#nield

@jedijune

week 1: a choice not taken

For starters, he didn’t dress like a politician. Instead of the bright colors and heavy layers favored by Senators, Kenobi himself seemed to prefer lighter, muted clothing that drew less attention and allowed for better maneuverability. If Fox hadn’t known any better, he would have guessed that Kenobi was a military officer, not a politician. Strange for a planet that was so determined to stay neutral that they refused to join even the Neutral Systems Alliance.

Second- he hadn’t requested an escort to Coruscant, nor did he request any guards once he arrived, despite the Chancellor himself asking him. He seemed completely unconcerned about any possibility of an attack or assassination attempt. Was it because of his neutrality? Did he believe that having a member of the GAR as a bodyguard would make it seem like he’d joined their side? Or was he simply too arrogant to think he’d need one?

But his demeanor wasn’t arrogant. Nor did it match the way he dressed. And the way he spoke- his voice was elegant, with an accent that fit right in with the Coruscanti upper class, and yet he didn’t smile like them. His smile - when aimed at the Corries - was soft and gentle. Kind.

The Generals of the Young: Cerasi, Nield, and Obi-wan “Ben” Kenobi, 44BBY, Melida/Daan.

Ben is among the oldest of all the young at 13.

At 13 he soothes the fevers of the littlest who have never had enough strength or food or love, he holds up buildings that should collapse and kill them all (yet he does not do so with his strength for he is scrawny like them, weak like them. He doesn’t even touch the wood) finds water sources that are impossible to see, shoots steady even when his hands shake (as if guided by something, as if he is not entirely himself but something other, something more).

He calls it the force, they call it Ben.

At 13 he becomes a legend.

Legends aren’t born, but made in the desperate tunnels full of dying children. They say he appeared one day from the sky, that when his elders left, he refused to. That he was not born on the bloody battlefields of hate, but that he stayed because he saw them, felt with them, heard their song. He stayed when the Jedi left.

The children see how he balanced Cersai and Nield (love and hate, peace and war, water and fire). They see how the three click into place, Melida and Daan and Other. They wonder if maybe there was always an empty spot between them, waiting to be filled. Wonder if that is how this war started. Wonder if between every Melida and every Daan there is a space for something Other.

No one remembers how the war started, only that it did. Maybe there used to be a third faction, maybe something other (something more, something Ben) and when it died or left there was nothing left to bridge the Melida and the Daan.

Ben is sure as the earth, light as the air (only because they cannot hear him cry at night). He is a contradiction. He says strange things and does the impossible. Sometimes he glows with something else (something more).

He is remembered as the one who stayed (no one will say where he went). He is remembered as the Other between all Melida and all Daan.

There is an empty seat in every house. An empty seat in the Trivumate, waiting to be filled. Outside historians call it the Absent Third Phenomena— they are not sure why it is (they do not want to dig deeper, dig into the bloody history, tear their secrets and traditions and culture from the rotting bodies of child soldiers. they do not want to know). In Melida/Daan there is a word that is untranslatable that describes it, A’Benui. It is sacred. It is told to every child too young to remember the sewers, told by every Young that was touched by Ben (his something other).

Feemor when he finds out what Obi-Wan has been up to:

The moment Satine had tried to flirt with him, in her usual aggressive manner, Jango had practically jumped down her throat.

Then Pre got involved and... since when had Pre known that he had once infiltrated Concordia? He most certainly had been involved with Pre for a short time, pretending to be a servant of the Clan while trying to find out more about Kyr’tsad, but he’d thought that Pre had forgotten all about him

Nearby Nield was sniping at all of them, telling them that he’d known Obi-wan longer and that Melida Daan had claimed him years ago.

On one side of him Quinlan was cackling at Anakin, whose mouth had fallen open in shock. On the other Cody was looking out over the mess with a completely neutral expression on his face.

Finally his Commander seemed to have enough of the noise and took a deeep breath, prompting Obi-wan to use the force to protect his ears.

“Enough!” He bellowed, drowning out the crowd with a voice meant for battlefields.

Everyone went quiet, even Jango, as they stared at the man in surprise.

Cody cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Who here either- has a claim on Kenobi, has fallen in love with Kenobi, or has slept with Kenobi?” He asked the room at large.

More than half the occupants threw up their hands.

Obi-wan ignored the indignant squawk and sudden spluttering of his former padawan.

“I will Skira’kaanir (Revenge Duel) anyone in this room who’s laid their hands on Ob’ika!” Jango snarled, bristling.

A slow smile crept across Cody’s face as he crossed his arms and shifted his stance. “I’ll take you up on that offer, Prime.”

Both Jango and Satine let out affronted noises and Obi-wan felt his ears going red as he put his face in his hands again.

In a universe where the whole Melida/Daan incident ended differently (partly because it has been ages since I read the book and can’t remember the exact events and partly because I like Cerasi so she gets to live) Obi-Wan still left right after they won and the government got set up mostly without him. (Not for a lack of Cerasi and Nield trying to convince him to stay, though. They tried their best, but Obi still felt like he had to/was supposed to go back to the Jedi.)

So for the last twenty years or so, Cerasi and Nield have been ruling Melidaan. Sort of. It’s not a typical government and they are more like community leaders than planetary rulers. They really never asked for the responsibility or a planet. And while they’ve discovered they’re not actually all that bad at it, they’ve never really come to like it either.

But what’s interesting is that they call themselves a triarchy (or something like that. I might be making up words here) and there’s always a chair left open for ‘The Absent Third.’ (I forgot to mention this, but Melidaan has its own language now because I’m a language nerd and don’t love how everyone in Star Wars who looks vaguely human speaks one of about three languages. So they’ve got a language now. And ‘the absent third’ is actually more poetic and a single word in that language. Because I said so.)

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Obi-Wan is the third and if he were ever to make any kind of indication that he wanted to come back, they have a group ready and waiting to either be his getaway drivers or politely kidnap him from whoever is keeping him away from them. The team is made up of the little kids who latched onto him in the sewers and began to hero worship him. They’re all in their mid-twenties now, but that just means they’ll be more effective.

Anyway, at some point during the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan and the 212th end up on Melidaan. And negotiations get weird. Because the Jedi didn’t realize they were sending a Negotiator who had a seat on the government of the planet he was being sent to negotiate with. (They never would have sent Dooku to negotiate with Serenno while he was still a Jedi.) And no one listened to Obi-Wan when he said this might not be the best idea.

There is a universe, Obi-Wan is sure, where Qui-Gon Jinn was a better man. Or perhaps just one where Obi-Wan was more desperate for the future he was promised. In that universe Obi-Wan Kenobi would be just one piece of a larger puzzle. He would be a warrior, a peacekeeper, a Jedi.

In this universe, Obi-Wan is the only Force Sensitive on the planet. He is a politician, a peacekeeper, and perhaps even something of a warrior. He is many things but he hasn’t been a Jedi for a very long time.

Such things won’t matter to Mandalorians. It’s a shame really, he thinks, because he was really starting to like them.

His arms shake with phantom weight and sweat cools on his temple. The screams of children echo in his ears, threatening to drag him away into bloodsoaked memories. Despite it all, he can see the moment it clicks in their eyes.

“You’re a Jedi,” Jango says hollowly.

Not anymore, Obi-Wan thinks but when he opens his mouth nothing comes out. Holding up large buildings with nothing but the Force and determination is not as easy as it looks. He’s running out of energy.

He takes a deep breath, “Call Daria, Prince Fett, she’ll be able to help you. Tevari, what’s happening?”

There’s a groan from somewhere behind him, “Evacuation protocol has started. All the babies are out, but the third floor is blocked off. And I’m… Obi I can’t feel my legs.”

He curses silently. The floor they’re on was the second until it became a pile of rubble. It was also their improvised NICU. So the rest of the floor has been cleared then, and it’s just him and Tevari here. Him, about to collapse, and Tevari, trapped.

A particularly shrill scream sounds from the floor above them and the rubble shifts with Obi-Wan’s flinch.

¬

Jango doesn’t know what to do in this situation, he just knows that people are dying and he’s staring at a comm. Minister Kenobi isn’t looking at them anymore. There’s someone else in the room with him, someone who sounds young and scared.

His buir swears, and snatches Jango’s comm from him.

“Minister Kenobi, what is the situation?”

“Bad,” Minister Kenobi wheezes, “There’s a fire spreading and the whole building is unstable. We need help. Call Daria.”

The connection cuts out, and Jango can’t be sure if it was interference or Kenobi just hung up on them.

“Buir-”

“You heard him,” Myles interrupts, “Call Minister Daria. There’s a hospital full of children that’s been bombed, and they need help. We can deal with the maybe Jedi problem later. Call Daria, Jango.”

Hands shaking, he keys in the code for Minister Daria.

¬

Daria wants to scream, to cry, to collapse on the floor and curl up in a ball. She can’t do any of those things, so she calmly directs the flood of people leaving the hospital and hopes Obi-Wan will appear among them. Daria was eleven when they ended the war. He’s been there, a guiding star and her best fucking friend, since then. She doesn’t want to see a world that doesn’t have him in it.

The Mandalorians are helped to evacuate the building, no doubt looking for Obi-Wan so they can- well she’s not sure exactly what they want with him.

After she hugs him, she’s going to kill him. How hard would it have been to include this in the brief. Hey Daria, the Mandalorians kind of really hate Jedi? Might want to watch out for that as well as the war stuff. See? Not hard! Idiot. She’s going to strangle him.

“If you have minor injuries please get checked out at the blue tent! More severe injuries will be treated in the green tents. If you are not injured make your way home and attend a check up in the morning. The situation is under control,” Herti says into their megaphone, “If you need help, Minister Daria,” Daria raises an arm, “and Minister Sergild will direct you. If you cannot find either of them, inform your evacuator of your needs.”

They’ve been making that announcement every ten minutes for the past hour.

“Minister Daria,” she jumps at the voice in her ear, “This young woman insisted she be brought to you first.”

Behind her, stands Ser Myles with Tevari in his arms.

She could try with relief, “Tevari, you’re okay! Obi-Wan-”

Tevari grasps her arms desperately, “He went further in, to try and keep it stable longer. He told me to find you. Obi says that he can keep going for at least an hour but-”

“He lies,” Daria says, “He always lies.”

The Mandalorian tilts his helmet in confusion.

“He can do it,” Tevari clarifies, “But it might kill him. It would definitely leave him in a coma. He’s injured, Daria, and it’s almost too much. He hasn’t had to do anything like this for ages. We have to find him.”

She nods, trying to be soothing, “It’s going to be okay, Teva. The evacuation is nearly finished, they’ll find him. It’s all going to be fine. Take her to the green tent, Ser Myles.”

Tevari’s hands fall away from her, eyes closing, “You lie too.”

¬

There is fire and smoke and Jango can barely see anything. There aren’t many people left inside, but the search for Minister Kenobi continues. Another injured child had reported he went further into the collapsing structure. (They’re all children, how can they all be children?)

A grunt up ahead draws Jango’s attention and he hurries forwards.

Minister Kenobi stands with his hands thrust into the air, knees bending and blood streaming down his face. There’s a child clutching his legs, and their terrified eyes find Jango’s.

“Help,” they whimper.