Chapter Text
“Whenever you’re looking for Anakin,” Obi-Wan used to tell people. “Start in the worst place he could be.”
Unfortunately, his words were still true—(though Obi-Wan did not know that yet). More unfortunately, those words applied equally to Anakin’s children. Or so Obi-Wan discovered when he stepped into the busy spaceport of Daiyu, and noticed a lost blond boy following him. A very particular, very lost, blond boy.
Owen might forbid Obi-Wan from contacting Luke, but he’d still know Anakin’s son anywhere. He spun to face the boy. “Luke?”
Luke froze, seemingly considering his options. He glanced around for a good place to hide, but there was none. Or none that weren’t already occupied with less-than-legal business transactions.
Luke ran up to Obi-Wan and clasped his leg. “Ben! What a crazy coincidence!”
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. Really? The boy’s lie was more obvious on his face than through the Force. (And the lie was very obvious amidst Luke’s blinding Force signature.)
Luke looked up with bright eyes. “I mean, who would ever expect us to go on vacation to the same place at the same time? Especially a place so…” Luke’s head swiveled as he tried to decide on an appropriate word for the poorly lit and grungy spaceport. “So wicked.”
Obi-Wan pinched the brow of his nose. That was a movement he hadn’t had to make in over a decade. Of course it would be Luke to bring it back. Or was it Leia, since she was the one who’d gotten kidnapped and started this whole mess?
If Anakin had told him—(why Anakin, why didn’t you tell me)—Obi-Wan would not have objected to Padmé and Anakin’s marriage on the basis of the Jedi Code. No, simply the rules of sanity should have forbidden them from combining their genes.
He didn’t have time for this. Leia did not have time for this.
Obi-Wan bent down to Luke’s level, meeting the boy’s eyes. Immediately, Luke looked away. Obi-Wan did not have time for this, but still, he waited for Luke to look back at him to speak, “Luke, how did you get here?”
Luke kicked at the ground. “Kids under ten fly free. I’m ten, but I told them I was nine, and they believed me, because I’m so small.”
Obi-Wan took a deep breath. He couldn’t center himself in the Force anymore, couldn’t use the Force like he once had. Not now when inquisitors walked the streets of Mos Eisley. Instead, he had to calm himself in the more traditional fashion.
He took a second deep breath for good measure.
“Luke, why are you here?”
The boy squirmed a bit more. “I…I followed you. Please don’t be mad, Ben. I had to. The dreams are so real and she’s so scared even though she’s trying not to be, and then I heard Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru yelling about you and a skyhopper—I’ve really been wanting a skyhopper—but you knew my father so I went to your cave. But that man was there and he was sending you instead of the army and there’s supposed to be an army but if there’s you and me then maybe that’s enough and…”
The boy was getting more and more upset as he rambled, until he cut off, gasping for air. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he looked up at Obi-Wan and asked, “Did you know my father?”
Obi-Wan’s heart skipped a beat. No, he wanted to tell Luke. In the end, I never knew him at all. Yet, while true from a certain point-of-view, that was not the truth Luke was looking for.
Owen had forbidden it, but Owen wasn’t here. Luke was. And while that was a disaster, there were no coincidences. Just the will of the Force.
“Yes, Luke. I knew your father. He and I were…very close, once.” Obi-Wan paused. “Did you really follow me all the way here to ask about your father?”
Luke’s face bunch tight. “No? Maybe a little. But mostly for her. She needs an army.”
Her. Amidst the rest of Luke’s rambling, Obi-Wan had not realized just what Luke was telling him. Now, it was obvious. Many powerful Force sensitives suffered from visions in their youth. Obi-Wan’s had faded; Anakin’s had not. It only made sense that Luke was dreaming of Leia when she needed him most. Bail claimed she’d shown no signs of Force sensitivity, but the Force was present in all beings. Luke and Leia were bound.
This could be exceptionally dangerous, or it could be exceptionally good. If Luke could sense Leia…
No, Obi-Wan scolded himself. He needed to get Luke home. His responsibility was to the boy, first and foremost. Leia would have to fend for herself a while longer.
"Some things simply aren’t within the realm of possibility. Not for Jedi." Obi-Wan had said this the day Mace Windu suggested they assassinate Dooku. He was the only one on the council who’d truly fought against it. (Anakin had been all for it—the signs, why didn’t I see the signs?) In the end, they’d compromised their morals and still failed to end Dooku’s threat.
Obi-Wan might fail, but he would not compromise. He’d seen just how dangerous it was for a Jedi to even falter.
Luke’s head was cocked. Could he sense Obi-Wan’s indecision and self-doubt? Likely so, even if he couldn’t name the feelings. In time, Obi-Wan would have to teach him how to separate his emotions from those of others. For now, it was Luke’s connection to others that Obi-Wan needed to hone.
“We will go and save Leia on one condition—you must do exactly as I say. Hide when I say hide. Run when I say run. If I tell you to leave me behind, you must do so. Are we agreed?”
Luke beamed, and it was like Tatooine’s dual suns had followed them to Daiyu. “Sure! But, uh, who’s Leia?”
Traveling the streets of Daiyu with a ten-year-old who’d never been as far as Mos Eisley was…an experience.
“What’s that?”
“That’s a who, Luke, and they’re called trandoshians.”
“Why’s that guy have no clothes."
“Because they're invisible"
“Hey, kid, you want a free death stick?”
“Sure!”
Somehow, Obi-Wan managed to keep Luke (mostly) on track. Despite his meanderings through the seedy planet, Luke seemed to know exactly where he was going. It made Obi-Wan’s skin prickle. He kept looking over his shoulder, expecting to see an Inquisitor there. If they found Luke…
Seven times, Obi-Wan almost wrote Leia off and escorted Luke home. Seven times, he remembered the look on Bail’s face—“she’s as important as he is”—and kept walking onwards.
Luke came to a sudden stop. This building looked no different from any of the other establishments they’d passed, with the same combination of florescent lights and dark shadows. Those shadows would have been easy to hide in, if Obi-Wan was alone. But he was not alone.
Luke pointed, his skin looking sickly and pale beneath the neon glow. “I think she’s in there.”
Obi-Wan considered his options. He could leave Luke out here and disguise himself as a worker. But he hadn’t missed the looks Luke attracted. A beautiful little boy, all alone at night? Obi-Wan would be rescuing Luke from slavers next. Worlds like Daiyu were not meant for children. At least not children who got to stay children.
He looked down at Luke. The boy was looking at him, wide-eyed and trusting. He hardly knew Obi-Wan, but there was not an ounce of doubt in his gaze. If only Obi-Wan had as much confidence in himself.
Luke was just like Anakin, and nothing like him at all. Obi-Wan caught himself looking over his shoulder, expecting a familiar quip and bad idea. But Anakin was gone, and he wouldn’t be coming back. It was wrong to expect such a thing from Luke.
Maybe, just maybe, Owen had a point.
Obi-Wan shook his head. Leia first. Then, once both children were safe, he’d return to the question of their training.
“Luke, I need you to listen to me very carefully.” Obi-Wan spelled out the plan for the boy. He looked nervous—was Obi-Wan expecting too much of him?—but there was a firm determination in his eyes as well. Obi-Wan hadn’t explained why Luke and Leia were connected, and Luke hadn’t asked. Yet. Maybe the boy just knew the same way he had known Leia was here.
“Can you do that for me?”
Luke nodded, and then Obi-Wan did the most irresponsible thing in his life: he handed a child his lightsaber.
The blade was almost as big as Luke. He waved it around recklessly, stopping Obi-Wan’s heart each time it came an inch from skin. At one point, Luke definitely singed his hair. But he kept all his limbs intact—(Obi-Wan would never forget the smell of seared skin)—and proved to be quite the actor.
“There was this guy! And he had a little girl with him, but she looked scared, so I stole his laser sword. Look at it! Isn’t it cool. Woooh! Sorry ma’am. But the haircut looks good; you should keep it. Woops. Thanks for catching me. That was a close one. Look at this cool laser sword! Pew, pew. Pew, pew.”
One of the patron’s rolled their eyes. “Wrong weapon. That’s the sound of blasters, kid.”
Luke ignored them. He was spinning in a wild circle, waving about the lightsaber. Everyone was both trying to stop him, and too wary to move closer. He interspersed raucous laughter with more blaster noises.
Obi-Wan, hood high, snuck right past. He needed to find Leia quick; Luke was having far too much fun.
Obi-Wan had not dared touch the Force for a decade, so he could not reach out and find Leia. Instead, he relied on other skills. In his youth on Melida/Daan, Obi-Wan had learned how to track people through disturbances in dust. It was too dark to see the dust itself, but the neon lights struggled to filter through the areas with the most dust in the air. And the areas with the most dust in the air were the areas with people.
He opened a door; someone kicked him in the balls.
Through his pain, Obi-Wan looked up at his attacker. It was liked she’d kicked him again. If Luke was the spitting image of Anakin, Leia looked exactly like Padmé. She’d been kidnapped, and yet her hair was still perfectly styled. And the way she was balling her fists, ready to go at him again...
“Leia, please. Your father sent me.”
She didn’t let down her guard one bit. The sound of pounding footsteps echoed down the hall, and she tilted her head. “Is that the army?”
Obi-Wan turned, expecting trouble. He found it alright, but not in the form he was expecting. Well, sort of in the form he was expecting. There were a handful of goons, blasters in hand, chasing after a stormtrooper. Or a stormtrooper helmet, at least.
How such a small boy could be so loud, Obi-Wan didn’t understand. He reached out, catching Luke before he ran right past them. Could he even see in that helmet?
“Aren’t you a little short to be a stormtrooper?”
“What? Oh... the uniform. I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you!”
Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose, pushed the children behind him, and began to fight.
If traveling through Daiyu with one child had been bad, traveling through Daiyu with two children was unbearable.
Especially these two children.
“No, you don’t need a hat, Luke.”
“But you got Leia the gloves!”
Obi-Wan sighed, digging through his pocket for another few credits. The hat was ridiculous. Someone had thought to turn Ewoks into a beanie, so now Luke was sporting ears. But, if conspicuous, it a good job of hiding his face. Last thing Obi-Wan needed was a holo of Anakin Skywalker’s clone making its way across the galaxy.
Get Leia to Alderaan, and Luke to Tatooine. It was that simple—and that complicated.
He ushered the children away back into the shadows. “Now, if anyone asks, we're farmers from Tawl and you're my children.”
“I’m the older one,” Leia chirped.
Luke stood on his tippy-toes, which was unnecessary, because he was already five inches taller. “Nuh-uh. You can’t be older because I’m taller!”
Leia hmphed. “Duh, girls are smaller. But I’m definitely older. I’m ten and three-eights.”
Obi-Wan cut off the conversation before Luke could do that math. “Luke is older. Now hush. We’re trying to be stealthy.”
“What does stealthy mean?” Luke grumbled.
Leia smirked. “It means sneaky.”
“No,” Obi-Wan corrected. “It means silent. Come on. We haven’t much time.”
The pair were silent for about two streets. Then, they were back to whispering. Or, they thought they were whispering. Obi-Wan could hear every word.
“How do we know he’s a real Jedi?”
“What’s a Jedi?”
“You know, a Jedi. With the lightsabers and the floating?”
Luke paused for a moment. “He’s not floating.”
“Exactly! What if he’s kidnapping us?”
“But you were already kidnapped and I ran away!”
“Maybe that’s just what he wants you to think.”
Obi-Wan sighed and paused. “Listen to me, both of you.” If he waited until they stopped fidgeting, he’d be there forever, so he simply waited until they both looked. “All I want is to get you two home safe. I was a Jedi, once. Now, I’m just Ben.”
Leia did stop fidgeting then, and fixed him with a gaze meant for the senate floor. “A Jedi helps people. So if you’re really helping me, then you’re a Jedi.”
Obi-Wan could not fight that logic, nor the sheer joy it brought him. He lay one hand on each of the children’s shoulders and ushered them onwards.
“I’m rescuing you too,” Luke interjected, quite a while later. “So that makes me a Jedi!”
“Can you make me float?”
They were in their transport when the order came to shut down the planet.
“Attention passengers,” a protocol droid wobbled to the front of their cabin. “Due to local ordinances, this flight has been cancelled. All passengers must disembark and submit themselves for inspection. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The ship broke into chaos, everyone taking it out on the poor droid. Fortunately, that meant Obi-Wan could guide the twins off the ship without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, the droid hadn’t been kidding about inspection. The ship’s ramp was surrounded on all sides by stormtroopers, and two inquisitors stood in the center. And not just any inquisitors either. These were two of the ones who’d been on Tatooine.
There was no such thing as coincidences, not with the Force. Obi-Wan had a bad feeling about this.
He ushered Luke and Leia back into the shuttle.
“Why aren’t we submitting for inspection?” Luke asked, eyes wide and innocent. It occurred to Obi-Wan only then that Luke had no idea they were even trying to hide. He probably should have explained a bit more, but there hadn’t been time, and since then, the twins hardly shut up long enough for him to get a word in edgewise.
Leia, once more, beat him to the punch. “Because the Empire is evil. Don’t be such a nerfherder.”
Obi-Wan’s head was pounding, and his mind was on overdrive searching for a solution. He spoke without thinking. “Be nice to your brother.”
Back in the main cabin, people were still shouting. Amidst the three of them, you could have heard a pin drop. Obi-Wan didn’t dare breathe. No, he couldn’t breathe. How could he be so reckless? If they knew…
“He’s not my real brother,” Leia grumbled, her words a dip in fresh bacta. Thank the Force.
Luke opened his mouth, and Obi-Wan feared his objection would ring true in the Force. He spoke before the boy could. “Alright, I have another very bad plan.”
“Do I get to use your lightsaber again?”
“That’s not fair, it’s my turn.”
“Hush, both of you.” Obi-Wan’s headache was definitely worsening by the second. “No one is using my lightsaber. Those are inquisitors. If they see anyone with a lightsaber, they will kill you. Do you understand?”
Finally, both children stayed silent.
Obi-Wan let that sink in a moment, then he moved to the wall. A ship this large needed some sort of waste disposal system, which meant there was a back door out. A gentle probe of the Force would help Obi-Wan find it, but he did not dare. Instead, he searched with his eyes.
“What are you looking for? Can I help?” Luke asked.
“We need to find the garbage chute,” Obi-Wan answered, not looking up from his work. There was a crack in the plating he thought for certain might be the answer, but it turned out to be nothing more than a flawed design. Where was it?”
“Here!” Leia chirped, and the shoot slid open. It would be a little tight for Obi-Wan, but the children squeezed through without issue.
Though the issues immediately arose as they traipsed through swampy garbage.
“Eww. Is that a fish head?”
“What did I just step in?”
“Luke! Stop splashing me!”
“You’re splashing me!”
Obi-Wan stuck his fingers in his ears and searched for the way out.
Anakin had always had the most unusual sort of luck. If there was trouble to be found, Anakin would be in the midst of it. But somehow, he always got out unscathed.
(Until, of course, he didn’t.)
His children seemed to have inherited that luck. They got out of the ship without running into any inquisitors. They did meet some stormtroopers, but Obi-Wan took care of them with his blaster. An inelegant weapon, perhaps. But far less traceable. And comfortably separate from his life as a Jedi.
(He’d learned to shoot among an army of children. Now, looking at Luke and Leia, he couldn’t fathom giving them a weapon. Why had he let so many children fight grown wars?)
Since there seemed to be no way off the planet, Obi-Wan decided they best hunker down. Places like Daiyu were hard to keep closed for long. The people would grow restless with Imperials breathing down their neck. Obi-Wan and the children would hide long enough for the Inquisitors to leave, and that would be that.
The twins were practically dead on their feet by the time Obi-Wan found a hotel which rented for longer than an hour. Leia’s head drooped to rest on Luke’s shoulder. He’d actually stooped so she could reach. It brought a smile to Obi-Wan’s lips, and an ache to his heart. They’d been separated for a reason, but that didn’t make it the right decision.
Obi-Wan was distracted. If he’d been paying attention, he would have noticed the way the concierge kept glancing under the counter, then back at his face. Instead, he was trying to think through his options. Did he leave the twins while he went to find food, or was it safer to bring them with him? Were they better off staying in one place, or switching every night? Should he tell Luke and Leia the truth, or send them back to their respective homes ignorant?
There was no elevator. Getting the children to drag themselves up to the eleventh floor was a lesson in patience to rival anything the Jedi temple had prepared him for. He ended up carrying Leia the last few flights, feeling guilty all the while as Luke struggled. Finally, he found the room and ushered them inside.
“Ben? Do we have any water?”
Obi-Wan smirked; certainly, this was an unfortunate situation. It might have been worth it, just to see Luke’s eyes widen at the sight of a water shower.
He ran his hands through the stream again and again and again. “I didn’t know there was this much water in the whole galaxy!”
Leia muttered something that included the word “smelly,” but Obi-Wan decided to let it go. She’d had a difficult day.
They all had.
“Take as long as you’d like,” Obi-Wan told Luke. “I’m going to find us dinner.”
Obi-Wan missed ration bars. If anyone in the 212 heard him say that, they’d think he’d lost his mind. But it was true. He still lived on rations; they were the only thing he could afford on Tatooine. It wasn’t the same as the bars he’d lived on during the war, somehow both rock hard and chewy. The taste had been minimal, which was better than being awful. But they’d been convenient, and if he was still a Jedi, Obi-Wan would have enough in his robes to tide over even two growing children. Bail had given him plenty of credits, but he’d have to leave the children alone if he was going to spend it.
He didn’t like it one bit, but it was necessary. Obi-Wan could survive a few days without food. The children couldn’t. And, he rationalized, they would need their strength should they be discovered.
Leia was unwinding her braid; Obi-Wan bent down beside her. “I’m going to go find us food. When Luke is done, you can shower as well. Promise me, Leia, that you’ll both stay here, and you won’t answer the door for anyone.”
“I’m not a baby,” Leia hmphed, scooting up on the bed. “We’ll be fine.”
Fatal last words, certainly. Obi-Wan could not escape the dread which echoed through the Force. But he had few options, and, with a final, regretful look, he went out into the night.
They’d released his holo, everywhere. Obi-Wan had hardly gone ten yards before a would-be bounty hunter tried jumping him. He fought off the attacker easily; the man was so drunk, it wasn’t difficult. In fact, he was so drunk that Obi-Wan didn’t consider why he’d attacked. He just assumed it had been a pitiful attack at a mugging.
It was only when four beings cornered him, bounty pucks beeping, that Obi-Wan realized his error. He fought these off as well, though it meant breaking out his lightsaber. Then, he rushed back to the hotel.
He could sense through the Force the black dread even before he turned the corner. There was a balcony on the other side of the hallway, open to the street below. The Inquisitor who’d threatened Owen Lars stood upon it, red lightsaber pressed against Leia’s neck.
There was no sign of Luke.
Despair came first. The boy was likely dead already. Leia, at least, was the daughter of a senator. The Inquisitor would hopefully hesitate to kill her. But Luke, so far as the galaxy knew, was no one.
But Leia wasn’t crying, and surely, even if they’d just met, she’d react to her twin’s death. Instead, she stood stoic, except that her eyes kept darting towards the nearby ice machine. When it didn’t seem that Obi-Wan had gotten the message, she started kicking her foot towards the machine as well.
The Inquisitor was too busy basking in her triumph. In a sing-song voice, she said, “Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Grand Inquisitor was right about one thing—your compassion betrays you. Ten years you’ve survived the hunt, but now, for a little girl, you’ve sentenced yourself to death.”
Obi-Wan held his hands up and took one step closer. The Inquisitor flinched, searing her lightsaber into Leia’s collar. The girl screamed in pain. All Obi-Wan wanted was to rush towards her, but the warning was clear. He skid to a stop.
Leia’s screams dulled to a sob. At least, from Obi-Wan’s new perspective, he could see Luke behind the ice machine, poised to fight. Obi-Wan met the boy’s gaze, and gave the smallest shake of his head. Trust me Luke, he begged. I will save her. I will save you both.
Almost like he could hear him, Luke nodded.
“Do whatever you wish with me, but that is the heir to an Imperial-aligned planet. Let her go.”
The Inquisitor actually smiled. “Give me your lightsaber, and I will.”
If she was a stormtrooper, Obi-Wan could pretend to disarm himself, then shoot. But his blaster was just out of reach, and she was Force sensitive. She reeked of the Dark Side. If he tried to deceive her, she might know. Obi-Wan couldn’t risk it, not with Leia’s life on the line.
Slowly, telegraphing every movement, Obi-Wan unclipped his lightsaber and placed it on the floor. He kicked it towards her. “Now, let her go.”
“Very well,” the Inquisitor answered. But instead of releasing Leia, she lifted the girl up and tossed her over the railing.
Obi-Wan was going to be too late. She was too far away. He darted forward, all caution forgotten, but knew he’d be too late. Eleven stories took ages for a child to climb, and seconds for a child to fall.
“NO!” Luke screamed, darting from his hiding place.
The Inquisitor was momentarily surprised, but, before she could reach for the boy, Obi-Wan had summoned his lightsaber with the Force, and stepped between them. His blade caught the Inquisitor's, losing him even more time. Obi-Wan didn’t dare look. Bail’s child. Padmé’s child. Anakin’s child. Splattered on a miserable, dirty street.
The Inquisitor’s blows were furious and Obi-Wan was out of practice. He met them all, but could not manage any effective counterattack.
“There’s no point in fighting,” she taunted. “Can’t you see, I know all of your moves. Lord Vader has been an excellent teacher.”
Obi-Wan faltered, and got a lightsaber blow to the arm in payment. No, it can’t be true, his mind pleaded, but the Force was screaming its veracity.
The Inquisitor’s grin only grew. “You didn’t know? He’s alive, Obi-Wan. Anakin Skywalker is alive—and he’s very much looking forward to seeing you again.”
Obi-Wan’s world was already collapsing from beneath him, so he dared look down to the street.
She was there, but not blood soaked and mangled. Leia was sitting up, staring wide-eyed back up towards then. She was alive. Anakin’s daughter was alive.
“Anakin Skywalker is alive.”
Obi-Wan blocked another attack from the Inquisitor. He was far too old for any of the fancy Form IV, so fell back upon the familiar patterns of Soresu. But that technique had only worked so well because he’d always had more offensive partners beside him.
“Anakin Skywalker is alive.”
Now, it was just Obi-Wan. He could block her attacks, but he could not break the stalemate. Because she was right. She did seem to know every one of his moves. And there was only one place she could have learned them.
“Anakin Skywalker is alive.”
Growling in frustration, the Inquisitor shifted her attacks. She blasted Luke with the Force, sending him toppling over the railing as well. Obi-Wan was close enough this time to reach out with the Force and stop the boy’s descent.
But he didn’t have to. As Luke fell, Leia screamed, stretched out her hands, and made Luke fly.
Only then did Obi-Wan understand. Luke had stopped Leia’s fall, and now she’d done the same for him. They’d saved each other. They’d saved each other through the Force.
Obi-Wan and the Inquisitor’s blades locked, blue and red mingling in a deadly symphony. It took all his strength to stand his ground, and she didn’t even seem to be struggling. No. Through the Force, Obi-Wan could feel her pure, unreserved, joy. “I see you’ve acquired two new padawans. Tell me, Obi-Wan. What do you think will happen when I bring them to Darth Vader? Will they turn, or will they die?”
Obi-Wan did not answer. Instead, he extinguished his saber and leapt over the railing himself. The children were embracing one another, their voices excited. No doubt, they were asking Obi-Wan a million questions, but he couldn’t hear them. There was a faint buzzing in his ears, and his body was filled with dread.
He grabbed one child in each hand, and took off at a run.
“What do you think will happen when I bring them to Darth Vader?”
“Will they turn, or will they die?”
“Anakin Skywalker is alive.”