#obi-wan and yoda are the last remaining jedi masters that they know of too

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

Obi-Wan and Yoda have no obligations to the Rebellion. There isn't even a Rebellion to be obligated TO when they go into hiding initially. And Obi-Wan IS doing his duty to the Rebellion by protecting one of Anakin's children (they believe Anakin's children might be the only people ultimately capable of taking down the Sith, but they also know that if Anakin and Palpatine get ahold of Luke and Leia and turn them into Sith, all hope is lost). Obi-Wan also clearly has a direct communication to Bail and Breha that they can utilize in dire need, so he's not completely removed from the Rebellion.

Obi-Wan and Yoda are intended to be last resorts. They're considered public enemy #1 to the Empire and if they were out there more obviously fighting in the Rebellion, they'd be getting constantly hunted down by the Empire's full might and probably wouldn't last very long. They might even, at least in the beginning, be more of a hindrance than a help because they could draw attention to a fledgling Rebellion and end up killing it before it has a chance to grow at all. Obi-Wan and Yoda are people the Rebellion has in their back pocket for if all hope is about to be lost and they need to pull out a miracle.

There aren't enough Jedi left to force the few survivors to keep fighting on the front lines, especially when there's next to zero support to keep them from being immediately hunted down and murdered by the Empire. It helps nobody to do that. Ahsoka fights from the shadows for most of her tenure in the Rebellion, but we see in the Kenobi show how quickly Obi-Wan is discovered when he does leave Tatooine. It's a matter of a few DAYS before the Empire is on his tail and he barely manages to escape with the help of other people.

I do think that the whole purpose of Obi-Wan and Yoda being in hiding has been made a little muddied by all of the Jedi characters who have been shown to be fighting in the Rebellion (Ahsoka, Cal, Kanan and Ezra) and so now people go "well if they could do it, why couldn't Obi-Wan and Yoda?" And I get that, but I feel like it misses the point of why Obi-Wan and Yoda chose to go into hiding in the first place. They're protecting the potential future of the Jedi and the last Force sensitive children they even know are left to protect, as well as protecting themselves as potential future assets to the Rebellion and the fight against the Sith and the Empire.

#star wars #obi-wan kenobi #yoda #i started this draft a week ago and then had to run a week long event and i no longer remember if i had other thoughts #i feel like this gets my feelings on this issue across well enough still though #obi-wan and yoda did the best they could in the wake of the genocide of their entire culture #they were not obligated to keep fighting and dying for a rebellion that didn't even exist yet #and remaining in hiding doesn't mean they AREN'T doing anything helpful #obi-wan and yoda are the last remaining jedi masters that they know of too #if their culture is going to survive then they ALSO need to survive in order to pass it along to the next generation #and as far as they know in that moment the next generation is several hours old at best so there's nothing they'll be able to do for YEARS #people claiming obi-wan and yoda abandoned the rebellion or whatever are just being assholes about it

[im-poe-dameron]

CELESTIAL SERENITIES

➔CLONE WARS ARC #02: DUTY AND DAMNATION

a/n: we're back with chapter two! how is everyone feeling about the kenobi series? cause i am being torn to pieces. so i had a good chunk of this written and then went through the stage of re-reading it...only to go "damn this is good op should finish it" so here i am finishing it. i hope you enjoy the ongoing journey of these two! this takes place during the attack of the clones arc as does the next chapter.

summary: you left intending on staying away from him, but new information surfaces dragging you two back together in the most brutal of ways.

word count: 8.8k+

pairing: obi-wan kenobi x fem!reader (name astra is used but it's still a reader insert)

warnings: not explicit, angst, cussing, horrible explanations of star wars politics, violence, near death experience, more angst.

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He knew you were gone before he even opened his eyes. The steady thrum of your energy in the room had vanished long ago—leaving a cold emptiness behind he’d only felt once before. At first he didn’t want to wake up, because he knew once he did…you wouldn’t be there. Except then he felt the warmth of the sun streaming through the window, turning the blankets into a cocoon of heat that felt too uncomfortable to remain under any longer.

With a sigh, he shifted until he was sitting up in the bed—an ache forming in his body. Only to be faced with an empty room. You left. Taking along everything you brought with you. That all too familiar feeling of the knife you wielded in the past, sliced through his heart again—twisting his insides and reminding him of the pain strewn throughout his past. Last night shouldn’t have happened…he knew this. Yet he didn’t regret it; not even for a moment.

He found himself sitting naked, on the edge of the bed—his fingers digging into the sheets as memories from only a few hours ago replayed in his mind. It didn’t feel real, to have so many moments play out like a holofilm only to be met with no true image of you in the flesh. No matter how much he tried to force the mental blocks in his brain to shut out the images, he couldn’t forget what happened. How you sounded, felt, looked underneath him.

Sighing again, he ran a hand down his face—the sting of tears pricking his eyes. What had he done to drive you away? To make you want to turn tail and run from what you two shared.

Except he knew what did it. The very same thing that made you flee before and while he felt like you’d taken a piece of him with you, he understood why you did it. Why you felt you couldn’t truly be with him. After all, the Jedi Code was to be followed and it was up to him to make the choice of keeping with it…or keeping you. A decision this drastic shouldn’t be made while he was still in the midst of waking up.

So, with a groan, he stood on unsteady legs and reached for his clothes. The sooner he was out of here and on his way back to the Temple, the better it would be for the both of you. He just wished he had the chance to say goodbye—one more time. He never got that before; the small opportunity to wish you luck in your life and hope that wherever you went…you were thinking of him. It wouldn’t have healed the already open wound, but it would put his mind at ease to know you were safe.

The beep from his comlink drew him out of his weary mind; the reminder of what he was returning to now taking precedence.

“This is Obi-Wan,” he said, reaching for his robe that was tucked underneath you in the night. A stab went through his heart at the realization that it still smelled like you.

“Master, are you there?” Anakin’s voice came through, the urgency in his tone shifted Obi-Wan into the demeanor he was known for.

Serious once more.

“What did you do?”

A disgruntled sigh crackled through the small speaker. “Why do you assume I have done something?”

“You wouldn’t be contacting me otherwise.”

“Master Yoda said he needs to speak with you,” Anakin said. Something echoed in the background, the shouting of a man’s voice calling to younglings.

He figured Anakin was back at the temple, although he could say with certainty he wasn’t participating in any training that was occurring. “Did he say what about?”

Latching his lightsaber by his side, he glanced at the room, noticing small things that weren’t there last night. Cracks went along the same wall he had pressed you up against, each one formed when his control had slipped. Heat spread through his face, skin tinging red, as memories of what happened replayed in his mind. The both of you had lost all sense of your wits, the drug taking control for the remainder of the night. Whoever had slipped it into your drinks would need to be questioned, but he had half a mind to assume the Separatists were behind it.

However the sound of Anakin’s voice coming through the comlink again gave him something else to worry about.

“He said it had to do with Senator Amidala, nothing more than that. I tried asking him to clarify.”

“I will be there shortly,” he replied, heading towards the door.

He didn’t wish to leave so soon—the urge to stay and wait for you to eventually return nearly overtook his need to get back. Yet something told him you wouldn’t be returning to this room for that very reason. You knew the lengths of his stubbornness; knew he was determined when it came down to things and so with a resigned last look, he left. Shutting the door behind him. The echo of the lock clicking felt like a stab wound to his heart.

If he had the time, he’d spend the day searching for you. Ask more about the years you spent away from him. Only things would be better if he allowed you to disappear altogether like you wished.

Heading down the empty hallway, he once again shut out the memories that seemed to be branded in his mind. The walls within were forcefully put up as he did his best to stop grappling with the array of emotions that attempted to break through. There’s a reason Jedi never fall in love. A reason he tried not to fall in love, but like the inevitability of his determination—you had split his resolve in two.

Obi-Wan only hoped that it wouldn’t happen again.

The echoes of people in the Jedi Temple sounded like home to him. Familiar and soothing in a way that he could never quite describe. His arms hung at his side, the swish of his robes brushing against the floor as he walked towards where Master Yoda would most likely be. All the while he attempted to wrangle the ongoing confusion that stuck to him, into a box. Effectively shutting it out in case Master Yoda decided to see into his mind as they spoke.

It wouldn’t cease the emotions altogether, but it would put his mind at ease for the moment.

“Good afternoon Master Obi-Wan.” He was startled by someone walking beside him. Shifting slightly, he was greeted by Shaak Ti leading a small group of younglings down the corridor alongside him.

“Hello,” he said, forcing a friendly enough smile on his face.

“Is everything alright?”

Holding back the slight flinch of his body, he simply nodded. A small gesture to hopefully ease her worries long enough. At least until she left him to be alone in his thoughts again. His worry of Master Yoda finding the small sliver of pain in his mind increased with every step—the knowledge that he did not look well now shoving its way to the forefront. He felt weary. As if he was walking on a path with no end in sight and no map to guide him.

“Yes, everything is fine. Why do you ask?”

“You seem lost,” she replied.

Before he could convince her she was in fact wrong, a youngling tugged on her sleeve—diverting her attention elsewhere. However that didn’t stop him from nearly pausing where he stood and turning back towards the entrance. He looked lost. Probably because…he was lost. Last night reminded him of a time when he had his doubts about what becoming a Jedi meant. The only time he allowed himself to imagine a life walking a different path altogether—one with you beside him.

Somehow in one night he’d gone from being a fearless Jedi with a purpose, to the young boy on Corellia who barely knew enough to survive.

“It seems they are in a rush to get to training,” she said with a smile—watching the younglings walk on ahead of her.

“Good luck.” That time he did wince. The words sounded like a dull echo of sentiment. One that she gratefully ignored; merely responding with a smile and a wave as she was tugged ahead.

Rather than dwell on the feelings he couldn’t change, he  continued on towards where the younglings' education was taught. Master Yoda would no doubt be there, the familiar tinge of his Force energy coming through the quicker Obi-Wan walked. The quicker he managed to find out what was required of him, the quicker he could find a place to clear his mind. A long meditation session would help. Only the second he stepped into the room, the sight of younglings with their lightsabers drawn and helmets on, he knew the matter would take more than a few minutes.

Mentally he closed off his mind, shutting out any prying eyes from seeing the muddled mess that were his thoughts.

“You asked to see me Master Yoda?” He spoke, drawing the attention away from the younglings.

Turning slowly and leaning on his cane, he nodded—holding his hand up for the younglings to pause. “Focusing on balance next we will be,” he said, allowing them a chance to rest for a moment.

“Anakin informed me you were concerned about Senator Amidala?”

He nodded. “To Naboo she must go. Keep her safe, your padawan must.”

“Anakin is trying to get her to agree, but she is quite stubborn.” He figured this is what he would be called to talk about. The part of him that continued to think about you was relieved. At least now he wouldn’t have to reveal his thoughts; ones that would certainly have him be questioned as a Master and a Jedi.

“Not another way there is in protecting her. Agree she will have to, but this is not why I asked for you.”

“Is there another matter you need me to oversee?” he asked, hoping that something would help him take his mind off of you.

Yoda nodded, his cane tapping as the younglings began their new exercise for the day. “To the archives you must go in search of a file. Important it is. A plan that now must be altered there is, and you will oversee it.”

“What sort of plan?”

“There is an agent of the Republic that needs to be notified.” The voice of Mace Windu coming from behind him only furthered Obi-Wan’s need to fortify his mind. He could protect himself against Master Yoda, but Master Windu was a different story altogether.

“If you don’t mind me asking…what exactly is an agent of the Republic needed for?”

Mace motioned for him to follow. “We weren’t given the specifics, but this goes beyond even Chancellor Palpatine. They were given the mission orders by Bail Organa, but we’ve just heard word of a shift in the vote. This could prove to be dangerous ground.”

“What will I have to do?”

“Their record is in the archives. Tell them I have sent you and they’ll give you the documents you need. We need you to find them and inform them they must return to the Republic at once before they are found out.”

He was right about one thing. This job would keep him busy for the remainder of you being on Coruscant. In a way, he was thankful. The incessant thoughts of what occurred last night would surely drive him insane if all he had to do was continue to be a bodyguard for Padme. Anakin could handle that job. It would give him an opportunity to finally feel like a Jedi again—perhaps find a way to no longer feel lost.

“Can I trust you to handle it with the utmost discrepancy Obi-Wan?”

“Yes,” he replied.

Bidding his goodbyes, he headed towards the stairs, the archives down below where he was standing. Finally, he had something to keep him within the walls of the Jedi Temple. Anakin was off attempting to convince Padme of how important protecting her was; thus allowing him a moment of not having to worry about him. Of course, he always worried. His padawan had gotten into more trouble than he did as a child—that he was almost positive about.

“Don’t be too hard on him. From what I can remember you were quite a bit of trouble yourself.”

He nearly stumbled—grasping onto the railing to right himself as your words flooded his mind. It shattered his resolve, tore down the walls he spent so long building, because in the end he could never shut out the memory of you. He could try just as he’d done before, and yet nothing worked. You were like a siren calling out to him in the night—begging him to join you in the dark waters of his mind. Only this time he wanted to give in. Relinquish himself to the sea and swim after you.

“Stars,” he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut to alleviate some of the dizziness that swept over his body. Something in him resented the fact that he continued to shove down his emotions—ignoring their existence to hopefully feel better.

Taking a deep breath, he managed to swiftly walk the rest of the way towards the desk where Jocasta Nu sat. She smiled as he approached, setting down the holopad she was reading from.

“Master Kenobi, is there anything I can help you with?”

Once again he slammed down the small inkling of fear that rose up in his mind. A reminder of what even the memory of you did to him.

“Yes hello, I’m here on orders from Master Windu regarding an agent of the Republic.”

She nodded, picking up the holopad and sifting through the data that showed itself. “I do remember what you’re talking about. It wasn’t too long ago that the case was reopened. The vote must be the cause of that.”

“Reopened?” he inquired, following her down the pathway to a small table.

“Yes. This agent is not the first to work for the Republic and certainly not the first to be sent into dangerous situations such as the one they’re currently in.”

She moved away from him, gathering a different holopad before transmitting the information she needed. He only caught a few words here and there as it flashed on the screen, but one in particular caught his eye. Their home world. Obi-Wan figured it was his eyes playing tricks on them; just the thought of you coming through one more time. Yet a sharp tug in his gut told him…he might not be wrong.

“Do you know if this is the same agent as before?”

“I do and no. But I do believe they come from the same planet as the one before them.”

He sat on the chair, leaning forward as he scrolled through the information page by page. “What was the last agent's name?”

She shook her head. “That I’m afraid has been taken out from the records. Privacy for the family after what happened to them.”

His throat constricted at the thought. Air struggling to get to his lungs. He was being ridiculous—thinking that you had something to do with this entire situation. Except then he recalled last night. The way you strayed from answering his questions, each one being directed back at him. All he really knew was that you were a bounty hunter, but lies could have come easier to you than he expected.

“And…do you know the name for the current agent?”

Jocasta pointed to the file he was looking for. “They are given a choice of which name they’d like to be called after giving their true name. This one said the same thing.”

He felt like the remaining air was punched from his lungs as he stared at the name blaring up at him from the screen.

ASTRA — STATUS: UNDERCOVER

There’s a reason you didn’t give him the truth, a reason why you kept your cloak on until no longer possible. You weren’t a bounty hunter, nor were you here for a simple mission. You were an agent of the Republic, disguised as a hunter for those that they saw as the enemy, and out of all the names…you had chosen the one he gave you. Not your true name, nor the name of your family, but something that kept you attached to him.

He blinked, hoping that the data would somehow change and yet it continued to remain the same. The orders from Mace Windu told him he was to hunt you down and explain the situation—how things had changed. How you were about to enter dangerous territory. Somehow you’d gone from the innocent young woman on Corellia he cared deeply for, to someone who was able to deceive those who wished for the Republic’s ruin.

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if he was more stunned or proud.

“Is that all you needed?”

He coughed, peering over at Jocasta. “Yes. Yes this is everything. Thank you.”

Glancing at the documents he found himself at a loss for words still. How was he meant to find you in the middle of Coruscant? When he could barely keep track of his own padawan. Letting out a sigh, he ran a hand through his beard—flicking through the file and discovering that you began your time with the Republic a year after the two of you parted ways. Why you chose this path was a question he wished he could ask you.

Except how could he ask such a question when it was clear why you hid it from him. Nobody was supposed to know. Not even him.

According to the documents there was no way to reach you, which left him with the difficult task of finding out where you were meant to be within your job. Closing down the file, he transferred it to the holopad beside him—knowing he could possibly get in trouble for taking things without Jocasta’s permission. But he needed it if you were ever going to believe why he tracked you down. Slipping it into his cloak, he made his way through the archives until he was back at the staircase.

“Please remain safe dewdrop,” he muttered under his breath, knowing that whatever you were sent to do was dangerous enough to inevitably cost your life.

He just hoped he’d find you before that happened.

The heavy footsteps of Count Dooku echoed behind you as you walked down the hallways of the facility. Your blaster was at the ready—attached to your right hip—as you kept watch for anyone who may have infiltrated the place. While that scenario was unlikely, you wouldn’t put it past someone to try. After all, he was the sole cause of Senator Amidala’s situation and supporters of hers would risk their lives to cease his actions.

“Astra,” his voice seemed to bounce off the walls, causing him to seem louder than he actually was.

“Yes?” you asked. Turning slightly you managed to get a good view of him in your peripheral vision.

“Make sure you stand guard outside while I speak with Lord Sidious.”

“I thought Jango–”

His hand raising cut off your words. “Jango Fett has…different responsibilities given to him. You’re now to be my personal guard.”

You knew better than to ask him to clarify. The agonizing burn of his lightsaber cutting into the side of your leg was a fresh enough memory to have you biting back your words. Arguing with Count Dooku never went well. In all honesty, it was easier to stick your neck out and offer for it to be sliced open. One way or another—you would be suffering in pain. Nobody went against him for this very reason and you had learned this lesson the hard way.

“Yes sir,” you said.

It would be so easy to draw your blaster, shoot him and end it all here. There would be no impending war, no more pain caused by the side that reveled in death—in the agony of others. All there would be was your demise. Yet somehow it felt worth it in the end. The previous agent before you attempted the same thing. Kill who was at the top and finally put an end to all the suffering, but in the end they were met with a fate worse than death. You knew by trying even something remotely similar to that would cause you to wish you were dead.

Except there was a truth you had yet to even admit to yourself. You were already dead.

You died the second you left Obi-Wan to wake up in your room alone; the message was clear to him once he found you were gone. There would be no future with one another. No possible outcome where he could love you as freely as you wished and in the end it caused you to feel something you soon realized the agent previous to you felt. Death was a kind solution to the painful anguish of a broken heart.

“Fucking coward,” you mumbled under your breath as the door shut behind you with a resounding bang.

Even as you stood there, watching the empty hallways, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. All for one simple reason. What would Obi-Wan think if he found you dead? What would he do? You’d never seen him angry before, but part of you wondered if he’d finally snap—break away from the perfect role he fit himself into. Or would he simply blame himself? You supposed that was your worst fear in the end. The thought of him living out the rest of his days, wracked with guilt because of you and your actions.

No matter how much you wished you could tear this evil up from the root, you still wore their symbol on your arm. You made a pledge to both the Republic and to the Separatists that you would enact their orders when told to. They were two sides of a coin and you simply had to flip it to see where your future resided.

The sight of familiar armor heading towards you caused you to shove away any and all thoughts about your pain—locking them tightly behind a shut door in your mind. Jango Fett had his helmet underneath his arm, blaster attached to his hip, and walked towards you with his usual eased gait that made you itch under your skin. It’s not that you loathed him—nor did you wish him to leave—you tolerated him to the best of your ability. Except even that became a challenge when he seemed intent on finding out what exactly went on in your head.

“Stuck with guard duty I see,” he said, his lips curving up into a smirk.

You willed yourself not to turn your blaster on him. “Doing Count Dooku’s personal bidding I see.”

Tutting under his breath, he smiled. “Don’t be jealous.”

“I’m not.” Your eyes narrowed at him. “Let me know when you get bored of doing his errands and I’ll let you play guard again.”

The slight shift in his demeanor wasn’t drastic, but you caught it. The twitch of his eye, his smile dropping ever so slightly. While you preferred to avoid Jango altogether, you had to admit it was quite a joyous sight to press his buttons—giving him something to chew on while you remained impassive to his taunts. A part of you wanted to laugh at the quick way his hand fell down to his side, his fingers shifting as he fought against shooting you. He knew as well as you did that you earned your right to stand there. Count Dooku put you both through the ringer—nearly killing you in the end—and in the end neither of you could argue against who belonged and who didn’t.

You both did in your own twisted way.

“How long until he’s ready to depart?”

That perked your attention. “Depart?”

“There’s been talk about an army—” He was cut off when the door opened, Count Dooku soon re-entering the hallway.

“Ah Jango Fett,” he said, ignoring you altogether. It didn’t phase you—not when this had been the case for years. “Have you come with news?”

“I have sir.”

Before he could begin telling the plans, Count Dooku turned to you—the look in his eyes clear. You were to leave them be. After all, hearing this conversation was not a part of your duty as a guard, and so with a stiff nod you walked down the hallway—your mind reeling. If the Republic was building an army that meant they must know what the Separatists were up to. As far as you knew you were the only spy and yet somehow they managed to figure out this information before you could relay it back to them. You couldn’t worry about the how though…not now. Not when one thing suddenly became vibrantly clear to you.

The coin had been flipped and it seemed your future had finally been decided.

Rushing down the hallway, you slipped outside and headed towards your quarters. If Count Dooku needed you back he would let you know through your comlink, but for now you had to send word to the Republic of what exactly was about to happen. If they didn’t know about the droid army…if somehow they didn’t know about Count Dooku being a Sith…they were screwed.

Fumbling with the lock on your door, you slipped into your room and rushed towards where your separate comlink was stored away. When you were given the mission to remain here, you created a literal hole in the wall of your quarters, the comlink being stuffed inside along with an extra blaster. In case you had to escape quickly in the night, you always kept a bag packed. Your Republic pin, still attached to an old jacket of yours that you used to own.

The familiar static met your ears once you flipped the switch to turn it on. You only had a finite amount of time before you were called back and so you did your best to rush things.

“This is an agent of the Republic. If anyone is listening…I have news about the Separatists.”

Exhaling, you clutched the comlink tightly in your palm, your ears keeping track of every shift and movement you heard on the outside of your quarters. If you were caught you would die. This you knew the moment you took the mission. Which is why you did your best to remain as careful as possible over the years. But how could you be careful about this? How could you not attempt to get back to the Republic after learning about what happened?

The constant static finally broke—someone’s voice coming through. “This is Obi-Wan Kenobi. What is your name?”

You felt as if all the breath was knocked out of you at the sound of his voice echoing back to you. Had you woken up in a dream? Surely, he wasn’t receiving your comlink, but someone else pretending to be him. Except then he came through again the same question of who this was now setting your brain back into motion. It was him… He was somehow close to Geonosis, which meant that maybe you weren’t entirely alone in this situation after all.

Scrambling with your comlink, you managed to get through again—the echo of footsteps coming down the hallway towards your quarters now louder than before.

“This is Astra…” Taking in a shaky breath, you didn’t wait for his response. “There’s talk of an army being built for the Separatists. They’re forming an alliance with Count Dooku as I speak. ”

“Astra,” his voice sounded softer now—as if he was in disbelief that you were on the other side of this call. “I tried to search for you on Coruscant—”

“There’s no time.” The footsteps were practically pounding in your head, the noise of them causing your hands to shake as you blurted out the rest of your information. “A larger droid army is being built to come after the Republic and I can’t—”

A loud bang on your door had you nearly leaping into the air from the sheer shock alone. With a shaky breath, you rushed to turn off the comlink, shoving it back into the hole before replacing the painting over it. Whatever happened now would be Obi-Wan’s choice and whether or not he could transmit a message in time. He couldn’t take on everyone alone, let alone with your help. Shifting, you opened the door to see Jango standing on the other side—his helmet now atop his head.

“Don’t tell me. We’re switching places,” you said.

A dry laugh echoed through the modulator. “You’re needed back.”

“What for?”

“It seems we’re going to have guests arriving soon.”

Fixing the cloak at your throat you attempted to remain as impassive as possible. “What guests?”

Jango shrugged. “Guards aren’t meant to know things like that. You’re only meant to stand there.”

“What a bunch of bantha shit,” you muttered, allowing him to walk on ahead of you. The longer you took the more time you would be able to give Obi-Wan to reach the planet's surface and get out word to whoever.

However, it seemed that even Count Dooku was able to piece together the puzzle that even you had trouble with. Coruscant and Geonosis were too many parsecs away to be able to travel it so quickly—which left the Jedi with the impossible task of getting here before things got out of hand. However, you already knew of one Jedi who was on the planet's surface and you could only hope that the people within this facility didn’t find out about him before you had a chance to track him down.

Jango led you down an unfamiliar hallway, towards where you figured Dooku would be. It looked darker than the others and while that didn’t exactly come off as odd, you were still keeping your guard up in case you weren’t actually being led to guard. He walked fast, your pace having to be hurried in order to catch up to him, but the sight of Viceroy Gunray standing beside Dooku made you pause.

You’d seen him here before. The fact that he was the one who worked with Dooku to assassinate Senator Amidala didn’t surprise you in the slightest. You’d always known they were in league together. However, the Republic didn’t and you’d pay good credits to see their reaction at finding out Count Dooku wasn’t who they thought he was.

“Welcome back Astra.” Dooku’s voice made your stomach turn.

“Sir,” you said. 

The room held a circular table large enough for everyone to sit at and as you quickly took a scan of who sat where, you realized…they weren’t simply planning to take down the Republic. The plans projected in the center of the table made your chest tighten with fear. It looked like a planet in itself. Yet how could that be possible? You’d never heard of a planet that was made rather than formed by nature.

He doesn’t state where he’s going or why, he simply gestures to you—reminding you of your place. 

Wherever they’re headed feels like it takes an eternity to get there. Although you wondered if that was merely your panicked mentality getting the better of you the longer you were there. Obi-Wan was in the facility somewhere. Yet getting to him felt like an impossible feat. He said he went looking for you on Coruscant…even after you left him and you had to shove down the ache in your chest. This job would only work if nothing interfered—that’s what you promised the Republic when you said yes—but the longer you tried to forget about what your heart wanted…the more you saw his blue eyes.

It seemed you couldn’t rid yourself of him even if you tried. He was engraved in your heart deeply, embedded in the very fibre of your bones.

“Look alive,” Jango muttered behind you as he took the lead, leaving you to trail behind—your blaster loosely dangling in your hand.

“Fucking bucket head,” you spit under your breath.

Thankfully everyone was far enough ahead of you to overlook the words you said more to yourself than anyone else. Every manner of curses were listed in alphabetical order in your mind while you walked, but then you felt it. The sharp tug on your cloak—stopping you for a brief moment. Your head swung to the left side of the corridor before you caught it, the sight that nearly stopped your heart. Obi-Wan was slotted between a gathering of wires, a slight smile tugging on his lips as he no doubt heard every thought in your head—an agreement passing from you to him.

He was here…he had found his way back to you.

Only your short reprieve of joy was short lived as you remembered the plan that was to be set in motion. Shaking your head at him, you shoved a single thought his way in the hopes that he was listening.

You need to go!

Unable to stop, you didn’t see his reaction to your words. He’d have to figure out where to hide until you were finally set free from your duties. However—you feared there wouldn’t be time to see one another again. Not after what you overheard and saw in the room. They were planning for something even greater than what you originally expected; greater than what the Republic believed.

“Wait here,” Jango’s voice rudely ripped you out of your own head as you were left to stand guard in a room with Dooku’s supposed guests.

They talked in a language you could not understand, which gave you a chance to gather your thoughts. Obi-Wan would no doubt be attempting to contact the Jedi Order at this time, explaining the situation. Except you could only hope that they arrived on time…before Dooku discovered the lone Jedi wandering his facility. There was nothing you could do. The Separatists truly believed that you were on their side; that your future lay with them and to break that trust now would be to sentence yourself to death.

You felt it before you heard it. The alarm in the room shook you to your core as your sense of calm went to utter shit within seconds. You weren’t sure how long you’d been standing there, but in that manner of time Obi-Wan had been found.

Glancing at the people in the room, you watched as their attention quickly turned to the hologram of Dooku in front of them. The door slid open—droids pushing you aside as they took over—and you didn’t hesitate to slip back out into the hallway. You knew where they would keep him, where Dooku usually kept his prisoners, but there’d be no way to get to him on time. Not when Jango Fett was coming around to your left, his blaster raised and aimed directly at you.

“I always knew it,” he spit out through the modulator.

“Knew what?” Perhaps if you remained calm you would make it out of here alive—preferably unscathed.

He dropped the blaster to his side, his arm slamming against your chest and shoving you back into the wall—the pressure on your throat light but firm. This was him reminding you as Dooku did of your place. He could kill you…easily. Yet he didn’t.

“You’re an agent of the Republic,” he hissed in a low tone as droids marched down the hallway.

“What and you aren’t?”

A dangerous question to ask at this time, but you couldn’t stop the smugness from spilling out into your voice. You knew what he did. The army he was going to tell Dooku about.

“What the fuck do you mean by that?”

Your lips quirked up. “Don’t tell me you helped create an entire army out of the goodness of your heart.”

Even though he still wore his helmet—you felt the shock go through his body. “How did you–”

“You may work for Dooku, but you and I both know you’ll take both sides if it comes down to it. You’re just like me, Fett.”

“We’re not alike,” he said even as the pressure on your throat became lighter. “You pledged your life to the Republic.”

“And I pledge it to the Separatists. You were there. I just want to see who wins and who loses before I take my true stance. Wouldn’t you do the same thing?”

His arm fell to his side, your words finally taking hold of his mind. Though they were outright blatant lies, you could see his demeanor shifting in the way he viewed you. No longer as a pitiful person who couldn’t defend themselves. But rather someone who saw the angle of both sides. Both light and dark and in between the balance that you stood in—just as he did. There was no one without the other, you knew that, and today the Jedi would win but tomorrow may turn out to be a different story.

“They found a Jedi,” he said—his voice back to normal. “One who followed me here. Do you know him?”

“What’s his name?” The panic set in your bones. You knew who they found, who was no doubt now sitting in Dooku’s prison.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

You shook your head immediately. “Never heard of him.”

“Good,” Jango replied, his head turning to see the last of the droids out. “Because they’re sending him to the arena.”

Your heart plummeted. “What for?”

“Dooku wants a show.”

The beeping of his comlink cut him off before he could tell you the rest. Leaning back against the wall you barely caught the tail end of the conversation—the words Jedi and Senator all you heard—because your mind officially landed on the worst scenario. Not being able to see him again before all of this went down wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. No…that was beat by the thought of never seeing him again ever. They were going to kill the man you loved.

You could no longer think straight let alone act as if you were okay.

Jango left you alone, his new orders pulling him away as you tried to come to terms with one fact. Obi-Wan would be dead before the day was over and he’d never know how you truly feel about him. He’d die…thinking you left regretting that night.

“Obi-Wan you’ll be the death of me,” you whispered, fighting back the hot sting of tears that pricked your eyes. They were words you said to him at one point in your life, a joke meant to make him smile, but the gravity of their truth now pressed heavily on your shoulders.

There was no time to grieve your situation, no time to panic. All you were left with was the option to find him—to save him from his condemned future. Even if it killed you in the end.

They were tied to posts, awaiting their deaths and you never felt more helpless. The battle had begun as you rushed towards your place near Dooku, beside Jango. While a part of you felt relieved that Obi-Wan managed to get himself away from the post—attempting to take down the Acklay or at least run from it—another part of you felt your chest tighten with every passing second. This could be it. The cause of his death and you’d have no way to save him without destroying the cover you built for so long.

Shouts of glee echoed throughout the arena, frying your nerves and causing you to gasp at every turn. Obi-Wan managed to duck out of the way as his padawan and a senator were atop the back of the Reek. They would all be fine…they had to be. If not for your sake then the sake of the entire Republic.

Turning as a cry came from beside you, the glow of a purple lightsaber stopped you in your path. A flood of relief filled your veins at the sight. Only to realize…you were wearing armor that held the Separatist’s symbol. The Jedi didn’t know who you were—your cover so deep for a reason—which meant you’d be dead within seconds if you didn’t get out of there.

The Jedi turned to Dooku, his attention focused solely on him, and you quickly leaped over the railing of the balcony landing on the ground of the arena with a cry. A searing pain spread down your leg to your ankle, but you didn’t have time to dwell on it. The arena was slowly being filled with Dooku’s droid army and Jedi were starting their attacks. Yet even as you pulled your blaster out—pretending to look like you were on the opposite side—you were frantically searching for one man.

A lightsaber scraped against your armor, the metal thankfully blocking you from gaining a new scar. You had to move, get towards him, but he seemed rather busy fighting against droids that attempted to surround him.

“Obi-Wan!” you shouted, your voice swallowed by the shouts and screams around you.

Yet he still heard you—turning around within seconds and heading your way. It was the sight of a Jedi attempting to go after you that stopped him in his path. You were still undercover—still a soldier for the enemy—but neither of you could be parted for long. He knew that better than you. So…you ran. Ducked beneath the Jedi and headed towards him.

Blaster fire was coming from all directions, encasing you in a hell of what felt like your own making. This was it. This is what would kill you. It seemed only right after how you had treated your life and how many wrongs you did without any chance of righting them. Even you had to laugh at that realization. Except if this was it...why were you still fighting like you had a chance to escape? Why were you so adamant on the fact that you would make it out of this battlefield alive?

You knew why, and he stood feet away, dodging fire and swiping his lightsaber through the air towards a group of droids that looked to have been heading your way. Really they were going after the Jedi you escaped from.

He was the reason you were there in the first place. Watching as he twisted his weapon in a way that you could never understand, you caught your breath and prepared yourself to head back into battle one more time.

To everyone else it looked as though you were following orders from the enemy's side. Taking position to bring down the Republic, but to him it looked as though you were fighting only those that came your way. You said plain and simple that things were far more complicated than you could explain when you saw him again—his questions soon being silenced by your lips. Yet that wasn’t the truth at all.

Obi-Wan noticed it first when Anakin came hurtling towards you only to be kicked to the ground a hit from the butt of your blaster landing on his head. Enough to disarm, but not enough to wound or even cause long lasting harm. He would live with a headache for quite some time, but he would survive nonetheless. You claimed things were complicated, the records confirming your words, but he saw it clearly now. How your eyes lingered on him for longer than you possibly even noticed.

You were fighting for the Separatists to save the Republic.

It seemed that seeing the file, seeing you here, never quite struck him until now. You were truly an agent of both sides while still looking like the enemy, and he couldn’t stop himself from watching as you fought so fluidly he’d think you were holding a lightsaber.

You were brilliant, was the first thought that came to his mind. How you managed to live this way for so long, lie to those you cared for, lie to him, he would never know. It only took him seconds to realize…he loved you still, but that was soon erased from his mind when he noticed the predicament you were in. Taking on two Jedi at once and attempting to come out alive in the end. If he were to come to your aid it would be clear of what you were to him, how he longed for you. They would know that he’d broken his code and yet even as the shame ate away inside of him now—he didn’t care what they thought.

No, he did the only logical thing he could think of as droids came towards him for yet another attack.

He leaped in the air, taking the lead in front of the other Jedi—all who seemed to be lacking a blue saber—and signaled for them to give this fight to him. He was the warrior, trained in combat given the nature of his kyber crystal color, which is why it was no surprise that they took over in attacking the droids. Leaving you all to himself.

“Tell me,” he said, striking a parry at you in the hopes that he gave you enough time to dodge the simple attack. You did, grabbing for the blaster at your side that you knew had a slower release time. He’d be able to block the attacks from miles away without seeming like he was merely attempting to pass the time until he could get the both of you out of this arena. “Why didn’t I know about your allegiance with the Republic?”

His elbow slammed into your chest, forcing you to stumble backwards into the wall behind you, the blaster falling helplessly to the floor only to be kicked away. Pain lacing the spot for a few moments, before you were pushing that down as well. You barely heard his question over the sounds of the battle, but the words settled into your mind. Burrowing deep until there was no denying the fact that he knew what you were up to now. Your eyes widened in shock, but you only had a few seconds to process what was happening before he was bringing his lightsaber down in an attack that could potentially maim you.

Rolling out of the way you reached for a different discarded blaster on the ground and pulled the trigger without thinking. Never did you think that you would be fighting him of all people and yet it seemed fair due to your history. Each move was meticulously thought out within a short span of time, the battle soon morphing into a dance of two lovers. He lunged only for you to backtrack, finding your footing and using the armor attached to your forearms to protect you against the lightsaber.

Pure beskar. The Separatist’s liked to keep their weapons well protected.

“How did you find out?” you asked in a whispered breath once he was close enough. “My comlink call wasn’t what revealed it.”

His lightsaber was blocked by your metal, his face now close to your own. “I was sent to find an agent of the Republic and instead found the name…Astra. You used it. After all this time–” He stumbled back when you kicked towards his legs, shooting at him only to have it blocked.

“Ye–Yes after all this time.” Wincing from the small slice he managed to get towards the unprotected portion of your shoulder, you fell to one knee and fired three more shots his way. “Don’t tell me it was only that.”

He flipped away from the blaster fire that was sent his way. “You don’t always look at your enemies in such a reverent way do you, because if so—well—consider me jealous.”

You bit back the scoff that attempted to rise up. “Obi-Wan–” Grunting when his elbow slammed into your back, you tried to breathe through the pain. “You noticed?” you gasped.

Kicking his shin with enough force to send him to his knee you grappled for his lightsaber and watched in triumph as it flew through the air only for Anakin to catch it. Still that gave you enough time to wrangle him to the ground, your knee pressed to his neck and vibroblade—that had been attached to your thigh—ready to slice into his chest. You could do it. Easily enough. Lodge the weapon into his heart and be done with this constant pain that you lived through, but then you had to glance up at his face. Your eyes seeing the same emotions that waged war within your mind, reflected back at you through a brilliant blue.

“Dewdrop,” he breathed, fear nonexistent in his form, but rather being replaced by something else—an emotion too dark for even a Jedi to harbor. Desire, longing. “How could I not? When it’s how I look at you.”

The breath was knocked out of your lungs from his words alone, but it was the lightsaber going through your side that had you crying out in pain. Falling to the side you felt as if every nerve in your body was on fire. You realized in that split second that you only had a limited amount of time to tell him how you felt—how you’d always feel. Yet all you could think about was that stupid joke you had procured earlier.

This is how you would die, before the very man who you promised forever to years ago. Dying without righting any of the wrongs you had done.

Smiling briefly, your vision blurred as tears streamed down your cheeks. Someone was standing over you—the shadow of their figure felt like a comfort to you—only to realize that it was someone you knew well. An old friend you figured had been lost to you forever. Stretching out your hand you allowed yourself a moment for the smile on your lips to deepen, reaching your glassy eyes as someone called your name from a distance.

“Qui-Gon,” you breathed, head falling against the dirt covered floor. “I’ve missed you–” A searing pain in your side caused you to scream, a sob tearing through your chest and echoing in your ears.

Obi-Wan watched as ships descended from the sky and quickly ordered Anakin to grab your blaster and his lightsaber as he gathered you in his arms. He didn’t care if anyone saw him carrying a bounty hunter for the Separatists to safety. He would not leave you to fade away on this battlefield, not when you could be saved with some bacta and rest. Questions would arise about your relationship to him—why he was so insistent on saving you of all people—and he would give them their due diligence when the time came.

For now he was determined to keep you from leaving him again.

Your whisper of his former master’s name left him jarred to say the least, but that didn’t stop him from grabbing a kit in the corner of the ship as it took off into the air.

“You had to stab her?” he asked, the harsh words directed towards Anakin who offered his help in wrapping your other wound.

“She was about to stab you herself Master.”

“I had it under control.” Pressing the needle into your skin directly beneath the wound he injected the bacta into your system, focusing on controlling his emotions at the same time. Damn you and your recklessness, and yet he felt he must damn himself as well. For not paying attention to what was going on around him. Letting out a breath he turned to Anakin who was focused solely on making sure the bandage was tied properly around your shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, softer than before.

“You’re welcome, Master.”

Obi-Wan knew that a fight was to be had still, and the thought of leaving you here on this ship alone left him with a sour taste in his mouth. Except there was no getting around that fact. Running a hand down his face he nodded at Anakin to focus on something else as he rested for a few moments beside you. Watching as your eyes fluttered while you dreamed about who knows what.

“My darling dewdrop,” he whispered, pressing a hand to your cheek. “You do know how to drag me into trouble.”

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, savoring in the memory of your laugh echoing in the back of his mind. A moment of his past resurfacing for a moment as he fondly remembered what it was like for it to be the other way around. You’ll be the death of me Obi-Wan Kenobi. Words you had said on a whim years ago on Correlia now felt too real to the situation at hand. He wanted to deny it—say anything else would happen, but now, as he watched you fight for your life, he knew you had spoken the truth.

He would be the death of you.

Sooner than either of you wished.

#obi wan x reader #obi wan x you #obi wan x y/n #obi wan fic #obi wan kenobi #obi wan kenobi x fem!reader #obi wan kenobi x you #obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan kenobi x y/n #star wars #my writing

[thechaoticfanartist]

still hope

Angstpril Day 13: Recovery

Fandom: Star Wars

Gen

Characters: Grim Kennet (OC), Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master Yoda

Relationships: Grim Kennet & Obi-Wan Kenobi & Master Yoda

Additional tags: Post Order 66, Post Mustafar

Summary: The Jedi have lost everything. Yet hope remains. The newly knighted Jedi reminds the Masters of this.

They were staying longer than Grim had assumed they stayed in canon. She had a feeling it was because of her. They were allowing her time to recover from the loss of her limb, and get a feel for her new metal replacement. Something she was thankful for.

Yet she still felt she did not deserve this. Or the new rank she now held, which meant nothing in this new galaxy but everything to her. Master Kenobi and Master Yoda had made her a Jedi Knight. Despite her failure to change the ending. Despite that she never stopped the Sith. She felt undeserving of it, but she also welcomed it. She knew the significance of it.

Grim also knew she would not be allowed to be a Jedi Knight. The Empire, the SIth, had taken away any chances of her to be so. Soon, Grim would not even have the right to her name. Because to survive she would have to change that too.

But for just a moment, before even more could be stolen from her, she would be Grim Kennet, Jedi Knight.

Obi-Wan and Yoda watched from afar as the newly knighted Jedi practiced with her lightsaber. Going over all the simple movements she had been taught during The Clone Wars. “She knows we can’t use our lightsabers anymore. Why is she practicing?” Obi-Wan asked Yoda.

“A Jedi Knight she is now, Master Kenobi. A Jedi Knight, she can not be,” Yoda replied. “Allow her this, we should. Soon, no longer will she be able to.”

Obi-Wan knew he was right. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like for her. To be knighted only to never be a Jedi Knight.

As Grim fell into the simple dance she always loved, she could forget about the darkness that had overtaken the galaxy. She could let herself be free of her grief. The Force was her guide, as it always was. Although now it was dark, Grim found the light deep within and connected to it. A small peaceful smile found its way onto her lips.

Obi-Wan smiled too. She was much different now from when he started training her. She had grown and become such a wonderful Jedi. Even now despite the dark, Grim shone with light.

Only hours ago the dark had threatened to kill that light. He remembered what she had said at the Jedi Temple, before leaving to kill Anakin in a pursuit of revenge. He remembered how hopeless she had been in the hours before they had lost everything.

He now understood why she had felt that way, she had known this would happen. Of every life they would lose. It would be hard for anyone to remain hopeful in the face of that.

Yet, despite the hope she had lost in the hours before they had, Grim had seemed to recover it.

Her hope seemed to spread to the Jedi Master, who had felt his own begin to fade. So much had changed in only one day.

“A great Jedi she has become,” said Yoda.

Obi-Wan smiled softly, “yes, she has.”

Grim deactivated her lightsaber, the last time she would do so for many years. She saw the two Jedi Masters watching her. She gave them a sad smile as she clipped her lightsaber to her belt and walked over to the two of them. “Masters,” she greeted, with a bow.

“Grim,” Obi-Wan replied. “I am so very proud of you. You have become a greater Jedi than I, and I am sorry this is how things ended.”

Grim smiled sadly at the man who up until an hour ago had been her Master. She embraced him in a hug. “Don’t be sorry, it wasn’t your fault, and you didn’t know.”

“You fault it also is not,” Yoda reminded her.

“I know, but it’s hard to not feel like it is,” Grim replied, letting go of Obi-Wan and looking at Yoda. She touched her metal arm, it was cold and she was unused to it still. “I knew it would end like this.”

Yoda shook his head and gave the young Jedi a gentle smile, mixed with sorrow. “An ending this is, young Kennet, but over our story is not.”

“Yes. Our story is far from over,” she agreed. She understood exactly what he had meant, perhaps she understood more than the Jedi Master himself.

Hope still lived on.

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added or removed) : @padme--amygdala @soclonely @mrfandomwars @jgvfhl @starlonkedd @milfspectre1 @togrutanduin @jedi-valjean @one-real-imonkey @traygaming @roseofalderaan @keoxus  @tranakin-thighhighwalker @veiled-in-stars @sentineljedi @spicysucculentz @amelia-song-pond @kohtoyah @saturnsokas @thejediprincessqueenofnaboo @veradragonjedi

#angstpril2023 #star wars #fanfiction #day 13 #recovery #grim kennet #obi wan kenobi #master yoda #yoda #my oc #star wars oc #jedi oc #my writing #grim & obi wan & yoda #grim & yoda & obi wan #star wars fanfic #star wars fanfiction

[0pin0n-custard]

The Unofficial Star Wars Limb Olympics!

Who has chopped off the most limbs? Let’s find out (books and TV show dismemberments not included.)

Honorable Mentions:

While Mace Windu did not chop off any limbs, he did successfully decapitate one (1) Mandalorian.

Chewbacca never dismembered anyone onscreen, however he is a Wookiee. Wookiees are well known for ripping people’s arms out of their sockets. Lord only knows how many limbs were lost to his hand.

6th Place: Yan Dooku

Nothing too impressive. In Attack of the Clones, the Count was the first to cut off one (1) of Padawan Anakin Skywalker’s arms.

Total: One (1) Limb

5th Place: Yoda

In Revenge of the Sith, Jedi Grand Master Yoda cut off one (1) clone trooper’s arm at the ruins of the Jedi Temple. What gave him the edge over Yan Dooku was that Yoda also decapitated two (2) clone troopers initially after Order 66 was broadcasted.

Total: One (1) Limb

4th Place: Ben Solo

Following in his namesake’s footsteps, he cut a Sith in half. In The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren removed two (2) of Emperor Snoke’s legs.

Total: Two (2) Limbs

Bronze Medal: Luke Skywalker

In true Disaster Lineage fashion, Luke Skywalker was very successful at removing limbs. His first time occurred on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, when he cut off one (1) of a Wampa’s arms in self defense.

Obi Wan did teach Luke well, because in Return of the Jedi, he sliced one (1) of Darth Vader’s cybernetic arms off. The fact that these dismemberments occurred on separate occasions is what gave Luke a higher placement than Ben Solo.

Total: Two (2) Limbs

Silver Medal: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

After losing his arm to Yan Dooku [see 6th Place], Anakin must have realized what an effective battle strategy dismemberment was.

In Revenge of the Sith, he returned the favor to Dooku two-fold by cutting off both (2) of the Sith’s hands (followed promptly by beheading him.)

In an effort to save Sheev Palpatine, Anakin chopped one (1) of Mace Windu’s hands off.

Many years later, in The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader welcomed Luke Skywalker into the family by cutting off one (1) of his hands.

Total: Four (4) Limbs

Gold Medal: Obi Wan Kenobi

A surprise to no one, Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi has the highest limb count by a landslide.

He started his journey off in The Phantom Menace by foolishly believing that chopping a humanoid in half would kill them. He removed both (2) of Darth Maul’s legs.

Ten years later, following one of Padme Amidala’s many assassination attempts, Obi Wan disarmed the bounty hunter Zam Wessel by cutting off one (1) of her hands.

In the arena on Geonosis, he sliced two (2) of an ackley’s arms off.

In Revenge of the Sith, Obi Wan faced off against General Grevious and a droid army on Utapau. He decapitated one of Grievous’ guards and cut off two (2) of the General’s hands.

In the battle against his former Padawan on Mustafar, Kenobi set a limb record by cutting off both (2) of Anakin’s legs and his remaining (1) flesh arm.

His final dismemberment took place in A New Hope at the Mos Eisley Cantina. Once again, he disarmed someone in the literal sense; he cut off one (1) of Ponda Baba’s arms.

Total: Eleven (11) Fucking Limbs

#Star Wars #tpm #the phantom menace #attack of the clones #revenge of the sith #a new hope #the empire strikes back #return of the jedi #the force awakens #the last jedi #the rise of skywalker #obi wan #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #Anakin #luke skywalker #disaster lineage #kylo ren #star wars prequels #star wars ot

[jasontoddiefor]

A gift for @thenegoteator :D

It took a Temple to raise a child, and Mace Windu was very much aware of this. However, it did not explain what Ahsoka Tano was doing at his door in the middle of the night. Ahsoka had deep bags under her eyes, which wasn’t too much of a surprise considering the current living arrangements of her lineage. While little Luke and Leia were relatively well-behaved newborns, they were still only a few weeks old. If their human caretakers didn’t wake up at every single little whimper, then the togruta with the superior hearing certainly would.

“Do you want to come inside?” Mace asked, not letting his confusion show. He was used to people coming to his door at the oddest hours.

“If—if I can?” Ahsoka replied as if only now becoming aware of her actions. In this, she reminded Mace of her Grandmaster and the many nights Mace had found Obi-Wan coming to his doorstep during the first months of Anakin’s stay at the Temple.

“My door is always open, Padawan,” Mace said – and watched her wince.

Ah.

So there was the problem.

“Caleb is currently sleeping in my bed as Depa is away,” Mace explained. “So please keep your voice down. I don’t want to wake him unnecessarily.”

The boy had already had a hellish enough month behind him, he needed all the rest he could get. Even though the war was officially over, enough planets refused to surrender, drawing out the battles until they had nothing but children left to sacrifice. It weighed on Mace’s shoulders, making him wonder whether he wasn’t too old to carry such burdens still.

Ahsoka nodded and followed Mace inside. He couldn’t recall whether Ahsoka had been in his room before, but from the way she eagerly looked around his quarters, taking in the sight of old instruments, books, and holos, he guessed she hadn’t. Well, at one point in their life, every Jedi had set a foot inside Mace’s quarters, so this was bound to happen sooner or later.

“Do you want a cup of tea?”

Ahsoka tore herself away from the sight and looked at him with surprise. “I—yes? That would be nice.”

“Then I will make a cup. Do you have any preferences? I believe I even have Obi-Wan’s favorite blend here.”

Mace had no idea whether he had bought it or if Obi-Wan had just left it here from himself when he came over. Knowing the other man, it was likely that the latter was the case. For a man claiming to be so very polite, Obi-Wan could be a right brat.

Mace’s kitchen was small, with only a few cabinets and one shelf, two cooking tiles, and an oven. He wasn’t much of a cook himself and preferred to eat in the cafeteria with everyone, frequently taste-tasting what the Initiates had prepared. He selected two uneven cups Depa had made for him when she’d been young from the shelf. Why she had decided to pick up pottery of all hobbies was beside him, but he supposed that she found the motion soothing. Devan did enjoy parkouring through the lower levels and Echuu was quite content playing the guitar to calm himself.

Perhaps Mace should focus less on why all three of his Padawans had decided they wouldn’t follow him into theatre so they could continue to make fun of him. Setting the water to boil, Mace searched through his cabinets until he found Obi-Wan’s favorite blend. The fruity tea was far from the blend he preferred, but Mace prided himself on being a good host. While he waited for the tea to finish steeping, Mace enjoyed the quiet of the night. For all that there were few sounds as dear to him as that of people walking, or in the case of some younglings and few selected Knights, running, down their large hallways, Mace could appreciate the quiet when the world came to rest.

With two finished cups in hand, he returned to the living room, where he found Ahsoka curled up on the sofa, no longer studying his quarters for any hidden secrets.

“Thank you,” she said when she accepted the cup from him. She held it in her hands as if to warm them, letting the steam hit her face. She breathed in once, twice, finding her rhythm again. Mace waited until she’d calmed enough to speak up.

“What brings you to my door, Padawan Tano?”

Ahsoka flinched and appeared to make herself even smaller as if attempting to vanish. When it became apparent that it didn’t work, that silence hadn’t been what she had sought him out for, she let out a sigh. “You keep calling that.”

“Calling you what?” Mace asked, his brow raised, playing oblivious.

“… Padawan.”

“Are you not? I was under the impression that you had returned to the Temple.”

“I did, but I still left,” Ahsoka replied. “I left and I was convinced that I had to leave and that it was good that I did. I still think I had to leave the Temple behind.”

“Then why are you torn?”

Ahsoka’s hold on her cup tightened and so, perhaps in wise anticipation, she set it on the table and buried her hands in her robes instead, hiding their twitching from view. Mace could trace all her mannerisms to her teachers and couldn’t imagine what it must be like to purposefully rip all those pieces from yourself when they had become so ingrained in your very being. Even Dooku, who’d fallen so far from their beliefs, had been unable to fully rid himself of Yoda’s lessons. Maybe it was for the best. Hope had become a scarce commodity during the war, yet Mace considered the possibility that in a decade, they wouldn’t be imprisoning a Sith anymore.

“But am I still a Padawan? A member of this Order?” Ahsoka asked. Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she shook like the leaves on the trees in the courtyard.

“Has your Master told you anything different?”

Ahsoka paused. “…. No.”

Seeing that realization was settling within her, Mace nodded. “Then you should not doubt him. You are a Jedi, Ahsoka Tano, and you will remain one as long as you live by our tenets.”

That teased a startled laugh from her. “Compassion for all except people who cheat at push-n-pull?”

As if transported back ten years, hearing Anakin say the same, Mace snorted. “The similarities between you and your Master astonish me every time. Yes, Padawan Tano, compassion for all.”

This seemed to calm the youth as she reached for her cup again and emptied it slowly. “It’s good.”

Mace smiled into his own cup. “I’d be insulted if it wasn’t. Obi-Wan forced me to memorize all the steps for making it.”

The then young Knight had been frazzled, and Mace honestly couldn’t tell what it had been about and had forced Mace to learn how to make this tea until he’d more or less collapsed on Mace’s sofa, completely knocked out until morning when Anakin had picked him up.

“He does do that,” Ahsoka agreed. “I think this is the only thing anyone can make reliably now.”

“Sleep-deprived much?” Mace inquired.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “Like you wouldn’t believe. I love Luke and Leia dearly, but they are demanding and need a lot of attention.”

That was honestly kinder than Mace would have described newborns at her age.

“There is a reason why we usually don’t have children this young in the Temple,” Mace said. “They are very handful. Do you get enlisted to help very often?”

Ahsoka shook her head. “No, Obi-Wan, Skyguy, and Padmé got it covered, and I’m mostly just helping out somewhere else.”

She trailed off a little. This, perhaps, was another issue, but one that could be equally easily dealt with.

“Thank you then for going where you are needed,” Mace told her.

Ahsoka blinked. “Huh?”

“You will grow into a specific role someday, Ahsoka, and that needs time. Do not feel as if you need to earn back your place in the Temple. You don’t need to earn yourself a home you have always had. For now, trust me when I say that everyone you’ve helped is glad that you were there. It is an admirable quality to have a sense of where you are needed. Do not see it as being the odd one out.”

This was the hardest lesson to teach and learn, the fact that there was a path out there for you, but that it took time to see where it would lead. Too many of their Padawans now felt utterly lost without the structure the war had provided them with.

“Oh. I guess if you say so.”

“Yes, I do say so,” Mace agreed. Then, eyeing Ahsoka’s empty cup, he added on, “do you want another?”

“No.” Ahsoka yawned. “I think I might best head back.”

“You can also sleep here if you want, and don’t mind Caleb hogging the blanket. I won’t go to bed tonight anyway.”

Ahsoka squinted at him as if attempting to discern whether he was lying. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Really—”

“Ahsoka, go to bed.”

Clearly feeling better already, she saluted and, after Mace showed her his bedroom, made herself comfortable in it. She took off her shoes and tossed her robe over a chair before climbing into the bed. Ahsoka had barely laid down when Caleb already turned around to curl around her, clinging like a little monkey. After a moment’s apprehension, she relaxed and was fast asleep. Stealing one last glance at the two Padawan, Mace returned to his living room, looking through the incoming reports.

Hectic as the aftermath of the war was, as much effort as caring for their children was, Mace wouldn’t trade it for a single thing in the world.

#star wars #mace windu #ahsoka tano #jedi #light fix it verse #fanfic

[owkse]

Obi Wan Kenobi ~ The Talk

Chapter 26

Chapter 25

The sun was heavily setting, it was a good two weeks since you had opened your eyes. And you were going stir crazy. You had gotten out of bed for the last couple of days, shuffling around the room you were in, until the pain got too much that is. But two weeks inside and you were bored, wanting to feel the sun on your skin, which is what lead you to standing in the garden, facing the setting sun, your eyes closed, hands behind your back.

‘You’re aware the medical staff are extremely displeased with your disappearing act?’ came Obi Wan’s voice from behind you.

‘That’s half the fun isn’t it’ you said your eyes remaining closed as he stood next to you.

‘And you call me a menace’ chuckled Obi Wan lightly.

‘I learnt from the best Master Kenobi’ you smiled opening your eyes, glancing at the man, watching the evening sun brighten up his hair and beard, highlighting his face which held a calm expression, rather than one of distress that he wore the last time you had seen him.

‘Hmm, that’s how rumours start my dear’ said Obi Wan, teasingly.

You laughed at the man’s tone, before clutching your stomach, hissing in pain.

‘Now this is why we listen to the medical staff, come on’ said Obi Wan, guiding you to your spot under the willow, wrapping his own cloak around you.

‘Thanks’ you said, settling back against the trunk, Obi Wan sitting cross legged in front of you.

‘Of course’ smiled Obi Wan, playing with blades of grass.

‘Obi Wan’ you said having the man look at you.

‘Talk to me’ you said speaking kindly.

‘I… I don’t know where to start’ said Obi Wan speaking so incredibly softly.

‘You said that I make you worry and fret about me, I feel exactly the same whenever you are away to’ you said hoping to start on some common ground.

‘Master Yoda said that the force flutters with peace and purity when we are together’ commented Obi Wan.

‘Hmm’ you chuckled remembering what Yoda had said to you.

‘You sense it to’ smiled Obi Wan, forgetting who he was speaking with.

‘I do… but I know my feelings for you stretch way beyond how much I sense in the force’ you said bravely.

‘Young one’ said Obi Wan, his hands coming to your lap, where yours were resting, grabbing them into his warm ones.

‘I couldn’t tell you before, because I admire the man that you are and the Jedi you’ve become… someone hopefully I’ll become one day’ you admitted your cheeks burning.

Obi Wan laughed, I mean really laughed. It was a laugh he would often let out before the war. It was one that was care free and joyous, it was one that turns heads at the ruckus, it was child like, it was one that made you pout.

‘Oh darling, I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you, it’s just… you speak so highly of me, and you’re the one that I admire and wish to be’ smiled Obi Wan his own blush dusting his cheeks.

‘So…?’ You said tilting your head, laughter still on Obi Wan’s face.

‘Attachment never should be forbidden’ said Obi Wan, you both lapsing into silence briefly.

‘I met someone in the force, Master Yoda guided me, he learnt a lot on his little… excursion shall we say’ grinned Obi Wan now.

‘Always learning’ you chuckled fondly.

‘Indeed, I met a women, Tia, who I believe you know’ said Obi Wan, placing a hand to the side of your face when you bowed it in embarrassment.

‘She was right you know, the order needs you, if it’s to survive, I need you, because I meant it when I said I would stay for you’ said Obi Wan stroking his thumb along your skin.

‘Obi…’ you broke off.

‘Young one, I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know if it’s right or wrong for you, but I love you, and I know I’ve loved you since the moment I met you under this tree…. I love you’ said Obi Wan.

‘I love you too’ you whispered, a tear escaping down your cheek.

‘Come here darling’ whispered Obi Wan, using the hand on the side of your face to guide you into an emotional kiss, at least until you broke away, hissing in pain.

‘Young one, time to get you back to the medical room’ said Obi Wan watching as you retracted from him fully, sitting back against the tree trunk eyes shut grimacing.

‘Mm’ you agreed letting the man fuss over you as you both left the garden, your arm wrapped around his, using him to alleviate the pain in your stomach as you walked.

‘Here we go, need anything? Extra blanket?’ asked Obi Wan, tucking the blanket of the bed around you, his cloak too wrapped around you.

‘Obi Wan, you’re mothering’ you chuckled, happily snuggling into your pile of warmth, your nose tucking into his cloak, a now sleepy smile on your face.

‘Sorry, can I stay? Until you fall asleep?’ asked Obi Wan flicking his hair back that had landed in his eyes.

‘Please, stay’ you said, shifting on the bed, creating room for him.

Taking off his boots, Obi Wan climbed carefully onto the bed, letting you snuggle into him how you wanted so you weren’t in pain. Wrapping his arms carefully around you Obi Wan pressed a kiss to your head.

‘Night Obi’

‘Goodnight young one’

Chapter 27

#obi wan kenobi #obi wan x reader #obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan #star wars #jedi #jedi temple #star wars imagine

[into-daylight-hope]

Qui-Gon Jinn: Certified Hypocrite, Fascinating Failure, Mass of Contradictions

For starters, I am just going to let direct quotes from the man speak for itself.

Some excerpts from Master & Apprentice

Wise words.

Wait a minute...

😯😯 What the hell is happening here? All quotes are from the same man in one book.

Qui-Gon Jinn doesn't have an ounce of self-awareness and it is so hilariously terrible.

What is even better (or worse), this is perfectly in line with The Phantom Menace characterization .

I mean,

Remember when he said all this than spent the rest of the movie obsessing over prophecies, the chosen one and literally the future?

"He still has so much to learn of the living force." Qui-Gon Jinn about Obi-Wan in the council scene

After that scene

"The boy is dangerous. They all sense it why can't you?" Obi-Wan Kenobi about Anakin Skywalker to Qui-Gon Jinn

You see Obi-Wan, Master Jinn here has completely lost any sense of "here and now" between his crusade against darkness and divine mission to save the Galaxy.

This in turn, unsurprisingly blinds him to the fact Anakin is not suitable to become a Jedi. Or at least not ready to directly move on to becoming a padawan.

Anakin himself would suffer in a road that is not meant for him. But he is not planning for Anakin the child. He is thinking about The Glorious Chose One.

He is the chosen one. You all must, see it.

And yet from Qui-Gon's perspective it is Obi-Wan who doesn't understand the Living Force.

I have to say if he is truly a student of the living force as many fans claim he has been failing the class for at least 8 years.

Let's move on to another set of entertaining and horrifyingly oblivious quotes from M&A.

If you look upward you can observe Mr. Here and Now in his natural habitat.

He really acts like future is set in stone than thinks he is the right person to talk about about concentrating in the moment. Unbelievable.

Let's look at this dialogue again. In contrast with the excerpt from above.

He is all about the future when it suits him. But when Obi-Wan makes a remark on it he obviously should just focus on the moment. This is actually the third time in this post where he contradicts himself while specifically chastising or criticizing Obi-Wan for something Qui-Gon actually does.

Now I don't think Qui-Gon acts with malice. But it is important to point out his obliviousness has become a way of ensuring he is never in the wrong.

He suffers from an immense hubris. And a man obsessed with prophecies and chosen ones definitely has some kind of savior complex.

But notably Jinn doesn't actually want to put any effort into enacting real change with his limited yet existent capabilities.

He turns down a council seat in M&A because he thinks it would hold him down. From what? Dear God, the reason they offered him a seat was for different opinions. Qui-Gon can complain all he wants but one time he actually had a chance to make his opinions a reality he freaking bailed.

Why? He doesn't want to face his own limits. He can't bare to try and fail. It is much easier to sustain a superiority complex when you are complaining from the sidewalk.

So he fixates all this belief onto prophecies, visions that will magically cure the Galaxy. And of course his place to help fulfill them. To the point where it is the one thing that keeps him standing.

He has binded meaning of his life and belief for goodness dangerously close to his supposed importance in the Galaxy. (You can feel the influences of his former master)

His absolute refusal to engage with reality turns him into mass of contradictions. Cause he doesn't know what he will find or become if he is mistaken in his belief of himself.

He can't face reinvention on the event of defeat.

But this situation was different. It had to be, because the only thing Qui-Gon knew to be absolutely true was that his vision was real.

Oh by the way, it turned out he misunderstood the vision. But when does being wrong ever stopped Qui-Gon Jinn?

No words.

Only Qui-Gon could have come near declaring himself a prophet after making a mistake. Maybe stop and reflect man? Just stop and think about your actions.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: I have a bad feeling about this.

Qui-Gon Jinn: I don't sense anything.

Of course you don't.

Honestly he doesn't have much to speak for in the cosmic force department either.

(There is the whole force ghost thing I guess. But I have no idea if that is more connected with living or cosmic force. It seems to be more about spiritual enlightenment. Which is ridiculous when you consider Yoda had go through so many trials, face his darkside, learn to truly let go just for Force priestesses to deem him worthy enough to study immortality. Yes Qui-Gon never became a force ghost but he had started his training before he died. And much of Yoda's tests on TCW was about self-awareness. It is not just about being a good person. How did Force Priestesses approve Qui-Gon "I was meant to misinterpret this vision." Jinn? I would understand if he became wiser after death and faced his flaws and all but he never was on that level before he died. You might say even Anakin became a force ghost. But I would remind you, Anakin in the end broke out of denial, acknowledged the wrong of his ways and took that leap to the light side. Self-awareness seems such an important key to becoming a force ghost. Right there with selflessness. Personally it doesn't quite feel right for a character whose biggest flaws are their lack of introspection and hubris which we never see him rise above to be the one that discovers immortality again. It feels more like a rushed plot point to explain how we get from A to B.)

This post got out of control 😂. I honestly just wanted to point out lack of communication might be one of the reasons Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon have trouble understanding each other but it is sometimes even harder to understand Qui-Gon when he actually says something. Cause ration is not what drives him.

Qui-Gon is such a complex character. He is undeniably good especially compared to other SW characters. Yet for all fandom's deifying he might be the most flawed Jedi we see on the franchise. (The ones that fell to the dark side not included.)

It is a shame wider fandom completely write off his flaws to the degree I can't even recognize the character when they talk about Jinn. Cause that Qui-Gon is so hard to feel empathy for.

When people constantly make statements like "He is The Wisest sw character." his hypocrisy stops being amusing. It doesn't end on screen or page instead often used to bash other characters.

An unbelievable analysis from Wookiepedia:

When Jinn saved the Gungan exile Jar Jar Binks, who in turn swore a life-debt to him, his compassionate nature was such that Jinn took the hapless Gungan under his wing, much to Kenobi's dismay. His empathy toward all life forms, including the most pitiful and unfortunate, was Jinn's greatest strength. Additionally, he remained understanding and patient with Queen Padmé Amidala. During the short time they knew each other, he never asked for her to do more than she was willing to.

You know out of the two, Qui-Gon was the one who insulted Jar Jar to his face. And he didn't took Jar Jar under his wing. They forced him to take them to a city where Jar Jar could have been punished for entering. Now it was the pragmatic thing to do. For all three's survival not for their own gain. Understandable. But compassion is just pushing it.

Also he never asked Padme to do more than she was willing to do?

Padmé : Are you sure about this? Trusting our fate to a boy we hardly know? The Queen will not approve.

Qui-Gon Jinn : The Queen does not need to know.

Padmé : Well, I don't approve.

And he is aware she is the queen, herself. Padme was nearly tearing out her because of this man in TPM.

What is weird, Jinn in his bewildering hypocrisy probably thinks he is being admirably compassionate with Jar Jar, highly understanding and patient with Padme. We clearly see he is not.

Out of universe he has been a force ghost for decades now but fandom is nowhere near acknowledging his flaws than he is.

And honestly SW doesn't have that many major morally complex characters. People like Maul, Palpatine, Anakin,Ventress don't think they are serving a higher purpose or oblivious to the evils they commit.

Emotionally complicated, yes. Going through moral dilemmas, no.

Three major characters come to mind who make huge mistakes, condone or commit atrocities while thinking they are in the right/with good intentions/for a greater cause. With varying degrees of culpability.

Qui-Gon. Padme. Dooku.

In that order.

Let these characters be interesting instead of demonizing nearly inhumanly selfless Jedi characters. (They make mistakes too but funnily enough they are still way better beings than most people on our planet.)

By the way I found the epitaph "Fascinating Failure" from the article here. Especially the last paragraphs make some interesting points. ⬇️

👀

This post might seem harsh but that is expected since it focuses on Qui-Gon's flaws.

"People are more than their worst act,” Quote from Qui-Gon Jinn in Master & Apprentice

#qui gon jinn #Qui-Gon Jinn #obi wan kenobi #Obi-Wan Kenobi #meta #character analysis #pro jedi #in defense of the jedi #long post

[cienie-isengardu]

In your personal point of view, where do you think the Jedi erred the most when it came to Anakin's training?

To be honest, I wonder from time to time how much different all of this went if Anakin got more experienced teacher to guide him through the training process instead of freshly promoted to Knight and still processing Qui-Gon Jinn’s death Obi-Wan that took the boy out of obligation (the last promise to fallen master) rather than anything else. This is by no means an attack on Kenobi for whom the whole situation was as unexpected as for Anakin and who I believe tried his best but Anakin was his first student and one from which greatness was expected due to some old, incomprehensible prophecy. So maybe old Ben was right, he wasn’t ready to teach Anakin as he thought he was then. Maybe if Jinn lived long enough to train little Skywalker or if one of the Council members took upon themselves this duty, Anakin’s - and galaxy’s - fate would be much better or may not, we will never learn.

However, I think the worst error of the Jedi Order didn’t lie specifically in the choice of Anakin’s teacher but rather in Yoda himself who was from the start against training the boy and whose personal reservations (fears) rubbed on everyone involved, including Obi-Wan:

Yoda’s gaze was distant when he spoke. “Decided, the Council is,” he repeated. “Trained, the boy shall be.”

Obi-Wan felt a surge of relief and joy flood through him, and a grateful smile escaped him.

Yoda saw the smile. “Pleased, you are? So certain this is right?” The wrinkled face tightened. “Clouded, this boy’s future remains, Obi-Wan. A mistake to train him, it is.”

“But the Council-”

“Yes, decided.” The sleepy eyes lifted. “Disagree with that decision, I must.”

There was a long silence as the two faced each other, listening to the sounds of the funeral preparations taking place without. Obi-Wan did not know what to say. Clearly the Council had decided against the advice of Yoda. That in itself was unusual. That the Jedi Master chose to make a point of it here emphasized the extent of his concerns about Anakin Skywalker.

Obi-Wan spoke carefully. “I will take this boy as my Padawan, Master. I will train him in the best way I can. But I will bear in mind what you have told me here. I will go carefully. I will heed your warnings. I will keep close watch over his progress.”

Yoda studied him a moment, then nodded. “Your promise, then, remember well, young Jedi,” he said softly. “Sufficient, it is, if you do.”

Obi-Wan bowed in acknowledgment. “I will remember.” [The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks]

And maybe because Obi-Wan tried so much to train Anakin as Yoda would - or rather wanted - he blamed himself for Anakin’s fall in the Original Trilogy?

“With foolish pride I took it upon myself to train Anakin in the ways of the Jedi. My mistake was thinking I could be as good a teacher as Yoda. I was not [...]”

I strongly believe if Yoda wasn’t such a coward about facing an uncertain future and with that, (subconsciously?) fearing losing control over the situation ( his Jedi Order), things wouldn’t get so ugly in the most critical time for the Republic.

There are plenty of things that Jedi did wrong - separately, these wrongs were uncomfortable yet to survive but together build an unsafe, toxic environment. Starting with not providing any proper psychological help to unpack all the stress and traumatic experiences that no child should ever be forced to face in the first place (and Force knows, Kenobi too deserved some therapy). Then there is the whole double-standard apparently employed for Skywalker, seen when one compare how Yoda (or Jedi Council) treated Anakin and other Jedi in similar situations, for example how Grandmaster showed concern for his subordinates when the mission demanded from them to work or interact with people with whom they already had personal conflict (from minor aminosy to even serious matter of facing killer of family) but doesn’t seem to give a damn for putting Anakin on missions that directly make him face slavers and even makes him work for Jabba out of all possible people. All because he has the needed experience or whatever the excuse was. Or how there is plenty of Jedi who in fact are family members and can live in the same Temple and no one makes fuss about that (Plo Koon and his niece, Nico and Tae Diath) or can speak openly about their ties to / honoring parents (Adi Gallia, A’Sharad Hett) but when Skywalker mentions Shmi he was either silenced or told “the dreams pass” when Jedi have enough experience to know special dreams / visions may happen thanks to strong connection to the Force. Or giving totally different advice to Anakin and Ahsoka in regard to dreams about someone close to them in danger of dying, in which Anakin heard “The fear of loss is a path to the dark side. [...] Train yourself to let go… of everything you fear to lose.” [RotS] while Ahsoka was told “Visions they are. Underestimate them, You must not. Meditate to see clearly. [,,,] Choose, you must, how to respond to your visions. But remember, always in motion is the future, and many possible futures there are.” [TCW S03E07 - Assassin]. Even if the last one was the creators attempt to present Yoda in more kindly light, it spectacularly backfired by only building more the contrast how Anakin Skywalker was treated by the so called wisest Jedi Master and how Yoda’s personal opinion (fears) affected everyone involved in Skywalker’s training. To the point when Yoda showed support for young Anakin, Kenobi was actually surprised by that. Which speaks a lot about the issue, isn’t it?

And this is even more frustrating to me, because Yoda was presented as a kind mentor to so many padawans and full-trained Jedi alike. Even when he acknowledged that there was darkness in Quinlan Vos and the man had a lot falling with Dark Side through the course of his adult life, when Vos was fighting for his life during Order 66, it was memory of Yoda’s teaching that greatly helped him survive [Star Wars Republic #83]. In contrast, when Anakin hits the worst time in his life to the point of actually seeking Yoda’s advice on his own, he is surprised by old master’s willingness and patience to actually listen to him:

“He’d been surprised by how graciously the ancient Jedi Master had invited him into his quarters, and by how patiently Yoda had listened to his stumbling attempts to explain his question without giving away his secret; Yoda had never made any attempt to conceal what had always seemed to Anakin to be a gruff disapproval of Anakin’s very existence.“ [RotS novel by Matthew Stover]

The different treatment mixed with high exceptions based on some mistic not fully understable ancient prophecy was a dangerous mix that couldn’t lead into a good direction. And this is not even about Anakin as a main hero, this is generally speaking unfair, hurtful approach to any kid, especially ex-slave child that come there to learn Jedi Ways but through the years was made feel unwanted, isolated, frustrated and doubting his own worth (x)(x) and yes, there was a youthful pride but also a constant fear he is and never will be good enough. This is not how you make a functional human being and definitely not a human being with enough proper control of emotions to keep in check an unnatural connection to the Force. The training, no matter how hard and difficult, was only part of being a Jedi, the other important matter was the person's psyche. By different, incomprehensible treatment, teaching a child with clear signs of PTSD to deeply bury inside himself all his traumas, fears, stress rather than help to unpack the emotional burden and teach him proper control is not only cruel and inhuman but also asking for disaster. Hell, even Darth Sidious could see that coming but not the Jedi.

And to be honest, after so many years I do not ask myself anymore how Anakin’s Fall to Dark Side could have happened. Only, how he managed to keep so long to the Light Side / Jedi mindset?

So for me, all the problems and great Jedi errors were rooted in Yoda and his fear of change, of the unknown that Force did not feel like sharing with him. It is Yoda and his openly said reservations about ex-slave child that was brave to leave everything he knew, everyone he loved behind to become Jedi but was casted away, as too old, too angry, too dangerous. A reservation that most Jedi masters took into their hearts because one green old, immutable gremlin happened to be seen as the wisest Jedi and if he said there was something wrong, they all looked for the wrongness and focused on that. Because Yoda’s fears made others beware too and in result, made Anakin’s life in Jedi Order more hardship than it was necessary. I really think if Jedi masters (Yoda) give him a fair chance, things would look much better. Not giving Skywalker any privileges because of the Chosen One status? Completely understandable. But treating him differently, harsher than other students, because he could be dangerous? Total failure on their part. The more so because every child with connection to Force and every adult Jedi was a potential a threat to others. Anakin was not an exception in that matter.

#my replies #star wars #anakin skywalker #yoda #anti yoda because that little gremlin screwed up so badly and by doing so gave bad direction for other jedi masters #don't get me wrong anakin had his problems and he wasn't the easiest padawan to teach either #but jedi masters were an actual adults that have power over anakin and other kids #blaming a child for their own mistakes does not solve the problem of their toxic and harmful behaviour #but of course that is just my personal opinion #feel free to disagree #but please don't bring the obi wan and anakin comics to me as additinal source for how jedi failed anakin #because this one story is absolutely infair and out of character for anakin jedi and papatine #one day i wil rant about that too

[stolen-pen-name23]

Any prompt you want. I just want some Padme and Obi-wan friendship (yes, I’m aware these are angst prompts. I don’t care)

Hello my friend! Here's my final prompt fill from this round! Thanks for the prompt! //prompts now closed

Here ya go!

---

“You cannot possibly go like this.”

“Yes, I can,” Anakin says, panting slightly.

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow at Anakin, standing over his former apprentice as he leans heavily over the toilet bowl. Anakin groans and allows his body to fall back against the wall.

With a concerned “hmm,” Obi-Wan crouches down beside Anakin and places a palm on his forehead. The younger Jedi pulls back but is unable to elude Obi-Wan for long. He is concerned but not surprised by the heat that greets his palm. Sweaty hair tangles in Obi-Wan’s fingers as he tries to smooth it back. His concern deepens when Anakin stops resisting his touch.

“Oh, Padawan,” Obi-Wan says, slipping into the old title like it’s muscle memory. He grabs a damp towel and dabs it at Anakin’s sweaty forehead. “This isn’t good.”

Shivers course through Anakin’s whole body and his cheeks are flushed pink with fever.

“I can still go, M’ster,” Anakin says, though it comes out as more of a whine than an assurance. “Please, Obi-Wan. I can’t disappoint Pa– Senator Amidala.”

“Anakin, you can’t even stand up without keeling over,” Obi-Wan says. “How do you think you’re going to last through a whole senatorial ball?”

“I can stand,” Anakin pouts. As if to demonstrate his point, Anakin climbs to shaky feet. “See? I’m st–”

Anakin sways and his knees buckle. Obi-Wan takes a heavy step forward and grabs a hold of Anakin before he can collapse again.

“You were saying?”

“Shudup.”

Anakin’s face is pressed into Obi-Wan’s chest and he sags into him.

“Come on,” Obi-Wan says. “Let’s get you to bed and out of that suit. You won’t be wearing it tonight I’m afraid.”

“But Padmé…”

“I’m sure Senator Amidala will do just fine for a night,” Obi-Wan reassures, dragging Anakin down the hallway.

“She’s gonna be all ‘lone,” Anakin slurs, and Obi-Wan can feel guilt and disappointment clouding Anakin’s Force presence.

“She’s a very strong woman, Anakin, she’ll manage.”

“But I promised,” Anakin whines.

“She’ll forgive you, she’s very kind,” Obi-Wan says.

“I know,” Anakin says wistfully. “She’s just the best.”

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. “Come now, Anakin, let’s get you in bed before you say something I’m going to have to pretend to forget.”

“Kay,” Anakin says, too delirious to truly catch Obi-Wan’s meaning.

Like any good Master would, Obi-Wan helps Anakin out of his fancy suit and provides him with fresh, soft tunics to sleep in.

“Get in bed,” Obi-Wan commands, leaving no room for argument. “I’ll be right back.”

Anakin grumbles but slides under his sheets.

Shaking his head, Obi-Wan heads to the kitchen and pours some tea he made shortly before he found Anakin hurling his guts out. It was still warm, but not scalding — perfect for Anakin who has an impatient streak a mile wide.

He returns to Anakin’s room to find him with half-closed eyes and an arm wrapped tightly around his abdomen.

“Drink this,” Obi-Wan says, handing the tea over to Anakin. “It will settle your stomach.”

“What about Padmé?” Anakin says again.

Obi-Wan frowns. He does feel bad that Padmé will be left without a date to the senatorial ball. He glances over to the chair where he draped Anakin’s tie and groans internally. Obi-Wan hates senatorial balls.

But he cares about Anakin and he cares about Padmé.

With a long-suffering sigh, Obi-Wan pulls out his commlink.

“Master Kenobi?” Padmé answers. Her expression is passive, but her voice betrays her confusion. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything is fine, Senator, but I’m afraid there has been a change of plans.”

***

A gentle knock at the door tells Obi-Wan his date for the night has arrived to pick him up.

“Hello, Master Kenobi.”

The young senator is radiant in her evening gown. Fine lace patterns web over the length of her slender arms, but cut off at her shoulders, leaving them bare. The rest of the gown, a solid, navy blue, cascades down her body just as a waterfall might plunge from a mountainside. She is a dazzling sight and Obi-Wan thanks the stars that Anakin is asleep in his bed and not out here attempting to prove his healthiness. If illness didn’t make Anakin fall at her feet, this dress would certainly do the trick.

“Thank you for meeting me here,” Obi-Wan says. “It is not the most chivalrous thing, but I’m afraid I was short on time.”

“What you’re doing is chivalrous enough, Master Kenobi,” Padmé says. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“Of course, I did. I could not possibly let you get stood up, especially by a Padawan of mine.”

Padmé giggles. “It’s hardly his fault.”

“Oh, I know, but giving him a hard time is much more fun than giving him my pity,” Obi-Wan says. “Give me one moment, Senator. I just need to find… ah, here it is.” Obi-Wan grabs the tie he had thrown haphazardly on the kitchen counter while he was getting ready.

He had rushed to throw together an outfit that would be acceptable for the ball and was pleased to find that his blue coat coordinated quite well with Padmé’s gown.

The tie is made of a silky material and his fingers fumble with the unfamiliar article of clothing. Qui-Gon taught him how to do this a long time ago. Now if only he could remember which way to pull…

“Let me,” Padmé says gently.

“Pardon?”

“You’re hopeless. Let me do it.” Padmé strides over to him and takes each side of the tie in either hand.

“I assure you, Senator, I am perfectly capable–” Obi-Wan starts as he tries to grab hold of the tie again. Padmé bats his hand away.

“Stop that,” she says. He squirms backward but she grabs hold of his shoulder to pull him back. “Hold still, would you?”

Obi-Wan sighs in defeat and allows Padmé to finish the knot. She carefully tucks the tie under his collar and she brushes her hands over his shoulders. “There. You look dashing.”

He smiles softly at her. “Thank you, Padmé. You look quite beautiful yourself.”

She bows her head graciously.

“Where is Anakin?”

His smile tightens into a grimace. “He’s asleep. I hope he stays that way. I gave him something for the nausea in hopes that it will help him sleep.”

Obi-Wan can sense her conflicting emotions in the Force and he already knows what she is going to ask.

“Are you sure he will be okay by himself?”

“He should be fine for a few hours. If not, he knows I will have my comm on me, though I anticipate we’ll be back before he wakes. Unless, of course, this is not the stuffy senatorial ball I was promised?”

“I’m afraid it is the stuffy senatorial ball you were promised.”

“Very well,” Obi-Wan says, extending an arm for Padmé to link hers around. “Let’s get on with it shall we?”

***

“You’re a good dancer,” Padmé observes.

“You don’t need to sound so surprised,” Obi-Wan says, before twirling her around. Her dress splays out, its flared edges brush his legs.

“I’m not,” she says. “I suppose it’s a Jedi thing?”

Obi-Wan laughs at the mental image of Yoda dancing at a senatorial ball. “It is hardly a Jedi thing.”

“Anakin is a good dancer too,” Padmé argues.

“And pray tell, who do you think taught him?”

“Fair enough,” Padmé concedes and then she laughs.

“Something funny?”

“No, it’s just… I’m picturing you teaching a teenaged Anakin how to dance.”

“Yes, looking back it was probably quite amusing. It was less funny in the moment when he managed to step on all of my toes.”

Padmé laughs even more and the musical cadence of it blends in with the song the band is playing.

“So, Master Kenobi,” Padmé says. “Who taught you to dance. I’m having a hard time picturing Qui-Gon doing it.”

“That would be because he didn’t teach me,” Obi-Wan says.

“Then who did?”

Obi-Wan thinks back to a time long ago — to two kids and a Jedi master on the run. Blonde tresses and the gleam of beskar. Long nights under star-speckled skies.

“An old friend,” he says.

“Your friend did a good job.”

“She was a good teacher — stubborn and willful — but a good teacher nonetheless.”

One song ends and another begins.

Obi-Wan and Padmé continue their dance through the magnificent ballroom, their steps falling perfectly in time with the music and with each other.

“Thank you again for doing this. I know this kind of thing isn’t… well… your thing.”

“All things considered, being in good company certainly makes it more tolerable,” Obi-Wan says.

“Oh, only ‘tolerable’?” Padmé says with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe after another glass of champagne, it will verge into enjoyable.”

Padmé grins brightly as he spins her around again. On beat with the music, she steps back perfectly into place, one hand in his, the other on his shoulder.

“You’re a good friend, Obi-Wan,” Padmé says. “To me and to Anakin.”

“Thank you, Senator. You’re a good friend too.” He pauses, but then adds on, “to me and to Anakin.”

Padmé bites her lip and averts her gaze. “Do you think he’s okay?”

Obi-Wan feels the tension in her body as she asks the question and he can tell she has been wanting to ask it for some time. Her worry clouds the Force, but he parses through it to poke at the bond he shares with Anakin.

“He’s fine,” Obi-Wan reassures. Padmé’s shoulders remain rigid. “I would be able to sense if he were not. He’s fine, Padmé.”

Padmé relaxes at his words and returns to gently swaying with the rhythm. They move together, perfectly in sync with one another.

Only a few heartbeats more, and the song finds its end. Obi-Wan bows to Padmé and she inclines her head in polite acknowledgment.

“Another dance?” he asks.

“Maybe in a little while. Let’s see about getting you that glass of champagne first, shall we?”

“You read my mind, Senator.”

Arm in arm, they walk together laughing and smiling — not as a Jedi and a senator, but as two friends enjoying the simple pleasure of one another’s company.

#my writing #prompts now closed #obi wan kenobi #padme amidala #obi wan and padme rights

[monamourbladie-mb]

19 Years Later... (Darth Vader x reader miniseries chapter 1)

19 years have passed since Y/n’s husband Anakin’s death, and she has become the leading General of the newly founded Rebellion alongside her past Jedi friend Obi-Wan Kenobi, now known as Ben Kenobi. When her children Luke and Leia Skywalker gets kidnapped by Darth Vader, the man who killed her husband; her and Obi-Wan Kenobi must come rescue her. But when she finds out who’s behind Darth Vader’s mask, the truth is something she never thought she had to prepare herself for.

——————

Index:

1. prologue

2. chapter 1

3. chapter 2 [Coming soon]

wc: 2.3k

warnings: cursing

——————

Being the leader of the new Rebellion against the evil Galactic Empire had its perks. One of the things that was not a perk, however, was hiding one’s actual name from their people, and past.

None of Y/n’s rebels knew of her past as a former Jedi Knight that fought in the Clone Wars. Though she fought like a cunning warrior, the thought had never once crossed their minds, seeing as all the Jedi were dead.

She had raised her children Luke and Leia with Obi-Wan’s guidance to be trained as Jedi, seeing as both of them were very Force-Sensitive.

Watching Luke wield his father’s lightsaber brought such bittersweet feelings to both old Jedi Knights. Anakin was such a big part of both of their lives, that it was almost painful to see this without him there.

Anakin would be beyond proud of his son and daughter, for sure.

Y/n recalled the first time he and Leia held their lightsabers. They were both 9, the same age their Father was when he was brought him by Qui-Gon Jyn from Tattooine.

Luke had rushed up to Obi’s old trunk excitedly, admiring the strange silver object with big eyes as Leia crowded behind him, “What’s that, Uncle Obi?”

“This is your father’s lightsaber, my dear. He would’ve wanted you to have it,” Obi replied, a sad smile on his face as he held onto the hilt, activating its stellar blue glow.

“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster—“ Obi handed it to Luke and his eyes widened, waving it around gently so he didn’t break it. “—an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.”

“Is it mine?” Luke’s eyes beamed in excitement. Obi-Wan nodded, sitting down as he picked up Leia, putting her on his knee.

“For over a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice. The old republic. Before the Empire...” he trailed off, turning his head towards the window.

Y/n rushed into the room, hearing the lightsaber and fearing there was an intruder, “Obi-Wan! What’s going on, I’m—“ she ignited her brilliant (l/c) saber, holding it in a protective stance before she realized it was just Luke. She sighed heavily and disengaged her saber, attaching it back to her belt loop, “Obi, you didn’t tell me you were doing this now...” she crossed her arms.

“Mom! Obi-Wan told me this was Dad’s! Look!” he started swinging it gently, making sure it didn’t hit anyone since he knew how deadly they could be. She began to smile sadly as she remembered a young Anakin as a padawan, rushing in to show her his lightsaber he constructed the day he finally got one.

She smiled sadly, tears welling up in her eyes. “You look so much like your father, Luke,” she said sadly. Obi looked back at Luke, and for a split moment, he was reminded of the small slave his old master brought back with him. He smiled to himself remembering how he helped Anakin with his padawan braid.

“Princess, come here. I’ll let you hold my lightsaber, okay?” she handed Leia her saber gently, and she took gingerly from her hand. Leia took it and igniting it, the blade’s glow reflecting in her excited little eyes.

“Mom? How did dad die? You never answered me,” Luke asked. Y/n felt herself freeze in place, a large lump in her throat forming. “Luke, I...”

“I’ll tell them, Y/n,” Obi-Wan replied solemnly. “Your father was killed by a young Jedi named Darth Vader. He was a close friend of mine before he fell. He helped the Emperor hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father.” The room fell silent, until Luke asked another question, “So you and Uncle Obi are the last remaining Jedi?”

Obi-Wan shook his head no, “There are others, but sparse. To name a few, Master Yoda and Ahsoka Tano, your father’s Padawan learner. The last remaining Jedi are being hunted down by Vader, which is why we hide.”

Leia spoke up softly, “Is that why we don’t use our actual last name, mommy?”

“Yes, sweetheart. As long as Vader’s reign continues, we must hide our names. Darth Vader does not know about the two of you, so you are safe. For us, on the other hand...” she trailed off, and the kids understood.

“Mom... Mom,” Leia spoke loudly. Y/n blinked in confusion and turned back around, looking at her daughter, “Yeah, my love?”

“Are you okay mom?” Leia asked, frowning. “We need to look at the Death Star plans.”

“Right,” she sighed heavily, turning to face from the window out looking Yavin 4. “I’m fine, princess. I just... was remembering Anakin, that’s all.” Leia sighed and laid her hand on her mother’s back, rubbing it gently, “Dad would be proud of everything you’ve done, mom.” She began to tear up as she pulled Leia into a tight hug, “I hope so. It’s been about 20 years and it still doesn’t feel right,” silent tears fell down her cheeks into her daughter’s bunned hair.

“I’m proud of you, Leia. If you were to be trained within the Order now, you’d be the same age your father was when he became a Jedi Knight, and when he married me...” she sniffled, wiping her tears. Leia smiled softly, holding her mom’s hand, “Do you think he’d be proud of me, too?”

“I know he would,” she rubbed her fingertips against hers, “He would pull you into the tightest hug, spin you a little and say softly, ‘That’s my baby girl,’” she replied, her voice cracking slightly. Leia began to tear up as she hugged her back, “I wish I knew him...” she said softly. “I wish so too, babe, so bad...” Y/n sighed. But I won’t let his memory be in vain. Let’s go look at these plans and destroy that Death Star, yeah?”

Leia and Y/n walked to the main board room, seeing how the map was already up on display. “General Jonas, we’ve been examining the Death Star plans. They’re on screen now,” one of her commanding officers recited. “Good, thank you, officer. Have we discovered a weak point yet? Or at least some form of entry point?”

“No, ma’am. We haven’t studied long enough. There are many ways in, but all most likely heavily guarded. We will have to find a way to go under the radar without getting detected, somehow,” he replied. She nodded, walking closer to examine it. She closed her eyes and felt out through the Force for some answer. No surprise to her, she could barely feel anything at all but an empty void. Ever since Anakin had died, she had felt more distanced from the Force than ever. Maybe she and Anakin possessed a rare Dyad, or maybe she had simply lost touch with the Force; but no matter what she did, she was nowhere near as powerful in the Force as she used to be.

“Alert me if you find anything, Officer, I would love to have this Death Star in shambles by the end of the month,” Y/n left to walk out and to ask Obi-Wan on the matter. “Yes, ma’am,” he responded, turning back to his computer to get back to work.

Elsewhere, Leia was pacing in Luke’s room, grumbling to herself, “I know Obi-Wan has taught us to not let our emotions guide us, but I can’t when it comes to him. He killed our father, he should be dead!” Leia huffed in anger, collapsing down onto her twin’s bed.

Luke grunted in response, his mouth full of food still, “It’s not like you can take him on yourself. You’d die!” he said, or at least, sounded like he said. “I will not let the lives of those lost who got us the plans in the first place’s memories die. We wouldn’t be this close to planning an attack without their sacrifices. Moreover, Mom has had these plans for two days now, and she hasn’t done a single thing about it!” Leia responded quickly. Luke shrugged, “Leia. Be real. It’s not like we can steal a ship and fly to the Death Star, find it’s a weak point, and get back in time for dinner.”

Leia sat up, looking at Luke as if he had just committed mass murder. “...What?” Luke asked warily. Leia grinned, “That’s it! We’ll do just that, Luke! We’ll take one of mom’s ships, fly around the death star undetected and find weak entry points, and get back like we were never even gone!”

“Leia, you can not be serious right now!” Luke gasped, setting his food down, “We can’t do this, we could get in so much trouble! Or spotted!”

“Do you want to sit idly while our mother and uncle do nothing, whereas our Father’s murderer is out on the lose on that moon!” Leia snapped at him. He narrowed his eyes, “That’s no moon, Leia. Also, no, I don’t! But do we have a choice? No. We’re staying here.”

“No, we’re leaving. Whether I go alone is up to you entirely, but at this point, I just want the man who killed my father dead,” Leia said, glaring at him. Luke huffed, “You think I don’t want him dead, too? But we are children, we literally can’t do anything!”

“We are 19 years old and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to sit at home here and wait for Vader to kill more innocent people,” Leia frowned, crossing her arms. “I really need you with me, Luke. But I get it if you don’t go.” she stood up, grabbing her stuff to leave when Luke grumbled “Wait!” under his breath. “I’ll... go. Just to protect you. But this is a bad idea, and I don’t want to get caught,” he raised a brow to her. Leia grinned and hugged Luke tightly, “Thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this! But bring your lightsaber maybe, just in case?”

——————

“What do you mean, YOU LET THEM GO?” Y/n snapped to C3-PO, enraged. Threepio raised his hands in defense, “I couldn’t stop them, mistress! I tried my best, I swear!”

“You let my children go confront Vader ALONE? You’re so lucky I don’t shut you down for that!” she growled, shoving past him with Obi-Wan following close behind her. “Oh, dear. I’m doomed,” Threepio whined.

“We have to go after them, we... I can’t... I can’t lose my kids,” Y/n said nervously, starting to pace once Obi got close. “Y/n, calm down sweetheart. I need you to breathe and think,” Obi said, holding onto her shoulders gently. “If we go, we have an equal chance of being caught since they’ll already be on high alert.”

She sighed heavily, shaking her head, “I hate you for being so levelheaded and smart, Obi,” she frowned. “That’s my specialty,” he winked. “Now, we need to stop and make sure that we can pull this rescue off without risking our lives, too.”

Meanwhile, at the Death Star, Vader was summoned by his leading captain because of an alert of an enemy ship flying nearby. “Bring them in, search them. They may know General Jonas.” “Yes, My Lord.”

Vader turned to leave the bridge towards the docking bay, to meet his guests personally. As he walked, his mind was filled with visions and memories from his dream the night before. Of her.

He sighed heavily, picking up speed as he neared the docking bay. Passing a group of stormtroopers, he pushed past them to be in front, crossing his arms. The door opened, and two stormtroopers walked out holding a young girl and boy, yelling at them to let go of them.

As soon as Vader looked at the two, he felt something... strange. A certain presence in the Force he had never felt before. What is this? Why do they feel familiar?

Vader dropped his arms, walking forward and raising his hand to stop the troopers, “Who are you? And why were you near my Death Star?”

His unmerciful, robotic voice rumbled through their chests, terrifying them. In all their years, they had never seen something so cold and unforgiving. “Don’t be petrified, answer me if you want to live,” Vader challenged, staring right at the boy.

“You killed our father,” Leia’s voice was cold, sad, and broken. She knew this was a bad idea, but it was too late now. “I wanted revenge.”

“You’ll have to forgive me, my princess, but I’ve killed many men. Your father was just another tick on my list, whoever he may be.”

“You son of a—!” Luke yelled, rushing to jump at him when the stormtroopers all turned their weapons on him, making him stop. Vader growled, “Insolent children. I don’t think you know who I am, truly. I’d crush you in a heartbeat, but seeing as you could have something of use to me... take them away, both of them,” Vader commanded. The two shouted in disagreement, and Vader simply stood and watched them struggle.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for what you did to our dad!” Luke yelled as he was taken away. Vader rolled his eyes from under the mask and walked back to his quarters. He knelt on the floor, taking his mask off as he called out to his Emperor through the force.

“What do you want, Lord Vader?” Palpatine growled, looking down at Vader’s hologram. “I felt something through the Force a few moments ago. My new hostages... they seem to be strong with it.”

“Really? Are you sure, my apprentice?”

“Yes, Master. More sure than anything.”

“Well, you know what you must do. Kill them. They could be Jedi if they tried opposing you,” Palpatine smirked. “They’re only children, which means they’re newer Jedi. Someone had to have trained them.”

“Children never stopped you before, don’t let it stop you now. Do it.”

“...Yes, my Master.” Vader ended the holomessage, sighing.

“Who are you two...?” he asked himself, reaching out through the Force and feeling they were still there.

Strange.

——————

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#anakin skywalker #star wars #anakinskywalker #anakin skywalker imagine #anakin skywalker smut #hayden christensen #anakin skywalker x reader #star wars smut #starwars #hayden christensen smut #darth vader #darth vader x reader #darth vader x reader smut #darth vader x reader angst #suitless vader #suitless vader x reader #suitless vader x reader smut

[swbumblebee]

Qui-Gon Jinn cupped the precious mug of tea beneath his large hands, sitting alone at the table in the small temple flat he shared with his Padawan. He closed his eyes and breathed in the vapors whilst the rest of the temple sprang into action for the day ahead.

Not today for the Jinn/Kenobi pair. It had been a long night for the Jedi Master, listening helplessly to Obi-Wan sniffing, wheezing and coughing his way through the night in the room next to his own.

After narrowly avoiding a slipper to the face the third time he popped his head around the door (“For goodness sake Master I am FINE! Maybe I’m just allergic to fusspots?”) the Jedi Master made the executive decision that there would be no lessons this morning, testing the limits of his fine Force control by turning the alarm on his apprentice’s chrono off as he quickly exited the room and escaped the teenager’s ire.

Yes. A much-needed lie in and then a day in bed (remaining exactly where Qui-Gon could keep an eye on him) with pain killers and cough medicine would do his ill Padawan a world of good.

He sat back, rather pleased with his plan, when a spark of panic ignited his training bond with Obi-Wan, and a few thuds later saw the boy springing out of his room, tunics all over the place, hair askew and a frantic look on his face.

Ah.

He hadn’t factored in his Padawan’s dedication to his studies.

“Master! Master what time is it? I’m so late!” the young man cried, grabbing random objects and stuffing them into his bag in a frenzy.

Qui-Gon stood up slowly.

“Obi-Wan I’ve spoken to your tutors-“

His panicked student heard nothing. He was frantically searching for something; lifting cushions off the sofa, shifting piles of flimsi and kicking aside discarded robes.

“Master have you seen my history pad? I had it – I had it last night I’m sure!” his apprentice was a one boy hurricane as he rushed around their flat, ducking under the table in his quest.

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes towards the heavens.

“Obi-Wan you’re not going-“

“Yes!” so focused on his victory from under their table, the teenager continued to tune him out. “Sorry Master there’s a guest speaker – I just need to check I’ve done-“

Qui-Gon sighed fondly. His boy was such a nerd.

It was time to bring out the big guns.

“Padawan!” he barked sharply, fully aware he was using his ‘Master’ voice, usually reserved for dangerous missions.

Thunk.

“Ow!”

…and immediately regretted it when his startled apprentice hit his head on the table above his crouched position.

Oh Force

He rushed towards the boy, who was slowly making his way out from under the table rubbing his head with a grimace.

“Owwww! Bloody ahhhh…Master! What was that for?” he asked, wounded.

Big watery blue eyes turned on him and Qui-Gon thought he might just be the worst being in the Galaxy.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry!” he jabbered, pulling the skinny boy in to look at his head, where already a lump was forming.

Qui-Gon was indeed, the worst being in the Galaxy.

Obi-Wan sighed, sniffing and wiping at his red nose that sharply contrasted against his pale pallor, shrugging out of his Masters grip.

“Master, what’s going on? Did you turn off my alarm?” he asked, an unimpressed expression on his young face that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the Jedi high council.

Qui-Gon refused to be cowed.

But it was a near thing.

He opened his mouth to respond when the stern face in front of him took on a decidedly more enthusiastic expression.

“Are we going on a mission!?” Obi-Wan asked excitedly, childish glee lighting up his eyes. Before the sickly boy immediately succumbed to a chest-rattling coughing fit that had him almost bent double.

Going on a – ? Qui-Gon shook his head despairingly as he rubbed Obi-Wan’s back in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

“The only place you’re going is back to bed” he corrected sternly.

“What?”

Unbelievably, the intelligent young Jedi looked at him confused. And then sneezed.

“Yes” Qui-Gon confirmed slowly as he nodded. “You, my young Padawan, have a cold.”

Predictably, he received a scowl in return.

“Master, honestly I’m fine – I promise – I have to go to lessons – Maaaaster” Obi-Wan attempted to wriggle away from the hand that was currently resting on his forehead.

Qui-Gon’s lips thinned in disapproval. The boy was way too hot, and clammy to the touch.

“No, I’m afraid not.” he declared.

“But there’s –“

“I know, I know, a guest speaker” Qui-Gon finished for him, putting an arm to his students’ skinny shoulders and turning him gently towards his room.

“Pleeease Master” the quiet, uncharacteristically whining tone of his apprentice caught him off guard, and his heart clenched just a little.

“I’m sorry Padawan, but your health must come first.”

He felt a little guilty when the young man’s shoulders slumped a little and Obi-Wan sniffed rather pathetically before, ever obedient, he gave in and allowed himself to be guided back towards his own bedroom.,  

Qui-Gon pressed his advantage in his apprentice’s silence.

“Now, please go and get in the shower, and change into some fresh sleep clothes while I make your bed.” He instructed, in a patient tone he usually reserved for lessons.

All he got was a grunt in return, blue eyes dimming slightly as Obi-Wan’s feet began to drag.

Qui-Gon had to stop himself from giving him a rather smothering bear hug. That would go down about as well as Yoda’s stew.

They were nearly at the threshold, so close to victory, when Obi-Wan stopped suddenly.

“I should tell my tutors” he said, looking up at Qui-Gon worriedly.

“I spoke with the Master Scholars office this morning” he reassured his anxious student.

Obi-Wan continued to nibble his lower lip, remaining in place despite his Master’s urging expression.

“…I should speak to them” he mumbled unsurely “apologize”

Qui-Gon looked at him sharply.

“You will do no such thing” he scolded, his tone perhaps more than he intended, but it was a consistent bad habit of his Padawan, and a major bug bear of his own, that the child seemed to feel the need apologise to the Universe for his existence.

He sighed at the startled look on his boys face.

“Obi-Wan, you are perfectly entitled to be ill, every being in the Galaxy gets ill and the sensible thing to do is to take a sick day.” He said smartly, appealing to his logical student’s intelligence.

Obi-Wan continued to worry at his lip, his head cocking in a way Qui-Gon recognized as him carefully considering a problem.

“So…I’ll just… go to bed?” he clarified awkwardly.

Qui-Gon smiled.

“Yes indeed, you’ll get in the shower and then go to bed. Where you may read, fiction, for thirty minutes whilst you have breakfast and some medicine, and then you’re going back to sleep.” He informed his charge.

There was a mutinous expression present for about a fraction of a second, before his dutiful apprentice was back.

“Yes Master” came the rather sulky acknowledgement, and Qui-Gon turned away and smiled.

---

A few short minutes later the Master found himself perched on the end of Obi-Wan’s bed, attempting to wrap another blanket around his pouting tooka of a Padawan.

He treasured these moments, he realized, as Qui-Gon watched the young man (little more than a child really) gently falling asleep (with just a little help from the Force). They were few and far between as the days rolled on, and he had a nasty feeling he’d have a Jedi Knight on his hands before he knew it.

Obi-Wan would be magnificent, he mused slightly melancholily as he reached out to tuck a stray ankle back under the covers.

Live in the moment he reminded himself.

There would doubtless still be many opportunities ahead to put his reckless, trouble magnet bull-headed boy to bed, and many arguments to come.

It was a bizarrely comforting thought.

#Obi-Wan Kenobi #qui-gon jinn #obi-wan fanfic #snippet of nothing #fluffy as balls #oh god it's so sappy #soft qui-gon #dad!Qui-Gon #padawan kenobi

[thechaoticfanartist]

and all things end

Angstpril Day 10: Sacrifice

Fandom: Star Wars

Teen & Up

Major Character Death

Characters: Grim Kennet (OC), Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren (Mentioned), Obi-Wan Kenobi

Relationships: Grim Kennet & Luke Skywalker, Grim Kennet & Obi-Wan Kenobi

Additional tags: POV: 1st Person

Summary: For forty-seven years Grim wondered what would have happened if she had been at the Jedi Temple during Order Sixty-Six. Her death finally answers. 

How many years had it been? Decades, that I know. I lost my sense of time when I appeared in this universe. Which too had been decades ago.

I am a Jedi Master. The last of the Republic. The last of the Old Jedi Order. I had been only a Padawan when it fell. But at the very end of it the remaining Council members had knighted me.

Even all the decades later I still think about that day. The day the Republic and Jedi Order fell. Replaced by the Empire and the Sith.

I had not been at the Temple that day. I had been fighting in the Battle of Utapau by Master Kenobi’s side. Still I wonder, what if I had been? What if I had been at the Jedi Temple when Order Sixty-Six happened? Could I have saved anyone? Could I have stopped Skywalker? Or would I have died?

I try not to think about it. But tonight was different. Tonight I had a feeling of dread that I had not experienced since that day.

“Master, what’s wrong?” Luke asked me.

“Something is about to happen,” I replied. I had seen this before. I know it’s coming. I’ve known since Ben Solo was born. He will turn soon. Our new Jedi Order is about to fall.

Luke knows what my tone means. He heard this years ago, when he was my padawan. “What is it?”

“We’re about to be destroyed,” I whisper. I’m afraid. I feel there’s more that I don’t know.

And even later that night I found it to be true.

I woke up to screaming and burning. I grabbed my lightsaber and put on my boots and a cloak, having time for nothing else. I saw many students running. It was chaos in the fear as the fog of the darkside fell upon the Temple.

I wondered for only a moment if this was what it was like all those years ago for those who had been there. Only for a moment.

I began to run to gather the Jedi. “Follow me!” I called. My voice carried over the screams. They heard, and they followed.

I began to lead them away from the chaos. Away from the newest Sith. “Go!” I cried again. “Get away! Stay safe!”

The newest traitor found me, and I ignited my lightsaber. The purple blade illuminating the night. And the Sith ignited his.

If I was at the Temple, all those years ago, would I have fought Anakin?

We fight. I’ve battled Sith before. Decades ago. But I could still fight. I’m stronger, I know I am. I am Jedi Master Grim Kennet, the last Jedi of the Republic. Once a Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The last Jedi to have been knighted by Master Yoda.

If I was at the Temple, all those years ago, would I have saved any Jedi?

I am now. Holding off the new Sith. Maybe I can’t save them all. I never have been. It was never my goal.

If I was at the Temple, all those years ago, would I have been killed?

Suddenly I feel a burning pain, and I fall to the ground. “No,” I whisper. Realizing what this means. I had been stabbed, I can’t fight.

The newest traitor walks away.

Tears fill my eyes.

What would have happened if I was at the Jedi Temple the night of Order Sixty-Six?

I think I know at last.

I feel warmth. I know this warmth. I felt it years ago. And I hear him. “Hello there,” he tells me.

I look up and I see him. “Master,” I say, weakly and with tears. “I’m so sorry,” I tell him. “I failed again.”

“You never failed,” he told me. “You never failed any of us. We’re all so proud of you.”

I smiled. He always knew what to say to me.

He offered me his hand. “It’s time for you to come home, Grim.”

I reach for him, but never reach him. I fade away. But not into the Force.

What would have happened if I was at the Jedi Temple the night of Order Sixty-Six? I ask.

I would have died. My death replies.

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added or removed) : @padme--amygdala @soclonely @mrfandomwars @jgvfhl @starlonkedd @milfspectre1 @togrutanduin @jedi-valjean @one-real-imonkey @traygaming @roseofalderaan @keoxus  @tranakin-thighhighwalker @veiled-in-stars @sentineljedi @spicysucculentz @amelia-song-pond @kohtoyah @saturnsokas @thejediprincessqueenofnaboo @veradragonjedi

#angstpril2023 #star wars #fanfiction #day10 #sacrifice #grim kennet #luke skywalker #obi wan kenobi #tw death #death tw #cw death #death cw #my writing #star wars fanfic #star wars fanfiction

[obiwanobi]

If there was going to be a happy ending to lux æterna, what would it be? You don't have to write it out! I just wanna picture whatever you intended ☺️ in my head they all lived anyway 👀

I really enjoyed writing Lux Æterna, so thanks for asking about this fic anon ❤ It was always supposed to have a tragic ending (and that's probably why I liked writing it so much) but I'm happy to provide a happy alternative!

The ceremony still happens. Just like it was meant to be.

Obi-Wan, who was already busy being devastated, almost breaks down when Mace hands him Anakin's lightsaber.

There are very strict protocols to respect after the death of the Chosen One, and the vigil lasts three days.

On the final day, the Force finally comes back to a balance, feeling light and joyful, full of life and promises, but Obi-Wan can only think that the Force feels like Anakin now.

Then the day of the funeral arrives, and Obi-Wan is still trying to convince himself that he can do it, he can leave his rooms and say his last goodbye to Anakin and be miserable for the rest of his life, feeling bitter every time he uses the Force, when someone knocks on his door.

Anakin, his darling Anakin, stands in front of him breathless, speaking too fast about the Force bringing him back, and please don't be mad I didn't know, Yoda explaining that this was always supposed to be the trial of the Chosen One, that the Force wouldn't let his favourite child stay dead for too long once it's not completely evil anymore, about Master Windu looking like he was going to throttle Yoda and how amazing that possibility was, but Anakin could only concentrate on one thing and it was that he woke up and Obi-Wan wasn't here with him—

At this point, Obi-Wan can't take it anymore and they're both too desperate and frantic to do anything else but hold each other tightly enough to hurt, clinging desperately to each other in the middle of the corridor and ignoring the few Jedi gasping at seeing Anakin very much alive. They're too busy whispering reassurances that they're here now, how sorry they are, kissing every patch of skin available, relieved and overjoyed to have more time together.

Anakin says, half-laughing and half-crying a bit, that he thought this would be a bit harder, that he would have to convince Obi-Wan that he isn't a ghost or a hallucination.

Obi-Wan says that it doesn't matter anyway, he would take whatever he can get if it means having Anakin for just a bit longer.

Surprisingly, it's Obi-Wan who announces he can't stay in the Temple. He can't bring himself to use the Force now, not after everything, so there is no point in keeping the title of Jedi. Master Windu nods and says "understandable, please enjoy the rest of your life, we'll send you a 'thank-you for saving us from ineluctable doom' card every year."

They get their week alone, in the lovely cabin in the Nubian countryside.

It turns into a month-long stay.

It turns into a lifetime there.

The Jedi still talk about the Chosen One and his Knight.

Of course, all padawans know about Skywalker and Kenobi. They're mentioned in every basic Jedi History class and people have been singing their praises in official ceremonies for decades. All Jedi should be grateful, they say, because Skywalker and Kenobi made terrible sacrifices during the darkest of times and remain heroes of the war, and blah blah blah— honestly, it's so very boring for those poor padawans.

What's way more interesting though, are the rumours about an amazing engineer on Naboo who designs the best ships in all the galaxy.

It's a bit hard to get to him, because he lives in the middle of nowhere, and his husband is known for being overly protective of him. But Master Windu sometimes sends knights in need of a good ship to him, and they always come back looking dazzled and like they got more than they bargained for, but stay conspicuously silent about the whole experience. The ships they bring back are always the most beautiful and fastest prototypes anyone has ever seen.

Naturally, this mystery becomes the favourite conversation topic in the Temple for decades.

#anakin being brought back to life after 3 days dead: obi-wan's gonna kill me #I love that we can have the angst AND the comfort in this version #like obi-wan thinking that he was really sent to protect someone for years #just to make sure anakin arrived to his slaughter on time #or thinking that all the biographies of previous chosen ones he read #where they're described as having lived a long and peaceful life after bringing balance to the force #are all lies #but then bam! the force says 'nah he did good I think I'm gonna bring him back' #fic i did write #obikin

[akajustmerry]

we know it's gonna be a circus but in your mind what would be the ideal obi show given the pieces we have to play with

oooooh this is such an interesting question 👀 i read recently there was an intention early on in Kenobi's development to bring back Maul as the main antagonist but they went with Vader instead so with that in mind, here is what an ideal post-rots obi wan kenobi character driven show would deal with

A Marty McFly/Doc-like connection between young!luke and Obi Wan. we know by ANH, luke already knows Obi as Ben and even defends his aunt and uncle's concern about Obi being an old fool so i think it would be nice to see how Obi-Wan feels connecting to the son of his fallen best friend. How does he deal with the guilt of being the mentor figure to Luke that he failed to be to Anakin?

Obi-Wan Learning To Converse With The Dead - if you'll remember, the last instruction Obi receives from Yoda is to train himself to be able to converse with those who have passed into the force. An ideal Obi series to me would see Obi-wan at his lowest trying to contact his old master for comfort and guidance, but hesitating because of his guilt over failing anakin. How could he face Qui Gon after failing his Padawan? I'd be interested to see a version of Obi reppressing that ability

Clone Fallout - The betrayal Obi-Wan experienced is massively traumatic. He is one of the last jedi betrayed by his own best friend and the clones that were created to protect the republic. A series set post-ROTS would by virtue HAVE to show Obi-wan now having to treat the clones he once fought side by side with as the enemy. equally, i am sure that not all clones agreed with order 66 and i suspect we will also see him encountering rebel clones too

Obi-Wan should break the jedi code and have a shag or something - i am deadly serious about this. i really do think that this show has to show Obi-Wan reckon with the fact that the same code he and the jedi abided by created Anakin and Palpatine. Any reckoning/deconstruction of that would have to see Obi either lose faith in the code or break it to test if it was the code that was corrupt or Anakin's nature. if strict adherence to the code breeds the complacency that allowed Palpatine to gain power, and disregard for it is a big part of what made Anakin turn - this series should be Obi-Wan finding that middle ground

The Jedi, Hunted By an Empire Still finding It's feet - this is something the trailer already shows but I am very interested in seeing how the empire goes about ensuring no Jedi can rise in this period. Also, the empire is still new so it will be interesting to see if the galaxy went quietly along with Palpatine or if there was always rebellion and since this is set so soon after ROTS I have a feeling the empire won't be at full power yet and that will be interesting

Anakin Doubting His Path - this is a BIG ONE. this series is THE OPPORTUNITY to really tend seeds of Anakin's redemption in ROTJ. this series HAS to show Palpatine's abuse of Anakin, has to show Anakin struggling to actually carry the weight of becoming Vader, has to show how Palpatine clearly makes sure Obi-Wan couldn't get to Anakin during this time. I think that's why Obi-Wan is gonna be so hunted because Palps probably knows that if ANYONE can bring Anakin back from the brink rn its Obi-Wan so an ideal obi-wan series would see Palpatine systematically working to shatter any of Anakin's remaining faith in Obi Wan and also destroying Obi Wan.

Tatooine life - you know, this is a side but Tatooine is such a fascinating place socially, politically and this is my lame ass way of saying that i don't care what anyone says podracing is cool and i wanna see a pod race and i reckon it'd be a fun call back!

meaningful prequel callbacks! - i think its obvious and irritating that Disney-era star wars has very little love for the prequels beyond what specifically pertains to the clone wars, so i wanna see some more meaningful intertextual love for the trilogy i grew up with. whether its seeing a familiar face or two, revisiting an event, slavery was such a massive ethical theme for the prequels and it would be interesting to see that revisited too.

idk there's so much you can do with this character. i am preparing for the worst after the disrespect of boba fett, but my curiosity is VERY high to make up for low expectations. but yeah, all this is what i'd ideally like to see though.

#obi wan kenobi #star wars #ewan mcgregor #anti-disney-inc

[writing-is-thorapy]

Deadcember Day 5: Five Stages of Grief

This one is dedicated to my amazing friend and Girlboss Supreme, @stolen-pen-name23! Her writing is wonderful and her characterization of our favorite Disaster Trio is always on point, so please go check out her work!!! I know I'm cutting it close, but happy birthday, Katie, and I hope you enjoy!! ❤️

Denial

Ahsoka and Rex have been traveling together for about 3 months, never staying in one place for too long, taking odd jobs to support themselves, and avoiding the Empire at all costs.

They never talk about what they left behind.

They’re huddled around a campfire. Sometimes it feels like they’re back in the Cl—back Before, back when everything was normal, or as normal as one could get during a galactic civil war. Other times, the deaths hang heavily between them, stealing the words from their mouths.

Today is a heavy day.

Ahsoka stares into the fire while Rex examines his helmet by the flickering light, his eyes haunted. The wind blows through the trees, howling in despair.

She feels more restless than ever, as if she’s about to burst. In such cases, she would usually meditate, but… she hasn’t done so ever since Order 66, too afraid of what she might find—or not find.

But a small voice insider her needs to know, needs to see for herself.

So Ahsoka closes her eyes, breathes deep, and leaps, falling, falling, falling…

There’s nothing.

It’s just… black.

She searches desperately for a sign, a small twinkle or spark.

She’s alone.

The abyss presses down, closing in on all sides, and she reaches for Anakin and Obi-Wan and Master Plo and Master Yoda and Master Secura but none of them answer, none of them take her outstretched hand. Her pleas remain unanswered as the dark continues to spread snd grabs her, stealing her breath and her light and dragging her down and down and down and—

“—soka!”

Ahsoka gasps, frantically looking around.

The fire is out. Rex has his hands on her shoulders, and she can just make out the worried look on his face.

The suffocating dark is gone.

It’s just her. Just her and Rex.

She looks at Rex.

“They’re all gone,” she chokes out as her eyes burn. “They’re all gone, Rex.”

She collapses into him and he holds her close.

Just her and Rex, alone in the dark.

Anger

Darth Vader is angry—well, angrier than usual.

The Rebels were being difficult, and far more elusive than usual. And what’s more, they had Jedi on their side, Jedi that escaped his grasp for far too long.

What’s more, his Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan is alive.

He thought her dead after their bond snapped, had thought her to be an unfortunate victim of Order 66. After discovering her lightsaber buried in the ice and snow, surrounded by helmets bearing her mark and the remains of a Venator, he was sure of it.

But then he had sensed her during the space battle, had brushed her familiar presence.

Ahsoka, like everyone else, betrayed him. She left him, just like Obi-Wan and Padmé and the rest of the Jedi.

She will not leave him again, Vader decides. She will not have the chance.

Bargaining

The last time she saw Anakin—Darth Vader, now, her brain reminds her—she had been rushing off to Mandalore he was going to Coruscant. His hair had been longer and he looked stressed and tired but he had been happy. The war had been coming to a close, and they would’ve been together again.

And then everything fell apart.

Ahsoka would do anything to go back, to make him promise her to stay, to hug him and tell him she loved him.

There are many things she would redo, given the chance. But such matters are far beyond her control.

Vader speaks, his voice harsh, deep, and resonant.

“We need not be adversaries,” he declares. “The Emperor will show you mercy, if you tell me where the remaining Jedi can be found.”

This can’t be Anakin, Ahsoka decides. Anakin would know she would never give up so easily. Anakin would never commit such heinous crimes.

But then she’s standing across from him—his familiar scar more evident than ever against his unfamiliar ashen complexion, his familiar eyes glowing an unfamiliar yellow—and can’t deny it any longer.

Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader.

How could a man so full of love become so hateful, so cruel? But she knows the answer to that, she recognizes. She’s seen the extremes he will go to protect those that he loves, remembers the warnings from Mortis.

She remains, even as the temple walls begin to close, even as Ezra shouts for her—Ahsoka is nothing if not a product of her Master’s teachings, attachments and all.

The last time she left him, something went terribly wrong, something that led to the creation of the—the monster that stands before her.

“I won’t leave you,” she insists. “Not this time.”

Anakin Vader stares, the sound of his respirator filling the space between them.

His eye narrows. “Then you will die,” he declares, the condemnation punctuated by the sound of his lightsaber, which paints his face like blood.

The temple wall shuts with resounding finality, blocking out Ezra’s cries.

He bears down on her with his lightsaber, strike after strike of brute strength and skill, his relentless single-mindedness unrecognizable.

He really is trying to kill her, Ahsoka realizes with an unwelcome spike of fear.

He slashes at her, scoring a shallow cut on her left arm. She bites back a groan as the pain brings her to her knees.

“Remember when you promised that you would never let anyone hurt me? Remember, Anakin?”

He stops. His lightsaber lowers, just a bit.

There’s silence.

“Anakin Skywalker died long ago.” He snarls, bringing his weapon up once more.

Darth Vader strikes without hesitation.

Depression

Sometimes, Darth Vader wishes he could cry, wishes he could scream his pain and fury for the entire galaxy to hear, wishes he could bring the Emperor to his knees.

But he knows his place, knows his title as Second-in-Command is nothing more than a thinly-veiled farce, knows he is little more than a dog on a leash that pretends he is in control.

His hands are drenched with blood, forever marred and stained, his crimes unforgivable.

All of his friends, his family—his mother, Padmé, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Rex, the Jedi, his troops—they all left him, nearly all of them dead because of him.

He yearns for a family, a home—both things he knows he doesn’t deserve. Families are for men, not monsters. He cannot wallow, cannot be weak. His anger fuels him, fuels his power and resolve. He focuses on that.

Darth Vader does not have regrets—but Anakin Skywalker has plenty.

Acceptance

The war is over.

Well, mostly over. There’s still a lot of clean-up to do, and they still need to establish a new government and rid the galaxy of any remaining imperials and—

Ahsoka stops. Takes a deep breath. Enjoys the new sense of serenity within the Force, the sense of Balance.

All around her, rebels and ewoks alike celebrate the Emperor’s defeat, the destruction of the second Death Star, and…

And the death of Darth Vader.

A small part of her is relieved, sure, but for the most part…

She removes herself from her tumultuous emotions, setting them aside to be dealt with later.

As she strides through the celebrations, searching for Rex, she notices a pillar of smoke deeper within the forest, far removed from the festivities. The Force nudges her towards it, and she obeys.

It does not take long for Ahsoka to reach her destination. As she steps closer to the small clearing, her Force signature heavily shielded and steps light, she notices a short, blond human dressed in black stands before… what looks to be a pyre. He is young, but strong with the Force.

“What are you doing out here?” She asks, stepping out into the open behind him. The individuals jolts, whipping around to face her, a hand on the lightsaber that is clipped to his belt. She holds up her arms, showing that she means no harm.

The man sighs, his hand falling away from his belt.

“Sorry, you scared me,” he says bashfully. He tilts his head, considering. “I could ask the same of you.”

“I saw the smoke and came to investigate.”

“Why? No one else has, even though I’m sure others have seen it.”

Ahsoka hesitates, unwilling to readily reveal her Force sensitivity to a stranger. “Let’s just call it… intuition.”

“Are you… a Jedi?”

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know. A feeling, I guess, In the Force.”

“I… used to be.” He must sense her pure intentions, for he accepts her answer with a nod.

“Well, you can join me, if you want.”

She nods, stepping forward and standing next to him. In the flickering light, she thinks he almost looks like—

No. It’s simply because he’s on her mind.

She rips herself away from the memories and focuses instead on the boy beside her. He shines brightly in the Force, almost as bright as—

Stop.

She forces herself to talk, to take her mind off of… him.

“I’m Ahsoka, by the way. Ahsoka Tano.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ahsoka. I’m Luke Skywalker.”

…Well, she muses, I guess my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me.

She shakes herself out of her shock.

“Was… do you know Anakin Skywalker?”

Luke smiles sadly. “He was my father. Did… did you know him?”

She stares at the flames as they flicker and dance. “A long time ago, yes.”

“Do you know what happened to him?”

She looks at him, alarmed. His expression is not curious; it is sad, resigned.

“Yes.”

“That’s him,” Luke gestures to the pyre. “He… he saved me. When the Emperor was… about to kill me, it was Anakin Skywalker that saved my life, not Darth Vader. He came back, in the end.”

Force, Anakin. She smiles, shaking her head. “I was always told that once you succumbed to the Dark Side, it’s impossible to come back. But if anyone could do the impossible, it’s him.” Her eyes burn.

“Thank you, Luke. For telling me.”

He inclines his head. “Of course. It seems like he meant a lot to you. I can… give you a minute. I should probably find Han and Leia, anyway.”

“Thank you.” Luke takes one last, lingering look at the pyre and begins to walk away.

“Oh, Ahsoka!” He calls. She turns towards him. “Could you maybe tell me about him? Later?”

She stares at him, at this boy who shines like the sun, who looks so much like Anakin and yet is the embodiment of the Light, of good.

“I would be honored.”

Luke smiles brightly and disappears into the forest.

Ahsoka turns back towards the pyre and exhales, her grief spiraling into the air, mingling with the smoke and the flames and dissipating into the starry sky above.

#deadcember2021 #my writing #day 5 #star wars #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker #darth vader #luke skywalker makes a lil' cameo #I continue to post these out of order #Sorry #some dialogue taken from rebels and tcw #this turned out longer than I thought it would #I've always wanted to write Ahsoka and Luke meeting and now I finally have!!!

[doorsclosingslowly]

There’s someone waiting out there with a mouthful of surprises

The Jedi recovered the bisected Sith apprentice from Naboo and imprisoned him underneath the Jedi Temple. A young Anakin finds the way down to his cell.

Anakin is twelve when he declines one of Chancellor Palpatine’s invitations for the first time. The resulting devastation looks wrong on his kindly old face, and Anakin wants to take it back—besides, it’s just an opera and a glass of bubbly, where could be the harm?—but he remembers golden eyes pleading up at him and then a skull-patterned face scrunched up into a splotch with how hard it’s trying to hide utter desperation, and he repeats his invented excuse.

It doesn’t matter that this one-sided rivalry for Anakin’s attention that has developed between the mutilated imprisoned murderer Sith (slave) he has befriended and the Chancellor of the Republic is honestly deeply stupid, from Anakin’s point of view. It’s not like he couldn’t spent time with them both: his missions with Master Obi-Wan have increased in number recently, but still, he’s been talking to Palpatine once a month and he’s also managed to fit in the regular trips down below to the high security carcer. It’s ridiculous.

But Anakin understands loneliness—and fear and attachment and jealousy and all the other disturbances of the peace he shouldn’t feel—he didn’t have friends for years in the Temple, after all, and it makes sense, at least a little, that Maul is scared he’ll be forgotten down there when Anakin has any other option. Not a lot of sense, because really what he’s saying is that he thinks Anakin so disloyal he’ll just ditch the only real friend he made on Coruscant, and Anakin would get back at him for the insult if it wasn’t for an energy gate perpetually between them and the fact that it’s a just a little bit unfair to tussle with a guy crawling on the floor because he doesn’t have legs… The jealousy is still kriffing stupid, but if anyone knows stupid fears it’s Anakin.

So he declines, and he keeps declining, and two years later the invitations stop.

.

Anakin is eleven when he starts smuggling droid parts down into the top security oubliette underneath the oldest parts of the Jedi Temple. The first time is, in retrospect, a terrifying accident. He’s built a tiny moving starfighter that Master Obi-Wan just glanced at and said, “Well done,” nothing more, like Anakin didn’t need to use pincers to weld the tiniest engine parts together, like he didn’t cast the alloy all by himself. He sulks in his room, the ship buzzing at his head, and then remembers that there’s at least two more people who might like to see. Palpatine is probably busy, and that leaves…

The Sith prisoner is a far more appreciative audience than Anakin’s Master. His eyes glint and widen when he sees the presence next to Anakin’s head, and he even pulls himself off his berth: pulls himself off the edge and tumbles down head-first, and then panting and with his nails dug into the duracrete he drags his torso over to the energy trellis that separates him from Anakin.

He looks up at the droid in childlike wonder.

There’s a tenderness to his questions that he hasn’t shown Anakin up until now, and it’s not just the hoarse panting of exertion that takes away the last dregs of his usual intimidating mien. He wants to know everything, from the full-size model of the ship it was based on to the assembly process to details of every single one of Anakin’s new projects.

“I can—I could feel the movement of the droids I built, in the force,” the prisoner whispers reverently. “They were a constant presence when I was young.”

“Right? Right?” Anakin is excited. The Jedi have been trying to tell him that droids don’t have force presences, and he’s almost believed them by now, but if he’s not alone in feeling it then he was right. Master Obi-Wan was wrong. He knew it.

He brings down the next droid he builds—yes, two days after the first trip he did realize he brought something easily used as a weapon to the dangerous Sith prisoner, but all he did was talk mechanics with Anakin so clearly it’s harmless—and the next and next. He watches the prisoner drag himself across the floor. He sees the abrasions covering the prisoner head to abdomen—covering him on every inch of the body he still possesses—the injuries that he must be sustaining from his only mode of movement. He feels the shame radiate out from the prisoner down on the floor, painful, cloying. He watches him try to play it all down.

One day, Anakin brings down a ship that he designed himself to meet the exact dimensions and functionality of a short humanoid’s prosthetic thigh. He pushes it against the barrier. It moves through.

.

Anakin is almost ten years old, and he knows that down in the bowels of the Jedi Temple there lives a monster. The Sith is caged so deep below that no-one can hear his growls and mutters, his whimpers, his pleas, or so Master Obi-Wan promised Anakin yesterday when he’d worked up the courage to ask about the sounds he keeps hearing whenever he closes his eyes. He’s locked down so deep that the shivering of his despair and the gall of his hatred must be a hallucination. He’s been caged for months, first interrogated daily, then found useless and forgotten. But not by Anakin.

(He saw the monstrous enemy of the Jedi for the first time when he’d just turned nine. It pulled its black hood off its bright head and panicked Master Qui-Gon and Master Obi-Wan, and Anakin was sent away for safety that quickly turned into cosmic warfare. Before that moment, he knows, on Tatooine it tried to run Anakin over with its bike. After that moment, he’d seen the monster—or what remained of it—being carried out of the Naboo palace on Master Obi-Wan’s back, moaning and delirious with pain, but dangerous nonetheless. It had bitten Obi-Wan so hard he’d flung it reflexively to the ground.

Down there, it had begged. “Honor,” it had rasped. “Give me honor. Give me death.”

Master Obi-Wan had picked it up by its arm, and it had whimpered in protest, “I fought with honor!”

Obi-Wan had ignored it. Anakin would have, too; this thing had killed Master Qui-Gon, and whether it had done so with honor or not didn’t matter when Master Qui-Gon was dead. It had killed the Jedi who’d won him, who chose to train Anakin, who was the only guarantor of his future safety, and he didn’t know what would happen now, and he hated it.

It had grown more frantic then, terrified. “Kill me, Jedi, please, when my Master—”

And Anakin had swallowed a cry of shocked recognition.)

Anakin will be ten in two months, and today he’s gonna see the monster again. It’s not the force that calls him down staircase after staircase to the oubliette below the oldest parts of the Jedi Temple. He’d be able to explain if it was the force, if he got caught, he thinks, but that’s not what’s going on. It’s just homesickness, and loneliness, and it is that word.

The way he said it.

Anakin has met more Masters in the last year of his life than ever before, has uttered the word more often than on Tatooine, and he’s doing pretty well, he thinks. He doesn’t flinch with his body when he says it and not with his face either, and even the highest Masters—there it is again—they can’t feel the acid in his force presence anymore.

He greets Master Obi-Wan in the morning and he bows to Grandmaster Yoda whenever they meet.

He doesn’t talk about his childhood. He doesn’t talk much, nowadays, to anyone but Master Obi-Wan or his teachers. He knows he’s weird. He wasn’t on Tatooine, but here… He doesn’t know the things the other padawans do, and his reflexive associations, his interests, his memories shock them. There’s no point, Anakin has learned, in expecting people who can say Master without galling—who don’t need to pretend enjoy it—to listen to him. They’ll never wake up in cold sweat and feel for the bomb that was cut out of their neck, that was injected into it while they were awake and their mother cried, that had so often almost gone off. They don’t cry for their Mom. They’ll only shush him when he talks of his past.

When he talks of his fears.

Of himself.

They’ll never understand him. No-one will. No-one will let him be the Anakin he really is, without fussing over him and muttering and looking like he should know better by now. No-one wants anything beyond the parts of himself he can salvage that are untainted by his past. The parts that don’t remember his mother.

The only person who listens to all of him is Palpatine, and even he often doesn’t know what to say.

No-one will understand, possibly, but…

The monster that lives down below the Jedi Temple had forced out Master like the word tastes of fire and dread.

Like it heralds pain.

The monster is a fellow slave, Anakin is sure. He’s the only being on Coruscant who might understand; the only person who will let him be whole. He’s killed Master Qui-Gon, yes, but he didn’t have a choice, just like Anakin wasn’t allowed to disobey his Master and neither was Mom or Kitster or Beru or anybody else back home.

It was so obvious, the moment he said it.

The monster’s a slave.

Point: Anakin is so tired of having to pretend he never was a slave.

Point also: He just found a map of all the layers of the temple in a garbage chute, wedged in a decommissioned droid’s dataslit. A map that shows the oubliette for ancient evils.

Point also also: Master Obi-Wan’s fast asleep, and Anakin can’t get his thoughts to stop racing.

The monster’s a fellow slave.

Ergo: it’s time to sneak down and make a friend.

What must be hundreds of meters below the current Jedi Temple, at the bottom of the bottom-most staircase, smells faintly of sweat and boredom and despair. The only illumination Anakin can make out is a set of force trellises, and if the schematics he found were right then that’s exactly the spot that he’s looking for.

Pulling his hood down deeper just because it’s chilly and definitely not because he’s nervous and needs something to fidget, he sneaks closer.

Victory!

The Sith’s inside the cell. He looks just like the attacker Anakin remembers, with a red-and-black face and some horns and a scowl. He looks completely different, too: he’s naked, or at least his torso is. The lower half of his body is just missing. Did the Jedi—but no, Anakin can dimly remember Master Obi-Wan mention the way he beat him. That he’s still without prosthetics, even though his scars are well-healed… Anakin knew a woman who’d survived a bomb blowing off her leg, on Tatooine. She lived off of fellow slaves’ charity, for a few months. Her head wasn’t all there anymore from the pain, Mom told Anakin, and her Master had just let her leave. Why invest in a prosthetic when you’re not getting any use from its recipient?

The Sith is doing better than her, at least, even if he’s missing way more flesh. He’s doing pull-ups off the head piece of his callow berth. His yellow eyes gleam in the soft light of the force trellis when he looks over. When he notices Anakin. For a long moment, he looks stunned, and only then he remembers to snarl.

“Hi,” Anakin says.

The prisoner puffs up his defined arm muscles, as well as he can when he’s still hanging off the frame of his bed. He must have decided that dropping down onto his torso—and probably his face—would be even less dignified, though, because he stays put, sweaty and glowering out at Anakin from under his armpit, like he’s desperately trying to look threatening and tough in an unfamiliar situation where the other person has all the power.

It’s a scene Anakin has known intimately for most of his life.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” Anakin says.

A beat.

Right.

“The Jedi didn’t send me,” because in his situation that’s what Anakin would most like to know. The Jedi are not this guy’s slave masters, but they do have all the power over him right now.

“I was a slave too, before they took me here. You can trust me,” and at least that gets a reaction: the prisoner looks absolutely apoplectic and even opens his mouth. Finally! He’s angry, which isn’t ideal—Anakin should have remembered that some slaves don’t want to admit they are—but they’re talking!

But the Sith just closes his mouth again.

He keeps his sullen silence for what feels like hours while Anakin tries one conversational gambit after the other. He just can’t have blown his one chance at talking to someone whose mouth makes the right shape for Master. Anakin refuses to accept that.

But it grows later and later, and Master Obi-Wan will wake up at some point, and he doesn’t have to concede defeat for forever, after all, but maybe for today…

“Fine.” Anakin puffs out his chest. He should say something soothing that’ll buy him a foot in the door next time, but he’s been pleading and pleading, and it hurts. “I don’t even care if you don’t want to talk. I’ve got plenty of friends. Chancellor Palpatine asked me to come over for tea just yesterday!”

The voice is so threadbare that he almost misses it, but it’s there. The Sith clears his throat. He sounds more sure and velvety when he repeats his plea to Anakin. His golden eyes are so wide it looks painful.

“Wait! Repeat what you just said!”

.

Anakin is nineteen when he climbs down into the bowels of the Temple for the last time. He hasn’t slept for two days, barely even closed his eyes, because on the insides of his lids is his mother, writhing, pleading.

No-one up in the Temple can give him any help. All they have to offer is platitudes about Uncertain the future is and Let go of attachment you must, but it’s his Mom, and she’s being tortured! She’s dying! She can’t be dying! She’s Anakin’s Mom!

He’s pleaded to be sent to Tatooine on a mission, but Senator Amidala’s protection detail is more important Master Obi-Wan said, and he can’t just go against the will of his… He can’t go. His Mom’s dying every moment he closes his eyes and he can’t go.

Maul is his last hope.

No-one will even notice that Maul’s gone. He’s been locked up for a decade now, and only the meal droids and Anakin still climb down to his level. Anakin’s friends with the meal droids, too, and he can definitely talk them into keeping silent about the Sith prisoner’s disappearance.

Maul’s a fighter, and he was able to find them on Tatooine and follow them to Naboo so he must be able to find Anakin’s Mom, too, wherever she’s been dragged off to. He’ll be able to save her.

He’ll—

Anakin has already sliced the force trellis control panel and turned it off when the fear grabs him. He’s spilled all his nightmares of his mother’s death, has shared the only plan for her survival. He’s received the assent he was sure to get. Now, he’s helping Maul put on the smuggled prosthetics that have been hidden in the stuffing of Maul’s prison berth, kneeling down before him.

And suddenly, all he tastes in the air is raw hatred.

He flinches. The trellis must have functioned as a shield from Maul’s presence before, keeping Anakin from realizing the true depth of Maul’s anger, the extent of his strength.

He could kill Anakin right now. He could attack the temple, and it would all be Anakin’s fault.

The frailty and humiliations of the prisoner’s mutilated body have lulled Anakin into reacting with kindness. He’s seen a man who is weak, helpless, and of course he offered help.

The cadence of Maul’s voice has made him sound like a friend.

But he’s the Sith who slaughtered Master Qui-Gon.

He’s filled to the brim with hatred and jealousy and pain, the force around them screams, will never release them to meditation like Anakin has tried and tried to do; he’s everything the Jedi Council saw in Anakin that day a decade ago and that he’s tried so hard to bury. He’s a Sith.

He’s warm.

It’s not just the hand he rests on Anakin’s shoulder but the very air he expels. Anakin expected the dark side of the force to be frigid, the way his own loathing and terror have kept him shivering and cold, but this is a hearth: protection, purification, an almost magnetic pull. It wraps around them. He shudders again.

“Do not be afraid,” Maul says, and from the soft look in his eyes he has misunderstood completely. “I shall find your mother, apprentice. You will do admirably while I’m gone. Just remember everything I taught you.”

And then, the darkness curls around Anakin again, hot and possessive. “While I’m gone, don’t talk to Palpatine.”

.

Anakin is twenty-three when he decides to brutally murder the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. His wife is laying in the delivery room, holding the boy twin—holding their baby boy!—while he strokes her hair reverently, and there is his Mom beside him, holding the girl twin—holding their baby girl!—and next to the door, scowling, stands Maul.

“Do you want to hold her?” Mom asks Maul gently. She knows him best now, and if she decides Maul’s standoffishness towards the twins—his twins!—is shyness rather than dislike, then Anakin will forgive him for not cooing over the babies—his kids! His and Padmé’s kids!—like any rational person would.

“Even His patience runs out one day,” Maul whispers.

Anakin’s hairs curl in shocked recognition, and he doesn’t even need to hear the word, but—

“I told you, Shmi, he started talking to Anakin as soon as he arrived. Somehow I managed to keep them apart, to interfere with the attempts at molding him, but the very fact He showed interest must warn us… As soon as he learns of this birth, and His spies are everywhere…” Maul turns back towards the door, palms laid across it as if he could keep the gate shut. The force burns with shielding hatred. “My Master will come for your children. Soon. Palpatine likes them young.”

#anakin skywalker #darth maul #dimtraces makes things