Saga A Father's Lament. post-ROTS. Angst.

Title: A Father?s Lament
Author(s): Valairy Scot
Timeframe: post ROTS
Characters: Obi-Wan?s birth father
Genre: vignette
Summary: Obi-Wan?s birth father?s reflects on the son he never knew, killed in the Jedi purges,
Notes: This is a companion piece to a Mother?s Prayer. They are not meant to reflect the different viewpoints of the same couple, but the different views of a possible father and a possible mother. Only the facts of the parentage remain the same, but the inspiration came at the same time (another story, yet unwritten) and resulted in these two different, yet similar, stories.


A Father's Lament


I?ve heard it whispered that the females of our species are weak, except when forced to protect their young. I was inclined to think there was some truth to it, until the day my son, you, were taken away.

Jeanna and I were thrilled when she got pregnant. We had married somewhat late in life ? nearly in our 30?s. We were comfortable, and content with our jobs and datapads. I was a Healer, teaching at the academy. Jeanna taught the young ones, caught between childhood and adulthood. We were happy.

After a bout with what we first thought was bad food (yes, your mother was never much of a cook); we were overjoyed to find out we were expecting our own little bundle of joy. Our prior lives were as nothing, compared to this joy. We had thought, Jeanna and I, that we could not have children, and had settled in to a quiet life. My students, hers, became our surrogate children.

I, of course, hoped for a son. Oh, not because a male was needed to perpetuate the family line or any of that nonsense. No, I wanted a son because, in a way, he would be, well, like me. Jeanna said she didn?t care, as long as the baby was healthy and happy. We both hoped that for our child, of course, I especially hoping he ? or she ? would be less injury-prone as I had been in my youth.

I think that?s why I became a Healer ? I had practically grown up among them. I had broken so many bones, gotten sick on so many things, that I knew almost as much as a licensed Healer when I went for training.

You never made your mother very sick, though you were quite the little kicker. The way your mother?s tummy danced, there towards the end, oh, how I smiled. Your mother, well, she was not amused at my amusement. But she never was upset with you.

The proudest day of my life was when you were born. You didn?t take long to arrive, and you didn?t especially cry. You seemed to know what was important ? food and you were quite demanding. If I may say so, son, you were extremely fussy when hungry, but rarely otherwise. I wonder if that remains true in your life.

We were terribly happy, and even more so when Jeanna got pregnant with your brother. You were only five months old. You see, son, we were so pleased with you, that we just could not hold back. We wanted more children. Well, ahem, you probably don?t care about that.

Your mother had brought you in for some shots and to show you off to my colleagues, of course. Son, you scared the heck out of me with your protests. You squirmed so hard, and squalled so loud, that half the healers came to see what was the matter. While we had you there, my colleagues were so enthralled with you (once you shut up), they decided to keep you about for a while and run some random tests on you. I didn?t mind. They weren?t painful tests, for the most part, though taking a blood sample set you off again.

I wish we had never run those tests. If not for that, you would be here, and I wouldn?t be reminiscing here like someday you could read these words from your father.

You had Force potential. A Kenobi, beat that. We had always admired and respected the Jedi on our world; those that came through occasionally were always pleasant and well-spoken. Nice folk, if a little unemotional. But your great-grandma had been friends with a Jedi once, and she always told us the Jedi were well-controlled with t

 

Valairy_Scot wrote: Your mother, well, she was not amused at my amusement.

my colleagues were so enthralled with you (once you shut up),

When I die, only then, my son, will you be truly lost to this world.

Good work. The poor guy, thinking his son was dead when he realy wasn't (not then anyway)

That was a good read.

 

Wow. This just made . . . my heart hurt. Thinking about Obi-Wan's parents always does that do me, but you did it so much better than I've ever seen before. You gave his father so much personality, so much life--it actually made my eyes well up to think about how much he cared for the son he hadn't seen since he was a baby. It is a rare gift to be able to lead a reader to form such empathy and attachment to a character in such a short piece of writing.

Here's some flowers-- . You deserve them.

 

This was absolutely gorgeous, Padawan!

After a bout with what we first thought was bad food (yes, your mother was never much of a cook); we were overjoyed to find out we were expecting our own little bundle of joy. Our prior lives were as nothing, compared to this joy. We had thought, Jeanna and I, that we could not have children, and had settled in to a quiet life. My students, hers, became our surrogate children.

The thing I loved about this was that your OCs were so well done. They were real, human, with all the fragility and strength of normal people.

Lovely!

 

Sakura, such words from such a talented writer as you - you are truly amazing - really mean a lot to me. Thank you.

Hi Master, Thank you!

Healer_Leona, glad I made you sad. That was the point, hee hee. I was feeling angsty last night. Comes from staying up way too late working on a story that I am. Writing before sleep, I say!

 

You seemed to know what was important ? food



I love that little bit of humor....

Great job on this

 

Beautiful and touching. Well done!

 

So, so touching. I like Obi-wan's dad.