#maybe obi wan had a purpose in mentioning brother

[brujitaadinbo]

I am struck by the peculiar way that Mandalorians have to love. Whether they are Mandalorian by blood or not, whether they follow the path or not or whether they are separated from their people or just the opposite.

For example, Boba is definitely a strange case with his "father", but he always maintained that bond with Jango Fett, he does not follow the path and he does not feel Mandalorian but he respects his father's armor and everything that it entails. A bond that for him is eternal until the end of his days. And then comes Din Djarin, a man who is not a Mandalorian by blood but who, within his tribe of foundlings, has earned a place to stay among the Mandalorians, a man who has suffered too much, reserved, keeps things to himself, but suddenly That green boy comes to turn your world upside down.

Then a woman arrives who makes you reconsider things, wanting to have a purpose and a home where your people are free, where that child you love is free and you start to support her, you start to spin in her orbit, you realize that you misjudged her and that feeling of protecting her, of serving her, of being with her until your life ends as long as she also achieves her purpose is born. If that is not love, they want to call it honor or loyalty because believe me, those two things are necessary to love. And as Din said "We Mandalorians pride ourselves on our discretion." It is obvious that he is going to show his affection in his own way (Bo katan)

And then we have a Mandalorian woman, of royal blood, native of this planet, warrior in all aspects, who has lost everything, suffering for years for her people, persecution, pain, having to lose herself to unite them their people. Having to start over, but suddenly that pair of strangers, a foundling and a green boy, arrive to show her that maybe the things she does are not right, that the path and the way to help her people is different manner. So she feels comfortable with this, she supports them, she takes care of them, she feels good, she joins them and somehow a very peculiar bond is formed between them.

And last but not least, we have this Mandalorian girl, strong and stubborn character. That everything has happened and he had to move away from his loved ones and live a complicated lifestyle. She finds a second family, who supports and supports her, she finds a boy who in some way has also joined her orbit, they bond, they protect each other, he can be somewhat annoying and she avoids him, but the relationship is there . Then something complicated happens, something they didn't expect and they have to move away, she suffers it and waits for it, she becomes depressed and her heart shuts down. Time passes and hope arrives, Sabine knows that she has to take this opportunity, to see that boy again, even if they see each other as "brothers or friends" she does everything possible to find him, until she gives the galaxy in return, to her enemies.

And even though her great enemy Thrawn sees this "desperation" for something absurd, she mentions that "he would never understand." Because she doesn't understand it either but she knows that her heart is taking the right path to see that boy again.

Mandalorians definitely have a very peculiar and noble way of loving. Not to mention Satine who technically could have given everything for Obi Wan.

This is the way.

[obislittleone]

HoM: Order 66 PART II

Warnings: leaving a lot of the warnings the same as it all entails- angst in the beginning, middle, oh and a lot a the end. Angst with Padme, mentions of pregnancy. Did i mention angst? I did? Well there’s more. Death, mentions of blood, violence, friends turning on friends. Anakin is a warning, literally, angst, Mentions of sickness and again, death. Oh yeah and angst.

Summary: After the death of your friend, you must find a place of safety for yourself, but upon learning someone else you care about is trapped in the crossfire, you venture into the Jedi temple in order to try and rescue them.

A/n: It is 2:27 in the morning, I cannot be stopped

also y'all if you like the story, maybe consider buying me a coffee :)

(Please buy me a coffee, i beg… i’m exhausted)

Words: 3k

The security team was more hesitant to let you pass by today, checking you for credentials and making sure you were indeed the Senator’s dear friend. You were unsure of why it would be any different. You’d been here only yesterday. Of course, you couldn’t say you blamed them. Clones all over the city were going rogue, and there was no telling you was safe and who wasn’t.

You stepped into the elevator, finally feeling a semblance of peace in this time, however little.

When the doors opened on the floor of her apartment, you wasted no time in passing by the guard that was stationed there while Anakin was away. He tried to stop you, to make sure you were allowed to be here. It was only protocol, but you were far passed any of that right now. Your friend had just been murdered in cold blood for no purpose other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and you needed answers. You waved a hand back, keeping the guard still until you were out of the room. It made you seem far more suspicious than before, but you weren’t here to play games.

“Padme?” You called out into the several rooms, stopping in your tracks when she came out to meet you. She was dressed in a lovely silk nightgown, presumably about to go to bed, but clearly she was struggling to, since she had tears streaming down her face. She came rushing towards you and held in in an embrace, crying onto your shoulder and thanking whatever force that you were alive and okay.

“There’s been an attack on the Jedi at the temple, watchers say that the clones have turned on them and won’t stop until they have all been killed,” her explanation gave you more insight as to what was going on, but it still didn’t give you the information as to why. Why were the clones doing this? What was their reasoning, and why did it happen all at once. This wasn’t a rebellion, it was an ordered massacre.

“Where’s Anakin? I thought he was coming back her to see you after meeting with the chancellor.”

She started sobbing uncontrollably now, and you were certain you’d said something wrong.

“He never came back, he went to the temple,” she couldn’t even talk at this point, her lips trembled in sadness and fear of what may have happened to him. You tried to calm her down, hoping you could come up with a plan to keep her at ease. There wasn’t anything too be settled about this, it was purely chaos, and was diminishing any hope for survival of the Jedi. The ranks they had built, from the ground up, hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of units, all now focused to kill those they fought alongside.

“I’ll go find him,” you said quietly, figuring it out in your head as you went, but not fully sure how you’ll be able to make it happen. You would do it, no matter the cost, because Anakin was your brother, and if anything happened to him, you’d never forgive yourself for not trying. You’d already lost someone today, and given that the assault was on the temple, you knew there were probably more. You knew Obi-Wan was still alive, because if he wasn’t you’d probably be writhing on the ground somewhere from the pain you normally shared with him. Whenever he was hurt, you felt it. If he’d been dead, you would be too, even if it was just in a metaphorical sense.

“No, it’s too dangerous, they could kill you.”

“I can’t stay here. My presence in this building puts you at risk. If I can find Anakin and help him escape, you both can leave Coruscant and be safe.”

She didn’t like this argument, because either way she could lose someone, but as much as it pained her to even think about it, she did not want to let her child grow up without their father, knowing that something could have been done to prevent it. She was still crying, and shook her head, unsure of how to decide. Anakin could already be dead, and you’d be putting yourself at risk for nothing, but something inside of her, deep within her newfound energy told her that he was alive, and wanted more than anything to return to her.

“I’m not asking your permission, Padme,” you recognized the look on her face, the one when she was about to decide a course of action. You would not need it from her, though, as your mind was made up.

“Please be careful,” she said in a firm tone, though her tears effected the solidness of her voice. You knew this wasn’t a suggestion, it was a demand. You were not often reckless, but in order to obtain Anakin, you may have to take a page from his playbook.

You pulled away from her, looking out the window to see the smoke and fire emitting from the temple. It was going to be hell getting in there, but you’d figure it out once you got there. You were good at spontaneous planning, and most often you thrived under pressure. Just like Obi-Wan did.

“I’ll be back, and I’m going to bring him with me.”

-

All the entrances were guarded, no one went in, no one went out. The bodies of dead Jedi lay on the steps of the temple, and leading inside of it. You were nauseous at the sight of it, but persevered to a tunnel that no clones could no about. It was the one that lead to the underground system. Most Jedi never even knew of it’s existence, but they would now, as it seemed to be the only viable option of escape. The problem was, the tunnels were covertly designed to be small and compact to keep their location a secret, so there probably weren’t too many people able to make it through at a time.

You snuck around the side of the temple platform, far away from any of the clones in sight, and found that the bricks had already been pulled out of place. Someone used it already, but it looked abandoned since then.

You climbed into the crawlspace, remembering how much you hated tight areas, but shoved the thought aside in order to push through. You felt Anakin’s presence, and new that he was near. When you crawled a good fifty yards or so, you met the end of the tunnel. Above you was a grate, that was specifically made to blend in with the ventilation systems on either side. It was clever, and you remembered the first time you stumbled upon it as a child, noticing the way the other two sprouted cold air, but this one never seemed to work. You’d asked Master Qui Gon about it, actually, because he was the only one around at the time. It was one of the few fond memories you had with him, and it wasn’t long after that he was killed. You hoped you could prevent the one he sought after from the same fate. Anakin was the chosen one, and he would bring the force back into balance.

You raised the grate when the hall above you went silent, pulling yourself out and watching for clones that may be patrolling. You stood up and went to round a corner, immediately crashing into the chest of someone. You got scared, and ignited your lightsaber upon instinct, but when your vision cleared there he stood before you, the one you’d been looking for. Anakin Skywalker. He looked angry, and miserable, and you figured he must have seen what all has happened inside the temple. He looked shocked to see you, and very eerie. Almost as if he was upset you were here.

“Anakin,” you were relived, for there hadn’t been a scratch on him. You pulling him into a hug, but he was stiff and would not reciprocate your actions. You knew he had probably seen many horrors today. He held his lightsaber in his hand, and you figured he had defended himself to get to this point. “We have to go, Padme is worried sick for you.”

Again he was stiff, unmoving as you tried to pull him towards the tunnels. You weren’t sure if he even knew about them. You’d never told him before.

“What are you doing? If we stay any longer the clones will kill us,” you explained to him, begging him with all the sanity you had left that he might comply with you, and take your outstretched hand. Did he have some kind of death wish? Why did he stand here like nothing was wrong, why was he so still?

“I can’t leave,” he said, dropping his head to face the ground. You were losing your mind right now, as you heard clone footsteps rapidly approaching from another area. You told Padme you were going to bring him, and you planned on upholding your word. He needed to get his act together and come with you. “I have a duty to uphold.”

“Anakin, now is not the time to be a hero, you’re wife is waiting for you.”

He looked back to your eyes, and when you met his, they were not the pretty blue ones you used to know. They were golden in color, and had a redd tint in the middle. You’d only ever seen eyes like that once in your life, and it was when you looked in the mirror the day after Obi-Wan faked his death. It was a sign of darkness taking over. you gasped at the sight, and began backing away, before you turned into a full on sprint towards another room. He was a faster runner, and caught you with ease, pinning you against the wall and holding you still, though you began thrashing in his grip.

“You don’t need to be afraid of me, I won’t hurt you,” he tried to calm you down, to ensure you tat you were safe by is hand, but you couldn’t seem to relax knowing he’d been responsible for some of this. He didn’t even need to tell you, you could feel it, as soon as you saw his eyes you knew the extent of his darkness. You never realized he harbored it in himself, as you did.

“What have you done?” You were shaking, you didn’t know what else to do, as you were trapped, and didn’t believe there was any way out, not alive, at least.

“You don’t understand, but I can make you,” he said confidently, releasing you from the pillar he held you against and let you roam around. He was dark, from head to toe, it radiated off him like spice from a freight carrier, looming in the air. “I have become more powerful than any Jedi could possibly imagine, and once I’ve completed my mission, I will even be able to save the people I love.”

“At what cost? Anakin, this darkness, it’s not who you are, all this bloodshed on your hands should never have been spilt,” you knew it was too late for him, you sensed it. He was always set in his new ways, and didn’t care what the price was, he was prepared to pay it, all of it. Your heart broke to see how far he had strayed from the teachings he’d been given, same as you. It was something of a disaster, the scene of him walking in front of you, not a care in the world as to what he had done.

“The darkness has always been there, and it was waiting to help me become one with the force in all the ways the Jedi would never allow. You more than anyone should know how that feels.”

He was right, you did know how that felt. In your case, though, you had nothing left to lose. You’d lost the love of your life, or at least you thought you did, along with your mentor and closest person in your life. They were one and the same, and you didn’t know if you’d ever recover, but then you found out he was alive, and you felt shame for ever turning to a force that was darker than anything you’d ever used before. It felt wrong, and dirty. It felt like you were covered in mud and needed a shower to rid yourself of all the horrible stains that had become embedded into your skin. The darkness may have been inside you, but it never belonged there. You were worried that once Anakin had come to realize this himself, it would be too late to reverse it.

“It’s not what it’s made out to be. It makes you full of regret, and leaves you with a scar that never heals,” you had tears in your eyes for what had to be the tenth time today. You couldn’t seem to avoid it, and were constantly standing in tragic situations that invoked awful emotion.

“You were never trained to harness it. If you join me now, you will receive this same power, and I can teach you how to use it,” he was smiling like a mad man, and you were more afraid of him now than you had ever been. This wasn’t even him, anymore. This was a monster in the body of Anakin Skywalker. This was not the boy you had grown up beside and loved since you met him in this very room all those years ago.

“I won’t join you, Anakin. Can’t you see that what you’ve done is terrible?” You wanted to get through to him, if only enough for him to let you go, but you were beginning to think that he was so undone at this point, he may even kill you to prevent you leaving this room.

“From my point of view, I’ve made peace, and disposed of a corrupt order before they could destroy the galaxy. If you could only see things my way,-“

“Enough! Anakin, this is madness. I will never join you, because it goes against everything we ever learned, everything Obi-Wan ever taught us. I can’t believe you would follow such a dark path,” you cried, the tears rolling down your cheeks and onto your robes, which were stained with Mak Lotor’s dried blood, already.

He was angry, not with you specifically, but with the fact that he knew you wouldn’t turn, not while Obi-Wan was still alive. He knew that had the man been dead, you may have switched sides without hesitation.

“If you’re not willing to conform to the new laws of the chancellor, then you have committed treason, and I have no choice but to kill you,” his eyes turned gold again, and he ignited his lightsaber. He was the only one who could ever beat you, and when fighting him, you lost every time. You had no cards left to play, and you weren’t in the shape to fight anyone else. You were drained, physically and emotionally, and if you had to raise your saber one more time, you would surely die. You knew it was coming, the sting of his fiery blade was inevitable, but when he raised it into the air, you spouted the last words you could possibly muster that might stay his blade.

“I’m sorry, Anakin.”

You weren’t just using it as a ploy to get away, you really meant it. He had been dealing with terrible troubles lately, and you never noticed. You weren’t there to help him with the nightmares, or talk him through an episod of heat and anger. You weren’t there to stop him from going back for the chancellor, or to keep him from pledging his allegiance to the corrupt politician and Sith lord. You weren’t there, and you should have been.

He was about to bring down his arm, which would split you in two halves, but stopped before the saber could even burn a hair on the top of your head. He looked down at you, and he saw the little girl he met when he was only nine. You were seven at the time, bright and optimistic, though you’d been bullied for years. He saw the girl who at only twelve years of age started having horrific nightmares because she helped him with his own, carrying them for him as if it were a simple task. He saw the girl who always wanted to help him, even when it went against the Jedi code, because it made him happy. He saw the girl who stood by as the only witness when he married the love of his life. He saw the girl who never abandoned him, or gave him up like all others did. He saw someone that he couldn’t harm even if he tried to. You were his sister, and if he killed you, now, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

He dropped his weapon, and heaved heavy breaths as he furrowed his brows. He was disobeying direct orders from the chancellor by letting you go, but he couldn’t let you get hurt.

“Run,” he said under his breath, catching your eye line again, his eyes returned to that lovely shade of blue, though there was still darkness looming within them. “Keep running, and never turn back.”

You didn’t waste another moment before bolting away from him. You knew that while he gave you a chance, you needed to take it, because there wouldn’t be another one. He was consumed, now. No doubt about it.

You made sure the coast was clear before trying to make it back to the floor grate. You ran back to it, but then you heard a cry for help. Not a physical cry, but one that could be heard and felt through the force. It was coming from the archives.

You could have kept going, saved yourself and the life of your unborn offspring, but you wouldn’t be a Jedi if you hadn’t thought about others above yourself. The Jedi were selfless, offering themselves as a sacrifice to protect the lives of those who couldn’t protect themselves.

“I must be out of my mind,” you murmured to yourself, running to the archives and avoiding clones at any cost.

-

It started with one, Madame Jocosta, who had gotten trapped under some collapsed archive shelves. Once she was on her feet, you realized there was another. A child who was hiding for their life under a desk, and had gotten passed by the small clone squadrons who were patrolling every area.

It started with one, but now it was seven. Seven lives that you’d manage to save by sneaking them out through the tunnels. Madame Jocosta had stayed behind with you to help, remaining by the grate to help the younglings escape. Once they were outside, it depended on them to find shelter, but you figured they were better off out there than they were in here.

You’d killed twelve clones. Twelve members of the 501st in which you’d fought with. Twelve clones that you spent time with and laughed with, telling jokes and playing card games. You killed them and you had no other choice but to do so, lest they shoot holes through your body and you be rendered useless…. and dead.

After the first child had been rescued, you wrapped a blindfold around your eyes, letting your senses become more in tune with the force. You were seen as crazy for using this method, which had long been forgotten by most masters when teaching their younglings and Padawans over the years. Everyone said you were just showing off, and that there was no way this could possibly help you in battle, but it did. You were able to feel your surroundings more than you could ever see them. You could sense everything everywhere all at once, and it was helpful to keep you focussed, rather than worry about what your eyes were seeing.

You were following the call through the force of the eighth child as it were, doing your best to find where they hid. You stopped when you sensed the bodies that lay on the ground around you. They were all dead, all but one, who had pulled the others over top of her to avoid being seen. The poor child was traumatized, and would never forget this day, but neither would anyone who survived.

“Are you here to save me?” You heard a small whisper, and you nodded, reaching out your hand. She sounded to be a little girl, probably ten or eleven at most. You raised the blindfold to your forehead, looking her in the eye to make sure she felt safe to come with you. The rest of her friends were killed by a lightsaber, by Anakin, so she was probably unsure of who to trust.

“I am, but I need you to stay quiet and do as I say, do you understand?” She nodded her head up and down, rapidly, standing to her feet and trying to continue, but you saw she was injured. There were burn marks on her robes, and she was hunched over. You scooped her up in your arms, lowering the blindfold, and beginning the long trek to the other side of the temple, where the grate to escape was. You wondered if she would need help getting through the tunnels, but that wasn’t the focus right now. “What’s your name?”

She shook slightly while gripping tightly her arms around your neck. Her answer was hesitant, but loud enough for you to hear.

“Reva.”

You huffed out, making sure she was securely holding onto you before you began to move.

“Alright, Reva… Hold on tight, and if I tell you to run, go to the east wing near the archives. Someone will be there to help you,” you held your saber in hand, unignited for the sake of secrecy, as the light and sound would both give you away to anyone who was watching from further away.

“Okay,” she understood well enough, and you were off a second later.

It was a miracle no one had spotted you, as you were out completely in the open this time, the urgency to get her out was more important. You made it to the east wing with only one complication, and you removed your blindfold to ensure that she made it into the tunnel. She assured you both that she could get through on her own, and you let her, knowing there might be others who would need your help.

“We can’t do this forever,” madame Jocosta was tired of this horrible waiting game, each time hoping that you hadn’t dropped dead while trying to save a child, and she knew that at some point you both would have to leave, to go help others in places that were not so dangerous.

“I just wanna get one more.”

“That’s what you said last time,” she was concerned for you, and was wondering if there was somehow a meaning behind all of this. The Jedi order was completely destroyed, gone forever, along with most of its ideals, but still, here you were, upholding the code and putting others before yourself until it got you killed.

“I mean it. One more, then it’s time to go.”

You were looking for another child, but could not hear any more calls in the force to where they might be hiding. You couldn’t hear any little voices echoing through your head, though you beckoned them to you. Had you gotten them all out? Had the others been killed before you could get to them? You would consider yourself a failure if that was the case. If you were not strong enough to save those children, then what made you think you could protect one of your own? You were not a mother, and probably never would be one in a true sense. You may have a child, but you couldn’t be a mother.

You were about to turn back, to give up and realize that this was it, this was the end of your endeavor, but then you sensed a life form, and a young one at that. It’s innocence drew you in to the room you felt it resided in, but you couldn’t tell if you were near it or not. You hadn’t ut your blindfold back on, but you still couldn’t see anyone here. You stepped forward until you accidentally kicked something. It looked like a mechanical egg of some sort. You were suddenly pulled to it, the energy you sensed was coming from the pod that lay in the middle of the walkway. You hadn’t remembered it being here the first time you came in, but now it was there, and you couldn’t stop looking at it. You knelt down and pushed the button on the font, opening the sides to reveal… a tiny yoda? It looked just like him, with his long ears and little nose. The little wispy hairs upon his head among his light green complexion. His eyes were so big, wide with so many emotions, and you knew that he was going to be the last one you took. You were going to bring him with you, whatever he was. He was just a baby, and needed help in this tumultuous time.

His little arms reached up to you, begging to be taken, and your heart broke, knowing he was probably left by someone who knew they couldn’t escape with the extra weight on their shoulders.

“Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay,” you told him, pulling him from the pod and against your chest, letting him rest his tiny head there. You suddenly felt a very maternal instinct wash over you, and you felt determined to make sure he was taken care of. He was so small, so helpless, just a baby.

You weren’t too far from the archives this time, as you hadn’t journeyed far to find him. Once you were back at the grate, Madame Jocosta beamed with joy.

“The last one,” she looked to you for confirmation and you nodded.

“The last one.”

She lifted the grate, preparing to let you in first, but then a blaster shot went right past you head, scorching the wall in front of your face. You looked behind you, seeing that a single clone was standing at the end of the hall, calling for backup.

“Take him, I’ll be right behind you,” you handed him over, and she didn’t argue, holding the small green being close to her as she began the long crawl to freedom. You ignited your saber again, deflecting the shots that came, and readied yourself to fight when the other clones arrived. These were your friends, the people you shared tables with in the morning for breakfast, and now they were trying to off you at any chance they got.

You needed to stay in this corner, though it would put your ability to fight at risk, it was necessary to make sure no one else got through that tunnel until Madame Jocosta and the youngling had time to escape. You were feeling weaker than you normally did, as the long and horrendous day had taken the energy out of you.

The backup the clone ordered had finally arrived, and you did your best to keep them at bay, but as they came closer, you knew you couldn’t hold on. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end, but you had a feeling come over you that your time had come. As you struggled to deflect the shots, the first one had entered your body, right below your ribs. You dropped your lightsaber, a single tear running down your face. Another shot hit you on the side of your stomach. You stretched out through the force, trying to reach Obi-Wan to give him your last thoughts, but then the final shot entered you, directly into your abdomen, and you blacked out, unable to coherently think as everything turned black.

You were unconscious, but not dead, though you soon would be. you could feel yourself in a dream like state, except it was all still dark around you, and the things you sensed were only feelings floating around in your head.

You were unsure of what to do with these feelings, as they did not help you whatsoever In fact, they made your situation worse. They were only reminders, of what you’d failed to do, whom you’d failed to protect, and every bad decision you made that lead up to this point. you weren’t in a clear state of mind, obviously, but you didn’t understand why these things were being blamed on you, or rather why you were blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault that any of this happened, or that there was likely a new war starting, but your subconscious was blaming you for it all. You were a mess of feelings, and hoped they would all just melt away, and then they did. As light poured into your eyes, and you began to wake up, they faded to the back of your mind, and you had only one objective: survive.

-

tags:

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[kanansdume]

For @clockworkratchet who really wanted a book following the original Kenobi script we found out about today, but who is feeling kind-of sad after a few of us made some posts about the script’s issues.

I was planning on making a post on an AU combining some of my favorite aspects of both the final Kenobi show as well as the nicer aspects of Beattie’s original script involving more Cody already, but this is now dedicated to clockworkratchet so you can feel a little better!

Because I DO think there are some gems in there to pull from if you wanted. Like Owen and Cody throwing some stormtrooper bodies into the local sarlacc pit just to get rid of the evidence and ending up in a tense stand-off with another group that comes up only to discover they are ALSO trying to dispose of some stormtrooper bodies into the local sarlacc pit? Golden. Definitely keeping that shit. Obi-Wan asking Cody to stay behind on Tatooine to look after Luke while he runs off to do whatever because who ELSE would he trust enough to look after Luke? Beautiful, I can keep that. Obi-Wan and Cody apparently bickering like an old married couple? I question exactly how this bickering may have come off, whether it would’ve actually been friendly teasing or not, just given the storyline they had written for Obi-Wan as a whole, but I don’t have anything against the concept of Obi-Wan and Cody sharing some friendly banter, since they do this in canon anyway obviously.

Reva’s storyline, however, I would leave practically exactly the same as it ended up in canon. Reva as a surviving youngling who either intentionally joined up with the Inquisitors to take out Darth Vader, or who was picked up by the Empire after she escaped the Temple and was living on the streets and got tortured into being an Inquisitor like everyone else but retained enough of herself to decide to try to take out Darth Vader to get justice for her dead family is such a stunningly beautiful piece of character writing that I am absolutely never getting rid of that. I’d obviously also keep her survival at the end of the story because I think it absolutely makes more sense to do so given how much of a foil she is to Anakin. She serves no real purpose to the storyline if she doesn’t survive, she’s just an obstacle.

I’d still leave the thing that brings Obi-Wan off of Tatooine being Bail asking him to go save Leia and Obi-Wan’s entire relationship with Leia being so central to the story.

The problem I think with leaving Cody on Tatooine is that it means he’s got no real story. They mention in the interview that Cody’s battling guilt of his own over what happened with Order 66, so how does staying with Luke and protecting him from... whatever... help him overcome his guilt the way Obi-Wan’s journey with Leia helps him overcome his own? I think we’d have to see Cody maybe bonding with Luke a bit, to parallel Obi-Wan and Leia. Luke doesn’t know who Cody once was, he doesn’t know who Cody IS. All he knows is Cody’s pretty good with a blaster which is pretty cool and he’s got some fun stories to tell about all of his brothers (he seems to have had a lot!). And in the end, when Reva comes to kill Luke, Cody gets to stand BETWEEN her and Luke. Last time a fallen Jedi came to kill the Jedi younglings, the clones marched with him. Unwillingly, but they marched behind the fallen Jedi and killed the younglings. This time, Cody stands BETWEEN the fallen Jedi and the youngling he’s promised to protect. He gives Owen, Beru, and Luke enough time to run, holds Reva off from getting near them JUST long enough. She manages to injure him so when she breaks off the fight to try to chase the Larses, Cody can’t run after her. Owen and Beru see Reva coming and tell Luke to run on without them, they’ll be right behind him and stand to face Reva on their own. She does get through them eventually, but Luke is able to hide and shit goes down about how it does in canon with her chasing Luke into the canyons and knocking him unconscious and choosing not to kill him.

And herein is where I face a little bit of a problem because this needs to be Reva’s choice. It NEEDS to be. Because she is Anakin’s foil, she HAS to make the opposite choice, she has to choose to be better, to not kill the innocent child.

But it’s also the climax of Cody’s story, where he gets to make amends for what he couldn’t do last time. And, in essence, he fails. Reva escapes him and nearly kills all three Larses. It seems wrong to have the end of Cody’s story being that he fails, AGAIN. That he’s overpowered by a fallen Jedi, AGAIN.

And in some ways, I want to find a way to twine together their two stories because Cody, as the first victim of Order 66, and Reva, as a manifestation of Anakin killing the Jedi younglings, are SUCH a good pair to bring together. They’re both Anakin’s victims. They BOTH got turned into something they aren’t because he betrayed them. They BOTH have to live with the guilt of what they did in the aftermath of Anakin’s betrayal. They BOTH are people who look up to and care about Obi-Wan and have to come to term with the anger they feel that Obi-Wan DOESN’T hate Anakin, doesn’t want him dead, despite all he’s done. I want to find some way to connect Cody’s redemption with Reva’s choice, both of them finding a way to CHOOSE not to be what Anakin made them into, finding a way to rise ABOVE what Anakin did to them and choose the other path.

Especially because, if you include them both like this, they represent two pieces of the person Anakin should’ve been. Cody as the partner, brother, and friend to Obi-Wan that Anakin ultimately never was. Reva as the student that Anakin could never be, the one who takes Obi-Wan’s lessons to heart and truly learns from them to be better.

I’m just not sure that leaving Cody’s story at trying and failing to stop Reva from going after Luke is a good enough ending for him, so I may have to work on that a bit. Part of the message in the Kenobi show is just accepting what you can control and what you can’t, accepting that whether you failed yesterday or not sort-of doesn’t matter as much as what you choose to do TODAY. Cody fails, but he fails while still remaining himself, he fails while doing what he wished he could’ve done before. He fails because he could never have actually protected the Jedi younglings, he couldn’t have stopped Anakin, or Palpatine, and he can’t stop Reva. And it’s not his fault. He couldn’t have stopped what happened, he couldn’t control that, and he has to come to terms with that as much as Reva and Obi-Wan do. So maybe it does work, let me know.

It would also then be Cody who helps soften Owen towards Obi-Wan in the end, who convinces Owen to at LEAST let Obi-Wan give Luke the toys or meet him even once. Who maybe offers up a defense that Obi-Wan has so far been incapable of making himself, reminding Owen that Obi-Wan had considered Anakin a good friend, that he considers Luke family, and that his entire culture was just wiped out, so it’s not unreasonable for him to want to pass it on in the only way he has available to him. That it isn’t OBI-WAN who is restricting Luke’s choices since the Jedi were always accepting of people leaving their Order if they chose to do so, but Owen by refusing to let Luke even know he COULD be a Jedi if he so chose.

As for Reva’s clone squad, I’d probably intentionally pull from The Clone Wars for this and make them into as many of the 212th as I can remember. Trapper, from the Landing at Point Rain episode who is the only survivor along with Obi-Wan of a terrible crash. Crys, because he has the memorable hair color. Boil, obviously. Wooley, because people seem to like Wooley. I don’t know if I remember anyone else who I don’t remember specifically because they die like 2 seconds later. But even if a few of them are made-up, they’d all be 212th members, because maybe Reva has specifically been gathering them up as part of one of her numerous plans to try to lure out Obi-Wan and capture him. She goes with Leia, ultimately, obviously, but she still brings along the clones because who else would know better how to capture him, how to stop him? And she makes sure Obi-Wan knows exactly who she’s brought to hunt him.

But then, when Obi-Wan finally convinces Reva to help him escape with the refugees in return for getting a shot at killing Anakin and she sends a few men into the bunker along with him, she sends him with the clone squad. And maybe some sort of gadget thing he can use to turn off the chips, or maybe Obi-Wan has a way to do that already through whatever happened with Cody. And when that refugee ship escapes, there’s several newly freed clones on it, too.

Some maybe come back with him to Tatooine to reunite with Cody, some perhaps choose to go on to Alderaan and work to protect Leia if they can or join the Rebellion in some way, some just decide to go and do their own thing and just try to live the rest of their lives in what peace they can scrounge up in the galaxy.

And maybe Cody, in the end, chooses to leave Tatooine. Because he realizes he was staying for Obi-Wan. He stayed because he’d failed Obi-Wan once and Obi-Wan was in pain and not stable and disconnected from the Force, now, he was living in a CAVE and had nobody to look out for him, so Cody took up the mantle so he wouldn’t fail a second time. But being stuck on Tatooine wasn’t what was best for Cody and, now, Obi-Wan’s better and he doesn’t need Cody. Obi-Wan has a better relationship with Owen and Luke, and he’s reconnected to the Force, and he’s OKAY now. Cody can leave, Cody doesn’t have to stay for Obi-Wan anymore, he can look out for himself now, he can FORGIVE himself now, and move forward. He can maybe go join that Rebellion with his brothers, he can just explore the galaxy as much as is possible, he can find ways to help that work for him.

And if he needs a Jedi, he knows where to find one.

Maybe Reva chooses to stay with Obi-Wan for a while. Not for long, not forever, because the Larses will never be particularly comfortable with her around no matter what choice she’d made in the end, but she can stay long enough to stabilize a little, to regain some of what she’d lost when Anakin invaded the Temple and tried to kill her. She gets to be the student who chooses Obi-Wan as a teacher, rather than the one who just sort-of ends up with him out of lack of options, the one who truly rises and embodies the ideals of the Jedi that Obi-Wan imparts to her, the lessons Qui-Gon passed down to him being picked up and taken on by Reva in ways Anakin could never truly understand or appreciate.

It would’ve been far FAR too much for a TV show, especially a limited run miniseries of 6 episodes, to try to take on. I think trying to combine Cody and Reva this way in the show we got would’ve been way more than it needed and made it all feel insanely rushed.

But in a fanfiction, or a book, where you can maybe take your time a little more and pace things differently? You could maybe do both, let Cody and Reva and Obi-Wan and Leia ALL have their time to shine.

[jedisassmaster]

obi-wan saying he had a brother, that he barely remembers him, that he remembers only that there was a baby. he was a child himself and that was a long time ago, so of course he doesn’t remember much now.

he says it to leia.. who also has a brother, brother she only ‘had contact’ (if we can call it that, they were together in the same room after being born for a while i guess) when they were babies. but she doesn’t know that, because she also doesn’t remember.

[gffa]

OKAY, IF I’M GONNA DO THIS, I’M GONNA DO IT PROPERLY.  WHICH MEANS YEAH IT’S GONNA GET REALLY LONG. A couple of things to say ahead of time:  Lucasfilm’s Story Group has always said CANON > WORD OF GOD when it comes to these matters, so when I quote canon examples from supplementary materials that contradict what he says, that’s LF’s official position, but that doesn’t mean that an influential person like Dave’s views couldn’t affect how things will be shaped in the future, like Deborah Chow listening to this may be influenced by it on the Obi-Wan show, despite that Master & Apprentice contradicts him.  It’s an incredibly murky area!  Mileages are going to vary.   Another thing to keep in mind is that Dave Filoni never worked on The Phantom Menace, that was long, long before his time at Lucasfilm (which I think he joined sometime around 2007? and TPM was released in 1999), that he has worked with George more than probably anyone else, but we cannot and should not treat him as infallible or the True Authority on things, because even Dave himself has said things like: “I mean, I know why I did that and what it means, but I don't like to explain too much. I love for the viewers to watch stuff and come up with their own theories -- and they frankly come up with better things that I intended.”  --Dave Filoni, Entertainment Tonight 2020 interview Or, in the same episode as the above Qui-Gon interpretation:

So, when I dig into this, I’m not doing this out of a sense of malice or even that I suddenly hate Dave or don’t appreciate all the incredible things he’s brought to SW, but in that I disagree with his take, Dave understands that he doesn’t always get it right, that he enjoys that fans come up with different things than he does and sometimes he likes those even more.  There’s room for both of us and, for all that Dave mentions George a lot (and, hey, fair enough, the guy worked with George and I’m just quoting what George Lucas has said) doesn’t mean that this is straight from George, especially because I have never seen George Lucas utter so much as a peep about how the Jedi were responsible for Anakin’s fall.  He has explicitly and frequently talked about how Anakin’s fall was his own choice, as well as I’ve never seen him say anything Jedi-critical beyond “they were kind of arrogant about themselves”.  I have read and watched every George Lucas interview I could get my hands on and maybe I’m still missing something, but that’s literally the extent of him criticizing the Jedi I have EVER seen. (It’s from the commentary on AOTC where he put in the scene with Jocasta to show they were full of themselves, but I also think it’s fair to point out that Obi-Wan immediately contradicts this by going to Dex for help, showing that it’s not necessarily a Jedi-wide thing.) Before I go further, I want to say:  this is not a post meant to tear down Qui-Gon, he is a character I actually really do love, but the focus is on showing why the above interpretation of him is wrong, which means focusing on Qui-Gon’s flaws. He has many wonderful qualities, he is someone who cared deeply and was a good person, I think things would have been better had he lived!  But Anakin’s choices did not hinge on him, because Anakin’s choices were Anakin’s, that has always been the consistent theme of how George talks about him, the way he talks about the story is always in terms of “Anakin did this” or “Anakin chose that”, and the Jedi are very consistently shown as caring, they believed very much in love and Dave’s own show (well, I say “his own show”, but honestly TCW was George’s baby primarily and he had a lot of direct, hands-on say in crafting it, through at least the first five seasons) is plenty of evidence of that. I’m not going to quote the full thing because this is already a monster post, I’m just going to focus on the Jedi stuff, because I like the other points a lot, but if you want the full text, it’s here.  The relevant part is: “In Phantom Menace, you’re watching these two Jedi in their prime fight this evil villain. Maul couldn’t be more obviously the villain. He’s designed to look evil, and he is evil, and he just expresses that from his face all the way out to the type of lightsaber he fights with. What’s at stake is really how Anakin is going to turn out. Because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi and you get that in the movie; and Qui-Gon is fighting because he knows he’s the father that Anakin needs. Because Qui-Gon hasn’t given up on the fact that the Jedi are supposed to actually care and love and that’s not a bad thing. The rest of the Jedi are so detached and they become so political that they’ve really lost their way and Yoda starts to see that in the second film. But Qui-Gon is ahead of them all and that’s why he’s not part of the council. So he’s fighting for Anakin and that’s why it’s the ‘Duel of the Fates’ – it’s the fate of this child. And depending on how this fight goes, Anakin, his life is going to be dramatically different. “So Qui-Gon loses, of course. So the father figure, he knew what it meant to take this kid away from his mother when he had an attachment, and he’s left with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Anakin at first out of a promise he makes to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him. When they get Anakin, they find him on Tatooine, he says “Why do I feel like we’ve found another useless lifeform?” He’s comparing Anakin to Jar Jar and he’s saying “this is a waste of our time, why are we doing this, why do you see importance in these creatures like Jar Jar Binks and this ten-year-old boy? This is useless.” “So, he’s a brother to Anakin eventually but he’s not a father figure. That’s a failing for Anakin. He doesn’t have the family that he needs. He loses his mother in the next film. He fails on this promise that he made, “mother, I’m going to come back and save you”. So he’s left completely vulnerable and Star Wars is ultimately about family. So that moment in that movie which a lot of people I think diminish, “oh there’s a cool lightsaber fight”, but it’s everything that the entire three films of the prequels hangs on, is that one particular fight. And Maul serves his purpose and at that point died before George made me bring him back, but he died.“  --Dave Filoni  I’m going to take this a piece at a time to show why I really disagree with the content of both the movies and The Clone Wars supporting what Dave says and, instead, contradicts it a lot. The rest of the Jedi are so detached and they become so political that they’ve really lost their way and Yoda starts to see that in the second film. He doesn’t explain what this means, but I’m pretty sure that he’s referring to this conversation: OBI-WAN: “I am concerned for my Padawan. He is not ready to be given this assignment on his own yet.” YODA: “The Council is confident in its decision, Obi-Wan.” MACE WINDU: “The boy has exceptional skills.” OBI-WAN: “But he still has much to learn, Master. His abilities have made him... well.... arrogant.” YODA: “Yes, yes. A flaw more and more common among Jedi. Hmm... too sure of themselves they are. Even the older, more experienced ones.” MACE WINDU: “Remember, Obi-Wan, if the prophecy is true, your apprentice is the only one who can bring the Force back into balance.” OBI-WAN: "If he follows the right path.” None of that has anything to do with being “detached” and, further, I think this is something that’s come up with Dave’s view of Luminara a lot, because he’s described her (re: the Geonosis arc):  “We were trying to illustrate the difference between the way Anakin is raising his Padawan, and how much he cares about her, and the way Luminara raises her Padawan. Not that Luminara is indifferent, but that Luminara is detached. It’s not that she doesn’t care, but she’s not attached to her emotionally.” Here, he says that the Jedi care, in the above, he says that the Jedi don’t care, which makes me think there’s a lot of characterization drift as time goes on, especially when fandom bombards everyone with the idea that the Jedi were cold, emotionless, and didn’t care.  However, look at Luminara’s face in that arc, when she’s talking with Anakin:

That is not the face of someone who doesn’t care.  She even smiles brightly in relief when Barriss is shown to be okay, that this really doesn’t convey “detached” in an unloving or uncaring way.  (We’ll get to attachment later, that’s definitely coming.) (I’m also mostly skipping the political thing, because I think that’s just a fundamental disagreement of whether Jedi should or should not lean into politics.  My view basically boils down to that I think ALL OF US should be leaning more into politics because we are citizens who live in the world and are responsible for it, and the Jedi are no different.  This is evidenced by:  - M&A’s storyline has Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan saving the day specifically because they play politics, that’s how they manage to free the slaves, through playing politics and being part of the Republic/having Senate backing. - The Clone Wars has shown that the Jedi believe “lasting change can only come from within” and “it’s every citizen’s duty to hold their leaders accountable” when Ahsoka teaches the cadets on Mandalore, as well as that politics are not inherently bad, given that Padme and Bail are working to make the system better or “create lasting change from within [the system]” - "Trying to serve the greater good does not always make you popular” says Padme Amidala in a very caring speech - Star Wars Propaganda makes the case that the Jedi might have won the war had they leaned more into politics. - Sometimes the Jedi get unfairly accused of playing politics when there’s just no good choice and they still have to choose one or the other.) But Qui-Gon is ahead of them [re: caring and loving] all and that’s why he’s not part of the council. This is flat-out wrong in regards to canon.  Mileages are going to vary, of course, on how much one takes a novel into consideration, but Dave Filoni is not a fan with the luxury of deciding what is or isn’t canon, he works on Star Wars where canon is canon.  Now, does that mean canon will never contradict itself, especially if Dave gets to write something for Qui-Gon?  Of course not, SW isn’t immune to continuity errors and they themselves have never said otherwise, even when fans want to hold them to that standard. However, this is still pretty much a big “that’s not what happened” instance.  In Master & Apprentice, the Jedi Council offer a seat to Qui-Gon on the Council, specifically BECAUSE he has different opinions from them and they welcome that.  (Excerpt here.)      “We hope it will also be our gain,” Mace replied. “Qui-Gon Jinn, we hereby offer you a seat on the Jedi Council.”      Had he misheard? No, he hadn’t. Qui-Gon slowly gazed around the circle, taking in the expressions of each Council member in turn. Some of them looked amused, others pleased. A few of them, Yoda included, appeared more rueful than not. But they were serious.      “I admit—you’ve surprised me,” Qui-Gon finally said.“I imagine so,” Mace said drily. “A few years ago, we would’ve been astonished to learn we would ever consider this. But in the time since, we’ve all changed. We’ve grown. Which means the possibilities have changed as well.”      Qui-Gon took a moment to collect himself. Without any warning, one of the turning points of his life had arrived. Everything he said and did in the next days would be of great consequence. “You’ve argued with my methods often as not, or perhaps you’d say I’ve argued with yours.”      “Truth, this is,” Yoda said.      Depa Billaba gave Yoda a look Qui-Gon couldn’t interpret. “It’s also true that the Jedi Council needs more perspectives.” Ultimately, Qui-Gon is the who turns them down and gives up a chance to shape the Jedi Council because he doesn’t like the shape they’re taking.  That he does become less political, but this is after he’s argued that the Jedi should be working to push the Senate harder, so when he has a chance to help with that, he turns it down.  It has nothing to do with caring and loving, it’s about Qui-Gon’s desire to not have to deal with the work himself, when he wants to be more of a hippie Jedi.  (I’ve written a lot about Qui-Gon in M&A, why I actually think it’s really spot-on to someone who can be both really kind and really kind of a dick, but it’s not the most flattering portrayal, even if narrative intention likely didn’t mean what came across to me.  I think this post and this post are probably the most salient ones, but if you want something of an index of the web that’s being woven with all the various media, this one is good, too.) So he’s fighting for Anakin and that’s why it’s the ‘Duel of the Fates’ – it’s the fate of this child. And depending on how this fight goes, Anakin, his life is going to be dramatically different. I have only ever seen George Lucas talk about Anakin’s fate in one instance and it’s this:  “It’s fear of losing somebody he loves, which is the flipside of greed. Greed, in terms of the Emperor, it’s the greed for power, absolute power, over everything. With Anakin, really it’s the power to save the one he loves, but it’s basically going against the Fates and what is natural.“ –George Lucas, Revenge of the Sith commentary I’ve made my case about why I think Anakin’s fate is about that moment in Palpatine’s office, and so I’m not fundamentally opposed that “Duel of the Fates” is about Anakin’s fate, but here’s what George has provably said about the “Duel of the Fates” part of the story: - In the commentary for The Phantom Menace during “Duel of the Fates” and none of Dave’s speculation is even hinted at, there’s more focus on the technical side of things and the most George talks about is that it’s Obi-Wan who parallels Luke in going over the edge during the fight, except that instead of a Sith cutting off a Jedi’s hand, it’s a Jedi cutting a Sith in half, drawing the parallels between them. - He does say of the funeral scene that this is where Obi-Wan commits to training Anakin and how everything is going to go (though, in canon we see that Obi-Wan still struggles with this a bit, but Yoda is there to support him and nudge him into committing even more to Anakin, because the Jedi are a supportive community to each other).  This is some solid evidence for that Obi-Wan is already caring about Anakin beyond just Qui-Gon. - Then here’s what he says about the “Duel of the Fates” fights and themes of them in "All Films Are Personal": George Lucas: “I wanted to come up with an apprentice for the Emperor who was striking and tough. We hadn’t seen a Sith Lord before, except for Vader, of course. I wanted to convey the idea that Jedi are all very powerful, but they’re also vulnerable — which is why I wanted to kill Qui-Gon. That is to say, “Hey, these guys aren’t Superman.” These guys are people who are vulnerable, just like every other person. “We needed to establish that, but at the same time, we wanted the ultimate sword fight, because they were all very good. It sort of predisposes the sword fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan later on. There’s real purpose to it. You have to establish the rules and then stick with them. The scene illustrates just how Jedi and Sith fight and use lightsabers.” “So Qui-Gon loses, of course. So the father figure, he knew what it meant to take this kid away from his mother when he had an attachment, and he’s left with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Anakin at first out of a promise he makes to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him.  We’ll get to the “attachment to his mother” thing in a bit--but, for now, let’s just say, George Lucas’ words on this are not that attachment to her was a good thing. Fair enough that “not because he cares about him” is up to personal interpretation, but canon has also addressed the topic of Obi-Wan’s treatment of Anakin and Obi-Wan stepped up to the plate on this.  In addition to how we see Obi-Wan REPEATEDLY being there for Anakin and being concerned and caring about him, they specifically talk about Qui-Gon and overcome this hurdle.

No, Obi-Wan is not Anakin’s father figure, on that we definitely agree.  Anakin never really even treats Obi-Wan like a father--he says “you’re the closest thing I have to a father” in Attack of the Clones, as well as he says Obi-Wan practically raised him in The Clone Wars “Crystal Crisis” story reels, but Anakin has never actually acted like Obi-Wan is his father--”then why don’t you listen to me?” Obi-Wan points out in AOTC--as well as Obi-Wan glides past those remarks, which I’ve always taken that he doesn’t want to reject Anakin’s feelings, knowing that Anakin can be sensitive about them, but neither does he want to confirm them. This does not mean Obi-Wan was not supportive, caring, and loving.  He says, “I loved you!” to Anakin in Revenge of the Sith, he asks after him and if he’s sleeping well in Attack of the Clones, and even George Lucas himself said that the elevator scene was set up TO SHOW OBI-WAN AND ANAKIN CARE FOR EACH OTHER:

PUTTING THE REST UNDER A READ MORE FOR A BETTER LENGTH REBLOGGABLE VERSION, IF  YOU WANT.

This is further evidenced by how the Jedi do see themselves as family, they just don’t need to put it into strict nuclear family dynamics:     - “You were my brother, Anakin!  I loved you!”  [–Obi-Wan Kenobi, Revenge of the Sith]      - “We are brothers, Master Dibs.” [–Mace Windu, Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu]      - “Did your parents bicker?” she asked. “The adoptive ones, I mean.”         A slow smile broke across Ashla’s face, curling first one side of her mouth and then the other. Whatever she was remembering, Kaeden could tell it was good.         "All the time,“ Ashla said, almost as if she were talking to herself. [–Kaeden Larte, Ahsoka Tano, Ahsoka]      -  Vos, brought to the Temple even younger than most, felt that he had hundreds of brothers and sisters, and it seemed that whenever he went into the dining hall he ran into at least half of them. [Dark Disciple]       - “It was not his birthplace, exactly, but the Jedi Temple was where Quinlan Vos had grown up. He’d raced through its corridors, hidden behind its massive pillars, found peace in its meditation hall, ended-and started-fights in rooms intended for striking blows and some that weren’t, and sneaked naps in its library. All Jedi came here, at some point in their lives; for Quinlan, it always felt like coming home when he ran lightly up the stairs and entered the massive building as he did now.” [Dark Disciple] Brothers, sisters, and other more non-traditional kinds of family are not lesser and Obi-Wan and Anakin absolutely were family, just as the Jedi are all family to each other, so, no, there was no “failing” Anakin, except in Anakin’s mind, perhaps.  (In that, I can agree.  But not on a narratively approved level, canon too thoroughly refutes that for me.) Rebels as well pretty thoroughly shows that non-traditional families are meaningful and just as important--we may joke that Hera is “space mom”, but she’s not actually Ezra or Sabine’s mother, Kanan is not actually their father, and even if they sometimes stray into aspects of those roles (as the Jedi do as well in the movies and TCW), that they don’t need that traditional nuclear family structure.  Mentor figures--and Kanan is Ezra’s mentor--are just as meaningful and needful as a “dad”.  And I’m kind of :/ at the implication that anyone without a dad/father figure or mom/mother figure is being “failed”. When they get Anakin, they find him on Tatooine, he says “Why do I feel like we’ve found another useless lifeform?” He’s comparing Anakin to Jar Jar and he’s saying “this is a waste of our time, why are we doing this, why do you see importance in these creatures like Jar Jar Binks and this ten-year-old boy? This is useless.” Whether or not Obi-Wan is being genuinely dismissive in this movie (I think you could make a case either way), the idea that Qui-Gon is better than Obi-Wan about this, as shown through Jar Jar isn’t exactly very supported given how Qui-Gon and Jar Jar first exchange words:

QUI-GON: “You almost got us killed. Are you brainless?”   JAR JAR:  “I spake.”   QUI-GON: “The ability to speak does not make you intelligent.” Qui-Gon is just as bad as everyone else to Jar Jar, he’s not somehow elevated above them. It’s also baffling because, Dave, I have watched your show.  The Jedi are specifically shown to be kind to people and creatures, not considering them “useless”.  Henry Gilroy (who was the co-writer for The Clone Wars and frequently appeared in featurettes on the same level as Dave Filoni) explicitly draws this to The Jedi Way, that “life is everything to the Jedi“, when he said this about the Ryloth episodes:

(Caps cribbed from Pan’s blog, because I cannot make another gif, save me, please.)      Henry Gilroy in an Aggressive Negotiations Interview:  "Obi-Wan truly is a Jedi in that he’s like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to murder these creatures [in the Ryloth arc of The Clone Wars].  They’re starving to death.  They’ve basically been unleashed against these people as a weapon, but it’s not their fault. They’re just doing what they do.  They’re just animals who wanna eat.’     "So the idea was–and I think there was an early talk about how, 'Oh, yeah, he’ll go running through them and slicing and dicing them and chop them all up or whatever, and save his guys.  And I’m like, 'Yeah, but that’s not really the Jedi way.  He’s not just gonna murder these creatures.’     "And I know the threat is [there], to save one life you have to take one, but the idea of him [is]: why can’t Obi-Wan just be more clever?  He basically draws them in and then traps them.     "It says something about who the Jedi are, they don’t just waste life arbitrarily.  And someone could have gone, 'Oh, yeah, but it would have been badass if he’d just ran in there with his lightsaber spinning and stabbed them all in the head!’  And 'Yeah, you’re right, I guess he could be that, but he’s trying to teach his clones a lesson right then, about the sanctity of life.’       "That is the underlying theme of that entire episode.  Which is:  A tactical droid is using the people as living shields.  Life means nothing to the Separatists.  The droids.  But life is everything to the Jedi.  And even though he doesn’t have to say that, it’s all through the episode thematically.“ It’s also Obi-Wan who teaches Anakin about kindness to mindless creatures in the Obi-Wan & Anakin comic:

"These beasts are nearly mindless, Anakin.  I can feel it.  They are merely following their nature, they should not die simply because they crossed our path. Use the Force to send them on their way.” Now, fair enough if you want to say Obi-Wan was taught by Qui-Gon, but also Qui-Gon is dead by that point and Obi-Wan growing into being more mature is his own accomplishment, not Qui-Gon’s, especially given that we see Qui-Gon himself being pretty dismissive to Jar Jar in TPM. This isn’t unique thing either, Padme is incredibly condescending to Jar Jar in “Bombad Jedi” and expresses clear annoyance with him to C-3PO when sighing over him.  Jar Jar is a character you kind of have to warm up to, pretty much the only one we’ve seen consistently being favorable to him is Yoda (and maybe Anakin, though, Anakin doesn’t really interact with him a ton) and Mace Windu warms up to him considerably in “The Disappeared” and even specifically is shown to be teaching him and helping him, which is a huge theme of the Jedi and how much they care.

So, ultimately, the point I’m winding my way towards is--the other Jedi do show kindness and consideration to Jar Jar Binks, including characters like Mace Windu, so if you’re judging the Jedi based on that, the conclusion of Qui-Gon somehow being more compassionate and loving is really pretty thoroughly disproved by The Phantom Menace and The Clone Wars themselves. So, he’s a brother to Anakin eventually but he’s not a father figure. That’s a failing for Anakin. He doesn’t have the family that he needs. He loses his mother in the next film. He fails on this promise that he made, “mother, I’m going to come back and save you”. So he’s left completely vulnerable and Star Wars is ultimately about family.  You could be charitable and say this is just from Anakin’s point of view that it’s a “failing”, but within the context of what Dave’s saying, it’s clearly meant as a more narratively approved take, not just Anakin’s point of view, and I really, really dislike the idea that Anakin--or anyone, really--needs a traditional nuclear family, ie a “mom” and/or a “dad”, or else it’s a “failing” for them. Setting aside that the idea that Qui-Gon would need to be Anakin’s dad to be kind to hi (which is ?????) is contradicted by The Clone Wars as well.  Yes, Qui-Gon is warm with Anakin in several scenes, which is what Dave is presumably drawing on to show that Qui-Gon believed the Jedi should be caring and loving, but you know who else is warm to younglings?  OTHER JEDI COUNCIL MEMBERS.

Those two scenes have the exact same kind of warmth to them.  Ie, THE JEDI ALL BELIEVED IN BEING LOVING AND KIND, NOT JUST QUI-GON.  The things evidenced to show Qui-Gon was loving and kind are evidenced just as much in other Council members, in Dave’s own show. As a bonus--have Mace Windu, known Jedi Council member, being super kind and loving towards a young Twi’lek girl he just met in a canon comic:

But I know that this is about the way the Council treated Anakin in The Phantom Menace testing scene, but here’s the thing--when I go back and I watch that scene and the Jedi aren’t ever mean to him, they’re neutral in an official testing situation, where they are trying to determine if he’s able to adapt to the Jedi ways.  They never once say he’s bad for holding onto his fear, only that he does--which Anakin digs his heels in and gets angry about, he can’t really even admit that he’s afraid and that’s a huge deal for the Jedi. I’ve made a longer post about it here (and here), but the basic gist is: - That scene has Yoda giving the famous “Fear leads to the dark side” speech which is almost word for word how George Lucas describes how the Force works, showing the Jedi are narratively correct - “Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi” may be from the sequels, but it is thoroughly supported by the movies and TCW and Rebels and even supplementary canon material, including that the Jedi literally design their tests around both Masters and Padawans for it (Ilum, the Jedi Temple on Lothal, etc. - Anakin cannot admit to his fears in that TPM scene - We have examples of Jedi younglings do admit to their fears and the point isn’t not to have them, but to face them--the younglings in “The Gathering” are the most blatant example of this, but it’s also pretty much the entire theme of Jedi: Fallen Order, especially when Cal goes to Ilum to face his fears and get another kyber crystal. The point isn’t that Anakin--who has very good reasons to be afraid! nothing in the story or the Jedi have said he didn’t!--is wrong or bad, but that he’s not a great fit for the Jedi life because he is “unwilling to accept [Jedi philosophy] emotionally”.  And they’re right about this, because this is how George Lucas describes Anakin in commentary: “The fact that everything must change and that things come and go through his life and that he can’t hold onto things, which is a basic Jedi philosophy that he isn’t willing to accept emotionally and the reason that is because he was raised by his mother rather than the Jedi. If he’d have been taken in his first year and started to study to be a Jedi, he wouldn’t have this particular connection as strong as it is and he’d have been trained to love people but not to become attached to them.”  --George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary And so this brings us to A T T A C H M E N T, which, yeah, we’ve been having this discussion forever, but I’m going to state it again:  Within Star Wars, ATTACHMENT IS NARRATIVELY A BAD THING.  It is consistently tied to possessive, obsessive relationships, to greed and an unwillingness to let things go when it’s time (letting go is a huge theme in Star Wars) and equating love with attachment is fundamentally wrong according to George Lucas’ Star Wars worldbuilding: “The Jedi are trained to let go. They’re trained from birth,” he continues, “They’re not supposed to form attachments. They can love people-- in fact, they should love everybody. They should love their enemies; they should love the Sith. But they can’t form attachments. So what all these movies are about is: greed. Greed is a source of pain and suffering for everybody. And the ultimate state of greed is the desire to cheat death.” --George Lucas, The Making of Revenge of the Sith If attachment and love were the same thing, then he would be saying, “They should love their enemies, they should love the Sith.  But they can’t love.”  The way George makes the distinction shows that, no, attachment and love aren’t the same thing at all, attachment is not caring.  Further, there’s another instance of him showing there’s an important distinction between relationships and attachment and the association of attachmets with possession:  "Jedi Knights aren’t celibate - the thing that is forbidden is attachments - and possessive relationships.” --George Lucas, BBC News interview So, yes, when Anakin is attached to people, it is directly tied to obsession, possession, and greed, all things of the dark side: “He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things. He can’t let go of his mother; he can’t let go of his girlfriend. He can’t let go of things. It makes you greedy. And when you’re greedy, you are on the path to the dark side, because you fear you’re going to lose things, that you’re not going to have the power you need.”  --George Lucas, Time Magazine  “But he has become attached to his mother and he will become attached to Padme and these things are, for a Jedi, who needs to have a clear mind and not be influenced by threats to their attachments, a dangerous situation. And it feeds into fear of losing things, which feeds into greed, wanting to keep things, wanting to keep his possessions and things that he should be letting go of. His fear of losing her turns to anger at losing her, which ultimately turns to revenge in wiping out the village. The scene with the Tusken Raiders is the first scene that ultimately takes him on the road to the dark side. I mean he’s been prepping for this, but that’s the one where he’s sort of doing something that is completely inappropriate.“ --George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary ATTACHMENT IS BAD IN STAR WARS AS THEY DEFINE IT. Finally, I’m going to circle back to: Because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi and you get that in the movie; and Qui-Gon is fighting because he knows he’s the father that Anakin needs. Because Qui-Gon hasn’t given up on the fact that the Jedi are supposed to actually care and love and that’s not a bad thing. Here’s the thing about this:  You know who else, by this logic, Qui-Gon should have been a father to?  OBI-WAN KENOBI. This isn’t said as “Anakin specifically needs a father” (which I think would be an interesting idea to bandy about and I’m not disagreeing, though, it’s complicated because of what Anakin refuses to accept emotionally), it’s said in a bigger context, that Qui-Gon is better than the other Jedi because he understands the need for fathers (and thus this ties into Return of the Jedi) and he’s ahead of the other Jedi, who apparently think loving and caring about people are bad things, but Qui-Gon does not treat Obi-Wan like his son.  Or, if he does, he’s not exactly a stellar dad about it. Within Master & Apprentice, there’s an incredibly consistent theme of how Qui-Gon thinks supportive things about Obi-Wan, but never says them aloud.  He thinks he should talk to Obi-Wan about the upcoming decision to be on the Council and then never does.  He could have explained why he kept Obi-Wan training the basics but he never does.  There are multiple instances showing that Qui-Gon is actually really, really bad at actually handling a young apprentice who needs him to talk to them about important things.  Qui-Gon continues this in From a Certain Point of View where he still never talked to Obi-Wan about everything that happened, even after he became a Force Ghost.     Damn, damn, damn. Qui-Gon closed his eyes for one moment. It blocked nothing; the wave of shock that went through Obi-Wan was so great it could be felt through the Force. Qui-Gon hadn’t thought Kirames Kaj would mention the Jedi Council invitation. It seemed possible the soon-retiring chancellor of the Republic might not even have taken much note of information about a new Council member. --Master & Apprentice     That comment finally pierced Qui-Gon’s damnable calm. There was an edge to his voice as he said, “I suspected you would be too upset to discuss this rationally. Apparently I was correct.”     “I thought you said my reaction was understandable,” Obi-Wan shot back. “So why does it disqualify me from hearing the truth?”    Qui-Gon put his hands on his broad belt, the way he did when he was beginning to withdraw into himself. “…we should discuss this at another time. Neither of us is his best self at the present.” --Master & Apprentice     Obi-Wan walked toward the door, obviously outdone. “At the beginning of my apprenticeship, I couldn’t understand you,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s just as true here at the end.”     Only yesterday they had worked together as never before. How did Qui-Gon manage to get closer to Obi-Wan at the same time he was moving further away?     Just before Obi-Wan would leave the room, Qui-Gon said, “Once, you asked me about the basic lightsaber cadences. Why I’d kept you there, instead of training you in more advanced forms of combat.”     Obi-Wan turned reluctantly to face him again. “I suppose you thought I wasn’t ready for more. The same way I’m not ready to believe in all this mystical—”     “That’s not why.”     After a long pause, Obi-Wan calmed to the point where he would listen. “Then why, Qui-Gon?”     “Because many Padawans—and full Jedi Knights, for that matter—forget that the most basic technique is the most important technique. The purest. The most likely to protect you in battle, and the foundation of all knowledge that is to come,” Qui-Gon said. “Most apprentices want to rush ahead to styles of fighting that are flashier or more esoteric. Most Masters let them, because we must all find our preferred form eventually. But I wanted you to be grounded in your technique. I wanted you to understand the basic cadences so well that they would become instinct, so that you would be almost untouchable. Above all, I wanted to give you the training you needed to accomplish anything you set your mind to later on.”     Obi-Wan remained quiet for so long that Qui-Gon wondered if he were too angry to really hear any of what he’d said. But finally, his Padawan nodded. “Thank you, Qui-Gon. I appreciate that. But—”     “But what?”     “You could’ve said so,” Obi-Wan replied, and then he left. --Master & Apprentice     "I owe you that. After all, I’m the one who failed you.“     "Failed me?”     They have never spoken of this, not once in all Qui-Gon’s journeys into the mortal realm to commune with him. This is primarily because Qui-Gon thought his mistakes so wretched, so obvious, that Obi-Wan had wanted to spare him any discussion of it. Yet here, too, he has failed to do his Padawan justice. --From a Certain Point of View, “Master and Apprentice” (Further, in Master & Apprentice, Qui-Gon thinks that the Jedi give Rael Averross--who is HUGELY paralleled to Anakin--too many exceptions, were too soft on him because he came to the Jedi later than most and has trouble thinking of them as his family, and he thinks they should have been stricter with him.) It’s also readily apparent within The Phantom Menace itself:

You can take some charitable views of this scene, that Qui-Gon was pushed into a corner where he had few other options (and this is the view I generally take even!), but this is after the entire movie where he’s never once indicated that Obi-Wan was ready, has instead indicated that he still has much to learn (not just of the Living Force, but in general), as well as made it clear that he’s still teaching Obi-Wan, like on the Trade Federation ship. And I do think Obi-Wan got over this because he understood, because Obi-Wan actually is a very selfless person, he clearly cares (which is furthered by how we see him warm up to Anakin very quickly), but look at their faces. This was not a good moment, and they do somewhat make up, where Qui-Gon says that Obi-Wan has been a good apprentice, that he’s wiser than Qui-Gon and he’ll be a great Jedi--but if we’re counting that as Qui-Gon being this great Jedi, then you can’t say Obi-Wan failed Anakin, given that we show him doing the exact same thing, except better.  He tells Anakin, “You are strong and wise and will become a far greater Jedi than I could ever hope to be.”, echoing Qui-Gon’s words, but also he never threw Anakin aside for someone else. This is kind of a major undercurrent throughout The Clone Wars, where Obi-Wan never takes another apprentice, where he continues to teach Anakin, to support him, even to the point of occasionally co-Mastering Ahsoka with him.  “This has been quite a journey for our Padawan.” Qui-Gon’s treatment of Obi-Wan in this scene isn’t the worst, he’s kind about it later (though, he never actually specifically apologizes for this), but we can see that this is a moment where Qui-Gon hurts Obi-Wan and knows it. And you know what George Lucas has to say about Qui-Gon?  This: “So here we’re having Qui-Gon wanting to skip the early training and jump right to taking him on as his Padawan learner, which is controversial, and ultimately, the source of much of the problems that develop later on.”  –George Lucas, The Phantom Menace commentary There’s nothing about Qui-Gon being right or better than the other Jedi, but instead that Qui-Gon’s actions here are a source of much of the problems that develop later on. So, ultimately, I liked some points Dave made in that speech, it’s a beautiful and eloquent one, but I thoroughly disagree with his interpretation of George’s intentions for Qui-Gon and I thoroughly disagree that that’s what the movies, The Clone Wars (DAVE’S OWN SHOW), and the supplementary canon show about Qui-Gon and the other Jedi.  I still stand by my appreciation of Dave’s contributions to SW as a whole, I think he does a really good job at making Star Wars, but he doesn’t always get everything right and this is one thing where I think the canon and George’s commentary show otherwise, as much as I love his desire to defend the prequels’ importance in the story.  Because, my friend, I have felt that every single day of my SW life.

[j0elmill3r]

The Tonight Show

Chris Evans x Daughter!Reader

Chris Evans Masterlist

Warnings; Fluff, some swearing, mentions of drugs, mentions of mental illness, Jimmy Fallon and Jaeden Martell make appearances

Word count; 2.3k

A/N; I'm bored of corona so that doesn't exist here, you're also dating Jaeden Martell because he's baby and also this went on to also be a Jaeden x Reader too, oops.

--

"And tonight's special guests are Chris Evans and his daughter, Y/N Evans," You stood behind the door and waited for it to lift. You smiled when it did and you heard people cheering and clapping. You walked over to the couch and sat down on it, while your dad sat on the single-seat nearest to the desk. "Hi guys, thank you for coming. Y/N, this is your first time on the show, how do you feel?" Jimmy asked you. You laughed nervously and put your hands on your lap.

"Kinda nervous, and kinda scared, to be completely honest," You said. Both your dad and Jimmy laughed.

"I had to drag her out of bed this morning, she wouldn't budge," Chris said, you turned to him and gave him a fake angry glare. "One of the many joys of having a teenage daughter,"

"Does it take a lot of effort?" Jimmy asked. Chris chuckled and nodded.

"Oh yeah, it's tough. Y/N could easily sleep through a nuclear war," Chris continued.

"I am here, you know," You reminded him. "And you aren't any better, dear father," You scolded him. Chris raised his eyebrows and nodded.

"Since you two are clearly eager to embarrass each other in some way, we're gonna play a little game. Chris, you've played this before with your brother, Scott," Jimmy said. Chris began to laugh, which made you nervous. "I don't really have a name for it, but this game is incredibly easy, Y/N," You nodded.

"By the way, he reacted I'm gonna guess that it was 'Know Your Bro' and that I'm going to be exposed," Chris nodded and turned to you. Jimmy handed you a phone and a pair of noise-cancelling headphones on. "This should be fun," You said loudly.

"Okay, Chris. When Y/N was younger, what was the most typical thing a kid would do you gave her into trouble for?" He asked. Chris thought for a moment before sighing.

"The first thing that comes to mind was when she about 4 or 5 and she got into the paint in her room, that I had purposely put on top of her wardrobe so she couldn't reach it," Chris said. Jimmy laughed and looked over at you. You looked around, seeing people's reactions. "And so I went to check on her because she was being suspiciously quiet and I go into her room and find her covered in yellow, green and red paint. It took me a good few days to get the red out of her hair," He explained.

"Alright, Y/N," Jimmy waved to get your attention and laughed at the clueless look on your face.

"I'm scared," You admitted. Chris laughed.

"Okay, we asked your dad what was the most typical thing you did that your dad gave you into trouble for?" He asked. You looked to your dad, who avoided your eyes because you had a way of using your eyes to get him to tell you things. "Don't look at each other,"

"Alright um...I'm gonna take a wild guess that it's the time I took the paints and covered myself in them?" You said. Everyone burst out laughing and nodded, making you laugh. "I haven't done many things wrong, I'm an absolute angel!" You laughed.

"That is a lie if I've ever heard one," Chris murmured. "Alright, my turn," You handed your dad the phone and the headphones and then turned to Jimmy.

"Okay, Y/N, what is the most embarrassing thing you've ever caught your dad doing?" Jimmy asked you. Thoughts ran through your head until you got the one.

"Well, there's been a lot. But I think the most embarrassing has to be the time I caught him singing Avril Lavigne while he was cleaning the kitchen. And this was like 3 weeks ago when I came downstairs to get me and my boyfriend something to drink, and he was just there singing about skater boys, it was something I don't wanna see again, and I think if Dodger could speak he would say the same," The crowd burst into laughter and you grinned. You nudged your dad, who was clearly having the vibe of his life to whatever was playing from the headphones, with your elbow, telling him to take the headphones off.

"Chris, we asked Y/N what the most embarrassing thing she has ever caught you doing, what do you think she said?" Jimmy asked your dad. Chris was thinking for a moment before he sighed.

"Is it when I woke you up with blaring spice girls from by bedroom unironically?" You burst out laughing, along with everyone else in the studio. Tears of laughter formed in your eyes as you shook your head while bent over in half. "Oh no!" Chris cried. You sat back up and looked over at him apologetically.

"Do you remember the time Jaeden was over and I came down for a drink, you didn't see me, but you had your AirPods in and you were singing Skater Boy by Avril Lavigne very loudly," You told him.

"And you didn't tell me?" He asked you. You laughed and shook your head. "That is the ultimate betrayal, Y/N, honestly,"

"In that case Chris, you'll be glad to hear you get to finish off this game by exposing your daughter!" Jimmy cheered. Your jaw dropped and you smiled, shaking your head.

"I'll get you back for this," You pointed to Jimmy jokingly and put the headphones on, pressing play on the phone.

"Last question, so Chris, what is something Y/N did but has never told you she did, but you know because she's not a very good liar?" Jimmy asked. Chris chuckled and then looked at you, seeing you were looking down at the pattern on your dress.

"The thing that comes to mind is when she snuck her boyfriend in the window and thinks I didn't see him climbing up to her window, and neither of them is able to talk very quietly, and this is coming from the king of sneaking girls into his room," Chris said. "I hope this is what she's thinking, otherwise this could end up like an episode of Dr. Phil," Your dad turned to you and slid the headphones off of your head.

"Y/N, we asked your dad, what is one thing you have done and never told your dad about?" You froze and put your bottom lip out, laughing nervously again.

"Um...Can I pass questions or?" Your dad looked at you and you couldn't help but smile. "Okay um, I'm trying to think of something that won't get me into a lot of trouble," You said quietly.

"Are-are you implying there's more than one?" Jimmy fake fell from his seat and then got back up, his jaw practically on the floor.

"Maybe, but anyway," The audience laughed and Chris looked around, confusion clear on his face. "The only thing I can think of at this very moment is when I snuck Jaeden up into my room," You crossed your fingers hoping it was right, and you took the sigh of relief from your dad as a yes.

"Okay, alright. So, can we just talk about how amazing actors both of you are? Chris, your new Apple TV series is fantastic," Jimmy said. Chris smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Y/N would say so because she got a boyfriend outta it," He said.

"I thought that the game was over," You murmured. "But yeah, I watched it with one of my friends from school and the ending had me sobbing," You admitted.

"If we're talking about making people cry, can we talk about Y/N in 'One Of Us'? For anyone who has been living under a rock and not seen it, here is the trailer for Y/N's latest movie," They showed the trailer, making you blush, mainly because you hate seeing yourself on screen. "Now, Y/N, you said that on a press tour, getting into the mindset of your Elliot was one of the hardest things you ever had to do,"

"Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty hard-hitting movie for a lot of people, it deals with addiction and mental illnesses, and so it was a lot of sitting down and talking to people who had gone through similar things," You said. Jimmy nodded and Chris took your hand.

"Now, your character's dad, Dean, is played by Ewan Mcgregor, right?" You laughed and nodded. "Did you know Ewan before your roll?"

"Not personally, like most people I had seen him in Star Wars and when I got told that he was being cast I think I went into tears in the living room,"

"I can confirm that. I ran in from the kitchen because I thought she hurt herself but no, she was crying because she was gonna meet Obi-Wan Kenobi," Everyone laughed. "But, I mean yeah, I saw One Of Us when the whole family went and there's this one scene where Dean is trying to get Elliot off of drugs and he locks her in her room, she screams and cries for him to let her out because she's scared and doesn't want to be alone, it was that scene that got me," Chris explained. Jimmy nodded and hummed.

"Was that a hard scene to film, Y/N?" He asked you.

"Yeah, it really was. I think because it's a really big point in the movie and you learn a lot about the characters at that scene you really do have to...I don't know, like give it 110%,"

"Moving on from that, quickly, Chris I have to ask, how did it feel finding out that your fake son is dating your real daughter?" Jimmy inquired.

"Well, it a little more since they hid from me for about 6 months," You smiled and batted your eyelashes innocently. "But I was okay with it. Jaeden's a good kid, I worked with on Knives Out and I could trust him not to hurt my kid. But Y/N's being little miss angry because she hasn't seen him for a few weeks," Chris said that last part hoping you would pick up on what he was suggesting, but as per usual, you didn't.

"Well, Y/N, we'd hate to keep him waiting any longer. Ladies and gentlemen, Jaeden Martell!" Jaeden peaked his head out from behind the curtain and smiled at you, making your jaw drop. You had never run quicker in your life.

"Oh my God!" You squealed as you ran to him and put your arms around him. "Why didn't you tell me?" You asked him, looking up at him. Jaeden chuckled.

"And miss that incredible look on your face? I would never," He tilted his head down, getting his now blonde hair in yours and his eyes and pecking you on the nose.

"Hey! PDA, you two," Your dad pointed out.

"Big Evans, little Evans and Jaeden, it has been lovely to see you all, but that is all we have time for tonight!"

--

You sat in the back of the car going back to the hotel, Jaeden sat beside you. Your dad looked in the rearview mirror and chuckled.

"If I see anything more than holding hands back there," He murmured not so quietly. You looked to Jaeden, who looked at you as if he knew what you were about to ask your dad. You let out a sigh.

"Hey, dad?" He hummed. "When we get back to the hotel...can I stay in Jae's room?" You asked. You avoided looking at any mirrors.

"Alright," He said. Your eyes shot open in shock, you weren't expecting him to say yes. You didn't question it though, so, when your dad pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, you didn't waste any time in dragging your boyfriend out of the car. You grabbed your backpack from your dad's room and brought it to Jaedens, dumping out your laptop.

"That sounded kinda expensive," Jaeden said in concern.

"Let's hope it only sounded expensive because if it is I spent about 50 dollars on movies I can't even watch," You said. You had both changed into pyjamas, yours was one of Jaedens hoodies, of course.

"What did you buy? Because if you didn't get Birds Of Prey I'll be deeply upset," He said.

"You are such a fucking traitor," You said. You both sat with your feet at the headboard. "I cannot believe you. I hate you," Jaeden laughed as you tried to move away from him, but he put his arm around you and held you in place.

"You're cute when you're mad, Y/N," He told you. You faced him with an attempt at an angry face.

"Am not,"

"Are too,"

"Am too!" You argued. Jaeden smiled and flipped you around so he sat on top of you but didn't put his full weight on you.

"Do you wanna smile or am I going to have to tickle it outta you?" He asked you, getting in your face. You flashed him a fake smile, making him roll his eyes. "Fine, I did warn you," He said. He started tickling your sides, making you squirm under him and laugh uncontrollably.

"Jae! St-stop it!" You laughed.

"Do you hate me?" He asked you. You shook your head.

"I love you!" You blurted out. He stopped and looked at you with a raised eyebrow.

"You-you do?" He asked. You were scared you had done something wrong, but you nodded because it was true. "I love you, so, so much, Y/N Evans," You smiled and sighed in relief.  "So...Did you get-"

"Don't ruin the moment,"

--

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[glimmerglanger]

Okay about the whole king and fake concubine thing. My brain read it and I just... What if Anakin was the King, and Cody was the fake concubine. (But like, actually fake no pining.)

Creep/advisor Palpatine has been subtly blocking any promotions of clones, and Anakin is just so fed up with having all this damn paperwork, and the strategy meeting are <i>endless</i>.

So he begs Rex for help, and Rex panics and throws Cody under the bus. Cody has had it up to here with these idiots, but anything to help win this damn war faster.

The thing is though, THE THING IS, Anakin decides they can't tell anybody. Including his Advisor/Older brother/whatever Obi-Wan. Becauae uptight "regulations are there for a reason, Anakin" would totally have a problem with these shenanigans.

So Obi-Wan's commander gets transfered out from under him, and nobody will tell him why. And he's silently fuming about having to waste time at this stupid strategy meeting (him and Cody could come up with better in 10 minutes).

And he walks in, and there's Cody. Dressed like a concubine. Sitting in Anakin's lap (Cody wasn’t thrilled to discover it's a lot easier to whisper ideas like this.)

And now I just want to know your ideas for the whole thing I guess, because you're amazing and all of your work is lovely.

Also I just created a tumblr and am trying to figure this out, sorry for any blunders. Oh, and I need to say Okay for public? I think?

Oooooooooooooh! Obi-Wan is like... a General in Anakin’s army? Maybe THE General, in this au? (Little does Anakin know that Obi-Wan lives on shenanigans of one kind or another...) I am also DELIGHTED by little brother Rex just being like... uh uh uh you should pick Cody. Yes. He can help you with this. :D

Welcome to tumblrhood! I’m so glad to hear from you!

A FEW MORE KING/CONCUBINE ANSWERS BELOW THE CUT

Anonymous said:

Gonna just uhh, throw my hat in for Obikin. lol sorry but yES concubine/consort Anakin. The potential... listen, we all know you like sub!Obi, and just the thought of him being an astounding leader with a steady command, only to melt under Anakin's touch the second they're alone? Anakin placing a discreetly possessive hand on him in public? Obi-Wan breaking down in private for the first time in Anakin's presence, and to his utter shock Anakin is able to pick up the pieces?? Falling in love??? ->

Anonymous said:

-> Anywho, your thoughts-in-tags are TRAPS and I am happy to fall into them lol! Don't mind me, I'll just be imagining for days now xD

itsatrap.png :D A slow-burn where everyone else THINKS they’re already together is one of my favorite things. There’s something so pleasing about the dramatic...irony? Of such a thing. Everyone outside of their relationship making all kinds of assumptions (that they feed) while they slowly get closer....

Anonymous said:

anakin as a clumsy young ruler and Obi-Wan a captain who was forcibly retired for false reasons or purposeful injury by anakins advisor counsel head (palp) but anakin just cannot bear losing him and keeps him as Favorite Concubine and as an advisor but they don't actually have a sexual or romantic relationship bc Anakin thinks Obi-Wan is in love with the new knight captain Cody and Obi-Wan thinks Anakin is in love with his arranged bride Queen Padme (anakin covers for her so she can be w satine)

Anonymous said:

hello 4got to mention satine and padme cannot marry bc it would be seen as taking sides in the War and mandalore is strictly neutral and anakin is cool w bearding because its true love, obviously, and he Understands the tragedy of wanting someone others say you cannot have...

OH PADME/SATINE, love that appearing, that pairing always makes me go all heart-eyes. Anakin pining away while married and also with the person he’s pining for as his head concubine is, really, peak Anakin, too, Force love him. Throwing some hints of Codywan in there, too...? (I’m open to go to ot3 town with this prompt, hmmm)

[doorsclosingslowly]

Your death is a number but I cannot count that high (10/16)

In which Obi-Wan’s day gets worse. And worse.

Zombie Savage AU | 3k | warnings for body horror, mention of sexual assault

Obi-Wan’s troopers are staying mostly out of sight, aside from the few of them doing key maintenance or still manning the helm to enable quick escape if necessary. He knows they disapprove of the fact that he’s leading Savage Opress, renegade Sith apprentice and apparent undead creature and slayer of uncounted of their brothers and two Jedi, onto their small reconnaissance spaceship. He can’t see them, but he can still feel the worrying glares.

He also knows it’s necessary.

Identifying Darth Sidious is of utmost priority.

For the war effort. For the Republic. For the Jedi Order. For Obi-Wan himself, who’s lost so much to the machinations of this Sith, from Qui-Gon a decade ago to friends and soldiers daily right now.

He doesn’t quite know what breaching into the zabrak’s head will entail, but Obi-Wan will be likely out of commission for some time, which should be much safer on the ship. Plus, they are going to leave Entralla anyway. Once they know who Sidious is, they’ll make for his location posthaste—with an optional detour to Coruscant, should he decide he needs reinforcement. If everyone’s already on board, it will speed up the process. And the zabrak isn’t currently hostile.

He’s following Obi-Wan onto the ship without another word, head slightly bowed and apparently incurious.

He follows him into a small unused cabin.

He stands there, unmoving except for the metal insectoids in his cheek.

“How do you want to do this?” Obi-Wan has always been a courteous host. Even facing the undead creature that watched Satine die, it’s hard to shake the instinct.

Opress glances around the room. Only the wriggling of his cables betrays his nerves—if that is what it means.

“You suggested this. I know the Jedi ways of entering a mind—” in theory, and it was never Obi-Wan’s focus of study, though as unexpectedly easy as interaction with the grunting and brutal Sith is turning out to be, he mustn’t expose any lack of surety without reason— “but I assume you know your own techniques for mindmelding. Your familiarity might make this easier.”

“The cot.” Opress pulls at it until it’s dead center in the small room, then strips off the bedding and tosses it into a corner. “This ship is not earthen, but at least it is currently touching the soil, even if it’s not the soil of… It should be darker here. Can you locate braziers?”

“No.” Open fire? Inside a spaceship cabin? It would take a skilled engineer an hour to even shut off the smoke alarms because they are so elementary for safety.

“Then the electric light will serve in its place,” Opress rumbles. It’s hard to work out whether he’s disappointed. “I will strip—” he touches his shoulder pad, the one that was a clone’s helmet an hour ago, and shies away as if burned— “I will lie down now. You will stand behind my head.”

Obi-Wan follows his direction. The earth, the fire, the dark, and their arrangement—it seems deeply ritualistic, and although the Sith tend towards the dramatic he’s never thought them this primitive. In a less dire situation, this would be interesting.

“You will raise your hands. I will close my eyes.”

From the vantage point right above the supine zabrak, Opress looks even more wretched than he appeared on the battlefield. Occasionally, Obi-Wan can see straight through one of the holes in his chest before thick wriggling cables block his view. The other’s filled with an emitter guard—with Opress’ saber’s emitter guard. His torso is well-covered with junkyard debris, and where skin peeks through armor or trash it only seems slightly discolored. The arms are a different matter: the left forearm is prosthetic, of course, dull and lifeless compared to the rest of him, and the upper arms are sore-ridden and blistering and shiny with blaster burns. There is a deep gash all the way lengthwise down his right forearm, stuffed with crap, and the skin at the edges is swollen and purpling black. Flecks of trash move across the gash restlessly like misshapen ants. Despite Savage Opress’ size, somehow, he looks small.

“And then?”

Ridiculously, Opress looks offended. He rumbles, “You do magic.”

“Magic?”

A deep sigh heaves Opress’ metal-studded chest. His brows bunch. He bites his lip. Then, he rumbles, almost monotonously, “I gave myself up for my brother. Brothers. I am here now, and I will not resist. Picture it. I gave myself up. I will not resist. I paid the price for his life. I offer myself for my brother. I am here, Mother, Your Weapon, and whatever Your magic—"

Obi-Wan almost chokes on his vomit. The acid settles, uncomfortably, in his esophagus. Hunts have been lean recently, and there’s not much more to bring up. What hunts—The acid resists being swallowed because he’s lying down. He’s flat on his back and it’s dark outside his closed eyelids and he is terrified. He can feel the musty air on his bare chest, and he wishes he had something to cover himself. Anything. Only this isn’t what he’s been brought here for, he knows, he will soon be bred and—he’s lucky he still has his skirt. It won’t be long now. Maybe She will accept his lack of experience, and despite the tales She will be gentle. Only some Sisters enjoy causing pain.

It won’t be long, he thinks, trying to swallow back bitter spittle, trying to even out his breaths, it won’t be long, and the green that flashes behind his eyelids and seeps deep into his bones is no more vivid than the stone under his back. It won’t be long. It won’t last. It won’t be long.

He sinks.

He—there was a purpose here. He had a purpose. He is… He is Jedi. He’s Obi-Wan.

He’s Obi-Wan, and he just entered this mind.

This isn’t real, or rather—

It isn’t now.

He needs to find out a way to navigate these memories. Find Sidious. Find the Sith’s face. The fate of the Republic depends upon it. He can’t dwell on these… revelations about Opress, disturbing though they are, for all their sake.

Sidious, Obi-Wan tries thinking. Darth Sidious.

He’s still on the slab.

Savage might not care enough about the other Sith, he decides. This seems like a traumatic memory. Maybe it’s easier to access these, and what did Savage say…? The monster slaughtered him. Killed his brother. Maul’s death.

Maul’s death, he thinks. Maul is dead. Maul gets dismembered. Maul—

The crib is the only thing upright in this room. All other scarce furnishings have been torn asunder, searched and searched and searched and turned over as if something could possibly hide under a thin strip of linen.

The crib is an altar, and he kneels before it. He’s been kneeling for days.

The crib is empty.

He failed.

The baby is gone.

No, that’s not what Obi-Wan needs. Maul is dead. Maul is—

Maul is everywhere here, suffusing the air, a green tether—

Maul is dead. Maul is dead.

“What have they done to you, brother?” Obi-Wan can feel his mouth form the syllables, mournful and hard. “How could anybody do this? Hurt you, brother?”

They left the cave the day before yesterday, and finally, finally the brother in the cargo hold gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep. Finally, finally he can inspect him, from the safety of the door’s window, in bright shiplight.

Maul is on the floor curled into a quarter circle, though it’s obvious he would have taken a fetal position if his body allowed it. His metal arachnid abdomen sticks straight down, awkwardly.

His horns are far overgrown and rough, making him look friendless and undignified, but that’s the least pressing issue.

He’s emaciated.

He only got a few tossed pouches of reconstituted spiced meat because eating too much after starving makes you sick, and he wolfed them down. He emptied the hydrosacks much more carefully, sticking his tongue into the opening after so as not to waste a single drop. Water must have been scarcer than food on Lotho Minor.

Food and drink, that’s all he could give Maul. It’s not all his brother needs: companionship, perhaps, solace and sanity, and above all healing and care. Whoever fitted his grotesque prosthetic held no love at all for Maul, for they did nothing to protect his flesh. Maul’s stomach skin is inflamed all over, in places even gangrenous or with open sores smearing pus and blood all over the floor. It’s a miracle he still lives. But he does.

Someone cut him in half and he lived and someone screwed a spider’s ass into him and he lived and someone cut him and he lived and someone screwed it in and he lived and some monster cut Savage’s little brother in half and—

Maul’s dead, Obi-Wan thinks. Maul’s dead. Maul’s dead.

He’s tiny and feverish, and Savage got him just a fortnight ago and it’s already going wrong, he’ll fail his baby brother and—

I didn’t know, Obi-Wan thinks. I didn’t. But I still need to find—

The crib is empty.

It swings, slightly, in the storms.

The body he wears is sobbing.

Maul’s dead.

Maul is worrying his lip thinking of his brother right this moment in the bright green air—this doesn’t feel like—he’s kneeling in his room, but even knowing he might be able to feel the force connection will not allow him to settle into meditation. Savage is in the grasp of Sidious. Savage has been in his grasp for weeks while Maul idled—this isn’t the Maul of these memories—and any liberation might come too late. If they succeed, which they won’t. But still, his brother—this is real. It’s not a memory. Maul’s alive—his brother survived and Maul tried so hard to keep him and—what did Maul do?!—

Focus. Sidious. Sidious’ face. Maul’s... injury?

He never thought there was anyone more powerful than his brother in the galaxy, and he was wrong. Simple hero worship, he was dimly aware, and gratitude and adoration, and he hadn’t followed Maul for his strength anyway, but still, sometimes, he’d glanced sideways and thought, You could wipe the floor with Master Dooku. If he wanted to electrocute me now, you’d kill him, because I’m with you now. I’m your apprentice. He hadn’t thought, you could take on the Mother. But he also hadn’t not thought it.

The twin disasters against Kenobi hadn’t changed his mind. Kenobi might have had the upper hand those times, but he still was a gnat. Hey what…

He’d thought that there was no-one more powerful than Maul, and he’d been happy. Maul would live. Maul’s alive. Obi-Wan just felt his presence but—

He’d thought that there was none more powerful than his brother.

And then, the monster came.

The monster who stole the toddler Savage should have raised and tortured him instead, who is just as supercilious and cruel and ugly as Savage suspected. He wears a heinous purple hood robe—he’s hiding his face but Obi-Wan needs to see it—and he just kills Miks and Jema. Maul, immediately and obviously terrified, tries to placate him with lies of servitude. Getting smashed against the wall hurts less than hearing Maul call the creep Master.

Distantly, Obi-Wan catalogues the fighting stances used by the body he’s inside and the two others, though focusing mostly on trying to get a clear view of Sidious’ face. That chin seems oddly familiar. Too familiar. Who is… The body—Savage—has other priorities, glancing back and again at Maul. Maul, who has to live. Maul’s unconscious now, and Savage won’t win, but maybe in his struggle and death he will buy enough time for his baby brother to get away—a blurred view of the face but it’s clear enough and—Maul has to get away—Palpatine—the monster whirls around—the Chancellor?!—and pain, pain—the Chancellor—pain—the Chancellor, Obi-Wan left Anakin so often alone with him and the Chancellor is the Sith Lord—pain—the—

Floor, far away, for a minute. Not long left. Only time for—a hand, grasping his, and Maul. Oh, Maul. Oh, brother.

“I am an unworthy apprentice,” ground out with the last of bis breaths. An apology. A goodbye, because he’s leaving Maul here with his old nightmare and if Savage were better, if he were just a little bit better, he could have protected… “I never—”

Maul doesn’t accept. His hand is hot against Savage’s mouth. Savage bites down on reflex and the green light rises—Obi-Wan’s seen too much of this light, what does it mean—the green light rises and Maul forces it deep into his brother, with his own body and his mind unheeding the brutality or material reality, while the vortex of magic swirls and swirls around them. Debris sticks like static to his skin—Obi-Wan can feel it and he can feel Maul giving in to anything that may grant power, and oh, Savage outside these memories is crafted and reinforced with trash and does that mean—the light pulls shrapnel and detritus left on the battlefield inside and forms—and Darth Maul forms an undead behemoth out of the almost-corpse of his brother.

Darth Maul did this.

A technobeast.

That’s what they are called, amalgamations of organic and machine matter.

Obi-Wan read of mechu-deru, and mechu-deru vitae, after the reappearance of dismembered Darth Maul when a sai tok should have ended him. A prosthetic lower body is within the remits of the eccentric darkside art of mechu-deru, but Savage the undead machinistic creature extends far beyond that and into sheer barbarism. Mechu-deru allows its practitioner to understand and influence inanimate and robotic constructs. On the lowest end…

The technobeast.

Metal and flesh intermixed to create a weaponized cyborg. A willing slave.

Darth Maul was willing to lobotomize his own brother.

He made a weapon of his brother.

That Maul could sink so…

And still, pervasively, poor Opress loves him.

Obi-Wan’s seen enough.

He’s seen the face of Darth Sidious—seen Palpatine—and he now knows the true depths of Maul’s depravity. He only has to wake up and inform the Jedi Council now. He must wake up.

He must wake—

A finger touches his forehead. It feels strange, as if his body had never before been touched. He opens his eyes in the dark musty Temple, and soon his eyes land on the Sister who won him. Who will breed him. He wraps his hand around Her neck, and distantly he is surprised both that he is angry—that he dares resist—and that his hand dwarfs her neck, but still he chokes Her and She begs, “Let me go,” but he won’t because he hates Her and then the Mother says, “Calmly, Sister,” and She repeats, “Let me go,” and he stops.

He stops.

Stops.

He stands up.

“Now, for the final test,” She who is Power says.

And They carry in a brother he thinks he should know and She who is Power orders him to kill the brother and, wrapping his hand around another neck and feeling like he should remember every single meal and every hunt and every night and every tear and every word and every laugh they ever shared, he does.

He kills the brother.

It’s Feral.

He killed Feral—

Obi-Wan sicks up his lunch. And his breakfast, for good measure.

“Did you find Sidious?” Opress rumbles from his cot.

He appears completely impassive, as if Obi-Wan hadn’t just seen him mourn the baby he lost and choke another of his brothers to death and skewered through the hearts by Darth Sidious—by Chancellor Palpatine, and they are doomed, doomed, how could this just slip by, how could Obi-Wan entrust his padawan to a monster for hours upon hours, how could the Republic just fall to his sway and if he commands Dooku then what does this mean for the war that has been destroying all of them for years—seen Opress killed by Sidious and then turned into a machine slave by Darth Maul, who’s meant to be Opress’ brother and Obi-Wan always assumed that he felt at least a modicum of comradeship for his kind, but if he’s ready to plumb these moral depths… Maul, who apparently, is also still alive.

It’s a bit much.

Obi-Wan feels faint. He pulls a chair out with the force and sits.

Opress, meanwhile, sits up on his cot. The cables on his chest wave and wrap tightly around him—a sickening testament to Darth Maul’s malice. They jitter. “You—recognized him?” Opress asks.

“I did,” Obi-Wan replies tonelessly. “It’s Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.”

“Good. Where does this Chancellor live?”

“Where does—” Obi-Wan doesn’t have the energy for this. “He lives on Coruscant.”

“Then let us go and kill him.”

“We can’t just kill the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic—” Something dawns upon Obi-Wan. He laughs hysterically. “You have no idea who that is, do you?”

“I don’t.” Savage Opress doesn’t appear any less buoyed by his gross ignorance. Maybe that is a result of the brain damage caused by Darth Maul’s ritual. “It doesn’t matter. I am the last weapon of the Mother. She resurrected me, and I shall avenge Her, and then I’ll die.”

Obi-Wan should probably tell him that Darth Maul used mechu-deru to enslave him and that’s why he’s an undead machine-contaminated monster now. He will. He will, soon, but his first duty is to the galaxy and the Jedi and the Republic, and Sidious is the most dire threat by far. He can’t afford the time to explain what he just found out to this hapless creature, and technobeasts according to the book were renowned for their power. Perhaps Opress will be instrumental in taking down the Sith Lord.

It’s not even deception. A lot of deception, anyway. Opress wants to kill Darth Sidious. That’s why he accosted Obi-Wan. The man killed him, after all. There’ll be time for truth later and—

The comm system whirrs alive. “General, we’re being boarded!”

It turns off, like there’s not even time for another missive.

Kriff.

Who could it be but Sidious?

Obi-Wan hasn’t even commed the Jedi Order.

And if he already found out then…

Obi-Wan sprints towards the door. Opress pushes himself off the cot. The air grows thicker, and thicker, and both keel over.

[ghostlycreatoruniverse]

This is not Dabi’s end yet: Touya and Anakin Skywalker

In last days I read that Dabi is basically over: he’s narrative purpose is fulfilled and now he could even go out with a bang in a blaze of glory.

I partially agree with this: we finally got to see part of his backstory and who he really is and now that Dabi considers himself satisfied he hasn’t much left to do. So he might as well... die here.

On the other hand this would reduce consistently Todorokis drama. In fact the role of an hero is to save and to win; as things are now, Dabi is ready to kill and thus Shoto hasn’t much choice in the matter.

Instead if Dabi were to survive Shoto will have to face the brutal dilemma with his own family. Dabi is a villain and has to be put down somehow, but they are brothers after all; can he really kill his own brother despite it all? Or maybe it’s worthy trying to incapacitate and save him?

Because this is the very core of being an hero. Doing the right choice. Being an icon. As matter of fact this ideology is brought up by Stain into the extreme: many heroes during this arc went for a kill, while All Might despite how he felt hadn’t even tried to kill All for One nor he demanded it. he even felt guilty towards Shigaraki and was desperate about him.

Having Dabi dying now would mean that Shoto has no choice in the process (Dabi has the upper hand, if he wants to kill he can as he likes; and he will) and the only reasonable outcome would be for him to go all along. That would mean legitimate defence and the Todorokis will end their purpose. Instead having him sticking around would mean for Shoto to go and face his family in the try of choose what to do when he will meet up with Dabi again.

This is something that was already seen in a very known franchise: Star Wars.

It’s common knowledge that Horikoshi loves Star Wars and in general and My hero academia contains lots of reference to it.

Even Touya’s old jumpsuit had a logo that resemble Rebel Alliance’s one. So I started to think about it, being a huge nerd of Star Wars myself.

All for One’s helmet greatly remind of Darth Vader’s; however his role is much closer to Senator Palpatin aka the Emperor. In fact Palestine sired many heirs like Darth Maul (The Phantom’s Menace), count Dooku/ Darth Tyranus (Attack of the clones) and the most known Anakin Skywalker, later known as Darth Vader.

I don’t think a precise parallel can be done, but it was specified that Darth Maul was kind of adopted and groomed by Darth Sidious/ Palpatine from a very young age. And we can even see that Palpatine baptise someone with their Sith name. So we can expect that Shigaraki Tomura’s birth wasn’t that different than Darth Maul’s.

Back to Dabi instead, his Star Wars parallel is tied to one of the most iconic identity revelation in the cinema history: Dart Vader telling Luke he is his father.

As I mentioned, you can see the Rebel alliance’s symbol on Touya jumpsuit; and in fact the Rebel Alliance was founded by three senators, Padmè being one of them. From day one, Skywalker’s family was a disaster, with a father who tried to killed the mother feeling betrayed by her and the two twins being separated for many years, until they grew up. Much like Todorokis family, Skywalkers are really messed up .

However maybe many of you might not know that Darth Vader’s identity wasn’t defined as Anakin from day one. In fact after the huge success of Star Wars (later renamed “A new Hope”)Lucas decided to write a sequel. For this purpose he hired a novelist, Brackett, and thus the second movie , The empire strikes back back, was written. Brackett chose ti described Anakin as a good father and a phantom who could aid and teach his son Luke. However she died before speaking to Lucas about this and he, without a script , had to do it all alone. This is the firsttime the concept of Darth Vader and Anakin being the same person was introduced.

This means that in the first movie, Darth Vader and Anakin were two totally different characters. Then suddenly they merged into one in the second movie.

This was a smart choice but it was brought by fate and thus created a great plot hole on how Anakin turned into Darth Vader, while he had already been described as a just and honourable Jedi.

Star Wars fans finally had an answer with the third movie , the Return of the Jedi, thanks to Obi Wan Kenobi’s ghost.

Later on, a complete story was given on-screen with the three following movies (The Phantom’s menace, Attack of the clones and The revenge of the Sith) in which the all story of Anakin was told from A to Z.

The point is.... Star Wars fandom was fine with being told Darth Vader was Luke’s father all along without any further explanation and totally out of the blue.

And this went on for many years until the Regenge of the Sith (2005).

Dabi’s revelation is similar to Darth Vader’s. Both the villains were towering above the hero, while the other were weakened. Both reveals were welcomed with total shock and denial by the hero. And in both cases Endeavor and Luke went numb and weren’t able to react anymore. Even Dabi’s clothing resembles Vader’s dark clothes, and beware Dabi and Tomura are the only villains who dress mainly in black (Toga and Spinner have colourful outfits, Magne was very casual, Compress is still very colourful and his black is rather an elegantblack and not a I’m-so-evil-black, while Twice has an half black half grey costume).

Another similarity both Touya and Anakin shared is how they died and how they alias were born: in fact while Touya’s death is still surrounded by mystery but overall is linked to Endeavor; Anakin was defeated and horribly mutilated by Obi Wan. More specifically Obi Wan cut off Anakin’s legs and one arm but more interesting, they were near a magma river in a vulcanic planet called Mustafar, the same name Horikoshi used for My Hero Academia’s main city. Being near such a burning river, Anakin’s body took fire and he basically burnt alive.

The last dialogue between Obi Wan and Anakin is very important too.

Obi Wan is almost crying, yelling that Anaking was supposed to be the chosen one, the one who would heave ended siths, not joining them, and who would have put balance in the Force. While fighting Obi Wan even said Anakin he was “his greatest failure”.

Obi Wan is a much beloved Jedi, but it’s obvious that, like Endeavor, he poured onto Anakin all of his hope for a legacy he couldnt conquer. Much like Enji, Obi Wan was a father figure for Anakin and a great mentor he respect a lot. It was Palpatine the one who put distance between Obi Wan and Skywalker with the intent of conquering the boy and never make him fulfill the prophecy.

In the same comparison, Touya is clearly Anakin. In the same dialogue he tells Obi Wan he will die and that to him Sith aren’t pure evil... Jedis are. Finally when Obi Wan beart him he yells murderous scream; “I hate you!”. With a murderous light in his eyes, much like Touya was totally crazy about the idea of killing Endeavor.

Many other traits of Sith and villain could be compared randomly, especially because Darth Vader was one of the main villain and most iconic character in Star Wars whole Dabi is and will be important but not as Tomura will be.

However if this comparison stand strong then few things might be speculated about Dabi.

The first is that we miss an important part of his background and we might have all of it much later then we could expect, quite like it happened with Darth Vader. And Star Wars fans got his full backstory after he died, so wether Dabi survive or not , this might be completely irrelevant. His story can go on.

The second one, Darth Vader was corrupted by the Emperor. He has a darkness inside of him, but Palpatine definitely broke him for good. Similarly, he was the one who cured Vader. I aspect someone at least cured Touya creating Dabi at the very least.

The third one is... that Darth Vader redeemed himself. At the very last, when the emperor is torturing Luke, finally Anakin makes his come back and kills the Sith to protect his son. While doing this, his armour is compromise and he will soon die. Later on we have the certainty of his redemption because Anakin take part to the feast for the fall of the empire as a ghost in Obi Wan’s and Yoda’s company. If Dabi will follow a similar path the only way out/ redemption for him probably will be similar and maybe he could save Shoto in one last change of heart before his own death.

Before anyone would comment about Dabi being a psychopath who never will do this, I’ll remind you that Darth Vader was a solid tyrant for approximately 20 years, he systematically killed all his fellow Jedis and Padawans, he cut Luke’s hand off, capture his own daughter Leia, killed his own beloved mentor and friend Obi Wan, he was about to smothering his beloved wife Padmé, he annihilated a planet or two and was building a massive weapon of destruction called “Black Death”. Twice. I’m confident Vader killed much more people than what Dabi could possibly had and eventually will do. And he was way more messed than Dabi was, still he got his redemption.

If he could make it, even Dabi eventually can.

[chasethefearaway]

It Shouldn’t Have Happened, Not Like That Pt. 2

Ship: Codywan but it’s more pining on Cody’s part

Warnings: character death and angst

Words: almost 2k goddam

Can’t fuckgin permalink on mobile so just search codywan

————

Cody had only been at 79’s for... and hour? Maybe two. Boil was positively delighted to see his commander push his way through the crowd and would remarking “glad to see you, sir,” with a victorious grin.

Cody had to admit, it was fun to just enjoy himself with his brothers in the wake of a victory at a bar. Not that he’d ever tell Boil that. Or he might. Cody could see Boil occasionally look around for someone specific, turn to talk with or laugh with a brother who wasn’t there. Waxer, Cody knew. The two were the only two surviving of their batch, and they had practically been inseparable.

At least until Umbara.

This time, it was Cody’s own comm that startled him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the communicator on the van race he’d grabbed from the pile of upper body armour on the floor of his cabin before leaving.

Rex. What would Rex need right now? Cody was under the impression that the 501st was on a supply run, not on leave.

Nevertheless, Cody picked up the call and walked to one of the quieter booths in the back of the bar.

“Vod.” Oh no. That tone never meant anything good. Was it just Cody’s imagination running wild, or did Rex sound more tired than usual?

Cody marshalled his thoughts. “Rex,” he responded, inclining his head in greeting

“Have— where are you?” Rex asked, looking around Cody’s surroundings.

“79’s,” Cody replied. “General Kenobi convinced me to take the night off.” It was only Cody’s close relationship with Rex that allowed him to see how the clone stiffened and took a quick breath, presumably at the mention of his General’s name. That was odd, Cody thought. Now he was really concerned.

Cody, not in the mood to avoid the purpose of Rex’s call any longer, sighed. “What’s happened, Rex.”

At that, Rex visibly stiffened, not expecting to be confronted in such a manner. He took a breath, looking down at his boots before meeting Cody’s gaze again.

“Have you heard the news?”

“Rex, I’ve been in 79’s for the last two hours. I haven’t heard anything.” Rex sighed again, looking down and nodding, resigned.

“Vod, I—“ Rex broke off, taking a heaving breath. “Cody... General Kenobi’s dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

Dead.

Cody preemptively rearranged his features into a mask of calm and indifference; the same face he would wear at parade rest. Cody took a deep breath, leaning more heavily on his elbows. Breaking his parade rest façade, he let his head fall into his hands.

“How?” Cody looked up. Rex’s face was sympathetic, looking at his brother. “How did— he die?”

Rex took another shuddering breath before answering, his composure breaking as well.

“Sniper.”

No, that couldn’t be right. He was General Kenobi, the great Negotiator, master Jedi, the man that stayed behind to protect troopers, the man who stubbornly refused medical attention until all of the men had been seen to. He didn’t just— die. Especially not to a potshot in the middle of Coruscant, the safest place in the galaxy.

Cody’s façade broke a little bit more, and Rex picked up on his confusion and hesitant want for more details.

“Commander Tano said— she said that they were chasing the sniper, and— he got a lucky hit.”

Lucky hit. Suddenly, the fact that the Jedi were not invincible seemed all the more real. Cody had heard of the Jedi Generals dying in the line of fire before, but— this was Obi-Wan. At the end of the day, one well-placed shot could kill a Jedi just as easily as a clone.

Doing his best to get a hold on the self control that was slipping through his fingers, Cody cleared his throat and nodded his head.

“Thank you, Rex.” Rex nodded, a look of concern on his face that Cody was not used to being directed at him; the silent question of are you alright, vod? hanging unspoken in the air between them.

Cody watched as Rex’s image turned to indistinguishable blue lines, then faded out.

Dead.

Cody’s head fell back into his hands, stubbornly keeping his emotions at bay. He was a Marshal commander. He was trained and made for exactly this; the death of his brothers and officers. Death was what happened in war.

Somehow, that didn’t make him feel better.

A hand clapped him on the shoulder.

“Too many drinks, vod? Boil slid into the booth across from him, a drink in his hand and a smile on his face. Probably alcohol-induced, though Cody knew that Boil was never the one to drink more than he could handle.

Slowly, Boil realized that Cody had not had too many drinks, and he set his own bottle down on the table, face turning serious.

“Commander?” His voice was gentle, inviting in a tell me what’s wrong way, a tone Boil rarely used. Cody felt a hand clasping his shoulder in support, saw the shadow of Boil’s arm reaching across the table in the multicoloured strobe lights.

What the heck, Cody decided. He swallowed, choosing his words carefully—

“General Kenobi’s dead.” So much for eloquence. Cody took a little bit of pride in how steady his voice was. He felt Boil’s hand go slack on his shoulder and looked up at the other clone, who’s face was slowly dissolving into despair and skepticism as he processed Cody’s words.

“General— he—“ Boil was losing more and more of his composure with every beat of the obnoxiously loud, indiscernible synthpop music blasting over the speakers. “How?”

Cody felt an echo of amusement flicker and then quickly die inside of him. His same question.

“He, General Skywalker anda Commander Tano were chasing down a sniper through Coruscant, and— lucky shot, Rex said.” Cody didn’t actually know if Skywalker was there, but “they,” referring to the Jedi, usually meant Obi-Wan, General Skywalker and Commander Tano.

Boil let out a defeated sigh, slumping forward and scrubbing his hands down his face, mussing his moustache before folding them under his chin, eyes following the small dancing blue lights on the table

“He can’t just— die here,” Boil snapped, hands falling down to the table with a smack due to him being fully armoured and leaning back against the cushions. “Not like this,” he added in a quiet defeated whisper.

“We should have been there, protecting him, hell, taking the shot for him—“

“And here we are, in 79’s, enjoying ourselves,” Cody nearly snarled. This wasn’t right. He had just seen General Kenobi, encouraging him to go out and enjoy himself.

And Cody had listened. And now his General was dead. The rational part of him knew that it wouldn’t have mattered if Cody had or hadn’t heeded Obi-Wan’s wish, but the rational part of him wasn’t in control right now.

Taking another deep breath, Cody pieced more of his control back together and stood up, making his way back to the speeder bike.

Boil was right. Obi wan shouldn’t have gone out like this, quietly, with one well-placed shot. He should have been out on the field, fighting alongside Cody and his brothers, fighting for the Republic. It should have been a blaze of glory, if it ever had to happen.

It wasn’t. And nothing could change that now.

————————

Having long given up on finishing the reports, Cody was sitting in the small chair behind his tiny desk in the minuscule officer’s quarters with his head in his hands, defeated. The timed lights had gone out, so there was nothing to do except think.

Which was really not what he needed.

His datapad lit up with a blinding flash in the darkness. One of Cody’s forearms dropped to table, grabbed the pad and lifted it up. Squinting to adjust to the blue light, Cody read the notification.

Next Deployment: F...

That was all the header said with the space provided on the datapad.

Next deployment.

[jedimasterbailey]

A preview of a Clone Wars Life Day fic I’m currently working on. Plenty of Barrisoka and Jedi wholesomeness to come!

Life Day

2 Days Before

Grandmasters Yoda and Mace Windu couldn’t help but smile at the sight of their Jedi Knights reporting back home from war duty. After several months of battling Count Dooku’s Separatist droid army, Life Day has allowed the exhausted Jedi generals and commanders to come home. Even in a time of war, Life Day is a holiday the Jedi Order honored. For hundreds of years, Jedi brothers and sisters, Masters and Padawans, have celebrated with the usual gift giving and feasting. It is a time of reflection, joy, love, and peace. Given all the heavy losses felt during the last two years of the Clone Wars, the esteemed Jedi Masters knew how important the holiday break was for their friends.Furthermore, neither Master believed Dooku would dare strike within these next few days. If the purpose of the war was to prove the Separatist movement to be superior, then a direct strike to Coruscant would be unwise

“It’s good to see everyone smile for once,” Mace exhaled, looking downward at Yoda.

“Yes, suffered enough, they all have,” Yoda agrees as fresh snow begins to fall from the cloudy grey sky above. “Enjoy this time, we must. Now, prepare for the youngling feast, I must go. Reunite with your Padawan you will, Master Windu?”

Mace lets out a chuckle, “Of course Master. That is once I finally settle on a gift for her and young Caleb Dume!”

The two then shared a laugh before parting ways.

_______________________________________________

Meanwhile down within the Temple’s main hall Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi and his former student Anakin Skywalker were engaged in yet another argument.

“For the last time Obi-wan, I’ll be the one to roast the tip yip! It was you who overcooked it!” Anakin huffed to which the bearded man calmly shook his head in response.

“Your memory fails you once more Anakin, for I recall it was you who forgot to baste the tip yip thus the result. Only you can accomplish ruining Ahsoka’s first Life Day dinner with us!” Obi-wan teased back.

“Ahsoka had a great time I’ll have you know, right Snips?” Anakin says turning to face his visibly annoyed Padawan.

“I had a much better time when you two weren’t constantly bickering like an old married couple!” Ahsoka answers with an eye roll, “So you two need to kiss and make up and figure something out before I…”

Ahsoka couldn’t finish her thought as a certain young woman came into view. In the distance, she sees the familiar silhouette of her new friend Barriss Offee. Barriss was walking alongside her Master Luminara Unduli, appearing to be laughing at something the older woman said. Since their first meeting during the second battle of Geonosis, the young Togruta woman has been fascinated by the Mirialan.

Having been in the company of men for so long, it was refreshing to meet another student her gender. Though Barriss appeared to be more advanced in her Jedi training than Ahsoka, striking a friendship was easy. Barriss, the Jedi who memorized 200 Geonosian tunnels to help destroy a droid factory and survive the torture of a mind controlling parasite, was just like her. Another child thrown into war, facing challenges no Padawan has probably faced in decades. Sure, Ahsoka has Anakin, Obi-wan, Captain Rex, and even Padme to turn to, but if anyone can understand her on a different level, it would be Barriss.

Dependable, beautiful Barriss. The one that can guide Ahsoka through dangerous missions and make her feel warm inside? Feel as though all time has stopped and it was just Ahsoka and Barriss. “What is wrong with me!?” Ahsoka thought to herself before being thrusted back into reality by Anakin’s finger snapping.

“Uh, Snips? You in there?” asked Anakin.

Ahsoka blinks, “What?”

Confusion washes over Anakin, “You were just telling me and the old man here to “kiss and makeup and figure something out” and then you just stopped talking. Are you feeling alright?”

Ahsoka’s orange cheeks flushed pink from embarrassment, “Uh, yeah I’m totally fine! Just tired I guess, but uh...seriously you two need to just forget about last year and think about what we’re doing this time around. Maybe we invite some other Jedi to help cook?”

Obi-wan smiles, “Master Unduli is actually a phenomenal cook if you can recall from last year. I was just thinking of having her and Barriss over for meal preparation as well as dinner. I’ll go ask her now!”

Ahsoka’s heart began to beat wildly in her chest at the mention of Barriss, “Wait, Obi-wan!”

Obi-wan cocks a brow up, “What is it Ahsoka? Are you sure you’re feeling alright, you sure are acting strange. Perhaps I’ll have Barriss have a look at-”

“NO!” Ahsoka shouts before making a run for it in the other direction.

“Ahsoka!” Anakin shouts back, running after her, leaving a dumbfounded Obi-wan behind.

“What did you do to make both of your Padawan’s run away Master Kenobi?” Luminara questions as she and Barriss approach the man.

“Honestly, I don’t have the slightest idea. Anakin and I were just trying to have a discussion with Ahsoka on our Life Day dinner, but she just acted strange?” Obi-wan replied plucking his beard in thought.

“Maybe she’s not feeling well? I can go check on her if you’d like Master Kenobi,” Barriss suggests politely with a bow.

“Not to worry Miss Offee, Anakin will get to the bottom of things I have no doubt. Those two are truly meant for each other...but I appreciate the offer as I’m sure you’ve grown to be a gifted healer!” Obi-wan beamed at the blushing Mirialan teen.

Luminara grinned at her student as well, “Indeed, Barriss is on her way to becoming a greater Jedi than I could ever hope for. I’m very proud of her, she shall save countless lives with her gifts.”

“Masters, you are too kind…” Barriss mumbles to herself, shyly earning a nudge from Luminara.

“We speak the truth, my dear, it is okay to acknowledge your strengths. Why don’t you go ahead and get some rest, I’ll be right behind in a moment. I’ll make your favorite for dinner tonight?” Luminara proposed lovingly.

Barriss smiles, “That would be lovely Master. I’ll see you in a bit then, good day to you Master Kenobi. I hope Ahsoka is alright.”

“You’ll be the first to know if she’s in need of your services,” Obi-wan affirms with a bow.

Once Barriss turns to leave, Obi-wan quickly asks Luminara to help prepare the big meal to which the woman happily accepts.

“I’ll be there first thing tomorrow, I take it you still have the tea I like?” Luminara winks.

“Darling, you know I do. Quinlan just needs to bring the liquor!” Obi-wan laughs before taking a moment to look into Luminara’s amethyst eyes that had that same twinkle to them from when they were younglings.

The pair just basked in each other’s presence for a moment more. For once, the two Jedi Masters could just be Obi-wan and Luminara. Had Quinlan Vos been there too, the trio would be complete. Life was so much simpler then. When the assignment of the day was stealing midnight treats from the kitchens and there was nothing to fear. Obi-wan quickly takes notice of a change in his dearest friend. The usually serene Jedi Master looked as if she was withholding something from him.

“Lumi?” Obi-wan probed gently, his face softening.

Luminara’s breath hitched, “Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in years…”

“Too long I’d say,” Obi-wan admitted with a tinge of guilt.

Luminara offered a small smile, “Perhaps you should say it more often then.”

With that, Luminara turned on her heel and walked in the direction of her and Barriss’s residence. Obi-wan watched from behind until she was out of sight. Not wanting to dwell on the emotions starting to bubble up inside, Obi-wan decides that now would be the best time to go gift shopping with Anakin and Ahsoka preoccupied.

_______________________________________________

[mytardisisparked]

When Sunrise Comes Early: Chapter 3

Obi-Wan sighed as he watched Anakin eagerly walk towards their transport, almost bouncing with excitement. He had woken his apprentice up early this morning to tell him they were leaving for Mandalore straight away, and Anakin had been overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the concept. Obi-Wan hadn’t seen the boy this excited since he took him to Ilum to get his kyber crystal. 

Having not slept a wink last night, Obi-Wan was tempted to tell Anakin to calm down a touch, but after the events of the last three days he just couldn’t bring himself to squash his padawan’s joy. 

“GoodmorningMaster!” Anakin yelled as he rushed forward and stood at the edge of the ramp leading up to the ship. “Are we ready to go?”

Obi-Wan smiled. “Go ahead and get the engine fired up, I’ll be along in a moment.”

With one last gleeful look, Anakin raced inside, leaving Obi-Wan shaking his head fondly. 

“It’s nice to see him smile.” Mace Windu walked up and stood next to the younger Jedi, staring at the spot where Anakin had disappeared. 

The redhead turned to look at him, a bit confused. “Yes, it is.” Obi-Wan bit his lip. “Master, I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you suddenly so invested in Anakin? Up until now, you have made it very clear that you don’t trust the boy.”

A flash of animosity passed through Mace’s eyes for a moment but it was gone in less than a second, replaced by something akin to regret. “This incident with the Chancellor has made me... more aware of the value of your padawan and of being invested in our young charges.” He looked Obi-Wan in the eye. “I’ve realized that children like Anakin need support; if that doesn’t come from us, then people like Palpatine will step in to manipulate them for far more nefarious purposes.”

Obi-Wan gave him a small smile. “That’s quite the revelation.”

Mace merely nodded. “Best of luck on your journey, Kenobi. May the Force be with you.”

“And with you.” Obi-Wan bowed and headed inside the ship, closing the ramp behind him. 

Anakin had sucessfully started the engine and was relaxing in the copliot’s chair, tinkering with some small device. Obi-Wan settled into the pilot’s seat and carefully lifted off, following the traffic lane out of the atmosphere before setting their coordinates and entering hyperspace.

Once the stars were streaking past them, Anakin set his project down and leaned forward in his chair. “So, why are we going to Mandalore?”

“To meet with the duchess and see if she will allow us to use a Mandalorian Force-Prison,” Obi-Wan said as he fiddled with a few controls. 

Anakin’s jaw dropped. “We’re meeting the Duchess of Mandalore?”

His master chuckled and turned to look at him. “Yes, but it isn’t like you haven’t met royalty before. Remember Queen Amidala?”

Suddenly, the boy turned bright red and couldn’t seem to meet Obi-Wan’s eye. “Uh, yeah, I remember Padme.”

The Jedi raised a brow, but decided not to ask. “Well, you will treat Duchess Kryze with the same respect with which you were taught to treat Queen Amidala. Maybe even more so; Mandalorians can be quite strict.”

Anakin looked less enthusiastic now. “Of course, Master, I don’t want to mess this up.”

Obi-Wan rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling. “I have every faith that you will do well.”

Myself, on the other hand... Obi-Wan thought. Let’s hope I can avoid any... awkwardness.

The flight to Mandalore was not incredibly long, though Anakin claimed it felt like their landing sequence alone took three hours. Once they had landed, they were greeted by guardsmen who lead them to a speeder and drove them to the palace.

As they flew above the streets of Concordia, Obi-Wan fidgeted with the edge of his robe. Mace had contacted the duchess before they had left and she was willing to meet, but that did not guarantee that she would, by any means, be pleased to see him. 

The entire flight to the system, Obi-Wan had been wrestling with varying emotions. On one hand, he knew that the duchess was a passionate woman with a penchant for arguing who likely still held Obi-Wan in some level of contempt, based on how things last ended between them. On the other hand, the prospect of seeing Satine again excited Obi-Wan, stirring up feelings he had done his best to forget over the last 12 years.

Obi-Wan sighed for the 20th time that morning and rubbed his temples. He already had headache and he hadn’t even spoken to the duchess yet.

The speeder pulled up to the front doors of the palace and Obi-Wan turned to Anakin. “I will do all the talking once we get inside. Just follow my lead when it comes to bowing and be respectful if the duchess asks you any questions.”

Anakin nodded seriously. “Yes, Master.”

Obi-Wan smiled and patted him on the shoulder before they headed inside.

As soon as the doors opened to the throne room, Obi-Wan’s heart stopped.

There she was, sitting on the throne before him, giving the Jedi the same condescending look she wore the first day they had met so long ago. She was a bit taller now, and her features had grown from girlish to womanly, but time and age had only made her more radiant. 

Despite all of this, Obi-Wan, by the mercy of the Force, continued walking without a change of pace or expression, which he considered a definite victory, especially when considering the fact that Satine’s expression hadn’t changed upon seeing him whatsoever.

As the Jedi approached the throne, Obi-Wan dipped into a bow and was thankful to see Anakin following suit out of the corner of his eye.

“Welcome, Jedi.” Satine’s lilting voice seemed to pull Obi-Wan back up into a standing position. “I hope your trip here wasn’t too unpleasant.” Her tone was somewhere between bored and hostile, but Obi-Wan was, for the first time in his life, finding it difficult to read her true emotions.

“It was wholly unexciting, thankfully.” Obi-Wan gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We thank you for welcoming us, Duchess Kryze.”

At the mention of her title, Obi-Wan almost thought he saw her flinch, but she stood and stepped down from the dais quickly enough that he couldn’t be certain.

“Well, Master Windu said in his call that this matter you have come to speak of is rather urgent, so we will meet with my councilors in about an hour for you to present your case.” She opened her mouth to say something more, but was interrupted by a flash of red rushing into the room and skidding across the floor to come to a stop not far from where they stood. Obi-Wan was barely able to register that it was a boy a few years younger than Anakin before the excited child began to speak very quickly.

“Auntie! Come quickly, I need to sho-” The boy’s bright blue eyes suddenly grew wide. He quickly pulled himself up into a respectfully straight posture and clasped his hands behind his back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had a meeting today.”

Satine took a deep breath and gave Obi-Wan a tight smile. “My apologies, Master Jedi.” She gestured to the boy and he moved to Satine’s side. “This is my nephew, Korkie.”

Obi-Wan smiled at the boy and bowed. “Hello there, I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Korkie grinned back and gave a little bow in return. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Satine didn’t quite smile, but her face looked a bit less severe. That minute shift in her aura made Obi-Wan’s heart race.

“Hi! I’m Anakin!” Obi-wan turned to see his padawan waving at the Duchess and Korkie with a massive grin on his face. “I’m Master Kenobi’s padawan.”

“Cool! What’s a padawan?” Korkie’s eyes lit up as he took in the other boy.

Anakin opened his mouth to reply, but the Duchess jumped in. “Why don’t we let Korkie and Anakin get acquainted while you and I take a walk to discuss things before the meeting?” She smiled at the two boys.

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan gleefully as Obi-Wan nodded his consent. “Try not to get into any trouble, Anakin.”

“I never do, Master!” Before Obi-Wan could comment on the massive untruth of that statement, the two boys were headed down a hallway off of the throne room, chattering incessantly. 

Obi-Wan couldn’t help but smile after them. “I hope Korkie is prepared for Anakin to talk his ear off.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Satine stepped closer to his side, “unless Anakin is unprepared to answer hundreds of questions.”

He turned to her and found her smiling. He offered her his arm. “Well, shall we take a walk?”

She took his arm. “Yes, the gardens are this way.”

They stepped out into the bright sunshine, the scent of lilies enveloping them. 

“It’s a warm day. We best stick to the shade, seeing as we both have fair skin and a proclivity to burn.” Obi-Wan smirked and lead them both to a shaded walking path.

Satine smiled. “Oh yes, I remember the days where we wouldn’t be able to sleep because we were utterly roasted by the sun.”

“And Qui-Gon would be sitting there, laughing at us as he just got tanner.” Obi-Wan chuckled. “And we just looked like tomatoes.”

She shook her head. “Oh, I could have kicked him for all his mocking.” She laughed, the sound warming Obi-Wan from the inside out, bringing back fond memories of sitting around fires and telling stories late into the night, irritating Master Jinn with inside jokes that they refused to explain. “Korkie was just like us, growing up, getting burnt at just the slightest touch of sun.”

Obi-Wan turned to look at her curiously, finding her suddenly blushing. “Korkie seems like a very nice boy. Is he Bo’s son?”

Satine turned her head to look at a long drooping tree. “No, he was my brother’s child. They died when he was a baby, so I have been taking care of him.”

“Ah.”

She turned back to him. “I didn’t know you took on a padawan.”

“I wasn’t planning on taking one quite yet, but,” he swallowed, growing more serious, “Master Qui-Gon made me promise to train Anakin before he died.”

Satine bowed her head. “I had heard about Qui-Gon’s passing. I was very sorry-” She swallowed and wrung her hands. “I know I knew him for only a year, but he really was like a father to me during that time.”

“We have that in common then, I suppose.” Obi-Wan gave her a sad smile. 

She looped her arm through his again and they continued walking. “So, Master Windu said you were here about a matter that would effect the entire galaxy.” Just like that, she was back to being the perfect image of professionalism.

Obi-Wan straightened. “Yes, I can explain it all in the meeting, but we have captured a dangerous Sith Lord.”

Satine’s face grew grave. “That is... troubling news. I’m sure my council will be very interested to hear more about it.” They turned down another path, falling silent for a few moments. In the distance, they could hear Korkie and Anakin talking excitedly, which made them both smile.

As subtly as he could, Obi-Wan studied Satine’s face, noting the sadness she carried under that moment of joy. Ruling had not been easy on her, he knew that just from reading the Mandalorian headlines, but he was pleased to see that the criticism and opposition had not extinguished her fire, for within that sadness, he could see the same Satine he had known when he was a child. She was the same and, yet, somehow, even more.

This, however, was not the same Satine that had coldly dismissed him on the platform the last day he had spent on Mandalore. This was not the Satine that had insisted she did not care for him, no matter how she might have acted before that fateful day.

So what did happen the day we said goodbye? he wondered. Was all of that just an act to make parting easier? Or did she really not care for me as deeply as I cared for her?

“How old is Anakin?” Satine asked suddenly, shaking Obi-Wan out of his thoughts.

“He just turned 14. He has been under my care since he was 9. Qui-Gon found him on Tatooine during our last mission.”

“He was orphaned, then?”

Obi-Wan’s mouth straightened into a thin line. “Not exactly.”

Satine stopped and gave him a look. “So he was taken from his family?”

He sighed, turning to face her. “He and his mother were slaves of the hutts. Qui-Gon tried to bargain for their freedom, but he was only able to secure Anakin’s release.”

She scoffed. “So, what, you left his mother behind? You took the boy away from his family?” Her porcelain cheeks began to color.

Obi-Wan raised a brow and put a hand on her shoulder to calm her. “We did, but Master Windu and I are currently attempting to devise a plan to free her.” Satine stiffened a bit at his touch, but the redness of her cheeks faded. He glanced down at where his hand was resting and quickly snatched it away, realizing his impropriety. After clearing his throat and regaining the little composure he had let slip, he went on. “We agree that Anakin will fare better knowing his mother is safe. The problem we are running into is that we cannot interfere with Tatooinian affairs, no matter how much we may hate slavery. If the Jedi go to free her, we risk starting a war with the hutts that may lead to more harm than good.”

Satine looked into his eyes, but he could tell that she wasn’t really looking at him; she was thinking. “If you were to send someone to the planet to purchase Anakin’s mother, someone not tied to the Republic, might that resolve your predicament?”

Obi-Wan fixed her with a hard look. “Satine, what are you suggesting?” Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized he had used her first name without thinking, but he was far too concerned with whatever the duchess was plotting to correct himself.

Her focus seemed to snap back into the present. “I could go to Tatooine and purchase the boy’s mother, bring her back to Mandalore, and free her. Mandalorians are fond of bringing rescued people into their families, so I am certain we would find her a suitable place in our society where she would be loved and cared for.”

“I don’t dislike your plan, and I agree that it solves many of our problems, but I’m not sure that sending you personally to Tatooine is the best idea.” Obi-Wan took a step closer. “The hutts would have no qualms with kidnapping a high-profile politician for ransom.”

Satine raised a brow. “I know how to go about unnoticed, Obi-Wan.”

He eyed her massive headdress. “Do you?”

She scowled. “Need I remind you that it was you who drew attention to us when we were running from the bounty hunters on Darl? I never once gave our position away during that year.” She paced a short distance away. “I would go in disguise and keep this information to myself; the less people that know about this, the better.”

Obi-Wan walked up behind her, touching her elbow gently. “Are you sure about this? I would hate to put you at risk.”

She turned to meet his worried gaze with a soft, yet determined, look. “I will not stand aside while the mother of your pupil suffers. This is a risk I am more than willing to take.”

He gave her a small smile. “Then I know better than to try and stop you.”

“As you should.” She smiled back before straightening and stepping out of his touch. “We can work out the details of this later; it’s time to go meet the council and hear your story.” With that, she turned and walked back towards the throne room.

Obi-Wan watched her go, feeling strange emotions racing through his mind and heart. After a moment, he shook his head and followed her.

---------

Hello friends! This chapter was kind of an in-between chapter where not a lot happened, but I really wanted to take some time to set the tone of Satine and Obi-Wan’s relationship while also setting up some things to come. 

I would really like to thank everyone who has been keeping up with this story; I received a lot more positive feedback on this than I ever expected. I am overwhelmed by all the support. Thank you all for reading and commenting! It means the absolute world to me ❤

[bi-naesala]

Hunt for the Jedi

After becoming the Emperor, Obi-Wan sends his most trusted men on a hunt across the galaxy. The prey? The surviving Jedi.

((Part of the Sith Obi-Wan AU))

Can also be read on AO3

(TW : VIOLENCE, BLOOD, DECAPITATION)

Despite the attack at the Temple being a success, there are some Jedi who managed to escape with their lives still intact. This is nothing the new appointed Emperor hadn’t predicted already, however, which is why as soon as he rises to power, he creates a special force to take care of this deal: the Inquisitorium, made up of force sensitive user who share the anti-Jedi sentiment. Most of them are young, the same young people who have been disappointed by the state of the Jedi Order - Maul is pretty sure he saw Oiffee around - and others who have been charmed by Obi-Wan’s ways. This must be Kenobi’s greatest strength: the ability to draw people to his side without the use of coercion or torture.

Even Ventress has joined their ranks, which shook Maul a great deal when he first found out.

 “Patience,” Obi-Wan tells him when he comes to him hateful and spiteful, demanding revenge for what she did to Savage. “You already got your revenge against Sidious. You’ll get this in good time too.”

Maul growls at him, something he hasn’t done for a very long time.

“I don’t want to wait! She needs to die!”

“And she will,” Obi-Wan reassures him, resting his hands on Maul’s shoulders, “But at the moment we need all the allies we can get. Once she’s no longer useful, we’ll make an example out of her.”

Oh, so that’s Obi-Wan’s plan. Maul should’ve known: he never leaves anything to chance; he always has a plan for every single one of them. Even though he still isn’t happy with this, he knows better than not to trust that Kenobi will maintain his word - he did it already.

“Fine, but I sure hope you weren’t planning to make us work together,” he threatens. “If I see her around, I won’t care about waiting.”

“Of course,” Obi-Wan replies, not worried at all by what he just said. “Besides, I’ve already devised a plan to deal with the remaining Jedi.”

That’s good, Maul thinks: finally a way to put his skills to use, something he got to do only recently, once he got out of hiding. He’s enjoyed it of course, but he also needs more.

Still, nothing would’ve prepared him for Obi-Wan’s next words.

“You’re going to work with Cody.”

 This is unexpected, though Maul supposes it actually isn’t that much: Kenobi excluded, since he’s required to be the Emperor so he can’t busy himself directly with these matters, they’re the two most qualified people for the job. It’s weird that Skywalker - or Vader as he calls himself now - hasn’t been mentioned, probably because of Amidala’s pregnancy - aren’t the twins due soon?

Still… Cody, eh?

The two of them still haven’t had the chance to work together, since Maul was supposed to still be hiding, but now they have to, Maul as the appointed Grand Inquisitor and Cody as head of the Army - of course Kenobi was going to promote him.

As of now, their only interaction has been the night of “celebration” spent with Obi-Wan after the official fall of the Republic, and it’s safe to say that they didn’t really pay that much attention to each other, more focused on their mutual partner.

Oh well, this is surely going to be interesting.

  That sentiment of curiosity leaves Maul immediately as soon as he and Cody actually get to work: they’ve already had their bickering as they’ve tracked down the remaining Jedi or any kind of deserter, yet despite this it’s been mostly… well, not fun because Maul would rather die than to admit anything positive about his… How is he even supposed to call him? Co-worker? Lover of his lover? Ugh, it’s so confusing.

Anyway, even though he wouldn’t say that it’s fun it’s definitely… something adjacent to it.

He certainly appreciates Cody’s tactical mind, although he would also like to say that he has had his own genial moments as well. He can’t wait to get his hands dirty and, unexpectedly, he feels the same coming from Cody; after coming back from what Maul supposes was his last confrontation with one of his “brothers” - he doesn’t know the details since Cody told Kenobi, not him, about this - he seems eager to get some work done. Is this his own personal way to forget that he once shared a bond with the people they’re hunting down? Maybe; Maul doesn’t care. It’s not his business.

 Still, even to this day, Maul is still unimpressed with him. He still doesn’t understand why Obi-Wan would be interested in someone like him. The time they’ve spent planning and preparing for their attacks certainly hasn’t helped but that might be more due to the fact that Cody doesn’t fear him, thus when discussing tactics isn’t afraid to call Maul out on his bullshit, something that he, of course, doesn’t like.

If he’s so willing to interrupt him each time, then he should go hunting Jedi down on his own, see what he cares.

Despite wanting so bad to tell him off, Maul holds his tongue - many times. You could say that he’s doing it for Kenobi; he knows that there must be a purpose behind him deciding that they should work together, and he’s sure that he’d be happy if they try to get along, no matter how hard it may be.

 Everything changes, however, when he sees Cody fight.

  If there’s a thing about the Jedi that Maul has to give to them, is that they’re good at hiding, but even that isn’t enough. As if they could ever escape from their destiny.

“I hope you’re ready,” Maul tells Cody. They’re both standing in the ship’s control room, working on their strategy one last time before commencing their hunt. “I won’t be slowed down, so you’ll better keep up or you’ll be left alone.”

Cody narrows his eyes at those words, but his expression soon turns challenging.

“If you have enough time to make these statements, maybe you’ll be the one left behind after all,” he retorts, making Maul greet his teeth. Who does he think he is?! He is nothing. He should bow down to him…

Huh, they’re approaching their target.

“I suggest you prepare for landing, sir,” Cody says then, clearly mocking him. Maul shoots him a dirty glare but refuses to take the bait.

He’ll surely show him on the battlefield who is superior.

  This should enrage Maul, make him see completely red, and yet… it doesn’t, despite the fact that he’s pretty much eating his own words.

He just really wasn’t expecting to assist to such a way of fighting on Cody’s part: he would’ve expected any clone to prefer fighting with their trusted blasters - useless weapons, truly - but not Cody; where he truly shines is in hand-to-hand combat.

To Maul’s surprise, he manages to go toe to toe even against Jedi and come out victorious. What impresses Maul the most - besides the force with which he body slams people, or how hard he kicks - is that he’d often manage to snatch the lightsabers out of the Jedi’s hands, only to use them against their own owners.

Now Maul is starting to see what Obi-Wan sees in him.

 There’s a fire inside him, a fire that’s so well hidden under a proper façade that Maul has noticed it only now, but it’s there, and now Cody has a chance to let it all out.

Maybe Obi-Wan was right when he said that, under certain aspects, they’re similar.

It certainly contributes on making Maul curious about Cody. Did they teach him how to fight like this on Kamino? Did he have to attend to some secret special class that his brothers weren’t privy of? Or does he have to thank Kenobi for these displays?

These questions don’t even boil down all the things he now wants to know about him. Maybe when this is over he’ll ask him for a sparring match, curious to test his skills against his, though he’d surely prevail. Still, he wouldn’t mind seeing for it himself.

 Things have… changed, between he and Cody: what has started as a very rocky partnership has become something different, even though it’s hard to say where they exactly stand towards each other. They clearly respect each other more, as Cody hasn’t been the only one making a show of his skills.

It makes hunting down Jedi together more bearable.

Maul has been looking towards this for a long time: finally, he can hunt down and destroy the Jedi, just like he’s been raised to do. Of course he was going to do it in the most brutal way possible.

He wonders if Cody can sense the fury in the way he twirls his staff, if he can sense the rage he feels whenever his eyes lay on a Jedi, if he can sense the savage satisfaction when he ends their life.

 Look at him, wondering if Cody pays attention to him like a fool. And yet, he can’t stop doing it.

 He could easily slip in his mind and gather all the info he needs on the subject… except that for some reason, he doesn’t dare.

In order to justify this, he keeps telling himself that it’s just because Cody must be trained in sensing if someone’s inside his mind and he’d get suspicious if he found Maul rummaging through his thoughts. The truth, however, is that… He doesn’t even know it. He supposes that he respects him too much to do it. That’s it. Nothing more.

Who is he kidding? Of course there is more, and Maul can’t help but to curse himself for having fallen for this obvious bait.

 Was this Kenobi’s plan all along? Maul doesn’t doubt it not even for a moment: everything’s possible when it comes to that impossible man, he’s learned.

He supposes he’ll just need to wait and see how things move along, but one thing is sure: sooner or later, he’ll make his move.

  Maul surprises himself with how patient he’s being about all this. Even with all the Jedi they have caught and killed, he still hasn’t given in the euphoria, focused on doing a good job until the end; he won’t rest until he’s found all the Jedi.

His self-control is about to encounter its greatest challenge, however. We shall see if he’ll manage to resist this time…

 If there’s a thing that is certain, is that this Jedi hunt still hasn’t sated his thirst. They have met many adversaries, but most of them were either escaped younglings and padawans, or old Jedi, nothing that would really test Maul’s skills.

This, however, might change soon, because they have received intel about another Jedi survivor, but this one isn’t like the others: Jaro Tapal, tactical genius and a force to be reckoned with in combat. When the order to kill the Jedi had been issued he had managed to escape; they had gotten only his padawan, who is now undergoing some… constructive therapy. He’ll join their ranks soon, though the timing could’ve been better: imagine if they had send him to bring Tapal down.

Oh well, at least this gives Maul a chance. He can’t wait to see the life abandon his eyes.

 It certainly speaks a lot about how things have changed between him and Cody that, as they’re preparing for landing, they’re not snarking at each other like they used to do.

The atmosphere is still quite tense, but for a different reason than the usual. Is it worry? No, it can’t be. Maul is confident in his and Cody’s abilities. Tapal might be a mighty Jedi, but he must also be weakened by the months spent on the run.

Underestimating the enemy, however, is a grave mistake, something that neither Maul nor Cody wish to make; nothing is more dangerous than a cornered animal. They’ll have to be careful.

 Still, he hates this silence. He can’t believe he’s saying this, but it’s making him miss the old times, when they’d bicker and bicker until it was time to get things done.

Eventually he can’t take it anymore, and he snaps at Cody.

“Say something, damn it!”

Cody tenses, immediately turning to look at him with narrowed eyes.

“What am I supposed to say?”

“I don’t know! Something!”

“I am focusing on the upcoming battle,” Cody immediately replies, sharp tone, “You should do the same, if you don’t want to get your shebs kicked.”

Maul has no idea what “shebs” means, but he’s sure it mustn’t be anything nice. He growls, stomping towards Cody until they’re face to face - metaphorically, since Cody is unfortunately much taller than Maul, but he won’t let himself get intimidated by this minuscule detail. Of the two, he’s the one with true power after all.

“Watch your tongue,” he threatens immediately.

The tension is high, very high. They both feel like if they don’t do something immediately, things are going to escalate; in which way it will happen, however, they have no idea.

 All it takes is for the control panel to signal that they’ve reached their destination for the spell to break.

Maul has no idea where that came from; thinking about it now, it almost seems like it wasn’t actually him speaking, but someone else who has his same features.

Is it worry what caused this? Is he really worried? He doesn’t know, which only serves to irritate him further. He never liked to deal with these things.

He can at least harvest this rage, keep it inside to unleash it on Jaro Tapal. With his fury by his side, he can prevail.

 … There’s something else, however, isn’t it? No matter how much Maul can’t deny its existence and ignore it altogether, there’s a feeling that wasn’t there before, something that grew the more time he spent with Cody: he won’t let the Jedi lay not even a hand on him.

This is something he used to feel only for Kenobi, this sort of twisted sentiment, a desire for Cody to become his, because that’s all this is about to Maul: belonging, having. He wants Cody like he has Obi-Wan, and he wants him badly.

 He grunts, shaking his head.

Not now. He needs to focus on the upcoming battle, he needs to focus on the Jedi.

If they manage to bring the famed Jaro Tapal down, it will be a heavy hit for the few remaining Jedi. Their moral would be destroyed, their hope tarnished. They might even get new people to join their ranks if they finally understand how much powerful the Dark Side is: if not even Tapal can survive against it, who can?

 His focus gets shattered once again when his arm gets grabbed by Cody. Maul’s first instinct is to put his lightsaber at his throat, roaring at him to never touch him again, but he holds back for the sole reason that he doesn’t mind it as much as he thought; his hold is strong, grounding. It makes Maul understand why Obi-Wan might like having his hands on him all the time.

“Hey.”

“What?” Maul replies, trying to keep his tone even despite the fury of emotions that is boiling inside him.

For a moment, he senses hesitation in Cody; this must be the first this happens: he’s usually so sure of himself - and arrogant, Maul would add, but maybe that’s just because he doesn’t bow down to him like everyone else does - that it feels weird, seeing him without knowing what to say.

“What?” he repeats, then. He could easily snatch his arm away from Cody’s grasp, but he still doesn’t.

“Just…” Cody begins, now looking more determined, that kind of determination that one has after they have taken an important decision, though Maul isn’t privy to what this decision is exactly, “… Be safe.”

For a moment, Maul doesn’t know what to think: did Cody, General Cody head of the New Army of the Empire, just tell him, Grand Inquisitor Darth Maul, to be safe?

 He doesn’t know… Wait.

His heart… It’s beating so fast.

It feels like it’s going to burst out of his chest, bleeding and pulsating.

Maul doesn’t know why it’s behaving like this, but he knows that he doesn’t like it. It makes him feel weak and vulnerable, open, exposed.

He hates it.

 He shakes himself away like he’s been burned, eyeing Cody with fury.

“I don’t need these useless words,” he hisses, seething in rage. How dares he to make him feel like this?

Nothing transpires from Cody’s face at those words, which only succeeds in irritating him further; why can’t he say something, anything?!

He gets up with the intention of leaving the cockpit to find a quiet place where he can meditate, foster his anger even more. And yet, as he’s about to exit, he stops, gritting his teeth; this doesn’t feel right, this doesn’t feel right at all!

A sigh leaves his mouth, and with it, part of the rage he felt leaves his body as well. This is stupid, so very stupid, and yet Maul can’t help but to turn his head towards Cody, observing him; to his surprise, he’s giving his back to him, eyes fixed on the ship’s controls. He appears so distant now, despite the fact that they’re just a few steps away.

It feels that all the progress they’ve made all this time has vanished in thin air, and despite telling himself that it doesn’t matter, Maul can’t stand for it, thus, with an immense effort on his part, he brings himself to speak again.

“You too… Be safe.”

 He leaves before Cody has to occasion to say anything, missing the sudden way he turns around, watching Maul go with a surprised - and hopeful - gaze.

  As the make their way towards where they know Tapal is constructing a base - admitting that we can call an amass of rocks in a backwater Outer Rim planet a base - they begin to suspect that the intel they got might be faulty: there’s no sign of sentient activity, besides, who would make camp here, at the end of the road, against the mountains, with the only way to escape being the same you have to walk to get there? It seems incredibly stupid, and certainly not something a “tactical genius” like Tapal would do.

It’s only after the entire squad - yes, they didn’t go alone, but brought some troopers with them, just in case - have completely entered the inlet, that they realize that this is obviously a trap, and they’ve fallen right into it.

 They are immediately proven right when a voice comes from behind them.

“Empire scum!”

They all turn around immediately, and behind them, a tall, imposing lasat male stands. He must be Tapal. How foolish of him to show himself to them like this; trap or not, he should’ve stayed hidden.

Maul and Cody immediately walk through the front. Despite Cody wearing his bucket - blacks suits him way better than his old colors - Maul can feel his trepidation even without looking at his face. He feels the same.

He’s about to address Tapal - to challenge the fool - when the Jedi speaks again:

“We only want information. I’ll grant you your life if you surrender and help us.”

“Still a Jedi through and through,” Maul hisses, hate echoing at every word. Who does he think he’s going to please acting like that? It’s not going to help him… Wait. Did he say “us”?

As if to confirm Maul’s suspicions, soon Tapal is joined by two Jedi… no, they look like padawans. They aren’t the only ones that show up; he doesn’t even need to turn around to see them: he feels them in the Force already. But who does he feel? All the other Jedi that have them surrounded, emerging from the mountain side.

They have really trapped them.

 How were they supposed to know that Tapal had managed to find not only just one survivor, but an entire group of them, when the intelligence they have gathered has shown nothing of this?

In the end it’s their fault. They did what they weren’t supposed to do: underestimate the enemy. They should’ve known that Tapal would’ve tried to pull something, which apparently translates into creating a small rebellious force. Smart on his part, but it’s not going to work, not with the small number of people he’s managed to amass.

Despite this, however, they do outnumber Maul, Cody and the small squad of troopers they’re leading, this already without taking in account that they’ve cut any possible escape route, meaning that even if they’d want to retreat, they’d still have to carve a path. Sure, they could escalate the mountain wall, but that would be suicide.

 A crooked smile appears on Maul’s lips: finally, finally, an occasion to prove his power.

He exchanges a gaze with Cody, gaze feverish, and he knows that the other feels the same sort of trepidation he’s feeling.

“Tapal is mine,” he says then, “You can take out the others.”

Cody nods, and then he’s immediately barking orders, loading his blaster and taking his first shots.

“Charge!”

 It all happens in a flurry. Maul barely feels what’s going on around him, brain entirely focused on Tapal. He’s had the courage to ambush then, surrounding them in what the fools think will be their resting place; oh, he understands nothing then.

He takes a running jump, reaching Tapal’s position. He has to give to him: he’s not hiding behind the people he’s riled up against them, instead he’s taking part directly into the action. Still, a courageous fool remains a fool.

Their sabers clash with a loud noise.

“You still face me head on, I applaud your courage,” Tapal says, voice deep but tone neutral. It makes Maul’s blood boil in his veins with his fake calm. As if Maul can’t sense his exhaustion, his fear.

“Save your nice words, Jedi,” he hisses. “No matter what tricks you use, the power of the Dark Side is too strong for you!”

“You say so, and yet I’m the one who trapped you!” If Maul been slower, he wouldn’t have dodged the kick that Tapal sends his way in time, but he manages to do it, jumping and lending a few feet away.

He lets out a scream of pure rage. The time for words it over.

We shall see who’ll come out of it victorious.

 He puts his all into his fight, exchanging blows with Tapal. He’s obviously putting up more of a challenge than any other Jedi did, and Maul loves it; no matter how hard he gets kicked, the manic smile on his face doesn’t falter at all.

This is what he’s trained for, the reason of all his pain and anguish. It’s time to show everyone - and himself, though he refuses to admit he even needs this in the first place - that it hasn’t been in vain.

If only he’d manage to get even a small opening…

 He has no idea about what is happening around them, having singled in Tapal entirely. The fact that he doesn’t need to pay attention is a testament to how well trained his squad is, or else he bets some young padawans - someone who wouldn’t know how sacred duels are - would’ve tried already to barge in to change the fight to the Jedi’s benefit.

Still, he doesn’t have to wait for long before feeling the pain and death around him. It’s a marvelous sensation that reinvigorates him, gives him strength.

A fleeting thought passes through his mind: it’s a shame that he doesn’t get to see Cody in action this time, but he can’t afford to get distracted, or else he’d be the one giving Tapal an opening, which would be shameful on his part. As soon as this thought arrives, he immediately pushes it down, this isn’t the time for that!

What he didn’t expect was for Tapal to catch it as well. Has he been projecting this hard?

“Even you are able to feel love,” he breathes out, clashing his staff against Maul’s. It takes him all his strength to parry it, with the result that they’re now locked into a contest of might. Given their tired state - how long has the fight been going on? - it’s obvious that this will be their final move: the one who manages to knock the other out of balance will win.

“Shut up!” Maul exclaims, gritting his teeth. How dares he spout this kind of nonsense? What does he know about him? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Why would he even presume to know him, his feelings? He’s just a Jedi fool!

“I can feel it in you,” Tapal insists. “You are capable of loving, despite your efforts not to.”

He’s pushing, but Maul keeps resisting. Endure the pain, endure the fatigue, endure everything; he’s been living like this since he has memory of it, he won’t stop doing it now, not when he’s so close to victory. He can’t afford to lose, not when it would disappoint Obi-Wan, not when it would disappoint Cody, not when it would disappoint… himself.

“I said shut up!”

He pushes back this time, making Tapal grunts.

“Even if you deny it, the evidence is there. You aren’t a good Sith…”

 He…

Did he…

He said…

 There’s nothing human in the way Maul screams, putting all his rage and anguish and fear and spite in it.

He is a good Sith! He’s defeated countless Jedi by now, he’d killed his own Master! Everybody fears him! Does this sound like a bad Sith?!

“And what do you know?” he hisses, determined to respond in kind. “Didn’t you lose your padawan? That’s right, he’s with us now. Maybe you’ll see him soon in the afterlife…”

At those words, Tapal hesitates; hearing news of his padawan must have shaken him. Such weakness.

Deciding to take a step from his old book and taking advantage of this moment of imbalance on Tapal’s part, Maul pushes again, then with a fast movement he takes the metal edge of his staff and slams it against Tapal’s head, making him waver a few steps back. Heh, they all fall for it.

Using that moment of weakness, Maul moves immediately, running Tapal’s torso with his staff, grinning at how he grunts, realization of his loss evident in his eyes.

He tries to keep himself up with all his might, but eventually he falls to his knees, right in front of Maul. Oh, the power rush feels so good, and Maul can’t stop smiling for it, admiring his handiwork; Tapal’s having difficulties breathing. He looks like he’s trying to say something, but he can’t.

Well, Maul decides to help him, in order to honor their duel: it’s with the utmost satisfaction that he raises his staff again, and with a decisive move, he beheads Tapal, whose head begins to roll in the dirt, stopping not too far from the body, which has now fallen on the ground completely.

  A quiet chuckle erupts from Maul’s lips, but soon it turns into something more, something louder.

He did it, he truly did it. Most importantly, he did it alone: sure, he wasn’t actually alone, but he took on Tapal single-handedly and he’s defeated him. Nobody else was here to help him in the duel, not even Kenobi.

This is his victory and only his.

 It’s only now, noticing the silence surrounding him, that he finally allows himself to look around.

All the other Jedi are dead, along with great part of the troopers, but this isn’t what matters: standing tall, surrounded by dead bodies, there’s him, Cody.

At some point during the fight, he must’ve lost his bucket, because not only he’s not wearing it now, but Maul doesn’t even see it in his immediate vicinity. He can’t help but to be happy about it: the black armor fits Cody like a glove, but Maul wouldn’t say he’s fond of the bucket at all; he’d rather look at his face than that emotionless thing.

He’s still wielding the beskar staff Kenobi has gifted him as a prize for Mandalore’s successful invasion. Maul remembers being skeptic and perplexed when it happened, not understanding of what use such a refined weapon could have for a clone, but now he knows, he knows well. It’s the most appropriate weapon for someone like Cody, a fitting instrument of death. He’s holding it tightly, posture still rigid, as if he’s expecting other Jedi to show up, but Maul can feel the Force, he knows that they’ve eliminated everyone.

It’s then that he notices that he’s covered in blood; well, it isn’t something that unheard of, when it comes to Cody, since the beskar staff is a blunt weapon unlike lightsabers, but there something about him being covered in blood now of all times, looking beautiful in his carnage, that makes Maul feel dizzy.

 He wants. He wants to taste him so bad.

 He approaches him with long strides. Cody doesn’t even notice him, busy as he is catching his breath after the long fight. Maul doesn’t care.

The force he uses to grab his face and crash their lips together might be exaggerated, but Cody replies in kind, pushing back against Maul immediately; he’s not even the least bit surprised, which does irritate Maul a bit: he hoped he could’ve taken him by surprise, but like this it seems more like he’s seen it coming already. Thinking about it, he’s not that wrong. Maybe it was just a matter of time…

It hardly matters now, not when Maul can taste blood on Cody’s lips, unsure if it’s their enemies, Cody’s or his, with the aggressive way they keep kissing, all tongue and teeth, exactly how Maul likes it.

There’s a loud clang, informing him of the fact that Cody has dropped his staff, using his now free arms to circle Maul’s waist, pulling him closer. Being enveloped in his arms feels good, better than Maul thought it would ever fill; normally he isn’t fond of such things, Obi-Wan knows it well: it makes him feel soft, which in turn makes him feel weak, and he doesn’t like feeling weak. With Cody it’s different: there is the fact that he’s taller, that’s still annoying, but for once the feeling that spreads inside Maul isn’t one of rage. It’s like they were meant to be like this. He doesn’t know why he feels like this, but it’s also true that at the moment he’s not really in the mood for some self-reflection - when is he ever?

He cups Cody’s face in his hands, keeping him close in the kiss. He should’ve taken his gloves off, because then he would’ve been able to feel Cody better. How would the bite scar or his cheek feel against his bare fingers? Maul can’t help but to wonder. If he remembers correctly, one of Cody’s brothers - why he insists on calling them that is beyond him - gave it to him, before Cody himself had to kill him. What would Maul make him feel if he touches it? Would he remember? Would he suffer? Would he be angry? So many possibilities, and yet…

 They pull away at the same time, eyes blown wide at the realization of what they’ve just done. There’s silence around them, which is good, because if even one trooper tried to utter a word about this, they’d all be dead.

“We still have to report back,” Cody states, clearing his throat. He bends down to take the beskar staff, and Maul isn’t ashamed at all in the way he checks him out as he does so - what? They’ve kissed already, this shouldn’t be weird.

He extends a hand, reaching into the Force, and in a moment Cody’s bucket, lost in the rabble, shoots up towards him. Maul grabs it and hands it to Cody, but not before leaning closer, licking a vertical stripe along Cody’s lips.

“This isn’t over,” he says, voice sounding more like a threat than anything else, but it still brings as smile to Cody’s face. He nods, before putting his bucket back on. Shame.

 With that, the two walk back towards the ship, trusting the rest of the crew with the cleanup process. Now the have to report back to Kenobi, to announce their victory, then… Then who knows.

The trepidation Maul is feeling right now is unlike any other sentiment he’s ever felt. He can’t wait to see how things will evolve from now on.

Oh, the face Obi-Wan will make when they come back to him… It’s going to be so good.

[colehasapen]

(ONE SHOT) kir'manir STAR WARS

He had gotten them out.

They were free.

Pirates had attacked the spice rig, and Jango had taken his chance when he saw it, gathering Ob’ika to his side the moment the ship had started to shake. He had taken the pick he had been using to crack stone open and turned it on the nearest slaver. Jango had made sure to keep his tiny adiik behind him as he brought the improvised weapon down on the overseer’s head over and over and over again until it was nothing more than a mess of fractured bone and gore. Obi-Wan was just a child - freshly thirteen by the boy’s own estimate, but still an adiik until he either triumphed in his verd’goten and earned his beskar’gam, or turned eighteen by Human Core-standards - and he didn’t didn’t need to see the damages Jango’s rage had wrought. He had kept his ad’ika behind his back as they’d made their way through the transport, picking off slavers and pirates alike as they hurried down the halls, weapons in hand. He’d found the keys for the cuffs on the fourth guard he’d killed, and he’d watched with pride as Ob’ika had grimly helped him pat down any bodies they came across, coming up with credits and weapons and the small pouches of spice they’d need to use to wean themselves off the drugs in their systems.

They’d come across a dead Jawa pirate that had been killed by a shot through the head, and he’d stripped the being of it’s belongings, long robes included, to offer to the adiik as protection. It would offer him more warmth than the shredded, bloodstained tunic he had already been wearing, and would fit him better than anything they’d get off of the taller beings. His adiik was only a little taller than a full-grown Jawa after all, and the sizes of the weapons would fit better in his hands. It would do, at least until Jango could get him a kute that would fit him.

They had gotten off the transport, had stolen the Master’s own ship out from under him while the overseers were attempting to fight the pirates off. They were finally free.

The shuttle had been fully stocked, thankfully, and Jango had made sure to clean and dress all of Ob’ika’s wounds before he had carried the sleeping child to the large bed in the main quarters, clean for the first time since before Jango had claimed him, and looking so small and delicate as he slept. He had stitched every lash on his tiny back closed, generously applied bacta to the wounds and hoping they wouldn’t scar, and then he had sat back and watched over his ad’ika as he slept peacefully.

He had wondered, watching as the little boy breathed, if Obi-Wan had a family to return to, beyond the brother that had sold him. Obi-Wan hadn’t brought it up, not over the months they had spent together as Jango taught him Mando’a and told him stories of happier times. He had seemed hesitant to mention anything from his past, like he couldn’t bear to think about it, and Jango couldn’t help but wonder if, with their freedom won, Obi-Wan would want to go home.

Jango didn’t want to give the adiik back, he didn’t want to be alone again. But if Obi-Wan asked it of him, he’d fly their stolen ship into the heart of the Core and deliver him safely into the arms of his family. Jango already loved the child as if he were his own ad’ika, it didn’t matter if he wasn’t old enough to be the boy’s buir or that their respective ages put them closer to being vod’e, but if Ob’ika didn’t want to stay with him, he’d let him go. He’d find the adiik’s family, or find him a new home if Obi-Wan didn’t want him, because that’s what Jas’buir would have done for him.

Jango hadn’t slept that night cycle, and he couldn’t bring up those thoughts afterwards. He had gone about cleaning himself up instead. He had shaved for the first time since that last morning on Galidraan, in camp and with Myles cheerfully draped over his shoulders, ever the disgustingly happy morning person. It had been the last time he had touched his venriduur’s skin, the last time he had kissed his lips and seen his face, because they had gone on patrol afterwards and returned to find the Jetiise murdering their aliit. Jango had forced himself away from those thoughts. He had let Obi-Wan trim his hair for him when the ad’ika had wanted to feel useful, and Jango had ended up with a choppy look straight out of his childhood - he’d even let his ad’ika pull it back in a nerftail with a gold ribbon they had found lying around.

It was a fitting colour, though he doubted Obi-Wan knew - their lessons hadn't covered what colours meant to a Mando’ad yet.

Now, once again clad in beskar’gam, and feeling like himself again for the first time since he had been stripped of his honour and purpose, Jango marches towards the clearing that had once been used as a Haat’ade camp, a quiet Obi-Wan clinging to his back and a burning mansion left behind them. He feels whole now, having been reunited with his armour, and maybe he should have thanked the aruetyc shabuir Governor for stripping his beskar’gam of it’s paint before he had shot him between the eyes. It would save him the trouble of having to find the specialized solvent himself.

But he hadn’t, of course, because the shabuir would have needed to comb through the Haat’ade belongings for the kind of solvent that was needed to strip beskar'gam of the specially made Mando paints.

“You killed him.” Obi-Wan says quietly, resting a freckled cheek against Jango’s pauldron, and his voice sounds wet. He’s not accusing, or scared, but instead he sounds confused.

“I did.” He acknowledges, because it was what Jas’buir would have done. Jaster had always been honest with him, and it was the least Jango could do to be the same with Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan sighs, warm breath fanning across the sliver of skin that was showing between the neck of his kute and his buy’ce. “He wasn’t armed.” The kid murmurs, “He wasn’t a threat.”

“Not yet.” Jango replies roughly, swallowing around the lump in his throat. He hadn’t thought the Governor was a threat either, and his people had suffered for it. “But men like that don’t need to be armed to be dangerous.” He tells the adiik, “They have connections, and power they abuse.” Jango sighs angrily, pushing away the images of all the verde who died because Jango chose the wrong contract.

“But does that mean he deserved to die?” Ob’ika asks, and - Ka’ra, Jango doesn’t think he had ever been that innocent.

His innocence had died with his Buire and Arla, and he had learned quickly what lengths he was willing to go to for vengeance and aliit. It was a shock that Obi-Wan’s hadn’t been beaten out of him, but his ad’ika had already proved that his innocence wasn’t a weakness - he had killed to get them off that rig too. He had shot one of the overseers through the eye to protect Jango.

“He would have never paid for his crimes otherwise, kid.” Jango states bluntly. “There’s no justice in the galaxy, not unless we make it.”

“That’s not right!” Obi-Wan says shrilly, jerking in his arms. “That’s not justice - that’s vengeance! The Jedi-”

Anger flares in Jango’s gut, burning and all-consuming. “The Jedi killed my people!” He snaps, and Obi-Wan flinches. Vibrating with the amount of fury in his bones, Jango lets the kid slide off of him, and he turns to face him. His body is tightly wound with restraint, and clenched fists shaking at his side. “They saw Mando’ade and decided that we deserved to die for some perceived crime. They slaughtered them, and when I was the last one left they gave me to the Governor and had me sold into slavery!”

Obi-Wan curls away from him, eyes wide and teary, and he whimpers. The sound makes Jango flinch. He steps back, tries to reign his rage in, and the weight of it sends him crashing to his knees.

Jango chokes on a breath, pulls off his buy’ce, and lets out a harsh sob as he curls around it, hugging the beskar like he had once hugged Jaster, looking for comfort it couldn’t give him. “Is that right?” He gasps, tears and salty as they pour down his cheeks in over a year’s worth of grief and anguish.

Small, wrapped hands reach forward hesitantly, before they press against Jango’s cheeks and pull his attention away from the dirt his people died on. Obi-Wan is crying too, silent tears dripping down freckled cheeks, and he looks horrified. “The - the Jedi killed them?” He asks, and Jango nods.

“‘Lek.”

The kid lets out a shuddering breath that turns into a hiccup, and Jango reaches forwards, carefully telegraphing his movements to give the adiik plenty of time to move away if he wants to. Obi-Wan doesn’t, and Jango curls his hand around the back of his verd’ika’s neck, pressing his thumb to his pulse to ground himself. “I’m sorry, Jango.” Obi-Wan whispers, blinking quickly, tears caught on his lashes, and Jango makes a nonsensical noise of denial, but the frantic shake of the adiik’s head quiets the Mando. “I-I’m not a Jedi - I wasn’t good enough to be one.”

Jango jolts, as if struck, and he stares at the little redhead in shock. “You’re-” He can’t bring himself to say it. He’s angry, for a moment, that Obi-Wan had kept such a thing from him, but he knows how much Force Sensitive children go on the slave market - it had probably been safer that Obi-Wan hadn’t said anything.

“Not anymore.” Obi-Wan sniffles, “They sent me away.”

“They sent you away.” Jango echoes, a different kind of anger blooming in his stomach. They had sent him away, they hadn’t protected him, and Obi-Wan had been sold into a life no one deserved.

“Anyone can choose to leave the Order,” Obi-Wan explains quietly, “We’re taught that as we grow. The life of a Jedi isn’t for everyone - we’re supposed to dedicate ourselves to bringing peace and balance to the galaxy, and it’s not the life everyone wants for themselves. There’s no shame in leaving, everyone gets a choice.” Ob’ika shivers slightly. “I didn’t.” He admits, and Jango draws him closer, into his lap. His own problems seem unimportant now, in the face of the adiik opening up and trusting him. “They said I was too angry to be a good Jedi - that I liked fighting too much. They tell us that if a Jedi needs to fight, then they’ve already lost, because we should always find the peaceful solution. I was just going to Fall, so it wasn’t worth training me.” Obi-Wan hiccups. “They didn’t give me a choice - they just sent me away.” And with those words, his ad’ika crumbles into tears, sobbing with lost opportunities and the choices that were stolen from him, and all Jango can do is hold him closer.

“Do you have anywhere you can go, ad’ika?” Jango asks quietly as the tears slow, and the thin arms around his chest tighten. “Any family you could go to?”

Obi-Wan sniffles again, “Kenobi means child of no-one in Joni.” He says, and it enrages Jango to hear such a statement said so flippantly. “And Obi-Wan means cursed child - I think the answer is obvious.”

“Shabuire dar’buire.” Jango says passionately, and Ob’ika snorts wetly, pressing his runny nose against Jango’s neck. The Mando’ad takes a slow, determined breath. “You could stay with me, if you’d like. I don’t have much, not anymore, but I’d look after you.”

Obi-Wan stills, and he pulls away just enough to stare up at Jango with shock, something hopeful dawning in blue-grey eyes. “You-” his voice shakes, “-you want me?”

“Ni kyr’tayl gai sa’ad, Obi-Wan be Fett be Mereel.” Jango says fiercely, and Obi-Wan blinks. “I know your name as my child, Obi-Wan of Fett or Mereel.” He repeats in Basic, and his ad’ika sucks in a shuddering breath, eyes widening in awe. He slides his hand up to cradle Obi-Wan’s head, and he pulls him closer to give him a gentle kov’nyn. “If that’s what you’d like.” Jango tacks on hesitantly, and he watches as a wide, heart-breakingly sweet smile grows on the adiik’s small face.

“Gedet’ye.” He warbles, wrapping his arms around Jango’s neck, leaning into the kov’nyn, his eyes fluttering shut.

Jango does the same, breathing in another person’s runi and sharing his own for the first time in over a year. “Olarom, ad’ika.”

“Olarom, Buir.”

(In which Cole forgot to post something, like a fool)

[ryder-s-block]

Jaig Eyes (Ch 55)

Jaig Eyes (55/?)

Summary:

Kida, a former slave who now thrives as a bounty hunter, finds herself sucked into the war she advised Jango Fett against. Now that she’s involved, she has to finally mourn the loss of Jango, seeing his face in the clones that man the GAR. What happens when she allows herself to get attached to one, not for his resemblance to her former mentor, but for his heart?

————————-

Chapter Fifty-Five: Another One Bites the Dust

Padme watched me quietly as I finished catching her up on all she’d missed. I left very little out, trusting the woman with my life. Her lips were pursed with sadness, but determination as I finished, telling her about Echo and Piell.

“I’m so sorry,” she offered, finally getting up from her desk and moving to sit in the seat beside mine, her soft hand touching my pants. I’d chosen to take off my armor, having it put in a crate and returned to my shuttle. I was wearing civilian clothes, as the clones like to call them--black pants with my boots, and a soft leather jacket over my light green shirt. My hair, now washed after I took advantage of my private fresher on the Star Destroyer, was pulled back from my face in a messy ponytail.

I fidgeted under her affection, the woman leaving her hand on my knee stubbornly. She was going to show me love, whether I liked it or not.

“I’m glad you’re safe, though. And Anakin. And Ahsoka.”

I nodded. “I...I’m sad. But I also know there was nothing I could do. I could feel it. I knew we were going to lose him.”

Padme looked at me sadly, but said nothing more of it, choosing to change the subject. “Well? Let me see.”

I rolled my eyes, but pulled my lightsaber from inside my jacket. I’d elected not to leave it on my shuttle. Despite being on good terms with the Jedi now, I didn’t trust them to not have their suspicions and worries still. If my use of my lightsaber was something they disapproved of, they’d have to take it up with me directly, rather than swipe it from my things.

Padme accepted the lightsaber hilt hesitantly, examining the handiwork of the Armorer. “This craftsmanship is amazing. You did this yourself?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Who, then?” I gave her a look. “You won’t tell me?”

“More like, I can’t tell you,” I did my best to reason. “Go ahead. Turn it on.” The senator’s eyes widened with fright for a moment, but I only laughed. “Come on. Skywalker told me about how you had his lightsaber when Bane held you hostage.”

“For a moment,” she argued breathlessly. “And it was only to free Ani.” Her voice wavered slightly with uncertainty as she accidentally said Anakin’s nickname. I liked hearing her slip up and say it. Not only was it endearing to see their relationship work in trying times, but it also showed her easiness around me.

“Oh, come on,” I pushed gently, reaching over to guide her thumb over the ignition. The lightsaber hummed to life in her hand, her muscles tensing. I nudged her gently with my mind, easing her worries away. 

That was something I was finding easier--using the Force within my mind. I struggled projecting it in a physical way. But it helped me see and sense the world better...as well as into minds easier.

Maybe I’d bring it up to Obi-wan or Anakin sometime.

“It’s white,” she breathed. “I’ve never seen one like this before.”

I shrugged, smiling as she gave the saber an experimental swish through the air. “It was actually green, once, when it was first harvested by a Jedi Padawan.” Padme’s brows furrowed with worry, but I waved it off with a grin. “I didn’t steal it, I promise. It was my ancestor’s...the one that first mixed blood with Sith.”

“Oh,” was all she offered, shocked.

“I found the blade in my travels, and it was red. When a Force-wielder pours rage and hatred into their kyber, it breaks, and thus, bleeds. This makes it red.”

“So it was a Fallen Jedi’s?”

I nodded. “The crystal called to me. Over time, I was able to heal it, which makes it white. Because it isn’t perfect,” I explained as I took the lightsaber back, my kyber humming happily. “It still has scars, but it isn’t bleeding anymore.”

With a final spin, I disengaged the blade, tucking the hilt back under my jacket. Padme smiled at me. “You seem to have everything figured out.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I joked, but appreciated the compliment. We both chuckled as the doors hissed open, revealing Anakin.

“Ani,” Padme expressed happily as he entered. He gave her a genuine, but tired smile. When the senator hesitated for a moment, I rolled my eyes.

“Just go,” I offered with a laugh. “I won’t look.” I turned my face away as the senator ran across the room and threw herself into her husband’s embrace. I gave them a moment before looking back to Anakin, who was following Padme towards the couch opposite me. “So? Is the information all set and ready to use?”

A darkness rippled off of the young Jedi as he scowled. “No. Master Yoda is trying to figure things out with the chancellor now. But Ahsoka was instructed to tell the Council her information, whereas Tarkin will only bring it to the chancellor.”

I frowned, looking between them. “But...they’re on the same side. What should it matter?”

“One would think,” Padme sighed as she stood. “Come on, Anakin. We should see what we can do to help.”

I could feel Anakin’s weariness. His desperation to lay down and sleep, holding his wife beside him. To feel safe.

It was a feeling most warriors such as us experienced.

“Now what?” I asked, still lounging in my seat. “Where’s everyone else?”

Anakin cracked his neck tiredly as he stood. “Ahsoka is with the Council still, and I assume Tarkin is with the chancellor. The men have been given a temporary leave while this gets sorted out.” He paused, glancing back at me. “Technically, your contract has been filled. You’re free to leave any time, Kida. Credits will be wired to you.” 

He gave me a genuine, unjudging smile as he left the room, but I still couldn't help but feel guilty. I was being paid for a mission that might not even lead to anything. Not to mention, people I cared for died on that mission. Did I even really help at all?

A thought occurred to me at that moment. “Skywalker,” I called after him as I raced from the senator’s office. He turned in the hallway, raising his brow. “You have to convince them to come to an agreement. We can’t let Echo die for nothing.” His lips pressed into a line as he nodded before following his wife towards the chancellor’s study.

I watched them leave before heading towards the exit myself. If this turned out to be all for nothing, I didn’t want Fives to be sober when he heard it.

-------------------------------------

Commander Fox almost didn’t let me in. He stood in front of my shuttle as I descended the gangway, arms crossed. “Do you have orders to be here?”

“No,” I started, trying to explain. But I was cut off.

“Leave the premises immediately,” he ordered, his soldiers drawing their weapons. “All trespassers without clearance will be arrested.”

I growled lowly in my throat, popping my hip defiantly. “Come on, Fox. The GAR lost an ARC trooper on our mission. A friend of mine. One of your brothers.” He paused for a moment and I felt his mind shift slightly away from his training. Despite working as the leader of the Coruscant Guard, he had experienced losing his brothers, too.

“State your purpose.” He was curt, but he was letting me speak, at least.

“The soldiers I was fighting with have been given shore leave. To celebrate their fallen brothers, I’ve decided to take them out for a drink. Or two.”

Fox’s helmet hissed as he let out a long breath of air. “Fine.” His men dropped their weapons immediately, some of them seeming a bit surprised. “But no one better miss their orders and I better not find you here again after you all leave.” I knew what he was insinuating as he jutted his finger towards me.

“Relax, Commander,” I teased as I descended my gangway, tapping my mini wrist gauntlet to close it behind me. “I’ll take good care of them.” I knew I was only playing into a very twisted vision Fox had of me….but I couldn’t help it. Playing the part was a large portion of my work. And to be honest, it was pretty fun sometimes.

I strode past his squadron with playful purpose, following the mental map I’d retained from my last time there. It wasn’t long before I found the barracks for the 501st, most of which had been on leave for most, if not all, of the previous mission’s time. I leaned cockily against the metal doorframe as I gazed into the barracks, scanning for my friends.

I spotted them finally, sensing the despair Fives was feeling in the far corner of the barracks. Looks were cast my way as I walked through the rows of beds confidently. Some recognized me, some didn’t.

Most were just shocked to see a woman in their barracks. With no armor on, for that matter.

“Kida Fett,” a voice sounded, making me turn and see the tattooed face of Hardcase. I gave him a smile as he threw his arm around me. “I’m glad you’re here. We are trying to convince Fives over there to try and have a good time.”

“How convenient,” I projected, the room quieting slightly as I spoke. “I was here to do the very same thing.”

Hardcase let out a boisterous laugh, slapping me on the back as I pushed past him to stand behind Fives. The ARC trooper was hunched over on his bed, his back turned to me. He was only in his blacks.

“Trooper,” I said in my firmest tone. “What are you doing?” I could tell he wasn’t focused by how fast he leapt to his feet, immediately saluting as he turned. “Sir, I was--” he stopped when he saw it was me, rolling his eyes with a scoff. “Kida. Stop it.”

“Oh, I was just teasing,” I tried, but he turned away from me, sitting back down. I sighed, touching his shoulder gently. “Come on. Take it from me….it doesn’t do well to dwell on it. No more mourning.” I leaned down, squeezing his shoulder. “Let’s celebrate him, instead.”

Kix appeared at my side, offering me a cup filled with what smelled like rum. I took it, taking a long sip that burned my nose, before moving it into FIve’s field of vision. I nudged it towards his hand, smiling as he finally took it.

The trooper swallowed thickly before downing the entire cup in one go. He shook his head, coughing at the dry taste, before nodding. He stood and turned to me, wiping the sides of his mouth. “Alright. And I’m going to drink you under the table, just like I always did to Echo.”

I grinned. “I’d like to see you try.”

The clones around me cheered, everyone punching my shoulder playfully. I recognized most of the group that was currently gathered around us. Hardcase, Fives, and Kix, of course. But also Jesse, Tup, Appo, and Dogma. I gave them all smiles, accepting a cup of liquor from Jesse, who threw his arm around me.

“Your nose looks great,” I teased. “Almost like it was never broken.” 

He laughed heartily, before looking around at the group. “Alright, you sacks of osik!” he cried, obviously already a few drinks deep. “It’s time we took this celebration to 79’s!”

I scowled, throwing his arm off of me. “79’s? That’s where you guys think is a good time?”

���Oh, come on, Kida,” Kix teased. “It’s the only place we really have fun.” I knew what he meant--a lot of bar patrons weren’t too kind to clones. Especially when below the surface. 

I rolled my eyes playfully to avoid the subject. “Fine.” They cheered, the group practically carrying me from the barracks and onto a shuttle they hailed. It was a civilian shuttle, meaning we earned plenty of looks as a lone girl piled in with five clones, Dogma and Appo staying behind for duty that night.

The clones were shamelessly boisterous on the transport, making me smile easily. Despite the looks--ones I knew the clones were noticing--they kept on living as they deemed fit. They weren’t given a lot of time to experience life, after all. They were going to enjoy it while they could.

The transport stopped at 79’s quickly, much to the relief of the civilian passengers. I stuck my tongue out at one woman that was giving us a dirty look. “They die for your freedom, skanah,” I scowled. “Show some respect.”

My language earned a raised eyebrow from Kix and Fives, but neither said anything as we entered the clone bar. It was filled with drunken clones, all in various states of dress. Some were in their blacks. Some in their casuals. Some even had their armor still on.

“Come on, Kida!” Tup shouted, making me find him in the crowd at the bar. “Take a shot with us!”

I sighed inwardly, knowing I was in for a long night. We took the shot--something minty and tart--together, all of them cheering and immediately demanding another.

Three consecutive shots later, I was already wishing I’d eaten more of the food in Padme’s office than I had. Hardcase pushed an incredibly strong drink into my hand before herding me over to a booth with the others.

“Alright, alright,” he laughed as he shoved himself into the booth after me, his arm going over my shoulder. I rolled my eyes, not caring enough to stop him. “Jesse, you know the drill.” Said clone sat up straight in the booth, listening closely to his brother. “Senator Dio or Senator Amidala?”

My eyebrow raised immediately as Jesse rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Come now, that’s an easy one,” Hardcase laughed, leaning into me more.

“Oh?” Kix asked, taking a long drink. “If you know the answer, why’d you ask it?”

“I wanna know what he thinks!”

“I’m sorry,” I interrupted, putting up my hand. “What is the game here?”

“Who’d you rather,” Jesse answered matter-of-factly, giving me a look. I gaped, glancing between the men as it registered. It took only a second for me to bust out laughing. Oh….if Anakin only knew that his men were debating the sexiness of his wife.

“That’s easy,” a drunken clone proclaimed as he leaned over the back of the booth, breathing down my neck. I flinched, looking back at him with a crinkled nose. “Senator Amidala is a smoke show! Dio has nothing on her. Imagine her in a small, tight, little--”

“Okay!” I cried, roughly throwing off Hardcase as I forced my way out of the booth. “Next round of shots is on me!”

They cheered, none of them caring that I was dodging hearing more about Padme in some sexy getup for the clone’s entertainment. I couldn't really blame them, though. It wasn’t like the Republic let them have spouses or anything. What alternative did they have? Aside from--

A grin crept to my lips as I piled the next round of shots on a tray, carrying them to the table of clones.They had moved on from their game, all of their drinks already gone as they debated who would win the next podrace on the holonet.

“I have a proposition for a new plan,” I proclaimed as I set the tray down before them. We each lifted our individual shot glasses to our lips, downing them easily. I continued after we took them. “Instead of talking about girls and sitting here in a bar with, frankly,” I glanced around at the clone-filled bar, “A bit too much testosterone, let’s go somewhere more fun.”

“Kida, we already--” Kix started, but I held up my hand. 

After accepting the drink Jesse handed to me, I smiled at them. “I know you guys don’t have great experiences at bars outside of this one. But I know a pretty good club that won’t turn you away or treat you differently. If anything, you’ll be treated better, because I know the owner.”

They were interested. Fives knew what I meant, the ARC trooper giving me a smile. “Oh, do you?” he asked.

I smiled. “I do. Shall we?” I downed my drink quickly, feeling myself wobble just slightly. 

“I’d be willing,” Fives offered, leaning back in his seat. “If,” he stopped, looking me in the eye with a devilish twinkle. “The unstoppable Kida Fett can complete a task.”

I scowled at my friend, but accepted. “And what’s that?”

Fives’ smile should have warned me. His eyes shifted past me, looking towards a back booth. “I’ll go to your club, if you can convince our good captain to come along, too.”

My blood went cold as I realized what he meant. My senses prickled, notifying me of the familiar presences in the corner booth--Cody and Rex. I swallowed thickly before turning, spying them both still in their armor, each with a hand firmly wrapped around a drink.

Grinding my teeth together, I scowled back at my chuckling friends. “She’ll never be able to,” Hardcase determined, shaking his head. “There’s no way we can get our captain to a club, especially with it being on the lower levels.”

I pursed my lips, looking back at Rex, who had certainly seen us, but elected to stay away. “You actually want your commanding officer to party with you?” I asked over my shoulder.

“Of course we do,” Fives grinned back. “Or are you just asking because you’re afraid you can’t.”

“The captain doesn’t party like that,” Kix said with a shrug, giving me a defeated look. “Sorry, kid. I don’t think you have a chance on this one.”

“He doesn’t party,” I repeated in a mutter as I watched Rex down the rest of his drink. “Then what’s he doing here?” With a deviously confident look over my shoulder at my drinking pals, I strode across the bar, hearing them cheer drunkenly behind me.

It took a bit longer than I expected, since I didn’t want to be spotted as I approached and had to navigate the drunken crowd of clones. But, when I arrived, it was perfect.

“Your drink is looking a bit low, Captain,” I said formally, with a light tone to my words. Rex looked up with a start, Cody doing the same.

“Fett,” Cody greeted, surprised by my presence. “What are you doing here?”

I jutted my thumb back behind me towards the drunken group of 501st clones. “Celebrating Echo. You?”

Rex swallowed thickly, his fingers twisting his empty cup on the table endlessly. “Trying to relax,” Cody tried, heavily implying that I was impeding that attempt.

I let the hint slide off of me as if I never noticed it. “I have a wonderful plan for that. The guys and I are actually heading to a different bar, if you want to join.”

Cody cleared his throat, finishing off his drink. “As much as I’d love to, I have to get back. General Kenobi wanted my report by the morning.”

He rose from his seat, making me back up as he moved to leave. I shifted on my feet anxiously. “Okay, well then, Captain. It looks like you have no one to drink with.”

Rex offered me a gentle smile, but he looked tired. He tilted his empty cup upside down to show me. “And nothing to drink. Sorry, Kida. Maybe another time.”

He moved to walk after Cody, who has stopped near the door to wait for his friend. I stopped his with a hand on his elbow. “Rex,” I whispered. “Come on. Fives asked for you personally.”

His golden gaze turned to me seriously. “It’s more likely he wanted to put you in an uncomfortable situation. Or me.” He glanced over my shoulder, most likely to see his men grinning at us drunkenly.

“Who cares?” I asked suddenly, taking him by surprise. “Come on. I know you have leave time. Come with us. Please?” I gave him my best pouty face that I could muster--a symptom of the alcohol unfortunately.

Finally, Rex rolled his eyes, turning to wave Cody on. Cody gave Rex a rare smile before nodding and leaving the bar alone. Rex looked back at me seriously. “So what have I agreed to? Where are we going?”

I gave him a wide, devious smile, but didn’t answer, waving to my friends to come join us. “Let’s go!” I yelled over the din of the bar, pointing to my wrist comm. It was flashing with Apex’s message that our ride had arrived. 

I couldn’t help but smile as we left the bar together, Fives and Kix throwing their arms around Rex. I was going to give them the party of their lives. I would make them forget. 

Forget about the war. And the brothers they’ve lost. Forget about the certainty that they’d lose more. And the likelihood that it could be them. 

-------------------------------

The Fury Club was busy that night. Walking up to the door was out of the question--not because I had clones with me, but because I was not about to wait in line to get into my own damn club. I rolled my eyes, gesturing for the clones to follow me around the back alley. It stunk of trash and probably vomit, but it hid the back door to my club well. I pressed my thumb against the print lock, the door buzzing as it hissed open. I led them in, their faces blushing as we passed my workers.

The back door led to the service hallways--much of which were lined with costuming and makeup rooms for the performers. The girls were all sweet things, though many had their own run-ins with the law. Who was I to judge on that, anyways? They knew how to play their game and make their money, though.

In the back, they were sweet and goofy. On the floor, they were flirtatious and docile. Fierce and sexy. But I suppose that depended on the clientele. 

We were met with a chorus of giggles as the clones walked past the changing rooms. Their tan skin flushed darker with embarrassment, but I only laughed. “Relax,” I teased my friends. “They’re exotic dancers. They’re usually dressed like that,” I assured, referring to the skimpy clothing the girls were wearing.

I led them to the access door, gesturing them forward. “The main floor is in there. I’ll send one of the girls out to tell Merl your drinks are on the house tonight.” 

“You coming?” Fives asked as he walked past me into the flashing lights of my club. 

“Of course,” I assured him. “I just need to get the last of us club ready.” I glanced pointedly at Rex, who was still wearing his weapons and armor. Fives and Kix chuckled as they walked past me, my hand reaching out to press against the captain’s chest-plate.

“What?” he asked, glancing nervously between the clones and I.

“I don’t allow weapons in my club, Rex.”

He gave me an incredulous look. “As if you’re not carrying a weapon right now.”

“I own this club,” I argued, giving him a gentle shove as I closed the door, sealing us away from the club again. “Now come on.” I pushed past him, dragging him with me by his forearm.

Despite his hesitations, I felt his mind and body begin to relax. An easy smile fell on his lips, a small chuckle erupting from his throat as he let me pull him along. I dragged him into the my private lift, which wasn’t my brightest idea. It was rather small, since it was usually only used by me.

We were standing pretty close, his knuckles grazing my arm where they wrapped around his helmet at his side. The alcohol was making me….fuzzy. I shook myself mentally, forcing myself to focus as the hydraulic doors slid open.

Taking initiative, I stepped out first, moving immediately to the wardrobe door on the far side of my office. Rex was slower in his advance through the room, taking it in slowly. His golden eyes scanned over the case of weaponry I had on display--some I used and some I just found fascinating in my travels. I had trophies--things I’d taken from meaningful jobs. A piece of bloodied shrapnel that had been lodged in my thigh for hours during a stakeout mission that went south, forcing me to have to sit in pained silence until it was safe to move. A mask given to me by the witch doctor of a village I once helped protect from pirates. A small drum-like instrument from a revolutionary I protected from assassins. 

Next he turned to examine the empty metal figure that stood against the wall, devoid of the Mandalorian armor that usually sits on it. Alternative gadgets and ammunition was stocked neatly along the mannequin's base--it was a bounty hunter’s dream office.

“Here,” I said to get his attention as I reentered the room. “These should fit you.” I handed him the clothes I’d picked out from a stash I’d collected over time, whether from bar patrons, bounty hunting, or….visitors.

He looked around the room nervously, earning a pair of rolling eyes from me. I gestured to the wardrobe I’d emerged from, pointing him off to change. While he was in there, I drew out my spiced rum, pouring two decent sized shots. 

When he emerged, I went silent, my drunken mind slowing to a full stop. Rex seemed uncomfortable in the civilian attire. But man….did it look good on him. I’d chosen a pair of black pants with black boots, as well as a gray shirt. His jacket was a deep maroon color with a low collar.

“I feel ridiculous.”

I let out a laugh as he fidgeted under my appraising gaze. “You look great,” I assured, sitting on the desk and lifting the glasses. “Come on and take a shot with me.”

He didn’t argue, piling his neatly stacked armor and weapons on a table in the corner before approaching. His brow lifted as he accepted his glass touching the rim against mine. “How many of these have you had?” he asked, breathing past the sting of the liquor.

“Why? Trying to match me?”

Rex tried to give me a stern look, but failed, letting out a small laugh instead. He didn’t refuse as I poured him another shot. He still seemed uncomfortable, shifting in his jacket endlessly. “Rex,” I said, touching my fingers to the inside of his wrist, blocking him from taking the next shot. “Relax. Tonight is about celebrating. Besides, I would never let my guests look ridiculous while they’re in my care.” I paused for a moment. “Unless they’re an asshole and they deserve it.”

Rex chuckled easily, already loosening up. Whether it was from the alcohol or the gentle pressure of my hand on his pulse though, I couldn’t say. “I’m pretty sure you’ve called me an ass before.”

I wiggled my eyebrows at him teasingly before releasing my hold and downing my own shot. The captain dressed in civvies mimicked me, giving me an easy smile over the burn of the alcohol.

“Fives is going to tease me about this all night,” he commented, lifting the flap of the jacket to examine the stitched interior.

I couldn’t help but laughed. “Possibly, but he’s got no taste anyways.” I leaned closer to where he leaned against the desk, whispering comically, “He’s a clone, you know.”

“I knew that, oddly enough.”

“Don’t worry,” I assured, distancing myself from him again since he hadn’t reacted. “You’ll all have things to tease each other about tonight if everything goes as planned.” Rex lifted a weary eyebrow, to which I only responded to with a wry grin.

It was silent for a beat as we gazed at each other. We had never discussed...us...since our encounter after Mortis. The Citadel was a whirlwind of fighting and survival and loss. Aside from the small gestures of comfort and our short disagreement, we hadn’t talked. 

Yet despite the year of being apart, aside from the most recent meetings, it felt like nothing had changed….yet everything had. The air was charged with electricity as we smiled at each other. They were soft. Endearing. Genuine.

I’d found that Rex was rare to smile, but when he did, he meant it. It was always a pure look that crinkled the skin on his face and brought a light to his eyes. It would recede again swiftly after the moment, but I loved seeing him like that.

My smiles, however, were often forced. Or fake, altogether. Bounty hunting was an act as much as it was a skill set. Smiles and batting eyelashes were needed for certain jobs or clients. Deadly stares and intimidating snarls were needed for others.

But with Rex, in soft moments like these, where we could forget everything that had once, and continued to, hold us back….my smiles were always genuine. And they came with a flush of warmth through my body like a warm embrace, heating my chest as my heart fluttered against my ribs.

Rex was the first to snap out of it, clearing his throat as if experiencing an after effect of the alcohol. “We should probably join the men.”

I shifted uncomfortably on the desk, running my hair through the wisps of silvery hair that was falling from my ponytail. “Of course. We wouldn’t want to keep them waiting.” I felt like I covered the disappointment in my voice well, but even with the time apart, Rex was still able to read me. He gave me a small, contemplative frown as I hopped off the desk, filling a final hefty shot for us both.

Knocking mine back, I handed the bottle to Rex as I sauntered into the wardrobe. I was feeling the liquor. A lot. I could tell as I pulled out a silvery sleeved dress from my lines of clothes Rouva had collected for me over the years. I found sparkling heels to pair with it, pulling my hair from its tie and giving it a shake. Rouva had taught me to do simple makeout, my brushes running easily over my face to line my eyes and paint my lips.

I emerged, the shining fabric sliding over my thighs and tickling my knees where the hem rested. It was a plunging back, revealing my many criss-crossing scars, as well as my Jaig eye tattoos.

Rex seemed shocked, looking up from his glass of rum with wide eyes. He stood abruptly from where he leaned on the desk, his back straightening. “Kida. You look…” he cleared his throat, unsure what to say.

I let out an easy chuckle, amused by this game. If he wanted to avoid me while obviously avoiding the energy in the room….then fine. I’d play. But I was a competitive spirit.

And I wasn’t about to lose this game.

“Come on,” I said airily, taking his glass from him and downing the contents. He watched me, completely still aside for his chest rising. His gaze was intense as his eyes followed me, full lips parted slightly. I set the empty glass down beside him on the desk, flashing him what I knew was a dazzling smile--it was the one I used on targets I flirted into my grasp. “The show is about to start.”

Instead of taking the private lift, as tempting as the notion was to make Rex uncomfortable...I figured I could make it even worse. I exited through the main door--the one that opened above my club, descending a metal staircase that wrapped down the wall of the main floor.

Rex exited behind me, immediately flinching at the thumping music and flashing lights. And the plethora of eyes that lifted to look at us. There were snickers. Ones about the owner leaving her office with a dashing young man. Rex’s tan skin flushed with embarrassment, but it only encouraged my glee.

I strode across the floor, making sure to swing my hips as Rouva always told me I should do more often. She didn’t get it….Mandalorian armor just didn’t allow for an easy swing of the hips. And I wasn’t looking for sexy when I was sprinting for my life.

“Enjoying yourselves?” I asked loudly as I approached the clones, all of whom were piled into a long booth, their eyes scanning the crowds hungrily.

The nearly jumped at my words, looking away from my workers. I gave them all a look, crossing my arms as their gazes crawled over me. “Wow,” Hardcase mumbled against the rim of his cup.

“Kida,” Fives chuckled, raising his eyebrows teasingly. “Have I ever told you that your ass looks amazing in heels?”

I gave him a look, part angry, part shocked, and part amused. He was hammered. Even more amusing was the steaming expression on Rex, who was giving his brother a death glare. “You never have, actually,” I teased, trying to lighten Rex’s mood with my tone. “And you’ll never tell me it again,” I added sternly, giving the ARC trooper a look.

Fives sat up straight in his booth, giving me a mock salute with a lopsided grin. “Yes, sir!” he practically screamed across the club. Half my patrons looked our way, giving us scowls. But I only laughed. This was my bar. If they didn’t like it, they could get the hell out.

I gave Merl a wave, the elderly Weequay piling drinks onto a tray and sending one of my girls over. “Vamira,” I greeted the pale pink Twi’lek as she arrived with our drinks. Her smile was broad, showing off her sharp canines with pride. “Thank you.”

“It’s nice to see you’re back,” she said in her accented voice. “We were worried you were going to disappear again.”

I chuckled lowly, giving her a wave of dismissal. “I don’t plan on doing that again any time soon.”

She gave me a smile before casting her gaze over the clones. Her eyes settled on Tup, the soldier giving an uncomfortable cough. He was only doing it to hide his wide grin at her attention. 

I cleared my throat gently, giving the worker a teasing look. “Bye Vamira,” I said again, making her finally break her stare on Tup, giving me a final smile before she walked away. I looked back over the clones, noticing how quickly they seemed to look anywhere but at my girls whenever I turned to them.

A low sigh escaped my mouth as I rolled my eyes, sitting on a stool beside Rex at the head of the table, “Listen, these are my rules. My girls are dancers. Professionals. They are not for sale.” A few of the clones glanced down at the table, ashamed. “But,” I added, a few of them perking up. “If you genuinely earn her affection and she CONSENTS,” I stressed, tapping the table a few times to hammer in the point. “Then I’ll allow it.”

“Really?” Tup whispered, voice filled with child-like wonder.

I stood up, pointing at each one’s forehead. “But if any of you hurt, or Force forbid, force yourself on any of them, I promise you’ll regret the day you came out of your test tube.”

They all swallowed quickly, giving me quick nods. I sat back down, giving them all a final stare before lightening up and taking a long drink. Pale pink skin appeared beside me, holding something shiny. I glanced up, seeing Vamira’s smiling face again, her violet eyes on Tup again. He blushed under her gaze, glancing away shyly as he drank.

“Vamira,” I greeted again sweetly. “I thought you were on drink duty tonight.”

Her smile faltered for a moment as she set the metal object down on our table to wring her hands. “I am,” she tried. “They were just really overwhelmed so I offered to help.”

I turned in my seat, glancing around my bar to see two girls I knew were hookah attendants that night. They were lounging around a single hookah, flirting with the male patrons. “Busy, huh?” I teased lightly, giving her a look.

She knew I wasn’t bothered by her advances on the clone. I had no claim to any of them. Penari approached, draping herself against the wall between Rex and Fives. The ARC’s face cracked open with a wide smile as he turned in the booth to look at her.

But she was looking at Rex. She was a beautiful Twi’lek in her late twenties, her skin a soft turquoise color, her neck dripping in silver. Her eyes were like honey, taking in the planes of Rex’s face as she flashed him a bright smile, eyelashes fluttering. 

At first I merely lifted my brow in amusement, but then I heard Rex cough uncomfortably. My head whipped to the side to see him shifting, his face flushing under her gaze. I frowned, alcohol making my more jealous side rear its ugly head. Fives tried again to gain Penari’s attention, to no avail. 

“What’s your name, handsome?” she asked, her words as silvery as her jewelry. She ignored Fives altogether, her question directed at the captain. Her long fingers brushed over his jacket shoulder gently, as if brushing something off, before stealing a small glance over the sharp curve of his jaw.

“I-” Rex stuttered, making me smolder with annoyance at my employee. Then again, it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t like she knew. “Rex,” the captain finally answered.

“Rex,” Penari purred. “That sounds like a good, strong name,” she stepped forward, her fingers crawling over the swell of his bicep. “For a good, strong man.”

Rex’s mouth was agape as he regarded the seductress. I pursed my lips, finally leaning forward with my hand clenched around my glass. “Ma’allesh,” I said in her native tongue.

She looked over at me in shock, taking in my folded arms and pursed lips. “I’m not doing--” she tried, but she had already put it together and was just trying to back out now.

“Sahak tuev san,” I said firmly, her mouth snapping closed. I cut my eyes to the side, the movement finally getting her to push off from the wall and stalk the crowd for some other prey she can convince to buy things.

Rex turned to me with a raised brow. “What was that about?” he asked, his brain already working to piece it together.

“Does it matter?” I asked, taking a long drink from my cup to finish it. I lifted the empty glass in the air, leaning my head back comically until Merl caught my gaze. He rolled his eyes at me as I shook the glass desperately, giving me a dismissive wave. I sat back up though, knowing he’d send more drinks in a minute, despite his mild annoyance at me.

“Kida,” Hardcase started, burping slightly around his words. “We were talking while you were disarming our good captain.” I tensed slightly at their choice of wording, swallowing past the lump forming in my throat. “And we think it’s only fair that you have to play a round if we did.”

“A round of?” I prodded, tilting my head.

The group chuckled as the clones peered around the hookah Vamira was setting up on the table. “Who’d you rather.” Hardcase gave me a slow grin.

“I never agreed to play the game.”

“Okay, but we answered in front of you,” Jesse argued teasingly, obviously just enjoying the time out with us.

“That was your own mistake,” I laughed, accepting the drinks Penari set down. She gave me a small nod of understanding and apologies before walking away. She was genuine, so I held no anger over it. 

Fives, however, was pissed at me. “You scared her off, Kida,” he gasped, throwing his hands up as he watched the Twi’lek disappear into the crowd. “What did you say to her? Was that Ryl?”

“Do you study languages, Fives?”

The ARC gave me a skeptical expression. “No. Why?”

“Then how would you know if I told you the truth about what I said?” 

The room was silent for a moment before Rex let out a low chuckle between sipping down the remains of his drink. He continued to laugh as he picked up his next. “Are you alright, Captain?” Fives asked, looking genuinely concerned.

I couldn’t help but laugh along with Rex as Vamira finished setting up the hookah, the tiny girl on her tip-toes to set the coals in place. I rolled my eyes in amusement at her efforts to talk to Tup. The young clone was staring at her with wide eyes, taking in the gentle womanly curve of her body and the soft bats of her lashes. 

“She has you cornered, Fives,” Rex finally said as he chuckled against the rim of his glass. “You have to admit it.”

“I told her that her bra was coming undone,” I said, earning surprised expressions from the group. They paused in confused silence before Vamira let out a small snort of laughter, knowing full well what I actually said.

“You didn’t say that,” Hardcase surmised, already slurring his words a bit. He looked up at Vamira. “Did she say that?”

The Twi’lek laughed as she collected her things, handing Hardcase the first hose to start the hookah. “My lips are sealed,” she smiled, casting an innocent look at Tup before leaning back and taking her leave.

“Thank you,” I called over my shoulder, smiling as I heard her faint, but cheery response. I leaned back on the bar chair, watching my friends as they puffed happily at the hookah, expressing how exciting it was that they knew a club owner. My eyes slid over each ot them, taking them all in. This was the family I had been seeking for most of my life. Of course, things would start to change again when Boba was out of prison. But until then….

As I took them in, I wished I could have taken them out sooner. There had already been losses to this group. Some I never even had the privilege of knowing. I wished I’d had Echo here so I could memorize the little differences in his face and stance and voice amongst all his brothers.

Amongst our family.

Rex’s shoulder nudged mine gently, the soldiers currently distracted by the arrival of shots and the swelling of music on the stage. “You alright?”

I nodded, blinking away the infernal tears that threatened to spill. “I know it’s selfish,” I whispered back under the thumping bass. “And I’m grateful for tonight. For being able to see them like this. But I wish….” My voice trailed off while I tried to find the words. “I want more, and I know it’s selfish. But I wish--”

“Wish we could have done this before the Citadel,” Rex completed for me, making me look up to examine his face. Turns out, he had been doing the same thing. His eyes were tracing the lines of each face around the table, memorizing each turn and curve.

“Yes.” We didn’t have to say more. We both understood. But Rex shifted just a bit closer in his seat, the outside of his leg brushing mine gently. It was a small thing, but it was comforting nonetheless.

We all turned, the contact cutting off, as the lights dimmed, the music fading to allow for Rouva to take the stage, mic in hand. “Welcome,” she practically sang into the microphone. “To The Fury Club!” She was met with a chorus of whistles, her lithe frame glistening in red satin. “Tonight is a very special night,” she announced, the stage lights turning and soaring over the crowds. I sat up a little straighter, knowing what she was about to pull. “Our lovely founder and owner, Kida Fett, has returned for the evening to celebrate with the boys in blue!”

The spotlight fell on us, my fake smile gracing my features easily. The crowd cheered, some of my familiar patrons standing to start approaching. I tilted my hand palm down at them, gesturing for them to sit. Tonight wasn’t a night for sweet talking.

Well….not for sweet-talking them, at least.

I glanced sideways at Rex, watching the lights of my club flicker against his skin, dyeing him hundreds of different colors at once. The light danced in his eyes like the viewport as I soared through hyperspace, blinding but mesmerizing. 

I drank steadily through the performance, having seen most of the dances through rehearsals numerous times. The clones were infatuated, watching the smokey eyes that peaked out behind decorated fans and ribbons, skirts and tassels whirling with a glitter of jewels. After a while, the clones felt less hesitant to cheer and yell along with the other party-goers. I sat back with a small grin, watching them finally enjoy themselves like a typical Coruscanti male. 

Finally, as the performance ended, the dance floor opened. A very eager young Twi’lek came bounding across the floor, stopping beside me in a soft black dress. She folded her hands before her, giving me a shy, doe-eyed look. “I’m off-duty and finished all my shift work already. Can I?”

Her voice was terribly sweet, but matched the eager nervousness of the clone she was smiling fondly at. I sighed, rolling my eyes at her. “Have at it.”

She giggled happily before leaning over the other clones, grabbing Tup’s hand from around his glass. “Dance with me?”

“Oh-” Tup cleared his throat nervously, his fingers tapping awkwardly in her hand. “I don’t know how to dance.”

“Who cares?” I asked, feeling my girl deflate a bit at his words. “You’re drunk!” I slid him a final shot as I leaned forward, freeing him from Vamira’s grasp only to yank him forward in mine. I practically dragged him from his place in the booth, shoving a shot into his hand. He downed it nervously, giving me a look. I smoothed back a portion of his hair before giving him a wink, tapping his shoulder to dismiss him. He followed Vamira eagerly now, taking her outstretched hand as she led him through the dance floor towards the speakers.

“Of course the kid gets one,” Hardcase groaned, hitting his forehead against the table. 

I laughed at him. “You don’t seem to be trying very hard,” I teased. “You’re just sitting drunkenly in a booth. Why don’t you put in the effort?”

Hardcase gave me a look for a moment before leaning forward with a grin. “Is that a challenge?”

“Is that the only way you’ll put effort in?” His brothers laughed at my words, but Hardcase only lunged up from his place in the booth, scooting out onto the floor beside me.

“Damn straight, it is,” he clarified with a drunken wink. He strode off towards the dance floor, stumbling only once against a high-top table.

Kix sighed as we watched his brother leave. “He’s going to piss someone off,” the medic groaned, standing as well. “I should keep an eye on him.”

“Hey now,” Jesse called, pushing Fives up as he stood. “I don’t want to miss out on the fun!” The clones jostled for a moment beside Rex before running off. I smiled after them, barely stifling a laugh as Fives stumbled back to bow lowly at me.

“My Lady,” he said, dramatically offering me his hand with a flourish of his fingers. I couldn’t help but laugh, finishing my drink quickly before standing. My dress was like silk against my skin, which was rough and tired from the mission on a hot lava planet. It was soothing, feeling it slide down my leg as I stood, the fabric fluttering.

I slid my fingers into Fives’ grasp, giving him a faux curtsy. “Good sir, you flatter me,” I teased, earning a wry grin from him. I gave Rex a shy smile before following his brother out onto the dance floor. He spun me as best he could, laughter pouring from our mouths as I mocked his terrible dancing skills.

“Oh, come on,” he scowled playfully, dipping his head down next to mine. “I know what game you’re playing with our good captain.”

Sober me would have panicked and dodged the subject easily with a smooth lie. But I was hammered….so I just giggled and pushed my face into Fives’ shoulder. Ugh. Giggling. What kind of bounty hunter was I?

I forced myself to sober slightly. “Well if you know the game, then help me win,” I stressed, pushing him away slightly to swat at his chest.

He released me immediately, a small wave of panic rushing over me. He stilled my worries easily, holding his hands up for me to manipulate. “Fine. If I’m so bad at dancing, teach me how.”

I chewed the inside of my painted lips as my cheeks puckered with a smile. “Sounds lovely.” I positioned his hands on my body in the way I’d watched people dance over my years as a slave. I’d seen many dances--some feral and wild and some angelic and calculated. The couple dances I’d seen on Naboo were some of my favorite, though.

I instructed Fives gently over the deep hum of the music, letting him get the rhythm before letting him take control. “You’re a fast learner,” I part teased, part praised. The clone gave me a cocky smile before pulling me in close.

We rocked back and forth, his head nuzzling into my shoulder. I smiled gently, closing my eyes. It was peaceful here, despite the rush of alcohol in my veins and the thumping of the music. He was like the older brother I never got to have. Protective. Loving. But also teasing and never held back from telling me his thoughts.

“Thank you,” the soldier whispered against the side of my head before pressing his lips to my hair experimentally. It took me by surprise, but I could sense his intentions and none of what he was doing was to make an advance. He loved me. I could feel it. But it wasn’t like how Rex felt around me. It was like family. He felt safe with me.

And I with him. “Of course,” I whispered back. 

He pulled back as the music faded, shifting into a more upbeat song. He gave me a wide, genuine smile. “Never feel like you aren’t one of us,” he reminded, giving my hands a squeeze. “I like this dance,” he added, shifting the subject.

“I have one you all might like better,” Vamira called from where she swayed with Tup, pulling from his grasp. She ran to the back, the music shifting again to one I knew.

And one all of my dancers had learned from the Twi’leks among them. The girls all squealed as the flutes and strings rose to the beat of their native drum, pulling patrons onto the dancefloor to fill it.

“Come on, Kida,” Vamira insisted, grabbing my hand as I tried to move into the outer circle like the clones were. “You know this dance.”

I cast a defeated look back at my chuckling friends, spying Rex as he moved closer to watch. There was a twinge of jealousy radiating from him as he stood next to Fives. The ARC, despite not being Force sensitive, could feel it from his captain. And he was smug about it.

As the drum intensified, I turned, focusing on the dance rather than the clones. I turned my hips in the way I’d been taught, stepping and leaping to the rhythm as we danced in practiced circles around the dance floor. Slowly, as was the Twi’lek custom, the women dancing began to drag others onto the floor, forcing them into the dance. It wasn’t difficult to follow, especially when surrounded by those that knew where to go.

I spun to the side, stopping my movements only for a moment to grab Tup’s arm and drag him into the dance. I spun with him only a few times before releasing him wildly while we danced. He flailed slightly as he stumbled, only to be swept up by the young Twi’lek I knew to be waiting for him. 

Vamira cast me a dazzling smile before spinning off with her new admirer. I ducked beneath the next pair of linked arms, spinning to rush back into a circle, hands grasping those next to me. 

My next dance partner swooped me up in a turn as we exited the center circle, my face breaking into a smile as Fives pulled me along. “This one is fun too,” he commented with an easy laugh.

“I see you’ve joined in easily,” I laughed as he spun me around, passing the clones again. All but Kix and Rex had joined. “I see we have party-poopers.”

“We DO have party poopers,” Fives repeated, loud enough for our friends to hear. He leaned down, whispering. “If you’re playing the jealousy card, now might be a good time.”

I grinned widely at my friend before looking back at the awkwardly standing captain. “No. I think he’s had enough.” I watched quietly as Kix kept tabs on his drunk brothers, Rex doing his best to avoid my gaze. 

Fives twirled me a final time before letting me go, spinning back into the crowded dance. I spun the other way, maneuvering my way through the dancers as I flowed with them. I stopped before Kix, giving him a smile. “Keeping the boys out of trouble?”

The medic gave me a grin, rolling his eyes. “As best I can.”

“Well,” I sighed teasingly. “Since you’re busy….” My gaze shifted to the captain, his golden eyes watching me carefully. “Care for a dance?”

Rex swallowed thickly. “I don’t know this one.”

I reached past Kix, offering my hand, palm up. It was a coax, rather than a force. “It isn’t hard. I’ll show you.”

He hesitated for only a moment, a small crinkle of Kix’s cheek telling me he was smiling. Rex took my hand and I pulled him to the front, leading him onto the dance floor. His men whooped and cheered as he joined us, following my movements stiffly.

“Loosen up,” I insisted, knowing he was feeling the alcohol. He nodded, but didn’t meet my eye. I squeezed his hand gently, easing him into letting me lead. He slowly relaxed to the beat of the drums and the flashing lights, his golden gaze meeting mine softly.

His grip tightened slightly as he pushed against me, taking the lead with more confidence as we turned. When we were supposed to release to switch partners, he refused, holding my waist firmly to keep me from spinning away. 

I only smiled at him as he kept us dancing, maneuvering us around the other couples easily now. “I’m getting thirsty,” he commented, some sweat beading on both our brows as we danced through our third song. “Can I get you a drink?” 

We slowed as we neared the edge of the dance floor, still holding each other. “Well since your drinks are on the house tonight, and it’s my house,” I reasoned, giving him a teasing grin. “I can get you a drink instead?”

He laughed, his throat bobbing as he slowly took his hands away from me, giving me space to lead us through the crowd. “That seems fair.”

I grabbed his hand easily, knowing the trust I had within that group of clones. And no one in my bar would dare cross me. They either respected me too much….or feared what I’d do to them too much.

Merl met us with drinks as we arrived at the bar, giving us both a once over. He gave me a smile. “Having fun?”

“Yes, actually,” I breathed, taking a greedy slurp of my drink.

“I’m assuming you already told them the rules?” he asked, looking over my shoulder at Hardcase, who was trying his best to drunkenly sweet talk one of my girls.

“She did,” Rex confirmed, giving me a grin before looking back at his men, rolling his eyes. I watched quietly as Vamira pulled Tup stealthily away from his brothers and towards the back rooms. She had her own room back there.

I rolled my eyes, looking away like I never saw it. “Another one bites the dust,” Merl laughed, pouring us each a shot, himself included. He lifted the glass and tapped it against mine, saying aloud, “One down,” before taking the shot.

Rex arched his brow but took his shot nonetheless. It wasn’t until after he breathed around the sting of the liquor that he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Your man,” Merl responded, matter-of-factly.

“Tup,” I whispered, nodding my head to where the young clone was slipping out the back door. Rex watched beside me, his face a mixture of sadness and amusement. “What?” 

“I’m happy for him. I just hope he doesn’t….get too attached.”

I raised my brow. “She’s a good girl. Genuine. She wouldn’t hurt him.”

“I was thinking the other way around.” Rex gave me a sad look. “He could visit, but he’d be gone a lot. And one day, he might not come back.” He was thinking about Echo. Contemplating it all. And the likelihood that it could be him next.

“Stop that,” I demanded, knocking back my shot and squeezing his shoulder. “I brought you all here to forget about all that.” I shook my head. “From this moment on...for the rest of the night…..all talk of war, loss, death, and consequences is suspended. Got it?”

Rex smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “No thinking of any consequences whatsoever?”

“None.”

“So I can light a fire over there?” he asked, pointing to a corner booth. His eyes were starting to glitter with amusement. He was trying to forget as best as he could.

“Rex, can I ask you something?” The clone seemed worried at my supposed dodging of the question, but nodded anyways. “Do you remember my office?”

His brow arched, but he answered. “Yes.”

“Do you remember all the weapons I had up there?”

“Yes,” he smiled, my questions making sense for him now.

“Do you know how many ways I could kill a man with those weapons?”

“I imagine you’d be creative, so more ways than their designed purpose, I’m sure.”

I nodded, giving him a closed-lipped smile. “Good. Remember that next time you even think about damaging my club.”

Rex laughed, as well as a few other patrons that lined the bar. Merl appeared, pouring another round of shots. “Another one bites the dust,” he chimed, taking the shot easily before pointing with his empty glass. Across the dance floor, Jesse was being led by a few of my dancers, all giggling and wide-eyed. They led his drunken ass to one of the private dance rooms to get him to give them every last credit he had to spend. I took the shot.

We let out a round of laughter as Fives was shuffled into the private room after Jesse, each apparently getting dances tonight. Another shot amidst the banter.

“And another,” Rex chuckled, gesturing for Merl to pour out more rum. His gaze cut to Hardcase, who was dancing rather pervertedly with a young woman, both looking drunker than all hell.

“I don’t really count that yet,” Merl noted, still pouring out the shots. “But I’ll take one for the halfway mark.” He threw back the shot before returning to work.

“You better not be drunk while on duty, Merl,” I called back, not really serious.

“As if you’ve ever followed that rule.”

That was fair. I let out a laugh, knocking back my shot easily. It was getting far less horrible to drink straight liquor. It didn’t really burn anymore.

That meant I was trashed. Great.

“You’ve done a job drunk?” Rex asked, arching a brow.

I let out a snort of laughter, covering my face as I blushed. “A few, actually.” The clone gave me a look, making me scowl. “Hey, sometimes a job calls for a party or some drinks with the right people. I’ve never been hammered.” I looked away. “Except that one time I was jumped on Tatooine. That wasn’t a job, though.”

“Jumped outside a bar on Tatooine?” Rex repeated. I nodded. “Why?”

I grinned at him over the rim of my glass. “I had just finished a job, where I got a very large sum of credits. I’d been dumb and bought a round for the bar with my incredible amount of cash. They knew what I had.”

“Did they get it?”

“No,” I sighed, chuckling. “But they got some good hits in.” I pointed to one of the scars that ran along my brow.

Rex’s thumb came up immediately to trace the thin line. There was no hesitation behind his movement, his actions encouraged by alcohol. “You should thank them, really. It looks good.”

I smirked, breathing laughter through my nose. “Having fun?” a voice asked, making me jump a mile, Rex’s hand flashing away from my face. I turned, seeing a smirking Kix.

“We are,” I replied smoothly, greeting him. “Are you?”

“Well Tup has come back looking…” Kix looked over his shoulder to see the bright eyed clone looking consumed with euphoria as he danced with Vamira. “Happy.”

“Happy isn’t what I’d call it,” I smirked. Rex looked sideways at me with a raised brow. “I’d call it post-”

“Alright, Kida,” Kix frowned, crossing his arms at me. I shrugged at him, taking a long drink of whatever Merl had made me this time.

“What are you all doing sitting around?” Jesse called as he approached, arms spread wide in greeting, Fives beside him.

I tilted my head at them. “That wasn’t a very long dance,” I questioned, giving him a look.

Jesse shrugged, but laughed nonetheless. Fives looked sheepish, scuffing his boot along the ground. “We ran out of credits,” he mumbled, looking at the floor.

I laughed, smiling widely. “Rough when that happens, huh?” The clones scowled at me, but that only made me laugh harder.

“Whatever, Kida,” Jesse dismissed, rolling his eyes as he grabbed my elbow. “Now get your lazy ass up and dance with us.” I laughed, but let him pull me up, my drink in my other hand. Rex needed no coaxing this time, rising with his own drink and following his brothers out. The music was shifting away from the ones meant for dancing. Now….it was music meant for partying.

The bass of the song rumbled the floor, the lights pulsing as the people bounced with the song. My dancers danced in the neon glow, credits transferring hands endlessly. The lights reflected off the smoke of the swirling hookahs, intensifying the effects of the alcohol. We danced as a group, each of us reaching our limit of drinks as we leapt to the beat.

And then suddenly Hardcase was too drunk, stumbling sideways as he jumped, slamming into Rex’s shoulder. Rex fell into me, our drinks flying from our hands as we fell to the ground.

The next thing I knew, my face and dress were covered in cherry-colored liquor, the glass shattered somewhere on the ground behind me. Oh, and Rex was on top of me.

He grunted slightly and I felt a twinge of his pain through the Force. He blocked it out of his mind easily, though, as the trained soldier he was. He mumbled a string of apologies as he struggled to get off me, my face turned to the side to see his hand lift past me as he finally got himself into a crouch beside me. The tan skin was stained with a thin stream of red that also speckled the floor around shards of glass from our drinks.

He was bleeding.

“Wait, Rex,” I said as I sat up, my head spinning from the quick motion and the liquor. Or maybe I hit my head when we fell….I wasn’t entirely sure. I caught Rex’s hand as he turned, sitting up fully in the puddle of alcohol. “You’re bleeding,” I announced.

He seemed shocked by that, turning to face me and his split palm again, just as I was looking up from it. His face turned into mine, my eyes flinching shut as our lips met. We both froze, unmoving for a single moment, before jerking away awkwardly. I released his hand like it was on fire, scooting backwards under the guise that I was trying to stand.

Tup was at my side in an instant, helping me to my feet in my heels and quaking knees. “That was cute,” Fives joked, crossing his arms as he looked between Rex and I. The captain was still crouching, rather dumbfounded. He had shifted enough to allow Kix to examine his bleeding palm, but hadn’t stopped looking at me.

“Ne’johaa,” I growled, accepting the towel Vamira had grabbed from the bar. I used it to wipe myself off as best I could while Kix helped Rex to his feet.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Hardcase apologized, keeping it together despite how drunk we all obviously were. “I think I might have had a bit too much.”

“We all have,” I allowed, stepping over to hand Rex the towel to wipe himself off. “Let’s get that patched up.”

“I can,” Kix offered, but I shook my head.

“I need to go change anyways. I have bandages up there, too,” I assured him, earning a look from the brothers, but it was one of teasing and approval, at least. I gestured for Rex to head towards my office, the clone obeying as he took the towel with him, wiping at his face and neck.

“That really was cute,” Jesse offered, giving me a nudge to my shoulder. 

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t yell at him. “You guys are never going to let him live that down, are you?” I asked the group.

“Never,” Fives assure, laughing. Hardcase looked a little worse for wear behind him, Kix already trying to feed him water. “Well, go tend to him so we can get out of here. I think we’ve all had a bit too much.”

“Agreed,” I groaned, as the thumping of the music returned, but it was annoying this time instead of fun. I needed some water. 

“Wait.” The ARC trooper looked around, counting the faces he knew so well. “Where’s Tup?”

I glanced around, chuckling when I realized he’d run off with Vamira after they helped me up from my fall. “Relax,” I soothed as the clones looked worried. “Let him have his fun. I have to patch Rex up anyways and get my clothes back, so he can bring Tup home.”

“I see,” Fives teased. “Trying to get us out of the way? Am I not good enough for you, Kida?”

I laughed at his teasing, rolling my eyes as I waved him goodbye. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure your brothers get home safe.”

“Kida?” I stopped, turning to see Jesse calling back to me. “Rex has a meeting tomorrow at midday. Make sure he’s back by then, at least.” He said nothing else aside from a small smile that was mixed with sadness--much like the way Rex’s had been before I scolded him to forget the war.

The very intoxicated clones left. I turned and entered the back corridors of my facility. “Jali,” I said, greeting the Zabrak female. “Have you seen Vamira?”

The girl lifted her brow at me. “Are you really asking that?”

I chuckled at her snark, having known her for years now, she being one of the first dancers to join my club and help build it from the roots. “Well, if you happen to see her again….tell her she has my permission for Tup to stay. He has his superior’s permission, as well.”

Jali crossed her arms, smirking. “Does this superior know he’s given his permission?”

“Just tell her,” I said as I walked past her, navigating the halls towards my private lift. I took it up, finding Rex waiting in my office. “The medicine box is in here,” I explained, drawing it from a drawer in my desk. He began cleaning his wound while I exited to the side room, where I had a bed and fresher. 

I showered quickly, taking off the makeup and alcohol that was beginning to get sticky. When I emerged again, now in stretching black pants and a baggy shirt, I found Rex struggling to place a bacta-patch over his wound. I stepped forward, my wet hair falling into my face as I focused on his hand, scooching up onto the desk beside him.

My fingers took the place of his, carefully guiding the patch into place over his marred palm. “You got all the glass out?” I asked, glancing up at him through my dripping locks.

“Every last piece,” Rex assured, giving me a smirk that crinkled the corners of his eyes. I returned the expression before glancing down at his palm that still rested in my lap. 

“I’m glad,” I whispered, the bass of the music from the club vibrating just slightly through the floor. “You know they’re going to tease you about this forever, right?”

Rex cocked his head at me as his brain mulled it all over. “Well, knowing you, you’ve already told them all to go home and have planned everything perfectly.” My brows rose at his bluntness. Drunk Rex was interesting. “And my men already teased me about you, especially Fives. Though now,” he added, “it will likely only be worse.”

I frowned slightly. “I’m sorry I gave them so much ammunition tonight.”

To my surprise, Rex shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do about what they say, and it brings up their spirits to tease me. But,” he tilted his head. “This will be harder for me now.”

“This? What do you mean?”

He looked up, his pupils blown out so far that they almost concealed the gold color of his irises. “It’s going to be even harder for me to pretend I don’t feel the way I feel.”

My lips parted slightly in the beginning of a gape before I stopped myself. I shook my head when I couldn’t find words. “I’m sorry. I’m not….good with these things.”

Rex smiled. “I’m the same. I’m better with a broken pistol than talking about...anything really. But I’m trying to be better.” He looked into my eyes again. “You make me want to be better.”

Every part of me leapt with joy, but there was that one bit of my brain that realized how long we’d been apart. And how much had changed.

“Rex,” I smiled sadly. “I feel this energy, too….but I am not the person I was when I left a year ago.”

“No,” he allowed. “But I still see parts of her in you. You’ve changed, but not for the worse, Kida.” His hand finally lifted to touch my cheek gently, my eyes sliding closed at the contact. “You said I wasn’t allowed to think about consequences, so I won’t.” 

My eyes flashed open only briefly before they closed again at the touch of lips against my own. His callused hands cupped my face with a gentleness I never imagined a trained soldier to have. It was like a drug, pulling me into his warmth like water washing away my worries and fears. There was nothing but him.

He pulled away, resting his forehead against my own so he could look at me. My eyes were closed for a moment longer while I did my best to memorize how it had felt for his mouth to move against mine. The tangy flavor of the rum on his breath. The slight chapping of his bottom lip from chewing at it beneath his helmet. The racing of his heart beneath the fingers I laid over the pulsing point of his neck.

When I opened my eyes, I saw only gold and the endless reflection of his dilated pupils. “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.” The words were barely above a whisper and in the rough dialect of the culture we were both trained under.

But they were enough. At one time, I’d wanted to hear him say those words in Basic, as if that were braver. But I’d come to realize that Mando’a was almost sacred to the clones. It was a language for them. It defined them. Gave them something that banded them together more than their training and DNA.

With a slow breath, I let myself think about my answer. And it dawned on me that I only had one answer for him, as all others would have been lies. I pulled back so I could look at Rex’s entire face. A smile graced my rosy lips. “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum,” I replied quietly before leaning up again, using my toes to lift me to his height again.

His strong arms wrapped around me tightly, his head leaning in to deepen the kiss. “Another one bites the dust,” he whispered against my lips with a grin. I smiled against his lips as he pushed me further against my desk, eager. It was nice to see him like this--unreserved and daring. He was always brave, but he never acted by his heart. It was always his head.

Alcohol clearly brought his heart.

And I felt that his heart laid with me. I felt it in the delicate way he would learn more while kissing and alter his course to perfect it. I felt it in the way his arms clamped around me as if he was afraid I was going to be ripped away from him. I felt it in the quick fluttering of his heart. And in the peaceful oasis that was his mind.

And that night, when we finally put away the rum and went to sleep, I snuggled up against him, tucking my head under his chin. His arms encircled me, kisses skimming across my hair, I found peace.

In the same way I nestled into his chest, I nestled into the tranquility that was his mind. While it constantly raced, it was calculated and organized. Except the parts that focused around me. Those were more jumbled and confusing. But those were also where the warmest feelings stemmed from. It’s where his love stemmed from.

So I nestled my focus into his projected mental warmth, silencing everything else that usually sang to me through the Force at night. In that sweet silence, I heard only the beating of Rex’s heart and the soft breath moving through his open lips. I pressed a final kiss to his jawline, the man barely reacting aside from a sleepy smile he likely wouldn’t recall in the morning. In the peace of the man I now knew I loved, I found sweet, dreamless sleep.

------------------------------------

MANDO’A

Skanah --- very hated person (on the level of fucker)

Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum--- i love you

RYL

Ma’allesh---- goodbye

Sahak tuev san--- don’t push me

------------------------

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Sorry for the long wait on chapters. I’m going to try to update more often so you guys have something to look forward to while quarantined! 

A longer chapter for you all! Hope you enjoy!

We move onto the Padawan Lost arc next!

As always, reviews/comments/likes/reposts/shares are always welcome!

-Ryder

[quicksiluers]

Ok, under the read more I’m gonna do my general thoughts for rise of skywalker...there’s a lot here folks. spoilers beware~~

oh boy...where so we begin with this

it is clear, and this movie makes it even more obvious, that LF or whoever is running the movies over there had no set plan for this new trilogy. There is no through-line with these movies like the other 2 trilogies had. With the OT, it was “Empire vs. Rebellion, Jedi vs. Sith, Father vs. Son” with other points sprinkled in. But these were the main points. With the prequels, it was “The story of Anakin Skywalker and how his fall brought along the rise of the empire and destruction of the sith” now it may not have been executed well in cases (the ideas are there, the execution in some of the movies is not) but that is your core idea. 

What are the points in this new trilogy? What is new about these movies that we haven’t seen before from the other two? I’m not saying it’s bad to have recognizable things in the new movies, of course not. But there needs to be a purpose. Where have we progressed in this galaxy with these movies? The galaxy is back to exactly how it was after return of the jedi. Where is the progression? 

That is my biggest problem with the movie, it has so much going on in it. It tries to shove in two movies into one movie. It ignores the last jedi completely basically aside from a few things. And even though I don’t like TLJ that much (having just rewatched it recently, it just doesn’t work for me), you can’t just...ignore it outright like this movie and expect the trilogy to feel like it flows. Cause it doesn’t. 

Nothing is thought out. The ideas they have are presented and then left to the wayside. There are so many different plot elements that have potential that go NOWHERE and you wonder why it was brought up in the first place. 

Anyway, points about the movie

this is the poe, rey, finn dynamic i wish we got to see more of. it’s not developed enough and i just like see all these actors together. you can tell they are having a good time and the potential for these relationships is interesting. but again, it’s stuffed into one movie, so there is only so much they can do and it’s a bummer. 

i liked the new characters we got, it’s too late and i’m too lazy to look up the names, but again....this is the 3rd movie of the trilogy. Why are we introducing them now when we should be focusing on our main characters? None the less, they are really cool and have potential in maybe a book or comic

“you’re a palpatine” i’ve never snorted so badly in my LIFE. y’all...and when they kept bringing it up, I couldn’t help but shake my head. Again, another thing not set up and just shoved in last minute. 

I’m gonna be straight with ya, I don’t love kylo/ben. not a fav of mine. but even i could see homeboy was almost given NOTHING to do in this movie. and then you know, he turns good and then gets shoved DOWN A HOLE AND LIVES?? which makes....i mean, everyone in these movies gets shoved down a hole and lives. Anyway and then he saves Rey and they kiss (which yeah it’s a no from me but w/e I try to ignore shipping things) and then he just DIES AND DISAPPEARS. and Rey has nOoOOoOO reaction to it. Like what lol I mean...again, this movie moves at such a pace that it just doesn’t sit with these things

Ok so the jedi voices, I am for sure I heard Anakin (hayden i heard you sweetie and i love you), Mace W, Yoda, Luke, I think I heard Obi-Wan?? But I have to listen again cause it didn’t sound like Ewan....but it could have been maybe a mix of him and Alec?? Someone mentioned you could hear Ahsoka, I didn’t catch that but hey. BUT MY BOY QUI-GON JINN MADE IT. Which just makes me hopefully that they can bring him back for the Kenobi show because I need it like a lifeline right now

A w/e thing but I felt like the lightsaber fights were...kinda meh? I mean, there were about...2 or 3 of them but they just seemed so generic. I know people rag of the prequels for them being too “scripted” but you felt those fights. Nothing in these new movies has matched up to the darth maul, obi-wan/anakin, or luke/vader fight. Maybe the one in the snow for TFA, but other than that. There’s no consequences to these fights. In the Darth Maul fight, Qui-Gon is killed, Darth Maul gets chopped in half (and then goes on later to basically be the biggest thorn in Obi-Wan’s side) and Obi-Wan swears to Qui-Gon that he will train Anakin. Huge stuff! In the Anakin/Obi-Wan fight, you’ve got brother vs. brother and in the end Anakin gets burned alive and lost multiple parts of his body and Obi-Wan walks devastated and also just assuming Anakin will die...but he’ll then go on to be one of the biggest threats in the galaxy. And with the Luke/Vader fight, Luke loses his hand and learns the truth about his father and it throws him. And in their second fight, Luke is almost taken over by anger but stops and proclaims he would never join the dark side. And then Vader saves him. What do any of these fights do in this movie? Rey stabs Kylo but then she just...heals him and then flies away. It doesn’t help that they try to intercut it with Leia here, but I understand why this was a struggle with the movie due to Carrie’s unfortunate passing. 

The movie did have some nice shots, I’m trying not to be so negative about this thing....but I just don’t know. It probably doesn’t help that we just had another FANTASTIC deborah chow episode of the mandalorian and that was far more enjoyable to me than this. In the last 5 minutes alone of episode 7 of mando, I felt more emotions there then any time in this movie. 

Anyway, that’s really all I have to say on the subject. Check it out for yourselves and make up your mind. As for me, I’m good with the Disney+ content we have right now. Mando is finishing up, we get clone wars in the early quarter of next year and Kenobi begins to film next year....and we’ll be getting a 2nd season of Mando sometime! And with those things, I’m happy with it