From Flames, I Soar

by Kurenaino

With the Empire at the height of its power and the shadow of a greater threat hanging above all those who would oppose Palpatine, the Specters, led by former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus, are forced to contend with the Sith Lord that set the galaxy ablaze. Sequel to In Chaos, I Thrive.

36. The Immortals

AN: TA DA! updated! Had some extra time with a long weekend, so I updated both the things I'm working on! The downside is that I'm still working a forty hour work week in the span of three days, so...don't expect an update until Friday or Saturday. But mostly Saturday, I think. Or maybe even Sunday. Next chapter is one a lot of you have been waiting for, so I gotta put the time in, you see. It's important to do it right!

If you're itching for stuff to tide you over and you aren't reading Blood of Mandalore, you could read that. Or not. Or you could go outside. It's hot as hell here, but maybe it's nice where you live! Enjoy, my lovelies! A lot happens here!

Chapter 36: The Immortals

"I can't even look at you!" Obi-Wan snarled as he furiously paced, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground before him and his chest tight as he struggled to quell the Dark Side, the savage beast roaring as it thrashed so violently, the Sith Lord thought he'd be pulled to the ground, that he would lose the chains and the beast would take him over. It wasn't angry, or warning, it was terrified, the darkness of the Force scrambling to get away from the threat before him. He'd rather face Sidious. He'd rather face two Sidious' than deal with this nonsense.

"I can't even look at you!" he shouted this time, his eyes closed and his voice carrying across the swampy water to the other mass of soft land where a small, green creature sat calmly upon a stump. He was amused, mocking him with his very presence, Obi-Wan could feel it, and though his hate grew with each passing moment, it never took hold, fleeing instead with the Dark Side as it tried to escape his stubborn grasp.

"Over here, you must be, Obi-Wan," Yoda called to him, the Sith Lord cringing as the light, raspy voice carried across the water, the tiny creature's hand gesturing in a sweeping gesture to the people gathered behind him. "Here, the party is. Invited, you are."

"Letting you learn from Qui-Gon was a mistake!" Kenobi snapped, but the ancient Jedi just chuckled, brandishing his stick in the air.

"Permission, I did not need," Yoda corrected. "Free, Qui-Gon is. Control him, you do not."

"I should have killed him!" Obi-Wan shouted, opening his eyes and looking toward the Jedi, only to quickly shut his eyes and hiss with pain as blinding, searing light penetrated the Force and his vision. "I should have killed him on Geonosis back when I sill had the chance, before he had the chance to spread this...this ridiculous affliction!" At a loss of what to do, the Sith Lord stomped his foot petulantly upon the ground. "I should have killed him!"

"Now, now, Obi-Wan," the calm, soothing voice of his former Master echoed around him, and Obi-Wan cringed. "There's no need for talk like that. I may be dead, but I have feelings too, you know."

"You are not nearly dead enough!" he snapped, reeling on the Force spirit beside him, the soft blue glow of the spirit a calming, soothing presence to everyone but the Lord of the Sith. "Apparently, ghosts can still spread diseases,"Obi-Wan said, pointing the hilt of his lightsaber at the indifferent ghost. "If I hadn't been such a sentimental idiot, I would have killed you and Skywalker instead of getting off on watching you break. Without Skywalker, there would be no cause for me to leave Mandalore, no chance for Maul to burn the city and murder my family! If I just killed you, I'd have Satine, the galaxy would be mine, Sidious would be dead, there would be peace under the Dark Side and the rule of the Sith, and I'd have children! A whole mess of children!" Obi-Wan sighed heavily as he ran his fingers though his hair. "And what do we have instead?" he asked, looking pointedly at the spirit. "Space ghost herpes."

"None of this bothered you when you needed someone to watch your kids," Qui-Gon said dryly, his arms crossed over his chest and watching the Sith as he returned to his pacing. "What I have done only bothers you when you don't like what I do with my immortality. You don't see my pitching a fit worthy of the most disagreeable toddler whenever you do something awful with your eternal youth."

"What are you talking about?! You are constantly getting in my face when you don't agree with my more questionable behavior, which, by the way, is my right to do since I have the power to do it!"

"Sweet Force, you recognize it as questionable now?" Qui-Gon said, his eyes wide as he stared at the suddenly furious Sith, the red blade activating in his hand. "This is an improvement, I have always said there is a conscience somewhere beneath all that evil!"

With a deep, ferocious shout made up of years and years of anger and resentment, the Sith Lord swung his lightsaber swiftly through the air and slashed at the spirit, the cuts passing harmlessly through the ghost as he sighed and shook his head, the furious Obi-Wan growing more and more wrathful with each strike. From the opposite bank, the Spectres stood and watched the red blade as it arched through the air, bloody trails cutting around the Sith Lord as he attacked the pale blue of the Force spirit, a thing that only the two Force sensitives could see, a second blade quickly joining the first, adding slashes of black to bleeding red.

After saving Minister Tua from Lothal, they had made a quick stop to an unidentified ship to drop the Minister off, a thing the Spectres were not permitted to do, and when Kenobi returned, he locked himself in the cockpit with Hera without a single word to the others in regards to where they were going. They had no idea what was going on, as was the standard when Kenobi was involved, and dutiful Hera wasn't saying anything either, ever the one to understand the need for secrecy to protect the rebellion.

So when they landed on the unsettled swamp to find the small, wizened figure of Jedi Grandmaster Yoda, very, very much alive and exactly as Kanan remembered him, the Jedi had something of a freak out, a weak-kneed moment that had him on the ground clinging to the little creature's robes in relief, a thing that was permitted for only a short time before Yoda's stick connected with his head. To knock the sense into him, the Master had said, reminding the Jedi that they had met before on the Temple of Lothal, though Kanan insisted that the incident was part of a hallucination caused by breathing in the decomposed dust of dead Jedi. It better explained what was happening than the little Master throwing his consciousness halfway across the galaxy.

Ahsoka, though, was nowhere to be found, nor were the Gemini agents, the three said to be off training together while they waited. That would have all been fine had Kenobi not stepped off the ship and immediately started to hiss curses at nothing in particular, the Sith Lord running almost over the water of the swamp to reach a cave tucked behind a pair of massive trees covered in thick, ropy vines. It was weird, especially given how the man had come to see Yoda, and now not only staunchly refused to go near him, but according to Sabine, was suffering from hallucinations brought on by humid swamp air as he furiously slashed away at nothing at all.

"Maybe," Zeb quietly mused, "a bug crawled into his brain and it's making him more insane than usual, and the only way to save him is to cut the bug out of his head."

"I already told you, Zeb," Sabine said as she checked to make sure her helmet was secure. "It's the swamp gas. Damn stuff messes with your brain. Why else do you think this planet is inhabited only by that crazy old guy, huh?" She crossed her arms and nodded knowingly. "Swamp gas. You should all put your breathers on, it's affecting him faster because his brain's already addled."

"Yeah," Zeb agreed, leaning in and smirking at the girl. "Addled by the brain bugs."

"Or maybe he's just fighting his inner demons," Hera said, her eyes on the datapad on her hands and completely uninterested in the madness of their most volatile companion. "Kanan said this place is exceptionally strong in the Force, maybe it's making him confront the past evil he's done."

"Yeah right!" Zeb said, laughing loudly and patting the Twi'lek on the back hard enough to make her lose her lose her grip on the datapad, the woman fumbling it for a moment before she managed to catch it, and she shot the impervious Lasat a glare. "Like that could ever happen."

"It could," Hera insisted. "Anyone can change their ways, anyone can find redemption of they are willing to do the work to actually seek it out."

"And that involves...fighting the air?" Sabine asked, pointing to the Sith Lord across the way as he shouted and cursed in four different languages, electricity flying from his fingertips as he slashed the air. "That's crazy, Hera."

"It's far more likely than brain bugs!" the Twi'lek stressed, lightly punching Kanan on the arm. "Tell them, dear."

"I told you why already..." the Jedi groaned, running his hand over his face. "There's a Force ghost talking to him, and I guess he pissed our darling Sith Lord off. Does anyone listen when I talk?"

"No," Sabine said quickly. "Probably because that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You know, this is why the Mandalorians kill Jedi, because of all the creepy space magic. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Mysterious, the Force is," the small, raspy voice said from behind them, and the spectres turned to look down at the tiny Jedi Master as he hobbled up, Kanan kneeling respectfully to bring himself closer to Yoda's level. "But blame the Force, you cannot, for the hatred of your people for the Jedi." His ears lowered, his mouth in a thin line as he looked up at the Mandalorian. "More complicated, it is."

"...w-well the space magic doesn't help!" Sabine said, crossing her arms over her chest almost petulantly, and the Grandmaster smiled warmly at her, his large eyes drifting over the assembled group and feeling them all through the Force. His ears perked up when his eyes fell on Zeb, the Lasat's gaze averted, his clawed hand scratching the back of his neck, his ears flat against his head. When he saw the tiny creature looking at him, Zeb balked and quickly stood at attention.

"Something wrong, Zeb?" Kanan asked, and the Lasat laughed nervously, his shoulders slumping a bit.

"I don't know, Kanan..." he said sheepishly. "You sure this guy is a Jedi Master?"

"Positive," Kanan said with a confidence that left no room for doubt. "This isn't just any Jedi Master, he's the Jedi Master. One of the greatest the galaxy has ever known."

"Yeah, I know you said that..." Zeb said hesitantly. "I just thought he'd be...well...bigger, you know?" Zeb asked, gesturing with his hands to convey the hugeness of the warrior in his mind. "Kenobi's rancor's named Yoda, I thought he'd be at least that big! Or that strong. Or have teeth that sharp." He stopped and looked down at the kind, diminutive old creature. "You don't happen to eat stormtroopers, do you?" When Yoda shook his head, Zeb sighed heavily. "I suppose it was too much to hope for."

"In jest, was the rancor named," Yoda quietly explained, putting his weight on his stick as he drew up taller. "But turned on Obi-Wan, it was. Strong, the beast is, but gentle, as well, is he. A compliment, the names is. Not an insult."

"I don't know, the rancor's just so...big! And bitey! And you're so..." Zeb extended his palm toward the ground toward Yoda's head, the Lasat's palm not even touching the little green creature. "You're just so small."

"Think me small, do you?" Yoda asked, poking the Lasat in the stomach with his stick. "Think strength there is in size?"

"W-well, yeah," Zeb scoffed, laughing awkwardly and looking at the other Spectres for support, only to find Kanan shaking his head in dismay.

"Now you've gone and done it, buddy..." Kanan sighed, patting the Lasat on the back before he stepped away, taking Hera's hand and pulling her back with him, the two teenagers following suit. "Good luck, Zeb."

"Kanan, come on! What could he possibly-" A sharp, startled cry was torn out of Zeb when he was suddenly lifted into the air by his feet with the Force and gently shook, the bo-rifle falling off his back and ammunition and wrapped packages of snacks stolen from the Ghost's stores falling on to the ground.

"Size. Matters. Not," Yoda said, punctuating each word with a sharp rap to the Lasat's nose with his stick. "Small, I am, but friends, I am, with the Force. Strong, it makes me, yes?" he asked, chuckling softly when he released the squirming Lasat and Zeb dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Shuffling before the groaning creature, Yoda held up his hand, one of the stolen snacks floating to his three fingered grasp. "Asked Obi-Wan for these, I did, when lest he was here," he muttered. "Deliver them, he did not." Yoda carefully unwrapped the packet and took a small bite from the crumbling treat, the Master closing his eyes as he throughly chewed. "Like these, I do."

"Hey, Kanan?" Ezra asked, standing closer to the man and watching with a grin on his face as Zeb staggered to his feet and quickly backed away from the tiny Jedi. "No offense, but I want to be trained by him."

"I think we all do, Ezra," Kanan said, watching as Cody came out of the Ghost, the Chiss right beside him and a pack slung over his shoulder, the clone slowly sauntering over to the group, looking them over quickly before glancing over to where Obi-Wan stood in the distance, appearing to shout at a tree while brandishing his red saber, the blade crackling with lightning.

"He still at it?" Cody asked, and Yoda quietly grunted.

"Difficult, it is, for him to be here."

"He's just too sober to deal with you the way he needs to," the clone said, patting the pack at his side. "Don't worry, I'm going to see to that."

"I don't understand," Hera said forcefully, mild irritation in her voice. "He wanted to come here to consult with you, why is he doing this! It's wasting time we could be spending doing something actually productive, and instead, he's fighting the air."

"No, he's fighting his Ghost Dad," Cody said casually, the Twi'lek looking at him like he was as insane as the Sith Lord, and Cody rolled his eyes. "Look, I can't see him either, but the spirit of his former Jedi Master sort of...haunts him. This happens more than you think, Qui-Gon is around a lot."

Hera quickly reeled on Kanan, the man stepping back and his hands raised in surrender when it looked like she might yell at him. "You mean to tell me that Obi-Wan is actually doing battle with a ghost?!"

"Well..." Kanan shrugged, looking over his shoulder toward the Sith Lord and the calm, collected spirit. "He can't hurt a spirit, so it's more...aggressive conversation." Hera smacked her forehead, her lekku squirming in her agitation.

"He ran off as soon as we landed, if he didn't want to do this-"

"Painful, for Obi-Wan, this is," Yoda explained, his hand raised and projecting calm thought the Force, and immediately, Hera felt her anger fade. "A creature of darkness, Obi-Wan is. Walked the dark path, he has, for many years. Forgotten, he had, the touch of the light. Painful, it has become. Burned, he is. Suffering, there is, in the Light Side of the Force, for Obi-Wan."

"He's known you for a long time," Kanan slowly ventured. "He must have known what would be waiting for him here, but he sure as hell didn't seem like it." A small, enigmatic smile crossed the tiny Jedi's thin lips, and he lightly tapped Kanan on the shin, but said nothing more. The Spectres didn't entirely understand what was going on, but Cody certainly did, his eyes widening as he stared at the little Jedi.

"You've got to be shitting me, really?" the clone asked, and the soft, peaceful look on Yoda's face was all he needed. "Shit."

"Bad news?" Hera asked quickly, her eyes wide and worried, and Cody shook his head.

"No, no, not bad..." the clone muttered, quickly reaching out and grabbing hold of the Chiss' arm. "To sum up in terms you'll understand, we came out of hyperspace, and there's a sun where there wasn't one before, and we're asking our little Lord of Darkness over there to jump in."

"...he gonna be alright?" Kanan asked quietly, and the clone swallowed hard, his grip on the Chiss tightening.

"I-I don't know," he muttered. "I don't know, yeah, probably. He's endured more than you know, a few burns aren't going to kill him." He quickly pointed to Yoda as he started to head toward the Sith Lord. "Don't do anything until Ahsoka comes back." Yoda silently nodded and sat on the ground, his legs crossed and his eyes closed as he slipped into a light meditation, reaching out carefully toward the Sith Lord to find him closed and guarded and quickly looking away from the blinding light, struggling to keep the Dark Side close to him as it roared and screeched and thrashed in its attempt to flee from the light, as all shadow must.

"Watch your step," Cody muttered, taking the Chiss' hand as they waded into the swampy water. "The trees have their root systems running through the water, so just...be careful." She squeezed his hand, a faint, muted smile on her lips as she looked at the clone with unreadable red eyes, Cody putting up a valiant effort to hide that he was staring. Chiss expressions were difficult to read, everything so subtle and understated, and he wondered if Thrawn would be the same way. It didn't matter, he supposed. Kenobi didn't need to see a face to know the thoughts behind it.

"Is the Master going to be alright?" she asked quietly, her gaze drifting to the Sith Lord as they drew closer, the man panting heavily as he sat huddled in the mouth of the cave, the lightsabers back on his hip and his temper abated for the moment.

"He won't die, if that's what you're asking," Cody grumbled, his hand tightening around the delicate blue one in his grasp. "I won't allow it."

"Do you have that power?" the woman asked, looking up at him with her strange, glowing eyes, and Cody felt his chest swell, his back straighten as he stood up taller.

"Yes," he said confidently. "Yes I do." The clone laughed softly when the Chiss' thin eyebrow arched, her skepticism unmistakable, and he pulled her closer, nearly upsetting her balance in the knee-high water, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Like the Jedi said, he's a creature of the night, and the sun just came up. He's just irritable because he can't see."

"I am not just irritable!" Obi-Wan irritably snapped from where he sat huddled in the mouth of the cave, a devious smirk spreading across Cody's face as he and the Chiss stepped up from the water. "All of this, all of this would be easier if I weren't haunted by a kriffing ghost!" he shouted again, his eyes darting to the trunk of the nearby tree where Cody knew the spirit must have been, though he could see nothing himself. "Stupid, foolish Jedi filth, what right have you to judge me when this is your doing?!"

"Aw, does the baby need a nap?" Cody said mockingly, his smirk growing wider when burning gold eyes slowly turned on him. "Did the big, bad Jedi hurt your itty bitty feelings?"

"This isn't a joke, Cody!" the Sith Lord gasped in exasperation, his fingers running through his hair as he strained his already flagging patience. "Qui-Gon's up and spread his ghost plague! I can't even look at the wretch anymore, and while I would usually be eternally grateful to have an excuse to avoid this place, I need that little shit! I've been through this before with Qui-Gon, but this is much worse because Yoda is exponentially stronger than Qui-Gon ever was!" The Sith Lord laughed, high and almost frantic, his glowing eyes wide and wild like he was struggling for control, not to keep the sharp claws of the Dark Side from sinking into him, but to keep his coveted power close to him when it yearned to flee, a man grasping at shadows in an attempt to prolong the night in the face of dawn.

"Oh, suck it up, you big baby..." Cody said with a roll of his eyes, reaching into the bag at his side and taking out an unopened bottle of strong liquor and tossing it to the Sith Lord. "You can whine about your problems like a little bitch, or you can deal with your problems like a real man and drink them all away." With a heavy sigh of relief, Obi-Wan opened the bottle and took a long, deep drink from it, pushing past the burn as the liquid slid down his throat. Savoring the taste for a moment, the Sith opened his eyes, quietly looking over the clone and the CHiss, and a slow, hungry grin spread across his face as he beaconed for the woman.

"Vacosetahn sah csah, en'tisan'sasi'at, come here, baby..." The woman obediently did as she was told, sinking to her knees beside him and crawling into his lap when his fingers gently hooked under her chin, drawing them close enough for the Sith Lord to fiercely claim her lips, a ferocious hunger within him that the gentle touch of his hand failed to convey. With his arm snaking around her waist, she fell against him, the taste of the fine alcohol on his tongue and the tension in his body fading into nothing as her hands pet and stroked the tight, scarred muscles.

"Don't get too carried away there, boss," Cody said, groaning as he sat beside the man and took a quick drink from the open bottle. "The kids will be back soon, and I don't think we should be giving Leia any ideas, she's trouble enough as it is."

"Yes, well, Bail doesn't seem to think so..." Kenobi muttered, threading his fingers through the Chiss' fine blue-black hair as she nuzzled his neck. "When I met with him today, he told me she's been a perfect angel."

"Damn, she must really hate you if she's willing to spare Bail her mischief," Cody snorted, taking another drink from the bottle when Kenobi glared at him. "That, or she's got him completely fooled."

"That sneaky, devious little slut..." Obi-Wan growled under his breath, snatching the bottle from Cody and taking a long drink. "Never tell that little reprobate that she makes her father proud."

"Wouldn't dream of it." The small, relaxed smile on Cody's lips slowly dropped away as he looked at the Sith Lord, young as he always was, but his eyes were sunken, the fire in them low and just barely burning, the tightness of his jaw the tell-tale sign of him grinding his teeth, a thing he only did under extreme duress. While Obi-Wan's body may have been relaxed due to the work of the woman and the alcohol, it wasn't possible for Kenobi to hide the tension he was feeling from his perceptive companion. "Hey..." the clone whispered, gently nudging the Sith Lord. "Are you going to be alright, brother?"

"Of course I'll be alright, why wouldn't I be?" Obi-Wan said dismissively, the sudden silence making him look at his clone and his chest tightened to see concern in every line of his old friend's face. "I've been through this before with Qui-Gon," he quietly explained. "It's hard to explain what it was like. I couldn't look at him, couldn't feel him in the Force without considerable pain. Like I was burning, Cody, it was like falling into a star." He sighed, tightly grasping the Chiss close to him, a gesture less possessive than driven from a deep need for contact and comfort. "And now I need to do it again, I need to lower my defenses and let it in, and I honestly don't know what's going to happen."

"Could this kill you?"

"I sure as hell hope not, but I don't know." Obi-Wan smiled reassuringly at the clone when he felt the man tense beside him. "Hey, don't worry. This is good. It's very good, as much as I hate it. This could be our key to killing Sidious. If Yoda's very presence is crippling to creatures of the dark, then this could give us the advantage we need."

"It will weaken you as well," Cody cautioned, and the Sith nodded.

"Yes, but maybe I was never meant to kill him," he said, shivering as the memory of the vision flashed through his mind. "Maybe it was always meant to be someone else..."

"Lumis!" The voice was clear and strong and Obi-Wan knew it immediately. Ahsoka, which meant his children were not far behind. Quickly untangling himself from the Chiss, Obi-Wan only had the time to stand and take a step outside the cave before two armored Mandalorians went barreling into him, so fast he didn't even see from which direction they approached, and with an unceremonious grunt, the Sith Lord went toppling backwards, wrapped tightly in the embraces of his two twins.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Father," Luke said quietly, a smile on his face as he released the groaning Sith Lord and helped him to his feet, his sister latching one once again the moment Obi-Wan was upright. "We were very worried about you."

"I wasn't," Leia said swiftly, her voice muffled against his chest, a self-satisfied smirk on her face when she finally released him. "I knew you'd be alright, Father."

"Oh, please," Luke said with a roll of his eyes. "You cried the entire way here!"

"I-I did not!" Leia stammered, her face flushing deep red as her temper flared. "Ugh, you are awful, Luke!"

"The entire way, Father" Luke repeated, the boy smirking triumphantly when his sister petulantly crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her tongue. Sighing in contentment, Obi-Wan drew them both back into his embrace, much warmer than the vicious tackle he suffered at their hands earlier, and both children's bravado melted away as they clung to their father.

"W-what happened?" Luke carefully ventured. "I almost don't want to know, but-"

"Did you kill him?" came the hard voice of Ahsoka as the Togruta finally caught up to the children, Luke and Leia's helmets tucked under her arms, and both twins tensed in his embrace. "Did you engage Vader, was he there?" When the Sith's eyes grew cold and unfeeling, offended at the presumptuous girl, the Togruta slowly backed off, shaking her head as she began again. "After what you said about your vision, about how Vader was there, I was worried. That wasn't it, was it?"

"...no," Obi-Wan said stiffly, his arms tightening protectively around his fearful children. "No, that...that has yet to pass."

"Did you fight him?" Ahsoka asked again. "Did you face Vader, did you kill him?"

"No."

"...no?" Ahsoka asked after a moment of silence, allowing for the Sith Lord to elaborate, but he did not. "No what? You didn't face him? You didn't kill him?"

"I faced him, yes..." Obi-Wan said softly, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as the twins clung to him. "But no, he is not dead."

"Damn it..." Ahsoka whispered, her hand wrapping around the lightsaber at her waist. "Why?" When the Sith didn't respond, she took a few quick stepped forward, her heart beating faster as she struggled for understanding. "Why, Obi-Wan! Was he powerful? Did you barely escape? Is he stronger than you?!"

"Ahsoka!" Obi-Wan snapped, the sudden harshness in his voice stunning the girl into silence, the Togruta slowly backing up as she looked at the terrified children in their father's arms.

"I'm sorry..." Ahsoka muttered apologetically, her eyes downcast. "I'm sorry, that...was insensitive. "I didn't mean...I-I just..." The Togruta growled in irritation, her hands grasping her montrails as she began pacing. "When I think about what he did to my Master, h-how he could do what he did to Quinlan-"

"I know, Ahsoka..." Obi-Wan said, slowly releasing the twins when Cody took their hands and the Sith grabbed hold of the frustrated Fulcrum as she paced by, pulling the squirming woman into a reluctant but much needed hug. "More than anyone else, I know..."

"I want justice done, Kenobi," Ahsoka whispered. "For Master Plo and Master Quinlan and Ventress and all the children that died in the Temple that day, I want justice!" She took a deep breath and relaxed against the man that held her, her eyes closed as she pushed aside the memory of the night Quinlan Vos died to save her and the message she carried, a small but vital part of the plan to save what Jedi they could when Darth Sidious sprung his trap. "Did you at least learn something about him? Did you gather what intel you could on your enemy for next time?"

"Oh yes."

"Did you at least get a little revenge on that monster?" she asked, and the Sith scoffed.

"More than a little," he said, kissing her cheek and releasing her. "Next time, you'll be with me. We'll get revenge for Quin together."

"What happened, Father?" Leia asked, the girl reaching out to take hold of her brother's hand, the two children glued to Cody's side. "You...fought him, right? W-what was it like? What was he like?"

"Weaker than he should be..." Kenobi muttered almost bitterly, and he could instantly feel the burning need from Ahsoka, the touch of fear in Leia, the tug of hope in Luke. "That's not to say he's weak," he quickly corrected. "This is still Anakin Skywalker we're talking about, and changed as he may be, he is still extremely dangerous. Kanan says he was forced to engage him for a moment, and he threw Kanan around like he was nothing. My assertion still stands. If you see him, you run, because if you stand and fight, you will die."

"But you won," Leia quietly asserted. "How? Father, please, he's..." She stopped, biting down on her lip in frustration, and Obi-Wan could feel his chest tighten. "Please," Leia begged once again. "How did you win? What did you learn. What...what was he like?" Both twins looked at him expectantly, their eyes wide and fearful, both so scared of the man they had hidden from their entire lives, and Obi-Wan's first instinct was to lie to them, to cut the story short, to shield them from what had become of the man that had fathered them, though they knew well the story of his fall and his ultimate defeat on Mustafar. This was different, however. This wasn't a story from the past, the vivid, distant fear of a monster from their childhood. This was now, Darth Vader closer than he had ever been to them, and they were terrified.

The path forward was immediately clear, despite his desire to shield them. Obi-Wan had always told his children the truth, and that wasn't about to change now. He took a deep breath, his eyes looking out over the swamp, and with a gesture, Luke and Leia's helmets floated to his grasp from where Ahsoka had placed them, and Obi-Wan very gently placed them on his children's heads when he saw the Spectres slowly approaching, moving faster once they saw Obi-Wan gesture for them to come over. So long as he was telling Luke and Leia about what had become of their father, he may as well tell Kanan about the fate of the Jedi Order's best and brightest.

"Darth Vader," he began when they had settled just outside the cave, the Sith Lord standing in the mouth of it and breathing in the heavy darkness of the Dark Side vergence within, thinner now in light of Yoda's transformation. "Darth Vader is a cybernetic construct, the result of our first duel on Mustafar at the end of the Clone Wars. So far as I can tell, he is essentially a torso on mechanical limbs sealed within a suit that doubles as a life support system."

"Anakin Skywalker..." Kanan muttered beside Ahsoka, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's not true, is it? There's no way a Jedi hero could become...that!"

"Isn't there?" Obi-Wan said bitterly. "It was before your time, Jarrus, but once, a very, very long time ago, I was a Jedi hero as well." Obi-Wan smirked almost bitterly, a mocking thing filled with contempt. "The Sith Killer. The Padawan Slayer, the first Jedi to kill a Sith Lord in over a thousand years...and only a few years later, I was murdering your Master Depa Billaba's helpless sister in the name of the Sith." He rolled his eyes when he felt a flash of betrayal and anger through the Force, a quick and sudden pulse that made the Dark Side flare against the light around them, and Obi-Wan felt strength coursing through him once again, the emboldened Dark Side venturing out from hiding.

"Mind you," Kenobi continued, "I am still the only Jedi to have killed a Sith Lord since the destruction of our order. The one I became famous for killing isn't actually dead, of course, but I killed Count Dooku during the Battle of Coruscant, not Skywalker like the histories say."

"You killed Count Dooku?" Hera asked, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded, a small, sad smile on his lips.

"I did, though not for want of doing it. Darth Tyranus was...my friend, but that wasn't enough to save him from my blade through his heart." He sighed sadly, but didn't elaborate, offered no excuses, and Hera looked at the Sith Lord her crew called friend and couldn't help but wonder if he would turn on them as well were his Dark Side to demand it.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Kanan said almost frantically. "You said Anakin Skywalker was dead, you said you killed him, you said you watched him burn!"

"I did watch him burn," Kenobi growled darkly. "Anakin Skywalker died that night on Mustafar, and Darth Vader rose in his place."

"No," Ahsoka said quietly, her eyes closed, but the woman was clearly distraught. "Anakin was dead before then. He wasn't my friend anymore when he came for me and my Master."

"...there was nothing you could have done, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said quietly. "There was nothing anyone could have done. Sidious had his sights on him for far too long."

"But why," the Togruta snarled. "If he had you, why."

"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't ask myself that same question," Obi-Wan growled bitterly. "But he traded me for Vader, and for his betrayal, I cut off Skywalker's limbs and burned him in the fires of Mustafar, and now my former Master's little pet is confined to life supporting armor. He is a fraction of the potential he once was, and if our fight is anything to go off of, Sidious isn't training him the way he should be."

"I don't know, he beat me easily enough, Kanan grumbled, and Kenobi rolled his eyes.

"Of course he beat you, Kanan, you were a Padawan when you left the Jedi and you only just picked up training again. A fraction of Vader's power is still far greater than anything you're capable of. Even a small piece of limitless potential isn't anything to take lightly."

"But you beat him," Luke said quietly. "You beat him twice."

"The first time, he was a child given a weapon, new to the Dark Side and recklessly drunk with power, and I had just come into Mastery." Slowly, Obi-Wan pulled aside his robes and unbuttoned the top of his silk shirt, exposing the long, deep black scar across his chest. "And he nearly killed me anyway. A fraction closer, and he would have cut through my heart and lungs."

"And this time?" Leia asked. "What happened this time."

"This time," Obi-Wan began slowly, "he is bigger. Much bigger. Sidious didn't just save his life, he rebuilt him. He has augmented strength. And despite being diminished, he is very strong in the Force. So strong, so entrenched in the Dark Side that his mere presence freezes the air around him. He doesn't conceal himself like I do, he flaunts the power he has. His lightsaber technique is savage, his strikes brutal and efficient, and what he lacks for mobility, he makes up for precision. You can't clash sabers with him because he is so physically powerful that each strike you intercept will send you off balance."

"It was like he knew exactly what I would do next," Kanan said quietly. "I couldn't get anything past his guard, and he just...threw me like I was nothing at all. His very presence disturbs the Force, I couldn't find my balance at all."

"Of course not, he's had over fifteen years of hard training under Darth Sidious," he warned, his eyes looking at each of those present in turn, each of them fearful and apprehensive. "And it shows. He's greatly changed from his time as Anakin Skywalker, he's something new and fearful, without remorse or pity or mercy. He is hate and fear, and he will find your weaknesses. Even I couldn't get past his defenses, Sidious has trained him specifically to keep me out of his mind, and through the Dark Side, I can usually get in. But not with him."

"Vader's trained to deal with you?" Luke gasped, stepping closer to his father, and though he couldn't see the boy's face through the helmet, the concern and fear in his voice and in the Force couldn't go unnoticed. "If he's trained to fight you, how did you win!?"

Obi-Wan was silent for a moment, his finger absently drawing circles in the damp soil, his eyes closed as he relived that fight, the wrathful, hateful screams of his enemy as he lay on the ground in pieces.

"Vader is broken," Kenobi said slowly. "Sidious may have repaired him, but he did not fix him. As much as that suit is his strength, it is also his weakness. It keeps him living, but it is the life of a slave, his life in exchange for endless pain and restrained potential. The pain fuels his powers in the Dark Side, yes, but it is also limiting him." Obi-Wan shook his head. "But it didn't need to be this way. Sidious could have put him in an armor that enhanced him, improved him, made him stronger and faster than before, and instead, he was given...this," he said with disgust, flicking his hand in the air. "He was given weakness. For as strong as he is, Sidious hasn't trained him the way he should have. He should be stronger. He should be a masterwork by now, a work of art crafted by the hands of a Master. And instead, he is raw, a perfect slab to be sculpted left neglected to erode until the stone is ruined."

"You sound almost disappointed," Ahsoka said jokingly, and quickly shut her mouth when the Sith Lord glared at her.

"I am disappointed. This is a disgusting waste. I could have done a better job with him. It's...pitiful. Anakin Skywalker, living nexus of the Force, the shining Knight of the Jedi Order, reduced to this, a creature with no weakness save for Force lightning, a crippling flaw that keeps him slaved to Sidious. He so fears another renegade student that he has left this one a shadow of what he could be, left him with a weakness that he could easily exploit should the need ever arise to destroy him." Obi-Wan growled in frustration, running a hand through his hair as he felt the anger coil tight within him, silent and seething in the proximity of such powerful light instead of the thrashing wrath he was accustomed to. "This is not a fitting end to the man that was my rival, my counterpart. He...deserves better."

"Or maybe it's exactly what he deserved," Leia snapped, her shoulders visibly shaking, and Luke very gently took her hand and pulled her close, the twins huddling together and silently easing each other's fears. This wasn't easy for them. The trust never was, and while Obi-Wan knew they needed to know, that hiding things would only complicate things later when clarity was needed, it did nothing to stop the aching in his chest when he looked on them and saw them as the terrified children they had been inside their poor mother.

"That's how you beat him?" Ahsoka asked quietly. "With Force lightning?"

"Yes." Obi-Wan shrugged. "I also cut off his arms and legs again, so that should please you."

"Oh, it does..." the Togruta drawled. "I suspect his Master won't be pleased. That's humiliating."

"It is, and no doubt Sidious will make him suffer for it," Kenobi said, wincing and hissing and quickly averting his eyes when the Force began burning as the light intensified, and he scooted back inside the cave, trying to keep to the retreating Dark Side. Yoda was coming. "I suspect he'll make some adjustments to the suit," he shouted toward the group. "More durable, harder to break. Hell, if we're really unlucky, he'll find a way to make it resist lightsabers. But that weakness to Force lightning..." Obi-Wan laughed, high and tight and tense, an almost frantic nervousness in his entire being despite his attempts to repress it. "That will always stay, it has to stay, or it defeats the purpose. Sidious means to be the Master forever, he's denying Vader the Apprentice's right to slay him, so he is making it impossible for Vader to kill him."

"Doesn't seem like that's the only way to beat a Sith Lord," Kanan drawled lazily, pointing to Yoda as he slowly hobbled up, and Obi-Wan retreated further into the cave, hissing and cursing at the little creature in Sith as he looked out of the shadows at the group.

"You are breaking the rules of our deal, you little shit!" Kenobi hissed. "Your house is the Light Side, my cave is the Dark Side, get back on your side of the swamp!"

"Lonely, I was," Yoda said lightly, his stick tapping Kanan on the leg, and when the Jedi knelt down, the Grandmaster climbed up on to his back. "Fearful, are you, of the Dark Side, Caleb Dume?" Yoda asked, and Kanan sucked in a sharp breath.

"Yeah, I am," the Jedi said, and Yoda grunted softly, tugging on the man's ponytail.

"Nothing to fear, have you. Show you, I will." His toes tightly gripped Kanan's sides, and with a few sharp taps of his stick, the Jedi rose to his feet, his eyes following Yoda's stick as he pointed it toward Obi-Wan in the shadows of his hiding place. "Come. Go, we must, into the cave."

"Oh, no no no no no no no!" Obi-Wan said frantically, scurrying further into the cave as Kanan and Yoda slowly entered. "You aren't being fair, you are in violation of our treaty! And my rights! And...a-and..." He snarled in frustration, shielding his eyes with one hand and pointing accusingly at Kanan with the other. "There's no way that carrying that little wretch around on your back is part of Jedi training! There's no way!"

"Stalling, you are, Obi-Wan," Yoda said firmly, his hand extended toward the Sith Lord as the man quickly retreated, and despite the turbulence in the Force and the power of the thrashing Dark Side around them, Kanan felt peace, no fear in the face of the Sith's wrath because Kenobi couldn't get near them. "Came here for this, you did."

"I didn't know you achieved Qui-Gon levels of irritating!" Obi-Wan shouted back. "That was before I knew, if I had known, I'd have never come here!"

"Fear the light, do you?" Yoda asked as he jumped off of Kanan when Kenobi hit the back of the cave, the man firmly pressing himself against the wall and his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"Don't insult me, Yoda, I fear nothing!" Obi-Wan snapped, his lightsaber quickly flying to his hand and igniting when the tiny creature stepped forward. "No, stay back!" When Kanan quickly drew his own saber, the sound of Ezra's igniting behind him along with the sounds of blasters being primed as the Spectres cautiously followed, Yoda quickly put up his hand to stop them. When the weapons lowered, he gestured for Luke and Leia, and the twins quickly rushed forward, but stayed by Yoda's side when he quietly told them to go no closer.

"Help you, your lightsaber cannot," Yoda said soothingly as he took a step back. "Know this, you do. Always known this, have you." They were still for a moment, the tiny Jedi looking up at the Sith Lord who was decidedly not looking at him, and after a moment, the red blade retracted. "Kill you, will this?" Yoda asked kindly, and with a hollow laugh, the Sith Lord slid to the ground, a hand covering his eyes.

"I don't know," he quietly confessed. "I don't know what will happen. All I have are past experiences to go on, and none of it looks good for me. I remember what it was like to touch Qui-Gon's mind after he had achieved..." His hand circled in the air as he grasped for the right word, and decided that there were no words for it. "This. It was like burning alive, Yoda, and I couldn't break away. But most of all, I remember you." Yoda's ears perked up, his large brown eyes assessing the man before him. "The lesson you taught me on Dathomir, the things I saw happen in that shrine."

"...long ago, that was," Yoda said after a moment.

"Long ago, yes, but that lesson stuck with me forever," Obi-Wan said, his chest spasming with pain when Yoda took a step forward. "You were trying to teach me the power of the light, that no Jedi need fear the Dark Side, and I was never afraid of darkness again after that." He laughed almost cruelly, his eyes opening for a moment before he quickly shut them again. "You were trying to help keep me from falling, but all you did was teach me to be a better Sith."

"Too late, was I," Yoda said sadly. "Fallen, you were already. Nothing to be done, there was. The wrong lesson, you learned."

"Maybe it was the wrong lesson I was taught," Kenobi sneered, and Yoda sadly looked at the ground.

"Yes..." he quietly rasped. "Failed you, I did."

"...there were spirits in that cave," Obi-Wan said after a moment of tense silence. "They couldn't touch you, they couldn't even get near you, and when you drew one in, it turned from a terrifying warrior into a little girl. It was helpless." He took a deep breath, his shoulders shaking slightly, though it didn't go unnoticed by his now fretting children. "Is that what will happen to me?" Yoda was silent, his jaw clenched tightly, and unable to take it anymore, Luke and Leia rushed forward, dropping beside the Sith Lord and tightly hanging on to him, their presence comforting and soothing, and Obi-Wan felt his rapid breathing slow.

"Virt'ne lyteti naile, Tevas. Zhol's bukle kia'buti zemone," Luke whispered, his grasp on the Sith's arm tightening. Don't be afraid, Father. It's going to be alright.

"Mes zinot kia zenoti tave prasme iv tu'iea vaizdas," Leia said, kissing the man's cheek, and Obi-Wan felt his chest tighten. We have to know the meaning of your vision. "Nu'm liudnas, Tevas, I'm sorry." The Sith's eyes widened, his heart suddenly jumping in his chest when he realized that the twins weren't just easing his frayed nerves, they were restraining him. He began thrashing as Yoda hobbled closer, but the twins would not be dislodged, his hissed curses and demands to be released quickly becoming pleas for it to stop, and that quickly became screams of pain when the Jedi Grandmaster laid his three-fingered hands on the Sith Lord's chest.

The darkness was pierced by sudden blinding light, a star exploding into existence where before there was only the black of night, and Darth Lumis stood his ground, intent on repelling his luminous intruder, his eyes wild and blood red with the screaming power of the Dark Side that he forced to his side, the beast bleeding and thrashing as it struggled to flee, but the Sith Lord would not allow it. Grasping tightly the chains of the savage beast at his side, he shut his eyes and faced the raging heat, slowly circling the point of light and keeping to the shadows, looking for a weakness, for something, anything to allow him to repel the Jedi from his mind.

"Obi-Wan," Yoda said gently, reaching out toward the raging Sith Lord. "Show me your vision, you must."

"And let you in?!" the Sith hissed, his voice deep and fierce and clearly not his own, the dark timbre of the Force accenting his words. "I saw what you did to the spirits of my Sith brethren, I will not allow this!"

"Difficult, you are being," Yoda said tiredly. "Speaking, the Dark Side is. Not you, Obi-Wan." He shuffled closer, the Sith sputtering and hissing and backing away to keep in the shadows. "The vision. Show me." When the Sith Lord spat curses at the Jedi, Yoda sighed and extended his hand. "Rooted in the light, you are, Obi-Wan, through love for your children. Destroy you, this will not."

"Lies!"

"Force you, I will," the Jedi warned. "Your last chance, this is." When the Sith Lord extended his hand and shot lightning at the Jedi, Yoda leapt up into the air toward him, Lumis howling in pain as the Jedi drew closer, and when he tried to run, Yoda grabbed his leg with the Force and pulled, the Sith screaming as his fingers dug into the ground in an attempt to keep himself from being puled into the light. Slowly, Obi-Wan was pulled toward the Jedi Grandmaster, smoke rising from his body as the light burned him, the darkness rushing back toward the shadows where the light could not touch. Lumis screamed, thrashing and hissing against the light as he burned, slowly growing still as his strength began to fade.

Yoda hobbled toward Obi-Wan when he stopped moving, his screams faded to quiet whimpers and gently ran his hand through his hair, the creature left behind after the darkness had fled an emaciated, miserable thing, small and neglected with skin so paper thin his bones could be seen beneath atrophied muscles. He was young, younger than the eternally young Darth Lumis, no older than eighteen, his sunken eyes a light, brilliant blue, and despite the poor state of the boy, Yoda couldn't help but smile. As Qui-Gon had always said, there was light still in his wayward student, a thing born from the love he felt for his children, as was made apparent when the soothing voices of Luke and Leia began to echo around them, the leftovers of Obi-Wan gasping and coughing and reaching a skeletal hand up in response to the twins.

"Obi-Wan." Wide, frightened blue eyes shot to the Jedi Master, his face kind and understanding, and with a groan, Kenobi tried to push himself to his knees, but lacked the strength to do so.

"I feel so weak," Kenobi said in a thin whisper. "Why am I so weak..."

"A creature of the dark, you are, Obi-Wan," Yoda calmly explained, stroking the back of his hand when the man grasped the Jedi's in a feeble grasp. "Weakened, you have been, in the presence of the light. Return to you, the Dark Side will, when gone from you, I am." The old Master smiled gently when very slowly, the images of Luke and Leia appeared beside their father, the twins carefully helping the neglected spirit to his feet. "But a strong anchor in the light, you have. Destroy you, the light cannot, so long as your love, you hold close."

"Oh!" Luke gasped, wrapping his arm around his father's waist and leaning in toward his sister. "Leia, we need to get Father a girlfriend!"

With a groan, Leia rolled her eyes. "You idiot, he's talking about us!"

"...I have to admit, that's a lot more disappointing," Luke muttered, Yoda softly chuckling as he shuffled toward the Sith Lord, a small smile on his lips as he looked into the blue eyes he had known so well when Kenobi was a Padawan.

"It's you, Yoda," Obi-Wan whispered in a thin, weak voice. "Force, it's you. With this power, you can destroy Darth Sidious. The Dark Side can't touch you, you drive it away, you can weaken him, you can rob him of his powers!"

"Afraid of Darth Sidious, are you?" Yoda asked, and Obi-Wan laughed weakly as he shook his head.

"You know I'm not."

"But fear your vision, you do." It was a statement, not a question, the gaze of the Jedi filled with sympathy and understanding that make Kenobi's chest ache. "Believe you cannot kill him, you do. Believe failure, you will have."

"...y-yes."

Yoda nodded and stepped closer to the shaking man, gesturing to the twins to help him kneel, and when Obi-Wan was on level with him, Yoda laid a hand on his cheek. "Show me."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, and their surroundings immediately began to change, the turbulent storm of the Dark Side outside Yoda's protective bubble shifting and changing, the savage, feral beasts becoming shadows, though their glowing yellow eyes still appeared to glare at them from the darkness. The swirling, living shadows twisted and writhed, giving shape to dark room lit with red light, the shadowy figures of Maul and Vader standing behind Darth Sidious as he looked upon the empty shell of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The twins huddled close to their father, their bodies shaking in the cold air of the eerie room, a vague and hazy vision taken straight out of their nightmares, and despite his frail, wasted body, Obi-Wan found the strength to draw the children to his chest and quietly shield them.

Frowning as his eyes drifted around the image before him, Yoda slowly shuffled out to get a closer look at the tall, imposing Vader, the wild and unstable Maul, the grim delight of the Emperor, the lifeless, vacant expression of Obi-Wan. For a long while, he walked among the figures, reaching out to touch them to find his hand passing through them like black mist, observing the smoke that rose from Kenobi's body, the acrid smell in the air, the faint crackling glow of blue lightning around Sidious' hand. Occasionally, he looked back to his living companions, the father quietly comforting the terrified children in his arms, though here, the younger, frail spirit of Obi-Wan looked to be more a younger sibling than a parent.

"Always like this, the vision is?" Yoda asked, and Obi-Wan quickly looked up and slowly shook his head.

"No, not always," Kenobi said, his voice stronger than before, his skin not quite so pale, the man looking more living than dead, as if he were being restored. "On a few occasions, I've seen Sidious' eyes, he's spoken to me."

"Seen you, he has?" Yoda asked, concern creeping into his voice, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded.

"To mock me, mostly, to tell me this is my fate and there is no escape." He clutched the twins closer, quietly hushing them when they began softly crying against his chest. "But I don't think he can see us now. I think your presence would keep him from it. If I can't see in the light, there's no way he can."

"Agree with you, I do," Yoda said as he hobbled back to them, his ears low as he considered all he had seen. "A warning, this is not. A vision of what is to come this is, Obi-Wan. Shown you the future, the Force has."

"So this is it?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, his hands threading gently through his children's hair as they tightly hugged his thin frame. "This is my fate, this is how I end?"

"Know that, I do not," Yoda rasped, his hands clutching tightly to his stick. "Mysterious, the Force is. Deceptive, can visions be. Incomplete, perhaps. A beginning to something greater, it may be, instead of the end." Yoda laid his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Meditate on this, I will. Seen enough, I have. Come. Return, we must."

Yoda didn't wait for Obi-Wan to pull them out, Releasing a long, deep breath, Yoda vanished from the Sith Lord's mind, the sudden absence of the light allowing the Dark Side to rush in like a violent torrent, tearing at everything in its wake in its fury. The savage beast from the depths, the ancient, draconic beast of the Dark Side rose up to snatch the emaciated Obi-Wan, long, sharp claws piercing into him and filling the waters of the Force with blood, and as the pain summoned the darkness to him, Obi-Wan welcomed it.

When Yoda opened his eyes, returned to the present from the currents of the Force, Obi-Wan lay pale and still in Cody's arms, the twins to the side of him shaking their heads as they sat up after having been thrown out by the raging dark at the vanishing of the light. Ezra and Sabine quickly rushed in to help the twins when they woke gasping for breath, the two waving the young Spectres off when they saw their father, his half-lidded, sightless eyes showing pale, muted yellow in place of his usual vibrant gold.

"W-what happened to him?" Leia asked Yoda frantically. "You said he'd be alright, this is not alright!"

"Patience, young one," Yoda said as he stepped away from the Sith Lord, giving the unconscious creature of darkness ample space away from the light of his presence, the cold feel of the Dark Side of the cave returning as the Jedi backed away. "Weakened, he is, by the light. Time, he needs, for his strength to recover. But fine, he will be. Undamaged."

"Well, that's more than enough for me," Cody said, groaning as he lifted Obi-Wan up into his arms, the Sith's chest rising and falling faster as consciousness slowly returned. "I'm going to get this loser back to the ship so he can rest up. Mind if we use your room, Jarrus?"

"Be my guest," Kanan said with a shrug, and instantly regretted it when the clone grinned widely.

"Oh, excellent!" Cody chirped. "We need this guy at full strength, and there's no faster way to do that then degenerate sexual behavior, rampant alcoholism, virgin sacrifices, and the blood of the innocent. And since it's not the Umbra..." He chuckled deeply and slowly sauntered over to where the Chiss woman stood patiently waiting. "We can get started on that first one."

"Oh, not in my room, you don't!" Kanan shouted at the laughing clone as he turned and began walking out of the cave. "Do you hear me, you clone bastard?! No sex in my room!"

"We'll help get him to the ship!" Luke said quickly, he and Leia rushing to follow Cody, but he quickly scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please, I might be old, but I don't need help. I've carried this lout's sorry drunken ass to bed more times than I can count."

"At least let us go with you," Leia put in. "We can help see to his recovery back at the base, we-"

"You most certainly will not, young lady," Obi-Wan said, his voice thick and heavily accented as he slowly regained consciousness, and Leia crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. She never won arguments with the Sith Lord, but now he was dazed. She could certainly get her way with a man that wasn't all there. "I had a word with your father before we came here," Kenobi continued, and all of Leia's defiance left her, her arms dropping to her side as she stared at the Sith Lord. "He says he needs you back tonight. You're going to a charity auction."

"Oh, ancient gods of the Sith, kraujas iv'tave nekaltas, Haar'chak an!"

"You had better watch your language," Luke said smugly. "Talk like that now and you might forget where you are at the charity auction." He patted his sister on the back. "Don't worry. I'll watch after him."

"Your father left me a message," Obi-Wan drawled, and Luke's shoulders tensed. "He said the harvest is earl this season. He needs you back to help."

"Are you kidding me?! Luke said in disbelief. "Par te akaan bal kote be talyc Manda'yaim, we have the droids for that! He knew I was coming out here!"

"The droids are broken," Obi-Wan said casually, and Luke threw his hands up in the air.

"Oritsir te beskar'ad at te diryc be haran, bal hiibir'te vhekad ti'bic!"

"And you say I need to watch my language," Leia drawled, looking over at the laughing Sabine as she translated the boy's curse on the droids and the sand that wrecked them. With a growl of agitation, Luke drew his lightsaber, the green blade igniting as he began chasing Leia out of the cave, the girl's blue blade lighting in her hand as she ran into the swamp, and with a heavy sigh, Cody carried the dazed Sith Lord out toward the ship, the Chiss following closely behind.

"Hey!" Kanan shouted at Cody, the Jedi running out of the cave but stopping at the edge of the swampy water. "You never answered me! No sex in my room, you bastard! Do you hear me?!" Cody said nothing, but the Sith Lord in his arms held up his hand and slowly formed a very rude hand gesture. With a loud groan, Kanan ran his hand over his face. "This is why nobody likes clones..." he mumbled, sitting at the edge of the water and watching the two Mandalorian teenagers bounce between trees and swing on vines as they fought, the blue and green flashing brightly and sending sparks showering into the water and across the damp ground. When Obi-Wan recovered, Kanan was certain the Sith would share the meaning of the terrifying vision he and Ezra had seen, but for now, he needed a drink.