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When the Empire rose, all Jedi were killed…
Almost all Jedi. There were a few left because the clones couldn't bring themselves to kill the ones that lived a hell by their side. But the Empire didn't want the Jedi free, they haunted down all the survivors and lock them inside Corruscant prison, before sending them to the prisons of different planets. Still, for the Emperor, that wasn't enough, he wanted to punish them. So decided to tear apart what he thought was the most important rule on the Jedi code.
The attachments. He constrain them to marry and put a price for each Jedi.
The one that married Obi-Wan Kenobi will be the most payed, so that make the Jedi Master the most desired. He didn't want any of them; no one knew that just before the Empire, he had been promised to the one he loved the most, to his precious commander, and he was still loyal to the man, that's why he came with a plan, promised to marry one of his suitors as soon as he ended a shroud as a memorial of all the fallen clones. The Empire and suitors trusted in him, believing the work wouldn't take long. Although, what the desperate suitors and the Empire didn't know was that the blue-eyed Jedi was undoing the work he did throughout the day.
Lock in an abandoned palace in Naboo that no Empire members wanted, Kenobi lived the sadness of losing his friends, his brother, the men that someday he had leaded throughout the fire of the battle, and his beloved; not only that but also the day-to-day fight of rejecting the suitors and hoping they wouldn't try something against him. Though he wasn't alone in all this, Ahsoka, who he considered his sister, lived with him just to take care him and to keep each other's company.
The lake sounded like the furious waters on Kamino, but a lot more calm, while he was weaving the shroud chatting with Ahsoka and putting special effort on Boil's helmet.
"Has been almost half a year." One of his suitors comment outside the frame of the open door, but the former Jedi just showed him the work without finish and shrugged.
"I haven't done it yet." Said as if the sight of the shroud itself hasn't been obvious enough. Ahsoka, seeing the interaction and the angry face of the suitor, walked to the door and closed it, locking the both of them in the four walls of stone.
Months and years passed like that, days of weaving and nights of untwining. But the suitors were becoming more and more aggressive, they were desperate for the Imperial credits, they've waited ten years by now and would not wait another one.
One day while intertwining the strings, Kenobi saw a ship crashing in the land, stood up and hurry to the window. Thought it was close to the building he was trapped in but was far away, on some old landing platforms. Maybe it was time for the challenge.
While his man servants were getting him ready, he was thinking how to execute his plan, how make the suitors busy to give Cody time, if he was the one on that ship; they had always been a team, this time wouldn't be the exception, not even if it meant put his life at risk.
"Please, I can do this…" He asked for permission to do his own hair and beard to one of the men destinated to do it instead of himself.
"Sorry, sir, those are Empire's orders." The man apologized with a bow while passing a comb through the ginger-blonde strands of Kenobi whom cannot do anything else but wait until he finished his hairdo. The gray hairs on his temple were covered by some hair dye. The clothes were no longer the ones he always had used on the temple; he had one red gown with orange and yellow diamond patterns underneath a beige cloak similar to the robes he had once wear back in his Jedi days and a pair of dark brown sandals. He'd no longer recognize himself in the mirror.
When the man finally ended,Obi-Wan stood up, putting his hands inside the large sleeves of the cloak brushing with the tip of his fingers the beskar hugging his skin. Before he left the room he needed something to do, the challenge will start and there were a few chances it could work.
"Can you please leave?" Kenobi asked, watching the man servant over his shoulder, who leave after nodding and giving him a bow. Finally alone, Obi-Wan open a drawer on his nightstand, taking in his hand the most precious thing in his possession, a blaster. The kind of weapon he always had said was 'uncivilized', but this one was different. This blaster DC-15S could be the reason of his dead if a suitor discovered how to use it but also his salvation if everything turn out right. Kept the weapon hide underneath the long sleeves of the robe and walked out of the room.
Each step on the hall made by enormous limestone pillars and a single lane made of that same stone surrounded by water of the crystal-clear Naboo Lakes felt like walking straight to his death. The ivy covering the top of the pillars, the flowers around the ivy, and the humid air around him made him think of the plans that he and his beloved fiancé had made. How they dreamed about the end of the war and the family they would made or how they would live in each others arms for the rest of their lives in a house with this exactly kind of decoration. Tears threaten with falling off his eyes. Every single smile, kiss, hug, eye contact and even those momentary brushes of their fingers while a meeting flashed through his mind making him smile and clutch the weapon close to him.
"I never though it would come to this just know I'll be here buying you time, my dearest." Whispered to himself hoping it would reach through the Force to Cody.
When he finally arrive to the principal garden he stood tall at the top of the staircase, he had the high ground, the suitors could do nothing to him. Looked down at all the men waiting for him to talk, to finally choose who will be the man of the house.
"I would make my decision by a challenge." Announce, reveling the weapon he had in his power and going down stairs to explain. "Whoever can unlock my old love's blaster, and shoot through twelve rings cleanly, would be my new betrothed and have the whole reward promised." He said, loud and clear enough for all the suitors to be informed.
"Let the shoot fly once you know that your aim is true, because I'd rather die than grow old without the best of you!" Those last words weren't for all the suitors there, those were spoken with the faith that the Force wasn't failing to him, that the man deserving of those words could heard him.
All the suitors laughed thinking it was an easy one, that they all could made it even with their eyes closed. Kenobi left, feeling the anxiety run through his veins.
The suitors tried and tried to unlock the blaster, the thing was that the blaster had one specific password to unlock.
Three hours passed, one of the most dangerous suitors stood up, looking at all the other ones that had been trying so hard to unlock, trying multiple combinations but never worked.
"Screw this competition, we've been here for almost four hours now, none of us can unlock it" He said with a face full of anger. The man wanted the money now, he wouldn't wait another full year, and he had a plan for that to happen.
"No more delays, can't you guys see what we're being played? This is how he holds us down while the deal gets colder, while we slowly age, hold us down while the rebellion gets bolder!. Where the hell is our pride and our rage!?" He motivated them all to rise up against Obi-Wan and take him by force, whether he wanted to or not.
The suitors looked at each other, wondering if what the man was saying was true.
"Haven't you notice who is missing? Don't you know that Ahsoka Tano is not around? I've heard she's on a mission, and I've heard today she comes back." All the men looked at him, trying to decipher where he was going with all. "So, I say we gather near the lake, wait until she arrives and then when she land her ship we can breach it. Today we can strike and hold her down while I slit her throat, while we break her pride and her bones."
That's when all the men snap, They decided that if they wanted the money, they should listen to the suitor.
He convinced them as quickly as if they were just a pack of lapdogs to him.
They planned how to attack, how they would obtain the promised money and power just to marry Obi-Wan. Some, like the man who led all of this, didn't just want that; they wanted Obi-Wan. They wanted every inch of the man's body, they wanted to profane what was sacred to the Jedi Master, break the code and force Kenobi to belong to them.
"And when Ahsoka is gone, there will be no one to stop us from breaking down the door to Obi-Wan's chambers, taking his love, and more." They spoke in hushed tones, for they could not afford to have any servant overhear them and warn the man. They had every advantage; they would not throw away their shot. "We'll hold him down while I get a taste and we share his spoils. We will not let any part go to waste."
All the men raised a toast, laughing and thinking that everything, from money to Obi-Wan, were secure in their power. But none of them had noticed the hooded man behind them.
"Chanel the fire inside your-!" The man tried to encourage them, but a blue laser shot through his throat and the only sound that could be heard in that moment was the sound of the poor man trying to say something and agonizing at the blood and air loss. When his body hit the floor with a wet smack given the pool of blood underneath all the men fell silent and turned towards the direction from which the shot came.
"For ten years I've suffer every punishment and pain, from the wrath of separatists and droids to the screams of comrades slain. I come back and find my home desecrated. But the worst of all, I hear you dare to touch my fiancé and hurt his sister… I've had had enough" Nobody could see his face, they only got a glimpse of armor painted with gray.
The lights went out, and that's when all the men realized they had taken too long; it was almost night and they couldn't see anything. A burst of gunfire from where they couldn't see ended the lives of a couple of men. A shot grazed a man's arm and went through the twelve rings on a single attempt until it hit the limestone wall. All the men realized they were fighting with a soldier.
A group of men were trying to figure out a plan to escape but Cody was a step ahead and killed them in an instant, only one of them survived for a few minutes before the commander manage to give him a coup de grâce.
After a couple of casualties, he got a dagger from one dead suitor and used it when some men tried to fight for their life which made his white and gray armor be stained with red spots and his face too.
One suitor begged him that all of that could be over, he had cut the serpents head and all of them were completely innoxious, but Cody didn't listen and ended the man with a accurate shot on the head.
A group not so far from him said that they had the upper hand just by knowing the enclosure. "You don't think I know my own house? I bought it." Was the last thing the group's ears manage to hear before they died.
For almost half an hour all that could be heard in that part of the palace was the suitors begging for mercy and falling at the feet of the former commander, and how Cody shoot at the suitors. Until something happened, a group of suitors found the room were Cody had hidden all the weapons. It was locked, but after they found the password with a droid they could access to all the blasters there.
They thought they could survive the attack. However, they realized too late that Ahsoka Tano was there; her lightsaber ignited and sliced a man in half.
"Throw down those weapons and I ensure you'll be spared." The Togruta tried to rationalize with the suitors, promising peace. "After seeing what the Commander would do to us, we wouldn't dare." The men pointed their blasters at her, waiting for her next move.
"I don't wanna hurt you, but trust me I've come prepared." Ahsoka ignited her lightsabers and took a defensive stance. "You're very presence has doomed the soldier, young girl, we don't fight fair."
"Stop!" Ahsoka yelped.
"Brothers we have company and she's made a grave mistake, come and arm yourselves there's a chance for us to win." The suitors perked at this announcement and started enter the room for blasters. "We can still defeat the soldier if we all attack the Padawan!" Soon all the suitors were prepared to attack her.
She deflect shoots and cut some man down. Still, a shot grazed her wrist making her loose one saber, the suitors wouldn't let that pass so they managed to make her let go the other one by twisting her wrist. A scream of pain and the sound of the metal impacting the ground were all that was required to caught Cody's attention.
"We got her-" Were the last words of the man prepared to kill Ahsoka before a blaster shot took his life. The Togruta took her sabers and ended some of the men surrounding her while the commander ended the rest. With all the movement the cloak on Cody's head fell and let Ahsoka see his face.
"Cody! You're alive!" Ahsoka exclaimed in excitement, hurrying up to check on the Clone.
"I pretty much are, 'Soka." Cody answered with a bit of amusement on his tone while taking Ahsoka's hand away from his bleeding temple because the contact stung him. "Would you mind taking me to Obi-Wan?" The man asked noticing how some more suitors tried to reach them to fight back.
"It will be my pleasure." Ahsoka said, noticing the men too. That was how turning and back to back the Togruta and the Clone managed to end all the suitors that tried to counterattack; Ahsoka deflecting the shots and Cody shooting at the men.
Soon, Cody was in front Obi-Wan's chambers with his hands sweating and his armor stained with blood from the slaughter he had carried out a few moments ago.
"Good luck, Kote" Ahsoka said giving him a jab on the shoulder before leaving the man alone. Cody just laughed at that.
Cody decided to take a look around the room and the palace. He never thought his credits would be enough to buy a place like this; it seemed all his savings had paid off. Well, Padme had been a huge help too; he wished he could have repaid her.
After gather all the strength in the galaxy he opened the door to see Obi-Wan on the balcony, looking at the lake. The moonlight hitting him in the face, making his facial features look etheral. The former Jedi thought it was someone else, that his weakened connection to the Force was lying to him like it had done in the past. It couldn't be his lover.
The poor Jedi thought the form behind him was a suitor who had won the challenge. However, there was a way to be sure who the person behind him was. "Before you take another step closer… and before we let our eyes connect, I'd like to tell a story of my husband, pay him one last respect." Kenobi spoke in a calm voice, as he had always tried to do.
Cody didn't understand what was happening. Husband? When had Obi-Wan gotten married? "Alright…" He could barely manage to utter the words, feeling his world crumble at the thought that Obi-Wan no longer loved him. The atmosphere in the room became tense, Cody expected Obi-Wan to tell him that stopped loving him and didn't want him there.
"Where to begin? How long's it been? So many years ago we were fighting the war. We met in silence on Corruscant, but I'll never forget when he invited me to that one Galek tree on the lower levels…"
Memories of the first year of the war flooded the minds of the two men in the room. Cody could still feel his heart pounding furiously as he invited his General to the Galek tree. He could still remember the thrill of the forbidden and Obi-Wan's eyes in the dim light of Corruscant's lower levels. Remember he had promised he would be in that tree as soon as the last ray of sunlight disappeared from the Corruscant skyline. That's when he realized that Obi-Wan wasn't talking about anyone else, that he would name him as his husband instead of his betrothed in front of others. That's when insecurity overwhelmed him. Obi-Wan spoke so highly of him that, after everything he had done, he didn't believe he could ever become the man he once was, the man Obi-Wan remembered with such love.
"Oh, I adored him, I'd have died for him." Cody could tell that Obi-Wan wasn't exaggerating with his statement because the Jedi had already saved him from almost dying multiple times and vice versa. "But then the Empire came and it took him away. He had said that as long as he was fighting, I could found him in that tree, I promised I would wait for him. He handed me his blaster, saying that since I was losing my lightsaber so often, at least I'd have a backup. Still, the Empire captured me. Years passed, and the tears won't dry; I guess I'll have to marry you now and throw this vambrace away"
Obi-Wan held the piece of white armor, suggesting that he would throw it into the lake as soon as he turned around to see the man behind him. Cody's eyes opened wide with terror.
"How could you say this!?" Cody protested, speaking for the first time in that conversation with a clear, agitated voice; desperate that Obi-Wan wouldn't drop the vambrace off his hand. "I forged that vambrace with beskar from Mandalore, from where that tree was. I gave all of me, all for you! You don't know how much I've missed you, by the force!" Cody cried out in despair, hoping that Obi-Wan would understand how much he loved him and how difficult it would be for him to let him go so easily.
"By the force!" Obi-Wan exclaimed in unison with Cody as he spun around suddenly, causing the cloak he was wearing to billow in the air. His eyes were wide open and watery like two halves of juicy oranges.
"Is it really you? Have my prayers been answered? Is it really you standing there or am I dreaming once more?" Obi-Wan asked, more to himself than to the man in front of him. He took a hesitant step toward the clone in front of him. "You look... different, your eyes look tired… your frame is lighter and your smile torn…" Obi-Wan watched with eyes filled to the top with worry. He returned his foot to where it was, putting the lost distance between them once more. Cody clearly noticed Obi-Wan's attempt to create distance, as if Cody weren't real and Obi-Wan was afraid of falling in the trick of his mind, maybe, once again.
"I'm not the man you fell in love with, the one you once adore. I'm not you kind and gentle husband and I'm not the love you knew before" Cody denied. He, at his own eyes, wasn't that respectable Commander that once had been and wasn't sure he can be again the one that Obi-Wan described with such love in his voice and yearning. "Would you fall in love with me again if you knew all if done? The things I can not change, would you love me all the same?"
Obi-Wan froze, staring at Cody as if he'd just seen a ghost. His eyes betrayed the fear that the man before him, the one he loved with all his heart, had betrayed him with someone else. "What kinds of did you do?" He asked, his voice breaking, taking another half step back and cornering himself against the railing.
"I left a trail of red on every planet as i traded brothers like subjects I could use. I hurt more lives that I can count with my hands, but all of that was to bring me back to you" Cody tried to explain, looking at his hands which were now not only metaphorically but literally stained with blood. "So tell me, would you fall in love with me again?" He asked again with caution, feeling his whole body tremble under Obi-Wan's gaze.
The Jedi sighed, relaxing his body and his gaze, the man he loved most had not betrayed him; his love still belonged to him and it was the same from himself to him. "I will fall in love with you, over and over again. I don't care how, where or when, no matter how long it's been you're mine. Don't tell me you're not the same person, you're always my dearest Commander and I've been waiting so long for you!" Tears streamed down Obi-Wan's cheeks as if his eyes were two overflowing lakes and his tears were waterfalls of the pure blue of his irises.
Obi-Wan ran to Cody, who did the same. They collided midway, wrapping their arms around each other and falling to their knees as they shared a kedable kiss. The two men smiled as they reunited after so long, after a war and a vast Empire that had caused them to lose each other for ten years, being in each other's arms was like being underneath a soft blanket in the coldest days on Hoth. They whispered "I love you" in each other's ear and savored the taste of each other's embrace with their eyes closed and all their senses lost in one another.
After a while, when the night was darker than the mask that haunted Obi-Wan's lonely nights, both men stood up; Obi-Wan was ready to flee from that palace alongside Cody, thinking they were going to runaway from everything that had something to do with the Empire.
"Where are you going?" Cody questioned him seeing him in such a hurry for getting up and going to the door.
"Aren't we leaving?" Obi-Wan countered the question with another while his hand was barely hovering the doorknob. Cody laughed and stood up, shaking his head.
"No, my love, this palace is yours." Obi-Wan looked at him, absolutely surprised. "No, it isn't." Cody laughed even more and took the Jedi's hand in his own, looking into those crystal blue eyes. "I bought it, Obi-Wan. I bought it with my GAR payments... And well, a little help from Padme."
Obi-Wan's eyes opened suddenly, so wide that it seemed as if they would pop out of their sockets, if that were humanly possible. "You bought it!?" He asked in absolute shock, Cody just nodded.
Obi-Wan rushed to Cody, embracing and kissing him. "You're an absolutely crazy man, and I love you." Obi-Wan teased Cody in between kisses.
Now they could live together, be happier than they had ever been, in a palace in the middle of Lake Naboo, with no one there to bother them.
One shower after and the kissing ended in the bed with both of them naked and tangled between the bed sheets. Cody caressed Obi-Wan's tattoo on his shoulder, a sun and a moon between stars drawn just above his freckles, that tattoo was the first one Obi-Wan ever had and it was Cody's fault. Obi-Wan kissed Cody's chest, breathing into the known scent of the clone. The room was filled with love and a lot of stories to tell, but right now, the only thing that matter was the two of them.
"Oh!" Obi-Wan stepped away from Cody's embrace and just before wrapping his cloak around him started to look in the drawers for something.
"What is it love?" Cody asked, propping himself on his elbow and leaning his head on his head. His eyes were focused on the other man's form in the dark.
After a satisfied exclamation from Obi-Wan, a pressed flower was introduced to Cody's sight which grew wide after realizing.
"Remember? You gave me this little one before Utapau. I know that you said I could let go of the flowers if needed but… somehow I couldn't." Obi-Wan explained just staring at the little wild flower that survived ten years and would still survive more just as their love.
"You can also keep them, you know?" Cody smiled, sitting in the bed and opening his arms for Obi-Wan to come again to him. "Now you don't have to sacrifice what you want, you can have it and isn't wrong." Obi-Wan hug him and smile at the affection.
"And you don't have to be perfect, I love you just how you are." And with that, the both of them fell asleep in an embrace that not even the Empire could break, not again.
They got married a few weeks later. On the ceremony, Cody gave Obi-wan another pressed flower as a wedding ring, and Obi-Wan did the same. Symbolizing that those times were the pressed flowers, love and sabers could be loose in battle were over now.