Two Halfs of One Warrior • Obikin/Vaderwan One-Shots

Secrets Revealed

• Summary: Canon Divergence: When Luke joins the Imperial Academy, Obi-Wan goes a little mad with grief, and decides to rid himself of the heavy thing in his chest that has caused him so much pain over his lifetime.

💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚

Despondent, Obi-Wan had finally gotten rid of the blasted thing. It took him years, a decade, of research to figure out what he needed to do but finally he found someone. It was risky to go to the depths of Coruscant with the Empire in total control, but so many years alone on Tatooine had driven him more than a little mad. 

Years watching over that boy, Anakin's son, the only family he had left, only for the Empire to take him away. Luke had up and joined the Imperial Academy, and Obi-Wan lost all sense of meaning and time. 

Vader would have him, and if Luke didn't die, then he would be turned and join Palpatine and Anakin in their conquest of the galaxy. 

So, Obi-Wan stood before the strange old woman, her hand over his chest and he tried not to laugh. He tried not to cry. 

"I've seen it all, lad, don't worry," she said, soothing even though she looked like a creature from the depths of hell itself. A witch, unlike the ones of Dathomir and more like the ones of fairy tales that small children read. Things he had only ever heard in passing but never believed in. 

Well, as his chest stopped aching and the woman stepped back, a red thing in her hands, Obi-Wan believed. And he also laughed with relief. Because it was gone. The heavy thing in his chest, the heartbreak of watching his love fall and pledge himself to another, the death of Padme, Satine, all of it. 

It was gone. 

Even Luke didn't matter anymore, and he felt light. 

"You will never love another again," she cautioned, hand clawed around the beating muscle. Obi-Wan smiled at her. 

"Good." And he walked away. Maybe now he could do what he needed for the galaxy. Kill Vader, his son if he had turned, and that thing who called himself a politician for so long. Obi-Wan never had liked politicians. 

The best part of it all, was if he failed, he wouldn’t feel anything about it. 

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

Vader sat in his meditation chamber; eyes closed as he reached out. Over the years he had coveted the life force that was Kenobi possessively. Palpatine dared not mention it, as much as the emperor wanted to see Vader in pain, he knew better than to invoke the name of his old master, given the ferocity of Vader’s anger surrounding the man. 

Obi-Wan's life force was there, but strange; altered. He was different now, and Vader made a noise of curiosity. What had happened? Coruscant, he wasn't far from there. He could probably still get there and follow the old man's trail, find out what he'd done. Yes. He would do that. 

Ignoring reporting to Palpatine—he had plans to rid himself of that loathsome worm—Vader went to the hangar bay and guided his shuttle to Coruscant. He landed, and followed Obi-Wan's signature, something odd screaming at the back of his skull the whole time. Strange that he would come here. 

He arrived before a broken-down old shack and heedless of the sign on the door warning away visitors, he pulled the door open and strode in. Eyes hidden behind a black mask scanned the room, never missing a point of interest until they settled on an old woman, hunched in the corner over something. She looked up, and a knowing expression passed over her face. 

"Hm," she noised as Vader raised a hand. She stood before he could grab her throat, wind the force about it and end her life, and Vader paused a moment. "I have what you want." 

It was red, and still warm to the touch as she laid it in his hands. Vader grimaced but took it, holding it up toward his mask. 

"I believe this will end so much," she whispered, and then a moment later, Vader realised she had disappeared. There was no trace, not even a sense that she had been there, as a lamp died in the corner. 

Vader’s gaze returned to the red thing in his hands, its life fluttering weakly, and he peered at it until he lost all track of time, using the force to probe at the muscle. 

Obi-Wan's heart. 

Vader closed leather gloved fingers about it as it beat, and he then shut his eyes as feelings washed over him. Emotions. A lifetime of grief, and pain, but also love and wonder. A lifetime of... 

"Anakin." 

Vader turned as he heard the voice, and he didn't recoil from the blue light that arced into existence. The love, the pride, the grief, the pain, all of it. They were all Obi-Wan's emotions surrounding him, and him alone. 

Love... so much love. 

He held the heart close to him, protecting it, as Obi-Wan glared, and Vader was struck by how much time had passed. Had it really been so long that he almost didn't recognise his old master anymore? 

"Why did you keep it a secret?" Vader asked, throwing out a hand and stopping the downward swing of the lightsaber with the force, his other hand holding the heart close to his chest. 

"It was never a secret, Anakin, you just chose not to listen..." Vader shoved Obi-Wan back, and he saw it then. The flash of gold as Obi-Wan's eyes shifted. 

A Sith without a heart; a Sith who didn't rely on passion, only anger. Hate. Obi-Wan was cold, clinical, no longer held back by his heart. 

And for the first time in many years, Vader felt afraid.