Paste your document here...

~Obi-wan's POV~

Obi-wan sighed and ran a hand smoothly through his beard. He had left for all of three days and Anakin had saved the blasted republic? Why was it he always missed these things?

Obi-wan rubbed his forehead, which was starting to ache with a headache, courtesy of General Grievous, which he had slain a mere few days ago. He hadn't slept in that time, either, instead having arrived on planet and been rushed to the Jedi temple where the media were swarming like a pack of fruit flies to a rotten strawberry.

Then Mace had given him a crude description of the event that had occurred and sent him off to write up a public speech about it. He had seen neither Anakin nor Mace since, though Yoda had come to visit. His backwards talking had not made Obi-wan's impending headache any better.

Suddenly, his door opened and in strode a very cheerful looking Anakin Skywalker. Obi-wan looked up from his data-pad, and studied his younger friend.

Anakin's eyes were aglow with joy, even the way he walked screamed impossibly happy. He crossed his arms and gave Obi-wan one of the brightest grins he had ever seen. Obi-wan was instantly curious.

"Hello, Anakin," he said slowly. "Obi-wan! I'm so glad to see you. I heard you killed Grievous. Good job. Sorry I did not come earlier, but guess what?" The knight spluttered optimistically. Obi-wan only cocked an eyebrow and smiled. Anakin's lightheartedness was contagious.

"What?" he wondered. "Padme gave birth and she didn't die! Isn't that great?" he exploded. Obi-wan blinked, what was this about dying? And Padme gave birth, wasn't it a bit early for that? She was only a few months pregnant. "Yes," he said cautiously.

"But why did you think she was going to die?" he asked. "Oh, I had a dream about it. It was stressing me out," Anakin said with a dismissive wave of his real hand. Obi-wan frowned; about to further inquire when Anakin asked, excitedly.

"We had twins, can you believe it! We named them Luke and Leia," he explained. Obi-wan smiled feebly, it appeared Anakin wasn't going to let him speak any time soon, so he sat back and listened. Anakin, though, was staring at him.

"Aren't you shocked, surprised, anything?" he asked. Obi-wan blinked. "About what?" he asked. Anakin's eyebrows creased; "didn't you hear me? We had twins. They're my children, master," he explained, a bit nervously.

Obi-wan sensed his anxiety. He laughed. "Anakin, you do realize that I already knew about you and Padme, right?" he asked. Anakin both went pale and spluttered stupidly. Obi-wan found the sight very amusing. The young knight sank down next to him on the couch, flabbergasted.

"You…. How…. Why…?" Obi-wan chuckled and Anakin snapped back into intelligence. He smiled weakly and shook his head. "I should have known I couldn't hide anything from you," he said.

"You should have," Obi-wan agreed. "Why didn't you tell me you knew, master?" Anakin asked. Obi-wan shrugged, thinking that Anakin was very oblivious. Like master, like apprentice.

"I figured you'd tell me when you were ready," he answered. Anakin stared. "Obi-wan," he said slowly, as if talking to a particularly dangerous and/or stupid animal. "I was never going to tell you," he recited.

Obi-wan was a bit insulted by his tone. "And just why not?" he demanded. Then again, he thought before Anakin could answer. You never did tell him about you and Siri.

He brushed the thought off. Anakin had been his apprentice; there were some things he had not wanted him to know then. Things he still didn't want him to know now. Siri had been a place in his heart too deep even for his friend.

Anakin was studying him intently, as if re-evaluating his soul. Obi-wan never had liked that stare of his, it was past creepy.

"I…" Was he waking from a dream? He sounded like it. "I don't know," Anakin smiled. "I really don't. It doesn't even matter now, whatever the reason had been, it was stupid as all kriff," he said.

Obi-wan nodded, satisfied. "So," Anakin went on. "That makes you and Ahsoka. She knew, too," he said. Obi-wan chuckled softly. "I told her," he confessed. "I thought she had a right to know," he explained seeing Anakin's look.

His former apprentice sighed. "Is there anything else you want to tell me, Obi-wan?" He asked. "No, but I'd like to know what you think you were doing saving the Republic without me. I'm hurt, Anakin. You know on adventures like that you need either myself or Ahsoka to chaperone, wouldn't want you getting confused when the bad guy doesn't just blatantly announce he's going to destroy you," he teased.

Anakin smacked him with a pillow. "And there you go again, disrespecting your elders," he laughed, hitting him back. Anakin grinned. "You're no good, Obi-wan," he sighed. Obi-wan chuckled softly, recounting all often times he had been told that. "How is Padme?" he asked, returning to his speech.

"Tired, but happy. Ahsoka came to visit her, and when they started talking about girl things, I ran. Force knows I do not need to know any of that," he said. Obi-wan nodded in understanding. "You're becoming a wise young man," he approved. Anakin laughed.

"Good to know. Do you want to come see Luke and Leia with me?" he asked. "I'd love too, Anakin, but I have to finish this speech for Mace," he sighed. Anakin scowled. "Oh, that? Did he even tell you what happened?' he asked. Obi-wan shrugged.

"The details, which is all I'm putting into the speech anyway. Speaking of which, aren't you worried about the council?" he asked, suddenly remembering that he would not have time to negotiate on his friend's behalf this time. Anakin only grinned slyly. "Not at all," he chirped.

"You see, Master Windu found out that I was married during the duel with Palpatine. Strangely, he said something about the council not being too concerned if it didn't get in the way of the Jedi's work," Obi-wan nodded, he had been there to agree each time.

"So, I talked it out with him and Master Yoda, and as soon as the council can get together, they'll decide what to do about Luke and Leia, but Master Windu said they'll probably just ignore my marriage to Padme since I haven't let it get in the way of my duty," he said happily. Obi-wan grinned, a weight lifted off of his shoulders. There went that problem.

"I'm glad, Anakin. And don't worry about Luke and Leia," he assured him. "I'll make sure they're trained in the temple, they only get the privilege of knowing their parents," he guaranteed.

Anakin put a hand on his shoulder, eyes flashing with gratitude. "Thank you," he said. Obi-wan merely nodded; truthfully he had no clue why Anakin was thanking him. What were friends for?

He glanced up, only to see Anakin studying him frankly. "What?" he asked. "I've been thinking, master. All this time, since the first moment I met the blasted man, Palpatine has been trying to turn me into a Sith," he contemplated. Obi-wan felt a shudder go up his spine; he had nearly choked on his own breath when Mace had told him that earlier.

He nodded. "And I wonder what would have happened if he had," the shudder turned into an icy terror in his heart. Was Anakin having second thoughts? The younger knight met his gaze, and smiled crookedly.

"No, I'm not having second thoughts," he let out a slow breath; this child was just trying to kill him. "But I do wonder what he would have made me do, what I would have become. Do you… Do you think that's what my dream was about? The one I had a few weeks ago about that machine?" he asked.

Obi-wan scowled, remembering the images Anakin had projected into his mind. The dream Ahsoka's voice rang in his mind. "How would you know? Maybe he gave up on life, when his best friend betrayed him." If Anakin had turned to the dark side, would Obi-wan have had a reason to live?

There was the other Jedi…. Or; Palpatine would have killed them. Ahsoka had gone into hiding, had she not ? The only way that she would ever have done that was if… If she were the last Jedi.

No, he would have had no reason to live anymore. "I think it was a premonition, then," he said slowly, hardly able to believe it. Anakin nodded and leaned back, staring at the ceiling with opaque eyes. "I would have done terrible things," he whispered.

Obi-wan heard the horror in his voice. He felt it in his own heart; would he have had to fight this man? The man he had raised and reviewed as a son, his little brother?

"How do you think I would have ended up like that?" Anakin whispered. Obi-wan hated this conversation. "We would have had to fight Anakin," his mind flipped through the dream. "Obviously, somehow I survived. And obviously you got hurt," there was no satisfaction in his voice.

He felt Anakin shiver next to him. "That… It sounds like a horrible future. Padme and the babies, what would have happened to them? I would have killed Ahsoka, turned into that giant breathing machine and you…" he trailed off; Obi-wan would have committed suicide, according to Ahsoka.

"Luke and Leia, what would have happened to them?" for some reason, Anakin was still going. "Ahsoka and I would have made sure they were alright, if they survived," in that future, who would have survived?

Anakin closed his eyes. "Master, if just a few things went differently, if just one thing had gone differently… Force; that could have been our future. It makes me sick," he wasn't alone in that.

"You never would have gone along with it," even he didn't exactly believe his comforting words. Anakin had always protected the ones he loved; he would always do so. Whatever the cost.

"Yes, I would have," yes, well, it had sounded much less dreadful in his head. Anakin sighed and opened his eyes. "It scares me sometimes, how much power I have and what I'll do to protect people. It really does," he said. Obi-wan felt a pang of sympathy. Many gifts could be burdens.

"Do not dwel on it, Anakin," he instructed gently. "The future is never set in stone, and there are many different outcomes of a future. That was one; we took the other. It's alright, now we can work to make a new future," he said. Anakin nodded, slowly.

"Your right," he agreed. "What could have happened; didn't. Everything is alright now," he grinned, and the happy man who had walked in the door was back. Obi-wan preferred him to the other.

"You know what? Enough of this depressing mood nonsense. Come on," Anakin grabbed his hand, standing. "Where in the blazes are we going?" Obi-wan asked. "Where do you think, old man? We're going to Dex's to celebrate," Anakin replied, tugging at his hand as if he were ten again and wanted to go stare at whatever else had caught his eye.

It was ironic, how much of a child he still was, compared to Obi-wan. Perhaps that was what made them the perfect balance. Day and night, destruction and creation, good and great.

"Celebrate? Anakin, if you haven't noticed, I have work to do," Obi-wan pointed out firmly, ignoring the gloved hand tugging at his own.

"I know, but you just got back from destroying General Grievous and I just got back from arresting a Sith. We deserve a little downtime. Besides, if Mace wants the speech done so badly, he oughta bother to do it himself, you're the youngest on the council, grunt work is for Yoda," Obi-wan sighed.

Where had this opposition to authority come from? He had tried so desperately hard to teach him otherwise. Qui-gon had done the exact same thing, driving Obi-wan to the brink of insanity. Just as Anakin did.

"No," he said again, stubbornly. "You go ahead, Anakin. Someone has to be the responsible one after all," he said. Anakin rolled his eyes. "That's nice, you've been responsible for way too long. It has to get boring some time," Obi-wan returned his attention to his data-pad obstinately.

Anakin let out a long-suffering groan. "Ah, come on, Obi-wan. The Clone war, after four blasted years, is over, and you're going to do more work? There are parades in the streets outside of the temple. Even the clones have left their barracks and are out there drinking with the civilians. I saw some younglings dancing on the roof of the senate building. I don't care if I have to drag you, we are going to have some fun today," he determined.

Obi-wan sat up, bedazzled into shock. The Clone war was over. The death, the cruelty, the treachery and suffering was over. Restored was the peace, and the Jedi were free of combat. Free. No more soldiering, no more months of straight battles and grime. No more war.

It was a miracle. But he still had work to do.

"The Clone war is over," he repeated incredulously. It sounded even more glorious out-loud. Anakin smiled and nodded, tugging at his hand again. "Yep," he agreed. Obi-wan felt a grin slowly slid over his face. Perhaps he could…. "No," he said. "I still have work to do," and that was that.

Evidently, Anakin didn't care. With a huff of determination and muttering impolite words in Huttese, he unceremoniously picked Obi-wan up and slung him over his shoulder.

"Anakin!" Obi-wan gasped, hanging limply as Anakin strode happily to the door. "Put me down this instant!" he ordered furiously trying to get out of his former padawan's grip. "I told you I would drag you," Anakin fairly sang. "I didn't think you were serious! Put me down, Anakin! Anakin!" he yelled, struggling.

"I'm about to drop yu on your head," Anakin informed him cheerfully. "Then drop me, you oaf! It's what I want! You can't just cart people away at will, Anakin! Anakin, are you even listening to me?" he demanded, enraged.

"Nope," Anakin laughed. "Anakin! If you don't put me down this minute..." Anakin only laughed. "This is funny, you're having a tantrum!" he said. Obi-wan felt his face grow hot with indignation, by all means, he did not have tantrums. He slapped Anakin behind the head.

"I'm not having a tantrum, you thoughtless, wild beast! Who taught you this behavior, because it surely wasn't me! Anakin, I am going to murder you," he kept on, still trying to escape.

He could almost hear Qui-gon laughing next to him.

"Murder isn't the Jedi way, master," Anakin chuckled. "Oh, now you want to follow the Jedi way? This is completely, utterly and unequivocally inappropriate and unfair, Anakin! Put me down!" He ordered once more.

Anakin stopped, about a centimeter in front of the door. His shoulders were shaking with laughter. Obi-wan crossed his arms, very un-amused.

Suddenly, again without any warning whatsoever, Anakin dropped him on his head. "Ow!" Obi-wan yelped, landing square on his forehead. His headache raged into a stinging agony. "Anakin, you trader, why'd you have to do that?" he demanded, further angry as he rubbed his ringing head.

Anakin was staring at him with thinly veiled laughter. "You said you wanted me to drop you," he replied. "Not on the head, you imbecile! Look at my forehead; I have a blasted bruise. You force-forsaken fool, how could you do this to me?" He griped.

Anakin had begun laughing when he had begun, and he leaned against the door, holding his burning sides now. Obi-wan glared at him, still rubbing his head huffily. His mouth perked up in a smile as he stood, brushing himself off. Anakin was doubled over, laughing.

"That wasn't funny," Obi-wan mumbled. Anakin only continued. Obi-wan let out a deep breath, and his smile turned into a chuckle. "Alright, it was funny," he confessed.

Anakin nodded and straightened out, his giggles subsiding. "Will… You… Still… Go with me, master?" he gasped. Obi-wan sighed and shook his head. He really should not; he had so much work to do. Mace was depending on him to finish it.

Obi-wan? Qui-gon whispered. Forget your duty for once. Be a man, not a Jedi. Go have some fun. There will plenty of time for you to be the wise one later. You've fought a hard battle, let it go. Well; when he put it that way.

Obi-wan sent his data-pad one last look. "Master?" Anakin was looking at him with pleading eyes. Obi-wan looked away, smiling. He could never resist it when people looked at him like that.

The Clone War is over, he reminded himself. "Are there really parades in the streets?" he asked. Anakin nodded quickly. "Please, Obi-wan?" He asked again. Obi-wan laughed and flung an arm over his friend's shoulders. It had been a long time since he had been a child.

That didn't mean he had forgotten.

He pushed Anakin out of the way. "Race you down there!" he dared, bolting out of the door. Anakin stayed rooted to his place for a moment in pure shock.

And then he laughed again. "You're on, Kenobi!" he called, running after him. The two ran out of the Temple, which was empty of Jedi anyway, all of them, having had the same idea as Anakin.

Watching from above was two chuckling specters though. One having been a slave and one having been a Jedi. They were equals, where they had gone. The woman smiled and shook her head.

The man put an arm around her and shook his, at long last; the force had been balanced, the Sith defeated and the universe-and their boys-were once again at peace.

Alright, it was a bit of off the original and right storyline, but I still believe that proved useful. By the way, I want to send out an absolute thank you to everyone who reviewed and gave me advice; you have no inclining what it means to me. Well, this story is done and I hope you're ready for another, because coming soon is: The Dawn of Conclusion!...

~Queen Yoda