Archive of Our Own

It’s the kind of mission that Obi-Wan will do his absolute best to completely forget as soon as it’s over and he’s finished his report.

For months they’ve fought this war, struggling to keep the Separatist forces at bay and keeping the Republic safe. For months the clones have been at the Jedi’s backs, help keeping them safe. Helped the Jedi be enough to keep the Republic safe.

The Jedi are not an army, they’re not soldiers… They’re supposed to be peacekeepers but now, at the behest of the Republic, they’re not.

The only way for them to be enough, is with the clones… or another army. But since most of the people of the Republic definitely don’t want to go out and fight on their own, the clones it is.

Despite their sacrifices, despite the fact that the clones essentially have no say in what they do—die for a Republic they have never known—there are still people like this in the Republic: people who blame the war on the Jedi and the clones.

People who will do their absolute best to “get rid” of any Jedi or clone they meet.

Obi-Wan sighs and tries to gather his thoughts. He’s most likely at the very base of the large spaceport. The charges went off and he plummeted. He has no broken bones or any injuries worse than bruises, but he’s definitely not clean anymore.

He wonders how Anakin, Ahsoka, the parts of the 212th and 501st that came with them are doing. Did they get caught in the blast as well?

Even in the midst of war, the Jedi still take missions not exactly directly related—if they’re important enough. A supposed slave-trade ring kidnapping children and shipping them outside the Republic? Definitely the kind of thing that takes precedence.

But then the anti-clone “activists” got involved and now the whole mission has gone to hell. Who in all the core worlds decided that blowing up a spaceport and potentially kill hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives in order to “get rid” off a few clones and Jedi was a good idea? If he finds them, Obi-Wan plans to have a very long talk with them…

He stands up and brushes his clothes off to the best of his ability. He tries his comm, but it’s completely fried; just his luck. The cream overtunic is smudged and dirty. Considering the state of the spaceport that’s to be expected.

Obi-Wan starts to try and navigate the destroyed spaceport, broken slabs of durasteel and duracrete, the sound of electricity sparking out of broken wires, water rushing out of punctured pipes littering his way.

The destruction is immense, but he has yet to come across any dead bodies. The spaceport had been mostly empty due to the early time of the morning, and Terellian VII’s strict laws regarding departure times. Small mercies.

Obi-Wan stretches his senses out with the Force. Above him—perhaps a floor or two—and a few hundred meters northwest, he can feel two small lifeforces. He senses fear and anxiety, he senses youth.

The realisation of what that means leaves a sour taste in Obi-Wan’s mouth. There is no reason for children to be in this spaceport at this time of the morning, except for one reason only: they’re cargo being shipped somewhere else.

The climb is slow going, but if he tries to hurry too much he risks destabilising something and the whole spaceport could come tumbling down on him. Obi-Wan is not very fond of that thought.

He keeps his sense attuned to the two small lives. They don’t seem to be hurt, but that’s no guarantee. Some people are steadfast enough to shine brightly even while dying, not dimming at all, just suddenly cutting off between one moment and the next.

He shakes away those thoughts and continues on his way, following the life forces rather than heading toward the surface.

He tries his comm again, but it really is fried. He huffs and ducks beneath a cluster of sparking wires hanging in the opening of a hangar door.

There’s a spaceship in the hangar, slightly damaged but mostly intact. He moves closer, the two children are definitely in the ship’s cargo hold. He pauses by the ship entrance; he should copy the ships coordinates and logs before he leaves, but making sure the children are safe takes priority.

He moves into ship, the lamp on his hip more necessary than before due to the absence of the few still working lamps and flying sparks.

“Hello? Is there anyone there?” Obi-Wan whispers into the dark, keeping his voice soft and gentle.

He feels a flare of anxiety, fear becoming more apparent. Further evidence for his conclusion regarding their presence here. Unless, of course, they are stowaways worried they’re about to be found.

He’s relieved that the door to the cargo hold opens on its own. If he’d been forced to use his lightsaber…

He moves the light beam across the room and in the absolute corner, almost hidden from sight, are two young girls. The sight of them breaks Obi-Wan’s heart.

A small Zabrak and a Togruta, pressed together, wearing nothing but ratty underwear and dirt. Their faces are twisted in fear, and there’s a tremor in their breathing.

Obi-Wan kneels down where he is, doesn’t move any closer to the two, he doesn’t want to scare them more than they already are.

“I’m not here to hurt you. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, I’m a Jedi,” he says gently in Zabraki, hoping that hearing something aside from basic might help them feel at ease.

The Zabrak frowns at him, her mouth twisting downwards. She whispers something to the Trogruta.

“If you’re a Jedi, where is your lightsaber?” the Togruta says, her voice wavering with fear.

Obi-Wan smiles and unclips the requested item from his belt. He lights it up, angled away from the children, who gasp as the clear blue glow brightens the room further.

They whisper amongst themselves again before they slowly get to their feet and move closer, slowly and carefully.

Obi-Wan turns his lightsaber off again.

“Do you have any clothes you can wear?” he asks. They must be cold, and he can’t bear to look at them like this much longer.

“No… Nothing,” the Zabrak scuffs her toes against the floor.

For the first time since the mission started, Obi-Wan wishes that he’d worn his cloak. As it is, the only clothes he can offer them…

“Then I’ll give you my tunics. We can rip the arms off to give you something to cover your feet with. Is that okay?”

They look at each other again, before they look at him and nod in tandem.

Obi-Wan sets about removing his belt, followed by his obi before he slips of the cream coloured overtunic. He moves slowly, keeps his hands clearly visible, to not startle them.

He rips the arms off swiftly—with a little help from the Force— and reaches out with it. It’s the Togruta who takes it, carefully, and wraps it around herself.

He sets about taking off his dark undertunic, ignoring the way the air prickles at his skin and the unusual feeling of being so bare in company of others.

The process is much the same as before and the Zabrak takes it almost eagerly.

Obi-Wan puts his utility belt back on, and once he’s done, the girls finally come within arm’s reach. He doesn’t make any moves toward them.

“Can you help me tie it?” the Zabrak whispers. Such a brave child, Obi-Wan thinks, but nods his assent and quickly helps her. As soon as he finishes trying the band around her stomach, he helps her create makeshift boots from the arms.

The repeats the process for the Togruta when she moves in closer.

“There we go,” he says as he ties off the last part of the “boot”.

He stands up and moves away from the two children slightly, allowing them space. They hesitate for a few moments, but then they step up on each side of him and takes his hands in theirs.

“I’m Aliika,” the Togruta says. Her small hands are clammy, and there’s a tremor going through them.

“I’m Lasheen,” the Zabrak says, her fingers almost painfully tight on Obi-Wan’s.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aliika and Lasheen. Before we go I need to copy the files and logs of this spaceship, so I can investigate where they’ve been and where they’re heading, okay?”

The two nod and follow him easily enough. It seems the sight of the lightsaber coupled with being given clothes have gone a long way toward warming them up to him.

If the climb toward the surface had been slow before, it was even slower with Aliika and Lasheen. The two did their best to keep up, but fairly quickly it became necessary for Obi-Wan to simply carry them. Lasheen’s hiss of relief made Obi-Wan suspect that her feet were injured or at least very sore.

Most of the actual climbing was too hard and with too long gaps for the two children, so Obi-Wan lets them ride on his back with their arms slung across his neck.

It was hard going, and hours passed. It was, in fact, mid-day by the time they finally made up to surface level.

In the distance they could hear raised voices and the sound of duracrete and durasteel being moved.

With a careful application of the Force, Obi-Wan moved a bit of a wall out of the way, and stepped out into the strong sunlight of midday Terellian VII with one child sitting on each of his forearms.

The Terellian VII government is relieved to have him come out alive, maybe even more so than Anakin, Ahsoka, and the troops.

There are journalists all around, reporting about the terrorist action and the missing Jedi Master. Unfortunately.

The images of Obi-Wan stepping out in the sunlight—chest bare and abs “on display” as several people on the holonet calls it—a child on each arm circles around the net relentlessly.

There is one image in particular that was such a “perfect” shot it looked fake. The sunlight bringing out the red of Obi-Wan’s hair, almost making it look like it was on fire, the sweat on his skin making his abs glisten.

“Master Kenobi’s sculpted abs” becomes, according to Ahsoka and Anakin at least, a sensation on the net. Obi-Wan just wants to forget the whole thing ever happened, though he is glad to get updates on Aliika and Lasheen. Hearing that they were finally reunited with their families did his heart much good.

All in all, he puts up with the more uncomfortable attention in return for their safety and happiness.

Obi-Wan doesn’t want to know what Anakin and Ahsoka are laughing about. Absolutely not.