Chapter Text
“The reality of our current situation,” Cody began, resisting the urge to tap his stylus against the table the same way one would shake their leg. “Could not be more abstract if those senators pulled their noses out of their shebs.”
“Oh, but they have valid concerns, of course,” Obi-Wan nodded mockingly, fingers steepled from where he leaned in his chair, and the robes he wore seemed newer than his usual ones, Cody suddenly noticed.
What are the chances of him leaving that around?
“Whatever contract they have already entered with the Separatists couldn’t simply be discarded, not when it gave them the monetary compensation they needed to swim in their credits,” Obi-Wan continued with fake pleasantness. “I’m sure they would be dried up if their promised money simply didn’t add on with whatever pile they already have in the vaults. It’s dreadful news, Cody. We mustn’t simply brush them away.”
Cody wished he could weed out those weasels himself, but Senator Amidala and Senator Organa were doing their best to ‘talk them into joining the rebuild’. Cody wasn’t entirely sure if any blasters weren’t involved. “The Separatists have been running around headless since Dooku was killed, nevermind when Sidious kicked the bucket too. You’re telling me whatever contract these senators were secretly involved in hasn't already been burned to the ground?”
“Technically, they have,” Obi-Wan shrugged. “But, they’re picking up whatever scattered pieces that are left and are trying to play it around until it catches on something. Whatever debate they’re having in that Senate Chamber is a tactic to delay the rest of our work. The smart ones have already run off before reinforcements could catch them.”
“At least the Clones Rights bill managed to go through before all of that happened,” Cody grumbled. “This is why Fox is our representative in court. As much as I like saying ‘I told you so’ to those idiots, I don’t think I have the right words to screw them over when they try to do it first.”
“Fox was admirable in giving out his testimonies,” Obi-Wan agreed. “It helped when he showed them all what happened to the Coruscant Guard behind closed doors, and how he used evidence taken by the rest of the battalion as well.”
The natborn officers, the civies; evidence was enough to show that this needed to change. The general mistreatment against the troopers only urged the need to send everyone a message so that they need to realise how clones were human, who had a heart and a soul, who had their own will and conscience and feelings; they were not meatdroids who didn’t deserve what any living being should have.
“Can’t imagine working that close to a Sith Lord, though,” Cody glanced at his datapad, and the report he was writing stared back at him. “And everything else they had to go through.”
Cody remembered a time when Fox looked like he was a second away from toppling off his feet; the man had been exhausted, hours without proper rest and nose deep into so many things that had almost become difficult to keep track of. Thire, Thorn and Stone did what they could to lighten the load, but Chancellor Palpatine had all but gleefully dumped most, if not all, of his work on the other Marshal Commander. That was deliberate too; tire the clone and snatched him into the Sith Lord’s control with what his brothers called ‘blackouts’.
They didn’t remember where they went, and they wouldn’t remember when they had gone back. As if they were kicked out of their bodies and were controlled needlessly through Triple Zero with a remote.
“The Sith Lord,” Master Yoda said carefully, the shocked pause finally broken. “Chancellor Palpatine is, you say?”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan confirmed, hands folded behind him, feet wide apart, as they stood in front of the Jedi Council. After years of hearing its existence, Cody never thought he’d find himself in the Councilroom with them. “He has been fooling us all to think that this war is worth our resources when this is just a ploy to get the galaxy to bend to his demands. We have to make the decision to arrest him for being a traitor to the Republic.”
“And you know this,” General Windu said, furrowed gaze sweeping across Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex —now older, now normal— before settling briefly on Cody. He focused back on Obi-Wan. “How, exactly?”
“The Sith Holocron you sent us to retrieve is a little unorthodox in a sense,” The smile Obi-Wan wore was a tad impish that had Yoda and Windu looking back at him warily. “Because it threw us twenty-five years into the future, allowing us to see the conditions in which Darth Sidious had won and recalibrated the order of the galaxy so badly, causing the death of millions. The Jedi Order was destroyed, an Empire rose and conquered worlds, and a Sith Lord ruled it all with an iron fist.”
“Darth Sidious?” Windu demanded.
“Chancellor Palpatine’s real identity,” Obi-Wan had turned solemn again. “He had been on this since the very beginning, Masters, and I suggest we make haste before he finds out that we know and tries to stop us. He is very good at playing a nice old man, but he will try to blame it more on us when we try to take him into custody.”
“And where is this holocron?”
“Destroyed. With the rest of the temple before we lift off.”
Cody and Rex took immense pleasure in planting every single thermal detonator they owned on that cursed building.
“For us to take action, you have no evidence to show us,” Master Yoda pointed out, but his ears were lowered, clearly troubled with this new information. “Catch the Sith Lord, as much as we want, we must have evidence, if for the Senate’s and the galaxy’s eventual demand. Go in empty, we cannot. Accuse the Chancellor lightly, we cannot.”
“Sirs,” Cody straightened at the sudden onslaught of attention. He took off his helmet, showing them his face, before he offered his bucket to them. “If it helps, I have them.”
Cody was glad he downloaded every single thing he could get his hands on from Leia.
He wouldn’t forget the look of dawning horror that existed on the Council’s faces with every holoclip that was shown to them.
It was proof to the Jedi that they had, in fact, went forward in time. What they didn’t have was the current evidence that could be used against Sidious that was credible in the Republic’s eyes, and that usually meant broken loyalty. And if they were lucky, revealing any intentional harm, just to put a bow on the whole package.
But, this had to be shown to the Jedi Order.
“I imagine they’re getting the break they needed?”
“Fox tries, I think, but according to the reports Thorn gave me, it sounded like he’s having a hard time settling down. We’re forced to give him something that’d make him occupy his mind.”
“Given how he spent years doing some things on his own, I suppose relinquishing that load can take a bit of time to adjust,” Obi-Wan reached for his tea. “What’s he doing now?”
“Tubie supervision on Kamino,” Cody smiled, remembering the holovid of Fox carrying one of the small ones swaddled in a blanket and was very, very still. No, he wasn’t emotionally compromised, shut up, Colt. “He’s settling in well.”
“I can imagine,” Obi-Wan grinned, and it wasn’t hard to catch what he was saying. “If those babies are as small as I remember Rex to be, Fox will have a great time being surrounded by their accumulative cuteness.”
“What’s this?” He asked, amused, at the three people who slipped into the officer’s lounge on the Vigilance. Cody looked up from his stack flimsis, and was surprised to see the slightly nervous expressions the officers of five-oh-first donned, as if they had done something that might make him mad, and had surrendered themselves to be court-martialed unprompted.
That was suspiciously weird, he thought, because any reckless decisions made by these three were usually done with pride, not fear or shame.
Anakin cleared his throat. “Given how the three of us went through that problem a couple of weeks ago, and how we got busy to make sure our plans to take down the Chancellor weren’t compromised, we never actually got to say, uh, thank you.”
Cody put down the flimsi he was holding. He had to see this. “For what, General Skywalker?”
“Don’t make me say it,” Anakin warned, causing Cody to quell down a smile. Anakin shuffled in place, while the other two were stock still on his sides, the perfect picture of troopers who were content with letting their general talk. Especially when it was something like this. Typical. “You know. The time-travelling thing.”
“When the three of you turned into adorable little younglings?” Obi-Wan finished for him, causing Anakin and Ahsoka to cringe while Rex simply winced. “Yes, I do seem to remember your insistence on fighting with your normal lightsabers when you were just tiny tots. That was a feat to win.”
“Don’t forget how Rex was small enough to be carried everywhere, sir,” Cody added, unable to resist grinning just a little at the glare aimed his way.
“Of course,” Obi-Wan said warmly, teasingly. “I recall changing his diapers.”
“Sir,” Rex grunted out painfully.
“What we’re trying to say is,” Ahsoka inclined her head at them. “Thank you. Both of you. For taking care of us. Even if we were a demanding bunch of kids who wanted to try their luck, or how we were incapitated by having little legs and hands that couldn’t help fight some bad guys.”
“We wouldn’t be here today,” Anakin continued, his eyes heavy with gratitude. “If it weren’t for you two.”
“Rex, Ahsoka and their men are still involved with the likes of Mandalore, last I heard. The Siege ended months ago, and the victory should have made them leave the planet, but it looks like Bo-Katan acquired their forces for some special missions.”
“I thought Death Watch surrendered when Maul did.”
“Quite. But some of them managed to escape, so Bo-Katan’s been extra jittery with the threat of getting usurped in her place as ruler, so she needed extra reinforcements.”
Cody harrumphed, setting aside his report for the cup of tea Obi-Wan gave him. “I thought she had good soldiers. She can’t keep hogging Rex and Ahsoka just because she’s not exactly good at keeping her throne.”
“Oh, she’s not the next Duchess,” Obi-Wan corrected him. “Doesn’t intend to be. Only that she’s the temporary head to make sure Mandalore is under some sort of order, so that nothing comes out all cluttered and unorganised to the point it’s dangerous for the citizens. She is, however, quite annoyed that Ahsoka beat Maul in combat and thus, deserves the Darksaber, and in the same vein—“
“Is the Mand’alor,” Cody almost choked on his beverage, trying to keep his wheezing laughter in. “God, Kryze has to be more than just annoyed. Rex didn’t tell me this when he was briefing me the other day.”
“I found out about this just this morning too. And Bo-Katan’s ‘really kriffing pissed’, as Ahsoka told me,” Obi-Wan chuckled. “She’s trying to antagonise Bo-Katan enough so that she could duel her, but Bo-Katan is keeping a level head about it for now. The men, however, are enjoying the show immensely.”
When Cody looked up, he caught Obi-Wan's gaze on him. Full of warmth, where it swirled in those depths, and it was as if it held the same feeling that resided in Cody’s chest whenever they did their get-togethers like this.
They would sit in Obi-Wan’s dining room with the evening sun slashing across the table between them, lighting the room up in bright orange. Obi-Wan would make tea for them both, and Cody would bring desserts or snacks. They would talk, they would have a good time. Sometimes he’d show Obi-Wan holovids of the cadets on Kamino. Obi-Wan would show some finger painting projects from the creché.
It was friends doing what they always do as they get to know their lives, and catching up happened to be one of them.
And always, always, the same heavy feeling sat between them, unsaid and left hanging in the air, and it would have Cody pushing it back whenever it was on the verge of tipping over the edge.
He cleared his throat. “How’s life in the Temple?”
“The usual,” Obi-Wan easily replied, but he didn’t look away from Cody and simply sat there with a hand around his cup. Cody was beginning to feel his skin heating up from the attention and prayed it didn’t show. “The younglings have been making progress with their postures, if not a little wobbly in the knees. But they’ve gone far, and I’m proud of them.” Then, he hummed. “I just might take in a new padawan later.”
“Yeah?” Cody wasn’t surprised; Anakin had grown to be the young man he was, with ‘father’ being the latest title he was currently carrying. The twins were as ferocious as Cody remembered them.
“Yes. I’ve taken a shine to one of them, but you can’t let others know,” Obi-Wan leaned against the table, as if sharing a secret. “It’s between us. I can’t have Anakin finding out I’m trying to get Leia to be my new padawan when Master Yoda already had his eye on Luke.”
“Oh, you mean later,” From how near they were then, Cody could see how the scars on his face were gone. “Does she even want to be a Jedi here? She was already a great senator last time we saw her.”
“Which is why I’ll have to ask first before anyone else gets the chance. If she doesn’t want to be a Jedi in this timeline as well, I’ll respect her wishes.” Obi-Wan smiled. “And you, Cody? How have you been?”
“Busy,” Cody tried not to make it seem like he couldn’t meet Obi-Wan’s eyes, because he suddenly felt like he was caught, all of a sudden. “Between helping Alpha-17 with the cadets and making sure the rest of the men have places to stay, or have ships to go around, or even getting into universities that specialises in arts or baking, or to become a licensed medic.”
He nodded slowly, shooting a half-smile at Obi-Wan before dropping his eyes to his cup again. “It’s been a lot. But, I don’t mind, if it helps them.”
“I would imagine, since I hardly ever see you nowadays.”
“You miss me?” Cody joked, because this was familiar territory, they had done this before.
“I did.”
He jerked his head up, and saw Obi-Wan not looking away still, and this time, he held his gaze. “I do,” Obi-Wan amended; he was waiting for Cody, almost expectant. It was making him feel the same thing, too. “You’ve been beside me in that war for years, and one tends to realise when your constant companion is suddenly gone.” Obi-Wan stopped, as if considering his words. “It feels hollowing sometimes, even when it shouldn’t.”
The sun shifted, trailing across Obi-Wan’s hand, and reaching up his shoulder; Cody wasn’t sure how he should reply to this properly, not when his heart was thundering against his chest. “I’m not that significant in your life. I was only your commander.”
“How do you know that?” The soft words were like a whip in the ringing air. “You’re someone I could trust with my life, who watched my back when we scoured through any kind of battlefield, no matter how easy or bad. That usually leaves something significant in someone.”
Cody wetted his dry lips. “What are you saying, Obi-Wan?”
Obi-Wan didn’t immediately reply, and only watched him for another moment.
“I care for you,” he confessed quietly. “Ardently.”
The heavy blanket above their heads was wrenched away with new clarity.
Cody breathed silently through his nose, even if his chest felt like it was going to burst.
“And I know,” Obi-Wan continued. “You think you can’t accept me.”
He turned his hand, palm up, where it sat on the table between them.
It was an offer.
“Your Code,” Cody snapped his attention away from it to meet his gaze again. “This is wrong.”
“You know that’s not a problem anymore,” Obi-Wan reminded him gently, not pulling away his hand. “Not after Anakin. Not after everything. And, I’d like to think we’d make it work.”
“How can you be so sure?” Cody rasped out.
“Because we always believe in what we do best,” Obi-Wan responded. “Like we believe in ourselves. And I have faith in us.”
Cody regarded him carefully, the feelings in his chest clashing and singing and loud and so, so sure, and it was threatening to take his tongue hostage.
There was no reason for that, he knew.
“You’re,” He paused, almost afraid, but he had to make sure. He had to know. “Fond of me.”
It wasn’t a question.
Obi-Wan took a shaky breath. “Ardently, my dear Cody.”
Ardently.
Obi-Wan didn’t seem to ask outloud whether or not Cody felt the same way; the held-up hand was enough. That was his question.
And Cody already had his answer.
Heart and hand reached out, like the orange sun streaks stretching for the cliffs one last time each day, Cody tangled their fingers together.