Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cody held Obi-Wan tight to his chest.

His General was dead.

It was a truth that Cody had known and held on to for nearly twenty years.

His General was dead. As dead as Cody himself had been. Drowning the both of them. Always and forever drowning.

And now Cody was alive, was real, was free...

But his General was still dead.

Cody had killed him.

Cody missed him. Mourned him. But his General was marching away, marching away with all of Cody’s brothers.

Now there was just Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan who wasn’t his General. Obi-Wan would would never be his General. Because of Cody.

Obi-Wan was a child who would never walk the path he once might have. Obi-Wan would never be a Jedi. And some part of Cody was viciously grateful for that. His Obi-Wan would never be a Jedi. Would never  be a filthy traitor. Some other part of Cody hid away from how sharp that viciousness was, how angry it was. But most of him was glad. Was glad he’d saved Obi-Wan from that.

But Obi-Wan would never be a General.

He’d never be Cody’s General.

Cody’s General was dead.

Obi-Wan was a toddler who needed Cody. Obi-Wan was his vod’ika and his verd’ika.

Cody had loved General Kenobi. Would always love General Kenobi.

And Cody loved Obi-Wan. Would always love Obi-Wan. No matter who he decided he wanted to be.

-_-

Cody woke sharply, eyes immediately darting around the dark room—another cargo hold—looking for the threat as he pulled a sleeping Obi-Wan closer to his body, just in case.

Rex turned from where he was keeping watch, meeting his eyes and giving the all clear sign.

There was no threat. Just Cody, Rex, Obi-Wan, and crates full of rolls and rolls of fabric. Cody couldn't, for the life of him, imagine what someone would need with all of that fabric. And some of the colors he'd seen had been, well, hideous was the word Cody had used. Rex had tried to be more diplomatic and had called them gaudy. He wasn't actually sure if it was that much of an improvement from hideous.

Obi-Wan hadn't seemed to have an opinion on the color of the fabric, he'd been mostly entertained with how soft it was.

Once they could afford it, Cody was going to have to see if they could buy Obi-Wan a soft, warm blanket. Obi-Wan would love it. 

In his arms, Obi-Wan stirred, a small unhappy noise slipping from his throat. An almost, not quite whine.

Cody frowned, Obi-Wan had been having nightmares ever since Naboo. A dangerous pastime when they were still stowing away on ships as often as they could. Cody and Rex had decided to give it a few more ship jumps before finding somewhere to settle, but this was their last jump. The ship they were currently stowed away on was headed to Centares, which Rex and Cody had figured was as good a place as any. Relatively safe, which was a necessity when they were caring for a child, but not so respectable that three children on their own would be noticed, an unfortunate necessity. Maybe when he and Rex looked a little older they could go somewhere a little more respectable. But the risk of going to somewhere like Naboo, where three abandoned children would stand out was too high. 

Plus, it was along the hyperspace route, meaning it had plenty of ship traffic. A necessity if they were going to have to stowaway again if they were found.

Obi-Wan was actually doing very well at staying quiet, even when woken from nightmares. Maybe it was a Force thing, telling Obi-Wan to stay quiet. Or maybe Obi-Wan had just always been quiet in nightmares. 

Cody wasn't sure he really liked either option.

Obi-Wan whimpered quietly again and Cody shifted, pulling himself up so that he could lean back against a crate, shifting Obi-Wan so that he was laying flat on Cody's small chest.

"How long was he whimpering before I woke up?" He asked quietly into the dark of the cargo hold.

"You woke up to the second one." Rex answered. "Do you want me to take him so you can get a little more sleep?"

Cody shook his head. "No. Won't sleep at this point anyways. I can take watch if you want to try to sleep."

Rex made a sound in the negative. "Pretty sure we'll be out of hyperspace soon. No real point."

Cody figured that was fair.

Obi-Wan whimpered a final time, before coming awake with a small sob.

Cody immediately hushed him, pulling the toddler in close. "It's okay, it's okay verd'ika. I have you. We're far away from anyone who could hurt us."

-_-

"Are we going to talk about it?" Rex asked, staring up at the stars. It was lucky it was the summer season on this planet, and it was warm out, so sleeping outside wasn't particularly dangerous, at least in terms of climate.

"Talk about what?" Cody asked, voice easy in a way that Rex knew would disappear as soon as Rex really broached the subject. Still, it needed to be done.

"You hate the Jedi." Rex said, because he wasn't sure what else there was to say, and it was easy to start here. Well, easier.

Cody sighed, and yep, that easiness was gone, replaced by a cold neutrality. "No, we're not going to talk about it."

Rex turned. "Don't you think we should?"

"I don't think it matters." Cody bit out, the look Cody gave him somehow even colder than his brother’s tone. "We're not going to be interacting with the Jedi."

"We're raising Obi-Wan. It's not something we can just ignore."

"And he'll never be a Jedi." Cody retorted. "We've saved him from that."

Rex swallowed hard. He’d heard people say all sorts of things about the Jedi, especially after they’d been destroyed and it was almost a matter of course for people to spit on them. But somehow it had never been as bad as hearing Cody speak poorly of them. "The Jedi Order isn't some terrible thing. They're not something that Obi-Wan needed saving from." Maybe it was because the Cody from before hadn’t hated the Jedi. This was a Cody that was his Cody, but also wasn’t. This was a Cody whose changes Rex still had to learn. “We were saving him from what might happen to the Order, not from the Order itself."

Cody snorted. "Why can't it be both?"

"You love him." Rex backtracked, because he wasn’t going to win the argument if they continued in that vein, but he might just have a chance if he came at it with a different tactic. "And not just our verd'ika. You loved the him that was a General. The him that was a Jedi." They both knew that for all that Obi-Wan Kenobi had the name, he was not the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the past—the future? might-have-been-future? however one said it. That didn't change the fact they loved him now, or that they'd loved him them. Though it was a different sort of feeling all together for how it was still the same.

"Of course I do." Cody sounded confused, as though he didn't recognize the contradiction in despising the Jedi but in loving General Kenobi.

Maybe he didn't, Rex acknowledged. Maybe for Cody there was the Jedi, and then there was his Jedi, and they were two separate things entirely. He wouldn’t be the only vod to have that mindset, and while Cody had seemed to bring it to another level, it wasn’t truly surprising.

"The Jedi are good." They weren't perfect, no, and they had their bad fruit—thoughts of Krell still enraged and terrified him in equal measure—but the Jedi Order itself had so much good in it.

"I'm not having this conversation." Cody told him, scooping the sleeping toddler up and turning so that Cody's back was to Rex, nestling Obi-Wan into his body as though he was protecting him from Rex.

Rex fought back the hurt it caused him. He was in this with Cody, to the very end. 

"Is it the chip?" Rex asked, pushing the subject, perhaps more than he should have, but it needed to be said, it needed to be asked. "Or at least the aftereffects of it. You trusted the Jedi, before the chip, before the Empire. You might have trusted them even more than I did. This can't be how you really feel about them."

Cody didn't answer.

Rex sighed, turning to look back to look at the stars.

He'd let it drop for now. But they were going to talk about this.

-_-

Cody paced the edge of the barn uneasily. They were running low on food and even lower on credits. Not for the first time he cursed his young body. If he was his normal size then getting work wouldn't be a problem.

There was another farm about a kilck to the east, and from what Cody could tell it wasn't abandoned. Maybe they would be willing to share some food if Cody and Rex helped out for a few days.

Cody looked down at the tug on his pants. He raised an eyebrow at Obi-Wan who was smiling up at him angelically. "Can I help you Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan held his hands up, and Cody bent down to pick him up, suddenly incredibly aware of how light the toddler was. Was he too light? Should kids Obi-Wan’s age need more food? Weren’t they doing a lot of growing at this age? Or was that just children with accelerated aging?

They needed to find more information on human-child development. Because the only experience Cody had with the subject was him and his own brothers, and he didn’t think that was the best source.

"What do you need, little one?"

Obi-Wan wrapped his arms tightly around Cody's neck and Cody felt some of his tension slip away with this sign of trust his little General had in—he corrected the thought. This sign of trust and love that his verd'ika had for him. That his Ob’ika somehow managed to project, as though he was trying to wrap Cody in it.

That Obi-Wan, who didn't know how to use the Force anymore than Cody did at this point, still managed to use it to comfort Cody was just something that was so Obi-Wan that it didn't seem to matter how old he was.

It was easier, in times like these, to feel like everything would work out. That everything would be okay.

He could do this.

He returned the hug carefully, making sure not to squeeze too tight in case he hurt his verd'ika.

There was nothing in this galaxy, absolutely nothing, that would stop Cody from protecting Obi-Wan and Rex.

Obi-Wan pushed back, smiling at Cody brightly, and then he was wiggling to be let down.

Cody set him down. "Was that all you needed, verd'ika?"

Obi-Wan nodded and then toddled away, probably to go find Rex and give him a hug as well.

Cody felt his heart seize a little.

They could do this.

-_-

"Their trail has been lost." Qui-Gon admitted, the words feeling like they'd been torn from him.

Yoda's hologram nodded. "Return to the temple you shall."

Qui-Gon felt a flare of frustration. "We can't just abandon a child!"

Yoda's ears flattened. "Abandon the child we will not." Yoda sounded displeased, and despite the improper syntax the tone of it all was almost enough to send Qui-Gon flashing back to his days as a padawan with Master Yan. He did not appreciate the experience. "But a diplomat you are, a tracker you are not. Send someone more capable we have.”

The slight burned. Qui-Gon was perfectly capable. And yet, his failure to catch up with the two boys who'd stolen young Obi-Wan Kenobi showed a different picture.

"Anyone else you might send will have no familiarity with young Kenobi's Force presence." It was his best argument, the closest thing he had to a trump card.

"Already gone to Stewjon, a knight pair has, find traces of his presence there, they shall."

Qui-Gon wanted to scowl with yet another argument shut down so quickly. "They'll waste time, trying to catch up."

"Waste time also you will. Lost their trail you have. No further behind will the Knight pair be. Come to your location they will, once Obi-Wan Kenobi's presence they have learned."

"I feel—" 

"Return to Coruscant you will." Yoda interrupted, and this time his voice was implacable. If Yoda had actually been present, Qui-Gon would probably have received a gimer stick to his shins. "Your padawan too long from the temple has been. Behind in his classes he will be. With padawans his age, time he should spend."

Xanatos. Qui-Gon felt a small wave of guilt. He'd been distracted of late, and they'd been rushing from one planet to the next, constantly on the move, searching for children who were exceptionally skilled at disappearing. Yoda was right, in that at least, it was wearing on Xanatos. He was still young, and they hadn’t spent so much time out of the Temple before this.

"Once we've met with the Knight Pair, we'll return to the Temple." Qui-Gon finally agreed. He didn't like the idea of abandoning Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he and Xanatos needed to recharge, and there was a chance that at the Temple he would be able to better investigate the two young boys and where they had come from.

Perhaps he could convince Tahl to help. She was a far better researcher than he was, and always seemed to know exactly where to look for information, exactly who to ask.

There was no ignorance, there was knowledge. Once he had the knowledge he needed, the Force would be able to better lead him.

Yoda sighed. "See you soon, we will." The hologram flickered out.

Qui-Gon disconnected his comlink from the small projector and moved out of the bedroom he'd been given and into the main room of the small suite Qui-Gon had paid for at the local inn. Xanatos looked up the moment he walked in and Qui-Gon felt a small pang of guilt again.

Xanatos looked tired. "So? What did Master Yoda have to say?”

"We're waiting for a Knight Pair to reach us here, and then we'll hand off the investigation and the search for Obi-Wan to them and we'll return to Coruscant."

Xanatos' eyes widened, Qui-Gon caught a hint of relief in the Force before his padawan carefully shielded his emotions. "I see. This is a good thing, right?" He seemed uncertain. "The Knight Pair might have a better chance of catching up to the three of them, whoever Master Yoda will have sent will be trained for retrieval and tracking after all."

Qui-Gon wanted to grind his teeth at the way Xanatos practically echoed Yoda. "Yes, I hope so as well."

-_-

Obi-Wan's laughter was bright and loud and Rex couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him just listening to it. Cody was trying to give Obi-Wan a bath, but the way it was going, Obi-Wan was being far more successful at getting Cody wet than the opposite.

Obi-Wan actually really liked baths, which, according to their research wasn't always guaranteed with children this young. It was rare, however, that they were in a position where they could actually give Obi-Wan a real bath, and so when it did happen, Obi-Wan got extra excited, seemingly determined to make the most of the ‘adventure’ that was bath time. Unfortunately, that meant he liked to share the joy and get whoever was bathing him just as wet as Obi-Wan was.

“Are you having fun, Obi-Wan?” Rex asked, as Obi-Wan flung a handful of suds into the air, giggling madly.

Cody glared at him from the small tub, his soaked hair plastered to his forehead. "Don't encourage him." The bit of bubble foam on Cody's nose made it very hard for Rex to take him seriously.

"According to the child-rearing pamphlet we found," they might have engaged in a bit of illegal downloading to get it onto their data pad, but the data pad had, at least, been legally acquired, "it's important to properly encourage your children while they're young. A positive environment is necessary for a healthy child."

Cody rolled his eyes. "I don't think this was the sort of encouragement the pamphlet was talking about."

Rex shrugged. "It didn't specifically say this wasn't the type of encouragement it was talking about."

From behind Cody, Obi-Wan beamed at Rex, lifting his hands to splash Cody with more water.

Cody gave Obi-Wan a reproving look. "There's not going to be any more water in the tub if you keep doing that." Obi-Wan covered his eyes with his hands, peering at Cody from between his fingers and Rex gave it less than a minute before Cody had forgotten that Obi-Wan was in trouble.

Cody sighed and Obi-Wan giggled. "Rex is washing you next time, I hope you know that. And you better get him twice as wet."

Obi-Wan just kept giggling.

-_-

Rex set Obi-Wan down, carrying the toy blocks he and Cody had carved a few feet away and settling down with them.

"We're going to play a game, okay?"

Obi-Wan started crawling over to where Rex was sitting and Cody swooped in to pick him up and bring him back to where Rex had put him. "No, we're gonna play from over here."

Obi-Wan made a disgruntled little noise.

Rex held up one of the blocks. "Do you want this?"

Obi-Wan smiled one of his bright, happy smiles.

"All right. If you want it, you need to bring it to you."

Obi-Wan immediately tried to stand, but Cody had a good hold of him. "Uh uh, that's cheating Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan furrowed his eyebrows, and it was really quite unfair that he managed to make confused look quite so adorable.

"Come on, Obi-Wan," Rex encouraged. "Try to bring the toy to you, use your mind, not your hands."

Obi-Wan tried to stand again, but Cody pulled him back down onto his lap. "You can do this Obi-Wan. You don't need to walk over there to get the toy."

Obi-Wan was starting to get upset, the furrow in his brow shifting until his face was screwed up into the look that signified a proper temper tantrum was incoming.

Rex sent Cody a significant look and his vod understood immediately, wrapping his arms around Obi-Wan in a hug. "It's okay verd'ika. Rex and I don't know how to teach you right. But you can do this. No one will be angry with you if you don't get it right."

Obi-Wan's fingers moved clumsily, using the Mando hand signs he’d learned to express his confusion, Rex brought his own fingers up to sign as he talked. "I know this is confusing, verd'ika. But focus on the block, and bring it to you."

Obi-Wan's face scrunched up in proper concentration, and he extended his hand in a grabby gesture. Rex sighed. He was trying, that much was more than clear, but the block didn't so much as shift from where it rested on Rex's hand.

They kept encouraging Obi-Wan for a while longer before it became clear that Obi-Wan's lack of progress and understanding was starting to wear on him. "How about a different game." Rex suggested cheerfully. "Do you want to play Hide and Find?"

Obi-Wan's eyes immediately went bright, the beginning of tears disappearing as he scrambled out of Cody's arms gesturing for Cody to cover his eyes.

Cody did so and started counting.

Obi-Wan scampered away immediately. The room they were staying in was small, and at first glance there wasn't really anywhere to actually hide, but that had never quite managed to stop Obi-Wan from finding excellent hiding spots in the past. Rex watched as Obi-Wan wedged himself into a small cubby hole in the wall, pulling at the cloak hanging from the hook above him so that it hid him from view.

"Maybe we're doing this wrong." Rex said, keeping his voice quiet enough so that Obi-Wan wouldn’t be able to hear.

Cody scoffed, looking a little ridiculous with his hands still covering his eyes. "Of course we're doing this wrong." He sighed. "I wish Waxer and Boil were here, those two always seemed to know what to do with kids.” There was a deep longing there that Rex understood, he missed the 501st, he missed Gregor and Wolffe. But they had each other, and that had to be enough. “Or that we'd had more chance to help with the younglings in the temple. That would be helpful right at the moment.”

Rex sighed. Wasn't that the truth. But no, the 212th and the 501st had both been out on the frontlines for most of the war. There had been no time to enjoy themselves on Coruscant with their own brothers, much less to spend time with the younglings in the Jedi Temple, though the invitation had been open to all brothers.

"How are we supposed to teach him how to use something we can't even touch?" Rex asked, and he could hear the plaintive sound in his own voice.

Guilt threatened to swarm him, but he shoved it down. They were doing their best for Obi-Wan, and just because they hadn't figured it out yet, didn't mean they wouldn't figure it out at all.

They would. Eventually.

He could practically see Cody go through the same process, guilt shifting into determination. "We'll figure it out." Cody uncovered his eyes, raising his voice. "I'm coming to find you, Obi-Wan!"

Rex looked pointedly ahead, not revealing anything about Obi-Wan's hiding spot as Cody stood up to start searching the room.

They'd figure it out. If he kept telling himself that, eventually he would believe it.

-_-

Cody woke to a heavy weight on his chest.

He cracked an eye open to see that, yes, Obi-Wan was sitting on him again, looking down at him with serious eyes.

"Hello Ob'ika."

Obi-Wan smiled down at him, grabbing Cody's right hand and tumbling off the opposite side, pulling at Cody's weight.

Cody jerked upright, trying to catch Obi-Wan before the kid could hit the ground.

Obi-Wan let out a bright laugh, not at all bothered by his abrupt descent from the small bed and onto the floor.

"Obi-Wan!" Cody's voice came out a little sharper than he intended and Obi-Wan stilled, looking up at him with wide eyes. Cody let out a quick breath, softening his voice. "Careful, you don't want to hit your head."

Obi-Wan nodded, and then tugged on Cody's hand.

Cody allowed Obi-Wan to pull him from the small room they all shared and into the kitchen where Rex was making food. "You're up early. I thought I had breakfast this morning."

Rex shrugged. "Obi-Wan had another nightmare, woke me up. Didn't feel like there was any point to going back to bed."

Obi-Wan had let go of Cody's hand and was carefully clambering onto a stool. Cody watched out of the corner of his eye, so he could catch Obi-Wan if the boy started to fall. Again.

"I can take him in my bed tonight. So you can get a full night's sleep."

Rex looked up at him. "You think you'll be getting home before I put him to bed? I thought you had another few nights helping Loras."

It had been a stroke of luck that Cody had come across Loras throwing a droid out of his restaurant, swearing up a storm. The droid had apparently broken one too many glasses, and Cody had convinced the man that Cody could wash dishes until the man had brought a new droid in to replace the one he’d thrown out, and thankfully Loras was just desperate enough, and eager to find someone he could pay under the table and minimum credits, that he’d accepted. "He should be getting a new droid in this weekend." Obi-Wan had climbed from the stool and onto the table, and was settling in the middle, crosslegged as he watched them.

Rex nodded, smiling a little. "Obi-Wan and I will be fine another couple of nights." Rex handed Cody a plate and Cody took a seat. Obi-Wan immediately scooted over and started poking at the food. Cody cut off a few smaller pieces of the flat cake for Obi-Wan to grab. "Lana offered to pay me if I'd run some errands for her this morning. I can take Obi-Wan with me, if you want to go looking for another job."

Cody shook his head, grabbing another fork so that Obi-Wan wasn’t getting the food all over his hands. "I'll take him this morning, we can switch off before I need to go wash dishes after the lunch rush. I was thinking I'd take him to the park this morning, get him some exercise."

Obi-Wan looked up at the word park, smile bright and messy; he already had syrup smeared all over his face.

"That sound good, verd'ika?" 

Obi-Wan nodded, wiping at his face with his hand, smearing syrup and flat cake crumbs around his lips and then wiping his hands on the table. Cody winced a little. There was going to be syrup everywhere. 

Rex smirked at him. "I made breakfast, you get to clean him up."

Cody sighed. "That's fair."

-_-

"Master Jinn!"

Xanatos stopped, just behind his Master and they both turned.

One of the Senator's aides was hurrying towards him, and he looked strangely familiar, though Xanatos couldn't quite place from where.

They'd been on Senate duty for two weeks now, a punishment, Xanatos was sure, for Master Qui-Gon's most recent decision to go off track after a mission in order to 'follow the will of the Force' and had then decided to turn his after report into yet another argument with the council over… well, honestly, Xanatos wasn’t sure what the argument had been about this time. He’d been sent out to wait for his Master the moment the Council had realized that Qui-Gon was settling in for a tirade.

"Ah, Aide Palpatine, yes?" Master Qui-Gon said, giving a short head nod.

Xanatos followed his example.

"Yes. I admit I'm surprised you remember me. You do me great honor."

Master Qui-Gon gave another tilt of his head. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I had only sought you out to enquire how the youngling was, the one you were off to save?"

Xanatos felt a spike of bitterness as the skin around Master Qui-Gon's eyes subtly tightened, a now regular sign of his frustration. Of course, of course it was that Senator's aide. That was just how things seemed to be going these days. 

Xanatos wished people would stop bringing up Obi-Wan Kenobi. Master Qui-Gon needed no reminders about the missing youngling, if anything it only encouraged him further in his reckless pursuit on a mission he had no leads for.

Master Qui-Gon sighed. "I am afraid young Obi-Wan has yet to be found. There is still a pair of knights searching for him, of course."

For how much longer? Xanatos wondered. It'd been some time since a kidnapping of a Jedi Youngling had been successful. How long would the Jedi continue to look for the child? They didn't even have any solid reasons to believe that the child was still alive.

It seemed a waste of resources if you asked Xanatos.

The Senator's Aide looked shocked. "Not found? But surely, with the Jedi on the case..." The Aide shook his head. "I suppose I assumed it would be a matter of a few days, weeks at most, before the youngling was rescued, what with the Jedi being on the case."

Xanatos would have thought so as well, before all this.

Maybe Master Qui-Gon would call that hubris, but then, Master Qui-Gon had expected to find the boy already as well. 

The Aide shook his head. "But hope springs eternal, I'm sure you will find the child soon."

Master Qui-Gon tilted his head. "The Force is with us, and with young Obi-Wan, we will find him."

The Aide's smile was kind. "Of course." His eyes shifted and he was suddenly looking at Xanatos. Xanatos stiffened a little. For an Aide, the man had an astonishingly firm stare, the sort of stare Xanatos was more used to seeing from Jedi Masters who thought they could see into Xanatos' inner being.

Xanatos wouldn't let those Jedi Masters see him truly, and he wouldn't let such an insignificant Aide see through him either.

The Aide sent him a smile. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Master Jinn, Padawan Du Crion."

Xanatos gave him the smallest, stiffest nod he could get away with. Though he could admit he was surprised, and reluctantly impressed, the Aide had managed to remember his name. It was easy, most of the time, for dignitaries and those like them to overlook him as a mere padawan. 

Master Qui-Gon sighed. "Well, let us continue with our services. I do believe Senator Nom Rhemor from Rhommamol has requested our aid with a small matter between him and Senator Ahmshara from Osarion.”

Xanatos obediently followed, bitterly wondering how much time Qui-Gon would spend holed up with Master Tahl looking for more leads on Obi-Wan Kenobi because of this two minute conversation.

-_-

Sheev watched the two Jedi walk away. How interesting. Oh, he'd known that the Jedi had yet to find young Kenobi, his own sources were still searching for the three boys as well. No, his asking had been pretense only.

But it had revealed far more than Sheev had expected.

Jinn was quite determined to retrieve the youngling, and from what Sheev could tell, upset that he himself was not on the search. The Jedi Master seemed… intent. Yes. Perhaps a little too intent.

The padawan however, oh, there had been quite the interesting mix of emotions from the young padawan. There was a strong resentment there. At the Master's devotion to finding the youngling, perhaps?

And even better, Jinn seemed completely unaware of his padawan’s building emotions.

It seemed that Master Jinn was failing to give his padawan the reassurance that the young boy needed. A boy at his age was particularly vulnerable, and it was absolutely fundamental that children receive proper care and nurturing while so… malleable.

Why, wouldn't it be just so terrible if someone were to notice such a glaring weakness and take advantage of it?

Circumstances had contrived so that he could not start training the apprentice that the Force had shown him. No, he needed the youngling retrieved before he could start on that. But that didn't mean he needed to stay idle, no. Young Xanatos needed a kind ear, someone who could understand the frustrations of a master who didn't seem to be providing the necessary support.

The young Jedi padawan already had a fair share of arrogance, frustration, and selfishness stirring below the surface, hidden from the view of the Jedi by a rather paltry shield of 'proper devotion.'

It really would be almost negligent of Sheev to not extend a hand to the young padawan.

The Force seemed to purr in satisfaction. Ah yes, Xanatos would be quite the tool, a pawn that could achieve much if he were guided by the right hand.

And Sheev didn't doubt that he was the right hand to guide the young, impressionable padawan.

-_-

Cody yawned as he pulled another bag over his back. He'd convinced one of the small store owners, an older woman who was blind enough not to realize just how young Cody looked, to let him earn a few credits a day with running deliveries and moving stock for her.

The door at the front opened and Cody looked up as a rather brutish looking fellow swanned through. The blasters holstered at his side marked him out as not belonging to the area.

Blasters might be tolerated in the inner parts of the city where the spaceport was stationed, but here on the outskirts, they were heavily frowned on, and none of the regular residents carried them.

At the front counter Melia smiled at the man, her eyes squinting as she tried to make him out. "How can I help you?"

"I was told you hired a young man to help you out around here?" The man answered. "I don't suppose you know where I can find him?"

Cody froze, carefully setting his bag down. This was the second time a shady figure had tracked them down, and Cody didn't think it was coincidence.

"Oh, you mean Cody?" 

"Yes. Cody, and he has a brother, Rex?"

Melia frowned. “What are you looking for those boys for?”

“My sister’s sons. They went missing after her death.” The man shook his head. “It’s taken me this long to track them down so I can bring them home.”

Cody rolled his eyes. Really? Was that the best this thug could do?

Melia, however seemed appeased. “Oh, the poor boys. I always knew that there had to be something absolutely terrible in those poor boys’ pasts. He'll be in this afternoon, but he doesn't work mornings."

Cody felt his eyebrows raise. He strictly worked mornings, as Rex had a job washing dishes after the lunch crowd at a restaurant closer to the inner city in exchange for leftovers.

"What time this afternoon?"

Melia pulled at a chrono, holding it up to her eyes as though she was trying to see the time. "Oh, he should be in in an hour or so."

The man nodded, before swaggering back out the door.

Cody let out a quiet breath as Melia leaned over the counter, watching the man leave. Before she raised her voice just loud enough to carry back to him. “I don't know why a ruffian like him is looking for you, Cody. But I don't think it's for anything good."

Cody didn't think so either. "Thank you, Melia."

She looked at him, wide, nearly blind eyes staring at him. "Come here and take your credits boy. I'll see you tomorrow morning." She smiled a little sadly. "Or I suppose I might not. You and your brothers be safe now."

Cody gave her a considering look—perhaps she'd seen more than her failing eyes had led him to expect—before stepping forward and transferring the credits to his credit chip. "Thank you." He headed towards the back exit to make sure he didn’t run into the thug again.

Now he had to get to his brothers and get off planet. Again.

-_-

Xanatos sighed. "How long will the Council keep us on Senate Duty this time?"

Master Qui-Gon sighed heavily, face twisting in exasperation. "Probably until someone else annoys them enough to take our place."

Xanatos groaned. They were going to be on Senate Duty until he was Knighted, in that case. No one annoyed the Council as much as his Master.

Perhaps Aide Palpatine would be willing to host him for a few hours. 

Xanatos was still surprised to find that the man wasn't as annoying as Xanatos had thought he'd be. The man was a good conversationalist, and seemed willing to listen to Xanatos in a way that even his own Master wasn't willing to these days.

Xanatos had been almost positive that when the Aide had invited him for tea the last time he and Master Qui-Gon were on Senate Duty that he'd be bored out of his mind. Either that or inundated with questions about Kenobi.

And yes, Palpatine had asked after the boy, but then he'd spent most of the rest of the time asking about Xanatos himself. The man had been so sincerely interested in what Xanatos had to say that Xanatos had almost been late to meet up with Master Qui-Gon to head back to the temple for dinner.

He'd have to come up with a reason to stop by the Naboo offices without his Master to see if Aide Palpatine had any time for him.

He could use someone to vent to after Qui-Gon's latest stunt, and Palpatine might actually be able to understand.

-_-

Qui-Gon rubbed at his forehead as he poured over the most recent reports the Knight pair had sent in.

The Knight pair had gotten close, they estimated that the abandoned warehouse the three children had been staying in had been vacated mere hours before they'd found it. But then the two boys had disappeared again, Obi-Wan in tow, and the Knight pair were once again engaged in the chase.

He wasn't supposed to even know about the reports, but his former Master knew about his interest in following the investigation and search for young Kenobi and had sent on the reports. It was a mixed blessing. Qui-Gon was desperately grateful for the reports, but Master Yan also seemed to think that this favor meant that Qui-Gon needed to stop avoiding his former Master.

Master Yan had invited him and Xanatos to come to dinner with him and his current apprentice, a Komari Vosa that Qui-Gon didn’t know much about, but had heard was quite the duelist.

Qui-Gon had accepted, rather reluctantly, yes. But Master Yan still seemed pleased enough.

And even if Master Yan was still his stubborn-as-a-politician-and-twice-as-pretentious self, it would be worth it. These reports kept Qui-Gon up to date on the search and helped him narrow down his own virtual search.

Although, Qui-Gon found he was a little disturbed at the Knight pairs’ report that there were only the three children.

From all accounts the Knight pair had been able to gather, Obi-Wan Kenobi was being treated well by his two 'brothers'. Reports from those who had crossed paths with them had almost all been sympathetic to the poor orphaned children.

Where were the adults? The masterminds?

Surely these two boys, several years younger than Xanatos, couldn't be the ones behind all this. 

And yet it appeared they were.

Qui-Gon wasn't the only one who was baffled. While the Knight pair hadn't outright stated it, they were equally flummoxed that they were being led on a merry chase by a pair of not-yet-teenagers.

And his former Master had admitted that the Council was also at a loss.

Why would two children kidnap another child?

Qui-Gon sat back in his chair trying to put together everything he knew about the two boys. Abandoned and abused, separated from their own brothers.

Perhaps Qui-Gon had underestimated how aware they'd been of their own abandonment. Perhaps they'd already known they'd been abandoned.

He thought back to Stewjon and how closely the boys had tried to keep hold of young Kenobi. How protective and possessive they'd been. How they had acted like older brothers from the very start.

Perhaps there had been no malice in the boys' desire to take the toddler. It would explain how Qui-Gon had been unable to sense their ill intent. Perhaps they had instead been trying to replace the younger brothers they'd lost when they'd been abandoned.

It was in some ways just as disturbing as his other assumptions. How would two boys learn that abduction was the answer to loneliness if they hadn't learned that from their missing parents?

The thought that out there a couple were stealing and then abandoning children was not a comforting one, though hardly the worst thing that Qui-Gon had seen in his life.

What other habits had the two boys learned from their parents?

The reports indicated that no one around the three boys suspected abuse at least, which was heartening, though certainly not solid evidence that there was no abuse happening. Especially if they were living in abandoned warehouses and empty farmhouses.

And even if there was no abuse, how well could two boys really care for a young child all alone?

Qui-Gon grimaced at the thought of what young Kenobi must be going through.

He sighed. They'd find the boy, they would.

It was just a matter of time.

-_-

"Kar'tayli gar darasuum, Ob'ika." Rex whispered quietly. "Now sleep, verd'ika."

Obi-Wan nestled in closer, one hand reaching over Rex to hold onto Cody's shirt.

Rex was already half asleep himself, it'd been a long day and tomorrow was looking to be just as long.

"Kar'tayli gar both darasuum, too." Obi-Wan muttered quiet against his chest.

Rex smiled a little, tugging at the blanket before his eyes shot open.

Had... had he heard that right?

Beside him Cody had straightened up, staring at Obi-Wan in surprise.

"Did he?" Cody didn't finish the question, as though he was worried that Rex would tell him no.

"He did." Rex confirmed. Not quite sure that he believed it himself.

Obi-Wan had just talked. The language had been a bit of a mix, as though Obi-Wan hadn't quite picked up that Mando'a and Basic didn't go together quite like that. Though, to be fair, with Mando'a it sometimes did. 

But he'd spoken.

In what was pretty much a full sentence. 

Was that normal? According to the parenting and child development texts he and Cody found, kids normally started with single words. But then, the child development texts also indicated the children normally started talking a lot earlier.

Oh well, it was fine Rex was sure. Hopefully.

And then it hit him. Obi-Wan’s first words had been to tell them that he loved them.

Rex had the strangest urge to cry.

"He loves us." Cody whispered, and kriff, Rex's brother was going to have a meltdown at this new realization. He was staring at Obi-Wan as though he'd never seen him before. "He loves us."

"Of course he does." But his own voice was shaking too much to really sound convincing. But then, hadn't he secretly, or perhaps not so secretly, worried that they weren't enough for Obi-Wan? That he deserved more than they could give him?

And that was probably still true.

But if he loved them, despite everything they didn't get right and everything that sometimes went wrong, then maybe they were doing something right.

"He loves us." Cody said again, and Rex suspected that Cody wouldn't get any sleep tonight. "Kriff. He loves us."

-_-

Rex hummed quietly. Obi-Wan was resting with his ear on Rex's chest, it was a favorite position of Obi-Wan's when he was distressed; he liked the feel of the vibrations. There was a small sound, Obi-Wan trying to mimic Rex's hums.

"We coming back?" 

Rex paused at the quiet question. "No." Rex whispered, equally quiet. "We're not coming back."

Obi-Wan sniffled a little, and Rex felt Obi-Wan press his nose into Rex's shirt.

"Hey, hey." Rex ran a hand down Obi-Wan's back. "It's okay. It doesn't matter where we go, verd'ika, we're going to be together."

"Why do we go?" Obi-Wan asked.

Rex sighed, because how was he supposed to explain this sort of thing? "There was a very bad man chasing us." Between the Jedi and the bounty hunters that seemed to be searching for them for some reason—and Rex suspected it had to do with the man from Naboo—they'd been forced to move too many times recently.

"Like in my dreams? The dark man?"

Rex froze. "In your dreams?"

Obi-Wan nodded, still sniffling. "Scary. Don't like him."

Was it just a dream? Or was it something more, something from the Force? "Tell me about your dream, Ob'ika.”

Obi-Wan let out a snuffling sound. "Don't wanna."

"Ob'ika." Rex encouraged quietly. "Cody and I can't take care of something we don't know about."

Obi-Wan sniffled a little more, and shifted up on Rex's chest until he was sitting, looking down at Rex with serious eyes. “You and Cody fix this?”

Rex nodded, meeting Obi-Wan’s eyes and trying to push his determination and love into the Force. “We’ll do everything we can.”

Obi-Wan sighed, and it was much more world-weary than a child of Obi-Wan’s age should be able to manage. He rested a hand on Rex's cheek. "'kay."

"Obi-Wan, wha—" There was a warm feel across his cheek, spreading from Obi-Wan's hand and his sight seemed to dim, a different sight trying to interpose itself over his vision. He closed his eyes instinctively. 

His vision settled, he could see himself and Cody in the small room they'd turned into a home; the same one they'd just left behind. Vision-Cody was making dinner and vision-Rex was whittling at a piece of wood, there were several carved pieces next to him, Rex remembered this night, or at least a dozen like them. There'd been a Market coming up and Rex had wanted to sell a few trinkets for some extra credits. It was a little odd, seeing this from what had to be Obi-Wan's perspective.

Along the edges of the vision a dark mist was starting to seep in, and Rex could feel the coldness, seeping into him from this strange vision into reality, moving closer. Everything shifted as vision Obi-Wan moved, retreating from where he had been sitting and running to Cody.

Cody in the vision didn't respond, and Rex could hear Obi-Wan whimpering. "Cody, Cody. Something's wrong."

Vision-Cody finally moved, crouching down, and Rex felt a swell of love that didn't belong to him. Pure and uncomplicated and strong enough that Rex wanted to cry.

This was how Obi-Wan felt about Cody.

"What's the matter, verd'ika?"

Vision-Obi-Wan's voice was trembling. "It's wrong."

The whole vision shifted as Cody picked up Obi-Wan, and Rex had forgotten how it must be, to be so small, and the world so large. "What's wrong?"

Obi-Wan pointed and suddenly Rex could see the mist again, dark and looming and coming closer and closer. Swirling around the room, dark and menacing and cold. It was going to swallow them whole, Rex knew, though he didn't know how he knew it.

"You can't run, forever. Your fate is mine, child." The voice was chilling, running up and down Rex's spine and leaving ice behind.

"Cody. Cody." Obi-Wan's voice was shaking.

"It's okay, Obi-Wan. It's okay."

"I don't want him to get me." Obi-Wan was crying and Rex could feel the fear deep in his own chest, and he couldn’t be sure if it was vision-Obi-Wan’s fear or his own.

"I won't let him get you, Obi-Wan." Cody promised, and even in Obi-Wan’s dreams, the sound of Cody promising was reassuring.

The mist was coalescing into a figure, all shadows and mist with yellow eyes peering out from beneath a hood. "Where are you, Obi-Wan Kenobi? You can't hide from me forever."

The mist suddenly shot out, covering the whole room, and both Vision-Cody and Vision-Rex disappeared, leaving him alone and falling, falling, falling, everything dark and empty. And there was nothing. Nothing but him. "Go away! Leave me alone!" Obi-Wan was screaming, but the sound was just echoing back at him. It was cold, so cold. Rex couldn't breathe through it.

"Come to me, Obi-Wan. Let me show you everything you could be."

The vision ended as abruptly as it had started and Rex gasped, desperate for air.

In his arms Obi-Wan whimpered a little and Rex realized he was squeezing too tightly. He loosened his grip a little, but kept Obi-Wan close to him. "Do you have that dream a lot, Obi-Wan?" His voice was a little shakier than he’d like, but it would have to do.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Sometimes others, too. But that one's the most scary."

Rex stared up at the top of the cargo hold. Kriff. He knew that dreams and visions could be a Force thing, but he hadn't known that General Kenobi as an adult had had a problem with them.

But then… was this a vision? Manifesting in terrifying ways. Or was it the man from Naboo, using the Force against Obi-Wan?

And what about the other dreams? Were those Force dreams too? Or was this the only one?

This was so out of his league. So out of their realm of experience. What were he and Cody supposed to do?

-_-

His head hurt. An angry sort of throb in his temple that radiated out through the rest of his head. He wished they had painkillers, or the credits to afford them. But they didn’t right now.

Cody rubbed at his temple again, some worry he couldn’t put a name to tugging at him.

He glanced at the chrono, there was almost no chance that he would be getting back to sleep at this point.

He carefully edged out of the bed, making sure that Rex had a good hold of Obi-Wan. 

In his sleep, Rex frowned, hand reaching out as though looking for Cody, but after a minute he settled, curling tighter around Obi-Wan.

Cody smiled down at them, and moved to the small kitchenette. Well, kitchenette was probably pushing it. But they’d managed to scrounge a broken heating table that’d been thrown out and it worked well enough for cooking, and there was access to a sink whose water was clean enough to drink.

What more did they really need?

Cody swallowed a few cups of water. Maybe if he was lucky this was merely a dehydration headache. He ignored the fact that he’d had dehydration headaches before and knew that they didn’t feel anything like what he was currently experiencing.

Stress headache maybe, that was closer. But he’d had his fair share of those before too.

He rested his head against the window, it was cool against his skin, a relief when compared to the ache in his head.

Outside the window he could see the moon starting to slide below the horizon. Making the streets of the city below seem almost magical in a way they never did in the light of day.

It’d be nice if they could stay here. Stop running. Cody was tired. It felt like he’d been going for forever. Always something. Training, then war, then—he blocked that thought away, because thinking about it now would just put damper on the rest of his day, and the day was just starting.

He pulled away from the window and shook his head to rid himself of the self-pitying thoughts, he regretted it instantly as the motion only made the headache worse.

He started shifting through the small storage of food they had. They were running low again, maybe Obi-Wan would like to go shopping with him this morning while Rex was busy helping out down the street.

Porridge. They could have porridge for breakfast. Again.

Still, better than rations, and at least Obi-Wan never seemed to mind.

Maybe they should take a day out past the town outskirts. Cody had heard that there were a few orchards and berry farms whose surplus were available to the general populace. Of course, getting there was a problem. It was too much of a walk for a day journey and stealing a speeder when they wanted to stay in the area for a while was a worse than stupid idea.

Next time they moved they should try to find someplace with better public transportation, Cody noted a little absently. Maer had the worst public transportation and their taxi prices were almost ludicrous.

Something to discuss with Rex later.

He rubbed at his head again, but the headache wasn’t going anywhere and Cody had things to be doing.

-_-

Qui-Gon took a bite of the casserole that Padawan Komari had made. It was… not awful. Better than Qui-Gon’s casseroles had been at any rate.

Master Yan was eating his in the methodical way he always did.  Cutting the piece on his plate into exact pieces. Complimenting—at least Master Yan’s version of complimenting—Komari after the third bite. Taking turns in carefully scrutinizing everyone around the table in that way that meant he was looking for weaknesses to exploit.

All in all, the man hadn’t changed a bit since Qui-Gon had been his padawan.

“Master Drallig says you’re quite the talented duelist, Padawan Du Crion.” 

Xanatos smiled, patting at his lips with his napkin, manners as perfect as if they were at a political dinner. Qui-Gon couldn’t help the surge of pride. “Master Drallig is too kind. I got rather soundly trounced just the other day by Padawan Korin.” His padawan really was turning into a remarkable Jedi, polite yet canny, skilled yet humble.

Yan raised an eyebrow. “A padawan several years ahead of you. She’ll be headed for her trials soon enough. A loss on your side is hardly a sign of lack of skill.” Yan’s eyes narrowed as he watched Xanatos. “And perhaps that’s why you felt that fact worthy of sharing.” Qui-Gon’s former Master turned to his current padawan. “Have you sparred with Padawan Korin recently?”

Komari shook her head. “No, Master Yan. She was on a mission the last time we were in the temple and I haven’t gone to the training rooms since we’ve returned.”

Master Yan hummed. “Well then, you’ll have to seek her out. Perhaps young Xanatos here can give you insight into Padawan Korin’s fighting style.”

It was a challenge. And some part of Qui-Gon hated his former Master for it.

Xanatos had lost to the senior padawan, and so now Yan wanted his new padawan to come out of the same battle the victor. 

A subtle insinuation that Qui-Gon, even as a Master, still had so much to learn before he could be his own Master’s equal.

Qui-Gon could see it clearly, and he suspected that Xanatos saw it as well. Qui-Gon couldn’t say whether Padawan Komari was aware. If she was Master Yan’s padawan she probably wasn’t completely dim, but Qui-Gon doubted she was even half as clever as Xanatos.

Xanatos and Komari were staring at each other from over the casserole Komari had made—it was a padawan’s duty to serve the Master—and Qui-Gon wanted to stop this farce of a dinner and leave Master Yan to his pointless, foolish, ridiculous superiority complex.

And then Xanatos smiled. “Is it true you dual wield, Komari?”

Komari raised an eyebrow, looking surprised that Xanatos knew. But then, Qui-Gon knew his own padawan was never the sort to go into any situation—even one as simple as meeting for dinner with his grandmaster—without knowing as much as he could. “Yes.”

Xanatos leaned forward. “When Korin gets tired she leaves her left side open.”

Komari smiled. “Oh?” Her eyes flickered between where her Master sat and were Qui-Gon was sitting. “Perhaps you’d like to spar with me, to help show me what you’ve learned about how to best beat Padawan Korin?”

Xanatos smiled back at her, and Qui-Gon noted his smile was still just as politician-bright as before. Good.  It would be better that Xanatos not get too comfortable with his Grandmaster and his Grandmaster’s padawan. “I’d love to.”

-_-

He was so hungry. Those starvation techniques they’d learn on Kamino years and years ago were unfortunately being put to good use.

They had been lucky so far, lucky in so many different ways.

But luck ran out.

They’d almost been caught by a hunter. Rex had been injured. They’d had to leave even the few things they had behind. And then the passage they’d gotten off planet—a paid for, mostly legal passage—had almost gotten them killed falling into a pirate trap—and this was why it was better to just hide in cargo holds, Rex thought bitterly—and they’d ended up crash landing on a planet.

But they’d survived along with the other passengers. And now they were stuck on this Force-forsaken planet until they figured something out. It had already been several weeks and they were no closer to getting off planet.

The captain assured them that his extended crew would be searching for them along the route they’d been traveling and that as soon as they got in range of their limited communication array the captain would be able to flag them down.

Rex didn’t know whether he believed him.

Obi-Wan was finally asleep for the night, wrapped up in every spare bit of cloth they could find. It got cold at night, and Obi-Wan didn’t seem to conserve heat well at all. And if that meant he had to be wrapped in Cody’s spare tunic and the scarf that Rex had nicked from a garbage bin when they’d been running off planet… well, they did what they could.

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Rex asked, keeping his voice quiet as he watched Cody from the corner of his eye. His brother was standing utterly still next to a weeping tree—he’d probably be pacing if he weren’t trying to conserve as much energy as he could—eyes heavy with shadows.

“I don’t know.” Cody admitted, and they hadn’t been without food for long enough for Cody’s cheeks to grow gaunt, but Rex still worried about how defined his vod’s cheekbones were. “I’ll figure it out.”

Rex stepped closer letting his elbow brush against Cody’s, two years now and Cody still thought the world, or at least their world, rested on his shoulders alone. “We’ll figure it out.”

-_-

Xanatos sighed as he sat next to Komari in the viewing booth of the training rooms. “You’re headed out again soon.” She said, as he used his towel to wipe away the sweat from his spar with Padawan Delinks.

“We just got back.” Xanatos pointed out. Trying to ignore her and everything about her despite the fact that he’d chosen to sit next to her. It didn’t count as seeking her out, of course, since she had been the one to come watch him spar.

Komari shrugged, and Xanatos could see her sharp, dangerous smile. He ignored the way it made his heart speed up in anticipation. Left over adrenaline from his spar. “Doesn’t matter, the council’s going to send you right back out. A political disaster where your Master’s ‘diplomatic skill’ is required. Or so Master Yan says.”

“And is my Grandmaster pleased or annoyed?”

Komari rolled her eyes. “Annoyed. He wanted to force another dinner with all of us.”

They both hated the dinners that Master Dooku was insisting on with irritating regularity. Xanatos had to put up with Master Qui-Gon’s irritated rants about his own Master both before and after, and Komari was given lecture after lecture about how she had yet to compare in any way favorably to her Master’s former padawan.

And while Xanatos suspected that was probably accurate enough, after all Komari wasn’t nearly the Jedi that Master Qui-Gon was, it was still understandably an unpleasant experience.

It was the unpleasantness of the situation, and their mutual frustration over their own masters’ behaviors that had led to them joining—temporary—forces that first time.

“Well, in that case, I hope we’re sent out as soon as possible.”

Komari hummed, and gave him a thoughtful look.

Xanatos was embarrassed to admit that it had taken him longer than it should have to realize that Komari was clever. Oh, nothing on him, but still, she was far more clever than she let most people see.

Not that Master Dooku seemed to notice or care. That was part of why Xanatos had been so slow to realize it himself. Master Dooku seemed to think that Komari was sub-par in everything but her ability to wield a saber and Xanatos had taken that for granted. But she was far more than that.

If Xanatos liked her enough to care, he’d feel bad for her, having to live in the shadow of Master Qui-Gon. As it was, he… well, he recognized that it was far from fair and reminded himself that he didn’t care and that it was useful to manipulate her.

“Master Yan has another set of reports to give Master Jinn.” She paused. “About the kid.”

Xanatos felt a flare of frustration flash through him. “I see.”

“I suppose you’ll be delayed in returning back to the temple from this next mission, then.”

Yes, Xanatos thought bitterly. Komari was too clever and she knew his weak points almost as well as he was learning hers. “Most likely, yes.”

Komari was watching him, and Xanatos waited, a little impatiently. There was obviously something more she wanted to say, but she was taking her sweet time getting around to saying it.

Finally she stood. “Good luck with that.”

Xanatos glared at her retreating back, raising his voice. “Something more you’d like to say?”

Komari just smiled at him over her shoulder, and it was a reflection of the smiles he often gave her, a little cruel and a little taunting. “Nothing you’re ready to hear.”

Xanatos cursed quietly. Yes, too clever by half. He hated it when she got the last word. Hated when she walked away with the upper hand.

Now he’d have to seek her out.

Fine, he’d let her win this round and he’d seek her out, probably after this next mission. But he wasn’t going to let her keep the upper hand in their next conversation.

-_-

It was luck that let Rex spot them.

Or maybe it was the paranoia, extreme vigilance, and a familiarity with the Jedi. But either way, Rex spotted the Jedi before they spotted him and he wasn't about to waste his minute advantage.

Of course, maybe the two Jedi weren't here because of Cody and Rex, it was possible. Jedi had plenty of reasons to be wandering the galaxy, and who knew what it was that had brought them to Moorja. It wasn't the same two Jedi that he and Cody had kidnapped Obi-Wan from in the first place, but Rex would swear that he’d seen these two Jedi before, what was it, four moves before this one?

That was a bit too much of a coincidence for Rex.

He altered his route, taking the longer, more circuitous route home. He didn't think the Jedi had spotted him, but that was no reason to take chances.

He reached home quickly, darting up the stairs to the small attic space that they were renting for cheap, since they'd been willing to fix up the leaking roof and help with maintenance for the other tenants in the regular apartment.

Though really, what sort of respectable realtor let two kids help fix up a roof? Mooria needed to improve it’s labor laws, but for now Rex was more than willing to work within the dubious legality the planet operated under.

Cody was working at the desk, researching something—probably more child development and teaching methods—while Obi-Wan was carefully practicing his letters on the floor.

"Time to go." Rex said carefully. "We've got Jedi."

Cody looked up at him, that familiar flash of rage and disgust that Rex couldn’t seem to get his brother to let go of there and gone. He stood, grabbing his data pad. "You heard him, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan pouted a little, but jumped to his feet, moving to his small corner of the room.

It took less than three minutes before they were ready to go. Everything they absolutely needed was kept packed in small knapsacks unless they were using it, and they didn't keep much extra stuff.

There wasn't much space for things when you always had to be ready to pick up and leave at any minute.

"I'll send the last month's payment once we're in transit." Cody told him. "If the Jedi are looking for us, then no need for the landlord to be able to tell them anything more than what he already can.” And the longer it took the realtor and the Jedi to realize they’d skipped off planet the better.

"Are we going to fly away again?" Obi-Wan asked. "Can I pick the ship this time, please?"

Rex smiled a little. "I don't know," he said slowly, making sure he looked contemplative as he led Obi-Wan down the stairs, small hand tightly held in his own. He glanced out the stairway window, checking as well as he could that the street was clear of Jedi. “You'd need to choose a good one."

"I can do it!" Obi-Wan insisted. "I promise!"

Cody was too serious, at the moment, to be laughing, but Rex saw the barest hint of a smile on his vod's face. 

"Well..." Rex hesitated. "I suppose you can pick the ship this time." 

Obi-Wan brightened, and started chattering about his favorite ships they’d stowed away on in the past, as well as the few that they’d gotten passage on legally, though Rex wasn’t completely sure that Obi-Wan realized there was a difference, and what sort of ships he wanted to try and stow away on this time.

They’d have to be careful, there was a chance that if these Jedi were looking for them that they’d have the spaceport being watched and Mooria’s security wasn’t awful.

Someday Obi-Wan was going to look at their constant running and have questions, someday he'd probably start to resent it. But for now, well, for now Obi-Wan seemed to think that as long as he had both Cody and Rex, then everything was fine.

-_-

"You're doing so well.” Cody encouraged Obi-Wan. "Can you move it up a little higher?"

Obi-Wan frowned, the small furrow in his brow deepening. Cody watched as the small toy slowly went higher. 

Obi-Wan sharing his vision with Rex had shown them an unpleasant reality of their lives. Obi-Wan was being hunted. Well, no, that was something they’d already put together. They had no proof, but both he and Rex were certain that the bounty hunter type figures that had been following them were because of the man from Naboo. Cody shuddered at the memory, he hated Naboo and he despised that man. 

Apparently he wasn't willing to give up after his failure to acquire Obi-Wan back then.

Which led to the ugly reality that Obi-Wan had shown them.

The man haunted Obi-Wan’s dreams, and there were some things that they couldn’t protect Obi-Wan from. 

The experience had led to one good thing though. They finally had a specific example of Obi-Wan using the Force that they could draw on. There had been long conversations about the 'pretty warmth' that had let Obi-Wan share his vision, and how Obi-Wan could use that 'pretty warmth' to do other things.

Cody smiled up at the toy as it bobbed against the ceiling. "That's amazing, Obi-Wan. You're doing so well."

Obi-Wan smiled at him widely, quickly becoming distracted; predictably, the toy came falling down.

Cody caught it and handed it back to Obi-Wan who frowned at it. "It fell."

"You got distracted." Cody acknowledged. "But it's okay. The more we work on it, the more you’ll be able to handle a little distraction.”

Obi-Wan still seemed disappointed. But he perked up and gave Cody pleading eyes. "Play another game?"

Cody held in a yawn, checking his chrono. Rex would be back soon. "All right. What do you want to play now?"

Obi-Wan brightened. "Sneak snake!"

Cody winced a little, he was exhausted and sneak snake was a little more active than he was hoping for, but it was good practice for Obi-Wan in moving without being noticed, so sneak snake it was.

"Okay, we'll play until Rex gets home then it's time for dinner and you need to head to bed."

-_-

"Cody, Cody, Cody, Cody, Cody!"

Cody grunted as a heavy weight landed firmly on his stomach. Small knees dug into his ribs, leaving him a little breathless.

Cody cracked an eye open, a little reluctant to give up his sleep. He'd been up late the night before, taking advantage of the lack of security the local gang had in order to collect some of their ill-gotten gains. It made both him and Rex feel better if, when they stole, they stole from those who didn't deserve the credits. It was, of course, often a little more dangerous to try and steal from those sorts of people, and so they did their best to get by without.

But Obi-Wan and Rex had both gotten sick the month before, and they'd blown through what few credits they had on getting the proper medicine.

So theft it had been.

"Obi-Wan? Where's Rex?"

Obi-Wan shrugged and Cody forced himself more fully awake. "Obi-Wan. You know you're not supposed to run away from Rex."

"Didn't run." Obi-Wan pouted, and Cody reminded himself that it absolutely didn't matter how adorable his verd'ika was, there were certain rules Cody wasn't going to budge on.

"Obi-Wan." He knew his voice was sharp, but running away from them was dangerous.

"I didn't mean to." Obi-Wan corrected himself. "I was right behind him, but then I found Pel’ika, and she needed me."

Cody felt a sharp line of tension. They did their best to make sure that Obi-Wan understood that he wasn't supposed to trust anyone that wasn't Rex or Cody, and that he was under no circumstances allowed to talk to strangers without Rex or Cody there. "Who's Pel'ika?"

Obi-Wan beamed brightly. "Come look!"

Obi-Wan darted to the small bedroll where Obi-Wan theoretically slept, though he ended up curled up with either Cody or Rex more often than not. Though to be fair, he and Rex often shared a bed themselves, cramming all three of them into one bed. It was almost like before, in that life where Rex and Cody had had million of brothers and a brother almost never had to sleep alone if he didn’t want to.

But it was only the two of them and Obi-Wan.

Cody shook the thought, and the hint of melancholy that accompanied it, away and followed Obi-Wan, not quite sure what to expect.

There was a small, pure white, baby nexu wrapped in a blanket of some sort staring up at him. Four crimson eyes blinking up at the two of them, razor sharp teeth bright on display.

"Obi-Wan—"

"Can we keep her? Please?" Obi-Wan looked up Cody with the biggest, widest, most pleading eyes Cody had ever seen. 

Cody blinked at him, and then turned to stare at the nexu who, Cody realized with some alarm, was wrapped, not in a blanket, but in Obi-Wan’s scarf. That meant Obi-Wan had gotten close enough to the nexu’s claws and teeth to wrap it up.

And had then carried the creature back to their small room.

Cody took a deep breath, forcing down the fear that was trying to push out and would undoubtedly come out closer to anger than he was comfortable with.

Obi-Wan was here and safe.

Everything was fine.

He took another deep breath because the fear was still pulsing beneath his skin.

"Obi-Wan. Animals are dangerous, especially on this planet." Really, this was Cody's fault for thinking that it was a good idea to settle on Cholganna when the ship they were on—legally this time, they’d traded passage for work—had stopped here for a delivery. "You can't just grab them."

Obi-Wan's eyes went wide. "But the rude men were going to hurt her. I could feel it. I had to protect her."

Cody closed his eyes. Sometimes it hurt how much his verd'ika, so young and still innocent, was like the General he might have, and maybe still could, become.

"Why didn't you ask Rex to help you?"

"Cause I accidentally lost him when Pel’ika needed me.” The look Obi-Wan gave him made it clear that Obi-Wan thought that was an obvious answer.

Cody sighed and wondered where Rex was. His brother had to be wondering where Obi-Wan was, maybe even panicking. At the thought Cody searched for his commlink to send a message to Rex to let his vod know that Obi-Wan had returned home.

Rex was probably going to have his own lecture for Obi-Wan when he got home for giving Rex a heart attack. Obi-Wan knew better than to run off on them.

"Obi-Wan." He started gently. "I'm not sure we're the best family for a pet." They moved too often and too suddenly, spent far too much time hiding in cargo holds because there was still too often they couldn’t find a better way off planet. Even during their stablest times, when they found small spaces to live, they kept everything packed up so they'd be ready to leave within minutes.

And even if they were a pet family, they would not get a baby nexu. Baby nexus grew into adult nexus. And adult nexus… well, there was a reason nexus were often used as security pets or in execution arenas—and some distant memory told him that his General had once been in an arena with a nexu—and it wasn't because they made good, cuddly pets.

"I'll take good care of her." Obi-Wan pleaded.

"Nexus are dangerous."

Obi-Wan stuck his jaw out. "But she needs us."

"And what happens next time we leave?" Cody asked, trying to keep his voice both gentle and implacable. He wasn't going to budge on this.

"I'll hide her in my knapsack." Obi-Wan suggested, with the sort of logic that made perfect sense to a child. "She's smart, she'll be quiet."

“And when she gets too big to fit in your knapsack?”

Obi-Wan opened his mouth, and then shut it again frowning. “I’ll put a leash on her?” Because that made everything better, just leash the nexu. Cody could almost picture it now. Except, well, knowing Obi-Wan, he’d manage it. His General had always been strangely good with animals, and apparently that wasn’t something the Jedi had needed to teach him, apparently that was just Obi-Wan.

"I don't think we have the credits, to be able to provide for her." Cody offered his next argument, all the while cursing himself, because he shouldn't be arguing this. He should just be saying no, and that should be the end of it. They were not taking in a nexu.

Obi-Wan frowned, clearly not having already thought of a counter-argument for that. But then, at four, he wasn't quite a negotiator yet.

"I can work!" Obi-Wan suggested. "Like you and Rex!"

Cody sighed. "You're not old enough to work, Ob'ika."

Obi-Wan pouted. "But I'm big now."

Cody laughed a little. "I think you need to be a little bigger before you can start working."

Obi-Wan frowned. "How big?" He held his hand up just above his head. "This big?"

Cody shook his head. "Bigger than that."

Obi-Wan pouted, lifting his hand higher. "This big?"

Cody lifted his own hand up, resting it on his chest. "How about once you're this big we can talk about you working."

Obi-Wan's mouth dropped open. "But I won't be that big for forever. I want to help now."

Cody hid a smile, crouching down to meet Obi-Wan's eyes. "Rex and I are handling things just fine, Ob'ika. You don't need to help just yet."

Obi-Wan looked like he was going to start crying. "But what about Pel'ika? Why can't we help her?"

Cody sighed. "Verd'ika. Pel'ika deserves to have a stable life. I don't think we can give it to her."

"But why?" Obi-Wan asked. "What's wrong with our life?"

"Nothing." Cody said quickly. "There's nothing wrong with our life, but we're not nexus, nexus need different things than we do."

"But she needs us." Obi-Wan said, and his voice was quiet now, and there was a focused determination there that didn't mean good things for Cody. “She really, really does. I know it.“

Cody sighed. "We'll talk about it more when Rex gets home, Obi-Wan. But we're not going to be able to take Pel'ika with us when we move on again."

Obi-Wan didn't seem satisfied. "Okay."

Cody rubbed at his forehead. "I know it's rough, verd'ika. But Pel'ika will be happier on Cholganna.”

-_-

"What the kriff is a nexu doing on our ship!?"

"Calm down, Selvus." Another voice spoke up. "You know how much you can get for a nexu?"

Rex froze, eyes darting to where Obi-Wan was curled up in a corner. "Obi-Wan, did you bring Pel'ika with us?"

Obi-Wan shook his head, and Rex could tell he was being honest.

Just outside the cargo hold the first speaker groaned and Rex held his breath. "I know that look in your eyes, Vera, we're not keeping a nexu on the ship. We have no way to contain it!"

"Oh come on, how hard could it be too contain a baby nexu? And we can get a good price for the thing! I've heard of the price getting up to half a million before, and the nexu literally walked onto our ship, the thing is practically begging to be sold!"

"Fine, the nexu can stay, but you better find a way to contain it. And we're not settling for anything less than fourty thousand credits." The speaker, Selvus, sounded aggravated.

"Do you think Pel'ika followed us?" Obi-Wan's eyes were bright and excited. "Does this mean we get to keep her?"

Rex glanced at Cody who was rubbing at his eyes and muttering under his breath. "We'll talk about that when we get off the ship, Ob'ika."

Obi-Wan sighed. "Okay."

Rex held in his own sigh. There was no way they were going to let Pel'ika be put in containment and then sold to some madman who'd put it in an arena to kill for sport.

This was only going to complicate things in ways they really didn't need.

How was Obi-Wan getting them into such ridiculous situations when he was still four? Oh Obi-Wan. 

-_-

Sheev carefully poured the young padawan some tea, smiling a little. "I'm glad the mission went well. I admit I was starting to get worried, I hadn't thought the mission would take so long."

To Xanatos' credit, his smile didn't waver, though in the Force, the boy was clearly frustrated. "Master Qui-Gon had a lead on a separate mission objective."

Sheev tried to decide whether he'd developed a strong enough tie to the young padawan to press further. He'd only had the boy over for tea a few times now, and was more a casual acquaintance than a confidante.

Although, this was the first time Xanatos had sought him out when the boy and his Master weren’t on senatorial duty. That was a good sign. So, perhaps a small push.

"Oh? I hope it was successful."

This time Xanatos' smile did grow a little strained. "It wasn't." His voice snapped a little. "It never is."

Sheev considered that. "In that case, I'm sorry it ended up being a waste of your valuable time." 

Xanatos sighed and went back to drinking his tea. Sheev let the silence linger, watching in the Force as Xanatos mulled on his frustrations.

"I just wish he'd give it up all ready." Xanatos muttered. "I feel bad for the kid, I do. But we're never going to find him."

Sheev hid his smile. "The kid?" He repeated and then paused. "You mean the child that was kidnapped three years ago?"

Xanatos nodded, and then seemed to realize what he'd implied. "It's not like the Jedi have given up on him. There's a Knight pair that is still looking for him. And of course, other Jedi know to keep their eye out for the boy and the little monsters who took him. But Master Qui-Gon and I aren't doing any good, chasing after whispers."

Oh, of that Sheev was aware, especially since some of those whispers that had reached the Jedi Master's ears were from some of Sheev's own sources. Not only was it particularly enjoyable to watch the Jedi Master chase nothing, every failed lead only made Xanatos more and more bitter.

"To be honest…” Sheev hesitated as though second-guessing himself.

Xanatos perked up, looking curious. "What?"

"Well, I'll admit that I'm grateful that you're around. I admit I worry for the boy even if you do find him. Your Master..." He trailed off. "I apologize, I shouldn't have said anything. I’m afraid I’m far too tired to be sensible company at the moment. The Senator keeps me very busy.“

Xanatos had latched onto what Sheev hadn't said, filling in the blanks wonderfully. "Master Qui-Gon hasn't said as much, but I think he believes that the Kenobi boy is supposed to be his padawan." Xanatos admitted.

Sheev made a show of pursing his lips and looking away as though deeply concerned. "That's... good. I suppose."

"He's obsessed." Xanatos continued.

Sheev sighed, as though it confirmed the worst of his fears. Inwardly he was delighted, Master Qui-Gon had already done most of the work for Sheev when it came to building young Xanatos' resentment towards his Master.

The question now, was whether Sheev should stoke Xanatos' resentment for the boy. Oh, Xanatos already resented the young boy a little. How could he not with his Master's obsession for him? It would be easy enough to strengthen that resentment.

But was that the right choice?

Sheev was almost certain that he would be able to get to the boy first. But he'd thought he'd find the boy before now, except the hunters he'd hired were apparently completely incompetent and had yet to catch the boy. This was the problem with using pawns, they were so terribly unreliable. 

If he could get out there himself he’d have already obtained the boy. But no, he was stuck here playing talented, but subservient, Senatorial Aide. And he was being too closely watched by his own Master to take one of his few leaves from the Senate to go chasing after his well-hidden future padawan.

So pawns it was for now. Eventually one of them would prove competent. Until then he’d satisfy himself with nurturing the young boy’s fears in his dreams until he could nurture that fear in a more hands-on fashion.

And if, by some chance, the Jedi did get the boy first, it would be useful if Sheev had a tool in the Temple who would help Sheev get his hooks into the boy the Force had destined for him.

He smiled again. "Oh dear. That's unfortunate. Like I said, I'm grateful the boy will have you."

"You're grateful he has me?" Xanatos drew back, brows furrowing.

Sheev nodded. "Oh yes. Someone with your confidence and skill? Whose vision isn't clouded by these terrible expectations your Master seems to have for the boy, but has been involved enough to understand what the boy has been through. While I’m sure your Master is a talented man, he is training you after all… well, as I said. He seems slightly obsessed with the boy and that would be a poor foundation to start training a child on.” Sheev paused, wondering if he should push it even further. "And didn’t you say that your Master felt that the two of you were sent to Stewjon by the will of the Force? You were there the day the boy was found too, and if that's what your Master thinks is a sign that he's meant to be the boy's Master, then that's just as true for you." Finally he shook his head. “But I suppose it’s a moot point. I know you're only seventeen, you haven't even been knighted yet, though you must be getting close.” He stirred his tea. 

Xanatos seemed taken aback by that. “I’ll be a Knight by the time the boy is old enough to be a padawan.” He said slowly, and he sounded a mix of hesitant and thoughtful.

Sheev smiled. “That’s true, isn’t it!” He paused, and then his head, letting his voice droop a little. “Though I suppose that might be too much pressure, even for someone as talented as you."

Xanatos frowned, and Sheev smiled inwardly as Xanatos' seemed to rebel against the thought that he wouldn't be capable of taking on such a role.

Give it a little time and the boy would convince himself that it was his responsibility to protect the missing boy from his own Master.

It was time to change the subject, he’d let Xanatos muse over what he’d said. “But you said you were going on another mission soon? That sounds exciting. I admit I'm jealous. Being a senatorial aide can seem dreadfully lacking when compared to your work as a Jedi."

Xanatos let himself be distracted, puffing up a little at the thought of being superior. "Oh yes, we should be heading out in a few days."

Sheev let his face adopt a look of deep interest as Xanatos started talking. Ah, he thought a little smugly, resentment was such a useful tool. He really needed to thank Master Qui-Gon.

-_-

"Check your thumbs." Rex instructed, hands gentle on Obi-Wan's arms. Obi-Wan looked down, before carefully moving his thumb to the outside of his fist. In front of them, Cody knelt holding a pillow. "All right, go for it."

Obi-Wan hesitated, but then pulled back to punch the pillow. "Good, now let's look at your feet. What's the matter with them?"

Obi-Wan looked down at his feet. "They're too close?"

Rex nodded. "You won't be able to keep your balance if your feet are this close together."

He pushed gently and, sure enough, Obi-Wan wobbled as he lost his balance.

"Bend your knees a little." Cody suggested. Obi-Wan squatted. Rex laughed, while Cody threw the pillow at Obi-Wan. "Not that much, silly, just a little bit."

Obi-Wan grabbed the pillow before Cody could grab it back, hugging it tight to his chest possessively, but he bent he his knees more reasonably.

Rex gave him another gentle push. "See how much better that is?"

Obi-Wan frowned, swaying back and forth, and then nodded. “I think so.”

"All right, give Cody the pillow back and let's try again."

Obi-Wan pulled back, before throwing the pillow. "Catch!"

Cody laughed as the pillow went for his face. "Nice try, Obi-Wan."

Rex helped Obi-Wan get back into position. "Come on, let's see if we can hit the pillow hard enough to make Cody sway."

-_-

“I thought we were supposed to be returning to the temple.” Xanatos’ voice was a little sullen, it was a tone that Qui-Gon was starting to get very familiar with. His padawan was seventeen now, and sullen came to him just as easy as his charismatic smiles.

“We are.” Qui-Gon assured him. “But I received another lead.”

Along their bond, Qui-Gon felt a flare of frustration before the emotion disappeared behind shields and their bond was snapped shut. “The boy?” Xanatos’ voice was carefully disapproving, and maybe Qui-Gon had led them to stand in front of the Council a few too many times if Xanatos was copying Mundi’s intonations so perfectly. “The Council have told you to stop chasing him.”

Qui-Gon felt his own flare of irritation. “I will not abandon a young boy to the clutches of his kidnappers.”

“The Council haven’t abandoned him!” Xanatos burst out. “They have other people trying to track them.”

“It’s been three years and they’ve found nothing.”

“Neither have you!” Xanatos’ anger was tangible in the Force.

Qui-Gon gave Xanatos a disappointed look. “Be careful of your emotions, my young padawan.” Xanatos drew back, taking a deep breath and Qui-Gon could feel the anger diminish and then vanish. 

It still infuriated Qui-Gon that the Council had pulled him from chasing the two boys that had kidnapped Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

He knew that the shadows were still out searching, in between the rest of their duties, but he didn’t know that he trusted them to be able to find the youngling.

The boy would be five now, Qui-Gon thought, if he were still alive that was.

He shook the thought away. Obi-Wan Kenobi was alive, Qui-Gon was sure of it.

“Why are you even so obsessed with finding him anyways?” Xanatos asked. “After every mission we have, we’re always haring off after insubstantial whispers that never end up getting us anywhere. He’s gone, Master Qui-Gon. I’m sorry you got fooled by a couple of kids. But you need to stop. Why can’t we just do what the Council asks of us?”

“He’s not gone.” Qui-Gon snapped back. “The Force ensured that it was me to find him on Stewjon, and it will lead me to him again.”

Xanatos froze. “Led you to him? It led us to him.”

Qui-Gon paused. “Yes, led us.”

Xanatos had always been an incredibly bright child, and he’d only gotten more so as he’d grown. “You think he’s supposed to be your padawan.” Xanatos’ voice was quiet, and while there was a tinge of hurt in the Force, it sounded more like Xanatos was accusing him of a long-held belief.

Qui-Gon hesitated, but decided that ignoring the accusation would only make it worse, he needed to go forward with this. How long had his padawan been under the impression that Qui-Gon was trying to replace him? “I felt it in the Force. But he’s very young, Xanatos, I’m not trying to replace you.”

Xanatos clenched his jaw, and stuck out his jaw. “Yet. You’re not trying to replace me with him, yet. But that’s not even true, all you can think about is finding him. You’re completely ignoring that you still have me. That I’m your padawan now. If he is really meant to be your padawan, which might not even be true, then the Force will lead him back to you.”

“Oh Xanatos.” Qui-Gon shook his head, a little disappointed with his padawan. “The Force requires that we be active in following its will. Nothing happens for the passive.”

“What about staying focused on the present moment.” Xanatos retorted. “Aren’t I your present? Don’t I deserve your attention?”

Qui-Gon frowned. "Of course you do, and I've given it to you." He shook his head. "Xanatos, I expected better of you than this pettiness. Are you really suggesting that we don't do everything to bring the poor boy back to the Temple?"

Xanatos turned his head, and his shoulders sagged. "Of course not. It's just..." Xanatos didn't finish, but Qui-Gon understood. It was difficult, always searching and never making any progress.

Qui-Gon nodded. "I understand. But we'll find him, and soon. And then things will go back to normal."

Xanatos looked up at him, eyes narrowed in thought but he nodded. "You're right, Master.” Something sharp entered his padawan’s eyes, a fierce determination. “And you're right, the Force sent us to Stewjon for a reason. Young Obi-Wan needs us. And we must always be willing to follow the will of the Force. You taught me that.“

Qui-Gon smiled. "You'll be an excellent Knight someday, Xanatos. I'm very proud of you."

Xanatos smiled back at him, and Qui-Gon could see the way the determination steeled his padawan’s spine. Qui-Gon couldn’t help but be proud. “Thank you Master."

-_-

Cody pulled Obi-Wan into his lap. "You're almost five now." They'd just celebrated three years since Cody and Rex had found Obi-Wan a few weeks ago, and while Cody and Rex didn't know how old, exactly, Obi-Wan had been when they’d been sent to this time, they were pretty sure he hadn't been two yet.

Obi-Wan nodded, and proudly held up four fingers.

"That means you're old enough to know how to use a blaster."

The first time the Kaminoans had put a blaster in Cody's hand he'd been almost four. Though he'd been a little bigger than Obi-Wan was now, thanks to his accelerated aging.

Obi-Wan didn't need to be prepared for war, but he did need to be prepared to protect himself from the worst the galaxy had to offer.

From his bed Rex looked up from his datapad. "No shooting in the apartment.”

Cody gave him his best withering glare. "Obviously. I'm just going to teach him about blasters today. He won't start shooting until he knows every part of a blaster and can assemble and disassemble it without help."

Rex nodded and went back to his datapad. 

Cody looked down at Obi-Wan. "Do you hear that verd'ika, your brother has no faith in me."

Obi-Wan tilted his head. "Why can't we shoot in the apartment?”

"Because shooting is dangerous, and if we shoot in the apartment we'll break things."

"Then why do we shoot things if it's dangerous?" Obi-Wan asked with a confused look on his face/

Cody sighed. "Because sometimes we need to be dangerous to protect ourselves from people who are more dangerous."

"Like the dream man."

Cody nodded. "Like the dream man."

"Or the man with the strange outfit."

"Him too." Cody agreed. "But his outfit wasn't that strange. Armor is very useful."

Obi-Wan made a face. "I think it looked funny."

Rex snorted. "Better put a stop to that now, don't need a repeat of someone who doesn't wear armor when they should."

Cody silently agreed. "It might look a little funny. But it'll protect you from other dangerous people."

Obi-Wan looked like he wasn't sure he believed him, but nodded anyways.

"And the Jedi, too? Are they dangerous?"

Cody froze and on the bed Rex stiffened, looking up to meet Cody's eyes.

"The Jedi too." Cody agreed finally, which was as neutral as he was willing to be on the matter.

Rex frowned and Cody knew that they were going to have another argument tonight. Rex didn't want Obi-Wan to think poorly of the Jedi. Cody wanted to make sure that Obi-Wan never made the mistake of thinking that the Jedi were trustworthy.

There was only one Jedi that Cody would ever have been willing to trust, but Cody and Rex had already changed things so that Obi-Wan would never actually be a Jedi.

“What about Pel’ika?” Obi-Wan asked, suddenly upset. From the corner, Pel’ika looked up at her name, red eyes fixed immediately on Obi-Wan. “You always say that Pel’ika is dangerous!”

Cody sighed. “Because Pel’ika is dangerous and you can never forget that. But Pel’ika loves you, and she won’t hurt you, and so we won’t use blasters on her.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “Never. We’ll never use blasters on Pel’ika. She’s my best friend.”

“Yes.” Cody agreed. “She’s a very good friend. But," Cody shifted the subject, "remember, before we fight, we run. Fighting is what we do when we can't run."

Obi-Wan nodded, and Cody grabbed the blaster he'd prepared earlier, charge pack empty. "All right, are you ready to learn about blasters?"

-_-

"What if we went to Jedha," Rex suggested hesitantly.

Cody looked up at him, a streak of grease on his face from where he was trying to fix an engine piece he’d scavenged and planned to sell to a parts shop across town. "What?"

"Jedha," Rex repeated. "They have their own Force religion of some sort there. They might have advice for…” he looked for the right word, but couldn’t find it, “you know.”

Cody frowned, eyes a little distant. "I don't think I remember much about Jedha."

"They're called the Guardians of the Wiils." He frowned, that was wrong. "Whiles? Whillis? Something like that."

Cody hummed, not sounding impressed. "And they just offer help for free?" 

"I don't know," Rex said honestly. "I know they take initiates." Cody's eyes sharpened and Rex held up his hands defensively. "Not that we'd give Obi-Wan to them! But they might be willing to advise us on how to help him, or give us exercises we could do with him."

"What if they contact the Jedi?"

That was an echo of Rex's own fears. "It's a risk, I know. But they aren't directly affiliated with the Jedi." Both he and Cody shifted to watch Obi-Wan who was playing with Pel'ika in the back of the small warehouse.

"And indirectly affiliated?"

"Maybe?" Rex shrugged. "I don't know much, I just remember that they exist."

Cody was narrowing his eyes again. "There's a great deal of kyber there, I know that much. And I know that the Empire sent forces there, both to retrieve the kyber for their ‘secret project,’” Cody shuddered, “which ended up being the Death Star. There were also orders to deal with a variety of other things. I wasn't ever involved with that campaign though, so I don’t know specifics.”

"Saw Guerra's rebel group was stationed there for a while. Causing all sorts of problems." Rex added. He wasn't actually supposed to know that, Saw Guerra liked to keep his secrets, a well-earned paranoia in Rex's opinion, and the tension between the somewhat radical group following Saw and the Rebel Alliance had meant that the Rebel Alliance had done their best to keep an eye on Saw while also limiting who within the Alliance knew it.

Rex had always been good at keeping an ear out though.

"I don't know." Cody said finally.

"We need to do something, Cody." Rex said quietly. "His nightmares are getting worse, and neither of us know where to start in training a Force sensitive." They'd made progress, yes, but Obi-Wan needed more.

They both glanced over as Obi-Wan let out a shriek, Pel'ika was on Obi-Wan's chest, claws carefully away from Obi-Wan's skin and licking all over Obi-Wan's face like an Aak pup and not the terrifying predator she was. And that was so gross, they would definitely need to wash Obi-Wan before bed, Rex had seen the sort of things Pel'ika ate and it couldn’t be sanitary for her to lick all over Obi-Wan.

It was almost astonishing how little both he and Cody reacted to that sight now. Rex had almost had a heart attack the first time he'd turned and seen Obi-Wan on the floor with the nexu over him with her teeth bared. The only reason Pel'ika hadn't ended up dead was because Rex hadn't had his blaster immediately on hand and by the time he'd crossed the room with the kitchen knife Obi-Wan's laughter had had time to penetrate his protective rush.

"I know." Cody said quietly, and there was fear in his vod's eyes. "I know we need help." Cody sighed. "We'll look into it, research these Guardians, see if we can find anything about other Force religions."

Rex wanted to point out that it wouldn't be easy. Most Force religions kept to themselves, and for good reason. But Cody knew that.

"We'll protect him." Rex reassured Cody. "We've been doing an okay job of it so far. He's safe, and more than that, he's happy."

They all were. Stressed out of their minds? Afraid? Wary? Concerned? Yes, to all of those. But somehow, they were happy as well. They had each other, and even if they lived in abandoned houses, hid in barns, rented small rooms where privacy was so non-existent there wasn't even an illusion of it... well, they had each other, and they had hope.

"You realize if we went to Jedha, we'd actually have to pay for transport, right? And figure out something to do with Pel'ika." Cody pointed out. "It would take too long to try and smuggle ourselves onto different ships to try and get there."

Rex shrugged. "Maybe. We’ve gone the legal route before/“ He sighed. "Maybe someday we'll have enough to actually buy a ship."

Cody had an almost dreamy look on his face. "That'd be nice. Our own ship. Wouldn't need to smuggle ourselves everywhere, or trade services to get passage. We could turn it into a proper home, could teach Obi-Wan to fly."

"Maybe we'll be able to get him to like it more this time around." Rex joked. He could remember more than a few arguments between General Kenobi and General Skywalker about Obi-Wan's extreme distaste for flying, though to be fair, despite his dislike he’d still been plenty good at it.

"Shouldn't be too hard." Cody was smiling. "I think as long as we avoid getting shot at all the time and crashing the ship every other time we try to land, he’ll have no reason to hate it quite so much.”

Rex felt like he should be trying to defend his own General there. He hadn't crashed that often. But it also wasn’t as much of an exaggeration as he might like, especially if both General Skywalker's and General Kenobi's retellings of General Skywalker's padawan years had any truth to them.

"You get to teach him how to fly." Rex decided, thinking about just how often General Kenobi and General Skywalker had crashed. "And we're putting him behind a simulator before we let him at a flight console."

Cody laughed. "Why do I have to be the one to teach him how to fly?"

"You're the one who decided to kidnap him." His logic, Rex was certain, was impeccable.

"You helped."

"Because I knew if I didn't, you'd just do it on your own."

Cody shrugged. "Well, yes. But like you'd let me do this on my own."

"Of course I wouldn't." Rex would never doubt that Cody was capable of going it alone. Cody was skilled enough, determined enough, and crazy enough that he probably could. But as long as Rex breathed, Cody would never have to.

Cody's smile softened, as though he knew exactly what Rex was thinking. "It wouldn't be nearly as good without you." And then his smile turned sharp. "Which is why you'll have to help me teach him how to fly. Wouldn't be nearly as good without you."

Rex groaned, Cody just had to put it that way. "I hate you."

"I know. Love you too.“

-_-