#the rest of the jedi take great joy in obi wan changing up his hair every once in a while

[padme-amitabha]

Anidala Week 2021

Day 2:  Canon Divergence or Favorite Canon work

Padmé Amidala.

The name resonated in young Anakin’s heart and soul. He hadn’t seen her in a decade, not since he, along with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, had helped her in her struggle against the Trade Federation on Naboo. He had only been ten years old at that time, but from the moment he had first laid eyes on

Padmé, young Anakin had known that she was the woman he would marry. Never mind that Padmé was several years older than he was. Never mind that he was just a boy when he had known her, when she had known him. Never mind that Jedi were not allowed to marry. Anakin had simply known, without question, and the image of beautiful Padmé Amidala had stayed with him, had been burned into his every dream and fantasy, every day since he had left Naboo with Obi-Wan a decade ago. He could still smell the freshness of her hair, could still see the sparkle of intelligence and passion in her wondrous brown eyes, could still hear the melody that was Padmé’s voice.

 *

Anakin, though, didn’t see either of them. He focused on the third person in the room, Padmé, and on her alone, and if he had ever held any moments of doubt that she was as beautiful as he remembered her, they were washed away, then and there. His eyes roamed the Senator’s small and shapely frame in her black and deep purple robes, taking in every detail. He saw her thick brown hair, drawn up high and far at the back of her head in a basketlike accessory, and wanted to lose himself in it. He saw her eyes and wanted to stare into them for eternity. He saw her lips, and wanted to ...

Anakin closed his eyes for just a moment and inhaled deeply, and he could smell her again, the scent that had been burned into him as Padmé’s. It took every ounce of willpower he could muster to walk in slowly and respectfully behind Obi-Wan, and not merely rush in and crush Padmé in a hug ... and yet, paradoxically, it took every bit of his willpower to move his legs, which were suddenly seeming so very weak, and take that first step into the room, that first step toward her.

“Annie?” she asked, her expression purely incredulous. Her smile and the flash in her eyes showed that she needed no answer. For just a flicker, Anakin felt her spirit leap.

“Annie,” Padmé said again. “Can it be? My goodness how you’ve grown!” She looked down and then followed the line of his lean body, tilting her head back to emphasize his height, and he realized that he now towered over her. That did little to bolster Anakin’s confidence, though, so lost was he in the beauty of Padmé. Her smile widened, a clear sign that she was glad to see him, but he missed it, or the implications of it, at least. “So have you,” he answered awkwardly, as if he had to force each word from his mouth. “Grown more beautiful, I mean.” He cleared his throat and stood taller. “And much shorter,” he teased, trying unsuccessfully to sound in control. “For a Senator, I mean.” Anakin noted Obi-Wan’s disapproving scowl, but Padmé laughed any tension away and shook her head.

“Oh, Annie, you’ll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine,” she said, and if she had taken the lightsaber from his belt and sliced his legs out from under him, she would not have shortened Anakin Skywalker any more.

*

Padmé sat at her vanity, brushing her thick brown hair, staring into the mirror but not really seeing anything there. Her thoughts were replaying again and again the image of Anakin, the look he had given her. She heard his words again, “... grown more beautiful,” and though Padmé was undeniably that, those were not words she was used to hearing. Since she had been a young girl, Padmé had been involved in politics, quickly rising to powerful and influential positions. Most of the men she had come into contact with had been more concerned with what she could bring to them in practical terms than with her beauty, or, for that matter, with any true personal feelings for her. As Queen of Naboo and now as Senator, Padmé was well aware that she was attractive to men in ways deeper than physical attraction, in ways deeper than any emotional bond. Or perhaps not deeper than the latter, she told herself, for she could not deny the intensity in Anakin’s eyes as he had looked at her. But what did it mean? She saw him again, in her thoughts. And clearly. Her mental eye roamed over his lean and strong frame, over his face, tight with the intensity that she had always admired, and yet with eyes sparkling with joy, with mischief, with ...With longing? That thought stopped the Senator. Her hands slipped down to her sides, and she sat there, staring at herself, judging her own appearance as Anakin might.

 *

Padmé’s mind whirled as she tried to sort out Anakin’s thoughts, and his motivations. He was surprising her with every word, considering that he was a Jedi Padawan, and yet, given the fire that she clearly saw burning behind his blue eyes, he was not surprising her. She saw trouble brewing there, in those simmering and too-passionate eyes, but even more than that, she saw excitement and the promise of thrills.

 *

She looked over at Anakin, who was sleeping somewhat restlessly. She could see him now, not as a Jedi Padawan and her protector, but just as a young man. A handsome young man, and one whose actions repeatedly professed his love for her. A dangerous young man, to be sure, a Jedi who was thinking about things he should not. A man who was inevitably following the call of his heart above that of pragmatism and propriety. And all for her. Padmé couldn’t deny the attractiveness of that.

 *

“Naboo,” he said again, looking back to Padmé. “I’ve thought about it every day since I left. It’s by far the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”

As he spoke, his eyes bored into her, taking her in deeply, and she blinked and averted her own gaze, unnerved. “It may not be as you remember it. Time changes perception.”

“Sometimes it does,” Anakin agreed, and when Padmé looked up to see that he was continuing to scrutinize her, she knew what he was talking about. “Sometimes for the better.”

 *

Anakin smiled as he recalled the ornate outfits Padmé had often worn as Queen of Naboo, huge gowns with intricate embroidery and studded with gemstones, tremendous headpieces of plumes and swirls and curves and twists.

He liked her better like this, he decided. All of the decorations of her Queenly outfits had been beautifully designed, but still could only detract from the more beautifully designed Padmé. Wearing a great headpiece only hid her silken brown hair. Painting her face in whites and bright red only hid her beautiful skin. The embroidery on the great gowns only blurred the perfection of her form.

This was the way Anakin wanted to see her, where her clothing was just a finishing touch.

 *

Anakin studied the holograph a moment longer, then looked up and laughed, seeing Padmé wearing that same long and stern expression. She laughed as well, then squeezed his shoulder and went back to her packing.

Anakin put the holographs down side by side and looked at them for a long, long time. Two sides of the woman he loved.

 *

“It’s like that on Tatooine—everything’s like that on Tatooine. But here, everything’s soft, and smooth.” As he finished, hardly even aware of the motion, he reached out and stroked Padmé’s arm. He nearly pulled back when he realized what he was doing, but since Padmé didn’t object, he let himself stay close to her. She seemed a bit tentative, a bit scared, but she wasn’t pulling away.

“There was a very old man who lived on the island,” she said. Her brown eyes seemed to be looking far away, across the years. “He used to make glass out of sand—and vases and necklaces out of the glass. They were magical.”

Anakin moved a bit closer, staring at her intensely until she turned to face him. “Everything here is magical,” he said.

“You could look into the glass and see the water. The way it ripples and moves. It looked so real, but it wasn’t.”

“Sometimes, when you believe something to be real, it becomes real.” It seemed to Anakin as if she wanted to look away. But she didn’t. Instead, she was falling deeper into his eyes, and he into hers.

“I used to think if you looked too deeply into the glass, you would lose yourself,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“I think it’s true ...” He moved forward as he spoke, brushing his lips against hers, and for a moment, she didn’t resist, closing her eyes, losing herself. Anakin pressed in closer, a real and deep kiss, sliding his lips across hers slowly. He could lose himself here, could kiss her for hours, forever ...

But then Padmé pulled back, suddenly, as if waking from a dream. “No, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I’m sorry,” Anakin said. “When I’m around you, my mind is no longer my own.”

He stared at her hard again, beginning that descent into the glass, losing himself in her beauty.

 *

Padmé gave a helpless little laugh. “Are you going to use one of your Jedi mind tricks on me?” 

“They only work on the weak-minded,” Anakin explained. “You are anything but weak-minded.” He ended with an innocent, wide-eyed look that Padmé simply could not resist.

 *

Orange flames danced about his silhouette, dulling the distinction between Anakin and eternity. Padmé had to consciously remember to breathe.

He stared at her intensely for a moment, then looked back to the fire, seeming defeated.

“No, you’re right,” he finally admitted. “It would destroy us.”

Padmé looked from Anakin to the fire. Which would destroy her—destroy them—she had to wonder.

The action or the thought?

 *

Anakin stared at her, hardly believing what he was hearing. He couldn’t resist, though, and his smile, too, began to widen. For some reason he did not quite understand, the Padawan found a good measure of justification in his abandoning the letter of his orders now that Padmé was in on, and agreeing with, the plan.

 *

“Home again, home again, to go to rest,” Anakin recited, a common children’s rhyme.

“By hearth and heart, house and nest,” Padmé added.

Anakin looked over at her, pleasantly surprised. “You know it?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“I don’t know,” Anakin said. “I mean, I wasn’t sure if anyone else ... I thought it was a rhyme my mother made up for me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Padmé said. “Maybe she did—maybe hers was different than the one my mother used to tell me.”

Anakin shook his head doubtfully, but he wasn’t bothered by the possibility. In a strange way, he was glad that Padmé knew the rhyme, glad that it was a common gift from mothers to their children.

And glad, especially, that he and Padmé had yet another thing in common.

 *

“I want him to know that I care about him, Threepio,” Padmé said quietly. “I do care about him. And now he’s out there, and in danger—”

 *

“No, I’m a Jedi. I know I’m better than this.” He looked at her directly, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“You’re like everybody else,” Padmé said. She tried to draw closer, but Anakin held himself back from her. He couldn’t hold the pose of defiance for long, though, before he broke down again in sobs. Padmé was there to hold him and rock him and tell him that everything would be all right.

 *

The tunnel was dark and fittingly gloomy, and quiet, except for the occasional echo of cheering from the huge crowd gathered in the arena stands beyond. A single cart was in there, an open oval with a sloping front end that somewhat resembled an insect’s head with the top half cut away. Anakin and Padmé were unceremoniously thrown into it, then strapped in place against the framework, facing each other. Both of them jerked as the cart started into motion, gliding along the dark tunnel.

“Don’t be afraid,” Anakin whispered.

Padmé smiled at him, her expression one of genuine calm. “I’m not afraid to die,” she replied, her voice thick and soft. “I’ve been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life.”

“What are you talking about?”

Then she said it, and it was real and genuine and warm. “I love you.”

“You love me?” he asked, overwhelmed. “You love me! I thought we decided not to fall in love. That we would be forced to live a lie. That it would destroy our lives.” But her words had brought a wash of contentment over him.

“I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway,” Padmé replied. “My love for you is a puzzle,

Annie, for which I have no answers. I can’t control it—and now I don’t care. I truly, deeply love you, and before we die, I want you to know.”

Padmé leaned against her restraints and craned her head forward, and Anakin did likewise, the two coming close enough for their lips to meet in a soft and gentle kiss, one that lingered and deepened, one that said everything they both realized they should have spoken to each other before. One that, to them, mocked their false heroics in denying the feelings they’d had for each other all along.

 *

On distant Naboo, in a rose-covered arbor overlooking the sparkling lake, Anakin and Padmé stood hand in hand, Anakin in his formal Jedi robes and Padmé in a beautiful white gown with flowered trim. Anakin’s new mechanical arm hung at his side, the fingers clenching and opening in reflexive movements. Before them stood a Naboo holy man, his hands raised above their heads as he recited the ancient texts of marriage. And when the proclamation was made, R2-D2 and C-3PO, bearing witness to the union, whistled and clapped. And Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala shared their first kiss as husband and wife.

— R.A. Salvatore , Star Wars : Episode II -  Attack of the Clones

[tragedy-for-sale]

Storm in the Room

I got a request for having Ahsoka with the 501st, but that'd be a three even four parter, so I'm writing about after. She was there before Anakin in terms of boarding the ship. Okay this isn't angsty at all so uh- whatever.

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Ahsoka hadn't been able to believe it. She blamed herself for not being on the surface to sense Krell's actions. Even now, she stood all alone on the bridge, and yet, she could sense all her brothers' agony. She'd wanted to help, but Cody said they all needed space from the Jedi. So she'd been hanging out with Obi-Wan, who right now, was holding her close in a hug as they watched the stars fly by. "Are they going to be okay?"

Obi-Wan's stare lingered at the stars for a moment before he glanced down to Ahsoka, "Yes, they're soldiers." He answered, "They will never heal, but they will be okay." Ahsoka looked down, hugging Obi-Wan tighter as she thought of how much she resented all of this. If she had just been there things would have been different.

"I think I'm going to go check on the boys in the med-bay, maybe let Kix get some sleep." She said, breaking from Obi-Wan's hug. "Will you get some sleep? I'll stay up until Anakin gets here." She offered. Obi-Wan smiled as he nodded.

"Very well," he spoke, watching her head down the bridge, "You should sleep soon too." He called, but Ahsoka was already out of the bridge.

In fact, she was hurrying down the hall to the lift. She halted as he sensed someone crying, her head jolted towards the door. "Supply closer" she noted as she went to take a step but found herself frozen. "Right, can't help them." She recalled before continuing on, hating herself even more that she wasn't there.

When she reached the medbay, she could hear distant yelling. Kix. "Get your karking ass back in that bed right now Vaughn or so help me!" Kix hissed, pointing a finger, scolding Vaughn for getting out of bed. For the fifth time tonight. Ahsoka walked down into the lobby and saw Kix fall back in his chair, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Heya Kix," Ahsoka smiled. Kix swiveled his chair to see his sister. Instantly his face lit up with joy.

"Hey 'lil soka!" He greeted, standing up, "How ya doing kid?" He asked as he pulled her into a quick hug. Ahsoka laughed a little bit with how fast he changed moods, but she figured he was just using his doctor voice when he yelled at Vaughn. He looked very tired and very stressed.

"I'm good, I came down here to see if you could use some help?" She offered, looking around the medbay, it was full. Kix smiled, as he thought of all he had to do, and all he wanted to do.

"Oh, absolutely, kiddo, could use your company," Kix smiled as he turned, and it was as if he'd sensed it, "Vaughn ya ain't slick," he called to his injured brother who had been caught. Again. He grabbed a few charts off the desk, "Well, the ICU boys just have to stabilize 'em before moving them to bacta, I might have to put Vaughn as a flight- back in bed now!" He ordered, not even having to turn.

Ahsoka cracked a smile as she shrugged to Vaughn, who slowly headed back into his room. She then looked to Kix, who was mumbling as he thought. "Kix?" She spoke, watching his eyes slowly look up.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he shook his head, "I, I just don't know who to assign you to." He mumbled, flipping through the charts. "Vaughn maybe?" His voice fell to a whisper, "He doesn't seem scared of you-" Ahsoka's smile fell. Scared? The men were scared of her?

"What does that mean?" She asked, she watched Kix's face go blank. He obviously hadn't meant for her to hear him, "What do you mean some men are scared of me?" She rephrased. Kix's smile twitched as he realized she'd heard him.

"I-" he stopped, there was no getting out of this one, "Ahsoka," he sat down, leaning in so no one would hear, "A lot happened down there, and the boys are, well, traumatized, they know you're not gonna hurt them, but after what happened, we're all a little spooked." He explained, trying and making it seem not as terrible as it was, "They just need time." He added.

Ahsoka nodded, head hung low as she instantly felt out of place. "I don't wanna be down here if it's gonna make them uncomfortable." She said at last. Kix raised an eyebrow before turning around, staring Vaughn down, who'd caught on and slid back into his room, but not before stealing a granola bar. Kix rolled his eyes before turning back around.

"Oh! Sorry 'soka, and if you wanna go, I'll understand. But I'd still like your company." Kix said at last . Ahsoka nodded. Still feeling quite awkward. But she wanted to help. "Great." Kix smiled as he rolled over and grabbed a data pad, "Here you are," he spoke, "Just watch Vaughn, then Ringo is in the next room over, keep 'em company till Jesse gets down here please?"

"Wil do." Ahsoka smiled as she walked around the room and towards Vaughn. "Looks like you got a Jedi guarding you tonight, Vaughn." She smiled as she skipped in. Vaughn let out a soft chuckle, he wasn't even in bed, he was standing behind the wall as he watched Kix.

He took a bite of his granola bar looking to Ahsoka, "Wanna bite?" He asked, Ahsoka shook her head. Vaughn shrugged before eating the rest and then crouching slightly as he stared at the desk. "All I want is that hot cocoa on his desk." He mumbled, eyeballing, "It's the perfect blend of chocolate, milk, and whiskey, it's the best drink Appo makes, which is really saying something." Vaughn explained. Not that he needed to, Appo made awesome drinks. "Okay, imma go try to get it."

"Don't even try it!"

Vaughn pouted as he gave up, slumping back to his bed. For now. If Hawk managed to steal Kix's caf, he could too. "Huh." Ahsoka smiled as she held out her hand out and grabbed the mug through the force. Vaughn's face lit up as he watched the mug float through the air and eventually into Ahsoka's hands. "Got it!" She exclaimed softly. Vaughn reached out to grab it but Ahsoka stopped him, "Can I taste it first?" She asked.

Vaughn's head shot back as he thought. It had alcohol in it. "Uh, how old are you again?" He asked, staring blankly at her. Ahsoka's head turned to the side slightly.

"I'm fifteen, almost sixteen." She stated. Ahsoka watched Vaughn, who was apparently very deep in thought. He was just doing the math in his head.

"Fifteen," Vaughn mumbled, "double that, that's sixteen, plus four, ten," he mumbled under his breath before sitting up straight, "Thirty-" he blurted louder. He then looked to Ahsoka, narrowing his eyes as he tried to figure out why she looked so young, maybe she aged differently. So Vaughn shrugged,

"Go ahead."

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[jasontoddiefor]

Summary: It was tradition for Initiates to challenge a Knight or a Master to debate them to pass their Introduction to Diplomacy I course. Anakin didn't mind it, but he’d prefer it if all these kids would stop running up to Obi-Wan he’s practicing ‘sabers with his Master.

AN: The idea came up in a talk with @alabasterswriting I hope you like it!

If Anakin didn’t know better, he’d say that Obi-Wan was attempting to dissuade him from using two lightsabers. His Master’s attacks were downright brutal and savage, the sixteen-year-old hadn’t really known that Obi-Wan was capable of such aggressive attacks. Anakin had been aware that Obi-Wan could fight like it, he had seen the recordings from his battle against the Sith on Naboo and studied them relentlessly, but it was very different to experience Obi-Wan fighting seriously. None of that harshness in his moves translated to his mind, of course. Obi-Wan was the perfect picture of serenity and even amusement in the Force. Anakin could feel his joy every time he managed to block one of his strikes, happy that his student was learning, yet his strikes didn’t lessen in power.

“Right arm up!” Obi-Wan ordered as he attempted to strike Anakin from the right, where before he had left himself defenseless.

Anakin parried his blade successfully, even if his grip on the training ‘saber he was using slipped. He, therefore, wasn’t fast enough to twirl the blade around when Obi-Wan initiated the next attack. The low-level blade halted right in front of Anakin’s throat.

“Solah,” Anakin called and watched as Obi-Wan stepped back into the ready-stance.

He wiped the sweat off his brow and adjusted his grip on his lightsaber. His own sat perfectly in his hand. He had tinkered with it relentlessly, still sometimes found a way to change or improve it. Obi-Wan had commented on it a few times since it apparently wasn’t so usual for a Jedi to work as continuously on their ‘saber as Anakin, but he couldn’t deny the results. Anakin just felt like his weapon needed to reflect every lesson he had learned, the path of the Force was always easier to follow when it rang harmoniously.

“I still think practice would be more fruitful if I actually had a blade that fit me,” Anakin said as he fell back into the first stance of Jar’kai.

He had trouble sticking to the very basic form and not immediately try to work in the stances he knew from other forms. Obi-Wan insisted that the groundwork had to be there first before he could branch out, but to Anakin it was all instinct.

And his instinct said that he needed two blades that both fit the hands they were meant to be wielded with.

“You’re not building a second lightsaber, Anakin,” Obi-Wan replied, faking an exhausted sigh.

“Yet,” Anakin added and attacked Obi-Wan once more. He held himself against his Master a little longer this time but was soon pushed to the defensive again. Anakin definitely wasn’t a fan of staying passive, but Obi-Wan cared more about having a good defense than a good offense.

If you could counter your opponent’s every strike and had more endurance than them, a passable offense could defeat them. If your defense sucked, you died.

Obi-Wan had cited old Jedi philosophy when he had begun instructing Anakin in combat, but that was what his lecture had boiled down to.

The next thing he had told Anakin was that if you could fight dirty, you should. Anakin had been taught that lesson years ago on Tatooine. Survival was never about pride or honor, but about enduring and not losing yourself.

Anakin blocked another strike, then feigned an attack towards the right. Obi-Wan adjusted his steps only minimally, but Anakin knew that he had fallen for it so he threw himself to his right faster than Obi-Wan could react and managed to reach his side to a far closer degree than he had expected. Obi-Wan jumped back again before he could connect, but Anakin had succeeded in breaking his offense regardless.

He spun his ‘sabers around with a victorious grin. “How was that, Master?”

Obi-Wan smiled and turned off his blade. “Well done, Padawan. Or what do you think?”

Confused, Anakin looked at Obi-Wan, needing a moment to realize he wasn’t speaking to Anakin at all. Instead, he had turned to a group of Initiates standing at the entrance of the training hall. There were about seven of them, all around the same age, staring at Anakin and Obi-Wan with big eyes.

“Super cool!” The first Initiate cheered and soon after the rest of the group joined in.

Taking Obi-Wan’s acknowledgment of them as an invitation, the children entered the training hall, all babbling and asking questions. Anakin felt his cheeks heat under all that praise. He was good, he knew that or Obi-Wan wouldn’t have moved up his training or he wouldn’t score so high in his classes, but Anakin always felt like he wasn’t good enough yet. There was something he had the strange feeling that there was something he had to be prepared for and his current level wouldn’t be enough.

He had to get stronger.

“What can Padawan Skywalker and I help you with?” Obi-Wan asked the children kindly.

Anakin could still go a couple more rounds before he needed a break, but he figured he might as well use the time to grab a drink. He deactivated his blades, clipped them onto his belt and then walked over to the benches where he had stashed his water.

The Initiates all looked amongst themselves, suddenly shy. After a few seconds, they seemed to have agreed on a speaker as a young Nautolan Initiate stepped forward.

“Master Kenobi, we are here to ask whether you would do us the honor to debate us for our Introduction to Diplomacy I final exam.”

Anakin couldn’t help himself, he snorted, earning himself an annoyed look from Obi-Wan. This was the third group of Initiates to approach Obi-Wan about their final exam. Obi-Wan’s reputation as a genius negotiator had started to make the rounds – praise his Master more than deserved in Anakin’s opinion – and many had decided that challenging him and having him accept that challenge was a great honor. Anakin himself had debated Quinlan for his final exam. He wasn’t a particularly good speaker, likely also never would be as he got too invested too quickly and tended to bulldoze through arguments. However, no amount of Jedi Shadow training and secret undercover missions Anakin wasn’t supposed to be aware of but knew about anyway because Quinlan tended to leave Aayla in their care when he was gone, could defeat first-hand knowledge of how the Hutt’s reign in the Outer Rim worked. Anakin had won that debate based on personal experience, but he had won it.

Anakin didn’t mind that all these Initiates were now crowding around Obi-Wan so often, honestly, he thought it was pretty adorable actually, but he would prefer it if they chose to approach Obi-Wan when he wasn’t training with Anakin.

Resigning himself to the fact that the rest of the afternoon would be spent watching Obi-Wan trying to talk himself out of being one of the examiners for the Initiates, Anakin began to put his water bottle away and collected the tunics he had thrown on the floor while sparring.

“Padawan Skywalker?”

Anakin looked up to see that one Initiate had separated from the group. She was a little shorter than the other children her age, but she looked twice as determined.

“Can I help you?”

The girl nodded seriously. “I’m Initiate Shallan Rom and I request your aid in preparing for my Introduction to Diplomacy I final exam.”

She clasped her hands behind her back and bowed once formally before resuming her previous position. Anakin smiled apologetically at Shallan.

“I’m sorry, I’d love to help, but I’m really not good at all that diplomacy stuff,” Anakin explained. He shrugged and then ran his hand through his grease hair. “I’m better at fighting.”

“My rhetoric marks are excellent,” Shallan continued, proving her point as she spoke with carefully selected words. “I’d like your help when it comes to finding arguments.”

“Arguments?” Anakin repeated. “What topic do you want to debate?”

Now the girl blushed slightly, though the dark color of her skin and the green tattoos on her cheeks almost hid it completely.

“You’re the only Padawan who has been granted early access to the upper-level greenhouses by Master Windu. I want to go there as well and have decided to debate Master Windu for that right. My crèchemaster told me you might be able to help me.”

Anakin’s face split into a grin as he heard her words. He had pretty much bullied Master Windu for the right to get access to that greenhouse when he had been eleven so he could keep taking care of one of the flowers he had inherited from Qui-Gon and didn’t have to hand it over to somebody else. The plants in those greenhouses were extremely delicate, hence not wanting any children in them without supervision. Most of them only wanted in there to prove they could sneak in and not to actually care for the greenery in there.

“And why do you want in there?” Anakin asked.

“We keep a couple of plants from Kiffu up there,” Shallan slowly. “It’s my homeworld. I’d like to see something real from it.”

That was a sentiment Anakin could relate to. He glanced at Obi-Wan, but his Master was still busy fending off the other Initiates.

“Alright, sit down,” Anakin said. Shallan smiled at him, practically vibrating with happiness and excitement. “First things first, the plants up there are very sensitive and/or dangerous, so you will want to show you can be responsible and know how to deal with poisons…”

[astudyinimagination]

So, I’ve had this in my head for a little while now. It’s a continuation to the Mara-joins-the-Rebellion AU. Back in October, when I wrapped up Inktober, I did it with a drawing of Luke and Mara as new parents, specifically in this ‘verse. So, since I’ve already given away how this story “ends,” more or less, it’s time to go a little further!

•••

Luke chooses to honor his grandmother by naming, with Mara’s blessing, their firstborn Shmi. The honor is double-faceted: not only is there yet again a Shmi Skywalker in the galaxy, but she is also the first of her generation. It seems more than fitting to give the future matriarch of the family the name of the woman who would have been its first matriarch, had she lived. And, indeed, Shmi bears her great-grandmother’s dark hair (and her mother’s green eyes). Sometimes, Anakin could swear that his mom has returned in his granddaughter. Much like her (and also, much like his son), Shmi is quiet but strong, resilient, and kind.

•••

Two years later, Leia and Han have twins. It’s Han’s suggestion to name them after Leia’s parents, and thus there is once again a Breha and Bail Organa in the galaxy, as well as a Shmi Skywalker. The twins share their parents’ brown hair and Leia’s brown eyes. Bail turns out to be good with wildlife—too good, always wanting to adopt whatever new creature crosses his path—while Breha, the future Queen of the Alderaanian Remnant, can often be found tinkering in the Falcon with her dad or with her grandfather’s many speederbikes.

•••

When Shmi is four and the twins are two, something happens that is either wonderful or crazy, depending on who you ask. Mara and Leia conceive within weeks of each other (and, indeed, deliver on the same night). Han complains that Leia and Luke take “this twin thing” too far.

“Don’t name him after me,” Anakin tells Luke regarding his unborn son. “No child needs the burden of being an Anakin Skywalker Junior.”

It’s Mara’s idea to name her boy Ben, and she announces it with Obi-Wan in the room. Luke and Mara are treated to the spectacle of a ghost being shocked speechless.

Leia and Han can’t seem to come up with a name for their son. Lando suggests himself as a namesake, only half serious, and Han tells him that he can have his own kid and call him Lando Junior. ...but an idea is growing on Leia, and when she holds her baby for the first time, she knows it’s the right one. She has seen her biological father change and grow as a person over the past five years. She’s seen the way he dotes on Shmi—and the twins, as well, when she’ll let him. He is by no means perfect, but he is trying, all the time, to be a good man, rather than do one good act and rest on his laurels, and that’s important to her.

He weeps when she tells him that the baby’s name is Anakin Organa.

Ben inherits his mother’s red-gold hair and his father’s blue eyes, and, unlike his sister, the tempers of both parents, which Mara handles better than Luke. Anakin’s coloring is eerily similar to his grandfather’s, and he is also quiet and kind and an excellent mechanic and pilot—but he lacks the burdens of his grandfather’s upbringing, and so lacks his resentment and anger. Anakin Skywalker is relieved to see his namesake growing up with all the best of him and none of his serious flaws. (Recklessness, on the other hand, seems to be inescapable in this family.)

•••

Shmi is ten and Ben is six, and Luke and Mara are busy running the first Jedi Academy while Mara also does some side work for Talon Karrde. And in the busyness of their lives, Mara keeps being reminded of memories of her children as babies. Luke sees her wistfulness and deduces that she wants to have a baby again; Mara is startled to realize he’s right. Neither are old, both only in their early thirties, and they decide to try for a baby one more time.

Their new daughter is golden-haired like her father, and they name her Beru.

•••

There are now six Skywalker-descended children roaming the galaxy, and their grandfather’s heart is full. He hadn’t even dared to dream of such a thing when Padmé was still alive, and after his fall and her death… Even hoping for a future with Luke before Palpatine’s death had not gone as far as hoping for a future with grandchildren.

And they all adore him. One by one, they all learn the truth of what he had done to the galaxy, and eventually learn what he had done to his family. But they love him, and even this terrible knowledge cannot erode their love.

•••

Luke, Leia, Mara, and Han are no longer what any human would call “young,” but also neither is Anakin Skywalker terribly old, which is good, because fate has one more surprise in store for the Skywalker-Organa clan.

Leia, almost forty, conceives.

Han complains that they were so close to being finished raising kids and now they’re back at the starting line, but he doesn’t mean it, not really. True, the thought makes him feel very tired sometimes, but he can’t deny that, however difficult, his kids’ infancies were some of the best years of his life. He’s not old yet; he can do this, and he’ll never hear the end of it from Chewie if he can’t.

Anakin is shocked, but couldn’t be more pleased, helping his daughter in her day-to-day life so much that she has to tell him to take it easy, sometimes.

And Jobal Naberrie, whom Anakin had helped to reconnect with his children early on, is grateful that she has lived to see one last great-grandchild, her one regret being that her husband has not lived also to share her joy.

And her joy is too great for words when she meets the baby girl, dark-haired and dark-eyed, and is told that her name is Padmé.

[sweetbutteryspacejesus]

Old Memories

Old Memories

(Originally posted for Obitine week)

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Obi-Wan lay in his cabin watching the sand begin to seep from his escapades into the Dunes of Tatooine. With a deep breath he placed his hands on his knees, legs crossed. Now he could only turn his thoughts away and meditate. Strength filled his being, penetrating him leading the way. Like a uniform river.

The small crumbs of desert that had been carried by the slight current of the isolated planet. He could see -feel - 3  sparks of life in the distance, and beyond Owen Lars' farm, thousands of them living and changing the course of the future for every action they did.

The sand and objects around Obi-Wan rose up into orbit with the hermit. His unkempt hair began to rise in small waves. The force connected with him, and he explained his miseries, she always replied that everything would be fine. The comforting presence of the force found peace in the old Jedi.

The living lights of Tatooine gradually entered a stable rest, provided by the night that filled the entire planet with darkness. Kenobi's shoulders and upright position disappeared causing all objects - including himself - to return to the crushed force of gravity. He should rest. Try it at least. He got up from the sofa noticing how the bitter ground was already wearing him down. He walked, on his way to the room in the hut. Words weren't something on his lips lately.  He put his hand on the door frame, feeling the wall reluctant to touch. The force tugged at his mind, today he wouldn’t have rest, he could feel it in the ferocity of his own means of comfort. The force predicting the nightmares within his dreams. 

Solemnly Obi-Wan closed his eyes, pushing the thoughts of those he had lost and the others who were living this uncertain future. What was it for a Jedi to be alone?

He took the path that cruel force bound him. In a wooden trunk, preserved with his life at stake. He fingered the edge slowly, lovingly running his fingers through the opening and opening the wooden trunk, carried from his home planet Stewjon. Inside it were a few stray fibers in a small bundle. Memories of the past that he unwrapped it slowly. 

The consequences. He took the handle in his hands. The force shuddered around him and struck Kenobi. Dragging him into the darkness, he was not strong enough to hold the weight of his actions. Voices screamed at him, his system practically collapsing on the floor.

Anakin, Satine, Qui-Gon, Padmé, Ahsoka... He had lost so much for so little. On the floor of the cabin he could only find the comfort of his tears as he wandered blindly through his memories.

He remembered advice from a comforting voice. Giant hands that perched so often on his shoulder. The confidence of a teacher when he spoke to him. Of those proud eyes that gave him the task of training the last hope of someone dying. Qui-Gon. He had always been her guide through this hard path, now more than ever, she was in need of that guide.

He remembered gentle touches of loving hands. Satine. She treating his heart gently. The laughs and kisses stolen when they didn't have eyes on them. Her delicate voice saying her name, her nickname, her mask "Ben".  He remembered his heart leaping with joy as he remembered the night before and knew she could repeat the taste of her lips. Then a bitter farewell and the rancor of bad decisions. The countless nights with that feeling of incompleteness. Temptation and attraction. The peaceful attraction between the two of them, he knew he shouldn't but  he missed her presence in this galaxy, the pacifying attraction that went beyond lust.

The Jedi could not bear these thoughts. A small tear appeared making her walk down the cheek of the knight, totally helpless, huddled on the ground. Because he knew that Qui-Gon's death was decided by force, and it was not in vain, but Satine. Satine's death was his fault. The thought hit him, no Jedi was prepared for the pressure of taking an innocent life. No one should be prepared for it.

The gentle hand that remembered traversing his chin, his back, nights of fading with each other. They changed by the coldness of a body in her arms. The small presence fading and in her last breath "I love you".

He drowned in his grief for a few moments. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Sadness was re-engulfing him, being torn to pieces and delivered to this pain as just another victim of this war. In a moment of clarity he sought the firmness of the force, wrapped in the protective layer that was the force let his sadness flow through it. Like a river dragging the stones of the road the sadness disappeared, leaving in Obi-Wan a bittersweet feeling. But he wasn’t going to be that lucky today. Another wave came, more recent.

He remembered that young slave full of emotion, restless and rebellious. One of the best Jedi I had ever met. Always seeking justice by his hand, despite Jedi advice. On the contrary the code but despite that he was a good person, somewhat irascible. But a good friend and a great pilot. Also somewhere in his mind he found yellow eyes, full of hate. "I hate you".

His hands trembled, losing control, but he really wondered when he had had control. All his life he had been at work, at duty, at advice, to the force and yet  he couldn't guide Anakin when he had the chance. When he should guide him.

Something had jammed in his throat with crushing pressure. He couldn't breathe, it wasn't like being trapped in water, or in a tight grip, but in a pile of sand slipping through his clothes, on his own lungs scratching his entire body in crushing pain destroying his insides in small cuts. At what point had Anakin grown so far from him? When?

Where once there was full trust, a warm and familiar connection, now there was a loose end. A fate worse than death. He took the force around him violently. The protection was gone and he was unbalanced. He released all this emotion, this passion, this chaos, this ignorance and so much death.

- I’ve failed you Anakin.

 Returning to reality, rising from the dusty ground in silence. He noticed a presence there, someone watching. He turned in search of the viewer of this scene to find a young woman who knew even the most intimate corner of his soul.

- Satine …

He muttered. He had finally gone mad, had completely lost his mind in those bitter memories. She simply looked at him, smiling. He held his posture to that talking ghost, echoing all over his head those same words. Kenobi closed his eyes, suppressing the self-destructive spiral he was trapped in. Finally he managed to say:

- I love you, Satine, I wish I had said it before.

[swfanficbyjz]

SW Rey Theory - Legacy of Light - Chapter 3

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(8 months after tcw S5:E20, right before unfinished Utapau arc)

             Ahsoka grimaced in pain as the contractions hit with more intensity and more frequency. The pain was unbelievable, and that was saying something since she'd survived broken bones, blaster wounds and lightsaber cuts. The baby was ready, she could feel it in the force. She needed to go get Nyx, but she'd been dragging her feet. Not only was every movement painful, there was someone else she'd rather have with her right now. 

            She cried out as the next one hit with double the intensity. "I know you want to come out kid, but could you take it easy?" she grumbled aloud. She laid back, wiping the sweat off her brow and tried to take a deep breath. Even that was painful. It felt like she would burst like a balloon. She gritted her teeth trying to power through the pain, but she felt the bed suddenly get damp. She looked down at her pants, stained as though she'd peed herself. Oh great. 

            With great effort, she peeled them off and hobbled into the refresher. "Nyx!" Her call became a scream as the contraction hit so hard she had to grab the sink so she didn't fall over.

            He bounded through the door eyes huge, looking her up and down. "Wha.....?" He didn't even have a chance to finish as he slid on the leaking fluid racing to catch her as she fell backwards. She landed hard on his lap as they tumbled to the ground. She let her head fall back into his shoulder, closing her eyes as tears streamed down her face. "You're in labor!" he stuttered in shock.

            "You think?" she said tightly, trying not to lash out at him just because everything hurt. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. She couldn't even blame the baby's father. But she wished he was here right now. Though, now that she thought about it, maybe not. She'd seen Anakin power through countless crazy scenarios without so much as a flinch, but she suspected this would be an entirely new and terrifying ordeal for him. What would he offer that Nyx couldn't? Well for one thing, she trusted him a lot more.

            "I should get a doctor!" He tried to stand up, but she gripped his thighs so he couldn't move. 

            "Too late!" she cried, digging into his legs unnaturally hard as she felt the pressure of the baby's skull on her pelvis. To Nyx's credit, he barely yelped as blood stained his pants where she'd clawed him. She didn't have time to feel guilty as the next contraction pushed the baby further down. She took several rapid breaths, releasing him so he could come around and catch it. He grabbed a towel from the shower and placed it on the floor between her legs. She fell back onto her elbows panting. 

            Another contraction, another push. Pain crashed through her in waves. Sweat poured from her forehead and mixed with her tears, making her blanche at the sickly salty taste that dribbled into her mouth. "Almost there." He sounded more awestruck than terrified. This was more of herself than she wanted to show him, but it was what it was. She took a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could, and then collapsed backwards onto the cold hard floor as she heard the distinctive cry of a newborn baby.

            It was the strangest moment of bright, headache inducing lighting, exhaustion, relief and... joy... She closed her eyes to relax after such a feat, that way she could greet her child more composed. 

            "It's a girl!" Nyx exclaimed. "I think..." he trailed off sounding doubtful.

            "You think?" She laughed hoarsely as she looked down her body and could just make out the confusion in his eyes. "Haven't you ever seen a girl?"

            "Well, yeah…" he said defensively, "I mean I'm looking at one right now. Maybe two. It's just hard to tell when they're this little. Like she doesn't have boobs." He said.

            Ahsoka rolled her eyes, smiling to herself. How did she keep ending up around adorable idiots? She took a deep breath and sat up. "Remind me not to let you babysit." He was attractive sitting there, despite being covered in blood, fluid and sweat. His jet-black hair fell loosely in his face as he looked down at the child cradled in his arms. A smile played across his lips, there was admiration in his eyes. A pang hit her. She wished it was Anakin that was meeting their newborn for the first time. She shook it off. "Can you stop hogging her now? After what I've been through, I want to see if it was worth it." she teased.

            "Oh right," he looked up like he'd completely forgotten she was in the room. He carefully handed her over, and Ahsoka looked down at the face of her baby for the first time. It was love at first sight. She rubbed her finger across her tiny hands and the girl gripped it tightly. 

            "Hello, Ashla," she whispered. She'd debated on the name for months, but the child's beautiful blue eyes looked back at her; her face as perfect and bright as a sunbeam and she just knew it was meant to be. Ashla meant ‘light.’ And that's exactly what she was. A light that came out of darkness, pain and goodbyes. Her features were Togrutan; her face narrow, high cheekbones, larger forehead, though not dramatic. But her skin was fair, and she had hints of hair. She had little white markings on her forehead and cheeks and a few stripes on her arms and legs but because her skin was light, they didn't stand out. 

            Ahsoka was relieved that she looked human. It would make her life easier. She'd be able to blend in and not attract attention. Ashla looked up at her gurgling and she watched her in wonder. She was the most precious thing she'd ever seen; the light at the end of the tunnel. As much as she wanted to show Anakin, it was better he didn’t know. She hoped that he'd not sensed her pain from the birth through the force. He was probably lightyears away with plenty of other things to occupy his mind. 

 ---

             “Anakin? Anakin!” Obi wan’s voice broke into his thoughts. 

            “Hmm?” Anakin blinked and refocused on the council around him, surprised to find them all looking at him. 

            “See something, did you?” Master Yoda asked him. 

            He shook his head. Even if he had, he wouldn’t tell them. It had just been a feeling. Pain… strong pain, but not the kind he felt around him on battlefields. It confused him because it had been mixed with… joy? It didn’t make any sense. Who feels happy when they’re in pain?

            “Well can we get back to the meeting then?” Windu asked from across the room. 

            “Yes, sorry,” Anakin mumbled bowing his head. His mind wandered to Ahsoka. Did it have something to do with her? He couldn’t be sure anymore.

            “Very good. Obi wan and Anakin will go to Utapau to investigate the death and report in…” Windu’s voice sounded far away. 

 ---

             “Not to ruin the moment, but I’m not sure a baby around my business is a good idea. It’s too dangerous.” Nyx brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and twiddled his thumbs, looking everywhere than at her.

            Ahsoka had to bite her tongue so she didn’t tell him that she’d fought in countless dangerous situations with kids strapped to her. And that what he considered dangerous wasn’t even close to the things she’d seen in the last eighteen years. “Well you kind of did.” She tried to sound sassy like she used to with Anakin all the time, in order to hide the knot in her chest. “Are you seriously going to kick me out?”

            “No, of course not!” he sighed. “It’s just…” he absentmindedly started wiping up the floor so he didn’t have to make eye contact with her. She watched him curiously.

            “What?”

            “I’m not real good around kids,” he said finally. “They don’t like me and I don’t like them and it’s just a bad combo.”

            “Well just think of it as your roommate has a kid and you don’t have to worry about it. I’m not asking you to care for her or anything.” It must be all the hormones that was making her uptight. She suddenly wanted to be alone. 

            Nyx wasn’t a Jedi, but he seemed to notice the change in the room. He made a lame excuse about needing to fix a sprocket and disappeared, leaving her still sitting in the puddle on the bathroom floor. 

            She blew air through her nose out of frustration, willing herself not to cry. Jedi weren’t allowed to have kids or families. She wasn’t a Jedi anymore, but she had been one when her and Anakin had gone too far. She didn’t regret it. She loved him, even with an uncertain future, even having to raise the child alone… she still loved him. She’d always love him. Though being alone with a stranger and a new kid she had to raise by herself, wasn’t how she’d imagined the future when they’d slept together.

            She ran her fingers down her daughter’s cheek, noticing how rough her fingers were compared to the baby’s skin. She pushed herself to her feet, exhaustion threatening to consume her. Her whole body ached. She turned the water on in the bathtub and let it fill while she cradled the baby in her lap trying to wrestle the tunic over her head one handed. Ashla fussed at the rocking motion and she spoke softly to soothe her. She gathered a few supplies from the cabinet and climbed into the tub. 

            She pulled her knees up so she could rest Ashla’s head on them above the waterline. She rubbed her gently, washing off the dried blood and bodily fluids. Cleaning her skin in little circular motions. Smiling to herself at the intimacy of the moment. Loving the beauty of this new light in front of her. She felt lost in her sound. She’d always had a fondness for children. She’d loved taking care of the younglings at the temple. 

            Her and Anakin’s first real mission together had been rescuing Jabba’s son. It was ironic that their relationship had started with a baby and ended with one. If she’d known that at the time, would she have changed anything? What a stupid question; of course not. The baby in front of her was something she could never regret. Even if it meant a daily reminder of the person she missed most. She silently thanked the force for the chance to experience motherhood. She’d never known how badly she’d wanted it until she had it. 

            She pulled the sterile knife out of the alcohol and carefully severed the umbilical cord between them. Tying the stub in a knot against her daughter’s skin and cleaning it off. She’d spent the last month researching baby care to make sure when it came, she could take care of it without needing to go to the hospital. Of course, half naked and crying on the bathroom floor with Nyx hadn’t been exactly how she’d imagined the moment. 

            Now that he was gone, she force pulled the little basket with a cushion into the room so she could put Ashla into it after drying her off and putting special lotion on her. Then she quickly cleaned herself up feeling like a real person again. She went about cleaning the bathroom up since the child had fallen asleep as soon as she’d put her down. She used the force to float it into the bedroom so it was a gentler motion and got dressed. She cleaned up her bedroom too. 

            Tired but feeling better, she sat on the edge of the bed watching her daughter breathe, occasionally twitching in her sleep. Her heart felt full. It came with a kind of peace and satisfaction that she’d never known before. She felt like she had a purpose again and she was going to hold onto it. She saw Ashla’s face screw up in a frown and then she started crying. 

            She picked her up. “Are you hungry?” she asked her as though she could answer. She sat on the bed with her back against the wall, opening her tunic. She marveled at every line and inch of her daughter’s skin as she suckled happily. “I’ll never let you go,” she whispered softly, rocking her gently in her arms while she nursed. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this happy. 

Next Chapter - > 

[hellsbellssinclub]

Across the Stars. Part 28

Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7/ Part 8/ Part 9/ Part 10/ Part 11/ Part 12/ Part 13/ Part 14/ Part 15/ Part 16/ Part 17/ Part 18/ Part 19/ Part 20/ Part 21/ Part 22/Part 23/ Part 24/ Part 25 / Part 26/ Part 27/ Part 28/  Ao3

Only a handful more chapters to go friends!

Obi-Wan prepares to go back to the Jedi Order.

The library in the T.A.R.D.I.S, Obi-Wan decided, was the single most greatest thing in the whole universe.

After his exhausting talk with The Doctor, the Time Lord had taken him to the library and let him loose in the ever expanding, endless room. There were books on everything all sorted and piled up in their own unique way. Obi-Wan found books from when the Jedi Order was first found to books about the make up of the sonic screwdriver and how to make one.

Carrying a pile of books larger than his head, Obi-Wan stumbled over to one of the chairs in the room and sat himself down with a huff and a grin. There was so much to read here in the library and he could not wait to dive into it all. Picking up the book on the sonic screwdriver, Obi-Wan let himself get lost within the wonders of the written word.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been engrossed with the book but when Donna gently patted his shoulder and smiled down at him, Obi-Wan guessed it must have been a few hours.

“Have a good nap, Obi-Wan?” Donna asked, pushing back his hair. Obi-Wan grinned up at her.

“I did, thank you! What about you? The Doctor said you had your own nap.”

The red haired woman nodded. “It was pretty good. There is nothing like a good nap after some excitement. Now, what are you reading?” She asked as she sat down on his arm chair.

Obi-Wan immediately began to talk about the book and how it talked about how the sonic screwdriver was made and where it came from and not once did he feel like Donna was not interested in what he was saying or that she was just humouring him. She asked questions and let him ramble happily.

It was fun, talking to someone about what he had learnt and having his thoughts heard. Normally, only his friends would indulge him when he rambled on about something that had caught his interest but Donna and The Doctor were both happy to hear him talk and really did seem engaged with what he was saying.

“That is a really interesting book, Obi-Wan. But, it is almost time for dinner. We have landed next to a small space diner and are ordering some take out. Come on, put a book mark in that book and let’s get you fed.” Donna grinned, clapping him on his sore shoulders.

Obi-Wan grinned up at the older woman as his stomach growled at the mention of food. He guessed he had been sitting and reading for a while now. “Food sounds great!” He placed a small book mark into the book (though he wasn’t sure where the book mark came from seeing as it was not there before) and stood up from the chair.

“Come on, come on! Let’s go and wrangle The Doctor so we can feed all of us.” Donna laughed, gently herding Obi-Wan out of the library. The thought of food and eating with his two new guardians brought a large smile to Obi-Wan’s face.

He might still be exhausted from everything that had had happened in the last few days but Obi-Wan felt more at peace with himself and the universe around him than he had in years. With The Doctor and Donna here beside him, Obi-Wan was sure that everything was only going to get better from here on out.

Six Months Later

“Are you certain you want to do this Obi-Wan?” The Doctor asked, placing his hands-on Obi-Wan shoulders and looking down into his eyes. “You are welcome here. There is no time limit at all for how long you can or can’t stay.”

Obi-Wan smiled softly up at the man who had become like a father to him in the last six months they had been traveling together. Placing his own hands on top of the older man’s, Obi-Wan shook his head. “I need to go back, Doctor. The Force is calling me and it is time.”

“This is a time machine! You don’t have to go right now!” Donna waved her hand at the large green column behind them. There was a small desperate look on her face, one that had been appearing more and more once Obi-Wan had stated that it was time for him to go back to the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan smiled at her and shook his head sadly.

“I know that I could stay for longer but the Force cannot be ignored.” Obi-Wan looked at the two people who for the last six months had been his closest friends and his guardians. They had protected him, clothed him and fed him without a single thought and they had taken him into their arms and had treated him like family.

He was going to miss them. More than he wanted to admit.

“And besides, it isn’t like you guys can’t visit me at all. You have a T.A.R.D.I.S. You can always find me wherever you are in the universe at whatever time. I will always answer for you.” Obi-Wan pulled back from The Doctor and grasped his hands. “These last six months have been the best of my life, and I would not change them for the universe itself. But it is time for me to go.”

“Oh, Obi-Wan.” The Doctor sighed, shoulders sagging as he pulled Obi-Wan into a tight hug. “I am going to really, really miss you.” The Time Lord whispered into his hair. “You are always welcome back here. Always.”

Obi-Wan held onto the older man tightly, not really wanting to let go and leave the safety and familial love that he had found here in the T.A.R.D.I.S with The Doctor and Donna and whoever else joined them on their adventure of the week. He had seen so many worlds, so many tragedies and joys and so, so many new things and he honestly just wanted to spend the rest of his life here.

Here with the man who loved and cared more than any being in the universe. Who saved countless lives because he could and who always delivered a kind but stern justice to everyone. The Doctor, for the past six months had been there for Obi-Wan. The Time Lord had been his mentor, his father and his friend and had never once judged Obi-Wan or got angry at the endless questions that Obi-Wan had.

And here with Donna, the loud woman with the kindest heart and strongest mind Obi-Wan had ever seen. Donna, who was loud and brass and who always offered a hand of friendship to those around her had been his mother, his best friend and his foundation for the past six months. So many times, he had woken up to nightmares from what they had encountered through their travels but each and every time Donna was there with gentle hands and a soft voice, calming him down from the terrors that plagued his mind.

He did not want to go back to the Temple, not really. There was so much that was just wrong with the Order and how it worked and if he had not travelled with The Doctor and seen the universe outside of the views of the Republic and Order he would never had known it to be so. But the Force was insistent that he returned and since he had spent those several weeks at the Holy City in Jedha with the Guardians, Obi-Wan knew he should not ignore what the Force was telling him.

And there were many wrongs he needed to right within the Order and many things that would need to be done. Like setting the record straight with Bruck Chan and speaking to his Masters and friends whom he had left behind. Throughout his travels with The Doctor and Donna, Obi-Wan had found out some very troubling news about the Jedi and he knew that the information he had obtained needed to be shared with his fellow Jedi before it was too late.

As soon as he pulled away from The Doctor, Donna was there, sweeping him into a crushing and warm hug that left him wanting to cry. Donna was pouring all her love and friendship into the hug and the Force was singing around them with how strongly she felt.  He was going to miss this. Miss Donna and how loudly and purely she felt. He was going to miss the cool, calmness that The Doctor projected whenever he thought that Obi-Wan needed a break and the overwhelming love and friendship that just poured out of the two of them whenever Obi-Wan was around.

It will not be easy to let this go. To leave the comfort and love that came with being in the bright blue box that travelled throughout all of time and space. But Obi-Wan knew that this was not going to be goodbye forever. He would see The Doctor and Donna time and time again throughout his whole life and they would always be watching over him, because they cared and loved him as he loved and cared for them.

Going back will be hard but knowing somewhere out in the stars that The Doctor and Donna were out there, in the endless void in space and time, made him feel like he would never be truly alone again.

[inkognito97]

Star Wars Advent Calendar 2017

25) Presents

“Where in the Force’s name is Mace?” growled Qui-Gon.

“Where in the Force’s name has your ‘famous’ patience and serenity gone to?” countered Tahl. She was looking him up and down, searching for any mistakes in his attire. She found none. “I have to say, you can pull that look off.”

The long haired man, whose previously chestnut brown hair was now snow-white, shot her a dirty look. He looked ridiculous as Santa Clause and nobody could change his opinion. Red was not his color and he dreaded the day his hair would really turn white.

“Where is Mace?” he repeated his question.

“He is probably bringing Depa with him, you know she is ill. Give them some time.” In confusion did she watch, how her friend began to pace. “You could start without him, you know,” she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Actually no, I can’t,” he sighed and barely stopped himself with running his gloved hand through his beard. “He got Obi-Wan’s present,” he explained.

“Oh,” the honey skilled female awkwardly cleared her throat. “I see… I could make Yoda dress as a Christmas Elf to play out some time.”

“Please?” he let himself drop onto his mattress, having changed into the costume in his bedroom. Things were not going as planned, then again, they rarely did.

“I’ll go talk to him,” silently, Tahl slid out of the room and truly, a couple of minutes later, she returned with the Jedi Order’s Grandmaster in tow. He looked quite amused.

“Good you look,” he pointed towards Qui-Gon.

Despite his impatience, the long haired man had to chuckle, “Wiser, no doubt.”

Yoda hummed and quickly changed as well. In the end he looked more like a small goblin than a Christmas Elf, but children were easy to please. Besides, it was the thought that counted.

“Now, you two look absolutely lovely,” Tahl cooed and Qui-Gon wanted to retort something, when the door to his bedroom was violently opened, revealing a panting Mace.

“I am here, I am here. And I brought this,” the package he was holding, had holes and was moving. Tahl was not sure what to think of it.

“What took you so long?” he jumped from his position on the bed.

“I brought Depa with me,” Mace explained, confirming what Tahl had thought. “You look good, Master,” he added towards Yoda, who inclined his head.

Qui-Gon sighed and took the shivering box out of the Korun Master’s hands, carefully placing it on the ground. “Thank you, Mace.”

“Anytime,” he and Tahl vanished.

“Now, my loyal Christmas elf,” it was in moments like these, that Qui-Gon was thankful that his voice was already so deep, “would you mind, holding this?” he pointed towards the present on the ground.

Yoda was eyeing it curiously. “Plan to make a zoo out of the temple, are you?” he picked it up nevertheless.

“Something like that,” he shouldered Santa Clause’s red sack, which was heavier than it looked and nodded towards Yoda.

 Qui-Gon was only a little bit surprised to see his living room so filled with people. Obi-Wan and Bant were not the only Padawans there, in fact, all their friends with their Masters, were present. His performance as Santa Clause, must have made the round. Midnight blue eyes locked with unimpressed gold-green striped ones and Tahl just smiled innocently. It certainly explained the weight of Santa Clause’s red sack.

“Ho ho ho, merry Christmas,” it was hard to say, who was more delighted by his appearance, the Padawans, or the adults. But Qui-Gon had more eyes for the ginger haired boy, who was sitting next to Bant, with Quinlan on the backrest behind him and with Garen halfway draped over his lap. He looked happy and highly amused.

 Obi-Wan was the last to receive his present, not that he seemed to mind. He was just as excited with what his friends and Masters were getting. But when his turn finally came, he WAS a little nervous wreck. Qui-Gon thought it was cute.

“Well, who do we have here?” he said in his fake Santa voice. “Young Obi-Wan Kenobi. Your Master told me that you have indeed been a good boy,” in delight did he watch, how freckled cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “That’s why I’ve got a special present for you.”

This was Yoda’s cue, who had held onto the trembling present until now. Obi-Wan took it, slightly flinching as he noticed that his present was moving and seemed to be alive. His gaze turned from worried to pleased.

Qui-Gon, who had kneeled down to be more on eye-level with the children, was startled, when Obi-Wan moved forward, whispering, “Thank you, Master,” right into his ear, before pecking his cheek.

“Open it already, Kenobi,” that was Quinlan Vos.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, sent another shy smile towards his disguised Master, who was still surprised by the open affection in public, and went to his friends to reveal the small Kiros bird that peeked out of its box, as soon as the lit was opened.

Now Qui-Gon was hardly a friend of gifting animals, especially not during such festivities as Christmas, but he had saved the bird a couple of days ago and it needed someone to take care of it. The bird had never seen freedom, it was raised in a cage and would never be able to survive on its own and he knew for a fact that Obi-Wan would take good care of it.

In awe and with extreme care, did Obi-Wan reach into the box to pick up the small bird that had yet to reach its full height. The intelligent bird – they were capable of understanding speech – immediately felt that it was safe with the Padawan and it friendly nibbled on the end of the braid, causing the small bell there to jingle.

“Hello there,” Obi-Wan greeted his newest friend. The smile he sent Qui-Gon’s way was answer enough.

“Great responsibility, this is,” commented Yoda quietly.

“Yes,” agreed Qui-Gon. “But I know he is ready.” There had been a time, once, when having an animal was part of the Jedi training. Young Padawans learned responsibility and depending on the animal, even death. It was usually the Master, who did the choosing of the creature, but sometimes the Force interfered.

“Ready, he is,” agreed Yoda, who was watching the children, who were standing around Obi-Wan wanting to see the animal, with a fond look. It became even fonder, when Obi-Wan allowed Bant to hold his pet.

  Even though it had been beautiful and happy and all that, Qui-Gon was grateful that Christmas was finally over and that he could FINALLY get out of his costume again, it was beginning to itch.

His Padawan was tired too, but he had yet to change into his sleeping attire. Instead, he carried the small bird, who could not fly since its wing was still healing, towards his room. He had created a small space for the bird to rest. A few things were still missing, branches for him to land and climb on, a few toys, more than one feeding ground and so on and so forth. For now, the bird had one of Obi-Wan’s old pillows to sleep on, a good substitute for a warm nest, with a bowl of water and a bowl with grain feed.

Qui-Gon followed quietly and watched how his student refilled the water bowl, setting it on a towel in case the bird decided to take a bath and gently petted his pet’s head. The bird leaned into the touch.

“Good night Cralen,” he said.

“Cralen?” Qui-Gon had not meant to speak out loud. Obi-Wan had felt him anyway. “Does it mean anything?”

“No,” there was a smile on Obi-Wan’s features. “It just sounds pretty.”

“Of course,” Qui-Gon let out an amused huff and turned his gaze towards the carpet that needed to be cleaned again. He would have to request the cleaning droids. He could feel Obi-Wan’s eyes on him. “Just say it, Padawan.”

“You look old,” said the accented voice.

“You don’t like it? Tahl said it suited me,” mocked the older male, causing his student to grimace. The bird chirped joyfully.

“No… not really,” he had stepped closer to the long haired man and was delighted, when his teacher followed the unspoken question for a hug. “Thank you Master,” he said.

“Thank YOU, Obi-Wan.” The Padawan knew that his teacher meant much more than the self-made leather wristband his Padawan had gifted him. On the inside of the wristband, was even an engraved message that Qui-Gon had yet to decode and Obi-Wan would not tell him.

The numbers, “6  1  20  8  5  18” were engraved in the inside, but Obi-Wan had PROMISED that they meant something. Qui-Gon was hardly someone to shrink from a challenge, quite the opposite actually, but he would solve this puzzle another day.

“Sleep well,” he finally said to his yawning student and sent him off, fully intending to take a shower to get rid of the white dye in his hair, before he went to bed too. And tomorrow, he would clean up his apartment… and probably help Obi-Wan to redecorate his room. And who knew, he might even get to decode his message. But all that, had time until tomorrow…

I am curios if there is anyone out there, who can crack the code... ^^ Write it in the comments, if you have an idea.

Also, I would like to say thank you to all the readers and supporters. This project had been both a joy, as well as very stressful sometimes. I would not miss the experience however. Just know that your support gave me the incentive to go on, so... THANK YOU!

[sanerontheinside]

feels

uuuuuum I can’t tell if I drifted thru povs however I felt like it, or if it counts as third-person omniscience, but I will say that having an actual panning camera image of the scene as you write it can be very annoying that way. 

also this is one of the only scenes I have written in full, and it’s been written for some months now, so I’m dropping it here in a moment of extremely questionable decision-making and doing my best not to question the fact that I just posted a major resolution point. 

then again, if this au ever gets written? by the time this scene comes up again it will either have changed significantly, or y’all won’t remember this ever happened, or both. so that’s not so bad. 

@deadcatwithaflamethrower​, @aidava​, hi I blame you for the frankenau

—note: Obi-Wan’s first mission as a Knight leaves him stranded on a planet being invaded and reclaimed by its neighbour world. eventually he does a successful blockade run, only to end up crashlanding on Tatooine. that is where Qui-Gon and Anakin find him. to skip over a lot more detail, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are eventually partnered again, and Anakin becomes their shared Padawan. Also Offworld subsidiaries reappear, which throws everyone for a loop. 

He awoke with his throat raw from a scream he couldn’t remember the reason for, which was frustrating. When the Force chose to make itself known, it wasn’t usually so skittish, but this time he had to go digging for the nightmare that had prompted this rude awakening.

“Obi-Wan?”

Shit. “Sorry, Qui-Gon. Didn’t mean to wake you.” He turned, and found himself staring across the encampment at a blearily blinking Jedi Master. Qui-Gon had propped himself up on one elbow on his pallet, his hair spilling over his shoulders in a sleep-tousled mess, deep blue eyes unfocused in the firelight. It was a surprisingly endearing sight, and Obi-Wan mustered an apologetic half-smile for waking him to cover the feeling of warmth he felt bloom in his chest.

“Bad dreams?” Qui-Gon asked, voice deep and sleep-roughened.

Obi-Wan bit his lip, gaze turning inward to finally track down the thread he’d nearly lost just now. “Bandomeer,” he said at last. “I hadn’t thought about that in a long time.”

“Offworld.” When he looked up again, Qui-Gon looked grieved. “Haven’t had to think about that in a long time.” He shifted, then gave Obi-Wan a shy look and raised the corner of his blanket in invitation.

Obi-Wan didn’t let himself think—simply got up, collecting his own blanket and draping it over his Master before settling in under his arm. The easy pressure of Qui-Gon’s breath at his back, the protective limb across his chest pulling him in and holding tight for a moment before relaxing—this comfort, this sense of safety was not one he’d had the chance to feel in long years.

In the Temple, the nightmares eased in Qui-Gon’s quarters, which still felt more like home than his assigned rooms. He ended up on that couch more often than not, and when he did cry out in his sleep—after missions gone horribly or with visions creeping into his dreams—Qui-Gon was there, running his hand through Obi-Wan’s hair and whispering comforts.

Here, though, the entire compound was saturated with a feeling of unease, and it leached into the surrounding woods. They’d wandered off as far as they’d dared, set up a campsite, but apparently not far enough. Obi-Wan’s dream had so unsettled him that his heart still beat rapidly in his chest. After a few moments, as the adrenaline drained away, he felt cold and a fine tremor ran through his body.

Behind him, Qui-Gon sighed deeply. “I think we’ll be awake for some time yet, Obi-Wan. Come on, up—let me stir the fire.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t help a faint, shiver-broken chuckle as he shifted to sit alongside his Master, pulling one of the blankets around his shoulders. “Staying awake with the nightmare-plagued Padawan again. Between Anakin and myself, it’s a wonder you’ve gotten any sleep in the last few years.”

“Sleep is something of a privilege rarely afforded to Masters with Padawans,” Qui-Gon informed him, the fond smile he threw over his shoulder warming Obi-Wan better than the struggling campfire.

Qui-Gon finally moved back to their nest of blankets, shifting until he sat shoulder to shoulder with the Knight. “I never meant to take on another Padawan,” he mused softly.

The remark that caught Obi-Wan entirely by surprise. “Qui-Gon?”

His former Master turned half-amused, half-regretful blue eyes on him and studied him calmly. “Certainly not Anakin.”

Obi-Wan tried to shake off the confusion he felt. “But—a nine-year-old boy, never trained to control his emotions, and so strong in the Force—he could put out a sun if he thought about it hard enough. We couldn't just ignore him.”

“Yes.” Qui-Gon looked back at the fire in the centre of their camp, flickering and popping loudly in the gaps between speech. He was seized with a sudden melancholy. “The Council displayed an unusual lack of common sense.”

Obi-Wan snorted. “Not so unusual, these days.”

Qui-Gon’s smile was a fleeting thing. “It was a desperate bluff, claiming Anakin as my Padawan.”

He felt Obi-Wan go very still against him, so he pressed on quickly before his agitation could choke him. And his profound shame, too, for the desperation that had coloured his bid to secure Anakin’s future.

“I hoped either Mace or Yoda, or maybe Plo, might dismiss my claim, and take on Anakin themselves.” He sighed and disturbed the blankets in a small ruffle, reaching up to drag his hands over his face. “Worked like a charm,” he added, with humourless laugh. Qui-Gon was not bitter, not in the least.

His former Padawan was staring at him, and Qui-Gon wasn't sure he wanted to know what the expression on his face held.

“I thought you—" Obi-Wan broke off with a slight cough. “You were bluffing?”

Qui-Gon glanced up at last, startled by the disbelief in the exclamation—and more, by some unnamed emotion caught behind tight shields that threatened to wrench itself out of Obi-Wan’s grasp. It almost felt like an old injury pulling at his attention again.

Obi-Wan was grappling with the elder Master’s admission and finding it rather difficult to contend with. “That was not the time, Qui-Gon!” he sputtered at last.

“There was no time, Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon said softly. “The Council refused to accept Anakin outright, which was completely ridiculous—as though an untrained Force Sensitive of his potential could be any less dangerous than a Sith. I needed them to agree, at least to not turn him away.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think to warn you. I didn’t think—couldn't imagine—it would come to that. And I would have explained, afterward, but then—"

Then Naboo. That silent, strained trip through hyperspace, the careful way in which Master and Padawan had avoided each other. Qui-Gon’s features twisted with regret.

“Anakin was a joy to teach, and when you vanished he was the only one left to ground me in reality. It wasn't an easy time for us,” he added with a wry, strained attempt at a smile. “Thank all the little gods we found you, you helped us through so much.”

Obi-Wan shook his head, turned back to stare at the flames again. “Can't say I gave you a chance to say anything.”

Those beautiful blue-green eyes turned inward thoughtfully, and Obi-Wan absently bit at his lip. Then, apropos of nothing he said, “I wanted to ask you if we could remain partnered after my Knighting.”

Qui-Gon shifted in surprise. “Why didn't you?” He watched as the younger man looked away and his shoulders twitched in an aborted shrug, clearly fighting with himself. “Please, Obi-Wan, don't be afraid to tell me.” The flicker of a pained glance in his direction was enough to cause a physical twinge in him, and the silence weighed heavily on Qui-Gon’s mind.

“I thought you didn't want me,” Obi-Wan said at last, quietly. A barely audible hitch in breath escaped Qui-Gon’s control. “Though if truth be told, I was very grateful you weren’t with me on that mission. Nak was—hm. ‘Frustrating’ doesn’t begin to cover that level of Sith hells.”

Qui-Gon scoffed. “My Obi-Wan, better with you to all Sith hells than ever without you. I don't—" he hesitated a moment. “You thought I wouldn't want you?”

The younger Knight curled into himself, feeling small under the weight of that intent gaze. “I didn't realise you were bluffing. You told them I was ready for my Trials, but I didn't feel ready.”

At Qui-Gon's continued silence, Obi-Wan finally dragged his eyes up to meet his former Master's gaze, heart almost shuddering to a stop at the expression he saw there.

“You were long ready, Obi-Wan,” he said solemnly. “I, on the other hand, had done you a great disservice. I trusted you with every mission, and you’d long since been carrying the responsibilities of a Knight, but I thought—I thought I could protect you. I thought I would not lose you if I kept you close.” His attempt at a self-deprecating chuckle sounded pitifully broken even to him. “I didn't realise you'd think of my recommendation for you Trials as a dismissal. But then, how could you not? It was abrupt, presented completely without finesse.”

Qui-Gon broke off and closed his eyes, dragged in a shuddering breath and held it for a count of seven. “We didn't have the finest of beginnings. Old fool that I am, I thought the last few years with our rhythm, our partnership, our bond and the strength that it had—”

“You shut me out, I didn't know what to think.” Obi-Wan shrugged, without a tinge of bitterness.

“Ah.” Obi-Wan glanced up, saw Qui-Gon flinch. “That was—forgive me—"

Obi-Wan watched his former Master stutter to a halt with every false start. Here was a man usually so eloquent, always one to use words to their greatest effect, now incapable of saying something that must have weighed heavily on his mind for a long time.

He reached out and rested a hand over the other man’s, tracing delicate circles over smooth, soft skin. “Qui-Gon?”

“Obi-Wan.” Deep blue eyes opened, gaze intense, and locked with Obi-Wan’s. “There is not a single thing you could ever do that would have made me deny you as my apprentice then, nor now as my Knight-partner and friend.”

“Then why did you block the training bond?”

Qui-Gon winced, but he didn’t look away. “Your nightmares, Obi-Wan.”

“The visions?” Obi-Wan pulled back, surprised. “I—they bled through?”

Qui-Gon shook his head. “Only once, when you were still too afraid of losing your place at my side to tell me what they were. I sat with you that night.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “I remember.”

“I was always aware of them, even when I did not see them. I remembered them, and I could always tell when they started again. As they did before Naboo.”

The look of frank astonishment on Obi-Wan’s features melted into an aggrieved smile. “You always tell me to live in the moment, and yet that time you chose to listen to visions? What exactly were you thinking of when you blocked me out? What is it that you finally listened to?”

It was some time before Qui-Gon could answer that. His body betrayed him even as his mind tried, needed to get the words out. His throat constricted, refused to give way for any more than a tight pained sound. He let his head fall back, face upturned to the starry sky but eyes unseeing. The stars blurred, distant pinpoints washing out into silvery spots.

“From the moment I faced the Zabrak on Tatooine, I knew what your visions were trying to tell you.”

He heard a sharp intake of breath. Obi-Wan froze, muscles iron-tense all along Qui-Gon’s side, but his voice, when he spoke, was low and wrought of perfect calm. “The figure in black and red.”

“I could barely hold my own against him then, I knew I couldn’t hold him alone on Naboo. Maybe just long enough to weaken him, long enough to let you finish the fight and guarantee your survival.”

Silence. The Force, somewhere, roiled with emotions, but those emotions were all Qui-Gon’s. Obi-Wan hid himself away so well under his shields, Qui-Gon couldn’t sense even a whisper of what he must have felt. He’d imagined anger, which he well deserved. He’d imagined grief, even. But of all the things he might have expected, he’d never even imagined this death-still, accepting calm. A sudden intense pain flared in his chest, a depth of fear and loss he could not even begin to fathom, and he nearly curled into it.

And as if that were the sign for him to let go, Obi-Wan all but exploded. “Dammit, Qui-Gon! What did you always tell me? ‘Live in the Moment, Padawan, the future is always in motion, focus on the here and now’. And then you go and run ahead to face that thing alone. I thought I wasn’t good enough to fight at your side, that I’d failed you, lost your trust. You knew it would kill you, and you thought that would be better than—"

“Better than watching you die, Obi-Wan.”

The quiet words brought him up short, it seemed. Again, Qui-Gon wasn’t sure what to think, but at least the air between them wasn’t frozen still in total impassivity.

He drew a shaky sigh and turned his head away. “Three years later, you still hadn’t returned from a mission that had gone badly sideways, and I was forced to face my greatest fear anyway.”

For a long moment there was nothing but quiet again. He thought Obi-Wan might have dozed off, letting the confession hover over them like the heavy weight it had been all these years. What was a few more hours, anyway, before Obi-Wan was driven from the warmth of their nest of blankets by the morning light—before they never spoke of this again?

Then Qui-Gon hissed, startled, as a cold nose found its way into the join of neck and shoulder, and icy hands burrowed into his robes. “Obi-Wan?” he rasped, bewildered.

Hot tears on his skin, against his cheek, silent shudders wracking the body that pressed close to him. Qui-Gon let out a quiet keening noise at the feeling that wound itself around his chest and squeezed, and pulled Obi-Wan closer, wrapping his arms tightly around the quivering body, one hand sliding up into the copper hair and tightening on the nape of his neck.

It might have been an hour later, drifting on the edge of sleep, swollen, aching eyes soothed by the night cold, that he just barely heard Obi-Wan’s vehement whisper, “Don’t ever do that again, Qui. Promise me.”

Qui? he thought, the smallest smile twitching at his lips. “I promise,” he whispered, solemn.

[fireflyfish]

Tano and Kenobi: Braiding and Beading

Previously on Tano and Kenobi...

After his vision of a possible future, Qui-Gon Jinn insists that he be allowed to train Obi-Wan Kenobi, in spite of Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan’s protests. When Masters Windu and Yoda are unable to find a solution to the problem, Qui-Gon and Ahsoka agree to duel for the privilege of training the young Initiate. Fortunately for Obi-Wan, Ahsoka is the superior duelist that day...

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As soon as the duel was decided in Ahsoka’s favor Obi-Wan jumped up and ran over to his master, immediately fretting over the tortured claw her hand was frozen in. “Master, we have to get you to the healers!”

Ahsoka let out a soft, exhausted laugh and shook her head, taking her left hand and slowly, carefully, with a great deal more skill than Master Yoda or Windu expected of her, sent the Force running down her arm. The cool electricity soothed her agitated nerves, inflamed muscles and ligaments: it hurt like a blaster bolt to bare skin but it was much easier to use the Force like this in the Temple than when she was on the run from the Empire.

Everything seemed easier here.

With a relieved sigh, Ahsoka relaxed her hand and stretched it out, glad to see there was no serious damage done. Then she dropped down to one knee in front of Obi-Wan and beamed up at him. “See? I told you to trust me.”

“I did, Master. I knew you would win.” Obi-Wan’s eyes shone with such radiant joy and relief that Ahsoka couldn’t resist and she pulled him in for a good, long hug. He happily submitted to her, his arms wrapped tight around her shoulders as Masters Yoda and Windu walked over to quietly speak with Qui-Gon, who was watching the two with a mixture of suspicion and a touch of regret.

“So… do you still want to be my Padawan?” Ahsoka teased, reaching out to ruffle Obi-Wan’s thick hair. “Or have you changed your mind?”

Obi-Wan shook his head, his eyes bright. “Never. Can we go to the Council now?”

Ahsoka chuckled at that, nodding. “Yes. I think we can go to the Council now.”

“Good!” He took a step back, thrilled, as Ahsoka stood up. She held out her hand, called her other saber to her, and returned both to her belt as she asked Obi-Wan to bring her cloak and Qui-Gon’s from the benches.

The Force exploded with spines but a single arch of her brow immediately quelled Obi-Wan’s churlish reaction and he nodded silently as he trotted back to them. Ahsoka knew she may have won the battle with Qui-Gon and claimed Obi-Wan as her Padawan but that didn't give her or Obi-Wan the right to gloat about it or to rub it the Jedi Master’s face.

Yes, Qui-Gon had behaved abominably towards Obi-Wan and yes, he had continued that trend in the lead-up to the duel, but he had yielded and it wouldn’t do to rub his nose in his loss. They couldn’t afford to make an enemy of Qui-Gon Jinn, especially when their only friends seemed to consist of Masters Windu, Yoda and Padawan Quinlan Vos.

Ahsoka had no way of knowing how much she had changed the course of the future and it made sense to proceed forward with an abundance of caution. She just hoped she would be able to live up to the examples set by Masters Obi-Wan and Plo Koon if not Anakin.

Obi-Wan shuffled back over to Ahsoka’s side, nearly drowning in heavy robes. “These weigh as much as a gundark.”

“And how would you know what a gundark weighs?” Ahsoka teased, taking her robe from Obi-Wan and pulling it on, although she did agree that the robe was perhaps heavier than she would have liked. “Thank you, Padawan Kenobi. Now let’s make our goodbyes and then we will go to the Council.”

Obi-Wan visibly brightened at being called “Padawan” and he grinned up at Ahsoka. As much as he wanted to drop Qui-Gon’s robes on the floor and march out of the training room with Master Ahsoka at his side, he had to grudgingly admit that she was right.

And hearing Ahsoka call him “Padawan”? That made it all worthwhile.

“What happens at the Council?” Obi-Wan asked as they walked slowly towards the cluster of Masters Windu, Yoda, and Jinn. “Is that when I get my braid?”

Ahsoka pursed her lips. “You know… I don’t know. My apprenticeship was a little... unconventional. I guess we’ll find out together.”

Nodding, Obi-Wan followed after Ahsoka, trying not to trip on the yards and yards of fabric that made up Qui-Gon Jinn’s robes.

“We will discuss that later,” Windu said as Ahsoka and Obi-Wan came within earshot of the masters’ conversation. The three men turned to the new master and her padawan, who both bowed respectfully to their elders.

“Obi-Wan and I would like to thank Master Jinn for his time and effort today,” Ahsoka began, putting a hand on her padawan’s back. “And we would like to thank you, too, Master Windu and Master Yoda. I hope we can count on your wisdom and guidance in the future?”

Mace Windu quirked his lips into an almost pleasant expression as he bowed his head in response. “Of course, Knight Tano, Padawan Kenobi.”

“Strong, your bond is already,” Yoda commented, both hands folded over the knob of his gimer stick. “A good pair, you will make. Agree, do you not, Master Jinn?”

Qui-Gon peered down at the pair before him, his eyes narrowed in thought before he took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. Perhaps they will. You fought very well, Knight Tano. Obi-Wan will learn much from you.”

“Thank you, Master Jinn,” Ahsoka replied with another small bow before she caught Obi-Wan’s eye and gestured a little with her head.

“Oh! Yes!” Obi-Wan stepped forward and held up Qui-Gon’s robe, his eyes respectfully downcast. “Here is your robe, Master Jinn.”

Ahsoka coughed. Annnnnd?

Obi-Wan waited for Qui-Gon to take the heavy garment from his hands before he stepped back into the safety of Ahsoka’s presence before he gave a deep bow at the waist. “Thank you for your time and concern, Master Jinn. I… uhm… Thank you. Very much.”

With another short bow, Obi-Wan stepped behind Ahsoka, safe in his master’s shadow.

Qui-Gon managed a small smile and returned Obi-Wan’s bow with a shorter one of his own. “You’re welcome, Obi-Wan. I’m sure you will become a great Jedi Knight someday.”

“Yes, he will,” Ahsoka beamed proudly, glancing back over her shoulder at the blue-eyed boy who was turning an uncomfortable shade of red. “If you will excuse us, I need to clean up before our meeting with the Council.”

“Of course,” Master Windu nodded, dismissing the pair. “Make sure you visit the Quartermaster’s office. Kenobi’s dorm is going to be given to a new age group today.”

“Yes, Master Windu,” Ahsoka replied and with that, she and Obi-Wan took their leave of the masters, neither giving Qui-Gon Jinn a backwards glance as they quietly made their way to the turbolift that would take them down to the floor where the Quartermaster’s office was located.

Once the door closed on the turbolift, Ahsoka shot a sideways look at Obi-Wan, who was already looking up at her, an impish tilt to his head.

“Yes?” Ahsoka grinned, her heart full of joy and happiness. She was hard pressed to remember the last time she felt so light and joyous. It seemed that so much of her life had been tainted by loss and grief that it took some serious reminiscing to remember pure, unfettered joy.

Maybe when Anakin said he was going to take her as his Padawan after all. Maybe that was the last time she felt truly happy.

Permission to enthuse granted, Obi-Wan hands curled into fists as he punched the air. “That was amazing! You’re amazing! You beat Master Jinn and he’s huge! Did you learn to fight like that from Master Skywalker? Did he do Soresu? I saw a Soresu stance! And Djem Sho!”

Drawn into Obi-Wan’s buoyant delight, Ahsoka laughed. “Yes. There was some Soresu but I learned that from my grandmaster. Master Skywalker prefered Djem Sho and the rest I just… picked up.”

Obi-Wan nodded, absolutely enraptured by his master. “Will you teach me? I want to be able to do that too!”

Ahsoka chuckled as their elevator can to a stop. “I promise I’ll teach you everything I know. But first, I need you to take us to the Quartermaster’s office.”

“Oh yes! This way, Master!” Obi-Wan nodded, marching out of the turbolift like he was leading a grand procession, Ahsoka cheerfully following him.

After receiving the directions to their new suite of rooms, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan swung by his former dorm to gather up his few possessions, even as he kept insisting that he was a Padawan now and had no need for personal attachments.

“Obi-Wan…” Ahsoka sighed, sitting down on the bed opposite her Padawan, a solemn expression on her face. “There is nothing wrong with having mementos of happy times or a favorite pair of boots. It’s the fear of losing those things that leads to the dark side.”

Obi-Wan frowned, holding a particularly dear piece holo to his chest as he tried to understand the nuance of Ahsoka’s teachings. “Yes, Master. I’m sorry. I… I thought a Jedi had no possessions. That all attachments are bad.”

“Am I bad, Obi-Wan?” Ahsoka asked softly, holding her hands open. “I had an attachment to my master, a very strong one, and I haven’t fallen. I had very dear friends that I loved deeply and… I’m still here, right?”

Images of Anakin, of Rex and his brothers, of Bail Organa and Hera, Kanan and the rest of the Ghost’s crew flashed through her mind. She knew now she would never see any of them again. They would strangers, polite and distant, with no idea of how deeply Ahsoka had cared for them in another life, another time.

Obi-Wan looked at Ahsoka puzzled, sensing the darker shadows in her words, feeling the ghost of pain at the loss of those dear friends even though they had really only just formed a true bond together. He put down his holo cube and turned to face his master with a serious face. “I do not think you could ever fall, Master Ahsoka. And… I am sorry. I am sorry that coming here means that you will not see your friends again, that your master is lost. I… I am so honored and happy to be your Padawan but… I know this is not how you wanted it to be.”

Ahsoka gaped at Obi-Wan, baffled. “What… Obi-Wan! Don’t be ridiculous! This is what I wanted! What the Force told me to do! Just because I miss my friends does not mean I am not just as honored and happy to be your Master!”

Obi-Wan found himself pulled in tight for another hug and the Force hummed quietly around them, whispering of peace, of stillness and the promise of light. It promised its children that this was right, this was good.

They would mend what was broken and make it newer, better.

They would heal the tree that bore the horrible bounty of Darth Vader and the Empire.

All will be well, children of Light, the Force seemed to say.

“Master?” Obi-Wan mumbled into Ahsoka’s shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“I like these.”

Ahsoka smiled and finished off their hug with an extra strong squeeze. “Me too, Padawan. Me too.”

“So… I can keep my holos and my old boots?” Obi-Wan peeked up Ahsoka, all round blue eyes and nervous fingers. He knew Qui-Gon Jinn would have made him leave his things behind, to cast off the old in favor of the now.

Grinning, Ahsoka picked up Obi-Wan’s small pack and headed towards the door. “Of course. Now let’s get going! We have a date with the Council and I don’t know about you but I do not want to be late.”

“I try very hard not to be late, Master,” Obi-Wan informed Ahsoka, reaching out to grab his favorite pillow before he scampered after her. “But it’s always so difficult with Padawan Vos distracting me!”

“You can always tell him ‘No’, Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka chuckled as they signed out of the Initiate dorm, much to the dorm master’s delight. She bid Padawan Kenobi a successful apprenticeship and waved as they both walked off in the direction of the shared living suites, where their new suite was located.

“Have you ever tried to tell Quinlan Vos ‘No’?” Obi-Wan snorted in a manner so reminiscent of Master Obi-Wan that Ahsoka spent the rest of the turbolift ride trying to control her laughter. “What? What did I say that was so funny? Master! Tell me!”

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Ahsoka finally managed to gasp out only to lose her control again when Obi-Wan folded his arms over his chest in a picture-perfect copy of an irritated General Kenobi upon hearing of another one of Anakin’s antics.

“Oh honestly!” Obi-Wan huffed, starting to feel embarrassed. “You are just as bad as Quinlan!”

“I’m sorry!” Ahsoka said as she took a deep breath and keyed them into their new apartments. “You just… You reminded me of my grandmaster. The… the resemblance is uncanny sometimes.”

Obi-Wan perked up at being compared to Master Skywalker’s master. “He was human? Do I look like him?”

Ahsoka nodded, checking to make sure the lights worked and the water in the refresher and the sink ran before she let Obi-Wan run into his room and start laying out his small assortment of personal effects. “You do, although Master Ob… oh look! We have a view!”

Whew! That was a close one.

“What is it of?” Obi-Wan asked from his room, not willing to leave his task for any old landscape.

“The… wow. The Senate building,” Ahsoka replied, as she realized just what is was she was gazing at. “I didn’t think the Temple had any rooms with a view out onto the Senate district.”

Obi-Wan stuck his head out of the door. “The Temple is built on top of a mountain. We have excellent views of a great section of central Coruscant.”

“Why thank you, Padawan Travel Guide,” Ahsoka replied with a bow of her head and twinkle in her eye. “Now let me hop into the refresher and then…?”

Obi-Wan’s eyes sparkled with glee. “The Council?”

“The Council,” Ahsoka winked and hurried off to get clean, the distant blue dome of the Senate building forgotten.

For now.

It turned out there were two steps to officially sealing a Master-Padawan pair. There was the Presentation to the Council of Masters, where the Jedi Knight brought forth their intended Initiate to the approval or disapproval of the Masters. Almost all Jedi Knights spent weeks, if not months, consulting with friendly masters on the Council to ensure their choices were pre-approved and that the Presentation was little more than a rubber stamp.

Ahsoka had already taken steps on that front: she had filled out the paperwork necessary for claiming Obi-Wan as her Padawan the day after Qui-Gon’s tantrum and then spent the next few days quietly conferring with as many friendly masters as she could find which, surprisingly, was quite a few.

It seemed everyone in the Temple heard about Qui-Gon’s brutal rejection of Initiate Kenobi and when Ahsoka broached the subject with Master Windu, he seemed almost pleased at the idea. Master Yoda had assured her of his vote and Masters Plo Koon and Shaak Ti also quickly agreed to the pairing. With Master Yaddle’s support as well, Ahsoka really only needed one more master on the Council to agree to her claim on Obi-Wan and that last “yes” came from a surprising place.

“I have heard you intend to take Senior Initiate Kenobi as your Padawan,” Master Sifo Dyas announced, nearly scaring Ahsoka out of her skin from where she was reading a datapad on recent political actions in the Senate, searching for traces of Senator Palpatine. “I have been told you have sought the approval of several masters and yet, we have not spoken on this topic, Knight Tano.”

Ahsoka paled and gave Master Dyas a weak smile. “I’m sorry, Master Dyas. I thought that given your… doubts about my fitness for knighthood, I thought you would object to me… influencing Initiate Kenobi.”

Master Dyas took a seat opposite Ahsoka, resting his elbows on the arms of his chair and steepling his hands together. “While I still have my doubts about the… complete veracity of your history, I cannot deny that you are an excellent influence on Kenobi.”

Ahsoka was a bit surprised at that, unaware that anyone besides Masters Yoda and Windu had been paying any real attention to her and Obi-Wan. And now that Ahsoka was thinking about it, there was something familiar about Master Dyas, something she couldn’t quite place. She would have to check her notes when she retired for the night but if nothing else, his name sounded very familiar.

“Thank you, Master Dyas,” Ahsoka finally said, bowing her head. “I know Obi-Wan will be a great Jedi someday and I just want to help him reach his full potential.”

“Don’t we all?” the master returned, gesturing with one hand. “Be cautious, Knight Tano. Initiate Kenobi has a gift of foresight, a burden I, too, carry. The Force tells me I should trust you but I have been wrong in the past.”

Ahsoka nodded, folding her hands in her lap as she wondered just what it was that Master Dyas was seeing. Perhaps he would be able to help her change the course of the future they seemed to be set on. “Thank you, Master Dyas. I will try to keep that in mind.”

“Good,” the master said and stood up, gazing down at her with distant eyes narrowed, as if he were looking through her to something just beyond her gaze. “I want to have faith in you, Knight Tano. I will support your request. Good luck in your duel tomorrow.”

At the time, Ahsoka had wanted to protest that she was just going to spar, that there was no official duel intended and yet Master Dyas had been correct. Ahsoka and Qui-Gon had dueled and now the whole Temple was abuzz with the news.

As Obi-Wan and Ahsoka walked to the Council room, they did their best to ignore the whispers and gossip swirling around them.

“Did you hear? Knight Tano bested Master Jinn in a duel!”

“No way!”

“Over a padawan I heard!”

“Liar! No padawan is worth dueling over. Not with Master Jinn! He’s Dooku’s old padawan.”

“They fought over that Kenobi kid that nobody wanted.”

“You mean that poor kid Jinn humiliated in the dining hall?”

“Serves him right. I heard what he said and it was brutal.”

Ahsoka took a deep breath and kept her head held high, used to ignoring Temple gossip from her years as the Chosen One’s padawan. She understood it was going to be difficult for Obi-Wan to pay it no mind at first but the faster he got used to ignoring the hissing whispers of the Temple, the better things would be for the both of them.

She could feel Obi-Wan’s discomfort in the Force, could sense him hurrying to catch up with her and avoid the loudest of the whispers. It seemed that Master Obi-Wan’s uneasiness with his own popularity and fame in the Temple was just a natural part of his personality and not a byproduct of being the master of Anakin Skywalker, who drew attention and gossip just by breathing.

Sending a wave of calm and soothing energy to Obi-Wan, Ahsoka waited with him for the door to open and allow them inside for the Presentation.

“If there is no further objections,” Master Windu spoke, his voice cutting off the quiet conversation amongst the masters, “I move to officially approve Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano to take Senior Initiate Obi-Wan Kenobi as her Padawan Learner. All in favor?”

There was a warm and cheerful chorus of “Aye” and “Yes” from the assembled circle of elders and Obi-Wan tried not to twist his hands in the sleeves of his robe as he stood at Master Ahsoka’s side. He had dreamt about this moment for so long and now to have it over in just a blink of the eye, with a casual round of agreement and his signature on a data pad seemed almost anti-climactic.

He glanced up at Ahsoka, his official master now, and watched her give the necessary thanks and acknowledgements to the Council. He could tell through their new fragile but surprisingly strong bond that this didn’t come easy to her. His master had been raised in an unstable world, that much he could tell. She wasn’t a classically trained Jedi in any sense of the word but he knew with certainty that if his life was on the line, Master Ahsoka would move heaven and earth to save him, to save anyone under her protection.

Master Ahsoka was a warrior for light and while Obi-Wan might never be a truly awe-inspiring as his master, or the mythical Master Skywalker, he vowed there and then to be the best padawan that had ever lived, to learn as much as he could from Master Ahsoka and to do her and his grandmaster proud.

He couldn’t make up for what his master had lost, but he hoped to be just as worthy in his own simple way.

“We will see you both at the binding ceremony tomorrow morning,” Master Plo Koon rumbled through his rebreather as the masters dispersed, pulling Obi-Wan out of his solemn imaginings with start. Or rather, Ahsoka’s surprise sparked across the bond to him and he turned his attention back to the conversation.

“The binding ceremony?” Ahsoka repeated as she accepted a datapad from knight that served as a Council attache. She looked down at her padawan for an explanation. “I… I don’t think I went through that.”

“That is unfortunate,” Plo Koon sighed with a shake of his head. “It seems Master Skywalker was very busy on the Outer Rim.”

Ahsoka shrugged. “Yeah… Always on the move. That’s Master Skywalker, alright.”

“The binding ceremony, Masters?” Obi-Wan spoke up, his voice soft and respectful. “Is that where I get my braid and hair cut?”

“Yes,” The Kel Dor master nodded, his voice warm with affection. “I have agreed to stand for you and Knight Tano, Padawan Kenobi. As will Masters Shaak Ti, Yaddle, Windu and Dyas.”

“Oh!” Obi-Wan let out a gasp of surprise and looked up at his master. “When is the ceremony?”

Ahsoka frantically scanned her datapad, where someone had helpfully uploaded instructions on the ceremony as well as the time. “Ah… tomorrow at dawn?”

Plo Koon nodded and Ahsoka and Obi-Wan got the distinct impression he found their confusion amusing. “Yes. In the Room of First Light. I trust we will see you there?”

“Yes! Of course!” Ahsoka replied as Obi-Wan agreed with a bow to the departing master. “Thank you, Master Plo Koon!”

Once they were alone back out in the hall, Ahsoka turned to Obi-Wan who beamed up at her. “Yes, master?”

Master. Am I ever going to get used to that coming from Obi-Wan Kenobi of all people?

“I think we deserve a treat,” Ahsoka grinned, pulling her, now official, padawan under her arm. “Where do you want to go? We can get anything!”

Obi-Wan’s brows furrowed in thought before he nodded. “I would like some ice cream, perhaps a sundae from that Corellian waffle place?”

Ahsoka’s stomach growled in approval and they were off. “You have excellent taste in desserts, my Padawan.”

“If it were not for your recommendations, my Master,” Obi-Wan replied, cheefully, “I wouldn’t know such a place existed.”

“Padawan, I’m going to have to teach you how to take a compliment. Aren’t I?” Ahsoka laughed as they made their way to the speeder bay.

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka both found it hard to sleep that night and they quietly met for tea in their shared living area about an hour and a half before sunrise. The kitchenette was stocked with a few essentials and Ahsoka carefully measured out a small spoon of honey for Obi-Wan before adding milk and sugar to hers.

The two sat together on the sofa, wordlessly watching the relentless pace of Coruscanti traffic out their window as the Senate building dozed in the distance and sparkling lights of transports moved past them.

Ahsoka sipped her tea and wondered what Anakin would think of this moment, if he would approve of the pomp and circumstance or if he would find it all ridiculous that his padawan, that Snips was going to be someone’s master.

That she was going to be Obi-Wan Kenobi’s master.

Ahsoka bowed her head and prayed to the Force that wherever Anakin was, if there was still some trace of him somewhere in the darkness of Darth Vader, that he understood why she left him. She prayed that he would understand now why she was changing not only Obi-Wan’s history but his as well.

I won’t let you down, Master. I promise. I will teach Obi-Wan everything that you taught me. He’ll be ready for you and the Sith. I swear it.

For a moment, Ahsoka thought she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and almost turned around to see if her Skyguy was standing behind her.

Almost.

“I won’t fail you, Master,” Obi-Wan spoke up at her sudden solemnity in the Force, his voice meek and shy. “I promise. I know… I know I’m not as talented as some of the other padawans but… I promise I won’t fail you. I will be the best padawan the Jedi Order has ever seen. I swear it, Master.”

Ahsoka’s heart ached at Obi-Wan’s harsh assessment of himself and she set her teacup aside to pull him close for another hug, something she had come to realize he had rarely experienced. “Obi-Wan, I just want you to be the best Obi-Wan Kenobi you can be. If you do that, I promise everything else will take care of itself.”

Obi-Wan sniffled up at her. “Can’t I do both?”

Brushing her hand through his hair, Ahsoka smiled. “I have no doubt that you can, Obi-Wan but… be kinder to yourself. You are already perfect the way you are.”

There was a watery laugh from somewhere below the thick shock of pale copper hair. “Thank you, Master. I’ll… I’ll try.”

“That’s all I will ever ask of you, Obi-Wan.”

A half hour before dawn, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka stood in the doorway of the Room of First Light, a wide circular space within the central spire of the Temple. The sky was still dark indigo, studded with the glittering jewels of passing ships and framed with distant clouds that managed to hold onto the dying radiance of the last of Coruscant’s moons sinking below the horizon.

The whole Council was assembled for the ceremony, six in front and six in the back, forming a half circle with their backs to the windows. Glowing candle-lamps hovered overhead, throwing the room into a flickering warm glow as the masters that had chosen to stand for Ahsoka and Obi-Wan stepped forward to take their chosen positions that were indicated on the floor by beautiful inlaid tile symbols.

The overall pattern on the floor resembled a starburst with twelve rays emerging from a central star where the new Master and Padawan were to stand. It meant that through each new pairing the Order was reinvigorated. Each new generation brought into the teachings and wisdom of the Jedi brought new life and a stronger Order that stood against the dark.

Master Shaak Ti stood on the symbol that represented Ahsoka’s past and heritage, as a Togruta and a Jedi. To her right was Master Yaddle, who informed Obi-Wan that she was honored to stand in Master Yoda’s place to represent his childhood and youth in the Temple. Master Windu stood to the right of Master Yoda in the middle, symbolizing the firm commitment between the two and Master Dyas took position on the mark at the end which represented the Council, the faith they had for their future, and for the faith the Order was placing in Jedi Knight Tano and Padawan Kenobi.

And Master Plo Koon stood behind Ahsoka where Anakin would have, taking the place of the line of masters lost to her through time and space and she could think of no better person to stand in Anakin or Master Obi-Wan’s stead. Master Plo squeezed her shoulder gently, offering his support without words but the message was understood all the same.

I am here for you. You are not alone in this.

Once everyone was in their proper place, Yoda stepped forward and beckoned Ahsoka to the star in the center of the room. “Come before the Council and speak.”

Ahsoka walked into the room, her head held high. “I am Ahsoka Tano, a Knight of the Jedi Order.”

“Why have you come here?” Yoda asked, his voice somehow ancient and full of life at the same time.

“I wish to take Obi-Wan Kenobi as my Padawan Learner,” Ahsoka answered. “To teach him the ways of the Force and to guide him on his path to knighthood, like my master before me.”

“And who speaks for you?” the Grand Master continued, his hands resting on the head of his gimer stick.

“I do,” the five masters in line chorused at once and Ahsoka couldn’t help the shiver that ran down her spine. She wondered if Anakin and Master Obi-Wan had gone through this ceremony, or if they had just been thrown together in the chaos of Naboo after Maul’s assault.

“Speak and the Force will listen,” Yoda said, his voice somehow grand in spite of the familiar croak. “A child of the Force, is she?"

“Yes,” Shaak Ti intoned, igniting her blade. “A child of Shili and of the Temple.”

Yoda nodded with a twinkle in his eye. “Claim her, do you, in Master Skywalker’s stead?”

Plo Koon nodded, igniting his blade. “In place of those lost, I claim Ahsoka Tano as a knight of my lineage.”

Even though she knew it was coming, Ahsoka still inhaled sharply and told herself not to cry at his words. Anakin...

“A Knight of the Order, is she?” Yoda turned to Master Windu, a smile on his face.

Mace gazed at Ahsoka and nodded, igniting his violet blade. “Yes, she is.”

Yoda nodded, gently tapping his gimer stick on the floor. “Good. And before us, who do you bring, Knight Tano?”

“I bring Obi-Wan Kenobi, Honored Masters,” Ahsoka stated, gesturing back to the boy waiting anxiously in the doorway. “I chose him to be my Padawan Learner, if the Force wills it.”

“Speak and the Force will listen,” Yoda chuckled. “A child of the Force, is he?”

Master Yaddle’s grin was nearly as bright as her saber. “A child of the Temple, he is.”

Nodding, Yoda turned to Ahsoka. “Claim him, do you Knight Tano, as heir to your line?”

Obi-Wan looked up at Ahsoka, his blue eyes shining in the flickering light of the sabers and the growing dawn outside. She nodded down at him, her eyes warm. “Yes, I do.”

Her own saber lit up, bright blue and humming with the Force.

“Against this bonding, does anyone speak?” Yoda turned toward Master Dyas, who shook his head.

“Against this bonding, none shall speak,” Master Dyas intoned with a flourish of his blade.

“Agree to this, do you, Obi-Wan Kenobi?” Yoda asked the boy standing before him, his eyes narrowed in thought.

Obi-Wan nodded. “Yes, Masters. I pledge myself to Knight Tano and her teachings. I pledge myself to the Jedi Order and the Force, to which we are all a servant of.”

“Woven together, the two must be,” Yoda said and Ahsoka handed her saber to Plo Koon before she stepped behind Obi-Wan and pulled out a lock of hair thick enough to make a proper Padawan’s tail and then a braid. A droid emerged from a darkened corner, helpfully shearing Obi-Wan of the thick coppery locks that until now had hung down over his blue-grey eyes like a curtain hiding the boy from the world.

“Master,” Obi-Wan whispered as Ahsoka worked at his little braid. “I… I have these. I… I thought you might have worn some like them.”

Ahsoka glanced down at the silka beads in Obi-Wan’s grasp, small pale things that seemed out of place in his trembling hands. She felt a warm rush of love wash over her and she took them from Obi-Wan’s hand. “Thank you, my Padawan.”

As the droid made quick work of Obi-Wan’s hair, Ahsoka carefully threaded the three beads onto the end of his braid before tying them off with a small blue thread. His braid barely brushed the tops of his shoulder but it was there and as the sun began to climb over the horizon, Ahsoka stepped back to her position and reclaimed her saber from Plo Koon.

The sky turned from lavender to pink and gold as Yoda finished the ceremony, the room glowing brighter with each word. “Luminous beings are we, bound together in the Force. Follow its will, you must. Teach each other, you will. Together you walk, on the path the Force has chosen. Master and Padawan you are, Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

And with that the rest of the Council ignited their blades and held them up to salute the new pair, who stood side by side as a new dawn arose over Coruscant, bright and golden, chasing away the last dark clouds and shadows of the night that had gone before it.

To be continued... April 2nd.

[inkognito97]

Female Gorgon obiwan first meeting gorgon quigon

Qui-Gon was shivering. His captors had left him only with his leggings, his torso and feet were bare. He was tied up with Force suppressing cuffs that would hold against the strength of a raging gundark, so there was no chance for him to get out of the bindings that held him uncomfortably upright and against the damp wall of his prison. His eyes were covered, leaving him without any way of defensive. He was helpless, cold, hungry and absolutely miserable.

But Qui-Gon was still a Jedi Master and of course he noticed the tiny shift in the Force that was followed by the sound of someone moving. Had his captors returned, where they here to torment him now? He would not say a word, that much was clear.

The long haired man startled when something small and warm touched his hip. The touch had been born out of curiosity, he was sure of it and it felt unsure and nervous.

“Are you hurt?” The voice was female, though it belonged to a young girl, he was certain of that.

“No,” the Jedi answered after a moment, no need to scare the child, “Are you?”

There was a pregnant pause, “My leg hurts,” whispered the female being.

“What happened?” it felt good to speak with someone again, who was not out to hurt or get him.

“I fell down a hole and landed right here,” the tone was slightly amused, as if the child did not really mind being down here in this damp, cold and dark place.

Qui-Gon couldn’t help but chuckle, “Quite the tale, little one. Will you tell me your name?”

“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” came the enthusiastic reply and a moment later, an awfully light and small body snuggled against his torso, giving much appreciated warmth, though the Jedi was worried about his companion’s temperature. Also, she did not seem to know the words ‘modesty’, especially little girls should not cuddle up to a strange, half naked man. “What’s yours?”

“Qui-Gon Jinn.”

A gasp escaped the small being, “You are the one, the people talk about. The one with the snake hair…” she hesitated, “But you don’t have snake hair.”

“That’s because I keep them hidden,” he simply answered. There was no harm done in revealing this information. The girl would be too young to understand anyway and even though it sounded cruel, she would most likely never become old enough to understand.

“Will you show me? Please?” the little one begged. 

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” he trailed off.

“And if I get you out of here?”

Qui-Gon’s joy about having company, soon vanished into nothingness. “Then I will show you,” he promised. It was not like he expected the girl to free him, but he hoped that she would change the topic of their conversation now. To his great disappointment, the warmth of her small body vanished and small footsteps could be heard, she was barefoot too.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To help you of course, silly,” the girl giggled and then she was gone, leaving the Jedi Master wondering, of he had just sent an innocent life towards death.

The tall Jedi Master had no idea, how Obi-Wan had done it and he was not getting a real reply out of his small companion either. The ginger haired girl smiled up at him, while Qui-Gon was rubbing his abused wrists. She had actually managed to get the key to the cuffs and she had not wasted another second to free him.

“Well?” she asked and tilted her head in a cute fashion. 

“Well what?” he teased.

“You promised!” she pouted and her adorable blue-green eyes were large with curiosity and eagerness.

Qui-Gon sighed, but a promise was a promise. “Very well.” He closed his eyes, he did not want to turn the little one into stone after all and allowed some of his true nature to make an appearance.

A delighted yelp came from the little one. “They look just like mine,” Obi-Wan exclaimed and caught the Master’s undivided attention.

In his surprise, he had opened his now yellow eyes and in pure horror he waited for the cute being to turn into stone when her eyes met his, but nothing happened.

“Could you…” he cleared his throat and ignored his snake hair that was hissing in disbelief, “Could you repeat that please.”

Obi-Wan tilted her head, “They look just like mine,” she repeated, “just bigger.”

Unconsciously, the Jedi Master reached out and pulled the little one into his lap. Obi-Wan seemed content to be there and his snake hair immediately took the advantage to dart their tongues in and out.

“Can you show me?” he asked almost breathless. Could it be? Could he finally have found someone of his own kin?

“Don’t know, its hard,” the child shrugged, but closed her eyes and furrowed her eyes in deep concentration. First there happened nothing, but then, the dirty copper hair began to change. It became thicker and head transformer out of the tips. 

Qui-Gon let out a shaky laugh and allowed his emotions to take over for a moment. Here, in this hell, he had found another Gorgon, one he could form and call his family, for the rest of their long lives. At least if the Force willed it.

Obi-Wan giggled, when their hair began to explore each other and she was happy to have pleased the sad looking man. In this moment, were she unconsciously reached out to him, a bond snapped to life. The Master’s eyes widened and he realized, that his new charge was Force sensitive. He hid a huge grin in coppery snakes and he silently thanked the Force.

[inkognito97]

What about an AU where QuiGon survives and takes Anakin as his padawan and they are off doing whatever...ObiWan is a new knight and lost with his master having dropped him for Anakin. He goes to Kanima and find the clones and teaches/takes care of them and becomes their fav person. Fast forward to the clone wars and QuiGon doesn't understand why the clones are so cold to him and Anakin

“Are yousure you are ready to go to Kamino?” the question was innocent enough and eventhough it had been Mace Windu who had asked, Obi-Wan knew that the man wastruly concerned for his wellbeing. And from the looks the other Council memberswere giving him, he was not the only one.

“YesMaster. I am ready to accept this mission,” he hesitated, “In fact I NEED tohave this mission.” He didn’t say that he desperately needed to escape thetemple and also a certain tall and long haired Jedi Master. Then again, hedidn’t need to, the Masters around him already knew his motives, yet they didnot judge him for them. Qui-Gon had always insisted bitterly and with a tint ofdisgust, that he was the Council’s favorite.

The darkskinned Korun Master exchanged a brief glance with Yoda, who had yet to sayanything to this whole matter.

“Well, ifyou are truly sure of this…” the Korun Master trailed off.

“I am,” heanswered.

“Then go,you shall,” said the green troll.

A wholemountain was lifted from Obi-Wan’s shoulders. In the privacy of his mind, hehad feared that they would refuse his request for this long term mission. “Thankyou Masters,” he bowed low.

And withthat Obi-Wan Kenobi, newly knighted Jedi, left the Council chamber to step intoa new section of his life. He had no regrets however. Of course hisapprenticeship could have gone better, but it also could have been much worse.At least he HAD reached his goal, he was a Jedi Knight now. That had alwaysbeen his dream and he had reached it only thanks to Qui-Gon Jinn. Still, it hadhurt when the tall and long haired man had not been there for his knightingceremony. It had been Master Yoda who had severed the braid, because Qui-Gonhad not been present. Afterwards, when the ceremony had been held and whenObi-Wan had returned to his newly assigned rooms, the Jedi Master had appearedand apologized. Or at least as close to an apology as Qui-Gon Jinn would come.Actually he had just said that he regretted that he had not been there, thoughhe had NOT said that he had regretted spending the time with his new Padawan.Obi-Wan had dismissed it and bid the slightly stunned Master a nice eveningthen, before closing the door behind him and heading for the Council chamber,where he was now. Qui-Gon had surely expected to be handed the severed Padawanbraid, yet Obi-Wan had not given it to him. He had given it to Yoda, for safekeepingand in case that he would someday change his mind. Then again, Yoda deserved itprobably almost as much as Qui-Gon, because without the Order’s Grandmaster,Obi-Wan wouldn’t be here today either. It had been the green troll’s meddlingthat had made him an apprentice in the first place and it had been the wiseMaster’s guidance and words that had more often than not helped him.

The gingerhaired Knight sighed. That was all in the past now. What mattered, was hisfuture. And his future awaited him on Kamino, where he was supposed to teachthe clones they had discovered just recently. It was an important task, onethat would take a lot of time, but he was fine with that. Of course he wouldn’tbe able to see his friends and fellow Jedi very much, but at least he wouldn’tneed to see Qui-Gon and Anakin – the latter did not like him anyway – either.And who knew, perhaps the clones would be just as great comrades as his fellowJedi…

(a fewyears later)

“The 501stBattalion, at your service,” the clone in blue-white armor saluted and eventhough Qui-Gon couldn’t see the man’s face, he knew that he was glaring angrilyat him. Though why, was beyond the tall Jedi Master.

“Qui-GonJinn, I will be you new General and this,” he motioned to the blonde man to hisright, “is my Padawan Anakin Skywalker, your Commander.”

“CaptainRex, Sir.” Qui-Gon nodded his head. A name instead of a simple identificationnumber, he could definitely work with that. In all honesty, he preferred hissoldiers to have names, they were sentient beings after all. Still, he doubtedthe Kaminoans would share this sentiment, so he wondered how the name came tobe.

“Wait,” thesenior Padawan spoke up, “When you are a Captain and when I am a Commander,then I technically outrank you.”

Rex decidedthen and there that he did not like that grin and he was secretly jealous ofhis brother Cody, who was under Obi-Wan’s commando. How he wished he were too.At least then he would not have to deal with the people, who had hurt his Jedibrother all those years ago.

“In myopinion, experience outranks everything,” and that is why Obi-Wan would ALWAYSbe his rightful General. The man had gone through so much already.

“Oh?” thetall male with the slightly crooked nose raised an eyebrow. He had not expectedthis much personality. And usually he would encourage it, but there wasdefinitely something hostile directed at both him and Anakin. But the hostilitydid not only come from Rex, the whole Battalion had an aggressive air aroundhim. He wondered if all clones were like this. Perhaps it had something to dowith their programming?

“Master?”Anakin gave him a questioning look. He too, had felt the none too friendlypresence around the clones.

Qui-Goncleared his throat, “We should be heading out. We have a mission to fulfillafter all.”

Anakinnodded his head, “Yes… Knight Kenobi will join us, won’t he?” he did not quitemanage to get the distaste out of his voice, but Qui-Gon took no notice of it.He was eyeing the clone, who slightly jerked at the mentioning of his formerPadawan.

“He will,”he didn’t say more. He didn’t need to. It was no secret – actually the wholeOrder knew – that he and Obi-Wan had parted on bad terms. Though that was to beexpected, since Obi-Wan had not given his Padawan braid to Qui-Gon. A Knightwas not forced to give his braid to his former Master, but they usually did. Itwas a sign of gratitude and friendship, but apparently Obi-Wan had not seen itthis way and decided against it. Qui-Gon could live with that, he still hadAnakin after all.

“Actually,”an accented voice said from behind the two Jedi and they whirled around insurprise, only to be greeted by a ginger haired man who was sporting a fullbeard, “it is MASTER Kenobi now.”“What?” Anakin said in disbelief. “But you didn’t raise a Padawan.”

“No, butthere are many other ways for a Jedi to earn the title of a Master… being onthe Council for example.” Anakin scoffed at that. From his perspective, Obi-Wanwas no great Jedi, not that he would ever say that out aloud. It would onlycause him a lot of trouble after all.

“General!”Rex exclaimed and he saluted once more. Yet this time, there was not even anounce of hostility, just friendliness and perhaps even something akin to joy inhis voice. It left Qui-Gon speechless, or it would have, had he not alreadybeen left speechless from Obi-Wan’s sudden appearance. He had not even felt hisformer Padawan approach, let alone noticed his gunships landing.

“Rex,”there was a strange sparkle in his eyes, “you know that there is no need forthat.”

“I guess Ilike to be reminded,” answered the clone and he took a step forward to claspthe ginger haired Jedi’s arm in greeting, before doing the same with the clone,who had been one step behind Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon andAnakin shared a look. “So,” the tall Jedi began awkwardly.

Almostimmediately did blue-green eyes settle on him. “So?”

“I’d say weget this mission over with,” he eventually said lamely. The situation was tooawkward for his liking.

“Agreed,”Obi-Wan turned to his own clone, “Cody, tell your troops to be ready to move.”

“Yes Sir,”it had been said with enthusiasm and the clone had hurried away to obey.

“The samegoes for you, Rex,” said Anakin. But the clone Captain did not comply or replyanything. His eyes was resting on Obi-Wan, who sent him a questioning look.

“Rex,” theaccented voice held a certain edge to it, it was almost warning.

“Yes Sir,”the reply was forced, but eventually he too, vanished.

“I couldhave handled that,” the Padawan was angry and his ire was directed at Obi-Wanand a little bit at the retreating clone.

“Could you?”his tone was doubtful and it mirrored the look in his eyes.

Anakinclenched his hands into fists and took a threatening step forward. He wastaller than Obi-Wan and bulkier build, but the ginger haired Master just raisedone eyebrow, unimpressed by the intimidation. It was clear that the blondewould not stop and Qui-Gon decided to step in before things could getcompletely out of hand.

“Anakin,enough!”

“ButMaster,” he started to protest, but was interrupted.

“I saidENOUGH.” This time the blonde did shut his mouth.

“YesMaster.” He crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from both Masters.

Then,Qui-Gon turned his focus on Obi-Wan. “I would suggest that you go and preparefor the battle.” He too received a raised eyebrow at that.

It wasQui-Gon’s turn to lose his nerve. First, his former Padawan undermined Anakin’sauthority and then he had the audacity to do the same with him. Who did Obi-Wanthink he was?

“You may bea Master now, Obi-Wan, but I am still your superior due to my experience andage.”“Actually,” he was completely calm, “you are not. As a member of the JediCouncil I stand above you.” That left the taller Jedi speechless. “So, youwould do better to take care of your CURRENT Padawan instead of me, MasterJinn. Besides, I have already taken every necessary steps,” he cleared histhroat, “Well then, I am with my troop when you need me.”

He turnedaround without waiting for a reply, he would not have received one anyway, andheaded to the direction his Commander had previously vanished to.

“Thismission was a complete disaster,” stated Anakin while playing with the hem ofhis tunic. Qui-Gon could only agree with him.

It had beenbad enough that his former Padawan was not only outranking him, but that he hadactually made use of it. As a Council member, his words and orders stood aboveQui-Gon’s.

If the tallJedi would shove his pride aside, he would be able to see that Obi-Wan’sstrategy had indeed been the better one. But there was no way that he wouldever say that to the ginger haired male. At least not in near future, sincetheir relationship was practically non-existent.

“Perhaps weshould request another Battalion?” asked the Padawan.

“It wouldn’tchange anything.” Qui-Gon had felt the hostility from the 501st andfrom the 212th and both times it had only been directed at him andAnakin, while the clones seemed to have a friendly – almost brotherly –relationship to Obi-Wan. It did probably help that the ginger haired male knewthem all by name and by their small presence in the Force. It was beyondfrustrating.

“What willhappen when we reach Coruscant?” the question was innocent enough, but theMaster detected the fear behind those few words nevertheless.

He sighed, “Idon’t know.”

Hesuspected that his Padawan was in big trouble, it had been his arrogance andanger that had not only cost him his left arm, but had also allowed Grievous toescape. Qui-Gon knew that Obi-Wan, along with the clones that had proudly stoodbeside him, had almost captured the General, hadn’t it been for Anakin.

And it hadalmost cost the young Master his life too. Anakin had simply rushed forward,without thinking and without a tactic. Qui-Gon had not been able to follow, dueto the battle droids that had circled him. For a moment, the tall Master hadbelieved that his Padawan would die this day, but then Obi-Wan had happened.The man, despite his dislike of Anakin – that was returned just as fiercely, ifnot more – had pushed Anakin aside with his own body and he had taken thelightsaber that was meant to end the Padawan’s life. Obi-Wan was most likelyonly alive because of the clones, who had proved skill and quick thinking, whenthey had simultaneously attacked Grievous from all sides.

He sighedand settled down in order to meditate. He would need to clear his head. Perhapsthen the Force would give him some answers regarding the clones, the Counciland most importantly Obi-Wan… or perhaps not.

[fireflyfish]

Tano and Kenobi: Jar’kai Can Wait

Previously on Tano and Kenobi...

After his attempt to ask Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn to mentor him in the ways of the Force is coldly and brutally rebuffed, Obi-Wan Kenobi is faced with the grim reality that he will soon be forced to leave the Jedi Order to take up the quite life of a member of the Agricorp on the farming planet of Bandomeer. Meanwhile, Ahsoka Tano must come to decision that will change everything...

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After the debacle with Qui-Gon in the dining hall, Ahsoka had to do some thinking.

And some planning.

She took the advice of the Presence and, early the next morning, set out for a long walk. Her walk carried her from Temple District to the Senate District and from there to the Tower and its manicured parks around the base of the Eferite marble spire. Ahsoka found a spot under a tangle of maidens-tear vines and sat down, gazing out at the vast expanse of the city, of the eternal ecumenopolis.

How had she been so wrong? How had Anakin been so wrong?

Anakin had told Ahsoka that Master Jinn had been a wonderful man: kind, patient and generous. He had told her Jinn had been strong and good and if it weren’t for Darth Maul essentially orphaning both Master Obi-Wan and Anakin on Naboo, Anakin would have become Qui-Gon Jinn’s padawan.

She remembered the look on his face as Anakin had told her that, the two of them on a long hyperspace jump from Corellia to an Outer Rim planet under seige.

“So… Master Obi-Wan wasn’t supposed to be your master?” she asked Anakin, glancing up from a datapad full of information on the planet they were traveling to.

Anakin shook his head, a faint smile on his face. “No. He was going to take the trials and become a Jedi Knight. I… I think Master Qui-Gon might have hurt Obi-Wan’s feelings but he was right. Obi-Wan was ready to become a knight.”

“That must have been painful for both of you,” Ahsoka said, her voice quiet and soft. “You both lost a master.”

“Yeah…” Anakin agreed, nodding his head a little as he worked through a little cubed logic puzzle that floated in the air in front of him. “The first few weeks were rough but after that, Obi-Wan never talked about it again. He doesn’t talk about himself much.”

“Do you miss him?” She watched her master, at the way his hands moved through the puzzle, at his sense of calm in the Force. It was always easier to get Anakin to talk about himself when he had something to do with his hands and his mind and Ahsoka intended to take advantage of the moment. “Master Jinn, I mean.”

“Yeah…” Anakin’s eyes went soft. “He… he had such faith in me. He believed in me when I was nothing. And he… he wasn’t afraid of me. Obi-Wan… I don’t think we got off to the best start. I kept expecting him to be like Qui-Gon and he… just wasn’t.”

“General Skywalker?” Rex’s voice broke through their quiet moment and they both looked up at the Clone Captain. “General Kenobi is on the horn for you. He has some intel you might need for the next engagement.”

Ahsoka frowned out at the jagged horizon of the city and wondered if it wasn’t a good thing that Master Obi-Wan had been nothing like Qui-Gon because the Master Jinn Ahsoka had just met was not exactly a shining example of a Jedi Master.

True, he was powerful in the Force, which uncurled around the man like a cool, heavy fog on a sunny day. He was wise and his advice had helped Ahsoka when she was mid-panic attack but that didn’t excuse his behavior yesterday.

Nothing excused that. Humiliating a child in public was barbaric and beneath someone of Qui-Gon Jinn’s reputation and position.

Perhaps, she thought, it was time to acknowledge that Anakin’s view of the Jedi had been influenced by his dramatic rescue from Tatooine and the tragedy of Qui-Gon Jinn’s death. Clearly there had been a part of him that had idolized Master Jinn as a long-lost father figure who could do no wrong.

Ahsoka let out a sigh and gazed at the distant haze of air traffic, individual speeders zipping and dashing across the blue-white sky like the stinging mites on Geonosis.

I'm sorry, Master. But I'm going to do what I think is right. I hope… I hope you can forgive me. Wherever you are.

Her mind made up, Ahsoka stood up and walked to the elevator. Obi-Wan had mentioned there was a particular type of snack he liked that could only be purchased at the Tower. It was sold in a Tellestrian souvenir shop and she went on a mission to find it.

Three days later…

Obi-Wan woke up with the sun streaming in through a window he had forgotten to cover with a curtain the night before. He let out a groan and turned his face back into his pillow, hating the sun and each new horrible day that came with it.

In three days he was going to ship out to Bandomeer, to leave behind Master Ahsoka and his friends and the only home he had ever known.

He would never see any of them ever again.

Some birthday present.

I don't want to get up. I just want to go back to sleep and never wake up again. Obi-Wan thought morosely, sniffling into his pillow. It's not fair. I want to stay here with Master Ahsoka. I don't know why she won't take me as her Padawan Learner. What did I do wrong? Am I not good at jar’kai? Is it my temper?

Obi-Wan could have berated himself for the rest of the day and there was a very large part of him that wanted to sit and wallow in his misery but the rest of him knew he needed to get up and face the day. Master Ahsoka promised she was going to have breakfast with him after being too busy with Council work for the past few days. She had taken him out to eat for dinner every night but it wasn't the same.

It felt like pity and he hated pity.

With a great groaning sigh, Obi-Wan pushed himself up out of his bed and into a hunched-over sitting position, blinking sleepily and in confusion at the carefully wrapped package on the bedside table next to his bunk.

Puzzled at the bundle wrapped up in the crisp white linens that was usually reserved for gifts given by the Jedi Order to visiting dignitaries or Senators, Obi-Wan slid bonelessly off his bed and padded over to it. He frowned at the flat, blue braided tie that was arranged around the package in a style that symbolized spring and eternity. There was a small silver charm that held the complicated knot in place and when he pulled the loose end of the tie out he realized that the silver charm was actually a small decorative belt buckle.

It reminded him of Quinlan’s buckle now that he thought about it.

Holding the belt buckle close to his chest, Obi-Wan carried the package back to his bed and set it down before flopping down next to it. Placing the buckle on his pillow, he turned his attention back to the blue tie, slowly and carefully following the ends through an elegant series of twists and knots before he finally found the blue raw silk material sliding free from his hands and the white linen.

He peeled back the corners of the formal wrapping and let out a gasp.

Sitting on a primly folded set of tan and cream Jedi robes was a small note, written in a dynamic hand. It read…

Happy early birthday, Padawan Kenobi!

Get changed and come meet your new master in the Northern Solar Room at 0800 hours.

Don’t be late!

-A

Obi-Wan picked up the notecard, his hands shaking as he turned it over and over again. He read the writing there at least eight or nine times before he could comprehend what it said and what it meant.

Does… Does this mean? Is this what I think it is? Is this from Master Ahsoka? Is she serious?

Slowly, almost as if his hands and body understood before his brain or his heart did, he reached for the first layer of folded clothing, raw hemp tabards that were woven with a geometric pattern that represented good luck and “proper development”. The traditional design was supposed to encourage Padawans to grow into their knighthood in a moral and upright manner.

He ran his hands over the fabric, trembling with a growing sense of delight and joy instead of shock for once. The tabards unspooled from his hand, soft and brown, and he couldn’t help the wide grin that unfurled to match.

Next was the cotton gauze undershirt, left undyed to symbolize a Jedi’s inner purity, and then the outer robe made of rough spun silk as an ode to the humility all Jedi were to display before the Force and the Republic they served.

Obi-Wan had sat through enough classes detailing the history and symbolism behind the Jedi habit he could practically give the speeches himself but that didn’t stop the teacher’s words from dancing around in his mind as he marveled over his new sienna brown leather belt, complete with two hovertech clips for lightsabers and the place where he could attach the belt buckle. There was even a new pair of socks and boots that he noticed resting at the foot of his bed.

“Obi-Wan?” The dorm master popped her head into the room, her voice curious. “Are you alright? I can sense you from the office.”

He looked up at the dorm master and shyly, hesitantly held up his new Padawan robes. “These were left for me?”

Please don’t let this be a dream or a horrible prank. Please let this be real. Please! I don’t think I could survive it if this were a prank.

But the dorm master’s smile told him everything he needed to know.

“I believe they were left there this morning before the first chime,” the dark-haired woman said, nodding at the wall pointedly. “I believe they might have even left you a robe.”

Obi-Wan whipped his head around to said robe hanging from a hook on the wall behind his bed and let out a gasp. “Is that mine?”

“Well, it’s certainly not mine,” the dorm master replied, her voice warm. “You had better hurry up and get dressed, Padawan Kenobi. It’s already a quarter past seven.”

And with that, she left Obi-Wan alone with his new robes and the best birthday present he had ever received.

Once he’d reassured himself several times that his layers were on in the proper order and his collars were neat, Obi-Wan stepped out of the Initiates dorm with his head held high and his brown woolen robe draped impeccably from his shoulders.

Bidding a “good morning” to the dorm master, who returned his greeting with a grin and an amused wave, Obi-Wan walked out into the Temple and made a beeline to the nearest turbolift that would carry him to the room where his master waited.

Where Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano was waiting for him.

Almost giddy with excitement, relief, and joy, Obi-Wan took careful steps as he marched through the hallway, not wanting to step on the hems of his robe and trip or rip the fabric before he even got there. He wanted everything to be perfect for his new master and showing up with a tattered hem before he was officially a Padawan would not be a good start to their partnership.

Oh sweet Force! A partnership! I’m… I’m going to be a padawan! I was right! There was, is a connection between us! I knew it! I knew! I’m going to be Master Ahsoka’s padawan!

It really was the best birthday present he could ever get and he couldn’t wait to tell Quinlan.

After an overly stately march up some steps that got him a strange look from Master Ki-Adi-Mundi as he passed by, Obi-Wan found the turbolift that would take him up to the floor where the Norther Solar Room was. He stood in front of the curved doors, his heart drumming in his chest and his hands cold and clammy. He tried to take a deep breath but found he was too anxious and decided to settle for a few more shallow breaths before reaching out to push the button to call the lift.

When he stepped out of the carriage, habit took over as Obi-Wan’s feet carried him to the appointed room.

He could already feel Ahsoka waiting there, her presence in the Force bright and effervescent.

She was stretching on the far side of the room when he came in, her robe and sabers resting on a long row of benches that marked where the students sat during a lecture from an instructor. Working at her shoulders, rolling her arms forwards and backwards in an attempt to loosen up the joint, Ahsoka hadn’t seemed to notice Obi-Wan standing there, gazing in rapt adoration at his new master.

“Well, don’t just stand there like a newborn nerf colt,” Ahsoka said to the wall before turning to grin at him over her shoulder. “Come over here and let me see how you look, Padawan Kenobi.”

An electric thrill of joy shivered through Obi-Wan and he stepped into the sunny room with a face-splitting grin and his hands firmly placed at his sides as he bowed formally to his new master. “I am here and ready for your instruction, Master.”

Laughing, she nodded, her eyes shining with a happiness that almost equaled Obi-Wan’s. “Good. Now get over here!”

Needing no further encouragement, Obi-Wan darted across the room, happily flinging himself into Ahsoka’s arms for the warmest and strongest hug he had ever experienced in his short life. He clung tight to her, his eyes closed, basking in the way the Force seemed to sing around them, the way the light seemed brighter and the shadows paler. He felt almost buoyant, as if he could just float away on a sunbeam like a very large dust mote.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Obi-Wan mumbled into her shoulder, his eyes closed as emotions welled up inside of him, threatening to swamp his balance. “I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to leave you.”

Ahsoka let out a soft and happy sound as she stroked Obi-Wan’s hair and held him close, her own heart filling with joy. “I know. I’m sorry I made you wait so long. I… I wasn’t sure what the Force wanted of me. But now I know.”

Obi-Wan pulled away, rubbing at his eyes and nose because he was not crying. This was a wonderful day and he refused to cry. Padawans did not cry. They were calm and centered like Master Ahsoka. “W-what does the Force want of you?”

Brushing the thick fringe of his bangs off his face, Ahsoka gazed deep into Obi-Wan’s blue-grey eyes and smiled. “It wants me to take you as my Padawan Learner. Will you accept me as your teacher, Obi-Wan Kenobi?”

“Yes! Yes!” Obi-Wan almost shouted, tears forgotten and excitement pounding through his veins again. “I do! I accept you! Let’s go tell the Council right now! Jar’kai can wait! Let’s go right now!”

Ahsoka burst out laughing at this, a sound that filled the room with so much elation and light that Obi-Wan wondered if they were going to burn the hovering candle lights overhead. When Luminara had been accepted as a padawan it was a very solemn affair and Quinlan had simply shown up one day with a padawan braid and a wry grin. As far as Obi-Wan was concerned, though, he didn't particularly care how it was formalized so long as It was.

“We’ll go to the Council. I promise.” Ahsoka sat them both down on the bench, smiling down at Obi-Wan almost as if she couldn't quite believe he was there. “But there's something I have to do first. Something I have to prove to myself. I want to be the best master possible for you. You are so, so special.”

Obi-Wan had nothing to say to that.

Well, that wasn’t quite true. Obi-Wan had a great many things to say about that, about how ferociously he disagreed with his master’s belief that he was somehow more special than Bant or Luminara or even Quinlan. He refused to believe that she was in any way lacking as a Jedi Knight or as a Master and he absolutely knew in the depths of his soul that Master Ahsoka did not need to prove a thing to the Force.

Ahsoka had more than proven herself to him in all the ways that mattered. She was kind, compassionate, and patient. She didn’t yell at him when he made a mistake but gently corrected. She laughed at his jokes and smiled at him with a twinkle in her eyes that reminded him of Master Yoda in all the best ways. She shared her wisdom freely and her faith in herself, in her master, and the Force was unyielding.

Ahsoka Tano was the perfect Jedi Knight in Obi-Wan’s eyes and as far as he was concerned, and since he was now her padawan, his concern was all that mattered.

“Master…” Obi-Wan carefully martialed his thoughts to explain that whatever test of character Ahsoka was preparing to undergo was completely unnecessary. “You don’t have to do this. I know you are the best possible Jedi Master for me. I am certain Master Skywalker would agree.”

“Oh, don’t you bring him into this!” Ahsoka teased, needling Obi-Wan in the ribs, which managed to tickle him just enough to fluster him. “And besides… He would agree with me. I need to do this.”

“Do what?” Obi-Wan protested, realizing that there was a part of him that felt a rising sense of uneasiness. The radiant Force of only a few minutes ago was now choppy and disturbed, like a shore being buffeted by the oncoming winds of a hurricane. He did not like it. “Master… please, I don’t want you to do this. Please can’t we just go to the Council?”

“Do forgive my tardiness, Knight Tano,” Qui-Gon Jinn’s voice pierced the early morning peace of the training room like the low throbbing hum of a laser cannon. “I was waylaid by Master Yoda on my way here.”

Obi-Wan turned slowly to gaze in shock and perhaps a bit of fear at the sight of Master Jinn, of the way he emerged from the gauzy sunbeams filtering down through the chamber’s high stained-glass windows. For a moment there was something dangerous in Master Jinn’s eyes, in the sharp way they flicked from Ahsoka to Obi-Wan and back again.

Obi-Wan slid closer to his master and watched the Jedi master with round eyes.

I don’t want him here. He’s not supposed to be here. Obi-Wan thought behind his shields, throwing them up as high and as fast as he could.

He didn’t know what his own master had planned, but he already didn’t like it.

“There’s no need to apologize,” Ahsoka said, standing up and stepping between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in a casual but subtle move of defense and separation. There was no need for this early morning session to be contentious. Ahsoka had asked for Qui-Gon’s assistance and he had accepted. Obi-Wan’s presence was ancillary.

It was absolutely not a silent rebuke and a taunting of the older Jedi, she tried to tell herself. That was not how Obi-Wan and Padme had raised Ahsoka to behave and Anakin wouldn’t have thought that far ahead.

“Thank you again for agreeing to spar with me,” Ahsoka continued when the silence got too awkward. “My padawan has been very curious to see jar’kai in action.”

“Your… padawan?” Qui-Gon echoed, looking past Ahsoka to Obi-Wan sitting on the bench with his arms folded over his chest. “I was under the impression that Initiate Kenobi was going to be transferring to the Agricorps shortly.”

Ahsoka could feel Obi-Wan bristling in the Force and wondered when Master Obi-Wan had learned his impeccable shielding because if her padawan was going to turn into a bundle of spines every time he was offended or hurt, they were going to have their work cut out for them. She hesitantly reached out along the newly discovered bright copper thread that tied them together, sending a tendril of peace and serenity to Obi-Wan, who took a deep breath and tried to retract his spines.

Well, that’s something at least, Ahsoka thought as she mentally turned back to Qui-Gon. “He was but I have discussed it with Master Windu and he feels that Obi-Wan and I would be a good match. After our sparring demonstration, he and I are going to the Council to make it official.”

“I see,” Qui-Gon rumbled, folding his arms over his chest as he fiddled with his beard. “How fortunate for Initiate Kenobi to be taken under the wing of such a compassionate Jedi Knight.”

And Obi-Wan’s spines were back with an added dose of projected curse words she was didn’t expect someone his age to know.

“Yes, well, I’m the lucky one, really. Obi-Wan is an amazing student,” Ahsoka continued, breezing through the conversation as best she could, given that Qui-Gon Jinn seemed to be doing everything in his power to be just annoying enough to raise her hackles but not so terrible that she could storm off with Obi-Wan in a huff. “I am really looking forward to teaching him.”

But first, Ahsoka thought, she needed to prove to herself that she was the best choice for Obi-Wan, that she could best this looming shadow of a man and cast out the treacherous “what ifs” from her mind. As close as Ahsoka and Obi-Wan had become, she knew it wasn’t quite enough. She needed something to show herself, to prove to her heart, if not her mind, that she was the right person for the job.

If she was going to be Obi-Wan’s master, then it only made sense that she would have to defeat his “old” master.

Qui-Gon Jinn was not impressed by what he saw before him.

A scruffy, small initiate who radiated spite and possessive attachment in the Force and a seemingly calm and placid Jedi Knight who was in actuality about two heartbeats away from pulling her sabers out and starting a fight.

If Qui-Gon was the kind of man given to eyeball rolling, if Dooku hadn’t beaten that out of him, he might done it just for the novelty of their reactions.

But the situation before him was far too serious to be handled so glibly and so he realized he would have turn this contentious “sparring session” into a teaching moment; one that would focus on attachment and the importance of following the will of the Living Force.

Which had clearly decreed that Obi-Wan Kenobi was to go to Bandomeer.

No.

Momentarily confused, Qui-Gon asked for a moment to “compose himself for our sparring” and walked over to a far corner, stepping out of a piercing ray of sunlight into the cooler shadows at the edges of the training room.

No? No? What exactly did that mean? The Living Force so rarely spoke to Qui-Gon in such a clear and easily understood way. Its guidance was often couched in visions and feelings, like an external intuition that he could tap into when he needed it. It always took a bit of meditating to understand what he saw or experienced but his faith in the Force was absolute.

And the Living Force had clearly spoken just now.

But if Obi-Wan Kenobi were destined to have a master, the fated pairing would have happened before now, Qui-Gon told himself. Indeed, most future Master-Padawan pairings were starting to coalesce around the beginning of the second year of Initiate training. That way the potential master could follow the development of their intended padawan.

Obi-Wan and his temper and riotous sea of emotions had found no favor in any of the masters or unattached knights at the Temple and so he had been left alone to quietly age out.

Until Ahsoka Tano appeared.

And now that Qui-Gon was thinking about it, there was something strange about Knight Tano, about the way she carried herself and the way she stood between Obi-Wan and anyone she deemed to be a threat. She walked with the fluid grace of a warrior, someone who had seen more than their fair share of battle and she gazed out at the world with intense, watchful eyes.

Even in the Force she seemed different and threatening to Qui-Gon. With every glance his impression of Tano seemed to change, from a simple Jedi with more than average gifts to a crowned being escorted by a large and ferocious beast of light and sacrifice to a final vision that was so bizarre and confusing as to be little more than nonsense.

All it did was confirm to Qui-Gon that Ahsoka’s mentoring of Obi-Wan was wrong. The boy was to go to Bandomeer and the Council could decide what to do with Ahsoka Tano.

No. Obi-Wan Kenobi will be a Jedi.

The Living Force swirled up around Qui-Gon, blinding him for a moment as image after image burnt themselves into his retinas.

Well, I could always blow myself up, Master. Obi-Wan smiled with patently fake cheer as he politely offered to commit suicide to save Qui-Gon and the rest of the slaves on some kind of ship. There was something so hollow in his voice, in his presence in the Force, and it called out to Qui-Gon, begged him to take the oncoming burden from too-small shoulders.

I cannot leave them, Master! I cannot abandon them in the middle of this war! Defiance flashed in those blue-grey eyes as a slightly older Obi-Wan stood in front of Qui-Gon, his master, and refused to return to the Temple. Qui-Gon’s patience was at its end and he saw himself turn away, to abandon the boy on the war-torn planet, to leave him in that hellhole to find his own way out.

His own way through heartbreak.

I will have you know, Master, that I carried the Duchess all the way across that field of venom-mites!

Qui-Gon did not understand why he found Obi-Wan’s sniff of wounded pride so endearing but it warmed his heart and told him all would be well one day. Once the Duchess was safe and they returned to the Temple.

If Obi-Wan didn’t leave him for the pretty little blonde daydreamer.

Why are we going to Naboo? Obi-Wan was taller now, almost fully grown and his eyes burned like blue-white fire with a need to prove himself, to become his own man and take the Trials. There was distance there, something Qui-Gon couldn’t bridge, couldn’t stop from happening. They moved further and further apart, as surely as two continents separated by a divergent fault.

He had held onto Obi-Wan for too long and now it was tearing their bond apart.

Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Hello! Are you a Jedi, too?

And everything sundered, shattered, and crashed to the ground, a light rain made of broken dreams. The Force hissed and the fog of images faded away, leaving Qui-Gon with the uncomfortable realization that he had just seen the future.

A future where he was Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Jedi master.

The Force had spoken with great clarity and Qui-Gon had to obey its will.

“Knight Tano, a moment if you please?”

[fireflyfish]

May I Present Master Jinn?

Previously on Tano and Kenobi...

Ahsoka Tano stood before the Jedi Order and pleaded her case. In spite of suspicion and doubt cast on her by none other that Masters Ki-Adi-Mundi and Sifo Dyas, Grand Master Yoda managed to convince the Council to accept Ahsoka back into the fold. Finally, Ahsoka Tano has become a Jedi Knight and now it’s time for the real work to get started...

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The Jedi Council broke up for lunch after meeting with Ahsoka as some gave her suspicious looks but a few came over to personally welcome her.

“I am always happy to see a fellow Togruta join our Order,” Shaak Ti smiled, reaching out to touch Ahsoka’s shoulder.

Ahsoka nodded her thanks in return. “It’s good to be back, Master Ti,” she said, surprised at such a warm welcome. “I was gone for far too long.”

“Grief can cloud our judgement,” Shaak Ti agreed, squeezing her shoulder before she took her leave.

Yoda hummed thoughtfully as he stood at Ahsoka’s side. “Wise and kind, Master Ti is. Know her, do you?”

Ahsoka’s expression was wry and amused as she glanced down at Yoda. “Yes. I looked up to her when I was a padawan.”

Chuckling to himself, Yoda gestured for Ahsoka to follow him out of the Council Room. “Come, come! Test your navigation skills, I will. Find the great hall and lunch, we shall.”

“Knight Tano!” a voice filtered through a rebreather called out, and Ahsoka froze, her heart clenched tight in her chest.

Master Plo!

Turning around, Ahsoka tried to control her emotions, to tamp down on her overwhelming joy at seeing one of her favorite Jedi alive again. It had been difficult to hold back the tears before the meeting but now that he was walking towards her, now that she was older and taller than the last time she saw him, all the years apart hit her at once and it took all her control to stay standing.

“Master Plo Koon,” Ahsoka said, bowing and hoping she didn’t sound as emotional as she felt. “My master spoke very highly of you.”

“How unfortunate I was never able to meet this… Master Skywalker,” Plo Koon said, running his finger under his chin. “Forgive me for asking a personal question but, have we met before? I sensed a connection that has surprised me.”

Ahsoka swallowed and shook her head. “No. I don’t believe we have.”

Well, not yet anyway, Master Plo.

“How strange,” the Kel Dor Jedi murmured, glancing down at Master Yoda, whose ears perked cheerfully. “The Force was quite insistent. I suppose I must meditate on this further.”

“A good idea, that is, Master Plo,” Yoda commented, clicking his staff on the floor for emphasis. “Your guidance, I sense Knight Tano will need.”

“Of course,” Master Plo nodded to the Grand Master. “If I can be of help in anyway, please do not hesitate to ask, Knight Tano.”

“Th-thank you, Master Plo,” Ahsoka managed to get out without bursting into tears or throwing her arms around the Jedi Master. She watched him depart and then turned back to Yoda. “To the dining hall?”

Yoda chuckled as Ahsoka knelt down and let him clamber up onto her back. “For the ride, thank you. Discuss your path forward we should.”

Ahsoka nodded. “Yes. But I also wanted to ask about Obi-Wan. Is he really going to be sent to Bandomeer if no one takes him as a padawan?”

“Surprised are you?” Yoda replied, his taloned claws gently pressing into Ahsoka’s shoulder. “Know this tradition, you should.”

The Grand Master had a point. Although the Clone Wars had caused the Order to promote almost any initiate that managed to make it through the third level of training, she could still remember her early years when they had gossiped with the younglings about who had been picked and who had grown too old to be chosen. She remembered watching one young Twi’lek boy who was caught crying in the corner of a hallway when he was informed he wasn’t going to move on to an apprenticeship and could either stay in the Temple as a mechanic or could return home to his family that he did not know.

She never found out what happened to that child.

“I know the traditions but maybe they need to be reconsidered,” Ahsoka offered, her voice light and hopeful. “Thirteen seems too young to write off a sentient. And Obi-Wan is so talented! I know if he just had the right master he would flourish under their teachings.”

Yoda canted his head to the side. “Agreed, we are. Powerful in the Force, Obi-Wan is. A great Jedi, he might be. But emotional, rash and reckless, he is. Fear and anger, many sense in him.”

“He’s thirteen!” Ahsoka protested, wincing at her too sharp voice. It wouldn’t do to get on Yoda’s bad side after he had just vouched for her in front of the Council. She couldn’t do this the Skywalker way. She had to negotiate, to reason with the Grand Master and the Order itself. “I’m sorry. I spoke too… harshly. But maybe the fear everyone is sensing is his fear of being cast out of his home?”

“Perhaps,” Yoda mused, pointing to the right. “Another time, we will discuss Obi-Wan. To the right, our meal is.”

This isn’t over, Master Yoda. Not by a long shot. Ahsoka let out a sigh and turned around. “Yes, Master.”

“Lose faith, do not,” Yoda said, patting Ahsoka’s shoulder. “Revealed in time, Obi-Wan’s master will be. Know this, I do.”

“Did you have someone in mind?” she asked, curious and hoping to prod the ancient master in the right direction. “Perhaps a diplomat or someone similar?”

Yoda laughed out loud at this, the swells of humor nearly knocking him off Ahsoka’s shoulder as they stepped into the dining hall. He leapt down from his perch and clacked his way to the line, greeting all Jedi alike with a twinkle in his eyes. He beckoned for Ahsoka to follow after him and she did so, shaking her head, bemused.

After lunch, Ahsoka was whisked away by a padawan working for the Quarter Master’s office. She was officially given the room she was already sleeping in, assigned a personal communicator, a identification code as well as an appointment to return and get fitted for her robes.

After she was done with that bit of housekeeping, another padawan, dressed in healer robes appeared in the doorway and Ahsoka was bundled off to the Halls of Healing for a physical and a series of booster hypos. She was scheduled for a follow-up visit as well as a visit to the dentist, which sent Ahsoka in a fit of laughter, puzzling the poor healer who couldn’t understand why she hadn’t had the time to maintain proper dental hygiene when on the run from the Empire.

Once freed from the clutches of the well-meaning healers, Ahsoka stepped out into the Temple and looked around for a chrono. She had promised Obi-Wan that she was going to catch up with him during his last hour of saber practice and she did not want to be late. Master Obi-Wan was never late and Ahsoka couldn’t help feeling like she had to live up to him, to make sure she didn’t change the young initiate’s destiny too much.

Besides, as much as she loved Anakin, he was notoriously tardy and she got a little tired of having to stare at the ground while another master lectured them both on the importance of being on time.

Of course, Anakin would have retorted that he was on time when it mattered.

“I thought there was a chrono around here somewhere,” Ahsoka muttered to herself as she peered around a corner, searching in vain. “Kriff it! I could have sworn there was one in this hallway.”

She spied a tall, broad, imposing figure walking down the hallway with the sedate pace of a master. Half of his brown hair was pulled up into a tail and the rest left to fall around his wide shoulders like a cape. Ahsoka hurried after him in the vain hopes he knew where the nearest chrono was and if he could point her in the direction of the Northern Solar room.

“Excuse me!” she called out, wondering how someone who seemed to move at a glacial pace could cover so much ground. And Ahsoka thought she was tall.

I think he might even be taller than Skyguy!

The Jedi Master in question turned around, a curious expression on his face as he folded his arms over his chest. “Yes? Can I help you, young one?”

Ahsoka came to a stop, chuckling and waving off the Jedi’s comment, because she most certainly didn't feel young anymore. “Hello! I don't suppose you know what time it is or how to get to the Northern Solar room? I've been out in the field for a while and with all the renovations I'm completely lost.”

The master reached into his robe and pulled a small chrono and read off the time. “It is 1530 hours and if you're searching for the Northern Solar room you’ll need to turn back around, take a left and go all the way to the end of the hall and take turbolifts on the right to the fifth level from this one.”

Ahsoka mentally walked through the instructions and then nodded. “I think I got it. Thank you for your help.”

“You're welcome,” the master smiled, kind and inviting. “I don't believe we've met. I'm Qui-Gon Jinn. You said you've been out in the field for a long time?”

Ahsoka’s eyes nearly bugged out her head and she managed to cover her shock and delight with a wide grin. “Yes. I was. But I can't believe it! You're Master Jinn? My master told me all about you!”

Qui-Gon Jinn in the flesh! Here was the answer to Obi-Wan’s prayers and all she had to do was gently nudge the two together.

Fantastic! Maybe I could invite him to our training session.

Qui-Gon seemed politely amused by Ahsoka’s statement. “Oh really? And who might your master be?”

“Master Skywalker but he… passed away,” Ahsoka replied, wondering when and if that would ever be any easier to say. It still felt raw and wrong even in the midst of a happy meeting. “But he was a fan of yours.”

“How unfortunate I never got the chance to meet him in person,” Qui-Gon murmured, his voice low and resonate like a summer thunderstorm. “I am sorry for your loss Knight… ?”

“Ahsoka Tano,” she said, bowing to Qui-Gon. “And thank you. Even though it happened years ago it still… it still hurts.”

“Yes, well, that is why we must be mindful of our attachments,” Qui-Gon commented, folding his hands into his sleeves and Ahsoka realized just where Master Obi-Wan had acquired that particular habit. “A Jedi must always keep their mind on the present moment and the living Force, lest our sorrow and grief drag us down a darker path.”

Ahsoka nodded in agreement. “Yes, of course. I'll have to remember that. Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure, Knight Tano and now if you will excuse me, I must be off,” Qui-Gin seemed to gather himself up and turned towards the other end of the hallway. “I have an appointment in the Senate building and I mustn't be late.”

“Oh! My apologies Master Jinn,” Ahsoka took a step back and watched the towering man head towards the end of the hall before she remembered. “Oh! Master Jinn? If it's too much trouble, could you… oh.”

Master Jinn had already turned the corner and moved out of earshot, the fastest-moving glacier Ahsoka had ever seen. She let out a sigh and shook her head, glad that Master Obi-Wan hadn’t developed that habit from his master, before she turned around and headed off back the way she came.

Obi-Wan and her first real teaching awaited.

Obi-Wan hated Soresu practice.

No, that wasn’t true. He didn’t hate Soresu practice so much as he was exhausted, his legs ached, his feet throbbed in his boots and he had run out of electrolyte mix a half hour ago. One or two of the forms made his feet cramp up and Master Drallig seemed driven by the Sith Hells themselves to stay and make sure Obi-Wan put in the time he owed him from yesterday.

“Again, Kenobi,” Drallig called out, his faintly nasal voice somehow reaching over the din of the other class of initiates. “This time keep your stance lower and make your movements faster.”

“Yes, Master,” Obi-Wan huffed, moving back to the head of the golden line that was engraved on the floor of the training salon. He looked up as the chrono chimed for the next hour and he glanced over at the entrance to the hall, hoping against hope that Master Ahsoka would be there to save him from another hour of “Faster and more intense”.

The shadowed doorway was empty.

She’s probably just lost. She’s really only been here for two days and it took you three to memorize where they moved the Exoflora and Fauna lab to. And besides, she is a knight and you are an initiate and oh thank the Force!

“Master Ahsoka!” Obi-Wan called out, rushing through the rest of his form before giving Master Drallig a half-bow and darting over to her. “You’re here!”

“Of course I’m here!” Ahsoka laughed, wrapping an arm around him as he walked her over to a row of benches where his towel and empty drink cannister sat as well as a carefully-wrapped training saber he had hidden in his sleeves on his way to class. “And I stopped to get you something to drink, since I stumbled across the commissary.”

Obi-Wan’s eyes grew round as he happily took the ice cold bottle of Pantoran berry-flavored supplement drink and twisted the cap off. “Thank you, Master Ahsoka! I… I ran out only just now.”

Shaking her head, Ahsoka patted the bench next to her. “Did you tell Master Drallig about our arrangement?”

Obi-Wan nodded, guzzling a third of the supplement drink down with relish. “Yes. He didn’t like it and said he would stay and ‘supervise’.”

He made air quotes with his fingers and set the bottle down, beaming up at her. “Can we start now?”

“Did you finish your Soresu?” Ahsoka asked, her brows raised in an expression that made it clear that just because she was going to teach him jar’kai did not mean he was going to get out of his other lessons.

Obi-Wan grinned. “I have one more movement and then I’m done. Here! Hold this!”

He grabbed the concealed training saber, shoved it into Ahsoka’s hands and then hurried back onto the floor, prepared to make this last movement of Soresu picture-perfect.

Maybe if I can pick up jar’kai quickly, maybe Master Ahsoka will… I mean, she is a knight and even though she’s a Shadow, her cover did get blown, maybe she could… it is possible. And I think there is a connection there? Is this what a connection feels like?

“Focus, Kenobi!” Master Drallig called from across the room, his arms on his hips as he watched.

Obi-Wan nodded and took a deep breath, focusing his concentration on the Force and trusting that his muscles and bones already knew the steps. He worked on moving with strength, precision and flowing one movement into the other until the whole thing became a dance, the saber sizzling and hissing around him as he spun and lunged through each part. He was one with the blade, could feel the crystal inside humming with joy as he worked. He ticked off each step in the back of his mind with a mechanical satisfaction and then with a twisting kick he landed, the blade in a reverse grip and the blue white plasma hovering just above the arm of his tunic but not close enough to singe.

Ahsoka burst into applause. “Obi-Wan, you were amazing!”

Pride blossomed in his heart and Obi-Wan popped up out of his stance with a grin so big he thought it might split his lips. He bowed to Master Drallig, who smirked in what might have been an approving manner and waved him off to train with Ahsoka.

“I'm all done with Soresu, Master Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan announced, running back over to her. “Can we start jar’kai now?”

“Sure,” Ahsoka smiled, handing over his drink cannister and patting the spot next to her on the bench. “But why don’t you take a little break? You’ve been going for how long now?”

Obi-Wan gulped down another third of his drink, breaking only to inhale a huge lungful of air. “Three and a half hours but I don’t mind! I have been looking forward to your lesson.”

Chuckling softly, Ahsoka shook her head. “Well I’m not going to enjoy it if you pass out in the middle of it. Sit down, Obi-Wan. I’m not going anywhere.”

Resigned to taking a break, Obi-Wan collapsed onto the bench next to Ahsoka. “Did your Master teach you jar’kai when you were a padawan?”

Ahsoka glanced down at Obi-Wan before she turned her gaze elsewhere, a distant, if pleasant expression on her face. “Not at first. At the time he took me on, I was mostly using a reverse grip and he hated it.”

Shocked, Obi-Wan’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t imagine how devastated Master Ahsoka must have felt. There were times when a harsh word from Master Yoda would make him want to curl up into a ball and pray for the Force to take him away. But to have your master actually tell you they hate your fighting style? To your face?

What a nightmare!

“What did you do?” Obi-Wan asked, taking another sip of his drink. “Did you change it?”

“I tried to,” Ahsoka nodded, drawn back into the room they were sitting in. “But eventually my master realized that I wasn’t going to change and he suggest I study jar’kai and supplement my right hand with a shoto.”

Obi-Wan was stunned silent, marveling at the fact that a master could change their mind, that they could change at all and that a padawan could have that kind of say in their relationship. He had been taught that good padawans dutifully follow their master and always do as instructed. If your master taught you Ataru, that was what you were going to learn. If your master did not see the need in teaching you certain skills, you would simply not learn them. The idea that the relationship between a master and padawan could go both ways, could be collaborative had never occurred to Obi-Wan before.

“What was he like?”

“Who? My master?”

Obi-Wan nodded, his gaze focused on the bottle in his hands. “Yes… I should have liked to meet him, I think.”

Ahsoka let out a soft, muted sound, like a sigh but with more feeling. “He… Master Skywalker was… He was very young, when he took me on. In a lot of ways he was like a big brother, strong, smart, and very brave and kind. He was so very kind. But he… he had a temper. I know he worked hard to control it but it was hard for him.”

Ahsoka looked down at the top of Obi-Wan’s head and remembered their earlier talk about Bandomeer and frowned. She reached out to put a hand on the young boy’s back, between his shoulder blades. “And he hated to see injustice go unpunished. He taught me that it was more important to do what is right, than to blindly follow orders. He… he wasn’t very popular with the Council.”

Obi-Wan looked up at Ahsoka. “Now I really wish I could have met him. I am sorry he’s gone, Master Ahsoka. He sounds wonderful. You must miss him very much.”

“Yeah…,” Ahsoka sighed, pulling Obi-Wan a little closer. “I do. But I’m here now and he would want me to take care of you. So c’mon, Obi-Wan! It’s time to for your first jar’kai lesson to start.”

“Yes, Master Ahsoka!” Obi-Wan leapt off the bench and ran onto the training floor, Ahsoka happily following him.