'Obi-wan! It's so good to see you!'
Obi-wan Kenobi embraced Padme Amidala with a wide smile. For years, Obi-wan's social interactions were exclusivley with Sol, the twins, and with Owen and Beru Lars. But now, he was able to see another face that reminded him of the good times before the Empire.
On Yavin 4, the rebels' new base was operational. After the captain arrived with Revan onboard her ship, the Resistance got to work on securing the perimetre and monitoring any ships that entered the atmosphere. The planet was nothing but trees and Ewoks, making it the perfect location for a hidden base. Unlike Hoth, where it was frighteningly cold all the time, and the base was made out of unstable ice, Yavin 4's base was strong in its structure of grey walls and predominantly warm weather.
'We saw the mess you left before we jumped,' Ahsoka butted in from beside Obi-wan. 'They didn't look happy.'
'I'm sure they weren't. But we didn't lose too many,' Padme said, her head held high and her smile solemnly small. 'You didn't happen to... sense anything on the way here? Any sign of Sol?'
'Nothing,' Obi-wan said with his joyful attitude slipping. 'The Force is very quiet in the galaxy.'
Padme could see the worry on the man's face. Living in a desert was prominent in Obi-wan's appearance, as he was riddled with fine lines,and his brown hair and beard had grown to be unruly. He had acquired a tan from the two suns of Tatooine, and Padme noticed that he wasn't wearing his Jedi robes. But underneath his tunic, was a utility belt that undoubtedly held his lightsaber. Padme wondered if Obi-wan had to blow the dust off of its handle before he arrived.
As much as Padme wanted to rekindle some old humour with her longtime friend, the situation didn't call for such behaviour.
Ahsoka had left Hoth early to inform the Jedi Master about Sol's supposed capture, and those who knew Obi-wan assumed that he would be arriving at the new base with the Togruta. For the Resistance, it was an advantage to have another Jedi for their cause. But Padme wished that she was able to see the obviously troubled man in better circumstances.
'How are the twins?' Padme asked while she, Ahsoka and Obi-wan turned to head out from the base's hanger.
'They're growing, that's for sure. I'm only mildly masking their signatures as I assume that the Empire are occupied with.. well, their mother.'
'Yes, of course.'
Padme looked out of the corner of her eye at Ahsoka, who had been relatively quiet since her arrival. The captain felt awful for the woman who had the unfortunate task of informing Obi-wan about Sol's disappearance. She could only imagine what the conversation had been like when Ahsoka's ship landed in the desert. Padme assumed that Ahsoka was bombarded with questions from Luke and Leia about their mother.
'Aunty Soka! You're back!
'Where's Mum? Is she with you?'
They were too young to notice how Ahsoka's smile was strained. But Obi-wan, who stepped out of the complex, knew immediately that the worst had happened.
Like the man that he was, Obi-wan didn't hesitate to offer his help with Sol's rescue. The twins were safe on Tatooine with their Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. It was Sol that needed his help now, and he couldn't be of assistance while on the desert planet on the Outer-Rim. He pushed through the sinking of his heart and tried not to think of what Darth Vader could possibly be doing to Sol while under the orders of the Emperor. He could have wallowed in his sorrows after hearing that his best friend, and the woman he considered his family, had been captured by the very thing that they had been hiding from. But Obi-wan didn't; he said his goodbyes to the twins, and left Tatooine in Ahsoka's T6 to the new Resistance base.
'Well, I'm sure you remember Senator Bail Organa,' Padme said as they entered the planning room. 'He and Mon Mothma created the rebellion together. We have contacts in multiple systems now and have alliances with the Mon Calamarians and the Wookies. But we're at a standstill at the moment. Not many people want to go against the Empire. They're too afraid.'
'Master Obi-wan.'
While leaning on the hologram projector in the centre of the room, the Kenobi looked to the door at the call of his name. The familiar face of Revan Shan greeted him and he pushed himself off the projector to bring him into a friendly embrace. With an equally as wide smile that he had showed Padme, Obi-wan pulled back to look at the Shan in his entirety.
'Maker, you've grown,' Obi-wan said, clapping his hand against the side of Revan's arm. 'Is that a ponytail I see?'
'I seem to recall you had a mullet at one point, Master Kenobi.'
Obi-wan laughed and Revan let out a small snicker. In a short pause, Obi-wan noticed the dull shade in Revan's dark eyes, and saw the lines that stretched underneath them. Although it had been some time since the two had seen each other, Obi-wan couldn't help but notice a subdued aura around Revan and in his appearance. He remembered Revan Shan always smiling and making jokes that made even made Master Mace Windu chuckle.
During the Jedi Temple's fall, Revan held his head high and acted as Sol's support when she lost Anakin to the dark side. The Shan was a cool, collected, and content man, but the Jedi who stood in front of Obi-wan looked tired, rundown, and unhappy.
'Good afternoon, sir. I thought I should introduce myself,' Obi-wan's attention was drawn from Revan to the gold protocol droid who entered the room. 'I am C3-PO, human cyborg relations-'
'Threepio! What a surprise!'
Obi-wan stepped forward to embrace the droid, but when C3-PO stepped backwards, the Jedi stopped. His grin changed to an expression of confusion and Obi-wan was left standing with his arms still outstretched for an embrace. C3-PO said nothing as he was, once again, being greeted as if he wasn't a stranger. At a stiff turn to look at Padme, C3-PO let out a series of confused 'oh's and 'um's at the awkwardness.
'I'm sorry, sir, but I don't believe that we know each other?' he said and Obi-wan looked down at the black device that was on the droid's chest plate. Realisation dawned on the man, and he looked over his shoulder at Padme, who looked down with her bottom lip between her teeth. This confirmed Obi-wan's assumptions and he swallowed dryly with a small ache in his chest.
'Right, sorry, Threepio. I am Obi-wan Kenobi, an old friend of Senator Amidala's,' he said, masking his sadness and putting his hand out for a shake instead.
'A pleasure to meet you, Mr Kenobi.'
While C3-PO performed a stiff handshake, Obi-wan pressed his lips together with a heavy brow. To hear the droid address him so formally was painful, and knowing that C3-PO didn't remember anything from before the Empire was a sad tale. Obi-wan met the droid when he was just a Padawan, and he had met Anakin at the same time when he was just a boy. There was so much history that Obi-wan looked back on fondly, yet C3-PO thought of Obi-wan as nothing but a very friendly stranger.
'Obi-wan! You're here!'
R2-D2 rolled into the room and stopped beside C3-PO. At his entrance, Obi-wan looked down and let another grin take over his face. At least R2 remembered him.
'Hello, Artoo. I trust your keeping well while not being in a desert.'
'Of course! I would pick ice and trees over sand on any day!'
Obi-wan smiled at R2's whistles before he looked up to the group that had gathered in the room. It felt so familiar to be with Ahsoka and Revan, and seeing Padme standing at the hologram in her extravagant attire brought a sense of nostalgia to the Jedi Master. It was as if no time had passed since the fall of the Republic. Although C3-PO didn't remember anything, his appearance next to R2 made Obi-wan feel as if Order 66 had never happened, and that the galaxy was at peace.
But there was an absence that Obi-wan couldn't ignore. While Ahsoka and Revan stood without smiles, and Padme looked at a hologram of the core system, Obi-wan knew why it was impossible to be ignorant. Sol was missing from the room, and it was painfully obvious.
Without her bright, purple eyes, and her smooth voice that knew when to be daring and when to be serious, the rebel base felt empty. Sol should be helping the Resistance in bringing down the Empire, but she was stuck on an Imperial star destroyer in the core.
Not only was Sol's presence missed by everyone, but Obi-wan dared to wish that Anakin was also present.
He could see him now, on the other side of the projector, with his strong gaze centred on the hologram. Anakin would be in his dark robes with his curly hair just as it was in Obi-wan's memories, and his scar would still be prominent on the side of his face. Anakin would glance to his left, where Sol stood, and would send her a smile that he only ever showed her. They would exchange sparkling eyes, before they would turn to Padme, who was busy explaining tactics to bring down the Emperor. At the thought, it made Obi-wan feel foolish for missing all the small looks and smiles that Sol and Anakin shared within the Order. Now, he wished that he had noticed, rather than dwelling on it after the fact.
'We think that the destroyer that's just outside the Alderaan system is the one we're looking for,' Padme regrouped everyone to move forward with their rescue mission. 'Organa said that it was hovering around Coruscant for a while but has since moved. He believes that it belongs to the Imperial war lord, Admiral Thrawn.'
Ahsoka and Revan stiffened in their places and Obi-wan noticed. But at the look they exchanged, he thought better than to ask about their history with the war lord. Instead, Obi-wan looked back to the hologram and watched as Padme pressed a button to zoom in to the Alderaan system.
'Sol's starfighter sent out its distress signal here,' Padme pointed to a space. 'We can assume that the destroyer's moved since then, but we can send for another signal once we're close enough. That way, we'll know what ship Sol is on, and then find a way to get into its hanger.'
While the group discussed their plans, members of the Resistance went about their duties in the base. Screens were analysed and ships were maintained by mechanics and droids. The attack on the star destroyer had ruptured some engines and damaged some hyperdrives, but the rebels' spirits hadn't been hindered. With a new base came a new angle and a new opportunity to bring down the Empire. The Resistance was still strong and Yavin 4 could be where the new Republic finds its foundations.
In the hanger, Ahsoka's T6 ship was left stationary. The landing ramp remained down, and mechanics and droids walked past discussing ship parts and recalibrating scanners. They didn't turn their heads towards the T6, meaning they didn't notice the two heads that peered down the landing ramp.
Two pairs of eyes watched the many different species pass in their orange jumpsuits and with helmets under their arms. They wore clothes that the two had never seen before and the many starships that were docked in the hanger were beyond anything they had ever seen on Tatooine.
From the hull of the T6, they could feel the light breeze that travelled in from the jungle outside. At the smell of distant rain and foreign soil, they breathed in the wonders of a new world. After experiencing their first journey of space travel, the stowaways were in a state of awe at being so far from home. They had never left Tatooine's deserts, and to see a whole new planet was exciting for two five-year-olds.
'This is astral! Look at all those x-wings!' Luke cried with a pointing finger. His blue eyes were bright and constantly moving around the hanger, while Leia watched passing rebels with wary glances.
'It smells funny here...' Leia mumbled. 'Luke, I don't think we should be here-'
'What?! This was your idea, Leia!'
'I know, but...'
Leia felt uneasy while hiding in the hull of Ahsoka's ship. She and her brother had sneaked onto the T6 after their Uncle Obi-wan and Aunty Ahsoka were setting up to depart from Tatooine. Uncle Owen and Aunty Beru thought that the twins were tucked up in bed in the complex, but in reality, Luke and Leia had slipped outside. Without being seen, the two ran up the ramp of the ship before it retreated into its belly. While Luke gawked at the gun room, Leia found a cupboard where they could hide for the duration of the journey.
'I don't see Mum...'
'Maybe she's not here. Maybe that's why Uncle Obi was so worried.'
While Leia was beginning to regret sneaking onto the ship, the girl was the first to slowly make her way down the landing ramp. Her brown hair had been wrapped around her ears in a pair of buns and her purple eyes looked left and right. In her white robes, Leia tried to hide behind the beams that lowered the ramp. The many species that walked past were still yet to notice her and it made Luke step out of the hull to follow his sister.
'Do you think Artoo is here? Maybe he could help us-'
Luke stopped in his suggestion as he turned to look back towards a particularly cool x-wing. But standing beside the landing ramp, with her hands on her hips and her blue eyes piercing, was a disappointed Ahsoka Tano.
At Luke's unusual pause, Leia turned and froze at the sight of their aunty. The twins were caught, and they stood with their arms hung by their sides and their eyes wide in panic. Luke and Leia shrunk under the woman's intense stare and saw a side of their aunty that they never had the misfortune to experience. It made their stomachs plummet, and their knees shake, and as twins, they wondered how they could blame each other in their desperate plea for forgiveness.
'What, in the Maker's galaxy, are you two doing here?!' Ahsoka cried in disbelief and growing anger. 'You two are in so much trouble!'
'Oh, dosh...' Leia cursed under her breath.
---
Sol sat on the edge of her bed in her cell. With her elbows on her knees, she balanced her chin on the palm of her open hand. Her eyes were trained on the opposite wall and her head was aching with a rush of jumbled thoughts. She didn't know if it was time for her to sleep, or if it was coming up to the time for a meal. Sol wasn't tired or hungry, so she had nothing to do but to ponder the day's events.
Sol and Vader had kissed just like they did before the Empire. Sol had been intoxicated by the way Vader felt like Anakin, and was in a state of bliss at his touches to her face and waist. Vader had reminded Sol of a time with Anakin, a time that was filled with love and hope. Sol felt like she was loved and cared for again, and she had let Vader expose her to how the dark side can deceive and manipulate her.
What she hated most about the kiss was the fact that it lingered on her lips. The way Vader's nose brushed against hers was something she longed to feel again, and the closeness of his body overcame every logical sense that Sol had. If Vader hovered over Sol again with his yellow eyes, and grabbed her waist like he had done, Sol wasn't sure if she would be able to resist him.
Sol couldn't let it happen again. The dark side was cunning in its ways of changing people. It was how Anakin fell into its clutches at the promise of unlimited power. If Sol didn't resist Vader, she could find herself falling for the dark side and would see her Force signature darken. If she longed for Anakin that badly, Sol could fall for the dark side's offer for a life with Vader instead.
Sol had to remember that Luke and Leia were waiting for her. They needed their mother, and if Sol became a Sith so that she could be with who she thought was Anakin, Sol could never let herself go near them again. They would spend the rest of their lives on Tatooine wondering what happened to her. While Obi-wan would see the new Sith apprentice beside Darth Vader, and know that Sol had been lost to the dark side of the Force.
'You are forgetting your destiny, Sol.'
The woman's eyebrow twitched in slight annoyance. With all her troubles, Sol did not need a repeated lecture from Satele. But with clenched teeth, Sol looked from the wall to the Force ghost that stood in her cell.
With the same blue glow and icy eyes, Satele Shan looked down at her descendant from the cell's corner. Satele had been present throughout Sol's interactions with Darth Vader, and she had interfered when Sol slipped too close to the dark side's reaches. A Force ghost shouldn't interrupt linear events, but sometimes, the Force required a shift when things were straying from the greater destiny.
'You are the light,' Satele said. 'Use it. It's what you are-'
'I know, okay?! I know, Satele! I just-'
'Hey! Keep it down in there, you Jedi loony!' a voice called from outside the cell. Sol sensed the weak signature of a storm trooper and resisted the urge to throw an insult through the door. It must have been strange for the soldier to hear Sol screaming at herself, and without a connection to the Force, the storm trooper had no idea that Sol was actually talking to her ancestor in ghost form.
Sol looked away from the cell door but saw that Satele had disappeared. Infuriatingly, the ghost had left without giving Sol any new guidance or information on how to escape. She was left to her thoughts, but this time, she remembered the words that Satele repeated every time she appeared to Sol.
Her destiny was to guide those to the light. Perhaps Sol could remind Vader of Anakin Skywalker, and why Sol fell in love with him in the first place.
In her cell, Sol made a promise to herself. She decided that she would take a new approach with Darth Vader. When Vader would try and deceive her, she would use his own methods against him. The light side of the Force had a way of enlightening its users, and even now, Sol believed that there was still hope for Vader. He had not completely succumbed to the dark side like Emperor Palpatine had. There was still good in him, but the dark side had encircled him so that he couldn't see what was still possible.
With the light side of the Force, Sol would show Vader that the dark was thin, and that the light would welcome him back if he chose to follow it.