His Guiding Star (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Chapter Two

"Say you should forget her, did I, hmm? Only through pain and loss can we grow and learn."

"Yes, master." 

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and breathed in deeply to clear his mind, relaxing his body as he focused on the Force.

"Forget her, you will not," Yoda told him quietly. "Let her go, you must. Okay it is, to live again. To darkness giving into pain leads."

"But what if I lose my way? What if...if I give in to it?" Obi-Wan ventured, his voice cracking on the second question. He was a General. He'd been in numerous battles, led men to fight in combat, had the weight of the fate of the galaxy on his shoulders. And yet he was scared.

"Feel the Force, do you, hm?"

"I do." He could feel its power flowing through him, gentle and warm and soothing, like sunlight.

"Trust in the Force," Yoda advised him. "A guiding star, a reason to fight, it has given you. Give in, you will not." Obi-Wan frowned, confused. Sometimes, he wondered if Yoda spoke in riddles just to mess with people. He decided not to ask, knowing that Yoda would just giggle and say nothing more on the subject.

They sat in silence for a while, meditating and focusing on the Force. For the first time in a long time, Obi-Wan was at peace.

"A mission for you and Anakin, I have," Yoda spoke then, breaking the silence. "Heard of Verräter, have you?"

Verräter, a dark side user allied with the Separatists. You couldn't exactly call him a Sith, you see.

Ever since the beginning of The Clone Wars, he had been using his organisation of criminals and dark side users to fund the Separatists in their fight against the Republic and the Jedi Order. He'd had three apprentices, all of which he'd sent to their death when he'd ordered them to take down Darth Maul and his Shadow Collective. Obi-Wan had heard of him, alright.

"What about him, master?" he asked.

"Alive, his apprentices are."

Obi-Wan turned so fast he nearly got whiplash.

"What?"

"Know how they escaped, we do not. But traced a Force signature to them, we did," Yoda explained. "Theodore Cromil, it was."

Theodore was the one who struggled most with the Force, Obi-Wan remembered. He was better in lightsaber combat.

"Their help, we need, to bring him down. Hm."

"Are you sure, master?" he asked. "They are dark side users."

"Sensed no evil in Theo, Master Unduli has."

"That doesn't mean that Zoe and Talia aren't evil." Obi-Wan pointed out. Yoda gave him a confused look.

"Zoe's twin, Theodore is."

"Oh," Obi-Wan cleared his throat, averting his gaze as he felt his face flush. "But what about Talia?"

"Close, they are. Suffered a lot together, they all have," Yoda glanced over at him, a smile at his lips. "Bright behind them, her trail glows. Follow it, you should." 

Obi-Wan frowned.

"Master, I don't understand."

"In time, you will." Yoda turned his face away, back to the window, and Obi-Wan got the feeling that their conversation had ended. With a quiet sigh, he got to his feet, and bowed deeply towards the Grandmaster.

"Anakin and I will be leaving right away."

Obi-Wan and Anakin did not leave right away, because Anakin spent an full hour getting ready for the mission. Obi-Wan was pretty certain he was trying to style his hair in the exact right way: if he'd been calling Padmé, one hour would become two. Obi-Wan lectured him on the importance of manners and punctuality as they made their way through the streets of Coruscant.