Author's Note: You may have noticed I changed the title slightly. I'd never quite liked it just being Kenobi: From Several Points of View. Now here at the end, and after having actually written the whole thing, I changed it to The Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi: From Several Points of View. I think it has a nice ring.

Now enjoy the epilogue and stick around for the author's note.

Epilogue: Master and Apprentice

As Anakin lay dying, he was glad when the mechanical breathing finally stopped, when years of unceasing rhythm were silenced at last. His son removed his helmet, and Anakin's eyes saw him for the first and last time. They filled with tears, and for once in many, many years, Anakin was happy. While he would leave this life having made no amends to the people he had hurt, Anakin could rest in peace in the knowledge that he was forgiven, at least by his own son.

Anakin smiled and felt the world dimming around him. His body no longer responded, and his mechanical limbs lay lifeless and cold. The last thing he saw was the face of his son, his beloved son that of all the people in the galaxy had believed that there was hope for his ruined soul. Anakin's eyes closed for the last time and he slid down against the metal ramp.

Anakin Skywalker died, but this was not his end.

For a moment it was like being cast into a rushing river, and Anakin thought that he would be lost in it and be no more. But then he found himself held in a firm embrace. He tried to struggle, tried to open his eyes, but his body was not his to command.

"Be at peace Anakin."

The voice was distant but oddly familiar. "I.. I don't understand. Where…" The words came from his throat raspy and barely a whisper. "Where am I?"

"There will be time to answer questions later. For now, simply rest. You have been dead for a very long time, and only now does life work it's way back into your spirit."

Anakin relaxed and focused on the sensations around him. It was warm and full of light, he could see this even through his closed eyes. It was also peaceful and silent, and yet he had the impression of music surrounding him as if the air itself could barely restrain itself from singing. He rested in the comforting embrace for some time, before feeling he had the strength to open his eyes.

He was in a courtyard of some sort. His eyes focused and he knew where he was. Long ago at the Jedi Temple, there had been a garden with a sacred tree. It had been a peaceful place, the sort of place where time seemed to stand still. When Darth Sidious had made the Jedi Temple his palace, he had desecrated the place in mockery. As Darth Vader, Anakin had avoided that place and many others for the pain of the memories they brought.

"How do you feel Anakin?" came the voice again from the one who held him.

"I still can't move and I... Who are you?" He saw the form, and yet for some reason he could not see the details, as if the other was just a body of living light.

"One you know well, and one who failed you long ago."

The form became clear in Anakin's mind, and he knew the person. "Obi-Wan." He tried to look away with shame, to pull himself from the embrace of the other, but his body still wouldn't obey even simple commands. "How are you… How are we…?"

"There are many mysteries within the Force, Anakin. For myself, I was trained to preserve my consciousness within the Cosmic Force. And as for you, I held you in my arms as you lay dying so that you could not be swept away. Even now I hold you, as I was appointed, until you are strong enough to exist on your own accord."

Anakin saw that Obi-Wan appeared as a young man, full of life and vigor. Looking at himself, he saw that he seemed to still wear the black suit of Vader. He closed his eyes in shame. "You never failed me Obi-Wan. How could you say something so ridiculous after all the things I've done. I'm the only one responsible for…" He couldn't even begin to name the evil he had done. So many lives destroyed for a single moment's weakness, and for this Anakin began to weep softly.

"Yes, Anakin, you alone are responsible for your failures, but that does not mean I am not responsible for mine." Obi-Wan was silent for a moment. "I knew about you and Padme, you know. Not consciously of course, not at first. I had to pretend, turn a blind eye, make sure that I never acknowledged it so that I would not have to act. In my heart of hearts, I was happy for you, especially after Satine died. But it seems that when you needed me, you could not bring yourself to trust me. For this I am responsible, and I am sorry. That I ever let you think that I would not be there for you and Padme… This is my great shame, and I have paid the cost dearly."

His grief over Padme and all the years of darkness came back to Anakin in a moment. "Padme wanted to go to you. She thought we could trust you, but in my foolish pride, I thought I knew better. If I had never gone back to the Senate building that day… Master Windu might have…" He choked up, unable to continue.

"Shh, be at peace," Obi-Wan said. "Let us speak no more of the matter for now. For my own part, I forgive you Anakin, if you can also forgive me for being a failure of a master."

"I deserve no forgiveness," Anakin snapped bitterly. He could accept the forgiveness of his son, for Luke did not know the extent of Anakin's deeds. Obi-Wan did.

But Obi-Wan merely laughed. "No one does. For if forgiveness was deserved, we would not call it such, but rather name it justice. Forgiveness is not earned, Anakin, but freely given; and this I give to you, for the love that was once between us. Let the shadows of the past never again darken the air between us."

To this Anakin did not reply, for what reply can there be to such mercy?

"Now come, Anakin. You have worn that visage for too long. Let us free you at last of Vader." Obi-Wan stood and somehow carried Anakin in his arms as if he were but a child. Anakin still could not move and hung limp in the arms of his master. The world around them was all light, and then suddenly it was all green and blue. "On Mustafar was the pyre of Anakin Skywalker. There you burned and became Vader. Let the clean waters of Naboo be the final death of Vader. Here we will wash away the stains that have burdened you these many years."

Anakin knew the place. It was the lake where he and Padme were married so long ago, or else some golden representation of it, for Anakin was not sure that they truly were in any one place. Obi-Wan walked from the beach and waded into the water. "I expect this may cause you some pain; the scars are deep.

Anakin merely nodded, the most he had yet moved. And then Obi-Wan dipped him into the waters of Naboo. At first, nothing seemed to happen, then his skin began to burn, much as it had burnt in the fires of Mustafar. He grit his teeth, then saw as great parts of his suit began to slough off and turn to dust. The darkness of Darth Vader washed away. In a minute it was gone, and Anakin was naked, his scarred and ruined body exposed to the waters.

But the burning waters were not done, and the ruined body of Darth Vader was also washed away. For a moment Anakin feared that there would be nothing left of him, that he would be no more. Perhaps there really was no more Anakin Skywalker, and he was only Vader all along. In terror, he clung to Obi-Wan, before he even realized that he had done so of his own accord. Looking at himself he realized that he appeared as a child, not unlike the boy that had left his mother on Tatooine long ago.

Obi-Wan carried him out of the water, stood Anakin upon the shore, and placed a clean robe over his head. "There now. All the evils of your previous life have passed away." Anakin looked up at his master and saw that he appeared as he had when they had first met, short hair, clever smirk, and padawan braid.

"How… Why do you look like that?"

Obi-Wan laughed. "Appearances, place, even time seem to matter little now within the Cosmic Force. I appear as I wish and in time, when your mind and will are ready to be separated from mine, you will learn much. But for now, simply know that you are under my protection."

Anakin felt curiosity returning to him, perhaps this childlike visage having an effect on him. "Are there others here?"

"Many, and you will commune with them in time. I for one know that Yoda will be glad to see you. But Anakin there is one more matter that I need to ask your forgiveness for."

"I thought we had already said there was nothing more to speak on that subject."

"Hmm yes... " Obi-Wan said scratching his beard. "Yes I did say that, but indulge me for a moment. Do you know that I sent your son to kill you Anakin? I believed that you were gone, lost to evil forever."

Anakin laughed, "I don't think I can blame you. Of course, I forgive you. It is a wonder that Luke did what he did."

Obi-Wan turned to look out across the lake. "Yes, indeed. I continue to marvel at the boy. In some ways he is foolish. He is brash and impulsive like you were, and I fear there is more evil to come from those tendencies." Anakin grimaced but knew that Obi-Wan was not directing a barb at him. "In other ways," Obi-Wan continued softly, "he is wise beyond his years."

"But," he said abruptly and turned back to Anakin. "He was not the Chosen One, the one fated to the destroy the Sith. I thought that mantle had fallen to him; in that too I was wrong. It seems you could not escape your destiny, no matter how hard you tried."

Anakin sat and hugged his knees to his chest. "I suppose so." The sith were indeed ended, hopefully forever. Darth Sidious was the last and greatest of that kind. And though the dark side itself is not slain, it's most ancient cult had at last been vanquished. "But at such a cost," Anakin mused to himself.

"Perhaps there was no other way. We can never know about the might have beens. Such ponderings are meaningless. You stand here now because of the forgiveness of your son, having accomplished the deed for which you were born. Let us be content in that. Now Anakin, does your strength return to you?"

Anakin stood to his feet and saw that he appeared as a full grown man, dressed in the vestments of his knighthood. He turned to Obi-Wan, and at once it seemed that they were at the Jedi Temple again by the sacred tree. "Now you're just having fun at my expense."

Obi-Wan winked, now appearing as he had when once he sat on the Jedi Council. "Maybe."

Anakin looked around. "I'm not going to pretend that I know what happens next, or what it is you even do now, but before we go any further…" He stepped to Obi-Wan and wrapped him in a warm embrace. "Thank you, Master, for everything you did. For training me, for guarding my children, for even being willing to speak to me after everything that's happened. You were the best Master a Padawan could have asked for. I'm glad to have been your friend."

There was more he could say, for how could he ever repay the debt he owed Obi-Wan? Anakin knew that no words would suffice and so he wisely left his speech at that.

They separated, and Obi-Wan bowed his head. "And I am eternally humbled that you have been my friend, Anakin. And in spite of everything I am proud of you; your own Padawan and children turned out marvelously well."

Anakin laughed. "I guess they did, didn't they. I don't suppose they've ever met have they?"

"When Leia was young, she met Ahsoka a time or two but did not understand the significance of their meeting. And Luke has not yet had the pleasure of meeting your former Padawan, though that time will come quickly now. I think they will have much to learn from one another. But come now, Anakin, it is time we were away. I have kept this pale shadow of reality around us so that you would not be overwhelmed in the light of the Cosmic Force. You have been dead for long Anakin, and now that you have regained your strength, it is time your eyes be opened to your new reality."

For a moment Anakin was afraid and reluctant. "Will I still be myself, or will I be lost in the Force?"

"You will be more yourself than ever you have been. Come; it is time." He extended his hand to Anakin as the world began to melt around them.

"So here we are again, huh? Master and Apprentice, even after death."

Obi-Wan laughed, a golden sound that Anakin felt rather than heard. "Perhaps, for a time, but you always were a quick learner. Then, now and forevermore we will be equals. Take my hand Anakin."

Anakin reached out and took Obi-Wan's hand as the rest of the world and their very bodies dissolved away into an ocean of ceaseless light. What followed was unlike anything Anakin had ever experienced and would have never been able to describe in words. For how can one be part of the Force and yet remain themselves? How can one experience the limitlessness of such a reality and yet not be unmade? This was the great mystery that Anakin found was his living reality. Obi-Wan had existed thus for some time. Indeed, he had become more powerful than Vader could have ever imagined.

After a time, the two friends descended to a small moon where a band of rebels celebrated their unlikely victory with a tribe of Ewoks. With them came Yoda, who laughed that peculiar little laugh of his. "Missed you I have, Skywalker."

Anakin only smiled. Here too was Qui-Gon, and though he could not appear as the others, his calming presence permeated the forest air. Luke stepped out from the village, perhaps feeling the encroaching spirits. Obi-Wan and Yoda appeared to Luke first, as he had last seen them. They were a comforting sight to him, old friends long missed.

After a time, Anakin made himself known to his son; he did not appear as Vader, but as a young knight, Anakin as he should have been, rather than as he was. He smiled at his son, proud of him and thankful for the faith that he had in a ruined man. Leia joined Luke, and for a moment Anakin feared she would see him. Sadly Anakin suspected that Leia would never forgive him. But her connection to the Force was not yet strong enough for her to see the spectral visitors, and the brother and sister turned and rejoined the celebration. Yoda nodded and he and Qui-Gon returned to whence they had come.

For a time Anakin and Obi-Wan stood vigil in that dark forest, joyful in the moment, knowing that at long last there would be a bit of happiness in the galaxy. It would not endure forever they knew, as evil men will always hearken to the dark side, whose ancient power was not yet wholly broken. But for a time, there could be happiness again.

The cost had been dear, and the master and apprentice spoke softly together about those that had been lost, Padme, Satine, and so many more.

But peace had come.

Anakin and Obi-wan faded back into the Force, leaving the happy Rebels to their revelry.

Author's Note: I hope you liked this ending. I've been planning it for over two months now. And honestly if you have a couple minutes to stick around I'd like to talk about it, what I did and why. I know there's a danger in explanations, in breaking the spell, but I don't care. I want you the reader to understand this like I did.

The original idea for this comes from a single piece of repeated imagery in Obi-Wan's life, that of someone important to him dying in his arms. His master died in his arms, his love died in his arms, and his greatest enemy died in his arms. You'll notice that I strongly featured all three of these in my stories. Now here, at the end, I turned the imagery around. For the last time, Obi-Wan's apprentice comes back to life in his arms, and Anakin is made whole again. If my last story was influenced strongly by Tolkien, this was on was strongly influenced by his friend C.S. Lewis, and I (unconsciously at first, then deliberately after I realized it) took inspiration from his writing.

Ultimately the goal of this story was to act as a happily ever after capstone, at least for the life of Obi-Wan, and by extension Anakin. Mater and Apprentice, together again and fully reconciled to one another, now and forever more.

On a more practical level, I used this piece to explain a few anomalies in Canon. Why could Anakin appear as a Force ghost if he was never trained to do so? Perhaps Obi-Wan was appointed to hold him and save him from losing himself in the Cosmic Force. Why did Anakin appear young while Yoda and Obi-Wan appeared old? (at least in the special editions. Look I know some people don't like ANY of the changes, but I feel this one makes an awful lot of sense) Perhaps Obi-Wan and Yoda appeared as Luke knew them, and Anakin appeared when last he was part of the light since Luke had NEVER known him as anything but Vader. Finally, I also added the invisible Qui-Gon to the forest scene at Endor, since his part in the saga is more important than most people tend to remember.

Thanks for sticking around and reading this whole collection of stories! There are some in here I've very proud of. The Cody one was a favorite of mine, as well as the Han Solo, and second Ahsoka story. I'm even oddly fond of the Jar Jar one, because apparently, according to Springfieldbluebird, I made him the "most palatable he's ever been." I'll take it. lol.

Looking back I can't believe I had the insanity to start a collection of short stories with this many different points of view. Good gravy, I have no idea what I was thinking...

I appreciate you guys reading. If you haven't yet followed, favorited, or reviewed, I would love it if you would, for two reasons. First, it's the only way I get to know what you think about it, and fanfiction writers REALLY love to hear from readers. Second, stories that get interactions are the ones that get read, so if you liked this story the only way more people will eventually find it and read it, is if those numbers (follows, favorites, and reviews) go up.

Either way thanks one more time!

This was two and a half months of a lot of hours spent. I need a break! :D

Westward Glance