Parental Duties
By Rey

Chapter summary: The place is different. The situation is somewhat different. But the reality and duties are the same, sadly.

Warnings for: references to a war fought by child soldiers, slight allusions to possibilities of child murder and slavery

2. Obi-Wan: The Young

Hearing whispers through the Force or even the Force's whispers is part and partial of being a Force-Sensitive. It can help, it can distract, it can push someone a certain way, and, now, apparently, it can also lead someone to a random child who is too powerful and nosy for their own good.

Obi shouldn't listen to the child. He should find a way to slip free from this latest ambush of the Elders. Or, barring that, he should signal to any Young nearby to abandon him, since the Elders will expect a rescue and the Young can't afford that. But he isn't that good with following rules or the logical ways, and he is too easily attached and emotional as well, so he listens, and answers.

And, when the child invites him to meet and travel together and be a family, he gathers all his power round him and the link and goes.

`I'll be back. Later. I'll be back,` he promises, but he leaves, anyway. `There's nothing I can do right now. The Elders got me good. I'd die if I stayed here. I'll be better, I'll be smarter, and I'll come back here. Soon, soon. I won't be long! Maybe I can even get reinforcements, this way!`

He walks and walks and walks for a long time, it seems, through something that feels at once solid, liquid, fluid, goopy, colourless, dark, light, gritty, and so many other things. His feet do step on a solid surface, though, at the end of the journey, and his eyes are greeted by the sight of… `Is that a little Master Yoda? Or a little Master Yaddle?`… seated on a flat stone and surrounded by yet more stones, encased in a blue force-field that is mostly of the Force instead of any mechanical thing.

He staggers forward for yet a few steps, unable to stop, even as a burgeoning headache begs him to just stand still or lie down or even decapitate himself with anything. And, as he automatically looks round, cradling his half-empty blaster at a ready, wary of more ambush from hostiles in this new place while he has been severely weakened by his odd, abrupt travel, he sees that he isn't the only one the child – `Were they that little one on that stone?` – summoned.

Or, at least, he isn't the only one suffering from a massive headache, judging by how four others about his age – garbed in filthy, unkempt padawan or padawan-like clothes, somehow – also stagger about, clutching at their heads and grimacing mightily. Five younger children farther away – garbed in non-padawan clothes, though just as scruffy – are even curled up in balls of misery, burying their heads between their knees and capping it with their tightly folded arms, their weapons – two bearing a blaster each and three bearing modified maces or spears or a combination of the two – lying beside them.

And then the rumble-whine of three starships suddenly breaks the relative silence, so near, and it's not just Obi that immediately panicks and tries to find concealment amidst these rubble and standing stones.

In fact, it's just the little one encased in the blue barrier that's placidly still, and Obi itches to drag them into the dubious safety of a broken monolith's shadow he's just found, and he would, if he knew the field wouldn't repel him violently, as the Force tied to it promises.

This isn't the war-torn planet he was in just moments ago. But the child calling him told him about pursuit and endless defence, and Obi can't chance that this isn't yet another example of that.

Well, fortunately, the ships soon land, though not far enough for him and the other Young to really have a chance to flee, especially with how hampered they are still by stretching themselves so suddenly and so much in the Force.

`No, we can, we can! The hatches aren't open yet. We still can!`

But, unfortunately, the moment the force-field fades away, the moment the little one on the stone staggers drunkenly to their tiny feet, there's the dreaded, unmistakable sound of three hatches opening from the direction of the ship, loud in the tense, fearful silence blanketing this impromptu gathering place, and the little one streaks towards the ships.

"No!" The scream is torn free from the deepest part of his chest, as his heart pounds double the time. He runs, the best that he can, with his blaster hiked up on his shoulder, ready to fire. He runs, chasing the swift, foolish little menace. And other unsteady feet pound behind him, towards the same direction.

They're all foolish, so foolish. But this also shows that none of them is willing to leave a little child – the littlest among them, both in body and in mind, Obi guesses – undefended and without a way to escape, and he takes comfort from it.

The Young must defend each other to survive, after all, and the littlest among them are a hope for a better future, so they must be doubly safeguarded. It's nice to know that, however different the children here are, this stays true.

He goes into a literal screeching – well, squealing – halt, though, when three beings suddenly jump down onto his path, cutting him off from the little menace of a child.

`Why didn't they capture or strike down the kid? Why do they block me instead? Do they know the kid? Are they friendlies? They're not so tall – are they Young, too? Or just adults from a shorter species?`

And, a split second after, another realisation rampages into the fore of his mind.

`Their heads are too round under those hoods, and they're too weirdly bulky, and those gauntlets…. Armour. They are armoured. But… are those… Jedi robes? Padawan robes? And what are those? Are those… jetpacks? Oh! Are those medkits? Woo! They bring medkits! Healer trainees? Safe, then? But… but… the jetpacks! The armour!`

The other Young catch up to him before he can open his mouth to ask. But then, even if he opens his mouth now, he suspects he can't speak, because he's panting too hard. They've run far while strained, after all, if thankfully downhill.

And then he has no more chance to ask, because somebody – no, two – no, three, there, with the last one trailing – guarding? – are trotting towards the not-so-little, awkward gathering of Young – or probable Young, with those three armoured beings – and the lead being – `Oh, Mandalorian! They're all Mandalorians! But, no, the last one isn't.` – exclaims while scooping up the little menace into… his?… arms, "They're all midgets, Grogu! I told you to search for a Jedi!"

`Jedi! Why a Jedi? What for?` Obi gapes.

And then he realises, `Oh, no! He's a Mandalorian! His friend, too! And those three Young look rather Mandalorian, too! Are they hunting us?`

Wariness and fear radiate from not just him but also two of the padawans clustered loosely behind him. Perhaps they pick it up from Obi, or perhaps they remember the lessons in the Temple, but Obi has a bigger problem to wonder about, at present.

`Why did the child invite us here, if we're to be hunted?`

The burgeoning feelings of panic and betrayal only subside a little when the three beings – who are now arrayed two near the ships and one opposite them – chorus, "Why did you seek for a Jedi?"

Obi can't read armour tells, but the three beings – the occupants of the starfighters, most likely – can, he bets, since they're also armoured and most likely also Mandos despite the Jedi garb. And, yes, they cock their heads in unison as if they've realised something or gotten the answer to their question, when what Obi can see is only that the lead Mando in silver armour cradles… Grogu?… closer and hunches a little into himself. The lead Mando doesn't even reach for a weapon! Not that Obi can see, at least.

Obi can read the Force, though. He must, on Melida/Daan, or he would've been dead long ago. And the Force now feels like anticipation, like violence about to break, like how the air feels before an ambush.

`We'll die if we stay here. Somebody must say something.`

And, `The kid said mean people were chasing him and his guardian,` he remembers. So, pushed by this new realisation, this new urgency, he steels himself and steps forward, lowering his blaster and clicking its safety lock back on, and, bracing himself inwardly, asks, "Do you mean harm to us?"

He can't get a proper read through the Force on the Mandos, especially the silver Mando and the three Young nearby. Something seems to hinder him, sending his Force-tendral skittering across a slick surface that feels like the armour. But he can feel for the sincerity through voice, more or less, and it's what he does when the lead Mando says a firm "No."

`He's sincere, and even horrified with the idea. He's not like the Melidaan Elders, then. He's not a typical Mando from the history module, too.`

Well, this changes things.

He can't – won't – tattle on his fellows' probable Force-Sensitivity, but he can reveal his own, if only to get them all off planet right now.

So, "I am a Force-Sensitive. I used to be a Jedi. Can I help you?" he declares, in his calmest, firmest, most confident tone, hoping it's not confrontational or snooty. Then, because the sense of anticipation is swelling up in the Force, he hastily adds, "Can we do this after we're off planet? We aren't safe, right now. And, um, can I and the others hitch a ride? Just till we're all safe?" He'll deal with it if the Mando or his fellows rethinks his decision and wishes to sell him and the other Young into slavery. But, for now, they must leave.

And, thank the Force, the silver Mando agrees to both.

But, now, the problem is: Who should hitch a ride with whom? Nobody is even aware of anybody's name, here! And they just don't have time for that!

Obi can't say whether he's thankful or resentful when one of the three armoured Young – the one standing alone, away from the old-but-new starfighters – steps forth figuratively and literally, saying, "They are right. We must depart now. My siblings and I are newly knighted Jedi. I shall go with you and assist you to my best ability as long as it is not harmful to anyone – or anything important, for that matter. The children can use my ship. It will be tethered to the other two."

He is definitely relieved, though, when the silver Mando replies, "No, my – Grogu called them here, somehow. I'll transport them, and you, if it's all right with you. Or we can talk later, when we're safer."

He doesn't know anything about his fellow Young and the silver Mando and Grogu the little menace, or about this situation, or even about this planet. But there's strength in number when one is desperate, there's peace in knowledge when things are uncertain, and right now all of it applies so well in his case.

So he trots after the silver Mando when the armoured Young bows out of the offer, followed by the other children, and hopes that he hasn't just made a big, big, big mistake.