Discaimer: I own nothing. This is just for fun
Ends
Cody looked up to the giant lizard and its rider.
'General Kenobi. Nice to see you.' He grinned underneath his helmet.
'Commander Cody.' Obi-Wan gave him a short nod: 'Did you inform Coruscant about Grievous' death?'
'As you ordered, sir.' He riveted his eyes on Obi-Wan: 'You're sure you're okay, sir?'
Obi-Wan looked down at Cody as if the other man's eyes were a mirror in which he could see himself. If they were the reflection would not have been very pretty: sweat, grime and filth covered his face and hands, not to mention Grievous entrails that still stuck under his fingernails and on his clothes, but on the other hand he had just defeated one of the Republic's worst enemies, so he was granted not to look spick and span.
'Ah, well, it was a stressful day.' He gestured towards Pau-City: 'And the fight's not won.'
'Then you might want this back.' Cody held the light sabre in his hand. He suppressed a grin when he saw Obi-Wan blush under his cover of filth.
'Ah, yes. Thank you Cody.' He took the light sabre from his officer's hand and added: 'It's not necessary to tell Anakin about this…unfortunate accident.'
Cody grinned: 'Is that an order, boss?'
Obi-Wan shook his head and laughed lightly.
'Come on, commander. You might have noticed that I have left you some droids...'
'We're right behind you, sir.'
Obi-Wan nodded, more to himself than to Cody, then leaned down to speak to the Booga. The lizard roared and took a gigantic leap over their heads onto the next wall.
Cody looked at the animal and its rider for another moment before he returned his attention back to the battle in front of him. Droids may not be an equivalent to a soldier of flesh and blood but they were countless and annoying like cockroaches.
His comlink gave notice and when Cody took it out, he found the holo-self of the chancellor himself in front of him.
'Commander Cody.' Sneered the little blue picture in a deathly voice: 'The time has come. Execute Order 66.'
'It will be done.' His answer sounded obeying but his thoughts raced in his head. Order 66 was the command to execute all Jedi in case they would turn into enemies of the Republic, but Obi-Wan had just killed Grievous and Cody trusted Obi-Wan more than some of his brothers. This man could not be an enemy of the Republic, it just wasn't possible.
Cody saw the questioning looks of his comrades and made a split decision.
'Ben, I'm going to shoot you. Hide in the caves and meet me at Grievous starfighter.' He told Obi-Wan rapidly over his helm's comlink. He didn't wait for an answer.
'Shoot him down.'
'Ben, I'm going to shoot you. Hide in the caves and meet me at Grievous starfighter.'
Obi-Wan fell into the deep. Thanks to Cody's warning and the Force, otherwise they could have scraped him off of the wall together with his lizard. He saw her falling body out of the corner of his eye and told her goodbye and thank you in his thoughts. He felt sadness for the loss of a loyal companion, but those thoughts were mingled with what Cody had said.
'Ben, I'm going to shoot you. Hide in the caves and meet me at Grievous starfighter.'
It was the 'Ben' that had made him obey what his friend had said. His real name was like a password between them. He had never told anybody his birth name before, not even Anakin.
When he broke through the water's surface, coldness and pain took his concentration for a moment. Still, he was able to regain his senses, took a breather from his belt and swam deeper into the cave complex.
He felt a deep shaking in the Force and it hurt, it hurt more than falling room such height onto solid ground would have hurt. A choke caught in his throat. To get answers he needed to be alive, and to be alive he needed to breathe.
He was about to climb up a wall, deep inside and underneath Pau-City, when he heard the light buzz of a seek-droid. He barely made it out of the water before the thing scanned the water. He held his breath and waited until the droid took a turn to search somewhere else. Now he had to find a relatively save hiding place and wait there. Both wouldn't be easy, since he neither knew why Cody had ordered to shoot at him, nor whether only this droid searched for him or if Cody had ordered a group down to look for the alleged corpse.
These uncertainties prevented him from falling into meditation, which would have made the waiting so much easier.
Jedi-Master or not, sitting wet and cold in a cave without knowing why, when he should have been fighting with his troops and friends, was definitely not going to become on of Obi-Wan's hobbies.
'Did you find Kenobi?' asked Cody harshly.
'No one could have survived that fall.' Answered the man Cody had charged with finding Obi-Wan.
'Bring your men on board.' Cody ordered. When he saw the troops marching, he turned into the opposite direction, but he didn't make it very far. A strong hand shot out of nowhere and pressed him against a pillar, hidden from possible stray looks of his men.
'So, Cody. What is this all about?' Obi-Wan demanded, less calm than he had been in other situations but being shot down by his own troops had to be a new experience for him, too, Cody guessed.
'I got the order to execute Order 66, the command to kill all Jedi because they have turned against the Republic.' Cody explained. Obi-Wan stumbled back as if someone had hit him in the stomach.
'You didn't kill me.' He stated a bit belated.
'I knew you were no enemy of the Republic.' Cody said factually and laid a soothing hand on Obi-Wan's arm: 'I'm sorry, Ben.'
The other man leaned into the touch for a moment, before he laid his hand over is friend's one and said, his eyes full of gratefulness and affection: 'Thank you, Cody.'
They both stayed like that for a moment, fully aware of the fact that they would most likely never see each other again. Then they parted. Cody said:
'Grievous starfighter is ready. I ordered my men not to shoot at it, so you can safely return to Coruscant or wherever you will go.'
'Goodbye, Cody. May the Force be with you.'
'And always with you. Goodbye, Ben.'