White Rabbits (Star Wars, 3/?)

[butterfly]

Title: White Rabbits
Chapter: 3/?
Author: Diana Michelle (butterfly)
Warnings: Spoilers for Revenge of the Sith.
Pairing: Eventual Anakin/Obi-Wan.
Rating: PG/PG-13-ish.
Summary: Through the Force, everything is connected -- Leia Organa meets General Kenobi.
Disclaimer: Not Lucas, don't own a thing, not making any money.
Chapter Index

Chapter Three -- Revelations

He looked just like the holo that father had shown her.

 

‘This was taken… oh, nearly twenty years ago, but I imagine you’ll be able to recognize him.’

 

Leia had committed that image to her memory, just as she’d memorized what little her father had been willing to tell her about General Kenobi.

 

Is that really him?

 

“For almost two years now, yes,” General Kenobi said, with a charmingly wry smile. “But Obi-Wan is still more comfortable for me to hear.”

 

“Obi-Wan,” Leia said, smiling back at him. Quickly, she put her blaster in its holster and stretched out her hand toward… toward Obi-Wan. “My name is Leia Organa.”

 

“Any relation to Senator Bail Organa?” Obi-Wan asked, taking her hand in his.

 

“He was my father,” Leia said, only belatedly remembering Luke, who was standing behind Obi-Wan and raising his eyebrows in disbelief. “My adoptive father.”

 

“It’s good that he did finally adopt,” Obi-Wan said kindly, letting go of her hand after a quick, comforting squeeze. “And I am sorry for your loss. He was often a friend to the Jedi.”

 

“Thank you,” Leia said. He was as gracious as she had always imagined.

 

“I thought you weren’t coming,” Luke said, leaning against the wall and smirking at her. “Didn’t want to see what the place looked like.”

 

“I changed my mind,” Leia said, resting a hand on her hip. “And what were you calling me about, anyway? General Kenobi isn’t a danger.”

 

“I didn’t know it was him,” Luke said, annoyed. “There was something that was draining me, making me weak.”

 

“I experienced something similar,” Obi-Wan said. “Just before I was brought here. And while we’re on the topic – are we currently on Coruscant?”

 

“We are,” Leia said. Clearly, there was something of a mystery going on. Which was only to be expected when the dead came back to life. “Where were you?”

 

“A planet called Hargoeth, on the Outer Rim,” Obi-Wan said. Leia couldn't ever remember hearing the name mentioned. “Well, if we are on Coruscant, I’d best get to the Council and inform them of what appears to have happened.”

 

“The Council?” Leia asked, confused.

 

“You mean the Jedi Council, don’t you?” Luke asked, a second later.

 

“Yes, the Jedi Council,” Obi-Wan said.

 

“Oh,” Leia said. “That could be a problem.”

 

“A problem?” Obi-Wan asked.

 

“Could be, yeah,” Luke said. “I should probably tell you some of those things that you aren’t going to want to know.”

 

“Just what does he know?” Leia asked. “And… why doesn’t he know anything?”

 

“I think that he’s from the past and, well, he knows… he knows that Bail Organa adopted a daughter,” Luke said.

 

“From the past?” Leia muttered to herself.

 

This whole Jedi thing of Luke’s just got more and more bizarre as time went on. She kept thinking that she’d figured it out, and then something like this happened.

 

“I’m really not going to like this, am I?” Obi-Wan asked.

 

“Probably not,” Luke said. “And the worst part is that, well, that we don’t know it all.”

 

“The Empire wasn’t exactly an environment that valued the free exchange of information,” Leia said dryly.

 

“The Empire?” Obi-Wan asked.

 

“The Republic fell,” Leia said, hoping that getting it over with quickly would help. “Well, it was pushed, really. It happened near the end of the First Clone War.”

 

Leia glanced over at Luke, who shrugged helplessly. Right, she was the politician, she got to give the bad news.

 

Thank you so much, Luke.

 

“Palpatine, who was the Supreme Chancellor at the time, declared himself the ruler of the first Galactic Empire,” Leia said, shooting Luke a glare. He looked over at Obi-Wan, then back at her, and wised up enough to cross the room to stand at Leia’s side.

 

“Sometimes, in order to save a thing, one must be willing to compromise that thing,” Luke said, his distaste for the words clear. “That’s the first thing every child used to learn about how the Empire was formed. He was saving us from division, from being destroyed by separatists.”

 

“While I have never trusted Chancellor Palpatine,” Obi-Wan said. “It is still a great leap to say that he would destroy democracy itself.”

 

“It happened,” Leia said, tightly. “And, naturally, the Jedi didn’t like it. There are two versions of what happened next, the Empire’s version and the Rebellion’s.”

 

“The Emperor said that the Jedi betrayed him, attempted to assassinate him,” Luke said.

 

“The Rebellion always knew that the Jedi were merely trying to arrest Palpatine, get him out of power before it was too late,” Leia said. “The Emperor knew that the Jedi were his only true threat, so he…”

 

“What?”

 

“The Jedi were declared traitors to the Empire,” Leia said. “They were killed.”

 

“The Temple is still standing, even today, but no one has lived in it for over twenty years,” Luke said.

 

Obi-Wan nodded, looking away from them.

 

“I’m sorry,” Luke added, reaching out to touch Obi-Wan’s shoulder with his right hand, the prosthetic one. “It has to be worse than what you were expecting.”

 

“Was I the only Jedi to have survived?” Obi-Wan asked.

 

“Master Yoda did, but he passed away just over a year ago,” Luke said. “I’m the only living Jedi that I know of, at the moment. Well, until you arrived.”

 

“And I don’t count for much of one, right now,” Obi-Wan said softly. He walked towards the window, shaking off Luke’s hand.

 

“Obi-Wan…” Luke said, his hand dropping to his side. Leia moved closer to Luke, slipping her hand into his. His hand closed around hers gratefully.

 

“I wonder why this place feels so familiar,” Obi-Wan said, reaching out to touch one of the horizontal separators of the window.

 

“Perhaps you knew the original occupant,” Leia said. “Or it could just be that all these apartments look the same, after a while.”

 

“Possibly,” Obi-Wan said.

 

“It’s not all bad news,” Luke said. “The Emperor’s dead, now, and a new Republic is being formed from the ashes of the Empire. And the Jedi will return, I promise you that.”

 

“You’re a kind boy,” Obi-Wan said, turning around and leaning against the window, arms crossed in front of his chest. “But don’t feel as though you need to comfort me. The ones that we lose are always with us, through the Force.”

 

“And you really believe that?” Leia asked. A flash of pain crossed Obi-Wan’s face, but it was hidden almost immediately.

 

“It’s the truth,” Obi-Wan said, his expression serene once again. “Belief doesn’t enter into it. It will remain true even if, on occasion, I doubt it.”

 

“It must be nice, having that kind of certainty,” Leia said.

 

“I’m sure that Luke…” Obi-Wan trailed off, his gaze flitting over Luke. “Did you have a last name, young Luke?”

 

Leia glanced over at Luke, who looked away from both of them, uncertainty practically vibrating off of him.

 

“It can’t be that bad,” Obi-Wan said.

 

"My last name is…” Luke let out an unsteady breath and then looked straight at Obi-Wan. “I’m Luke Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker was my father.”

~end chapter three~