revivalproject | Someone's in trouble

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Someone's in trouble

WHO: Padme and Obi-Wan
WHERE: Obi-Wan's place
WHAT: Obi-Wan is in trouble
WHEN: shortly after Luke arrives
WARNINGS: talk of death

Padme took a day to absorb everything and compose herself before seeking out her friend. He hadn't lied to her. But he'd omitted certain truths and that she did not appreciate. She was tired of people dancing around facts and treating her with care. She was made of tougher stuff than that. She deserved the truth and it was time for her to ask for it.

Dressed in a fine dress, deep purple with gold stitching along the hems, she left the children with the droid and walked to Obi-Wan's rooms. She knocked, folding her hands before her as she waited for him to answer.

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Obi-Wan can practically feel the whirlwind coming, so there's not much surprise when Padme comes knocking on his door. He didn't know what it was about, but he's definitely a bit concerned. It doesn't take long for him to open the door, but he's looking as placid as he normally does despite facing the oncoming storm.

"Padme, please, come in."

He steps aside to let her enter.

"Is there something I can do for you?"

Padme smiles calmly, giving him a nod of greeting when he opens the door. "Thank you, Obi-Wan."

Stepping inside, she crosses to the middle of the room before turning back to look at him. She knows he can feel her emotions, so there's no point in dancing around things. "You've been keeping things from me and I'd like to know why."

That draws a blink of surprise. So it's him that she's unhappy with. Force help him, he knows all too well what Padme's wrath looks like.

"I'm not sure what you mean," he says innocently, motioning for her to have a seat if she liked.

Best to play ignorant until he knew exactly what she was talking about.

She doesn't like. For the moment, she prefers to stay where she is. Her eyes follow him, betraying only a hint of the anger she's feeling.

"Yes you do. You should have told me, Obi-Wan. Instead, I have to learn of my fate from my own son."

Unfortunately, there was several details he was keeping from her. For one reason or another. But when she says that, he sighs softly. Ah, so that's it. And he looks a bit crestfallen, deciding to move and sit himself if she wasn't going to.

"Perhaps I should have," he says quietly. "And I am sorry."

He was. He didn't want to just bombard her with information like that when she arrived. With everything else she had to deal with. But it had never seemed like the right time either.

"Perhaps?" She tilted her head, not convinced. "I don't understand why you feel the need to shield me from things. Have I not shown time and time again that I can handle things?"

Seriously, Obi-Wan, she handled a full blown insurrection and was ready to die at 14 years old. She'd had more attempts on her life than any sane person could handle and had nearly died a few times. She didn't expect to make it to old age, so dying young wasn't a surprise. It was just rude not to tell her.

"You have," Obi-Wan admitted easily. A sad smile touching his face as he looks at her, feeling her indignance. There was no hiding things now. So with that, he took in a deep breath and let it out again.

"To be quite honest with you Padme, it's not because I have any doubt on your part." And he was indeed being truthful with her. Shielding her had only been a part of it. "It's me," he then admits. "I wasn't ready to tell you."

He lets that hang for a moment before he decides he should probably elaborate.

"You see, I was there. I watched you die."

She could see the guilt and sadness in his eyes. The fact that he made no effort to hide it meant a lot to her.

His admission changed things... In her anger she hadn't thought that he could have some other reason for keeping things from her. His words cut straight through that anger like a lightsaber to her heart. She steps closer, reaching out a hand towards him. "Then you saw me here..." That must have been quite a shock. "Please... Tell me what happens. I want to know."

He takes her hand readily, offering a gentle squeeze before he nods. It was time that there be total truth between them. Obi-Wan would have to face these demons, but at least he wouldn't have to do so alone.

"Please, sit." He almost pleads. Wanting her to be next to him and to have a moment to gather his thoughts.

Where should he even start?

She nods, leaving her hand in his as she sits. She can understand how difficult this must be, so she stays silent while he collects himself and prepares to tell her the truth.

Her heart's pounding in her chest. What is she doing? It seems insane to want to know how she dies. But anything she can visualize has to be worse than what happened, right? She had a right to know who was finally successful in their assassination attempts.

He's grateful for her patience, and only needs a few moments. Finally he manages to decide where he wanted to begin and turned to look at her.

"I was on your ship. Hiding myself in the hold while you flew to Mustafar." It wasn't something he was entirely proud of, but he had to, in order to find Anakin.

"Anakin met you on the landing pad, and I hung back. Hoping that maybe you would be able to talk some sense into him. And to see for myself just how far he had gone." It's not as if seeing the recording of him killing the younglings wasn't enough, but Obi-Wan had hoped against hope that there was still a chance to turn him around.

She frowns as he speaks, "You hid? That's so unlike you... it seems so... dishonest."

But it hardly matters now. She watches his face, waiting for him to continue. If his story starts at Mustafar, that means she didn't have much time left when she was drawn here.

“It was a desperate time.”

They were being hunted down after all. There was no time to find Anakin at his leisure. Padme was his only best option, and she wouldn’t have taken him there willingly. She had made that clear.

“Anyway. You and Anakin exchanged some words, you pleaded with him to come away with you. But he had changed, and he turned on you. He… hurt you.”

The words were difficult to say, particularly the last part. The images of the scene playing out in his mind.

“He choked you in his anger and only released you when I demanded it if him. By that point you had lost consciousness.”

One hand rose to rest against her throat. He choked her? No... "That... Ani? You're saying Anakin attacks me?"

That seemed absolutely unbelievable. Of anything that could happen. Of anyone who could hurt her... That was what she least expected. Her face grew pale as the weight of her future began to settle on her shoulders. She turned away, closing her eyes.

It pained him to see her reaction. He knew that she wouldn’t want to believe it. She hadn’t wanted to believe him when he came to her in her apartment on Coruscant. It took seeing it for her own eyes to realize what he had said was true.

“He wasn’t himself, Padme. Anakin had become twisted by the dark side, by Palpatine. He thought you turned against him, then blamed me for turning you against him.”

But he stopped there. He wouldn’t go on if she wasn’t ready for it.

She slowly shakes her head in disbelief. Opening her eyes, she looks at Obi-Wan. "I remember what you told me before I left for Mustafar... Before I came here. I couldn't believe you then. But now knowing what I do about the future..." She takes a slow breath. As loathe as she is to admit it, she must. "I believe you."

Face softening with compassion as he listened, Obi-Wan bowed his head for a moment in his own grief. He hadn’t wanted to believe it either, and wouldn’t have if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. So he could hardly blame Padme for that.

Looking up again, he reached out to gently brush his hand against her cheek. Offering some comfort despite the terrible conversation.

“I’m so sorry.”

She had deserved better then that, and so had her children.

She leaned into his touch. It was great comfort, even then. He'd lied to her and kept things... But he was still a good man and still cared for her.

"Thank you." She paused for a moment, steeling herself. "Please... Go on."

Go on. Okay. Obi-Wan took a deep breath and pulled his hand away, putting it in his lap with the other one.

"You were unconscious, and Anakin and I faced each other off. I tried to reason with him, to convince him that he was taking the wrong path. But he would have none of it from me anymore then he had you."

Licking his lips, he shifted and breathed out a sigh.

"So we fought. A long, terrible battle."

The tale just continuesd to get worse and worse. She covered her mouth, swallowing hard as she tried to keep her roiling emotions in check.

"That must have been difficult for you..."

"That most difficult thing I've ever done," Obi-Wan admits.

"I would rather spare you the details as its... not something I can talk about easily," he continues. "And honestly I fear you may hate me if I did. But what I will say is that, I thought he was dead."

He swallows himself, and hesitates a moment longer before going on. "However, I've recently come to learn that he in fact survived."

She paled at that. Obi-Wan told her he'd been lost. She'd taken that to mean he'd died. Then again, Obi-Wan thought he had.

Her hand fell to her lap and she gaped at him. "He survived?"

He nods solemnly. "I don't know how," he admits.

For all intends and purposes he should have died, and yet he hadn't.

"But then I didn't think Maul could have possibly survived either. Something about the dark side I can only imagine." He sighs softly and bows his head again. "He goes by Darth Vader, and is a terror in the galaxy. Ezra has even crossed paths with him."

She mirrored that nod. Right. Maul... that had been an utter disaster.

She swallowed hard. "Darth Vader..." Like Darth Sidious. And Dark Maul before him. Anakin became another one of the Dark Side's pawns in their quest to take over the universe. "Luke said he and Leia were separated and kept safe. I assume that means Anakin doesn't know of them."

“We did our best to make sure no one would know,” Obi-Wan says softly. The thought hadn’t been Anakin at the time because of the belief he was dead. Rather they feared the emperor would find out and either harm or try to take them for himself.

“After they were born and you… passed. Bail, Yoda, and I discussed all of this. It was decided that the Organas would take Leia as their own, and I would take Luke to Tatooine to watch over him as he was raised by the Lars.”

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Someone's in trouble

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