#mace windu encourages hydration

[rat-pagi]

There's this one scene in the 2003 Jedi Star Wars where Mace Windu returns from a hard fight to get a water bottle from a kid, and now I imagine a poster like this up in every creche classroom

[reydjarinkenobi]

Scales and Fins

For Day 6 of codywanweek 2020

Link to archive of our own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25651141

Cody knew that General Kenobi was not quite human.

 Not that that was very surprising or disturbing. Many planets developed quirks that set their inhabitants apart from the rest of the galaxy, and most of them were mainly apparent through dietary requirements.

For General Kenobi, it was water. He needed much more if than the average human. Cody knew this because he overheard General Skywalker reminding the general of this fact very often. Cody, himself, had picked up the former padawan's habit of shoving a bottle of the liquid into his general's hands whenever they were free.

Most of the time, the general would drink it absentmindedly as he worked. If the general knew that supplies were short, he would try and ration it, glancing at it every so often like a spice addict teased with a fix but not allowed to take a hit.

 The one indulgence his general would allow was longer showers than was strictly necessary to get clean. He would always duck his head if Cody would have to wait for him in his room to give a debrief, or blush if his hair was still damp when they met up on the bridge.

 But Cody didn't mind.

 As quirks went, needing extra water and liking showers was pretty manageable. Cody wouldn't begrudge his general such a simple comfort.

 The first time it became an issue was when their transport crashed on a desert planet.

 They'd been coming back from a stealth mission that only involved a part of the Ghost Company when their engines had failed. They'd been forced to land on the closest planet before they blew up. It turned out that some scavengers on the planet they'd done their mission on had stolen irreplaceable parts of their engine.

 They wouldn't be going anywhere in that ship. Not without it exploding.

 "We'll have to ration water, sir," Waxer informed them and Cody felt his gut twist at the confirmation of his fears.

 His general didn't react outwardly but Cody could see his held back dismay in the stiff set of his jaw.

 "If we stick to a strict schedule, we should all be able to last a week," Waxer explained.

 The general nodded. "Good, General Windu said he would be here within the next seven days, so we just need to hunker down and wait."

 As the general walked off to help with the camp set up, Cody and Waxer exchanged a worried glance, foreboding twisting their insides.

 The first day was fine.

 They really didn't have anything to do, since their transport had been to ferry them between the Negotiator and their spot. It was only just big enough for bunks and emergency supplies. They were hesitant to use the power, saving it for communications, especially since both the fuel lines and the cooling systems had been compromised.

 It was too hot to do much of anything, but thankfully, Shotglass always carried a deck of cards on him, so the troopers that got bored of laying around, would huddle together under the shade they'd erected and either participate or watch a game.

 The general spent most of the day completing paperwork he'd convinced Master Windu to send to the ship's datapad, sitting almost motionless against the side of the ship, allowing it shield him from the sun.

 He perhaps looked a little more tired than usual.

 The second day was a different story.

 Everyone was starting to feel the effects of the rationing, the irritability and lethargy not helped by the intense, unrelenting heat, but the General looked especially bad. His lips were chapped and his skin looked dry. It also didn't escape Cody's notice that he'd been trying to move as little as possible.

 Cody sat next to him at around midday when the sun was the highest. The general had been staring blankly at the same screen for some time.

 He silently offered the general his bottle, which was still held about a quarter of his meagre rations.

 The general frowned. "I couldn't, Cody. You need that water."

 Cody pursed his lips. "Your file says that you need more water than a baseline human, sir."

 "Yes, usually I do," the general conceded, "but in extreme cases such as this, I am able to use the Force to tide me over until such a time that I have access to more. No, I will not be taking a larger ration than my men when we all need water desperately. If anything, I should be taking less."

 Cody restrained a huff and fell silent. He didn't want to encourage him.

 When Cody handed General Kenobi his water rations and breakfast on the fourth day, he almost gasped. The general's skin was beginning to flake, his skin impossibly pale.

 "I thought you hadn't gone into the sun?" Cody couldn't quite keep the accusatory tone out of his voice.

 General Kenobi glanced up, blinking tiredly. "Don't worry, Cody, I haven't. This is… a standard reaction to restricted water supplies for me."

 "General."

 "There's not much we can do about it, Cody. I'm going to spend most of the day in meditation, so I'm afraid I won't be of much help to you or the men."

 Cody sighed, feeling his stomach roll. "That's alright, sir. We can manage. Everyone's too tired to get into trouble anyway. Just… stay alive."

 "I assure you, Commander, I am trying."

 By the time General Windu got there, at the eve of their sixth day on planet, the general could barely stand. The Korun Jedi strode off his landing ship and scooped General Kenobi up into his arms before the younger Jedi could attempt to walk, hugging him tightly to his chest.

 "Mace," the general said, the roughness of his voice undermining all the effectiveness of his chastisement.

 "Shut it, Kenobi," the man practically growled. "We're going to inject some fluids into you and then you're going to spend the next two hours in the water shower, you hear me?"

 General Kenobi hummed. "That actually sounds quite nice."

 The next time Wolffe, Gree and Ponds dragged Cody out to 79's and got him drunk, Cody found himself swearing up and down that he saw General Windu's lips twitch.

 ----

 After that, Cody took extra care to make sure General Kenobi always had a glass or a bottle of water nearby.

 "I know what you're doing, Cody," the general murmured one evening when they were working together in the general's quarters.

 Cody had placed a glass of water beside the general's tea. He'd read in one of the news sites he had access to on his personal datapad allotted to him as a commander that tea wasn't nearly as hydrating as water.

 Cody raised his eyebrow as he clutched his own glass.

 "I don't know what you mean, General."

 General Kenobi's lips quirked as he looked at him. "It appears I have been a bad influence, Commander. Regardless, thank you. It's nice to know that you care."

 Cody felt his eyes drop under the weight of his general's sincerity.

 General Kenobi had always made sure to make Cody and his brothers feel like individuals and know that they were appreciated but he rarely got so personal with them.

 "It's alright, General. I just want to…"

 Make sure that General Kenobi never looked like he was disintegrating in front of his eyes again. But Cody didn't say that.

 "It's alright, Cody," the general said, thankfully. Cody wasn't sure how he was going to finish his sentence. "I understand that it can be distressing to see. Goodness knows I traumatised Anakin enough during his padawanship on the one mission where our water supply was destroyed."

 Cody swallowed. "I-"

 He was never usually this lost for words. Normally, Cody preferred not to talk if he could avoid it, and the general never forced him to, but he felt like he had to say something, to communicate some of his feelings.

 General Kenobi waited for him to finish, taking a sip of his water as he did, but smiled gently when Cody couldn't find the right words. "I appreciate the reminder, Commander. My… condition can be… inconvenient at times."

 Cody didn't ask just what variation of human the general was to make him so water reliant, though he wanted to.  Instead he gathered up all the serenity he could find, pushing it out.

 The general's drew back for a second, his expression crumpling as he furrowed his eyebrows. Then, he slowly turned to Cody and beamed.

 Cody was glad his general didn’t say anything about it, instead he just turned the datapad so that Cody could see it.

 "Now I was thinking…"

 ----

 It wasn't an issue again until they got captured.

 Cody didn't even really know how it had happened. They had been answering a distress beacon on an uninhabited planet. It was a simple civilian transport crash.

 He remembered getting to the crash site. And then nothing.

 He came to only to find himself chained to a wall with General Kenobi on the other side of the room and Boil, Waxer and Wooley beside him. All of them had been stripped of their armour.

 There was a shallow pool of water in one corner of the cell, about five metres away from the general, though it was murky with dust and dirt.

 Cody tugged on his chains, finding that if he pulled, more would come out of the wall and pool on the floor, giving him a greater range of movement around the cell.

 The movement drew the attention of General Kenobi, who had been meditating.

 "Ah, Cody," he greeted, his voice already raspy. Cody's eyes immediately zeroed in on the thick collar around General Kenobi's neck.

 So they couldn't count on any assistance from the Force.

 "How long have we been here?" Cody asked and the general frowned.

 "I've been awake for two hours now, but I think we may have been unconscious for some time."

 Cody grunted in acknowledgement, gears in his head already turning.

 Before they could continue their interaction, the door was slammed open, causing Wooley, Boil and Waxer to wake up.

 The man with oily black hair and pale skin smiled sharply at them as five of largely muscled goons filled the room, two of them dragging a large tank of water which came up to their hips behind them.

 General Kenobi twitched minutely, the equivalent of a horrified gasp on a less controlled man.

 "Ah," their captor said. "You're all finally awake. Good. That means it's time for business."

 The man looked directly at General Kenobi, taking a step forward so that he was standing over him.

 "Imagine our surprise when the famous General Kenobi got caught up in our humble little con. We'd thought we'd make a pretty penny from either the Separatists or the Republic, but, when we were observing you, we found something strange, and a simple blood test confirmed it for us."

 General Kenobi leaned back slightly, his face still impassive, but the captor's grin widened.

 He nodded and two of the men surged forward, grasping his arms and unlocking his shackles. The general struggled in their hold, to no avail as they literally tore his clothes off, causing Cody's heart to jump into his throat. Of all the horrors, Cody expected to experience, he never thought he would be forced to watch this.

 He let out a sigh of relief when instead of continuing to touch him, the men hauled him into the water, even as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

 The general thrashed, sticking his head up from the water.

 "I'm going to need you to turn, General," the man said, crossing his arms smugly.

 General Kenobi glared up at him.

 The man shrugged and waved his hand.

 The two goons grabbed the general's shoulders and forced his head under, one of them grabbing his head and turning it to face his troops.

 Another goon pulled out a blaster, pointing it directly at Wooley.

 "I'll only say this one more time," the man said, his voice dropping menacingly. "Turn or I let them shoot."

 The general bucked for only a second more before the fight drained out of him, his black flattening against the bottom of the tank as he squeezed his eyes shut.

 The goons let the general fall out of their hold at a wave of their leader's hands.

 And then the general's body shimmered. Literally.

 When asked about it later, Cody and the others would have trouble describing the sight they saw. It wasn't a long process, as the skin around his legs and waist blurred. Between one blink and the next, the general's legs were replaced by a long, scaled tale which floated gracefully in the water.

 The scales were a deep blue, which slowly faded to a brilliant turquoise towards the tips with a few of those lighter scales peppered around where his tail faded into his torso, cutting off just below his belly button.

 Cody was almost so distracted by the appendage - which was much longer than the general's legs had been, so long, in fact, that it had to curl and twist awkwardly to stay in the water - that he didn't notice the gills that opened up on General Kenobi's neck.

 The general glared up at their captor, his head still underwater.

 The man only grinned and a small wave of his hand at the two goons grabbing the general and pulling his torso out of the water, holding him still by squeezing his shoulders, one of them even encircling a hand around his neck. They captor withdrew a small device from his pocket, lining it up with Kenobi's back and firing it into him, causing the Jedi to buck as something was obviously planted into him.

 The goons dropped him and General Kenobi only barely caught himself on the bottom of the tank, the small flaps of skin on is neck rippling as he took a deep breath.

 And then one of the men smashed the kriffing glass.

 The action completely destroyed the tank, causing the general to spill out onto the ground, flailing as his tail tried and failed to be an effective limb on land. The goons grabbed General Kenobi, clamping his tale into a ring of metal that Cody hadn't had time to notice on the floor of the cell.

 The general didn't even fight as they drew the shackles out of the wall and rechained him, too busy gasping on the ground, his back arched as his gills quivered uselessly.

 "Ah yes," the man said, crouching down. "I understand that the transition to breathing outside of water can be… uncomfortable for a changed mermaid if they are caught unawares."

 Cody was unable to restrain his snarl at that and the man turned his sharp amusement to him.

 "Don't worry, Commander," the man said, patting the general's hair, a gesture that made Cody's blood boil. "It won't kill him. It is just an unpleasant experience. We have to keep the great High General off his toes, after all?"

 The man laughed at his own pun before he caressed the general's face. It took all of Cody's self-control not to fling himself across the room.

 Their captor noticed, his grin widening as he went on, "I'll be giving you just enough rations to keep you all alive until our buyer comes. After all, it's pretty obvious that it will be the easiest way to ensure the general's absolute obedience."

 He stood nodding at the goon that had previously had Wooley at blaster point.

 "Give the general a reminder of why it is in his best interest to comply, why don't you? It can be a gift for when his body teaches itself how to breathe again."

 The muscled man grinned and lunged towards Cody, ramming the butt of his blaster into Cody's cheekbone, causing Cody's vision to explode into stars. By the time he'd blinked them from his eyes, the group had left, leaving the clones and their general alone once again.

 "You alright, Codes?" Waxer asked and Cody waved his question away.

 "You've hit me harder, vod. I'm more worried about the general."

 They quickly made their way over to General Kenobi, their chains almost pulled taught as they knelt a mere metre away from him. They watched, helpless, as the general's gasps slowed and evened out, until his eyes refocused again.

 Of course, the first words out of the general's mouth were, "Cody, you're bleeding."

 Cody bit back a growl, keeping his voice smooth. "It's just a scratch general. Nothing compared to… this."

 The General pursed his lips, his gaze sliding off Cody's to settle on the ground near his knee.

 "Yes… I do apologise about not telling you about my race's… quirk. I do try not to advertise it.  As you can see, we are considered rather valuable and exotic in many circles and I didn't want to inadvertently put anyone in danger."

 "It's alright, general. I understand," Cody said quickly. He'd probably be more annoyed if he wasn't so worried. The general was breathing shallowly and his tail was twitching, though it couldn't move much because of its restraints.

 The general pushed himself up onto his elbows, since he had no wall to lean his back against.

 "I'm okay, Cody. It is just… uncomfortable," the general broke off with a wince, his tail trying to curl up but failing because of the metal ring. "Though, I would be grateful if you could remove the glass."

 That immediately galvanised them into action, as they threw pieces of the glass away.

 Cody paused at the general's tail, waiting for a nod before he gently lifted it up with one hand and quickly brushed away the glass from under it. The scales were soft and smooth under Cody's hand but he could feel firm, powerful muscles just under them.

 The general sighed when all the glass had finally been cleared, murmuring a thanks as his eyes slipped shut.

 "We can't do anything for the cuts, general," Wooley informed him with a frown.

 The general hummed tonelessly as he sagged downwards. "That's alright, Wooley. They barely even sting."

 Cody grunted unhappily and the general smiled. "You don't have room to talk, Cody."

 Cody suppressed an eye roll.

 "What are we going to do?" Boil asked.

 The general's expression pinched. "Whatever he put in me is preventing me from transforming back, and the lock to my collar needs a passcode, so I'm afraid that I won't be any help during an escape attempt. In fact, I would be rather a great hindrance."

 "We're not leaving you," Cody snapped quickly before the general could suggest it and General Kenobi grimaced.

 "I was not going to suggest it, Commander, though it would probably be your best chance. I know how the idea would be received."

 Waxer huffed. "Damn right, General. We're not leaving you."

 General Kenobi frowned. "I think you can address me as Obi-Wan by this point. You know my biggest secret, after all."

 Cody leaned forward in his crouched position. "What do they want with you? Why not ransom you to the Republic or the Separatists."

 The general shrugged. "I imagine he does not want to risk being double crossed - a smart move in that regard. And… my species can be sold for exceedingly high prices, whether it be to harvest our scales, which are believed to have almost magical properties, or for more… recreational purposes."

 Cody reached his hand out before aborting the movement. "Gener… Obi-Wan."

 The general breathed deeply, but choked as his gill fluttered. He gasped and coughed for a few seconds, his arms collapsing as he fell down onto his back.

 "Obi-Wan!"

 General Kenobi's chest fell up and down as he slowly drew in breaths.

 "I need to concentrate on my breathing," the man explained quietly, keeping his eyes closed.

 "Is there anything we can do?"

 "Just… keep talking please. I like your voice… voices."

 The clones glanced at each other before they started up a conversation. They started by cataloguing their situation, throwing around ideas for escape, though it eventually devolved into idle topics about other troopers on the Negotiator; gossip about various bets as well as embarrassing training stories.

 After a while, the general's breathing slowed even further and his head rolled to the side, his face relaxing as he dozed off.

 They didn't stay up too much longer, sorting themselves into a guard rotation, not caring about how effective it could really be in their situation. The lights stayed the dim yellow tone that they had been ever since they woke up, not so bright that they would have trouble sleeping, but also not so dim that they couldn't see the very edges of the cell, the pool in the corning glinting, barely, torturously, out of reach.

 The general didn't wake up the next day until the cell door burst open.

 Five cups of water were slammed down alongside one large bowl of grey mush, sloshing some of the precious liquid onto the floor. The guard strode forward and tipped a final cup over the general's tail, causing him to groan and jerk a bit. The guard leered at him, crouching down to run his hand over the blue scales before he left.

 As soon as the door closed, Cody was moving, grabbing two of the cups and moving over to the general as quickly as possible.

 General Kenobi had pushed himself back up onto his elbows at the intrusion into the cell, but he'd squeezed his eyes shut when the water hit him, and tucked his chin into his chest when the guard touched him.

 "Hey, Obi-Wan," Cody said, his voice low and smooth. "Can you sit up?"

 The general opened his eyes, a small smile twitching at his lips when he saw Cody, though he frowned as he processed the question.

 "I can't sit like I can in my other form," he confessed his voice scratchy and hoarse. "The joints and the muscles are very different."

 "Can you push yourself up well enough to eat?"

 The general nodded, and rearranged himself so that he was leaning back against his hands instead of his elbows. He wasn't quite sitting straight, but Cody knew it would be enough that he wouldn't choke as he fed him.

 "I'm going to give you some water first, okay?"

 The general nodded gratefully and Cody brought the first cup up to his lips.

 After a few large gulps, the general brought a hand up, gently resting it on Cody's wrist. Cody obligingly pulled the cup back.

 The general took a few slow breaths before he blinked his eyes open.

 "Thank you," he said, his voice smoother than before, though it still had a slight rasp at the end.

 "Are you ready for the rest?" Cody asked, determined to hear his general's usual soft tone.

 General Kenobi shook his head.

 "Can you please pour some over my gills?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "They're not… they're not meant to be out of water this long.

 Cody's eyes flickered to the general's neck and he tensed. The skin there were already looking flaky, and there was a sort of pink sludge peeking out around flaps of skin.

 "Of course, General."

 He shuffled forward on his knees, taking a second to silently debate the best way of doing this before he finally just cupped one hand behind the general's neck and trickled water over the gills on each side of it.

 The general let out a grateful groan, his eyes fluttering shut again, though he was unable to restrain a small whimper when the water ran out.

 "Why don't we get you some food before you have the other?"

 General Kenobi's eyes snapped open, and he glanced around the room. "There are only four glasses left - one for each of you."

 "We're happy to share the other three," Cody said, not needing to glance back to know the others were nodding in agreement.

 "I've already had two."

 "You've drunk half of one," Cody retorted. "You should be submerged in water."

 "I'm meant to -"

 "You can't 'sustain yourself with the Force' at the moment," Cody cut him off. "You need this. We'll be alright."

 The general hesitated, obviously gearing up for another argument, so Cody lightly poked at his gills which, though moist, were still pink and inflamed.

 General Kenobi flinched back, letting out a hiss that made Cody's gut twist guiltily. He hid his face away from Cody, his entire body tensing.

 "Okay," he whispered, letting out a huge sigh that left him gasping.

 Cody grabbed onto his shoulder, supporting his weight until the general could focus again.

 "Okay," he murmured back, squeezing the general's shoulder and resisting the urge to pull him into a hug.

 -----

 It only got worse from there.

 By the third day, Boil had to sit behind the general to hold him up as they fed him, and he was only awake long enough to eat and drink before he slumped back. The scales on his tail had lost their shine and were starting to look almost leathery whilst his gills looked almost infected with how dry and swollen they were becoming.

 On the fourth night, General Kenobi woke with a gasp during Cody's shift. Cody quietly shuffled over to the man, trying not to disturb his brothers.

 "General," Cody asked after the man had stopped choking on air. "Is there anything I can do?"

 The general breathed out a small sight that turned into a sob at the end. "Hurts."

 Cody swallowed, purposefully avoiding looking at his cracked lips or the way that his skin had begun to start flaking off. "I know, Obi-Wan. I can't help you. I'm sorry."

 "…. Hold me… please?"

 Cody's head jerked up at the whispered request. "What?"

 The general let out another quiet sob. "Please… I need…"

 Cody knew the feeling of when it was all too much, and he just wanted to be held, even for a little while, have something to comfort him and distract him from the ache inside. So, of course he lay down beside the general, pulling the man into his chest, and being careful not to pull at his tail. He ran a hand through Obi-Wan's hair, making soft crooning noises until the man fully relaxed into the embrace.

 ----

 It took a full seven days for the rescue to come. Or, at least, they got fed seven times. The dim lighting in the cell never changed, and Cody quickly felt his internal clock being thrown off kilter.

 Obi-Wan barely lifted his head when General Skywalker burst into the room, lightsaber flashing.

 He did, though, manage a small smile.

 "Anakin," his voice was so rough that it was barely intelligible.

 "Quickly," General Skywalker said, gesturing to the troopers that had streamed into the room behind him.

 Rex ran forward, opening a large bottle of water and gently pouring it over Obi-Wan's tail, causing the mermaid to let out a low groan. Another trooper took his place when the bottle ran out, and Rex hurried over to Cody, taking out a laser cutter and sheering through the chains just below Cody's shackles.

 General Skywalker knelt down by Obi-Wan's head, taking out his own bottle and pouring some of it over Obi-Wan's neck. Obi-Wan gasped and whimpered. His gills had almost closed over with the weird mucus-like sludge that had begun oozing out of them, and crusting over them, and Cody knew that touching them at all could cause the general to cry out.

 The younger Jedi growled but Obi-Wan reached up and clutched his arm.

 "Peace," he rasped. "Peace, Ani."

 General Skywalker took a deep breath, leaning his head forward. Then, the ring around Obi-Wan's tail sprang open with a loud clang that echoed around Cody's skull.

 He scrooped Cody's general up into his arms and stood up.

 "We're getting out of here."

 Cody managed to take out one of the cheap droid guards that were littered through the facility they had been kept it, seizing his guards as he followed closely behind General Skywalker, who was barking orders at Rex to relay to the Resolute through his helmet comm, as General Windu swept through the facility with his own forces, his purple saber whirling in a deadly ark.

 He didn't really remember much of the escape past that, but the next memory his mind could clearly focus on was bursting into the medbay, General Skywalker immediately striding over to a large tank of water that was set up on one side of it and dumping Obi-Wan into it.

 Obi-Wan started writhing in the tank, flapping his tail wildly and sending water splashing all over the bay as he took huge, shuddering gasps, clutching at his chest.

 General Skywalker put a hand on Cody's shoulder as he surged forward, stopping him from going to his general's side.

 "It's alright," he murmured. "He just needs to get used to breathing in the water again."

 Cody almost snapped at General Skywalker right then, but managed to restrain himself. Barely. Rex seemed to sense his agitation because he came up around his side and bumped into him.

 Eventually, Obi-Wan's breathing evened out but he was still shaking slightly. He blinked his eyes open, and pushed himself off the bottom of the tank and hooking his elbows on the edge of the tank so that he could pull his body up. His tail pooled around the bottom of the tank, the end swishing around playfully.

 "Are you feeling better?" General Skywalker asked.

 Obi-Wan smiled. "Yes, thank you, Anakin."

 His voice was somehow different than before. It was undeniably still Obi-Wan's, but more musical than before, dancing around Cody's ears and sending a shiver down his spine.

 He blinked looking around the room with a frown. "I seemed to have made a mess."

 He flicked his tale, the tip of his fin breeching the water and sending a few droplets of water into his hair. "If you get this collar off of me, I will be able to clean it up."

 General Skywalker crossed his arms. "You should not be using the Force, Obi-Wan. Water can easily be cleaned up."

 Obi-Wan scowled at him and slipped back into the water, his tail jumping out of the water as he rearranged himself, flicking water towards General Skywalker, who squawked in indignation. Obi-Wan ignored him, curling up in the tank, and leaning his head back against the glass, folding his tail so that it would fit entirely in the tank.

 Something in Cody's gut twisted to see the general so cramped. But it was a better image that he had been privy to not an hour ago. The dried, flaky skin and scales had been washed off and, though he was still pale, he did not look so much like he was about to draw his last breath.

 Cody drifted towards him slowly as the medics checked them both out. For once, he was happy to stay in the med bay. Kix had told him in no short words to stay there, assuring him that he had no reports to complete, since they would only need his verbal accounts for the once that Master Windu and Ponds would be filling out. He wasn't on the Negotiater, so he couldn't fulfill any of his other duties and there were was no paperwork on board that he needed to complete.

 But he hadn't really needed to list of reasons. He wasn't eager to let the general out of his sight, and Obi-Wan had seemed to like him leaning against the tank, the glass only thing stopping their shoulders from touching.

 They had managed to get the collar off, but were unable to operate on the device in his back, apparently scans had said that it had fused to his spine, but Cody hadn't heard much of it, too busy focusing on the way the general's hand felt in his as he gently clutched over the top of the tank whilst Kix told him he'd have to stay in the tank a little longer.

 ----

 Cody shifted uncomfortably as he was led through the temple by a padawan.

 He hadn't seen Obi-Wan in over a week. The man had been ferried off by a group of Jedi healers as soon as they touched down on Coruscant. He hadn't heard much, except that there had been issues with the device and that Obi-Wan was still stuck in his aquatic form. That was until he'd gotten the summons this morning.

 He was led into the Room of A Thousand Fountains and froze. He'd never been in here before. It was overwhelmingly… alive.

 The padawan smirked up at him. "It's great, isn't it? Come on, Master Kenobi is over here."

 Cody's head spun around as he was lead past vast bodies of water that were more lakes than fountains, the air getting thicker and warmer as they went along. Eventually, they got to a fountain that had glowing stones on the inside, showing just how deep it was and putting the colourful and large seaweed on the bottom on display. A small stream of water fell into it in the centre, falling from another fountain that was on a thickly vegetated platform twenty metres above them.

 As Cody approached, something darted out of the underwater forest. Cody watched as the deep blue and turquoise fin flapped, holding back a gasp as it seemed to ripple, the scales turning golden copper gradient for a few moments before it settled back on its usual colour.

 Obi-Wan hooked his head over the soft, spongey texture of the edge of the fountain.

 "Cody," the man greeted with a smile.

 "Obi-Wan," Cody breathed. The world fell away around him. Obi-Wan was the only thing in the world. "It's good to see you. I've been worried."

 Obi-Wan pursed his lips. "Yes. There has been some… complications with removing the device, but I am lined up for surgery sometime in the next few weeks and the healers are finally certain that it will be safe. Or, as certain as you can be when concerning healing."

 Cody nodded. He appreciated his general tell him. The Jedi was probably beyond stressed. The last thing he needed to do was appease Cody's anxieties.

 "I didn't just call you here because I wanted to give you an update. I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to check in but it took a long time to get information. The healers haven't seen something like this before."

 Cody straightened, even as his chest warmed. "What do you need, general?"

 Obi-Wan smiled. "We're alone, Cody, you can call me Obi-Wan. And it's more something I can do for you."

 The man's expression faltered for a second before his neutrally pleasant mask fell back into place.

 "Anakin and Ahsoka have been in here a lot, requesting rides through the fountain systems," he admitted. "They told me it was for training purposes just in case we need to retreat through water channels. And, whilst I'm perfectly aware that that was merely an excuse, it occurred to me that it was a rather good point and that I really should train with you in case we get stuck in that situation."

 Cody blinked. "Excuse me, sir."

 "You don't have to if it makes you uncomfortable, of course, but if you are willing, I would like to take you for a swim with me. I can assure you that you will be safe. Not only is there a rebreather over on the bench behind that tree, but I also can ensure that you won't die with my own abilities."

 "You… want to take me swimming."

 "Only if you're willing. I want it to be clear, you will not get in trouble if you do not want to, and I will not be disappointed."

 Cody shook himself. "No! I mean yes, I want to. It makes sense. I should know what it feels like now, rather than get caught off guard later."

 Obi-Wan nodded. "Alright. Then, just put the rebreather on and jump in."

 Cody did as he was told, surprised by how warm the water was. And then Obi-Wan was right in front of him, so close that Cody could lean forward and bump their heads together.

 "I'm going to pull you underwater now," Obi-Wan informed him in a slow, steady tone. "We won't go far before we test your rebreather to make sure it's working. I'll need you to take three deep breaths and then three shallow ones. Nod if you can breathe clearly and then give me a tame on the shoulder when you're read. Then, you're going to hook yourself around my back, with both you're arms and legs, so they don't get in the way of my tail. We are going to be moving pretty fast. If, at any point you need me to stop, I want you to squeeze my chest twice, and I'll take us to the quickest route to the surface. We'll be going through a few paths through a few of the fountains, since they're all interconnected, so don't be too alarmed if our surroundings vary."

 "Do you understand."

 Cody nodded vigorously. "Yes sir."

 Obi-Wan smiled. "Good man."

 He reached out, and grasped Cody's shoulders, and then they were going under. Cody went through the safety tests dazedly, too distracted by the way that Obi-Wan's tail would ripple with copper and gold every so often, his hair floating slightly in the water. The world only came back into focus as he was encircling his arms around Obi-Wan, squeezing him close.

 And then his stomach leapt into his throat as water rushed passed him, filling his ears with a roaring.

 It took Cody a few seconds to orient himself, the world moving past him in the blur, the lighting changing ever so often as Obi-Wan darted through tunnels and different fountains. After about five minutes, Obi-Wan slowed down slightly, and Cody could start to see the some of the details within the ponds they were travelling through. A few seconds later, their heads breeched the surface of the water and Cody blinked, his head still spinning.

 It took him a few seconds to register that he could let go, and then he pried his arms, off letting out a half laugh as his insides slowly started to settle.

 Obi-Wan spun in the water to look at him.

 "Are you alright, Cody?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing. "Was that too much?"

 Cody shook his head, a giddy grin slipping onto his face. He would never usually be so obvious, but it was hard to concentrate after such a rush, and he felt safe with his general.

 "Not that was… incredible."

 Obi-Wan smirked, a spark lighting up in his eyes. "I think I may have created something dangerous within you."

 Cody returned the smile. "Maybe."

 The swooping in his gut wasn't entirely because of the trip.

 ----

 It turned out that Cody got to see the general in his aquatic form again much sooner.

 He stood shoulder to shoulder with his general as they descended to the surface of Stewjon, his heart hammering in his chest.

 They were being sent to negotiate Stewjon's formal allying with the Republic, as the previously neutral system had reached out to the Senate recently. However, they would only allow one Jedi to enter their world and, since the Council wasn't about to send General Kenobi in completely without backup, Cody had been chosen to accompany him.

 "They will be distrustful of us," Obi-Wan informed him on the ride down to the planet. "They'll probably try to test us."

 "How, sir?"

 "I do not know."

 He'd never known Obi-Wan to be such a bad liar.

 The first surprise was that the discussions would be held underwater in the aquatic palace.

 The first test was when there wasn't a rebreather for Cody. The three land dwelling Stewjoni had their own permanent gear, but Cody had been provided with none.

 "You insisted that you trust this one, that he will not harm us," a mer with a tale that was a darker blue than Obi-Wan's which rippled green in the sunlight, stated. "If this is true, you should not have any qualms with bestowing your blessing on him."

 Obi-Wan levelled him with an unimpressed glare that Cody had seen silence senators.

 The mer narrowed his eyes but did not back down.

 After a few seconds, Obi-Wan scowled, giving a quiet growl as he quickly took off his trunks and slipped into the water. Cody was unable to take his eyes off the transformation, trying to capture the brief scene in his mind.

 Obi-Wan's head burst from the water and Cody couldn't take his eyes off him, not even when Obi-Wan cast another glare behind himself at the smugly grinning mer. He was mesmerised by the deep blue and turquoise and an electric spark shot through his body every time the coppery gold rippled through the colours as the sun caught it in just the right way.

 "The significance of what I am about to do is not lost on me," Obi-Wan told the mer sternly. "The Jedi Order encourages its inhabitants to research the cultures of their home planets and partake in them if they so which."

 "But you have decided not to partake so you have no right to claim offence."

 Obi-Wan's fists tightened and his tail flicked sharply under the water. "Just because I dwell primarily on land does not mean that I have completely abandoned our ways."

 With that, Obi-Wan spun around, pulling himself half out of the water on the boat they'd all sailed out on before entering the water. It's deck sat only a few inches above the surface of the water to make the descent easy, and to also make it easier for people to independently get back on the boat.

 Obi-Wan gestured for Cody to sit and he did so obediently. Obi-Wan immediately moved his body so that his arms were on either side of his knees and his torso was pressed up against his shins.

 "Do you trust me?" Obi-Wan murmured, too low for the other mer to hear.

 Cody nodded, not even needing to think.

 "I'm going to need to kiss you to do this. And I'm going to need you to not struggle."

 Cody's breath caught and his heart lurched into his throat, but he nodded almost as fast as he did to the first question.

 "I understand, sir… Obi-Wan."

 Obi-Wan's lips twitched up into a smile. "Good."

 One hand came up to cup the back of Cody's head as Obi-Wan drew their lips together. Cody couldn't stop himself from responding to the kiss enthusiastically, not breaking from it, even as Obi-Wan's other arm pushed off the deck to hook around the back of Cody's neck a second before Obi-Wan allowed himself to fall back, pulling Cody down into the water with him.

 Cody didn't try to pull away, even as they plunged deep down, so deep that he could see the light fading from behind his closed eyelids. He opened his mouth to Obi-Wan's embrace even as his lungs started to burn, feeling the rushing water slide past his skin.

 For a moment, Cody felt a sense of panic seize his heart as his lungs throbbed and his entire body tensed instinctively. It was all he could do not to thrash instinctively as he tried to find the surface.

 Then, Obi-Wan pulled back from him, put instead of water rushing into his open mouth, Cody felt blessed air fill his lungs.

 Cody blinked his eyes open, breathing deeply and watching the water bend around his mouth but never touch it.

 "Wha-?"

 Obi-Wan smiled gently at him. "It's a Force technique unique to Stewjoni."

Cody blinked, seeing further than he knew he should be able to as he spied a school of mers gaping at them.

 He remembered the conversation that he'd overheard just before he'd received the assignment.

 He'd paused outside the door of his general's quarters in the temple, not wanting to interrupt the conversation, which the inhabitants were so absorbed by that they did not register his signature.

 "I know what you're doing, Mace, sending us on this mission together," Obi-Wan's voice had been tired.

 "You deserve to be happy, Obi-Wan."

 There was a sigh. "Mace… I can't. You know that."

 "I trust you to not get attached," had come the reply. "And he is willing. He wants this as much as you do. You would not be taking advantage of him."

 Cody had only just picked up the quiet response. "I… care for him so much. I do not want to jeopardise what we have. Not when I don't know for certain. I couldn't do that to him, put him in that position. And the 212th shouldn't have to deal with the fallout if my proposition were to be rejected. I wouldn't act any different to him, of course, but he would always know, and there would be no coming back from that."

 "Just… think about it Kenobi."

 "I will when you contemplate it with your own commander, you hypocrite. Offering him tea Mace, really?"

 Cody had knocked after that, but it felt as if his heartbeat had not returned to its normal rate since he heard that conversation.

 When they retired to their (still underwater) room later that night, and Obi-Wan's face reddened at seeing only one bed - a spongey think, that was actually rather pleasant to lay on - Cody decided to stop playing around.

 "I do not mind, Obi-Wan," Cody assured him, cutting of the other man's winding offer to take the floor if Cody was uncomfortable. "I do not mind sleeping in the same bed as you."

 Obi-Wan glanced at him sharply. "You don't?"

 Cody kicked swam forward so that he was within touching distance as he faced his general.

 "The… thing you did to help me breathe. That had cultural subtext and meaning, didn't it?"

 Obi-Wan ducked his head. "Of course."

 "Did it have romantic meaning?"

 Obi-Wan clenched his eyes shut. "Yes. It is for mated pairs of the deepest trust."

 "I do not mind."

 Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. "What?"

 Cody reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "I would not be opposed to that kind of relationship. I have desired it for a while now."

 Obi-Wan gaped at him and Cody pulled himself closer, stopping less than an inch away from Obi-Wan, their noses almost brushing."

 "May I kiss you?" he whispered.

 Obi-Wan swallowed. Then he nodded.

 Cody leant forward and tilted his head, locking their lips together as they floated in the water. Obi-Wan pulled him tighter, winding his tail around Cody's legs.

 When Cody pulled away, he couldn't stop the wide smile from splitting his features, staring into Obi-Wan's blown out pupils.

 He was looking forward to what the future held.

[arielsojourner]

PART 16 of Luke and Vader save the Galaxy through Time Travel. For all I said I wanted to write snippets, I cannot help but flesh out some of the repercussions and fall out from the death of Palpatine  and provide some more back story before focusing again on our heroes in later chapters. 

–Upon learning she was pregnant, Padme had been half scared, half joyous. She knew that Anakin would be thrilled. She had a thin hope that having a baby may actually prevent him from adopting the entire 501st when the war stopped. It was a thin hope, but it existed. And the war was stopping. Luke’s work with the League of Neutral Systems and with her and other Loyalist Senators was paying off. Somehow, whole swaths of the galaxy previously under constant siege were now laying down arms in exchange for free trade and reconstruction efforts. Padme now had an excuse to travel from system to system, strengthening relief efforts under the guise of hunting down Vader and Luke for the Supreme Chancellor with her Jedi bodyguards beside her.

Anakin had held her with such care when she told him the news, and then in typical Anakin fashion began to worry. Had she seen a medic? Weren’t there certain foods that expectant mothers should be eating or not be eating? Vitamins! Was she getting vitamins? What about hydration? Padme had stopped him with a laugh and said she would muddle through and it would still be months before birth. That wasn’t good enough for Anakin. People died in childbirth, he insisted, which made Padme smile because it was such a Outer Rim and backward thing to say.  This was the Republic after all. Next Anakin would be suggesting superstitions to ensure the baby was born healthy! He asked if he should get Wort, the 212th medic to look her over now or maybe he could invent a reason for her to go into the Twilight after he reprogrammed the medic droid for maternity care and have her get a check up. She reminded him that he could hardly just take her to receive treatment if they planned to keep it a secret, especially on Obi-Wan’s flagship, and did he want to talk about what they were going to do once the baby was born, she asked carefully. But Anakin brushed aside concerns about what their future might hold and he would not budge on the issue of a check up. She wasn’t sure why her health was such a concern to him, but she relented and he insisted that she leave it to him to get her the care she needed.

What followed were a series of haphazard accidents and paper thin excuses that had Padme treated by reputable medics of a variety of species in very shabby clinics set up in makeshift camps or poor neighborhoods at the edge of mostly former battle zones on a half a dozen different worlds. Anakin would stride in to join her for appointments, often right off the battlefield with remaining Separatist forces. How he had found and arranged discrete medical care, Padme couldn’t fathom, but he had. He brought a datapad and took notes and watched and listened with laser focus as they discovered that it was not one baby but two, that Padme needed more folic acid in her diet, that they were having a boy and a girl, that Padme needed to get more rest, and other various suggestions of how to handle the birth and parenthood.

Padme wasn’t quite sure that Anakin understood that the Mon Calamari medic’s advice on water pressure on the babies’ lungs wasn’t really applicable or that it wasn’t really necessary to invest in broad spectrum light fixtures above the crib as the Sullustan medic suggested, but Anakin simply patted her hand gently and continued to take notes. She did find the Wookie suggestion of a baby sling useful though (even if she didn’t plan to hang the babies from any tree branches) and Anakin had already gifted her with several in beautiful fabrics. She found his care and attention adorable but also exasperating. Didn’t he realize that women had babies every day on Naboo and Coruscant without any trouble at all? What was he so worried about?

-The Jedi Temple was not the same. Yoda could not recall it being so altered in his entire memory. The whole top of the Temple structure had crumbled; what was left was structurally unsound and had to be removed. To say funding the repairs of the Temple were high on the Senate’s list when the Republic was effectively bankrupt in the wake of Palpatine’s machinations was a laughable fantasy. This left the Order making do with what they had and creative masters had taken to incorporating Temple repairs into daily Force lessons for Initiates and Padawans. The Temple was exposed to the elements and outside world for the first time in millennia. It made security a bit of a nightmare. On the more positive side, the gardens were thriving, open at last to the air and sunlight.

There were so few Jedi left (and when had Yoda grown so blind that he missed that, when during his youth the Temple was full and thriving) that it wasn’t like they couldn’t accommodate moving living quarters to safe areas deeper in the Temple. So many knights and masters were still with their troops on the Outer and Mid Rim struggling through recent revelations and trying to prevent the galaxy from crumbling not in the face of war, but in the face of sudden peace.  

Around the Temple, rumors and stories ran rampant as the extent of Sidious plots were uncovered. The holo broadcast of his failed arrest and death were still being shown on the holonet and whoever had managed to hack the entire holonet had also seen fit to dump all of the Chancellor’s files into the public domain. People ignorant of who and what the Chancellor was, regardless of their close connection with him, were exonerated by those files. Those whom he had blackmailed and manipulated, were pleading for leniency. Those who had knowingly profited or been complicit in his conspiracies were being rounded up and were waiting for their turn before the Judiciary (a long wait considering a solid quarter of the judicial officers were among those waiting for trial for their crimes of knowing collusion with the Sith along with over a third of the Senate). Yoda had received word from Republic spies that similar actions were being taken in the Separatist Alliance spearheaded by Ventress of all people, backed by an army of oddly behaving battle droids! The neutrality of the Trade Federation, Banking Clan, Commerce Guilds, and the Techno Union had been shattered, the treaties they had hid behind for the entire war now null and void for dealings with a Sith. Who knew such iron clad treaties contained such a useful and previously considered obsolete clause?  

But what had captured the imagination of the public were the ones who had faced the Chancellor, fought him and lived and died. All across the galaxy sentients wanted to know who their heroes were and where they were. Rumors and gossip abounded. People from all of the galaxy claiming to have met them, having worked with them were now being interviewed on the holonet for any tidbit of information. The Jedi had no answers to give and gave no comment but that didn’t stop even the youngest Initiate in the Temple from talking about it, play acting Jedi vs. Sith and the fall of Sidious, and glomming onto the clone troopers for stories (who mostly indulged the “little Commanders” with the most gruesome tales they could). The creche masters admitted with barely concealed frustration that they had lost control over the situation and that the troopers staying in the Temple weren’t helping, encouraging all sorts of unorthodox behaviors.

Yes, troopers were in the Temple proper. Troopers of various battalions (the 501st, the 212th, the 104th and even members of the Coruscant Guard) had somehow moved in. Yoda, who had returned to Coruscant after Palpatine’s death still wasn’t sure how it had happened and both Masters Fisto and Windu really didn’t want to talk about it. (No, really, that is all they would say when Yoda or anyone asked. “I don’t want to talk about it.”).

The Force sensitive clones, few and far between but noticeable because they were the only clones to wear cloaks of colors matching their armor markings, were causing a sensation. This worried Yoda tremendously. Sith had risen in the galaxy and the Order had been blind to it happening. Now there were adult force users, coming into their powers, trained in warfare and bred only to fight. It was a risky and dangerous situation. They could Fall and while the Order had survived Sidious, it was ill prepared to deal with Force sensitive clones becoming Dark.

When Yoda had come face to face with one of them just outside of the communal dining hall, named Waxer, he had not hesitated to warn the clone of the dangers of learning of the Force outside the sanction and rules of the Order. Waxer’s companion Boil had not hesitated in responding, telling Master Yoda to “stuff it” as Waxer was only four years old and was more committed than most Jedi to helping others and if Yoda didn’t like it, that was just too bad because Generals Kenobi, Skywalker and Koon had already agreed that all Force sensitive troopers could learn if they wanted to.  Boil then loudly insisted that Waxer (and Vir and Boost of the 104th) were even planning to attend the next Initiate sparring session that Plo Koon was teaching and there was nothing Yoda could do to stop them.  The entire dining hall listened in, the Jedi aghast, the clones (they were even eating with the Jedi now!) nodding and showing solidarity for their brothers. Yoda’s ears were still twitching in the face of this explosion of temper as Boil pushed a red faced Waxer down the hall towards the few training halls left in the Temple.  

Yoda had known that when the war came to an end the Temple and Order would not be the same as it once was, but this, never in his deepest meditations could he have forseen this!

-Jedi Council meetings were not what they once were, but maybe that was a good thing, Mace thought to himself. No more casualty reports. No more funeral pyres. No more meetings on the battlefield via holo because they were spread out all over the galaxy. Well, at least the majority of them were not attending meetings via holonet (Obi-Wan hadn’t attended a Council meeting in person since before Palpatine’s death and he sure as hell wasn’t on the battlefield!)

Meetings were still as long though because now the discussions were on matters that the Order had delayed in addressing because the war took priority. The list was daunting:  the decimation of the Order numbers (so so many Masters and Knights and Padawans were dead, there was actual talk of abandoning the rule limiting one Padawan to one Master); the destruction of large portions of the Temple (the Council now met in the gardens, in the distance they could hear some Initiates practicing with the Force, and possibly eavesdropping); the realization that Palpatine was Darth Sidious (they had taken orders from a Sith, had let him into the Temple and around their students!); the Order’s complicity in the slavery of the clones (Master Plo refused to let them forget that even for a moment and wanted a complete investigation into the creation of the clones to finally happen now that the war was over); the political reality that the Neutral Systems under the leadership of Duchess Satine had been the saving grace of both the Republic and the Separatist Alliance when both of their economies nearly collapsed (and the Order still hadn’t figure out how it was that the ever growing League of Neutral Systems now owned all the previous debts held by The Trade Federation, Techno Union, Banking Clans and other commerce guilds, but considering the LNS was willing to forgive all debt if the Reconstruction Accords were signed, no one was really to anxious to ask too many questions); the Reconstruction Accords themselves (which Duchess Satine, Senator Organa, Senator Mothma, Senator Amidala, and Asajj Ventress of all people presented to both sides in the days after Palpatine’s death outlining complete and systematic reform of the galaxy); and the fact that the Order did not so much as win the war as others stopped it for them and if they hadn’t, the Jedi would have lost everything and been exterminated by their own clone troopers.

All this was nearly overwhelming, but there was still more problems that were making it difficult for the Order to find its footing. Many of their number (some injured by their own troops) refused to leave their Battalions until they could be helped and healed (Master Secura and Master Mundi amoung them). Other Jedi were just plain missing. No one knew if they were alive or dead, they had simply not reported in. The Coruscant Guard refused to answer to the Senate anymore and there was no new Supreme Chancellor yet elected so they had defaulted to answering to the Clone Marshall Commanders of various Battalions and a clone representative known as 99 whom no one on the Council could recall ever working with. Senator Organa had vouched for him though which made the Council feel a bit better, but where was Senator Amidala, usually the Order’s staunchest ally in the Senate? Her apartments had been a warzone according to some enterprising holonet reporter who had broken in and gotten footage. If it wasn’t for Representative Binks informing the galaxy that she was alive and well but on sabbatical there would have been a panic. Master Plo was working with all available Force sensitive troopers  to heal the battered Guard who to a man were nervous, stone faced, and traumatized. This however did not stop said Coruscant Guard from arresting everyone they could locate who was implicated by the Chancellor’s files over strenuous but largely meaningless objections of the Senate. The Resolute had caused widespread damage not only to the surface but so many of the lower levels that there was talk about removing all of the lower levels and reaching the actual ground of the planet Coruscant for both the Temple and the Senate Districts to avoid further catastrophe. Master Plo was also insistent that the clone troopers who were Force sensitive be trained, construct lighsabers and work with the Order and he was not waiting around for Council approval to do it. Already another six had been found amid the Coruscant Guard.

To top off all of that, at some point in every meeting, Master Yoda would bring up when Obi-Wan would return, when Skywalker would return (not that Mace necessarily wanted Skywalker back, trouble followed him like a black cloud), when they would receive a full debrief on the events of Palpatine’s fall, and where Luke was now that Vader was reported as dead. Every time that happened, Obi-Wan would claim technical difficulties and cut his transmission.

“Subtle, he is not!” Yoda grumped.

The Council had initially called for Ahsoka to come before them and report further on her time spent with Luke and Vader and she had answered all she could, several clone troopers escorting her to and from the medical wards. (The clones wouldn’t leave the Temple until all of their injured were healed or ready to move and their dead had been honored. The trooper Dogma had argued the Council to a standstill on that point, and Mace realized that the clones weren’t required to obey orders anymore if they didn’t want to or listen to the Jedi they were bred to serve at all unless they chose to. Mace also had a sinking feeling that even when all the troopers were healed, the 104th detachment wasn’t going to leave at all so long as Master Plo was in residence).  Once healed, the Council sent Ahsoka out with the 212th and 501st with the mission of bringing back Kenobi and Skywalker. Not only did she fail to bring either Master back, they hadn’t heard from her since she left.

“She is with her Master,” Plo assured them. “A student’s place is with her teacher.”

Mace frequently began and ended the meetings feeling exhausted. He could tell his fellow council members were tired as well (well, everyone except Obi-Wan who looked more and more rested and dare he say it, happy as the weeks went by, when he bothered to attend at all). Maybe, he should leave Courscant too, Mace thought testily. Maybe then he could get some rest.