Archive: My site and the m_a archive. Anyone else, just ask. I
won't say no.
Category: AU. Totally.
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Non Canon.
Spoilers: TPM, ANH. Some for the JA books.
Summary: Han Solo accompanies Obi Wan to Tatooine.
Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to George Lucas, who is
god. And I'm not making any money out of this... so it would
really be pointless to sue me for it.
Content: Q/O, O/Other
Feedback: I love it, it's inspiring.
Notes: // means telepathy.
The Millenium Falcon landed just behind the dunes that had been
part of Owen Lars's moisture farm. Han and Obi-Wan had decided
that it would be safer to stay away from Moss Espa or any other
of the cities in order to avoid both the Empire and Han's
'business partners' until they were ready to go off planet
again, and thus the almost isolated farm was the perfect bay.
Obi-Wan was the first to walk out of the ship, his eyes wide
with disbelief. Han Solo closely followed him, since the rough
pilot and Chewbacca were his only company on the trip back to
the sand planet. Luke Skywalker had wanted to accompany him,
but the Rebel leaders had dissuaded the young pilot, explaining
that they needed his help. Many pilots had died during the
attack on the Death Star, and there was barely enough time to
train new ones.
The farm was completely burnt down, but Obi-Wan had no doubt
that his brother had lived there. He could feel it in the air.
Barely a month had passed since his older self had helped Luke
to burn the remains of his brother and his wife, and thus the
young Padawan could still feel echoes of the pain present in
the desolate passage.
He wanted to cry. To yell at the skies, demanding a reason for
the madness, to know why the Empire would have murdered his
brother -who had been an amazing pilot and a caring man - why
all his life would turn to a nightmare in the blink of an eye.
The Empire had destroyed the place so completely that there was
nothing left of Owen's life. Nothing that could at least
reassure Obi-Wan that his brother had been happy in the
desolation that was Tatooine.
And he held few hopes that his old self's house was any
different.
As he and Han walked silently to 'Old Ben's' house, Obi-Wan was
deep in thought. Part of him wanted to find the place where he
would live his final days, to see if he could find an answer to
the madness, maybe even a way of going back to his own time.
The other part of him was terrified.
Because in what was left of the Jedi Temple's database at
Yavin, he had not found any reference to his Master Qui-Gon's
death... And he knew that there were many chances of him
keeping an accurate account of the fall of the Jedi.
He had to know what happened to the Order.
He didn't want to.
A few steps before arriving at the dune where Luke had told him
he would find his house, he stopped.
"What's wrong?" Han turned to him, a little worried.
"I don't know if I can do this..." Obi-Wan confessed, lowering
his gaze.
"Hey, don't sweat it, Obi-Wan. We can always come back later."
Han placed his hand on the young Padawan's shoulder, smiling.
On the way to Tatooine, their friendship had grown, as they
both had been more relaxed once the pressure of the upcoming
fight and Leia's grave worshiping wasn't upon them. During the
trip, they had talked about many things - nothing about the
Empire or the Rebellion.
Obi-Wan knew immediately that Han's offering was true. If he
didn't want to face his past - future? It was confusing - the
pirate wouldn't force him. "No... Just... Just wait here,
please."
Han nodded, and he followed the Obi-Wan to the entrance of the
abandoned hut, sitting outside to wait in case his new friend
needed him.
Lord Vader's unease was growing.
Since his narrow escape from the Death Star's destruction, he
had been unable to ignore the memories and feelings that the
young Obi-Wan's apparition had awakened in his mind. The
memories that belonged to a Jedi Knight, not to the dark Lord
of the Sith.
He knew that he could not allow that weakness. He had to
destroy it completely, and from the root.
But to do that, he had to find Obi-Wan Kenob,i and he still
could not sense him. The Master-Apprentice bond was silent;
there were no signs of the young man around.
How old was that Obi-Wan? 25, as he had been when he took
Anakin Skywalker as an apprentice? Or was he older? Vader kept
replaying their duel in his mind, trying to remember any clue
to his enemy's age, a glimpse of any weakness.
The almost blinding light that had appeared when the Old
Kenobi's body disintegrated, the startled look in the
green-blue eyes of the young Kenobi when he appeared. His
robe-less stance, his hair cut all too short... just as it had
been when Vader first meet the...
A braid!
All things had happened so fast, that Vader had not given
himself time to notice it. But he had seen it, a glimpse of
longer hair, attached behind Kenobi's right ear.
That young Kenobi was real, but he was not his Master, had not
even finished his own training.
And Vader knew very well where the young master-less Jedi would
go.
Where everything had begun.
Tatooine.
The small space of the hut didn't look remotely familiar to
Obi-Wan. It was not the kind of place where he saw himself
living. At first sight, there wasn't a single thing that drew
his attention, anything that he could call his own.
Until his eyes wandered to the bedroom.
To the dark brown robe that was carefully folded and reverently
placed over the bed. A shade of brown that he had seen every
day of his life for the past eleven years, that he thought he
would never seen again.
His Master's robe.
Obi-Wan ran inside the even smaller bedroom and draped his
hands around the old fabric, closing his eyes as he lifted it
to bury his face in it, as he had done many times in his
childhood.
Only this time, his Master was not with him.
Sighing, he put the robe down. Then, almost as an afterthought,
he took off his own robe, replacing it with his Master's. It
was almost as if he touched home. Maybe he was being silly, but
it was a small comfort.
The bedroom was not as small as the one he had in the Jedi
Temple, and he wondered for a moment if his older self had done
so to indulge himself. He had complained to Qui-Gon many times
about the lack of space in the quarters of the various
spaceships where they spent most of their time.
Obi-Wan sighed and looked around. He had hoped to find answers
to this future in the small room, but as he stood in the place
where his last years had passed, the young Padawan didn't want
to dwell on anything that was not his past. His mind was
focused on the robe covering his shoulders. Why was it there?
Had Qui-Gon shared these quarters with him? That seemed very
unlikely. It was more possible that he had kept it after his
Master's death. But when and how had that happened? Hadn't it
been just a few days ago that Qui-Gon had announced before the
Council that he would take a new Padawan? Anakin Skywalker,
Luke's father.
A heavy feeling came to his stomach and Obi-Wan had to fight
the tears. If he had been allowed to keep his Master's robe...
then he had witnessed Qui-Gon's death while he still was a
Padawan.
The sight of his Master, kneeling down to meditate in front of
the Sith Lord, was burned into Obi-Wan's eyes. Could it be
posible that Qui-Gon had died in that fight? Because Obi-Wan
had failed to be there to assist him?
//My Master... forgive me...//
"Obi-Wan? Is everything all right?" Han's voice came from
outside, slightly worried. "You need any help?"
"N...No Han... Thanks."
Shaking his head in an attempt to let his grief go, the Jedi
set himself to see the contents of his shelves. Unlike the main
room, here he could see many familiar trinkets, so many that he
could not help but wonder why his older self had chosen to live
in the past. One in particular caught his attention, although
for many others it could have been passed over. It was a small
rock, nothing special about it. It didn't shine, it didn't have
any mystical force around it. It was just a rock.
The first gift Qui-Gon had given him.
He picked it up reverently, and smiled. At least he hadn't lost
all his past in this crazed jaunt.
As he carefully placed the rock between the folds of his robe,
just like he had done at his thirteen birthday, his eyes set on
a small wooden box on the lower shelf. It wasn't one of the
ones he remembered from his quarters in Coruscant, and,
curious, he bent down to open it.
Inside, there were two padawan braids, carefully wrapped so
time wouldn't damage them.
The longer one was very familiar to him, as it was still
attached to his head. It saddened him to see it, because he had
always hoped Qui-Gon would keep it. It saddened him even more
to see that it was of the same length as his own.
There was not much time for his trials then.
If his Master hadn't asked for his Padawan braid, it could only
mean two things. Either Obi-Wan's trials hadn't meant anything
to his Master, who must have been busy training his 'Chosen
One', or Qui Gon had died before Obi-Wan's trials.
He couldn't say which possibility scared him the most.
The second braid was a puzzle by itself. It was slightly
shorter than Obi-Wan's, and much lighter. It was light blond,
almost the same shade as Luke's hair.
So was it Anakin's Padawan's braid?
If it was, there was only one reason for his older self to have
kept it.
It meant that he, Obi-Wan Kenobi, had been Anakin Skywalker's
master.
Chewbacca was getting worried.
Han and Obi-Wan had been gone for a short time, but there was a
strange silence on the scanner. Nothing was near the zone where
the Skywalkers' farm had been... and that was not right.
Because it was an absolute nothingness. Not even a bantha.
That was not good.
In any other circumstance, he would have waited a little longer
to see what was the cause of this sudden silence, but they were
on Tatooine, Jabba the Hutt's territory. And Jabba was not
known for forgiving debts... More so, they were on the company
of a Jedi, and even if Han pretended not to know much about the
legendary order, Chewbacca was very aware of one thing.
Jedi were outlaws. Killed and chased by the Imperials
throughout the entire Galaxy.
This silence could not be safe for Obi-Wan.
Growling low in his throat, he turned on the communicator and
contacted Han.
Han listened to his old friend, nodding a couple of times even
though the Wookie could not see him. He had hoped that given
the location of Old Ben's house, Obi-Wan would have some time
and privacy to come to terms with his loss, but the silence was
unnerving. They could be walking straight into a trap, for all
he knew.
Knocking softly on the open door, he walked inside the small
hut.
"Obi-Wan?" he asked, not seeing his friend.
When he did not receive any answer, he walked inside what
seemed to be the bedroom, to find the young padawan kneeling in
front of a wall covered with shelves. He looked as if he had
been crying, and there was an open wooden box in front of him.
Han sighed. From the first moment, he had known it was not a
good idea for Obi-Wan to go poking in his older self's past.
Because it was Obi-Wan's future. What good could it do him, who
had been raised in the Old Republic, to see the remains of a
broken life? It was bound to get Obi-Wan hurt.
Kneeling at the padawan's side, Han brought his hand to
Obi-Wan's shoulder, trying to get his attention.
"Obi-Wan, we have to go now... If we stay for much longer,
either the empire or the Hutts will notice us." In that moment,
his communicator blared alive and he could hear Chewie's
frantic growls, warning him of immediate danger. The sensors
had picked up Imperial Troops coming in their direction. "Shit!
We're coming Chewie, get the engines going! Obi-Wan... if
there's anything you want to get from here, you better do it
now."
Obi-Wan blinked, then looked around. He took the box with him,
even though its contents were a grisly reminder that Qui-Gon
was dead, that it had been because of him. The rest... he
hadn't had much time to see it all and everything looked the
same. The last thirty years of his life were there, and at the
same time, he didn't feel anything from those belongings.
"Let's go, Han," he whispered, and walked away from the life
that was waiting for him in his own time.
The Storm Troopers found the hut of the old hermit Kenobi with
incredible ease, just following the directions of the terrified
and recently deceased jawas.
Their orders were very clear, and they came from Lord Vader
himself. They had to find the hut and destroy it completely,
burn it to the foundations. Then they had to search for a young
Jedi Apprentice who answered to the name of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Most Troopers did not believe that a Jedi could still exist
even in the Outer Rims of the Galaxy, since the Order had been
completely destroyed by the Emperor long ago. Some of the older
men knew the name Kenobi, and were sure that the old general
hadn't any family to carry on his name. But none had courage
enough to tell Lord Vader that they were sent on a fool's
errand.
And even though the search for the young 'Jedi' was bound to be
fruitless, the destruction of the hut would be an enjoyable
task. A good reminder for the rest of the planet that the
Empire was all-powerful.
Han and Obi-Wan had managed to get a good distance between them
and the place where Kenobi had lived his last years when the
Storm Troopers arrived, and thus they could run to the
Millenium Falcon unseen. But they were still near enough to
feel the first explosion that tore the foundations of the hut.
Obi-Wan could not help but turn around, and see the smoking
remains of the house that his older self had called home,
surrounded by the Imperials. Even in the distance, the young
Padawan could feel the hate those men had towards the Jedi, the
glee that they took on their task, as they kept burning all the
remains of the life that Obi-Wan still not lived.
And as the smoke filled the sky, Obi-Wan felt his mind and
heart shatter in pieces.
It was just a stroke of luck that the Imperials were so
distracted by the burning hut what enabled Han to carry the
shock- paralyzed Obi-Wan to the Millenium Falcon. If the Storm
Troopers had decided to scan the area before the hut was
totally destroyed, Han was sure that they would have been
captured and possibly killed.
As he took off, fully aware that his rash action would put all
the Imperial Force behind his tail, just as the last time he
had been there, the rough Corellian began wondering why he was
helping Obi-Wan.
At first he had been there only for the money. He needed the
reward that the old Kenobi had promised so he could pay Jabba.
However, that had not been the reason why he had helped Luke to
save Princess Leia. The truth was that he had little love for
the Empire, and anything that helped against them was fair game
for the Pirate.
Anything that did not put his head in more danger than
it usually was.
And that was exactly what he was doing now, just for a time
displaced Jedi. The reason why was what he did not want to
know.
Obi-Wan was a good friend. Han had begun to see that in the
trip from Aldeeran's remains to Yavin, and had finally decided
so after the victory ceremony. The Jedi Padawan was the only
one in the Rebellion that had no preconceived ideas about a
Pirate. He didn't see him as the free-willed rebel that most of
the pilots thought Han was, nor acted as if he was worse than
the Imperials as Princess Leia seemed to do. No, Obi-Wan was
not at all like that.
In the past days, Han had enjoyed all his small chats with the
Jedi, and even more those moments where they could be silent
together. It was then that a strange sense of calm filled him.
He was getting very fond of Obi-Wan for having known him such a
short time.
But he knew he could not let that feeling grow into something
more.
Not when Obi-Wan was so lost and confused.
Not when all the Jedi wanted was to return to his own time.
Shaking his head to get his mind clear of those conflicting
thoughts, Han left his seat to check on the still unconscious
Obi-Wan.
The world was covered in a red haze.
Obi-Wan stood incapable of moving as he saw his master fight
against the Dark Lord, imprisoned inside the red energy field
that formed the cycle's doors. He saw how Qui-Gon pressed the
fight forward, trying to find a weak point in his opponent...
He saw the Dark Lord's lightsaber piercing his Master's body...
And suddenly the image shifted, and Obi-Wan was no longer on
Naboo. He did not recognize the place, but he was surrounded by
Imperial troops. The red haze was still around him, and his
body was paralyzed. Near him he could see Chewbacca growling as
he protected Princess Leia with his body... there was no sign
of Skywalker.
More soldiers came into the scene, carrying Han Solo with them.
Obi Wan could not hear what was being said, but he could see
Leia's dispair... and felt his own sense of loss...
Han was chained, and they put him in the top of a
carbon-freezing unit. Even though there was no sound, he could
see as his friend was lowered and steam surrounded the
machinery...
"NO!!!!"
Obi-Wan woke drenched in sweat. For a moment, he could not
recognize his surroundings. He was still confused and immersed
in the terrifying vision that had been his dream... But the
vision gave way only to allow him to recall the truth that he
wanted to ignore.
The hut itself had no meaning to him. He had not lived there;
it wasn't his home.
But even so, it was filled with the things that he had known as
true, the only possessions that he still could call his... Now,
the memories of his past and of his future were only smoke.
That loss was heavy on his heart.
He knew he had to let it go and accept what had happened. The
past could not be changed, and one had to face the future as it
came.
Only he didn't know where to start. If he should try and find a
way to return to his own time, where he would face once again
the loss of his Master, or go forward and forge a new future,
forgetting all about his life in the Republic.
Obi-Wan sighed as tears burst from his heart.
When he had first arrived, he wouldn't have hesitated in his
decision. But now, after the startling dream, he didn't know
what to think.
What had caused the emptiness inside his heart and soul? The
vision of Qui-Gon dying or the possibility of losing Han?
"Hey, Obi-Wan... Are you o.k?" Han walked inside the small bunk
room, and for a moment it seemed that he was going to embrace
the young Jedi apprentice, but instead, he simply sat down at
his side. Even though he was smiling, it was easy for Obi-Wan
to pick up that the pirate was really concerned for his well
being.
"I... No." He drew a long breath, trying to stop the tears. He
wanted to lie, to assure Han that nothing worried him, to
regain a little bit of the calm stoic mask that always seemed
to surround Jedi, but he couldn't. Instead, Obi-Wan found
himself saying the truth. "I don't think I'll be fine for a
long time."
Han didn't answer in words; there was not much to say. So
instead, he simply patted the Jedi's shoulder, trying to
reassure the young man that things would work out somehow.
Now he had to start believing it.
Lord Vader's unease had not disappeared.
When the information regarding the destruction of Obi-Wan's hut
on Tatooine arrived, he did not feel the triumph he expected to
sense once his old teacher's life was destroyed.
Maybe it was because he was still alive. Maybe it was because
he knew that the young man who had appeared from the ashes of
the old man was not the one who had taught Vader, was not the
one who had betrayed him.
Maybe it was because this young Obi-Wan Kenobi was the one who
would teach Anakin Skywalker.
Vader had no memory of Obi-Wan Kenobi as a Padawan learner. He
had only known the cold, always sad shadow of a man whom his
Master had become. A shadow whom he'd believed would be easy to
defeat.
But in the young Obi-Wan he had seen the life that had always
been missing from his Master's eyes... the same life that had
been robbed from Anakin Skywalker the day he died.
The Emperor had been very clear on his orders. He had to
destroy the Jedi before he became a bigger threat to the
Empire. However, for the first time in his life, Vader was
hesitating to comply swiftly.
Before killing Obi-Wan Kenobi, he wanted to know what it would
take to break his spirit.
On the frozen planet of Hoth, the Rebellion had begun to build
a base, hoping that the Empire would never search them on an
almost uninhabitable planet.
Within the Rebel base, Luke had begun training the new pilots,
still shaken by his new status of war hero. He had hoped to
stay with Obi-Wan, learn more about his father and the Jedi,
but he had managed to feel better. At least he was fulfilling
his dream, the one for which he had fought against his Uncle
Owen many times over.
He still missed his uncle, and to fight the tears, he had been
working himself to exhaustion. Still, it didn't seem to work.
Luke still woke up at night, crying over lost chances, over not
having told Beru and Owen how much he loved them.
The Empire had destroyed all his family. First his father, the
one he had never met but admired with all his heart, then his
Aunt and Uncle, who had been the only parents he had known...
And Vader had tried to kill Old Ben... The Last Jedi who had
begun training him, and shown him a new future, a new dream.
That was why Luke had wanted to go with Obi-Wan to Tatooine...
to see if in Ben's past, Luke could find any link to his Father
and to his Father's life. Luke wanted to show Obi-Wan that his
old-self had not been mistaken, that he could be a Jedi Knight.
Just like his father.
Two days had passed since leaving Tatooine, and Han still
couldn't build up the courage to talk to Obi-Wan.
He knew that his friend was suffering, keeping all his pain and
troubles inside himself. The Pirate also knew that it was the
worst thing he could do, that if he wanted to really leave it
all behind, the Jedi had to face whatever he had seen in the
old man's hut. Han had suffered enough to know that.
But even so, he couldn't go and force Obi-Wan to talk.
After the first outburst, the Jedi had spent most of his time
meditating. And if he had been with Luke, Leia or those who
believed in the Old Order, maybe Obi-Wan would have fooled them
into believing he was getting better. But Han was not blinded
by the old stories, and he was not seeing the severe mystic
knight in deep meditation. The only thing he could see was a
broken young man who tried to fill bigger boots.
Still, he could not find the words to reach him.
What could he say to someone who had been ripped away from his
own time, who had lost everything in the blink of an eye?
In silence, Han could only watch Obi-Wan and wonder what he
could do to ease his heart.
Obi-Wan had been meditating two days, and still could not find
his answer.
The truth was that he had been spending more time trying to
contact his Master, still believing in the old Code, still
trusting in the teachings of the Temple, but without any good
outcome. All he could sense was a dark emptiness in the Force.
He still could not make himself believe that he had lost his
Master, and that was the hardest part of it. While in his mind
he knew that until he accepted the past, there was no way for
him to understand the future, his heart was a little slow
getting the message.
He loved his Master Qui-Gon Jinn with much more than the love
of a son for his father, and held hopes that his love would be
sometime returned... And even if it wasn't returned with the
same intensity, Obi-Wan hoped that Qui-Gon could love him like
a son... and would be there for him. Now he knew that it was
not meant to be. That even if he could return to the moment
when the Sith Lord fought against his Master, he still did not
know enough to save Qui-Gon's life...
For that, and for the Republic, he had to find out more. He had
to find a way to return.
With almost reverence, he pulled out his padawan braid from the
box where his older self kept it. It was strange, to hold in
his hand something that was still part of him. But it told him
that he would return to his time. He would find the way back,
become a Knight and a Master... and die at the hands of a Sith,
if all that he had seen was true.
Covered with his Master's robe, holding the braid in his hand,
Obi-Wan faced his Past and saw his Future.
But he still did not know how to deal with the Present.
"We received an encrypted communication from Princess Leia... I
believe they're waiting for us on Hoth." Han stepped inside the
room, a little weary. Obi-Wan smiled upon seeing his friend,
knowing that even though the pirate did not hold great respect
for the Jedi, Han had tried to give him time to meditate, only
coming to him when there was something important...
Or when Obi-Wan had finished his meditation. As if he knew when
it was possible to interrupt.
"The Frozen Planet? I thought nothing could live there..." the
Padawan asked, not wishing to follow the latest puzzle his mind
had showed him. "Or that has changed too in the last years?"
"It is still frozen, and anything dies if left on the
surface... But from what I could decode, the fools think they
can survive underground." Han sat on the bed, near Obi-Wan.
While he was trying hard not to be drawn to the younger man,
the pirate knew that he was loosing the fight every time he
could see Obi-Wan's blue-green eyes free of tears, almost free
of worries.
Almost. "You didn't fix your troubles on Tatooine..." Obi-Wan
said, sighing. "Maybe we should go back... I can find a lift to
Hoth somewhere else..."
Shaking his head, Han smiled. "I can't believe you! What kind
of man do you think I am?" When Obi-Wan didn't answer, the
pirate continued. "I wouldn't leave a friend alone and without
protection on a planet infested with Storm Troopers... Jabba's
payment can wait."
His words came out a little harsher than intended, and for a
moment Han feared that he had said the wrong thing. After all,
Obi-Wan was not without protection... he was a Jedi Knight, and
Han had seen him fight...
However, Obi-Wan only smiled.
"Thanks... I am honored to be your friend, Han Solo." And for
the first time since arriving in the future, Obi-Wan's smile
was complete, and honest.
The Future was shadowed, and the Past in darkness.
But there was a little light in the Present that signaled hope.
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