Keeping the High Ground by Pyxelle (G)

[malabud.livejournal.com]

Fandom: STAR WARS OT
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2,500 words
Author on LJ: pyxelle
Author Website: Pyxelle, Pyxelle's Fanfiction.net Profile

Why this must be read:

I seem to be reccing a lot of fics this month that deal with the complicated relationships between masters and apprentices: Dooku and Qui-Gon, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan and Anakin. Now I have Obi-Wan (aka Old Ben) and Luke.

Obi-Wan had precious little time to train Luke. After taking years to train the father, he had only a few days at most with the son. As he and Luke converse on the trip to Alderaan, Obi-Wan's thoughts drift back to a particular lesson he taught Anakin -- the value of keeping the high ground.

This is a short fic, and it fits nicely into canon continuity. Obi-Wan's words to Anakin just before he cut off Anakin's remaining limbs gain more significance after reading this story. This fic is mostly Obi-Wan-focused, and Obi-Wan's voice is especially accurate. He blames himself for Anakin's fall, and he manages to conceal and reveal a great deal of information all at the same time in his conversation with Luke. Highly recommended.

* * *

"Ben... I've been meaning to ask you something."

Luke fiddled with the battered lightsaber in his hands as Ben looked at him from across the Falcon's small common cabin. "From your tone of voice, I would have to say your question has nothing to do with the meditations I'm trying to teach you."

Luke laughed a little, dropping his eyes. "No, not really."

"Well, then I suppose you should ask, Luke," Ben told him. "I can sense your mind is troubled, and meditation is rarely aided by the amount of squirming you were doing. What is it you want to ask?"

Now that he had permission, Luke found it difficult to speak. It took a moment before he found the words.

"Ben... please don't be offended," Luke began with hesitancy, "but I have to know. You told me that Darth Vader was once a student of yours."

Ben sighed and nodded, his face very grave. "Yes, he was. He was my padawan learner -- my apprentice -- from the time he was a very small boy."

"It's hard to think of Vader as a boy," Luke said, trying to picture it, and he laughed despite himself. Ben looked at him soberly, and Luke quieted. "I'm sorry. It's just... well, I just get this absurd picture in my head of Vader just as he is, only much shorter and with a schoolsack slung over his shoulder."

"Ah," Ben said, "I see."

"I'm sorry, really I am, I wasn't trying to make light of it," Luke said, hoping he hadn't insulted the old Jedi. "I mean, I realize that he once was human, but it's impossible for me to picture.”

"I understand," Ben said. "Knowing what Vader has become is not the same as knowing what Vader is now. I know his past, so I see him very differently from you, I imagine."

"I'm sure you do," Luke said, looking at the lightsaber Ben had given him and absently playing with it. Your father wanted you to have this, when you were old enough, he remembered Ben saying.

His father would have been able to give it to Luke himself if Darth Vader hadn't killed him. "Ben... What was he like? Darth Vader... before he turned to the Dark side, I mean."

Keeping the High Ground