Obi-Wan finds himself of two minds now, having been with the twins and their mother since their birth, having helped shoulder even part of the responsibility of taking care of them. He understands why the younglings were taken from their families as infants to be raised by the Order, has seen - is living - the consequences of trying to train someone who's already formed emotional attachments to caregivers, friends and places.
Even as a trained Jedi Master, he would find it extremely difficult to give the twins up to the creche, and they aren't even his children.
... if the creche were still there. If Anakin hadn't--
"Uncle Obi-Wan," he murmurs, chuckling softly at the idea. But that gets him thinking about when they're older, but not old enough yet to understand how to keep things secret. "No. Perhaps it should be 'Uncle Ben.' Obi-Wan... I think Obi-Wan should be laid to rest. With the other ghosts of the past. When the younglings were learning to talk, they often called me Ben as a nickname. I wouldn't mind becoming Ben full-time."
It's not exactly a new start, but he feels good about the idea. A small weight, but a weight nonetheless, lifted off his shoulders. He's not a Jedi Master anymore; the Jedi are dead. Now he's just the honorary uncle to two small children who need him, and companion to their mother, whom he needs as much as she might need him.
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And it's not as if the younglings aren't cared for, aren't nurtured until they're old enough to start the Force games that are the foundation for learning to be a Jedi. But it's true, no one caregiver puts a single child above the others; he'd never felt the unconditional love from any of them that he sees in Padmé, even now when they're away from the babies.
Even as a trained Jedi Master, he would find it extremely difficult to give the twins up to the creche, and they aren't even his children.
... if the creche were still there. If Anakin hadn't--
"Uncle Obi-Wan," he murmurs, chuckling softly at the idea. But that gets him thinking about when they're older, but not old enough yet to understand how to keep things secret. "No. Perhaps it should be 'Uncle Ben.' Obi-Wan... I think Obi-Wan should be laid to rest. With the other ghosts of the past. When the younglings were learning to talk, they often called me Ben as a nickname. I wouldn't mind becoming Ben full-time."
It's not exactly a new start, but he feels good about the idea. A small weight, but a weight nonetheless, lifted off his shoulders. He's not a Jedi Master anymore; the Jedi are dead. Now he's just the honorary uncle to two small children who need him, and companion to their mother, whom he needs as much as she might need him.