Chapters Twenty-One: A Delicate Topic

Episodes Referenced: "Heroes on Both Sides," "Pursuit of Peace," and "Senate Murders."

Chapter preludes episode "Overlords"

Two weeks in a coma.

Four days in the Healing Halls.

Over forty-eight hours flying around the galaxy with Quilan Vas trying to track down Ziro the Hutt.

Obi-Wan dropped the Jedi Knight off at a medical frigate near an independent planet (that took three days), picked up some much needed medical supplies for the planet of Kalevala (over-staying his welcome on the planet by two nights to many, one of the High Council members sniffed), escorted the Duchess to Coruscant to preside over Padmé's speech (one day), and currently sat in a hut on Ordina negotiating the end of their Civil War (four days). The Council had hailed him in the middle of the night for a meeting, and so he sat, swallowing his pain-meds with caf and putting the past week in simple terms for his sleep addled mind.

"Let me get this straight. Are you saying that Senator Amidala took Ahoska Tano, Anakin's padawan" he pointed to a sheepish Chosen One standing in the middle of the council chamber, "to Raxus, a Separatist planet, in order to spur negotiation. Which failed, and the Separatist's bombed Coruscant and caused a planet wide blackout. The Senate deregulated the Banking Clan and tried to approve the loan for five million more clones. Which would put the Republic in near bankruptcy and divert the money to the war. The loan was passed, and Senator Onaconda Farr was murdered."

He leaned back in his chair and grinned. "Well this is simply delightful."

Mace Windu rolled his eyes. "Are you done, Master Kenobi?"

"Do you want me to be?"

Master Yoda waved a hand at them, silencing the snorts of laughter. "Enough. Young Skywalker," he looked to the knight, "something to say, you do?"

Anakin folded his arms behind his back. "I knew Pad - Senator Amidala was planning on meeting with a senator off-world. I suggested she take my padawan to learn the grey that is politics."

"Training we should all have," Luminara murmured, "That's wise of you, Anakin."

He nodded his head in respect. "I didn't expect the Senator to take her to Raxus."

"Why didn't the Senator request Jedi protection?" Ki-Adi mused. "Or bring her own security?"

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "You've met Senator Amidala, right?"

"He has a point, Ki-Adi," Kit said with a smirk. He stretched his legs out in front of him, near slouching in his seat. "She is too stubborn to obey the law when morals are at stake."

"Well we must pride her on that," Anakin joked, a smile on his face even when some of the elder Jedi glared at him.

Obi-Wan tried to study his former padawan, wondering how much stress the past two weeks had put on him. Wasn't he supposed to go to Naboo and Tatooine? He shook his head from the daze, taking another bitter sip of the caf.

"Might I suggest my padawan accompany myself and Master Kenobi to Chrelythium, now that she has begun to train in Jar-Kai with a shoto blade? She can study from Obi-Wan."

"Chrelythium?" Obi-Wan echoed, setting the caf down and leaning forward in his seat in the dingy hutt of Ordina. He could hear blaster fire raging outside the walls. "That's on the edge of the known galaxy."

"We have received a distress signal," Mace Windu supplied. "The planet has not been a part of the Republic for 2,000 years."

"Most disturbing, the matter is. Sending Skywalker to receive you, we are, Master Kenobi. When negotiations are done, on Ordina."

A cannon went off near his hutt - he had a hard time not flinching. "I'm afraid that won't happen for a number of days, Master Yoda."

"Make it happen, Obi-Wan." Mace glared at him. "We must investigate this distress signal before it is too late."

Six days later, Obi-Wan managed to negotiate the peace treaty on Ordina. He was exhausted from the constant fighting, in pain from sleeping on the floor, and none to happy that his former padawan was twelve hours late picking him up.

"Blame Ahsoka's flying," Anakin exclaimed when Obi-Wan hailed him. In the background he could hear Ahsoka mutter, "Nerfherder."

Obi-Wan glanced at the prince of Ordina in exasperation, and spoke as calmly as he could. "I quite frankly do not wish to have the Council blame me for this, Anakin. Please hurry."

"Have I ever let you down, Master?"

Ahsoka snorted.

Obi-Wan merely shook his head.

"We're seven hours away, Master Kenobi."

Prince ArBar of Ordina smiled when the transmission was cut, adjusting his position on the furs they sat on. His lekku's shifted while he spoke. "Your Jedi friend seems rather...lax, General Kenobi."

"Oh, that is one way to put it." He accepted the chalice that a servant woman poured him, surprised at the sour taste upon taking a drink. "Might I ask what this drink is made from, Your Highness?"

"Fermented bantha's milk." The prince drained his chalice and grabbed a card of cheese from the platter before them. "I'm surprised you can tolerate it. Most humans pass out from the mere smell."

Obi-Wan smirked, taking another sip. "My Master had a rather... interesting choice for my first drink. Tihaar. Everything is rather weak in comparison."

ArBar whistled in admiration. "That knocks even the strongest of Mandalorians under the table. Your master must have been an interesting one."

He smiled softly at the memory of Qui-Gon pounding him on the back while he coughed and muttered, "Do I need to call an ambulance?"

Had that really been over twenty years ago? It felt like an eternity ago that the two of them had sat in a dingy bar on Coruscant, celebrating Obi-Wan's sixteenth birthday.

He remembered taking Anakin to the same bar, expecting his Padawan to order something not meant for humans. It had been surprising when Anakin ordered the tamest of beers and asked when he should apply for his advanced speeder license.

Obi-Wan suddenly realized how little Anakin actually drank. Wine at a function, or beer when the more lax of Jedi coerced them to go out. He wondered if growing up around drunks had made Anakin uneasy around alcohol.

The prince of Ordina was speaking when he refocused on the conversation.

"...you for coming to our aid, Master Kenobi. I don't know how much longer the fighting would have lasted had the Jedi not sent their best diplomat."

Obi-Wan waved away the thanks. "It is my duty as a Jedi to help the Republic's citizens in their time of need." He took a sip of the fermented bantha's milk. "But I am hardly the best diplomat. Adi Gallia and her cousin Stass Allie are far superior than I."

"Her cousin? I thought the Jedi were not allowed to be in contact with their families."

Obi-Wan sighed, remembering this all to familiar conversation with the Chancellor months ago. "Some Jedi have family connections. It largely is based on their species, or their willingness to seek out blood. The Gallia family is strong in the Force. Many of their family have joined the ranks of the Jedi Order, or become priests in the Jedi Temples."

The prince considered the words a moment. "I have heard rumors that some Jedi marry. Or leave the ranks of the Jedi to be with loved ones."

Obi-Wan hesitated, putting down his drink and staring about the fur-skin walls of the tent. "Some, yes. It's very rare."

"Ah. This is a delicate topic." ArBar took another cheese curd and popped it in his mouth. "Let us move on, then, while we wait for your apprentice."

"Sometimes I wonder if you make me wait just to get a reaction," Obi-Wan grumbled when he boarded the Blue Angel and made his way into the cockpit.

Anakin shrugged, not turning around while he did the take-off procedure. "Ahsoka needed to practice flying long-range. We didn't use hyper-drive either."

"Well that would have been helpful knowledge. I've been stuck on planet for longer than I hoped to be." Obi-Wan leaned against the pilot's chair, glancing to the young Togrutan asleep in the co-pilot seat. A blanket covered her small body. She didn't wake at his voice, or the ship taking off and beginning to move through Ordina's thin atmosphere. "Your padawan has developed your ability to slumber through anything."

"She's tired. We've been sleeping in shifts. The flight here took nearly two days."

"Hmm." Obi-Wan gripped the chair's back while they entered hyperspace, scratching at his beard and speaking only when his ears stopped popping. "What do you think this signal means?"

Anakin shrugged, engaging auto-pilot and spinning the chair about. "I don't know. I'm thinking it's a Separatist trap but…"

"That was my initial theory." Obi-Wan went to lean against the wall, and nearly tripped over R2. The droid whirred angrily, rocking on it's treads and doing a series of clicks that sounded suspiciously like a curse word. "I'm sorry, my friend."

R2 beeped indignantly, much to Anakin's amusement. He ran a hand through his hair, which seemed longer than it ever had been. "It doesn't make sense. Chrelythium is on the edge of the galaxy. Even pirates don't venture there."

"I hear the 501st was sent ahead?"

"They were with Plo Koon doing a special ops near there."

"Ah." Obi-Wan glanced over at Ahsoka's groan and grinned. "Our young Padawan awakes."

"You guys are louder than the Padawan's in my hall," she grumbled, rubbing at her eyes and yawning.

"You could always move in with me and Master Obi-Wan, Snips."

Ahsoka snorted, stretching her arms. "That's gonna have to be a hard no, Master."

"Oh, I do not blame you, Ahsoka. Master Skywalker is not the best of roommates-"

"Hey!"

"Always sleeping in, leaving dirty dishes lying around, putting muddy boots on my furniture-"

"Okay, Master -"

Obi-Wan smirked, enjoying the younger man's annoyance. "He forgets he doesn't have to sneak out now that he's a Knight. And he cooks the strangest of dishes."

"You don't mind the last bit," Anakin muttered. "But you steal my cloaks."

"No no, my padawan. I simply burrow what you don't use."

"And then drop it on some battlefield!"

Ahsoka was giggling now, waiting for herself to calm down before saying anything. "Why do you two still live together? Don't most Padawan's move out once they are knighted?"

A silence fell over them. Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other, not knowing what to say. He remembered the days and weeks after Anakin had been knighted. It was at the beginning of the Clone Wars, when the man had been struggling in rehabilitation - and now that he thought about it, struggling to balance married life versus being a commander.

Anakin sighed, undoing the straps of his glove and tugging it off. The metal arm gleamed eerily in the light from hyperspace. "This is why, Snips. I couldn't use a lightsaber, let alone feed myself. It took me months to rehabilitate."

"How'd it happen?" Ahsoka asked, head cocking curiously. She didn't seem to notice her master's uneasy shift in his chair. "It was at Geonosis, right? The first battle? Something about Dooku?"

"We fought him," Obi-Wan murmured, remembering the torture he went through, the screams during the ensuing battle from his fallen brethren. "I was knocked unconscious...when I woke up, Master Yoda and Senator Amidala were there, and Anakin had one arm."

"Senator Amidala was there?" Ahsoka chirped, her eyes wide. "Why?"

"Anakin?"

Anakin rubbed the back of his neck. "I had been tasked with keeping Senator Amidala safe. We heard that Obi-Wan was in danger and we went to rescue him."

"They did a fabulous job at rescuing, Ahsoka. I was chained to a pillar and waiting to be eaten when they arrived."

"But we did rescue you, Master."

"Senator Amidala rescued us. And the timely intervention of Master Yoda and the newly discovered Clone Army."

Ahsoka snickered, glancing at her master. "How often does the Senator get you two out of sticky situations?"

Anakin waved the question away, digging out his comlink when it started to chirp. "I believe Master Obi-Wan has a lesson plan for you, my young Padawan."

He hadn't fought in Jar-Kai in years. Ahsoka was quicker than him, he had to admit, willing to take every slim opening he gave.

"You focus on the offensive," Obi-Wan murmured when he ducked out of the way of her blades and brought his own lightsaber against them. He could see the frustration in her eyes. "Pull back."

Ahsoka didn't respond, regaining her footing when he shoved her away and lunged.

It was different, training with Ahoska than with Anakin. She was more careful with her movements, but thought only two steps ahead of her rather than five.

Anakin knew how to utilize the space around him.

Ahsoka didn't.

Obi-Wan spun in a half-circle, catching the shoto blade with his lightsaber and only just noticing the green lightsaber sizzling near his neck.

"I win," Ahsoka chirped, her smile wide.

He spotted a Nubian pillow on the couch of the common area and smirked. "Do you remember your first lightsaber training, Ahsoka?"

"This weapon is your - oof!" Ahsoka staggered when the pillow hit her head, and couldn't stop him from sweeping her legs out from under her. She hit the floor on her side. One lightsaber clattered from her hand, and the shoto rolled to his feet.

"First rule of lightsaber training," Obi-Wan kicked the pillow away - hoping it wasn't Padmé's - and pointed his lightsaber at her. "Be mindful of your surroundings. Utilize them to the best of your advantage."

Ahsoka glared at him from the floor, disengaging her lightsaber. "That was a dirty trick."

"Perhaps." He disengaged his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt, then called the shoto to his hand and disengaged it before extending his hand. "You must always be ready to anticipate any move from your opponent."

"Duly noted." Ahsoka accepted the hand, rubbing her hip upon standing before taking the shoto. She wiped the sweat from her brow, trying to steady her breathing. "I didn't realize you were proficient in Jar-Kai."

Obi-Wan shrugged, wiping his own brow. "Times were different when I was a padawan. We were given more time to pursue our own passions. We were not so focused on becoming soldiers."

Ahsoka had moved to the table where they had tossed their bottles of water somewhere after round five of dueling, and leaned against it with contemplative look. "That sounds...nice."

He knew his smile was grim. "You can shower first, Ahsoka. I should check on your Master and see how much longer we have until we reach Chrelythium."

Upon nearing the cockpit, Obi-Wan heard voices. Something told him not to announce his presence, and so he waited against the wall, listening to the ship clank, the water running, and the frustrated voice of the Chosen One.

"...can't guarantee anything, Owen."

"You promised Dad, Ken! And Beru!"

"I'm trying as hard as I can! You have no idea what I'm-"

"Oh, here we go again! You know, for once in your pathetic -"

"Boys, please! Stop this arguing!"

"No, Beru, let -"

"Anakin Lucas Skywalker! Owen Mace Lars! We are not doing this now!"

What in Sith's hells? Obi-Wan thought, angling himself so he could see into the cockpit. A holo of a man and a woman was just visible to him, blocked mostly by Anakin seated in the pilot's chair. Has he even moved in the past five hours?

The woman was talking, her voice soft but full of authority. "Anakin is doing the best he can, dear. You must accept that."

Anakin scoffed. "Thank you, Beru!"

"And you, Mr. Skywalker! Do not take your frustrations out on your brother. This is hard on all of us."

She must get along well with Padmé.

Anakin ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. "The Council owes me ten days of leave, since they cut it short when the Senate bill debates began. I will try to get to Tatooine as soon as I can."

"You better, Ken."

"Owen."

"What? Dad's dying, honey. He wants Anakin here."

"He's right, Beru." Anakin glanced behind him, shoulders sagging when he spotted Obi-Wan. He turned back around. "You heard what the doctors said. His body can't handle a fourth infection. A simple cold will kill him."

Beru sighed. "Let us pray that it does not happen for many years."

Obi-Wan turned and walked back to the common room.

He didn't wish to be witness to any more of the conversation.

Author's note: Mortis arc is next, guys! Whoot!

ii Digestive Reader ii

Note: So sorry for any odd errors or weird formatting. FanFic and I have not been cooperating as of late.

Update/edited 12 - 20 - 2018