Chapter Nine: Disgrace and Disbelief


"Unbelievable! That woman calls herself a Mandalorian?! Disgraceful! For generations our people have fought against the Jedi and then that - that bitch decides to make one of them a Watchman and - "

Bo-Katan has always been grateful for her helmet - it allowed her to roll her eyes at Pre Vizsla without him noticing. Standing around various members of her clan, she rocked her neck back and forth, flicking her gaze to the screens. The limited Holochannels they had access to had been up for the past two days - broadcasting the Council of Clans, the decisions made by her sister, the system decision to allow Obi-Wan to be Watchman.

The wind was howling outside, a sure sign that another storm was blowing in. They were supposed to be having a briefing meeting, something about running a job for the Pykes in exchange for much needed medical supplies and food storage, but it had turned into Vizsla shouting and swinging the Dark Saber around.

One of her cousins nudged her, then nodded towards the screen. She had to smile - on-screen was her sister Satine Kryze in all her glory, head low while she toured Sundari with a camera crew and one of the most influential reporters there. The tour of Sundari kicked off her tour of the system, if the rumors were true. It wasn't like her sister to dress casually in public, and today was no exception. Maroon appeared to be her color of choice lately, as she was wearing an ankle length maroon skirt with white flowers embroidered in it. She wore a simple white long sleeve, a rope of opals around her neck and strings in her ears. Two steps behind them was Obi-Wan Kenobi and Korkie, both dressed in varying shades of tan, blue, and white.

It was a little jolting to realize Obi-Wan had his lightsaber clipped to his belt, in full view and in violation of Sundari's no weapons policy. It was even more jolting to realize Korkie had a blaster holster on his hip.

"Korkie seems like a nice kid," Bo murmured. She barely remembered him - the last time she had seen him, he had been a toddler arguing with anyone who tried to make him follow the rules

Pre Vizsla was still stalking around the tent, yelling and now swinging the Dark Saber around. "She is violating treaties that are over a century old! The Mandalorians and the Jedi agreed to only trade, not fuck each other!"

Bo raised her eyebrows when the screen zoomed in on her sister, then smirked. "Hey boss!"

"What Kryze?"

"I think the Duchess is wearing an engagement ring."


"Well...only forty-three more planets to visit." Korkie collasped into a chair when they reached the dining room of the Coronet, grimacing after a long day of touring the major cities of Kalelava.

Satine gave a hum of sympathy, sitting down beside him and running a hand through his hair. "Well - thirty-one planets and twelve moons. And we're not staying all day on every one."

"I take it we're not heading to Concordia?" Obi-Wan asked, sliding into a seat across from them. It was strange, to be sitting at this table again, staring out the window and watching the landscape of Kalelava dissappear. Last time they had been on this ship, they had been struggling with their feelings and wondering what the future would bring - while trying to kill spider droids and finding out Tal Merrick was a traitor.

He certainly had never predicted it would turn out like this.

Satine gave him a wry smile, though her gaze was sad. "No. I extended the offer, though all I received was a - not quite a death threat."

"What was it?" Korkie asked, raising his head when the doors opened and servant droids came in bearing platters of food. He seemed much less interested in her answer while the platters were set down.

"Nothing you need to hear, Korkie." Satine shook her head when one of the droids offered some wine, taking instead the pitcher of water that Obi-Wan passed her.

Korkie stopped spooning casserole into his bowl and glanced between them. He frowned at the pitcher of water, then at his aunt's hand before shaking his head and tucking into his food.

Obi-Wan glanced at Satine, who shrugged and began to eat quietly. Withholding a sigh, he took one of the bowls of fruit and began to eat that. Mandalorian fruit had always had a slightly spicy taste to it, and he had found over the past few years he had come to enjoy it tremendously.

It was almost too quiet in the dining chamber. Tense wasn't the right word, but it was certainly uncomfortable. He found himself longing for the noise of a mess hall, or at the very least the boisterous atmosphere of one of the Temple cafeterias.

He hadn't expected to miss the mundane parts of his Jedi lifestyle so much. Heck, some nights, even with Satine in his arms and the whispers of a stable future in front of them, he missed the roar of the battlefield, the sound of several hundred of his men laughing and joking at night, of Anakin sneaking away to comm Padme…

Finishing the fruit, Obi-Wan set the bowl aside and tugged the casserole towards him.

"May I be excused?"

Satine blinked, looking at her already standing nephew before nodding. "Sure - remember to do your homework before bed."

Korkie rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to object before she held up a hand.

"Just because you're my heir doesn't mean you are not still a student. If I get a single complaint that you're not submitting your assignments or listening in on lectures I'm sending you home. Am I understood?"

"Yes Auntie." Korkie looked at Obi-Wan, looking like he wanted to say something before leaning down and giving Satine a quick hug good-night. He left the dining room quickly, letting his shoulders drop when a pair of guards followed him down the hall.

Satine stared after him, worrying her lip. She closed her eyes, barely reacting when he reached across the table and put a hand over hers. One of his fingers gently rubbed across her engagement ring, which eventually caused a smile from her.

"You know he doesn't really like you?"

"Oh I'm aware." Obi-Wan let her hand go, leaning his elbows against the table. "I am rather used to it - I mean, there is probably an ex-Sith apprentice wanting my head on a spike right now."

"Obi."

"Tina, the galaxy will not end if he doesn't like me. He'll figure it out."

Satine fiddled with the sleeve of her white-long sleeve, staring at the table. "I think he's still angry about the whole Hardeen thing."

"Oh he's not the only one," Obi-Wan muttered. Half of his friends wouldn't even talk to him, and Anakin barely wanted to say anything no matter how many messages he sent. "But Tina...you cannot really blame him. I died, so to speak, and then you have a miscarriage and he has to rule a system? That can't be easy on anybody, especially a teenager."

The food on the table suddenly looked unappetizing. Grimacing, Obi-Wan stood and moved around the table. He held out his hand, trying to smile. "I think we have awhile before we have our own teenager."

She wiped at her eyes, giving a small laugh. "That's your answer to everything? Sex?"

"Well only if you agree." Obi-Wan furrowed his brow when she didn't move, then pulled out the chair Korkie had recently vacated and sat down. He knew things had been tense ever since he came back from his mission, but he thought maybe it was starting to calm between them... "Hey...what's wrong?"

Satine shrugged, covering his hand when he put one on her knee. "Just...I want to say it's nothing. I really want to say that." She traced his knuckles, feeling all the little scars on the skin, the keloids and burn marks and haphazard stitches. There had to be parts of him that had no feeling anymore, the nerve endings unable to work. It was strange, how she had never asked him that. "Are we moving too fast?"

"Do you think we are?"

"Ben. No cryptic questions, please. "

Obi-Wan raised her hand to his lips, turning her palm over and kissing the inside of her wrist. "It wasn't a cryptic question. I've pined for you for more than a decade. I can wait a decade more before you are ready - for marriage, for kids, even if you want me to resign from being watchman."

"Oh the tabloids would love that. My ratings would plummet." Satine used her free hand to pick at one of embroidered flowers on her skirt. "It's just a lot Ben - all of this."

"We don't have to get married right away. We can have a long engagement."

"And have angry Mandalorians busting our doors down because I'm unmarried and fucking a Jedi?

"Were people as angry when you were engaged to Bel?" Obi-Wan asked softly, running his fingers over her knuckles. He sighed when she shook her head, leaning forward to press a kiss to her brow. Keeping their brows together, he whispered, "Wedding planning takes awhile Tina. What, six months for people in our position?"

Satine snorted, moving to lean her head against his shoulder. "You're so cute."

"I am?"

"It's probably closer to a year - we could maybe do it in ten months. Maybe. That is if I don't get pregnant before then."

"Is that a challenge?" Obi-Wan laughed when she shoved his shoulder and sat back in his chair with an amused shake of her head. He glanced down at himself, a little unfamiliar with the bright colors before pushing the thought aside. "Hypothetically, if you were even a few months pregnant at the time of our wedding, would it be such a big deal? It's a little ridiculous to think that people believe we've never had sex."

Satine glanced away, blinking back tears. "I'm so tempted to just elope. I don't wanna deal with a wedding - I've already planned one wedding then he died."

"It's not a bad idea."

"What?"

"Eloping. We should do it."


"You still want Anakin on the Council, don't you?"

Mace rolled his eyes affectionately at the Hologram of his old padawan. The final meeting regarding the Siege on Onderon had just finished, and everyone had walked away or disconnected.

To his knowledge, the cruiser to Onderon was launching to hyperspace in two hours, which gave Anakin just enough time to leave on a transport with the 501st and make it on board.

Only Depa had stayed connected, waiting until Master Yoda had left before speaking.

He gave a heavy sigh, folding his arms over his chest. "...we lost Kenobi and Gallia in the span of two months."

"Obi-Wan's still alive," Depa pointed out. She had to snort at his expression before allowing a flash of grief to cross her face. "I never imagined Adi to pass... she's always been like a mother to me. To everyone."

"...yeah. I've had an uptick of crying Jedi masters in my quarters lately."

"Well you are everyone's grumpy father."

"I will disconnect you." Mace had to smile at her smirk, rubbing at his bald head. He glanced around the command room, remembering when this space was used to project planet systems and senior padawans would study in here.

"Stass agreed to take Adi's place," he murmured, referring to the cousin of deceased master. "But...yes, I do want Skywalker on the Council. Imagine the change he'd bring."

"And you used to bitch about how annoying he was."

Mace grimaced, thinking of his younger self, not realizing how strange it must have been for Anakin, how traumatizing it had been for a young kid. Even the kid's interest in plays and musicals hadn't always been enough to keep Anakin happy and calm.

No wonder Anakin had always clung to Aayla Secura so much, even more than Obi-Wan Kenobi at times.

Those two shared more similarities than anyone cares to admit. The friendship between Obi-Wan and Quinlan was strong enough - the relationship between Anakin and Aayla had always been stronger.

"Did you know Anakin's primary language is still Huttese? And he's also fluent in the verbal form of Ryl?"

Mace blinked, then furrowed his brow. "It sounds familiar...why?"

Depa shrugged, glancing somewhere beyond his line of vision. "We ran into some people that spoke Ryl and Huttese. Caleb managed to translate enough - guess he took a few of Anakin's classes."

"Anakin teaches mechanics and engineering classes."

"From what Caleb told me, Anakin has days where he only speaks a certain language or has instructions in something other than Aurebesh. Something about if you're on a planet and need to fix something, you need to know what to say to the locals if you need help."

Mace hummed, then smiled when he spotted Caleb walking past the Holo, completely unawares of the conversation. He thought about what his former padawan said, even once she nodded a goodbye and disconnected.

With the command room in darkness, Mace leaned against the table and frowned. That's why he wanted Anakin on the Council. Because the man was an oddity, someone that tried so hard to be a good Jedi, who didn't realize he was already good enough.

Anakin reminds me of… me.


Author's note: okay, thank God I have my fanfiction and the new clone wars season during this quaritine, or else I'd go more bonkers than I already am. At least I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home - I know not everyone is, and several million people are less fortunate than me.

So let's stay inside, cry over canon Obi-Wan, and then yell at fanon Obi-Wan for proposing to elope with his Mandalorian girlfriend after being officially engaged for two days.

as rainingsun2811 said "Anakin had to get it from somewhere!"

Stay safe and healthy guys.

ii DIgestive Reader ii