Gosh I love your clone Obi-Wan AU! Do you mind me asking if any of Obi-Wan's childhood friends were suspicious of anything, or was it all brushed off as a result of Melida/Daan and the attack on the Temple? Did OB-1 avoid them?
ā”ā”ā”ā”ā”
(thank you cole <3333)
No one suspects a thing. They just let themselves believe that the shadows in Kenobiās eyes are better left alone, that heāll heal, with time. And if he doesnāt go back to the hotheaded, too eager, too passionate initiate they knew him as, well. Thatās just part of growing up, isnāt it?Ā
Even if he looks a little too young, as if he hasnāt aged at all in the years since he last set foot in the temple, itās a face theyāre used to. They knew him as a child, not as a young adult, so when they see that same child, itās easy to forget that he shouldnāt look so familiar. And if time alone in a war zone, with only other children at his side, hasnāt marked him, then isnāt that only a good thing? Doesnāt it make sense that Master Jinn keeps him out of the temple, taking mission after consecutive mission? That he keeps him isolated from his age mates once they eventually return? (Isnāt it better, some of them whisper, that the maverick keeps the deserter isolated, so that he doesnāt inspire any others to forsake their vows?)
Quinlan thinks thatās all banthakark.
He hadnāt been especially close to Kenobi, when they were both initiates. They were in different clans in the creche, and a few years apart in age, besides. The times they did talk, Kenobi took Quinlanās ribbing personally, rubbed raw by Bruck Chunās calculated cruelty. And itās not like Quinlan would apologize just because he got his tunics in a twist. (Quinlan has never made friends easily.)
But he was a decent sort, and had brought Quinlan his coursework when he was laid up in the Halls of Healing after that first eventful mission with Master Tholme, so. Quinās not the type to forget when someone does him a solid.
He thinks that Kenobi could probably use a friend right now.
(Quin thinks of little Aayla, their bond pulsing bright and beautiful right next to his bond with his master, and knows that he wouldāve left the Order to fight for her, too. Thank the Force she was Force sensitive. Thank the Force Tholme never made him choose.)
So he tracks Kenobi down the next time that Jinn lets him leave their quarters unsupervised. It takes months, seriously, what kind of training from hell is he putting that kid through?
Kenobi is meditating in an unfrequented corner of the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Quinlan pauses for a moment, surprised at how quickly the baby fat had melted from his cheeks. What the kriff, Jinn wasnāt starvingĀ him, was he? But no, it must be a growth spurt--his shoulders are noticeably broader, and instead of a proper meditation pose, heās got his legs stretched out in front of him. Growing pains, probably. (Quin is no stranger to those, but if Kenobi grows taller than him heās gonna be pissed.)
Whatever. Quinlan will figure out if somethingās wrong with him. Psychometry is awesome for blackmail.
āHey, Kenobi,ā he says, sneaking up behind him and giving him a noogie.
The boy under his hands is not Kenobi.
He takes a few seconds to rouse from his meditative state, another to jerk away from Quinlanās touch.Ā
Quinlan kind of forgets he even has a body for a second, lets his arms hover where the boy that is not Kenobi used to be, trying to sort through the sudden influx of memories that are not his own.
The boy goes whiter than a wampaās hide, suddenly terrified in a way that Quinlanās never felt from anyone before.
He thinks Iām gonna get him killed, Quinlan realizes, and feels abruptly sick. He thinks Jinn will decommission him if someone figures out heās a...
Damningly, Quinlanās not sure if heās wrong. Not sure that he doesnāt hold a life in his hands.
He has to tread very, very carefully here. If the boy suspects anything, he will swallow his fear and report it to Jinn, against his own survival instincts. Heās been too well conditioned to do anything else.
āIs everything all right...?ā Kenobi the clone the padawan asks, peering up at him with wide turquoise eyes, identical to... well, obviously theyāre identical, thatās the whole point.
Quinlan didnāt know Kenobi well enough to tell if the Force signature is identical, too, and heās glad of it. His skin is crawling enough as it is. Heās suddenly and terribly aware that this boy should not exist.
āWhatās wrong, you forget your olā pal Quinlan Vos?ā he forces through a grin thatās a little too wide, plopping down on the grass beside him, careful to leave a wide gap between them.Ā āItās been a while, man, I barely recognized you! How you been?ā
The padawan does admirably in the ensuing small talk--of course he does, Jinn has been coaching him for this--and Quinlan does the same. Heās training to be a Shadow, after all, and this guy isnāt anywhere near as intimidating as the people Quinlan usually bullshits. And Quinlan knows, with terrible certainty, that heād sooner die than besmirch the legacy thatās been shoved onto him like an ill-fitting coat. (The legacy heād fought so hard for, the legacy nine others just like him had died trying to earn--that Kenobi had to die for him to get--)
Heās five years old and heās already been through a lifetimeās worth of suffering.
Later, once the padawan begs off and retreats to the quarters he shares with a monster, Quinlan falls back in the grass and tries to ignore the burning of his eyes, the shaking of his hands. He gives himself an hour to mourn a boy no one else knows to mourn.Ā
(Except Jinn, but Obi-Wan deserved better.)
And then Quinlan picks himself back up, puts himself together, and promises himself that this new version will last longer.
-
Vos never tries to touch him again. OB-1 is too grateful, too scared, to wonder why.
