#possibly an inquisitor turns... maybe the inquisitor is mara jade? that could be super fun

[lukeleiahan]

Watched OWK and now I can't help but think about an AU where Obi-Wan does kill Vader after their last duell.

It's the hardest decision he's ever had to make.

Vader says that he killed Anakin, and Obi-Wan...

Obi-Wan believes him.

Maybe it's just that he needs to believe it, maybe it's just selfishness, but he does believe it.

And if Anakin is dead, truly dead, then Vader is nothing but an enemy.

Obi-Wan never wanted to be soldier, but the Clone Wars made a very good one out of him. He knows what to do with enemies.

Especially enemies that threaten two most important children just by existing.

It's just one swipe with his lightsaber, targeted to the neck. Vader doesn't even scream.

(Obi-Wan will wonder, for the rest of his days. Was this Vader, in his last moments, or was that Anakin, granting Obi-Wan peace? Would there have been a way to save him after all? It eats him, quietly, sometimes. But he is a soldier. And soldiers kill their enemies.)

He wants to bury him. It's Anakin's body as well, after all. But then he feels Luke's terror, and that's that.

After, he goes back. Anakin hated Tatooine, never ever wanted to return there. It would be cruel to bury him there. And no civilized world would want Vader. So he buries him there, on that small moon, under rocks. He doesn't mark the place.

He returns Lola to Leia, tells Bail of the Path, and then goes back to Tatooine. He meets Luke. He finds Qui-Gon. It's enough.

He thinks of telling Bail and Breha, of telling Owen and Beru. Of telling them what happened to Anakin. Of telling them Vader's dead. But what would that accomplish? It's over. It doesn't matter who Vader's first victim was. And so he doesn't.

Nine years later, he does not die aboard the Death Star. He guides the twins to safety. He holds them both as they grieve their families.

And once the battle is over, he sits them down.

"Let me tell you a story." He says.

#obi wan kenobi #i wanted to make this like super long #but i actually realized... killing vader doesn't accomplish that much in the greater picture? #like yes #the twins are safer and obi-wan is safer #and there's a good number of people who aren't murdered by vader #but like in the big picture #vader really was just palpatines attack dog #he can fairly easily be replaced by a generic inquisitor #just give that inquisitor the info that vader was anakin and you can have esb #it won't quite have the emotional impact but it's close enough especially with the twins knowing a bit more #they'd feel so betrayed by obi-wan #it's really only rotj where you have to start changing things seriously #i feel like that's where obi-wan dies in this one #like the twins and him go confront palpatine and obi-wan doesn't make it but the twins do #possibly an inquisitor turns... maybe the inquisitor is mara jade? that could be super fun #and instead of her it's obi-wan that dies that could work #i also wanted to save bail and breha #and owen and beru #but i felt like this is a good ending #master sass #au #my writing