generale_kenobi (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} generale_kenobi) wrote,@ 2007-03-05 12:17:00 |
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FIC: Never Too Old To Love (Obi-Wan/ Leia...yeah, you read that right!) 4/4
TITLE: Never Too Old To Love
AUTHOR:generale_kenobi
GENRE: romance, general, AU
PAIRING: Obi-Wan/Leia (yep, you read it right!)
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Obi-Wan survives his duel with Darth Vader on the Death Star and from then on things go in quite a different way…
Leia Organa had felt this scared only once before: when Tarkin had threatened to destroy Alderaan if she did not tell him where the alliance’s outpost was located. She had been scared that day, not for herself but for her father and planet.
It was the same today. As she and Chewbacca were marched along the corridors of Cloud City toward Vader’s ship by a group of Stormtroopers, her heart was constricted by the fear she felt for poor Han, Luke and Obi-Wan.
When Lando had informed them Vader was using her and Han as bait for the two Jedi, Leia had hoped the two men would not come in their rescue.
She had almost caused Obi-Wan’s death once and she did not want to put him, or Luke, in danger another time.
Her hopes had been dashed when Vader had announced Obi-Wan and Luke were travelling to Bespin, just a short while before poor Han had been put in the carbonite.
If only there was a way to alert them it was a trap!
The little group reached an intersection when a dozen of Calrissian’s guards appeared in the corridor, fully armed and made a quick work of disarming the Imperial soldiers.
As a sergeant took away the Stormtroopers, Lando freed both Leia and Chewbacca from their binders.
“What's going on?” she asked.
“I'm coming over to your side, that's what,” the man answered, handing her a blaster.
“And when do you betray us again?”
Lando had no time to reply because Chewbacca attacked him and started strangling him.
Leia watched impassively as the man tried in vain to free himself. She had no love for traitors and he deserved it. However, when the man started making confused noises, she tensed her ears.
“It seems he is trying saying “Han”,” Threepio—or at least what remained of him commented.
Leia glanced at Chewbacca and the Wookiee loosened his hold.
“Han…” panted Calrissian, “we can still save him…Boba Fett’s ship is on East Landing Platform.”
Leia gripped her blaster more tightly, “Show us the way!”
They all started running in the indicated direction and a few minutes later they burst outdoors.
The bounty hunter’s ship was parked at the other side of the platform and he was giving orders to the two men who where pushing Han’s frozen form inside his ship
“We need to do something to stop him!” Leia ordered to Lando, before she aimed her blaster and fired against Boba Fett.
The armoured warrior easily avoided the shots and boarded his ship. The hind ramp started closing and in a minute or two the strange vessel would take off with Han.
It was in that moment, when Leia thought everything was lost, that a brown robed figure brandishing a blue lightsabre burst into the picture.
Obi-Wan!
He quickly dispatched the Stormtroopers on guard before he used his lightsabre to destroy the controls of the ship hind ramp, effectively preventing it from closing. The alarms went on as the take off procedure was aborted.
“Yes!” Leia grinned as she prepared to leave her cover and step on the platform.
“Stay where you are, Leia!” Obi-Wan commanded, a moment before the bounty hunter stepped out of his ship and started firing with his two blasters.
The Jedi used his ‘sabre to deflect the bolts and send them back against his attacker, just like Leia had seen him do during that long past training session.
Boba Fett used the rockets of his armour to fly over Obi-Wan and attack him from a better position, but it was useless, the Jedi was too quick for him.
A few minutes later Chewbacca barked happily when one of the deflected bolts hit the bounty hunter’s rockets, causing him to fall rather loudly on the platform.
Boba Fett recovered fast and scrambling to his feet he kept on firing his blasters, but Obi-Wan was implacable, whirling his lightsabre with such speed Leia could barely keep her eyes on it.
He closed on the bounty hunter until the moment one of the deflected bolts hit his opponent near his neck where, apparently the armour was not as thick as the rest of his body.
The bounty hunter crumbled to the ground near Obi-Wan’s feet, his helmet rolling away.
The Jedi Master powered off his lightsabre, and stared with a strange expression at the fallen man’s face. Then he turned around and ran toward Leia, Chewbacca and Lando.
Leia stepped out on the platform and met him midway, her eyes bright with happiness.
“Thank you for coming to save us, Obi-Wan!” she exclaimed, looking deeply into his blue-grey eyes, and barely refraining from hugging him. “Force only knows where that bounty hunter was going to take Han!” She smiled broadly, but her grin died when Obi-Wan tensed and a cloud seemed to fall on his face.
“You love him,” he said, very lowly.
“Yes, I do. He is-” my friend. Leia could not complete the line, because Obi-Wan interrupted her.
“I understand. It’s only natural; he is much closer to your age and quite charming. I am sure he will make you happy.”
“What?!” Leia exclaimed, not understanding the meaning of his words. And then she looked into his sad eyes and realized what had happened.
He thought she had fallen in love with Han!
Shaking her head with a mixture of fondness and exasperation, Leia pulled his head down for a quick yet deep kiss.
“I love you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are not going to get rid of me so easily!”
Obi-Wan grinned and he was about to say something when a look of absolute horror flashed on his face.
“Stars’ end, Luke!” he muttered, “I had told you to stay on the ship!” Obi-Wan lowered his face to look at Leia. “Luke is in danger…wounded…he is hanging from the bottom of an exhaust pipe. We need a ship—quickly!”
A few minutes later the Millennium Falcon departed from the East landing Platform carrying Obi-Wan, Leia, Lando, Chewbacca, Threepio, Artoo and Han’s frozen form.
Lando and Chewbacca were piloting, while Obi-Wan instructed them where to go and Leia tried hard not to pace.
The Falcon was flying underneath Cloud City, skimming closely to the metallic structures, when Lando announced grimly, “Three patrol ships are heading our way.”
Obi-Wan ignored him, and simply said. “Over there, on your right.”
“Someone's falling,” commented Lando as he piloted the ship in the indicated direction.
“It’s Luke,” answered Obi-Wan. “Get under him. Slow down. Easy Chewbacca. Line up your tracking system. Lando, open the hatch.”
Obi-Wan left the cockpit closely followed by Leia and reached out from the open hatch to help Luke.
“Easy young one,” he murmured as he pulled Luke inside the ship and helped him to recline on the floor.
Leia gasped in horror as she saw the younger man was missing a hand, as Obi-Wan checked his pulse.
“He is in shock,” he answered to her unspoken question. “Now go to Lando and tell him to close the hatch and take us away from here as fast as he can. I will move Luke into one of the cabins.”
Leia nodded and turned around to carry out his orders. As she walked toward the cockpit, she thanked their fortune because they had once again made it—but she could not help but wonder what would happen should luck decide to turn its back on them.
-----
Obi-Wan was pacing back and forth the corridor in front of the sick bay, waiting for the droids to complete the surgery to implant Luke’s new hand.
It was the second time he was forced to wait as one of his Padawans was made whole again after losing a limb to a Sith Lord. Both times impatience and impulsivity had been the cause of the young men’s misfortune, but Obi-Wan hoped Luke would learn the lesson better than Anakin had done.
However he was not as worried about Luke’s physical condition as he was for his emotional one.
The boy’s last words, before he had put him to sleep on the Falcon had been a pained “Why Ben? Why did you not tell me?”
The anguish and inner torment pouring out of Luke had left no doubts about what he was referring to. Obi-Wan had spent the rest of their trip preparing for the moment he would have to tell the truth to both Luke and Leia.
Leia—it had been good to see her again after so many months, to feel her vibrant Force signature brush against his own and feel her lips under his own. He had found her well and not scarred or wounded by her recent ordeal.
In that moment, one of the doors slid open and Leia stepped into the corridor, and her eyes lit up as soon as he spotted him. She walked closer and Obi-Wan did not resist the impulse of wrapping an arm around her back and pulled her against him.
Leia rested her head on his chest, as her arms surrounded his waist, and she sighed deeply, with contentment.
“Han is doing fine,” she said softly. “He did not suffer any damage by being trapped in the carbonite.”
“I am happy to hear it,” Obi-Wan commented, his lips speaking against her hair. “He is a good man, no matter how much he likes to play the scoundrel role.”
Leia nodded. “Yes, he is. I just hope one day he will find someone to be happy with. I just had to tell him he has no chance with me.”
“I see.” Obi-Wan swallowed hard, then shifted his position and used his hands to cup and raise Leia’s face. “I know it isn’t the most romantic place to say this but…I love you, Leia. I loved you from the first moment I saw you again.”
“I love you too,” Leia whispered, her brown eyes bright with happiness, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down for a long, meaningful kiss.
After a while Leia stepped back, a frown marring her smooth brow. “From the first moment you saw me again? What does it mean?”
Obi-Wan sighed. Of course she had caught that slip of his tongue! Oh well, it was not that bad since he had already decided it was time to reveal the twins the truth about their birth and parents.
“When I met you on the Falcon, it was not the first time I had seen you, Leia. I was near you a long time ago.”
“When?” Leia enquired. “I cannot remember meeting you before.”
“As I said, it was a long time ago. You were far too young to remember me. But do not fret over this now. I promise I will soon tell you everything.”
“All right.” Leia was clearly eager to know what he had to say, but willing to wait.
Obi-Wan pulled her head back against his chest, and posed his chin over her scented hair, closing his eyes and enjoying that moment of simple perfection.
-----
The following day Luke had recovered well enough to be able to listen to what Obi-Wan had to say him.
Obi-Wan told Luke to meet him on the observation deck of the ship and asked Leia to join them. Both the youths were surprised by his request of seeing them together, but they did as asked.
Once they were all gathered, Obi-Wan used the Force to lock the door, so that nobody would disturb them. Then he indicated the twins should sit on one of the plush divans there, as he lowered himself on an armchair he had pulled closer.
When they were all comfortable, Obi-Wan said, “Luke, Leia, I know it won’t be easy for you to hear what I am going to say, but it is important you let me finish. Then I will answer all the questions you may have, all right?”
The twins nodded.
Obi-Wan rubbed his beard, gathered his thoughts and began his story. “About twenty-four years ago a young Jedi Knight who had been my apprentice, met and fell in love with a Senator named Padmé Amidala. You’ve probably heard her name, Leia; she was a well known figure during the Clone Wars age. At that time, Jedi were forbidden from having romantic relationships because of the risks they involved, but this Knight ignored the rules and secretly married Padmé. With time, this attachment and the fear he had of losing his wife, turned into an obsession. He became jealous, paranoid, mistrusting of the Jedi and hungry for power. I don’t know exactly what happened next but one night he betrayed the Jedi and sided with Chancellor Palpatine who, in reality was, and is, a Sith Lord.”
Obi-Wan paused and looked at his audience, seeing the horrified expression on Luke’s face. Leia instead looked speculative, as she was wondering what all of this had to do with her.
“The Sith Lords are the natural enemies of the Jedi. They use the Force for personal gain and power, not to help the others as the Jedi do. Palpatine knew the Knight was extraordinary gifted and he had been after him since he was a child. The Jedi Council and I didn’t realize until it was too late who the Chancellor really was, and I never thought to keep my Padawan away from Palpatine. It is a mistake I’ve had to live with for the past twenty years.”
Obi-Wan shook his head and breathed deeply before continuing with the hardest part of his story.
“One night the former Jedi, now a Sith led a massive assault against the Jedi Temple. None of the Knights in the building was spared, not even the children. In the meantime Palpatine ordered the Clone Troopers to revolt against their Jedi commanders and kill them. Only a few Jedi, Master Yoda and myself included, escaped the slaughter. Thanks to the help given us by Bail Organa, Yoda and I returned to Coruscant, to the Temple and discovered what had happened. My heart…my heart broke when I watched a security recording and saw the fallen Jedi, the man I had raised since childhood, my friend and brother, kneel in front of Palpatine and call him Master. I knew it was my duty as a Jedi to eliminate him for he had become a terrible threat for the galaxy, but I didn’t know where to look for him.”
The Jedi Master looked again at the twins. Luke was pale as a sheet and Leia, who apparently had not yet made the connection, between Darth Vader and the fallen Jedi, was looking at Obi-Wan with an enraptured expression.
“I knew of the friendship between the Senator and my former apprentice and I went to visit her, asking her to if she knew where he was. It was then I realized the children she was pregnant with were my Padawan’s. In truth, I probably had always known, but I had chosen not to see because I didn’t wish to report my best friend to the Council. Senator Amidala refused to tell me where her husband was, but scared by what I had said her, she went to find him, and I hid on her ship. The fallen Jedi was on a volcanic planet called Mustafar, and it was there he was confronted about what he had become by both his wife and myself. He was so far consumed by the Dark Side he tried to kill the woman he professed to love and then attacked me. We fought and he lost. I cut three of his limbs and left him near the shore of a lava river, trusting his fate to the will of the Force.”
Obi-Wan grimaced. “It was a great mistake, because the Emperor found and saved him and made him his second in command.” The Jedi looked sadly at the two young faces staring at him. “Yes, that man is now called Darth Vader. I will never forgive myself for leaving him alive thus allowing him to commit such atrocities in the galaxy. But that day, I didn’t see him as Darth Vader. To me, to my broken heart he was still the young man I had raised from childhood to manhood and I could not bring myself to kill…Anakin Skywalker.”
Leia gasped aloud as Luke bit his lower lip, trying to prevent it from trembling.
“Vader…Vader is your father?” she finally asked.
Luke could only nod and stare at his new prosthetic hand.
“Yes, Leia, Anakin Skywalker was his father—but there is more.”
“More?”
“As I said before, Padmé was carrying twins when her husband tried to kill her. That act broke her heart and she completely lost her will to live. She died on Polis Massa, after giving birth to her children. First a boy, whom she called Luke and then a girl, whom Padmé named…Leia.”
“What?” Luke exclaimed, looking at the woman by his side. “You…she is my sister?”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan confirmed gently. “You were separated after birth. The Emperor knew, as I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him.” He turned to look at Leia, “You knew you had been adopted, don’t you?”
Leia nodded. “Yes. Father told me when I was ten, but he didn’t tell me who my real parents were. He said he didn’t know.”
“He wanted to protect you. Since the moment you and Luke were born, Yoda, Bail and I did everything in our power to keep you two safe. This is one of the reasons I did not join the Rebel Alliance, Leia. My place was on Tatooine, near Luke. I have watched over him for nineteen years, waiting for the moment the Force would bring him to me.”
Silence fell on the room, as its three occupants lost themselves in thought.
Obi-Wan was aware the twins would need time to cope with what they had learned. They needed time to digest it, and then the questions would come.
For the moment, he could only hope his past mistakes had not killed the bud of his and Leia’s love.
He would not blame her if she decided she did not want to have anything to do with the man who had played such a big part in the destruction of her family and the fact Vader was still alive and terrifying the galaxy.
A soft noise, very close to him, made Obi-Wan raise his head. Leia had left her seat and was now standing in front of him.
He rose to his feet and seeing the tears pouring from her eyes he opened his arms. The young woman lost no time in accepting his offer—and so did Luke a few seconds later.
Obi-Wan embraced the twins and then, for the first time, he let his tears fall, as they mourned together the loss of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.
-----
Leia knew where she could find Obi-Wan. She had always been able to do it and she was now aware it had something to do with her Force abilities.
The abilities she had inherited from her father, Anakin Skywalker, who was now Darth Vader…she shivered. No, Bail Organa had been her father, not Skywalker.
She refused to accept a man able to commit such atrocities as slaughtering children in cold blood had anything to do with her. She did not care if Luke kept on claiming there was still good in Vader—she did not, could not believe to it.
Leia took a deep breath and made an effort to calm down. Obi-Wan could always feel her inner turmoil and she did not want to worry him or cause him to feel guilty as he had the tendency to do.
Stepping onto the large terrace that opened on the first floor of the Rebel outpost on Rekam, Leia filled her eyes with the magnificent sight welcoming her. The snow-covered mountains around them, the tortuous creek running nearby and the way the last sun beams of the day made the silver of Obi-Wan’s hair shine like polished metal.
He was standing near the balustrade, looking in front of him, a hand absently stroking his beard; it looked like he had just been meditating.
“Has Luke left for Dagobah?” he asked, without turning.
“Yes, he has, about one hour ago—as I am sure you already know,” Leia commented, as she walked into the terrace.
He turned to look at her then, and simply nodded.
“What is it, Obi-Wan? Why have you retreated so much? Since the day you told us of our parents you have almost disappeared.”
“Let’s say I have done my best not to cross your path.”
“Yes, you have. But why?”
“I needed time to think of what to do next with Vader and the Emperor now that Luke refuses so adamantly to confront his father again. I just hope Yoda will be able to make him see reason.” Obi-Wan sighed, before continuing, “Also, I was not sure you would welcome me near you.”
Leia all but was made speechless with shock. “What?” she managed to say.
Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his chest as he answered, “It’s partly my fault that you and Luke grew up without knowing each other and your parents. It’s totally my fault that Vader is still living. I had two occasions to kill him, and I left him alive both times.”
Leia waited a moment before saying, with her usual honesty. “I have pondered for a long while what you told us and I think I understand why you could not kill Vader on Mustafar. However, I cannot understand why you didn’t finish him on the Death Star. Twenty years ago you didn’t know he would survive and the shock of his betrayal was so recent. But the second time…” Leia shook her head and spread her hands.
“I didn’t kill him because the last line your mother said before dying was ‘Obi-Wan, there is good in him, I know there is still’ and I have carried this belief with me all these years.”
Leia was about to sputter a sarcastic comment about Vader’s goodness, but Obi-Wan stopped her raising a hand.
“I hoped Luke would be able to bring that goodness to the light again, to redeem him, if you prefer. Call me an old fool, if you like, but I thought Anakin could still be saved by his son.”
“And now? Do you still believe it after Vader cut Luke’s hand fully knowing who he was?” Leia asked, quietly, her eyes never leaving his face.
“Yes, I do still believe it, although I have said the opposite to Luke, for I want him to keep his guard always up and he must be ready to face and kill Vader if necessary.”
Leia nodded, and stepped closer to him, posing a hand over his back. His muscles were so solid, so strong, but also so tense. She started rubbing them in a circular motion, as they both stared in comfortable silence at the sunset, a spectacle that was not marred by the energetic shield surrounding the place.
After a while Leia spoke again, her voice soft but strong. “If you need my forgiveness, you have it. I think you did what you reputed right and even if the results were not what you hoped for, you stayed faithful to your beliefs.” A pause, as he turned to look at her, his eyes as blue as never before. “You have my forgiveness, Obi-Wan Kenobi, my respect, my admiration—and my love.”
They looked at each other intently as the air around them – or it was the Force?—seemed to come alive with their emotions, as they communicated with their eyes, telling with them what they could not say with words.
Then Obi-Wan and Leia took a step forward and fell in each other arms, kissing hungrily.
Then they pulled back their hands entwined at their sides, and he murmured, “I love you, Leia.”
“As I love you, Obi-Wan. I love you…and I want you, if you will have me.”
Obi-Wan swallowed hard and nodded. It was a barely perceptible gesture, but more than enough for her.
Leia’s hands rose and she pushed back his brown robe, letting it fall on the terrace floor. Then she unbuckled his belt and posed it delicately on the robe along with his lightsabre.
“It’s the man not the Jedi Master I cherish...” she whispered, looking up at him as her hands slid over the tunic-covered planes of his chest and back.
Obi-Wan’s hands were not still either as they freed her long chestnut hair from her complicate hairdo, his eyes twitching in delight as he ran his fingers in it and brought a lock to his lips for a quick kiss.
Then he pulled her back into his arms, and kissed her with a barely contained passion, exploring every recess of her mouth, as his hands caressed her back, pressing her more closely against him.
“Stop me now Leia, if you don’t wish for this,” Obi-Wan murmured against her ear, before he kissed her earlobe and jaw.
Leia did not answer with words. Instead she smiled at him and taking his hand, led him to her quarters, whose window opened on the terrace.
The room was small, cramped, her bed little more than a cot—but at that moment it was the most perfect of places.
Leia’s hands made quick work of his sash before opening his tunics and caressing his hard chest and his soft, just a little too thick waist, loving the feel of his skin and chest-hair.
Obi-Wan in turn freed her from her white jacket and shirt, running his fingertips along her collarbone and the upper part of her breasts. Then he smiled boyishly and bending down he swept her on his arms and carried her to bed.
Some time later, Leia lay awake as Obi-Wan slept on by her side, taking the opportunity to study him as he was so utterly relaxed.
Their lovemaking had been a slow dance of emotions and feelings, of caresses and kisses, of whispered words and heated moans.
Obi-Wan had been gentle and yet demanding, strong and yet tender, willing to take his time with her before letting his need overwhelm him—and had left Leia utterly sated and even more in love with him than before.
Afterward, he had quickly fallen asleep, won by pleasure, fatigue and the tension of the past days, but Leia had been too excited to sleep. She had preferred to stay awake a little longer and savour each of the moments she spent near him.
She raised herself on her elbow to look down at her lover. Obi-Wan lay on his stomach, his head turned towards her, his face looking so young in repose.
Leia bent down and gently kissed his cheek, enjoying as his beard tickled her lips and nose, and ruffled his thick hair. Then she lowered on the mattress and snuggled closer to him.
Obi-Wan mumbled something in his sleep and rolled onto his back. Leia posed her head over his chest and closed her eyes, as one of his arms wrapped loosely around her back. Soon afterward sleep claimed her too and she abandoned herself to it, feeling as safe and protected as never before.
As Leia and Obi-Wan slept, they did not notice Han Solo stroll along the terrace, pick up the forgotten Jedi belt and robe and leave them by the half closed window of the princess’ quarters. Nor were they witnesses to his half-sad, half-happy smile when, peering into her room, he saw Leia asleep wrapped in Obi-Wan’s arms, the same serene and content expression gracing both their faces.
EPILOGUE
One year later
Obi-Wan and Leia stood near the deserted Imperial landing platform on the Forest Moon of Endor.
They were alone, having left the other members of their squad, Han and Chewbacca included, at the nearby Ewoks village, with the task to prepare a big celebration.
A little time before, the second Death Star had exploded, and it was confirmed news that both the Emperor and Darth Vader were on board.
The Emperor was dead and the news was travelling across the galaxy as fast as lightning. There would be many celebrations during the night, that was sure.
Obi-Wan had felt Darth Sidious die, but not Vader, and that was the reason he and Leia were standing on the landing platform.
Luke was arriving—and he was not alone.
Obi-Wan and Leia were standing in silence, her back resting against his chest as he embraced her from behind and posed gentle kisses along her temple.
The Jedi Master was happy Sidious had been defeated, but he knew their battles there far from over.
Restoring the Galactic Republic was going to be a long and hard task, and the same went for the rebuilding of the Jedi Order. However Obi-Wan was confident about his and Luke’s skills, and Leia’s quite happiness as she rested in his arms filled him with great hopes for the future.
They would face whatever obstacle life threw at them together, as husband and wife.
Obi-Wan smiled, savouring those words, feeling a thrill when he thought of Leia as his wife.
They had been married only the day before this last offensive against the Empire had begun.
Some members of the Rebel Alliance had seen in their marriage the demonstration that their plan to defeat Palpatine was almost hopeless. They had thought the two lovers had married because they were afraid they would not survive. After all, were not they going to separated during the imminent battle, with Obi-Wan commanding the fleet along Admiral Ackbar and Leia leading the assault squad down on the moon?
Instead, Obi-Wan and Leia had married for the opposite reason. They were so confident about the outcome of the day they had decided to marry and to show in that way all the hope they harboured for the future.
“Are you sure he will land here?” Leia asked, entwining her fingers with his.
“Yes, I am sure, and if you close your eyes and concentrate, you will sense Luke coming closer.”
“I can never concentrate when you whisper in my ear with that voice,” she replied, her tone playful and suggestive.
Obi-Wan shifted his weight and squeezed her middle as he whispered playfully, “Wait until we are alone, wife, and then we will “not concentrate” together—all night long.”
Leia turned her head and kissed his bearded cheek, “I cannot wait for that moment, husband.”
Obi-Wan smiled down at his wife, as he mused about how much he loved her, and about how much good living at her side had done to his soul. He no longer felt old, both in his heart and in his spirit, but full of hope and expectations. It was like he had been born another time.
He felt a ripple in the Force and raised his eyes to look at the sky. “They are here,” he said, as the air was filled with a sound of engines.
An Imperial shuttle with no identification lights landed gracefully on the huge platform, near the ship Obi-Wan had used to reach the moon.
The Jedi Master and his wife approached the ship as the ramp was lowered. Leia gasped aloud when the first thing she saw was Darth Vader’s tall form, and her hand ran quickly to her blaster.
However she soon noticed Luke was supporting most of Vader’s weight.
“Please Ben, help me, he needs medical care.”
Obi-Wan wrapped his arm around Vader’s back and helped Luke to carry his father down the ramp and to lower him on the landing platform, as Leia observed them, clearly shocked.
“Luke…” Vader raised an arm and Obi-Wan noticed his hand was missing. “Luke…”
“Don’t tire yourself, Father. We are going to move you on Obi-Wan’s shuttle and take you to the hospital ship…I could not fly directly there for my ship had been too damaged…” Luke said, as his eyes darted from the man laying on the ground to Obi-Wan, kneeling by his side.
“It’s too late for me, my son…” Vader, no Anakin, replied, his mechanical voice sounding weak and raspy.
Obi-Wan felt his eyes blur at Luke’s obvious pain and could not help but think back to the day Qui-Gon had died in his arms. The scene was so similar…
“Luke…help me take this mask off…”
“But you'll die,” Luke protested, convulsively gripping one of Anakin’s arms.
“Nothing can stop that now. Just for once... let me look on you with my own eyes.”
Luke raised his sad, powerless eyes to Obi-Wan, searching for reassurance, but the Jedi Master could only shake his head. Anakin’s Force signature was fading rapidly, he would not last long.
Obi-Wan reached out with his hand toward Leia, silently asking her to join him. She did, kneeling stiffly by his side, as he wrapped an arm around her waist in comfort.
Slowly, hesitantly, Luke removed the mask from his father's face. There was a hissing sound when the helmet was taken off and then Obi-Wan posed his eyes on Anakin’s scarred face.
The first thing he noticed were Anakin’s eyes: they had been yellow-red the last time he had seen them, but now they were again bright blue. The eyes Obi-Wan remembered filled with amusement, mischief, concentration, joy, determination… His Padawan’s eyes.
Those blue eyes, after contemplating his son, were now looking at Obi-Wan, as Luke supported his head so Anakin did not have to strain himself.
“Master…forgive me…” he rasped.
“Shhh, Anakin,” Obi-Wan murmured, forcing his words past the lump in his throat. “I forgive you, my brother…now be at peace and look who is here…”
Obi-Wan encouraged Leia to lean slightly forward and Anakin’s eyes widened when he recognized her and realized who she really was.
“Daughter…you are my daughter…how couldn’t see it before…you look so much like Padmé…”
Anakin coughed and blood appeared on his ashen lips.
“Don’t strain yourself…Father,” Leia murmured, posing a trembling hand on his scarred cheek.
“Leia…” Anakin smiled as he noticed the arm Obi-Wan had still wrapped around Leia’s waist, and the way she leant against him.
The dying man’s eyes sparkled for a brief moment, before a bout of pain wracked his body, making him grimace.
“Take care…of Leia…Master…she is…a…treasure…like...her mother.”
Obi-Wan nodded wordlessly, not trusting his voice.
“And…you Luke…take care…of the…old man…here….He needs…a…Skywalker…to…save…his …skin…when…he…is…in…trouble…”
“Yes, Father,” Luke whispered, as tears slid down his cheeks.
“Don’t…cry. I am…happy now…I …love you…all...Padmé…I…am…coming…” Anakin’s lips widened in a smile and then froze like that, as the light left his eyes and his Force signature was extinguished.
Obi-Wan reached out with his hand and gently closed Anakin’s unseeing eyes, before he pulled Leia in his arms and comforted her as she sobbed.
“What should we do now?” Luke asked after a while, his voice low but under control.
“We will build a pyre and burn his body. He died as a Jedi and deserves a Jedi’s funeral,” Obi-Wan answered, and the twins nodded in approval.
Two hours later, as darkness fell, Obi-Wan, Leia and Luke set torches to the logs stacked under a funeral pyre where Anakin Skywalker’s body rested, watching sadly as flames leapt higher to consume it.
In the sky over their heads, fireworks exploded as the Rebel fighters passed above the forest, while several bonfires were lightened in the nearby Ewok village.
The party was already under way, but near the simple pyre, nobody felt like celebrating-- until the moment both Obi-Wan and Luke sensed a shift in the Force and two translucent, shimmering, blue-tinged figures appeared in front of them.
A young looking Anakin and Yoda, both dressed as Jedi. And near them, Obi-Wan could sense Qui-Gon’s presence too.
Anakin and Yoda were smiling and some of their obvious happiness and cheerfulness transferred to the little group by the pyre.
Obi-Wan was the first one to react. He took Leia by her shoulders and kissed her deeply, as her arms surrounded him and her hands buried into his white hair.
Luke watched at them for a while, then he grinned, basking in his Master and sister’s joy, until the couple stopped their kissing and gestured him to join them in a three-way embrace.
Behind their backs, Anakin exchanged a look with Yoda and the invisible Qui-Gon, before his eyes met Obi-Wan’s once again.
The two men stared deeply at each other, and Anakin mouthed a “Thank you, Master,” before he and Yoda disappeared.
The flames had died by the time Obi-Wan, Leia and Luke broke their embrace and looked at each other, smiling.
“So, what do you think if we return to the village before Han and Chewie eat all the food?” Leia suggested.
Obi-Wan rubbed his beard, feigning to ponder the matter, then grinned. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Luke?”
“I agree, Ben.”
“Good. Then let’s go!” Leia exclaimed, leading the way, followed closely by her husband and brother, as above their heads the stars seemed to be brighter than usual.
Love had triumphed.
The darkness had been defeated—and a new age would soon begin for the galaxy.
THE END
This is the cover Kris Anne made for the story:
TITLE: Never Too Old To Love
AUTHOR:
generale_kenobi GENRE: romance, general, AU
PAIRING: Obi-Wan/Leia (yep, you read it right!)
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Obi-Wan survives his duel with Darth Vader on the Death Star and from then on things go in quite a different way…
Leia Organa had felt this scared only once before: when Tarkin had threatened to destroy Alderaan if she did not tell him where the alliance’s outpost was located. She had been scared that day, not for herself but for her father and planet.
It was the same today. As she and Chewbacca were marched along the corridors of Cloud City toward Vader’s ship by a group of Stormtroopers, her heart was constricted by the fear she felt for poor Han, Luke and Obi-Wan.
When Lando had informed them Vader was using her and Han as bait for the two Jedi, Leia had hoped the two men would not come in their rescue.
She had almost caused Obi-Wan’s death once and she did not want to put him, or Luke, in danger another time.
Her hopes had been dashed when Vader had announced Obi-Wan and Luke were travelling to Bespin, just a short while before poor Han had been put in the carbonite.
If only there was a way to alert them it was a trap!
The little group reached an intersection when a dozen of Calrissian’s guards appeared in the corridor, fully armed and made a quick work of disarming the Imperial soldiers.
As a sergeant took away the Stormtroopers, Lando freed both Leia and Chewbacca from their binders.
“What's going on?” she asked.
“I'm coming over to your side, that's what,” the man answered, handing her a blaster.
“And when do you betray us again?”
Lando had no time to reply because Chewbacca attacked him and started strangling him.
Leia watched impassively as the man tried in vain to free himself. She had no love for traitors and he deserved it. However, when the man started making confused noises, she tensed her ears.
“It seems he is trying saying “Han”,” Threepio—or at least what remained of him commented.
Leia glanced at Chewbacca and the Wookiee loosened his hold.
“Han…” panted Calrissian, “we can still save him…Boba Fett’s ship is on East Landing Platform.”
Leia gripped her blaster more tightly, “Show us the way!”
They all started running in the indicated direction and a few minutes later they burst outdoors.
The bounty hunter’s ship was parked at the other side of the platform and he was giving orders to the two men who where pushing Han’s frozen form inside his ship
“We need to do something to stop him!” Leia ordered to Lando, before she aimed her blaster and fired against Boba Fett.
The armoured warrior easily avoided the shots and boarded his ship. The hind ramp started closing and in a minute or two the strange vessel would take off with Han.
It was in that moment, when Leia thought everything was lost, that a brown robed figure brandishing a blue lightsabre burst into the picture.
Obi-Wan!
He quickly dispatched the Stormtroopers on guard before he used his lightsabre to destroy the controls of the ship hind ramp, effectively preventing it from closing. The alarms went on as the take off procedure was aborted.
“Yes!” Leia grinned as she prepared to leave her cover and step on the platform.
“Stay where you are, Leia!” Obi-Wan commanded, a moment before the bounty hunter stepped out of his ship and started firing with his two blasters.
The Jedi used his ‘sabre to deflect the bolts and send them back against his attacker, just like Leia had seen him do during that long past training session.
Boba Fett used the rockets of his armour to fly over Obi-Wan and attack him from a better position, but it was useless, the Jedi was too quick for him.
A few minutes later Chewbacca barked happily when one of the deflected bolts hit the bounty hunter’s rockets, causing him to fall rather loudly on the platform.
Boba Fett recovered fast and scrambling to his feet he kept on firing his blasters, but Obi-Wan was implacable, whirling his lightsabre with such speed Leia could barely keep her eyes on it.
He closed on the bounty hunter until the moment one of the deflected bolts hit his opponent near his neck where, apparently the armour was not as thick as the rest of his body.
The bounty hunter crumbled to the ground near Obi-Wan’s feet, his helmet rolling away.
The Jedi Master powered off his lightsabre, and stared with a strange expression at the fallen man’s face. Then he turned around and ran toward Leia, Chewbacca and Lando.
Leia stepped out on the platform and met him midway, her eyes bright with happiness.
“Thank you for coming to save us, Obi-Wan!” she exclaimed, looking deeply into his blue-grey eyes, and barely refraining from hugging him. “Force only knows where that bounty hunter was going to take Han!” She smiled broadly, but her grin died when Obi-Wan tensed and a cloud seemed to fall on his face.
“You love him,” he said, very lowly.
“Yes, I do. He is-” my friend. Leia could not complete the line, because Obi-Wan interrupted her.
“I understand. It’s only natural; he is much closer to your age and quite charming. I am sure he will make you happy.”
“What?!” Leia exclaimed, not understanding the meaning of his words. And then she looked into his sad eyes and realized what had happened.
He thought she had fallen in love with Han!
Shaking her head with a mixture of fondness and exasperation, Leia pulled his head down for a quick yet deep kiss.
“I love you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are not going to get rid of me so easily!”
Obi-Wan grinned and he was about to say something when a look of absolute horror flashed on his face.
“Stars’ end, Luke!” he muttered, “I had told you to stay on the ship!” Obi-Wan lowered his face to look at Leia. “Luke is in danger…wounded…he is hanging from the bottom of an exhaust pipe. We need a ship—quickly!”
A few minutes later the Millennium Falcon departed from the East landing Platform carrying Obi-Wan, Leia, Lando, Chewbacca, Threepio, Artoo and Han’s frozen form.
Lando and Chewbacca were piloting, while Obi-Wan instructed them where to go and Leia tried hard not to pace.
The Falcon was flying underneath Cloud City, skimming closely to the metallic structures, when Lando announced grimly, “Three patrol ships are heading our way.”
Obi-Wan ignored him, and simply said. “Over there, on your right.”
“Someone's falling,” commented Lando as he piloted the ship in the indicated direction.
“It’s Luke,” answered Obi-Wan. “Get under him. Slow down. Easy Chewbacca. Line up your tracking system. Lando, open the hatch.”
Obi-Wan left the cockpit closely followed by Leia and reached out from the open hatch to help Luke.
“Easy young one,” he murmured as he pulled Luke inside the ship and helped him to recline on the floor.
Leia gasped in horror as she saw the younger man was missing a hand, as Obi-Wan checked his pulse.
“He is in shock,” he answered to her unspoken question. “Now go to Lando and tell him to close the hatch and take us away from here as fast as he can. I will move Luke into one of the cabins.”
Leia nodded and turned around to carry out his orders. As she walked toward the cockpit, she thanked their fortune because they had once again made it—but she could not help but wonder what would happen should luck decide to turn its back on them.
Obi-Wan was pacing back and forth the corridor in front of the sick bay, waiting for the droids to complete the surgery to implant Luke’s new hand.
It was the second time he was forced to wait as one of his Padawans was made whole again after losing a limb to a Sith Lord. Both times impatience and impulsivity had been the cause of the young men’s misfortune, but Obi-Wan hoped Luke would learn the lesson better than Anakin had done.
However he was not as worried about Luke’s physical condition as he was for his emotional one.
The boy’s last words, before he had put him to sleep on the Falcon had been a pained “Why Ben? Why did you not tell me?”
The anguish and inner torment pouring out of Luke had left no doubts about what he was referring to. Obi-Wan had spent the rest of their trip preparing for the moment he would have to tell the truth to both Luke and Leia.
Leia—it had been good to see her again after so many months, to feel her vibrant Force signature brush against his own and feel her lips under his own. He had found her well and not scarred or wounded by her recent ordeal.
In that moment, one of the doors slid open and Leia stepped into the corridor, and her eyes lit up as soon as he spotted him. She walked closer and Obi-Wan did not resist the impulse of wrapping an arm around her back and pulled her against him.
Leia rested her head on his chest, as her arms surrounded his waist, and she sighed deeply, with contentment.
“Han is doing fine,” she said softly. “He did not suffer any damage by being trapped in the carbonite.”
“I am happy to hear it,” Obi-Wan commented, his lips speaking against her hair. “He is a good man, no matter how much he likes to play the scoundrel role.”
Leia nodded. “Yes, he is. I just hope one day he will find someone to be happy with. I just had to tell him he has no chance with me.”
“I see.” Obi-Wan swallowed hard, then shifted his position and used his hands to cup and raise Leia’s face. “I know it isn’t the most romantic place to say this but…I love you, Leia. I loved you from the first moment I saw you again.”
“I love you too,” Leia whispered, her brown eyes bright with happiness, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down for a long, meaningful kiss.
After a while Leia stepped back, a frown marring her smooth brow. “From the first moment you saw me again? What does it mean?”
Obi-Wan sighed. Of course she had caught that slip of his tongue! Oh well, it was not that bad since he had already decided it was time to reveal the twins the truth about their birth and parents.
“When I met you on the Falcon, it was not the first time I had seen you, Leia. I was near you a long time ago.”
“When?” Leia enquired. “I cannot remember meeting you before.”
“As I said, it was a long time ago. You were far too young to remember me. But do not fret over this now. I promise I will soon tell you everything.”
“All right.” Leia was clearly eager to know what he had to say, but willing to wait.
Obi-Wan pulled her head back against his chest, and posed his chin over her scented hair, closing his eyes and enjoying that moment of simple perfection.
The following day Luke had recovered well enough to be able to listen to what Obi-Wan had to say him.
Obi-Wan told Luke to meet him on the observation deck of the ship and asked Leia to join them. Both the youths were surprised by his request of seeing them together, but they did as asked.
Once they were all gathered, Obi-Wan used the Force to lock the door, so that nobody would disturb them. Then he indicated the twins should sit on one of the plush divans there, as he lowered himself on an armchair he had pulled closer.
When they were all comfortable, Obi-Wan said, “Luke, Leia, I know it won’t be easy for you to hear what I am going to say, but it is important you let me finish. Then I will answer all the questions you may have, all right?”
The twins nodded.
Obi-Wan rubbed his beard, gathered his thoughts and began his story. “About twenty-four years ago a young Jedi Knight who had been my apprentice, met and fell in love with a Senator named Padmé Amidala. You’ve probably heard her name, Leia; she was a well known figure during the Clone Wars age. At that time, Jedi were forbidden from having romantic relationships because of the risks they involved, but this Knight ignored the rules and secretly married Padmé. With time, this attachment and the fear he had of losing his wife, turned into an obsession. He became jealous, paranoid, mistrusting of the Jedi and hungry for power. I don’t know exactly what happened next but one night he betrayed the Jedi and sided with Chancellor Palpatine who, in reality was, and is, a Sith Lord.”
Obi-Wan paused and looked at his audience, seeing the horrified expression on Luke’s face. Leia instead looked speculative, as she was wondering what all of this had to do with her.
“The Sith Lords are the natural enemies of the Jedi. They use the Force for personal gain and power, not to help the others as the Jedi do. Palpatine knew the Knight was extraordinary gifted and he had been after him since he was a child. The Jedi Council and I didn’t realize until it was too late who the Chancellor really was, and I never thought to keep my Padawan away from Palpatine. It is a mistake I’ve had to live with for the past twenty years.”
Obi-Wan shook his head and breathed deeply before continuing with the hardest part of his story.
“One night the former Jedi, now a Sith led a massive assault against the Jedi Temple. None of the Knights in the building was spared, not even the children. In the meantime Palpatine ordered the Clone Troopers to revolt against their Jedi commanders and kill them. Only a few Jedi, Master Yoda and myself included, escaped the slaughter. Thanks to the help given us by Bail Organa, Yoda and I returned to Coruscant, to the Temple and discovered what had happened. My heart…my heart broke when I watched a security recording and saw the fallen Jedi, the man I had raised since childhood, my friend and brother, kneel in front of Palpatine and call him Master. I knew it was my duty as a Jedi to eliminate him for he had become a terrible threat for the galaxy, but I didn’t know where to look for him.”
The Jedi Master looked again at the twins. Luke was pale as a sheet and Leia, who apparently had not yet made the connection, between Darth Vader and the fallen Jedi, was looking at Obi-Wan with an enraptured expression.
“I knew of the friendship between the Senator and my former apprentice and I went to visit her, asking her to if she knew where he was. It was then I realized the children she was pregnant with were my Padawan’s. In truth, I probably had always known, but I had chosen not to see because I didn’t wish to report my best friend to the Council. Senator Amidala refused to tell me where her husband was, but scared by what I had said her, she went to find him, and I hid on her ship. The fallen Jedi was on a volcanic planet called Mustafar, and it was there he was confronted about what he had become by both his wife and myself. He was so far consumed by the Dark Side he tried to kill the woman he professed to love and then attacked me. We fought and he lost. I cut three of his limbs and left him near the shore of a lava river, trusting his fate to the will of the Force.”
Obi-Wan grimaced. “It was a great mistake, because the Emperor found and saved him and made him his second in command.” The Jedi looked sadly at the two young faces staring at him. “Yes, that man is now called Darth Vader. I will never forgive myself for leaving him alive thus allowing him to commit such atrocities in the galaxy. But that day, I didn’t see him as Darth Vader. To me, to my broken heart he was still the young man I had raised from childhood to manhood and I could not bring myself to kill…Anakin Skywalker.”
Leia gasped aloud as Luke bit his lower lip, trying to prevent it from trembling.
“Vader…Vader is your father?” she finally asked.
Luke could only nod and stare at his new prosthetic hand.
“Yes, Leia, Anakin Skywalker was his father—but there is more.”
“More?”
“As I said before, Padmé was carrying twins when her husband tried to kill her. That act broke her heart and she completely lost her will to live. She died on Polis Massa, after giving birth to her children. First a boy, whom she called Luke and then a girl, whom Padmé named…Leia.”
“What?” Luke exclaimed, looking at the woman by his side. “You…she is my sister?”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan confirmed gently. “You were separated after birth. The Emperor knew, as I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him.” He turned to look at Leia, “You knew you had been adopted, don’t you?”
Leia nodded. “Yes. Father told me when I was ten, but he didn’t tell me who my real parents were. He said he didn’t know.”
“He wanted to protect you. Since the moment you and Luke were born, Yoda, Bail and I did everything in our power to keep you two safe. This is one of the reasons I did not join the Rebel Alliance, Leia. My place was on Tatooine, near Luke. I have watched over him for nineteen years, waiting for the moment the Force would bring him to me.”
Silence fell on the room, as its three occupants lost themselves in thought.
Obi-Wan was aware the twins would need time to cope with what they had learned. They needed time to digest it, and then the questions would come.
For the moment, he could only hope his past mistakes had not killed the bud of his and Leia’s love.
He would not blame her if she decided she did not want to have anything to do with the man who had played such a big part in the destruction of her family and the fact Vader was still alive and terrifying the galaxy.
A soft noise, very close to him, made Obi-Wan raise his head. Leia had left her seat and was now standing in front of him.
He rose to his feet and seeing the tears pouring from her eyes he opened his arms. The young woman lost no time in accepting his offer—and so did Luke a few seconds later.
Obi-Wan embraced the twins and then, for the first time, he let his tears fall, as they mourned together the loss of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.
Leia knew where she could find Obi-Wan. She had always been able to do it and she was now aware it had something to do with her Force abilities.
The abilities she had inherited from her father, Anakin Skywalker, who was now Darth Vader…she shivered. No, Bail Organa had been her father, not Skywalker.
She refused to accept a man able to commit such atrocities as slaughtering children in cold blood had anything to do with her. She did not care if Luke kept on claiming there was still good in Vader—she did not, could not believe to it.
Leia took a deep breath and made an effort to calm down. Obi-Wan could always feel her inner turmoil and she did not want to worry him or cause him to feel guilty as he had the tendency to do.
Stepping onto the large terrace that opened on the first floor of the Rebel outpost on Rekam, Leia filled her eyes with the magnificent sight welcoming her. The snow-covered mountains around them, the tortuous creek running nearby and the way the last sun beams of the day made the silver of Obi-Wan’s hair shine like polished metal.
He was standing near the balustrade, looking in front of him, a hand absently stroking his beard; it looked like he had just been meditating.
“Has Luke left for Dagobah?” he asked, without turning.
“Yes, he has, about one hour ago—as I am sure you already know,” Leia commented, as she walked into the terrace.
He turned to look at her then, and simply nodded.
“What is it, Obi-Wan? Why have you retreated so much? Since the day you told us of our parents you have almost disappeared.”
“Let’s say I have done my best not to cross your path.”
“Yes, you have. But why?”
“I needed time to think of what to do next with Vader and the Emperor now that Luke refuses so adamantly to confront his father again. I just hope Yoda will be able to make him see reason.” Obi-Wan sighed, before continuing, “Also, I was not sure you would welcome me near you.”
Leia all but was made speechless with shock. “What?” she managed to say.
Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his chest as he answered, “It’s partly my fault that you and Luke grew up without knowing each other and your parents. It’s totally my fault that Vader is still living. I had two occasions to kill him, and I left him alive both times.”
Leia waited a moment before saying, with her usual honesty. “I have pondered for a long while what you told us and I think I understand why you could not kill Vader on Mustafar. However, I cannot understand why you didn’t finish him on the Death Star. Twenty years ago you didn’t know he would survive and the shock of his betrayal was so recent. But the second time…” Leia shook her head and spread her hands.
“I didn’t kill him because the last line your mother said before dying was ‘Obi-Wan, there is good in him, I know there is still’ and I have carried this belief with me all these years.”
Leia was about to sputter a sarcastic comment about Vader’s goodness, but Obi-Wan stopped her raising a hand.
“I hoped Luke would be able to bring that goodness to the light again, to redeem him, if you prefer. Call me an old fool, if you like, but I thought Anakin could still be saved by his son.”
“And now? Do you still believe it after Vader cut Luke’s hand fully knowing who he was?” Leia asked, quietly, her eyes never leaving his face.
“Yes, I do still believe it, although I have said the opposite to Luke, for I want him to keep his guard always up and he must be ready to face and kill Vader if necessary.”
Leia nodded, and stepped closer to him, posing a hand over his back. His muscles were so solid, so strong, but also so tense. She started rubbing them in a circular motion, as they both stared in comfortable silence at the sunset, a spectacle that was not marred by the energetic shield surrounding the place.
After a while Leia spoke again, her voice soft but strong. “If you need my forgiveness, you have it. I think you did what you reputed right and even if the results were not what you hoped for, you stayed faithful to your beliefs.” A pause, as he turned to look at her, his eyes as blue as never before. “You have my forgiveness, Obi-Wan Kenobi, my respect, my admiration—and my love.”
They looked at each other intently as the air around them – or it was the Force?—seemed to come alive with their emotions, as they communicated with their eyes, telling with them what they could not say with words.
Then Obi-Wan and Leia took a step forward and fell in each other arms, kissing hungrily.
Then they pulled back their hands entwined at their sides, and he murmured, “I love you, Leia.”
“As I love you, Obi-Wan. I love you…and I want you, if you will have me.”
Obi-Wan swallowed hard and nodded. It was a barely perceptible gesture, but more than enough for her.
Leia’s hands rose and she pushed back his brown robe, letting it fall on the terrace floor. Then she unbuckled his belt and posed it delicately on the robe along with his lightsabre.
“It’s the man not the Jedi Master I cherish...” she whispered, looking up at him as her hands slid over the tunic-covered planes of his chest and back.
Obi-Wan’s hands were not still either as they freed her long chestnut hair from her complicate hairdo, his eyes twitching in delight as he ran his fingers in it and brought a lock to his lips for a quick kiss.
Then he pulled her back into his arms, and kissed her with a barely contained passion, exploring every recess of her mouth, as his hands caressed her back, pressing her more closely against him.
“Stop me now Leia, if you don’t wish for this,” Obi-Wan murmured against her ear, before he kissed her earlobe and jaw.
Leia did not answer with words. Instead she smiled at him and taking his hand, led him to her quarters, whose window opened on the terrace.
The room was small, cramped, her bed little more than a cot—but at that moment it was the most perfect of places.
Leia’s hands made quick work of his sash before opening his tunics and caressing his hard chest and his soft, just a little too thick waist, loving the feel of his skin and chest-hair.
Obi-Wan in turn freed her from her white jacket and shirt, running his fingertips along her collarbone and the upper part of her breasts. Then he smiled boyishly and bending down he swept her on his arms and carried her to bed.
Some time later, Leia lay awake as Obi-Wan slept on by her side, taking the opportunity to study him as he was so utterly relaxed.
Their lovemaking had been a slow dance of emotions and feelings, of caresses and kisses, of whispered words and heated moans.
Obi-Wan had been gentle and yet demanding, strong and yet tender, willing to take his time with her before letting his need overwhelm him—and had left Leia utterly sated and even more in love with him than before.
Afterward, he had quickly fallen asleep, won by pleasure, fatigue and the tension of the past days, but Leia had been too excited to sleep. She had preferred to stay awake a little longer and savour each of the moments she spent near him.
She raised herself on her elbow to look down at her lover. Obi-Wan lay on his stomach, his head turned towards her, his face looking so young in repose.
Leia bent down and gently kissed his cheek, enjoying as his beard tickled her lips and nose, and ruffled his thick hair. Then she lowered on the mattress and snuggled closer to him.
Obi-Wan mumbled something in his sleep and rolled onto his back. Leia posed her head over his chest and closed her eyes, as one of his arms wrapped loosely around her back. Soon afterward sleep claimed her too and she abandoned herself to it, feeling as safe and protected as never before.
As Leia and Obi-Wan slept, they did not notice Han Solo stroll along the terrace, pick up the forgotten Jedi belt and robe and leave them by the half closed window of the princess’ quarters. Nor were they witnesses to his half-sad, half-happy smile when, peering into her room, he saw Leia asleep wrapped in Obi-Wan’s arms, the same serene and content expression gracing both their faces.
One year later
Obi-Wan and Leia stood near the deserted Imperial landing platform on the Forest Moon of Endor.
They were alone, having left the other members of their squad, Han and Chewbacca included, at the nearby Ewoks village, with the task to prepare a big celebration.
A little time before, the second Death Star had exploded, and it was confirmed news that both the Emperor and Darth Vader were on board.
The Emperor was dead and the news was travelling across the galaxy as fast as lightning. There would be many celebrations during the night, that was sure.
Obi-Wan had felt Darth Sidious die, but not Vader, and that was the reason he and Leia were standing on the landing platform.
Luke was arriving—and he was not alone.
Obi-Wan and Leia were standing in silence, her back resting against his chest as he embraced her from behind and posed gentle kisses along her temple.
The Jedi Master was happy Sidious had been defeated, but he knew their battles there far from over.
Restoring the Galactic Republic was going to be a long and hard task, and the same went for the rebuilding of the Jedi Order. However Obi-Wan was confident about his and Luke’s skills, and Leia’s quite happiness as she rested in his arms filled him with great hopes for the future.
They would face whatever obstacle life threw at them together, as husband and wife.
Obi-Wan smiled, savouring those words, feeling a thrill when he thought of Leia as his wife.
They had been married only the day before this last offensive against the Empire had begun.
Some members of the Rebel Alliance had seen in their marriage the demonstration that their plan to defeat Palpatine was almost hopeless. They had thought the two lovers had married because they were afraid they would not survive. After all, were not they going to separated during the imminent battle, with Obi-Wan commanding the fleet along Admiral Ackbar and Leia leading the assault squad down on the moon?
Instead, Obi-Wan and Leia had married for the opposite reason. They were so confident about the outcome of the day they had decided to marry and to show in that way all the hope they harboured for the future.
“Are you sure he will land here?” Leia asked, entwining her fingers with his.
“Yes, I am sure, and if you close your eyes and concentrate, you will sense Luke coming closer.”
“I can never concentrate when you whisper in my ear with that voice,” she replied, her tone playful and suggestive.
Obi-Wan shifted his weight and squeezed her middle as he whispered playfully, “Wait until we are alone, wife, and then we will “not concentrate” together—all night long.”
Leia turned her head and kissed his bearded cheek, “I cannot wait for that moment, husband.”
Obi-Wan smiled down at his wife, as he mused about how much he loved her, and about how much good living at her side had done to his soul. He no longer felt old, both in his heart and in his spirit, but full of hope and expectations. It was like he had been born another time.
He felt a ripple in the Force and raised his eyes to look at the sky. “They are here,” he said, as the air was filled with a sound of engines.
An Imperial shuttle with no identification lights landed gracefully on the huge platform, near the ship Obi-Wan had used to reach the moon.
The Jedi Master and his wife approached the ship as the ramp was lowered. Leia gasped aloud when the first thing she saw was Darth Vader’s tall form, and her hand ran quickly to her blaster.
However she soon noticed Luke was supporting most of Vader’s weight.
“Please Ben, help me, he needs medical care.”
Obi-Wan wrapped his arm around Vader’s back and helped Luke to carry his father down the ramp and to lower him on the landing platform, as Leia observed them, clearly shocked.
“Luke…” Vader raised an arm and Obi-Wan noticed his hand was missing. “Luke…”
“Don’t tire yourself, Father. We are going to move you on Obi-Wan’s shuttle and take you to the hospital ship…I could not fly directly there for my ship had been too damaged…” Luke said, as his eyes darted from the man laying on the ground to Obi-Wan, kneeling by his side.
“It’s too late for me, my son…” Vader, no Anakin, replied, his mechanical voice sounding weak and raspy.
Obi-Wan felt his eyes blur at Luke’s obvious pain and could not help but think back to the day Qui-Gon had died in his arms. The scene was so similar…
“Luke…help me take this mask off…”
“But you'll die,” Luke protested, convulsively gripping one of Anakin’s arms.
“Nothing can stop that now. Just for once... let me look on you with my own eyes.”
Luke raised his sad, powerless eyes to Obi-Wan, searching for reassurance, but the Jedi Master could only shake his head. Anakin’s Force signature was fading rapidly, he would not last long.
Obi-Wan reached out with his hand toward Leia, silently asking her to join him. She did, kneeling stiffly by his side, as he wrapped an arm around her waist in comfort.
Slowly, hesitantly, Luke removed the mask from his father's face. There was a hissing sound when the helmet was taken off and then Obi-Wan posed his eyes on Anakin’s scarred face.
The first thing he noticed were Anakin’s eyes: they had been yellow-red the last time he had seen them, but now they were again bright blue. The eyes Obi-Wan remembered filled with amusement, mischief, concentration, joy, determination… His Padawan’s eyes.
Those blue eyes, after contemplating his son, were now looking at Obi-Wan, as Luke supported his head so Anakin did not have to strain himself.
“Master…forgive me…” he rasped.
“Shhh, Anakin,” Obi-Wan murmured, forcing his words past the lump in his throat. “I forgive you, my brother…now be at peace and look who is here…”
Obi-Wan encouraged Leia to lean slightly forward and Anakin’s eyes widened when he recognized her and realized who she really was.
“Daughter…you are my daughter…how couldn’t see it before…you look so much like Padmé…”
Anakin coughed and blood appeared on his ashen lips.
“Don’t strain yourself…Father,” Leia murmured, posing a trembling hand on his scarred cheek.
“Leia…” Anakin smiled as he noticed the arm Obi-Wan had still wrapped around Leia’s waist, and the way she leant against him.
The dying man’s eyes sparkled for a brief moment, before a bout of pain wracked his body, making him grimace.
“Take care…of Leia…Master…she is…a…treasure…like...her mother.”
Obi-Wan nodded wordlessly, not trusting his voice.
“And…you Luke…take care…of the…old man…here….He needs…a…Skywalker…to…save…his …skin…when…he…is…in…trouble…”
“Yes, Father,” Luke whispered, as tears slid down his cheeks.
“Don’t…cry. I am…happy now…I …love you…all...Padmé…I…am…coming…” Anakin’s lips widened in a smile and then froze like that, as the light left his eyes and his Force signature was extinguished.
Obi-Wan reached out with his hand and gently closed Anakin’s unseeing eyes, before he pulled Leia in his arms and comforted her as she sobbed.
“What should we do now?” Luke asked after a while, his voice low but under control.
“We will build a pyre and burn his body. He died as a Jedi and deserves a Jedi’s funeral,” Obi-Wan answered, and the twins nodded in approval.
Two hours later, as darkness fell, Obi-Wan, Leia and Luke set torches to the logs stacked under a funeral pyre where Anakin Skywalker’s body rested, watching sadly as flames leapt higher to consume it.
In the sky over their heads, fireworks exploded as the Rebel fighters passed above the forest, while several bonfires were lightened in the nearby Ewok village.
The party was already under way, but near the simple pyre, nobody felt like celebrating-- until the moment both Obi-Wan and Luke sensed a shift in the Force and two translucent, shimmering, blue-tinged figures appeared in front of them.
A young looking Anakin and Yoda, both dressed as Jedi. And near them, Obi-Wan could sense Qui-Gon’s presence too.
Anakin and Yoda were smiling and some of their obvious happiness and cheerfulness transferred to the little group by the pyre.
Obi-Wan was the first one to react. He took Leia by her shoulders and kissed her deeply, as her arms surrounded him and her hands buried into his white hair.
Luke watched at them for a while, then he grinned, basking in his Master and sister’s joy, until the couple stopped their kissing and gestured him to join them in a three-way embrace.
Behind their backs, Anakin exchanged a look with Yoda and the invisible Qui-Gon, before his eyes met Obi-Wan’s once again.
The two men stared deeply at each other, and Anakin mouthed a “Thank you, Master,” before he and Yoda disappeared.
The flames had died by the time Obi-Wan, Leia and Luke broke their embrace and looked at each other, smiling.
“So, what do you think if we return to the village before Han and Chewie eat all the food?” Leia suggested.
Obi-Wan rubbed his beard, feigning to ponder the matter, then grinned. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Luke?”
“I agree, Ben.”
“Good. Then let’s go!” Leia exclaimed, leading the way, followed closely by her husband and brother, as above their heads the stars seemed to be brighter than usual.
Love had triumphed.
The darkness had been defeated—and a new age would soon begin for the galaxy.
THE END
This is the cover Kris Anne made for the story:
