Someone's in trouble

[no_applause]

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.

Comments

[no_applause]

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.

[hadthehighground]

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.

[no_applause]

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."

[hadthehighground]

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.

[no_applause]

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."

[hadthehighground]

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."

[no_applause]

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..."

[hadthehighground]

"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."

[no_applause]

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?"

[hadthehighground]

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."

[no_applause]

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."

[hadthehighground]

“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.”