13 Jul 1999

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I walked through the swamp carefully, carrying young Luke Skywalker on
my back. He was asleep, breathing easily although the air here was not
what he was used to. I wouldn't have blamed him for crying, torn away
from his mother like this.

"Obi-Wan." The voice came from the side, and I turned towards it.

"Master Yoda."

"Brought the boy, have you?"

"Yes."

"Tell me why, you will." He stomped away, avoiding the vines and roots
as nimbly as if he were a mere century old. I followed him to the small
hovel he'd made for himself and crawled inside, cradling Luke against my
chest so I wouldn't bump him.

Without waiting for Yoda to ask again, I began to speak, remembering when
I was a student at the Academy and he would rap my knuckles with his
stick if I took too long at a task. "Amidala had twins, a girl and this
boy. Ana--Vader might find her, might kill the children, or take them
and raise them to be...what he is."

"Lying to me, you are."

"Master!"

"See through you, I do."

I sighed and looked down at Luke. "And...I think we should raise them
apart. Partly to hide them from him, but also...if they don't know
they're siblings, we can breed them later."

There. It was out in the open, and Yoda was frowning.

"Twins? Think you that we will be able to breed twins?"

Luke reached up and wrapped his hand around one of my fingers. "We've
separated them young. They might never be able to identify each other."

"Shared a womb, they did!"

"We've bred siblings before, Master Yoda."

"Twins, they are. Know each other already, they do."

"Yoda, I will try."

He sighed and looked away. "Like your Master, you are, Obi-Wan."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. Kept you alive, it has. Qui-Gon's devious ways you have!"

"He is my Master."

Yoda shot me that look--the one he always shot me when I spoke of
Qui-Gon in the present tense. I replied the way I always did, with
silence.

We sat that way for a while. Finally, he spoke again.

"Train the boy, will you?"

I shook my head. "Too risky. I'm taking him to Tatooine to live with
my brother. When he's old enough, I'll put him in Leia's path and see
what happens. With luck, they'll marry, and I'll train the children."

"Old you will be. Old I will be, before then. Think you we will live
to train them?"

"It's a chance we will have to take, Yoda."

He tapped his stick against my arm. "Twins, they are. A dangerous
plan, this is, Obi-Wan."

"It's the best plan we have."

The silence descended again, but this time it was I who broke it.
"Master Yoda, I know we've had problems breeding twins before, because
they come to know each other so well in the womb. But we've never
separated them this young before. And...even if this fails, I know of
some clone-beds I can use. I have Anakin's genetic material on
file--but I'd rather not do that. Not when I can do this."

He frowned. "Do what you must, Obi-Wan. But remember my warnings, you
will."

"Always, Master Yoda."

He took the child from me and studied him, his eyes intent. "Eat,
Obi-Wan. Stew I made, for you. Qui-Gon's recipe it is."

I found a bowl and ladled myself out some stew. It was delicious, and I
ate three bowls of it while Yoda played with young Luke, and then I
curled up on the floor and went to sleep.

When I woke, Luke was sleeping next to me, and Yoda was snoring on his
couch. I touched Luke gently with the Force, and found that he had been
fed and cleaned. I picked him up and tucked him into the carrying pack,
and crawled over to Yoda's side. He opened one eye and watched me
sleepily.

"We have our differences, Master Yoda, but we have the same goals. We
should not be divided on this."

"Divided we are, Obi-Wan." He closed the eye and turned on his side.
"Train the boy, you should."

I bowed my head and touched his shoulder. "I cannot do that, Yoda."

"A master Jedi you are, Obi-Wan. A good master."

"Not good enough."

"There, also, divided we are. Not your fault that Anakin turned. A
slave he was; a slave he is now."

"I will not train the boy."

He was silent, and I waited, but after a while I knew he'd gone back to
sleep. I gathered Luke to me and left for Tatooine.

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The End