Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You were eleven years old the day you first met Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. You were helping your mother make baskets in the village when you felt it. Felt them.

Your entire life, you’d been able to feel things that others couldn’t. You couldn’t really explain it―it was like this pulling, this knowing, this force. At first, you assumed everyone could feel it just like you could, but once you started making objects move with your mind, your family was quick to tell you to hide your abilities away.

“People who can do this, what you can do, they get taken away,” your father explained. “You’ll be in great danger if you let anyone see.”

So, you did what you were told and kept what you could feel and do hidden. But whenever you were alone, you would sit down, close your eyes, and just feel. You felt the world around you, the air and the trees and the ground, and you felt yourself in that world, just existing within all of it.

Making things move wasn’t always easy. You could lift leaves and small rocks into the air easily, but larger things took more effort. More practice, which you didn’t have the time to do. But you made use of the time that you did have when no one was looking.

Now, in the village with your mother, you were surrounded by people, but you couldn’t ignore that feeling inside you. It was so strong like it was tugging at you. There was a shift on your planet. Something was there that was never there before. After a moment of feeling, you noticed something even stranger. The force that you’d always felt around you, the force that was usually quite dormant, was now moving in a way it never had before. It was interacting with things and exploring.

And it felt you.

You could feel it reaching out to you, interacting with you. You wanted more than anything to interact right back with it, but there you were in the center of the village surrounded by people who didn’t know about your abilities. They couldn’t know.

So you told your mother you were going off to play with a friend and you went straight toward the new feeling.

Admittedly, you were a bit nervous. You didn’t know what to expect from whatever was making the change. But as you ran toward whatever it was, you felt like it was pulling you toward itself. You felt a strange need to be near whatever it was. So you kept running, unafraid of whatever it was you were about to face.

And then you saw it, and you skidded to a stop. There, landed along the beach, was a starship. Sure, you’d seen starships before, but not often and not like this. You had only ever seen freighters that carried cargo and passengers. This was considerably smaller than anything you’d seen before. It was much sleeker―build for flying at speeds you couldn’t even imagine flying at.

Then the hatch opened. Your breath got caught in your throat. You weren’t sure what to do. Should you hide? Should you greet the passengers? If they could feel things like you could, did they already know you were there? Just before the hatch was fully open, you darted behind the treeline.

The hatch hit the ground. Sand flew up around it. Out of the ship came two men dressed in long robes of some sort. They walked out onto the beach and looked around, talking quietly amongst themselves. You stood perfectly still, peering at them from behind a tree.

You noted that one of them looked a bit older than the other. He had long hair and a bit of facial hair, and a kind look about his face. The other looked a bit younger. His hair was cut short, save a thin braid that came out behind one of his ears. Somehow, when you looked at him, you felt drawn to him.

As you looked at him, you tried to use your abilities to feel him in the force. You weren’t sure what you were looking for, but still, you reached out to him in what way you knew how.

You weren’t sure what you were expecting, but within seconds of you doing this he spotted you behind the tree. And there, staring into the eyes of a complete stranger, you felt more at home than you ever had before. There was something inside of you that was at peace, something you hadn’t even known was there a few minutes ago.

The other man saw you, too. He glanced back at his companion, then back at you. He started walking toward you.

At that moment, you made a decision that you would later know had changed your life. Instead of running away, fearing these two strange men and their strange spacecraft, fearing these strange new feelings in the forces around and within you; instead of that, you stayed. You weren’t sure what was going to come of it, but you trusted what your gut was telling you. You trusted and you stayed.

Chapter Text

Qui-Gon looked back and forth at Obi-Wan and you. There was a look on Obi-Wan’s face that was so… engrossed. He could sense something powerful happening between the two of you, but he wasn’t exactly sure yet what it was.

He walked up to where you were still partially hiding behind a tree. Your eyes darted to him. “Hello, young one. What’s your name?”

“My name–my name is Y/N L/N,” you replied.

“It’s nice to meet you, Y/N. My name is Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is my apprentice, Obi-Wan.” He gestured to the man behind him.

“Nice to meet you,” you said quietly. You looked at Obi-Wan again, who was now walking up to you and Qui-Gon.

“Hello,” Obi-Wan greeted.

You smiled and raised up your hand in a sort of half-wave.

“We’re here to see a certain tradesman. Perhaps you know where we might find him?” Qui-Gon asked. He described the man in question and gave you his name.

“I know him. I can take you to him if you want.”

“That would be most helpful, thank you.”

You nodded.

The three of you set off for the tradesman with you leading the way. The walk was mostly a silent one, you still trying to process everything, Obi-Wan doing roughly the same, and Qui-Gon just observing the two of you and taking in the planet.

Within minutes, you were back at the village. You pointed to one of two burly-looking men talking on the docks. “That’s him over there.”

“Thank you, young one,” Qui-Gon said.

“Mhm.” You were happy to help but sad to see them go. You still had so much you wanted to know about them, so much you wanted to ask, but you didn’t know what you even say. You and Obi-Wan shared a brief look at each other before he and Qui-Gon started toward the docks.

Reluctantly, you went back to your mother.

— — — — —

About two hours had passed since you’d last seen the strange visitors. The sun was just barely beginning to set. You were once again seated next to your mother at your stand, weaving the basket you’d been working on before. Your mother or one of your siblings would try to talk to you every now and again, but you were so lost in thought they eventually realized there wasn’t much point.

You’d been sitting in silence for nearly 30 minutes now, moving your hands robotically and staring off into space. Your mother glanced at you.

“What’s on your mind?” she asked.

You made no response.

“Y/N?”

“Y/N.”

“Y/N!”

You blinked and looked up at your mother. “Hm?”

She laughed. “Y/N, what in the stars happened while you were off with your friends?”

“My friends? Oh, my friends. We, uh, nothing. Nothing happened. We just played. Like normal.”

“Like normal?”

“Mhm.”

The two of you went back to what you were doing, and before long you were staring into space again.

“Really, Y/N, what’s wrong?” your mother said exasperatedly.

You looked up at her, then looked away with a frown.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Are you sure? You look upset.”

“Really, I’m fi-” You stopped mid-sentence, your eyes widening, and turned to look down the road.

Just as you had suspected, or rather, felt, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were walking your way.

Your mother gave you a confused look, then looked to where you were looking. Then she gave you another look, this one a cross between confusion and suspicion. As the two strangers approached your stand, she turned her attention to
them instead.

“Hello again,” Qui-Gon said.

Your mother shot you another glance.

You blushed. “Hello.”

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan examined the stand. “Do you make all of these? They’re very nice,” Qui-Gon said.

“Thank you. We do, yes,” your mother replied. She started to list some of the pricing of the bags and baskets displayed for purchase, but Qui-Gon stopped her.

“Thank you, but I’m afraid we’re not here to buy anything. You see, we were hoping to have a chat with her if we could.” He gestured at you.

“Y/N? About what?”

“You see, we believe she may have some very great potential, and we were hoping to discuss some of what that potential could mean for her.”

“By potential, do you mean her connection with…”

“With the force? Yes.”

Her eyes widened. She stood up and looked around, checking for listening ears. Then she looked down at you questioningly.

You gave her a small, lopsided smile.

She sighed. “We should discuss this somewhere more private. Please, follow me.”

Chapter Text

You wrung your fingers together as your mother led you, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan into your house. You wanted to be brave about everything, you told yourself to be brave, but you couldn’t help feeling nervous. An excited kind of nervous.

For the first time since your parents warned you about letting anyone see what you could do, you were going to have an open discussion with somebody else about your abilities. Not only that, but you were possibly going to get to learn more about the visitors, and maybe find out what was drawing you to them. Or, well, drawing you to Obi-Wan, really. You still weren’t sure about that.

And you just couldn’t believe that they were actually interested in getting to know you! Now, you were practically certain that they could feel things like you could. How else could they have known about your ‘connection to the force’, or so they called it?

“Jon?” your mother called into the house once you were all through the doorway. “We have some visitors.”

Within seconds, your father appeared in the entry. “Visitors?” Your father blinked at the sight of you all. “Oh, uh, come in, come in, please.”

“If you’ll just follow us to the table,” your mother told the guests.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan both smiled and nodded.

You walked closely behind your mother as she and your father led everyone to the dining table. You saw your parents share a look as everyone sat down.

“Is there anything I can get for you? Water, tea, something to eat?” your mother asked, looking between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

They both politely refused.

After a short, awkward silence, Qui-Gon spoke. “I suppose I should introduce myself. I’m Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is my padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Both of your parents nodded and introduced themselves. “And you’re both, um…”

“Jedi, yes. You see, we’ve come here on a mission. Now that our business is complete, we’ll be heading back to Coruscant. But we were very curious about Y/N, here. It would seem she has some connection to the force.”

“Did… did you see something? Something she did?” Your father looked at you worriedly.

“No, no, we haven’t seen anything. Only sensed it through the force. Actually, we were wondering,” Qui-Gon looked at you, “to what extent are your abilities?”

“Um…” You looked at Qui-Gon, then your father, then Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan gave you a small, encouraging smile. You took a deep breath, then focused all of your concentration on one of the small decorations at the center of the table.

It was hard to focus with everyone staring at you, awaiting an answer. Not even your parents knew everything that you had been working on since you did mostly all of it privately. This was the first time you’d ever done anything like this with people watching you. But you put all of the focus into that you could, furrowing your eyebrows and staring at it, willing it to move.

And then it did.

The decoration slowly lifted into the air, hovering a good eight inches off the table. Then it floated over to where you were seated and lowered itself down on the table in front of you.

Everyone at the table looked amazed, save Qui-Gon who was a tad more reserved. You held back a proud smile.

“That’s―that’s incredible for someone who has never been trained,” Obi-Wan said.

“Indeed. May I ask, how old are you?” Qui-Gon asked.

“Eleven.”

“I see.” He and Obi-Wan shared a look, then he looked away in thought.

You looked over at your parents. Had the situation been different, you might have been tempted to laugh. They both looked so shocked. Maybe even a bit nervous. But they also looked proud, to some degree, and they did their best to give you smiles. You smiled at them back.

“Tell me, how long have you been able to do that?”

“A few years, I think. Not things that big, though. It started really small.”

“And you’ve been practicing often?”

“As often as I can. I don’t get to a lot, since, well,” your voice trailed off. Your parents looked at each other. “I mostly just practice in private.”

“How do you practice? Just by lifting things?”

“Yes, but also by feeling things. I―I don’t know if it’s weird, but… I like to sit and just feel things. With my mind. Like nature, and people, and, well, myself in all of it, I guess.”

Qui-Gon hummed. “I’ll be honest with you, Y/N, not many people your age can do that without being taught. You’re not weird, not at all. But you are special. You have a gift, and you’ve been able to strengthen it a good deal by yourself. But, if you wish to continue to grow your abilities, and continue on this path in the force, you’ll need teachers, people who are stronger with the force who can guide you.” He looked at your parents. “I know this is a big decision, but I would like to take Y/N back with us to the Jedi Temple. She could learn so much more about the force and how to use it there.”

Your eyes went wide. They really wanted to take you with them? But they barely knew you, and you barely knew them. How could you be certain it was safe? You supposed you would be able to feel it if it wasn’t. You were usually good at feeling when someone had an ill-intent, and you had no feeling of the sort with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

You looked at Obi-Wan. He looked at you.

“You want to take her away?” your father asked.

“No, not at all. If she were to come, it would be her decision. We won’t take her anywhere unless it's alright with her. And, if she said yes, we’d want your permission, too.”

“And she would become a Jedi?”

Now you looked at Qui-Gon. You were wringing your fingers together again.

“She would train to become one in time.”

“I think we’d like to talk it over first.”

“Of course. Please, take the time you need. Obi-Wan and I will be staying here, on our ship for the night. We can stop by tomorrow before we leave if that’s alright.”

“Yes, that’s alright.”

Qui-Gon nodded. “Then we’ll bid you goodnight for the evening and give you some time to think.” Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stood up. “Thank you for having us, Mr. and Mrs. L/N. You have an excellent home.”

“Thank you. I’ll take you to the door,” your mother said.

With that, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan left. Once your mother returned, she sat down once more next to your father. You looked at your parents. “Will I be able to go with them?”

“Is that really something you want?” your father said hesitantly.

“I, well…” You thought about it. Was it really something you wanted? It would mean leaving your parents, your siblings, your home, your entire life, for who knows how long. On the other hand, you felt so drawn to say yes. Your whole life, you’d had an ability to do something that no one else you knew did. You were entirely alone in it. But this was an opportunity not to be alone anymore. To learn more about the force, and possibly even become a Jedi!

That was an incredible thought to you. You’d heard about the Jedi here and there, but you thought they were myths. And you never would’ve guessed that what you possessed inside of you was what the Jedi possessed, too. It was all so surreal.

“I guess I should think about it.”

“Please do. Let’s all of us take the night to think about it, and we’ll make a decision in the morning,” your mother said. You wanted to talk to your parents about some of what you were thinking, but you could tell they were already stressed from the whole situation and you didn’t want to add to it. So, you said your goodnights to both of them and headed to bed.

— — — — —

Unfortunately, sleep was something that was evading you.

You couldn’t stop thinking about the possibilities of what tomorrow could bring. You wondered if you were going to say yes. You wondered if your parents were going to say no.

And then there was that tugging feeling, constantly bringing your thoughts back to Obi-Wan. You thought about him, how he looked and talked, and the way he looked at you. He was older than you by a good deal. You didn’t know by how much, but you could tell he was probably an adult. Still, you found yourself thinking about him more than you would’ve liked, and you had no idea why.

You huffed and turned to lay on your back. As you stared at the ceiling, you took a deep breath. You closed your eyes. You called out to the force, asking it to tell you what you should do. And then you just felt, concentrating on the force, but just barely, allowing yourself to drift in it.

And then you felt Obi-Wan.

You felt his presence, his being. You felt some of his emotions. For a moment, you even faintly heard some of his thoughts.

He felt confused. Questioning. Then surprised. He could feel you too.

You weren't quite sure what to do. You suddenly felt rather sheepish. Was it normal that you could connect with him like this? Could everybody with the force connect with each other like this? Were you supposed to? Was this a breach of privacy?

You felt yourself quickly slipping away. The connection was gone. You felt like you were falling, falling, falling, into darkness…

With a gasp, you opened your eyes.

Yeah, you didn’t plan on getting much sleep tonight.

Chapter Text

“Good morning,” Qui-Gon greeted you and your mother as he was welcomed inside.

“Morning,” your mother replied.

You stood behind your mother. You looked up at Qui-Gon and smiled, then looked at Obi-Wan.

He smiled and did a small wave.

You waved back, then looked away. You still weren’t completely recovered from whatever had happened to you last night. You sort of wondered if you’d just dreamt the whole thing, or imagined it yourself. Or if, by chance, you really had connected with Obi-Wan last night. And if that was the case, had he felt it too? That thought made your stomach churn nervously, so you tried to avoid thinking about any of it at all.

“Can I offer either of you any breakfast?” your mother asked.

“No, thank you. We’ve already eaten.”

“Ah. Well, please, come in.”

Your father was already seated by the time everybody else had made it to the dining room. Once again, you found yourself sitting at the table across from Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

“So,” Qui-Gon started. He looked at you. “Have you come to your decision?”

You looked at your mother, then your father. They both gave you a nod. You turned back to Qui-Gon. “Yes, I’d like to go with you. If I could. If that’s alright.”

You’d thought long and hard about it. Your parents had, too. Earlier that morning, you’d all discussed it at length. You felt called to go to Coruscant, to go with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. And you knew that you had your gift, as Qui-Gon had put it, for a reason. There was a reason you were force-sensitive, and there was a reason you felt called them. You knew there had to be. And you felt like this was it.

Qui-Gon smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. The life of a Jedi isn’t an easy one, but they help to keep the galaxy safe. And I assure you, Mr. and Mrs. L/N, Y/N will be well taken care of at the Temple.”

Saying goodbye to your parents was, in some ways, the hardest thing you’d ever had to do in your eleven years of being. For as long as you’d lived, they’d always been right there beside you, guiding you and raising you the best way they knew how. They were always there to protect you and comfort you and make you feel safe.

From this moment on, they wouldn’t be anymore.

Before you left, you gave them both tight hugs.

“I love you, Y/N. And I’m so proud of you,” your mother said.

“You were destined for this,” said your father, “you’ll do great.”

You also made sure to say goodbye to your siblings, knowing that as many quarrels as you got into with them, you were still going to miss them greatly.

And then, before you knew it, you were carrying your bag full of essentials onto Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s starship.

Qui-Gon went to the cockpit to prepare for taking off while Obi-Wan showed you to where you would be staying on the ship. As he helped you put your bag away, you felt yourself start to get shaky.

You told yourself to hold it together. You could do this. You knew you could. You felt so drawn to. But it was still hard.

Obi-Wan sensed what you were feeling and looked down at you. You were standing tall, but your arms were wrapped around yourself and your breathing was heavy. He knelt down.

“Hey,” he said softly, putting a hand on your arm, “it’ll be okay.”

You stared at him. There was something comforting about his eyes, about his presence in general. That in and of itself was a strange new feeling―one you weren’t at all sure about. Your lip started to quiver.

“Sit with me?”

You nodded.

Obi-Wan sat down against the wall and patted the floor beside him. You sat down next to him. He folded his legs into a criss-cross position, and you followed suit. “Close your eyes,” he said. “Take deep breaths.”

You did as he instructed.

“Now listen to the force. Trust what it tells you. You must quiet your emotions and just listen.”

So there you both sat, meditating with each other. You quieted your emotions, just as you’d been told, and felt the force around you both.

Once again, you started to feel connected to him. You felt him and how calm he was. This time, it helped you stay calm yourself.

After a few minutes, he let out an exhale through his mouth. You blinked your eyes open.

“Now, how do you feel?”

“I feel… like I’m supposed to stay with you.”

Obi-Wan thought for a few seconds before speaking again. “And will you? Can you let go of your ties to your past to step into your future?”

You furrowed your eyebrows in thought, then nodded resolutely. “I will.”

Obi-Wan stood up and offered his hand to you. You took it and he helped you to your feet. You looked at each other for a moment, communicating wordlessly and sharing some kind of bond. Neither of you knew much about what was going on, but you both smiled.

Then, he led you to the cockpit of the ship where Qui-Gon was waiting for you both. Obi-Wan sat in the passenger seat, and you took the seat behind him.

As the starship lifted off your home planet, you felt a newfound courage in you. You could do this, you knew that now. Throughout the next so many years, you would learn everything you could about being a Jedi, and you would become the best Jedi in the galaxy. You were determined to.

“Hang on tight,” Qui-Gon warned, turning the ship toward the right direction. And then you were off, soaring quickly into the abyss of space, stars flying past you.

You stared out the window in amazement. You’d never flown before, and it was absolutely wonderful. You were smiling unconsciously.

Obi-Wan glanced back at you, and when he saw the look on your face, he couldn’t help but smile with you. He remembered that starstruck feeling. As he looked out the window now, watching galaxies fly by, he still felt it somewhere within him.

And unbeknownst to either of you, Qui-Gon was observing you both, making a mental note to ask Obi-Wan about what he was sensing when they got back to Coruscant.

Chapter Text

Your flight and arrival at Coruscant went smoothly. Almost right after you landed, Qui-Gon went to the Jedi Council to discuss you and what they would do with you.

It took a bit of convincing to let you stay at the Temple. You were, after all, nearly old enough to be a padawan, yet you hadn’t even been trained as a youngling. Though, after telling the Council of how far along in the force you were, they agreed to let you test with some other younglings your age to see how you compared to them.

Although you were a bit unsure of yourself, and despite the fact that it took you a bit to get the hang of things, you completed the tests with a passing score. You still had a lot to learn and practice, but you had potential and a little skill and the Council was willing to let you train.

Of course, then there was the issue of how you would be training. You weren’t quite ready to become a padawan yet, but you were beyond starting at the beginning. So, it was decided that you would train under Qui-Gon Jinn, not as a padawan, but as a student of sorts. When he wasn’t on missions he would give you lessons in the force, and while he was gone you would sit in on lessons with other younglings at your level and study.

And so your life began at the Jedi Temple.

It didn’t take you long to catch on to things. You were eager to learn, and you learned quickly. Before long, you were even excelling beyond some of the other younglings your age. You were incredibly grateful to have Qui-Gon as your teacher.

— — — — —

It was late in the evening. You were sitting on a chair in your room, studying.

You let out a yawn as you felt your eyelids go heavy. It was becoming harder and harder to focus while you read, and your eyes were beginning to skim through the words. With a sigh, you closed the book you were reading and put it back on your bookshelf. There was no use reading if you weren’t going to comprehend anything.

You were just starting to stand up when you suddenly paused. A smile spread across your face. Obi-Wan was back.

You quickly threw on your robes and rushed out of your room. You tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb anyone, but you couldn’t help yourself from practically running to the hangar. You were just too excited to welcome Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan back again.

They’d been off on a mission for the past week, chasing down a bounty hunter of some sort. You always missed them while they were away, but this time, with it being a bit of a dangerous mission and a slightly longer one, you were especially eager to see them again.

At long last, you reached the hangar. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were talking quietly as they walked toward the hall.

You and Obi-Wan locked eyes. He smiled. A warm feeling spread inside you.

You speed-walked to them, quick to give them both hugs. “Welcome back,” you said cheerfully.

“Y/N, it’s nice to see you again,” Qui-Gon said.

“Miss us much?” Obi-Wan teased.

You blushed. “No, it’s just nice to have you back is all.”

He chuckled and patted your shoulder. “Don’t worry, I missed you too.”

“Remember to keep your emotions in check, both of you.”

“Of course, master.”

You simply nodded.

“That being said, it is nice to be back.” Qui-Gon started walking again, and you and Obi-Wan followed behind him. “What have you been up to while we’ve been gone?”

“Not much,” you said. “Studying, like always.”

“That’s very good.”

“What did you guys do on your mission? Did you get to fight any bad guys?”

“Well, sort of,” Obi-Wan said while rubbing the back of his neck. “We lost the bounty hunter. That’s why we came back.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.”

“We do not seek out conflict, young one. When we do have to fight ‘bad guys’, it’s not something to be celebrated,” Qui-Gon chastised.

“Yes, Master Qui-Gon.”

You spent the next few minutes chatting with them before you all went off to bed. You slept just a little more soundly knowing they were back in the Temple.

— — — — —

“What do you think?” You asked proudly, igniting your brand new lightsaber for Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to see.

Although you hadn’t yet been chosen by anyone as a padawan, the Council had agreed to let you make a lightsaber and begin training with it, trusting that Qui-Gon would teach you well.

“Wow, Y/N, that’s very nice!” Obi-Wan complimented.

“Indeed it is,” Qui-Gon said.

“Thank you!” You extinguished your lightsaber and put it away in its hilt. “When do you think you can start teaching me to use it, Master Qui-Gon?”

“I suppose we can start today if you like. I can get out a remote and you can practice in the training gallery.”

“Really?”

“Really. Shall we go over there now?”

You nodded excitedly, practically bouncing up and down.

— — — — —

As time went on, your connection with Obi-Wan was only growing stronger.

You’d learned from Qui-Gon that what the two of you shared was likely an incredibly rare phenomenon known as a force bond. The Jedi weren’t quite sure the purpose of force bonds or why they happened, but in the few books they were mentioned it was cautioned that any two people with a force bond be incredibly careful as to how they proceeded with it.

You and Obi-Wan never really directly discussed your bond. You’d thought about bringing it up to him, but every time you were about to something seemed to stop you before you could. So the two of you let things be, growing closer and more connected without really thinking about it.

The latest development in your bond was that, if you wanted to, you could talk to each other through the force, hearing each other speak in your minds. You’d discovered this accidentally one night after Obi-Wan had recently returned from a mission.

He was happy to see you as always, but he had a bit less energy about him. You shrugged it off at first, knowing it was perfectly normal that he be tired after a long mission like the one he’d just been on.

But he seemed just as worn down the next day, and the day after that.

And so you found yourself thinking about him even more than usual that night, wondering about him as you lay in bed.

He was allowed to be tired, you reasoned with yourself. His training was only becoming more intense the further along he got in it, and he’d been on quite a few missions as of late. It made sense that he needed a bit of time to recuperate.

On the other hand, you’d never seen him this tired before. He wasn’t making jokes like he usually did, his smiles weren’t quite as genuine, and you’d noticed him fidgeting with his padawan braid a couple of times―something he usually only did when he was anxious about something.

You closed your eyes. You started to reach out to him in the force, trying to sense how he was. But the only thing you felt was tense.

You let out a sigh. What’s wrong?

‘What?’

Your eyes shot open. ‘What?’

‘I can hear you.’ You heard Obi-Wan say it incredulously just as if he was right beside you, talking into your ear.

‘I can hear you, too.’

‘This is… interesting.’

You breathed out a laugh. ‘Yeah.’

There was silence. Obi-Wan now felt confused and thoughtful. But still tense. You decided to try again.

‘What’s wrong?’

He waited a bit before answering. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You’re exhausted. More than usual. And something is making you stressed.’

‘No, I-’

‘Obi-Wan. I can tell.’

More silence.

‘I’m fine, really.’

‘I know we’re supposed to keep our emotions in check, but whatever’s bothering you, keeping it inside and letting it build up won’t help.’

You remembered an argument you’d gotten into with your little sister once. She’d been following you around, copying you, and doing little things here and there to annoy you. You brushed it off at first, assuming she’d just go away. But she didn’t. And eventually, you snapped at her. You’d let all of your negative emotions build up until you couldn’t take it anymore. Your mother told you to talk to her the next time one of your siblings was bothering you so it wouldn’t have to happen again.

Obi-Wan was still silent.

‘You don’t have to tell me. But if something’s bothering you, please tell somebody. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.’

A few moments passed. You decided it was probably best to leave him alone. You didn’t want to bother him, so you reluctantly drew away.

But as you laid in bed, just before you fell asleep for the night, you heard Obi-Wan’s voice once more.

‘Thank you, Y/N.’