I can't believe I've finally arrived here... After more than half a year... THE EPILOGUE!!! I have really enjoyed writing the story and posting it here, and once again I'd like to thank you for all the feedback you gave me throughout the months. Special thanks for the consctructice criticism you sent me when I asked for it in the last chapter - believe it or not, you have already helped me VERY much :-) Several people said I should try to include more action and description and so I thought about how I could include it in my new story ("Servants of the Force")... and suddenly I had THE idea ;-) Really, now I'm really happy with the plot (which I was not before). What else can I say? Enjoy the final chapter!

Anaya: Yes, Anakin has learned much... Of course he should have never done such stupid things but as least he learned from it and won't be tempted to turn to the dark side again.

Rya Likao: Thank you very much! As I said before, I'm really grateful for the consctructive criticism.

Phoenix Red Lion: Anakin wouldn't be Anakin without his sense of humour, Obi-Wan wouldn't be Obi-Wan without his modesty and Qui-Gon wouldn't be Qui-Gon without his stubbornness ;-) Thanks for the nice compliment. You're probably right about the Obi-Wan - Luke - relationship. I now realise I just skipped the part where they got to know each other. Erm... I guess I quickly wanted to get to the point when Obi-Wan and Anakin were reunited ;-)

Heppan: I'm so glad you liked Cody and the stormtroopers in this! I have a soft spot for Cody, even though he attacked Obi-Wan from behind ;-) Hey, you sound like a morning person... how scary ;-) Honestly, I envy you for that... I did it again last night. Spent too much time reading fanfiction and this morning... well...

Sentrosi: Hey, thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed this story. I also enjoyed reading your reviews :)

Jedi Knight 13: Wow, thank you so much for the lovely review! You should get the very special Qui-Gon's-Heirs-most-faithful-reviewer-award ;-) You have been there from the very first chapter and since then reviewed (almost) every chapter. That was extremely helpful and very nice of you. And your German sentence was perfect! You even got it right with the capital letters (something that even many Germans find difficult...)

Doggie3388: I'm glad you enjoyed the story. You're a brave one ;-) I always find it intimidating to start reading a story with more than 100.000 words... Thanks again for so many reviews. I hope you like the epilogue!

sych77: Oh, that was a nice review! I was grinning like an idiot when I read it ;-) Thank you very much!

teufelinchen: You're so right, long reviews can be extremely entertaining. Like yours! I really enjoyed reading it. You gave a nice interpretation and characterisation of Anakin - great, you got what I tried to say with this fanfic. I mean, it's alright of course if people interprete other things into my story but it's good to know that I somehow managed to get my meaning across ;-) Ha, and I agree, it's waaay cooler to talk in English than in German ;-) I'm allowed to make all sorts of mistakes. After all, it's not my mother language and I don't study it at university or anything... so I always have a perfect excuse ;-) Thanks again for such a lovely review!

The last rays of the setting Uresian autumn sun warmed Obi-Wan's face. Now, during the last warm days of the year, the air was very clear and the cliffy mountain range stood out serrated against the golden evening sky. Yes, the Jedi had stayed on Uresi although there were probably many better suited planets for a new Jedi Order. But the remoteness of Uresi had its advantages as well. Even though they were already recruiting new younglings again, the Jedi were not strong enough yet to appear in public and to protect the senate and newly elected Chancellor Mon Mothma.

Obi-Wan was sitting on a ledge from which you had a wonderful view of the valley below. Several metres below him, Anakin was swimming in a little lake. His arm prostheses shone golden and reflected the rays of the low sun. Yes, Anakin had stayed here too. It had taken many discussions and much convincing from Yoda's and Obi-Wan's part to make the apprentices accept Anakin here. But in the end, they had agreed and now Anakin was here and he even taught some of the apprentices.

This place was one of their favourite places on Uresi. After a long, exhausting day, Anakin and Obi-Wan often went here in order to relax, to have some peace and quiet, and to have a bit of time just for themselves. Both of them helped Master Yoda with training the Jedi students. Master Yoda taught the youngest ones – as he had always done. Anakin taught the oldest students and Obi-Wan took the rest, that is the apprentices between nine and sixteen years. Luke and Leia belonged to that group. When Leia's high Force sensitivity had been assessed, she had been brought to the Jedi too – at Anakin's request and her adoptive parents' approval. It had been almost three years ago that she had started her training. Several times a year, she returned to Alderaan to meet her adoptive parents. She had not taken things as easy as Luke when she had learned that Anakin was her father because she had lived under the belief that the Organas were her real parents. Sometimes she was still rather reserved towards Anakin and had chosen Beru as her attachment person. Beru had stayed on Uresi too because she had no other place to go. She felt at home as long as she was with Luke and so she had decided to stay with the Jedi.

Luke, on the other hand, loved and admired his father. Surprisingly, the Jedi Council (that is: Master Yoda) allowed such family ties. He did not only tolerate such ties as something unavoidable (like with Anakin and his children – Yoda could hardly separate them if all of them belonged to the Jedi Order) but even furthered them to a certain degree. The new children who were accepted in the Order were allowed to keep in touch with their parents and visit them from time to time. Sometimes the parents even moved to Uresi together with their children. Every helping hand was badly needed. Uresi was a rather inhospitable planet, the few houses were in a ruinous state and growing vegetables or crops in the barren soil was hard work. But bit by bit a little community grew.

Anakin had not wanted to teach his own children as he feared he might treat them differently from the other apprentices. Unexpectedly, Anakin got on rather well with the older students. Obi-Wan had been concerned about that because these students could still remember the Jedi massacre and the destruction of the Temple very well. Back then, they had been old enough to understand what had happened. They knew what Anakin had done. And yet… somehow they respected him. They looked up to him. Not like the younger students who admired him to no end because of his strength in the Force and his heroic deeds.

Normally, Obi-Wan and Anakin did not go on missions anymore. That was the job of others now: the young, newly knighted Jedi accompanied by one of the two elder Knights who had survived the Jedi massacre. But sometimes, when the situation was extremely dangerous and desperate, the old Team Kenobi and Skywalker would be sent there. And somehow, the children always heard some highly exaggerated rumours of their spectacular missions. But that was not the reason why the older students looked up to Anakin. Very slowly, he had been earning their respect. At first, they had been very suspicious and often also hostile to him. They had not accepted his words as they accepted the words of Master Yoda or Obi-Wan. They did not see a wise Jedi Master in him. But maybe that had helped. By questioning him and his lectures, they themselves had come to the conclusion that most of the lectures were alright, and after accepting his lectures, in the end, they accepted him too.

Not that it had always been as easy as that. No, especially the first months – and years – had been difficult. The apprentices had bullied Anakin every day. Obi-Wan could not remember one single evening when Anakin had not been completely distressed and exhausted. A group of students had even tried to attack him again three times. Master Yoda – completely unperturbed by that – had contentedly said that it was the perfect opportunity for the students to learn how to defeat their thirst for revenge.

But the apprentices were not the only problem. There had been the trip to Ilum, for example. Obviously, Anakin needed a new lightsaber: one that was not red. It did not come as a surprise that he had not had very nice visions in the caves of Ilum. From what Obi-Wan had gathered afterwards (Anakin had not been in a mood to retell what he had seen), he had seen images of himself torturing his own children. Afterwards, he had just sat down in the snow on Ilum and stayed there for hours. Obi-Wan had been afraid of Anakin trying to commit suicide. And indeed, when Obi-Wan had found him, he had been almost frozen to death.

Then there were the many complicated times with Leia. Fortunately, Anakin had learned to control himself and did not go ballistic anymore every time something like that happened. Sometimes, Obi-Wan hardly recognised him anymore. The once unrestrained, impulsive, passionate Padawan-learner had turned into a calm, level-headed, responsible and pensive young man. He was a stricter teacher than Obi-Wan had ever expected him to be (in fact, some students complained to Obi-Wan about Anakin's hard training) and he valued self-discipline, patience and balance very highly. Anakin chose his words carefully, and thought before acting (and not the other way around like he used to do earlier).

At first, Obi-Wan had regarded Anakin's behaviour as a sign of uncertainness and precaution. Probably, Anakin was afraid he would be banned from the Order and thus wanted to prove he was a good Jedi. Or he wanted to confirm the trust the Jedi Order had put in him. And certainly he had a bad conscience and wanted to do everything right this time. All of it was true but the whole truth was: Anakin acted the way he did because he believed in it. He really had changed. Sometimes, Obi-Wan thought it was ironic that the four years on the dark side seemed to have taught Anakin more than the ten years under Obi-Wan's tutelage. Ironic, indeed, that Anakin had to go to the dark side and return from it to become a role-model Jedi.

A flock of wärens (a breed of local geese) flew over Obi-Wan's head. Their cries startled him from his musings. The Uresians said, if you saw the first wärens, it was a sure sign autumn had begun. They always flew in V formations to the southern hemisphere in order to stay there for the winter. Obi-Wan sighed softly. The winters on Uresi were cold and long. Now Obi-Wan could join in the conversations when Luke, Beru and Anakin wished they were back on warmer Tatooine. But that happened seldom – only on the coldest days – because everyone (except for Luke, maybe) associated painful memories with Tatooine.

But, slowly, the wounds started to heal. Beru was head over heels in love with the father of Luke's best friend. The mother had died during the time of the Empire and when the father had heard that the Jedi students' parents were allowed to live here together with their children, he and his Force sensitive son had come here immediately. Well, it looked much like the so-called family (Beru, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Luke and Leia) would grow in the near future. And the little house was already cramped, and Luke and Leia non-stop bickered with each other because they had to share a room. I guess we'll have to expand the house…

Obi-Wan watched Anakin swimming through the lake with athletic strokes. A little smile tugged the corners of his lips and his thoughts drifted back to a time when there was still the Jedi Temple, when Anakin was just a bigheaded sixteen-year-old Padawan and Obi-Wan was just a stressed Master. He had not discovered that Anakin could not swim until one day another Master who taught survival training asked him why Anakin did not show up for the lessons in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. After Obi-Wan had scolded his Padawan for skipping classes, he had been thoroughly surprised when Anakin admitted he could not swim and was afraid of the other students teasing him if they found out about it. Somehow, Obi-Wan had ended up teaching his desperate Padawan how to swim, in a cloak-and-dagger operation at night, so none of his classmates could see Anakin and mock him.

At long last, Obi-Wan was able to remember those times with a smile and not with the bitter taste of regret and self-reproaches which had tormented him during his exile on Tatooine.

Obi-Wan shivered slightly. The sun had disappeared behind the mountains, and in the evening it cooled down quickly in this time of the year. Of course Obi-Wan knew things were never going to be the way they once were. Too much had happened. Both he and Anakin had changed so much and both of them had done things which could be never forgotten.

It had been nine years since they had fought on Mustafar. The Empire did not exist anymore since five years. Although the new beginning had been difficult, the normal course of life had – more or less – returned to the galaxy. Political power had been given back to the Senate and Mon Mothma had proved to be a capable Chancellor so far. The planets which had been enslaved by the Empire were free again. Naturally, things were not as easy as they sounded. The inhabitants on these planets still suffered from the consequences but there was hope again at least. Then there were the stormtroopers… You could never know on which side they were. Many had helped the new Republic to free the enslaved star systems. But they were not reliable enough. The Republic did not want them anymore. Besides, the Senate decided that producing and using clones for battle was illegal. So the clones were declared free citizens of the Republic. Freedom, however, was something which confused the clones. Many of them were incapable of living a normal life. They needed orders. So it happened from time to time that some of the human imperial officers who had not been arrested yet, pulled the clones on their side and led so-called stormtrooper-revolts against democracy. Often, such revolts resulted in civil wars. But, overall, things looked up.

It is said that time heals all wounds. Maybe, in many years, the terror of the Empire would be forgotten. The people who lived now, however, had to learn to somehow accept their wounds. The wounds which Anakin and Obi-Wan had acquired – which they had inflicted upon each other – were too deep to ever heal. There would always be something between them, a dark past which was lurking behind their backs. And though it became more and more blurred, it would be there. Always.

Nevertheless, Obi-Wan was glad Anakin had decided to stay here. Together, it was easier to cope with it. They had the present and the future. Anakin helped Obi-Wan in his very own way. It happened more and more rarely but sometimes, when they fought training duels with their lightsabers, the demons of Mustafar overwhelmed him again. Suddenly he would recognise a certain sequence of thrusts and parries, and then all his muscles would slacken as if a heavy weight was pressing down on them. But Anakin was attentive and he made sure something like that did not happen too often. Being so sensitive in the Force, he sensed quite early when Obi-Wan tensed up. Then Anakin would do something completely pointless, something which definitely would not remind Obi-Wan of Mustafar, something which did not fit at all in the motion sequence and the exchange of blows which paralysed Obi-Wan so much. He would suddenly jump high into the air, do a triple back somersault, throw his lightsaber into the air and catch it when he landed on his feet again. Or on his bottom, for that matter – triple back somersaults were difficult. Anyway, such crazy moves always brought Obi-Wan back to the present. The highlights were, however, if Anakin just imagined Obi-Wan was in his crazy-Mustafar-mood. Then he would – to Obi-Wan's utter astonishment – suddenly start juggling with his lightsaber, doing cartwheels or performing some sort of tap dance with his lightsaber in the middle of a duel. Luke (and Obi-Wan and most other spectators) loved such performances. He would giggle afterwards for hours. Leia would frown and be ashamed of her father, who behaved in such a silly way.

Obi-Wan tried to help Anakin to get over his past too. Sometimes, Obi-Wan woke up in the middle of the night because he could feel Anakin radiating waves of turmoil and fear in the Force. Often, they would go outside together then and meditate until Anakin had calmed down and shaken off his nightmares. But there were moments when Obi-Wan could not help. Moment, when Anakin withdrew from the rest of the world and a cloud of darkness seemed to surround him. He refused to talk about certain things to anyone. At such moments, he was like a stranger to Obi-Wan. At first, it had frightened Obi-Wan. But finally he had come to accept it. Though it was hard, he had to understand that there were things with which Anakin had to come to terms on his own. Like on Ilum…

But there were good times too. Like the day when the first student of Anakin's had been knighted. Or when Obi-Wan had come up with the idea to let the older students choose "Padawans". It was not like in the old Order yet. Being a "Padawan" just meant that you had an older student who gave you private lessons and extra coaching alongside the usual training by Obi-Wan. But it definitely eased Obi-Wan's work and it really helped the younger apprentices – and the older ones learned a lot too by training the young ones.

Or the day when Anakin had been granted the rank of Master and had been elected on the Council. And he had refused – and thus deeply shocked (and impressed) Master Yoda in his old days with that decision.

Or Anakin's birthday when Luke had given him a folder with holographs of him and Leia as babies. Anakin had started sobbing uncontrollably and Obi-Wan had spent hours trying to explain to an extremely worried Luke that people sometimes cried because they were so happy.

Reminiscently, Obi-Wan let his gaze wander off to the mountain tops, which were bathed in a deep red by the afterglow. The valley with the little lake under him was already in the shadows. From the distance, he heard an owl cry. The mountains echoed the cry softly.

"Hey. It's a nice evening, isn't it?"

Obi-Wan turned his head and looked up at Anakin, who had finally got out of the water and had come up here. Wet curls stuck to his forehead but at least his clothes were dry. Nowadays, Anakin wore beige. It had taken Obi-Wan quite some time to get used to Anakin's new look.

"You should have gone into the water too, it was amazing," Anakin said, shivering. "I would have liked to stay there for the whole night if it hadn't got so cold. And Branja was there too."

Anakin and Obi-Wan had baptised the fat sea snake "Branja" which lived in this lake. After they had overcome their first reservations against her, they had become sort of friends. Well, Obi-Wan still felt a bit uneasy when suddenly a slimy tentacle touched his belly. Anakin, however, loved to play with her.

Anakin shivered again and rubbed his arms in order to get warm. His lips were all blue from the cold. No matter how much he had changed – sometimes it was good to know he could still be as irrational as ever. "Are you cold?" Obi-Wan asked, grinning.

Anakin nodded. "Shall we go back?"

"Okay." Obi-Wan got up and together they walked back. It was a rather long way to go. Sometimes they walked all the way back in silence – comfortable, relaxing silence after a long day with many loud children who tried to talk to you all at the same time. Sometimes they talked during the whole way back. Exchanged stories of their day and informed each other of their students' progress, philosophised about the Force or discussed current politics. Only very rarely did they talk about the past.

"Leia defeated Luke in lightsaber practise today," Obi-Wan told Anakin.

"Did she?" Anakin said interestedly. "I can't believe it. She's really talented, isn't she?"

"She definitely is," Obi-Wan agreed. Although Leia had started her training later than Luke, she had caught up with him – at least in lightsaber practise. Self-evidently, she was far ahead in politics as she came from a household where there were always political guests. But when it came to using the Force, she lacked Luke's natural trust in the Force.

"How did Luke take it?" Anakin enquired. "I bet he was really offended."

"It was not as bad as I feared. Naturally, at first he said that Leia had cheated. But afterwards, he won against her twice and that calmed him somewhat down."

The competition between the twins had been there from the very beginning. At first, Leia had been very difficult. She had behaved princess-like and had looked down on the other children. Of course, the other children had not let her order them around and so she had quickly become the unpopular outsider. She had also not been willing to share a room with her brother and had always claimed more space. Luke, on the other hand, was jealous if Anakin did anything with Leia and he made Leia feel his jealousy. It had happened more than once that Anakin, Obi-Wan or Beru had had to separate the thrashing brawlers, soothe them and wipe off the tears. Beru had lost patience once and yelled at the twins for hours. After all, she was not a Jedi who was trained to be patient and calm. Oddly, however, it had worked. Frightened by Beru's outburst, they had hidden away in their room and since then they had been bosom buddies. Well, most of the time, at least.

"I'm worried about Leia," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin sighed softly. "She still doesn't have any friends, does she?"

"And that's not the only problem. Recently, I heard her showing off in front of the other apprentices. Because she has a famous Jedi as a father. She tells them stories in which you're the hero. And then she say she's going to fly to Alderaan soon and she tells them in detail about all the great things she's going to do there and all the great people she's going to meet there… She wants to show all the others that she has something which they do not have. And… many of the things she tells them are just not true. I guess she will not fly with Sienar in his private shuttle."

"Probably not," Anakin said darkly. "She shouldn't be so proud of having me as her father. And telling that to the other children who lost their friends and teachers in the fire…" Anakin shook his head his frustration.

"Precisely," Obi-Wan agreed. "I thought maybe you should explain it to her."

"Yes. I'll try." They kept walking in silence for some time.

Then Obi-Wan spoke up again. "Have you any idea why she does it? Why she shows off and tells lies? She doesn't need that. I mean, she's an intelligent, talented and nice girl."

"Maybe no one ever told her that."

"Well, of course I compliment her if she does something very well but I can't treat her differently than the other students. Maybe she needs much appraisal but if I favour her, the others are jealous again and it doesn't help her at all."

"Sure…," Anakin said absent-mindedly as if he had not really paid attention. "Could it be that she tries to conceal something else?"

"Erm… You mean the fact that she doesn't have any friends? Like, I know so many famous people, I don't care if you're my friends or not? Or does she need admirers? Whatever, she will certainly not find friends like that."

Anakin threw him a quick side-glance and smiled. "Of course not, Obi-Wan. But since when do people behave logically?"

Obi-Wan had to grin too. Qui-Gon had told him something very similar once too. "I'm really stupid to presume something as crazy as logic," he conceded.

"Anyway…," Anakin said thoughtfully, "I did something like that too when I was a child."

"You did?" Obi-Wan asked interestedly.

Anakin laughed softly. "It was completely illogical, I know. I probably even knew it back then, as a child. Strange that I did it nonetheless, isn't it? Hm. Maybe it was about trying to make the others jealous. You know, like a last desperate action. I feel bad – and because I think I can't change it, I want at least to see others suffer too. Illogical, I know, because it did not change my situation in the slightest. But still I believed it would help me."

"I see," Obi-Wan said, impressed. Anakin surprised him with such statements again and again. But that exactly was the reason why the children and teenagers trusted Anakin. He simply understood them. Anakin was hardly older than the oldest students. He was closer to them than the 900 years old, little, wise Master Yoda, who liked to speak in riddles (and backwards!). Jedi Master Kenobi was perhaps a role-model to them and they admired his wisdom and strength as a Jedi but he was not someone to talk to when you had your little (or big) everyday-normal-life-problems. Sure, the students came to him if they needed help with their training because he had a reputation of being patient and a nice teacher. If it came to other things… they would rather seek Anakin's help. He had a way of taking them and their even smallest problems seriously. And he was honest with them and was willing to speak about his own weaknesses. Suddenly Obi-Wan realised that one of the few students who did not go to Anakin was Leia. She rarely asked anyone for help and if she did, she never went to Anakin but to Obi-Wan or Beru. Oh.

"You mean to say that her behaviour has to do something with the, erm, problems between you and her?" Obi-Wan asked cautiously.

"She thinks I love Luke more than her and that's why she doesn't want to like me, right?" Anakin said sadly.

Obi-Wan remembered more and more little things Leia had said and done. "I'm afraid you're right," he admitted.

Anakin sighed deeply. "Just why is it so hard to accept that someone loves you?" he said quietly.

"And why do people always have to measure love?" Obi-Wan added. "Whether you're loved more or less than someone else… For Force's sake, more or less, what kind of rubbish is that? Love is love, and that's all there is to it."

"Yes…" They exchanged a brief glance, glad that at least they had got over such 'rubbish'.

"Do you think it would help if one of your students takes Leia as their Padawan?" Obi-Wan returned to the topic.

"It would certainly be helpful…" Anakin trailed off. The problem was: no one of the older students wanted Leia as their Padawan. She was one of the few students her age who did not have a private teacher. On the one hand, Obi-Wan could understand the older students who rather chose someone else to teach. On the other hand, he felt immensely sorry for Leia. So often, it was just easier to show your love to Luke, who was always so open-hearted, adorable and trusting. Leia, however, was very complicated: She was reserved and sometimes really tediously precocious. Sometimes, she reminded Obi-Wan of himself when he had been a boy. He felt pity for her because he knew she was very vulnerable beneath her hard shell. And he knew very well she did not want pity. He hoped with all his heart that she would get a Master like Qui-Gon – or a Padawan like Anakin. And he should be really careful not to favour her…

"Do you have any idea who could be her teacher?" he asked Anakin.

"That's what I was thinking about… Did you know Caze Tau?"

"Who?" Obi-Wan asked, confused.

"I spoke to Timaal today," Anakin explained. "I want to nominate her for the trials soon. Well, and then she told me about Caze Tau. I didn't know him. He was the one who wanted to take Timaal as his Padawan. She admired him so much and it took him some time to finally decide to choose her. She was extremely proud when he told her and she was looking forward to the ceremony. But it never happened. Because that evening… the Temple burned."

Obi-Wan swallowed hard. This personal tragedy shook him more than he had expected. He had always regarded Timaal as a person who had problems forming attachments. Now he remembered she had reacted very strongly when Leia had shown off once again with her father, who was such a great Jedi. Timaal had contradicted her sharply and had severely railed against Leia. No wonder…

"She told me all that without the slightest bit of accusation in her voice," Anakin said softly. "I told her that the ceremony was not the most important part. It's more important that Master and Padawan choose each other and Caze Tau had chosen her and whether ceremony or not – that made her his Padawan. I told her Caze Tau would be so proud of her if he could see her now, ready to be knighted…"

"That was a good thing to say, Anakin. I'm sure you said the right thing."

"She started crying."

"Oh."

"I was crying too. I felt like shit and I was so sorry for her. I've never seen her cry before. She's always so strong. I wonder, how many more stories are there like hers?"

Obi-Wan could not think of something to answer to that. Anakin did not seem to expect an answer. He just kept silent, brooding. Finally, he said, "When I tried to comfort her, she slapped me in the face."

"Oh."

"And then she ran off, still crying. But she came back a few hours later and apologised. She thought she couldn't become a Jedi Knight anymore after what she had done."

"Well? What did you say?"

"That I will ask the Council to allow her to take the trials nonetheless." Anakin threw Obi-Wan a scrutinising look. "Are you going to vote against her?"

"I don't think so. Of course, a Jedi Knight should be able to control herself better but… I wasn't any better when I was her age. And I had more training, you know, in the old Order, and an easier life than her. Besides – sorry to say so, Anakin – she has every right to be mad at you."

"That's what I told her too. And I also told her that even the best Jedi have their weaknesses. Being a Jedi Knight doesn't mean you are already perfect. And I told her even my Master had hit me once and he was still one of the greatest Jedi Masters. Then –"

"Wait a moment, Anakin!" Obi-Wan protested, scandalised. "I never hit you! I certainly yelled at you and gave you detention but I never hit you once! I mean… I understand you just want to help Timaal but you can't tell such things about me because of that. What –"

"Calm down, Obi-Wan," Anakin interrupted him, slightly amused. "I never said it was you who hit me. I was speaking of Qui-Gon."

"Oh. Alright… What??!! Qui-Gon hit you?!"

"Erm…yes."

"You can't be serious!"

"It was nothing dramatic," Anakin quickly reassured him. "His hand just slipped. It happened once and never again."

"Nothing dramatic?" Obi-Wan repeated incredulously. "Anakin, the Jedi are absolutely against corporal punishment! I can't believe Qui-Gon hit you! For Force's sake, how old were you back then? Ten? He just can't do that!"

"Obi-Wan, you know what he's like when he's angry," Anakin said, placating. "Sometimes he could not control his emotions as a Jedi should do. He was really desperate and I probably gave him every right to hit me. And afterwards he apologised to me in a very touching way. It was over then, really."

"Alright then," Obi-Wan gave in but he vowed to himself he would have a serious word with Qui-Gon the next time they met. (Qui-Gon taught Yoda, Anakin and Obi-Wan how to retain their consciousness once they would rejoin the Force.)

"Anyway, of course I told Timaal how sorry I am for what happened," Anakin continued. "And then I tried to explain to her the thing about the past. That you cannot change what happened but you have to make the best of things. I'm afraid I'm not the right person to teach her that lesson. I mean, I myself have difficulties to accept it. I suggested her to seek your or Master Yoda's advice on it."

"Okay, I know what's awaiting me."

"And then she thanked me for teaching her and things. Hm."

Obi-Wan had to smile. "Well, if she said so, she certainly meant it."

"Yes, probably." Anakin frowned. "It's not as if I'm not happy to hear it. I mean, it's damn hard work to teach all of them and I'm really glad if my students are satisfied with my classes but it came… as a surprise. It's really surprising that she told me. Did I ever thank you for training me?"

Obi-Wan gave it some thought. "I can't remember you saying the words Thank you for training me, Master, but you were always someone who rather let his actions speak for themselves. So, yes, you said it in an indirect way."

"Okay."

For a while, they walked in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. It was quickly getting dark and cold now. Obi-Wan pulled his cloak closer around his body. He was looking forward getting back into the warm house.

"Well, what I wanted to say," Anakin suddenly said, "I thought Timaal could maybe teach Leia. Do you think it could work?"

Do you think it could work? That was, indeed, a justified question. There was no doubt Timaal was a capable Jedi but she and Leia had already clashed with each other several times. And they would certainly do so again, considering Timaal's background. If Leia continued showing off with her father… then it was bound to be a very complicated relationship. Provided that Timaal was willing to teach Leia in the first place. Until now, she had never pronounced the wish to take a Padawan and why should she now suddenly change her mind and choose Leia of all people?

Slowly, Obi-Wan started to understand how Anakin had got that idea.

Leia, whom Anakin did not reach. Whom nobody wanted as their Padawan. Who often felt superior to others.

Timaal, who had not overcome her past yet. Who tended to overreact if you addressed certain topics. Who was afraid to establish relationships. Who had had to wait so long until she was chosen by a Master. That was the only thing Timaal and Leia had in common. Apart from that, two people could not have been more different. But that meant they could learn from each other. If no one else could reach Leia, maybe Timaal could. If no one else could take away Timaal's grief, maybe Leia could.

"I think… I think it could work," Obi-Wan said.

"Maybe it's a chance for both of them."

"Yes. They can teach each other. Just like it's meant to be between Master and Padawan. Do you think Timaal would be willing to take Leia as her Padawan?"

"Yes, I think she would agree. Maybe it needs a bit nudging from Master Yoda, though… And Wil said a few days ago he wanted to help with training the younger students too."

"Wil? He's still a bit young, isn't he?"

"Yes. He's not ready for the trials yet. But he's a really good swordsman."

"Absolutely." Obi-Wan could still well remember the athletic Nautolan, who had often surprised him with his skills when he had still been under Obi-Wan's tutelage. "Anakin, that's great," Obi-Wan said enthusiastically. "If he wants to help, he could assist me in lightsaber classes. That would really help. I could demonstrate some techniques better if I had him there as a sparring partner… he could help those who are still a bit clumsy… Could you ask him if he would do that?"

"Oh, I'm sure he will be thrilled. He so admirers you."

"Does he?"

"He watches every time the two of us fight our training duels."

"He's not the only one," Obi-Wan said, a tad sourly. He had hoped the enthusiasm would die down with time, but every time he and Anakin sparred, they had many spectators. Of course it was understandable. Obi-Wan and Anakin (and Master Yoda but he did not need practise) were the only Jedi who were fully trained in the old way. And they had been two of the best swordsmen in the old Order.

"But Wil is not someone who just stares at us with his mouth wide open," Anakin said. "He learns by watching you. Every time I spar with him, he uses the same moves you used the day before. That makes him quite predictable, of course. But still, he can do things I never taught him."

"Oh, right. I'm going to ask him if he can assist me. Erm… Concerning Wil… There's something, erm, else. Today I saw him, erm, uh… kissing Lina." Obi-Wan still felt a bit uncomfortable discussing such matters.

"Hm. Yes, I know," Anakin admitted. "Lina told me. I promised her not to tell anyone else. But now you already know it…"

"Ah." That was definitely something the students would only tell Anakin. Naturally, they could trust him if it came to such things. After all, Luke and Leia were living proof that Anakin had breached the Jedi Code concerning that matter. "What did you advise her to do?"

"Well, Master Yoda is not as strict anymore as he used to be," Anakin said evasively.

"You encouraged her," Obi-Wan concluded.

"You're against it, aren't you?" Anakin asked quietly.

Obi-Wan sighed. "No, not really. I guess I'll just have to get used to it. Besides, Wil and Lina aren't the first ones." There had been couples among the Jedi apprentices before and Master Yoda had known of it and not forbidden it. "It's just… I always see the dangers in it," Obi-Wan admitted.

"Trust me, I see the dangers too… How could I not? I warned Lina and told her about Padmé and me and told her to please, please be careful. And I said she should think about it very carefully because she still has to do her Jedi duties. She was really sensible and listened to everything I told her." Anakin chuckled softly. "But I'm sure she already has forgotten about everything again. People are illogical, as you know."

"I guess we cannot forbid it to them… They are grown-ups. We can support them and offer our help but in the end, it's them who make the decision."

"I just hope they will be happy and things will work out well."

"So do I."

They reached the hill from which you could see the little array of houses where the Jedi lived. Invitingly warm light shone behind the windows. Silently, they walked back the rest of the way. If you made a little effort, you could find Uresi's nice places. And the more time you spent here, the more you saw the beauty in the grey, serrated mountain range or the pale sun, which was almost clouded with milky white mist. Compared to Naboo or Ragoon 6, Uresi certainly could not compete. But that did not matter. It was home.

But the peaceful and idyllic atmosphere was delusive. As soon as they reached their house, they heard loud shouts and cries from upstairs. Obi-Wan and Anakin gave a pained groan in unison.

"They're going to be the death of me, Obi-Wan, I swear it," Anakin said in an agonised voice. "Just why isn't Beru doing anything?"

When they entered the house, they had their answer: In a room to the left, Beru and her newfound love were snogging extensively.

"They don't even have the decency to close the door," Obi-Wan complained and waved his hand swiftly in order to close the door (in a way that would have been certainly classified as "disrespectful use of the Force"). Then he hurried to follow Anakin upstairs to the source of the noise. The twins were hitting, kicking and throwing things at each other.

"You take Leia, I take Luke," Anakin told Obi-Wan. In an odd way, it reminded Obi-Wan of the old days on battlefields, and their last minute plans. I'm going low and left, you go high and attack from the right. Now Obi-Wan grabbed Leia around the waist, Anakin seized Luke's arms, and they pulled the fighting twins away from each other.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Anakin scolded them.

"He hi-hi-hit me on the nose," Leia whined.

"She started it!" Luke retorted angrily. "She threw my starship on the floor. I'd just finished it and now it's brooooooken." He dissolved into tears too.

"Leia, why did you do it?" Obi-Wan asked exasperatedly.

"He hi-hi-hit me on the nose!!!"

"Luke, certainly you know you can't just hit your sister!" Anakin told him strictly.

"But she broke my starship!"

"But that's not a reason to hurt someone. It won't make your starship whole again. Revenge is not the way of the Jedi," Anakin tried to reason but he was unheard by his children.

"But she broke it! It took me so long to build it!"

"He started it! He hit me on my nose!"

"She hit me back twice as hard!"

"That's not true!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

Obi-Wan and Anakin looked at each other and rolled their eyes. So much about a nice, calm, peaceful and restful evening… But somehow they would be able to cope with this situation too. After all, when had their life ever been easy?

THE END

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