Echo of a man
A/N: Hey Kiddos. Few things; Firstly, thank you all for the positive feedback you gave my last Star Wars story, it really means a lot. Second, I'm thinking of starting up some short stories/one shots, so if any of y'all have suggestions or prompts, let me hear them! As always, I don't own shit, and no one has proofread this. Brief swearing, but nothing too scandalous.
Anyway, here we go!
Obi-Wan Kenobi was a haunted man.
Well, Cody mused, that adjective sadly fit his General like a glove. As the war waged on, and his brothers fell, he too was becoming more anguished. There seemed to be no end to the fight that burned across the stars, and he was fairly sure that more than a few had forgotten what it was they were fighting for. The Jedi, it seemed, were not the immortal, unfailing gods that they were often heralded as. Warriors wielding blasters and lightsabers alike were dying, side by side. The once mighty Republic was beginning to crack. Peace seemed like a long-forgotten fairy tale, told to children to help them sleep.
And, at the epicentre, the calm of the storm, stood General Kenobi.
At least, to the 212th, he was their epicentre. If he and his brothers were the blood of their battalion, then Kenobi was their heart. A constant, soothing presence that kept them all together no matter how broken it was. The rest of the men knew of nothing but war; it was the sole purpose of their existence, after all. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, had the unfortunate pleasure of remembering a simpler time of peace. Unfortunate, because while the Galaxy crumbled, he could do nothing but watch and mourn what had been. But rather than despair, he overcame. One could call it tragic, when compared to the rest of the Temple, how quickly Kenobi had adapted to war. He fought from the front, he donned the armour of a Clone, and quickly found himself adopted into the Vods as one of their own, hiding his heartache behind a quip and a grin.
So yes, General Kenobi had somehow remained a steadfast beacon throughout this nightmare. And that in itself was a miracle.
But when Cody said that Obi-Wan Kenobi was a haunted man, he meant it in the literal sense.
As in, he was reasonably certain that his General was being followed by a ghost.
Now, he and his brothers we no strangers to the oddities of their commanding officers, or as they collectively called it, Weird Jedi Shit. But as far as he could ascertain, this peculiarity was only apparent with Obi-Wan. Cody would never forget the look on Rex's face when he'd asked about any supernatural happenings with Skywalker, nor his deadpan response. (Unless you mean the fact that he can literally move fucking objects with his mind Cody, then no.)
Cody had in fact briefly considered the notion that working alongside the infamous reckless tendencies of the famed Kenobi/Skywalker duo had honestly driven him mad. He would certainly be forgiven for it, he was sure. So, his sense of relief was almost palpable when other members of the 212th reported that they too were convinced that their General had a spirit stood over his shoulder.
It really spoke volumes about the lives they lead that the idea of a ghost was more comforting that going crazy.
But the Garrison stood in silent agreement. One would think, then, that they would report such an event. However, there were a few issues. Firstly, no other Jedi, as Cody now knew, were being followed like this, so who would believe them? And who to tell anyway? It would hardly help the war effort at such a crucial time if the entire 212th were relieved of duty due to mass insanity.
But the most important reason not to interfere in this was simple to Cody; the ghost wasn't malevolent. Quite the opposite in fact.
To say that Obi-Wan was negligent when it came to his own personal safety was rather like saying a sun was round; yes, it was technically an accurate statement, but it didn't fully express the scale of what was being said. A single meal skipped became three, an extra hour filling in forms became an entire evening. No one could question Kenobi's devotion or loyalty to those in his charge, but Cody had rather thought that a man in his mid-30s would be able to take better care of themselves. Cody had tried many different ploys to get his General to eat, sleep or rest (and he was confident that he wasn't the only Clone was making an effort) but none of their endeavours quite seemed to pay off.
Thus, Cody was willing to accept help from anywhere, apparently even from beyond the damn grave.
An extra ration bar or two would somehow appear on Obi-Wan's desk, a datapad would switch itself off when its user had spent too long staring at the screen. A robe would be pulled more securely over shivering shoulders. If you looked hard enough under the right light, for just an instance, you could probably catch a glimpse of a steadying hand holding Obi-Wan upright, when by all accounts he should have crashed to his knees.
Yet throughout it all, Kenobi seemed oblivious to his literal guardian angel.
However, it wasn't until General Kenobi was mortally wounded that Cody actually got to meet this ghost.
A simple reconnaissance mission was the original brief. However, Cody had long since learned to eradicate the word 'simple' from his vocabulary and trample it under his boot. It was supposed to be a 'simple' in-and-out job, so naturally it had ended in fucking disaster. There had been nothing particularly noteworthy about the planet, apart from the fact that both Kenobi and Skywalker agreed that the Force felt stronger and more tangible than usual. Which was all well and good, Cody was sure, but as his gloves had become drenched in the blood he was trying desperately to keep inside his General's body, he quite honestly couldn't give a flying fuck.
Laid up in bed, unconscious and pale, the Negotiator looked impossibly small and fragile. It had been touch and go for a while, but their medic was confident that he would make a slow but sure recovery from the wound in his abdomen. Yet despite that vote of confidence, Cody knew he (and many others) wouldn't be satisfied until Kenobi was up and bitching about his mandatory sick leave. That wouldn't happen for another 8 hours at least, while the Jedi slept off the heavy anaesthetic he was under.
Obi-Wan would be under strict orders of bed rest, and since he was unconscious, those orders were actually being fulfilled. Cody knew how stubborn his Jedi was, and wouldn't put it past Obi-Wan to will himself awake for the sheer, sardonic pleasure of giving the medics a hard time. Meaning that the room he was sleeping in was strictly closed off. Even General Skywalker, who had a stubborn streak to rival that of Kenobi's (and who, Cody thought wryly, could be responsible for that) was sat outside the healing quarters, after much persuasion and threats of sedation, in a vain attempt to let his Master rest.
Just as he was leaving after being treated for a few minor scrapes and bruises, something caught his eye as he was passing Obi-Wan's recovery room. The yellow lights had been dimmed to make it easier on Obi-Wan's eyes if (scratch that, when) he woke up ahead of schedule. So the faint pale blue light that he could see through the doorway had Cody somewhat confused. Silently, he crept towards the door, and discovered a scene that he could never have predicted.
There, standing next to the bed, was a man. The familiar tunic, robes and boots immediately screamed Jedi, which wouldn't have normally been out of the ordinary.
Except for the small fact that the man was transparent.
Ensconced by a warm blue glow, Cody just knew he was looking at the 212th's famed spectre.
Dressed in tattered tunics and worn boots, the ghost towered easily over the bed in which Obi-Wan lay. Had Cody not known already that whoever this was happened to be friendly, he'd be slightly concerned as to why this mountain of a man was leaning slightly over the other. Long brown hair was carefully tied back, revealing an aged yet caring face, with midnight eyes that held such a powerful look of sheer love, that Cody felt his breath catch.
A small tired smile tugged at the Jedi's lips. He gently reached out with a large hand and carefully brushed back some stray strands of copper hair that had fallen onto Obi-Wan's forehead. The same hand moved slowly down, until it was cupping the smaller man's cheek. The Jedi gave a soft huff of laughter when Obi-Wan, still fast asleep, leaned ever so slightly into the touch. The fondness in the older man's eyes transported Cody back to Ryloth, when a mother had sat vigil over her sleeping kid after all the commotion. If Cody hadn't known before that this man would never hurt Obi-Wan, he was certain of it now.
The ghost sighed sadly, before leaning down to press his lips gently to Obi-Wan's temple. Feeling like an intruder, Cody backed away from the door and quietly made his way down the rest of the corridor, until he arrived at the waiting room, that was mostly unoccupied, except for General Skywalker, who was sat in the corner with a datapad, fully prepared to wait for his Master to wake up.
Once again, Cody was faced with the age-old problem of "do I tell this person that I just saw a literal figure from the afterlife and risk them considering me clinically insane?". Granted, he had never asked a Jedi, but he couldn't risk the answer being 'no' if Skywalker had no idea what he was talking about. Instead, Cody decided to try a different approach. He wanted to know the name of the man he had to thank for watching over his commanding officer and friend, and if anyone would know who meant so much to Obi-Wan that they'd literally pierce the veil of death to look after him, it would be Anakin Skywalker.
Anakin sensed Cody sit down in the seat opposite him, and looked up to give him a brief nod, receiving one in return, before going back to his pad. He hadn't spent much time around Obi-Wan's second in command, but he knew that unlike Rex, Cody wasn't particularly one for small talk. In the empty room, Anakin couldn't miss Cody politely clearing his through, but it took him a moment to realise that he was actually being addressed.
"Did General Kenobi.. have a Father, Sir?"
Anakin looked up again from the what he was reading, a small smirk touching his lips and a teasing raised eyebrow that did his Master proud "Are you asking me to give you the talk about the birds and the bees, Cody?"
"No Sir." Cody replied, ignoring the Jedi's amusement at his very obvious blush. He waved a hand in the direction of Obi-Wan's room, eyes firmly rooted to the floor. "What I meant was did General Kenobi have a Father.. who was a Jedi?"
"...Why do you ask?" Anakin asked, brow furrowing slightly at the inquiry.
"…Curiosity, Sir."
Anakin shrugged. Obi-Wan had briefly mentioned his home planet to Anakin a few years back, when they had still been Master and Apprentice. Upon further research, Anakin had managed to piece together that Obi-Wan came from an old, aristocratic bloodline on Stewjon. In fact, had he not been brought to the Temple as an infant, he would have been heir to the family estate, due to his status as first born, with ties to both royalty and political powers alike. Anakin, personally had found this extremely cool (it explained the accent and silver spoon, at any rate). His highness, on the other hand, upon being told this fascinating piece of ancestry, simply replied with "huh", as if he'd just been given a mildly interesting fact concerning trees.
So while Obi-Wan did have a man who had given him half his genetic code, to Anakin, that wasn't a Father. That man hadn't raised his son, done nothing even remotely resembling parenting. Anakin knew who he considered his own Father figure to be, so why shouldn't the same be true of Obi-Wan?
"His Master, I guess."
"What was his name?"
"Qui-Gon Jinn."
"Is there a holo of him?"
"Why all these questions Cody?" Anakin asked, slightly wary now. His Master was a private man, and while he knew that Obi-Wan trusted Cody with his life, he wasn't sure how much Obi-Wan wanted his men to know about his history.
"No reason Sir, I just…want to understand Jedi culture a bit more." Cody wasn't technically lying, but it seemed much easier to fabricate a reason, rather than explain that he was looking for the identity of a ghost.
"Uh-huh," Anakin was still clearly sceptical. He could always refuse, but he'd already told Cody the name, and besides, it was just one picture. Seeing no harm, he accessed the archive on his holopad, and found a picture of Master Jinn, slightly younger than he was when Anakin had met him, but still recognisable. Well, to him at least; Anakin wasn't sure why Cody's eyes lit up in recognition when he was handed the pad, but the look was gone as soon as it had arrived.
"You, uh, find out everything you needed?"
"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Handing back the pad, Cody stood, gave Skywalker a polite nod, before making his way back to the barracks.
Qui-Gon Jinn, Cody mused, as he headed back to his Vods. He felt both a keen sense of relief that General Kenobi had someone else looking out for him, as well as a renewed sense of duty. Master Jinn wasn't able to physically fight on Obi-Wan's behalf anymore. But, Cody thought, as he made it to his quarters, he already watched over the hundreds of other men in the 212th. What was one more person under his care?
A/N: Honestly, you can pry Space Dad Qui-Gon Jinn from my cold, dead hands. Thanks for reading, and, again, if you have any ideas, send them my way. Until the next time, take care x