Chapter Text
The middle of nowhere.
Endless miles of sand stretch out to cover the horizon line, the sun in the blue sky contrasts with its dusty surroundings. All of it serves to make one feel alone in the galaxy, and aware of how vast it is.
It’s very cinematic. Throw in an extra sun in post production, and suddenly Obi-Wan is on an alien planet about to set off on a great adventure instead of in… Wyoming.
He takes a moment to stare out into the scene, trying to capture and emulate the character of Kr’ik who is meant to be a charming, adventurous, man with heavy burdens. At first he had been unsure about taking a role like this seeing as science fiction isn’t exactly a genre he’s known for, but in the end Obi-Wan was drawn in by the messaging of the character and plot— fighting against a seemingly unstoppable tyranny.
“Kenobi! Stop day dreaming, we need to be on the plane in two hours!” Well back to work it is.
“Perhaps I was immersing myself in the atmosphere for the film, Mace,” Obi-Wan responded to the grumpy director.
“Very method,” Mace grumbled.
“Don’t think I make a dashing Captain Kr’ik?
“You play the captain perfectly, but we do need to be back in LA before tomorrow.” Looking around, he realized everything had been packed up while he was thinking.
“Ah, best get a move on then.” Obi-Wan responded as they moved towards the line of cars taking off.
“We have a week there before we’ll be filming on the east coast, so enjoy the time with your family Kenobi.”
Obi-Wan nods to Mace in acknowledgement as he watches the man walk towards the car Depa is in. As grumpy or cold Mace may appear in interviews, the man himself is kind. He owes a debt to the older man for looking out for Anakin in the industry where he wasn’t able to. Especially after Qui-Gon’s death, over a decade ago at this point, Mace and Aayla have proven to be true, dear, friends through it all. Thinking of his brother now, he’s struck with a reminder of how long it has been since he’s seen him or Ahsoka– a flaw of filming so many scenes on location. Thankfully they’ll be flying back in just a few hours.
“Don’t upset him too much, sir. I overheard him and Yoda discussing a scene where Kr’ik gets eaten by a pit with teeth,” a voice broke him out of his thoughts.
“Why, Cody, eavesdropping isn’t professional."
“Hm, maybe I make some cash by selling spoilers to the tabloids.” Tabloids? Sometimes Cody talks as if he’d been in the mountains during the entire time the internet took to be developed.
Still Cody has proven to be a loyal bodyguard. He has been with him for close to 7 months now, after an… unfortunate stalking ‘incident’ with a fan that had quite literally left him scarred. Obi-Wan was aware of Cody’s military background when he hired the man, and occasionally he would even tell stories from his time serving, often funny ones where his troops got into some mischief.
Cody also sticks firmly to titles, Obi-Wan assumed it was something his company made him do. Still the first time Obi-Wan asked for Cody to use his name, he had seemed wrong footed, so ‘sir’ it is.
“You’d never.”
“Only cause I’m paid to.”
“Really? After this last year I’d think I earned some of your loyalty.”
Cody looked genuinely offended for a moment, “I’m plenty loyal.”
“You just said you would sell rumors to the news– oh, thank you, my dear.” Obi-Wan said as Cody opened the car door for him.
“I implied it, there’s a difference.”
“If someone implied a similar threat, I’m sure you would react differently.”
Cody rolled his eyes, and began to respond– but it cut off a ringing sound. Obi-Wan pulled out his phone to see Ahsoka’s contact, a photo of her at about six years old. While his sister may be grown now, or how much she complains about the photo, she'll be that young in his head forever.
“Sorry, Cody, it’s Ahsoka,” he accepts the call. And Cody offers a small nod in return.
“Obi-Wan! You’ll be back soon right?” He can hear some shuffled arguing occurring in the back, along with brief bits of song. She must be practicing with her band then, Torrent, as they call themselves.
“We’re on our way to fly back currently, ‘Soka. How are you all?” Obi-Wan really does miss them. The twins must have grown so much since he last saw them.
“Padme’s a delight, Anakin’s is alive, the twins are adorable– and I have a show tonight! Can you go? Please Obi-Wan?” Ahsoka had told him a few months ago she had started a band with a few of her friends, and they have already been successful with a few gigs. He could not be prouder.
And he should be back around 4pm, plenty of time really.
“Ahsoka, I’d love to, but does the venue have a more private area? I don’t want to cause a stir,” Obi-Wan laughs lightly at her infectious excitement.
“Yes! Anakin and the rest will be up there, it’ll be great.”
“Alright then, I’ll be there,” Obi-Wan reassured.
Another voice butts in, “Is that Obi-Wan? Move over Snips.”
“Call him yourself!”
The phone’s camera becomes blurring an assumed struggle for it happens.
“Siblings.” Obi-Wan sighs.
“Siblings,” Cody replies. The look on his face is slightly melancholy, Obi-Wan suddenly remembers Cody mentioning he has quite a few brothers he hasn’t seen in at least the time Obi-Wan has known him.
“Hey Obi-Wan!” Anakin says happily ignoring the audible sounds of Ahsoka hitting him. Some things never change.
“Hello Anakin– Ahsoka tells me the twins are well.”
“They grew so much, like they’re talking so much! We’re already looking at possible private schools– but doesn’t it just feel too early? I mean they’re only four, Padme says we should be prepared and she’s right yet-”
Obi-Wan listens to Anakin rant away about the twins. Anakin is an amazing father no matter how obnoxious he may be sometimes and just needs to get his thoughts about it all out of his head. Especially when he spends most of his time with the twins while Padme is at work. Honestly, Anakin would have been perfect for the film Obi-Wan’s currently working on– but his brother is on a break from the spotlight, so he can focus on being there for the twins. They talk for a while, and catch up before Ahsoka leaves to practice and Anakin has to feed the twins. Obi-Wan sighs after the call ends, his phone screen showing how long the call had been. It’s tiring and refreshing all at once.
He settles in another two hours of car ride. Moving to the states at 13, when Qui-Gon had a jobbed lined up, it had been jarring to learn just how far everything was from each other, but over a decade of flying wherever a role needed to be a two hour car ride was just an opportunity to relax. Enjoying the view of the sunlit desert is far nicer with air conditioning, he hardly had to do any acting while trudging across the desert.
Obi-Wan isn’t sure when, but he falls asleep and wakes about an hour into the trip.The navigation says they'll be back in civilization in another half hour.
Cody is quiet by his side. Obi-Wan may or may not stare at the pleasing silhouette of his profile against the bright sun lighting the window on the other side of the car as he tries to blink the tiredness from his eyes and mind.
Eventually Cody turns to him, likely long after he had noticed it— the man has an uncanny awareness of his surroundings as the last months have proven.
“Alright, sir?”
“Just tired. Starting a project, I find, is a bit tiring to fall into the routine of it all,”
“I understand the feeling,” Cody responded, obviously replaying memories in his head. Obi-Wan didn’t want to pry into his thoughts, yet wished he could understand what was going on in the other man’s head. “You ought to rest more though, sir.”
“Sensible as always, Cody.” Obi-Wan says fighting back a yawn.
He turns to rest his head back and closes his eyes.
—--
They arrive at the airport around two. He’s shaken awake by Cody, gesturing to get up.
Planes. Unlike Anakin who would have engineered the damn things if he were not an actor, Obi-Wan hates planes. He hates flying.
Unfortunate to have a job that practically requires he be on them so frequently. Over time he has, of course, developed a tolerance for them, but the inherent uneasiness of getting on one has yet to abate.
Still he gets on to the plane, far more rested than he has felt in a while— which occurs to him now that a nap would have been better saved for however long they’re in the air for. Ah, well he has lines to review.
Obi-Wan boards along with Cody, and selects a seat a row behind Cal who is playing Obi-Wan’s kid apprentice and already fast asleep. They settle in for another few hours traveling. Pulling out the scripts Mace had sent him, just this morning, he begins to read and try to imagine what Kr’ik and his crew feels in those moments.
This next plot point has them moving on from the sand planet, tentatively named ‘Canipia’ at this point, off to investigate an odd far away planet that had stopped communicating with the rest of the Federation months before the plot of the movie started. This will serve as the staging ground for the invading other-universes forces to be introduced, that Kr’ik and his crew will valiantly defend against.
He thinks about the pressure that will be put on Kr’ik, a literal galaxy of responsibility on him, it takes him back to adopting Anakin and Ahsoka right after Qui-Gon has passed, along with balancing his career taking off. Thankfully, they all made it out— just like the space crew will. And thankfully all Obi-Wan has to worry about in current times is keeping a regime to be able to make the fight scenes look as thrilling as possible.
Obi-Wan is able to memorize his lines for at least the first two days of filming before a warm plate of food is set in front of him, courtesy of the studio. A plate of salmon and rice with a side of carrots, honestly a small portion but he has dinner with his terror duo of younger siblings to look forward to anyway.
A few bites into the salmon Obi-Wan notices Cody’s plate has been cleaned out already— a proclivity of the Commander he found a few days into knowing him. Obi-Wan assumed it had something to do with his background.
“Y’know Cody I can’t wait for you to meet Anakin. Despite the fact that neither me nor his sister took food from him, he still eats like it’ll disappear,” Obi-Wan mused.
Cody looked a bit embarrassed for a brief moment, even behind his usually neutral face and for a moment Obi-Wan worries he overstepped, before, “Now imagine living with seven of him.”
“Seven? Your parents were certainly… busy.”
Cody looked thoughtful for a moment, “Well it was my dad mainly, the only pair of my siblings that share a mom are the twins. We all look like clones of each other despite it.”
“Must’ve been hectic.” Obi-Wan thought of dealing with triple of Ahsoka and Anakin— terrifying, but may be becoming a reality with how the twins are turning out. “Where in the order are you?”
He could imagine Cody being the oldest, especially with how reliable he is.
“I’m the oldest of them, at first I had been excited to get out but you really do miss them.”
“I relate fully, stars, the first time I met Anakin I called him quote— a pathetic lifeform.”
Cody openly laughed at that, although softly, the sound was almost musical. “Seems you had a mean streak, sir.”
“Well, only for those who deserved it.”
“Lucky I’m not on the list.”
Obi-Wan leans closer to him, “Maybe I-”
“Time to go Obi!” Hands shake his shoulders and he turns to see, Quinlan Vos.
It’s been a long day.
“Alright, alright. Just get off me Quinlan,” punctuating his sentence by shoving the taller man away.
“You used to be more fun.”
“Yes, well Aayla has matured more in 8 years than you have.”
“Rude.” Quinlan replies in faux outrage. “But true,” Aayla interjects. And then Quinlan is off to go bother her instead.
He turns slightly to see Cody’s completely neutral look— one of a man who definitely grew up with seven siblings. “Finding actors tiring yet, Cody?”
“Certainly dramatic, sir.”
“I’m sure you can handle it,” Obi-wan replies, seeing Cody grab both of their bags. “Cody, I’m sure I can carry my own stuff,” he huffs.
Some emotion Obi-Wan cannot name passes over Cody’s face before he relents and passes the bag to Obi-Wan, “If you insist, sir.” With a tone of sarcasm Obi-Wan would not have caught just a few weeks ago.
Sometime Obi-Wan will get him to drop the titles.
—--
Ahsoka nearly tackles him to the ground as soon as he steps out of the car.
“Snips get off the old man!” He doesn’t miss Anakin anymore, at all, actually.
“I’ve missed you too, Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan says, placing a kiss to the top of her head. “Mifsed you too,” Ahsoka said, muffled by his shoulder. Reluctantly she steps away and Anakin steps forward to give Obi-Wan a hug too. “The twins missed you.”
“They’re four years old Anakin, I don’t think they miss me that much.”
“Then explain why they’ll only watch ‘uncle Ben’ movies.” Ah, Anakin had complained about how he was forced to watch one of the earlier movies Obi-Wan had starred in, a bit of a sappy typical western but had gotten him his big break. In his defense the movie had been made to be filled with action scenes for toys to be made.
“Perhaps they simply enjoy good cinema.”
“And you say I have an ego.” Obi-Wan pushes him away. “Where are the twins anyway?” They’re in a bit of an alleyway behind the venue Ahsoka is playing at, with all the charm of a downtown LA street. Though the actual venue is quite nice, he's quite excited to see Ahsoka play.
“They’re at home with Padme, she has work to catch up on but she’ll join us for dinner.”
Ahsoka interrupts, conspiratorially, “Um is that Cody? Your bodyguard?” in a whisper. Odd. Anakin is usually loud with his thoughts.
“Hm, oh yes— Cody, meet my siblings Ahsoka and Anakin.” The two of them just stare at him when Cody attempts to shake Anakin’s hand. Odder. He’s sure they had better manners than that. “Do you have a brother?” Anakin asks.
Cody remains entirely neutral through the confusion responding with, “Seven of them.”
Something clicks on Ahsoka’s face, ”Ohh. You’re Rex’s brother!” That gets a reaction out of Cody, although minutely, “Rex?”
“Who’s talking about me— Cody?” Another man appears, around Ahsoka’s age but a carbon copy of Cody with the difference of blonde hair. A beat. “Is that Obi-Wan Kenobi?”
The young man— Rex, apparently seems to piece it together, “When you said you were under a new contract I thought that meant some stuffy politician! Not The Obi-Wan Kenobi!”
Cody turned to him, “Well I didn’t know he was that big of a deal.” Anakin snickers.
“Whatever, we have a show to get on the road,” Rex grumbles. It seems all the Fetts are level headed.
They all shuffle into the back of the venue crowded with machines and sound systems that reminded Obi-Wan of his days in high school theater. Ahsoka leads them to a backroom with less people while Obi-Wan and Anakin attempt to keep their heads down— Ahsoka never wanted to be associated with the two of them, which they respected since Obi-Wan kept his life private anyways. Though it is generally known that he and Anakin are half brothers. While Anakin is more open with the media, especially when he had Padme had started dating and acting like smitten teenagers uncaringly flaunting their relationship, except when it came to the twins. Even when Obi-Wan was involved with Satine, with all her pop star fame, they kept it mostly to themselves even though it was an open secret whether they wanted it or not.
Finally the group made it to what looked like a dressing room for Ahsoka, with a bright vanity and all. And two more of Ahsoka’s bandmates they’re introduced to, Fives and his brother Echo— who has a prosthetic arm, just like Anakin. Before all four of them are promptly called away for sound checks.
Anakin talks about Ahsoka’s past shows and Obi-Wan can see just how proud he is of her as well. Anakin had been the one to take Ahsoka to buy her first guitar in fact after she had gotten into rock bands. The hair dye was probably a result of that too now that he thinks about it.
Rex pokes his head in a while later to lead them up to a side room that overlooked the stage. He lingers behind, so he can talk with Cody. They’re dropped off by Rex before he turns to rush back down before Torrent starts.
“You guys are in for a show,” Anakin says excitedly.
“I’m sure she’ll blow the crowd away.”
Obi-Wan looks towards Cody as the spotlights come on, emphasizing the machine created fog. He notes the purple-pink and blue lights highlighting his scar before quickly turning his attention back to the stage.
—-----
As predicted, Torrent was amazing. Despite the fact that they were relatively new, a good part of the crowd sang along to most of the songs, some covers and some original ones that have been circulating online. Ahsoka’s voice fit their style like she was born for it, Rex was amazing on the guitar and he could tell Cody agreed too. Fives was on the drums, which fit for his excited attitude he had greeted them with earlier, while Echo was on bass. Put all together Obi-Wan knew Ahsoka had found her place with them.
By the time the show concluded, it was already 7. They snuck out into a car, back through the maze of backstage and into an alley. Rex is apparently joining them for dinner, which meant a full car and complaints from Anakin as he was forced to sit in the middle, despite being the tallest. The three of them bicker for the entire 40 minute ride, Obi-Wan thinks he is doing a great job at hiding his amusement towards it all. The look Cody sends him says the opposite.
Stepping into the Skywalker-Anidala home, a midsize home with a larger yard in the hills of Hollywood that’s purposefully hidden away behind large hedges, he is jumped on by two small bundles of energy known as Luke and Leia.
Obi-Wan gets a sense of deja vu, the two are definitely like their father.
“Uncle Ben!” the twins greet as he tries to avoid dropping either of them.
“Hello, princess,” he responds, hugging Leia closer. “And hello there, Luke,” pulling him closer as well.
“Ben?” Luke asks.
“Hm, what is it?”
“Can you make more cowboy movie?” Luke continues, with an urgent nod of agreement from Leia. Obi-Wan laughs to himself, and looks up to see Padme in the hallway who seems just as amused by her kids' antics.
“Unfortunately westerns are out of style,” he says somberly. The kids seem just as devastated, and he pauses for dramatic effect before continuing, “but I’m sure we can play cowboys later.”
The twins look ecstatic.
It’s a nice coming home moment, before the twins realize their father and favorite aunt are here too, and suddenly Obi-Wan is last week's news to them.
He moves towards Padme to give her a side hug. “My dear, you look as radiant as ever.”
“Flatterer,” she says, but still returns his hug. “How have you been?”
“Ah the twins keep us busy, you know how it is.” Obi-Wan has only babysat them a few times, and it’s a summary of how all kids are. “What about you, Obi-Wan? The press has been non-stop about you.”
Usually he tries to stay away from all of it, he loves what he does and at this point in his career just wishes to continue with films that interest him over what critics may be saying. Still the last few years were especially hectic, just some months ago a superhero-action film he was in released seeing as those have been stupidly popular, it garnered him even more publicity. The incident, as they’ve been calling it, also occurred sparking talks about fan culture and when it goes too far.
He can see the worry on her face, and as much as his siblings were avoiding bringing the incident up since Obi-Wan claimed it wasn’t necessary, he knows they worry too. Honestly, he would be as well in there places, but it was nearly a year ago at this point he had gone to therapy in a compromise and even agreed to a bodyguard.
“I’ve been just fine Padme, in fact we just wrapped the first week of filming for that sci-fi film I told you about.”
“The one with the laser swords? I’m sure the twins will love it. Maybe they’ll stop trying to shoot Threepio.” Speaking of Threepio, their private chef, he was suddenly reminded how hungry he is. Before they get too deep into the conversation, Obi-Wan calls Cody over from where his guard is talking to Rex— though still vigilant as always— to introduce him to Padme.
It seems Rex has been over a few times looking at the way the twins are pretending to shoot him while Ahsoka and Anakin laugh.
“Cody is it? Lovely to meet you, I’m Padme— Obi-Wan’s sister in law.”
“Pleasure to meet you too, ma’am.” he says with a slight nod.
“Hopefully Obi-Wan isn’t making your job too hard.”
“I’m a joy to be around,” he says in his defense.
“Keep telling yourself that, sir.”
Obi-Wan glares at him from the side, too busy to notice the peculiar way Padme looked between the two of them.
He manages to keep his promise to the twins, dragging the whole house into a game of cowboys while they wait for dinner to be ready. The twins insist he play his own character, a sheriff, and they be his deputies. They also claim Ahsoka as another deputy— relegating their own parents and the Fett siblings to be robbers. Seems unfair seeing half of his team are four year olds, and the other side gets Cody who has over a decade of combat experience.
They’re in the midst of a ‘fire fight’ as nerf bullets fly at them from behind the staircase, where he and the twins are hiding behind the couch. Ahsoka has tragically been hit by a bullet and is playing dead on the couch. He watches as Rex makes a fatal mistake and Leia manages to get him square in the chest.
Rex dramatically falls forward clutching his chest while the twins giggle. A little too proud of their make believe murder.
“Rex, no! I’ll avenge you my friend!” Anakin yells out, with absolutely none of the acting skill that won him an Oscar— sending the rest of the room into a fit of laughter.
In the distraction, Obi-Wan hits Padme with a bullet. Anakin faux mourns his wife and swears to enact revenge.
“Your evil will never win this town!” Obi-Wan responds, a quote from the western that has the twins cheering. In her over excited reaction, Anakin hits Leia who mimics Padme’s wobbly fall.
He sees Cody purposefully be missing every shot, Obi-Wan smiles to himself at the gesture. Then he aims at him, sending a wink his way. Cody gets the message and nods, taking a hit to the head.
Soon Obi-Wan falls as well, leaving Luke to best his father as the ‘dead’ watch. Leia celebrates her brother’s victory over dinner and even convinces Anakin that they deserve ice-cream later since they won. Already a menace the two of them are.
The dining room like most of the house is decorated nicely, if a bit over the top— Padme’s style.
“How do you like the food?” Obi-Wan turns to ask Cody, who is seated to his right. At the beginning, Cody would usually eat before Obi-Wan woke up, or after he was done but since Cody was with him all the time he eventually convinced him to take meals at the same time.
“It’s amazing. Though I still don’t get why caviar is so glamourized.”
“Honestly, neither do I,” Obi-Wan responds before moving onto what he actually wanted to say. “Thanks for letting the twins win. And not shooting me.”
Cody smiles slightly. “It would have been unfair. Plus they seem a lot sweeter than my brothers when they were kids.”
“I feel you may be biased there, those two are little terrors,” he points with his fork at the twins who are currently talking to Ahsoka animatedly. “Still, you’re a good man Cody.”
A beat passes before Cody responds. “Uh, well Rex was similar. Don’t tell it to him but he was my favorite.”
“It must be nice to see him again. He and Ahsoka seem to get on well.”
“Yeah. I’ve missed him. We call occasionally, and he told me about the band, just not the specifics.”
“He’s talented, I truly think Torrent will be on a world tour sooner than they know it.”
As if sensing the mention of her band, Ahsoka jumps into the conversation asking how they liked the show.
Cody seems just a bit brighter around Rex, it warms his chest a little to see Cody like this. The man is loyal but took months to be comfortable around Obi-Wan more casually. He knows it's not exactly his job to be friendly with him, but still.
They talk until their dinner is finished, the twins are put to bed eventually, and they stay up playing some ancient board game til near midnight. Ahsoka wins. By then it’s far too late to drive home, which he has not seen in almost 8 months, Ahsoka and Rex seem to agree.
“You all can stay here, we have plenty of room,” Padme says.
Obi-Wan and Cody head up to his usual guest room. He’s been up since six today— or yesterday now that it’s officially Saturday— he doesn’t realize the room has one bed until they enter.
“I’ll take the couch,” Cody declares, gesturing to the tiny sitting ‘couch’ in the corner that’s meant for reading.
Obi-Wan thinks it's absurd for him to sleep on the couch, this is a problem they haven’t run into before, but the two of them have been practically living in each other's pockets for the better part of a year. Still he’s tired, Cody is too. Better to let him have his way.
He quickly gets ready for bed, by the time Cody is done Obi-Wan is halfway asleep.
“Goodnight, Cody.”
“Night, sir.”