Rating: Donno. Ask someone who has a clue. I certainly don't lay claim to one.
Archive: Um... If Amber deems it worthy.
Disclaimer: Blah blah Lucas owns it all Blah Blah, No money no sue Capice?
Notes: I had NO Beta, just sit there and twitch. Thanks a million Libby!

You wake up and groan, feeling the hard surface of something that would only be considered a bed by the mentally deranged. There is a rock between your shoulder blades and a several more along your body.

You open your eyes and start swearing at the sun for being so fardling bright. You lick your lips to discover they are hot and dry. Not only that but sandy as well. You turn your head and open your eyes. Sand. Not just any sand, but Tatooine sand.

You saw Tattooine sand because you see a two meter womp rat about four meters from you. You sit up and blink. Ugly little bugger, no wonder why Luke used them for target practice. You stand up and brush yourself off. You discover you are in the beige hospital jammies you were last in. You are sans equipment of any kind other than your hands and wits.

If this were a video game you would say that you have been up-ed a level and now must start back at zero possessions.

"BLOODY HELL! If I have to keep being magically transported from universe to universe they could at least let me have my tunes!" you yell highly pissed off. "Bloody fucking planet. Luke says this place in the back ass of the galaxy and nothing happens on it. Yeah right!"

You attempt to walk only to find that you are not fully recovered from your last bout with desert heat. You fall back down. You would have wondered if you dreamed the rescue if your jammies hadn’t been there. Looking around you sigh trying to find something… anything familiar. You look up the cliff face and see a hut. A rather familiar looking hut you may add.

The stress of being in shot at, running through the swamps of Naboo, being a slave to a hutt, and escaping and nearly dying on the sands of tatooine finally catches up with you. As usual, your sense of humor kicks in and you crack. You start laughing hysterically collapsing to the ground into a fetal position. You laugh so hard tears run down your cheeks.

When you look up you see an old man looking down at you with an expression of utter shock. You giggle, "Hi Obi-wan, I thought it would be nice to drop by."

He apparently doesn’t hear you. He staggers forward as if shocked beyond all belief. "It’s you." He whispers. His blue eyes are round with awe and an expression you can’t identify. He drops to his knees in front of you and continues to stare. Suddenly he pulls you into a hard hug. You blink for a while, wondering what in the name of the nine levels of hell was going on.

Then you feel the lips at your neck.

Normally if someone kissed you on the neck without permission you would have decked the person. But somehow you can’t bring yourself to hand deliver a knuckle sandwich to a sixty year old Obi-wan Kenobi. You spring back out of his arms and scramble backward into the cliff face. "What in bloody hell…"

He looks as if you had done something worse than personally balance and rotate his jaw. "You…" he whispered. The man was damn near to tears.

"Look, I have no idea what is going on," You sob laughter turning to hysterics. "First I get dropped right into the middle of Naboo’s battle, now I am plunked right onto Tatooine in god only knows when. I…"

Suddenly heat and stress catch up with you and his image starts to turn into a picture that only Pablo Picasso could love. "I just want to know what is happening to me and why…" you manage to stagger out before the world drops out again with a crash.

***

Ben Kenobi watched her sleep. She had come back to him, just like he had always hoped she would. Well, maybe not *just* like it. She didn't seem to remember... well, all that time, all that they had shared. It was as if she had been transplanted from the very beginning.

He smacked his forehead. If it was a womp-rat, it would have bit him!

Of course! That explained how she had suddenly learned so much, how her skills had gone from a raw jumble of confusion to near perfection.

But it still wasn't fair.

In that moment that he had felt that familiar presence, heard that laugh, and seen her face, he had felt a flare of a hope he had long ago thought dead. He had felt as young as he was when she... when he last saw her. He had felt as happy and as vigorous as he had the first time they had kissed. And he had been swept away by her presence all over again.

And then she had rejected him.

Oh, she hadn't meant to, he understood. But her unconscious move away had been enough to rend more tears from a heart he had long thought dry. As she would say, this sucked so hard it could suck start a leaf blower.

She had sworn to him that she would see him again. Ben snorted; she was always so very good at keeping her promises. But then, she knew, those years ago, when she had promised, hadn't she?

Ben ignored the tear that found its way down his weathered cheek. Gods above and below, what he wouldn't give to hear her say she loved him... just one more time.

***

When you wake up you are lying on something soft and something wet and cool is pressed to your forehead. Gentle hands are patting a second water soaked rag to the rest of your face and neck. You come fully awake and groan. Kindly blue eyes gaze out at you over a beard and bowl cut grey hair. "You are awake."

You groan, "Jay-sus Kenobi, one would think that by now you would get over stating the obvious."

He smiled tremulously, "What is the last thing you remember, I mean before you met me on the desert."

You attempt to sit up and rub your head, but he restrains you with one hand on your shoulder and a gentle shush. He sits up further along the bed you lie in. You sit back gratefully before your head can start making a cubist painting out of Kenobi again. "Hospital, just woke up from being here. You never told me what happened to your braid."

His lower lip trembles slightly and he quickly looks away to pick up a new rag from the basin. He switches rags and puts a glass of water to your lips, the contents of which you drink down greedily. He strokes your hair comfortingly as you attempt to inhale the sweet nectar of the gods made up of two parts hydrogen and one part blessed oxygen.

He swallows as you finish. "It was cut." He whispers

You blink. "Wha?"

He smiles wanly and scissors his fingers near his right ear, "Cut, my braid was cut. Qui-gon did it while he was in hospital."

You smile at him, "Did that mean you were a full knight?"

He nods and once again starts to sponge you cool. "Why are you doing that?" you ask.

He continues to cool off your face and neck gently, "You are over heated and were already suffering from over exposure in the desert. From my guess you were lying in the sun for well over half the day. We just need to rebalance your fluid levels, keep you cool and you should be as right as rain in a day or two."

"Yes, but I could easily do it myself." You say softly.

He continues to treat you, "Humor me. It’s not often I get to play knight with shining saber to rescue a beautiful woman anymore. I’m an old man now, you my dear, haven’t aged a day. One of these days, I am going to pry the secret from you."

You give a shaky chuckle, "You don’t want to know." He stays put beside you and keeps you cool. "Aren’t you hot in those robes?"

He shook his head, "This type of wool is very good. It’s light as a feather and breathable for hot conditions, but infinitely warm so I could be comfortable on Hoth."

You reach up and touch it, it was as soft and comfortable as you remember falling asleep next to. "Gee, can it also make toast and Julianne fries?"

He chuckles and grabs another glass, this time it was an orange opaque liquid. He holds it to your lips. The liquid tasted like Metamucil. You wrinkle your nose at it but drink down the liquid anyway, not in much condition to argue. Hunger and thirst sated you lie back. "Thank you, for rescuing me again. I don’t believe I thanked you the first time."

He brushes his fingers to your temple and whispers, "You did. You are more than welcome. I am always happy to serve in any way I can. Now sleep.." you couldn’t swear to it, but as sleep over took your body you thought you heard, "my love."

***

Waking up the next day wasn’t easy. You have never been known as the typical morning person. You groan in something that resembles pain and roll over. You open your eyes to discover that Kenobi has spent the night, in a chair, near the door, with his Lightsaber in hand. You blink idly and sit up rubbing your eyes. You see Kenobi wake up and look at you.

"Are you hungry?" he asks, "I could make us breakfast."

You snort, "I am hungry but I am not going to let you make me food. I feel strong enough to get up and do it myself. You, sir, need to sleep in something other than a chair. What is it with your obsession with sleeping vertical?"

He smiles slightly, "It’s a skill I acquired while knowing you."

You get up and feeling slightly chilled in just your paper thin hospital jammies you pull on his cloak. "Get into bed, go to sleep. I will make myself breakfast and try to adjust my mind to my current situation."

He stands up and you feel a twinge for him. You have slept in chairs and woken up stiff and sore. You can’t imagine what he feels, having used his muscles and joints roughly for years. He sits in bed and before he can protest you kneel down, pull off his boots, push him into bed, throw the covers over him and walk out. You hear his soft chuckle follow behind you.

You stare at the tiny kitchen and opt to munch on something resembling bread and cheese while downing water. You take stock of your situation.

Jumping once into an alternate universe you can handle as either a brief psychotic episode or as a fluke involving a worm hole, particle accelerator, copy of TPM and a drunk lab techie. Twice jumping to what you assume to be same universe only different time points and you will consign this to either happenstance or deliberate action. If it happens again, it will be definitely deliberate. Frankly you are inclined to think conspiracy right now since you are facing the same shit, only a different day.

Ok, you are being purposefully flitted away from friends and family to the star wars universe. For what purpose remains to be seen as well as who… or what is doing said flitting. You grind your teeth. The only two things powerful enough to do this are God King Lucas or the Force it’s self. Why in hell would the freaking FORCE take an interest in little old you? You haven’t done anything… lately. And you certainly are not anything special.

You frown as you try to puzzle all the tiny clues you have. Palaptine himself took an interest in you. He acted like he wanted to possess you as if you were a prize toy or pet. Qui-gon had said it was extremely rare for non jedi to attract the darkside and win. Yoda had said there was much you needed to discuss with him.

You groan under the mental effort. "Data! Data! I can’t build bricks without clay!" you cry out a-la Sherlock Holmes. You slouch down and pout at your lack of evidence.

You look up after a while and see Kenobi staring at you. "What are you doing up?" you demand testily

He puts his hands on his hips, "It has been six hours."

You blink, "Damn. I’ve been thinking hard haven’t I."

He smiles and places a tray of food on the table between you. "Perhaps you are attempting to figure out what is going on."

You snort, "You could say that again. What is happening to me?"

He looks at you as he pours drinks, "You are something rather rare. Unique in fact. But not completely unheard of."

You arch an eyebrow, "Alright, that I have heard before. In what way am I weird?"

He sighs, "You make it sound so negative. It is very positive. You are unique. Most beings are connected to the force, you my dear, generate it like a fire generates heat."

You blink. "Kenobi, are you on Spice?"

He smiles gently, "Every once in a great while, during times of great change a person is found connected to the force in a rather unique way. Normally the force is constant. Like the amount of water in a biosphere. It moves, shifts and changes, but there is always a constant amount of water. However, sometimes a person is born who generates more energy and pours it into the force. As a result the force is changed."

You blink at him again, "I ask you again, what are you smoking and where can I get some?"

He chuckles, "Let me continue, this individual is known as a mage for many reasons. They can perform tasks impossible to us. Because of they generate the force, they had a better control of it to affect the outside world. However, they cannot sense the force in general outside of themselves."

You nod, "Ok Power must have it’s price. What else?"

"You have this power and need to learn to control it quickly. This is the perfect planet for it. Neither the Emperor nor Vader would think to look for you alive here. I will train you."

You blink, "Are you sure you want to? I mean, don’t you have your hands full doing other things?"

He shook his head, "Luke is eighteen now, only a few years younger than you are. I need practice training something that is older than pre-teen."

You sigh and look at him, "Kenobi, you are dreaming."

He smiles from one corner of his mouth, then he gets up and pulls out a rock. You look at the rock and blink, "This is the rock Qui-gon gave you."

He laughs, "Very good. Pick it up."

You pick up the rock and suddenly it starts glowing, flaring brighter and brighter until it is lighting up the entire room. Shocked you drop the rock and it dims down until it goes out like a coal. He picks it up and it only glows slightly. Your jaw is somewhere in the vicinity of your chest.

"I… I did that?" you gasp out.

He nods as he holds the rock. "Yes. You need to learn to control the energy that flares out of you."

Always quick you suddenly shudder, "So that is why Sidious wanted me. I must be as obvious as a magnesium flare at midnight and just as tempting."

Kenobi smiles, "Correct. Alright, first step is called sensing your own force, I suspect you never thought to sense it since it was always blinding and around you. So I will force you to see it. Do you trust me?"

You blink at him, then, with an Aw-what-the-hell attitude you nod to him. He steps behind you and places his hands on your temples. Automatically you close your eyes. "Now what?" you ask

He shushes you and whispers, "Calm. Think of the most calming place you could be. Have you ever felt as though you were larger than yourself? Gotten the sense of being outside of your own skin? Call that feeling, I will do the rest."

You have to admit, you do at times feel greater than you really are. Often times it is when you are watching something beautiful in nature, or see children playing. Your heart swells with peace, calm and wonder. Suddenly it feels as if something like a dislocated shoulder being snapped back into place. There is a brief flash of something akin to pain, then a flood of relief and …

Power. Pure unadulterated power. You are surrounded in it, radiating it, bathing in it. You are in awe at how much there is around you. Now you know what your mother meant by saying power corrupts… but absolute power is kinda cool.

You blink your eyes open. The world looks the same, yet different. You could feel little tendrils of your own consciousness and energy reaching out and testing the world around you. With a curious try you think about one of the tendrils touching that rock. You watch in wonder as the rock starts to glow again. You find you can control how bright the rock glows.

You hear a soft sigh at your shoulder. Turning you see Kenobi smiling down at you with softness in his eyes, "Now," he whispers, "Do you understand?"

"I need to get this under control and quickly." You state, "I don’t want to be Sith bait."

He winces slightly as if you conjured up a bad memory. But he recovers quickly, "Yes, we shall continue. I will teach you the bare basics of shielding yourself and hiding you ability as well as telepathy. After that, I am afraid you are on your own to discover how to make your ability work for yourself."

You nod, "My energy, my way?"

He chuckles, "Right. Shall we?"

"Right, Shielding…"

***

You sit down across from him late that evening. He is cleaning his lightsaber with an absentmindedness that comes from years of practice. He's been cleaning things an awful lot of late while you practice. You put your hand on your chin and try to puzzle things out, he seems real nervous every time you are in the room. Finally, you had enough. He is training you right? Might as well find out what's eating him about you.

"Hey Kenobi," you say idly. He looks up at you with eyes you can't identify, "Mind if I ask you a few personal questions?"

He shrugs. "I couldn't stop you, anyway."

You grin, "I am rather tenacious aren't I"

"You always were," he smiles at you

You beam, "See, that is what I was looking for! I don't think you have smiled once since I got here. By the way, what do you mean, 'You always were.' we barely knew each other more than forty eight hours."

He looks away uncomfortably. "Well, actually, we knew each other for quite a while. We were... very close friends."

Your eyes go wide, "Woa... this means I go back doesn't it! You know what happens to me.. don't tell me. I don't want to know what god awful stuff happens to me. Let it be a surprise. Well, tell me about me, the future me.. or is it the past me.. or.. I mean.. You know what I mean."

He chuckles. "Yes, you go back. Of course, until today I never realized you had left. What do you want to know?"

You sigh, "Oh, I don't know. What weird habits do I manage to pick up? Do I learn a foreign language? I guess I want to know what you thought of me. Your opinion of me means a lot." You admit this rather sheepishly.

He just stares at you for a few seconds, then he says idly, "Purple."

You blink, "What?"

He smiles, "For saving his life, Jabba the hut gave you a purple dress. It was so expensive it could purchase half a planet. But it looked made to fit you."

You choke, "I... saved… his... life?" you ask.

He cocks his head, "You and Qui-gon had a lot in common. You both had hearts the size of your head."

You blush, "I find myself rather crass and crude and not all together that warm and fuzzy."

"If you say so," he says, smiling. He looks to a point just over your shoulder. "You would get up in the middle of the night, just to look at the stars. You used to complain that none of them were like you were used to."

You smile secretly, "I am not surprised. I used to know every star on my home planet. I was always a bit of a dreamer. Does that change?"

He looks at you, a half dreamy, half sad expression on his face. "No. You just discovered that you could make those dreams real. And then you were downright unstoppable at times."

You smile happily, "I guess I change for the better then?"

"Yes. You did. But I liked to think of it as more like old parts of you emerging slowly. You became dedicated to a couple of wonderful causes; a true model - even for a General."

You grin, "That's right! You make General! I must have been so proud."

"Actually, you made some kind of comment about beating me with my own boots if I didn't keep up on my 'Jedi shit,' as you called it."

You chuckle, "Nice to see I didn't loose my sense of humour."

"You always did have the most unique sense of humour at times. Half the time, you would be the only one laughing, and I would have to wait for an explanation that never came."

You burst out laughing at that point, rocking your head back while your body vibrated with mirth. "Yep. Probably just grinned at you and said 'Oh the Irony!' and left it at that."

"Something like that," he says, paying a bit too much attention to your lips.

That had you a bit wierded out, so you change the subject quickly. "Well, what is your favourite memory? I mean one that won't interfere with..."

"...With the time line?" He finishes for you. "There's quite a few to choose from..."

You sigh and stretch your back by leaning backward on the chair and putting your hands above your head. When you pop back up his jaw is down and eyes focused on your chest. You look at him curiously, "Ok, how about one that involves me and that dress"

Kenobi looks like he's going through a number of memories, and apparently none of them can be told to you. "Well," he finally says, "there was the time you locked Mace Windu out of his own quarters. You claimed you needed peace and quiet. that maybe no one would think to look for you there. Unfortunately, everyone at the Temple was getting ready for the same function you were getting ready for, so half the Jedi Council was outside Mace's quarters, wondering who was in there, when you sashayed out, positively glittering in a purple dress that most Jedi didn't have the imagination for."

You laugh, "Probably ticked off Mace Windu off no end."

He smiles. "Actually, I think Mace was too smitten with you in that dress to care."

You can feel the blush creep up your cheeks, "I think you are exaggerating."

"Not really." Damn him, he's ENJOYING making you uncomfortable!

You decide to turn the tables on him, "And how... exactly would you know?"

The old man looks away, as if finding the cleaning rag in his hands to be incredibly fascinating. "I... was your... escort for the evening, and had figured that you most likely were the one who had locked a senior member of the council out of his own rooms."

You look at him astonished, "Damn, Sorry you were stuck with me. You probably had better things to do."

"Not really," he says, and stands. "We should get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day."

You learned long ago that sometimes when people turn away from you, it really is a test to see if you care enough to follow them into hell.

"We make our own schedules... I can sleep in and so can you. We need to talk. You are uncomfortable with me. I want to know what I did." You glare at him, willing him to talk.

He looks at you, and you can almost swear that he is about to cry. "I..." he starts, then looks away, "I guess it's because I never expected to see you like... this. It's almost as though I'm in the middle of a strange dream. I suppose it will take a bit of getting used to. Goodnight."

You stand up and grab his elbow, "Oh no you don't. It's more than that. You aren't getting away that easy. What did I do?" you plead at his silent face.

He looks at you, and the misery is written across his face for anyone to read. "What you always did. Gave life a fighting chance, with no thought to the price." He lightly traces your cheek with the back of his hand, before pulling away again.

Your jaw drops open, "Damn Kenobi, I must have hurt you something awful."

He whirls on you, and he's... angry! "Yes, you hurt me. Aye ye mothering Gods, do you have any idea how lonely it has been, living alone, in the middle of the desert for nearly twenty years? I begged you not to, but you did anyway. And now, like some ghost that can't be, here you are, forcing me to tell you about how badly you hurt me. Fine. Everyday has been worse than the last, because you aren't with me. I have spent my waking hours, just praying for the pain to go away, but it stays, and grows. You tore my heart out, danced on it, and then walked away from me."

You step back astonished, mouth hanging open wide. "What would make me do such a thing?"

He snorts. "In your own words? 'Must be some of your damnable Jedi honor rubbing off, Kenobi.' Hell of an explanation, if you ask me... which you didn't."

Your eyebrows shoot up, "Me? Do something Honorable? You have got to be kidding me."

He seems to come to a full and complete stop. "Gods... those exact words... I keep forgetting." You thought it was wise not to say anything. He then continues, "I knew your main problem was a near crippling low self esteem, which in your situation was dangerous. But I was happy to help that. I keep forgetting that. I seem to have forgotten a lot of other things."

"Like what?" you ask softly.

He smiled slightly, "The way you always got right under my skin without even trying. I sometimes felt your were sent to poke and prod my weak spots, forcing me to become better." He looks at you, "I forgot the exact color of your eyes. I didn't remember how they have a small lighter ring around the Pupil. I also forgot how you unconsciously point when you are puzzling out a mental problem, as if your hands could point your thoughts the right way."

You look down at your hand and see it in that exact unconscious gesture. You immediately relax your hand and look back up at him. "So, was I wrong in what I did?"

His lower lip trembles a bit and his blue eyes grow brighter as the tears formed, "No. That's the one thing about you I unremittingly hated. You were always right about things like that."

You smile tremulously, "Anything else you hated me for?"

He blinked, "I hated how you always felt that if there was any pain to bear, you had to carry it alone. I hated how when you got a notion in your head you stopped for nothing to make it happen. Even if it meant facing down two lords of the Sith, alone, playing decoy."

You sputter, "I had the courage for that."

He smiles tremulously, "What I hated most of all was you never let me do my job."

You blink, "I wouldn't let you be a jedi!"

He shook his head, "You never let me serve you. You always insisted that you were going to break precedent and do anything alone. It was a fight just to let me go with you." You blink at him in shock as he continues, "It was a physical agony being away from you. You never understood that, no matter how hard I tried to tell you."

You reach up and touch his face, "I'm sorry, for what I did.. er.. will do.. um... This is hard."

He says nothing, his eyes simply slip shut and he leans into your palm. "There was one thing that you did, I always loved it."

"What?"

He sighs, "You always kept your promises. Though you did it in your own way."

You swallow hard and kiss his cheek. He blinks and holds his hand to his cheek, as if frightened someone will take away your kiss.

With that he turned on his heel and walked away. You decide to let him go. He has more than enough on his plate now. There was nothing you could do at this point.

And you no longer found it strange to be admired by a man whose love was still urgent, even after all these years

***

You are up the next dawn and working on your shields trying to spin them tighter and thicker, layering them, making their textures different. You have mastered what you think is a good multilayered shield that looks like a half trained Jedi but in reality is cascaded shields that could block everything from a blaster to forcelightning.

Obi-wan walks in and rubs his forehead, "How are you this morning?" he asks softly

You smile, "Alright. How about you? You look like shit."

He sighed, "Thank gods you explained to me what that word meant, very appropriate and apt word. Yes, I feel like shit as well."

Your jaw drops in shock at his language but he smiles slightly. ::Smart ass:: you think

::To the last.:: you hear him say in your head.

You nearly jump out of the chair. "Holy shit, did I do what I think I just did?"

::Yes, you did, very loudly I might add. Please, in the future, watch your volume.:: he said softly

::Oh:: you said toning your voice down to what you think is a dull roar.

::Much better, you are learning fast.:: he says affectionately.

You look outside and see something in the sky. Getting up you walk out to look. "Hey, You got binoculars or distance viewers or something?"

He walks out and hands them to you and you look through them. Your fingers tighten convulsively as you see the Tantavive get shot at by a star destroyer. "Oh god, it’s started already. So soon." You whisper.

"What?" he asks and takes the glasses from you. He sees the battle and looks at you, "What do you know about this?"

You look directly at him, "Tomarrow or the next day, watch for Luke in the desert. He will be with two droids. It’s time Kenobi. Your wait is almost over."

He blinked and gasped, "You… you know about Luke? You also have known about Vader, Anakin, Qui-gon’s near death, and the fact I am a General. What else have you always known?"

You stare into his eyes for a long moment then turn away. How does one tell someone else you know when they will die and you have watched it, dozens of times?

"Once." He whispers, "Just once, tell me the burden you think you must bear alone. Let me share it… please."

"Anikin is the chosen one." You say softly. "He will bring balance to the force. Luke is our best hope."

"Then why are you crying?" he asks as he reaches out to trace the salt water track down one of your cheeks

You swallow and do the only thing you can think of. Run.

***

When you are cooking the next day in the morning you hear a speeder arrive at the door. You swallow and make yourself scarce. This moment should be just for them. After Obi-wan finishes persuading Luke to take him to the space port you walk out and smile, "So you must be Luke Skywalker. I have heard a lot about you."

You grin as you look at the bright blue eyes and mop of sandy hair. "Hello, and you are?" he asks eagerly while holding his father’s lightsaber.

Obi-wan introduces you to Luke and you grin at him, "You are a good pilot from what I hear. You threaded the stone needle recently from what I understand."

He grins, "Yeah I did."

"You did what?" Obi-wan asks sternly. "Luke that was unnecessarily dangerous."

You frown at Obi-wan, "Oh like you never did anything stupid as a young male?"

"Of course I didn’t. I was a Jedi Padawan, I was too sensible." He said flatly

You lean back and look at Luke, "Watch this. Bandomeer."

Obi-wan turns a nice shade of crimsom. "I… that…."

You look at Luke, "Our old and venerable Jedi here decided it would be wise to stake out a site of a known criminal organization against the orders of a Jedi Master. Wound up getting kidnapped and forced to work in a mine. Note, he was thirteen at the time. Then he decided to go up against a Dark Jedi just for the hell of it."

"Twelve." Obi-wan says meekly. "I was twelve."

"Fine, you were twelve. If that wasn’t the epitome of young and stupid I don’t know what is." You snort. Luke is laughing.

"Well Ben, she’s got you there. Say, why haven’t I met you before?" he asks

You smile, "I just dropped in recently."

Obi-wan snorts and you shoot him a glare. "So, shall we get going?" you ask softly.

***

"Mos Eisley space port, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany." Obi-wan says looking down at the mini city.

"Yeah you will, the Imperial Senate." You reply

He chuckles and shakes his head, "We must be cautious."

You turn to Luke and grin, " Let me translate Kenobi-speak to basic. When he says ‘We must be cautious’ it really means that this is MY kinda town."

***

"You don’t need to see his Identification…"

"We don’t need to see his Identification…"

You look at Luke a mutter quietly, "Damn… now why didn’t I have that when I was trying to sneak into bars underage?"

:: Force is good for something! It surrounds us, it penetrates us..:: Obi-wan said chuckling

::It gets us Dates on friday nights!:: you finish with glee

***

You can’t help it. It is taking everything you have not to burst out grinning and start dancing around like an idiot. Here it is… the STARWARS CANTINA! Luke, Obi-wan and the droids are all getting ready to go in.

"Stay here." Obi-wan says softly.

"Why?" you shoot back. "No way am I missing this!"

He looks around, "This place can get a little rough. I… I don’t want you to get hurt."

You roll your eyes and take his arm, "You know damn well that I can take care of myself. Don’t even think about worrying about me."

He reaches up and traces your cheek, "Alright. Come on., but you are staying close to me."

You roll your eyes, cluck your tongue and shake your head. You turn to Luke and beam, "How about you? Ready to face a universe of excitement and peril?"

"I’m ready for anything." He said in typical school boy bravado. It was undeniably cute.

::Shall I disillusion him now?:: you send to Obi-wan softly.

You hear his mental chuckle, ::Let time take care of that. He wouldn’t believe you anyway. What was it you always said? ‘May your life be interesting’ is a potent curse.::

::Yeah, that and Glorious Destinies lead to Glorious Funerals. Frankly, I don’t envy his job. Bring about the end of the empire, re-establish the jedi and the republic... It really does SUCK to be the chosen one.::

He laughs in your mind and reaches out to take your hand, ::Now help me into the cantina. Wouldn’t want people to think that I was really the brawn of the pair of us.::

::Yeah Pinky.:: you laugh to yourself. He looks at you curiously but doesn’t say a word. More of that humor he didn’t get.

Your eyes adjust to the dark and see a very familiar seedy bar. Oh yeah, you are right at home. You sing to Obi mentally to the tune of Billy Joel's Piano man, (Sing it with me now!) :;It’s nine o’clock here on Tatooine. Regular crowd waddles in. There’s a weird thing, sitting next to me. It’s got three eyes and Molted grey skin.

And Fett said Max can you play me a memory, I'm not really sure how it goes, but it's sad, and sweet and if you miss a beat, this carbine will blow off your nose!

la-la la ditty dah.. la la ditty dah, dah dum!

Sing us a Song now Max Rebo band Sing us a song tonight! For we are all in the mood for a melody 'cept Solo, who's in carbonite!

Now Jabba the hutt, he's a friend of mine, he gives me my life for free. And 'cause he's a hutt, why we all kiss his butt, or the rancor will have us for tea!:: (special nods to Steven Cavanaugh for this!)

Obi-wan chuckled mentally. The argument about the droids comes up and you remain mute until your reach the bar. You look at the bar tender and smile. He smiles back, "Well Pretty lady, we don’t see your kind much around here, well, not unattached. Say are you and the young fella…"

You shake your head, "Nah, makes me feel too sisterly to like him that way. He helps out me and Grand Father around the farm."

He laughs, "What can I get you?"

You spread your lips wider, "Heard of Water… it’s kind of a new thing."

Bursts out in a gut buster and pours you a glass, "Here, on the house miss. What are you doing here?"

You shrug, "Need quick passage to Alderan. Granther mumbled something about seeing the old country before he died. Normally I would just brush it off but he’s taken care of me all my life so what can I do."

Hey, can you lie on your feet or what?

He chuckles, "Yeah, I had a relative like that once. I know of a pilot that is looking for a quick load of cash. He’s right over there."

You turn and see the guy he is pointing at. Yep, it’s Han Solo in the flesh. You do your damnedest not to turn into a little pile of Girly goo. Instead you act casual and look at the tender sceptically, "The scruffy looking Nerf Herder?"

He nods, "Yep, that’s him. Han Solo by name. He’s got a ship, the Millenium Falcon. It’s pretty fast, should get you there in time."

You nod your thanks and toss him a coin. He smiles, hands you an alcoholic beverage of what ever Solo is having and pockets the coin. You walk off with the drink and approach Han’s table from behind. "Hi ya Stranger. This seat taken?" you ask him

He looks up and gives you a cocky welcoming smile, "It is now, have a seat."

You plop down obediently and place the drink in front of him. "Noticed you were a little low. Figured I would do my good deed for the day."

He chuckles, "You from Corellia? You have the accent."

You shake your head, "Unfortunately no, I had the misfortune of being born on a planet more back water than this."

Well, earth was about as back water as one got!

He cringes, "My condolences. Thank god you escaped, you were wasted there. Come to think of it, you are wasted in this place as well."

You grin, "A perfect opening if I ever heard one. Grampa and me need to get to Alderan. We have money, you have a ship. Think we can work something out for mutual benefit?"

He looks up and grins. You have a hard time not melting to aforementioned quivering pile of hormones. "I think we can work something out. What’s the deal?"

"I donno what gramps had in mind but it would be me, him, the farm boy, the two droids and I would like as little of a fuss as possible. Grampa is an old war vet. Whether or not he’s a hero greatly depends on your current personal opinion of the empire." You say toying with your drink.

He leans forward and you look up at him, "Well that’s the trick isn’t it, and it’s going to cost you." You suppress a girly giggle at hearing that famous line in person.

You nod, "Yeah, I know. But Gramps wants it so bad. I owe him a lot."

Han was about to start negotiations when suddenly there was a noise and you turn to see poor Luke be tossed into a table. Then you watch Obi-wan quick drawn and before you can blink there is an arm on the floor. You watch as Obi-wan assumes the ready position. Then he switches off the saber and activity returns as normal in the bar. That was strange, in a bar activity only returns to normal that quickly if the sight was a common one…

Come to think of it, how did Obi-wan know this place got ‘a little rough’?

Damn, you were going to have to rethink your view of Old Ben Kenobi.

"Grampa?" Han asks idly

"Grampa." You reply flatly, as if you saw this on a normal basis.

"You got one hell of a Gene pool babe." With that you both get up and go to your respective parties.

When you catch up with Luke you smile as he stands up slowly, "You alright?" you ask

He nods, "Yeah, fine." You have a feeling he is trying to show off for you. Again, rather cute in a cur-dog puppy kinda way.

"I think I might have found a ship that might suit us." Obi-wan whispers. He takes you arm and you all head towards the negotiation table.

***

"...if it’s a fast ship." Obi-wan clarified. You are sitting on one side of Ben, Luke on the other, Chew and Han opposite the three of you.

"Fast ship?" Han asked, "You mean you haven’t heard of the Millenium falcon?"

Oh god, you can’t resist, no matter how much you fight it. "THE Millenium falcon? You mean the one that made the Kestel Run in less than twelve parsecs?" you gasp eyes wide.

Han looks at you with preening appreciation. You know for a fact, you have just earned your place in his heart forever. "That’s right babe."

You stare at him, "Don’t tell me you were that pilot."

"You are looking at him." He chuckled leaning back.

You sit back chuckling. ::Love, I am lost…:: Kenobi sends.

::Remember when I asked you not to ask me how I know some things, just to go with it?:: you reply

::Yes.::

::This is one of those times.::

::Oh, you could have warned me.::

::Where would the fun have been in that?:: you send then say aloud "Grandpa you really need to keep in touch with the world more often."

"I have never heard of it." Luke says simply.

"Well, I’ve out run imperial star ships. Not the little ones mind you, but the big cruisers." Han continues smoothly, "But as your Grand daughter explained what you need it’s going to cost you."

::Grand Daughter?:: Kenobi sent softly, and you could sense he was almost hurt by it.

::Best I could think of at the time:: you almost apologize.

"How much?" Kenobi asked

"Ten thousand."

"Ten thousand? We could almost buy our own ship for that!"

"But who’s gonna fly it kid, you?"

"You bet I could, I am not such a bad pilot myself, come on we don’t need to listen to this.."

"I can give you two thousand now and another fifteen when we get to alderaan."

::Bail loves you that much?:: you can’t help but ask.

He gives you sad sigh ::He wouldn’t force me out of retirement if he didn’t think this was worth it.::

"Docking bay 94"

"94"

You can’t help but giggle, ::Docking bay 94, storm troopers at the door..::

::No kidding:: he sent back wryly as the three of you make a quick escape.

***

"What a hunk of junk!" Luke gasps out.

As a Star Wars fan you never thought you would say this but frankly, up close and personal, you are inclined to agree. The thing didn’t even look like it could fly it was so dinged up and patchy. Then again, you have known many a man back in high school who had the crappiest looking cars that purred like kittens when you turned them on.

"She may not look like much but she gets there. Now if you would all like to get aboard we can.." Han starts when the storm troopers arrive.

Just as the blaster fire starts you pull out the blaster you… um… acquired earlier. You, Han and Chewie hold off the Storm troopers. Han grins at you in that familiar cocky young male attitude as the pair of you hold off the horde of men in white plastic. Damn, no wonder why you liked Kenobi so much. You manage to hold em off until Solo and you run onboard firing as you escape.

You grin as you run up the ramp, Solo close at your heels as he gets off a few more shots. Once inside, you look for Kenobi. You find him, and stop dead in your tracks at his expression. A combination of sadness for lost youth and jealousy are chasing themselves in his eyes. Before you can say anything he turns away from you without a word.

***

While on the way to Alderaan you watch as Chewie play chess with R2 and Obi-wan teaches Luke. Knowing when you are superfluous you simply sit in the opposite corner. As Han arrives and chuckles, "… I told you we could outrun ‘em."

You grin at him as he was greeted by a round of silence.

"Don’t everyone thank me all at once." He mutters

"Thanks, pirate." You grin at him.

He sits down next to you and smiles, "Nice to know I get appreciated where it really counts."

"Now be careful R-2…" you hear 3PO say and watch the conversation silently. Finally at the end you turn to Han, "Will he really rip out your arms if he loses?"

Han shook his head, "Nah, but by the time he’s done questioning and analysing it to find out how he lost and how to prevent it you will wish he did."

You nod as Chewie walks over to stand by you and Han, you decide to reply with a smart ass grin loud enough for Chewie to hear, "So you just pretend you are the brains of this operation when it’s really the Wookie?"

Han looks mildly offended which only deepens as Chewie laughs and cries out something in Wookie. Arching an eyebrow at C3PO you get the translation. "He says, that he has finally found someone who understands who is really in charge here and that you are welcome aboard any time miss."

You smile at Chewie and nod your head, "Looking forward to hitching a ride on Chewbacca-Solo enterprises again."

You watch as Luke gets shot in the hand by the little practice droid and chuckle. Pointing to it you ask Han, "Quick draw practice droid?"

He nods, "Yep. You shoot well enough, you know how?"

You shake your head. "no, I don’t, but I probably should learn, given how this trip is going."

He chuckles and has you stand up. He unties one of the blaster holsters on his thigh. "Here, put this on. It’s so low because normally your hands are hanging down when you need to start shooting in a hurry. At your waist it takes too long. When you walk, your hands hang down and arms swing, it makes the draw a natural extension of that movement."

You nod as you tie the sheath to your thigh. Confused by one of the ties, Han reaches in and ties it for you. Hey, Han Solo with his hands on the insides of your thighs… are you going to complain? You put you blaster on the lowest power setting as Han gets a droid of his own. You are able to draw and shoot the droid accurately every time and learn fast, however you are having trouble getting the full motion down.

Han stands directly behind you one hand on your hip, the other on your drawing hand. He slowly moves your body in the motion it needs to do. You laugh as you screw up a couple of times and end up elbowing Han’s solar plexus or brushing his hip.

"It’s alright babe, you are getting it right. You are learning one hell of a lot faster than I ever did and that’s saying something." He chuckles

"Yeah, you had the universe’s harshest teachers, hunger and survival." You beam back.

You are just about up to speed the same time Luke get shot in the ass with his droid. You turn to look at Luke finally get it with the light saber and block the shots perfectly. At that point you fire off a quick draw at the right speed, not only do you shoot the droid, but you deflect it’s shot with one of your own.

Unfortunately it ends up hitting C3PO in the ass and he cries out and mutters his complain. Han leans his head onto your shoulder laughing as he holds you close around the waist.

You turn, Han's arm still around you, and see Kenobi looking at you.

You don't need a mental link to know that Kenobi is hurt. The jealousy flares up in his eyes, and is quickly tamped down by years of practice.

You feel guilty, even though you know there is no real reason you should. You only met him a couple weeks ago. *But he's known you for more than half his life, worked closely with you for years. And you'd be lying if you said he hadn't loved you.* An annoying voice in your mind pipes up.

Must be that Damn conscience you don't have.

You roll your shoulders, and slide out from Han's touch.

You frown as you watch Obi-wan instruct Luke to keep practicing and you follow him down the hall. ::Kenobi... wait.:: you call as you run.

He turns to look at you with frozen eyes. "Yes?"

You look at him and feel like an idiot. What can you say? I'm sorry? You aren't even sure you have anything to be sorry for.

You struggle looking for the words to set things right. ::Can I tell you something?:: you ask

He blinks ::What?::

You bite your lip, ::I.. I don't really know what to say. I'm sorry for hurting you now and for hurting you all those years ago. I just seem to cause you unnecessary pain and I don't even realize I am doing it.::

You look at the floor and continue ::You have suffered more than anyone should in three life times, and I seem to be a major cause of trouble. Would.. would it make things easier if I went back and didn't get close to you? I guess what I am asking is since I do go back and can change the past, is there anything about us you want me to change?::

His eyes melt as he looks at you, and you recognize a shade of that half grin you remember. ::No. Not a single moment.:: He says, and grabs your hand for a brief squeeze.

You blink and look at him biting your lip ::Um... if it's any help now... in the hospital, when you crawled in with me to sleep... I was half way to falling in love with you.::

As he turns away from you, reluctantly letting go of your hand, you can swear you see tears gathering in his eyes.

You can't let a good man like that walk away in tears. You may be lewd, crude and rude. But you aren't cruel.

Quick as a wink you zip into his arms, wrap yours around his waist and rest your head on his shoulder hugging him close. Damn, his robes still make him feel like a teddy bear!

At first you feel his completely freeze stiff. Then, slowly and gently as if frightened you will run or shatter he puts his arms around you and rests his head on yours.

***

"That’s no moon, that’s a space station." Obi-wan mutters softly.

You stare at the death star and shudder, as a child you were frightened by the idea of a ship the size of the moon. For years you kept looking at the moon thinking maybe Luke really didn’t blow it up, it just was abandoned. Luke had better blow that thing to kingdom come else you were going to have WORDS with that boy.

Han tries to reverse the ship but it doesn’t work. "…Yeah well they aren’t taking me out without a fight."

"There are other options to fighting." Obi-wan says softly

You smile, "He who fights and runs away, lives to beat the shit outta them another day."

"Got any ideas?" han asks

You grin, "You are a smuggler right, smuggle us."

***

Obi-wan had insisted you hide with him and the droids while Han, chewie and Luke hide together. Just as Chewie is lowering the lid you are crouched between Obi-wan sitting on one side and the druids piled in another.

"Oh mistress, what will ever become of us. This is most unusual." C3-PO mutters.

You sigh and look at C3-PO, "You know three-p-oh. We are less likely to be caught by their scanner if you are off."

"Oh, excellent idea mistress, I will go into powersave mode now." With that he goes dark and R-2 just blinks quietly watching you and Obi-wan.

Obi-wan is chuckling softly, "I wondered how to get him to shut up. You always had this amazing knack for convincing droids to do what you want."

You sigh and twist so you are sitting spooned in Obi-wan’s lap, head resting on his shoulder and his arms belt unconsciously around your waist. For some reason, you don’t mind. He’s still the same person you met, just older, wiser and in many ways sadder. "Yeah, if there is one thing I know how to do is order men around."

He chuckles softly into your hair and simply holds you close. "That I will agree with. You were more comfortable with ordering people about than I ever was."

"How long do we have to wait?" you ask.

He sighs, "Ten minutes. The tractor beams need to shut off, then comes the resealing of the shield and refilling of air into the hangar bay."

You wrinkle your brow, "But why do they need to refill at all. After all we can enter and leave with the shield on."

He chuckles, "Because the beam can’t work through that shield. They need to shut it down in order for it to work correctly."

You settle in closer as you listen to the sounds of the ship. "This seems to be life doesn’t it? Small little slices of peace in the middle of chaos."

He sighs, "That is more true that you can possibly imagine now."

There are the clunks and clanks of the ship being deposited none too gently onto the floor of the docking bay. You can hear Han swearing revenge on those who were treating his baby roughly.

You look at Kenobi who has gone dead pale. You look into his eyes and mouth ‘Vader’.

He nods and after a few minutes he sighs, ::He doesn’t know you are here, thank the gods for that. Once again, I love your ability to learn fast, especially where it counts in shielding.::

:;Shall we get on with it?:: you ask

He nods and you lift the top of hidey hole.

***

"ROWR!" from Chewie and you all pile into the small control room. You are gathering up your trusty blasters. Once again, your ability to shoot things has remarkably improved. You could almost feel your own tendrils of the force extending like a lazer pointer to your targets so you hit them with unfailing accuracy.

You hear obi-wan say in his mind almost to himself, :: Untrained mages seldom miss their mark. Well trained mages never.::

"Babe, you ever want to get off your rock permanently, you look me up." Han says honestly.

"Thanks, but I think I will keep my day job." You reply. "What ever that is."

Walking over to R-2 who is searching for where the tractor Generators are you tap his dome and say quietly, "Hey R-2. When you are done looking for those things, look for Leia. Beep once for yes, twice for no."

There was a soft single beep from R-2 and you pat his dome affectionately. He blats and beeps in affection. You ignore Three-P-Oh as you walk to stand by Kenobi. When Kenobi turns and says his parting words to luke you sneak out behind him giving a wave and a wink to the boys.

Granted you were worried about Luke and Han since they were young men and therefore stupid, but destiny says they will get out of this alright.

There was someone else that needed your help.

Kenobi turns and glares at you. ::GET BACK IN THAT ROOM MISSY!::

You glare right back ::LIKE HELL!::

He throws his hands up in the air, ::The one time, the ONE time I want you to go on your own you insist on coming with me.::

You simply face him down he meets you, your iron wills clashing. For one instant you see the stubborn twenty-something padawan staring right back at you with those changeable eyes. But he melts and waves to you, ::Come on then. Stay close. And lose the shoes::

You arch your eyebrow. How many times have you seen the women in movies remove their shoes and end up needing them later on rough turrain? He simply glares at you ::You want to die now because the sound of your stiff boots on the floor gave us away or die later?::

Good point. You take off the boots and toss them into a nearby rubbish slide, run to him and he takes your hand. You can’t sense the force, but he can, therefore he knows when it’s safe to run down a corridor or hide. You smile at the picture you must make. Old Jedi master in full robes dragging a young woman in his cast off tunics, pants and barefeet holding a blaster.

::The more traditional members of the council would be having a fit.:: you send your mental image of yourself in your oversized tunics and pants. Not big enough to look like a child in her daddy’s clothing, more like someone who lost a lot of weight and forgot to buy new clothes.

He manages a small familiar smirk before taking your hand and pulling you both out of hiding to dash silently down another corridor. After several more, you finally reach the familiar looking power point.

You take position at the controls. Thanks to your memory you know which levers and knobs need to be pulled and in what order. The two of you make short work of the thing and are standing together staring at the storm troopers.

::I need to ask you something?:: you send

::What?:: he asks

::Are the words 'Imperial sharp shooters' an oxymoron?::

He laughs heartily in your mind and you see his smirk deepen. ::Yes, they are.::

::Oh thank god for that, we might actually live through this.:: you send softly.

He doesn’t reply. But you feel him lean on your massive reserves of the force and use it to distract the guards. He does this with such ease you suspect he’s done this before, many times.

Finally you are walking down the hall when he stops and turns to you.

"Go back to the others. I will catch up." He says softly pulling out his lightsaber.

"Oh no you don’t. I am staying with you or you are coming with me." You say firmly

He shakes his head, "I’ll be alright, go."

Your lower lip starts trembling and you feel tears sting your eyes. You managed to save Qui-gon Damn it! You are going to save Kenobi! "No, you won’t." you whisper almost choked.

"Yes, I will, go on."

You sniffle and feel the tears drop, nearly sobbing. Already your face is hot from the tears and your breath is coming in shaky gasps. ::No you won’t! You won’t! You won’t! You won’t! You won’t!::

He grabs your chin and forces you to look at him ::Why do you say that?::

You wipe your nose on your sleeve, now in full-blown hysterics. ::You are going to face Vader alone! You aren’t going to come back. You are going to die! I won’t let you! I won’t!::

You’ve seen him die dozens of times. Your heart always wrenched upon seeing it on the screen. But you honestly don’t think you could watch it in person.

Here is someone who you grew up with, read about his life, met and know as a real person. He’s not just a character from a seventies movie. He is a living, breathing, thinking feeling person. Someone you have grown to care for very deeply.

When you think about him dying now, it feels as if your heart is being twisted into tiny pieces.

::I know.:: he sends softly

::No you don’t:: you sob mentally, ::You don’t understand::

::Yes I do.:: he replies gently as he strokes your hair as if trying to calm a skittish wild animal. His eyes a soft blue.

::No you don’t!:: you insist stubbornly

::Yes,:: he says ::I do.:: There is something definitive about his tone that breaks through your grief and reaches your reason.

You jerk your head up and look at him in surprise, ::Wha?::

He simply smiles as he traces your face with his finger tips, cooling your over heated cheeks with his touch. Then he smirks in irony, :: As you said, so long ago… It’s my turn and my time. I choose this destiny, go. Go now.:: he sends.

Trust the old son-of-a-bitch to use your own words against you. ::NO!:: you reply defiantly, eyes squeezed shut in pain.

His hand slips into your hair at the base of your skull and pulls you to him for a quick hard kiss. The shock of it startles your mind from swimming in it’s little circles of guilt for his death.

When you muster the effort to open your eyes a heartbeat later he has pulled his lips away and is pressing your foreheads together. His changeable eyes fill your vision and you see HIM, not the old codger that died half way through A New Hope, not the stubborn young padawan of Phantom Menace or even the gangly teen of the Jedi Apprentice Books. You see the spirit that was all three and more than you could ever dream of.

"Go." He whispers.

With that you nod and dash down the hall, dry eyed and thinking, but inside as you ran, your heart is weeping blood.

***

Finding people is really easy. You just follow the sight of scorch marks on the hall, smell of ozone in the air and sound of blaster fire. You get to one point and see Luke and Leia running down the hall. Luke smiles and calls your name. Seeing two storm troopers appear behind them you raise your blaster and shoot, missing Luke and Leia, hitting the troopers dead on.

Leia looks at you with an approving smile, "Finally, someone who knows how to handle a situation."

You grin your approval, "Nice to see you alive, your magesty. Mind if we dispense with formality so we can get your highness to safety?"

She rolls her eyes and steps in stride with you, " Yes please! Have you seen the rust bucket they flew in on?"

"Yeah, I was on it." You chuckle. "It may look like a tin can with a hyperdrive but it works… mostly." Except when you need it most. Does a Hyperdrive EVER work when you need it to in the Star Wars Universe?

She laughs as you hand her a blaster you picked off the floor and the two of you simultaneously each pick off a storm trooper before they have a chance to shout out a warning. "Leia, sister I never had, no damn wonder I didn’t recognise you!"

She grins, "I was thinking the same thing!"

Luke is left baffled. I sniff, "Luke, why do you smell like garbage. Oh wait. Never mind. Do me a favour, as soon as you can, take a shower."

***

You run with the Skywalkers, taking your usual position of back up. Finally you catch up with Chewie and Han standing by the door to the bay while they look at the Falcon.

"Where have you been?" he asks Luke and Leia.

"We.. uh… ran into some old friends." She replies.

"You babe?" he turns to you.

"Family re-union hit a snag, we had to split up. But mission is complete." You reply with a small smile.

"Family re-union?" Leia asks

"Ben's her grandfather." Luke replies without taking his eyes off the falcon while the men contemplate how to get to her.

Leia however looks right at you with suspicious brown eyes. "I don't remember father saying Ben had a family."

"Adopted." You reply evenly.

Leia still looks at you with consternation in her eyes. Trust the woman of the group to suspect something is outta whack. But she brushes it off as unimportant.. for now.

"How are we going to get on? It's surrounded!" Luke asks

You shrug and smile sadly, "A solution always presents it's self." After all, Lucas invented this kinda Karma.

You dread it when you hear the clash of lightsabers in the distance and watch the StormTroopers abandon guarding of the falcon to go to the fight. The others are unaware and only think this is a golden opportunity. While the group makes a break for the ship tears start to trickle down your face and guilt lays heavy in your heart.

*You should have done something.* That annoying voice pops up again.

Fucking Conscience.

With the same sensation of needing to look at a train wreck you stop and watch the battle from a distance, framed by the blast doors. You feel a shiver at seeing that powerful black cloaked figure that gave you as many nightmares as the gaunt emperor. The harsh metallic breathing of Vader provides an eerie backbeat to the musical hum and electric clash of the sabers.

You watch the battle with amazement. Vader is impressive, but Obi-wan is what truly holds your attention. He may no longer do arial half-pikes but his defense is so precise and energy conserving it looks almost lazy in comparison to Vader's ferocity. That lazy easy of movement was the hallmark of a master martial artist.

"Ben?" you hear Luke say from behind you and he approaches you to stand at your left shoulder.

Hot tears are streaming now, almost time. You draw a shaky breath to wait for it. Maybe it's better this way. Maybe this is how he wants it, to die in the heat of battle, the true hero's death.

You reach out to touch his mind, wanting to make sure he hasn't changed his attitude.

::It's alright.:: he whispers softly to you, followed by a tender caress to your cheek.

You can't help it. ::DAMN you and your Jedi Honour to the darkside Kenobi! Only you could turn me into a blubbering idiot! If you won't let me stop this then I won't let you die alone! I am staying in your mind and sharing this and don't think about trying to prevent it!::

You can feel his smile as he turns to look at you and Luke standing side by side. Luke's expression is puzzled, yours is a mask of agony. A mixture of emotions rolls through Kenobi. There is Joy, hope and affection upon seeing Luke, who will save them all.

Love, exasperation and amusement for you that was tinged with concern for your experiencing death second hand, but he knows he can't change your mind or prevent you.

::Stubborn Bitch:: he sends with his old smirk on his face. You get the feeling he hasn't had that smart ass smile there for a very long time.

::Smart ass:: you tease back one last time as he stands with his saber in vertical salute to vader. Though you get the impression that this was the Jedi equivalent of giving someone the finger.

::…To the last:: you hear both you and Kenobi think in unison as Vader swipes Kenobi's death cut through the abdomen. Your heart screams along with Luke's cry is cosmic dismay.

It is every bit as painful as you imagined, fire screams along your nerves in protest, shrieking in final agony. The emotional and physical pain is too much for you. The sensory overload causes your knees to give a heart beat ahead of your consciousness.

***

You hit the floor with a thud and a groan. Opening your eyes you see beige tiles. Sneezing once at the dust upon the floor you turn your head to see metal bars and wheels. Eyes travelling up farther bed sheets appear, then a mattress comes into view. Finally the site of a recently awakened, very sheepish and concerned young Obi-wan is in your vision.

You blink at each other a bit before you sneeze again. His eyes burn away the sleepy fog they were in and turn into Blue-green saucers as he peers down.

"Oh dearest of the gods I am sorry!" he gasps as he hastily gets out of bed on the other side and grabs his cloak, "I didn´t mean to kick you out of your own hospital bed. I simply feel terrible now."

Shortly he is kneeling beside you on the floor and using his cloak to wrap you up like a bean burrito. Normally you would protest to this man handling but you are so emotionally and physically tired from experiencing death that you can´t move. Checking once you find your shields are shattered, but you can still feel those tendrils of consciousness spiralling out of you like dozens of extra fingers.

Quick as a wink you are fully packaged and lifted back onto the bed. You moan and wiggle your arms in the tight, soft, cuddly wrapping so you can have one hand poking out. Kenobi frowns and tries to stuff it back in but you manage to flap your fingers and beat his hands away.

He chuckles slightly at the exasperated expression on your face then he pulls himself back into bed, grabbing the covers and pulling them over the both of you. He cuddles around you while you are wrapped up immobile. You giggle, maybe this was how body pillows were invented. You certainly don´t mind being his.

You gaze up into the smooth and youthful face. He´s wise beyond his years, but he still has a lot of growing up to do. His cerulean eyes stare at you while his brows knit together, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle.

"Kenobi?" you ask.

"Yes?" he replies turning his attention to you as he tucks an errant strand of hair back from your face since you can´t do it yourself. You are kind of wrapped in an adult sized papoose with a Jedi Knight playing mama. Like you are going complain.

"In about, oh, forty years I am going to mention this incident again. I know I am going to remember it wrong so let me state the truth now." You mutter.

"Alright?" he now looks a combination of confused and amused. That mixture is getting to be a familiar expression on his face.

"It wasn´t halfway, it was all the way. Keep that in mind would you?" you murmur as you worm closer to your portable Jedi space heater.

He chuckles, "I don´t understand, but I will do as you say." He whispers.

You are already asleep when he finishes with a soft "my love." And a kiss to your forehead.

***

What do you all think? Should I continue this series?