Chapter 9: Brothers' Keeper
"I'm taking my leave."
Obi-Wan had called in a meeting with the council to give his short debrief on the mission on Mandalore, two days after he had woken up from his coma. Only six members were present, he himself as a hologram. He hadn't bothered trying to stand with his casted leg and was sitting in one of the arm chairs in Satines' quarters, leg propped up on the table and arm still held in the sling. His expression was non-readable, the mask of an experienced jedi master.
"Now is barely the time to make such demands, Kenobi. We need every jedi available, especially you", Master Windu stated coolly, leaning forward in his seat while holding Obi-wans' gaze.
'Of course, he does object.' If Obi-Wan hadn't had a single ounce of respect for the Korun Master, he would have rolled his eyes in response. Nevertheless, he didn't hold back his witty remark.
"Master Windu, I don't know if you have noticed", he shifted his leg in the camera, "but I can't even stand properly at the moment. I don't see how I am helpful on the frontlines. Moreover, every jedi is allowed to take a certain amount of leave and as far as I remember I hadn't had none since the war started."
This time Master Yoda spoke up. "Knight Skywalker and his padawan made the same request they have. Difficult it is to spare all three of you."
Puzzled, Obi-Wan had to raise an eyebrow. 'Why are those two taking their leave all of a sudden?' "I believe as well the men of the 501st as of the 212th are capable of leading a campaign themselves if needed, Captain Rex and Commander Cody are exceptional soldiers and strategists."
"I think Obi-Wan is right, the three of them have done so much during these times. It's only fair to grand them their request", Plo Koon, a good friend of his, contributed.
Obi-Wan smiled at him and mouthed a silent 'thank you' which was acknowledged with a small nod.
The green, diminutive master hummed in thought, before deciding with a tap of his gimer stick.
"Granted your wishes are. Taking your leave, you may."
"Thank you, Master Yoda." The meeting was closed a few seconds later and Obi-Wan finally leaned back in his seat. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he rubbed his eyes with his right hand.
"How did they take it?" The jedis' head snapped up. He absolutely hadn't heard Satines' approach, tired as he was.
"If you want to scare me to death, just sneak up on me again", he grumbled while he eyed her from the side. The blonde woman chuckled and stepped up behind him, laying her hands over his chest.
"You know, scaring jedi masters to death would be a fine addition to my abilities, don't you think?"
Obi-Wan laughed and turned slightly to face her, sporting a grin. "How about you start with Master Windu?"
Satine snorted. "Let me guess, he didn't want you to take your vacation."
He hummed in response, his hand stroking the back of Satines' forearm. "I think he's just not over the fact that I beat him in a spar a few months ago and he's no longer the undefeated champion."
"And here I thought jedi were supposed to stand above such things", she murmured with a chuckle.
Obi-Wan shook his head amused but then turned his attention back to Satine. "Why are you even here? I thought you had work to do."
"Well, actually there is something I wanted to tell you", she said, her chin resting on the top of his head.
"So?", he quirked an eyebrow confused.
"I have to prove Mandalores' neutrality in front of the senate, so I asked someone for help to support my case."
As the gears began to spin slowly in Obi-Wans' head, it took him a moment before it dawned on him. "You asked Senator Amidala for help and Anakin decided to tag along together with Ahsoka, right?" He knew that Satine had updated Padme on their situation and that Anakin knew as well.
"I see at least your head wasn't damaged, old man", she said teasingly. Satine took her hands off him and walked towards the kitchen to make some tea.
"Hey, are you mocking me?", he called after her, pretending to be offended. Obi-Wan could basically hear her laughing quietly from the other room. 'I swear, you will get that back.'
As his plan began to form inside of his head, Satine returned from the kitchen with two cups of tea.
She placed both of them on the table and sat down next to him. "So, when do they plan to arrive?", the jedi asked.
Satine hummed and grabbed her commlink which laid on the table. "I don't know actually, Padme wanted to send a message when they lift off." Obi-Wan sensed his chance when she tried to enter the pin code to unlock the device. With a small nudge of the Force, he altered the code Satine tried to tap in. Soon confusion was written all over her face, as the commlink reported a false code input for the fifth time in a row.
Playing innocent, Obi-Wan asked: "What's wrong? Did you forget your code?"
With a furrowed brow, she shook her head. "I'm pretty sure it should be correct."
Sipping on his tea, the jedi had a hard time to uphold his stoic face. "You know, forgetting small things is the first sign of getting old."
The glare, she was sending him, was almost enough for him to sputter out his tea with laughter and drop the façade, but he kept himself together. 'She's definitely smelling the rat, but don't give up yet.'
"Obi, do you have something to do with this?", she asked wielding the commlink in front of his face.
"Me? Never. Jedi frown on such frivolous acts", he said with a poker face. "Why don't you try it again?"
As she tried for the sixth time, the commlink still denied her access. "Okay, drop it. You had your fun. I know you're doing something."
"An old man like me? Please", he exaggerated.
"Obi-Wan."
"Satine." They both glowered at each other in a humored manner, before she finally gave in.
"Okay, I get it. I'll take it back. You're not that old. Would you please let me unlock my commlink now?"
Obi-Wan laughed and let her do it, until she spoke up again, chuckling. "You're still turning grey, darling."
"That's it, next time I'm changing the code for good."
Satine huffed. "You wouldn't dare."
"Care to find out?", he asked with a raised eyebrow.
six hours later
It was nearly evening when their ship finally touched down on the private landing pad near the Sundari palace. Of course, he had insisted to fly himself, although his padawan made him promise to actually land the ship and not crash it like they did so many times before on missions.
As Anakin stretched in the pilots' seat after the long flight, he could already hear Ahsoka talking to Padme with excitement. The girl had never been to Mandalore before and was bubbling up with anticipation to finally see her grandmaster again and getting to know duchess Satine. He himself had also never been to Mandalore before but knew that Padme and Satine were good friends. From what he knew from Padme, she seemed to be a really nice and he couldn't deny that he wasn't curious to meet the woman who managed to worm herself into his masters' otherwise so well-guarded heart.
Shutting the last systems down, he stood up and started to leave the cockpit. On his way to the door he patted R2, who had observed the machines from the back during the flight, on his dome. "Watch the ship for us, will you buddy?" He was rewarded with the droid whistling a positive answer.
Ahsoka and Padme were already waiting on the ramp, so he quickened his pace to catch up with them. Outside he was met with the beautiful sight of the palace. Its colored glass was glistening in the evening sun, making it appear like one of the fictional places parents used to tell their kids about.
"Master look!" Anakin, was ripped out of his thoughts by Ahsoka, who was motioning at something at the end of the landing bay. Following the direction, he realized that two figures where standing over there, one he recognized instantly as his master and the other presumably being the duchess. Padme had told him that his master had a nasty run-in with the Death Watch and barely made it out alive thanks to Satine.
"You okay, Ani?" His wife was standing a few feet in front of him, shooting him a questioning look.
"Uhh, yes of course… I just drifted off for a second. Let's get going." He stepped forward and offered her his hand which she gladly accepted.
While the trio approached the waiting pair, Anakin finally got a closer look at the two. Like all three of them they had decided against formal dress ups as they were meeting in private.
Especially Obi-Wan looked worse for wear, his left arm was in a sling as a result of being hit with a bullet from a scattergun and his right leg was casted again. He was leaning on a crutch, but it was obvious that he was tiring down fast. 'Hopefully he gets some rest now.'
They all greeted each other, Ahsoka engulfing Obi-Wan in a bear-hug. He knew the movement must have hurt him but he didn't say anything for the sake of his grandpadawan. As the others went into the apartment, Anakin stayed behind together with his former master. Having not greeted him properly till now, he hugged the man in front of him with one arm, mindful not to jostle his arm or leg.
"It's good to see you're still standing, old man."
Obi-Wan snorted in response and laughed. "Why is it everyone is calling me old today, all of a sudden? And it's good to see you too."
Anakin withdrew a little and eyed his friend. "I can't believe she called you old", he chuckled, "anyway, how are you?"
The auburn-haired jedi pressed his lips into a thin line. "I've been better to be honest. I don't think I would have survived if it weren't for Satine."
"She really is an admirable woman. You should ask her, Obi-Wan. You don't know if you will regret it one day if you don't do it", Anakin said knowingly.
Obi-Wan bit the inside of his lips and averted his gaze. "I don't know, Anakin. What would you do if you were to choose between the order and Padme?"
"I would choose my family."
"What do you mean?", Obi-Wan asked confused.
"My family", Anakin repeated, "the people I care about. You, Ahsoka, Padme…"
"I see. But something still doesn't add up for me. Why didn't you tell me in the first place?", the jedi master looked at his former padawan again.
"Tell you what?"
"Your marriage, Anakin. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I didn't think you would understand. You always preached the jedi code."
"That's what I was supposed to do. The jedi council wouldn't have let me train you otherwise. But that didn't mean you couldn't confide in me."
"I just…", Anakins shoulders slumped, "I don't know why I did it, Obi-Wan. It bothered me for a long time."
His master nodded in thought. "It's okay. Just promise me, no more secrets between us?"
Anakin hesitated for a moment before he answered. "I promise."
"Thanks, Anakin."
Before they regrouped with the others, he stopped his friend again.
"Obi-Wan, you also have to promise me one thing", he said with a grin.
"What?", the man in question asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If you're asking her… I'm going to be your best man."
Obi-Wan let out a laugh. "We see about that, padawan mine."