Title: A New Order

Author: Jedikma

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, it was a fun one to write.

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Chapter 8

Obi-Wan and Siri did quickly settle into their relationship. Obi-Wan asked her more than once if she thought they should make the union official, but Siri just brushed the idea aside, not giving any specific reason. Obi-Wan didn't pursue it because he didn't want to push her and because so many other things filled up their time.

He did manage to convince Siri to move into the quarters next to his. Though they each had their own set of rooms, they spent most of their time together, when they weren't away on missions, and almost always slept in the same sleep couch.

Obi-Wan happily embraced their nights together. He imagined they were like any other couple. They created their own sanctuary against all others in the galaxy in that private room. They built memories, shared dreams and deepened the bond between them. He had no doubt that his devotion to her was as strong as his devotion to the Jedi. During each of her pregnancies they reveled in the new life and wondered what the child would look like and what future accomplishments that child might have.

But now the time had come to take a closer look at their lives and the way they were living them. The Council's request came from outside pressure. Did it make it right that they should bend to someone else's beliefs?

And what about Siri? Was her only hesitation that there was no tradition for Jedi in their position and that she resented outsiders scrutinizing her life or was there possibly more? Obi-Wan wondered if he was missing something and perhaps he was standing too close to the woman he loved. He needed to talk to someone who knew her well.

He hoped the hour wasn't too early as he rang the chime of his fellow Council member, but he didn't have long to wait until Adi Gallia answered her door.

Though she was dressed in her nightclothes and robe, she appeared as though she was not surprised to see him. "Come in, Obi-Wan," she said as she motioned him through the door.

"You were expecting me?" he asked puzzled.

"I had a feeling you might come to see me, especially after yesterday in Council discussion. I knew when you asked what your options were regarding your relationship with Siri that something was bothering you. Add that to the fact that the two of you have not made a sanctioned union, but seem to have an official relationship for the last five years. Well, let's just say I knew something just wasn't right and you would probably come to me asking questions. I am, after all, Siri's former Master and the person who knows her best, after you."

"Adi, I don't even know if my concerns are valid. I just know that Siri has it in her head that the way we exist is just fine and that we don't need to make it official. In many ways I agree with her, but Siri is an intelligent woman and while her argument against doing anything revolves around the fact that there is no tradition, she is not making the next logical step. Now that attachment is no longer forbidden, and there is no old tradition to fall back on, new tradition can be created."

While taking in Obi-Wan's words, Adi ushered him into her kitchen area and invited him to sit down. She then proceeded to get out cups and saucers and place them on the table. "Would you like caf or tea, Obi-Wan?" she asked.

"Caf, please. And make it strong. The day is just beginning and I have a feeling I'm going to need it." Obi-Wan smiled.

As Adi began the brewing process, she asked, "You're wondering if there is something else behind Siri's reasons for not getting married?"

"Has she ever come to talk to you about it, Adi?"

Adi sat down across from him and folded her hands together. "No she has not. But perhaps, together we can come up with some ideas as to what might be going on in her mind."

Obi-Wan smiled. "At least you're optimistic."

Adi laughed, "I love Siri dearly, but she can get her mind on an idea and be very stubborn about changing it. For all that she wants to be independent and even rebellious at times, she doesn't see that her tenacity to some ideas can be a detriment to her."

"Adi, both of us have lived for so long with the code dictating attachment is forbidden that, even I have to admit, it somehow feels wrong to make the formal commitment, although from a certain point of view we are already very attached to each other. Can it be that she simply feels she is abandoning her Jedi roots by making it official?"

Adi got up to get the caf and poured some for Obi-Wan and herself. She sat the carafe on the table between them. She sweetened her own beverage and then offered the sweetener to Obi-Wan. He put up his hand in refusal.

Adi thought carefully about what Obi-Wan had proposed. "Yet she knows she is already attached to you. She justifies the relationship in some way." Adi paused and took a sip of her drink. "I have to admit, I have thought it curious that Siri has so readily embraced having children. I don't mean to sound negative, but I have never thought of Siri as the motherly type."

Obi-Wan looked directly at her and Master Yoda's words flashed through his mind. Need the children, we do. He sighed heavily as understanding dawned. "You're saying that you think she feels she is doing a duty as a Jedi, by having the children?"

Adi looked at him with concern. "Before you judge her too harshly about that, Obi-Wan, I want you to remember how Siri reacted after she came back from the war. I observed her as she watched with horror when you told her of the losses the Jedi had incurred. One by one you listed off the dead and one by one she swallowed her grief as she realized the largest generation that had suffered was her own. Not one of your agemates and friends returned. I watched her push back her grief, but I never knew if she released it into the Force. When she started having the children and you named them after your friends, I had to wonder if in some way she was trying to compensate for being the one that survived."

Tears welled up in Obi-Wan's eyes and he nodded in understanding. "Perhaps we are both a little guilty of that," he said. "Do you think we were wrong to have the children for that reason?"

Adi's demeanor softened. "No, I don't. For the first time in a very long time Siri had a sense of purpose that fulfilled her. She was happy and driven. She has worked hard and accomplished much. She is a Jedi and she has followed her beliefs as a Jedi with a renewed sense of purpose. The children are healthy and happy and well taken care of."

Obi-Wan wrapped his hands around his cup and sighed. "Perhaps it simply isn't in Siri to openly make a commitment to marriage. I will not ask her to do something she is not comfortable with and I will not have her make a compromise for something she doesn't believe in."

"But what about you Obi-Wan? I don't think for a moment she will allow you to step down from the Council. She believes in your position there as much as she believes in her own role as a Jedi. I think she would make the compromise for that."

"No, Adi. I will not allow her to make that kind of compromise. If she is to make a formal commitment to me than she needs to do it for a reason she believes in, not one she is making a compromise for. Our marriage needs a sense of purpose just like our lives as Jedi revolve around a life of service. I just don't know what that is, yet."

"Some might argue that purpose is to have children."

"I could be wrong, but the odds are that we have had all the children we will have. We could live a quiet life as we have been and never marry and no one outside the Temple would know and no one inside the Temple would care. I don't believe ether of us feels that we need to affirm our relationship in front of a crowd to make it true."

"Nothing happens by chance through the Force, Obi-Wan. You and Siri have loved each other for many years. Odd, that of all your friends, she is the one that survived. The two of you are at the age in which you bridge the old and the new. But you are also at the stubborn age in which you are set in your ways. I have to wonder if the Force has used your past to pull you two together and in doing so has caused you to create something that will force you both to finally shed that past and look to the future."

Obi-Wan gave Adi a curious look. "The Council has long expected us to become a couple. No one was surprised the morning after we consummated our relationship. I suspected then you were all happy about it."

Adi smiled. "I certainly have known that you and Siri had entertained deep feelings for each other for years, feelings that began when you were still padawans. I watched you struggle with them and successfully manage them as you dedicated yourselves to being Jedi. I have also watched as you made the relationship more intimate and yet still put your duty as Jedi first. You know first hand what it means to be a Jedi and in a committed personal relationship. Now that attachment is no longer forbidden, as the Council we need to adopt guidelines for this new existence, but we cannot make rules for an existence we are not entirely familiar with."

Obi-Wan's eyes went wide at the realization. "You expect Siri and me to pave the way on this?"

"You two make the best candidates for such an endeavor, but just as you must have a sense of purpose for a formal union, you must have the calling to take this mission to task. Any knights that choose to become bonded are going to face special problems and we would be remiss in our duties as a Council not to be prepared for these issues. Now that many planets are finally adopting treaties of peace across the galaxy and our workload is lessening, it is time to deal with issues closer to home. Setting up these guidelines and preparing for the future marriages of our knights is something we now need to address."

"I'm not sure I can be responsible for such a task, Adi. And I certainly don't dare speak for Siri on this point."

"This isn't something that will happen overnight, Obi-Wan, but over time. Nor will it be your sole focus. It will start gradually and I have no doubt that the next appointment to the Council will be someone also married to help with this issue. Our young are as anxious to embrace attachment as much as you and Siri are hesitant about it, but it is not a blessing that should be handed out lightly. Like knighthood, it should require some preparation."

Obi-Wan let out a heavy sigh.

Adi reached over and placed her hand on top of his. "If it is meant to happen Obi-Wan, I have no doubt the Force will show you the way. The Force always has a way of dragging the most reluctant into doing its will."