Obi-Wan sensed Cody before he stepped into the room.
His ability to meditate in distracting environments was better than most Jedi. When he was a Padawan, Master Qui-Gon instilled the importance of mastering the art of deep concentration.
It will come in handy someday, his Master said when his younger self whined that he spent more time meditating than training with his lightsaber.
Now, Obi-Wan enjoyed being able to sit quietly with the Force whilst the hanger buzzed with activity.
Engineers were busy making necessary repairs following the last battle, a handful of shinies were watching in awe of the pilots' training session, and a pair of veterans were joking about some long-ago mission as they sipped caf in a quiet corner.
Somewhere amongst the midst of clones and machinery, Cody was headed in his direction.
Obi-Wan took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.
His Commander was apprehensive, his mood somewhere between exasperated and nervous, which was unusual for the Marshal Commander. The moment he came to a stop in front of Obi-Wan, the Jedi opened his eyes.
"What is it, Cody?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir."
It was an unwritten rule that only Cody could interrupt his meditation sessions, and he tended to only do so in emergencies.
There was no emergency on the cruiser. Obi-Wan had already scanned every lifeform on board when he first felt Cody's concern. Nobody was injured or dying.
"Captain Rex just commed." Cody continued, shifting on his feet.
That was an uncommon nervous trait amongst clones, as their training insisted they remain stationary when speaking to a superior officer. Perhaps Cody only did it because he and Obi-Wan had dropped those types of formalities a while ago.
"Their mission on Abafar was a success, but General Skywalker was gravely injured in the final firefight."
That made Obi-Wan raise his eyebrows. He reached across the bond for his brother, stretching until he found the strong shield that Anakin had pulled around himself.
He really needed to stop doing that. The first time Obi-Wan encountered it, he almost had a heart attack.
"What's his condition?"
"The medics have stabilised him, but he lost a lot of blood." Cody shrugged, "Business as usual for General Skywalker."
Obi-Wan huffed a laugh. He agreed with Cody- his former Padawan was the most injury-prone Jedi in the Order (thanks to his chronic hero complex). Master Che practically had a bed with his name on it.
There was something else. Cody had never brought this news to him before. Captain Rex usually called Obi-Wan personally. The Jedi stood up and marveled at the stiffness of his spine. He must've been meditating for several hours.
"Rex is worried about Commander Tano," Cody said without Obi-Wan needing to press. "She... was resistant to the medics when they tried to examine Skywalker. I think you need to make a detour to the Resolute, sir."
Obi-Wan swallowed the urge to sigh. That girl was just as stubborn as her Master.
As a new Knight, Obi-Wan had been troubled by his feelings often.
He wasn't able to completely mourn for his dead Master whilst he had a wayward Padawan on his hands, and Anakin came to him with boatloads of trauma that Obi-Wan could never hope to understand.
Tantrums and headaches from screaming matches were constant at the beginning of their partnership.
Over the years, he had learned to harness his emotions better. When others antagonised him, Obi-Wan preferred to walk away and let those feelings leave on their own.
It had done his blood pressure wonders to simply just release these types of emotions into the Force, rather than let them linger.
This was a rare occasion that Obi-Wan would need to act on his anger.
Obi-Wan had never taken on the responsibility of scolding Ahsoka before. As cruel as it sounded, he enjoyed watching Anakin run around after the little troublemaker if only to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Obi-Wan was there to guide Ahsoka, to be a stable adult figure who wasn't as erratic as her Master. He believed he was making an impact on the girl, as she preferred tea over caf and was beginning to appreciate the classical arts.
She was still Anakin's shadow, but her bond with her Grandmaster was strong.
The discussion he would be having with her later would test that bond.
If Ahsoka held an ounce of respect for him, she would burst into an apology the moment she saw him and agree that her actions were out of line.
If she didn't take so quickly to the scolding, she might just see how stern he could be.
The Togruta Padawan had made a lot of careless decisions in her Apprenticeship before. Obi-Wan had always left Anakin to discipline her, but now the Knight was sedated until the Resolute returned to Coruscant.
The girl had become his responsibility until Anakin was back on his feet, and so, he was the one who would need to discipline her.
From what Cody had told him, Ahsoka had been the only one with Anakin when he was injured. Her Master had pushed her aside when the land mine exploded, almost losing a leg in the process.
The Marshal Commander had briefly mentioned that neither Jedi would've been in this scenario if Ahsoka hadn't disobeyed orders and forced Anakin to abandon his post to stop her from getting herself killed.
By the time the medics arrived (led to the duo only by Ahsoka's screams), the Padawan was glued to her heavily bleeding Master and became almost primal. She growled at anyone who tried to get close, even Captain Rex who she knew meant no harm.
When the medics realised that time was running out to save Anakin, they moved in with force. Rex grabbed her from behind and Kix from the front.
The clone medic was now missing a chunk of flesh from the back of his hand- courtesy of a set of teeth designed to break through the skin of akuls.
To say that Obi-Wan was furious would be an understatement.
Deep down, he knew that Ahsoka couldn't have been thinking with a straight head. They weren't just called Padawans for nothing. Ahsoka was still learning how to handle her amplified emotions. She always had a hard time focusing when Anakin was injured.
But this was beyond excusable.
Ahsoka had disobeyed orders in the past, and every time Obi-Wan thought the Council gave her a fitting punishment, it seemed to have no effect. Time and time again, she had put the mission at risk, and this time, nearly got Anakin killed as a consequence.
Attacking Kix was just the icing on the cake.
"I will be speaking with her, Kix," Obi-Wan said, his eyes flitting between Anakin's unconscious body on the medcot, and the bacta dressing on the back of the medic's hand. "I can assure you that this will not happen again."
"She's only a kid, sir," the medic tried, "She didn't mean any harm."
Obi-Wan should've remembered that the clones in the 501st thought of Ahsoka as their vod'ika, their little sister.
"Child or not, she should know better."
Obi-Wan found the Padawan in one of the less traveled corridors of the Resolute, pacing with her hands clenched into fists at her sides. The Force swirled with her distress, so thick that the underlying guilt for what she had done was not even visible.
Her faithful Captain was there too. Rex stood at parade rest, keeping spectators away and also blocking a potential exit.
Good man.
He exchanged a nod with Obi-Wan when he spotted him, deciding it wasn't the situation for a salute.
Ahsoka hadn't noticed him yet and continued to pace. On any other occasion, Obi-Wan would be tucking her under his arm and assuring her that Anakin would be alright.
He couldn't do that yet.
"Ahsoka."
Her name, only spoken quietly, had the girl swivelling around. Her eyes swelled at the sight of her Grandmaster.
"Master Kenobi," she stepped forwards, then hesitated. "Why are you here?"
"Intuition." He lied, not wanting to call Rex out as a snitch whilst Ahsoka was still in this frantic state. There was no telling how she would react. "A Master always knows when their student is hurt."
He took a moment to observe her. Ahsoka's lekku were grey with dirt, she was hesitant to put weight on her left leg and her posture was slouched. The bags under her eyes told him that she was exhausted.
He glanced at Rex, noticing Ahsoka's lightsabers were secured to the man's belt. "How long did the battle last?"
"About eight hours, General."
Obi-Wan tried not to wince. That must've been relentless. Clones could go on for days at a time, but Jedi couldn't- especially Padawans.
When Anakin first became his Padawan and displayed some less-than-acceptable behaviour, Obi-Wan tried reading parenting books. He learned that hunger, exhaustion, pain, and anxiety were common triggers of out-of-character behaviours.
Obi-Wan expected a combination of those things had caused Ahsoka to get into such a state.
Some of his anger melted into concern. He wanted to wrap the girl in a blanket and tell her that everything would be okay.
Obi-Wan knew that he would only be excusing her actions. He would ensure that her needs were met, but discipline was still due.
She would know, by the end of the day, that she can never act like that again.
"There was so much blood," He strained to hear Ahsoka as tears choked her voice. She was staring at the floor, tension rigid in her frame. "It was pouring out of him, it was everywhere."
Obi-Wan only then noticed the stains on her clothes. The burgundy was deeper in certain areas- her hands darker than the rest of her skin.
"Let's go and get cleaned up, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan suggested, lightly at first.
Her brow immediately furrowed, "I'm not leaving until I see him."
Next to him, Rex sucked in a breath.
"We can visit him later, little one." Obi-Wan stepped forwards, gesturing with his arm for her to come closer.
She drew back, "No."
His patience was quickly thinning.
"I'm not asking, Ahsoka."
She heard the shift in his tone and still didn't change her mind. Obi-Wan's frown deepened as the youngling crossed her arms over her chest.
She was choosing defiance.
Ahsoka had no issues resisting Anakin's orders, but she had never disobeyed her Grandmaster before.
"I'll call if there are any changes, Commander," Rex spoke up, attempting to reason.
Ahsoka turned away from the Captain, rolling her eyes.
That made Obi-Wan snap.
"Don't let me ever see you roll your eyes at your Captain again, Padawan!"
Ahsoka and Rex flinched, caught off guard by his sudden scolding. Obi-Wan forced himself to take a deep breath. He didn't enjoy losing his cool like that. It made him feel like a sorry excuse of a Jedi Master.
Obi-Wan mirrored the rebellious teen's posture, crossing his arms over his chest. She might be able to walk over Anakin, but he refused to allow her to dishonour Rex like that.
He was the man who had her back in every battle, the soldier who would lay down his life for her in a heartbeat, the friend who would stick by her through thick and thin.
It made Obi-Wan feel unwell to witness such an obvious sign of disrespect.
"My patience with you is incredibly thin right now," He warned, "I can't treat you like an adult if you insist on acting like a child. What will it be, Ahsoka?"
The tension was as taught as a bow. He could practically see the cogs turning in Ahsoka's mind, weighing the pros and the cons. There was no adrenaline now- whatever decision she made would be true to how she really felt.
Her eyes lifted to meet his, and Obi-Wan relaxed, anticipating her giving in.
Ahsoka's top lip lifted, and her sharp canine teeth gleamed at him.
He was fooled.
Obi-Wan's hand shot out, grabbing above Ahsoka's collarbone before she could react. He immediately found the brachial plexus and applied pressure, rendering the girl useless to breaking his hold.
Ahsoka squealed, attempting to squirm away, but Obi-Wan pinched harder.
He hadn't had to do this since Anakin was a Padawan.
Qui-Gon used to do it to him when he was young. The pain was hot and sharp but quickly eased as soon as pressure was removed. She would be sore, but it couldn't injure her.
It worked on any stubborn child.
"I see you've made your decision," Obi-Wan said, pulling the girl around to lead her toward her quarters. "I'll take it from here, Captain."