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“A Sith? Truly?” Master Windu sounded disbelieving and Obi-Wan pushed down a burst of irritation.
“My master and I have more experience with fallen Jedi than any other Jedi currently in the Order.” Obi-Wan had done a quick search while waiting for their meeting with the Council. “Unless there is a Shadow with more experience whose records are not generally accessible?”
From the reactions of those Obi-Wan could see, he didn’t think so.
“Aware we are of experiences you have,” Master Yoda said. “Yet more you claim. Sith you claim.”
“I know the feel of a fallen Jedi, masters. It is something I am intimately familiar with and have been from a young age.” Obi-Wan glared at Master Yoda, remembering when his grandmaster had apologized, too late, for sending him early to Bandomeer. And for not preventing Xanatos from entering the Temple. And…
“This was not simply a fallen Jedi. This was a being steeped in darkness from a young age. Even his soul was twisted by the dark.” Master Qui-Gon finally joined the argument, as little use as he had been from within the ship. Though he’d gotten a closer look at the Zabrak’s soul than Obi-Wan had, the dark bird having attacked Helios.
“The healers observed the condition of Xanatos’ body. They should compare it to that of the being we brought back,” Obi-Wan added.
“Yes, how did you manage to kill such a powerful being?” Master Windu asked.
Obi-Wan wondered if anyone read his reports.
“Obi-Wan fortunately brought a Mandaloran back from Mos Eisley. He had a slug thrower.” Master Qui-Gon managed to make the praise sound completely dismissive.
“I ran into the Mand’alor in Mos Eisley,” Obi-Wan corrected. “He is currently negotiating a contract with Queen Amidala to help Naboo. Fortunately, the Mando’ade are adept at killing Force users and he was willing to direct his skills to our aid.”
“Thank him, we must,” Master Yoda said.
“Yes, yes,” Master Windu said. “We’ll let the healers have a look at the body and reassess once we have their report.”
That was a dismissal, but neither Obi-Wan nor Master Qui-Gon moved. Neither Seab-hoc nor Helios fluttered a single feather on their shoulders.
“You have something else to discuss?” Master Plo Koon asked.
“Yes,” Master Qui-Gon said. “I have found a Force vergence.”
“He has found a child,” Obi-Wan corrected, cutting off his master. “A child that glows like a sun in the Force.”
“His mother says he has no father. His Midichlorians are higher than even Master Yoda’s. I suspect he was conceived by the Force itself.” Master Qui-Gon made it sound like he was trying to one up Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan could only stare at him in shock.
“You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force?” Master Windu asked.
Obi-Wan scoffed. “Is that why you insisted on freeing him, Master?” He felt the shock through the room. “He is nine, a slave his whole life on Tatooine, forced to leave his mother behind in chains.” He turned to face down Masters Windu and Yoda. “And I know this only because I was sent to retrieve him because there were too many Mando’ade in town.” He finished with a glare to his master. “This council cannot accept him by your own rules, and my master would destroy him placing a prophecy on his shoulders.”
“Angry you are,” Master Yoda said, sounding disappointed.
“Yes, I am, with reason,” Obi-Wan countered. “My master brought him here with pretty words and promises I have listened to since Tatooine. Had I not seen where he came from, I would never have known he was a slave. I would have assumed he might be taught, you might be convinced. But you will find him too old, too scared, too attached. Probably too angry.” He might have spat the last word. “And when those pretty promises are torn away, it will break him. A boy of such power and potential. And the Sith have returned.
“This is a time when emotion is warranted. For if we act with dispassion, we will ignore the truth that emotion is part of childhood. Children are scared, and angry, and wild. I would not see this boy suffer as I did for being unable to behave as an adult before his mind has a chance to mature.”
Master Koon tapped his claws against the arm of his chair and nodded. “Obi-Wan speaks the truth.”
“Would you have us return the boy to his chains?” Master Qui-Gon asked, sounding horrified. Maybe even feeling it.
“Had you ever been enslaved, Master, you would not ask that.” Obi-Wan rubbed at the scars around his neck, the scars left by the bomb collar and the force suppressing collar and all the other chains he had worn at various times in his apprenticeship.
“Obi-Wan?” Master Koon rose to his feet and caught Obi-Wan’s hand. “Have you been enslaved?”
Obi-Wan laughed. “Well that answers one question. Clearly this Council does not read my reports.”
Gasps echoed around the room and the Force swelled with a dark muddle of emotions.
“I was enslaved on Bandomeer, on Phindar, on—”
A mental brush from Master Koon silenced Obi-Wan.
“What would you do for this boy?” Master Koon asked softly.
“I have done it. The Mando’ade freed the boy’s mother and have taken her amongst their numbers until she decides what she wants.” Obi-Wan emphasized every implication of choice. “The Mand’alor, Jango Fett, has promised to see the boy raised in their Force tradition once this Council rejects him, or find him another teacher that suits.” Obi-Wan met Master Yoda’s eyes. “A task I know this Order would not have taken on.”
Master Yoda looked gutted, Master Windu constipated, and Master Koon heartbroken. Obi-Wan could not bring himself to look at Master Qui-Gon.
“Why did your master ask you to retrieve the boy?” Master Koon asked, his tone eternally gentle even as his Force presence whirled with emotion. But it was not harsh. It did not hurt. It was…good, to know someone else was as hurt by this situation as Obi-Wan was.
“Because Master Qui-Gon knows he is hated by the Mando’ade and feared he would be attacked if he was spotted.” Obi-Wan finally glanced over at his master and his fancy firebird soul. “And Helios is easy to recognize. So he always sends me when there are Mando’ade around.”
“It seems we have much to review and consider,” Master Koon said, turning back to his fellow councilors. “I propose we reread Senior Padwan Obi-Wan’s reports and mediate on them and what we have heard here before we reconvene to consider the future of this boy.”
Murmurs of agreement over the stiffening of mental shields echoed through the room.
“The boy, his name what is?” Master Yoda asked, his ears drooping along with his soul’s wings.
“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said after a moment when his master did not reply. “Anakin Skywalker. His mother is Shimi.”
***
When Obi-Wan opened his eyes after meditation in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, he was surprised to find Jango Fett and Anakin Skywalker in view. He had no idea how the two had found him, or even gotten into the Temple. Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had left them both with the Naboo.
The two were play fighting, a technique for teaching the young to spar that Obi-Wan had observed in his time in the Mandalore sector. Obi-Wan found himself smiling anew to see the mentorship bond building between the two.
“Obi-Wan, you’re back.” Anakin noticed Obi-Wan watching, or maybe felt him return his focus to the here, and came charging over for a hug. His soul sat on his shoulder today, an owl chick.
“Your council meeting?” Jango Fett asked, sauntering behind his charge. He had shed his armor somewhere and wore a simple tunic and pants that would blend in on many levels of Coruscant.As long as his soul stayed hidden. Even without the beskar, a mythosaur stood out.
“As expected. They are meditating on my words.” Obi-Wan and Jango had shared a few conversations about expectations. Obi-Wan’s. Jango’s. The Council’s. Now Jango sat on a log and gave Obi-Wan a supportive look.
“Is that good or bad?” Anakin asked with surprising perception.
Obi-Wan shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.”
“The Jedi are weird.” Anakin collapsed into Obi-wan’s lap and his soul tumbled into his, now some kind of scurrier. “It’s surprisingly dark here.”
“Well, nothing much is as bright as Tatooine,” Obi-Wan said, even while wondering at Anakin’s words.
Anakin shook his head. “No, not light. I mean, it’s darker with only one sun, and colder. But it’s Dark here.”
“Sticky. Nasty,” Anakin’s soul said.
This time Obi-Wan heard the capital letter. He shared a look with Seab-hoc who looked deeply concerned.
“Wouldn’t it be better to spend time where it’s Lighter if they want to connect to the light side of the Force like Master Jinn says?”
Obi-Wan nodded. “I think I’ll bring that up to the Council. I never noticed, but I grew up here. Sometimes it’s hard to see past something you grew up with.” Definitely words to consider. Later. “How was your day?”
Anakin grinned and started babbling about how he’d spent time with the handmaidens and how Jango said his mother was free and on her way to Coruscant to meet with him. Obi-Wan savored the simple joy of the moment.
***
Obi-Wan startled out of his focus when Seab-hoc caught landed on his shoulder. In a moment he knew why. Jango Fett was striding up, his soul at his side, and both were seething. Obi-Wan set his books aside.
“Where is Anakin?” Jango demanded.
Frowning, Obi-Wan rolled to his feet. “I arranged for him to spend some time with a creche class here in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.” He sent out his senses, looking for Anakin. That bright sun force presence was usually easy to spot. It couldn’t have been more than a few horse he’d been studying.
“You left him?”
“The Creche Master Miana led my own creche. I kept an eye on them for over an hour. He was making friends.” Obi-Wan couldn’t sense Anakin. Abandoning his books, he ran for where he sensed his Creche master, sending Seab-hoc ahead to look.
“Miana,” Obi-Wan snapped as soon as he came into view of playing younglings, “where is Anakin?”
The elderly Chadra-Fan looked up in surprise. “Anakin? But the Council requested his presence… almost an hour ago. You were not informed?”
Now Obi-Wan was almost as angry as Jango. “No. Apologies for intruding on you.” A number of the children around Miana were looking uncomfortable and Obi-Wan strengthened his shields and tried to wrap them around Jango.
Grabbing the Mand’alor’s hand, Obi-Wan began dragging him out of the gardens. “What the kriff were they thinking,” he muttered.
Jango grunted in agreement.
***
Pushing past the guards, Obi-Wan threw the doors to the Council Chamber open. Anakin was standing in the middle of the room in the smart clothes the Queens Handmaidens had made for him, but he still looked chilled. From the look of the Council, they’d been doing some kind of Force testing.
“Anakin.” Obi-Wan held out his hand and the child ran to his side, tucking himself behind Obi-Wan’s legs.
“S’cold in here. Dark.” Anakin’s soul was in the form of something with a thick wooly coat and still looked chilled as well.
Obi-Wan had to agree. It was cold and dark in there. Odd for the bastion of the light side.
“Why do you intrude, Padwan Kenobi?” Master Windu asked, setting aside the shape cards in his hands.
“Why do you summon a child without informing his guardians?” Obi-Wan countered. He was furious. They had no right.
“Spoke to Qui-Gon we did—”
Jango stomped in and cut off Master Yoda. “Jinn is not this child’s guardian. By the grace of his mother, I am. I granted Padwan Kenobi custody this afternoon. And neither of us knew about this….” Jango was clearly looking for the most dismissive word choice.
“And you are?” Master Windu asked formally, clearly trying to shore up his appearance of an all wise Jedi.
Obi-Wan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “This, honored Council, is Jango Fett, Mand’alor of Mandalore and killer of our recent dark force user.” Which they should know if they’d done any research at all. Though Jango had been wearing his buy’ce and full beskar’gam when the ship landed and was just in civvies now.
“Ah, yes, we’d hoped to speak with you, Mand’alor Fett.” Master Koon reached out a tendril for the Force to Obi-Wan with a hint of apology and surprise. “Our thanks for protecting the Queen of Naboo and our Jedi.”
Jango snorted, every ounce of disdain he could muster in his expression. “I see most of you have the sense of Jinn.” His mythosaur soul stalked through the room, eyeing each of the Jedi Counselors in turn. “Are any of you aware of why your supposed great negotiator is so hated by Mandalorians that he avoids every sign of us?”
The Councilors looked calm and composed, but Obi-Wan could sense a flurry of Force communication between many of them.
It was Master Koon who dared to respond. “No, honestly. We did not even know there was an issue until we spoke with Obi-Wan upon his return from Tatooine.”
Jango fixed his attention on Master Koon while his soul loomed over Master Yoda and his equally tiny soul.
“Jinn came to Mandalore to aid the Evaar’la, those you call the New Mandalorians.” Jango spat at the floor between his boots. “Republic boot lickers. Peace they claim to call for. They deny everything we Mando’ade stand for and would turn us into corrupt politicians at the beck and call of your Trade Federation.”
A few flinched. Appropriate given what the Trade Federation was doing at Naboo.
“He could have learned, grown, maybe even done a decent job negotiating. We Mando’ade have much to negotiate, being in a civil war.” Jango sneered. “Instead he insulted us, derided our culture, and walked around like he was the best example of peace in the galaxy.” Then he turned to Obi-Wan and pointed. “Worse, he abused and misused the child under his care for all to see. A child so strong and mandokarla his very soul chose a form of our people.” He tapped his pointing hand against his heart where his karta beskar would be in his armor.
Obi-Wan knew some of this, assumed other bits, and was still shocked. He’d never known much of the issue with the Mando’ade and his master had to do with him.
“Master Jinn never—”
Jango’s dark gaze cut Obi-Wan off. “How many times did he leave you alone in the midst of battle?”
Somehow Obi-Wan knew Jango would not accept the usual platitudes. Excuses. Yes, they were excuses. For his master. For himself so he’d accept how he was treated.
“For that Jinn is known as dar’buir and hated by the Mando’ade. And I see he has not improved, allowing a child in his care to be confronted by an entire council of adults without support. And you wonder why the child is afraid! Would you have been any better at his age?”
Master Koon hung his head, and a few others projected apology.
“We thought the child under the Order’s care,” Master Windu said. “But you are right. No other child would have been questioned so before the entire council. We were over eager.”
“Much to meditate on, we have,” Master Yoda added. He looked even tinier than usual, but Obi-Wan couldn’t say if it was the looming presence of Fett’s runi or his shame.
“Maybe you should do some research as well as your thinking. Like the basics of child care.” Jango whirled and scooped up Anakin. His soul stalked after his person, grabbing Anakin’s soul, now a mythosaur kit, like a mother tooka.
Obi-Wan turned to follow.
“Padwan Kenobi,” Master Windu called.
Obi-Wan turned back, lips turned down in a frown. “Have you masters reviewed my reports and considered my previous words?”
Master Windu flinched.
“Invite me when you have.” Obi-Wan left, no further calls delaying him.
Jango and Anakin were waiting just in the antichamber. Jango offered Obi-Wan his elbow like a highborn noble. With a smile, Obi-Wan accepted.