Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Bail, do I really have to?” Ben groaned.

“Yes,” Bail responded, tightening the sash around Ben’s waist. “You’re the one that I chose as my plus one. Besides, I heard that the Mand'alor will be there.”

Ben quickly turned to glare at his friend, “Oh, so that’s why you chose me. So that I can be the herald of Bail Organa. Isn’t Breha available to sing your praises?”

“No, she’s going to dinner with a friend,” Bail tugged on the sash to make it fit just right before stepping away with his hands on his hips. “And besides, she doesn’t have the… language skills that you do.”

Putting his hand to his forehead for extra dramatic effect, Ben continued with his rant, “Is that all I am to you? A translator?”

Bail rolled his eyes at his Ben’s antics, “Alright, so maybe you’re the only one I know who knows how to speak Mando’a. But who else would I want to watch the other senators and diplomats make fools of themselves with?”

With a huff, Ben turned away to admire himself in the mirror. Bail had dressed him up in navy blue robes and a copper sash, complete with a matching flower clip for his hair. These colors evidently ‘brought out his eyes’ or something like that, but Ben was just glad that the hideous pink robes that he saw in the closet were kept far away from his body. This particular outfit was customary of Alderaan diplomats, signifying that Ben was with Bail to keep away any senators looking for a target.

Ben sighed in concession and turned around to see Bail admiring his handiwork, “I do like watching that one guy from Birren always try to start a conga line at some point during the night.”

Bail clapped his shoulder, “That’s the spirit! Now, I’ll meet you in the living room at 5 sharp. And don’t be late.”

-

Ben was, in fact, late. They left at 5:30, rather than 5. However, Ben was a firm believer in arriving fashionably late, so he was just fine with the inconvenience.

After a quick flight through Coruscant and a few deep breaths in the elevator, they arrived in the apartment of some rich person. There were already tons of senators, diplomats, and royalty just milling about with drinks in their hands. Ben was honestly not keeping track of who’s political party they were at now, so he just put on a quick fake smile, grabbed a glass of champagne and stuck close to Bail.

One good thing about pre-gaming with Bail was that Ben got the scoop on who to look out for at these parties. Knowing whether to seek out or avoid someone made it much easier for Ben to stay present while Bail made small talk. Of course, Ben would pipe up when called upon and help Bail remember what delicacies are popular here or who just got assassinated there. But for the most part, Ben kept his eyes and ears open for where he should steer his friend next.

Only about twenty minutes into this political dance, Ben identified the Mand'alor and his entourage enter the building. For one, Ben could feel the emptiness in the Force where they stood, a distinct change from the sliminess that oozed from most of the senators. Secondly, anyone who stood near the doorway quieted when the Mand'alor and his entourage arrived. For those not in the know, it was quite a surprise to see the ruler of a planet from the Outer Rim be at one of these parties. And for a lot of people, that meant trying to start some sort of alliance with the fast growing Mandalorian Empire.

Ben decided to wait another thirty minutes before making his move. By then, a lot of senators had moved on, leaving room for Bail to try his hand at alliances. After Bail had finished up his most recent small talk, Ben guided his friend across the room to the Mand'alor.

The Mand'alor had two compatriots directly next to him, while the other two that arrived with him were somewhere mingling amongst the people or hidden somewhere. With a red cape and the Darksaber resting at his side, the Mand'alor was quite the imposing figure, hence why he was away from most of crowd and had a wide berth.

With a quick whisper of good luck to Bail, Ben walked up to the Mand'alor and beat his chest once with his fist.

“Su cuy’gar, Mand’alor,” Ben greeted with a small nod before continuing on in Mando’a. “My name is Ben Kenobi, and this is Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan.”

The Mand’alor nodded back, giving his own introduction, “Su cuy’gar, Ben Kenobi and Bail Organa. I am Jaster Mereel.”

Bail then stepped forward to begin his obligatory interplanetary discussion. Ben zoned out for most of it but was proud that Bail didn’t do anything to insult Mandalorian culture. All the advice that Ben had drilled into his head had been paying off.

After a nice short and sweet fifteen minute conversation, the two shook hands, remarking that they both need to visit each other’s planets or something.

The Mand’alor then turned to Ben, remarking, “I am surprised that you know our language. The amount of senators that have bowed to me has almost driven me insane. I must admit that I was afraid you were one of them.”

Ben gave a polite laugh and responded in Mando’a, “Yes, I can certainly understand your troubles. I picked up some Mando’a when I was on Manda’yaim for a period during my youth, and I am quite lucky to have that knowledge come in handy now.”

“Whereabouts did you stay?” Mereel asked curiously.

“I was in Sundari and its surrounding villages for the most part. Unfortunately, I was never able to see the beauty of Keldabe although I do wish to return to see it in its full glory. We have a Little Keldabe here in Coruscant, but the food here has never been quite the same.”

Mereel nodded in agreement and opened his mouth to respond but never got the chance. As the elevator chimed, another hush went over the crowd, similar to when Mereel himself entered.

And in came two people that Ben really did not want to interact with at the current moment.

Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan, Anakin Skywalker.

This was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

After quickly excusing himself and leaving Bail to fend for himself, Ben rushed to the balcony and took a few deep breaths of fresh air. Once his heart rate was more or less back to a regular pace, his mind began racing with questions. Why the hell were there Jedi here? Jedi didn’t go to these parties unless they came as bodyguards. A padawan should also not be brought along for a protection detail. Although, Ben mused, it does fit with how Jinn raises kids. Nonetheless, he now had to keep an eye on his old master to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. There was a reason Ben was always the negotiator when they used to go on missions together.

Looking out over the last remnants of sunset over Coruscant, Ben began to plot out his next steps for this evening when the door slid open. Ben could feel the sun fiery presence of Anakin before he could see him and braced himself.

He turned around just in time to have the wind knocked out of him as little Ani slammed his body into Ben’s. With a small chuckle, Ben tightly hugged him right back, as he marveled in the sunshine that was Anakin’s force presence.

Only able to sit still for so long, Ani quickly let go and bounced up and down, “Obi! You’re here, you’re really here! I didn’t know you were on Coruscant. There’s so much to tell you! Have you seen my braid? Look, look how long it is!”

Ben looked at Anakin’s braid, his heart breaking just a little bit when he saw his first padawan bead now braided into Anakin’s. After a moment admiring the braid, Ben ruffled Anakin’s hair, earning him a squawk.

“It looks nice,” Ben smiled. “It’s good to see you too, little spitfire.”

Anakin then went on to talk about all the classes he was taking, which professors he didn’t like, all the new friends he was making, and more. Only a little bit into this rant, the sliding door opened again, this time to reveal the face of Qui-Gon Jinn.

He immediately frowned after identifying Ben, and he stalked over.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, crossing his arms.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Ben responded, his mood immediately souring after seeing Jinn. “If you couldn’t tell by my robes, I am the guest of Bail Organa. Now, why are you here?”

Qui-Gon muttered something under his breath before giving his own answer, “If you must know, the Chancellor has asked the Jedi to be the personal bodyguard of the Mand’alor while he is here on Coruscant. He requested me specifically, and this party is where I will introduce myself and my padawan.”

Ben blinked in shock for a few moments as he processed that information, “So, the Chancellor asked a Jedi, a longtime enemy of the Mandalorians, to be a personal bodyguard of the Mand’alor, the ruler of a warrior culture whose pride being able to defend themselves and their clan. Does none of that sound off?”

Jinn again muttered something about jealousy before moving to grab Anakin’s shoulder, presumably to head back inside. Ben stopped him by moving in the way and putting his own hand on Anakin’s shoulder. Anakin looked up to watch Ben with curiosity.

“If you go in there and start to talk about how the Mand’alor is now ‘under the protection of the Jedi’, I doubt that you will make it out of there alive,” Ben stated. “Not to mention, you don’t know anything about Mandalorian culture. How would you introduce yourself? Actually, scratch that. I don’t want to know.”

When Qui-Gon made no move to interrupt, Ben continued with a sigh, “I’ll introduce you and tell you what to say and avoid. And keep in mind, I’m only doing this to avoid a war.”

Jinn began to splutter that he didn’t need any help before Ben cut him off.

“Who spent the better part of a year on Mandalore?” Ben huffed at Jinn’s silence. “That’s what I thought. Now, listen closely.”

-

After giving a condensed rundown of what he had told Bail earlier, Ben was mostly confident that Jinn wouldn’t start a war by accident.

Ben examined his sibling and couldn't help the smile that overtook his face at how tall Ani was already becoming.

Ben ruffled Anakin’s hair again, “I’ll need to take you to Dex’s while I’m here, little brother.”

Anakin grinned, “He made a new dish a couple weeks ago that almost singed someone’s nose hairs off.”

“Sounds like a challenge,” Ben answered back.

Before Jinn could interrupt by arguing about how that was not proper food, Ben took Ani’s shoulders and steered him off the balcony and back into the den of politicians.

Ben glided across the room, giving polite nods and greetings to those who said hello along the way, until he was stopped by Bail. With a raised eyebrow and small frown at Qui-Gon, he questioned Ben’s choice of new companions. Ben simply mouthed ‘later’ and shuffled past him just as the last group of senators was leaving the Mand’alor’s presence. When the Mandalorians noticed who Ben had now brought with him, they stiffened a bit, one of their hands going to the weapon at their belt.

Once again beating his chest as he approached, Ben greeted in Mando’a, “Su cuy’gar tug’yc, Mand’alor. I would like to introduce my colleague, Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn, and his padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker.”

Jinn made an aborted bow before realizing better and settled for a nod, while Anakin beat his chest to mimic Ben. The Mand’alor made a quick and inconspicuous gesture with his hands to his companions, most likely a stand down signal.

Mereel then introduced himself to the newcomers, “Su cuy’gar. I am Jaster Mereel. What can I do for you?”

Ben opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Jinn stepping forward.

“Well, myself and my padawan here are to be your personal bodyguards for the duration of your time on Coruscant, curtesy of the Chancellor. As such, I came to introduce myself,” Jinn announced with a pompous attitude.

Ben would have screamed if it wasn’t so undignified. So, instead of screaming, Ben just focused on diffusing the situation when the Mandalorians took on more of a hostile stance.

“I believe that what my colleague is trying to say is that these two are here on order of the Chancellor,” Ben stated in Mando’a, directing the attention away from Jinn. “As the Chancellor was the one to give this direction, Jinn was under the assumption that you were aware of this. I would take this matter up with the Chancellor, as I can understand how this intrusion may be seen as an insult.”

The Mandalorians remained silent for a few moments more, most likely talking amongst themselves on private channels.

Mereel then spoke up, “I thank you for the clarification, Ben Kenobi, and be assured that I will be discussing this with the Chancellor. Now, I presume that you can understand that I am in no need of a bodyguard of any sort at this moment?”

Jinn was about to argue, but Ben beat him to it.

“Of course, Mand’alor. We will honor your decision and await your response,” Ben responded.

He then nodded to Mereel and politely dragged Jinn away, Anakin trailing behind after giving a quick goodbye wave to the Mand’alor.

Once the Mand’alor was out of their line of sight, Ben stopped and whirled around to level a glare at Jinn.

“I had that handled,” Qui-Gon huffed.

“Oh, yeah. I could really see that by the way they were reaching for their weapons,” Ben retorted, rolling his eyes at his old master.

Fuming, Jinn opened his mouth to respond, but Ben cut him off before he could begin.

“Why don’t you take Ani to go get some punch?” Ben sighed in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I would like to go make sure that you won’t be targeted by several pissed off Mandalorians after you leave this building.”

Anakin pouted, “But I wanted to see the Mandalorians again. Their armor is wicked.”

Ben smiled and and patted Anakin’s head, “I’m sure you’ll be able to see them again under different circumstances. Now, go on. I’ll meet up with you later.”

Jinn grumbled under his breath but guided Ani across the crowd. Ben took a long breath in and waded through the swathes of people to reach the Mand’alor for the third time that night. As he approached alone, Ben could see Mereel cock his head to the side in amusement. Before Ben could bring his fist up to beat his chest, the Mand’alor spoke up.

“You seem to be quite the messenger tonight, Ben Kenobi,” Mereel greeted in Mando’a.

Ben smiled in response, shoulders dropping when he could see that Mereel did not seem that insulted at Jinn’s reckless behavior. Honestly, it was a wonder that Qui-Gon hadn’t been assassinated by this point in his life if this was how he talked to planetary rulers.

“That I am. I came to apologize for Qui-Gon Jinn’s behavior earlier. He has well-meaning intentions but did not understand how much of an insult a Jedi bodyguard would be to yourself and your people. For that, I apologize on his behalf,” Ben tipped his head in deference.

Mereel waved it off, “I am thankful for you to run interference. I do think that this night may have ended differently if you were not here.”

“I am very glad as well. For now, I am in desperate need of some tihaar.”

Mereel gave a good natured chuckle, “I second that. Any advice for a meal in this city?”

Ben hummed in thought, “‘Gaid be Avin’ is in Little Keldabe, and the chef has got the best tiingilar I’ve had outside of Manda’yaim. And I’m not saying that lightly. But if you want to try something unique to Coruscant, go to Dex’s Diner. It’s not in the nicest part of town and may have a few health violations, but Dex’s food is heavenly.”

The Mand’alor had another light laugh at Ben’s mention of health violations, and Ben could see his companions’ shoulders shake with minute laughter at his side.

“I will definitely keep those in mind,” Mereel spoke, “I wanted to ask you earlier, but how is it that you were on Manda’yaim? I would have assumed that you are a Mandalorian with how much you know about our culture and language, but you wear no armor.”

Ben scratched at his head, “That’s quite a long story. And something that would require some tihaar, I think.”

Mereel quickly backtracked, “I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just that my son seems to be about the same age as you, and you two could have met in Sundari.”

The Mand’alor then pointed out one of the Mandalorians that was patrolling along the edges of the party. This Mandalorian wore green armor with red highlights and a rangefinder that stuck out above his helmet. Feeling the attention that Mereel was now directing at him, he turned, and his visor met Ben’s eyes. Once he recognized the beskar’gam, Ben immediately froze, with the Mandalorian stiffening in his place. As Mereel remarked that his name was Jango, Ben jolted out of his shock and turned back the the Mand’alor.

Ben beat his chest once in goodbye, “I thank you for your time, Mand’alor, but I believe I have a previous engagement that had slipped my mind. Ret’urcye mhi.”

He then made a hasty retreat, as Mereel looked on in confusion.

Not stopping to say goodbye to Anakin or Bail, Ben took off to the elevator, deciding that this was enough surprises for tonight.

-

As Ben fled the apartment, Jaster spared at glance at his son, who had now moved through the crowd to stand at his side. Jango was staring after Ben’s exit, and Jaster could see the dejectedness in his shoulders as Kenobi left. Jaster switched to his inner coms, crossed his arms, and turned to fully look at his son.

“So, what was all that about?” Jaster deadpanned, raising an eyebrow although Jango could not see it.

Jango flinched, his shoulders rising up in guilt.

“That’s… that’s a bit of a long story,” Jango muttered.

“Well, I think that I’ve spoken with enough utreekovs at this party. I’ve got all night,” Jaster clasped his son’s shoulders and began to move to the exit.

Chapter Text

Bail had been gracious enough to give Ben a room while Ben was back on Coruscant. So, once Ben was safely within Bail’s apartment, Ben immediately dialed Quinlan’s comm. Ben knew that Quin wasn’t on any missions at the moment, and he really needed someone to help reassure him that he wasn’t going to be hunted by any angry Mandalorians. Quin picked up on the second ring.

“What’s up, Obi?” Quin asked with a smile, sticking his tongue out at someone off-screen.

“You busy?” Ben panted, still out of breath from basically just sprinting home.

Quinlan’s smile immediately turned concerned, “No, I’m not. Are you hurt? Are you safe?”

Ben shook his head, “No, I’m fine. Are you somewhere private?”

Quinlan immediately nodded his head, shooing off someone that Ben couldn’t see.

Ben continued, “I… do you remember when I went on that mission a few years ago when those Mandalorians captured me?”

“Yeah, that pirate that you know came and dropped you off on Coruscant. You were on edge for weeks,” Quin responded, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Well, I just found out that apparently the leader of the group that captured me is the Mand’alor’s son, and now I’m worried that they’re gonna try to come and kill me,” Ben rushed out in one breath.

Quin just blinked in shock for a few moments, and Ben heard a “what the kriff” from someone that sounded suspiciously like Aayla.

“Language, Aayla,” Ben muttered.

Quinlan jolted back into reality, “Where’d you see them? How do you know that that kriffer is the son of the Mand’alor?”

“I saw him at this political party that Bail dragged me to. Jinn showed up out of nowhere, and I had to stop him from starting an accidental war with the entire Mandalorian Empire. So, after I apologized for Jinn and his insensitive behavior, the Mand’alor pointed out his son, and he definitely recognized me. Obviously, I left, but what if I just ruined Jedi and Mandalorian relations, and now a war is going to be started because of this? What if-” Ben ranted in a panic.

Quinlan had begun to move around at the beginning of Ben’s speech, seemingly gathering up some items to leave.

“Woah, woah woah,” Quinland interrupted. “None of that is going to happen. Let’s just take this one step at a time. Do you know if anyone followed you?”

Ben hugged his knees to his chest, “Not that I could see, no.”

Quinlan muted himself and talked to Aayla for half a minute.

“I’m gonna go drop off Aayla at Master Tholme’s, and then I’m going to head to you. I’ll be less than fifteen minutes. You’re at Bail’s, right?” Quin continued to grab supplies as he spoke.

Ben nodded and gave a quick goodbye before Quin hung up.

Ben used the Force to grab a blanket from his bed, as he curled up and remembered.

-

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure how this mission was supposed to go.

Master Jinn had been flip-flopping on whether he believed that Obi-Wan was ready for his Jedi Trials, obviously warring between whether he was ready to let go of the free labor that Obi-Wan provided. So, to determine what to do, Jinn decided to send Obi-Wan on a solo mission to break into a cruise ship and free the slaves that were being held below deck. This was a mission that they had done several times as a team. But the last time they were properly split up for one of these had ended with Obi-Wan trapped in the sea mines of Bandomeer.

Hence, Obi-Wan was very unsure as to if this was going to be easy or hard.

After parting ways with his master (who gave him a half-full bag of credits as a goodbye), Obi-Wan bought his ticket, took a deep breath, and entered the ship that had just docked on the outskirts of Coruscant. He immediately began mapping out the ship, identifying closets to hide in, rooms to investigate later, and where the escape pods where. The ship hardly seemed like anything was out of the ordinary. The crew was outwardly polite, but the Force made it clear that there were too many slimy individuals on board for this to be a normal operation.

The night before, Quinlan happened to be in the Temple at the same time as Obi-Wan, something that happened once in a blue moon these days. So, to make the most of their time, they went shopping to pick out some nice clothes that would help Obi-Wan blend in (they, of course, ended the night by getting Dex’s and watching stupid holo movies together). The clothes that Quinlan had picked out were doing wonders. Nobody seemed interested in him at all, allowing him to move seamlessly throughout the ship.

After simply moving about the rooms and grabbing a few glasses of champagne as he went, Obi-Wan decided to retire. Once most of the ship was either sleeping or at the bar, Obi-Wan donned the outfit (that he had stolen from the crew’s break room) and began checking all the doors that he had found suspicious. He finally found a simple looking storage closet that had a very dingy looking staircase behind a rack of coats that went down.

Going down below, he found a floor that seemed to be purely for stolen cargo. His hair brushed the ceiling of this room, as the owners of this cruise ship obviously designed this floor as a crawl space to throw off any law enforcement. Crates upon crates were stuffed into this smuggler’s den, but there was a crude path that stretched out. Obi-Wan followed the path further and further, peeking into open boxes here and there before reaching the center of the floor. This little clearing within the crates had five cages, all holding people. There were a total of nineteen crammed into those tiny spaces, each with rags for clothing and thin faces. The only child belonged to a family that was luckily in the same cage, and everyone else seemed to be divided by where they were picked up.

Obi-Wan stayed hidden but privately gagged at the inhumane treatment of these people. It certainly didn’t help when his own memories of Bandomeer were brought up. With a deep breath, Obi-Wan stepped out of the shadows.

“Hello there,” he whispered, hands raised in a placating manner.

Everyone still jumped at his words and shuffled backwards. Two began to speak very quickly to one another until the makeshift leader of the group spoke up.

“Who are you?” she asked with a thick accent that Obi-Wan couldn’t quite place.

“I am Freed,” Obi-Wan brushed his hand at his scar from Bandomeer. “And I am here to free you too.”

“Then, why do you wear their colors?” she questioned defensively.

“A disguise to move around. I swear, I am not one of them,” he tapped twice on his heart to seal his promise.

After giving him another stare-down, their leader finally relented, “Very well. How do you expect to get us out of here?”

Thanking the Force silently that she trusted him, he moved in closer and gave them his plan.

Now, the thing about cruise ships is that they don’t really do hyperspace. The point is to explore the galaxy slowly, and get drunk while you’re doing so. So, while they could have been in the Outer Rim by now if they went a little faster, they were going to be passing by Alderaan in just a few days. Essentially, Obi-Wan’s plan was to sneak them all out through escape pods, as the ship passed by Alderaan. Once on planet, they could be protected (Alderaan had no tolerance for slave trade). Obi-Wan also knew that the ship would never follow them there, or else the crew would be arrested for their involvement.

He explained all this to the group gathered there, making sure to give directions where to go and who to talk to once on planet, in case he got separated from them along the way. After confirming that everyone would stay quiet until then, he quietly slipped away to map out their escape route.

-

Two days passed without much ruckus besides another passenger getting too drunk and slipping by the pool, spraining his ankle in the process. Obi-Wan only knew that because he was dressed as a crew member at the time and had to help take him to the medic. Nonetheless, no one had uncovered his identity, and he was ready.

Once night had fallen, Obi-Wan began on his way. He swiped the keys that he had located earlier and snuck downstairs. Everything went smoothly until a blast rocked the ship and alarms started blaring.