AN: I know, it's been a few days since this has been updated, but I needed to get the first few chapters of Blood of Mandalore up first. If you haven't read it, go read it. I've been having a blast writing it, and I think it's turning out really good. Next chapter of this one should be up in a day or two, since it's going to be sort of a big chapter (I think). Also, next week is spring break, which means I basically live at work. So chapters will be slower to come out. Just a head's up. Enjoy!
Chapter 16: Falling
The Umbra didn't arrive in the Lothal system until early that morning, and when it did, it was a few hours until it had allowed the Ghost to dock. For a long while, it simply sat in space, the two X-wings magnetized to mirroring spots just under the ship's wings. Kanan would have been watching closer had his own circumstances not been so...difficult. As it was, his thought kept turning to Ezra. The boy was mercifully sleeping now, and with any luck, would be for the next few hours. They day had been difficult, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. The fact of the matter was that Ezra Bridger was drained, and Kanan felt responsible for that.
He hadn't prepared his young student well enough. He hadn't been prepared for such a difficult student. And now, when things got tough, when Ezra felt backed into a corner, he had reached for the Force in anger, with hatred and death in his heart, and he had used the connection he had formed with the beasts on the asteroid in the most sinister of ways. He had called upon the biggest one he could find, warped his ability to connect and used it not to work peacefully alongside, but to dominate its will, and in doing so, Ezra had unwittingly reached for the Dark Side.
Despite their contact with a kriffing Sith Lord, Obi-Wan had been not only more than helpful, but also decidedly not evil. While they were looking, in any case. Not only that, but as a Master of the Force, as a man who had been known throughout the galaxy for his formidable swordsmanship, for a man that had never lost to a Jedi and had soundly kicked his ass over and over and over again, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lord of the Sith, looked like the coolest guy around to young, impressionable Ezra, and the boy knew that Kenobi reached for darkness.
Meanwhile, Kanan had done little to actually prepare the boy. Ezra had only very recently begun his training, and was growing quickly. More quickly than Kanan had anticipated, and he hadn't yet found the time to teach Ezra the dangers of the Dark Side, nor how to recognize it when it came calling and how to defend against it when it reached for him. He had, in a word, failed. Again. Perhaps there was wisdom elsewhere that they could turn to. He had hoped that Luminara could teach him before they discovered her to be dead, but maybe, maybe there was some lost knowledge of the Jedi somewhere. Something to help set the boy on the right path. Ezra could be great if he could learn to control his emotions and the power that rested within him. But in the wrong hands, he could also be fearsome, and the galaxy didn't need anymore darkness.
Kanan sat with Hera in the living space upon the couch, the two close together, their fingers intertwined, the pair leaving slow, languid kissed on necks and cheeks and lips, alone in the quiet of night as the rest of the ship slept. Kanan wanted to stay up and wait for Kenobi, and Hera had been all too willing to wait with him, the briefing on their respective missions becoming a quiet, personal talk as the night wore on. What had happened on the asteroid had shaken Kanan, and Hera had never been one to let her lover suffer alone. Ezra had made a dangerous connection through the Force, one that Kanan wasn't certain could be turned away from, and he needed to test the boy somehow to see if he was ready to actually do this. A way to see if Ezra was meant to be a Jedi...or not. He needed an expert opinion, but in a galaxy where the Jedi were dead, there was only one other he could turn to.
The moment the Umbra docked with the Ghost, Obi-Wan strode on to the ship, much like he owned it and quickly made his way to the couple on the couch, both Jedi and Twi'lek rising to meet him.
"We need to talk about your student," the Sith Lord said in a commanding tone, the Jedi staring at him slack-jawed for a moment at the Sith's directness. He always knew, somehow, Obi-Wan always knew.
"Well, hello to you too, sweetheart..." Kanan drawled in a lazy, affected tone. "Nice to see you." A wry, sly smirk replaced the hard, serious expression on the Sith Lord's face, and he drew closer to the Jedi, predatory in his mannerisms.
"In need of foreplay, Jarrus?" Kenobi asked softly, a cruel, hungry, dominating edge to his voice, and the Jedi could feel the Sith Lord pushing against him with the Force. His jaw clenched tightly, Kanan pushed back, and those golden eyes lit with excitement. "I did tell you to be ready for me. This goes against our arrangement."
"Eh, I'm more needy than I thought," Kanan said with a carefree shrug. "It is my first time, after all..."
"Kanan..." Hera said in a low voice laced with warning, and the Sith Lord laughed when the Jedi shot her a sheepish, apologetic look.
"No need to worry, Syndulla, I won't be too rough on him," Kenobi said as he drew possessively closer to the Jedi. "I don't like to break all my toys..." Kanan stood defiantly up to his full height as the menacing Lord drew closer and stepped between Obi-Wan and Hera when it looked like the fiery Twi'lek may give him a piece of her mind, the very implication of possession setting the Twi'lek's nerves on edge, a result of her people being enslaved since...well, since forever.
"I don't break so easily, Kenobi," Kanan said firmly, more for Hera's sake than for anything else. "I think you're going to find it difficult to get what you're after."
"Oh?" Kenobi chuckled, deep and amused by the potential challenge. "Well, I have something that may make it easier for you to spread your legs for me, you Jedi slut." Obi-Wan took Kanan's hand and before the Jedi could pull away, Obi-Wan pressed a cold, familiar cylinder in Kanan's palm, the Jedi forgetting to breathe as Kenobi closed Kanan's fingers around it. His lightsaber. He was certain he'd never get the precious thing back.
"You got it..." Kanan muttered, and Obi-Wan scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Of course I recovered it. You belong to me, Jedi, and I take care of my things."
"Hera, I'm going to sleep with this Sith Lord." Hera tilted her head as she looked at her lover, and with a heavy sigh, she shook her head.
"I'd be more surprised if I didn't know you were so easy." Kanan grinned broadly at Hera and winked before he turned his attention back to the Sith Lord.
"You have my thanks, Obi-Wan."
"I don't want your thanks, Jedi, I want your smart, pretty mouth on my-"
"Is the Inquisitor dead?" Kanan asked quickly when Hera flushed furiously, the Sith Lord frowning as he was interrupted.
"I would be happy to discuss that somewhere more private."
"Not without me you're not," Hera said stubbornly, and for just a second, the gold eyes flashed dangerously, vicious and wrathful, and like it wasn't even there, it suddenly faded, but Kanan knew he saw it. He intertwined his finger's with Hera's, drawing himself up taller defensively, and he could feel the Sith looking straight through him.
"Very well..." Kenobi drawled, his tone light and easy, an arrogant smirk on his lips. "If that's what you're into, so be it. I never turn down a threesome."
"Well," Kanan said as deep and smooth as he was able, a sly smile on his lips and his eyelids lowering seductively. "Since the kids are asleep, I thought we might go back to your room..."
"As you wish..." Obi-Wan said softly, a look of triumph on his face that lasted all of two seconds before it dropped away into stunned silence before a wide grin split his face. "Oh, you cheeky bastard."
"I really like that rule about no sex in your ship, Kenobi," Kanan said, carefree and easy as he and Hera followed the smirking, laughing Sith Lord through the docking tunnel and into the confines of the Umbra. They were immediately by the sound of electronic snapping, and Kenobi groaned, rolled his eyes and led his guests around the corner to see two droids, both protocol in appearance, one dark gray and the other a deep red pointing at each other's chest plates accusingly. The moment their visual sensors landed on the displeased Sith Lord, the two droids stopped what they were doing, not daring to move, and fell silent.
"Well?" Obi-Wan said after a moment of silence. "Care to explain this one to me, you useless heaps of scrap?"
"Master, this droid is defective!" the gray droid said indignantly. "It is going against its programming and is trying to take control of the Umbra from me!" K-2 Paused. "...I love the Umbra." It emitted a sound that was the equivalent of an angry huff. "And all because it claims that it has greater value to you!"
"Declaration: That is a fact," HK said, turning its visual sensors to the security droid, and then back to the Sith Lord, lowering its head slightly. "Isn't that true, Master?"
"The HK is ancient," K-2 quipped. "It is outdated and long past due for its scheduled salvage date." It looked back to the assassin droid as it sidled up toward its Master, and K-2 gave a dismissive scoff. "It tried to access my central processors and sabotage me!"
"Accusation: the KX droid started it."
"Alright, enough!" Obi-Wan snapped, his eyes shut tight and his fingers rubbing his temples. "Thank you for reminding me why I hate droids. I ought to throw you both out the airlock and be done with it."
"That is acceptable, Master," K-2 said, drawing up to its full, towering height. "I can survive in space."
"Statement: I have detected changes in your brain chemistry that is indicative of what you squishy, frail organics call a headache." The HK unit stepped closer. "Consoling: there, there, Master. We can fix this. Is that why you have brought these meatbags?" it asked, indicating to Kanan and Hera their strained, repressed laughter at the absurdity of the situation quickly dropped away in favor of apprehension when they noticed the wicked, modified rifle on the droid's back. "Are we going to kill something to make you feel better, Master?" Obi-Wan started to respond, frustrated, and quickly stopped, his eyes widening and stroking his beard as he considered the droid's proposal.
"That is a good idea..." he said, lost in thought, and a quick look over his shoulder at his horrified guests brought him back to the situation at hand. "But not now, and not with these people." He straightened up, his hands folding behind his back. "I thought I made myself clear on your roles within my ship, droids. You serve different functions to me and are here to compliment my efforts, not hinder them with your senseless bickering."
"...Master, well done!" K-2 said in a drawl that was nearly sarcastic. "Your work upon the asteroid this evening was truly inspirational."
"Congratulatory: we should kill something to celebrate!"
"Oh, good!" Kenobi snarled when Kanan and Hera burst into laughter. "I am so glad you are suddenly getting along so well!" He pointed a finger menacingly at the two droids, his golden eyes narrowed. "Listen up, you defective rust buckets. K-2's domain is the Umbra, including the security of her systems, and if you can't keep an assassin droid out of the system, than maybe I should have it doing your job instead. And you," he pointed at the HK, "you are part of my away team, and you are not to access the Umbra's systems unless instructed to do so. Unless, of course, you'd rather stay here and manage the Umbra. I can always give K-2 your gun and take it instead."
"Distress: Master, that would be a gross misuse of my primary functions."
"No, actually, I'd like that," K-2 said, leaning over and looking at the assassin droid carefully. "Can I have his rifle, Master?"
"If he tries to hack into your systems again, you most certainly can." Obi-Wan grinned wickedly. "Am I understood?"
"Perfectly, Master."
"Affirmative."
"Excellent." The Sith Lord brushed his fingers in the air. "Get to work." The droids wasted no time in leaving, the HK swiftly on the fluid motions of its legs, and the K-2 with a slower, easier gait. With a frustrated sigh, Obi-Wan motioned for the two Spectres to follow him.
"I find it curious," Kanan said, his eyes drifting out the transparent viewport walls, "that the leader of the Separatists waited until fifteen years after the end of the Clone Wars to get a droid."
"Why is it even called the Clone Wars?" Obi-Wan quietly mused. "Why couldn't it be the Droid Wars? There were more droids fighting than clones. By the time I took over, the droids were more expensive to manufacture than the clones." He huffed and ignored the confused look Kanan gave him as he effectively derailed the conversation. "Our numbers were greater, we spent more money...it should be called the Droid Wars."
"We lost more lives," Kanan countered, and Kenobi considered it for a moment and nodded as he accepted the notion.
"Why is it curious?" Obi-Wan asked, and Kanan stuttered, taken aback by what he saw as obliviousness.
"W-well...you had a droid army, you'd think-"
"The droids weren't mine, they were Dooku's, and I never commanded them, that was Grievous." Obi-Wan felt his chest tighten, his anger rising, and he balled his fist to keep it down, the darkness creeping through him, brought on swiftly by the loss of his friends. "...you can't mentally dominate a droid. You can't make a droid feel fear." Despite his best efforts, his mind wandered, and memories of Dooku and Grievous flooded his mind. It seemed that so many of the people he would eventually grow close to had begun with hatred.
Grievous, arrogant and jealous and proud, who Obi-Wan despised as an inferior creature that strove for greatness when it was far out of his reach by augmenting himself, and it still wasn't enough. Also, he looked like a droid, and he hated droids. He had come to respect him as a warrior, as a fellow slayer of Jedi, as a commander. He had died at the hands of hated, hated Anakin Skywalker, though he knew now that the general was likely the target of the first mission executed by Darth Vader.
And Dooku, his fellow Sith apprentice, the first of their kind since Darth Bane to exist simultaneously, the Rule of Two forever broken, and they hated each other. Forced to compete for the favor of their cruel Master, Tyranus and Lumis built their relationship on sabotaging each other, on constantly striving to make the other fail, to look weak in comparison. Obi-Wan saw him as old, as frail, as well past his time, hardly the legacy that the Sith needed to move forward. The only thing that kept them from killing each other was their Master's command not to, because doing such would harm the Sith Imperative. Time and time again, they would make temporary alliances in order to get a job done, only to have it swiftly fall apart when one betrayed the other. And when Obi-Wan needed it most...Dooku was there, stood by him when he had lost everything, their last alliance miraculously sticking, and when it made sense to stay far, far away from poor, mad Darth Lumis, Tyranus never turned away. And Dooku had died by Obi-Wan's hands, gripped tight in the jaws of insanity.
And even Satine, dear, sweet, beautiful Satine had hated him in the beginning, only to have them slowly, gently fall in love as they grew to know each other. It was a love that had lasted, even when Obi-Wan had done everything in his power to push it down when he committed himself to the Jedi. Though had she simply asked him, he would have left the Order without ever looking back. But she didn't ask, and when they had finally met again, he had already fallen, and the love he felt for her could no longer be contained. And now...even she too was dead. Her and their son, stolen from him by Maul because he hadn't been strong enough to protect the thing he held most dear. Because the Dark Side demanded blood, and in exchange for power, it had taken hers and the child growing within her.
Thoughts of her plagued him. It had never stopped, not once left his mind. When he slept, he dreamed of her, of all the things that could have been and weren't, like she was right beside him, always matching his step, her fingers intertwined with his. He could smell the floral scent of her hair, could feel her smooth, pale skin under his fingertips, her lips upon his, the warmth that wound tight within him as he slid inside her. Every time he closed his eyes, she stood before him, when he slept, when he meditated, when he blinked, always, always, and each time, it tore wider the hole where his heart once was, a void occupied with only her. It was pain, and pain made him powerful, but he would have given it all away if it would bring her back. It never could. He knew it never could, and so he embraced the pain, and he grew stronger. She made him stronger, as she always had.
He felt the Force stir and looked back quickly to see Kanan staring at him, breathless, his teal eyes filled with pain as he felt the powerful, miserable pull of the Sith Lord, and it made Obi-Wan burn with hatred as he slammed his feelings back into the deepest depths of him to fester and grow and poison the rest of him.
"You certainly are staring out the viewport a lot, Kanan," the Sith Lord snapped, the the harsh tone pulling the Jedi out of his examination of the Sith Lord.
"I, uh..." Kanan cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling like a kid that got caught doing something they weren't supposed to. "I was looking for the X-wings...our escorts. They were here a while ago."
"I sent them home," Obi-Wan said, brushing the matter off. "The mission was over, I had no further use for them."
"Who are they?" Kanan asked softly, his eyes drifting back out the viewport. "They were the best pilots I have ever seen, they destroyed as Star-"
"Mandalorians," Obi-Wan swiftly interrupted. "I am the Shadow King. When I call, my people come."
"What, Mandalorians fly X-wings?" Hera asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the Sith. "Those aren't used in the Imperial Forces."
"Not all Mandalorians serve the Empire," Obi-Wan muttered. "You have a Mandalorian working with you. You should know that." Before either of them could say anything, Obi-Wan quickly said, "How did your part of the mission go? Did you meet with Fulcrum?"
"U-uh...an intermediary, yes," Hera said slowly. "Any word on when I'll meet the Fulcrum?" Kenobi shook his head.
"Fulcrum doesn't tell me anything," Obi-Wan muttered as he laid his hand on the console beside the door to his room, and it slid open with a smooth hiss, and he bowed, ushering the two inside. "Right to business, yes?" he asked, sitting on the edge of his bed and motioning for Kanan and Hera to sit in the couch opposite him. They did so in silence, sitting close to each other, and Kanan grasped Hera's hand in his. "To answer your earlier question, Kanan..." Kenobi drawled, his gaze sliding far away as he looked out the viewport, Lothal's primary shining brightly in the distance. "No, the Grand Inquisitor is not dead."
"What?!" Kanan cried, letting go of Hera's hand and leaping to his feet, his eyes blazing with fear and anger. The Sith was unaffected. "Kenobi, that man is a serious threat! We need him gone, he's hunting us! He's-"
"He's no threat at all," the Sith said calmly, gesturing for the Jedi to sit, but Kanan would not. The golden eyes narrowed, the fires within suddenly glowing brightly, and Kanan gasped, his body tensed, and he slowly lowered himself on to the couch. Obi-Wan's eyes were hard when he folded his hands in his lap and crossed one long leg over his knee. "I am a Master of the Sith, Kanan Jarrus, the Lord of all I touch, and the servants of the Dark Side are mine. They must be. They have no choice." He scoffed. "Slaves to the Dark Side, and I walk in Mastery in the shadows of the Force. As they serve the Dark Side, they also serve me, willing or not."
"Kenobi, he's hunting us," Kanan said again, more desperate this time. "This isn't a game, and Ezra..." He grit his teeth and looked away, but said nothing more, and Hera rested her hand on his leg and looked at Obi-Wan, her eyes wide and pleading.
"...he's mine, Kanan," Obi-Wan said softly. "He knows it deep inside him, and he will lead me to my enemy when the time is right." He chuckled softly. "He's my toy, and a broken toy is no use to me."
"...I don't understand," Kanan said quietly. "You're Sith, aren't you? Murder and death and blood is what you do. He's an enemy, why let him live?" Obi-Wan was silent, his hands pressed together as he slowly organized his thoughts, determining what to tell the Jedi, and decided that keeping to the truth as much as he was able was for the best. Kanan was...peace. He was order. He was a great deal of what a Jedi, a true Jedi should be. Unafraid, duty driven, but deeply feeling, he did what he felt was right, and that was the point. He felt. There was no separation from him and his passions. He could have love, could feel hate, could live, and still be a Jedi.
Qui-Gon would like him.
"The purpose of the Sith is not to kill all those unfit to live," he said quietly. "We are the predatory swarm that culls the herd, yes, but all we do must be in service to the Dark Side, all we do must be for the preservation of the Sith. That does not mean the indiscriminate murder of the innocent or guilty, as it were." He smiled softly. "Such a thing so often draws the attention of the powerful and of those that would seek justice. In the past, that was the Jedi, but now, it's other Sith, and one far more powerful than me." His eyes drifted out the viewport again, looking far beyond what he could see. "I must survive...the Force is not done with me yet, I am needed..."
"If the survival of the Sith is the goal, why are you fighting?" Kanan asked, and for a minute, it seemed as though Kenobi didn't hear him, his golden eyes lost elsewhere. With a gasp, he looked back at Kanan and smiled softly, almost modestly.
"It was the will of the Force that the Jedi be destroyed," Obi-Wan said, and he took no pleasure when Kanan tensed, his presence in the Force suddenly turbulent and disturbed, and when Obi-Wan closed his eyes, he could see the night it all ended within Kanan's mind. The Jedi Purge. The betrayal of the clones. The death of his Master. The young teen's world shattering. "They had lost their way," he continued, "and for change to happen, the slate needed to be wiped clean so it can begin anew. New Jedi. Different Jedi."
"Different how?" Kanan croaked, his voice raw with emotion he struggled to keep to himself.
"I don't know, I'm no Jedi." Obi-Wan looked down at his hands clasped in his lap. "The Sith are ever changing, ever evolving. The Rule of Two has ended, and my former Master reigns as the Master of the Sith. The Force is his kingdom, and even it bows before him. He has made a slave of the Force." The golden eyes narrowed as he looked at the Jedi. "But the Force isn't a slave to me. The Force is my friend, my ally, and where it takes me is where I go. I bend to its whims, and so it yields to me as well. And it is striking back."
"What, against the Sith?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi nodded.
"Against the Sith, yes." He sighed and looked at the ground. "...thousands of years of constant change and adaptation, and it takes one to bring it all down. The course my former Master has set is an affront to the Force itself. The Order of the Sith...must change as well."
"And you're going to be the one to change it?" Hera asked, and the Sith Lord shrugged.
"I really don't know. I certainly hope so, I've always been different from my fellow Sith Lords."
"Is that why you're rebelling against the Empire?" Hera asked excitedly as she leaned in. Before, it had been all eternal, all the realm of the Jedi, all talk of the Force, things she didn't understand. But now, it was all tying together. Hera understood being a rebel. She knew what it meant to work for a growing, active rebellion, and Obi-Wan was at the heart of it. She had thought her shoe into something larger was Fulcrum, but the more she listened to Obi-Wan, the more he was sounding like a founder of the rebellion.
"...yes," Obi-Wan said after a moment of silence. "In a way. Mind you, I don't object to the Empire." He smirked when Hera gawked at him, but Kanan looked unsurprised. "Does this offend you, Syndulla?"
"The Empire does terrible things!" she gasped, shaking her head, her lekku squirming in agitation. "It's a beast that consumes everything around it just to feed itself! It spreads suffering everywhere, the people are just...slaves now! All there to serve the whims of the Emperor! They don't care what's destroyed so long as they get what they want!"
"All this is true," Obi-Wan said softly, and he pointed a finger at the Twi'lek. "But is the Empire to blame for that, or does the fault lie in the Emperor to which it serves?"
"Of course he supports the Empire," Kanan said, his voice low and dark. "He helped create it. He isn't against the Empire, he's against the Emperor. This isn't a rebellion against a corrupt government to restore democracy and freedom, this is a coup. He's overthrowing the Emperor, not the Empire." Kanan's brow furrowed. "But...why?"
"You've managed to puzzle it out so far," Obi-Wan said, soft and amused as he looked at the Jedi. "You tell me."
"For power, you want to rule for yourself," he said quickly, but immediately gasped and fell silent, considering his knee-jerk reaction and the enigmatic, expectant look on the Sith's face. "...no, that can't be all it is. This is a Sith Empire." A small, frightened smirk crossed Kanan's face as understanding settled on him. "Emperor Palpatine it the Master of the Sith. He's your Master."
"Former Master, yes..." Kenobi corrected, the gold eyes glowing with pleased amusement. "Very good, Kanan."
"So is that your plan?" Hera asked, her voice tight and angry. "You kill the Emperor and become Emperor yourself? The Sith still rule the galaxy for their own cruel, selfish purpose, and nothing changes?"
"Like I said, I'm not like other Sith," Obi-Wan growled. "More problems will arise from just throwing out the Empire altogether. The Imperials will need a place to go. You can't just force them to submit to your new Republic, that will make you no better than our current Emperor."
"It's not the same!" Hera growled, and the gold eyes narrowed on her.
"It is. The Empire has brought peace, prosperity and stability to many systems."
"Through fear!"
"No, through a surge in the economy, through increased productivity. True, it is only through the Core Worlds, but the galactic center has flourished. Everyone works for the Empire, industrial, ambitious people are rewarded for their work, and are held responsible for their failures. You destroy the Empire, Syndulla, and billions will be without jobs, without the security they have come to trust, the economy would collapse." He scoffed when the Twi'lek looked unsure and uncertain, her convictions suddenly wavering. "Did you truly think the matter to be so simple? This is more than a military effort, this is more than rooting out the corruption and greed and filth that rots the galaxy. Don't forget, most Imperials are just people, trying to be law abiding citizens and get by. They believe in the security the Empire provides them. They may be ignorant of the atrocities committed by their government, but that changes nothing. They are just trying to make an honest living. And our war will kill them."
"T-the Empire is evil," Hera said in a wavering voice. Kenobi just smirked.
"Such a simple point of view...but you're right. This Empire is not ruled the way it should be."
"And you think you can do better?" Kanan asked, and for a moment, he thought he saw the flicked of something deep inside Obi-Wan, a glow of something in those golden eyes that spoke of devotion and love and unending sorrow, a deep, consuming pain that carried with it a thousand unspoken promises. Kanan didn't know what to feel about that, but for some reason, he wanted to trust it.
"I know I can," Obi-Wan said softly. "I don't know exactly the form my Empire will take, but this galaxy is too bag, its people too varied to run a galactic Empire. I believe...both systems can exist. The systems should be allowed to choose to whom they belong. If I can relocate the Empire after we defeat them, if I can take those loyal to Imperial government away and incorporate them into my Empire...I believe it will solve a lot of problems."
"...does Fulcrum know your plans?" Hera asked, and Obi-Wan frowned, irritation simmering just beneath his skin.
"Not yet. I don't suspect it will go over well with the Rebel leaders, but...we shall see." Kanan and Hera were silent scooting closer together and absently stroking the other as they thought. "Now!" Kenobi said, disrupting the silence. "I have told you what you want. Now we will discuss what I want. Your student, Kanan. I saw what happened. I felt what happened." He smile softly, almost nostalgically. "He looked like me when I first touched the Dark Side."
Kanan could feel his heart pounding in his chest, a pit drop deep in his stomach, and he felt cold rush through him. He couldn't breathe. He looked at Obi-Wan, his eyes blazing with the corruption of his soul, and all he could see was Ezra, his young student, so bright and promising, so good and just, his eyes burning with the yellow flames of the Dark Side. There was so much good in him, so much potential...but there was darkness as well, as there was in everyone. Ezra lacked discipline, but deep inside him, Kanan saw the Jedi he could be if he just had the right teacher. A real teacher. The best intentions could lead down a dark path, and if Ezra was headed that way...
"I don't know what to do..." Kanan quietly confessed. "Master Yoda once said that once taken, the Dark Side will continue to dominate your destiny. Is that what is in store for Ezra? Obi-Wan, please," the man said, his voice shaking and desperate. "Help me. Help him."
The Sith Lord sighed. "Understand this, Kanan. Ezra will never be a Jedi. He is too reckless, too proud, too arrogant, too much of everything. A Jedi is raised to be temperate and understanding, but Ezra grew up on the streets, and everything was for survival. He is bitter and angry and selfish. Surely you must see that."
"There is good in him, Kenobi!" Kanan said, his voice raised and tense. "So much of it! I see what he can be, and he can be great! Powerful!"
"Once the path of darkness is taken, it will forever dominate your destiny..." Obi-Wan muttered. "Once, long ago, like Ezra, I reached out and grabbed the Dark Side for power, I used it to fuel me to save my Master, and in doing such, I defeated a Sith Lord in single combat. But that wasn't when I truly turned to darkness. I was young, and I was desperate."
"You went through the same thing!" Kanan said, a sliver of hope creeping into his voice. "You've experienced it, you know! If that isn't what made you fall, then we still have time, we can still stop this."
"Kanan, that may not have been when it happened, but I did fall," Kenobi said apologetically. "I know nothing about stopping it or resisting it, because in the end, I became Sith. There is no escape from the Dark Side. The Jedi were right when they said it forever haunts your destiny, because it does. I've only known two to ever escape its pull. Asajj Ventress turned from darkness and never looked back, and Quin-" He choked, his voice cracking for a moment, and he had to look away from the Jedi. "...Quinlan Vos sacrificed himself, an act of selflessness that just doesn't come from the Dark Side. And in the end, they both died, Kanan. If they never got involved with the Dark Side...it's possible they would be alive today. You don't need to be steeped in darkness for it to haunt you."
"So there's no helping Ezra?" Kanan asked, his voice tense with nervous laughter. He shook his head. "No. No, I don't believe that. If you didn't fall until later, then there's still time. We can stop this."
"If we can, I don't know how. There is too much fear in him, too much anger, and he's tasted true power. It will be difficult to keep him from it."
"...do you think you could have turned away?" Hera asked the Sith quietly. "After that first time. If you were..."
"Stronger?" Obi-Wan asked, and the Twi'lek nodded. "Perhaps. I don't know." He sighed and turned his gaze back to Kanan. "Listen, Kanan, I know darkness, and I feel it in Ezra. I can teach him the ways of the Dark Side, I can show him how to keep it from consuming him, but I can't show him the way without it. That is up to him. I know what he feels, I know what he is going through, but I fell in the end. I know nothing about turning away from it because I never did."
"So you can't help," the Jedi said plainly, and the Sith nodded.
"I'm sorry. This is beyond my power."
"It is a complicated matter, I confess." Kanan breathed deeply and closed his eyes, and noticed a moment later that something felt...off. He opened his eyes, and beside Obi-Wan, holding the full attention of the Sith Lord, was Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, ghostly pale and glowing with faint blue light. His jaw went slack. He had seen this before, but after he sobered up, he dismissed it as a drunken hallucination, a figment of his imagination woven into his memory by entirely too much alcohol. But he wasn't drunk now. He wanted to be, but he was unfortunately entirely sober.
"It isn't one you can solve, Qui-Gon..." Obi-Wan said to the spirit. "You only drove me deeper to darkness."
"You never wanted to be turned away."
"You don't know that Bridger will want to."
"This what I told you about!" Kanan whispered to Hera when he felt her tense and softly hiss as she exhaled.
"What, that Kenobi is absolutely insane?" she asked, but the Jedi only grinned.
"This just confirms it for me, I thought I was seeing things before, but-"
"He's talking to himself," the Twi'lek said between clenched teeth, and Kanan looked at her, confused for a moment before he understood. The spirit was a manifestation of the Force. Hera wouldn't be able to see him because she lacked a sensitivity to the Force.
"He's not..." Kanan quietly explained, leaning over to whisper to his lover. "A...Force spirit, he's speaking to a Force spirit."
"...a ghost?" Hera asked, genuinely interested and highly curious, and Kanan nodded.
"A ghost. A Jedi Master. And he was one of the best."
"Don't flatter him, Jarrus, it'll make him unbearable," Kenobi growled, and the spirit beside him chuckled softly.
"Hello, Caleb," Qui-Gon said softly. "Good to see you again."
"Uh..." Kanan looked sidelong at Hera who was very, very confused. "...does this ever get any less...awkward?"
"Never, and he doesn't get it," Kenobi grumbled.
"Trouble with your student?" the spirit asked, and before Kanan could answer, the Sith Lord reeled on him.
"You are a failure as a Master, Qui-Gon! There is nothing you can do to help the boy! Jarrus wants him saved from the darkness, not pushed toward it!"
"You are needlessly cruel."
"I am a Sith Lord, Qui-Gon Jinn!" Obi-Wan shouted at the smirking, amused spirit, and Kanan got the impression that this...ghost rarely left Kenobi alone.
"The situation is a dire one, Caleb. You are right to be worried," Qui-Gon said as he stroked his beard. "Unfortunately, Obi-Wan is right. There is nothing I can do to help him. There is nothing Obi-Wan can do."The spirit looked at the Sith Lord. "But there may be someone who can."
"I told you already, Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan said, eyes closed and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Because of the events on the asteroid, the Inquisitor now has confirmation I am a part of the Lothal rebel cell. I cannot go back to my allies until he had been handled." He took a deep breath as he slowly opened his eyes, the red around the golden edges beginning to glow brightly. "And when I finally deal with him, I will have Thrawn in my grasp..."
"Wait, you're staying with us?" Hera asked, Obi-Wan flashed her a cocky grin. "And when exactly were you going to be telling us this?"
"Eh, when it came up. And it just came up." His grin widened. "Why? Got a problem with that?"
"Not at all, the Twi'lek said, running her hand slowly up her unsuspecting lover's inner thing, and the Jedi tensed as he shivered, a desperate, needy moan escaping his throat before he managed to catch himself. "I'm just thinking you're going to be doing a lot of babysitting." Obi-Wan groaned loudly and rolled his eyes, and the spirit smiled softly at the Twi'lek that could not see him.
"I don't mean for you to go anywhere or meet with anyone," Qui-Gon said. "Not physically."
Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "You don't mean-"
"I do. His training is complete, and he needs to practice so he does not run into the same trouble that I did." He smiled. "Let him test the boy. Let him see if Ezra is even ready to be a Jedi like Kanan believes."
Kenobi laughed in disbelief when Kanan looked at him with wide, questioning eyes. "Even if that was possible, and I doubt it is, we would need a place that is remarkably strong in the Force to even make it likely. We don't-" Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon's gaze as he looked out the viewport, and the Sith Lord groaned loudly. "Of course..."
"Uh, am I missing something?" Kanan asked, both of Hera's wrists grasped in his hands to keep her from wandering, a deep flush on his face as he avoided eye contact with the mischievous Twi'lek.
"Turns out," Obi-Wan slowly drawled, "that there is someone that can help Ezra." He folded his hands in his lap. "He can tell you everything you need to now about Ezra, and he'll help you devise a plan. Just...give me a few days to research this..." He scowled. "Meeting spot."
"Who?!" Kanan asked excitedly, leaping up from his seat. Obi-Wan gave him a slight, knowing smile.
"Perhaps the last true Jedi left in the galaxy."