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Obi sniffled, trying not to cry. Bant always said that crying didn’t help- mostly because she couldn’t, but Siri said that crying had to be good for something, since he did it all the time. But Bant wasn't here because she hadn’t been feeling well so Siri had stayed behind with her, and Quin wasn’t good enough at controlling his psychometry yet, and Reeft and Garen had already been holding hands.
And then Bruck had volunteered to be his buddy and Crechemaster Zhev Tay had smiled, so Obi tried to swallow down his dread.
It worked until Bruck had shoved him into a cupboard and locked him in it.
Obi gave one big sniff, trying to look past the tears welling up in his eyes. He’d picked locks before with the Force- Quin wouldn’t let him get away with not knowing how- but it was hard to remember now, when he was alone in the dark and one side of his face was ringing with pain. When Bruck had pushed him inside the cupboard, he’d hit the corner of a storage shelf. He didn’t think he was bleeding, but his cheek felt hot and tingly to the touch.
It felt like he’d been stuck in this cupboard forever, and no one had come looking for him. Obi had no idea what Bruck had told Crechemaster Zhev Tay to explain how he was missing, but it was probably nothing good, which meant that he'd be stuck in punishment after being stuck here, too.
Finally, the lock gave a click and Obi pushed the door open with a big sigh. Now all he had to do was find the rest of his clan-. He froze when a shadow covered him. Obi clung to the door handle and slowly looked- up, and up, and up.
There was a very big man in a big black cloak, and all that could be seen of his face was an oily smile. But when Obi looked at him, he Saw a whole bunch of absolutely awful things, death and betrayal and abandonment and-.
Obi did the only thing a kid his age could do: he screamed.
Bail was bone-weary and heartsore and beside him, he knew Ettene wasn’t much better. He could only be relieved that the bill for the Protection of Children Displaced by Wartime had been submitted, but none of that could erase the holos of bruised and bloodied children in his mind’s eye. The worst part of it was how most of those children were already dead.
But if just one child survived due to this bill- it would have been worth it. It had to be worth it. It must-.
A child screamed.
That was the last sound Bail had expected to hear in the Senate Building, and he saw his own alarm reflected on Ettene’s face. It appeared to have come from the corridor in front of them. Ettene started forward, only to jump backwards when a thigh-height child torpedo hurtled towards him. Bail quickly knelt to let the child slam into him and bury their hot, damp face against his throat.
Bail stood, staying behind Ettene’s protective stance as he tried to comfort the child.
“Sweetheart, you’re safe now,” he crooned, coaxing the child into looking up, but all he could see was a large, ripening bruise covering half their face.
“That child is from the creche,” Ettene declared. “Where is the rest of their clan?”
They both looked down the corridor- at the lone Human man that stood at the end of it, looking caught out by their attention. Ettene’s hand dropped to her lightsaber.
The following events happened in quick succession.
Sheev Palpatine had just returned from Mustafar, flush off defeating his Master, Lord Plagueis. It felt like the stars had aligned when he found a terrified little Jedi mouse tucked away in some dusty corner of the Senate, projecting their fear and distress into the Force. A potential apprentice, he’d thought, especially when their eyes glazed over with a vision at the sight of him, but then the mouse had screamed, shoving past him and catching the knee Plagueis had shattered in their final fight.
Sheev managed to catch himself against the wall before he fell over, gritting his teeth. Apprentice or not, the mouse was going to pay for their insolence. He limped after them as quickly as he could, lightning building under his skin.
He was not expecting to turn the corner and find the mouse bundled up in Organa’s arms, a Chalactan Jedi guarding them.
The following events happened in quick succession.
Everen had worked with Organa for many years now, as much in the aftermath of battlefields as in meeting rooms, and she could feel how his heart was simultaneously relieved and pained as they put the finishing touches on their bill for the Protection of Children Displaced by Wartime. Their moroseness had been interrupted by a child who’d come out of nowhere, hardly old enough to be an Initiate, blaring their distress into the Force, and it hurt her that one of their own felt so alone and afraid in a place they should have been safe.
Everen recognised the man at the end of the corridor as the new Senator for the Chommell sector, whose name escaped her presently. He had the gall to look surprised that she and Organa would come to the child’s defence, but when she drew her lightsaber, he drew his too- and it was red.
The following events happened in quick succession.
Bail did not think Sheev Palpatine was supposed to be in possession of a lightsaber. But once a fight broke out, he knew that he and the child would be more hindrances than help. Thankfully, however, he also knew that Adi Gallia had been expecting them, so he tucked the child close and ran.
“Master Gallia!” he shouted. “Master Gallia!”
The Tholothian emerged from her office, the surprise on her face morphing into alarm at the sight of him.
“Master Ettene is fighting Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo,” he panted out. “He has a red lightsaber.”
By a miraculous stroke of luck, Agen Kolar and Eeth Koth were also in Gallia’s office.
“Master Koth, please remain with the Senator and the Initiate,” Gallia ordered, grimly focused as she and Kolar sprinted down the corridor, where the sounds of the fight were only growing louder.
“Senator,” Koth murmured, ushering him and the child into Gallia’s offices. “There was supposed to be an excursion from the creche today.”
Bail shook his head, cradling the crying child to his chest. “They were the only one we saw.”
Koth frowned. “Let me contact the High Council, and then I would like to hear how this came about.”
Bail sagged into a squishy armchair. The child hadn’t once looked up from where they’d hidden their face against his throat, and they were still shaking slightly with their tears. He stroked their back, making shushing noises into their mop of russet curls.
“Could I take a look at your face, sweetheart?” he asked. “Master Koth, if you had any bruise balm or bacta cream-?”
“Are you or the kit hurt?” Koth asked, looking away from his comm with clear concern on his face. “I believe Adi has- ah.” He pulled open several drawers and floated a tube over to him.
“I think Palpatine struck the child,” Bail said, swallowing down his anger as he dabbed away their tears from their hot face as gently as he could. The child opened their mouth to say something, but only a wet hiccough emerged, and then they couldn’t stop hiccoughing. “Shhh, shhh, it’s okay,” he coaxed, rubbing their back.
Koth came to sit beside them, holding out a cloth to him. “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” he said kindly. “How did you end up here, little one?”
The child looked up at them with red-rimmed eyes and burst into tears again.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Bail sighed, and bundled up Obi-Wan in a tight hug. That was clearly the right thing to do, given how hard they clung back.
“Palpatine isn’t a Jedi, is he?” he asked Koth. “He was after Obi-Wan.”
“No,” the Zabrak replied gravely. “A red lightsaber is a sign of the Sith,” and he was interrupted by Obi-Wan’s loud sob. Koth sighed.
“Obi-Wan is unfortunately prone to visions,” he explained. “I can hardly imagine what you Saw, little one.”
Bail’s arms unconsciously tightened around Obi-Wan. The child had been clinging desperately to his neck, but then they let out a full-bodied shudder before relaxing. Bail chanced a peek, and it seemed like they had finally fallen asleep. He petted their hair, settling them into a more comfortable position in the crook of his arm.
“Master Yoda and Master Windu are on their way.”
Bail looked up, eyes wide. “The Master and the Grand Master of the Order?”
Koth’s lips thinned. “Master Yoda is the only Jedi on Coruscant who remembers fighting the Sith. The rest of the Council is preparing to put the Temple on lockdown and mobilise, if necessary. Everen is undoubtedly a talented duellist, and it is my hope that Adi and Agen's assistance will be enough to contain Palpatine.”
He shook his head lightly, scattering his long hair. “The Force is…loud today. I hope Mace will be alright.” Koth looked up again, then. “Once he and Master Yoda arrive, I will escort you and Obi-Wan to the Temple for your protection, given Palpatine’s interest in the kit.”
Then the Zabrak’s head snapped towards the door and he drew to his full height. Bail curled protectively around Obi-Wan, but it was just Gallia, her robes singed and charred, and one of her arms was hanging limply.
“Adi-!”
“We’ll survive, Eeth,” Gallia murmured, holding out her one good hand for peace. “But Everen sustained rather grave injuries. If you could request that a Healer join- Mace, I imagine-.”
“How is Master Ettene?” Bail blurted out.
“She will heal,” Gallia told him firmly. “Agen is with her, now.”
“And Palpatine?” he asked uncertainly.
Gallia’s mouth tightened. “We were unable to apprehend him alive, not without risking ourselves.”
Then both Jedi turned as one, Gallia stepping more fully into her office to make room for- Bail almost missed Yoda, except for the rapid tapping of his walking stick. Bail also recognised Master Healer Vokara Che practically chivvying Windu into Gallia's office ahead of her.
“Who's wounded?” she demanded, eyes lingering on Gallia.
“Obi-Wan is hurt,” Koth volunteered. “But it's been dressed and the kit is sleeping. I imagine the others require your assistance more urgently.”
Che stared at Obi-Wan for a long moment, her eyes softening. “I daresay you have Obi-Wan well in hand, Senator, which is more than I can say for Crechemaster Zhev Tay,” she said with a toss of her lekku. “I’ll be back for a cursory examination, but all of you will be availing yourselves in my Halls.”
Gallia let out a resigned sigh. “I’ll take you to Everen, she’s most in need of your help. Whether or not Palpatine was a Sith, he bled his crystals, and their screaming was- difficult to ignore.”
“See this for myself I will,” Yoda croaked. “Master Sifo-Dyas?”
Yet another Jedi had joined them, hidden behind Windu’s breadth and Che’s intensity. Bail didn’t recognise the Human man, his long black hair pulled back from his worn face in a haphazard nerftail. He knelt in front of Bail as Che, Yoda, and Gallia departed, eyes focused on the sleeping Obi-Wan.
“Is there something wrong with them?” Bail asked, his heart in his throat.
“I believe Kenobi has done us a great service,” the Jedi said, his voice soft and accented. “You can feel it, yes? Master Windu.”
“I nearly knocked you over when that last shatterpoint broke,” Windu retorted flatly.
“Was that what it was?” Sifo-Dyas hummed, and it took Bail a moment to realise the man was joking.
Windu didn’t look impressed, either. “So that’s a sense of humour hiding underneath the debilitating visions?”
Sifo-Dyas did smile then, and it changed his face completely...to something rather inconvenient. “Yan often tells me not to quit my day job.”
Windu rolled his eyes as Koth coughed to hide a laugh. “I found the rest of Obi-Wan’s clan,” Windu said. “They didn’t even realise the child was missing, and his partner claimed that Obi-Wan had run off.”
Bail frowned down at the child in question. The flush of exertion having finally faded from their face, leaving behind the stark bruising on their cheek.
“I’ve only known them under duress, but I can’t imagine Obi-Wan to be that sort.”
“Neither can I,” Windu agreed, “and I take Hawk-Bat clan for speech and drama class.”
Somehow, that little tidbit was more surprising than having unearthed a Sith in the Senate. Breha was going to laugh herself silly once he told her this.
“Obi-Wan is in good hands, Senator,” Sifo-Dyas told him.
Bail froze, and so did Windu and Koth. “I- what?” he squeaked.
“Sifo-Dyas,” Windu said lowly, “what are you saying?”
The man shook his head, more hair falling out of its sloppy nerftail. “I’m not saying anything; after all, the future is always in motion, yes?” He gazed at Obi-Wan, eyes soft. “And there are an infinite number of possibilities and endless opportunities open not only to the ad’ika, but to us as well.”
Bail looked down at the child still curled in his lap. “…Master Sifo-Dyas, I think that’s all very well and good, but I think if Obi-Wan were awake right now, they’d just like to go home.”
Sifo-Dyas pushed to his feet with a groan. “Very well, then. Shall we?”
Bail paused in the middle of gathering Obi-Wan up, the child like a ragdoll in his arms. “You’re not going to-?”
“You’re clearly doing much better than Obi-Wan’s crechemaster,” Sifo-Dyas said with a winsome smile. Bail tried not to blush.
Windu took pity on him and explained. “It might have been an unconscious decision, but Obi-Wan has decided that you are safe. If you leave before Obi-Wan wakes, Force help us all.”
“You could just wake them up now,” Bail pointed out dubiously.
Sifo-Dyas simply continued to smile. “You’re welcome to do so, Senator.”
Bail looked down at Obi-Wan, whose face was incredibly cherubic while asleep, tiny bow mouth pursing with each exhale.
“You’re the Master of the Order,” he appealed to Windu, since Sifo-Dyas had made it clear he would be no help. “Can’t you-?”
“You’re made of sterner stuff than me, Senator Organa,” Windu replied. “You’ve seen Obi-Wan’s crying face and lived to tell the tale. I’m afraid I haven't yet built up an immunity to those tooka eyes.”
Bail turned to Koth, but the Zabrak held his hands up in surrender before he could even open his mouth.
“Are all of you serious right now?” Bail asked incredulously.
“It is entirely possible that fighting a Sith would be easier than saying 'no' to Obi-Wan’s tooka face,” Windu said seriously, except that he couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t. “However, given that the Sith is already dead, I’m afraid we’ll never know.”
Breha was never going to believe this.