Chapter Text
“I really don’t understand why you’re so calm about all this.” Dooku sneered, sipping at his tea, catching Qui-Gon’s eye roll out of the corner of his own eyes, “The rumours about the relationship between young Kenobi and this Commander- “
“- Can we really call him Young Kenobi anymore?” Qui Gon interrupted him softly, “And as far as I’m aware, these are still nothing but rumours.”
Dooku hummed, still not liking the situation.
“He has a day off, correct?”
“Hm. I was going to spend the day together, but he told me to spend the day with you instead.” Sighing, Qui-Gon shook his head, “How cruel can one padawan be?”
“Funny.”
There was a moment of silence between the pair before Dooku cleared his throat, “I assume we’ll be…casually seeing what it is that Obi-Wan plans on getting up to?”
“Obviously. What kind of Master and Grandmaster would we be otherwise.”
….
“Commander Cody!”
Cody straightened up as he heard his General’s voice from across the courtyard. He had been slightly cornered by a younger group of clones, who probably hadn’t even seen battle yet, and were therefore, eager to pick his brains because of it. As the General approached, Cody felt a wave of selfishness wash over him.
He didn’t want to share his General with anyone.
Not today.
He shooed the younger group away, before spinning around to face the Jedi Master. “General, how can I help you?”
General Obi-Wan Kenobi glanced at the retreating cadets, many of whom were glancing back at them, whispering to each other. “It’s your day off, and you’ve decided to spend it with cadets?”
“Not really.” Cody shrugged, watching as his brother Rex joined the young group in watching him and the General talking. “I was kind of cornered.”
“Ah. Of course.”
That was the tone the older man used on Skywalker.
Cody wasn’t sure that he appreciated that, but when that soft smile was aimed at him, any annoyance that he felt was soon brushed away. In fact, he hoped that he wasn’t blushing at the sight of it.
“Still, it was kind of you to indulge them. When Master used to send me to the initiates crèche, I thought it was the worst punishment ever…still do really.”
Cody smirked at the thought of a young Obi-Wan being ganged up upon by young Jedi children, “I can’t imagine you getting into trouble General. At least, not the kind that requires punishment.”
“You should talk to Master Jinn sometime, I’m sure he’d be all too happy to tell you how much trouble I used to get in.”
Cody glanced around the courtyard nervously. Out of all the Jedi Masters that he had served under during this war, it was Master Jinn who scared him the most. The man had an unnerving habit of simply staring at Cody when he thought the clone wasn’t paying attention. As if trying to see into the Clone’s mind. “Where is your Master? I thought you two were spending your day off together?”
Obi-Wan shrugged, “Mast-I’m sorry, Count Dooku came for a visit so I encouraged Master to spend the day with his old Master. We’ll end up talking later anyway.”
As Obi-Wan made to continue, he was interrupted by Rex making his way over. “Good afternoon General. I hope you’re enjoying your day off as much as General Skywalker is?”
Obi-Wan sighed wearily, “Dare I ask?”
“Probably best not to Sir.”
Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head before turning his attention back to Cody, “Commander, I was wondering whether or not you’ll allow me to show you around the Coruscant market…that is of course if you aren’t too busy or have previous plans?”
Before Cody could even think about protesting or making an excuse, Rex leant over to hiss in his ear. “You’ve been waiting for this chance forever. Forget that he’s a Jedi and go!”
Cody flushed as Obi-Wan gave them a knowing grin, having clearly overheard the not-so-subtle list. Nudging his brother away, Cody nodded in response to his General’s query, “That would be…nice Sir.”
“Excellent…but I think you can call me Obi-Wan, especially now.”
If only he knew that was how Cody always referred to him in his head.
“Yes S-Obi-Wan…Sir”
Obi-Wan chuckled, “Come on then Cody, we have quite a bit of ground to cover.”
Ignoring Rex’s smirk, Cody followed the Gen-…Obi-Wan, trying not to look too eager in case the…Obi-Wan turned around and noticed.
He was stepping into the unknown now and had no plan about what to do.
That had happened a lot over the course of this war however, and it tended to be General Kenobi leading him into it.
He trusted him then.
It was time to trust him now.
…..
The next few hours were arguably some of the best in Cody’s life. They spent the rest of the afternoon and some of the evening wandering the streets of Coruscant, watching the many shows and performances of the people. They then strolled by the side of a lake until Obi-Wan paused and picked up a small plant.
“Isn’t that a weed?” Cody asked with a frown, not overly sure about the flora of the plant, but reasonably sure about this classification.
“A weed is merely a plant growing in the wrong place.” Obi-Wan chuckled, “My Master is so in tune with the Living Force, that he would often teach me all about the plant life of each plant. For instance, smell this plant….”
Cody was slow to obey, but when he did, he found himself smiling in shock. “That’s nice. What is it?”
“It’s a herb that happens to be used in cooking. Speaking of which, I know exactly where to go next!”
They walked until they eventually came to a small diner. It seemed deserted, with only a couple of hooded patrons along with a few others, but Obi-Wan strode confidently inside. “Dex?”
Cody watched in amazement as a large Besalisk came out into the main diner area, his arms open wide as he pulled the Jedi Master into a seemingly bone-crushing hug. ”Obi-Wan! You’re just in time! I’ve just finished a soufflé!”
As he released Obi-Wan, the Besalisk (who Cody assumed to be Dex) caught sight of Cody and beamed, “Well, well, well…who’s this then?”
Obi-Wan gently encouraged Cody to stand next to him, “This is Cody. My friend.”
Dex smirked knowingly at the pair of them before heading back into the kitchen, coming back out with a soufflé. “You fella’s hafta try this, it’s- “As it was placed on the counter, the soufflé practically deflated, causing Dex to spit out a very unflattering word in his own language.
“Oh.” Cody winced in sympathy, “That’s- “
He paused as Obi-Wan held up a hand and dipped a spoon into the now deflated mixture, “Wait…” he held out the spoon for Cody, “…try it.”
Cody found himself pleasantly surprised when carefully ate what was on the spoon, “Wow!”
Obi-Wan grinned as Dex sighed in relief, “One thing about Dex’s cooking is, that no matter what it looks like, it’s the best.”
The pair (along with Dex) eagerly finished the pudding, before Obi-Wan grabbed a hold of Cody’s hand “Come, there’s one more thing I have to show you.”
Waving goodbye to Dex, the pair quickly left.
As they rounded the corner, Dex turned to the hooded couple in the end booth and grinned. “Well, what d’ya make of that?!”
The pair removed their hoods, as Qui-Gon frowned, “Hm, I didn’t realise- “
“- What was it that you said?” Dooku was clearly trying not to look too smug, ”’Let’s not act rashly? There’s nothing to the rumours?’”
Dex glanced between the pair of them, “You didn’t like what’cha saw?”
“It’s not that we didn’t like it, but attachment is forbidden.”
“Love?”
“Attachment.”
“Hm, sounds different to me.”
There was silence for a moment, Dooku turned to Qui-Gon. “Let us see the true nature of this relationship Qui-Gon, maybe not all is what it seems. After all, Mister Dex is right…love and attachment are two very different things.”
…..
Sometimes, Cody wondered what it would be like to have days like this.
To not have to worry about wars and politics and everything like that. To wake up beside the General, seeing his hair out of that perfectly brushed hairstyle that he kept it in.
Looking less than perfect.
He knew he should be ashamed, but the sight of the General looking a little ruffled from the fight, never failed to set his heart thumping in his chest.
“Up here.”
Frowning in confusion, he let the Gen- Obi-Wan pull him up the stairs of a tower.
“This is my favourite spot in all of Coruscant…” explained the other man as they neared the top, “…isn’t it beautiful?!”
Cody frowned, “But I can’t see anything?”
“You don’t have to. Close your eyes and listen to the city.”
Cody obeyed and almost instantly he was met with the sounds of children playing, music from the performers and the laughter of the people down below. As he listened, Obi-Wan gently tugged him up a few more stairs until there was the sound of a door opening and the sudden gust of wind caused Cody to open his eyes.
There, he was met with a view of Coruscant, more beautiful than any he had ever seen before. The city lights twinkled in the evening sky and Cody couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah…I can see why this is your favourite spot.” He turned to Obi-Wan and grinned, “Got anything else to show me?”
Obi-Wan looked surprised for a second before nodding eagerly and jumping onto the nearest building roof, encouraging the Commander to join him with a simple wave of his hand. Cody couldn’t but laugh as he followed his General across the rooftops of Coruscant.
This…this was what he always wanted.
…..
It seemed like only yesterday, when Obi-Wan was a skinny padawan, still growing into his limbs, coming into Qui-Gon’s room when he didn’t feel well.
Qui-Gon watched the pair from down on the streets and sighed, “This is so sudden” He whispered, voice barely audible to Dooku, who was looking a little smug over the fact that he’d been right about the rumours and the truth behind them, “I keep thinking of Obi-Wan as that small boy who would follow me around, eager to learn from me, but- but he’s fallen in love hasn’t he.”
“Any regrets?”
“How could I? He’s happy.” Qui Gon shook his head, “After this war started, I never thought I would see that smile again. His true smile, not the diplomatic one we’re all so used to seeing now.”
“…Could it be considered attachment do you think?”
“Do you believe that it is?”
Dooku thought to himself for a moment, “No. And now you know why I choose not to follow the Council’s orders and rules…especially regarding issues such as love and compassion. They firmly believe that it will lead to attachment, and then possession, which will then lead to the Dark Side of the Force. But they forget that without compassion and without love, we would not be Jedi.”
Nodding in understanding, Qui-Gon watched as his ex-padawan started to lead the clone across a rope, helping the man keep balance almost as well as a Jedi. Moving closer, he listened in on the conversation.
“Don’t you trust me Cody?”
“Of course… It’s my feet and this rope I don’t trust!”
Chuckling, the pair watched as the Jedi and clone continued, straightening up when they saw Obi-Wan placed his hands on Cody’s shoulders in order to try and balance him.
“Love is such a strange emotion.” Dooku mused, watching as Cody wobbled, to the point where he fell off the rope and landing on his feet. The sudden swinging of the rope caused Obi-Wan to fall as well. However, before he hit the ground, Cody managed to catch him in his own arms.
Qui-Gon smiled gently as the soldier placed Obi-Wan back on his feet, causing the young man to flush slightly and thank the other man, whilst assuring Cody that he would’ve landed on his feet. “Yeah…” he answered in response to Dooku’s question, “…It really is.”
“He seems to be dealing with the emotions well, for someone on the council.”
“Obi-Wan has been in love before. He knows just how powerful an emotion it can be, and the dangers it can lead to.”
“How…rebellious of him.”
Qui-Gon chuckled, “He’s not always been the perfect example of a Jedi, even now, he is far more like me than he’ll ever realise.”
“An insult to be saved for a later time.” Dooku mused, seeing grey clouds rolling in, lightning flashing overhead as thunder boomed. They easily found shelter, along with a number of other people, only to watch as Obi-Wan and Cody stayed out in the open. The rain poured down from the skies and the couple in the square laughed as their clothes slowly became soaked.
“Ah.” Qui-Gon chuckled, “Now this is true love.”
“Oh?”
Qui-Gon simply smiled and gestured at the couple, “Obi-Wan hates getting wet unnecessarily. Whenever we would go on a mission where the main weather forecast was rain, Obi-Wan was miserable. As he got older, he complained slightly less…but he still preferred staying dry.”
“So?”
“Look at him…I don’t think he even realises it’s raining, he’s so focused on Commander Cody.”
There was another crack and boom as the storm intensified, and the suddenness of it startled the pair who quickly realised what situation they were in. Qui-Gon chuckled warmly as he watched Obi-Wan’s face twist in distaste, trying to pull the wet cloth away from his skin as Cody tugged him towards another shelter.
They watched as the pair disappeared into the shadows and Dooku turned to his old padawan, “Are you going to talk to him?”
Qui-Gon smiled, “I see no reason to. If it goes any further, I’m sure Obi-Wan will tell me…but in times of war, a little bit more love can go a long way.”