Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first one was Luke.

It had taken Obi-Wan two days to reach Tatooine and he did not put little Luke down for longer than an hour. He looked at him, noted familiar features, trying to guess which ones belonged to Padmé and which ones to Anakin. (And did not that thought hurt) Obi-Wan soothed Luke when he cried and wrapped him in the Force, making the baby project his excitement so strongly, it even made Obi-Wan smile for the first time since Utapau.

Bail had promised to take care of Leia and Obi-Wan had full intention to give Luke to Owen and Beru. The twins would be safe.

But…

But he had stepped out of the ship, looked at the farm in the distance, then down at the tiny squirming bundle in his arms and realized that he could not do it. Luke was the only one left from his family - not counting Yoda since the old troll had wandered off to who knows where - it just felt wrong to give him to some unknown people. Even if they were related to Anakin. What did he even know about them? Would they want to take a child? And what if they turned out to be cruel? How could people who have never so much seen what a Force-sensitive was capable of, raise one so strong? Call it attachment, stubbornness or whatever you want, Obi-Wan had made a decision. He tightened his hold on Luke, turned away from the looming building and went into town.

And if deep down in his soul Obi-Wan hoped that Anakin would have wanted him to raise his child, well, no one needed to know that.

He spent two weeks securing a hut in the desert. Not too far away from civilization but not close to it either. If Luke was as powerful as his father, and Obi-Wan was sure he was even stronger, he shone so bright… when it would show pretty early. And he couldn’t allow it to be seen. There would be no way to explain levitating rocks or exploding mugs. Younglings always struggled with their control over the Force. And if someone made a connection, they might sell them to the Empire.

During the next three months Obi-Wan thanked every deity he knew for Yoda being so pushy. If it weren’t for him, Obi-Wan would not have spent his fair share of free time in the Crèche with Younglings and would not have a single clue of how to take care of one.

Now it was an easy task. He did not even mind waking up too late at night or too early in the morning. He had gotten quite used to it during the war. Various reports kept him up in odd hours. And the Separatists did not send them notifications about their new attack. So waking up due to a loud noise making his ears want to run away was not a new experience.

It was a struggle to get supplies, since Obi-Wan did not have any credits and they were not accepted here anyway. And he could not get himself a job, not wanting to leave Luke in care of some stranger. But the Force helped him once again.

During his wandering in the desert he had stumbled upon a cave hidden too good for most species to notice it. Obi-Wan would have missed it too if not for insisting nudges from the Force.

The cave entrance was in a gorge, practically six feet down from the edge. Even the most inveterate daredevils would not dare to go there. Especially if they weren’t paid for it. But Obi-Wan was always curious. And considering the fact that the Force directed him there, he simply could not ignore its call.

Luke was sleeping peacefully in his sling on Obi-Wan’s chest, bundled snugly into the cooling cloth to keep him from overheating. Obi-Wan envied him slightly. He himself was draped into many layers which had no resemblance to his Jedi robes. He did not expect to miss them so much. Obi-Wan shook his head, checked whether the sling was holding tight. Satisfied, he dared to descend.

Using the vibroblade - it was a present from his battalion, after he had lost his ‘saber for twelfth time. Boil looked so smug when he gave it to him. The troopers cheered. Cody pretended to be indifferent but Obi-Wan knew he was pleased too. And it made it even more painful to look at the blade without Obi-Wan’s heart feeling like a light breeze would shutter it - he carefully slid down the gorge’s side and gave himself a little Force push to land right in the cave.

He stayed crouching, keeping his hold over the blade and surveyed the cave. It was dark and dry. The limited light from the blade allowed Obi-Wan to see very little. The walls were cracked and there was sand on the floor. There was no trace of local fauna. But something still bothered Obi-Wan. He inched his head, straining his ears to hear at least something. Nothing.

Any other time it would have made Obi-Wan suspicious. But the Force was quiet and the cave did not feel dangerous. Only… curious?

Obi-Wan frowned, slowly getting up on his feet. He was about to take a step forward when something nudged his mind. He looked down and meet innocent blue eyes. Luke was watching him with curiosity, reaching out to him through the Force and with his tiny hand. Obi-Wan smiled at him, holding his own hand for Luke. Small fingers firmly curled themselves over his middle finger. Obi-Wan chuckled. Luke’s delight buzzed in the Force.

There was a change in the atmosphere around them. Obi-Wan raised his head and turned off the blade, plunging the cave into darkness. But it was not for long. On the walls, on the floor, and even on the ceiling of the cave, hundreds of flickering dots appeared right in front of the awed Obi-Wan. Slowly, they grew, turning from buds into amazingly beautiful flowers.

Obi-Wan took a step closer, bending down to examine the nearest blossom.

It was not big, slightly smaller than Obi Wan’s fist. The shade of it reminded Obi-Wan of the dark moonless sky on Yavin IV, when the stars shine brightest. The flower was shaped like a ball, numerous delicate petals curled around its center.

And the smell was magnificent.

Luke reached out to touch it but Obi-Wan gently caught his hand, pressing a soft kiss to it.

“Don’t touch it, little one. We were allowed only to look, would not be polite to overstep the boundaries.”

Obi-Wan could swear the Force laughed at him.

With one last parting glance at the glowing flowers, Obi-Wan turned around. He still needed to figure out how to get back to the top of the gorge.

Two days later he learned the name of the flowers.

Dinera-leus. The glow of hope.

Their petals had great healing ability and healers were ready to pay a lot for even one flower.

Obi-Wan did not hesitate for long. The Force showed him the cave for a reason. And he would use the given opportunity wisely.

Looking at the raising Tatooine suns, Obi-Wan let himself hope.

***

Anakin groaned trying to get his arms to cooperate and lift him up. His head was pounding like something had hit him. Hard. He curled into himself, wincing when the move jostled him and the pain doubled.

Anakin reached out to the Force and his breath hitched, eyes flying open in shock. There was so much Darkness around him, it was almost suffocating. Anakin had never felt anything like that. Sure, during the last few years the Force darkened significantly but this…

Frantically, Anakin widened his reach, searching for familiar force signatures. He could not be alone here, he just cou- There! Rex and Commander Cody were nearby as well as a couple of troopers from the 212^th. But Obi-Wan was nowhere to be found. What the kriff?..

After two minutes Anakin finally sat up and braved a look around. He was sitting on a sand ugh, why?! Why? dune, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Rex was lying flat on his back to Anakin’s right. He seemed unharmed and the Force confirmed it.

Commander Cody was sprawled on his side to his left. His bucket fell off, letting Anakin see his face. The troopers were lying next to their Commander. Anakin was not sure who exactly they were. His head was hurting almost as bad as that one time he fell from the speeder and it was making it hard to think.

He gritted his teeth touching the troopers’ signatures. They were alright, just asleep. Anakin let out a sigh of relief. Everyone was fine. Well, as fine as one could be, waking up on an unknown planet in a desert. Especially if one previously was on Actlyon. Don’t get him wrong, it was very nice to get away from that nasty smelling dirt-ball but Anakin preferred leaving planets on his own accord and remembering it.

Anakin stood up and stumbled toward Rex, dropping down on his knees next to him. He shook him a little. The Captain groaned, batting his hand away. He tilted his head to look at Anakin. “What the hell happened to my head?” He growled, sitting up with Anakin’s help.

Anakin snorted, relieved. “If you are talking, then you’re fine. You see anything?” He asked, nodding at Rex’s visor. The Captain shook his head. He took off his bucket, hitting it a couple of times.

“Something fired it.” He muttered angrily, scanning their surroundings with quick eyes and turned back to look at Anakin.

“Any thoughts on where the hell are we and how we got here?” He asked bluntly, standing up on wobbly legs. Anakin shook his head, running a hand over his hair.

“No idea. I’m the first one to wake up and it happened literally just a few minutes ago. And my memory is kinda fuzzy.” Judging by the grimace he got from Rex, his Captain had holes in his memory too. He threw Rex’s arm over his shoulder, stabilizing the man and helped him hobble over to his brothers.

“Cody?” Rex called while reaching down to feel the pulse. Anakin felt him relax a bit upon finding it, so he scrambled away to check the other two troopers. “Come on, wake up, you’re not a princess to sleep all day.” Rex grumbled, shaking the Commander. He woke up with a moan of pain, clutching his head.

“Rex? What the- did I get drunk and made a bet with Wolffe that I can break the wall with my head?” Rex snorted, clapping Cody on the back.

“Nope. At least not this time.” Rex informed his brother with a smirk.

Cody shot him a nasty glare but took Rex’s extended hand and stood up. Anakin was helping Peel take off his bucket since something in it broke and it got stuck. The other trooper – Crys – happily stretched on the ground, breathing deeply. “Ooooh, sweet Force, fresh air! I thought I would never smell you again!” He exclaimed dramatically, making Anakin and Peel laugh. Rex hid a smirk and Cody only shook his head a little.

“Peel, Crys, you alright?” He asked, quickly assessing their armor for new scratches or holes. When he found none, he did the same with Rex, ignoring his displeased grumble.

“Yep. Never been better, Commander.” Crys replied cheerfully from his place on the sand. Peel snorted, poking Crys’ arm with a tip of his boot.

“I’m fine, Commander.” Peel said as well, jumping back a little when Crys tried to hit him in the ankle. “But where is the rest of the company? And General Kenobi?” He asked, frowning when his comm showed that it could not reach anyone from the 212^th or the 501^st. He tried a few different channels but the result was the same. Anakin’s face fell, as he observed Peel’s struggles.

“Alright, men. What is the last thing you remember?” Anakin questioned grimly, and reached out to take the comm from Peel.

“There was that rumor about a possible Sith temple on Actlyon. We were sent to check it.” Crys responded immediately, sitting up. Rex nodded, frowning in concentration.

“We rendezvoused with the 212^th and General Kenobi took command.” He recalled, looking at Cody for confirmation. Cody inched his head, thinking.

“We camped near the ruins. General Kenobi selected several troopers to accompany us, ordering the rest to stand guard.” Cody said slowly, looking around, searching for the rest of his men. "Wooley, Threepwood, Boil, Fives and Coric were with us.” His tone was calm but Rex could hear the underline of worry in it.

Anakin frowned at the comm, rubbing the back of his head in frustration. “Well, they are not here now. I think we got separated?” He offered helplessly, shrugging and giving up on the comm, deeming it a lost cause.

“Yep.” Crys cheered from the ground. “When we entered the ruins, General Kenobi took the rest with him and walked to the left. We went to the right.” Then he snorted. “I heard Fives and Wooley were bickering so hard, Boil had to drag them away by their ears so they would not interfere with the General’s research.”

Anakin snickered. “Alright, we’ve got this part clear. But why were you with us?” He turned to Cody. “Aren’t you always two steps behind Obi-Wan?” Anakin tried to rile up Obi-Wan’s ever stoic Commander.

Cody merely raised an eyebrow. “General Kenobi had asked me to watch over you.” He replied steadily. Anakin sputtered but Cody ignored him and continued. “And he especially clarified that you were not to touch anything.” He said with a pointed look. An offended expression appeared on Anakin’s face. He crossed his arms and huffed.

“I did not touch it! The thing just started glowing when I came near!” Anakin protested loudly. He was subjected to four unimpressed stares. Recoiling a bit under their intensity, Anakin shifted. “Well, I, umm. I might have poked it? Just a little!” He rushed to say. Commander Cody folded his arms and leveled him a flat look.

Anakin fidgeted with the hem of his tunic, then dropped it abruptly. He looked up and rubbed his temple. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. We need to figure out where we are and find a way to contact the Council, seeing that our comms do not work.” Anakin was now glaring at the device like it had personally offended him.

A chorus of exasperated ‘Sir, yes, sir’ from the troopers echoed his statement. Anakin nodded, satisfied. He looked around; his enthusiasm dimmed a bit. “Sooo, any idea which way we should go?” He was not looking forward to the track through the desert. Ugh, and the sand, the sand! And his blazing headache did not lessen, making Anakin grit his teeth and push the pain away.

Peel looked around and shrugged. “Take your pick, sir, I don’t think it matters. We’re in the middle of nowhere.” He tried to shake the sand out of his bucket, ignoring the futility of it. Rex frowned, watching Anakin intensely.

“Can’t you sense the way?” He asked. Anakin’s face fell and he bit his lip.

Shaking his head slowly, Anakin tried to explain. "I… Something is wrong with the Force here. It is too Dark. And I’m not so sure that I should announce my presence.” Anakin glanced over to the horizon, watching the seemingly endless desert. Something nudged his mind, some clue he could not grasp was slipping right through his fingers like the damn sand.

He wiped his brow angrily. It was too kriffing hot here. He had not felt so hot since he left-

Anakin froze. No. It could not be… Slowly, he raised his head up and looked at the sky. He stared in disbelief at the two familiar suns of the planet he had vowed never to set foot on again.

“Tatooine." Anakin rasped, his throat suddenly dry. “We are on Tatooine.”

Crys wrinkled his nose in distaste. “Ugh. We exchanged a dirt-ball for a dust-ball. Great.” He huffed, throwing an arm over his eyes.

Peel looked curiously at Anakin. “How do you know? Have you been here before?” He tilted his head a little, damp hair plastered all over his face.

Anakin turned away sharply. “I was born here.” Was his curt answer as he started walking briskly, wanting to be done with this conversation. The mountains in the distance clued him about their location. “I recognize this place now. If we go this way, we’ll reach the city by the end of the day.” He announced, not even pausing to face the troopers.

The troopers glanced at each other, shrugged and moved after the Jedi. Crys groaned dramatically and heaved up to his feet with Peel’s help. He patted Peel’s shoulder in thanks and placed his bucket back on his head.

Anakin was silent, his shoulders tense. He did not once take his eyes off the path he had set. Too many thoughts swirled in his head. Most of them unpleasant and painful memories. He tried to distract himself by focusing on his men.

Rex and Cody walked right after him, Peel and Crys a few steps behind them. Crys was whistling some carefree tune, pouncing a little. Peel looked around, scanning their surroundings for any sign of danger. Cody and Rex were talking quietly, too low to be overheard. Anakin closed his eyes, took a deep breath and pressed on.

They walked for two hours before Anakin suddenly halted on top of one dune. He gasped, his eyes became glazed. The Light he had just felt was fleeing from his reach. The Force around him swirled but he chased the sensation nonetheless. Something inside Anakin told him it was important. He just could not understand why yet and it frustrated him. The Light blinked out and Anakin growled.

Rex stopped as well, reaching out for his blaster with one hand. They had worked together long enough to understand each other without words. And Rex reacted instantly, knowing by now that this particular look meant danger. “General?” He started. “Where’s it?” The rest of the troopers caught up quickly, Peel and Crys dropped down on one knee blasters out and ready to fire. Cody took position behind Anakin, covering his back.

Rex inched closer to Anakin who still did not say a word, staring blankly into the distance. “Sir?” Rex called quietly, giving Anakin a sidelong glance. He was ignored.

Abruptly, Anakin’s hand flew up to his head. He gasped and swayed in place. Rex deftly caught him, holding him upright. “General!” Rex exclaimed worriedly. Anakin waved his hand at Rex, scowling.

“I’m fine, Rex.” He muttered, righting himself. “This place is just kriffing with my head.” Rex gave him a disbelieving look. Anakin rolled his eyes, huffing. “Really, Rex, have a little faith in me.” He complained and gave Rex his best winning smile.

“I always have faith in you. Just not when it concerns your well-being.” Rex said with a deadpan. Anakin gasped in mock outrage, clutching his heart dramatically.

“Sir, did you find anything useful?” Cody cut in before the two of them could start wrestling. Anakin momentarily sobered, all mirth fleeing from his eyes.

He glanced in the direction from which the sense of Light had come. “I’m not sure…” Anakin said slowly. This whole situation was bizarre. “But I can swear that I felt Obi-Wan’s presence for a moment. I just can’t figure out why he would be hiding from me.” Anakin growled in frustration. Cody frowned, lowering his blaster but gestured for Crys and Peel to stay on guard.

“If General Kenobi is somewhere here, then he is most likely moving towards civilization.” Cody mused as he frowned slightly at the horizon. Crys nodded in agreement. “So if we want to find him we should keep moving.” Cody concluded, looking at Anakin for the final decision.

Anakin rubbed his temple, staring down at the sand. “I suppose you are right, Commander.” He admitted after a moment. Anakin looked up at the sky again and groaned. “That’s why I hate this place.” He muttered, swiping his damp hair away from his face, glaring at two blazing suns. Turning around, he stalked forward, throwing up his hood. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”

By the end of the day they reached a big city. “Mos Eisley. The home for society’s worst scum.” Anakin announced grimly. And promptly started stripping down his Jedi robes, earning himself questioning looks from the troopers. With a sigh he explained. “These people have no moral principles. They will do everything for money. In less than five minutes after we enter, half of the city would sell us to the Separatists without a second thought.”

“So, you’re saying we need to stop being recognizable?” Crys asked doubtfully. “And how do you propose we do that? I mean,” he gestured between himself and Peel, “look at us! If not our armor, then our faces will give us away, because who are we? That’s right - clones. Only someone blind will not recognize us.” Crys exclaimed. Then frowned, distracted. “Although, I can’t be sure about that. With all this crap that happens to us on regular basis-”

“Crys.” Cody said sternly. The trooper swiftly closed his mouth. “While your point is valid,” Cody started calmly, “it is not a good reason to start panicking. Plus, we all don’t have to go into the city. If the situation is indeed as General Skywalker described it, then it would be wise not to reveal our cards right away.”

He looked at the city in silent consideration. “General, I think, as the only person familiar with the area and locals, you should go. Take Crys and Rex with you. They can pass for twins. Peel and I will find some shelter and wait for you here.” Cody proposed, nodding toward the nearest cliffs. Anakin looked up from the boot he was taking off and nodded.

“A sound plan, Commander. All we have to do is disguise ourselves.” He said cheerfully, dropping the boot. A wicked smirk appeared on his face as he eyed Rex.

Rex narrowed his eyes in return. “I don’t like that look.” He declared gruffly. Anakin’s smirk grew.

“Oh, come on, Rex. Just take off your armor and let me work my magic.” He persuaded. Rex looked at Cody.

“I want my memorial made from R2.” Cody nodded, ignoring Anakin’s outraged ‘Hey!’ and reached out to take Rex’s chest-plate.

“Deal. But only if you make mine from Grievous.” Cody asked in turn. Rex whistled.

“Go big or go home, right?” He nagged Cody, while struggling to take off his belt. “Aren’t you afraid that your request will turn against you and bite you in the ass? What if he’s radioactive or something and your corpse will rise from the grave and terrorize the surrounding area giving all the poor souls it had caught lectures about droid rights?” Rex wondered out loud, with a wicked smirk.

Cody gave Rex his best flat look. “Would not be my problem.” Crys snorted, dumping his bucket into Peel’s waiting hands. He bent down to take off his boot.

“Have you ever thought about becoming a comedian after the war, Commander? I am sure you will be a hit.” Crys asked mock seriously. Peel huffed, shoving the armor pieces into his bag.

“Right, as if our Commander would want to be so far away from General Kenobi.” Peel uttered under his breath. Crys snickered. Cody leveled them both a murderous glare which usually sent shinies covering in fear but had no effect whatsoever over these two.

Anakin loudly clapped his hands and took a step back from Rex. “All done!” He declared with a proud expression.

Rex took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for the worst, and asked in a tired tone. “On a scale of a smuggler from Coruscant lower levels to Ohnaka, how creepy do I look?”

Cody actually paused, thinking, while Peel and Crys tried to suppress their laughter, making Anakin gasp in faux offense. “You have no fashion sense!” He condemned the clones in an over-dramatic tone.

“Said a guy who wears the same clothes all his life.” Peel muttered lowly.

“And whose girlfriend needs an army of handmaids just to fit into a dress.” Crys backed him up just as quietly and the pair snickered until Cody shushed them with a stern look.

“It’s not that bad.” Cody argued lightly. Rex gave him a skeptical look. The corner of Cody’s mouth twitched up in a smirk. “You just look like a dirty pile of trash a Bantha had chewed up and spat out.” He added in a perfectly even tone without betraying his amusement. Rex groaned, dropping his face into his hands.

Anakin rolled his eyes, wrapping a piece of cloth that he had torn from his tabard over his head to protect it from the sun and to hide his face. “He looks just perfect for our venture.” He insisted, while Peel raised an eyebrow and considered Rex’s appearance dubiously.

Anakin had done impossible with limited resources. Over the blacks Rex wore he had wrapped pieces of his own tunics in such a way that it was now impossible to determine who or what was under all these layers. It masked Rex’s figure and physique perfectly, as well as the number of weapons he had on his person. A few grenades, several vibroblades and his blaster.

Rex glared at his General but Anakin gave him no mind. He was trying to catch Crys who was doing his best to avoid Anakin by hiding behind Peel and Commander Cody. “Come on, trooper, you can’t run forever!” Anakin tried to appeal to the clone. Crys made a considering noise.

“Nothing prevents me from trying.” He countered, peeking at Anakin from behind Peel. He yelped suddenly when Cody gripped him by his ear and dragged out of his hiding place. Anakin rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Ten minutes later all three were unrecognizable. Anakin smirked proudly and turned around, starting his trek toward the city. “Come on, the sooner we get there, the sooner we get out.” He said with faux cheer. Rex and Crys dutifully trailed after their Jedi.

Cody shook his head, gathering the rest of the ammunition and followed Peel, who was marching toward the cliffs. They found a semi-comfortable looking nook and hid there.

All the time they were waiting for the ‘scouting party’ to return, Peel was trying to readjust the comm to get at least some sort of signal. Cody glanced at him from time to time, while mostly watching the surroundings.

It’s been two hours before Cody noticed a movement on his right. He shifted a little to get a better view but overwise gave no indication that he had seen anything. The person moved closer. They were cautious, slowly climbing over the cliffside, closer to the two troopers.

Peel finally put down the comm with a frustrated sigh and flopped down on the sand. “This is hopeless.” He muttered. “I have no idea why it is not working, since everything is in order. No fried parts, no sand inside, nothing!” Peel ranted, ruffling his own hair with a groan. Cody hummed in lieu of an answer, still tracking the small figure. Peel seemed to notice it and froze for a bit, before relaxing.

‘A threat?’ He signed casually, making it look like he was just flexing his fingers.

‘Possibly, keep an eye on it.’ Cody replied. He did not know much about locals but he had heard enough about Jawas from Skywalker and his astromech to know that those little desert rats always meant trouble. He gripped his blaster tighter and forced himself to stay still. No need to provoke them.

“Are you stormtrupes?” A young sounding voice had suddenly chimed in. Cody almost jumped in surprise.

He looked up and saw what seemed to be a little humanoid boy dangling down from the cliffside above them. Cody relaxed a little. It was just a child, not a Jawa. Peel cocked his head up to examine the child closely, Cody followed his example.

The child was dressed in a light tunic and had a scarf wrapped around his head. The lower half of his face was hidden behind it too, so Cody only saw curious blue eyes which looked between him and Peel with interest. He did not seem afraid so it was a plus.

“What’s a stormtrooper?” Peel asked in return. The child scrunched his nose.

“Dunno. Uncle Ben said they are Imperial army. They wear white armor and have blasters just like you! But uncle said they’re dangerous and you don’t seem dangerous so you can’t be str- strom- eh, storm-troop-ers.” The child had finally pronounced, beaming at them. Then he tilted his head. “Who are you?” He asked again.

Cody shared a helpless look with Peel. Did this child have no self-preservation? “No, we are not stormtroopers.” Cody told the child, carefully weighing his words. “We are simple mercenaries.” He finally decided on a legend. The child did not seem discouraged by this.

He gasped and almost fell down. “Really? Have you seen space? Do you have a spaceship? Can I see it? Do you have a droid? I do have Buddy, but he does not count since he is not really mine. Can I touch your armor? It looks so wizard!” The child rumbled, sliding down the cliff and landing neatly next to Cody.

The troopers were a little taken aback by the sheer enthusiasm. They did not interact with natborn shinies often and if they did, it were mostly Jedi shinies. And well, they were slightly different from the non-Jedi shinies, if what Cody had heard was true.

The child was hanging off Peel now, chatting a mile a minute, asking questions about his blaster and actually waited for answers. He seemed really interested and when he saw Peel’s comm, he squeaked in delight and asked to take a closer look. With the child successfully distracted, Cody decided to mull over the new information.

There was some kind of Empire established here, with an army and enough money to outfit them with plastoid armor. They certainly were dangerous. Cody was glad that Skywalker insisted on disguising. He did not want to think what might have happened if they had just walked into the town.

Speak of the Devil. The sounds of multiple footsteps and groans reached Cody. He stood up and peeked out of their hiding place. Skywalker was frowning and leading Rex and Crys who carried three packs toward them. Cody saluted and let them pass inside. He would have to ask if they found anything later.

It was an indication of how deep Skywalker was in his thoughts when he didn’t immediately notice an outsider in their camp. Rex raised an eyebrow at Cody when the child waved at them in greeting. Cody shrugged and took one pack from him. Rex rolled his eyes and bent down, hands on his knees, to look the child in the face.

“Hello, kiddo. What are you doing here alone?” He questioned, snapping Skywalker out of his brooding.

The child looked up at Rex, eyes wide, jaw hanging open. He glanced at Cody then at Peel then at Crys and then returned his gaze back to Rex.

“Are you all brothers? Uncle Ban said that people who look very much alike are almost always twins but there are four of you, so you can’t be twins and your hair is different and eye color too, but you are still so similar it’s sooo wizard! I’ve never seen four twins before, you don’t see a lot of huma- hum- humanoids here and it’s alright, I have my family but at the same time-”

“Whoa, kid, don’t forget to breathe!” Crys cut in, a little panicked. The child smiled at him sheepishly. Crys snorted and ruffled his hair. “Now, back on track. Don’t you need to get back home?” He looked out at the sky and frowned. “It’s pretty late.” The child gasped.

“I forgot about time! Uncle Ben is going to be sooo worried!” He cried out, jumping up. Cody stepped aside to let the child out but he had stopped abruptly and turned back to them, looking concerned. “Are you going to stay here?”

“Perhaps.” Cody answered cautiously. They did not need the child to go and tell the whole city about them. But the child only gasped again.

“You can’t stay here!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “There is a big storm coming and it’s bigger than every other one I’ve seen. Uncle Ben said we will have to stay home for at least four days!” The troopers shared a look. Skywalker grimaced.

“Another reason why I hate this planet.” He muttered and stood up with a groan. He stared at the child a little awkwardly. “Thank you for the warning, kiddo. Do you need help to get back to your home?” Skywalker asked, sounding more serious. The child shook his head.

“Nah, I’ll just go through the caves. It’ll be faster.” He gestured to the cliffs vaguely and Anakin frowned.

“Caves? Wait, you mean the Whispering caves?” He asked in slight horror. The child did not seem to notice that. He just nodded and smiled.

“Yeah! They are sooo huge and the sounds are funny there. Bo usually comes with me and we shoot womp rats.” He said cheerfully. Anakin blanched.

“Womp rats? Oh no. We are escorting you back home.” He told the child matter-of-factly and barked an order. “Gather the camp, we need to move.”

Crys groaned but stood up, muttering curses under his breath and complaining about his poor tired legs. Peel just whacked him over his head and he shut up.

They quickly donned their armor back on and ten minutes later were following a happy child down into the cave tunnels. He seemed pretty comfortable and knew very well where he was going. He was tugging Skywalker forward and asking questions about his metal hand.

Cody decided to spend their unexpected free time asking some questions. He signaled to Crys and Peel to take the watch and pulled Rex closer to him.

“Anything to report?” He whispered, trying not to distract the child from Skywalker who looked mildly uncomfortable but oddly pleased with attention at the same time. Rex shook his head with a sigh.

“Nothing much. The city is a Sith-hole with criminals and bandits crawling out of every nook. General managed to bargain for some rations but that’s all. We did not see other troopers or any sign of General Kenobi.”

Cody suppressed a sigh and gestured for Rex to continue. “And those… citizens,” Rex spat the word out like it was a rotten egg, “are mostly smugglers, slavers and spice-jackers. So no parting with any information for free.” He finished bitterly. Cody nodded grimly and was about to ask another question when the child yelled: “We are here!”

Cody glanced up just in time to see the child rush over to the crude carved stone ladder in the wall and climb up. Judging by the sound he also opened the hatch or something similar in the ceiling to clear the passage. Skywalker ran after the child, screaming for him to wait and disappeared into the passage. With a sigh, Cody positioned himself to cover his men while they climbed, and hastily followed them after Rex had yelled at him.

He had to blink a couple of times to readjust his vision to the outside light. It was getting darker but Cody still could see the others. They all were standing on the top of the mountain on some kind of platform. Cody looked back at the pass he had just climbed out and closed it with a hatch. He nodded to himself and glanced up again.

The child was bouncing excitedly, his scarf now wrapped around his neck revealing a cloud of light blond hair. He tugged at Skywalker’s hand, calling. “Come on, come on, come on! You’ve gotta meet uncle Ben, he’s the best!” The child said, skipping down the well-used path.

“Oh yeah. We surely need to meet this uncle Ben.” Skywalker grumbled, gripping the child’s hand tighter. “Someone needs to tell him about appropriate games for young children.” He muttered angrily, not noticing amused looks his troopers shared. “Womp rats! Whoever thought it was a good pasttime for a kid?” Rex rolled his eyes fondly and picked up his pace a bit to catch up with Skywalker.

The child led them down to the foot of the mountain and confidently turned to the right into the narrow empty space between two mountains. Soon, he turned to the left and the group emerged into a small clearing.

Cody could see a vague shape of a hut that stood on the far side of the clearing and seemed to blend into the mountain behind it. The hut’s door opened and a cloaked figure stepped into the night air. The child let out a happy shriek, dropped Skywalker’s hand and ran forward.

“Uncle Ben, I’m home!” He announced as he reached the figure.

The figure dropped down to their knees and seemed to check the child over, who let them do it without a fuss, leading Cody to think that it was their usual routine. Waving his hands excitedly the child pointed at the troopers. “And I made friends! They are mer- mar- mercen- marc- ugh, mercenaries and wanted to-” The figure followed the child’s gesture and immediately tensed when they saw them.

They said something to the child, cutting his chatter off. He looked up at them in confusion but did not ask any questions, hurrying inside the hut and slamming the door shut behind him.

The figure slowly straightened up and turned to face the group. Their hood was up, hiding their face but experience let Cody see the tension in their shoulders. He tried to reason with himself that it was simply because the child’s guardian was wary of strangers but again, something told Cody that it was not the case here.

Then he heard a click. Five red dots appeared and settled on each member of their little group. They all landed right between their eyes. Cody did not dare to take a breath. He only watched, silently gritting his teeth as the figure pulled out their blaster and pointed it at Skywalker.

The silence was deafening. No one said anything, even Skywalker kept his mouth shut. Cody watched their opponent who seemed to be eyeing them intently. Finally, they spoke up and Cody’s world shuttered.

“I will ask you only once.” A familiar voice - that used to be so full of warmth but now was icy cold - stated. Cody froze like a tooka in highlight, his jaw dropping. In front of him stood General Kenobi, who lowered his hood and was looking at them without a hint of emotion in his piercing grey eyes. “Who are you and how did you find us?”

“Obi-Wan?!” Skywalker blurted in surprise. “What are you doing here?” He tried to take a step closer to his former Master but General Kenobi deftly raised his blaster up and turned it on. Skywalker froze on his track. He gulped and slowly raised his hands up. “Obi-Wan, if you are trying to prank us, well, it is not funny.” His attempt to joke fell flat as not even one muscle moved on Cody’s General alienly blank face. Cody had never seen that expression on his face and it honestly scared him.

“Answer the question.” General Kenobi repeated in the same eerie tone. Skywalker frowned.

“Seriously? You know pretty damn well who we are, Obi-Wan. But alright, I’ll humor you.” He spat out, sarcasm lacing his voice heavily. General Kenobi did not react. Skywalker pointed at Rex. “This is Capitan Rex, he’s under my command. And I am, if you need a reminder, your former Padawan Anakin Skywalker.” He was getting irritated and Cody suppressed a tired sigh. How General Kenobi was able to deal with him was a mystery for all the GAR.

“These two are Crys and Peel from the 212^th and this,” Skywalker pointed at him, “is your Commander – Cody.” He dropped his hands down to fold them on his chest. “Satisfied?” He quipped, clearly still thinking that it was some kind of joke.

But Cody was not so sure of it. He studied General Kenobi closely and did not like that he saw. His beard had more grey places in it and where was a purely white strand in his hair on his right side. The lines on his face hardened and cheeks hollowed. And the black bags under his eyes were very prominent.

Just what in the Sith name was going on? What did that blasted thing in the Templ- Cody’s mind halted. That’s it. He tried to catch Skywalker’s attention and signed quickly: ‘The artifact, strange behavior.’ Skywalker’s eyes widened and he nodded slightly in understanding.

Meanwhile, General Kenobi shook his head slowly as he watched their interactions. “You could have at least came up with a better legend.” He said to no one in particular. Skywalker huffed.

“Mercenaries are a great legend, it always works.” He grumbled under his breath. General Kenobi just continued to look at him.

“It is. But your little feigning maneuver is ridiculous. Did you really expect me to believe you to be Anakin Skywalker?” He asked, still detached. Skywalker gawked at him, offended.

“And why exactly can’t I be Anakin Skywalker?” He asked just to be contrary. General Kenobi gave him a rueful smirk, showing emotions for the first time during this whole conversation. And his answer made Cody’s ears ring.

“Because Anakin Skywalker died five years ago. Along with the whole Jedi Order and the Republic.” General Kenobi snorted at their shocked faces. “Come on, don’t pretend like it’s a surprise to you.” He taunted with an eyeroll and a moment later his blank mask was back in place. “And now I want an honest answer – who are you?”

Suddenly Crys giggled a little hysterically behind Cody, making General Kenobi look at him. “Well, I guess you can call us a ‘blast from the past’. Get it?” He asked with a giggle and Cody watched the same realization down on Rex and Peel. Skywalker’s jaw fell. Crys just giggled harder.

Cody glanced at General Kenobi and abruptly found himself captured in place by his grey eyes. He suppressed a shudder. He did not need Force to know that he had a very bad feeling about this whole situation. Stars help them.

General Kenobi slowly shifted his gaze from Cody. He frowned slightly and made some hand sign. The red dots disappeared. General Kenobi hid his blaster back into his cloak. He took a step back and took the door’s handle. “The storm is coming.” He stated.

Skywalker cursed in Huttese. “Better get inside.” General Kenobi continued and stepped into the hut, leaving the door open in silent invitation. The troopers shared a glance and looked at Skywalker. He was still shocked so he simply followed General Kenobi inside. Rex, Crys and Peel hot on his heels. Cody was the last one. He took a deep breath to calm his shaking hands and took a step in, closing the door firmly behind him.

Chapter Text

Cody blinked rapidly, his eyes adjusting to the light in the room. He looked around curiously. The door led to a small entrance hall, separated from the rest of the space by a stone partition. There were several coats and cloaks of various sizes hanging on the wall, which told Cody that there were other occupants in the house besides General Kenobi and the child, although he couldn’t tell exactly how many. Almost all the cloaks were in the same color scheme - black, gray, beige and white.

Shelves were filled with various trinkets and a couple of toys nearby. Against the opposite wall were several rifles of different models. Cody was unable to stop himself from sneaking a glance at his General, wondering what made him acquire so many weapons that he found so uncivilized.

The General himself was standing with his arms folded on his chest, blocking the passage to the next room. He was regarding the troopers with caution which stung a little, but Cody refused to show it. General Kenobi let them look over the hall for another minute and cleared his throat. “I would ask you to hand over all the weapons you have.” He said evenly and the group tensed.

At least it snapped Skywalker from his stupor. He threw his head up and stared at the General for several moments before sighing heavily and motioning for the troopers to do as they were told. Reluctantly, Cody took off his blaster and vibro-blades and glanced at General Kenobi, unsure of what to do with them next. The General nodded at a small chest next to the riffles, which Cody had initially missed. Crys was standing closest to it so he opened the lid and looked inside.

“Kriff, General, you’ve got some heavy arsenal in here.” He whistled, peering down in astonishment. “Planning to take over some government?” Crys joked with a grin, turning his head to look at General Kenobi. His smile slipped away when he met the General’s emotionless look. He hurriedly turned back to the chest, coughing a little. “Right…” He placed his own weapons inside and took Rex’s to do the same. Cody passed his own to Peel and swallowed thickly. He felt uneasy without his blaster.

After all blasters and blades were safely locked in the chest Skywalker took a step toward General Kenobi, expecting him to lead them inside. But he did not budge. Skywalker raised an eyebrow at him. General Kenobi answered in kind. They stood in silence for a couple of moments, then Skywalker sighed and snapped. “What now?” He asked, irritation almost palpable. General Kenobi merely tilted his head.

“I said all your weapons.” He repeated calmly. Skywalker frowned.

He threw a quick glance at the troopers, checking them over and turned back to Obi-Wan. “But we already did that.” He said, only moments away from shouting. General Kenobi shook his head lightly.

“Either you are forgetting something or you want me to believe that this is just a hallucination.” He gestured at Skywalker’s belt. Skywalker followed his line of sight and promptly froze.

“You want me to give you my lightsaber?” He asked incredulously, stumbling away from General Kenobi, eyes widening in surprise. Cody felt his muscles tense up in preparation for a fight and had to force himself to relax. This was General Kenobi. He always had a reason for his every move. Sure, not always a good one, but still a reason.

General Kenobi’s gaze hardened. “I will not let armed individuals into my house.” He said calmly, raising his chin slightly. He tipped his head down a bit. “There are children here and I do not want to see them harmed.” Cody looked down and with a jolt of surprise found two little boys hiding behind General’s legs and peeking at them inquisitively.

One of the boys was already familiar to Cody, so he turned his attention to the other. He was slightly taller than the first one, his skin tone was darker than the General’s but lighter than Cody’s and the other troopers’. He had a mop of black hair which seemed to stick out in every direction. And his big dark blue eyes reminded Cody of the oceans of Kamino in a storm. He was wearing a light orange tunic and brown trousers.

Skywalker shook his head stubbornly. “Come on, Obi-Wan,” he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know me. I would never hurt a child.” Skywalker insisted with a scowl. There was a flash of pain in General Kenobi’s eyes which appeared at Skywalker’s words. It vanished instantly, as if it had never existed. If Cody hadn’t been watching his General so closely, he wouldn’t have noticed.

General Kenobi opened his mouth to retort but was cut off when the unknown boy asked. “Da, why is this man calling you Obi-Wan?” Skywalker started; his jaw fell down in shock as he stared at the boy. Cody felt Rex’s gaze on him and in his peripheral vision he saw Crys and Peel start signing rapidly but he could not find it in himself to pay attention to them.

Cody searched the boy’s face but could not see any similarities between him and his General. The boy’s nose was scrunched in confusion as he looked up at General Kenobi, waiting for the answer. The other boy seemed puzzled too.

General Kenobi looked down at the boy and smiled gently at him, his whole face transforming from the cold mask it was for the whole evening. Skywalker’s eyes went even bigger and he let out a high-pitched choked sound. General Kenobi ignored him; his attention now fully on the two little boys. “He calls me that because it was my name a long time ago.” He explained softly. “But I do not use it anymore.” General Kenobi finished speaking, a hint of longing coloring his voice.

Both boys frowned. The taller one bit his lip, seemingly thinking the answer over. “Like Terra and Bo?” He asked finally, staring at the General earnestly. General Kenobi nodded, his gaze softening affectionately.

“Yes, just like Terra and Bo.” He confirmed. It must have meant something to them as the boy nodded thoughtfully.

The other boy glanced at him then at Skywalker, then back at General. “Does that mean you are friends?” He questioned innocently, face lighting up in excitement. Then he gasped. “Did you know my father too?” The boy bounced on his feet, looking hopefully at Skywalker who made another choked sound, swaying a bit. The boy just blinked at him, perplexed.

General Kenobi sighed, putting his hands on the boys’ shoulders. “It’s not the best time right now.” He murmured and pushed them into the room lightly. “Why don’t you two see what Terra and Buddy are doing?” He suggested, successfully distracting the dark-haired boy who snatched the other boy’s hand and tugged him away from the passage.

“Luke, c’mon! Maybe Terra will let us use his ‘proj!” He exclaimed, delighted. Luke reluctantly let himself be dragged away, still throwing glances at Skywalker. General Kenobi watched them go and turned back to the group only when the kids disappeared from his view.

He let out a small sigh and faced the clones, his mask firmly back in place, as if that loving man Cody saw only moments ago had never existed.

“You- you have a kid?!” Skywalker sputtered, stunned. General Kenobi arched an eyebrow but stayed quiet. Skywalker pointed his finger at him. “After all those lectures about attachments you- you’ve just- gone and found yourself not one but two kids?” He shouted, chest heaving as if he had just finished an intense training session.

He ran his hand through his hair and stared at his former Master. “What the kriff, Obi-Wan?” Skywalker demanded harshly, glaring.

After a bit of silence Cody heard his General snort. He stared at him in bewilderment. General Kenobi shook his head and mumbled under his breath. “Oh, how ironic…” He huffed a laugh, crossing his arms loosely and leaned on the wall. Glancing up at Skywalker, General Kenobi nodded down at his ‘saber. “Put it away with the rest and I’ll let you pass.”

Skywalker gritted his teeth. “Why did you even let us in if you don’t trust us?” He lashed out tersely, giving the General an angry look.

General Kenobi just watched him silently for a minute before Skywalker huffed in agitation, tore his lightsaber from the clip on his belt and threw it in the chest using the Force to open and then close the lid.

“Frivolous use of the Force.” General Kenobi commented under his breath, almost sounding teasing, his eyes tracking the ‘saber’s movement. Skywalker looked ready to snap at him but bit his lip and remained silent.

General Kenobi nodded to himself, pushed off the wall, turned around and went into the room. Skywalker stomped after him, fuming. Peel and Crys shared a look. Crys shrugged and followed them, Peel only a step behind. Cody made a move to go after them when Rex’s hand landed at his shoulder.

He closed his eyes. He did not want to look at his brother. He knew Rex was only worried about him but it did not mean he wanted to see it, for Force’s sake! Cody scowled at his thoughts, shaking his head to get rid of them.

“Hey, you alright here?” Rex asked quietly, causing Cody to sigh and pass his gloved hand through his hair. Unlike his many brothers who sometimes had the weirdest hairstyles, he decided to leave the military haircut, so his hair was pretty short. He absently wondered if he should let it grow a bit, like General’s-

Cody exhaled slowly, opening his eyes. He took in Rex’s concerned face and nodded, covering his hand with his own and squeezing it lightly. “I’m fine. Let’s go before Skywalker puts his foot into his mouth and ruins everything.” He joked with a halfhearted smirk but Rex groaned nonetheless and stumbled into the room. Cody took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and walked after him.

Two small stone steps led from the passage to the room. Cody went down and looked around for threats. The room was spacious, larger than Cody would have guessed from the outside. The walls were stone, as in the hallway. There were several narrow windows along the entire length of the right-hand wall.

Cody noticed a long wooden table with six chairs. Not far from it was a humidifier unit and a small chest with an open lid that contained toys. On the floor was a fairly large rug made from the skin of an animal Cody didn’t recognize. A recess was made in the left wall and there was a rounded sofa in front of which was a round table on which laid several sabacc cards.

Also, on the left side was a stone ledge that apparently served as a display table. On the wall above him were children’s drawings of varying degrees of skill and Cody could have sworn that one or two were drawn by General Kenobi himself. On the ledge itself were clumsily constructed droids, figures carved from wood and molded from clay.

Cody noted more steps that were leading to the next room. He supposed the boys went there but he could not be sure. Shaking his head, he turned back to what he guessed was the living room.

General Kenobi was sitting in the armchair in front of the round table, looking completely at ease. Unlike Skywalker who sat across him tensely. Crys and Peel sat next to Skywalker. Rex gave Cody a pointed look and sat in the middle of the sofa. Cody suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at his smug smirk and leaned on the wall behind Skywalker, keeping everyone in the room in his sight.

They sat in silence; the only sound was the wind outside. Skywalker’s leg bounced with nervous energy. At last, General Kenobi leaned his elbows on the table and intertwined his fingers in front of his face, watching them intensely. He searched each of them in turn. His lips thinned when he turned to Skywalker. Tilting his head, he frowned.

It was the last straw. Skywalker slammed his hands on the table, jumping on his feet and towered over it, bending to stare at General Kenobi. “That’s it. I’ve had enough. Talk.” He hissed, his voice held a dangerous edge. Cody felt the air around them cackle with energy and he shifted away from Skywalker subtly, the others copying him. All except General Kenobi.

He regarded his agitated former Padawan coolly, giving him a stern look. “Sit down.” He ordered firmly and Skywalker complied with a huff, the Force around him still swirling. He glared at General Kenobi, challenge clear in his eyes.

With a sigh, General Kenobi rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Let’s make a deal, shall we?” He asked, meeting Skywalker’s gaze unflinchingly. “You tell me your version of the events. Completely and truthfully.” He emphasized, his tone becoming firm like many times before in the Negotiator’s cockpit. “And I will decide whether to believe you or not.”

Skywalker snorted. “Oh, so now you want us to talk? How about that, you tell us what in the Sith’s hell is going on here and we decide if we trust you or not?” He snarked, folding his arms, eyes throwing daggers. “How would you like that?”

Cody bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from pointing out to Skywalker that they were at disadvantage here. Crys, however, was having none of it. He groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “Not to be a spoilsport, sir, but we are kinda guests here?” He said, voicing the last part of the sentence like a question and directing it at General Kenobi.

His lips curled up in a tiny smile and he gave the trooper a small nod. Crys perked up. Skywalker gave him a flat look. Crys scratched the back of his neck. “I mean, we are not even from this time!” He exclaimed, waving his free head and froze. He stared at General Kenobi. “Are we even in our dimension?” He whispered.

General Kenobi’s eyebrows rose and he looked at the group pensively. “I would not be able to tell until I know what happened.” He answered finally and glanced at Crys expectantly. The trooper happily launched into the story, occasionally interrupted by an interjection from Rex or correction from Peel. General Kenobi listened quietly, frowning deeper as the story progressed.

“…and then your kid led us here. You know the rest.” Crys finished and peered at the General curiously.

General Kenobi pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long-suffering sigh. “This is why I told you to watch him, Commander.” He said eventually, giving Cody a stern look, which made the trooper stiffen.

“Hey, I do not need a babysitter!” Skywalker cried out, offended. General Kenobi just stared at him.

“You do, apparently.” He replied flatly. Skywalker gawked at him but General Kenobi was not paying attention to him anymore. He stroked his beard, lost in thoughts. “I do recall this particular mission…” He said slowly and then shook his head. “But I do not remember anything after we split up.”

Skywalker puffed a stifled laugh. “So, you believe us, Master?” He asked sarcastically, making General Kenobi tense a little.

“I do.” He responded simply, dropping his hands down on his lap. He stared at them all with a strange gleam in his eyes that Cody could not decipher. It made him uncomfortable for some reason, like he was intruding into something private.

General Kenobi breathed out slowly, seemingly recomposing himself. “I do not know how or why you were transported here but you cannot go back the same way.”

Peel cocked his head, looking up from his wrist comm there he was noting everything down. “Why not? We can buy a ship. It might take some time, I admit, but it is still an option.” He said.

General Kenobi sighed heavily. “I am afraid that even should you acquire a ship it would not be very helpful. The Empire had destroyed all known Jedi and Sith Temples during the first year of its existence.” He explained. “Including the Temple on Actlyon.” A heavy silence fell after those words.

“So, you’re saying we are basically stuck here?” Skywalker fumed, clenching his fists so hard Cody was afraid he would break his fingers. Or something else. General Kenobi tilted his head, a familiar sparkle appearing in his eyes. Cody’s heart soared at the sight.

“I do not know, and I cannot know. The Force has its own ways and its own reasons. If it brought you here, then it needs you here.” He told Skywalker, making him kick the table’s leg.

“Alright, uh, maybe we should leave this topic for a bit.” Crys chimed in, turning to General Kenobi. “Sir, can you tell us about that Empire? And what happened to the Jedi?” He pleaded.

The now familiar mask creeped back onto General Kenobi’s face. Crys winced and bit his lip guiltily. But did not back down on his request, determined to figure everything out. General Kenobi let out a slow breath, looking somewhere past Peel. “Five years ago, the Separatists leaders were found killed. And then Chancellor Palpatine declared the Republic corrupt and unfit for further existence.” He said in an empty detached tone. “He declared himself Emperor and the ruler of the First Galactic Empire.”

Skywalker opened his mouth to say something but Rex swiftly kicked him under the table, shutting him up. General Kenobi did not seem to notice. “People were happy that the war was over and not many questioned new reforms. And by the time they did it was already too late. The Emperor had the whole Galaxy at his disposal and no one was strong enough to oppose him.”

“At first it was not so bad. The Separatists were apprehended, their army shut down. Pirates, smugglers and ex-Separatists or their sympathizers were being rooted out. But when the same started happening to everyone who was not completely in agreement with Imperial policy or methods… Those who had doubts or asked too many questions…” General Kenobi paused and closed his eyes like he was reliving some painful memories. “They were killed, for one reason or another. Along with their families, friends and even neighbors. To set an example.”

“It cannot be true!” Skywalker exploded, startling them all. He glared at General Kenobi. “Chancellor Palpatine is a good man and if he ordered to kill someone, well, he must have had a good reason.” General Kenobi let Skywalker rant, watching him with resigned sadness. “And I don’t believe that he would kill innocents. I won’t.” Skywalker stressed.

General Kenobi offered him a small sad smile. “It is always impossibly hard to see error in the actions of those we care about.” He said softly and Cody felt dread slowly crawl up his spine. He gulped thickly and returned his attention to his General.

Skywalker was standing in the middle of the room, panting. “…what about the Order?” He asked, voice quiet and small.

When he did not get an immediate answer, he turned around and rounded on General Kenobi. “Obi-Wan?” He called cautiously and slowly kneeled in front of him, taking his hands. Cody could only marvel at his mood swings. “Where is Ahsoka?” Skywalker questioned softly. Rex tensed in his seat, waiting for the answer with bated breath.

General Kenobi emptily stared down at their joined hands on his lap. “Dead. They are all dead.” He said steadily. Skywalker made a pained noise and tore himself away from General Kenobi. He started pacing, running his hand through his messy hair.

He licked his lips. “How? Why?” He pleaded.

General Kenobi let out a bitter laugh. “For betraying the Republic. For planning a power grab. For trusting the wrong people.” He started loudly but the last part was whispered almost too quiet to hear. Skywalker stared at him in disbelief.

“What? But it does not make any sense!” He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “…Force, all Jedi?” He asked and closed his eyes at General Kenobi’s nod. “But how could the Chancellor let this happen?” He wondered out loud.

“Anakin…” General Kenobi called quietly, using Skywalker’s name for the first time. He looked at the young man with sympathy. “Chancellor Palpatine was the one who issued the order.”

Skywalker froze. Wide eyes fixed on General Kenobi, searching his face. He stumbled back, shaking his head vigorously. “No, no, no! It cannot be…” He tugged at his hair lightly, laughing hysterically.

Peel was staring blankly in front of him. Crys looked ready to burst into tears. Rex seemed calm, but Cody knew him too well to see the pain hidden in his eyes. And Cody himself… he felt numb. The whole Jedi Order just… gone.

“Even the Younglings?” Cody did not realize he had spoken, his voice sounding too strange to his own ears. General Kenobi nodded. Cody closed his eyes. “Stars…” He whispered.

“But how?” Crys asked, sounding lost. He looked at General Kenobi helplessly. “The Jedi are the best fighters in the Galaxy. Who could have been so skilled to eliminate the whole Order?”

Suddenly General Kenobi burst out into a raucous laugh. He doubled over, wheezing for breath. The troopers all stared at him in shock. Skywalker hovered closely, looking worried.

General Kenobi had stopped laughing as abruptly as he started. He threw his head up, looked Cody dead in the eye and asked. “Does Order 66 sound familiar?”

***

Ezra was… unexpected.

Luke had just turned six months old. Obi-Wan, who was now known as Ben, had settled into his new life. Every morning he got up at dawn, meditated for a couple of hours, and then went to prepare breakfast. By then, Luke would usually be awake and Ben would smile at the happily squeaking baby and pick him up, going through the morning routine of changing and caring for the little boy.

After breakfast Ben would put on his cloak, place Luke in a sling, and go up into the mountains to check the traps and make sure that no one hostile was nearby. When Ben got home, he would put Luke down on the carpet and give him toys, keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn’t crawl away. More often than not, Luke just followed Ben wherever he went, laughing in delight and levitating small objects with the Force.

Ben would tend to his small garden, telling Luke about the plants and their properties. The child had always looked so focused that Ben could almost believe he understood.

Sometimes he would go to the caves. The soft glow of the flowers and the calm atmosphere soothed his aching heart. Once or twice a month, he went to the nearest town to replenish supplies and get the latest news. He even made friends with the owner of the local Cantina, an old Duro named Raqqa. She was almost instantly charmed by Luke and quickly softened to Ben. He told her that he was caring for his nephew, whose parents were killed during Separatist’s attack.

Raqqa was sympathetic. She became his informant, not that she knew it, of course. With her help he figured out who would be willing to strike a deal with him without personal meeting or exchange of names. As far as everyone was concerned, an anonymous merchant just happened upon the rare flower and was willing to barter for the best price.

Ben was slowly getting used to his new routine when he felt an insistent tug. It’s been months since the Force was so clear but Ben still hesitated. He could not leave Luke but he could not take him with him either.

In the end he had asked Raqqa to look after Luke, telling her that he had decided to make a trip to his home planet and pick up some belongings that were left there.

He dyed his hair black and paid some smuggler for the ride. On his ship he got to Najiba and there overheard the pirates that were headed for C-Foroon. Ben hid in the cargo hold of their ship and made it safely to the planet. There, he hijacked a small two-seat starship and allowed the Force to guide him.

A few hours later, he reached a small mountainous planet Lothal. It took him some time to get around the Imperial patrols and find a hidden place to land.

His heart soared as he sneaked through the dirty streets at night. Troopers in stark white armor patrolled the streets, people looked constantly tired and worn. From whispers, Ben had gathered that the Empire took over the planet’s economy promising prosperity and new job places. And now people were starving.

Ben drew his hood lower, ducking into the shadowed alcove to let the patrol pass. He ignored the painful clench his heart gave when he recognized the troopers’ Force signatures. Commander Wolffe and Boost. They felt different, but Ben still recognized them. He bit his lip, shooing off the memories and pressed himself into the wall, hiding his Force presence and stayed there for ten minutes.

He quietly slipped away into the less used street. The Force was leading him, feeling almost like an impatient Youngling tugging at his hand. Ben smiled briefly to himself.

Soon, he was hiding between two houses, watching the third closely and with no small amount of concern. The Force was positively singing around this house. Ben closed his eyes and let his senses roam. His breath hitched on its own accord when someone reached back.

The person was clumsy and unskilled but obviously friendly. Dread washed over Ben when he had realized that this person’s presence was much the same as Luke’s. He gritted his teeth and sent the infant a small wave of fondness in greeting. He received back a flood of surprised delight.

Smiling, Ben tried to figure out what he should do.

He had heard about the so-called ‘Jedi purge’ and Ana- Vader’s part in it. He knew that this child would not be left in peace, should someone learn that they were Force-sensitive. Ben sighed. He would have to speak to the child’s parents and hope that they would understand. He looked around to see if anyone was watching. No one was there.

Ben walked to the door. He was about to raise his fist and knock, when he registered that the door was already slightly ajar. Reaching out, Ben swiped the entire house with his senses but only felt one living person there. The former Jedi hung his head in grief.

He shouldered the door open carefully and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He glanced around.

The room was trashed. Pieces of furniture and droid parts littered the floor. A woman lay in the middle of the room. A blaster was still in her hand. She had a hole in her chest. Three dead stormtroopers and two Imperial droids lay nearby.

Ben slowly walked closer and crouched next to the woman, checking her pulse despite already knowing the answer. He let himself grieve for her for a moment and then released his feelings into the Force. Tenderly, he closed the woman’s eyes and sent a quick prayer to the Force. He took her blaster and slowly made his way deeper into the house.

Everywhere was the same mess as in the first room. Ben came across two more stormtrooper bodies, but so far there was no sign of life. He used his connection to the infant to slowly move towards them. Finally, he arrived at the room that turned out to be the nursery. Three destroyed droids were lying in the hall in front of it. Ben apprehensively opened the door and peeked inside.

There was a man on the floor. With several blaster holes in his back. It seemed like he was shielding someone when he was shot. Ben walked slowly into the room and looked around.

It was a small room painted in light yellow. There was a closet on Ben’s right and a drawer with baby things on it. Several shelves with datapads and family holos. And in the middle of the room was a white wooden crib. Ben stepped closer and glanced inside.

A small infant with big dark blue eyes and black hair stared back at him. He was dressed in orange onesie and white bootees. Ben’s heart ached for him. The baby reached for Ben with his tiny hands, giggling. Lowering the blaster, Ben lifted the boy from the crib and held him to his chest. The boy snuggled into him happily, bubbling excitedly. Ben gave him a small smile.

Then he frowned. What happened here? Why was this family killed? Judging by the bodies’ state it could not have happened more than a day before. Did no one notice? Ben shook his head. There was no time to dwell on those questions. He had a new priority.

He quickly went through the closet, found a bag, and put all the necessary things in it – clothes, shoes, food, pacifiers and a few hand-knitted blankets. Ben carefully sidestepped the body of the child’s father and walked toward the shelves.

The holos all showed the boy with his parents or some friends. Ben took one where the boy was held by his mother, his father’s arm around her waist. The small family was in their living room, with parents smiling brightly, while the boy was looking up at his mother, trying to show her a small droid in his hand.

Ben looked down and found an inscription:

‘Little Ezra and his first droid.’

He looked down at the now sleeping child. “Hello, Ezra.” He greeted softly. “My name is Ben. I promise I will take care of you from now on.” Ben swore quietly.

After a quick search, he had found Ezra’s birth certificate.

“Look at this.” He murmured, examining the data on the screen. “You’re only two days older than Luke.”

Ezra let out a tiny snore.

Ben chuckled and tapped down on the count ‘parents.’

‘Mira Bridger.’

‘Ephraim Bridger.’

He glanced down at Ephraim. “I’ll do everything to keep him safe.” He vowed and silently fled the house. No matter how much he wanted to pay proper respect to the dead, he could not afford to attract any attention to himself. He had to get back to Luke.

“I hope you’ll get along.” He murmured absently, strapping Ezra down to the baby seat in the starship.

He had a long journey ahead of him.

Luke and Ezra got along splendidly.

As soon as Luke saw Ezra, they were inseparable. Where one went the other soon followed.

Ben ignored the small voice in his head that reminded him of the times when the same was said about him and-

They crawled all over Ben’s hut, bumping into furniture and making their toys fly. Ben had to buy them a new crib, since they refused to be parted even in sleep.

Raqqa was ecstatic when she met Ezra.

Ezra’s first word shuttered Ben’s heart.

The boys were eleven months old. They played together on the carpet while Ben made dinner. He was humming a lullaby that he had recently learned from Raqqa. The boys clapped their hands and giggled. Ben placed the fruits into two bowls and made his way to the children, leaving his own dinner to boil for a bit. He sat down in front of the boys and placed the bowls in front of them.

Luke immediately went to grab a piece of fruit with his hand but Ben caught it gently and tutted. “Just because we are dining sitting on the floor, it does not mean we can forget about manners. Now, what do we need?” He questioned with a smile and Luke’s nose scrunched in confusion.

Then his face brightened. “Owk!” He said loudly, making Ben laugh.

“Yes, that’s right, fork.” He confirmed and gave each boy a fork.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Ben got distracted by Luke, who accidentally crushed a berry and smeared it all over his face, and did not immediately hear the insistent ‘Da!’

He froze, a small towel which he used to clean Luke’s face fell from his limp hand. Ben slowly turned his head around and looked at Ezra. The boy was frowning at him. Upon seeing that he had Ben’s attention he pointed at the fork which lay a foot away from him. “Da, up!”

Ben nodded dumbly and summoned the fork with the Force, much to the children’s delight.

That night he cried for the first time since the end of the war.

A week later Luke called him ‘papa’.

When the boys were three, Ben sat them down at the table and gently told them what had happened to their families. He explained that Luke’s father was his little brother and the best pilot in the Galaxy. That his mother was kind and gentle but fierce and just at the same time.

He told Ezra that his parents loved him more than anything in the world. That Mira was a proud woman with firm principles and a caring mother. He told him about Ephraim’s protectiveness and how much he loved his family.

Ben told them that no matter whose children they were, he loved them nonetheless. The boys cried and clutched him and Ben cried with them.

After that Ben would occasionally speak about Padmé or Anakin in the evenings. He gave Ezra a holo-recording of his parents and their message to him which he found in their house.

Luke started calling him ‘uncle Ben.’

One evening, Ezra creeped into Ben’s room and stood next to the door, looking down at the floor and fidgeted with his sleeve. Ben waited patiently for him to gather his courage. Finally, the kid looked up and asked tentatively. “Can I call you ‘da’?” Ben’s heart swelled with love and he nodded, opening his arms to embrace the child.

They both ended up crying. Luke came running in two minutes after, feeling their emotions in the Force but unable to understand them.

That night the boys slept with Ben.

And every night during sandstorms.

Ben told Ezra and Luke about the Force. He taught them how to listen to it and how to use it without hurting someone.

Of course, accidents happened. A crushed mug, an exploded droid, a couple of torn tunics.

It was worth it.

Ben had a semblance of routine in place by the time the boys were two years old.

And then he felt the tug again.

Chapter Text

It was both easier and harder to leave this time.

Ben still had the ship he took on Lothal and he knew that Raqqa would happily watch the boys. He had all supplies he might need (that included as many bacta and other medical supplies as he was able to find) and even two blasters, much to his displease. But Ben cannot be seen using a lightsaber, so the blasters would do.

The problem was the boys themselves.

At first, when they heard that Ben was going to take them to town, they were thrilled. They had visited it only recently, and it was unusual to return there so soon. But when they realized that Ben wanted to leave them with Raqqa... they did not take it well.

Luke just started wailing and clutched Ben’s leg in a death grip, begging him not to go. Ezra, usually well-mannered and calm, threw his first proper temper tantrum. He screamed and yelled and threw things around the room, demanding Ben to stay. Thankfully, neither he nor Luke used the Force.

The patrons were already giving them side glances. They did not need even more attention. Ben tried to calm the boys down but was struck speechless when Luke exclaimed: “Don’t go! We be good, pwomise! Don’t leave!” Looking up at Ben with big pleading eyes. And Ben was horrified to see fear there too.

That broke Ezra’s resolve and he started crying as well. Ben breathed out slowly and gathered both boys into his arms. They immediately snuggled into his chest like every other time. Ben still marveled at how easy and natural the it was for them. He nodded gratefully at Raqqa who waved him into the staff’s room. Then he put the toddlers back on the floor and held them at arm-length, hands on their shoulders. Ben looked them in the eyes.

“Boys, I’m not leaving you here forever.” He spoke softly, wiping away the tears from their faces. They stared at him, hiccupping. Ben smiled a little. “I just need to leave for a few days.” He tried to assure the toddlers.

“We go with you!” Luke said instantly, Ezra nodding in agreement, staring at Ben with determination unusual for a toddler. Ben simply chuckled.

“I cannot take you with me. It is too dangerous.” He said gently, watching their hopeful expressions turn into the sad ones. They were on the verge of tears again. “Remember what I told you?” Ben asked out of blue, confusing them.

Luke looked at Ezra, who was frowning in concentration. “Listen to Fowse?” He said hesitantly, sniffing loudly. Ben nodded with a proud smile.

“That’s correct. Tell me, what do you feel now?” The boys closed their eyes. Luke even scrunched his nose in his attempt to focus. Ben suppressed a chuckle.

He monitored their progress carefully, not letting them slip in too deep. Ezra came out with a gasp, Luke following right after him.

“It’s calm.” He said with a smile.

“And warm.”

“And soft.”

“Like home.” They chorused.

Ben smiled proudly and gave the boys’ shoulders a little squeeze. “Correct. You’re doing wonderful.” He praised softly. The kids beamed up at him, tears and fears forgotten for a time being. “But I feel more.” He added after a moment, sitting down and crossing his legs in his preferred meditation position.

Luke hurried to sit down in front of him, eager and exited at the prospect of meditating. Ezra followed him at a more leisure pace. Ben closed his eyes. “Come, let me show you.” He murmured, leading his kids into the Force.

It immediately enveloped them all in a warm equivalent of a hug. Ben sensed Luke’s exhilaration and Ezra’s elation at being here. The world around them was too Dark and was getting Darker with each passing day. But when they were meditating, they sank deeper into the Force, closer to the faint but undimmed source of the Light side. Ben felt the tension leave his thoughts and his physical body, as if it never existed in the first place. The Force sang here and Ben would have loved to stay and listen but he had a mission.

So he guided Luke and Ezra through the Force and stopped only when he reached a steady line of light hovering in the space. Ezra gasped, holding up his hand to touch it. The light curled around his little fingers, pulsing slightly, which made the boy giggle in delight. Luke immediately went to join his friend, asking him questions he did not have answers for. Eventually, he raised his head and asked: “Wat’s it?”

Ben stepped closer and kneeled next to them. He gently touched the light, feeling a small tingle ran through his hand. “I don’t know for sure.” He murmured, watching the light swirl around Ezra. “But it led me to Ezra two years ago.” At the sound of his name, Ezra tilted his head in Ben’s direction, blinking hard.

“Weally?” He asked, looked down at the light wrapped all around and between his fingers. He shook his hands a bit, trying to get it off but the light stubbornly clung to him. Ezra huffed in frustration, scrunching his nose.

Ben chuckled. “Really.” He affirmed and helped Ezra untangle his hands, letting the light hover over their heads once again.

Luke was chewing his bottom lip, a small frown indicated that he was thinking deeply. He made the same expression when he was trying to solve one of Ben’s riddles. “Who’s on the end?” He asked finally, pointing in the direction the light led. Ben smiled sadly.

“I do not know yet. But whoever it is, they might need my help.” He said, searching the boys’ faces. “And this is why I must go.” Luke let out a displeased sigh. He folded his arms and looked away, sulking. Ben had to carefully shield himself from them as he was hit with a flashback of young Anakin who looked exactly the same. He gulped and gave the kids a shaky smile. “It should not take more than a couple of weeks.”

“Weeks!” Ezra cried out, clearly horrified. “No! Da, no go!” The toddler insisted again, clutching Ben’s arm in his grip. Ben gently stroke his back, letting the boy calm down on his own.

“It is not ideal, my dears. But it must be done.” He said firmly, leaving no place for argument.

“Otay, Da.” The boys responded dejectedly, looking down at their feet, chastised. Ben sighed. He rubbed his aching temple and guided them all out into the real world. He opened his eyes just in time to catch Luke into his arms. Not expecting that, he fell on his back with a startled yelp.

“Pwomise you come back.” Luke whispered brokenly into Ben’s neck, winding his arms around Ben. Ezra hovered nearby, barely holding himself back so Ben held out his arm that was not supporting Luke and hugged Ezra too.

He swallowed thickly, emotions chocking him. Ben buried his face into the boys’ hair and murmured: “I will come back. I swear to you, no matter how, I will always be here for you.” He said quietly, already thinking about an excuse he would give Raqqa this time.

It was too dangerous to tell Luke and Ezra about the Order. At least right now, when they were too young to understand that they could not speak freely of some things. They knew basics about the Force and its use and the Code they used to teach Younglings… But nothing about the Jedi themselves, Ben did not want to risk them slip in front of wrong people. They didn’t know what exactly his words implied but still took comfort in them.

Ben told himself that he was not worried as he walked away from Raqqa’s cantina. Not at all. He threw his hood up. The boys would be fine, they liked and respected Raqqa. There was absolutely no way they might end up harmed under her watch. She was like a mother-tooka protecting her kittens. And unlike tooka, she had blasters.

Ben lowered his hood deeper, hiding his frown from view. He could not afford to worry about his kids now. They were in good hands and knew how to act in case of danger. It took more time and effort than Ben would have liked to teach them to never go anywhere with strangers or take anything from them, both toddlers were far too friendly and adventurous, and yet he did it.

And despite it, to Ben’s great relief, they quickly learned that they could only mention or use the Force when Ben was around and in control of the process. Thus, Ben was not worried about letting the boys stay with Raqqa. And besides, he had a suspicion that she already knew. Still, Ben needed to maintain his appearance.

With a quick step, he entered their hut and went to the kitchen. There he pulled up the rug attached to the hatch and quickly descended the ladder and found himself in an underground hangar. It was a recent addition to their small home, which Ben had finished building just a few months ago.

A year and a half ago, a few weeks after Ezra’s arrival, Ben accidentally discovered a network of tunnels connected to the Whispering Caves that ran under his hut. His extensive experience suggested that no one should leave such a leverage in their rear, so Ben decided to turn it in his favor.

Using the Force, he found a weak spot in the ceiling of one of the tunnels located exactly under the kitchen. It was very easy to make a hole in the floor and build a ladder. It was harder and much longer to clear and expand the tunnel to the size Ben needed and make sure that no one got into it. He didn’t worry about the womp rats, they did not like the coldness of the caves or small native fauna that roamed the tunnels, they usually avoided people. Travelers lost in the tunnels were another matter.

It didn’t happen often, but Ben had heard rumors of travelers who had perished in the Whispering Caves, following the voices of their dead loved ones. He had never encountered anything like this himself but experience had taught him not to dismiss such possibilities immediately. For this reason, he spent a lot of time trying to hide or disguise the entrances to the tunnels he used.

Of course, he couldn’t spend all day in caves, he was still responsible for two babies, so he worked most of the time for a few hours at night, which slowed the process down a lot. But it gave Ben an opportunity to explore and familiarize himself to the caves. In the end, he got not only a working hangar but also a storage room, a training room, and a detailed map of all the tunnels and branches of the Whispering Caves.

Before he was off, Ben caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and frowned. His red hair was shoulder-length and pulled back into a bun on the base of his neck and his beard needed trimming. He raised his hand to touch it but stopped halfway, cocking his head. The Force was trying to tell him something. Ben closed his eyes and listened. Several images flashed through his mind and Ben opened his eyes with a small sigh, his hand was already reaching for a razor.

The sink was slowly filling with clipped hair. When he was done, Ben stared at his reflection. It was unusual for him to see himself without a beard. He even looked a few years younger. The former Jedi shook his head and stepped away from the sink.

Ben habitually took the helm of the starship that the boys had named Zealous and turned the engine on. He steered the ship carefully through the narrow tunnels and out of the caves near the Northern settlement of the Tusken Raiders. Then he closed his eyes and let the Force take control.

Surprisingly, the planet that Ben was approaching was not far away and vaguely familiar to him. A few weeks before the fall of the Republic, the Council listened to a report on Bracca’s Invasion. At the time, Ben couldn’t get a good look at the planet, the connection was unstable, so he took a moment to take a quick look at the planet as Zealous descended into the atmosphere.

The surface of the planet was dark and consisted of mountains jutting out over misty cliffs, covered with huge junkyards. Black smoke gathered in heavy clouds, pouring acid rain on the ground. Here and there people scurried around covered from head to toe in protective cloth. Ben watched with interest as a group of workers overturned a platform of junk in the gorge. One of them waved at him, indicating where he could land.

He obediently put the ship in the indicated place, threw on his cloak and got out of the cockpit, pulling his hood more tightly over his head. The same worker pointed him in the direction of the local Cantina. Ben thanked him and sauntered off. The Force was a bit strange here, as if it was torn between two directions... Ben was so engrossed in his sensations that he almost missed a stifled gasp nearby.

A moment later, someone tentatively tapped on his shield. The person was not familiar to Ben and still, he easily read their bewilderment and happiness in the Force, they were projecting quite strongly. Without giving any outward sign, Ben calmly continued on his way. He reached out in greeting, beaconing them to follow him. They reared back in surprise slightly but obliged.

Ten minutes after, Ben was sitting in the far corner of the Cantina, drinking the local equivalent of caf. It was even more disgusting than original, in Ben’s opinion. He did not lower his hood, waiting patiently for the person to approach him. Finally, a somewhat small figure hesitantly sat across Ben.

The Force was pulling Ben toward them, so he decided to examine them carefully. Their face was hidden by a protective metal mask with a narrow visor. They were dressed in a tunic which seemed a little too large for them and a sleeveless cloak with a hood. A utility belt was secured around their shoulders. They also wore gloves, so Ben could only make guesses about their species.

They regarded each other for a few moments silently. The stranger broke eye contact first, glancing furtively around. Ben felt them reach out through the force, as if trying to find something or understand something. Curious, Ben loosened his shields a little, allowing the person to enter. Their touch was uncertain, but they seemed to come to some conclusion and they slowly raised their hands and removed the mask.

Bright green eyes looked at Ben, full of hope and longing. The stranger was human with vivid red hair which reminded Ben of a half-forgotten memory about the last time he visited the Main Temple before the Republic’s fall. He was in the hall, talking to Master Koon and he remembered greeting to another Master, Jaro Tapal, with a young boy, who were passing by. Master Tapal introduced the boy as Cal Kestis, his new Padawan. Cal’s flash was so bright, it almost matched his hair. Ben looked at the now teenager with new eyes.

He had a small scar on his jaw. His hair was longer, skin a bit paler and his freckles were gone. But the look of wonder was still present.

Ben smiled. “Well, well, well.” He murmured and tilted his head to the side. “Yer’e rigger, right?” Cal frowned in confusion and Ben subtly nodded at the table next to the bar, where he sensed someone was watching them. A ripple of surprise rushed through the Force and Ben reflectively wrapped his shields around Cal. The boy flinched but quickly caught himself and pretended to be nonchalant and nod calmly. He failed miserably and Ben wanted to chuckle.

But instead he said: “I’ve heard yer kind ‘s good in climbin’?” Another nod. Ben let a harsh smirk show on his face as he leaned forward. “Then follow me.” He stood up and started walking toward the exit without a pause. He heard a creak of a chair being moved, followed by hurried footsteps behind him.

He set the roundabout course toward his ship, deliberatively heading toward the local kind of a back alley. As soon as they walked in, Ben whirled around, grabbed Cal and pushed him behind a pile of rubble, hiding him from view. The teen squeaked but stayed in place, watching Ben press himself to the opposite wall in clear confusion. Ben pressed his finger to his lips and pointed at his ear. The sounds of flattering wings and a strange series of clicks echoed down the alley. Cal froze. Ben risked a peek outside.

He saw a group of five from Cantina. They reminded Ben of the Geonosians. They were also Insectoids but their scales were a red hue. They had massive protruding jaws and huge round reticulated eyes. The clicking sound came from their jaws, which Ben assumed was their way of communicating. They also actively gesticulated with three-fingered pincers as they hovered in the air, their transparent wings fluttered with terrifying speed.

Ben didn’t know if they were following them or if it was just a coincidence, but the Force pulsed with a warning, so he decided not to find out the answer. He slowly raised his hand and waved it sharply. Suddenly, something fell with a crash behind the Insectoids. As one, they all turned in the direction of the sound and froze. Then they rushed forward.

Throwing all thoughts of discretion away, Ben grabbed Cal’s arm and started running in the opposite direction.

Alleys intertwined with each other creating sometimes impenetrable maze. To complicate matters, they often led from one platform to another or to a different level, most often connected to each other by a flimsy bridge. But Ben trusted the Force and followed the route it led him. Cal was quiet too, just silently running slightly behind Ben. They stopped after ten minutes, a few platforms away from where Ben had left his ship.

“Well, that was quite exciting.” Ben commented, looking around. He glanced at the silent teen, who stood frozen on his right side. Ben raised one eyebrow. “Are you feeling alright, Cal?”

The boy just stared at him with wide eyes and then whispered, letting Ben hear his voice for the first time: “You know my name?” Ben, who had just turned his gaze down to check his blasters, looked back up at Cal in genuine surprise.

“Of course.” He replied, frowning a bit. “Master Tapal spoke highly of you, the last time we met.” Ben said softly, his voice filled with sadness. He saw Cal stiffen and a wave of grief coiled around him.

“It was so long ago…” Cal murmured, dropping his unfocused gaze down on the ground. Ben took a careful step closer and put his hand on the teen’s shoulder. Cal’s head snapped up, eyes fulling with tears. Ben almost smiled bitterly at the look Cal gave him. He had seen exactly the same one for five years, every time he so much as glanced in the mirror.

“It was not your fault, Padawan.” Ben said gently. Cal squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head a bit.

“I- I could have- I should have-” He stuttered in a trembling voice. His breath became uneven and Ben did the only think he thought would help – he drew Cal into a tight embrace.

The boy went easily, finally breaking down. He started crying silently into Ben’s shoulder, gripping his clothes in his fists. Ben wrapped the Force around С al in a practiced move as he often did with Ezra and Luke when they were upset. Cal froze for a moment and then began to cry with a vengeance.

Ben stroked his back and couldn’t help but wonder about what he’d been through. But the time for sharing stories had not yet come, and might never come. Ben slowly lowered them down, figuring that it most likely would take some time and they might as well get comfortable. Well, as comfortable as one might get sitting on the ground with a thirteen years old teen on top of them.

After a few minutes, Cal calmed down, almost stopped crying and now only sobbed a little, curling closer to Ben, clearly not intending to get out of his hug any time soon. And Ben himself didn’t want to let go of this starved for human warmth and affection teen. He kept an eye on their surroundings but a lot of his attention was focused on Cal’s actions in the Force.

The teen frolicked like a Youngling who had just sat down to meditate for the first time in their live. He radiated joy and he tried to embrace as much of the Light side as possible. This led the former Jedi to a conclusion that Cal had not been in the presence of the Light side of the Force for a long time, and therefore did not use the Force at all, most likely fearing exposure. Ben’s heart swelled with sorrow.

But he also felt that something else was happening. Ben reached out and to his surprise found the rudiments of a new bond next to the ones he shared with Luke and Ezra. He doubted that Cal was doing it on purpose or that he even noticed it, so Ben gave him a gentle nudge and when Cal’s focus was on him, pointed him in the bond’s direction.

There was only one word to describe the emotion which took over Cal – shock. Pure and genuine, and then came the shame and embarrassment. Cal tried to pull the bond back sharply, but Ben carefully held him back. “Don’t be so abrupt.” He whispered. “You can get seriously hurt. Why don’t you and I go to the ship and talk, what do you think?” Ben asked with a small half-smile.

Cal gave him a tiny nod and slowly stood up, holding out his hand to Ben in an almost subconscious motion. Ben snorted, making Cal flash but accepted the help and swiftly stood up. “This way.” He nodded and started walking, Cal only a step behind.

They reached the ship in five minutes and after making sure that no one was watching they climbed inside. Ben took the wheel and Cal took the co-pilot’s seat. The boy was shifting slightly and giving Ben sidelong glances.

Ben sighed and turned to face him. “I believe you have some questions?” He asked with a small smile.

Cal nodded quickly, biting his lower lip nervously. He opened his mouth a few times and then finally blurted out: “What happened to the Order? How? Why did the clones attack us? I got your message and I’ve been waiting here all this time but no one came. Did anyone else survive? How did you find me and why did you come here now? What are we going to do next? You’re not going to leave me here, are you?” He suddenly asked, staring at Ben with terrified eyes.

Ben shook his head. “Let’s start from the end. I will take you with me, if you wish.” He assured and held out his hand to prevent Cal from speaking. “But you must consider this – I can also take you to any planet you name.” Cal shook his head ‘no’ and Ben gave him a small smile. “Well, next we shall gather your belongings and leave this planet.” He hummed, facing the control panel and switching a few toggles to start the engine. “Where to?”

Cal quickly explained the way they would have to take and turned his pleading eyes back to Ben. “The Force led me to you.” Ben said simply and felt so much warmth when Cal merely nodded in understanding. It’s been a long time since the will of the Force was taken seriously and without further questioning. Ben missed it. He took a deep breath. “I do not know for sure why now, but I suspect that you were in danger.” Ben stopped the ship a platform away from Cal’s place and frowned. “Remember the group what followed us?”

“Yes, why?” Cal asked. Ben silently pointed at the nearest pile of garbage. There were dozens of creatures that looked like the ones who chased them. They were clearly waiting for someone, swarming around the small houses nearby.

Cal gulped, staring at the cluster of insects. “Are they here for me?” He whispered. Ben nodded grimly and carefully steered the ship away.

“Most likely. Was there anything valuable in there?” Cal shook his head and patted his utility belt.

“No, just some clothes and food. I learned to carry everything of value with me long ago. You never know when you'll have to run.” He whispered the last part quietly and looked down. Ben sent warmth through the Force at him and started pulling the ship up.

“I do not know if anyone else survived but Master Yoda did.” Ben informed the boy. Cal lit up.

“He’s alive? Where? Am I going to see him too?” He questioned eagerly. Ben chuckled, shaking his head.

“I am afraid not. But you will meet someone new, that I can guarantee.”

Zealous entered the atmosphere and Ben was going to turn it toward Tatooine but hesitated as he felt a familiar pulse in the Force. He debated whatever he should get Cal to safety first or bring him along when the external communicator chimed.

‘Unknown Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor, this is Captain Frego, Imperial forces. Your transmitter is off, respond or we will be forced to fire.’

Ben cursed lightly, cleared his throat and accepted the call.

“Captain Frego, what can I do fer ya?” He asked and to his satisfaction, Ben noticed that he had a perfect Kiffu accent. He winked mischievously at Cal, signing for him to stay silent for now.

‘We are looking for a dangerous criminal, we have information that he was hiding on this planet. All ships leaving the atmosphere are checked for the presence of a criminal. Are you alone on the ship?’ The voice questioned.

Ben gave a casual shrug. “Yeh, just me and me son, Jeet. Not much space in ‘ere. Dat criminal? They got big guns?” Ben silently started taking off his outer coat, watching the data on the control panel closely.

The man on the other side hesitated. ‘It is a human male, about twelve or thirteen years old. Red hair, pale skin. Dressed in rigger’s work clothes. He is armed and very dangerous.’

Ben whistled especially loud, passing his coat to Cal and turning back to the comm. “Blast me, a kid? Didja hear it, Jeet? Dat, he’s got a bomb or somfhin’?” He babbled, helping Cal wrap the coat around himself. It made him look smaller and younger.

‘You don’t have to worry about that. Turn on the holo to confirm your identity and you can be free.’ Captain Frego replied.

Ben gave Cal’s shoulder one last squeeze and let the Imperials see them. A man in a stormtrooper uniform appeared in front of Ben. His helmet tilted to the side, indicating that he was looking at Cal now.

‘How old are you?’ His voice came through the speaker. Suddenly, Cal smiled brightly at the holo.

“Im’ma almost ten, Mista’ Capta’n!” He exclaimed happily, beaming. “Da says he’ll get me a tooka on me life’s day!” Cal then looked at Ben with such adoring eyes that it melted his heart. Ben let out a barking laugh and ruffled Cal’s hair. The boy squeaked and batted his hand away. “Da, stop!” He cried out, crossing his arms, a huge pout on his lips.

The Captain watched their interactions in silence. ‘I see.’ He said slowly and turned back to Ben. ‘You can be free, Mister Xiren.’

Ban grinned. “Thank ya, Captain. Good luck with yer criminal.” The Captain’s holo flickered out and Cal slumped down into his seat, breathing deeply. Ben smiled at him. “You did a great job.” Cal snorted, shaking his head.

“Thank you.” Cal whispered. “How did they find me?” He wondered out loud five minutes later. Ben hummed nonchalantly.

“I do not know. Good thing you are such a good actor.”

They fell silent until Cal tentatively broke the silence. “Master Kenobi?” Ben flinched in surprise but quickly relaxed and nodded at Cal, telling him to continue. “Do you know why they did it?” He whispered. “Why they suddenly attacked us?” The teen’s voice trembled. “I thought we were friends, but then Joase shoot at Master Tapal and the others did not stop him, we ran but they still shoot him, I tried to heal him but it was not enough and I lost my ‘saber and-” Cal interrupted himself with a huge hiccup, tears falling freely down his face. Ben put the ship on autopilot and looked at Cal. “I was not enough…” The boy whispered brokenly.

He took both his hands and held them between his own. “Look at me, Padawan.” Ben murmured. Cal snuffled and hesitantly raised his eyes. “Never think you haven’t done enough. Cal, you did everything you could. The death of Master Tapal and the others is not your fault. There was nothing you could have done and beating yourself over it again and again, trying to figure out a way which could have helped to avoid it… it will not help. It only prevents you from healing. Trust me, I know what I am talking about. I’ve been in an exactly same situation.” Cal bit his lower lip, looking down. Ben squeezed his hands. “Our loved ones die, but they never leave us forever.” He spoke and Cal’s head shot up.

“There is no death…” He whispered and Ben smiled ruefully, nodding.

“There is the Force.” He let go of one of Cal’s hands and pressed his free hand to Cal’s heart. “And they are always in here. Watching over you.” Cal gave Ben a watery smile. After a moment Ben let him go and returned to the wheel.

It was a longer flight this time, Ben didn’t want to be caught on the radar of the imperial ships. So he took it upon himself to avoid them. Cal fell asleep quickly, which Ben didn’t find surprising. After such an emotional storm, anyone would have blacked out.

They had only touched the surface of Cal’s feelings, and Ben knew that wasn’t nearly enough. It helped and would be good for him but not in a long run. He would have to work with Cal to help him find his balance again. Ben glanced at the teenager, who was curled up in the seat, the coat wrapped around him like a blanket, snoring softly. A pang of nostalgia shot through Ben’s heart. Similarly, that’s how Anakin and then Ahsoka spent long flights.

As they flew past Lahn, Ben noticed several starships on the radar and was about to go around them but realized that the Force was pulling him in the direction of one of the starships. There was something else, something familiar and dark… Ben frowned. He gently shook Cal awake, not taking his eyes from the screen. “Brace yourself,” Ben murmured, “I have a bad feeling about this.” He said and sped up.

A moment later, Ben saw the starships with his own eyes. Two unmarked freighters seemed to be chasing an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser. Ben and Cal exchanged a hard look. Ben reached for the communicator, but then the airlock of the Imperial ship suddenly opened and a small figure was thrown into space. Ben cursed and accelerated, trying to get there in time. Then he cursed again as all three ships began firing at them. Raising the shields, he swung the ship to the side and fired back. “I certainly did not think I’d have to do it again.” He muttered, spinning the ship away from an explosion.

As they drew level with the person hanging in space Ben stopped the ship and closed his eyes. He reached out to the Zealous’ shields and started wrapping Force-shields snugly around them, stopping the majority of blasts from hitting them. “Cal, go get them inside.” Cal opened his mouth to protest but then another blast landed on the shield, making him jump up from the seat, racing toward the hatch.

On the control panel, he pressed a few buttons and lowered the screen between the hatch and the main cabin, then opened the hatch itself. Cal closed his eyes and raised both hands in front of him. Letting his senses roam around, Cal gasped in shock, one hand flying up to cover his mouth. He recognized the force presence. He knew him.

Cal clenched his jaw. He could not fail now! He knew his connection to the Force was damaged, he was unable to use any telekinetic techniques ever since Master Tapal’s death. But he needed to save him! Cal breathed deeply, holding his hands out in front of him and began to pull his body toward the ship. Sweat dripped from his face and his hands shook, but he didn’t stop until the hatch closed behind the person. Then he fell to his knees in exhaustion, trembling hard. His clothes were soaked with sweat and he was sure that he wouldn’t be able to use the Force at all for the next few days. “He’s here!” Cal shouted and Ben dropped the shields, reaching for the yoke again.

A stifled groan came from behind the screen. Cal got to his shaky feet and stumbled forward, hitting the button. The screen lifted to reveal a boy lying on the floor. Cal’s eyes went wide as he took the figure in. He fell down beside Caleb, reaching for his face. “Caleb?” He murmured, patting Caleb’s face. He did not notice that he started crying. “Caleb, c’mon, wake up!” Cal grabbed his shoulders and started shaking the other boy.

Caleb’s lashes fluttered and he slowly opened his eyes, his gaze drifting to Cal. “Wha-?” He coughed and turned on his side. Cal patted him on the back, looking for a bottle he was sure he’d seen lying around somewhere before.

“Hold on!” Came a voice from the cockpit and the ship suddenly lurched, throwing both boys into the wall. “You two alright there?” Ben called over his shoulder.

Cal winced, rubbing his shoulder and sat up. “We’re alive. What was that?” He yelled back. It was hard to hear each other over the noise of engine and cannon fire. The ship shook again and Cal grabbed the wall to keep himself upright.

“The freighters blew up the Imperial cruiser. We were hit by the shock wave. It looks like they want us to follow them, we should get ready for a confrontation, just in case.” Ben replied. Cal sighed tiredly and glanced down. Caleb was still on the floor, blinking slowly at the ceiling. Cal bit his lower lip and drew Caleb’s head into his lap.

Caleb’s gaze shifted, landing on Cal’s face. He frowned and raised his hand sluggishly, placing it on Cal’s cheek. “Feels real.” He mumbled, dropping his hand down. “Guess I died after all.” Cal laughed despite the tears which were falling from his eyes.

“You are alive. We’re both alive.” He sobbed, bending down to rest his forehead on Caleb’s. “Master Kenobi too – he’s on the cockpit.”

Caleb’s eyes went wide. “Mast- He is here?” Cal nodded wordlessly and Caleb let out a shuddering breath. He pushed Cal away gently and sat up, leaning on the wall. Then he stared at Cal hungrily, like he was trying to memorize his face. “It’s really you.” Cal nodded again, hastily wiping his tears and looking down. He missed the moment when Caleb rushed forward and wrapped his arms around him tightly. But Cal clutched him back with equal force nonetheless, sobbing into his shoulder. Not that Caleb was faring any better.

“I thought everyone was dead. I didn’t know you survived. It happened so fast. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He cried, pulling Cal closer. Cal remained silent. He knew why Caleb was apologizing but was unable to answer him.

They grew up together, Caleb only a year older than Cal. And despite Cal’s shyness and Caleb’s tendency to get in trouble, they quickly became best friends. They shared everything – from favorite sweets to hopes and dreams. When Caleb was chosen by Master Billaba he was beyond himself from bliss.

Cal was happy for his friend, but he couldn’t help but feel left behind. And then Caleb swore that he would never do that to Cal. “I’ll call you every time we’re in comm’s range.” He assured Cal with a wide grin, his new Padawan braid dangling behind his ear. He left the next morning.

At first, he kept his promise. They spoke almost every two weeks. They met every time Master Billaba returned to Coruscant for a Council meeting. But then the war started escalating, despite the fact that everyone was talking about its imminent end. Calls became less frequent, visits stopped altogether. And their last conversation ended in disaster.

An eager Cal called to tell him that he was a Padawan. He only had time to greet Caleb happily, which made him snap. “Do you have any idea what’s going on here?” He shouted, glaring at Cal angrily. “How many of our man die in each battle? The account is not even in the tens and hundreds! And you rejoice in nonsense like an ingrown child! I understand that it is easy for you in the Temple where you do nothing, only hang on the necks of the Masters and our age-mates, like a burden. Do you think they’ll babysit you forever? With this approach, no Master will even look in your direction.” Caleb snarled, making Cal flinch.

Every word was like a blade cutting through his heart. Caleb knew all his insecurities and he hit them with precision. Cal wanted to protest, to speak up and protect himself from harsh words, but his voice got stuck somewhere in his throat. Caleb shook his head. “Call me when you’re older.” He said and ended the call.

Cal cried himself to sleep that night and refused to tell Master Tapal about it the next morning. They were sent on a mission later that day. Seven months later the Republic fell.

Biting his lip, Cal burrowed himself into Caleb. “…I was chosen.” He whispered. Caleb stiffened but did not ask. Cal squeezed his eyes shut. “Master Tapal choose me.” Caleb swallowed hard.

“That’s good, Red.” It was very easy for Cal to picture a watery smile on Caleb’s face. He felt a hand pat his hair in a soothing motion. “You deserved that.” Caleb murmured. Cal hiccupped, shaking his head.

At that moment, the ship landed and the engine shut down. Ben climbed out of the seat and walked toward the hatch on shaking legs. To his surprise he found two boys wrapped in an embrace on the floor. And to his even greater surprise he recognized the second boy. “Caleb?” He asked, causing both boys to snap their heads up at him.

Caleb Dume – Depa Billaba’s Padawan was staring at Ben with his mouth hanging open.

“What happened to your beard?” He blurted out. Ben snorted, shaking his head a little in amusement.

“It didn’t agree with the climate.” He joked and abruptly became serious. “We are surrounded by two freighters. I don’t know whatever they’re friendly or not. I will go first; you will stay on the ship and fly away at the first sight of trouble.” Ben ordered with a stern look.

Cal was shaking his head in disagreement but Caleb was frowning. “Are those a red and gray KST-100 and a purely gray one?” He asked. Ben arched an eyebrow and nodded. Caleb slumped into the wall. “They are not a threat. Just my business partners.”

“In that case, we should tell them you’re alright before they blow up the whole ship.” Ben said, opening the hatch.

He was met by two blasters aimed at his face. Ben tilted his head slightly in silent question. “Caleb, could you come over here?” He called out without taking his eyes off his opponents.

The one on the right was Kalleran. Green skin with black stripes, fins on the sides and top of his face, two antennae, bare feet with three digits, just like on his hands and no nose. Ben felt nothing from him but anger.

To the left was a familiar Devaronian. Red skin, pointed ears, short brown horns and a mechanical patch over his right eye. General Kleeve, one of the Separatists. Ben’s face remained calm, betraying nothing of his thoughts.

There was a scuffle behind him, and soon Caleb was out of the ship, supporting the still-shaking Cal. Ben put a hand on his shoulder and scanned him briefly. What he found made him turn around sharply, pick Cal from Caleb’s arms in spite of his protests and put him on the ground. “Cal, can you hear me? Look at me.” He asked, gently shaking the boy’s shoulder. Cal opened his eyes and then closed them again, wrinkling his nose. Ben frowned. “I know you’re tired but don’t sleep yet, open your eyes, I need to check something.” He pleaded, framing Cal’s face.

Cal whined, slowly shaking his head. “’m tired…” He whispered and blacked out. Caleb fell down on his knees next to him with an alarmed ‘Cal!’

The Kalleran pointed his blaster on Ben. “What the hell’s going on?” He demanded but Ben was not listening.

He was deep in the Force, trying to hold on to Cal’s life force. His presence flickered, disappearing and reappearing. Ben had never been much of a healer, but he was doing his best. Cal was one step away from falling into a coma that Ben would be unable to get him out of, he didn’t have the skill.

So he tried to follow the technique Bant had taught him a long time ago. And slowly, painfully slowly, Cal’s condition returned to normal. Ben breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned forward.

Caleb anxiously hovered nearby, clutching Cal’s limp hand desperately. “What’s wrong with him? Is he okay?” He bombarded Ben with questions.

Ben closed his eyes, listening. After three minutes he nodded, opening his eyes and looking at Caleb. “He is alright. But he has sustained some serious damage which should be monitored from now on.” He said, swiping his fringe away from his eyes.

“So sorry to interrupt such a heartwarming moment,” the Kalleran drawled lazily, “but someone owes me some answers.” He ended sharply, nodding meaningfully at his blaster. Caleb shook his head.

“It’s alright, Kasmir. They are…” He paused, looking down at Cal’s hand still held in his. Then he looked at tired Ben closely. “They are friends.” He said finally after a few moments of silence. The Kalleran, Kasmir, shifted his stance, lowering his blaster slightly but did not put it away. Kleeve followed his example.

“Do these friends have names?” Kasmir asked mockingly. Kleeve snorted.

“This one,” he said pointing at Ben, “is High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Kleeve gave a derisive bow in Ben’s direction. Kasmir tilted his head, looking at Ben with interest.

Ben offered them both a polite smile. “I’m afraid I haven’t used this name in quite some time, General Kleeve.” Caleb snorted at his side.

“Of course.” He bit out. “And what have you been doing all this time?” He asked sharply. “I got your message. Trust the Force? A New Hope will arise?” He mimicked Ben’s voice, sneering. “How can you trust it if nothing good comes of it?” Caleb shouted, jumping onto his feet, his fists clenching. “The Force did not prevent the war from happening, it did not stop it either and it certainly did not save Master Billaba!” He yelled, stalking closer to Ben in his rage. “And none of our training helped me survive.” Celeb hissed like a loth-cat whose tail has been stepped on. “The Jedi are gone. And the Force is a joke.”

Ben waited patiently while Caleb ranted. Anger, wrath, guilt, and grief came in heavy waves from the teenager. He was hurting and couldn’t move forward, not on his own. But he wasn’t ready to accept help either, Ben could see that clearly. He waited for Caleb to finish his sentence. “I shall get Cal inside.” Ben murmured. Caleb faltered instantly, eyes falling down on Cal. “He shouldn’t be lying on the ground in his condition.” Ben lifted the unconscious boy into his arms and walked into his ship.

He carefully placed Cal in the copilot’s seat and wrapped the coat around him. Ben took his time, letting the three outside talk and come to a decision. Finally, when it would have been suspicious to stay inside any longer, he stepped out of the cockpit and leaned against the hatch door.

Caleb stood there alone, looking up at the sky and watching the red-and-gray freighter recede. He was holding a small bag in one hand, the other was clenched into a fist on his side. Ben watched him in silence. When the ship was out of sight, Caleb lowered his head with a sigh and turned around. He started slightly when he saw Ben. A determined look appeared on his face. He squared his shoulders and walked toward him.

Caleb stopped just a few feet away from Ben. “What are you doing here?” He questioned. Ben hummed nonchalantly.

“Here? Admiring the view.” He replied easily, smiling at the teen. Caleb, clenched his jaw.

“That’s not what I meant.” The boy snarled. “How did you find me? How long has Cal been with you?” He asked again. But Ben heard another question, unspoken and hurt. ‘Why didn’t you come earlier?’ He closed his eyes in defeat.

“You didn’t need me before.” He spoke softly, watching Caleb stiffen. “You are at a crossroads now, your choice will determine your fate. I am simply here to offer you an opportunity.”

Caleb snorted. “What opportunity? To become a Jedi? Newsflash – the Order is destroyed, there are no more Jedi.” He said with a bitter laugh. Ben shook his head and stepped closer to Caleb, lying his hand on the teen’s shoulder.

He leaned forward a little, looking into Caleb’s eyes. “I offer you the opportunity to heal and help others heal.” A slight nod in the direction of the ship where Cal slept. “Caleb, that you went through was terrible. It’s not something that should happen to anyone, but it did. I’m not going to ask you to pretend that you’re not hurting or that you don’t feel guilty – it will only harm you. You can be angry, you can grieve, you can give up the Force and the Order and start a new life. But Caleb, don’t give up the chance to move on. She wouldn’t want it, you know that, deep down here.” Ben said tapping his hand over Caleb’s heart. “Let yourself feel it and let go of the guilt.”

By the end of Ben’s speech, Caleb was crying. “You don’t know what happened. It’s my fault, she stayed to protect me! And I couldn’t help her...”

“Caleb, you were twelve. There was no way you could hold off a whole squad of trained warriors even together with Master Billaba.” Ben opposed.

“I let her die!” Caleb finally exploded. “She said she’d be right behind me, but she lied! I knew she was lying and I left her alone anyway! If I’d stayed, she might have had a chance.” He sobbed. “But I was scared and ran away!”

Ben gently took the teenager into his arms. “Depa Billaba was my friend and one of the best Masters of the Order. She was always true to the Code and to herself. And in those last moments of her life, she made her choice – she chose you, her Padawan, so that you could live and carry a part of her in you.” Caleb’s sobs quieted. “You are her legacy, no matter what you do or who you choose to be.” Ben hooked his finger under Caleb’s chin and lifted his head. “Depa is one with the Force now and she certainly doesn’t regret her decision.”

Caleb burst into tears.          

Ben was almost one hundred percent sure that he heard Master Windu's laugh when Caleb and Ezra’s eyes met for the first time and a bond instantly formed between them.

***

A chill ran down Cody’s spine, making him shiver. These words... They had an ominous echo that Cody couldn’t explain. A glance to the side showed that the other clones had a similar reaction. Peel was frowning, Crys was rubbing his shoulders as if trying to keep warm, and Rex was staring blankly at the table.

Skywalker just made a face. “What’s an Order 66?” He asked.

A snort came from the next room. “It is surprising to hear such a question from the executors of this order.” Someone said. Cody looked up sharply and saw a young red-haired man standing in the doorway. He was tall, dressed in brown tunic and gray trousers. There were a few scars on his face – two small ones on his jaw and over his right eyebrow and a bigger one across the bridge of his nose. His arms were crossed over his chest and he stared coldly at their group.

The other man was standing over his shoulder. He had black hair pulled back in a ponytail. He wore yellow tunic and gray trousers. His hands were in his pockets and his entire posture was tense. It was as if he was preparing for a fight.

Skywalker raised his chin challengingly. “Who are you?” The red-haired man’s gaze slid over him briefly and settled on General Kenobi. For a moment the coldness on his face was replaced by worry but the General shook his head slightly and the man relaxed. He looked back at Skywalker and calmly raised an eyebrow.

“You can call me Terra.” He nodded at another man. “This is Kanan.” Terra introduced and seemed to dismiss them immediately, speaking to General Kenobi. “The children are already asleep, the others are in the living room.” He carefully avoided looking at any clones, like it could physically hurt him. “Should we make the beds in the guest rooms?” General Kenobi nodded wordlessly and the two young men disappeared back into the room they came from.

Whirling around Skywalker stared at the General. “Obi-Wan, what the hell? Who are these two? What others? Just how many people live here?” He demanded, voice raising with each word. General Kenobi merely sighed and stood up swiftly.

“I’m sure you’re hungry,” he said, “please follow me.” He turned and headed for the room where Kanan and Terra had left. Cody and Rex looked at each other and slowly followed him.

The kitchen was small, about half the size of the room they’d been in before. To the left was a round stove, right next to the wall was a refrigeration unit and a space heater. To the right was a cabinet that took up the entire wall. There was a small square gray carpet on the floor.

In the corner to the left, Cody noticed a closed door. Most likely, all four inhabitants of this house that they had seen before had gone there. Next to it stood a sonic dishwasher.

General Kenobi was pouring stew from a pot into bowls and passing them to the clones. When everyone had a bowl, the General handed out the spoons and returned to the previous room, sitting down at the table.

He was holding a steaming cup of tea, judging by the smell. Cody silently sat down on his right hand and began to eat. Peel and Crys did the same without any problems. Skywalker hovered on the way to the table, staring in disbelief at the bowl. Rex nudged him forward and into the seat.

Dinner passed in silence, broken only by the clatter of spoons on the sides of bowls. Finally, when everyone had finished, the General took a deep breath, looking down into his empty cup.

“Order 66.” He started suddenly, not raising his eyes. “I had experienced its full power before I even knew of its existence... At one point I was chasing the remnants of Grievous’ army and in the next,” General Kenobi made a cutting motion with his hand, “my Sergeant aimed a cannon at me and fired. And it wasn’t just me. Thousands of lights disappeared in a single moment. The Force screamed in agony... I felt like I was dying with them... then squads of troopers I thought I knew scoured the perimeter for confirmation of my death.”

Cody listened to the General’s haunted voice with growing horror. He couldn’t move a muscle, his ears were ringing. Cody wanted to believe that the General’s words were untrue or that there was just a big misunderstanding, but the pain in his eyes was so raw… Cody swallowed hard. ‘Trusting the wrong people’ he had said earlier. And Cody understood his meaning now.

General Kenobi rubbed a tired hand over his face. “I made it to Coruscant only to find out that my entire family had been killed. Almost no one was left. The Temple was destroyed. The surviving Jedi were declared traitors and enemies of the Empire and, therefore, subject to execution by the Grand Army of the Republic, which was by then known as the Imperial Army.” He stared into his cup blankly. “Then there were seventeen of us left. Now it’s only me and the kids.”

A heavy silence enveloped the room. Cody couldn’t shake off the shock. Skywalker was openly staring at the General. “Bu- but how? Rex and the 501^st would have never betrayed me!” He cried out turning to Rex and faltered upon seeing the clone’s lost expression. “Rex?” Skywalker asked, hesitantly reaching out for him. The Captain just shook his head and pulled away.

“Why did you let us in?” Peel’s soft voice rang out. He didn’t look up from the table. “If we betrayed you, if we are murderers... how did you open your doors to us, let us into the house where your children live?”

General Kenobi only smiled sadly. “Luke brought you here. If you wanted me dead, he wouldn’t have spoken to you.” He glanced at his wrist and rose from the chair. “It’s late. I’ll show you to your rooms.”

Skywalker shook his head stubbornly. “No way! Obi-Wan, you can’t drop a bomb like that and expect me to go to sleep! I have questions.” He argued.

“And you can ask them in the morning.” General Kenobi rebuked him easily, heading for the door in the corner. Beyond it was a long stone corridor lit by several setla lamps. After a few feet, the corridor branched off. The General turned left and opened the next door.

The room they were in was small and round. It had no windows and was colder than all the others. Cody guessed that this is due to the fact that it is made in the mountain. The room had three beds, a huge sofa, and a large fluffy carpet. There was a small table in the middle. General Kenobi stepped aside to let them enter. “This door leads to the bathroom.” He said, pointing at the side door which Cody had failed to notice. “You know where the kitchen is located. If you need anything, my room is right down the hall, first on the left.” And with that he stepped out of the room and closed the door.

The clones listened in silence as the sound of his footsteps receded. Crys sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh. “What’s next?” He asked, staring up at Cody with a lost look. Before he could answer, the door opened. One of the men, Kanan, was standing in the doorway. He looked around the room and went inside, closing the door behind him.

“I don’t care who you are or where you come from.” He began in a low, menacing voice, moving slowly closer to Skywalker. “If you hurt Ben or anyone who lives here, you’re not going home.” Kanan hissed and stormed out of the room slamming the door shut behind him.

Skywalker looked at Rex incredulously. “Did he just give me a shovel talk?” Crys snorted loudly.

“I guess so, General. But let’s return to my previous question – what are we going to do now?”

“Sleep.” Cody replied in a tone that brooked no argument. Crys groaned but got up and dragged Peel into the bathroom. Rex silently walked to Cody and started helping him take off his armor. Skywalker glared at the door for a few moments then dropped down on one bed and pulled the covers over his head.

By the time Peel and Crys came back, Skywalker was already sleeping. Rex walked into the bathroom next, leaving Cody alone with his thoughts.

Crys fell asleep rather quickly. Peel, on the other hand, just sat on his bed, staring at his lap. Cody waved Rex off when he returned, signing that he would take the first watch. Rex gave him all too knowing look but said nothing, dropping down on the sofa. Cody was grateful for that.

He needed some time to think, to line up the reality he knew with the future he was in. Cody could not imagine a reason why he and his brothers would willingly betray the Jedi. Kriff, a couple of days ago he would have laughed in the face of anyone who even suggested it. But now... Cody groaned, hiding his face in his hands. In his mind, he saw General Kenobi’s face filled with pain.

Cody squeezed his jaw. He needed more information. The General did not tell them everything, that much was clear. Whatever it was because he didn’t trust them or just didn’t have that information, was another matter entirely. Cody closed his eyes. Maybe one of his kids would speak to them.

Tomorrow would show.

Chapter Text

Cursing, Crys stumbled into the dimly lit hall. He held on to the wall for support as he slowly walked toward the kitchen. When he got there, he cursed again because he had no idea where the light switch was.

“Alright, let’s hope I don’t knock anything off.” He mumbled, stretching out his arms and taking a careful step. Slowly, he reached the conservator and pulled out a bottle of water. He opened it and took a sip, sighing in relief. “Now I get why General Skywalker hates this planet so much. It’s night, for kriff’s sake and it’s still hot as-”

“Patu?” Crys would deny it till his dying day, but he barely held back a yelp of surprise as he whirled around to face the source of this strange noise, hand automatically going for the blaster that was not there. At first, Crys did not understand what was making that sound, the hall and the room seemed empty. But then the sound was repeated and he slowly lowered his head down.

There was a silhouette in the hallway, just outside the door. It was tiny, barely fifteen inches. The silhouette also had an oddly shaped head, with protruding ears that Crys could have sworn he’d seen somewhere before. The creature tilted its head and made a chirping sound that Crys took as a question.

“Uh…” He said, stepping closer to the creature. It did not move away, only tilted its head higher, like it was trying to see Crys’ face. “Well… Hello?” He said, unsure and slowly knelt in front of the creature. It made another soft noise, as if it understood and was greeting him in return. Crys decided to think about it later. “I… know you’re probably confused.” Crys said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. “Because I sure as hell am, but I guess you could help me?” He asked. The creature chirped again. Crys nodded to himself and licked his lips. “Err… right. Do you know where the light switch is?”

Before he could finish speaking, the creature raised its hand and suddenly the lights in the room were on. Crys had to close his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opened them, he could finally see his late-night visitor. What he saw left him speechless.

In front of him was a tiny green child with huge ears. They looked at Crys with interest, not at all afraid of him. The kid was wearing a familiar looking brown robe, and Crys felt a chill run down his spine as he finally realized who he was looking at. “General Yoda?” He whispered, staring at the kid like they were a ghost.

Of course, logically, Crys understood that it could not be General Yoda, this kid looked much younger and smaller. But still, he had no idea what their species was called or what the baby’s name was, so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. The child didn’t look upset, just held out their hands to Chris in the galactic gesture that all children used regardless of species – up!

Numbly, he picked the kid up, settling them into the crook of his elbow. The kid sat comfortably and pointed with their three-fingered clawed hand at the refrigerator unit. Crys obediently walked over and opened it. As expected, it was full of various frozen foods, most of which Crys had never seen in his life, let alone had any idea how to cook them. He looked at all this for a few seconds, then he shifted his gaze to the kid. “So,” He said slowly. “I don’t know much about kids, but something tells me you shouldn’t eat cold food, right?” The kid chirped, looking up at Crys in anticipation. Crys swallowed hard. “Right.” He repeated. “I need help.” He decided, slammed the lid down and marched back into the guest room.

Captain Rex looked at him briefly when he entered, returning back to the holobook he was reading. A moment later his head snapped up and he stared at the kid in Crys’ hands.

“What,” he whispered dryly, “is that?” Crys glanced down at the kid and the kid glanced up at him.

“Um… A baby Yoda, I think?” He replied hesitantly, keeping his voice down, so he would not accidently wake the others. He could see Commander Cody shifting on the couch in his sleep and he really did not want to wake him up. The Captain gave Crys a flat look.

“I can see that.” Rex snarked. “But I cannot figure out why you have them?” Crys shrugged helplessly.

“I think this little guy is hungry but I don’t know how to cook or what I should give them.” He confessed. “Help me.”

Captain Rex raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “And what exactly do you want me to do?” Crys groaned quietly, running his free hand over his face.

“I don’t know! Anything! You babysit Skywalker and Tano, you have a lot more experience with children than I do!” Crys almost threw his hands up in frustration, but remembered in time that he was holding a kid, so he just sent Rex a pleading look instead.

The Captain sighed tiredly. “You know, I can’t even argue with that.” He stood up, walked over the couch and shook Peel awake. “Keep watch, we’ll be back soon.” Peel nodded, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. Crys and Rex walked out of the room together and went into the kitchen.

They stopped in the middle of the room and stared at each other. “What now?” Rex asked and then the kid stretched out their hand and the lid of the refrigeration unit opened and a frozen frog rose into the air from the rightmost compartment. Crys stared at the dead creature, then glanced down at the toddler, whose eyes were closed and face scrunched in concentration and took the frog out of the air.

“Sooo…” Crys said, giving the frog a dubious look. “How do we make it eatable?” Rex sighed.

“I can’t think of a single time when I would voluntarily eat a frog, so I don’t know that much about the recipes.” Rex replied sarcastically. “But I guess they won’t mind.” He said, eyeing the silent child, who was looking between him and Crys, clearly waiting for their food. They made a whistling sound and pointed at the frog.

Rex held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. How can you warm a frog?” He asked, looking around the kitchen. Crys hummed.

“We can just walk out, place it on the rock and wait.” He suggested with a shrug.

Rex snorted. “Something tells me that baby Yoda won’t want to wait that long.” He countered, slapping Crys on the shoulder and walked over to the cooking area. “Let’s start by seeing if there’s a nanowave stove here.”

As it turned out, there was a nanowave stove, so after a small but heated argument about whether you can heat a frog just like that or need a dish, they began to look for a bowl. The kid apparently thought their struggles were funny, since they only giggled when Crys asked them about the dishes.

“This is why I’m sooo glad to be assigned to General Kenobi.” Crys grumbled, rubbing his foot, on which he accidently dropped a cooking pot when he opened the high cabinet. The kid giggled again. Crys glared at them briefly. “Children are hard.”

Rex snorted, pulling a bowl out of a small chest. “Tano is not that bad. And Skywalker is usually looked after by Senator Amidala or your General.” He pointed out and frowned down at the chest. “Think it’s theirs?” He held up an oddly shaped green clay cup with a scrawled inscription in a language neither of them knew, but it had handles shaped just like the kid’s ears. And they perked up when they noticed it, so Rex took it as a confirmation. He closed the chest and stood up. “Right. Can their species drink milk?” He wondered out loud.

“Yes, they can.” Came a metallic voice from the door’s direction and for the second time during the same night Crys was caught off-guard. His only consolation was that Captain Rex hadn’t noticed the newcomer either.

Once again, Crys studied a figure in the doorway. ‘Well, at least this time there is light.’ He thought sarcastically, running his eyes over the shiny silver helmet with a T-visor, which looked very strange in combination with the plain gray tunic with long sleeves and dark green leggings on a male teenage humanoid. He wasn’t sure if it was normal but he wasn’t surprised anymore.

The kid babbled something happily and reached out to the teen. He obediently came closer and took the kid from Crys, placing them on his shoulder, which, judging by the way the kid habitually clung to the helmet, was a common practice. Then he calmly took the bowl and cup from Rex, put the frog in the bowl, took out the bantha milk from the conservator, poured it into a mug, and put it all in the nanowave. All this he did in complete silence, never uttering a word or even acknowledging their existence.

Not knowing what else to do, Crys cleared his throat. “So, I feel incredibly awkward... Hello, my name is Crys, this is Rex.” He introduced, pointing at the Captain, who just glared at him in return. The teenager turned his helmet in their direction for a moment, looking them over.

“You can call me Mando.” He said, looking back at the nanowave. “This is Grogu.” The kid’s ears went up at the sound of their name and they patted Mando’s helmet lightly. The teen took them off his shoulder and placed them on the nearest counter. “He likes to have late-night snacks.”

So the kid was a male, Crys noted absently. “I thought all little kids were like that, no?” He asked, curious. Mando hummed.

“Oh, they’re all like that. It’s just that some are louder than others.” He replied, pulling the bowl and the cup out and giving them to Grogu, who chirped happily. He reached for the frog and staffed it into his mouth, its legs sticking out. Rex struggled to contain his laughter, while Crys snorted quietly. He caught Rex’s eyes and signed: ‘Imagine that General Yoda was like that once, too.’ Rex chocked on his next breath and sent him a glare. Meanwhile, Grogu quickly swallowed the frog down and went to slurp his milk, looking at the adults with interest.

Rex glanced at Mando. “I’m not sure how much you know about us-”

“Ben said you were transported here from the past.” Mando interrupted him, giving Grogu a small napkin. “Six years or so, right?”

Rex nodded curtly. “That’s right. And it all was a little confusing. Can you clarify some things for us?” Never let it be said that Rex was not a diplomat. He had to be, or Skywalker would have had them killed much sooner. Mando inched his head and made a ‘go on’ motion with his hand. Rex counted it as a success. “The Empire... How far is its influence and how powerful is it? Who runs everything? What are the known weaknesses?” Rex blurted out questions as they popped into his head, as if this was another mission in the Outer Rim and he needed to gather information about the enemy before attacking. He didn’t expect to get answers to all his questions, Mando was still a teenager, and besides, he lived on Tatooine and Rex saw how tight its’ inhabitants were with information. But the teen surprised him.

“The Empire controls all planets of the Central Rim, part of the Mid Rim, and doesn’t pay much attention to us, as long as we don’t cause trouble. And if someone starts making too much noise, they send stormtroopers.” Mando paused, considering which question to address next. “The Empire controls all trade and transport routes. It’s almost impossible to slip past. Your brethren know their business.” He noted absently, and Rex and Crys stiffened at the unpleasant reminder.

Rex still couldn’t believe General Kenobi’s words. The Jedi were their friends and even more, the entire 501^st Legion considered Ahsoka a little sister. There was no way that after all they’d been through together, Rex would have been able to point a blaster at her in cold blood. But when General Kenobi said she was dead… Rex just knew it had to be true, the devastation in the General’s eyes was too raw, too painful to be fake.

He clenched his fist tightly, but remained silent. Mando took a jar from the shelf next to him and pulled a cookie out of it. He held it out to Grogu, who took it happily and started munching on it. Mando was quiet for a moment. “Weaknesses... Many pirates and smugglers are dissatisfied with the Empire’s policies, and will easily betray it for a couple of hundred credits. Of course, they will also easily turn on you, so better be on your guard around them.”

“Ben has a few techniques for avoiding and deceiving patrols, but most of them are designed for Force-sensitive ones, so we mostly use Bo and Ricky’s methods when needed.”

“Bo and Ricky?” Crys asked. These two names were new. Just how many people lived in this hut? Mando’s helmet tilted in his direction briefly.

“They’re bounty hunters.” He explained, as if his answer didn’t raise even more questions. To be honest, General Kenobi was known for having rather strange connections, Ohnaka alone was a massive pain in Cody’s side and then there was Dex, but bounty hunters? Crys threw Rex a helpless look. The Captain shrugged.

“The Emperor is a sole ruler. He gives orders, and the Imperial Armed Forces carry them out. There are several Generals, each responsible for their own sphere. And there’s Darth Vader and the Emperor’s Hand. The latter hunt the Force-sensitive down and most often kill them.”

Rex frowned, mulling over the information. Darth Vader? Another Sith? But why would he serve Palpatine, Sith served no one but themsel-

Oh.

Oh.

Rex’s mind was short-circuited by the realization.

‘Skywalker won’t like it.’ He thought hysterically. He glanced at Crys and found equally wide eyes staring back at him.

“Well,” Crys said snakingly, “That explains a lot.”

Mando looked between them, the tilt of his head suggested that he was confused but no questions followed. Good. Rex was not sure if he would have been able to answer.

“What about the Hand?” Crys asked, unable to think about the implications of the Chancellor being a kriffing Sith Lord any longer. Mando gave them another dubious look.

“I do not know much, only that they are a secret force of the Emperor and most of them are Force users. He sends them to deal with his enemies and the like.”

“And Darth Vader? I’ve not heard about him before.” Rex wondered. For some reason Mando stiffened.

“I cannot tell you. You better ask Ben.” Rex frowned. Something was not right. Alarm bells were ringing in his head, his intuition screaming at him to press on and get answers. But Mando did not look like he was going to tell them anything else. So Rex made a mental note to learn more about that Sith. Perhaps one of the kids has access to Net and would let them use it. Maybe Luke, he seemed nice. Speaking of kids…

“How many children does General Kenobi have?” He asked. Mando paused, cocking his head.

“That depends.” He replied after a moment.

“On what?” Crys gave him a baffled look. Rex suddenly had a feeling that Mando was having a lot of fun at their expense.

“On what kind of children you are speaking about. The biological ones, the ones that live here or the ones that he considers his own?” Rex raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Is there any difference?” Mando nodded briefly.

“If we are talking about biological ones, then none, and if we are talking about those who live here, then they will be much less in number than those who he considers his own.”

His words sounded unnecessarily complicated and did not answer the question in full, but at the same time were truthful. Just like General Kenobi would say. Rex chuckled to himself but quickly sobered.

There were so many questions he could have asked but he sensed that Mando was getting restless and Grogu was close to finishing his meal. So he picked one that had been bothering him since he saw the silver helmet.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what a Mandalorian is doing in a Jedi’s house?” He asked cautiously. The teen stiffened for a moment, then relaxed.

“I live here, as you can see.” And yes, judging by the passive-aggressive sarcastic response, he had spent a lot of time in General Kenobi’s company, but still...

“That’s not exactly what I meant, but I won’t pry.” Rex replied, taking a step back and taking a bottle of water from the counter. Crys almost forgot about it in all this commotion. Mando sighed, tipping his helmet up to look at Rex.

“Ben helped me when I had no one and nothing. He gave me shelter, food and a family. He respects my traditions and helped with some aspects when I struggled. Yes, our people have been enemies for many centuries, but not always. Besides, we’re not so different. We have the same values and beliefs; we just follow them differently.” He said, voice turning bitter. “Moreover, there are no Jedi left. Just like there are no Mandalorians.”

“Patu?” Grogu chimed in, staring at Mando with concerned eyes.

He shook his head. “It’s alright. Drink your milk.” The kid’s ears dropped a little but he obeyed.

Rex and Crys shared an anxious glance. No Mandalorians? How was this possible? From Cody, Rex knew that General Kenobi’s close friend, Satine Kryze, had been killed recently, which had knocked the General down pretty hard, even though he tried not to show it. Mandalore was under the control of Darth Maul, which of course was not the best development, but Rex did not think that the Mandalorians could be exterminated. Not all of them even lived on Mandalore, many left as the New Mandalorians began to gain power. Others were mercenaries and did not stay anywhere for long. Rex just could not imagine how it was possible to destroy a race of warriors. ‘Yeah, that’s what you thought about the Jedi. Welcome to the brave new world.’ His brain supplied sarcastically and Rex almost scowled at himself.

Mando took the cup from Grogu and the bowl from the table, quickly rinsed them in the sink, gently placed the kid on his shoulder and walked out without another word. Grogu waved at them until the pair disappeared around the corner. Crys and Rex silently watched them go.

“Well, then. It was rather educational.” Crys concluded and Rex found himself nodding in agreement, until Crys continued: “Who knew that General Yoda could drink bantha milk?”

Rex just stared at him silently.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” He muttered quietly, earning himself an offended glare from Crys. Before he could answer, a horrified gasp came from the door and Rex’s head snapped in its direction.

There stood a slim figure. They had a brown headband on their head, reddish skin, two reddish lekku with three black stripes circling it, which fell below their shoulders. And they were staring at the clones in shock.

It took Rex several moments to figure out where he had seen this kid before and remember his name.

“Jek?”

***

Something was different this time.

Ben felt two tugs, just like with Caleb and Cal (who chose the names Kanan and Terra, respectively) but this time one felt much weaker than the other. Ben frowned. He had some time, so he was pondering about what it might mean, while getting dressed.

“Going somewhere?” Ben turned his head toward the door to find Kanan leaning casually on it. He was looking at Ben with a raised eyebrow. “I thought we bought everything a week ago. Did Ezra spill the milk again?”

Ben chuckled, shaking his head. That particular incident left Kanan especially displeased, even thought it’s been weeks since it happened. “He did not. It’s not a supply run.” He replied, reaching out to take his bag. “More like a field trip, of sorts…” He trailed off, frowning. “You might have to prepare another guest room, though. If everything goes as usual.” He murmured thoughtfully.

Kanan furrowed his brows. “A guest room? Are we expecting someone?”

Ben sighed, pushing his fringe out of his eyes. He was thinking about cutting his hair, but the Force was strangely insisted that it had to stay that way. “I suppose.” He finally answered, giving Kanan a side glance. The teen was still frowning at him.

It’s been three months since Ben brought him and Terra home. They were still adjusting. And Ben was not stupid enough to deny that Ezra and Luke were a huge help.

He smiled, remembering the way two toddlers tackled him when he came to pick them up from Raqqa. One might even think that they had not seen each other for a year, instead of just two weeks.

“DA!” They screamed, jumping into his arms, uncaring about the bags he was carrying. Ben caught them deftly, letting out a small laugh.

“Hello there,” He greeted, smiling. “I’ve missed you too,” He murmured, holding the boys a little tighter, feeling the tension ease out of him. He nodded gratefully at Raqqa, sighed that he would pick their things later and walked out of the cantina.

Since it was midday and the heat was terrible, Ben took a speeder. He put the boys in the passenger seat, strapped them in, and in half an hour they were at the hut. Ben knelt in front of them and pulled the scarf from his face. He almost burst out laughing at Luke’s horrified gasp. “Wewe’s youw beawd?” He squeaked, reaching out to touch his face. Ben allowed it, smiling a little.

“It had to go.” He replied and sobered. “Now, before we go inside, I need to tell you something.” The boys were all ears, looking at him with all attention a pair of toddlers could master. Ben’s lips twitched in a smile. “We have guests. I’m going to introduce you soon, but please, do not bother them a lot. They need a lot of rest.” Luke was frowning. Ezra tilted his head in confusion, looking at the hut.

“Awe dey huwt?” He asked, turning his big eyes back at Ben. Sighing, Ben nodded.

“They are.” He confirmed. “So you’ll have to be careful, will you?” The boys nodded solemnly and Ben rose to his feet. He opened the door and ushered the boys inside.

Cal was dozing on the sofa, his head resting on Caleb’s shoulder.

Caleb’s gaze instantly snapped at them, shoulders tense. He relaxed a little when he realized that it was just Ben. But then he became confused as he saw Luke and Ezra peeking at them curiously. He gave Ben a questioning look.

“You opened a day-care?” He asked warily, still not completely comfortable in the former Jedi presence. Luke frowned.

“Wat’s day-cawe?” Caleb startled a bit at being addressed directly. He stared at Luke with wide eyes.

“It’s then someone who is not a parent taking care of a kid is looking after them during the day.” He explained patiently, but it only served to confuse Luke further.

“Why da needs a day-cawe?” Caleb’s eyebrows rose up, he mouthed the word ‘da’ and gawked at Ben. Luke turned to look at Ben as well. “You leavin’ again?” He asked in a high-pitched tone, panic clear in his voice and eyes. Ben hurried to calm him.

“No, I’m not leaving.” He assured, kneeling down to Luke and Ezra’s level. “Caleb was simply surprised to see you with me.” Ezra sniffed.

“Why?” Before Ben could answer, Ezra turned around to look at Caleb, opening his mouth to say something. But when their eyes met, they both gasped, the Force flared up and Ben had to shield the whole room, to keep them hidden.

A few moments later, it calmed, leaving Ben with a confused Luke, awed Ezra, surprised Caleb and drowsy Cal, who woke up when Caleb jerked. He looked around the room with sleepy eyes, blinking in confusion at two toddlers and then at Ben.

“What,” Caleb wheezed, sounding like his throat suddenly went dry, “Was that?” He asked, not tearing his eyes from Ezra, who inched closer to him.

Ben closed his eyes, reaching out to the Force, seeking the confirmation to the thing he already knew and– there!

A new bond was pulsing brightly, swirling between Caleb and Ezra. Ben knew what it meant, had seen that type of bond before. But he did not know how Caleb would react.

And yet… All eyes were on him.

Ben smiled briefly. “It’s a Master – Padawan bond, Caleb.” The teen’s eyes widened and he stared soundlessly at Ben. “But I admit, a bond such as yours happens very rarely. In fact, I have only seen it once – between Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura.” He said, ignoring a painful clench of his heart at the mention of his dear friend.

He fell silent. Caleb swallowed hard, finally glancing down at Ezra, who was now standing right in front of him.

The toddler held out his hand and smiled brightly. “Hi! I’m Ezra!” Caleb shook his hand automatically.

“Hey, kid.” He muttered, at a loss. Cal bumped his shoulder encouragingly. Caleb nodded curtly at his friend, licking his lips nervously. “My name is Ca-” He cut himself off, glancing briefly at Ben. “Kanan.” He said finally. “My name is Kanan.” Ezra beamed at him and turned his expectant gaze to Cal.

The redhead smiled. “I’m Terra.” He introduced. “And who’s your friend there?” He asked, gesturing at Luke.

Ben let out a sigh of relief, seeing the way the boys roped each other into a conversation, eager to know each other. Cal- Kanan even let Ezra climb on his lap, holding him stiffly, unsure how to handle him. Ezra did not seem to mind, smiling at the teens happily. Luke also came closer, asking questions rapidly. It was heartwarming.

Shaking the memory off, Ben focused on Kanan, who was still waiting for an explanation. Ben sighed.

“Ever since I took Luke in, the Force has been calling out to me from time to time.” He began quietly. Initially, it led me to Ezra. Then to Terra and you.” He gave Kanan a pointed look. “And now, it calls me somewhere else.”

Kanan looked a little stricken. “You think there’s someone else out there who’s Force-sensitive? And you’ll bring them here?” He asked. Ben paused, considering.

“I cannot know for sure.” The former Jedi said evenly. “It feels different now.” Kanan arched an eyebrow.

“Different how?” He questioned carefully. Ben thought for a moment, then held out a hand.

“I can show you.” He offered. Kanan hesitated, but took his hand.

The world dissolved around them, sounds and colors disappearing. A moment later, they were standing in front of a familiar pulsing line of light. But there was a second one woven into it, much smaller and dimmer. Ben frowned worriedly at it. Could it mean that the person it was connected to was in grave danger? If so, he needed to hurry.

He heard Kanan’s sharp inhale and turned to look at him.

The teen was staring at the line with wonder. He was even smiling a little, the Light welcoming and soothing him. Ben smiled as well, placing his hand on Kanan’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. “That led you to me and Terra?” He whispered, glancing at Ben.

Ben nodded. “Not this one specifically, but yours was more even. I did not immediately realize that there were two lines.” He confessed, frowning again at the smaller line of light. Kanan followed his gaze and frowned too.

“So why does this one look so weak?” He murmured. Ben shook his head lightly.

“I do not know.” He answered. “But I intend to find out.”

The two emerged from the Force in silence. Kanan only murmured that he and Terra would take care of kids and left Ben alone.

Ben just stood still for a moment, looking down at the thermals he had put on. He did not know why the Force insisted, but he knew it would be crucial. So he steeled himself, closed his eyes and dropped down in front of a chest he had dragged from the hangar into his room a few hours ago. He stared at the insignia on the lid, gently brushing his fingers over it.

And then he opened the chest.

The armor looked exactly the same as the last time he’d worn it. Scratches and scorched places, slightly faded red paint, which despite the years still held firm. Ben heaved a sigh, closing his eyes against an assault of memories.

Satine, bright and beautiful, regal and passionate as always. She could have done so much…

Maul, laughing and taunting. His harsh voice, mocking Ben.

Bo-Katan, accusing Ben of not caring enough…

Ignoring the ringing in his ears, Ben started strapping the armor on.

He tried to push away the memory of the other armor, white with orange elements, that had once been dear to him as well.

A low male voice, speaking softly and making the other person laugh.

Warm touches, worried chastising.

‘You’re going to collapse, if you keep that up.’

‘Do not worry, Threepwood, I have it under control.’

‘Somehow I find it hard to believe.’

More voices, so similar and yet each unique.

Ben squeezed his eyes shut, leaning heavily on the wall, his breath labored. He forced himself to even out his breathing, he could not break down, not when the boys were near, he could not-

‘Come on, General, you can finish it in the morning.’

‘Oi, General! It is true that you fell into a Gundark’s nest?’

‘General! What the kriff are you doing here? You should be in the med bay!’

‘General Kenobi! I can explain! You see, we did not know that glitter would be so tricky to clean. But I promise you, the bridge will be clear by the time we land. Although, I think it makes it look a little more alive... I did not say anything!’

‘General, please, go to sleep, before Threepwood finds and sedates us.’

‘General! Does it look like a wolf to you?’

‘General, can you-’

‘General!’

‘Gener-’

“Stop,” Ben murmured, “Please, stop.” He begged someone who was not there and would never be there...

He was shaking, he knew it. And he was curled into a small ball on the floor. He was panting, but it was not enough, not enough-

A sound of laughter forced Ben away from the dark loop of his thoughts. He listened closely, grasping the sound like a drowning man.

There were several pair of running footsteps, two lighter and one heavier, as if one of them was chasing the others.

A child laughed again, then shrieked in delight.

“I got you!” Terra exclaimed happily and giggles followed the sound of his voice. Luke. It was Luke.

Ben tuned his senses, focusing only on the four bright presences in the hut.

It helped him to calm down. He slowly stood up on unsteady legs and pushed himself up, dropping onto the bed.

He buried his face in his hands.

He hadn’t had an episode this intense since he took Ezra in… Of course there were nightmares and whatnot, but this… Ben shuddered, biting his lip, to ground himself in reality.

He was alright, he was alright, he needed to finish putting his armor on, get into the damn ship and follow the Force. Someone out there needed him, he could not afford any delays now. He was almost too late to save Kanan, he could not fail again, he could not–  

Ben heaved a shuddering breath and let out a hysterical laugh, running his hand through his hair. His gaze fell on the pieces of armor scattered on the floor. Right… he still had to put those on.

Eventually, after almost an hour Ben was ready. All he had to do was put on the vambraces. But he couldn’t stop looking at it. Driven by some inexplicable impulse, Ben found metal paint on the shelves in the hangar and carefully painted an orange sunburst on his right vambrace. He used the Force to speed up the drying of the paint and put it on, feeling a bit lighter.

“Woah…” Came Ezra’s awed voice. Ben glanced up to find all his boys standing next to the ladder. Luke’s face was suspiciously white and Ezra’s hair was even more ruffled than usual, but Ben let it slide, focusing on three bright green spots on Terra’s clothes and four blue ones on Kanan. He raised an eyebrow silently.

Terra broke first. “Um… we were trying to cook a dinner?” He offered hesitantly, gesturing at Luke and Ezra, whose eyes were still on Ben’s armor.

Ben shook his head fondly. “Just make sure to clean up after you finish.” He reminded and knelt down, letting Luke and Ezra touch his chest plate.

Luke’s eyes were shining brightly. “Wat’s it?” He asked, patting the armor gently. Ben smiled sadly.

“A present, from a dear friend of mine.” He said, oddly proud that his voice did not crack.

He had a funny feeling that Terra knew who he was talking about, but shook it off, placing his hands on Ezra and Luke’s shoulders. “I do not know when I return, but until then, you will stay with Kanan and Terra. Listen to them and please don’t burn down the hut.” Luke nodded seriously. Ezra frowned.

“Will you bwing mowe people?” He questioned eagerly, which was, well, not unfounded question. Ben inched his head.

“Perhaps I will. Prepare the guest room, just in case, will you?”

“Yass!” The boys cried out, bouncing on their feet. They hugged Ben tightly and ran off, arguing which room they should prepare. Ben chuckled softly, standing up. Terra and Kanan approached him.

Terra was frowning. “You’re not taking your ‘saber?” He asked worriedly. Ben shook his head.

“It’s too conspicuous. The armor will attract a lot of attention without any additions.”

Kanan gave him a funny look. “Why put it on at all?” He wondered. “It’s not like we wore it before.” Ben sighed.

“The Force insisted.” He explained simply. It was enough for Terra but Kanan scoffed, crossing his arms. Ben decided to talk to him later. He put his hands on their shoulders, just like he did with Ezra and Luke. “I will be back as soon as I can. Should something happen – grab the emergency bag and run.” He instructed. It might seem unnecessary, but Ben was not willing to take any risks. The teens nodded sternly, too serious for their age. Ben’s heart clenched painfully. He drew Terra into a brief hug, then opened his arms for Kanan, letting him decide if he would accept the silent offer. The teen paused, conflicted, but in the end, he stepped closer and hugged Ben tightly.

“If you’re not back in a month, I’ll track you and drag you back.” He promised quietly, making Ben snort.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He murmured, letting his arms fall down.

***

Ben cursed, making a sharp turn to avoid cannon fire. He was being chased by about six small assault ships and he had no idea how he managed to catch their attention.

He just decided to follow the weaker tug, concerned that the person there did not have much time. And as he neared the planet Gamorr, he was attacked, apparently, by pirates.

Lunging left, Ben tried to come up with a plan but could not think of anything. There were too many of them and he saw reinforces on the radar. Ben’s only hope was to make it to the planet before his ship was blown up.

Gritting his teeth, Ben pulled the helm up, spinning the ship then made an abrupt turn down, toward the atmosphere. The pirates did not follow him, but he was still alert. He followed the Force tug, and to his horror, realized that it led him toward the smoking ruins. He swallowed around a lump in his throat, keeping his ship close to the ground.

He stopped as close as he was able to, stumbling out of the ship.

The Force here was heavy with loss and death. Ben could almost hear the pained screams. He looked around, searching the Force, trying to see if there was still someone alive. The Force tugged him into the ruins, gentle but impatient.

Ben walked closer and almost fell to his knees.

There were Mandalorians. And they all were dead.

He was not familiar with this particular clan, but he still murmured a traditional Mandalorian tribute as he passed the bodies. Ben’s experience told him that the battle had taken place a few days ago, and he shuddered at the thought that he was late again. ‘Like with Anakin back then.’ His traitorous mind whispered. Ben focused on his surroundings.

The ruins clearly used to be the Mandalorians’ base, Ben decided, looking around carefully. He was walking deeper inside, following the pulsing tug in his head. The Mandalorians were lying everywhere, but no sign of their enemy. It was strange. The pirates might have collected their dead already but still, why attack the Mandalorians at all?

Something rustled to Ben’s right and he automatically dropped to one knee; blaster pointed in the direction of the sound. Ben scanned the space – a fallen pillar, a shattered wall... nothing unusual. He was about to go on, but suddenly something moved behind the pillar. Ben froze, slowly tilting his head. The Force urged him forward, all but telling him that it was his destination. Ben carefully stepped closer and peeked behind the pillar.

A child was curled up behind a pillar, trying to look as small as possible. Ben froze in horror as he saw blood on their clothes and hands. And only after the child gave a startled gasp, Ben’s gaze snapped on their face. Or rather, on the helmet that covered their face. Ben slowly raised his hands in the air, putting the blaster aside, trying to show that he wasn’t a threat.

“Su cuy’gar, ad’ika.” Ben greeted softly, Mando’a rolling off his tongue effortlessly. The child’s head jerked up. Ben decided to continue. “Ner gai Ben, aliit Kenobi, laesvha Kryze. Tion gar gai?” He asked quietly, sitting down.

The child still did not move. Ben waited patiently for them and then–

“Why aren’t you wearing your buy’ce?” A young voice asked. Ben smiled kindly at the kid.

He had to think fast, given that he doubted the child would trust him if he said he wasn’t a Mandalorian. Technically, Satine adopted him into her clan, by giving him beskar’gam and teaching him Mando’a... and if you think about it, then technically, Ben had been following the Resol’nare... it was all such a mess. “My clan is not as traditional as yours, ad’ika. We follow The Way, but not that strictly.” Ben replied finally. The kid sniffed, inching closer.

“I did not know there were others.” They admitted quietly. Ben’s heart clenched painfully.

“Neither did I.” He confessed in return. “Can you tell me what happened?” He did not want to ask, the child was clearly traumatized by the attack, but Ben needed to know if they were in any immediate danger.

The child huddled back into themselves. “Pirates.” They spoke hastily. “They came a week ago. The elders were fighting and the Armorer ordered to evacuate the ade… I did not make it in time and all ships were gone and they told me to hide.” The child fell silent. “It was three days ago. They’re all dead now, aren’t they?” Their voice was resigned, too much sadness for such a small child.

“I’m sorry.” Ben murmured. “I’m so sorry.” The child shook their head and then threw themselves at Ben, crying. Ben clutched them close, slowly rising to his feet. He started walking back toward his ship, pressing the kid’s face into his shoulder, so that they wouldn’t see the corpses.

“Do you have anything you want to take with you?” He asked when they were exiting the ruins. The child shook their head, staying silent. Ben nodded. “Alright. Are you hungry? I have some rations on my ship. They’re not very tasty, but still good.” The child nodded mutely.

Ben carried them into the ship, showed there the ‘fresher was and there he stored the food.

“I will be outside.” He said. “Call me if you need anything.”

Ben left the child alone with the food and looked around. During the search, he counted twelve Mandalorians. He very much hoped that the rest of the clan had escaped and the child’s family was fine. Then he would be able to find them. In the meantime, he had other things to do.

Several hours later, the child’s voice calling his name snapped Ben out of his meditative state. He looked up dazedly, gaze lifting from the pyre he had lit up. The beskar’gam was piled carefully a few feet away from the fire. The child was approaching him slowly, head tilted toward the pyre.

Ben held out his hand and the child grasped it hard. They both watched the flames silently.

“Nu kyr’adyc, shi taab’echaaj’la.” Ben murmured, loud enough that only the child heard him. “That’s all I could do. I’m afraid I do not know their names…” Ben trailed off.

The child squeezed his hand. “It’s alright.” They said softly. “Zoerii Cogh. Jus Thols. Jena Alorgar. Car Bral. Shobrer Rovraha. Bilosa Hap. Noze Evriib. Burand Alrassih. Zaethiv Lediré. Hacha Palt. Jumilas Har. The Armorer. Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum.”

“Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum.” Ben echoed him.

They watched the fire until nothing but ashes remained. Ben gently steered the child into the ship and sat them into the co-pilot seat. He knelt in front of them.

“Is there any way I can contact your tribe? Maybe you know where they headed?” The child shook their head. Ben sighed. “Alright, it’ll just take a little more time to track them then.”

The child radiated confusion, clear in the Force even with their beskar buy’ce. “Why do you want to track them?”

It was Ben’s turn to get confused. “Don’t you want to reunite with your aliit?”

Suddenly, the kid lowered their head. “I don’t have an aliit.” They said quietly. “I’m a foundling.”

Ben let out a soft ‘Oh.’ He knew that some traditional clans raised their children together, like the Jedi did, but he thought those clans were long gone. Ben smiled gently.

“I am a foundling too.” He said, making the kid’s head snap up.

“Really?” They asked in disbelief. Ben nodded.

“Really.” He affirmed. “I do not know what happened to my buir’e, but my aliit was wonderful.” Ben said, only a hint of grief lacing his voice. Tilting his head, he asked: “You can come with me, if you’d like.” The child froze, staring at Ben. And suddenly, Ben was nervous. “I’m already raising four ade, so you’ll have company.” He rambled, racking his brain, trying to think of something to say.

The child swallowed and hesitantly held out their hand. “Ner gai Din Djarin.” They introduced. Ben clasped their hand in a warrior greeting, nodding. “And I will go with you.” They added quietly. Ben gave them a gentle smile.

“Would you like to be adopted as well?” He questioned, just to be sure. Din nodded jerkily. Ben let his smile bloom. “Wonderful.” He murmured and placed his forehead on Din’s. “Ni kyr’tayl gai sa’ad, Din Djarin.” Din sobbed and Ben hugged him tightly. “Welcome to the family.”

***

They left soon after adoption, the second tug became insistent, too much to ignore. While Ben steered the ship away, he tried to learn more about his new ad. His ad! Oh, Force, what was he thinking? But well, did not he do the same with Ezra and Luke? And even if they did not realize that yet, with Terra and Kanan? Well… Ben always formed attachments way too easily.

“Say, ad’ika,” Ben started, two days had passed after their departure. “Do you have a preferred pronoun?” He asked, glancing at the silent Din.

They perked up a bit. “He/him. You?”

“Same. And the other ade too.” Ben said absently. The Force around the ship was clouding, like it was getting ready for a storm. Ben did not like it at all.

They were nearing Kintan, and while it was also in the Hutt space, something here felt worse. Ben clenched the helm and then slowly released his feelings in the Force. He had to focus.

The tug led them toward a secluded part of the planet. From the air, Ben spotted a small building with a lot of security. Too much for it to be anything legal.

Ben hid the ship, showed Din how to turn on the autopilot and set up coordinates for Tatooine.

“If I’m not back by the end of the day, turn it on and don’t look back.” He instructed Din. Ben did not want to frighten the kid even more, but that needed to be said. “Tell Terra and Kanan that General Kenobi sent you. Got it?” Din nodded, tightly clutching the blanket Ben gave him. Ben hugged him briefly and was off in a blink.

He kept close to the shadows, hiding away from the patrolling Nikto. He did not know what kind of business they were up to, but knowing the Hutts, it could be anything from smuggling to slavery. Ben slid into the shadows, pulling the Force closer to himself.

A few well-placed Force suggestions helped him get inside. The building turned out to be a warehouse. Ben could see blasters, speeders, spare parts for ships and droids, drugs, spice. He had to stifle a burst of anger when he noticed the sloppily piled plastoid armor with markings of the Forty-first Elite Corps. Luminara’s squad... Ben forced himself to continue forward.

Only to stop dead in his tracks. “No, it can’t be...” He muttered dumbfounded. Now that he was close, he could make out that someone was calling out to him. Someone very familiar. Ben couldn’t believe he could be here.

Using all the tricks Quinlan had taught him, Ben slowly made his way toward the source of the call. He found himself in a small storeroom, littered with boxes and broken things. Ben could feel the horror of knowing that the child had been forced to live in such conditions slowly but surely seizing him. He pushed it aside and looked around the room once more. The call came from here, Ben felt it, heard it. But he couldn’t figure out wh-

Here.

A small oval sphere, half-covered with a fishing net. Ben held out his hands, and with a soft hiss, the top part slid back, allowing to see the baby sitting in it.

“Hello, Grogu. It’s good to see you again.” Ben said quietly, crouching down to be on Grogu’s eye level. (A habit he adopted without realizing.)

The green child cooed softly, happy to see a familiar face. Ben was bombarded with images and feelings and questions. He took it all in stride, taking Grogu out and into his arms. ‘It’s alright.’ He sent through the Force. ‘We’re getting out.’

By some miracle, they managed to get out without incident. Ben hurriedly climbed into the ship, carefully handed Grogu to Din, and took the helm, taking off quickly.

He sighed, relieved when they were in hyperspace. He glanced to the side and found Grogu snuggled into Din’s chest, sound asleep. Din was looking at him in awe.

“I’ve never seen someone like him.” He whispered. Ben chuckled, turned on the autopilot and turned to Din fully.

“And I’ve only seen two others. And even though I knew them all my live, I still do not know the name of their species.” Din made a small confused noise.

“Why? You never asked?”

Ben snorted. “More like the old troll has never answered.” He muttered quietly, shaking his head. Din looked down at Grogu.

“He is so small.” He whispered.

Ben hummed, gently rubbing the kid’s back. “He is. He’s only twenty-four.” Din gasped in shock.

“Twenty-four?” He repeated. Ben nodded.

“Different species age differently. And knowing this particular species, Grogu will easily outlive us and the next few generations.”

Din fell silent, clearly thinking about Ben’s words. Ben let him be, closing his eyes. He was so tired…

-loved you!

I hate you!

Ben, no, Obi-Wan was looking down at Anakin, his former Padawan, his brother, his family.

It was all too much.

Too hot.

Too cold.

Too much hate.

Too much love.

He was drowning.

He could not breathe, he could-

I HATE YOU!

Ben woke up in a cold sweat and did not fall asleep until they landed on Tatooine.

Chapter Text

Ben simply closed his eyes and held himself back from banging his head on the table when he felt another tug.

He’d only brought Din and Grogu home two months ago, and it hadn’t been an easy time for him. To look after six boys, two of whom were just hitting puberty and were incredibly moody, three were toddlers and one was psychologically traumatized and was trying to figure out how to fit into their ragtag family without betraying his culture.

Ben tried to help them all, so he took an hour of each evening to give them cultural studies classes, where he or Terra and Kanan would talk about the species they encountered, their traditions and customs. During the first lesson, Ben talked about the Mandalorians. He wanted to help the boys understand Din, and Din himself needed to learn more about his roots.

Ben tried to remember all the legends he knew, all the historical facts. He talked about the Resol’nare, the traditional clans, the Old Mandalorians, and the New Mandalorians. He explained who the Death Watch were and why the True Mandalorians no longer existed. He tried to explain to Din how the Galaxy and other Mandalorians might perceive his own clan – the Children of the Watch.

He told Din that traditional clans usually only showed their faces to family members. And that he had a choice in how he wanted to follow the Way. “We always have a choice, and the path that we choose will not make us lesser Mandalorians.”

It took all his boys a few days of careful consideration and heavy thinking, but eventually, Ben ended up adopting Terra, Ezra and Grogu as his sons, while Luke asked to just be adopted into the clan.

And was not that bizarre? Ben had a clan now, a family, which seemed like a long-forgotten childhood dream for so long, Ben could not believe it came true. And he was a father! In every sense that word held. With four sons, one nephew and… Kanan… who slipped out from the room when Terra tentatively asked if Ben would adopt him too, after they learned that he had adopted Din.

Ben found the teen on the roof a few hours later. Kanan did not acknowledge him, just continued looking at the stars. Ben quietly sat down next to him, tucking his hands into his sleeves and also raising his head to look at the night sky.

They sat in silence for about half an hour. Until Kanan spoke.

“How can they do it?” He asked quietly, still not looking away from the stars. Ben made a questioning noise but did not ask, waiting for Kanan to gather his thoughts. The teen dropped his gaze down to his feet. “How can they ask to be a part of a family, knowing how it feels to lose it? Are they that stupid to think that nothing bad will happen? Ezra and Din I can understand, but Cal…” He trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head.

Ben hummed, tracing a familiar constellation with his eyes. “Why do you think it’s stupid?”

“Because now they will become attached, and then when the inevitable happens, they will be left with a broken heart and in agony!” Kanan exploded, jumping up to his feet. “No, it’s better to be alone than to go through such pain again.” He whispered quietly.

Ben nodded slowly. “It’s better to never experience joy because you’re afraid of pain?” Kanan startled.

“That’s not what I said!” He protested. Ben shrugged lightly, eyes falling shut.

“You didn’t say the words, but that’s what you meant.” He replied and fell silent. Kanan paced the roof and finally settled next to Ben.

“Can you guarantee that everything will be fine? That none of us will die?” He asked and Ben opened his eyes. And the sight of this vulnerable teen, desperately trying to control at least some part of his life broke Ben’s heart. He reached out and took Kanan’s hands.

“I cannot and I will not make a promise I cannot keep. We do not know what our future will bring. And death is inevitable – it is the logical conclusion of any path. Don’t be afraid of it. It will take everyone when their time comes.”

“But that’s not fair!” Kanan argued, yanking his hands away. Ben chuckled softly.

“Nothing is ever fair, my dear.” He murmured and earned himself a glare. “But that does not mean that we have to deny ourselves the happiness we can have just because we are afraid that it might be taken away from us.” Ben reasoned. “Look at us.” He gestured at the hut. “All the inhabitants of this hut have been through a lot. You, Cal, Din, and even the little ones. But they don’t let the past affect their present. They live and enjoy life. Whether they will always be happy – most likely not. But Kanan, this is life. Even if something happens, you can survive it. Pain will pass, even if not immediately, even if you’ll need help – everything will pass. That’s what a family is for.”

“Jedi were my family.” Kanan said mournfully. “Look how it turned out.”

Ben smiled sadly. “They were my family too. And I miss them dearly, every day. But I have you.”

Kanan’s head shot up. “Me?”

Ben nodded. “You. Luke and Ezra. Din and Grogu. Cal. You are my new family. A Mandalorian family, who would have thought?” He chuckled and took Kanan’s hands in his again. “Kanan, you’re already attached.” Obi-Wan said softly. Kanan jerked a little, an objection on the tip of his tongue.

Obi-Wan gave him a firm yet gentle look. “You are. Just like me and Terra. Like Din, Luke, Ezra and even Grogu. Should anything happen, it will not hurt you any less simply because you have no official ties.” Kanan stiffened, clenching his jaw.

“I know.” He whispered hauntingly. “I just-” He trailed off.

Obi-Wan rubbed his wrist soothingly. “I know.” He repeated Kanan’s words. “It is your life and your choice.” Kanan sighed. “And if you ever feel like it, we can make it official. But know this – you will always be part of our family, no matter what.” Obi-Wan said with a small smile.

Kanan stared at him for a long moment, then dropped down to his knees and let his head fall forward on Ben’s shoulder. Ben caught him easily and hugged closer. “I’ve got you.” He murmured, running his hand through Kanan’s hair. The teen breathed deeply and shallowly into his shoulder, gripping his tunic. He muttered something ineligible. “What was that?” Ben asked.

“I will not call you ‘papa’.” Kanan repeated, raising his head to look at Ben. He narrowed his eyes. “And I won’t change my name. I like it.” Ben chuckled and nodded.

“Duly noted.” He said and Kanan pressed his forehead back to Ben’s shoulder.

“Just get over it already, I don’t have all night.” Kanan grumbled and Ben rolled his eyes.

“Ni kyr’tayl gai sa’ad, Kanan Jarrus.” He said and felt Kanan press closer to him.

They hugged for a few moments and then Ben nudged Kanan lightly. “Come on, the boys are setting the table. We’re going to have a celebration.” Kanan gave Ben a suspicious look.

“Did you plan it?” He asked. Ben only smiled gently at him.

“I hoped you would change your mind.  Now, ad, let’s see what your vod’e are up to. And hope they did not blow up the stove.” He said, standing up swiftly, Kanan still in his arms.

Laughing and bantering, they stumbled inside.

That evening was wonderful. He loved his boys, he really did, but still, Ben was running himself to the ground and with each passing day his respect for the Crèche Masters grew.

And now, that tug felt like a taunt. He scowled and closed his eyes, coming to himself in the Force and staring at the by now familiar line of light. Ben frowned as he studied it. Like Din’s, this line was dim, Ben figured it meant that the person on the other end was not Force-sensitive. Examining the line closer, Ben noticed that there were actually two entwined lines. He closed his eyes and returned to the real word.

Terra was already waiting for him. “Gar linibar bah slanar?” He asked, slowly pronouncing the words, trying to do it correctly. Ben started teaching the boys Mando’a a couple of days after the adoption. Din was helping him. So far, Kanan had done well, and, to everyone’s surprise, so did Ezra. The kid was a natural and Ben was very proud of him. And of all his boys too. Which he did not forget to tell them.

(Maybe if he told Anakin about his feelings more often, then-) 

He sighed and nodded. “Gar serim. Prepare two rooms please.” Terra’s eyebrows rose.

“Two? Again? I sence a pattern here.” Ben snorted and ruffled Terra’s hair.

“It seems the Force does have a pattern.” He agreed, standing up with a sigh. He walked out of the kitchen, toward his room. Terra kept pace with him easily.

But then he looked at Ben with a small frown. “Don’t you think these tugs are getting more frequent?” Terra asked. Ben hummed.

“Perhaps.” He admitted after a moment.

It did seem that the intervals between tugs were actually decreasing. After finding Ezra, a year and a half passed and Ben met Kanan and Terra, then three months later he found Din and Grogu. Now it’s only been two months. Ben pondered what that might meant. He shook his head slightly and looked at Terra. “Remember, Raqqa expects you on Taungsday. Luke and Ezra need to finish their homework and Din-”

“Yeah, yeah, buir, I remember.” Terra interrupted him. “Din needs to start learning astronavigation and Kanan and I have to walk through Form IV again. I know, don’t worry.” Ben chuckled.

“Am I that predictable?” He asked rhetorically. Terra snorted and nodded. Ben shook his head. “Alright, in this case I can depart in peace.” He teased lightly and Terra rolled his eyes. The teen left Ben alone, muttering something about wanting to annoy Kanan.

Ben quickly changed and walked into the hall. He looked around, trying to decide which rooms he should chose.

All existing rooms were made by Ben, Kanan and Terra personally. They used the same technique that Ben used when he created the hangar.

When Luke and Ezra were very young, Ben had made a shared room for them, one for himself and one to spare. This was the room that Terra and Kanan had lived in when they joined their little family. Together, they had made four more rooms, one for Kanan and the others just in case. One came in handy soon enough, when Ben returned with Grogu and Din. Oddly enough, Grogu decided that Din was his favorite person and refused to sleep anywhere else. So Ben hung a small hammock in Din’s room (after he got his permission. Little space troll or not, Din needed to know his opinion was important) and instructed Din to wake him up if either of them needed anything.

And now Ben wondered which rooms would be used this time. They were all furnished quite simply – a bed, a nightstand, and a trunk for things. Just the most necessary things. And only when residents appeared in the rooms, did they acquire an identity.

Luke and Ezra’s room was painted a light blue, with stars painted on the ceiling. Both boys absolutely adored space. There were always loose parts of small droids or machines scattered all over Luke’s part of the room. Ezra preferred holo-books. He also liked to draw, so Ben often came across pencils and paints lying everywhere.

Terra’s room was the most organized (after Ben’s, of course). The walls were a light green color, with various flowers near the floor that the boys had drawn themselves. Terra had also adopted Ben’s love of nature, so he had vines crawling up from the east wall and across the ceiling. Pots of plants were placed all over the room.

Kanan preferred to be prepared for anything. So there was a hidden trapdoor in the ceiling of his room that led to the roof. The room itself was a lavender shade, at Ezra’s insistence. Kanan also liked to create things with his hands. To do this, he chose one of the corners in his room and put a potter’s wheel there. After several attempts, he began to come out with rather lovely creations – mugs, pots, even toys. And of course, he couldn’t refuse Ezra and Like when they asked him to teach them.

Din wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his room yet. He chose green with black geometric lines for the walls. But that’s all. And obviously, Grogu did not really care about the room, he was too young. However, he did want frogs to live nearby. Ben was toying with the idea to create a pond in one of the caves. They could raise fish there. And frogs.

He shook his head, walking away from the rooms and toward the kitchen.

He was greeted by a peaceful sight. Luke and Ezra were sitting at the table, bowls of soup in front of them. Ezra was swinging his legs, and Luke was talking excitedly to Din, who was trying to feed Grogu. The little troll was sitting in a high chair. Ben had specially ordered this chair from Raqqa. Kanan was standing at the stove, stirring something in a pot, bickering softly with Terra, who was sprawled on the floor. Ben chuckled.

“Dad!” Ezra called brightly and raised a piece of flimsy. “Look!” Ben obediently came closer and took it from Ezra.

A warm smile spread out on his face. Ezra drew their family. And from the looks of it, he had spent a lot of time on it. All the details were meticulously drawn, so the similarity was very high. In the center of the picture was Ben himself, and he was dressed in his red beskar’gam. But with a beard. Ben stifled a chuckle and continued to study the drawing. Just a little in front of him were Luke and Ezra. In the drawing the boys were holding hands and smiling. To Ben’s right were Terra and Kanan. The latter stood with an arm draped over the red-haired teen’s shoulder, grinning. To Ben’s left was Din holding Grogu in his arms. Ezra drew every little line of his helmet. But Grogu’s ears were just gigantic. But Ben still gave Ezra a big smile. “It is wonderful. I really like it. Have you shown the others yet?”

“No, he insisted that you should see whatever it is first.” Terra replied, standing up from the floor and stumbled toward Ben. He plastered himself over Ben’s shoulder and peeked at the drawing. A huge smile appeared on his face and he reached out to hug Ezra tightly. “Awww, vod’ika, that’s beautiful!” Ezra beamed happily and snuggled closer to Terra.

Din also looked at the picture and made a small noise in the back of his throat. Ben glanced down at him in concern, but Din was not upset. No, all Ben felt from him was happiness and… gratitude? Ben was confused, but only for a moment. Because Din reached out, pulled the hatches on his helmet and slowly took it off, revealing his face to the boys for the first time. He looked at Ezra, who was staring at him with wide eyes and whispered: “Thank you, vod’ika. Ori’vor’e.”

Ezra tugged at Terra’s sleeve, to let him know what he wanted to be put down. As soon as his feet touched the floor, he lunged at Din with a yell: “Owi’vod!”

Ben smiled at them and then smirked at Terra and Kanan, who were trying to sneak a look at Din’s face. And Luke simply jumped down from the chair and joined the hug with a wordless yelp of delight. Ben laughed and let himself be tugged into the hug as well. A moment later, he felt Kanan’s arm around his shoulder and saw Terra picking Grogu up and dropping him in the middle of the pile before hugging Luke and Ezra from behind.

Ben let himself linger for a little longer and pulled back with a sigh. “Alright boys. I’m going to leave for a bit, Kanan and Terra are in charge. Please, do listen to them.” He said, looking pointedly at Luke and Ezra. Both boys lowered their eyes. Ezra sniffed, feeling a little guilty for the mess that greeted Ben last time he returned from space with Din and Grogu.

“Where are you going?”

“Can we go too?” Din and Luke asked at the same time. While Din sounded a little wary, Luke was hopeful. Ben shook his head lightly and knelt to look Luke in the eyes.

“No, you can’t come with me. It’s too dangerous.” Luke’s lower lip started to tremble, tears gathering in his eyes. Ben smiled softly and gently swiped his hair out of his face. “Do not worry, adiik. How about that – when I get back, we’ll pick two ships and get into orbit, how does that sound?” With those words, a sparkling smile instantly appeared on Luke’s face and his tears dried up.

“Pwomise?” He asked, holding out his pinkie with a serious expression. Ezra was watching their exchange with bated breath. Terra and Kanan were snickering quietly. Din just looked a little curious. Grogu was trying to untie Kanan’s belt with a single-minded determination. Which said teen did not notice yet. And Ben was not going to tell him about it.

He wrapped his own pinkie around Luke’s and squeezed gently. “Promise.” He said seriously. Luke whooped with joy and Ezra echoed him, both toddlers laughed.

Ben turned to Din. “I have to retrieve someone. You should expect guests.” Din knew what Ben was implying so he nodded solemnly.

While had been quite difficult to explain the appearance of Kanan and Terra, and then Din, Ben was still able to come up with a convincing lie. But it would be very difficult to explain Grogu. His appearance would attract too much unnecessary attention. So the boys were strictly instructed not to show themselves to people when they went out with Grogu. Din was also responsible for him in case there were ever any visitors to the hut.

And all boys knew about these ‘tugs’. And since they were all very perceptive, it was not hard for them to draw a conclusion.

Ben hugged the youngest, drew Din into a gentle kov’nyn and stood up. He briefly gripped Terra’s shoulder and exchanged nods with Kanan. And then he went to the hangar. As he closed the hatch, he heard a body fall loudly, followed by Kanan’s hissing curses. Ben chuckled to himself, shaking his head at his children’s antics.

He wasn’t as worried now as he’d been the first time he’d left Tatooine to pick up Ezra. Terra and Kanan knew what to do in dire situations and could protect themselves and their brothers. They had several escape routes, two ships ready to take off at any given moment, and three different caves filled with different supplies in case they ever needed to hide and lay low. Each room had a secret passage leading to the caves. They had worked out all the escape scenarios, thankfully Luke, Ezra, and Grogu thought it was all a game.

Each boy had a map of the caves and a small bag with the most necessary things. Din had an extra satchel just for Grogu. Ben contemplated putting the blades in Luke and Ezra’s bags for a long time, but then, with a heavy heart, he decided to do it. Of course, before that, strictly forbidding them to play with sharp objects. Ben lost count of the number of times he thanked the Force that his boys understood when they could get away with some chastising if they did not listen to him, and when he was serious. So the toddlers listened to him and promised not to break his trust.

Ben started the ship’s engine and flew out of the hangar.

***

Ben was not even surprised when the Force pulled him toward Saleucami. He was just thankful that most planets he had visited were within the Outer Rim Territories where Empire’s grip was loosened.

He found a relatively dry spot and landed his ship there. Tossing his hood over his head, Ben walked out, shivering. The air was dump and chilly. The Force led him deeper into the swamp. With a small sigh, Ben obliged.

It wasn’t the first time he’d been through the swamps, and he still couldn’t get used to it. His feet were getting caught in the swamp from time to time and some small blood-sucking insects flew around him, their name Ben had long forgotten. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been wandering around in the fog when he finally came across a small, lopsided shack.

At first glance, it seemed abandoned. The log walls are covered with moss and lichen. The steps were rotten and the porch was in ruins. But Ben could feel the presence of people inside, three, to be exact. And two felt like children. Ben took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to figure out which one of them was his target. After all, he only had two lines. But to his surprise, one of the lines branched off, connecting the children, and the other led to the adult.

Ben’s mind was whirling.

An adult? Perhaps it was the children’s parent. But why would they need Ben? Until now, he had thought that the Force was guiding him to orphans in need of help and shelter, but if these children had a parent or at least a guardian, what was his mission here? Ben felt a surge of curiosity.

He didn’t have enough information. So Ben did the only sensible thing – he went to the shack, climbed carefully up the rotten steps, and knocked on the door. He always thought that talking was more useful than breaking in and sneaking about, no matter what Quinlan might say. No wonder they called him the Negotiator. Ben smiled ruefully at the memory and turned back to the door. He felt everyone inside freeze at the sound of the knocking, fear filling the Force. “I mean no harm.” He called out calmly.

A few moments of silence, and someone inside slowly moved toward the door. It swung open abruptly, and Ben found himself at blaster point. A small human -Twi’lek  hybrid was holding it. They were obviously scared, but tried to keep a brave face. “What do you want?” They asked.

Ben slowly raised his hands, showing that he had no weapons. “This is a rather complicated question, youngling. Would you believe me if I told you that I was sent here to help?” The child’s eyes narrowed.

“Yeah? And who sent you?” They asked, thrusting their blaster forward in attempt to hide how hard their hands were shaking. Ben’s parental instincts were shouting at him to soothe the kid.

He nodded down at his belt which held a small travel satchel with his med kit and some supplies. “You can take it. I have five bacta patches there.” Their eyes darted to the satchel and back to Ben’s face.

Ben knew he made the right call. He was able to study the residents’ Force presences a bit and realized that the adult was weakened. Probably sick or injured. Either way, they needed medical help. “I also can clean and stitch a wound.” Ben added.

The Twi’lek swallowed, conflicted. Ben tried to appear as non-threatening as was humanly possible. “Can you heal a blaster shot?” They finally asked. Ben nodded.

They stepped back into the shack and urged Ben inside with their blaster. “Come in.” They ordered sharply. “But if you try something, I will shoot you!” They threatened. Ben slowly lowered his hands and walked inside, the door shutting behind him.

Out of habit, he quickly scanned the room, looking for obvious and hidden threats. What he found only made him take a deep breath so he would not start cursing the Empire and all the duplicitous politicians along with it. It was very difficult to remain calm as required of a Jedi Master when something like this was happening around him.

Ben wasn’t even sure if he could still be considered a Jedi at all... His emotions were running high, there was so much Darkness and misery in the galaxy around him, the Force was practically screaming in pain all the time, the stress of raising six impish boys who loved getting into trouble, the fatigue of having to shield the entire hut, the constant worry that the Empire would find them, or worse, Anakin would-

Ben cut his thoughts off and breathed.

There was only one room in the shack, which served as a bedroom, a kitchen, a dining room, and a medical office. There were sleeping bags neatly rolled up in the corner, and two small pots beside them. In the middle of the room stood a table, on which lay a Twi’lek. Their usually bright purple skin, characteristic of their species, was a pale pastel shade. A smaller Twi’lek was standing next to the table, holding their hand tightly, glaring at Ben suspiciously.

“Kassurra.” He greeted softly, coming closer to the sick Twi’lek. Their eyes widened in surprise.

“General Kenobi.” The woman breathed out, voice coming in a slight wheeze. Ben startled a little. It’s been a long time since anyone called him that. Or recognized him that easily. He kept his face carefully blank and nodded at the Twi’lek, confirming his identity. She breathed out a relieved sigh and broke into a coughing fit. Ben grimaced slightly, remembering how displeased Threepwood would become when he had heard that particular sound from any of the clones or from Ben himself. Shaking himself off the memories, Ben stepped closer and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Just Ben please. And you are?” He asked, pretending not notice as the siblings exchanged awed glances.

“Suu Lawquane.” She said. “And these are Jek and Shaeeah.” Both children nodded awkwardly at him. Ben gave them a brief smile and returned his focus to the injured woman.

He made mental notes about her injuries. Sweat glistened on her forehead, and her breathing was heavy and labored. Her left shoulder was clearly dislocated, and there was a cut on her arm, but it was already healing, so Ben left it for later. Moving lower, he noted the awkwardly made bandage on her left leg. He reached out and gently unwrapped it.

He held back a grimace at the sight. There was a deep cut and it was infected. And it didn’t look like a wound left by a blaster. Ben glanced briefly at Suu’s face. She had her eyes shut, breathing through pain.

With a quick, practiced movement, Ben unhooked the bag from his belt. “Are you allergic to any medications?” He asked. Suu shook her head in denial. “Good.” Ben muttered and gave her a shot of painkillers. Now was the hard part. He had seen a lot of injures during his time as a General, both on Melida/Daan and during the Clone wars. And he could recognize a lost case when he saw it.

So he took Suu’s hand in his and squeezed it lightly to get her attention. When she looked at him, she seemed to understand that she would not like the news. “How bad is it?” She wheezed. Ben reached out with his free hand and pulled out a flask, tipping it down to let her drink it. He glanced at the children, still in the room. They were gripping each other’s hands tightly, fearing for their mother. Suu pushed the flask away with her chin when she had her full. “Tell us, Jedi.” She asked quietly, not exactly ordering, but not pleading.

Ben inched his head forward. “There is nothing I can do to save your leg.” He admitted. Suu closed her eyes tiredly and her children gasped in horror. “The cut is inflamed and most likely infected.” He continued, knowing full well that this wasn’t the time to beat around the bush. “I can try to stop the infection, but even if I do, I will have to cut out the muscle, which will significantly affect your ability to walk.”

Suu snorted. “What do you suggest, then?” She asked tiredly.

Ben sighed. “I would suggest cutting off the leg.” Suu shook her head.

“It’s a death sentence.” She argued weakly. Ben gave her a calm look.

“It’s a chance.” He rebuked and the Twi’lek closed her eyes in defeat.

“What chance does a woman with two children and one leg have?” She asked bitterly. Ben patted her arm comfortingly.

“Every chance, if there are people willing to help.” Suu looked at him.

“And are you willing to help?” She whispered, looking him straight in the eyes.

Ben glanced briefly at the siblings. Then back at Suu. “If you let me.” He answered honestly.

Suu held his gaze for several moments before nodding. “Do it.” She said and dropped her head down to the table.

Ben nodded and turned to the siblings, crouching down. “You two should not see that.” He held his hand up when they looked ready to protest. Ben sighed. He knew nothing would make them leave this room. Not even their mother’s words. But he still had to do something. “Just turn away and cover your ears.” The siblings nodded reluctantly, the older dragged the youngest into the furthest corner of the room.

Nodding to himself, Ben pulled out a clean cloth and twisted it, holding out to Suu. “Place it into your mouth.” He advised. Of course, he was going to inject a local anesthetic, but experience had taught him that it was better to be prepared for the worst.

He gave the anesthetic ten minutes to take effect and reached into the secret pocket in his inner robe, pulling out his lightsaber. With a practiced move he ignited in, relishing in the familiar buzzing and greeting the crystal softly. It was clearly displeased with its disuse but was letting it slide. Ben almost sobbed.

Suu watched the blade with childish fascination. Ben smiled at her and murmured: “Close your eyes.” Suu obeyed and Ben brought the ‘saber down, separating her leg from the rest of her body in one motion. Suu startled a little but did not show any signs that she was in pain. Ben breathed a sigh of relief.

The rest was a matter of technique. Ben wrapped the severed leg in a cloth and set it aside. Then he treated and bandaged the stump. Afterward, he gave Suu medicine for the infection and fever, as well as some more water and sleeping pills. “Get some sleep. You need to rest and gain strength.” He told her gently. Suu nodded sleepily bit still looked worriedly over Ben’s shoulder. He followed her gaze to the children, who were watching them back but hesitated to come closer. “I’ll keep them safe.” Ben promised. Suu smiled weakly at him and drifted off to sleep.

Ben turned to the children. “You can come closer.” He whispered. This was all they had been waiting for, and they were instantly at their mother’s side. Ben looked them over, trying to see if they needed medical attention. A thought occurred to him. “I’m Ben Kenobi. He/him.” He introduced himself, bowing a little.

The kids shared a glance, clearly not understanding why Ben mentioned it. Then the eldest slowly bowed in return. “Shaeeah. She/her.” The girl jerked her head at the over kids. “My brother Jek. He/him.” Ben smiled gently.

“A pleasure to meet you. Though I wish it happened under better circumstances.” He murmured, carefully wiping sweat from Suu’s forehead with a wet cloth. “Can you tell me what happened?” He asked, not raising his eyes.

The siblings were silent for a minute. Shaeeah was rubbing Suu’s hand absently. Jek stared at the floor.

“Stormtroopers.” He bit out finally, Force filling with anger and bitterness. “They came at night. Tried to take our father and kill us.” Jek swallowed, clenching his fists. “Mum was hurt when one of them threw a grenade at our house.” He paused, squeezing his eyes shut. “Dad told us to run. He said he’d find us later. That was three weeks ago.” The boy’s voice shook.

‘He never came.’ It remained unspoken, but it still hung heavily over the little family.

Ben paused his ministrations to glance at Jek. “Why would they want your father?” Jek bit his lip and turned away. This time Shaeeah was the one to answer.

“He was a clone.” She whispered and Ben almost had a whiplash from turning his head around too fast. The girl shrugged helplessly, eyes filling with tears. “They said he was a deserter and would be executed for treason against the Empire.” Ben swallowed hard, closing his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” He offered. No one said anything else.

Ben spent three days watching over Suu. Her condition was gradually improving, but Ben was limited in his actions. “We should return to my ship.” He suggested one evening after cooking dinner. “I have more supplies there and a real med bay.” Suu looked down at her leg dubiously.

“I don’t quite understand how you expect this to happen. The forest here is too dense for your ship to pass through. And you said it took you four hours to get here.” She pointed at her stump. “And I’m definitely not able to walk.”

“I will carry you.” Ben said easily. Suu just gave him a flat look. Ben smiled confidently at her and passed a ration bar to Jek. “Trust me, I will not drop you.” Suu sighed and nodded.

They left the next morning.

***

This morning had started weirdly for Anakin.

To begin with, his Captain was acting stiffly and had four whispered arguments with Crys when they thought that no one was watching them.

Commander Cody was giving them suspicious glances too, so Anakin knew something was wrong.

He tied the gray robe someone had left on the chair in their room, and turned to Rex.

“Alright, spill.” He ordered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Rex froze for a moment, his eyes darted to meet Crys’ and they seemed to come to some kind of agreement. Rex sighed tiredly and kicked the chair in Anakin’s direction. “You’d better sit down for this.” He said ominously, his expression grim.

Anakin wanted really hard to roll his eyes but decided to humor his Captain. He sat down and gave Rex a pointed look. “Are you going to tell me what’s got you two so worked up?”

Commander Cody also stepped closer. Peel did not look up from the commlink he was dismantling, but Anakin knew he was listening. Rex ran his hand through his short hair and sighed again.

“Well, last night Crys decided to see if he would make a good father-” He started.

“Hey, that’s not what happened!” Crys cut in and the two of them glared at each over.

Slowly, with a lot of interruptions at the beginning, they told them about their last night encounter.

At first Anakin was amused. He knew Yoda could cause a massive headache despite his size. Apparently, mini-Yoda was exactly the same. Anakin laughed when Crys told them about the floating frog. But he quickly sobered as Rex spoke about Mando and the information he shared with them.

He wanted to pace. He always thought better while moving. But Rex was insisting on him staying down, so Anakin restrained himself. He did not understand his Captain’s request but he trusted him.

And then Rex took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for something.

“Mando also told us about people who hunt down the Force-sensitive ones. They’re called the Hand, but Mando could not tell us more. Except the fact that they obey the Emperor personally. And…” Rex hesitated. “And that their leader is someone called Darth Vader.”

Anakin frowned. “Darth Vader? I don’t think we’ve met this one.” He murmured and then noticed the strange aura in the room. He looked around and was surprised to see Peel white as a sheet, the commlink long forgotten. But admittedly, Commander Cody was far worse.

He looked calm, but Anakin felt it. His usually carefully maintained mental shields were cracked by absolute fury and rage the Commander was feeling.

“Are you telling me,” He started coolly, “That this whole war was for nothing? That our brothers died for nothing?” He was trembling slightly, barely keeping himself from yelling.

Anakin gave him a confused look. “What are you talking about?” He asked, honestly baffled.

The Commander stared at him as if Anakin asked the dumbest question ever.

“With all due respect, General,” He said slowly. “I know that you can be obvious sometimes, but you cannot honestly tell me that you do not understand the implications of a kriffing Sith working directly under the Emperor!” The Commander all but yelled.

Anakin wanted to jump and yell back, but Rex choose that moment to pull Cody away and the Commander sagged against him like a puppet with cut strings. And Anakin had to stifle a gasp from the sheer amount of pain the clone projected into the Force. The Commander seemed to notice it and his shields slummed shut.

Cody was breathing hard, gripping Rex’s hand tightly. Anakin did not know what to do so he looked at Crys and Peel, who were in a similar position. But Anakin was growing irritated. “Can someone tell me what’s so important going on?” He snapped and Peel turned his pale face to him.

“General, if the Sith is working for the Emperor,” He paused, biting his lower lip. “Then that means that Chancellor Palpatine was the Sith we were looking for all this time.”

Anakin snorted. “Yeah, that’s funny. Now tell me.” He insisted. Truly, whatever affected his men that hard was not a joking matter. He appreciated Peel’s attempt to lighten the mood, but really. Palpatine as a Sith Lord? That’s absurd.

He waited for them to speak but all clones were looking at him like he was crazy. Rex gently sat Cody down at the couch and faced Anakin. “General, that’s the truth. I had the whole night to think about it and it just makes sense. Think about why every time we told him our plans – those missions went especially bad? Why was he so reluctant to negotiate with the Separatists? Why didn’t he let us start mass-producing ion cannons that could end the war in a matter of months?” Rex listed, voice adopting a pleading undertone, begging for Anakin to understand. “And this Sith, why did a Sith Lord choose to serve a simple Emperor? No Dooku, neither Maul nor Ventress had ever allowed anyone to order them around. Except for a Sith Lord, Dooku’s Master – Darth Sidious.”

Anakin felt as if he’d been doused with a tub of cold water. His knees felt weak, and if he hadn’t been sitting, he would have collapsed on the floor. He desperately wanted to refuse to believe the clone’s words, but something inside him just screamed that he should listen. His opened his mouth to argue, but no words came.

Rex looked sympathetic, others like they had just returned from a carnage there they’ve lost every person they loved.

Anakin’s throat was dry. “We- I have to ask Obi-Wan.” He rasped and jumped to his feet abruptly. “He will know the truth.” Anakin said to himself quietly and wrenched the door open. He followed his former Master’s dimmed Force presence into the dining room and stopped short at the stairs.

There were children sitting at the table. Six to be exact. And Anakin didn’t know any of them.

Well, with the possible exception of the two Twi’leks who sat with their backs to him, and then only from Rex’s story. Anakin felt his men behind him but did not move, too stunned by the sight in front of him.

Facing them were four kids – two small boys with dark hair and a girl of about the same age with a brown braid slung over her right shoulder. And the forth was an older boy with black wavy hair and a slightly crooked nose. All the children at the table were having breakfast enthusiastically, the girl was telling something to the boy on her right, waving a spoon around and that made the older boy grimace a little.

“Jyn, don’t play with your food.” A voice came from the kitchen, and Anakin glanced back to see a Twi’lek woman scolding the children lightly. The girl lowered her spoon with a small pout.

“Sorry, aunty Suu.” She apologized and returned her attention to the plate in front of her. Aunty Suu nodded approvingly and turned to look at Anakin with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you going to stand in the doorway all day, or are you going to help me set the table?” Her question snapped Anakin out of his stupor and he felt himself blush.

“Yes, of course.” He found himself responding and went over to take the tray of bowls from her. It was only then that he noticed that she had a prosthetic leg instead of her left one. It was not that unusual, many of beings had prosthetics, including Anakin himself, but for some reason this one caught his attention. He eyed it for a bit longer then went to place the tray on the free table.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Aunty Suu had handed something to all clones. Peel was setting out the glasses, Crys was trying to place the cutlery correctly, and Cody and Rex were assigned to put a huge pot of something that smelled incredibly good on the table.

Anakin looked at the bowls on the tray and frowned. “How many people will be having breakfast now?” He asked loudly. Aunty Suu hummed, thinking.

“Hmm, Din and Grogu have already had breakfast, although Grogu will most likely come again for a snack. So that makes nine of us and five of you for a total of fourteen.” She replied and passed another tray, this time with mugs, to Cody and nodded at the kids who were already eating. “Give that to them, please.” Cody nodded, taking the tray carefully.

Anakin blinked in surprise. Fourteen? Fourteen people? How did they expect them all to fit here? It looked like he was the only one concerned about it, since all clones were busy setting the table. Well, Rex was sneaking glances at the Twi’leks, he had said that the boy had run off before they could talk. He did not say how he knew them, just that he did. Anakin did not press, too preoccupated with over things at the moment.

Right now, he was trying to fit eight bowls on the round table. Just as he placed the last one, he heard a familiar voice:

“Han, Han, Han, gave it back!” Luke whined and Anakin turned his head to watch another unknown young man walk in, Luke hanging down from his upraised arm, his feet did not even brush the floor. The young man was tall, he had brown curly hair, a grin on his face, and was wearing a white shirt with a black vest. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, about the same age as Kanan and Terra. And Luke called him ‘Han.’

Anakin looked up, to see what Luke was trying to get from Han, but only noticed that it was shiny and definitely metallic. He was about to step in when Aunty Suu chastised Han. “What did I tell you two about droid parts in the dinner room?” Both boys sighed.

“No droid parts in the dinner room.” They answered in unison and Han lowered his arm, letting Luke take the part and place it on the kitchen’s counter. Then Han ruffled Luke’s hair and flashed him a teasing smirk. “C’mon kid, before Kanan gets here and eats everything.” He chuckled at Luke’s messy hair and finally saw the clones.

His expression became one of a pointed disinterest. He nodded politely at them and went to sit at the table next to the black-haired boy. Luke, on the other hand particularly lit up when he saw them.

“Hi!” He greeted them brightly. “Did you sleep well?” He asked, looking genuinely concerned. Anakin managed to smile at him.

“It was alright. Do you know where Ob- where Ben is?” He questioned. Luke nodded enthusiastically.

“At this time, he usually meditates with Terra and Kanan. But they should be up soon!” He answered and then clapped his hands over his mouth with a small gasp. “I shouldn’t have told you this.” He whispered. Anakin frowned in confusion.

“Why? Is it some kind of secret meditation? If that’s the case, maybe I’ll even join them.” Anakin mused. “Can’t stand ordinary meditation.” He explained with a shrug when Luke’s eyes went wide from puzzlement.

“You meditate too?” He asked and it was Anakin’s turn to be surprised.

He nodded slowly. “Yes, I do. I’m a Jedi Knight, did not O- Ben tell you?” Luke tilted his head in confusion.

“What’s a Jedi?” He asked innocently and Anakin could only stare. He knew the kid was waiting for him to answer, but he could not think of any words which were not expletives.

He was saved by a female voice from the kitchen. “It is a lesson for another time.” Someone said firmly and Luke pouted but nodded and hurried over to Han who rolled his eyes but helped Luke climb onto his lap nonetheless. Anakin turned to take in the newcomer.

And he froze in surprise again. Standing in front of him was a thin girl with pale, almost white skin. Her hair was silver, and her face was covered in tattoos. Very familiar tattoos. Anakin narrowed his eyes and tensed. But the girl didn’t seem to notice. She gently pushed Ezra, whom Anakin hadn’t noticed earlier, into the room. “Go, Han will help you get into a chair.” She urged lightly. Han’s groan said what exactly he thought about this assignment, but the girl ignored him. She went over to Aunty Suu and took the plates with bread from her.

The Twi’lek smiled at her briefly. “Thank you, Mer.” The girl nodded and went to place the plates.

Anakin caught Rex’s gaze and signed: ‘Keep an eye on her.’ Rex nodded shallowly.

“Argh, I was hoping you were still asleep.” Came Kanan’s disgruntled voice from the kitchen’s direction. Where did he even come from? Not from the hall Anakin came from, he was sure. And there were no more halls. So how did they appear in the kitchen? Anakin was at a loss, but he was determined to figure it out.

Kanan glared sharply at the clones and only stopped when Terra nudged him into the room.

The red-head smiled at the room’s inhabitants. “Good morning. Ben is fetching Mando and Grogu. They’ll be here shortly.” He informed them and grabbed three pillows from the sofa, throwing them on the floor in the middle of the room.

Anakin noticed that Luke and Ezra’s expressions went funny at the mention of Grogu. Both boys stared at Terra as if he had just grown a second head, eyes comically wide. Then they looked at each other, at the clones, and seemed to come to some sort of a conclusion. Anakin wondered what was happening.

Meanwhile, Terra dropped down on the pillow with a sigh, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn. “Ugh, I could use some caf.” He grumbled and practically lit up when the girl, Mer, gave him a steaming cup. “Thank you, Merrin.”

Merrin smiled briefly at him and set on the pillow next to his, taking a sip from her own cup.

Anakin just sat on the sofa and survived the room. All those people, they moved with ease which spoke about familiarity with each over, years spent together. With a jolt, Anakin realized that they looked like a family. And perhaps they actually were one.

“Suu, this smells amazing.” Obi-Wan said, as he entered the room, a small smile on his face and a little green child in his arms. Anakin stared at him, realizing that Master Yoda had looked like that once, too. And was not that a weird image.

Aunty Suu grinned at Obi-Wan and winked. “Why, you sound surprised.” Anakin felt like he had missed some kind of an inside joke, because the two of them laughed softly as Obi-Wan walked around the room to take a high chair out of the corner. He put it next to the table where Ezra was and sat Grogu down.

A teenager dressed in full armor sat down next to him. Anakin recognized him as Mando, that Rex had mentioned, by his silver helmet. But did not Aunty Suu say something about Grogu and Din? Was it his name? If so, why did not he use it? Anakin tried to catch Obi-Wan’s eye, desperately needing to talk to him.

He had somewhat calmed down after the conversation with Rex. Perhaps the children’s happiness and calmness helped, perhaps something else was at work here. He did not know. Anakin was not angry anymore, just tired and lost. He could not understand what was happening to him.

“Gen- er, Ben?” Crys called and Obi-Wan turned his head to look at the trooper, who was standing awkwardly next to the table.

“Yes, Crys?” Obi-Wan replied and Anakin could not help but notice that he was different too. While last night he was tense, wary and tired, now he seemed almost… resigned? Still tired though, deep dark circles under his eyes indicated that he did not sleep much last night. Anakin wanted to ask him why. He wanted to ask him many things, but now was not the time.

Crys shifted from one foot to another. “I was wondering if you had any caf left.” He eyed the mugs on the round table warily. “I’m pretty sure Peel’s allergic to that stuff.”

Obi-Wan’s eyes softened and he nodded. “Of course, I should have warned Suu.” The last words were quiet, almost as if he did not intend for anyone to hear them. Obi-Wan looked at the flushed Peel and asked: “Black with two spoons of sugar, correct?” Peel nodded dumbly and Anakin’s former Master disappeared into the kitchen without another word.

Anakin wanted to follow him, but Aunty Suu clapped her hands and all attention was on her. “So, now that everyone is here, I think it’s time to introduce ourselves to our guests.” She suggested and gestured at the table, but kept her eyes on Anakin and his men. “My name is Suu Lawquane, you can call me Suu. You already know Luke, Ezra, Terra and Kanan.” She said, and Anakin glanced at every person she named and wanted to frown.

Ezra and Luke were talking quietly. Terra waved at them lazily, smiling a little, when Suu said his name. Well, at least he was friendly, since Kanan only scowled at them and sat on the last unclaimed pillow next to the silver-haired girl – Merrin.

Suu opened her mouth to continue, but then seemed to think of something else. “Actually, why don’t you introduce yourselves?” She asked and looked at the kids expectantly. They did not look thrilled, but obeyed her nonetheless.

The girl with a braid put her spoon down and cocked her head, eyeing the clones. “Ner gai Jyn Erso, aliit Kenobi, laesvha Mereel.” She said and Anakin felt his men’s surprise and confusion join his own in the Force at the use of the Mandalorian language. He knew that the language had a name, but he couldn’t recall it.

One of the boys next to her narrowed his eyes at the clones. There was something vaguely familiar about that boy, that Anakin could not quite place. He had dark skin, slightly darker than Ezra’s, black hair, and very dark eyes.

And then he said: “Ner gai Venku Skirata, aliit Kenobi, laesvha Mereel.”

Anakin heard Peel’s sharp intake of breath and felt his surprise as clear as his own. He made a mental note to himself to ask about it later.

Meanwhile, the two Twi’leks turned around to face them.

“Ner gai Shaeeah Lawquane,” started one. Anakin guessed that it was Jek’s sister, Rex had mentioned her too. Although he was not sure if she was here, since he did not actually see her.

“Ner gai Jek Lawquane,” Echoed her brother, confirming Anakin’s thoughts. From the corner of his eye he could see Rex staring at them and their mother. He looked like he wanted to ask them something but did not know how to approach them. “Aliit Kenobi.” Jek said.

“Laesvha Mereel.” Shaeeah finished.

Anakin saw Jyn elbow the other dark-haired boy, the one who was older. He scowled at her and reluctantly turned to face them. “Ner gai Cassian Jeron Andor. Aliit Kenobi, laesvha Mereel.” He said evenly and immediately returned his attention to his plate.

The helmeted teen inched his head and sighed. “Ner gai Mando. Aliit Kenobi, laesvha Mereel.” He said and then nodded at Grogu. “This is Grogu, as some of you already know.”

“But you can’t tell anyone else about him!” Luke suddenly chimed in, his face utterly serious. Anakin did not think such expression could belong to a five-year-old child, but here Luke was.

“Why?” Peel asked, looking from one kid to another.

“Because no one else can know about him.” Ezra replied like it was the universal fact everyone knew. Seeing that the clones and Anakin were still confused the boy continued: “It’s not safe for him. Outsiders can hurt him.”

Rex raised an eyebrow. “And we are not outsiders?” Ezra gave him a funny look.

“Course not. Da let you in.” He said simply.

“Umm…” Crys drawled, confused. “I don’t follow.”

Luke looked at him with big gullible eyes. “He never let someone he does not trust in.” He said and Anakin could swear that Commander Cody made a high-pitched sound, as if someone punched him in the gut.

Obi-Wan choose that moment to reappear in the room. He passed the mug to Peel with a smile, but Anakin saw the tenseness in his posture and knew he had heard them talking. Obi-Wan then went to stand next to Suu and nodded to the kids. “Well, that settled, who’s next?”

Anakin cut in before anyone else could speak. “Why do they speak Mandalorian?” Obi-Wan blinked at him and raised an eyebrow at the children.

“I thought we talked about it.” He told them sternly, but not unkindly. Jyn frowned in response.

“But I thought they knew Mando’a!” She insisted, sounding a little defensive. “Everyone here knows it, even Han!”

“Hey!” Said young man exclaimed, clearly offended by her comment. Anakin did not know why, but well, he did not know them at all.

Obi-Wan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Alright, let’s move on. Gal’ika?” He called, giving the children a sidelong look.

The small boy next to Jyn stiffened and looked up sharply. Anakin met his gray eyes unflinchingly. The boy let out a small huff and raised his right hand. He pressed two fingers to his forehead, then he lowered them in a small arc and pointed at his chest. He pointed at nothing with his index finger, made a fist, but put his thumb on the side, then raised his index finger and stuck out his thumb. Then he placed his fingers on his thumb and then clenched his fist again but at this time he pressed his thumb between the middle and ring finger so that it was only slightly visible.

All this he did incredibly quickly. Anakin found it difficult to follow his motions.

Then the boy drew a few small circles with his hand, keeping it in front of his chest, palm down.

He held up two fingers, a thumb between them, then he made the same two gestures as before, after he made a ring out of his fingers, turning his hand slightly in the direction of the clones. Then he turned his palm toward them, thumb pressed there. Made a fist again, but stuck out his pinkie, thumb lying over his curled fingers.

After that, Anakin stopped following his movements. His eyes were blurring. That boy was too fast. But to his surprise, the clones seemed to actually understand him and even signed something in response. Sure, Anakin knew that his men had all learned some sign language. But he thought it was simply the military sign language, which was mostly commands and warnings, he knew it as well. Nothing that could really be used to talk.

Guess he was wrong.

The boy brightened after that and he and Peel started signing rapidly to each over.

Obi-Wan sighed and Anakin thought he sounded fond. “This is Galen.” He introduced, mostly for Anakin’s sake but the Knight refused to acknowledge that. “Sometimes he prefers so sign.”

“Most of the time.” Jyn mumbled in her bowl. Cassian gave her a hard look which made her close her mouth.

Han rolled his eyes. He relaxed in his chair and looked at the clones with a challenge in his eyes. “Name’s Han.” He said with a smirk and crossed his arms behind his head. Obi-Wan let out a tired sigh, which Anakin recognized meant that he was displeased with Han’s attitude, but knew it was pointless to try to change something.

Anakin often found himself on the receiving end of that sigh.

And that left only the silver-haired girl. She seemed to realize that as well and offered them all a kind smile. “I’m Merrin.” She said, in Basic this time. Anakin was thankful for that, but he still had his suspicious about that girl’s heritage. But the girl continued and Anakin’s brain stopped short. “Merrin Kenobi, clan Kenobi, house Mereel.”

Anakin’s gaze snapped at his former Master. Did he seriously welcome a kriffing Nightsister into his family?

Obi-Wan’s face gave nothing of his emotions away, as he was watching them all quietly. Then he nodded to himself. “Well, would you like to introduce yourself, or should I do it?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at Cody and Rex.

The clones shared a glance and Cody stepped forward slightly. “I’m Cody. This is Rex, Peel, Crys and Gen- Anakin.” He said, pointing at each brother in turn and only stumbling a little then he reached Anakin.

“Jatne at urcir gar.” The children said in unison, while the teens remained silent.

Anakin finally caught Obi-Wan’s gaze. “Ben,” He stressed. “Can we talk?”

Obi-Wan nodded apprehensively, aware of Anakin’s foul mood. “Of course. Right after breakfast.” He promised and Anakin knew he did not lie, so he calmed down a little.

“But you said we were going to train.” Ezra protested suddenly. Anakin glanced at Rex. Train? What did Obi Wan teach these five-year-olds that they needed to train?

Obi-Wan was going to answer but Merrin was faster. “And you will train. With Kanan and Terra.” She looked pointedly at Obi-Wan. “Dad is still not fully recovered. He needs a couple more days of rest.”

Anakin watched, bewildered, as his former Master grimaced slightly. “I will not do anything strenuous.” He insisted and the girl simply raised an eyebrow in response.

That move struck Anakin. He had seen Obi-Wan do exactly that countless times before. And now, a girl who had his name, and called herself his daughter was doing the same! Anakin really needed to talk to Obi-Wan.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Merrin were locked in a silent battle of wills. And Obi-Wan relented first, dropping his gaze down with a small huff. The girl smiled brightly at him. “Two days, buir. That’s all I ask for.”

“Elek, baar’ur.” He responded and snatched the last pillow from the sofa, sitting down next to Kanan. Suu gave him a mug with what Anakin guessed was tea and turned to them.

“Let’s get you settled.”

She ushered them into the sofa and she deftly poured the sweet-smelling stew into the bowls. Plates of bread, some strange vegetables and fruits, and buns appeared in front of them. With a satisfied nod, Suu walked away to sit at the table with his children.

Anakin ate in silence. He watched Obi-Wan and the children out of the corner of his eye and couldn’t help but be astonished.

Obi-Wan was completely at ease. He was talking and even laughing with those children. Giving them gentle smiles and tender looks. He listened in rapt attention to Jyn, closely watched Galen sign. Sure, he still looked tired, but when he looked at Luke or Han, it was almost like he was lighter somehow.

And the fond look he was giving them, it was the same look his Obi-Wan would give Ahsoka when she talked about her studies or friends.

(It was the same look he used to give Anakin when he was younger.

He did not do it anymore. Over the past five years, the fondness disappeared, leaving him guarded and wary. Too careful around Anakin. As if waiting for him to snap.

Maybe it was Anakin’s faul-)

Anakin felt like an outsider, like he was intruding on something private. It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling. And certainly not the one he would have thought he would experience around Obi-Wan, of all people.

The Jedi Knight sighed warily, running his hand through his hair.                                                        

He needed to talk to Obi-Wan.

Now.

Chapter Text

Cody watched Skywalker out of the corner of his eye. The Jedi was tense, constantly glancing at General Kenobi and his children.

And wasn’t that a huge shock?

General Kenobi had children. Fourteen of them! Well, probably twelve, since Cody didn’t know what kind of relationship Suu and the General had, so he couldn’t say for sure that the General considered her children as his own. It was hard to guess.

But the more Cody watched, the more convinced he became that things between the pair were probably platonic. The General didn’t really give away anything, but Cody knew him all too well. And General Kenobi looked at Suu with warmth, sure, but it was the same look he had reserved for his friends – Senator Bail Organa and his wife Breha. Both were very lovely people. Were they still alive?

Cody forced himself to stop staring at the General. It wouldn’t do him any good and would only make everyone uncomfortable. Stifling a tired sigh, he began to eat the stew methodically. It was incredibly delicious, far better than anything Cody had ever tasted. And judging by the way Peel, Crys and Rex ate their portions – they shared his opinion.

Chuckling a little, Cody shook his head and then glanced at Skywalker, the only one who was not eating properly. Instead, Skywalker was practically bouncing in his seat, his head snapping up every time he heard laughter from General Kenobi’s table. He looked ready to jump and march over there at the slightest reason. But after a stern look from Cody, Skywalker’s cheeks flashed red a bit, he dropped his gaze and finally started eating.

While Cody really tried not to listen to the General’s conversation with his family - Force, it still felt so unreal - it was like a second nature to him by now. He had long been accustomed to listening to what his General was saying. Now was no exception. Especially after General Kenobi had moved to sit next to Galen, to help the boy cut his meal.

“So, how is it that Terra and Kanan get the most fun assignments and I’m stuck watching these squirrels?” Cody heard Han complain, rather loudly.

Jyn gasped in offence, gaping at the boy widely. “We are not squirrels! Tell him, Cas! Tell him!” The girl insisted, tugging Cassian’s sleeve to get his attention. But the boy seemed to be dead set on ignoring her and the rest of the world, looking down at his meal with a vacant expression.

General Kenobi chuckled. “That’s not very polite, Han.” He chided gently. “And you’re well aware that it’s your turn to look after the Younglings today.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Han grumbled, waving his hand at the children dismissively. “I know. But I do not have to like it.” He said with a scowl and crossed his arms on his chest.

Cody could practically see the General rolling his eyes. “It’s not that bad. You just need to supervise their training, make sure no one gets hurt. You’ve done it countless times before.” He pointed out with a small nod in Han’s direction.

“Yeah, I did, but why today? You know I got new parts for the ship yesterday, and I was going to install them today.” Han lamented, pointing an accusing finger at General Kenobi.

Luke and Ezra perked up. “You got them already?” Ezra asked eagerly.

“Can we help? I promise we won’t get in your way!” Luke said at the same time, big eyes shining with hope. “Pretty please?”

Han groaned, burying his face in his palms. “That’s just what I needed!” He exclaimed sarcastically, glaring at the boys. “I don’t want to drag you to Merrin and have her sew your severed fingers back on.” He hissed angrily.

“You are far too dramatic, my dear.” General Kenobi commented lightly, winking at the younger boys and making them giggle.

“Can we train with you later?” Venku asked suddenly. He and Galen sent pleading looks at the General. Luke and Ezra also had similar expressions. “It’s fun to train with Terra and Kanan, but we want to train with you today. Pretty please?”

For some reason General Kenobi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What did you do?” The boys looked at each other. Luke gulped, Ezra squirmed in place, Venku’s face became terrifyingly blank and Galen just stared at the General silently.

Cody watched with interest as General Kenobi slowly surveyed the boys with a questioning look. His arms were crossed over his chest in a very familiar gesture. The pose made Cody smile briefly. It reminded him of how he and the General had once caught Longshot and Gregor trying to sneak into the 501^st barracks to paint the walls in 212^th colors. The General had looked at the troopers then with the very same look he was giving his boys right now.

“We accidentally spilled paint in the far hangar.” Luke blurted out, unable to keep silent any longer under that gaze. The other boys and Jyn, who apparently was in it too, looked down guiltily.

General Kenobi only sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “How many cans?”

“Five.” Ezra piped in. “But we cleaned it up! Honestly!” He hurried to assure the General.

General Kenobi gave them an alarmed look. “Did you do it by yourself?” He asked worriedly. “Boys, you know how dangerous paint fumes can be.”

Galen shook his head and signed rapidly. Cody could not see his hands clearly, but whatever he said made General Kenobi pinch the bridge of his nose again as he closed his eyes. “Well, at least you asked an adult to help you.” He muttered, sending a hard look at Han, who shrugged, unbothered.

Cody snorted at his General exasperated sigh and focused on Merrin’s conversation with Terra and Kanan, when he heard them mention him and his brothers.

“-know you don’t like them but you could at least try to be polite.” Merrin was rebuking Kanan who only scowled at her in return.

Terra shook his head slightly. “She’s right you know.” He said and took a sip of his caf.

Kanan scoffed, crossing his arms. “Of course you’ll take your girlfriend’s side.” He grouched, glaring at his friends.

Terra choked on his drink, his ears turning red to match his hair. “We are not- she’s not!” He stuttered while Merrin calmly rubbed his back. Cody noted that she did not deny anything, instead looking rather content with the situation.

Kanan smirked, pleased with himself. Terra finally came to his senses and stared at Kanan angrily. And then, suddenly, a sly grin appeared on Merrin’s face. She gave Kanan an innocent look and asked: “Oh, by the way, how’s Hera?”

It was Kanan’s turn to sputter and blush.

Cody turned back to his table, shaking his head slightly, lips quirking up in a smile. It was so easy to relax here. The atmosphere was light and friendly, despite Kanan’s dislike of them and Han’s indifference.

And it was nice to see General Kenobi happy. Cody couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard the General genuinely laugh. Or relax. It was a welcome distraction from the fact that their kriffing Chancellor was a Sith Lord.

Crys was telling Peel what new details he wanted to add to his armor. The trooper waved his hands around animatedly with a wide smile. Rex and Cody were slowly getting roped into the conversation, too. Cody wondered absently what Waxer’s reaction would have been if he had ended up here with them. He would have probably melted into a puddle of goo the moment Luke turned his sunny smile at him.

But Waxer was back at the Negotiator, keeping an eye on everything while both Cody and General Kenobi were planet-side.

Their disappearance must have been noticed by now. The men must be worried-

Cody shoved these thoughts aside and turned back to his breakfast.

The time passed quickly. Soon, the General was pushing his empty bowl away from him and standing up. He whispered something to Han softly, probably a reminder for him to behave - judging by the teen’s displeased grimace - then turned away from him. He addressed Terra and Kanan next, but in a language that Cody was not familiar with. Both of them responded in unison and stood up, grabbing empty bowls from the table and carrying them into the kitchen.

General Kenobi caught Skywalker’s gaze and nodded his head at the hall. Skywalker immediately jumped to his feet, almost tripping over them in his haste to get up. With one last glance at the chastised and subdued children, General Kenobi walked out of the room, an agitated Skywalker hot on his heels.

Suu looked after them shaking her head slowly and then ushered Jek, Shaeeah and Cassian into the kitchen to help her with the dishes.

And just like that Cody found himself surrounded by tiny natborn cadets, who regarded him and his brothers with undisguised curiosity. Well, all of them except for Ezra and Luke, being the only ones who have met the clones before, even if it happened only yesterday. Luke was having a heated argument with Han, who had a cheeky grin on his face. It was pretty obvious that he was teasing the kid about something.

Ezra simply walked over without ceremony and climbed on the seat next to Peel and started asking questions about his armor, since they were not wearing it right now and Ezra was curious why. Other children slowly came closer as well. Even Grogu toddled over – under Mando’s watchful gaze. Merrin stayed on her pillow on the floor, seemingly ignoring them all, but Cody just knew she was keeping an eye on them.

He swallowed and looked down at the assembled children. Jyn had picked Grogu up and settled him in her arms, staring intently at them. No one said a word for a while. But then Venku broke the silence.

“Have you chosen your rooms yet?” He asked, curious, and his question drew Ezra’s attention away from Peel and they both looked at Cody. Peel was slightly startled and panicked, while Ezra and the rest of the children seemed exited. All but Jyn, who was still glaring daggers at the clones.

Cody glanced at his brothers only to find them all looking at him. Great. Well, he was the one with the highest rank… He turned his gaze back to Venku, not knowing what to tell him. “Why do we need to choose rooms? We’re quite comfortable in the guest room.” He assured the boy.

Venku gave him a funny look. “But you can’t stay there.” He insisted and Cody felt like he was missing something. “It is a guest room. It’s for guests.” Venku said patiently, like it all made perfect sense.

Nodding slowly Cody tried to think of an appropriate answer. “Yes, it is. That’s why we are staying there.” He attempted to explain. No such luck, as was evident by the lost expression on Venku’s face.

“But you need your own rooms too.” Ezra suddenly chimed in, confusing the clones with the absolute certainty in his voice.

Rex leaned forward on his elbows. His gaze slowly shifted from one child to another, eventually stopping on Ezra. “Why?” This time Ezra gave him a funny look.

“Because we all have our own rooms.” He replied simply, as if it explained everything. Rex sent Cody a helpless smile, silently ordering him to take care of this mess. Typical.

Resisting the urge to kick Rex under the table - Cody was not four, he had self-control. Even when his brother acted like an utter moron - Cody focused on the children. “You all have your own rooms because you live here.” Cody pointed out. But it seemed to only confuse the children further.

“But you live here too.” Ezra replied, frowning.

Rex nodded, taking charge again. “We do, but only temporary. We’ll need to return home soon.” He said softly and Ezra’s expression cleared a little in understanding.

“Oh, so you’re like uncle Lanos?” Cody felt his eyebrows rise.

“Who?” Crys blurted out. And Cody really hoped that it was not the person he was thinking it was. The name rang a bell, reminding Cody of a few times he had seen the man. But he could not be sure it was him. Still, his General needed someone on his side, even if it was someone like-

“Uncle Lanos.” Ezra repeated with a tiny nod.

“He and his clan do not live with us but they visit often.” Venku said. And then apparently decided that he was tired of standing, so he just plopped down right on the floor and crossed his legs. Well, at least the floor looked clean and Venku was not wearing white clothes, so Cody decided not to comment.

“But they have their own rooms too!” Luke told them loudly. He had finally left Han’s side, much to Han’s relief, and came closer. Luke’s blue eyes shone earnestly. Cody felt like he had seen that look before, he just could not pinpoint where.

“So you need to pick rooms too.” Ezra said with a serious nod. Other children nodded as well. Even Jyn.

Then Ezra grabbed Peel’s hand and tugged him away from the table. “C’mon! We’ll show you around.” The boy insisted, skipping a bit.

Venku took Rex’s hand, while Luke gave Crys tooka’s eyes and pleaded to be carried on the clone’s shoulders. Cody was a little startled when he felt a tiny hand slip into his. He looked down and saw Galen. The boy was staring at him with a gaze far too serious for such a young child. He jerked his head a little in the direction of the other children and Cody took it as an order to move.

Luke, sitting on top of Crys’ shoulders, was leading their little procession. Rex and Peel were next, with their respective charges. Jyn was silently walking next to Venku. Grogu was no longer in her arms, but perched on Mando’s left shoulder, babbling excitedly in childish gibberish. Merrin was following behind Cody, a silent shadow, almost unseen.

They walked into the familiar hall. Luke pointed at various door, naming their owners loudly. “This one ‘s Terra’s he’s got so many plants there, almost as much as uncle Ben! And that one ‘s Kanan’s but he doesn’t like others to be there while he’s out. Oh, that’s mine and Ezra’s! C’mon, I’ll show you our ship models!”

Cody found himself smiling in the face of Luke’s enthusiasm. He memorized the layout of rooms and doors almost as an afterthought. It was the nature of all clones. The hall was quite spacious and winding, as if its creator was not sure in which direction to build it. All walls felt smooth and were empty, unlike the ones in the living room and the kitchen.

In an hour, the children showed them absolutely all the rooms. Cody learned quite a few new names but did not see anyone of the mentioned. Jyn said those people were running some kind of errand. Cody was not sure what to think of it. Were all these people also children? Did General Kenobi open an orphanage? A little hard to imagine that. But at the same time perfectly in character of their General. Still, they needed more information, so Cody listened very closely to what Luke and Ezra said. These two were bubbling excitedly over everything, reminding Cody of cadets back on Kamino.

But sometimes it was a little difficult to understand them. Not because the words blurred together from the children’s excitement, but because sometimes they would start speaking in other languages in the middle of a sentence. It was fine if it was Ryl or Huttese, them Cody could understand, but sometimes the boys slipped and used Mando’a or languages that Cody had never heard before. They would just scramble together words from different languages and no one batted an eye. Even more astonishing, all kids were signing while talking, and not just for Galen’s sake. They were fast and obviously used to it. But there was the same problem – they did not stick to just one sign language. Cody caught Crys staring in amazement at Venku, Ezra and Jyn, who were arguing over something, while constantly switching between Basic, Bocce and Mando’a sign languages. So, half of what they said had to be translated by Merrin.

It was a good sign, in Cody’s opinion. The children felt comfortable enough in their presence to behave like normal and express themselves freely. Such trust meant a lot.

Other than that, the tour went rather well. They even visited some rooms, if their inhabitants allowed it. Luke also showed them the room where Uncle Lanos and his clan stayed. It was a pleasant enough, spacious room, with light-colored walls. It was shaped like a hexagon and had two large double beds.

Wondering just who exactly slept in these beds, Cody looked around absently. He could not imagine someone like Quinlan Vos settling in with anyone. But well, this future kept flinging surprises on them, so...

Then finally, after another fifteen minutes of wandering around, Venku showed them a set of empty rooms. Even though Cody knew they couldn’t stay here, he still found himself touched by the persistence with which the children tried to help them choose rooms and make them feel welcome.

“We can help you paint the walls!” Ezra said excitedly. “We’re good at it, honest. We painted Terra’s room and Jyn’s and Ricky’s and-”

“Breathe, kid.” Peel reminded him with a laugh. Ezra’s face went a little red.

Cody shook his head a little, but he was smiling. He saw that Rex struggled to keep his face straight, so he bumped their shoulders together lightly. Rex rolled his eyes in a true Wolffe fashion.

“Rex, Rex, Rex, come see! The restroom is so huge here!” Luke chanted, dragging the Captain after him. Venku and Ezra decided to show Peel and Crys a storage room.

With others otherwise occupied, Cody watched Merrin and Jyn.

They were talking quietly. Merrin on her knees and Jyn had her hands crossed on her chest. Merrin was clearly trying to explain something, but Cody was too far to hear their conversation. And he did not really want to pry.

Mando had left half an hour ago with a yawning Grogu in tow, claiming it was a nap-time for the little troll. Others accepted it without a fuss, wishing the kid a good nap. And scowled when Crys asked when their nap-time was. He then learned that they were too old for naps. Merrin held up a finger behind their backs. Ah, so in an hour Cody would have a bunch of sleepy grumpy children on his hands, insisting that they were not tired at all. Joy.

It still brought smile on Cody’s face. He closed his eyes briefly, relishing in the peaceful moment. He tried not to imagine what it would have been like to have a family breakfast every day, to spent time with all these children, to raise them with General Kenobi...

Cody forcibly stopped thinking, clenching his jaw. No use dwelling on what-ifs. He could not have it in his own time, and, as it turned out he would not have it in the future, since the future version of himself had tried to kill the first person he had ever fell in love with.

And this- this little bit of information chilled Cody to the bone every time he remembered about it. General Kenobi looked so hurt while telling them, so haunted. He obviously could not understand why his men did it, even though it happened years ago. And neither could Cody.

He’d spent the entire time of his watch going over everything he knew about the Republic, every interaction he’d had with General Kenobi and the other Jedi, trying to figure out what could have possibly turned him and his brothers against them.

Of course, there were Jedi who treated them more coldly than Generals Kenobi and Koon. General Mundi, for example. But he had never disrespected them. Rather, he preferred to keep the relationship between him and his men more professional than the Jedi Cody was more familiar with. But it was understandable.

And, of course, there were such as Pong Krell.

That thought significantly darkened Cody’s mood. This filth didn’t deserve a rank of a Jedi. His order pitted the brothers against each other. Cody couldn’t even imagine how terrible the situation would have turned out if General Kenobi hadn’t gotten one of his infamous bad feelings and insisted on going back. They could have lost so many brothers… Hells, Rex could have been killed.

Letting out a slow breath, Cody tried to relax. It was all in the past. (Yes, he could see the irony in this sentence.) General Kenobi had killed Krell in a duel. His men were alive and well. All Cody could do was to focus on the situation in hand.

Speaking of which… they’ve seen the entire floor but he did not notice Generals Kenobi and Skywalker anywhere. And there was only one door leading outside. They might be in one of the rooms, but something told Cody that General Kenobi wouldn’t want to have a conversation with Skywalker somewhere they could be heard. So they were somewhere else... But where? Han had mentioned ships, and Luke had said they spilled paint in the far hangar. Meaning – there was a hangar somewhere here. The entrance was probably located outside. But again, General Kenobi led Skywalker inside the house, not outside... Cody felt like he was missing something.

A small hand tugged his insistently. Cody blinked and looked down at Galen. The boy stared at him for a long moment, then nodded, seemingly to himself and started leading them out of the room. Feeling like he was not supposed to attract attention, Cody kept quiet until they were in the hall, the door closed firmly behind them.

Galen led him into his own room. He shared it with Venku, they’ve been told. Cody looked around briefly. It was about the size of Luke and Ezra’s room. But that was where the resemblance ended. The walls were a pleasant mint color. There was no division into zones. On the wall opposite the entrance, at a height of about half a foot, there were two beds next to each other. Under each bed was a small table, a chair, and a chest. To the right, against the wall, was a big sofa. In the middle of the room was a large, fluffy green carpet... or was it moss? Cody wasn’t sure, and he didn’t want to find out.

Two bookshelves filled with datapads and small trinkets flanked the beds. Cody noticed a holo on the right shelf. It showed a smiling couple. A human woman and a man sat on the grass under a tree, and in the woman’s arms was a small child with black hair and piercing gray eyes. The child bore a striking resemblance to the woman, so Cody realized that they were his mother and father, from whom the boy had inherited his high cheekbones and the shape of his chin.

Cody glanced down at the silent Galen. “Why did you bring me here, ad’ika?” He murmured quietly, the endearment slipping off his tongue effortlessly. Huh, he must have picked that one from Mando.

The boy tugged Cody toward his bed and opened the chest. He rummaged through it for a few moments and then pulled something out, letting the lid drop. Galen held the item out for Cody to take.

Accepting the item cautiously, Cody looked it over. It was a turned off holodisc. Cody glanced at Galen. The kid stared back at him with that eerie look of his. He pointed at the disc and signed, ‘turn it on.’

Cody followed his command and a hologram popped to life. And Cody’s mouth went dry when an image of his General appeared.

The Jedi looked tired and disheveled, his robes wrinkled and strained with dirt and blood. As much as he tried to appear calm and collected, the tight lines and dark circles around his eyes gave his exhaustion away.

And then he started speaking.

‘This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed. And our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust... our faith... our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you... always.’

The hologram blinked out.

Cody stared at the projector, mind reeling.

Everything the General said in that message was consistent with the information they had learned in the last twelve hours. This was nothing new. So why did Cody feel sick?

He swallowed hard and looked at Galen. “Why show me this?” He croaked out. The kid stared back at him. And then he replied, with actual words this time, which surprised Cody almost as much as his answer.

“Help Ben.” Galen said simply.

Cody just stared.

What the kriff?

***

Anakin followed Obi-Wan deeper into his house, not really paying attention where they were going, too busy thinking about what he wanted to ask his former Master.

He was stopped short when Obi-Wan suddenly pressed his hand to the wall and it moved somewhere inside and then to the right. Behind it, was a tunnel, leading down. Anakin stared at it.

“What the hell?” He asked and received no response. Obi-Wan simply sighed and walked inside. Anakin hurried after him. “Obi-Wan, stop ignoring me! Why do you have hidden tunnels in your house? How did you even get it done? It is one hell of-”

“Anakin, please, we are almost there.” Obi-Wan interrupted him, ducking into yet another tunnel, which was branching out of the one they took to get down. Anakin huffed, but fell silent. He looked around to distract himself a little. The tunnel was lit by some strange glowing moss that Anakin had never seen before on Tatooine. He wondered what else he might learn from today.

Finally, after what felt like forever, they reached a cavern.

Nothing was there. Just bare ground with more tunnels and passageways leading out of it. Obi-Wan stopped in the middle, still not turning around.

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest. He tried to glare Obi-Wan down, but his former Master seemed as unfazed as ever.

“Well, are we gonna stand here all night, or are you finally going to talk?” Anakin snapped. He heard Obi-Wan sigh heavily and then turn around. His face was an empty mask, eyes guarded. And Anakin hated it.

(Even more he hated that he had seen that look before. That he was the reason it existed in the first place.)

Obi-Wan simply continued to study him. Almost like he was searching for something and was confused that it was not there. Or that he could not find it.

Finally, he met Anakin’s gaze. “That depends on you.” Anakin scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“I’m not the one who keeps avoiding talking.” At that Obi-Wan silently raised an eyebrow. The gesture was very familiar. And very, very frustrating. It made Anakin’s anger flare up again. “You do!” He pointed a finger at Obi-Wan. “You won’t even look at us! I mean, Rex and the men I can understand, sure. But what did I do?”

If Anakin was anyone else, he would have missed the way Obi-Wan tensed, straightening and all but becoming ‘General Kenobi’ right before Anakin’s eyes. Why did he even-? He was trying to pull that off on Anakin? What the… “You know what? Forget it.” Anakin said, turning away from Obi-Wan. “You want to keep your secrets – fine. You’re an expert, after all.” Anakin knew he sounded bitter, but Obi-Wan’s so-called ‘death’ was still weighting down on his mind.

His Master did not trust him. Did not think what it would do to Anakin. And even used Anakin’s feelings to sell off his charade! So yes, Anakin was bitter.

He expected Obi-Wan to change the subject or sigh tiredly and then change the subject. But Obi-Wan did neither. He simply chuckled, making Anakin turn to look at him in surprise.

Obi-Wan was giving him a strange look. There was something in it that Anakin could not decipher. “Like you’re the one to talk.” He then leveled Anakin with a pointed stare. “Padmé.” He clarified, when it became apparent that Anakin was not getting it.

The cavern suddenly became much colder. Or maybe it was just Anakin himself. He stumbled back, staring at Obi-Wan in shock. “You- you know?” He whispered, unsure of why his throat was so dry.

The look Obi-Wan gave him suggested that he thought Anakin was either concussed or incredibly dense. “Anakin, I basically raised you. I can tell if you’re happy or upset, I remember your favorite food and what you don’t like. Of course I know. Stars, the whole 501^st and a good half of 212^th knew! You two were not very subtle.” Anakin swallowed, shaking his head.

The cavern was spinning.

“How long?” Obi-Wan did not seem to understand the implication, so Anakin repeated: “How long have you known?”

Obi-Wan sighed, looking more tired than a moment before. He rubbed his temple. “Since the moment we’ve been assigned to guard her.” Anakin’s ears were ringing, but he was still able to make out Obi-Wan’s words. “I’m not blind, Anakin. Though, I have tried to be, for your sake. And for Padmé’s. You’ve loved her since the day you met, in that horrible junk shop. You’ve never even tried to hide it, thought we did not speak of it. I thought that we… pretended that I did not know. And I was happy to, because it made you happy. But apparently I was wrong.” He then chuckled, shaking his head a little. There was a small, sad smile on his face. “Seems like I was wrong about a lot of things…”

“You knew… and you never told me?” Obi-Wan did not even glance at him. Instead he turned to the side, looking into nothing.

“I hoped that you would come and tell me yourself. I didn’t want to make you feel pressured or like I was spying on you.” Anakin was pretty sure his face was doing some impressive things but Obi-Wan still was not looking at him. “And I knew that you’ve kept some things from me, I understood. Not everything can be told to your Master. I just hoped that one day you would see that you can trust me…”

“Trust you?” Anakin repeated hollowly, his ever-present rage rearing its ugly head again. “How can I trust you? You would have told the Council and they would have happily kicked me out! Trust you.” Anakin started pacing, trying to keep himself focused. “How can I trust you after all you’ve done? You faked your own death, you never tell me anything, I hardly know a thing about your past and oh, did I mention it already? You faked your own karking death!”

All Anakin’s yells were met with calmness. It made him even more mad.

“And Force only knows what else!” He threw his hands up, the pointed at the ceiling. “That girl – Merrin – she is a kriffing Nightsister and she calls herself your daughter. And she certainly looks old enough to be born before Clone Wars. And you do flirt a lot with Ventress. Did you two met before the war? Is it why we have never been able to catch her?” Anakin yelled but then dropped his voice down to a hiss. “Tell me, Master, why are you so hypocritical? You go and get yourself a whole dozen of children and lecture me on the dangers of attachments and love? You, who told Satine that you would’ve left the Order for her! But I have to keep my wife secret, not seeing or talking to her for months, while you kriff around-”

“Wife?”

Obi-Wan’s small voice cut off Anakin’s tirade. He glanced at him, ready to start ranting again but paused. Obi-Wan was white as a sheet, huge gray eyes staring at Anakin.

“Yeah, wife. You said you knew!”

“I knew about you two having feelings for each other, not about the marriage!” Obi-Wan snapped and Anakin reeled back. It took a lot to make Obi-Wan angry. Anakin could recall only two times when it happened. And none of them were his fault, surprisingly. Until now.

Staring off into the distance, Obi-Wan rubbed his beard. “When? When did you get married?”

“After Geonosis.” Anakin replied, startled. Obi-Wan slowly turned and gave him a hard look.

“Please, tell me you mean the second battle.” Anakin fought the urge to avert his eyes, to hide from Obi-Wan’s searching gaze. “Stars, Anakin… you were still a Padawan!” Obi-Wan exclaimed, closing his eyes with his hand.

Something in Anakin snapped. “We were both adults-”

“No, you were not, not by Jedi standards.” Obi-Wan interrupted him. He looked at Anakin like he was seeing a stranger with a familiar face, instead of the man he had raised. “You I can understand. You’ve always been rush and impulsive. But what was Padmé thinking?”

Now, that was not something Anakin could ignore. People who insulted him usually ended up fleeing in fear. But no one could ever insult Padmé in his presence and leave intact. No one. “She loves me and I love her! Why is it so hard for the Jedi to understand? Why do you have to forbid love and make us all miserable?”

Obi-Wan’s face hardened. “Anakin, Jedi do not forbid love, but attachment. Love is pure and selfless. Attachment is selfish and possessive. It’s about disregarding a person’s right to have a choice, about wanting to control their every move. It’s about the fear that comes with attachment – the fear of losing it. This fear leads to the Dark Side. That’s the difference. If you truly loved Padmé, you would have never married her.”

“What?” Anakin snarled. “I love Padmé more than anything in this Galaxy!”

The sad look Obi-Wan gave him made no sense at all. “I know. That’s the problem.” Anakin stumbled back as if slapped. Obi-Wan continued just looking at him. “The vow that Jedi take when they are knighted. Remember it? ‘To put your duties to the Galaxy first.’ You are doing exactly the opposite. Not only your marriage contradicted the Jedi vows, it also placed Padmé and the Order in serious danger. What would happen if the knowledge of your marriage ever becomes public? It would be a PR nightmare.”

“Oh, so it’s all about the image for you.” Anakin bit back.

“Yes, Anakin.” Obi-Wan replied sternly. “It is!” He took a step closer but did not seem to notice it. “Padmé was a Senator who publicly supported the Jedi. And if people found out that her husband was a Jedi, then her every decision would be called into question. She could have lost her position, completely destroyed her career and lost all the progress she had made in the Senate, not to mention the backlash the Order would have been forced to deal with. Have you ever thought of that?”

Speechless, Anakin shook his head. Obi-Wan’s shoulders sagged tiredly. “Of course not.” He murmured in defeat.

They were silent for several minutes, recovering from their argument.

Obi-Wan broke the silence first. “Look, just ask whatever you wanted to ask. I have places to be.” Anakin gulped, all fight gone. Obi-Wan sounded so… empty. So unlike the Obi-Wan Anakin knew. It was a terrible sight. And Anakin desperately wanted to fix it.

“Right.” Anakin bit his lip. “Rex thinks Palpatine is the Sith Lord.” He blurted out.

His statement received him a blank stare. “He is.” Obi-Wan confirmed tonelessly. “Is that all?” He asked, seemingly ignoring Anakin’s dropped jaw.

“What?! No! How can it be? Why did we never notice? Obi-Wan-”

“My name is Ben.” Obi-Wan said firmly. “And I don’t know. I’ve been busy here.”

All guilt and shame fled Anakin at the remainder. “Right. Too busy playing babysitter while the Galaxy goes to Hell. Or is it suddenly okay, because they’re your children?” He smirked at the flash of pain on his old Master’s face. Good. Let him feel like Anakin had been feeling. “How can you lecture me about duty and Padmé when you’re not following your own teachings?”

“Do you seriously think that you are the only Jedi to ever fall in love?” Obi-Wan asked, confusing Anakin with the sudden question. He held his hand up and pointed at the ceiling. “Venku’s mother was a Jedi Knight. She died protecting him. Both Galen’s parents were Jedi. They are both one with the Force as well.” Obi-Wan’s voice was steady and cold. Anakin took a careful step back. “Kanan and Terra were both Jedi Padawans. Their Masters died to save them from the clones. And after all this pain and suffering they endured for others, for each other, you are trying to tell me that Jedi do not love? Just how full of yourself are you to miss it?”

The voice cracked but a moment later Obi-Wan looked as composed as ever. “My teachings… One needs to be a Jedi to follow them.” Obi-Wan looked Anakin dead in the eyes. “And I am no Jedi.”

***

Dodging yet another canon blast, Ben gave into the urge to curse.

Out of all the times the Force had prodded at him, this one had to be the most inconvenient.

It was supposed to be a simple recon mission. In and out. But of course it went wrong even before Ben had stepped on the planet’s surface. It certainly was not his fault this time. The pirates did not seem to agree though…

And the Force decided that this moment was just perfect to give him another tug. A very strong, very distracting tug.

Ben swore again and swerved around one of the pirates’ fighters. These things were annoyingly fast. Or maybe Ben simply was not paying enough attention. It didn’t matter since the result was the same – Ben’s ship got hit and now was falling, caught by the planet’s ATMO.

Alarms blazed all over the ship along with red lights and the hissing sound something in the back made. Ben really hoped that whatever it was, it would last long enough and would not explode in the middle of his crash. Kanan would never let him live it down. Well, if he survived and all.

Thankfully, the Force must have been feeling merciful, (or maybe just apologetic) and Ben had managed to grab his bag and jump out of the ship before it blew up.

He stared at the burning pieces of metal that used to be his ship and sighed. Looking around, Ben could not help but sigh again.

Kashyyyk. Why did it have to be Kashyyyk?

Shouldering the bag, Ben adjusted his armor slightly and stepped into the dense jungle.

This whole situation was nothing but a massive headache. And Ben had only been trying to find a way to get his boys new lightsabers. Ilum was out of their reach, with Empire controlling all space around it. But Ben remembered Yoda mentioning something about another source of kyber crystals, which the Jedi didn’t use, since the location of the cave had been deemed even more dangerous than a trip to Ilum.

But Ben had no choice.

He had not touched his own lightsaber in a very long time. Its’ been collecting dust in the hidden chest in Ben’s room. Along with Ana- Vader’s old weapon.

Letting the hurt into the Force, Ben pressed on. The heat would have been unbearable but since his armor had a cooling system, Ben could actually enjoy his impromptu stroll.

So, hoping that Suu would be able to successfully deal with the kids, now that she had her prothesis, Ben gave his boys a stern warning, which he was sure they opted to ignore, and left. He did not say why or where, not wanting to get Terra and Kanan’s hopes up.

He saw Terra watching Kanan’s training with a look of longing on his face. Sure, he did the katas with Kanan but he could only do so much without a lightsaber. The boy had never said anything, but Ben just knew. Like he knew that Terra struggled with his powers, not really understanding them. There was a time when Terra hid from everyone, refusing to touch anything. He lasted for three days, before Ben had managed to track him down, bundle him in Ben’s own robe and a set of brand-new gloves that were too big for him.

At least Ben was able to help with that. He had grabbed the gloves automatically, when he was packing his belongings in the dead-silent Temple. It was a second nature to him, keeping a pair of sealed gloves on his person, knowing how often Quinlan ended up without a string of clothes on him. While usually Vos was able to control his psychometry, sometimes it was just too much. Ben could never forget the nights he had spent comforting Quinlan after his friend dreamt about his parents’ death. And now, with Terra’s psychometric powers waking up, it felt like Ben was living through those moments again.

In the end it wasn’t much of a debate. Besides, Luke and Ezra would need training lightsabers soon. Hence Ben’s search for the place he had heard of only once literally years ago. Great.

Ducking under a low branch, Ben turned on his scanner. He did not pick up any life signatures which was rather worrying. Wookiees were not a quiet sort. Neither they were stealthy. There should be Wookiees all around the place. But not even a stray animal passed Ben in an hour of his track.

Something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

(When was it ever right?)

Ben felt truly relieved that he had let Terra talk him into changing his paintjob. With his armor being mostly green and brown, he did not stand out too much among the greenery of Kashyyyk. He had a feeling he might need to be subtle.

It took Ben another three hours to reach a settlement. He did not notice it at first, and would have missed it completely if the tug did not yank him again.

Stopping, Ben carefully examined his surroundings. Nothing seemed different – just the same green forest and a huge mountain, covered in vines. But then he took a closer look.

The vines looked a little too perfect. All leaves were bright green with no yellow or blue in sight. And they all were the same size. Ben reached out to touch it and almost fell right through the vines. He held himself upright and reached out again, only this time he pulled the vines to the side.

Instead of a mountain side the was a dark tunnel, leading inside the mountain.

Ben looked around carefully and stepped inside, letting the vines hide him.

His HUD did not detect anything and the Force was quiet too, if only a little apprehensive. Everything was fine right now, but it would not be in the near future. Ben sighed, closing his eyes and immersing himself in the Force.

He examined the tug with a careful eye. The lines were brighter than ever, and there were three of them. One dim and rather thin, which Ben came to associate with Force-null. Well, at least now Din would have someone to bond over not being a ‘space wizard’. Ben almost snorted at the thought.

The other two lines led to someone Force-sensitive. However, one was much brighter than other, almost pulsing with the power. Ben could not imagine who he would fine on the other side.

Could it possibly be a Jedi? Another survivor, like Ben? The Force seemed to lead him toward children in need, most of the time. But he did find Suu, and she had her own line. So it was possible that the bright line would connect Ben with an adult Jedi. But he did not let that hope grow. Better not.

Ben opened his eyes and pressed on. Soon he saw a light at the end of the tunnel and his HUD finally detected the movement. Two figures, to be exact, standing guard next to the tunnel’s exit. Judging by their outlines, these were Wookiees.

For a moment, Ben contemplated whatever he should announce himself or not. The decision was taken away from him by an explosion somewhere close.

Both Wookiees bolted into the direction of the explosion, Ben following silently out of their sight. He looked around quickly.

The tunnel opened into a spacious valley, surrounded on almost all sides by mountains and overgrown with enormous trees, making it almost impossible to detect it from the air or from the side. On the branches of several particularly old trees, there were round buildings that served as houses for Wookiees. And three of them were burning.

Ben tried to find a source of the commotion and his heart sank.

Stormtroopers.

There were stormtroopers everywhere.

Did he bring them here? Were they following his trail? Ben shook himself off, shooting a stormtrooper who tried to sneak on the guard Wookiee.

It was pure instinct after that – he shot and ducked and deflected blaster bolts. He covered Wookiees’ backs and they covered him too. And then Ben’s speakers picked up a familiar sound, causing him to freeze for a moment.

Someone had turned on a lightsaber.

Ben forcibly made himself move again, ignoring his burning desire to look around, to look, to reach out for the Force and see if it was someone he knew.

Now was not the time for it. He had a battle to win.

Occasionally he would hear the buzzing of the lightsaber, the bolt being deflected by the blade. The thud of falling bodies.

Together, they’ve managed to drive the stormtroopers away, out of the valley and behind the Wookiees’ defensive line. The guard Ben had saved assured him that they would be able to hold on from here and then promptly grabbed him in a death grip.

Ben could not say that he was surprised. He had seen it coming. That he did not expect, however, was to be brought in front of the Jedi and unceremoniously dropped on the ground. In less than twenty seconds he had twelve blasters and one lightsaber pointed at him.

Lifting his head up, Ben studied the man before him.

He looked to be in his mid-thirties, but one would never guess with a Jedi. His face was half hidden by the hood, which also partially covered the armor on his chest. Ben stopped looking at his opponent, instead he opened his shields a little and reached out through the Force. Stars bless Quinlan Vos for being such an annoying bastard. Without him, Ben would have never learned to assess someone with the Force, while staying undetected.

This skill had come in handy more than once before and now was no exception.

The man was definitely a trained Force-sensitive individual, his shielding was too good for someone self-taught. And the ‘saber – Ben could recognize the markings on it. he had seen them before. In the Main Temple.

He did not allow himself to relax, though. Just because this man had allegedly used to be a Jedi, it did not mean that he would be kind to Ben right now.

So Ben just tilted his head a little and waited. He did not have to wait for long.

“Now, let’s make it simple – you tell me who you are and how you got here and no one will be hurt.”

The Force twinkled with unease, showing that the man’s words were not entirely truthful. But Ben did not need it to know that. The man’s eyes give everything away.

At least the situation was not new to Ben. “I’ll tell you my name if you tell me yours.” He rasped, wishing he had taken a sip from his flask while he was still in that tunnel. It was too hot.

The man brought his lightsaber closer to Ben’s neck and leaned forward. “You will tell me now, hunter, or I’ll relieve your body of the burden of your head.”

Ben did not know what possessed him to look up and say: “I’m just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe.” He cocked his head. “But you can call me Mando.”

Oh, the irony.

No one noticed when Ben snorted to himself. “Marek.” The man answered after a beat of silence, glancing at his companions. The Wookiees felt tense, but were gradually relaxing. The one who Ben had saved even spoke up in his defense. Ben apricated the effort, so he gave him a small nod of gratitude. The gesture did not escape Marek’s notice. The man narrowed his eyes and tipped his lightsaber a little.

“Up.” He ordered. Ben slowly stood up, making sure to keep his hands in sight. “Follow me.”

Ben was led through the still burning settlement. The deeper they went, the less damage Ben saw. “What’s happening here?”

Marek shot him a quick look over his shoulder. “Same as everywhere else – Empire.”

Well… he was not wrong per say…

Eventually, Ben got thrown into a cozy wooden cell. He’d spent more time in worse. And no one had bothered to get his weapons. Either because they didn’t think he had it, which would be incredibly stupid, or because they didn’t think he could do a lot of damage with the arsenal that he had on him, which was doubly as bad. The golden rule of a good bounty hunter – never underestimate your opponent. And overestimate your own strength.

Marek nodded to the Wookiees and they left, leaving them alone. While Ben was quite comfortable standing, Marek grabbed a hair and settled into it, eyes staying on Ben the whole time.

“I will ask again and you will answer – how did you get here?” The words were accompanied by a mind suggestion, a poor one, especially when directed at the individual wearing beskar helmet. But well, Ben could humor the man. Maybe he would be able to gain his trust and get a new ship.

“I was hit by pirates. My ship crashed about three hours’ walk from here. It was a chance that I found your settlement.”

Judging by the look Marek was giving him, he did not quite believe Ben. Suppressing a sigh, Ben reached to the Force and lightly brushed Marek’s shields.

The man startled so hard, he fell off his chair. Ben silently watched him gape on the floor. “You- what?”

Ben slowly lifted his hands and equally slowly took off his helmet. He saw the moment Marek recognized him, his lips forming around his name. Ben shook his head, pressing his finger to his own lips. Marek instantly shut his jaw. Ben lowered the helmet back on. He felt safer like that, less exposed. And an installed vocoder that changed his voice certainly helped.

“No one can know. Can I trust you on that?” Marek nodded, finally picking himself off the floor and opening the cell. Ben nodded his thanks and stepped out. “Now, can you tell me a little about your situation here, Knight Marek, right? Or was it Master?”

Marek shook his head. “Knight. I left the Order before I could get the rank of the Master.” Ben nodded and gestured for him to go on. “Right. The Empire has been raiding here almost since its existence. Sometimes slavers come. Recently, there have been more Imperials. We can’t drive them away for long – they always come back.”

The Force around Marek felt like misery and grief.

“That’s not all.” Ben prodded gently. He had a hunch about what he would likely hear next, but he prayed that he was wrong. For once, let him be wrong.

Letting out a long breath, Marek dropped his head down. “My wife – Mallie – she has been killed two years ago. Slavers.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Ben murmured, knowing that his words were a cold comfort. Marek waved him off.

“I don’t need your apology. What I need is to know what happened.” He rounded on Ben, staring at his visor. “Why did the Force seem to explode one day and the Darkness took over everything?”

Ben found himself surprised. “You don’t know?”

“We don’t exactly keep up with the news here. Besides, its all Imperial propaganda.” Ben nodded absently, only half-listening. How could he even begin to explain that day? It was agony to simply remember it. For them all.

Needing comfort, Ben reached out to the Force and immediately fell to his knees, gasping for air.

Marek was talking, voice alarmed, but Ben could not hear a single word. His ears were pounding, blood rushing up in terror.

“He’s here.” He rasped, not sure if it was aloud or not. “Vader is here.”

Not yet on the surface, but still rather close. Ben felt the familiar Dark presence slowly creeping over the planet. He stood up abruptly, yanking Marek to his feet as well. “We need to move if we want to escape.”

“What? No, we can’t just leave!” Marek exclaimed, jerking his arm out of Ben’s grip. “The Wookiees count on me, I can’t leave them to fend for themselves.”

“It will be much worse if Vader finds you here.” Ben cut in. “He will wipe all of them for harboring a Jedi. If we leave now, they might still have a chance.”

Marek swallowed heavily. He felt torn in the Force and Ben could sympathize, he really did. It tore his heart to leave people in trouble. But he had a mission. And children. He could not be caught here. He would not.

Finally, Marek gave Ben a small nod and stepped away. “I’ll just grab my staff and we can leave.”

Ben started shaking his head even before Marek finished talking. “We have to leave immediately.”

“My son is here!” Marek exclaimed desperately and everything stilled for a moment.

The tug pulsed.

Ben’s heart clenched.

Oh.

So that’s who he was here for. Marek’s son. Ben just hoped that Marek would not fall into the pattern and leave his son orphaned.

Nodding sharply, Ben urged Marek forward. “Then let’s move. Fast.”

If Ben was not Force-sensitive he would have sworn that Marek was using Force Dash. But it was fear that gave Marek speed – a fear for his child.

He burst into a small hut with a yell: “Galen!” Ben followed him in and found Marek kneeling in front of a small boy. Stars, he looked so young, Luke and Ezra’s age most likely. The kid stared at his father with huge eyes, nodding at whatever he was saying. Then the boy rushed out and returned with a duffel bag. Marek picked him up and faced Ben. “Let’s go. The ships are on the platform across.”

But apparently this was the end of Ben’s luck, because as soon as they left the hut, they were met by a hail of blaster bolts. Ben instinctively pushed Marek aside, taking the fire on himself and shooting back. Marek set Galen down and took him by the shoulders. “Listen carefully, son. Now this nice man and I will distract the bad guys, and you will quietly and unnoticeably make your way to the ships. Do you remember which one is ours?” Galen nodded, his eyes wide with fear. “Good, good. Not a sound, remember? On my command... run!”

Marek rushed forward like a man possessed. Ben stayed where he was, covering Galen. The boy was running in the direction of the hangar, at least that’s what Ben assumed. Almost without thinking, Ben grabbed the bag Marek had left on the ground and slung it over his shoulder.

He lost track of time, focusing only on keeping Galen safe. That’s why he didn’t notice a newcomer until it was too late.

Just as Ben shoot another stormtrooper, Marek suddenly went flying. He landed in a heap, but recovered quickly, adapting an Ataru opening stance.

Vader silently observed him. The stormtroopers stopped shooting and Ben felt frozen on a spot. So far, Vader’s attention was only on Marek, almost like he did not notice Ben at all. That thought hit Ben harder than a bantha could. Vader did not sense him. Vader did not sense him!

Slowly, he inched back, retreating and searching for a better position.

Marek glanced at the side, catching Ben’s gaze briefly. He mouthed a silent ‘go’ and lunched himself on Vader.

He never stood a chance.

Vader deflected his every attack almost lazily. His movements were short and precise, but there was a sense of boredom around him that terrified Ben. He disarmed Marek and lifted him in the air by his throat.

Ben was too far to hear what Vader was saying, but even he heard a desperate “DAD!” from Galen. The boy almost darted toward Vader, But Ben caught him just in time.

Slowly, Vader turned his head to look at them.

Galen was struggling in Ben’s hold, kicking and screaming, demanding to be let go now!

Vader snapped Marek’s neck without taking his eyes off Galen.

The ripple of shock that Galen projected was felt even through Ben’s shields. He tightened his hold on the boy and took a step back.

“NO!” Galen screamed, throwing his little hand up.

And Vader went flying.

Ben did not think. He just took the opportunity and ran.

Trusting the Force to guide him, Ben ran without paying attention to his surroundings. He paid dearly for that.

A scream of warning from the Force – and something hot slammed into his side, between the seams of his armor. Ben fell to his knees, stubbornly keeping hold on Galen.

His side burned, and when he looked down, he understood why.

There was a lightwhip in his side. And then it was ripped away just as suddenly as it appeared. Ben followed its movement to its owner.

A humanoid in bright red clothing, anything else was too blurred by Ben’s vision. Still, he saw enough to make a shot. The red blub deflected it, giving Ben the precious seconds to grab a bomb from his belt and threw it at it.

Not stopping to see it he hit the target, Ben ran again.

The pain was blinding, but not nearly as distracting as one would think. Ben’s pain tolerance was pretty high. He had Ventress and Dooku to thank for it.

He did not remember stumbling into a ship. Or turning on the engine and leaving the ATMO. He certainly could not recall pinching some random coordinates in and jumping into hyperspace, safe from any ships that might have followed.

He did, however, remember stripping down his chest and back plates, his ruined kute, and dropping on the cot with a shaking Galen. The boy clung to him, silent and obviously terrified. He remembered letting Galen bury his face in his neck and cry, while Ben gently rubbed his back and murmured nonsense under his breath.

Unfortunately, Ben’s own bag had been lost somewhere during the run. There was not much in it, just some medical supplies and food. Nothing to hint on his identity, occupation or the location of his home. Yet, Ben still needed to do something to the wound in his side. And keep them both fed and hydrated.

Mindful of a sleeping child who also wrapped around him like an octopus, Ben slowly started examining the ship he was in. He found several boxes with ration bars and water bottles, as well as two mid-sized med-kits. There he got some bacta and bandages to dress his side.

Galen ate and drunk without much fuss, but refused to leave Ben’s arms even for a moment. Not that Ben minded it. He understood the need of comfort and did his best to give it.

The course he had set needed to be checked. Ben had to make sure they were not going to fly into some sun. But the Force was so soothing and warm that Ben did not even notice when he fell asleep.

Waking up to a blaster pointed at his face was, sadly, not a new experience to Ben.

So he had long since trained himself out of responding with the Force. Even in his half-conscious state. He was not sure what was happening – his memory was fuzzy – he just knew that he had a child to protect and there were intruders on his ship.

The person pointing a blaster at him was speaking. Ben could not understand them through the buzzing in his ears. He just carefully inched away, clutching Galen closer.

With his usual senses falling, Ben reached out with the Force. There were six people on his ship who were not here before, all their presences muffled weirdly. Ben could not decide whatever it was because of his strange state of being only half-awake, or because these people were somehow hiding themselves.

But he could still feel Galen, the boy was absolutely out of his mind with fear. Ben would bet his lightsaber that Galen’s tiny hands left a lot of bruises on his shoulders. Knowing that Galen could spiral into a panic attack or something similar, Ben wrapped him in his own shields and Force presence, while also tugging the boy closer and hiding him from the sight as much as possible.

The blaster lowered a little, then was dropped down completely. There were voices, none of which Ben could understand. Someone tried to put a hand on his arm and Ben reflectively whipped a knife from his armor and stabbed the hand. The person shouted – not in pain, but rather in surprise and it set off the rest of the people, who all started shouting too. Galen whimpered, shifting down to hide his face in Ben’s neck. Apparently, the move did not go unnoticed and the person before Ben yelled something, immediately shutting up the rest. Narrowing his eyes, Ben tried to squint at them.

Gold colored armor, a buy’ce- oh no.

These were Mandalorians. Ben bit back a hysterical laugh. Out of all people…

The Mandalorian was talking again, this time quieter and softer, like Ben was some kind of injured tooka.

Ben still could not get the words, so he shook his head, blinking hard to get the sweat out of his eyes.

When did it get so hot?

And who was playing with lights? Ben wanted to tell them to stop lowering it, but the darkness took him first.

Waking up to a beeping of heart monitor was not a new experience either. Just one that Ben did not get to live through in the last couple of years.

Ben blinked at the dark wooden ceiling, trying to get his brain to work. He felt woozy – meaning he was probably drugged. Lovely. At least there were no restrains on him. But there was something else. Something warm and moving slightly. Ben looked down and found a small kid passed out on his chest, face slaked and relaxed in his sleep. Without thinking, Ben smoothed Galen’s hair out of his face, making the boy frown a little.

“He refused to leave your side. Even when we were changing the dressing on your wound.”

Slowly, Ben raised his head to stare at the speaker. It was the same Mandalorian who was threatening him with a blaster. Just this time his buy’ce was off. He had short white hair and small facial features. And he was apparently waiting for some kind of response.

“He has his reasons.” Ben rasped and immediately started coughing. The man stepped closer and held a glass of water with a straw to Ben. He took it with a small nod.

“I am horrified at the thought of what reasons a little boy might have for holding on to you like that.” Ben refused to show any sight of wariness, only raising an eyebrow in a silent question. The Mandalorian cocked his head. “Why do you have a child that clearly doesn’t belong to you, General Kenobi?”

Well, the loth-cat was out of the bag. Ben almost sighed. He was not that recognizable – he had dyed his hair black again, and shaved. And he wore a buy’ce all the time, just to be safe.

No matter.

Ben put an empty glass on a nearby stand. “He might as well be mine. His father was killed not so long ago. I’m his guardian now.”

“He has the Force.”

Now, that was interesting, Ben looked at the Mandalorian closer. He was a Force-null, but somehow knew about Galen. “Does he now?” Ben mused, not denying but not confirming either.

The Mandalorian rolled his eyes. “The kid threw my verde across the room when you passed out. He was very distraught, General.”

“You have me at a disadvantage here. You know who I am, but I don’t even know your name.” Ben said, trying to get the Mandalorian’s attention off Galen. At least until Ben filtered out the drugs and found his beskar’gam.

Frowning, the man thought for a moment, then exhaled. “Kal Skirata.”

Ben nodded. “Ben Kenobi.” He introduced himself. Skirata huffed.

“So you’re one of us now?” He asked, pointing to the side with his chin. Ben followed his gesture and saw his beskar lying neatly on a small stand. Something uncoiled inside Ben and he almost sighed in relief. Skirata snorted. “Some house you chose.” Ben simply shrugged, closing his eyes.

“Didn’t have much of a choice.” He slurred, then looked at Skirata with a frown. “You’re taking it well. Too well.”

Skirata snorted again. “You’re not the first Jedi to change sides, Kenobi. I’ve got one in my clan myself.”

Huh. Ben did not think about it like that before. But well, why would he?

“Where am I?” He asked, looking around.

“My house. My clan and I found your ship drifting in space. No one answered when hailed, so we let ourselves in. Imagine my surprise when we found a half-dead Jetii with an adiik clinging to him like a damn loth-cat to a mouse-droid.”

Ben frowned. Yeah, that could not have been a pretty picture. “And where is your home?”

Skirata sighed, like he knew that Ben would not give up. And also would not like the answer.

“Mandalore.”

Ben spent two days in bed at Kal’s insistence. During that time, the only people he saw were Galen and Kal.

The boy had practically hugged the live out of Ben when he saw him awake. He still did not talk, but Ben had an inkling that he would not talk in a long time. It was alright.

So he spent the days teaching Galen some simple signs from BSL. The boy learned them fast and, in a day and a half he knew how to spell his own name, Ben’s name and names of a lot of items they had in a room. They even came up with a sign specifically for their names.

When Galen’s mood darkened, Ben would let him snuggle closer and start telling him stories – of his past, present and future. Some fairy-tales he had heard during his travels. Some funny accidents his ade had caused.

Sometimes Ben felt a curious touch brush along his shields. It was untrained and clumsy, but Ben answered with a gentle nudge every time. He did not know who was that, but he suspected that it would be the owner of the second line.

Ben chuckled. It seemed the Force itself made him put in those coordinates.

At the end of the second day, Ben was waiting for Kal to come see them. But instead, the door creaked and someone else slipped in. A small ad with curious eyes and strong presence in the Force. He lit up when he saw them on the bed and Ben felt a familiar by now touch on his shields.

Galen was staring at the boy with huge eyes, projecting shock and curiosity. Well, he had been living on Kashyyyk all his live. Ben doubted he had ever seen another humanoid child, so his confusion made sense.

“Who’re you?” The kid asked grumpily.

Ben’s lips twitched in amusement. “Hello, ad’ika. I’m Ben, this is Galen. Would you like to come sit with us?” He gestured at the chair Kal usually sat in during his visits. The ad took his time to think about the offer then climbed up into the chair.

As soon as he was sat, he turned his whole attention on Galen, looking at the other boy with undisguised interest, while still frowning. Galen just stared back. Ben bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.

Then the ad frowned even deeper. “I can’t feel you. Why?” He asked, scrunching his nose in displease.

“It’s called shielding, little one.” Ben explained, shifting Galen a little closer to the ad so both boys could look at him. “It’s something people like me do in order to keep hidden.”

The ad nodded slowly. “Uh-oh. I know ‘bout it. My ori’vod Bardan shields too. But I can feel him. You I don’t. Why?”

Ah, Bardan must be the Jedi Kal had mentioned. Ben made a mental note to ask about him later. “Maybe your ori’vod has weaker shields. I keep mine tight, so bad people could not find me.”

“An interesting story you’re telling.” Came Kal’s voice from the door.

“Ba’buir Kal!” The ad exclaimed, suddenly skittish. Kal gave him a stern look, then sighed, came closer and lifted him off the chair, sat down himself and let the ad plop down on his lap.

Galen shifted, leaning more into Ben’s side, watching Kal warily. He still did not trust anyone who was not Ben.

“How are you feeling today?” Kal asked. Ben almost shrugged.

“Better.”

This time Kal gave him a stern look. “Kad’ika, how about you show Galen your new toy?”

Kad’s expression became speculative. He looked Galen up and down, then nodded reluctantly. He reached out for Galen, but the boy flinched away, making Kad jerk back as well. Ben sighed, rubbing Galen’s back soothingly.

He leaned down, murmuring into Galen’s ear. “You don’t have to leave the room. I’m sure Kad will be just as happy to play with you here, what do you say?” He coaxed gently. Galen hesitated, lowering his head down.

Little Kad shrugged. “We can play without toys. Ori’vod teached me a game ‘push a feather’ and we need somefing small.” He suggested quietly.

“Taught, Kad’ika.” Kal corrected, giving Kad a small paper ball. “You two can play here, just sit on the carpet. Is it alright?” He asked Galen.

The boy looked at him for a long moment, then threw his head up to look at Ben. “I’m not going anywhere.” Ben promised, letting his sincerity engulf Galen. “Go.” He urged softly and smiled when both boys climbed down and sat on the carpet in the corner.

Ben shook his head turning to Kal and caught him watching Ben with a strange look on his face. “You’re good with kids.” Ben tilted his head, waiting. “I didn’t expect it from a Jetii.”

“I’ve been told I’m full of surprises.” Ben replied. “But I doubt you’re here to discuss my parenting skills.”

Chuckling, Kal cast a glance at Kad and Galen, playing quietly together. “You’d be surprised…”

“You know, when Kad was younger he was such a sweet boy, always laughing and smiling. He changed when his mother marched away.” Ben kept quiet, letting Kal gather his thoughts. “And his powers… Last time he got surprised he made a whole chest explode. Before that he had almost fell off the window trying to chase the butterfly. He used this ‘force’ to get to the windowsill. It’s dangerous. He can’t control it and it scares him. I can’t help him with it, cannot teach him to control it.”

“What about the Jetii you adopted?” Ben prompted, when Kal fell silent for too long.

Kal shook his head with a heavy sigh. “He can’t teach Kad.” He replied. “Said he did not learn much himself. The war made it impossible.”

Again, Ben was reminded of things the Sith had forced them into. Letting Padawans into the active zone, basically turning them into child soldiers. Robbing them off the chance to learn about the Force and the true purpose of the Order.

“It’s a shame.” Ben heard himself saying. “But why are you telling me this?” He knew the answer, could feel it in the Force. But he needed Kal to say it. To know that he was not breaking a family. To not feel like a child-snatcher.

Kal did not look away from the boys. “I want you to teach Kad.”

It was just what Ben had expected. “I can’t stay here.” He said quietly, making Kal finally look at him.

“You and your ad will be safe here.”

Ben shook his head slowly. “We’re not the only ones.” He hesitated only for a moment, but still used the Force to summon a small holodisk that he kept in his armor to his hand. He turned it on and passed it to Kal wordlessly.

The man accepted it and just stared. “They’re all yours?” He breathed out. Ben nodded. “Well, you do have and armful already…”

“I still have place for more.”

“…I can’t give Kad to someone without a proper House.”

Ben resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Stubborn traditionalists. Sure, he did not agree with Satine’s methods but her desire for peace was honorable. Unreachable, but still nice. Besides, there were no other clans to pledge his alliance to.

But when he told Kal so, the man simply shook his head. “As long as Haat’ade are alive, the Resol’nare also lives. I’ve been loyal to Mereel since the begging and it will never change.”

He rested his hand on Ben’s arm. “You’re a good man, Ben, trust me, I checked. Now, you just need to make a choice.”

Three days later, Ben left Mandalore with two children, three bags and a new House and new paintjob.

The breakdown of the ship on some shabby planet where they stopped for supplies was not part of Ben’s plans.

Neither was stumbling over a young teen, trying to steal parts of Ben’s ship while was away to buy a new cooling system.

It was quite a sight – a teen in ragged clothes cursing a storm at Kad (who preferred to be called Venku at public), who got a dead grip on his leg, while Galen was wrapped around his waist, making it impossible to move.

Ben simply stopped to watch. The kids were yet to notice him, so he had some time to observe the situation.

The teen was tall and lanky. Obviously malnourished. Clothes too old and a bit big for him. Same with the shoes. He was in need of a haircut. From the looks of it, he also had a knife or a vibroblade tucked away under his belt. Well, at least he was decent enough not to use it against children. Good to know.

Squinting at the trio, Ben reached into the Force and sighed.

Of course this kid was the third. Why not?

At the sound of Ben’s sigh, the teen whipped his head around to stare at him. His eyes went wide.

Well. Ben knew he was intimidating in full beskar’gam and an array of weapons visible on him. So he took off his buy’ce and gave the teen a tired look.

“You know a decent mechanic around here?”

The teen stopped trying to shake Venku and Galen off, giving Ben a suspicious look.

“Why should I tell you?” He challenged, raising his chin. Ben just gestured at the parts in his hands.

“Because I have no clue in hell how to install it all.” The teen narrowed his eyes at Ben. Sighing again, Ben reached into his belt and drew a small bag of credits. “I’ll pay you. Here’s more than you will possibly get if you try to sell those.” Ben nodded at the parts lying haphazardly on the floor.

Hazel eyes darted to the parts and the teen gulped. “I can do it.” He declared, louder than intended, judging by his wince. Ben waved a hand at him.

“Go ahead. Boys, let go.”

It took the teen half an hour to stop glancing at Ben every five minutes and really focus on the job. He was done with everything in two hours.

“I don’t know where you got this piece of junk but I bet it’ll fall apart in a very near future if someone doesn’t do anything.” The teen informed Ben, while wiping his greasy hands off some towel. Ben shrugged.

“I’m not sure any of my boys would be interested in that.” He mused, silently regarding the teen. “You can take it, if you want.”

“What?” The teen exclaimed, staring at Ben like he had lost all his marbles. Which he did not. He just had a few loose ones. Probably. Maybe. It was not important right now.

Ben gestured at the ship. “You can come with us and take the ship with you when we reach our destination.”

The teen took a small step away from Ben. “Riiight…”  He drawled. “You will give it to me just out of the goodness of your heart.” His voice was filled with so much sarcasm, that it reminded Ben of Ahsoka. He chuckled, shaking his head a little.

“Not really. You’re going to be my co-pilot and a mechanic. I say this ship is a good payment for the job, don’t you think?” Ben cast a look at two sleeping children near him. “Besides, I can’t watch them and pilot the ship at the same time.”

“How can I trust you?” The teen crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t even know you.”

Ben tapped at his chest plate, drawing teen’s attention to it. “See that? It’s beskar – Mandalorian iron. I am part of True Mandalorians and we will never, under any circumstances, hurt a child. You have my word.”

Shifting, the teen gave him another gloomy look. “I heard about Mandalorians. Thought y’all died.” He eyed Ben’s armor then glanced at Galen and Venku. “What do I call ya?”

“Ben Kenobi.”

“Han.”

By the time they reached Tatooine, Han had decided to stay.