ANNOUNCEMENTS: My friend and sometimes beta, the wonderful Nauze, is doing a series of podcasts interviewing Fanfiction authors (Bruno Campos or Youtube then enter /channel/UCjy_nctirAkv6k3qgfQpO_A). I will be next and I wondered if any of you would be interested in being able to view/contact me on other social networks? Namely Discord and Instagram. You would be seeing my real name as my art is linked to me directly, also images of my cat and puppies.
Thank you, Sectumus!
WARNING: This chapter is chaotic and trippy, anything you didn't get is going to be explained to a very insensed Jango Fett next chapter :D
Chapter 18 - The Ocean
He knew that together, the three of them could take Palpatine without using the Force. But Obi-Wan had opened the door, and there was no shutting it.
Nal Hutta was like the upside down of Coruscant. Obi-Wan didn't know how else to describe it, because it was so much worse than the underground of Coruscant. It was slums on the skirts of buildings whose wealth was as atrocious as their designs.
Hutts had a love of wealthy and beautiful things, but seemed to take delight in soiling everything they touched.
"There," Maul said, coming to a halt.
Obi-Wan flattened himself to the alley wall, peeking around the corner as Maul stayed still on his otherside, able to use the Force to see without looking.
Cad Bane was indeed leading a group of three humans: a man who flinched anytime Bane shoved him, a woman who looked like she was calculating whether it was worth ripping Cad Bane's arms off, and another man who kept his head down.
Obi-Wan pulled back to look at Maul. "They stole people from your boss?"
"They are scientists," Maul huffed.
"For what?" Obi-Wan pushed.
"Does it matter?" Maul grumped. Force, was he young.
"Yes," Obi-Wan said.
Maul growled, then proved how young he was by answering, "Kyber crystal researchers."
Obi-Wan was glad for his helmet, because he couldn't keep the shock off his face. He wasn't sure how that would tie back to Palpatine in a way he could destroy his reputation with, but it was a good thing to catch nevertheless.
He wasn't even against that type of research, except if the research was being done by private interests or governments, it would inevitably be used for weapons development. Even the Jedi Order limited the research they did in case their secrets were ever breached.
There were stones like Kyber that had been used to defend against lightsabers, and really, there was only one thing that could be used.
There just weren't enough Sith in the galaxy for lightsabers to be anything but a very specific set of circumstances.
"I will take out Bane and you will protect the marks."
Obi-Wan caught Maul's wrist before he moved. "Why trust me?"
Maul stared at him, gold eyes bright with agitation. Then he said something more revealing than the young Zabrak probably realized. "I am not… skilled with people. If you betray me, I will simply kill you."
Obi-Wan wanted to ask if this was the first time Palpatine had let him be around other sentients, or his first solo mission. But he knew better than to mess with a Dark Sider's pride if his intention was not to enrage them.
So he simply nodded. "I understand."
Maul glared at him. "Keep them alive."
Then the Sith Apprentice disappeared.
Obi-Wan took a deep breath and followed after him.
Darth Sidious, otherwise known as Senator Palpatine, had finally been granted permission by his Master, Darth Plagueis who went by Hego Damask, to allow his own apprentice a test drive.
Maul had never been allowed to leave Mustafar since Sidious had brought him there to be raised by a droid. His destiny was not to become a Sith, merely a Sith Assassin, which would be the only type of Apprentice he planned to have. Unlike his naive 'Master', Sidious would never raise his own equal or replacement.
No, as his Master slaved away at unlocking the secrets of immortality, Sidious was able to focus on taking over the galaxy.
Which had become a nightmare when every plan the Sith had ever had crumbled to pieces when the Jedi scattered and began serving both outside the Republic and within the Senate.
If it was just that, if the Jedi had descended into their incompetency as they had been doing for the last thousand years, it would have been fine. If anything, it would have made the Jedi Order more vulnerable, easier to pick off.
But no, the Jedi Order had been making 'positive' change in the galaxy and had begun taking out friends of the Sith with surprising competence. With Mace Karking Windu—who he and Plagueis assumed was a traditionalist—speaking his own mind and controlling the flow of information of the Order's business to the Senate. Not to mention the public school they had created on Coruscant.
Suffice to say that the Legendary Mysterious Magical Jedi were now spoken in the same breath with the humanitarians of Alderaan. Alderaan had, in fact, gained spectacular power. Before, as a pacifist system, there had been a limit to Alderaan's aid. But with the Jedi Knights and the Corps supporting them, the galaxy was undoubtedly changing.
Senator Bail Organa and Senator Mace Windu were the two most popular and well-known Senators in recent history. Organa had even been tapped as Chancellor.
Sidious wanted to kill him, wanted to kill them all. However, that would have made them martyrs.
Not that it was impossible to defeat them, far from it, though unfortunately it meant converting more Force-sensitives on their side.
So wasn't it fortunate that his apprentice had found one of the most powerful Force-sensitives Sidious had ever encountered outside the Jedi Order? In addition to the boy's power, the little Mandalorian radiated anger, fear, and pain.
Truly, the chances of finding a Mandalorian this young was an abnormality. He only knew that the boy was young because he had been following them for three days now and saw him remove his helmet.
He was caught between watching Maul struggle against Cad Bane and following the Mandalorian lead the scientist Galen Erso and two of his team to safety.
Which was fortunate, because moments later, when Cad Bane was frustratingly kicking Maul around, the Mandalorian boy returned. Sidious was so curious that he didn't care what had happened to Erso. There were other scientists in the galaxy.
Powerful apprentices already embedded in the Dark without ties to the Jedi were far rarer. Sidious was growing more frustrated by the moment, as Bane tossed Maul about. He had trained his apprentice, and even at this age Maul could take on most Jedi Knights.
Regrettably, Bane was capable of taking on most Master Jedi. It still wasn't an excuse for Maul's lacklustre performance.
The fight changed, however, when Maul drew his saber and the Mandalorian jumped in to cover Maul's back. Within minutes, Bane was on the run, and Sidious's new apprentice was on the chase.
Master Mace Windu felt his heart rate rise as he began to see shatter points bloom before him like a chained explosion.
And that was through his shielding. He and his old padawan were shielding so hard they couldn't communicate through their bound, so they wouldn't expose themselves to the Sith.
Still, he watched the shatter points form as if he were moving through tunnels in a glacier. Whatever happened here tonight would change the course of history irrevocably.
So imagine his surprise when they finally found Obi-Wan and Jango Fett stopped them from helping.
Mace kept his voice low as he asked, "Is there a reason you are preventing us from helping?"
The Mandalorian's hostility radiated off of him. Jango Fett was possibly the most deadly man in the galaxy, Mace could only be thankful that they weren't enemies.
Even if they might wind up in a custody battle.
"He spotted us," Jango said, signalling a blue light that was so small Mace doubted he would have noticed it from the traffic moving overhead.
"The Sith?" Depa asked.
"No," Jaster said, "Obi-Wan. We need to get the civilians out of there."
Jango nodded. "Mace, Depa, you need to handle that. If the Sith figure out there are Jedi here, they may cut their losses, considering how long they have been hiding from your Order."
"There is just the boy," Depa protested, referring to the young Zabrak.
Jango shook his head. "Obi'ika said he was being followed. We need to find who is shadowing them first. So get the civilians out of the way."
Mace nodded. He and Depa had dressed in darker colours, so with their hoods up, they melted into the crowd even as they skirted rooftops.
Having lost sight of them amongst the ramshackle buildings, he didn't expect to find them as soon as they did.
As they turned the final corner, Mace almost ran into Obi-Wan. He put out a hand to steady the Padawan. His heart broke as he felt how ragged the boy's shields were, his aura radiating pain like a cut artery.
"Mace?" Obi-Wan asked, voice only slightly altered in the helmet. It had deepened from the eleven-year-old he had known.
"Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi," Mace answered, feeling Obi-Wan's shock.
But in the next moment, Obi-Wan tugged on the man behind him and shoved him toward them. "Master Windu, this is Galen Erso and his team, please take them to safety."
Erso was rigid and he sputtered, "Jedi?"
Why the man and his two team members were afraid of Jedi, Mace didn't know, and momentarily, didn't care.
"Go," Obi-Wan urged. "Don't get spotted."
Then he was gone.
Depa huffed a laugh. "I guess he missed us."
Mace rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's hurry so we can get back."
Several shatter points crumbled as he urged these people ahead.
He could only pray the Force was with them.
Obi-Wan tried not to think how funny it was that Mace Windu of all people was helping Jango Fett. Or how funny it was that he, Obi-Wan, was helping Darth Maul of all beings.
That was a relatively easy task, as he was focused on killing Cad Bane and praying his buir wasn't going to kick his sheb for all the secrets he had been keeping.
He didn't have a lot of hope for the latter.
Cad Bane was obnoxious, but with Maul at his side, Obi-Wan wasn't in the least afraid.
He was much more concerned about the cloaked shadow he had glimpsed following them over the last few days. Maul was on his side now, but he wouldn't be when Obi-Wan turned on the Dathomirian's Sith Master.
He was glad when his buir understood his subtle hand gesture to stay back, a message he had confirmed getting with the returned light signal.
Jango and/or Jaster had been wise enough to send Mace and Depa away.
Obi-Wan really didn't care if died today if he could take Palpatine down with him.
"You stupid children," Bane growled as his hat was blown off.
Maul activated his saber and Bane swore as he leaped back.
Obi-Wan fired the blaster he had stolen so that, when Bane dodged, he put himself closer to Maul.
Bane's eyes widened as he finally caught on to how outclassed he was.
Bane, in an amazing show of physicality, grabbed Maul's wrist and raised his foot to kick the blaster out of Obi-Wan's hand.
His mistake was not securing Maul's lightsaber, which Obi-Wan took the opportunity to catch. He rolled forward, his hand closing around the hilt, the red humming blade cut through Bane's side.
Bane exhaled a soundless scream as Obi-Wan brought the blade up through the spine, halving Bane's skull.
Obi-Wan stepped away from Maul as the Zabrak staggered back, panting.
They both came to attention as the shadow dropped down into the alley they had chased Bane into.
Palpatine's laugh raised the hair on the back of his neck.
"Good, good," Palpatine groaned. "You are very gifted, Child of Mandalore."
Obi-Wan didn't lower the red saber. He couldn't see the man's eyes, but he could see the cruel curl of his lips.
How in the hells did they ever trust this man?
Obi-Wan felt the Sith Master rip into his shields. Obi-Wan let him, opening himself to the Force for the first time in years, willingly and fully.
He then shoved the tsunami of visions and all the things he had been suppressing at Palpatine.
Dimly, Obi-Wan felt Qui-Gon down a long-neglected bond. He ignored that as sheer exhilaration ran through him. He had been so long without that he felt as if his very being was singing; a tuning rod for the Force.
It probably should have hurt.
It probably did.
But going without had hurt so much more. Swallowing his anger and every emotion of his own and from others he had collected over the years had been like drinking acid. He had felt like a tiny pound that had long gone stagnant, sickly and poisoned.
Undrinkable.
In a way, Obi-Wan felt as though he might be dying. A slow suffocation, like a fish in water that held no more oxygen. A slow descent into madness, he knew that; knew that he would either explode one day and have to be put down, or simply let himself be killed.
He knew that.
But by the stars, it felt so beautiful to breathe the Force again, to let go of every burden he had carried.
The Force greeted him like he was an old friend…
Or like a jealous lover, as he was slapped back by the Force and his physical body slammed against the ground and he brought him back to himself.
Palpatine was laughing. "Good, good."
Obi-Wan held onto the saber, felt it's pain, it's hurt, it's confusion.
This kyber had not chosen Maul, but it knew him intimately.
It bore not the pain of the Sith he had once known, but the pain of a boy without a friend in the world, and the only person he knew, whom he loved and hated, tortured him.
He knew nothing else, he wanted nothing else, because if he believed there was, his Master would end him.
The Force made life worth living.
It was then Obi-Wan realized that whatever hate Sidious had branded into Maul's psyche, he hadn't taught him to hate the Jedi yet, and if he had, it was too amorphous a concept to hold onto.
This Maul wanted to appease his Master more than he hated the Jedi.
Maul stared at them now, his eyes flicking between Palpatine, his Master and torturer, and Obi-Wan, who was a stranger, but one he had trusted to stand guard while he slept.
They weren't friends. In three nights and three days of tracking through the crime-owned streets of Nal Hutta, there hadn't been time to talk.
But they were allies, and Obi-Wan had not hurt or betrayed him.
He also wasn't seen as a Jedi.
Maul had no desire to kill him, but nevertheless, that's exactly what Palpatine asked of him.
"Kill him," Sidious commanded, tossing a short lightsaber that flashed gold under the traffic lights to Maul.
Maul snatched it from the air and ran at Obi-Wan without hesitation, eager to prove his skills.
Obi-Wan had instincts honed with four years of warfare and being trained by Jango Fett and Jaster Mereel.
But with the Force within him flowing through him?
Obi-Wan had never felt more like he was dancing than now. His limbs were light, his vision clear. He was unused to the weight of the lightsaber, swinging harder than he needed to, but he never was in danger of hurting himself with it, not with the Force singing to him in such sweet melodies.
Maul wasn't doing as well. He was clearly trained, but he wasn't as fast, and with Obi-Wan's shields blown all to hell, he was very loud in the Force.
It was likely distracting, and soon those gold eyes shone with panic and self-doubt.
So young, so misguided.
Maul swung his lightsaber for his head and Obi-Wan slammed his head forward.
Maul's saber skidded harmlessly against Obi-Wan's helmet and their foreheads connected with a harsh thunk. Beskar with Force-assisted strength wasn't an easy blow.
Maul yelped, falling back on his sheb. His lightsaber clattered on the packed ground as he brought his hands up to hold his head.
Obi-Wan had hit just under the front centre horn.
Horns that were adapted to take a great deal of force. But Zabrak faces didn't have similar adaptations, and it appeared that Obi-Wan had hit a pressure or sensitive point of some sort.
That, or Obi-Wan had underestimated his own strength.
"You can come with me, Maul," Obi-Wan offered. "You don't have to be his slave, you are free to be so much more."
Maul stared up at him with disbelieving gold eyes. "You aren't going to kill me?"
"No," Obi-Wan said, using his free hand to take off his helmet and let it drop to the dirt-caked street, so Maul could see his expression, his sincerity. "You are more than what he made you."
Maul just stared up at him, speechless and lost.
"He might not, but I will!"
Darth Sidious came at them with impossible speed. He had another saber in one hand, and summoned the one he'd given to Maul so he came down on his apprentice with two crimson blades.
Or he would have if Obi-Wan didn't Force shove Maul a few meters back and step to meet that strike.
Obi-Wan was no equal to the Sith Lord, but Palpatine wanted to play, and as long as Obi-Wan could wear him out even a little, Jango or Mace should be able to finish the job.
So Obi-Wan moved, and when he tired, he pulled on his anger, made the Force help. The Force snarled at him in distress, but Obi-Wan paid it no heed, not even when the Force rasped against his nerve endings.
It was as if he stood in a sandstorm and the tiny bits of glass and stone were skinning him alive.
He didn't care. If this could lead to Palpatine's demise, then his life would have been worth something.
Because for Obi-Wan, the Clone Wars had never ended.
How many of his brothers and sisters had died on Geonosis trying to save him?
How many clones had been sentenced to their doom by the Order?
How completely and utterly had he failed Anakin and Ahsoka?
No, Obi-Wan would see to Palpatine's demise.
For Qui-Gon and for Maul.
For his troops and for Anakin.
For Cody.
Yes, for Cody, Obi-Wan would end Darth Sidious, no matter the cost.
Palpatine cackled. "Yes! Yes! Give into your hate, your anger. Give into the Darkness and be freed by the Force."
Obi-Wan smiled and accepted that advice, the Force howling in his ears like a wicked wind upon a mountain top. He felt the Darkness rise and he beckoned it to him, despite knowing he was past his limit.
He drank the ocean anyway, until he was no longer flesh and blood, until the world around him began to be nothing more than darkness as he sank further below the waves, further and further from the light above him.
Dimly he heard Palpatine scream as Obi-Wan's final blow took the dar'jetii's arm off below the elbow.
It was enough.
It was enough.
He let go.
He didn't fight it as he drowned.
Because he didn't have to.
He could let go and the people he loved would go on.
It was okay because they would be alright now.
It was enough.
So he let go, of the pain and of the sorrow; of the desire to live.
He had had enough and he could rest now.
It was enough.
Karking hells.
Jango had never seen Obi-Wan—scratch that—anyone move that fast.
Jango could only stop and watch.
The strength of which he used to knock the Zabrak down with power that it should have been enough to crack his skull like an egg. Perhaps it might have if he had been human. Regardless, Jango knew he was hurt when the foundling didn't even try to get up. Which was smart, because between the dar'jetii's foundling and Jango's ad'ika, there was no comparison.
Jango and Jaster kicked their shebs into action, however, when Obi'ika foolishly removed his helmet.
What is he thinking!? Jango wanted to scream but he was busy pulling his weapons.
The two were forced to stop speaking, however, when Obi'ika engaged the older Sith in combat. Jango and Jaster closed in on the elder Sith, and so distracted by Obi-Wan he made no heed to his approaching death.
If he thought they were fast before, it was nothing to what he was seeing now. They twirled around each other like leaves caught in the wind.
They were talking, but Jango couldn't hear their voices over the rapid fire sound of lightsabers clashing together.
Not stealth weapons.
Then something odd happened. Obi-Wan should have been exhausted by now, he should be waning…
Instead, he was gaining speed and strength. The pleased face of the old man slipped, whose hood had fallen back to reveal orange hair turning white.
Then the man screamed in rage as his left hand was severed clean off, well, not just hand, but most of his forearm below the joint.
Then, with no apparent injury, Obi-Wan fainted.
"No!" Mace bellowed as he ran toward Obi'ika.
Jango and Jaster moved as one, years of fighting at each other's side so that neither of them had to guess what the other would do.
Jaster got hold of the old man's good hand, taking a harmless scrap from the saber on his helmet and shoulder plate as he snapped the man's wrist.
Jango jabbed the barrel of his blaster into the man's eye socket and pulled the trigger, several times over.
The body fell to the ground, smelling of burned flesh. His face, which Jango thought vaguely looked like some Senator from the Outer Rim, wasn't so much a face anymore as a whole with face-like pieces surrounding it.
Jango dropped to his knees as Jaster took guard.
The jetii was holding Obi-Wan, whose face was without pain, relaxed, perhaps even a bit beatific.
Obi'ika had nightmares every night.
It hit Jango, seeing him like this, how young his ad'ika truly was. His foundling was so competent in all that he did that it was a startling reminder how small he was still.
"What is wrong with him?" Jango ripped off his glove so he could find Obi-Wan's pulse.
Mace put his forehead to Obi'ika's. Tears ran down that dark face, landing on Obi'ika's fair cheeks. Mace's voice was pained as he squeezed his eyes tight, a few more tears escaping. "He let go."
"Let go of what?" Jango demanded.
Mace didn't answer immediately and Jaster put a hand on Jango's shoulder.
The jetii finally said, "Life. He let go of life. He's with the Force now."
"No," Jango growled. "He isn't injured, he still has a pulse!"
The jetii paused, then let out a long breath. "I will try speaking with him."
Jango snarled, but the jetii was already still, no longer rocking like he had been as he cradled Obi-Wan to him.
Jango slipped Obi'ika's glove off then threaded their fingers together. He could feel his ad'ika's heart beating. Weak as it was, it still beat. The muscle doing what it was supposed to be doing in trying to live.
He prayed to whatever magic existed in the galaxy that it would spare Obi-Wan.
"Come back," Jango pleaded quietly. "Please, ner ad'ika, come back."
Light-years away, Master Qui-Gon Jinn put a hand over his heart as a thread of a bound, a long dormant familiarity he hadn't felt in years spasmed to life, a fish man's line going taught.
The pain he felt was indescribable.
"Qui-Gon?" Tahl asked worriedly, placing a hand on his back.
A moment later, darkness such as he had never encountered before washed through him. His knees buckled as he let the pain go into the Force without breaking the thread that arched in agony so pure it was beyond his senses to translate.
He collapsed against the wall, his legs useless beneath him as Tahl helped him down to the cool stones.
"Qui-Gon!"
He couldn't breathe.
Tahl put a hand on his chest, leaning into his side. "It isn't you, Qui-Gon, it isn't you."
Qui-Gon sucked in a breath as an ocean of the Cosmic Force, driven by the Dark Side, flooded the Living Force.
The Living Force fed the Cosmic Force, that was the order of things. Foresight sometimes straddled between the two.
But this? This was like fitting infinity in a cup.
Infinity being the Force, the cup being the Jedi.
The Padawan.
Qui-Gon's Padawan.
"What is that?" Tahl asked.
He closed his eyes and followed the cord.
Between him and Xanatos the line had been severed years ago, there was no other.
He had no other Padawan.
Or did he?
He remembered the day in the archives when little Obi-Wan had run into his arms as he tried getting away from Xanatos. Qui-Gon had slammed his shields down, cutting his apprentice out.
Obi-Wan shouldn't have felt anything but the absence of a Master's Force signature. But the youngling had reacted as if it were a bond between them that Qui-Gon was cutting.
And unlike Xanatos, Obi-Wan had been touching Qui-Gon. Without intention, if they had shared a bond it could have survived.
Letting go of his need to breathe or swim, he let his body take care of itself as he delved into the Force, following that thinning thread of silver light leading him through the dark.
He had never seen someone fall to the Dark like this, to retain their light.
When he reached its end, he found Obi-Wan.
He had grown some since last Qui-Gon had seen him. He was lean, his cheekbones a bit too sharp, but he did have some muscle mass on him.
He wore a black suit like the underarmour of a Mandalorian's armour. He sat cross-legged and so very peaceful, it was impossible to believe or equivocate this child being the source of the pain and darkness Qui-Gon was sensing.
But as Qui-Gon watched, he saw Obi-Wan beginning to fade into the Force.
It was slow, so impossibly slow…
But he was dying, and at the rate at which it was happening, Qui-Gon had to wonder if he was physically dying or if…
Or if he had given up.
"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked as he approached.
Grey eyes open to look up at him, a world-weary smile curled his lips. "Hello, Master."
Qui-Gon knelt in front of him, glancing up at the ocean of darkness above them, pin-pricked by stars that he recognized as the Jedi scattered across the galaxy.
"They have a chance now."
Qui-Gon pulled his attention back to their lost Padawan. "What do you mean, a chance?"
Obi-Wan was looking up through the Force as well. "The Force showed me what would be. All the stars snuffed out because of our mistakes; my failings."
"What?"
Obi-Wan caught his gaze. "It's all right, Master. The future is always in motion, and it has moved on from that. I did my part."
Qui-Gon did not at all like the finality in that statement.
"You were missed, Padawan. All were happy to learn you survived." Some they hadn't informed yet, given that Obi-Wan was still officially missing in action.
"I don't matter."
"You do," Qui-Gon insisted.
"Not anymore," Obi-Wan said with dry humour.
Qui-Gon caught the boy's hand. "You do."
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at him. "I am no one, who belongs nowhere."
Qui-Gon snapped, "You are wrong."
The boy snorted. "It's my name."
"What is?"
"My name, Obi-Wan Kenobi, it literally means No One from Nowhere."
Qui-Gon blinked. "Oh… Mine means Cultivating Life Energy."
He wasn't at all sure why he said that, but he was glad he did, because it earned him a laugh and a touch of blue shone in the Padawan's eyes.
"Oh my," Obi-Wan said. "That's a bit on the nose. Your parents were wise."
"I suppose so," Qui-Gon said. "Are you coming home to us, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan squeezed his hand. "I'm returning to the Force, Master."
"No," Qui-Gon said again.
Obi-Wan's peaceful demeanour shifted in the blink of an eye as yanked his hand back and snarled, "Haven't I done enough? I have done everything you asked of me! I'm tired, Master." His voice caught, rage fading into broken desperation. "I'm so tired."
Qui-Gon refrained from telling him that he hadn't asked Obi-Wan to do anything, and said instead, "You have done more than enough, Padawan. Of course you must rest, but don't die. Don't give up on life."
Obi-Wan pushed to his feet, radiating anger. "I'm done! I've done my part."
Qui-Gon stood as well. "So now it is time to focus on you. The war is over, Obi-Wan."
He laughed. "I killed the Sith, I saved Mandalore, and I saved the Jedi—or, at least, I pushed you to save yourselves. I'm done, Qui-Gon Jinn. Sign me out and let me go. I let you go when the time came, you owe me."
Qui-Gon shook his head, and suddenly a second presence was there with them.
Obi-Wan groaned. "Go away. Just let me go."
Mace scowled at him. "You're breaking your father's heart."
Qui-Gon winced as his old friend went right for the guilt card. There were reasons Mace made a good politician.
Obi-Wan crossed his arms. "He's better off without me."
"None of us are," Qui-Gon and Mace said together.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "Please, just let me go."
"No," they said together.
"I hurt!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, finally yelling at them. "I'm done with this! I'm tired of trying to be someone! I'm tired of living! Don't you understand how alone I've been? What I've done for you!? I've killed for both Mandalore and the Order. I saw you both fall, and now that I know you will be alright without me, I want to move on. I'm not your soldier anymore. It is time for rest."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, tears falling down his cheeks. "I want the pain to stop, I don't want to hurt anymore. Please, I just don't want to hurt anymore."
Mace stepped forward. "Come home, Obi-Wan. You can rest, there is time to heal."
Obi-Wan motioned to the vision around them, a manifestation of the Force for human minds to process. An ocean ready to sweep Obi-Wan away from this life.
Qui-Gon's horror was growing larger by the moment. No one this young should feel this way.
Mace took another step forward. "Come back to us, Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan shook his head, stepping back. "It's over, Mace. I've fallen, the Order would never take me back as I am now."
"You're wrong," Mace said with heat.
Obi-Wan sighed, looking at Vaapad Master with an exasperated expression, as if Mace was being naive. "We were friends once, Mace. But you don't know me anymore."
Mace frowned, but extended his hand to Obi-Wan. "I've walked in light and shadow all my life. I can help you find the surface again, if you but give me a chance."
Obi-Wan didn't answer immediately, and when he did, he sounded so very sad. "I can't watch you all die again. I can't watch Mandalore make mistakes… I can't take the pain any longer. I am ready to let go, I've done my part."
"But you haven't lived your life," Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan snorted. "I've lived two, actually." He glanced up as the illusion of the deep sea undulated above them, threatening to fall on them like a guilitatine's blade. "You both need to leave or you might slip away with me."
Qui-Gon could feel his own stubbornness echoed in the Force as well as Mace's as they both stood firm.
Obi-Wan sighed audibly before telling them, "Get out of my head."
"I'm not letting you give up," Mace returned with surety. "You owe Feemor an apology, as well as Master Ali-Alann and Master Tholme. Quinlan kept your secrets, will you punish him for that? Your buir and your ba'buir are here with you, will you make them watch you die?"
Obi-Wan's lips thinned and his voice was tight when he said, "I gave everything I had to give. I betrayed them, I betrayed the Order, and I betrayed myself, as well as the Force. I crossed every line I vowed not to. Let me die with honour. Please, just let me go."
Mace crossed the space between them. Dropping to one knee, he took both Obi-Wan's hands in his. "Then let us take care of you. You don't have to try so hard, you don't have to give all yourself away. The Force is with you, Obi-Wan, it will forgive you, you will be forgiven by all those who love you."
"What I had, Mace," Obi-Wan sighed. "It was beautiful. I ruined it, and I don't regret doing what I had to do, but I don't want to live like this any longer."
Mace squeezed his hands. "Enlightenment is not a permanent state, it comes and goes with the tide. But the waves always return to shore, reclaiming the land it once possessed. Everything you had, everything you gave, everything you were, it is not lost, Padawan. I won't let you drown."
Obi-Wan shook his head. "I can't choose, Mace. I can't make that choice. I cannot be either Mandalorian and Jedi, I am both. I've lost so much of who I am, but that I know. My heart belongs to both my aliit and the Order. I would rather join the Force than say goodbye to one. It would be a half-life, and I am done breaking myself."
"I can promise you both," Mace said.
Obi-Wan huffed a laugh. "Liar."
He attempted to step back, but Mace held him firm.
"I swear it on my life," Mace said. "I will join your clan for the opportunity to lead you back to the light."
"Why?" Obi-Wan asked.
The ocean above them stirred, Qui-Gon looked up as the stars flickered out of view as the blackness brightened to midnight blue.
Neither Mace nor Obi-Wan noticed.
Mace cupped Obi-Wan's cheeks. "Because you are deserving, and because I love you, my Padawan."
It was a father's love for a child, but deeper.
It was difficult to put into words the nature of the bond between Master and apprentice. Older sibling, mentor… Words failed.
Mace had chosen Obi-Wan years ago, putting his trust and hopes into that future bond. Having it be ripped out from beneath him, without even the chance to ask or say goodbye, had broken Mace.
There was a vulnerability to taking on a new apprentice and there was no preparing anyone for the depth those relations could take.
Qui-Gon was close enough to see Obi-Wan's eyes turn blue as the ocean roared above them, cascading down on them, throwing all into chaos. The last thing Qui-Gon saw was Obi-Wan bowing his head and Mace wrapping himself protectively around the Padawan.
Qui-Gon came back to himself, Tahl cradling him in her lap.
"Shhh," she hushed him, rubbing circles on his back.
Only then did he realize he was crying. Exhaustion hit him like being hit by a turbo train. He let Tahl hold him as he relearned how to breathe and centre himself in a Force that felt so much smaller than it had before.
Yet more bearable.
"Is Obi-Wan alright?" Tahl asked.
"No," Qui-Gon answered honestly.
Even if Obi-Wan chose to live, it would be a long road to recovery.
AN: And so ends the first arch, told you Mace would make a comeback. Now you get Mace and Jango learning to co-parent together! Thoughts, iguanas, or feedback, pretty please?