Chapter Text
“I don’t want you to go!”
Obi-Wan Kenobi sighed as he hugged the little blond that was currently clinging to him, and had, indeed, been clinging to him since before he’d even woken up this morning. “I know,” he said. “But the sooner I find the artifact, the sooner we can get back to normal.”
Tiny Anakin Skywalker had Obi-Wan’s tunics in a death grip that Obi-Wan was pretty sure was also Force-assisted. “Are you sure I can’t come?” he sniffled.
“The Council doesn’t want you in danger. This sector has been secured, so you’ll be safer here than where I’m going,” Obi-Wan said patiently. They’d had this argument last night. His answer hadn’t changed.
“Why are they letting you go into danger, then?” Anakin asked scornfully.
“Because I’m experienced,” Obi-Wan said. “I’ve had twelve years of training and been on dozens of missions. Besides, Count Dooku is my grandmaster. The journey might be dangerous, since Sevarcos is in Separatist territory, but I have nothing to fear from Count Dooku himself. He decided that he didn’t like being a Jedi, but I’m sure he still likes me .”
Obi-Wan wasn’t sure, actually, considering he’d never once met the man in his thirteen years as Qui-Gon’s padawan, but he wasn’t going to tell Anakin that. If Master Yoda was so certain that Count Dooku would help them, he probably didn’t dislike Obi-Wan, at least.
He tried to pull away. Anakin buried his face in Obi-Wan’s tunic. “I don’t want you to go,” Anakin repeated. Mumbling, he said, “I just have a feeling it’s gonna go bad, and I don’t want you to die! ”
“I promise not to die,” Obi-Wan said. “Okay?”
Anakin squeezed his sides. “Okay,” he mumbled. “ Please can I come?”
Obi-Wan decided he needed to use a different argumentative strategy. If Anakin could not be persuaded to give up his fear, then Obi-Wan needed to redirect it into a new goal. “No,” he said. “I need someone to stay behind just in case something does go wrong, alright? Who’s going to be the rescue squad if both of us are in trouble and Ahsoka is stuck here?”
Anakin pulled back to look Obi-Wan in the eye, and nodded solemnly. “I’ll be your rescue squad,” he said.
“I can’t imagine anyone I would trust more,” Obi-Wan said. “But if you do need to come rescue me, please do make sure to bring someone else who knows how to fly a ship in hyperspace, alright?”
“Okay,” Anakin said.
“Be good for Ahsoka, okay?” Obi-Wan said, as Anakin finally released everything but his hand.
“Ahsoka doesn’t like me,” Anakin said.
“Ahsoka barely knows you,” Obi-Wan said. “I’m sure by the time I get back you and she will be best friends.”
“You don’t know that,” Anakin whined.
“I can feel it in the Force,” Obi-Wan said, with a teasing smile.
“Banthashit,” Anakin said.
Obi-Wan sighed. “Don’t swear, Anakin.”
He swung his pack onto his shoulder and stood up, wincing slightly as the blaster wound he’d managed to get in the last battle twinged. Medic Kix had said he needed to stay on light-duty restrictions for twenty-four hours, but Obi-Wan was starting to get the feeling that it was going to ache for a bit longer than that.
Obi-Wan held out a hand, and asked, “Do you want to walk with me to the ship?”
Anakin nodded, and they made their way down to the hangar. Padawan Ahsoka Tano and R2-D2 were already there, and Commander Cody and Captain Rex were just finishing loading the last of the supplies for the trip.
Ahsoka threw her arms around Obi-Wan and hugged him tightly. He froze for a moment, but awkwardly hugged back.
“May the Force be with you, Master Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka mumbled into his tunics. “Stay safe.”
“And also with you,” Obi-Wan said, deciding not to correct her even though his title was still Padawan. “Good luck.”
Ahsoka was incredibly reluctant to let go, and Obi-Wan idly wondered how he’d managed to become a single parent to two clingy padawans all before he’d even graduated to Knighthood himself.
But finally, she drew back. Obi-Wan unclipped Anakin’s lightsaber from his belt. “Hold onto this while I’m away?” he asked.
“Of course,” Ahsoka said, taking the lightsaber carefully, and clipping it to her own belt.
Anakin went in for another hug. Obi-Wan returned it. “Stay safe, Ani, and listen to Ahsoka.”
“Don’t die,” Anakin said.
Then Anakin stepped back to where Ahsoka was standing. The two younger padawans looked upset and lost, but were both clearly trying to put on a brave face.
Obi-Wan glanced over to Cody, who had his head resting against Rex’s while they quietly said their goodbyes. Something Rex said had Cody suddenly straightening up in affront, while Rex’s eyes conveyed silent laughter, and he was repressing a smile. Cody shook his head and ruffled Rex’s nearly nonexistent hair before murmuring a goodbye and joining Obi-Wan.
The two of them made their way to the bridge, and then stood in awkward silence for a moment before Cody said, “Sir, are you going to pilot?”
“Oh!” Obi-Wan said, suddenly full of dread. He wasn’t going to say no, though. If piloting was a General’s duty, he didn’t really have a choice but to perform it. “Y-yeah, of course.”
Obi-Wan slid into the pilot’s seat, taking a moment to glance over the controls and make sure they were Republic standard. He took a deep breath, trying to release his fear into the Force. He could do this. All he had to do was manually take the ship out of the hangar and punch the coordinates. Autopilot could take it from there.
Cody watched his young General take command of the ship. He was well aware that Obi-Wan didn’t like flying, but the poor kid went whiter than a shiny’s armor when Cody asked if he was going to pilot. It was an honest question; Cody didn’t know at what age his General had learned to pilot. He could have taken over if Obi-Wan didn’t know how. All CCs had started pilot sims at age three, and moved up to real piloting at age five. Cody could guide a craft like this off the Negotiator and into hyperspace blindfolded at this point.
Unfortunately, it seemed that his general’s habit of thinking that he had to do everything himself was a long-standing one. So now, Cody took the copilot’s chair in case he was needed, and watched as his General—who looked so painfully young without the beard and typical serenity—flicked switches with clinical precision and then gripped the yoke and throttle tightly enough that his fingers turned whiter than his face. Despite his palpable terror, Obi-Wan smoothly guided the ship out into space. Once they were a safe distance from the star destroyer, Obi-Wan punched in coordinates and engaged the autopilot.
“Good job, General,” Cody said, as the ship blasted into hyperspace around them. Rex always said that it was important to tell jedi padawans when they performed tasks correctly, not just when they needed corrections or did something that went above and beyond.
Obi-Wan gave him a look like he was trying to determine if Cody was mocking him. “...Thanks,” he said.
“If it helps, you’re not nearly so nervous about flying when you’re older,” Cody said. “And you took us through take-off today just fine.”
“Do I like flying? When I’m older?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Well, no, sir, not really,” Cody said. “But you’re very good at it.”
Obi-Wan seemed disappointed at that. “That’s better than I expected, I suppose,” he said.
“Sir?”
Obi-Wan shook his head. “It’s not important, Commander, my apologies,” he said. Then rising from the pilot’s chair, he said, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to meditate.”
Cody nodded his goodbye, and Obi-Wan left the bridge, likely heading for either cargo or their shared berth. Cody had already claimed the bottom bunk; it was easier to rush out to respond to an emergency when you slept on a bottom bunk, especially when you didn’t have Force magic helping you out. The underbunk storage was also a bonus, and not something a minimalistic jedi ever appreciated properly.
Cody double checked that the autopilot was fully operational and that everything was done correctly, and then stood up and stretched. If Obi-Wan was doing meditation, that meant Cody was going to be on his own for a few hours, if not the rest of the day. Unlike Skywalker, who could barely sit still for an hour, Obi-Wan meditated like it was his sole purpose in life. Not that he typically got the chance; they were often so busy that a fifteen minute caf break was the slowest part of their day. Perhaps it was like paperwork: if you missed a day, you had to do double the next day to catch up.
Frankly, Cody still didn’t get much about how Force stuff worked. Maybe the next time he was on Coruscant he could get together with Rex and Ponds and maybe Wolffe if he was there and they could compare notes. The way jedi talked about the Force was so airy and metaphorical; he needed vode input to figure out how things actually worked.
Cody headed for the galley of the ship. There was no holonet in hyperspace, but he could still do paperwork, even if he couldn’t send it. He made himself a cup of caf—instant, unfortunately—and returned to the bridge to work.
Ahsoka watched as the little ship took off, and she prayed that Obi-Wan’s mission was a success. She’d felt a brief flash of fear in the Force from him before it had been shielded away, and that fear was echoed by Anakin for a moment as the ship departed. Then, as the ship disappeared, Anakin's fear turned into nervousness and worry.
Ahsoka mentally leaned into Rex’s sturdy confidence in Cody and Obi-Wan. Initiate Anakin’s emotions were a lot more intense and a lot less shielded than Skyguy’s emotions, and if she let herself be influenced by them too much, she and Anakin were going to end up in a feedback loop of misery. Rex patted her shoulder, almost like he could tell what she was doing in the Force.
Beside her, Anakin crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, muttering something about Obi-Wan in Huttese. Ahsoka still didn’t know much Huttese, but it didn’t sound very polite.
“What was that?” Ahsoka asked.
“Nothing, Pa—Ahsoka,” Anakin mumbled, flinching.
R2-D2 squawked something close to “Bold words coming from you.”
Anakin glared and said “Oh, e chu ta , R2.”
R2-D2 trilled a droid laugh and zipped off.
“What’s... e chu ta? ” Ahsoka asked.
Anakin cringed a bit. “I don’t...I don’t know how to say it in Basic,” he said. “Obi-Wan can probably tell you. When he gets back. Um...don’t say it to people until you know what it means though.”
Something rude then, Ahsoka surmised. She’d ask R2-D2 later. Artooie was much more likely to tell her what it actually meant than Master Obi-Wan was.
Although...Obi-Wan wasn’t currently a Master. Maybe he would be more inclined to teach her swear words in different languages now.
“Commander Tano, Captain Rex,” Captain Gregor greeted, joining them with a salute. Slightly behind him was Waxer. Once they dropped the salute, Gregor nodded at Anakin. “Hi cadet.”
“Let me guess,” Ahsoka said. “It’s time to get to work?”
At Captain Gregor’s nod, she gestured for him to lead the way. He turned back the way he had come, and marched towards the exit of the bay. Waxer and Rex automatically fell into step.
Ahsoka held out her hand. After a moment’s hesitation, Anakin took it.