CLONE WARS: Changes (Part 3)
Aubrie knew that there was something inside her Master´s mind. She hadn´t spent as near as much time with the older Jedi as Anakin has, that was for sure, but by now, she has gown familiar with her gestures and mannerisms, and also the way her eyes gleamed when she was up to something.
That very morning, right after Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had finished a brief meeting with the Council, as it was her duty, she appeared with a mysterious light shining on her blue-grey eyes. Aubrie had been standing in the antechambers, waiting for her Master to finish her business but when the woman was done it was clear as day that whatever it had transpire during that meeting, had the Jedi planning something utterly wicked.
"Something in your mind, Master?" she asked while they walked through the halls.
Obi-Wan interrupted her musings and sent a look at her apprentice, who walked behind her as a dutiful Padawan.
"Does it look like it?
Aubrie chuckled weakly, noticing the uncharacteristic fake innocence in her Master´s voice. "As if you don´t know, Master."
"I haven´t the faintest idea of what you might be talking about, Aubrie…" she declared, smiling devilish to herself once more.
"If you say so, Master. If you say so."
They walked through the many halls of the Temple with ease, saluting some friends along the way, but never distracting of whatever was the mission at hand, which Aubrie had no great idea of; it was obvious that the Council had assigned Master Kenobi with a task, and naturally, her Master´s mission was Aubrie´s too, the pair never separated for each other now that they were formally known as a Master-Padawan pair and more so after Anakin had been knighted and already being assigned his own missions.
"If I may ask, Master…" she began, noticing how they were walking in direction of the Temple´s hangar.
The red-haired Jedi tilted her head, letting Aubrie know she was paying attention.
"…What sort of task have we been given?"
"Oh, you will like this one. It´s a real mission. No more staying on planet."
Aubrie raised an eyebrow at that.
"Christophsis. The Separatist had taken it and aid was requested, we are to take it back." She informed her, passing her some data ship over her shoulder while they finally made it into the hangar.
The place was bussing with energy. Clone troopers preparing ships and droids getting last modifications done, there were some Jedi of different ranks getting out and in crafts and ships of different sizes being readying for use. Aubrie was used to the turmoil by now, even when she prefers the usually pacific halls and quiet places of her home than the new busy atmosphere, with the war everything had become more crowded and too noisy. People rushing in and out of the place they all consider a sacred sanctuary and that was currently being overtaken by demands of warfare instead of the peaceful teachings the Jedi were supposed to preach.
"Now I can sense something in your mind, Padawan…" Obi-Wan muttered almost as a second thought, looking at her from the corner of her eye while she reviewed some holographic data that it was being displayed by a small projector in a clone´s hand.
"It´s nothing, Master. Mere thoughts." She stated, shrugging as if to assure her of this. The red-haired woman didn´t seem to take the bait.
"If you wish to say something just do so, Aubrie. I will not punish you for speaking your mind." There is a wave of her hand as she shuts the projector off and the clone runs off with a nod of his head, surely following some command. "I don´t mind to be questioned or to debate something from time to time."
Aubrie chuckles at the memory of Senator Amidala just a few days ago.
"Oh, yes. I remember that little scene at the Senate, Master. I didn´t know you were that friendly with Senator Amidala."
Obi-Wan lifts an eyebrow.
"You were listening." It wasn´t a question but Aubrie couldn´t sense any indignation coming from the older woman so she grinned at her words.
"Didn´t mean to eavesdrop, Master. You were just too loud."
Kenobi huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Do not spend more time with Anakin than necessary please. His bad manners are rubbing on you."
She laughed lightly before taking a more serious demeanor. "I was thinking how much I miss the old times. This place looks like a warzone."
The joyous atmosphere between them turned gloomy in seconds. Obi-Wan relaxed and joined her hands inside her long sleeves, the way she always did when she was pondering something in the depths of her mind. The Jedi Master was wearing one of her light robes, with her long brown cloak over it, the way she preferred it the most, while Aubrie wore darker clothes that Anakin insisted she should wear, like he did.
"I missed them too, apprentice." Obi-Wan confessed to her in a whisper. Aubrie glanced at her when she detected a different feeling coming from her teacher. There was a sad smile on her pink lips and a strange gleam on her grey eyes.
"I, sometimes, think of the people we have lost too." She further explained.
"I didn´t mean it as…"
"It´s fine, Aubrie. It´s not forbidden to remember those who have already left, or the people we love still."
There was something more to it than it wasn´t being said, Aubrie could notice; Master Kenobi was known to be easy going and kind by nature, but she was also a fierce warrior and an expert negotiator, everyone knew her to be strict and set firmly on the Jedi´s way. It was disconcerting to hear her speak so openly in the notions of affection; she almost seemed encouraging.
Aubrie smiled quietly "I don´t think that Master Windu would be so heartening, Master."
Obi-Wan laughed almost to herself "Master Windu does like to appear more somber than he really is." She seemed to relax and looked around the place, content with the continuous activity around them.
"Pardon me, Master, but is there a reason why we are just… standing here?" She says when she notices how the older Jedi reclines against the metal wall, as if getting comfortable.
"Oh, we are waiting." She states with some resemblance of amusement and annoyance.
Aubrie frowns but fails to say anything else. They stand there for what it feels almost half an hour, spent in a regular silence that is both familiar and peaceful. Most Jedi were not heavy talkers, and although, Obi-Wan had a way with words, she tended to be quiet when it wasn´t required for her to talk. Aubrie was silent by nature, preferring to keep her thoughts to herself, but since she had being assigned to the care of the accomplished Jedi Master, she had grown more open and even sarcastic. After all, her brother-Padawan was…
"I´m sorry! I´m late!"
Like a raging storm, the rushing figure of Anakin appeared at the entrance of the hangar. His breathing was haggard and his hair was almost as wild as his blue eyes. Obi-Wan turned her head to look at him with a mask of dispassion on her face, although her grey eyes betrayed a sign of slight amusement and annoyance, the same feelings as before.
"You finally grace us with your company, Anakin" she mutters, pushing away from the wall where she previously rested.
"I´m sorry…"
"You already said that." Aubrie interjects, rolling her eyes. Of course they would be waiting for Anakin. She should have known that he was the missing piece of the puzzle and that he would obviously arrive too late. As usual.
Anakin approached her with a confident swing that almost made her roll her eyes again. The young Knight was both arrogant and cynic in the most unbecoming of ways. It was pure luck that he was just as equally charming.
"Problem, Aubrie?" he teases, folding his arms over his chest, his tone promised quarrel but his orbs shined with the challenge of a friendly banter.
The Jedi healer huffed and started following Obi-Wan down the ramps when the older woman decided to walk into their assigned ship. "You should be more responsible, you know. You are supposed to be a Knight. It sits ill that I, a mere Padawan, already surpass you in both skill and discipline."
The sound that comes from Anakin´s throat is hilarious and almost makes Aubrie´s façade break. It was both a yelp and a snort all in one.
"Skill?!" he shrieks, scandalized by the implication. "Are you jesting?" he asks.
Aubrie does not respond but she can see Obi-Wan glaring at them both for a moment, already tired of their arguments before the mission had even begun.
"Ha! You wouldn´t beat me even if I were blind." He announces with an assured grin on his face.
By then, they were walking through the silver halls of the craft, Obi-Wan walking ahead and talking with Cody, surely about the mission, while they continue bickering. This was the perfect picture Aubrie had grown accustom by now; Obi-Wan taking the lead and assuming the biggest responsibilities while Anakin and Aubrie went back and forth with whatever nonsense they were arguing over this time.
"I almost got you last time; had you bending backwards to avoid cutting your useless head off." She reminded her, smiling contently at Anakin´s indignant expression.
"You cheated." He retorted, huffing. "And I always win in the end. Always."
Aubrie snorts loudly "Yeah, sure…"
Anakin was about to reply when Obi-Wan turns to interrupt them. "If you are quite done…" She says with a pointed look and a non-nonsense attitude that almost makes Aubrie straighten her back in respect.
A shadow of something travels through Anakin´s features and the younger Jedi notices, it´s always there when Obi-Wan orders them around and about, it´s there when he thinks she is not looking. Sometimes, it´s even in Obi-Wan´s eyes as well.
"There is a mission for us to complete and if you don´t mind I think we should focus on that and not…" she gives them a stare down "…a petty comparison of who has the largest lightsaber, right now."
Commander Cody snorts quietly and pretends, very badly, that he didn´t just laugh at both of their expenses. Anakin rolls her eyes without actual anger but Aubrie smiles, enjoying the fact that the dynamic between them seems to be always the same. She knows that behind Obi-Wan´s reprimands there is always a touch of enjoyment and that beneath Anakin´s playful insults there is an equal firm foundation of friendship and trust.
Aubrie misses the old days when everything was peaceful and her home was quiet, but she would be lying if she didn´t admit that she loved the little family that they have formed just now.
Scratch that.
Her family was to grow bigger. Unexpectedly.
Aubrie stared with awe at the young Togruta girl that just minutes ago had walked down the ramp of a new ship; the cargo was supposed to be aid for the precarious situation of the planet, trapped in the middle of a conflicted warzone and being surrounded by enemies forces left and right.
Anakin and she had tried, in vain, to break the approaching army that every day came dangerously closer and closer to their location. It resulted in a never-ending battle where their strength was wasted. Master Kenobi was supposed to come up with one of her unorthodox yet brilliant plans as she usually did, but they simply lacked the resources to put any tactic in motion without risking losing almost all of their clones and possibly their lives as well.
"I´m the new Padawan learner, I´m Ahsoka Tano."
Padawan of who, exactly? Aubrie wanted to ask.
The girl was but a small wisp of a youngling, but she had declared her mission with strength and firm resolution. She was small and thin, but she had the poise and attitude of a Master, and Aubrie almost lifted an eyebrow at her serious and professional face.
"I´m Obi-Wan Kenobi." Her Master introduced herself, her regal stance outmatched even in the middle of a warzone. "I´m your new Master."
Years and years of self-control leaded her to not gape like a fish at the announcement. She wanted to gasp and quickly remind her sweet Master that what she just said couldn´t be possible. Aubrie was Obi-Wan Kenobi´s current Padawan. She couldn´t possibly have another one.
The Jedi healer could feel Anakin´s hand touching her shoulder; more likely in a sign of comfort, trying to ground her in the here and now, and a quick look by the corner of her eyes got her knowing that Anakin knew about this beforehand, a small pang of betrayal shook her for a second, thinking that he didn´t have the courage to warn her until now.
"I´m at your service, Master Kenobi. But I was actually assigned to Master Skywalker."
For the second time that day, Aubrie felt lightheaded. She turned to see Anakin, who didn´t have the same restrain than her and actually gasped in horror, he manage to speak only to reassured everyone on the scene that it was simply not possible. He hadn´t ask for a Padawan.
Aubrie herself could attest to that.
There was nothing more than Anakin hated more than responsibility. He would be the last Jedi to line up at the opportunity to teach a youngling.
Ahsoka insisted, despite Anakin´s clear refusal and Aubrie felt equally lost as uncomfortable in the middle of the conversation.
She chanced a look at her Master; she stood between the pair with a pensive grimace, right hand swiftly posed under her chin, in her usual meditative stance; the older Jedi appeared to be in deep thought, but Aubrie´s eyes could detect something strange and interesting under the apparent innocent outlook.
"We´ll have to sort this out later." Obi-Wan announced when Anakin started to get defensive. "It won´t be long before those droids figure out a way around our cannons." She excused. Aubrie frowned at the sudden grin that appeared on the red-headed Jedi´s face.
"I´ll check on Rex on the look-out post." Anakin muttered, suddenly tired by the exertion. Obi-Wan quickly suggested him to take the small apprentice alongside with him, still smiling like a lothcat that had just gotten a prey.
The male Knight walked away with a tense jaw and a very excited fresh Padawan on his tail.
Aubrie waited until the two of them were out of hearing range, she frowned and looked at Obi-Wan with intrigued eyes "Master…"
The female Jedi turned to give her one of her amused looks and Aubrie instantly knew what that strange demeanor of last week meant, right before they left the Temple.
"Master… you could have just told me." She said, sighing and feeling a bit sympathetic for Anakin, being the subject of General Kenobi´s antics wasn´t as fun as being the witness of them.
"And where is the fun in that?" She asked, walking alongside her with a confident stride about her.
"Do you think it wise…" she questions, thinking on Anakin´s pure annoyance when he met Ahsoka "…for Anakin to have a Padawan this soon on his career?"
Obi-Wan seemed to think that for a second, and her previous amused attitude appeared to extinguish in one of deep thought. "I´m not sure. It was the Council´s decision more than mine, to be honest."
Aubrie hummed at that, realizing that the wise members of the Council seemed to take a keen interest in Anakin´s activities more than it was strictly necessary.
"They worry for Anakin´s growth, they only seek to improve his character. I´m not against the idea of him having an apprentice…"
"They do seem to like to test Anakin´s temper more than they do with most of us though." Aubrie adds.
Obi-Wan smiles sadly.
"Anakin carries a heavy burden on his shoulders. It´s to be expected."
Aubrie stops at that, staring at her through her amber eyes. "…Because he is the chosen one?"
She knew about that too, of course. Anakin Skywalker was known across the Temple because of two reasons: One, he was the apprentice of the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi, and two, who he was believed to be: The Chosen One. The one designed by the Force to free the galaxy from the darkness.
Obi-Wan stopped too, staring at her with a mixture of sadness and consideration. As if she was worried by what her words implied.
"Anakin is special. He doesn´t need to be the chosen one." She clarifies, a note of fondness and a soft uncharacteristic breath of something that appeared more like tenderness than simple recognition towards her past apprentice on her voice. "All great Jedi are to be tested, one way or another. I think that it will do Anakin some good to experience that. This is a perfect example of this."
"Testing him… or all of us?"
The last question babbled out of her mouth without much thought and Aubrie regretted the words the minute they were out of her lips. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at this but her eyes seemed surprised with the question that sounded more like an admission.
The female Master placed an armored hand over her shoulder, a gentle sad smile on her face.
"This war will test us all. It already has. We must be ready."
Aubrie liked to think that her little family would be safe of that promise. That she won´t lose this the same way she has lost her last Master, her old friends, her old life.
Ahsoka was… weird.
She was cheerful, expressive and very vocal about what she liked and what she didn´t like. In many aspects, similar to Anakin. But in some other ways, so different. It baffled her how the young apprentice could be so mature for her years and then suddenly so childish. She would wisely recite an old creed from the Jedi Code and the next she would be complaining about some sort of injustice, usually she not been permitted to do something reckless and unpredicted.
After Master Obi-Wan decided to send them together to shut the enemies shields down, Aubrie could tell that something meaningful had happened between the new pair of Padawan-Master, for Anakin accepted Ahsoka as his apprentice and seemed to warm at the idea of being a teacher.
Aubrie raised an eyebrow at that.
"Hi!" the small girl saluted her. Aubrie looked down just to witness a big open smile on the Togruta´s face. "I´m Ahsoka Tano"
"I know." She stated. She remembers her, she was there when she walked down the ramp of her ship, even if the youngling hadn´t paid her much mind.
"I heard that you are Master Kenobi´s Padawan."
She nodded, raising an eyebrow.
Out of the sudden, the new apprentice bowed respectfully to her. "I´m honored to study by your side and I hope I get to learn much from you."
The whole thing was strange and off-putting, although apparently the girl reminded her manners, even if it was at the last minute, something that Aubrie could appreciate. The older student imitated her and bowed too, answering the sign of mutual recognition.
"It´s an honor to meet you too, Padawan Tano. I´m Aubrie Wyn, senior Padawan learner of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"I heard that you were my Master´s sister-padawan." She said with curiosity gleaming on her blue eyes.
"I´m still am, in a manner of speaking. We both studied under the same tutelage." She said as she started to walk.
"It must be an honor for you…" she commented sounding more and more like a child, although not in a bad way. "…to be able to have someone as famous as Master Kenobi as your mentor."
Aubrie smiles kindly.
"It really is."
"I´m honored to be chosen as Master Skywalker´s Padawan, as well." She confesses, a hint of a blush beneath the reddish skin of her. "Although, it wasn´t of his own volition."
Aubrie detects the slight insecurity in the tremor of her voice, still unsure of her position, as if any moment Anakin would change his mind and send her away and back to the crèche.
"Don´t worry." The brown-haired Jedi tells her, smiling in a compassionate manner, trying to ease the younger Padawan´s preoccupation. "I´m sure you will grow on him."
"You think so?" she asks, hopeful and suddenly so young that makes Aubrie feel subsequently older.
"Of course. Anakin is a nice guy." She reassures. "And he often pretends to be tougher than he really is."
The shy quiet response that Ahsoka gives her reassures Aubrie too. The girl was nothing but a youngling with a hunger for a bright career and a firm purpose. Aubrie could remember when she was just the same way. Growing up hearing amazing stories of the deadly Sith Killer and the powerful Chosen One, hardly believing that she could call one of them her Master and the other her brother.
Looking down at young Ahsoka, she could see a younger version of herself.
"Don´t you worry, Padawan Tano." Aubrie says while embracing the young one with one arm over her shoulder. The Torgruta looking up at her with wide curious eyes. "You will get used to everything rather quickly. You seem like a perfect fit for this unconventional group." She declares with a wink.
Ahsoka grins.
"Welcome to the family..."
Changes to their exclusive, small group kept coming. Apparently.
Aubrie could barely accept and get used to one when another was on its way.
First, Anakin had gotten promoted, that had both cheered Aubrie up and exasperated her at the same time. Cheered, because she was happy and proud of her brother-Padawan and exasperated because now Anakin´s ego was going to be off the roof. Then, they have been granted Ahsoka as the smallest member of their gang, a new Jedi novice for them to train and guide. And now, Rex and Cody, not to mention the entire 501 Legion and the 212 Attack Batallion, had become the firm, strong and steady infrastructure that held their little group together.
Anakin was the warm pulsating heart of their squad; all wild feelings and untamed emotion that managed to lighten their spirit or filling their rage, and Obi-Wan was certainly the calculating rational brain that made sense of them and calmed their passions. But the clones, well, the clones were the ones that kept them all sane when the heart and the brain couldn´t get along or when they were so caught up within their own set of ideas to notice the middle ground between them: Ahsoka and Aubrie.
Sure, Cody and Rex were there for almost the very beginning, but now they were more than simple soldiers or reliable commanders. They were friends. People to share a joke with, to trust to cover your back when you were tired and careless in the middle of the battlefield, to be ready to take over if Obi-Wan and Anakin were having a falling over or too occupied to give orders.
Aubrie wonders when did they started to consider them family instead of just, well, some other people they had to work with.
Maybe it was when Rex made a sneaky joke about Anakin´s inability to stop crashing their ships, despite the fact that the knight spent half his time declaring he was the best pilot of the entire Republic fleet. Or when Cody took a blast shot to his chest that was directed at her when she got distracted by some random explosion at the distance.
Aubrie couldn´t exactly point her finger at the precise moment. She just knew that it was now too late not to see it.
Especially when they lived through moments like these...
"You barged in, ignoring my orders…" Obi-Wan berated with a serious tone that was dangerously escalating to anger.
"I´m a Knight, I can make my own decisions now, Master. I do not need your permission to take action." Anakin´s voice was upset, though. There was no doubt about that. With Anakin, there were no middle grounds.
"Some Knight you are. I´m a Jedi Master." Obi-Wan frowned with a twist of her mouth. Now, she was the one upset.
Anakin rolled his blue eyes.
"Here we go again…"
"Yes, Anakin, here we go again, because you don´t seem to grasp the concept that I outrank you. MY orders take priority over yours, so does my judgement."
"There will come a day when that excuse will get old and you won´t be able to use it, you know." He hissed, eyes half lidded and teeth clenched.
Obi-Wan nodded at the ground, crossing her arms over her armor in stubborn defiance. "And until that day comes I will remain using it as much as possible."
Ahsoka looked at her with a tired and annoyed expression on her face. Aubrie made sure to keep her own face as neutral as possible. She didn´t like to take sides when Obi-Wan and Anakin got into another domestic, which was often, but the timing of this discussion couldn´t be more inappropriate. They were in the middle of the mission, hiding themselves from droids that were currently shooting at them.
Aubrie could tell that Ahsoka was hesitating, not really sure if she should be the one to remind the two older Jedi that right now was probably not the best moment to measure egos. Aubrie didn´t want to intervene either, last time she did, she almost got her head bitten off by Anakin and Obi-Wan acted a little bit more reserved for an entire week, avoiding her as much as she could without actually being obvious about it, which she was by the way; and Aubrie had just convinced Obi-Wan to give her a lesson on Jar-Kai this week so she was not about to barge in on their discussion and blow the whole thing off.
"Would you listen for once in your life, Skywalker?" The high ranked General questioned, pinching the bridge of her thin nose.
"I don´t know, Kenobi, you tell me. Are you ever going to listen to what I have to say for a change?"
Oh, surnames. This was getting ugly now.
Obi-Wan was about to open her mouth, ready to give Anakin some earful, surely, when all of their comms beeped in unison and cracked to life.
"With all due respect, Generals…" Cody´s voice ringed through the transmitter.
"…you are both acting like children." Rex completed.
Their words were follow by a heavy explosion that made them cover their eyes and lower their heads. When the smoke settled a bit and it was safe to open their eyes, they could see that most of the battlefield was clear of the offensive droid army.
Multiple air-crafts appeared, lowering to the ground and hovering close to them, Captain Rex and Commander Cody walked out of one of them with a smug swagger that it was noticeable even though they were wearing their designated armor and Aubrie couldn't possibly see their faces with their helmets on but she would bet all her credits that they were smirking beneath them.
"Five more minutes and you were all about to be blasted, General." Cody remarked.
Obi-Wan had the modesty to look a bit sheepish at the light scolding. Anakin looked away and cleared his throat, he was clearly embarrassed but he would first drop dead than admitting defeat.
"Yeah, well, thank you for your assistance Commander, but we had everything under control." He rasped.
"Bullshit." Aubrie whispered. Somehow, she must have been lauder than she intended because Anakin gave her a dirty look over his shoulder.
"If with 'under control' you mean 'obliterated by the enemy', then yes, sure thing." Ahsoka offered with a shrug.
"Snips…" Anakin rasped in warning.
"What!? It´s true! Fifteen more seconds of you two yelling and it wouldn´t be the Seps killing us, but me."
Obi-Wan was the first to stand and walk off as if she just hadn´t been scolded by her second in command in front of her entire battalion. "Yeah, well, if we could all get moving."
Aubrie followed her suit without a second thought as Ahsoka and Anakin started another fight between them, and when Obi-Wan refused to look at her out of shame, the brunette grinned.
"Hey, it was your idea to put those two together in the first place." The apprentice reminded her at their sound of the newly Master-Padawan pair banter, which ended in laughter, as usual.
"And I regret it every day of my life." The older Jedi confessed with a deep breath.
"I wonder who got the brilliant idea to pair you up with Anakin, though" Aubrie confessed, getting into one of the hovering crafts waiting for them.
"My late Master, actually." Obi-Wan said, despite the declaration there was no hint of sadness on her tone, more like fondness. "He was a wise men but he would always find a way to charge me with the care of pathetic life forms." She groaned in melodramatic pain.
"Hey! I heard that!" Anakin shouted from his own craft, interrupting his, by now, playful discussion with his own student.
"You were meant to!" Obi-Wan yelled back, walking into the cockpit. A brand new grin on her dirty face.
Aubrie had to admit that Anakin reaction to that was priceless, so she was forced to grin as well.
In the rare occasions that they got to be on planet, which was getting more and more unusual as the war raged on, Aubrie indulged in distracting herself from her duties by going for a few drinks with her friends at the multiple bars in lower levels of Coruscant that she is usually used to.
Aubrie didn´t make a habit of drinking, she barely did, to be honest; but she enjoyed the social occasions simply because she adored to spend time with her friends. During those special nights, there were jokes and war stories that the young Padawans shared among them. Sometimes they did silly bets, mostly about dares of who gets to destroy more droids on their next mission or how many reckless stunts are their willing to pull with their starfighters; some other times though, they just wanted to gossip about stuff that they got to see while under the tutelage of their respective Masters.
During this particular discussions, Aubrie opted to remain quiet. As much as people ask her about her Master, the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi, or wanted to know some stories and debunk or, rather confirm, some outlandish new tale about Anakin, Aubrie didn´t like to touch the matter. Because in truth, there was something weird when it came to both, Master Kenobi and Anakin.
Everybody knew that they were a unit. Two halves of a single whole. As if they were one sole being instead of two separate independent people. As different as they were, wired in such a distinctive, sometimes even opposite, way; they functioned better when they combined their efforts than they ever could if they just went their own way, or worked with somebody else entirely.
It seemed that Anakin wildness could only be tamed by Obi-Wan´s rationality, and Kenobi´s natural defensive approach was strengthened by Skywalker´s impulsivity and quick spontaneity. It was as if the Force itself had engineered their match from the very start, and maybe, in a way, it did. Aubrie herself has been witness of the perfection of their unity, the invisible connection between them that couldn´t be replicated or opposed. It was remarkable. And also a bit too uncomfortable to observe.
Sometimes, Aubrie catches Master Obi-Wan looking at Anakin with some strange longing that she never got to see before, as if the man wasn´t just there, standing at three feet away, close enough to touch. As if she had missed him for years, when she got to see him every day. Sometimes it was Anakin, who found odd and convenient excuses to spend time alone with the female Jedi or that strangely seemed to have a fixation in touching her as much as he possibly could; his fingers absently playing with the ends of her braids when he got bored on a meeting, or a sporadic touch to her arm in reassurance when she was saying something particularly smart, standing a little too close than necessary when he needed to talk to her about something, you name it, Anakin would always find a reason to be near her, to touch her, to feel her in some way.
Anakin, she could vaguely understand. He was a tactile guy. Way too open and expressive for a Jedi, attached to the emotion and sometimes even slaved by his impulses. And also, he used to be in love with his Master for a while, Aubrie could attest to that. But Master Obi-Wan had reassured her that Anakin´s infatuation had passed with time, and, if his recent behavior was any indication, the blond Knight seemed more romantically interested in the Senator from Naboo than anything, but it seems that his attention was forever bound towards his first love: Obi-Wan Kenobi.
What Aubrie didn´t understand though, was Obi-Wan´s own interest. Anakin was young and unexperienced in many ways, even when he was a Knight already. But Obi-Wan was the oldest of them, certainly the wisest, and a Master and member of the High Council no less. It made no sense for her to look like a lovesick teenager towards her old Padawan from time to time. But she did, Force help her, she did.
The image of Master Kenobi sneaking around the ship to Anakin´s quarters late at night still burned in the back of Aubrie´s mind. The way that the Jedi Master seemed to be a bit too cautious when she did so; as if she feared being discovered. Aubrie was casually walking through the halls when she saw her, but it still left her wondering. Or when Ahsoka and she were walking back to the Padawan apartments they now both shared with one another, right in font of their Masters´ ones and caught them talking outside their door, Obi-Wan smiling brightly, in a sweet way that reminded her of the way that Feryl and Wonn, two friends of hers, used to talk to each other when they had their little illicit liaison during their youngling years. She even held Anakin´s hand in hers, grasping it fondly and without reservations. It made the two Padawans scratch their heads.
Aubrie knew they were close. Particularly close. But sometimes, Aubrie feared just how much they truly could actually be. And the young Jedi prayed to simply not find out, to not just be wondering around in the middle of the night and see something she rather shouldn´t have.
The Force, though, didn´t seem so keen in answering her prayers.
Ahsoka and Aubrie were doing a late walk through the halls of the Temple, enjoying the fact that they got a couple of mission-free days of relaxation. Anakin had opted to escape to the apartment of his not-so-secret-lover, Senator Amidala, and Ahsoka, who was incredibly none the wiser of such situation (yet), had asked her for a friendly spar. Aubrie had agreed, feeling the characteristic restlessness overtake her, it happen quite often when she got a lazy day like this. She was way too used to the havoc and buzzing activity of the war by now to just stay put.
As they took their nightly strode after training and with direction to the main diner of the Temple, they heard them.
Or what it sounded a lot like them.
"Stop it, please…"
Aubrie ended her walk mid step, frowning. The voice sounded similar to Obi-Wan to her ears, but the breathy tone of it was completely alien to the usually collected Jedi.
Ahsoka must have noticed it too because she froze beside her.
"Shhh…" a deep whisper hushed.
"It was your fault…" the female insisted, sounding more and more like Obi-Wan by the minute "…you shouldn´t do that in the middle of the gardens."
They were indeed in the gardens. And that was, certainly, Obi-Wan´s voice. Aubrie would recognize that scolding tone anywhere.
"I wouldn´t do that if you didn´t look so…mmmm" the voice said, follow by a deep groan.
Ahsoka beside her almost squeak at that, and turned to see her with wide eyes and a blush. Aubrie had to close her eyes for a second, praying to the Force that everything was but a bad dream.
The male voice wasn´t as distinguishable as Obi-Wan´s but Aubrie had half a mind to guess who that would be.
"Shut up!" Obi-Wan whispered angrily. "Don´t be silly."
"I´m not." There was a weird wet sound, brief; but it was audible enough for Aubrie´s stomach to turn and twist.
"Where are you going?" the male voice objected. "You know I don´t like it when you go away without me…"
"Too bad. I´m not telling."
"Why not?"
Aubrie paled when the voice got way too similar to a certain Jedi Knight´s voice. And the familiarity made her almost shiver.
"…Because knowing you, you will panic and steal a ship and follow me there or something stupid like that…" Obi-Wan huffed. Her voice weirder and weirder, her usual maturity almost gone, replacing it a soft childish ring that made Aubrie frown.
"It´s not stupid."
"Let me be the judge of that."
Aubrie and Ahsoka couldn´t actually see them. It was dark, and the many trees and bushes didn´t let them see where they were hidden, but the sound of their voices gave them an input of the direction of their whereabouts.
The issue was if they wanted to actually see.
Regardless of their intent, the two voices stopped. Not even the hint of a whisper through the air. It made Aubrie think that they maybe have heard them too.
Ahsoka was about to say something when a bush moved and Obi-Wan walked from it, not noticing them at the distance, staring.
She was wearing her regular clothes but her usually tidy hair was flowing freely, something that Aubrie had never seen before. She was also wearing some sort of blue flowers in her hair, the ones she has gotten the chance to see in her Master´s apartments when she had been there.
The young students stood there, waiting for the man to appear too. Aubrie could see that Ahsoka had no idea who that could be, her curiosity palpable on the Force. But Aubrie was afraid, because if her suspicious were real she wouldn't know what to do with herself afterwards.
But the man never appeared.
When Obi-Wan had walked away from the gardens, Ahsoka had sneaked carefully to the bushes, eyes wondering around trying to capture something. Aubrie followed her, her own steps heavier, almost fighting her own feet. She didn´t want to discover what she already knew.
But there was no one.
As if the man had vanish, or actually never there, the bushes were lonely an empty with no one behind them or close to it. The only sounds were the nocturne insects and the usual busy night life of Coruscant close by.
"Is this for real?" Ahsoka asked out loud.
Aubrie shrugged, puzzled.
"I don´t know."
"Did we just heard Master Obi-Wan… flirting…?" Ahsoka spoke carefully, as if she was afraid of offending her.
"Master Obi-Wan is always flirting. With everyone." Aubrie corrected.
Which was actually true. Obi-Wan did, in fact, flirted usually and so casually that it was boarding in annoying. Especially for Anakin, that always rolled his blue eyes when she started making sweet eyes to someone during the missions.
That should have been the first hint, in retrospect.
"But… what she was saying…" Ahsoka murmured, cheeks turning dark.
"She is an adult." Aubrie intersected. Not really knowing if she was saying that to convince Ahsoka or herself. "She knows what she is doing…"
"Aren´t we supposed to be above such things though?" Ahsoka questioned "Aren´t we not supposed to stay away from attachment?"
"A romantic relationship is not necessarily an attachment."
Ahsoka looked at her as if she was insane. Aubrie felt a little bit insane too to be honest.
"What I mean is that… if Master Obi-Wan is aware that her feelings, regardless of the depth of them, cannot and should not come before her duty… there shouldn´t be a problem."
Ahsoka´s frown deepened. "That is not what I was taught."
Aubrie shrugged.
"You live and experience the code the way you can. There are people who can withstand to be connected with other people in an emotional level without letting it rule their judgement, there are people who can´t." Aubrie explained, staring at the corridor where Master Obi-Wan had escaped to. "You will find out which one are you, in time."
Ahsoka seemed to meditate that for a moment, turning to look behind the bush once again, as if it will reassure her.
"… Who do you think it was... the man…?" She asked.
Aubrie was almost sure she knew who he was. Although there was no way to confirm it.
But Ahsoka didn´t need to know that.
"I´m not sure."
"Where is Anakin?"
Aubrie had been blunt. Because if she was going to protect the possibly of Obi-Wan and Anakin fooling around from Ahsoka and possibly the Council itself when they thought she wasn´t looking the least they could do is confirm it.
"Beg your pardon?"
"Anakin. Where is it?" Aubrie repeated, feeling exasperated. Obi-Wan looking up at her from her seat with a mix of disconcert and indifference.
"Amidala´s." The older Jedi said, raising an eyebrow.
By the time Ahsoka had drop the subject in the gardens and returned to their quarters, Aubrie had trailed down Obi-Wan´s location, who was carelessly eating while reading some datapad in the common cafeteria.
Aubrie stared her down with a serious expression.
"Is there something in your mind?" the Master asked, finally sensing the weird atmosphere behind Aubrie´s demeanor.
"I heard you."
Obi-Wan didn´t say anything, but she didn´t seem alarmed either. "I don´t follow."
"You. Anakin. In the gardens."
Aubrie had expected some sort of reaction. A gasp, or some quick succession of denials, even just a strange gleam on Obi-Wan´s grey eyes, but there wasn´t even that.
Obi-Wan´s face was perfectly blank. Emotionless.
"You saw me… in the gardens?"
Aubrie nodded, firmly.
"Were you spying on me?" The older female inquired. This time, a flash of anger on her orbs was visible.
"I saw you by chance, I swear Master." She told her, a bit afraid at the possibility of the Jedi´s fury. "I was with Ahsoka when it happened. She heard too."
Obi-Wan closed her eyes in quiet frustration. Surely praying to the Force for some patience judging by her look.
"And you think you heard me and Anakin, doing what exactly…?"
"Do I need to repeat the words, Master?" Aubrie asked, biting her lip nervously.
"I would love for you to do so…" the red-haired woman insisted "…since Anakin was never in the gardens with me."
Aubrie stared at her blankly. Almost not comprehending the words. The Padawan thought that she was surely joking because her statement was beyond ridiculous, but Obi-Wan was staring up at her with no hesitation and no sign of retraction.
"You can´t be serious."
"I can and I am."
"But we saw you!" Aubrie insisted, voice thin and trying to keep it down since the cafeteria still had some people roaming it´s halls.
"You couldn´t possible saw us since there was never an 'us'." Obi-Wan said, finally leaving her food behind and turning her datapad off.
"But you were there…"
"I was, indeed." She confirmed it. "But Anakin wasn´t."
The firm declaration gave the young apprentice pause. She was certain of what she saw, she couldn´t be as crazy as to have imagined the whole scene, especially when Ahsoka was there, with her. But she hadn´t seen Anakin there, that much was true. Just Obi-Wan.
"…But there was someone with you…" Aubrie added suspiciously.
"Is that really any of your concern?" Obi-Wan askes quietly.
"…No, I mean…"
"Because I´m certainly capable of having conversations with other people without your permission." The Master explained, her tone was diplomatically serious, with a palpable anger underneath her words that made Aubrie´s skin crawl with fear. "I failed to see how my personal affairs might trouble you on any way."
Aubrie remained quiet, chastised by her Master´s harsh words. She was ashamed of herself to an extent. She didn´t mean to pry, of course, but it had happened anyway and the young Padawan wasn´t sure she could handle knowing that something so utterly forbidden was happening right under her nose.
By principle, Aubrie wouldn´t mind it as much as she did when she first found out about Anakin´s feelings towards her old Master.
After all, Obi-Wan was right. It was really none of her business.
But since Ahsoka came along, things had changed…
"How would you feel if Anakin was having an affair with Ahsoka?"
Days after that, Aubrie would still question if she actually said that.
"What?"
Obi-Wan disbelief was almost as great as Aubrie´s own; but it was too late to take the words back. So, instead, they seemed to propel forward.
"When I found out about Anakin´s feelings I thought them wrong because of Anakin´s difficulty with attachment." Aubrie tried to fix, hoping that her explanation would lessen the iron of her previous statement. "But now that Ahsoka is here, it´s more than that."
Obi-Wan´s jaw was slightly slack, impressed and offended by Aubrie´s accusation. She should be, but that didn´t discourage the Padawan to continue.
"You were his Master." The brunette remained her, as if Obi-Wan could possibly forget it. "And if you two have some feelings for each other I could bet they didn´t start when he left your care. How would you feel if Anakin suddenly started having romantic feelings towards Ahsoka?"
"That´s quite enough."
Obi-Wan´s voice was stern and final, leaving no room for more words or explanations.
Aubrie obey without a second thought, biting her lips to avoid allowing any other traitorous words to escape. She did it more out of habit a sheer obedience than conviction. Obi-Wan was her Master, her superior; she was a mere child compared to her.
"Are you quite done insulting me?"
Aubrie lowered her eyes to the ground, ashamed. She had said too much, she realized; even if she was still firm on her opinion.
People around her hadn´t heard their little quarrel, but some of the senior Jedi closed by seemed to stare at them, as if noticing the shift on the atmosphere around them. Obi-Wan looked at her with a powerful glare that would put any Sith to shame.
"Now, if you will allow me to explain…" Obi-Wan said, offering a seat in front of her own. Aubrie took the offer with graceful resolution and more than a little embarrassment. "…not that I have to explain myself to you or anyone else for that matter…"
'The man you heard in the gardens wasn´t Anakin. The man you heard was Master Quinlan Vos."
Aubrie is suddenly confused and surprised; she knew who Quinlan Vos was. A famous Jedi who was known for his unorthodox ways and undercover missions. A spy.
Sneaking around the garden sounded right up his alley.
"…Master Vos…?" She asked quietly.
"Yes." Obi-Wan confirmed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "An old friend of mine."
"What we heard wasn´t exactly… friendly…" Aubrie whispered with some bewilderment.
Obi-Wan rolled her eyes.
"He tends to talk in an inappropriate manner" She explained, suddenly serious again and looking at her with some apparent discomfort. "Besides, we have history."
The Padawan didn´t say anything to that, waiting for the Jedi Master to continue explaining.
"When we were Padawans, mere younglings really, we had some sort of… relationship. It was completely inappropriate and I can assure we are long past it, but after that we developed a strange playful partnership."
Aubrie opened her mouth, not to say something but because the unexpected information was beyond what she expected. And to be honest, the apprentice wasn´t so keen in believing that the Jedi Master was telling the whole truth; what Ahsoka and her had heard in the gardens didn´t seem like a "long past" situation, more like an on an off thing between colleagues. But that wasn´t her business, and Obi-Wan didn´t have any obligation to discloser her private intimate secrets to her either.
"I apologize if I caused you distress and I will avoid any other situation like this to ever transpire in such a public space again, but I do not appreciate you harassing me and accusing me of child molestation either."
Obi-Wan last statement was charged with emotion and angers, her grey eyes as stormy as a thunder in Kamino and her Force signature furious and burning with an invisible fire.
Aubrie nodded.
"I´m sorry, Master. I was out of line."
"You were" she nodded. "I will talk with Ahsoka before going to sleep, if that gives you peace of mind."
"No need, Master. I will do so myself."
Obi-Wan seemed to meditate that for a minute, probably not trusting the younger female with such a task, not after she accused the Jedi Master with such inappropriate behavior as to being involved with her underage student. She finally nodded her approval and made a dismissive gesture with her hand.
"Do as you will. If you excuse me I will retire…"
Aubrie bowed respectfully and the older woman only stopped to acknowledge the gesture but didn´t bow back nor made a comment to it.
Aubrie knew that Obi-Wan probably didn´t see her the same way anymore, but she knew that she probably deserved that too.
Anakin walked in to the Temple after spending some time out with the Chancellor, it was dark and chilly in Coruscant and some part of him, the restless one for sure, wished to stay out and explore the lively city that seemly never rested, but he knew that he needed to be back by now since tomorrow morning he had a training session with his new beloved Padawan.
Before he could set his way into the ever illuminated halls of the grandiose building and into his quarters though, a pair of strong arms pulled him by his robes into a dark alley near the entrance of the apartment's wing.
His reflexes had him grasping his lightsaber out of his belt by pure instinct, but the dark figure that had captured him had quickly stopped his hand with a stern grip; Anakin would have attack if the mysterious attacker hadn´t step closer to him, allowing the dim lights of the corridors to illuminate her face slightly.
"For Force sake, Obi-Wan…" Anakin mumbled with a mixture of relief and exasperation.
The female Jedi released his arm and relaxed, taking a step back.
"You scared the Sith out of me…" Anakin joked.
A small smile appeared on his mouth and a tender tone sweetened his tone. "I was on my way to our quarters, you know. You don´t have to hide in a dark alley for me…" he said with a wink, approaching her and ready to kiss her.
Obi-Wan stopped him with a hand on his chest and a serious look on her grey eyes.
"Aubrie came looking for me…" She told him, raising an eyebrow at his care-free attitude.
Anakin stopped his vain attempts to kiss his wife and straighten up, his face turning dead serious and unreadable, if anger was building up inside him, Obi-Wan couldn´t tell.
"Did she, now?" He said. Voice grave as the look on his face.
"Ahsoka was with her in the gardens." Obi-Wan whispered, eyes darting back and forth between him and the corridor, almost expecting an intruder to be spying on them.
Anakin closed his eyes for a minute, almost as if he was on deep thought but Obi-Wan knew better, all of her husband´s cheerful energy was drained from his demeanor and his previous candor gone. All that was left, was a barely concealed fury, that although it appeared subdued, it was probably as ferocious as an open explosion of shouts and threats.
Obi-Wan waited for him to speak. To say something. To shout, even. Although it seemed that Anakin had no intention to lose himself to emotion, as he used to do in the past. Instead, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes for her to see.
"I trust you said something" he finally responded. It wasn´t a question exactly but he expected an answer nonetheless.
"Of course I did." She replied, holding her brow with one hand, suddenly tired of the whole thing. "I told her that it wasn´t you. I said it was Quinlan."
Anakin reacted to that with a raised eyebrow, one hand clenched on a fist. He wasn´t really happy at the prospect of someone knowing, or even thinking, that there was something between her and the maverick Jedi Master. Anakin wasn´t able to openly declared Obi-Wan as his wife, it anger him to think that someone else could even when it wasn´t true.
"You lied." He accused without judgement, only intrigue.
His voice was almost vacant, but Obi-Wan could sense his surprise in the Force.
"Not my finest hour, no." She admitted, internally perturbed by her own falsehood. "I lied to my student." She suddenly reasoned, as if her crime just had sank in. "I lied to Aubrie, krifing great."
There was a heavy silence and the female Jedi let her head hang in shame, both of her hands touching her forehead. She was tired indeed, mortified and drained, her body and mind appeared to be assaulted with too many emotions in a single day.
Anakin broke the moment with the soft ruffle of his clothes, getting closer and taking her in a warm embrace. Obi-Wan´s head rested on Anakin´s chest almost immediately, recognizing her rightful place naturally; Obi-Wan took a deep breath, allowing Anakin´s smell and his sweet cologne to hypnotize her in a fake calmness.
"It´s going to be all right." He promised.
His tone changed again. There was no undercover rage, just a palpable need to sooth her.
Obi-Wan shook her head nonetheless. She wanted to believe in his words, but still felt unsure.
"Did she believe you?" He asked, hands caressing her back and shoulders.
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Then we are safe. We are going to be more careful from now on."
Anakin kissed the top of her hair, tenderly, expecting that his caresses could ease some of Obi-Wan´s concern. A part of Anakin was surprised and strangely pleased with the fact that the red-haired Jedi willingly lied in order to protect their relationship, a deep sense of pride swelled inside Anakin´s chest, now knowing that the female Jedi was committed to their love almost as much as he was.
However, it didn´t pleased him that the whole situation was overwhelming and unpleasant for her but the knowledge that she was going to protect their marriage filled him with indescribable joy.
The blond men looked down at his own chest, the face of his wife buried on his robe.
"And don´t worry." He said with a kiss. "Nothing is going to change this."
It was a promise, as much as a threat.
"And no one…"