Reading Time: 102 Minutes
Title: Pathfinder
Author: Jilly James
Fandom: Star Wars
Genre: Angst, Drama, Pre-Relationship, Science Fiction
Relationship(s): Gen, Pre-Obi-Wan Kenobi/Nield, OC/OC, background pairings
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Discussion-Slavery, Discussion-Graphic Violence, Discussion-Violence Against Children, Discussion-War, Discussion-Children engaged in warfare, Discussion-Child Murder, Discussion-Attempted Genocide, Discussion-Suicide, Discussion-Self-Harm, Dark Themes, Discussion-Major/Permanent Injury, Mild Character Bashing, implied trauma.
Author Note: Star Wars has a lot of darkness in it. Melida/Daan was a particularly ugly arc in Jedi Apprentice, and though this is post-war, all children-at-war themes may apply. Everything mentioned in the warnings will be actually discussed but it’s also present in the Star Wars canon in spades. Please be sure to read the author notes tab in summary post, and particularly the tab about language in this verse.
Word Count: 87,410
Summary: After being exiled from the Young and returning to the temple, Obi-Wan Kenobi goes through the motions of healing and re-establishing his place in the Order. Yet he knows there’s a far-reaching threat still facing the Young—there are risks of starvation, illness, and the greater threat of attacks from shadowy forces he sees only in vision. He has little faith in the Order residing within the walls of the temple, so he seeks help from without, sending petitions for aid to the service corps branches. After all, no one told him he couldn’t, and he’ll do anything to protect the Young.
Beta: Keira Marcos, desertpoet
Artist: Spennig
Masana Tide was alone in the corridor when he exited Quinlan’s room, and he inclined his head in greeting. “Master Tide.”
“Padawan Kenobi,” she greeted.
He flushed. “I’m not—”
“Aren’t you?”
He opened his mouth, then closed it again, reflexively touching the hair without a braid.
“Walk with me.” She led him to the room set aside for sparring, which was unoccupied. The room had always seemed adequate, despite Master Soren and Master Ebé’s intimidating height, but it seemed wholly insufficient for Masana Tide’s dimensions.
She leaned against the wall and gave him a piercing look. “Tell me what you’ve observed about me. Other than the obvious, of course.”
He tucked his hands into his robe, feeling unaccountably nervous. “Your connection to the Force confuses me.”
“In what way?”
He resisted the urge to fidget. “It just feels different. They teach us so little at the academy about affinities that I barely know how to handle my own, but if I were to guess what I’m feeling, I’d say your Force affinity is something I’m unfamiliar with.”
Her lips twitched into a gentle smile. “Very good. I’m aligned to the Wild Force.”
He barely resisted the urge to reach out and touch because he was so curious.
She laughed and held out her hand. “It’s all right, Padawan.”
He took her hand, though it was more like her hand engulfed his. He felt the way the Force moved around her, unable to stop himself from seeing the way interesting paths flared into existence around her just by the nature of her unusual connection to the Force.
He pulled his hand away. “Thank you. That was lovely. Your connection to the Force feels like…magic.” Clearing his throat, he added, “And I’m no one’s padawan.”
“And why aren’t you? Sitting on the sidelines is only hurting you. Training is needed, and the Force calls you like a beacon. Don’t think I haven’t heard your worries, and I share them, but I believe you’re uniquely situated to mitigate your own concerns. So, tell me, why haven’t you done so?”
He curled and uncurled his hands where they were hidden in his sleeves. “I don’t want to be a burden—”
“The truth,” she snapped out, sharp as a whip.
“I don’t want to be unwanted again!”
“Mm-hm. And that is the truth. There are many masters who will offer for you. How many of them will do it because of a desire to train you versus a desire to make up for the Order’s mistakes, I could not say. I do know at least one master who wants to train you for your sake. Von-Re is more attached to you than would probably be healthy in a Master by our Corps standards, but fortunately, he’s of an age where he cannot accompany you in the field and be stressed out by whatever shenanigans you get up to.”
Obi-Wan couldn’t help but smile.
“He’s also so long in the service of the Force that he knows how to manage a healthy attachment. He’s offered to be your master because he sees your potential and wishes to see you to your knighthood. The question is, what do you wish?”
“Is that not a burden on him? He retired for a reason.”
“Not if you have another master to handle your field and saber training, probably most aspects of the physical force. He briefed you on that possibility.”
“Yes, but then two masters will have to take time to—”
“I am going to kick Qui-Gon Jinn’s ass all over the Core, and I’ll succeed because I’m about ten times the Jedi he ever was. When you have a padawan someday, will training them be a waste of your time?”
“No.”
“Right. And if Von-Re shares the privilege of training you with another master, say one who doesn’t often have padawans because she can’t stand dealing with temple nonsense nor handling the book side of things, does that mean that their time is wasted or that they’ve found an ideal student to share their knowledge with?”
Obi-Wan blinked.
“Yes, me,” she intoned seriously. “The Force has been pulling me here long before Jaro commed and asked that I rendezvous with his absconded planetary leader. I was already almost to Bandomeer.” She pointed one large finger at him. “The Force has plans for you and me, little HON; the question is, what do you want to do? Because saying no, then traveling a different path is a reasonable answer. The Force has already asked a lot of you. Think about it and let Von-Re know what you’d like to do.”
“Wait. Are you really saying you’d be my…” He wasn’t even sure how to phrase it.
“I’d be your master as well. We’d both have a bond with you, and both put a bead in your braid. Von-Re would handle the academic and temple beads and bands and probably anything ceremonial, and I’d handle anything field-related or physical.”
“I— I’m honored, Master Tide.”
“Just think about it. Consult with the Force and let us know.”
He dipped his head in acknowledgment.
“Come on, then. Lodha wants to meditate with you. Von-Re and I will both be present. Lodha feels my connection to the Wild Force might give you something to latch onto if the Cosmic Force gets too insistent with trying to get your attention.”
***
The room was much the same as last time, with meditation mats on the floor and tea prepared by Master Soren. Everything felt smaller, however, with the inclusion of Master Tide. She was larger than life in every sense, not the least of which was her presence in the Force.
There were several meditation mats put together next to Master Ebé, so it was clear they’d been expecting her.
Obi-Wan’s mat was directly in front of Master Ebé, so he sat in a full lotus and met Master Ebé’s gaze, trying to suppress his nerves.
“There’s nothing to be worried about, child,” Master Ebé said gently. “As I mentioned before, the nature of my gifts in the Force means that only the Living Force can truly take hold of me. I cannot be swept up in a vision. This allows me to observe other aspects of the Force at work and not risk being swept along in its wake.
“Master Soren is strong in the Unifying Force, and it’s possible in a joint meditation that he could get swept up in a vision, though he’s going to try to keep his mind shielded today. Still, if the Force is insistent, the Force will have its way. While the Cosmic Force could have a dance with Master Tide if it wished to, the Unifying would find her natural Force alignment disagreeable, so she’s safe from its influence as well.”
Master Tide huffed a bit at the way Master Ebé phrased it, but Master Ebé just shot her a grin.
“It’s a good thing you’re pretty,” she shot back. “I’m fairly certain that’s the only reason you get away with most of your nonsense.” She winked at Obi-Wan. “We’ve known each other a long time, and he thinks he’s got it all figured out just because he’s like three times my age.”
Master Ebé smiled but kept his attention on Obi-Wan. “Simply fall into a standard meditation. Don’t seek out any particular guidance from the Force. Just as if you were trying to center yourself before or after a stressful day. If I need you to slip into a deeper meditation, I’ll let you know and perhaps guide you. All right?”
“Yes, Master.”
“It’s reflexive to reach out for the Force when we meditate. If you can, try not to do that. Simply exist in harmony with it, and let it move around you. At least to start.”
Obi-Wan inclined his head and let his eyes slip shut. The Force was always there, always waiting. He didn’t push it away or invite it in. He didn’t ask it any questions. He simply relaxed the barriers around his mind and let himself fall into a light trance.
The vision rose up bright in his eyes. He was standing alone on a bridge to nowhere, a white light at his back. A bridge in space with no start and no end. His hood was up, but he knew it was him.
He held an unfamiliar saber hilt in his hands as he stood at the edge of this bridge, or perhaps it was a path, staring out at the vastness of space. The saber was unlit because there was no threat to him out here. He was watchful, waiting, listening.
From the left, a blue light coalesced and, from the right, a yellow light formed.
It was expected.
He waited.
He listened.
The whispers began, a warning from the left. Potential outcomes from the right.
He held out his hand, pushing the knowledge into his gifts, letting the paths form across time and space.
***
Obi-Wan blinked and realized he was in Master Ebé’s arms, and he was feeling dizzy and disoriented.
Master Ebé patted his cheek and seemed to be peering into his eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“Did I pass out?”
“For a while, yes. We considered taking you to medical in the AgriCorps base, but I asked that you remain here for now. I wished to observe longer, and I’ve tended to more than one person coming out of a strong vision.”
Obi-Wan started to move, but Master Ebé tightened his hold.
“Not yet, child. You’re going to fall over. Just relax. The Force is still moving in strong waves around you. Close your eyes and feel it. No need to meditate; just feel the currents of the Force ebb and flow. When it recedes to its normal gentleness around you, then you can evaluate your physical readiness for movement.”
“He’s not going to settle with you, Lodha,” Master Tide interjected. “The abrasiveness of the Living Force against the Cosmic Force’s pull no doubt helped bring him out, but now it’s probably just annoying. Give him here.”
Master Ebé smiled a bit, but he let Master Tide take Obi-Wan in her arms.
“I’m fine,” he tried to insist, but his limbs felt like they were weighed down with duracrete blocks.
“Nonsense,” she chided, leaning back against the wall, holding him steady. “Do as Ebé said and let yourself surface. Latch onto my Force presence. Master Soren is right next to you.”
“I’m here, Obi-Wan; just relax. Find your center and follow Master Tide’s Force presence. I may step out to get you some food, but I won’t be long.”
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and let himself relax and observe the Force until such time as it returned to its normal state. Master Tide’s presence in the Force was so stunning. It was like rainbows and light and… He couldn’t help but ground himself in it.
When he started to feel like the Force wasn’t swirling around so weirdly, he began taking stock of his physical state and realized how hungry he was.
He blinked his eyes open again, staring up at Master Tide. “How long?”
“Including the vision, several hours.”
Obi-Wan sighed in distress. “The Force is very greedy with my time when I meditate lately.”
Master Tide smirked. “I believe it’s trying to tell you something, and perhaps when that message is received, it will back off a bit.”
The door slid open, and Master Soren and Master Ebé entered together with a small tray just as Obi-Wan was ready to try sitting. Master Tide settled him right next to her, and the tray was unceremoniously placed on his lap.
Master Soren gave him a stern look. “You’ll eat it all.”
“Yes, Master.” He took a quick bite of mealgrains and looked to Master Ebé. “What do you think the Force is trying to tell me?” He then fiddled with peeling a piece of citrus fruit that seemed to be some hybrid variety he was unfamiliar with.
Master Ebé shared a look with Master Soren and then he looked back to Obi-Wan again. The swirls of his facial markings pulsed a little Force energy, and Obi-Wan almost couldn’t look away.
“There’s a particular reason Rin Wodij asked me to do this meditation with you. What do you know of Force Oracles?”
Obi-Wan frowned at the term and turned it over in his mind. Finally, he shook his head. “Outside of a generic term oracle, I’m unfamiliar with the usage as it pertains to the Force.”
“There are times when darkness rises, when the Force needs to ensure its children hear its will and its voice, so it will send one who is held equally between two aspects of the Force. Specifically, two aspects of the Force that are aligned to the vastness of time. The Unifying and the Cosmic Force. There is another aspect of the Force, which is time, but we don’t touch that aspect of the Force directly.
“But because this person can see the ripples of consequences through both aspects of the Cosmic and Unifying Force and combine the visions of the two, they’ve been called the Oracle of the Force.”
Obi-Wan’s hands curled into fists. “Surely not me.”
“As far as I’m aware, only two members of the current Order were alive at the time of the last Oracle—myself and Fay, and we would know how to recognize them, which is why Rin Wodij wanted me to observe the Force around you during meditation. As to your implied question, yes, the Force has called you to be its Oracle.”
Obi-Wan stared at his lap, trying to process what Master Ebé had just said.
“The Order no longer knows how to see the signs of an Oracle in its midst, and this has done you a disservice. You’d have been taught the right meditations and the right grounding and shielding techniques from childhood to protect your mind inside and outside of meditation. To learn how to control the flow of visions and messages from the Force. As it is, the Force was unable to communicate with you properly until you stumbled upon the Daan’s pathfinding techniques, which opened you up too widely to the Cosmic Force.”
When there was a protracted silence, he finally looked up and met Master Ebé’s gaze. “But what if I’m not a Jedi?”
“Jedi and Sith are our labels, child. We used to have entirely different labels for ourselves over the centuries. The Force occupies itself with other things, such as darkness and light, taking from the Force versus balance in the Force. You are no dark Force user, and you’ve heeded the Force’s call when needed. The Order would be deeply invested in your training if they were aware of your circ*mstances, but they need not be aware—whether you’re a Jedi or not.”
Obi-Wan frowned. “You’re suggesting keeping it from them?”
“At your age, they’d insist on training you in the temple. Considering the temple’s likely proximity to a Sith, I have issue with this. Also, if you truly wish to try to make your path amongst the people of Melidaan, then you would do well to disclose your calling selectively. The wider Order should only know once you’re older.”
“You make it sound so simple. As if I can have this calling from this Force and still be amongst the Young.”
“I don’t see why you can’t, and the Force doesn’t seem to think so either. That may be a question only you can answer. But, for now, we need to work on your meditation and easing you into communion with the Cosmic and Unifying Force so that you can hear what they’re trying to tell you. The reason the visions are so overwhelming is they’re trying to throw too much at you all at once in the event you aren’t there to hear them again.
“As it stands today, you’re in something of a free fall every time you meditate, with the Unifying and Cosmic Force both grappling to give you information. These episodes will get worse as time goes on if you don’t learn how to properly interact with them based on the types of gifts you have. For those with particularly strong affinities, we must learn the proper way of reaching out to the Force. It’s much the same way with me and the Living Force. I can’t just stick my hands in the earth and pour all my Force ability into it.”
Obi-Wan nodded, but everything still felt so far out of reach.
Master Ebé said, “I will arrange to have some reading materials transferred to you. Primarily meditation and grounding techniques. We will all work together for the entirety of the return trip. Von-Re will arrange the schedule.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Very good. Do let us know when your business with the Mandalorians has concluded so I can inform the good admiral of our expected departure; she’s rather annoyed with me, says I absconded with you.”
Obi-Wan couldn’t help his amused smile.
“Additionally, we’ll need to make a stop for a new crystal for you at some point in the future.”
“Spending time with my existing saber won’t help it reharmonize?” He had noticed some small improvement during the trip and the moving meditations; he’d hoped that would be sufficient.
“It’s unlikely to ever fully harmonize with you again. Unsurprising, perhaps, all things considered. It could be that simply carrying it full-time will allow it to be a second weapon someday, though I’d expect that would take quite some time. But I’m referring to the construction of the Oracle blade. After an Oracle’s trials, and when you’ve mastered the proper meditations to allow the Force to guide you as its Oracle, the combined aspects of the Unifying and Comic Force will lead you to the crystal or stone you’re meant to use for your blade.”
“Oh.” He swallowed down nerves. “Oracle trials?”
“Yes, it’s always something of a difficult—” Master Ebé broke off and stared at him. “Young one, your trials are already past.”
“What do you mean?”
Master Ebé gave him a speaking look.
Master Soren moved closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, clearly uncaring about invading Master Tide’s space as well. “Melida/Daan, Obi-Wan.”
“No, but—”
Master Ebé shook his head, disagreeing with Obi-Wan’s unvoiced disavowal. “You were young, untrained in how to even hear the Cosmic Force, had been taught to blunt your connection, and still you heeded its call. You went to war at thirteen. I assure you, that was your trial of the Cosmic Force. I suspect the answer to your trial of the Unifying Force is in why you know the Mand’alor. You received a potent vision while attempting to pathfind for the Young?”
“Yes.”
“And it was a vision of a great tragedy the Force wished to avert?”
“I think so, yes. That’s the way I interpreted it, anyway. The genocide of the True Mandalorians.”
Master Ebé winced, the Force markings on his shoulders contracting. “And despite your limited resources and ability to even take action, you did what you could to follow the Force’s instructions?”
“I— Yes, I did as much as I was able.”
“And was the tragedy the Unifying Force sought to prevent therefore averted?”
“I…think so? He answered his com. I told him what to avoid, who was betraying him.” He stared at his lap. “I didn’t tell him, however, that the Jedi would have been the weapon wielded in another genocide against the Mandalorians.”
Master Ebé gave a mournful sigh. “Then your trial was doubled. You saved the Mandalorians and stopped a cultural stain we could never have washed away.”
“It was just a com call.”
Master Tide gave an annoyed huff. “Never doubt the importance of giving someone the information they need. This galaxy runs on information, Obi-Wan.”
“And it was something all your training in the Order would have told you not to do,” Master Ebé added. “Child, do not discount the difficulty inherent in going against everything you’ve ever been taught. It is no small feat.”
Obi-Wan clenched and unclenched his hands, leaning into Master Soren. “You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“Can I say no?” he whispered.
“Any of us who are called by the Force can say no, Obi-Wan. Every day, it’s a choice to continue answering the call.”
He nodded, knowing the truth of that. “I don’t want to be a figurehead.”
“You’re not. Or, rather, you’re not supposed to be. A Force Oracle is a last effort by the Force to prevent the light from falling into darkness. That’s…not a figurehead. It’s a sanity check, a voice of reason. Perhaps, at times, it’s a blunt instrument. With time and training, you will decide what it means.
“For now, it means you and your future master will quietly train and prepare. You will decide who is brought into your confidence as messages from the Force need to be relayed. I’ll tell you that Rin Wodij, Jaro Tapal, Yaddle, and Eeth Koth already suspect what you are. Master Tapal is leading the effort to find the Sith. Figuring out who your team is, who you’re going to relay information to, is something for you to consider.
“In the near term, you have more than enough to do. You have friends to catch up with, studies to do, meditations to learn, and apparently a planet to co-rule.” Master Ebé shot him an amused look.
Obi-Wan flushed. “I didn’t know that was still a thing.”
“Never fear; I’ve encountered stranger things in my time in this galaxy. Now, do you have any questions for me?”
“No.”
“Was there anything in the visions that would be important for you to relay?”
“The visions were fragmented; I need time to think on what any of that meant. I think…” He frowned. “I think there was an element of it being an…invitation? I think they were showing me the Oracle stuff, though I didn’t understand that’s what it was.”
“The Force is asking you to take up your destiny.”
“Do I need to be on the Jedi path for that?”
“The Force doesn’t care about those labels,” Master Ebé assured. “But you will require a solid Force bond through your training period. If you accept the Force’s call as its Oracle, you’re implicitly deciding to choose a master to see you through your training.”
Obi-Wan nodded. “Thank you for your time and instruction, Master Ebé.”
Master Ebé inclined his head. “It’s my honor, Padawan.”
Obi-Wan felt the truth of it; he just needed to settle his mind and his feelings on the subject of Qui-Gon Jinn and everything that had gone on with his first master. He needed to be ready to try again.
He nodded to Master Tide and Master Soren.
“If you need us, you have only to reach out in the Force,” Master Soren said gently.
“Thank you, Master.”
Outside of the meditation room, Obi-Wan headed toward the galley to try to find Quin and Nield; he needed to talk this out with his friends.
It was actually Master Tholme he ran into first. “Obi-Wan, are you all right? You look a little peaked.”
“I’m fine. I just finished my meditation with Master Ebé.”
“Were you looking for Quin? When your meditation went on so long, he decided to accept a tour of the AgriCorps station here along with Nield since the governor will soon be working very closely with them. Did you need me to com them to return?”
“No.” Obi-Wan hesitated. “Can I talk to you, Master?”
“Of course. I was just making some caf. Would you prefer that or tea?”
“Tea, please.”
He’d always liked Quin’s master, and he’d spoken to him a good bit over the course of the journey. Next to Master Soren, Tholme was the easiest for Obi-Wan to talk to about the events of Melida/Daan. Part of him wanted to talk to Master Soren, but whether to accept Master Soren’s offer was part of his mental jumble.
When they were seated in the common area of Tholme and Quin’s quarters with their drinks, Master Tholme began with, “What can I help you with?”
“Did you have a guess about what Master Ebé thought he might find when I meditated with him?”
Tholme shook his head. “He spoke of a particular calling in the Force. Some are called to unusual things. I think a strong calling of the Unifying Force is more than awful enough for one Jedi to endure. The Order of our day does not provide sufficient training on how to properly balance the demands of such an alignment. Quin’s psychometry, for instance, is a hybrid of Physical and Unifying, and the Order finds it less objectionable than pure visions, so his training is more robust than someone like, say, Master Sifo-Dyas.”
Master Tholme frowned and took a sip of his caf. “I’d rather hoped you weren’t called as something like a seer. The Order is so out of touch with its Unifying Force training that we barely spot them properly anymore. Seer wasn’t my first thought anyway because that’s more of a Unifying Force gift. The Cosmic Force is known for prescience, but it’s not usually long-term prescience, which would be a requirement for a prophet of any sort…” He trailed off, looking at Obi-Wan expectantly.
“Not seer, no.” Obi-Wan fiddled with his cup. “Something perfectly balanced between the Cosmic and the Unifying Force.”
Master Tholme set his cup down with a heavy thunk, some caf sloshing out to land on the table. “Oracle?”
Obi-Wan gave a barely-there nod.
“Oh, child.” He reached out and pulled Obi-Wan into a strong hug. “I know you well enough to know this is not something you would wish for yourself, so for that, I’m sorry. I wish someone else could shoulder these burdens for you.”
“I just want to be normal,” he whispered.
Tholme huffed a laugh against his hair. “You’ve been normal about as much as Quinlan is normal.”
Obi-Wan’s laugh was sincere, if a bit watery.
When Master Tholme finally released him back to sit in his chair, he offered, “I’m sure you’re going to talk to Nield and Quinlan about this, but I’d like to talk to them as well to impress upon them both the importance of secrecy until you’re ready to reveal this, all right?”
Obi-Wan nodded, grateful to have some of these decisions made for him.
“Also, I feel relatively confident that you’ll choose Masana and Von-Re. They’re uniquely perfect for your situation, but I can think of several others who’d work well with you and who’d be sensitive to the Oracle situation. You let me know if you need names.”
“You don’t doubt for a second what I’m going to do…”
Tholme raised a brow. “I don’t doubt you have much healing to do, but you’ve already been acting as the Force’s Oracle. We’re not going to stop caring about you if you make a definitive decision to blunt your connection to the Force, but I have a suspicion that you stepped into the Force’s will some time ago, and you’re just waiting to see who you feel safe enough with to bring along on the journey with you.”
“Oh.” Obi-Wan looked down at his hands. “I didn’t think…”
Master Tholme squeezed his hands. “It’s all right to throw the Order a test or two to make sure they can be trusted. They broke your trust. Even if you weren’t aware you were testing them, it’s fine that you were.”
“But if I’m now aware, shouldn’t I stop?”
“You mean right this second? That’s not necessary. Finish up your business here on Bandomeer so we can get headed back to your new home. The rest will wait.”
Jango Fett tossed the empty vial to Nield, who caught it easily enough. “It’s incredibly easy to adapt into hyper-efficient fuel. We were only able to try five fuel types with the amount we had, but certainly, a Paralene substitute was one of them. Considering we have to trade for most of the components to make Paralene, since buying it commercially isn’t cost-effective with the trade tariffs on Mandalore, this does offer a huge financial incentive to us.”
Jango had his helmet off as he paced the cargo bay of Jaster’s Legacy. “This is an incredibly unbalanced deal, but I can’t afford to turn it down.”
“We don’t want you to turn it down,” Nield said dryly, arms crossed. “Look, if you’re expecting me to talk you out of it, I’m not going to. What this is now, or winds up being in the future, is for you and me to decide. On flimsi, I’m trading with a mercenary company to do some flybys of my moon for the security of our diminished population in exchange for whatever foodstuffs and grain we can spare.”
Obi-Wan added, “Anyone who’s been on the holonet for five minutes has read rumors about Mandalorians being weirdly protective over kids, so they’ll think you’re doing this on the cheap out of an abundance of sentiment.”
“What we’re really doing,” Nield concluded, “is nobody’s business. If our secret dealings help fund the rise of another Mandalorian Empire, I really don’t care, as long as our people remain safe.”
Fett threw up his hands. “I’m not sure why I find you infuriating, but I do.” He pointed at Obi-Wan. “I’d say I expect you to have more sense than this, but you’re a Jetii, and your Order are known for not having any sense.”
“Well, if things go the way we hope financially, you’re going to be helping funnel some credits to the Jedi Order,” Obi-Wan said sweetly, “so you’ll be helping fund our nonsense.”
Fett huffed. “How can you be sure I won’t double-cross you? It seems like you’re being awfully trusting.”
Obi-Wan gave a negligent wave. “Remember how we met?”
“Right. Force osik.” Jango ran his hands through his hair. “I’d like to send Myles back with you.”
Nield groaned in dismay.
At Fett’s offended look, and Myles’ hurt look, Nield pulled a piece of flimsi out of his jacket pocket and passed it over. “Just in case you were wondering how well Ben sees things.”
The flimsi read: Ben thinks Myles is coming back with us.
Fett frowned and passed the flimsi to Myles, who looked startled. “Oh, yeah. That’s definitely annoying.”
“So, we have an accord?” Nield pressed.
Jango held out his hand. “We absolutely have a deal.”
Nield shook the Mand’alor’s hand, and they sat down to hash out the fine points that would hopefully cover them for the next few months at the minimum.
As they were preparing to depart the ship, with plans for Myles to rendezvous as soon as possible, Jango looked to Obi-Wan, “Ben, remember to prep the Jedi for our arrival. I’m going to start sending ships your way soon. If you’re evacuating, we need to get the gas off-planet and start some sales so we can purchase your farm droids to keep the fuel manufacturing going.”
“I’ll discuss it with them in person when I get back. I know there are hard feelings about the Jedi, and I understand why, but please remind whoever you send that most of the Jedi out there are in the service corps; they’re farmers, healers, educators, and space explorers. The Order the Mandalorians went to war with… Well, that Order doesn’t really even exist anymore, but the laser sword-wielding warriors are the Diplomacy Corps, and there will be very few of them around. Also, that’s my branch of the Order. So it’d be great if you wouldn’t send beings who are going to hate me on sight.”
Jango gave a terse nod.
It was Silas who said, “They left you there.”
“One man left me there,” Obi-wan replied. “The Force had a purpose for me in staying there, and the repercussions of that event and the mistakes made are between me and the Order.”
Nield shot him a sharp look.
“And Nield is allowed to hold a grudge against my former master for eternity,” Obi-Wan parroted.
Jango gave a bark of laughter.
“By the way,” Obi-Wan offered, “we’ve decided to name the new moon Evaarla.”
After a brief round of astonished blinks from all the Mandos, Fett sighed. “You’re never getting rid of us now, you know that, right?”
Obi-Wan shrugged and grinned.
***
“Is your business concluded?” Master Tide asked as soon as they were in the speeder, on their way back toward the AgriCorps outpost.
“Yes, Master. Though they’ve requested that we bring one of the Mandalorians back with us.”
“And will this Mandalorian be able to get along with Jedi?”
“I think so, yes. They chose the one I think most able to set those issues aside.”
She nodded.
“Do you think it will be all right with Master Tholme?”
“It’s all right with me, and you all are transferring to my ship for the return. Yaddle will be arranging to station Tholme and Quinlan in your sector in the coming month or two, but it must be done carefully. They’d already made one run to that sector, and we don’t need Judicial paying close attention to their mission.”
Obi-Wan nodded, not wanting to bring them under scrutiny. “And it won’t bring you under scrutiny?”
“My movements aren’t accounted for in the same way. Much like Jaro, I’m on a long-term assignment and manage my own movements in the galaxy.” She gave him a quick sideways glance. “Com Mand’alor Fett, ask if I can return to meet with him about my passenger. I’ll drop you two at Tholme’s ship to begin your goodbyes and then return to speak to the Mand’alor.”
Obi-Wan decided not to ask why Master Tide wanted to speak to the Mandalorians; he just tapped out the message on his com and got back a near-immediate affirmative. “He replied quickly and said he welcomes you back for a conversation.”
“He no doubt is eager for the assurances of his subject’s safety in our midst. I will set his mind at ease.”
Obi-Wan knew there would be more to the discussion than that, but he also knew it was none of his business if Master Tide wanted to talk to them.
She dropped them at Tholme’s ship, and Obi-Wan stared out at the distant, vague skyline of Bandor city. The sun was starting to set, and it was the time of day that obscured all the ugliness the world had to offer.
“You all right?” Nield nudged him, pressed tight to his side.
“I don’t like being here, and I admit I’m glad we’re leaving.”
“If you’d told Fett you’d been enslaved on this planet, he’d have agreed to meet you elsewhere.”
“It made sense for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is it has an AgriCorps outpost.”
“But you can’t always put others before yourself, Ben.”
“Some Jedi would say that’s practically our whole philosophy.”
Nield made a rude noise. “If you could do one thing purely for yourself, what would it be?”
Obi-Wan blinked and turned so he could face Nield. “I don’t— What do you mean?”
“Quin said you used to be quite the prankster. I’ve seen that sass sometimes, and I think it’s starting to come back, but I wonder if you’ve forgotten how to want things for yourself.”
“What about you?”
“Me? My whole life is wanting things for myself. Peace, a unified people, you coming back.”
“Most of those are big things that weren’t just for you.”
“Yeah, but sometimes all we can manage is to want the small things. Would it be a milkshake? Nerfburger? Sneaking into a cantina and ordering an ale bigger than your head? What would you want that was just for you?”
On impulse, Obi-Wan lifted up onto his toes and pressed a light kiss to Nield’s lips. Nield blinked, his expression going soft before Obi-Wan could second guess what he’d done.
Nield cupped Obi-Wan’s jaw, his thumb tracing over his cheekbone. “I’ve been yours for so long.” Another chaste but deeply meaningful kiss was pressed to Obi-Wan’s mouth. “Me, huh? That’s what you want?” The words were ghosts across his mouth.
“Yes,” Obi-Wan managed to murmur in the infinitesimal space between them. “Yes, I want you. And the Order, and the Young… Turns out I’m very selfish, and I want to have everything.”
Another kiss, this one longer, then Nield was holding him close. “You can have everything. Do your training, be whatever the Force needs, and we’ll be your home, Ben. I will be your home.”
He curled his arms around Nield’s waist. “I don’t think I could handle it if you sent me away again.”
“I literally can’t. We wrote it into our constitution.”
“What, that the deputy governor can’t be exiled?”
“No, that Ben, known to the Jedi Order as Obi-Wan Kenobi, is a permanent citizen, and that citizenship cannot be revoked without a majority vote.”
Obi-Wan gave a watery laugh. Their government was so bizarrely constructed. Because of the age of eligible voters, Nield and Obi-Wan’s first term was designated as twenty years. It’d be twenty years before they held another election, and then elections would be every five years.
“We have time to fix everything, and then we can run off and get up to crazy stuff together.”
Obi-Wan stepped in a little closer. “Is that your wish? To someday run away and do crazy things together?”
Nield pressed his lips against Obi-Wan’s hair. “Yeah, Ben. I’d like to get up to crazy things with you for the rest of my life.”
Obi-Wan laughed. “Okay.”
***
Quinlan finally found him in his temporary quarters, packing his bag. “Things seemed to be getting intense out there.”
Obi-Wan laughed and flopped down on his bunk. “You always did like sneaking around.”
Quin sat next to him. “I’m good at it too.” He nudged Obi-Wan in the ribs with a pointy elbow. “You two okay?”
“We’re good. I don’t think it’s all better, but I see a path to better. I want to say I’m sorry you’re not coming with us yet, but I’m really not.”
Quin co*cked his head to the side. “Oh?”
“Don’t ever set foot on that planet before it’s healed, Quin. Promise me.”
Quinlan frowned. “Obes?”
“Just promise. Even if they come up with some reason why your gifts might be useful, you can never go to Melidaan until after the spells are broken and the core and vergence have recovered.”
“Have you seen something?”
“It’s vague impressions. Too many paths to narrow down. But even without portents of doom, too many have died, too many children murdered.” He touched Quinlan’s temple. “Don’t let that be in your head. Your psychometry wouldn’t ever let you forget.”
Quin stared at him for a long time, then nodded. “I promise.”
“I’ll tell Master Tholme too.” He bumped Quin’s shoulder. “Not that I don’t trust you, but I want to be sure he’s looking out for you.”
“He always does.” Quin’s smile was fond. “Back to what you neatly sidestepped… You and Nield are making progress.”
Obi-Wan felt his face heat. “Don’t let yourself be afraid to love, Quin,” he whispered. “I think the Order has some work to do on how it teaches us.”
“Yeah, probably. Come on. Let’s get you ready to board Master Tide’s ship. Master Soren is waiting for you.”
He’d wanted to talk to Quinlan about the Oracle thing, but he didn’t feel it was the time. He also hadn’t been able to tell Nield, but he’d do that as soon as they had some real privacy once they were on their way back.
He knew he would be able to tell his oldest friend one day soon, probably once they were settled on Evaarla, with Tholme and Quinlan settled in as residents of the satellite temple. It made him wonder about Bant, Garen, and Reeft. He’d exchanged a com with Bant, but everything was awkward, and she wasn’t in a place yet to understand his position about not coming back to the temple. Was it possible that they’d ever all be friends again?
His vision started to easily open up, but he shut it down, not needing to see the path. Not all futures needed to be foretold.
Sometimes, you just needed to live it.
***
Master Tide’s ship actually ran a little smoother than Master Tholme’s, so the jump into hyperspace was easy. Obi-Wan watched the passing stars, considering his own personal path.
“You seem deep in thought,” a familiar voice said.
“Hello, Master Ebé.”
“Will you join me for tea?”
Obi-Wan turned and sat at the galley table. They were alone. Master Soren had been in meditation when Obi-Wan left their quarters, and Nield gleefully had plans to spar with Myles in the cargo bay. Master Tide promised to join them as soon she finished putting the ship into hyperspace, promising to put them both through their paces, which both were entirely too eager about, in his opinion.
He accepted a fragrant white tea Master Ebé poured for him. “I take it Myles got over staring at your wings?”
Mater Ebé grinned. “It’s not the first time I’ve encountered such a starstruck reaction, and it surely won’t be the last. His empathic landscape is bordering on sweet, and it will be no hardship to have him on the journey to Melidaan. Nor will it burden me to answer his questions.”
Obi-Wan liked Myles, and he agreed that his presence in the Force was pleasant. “Did you enjoy your visit to the enrichment zone?”
“I did. I haven’t visited some of the outposts in too long. An effect of the spell, I think. It’s put our focus too tightly inward. While the AgriCorps does many things beyond growing crops, this particular outpost is really about staple foods. Even if you were desperate to join my branch of the Order to do geological surveys on advance teams, we would not have ever sent you here. I hope you’ve fully internalized that Bandomeer was all a scheme of Yoda’s to get you and Qui-Gon Jinn in the same place at the same time and hope that the two of you would spontaneously develop a bond or some such nonsense.”
Obi-Wan couldn’t help the half smile. “Manipulative, but it sort of worked, didn’t it?”
“I’m not so sure it did work. Qui-Gon came back with a padawan registered with the council, but he never had one in his heart, did he?” Master Ebé reached out and squeezed Obi-Wan’s hand. “I don’t say that to be cruel. That was no failing of yours.”
“I cared about him, though.”
“And it’s no sad thing to care for another without regard for whether or not they care for you, yes?”
“I suppose that’s true,” Obi-Wan murmured thoughtfully. “I take it you mean my time spent caring for others is never wasted, regardless of what they feel in return?”
“Something like that, yes. But you know it’s time to move on. Now, tell me what preoccupies your thoughts.”
“I’d begun reading the materials you sent to my datapad—the meditation and centering techniques. It seems like what’s known about Force Oracles dates back to the Dai Bendu?”
“Yes. The precursor of the Jedi Order.”
“It talks about how the balancing aspect of the Unifying Force is the Living Force and the balancing Aspect of the Cosmic Force is the Wild Force, but there was an illustration.”
“I know the one. The Dai Bendu symbol that looks like an eight-spoked wheel; it shows the eight Force aspects on the wheel spokes, highlighting which aspects sit in opposition to each other.”
“Right. And I felt uninformed because I didn’t even know there were eight aspects of the Force.”
“Ah. The Order of today feels it unnecessary to teach about aspects of the Force you either won’t touch or can’t touch. In their mind, anyway. Some things are taught during an apprenticeship, depending on the master, I believe. If you have specific questions, I’ll try to answer them.”
“I’m just trying to understand how it works.”
“All right. You understand that the Force, in its entirety, comes from the Cosmic Wellspring, yes?”
Obi-Wan nodded.
“That’s represented by the center of the wheel. The spokes in their symbol are how that energy manifests in the galaxy. The first manifestation was, unoriginally, called the Force Manifest. No one is actually certain what that is, though the ancient Bendu writings theorizing on the Force Manifest are fascinating. The scholarly debates were apparently ticket-worthy.”
Obi-Wan laughed.
“Sitting in opposition to the Force Manifest is the Force Undying. Oddly, these two aspects of the Force seem to have their names mixed up in various writings. Sometimes, the Force Manifest is referred to as the Force Eternal, sometimes the Force Undying is referred to as the Force Eternal. Since neither side in the debate could agree on which was supposed to be the Force Eternal, the permanent names were given of Force Undying and Force Manifest.”
“And what is the Force Undying?”
“It’s a dimensional aspect of the Force that moves those of us connected to the Force through death into the Force for all time.”
“The afterlife?”
“Something like that, yes. Then there’s the Physical Force, which you know about, and it sits in opposition to the Force Temporal.
“Which is definitely time, but more broadly, it’s reality. It’s an aspect of the Force that we do not ever touch. Much like the Force Undying. At least, not in this life. We also don’t touch the Force Manifest. The three are completely out of reach.
“The Wild Force is unknown to most, but it’s not inaccessible; it’s just not very available, even if that seems contradictory. It tends to be very prevalent on uninhabited planets, especially volcanic planets, desert worlds, ice planets, and then on the fringes of space where life is trying to establish a rhythm. When the chaos of the Living Force takes dominance, the Wild Force will retreat.
“The Wild Force and the Cosmic Force are both distant, remote. In contrast, the Unifying and the Living are close, in your face. That’s why they act as a good counterbalance for one another.
“What’s on your mind besides Force Theory?” Master Ebé asked with a gentle smile.
“I was just trying to understand what the Force is showing me.”
“What are you seeing?”
“It’s almost like a dream…? The Force is at my back—I know I’m in the embrace of the Force—but I’m getting messages from the left and right. I know the left is the Cosmic Force, and it appears to me as blue. I know the right is the Unifying Force, and it appears to me as yellow. If I’m supposed to be balanced between the two, what’s the aspect I’m in the embrace of?”
“You’re the Force’s Oracle, Obi-Wan. Not the Cosmic Force’s Oracle or the Unifying Force’s Oracle. It’s simply that the messages, the communication, comes through the aspects of the Force that are known for time manipulation.”
“Which aspect is that, though?”
Master Ebé patted Obi-Wan’s hand. “The Cosmic Wellspring of Life, Obi-Wan, determines who it is going to choose to speak through.”
“Oh.” For some reason, that made Obi-Wan feel unaccountably flustered. He got to his feet. “I need to talk to Master Soren.” He bowed in a way that felt awkward in his haste. “Thank you for your wisdom, Master Ebé.”
“It’s been my pleasure, Padawan Kenobi.”
Obi-Wan trotted off to the quarters he’d been assigned with Master Soren, ducking around Master Tide’s cranky droid, an R2 navigation unit who beeped at him in binary to stop running. The ship was a little larger than Master Tholme’s, but it was still not large enough for him to need to jog anywhere.
He slipped into Master Soren’s quarters, finding his healer still in meditation in the small common room. It was a nice guest suite with a shared room and two small private bunks. Nield had a standard room to himself.
He slipped into a meditation position across from Master Soren and let himself relax into the feel of the Force moving around one of his favorite beings. The Force eddies were gentle and supportive. He didn’t allow himself to slip into meditation, not wanting to risk a vision, but he closed his eyes and let his mind drift.
Some time later, he felt a gentle touch on his cheek. “Hello, Obi-Wan.”
“Hello, Master Soren.” He smiled at his healer.
“Did you have need of me?”
“Will you be my master?”
Master Soren’s blue eyes widened, and then he blinked twice before he smiled. “It would be my great honor, Obi-Wan, to take you as my padawan and see you to your knight trials.”
“Could take a long time; I’m on an unconventional path, and I’m pretty stubborn.”
“We’ll get you there; of this, you have my word.”
Obi-Wan smiled.
Master Soren reached into his robe and pulled out a small box. “I’d hoped you’d accept.” He presented the box.
Inside, Obi-Wan found a grey band, a white band, and a transparent bead. He stared a little in confusion.
“There are others you have no doubt earned, and we will sort that out in time,” Master Soren said, plucking up the grey band as he moved to kneel next to Obi-Wan. “As you know, a braid usually starts with a yellow band before you’re thirteen, but you didn’t come to me before that age. One of the exceptions is when they’re started with a grey band.”
Obi-Wan’s breath caught. “I didn’t lose a master.”
“Did you not?” Master Soren asked gently. “Whatever the means by which you suffered that injury, was that bond not broken? Were you not left without and alone?”
Obi-Wan felt the emotion choking him as Master Soren’s arms came around him.
“Share your grief with me and with the Force. If this band pains you, we can use another, but I felt it wise to acknowledge your loss and, therefore, your beginning.”
Obi-Wan touched the band. “They’re for orphan padawans, not…me.”
“There’s no rule about the definition of a lost master.” Master Soren held the band in the flat of his hand. “This choice is yours.”
Normally, the band was a way to inform other members of the Order to treat them with caution, saying that the padawan might recently be in their apprenticeship after suffering a large loss. It was also an acknowledgement for the padawan of the mentorship they’d had before. Obi-Wan turned it over in his mind and tried to find a way to make it not apply to him, but he couldn’t.
He picked up the band from Master Soren’s palm and then handed it back to him.
Master Soren deftly attached it to the base of his braid, and Obi-Wan choked on a sob. He gathered up the grief in his mind and said goodbye to Qui-Gon, letting their time together go. Master Soren hugged him close. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you, Master Soren.”
“Master Von-Re or just Master Von,” he corrected gently.
“Master Von,” Obi-Wan acknowledged.
“Good. Let us form the bond.”
Forming the bond with Master Von was as easy as breathing. They had frequently formed temporary tethers to facilitate his mind healing, so he was used to the gentle mental touch. Master Von recited the ritual words about the triad of Master, Padawan, and the Force as he braided.
Obi-Wan was already more settled in his skin than he’d been since…. Probably since boarding the Monument to go to Bandomeer the first time. After only a few turns of the braid, Master Von plucked up the transparent bead.
“I don’t know what that means,” Obi-Wan admitted.
“It’s rarely given. It’s for padawans who have been in a war.”
Obi-Wan’s breath caught, and his tears began again as Master Von-Re continued to braid, the bond getting stronger with every turn of his hair.
“Whether it was a slave uprising on Bandomeer, the Stark Hyperspace Conflict, or the events on Melida/Daan, this bead should have been yours.” At the end of the braid, Master Von-Re attached the white band.
“Who have I healed?” Obi-Wan couldn’t seem to stop crying even though he felt lighter than he had since before his fight with Bruck Chun that got him sent to the AgriCorps.
“Oh, Padawan. We’ll make it our life’s work to help you see the answer to that question.” Master Von adjusted to face him, holding both of Obi-Wan’s hands and gently pressed their foreheads together. “Let us meditate.”
They settled into orbit over Melidaan, and Obi-Wan found himself staring out over the planet from the viewport in the galley that was often his contemplation spot. This time, Nield was standing next to him while Myles was lounging at the table, helmet off, casually drinking caf.
“How does it feel?” Nield asked softly.
“Grim. Not truly dark, but I feel more from here than I used to. It’s not a dark vergence yet. I think having my bonds with my masters has made me more sensitive to the ebbs of the Cosmic Force. Or maybe it’s just the meditations that Masana and Master Von are making me do constantly.”
The day after completing his Master-Apprentice bond with Master Soren, Master Tide had completed her bond with him. First, she assessed his lightsaber skills, his blaster skills, his hand-to-hand skills, and his ability to slice a lock.
When he was a sweaty, exhausted mess on the floor, she presented him with a yellow band for weapons proficiency and a deep blue bead for general combat proficiency, promising he’d be a master of both before his knight trials.
He’d been too exhausted to do anything but lean into her steadying bulk while she added the additions to his braid and completed the additional bond. He hadn’t even known he needed more than his bond with Master Von-Re, but it had been like some part of him had been searching, and it suddenly had something to hold on to. He’d immediately leveled out in meditations in ways he hadn’t since long before deciding to stay with the Young.
The first time he’d called her Master Tide after the bond had been completed, she’d snorted and said, “Call me Masana, junior; I hate formality.” It was a work in progress. He still often said yes, Master, to acknowledge a directive, but he tried to remember her preferences regarding her own name.
The three masters joined them, and Obi-Wan turned to face them, his brow furrowed. “Is there something you haven’t told us about the planet?”
Master Ebé’s wings twitched. “What do you mean?”
“In the past, I didn’t feel the effect of the damage to the vergence until I was on the planet, but something is pulling at me from here. What’s changed?”
Master Ebé tilted his head in his birdlike way. “In theory, nothing. But possibly everything. Most of the children are off the planet, and we cannot know what effect that might have on the things they found.”
Obi-Wan and Nield had already discussed that they knew there were findings that they hadn’t been told about, but they’d decided not to press the matter because they had other issues to focus on. If the problems were Force-related, there wasn’t much they could do about it anyway.
Nield’s main focus, whenever he was in touch with Melidaan, was to coordinate with Tash on the evacuation. At the same time, Obi-Wan had a host of issues between supporting Nield and getting himself right in the Force.
Master Ebé flicked his gaze to Myles, who gamely offered, “Do I need to leave you all alone?”
Obi-Wan tilted his head and cast his gaze out toward the future, earning a frown from Master Von for his efforts. “No, but please do not discuss this, whatever it is, with the Mand’alor over coms. In-person only.” Obi-Wan tilted his head. “I assume security protocols were part of the issue?”
Masana sprawled out in the seat at the table that was clearly hers. “I’m just now learning about whatever this is, so I have no idea.”
Master Ebé inclined his head. “We’ve avoided any sort of open coms on the issue, and by open, I mean any standard encryption the Jedi use. The Convocation all have single-use encryption protocols for messages, but we didn’t want to burn too many of them, so I’ve only read a few reports; the rest were deemed able to wait until we could be briefed in person.
“You know about the Sith spell, yes?” Ebé asked.
“Wasn’t the spell the point of all this?” Obi-Wan asked, confused. “The spell to obscure the darkness rising in the galaxy? Which is probably making the majority of the population of the whole galaxy not even care that things are getting darker by the day?”
“There’s another spell, one laid on the planet itself to hide the pain and damage of the planet from, specifically, Living Force-aligned Force users or those who are anchoring in the Living Force.”
“What kind of spell?”
“The kind that’s using a living sacrifice as…fuel.”
Obi-Wan’s eye twitched.
Nield crossed his arms. “Please explain.”
“From deciphering the sigils and runes, they believe failed Sith acolytes are kept in a sort of stasis, just alive and aware enough to funnel the pain of the planet into the kyber core.”
Obi-Wan felt bile rise and swallowed down his horror. “They’re bleeding the planet using a living sacrifice?”
Master Ebé inclined his head, watching Obi-Wan closely.
“What’s being done about it?” Masana asked tersely.
“The decision was to wait to attempt to break the spells until the evacuation was complete,” Master Von-Re responded.
Obi-Wan didn’t need to ask what was going to be done about it; the path forward was clear.
“We had wondered,” Master Ebé said slowly, “if you didn’t already have some insight.”
Obi-Wan shook his head. “The Force shies away from me seeing anything concrete about the Sith’s spells. At least currently. I think…” His mind went a little fuzzy with a Force awareness that was an odd type of knowing. “I think that my interaction directly with the Sith’s spells through vision would draw the attention of the Sith.” His hand curled into Nield’s vest, seeking stability. “Nevertheless, something down there is calling me.”
Masana’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think it’s the Sith?”
“No. It’s the planet, but I’m unsure why; it’s never called to me before. It’s weak though, almost as if it’s…” He tried to parse what the Force impressions were trying to relay. “I think I need to meditate.”
Masana barked out a laugh. “Something all masters desire to hear more often from their students. A shuttle from the Guiding Star will be sent for Lodha when we’re ready to break atmo and land on the planet. We’ll send a com that we’re holding position for now.”
“Thank you, Master.”
“What is the focus of your meditation?” Master Von-Re asked as they began to leave the galley.
“I…” He frowned, trying to articulate what he was feeling. “I think I need to commune with the Force.”
Master sighed and laughed a little as he took Obi-Wan’s elbow and steered him back around to return to the galley. “Obi-Wan plans to commune with the Force.”
“Ah.” Master Ebé smiled and sat at the table.
Masana gave him an unimpressed look. “Did you think you were going to do that alone?”
He frowned. “Yes?”
“No.”
Nield chuckled and pushed off the bulkhead. “Come on, Myles. They’re going to have to remind Ben yet again that he can only do certain types of meditations on his own. Let’s go spar.”
“No blasters!” Masana called after them.
Nield waved back an acknowledgment.
Obi-Wan flushed under the raised eyebrows of three disapproving, but also amused, masters. “I wasn’t going to pathfind!”
“That’s hardly the point,” Master Von-Re said. “Are you seeking answers from the Force?”
“I’m not sure.”
Master huffed a little, the sound so at odds with his usual dignified demeanor. “Until you’re able to meditate with ease, nothing unexpected or unusual with the Force without at least one of us present.”
Obi-Wan nodded. “As you say, Master.”
“All right, Obi-Wan. You may proceed.”
Obi-Wan started to drop into a meditation pose, but then he went to the view portal instead, staring out at the planet. The planet that used to contain so much life, now had decreasing numbers day by day. So much death and destruction.
What do you need me to see? he wondered.
Then he realized he’d only partially completed his journey. He was deputy governor of the Young, soon-to-be Evaarlans of Evaarla. The Jedi temple wasn’t sure what to make of that designation, but he also wasn’t sure how seriously they took a planet comprised of seven thousand children. If it wasn’t for the Convocation ensuring they were set up to continue to self-rule, he was certain they’d have been shuttled off to Corellia or Alderaan as child refugees, their autonomy ignored under the weight of Jedi who knew better.
Obi-Wan was also padawan to Von-Re Soren and Masana Tide. He would someday fulfill his quest to be a Jedi Knight.
And while intellectually, he’d had days to wrap his mind around the idea of being the Force’s Oracle, he hadn’t accepted his place in the Force.
Closing his eyes, he pressed his hands to the transparisteel and let himself fall into the memory of the vision he’d had where he’d seen the Wellspring at his back, the Cosmic Force to his left, the Unifying Force to his right.
I’m here, he whispered to the universe.
The question he got in return wasn’t in words; it wasn’t even a vision; it was a feeling and a knowing. The Force wanted to know if he accepted, if he surrendered to the path of the Force’s Oracle.
The life of a Jedi was a life of duty before self, but Obi-Wan had also sought the path of his heart. In some ways, by answering the Force’s call so earnestly when he’d first landed on Melida/Daan, he’d found the path that walked the delicate balance between duty and heart.
Regardless, whatever the Force would ask of him, he knew he’d give it.
Yes.
His mind opened wide, and he slipped into the Force, and it was home. It was love and acceptance and destiny.
***
The Force released its hold on him, and Obi-Wan knew it had been a long time. Too long. The weight of his bonds felt heavy with worry, but they felt deeper, more solid. The Force had entrenched them more deeply as he’d walked the journey of his Force awakening.
He gently disengaged from the Force, knowing now that he didn’t need to fear meditation again. The Force would be able to get his attention when needed but, more importantly, he had accepted his fate in the Force.
He opened his eyes and found he was in a familiar medical bay, the one aboard the Guiding Star. He sensed Master Von-Re and Masana in the room, and Healer Kan was peering down at him.
“Welcome back, young one,” she said in an unamused tone.
“Hello, Healer Kan.” His voice was raspy. “How long?”
“A little over two days. You were transferred to medical here because medical intervention was needed to keep your body functioning.” She looked at the terminal next to the medbay bed. “Your vital signs are actually better than they should be, but you need to eat and hydrate the old-fashioned way, so I’m going to send a tray. I’m sure your masters can bully you into eating all of it.”
“I’ll sit on him until he does,” Masana said in an unimpressed tone.
Obi-Wan winced. “Thank you for your care, Master Kan.”
She patted his hand, then left the infirmary.
“Masters,” he greeted cautiously as he sat up. He could see the two days had weighed heavily on his two masters, and he would wait before relaying that it had been what felt like years for him.
“Don’t give me that look, squirt,” Masana said, arms crossed. “What’d you do? Do you know you fell so deep into the kriffing Force that nothing we did even touched you?”
“I just…” He scratched the back of his neck, feeling unaccountably nervous. “I accepted the Force’s offer.”
Masana’s expression was deeply unimpressed. “You accepted the Force’s offer.”
“Yes, Master. I realized I’d never really done more than contemplate this Oracle situation, so I told the Force…yes. And then the Force had things to show me. I really had no idea it would—”
“Kidnap you for two days?” she asked dryly.
“I’m not sure you can characterize it that way…”
Master Von-Re sighed. “That’s exactly how I’d characterize it.” He went to the door and accepted the tray from the med droid permanently assigned to the Guiding Star. The tray was placed across Obi-Wan’s lap. “Is there anything we need to know urgently?”
“No, Master.”
“Then eat. Nield will, I’m sure, be along shortly. He’s been here more often than not. He left an hour ago for a sonic and a meal. Since the plan was never to allow new adults to spend much time on Melidaan until the Sith spells are handled, Myles went with the next group of evacuees to Evaarla. Nield authorized it, and the children seemed rather taken with him.”
“Right.” He began to eat the boiled mealgrain with honey and fruit, finding he was famished. “I think unexpected, deep journeys in the Force could be fairly normal, but I doubt they’d last so long in the future.”
Masana gave him an unimpressed look. “How unexpected?”
“Not in a danger to my life sort of way, but more like if the Force needs to relay a message, and it expects me to act on it in a timely fashion, I’ll have to respond to its call.”
She crossed her arms and huffed. After a few minutes, she pointed at him. “Padawans are work.”
“Yes, Master,” he agreed with a grin.
“Eat your food.”
“Yes, Master.”
Master Von-Re smiled and patted Obi-Wan’s back. “When time permits, in the next few days, I’d like a thorough report on the Force’s expectations. We’ll encrypt it to our datapads, but we’d like to understand fully, Padawan.”
“Of course, Master.”
***
Nield slid next to him on the bunk in medbay. “So, they’re springing you from here soon?”
“Yes. Master Von is gathering my things and, as soon as Healer Kan okays it, we can head down to the surface.” The masters had finally stopped hovering, and Nield had slipped in to give him a critical once-over.
“The evacuation should be completed soon. Of the Young, anyway. We need to sit down and meet with the Elders and explain the resettlement plans. I figure we’ll target moving them within a month.”
Obi-Wan nodded.
“Where do you plan to live, Ben?”
Obi-Wan raised a questioning brow.
“Are you going to live amongst the Young— Evaarlans, or will you live with your masters?”
“Set aside rooms for Master Von-Re and myself wherever you want the deputy governor to live, Nield. He agreed to live with me on Evaarla, not the other way around. Master Tide… She’ll need her quarters built to special specifications. The ExplorCorps pods they use for these settlements have specs for adjusting the units to her species type. For her comfort, it would be best if she’s at the fringes of the settlement, near the landing pad.”
Feeling pleased in the Force, Nield reached out and took his hand. “So, is it okay if your quarters are in the same sector as mine?”
“If that’s what you wish,” Obi-Wan said gently. “I thought perhaps you’d want to spread out the older of us…”
“We’re going to put us in groups of five to ten, then leave space for whichever Mandalorians work well with the settlement and ask them to live amongst us. The crèche will be in the center of the settlement so the little ones will be protected.”
Obi-Wan reached out and took Nield’s hand. “Then okay. I’ll live near you.”
Nield smiled and dropped a light kiss on his mouth. “Are your Jedi masters okay with this? You and me, that is?”
“I told them there were romantic feelings. Expect Master Von-Re to thoroughly embarrass both of us as he discusses the nature of attachment, the risks for a Jedi, and how to foster healthy emotional attachment to another sentient. The lecture will be repeated at vexing intervals. He’ll probably also give a thoroughly embarrassing talk about sexual activity for Force-sensitives and how it differs from non-Force-sensitives, and then give us the talk if he feels either of us are not adequately informed.”
Nield smiled. “That’s okay; you’re worth being lectured at by the old Jedi master.”
“That may be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Nield gently touched his cheek. “What do we need to do when we get down there?”
“Whether the masters like it or not, I need to see this Sith spell site. Something about it is calling to me, but the Force isn’t letting me touch it in vision.”
“Mm.” Nield looked contemplative. “And is it safe for me to go with you?”
“I don’t know. I worry about the effect of the planet on you, and you’d be getting it unfiltered. The goal is to get you and the others off-planet as soon as possible. I know you have to come back for the meeting with the Elders, but I’m not sure exposing you to the planet without that spell is the right choice.”
Nield looked conflicted, but he nodded. “Okay; I trust your judgment. I’ll continue to work on the logistics of the evacuation while you persuade the Jedi to let you visit the spell site.”
Obi-Wan made a face. “They’re going to make a fuss.”
“Of course they will.”
***
“Admiral Wodij,” Obi-Wan greeted with a bow when he disembarked the drop ship that had brought them down from the Guiding Star.
Her expression conveyed how deeply unimpressed she was. “Troublemaker.”
His lips twitched. “I made no trouble.”
“You brought back a Mandalorian,” she countered.
“That was entirely Nield’s fault.”
Nield laughed but didn’t otherwise comment as he walked around Obi-Wan to join Zel, who was officially the governor’s aide and the senior ranking Young on-planet since Tash had left with the last round of evacuees to supervise the settlement on Evaarla.
The admiral stared after Nield for a few moments before focusing on Obi-Wan. “Will there be more?”
“Mandalorians, is I assume what you mean? If so, yes. We bartered with them for security forces.”
“Bartered,” she repeated.
“From a certain point of view.”
“On their fondness for children, you played,” Master Yoda said as he joined them.
“I tried very hard not to. In fact, they wanted to take all of us to Mandalore. We refused their kind offer, but we may have a hard time keeping our population to more Young than Mandalorians. Mand’alor Fett was put out that we didn’t ask them to come wipe the Elders out of existence months before the end of the war.”
Admiral Wodij snorted.
Yoda looked skeptical but didn’t argue further.
“I was surprised to hear you’d stayed, Master Yoda. I was given to understand most of the Diplomacy Corps were sent back to Coruscant.”
Yoda curled his hands around his gimer stick and shook his head. “Here, I need to be until other Force guidance I receive. Debrief, we should.”
Obi-Wan’s brows shot up, and he decided to seek counsel later from Master Von-Re about how to politely tell Master Yoda that it wasn’t really any of his damn business. “Before we discuss how much the Jedi needs to know about Governor Nield’s business with Mand’alor Fett, the planet seems to be pulling at me. I understand there’s a particular site that might be the source?”
Master Yoda and Admiral Wodij exchanged concerned looks.
“Go there, you should not.”
Masana came down the ship ramp. “Not your call. Our padawan is being summoned by the Force to investigate something on this planet, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Yoda’s ears twitched. “Approved a new master for Obi-Wan the council has not.”
“Notification was sent, but approval is not required,” Master Von-Re said as he existed behind Masana. “Healer Kan broke the bond between Jinn and Kenobi before we ever landed on Melidaan. Jinn hadn’t even checked on his padawan since they returned to the temple, and the council allowed that to happen. He was eligible to be selected as an apprentice. In fact, several members of the high council were on the list of possible masters.”
Yoda pointed a claw at Master Von. “Two masters, we did not agree to.”
“I cannot handle his field training; those days are long past.”
“And the Force nearly bludgeoned me to the right spot to meet up with them. The will of the Force was evident, Yoda. Let it alone.”
Yoda huffed.
Obi-Wan looked in the general direction of the ruins of Garth. “We should go.” The pull was getting stronger now that he was on the planet.
“Yeah, all right.” Masana scooped him up and tossed him over her shoulder.
“Hey!”
“Just think how much quicker we’ll get there if no one is stopping you to talk.”
“Master Tide!” he protested while trying not to laugh.
“Rin! Get over here and play pilot.”
“Like I don’t have other duties.”
“That a no?”
***
It wasn’t a no.
In the end, it was just Obi-Wan, his two masters, and Admiral Wodij. Yoda stayed behind because the admiral said it was too hard on him without someone present who was strong in the Physical Force.
Master Ohri had a few researchers on the planet who were continuing to study the spell, but knowledge of the holocrons and the Sith acolyte was being kept to a limited few to prevent the knowledge from becoming widely disseminated.
When they crossed the barrier spell, Master Von-Re wavered a little, looking like he might be ill. Obi-Wan could feel him pulling the Force to him tightly, holding it close.
Admiral Wodij gave him a concerned look but didn’t say anything.
“Well, that’s the sh*t,” Masana muttered as the full damage to the planet hit her Force sense. She leaned down and touched the earth, eyes closed. “Interesting. The planet itself was fighting back.”
“What do you mean?” Admiral Wodij asked.
“I’m not sure. But I feel the planet pushing back against the Sith.”
“No one else has mentioned that.” Admiral Wodij tapped away at her com, but Obi-Wan ignored it and continued forward toward the horrifying tree.
“Obi-Wan,” Master Von cautioned as he got closer.
“I’m not drawn to it, but I can’t reach out to it in the Force, so I want to see.” The Force swirled in dark eddies around the pod at the base of the tree.
With a frown, he stepped back, feeling disgusted and disquieted. “No. That’s just— No.”
Turning away from the creepy Sith tree, he tried to figure out what was calling him and realized it was further north. “Up there. Near the waterfall, I think.”
The closer he got to the waterfall, the stronger the pull became.
He was too distracted to get over the narrow river on his own, so Masana used the Force to lift him over. The spell boundary was the river, so it was like finding life again at the source of the river.
He found himself in a cave at the base of the waterfall.
“Did you know this was here?” Admiral Wodij asked, her voice laced with caution as they all entered a surprisingly large cavern behind the waterfall.
“No.” He kept walking, feeling the tug get sharper.
“Obi-Wan,” Masana called out to him, and Obi-Wan realized he was far ahead of them, having found a path leading down. “The Force isn’t letting us go any further.”
He turned slowly, seeing the three masters standing in the cavern, just before it narrowed, not able to walk the path. “I have to go on.”
“Obi-Wan,” Masana warned.
Master Von-Re put a hand on her arm. “This feels familiar, Masana. I think…” He met her gaze, and something passed between them before her shoulders went stiff.
Finally, she nodded to him. “Listen to the Force judiciously. This is a trial, child. Treat it as such.”
“Yes, Master.”
He continued to walk, finding himself going deeper and deeper. He started to have visions, not of the future, but of the past. Clear, almost brutally unbiased viewings of events in his own life.
He walked, and he analyzed his choices. He considered how he’d come to be where he was. The Force put him in a position to analyze his every trait, good and bad. Even the traits he’d thought were good, he analyzed for flaws.
The Force seemed to take issue with his tendency to be self-sacrificing.
He knew the mastery of self was the work of a lifetime, but the journey gave him a place to start. The years he’d spent in a time bubble learning what it meant to be the Oracle of the Force were skill-focused, but now the Force was showing him that he needed to take what he’d learned on this journey back to his masters as the foundation for his path to self-actualization.
Oddly out of breath and emotionally scrubbed raw, Obi-Wan emerged into a subterranean chamber that had a pool in it. The chamber was illuminated somehow, so he turned off the small palm light that was part of his kit. Even more light came from somewhere in the pool. A brightly glowing source he couldn’t identify from deep in the water.
Obi-Wan stared at the pool for long moments, trying to get his bearings, trying to be in the now. He knelt down and let his fingertips graze the water.
“Oh,” he gasped. “No wonder.” He slipped out of his robe and tunic and, without further hesitation, dove into the pool.
***
Rin leaned back against the cavern wall, hoping there wasn’t anything weird growing in this cave. The illumination from outside was good, but she thought there was more light than could be accounted for by exterior sources.
Soren was pacing, but Masana Tide was adopting a similar pose on the opposite side of the cavern. Fortunately, the space was large, with a high ceiling, so none of them were cramped for space. It was a bit of an irony that three of the tallest members of the Order were escorting one of the shorter padawans for his age group.
Rin pointed at the other two. “You seemed to know what’s going on.”
Masana shrugged. “Feels like a trial.”
“What kind of trial?”
Soren stopped and met her gaze. “I’m uncertain. It’s not dissimilar to the knight trials, but it also has the same feel as when we take initiates to Ilum for their gathering. The two feel nothing alike, in actuality, and yet this made me think of both. It’s Force-guided, however, so we had to let him walk this path.”
Masana waved at where the path went deeper into the cave. “And clearly, the Force wasn’t letting us go farther.”
Rin made a face. “The shenanigans your branch of the Order gets up to are too much for me. I need to get back to the edges of known space where things are calmer.”
Masana snorted in amusem*nt. “You forget that I’ve run a mission or two with you, Rin. Remember Dienus?”
“Never happened,” Rin shot back.
“As you say, Admiral.”
Rin shot a rude gesture in Masana’s direction.
“So, what’s the plan from here?” Masana asked. “I’m sure Von-Re has more of an idea, but I’m playing catch up a bit.”
“Now that we’ve got Mandalorian ships inbound,” she gave Soren a deeply unimpressed look over that surprise, “we need to give everyone a little more space. We’ve already chosen the teams that are going to stay. There will be a small presence of all the branches of the order on Evaarla…? Do I have that name right for the new moon?”
“Yes,” Soren confirmed. “It’s apparently based on the Mando’a word for young.”
“Force. Please don’t let that get out. We’re already going to have problems with the Senate. In any case, there will be teams based on Evaarla, and staffing levels will change as their needs shift. At least two ships will remain either in orbit or on Melidaan, monitoring the situation with the planet. Specialists will determine when we can start making greater incursions on the planet to start working toward healing the damage. If the planet’s core has been bled, that will take some significant work, but we can’t do that effectively if everyone has to keep their Force senses locked down tight due to how appalling the planet feels.”
“And you?” Masana pressed.
“I’ll be leaving soon; Thee and Reloth will be staying on Evaarla for a short time before returning to their duties. The new Convocation will meet a month after Tyvokka is sworn in as the new Grandmaster of the Diplomacy Corps. Not sure about Lodha. Since he did a runner with the planet’s governor, I haven’t really spoken with him yet.”
Masana grinned, then her expression sobered. “I was curious about something but didn’t want to ask the kids. Why aren’t there more of them?”
“Young, you mean?”
Masana nodded. “There’s more than double the number of Young to Elders, but I’d have thought they’d liberate whatever children were left amongst the Melida and the Daan at the end of the war. I guess I don’t have a full picture yet on why their population numbers are so small, and I’d like to know the minefield I’m in with our padawan before I step into it.”
“Thee documented it, along with some helpful information Reloth gathered from the children she was seeing in the clinic she established.” Rin hesitated. “They did liberate any surviving children from either side and, at first, there were much larger numbers, but the children of the Melida and the Daan towards the end of the war were exposed to higher concentrations of toxic gasses and other things we can’t yet account for. The Young, as an army or political faction during the war, due to where they hid and sequestered, seem to have been spared the higher instance of chemical poisoning.
“Large numbers of children who survived the war, who were amongst the Melida or Daan, died in the immediate aftermath as they were already sickly; there wasn’t time for the Republic healers to get medicine to them to help. That’s only accounting for infants through age four. Both sides apparently started proactively executing all of their children over the age of five to prevent them from defecting to the side of the Young. It’s one of the factors that caused Nield, Cerasi, Mawat, and Ben to take actions they had shied away from previously and make more decisive strikes against the Elders, killing them by the tens of thousands.”
Masana looked somewhere between sick and furious.
“No one has been willing to discuss how they achieved the decisive win, though one thing is clear: they managed to coordinate their strikes when there weren’t children present. Presumably, when the adults were preparing to engage in battle plans of their own. We do know the ranks for the Young over the age of eight were decimated in those final battles, however, and there were almost no Elders left at all.
“From what Thee has gathered, the four leaders were split on what to do from there. Mawat and Nield initially wanted all the Elders executed for war crimes. Ben and Cerasi were against it. They went into peace talks instead, and Cerasi was killed. You know what happened from there.”
Masana rubbed her hand over her face and looked at Soren. “How much do you think he’s going to open up about his time here? Outside of your mind healing sessions, of course.”
Soren shrugged. “There may be things he never wishes to discuss, but I’ve noticed more of what I think of as his true personality starting to reassert itself. I think he needs time. Given enough of it, I’m sure he’ll answer any direct question you have, Masana.”
She nodded slowly.
“What are you concerned about?” Rin asked.
“The Force has asked a lot of that boy, and I’m concerned the things he was required to do on the Force’s behalf are going to be too much for him.”
“He’s strong,” Soren countered, “and we’ll be there when he can’t be. I think finding a path where he can remain a Jedi and stay amongst the Young is the best path for his long-term healing.”
“Speaking of that,” Rin threw out. “As far as the Jedi are concerned, he’s not of the Young. He’s assigned to Evaarla with Master Soren as an envoy of the Order, but Ben Cerasi is deputy governor, not Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
“That’s bordering on lying,” Masana said with a grin.
“A typographical error,” Rin countered. “I can’t help that our flimsiwork and their flimsiwork use different names for the same person.”
Soren chuckled. “I’ll ensure the deputy governor doesn’t make any public appearances.”
“That would be appreciated. Our plausible deniability goes out the window if his very distinctive hair is seen running about in an official Evaarlan capacity.”
“Noted.”
Masana also had a lot of questions about the nature of the spells on the planet, and Soren shared those questions. Rin felt grilled like a fish, though she answered to the best of her ability, often telling them they’d have to consult with Thee or their staff with the more academic questions. Still, she was able to answer most of their concerns.
Then, there was a shift in the Force, and they all felt it.
“We’re no longer held back,” Soren murmured, holding his hand up to the tunnel opening.
Masana managed to squeeze her impressive frame around him in an even more impressive demonstration of speed as she was off down the path in a blink.
It wasn’t long before they encountered Kenobi walking back from wherever he’d been for the last couple of hours. Rin couldn’t really see him around Masana’s bulk, but she could clearly hear Masana say, “The Force stopped holding us back. Are you okay? Why are you wet?”
Wet?
Kenobi said something that Rin couldn’t quite hear as Soren squeezed around the duo to check over his padawan.
“That’s why the planet feels odd.” Masana chuckled as she tucked Obi-Wan against her side and turned around. The kid had wet hair, but his robes looked dry. Soren, for some reason, had a small towel in his robe and was rubbing the kid’s hair dry, getting a smile in return.
“The Force was leading him to a wellspring,” Masana said, still sounding amused.
Rin stared. “It’s… Seriously?”
“Yes! Wellspring and kyber core mean it’s a wild vergence.”
“I don’t understand,” Obi-Wan admitted, peering up at Masana.
Soren continued to check over his padawan as he explained. “The Wild Force usually only exists in places where life is struggling to take root, but there are anchor points throughout the galaxy. These are sacred places where Force-granted wellsprings exist. They’re not a typical Force vergence, but anyone except someone aligned to the Wild Force would think it was a neutral vergence.”
“So, the Sith’s plan was probably obstructed because they didn’t know the type of vergence this was?” Kenobi asked.
Masana kept him moving, and Rin took the lead position, guiding them out. “They’ve probably wondered why this process took so long, and it’s likely they’d have eventually corrupted the wellspring no matter what. That’s probably why the Cosmic Force pulled so hard at you. Corrupting a wild vergence can be detrimental to the balance of the universe.”
“Oh.”
They emerged into the main cavern right behind the waterfall, and Obi-Wan looked up at Rin, his expression concerned. “Admiral?”
“Everything’s fine, kid. Just wondering how far to let this information get. I’ll tell Thee and make sure they know it needs to remain tightly guarded. It will probably be easier to nudge the planet toward recovery. Not in terms of years but in terms of effort. The wellspring will do a lot of the work given enough time.”
“Okay. That’s good.”
Soren dropped to one knee in front of Kenobi. “Funnily, this all felt to me much like taking an initiate to Ilum. That’s why I wasn’t as alarmed as I might have been. Was the trial just to find the wellspring?”
“No. There’s a plant down there the Force wants Master Ebé to have as soon as the planet is safe for him. The Force knows now is not the time, but it’s adamant that he be made aware it’s waiting for him.”
Rin nodded. “I’ll be sure he knows.”
“And, uh, no one should go near the wellspring until Master Ebé has been. I’m not even sure why.”
“Understood. I’ll make sure this area is marked as off-limits until Lodha can make a pilgrimage here.”
Kenobi nodded and then reached into his robe pocket. “There was also this.” He pulled out an odd, round kyber crystal. It was whiteish in color and unusually faceted. Even in the dim chamber, it was like light was shining through it, casting rainbows of color on the cave walls.
Soren smiled and then lightly pinched his chin. “Very good. The Force calls you to construct the Oracle blade. We’ll begin meditations soon on the nature of the design.”
“Y’all are really so much work,” Rin complained.
“Dienus,” Masana said again. Unnecessarily.
“Let’s get back,” she groused.
They had to cross back through the spell zone, unfortunately, but she made a point to try to lead them through as quickly as possible.
Kenobi suddenly froze and would have fallen if not for Soren’s hand on his shoulders, his gaze shifting toward where the most horrifying tree in existence stood. His expression twisted like he was in pain.
“He’s aware of me.”
“Excuse me?” Masana said dangerously.
“He’s aware, and he’s… He wants it to end.” Kenobi’s eyes filled with tears as he looked up to Soren, stepping closer.
Masana pulled her saberstaff from her back. “I’m willing to grant his request.” Then she was off.
“Master Tide!” Rinnea called, running after her, having no chance of catching the Dowutin Master. “Kriffing hell.”
Rinnea entered her quarters aboard the Guiding Star, wanting nothing more than a sonic in her own space. She’d been on some unpleasant missions in her life, but this one took all the Corellian brandy.
She’d been coordinating things on-planet almost since her arrival on Melidaan, which was an odd position for her to be in, but now that the evacuation of the children was nearing completion and Mandalorians were arriving, it was better that she be at the helm of her ship. It was much easier for her to defuse tensions if she were where the tensions were likely to spark.
“Admiral?”
“Yes, Vex?”
“Master Ebé would like to speak with you.”
She was still cranky with Lodha, but she did need to speak with him as well. “See if he’s amenable to meeting me for latemeal.”
“Certainly. I’m passing along the message now. Additionally, one of the Mandalorian vessels that arrived requested permission to break atmosphere, and permission was granted—”
“By who?”
“The governor.”
“I see.” She really didn’t.
“The governor indicated that this was an arranged pick-up. That they’d bartered some of their grain fuel to the Mandalorians, and this cargo ship was destined for their fuel processing facility on the southern continent.”
“That’s where one of the Elder villages is, no?”
“Correct. It’s the only one that hasn’t had persistent problems, likely due to ongoing vocational occupation—specifically, making said fuel.”
“Are we expecting tensions?”
“The governor indicated the Mandalorians were prepared to handle anything that might come up.”
“So, yes, we’re expecting tensions. The Mandalorians are picking up this grain-based fuel they make here?” she mused.
“Yes, Admiral.”
“I have a feeling there’s more to this fuel than we’ve been told.”
“Would you like me to attempt to obtain a sample and analyze it?”
She considered that for a moment and felt some interesting movement in the Force. “No, let it alone for now.”
“Yes, Admiral. One last thing.”
“Is this going to give me as big of a headache as Masana bisecting that Sith acolyte?”
“I sincerely doubt anything could give you a headache of that caliber, sir.”
“Right. Carry on.” Rin rubbed her forehead. She didn’t blame Masana, exactly, and Masana knew enough about the spells to know that killing the acolyte would do nothing bad to the planet; it would simply alert the Sith lord that they’d found his spellwork. It was tipping their hand sooner than she would have wanted.
“I heard Master Yoda speculate with you that Master Tide’s Force affinity plus the implicit threat to her padawan made it impossible for her to ignore that threat. Do you believe that’s true, sir?”
“I think a Jedi needs to be able to exert control, and I know Masana was not without control, yet I know…” She hesitated. “I’m not sure. It needed to be done at some point; we all agreed on that. I think Masana faulted our reasoning for waiting so long, and the threat to Kenobi was the excuse she needed to do what the planet itself was probably prodding her to do the minute she stepped foot upon it.” She blew out a breath. “I’m not angry; I just really want a sonic and never to be on another long mission with the DipCorps.”
“I’ve noticed you only use the abbreviated form of their branch name when you’re annoyed.”
“Vex?”
“Yes?”
“Hush.”
“Of course, Admiral.”
***
She decided to have latemeal in her quarters.
Despite her intentions, she had a hard time keeping up her ire when Lodha joined her, bringing honeycakes along for dessert. Why did he have to be so stupidly attractive?
“You’re still vexed with me, I see.” He knowingly smiled as he took the stool she’d left for him at the small dining table.
“You took off with two key players on this mission without a by-your-leave.”
“Did I need your leave to rendezvous with a ship from the Coruscant temple and escort two diplomats to an AgriCorps outpost?”
She huffed and crossed her arms. “You are a pain in my ass. I wouldn’t have stopped them; I couldn’t have stopped them, but being left out of the loop made things harder.”
“And yet the children seem scarily efficient.”
“This is true.” She sighed and began to work on her meal, watching Lodha do the same. They discussed the details of the remaining tasks before they adjourned to her sofa, which wasn’t quite adequate for both of their frames, but they were willing to get closer than mere friends would.
“I know you asked to speak with me,” she began, “but there are things I waited to discuss until I could tell you in person, and we keep not being in the same place at the same time.”
“Yes?” He traced one finger around the shell of her ear.
“Kenobi had his quest for his new kyber crystal. They plan to construct his Oracle blade when he returns to Evaarla. In another shocking move, Mand’alor Fett has agreed to donate some beskar for the construction.”
Lodha frowned. “Where did he obtain the crystal? I’m fairly certain he’s been with me more than you.”
“There’s a wellspring on the planet.”
“The planet is a wild vergence?” Lodha asked, his eyebrows shooting up, his wings twitching, and his Force markings contracting.
“Yes.”
“That would certainly contribute to why Masana went off script and dealt with the acolyte. Not that I have issue with that. I know it wasn’t the plan, but the children are moved, and letting that sort of situation remain wasn’t wise or kind.”
“No, I suppose not, but knowing how to properly handle any of this has been difficult. It didn’t help that the acolyte apparently connected mentally with Kenobi right before Masana drew her saber.”
Lodha blew out a heavy breath. “You’re lucky she didn’t leave him in many tiny pieces.”
“Additionally, Kenobi said the Force indicated no one should approach the wellspring until you can visit it, that there was a plant at the wellspring specifically for you.”
Lodha looked shocked. “For me?”
“Probably, if it were anyone else, they could have brought you the plant, but clearly the Force knows not to trust Kenobi with—”
“No, that was certainly the right choice.” He was clearly distracted, looking off into the distance. “Without the acolyte trying to bleed the planet, the wellspring could help the planet recover.”
“Yes. Thee’s team will begin working on the plan to break the spells after the planet is evacuated. After that’s done, we can start evaluating how it feels to those strong in the Living Force.”
“Okay. There’s no telling where I’ll be when the time comes, but considering the Force has a task for me, I expect I’ll be notified when I can return.”
“Yes, and Nield and Kenobi both asked, when the time comes, would you please come to Evaarla if possible. Kenobi, in particular, wants to thank you in person, though he said he was also going to send you a com.”
“I received it, though the child owes me nothing.”
“Lodha. I know you’re older than dirt, but you forget how much small actions, how much being believed, can mean to someone. Kenobi needed all of the Convocation to act, and we did. Let him be grateful. Dismissing it is dismissing why he’s grateful.”
“I’ll consider your words, my dear.”
She reached out and ran her hand along his feathers. “Are you staying the night?”
He curled his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “If you’ll have me.”
“Yes, of course. Let’s not let so much time pass in the future.”
He pressed a kiss to her mouth. “No. We won’t let the darkness rob us of our future, Rinnea. Not this time.”
***
Obi-Wan held hands with Nield as they broke atmo over the new settlement on Evaarla, seeing it for the first time. The structures looked very clinical from the high altitude, but some had already been painted in bright colors, a reflection of the little one’s preferences.
There were quite a few Mandalorian ships surrounding their new home, which, even from that distance, had more personality than the bland prefabricated structures the AgriCorps and ExplorCorps used for long-term missions.
It had taken them nearly a month since their return to Melidaan to be able to leave for their new home. The evacuation of the Young had been completed within another few days after Obi-Wan’s visit to the wellspring, but Nield and Obi-Wan had decided to stay to complete their business with the Elders.
They had shuttled almost daily down to the planet while making their home aboard a new ship in space. Obi-Wan had wanted to limit Nield’s exposure to the planet as much as possible, and Nield had wanted to just be done with it all.
The Alliance had been a gift left by the Mand’alor when the second round of Mandalorian ships had arrived. Silas had personally arrived to secretly pick up the Clouzon-36 along with a massive pick-up of the proto-fuel, and he’d left behind a new flagship for the Evaarlans.
It was a CR-70 Corvette, and it was a stupidly expensive offering. It was apparently one of the ships already in Fett’s fleet, and he was offering it as a gesture of good faith to their new allies. It was at the top end of what they could land on the planet, though they planned to leave it in orbit and shuttle to the surface. Two smaller drop ships were included, which just increased the value of the gift. The ship came with several droids that Obi-Wan got along with great, but Nield was inclined to argue with them incessantly as droids hadn’t been typical on Melida/Daan in Nield’s lifetime, so he found them odd and argumentative.
Dealing with the Elders had been difficult, but they weren’t really given a choice as it was something that simply had to be done. Ultimately, Nield had asked for Mandalorians in gunships to help enforce the evacuation orders. They hadn’t wanted Mandalorians actually on Melidaan, but Master Kan was confident that up to a week of total exposure wouldn’t affect their brain chemistry in any way.
It had been a wretched process, and it made Obi-Wan feel ugly and dirty, but he’d spent a lot of time meditating and talking it through with both his masters and Nield. In the end, the transition was complete, and the Elders were in a temporary settlement with Jedi healers keeping an eye on them. The Jedi hadn’t put up much fuss about the volunteer squad of Mandalorians who made camp on their ships outside of the settlement and ensured there was peace amongst the Elders.
At first, things had been fractious, but the MedCorps Healers reported after only a week that the Elders started winding down and sleeping a lot. The sleep response was expected. The projection was that they’d be ready to move to Concord Dawn in about two months. Once they showed no more signs of irrational aggression, they’d start moving them in small groups to the Mandalore system.
After they’d settled the Elders at the temporary settlement, there was an argument that had been put forth more than once: they were effectively their own people, and what happened to them should be up to them. Since the moon was in the Melidaan system, Nield declared it a colony of Melidaan. Therefore, if anyone wanted to give him grief about it, he’d declare the Elders the war criminals they actually were and the settlement a de facto prison colony.
Nield’s hardline about the Elders had shut up the voices of dissent, and the plans remained to transfer them to Jango Fett’s care for some modified version of the Mandalorian Cin Vhetin. The Jedi weren’t really in the loop about that part of the plan, but they didn’t need to be. It was a better outcome for the Elders than living with the reality of the distrust and suspicion of the Young.
“You all right?” Obi-Wan asked softly.
Nield smiled down at him. “Of course. It’s new, but it’s ours, and it’s not tainted by anything that went before. How about you?”
“I’m good. It was sad that our path has branched away from Admiral Wodij and Master Ebé, but I know we’ll see them again.”
“Healer Kan will be the hard one. According to Tash, the little ones have become very attached to her.”
“For a society that’s had very little exposure to anything outside of your particular variant of HON, the Evaarlans are remarkably accepting.”
Nield shrugged. “We were only ever taught hate for the other faction, and most of the ones old enough to remember those lessons are dead anyway. You’ve read Master Ohri’s reports.”
Obi-Wan nodded. Thee Ohri had prepared specialized plans to bring the children up to the educational standards of the galaxy, but in a way they’d find engaging and suited to their environment. Master Ohri indicated the children were almost universally eager to learn and excited about educational opportunities. Those who had been away from Melidaan the longest were the most engaged with their education plan.
There was a beep behind them, and then the compact P-100 salvage droid, designation C-LS-8472, flew around the corner, beeping in binary. “Your Master is looking for you, little Ben.”
Obi-Wan sighed. “I’m not that little.” Ellis had to be referring to Master Soren because Master Tide had made one of her rare trips back to the Coruscant temple a few days ago and would soon begin her regular mission schedule. When she would start taking Obi-Wan along with her was unknown as it depended on how things settled on Evaarla.
“Smallest HON I’ve ever seen,” Ellis countered.
The Mandalorian slicers from Jango Fett’s faction were quite adept at salvaging droids, removing restraining bolts, and adjusting their programming to free them from their past circ*mstances. They only let them out into situations like the one with the Young if they were confident that they were ready to function autonomously.
“You’re about to see many, many smaller HONs, Ellis.”
“I know! I’m so excited.” His holding arms twitched in apparent glee. There was a pause. “Do you think they’ll like me?”
“Of course they will.” Obi-Wan patted Ellis’ plating as he walked past. “You’re very likable; just give them some time to get acquainted. Most of them had never seen a droid before the med droids that came with the Republic Mission, and I understand there were just two of them.”
Ellis’ arms twitched again as if he were going to retract them. “Med droids are very humanoid in shape, little Ben, and I’ve been told I look like a metal jellyfish. I’ve never seen a real jellyfish, only holonet pictures, but…comparisons could be made.”
“It’ll be fine. Just don’t let them draw on you.”
There were a couple of nonsense beeps, then, “But what if I wish to be decorated?”
Obi-Wan started laughing as he kept walking.
“What did he say now?”
“He’s just fretting that the little ones won’t like him.”
“Oh.”
Obi-Wan nudged Nield with his elbow. “He doesn’t mean any harm, but I do understand why it’s an adjustment for you.”
Nield rolled his shoulders as if he were trying to release tension. “I’m working on it.”
“I know.”
The shuttle was small, so they joined Master Von-Re in the co*ckpit, where he was conversing with the Mandalorian who had accompanied them, Duke Adonai Kryze, who was assessing the situation on Evaarla for himself.
“Yes, Master?”
His master turned to peer up at him. “Please keep your Force senses open and alert. Master Yoda and Master Kan have indicated in a recent communication that they believe some of the children might be Force-sensitive.”
Nield stiffened. “Which means what?”
“Nothing that you don’t wish it to mean, Nield,” Master Von said in a soothing tone. “The hypothesis is the state of the planet was preventing Force-sensitivity from being apparent, but we’re uncertain at this time. It’s simply something to consider. The Force traditions of your past might not be lost to you, or you may wish not to rely on such a thing again. These are matters for you to consider in the days and years ahead. I simply caution Obi-Wan before he engages with the children so that he’s not startled if he detects Force sensitivity in anyone.”
Nield nodded tightly. “You won’t take them?”
“No, Nield,” Obi-Wan reassured, squeezing Nield’s arm. “We’ll talk about this more later, but I promise, the Order isn’t going to steal your children.”
Duke Kryze watched the interaction curiously but didn’t offer any commentary. Obi-Wan liked him well enough so far, but he was certainly different for a Mandalorian. He never wore his helmet, though he did wear his other armor most of the time.
On his first day with them, he’d tried to explain his faction’s philosophy, claiming they had aspirations of pacifism. Nield had flat-out called him a coward. If Kryze’s people chose to be non-combatants, Nield couldn’t pretend to respect such a choice, but he could understand choosing not to be a warrior. But pacifism was a joke in this galaxy; it just meant you let other sentients do the hurting and dying for you.
Nield pretty much glared at the Duke full-time, which other Mandalorians seemed to find endearing, but Obi-Wan tried the other tactic of having conversations with the man. He’d explained the history of the war and what the Elders had done.
Kryze was intellectually horrified by it, but Obi-Wan didn’t think Kryze really got it, so it was good that Kryze was coming to Evaarla. Perhaps he’d interact with three-year-olds with shrapnel injuries and missing limbs, and then maybe he’d start to understand why Nield thought Kryze was a waste of oxygen.
With deft skill, Kryze set the shuttle down on one of the modular landing pads the ExplorCorps had provided. Tash had actually reserved one for the governor’s shuttle, which Nield found absurd, but it probably wasn’t a bad idea to keep a space close to the settlement. The ones most likely to need to leave the planet quickly were Nield and Obi-Wan. It also gave them a close spot for diplomatic shuttles, should the need arise.
As soon as they disembarked the shuttle, they were overwhelmed with excited children.
Clearly, Tash had tried to keep control of the chaos, but it was a losing proposition when so many of the little ones were excited to see Nield.
Obi-Wan was on his knees, accepting hugs and kisses from kids he hadn’t had a chance to see before he’d left for Bandomeer, giving solemn promises that he was staying with them now, and relishing the outpouring of positive emotions from his people as it glowed brightly in the Force. He looked up and found Kryze a bit away, looking shocked and sad while trying to smile as he greeted a small gaggle of children.
He’d read a report from Master Kan about the group with Duke Kryze. They all had nerve damage from blaster and shrapnel injuries and were going through rehabilitation together, so they’d formed a little friend group. They were also all five years old. Obi-Wan made a mental note to remind Kryze that he already had children and he couldn’t adopt the Young. That was out entirely.
Obi-Wan got to his feet with Cyrus in his arms. He was only two, and he’d bet his favorite robe that he was Force-sensitive based on the way he’d zeroed in on Obi-Wan and was clinging to him. Cyrus felt buzzy in the Force, kind of the way Masana did. Obi-Wan pressed a kiss to his temple and began walking inside, exchanging a look with a sad-eyed Duke Kryze, who was keeping up the smiling face for the sake of the children.
Tash moved in step with him.
“How are you, Tash?”
“Better now that you and Nield are home, but overall good anyways. It’s been a long time since things have felt this safe.” She paused. “Didn’t think I would, but I like the Mandos. They’re not like normal big folks.”
“Anyone in particular you’re working well with?”
“Arla Fett. She’s helped a lot with security protocols and how to screen who’s around the babbies and whatnot. She’s nice.”
“Mm. It’s probably in the mountain of reports, but I don’t think I’d caught up on who all was here. I didn’t realize the Mand’alor’s…sister..?”
Tash nodded.
“The Mand’alor’s sister was here.”
“She was straight up about it. Said this was an important alliance for Mandalore, and they’d take our protection seriously.” Tash took a deep breath. “She called it an alliance, and I liked that. Doesn’t make us less. Not sure what you and Nield offered them—”
“We’ll explain later, just know that Mand’alor Fett would have offered protection just because Mandalorians are serious about protecting children. We’d be safe from pirates and slavers no matter what. The alliance is something else, and I’d like to think we’ll be equal partners. It’s a little unbalanced in some ways right now, but we’ll get there.”
She nodded. “Good. We need to be strong and—” She broke off and frowned. “I was going to say we need to be strong and independent, because the Republic didn’t give a damn about us and barely helped us after the war was over, so we should be able to stand on our own from now on. The Jedi did right by us, but I know the difference between the Jedi and the Republic. We’ve been a member planet for almost as long as the Republic has existed, and yet they act like we’re not here.” She gave him a look as if gauging where he was at. “Maybe what we really need is a better ally. Maybe the time will come to tell the Republic where to shove it.”
“Perhaps.” He could feel that Cyrus was asleep in his arms, and so he let Tash lead him to a small office, aware of Nield’s curious gaze on his back. Nield had most of the children still determined to follow them fully occupied, so Tash was able to get Obi-Wan alone for a minute.
Obi-Wan stroked back Cyrus’ hair and waited patiently.
“Is there a possibility of us becoming a Mandalorian colony?”
“Anything is a possibility, Tash, but remember that we’re still learning about Mandalore, and a lot of what makes Mandalore a palatable choice is who’s in charge. The prior Mand’alor, Jaster Mereel, and the current one, Jango Fett, are both good, solid beings who keep their oaths. But what about the next one? If a tyrant comes into power, and we’re a colony, are we then subjugated by a much more powerful military force?”
She frowned. “That could happen?”
“All I’m saying is we have to consider the future possibilities carefully when making our choices. A mercenary contract versus a treaty versus a protectorate versus a colony… Each has different ramifications for us in the short term and the long term, and we have too much happening to do anything but that which gives us what we absolutely need to have for the least amount of future risk. Everything else is something to evaluate when we’re more stable.”
“I understand.” She squeezed his arm. “I’m so glad you’re home. Nield and I both think more short-term, and we need a more strategic thinker.”
“The thing is, we’re all really kriffing young, Tash, and we have a lot to learn, but we finally have the time to do it, yeah?”
She smiled. “Yeah, we do.”
***
Master Von-Re settled on the meditation mat in their small living area across from Obi-Wan. It was much later than he’d usually prepare for bed, but the day had gone on long after latemeal as they’d reconnected with the children and met several of the Mandalorians.
The standard build for shared quarters was larger than what he’d have on a ship, but somewhat smaller than they’d have in the temple. He didn’t have many needs in that regard, however, so he wasn’t concerned about the space. He’d been given a shared office with Nield for their “official” duties, but he’d likely spend a lot of his time with the children.
“Before we meditate, there’s some temple business I’d like to discuss with you,” Master Von began.
Obi-Wan folded his hands in his lap and waited patiently.
“Master Tyvokka sent a com a few days ago indicating that Master Jinn had returned to the temple at the successful conclusion of his last mission.”
Obi-Wan felt his heart clench a little at the mention of his former master. “Is that why Masana suddenly left for Coruscant?”
“Yes. One of us needed to be present, and we felt she’d have the cooler head.”
His mouth dropped open. “Masana would have the cooler head? Are we talking about the same Masana Tide who, without warning, used sai tok on the Sith acolyte?”
“Yes. Masana, who never spent months witnessing the state of the bond with your supposed master. The master who was never around. She will definitely have the cooler head.”
Obi-Wan flushed and looked down.
Master tilted his head up with a gentle finger under his chin. “Masana isn’t going to hurt him, but she’s there to represent you. There’s an inquiry into quite a few matters related to Jinn, including his mentorship of you. Yoda should be involved since he had his fingers in so much of what went wrong, but the high council acknowledges that they enabled Yoda in letting Jinn get away with just about everything.
“In any case, the point of our discussion was to let you know that the inquiry into matters has begun; the council has reports from you, Yoda, and everyone else who was in any way involved; and, for now at least, Master Jinn is grounded to the temple undergoing mind healing. They do believe he’s quite damaged in ways that have nothing to do with you; I just wanted to be sure you understood that.”
“I understand.” Obi-Wan fidgeted with his sleeves. “Is anyone supporting him?”
“Master Dooku is resolved to be there to help Jinn’s recovery, and his friend Tahl is assisting as well. The Order isn’t abandoning him, but those two are closest, and hopefully, he’ll accept their aid. Whatever happens from here is between him, his healers, and his support system. It’s time for you to fully move on.”
“And if he ever wishes to speak to me?”
“It will be up to you if you wish to entertain that discussion.”
“What would you want me to do?”
“Whatever’s best for your mental health at that point in time, looking towards the future.”
Obi-Wan shot his master an unimpressed look. He hated non-answers.
Master Von-Re smiled. “I’d rather you not. However, Jinn’s first padawan, Feemor Starr, will be arriving in the next tenday to take up permanent residence on Evaarla. Perhaps you two should talk to see if it helps resolve any of your conflicted feelings…?”
“I think… Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll make a point of spending time with Knight Starr.”
“Good. I think you’ll like him, and certainly the children will.”
Obi-Wan nodded. “I had a little vision earlier; I didn’t share it with Nield because the idea of it makes him twitchy. Also, it’s not set in stone. It’s simply a possibility in the universe.”
Master Von smiled. “I understand how changeable visions can be, Obi-Wan. What did you see?”
“Little Cyrus becoming Feemor’s padawan, but also half-kitted out in armor.”
“Hmm. An interesting future indeed. Let us meditate on all the good possibilities in front of us.”
“Yes, Master.”
***
“Do I have to?” Runi asked from where she was tucked securely in Myles’ arms.
“Yes, you absolutely do,” Nield said firmly. “I am not explaining this for you, young lady.”
“But, Nield…”
“No, do not give me that tragic look. You started this.”
“Fine!”
Obi-Wan bit back a smile as he punched in the comcode. Their com center was a huge upgrade courtesy of the ExplorCorps, and Evaarla was better situated to the holonet repeaters than Melidaan, making for easier communication.
Duke Kryze was sitting at the com table, out of armor except for vambraces, sipping caf and looking amused. Obi-Wan knew the Duke had spent every moment outside of sleep with the children, and he had no idea what conclusions the man had come to.
The com connected, and an armored Mandalorian answered. “State your business.”
“Governor and deputy governor of Evaarla; I’d arranged a com call with the Mand’alor.”
“Hold.”
A moment later, the display shifted, and Fett was there, out of his helmet. “Nield, Ben,” he greeted. “Your message said it was semi-urgent. I had meetings already with several clans, but I can step out if it needs to be private.” Seated with Fett were several others. Most were in full armor, but a few had their helmets off.
“No, I don’t think the audience matters. Runi, come here, dear.”
Myles carried her over, so she was in frame of the holocapture.
“Mand’alor Fett, this is Runi,” Obi-Wan began. “Runi, this is Mand’alor Fett. He’s the leader of the Mandalorians.”
“Hi!” She waved her prosthetic hand at him since she was holding on to Myles with her flesh hand.
Jango’s expression softened. “Hello, Runi. Do you know that runi is a word in Mando’a?”
“I know! Myles told me. He said it means soul, which is lovely. It used to be a type of flower on Melidaan.”
“Used to be?”
“Oh, there’s no more flowers. Just grain. The Elders killed everything else.”
“I see.”
“But I think soul is nice.”
Jango smiled again. “It’s very nice. What can I do for you today, adika?”
Runi sighed. “See, it’s like this… Nield said you guys can’t adopt us, but he didn’t say we can’t adopt you.”
Jango blinked. “Pardon?”
“Myles explained about how your people become parents.” She frowned. “Buirs…” she said hesitantly.
“Buire is the plural of buir,” Myles corrected softly.
“Buire,” she repeated dutifully, drawing the word out slowly. “And I asked him about the words and everything. And I always wanted a good parent, but my parents did this.” She waved her prosthetic. “And that would have been my blaster arm! Nield didn’t even let us start blaster training until we were five, and I was only four, so I never got my chance because now you have to be, like, old.” She huffed.
“Runi,” Obi-Wan prodded, “tell the Mand’alor what you did.”
She huffed again. Dramatically. “I learned the words and everything! And I like Myles, and he likes me, and I told him, I know you as my buir. And everyone keeps telling me it doesn’t work that way, but if I want to adopt my own parent, I don’t see why I can’t!”
Jango looked blastershocked.
The Mandalorian sitting two down from Jango removed his helmet. “Hello, little one, my name is Walon Vau.”
Runi waved. “Hello! I like your armor; it’s super pretty. Not as pretty as Myles’, but my buir is prettier than anything.”
Vau’s lips twitched. “Thank you, adika. Can I ask you, do you fancy that you’re making Myles one of the Evaarla or are you becoming Mandalorian?”
She frowned. “I’m making us family.”
Myles pressed his face against her hair, which someone had put up in some only slightly lopsided braided loops.
“I see. And if Mandalore needed Myles, what then?”
“He has his duty, I suppose,” she said pragmatically. “But it’d be great if you’d send my buir back as soon as you could.”
“So you don’t expect him to choose you over his duty to his leader?”
Runi laughed. “No, silly.” Then she sobered and frowned, staring intently into the holodisplay. She leaned precariously out of Myles’ arms to whisper to Ben, “Did you forget to tell them that we’ve been at war for hundreds of years?” The whisper could have been heard three rooms away.
“No, I told them.”
“Then they should know we understand about having to go away to fight.”
“I think they haven’t fully understood the way of the Young yet, Runi.”
“Oh, okay.” She righted herself, obviously secure in the knowledge that Myles wouldn’t drop her. “We understand going to war, Mr. Vau. But what does that have to do with me adopting Myles?”
“And if you had to swear to the Mand’alor to do so?”
“Swear what? To give him my cookies?”
Obi-Wan laughed, along with several others, and he reached up and patted her leg. “No, Runi, and you’re too young to make such a pledge anyway, so the question is academic.” Obi-Wan shot Walon Vau a look. “Swearing allegiance to the Mand’alor is something you could only do when you were over fourteen and had passed certain trials of adulthood.”
“But, Ben, almost no one is over fourteen!”
“That’s not really the point, sweetheart.”
Nield cleared his throat. “I had made it clear that adoptions were something we’d have to negotiate about down the road, as it was certainly not something we could entertain now. I did not expect Runi to find a loophole. The question is, where do you stand on the matter?”
Fett frowned. “Where do you stand on it?”
Nield shrugged one shoulder. “I’m uncertain. We have a communal child-rearing model, but Myles has become part of that community. I’m not willing to entertain nuclear families at this stage in our recovery, but that doesn’t mean we can’t adapt to include familial bonds.”
“Give us a moment.” Fett muted their side of the com.
Obi-Wan looked to Duke Kryze. “Do you think the lack of nuclear family structure will be an issue?”
“Not so much, no. It’s not uncommon for us to raise our young as a clan, and while this is a much larger group than a single clan, Mandalorians are still accustomed to adapting to non-traditional family structures.” He frowned. “At least, the old clans, Fett’s faction, and the traditionalists are.”
“But not so much your people?” Obi-Wan asked softly.
Kryze shook his head. “We’re very influenced by certain Core World principles.”
Obi-Wan decided he didn’t want to touch what that might be about, but he made note to be careful about any of Kryze’s faction that came to Evaarla. He didn’t need their disapproval of the Young’s emerging independence.
Fett unmuted the call. “Myles, had it been permissible, would you wish to adopt Runi?”
“Yes,” Myles said firmly.
Runi kissed his cheek and cuddled into him. “See? I made sure before I said the special words.”
Fett smiled. “Indeed you did. With a few provisions, I’ll support the idea of Evaarlans under ten adopting Mandalorian parents, providing all parties are willing.”
“Seriously?” Nield asked, sounding shocked.
“What provisions?” Obi-Wan interjected immediately.
“I suggest the age at ten because Mandalorian parents usually start training their children for verd’goten at eight. By ten or twelve, there’s going to be too much pressure to want to train them in the Mandalorian way. Those would be discussions for later.”
“Agreed,” Nield firmly said as Obi-Wan nodded.
“Everyone maintains their citizenship, which is unusual in an adoption from our perspective. That said, if there’s ever an exigent threat that cannot be managed, if we’re forming family or clan connections with your society, we’d expect all your citizens to be prepared to evacuate to Mandalorian space.”
Obi-Wan and Nield exchanged a look, giving Obi-Wan cover to see what the ramifications of that agreement might be. He eventually nodded.
“All right,” Nield agreed. “But I’ll counter that any Mandalorian adopted by an Evaarlan has to have dual citizenship on Evaarla.”
Fett co*cked his head. “Why?”
“Because it will help us manage the Republic when there’s too much interest in why we have Mandalorians persistently in our system. There are provisions for non-Republic citizens who have dual citizenship on Republic planets. It makes for interesting reading.”
“I’d like to have that evaluated by our legal experts,” Fett offered, “but I don’t see it as a major sticking point.” He gestured to his left and right. “You’ve already met Walon Vau, and this is Kal Skirata. They’re both coming to Evaarla to evaluate the situation and meet some of your citizens. Both should be able to properly assess the Republic laws and how they might impact Mandalore if anyone carries dual citizenship. Also, Kal is a traditionalist, and I’m sure Arla can brief you on what that entails.”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan agreed. “We’re aware. We’ve been doing culture classes with the children. Communal meals are very important to them, so they’ve asked that we construct curtained privacy booths in the dining hall so that any traditionalists can still converse with them during meals. That’s their notion, but if you find it agreeable, I can send you the comcode of the person in charge of the effort so they can understand your needs better.”
There was silence, and finally, Fett moved in a way that Obi-Wan thought meant he’d kicked Skirata. “Kal!”
“Yes,” Skirata said abruptly. “Yes, that’s fine. Send me the comcode.”
“Thank you.”
“Does this mean I get my buir?” Runi asked hesitantly.
“Yes, adika,” Jango said with a smile. “Myles is your buir.”
“Yes!” She peppered his face with kisses. “This is my best day ever.”
“Truly?” Myles asked, looking at Jango with astonishment.
“If that’s your wish.”
“It is,” Myles reassured hurriedly.
Runi wiggled down. “Come on, Buir. We have to go tell everyone!”
Obi-Wan watched them leave, then turned back to the holocall. “You might want to send out a warning to your people stationed on Evaarla.”
Walon Vau barked out a laugh. “I think that would be perceived as an advertisem*nt.”
“Oh, sweet Force, this is going to get weird,” Obi-Wan muttered.
Fett grinned, and it was entirely too many teeth.
“We’ll be there in about a week,” Vau said. “Thank you for the charming break in a dull clan meeting. It also brought some good clarity to a few points we didn’t understand about your people.”
Obi-Wan was pretty sure he didn’t want to know what that meant.
***
Obi-Wan and Nield sat at the edge of a grassy hill, which dropped off sharply into a river about twenty feet below. After days and days of work, they’d managed to sneak away for a few moments just to themselves. Obi-Wan had dropped the Jedi attire for the most part now that they were on Evaarla. He’d decided if it wasn’t a Jedi-specific duty, he’d dress in the style typical of the Young, not that of the Order.
“Vau is a lot,” Nield offered as he leaned against Obi-Wan.
“He has a fraction of Skirata’s intensity.”
“I suppose, but Skirata just hangs back and watches everything. Vau just seems to be all up in my business.”
“Mm.”
Nield nudged him. “What?”
“I think he’s trying to mentor you, whether he realizes it or not.”
Nield stiffened. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t be like that. Between Vau and Kryze, you have the political thing covered. Just be open to it. They’re not trying to take anything from you. For whatever reasons each of them has, they both see a better path for Mandalore through working with us, so helping you be the best leader you can be is in their best interests.”
“I’m only doing this for like nineteen more years.”
“If you say so.”
Nield huffed, then reached out and took Obi-Wan’s hand. “Thank you for coming back to me, Ben.”
Obi-Wan squeezed Nield’s hand and leaned into him. “It’s where I belong.”
Jaro Tapal scrolled through data he’d already reviewed a thousand times when Eeth’s presence was suddenly flooded with amusem*nt moments before he burst out laughing.
He put his datapad down and looked at his long-time lover. “What has you so amused?”
“Yoda’s been adopted by one of those children.”
“Oh no. That poor kid’s going to be so crushed when Yoda turns them down.” The way the menace children of Evaarla “adopted” any adult they took a fancy to had become a huge source of amusem*nt for Jaro.
“He didn’t turn him down. His name is Zel, and he’s the governor’s aide.”
“I’ve met him.” Jaro pressed up to Eeth’s back to read the council report over Eeth’s shoulder. “Yoda really didn’t turn him down?”
“Yoda’s still living on that moon after a year, so he seems pretty determined to live out the rest of his life with those children. I don’t think anyone expected him to get adopted, though.”
“Zel’s interesting.” Jaro tried to recall the boy he’d met who ran the governor’s office. “I wonder if it has something to do with that incursion a couple of months ago…?”
“Hmm. Good question.” Eeth started flipping through council reports on his pad.
Pirates had rapidly become a problem in the Melidaan system and all along the Triellus Trade Route. The Mandalorians did a stellar job of controlling the problem and making the pirates regret ever considering setting their thrusters in that sector. Ships and cargo were seized and sold, and slaves were found and freed.
In a year, the population of Evaarla had nearly doubled due to Mandalorians, freed slaves who applied to live in the comforting atmosphere of the Young-run society, and droid sentients who had been liberated from pirates and deemed to be suitable to be amongst the children. Additionally, the Mandalorians had started bringing a few children they found mistreated in the far reaches of the galaxy, abandoned and left alone, to the Young. It was typically the Mandalorian way to bring those children to Mandalore but, apparently, sometimes the children adapted better amongst the Young.
Despite the Mandalorian successes, there had been one pirate ship that had managed to break atmosphere in their attempt to abduct the governor. They hadn’t seemed to care if they hurt anyone in the process. Though there had been casualties, there were no fatalities, and Master Yoda, along with the Mandalorians, had been instrumental in defending the Evaarlans as Kenobi had been off-planet with Masana at the time.
Eeth finally found the report he was looking for. “Yes, it says here that Yoda saved the life of the governor’s aide. Interesting. I’m still not sure why he’s not fighting the adoption. Zel is over ten, and the current rule, as I understand it, is that they have to have special dispensation from Nield to adopt a parent if they’re over ten.”
“Then Nield must have agreed.”
“It’s just so peculiar.”
“So, go to Evaarla and find out.”
Eeth looked back at him with horror. “And risk getting adopted?”
Jaro laughed. “You could say no.”
“I’m really sure I couldn’t.”
Jaro smiled a little at his lover’s certainty that he’d be lured in by an adoption.
“Oh, it also says in this report that after accepting the adoption by Zel, a little three-year-old named Crin got upset because she’d been planning to adopt Yoda, and Zel agreed they could share! This is too adorable. I honestly can never go to Evaarla.”
“How many Jedi are permanently there now?”
“About twenty, not counting padawans. We anticipate the number continuing to grow even though we can’t fund the missions easily for those Jedi. Somehow, the missions keep getting funded anyway.” Eeth shot him a speaking look.
Sobering a little, Jaro pressed a kiss to Eeth’s shoulder. “I wish duty didn’t pull you back to the temple. Being on-mission with you is a joy.”
Eeth squeezed his hand. “I feel it as well, but Lodha Ebé has called a full council session to discuss the plant the Force left him on Melidaan.”
“No clues about it?”
“None, but native plants on wild vergences tend to be distinctive and have particular properties that make them valuable.”
“Like that damn grain.”
Eeth chuckled. “The source of the trade with the Mandalorians was there all along. And the fuels you can make from it are unbelievably efficient. I understand why they don’t want it widely known, especially since AgriCorps hasn’t been successful so far at cultivating it to grow off of Melidaan, though Lodha has been careful about the group who was allowed to know about or run tests with the grain.”
“I certainly understand the secrecy; their planet would have been invaded. The fact that it seems to only grow there would only make it worse.”
“And they’ve not only allowed the Order to take whatever fuel they want, I’m fairly certain they’re the source of the inexplicable funds in certain accounts.”
Jaro shook his head. “There’s more to it than that proto-fuel. As helpful as it is for energy independence, I don’t see how it’s generating the financial independence they’ve experienced. Because they aren’t selling it. That proto-fuel has not hit the market.”
“That’s true. Whatever other secret the children have, they’re keeping it very close to the vest. Though it’s possible their financial independence is just coming from defending their territory. How many ships have gone to auction after Mandalore suppressed piracy in the sector?”
“I don’t think the numbers add up, no matter how many assets have been seized and sold, but I’m not going to investigate it. They’re thriving, and they deserve to. My job is to figure out why there’s so much Senatorial attention on a tiny moon in the Melidaan system, because we both know that’s the path to finding the Sith.” Jaro waved his own data pad. “The Senate keeps asking questions about things they shouldn’t even know about. And now I have to decide if I chase down this intel about who hired the last group of pirates captured on the Triellus Trade Route.”
“You’ve looked over that intel at least a hundred times, Jaro. It hasn’t changed; it’s been vetted by every source you could entrust with it. The Mandalorians took prisoners so they could be interrogated, and the interrogations were thorough. The only choice to be made at this time is to follow through on it or not.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “The Force moves oddly no matter which option I contemplate.”
“Mm.” Eeth sighed. “I wish I could go with you and make this burden easier, but the council awaits.”
“It’s fine, my love. We each have our own paths to walk.”
“You won’t confront any Sith lords without me, correct?”
“You’ve had my word on that since the minute the prophetic vision came out of Kenobi’s mouth.” Despite the fact that they didn’t know if the team that would bring them success was against the Sith lord or the Sith apprentice, he had to proceed as if all confrontations with the Sith should be with the whole group.
Poli Dapatian had retired from the council and was replaced by Shaak Ti, which brought another member of their Sith hunting unit into the council’s circle where she could be fully informed about events on Melidaan.
“I guess I’ll go to Rattatak first.” As soon as the decision was made, Jaro felt an odd tugging sensation in the Force.
“Jaro?” Eeth prompted, voice sounding concerned.
“I think I’m having a vision.”
“A vision? You don’t get visions.”
“I’m aware. Yet the Force is…insistent.”
“Jaro…” Eeth’s voice now conveyed alarm.
His awareness drifted away, and he blinked, only to find himself somewhere else. It was only his deep grounding in the physical aspects of the Force that told him he wasn’t actually where he appeared to be. Other than his physical senses, everything made it seem real.
The place was dark, with only a soft, warm light illuminating the horizon. There was a single, barely discernible path with a slender figure standing sentry at the end of the path.
The figure was dressed as a Jedi, holding what could easily be an unlit saber in both hands. The hilt was held vertically as if it were a pike such as the temple guards used, but the long hilt could also be a saberstaff. The hood was up, completely obscuring any features. Build, height, and general head shape made him think female HON, but there was no Force presence to give him a clue one way or the other.
“Good evening, Master Tapal. My apologies for interrupting your rest period, but the Force was insistent that we meet,” a somewhat familiar voice said just as a hand lifted and pushed back the hood, revealing Padawan Kenobi.
Jaro blinked. The prior year had seen a lot of maturity added to the padawan’s countenance. Though he was fully aware of anything public about the Evaarlans, anything else often depended on Eeth being with him or specific need-to-know through encrypted channels. They were careful about what was said over open coms; Yaddle had implemented shadow-like security protocols surrounding the situation in the Cadavine sector, as the Sith’s attention had definitely swung that way after the spells had broken.
The Mandalorians did their job to defend the Evaarlans, which was the official position about their increased presence in the sector. To the galaxy at large, the statements released from both parties were that the Evaarlans had contracted with the True Mandalorian Mercenary Company for security forces while they were rebuilding.
Interestingly, Mand’alor Fett had been a source of intelligence to the Jedi Shadows when someone had offered an obscene number of credits to lure Fett’s mercenaries away from their supposed contract with Evaarla. So far, they’d traced that overture to the Banking Clan but nothing beyond.
Mandalorian presence in the Cadavine sector, doing nothing more nefarious than happening upon active piracy, shouldn’t be a matter for the Senate, and yet inquiries were being made. Increasing murmurs about reining in the “Mandalorian upstarts” were making the rounds in powerful circles.
Jaro had been chasing a lead on where the pressure being brought to bear was coming from. The only good lead was the Banking Clan, but he knew that wasn’t all of it because it sure didn’t fully explain the Senate involvement unless the Banking Clan had several powerful Senators bought and paid for.
“Padawan Kenobi,” Jaro greeted with a small bow.
Kenobi smiled faintly. “Not exactly.” He looked out into the dark vastness of wherever they were. “When I chose to accept the Force’s calling for me, I greatly worried that I would be forced to make choices for others, choices that could lead them to danger or even their death.”
Jaro sucked in a sharp breath, realizing it was the Force’s Oracle who had summoned him. “And how has your perspective changed?”
“It’s not my role or responsibility to make choices, simply to illuminate the path. It’s your years of training, wisdom, and discernment that will allow you to make the decisions. Sometimes the Force’s will is clear, and sometimes it’s not.” Kenobi met his gaze head-on, and Jaro realized the boy’s eyes were odd. There was a strange light behind them. “There’s a pivotal choice before you, Master Tapal, and the Force has brought us together so that I can help illuminate the way.”
Kenobi stepped next to him and looked up. From this close, the disconcerting movement of the Force behind Kenobi’s eyes was more obvious. Masana had never mentioned this, so he assumed it was an artifact of this place or perhaps this type of Force intervention.
“What does the Force wish me to see, Oracle?”
Kenobi leaned down and laid his hand on the ground. Immediately, two bright paths lit up, stretching out into the distance, well beyond his ability to see the end. “Two choices you perceive are before you.” Kenobi tilted his head to the side, staring at the paths stretching off into the distance. “Time moves oddly here.”
“Does it?”
“Mm-hm.” Kenobi looked up at the sky, then closed his eyes. “It’s as close as we’ll ever be to the Temporal Force. This is a bubble, if you will, of its making.”
Jaro took that in, resolving to think more on that later. “What am I meant to do?”
“Seek the answers. I will guard your way back. You cannot be lost or hurt here, Master. If you need to see a branching path, you need only call for me.”
Feeling entirely out of his element for the first time in many decades, Jaro took a step on the first path.
***
It felt like weeks later when Jaro stumbled off the path, his emotions flayed wide open, the death and destruction he’d witnessed leaving him raw and wounded. “No, not that,” he ground out as he collapsed to one knee. “Never that.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. Force help us all if that happens.”
“Very well.” Kenobi ignited his blade, and Jaro’s initial impression had been right about it being more like a pike. Both blade ends were white, but the blade aura sparked with offshoots of color, as if the blade sparkled in the sun with the prismatic effect of a rainbow.
Kenobi went around him to the path Jaro had just left and stabbed his pike through it. The path was still there, but it went muddy and dark. “That path is closed to you. Even if you’re interfered with through dark influence or intoxicants, the Force will pull you from the path. Your choice is made.”
There was a deep comfort in knowing nothing could make him walk that path. Someone needed to go to Rattatak, and soon, but for a different purpose, and never him.
Something about the activation of the Oracle blade had revitalized his flagging energy.
Taking a steadying breath, Jaro got to his feet and contemplated the other path. “Do I explore it as well?”
“That choice is yours, but this opportunity, this place, exists at the Force’s whim.”
Taking the caution for what it was, Jaro set out on the other path.
***
In the end, Jaro had to summon Kenobi so many times to branch the paths that Kenobi wound up simply walking silently along with him, watching events play out. Jaro occasionally requested a few branches be closed that started to lead to the cataclysm in the Force that he’d seen before.
Each time, Kenobi lit the Oracle blade and stabbed through the path, causing it to go dark in the Force. Each time the blade was lit, he felt renewed.
Finally, Jaro and Kenobi walked back to where they began, and he peered out into the dark at the lit-up network of paths that he’d explored. Some were dark forever as he’d never walk them. “It’s better, but not…good.”
Kenobi remained silent for a long time, leaving Jaro to his thoughts before he finally asked, “Why did the Force only present you with two choices, Master Tapal?”
“I suppose because I was contemplating only two possible directions.”
“Mm.”
Jaro stared at the kid for several beats. “You’re saying there are more options?”
“I’m not saying anything at all.”
Despite all the horrors he’d seen for however long his consciousness had been here, that struck him as absurdly funny, and he couldn’t help but laugh. Long and deep, the release of tension a welcome respite.
Kenobi knelt down and touched the ground again.
The entire landscape suddenly lit up with thousands upon thousands of paths.
“You have near infinite possibilities. You’ve narrowed your possibilities down to two rather bleak choices.”
“I see.” He considered the landscape. “Part of training to be a Jedi is to evaluate a given set of circ*mstances and be able to make the best possible decision given the information at hand.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?” He asked, honestly curious.
“I think so. Too many in the Order’s past sought too much guidance from a far-removed cosmic sentience while others perhaps sought too little.”
“Do you think I’m on the path of too little?”
“I think that a calling to the Physical Force requires listening to the Force in a different way than the manner in which I listen to it. I think you must listen to the Force very well in the way that it speaks to you, but I think perhaps it’s been obtuse of late.” Kenobi peered up at him in question as if that had all been guesswork.
Jaro nodded in agreement.
“The Sith has been outmaneuvering us for centuries. He was almost in checkmate before we realized he was playing the game.”
“True.” He titled his head. “What do you recommend?”
“Change the game. Cheat a little.”
Jaro smiled. “What does cheating look like for a Jedi?”
“Not acting like a Jedi, perhaps?”
Jaro considered that, turning the idea over in his head, wondering how that might manifest itself.
“What’s close to your heart, Master Tapal?”
An image immediately rose up in his mind even as he tried not to let it.
Kenobi was already kneeling down, pressing his hand into the murky ground, a new path flaring bright and steady off into the distance. “Your heart path, Master Tapal.”
“I’m not sure I should…”
Kenobi returned to his guard position, hands closed around the hilt of the saberpike. “Regardless, I won’t walk this path, nor will I close it. The choice to explore it is yours.”
With reluctance, Jaro stepped onto his heart path.
***
When he returned, he was a little heartbroken that such a future would not be his. It could not be his.
“It’s lovely,” he admitted.
“So many paths of duty,” Kenobi said, “but you see only one path for your heart. Is there no balanced path?”
Jaro frowned.
Kenobi knelt once again. “We won’t go far, and the paths will branch, but walk the path of duty while remembering your heart. Make your heart your center and not your duty.”
“I’ve always put duty first.”
Kenobi looked off in the distance, his eyes glowing and unfocused. “There doesn’t have to be a rank. In the way the Physical Force grounds you, let your heart ground you also.”
“All right,” he agreed slowly.
A new path lit up.
They walked for a while. Jaro made choices, and Kenobi opened the branching paths.
Jaro was there the day Cal was brought to the Jedi. He held the baby and knew this was his next Padawan. Eeth was by his side when he brought Cal to the crèche and often indulged Jaro in his visits, never saying a word about Jaro’s budding attachment to the little initiate.
Jaro stared for the longest time at the possible outcome of walking the balanced path—the line between heart and duty. “Let’s return.”
As they walked, Kenobi asked, “Did you find your answers?”
“I did. Interestingly, I also saw who the Sith lord is, though not his apprentice.”
“The apprentice is more dangerous,” Kenobi said softly. “He’ll reveal himself to you in time. Or he may have been first on your balanced path; he hides more profoundly than his master does, so he’s harder to see.”
When they reached the starting point, Kenobi touched the ground again, and the paths winked out of existence. “Meditate on what’s important for you to remember, Master Tapal. You’ve seen many lifetimes, and you cannot retain it all. The Force will allow you to take back what you deem to be important.”
Jaro could meditate in any position, so he chose to remain standing. He offered his hands to Kenobi. “Will you meditate with me?”
Kenobi smiled. “I’d be honored.”
He let Jaro take both of his hands, which were absurdly tiny comparatively. Kenobi was like lightning in the Force while in this place. Jaro sank easily into meditation, sorting through the memories, deciding what he needed to keep, what context was important, what mattered most. He wanted to be sure to remember that he was in a timeless bubble created by the Temporal Force because he knew Eeth would find that fascinating.
He meditated more on his heart path than he knew he should have, but his life with Eeth was beautiful, and he wanted to remember that love could be something to come home to when you balanced it with duty. He wanted to remember finding Cal more than a decade in the future.
There was probably too much to remember, but he’d take the gift the Force had given him and make the most of it.
When he came out of meditation, he met Kenobi’s gaze. “Thank you.”
“It’s my duty and my honor, Master Tapal.”
As he felt this place loosen its grip on him, he inclined his head and bowed.
Jaro said his goodbyes, acknowledging the true help he’d been given. “Pathfinder.”
The End
