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For most soulmates, their first body swap happened when the older turned fifteen, then again when the younger turned fifteen. After that it was mostly uncontrolled, random, though more often in moments of high emotion than anything else. A way for them to protect themselves and get space from the situations.
Quinlan Vos and Obi-Wan Kenobi were not normal soulmates.
They triggered the unusual way body swapping started. Traumatic events under the age of fifteen would lead to more body swapping, but it also came with the advantage of some measure of control over the timing after enough swaps and practice. It was a bit more common with Jedi than others.
It started with the death of Quinlan's parents. Four years old and panicking when the murderer turned on him, his hand fell on the necklace around his mom's neck and he lived her death and emotions. The Force burst out around him, and he drew on it in his emotions, twisting it, turning it Dark.
Once Tholme got him to stop screaming, he went mute, struggling to process everything that happened. He just wanted to hide away.
And then two year old Obi-Wan was in his body, confused and not sure what was going on. He didn't talk or cry, just stared at everyone and everything, slowly picking up some of what they were saying. At least what was in basic.
Quinlan, in the meantime, was now in a two year old body instead of a four year old body. No one was bothered by his silence, or sitting still here. He quietly went and sat by the crechemaster, observing what was happening. The peace of the Jedi Temple, the lack of expectations, that was something he needed in the direct aftermath, even if he missed his family.
They didn't swap back until Quinlan was feeling better, and he was just in time to say good bye to his family before he left for Coruscant with Tholme.
The second time they swapped, Obi-Wan was getting the bad end of bullies, and struggling to contain his anger at the injustice. Struggling not to react as he had been told. He was seven. Quinlan was nine.
Obi-Wan was pushed off a waterfall. His last betrayed thought was how others, who he thought were his friends, were laughing at him. Not his clan, thankfully, but others. He hit rocks on the way down and ended in the water, in pain, and struggling to swim.
He knew how to swim, but he was panicking and he had a few broken bones, though he didn't know it at the time.
This time he switched to Quinlan who was in the middle of a lightsaber lesson. Obi-Wan stumbled then tried to follow the rest of class, utterly confused by the differences in his size, in the lightsaber.
Quinlan wasn't sure why he was in so much pain, why water kept going into his mouth, he'd just been in middle of a lightsaber lesson. He managed to handle it better than Obi-Wan, at least until someone pulled him out.
He coughed and spluttered and accepted the decision to go to see a healer. he wasn't sure what was going on, why he was being called Obi-Wan. It reminded him of when he was four, five years previous.
He was grateful that Obi-Wan had a reputation for going mute whenever something affected him. It gave him space to gather himself.
Seeing Obi-Wan as himself was strange, and he could tell Obi-Wan felt the same way.
Obi-Wan whispered to Quinlan what happened, and so Quinlan was able to get the bullies in trouble for his injuries when he was asked about what happened.
At that point, they had two instances of a body swap, so they started practicing being each other, even if they could not actually practice being in each other's bodies. They dedicated some time each week to the practice. Just in case.
Two years later, Quinlan had his first mission go wrong, and they swapped bodies. They had some fumbles but they got through it. Obi-Wan left some suggestions on what they could do in the future in a note.
Mostly just updating regularly with mission details on something that the other could check when they switched.
Neither knew they were soulmates. People didn't talk about what happened when people were soulmates. There was a seminar for thirteen and fourteen year olds on it, but that was it.
So they didn't know the truth until Quinlan was fourteen. By then, they had swapped multiple times because Quinlan was training for dangerous work, and even the milder missions had plenty of room for going wrong.
They decided to just keep it quiet. It gave them an advantage that no one knew they swapped bodies, that they could at any minute, if they figured out how to control it.
When Quinlan and Obi-Wan swapped for Quinlan's birthday, they initially planed on treating it as any other day, and not acting any different. Part of this was just because Obi-Wan was stuck in some mines being slave at that point, and neither wanted to tell anyone about it. They had swapped twice in the month before Quinlan's birthday.
Quinlan was happy to take some of Obi-Wan's pain, and Obi-Wan was happy to continue lessons for being a Jedi. If he could work hard, he might still be a knight one day, it was just a difficult path. Any advantage being Quinlan gave him was a good advantage.
There was one problem. Quinlan had not adequately prepared Obi-Wan for the chaos that was his family, as they had insisted he had to spend his fifteenth birthday on Kiffu.
The two times they had swapped previously had not been on Kiffu. Tholme wasn't around; he tended to only appear for meditation and a few lessons, but otherwise he let Quinlan be with his family.
They figured out quickly that Obi-Wan was not Quinlan, and because Obi-Wan had been doing a good job of playing Quinlan, they realized that it was not the first time.
Obi-Wan didn't tell them where he was or anything, and they didn't push. But it was nice to be so welcomed. He was welcomed as himself, even if he was borrowing Quinlan's body.
And they promptly started teaching him about Kiffu, about Kiffu culture, how to speak Kiffi. All kinds of things. Obi-Wan loved it. He loved learning and he loved languages. He decided by the time he and Quinlan switched back a week later, he would go to Kiffu if he had to leave the Order, if he was going to be in the AgriCorps.
There was also the Kiffu way with soulmates, which Quinlan apparently learned about after they switched back. He was a little surprised they picked up on Obi-Wan being in his body when even Tholme hadn't when it had happened on missions, as they had both learned to be good at adapting.
Obi-Wan returned to the Temple a padawan, much the same as before, but his sessions with Quinlan were harder to schedule, and he wasn't quite the same. His explanations on how to act around Qui-Gon did not fill Quinlan with confidence either.
But Quinlan didn't understand how Qui-Gon was, not until their first switch. Their first switch happened when Obi-Wan was in the middle of a lightsaber lesson with Qui-Gon.
With the slightest of pauses, Quinlan adapted and continued the movements. Qui-Gon was quick to berate him for it. The next day or so was filled with the expectation of perfection. An expectation anyone would have trouble fulfilling.
Quinlan worried about Obi-Wan, but neither of them wanted to say anything to Qui-Gon or anyone else. It would probably require admitting to the body swapping, and both of them wanted Obi-Wan to be fifteen at least.
And when Obi-Wan turned fifteen, Quinlan woke up in his body. He had timed a visit to Kiffu for that day, just so that Obi-Wan could celebrate with his family. He deserved the break, and they were always asking after his soulmate, though it had been a guess that Obi-Wan was a Jedi.
When he walked out of Obi-Wan's room, Qui-Gon was studying him intently, and then nodded. "Good. A soulmate will make it difficult to control your emotions."
Quinlan felt his heart sink. They would not be able to talk about being soulmates, about their body swapping, until after Obi-Wan was a Knight, not with Qui-Gon's opinions.
He slipped into Obi-Wan's habits and never let on that Obi-Wan was not there. He took notes on the lecture, and made sure Obi-Wan had all the details he needed to get by.
They continued to struggle to control their switches. When they switched, it was anywhere from six hours, to sometimes more than a week. It was usually Obi-Wan having a bad time and getting relief. He was dealing with Qui-Gon in the Temple, and they seemed to get the worst missions. Quinlan still had missions go wrong, but not nearly as frequently as they seemed to have it happen every mission rather than maybe three times a year at most.
Quinlan got used to showing up in the middle of chaos. Obi-Wan got used to switching from fighting or pain to something calming on the drop of a hat.
When Quinlan turned twenty, he was expected on Kiffu for the Hunt, a coming of age Kiffar tradition. They wanted his soulmate to come with him, so they said he could bring a friend; the Hunt was better when not alone, as it was incredibly dangerous.
It turned out the reason they wanted his soulmate with him was the usual Hunt lessons included lessons on how to body swap whenever they wanted. Secrets that Kiffar had kept to themselves rather than share with the galaxy.
Obi-Wan and Quinlan instituted a policy of body swapping for a day once a month no matter what they were doing in order to stay in practice for when they needed it.
By the time Obi-Wan was twenty five, no one noticed any changes in behavior. They acted as each other perfectly.
Obi-Wan had needed a break from Qui-Gon's expectations, and was in Quinlan's body, wrapping up a mission on Tatooine, when the mission to Naboo happened.
He did a double take when he saw Qui-Gon walking through with two others, but was happy to leave them be, though he made a note to check with Quinlan.
Quinlan decided not to worry Obi-Wan about the mission, even with Anakin, and he was glad he was the one to hear Qui-Gon's decision on Obi-Wan's readiness for the Trials, so he could take on Anakin. Obi-Wan didn't need to hear it first hand. He would struggle to process it.
Quinlan himself struggled to contain his irritation with Qui-Gon. He almost got in an argument about Anakin, in front of Anakin. The poor boy did nothing to deserve that. He had no clue how many mistakes Qui-Gon made in his approach. How Qui-Gon had practically said that Obi-Wan wasn't important enough.
And then it came time to fight the Sith, apprentice or master, they didn't know. Quinlan decided it was a better idea to throw Obi-Wan into it. Obi-Wan was still better at saber fighting than he was, and far better at fighting alongside Qui-Gon. There was a better chance if they swapped.
Obi-Wan didn't hesitate and fight, though he was upset and confused by Qui-Gon's request he train the boy. What boy?
When he had a moment he read all of Quinlan's detailed notes. He adapted and took on Anakin anyways.
He and Quinlan trained Anakin and Aayla together for years, swapping and no one knew. They never did get around to telling anyone in the aftermath of Qui-Gon's death. Too much had happened at once.
Obi-Wan and Quinlan started properly dating once Anakin was settled, and never looked back. The swapping remained, sometimes they struggled to know where one ended and the other began. That was when they took breaks from the swapping, even the monthly swaps they never stopped otherwise.
During the war, the body swapping was useful. They could offer each other fresh eyes on a problem. Obi-Wan did have to disclose the truth to the Council after being appointed, which he did by telling them and then promptly swapping Quinlan into the meeting with no warning. Quinlan became an honorary member of the Council as a result. He was pretty sure they planned to induct him as soon as he retired from shadow work, once he was comfortable with his face being shown everywhere.
The war was difficult, any swap could be into a painful situation, any swap could save their life. They pulled it off, every time, and not even Cody was aware.
But there was one that was the absolute worst for both of them. One that hurt them, one that led to the entire galaxy learning the truth.
.
It started with Quinlan getting captured. He was actually on leave, but some thugs in the lower levels of Coruscant thought he would be a good mark. Because of course they did, and they managed to drug him.
When he woke up, mostly naked on a ship, a collar around his neck, Quinlan started shaking. Captured, without a chance to fight back. His only chance was swapping with Obi-Wan. The only trouble with swapping to give information was that it would be an hour before they could swap back, if either of them wanted to swap quickly. Because swapping naturally had to settle before another swap.
When nothing changed for hours, Quinlan swapped into Obi-Wan's body, finding him meditating. He took a moment to do his own meditation to calm down, then contacted the Council to inform them what happened and what he knew so far.
Then he caught up on Obi-Wan's notes and started the day. As time went on, he relaxed. They had agreed that whoever was in the worse situation could decide when to swap back, as a way to avoid the person who was struggling feeling like they had to go back as soon as possible.
Naturally, that was when things went wrong. Quinlan as Obi-Wan was captured by some Separatists. He waited a bit, until he was alone in the room they tossed him into, to write out a note and apology and promptly swapped.
He found himself curled up in the fetal position, aching and aching. Torture, then. And Obi-Wan chose not to swap back. He chose to endure it, for Quinlan. Quinlan loved his soulmate.
But now they were both in terrible situations. It was just a matter of picking which kind of prisoner situation they wished to endure.
Over a few swaps, they worked out a system. They would swap when they could not endure any longer, if it had been more than an hour. That was about all they really could do in this situation.
Quinlan was being constantly shocked by his collar, Obi-Wan was enduring whipping. Quinlan would be dragged around and degraded, and Obi-Wan was isolated. It wasn't pleasant never entirely getting a break, but at least they didn't have to suffer the same things over and over again.
The worst part for both of them was they could not comfort the other. They were each suffering on their own, each enduring pain and humiliation. Sometimes they swapped to find faces damp in tears, curled up in a ball. Sometimes they swapped into the middle of the torture. Sometimes there was nothing but blank staring, and they could allow themselves some time to process what happened.
And then that changed.
Neither were sure what was going on, but they were in their own bodies for once.
Quinlan was dragged by a chain attached to the collar around his neck out of the cage they'd kept him in. Dragged all the way to the meeting. He stumbled after, but struggled to keep his feet under him. He had not had much opportunity to walk, and every part of him hurt from the constant shocks.
All the while they spewed insults about how pathetic he was for a Jedi, how he wasn't worth a thing, scum, and so on.
Quinlan kept his head down rather than respond. Trying not to let it get to him. But it had been days, weeks. Maybe months. He wasn't certain. The amount of times he and Obi-Wan had swapped had messed up his time keeping, though it was worth it.
Either way, his time as Obi-Wan had been his only breaks from the insults, and it was starting to get to him.
Obi-Wan was pulled out by a chain attached to his hands. He wasn't sure why. His captors were the silent type who just like occasionally torturing him, pleased by how he was slowly breaking under the isolation. How he was consistently showing something other than Jedi calm. How miserable he was.
He wasn't sure if he preferred his situation or Quinlan's. Taking Quinlan's place wasn't much of a break. But it was still better than nothing. He was fairly certain they were approaching a month of freely switching between bodies, but he wasn't entirely certain on the exact length of time.
Obi-Wan stumbled and fell to his knees.
"So that's the prisoner you want to offer me for this Kiffar?"
Kiffar? Obi-Wan's head shot up and his eyes widened at the sight of Quinlan. He looked every bit as awful as he'd been feeling.
"This isn't just any prisoner. This is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I've spent a lot of time breaking him."
Quinlan finally looked up, eyes wide, and he was equally as horrified as Obi-Wan. Not more torture. Not a trade.
"Oh, I think they know each other."
"Wouldn't surprise me, this one's also a Jedi. A pathetic one, but still, a Jedi."
Quinlan was dragged over to sit next to Obi-Wan as they discussed their plans. They didn't know how long it would be before a decision was made, so they just pressed against each other and soaked in the contact as much as they could.
The haggle dragged on forever.
And came to an abrupt stop when Count Dooku appeared. "Why was I not informed that you have General Obi-Wan Kenobi in your custody?"
"I didn't know you wanted to know."
"Of course I wanted to know. General Kenobi is an important piece for the Republic. And so is General Vos." Count Dooku gave them both a once over.
"Vos? How do you know him?"
"He is a shadow I have had the misfortune of meeting a few times. Frequently, as he is their main informant."
"Really? He's not seemed like much of a Jedi."
"You caught him wrong footed and he's just biding his time. But now I am here and I am going to take them both."
Dooku ignored their protests and just used the Force to lift Obi-Wan and Quinlan to follow him to his ship.
Once the ship's route was set, Dooku turned to them.
Obi-Wan tried to glare at him, but he was still in a lot of pain. Quinlan wasn't in the mood to pretend to be defiant.
"My, my, they did do a number on you. You're not acting like yourselves. All the better for my plans. I do need two Jedi... and General Kenobi will be an example." He eyed their appearances. "But first... you need to clean up and get treatment. I need you healthy."
Quinlan and Obi-Wan shared looks.
That night as they laid in a shared bed, clean and bandaged, they were quiet at first.
"Needs us healthy..." Obi-Wan murmured finally. "Sith ritual?"
"Seems most likely. We'll want to swap for that."
"Oh?" Obi-Wan tilted his head.
Quinlan offered a smile. "Sith rituals have a tendency to rely on souls being in the right place, but when soulmates swap it can mess with the ritual. It's not the case for all of them, but depending on his goals... can't hurt."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Can't hurt. What kinds of rituals do you think he's doing?"
"Something that will make an example of you but further his plans, I guess." Quinlan sighed. "Which could be any number of them for any reason. Most rituals bring about more power. But... This is Dooku. He's never just been about power in this war. There's some underlying goal that worries me and I haven't been able to pinpoint it beyond he does want to take out Sidious, the real Sith behind all this."
Obi-Wan nodded. "So there's not much we can do. At least we're allowed to share a bed."
Quinlan snuggled in. "He did his research into Kiffar. He knows that if he wants me totally healthy I need to cuddle for a few nights. But... it also means we can relax and heal a bit before this grand finale."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I love you."
"Love you too Obes." Quinlan sighed contentedly, relaxing into sleep.
Obi-Wan smiled and kissed his forehead before following suit. The next day was a new day. And it would look better despite the current situation.
He just hoped it wouldn't kill them. But if it did... at least they would go together and the other wouldn't have to navigate grief. Most likely.
.
The day arrived. Obi-Wan and Quinlan were taken care of, eating food and in general healing.
Dooku checked their latest med scans. "Perfect. Today will be the day. Come along." He waved a hand and floated them behind him.
He may have been taking care of them, but he wanted them for rituals, so he had to ensure they couldn't escape or do anything dumb.
Obi-Wan and Quinlan exchanged looks and nodded. A moment of concentration later and they had switched bodies. Now they were ready. Hopefully it would help.
Dooku apparently was doing some sort of live stream of this whole thing. He gave an entire speech about the Republic and about how the Jedi were under their thumb and would never do the right thing, the Jedi were the real monsters.
He was going to do a ritual to show two Jedi's true selves.
Obi-Wan and Quinlan exchanged looks. He had to know they weren't really monsters. What was he trying to prove? Was he actually trying to get more support for the Jedi? Or was he actually an idiot?
Either way, it was a Sith ritual. They didn't want to know what it would do. So at least they were swapped.
Dooku turned to them. "Now, time to see your true selves."
Obi-Wan in Quinlan's body yawned and gave him one of Quinlan's usual smirks. "Oh, I'm sure you'll love what you see."
Dooku scowled. "If a healthy body wasn't so important to this ritual I would torture you right now, Vos."
Obi-Wan as Quinlan laughed.
Quinlan as Obi-Wan sighed. "If you've met Quinlan before, surely you know better than to encourage him."
Dooku gave him a look, shook his head and started the ritual.
Obi-Wan had to close his eyes as the ritual built. The Dark side was reaching in and twist and it hurt... and then it was like it stopped and there was an explosion and everything stopped. At least the Dark side dissipated quickly with the explosion.
Quinlan groaned, sitting up. He was still in the same place as before, unable to move because of the chains that had been holding him in place. Yet... he felt like he was in his own body again. It was just aching... a lot...
He opened his eyes and tried to sit up, only to realize that something had really gone wrong. "Uh... Obes...?" He looked over at Obi-Wan and saw a mirrored look of panic.
They were back in their bodies, it seemed, only they maintained something of their soulmate's body. Quinlan's hair was now more red than black and one of his eyes was blue. Obi-Wan now had the clan tattoos and one brown eye.
But that wasn't what had them frozen. It was like they were half shifted into an animal form. And apparently who they truly were inside was not something monstrous, but tookas.
Dooku looked between the two of them, frowning, forgetting that they were live-streaming. "How did you change places?"
Quinlan laughed. "Apparently the ritual decided we needed to be in the right bodies."
Dooku's fists closed. So did Quinlan's throat and he flailed in panic.
"What do you mean," Dooku hissed.
"He means that we're soulmates," Obi-Wan replied calmly. "And we had swapped bodies, and apparently the ritual did not agree with that."
Dooku stared at them and, enraged, hit them both with lightning.
Quinlan screamed and twisted. He just wanted to curl up and cry, but the chains were holding him back.
Dooku smirked viciously and held them under lightning.
Unfortunately for him, the 212th, among others had tracked him down based on the livestream, and had been close enough to get there quickly, able to attack.
When the chains were cut loose, Quinlan immediately curled up in the fetal position, shaking. Tears pouring down his face. Sith lighting hurt and that had been so long under the pain. So long that his limbs were occasionally jolting like the lightning was still there. So long there was a lingering ache.
Obi-Wan stumbled over to him on tooka legs and wrapped himself around Quinlan, crying from the pain, and also shaking. But he had been determined to be by his soulmate.
As they lay there together, what happened to them settled in. They forever would look different. There was very little chance they would be able to reverse all the changes, even if they were able to undo the tooka part. And even that they had no clue about.
They were in shock at what had happened, especially coupled with the torture, a few days to recover, and now this. Permanently changed by a Sith ritual, even if the Dark side wasn't lingering thankfully.
Dooku went down to the onslaught of five Jedi. Anakin, Ahsoka, Aayla, Mace, and Plo had all been close enough to help, and they happily did so, for Obi-Wan and Quinlan.
Although both Anakin and Aayla were having a crisis afterwards. How many times had they thought they were confiding in Quinlan/Obi-Wan but instead were unknowingly confiding in their own master because the two were apparently experts at acting like the other. How often had they wondered how two people so different got along so well only to find out they could swap bodies and act like the other. Where was the truth?
Cody was the first one to approach Obi-Wan and Quinlan. He tried to get their attention, but neither seemed to even hear him.
Ahsoka joined them; she was delighted to learn that two of her favorite people were soulmates, that they acted perfectly like each other when they swapped. She never would have guessed.
"Are they in shock?"
"I think so." Cody sighed. "They'll need a medic... I think. I don't think anyone knows what to do with what happened."
"I don't think they know right now. But we'll help them with it. Nothing they can't handle with support, right?"
Cody nodded. "Right. And we'll start by getting them out of here so they can be examined."
Quinlan and Obi-Wan didn't so much as twitch as they were moved. It just worried everyone more, even after the medics confirmed it was just shock. They would be okay in time. Everyone just had to be patient.