Chapter Text
As Obi-Wan handed over the sleeping child, he tried not to feel like he was giving part of himself away. Grief had chased Obi-Wan all the way to Tatooine and he felt like caring for Luke was the only thing which had kept him moving forward. Beru gazed down at Luke in her arms and Obi-Wan could feel her love swell in the Force. To see Luke being held so gently by someone who loved him; the acceptance soothed part of Obi-Wan he had thought lost on Mustafar. With both parents dead, and separated from his sister, Luke needed love and care in his life. Obi-Wan had let the Force guide his hand with Luke's family placement and somewhere amidst the howling gale of grief, he felt a spark of relief.
"Stay for a moment," Beru said to him. She did not wait for a reply, but walked over to Owen, silhouetted against the setting suns. He turned to look at Beru when she approached him, far more closed–off than Beru, leaving Obi-Wan almost guessing as to how he felt about taking Luke in. And then Beru reached him and Owen stretched out a hand to stroke over Luke's head, the rising tide of love quieter than Beru's had been but no less fierce for it. Obi-Wan would turn away, retreat to the kind of silent seclusion his grief craved even when his spirit yearned for company that was no longer possible, but Beru had asked him to stay. She had smiled at Obi-Wan and loved Luke from the moment she held him.
There was a lullaby that had been hummed to Obi-Wan in the Crèche, when he curled up with his brothers and sisters and the Force gently moved around them all. It had matched the Force with the same calm and quiet, but there was a sense of strength behind it. Like a calm ocean, which could crush anyone below the weight of its waters. Beru felt like that and Obi-Wan suddenly, violently, wished to return to those innocent Crèche days when his greatest concern was how to get the kata right at saber training and who was going to take him as a padawan.
Owen and Beru turned to look at the sunset together, the dry, harsh land of Tatooine, and Obi-Wan felt out of place. His feet felt rooted to the spot and yet his heart yearned to turn away from the picture he was seeing right now. Owen, Beru and Luke seemed complete already and the image of the three of them together only reinforced the point that Obi-Wan was alone.
If he had lost his Jedi family, or he had lost Anakin, he could have managed to keep part of himself whole. But he had lost both of them, his family and his brother, to betrayal and heartbreak, and now all he had left was a small baby who was only a reminder of them both. The small measure of protection Luke would need was just enough for Obi-Wan to continue on but he did not try to make himself believe that he could be anything more than he was right then.
Owen and Beru turned around, their backs to the sun, and Owen strode down the sandbank they had been standing on, as Beru smiled down at Luke in her arms.
"You'll be staying then," Owen said, his voice as gruff as it had been on the comm call.
"I shall get a place nearby," Obi-Wan said, though he had little idea about how to do this or where to start. If there was one thing that had been proven over his decades of living, it was that Obi-Wan would survive what would kill most others. The Jundland Wastes had a reputation that he had picked up even when avoiding the various unsavoury characters in Mos Eisley, but he could survive it. "You and Beru are surely competent but it would be better if I am nearby, in case of... Imperial attention." Owen blinked at him and Obi-Wan picked up on a faint sense of question before it vanished.
"I meant, you'll be staying here," Owen said and this time it was Obi-Wan who blinked in surprise. "Beru said." He turned on his heel and went into the lit doorway, leaving Obi-Wan staring at his back. Owen and Beru hadn't shared a word from what Obi-Wan had seen but he knew better than to argue with married couples. Senator Organa had assured him that Queen Breha could read his mind from a distance of twenty paces.
Then Beru was there, Luke fast asleep in her arms.
"I'll show you where you can put your eopie," Beru said. Obi-Wan should argue, should say something about safety and how it was better for him to be a distant eccentric old uncle but the words would not come. Beru was already walking off, the expectation that he should follow her clear. Obi-Wan headed over to the eopie and did as he was bid, too tired to think about protesting. The suns were setting, he would spend the night and say goodbye in the morning.
When he heard movement outside of the little room he was staying in, he rose and slid his boots back on before heading out. The first sun had just touched the horizon, the cool night air beginning to heat up. Obi-Wan hadn't gotten a lot of sleep but he was used to surviving on very little and it was enough to clear his mind.
He came out of the room, using the Force to guide him down the unfamiliar corridors. It still felt wrong, a reminder of everything he had lost, but the presence of Beru and Luke in the kitchen, Owen outside, was more reassuring than Obi-Wan thought possible. He could admit to himself that he would be sad to leave this happy home. If it would keep the family safe though, he could do it.
"Good morning," he said quietly, though he still made Beru jump. "I apologise, the scare was unintentional." He tried for a smile but he knew it was strained.
"No, no." Beru waved him inside. Luke was on a soft blanket in the corner of the kitchen. The stillness of his body had Obi-Wan jerking towards him for a split second and then reason reasserted itself. He could feel Luke in the Force, soft and dreaming, and the rapid fall of his stomach and chest were more than enough to reassure Obi-Wan.
He could see Beru staring at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Apologies, again." He managed to tear his gaze away from Luke and gave a small bow of his head in apology. "It has been a trying week." The still bodies of the children on the floor of the Temple haunted him whenever he closed his eyes, and the holos that accompanied it. Oh, Anakin. It was the children that had convinced Obi-Wan that there was nothing left of his dearest friend, not Master Yoda's words.
"Of course," Beru said, though there was no indicator that she knew exactly why. "I was surprised you were up so early. It takes time for people to get used to Tatooine time." Obi-Wan was sure it was more the very little sleep he had gotten and the excuse to finally stop trying but he only gave her a smile. He didn't want to talk about his nightmares, whether they were sleeping or waking.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Obi-Wan asked. Beru looked like she was going to refuse, if only out of politeness, but then practicality won out.
"Can you take the plates and bowls through to the next room with the table? And there's a broom in the corner to sweep out some of the sand from the room." Beru gave him a smile and Obi-Wan couldn't imagine what expression he had on his face. "You don't need to get all the sand out, but it's better than having piles of sand indoors."
"Of course." Obi-Wan appreciated the job, the quiet movement as he swept out the dining room and then the living room next to it as well. The courtyard was packed, solid sand, so he climbed the stairs to put the looser stuff outside of the dwelling. The first sun had risen and the second sun was following, already heating the air. Obi-Wan was already sweating, more from the environment than the weather, but he welcomed the discomfort. He hadn't really felt present in his body since he had let Luke go. He almost felt like he could meditate. Instead he went to Beru and asked for another job to do.
Breakfast was served by Beru and Owen came in from checking the equipment to eat. Luke had been fed some bantha milk and was blinking sleepily up at the ceiling. Obi-Wan reached out with the Force and was pleased when all he felt was contentment. Luke had spent a great deal of the journey unsettled and whimpering, knowing that both his mother and sister were gone even if he didn't understand what that meant. The brightness of his presence had dimmed slightly as they moved further away from the Core, likely due to the separation from his sister, and Obi-Wan was reassured at how this would help to hide both Luke and Leia.
There was a heavy silence as all three of them ate. Luke made little noises as he got comfortable and Obi-Wan could feel him reaching out for the three of them, in the clumsy way infants strong in the Force did. Beru blinked when Luke reached out for her but Owen startled as if he had been prodded by an electroprod. Obi-Wan had to stifle his smile as Owen turned to Obi-Wan, suspicion flaring in the Force.
"It's okay," Obi-Wan said quietly. "It's only Luke getting to know you both." Luke gave a yawn and his eyes closed again but this time they didn't open again. Obi-Wan had forgotten how much younglings this small slept. Owen's gaze turned on Luke but to Obi-Wan's satisfaction, he felt more of surprise than suspicion.
"He can do that?" Owen muttered.
"He is very strong in the Force," Obi-Wan replied. He was fairly certain that Beru had claimed Luke as her own, but Owen might regret taking in another man's child, especially when he was so... odd. "I feel I must warn you about what you taking Luke in means." Beru and Owen turned to look at him.
"You said on the call that he is Anakin's child," Beru said. "And that his parents are dead." Grief pierced Obi-Wan like a blaster bolt. He hadn't forgotten about what had happened, not really, but he had managed to put it to one side for the moment.
"That is true." One parent dead at the hands of the other, and that other dead at the hands of Obi-Wan. "Luke's mother is Padmé Naberrie." He hadn't mentioned this and he saw recognition of the name hit Beru and Owen.
"The woman who came with him," Beru said quietly to Owen. Anakin had told Obi-Wan that he had gone back to Tatooine for his mother's funeral and had met his stepfamily there, but he hadn't realised Padmé had gone with Anakin. Was that when they got married?
"She is-- was a very important figure on Naboo. She had come to Tatooine as Queen nearly fourteen years ago, and she later remained on Coruscant as Senator to Naboo." This barely encapsulated everything Padmé had been but it was enough for now. Beru glanced at Owen and then looked down at Luke, wrapped up in a kind of sling that jiggled him off the floor. Luke was asleep now, falling deeper into dreams with every passing moment.
"I am sorry she's dead. She was... kind." There was something else behind Beru's words but Obi-Wan put it to one side for the moment.
"She was killed by the Sith," Obi-Wan said. The looks of confusion on Beru and Owen's faces, even if it was better hidden on Owen, put a halt to his grief as he tried to figure out how to explain the Sith to someone who lived on a planet completely removed from the war, let alone the Jedi. "They're a kind of anti-Jedi. They use anger and fear, both their own and others, to gain power. A Sith has been working at the heart of the Republic for years," centuries, "and has now taken control of the Republic, turning it into an Empire. He destroyed the Jedi and when Padmé tried to protest, one of the Sith used the Force--" Obi-Wan had to stop. He had to take a breath, remember why he had to get this out. Beru and Owen had to understand. Obi-Wan hadn't felt like he could tell them last night but now he had to. It was his duty to Luke, to make sure they were as well-prepared as they could be.
"Obi-Wan, this can wait," Beru said, her kindness rubbing Obi-Wan raw.
"No," Owen said. His gaze was too knowing and Obi-Wan turned away, preferring to look at the sleeping Luke. "It's better to get the poison out now." Obi-Wan took a deep breath and then another, centering himself in the Force. Padmé was dead, her children survived and Obi-Wan had a duty to both of them. And part of that duty was both giving information and keeping back what was necessary, even when it was difficult.
"One of the Sith used the Force to strangle Padmé. She didn't die then, but I believe the stress pushed her into labour. After the labour, she named Luke and was very distressed over what happened with Anakin. Her heart stopped." Obi-Wan stopped the explanation and the silence hung between the three of them. Luke slept on peacefully, oblivious to the undercurrents. Obi-Wan could shield him a little, just enough to make sure he was undisturbed. "She will be buried on her home planet with honours, and in such a fashion that it will appear she was still pregnant. This will protect Luke from the Sith."
"Why would these Sith be after Luke?" Beru asked.
"He is very strong in the Force," Obi-Wan said again. "The Sith would train him to be like them, strong in the Dark side of the Force and willing to do anything for power." The Anakin Obi-Wan knew would have never let Palpatine hurt his son for power, but the Anakin Obi-Wan knew had died when he had taken a knee for Darth Sidious. "He is bright in the Force and visible, but less so here on Tatooine. It is safer here than anywhere else, but that does not mean safe. Now there is a Sith Emperor, nowhere is truly safe for him."
"Why are you telling us this?" Owen asked gruffly.
"You need to know what it means when you take him in," Obi-Wan replied. "I will stay here on Tatooine, so if anyone from the Empire comes here, I can lead them away, but there is increased risk to you."
"And you didn't want to tell us before we met him," Owen said, his mouth growing tight. "So what? We'll turn him away now?" Beru stared at Luke, her fingers ghosting over his hair.
"It is no reflection on you," Obi-Wan said, trying to soothe and feeling like he was failing badly. "I couldn't tell you last night but I thought you should know sooner rather than later." Owen huffed and turned his face away.
"Where will you go?" Beru asked. She looked away from Luke, straight at Obi-Wan. "You said you would stay on the planet, watch over him. Where will you go?"
"The Jundland Wastes," Obi-Wan said. Beru and Owen stared at him in unison. Obi-Wan didn't need the Force to know what they were thinking. "No one is likely to look there."
"Because you would have to be mad to live there," Owen said. "You'll die."
"No, I won't," Obi-Wan said, with a surety born of experience. "I am very good at surviving." Even when nearly everyone else he loved had not.
Beru stood up abruptly and Owen and Obi-Wan turned to look at her in surprise. She didn’t look at either of them as she started to gather the finished dishes in a pile, ignoring their questioning glances. There was a brusque practicality to her movements; a decision had been made and all they could do was wait for her to tell them.
"We're taking Luke," Beru said to Owen. "You're staying with us," she said to Obi-Wan. Without waiting for a response, she headed out of the room, arms full of plates and cups. Obi-Wan turned to stare at Owen.
"If you want to argue with her, be my guest," Owen said, standing up as well. "I've got to get to work. I assume you can handle the kid." Owen's exit wasn't quite as dramatic as Beru's but he certainly made a good attempt. Obi-Wan looked at Luke and dearly wished he could accept Beru's offer.
"I'm sure your aunt will see sense," he said to a sleeping Luke. A little snore was his only reply.