Inspired by the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi Part VI
Obi-Wan Kenobi remembered. Not of the little boy on Tatooine, the ambitious Padawan, or the friend he’d learn to call brother. He remembered the monster. The slaughterer of so many innocent younglings, a menace who had choked and nearly killed his pregnant wife. The burning husk of a man screaming hatred on the banks of Mustafar.
A Sith.
This had to end.
He had told Qui-Gon as much. One of them would die today.
His mind flickered to a long lost memory of a long lost planet he ventured to alone as a Padawan. How he defeated his enemy by lifting a single pebble with the Force. The tiny memory forced a smirk as he lifted the pebbles, rocks, and boulders of this newly discovered barren moon. A Padawan no longer, now a Jedi Master in his prime after being disconnected from the Force for so long. The Force flowed through him, arguably more than it ever had, and in this moment, he needed it and called on it and watched patiently with his arms spread wide as it delivered its heavy blows into the dark figure silhouetted against the rock formation directly ahead of him.
Obi-Wan’s might, along with his slight grin, grew as he realized he had his enemy pinned. Obi-Wan would not lose. The Force gave him the energy he required to defeat Darth Vader, the Sith Lord that had once been-
No.
Obi-Wan focused as Vader shielded himself from the onslaught of debris, batting away boulders and inching his way closer to the Jedi Master.
Vader yelped as he swung at Obi-Wan, the two clashing again in a rather elongated and ferocious push against each other’s saber. As the clash held, Vader’s strength pushed Kenobi back into a fragile rock spire that immediately crumbled on impact.
The debris of the fallen rock briefly disrupted Vader’s vision and concentration, allowing Kenobi to break free from the saber clash.
Obi-Wan now became the aggressor, pushing their duel farther into the forest of jagged spires. After batting away Vader’s saber, Kenobi lunged forward, stabbing his saber outward with his right hand for the killing blow.
Dodging the attack with a slight shift to the left, Vader grabbed Kenobi’s saber-wielding wrist with his own free hand in an attempt to parry the move. In a battle for his life, and so much more, Obi-Wan quickly parried Vader by lifting up his own disabled right hand while twisting and prying Vader’s grip away with his left hand, freeing him for an overhead strike. The two clashed once more, Obi-Wan’s left hand now interlocked with Vader’s left in a struggle for an advantage. Fortunately, Obi-Wan spotted one first.
The Jedi released from the clash, and with Vader’s left arm temporarily disabled, Obi-Wan quickly flipped his saber behind his back, turned his saber upside down, and used the bottom of the hilt to punch Vader in the mask, knocking the dark behemoth slightly back. Immediately, Obi-Wan then plunged the bottom of his hilt’s pommel cap directly into the glowing chest plate designed to keep his enemy alive. Sparks flew everywhere. Obi-Wan kept the onslaught, more sparks lighting up the dark forest with each attack.
Obi-Wan swung for another strike, to which Vader blocked with his draining strength.
But the Jedi Master was not done. This needed to end now. Calling on the Force, Obi-Wan flung a boulder with his left arm and sent it crashing at high speed into Vader’s right side. The impact nearly took Vader to the ground, as he used the elevated cropping on his left to stay on his feet.
Despite his ruptured breathing and chest plate completely disabled, Vader continued in a crouch and lunged at the Jedi again.
Obi-Wan dodged Vader’s slow attack with ease and sliced the upper back of his severely weakened foe. An orange gash sizzled on Vader’s cape as the Dark Lord finally went down.
Obi-Wan waited, his saber pointing at the downed Sith.
Vader could not lose. He would not.
Staggering to his feet, he desperately lunged at Obi-Wan and the two clashed quickly before Obi-Wan let the Force be his guide and pushed the Sith backward, Vader’s boots sliding across the dusty terrain.
Vader’s anger was getting the best of him. Obi-Wan was operating on purpose and sheer concentration.
All Vader relied on was untapped rage, which in Kenobi’s presence and strong connection with the Force, had led to failure.
It blinds you.
Vader raised his head slowly, preparing another attack.
Obi-Wan’s face became ridden with determination. This was his chance. To end it for good.
With a running start, and before Vader could move, Obi-Wan jumped off the side of the elevated cropping off to his right and lunged at the Dark Lord, lightsaber slashing down in front of him.
The saber connected with Vader’s helmet, creating sparks and smoke that clouded Obi-Wan’s sight as to how much damage he had actually done. Vader’s wheezing grew louder and more sporadic as Obi-Wan’s curiosity drew him to a pause in action.
When the helmet was raised again, Obi-Wan could see through the dissipating sparking smoke, as his curious eyes widened at the painfully familiar sight before him.
Obi-Wan Kenobi remembered. The brave little boy on Tatooine, who risked his life to get a group of strangers to safety. The ambitious but eager-to-learn Padawan who had carried so much on his shoulders at too young of an age. The friend who had become a brother that had shared many laughs during the darkest of times.
He remembered Padmé’s dying words.
There’s good in him. I know there’s still-
Looking into the eye of a friend who he thought he had murdered, Obi-Wan finally spoke.
“Anakin.”
The wheezing continued as Vader locked eyes with his old master. The Dark Lord responded.
“Anakin’s gone.”
The voice modulator of the suit failed to mask the voice of Anakin Skywalker. A voice Obi-Wan had dreamed of hearing for ten years, believing his brother to be dead, burned alive and left to die. The guilt overflooded Obi-Wan’s headspace. The voice of his old friend continued.
“I am what remains.” Vader’s human voice and speech modulator combined to form the sentence that stabbed at Obi-Wan’s heart more than a lightsaber ever could.
Obi-Wan shifted backward, taking in Vader’s statement with more emotion his eyes could handle. He frowned, regretting everything that led the two to this exact moment. The guilt finally consumed Obi-Wan to the point where he realized he had never apologized to Anakin. After everything they had been through since Anakin had fallen so far, Obi-Wan never even attempted to reach out a hand to welcome Anakin back with open arms.
And he was truly sorry.
For the constant belittling and overprotective watchful eye for the ten years he trained him. For his part in the council’s demands and blindness as to what was stirring in the darkness around them.
For not confronting Anakin about Padmé more, when, deep down, he knew that something was happening.
For the many losses.
And lastly but most importantly, for leaving him to burn alive and die alone without mercy.
This was his chance to let go of that guilt that he had been holding onto for ten years.
His one chance to truly see if somewhere deep within that horrid machine, Anakin lived on. Obi-Wan’s perceived failures of the past had now boiled to the top and formed into spoken words.
“I’m sorry.”
Lit by the bright blue of his saber, liquid began to glow under Obi-Wan’s eyes as he quickly reflected in his brief pause.
Qui-Gon. Shmi. Ahsoka. Padmé. Mustafar.
“I’m sorry, Anakin. For all of it.”
Obi-Wan made sure to say the name, desperately hoping that his friend would come back to him. That Padmé’s dying words had any merit. It was all Obi-Wan could ask for. In this moment, it was the one thing he wanted most in the galaxy.
For Anakin to come back.
After another pause, it was Darth Vader who spoke.
“I am not your failure, Obi-Wan.”
With Obi-Wan’s glossy eyes wide and his mouth agape as he listened intently, he braced for what would be said next.
“You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker,” Vader took a pained breath before finishing. “I did.”
The red of Vader’s saber had now begun to replace the blue glow of Obi-Wan’s. The Jedi looked on in horror. Everything became clear to him.
It was too late.
Vader continued.
“The same way…I will DESTROY you!”
Obi-Wan shifted back, ready to take up a defensive position if needed. Accepting the death of his friend, Obi-Wan spoke with finality and clarity.
“Then my friend is truly dead.”
Vader continued to limp toward Obi-Wan, fighting the pain to harness the power to fight again. But the fight was over.
Obi-Wan began to walk away, knowing that his responsibility to kill Anakin had died with Vader’s last remark. Anakin was already dead. Betrayed and murdered by the Darth before him. A Sith Lord. A broken and beaten man undeserving of pity and seemingly desperate for death. Obi-Wan would not give the Sith that satisfaction. The old Jedi was tired of fighting and he was tired of killing.
By drawing away Vader from Roken and the surviviors of "The Path", Obi-Wan’s mission was complete; his heart resolved of the guilt he had carried for so long.
He eyed the Sith again before leaving him behind once more.
“Goodbye, Darth.”
Anakin was gone. Only Darth remained.
On his way back to his ship, Obi-Wan ignored Vader’s pleas for him to return to the fight, perfectly at peace with the possibility that this might’ve been the last time he set eyes on the monster that had killed his best friend. His brother.
The disturbed machine of hate was left alone screaming into the night.
The unexpected closure this encounter had given Obi-Wan reunited him with the Force like it was never a stranger. He used that reunion to hone in on a brand new disturbance in the Force. Luke Skywalker was in danger.
“Luke,” he whispered.
Finally at peace with his past, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s future held purpose.
He followed that future into the glowing swirl of hyperspace.
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