Reviewers: Thank you, they mean a great deal to me and each and everyone makes this story worth sharing!
A Thousand Apologies: All the technology failures including having to rewrite parts of this chapter and re-edit :'(. Sorry for the extra mistakes and the time this took. But there it is a 100,000 words in a month and a few days. Will I slow down writing? Likely not, I have this thing plotted and I keep finding extra divots to explore. So no sign of stopping, I'm having far too much fun.
Chapter 15 - Poisoned Tea
Obi-Wan hoped Rey and Qui-Gon were enjoying their time here more than he was, they liked plants.
The Trandoshans were a stupid and aggressive. The only reason they ran was to go after profit, sacrificing their comrades without a qualm. He was happy that Rael and his team had been able to stop the money fueling this sickening venture.
Wookies were strong and occasionally aggressive, but that wasn't their nature.
He was sitting in a tree five days later, the group of Trandoshans almost within sight.
He felt Rey's bright presence in the Force before she landed on the branch.
"Obi-Wan!" she greeted with a smile, her hazel eyes sparkling.
Something relaxed in him when he saw that she was, in fact, fine, just as Qui-Gon had told him, repeatedly.
They hugged, and when they pulled back, he said, "I've missed you. Camping in the woods is lonely work."
She made herself comfortable, resting her staff across her lap, "I've missed you too, my travelling companions kept giving me crap about being a part of a cult."
"You ended up travelling with a group of Wookies?" he asked, looking at the smooth staff of metal. It had some patterning to it, but he couldn't think of where she would have acquired such an item on Kashyyyk.
"Oh, yeah, we found three younglings. We brought them back to their families in one of the settlements you passed through."
"You found that female's children? That's wonderful. Whose we? And what happened to your staff?" he looked her over, "Rey, where's your lightsaber?"
She grinned, "I gave it to the Mandalorians, and they made this staff out of Mandalorian iron, Beskar, for me. Apparently, it can withstand a lightsaber blade for a time."
Obi-Wan gaped at her, "Did you say Mandalorians?" There were Mandalorians on Kashyyyk! Leave it to Rey to find the most dangerous people on the planet. He had so many questions, how was she alive? Why had she been travelling with them? What the hell had she been thinking? But one thought stuck with him, "Wait did you say you gave Mandalorians your lightsaber?"
"Yes, and they made me this staff," she said, putting her hand on it fondly.
"Rey!" he exclaimed. The Council was going to demote them.
"What? Obi-Wan-"
Whatever she was about to say was put on hold as Qui-Gon called through the bonds, Be ready, Padawans.
Rey whistled, and she sent back through the bonds, The Mandalorians are with us.
What? came back Qui-Gon's confused response.
They saw Qui-Gon's green saber through the foliage as a dozen or more Trandoshans ran away from them. Rey ran to another tree, cutting them off from the South as she dropped. Her staff blazed to life as a dual bladed lightsaber with an iron core.
What in all the worlds? But he didn't have long to think on it as he dropped from his position, covering the West and from the North?
Five Mandalorians arrived guns blazing.
And pointed at the Trandoshans.
Obi-Wan shared a wide eyed look with Qui-Gon as the eight of them made short work of the Trandoshans.
It would have been generous as if he said the Trandoshans lasted a minute.
The three of them were left staring at the five Mandalorians, both sides had their weapons out.
Obi-Wan felt the tension knotting in his shoulder blades.
He would not die like this.
Rey turned off her staff-saber-thing, and bowed to the Mandalorians, "Thanks, but I told you we didn't need help. Overkill indeed."
Qui-Gon turned off his saber too, and Obi-Wan followed even as he stood stiffly.
The Mandalorians lowered their weapons in turn. One of them wearing a silver helmet asked, "How do you like it?"
"You're a genius," she said with a grin, "I like the internal switch, and the patterning is just enough for a grip without being uncomfortable."
A furrow appeared between Qui-Gon's brows as he tried to decipher the dynamics and the meaning of Rey's exchange.
Obi-Wan, sadly, had figured it out, "They remade her lightsaber." She was going to give him more grey hairs than Qui-Gon. He was still in his twenties, but he was certain that if this was their first official mission together then their future was doomed.
Qui-Gon cut a sharp look at Rey, "Explain, Padawan Palpatine."
But a Mandalorian wearing blue armour stepped forward as if Rey was in need of defending, "Are you her Master Jedi? You left your Foundling ill prepared for the strife the Jedi cause."
Obi-Wan thought of Jango Fett who had killed five Jedi with his bare hands. This didn't mean that these Mandalorians were as capable, but it certainly meant Rey shouldn't have been on her own with them.
Before Qui-Gon could form a response, Rey said, "Yep, this is my Master, Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and my friend, Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi. Master Jinn, Obi-Wan, this is Chakraborty, Maas, Harris, Briggs, and last but never least, Tolkien."
Obi-Wan watched from the corner of his eye as Qui-Gon took in a deep breath before releasing it, "It is an honour to meet you, Mandalorians. How long have you been travelling with my Padawan?"
Obi-Wan couldn't see their expressions, but he felt their amusement.
"Months," Chakraborty the blue armoured one said, "We found her."
"No, you didn't, I found you," Rey argued. "And again, not your Foundling."
Chakraborty did a very remarkable thing then, he took off his helmet, a sign that they either thought they were in no danger -which when facing off three Jedi shouldn't have been the case, or a sign of trust.
Obi-Wan glanced at Rey, it had to be the latter, whatever her faults, Rey was of the trustworthy sort.
"Come," Chakraborty said, "A hot meal to celebrate. That was the last of them, was it not, Master Jinn?"
Obi-Wan was not prepared for them to be so civil.
He felt Qui-Gon's surprise through their bond as well, but ever prepared for a moment's change and the unexpected, his Master bowed his head, "The last we know of, the Wookies communications have not been alerted to any more attacks or foreign ships entering the atmosphere. And we would be honoured to share a meal with you."
Obi-Wan wasn't sure 'honoured' was the right word but held his tongue as they walked back to the Mandalorians' camp.
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon sat on either side of Rey, she didn't notice the protective gesture, but the Mandalorians did.
Far from being offended, the leader, Chakraborty gave them a slight nod as if approving of their actions.
Obi-Wan didn't think they needed their approval.
"Obi-Wan?" Rey asked, looking at him with concern.
He must have been frowning or have missed something she said, so he pushed aside his complaints before he unintentionally hurt her feelings.
He was sure the Council would have quite enough to say about her choices on this mission.
"Let's see it then," he said, indicating her staff.
Her face lit up as she began explaining the mechanics of the staff, quite clearly, while Maas may have been the artist, Rey was the mind behind the design.
"So it has six beams that coalesces into one on each end?" he asked.
"Seven actually," she said tapping the long vents, "This metal is strong enough that the six vents along the side don't compromise the structure. Each vent is almost it's own blade, you can see it when you turn it, but from a distance and in practical use it still acts as a single blade. The seventh comes from the sent like a traditional lightsaber but it is shorter as its purpose is just to unite the other six beams. Theoretically, the ends are the highest concentration power, but we found that each crystal's energy being divided was more balanced, the seventh was needed to keep the beam from turning inward."
She said this and much more. There was something calming about listening to her talk about mechanics, he knew enough to follow along and ask questions but he couldn't have come up with half the things her mind did. Her explanation was enough to make him almost forget he was having supper with a group of Mandalorians.
Almost.
Finally he asked, "May I?"
She nodded, handing it to him and immediately he liked the grip of it. The man grip was patterned, but so smooth still that it felt almost soft. He spun the staff, it was better balanced than the practice ones he used or even her old staff. The grove patterning changed dramatically on the ends but it could still be used comfortably.
He centred his grip and found the internal switches, the switches were geared a bit so you had to have the concentration enough to turn them up right and then left, but it was a natural movement. One side lit and then the other.
It was like she said, a staff turned into a double sided lightsaber, the beams appear wider, both because of the Beskar core and the six blades coming out like a flame around a candle wick.
He spun it walking through a few of the Ataru basics, he felt the Mandalorians tense. He hid a smile, he would always prefer a single blade, but he was more skilled than Rey and had now worked long enough with a staff for the weapon to be familiar to him. The Mandalorians likely haven't seen the full potential of their gift. Rey often made up for her lack of skill with a saber to slow down. Which wasn't a bad thing all things considered, it would only be a problem if she came against another lightsaber wielding enemy, which was very unlikely.
He turned back to Rey, turning the staff off before handing it back to her, "It is excellent."
She beamed.
Qui-Gon who still had yet to say much said, "It is far more suited to you. Quinlan is going to hate it."
She laughed.
Qui-Gon was very uneasy with this whole affair, though he was pleased about Rey's new weapon, even if it would take a Mandalorian to fix it.
The reason he was so tense was rather simple, the last major conflict between the Mandalorians and the Jedi had been his Master's doing, or at least a mission that Dooku had led.
A part of him was amused at the idea that while his Master had helped raise the tensions, one of his Padawans would lower them.
"So he's the senior Padawan," one of the Mandalorians, Briggs, he believed her name was, said. She had black hair, copper skin, and shrewd brown eyes. Qui-Gon could almost feel the pain flowing off her.
"Yes, Obi-Wan is going to be knighted soon," Rey said.
Qui-Gon supressed a smile as Obi-Wan flushed. Obi-Wan never changed, utterly self assured in his abilities, completely unable to take a compliment.
Rey was of the same cloth, though her surety she gave to him, Obi-Wan, and the Force. She was self reliant but unaware of how truly gifted she was.
"So why has he got that silly man braid then?" Briggs asked.
A small bag slapped into the back of her head, and the Mandalorian lurched forward on her seat.
Qui-Gon tensed, ready for weapons to be drawn.
Instead the Mandalorians laughed, and Briggs protested, "Using the Force is cheating!"
Rey grinned, "Alright."
And like a group of close friends plotting against one another in friendly banter, the one named Harris called to Briggs who turned her head.
Rey picked up fist sized stone and chucked it at her.
The stone landed squarely in the centre of her armour, meaning it likely did her no harm, but she still toppled backwards over the log she had been sitting on. She came up face angry, eyes mirth filled. Qui-Gon felt the shift in the Force around her as whatever nightmares Briggs carried with her loosened their hold as she shouted angrily, "Baby Jedi!"
Rey brushed her hands together, shaking off the dirt from the rock, "You said the space magic was cheating."
Harris roared with laughter as the others jested with Briggs who gave as good as she got.
Qui-Gon watched Rey closely even as she kept checking for Obi-Wan's reactions, trying to include him as much as she was able, Qui-Gon saw that in the Mandalorians she had found more friends.
Easier friends than at the Temple.
Rey was a likable person, and how she conducted herself, how she reasoned was all very Jedi, but that didn't mean her transition to Temple life had been seamless.
Aside from her unease of the Temple itself and her dislike of Coruscant, Qui-Gon had begun to notice more and more how out of place she felt around the other Padawans, Knights, and Masters.
Sometimes she was still too awe filled with the Masters to truly connect with them as individuals. But with the Knights and Padawans, their depth of knowledge was extremely different. Much of that wasn't her fault. For one, she couldn't change her past, and Qui-Gon seemed to be failing her in making up for all the things that initiates could recite on command. For another, many resented her.
That wasn't too say the Padawans or Knights were mean to her. They most likely did not understand that the coolness they treated her was born from resentment. Where they had all spent their lives training, studying, fighting, earning their positions, Rey had shown up with no training whatsoever and was now becoming known as one of the most powerful Padawans in recent history. She hadn't been tested in the same ways, hadn't had to fight other initiates to impress a Master. He, Qui-Gon, the staple maverick, had found an adult in the outer rim, chosen her as a Padawan and the Council had bent over backwards to break the rules for her.
Rey probably had more friends on the Council than in the rest of the Order, which again, set her apart.
Qui-Gon had hoped that his training regiment would show the rest of the Order that she wasn't being given special privileges, she was working for her place. But from Obi-Wan's accounts and others, their training was only setting them more apart.
No one except Masters trying to develop their own lightsaber form trained like that.
Of course, Rey was hard working, and the reason for Qui-Gon's 'insane' training regiment was to try to make up for the two decades behind Rey was from everyone else. It didn't matter what the others thought, Rey's connection to the Force had always been instinctual, now she had a bond with the Force that Qui-Gon had only seen in Tahl.
He was incredibly proud of both his Padawans, and it saddened him that Rey's only true friends in the Order were Obi-Wan and possibly Master Dooku.
Not that Obi-Wan was a bad friend to have.
Qui-Gon watched him relax in increments and was soon conversing with the Mandalorians as easily as Rey.
In another life, Rey might have made a great Mandalorian herself.
He caught Chakraborty's gaze, and Qui-Gon's eyes narrowed at the self-satisfied smirk on the Mandalorian's face.
The bastard saw it too, how easily Rey fit in with this band of warriors.
But then Qui-Gon smirked at the other man, communicating silently that she was still coming home with him.
Chakraborty scowled, then a light lit his gaze, interrupting the conversation at hand to ask, "How are you three getting back to your precious Temple?"
"We were going to ask the Wookies to borrow one of their ships," Obi-Wan explained, "Ours got blown out of the sky by the Trandoshans when we arrived."
"We could give you a lift," Chakraborty said, "we normally return our Foundlings back to their homes."
Rey saluted him with a rude hand gesture.
Harris said something in Mandalorian and then to both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's combined horror, Rey conversed in the melodic language.
Were they converting her?
But Qui-Gon let the fear go to the Force, their bonds were strong as they ever had been, and it would take more than a fancy saber-staff to part Rey from Obi-Wan.
Qui-Gon thought about how much trouble he was going to be in for that staff, for not impressing on Rey that Jedi didn't teach people outside the Order how to make one. As Jedi also didn't surrender their weapons to anyone or let them be tempered with, the Council was going to be royally peeved. Yoda was going to lose his mind.
Qui-Gon smiled as he thought of the look on Mace's face if they showed up to the Temple escorted by a group of Mandalorians.
"We would be honoured to accept such a generous offer."
Chakraborty smiled back, "The honour is ours. We always take care of our Foundlings."
Qui-Gon's brow twitched at the implicated challenge of those words.
But he wasn't worried, Qui-Gon didn't need to compete for Rey's loyalties, she was his Padawan, and she would always choose the Jedi above anyone else. He knew that, Obi-Wan knew that, and these Mandalorians were going to know it too.
oOo
They let Rey pilot the ship.
Qui-Gon couldn't wait to recount this to Dooku and Rael. Rael especially, would laugh himself sick.
Rey hugged all the Mandalorians despite her protests and their insistence that she was their 'Baby Jedi, Foundling.'
The ramp opened and Qui-Gon was not disappointed by Mace's and Master Yoda waiting for them. Neither looked happy.
Chakraborty's parting words were, "Remember Rey, you will always have a place with us if you desire it."
She bowed to him, "The Jedi are my people, Mando, but I thank you. May the Force be with you."
He bowed in return, "May you find the Way, Foundling."
Qui-Gon watched the consternation form on Mace's face. He had been pissed about them arriving in a Mandalorian ship, now he was confused.
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon bowed and Chakraborty saluted them.
Harris waved to the two Council members behind them.
Qui-Gon was careful to keep his face blank as the Vopaad Master looked as if he had just swallowed a bug.
They approached and Qui-Gon didn't slow, not about to be reprimanded on the docking platforms.
"What the in the lowest levels of the underworld were you thinking, Jinn?" Mace asked as he turned to match Qui-Gon's gate.
Qui-Gon felt Rey's dip in emotions as she read the tension between himself and the two Council members.
Did I do something wrong? she asked both of them, and he didn't know if the question was directed at himself or Obi-Wan.
Let Qui-Gon do the talking, Rey, he's purposely pissed off the Council worse than this before, Obi-Wan comforted.
Rey wasn't comforted at all, grabbing Obi-Wan's robe sleeve, But why are they angry? Do we come back too soon? Are the Wookies alright?
Everything is fine, Padawan Palpatine, Qui-Gon reassured. We completed our mission, the Wookies are safe, and no matter what the Council thinks of our methods, I am proud of you.
Our methods? Didn't Master Windu tell us to us-
Patience, Qui-Gon told her, do not let your emotions get ahead of you. Be patient.
"Listening, he is not," Yoda grumbled.
Qui-Gon smiled at the grandmaster who floated on the other side of Mace, "Is the Council ready for our debriefing, I would rather not have to repeat the report."
He saw Mace flex his jaw, "What could have possibly possessed you to take a Mandalorian ship back to Coruscant?"
"Our ship, as you know, was blown up, and the Mandalorians were friendly."
"Friendly?" Mace repeated, "That's your defence? Because they were friendly?"
Rey frowned at him, and asked Obi-Wan, What's his problem?
Mace's gaze snapped to her, clearly having caught the thought, but didn't call her out on it. Rey's abysmal shields were something the Council had been taking turns trying to help her with. But so far, Rey's idea of shielding was pulling back from the Force, which at times seemed to cause her physical and mental harm. The best compromise they had found was her centring herself, it didn't shield her per se but it helped against psychometry visions and being overwhelmed by other powerful Force sensitives.
Mace was angry, but he was a Master Jedi, a Council member, he had more sense than to lash out at a Padawan who had meant no offence.
They didn't exchange another word on their way to the Council chamber.
Qui-Gon kept his awareness on Rey whose unease rose at every step.
What was it about the Temple that bothered her so?
"Did the Mandalorians try anything?" Plo Koon asked after Mace and Yoda took his place.
Master Dooku looked them over carefully, when he saw there was no harm to anyone he pulled on their old bond, Causing trouble, I see. Well done, Qui-Gon.
Qui-Gon didn't acknowledge this other than to pull back on that old bond fondly as he explained to the Council their adventures, digging himself into a rather sizable pit.
Dooku had his hand to his lip as if in contemplation, Qui-Gon knew he was hiding a smile as Mace asked, "Padawan Palpatine, is Jinn correct in telling us that you trusted a group of unknown Mandalorians to help you on a Jedi mission?"
Rey had released Obi-Wan's sleeve, Qui-Gon was braced to shield her, feeling her hurt through the bond at having the Council upset with them.
But Rey, Qui-Gon had learned, was more used to dealing with hostility than kindness. If Mace expected his tone would cow her, he had another thing coming.
"Yes, and we helped several Wookie families and settlements. No Trandashon we crossed got away. We killed them as you suggested."
"And what cost, Padawan? Why would they help a Jedi, did you ever think of that?"
"They weren't helping me, at least not to begin with, we were both helping the Wookies, I spoke their language, the Mandalorians didn't."
"And why did you trust that, were they kind to you?"
She laughed, "No, I mean, yes, they were kind to me but that was after we learned to trust each other. Mandalorians are honourable."
"And how do you know that?"
Steel entered her tone then, "Because, Master Windu, I grew up on a planet governed by Hutts. I never had to fear a Mandalorian and I learned to fear everyone in the desert, especially the kind faces. I don't know what the history is between the Jedi and the Mandalorians but they are as true to their code as we are to ours. The ones I travelled with spent weeks travelling through the forest to bring three children back to their families with no benefit to them other than their own honour not allowing them to abandon the defenceless. Had it just been me, I might not have been able to keep them safe."
The Council was quiet, and Qui-Gon looked at his Master whose eyes had saddened.
It was not in a Jedi's nature to hate.
If they were honest with themselves as his Master had been, the Jedi were as much at fault for the problems that lay between themselves and the Mandalorians.
Problems that Rey had skirted because as a scavenger and machinic her preconceived notions of the Mandalorians was vastly different than their own.
"Perhaps right you are," Yoda spoke to her, "perhaps the will of the Force it was. But remains a problem, there is. Gave to them a Jedi weapon you did, taught them how to make it, you did."
"Master Yoda," Rey said, "He already knew what he was doing. Maas mentioned that the Mandalorians still had the 'Darksaber'. My impression was it wasn't a lack of knowing how to forge them that has kept them from being built but their impracticality. I mean getting kyber isn't easy, and even if they could get ahold of it, the blades are too dangerous for non-Force sensitives to use, no matter how useful they are."
"Some would risk it," Depa remarked.
Rey shrugged, "So, how is that any more dangerous than having a laser gun or bombs? The Jedi don't monitor those and they could do far more damage than a lightsaber without a Force sensitive."
"The problem," Dooku spoke then, "for this body is that the Jedi do not have the monopoly of Force sensitives, Padawan. The Jedi's success in the galaxy comes in part from the secrecy of our teachings. Which I am sure Master Yoda will be reminding Qui-Gon of."
Qui-Gon crossed his arms but didn't comment.
Rey didn't not answer at once, but when she spoke it wasn't in defence of her actions but a challenge to the Order.
Qui-Gon was pleased, Obi-Wan was not.
"I mean can't that work against you too? Can't your secrecy foster mistrust and aggression? The Mandalorians think the Jedi Order is a cult and that the Force is magic."
"What would you have us do?" Adi-Ki Mundi asked, "Teach everyone our ways and put ourselves in danger?"
She shook her head, "I'm sorry, maybe I misspoke, but absolutes are bad, aren't they? Secrecy to the extreme could-" her voice cut off.
And Qui-Gon felt a swirl of mixed emotions rise from within her, and Obi-Wan put a hand on her shoulder.
Qui-Gon couldn't think of what she had thought of but Yoda didn't give her time.
"Careless, it was. Know or know not, think you should have before giving away your lightsaber. Broken the crystals they might have, hurt themselves also could they have. Now a beautiful weapon you have, but fix if broken only a Mandalorian can. Vulnerable you made yourself, dependent are you."
Qui-Gon felt the backlash of Rey's emotions. She thought very highly of their little green grandmaster, and those words from him hit her like a slap across the face.
But she didn't let it show, bowing her head she said, "I'm sorry, Grandmaster."
"Train with me, you shall."
"Yoda-" Qui-Gon warned, but Yoda forestalled him with a raised clawed hand.
"Not as a Padawan, but train with the initiates for two hours a day until your next mission, you will."
Qui-Gon would have liked to protest, but though he had never seen Rey interact with children, he had a feeling it would backfire on Yoda.
He could almost hear the Force laughing at this chain of the events.
Obi-Wan wasn't as pleased with this turn of events, and Qui-Gon knew he would have protested if Mace hadn't interrupted.
"Padawan Kenobi, the Council has decided that you are past due to take your trials. Once you are rested from this mission, prepare yourself. Your next mission will be your final trial."
Obi-Wan bowed, "Thank you, Masters." His posture was stiff, but his words were earnest. He didn't like Rey being in trouble, but he followed the rules so closely himself that taking a reprimand was nothing new.
Especially after years of being Qui-Gon's Padawan.
"Your mission was a success, your ventures with the Mandalorians notwithstanding, Kashyyyk is safer than it had been," Mace said, "You are dismissed."
They turned and left, as soon as they were out the door, Qui-Gon reached for Rey but she sidestepped him, "I'm going to go meditate."
"Rey, the Council can be-"
"Can I go?" she asked.
Qui-Gon wouldn't reprimand her after Yoda had stripped her down so thoroughly. "If Obi-Wan is with you, yes. You did well, Rey. May the Force be with you."
"And with you, Master Jinn," she said and bowed.
Stay with her tonight, Qui-Gon ordered Obi-Wan who had to quicken his steps to keep up with her.
Did he have to be so harsh for her first mission?
She will be okay, besides, it won't be the last time we find trouble.
Isn't that the Force forsaken truth?
Qui-Gon sighed, and glanced back to the closed Council doors, he would have liked to speak with his own Master. But he was certain the Council would be in session for quite some time tonight.
Patience, he told himself, patience. He retreated to his own quarters taking his Padawan's lead in finding time to meditate before finding sleep in his own bed. He had enjoyed the forests of Kashyyyk, but his bones were grateful for the mattress.
Obi-Wan had rarely seen Rey so upset.
Growing up in the Temple, everyone had been reprimanded by Yoda. In fact, the only compliments Yoda usually gave were cryptic or back handed.
Rey, however, had had a much softer view of their Grandmaster.
Her hair wet, she sat in the corner of their room until her hair was dry and Obi-Wan's eyes were burning from tiredness.
He was too tired to meditate effectively, the stress and the adventures of Kashyyyk catching up with him. His bed was calling him, but Rey was made of sterner stuff.
"Rey, we need sleep."
She opened her eyes and her expression was perfectly unreadable. She nodded and having already changed into sleepwear, she climbed into bed without another word.
He flicked off the lights and fell back on his own bed. "Goodnight, Rey."
"Night," came her muffled response.
As tired as he was, he found he couldn't sleep. Staring up at the darkened ceiling, watching the traffic lights flit through the blinds, he waited for her breathing to even.
But though she laid completely still, not so much as a ruffled sheet, she didn't sleep.
So he waited, and when he heard a hitch her breathing, and she turned in around her pillow, he grabbed his own.
"Obi-Wan what-"
"Scoot," he said, putting his pillow by hers as he slid in beside her. "You did really well."
"But everyon-"
"The Council is a bunch of stuck up, unbending, blind, numbskulls."
Her muffled tears cut off as she chastised, "Obi-Wan!" She turned to face him, rubbing away her tears as she glared at him.
He grinned at her, "I can go on, Qui-Gon has taught me quite the list of adjectives over the years."
"This isn't funny," she hissed.
He pulled on her braid, "Rey, Yoda chastises everyone. He raised most of us. He didn't mean to hurt you, and he certainly didn't mean you had failed. He would have told you if you had. Our mission was a success, the first of many."
"But he wasn't wrong, I didn't think-"
"No, you did think. Rey, that staff-saber is going to be impossibly useful. It's also a super stealth weapon. Most people know what a saber looks like, or they think they do. And not many people are going to care if you have what amounts to a pipe when they have blasters."
"But-"
"No buts, your teaming up with Mandalorians saved more people than the three of us alone could have helped."
"Why couldn't the Council see that?"
"Master Dooku saw it, and others probably did too. Mace and Yoda talk the most, but behind closed doors the others don't all agree. And I hate to break it to you, but as Qui-Gon's Padawan, you're going to get a lot of lectures from Yoda. I know I did even if I openly disagreed with our Master."
She was silent for a moment before asking in a quieter tone, "When you're knighted are we not going to be together as much? Are you going to move out?"
He hugged her, and she curled against his chest. "No, we'll still be together. I'm too young to take a Padawan of my own yet, and beside Qui-Gon's already said he wants my help. He got two Padawans, now you will have two Masters."
Some tension left her, and Obi-Wan was able to breathe easier.
"You'll always be Obi-Wan to me," she said into his chest.
He felt his exhaustion catch up with him again as he wrapped his arms around her more securely, "Sleep, Rey."
She let out a huff, but she fell asleep not long after, and Obi-Wan was finally able to let his eyes shut.
The day after they returned from her mission, Rey walked deeper into the Master halls a bit warily, not because she was scared of any of the Masters, but because the feeling that the walls themselves were watching her had her hairs standing on ends.
She hesitated at Master Dooku's door, she had been careful not to touch the walls, and didn't want to knock now. She thought for a moment of using her staff to knock on the door but knew that would be rude. So centring herself, and letting her fears go to the Force on an exhale of breath, she knocked.
"Come in, young Padawan," came Dooku's distinctive voice.
She entered, bowing her head, "Good evening, Master Dooku."
"Ah, Rey, a pleasure as always. What may I do for you, my dear?"
She hesitated for a moment, knowing that the question would seep the warmth from his eyes. She hadn't wanted to ask Obi-Wan because he had seemed so upset about the whole thing. She knew Master Jinn could just have easily answered her questions, and he had been far more amused than disparaging, but she had a sinking feeling that she had let them both down, in some small way betrayed them somehow. So she went to Master Dooku, who wouldn't shield her from the truth.
If she had failed in some way, then she trusted Master Dooku to tell her exactly how she had failed.
Master Jinn's teachings were more useful at the moment, roll with the punches, adapt, move on, don't hold onto the past, but such words wouldn't help her learn how to keep from repeating those mistakes.
And Obi-Wan meant well, but his advice was usually based on a foundation of knowledge that she did not have and that he had yet to learn how to best share that foundational knowledge with her.
"I see this will be a long conversation," Dooku said, "Best to start with tea, the kettle is on the stove."
She couldn't help but smile at that, Master Dooku seemed to always be five steps ahead of everyone else. She went to the kitchen area which set back into the wall.
She touched the kettle and her sight blurred. She kept her breathing steady as Vos had taught her even as she started breathing through another person's lungs.
He was much taller than her, and his hand engulfed almost all of the handle as he filled it with water.
Flicking the stove on he prepared the tea leaves, the spices, and the tray.
He wasn't clumsy, far from it, his every movement efficient and calculated, but he was in a rush.
She almost didn't notice, because the man whose memory she saw didn't notice, it was one of the things Vos had drilled into during their month of suffering.
Even though she was seeing, living someone else's memory, that didn't mean she still wasn't herself, she still had her own thoughts even if she was immersed through the vision. She could observe things separately from her temporary host.
This man was in a rush because of a woman named Tahl who was waiting for him. And thanks to that distraction he didn't notice the spices he used weren't the sweet ones but the spicy ones. He even put the salt in instead of the sugar.
Once the water was ready he poured it into the pot that was his waiting disaster.
He was truly unfocused at the task at hand, so ready was he to be reunited with the woman that he didn't catch the scent that Rey recognized at once.
She liked spicy food. A lifetime of blandness, spices to her were a rich treat, but even she doubted she would like it in her tea.
The man put the tea down in front of Master Dooku, who looked at him with both amusement and exasperation.
The man whose body she shared bowed before turning to the door. He halted at Dooku's dry voice, "Sit down, Padawan Jinn, your friends can wait."
Qui-Gon obeyed, she felt his suppressed sigh as he waited for Dooku to reach for his cup. He wouldn't speak about anything of importance until he had finished at least one cup of tea.
But his Master didn't reach for his cup.
Qui-Gon suppressed a frown.
"Take a cup and drink the pot."
More confused, Qui-Gon looked across the table as his Master stood and went back to the kettle to make himself a new brew, "Master Dooku, I'm really not-"
"Qui-Gon, drink the tea and maybe next time you will think better of trying to poison me."
Qui-Gon took the poured cup of tea, confused right up until he inhaled the vapours.
He drank and nearly coughed it back up.
Qui-Gon had to put a sleeve to his running nose, spicy was not his preference.
He looked up at his Master whose lips were curled upward, his eyes dancing in wicked mirth.
Rey came back to herself, and nearly dropped the kettle in the sink as she laughed.
Master Dooku was at her side, careful not to touch her but he relaxed at her laughter. With a raised brow, he asked, "What did you see?"
She grinned, "Master Jinn 'poisoning' your tea?"
It took more effort than it was pretty to put the kettle on the burner.
Master Dooku caught her with a hand at her elbow and back when she almost lost her footing. He helped her to a chair, looking her over.
"I'm okay," she said before he could ask.
"Sit, I'll make the tea."
"Did you really make him drink the entire pot of tea?" She asked, slumping a bit. She didn't really understand why the psychometry drained her so greatly. She could run for ten hours and not feel so wobbly. Even sitting, she felt like the world was spinning.
She was grateful she hadn't had another seizure. Vos had induced three in a row on her once, the third time she had come out enough to try to strangle him as he mocked her.
She had been too weak to harm him, but the next time he had handed her an 'artefact' she had hit him over the head with it. The brief flash of slaughter she had received from the thing gave her a migraine, but Vos had spent the night in the medical wing, not her.
Dooku returned to the table set by the window framed by two plush chairs with a tray and a steeping pot of tea.
"It wasn't a large pot, four small servings. I'm not sure if his face was red afterwards from using a particular spice that may or may not have been designed for expelling 'evil spirits' from one's sinuses, or because he was embarressed had to meet with his friends afterwards with a running nose and a raspy throat."
She grinned, "If I brought this up with him?"
"I suppose if he blushes we will have our answer."
She grinned.
"While we wait for the tea, may I see your new weapon that had the Council in such an uproar."
She nodded, passing it over to him from where she had rested it on the chair. "Maas forged it but I helped with the mechanical design. The vents don't weaken the ends by much, I could slam it down on stone for days and it wouldn't damage, but turned on-"
Dooku had found the internal switch and the blue lights came to life. She watched him turn the staff so he could see the spacing between the beams. "This is quite the gift," he said, "one only a Force sensitive could use properly and yet one only a Mandalorian could forge. There is something poetic about that."
The blade shut off, no less elegant, and only a tad less dangerous.
He handed back to her, "A worthy weapon, and one more suited to you, I think."
She nodded, taking her staff back. It marked a new chapter in her life, this staff. She liked it for its difference, a lightsaber but a staff.
Like her, a Jedi but still all she had been before.
"I think so too. The weightlessness of a traditional saber is unnerving."
"I suppose it must be to someone was not raised with one," he mused as he poured the tea, "I would warn you that your saber staff could be used against you, but then the switches are on the inside and as your proved with the Temple Guards, you know how to get your staff back."
She grinned, "I only got to use it against the Trandoshans for a few seconds, but I almost kept up with Obi-Wan."
"Yes, Qui-Gon even remarked during your sparring match with the Temple Guard that a lightsaber might not be your weapon, seeing as you won with your opponent's weapon rather than using your own dual saber."
She shrugged, "I've had a lot of big people grab hold of my staff before, I was wagering he hadn't the same experience. I don't get the feeling many people try to manhandle a Jedi's weapon from them."
Master Dooku chuckled, "No, no they typically do not. Not even Mandalorians would be so bold." He sipped his tea, "Though I am always happy to share tea with you, young Padawan, might I ask if you had a particular reason for your visit?"
She reached for her cup, her hand shaking only slightly. The tea was, unsurprisingly, perfect. "I came to ask you about the history between the Jedi and the Mandalorians."
The humour drained from his face, "Ah yes, I suppose it should fall to me to explain to you our history with their people, as it was a mission with the Mandalorians that disillusioned me to the Jedi Order."
"What do you mean?"
"You know I left the Order, the battle of Galidraan was the catalyst to that because the Jedi, myself included, had been duped. The Mandalorians we killed, and killed us in return, were the people we should have been helping against the villains who called for our aid."
"I'm sorry," she said.
"To kill a Jedi is no small feet, Padawan, though it happens more often than any will admit because numbers, accidents, and our own foolishness will prove more often than not that we are in fact, all still mortal -the Force being with us or not.
"The Mandalorians are an incredibly skilled warrior people whose codes, I'm sure you discovered, are not so different from our own. Over the centuries, they have made weapons that even the Jedi have a hard time countering, such as flamethrowers. They are dangerous, though not inherently bad people. Our often turbulent history raises tensions on both sides."
"I noticed," she said, thinking of how dramatic both sides had been.
"Our recent history has made us all but enemies," he motioned to her staff, "but perhaps in time that too can change."
"Is there anything else I need to know about our history?"
"At that battle, a Mandalorian by the name of Jango Fett murdered five Jedi with his bare hands in his anger for the people we killed on his team. The True Mandalorians, they were called."
She was quiet at this wondering how someone could manage that.
Cold brutality was the likely answer. Obi-Wan's concern for her suddenly made a lot more sense.
"You're still not afraid of them are you?"
She shrugged, "I grew up knowing that a lot of people could kill me, a lot of things could have killed me for that matter. I have never thought of the Jedi as invincible."
"Despite the power you have, Padawan?"
"Wouldn't do me a lot of good in my sleep, would it?"
He smiled, "Qui-Gon is the right Master for you, that much becomes clearer to me every day. Had it been Qui-Gon on that mission, he wouldn't have been fooled. He would have waited for all the information before attacking, no matter what the Council had ordered him there for. It appears I was able to teach him that lesson better than I was able to learn it myself."
"Master Dooku, why did you come back to the Order?" she asked, not wanting to ask of all the events that had led him to leave.
She didn't want to see his eyes darken further. She liked Master Dooku, with all his hard edges, but she didn't like seeing the pain and regret in his eyes as he spoke of the Mandalorians.
"My Master asked me back. I left because I believed the Jedi Order could not change, accepting one's faults is one thing, not trying to improve them is a different matter entirely. But when Master Yoda asked me to return without the Council's approval, after accepting you, a Padawan of nineteen years old, and allowing me to keep my title as Count, I had hope for the first time in decades that change was possible."
"I think Master Jinn feels the same way too sometimes, like nothing he does is enough to change history from repeating itself. He hasn't said as much, not in so many words, but sometimes he seems… jaded."
"Yes, Qui-Gon is often the lone voice crying out in the wilderness. The Force calls to him too strongly to explain himself well enough to be understood by the Council."
She grinned, "From all accounts, your voice has been quite loud on the Council of late."
He sipped his tea, "Change is slow, but I believe the last two years has seen more change in our Order than in the last two centuries."
"Has anything major changed since you joined the Order as far as policies go?" she asked curiously.
"As Qui-Gon taught you the Jedi guidelines?" he asked with an amused tone.
"Not really," she said, "or at least he hasn't phrased it as such, Obi-Wan has though."
"Well, two of our Order will be allowed to legally marry in the order next month."
"Jedi aren't allowed to get married?" she asked, thinking of all Vos's crude jokes. "But I didn't think Jedi were- um- I didn't think celibacy was enforced."
"It isn't, but marriage, formal and legal acknowledgements of attachments are not permitted outside of extenuating circumstances. But a couple within the Order brought their case before us and argued that if I am allowed to keep my title as Count, why couldn't they have a public commitment ceremony? Of course, they will have to take oaths to put the Order first, but it is a good step. Healthy attachments, fewer secrets, less shame, it is a step that will avoid much suffering."
"Why was marriage ever a bad thing to begin with?" she asked.
"The Jedi have long believed that attachments will inevitably lead to loss or to the fear of loss, which can lead people to fall. But I hold attachments are inevitable, and forcing our people to hide their relationships is inviting resentment and fear."
"Will the Order change a lot with this marriage being allowed?"
"It is unlikely. The few of us who do find love on these crazy paths we take throughout our lives will lead many to still forgo marriage. Our line of work is often a larger commitment than most spouses would accept being second best to."
"Oh," she said, thinking that over. Growing up alone, the idea of finding a partner had never really occurred to her, and now? The Jedi Order was her life. "Has being a Count and a Council member been difficult?"
"No, it might have been when I first reclaimed my birthright, but my planet is stable, and now that it has officially been deemed Jedi territory, such as Ilum, we have not seen any outside trouble. Quite the contrary, our trade is higher than usual."
"How do your people feel about the change?"
"With the increase of trade and security? The feeling has been rather positive on the whole. However, my father would have been most displeased," he said the last with a curled lip.
"You didn't get along with your father?"
"My father threw me out to the elements for the Jedi to rescue when I was but a babe."
"What? Why?"
"Serreno was once ruled under a Sith empire many thousands of years ago, my ancestors reclaimed their home without Jedi help. Because the Jedi did not help them, they passed down a hatred of Jedi, and when I was born a Force sensitive, my father wanted nothing to do with me."
"I'm sorry, Master Dooku, that's awful. I'm glad the Jedi came for you."
"As I am glad, child, they found you. The Senator should have given you to the Order, I do not understand him."
She looked into her empty cup, "Master Jinn told you then." She didn't begrudge her Master telling his Master, but she felt queasy at having this man she so respected knowing she had been sold.
She didn't know why, she had told Obi-Wan, Master Jinn, and the Mandalorians, but she had been the one to tell them she realized.
"Senator Palpatine had been requesting a meeting with you, from both Qui-Gon and then when he refused, from the Council."
She put down the cup with a click on the table before pressing back in her seat, "No, no. I don't want to meet with him."
Master Dooku's voice turned gentle, "We gave him a restraining order, legally now, he can only be in contact with you if you initiate it."
She closed her eyes, taking the confused tangled mass of her feelings and feeding them to the Force. She didn't open her eyes again until her pulse went down. Master Dooku had risen to make more tea.
When his back was turned to her, she said, "I don't want to be afraid of him, I don't want him to matter to me."
Seeming to sense her need for privacy in that moment, he answered without turning from the stove. "I have done much in my life to spite my father, not least of which giving my titles and wealth to the Jedi Council in my will."
"I don't want to be spiteful. I want the parents in my memories, who loved me, to have come back for me, to remember me, to have some half-way decent excuse for giving me to a slaver on a planet notable for being not notable."
It was the closest she had come to naming Jakku. But she couldn't pair Senator Palpatine's voice and looks, and just -he had to be her father, which meant either he was from the future too or she was crazy or someone or something had seriously messed with her memories. The blood test had made things less clear for her.
Master Dooku came back with the steeping tea on its tray, "And when you met him, he-"
"He didn't remember!" she almost yelled it, "But he did recognize me, I saw it in his eyes. I was familiar to him. I looked up his family after our blood tests came back positive, I look like his mother and sisters, but I have my mother's eyes. He knew me, and he lied to my face. He wouldn't even tell us who my mother was, is. She could be alive too- but-"
"Breathe, Padawan, breathe."
She did as instructed as he poured the tea.
"It may always bother you," he said honestly, "my father's actions have long haunted me and I am now older than he was when he died. But we are more than our fathers, you and I, we are better people, and it is our prerogative to have our actions be better than theirs."
She picked up the tea, sipping it carefully, "I think I'm mad at myself for waiting. For thinking that my worth was dependent on them. When my life was measured in credits, I should have known, even as a child, that I was worth nothing to them. I think that's why I waited for them, denial of that truth."
"Rey, your life has no measure. When they chose to betray their own child was the day they became worthless. They could have given you to any millions of families who would have loved you, they should have given you to the Jedi Temple, but what they did was nothing short of evil. That was not, and will never be your fault."
She met his gaze, "But I loved them, and they are my parents. I don't want them to be evil. I want to believe they had their reasons and that they were good reasons."
Dooku reached across the table to hold onto her hand, "It is okay to love them, wicked or good, known or unknown, but do not trust in dreams or half forgotten memories. Senator Palpatine is a dangerous man, and you have a family who loves you beyond anything he could offer you."
She held onto his hand, as she stated what she only this morning learned, "He's missing."
"Personally," he drawled, "I hope he is never found."
"I hope they find him, I hope he's safe."
"Because he's your father?"
She sighed and pulled back from him, "Because I want him to live long enough for me to grow strong enough to let him go. If he dies then I don't get to make that choice. I'm not strong enough yet, I still care, even if I know I shouldn't."
"You are a better person than I am," Master Dooku said, and made a face at his cup as if he wished it was something stronger, "I wish my father was alive so he could see what I had done to his precious legacy, so he could choke and die on his own prejudices."
Rey sipped her tea and fought back a smile. She loved her Jedi family, with all their personalities and faults, because they were hers and because they were real.
AN: Thoughts, reactions, ideas, or good tea, pretty please?