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Obi-wan watched Kiran leave the room and sighed. Who encourages a kid to speak only to shoot them down before they even finish speaking? Why would Anakin do that? What hurt Obi-wan was how Kiran wasn’t even surprised or dejected; his padawan just silently left the room with tight shields. It was as if Kiran only ever expected Anakin to be rude and condescending towards him, and Obi-wan was not going to continue to allow that. Obi-wan looked at Anakin as the knight walked back to the holoprojector.
“Anakin.” Obi-wan sighed, disappointment lacing his voice, “Why did you interrupt Kiran?”
“It was a bad idea. The padawans don’t need to come with us.” Anakin spoke, leaning against the holotable. “No point in hearing out the rest.”
Cody’s agitation shot through the force, and Obi-wan wanted to smile at his commander’s protectiveness. “Interrupting Kiran was not the way to tell him no. You can go about things differently.”
Anakin scoffed and shook his head. “Why get his hopes up? It doesn’t make any sense to hear him out if you were going to say no in the first place.”
“I wasn’t going to say no right away. Kiran is smart and comes up with good plans. He proved that in Malevolence when he destroyed the hyperdrive by himself.” Obi-wan shot back, not wanting Anakin to underestimate Kiran’s mind.
“His last idea was to spacewalk onto Dooku’s ship.” Anakin pointed out, his ire rising quickly. “In which he argued with me after I said no. Sounds to me that he doesn’t hear that word nearly enough.”
Obi-wan glared at Anakin, “Kiran is told no, but I do not and will not interrupt him and shoot down his ideas without a second thought.”
“Giving bad ideas a second of thought is how horrible strategies are formed!” Anakin growled. “Which is all I’m seeing from your apprentice right now. He wants to go spacewalk with you and invade Dooku's ship, and now he wants to drag himself and my padawan into unknown and possibly dangerous territory."
"You never let him finish!" Obi-wan shot back. "He wants to help. You told him to speak up; the least you could do is hear him out."
Obi-wan wished Anakin would just listen. The Jedi Master glanced over at Ahsoka, who was standing close to Rex, watching the fight with wide eyes. He needed to end this discussion quickly. It was beginning to affect the others in the room.
"I'm calling Kiran back into the room, and we will listen to what he has to say." Obi-wan spoke, leaving no room for arguments.
"No, not happening." Anakin shook his head, choosing to argue, and Obi-wan felt his eye twitch. "We have an objective; Kiran's plan makes no sense! Why does he have to want to come with us all the time?"
"Because he's worried, Anakin." Obi-wan snapped, tired of the conversation running in circles.
Silence consumed the room, and Obi-wan sighed. Ahsoka looked worried, and Cody was sending him a thoughtful glance. A headache began to pulse behind Obi-wan's eyes, and he rubbed at his temples. Obi-wan could see the confusion radiating off his former apprentice and shook his head.
"He's worried about us," Obi-wan added, placing a hand on his hip. He shouldn't have to explain this to Anakin. "That's why he keeps trying to come on our missions; he wants to look out for us."
Obi-wan's words seemed to irritate Anakin. "We are Jedi. We are fully trained Jedi. We don't need a padawan to look out for us."
"Anakin, what do you know about Master Fisto's mission on Vassek Moon?" Obi-wan questioned.
"He and Knight Vebb were searching for Nute Gunray and found Grievous' home instead. Knight Vebb was killed that night." Anakin frowned and crossed his arms. "What does that have to do with Kiran."
"Knight Vebb was a good friend of Kiran's. Master Fisto said Nahdar treated Kiram like a younger brother." obi-wan tried to explain. "Kiran is still dealing with that grief, and in his own way, trying to protect us eases his mind."
Anakin froze and stared at Obi-wan in shock. "I… I didn't know that," he mumbled.
Of course, he didn't, obi-wan thought. There was no way Anakin would have known, especially since he made no effort to get to know Kiran. That was a subject for another day, though. For now, Obi-wan just wanted Anakin to understand Kiram a little more. Maybe one day, Anakin would become friends with his padawan brother. That would be wonderful to see.
The door hissed open, and Obi-wan watched Ahsoka quietly slip out of the room. He nodded to his Commander, and shortly after, he and Rex left also. Hopefully, one of them would find Kiran and talk to him. Obi-wan could feel numbness coming from Kiran, a sense of doubt and dejection. That was the impact Anakin left on him, and Obi-wan hated it. He didn't want Kiran getting stuck in his head.
"Kiran isn't asking to go with us because he seeks adventure. He's not you, Anakin." Obi-wan elucidated, "Kiran would prefer to sit in his room and read all day, but he knows we are constantly risking our lives, and he wants to protect us. He wants to help."
Anakin nodded and looked away, "Fine, but I still don't want him to come with us."
"Right now, that choice is up to me." Obi-wan quickly raised his hands to stop Anakin from speaking. "I'm not saying I will allow him to go, but I want to hear what he has to say."
Anakin rolled his eyes and turned away, "Whatever."
Obi-wan shook his head and sent a quick message to Cody, instructing him to find and bring Kiran and Ahsoka back to the room. He leaned against the holotable as Cody sent a reply. He and Rex found the padawans, but they were talking, and he didn't want to interrupt them. He hummed quietly, hoping that Ahsoka was reassuring Kiran. He closed his eyes and wished for the next few hours to go well as the door opened.