Padme’s body lay getting colder on an operating table. They had rushed her in so quickly that there hadn’t even been time to get to a hospital bed. She had spent her last moments on a cold piece of metal in physical and emotional agony.
Her children lay happily gurgling in Obi-wan’s arms. Padme had died from grief, not childbirth, and Obi-wan found himself questioning just how they had gotten here. Two of Obi-wan’s most cherished friends, gone. Perhaps, one could say that Anakin Skywalker still lived, but the boy Obi-wan Kenobi had known and loved was nowhere to be found. Instead, a murderer walked in his skin. One who would slay even the youngest of souls on a whisper of a promise to fulfill his own goals.
“Where will you take them?”
Senator Organa was one of the few councilmembers to escape with their life. He looked to Obi-wan now not for his own guidance but as a beacon of direction for the other. With so much of what was Obi-wan’s entire life destroyed, the effort was much appreciated.
“Back to Dantooine. It was Anakin’s—Darth Vader’s home planet, but I doubt he would ever want to revisit. It does not hold happy memories within its sandy plains,” Obi-wan calmly expressed even while remembering the bitterness of slavery and the death of Anakin’s mother. “There’s a relative of his that might be willing to take in one of the children.”
“And the other?” Organa asked whilst offering his finger for Luke to bat at. Obi-wan smiles at the action, “I’ve heard you and your wife have been looking.” “Splitting them up? Is that really so wise?”
“While I doubt Darth Vader has knowledge of his children’s birth, it would be best to take every precaution.”
Organa watched amusedly as the other reflexively pulled the infants closer even as he spoke of their inevitable departure, “However, there is a definitive strength in numbers.”
“Perhaps,” Obi-wan conceded, “Perhaps, your point has merit, but it would certainly be a challenge to find permanent caretakers for twins on such short notice.”
Senator Organa exhaled heavily, but not unkindly, “If my memory serves correctly, the keenest memory I have of young Skywalker consists of him proclaiming that you were like a father to him to anyone who would listen. Perhaps, Luke and Leia ought not to be separated from their grandfather.”
“Luke and Leia,” Obi-wan finally says. “Leia and Luke,” he repeats with some reverence, “They are…important to me.”
“Yes, certainly more important than hiding away from the world or whatever it is you plan to do with your free time.”
“And here I thought I was receiving a word of encouragement,” the Jedi laughed. “Not quite so,” Organa said before rising and walking away, taking with him all other options.
Leia looked up at her new grandfather with sweet doe eyes, cooing quietly, and Obi-wan Kenobi couldn’t help but think that yes, Jedis were encouraged, most adamantly, to love.
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