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‘This sounds like a bad idea.’ Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at Anakin, who held up his hands defensively.
‘Fine, don’t come then,’ Anakin said. ‘Be boring.’
‘Oh, no, I’ll be there,’ Obi-Wan replied. ‘I just wanted you to know.’
Anakin grinned. ‘Noted.’
It was the first evening of their shore leave and while Obi-Wan had been planning to spend the evening reading in his quarters or catching up with [y/n], he was intrigued by whatever it was that Anakin was planning. Last night, Anakin and Ahsoka had had the epiphany that Rex had never celebrated his birthday. Rex had tried to convince the two Jedi that it didn’t matter, but his protests had - unsurprisingly - fallen on deaf ears. So now Anakin had suggested that they should all go out together to give Rex a birthday party, before they’d be sent back to Coruscant and separated again for who knew how long.
‘Oh, Obi-Wan,’ Anakin said with a mischievous glint in his eye - one that made Obi-Wan wary of what would follow, ‘don’t forget to invite your girlfriend.’
‘I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,’ Obi-Wan replied sharply.
Anakin spun on his heel to walk away. ‘Tell her to wear something nice!’
—
‘What about this?’ [y/n] stepped out of the fresher and back into her quarters. She’d been digging through the small bag of clothes she’d brought in an attempt to find something that could be described as “nice”. Seeing as they had been on this planet on official Jedi business, her luggage hadn’t included “going out” clothes, exactly. She’d brought some civvie clothes in case they needed to blend in, but that was about the extent of her wardrobe.
‘Perfect.’ Obi-Wan watched her spin in a circle and smiled. He’d been waiting for her to find something to wear, but hadn’t minded it one bit.
[Y/n] crossed her arms. ‘You say that for every outfit I try on.’
‘What can I say,’ he said with a shrug, ‘must be something about the person wearing them, then.’
She shook her head but couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Seriously, though.’
Obi-Wan looked her up and down. She’d dug up an off-white shirt with a v-neck and had matched it with some beige, loose-fitting pants. He nodded his approval.
‘Ready?’ he asked.
‘One second.’ She picked her lightsaber up from where it had been resting on the table. Gently, she laid it down into her bag and zipped it up. ‘We won’t need that tonight.’
Obi-Wan scoffed. ‘We’re going out with Anakin, remember.’
[Y/n] gave him a look. ‘I’m sure he’ll behave.’
‘Oh, he’d better,’ Obi-Wan replied. ‘I’m not bailing him out of another cantina fight. Besides, I’ve got other plans for you and me tonight.’
She grinned at him and winked. ‘Come on, we’ll be late.’
—
‘That’s so unfair!’
Ahsoka was glaring daggers at Obi-Wan, who had dared question whether it was appropriate for her to come along. The plan, as it turned out, was to get some drinks in the cantina. Cantinas were places which Obi-Wan would consider off-limits for a padawan so young, especially if it wasn’t necessary for a mission for her to be there. Immediately, he’d been met with fierce resistance from said padawan.
‘A bit of help here?’ Obi-Wan asked Anakin, who just shrugged.
‘It was her idea,’ Anakin said, but quickly shut his mouth when he saw the look Obi-Wan was sending him. ‘But, Snips, you might want to sit this one out.’
‘No thanks.’ Ahsoka turned and walked away. ‘Well, come on, let’s go!’
Anakin shrugged apologetically. ‘Sorry master, I tried.’
He then followed Ahsoka out of the building, Rex in tow. Obi-Wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
‘[Y/n], why does nobody ever listen to me?’ he asked.
‘Must be something in the water.’ She smiled and took his hand. ‘It’ll be ok, Anakin will look after her.’
Obi-Wan relaxed as soon as her hand made contact with his. How she always managed to make him feel like that was a mystery to him, but he wasn’t going to complain. He let her lead him out of the building and felt disappointed when she let his hand slip out of hers as soon as they rejoined their little group. Holding hands wasn’t exactly something Jedi were supposed to do. Feeling the way they felt about each other was very forbidden, so they had to keep up the facade in front of others. Even if Obi-Wan knew for a fact that Anakin had caught on to their not-so-secret relationship. And if Anakin knew, then Ahsoka knew, and if Ahsoka knew, then Rex knew, and if Rex knew, the whole 501st probably knew. Still, nobody was going to outright admit that they knew. Anakin liked teasing Obi-Wan, sure, but neither of them had acknowledged the mutual understanding that came with having secret relationships.
‘Happy birthday, Rex!’ Ahsoka chimed while grinning at the clone, who was starting to look increasingly uncomfortable with the situation.
‘There really is no need -’ he started, but Anakin cut him off.
‘Of course there is!’ he said and clapped his hand on Rex’s shoulder.
‘General, I -’ Rex tried again, but once again got interrupted by Anakin again.
‘No, tonight nobody’s a General or a Captain,’ Anakin said and gestured at the rest of the group. ‘Tonight, we are Rex, Anakin, Ahsoka, [y/n], and Obi-Wan. If I hear any of you say otherwise, that person will be paying for the next round. Now let’s go.’
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at [y/n], who chuckled in response. What had he let Anakin drag them into? But he knew that if he backed out now, Anakin would never let him hear the end of it, and that would definitely be more annoying than whatever it was that would happen tonight. So when Anakin and Ahsoka pretty much started dragging Rex towards the cantina, Obi-Wan and [y/n] followed behind.
—
‘No way, mine is way bigger than yours!’
They were a couple of drinks deep into their evening, and it had actually been a lot of fun so far. The group of five was squashed into a round booth seat in the corner of the cantina, with [y/n]’s thigh pressed closely to Obi-Wan’s all evening. The cantina was filled with music and was toasty warm, which would be enough to loosen up even the most stoic of Jedi. Even Rex had started to come into his own, after getting over his initial hesitations concerning accidental insubordination if drink was involved. Now, much to Obi-Wan’s amusement, Rex and Anakin were arguing about who had the biggest scar.
‘You don’t believe me?’ Anakin called, a bit louder than was probably necessary. ‘I’ll show you!’
They all watched as Anakin stood up from his seat, wobbled, but then pulled up his shirt to reveal a decent scar running down his ribs.
‘Ha!’ Rex laughed. ‘I remember when you got that. I also remember me having to pull you out of the line of fire!’
‘I was distracted!’ Anakin argued. ‘It happens.’
[Y/n]’s hand was on Obi-Wan’s thigh, tracing a scar they both knew was there. Obi-Wan wasn’t planning on pulling his pants down to win the argument between Rex and Anakin, so he just watched as they bickered back and forth.
‘Yours is definitely bigger,’ [y/n] said to him, nearly making him choke on the sip he’d just taken. Next to her, Ahsoka made a face.
‘Gross!’ she called. Ahsoka was the only sober one, having been forbidden to drink anything alcoholic by the elder Jedi. That meant that she was having a great time watching her friends’ tipsy shenanigans but on the flip side, she had also been forced to watch as Obi-Wan and [y/n]’s subtlety rapidly declined as the evening wore on.
‘What’d they do now?’ Anakin asked while he straightened out his shirt.
‘Nothing!’ [y/n] called, pulling her straw out of her drink and pointing it at Anakin. ‘You’re the one getting naked in the middle of the cantina!’
Anakin chuckled. ‘I don’t hear anybody complaining!’
[Y/n] rolled her eyes so far that her head wobbled with them. She was drunk. Anakin was drunk, Obi-Wan was drunk, and Rex was definitely drunk. The clone had sunk back into his seat and was now staring off into the distance, despite Ahsoka waving her hand in front of his face. That was until Obi-Wan muttered something about going to use the fresher and needed Rex to move out of the way. The captain stood up but wobbled on his feet. When he went to sit back down, he somehow managed to miss the seat and crashed onto the floor, which sent Anakin into a fit of laughter.
‘I’ll get the next round,’ [y/n] said and she slid out of the booth while Rex was still on the floor.
[Y/n] made her way over to the bar - had the floor always been this uneven? - and tried to get the bartender’s attention. Before she could order the drinks, though, [y/n] felt an arm snake around her waist. For a second she thought that it was Obi-Wan’s but when she turned to face him, she found herself face-to-face with a random human man. The man was grinning at her, the smell of drink wafting over.
‘Hey there, beautiful,’ the man said. ‘Come here often?’
[Y/n] made a face. ‘Get off me.’
‘That’s no way to greet me!’ the man called, not budging. ‘Why don’t you give me a smile?’
For a second, [y/n] wished she’d brought her lightsaber. She then decided to tell this man exactly where he could shove his cliche pick-up lines, when he suddenly started floating in the air. [Y/n] looked past him to see Anakin, holding the man up with the Force.
‘Is he bothering you, [y/n]?’ Anakin asked, slightly more darkly than [y/n] would’ve expected from the young Jedi.
She looked up at the man, who was starting to get increasingly panicked. ‘Well, not anymore.’
‘I’m sorry!’ the man squeaked. ‘Please, I’m sorry!’
‘Anakin!’
Obi-Wan had returned from the fresher only to find his mentee dangling some guy in the middle of the cantina. The rest of the cantina’s patrons were starting to look quite unsettled, and Obi-Wan couldn’t blame them.
‘Oh, hello master,’ Anakin replied casually.
‘Anakin, not again!’ Obi-Wan called. ‘Put him down.’
The younger Jedi shrugged. ‘Fine.’
Immediately he released his grip on the man, who clattered down onto the bar and spilled drinks everywhere. [Y/n] sighed, her clothes now soaked and sticky.
‘I had it under control, you know,’ she said to Anakin while she tried - and failed - to dry herself off with a napkin.
‘Happy to help,’ Anakin replied, still grinning while he watched the man clamber off the bar and towards the exit. ‘Now, how about those drinks?’
‘Out!’ the bartender suddenly called, his face red with anger. ‘All of you, out! Right now!’
‘I do apologize,’ Obi-Wan said. He walked past Anakin and grabbed his arm while passing by. ‘We’ll be taking our leave.’
[Y/n] quickly followed the two men, while Ahsoka tried to pull Rex to his feet and helped him out the door. The cool night air had an immediate sobering effect on the group. Obi-Wan was glaring daggers at Anakin, who seemed quite pleased with himself, while Ahsoka was having trouble keeping Rex upright. [Y/n] rushed over and took Rex’s other arm to take some weight off the poor padawan.
‘Now what?’ [y/n] asked.
‘I’m taking Rex back to the barracks,’ Ahsoka said. The clone clumsily nodded his agreement.
‘Can you manage by yourself?’ Obi-Wan asked her, glancing at the captain.
‘I can walk!’ Rex called and detached himself from [y/n] and Ahsoka. He took a couple of steps and then turned around with a triumphant smile on his face. ‘See?’
‘We’ll be fine,’ Ahsoka said to Obi-Wan. ‘You three better behave, though!’
‘You won’t have to worry about us,’ Obi-Wan said. ‘You have my word.’
—
‘Rise and shine, master!’
Anakin came barging into Obi-Wan’s room and pulled open the blinds. Obi-Wan groaned and covered his face with his arm. How many drinks had he had last night? He felt awful. His head was pounding and his body felt twice as heavy as it normally did.
‘Our transport back to Coruscant will be here in an hour!’ Anakin continued, sounding chipper. ‘Best get packed!’
Obi-Wan groaned again. ‘How come you’re in such a good mood?’
Anakin chuckled. ‘Master, did you really think this was my first big night out?’
‘I don’t think I want to know.’ Obi-Wan swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to ignore the swirling in his stomach. Never again, he decided.
‘Here.’ Anakin handed him a cup of water, which Obi-Wan gratefully took. ‘Hey, where’s [y/n]?’
‘What do you mean?’ Obi-Wan asked after he’d finished the water.
‘Oh, I was assuming she might be here with you,’ Anakin said innocently. ‘Seeing as you got engaged last night.’
Obi-Wan froze. ‘What?’
‘You two got engaged, remember?’ Anakin continued. ‘It was beautiful, really.’
How drunk had they been!? At first, Obi-Wan thought Anakin was joking, but the expectant look on his mentee’s face told him otherwise. Obi-Wan was racking his brain to figure out exactly what Anakin had meant, but his memories of the night before were foggy at best, non-existent at worst.
‘Wait, you don’t remember?’ Anakin asked, the grin on his face growing ever wider. ‘This is hilarious!’
‘No, I don’t remember!’ Obi-Wan snapped at him.
‘Well, it was after Ahsoka left…’ Anakin started.
—
They watched as Ahsoka and Rex started making their way back to the barracks. Rex was staggering and stumbling slightly, and Ahsoka was starting to look increasingly fed up. For a second, Obi-Wan wondered if they should go with them, but he didn’t feel ready to go home yet. The evening air was cool but warm enough to stop them from going cold, and he figured a walk through the nearby park might be enough to sober them up a bit more before going home to help with the inevitable hangover that was to come. So that’s where they set off to next, Anakin in front and Obi-Wan and [y/n] trailing behind.
‘You two carry on walking,’ [y/n] said when they got to the park. ‘I just need to…’
She sat down on the ground and let herself fall backwards into the grass with a sigh. [Y/n] closed her eyes and smiled as she relaxed, her body still heavy and sore after fighting the separatists earlier that day. So Anakin and Obi-Wan continued walking along the gravel path while [y/n] watched the stars and enjoyed the soft grass tickling her skin.
‘So…’ Anakin said while they casually strolled along. ‘How are you feeling?’
Obi-Wan sent him a glance. ‘I’m feeling drunk, Anakin.’
‘Well, yes,’ Anakin replied. ‘But, you know, the war has been hard… And… you know…’
‘Where are you going with this?’ Obi-Wan asked, rather confused about what his mentee was getting at.
Anakin glanced back at [y/n], with Obi-Wan following his line of sight. ‘I know that I would be finding it hard if I didn’t have someone I loved to support me.’
‘Okay?’ Obi-Wan asked. In the back of his mind, he knew Anakin was trying to make a point, but he couldn’t quite figure out what that point was supposed to be. All the drink had made his thinking unreliably slow, which was unusual for a man usually so skilled.
‘I’m just saying, you might want to show someone special that they’re… special.’ Anakin was struggling to subtly get his point across through the drink-induced fog in his mind. His train of thought was threatening to derail, but he was trying to hold onto it desperately. At the end of the day, he cared about Obi-Wan and [y/n], and the comfort he’d found with Padme was something he wanted his friends to find as well. ‘With the war, we never know how much time we really have.’
Obi-Wan nodded slowly. That’s when his eye caught something towards the far end of the park. There was a night market going on by the looks of it, with some of the more sober citizens enjoying the nightlife. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind.
‘Come on,’ he told Anakin.
—
‘[Y/n]!’
[Y/n]’s eyes popped open at Obi-Wan’s voice calling her name. It took her a second to realize that she was still on the grass at the park, but then she scrambled to her feet. Obi-Wan was standing in front of her, Anakin loitering further down the path.
‘Hey,’ she said and smiled at Obi-Wan.
‘I got you something.’ Obi-Wan opened his hand and revealed a delicate necklace. The chain was silver with a small gem dangling from it. The gem was the same color as Obi-Wan’s lightsaber blade.
‘It’s beautiful,’ [y/n] said, surprised at this sudden gesture. ‘But…’
But. They both knew what she was trying to say. It’d be breaking the rules. The code. Everything they had both dedicated their lives to. But they had already broken so many rules. And even though it was wrong, it was also the only thing that had kept them both going. Obi-Wan sighed, but was suddenly hit by a moment of clarity.
Kriff it.
What was one more broken rule? What was one more transgression after there had already been so many? The Jedi Order had been fundamentally changed since the war had started. Everything was already different from how it was supposed to be.
‘When the war is over…’ Obi-Wan took [y/n]’s hand in his, the necklace between both their hands. His gaze found hers as he continued. ‘When it’s over, let’s leave. You and me. We’ll… go somewhere else. Get married.’
A smile tugged at [y/n] lips but then she realized he was being serious. For a moment, she contemplated his words.
‘Ok,’ she said finally, smiling brightly at him and the prospect of their future together.
‘Promise me,’ he said.
‘I do,’ she replied.
Obi-Wan then pulled his hand from hers and slipped the necklace around her neck. Then he pulled her in for a kiss, but that was soon interrupted by Anakin coughing awkwardly in the distance. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, and [y/n] laughed. She wished she could stay in this moment forever, and that nothing would ever change.
—
The thing about Coruscant was that silence was never really silence. The planet always had a buzz about it, a constant humming, even in the middle of the night. [Y/n] sat back and rested her head against the tree in the Jedi temple gardens. It was late, but she was unable to sleep. After returning to Coruscant earlier that day, she’d spent the rest of the day sleeping off her hangover. She did feel better, but the flip side of that was that she wasn’t tired at all now. She had thought about going to the library, but the garden had seemed more appealing to her jumbled mind. [Y/n] wasn’t sure what to make of her drunken promise to Obi-Wan. Had he meant it? Or had it just been a spur of the moment decision, fueled by Anakin’s words and the many, many drinks the three of them had had? The necklace was still around her neck, hidden under her clothes. Secretly, in her heart of hearts, she wanted their promise to be true. She knew she’d leave the Order for him. Would he do the same for her?
‘Mind if I join you?’
[Y/n] looked up and saw that it was Obi-Wan, as if her thinking about him had conjured him out of thin air. She smiled at him and nodded hesitantly. She wasn’t ready for him to pull her back into reality. Because she very well knew that the reality was that they couldn’t exist. That them leaving the Order together had only been a drunken dream. That she didn’t actually mean that much to him. Obi-Wan sat down next to her. They sat in silence for a while, as if both of them couldn’t find the words they needed for the conversation they both knew they needed to have.
‘How are you feeling?’ Obi-Wan asked after a while.
‘Surprisingly good,’ [Y/n] replied. ‘I think Rex is a lot worse off than either of us.’
He laughed. ‘I think you’re right.’
There was another silence, until [Y/n] was brave enough to speak her mind. ‘Obi…’
‘Yes?’ He raised her eyebrows at her serious tone, but already knew what she wanted to talk about.
‘What we decided last night, what we promised each other…’ She sighed and brought her hand up to where the necklace was resting under her clothes. ‘I know we were drunk, and… I wanted to tell you that I won’t hold you to that promise.’
‘[Y/n].’ Obi-Wan wanted to take her hand in his, but stopped himself. Even though it was late, there were still other Jedi wandering the gardens. ‘I’m not going to break that promise.’
Her heart jumped in her chest. ‘Really?’
‘Really.’ He hooked his pinky finger around hers in the hopes that no one else would notice a gesture that small. ‘When the war is over, we’ll go.’
‘Ok, I will hold you to that,’ [Y/n] said with a smile, making him chuckle. They sat in silence for another few minutes, before Obi-Wan got up.
‘I’d best try to get some sleep,’ he said, but paused before he walked away. ‘[Y/n], I…’
Love you were the words he wanted to say, but knew he couldn’t.
‘I know,’ she replied. ‘Me too.’
He turned to walk away, both their hearts full of love and secure in the knowledge of each other’s continued presence. [Y/n] was looking forward to the day the war would end, and everything would be different.