Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and Disney.

Chapter One: A Call Answered

"You were my brother! I loved you!"

Like hell you do.

Where were you, Master? Where were you when my mother died, when my apprentice was discarded like scrap metal? When the council thrust their distrust in my face, after all I had done for the Republic? When I feared for the lives of my wife and unborn child? Where were you?

But I cannot think. It is enough to stay conscious, with the searing pain.

And you walk away yet again. You don't look back. And you dare to say you loved me.

If you loved me you would end it. But you don't.

You left me to burn.

Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. He was beginning to dread meditation, the visions and memories were so bad. Of course, they had been almost more than he could handle in the few years after the fall of the Republic. Then they had died down for over fifteen years. And now, now they were starting up again—but now they were not simply the memories replaying through his mind. More and more often he had relived the nightmarish scenes from…Vader's viewpoint, and he had no idea why. The only reason he could think of was that they still shared a bond…the bond between master and padawan was a strong one, after all. And the thought disturbed him. That he shared a unique bond, however faint, with a Sith lord. He knew that such bonds were not unique to two people either—he would have a faint connection with anyone else his former apprentice had a bond with, as he had with Ahsoka. And that meant…Palpatine.

Obi-Wan shoved the thought aside, but the vacuum it left was instantly refilled with the images of his vision. It had not been simply a replay; he was fairly certain Vader had been in too much pain at the time to truly ruminate on all the ways in which his former master had failed him. No, these were thoughts that Vader had most likely stewed on over the past, well, nearly two decades. And for some reason it still tore at Obi-Wan to know that that was how Vader remembered him. He found himself wondering under what circumstances Vader had shared this vision with him. Had he been meditating? Unlikely, Anakin had never had the patience for that. Although maybe almost twenty years had matured him in at least one respect. Had he been asleep? How did he even sleep? Obi-Wan had not met Vader face to face since that fateful day on Mustafar, but he had seen the damage done with his own eyes and had watched enough news to know how much Vader relied on medical assistance. He was a walking emergency room.

Obi-Wan sighed. Anakin would have hated that lifestyle. He had always been very physically active.

And suddenly the happy memories started tearing at him again, even the ones that didn't seem so happy at the time. At least everything hadn't gone to hell yet. Fighting by Anakin's side, being scared shitless when Anakin was behind the steering rod, being teased by Anakin for his stuffiness—Obi-Wan slammed down that train of thought. It would do no good.

Looking up at the stars, he thought, When did it all go wrong, Anakin? Where did I go wrong?

He wasn't sure what he was expecting. He wasn't really expecting the warm tones of Anakin's voice, slightly annoyed, even angry. He certainly wasn't expecting the deep baritone of the medical nightmare that he saw on the news.

Whatever he expected, what he received was silence.

Obi-Wan heaved another sigh, lifted himself of the sand dune with a groan, and began his walk back home.

Obi-Wan was not ten minutes on his trek when he felt a tremor in the Force—a small one, but large to him, because it was accompanied by a Force signature he knew well—Luke's. It was only because of prolonged exposure to the boy over the years that he knew the signature—truth be told, it was nothing like Anakin's. There was a hint of it, so perhaps it was affected by genetics. But mostly, it was Luke's own. Perhaps, if Padmé had not been blind to the Force, Luke's signature would have resembled hers. But there was no way to tell.

Whatever the case, Luke was—or would be—in trouble. Primal fear struck Obi-Wan's mind like a blaster hit. Grabbing the hilt of his light saber, Obi-Wan ran in the direction from which the emotions were emanating.

Within a matter of minutes he could hear the braying of Sand People, and then he was on top of the scene.

The first thing he saw, of course, was Sand People. They took one look at him and fled. Over the years, Obi-Wan had begun to take this for granted. It had taken him a long time to find out why they had such a vehement fear of Jedi. When he had found out it was due to a crime Anakin had committed, he was already so deep in grief for his old padawan that he could no longer find it in his heart to be horrified or even surprised that the massacre of a village could be added to Anakin's list of crimes—although the fact that it had been before even their exploits during the Clone Wars unnerved him slightly.

When the area had cleared, Obi-Wan could see a prone form in the sand. Luke. There was no cause to worry, not yet. His presence shone bright. Obi-Wan ambled over the dune and came to crouch down beside the boy, checking his pulse. As his fingers travelled to the boy's neck, he paused.

It had been a while since he had seen the boy's face up close. Force, he looked like Anakin. The triangular face shape, the cleft in the chin, the unruly sandy blonde hair. And Obi-Wan knew that deep blue eyes hid behind the closed lids. He remembered Anakin at this age.

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow and continued to check the boy's health.

A familiar series of bleeps interrupted him.

Turning to the alcove in the nearby rock face from which the sound had emanated, Obi-Wan smiled at the white and blue dome of R2D2. What on Earth was he doing on Tatooine? Beckoning with a finger, Obi-Wan said, "Come here, my little friend. Don't be afraid."

Is he badly injured? R2 beeped in a no-nonsense fashion.

Looking back down at the face that held so much of Anakin, Obi-Wan smiled. "Oh, don't worry, he'll be alright."

In fact, he was coming to. The eyelids fluttered, revealing those painfully familiar eyes. Obi-Wan hurried to help him up to a sitting position. "Rest easy, son. You've had a busy day. You're fortunate to be all in one piece." How many times had he had to tell Anakin that?

The boy shook his head and blinked his eyes as if orienting himself. Looking up at Obi-Wan, he squinted his eyes in confusion. "Ben? Ben Kenobi? Boy, am I glad to see you."

Obi-Wan gave a weak smile and heaved himself from his sitting position. "The Jundland Wastes are not to be travelled lightly." Here I am, Obi-Wan thought. I just met up with the kid and already I'm back to reprimanding a Skywalker for his inherent recklessness. Helping the boy up onto a nearby boulder, he said, "Tell me, young Luke: what brings you out this far?"

"This little droid," he said gesturing to R2. "He's searching for his former master, but I've never seen such devotion in a droid before." Luke looked pensively at the droid, then back at Obi-Wan. "Ah, he claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours, do you know who he's talking about?"

Obi-Wan lowered himself slowly onto a boulder across from Luke, flabbergasted. Who in the galaxy would be asking for him? With his real name? Except… "Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said slowly. "Obi-Wan." Recovering himself, he looked back up at Luke. "Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time."

"I think my uncle knows him," Luke said. "He said he was dead."

"Oh, he's not dead. Well, not yet," Obi-Wan said with a smile.

"But you know him?"

"Well, of course I know him. He's me." Obi-Wan tapped his chest as he said this. Becoming nostalgic again, he said, "I haven't gone by the name of Obi-Wan since, oh, before you were born." Not long before he was born, but anyways…

Luke, recovering from his confusion, gestured to R2. "Well, then the droid does belong to you."

"I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid." Obi-Wan still wasn't sure why R2 was here. Anyways, it was the truth. As a Jedi, he hadn't owned many possessions at all. But it would be hard to explain to Luke that it was originally his mother's. "Very interesting."

The sound of a braying Sand Person interrupted them. Returning already. Lifting himself off the boulder, Obi-Wan said, "I think we'd better get indoors. The Sand People are easily startled but they'll soon be back, and in greater numbers."

Aren't you forgetting something? R2 beeped.

Luke whirled around, frowning, then said, "Ah, 3PO," and raced off.

3PO? As in C3PO? Obi-Wan shook his head. Hopefully Anakin wouldn't come to join the blast-from-the-past party he was currently entertaining. That was one piece of nostalgia he knew he wasn't ready to handle.

They walked back to Obi-Wan's dwelling place in relative silence, Luke and Obi-Wan perspiring under the weight of C3PO. About half an hour with the droid and Obi-Wan could see he hadn't gotten any less annoying. Obi-Wan didn't think he'd ever know what had possessed little Anakin to create that thing.

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on Obi-Wan. He had just received a vision from Vader, and now here he was with Anakin's son, the droid made by his own hands, and his wife's droid. How so many things had coincided at once was a mystery. The Force works in mysterious ways. As far as Obi-Wan knew, both droids had been in the possession of Bail Organa before they had somehow come to Tatooine. Which meant Bail was probably in trouble. Or perhaps Leia—she was now a public figure, too.

Once they were within the confines of Obi-Wan's house, Luke got to work on C3PO. "So, why do you go by Ben?" he asked as he worked. Small talk. Obi-Wan smiled. When was the last time he had had to make small talk? Well, big things must be happening for R2D2 to come looking for him. And Luke was an adult now—Force, did that make Obi-Wan feel old. Now was as good a time as ever to divulge at least some of his identity to Luke, and his relationship with his father.

"Anonymity from the Empire. Your father would have found it funny that his own son doesn't even know my real name."

Luke glanced up briefly, interestedly, from his work. "You knew my father?"

"Yes, we go back even before his time as a Jedi knight in the Clone Wars."

At this Luke looked away from his work again, surprised. "No, my father didn't fight in the Wars, he was a navigator on a spice freighter."

Obi-Wan felt a thrill of annoyance run through him and immediately quelled it. Just what had Owen been telling the boy? This would be a little harder than he initially thought. "That's what your uncle told you. He didn't hold with your father's ideals, thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved."

"You fought in the Clone Wars?" Luke asked.

Obi-Wan paused. He supposed the way he had been talking about it did seem as though he had personal experience. He covered his moment of confusion with a chuckle. "Yes. I was once a Jedi knight, same as your father." Force, did that bring back memories. Obi-Wan leaned back against the wall behind him, lost in memories.

"I wish I'd known him." Luke's voice broke into his thoughts.

Obi-Wan started and suppressed a sigh. What did he say to that? He wished Luke had known him, too. But he wished he'd known Anakin Skywalker, the hot-headed, stubborn young man who would put himself into life-risking situations to save the ones he loved. He hoped Luke would never have the misfortune of getting to know Darth Vader very well. "He was the best star pilot in the galaxy," he reminisced aloud, "and a cunning warrior. I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself?"

Luke gave a modest side nod of his head and turned back to his work. What a good kid. Anakin would have been so proud. Obi-Wan furrowed his brow. "And he was a good friend." And then a thought struck him. "Which reminds me—I have something here for you." He lifted himself up slowly and walked over to the chest where he kept Anakin's light saber. Picking it up, a flood of unsavory memories accosted him. The conditions under which this light saber had come into his care. It felt almost blasphemous to give the saber to Anakin's son under the pretense that it had been in the care of a family friend all of these years. He was glad Luke did not know the particulars of the situation…yet. "Your father wanted you to have this, when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it." Or at least he assumed. "He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damned idealistic crusade, like your father did."

At this point, C3PO butt in, addressing Luke. "Sir, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for a while."

"Sure, go ahead," Luke answered distractedly. Obi-Wan noted with a smile that Luke's attention was riveted on the "family heirloom." "What is it?" he asked, standing.

"Your father's light saber. This is the weapon of a Jedi knight," Obi-Wan said, handing the saber over to Luke with a feeling of finality. "Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more…civilized age." He sat back down as Luke ignited the saber. "For over a thousand generations the Jedi knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic, before the dark times. Before the Empire."

Luke sheathed the saber again and turned to Obi-Wan with a thoughtful look. Sitting down, he asked, "How did my father die?"

Obi-Wan faltered for a moment. How in the galaxy did he answer that one? He'd gone over many stories in his head over the last two decades, Bail and he had both done so. But they had never come to a conclusion on what they should tell the twins. Bail was all for simply telling the truth to Leia when she matured a bit, so secure was he in the fact that it would have no sway over Leia's ideals. "Leia knows she's adopted. And she knows her real father is the one that tucked her in every night when she was young. I have no question where her loyalties would lie. Actually, it would probably make her more antagonistic towards Vader," Bail had said. Obi-Wan knew Bail spoke the truth; Leia was as stubborn as her biological father. If she were to know the truth of her heritage, she would most likely feel betrayed by Vader more than anything else. But the problem was, she would also feel betrayed by Anakin Skywalker. And, despite all the crimes Anakin had committed as Vader, Obi-Wan couldn't bring himself to push Luke and Leia to hate the memory of their father, of the brash, overly-protective Anakin Obi-Wan remembered. And besides, Luke was much more impressionable, and from their short conversation it was clear Luke held some sort of hero worship for the father he had never known. No, he couldn't risk it—with either of them. He thought of the ways he had coped with the reality of what his beloved padawan had done over the last two decades and said carefully, "A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the force."

Luke frowned. "The Force?"

Obi-Wan kept forgetting how little the boy knew. After all, he didn't even know who Darth Vader was, so sheltered was Tatooine from the rest of the galaxy. What his father would have said if he'd known Luke was unaware of what the Force was at his age. "The Force is what gives the Jedi power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together," he said, gesturing.

Luke nodded, but Obi-Wan recognized the Skywalker expression for "clueless."

That message is waiting for you in my memory banks. I'm not getting any younger, R2 bleeped sarcastically.

Obi-Wan could hear the unspoken amusement at his bald faced lie in R2's chirps. He raised an eyebrow and said, pointedly, "Now let's see if we can't find out what you are, my little friend, and where you come from." Don't push it, droid. I'm on thin ice as it is. His fingers moved across R2's controls briefly, and a fuzzy hologram of none other than Leia Organa appeared.

"I saw part of the message, you—" Luke began, but Obi-Wan interrupted.

"I seem to have found it."

"General Kenobi," the image of Leia began, "years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you o Alderaan has failed. I've placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." She looked away suddenly as if wary of something, and bent to fiddle with what must have been R2's controls. Her image petered out.

Obi-Wan was left with the feeling of having his stomach shoved down into the pit of his belly. Leia…she was most likely now an imperial hostage. Force, how had she grown up so fast? And she would be an important enough figure to warrant the possible inclusion of Darth Vader in her captivity. Oh, Force, what if she did come head to head with Vader? What if, Force forbid, there was an interrogation involved? Many fears assaulted Obi-Wan simultaneously. Poor, headstrong little Leia…it was as if his own niece had been captured. And if Vader brought her to any harm himself…the idea completely assaulted Obi-Wan's basic set of morals. He realized the situation was not directly his fault, but if Leia happened to be interrogated by Vader…Force, that would be one more thing for which Obi-Wan would never be able to forgive himself.

He gradually realized that Luke would be looking for a response. And he realized, the time was now. It was all coming to a head. He leaned towards Luke. "You must learn the ways of the force if you're to come with me to Alderaan."

Luke startled. "Alderaan?" Then he chuckled and rose. "I'm not going to Alderaan. I've gotta get home, it's late, I'm in for it as it is."

"I need your help, Luke. She needs your help. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."

Luke paused and looked back at R2, and with a jolt Obi-Wan realized Luke had the expression Anakin used to have on his face when Obi-Wan mentioned the now late Senator Amidala. Oh, Force, that was not what he had meant to inspire. He'd never even thought of that. He'd just meant to trigger the joint Skywalker-Amidala hero syndrome. Oh well; he could tell them after the princess was rescued. Besides, Leia was a headstrong, capable young woman. She would never go for someone like Luke. He hoped. He couldn't imagine he was even wondering about this.

"I can't get involved, I've got work to do," Luke said in a half-attempt excuse. "It's not that I like the Empire, I hate it, but…there's nothing I can do about it right now. It's such a long way from here."

Obi-Wan frowned. Now he had no idea where that came from. Probably just from being raised by Owen and Beru. "That's your uncle talking."

"Oh, God, my uncle," Luke muttered in exasperation, moving away from where he was leaning against the wall. "How am I ever going to explain this?"

"Learn about the Force, Luke."

Luke shook his head and made for the door, then stopped. "Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport from there to…Mos Eisley or wherever you're going."

That was a start. Now a little push. "You must do what you feel is right, of course." Obi-Wan said, leaning back and folding his arms over his chest.

Luke sighed and simply looked at him with the sheepish look of someone who is doing something against their better judgement.

Notes: To those who may have been waiting for a DS9 Trek fic I promised, I apologize...the Force led me to the Wars side. Since there is too much canon to possibly stay true to, I am going off the assumption that the prequels are mostly true, except for where they clash with the originals, and that at least some of the Clone Wars miniseries is true. I will play with some things just to explore how the characters would handle it. Some scenes will be copied straight from the originals. Have fun and please review!