was more to the bundle, though, a living being…
All of this Obi-Wan took in at a glance of his eyes and of the Force. A moment later, he was responding to the Jedi Master stirring a pot over the fireplace, his back to Obi Wan's.
"Arrived, you have," Yoda said simply.
"Yes, Master. Palpatine did not make it easy for me to escape. I'm sure he believes me to be dead."
"Wishes it, I'm sure he does." Yoda turned slowly to his former student, looking him up and down in his own perceptive way. "Look so good, you do not, Obi-Wan. Much suffering you have seen."
Obi-Wan could not help but slump somewhat at the comment. The weight of it all was almost literally burdening him. Yoda read his feelings.
"Have a seat, Master Obi-Wan." Yoda gestured to a nearby log stump that had been brought into the hut. Yoda sat himself down on a large carved rock made into a chair, once again fashioned by a well-handled lightsaber.
As soon as Obi-Wan sat down, the pain of everything hit him more fully. Despite his Master's presence, he buried his head in his hands and sat quietly for several moments. Yoda sat at well, waiting for Obi-Wan to speak when he felt he could.
"It's over, you know," Obi-Wan said, "The era of the Republic, the Jedi."
"What of the Jedi Council, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan could not yet raise his head. "They were all killed. One by one practically. I couldn't save them. I couldn't save any one." His head came up briefly, and he looked about the hut as if seeing if for the first time. He looked towards the entrance and stared blankly. Yoda spoke again.
"What of Master Windu? Die nobly, I am sure he did."
Obi-Wan continued to stare out the opening, watching intently the rain that had started to fall.
"He was betrayed, Master. He fought, but he was defeated. I don't know all of what happened, but I fear he had little chance to escape."
"The Temple?"
"Destroyed…utterly destroyed. Most of the remaining Jedi died there…the Masters, the Padawans, the littlest of the children. It was perhaps the most horrific thing I have ever experienced." Obi-Wan smiled bitterly. "There are too many experiences now to know for certain which one is most traumatic for me." He looked back down to the floor, his hands held together before him.
"Dark times these are. Foresee it we did, and yet we were too arrogant, too presumptuous to prevent it."
There was a long silence. The rain beat on the roof, lending its calming influence as well as it could. Obi-Wan exhaled deeply.
"I failed, Master Yoda. I have failed in everything."
Yoda cocked his head quizzically. "How do you mean, Obi-Wan?"
"Master Qui-Gon asked me to train the boy, to train Anakin. I could not refuse him. I did all that I could. I did the best that I could. Now, Anakin is…he's lost."
"Lost how, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan shook his head, looked into the fire now as if as to enhance the memory. "I confronted him regarding Palpatine, about how he…how Padme had been hurt by him. We dueled. He was vicious, Master Yoda. I have never known him to be that consumed by hatred. I could not get through to him for all my efforts." Obi-Wan stared hard into the fire. "I was forced to defend myself. Anakin was beyond reason. I forced him, my own student, off of a ledge into…" Obi-Wan stopped. "He was burning, burning all over. The waves of pain…I tried to save him, to reach out to him through the Force, to lift him up. I was prevented by Palpatine." Obi-Wan's eyes hardened. "I had no choice but to leave."
"Anakin died then?" Yoda questioned.
"He is dead to us, yes," Obi-Wan answered, "He lives, though. I can still sense him when I reach out. So little of whom I remember as Anakin is still there. His very essence, I feel, is practically obliterated." He sighed deeply. "For that, I am responsible."
Yoda rebuked him. "Responsible you are not, Obi-Wan, for the Dark Side. Responsible you are not for others not overcoming their weaknesses, or for others exploiting them. You can do only your best to show the right path. After that, up to that person, it is, to choose that path."
Yoda felt anger rising in his former student. He sensed an inner rage at himself that Yoda doubted even he could quell. He chose to hear Obi-Wan out before saying more.
Suddenly, Obi-Wan laughed, loudly and almost mockingly. "It's amazing, really, that I see only one successful being in any of this."
"Who is that?"
"What? What is that," Obi-Wan corrected. "Padme's droid, that R2 unit she's had for years, managed to smuggle out Leia from the Senator's quarters before Anakin could ever see her…or take her."
Yoda paused, knowing the answer before he even asked the question. "What happened to Padme?"
Again, a silence. This time, Obi-Wan turned directly to Yoda. His eyes suppressed tears. Yoda has never seen most Jedi cry except as children. It was a matter of training, of knowing how to always hold one's composure. Now, though, there were no other Jedi, no one to observe a breach in code. Still, Obi-Wan fought it. He spoke as evenly as possible.
"She was killed. Anakin learned her location. I'm still not sure how. He decided to confront her on their separation and the child, the only one he knew he had. He had never even seen her. I doubt if he knew if it was a boy or girl. I doubt if he knows now either, thanks to Artoo." Obi-Wan took a breath and continued. "I pieced together what happened when I later confronted Anakin. He arrived unannounced. Padme let him in; not realizing who is was until it was too late. They argued. He insisted on seeing the child, and she refused. He headed for the nursery. Padme…she tried to stop him. Anakin turned on her. He…he put the lightsaber right through her in a moment of rage." Obi-Wan choked back his tears again, but it became more difficult. He shook his head almost violently. "I arrived too late. She was already gone. I panicked when I saw that the child wasn't there, but I got a message from Artoo that he had taken her into hiding."
"Where is the little girl now, Obi-Wan?" Yoda asked.
"Safe…as safe as she can be. She's been taken in as an adopted child by Bail Organa of Alderaan."
"A man of peace, he is. A good father, he will be."
Obi-Wan looked at him knowingly and almost smiled. "I see what you're doing, Master."
"And what is that, Obi-Wan?"
"You're looking for the positive side of this nightmare."
"My duty, it is, to do so. After all, known for my good humor, I am"
Obi-Wan did smile this time. His face soon clouded over again.
"There is very little hope to see here, Master."
Yoda looked at Obi-Wan critically, then nodded towards the bundle on the bed.
"There is hope in this place here, Obi-Wan. Search not far for it, you must."
Obi-Wan looked towards the bundle. The rain was stopping, and with its departure a new sound arose, that of a child whimpering. He raised up on the bed, a child of almost three years, a child that reminded Obi-Wan of a boy he and Qui-Gon had once picked up on Tatooine. The child spoke from the bed, still partially wrapped in his blankets.
"Master Yoda, hungry I am!"
"Ready soon it will be, Luke."
"Hungry NOW, I am!" the child insisted.
"Wait you will, as I do!" Yoda snapped back. The child locked glares with Yoda for a moment, and then rolled back over to face away from the Jedi Master and pout. He made no mention of the other man in the small hut. Obi-Wan spoke in a low voice, with an incredulous air.
"That is your idea of hope?"
Yoda became grave despite the intended humor of Obi Wan's comment. "Safe here, he no longer is. Dooku found me here. Faced him and defeated him I did, but his dark side energy now resides near here. Raise a child in such a place I would not do."
The realization began to dawn on Obi-Wan. He was not sure he wanted to be right. "You want me to take him?"
"Take him, you will, and hide him."
"But Master Yoda, I…I couldn't raise a child."
"Protect him you will, but find someone else to raise him."
Obi- Wan thought hard. It came to him how it could be done.
"There's a couple," he started, "that live on Tatooine. They have no children of their own, and Luke would be, well, a nephew to them. He could live with them, and I could be nearby, out of sight."
"Would he be safe there? Know these people, Anakin does, correct?"
"Anakin's past is dead to him as well," Obi-Wan said bitterly, "Besides, he knows of only one child, he does not know even its name, and if he found one of them," Obi-Wan added darkly, "there would still be one safe."
Yoda nodded pensively. "Decided, it is. Take him, you will to Tatooine. Never let him know of me. Forget me, he will, as he grows. Make sure he forgets you as well. Safer he will be with no connection to us as he grows." Yoda rose from the chair and walked slowly over to where the child had again fallen asleep. Obi-Wan followed him, stooping to keep from hitting the low ceilings. They both gazed silently on the child for some time, sensing the importance of this decision. "Someday," Yoda finally continued, "When he is ready, his time will come to fulfill his destiny. Help him, we will, as much as we can."
Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. That feeling of hopelessness returned to him. "Master, what if I fail again?"
Yoda turned to him, letting his stare burrow into the battered and emotionally devastated Jedi.
"Failed, you have not." He spoke more insistently. "Fail, you will not." Yoda turned back to the sleeping child. "Mistakes, misjudgments, have been made by all in this affair." Yoda shifted his focus.
"Eat soon, he will. Then, take him, you will, to Tatooine. Desolate it is there, quiet and remote. Look for him his father will not unless he has reason to do so."
The two stood silently. The child slowly began to wake again. Obi-Wan was thinking all the while on the past, on the future. He had never wanted to train Anakin, not ever. He had done so out of a sense of responsibility to Qui-Gon. Despite his reluctance to train him, Obi-Wan had come to love the boy almost like a son. Then, the son had become a monster, destroyed himself and his own family. Obi-Wan could not help but ask himself if he would do better someday in guiding this child. He reminded Obi-Wan so much of his father as he lay there. The daughter Leia, Obi-Wan sensed, was her mother through and
through. This one, Luke, he was going to be so much like his father. Obi-Wan already felt the burden, but something about its essence shifted. This was a second chance. There was still a way to save this family, if not Anakin or Padme, then these children. Obi-Wan was firmly convinced at that moment that there was no way to bring back Anakin from the dark place he now inhabited. But Luke, Luke and his sister…they could be saved. He had to be the one to help this child. No, he realized, he wanted to be the one.
The child sat up again and stared in a child's suspicious way at Obi-Wan, suddenly deciding to make note of his presence.
"A visitor, we have, Luke. Say, hello," Yoda prodded.
Luke's eyes narrowed at the stranger. "Eat my food, he will."
"A guest he is, Luke, and eat what he wants, he will. Plenty you will have. Now, say hello."
Luke rose from the bed, hopped to the floor, and formally bowed to Obi Wan.
"Luke Skywalker. Pleased to meet you, I am."
Obi-Wan bowed as well, a bit more anyway, barely disguising his amusement. "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi." He realized, belatedly, that Anakin had long ago said that he too was 'pleased' to meet Obi-Wan.
It settled uneasily on him, but he let it go. He had to let it go. Remembering what Anakin had been, and what he was now, would only bias his feelings toward this child.
Yoda had inconspicuously made his way back to the fireplace and placed three plates of what could only be called gruel on a nearby table. Everyone ate heartily, especially Luke. After the meal, Yoda took Luke aside and in front of him. The boy was already almost taller than the Jedi Master.
"Luke, go away, you must, with Obi-Wan. A new home he has for you."
Luke looked at Obi-Wan again, more suspicious than ever. He looked back to Yoda, and tears welled up in his eyes. Unlike Obi-Wan, he allowed them to fall.
"Stay with you, I want! Go away I will not!" The child was certainly obstinate. Even Obi-Wan sensed that this was hardly unusual behavior for the child. He could almost, just almost, sense exasperation from Yoda. Obi-Wan decided to help.
"I have a starfighter you can help fly with me. My droid R4 is always looking for new friends as well."
Luke's eyes brightened. "A starfighter!" He looked back at Master Yoda and stated with complete certainty, "Master Yoda, with Obi-Wan I will go."
"Yes, yes, to Obi-Wan you listen!" Yoda replied ecstatically. Obi-Wan was almost alarmed by the relief that Yoda exuded. Apparently, parenting was not his strong point either. Yoda rushed to pack Luke's limited clothing and toys before the boy changed his mind. It was not long before Luke was ready to leave Dagobah for Tatooine.
Luke was settled snugly behind the cockpit of the starfighter, amusing himself with the many lights and switches around him. Obi-Wan had seen to it that all vital systems were out of his reach. Yoda stood by the starfighter and shook his head at the boy inside.
"Difficult, he will be."
"Oh, don't worry. I've developed wonderful trance skills to block him out."
Yoda eyed Obi-Wan, rolled his eyes and continued seriously.
"Impetuous and reckless, he will be. Difficult to train he will be someday as well. To train him now would be detected. Care he does, though, for living things." Yoda paused. "Dark times are ahead of us. In the future, however, I feel that balance may yet be restored to the Force." Yoda nodded towards Luke. "The answer, he may be."
"You have my word, Master Yoda. I will watch over him. When the time is right, you may see him again."
"See him, I will."
There was a long silence between them as the voices of the swamp spoke for them. Obi-Wan knew that it was time to go. Still, it would be so long before he saw his Master again, if ever.
"Train yourself, Obi-Wan, to be ready to cross over." Obi-Wan was surprised by Yoda's comment, and then he understood it's meaning. Yoda continued.
"Meet again, we will not, in this life. Meet again, though, we will." Yoda turned to go.
Obi-Wan watched him. Finally, he spoke.
"Goodbye, Master Yoda. I thank you for all you have done."
Yoda turned back towards him, "Hear you nothing that I say, Obi-Wan?" he chided, "Meet again, we shall. Besides, much work there is yet to be done."
Obi-Wan smiled again at his seemingly omniscient master. "As always, Master Yoda, I do not doubt you. However," he glanced up and back at Luke, "I will start my work on the trip by correcting that appalling speech pattern you've instilled in the boy."
"Wish, you do, to be so eloquent as I, Obi-Wan. May the Force Be With You." With that, Yoda turned away again and headed for his hut. Obi-Wan smiled at him as he walked away. The smiling did not seem to be quite so hard anymore. True, he was destined for a long, lonely existence on a desert planet, but he would be doing good. Master Yoda would be worse off, here alone as a sentient being, the dark side looming near. Obi-Wan knew, though, that only a being of Master Yoda's inner strength and character could survive and be content here.
The starfighter lifted off. Master Obi-Wan Kenobi could foresee an endless barrage of questions on the voyage from the inquisitive boy. He could also see the joy on the face of Owen and Beru Lars as they were given the child to raise.
He could do this. We wanted to do this. He would not fail this child. The galaxy would suffer, but it would survive. Balance would be restored. These certainties carried Obi-Wan to Tatooine, to a new life.
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