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Obi-Wan sat at his desk, tea ready, one of his favorites that he knew Cody wasn't exactly fond of. Cody would drink it anyways. He was waiting patiently for Cody to arrive.
It had been a few days since they got back to the Negotiator. Obi-Wan decided to wait until the minor concussion had healed up to give Cody his talk. He didn't want to go easy on the commander. And he did kind of need the time to calm down. He had his own grief to deal with, and he was angry on behalf of his grandpadawan.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in.” Now it was time to talk to Cody about boundaries.
Cody stepped in. “You wanted to see me sir?”
“Sit down, have some tea.” Obi-Wan waited silently as Cody took the teacup and sipped it. He made a face but kept drinking it anyways.
“Now, I wanted to talk to you about what you said to Ahsoka. I don't care about what you think of me, or the Jedi. But you do NOT get to force those opinions on a padawan. On someone who is still learning and was trying to come to someone she knew could help her.”
He held up a hand when Cody went to protest. “This isn't about your beliefs, though. This is about you not respecting boundaries. When someone tells you no, you listen. Unless their life is in danger, you let them do it even if it's a bad idea. Circumventing someone's decision is not okay.”
Obi-Wan sipped at his tea. “She told you no, and when you pushed too far, you ended up with a concussion because she was in so much distress. It could have been worse for her if she hadn't pushed you away, and Wolffe hadn't intervened.”
“I just thought...”
“You thought you knew better than her and that you were protecting her from herself. When someone is so distressed that can be the last thing they need. Especially if they did not ask you for help in the first place. Do you know why?”
Cody opened his mouth, thought better of it, and shook his head before drinking more tea and grimacing at the taste.
Obi-Wan watched with amusement. “Because you're taking a choice away from them. You're making the choice for them. You're telling them you don't trust them to know what's best for them, that you will treat them as a child. Considering you don't treat Ahsoka as a child most of the time, suddenly doing it when she's in emotional distress is not a good look.”
Cody considered that. “But what if they're making the wrong choices?”
“You can explain why you think it's wrong, but they don't have to listen. They can make the choice themselves. Even when you know without a doubt that someone is making a mistake, you should never try to take away that choice to make that mistake if there is no danger. You will only damage your relationship with them.”
Cody sighed and nodded. “I understand, I think.”
Obi-Wan stared at him. “You're not going to argue?”
“I've already gotten a lecture from Wolffe. I overstepped, majorly with Ahsoka, and I knew it was a mistake the moment I hit the wall.”
Obi-Wan studied him, then nodded. “Very well. Don't make that mistake again. I can handle you treating me poorly over our differences, but I will not abide by you taking out those same differences on Ahsoka.”
“That's... fair.” Cody nodded, swallowing at how fiercely protective Obi-Wan looked in that moment. He was so gorgeous.
“If we have an understanding, then we are done here.” Obi-Wan leaned back and finished his tea.
Cody set his teacup down and stood. “Thank you for the tea.” He hurried out.
As Cody walked to his office, his mind flashed back to when Wolffe lectured him. He'd just been examined by the medics after the pain in his head did not go away, and they'd declared him to have a concussion.
Cody was leaning back on the bed, enjoying the pain relief, but not so much being stuck in the medbay for now.
Wolffe stalked into the medbay, fury in his steps, though far more tightly controlled than it was on Kamino. Wolffe stepped up to Cody.
Cody stared at him. “So. Uh. You call General Koon your dad and he calls you son?”
Wolffe nodded tersely. “Yes. You really don't know anything about the Jedi, Cody. So leave the Jedi to deal with Jedi things. If a Jedi wants to see another Jedi, let them. They probably know better than you. Especially if they mention the Force.”
Cody sighed. “But could Obi-Wan really help her with emotions?”
“Have you considered that maybe Obi-Wan doesn't appear to have emotions when you expect him to because he's a Jedi Master and has mastered his emotions? And that makes him the perfect person to help Ahsoka with her emotions, especially as her grandmaster.”
“Oh. I hadn't.”
“Cody. Let the Jedi handle Jedi things instead of assuming you know better. You're an idiot if you think that your ten years of life beats out their many decades. Dad has been a master for far longer than we've been alive. I better not hear of you making a mistake like this again.”
“I think I learned my lesson.” Cody reached up to the bump on his head. “I got a concussion.”
“Good. Then the lesson will really sink in.” Wolffe huffed and left.
Cody wasn't sure what to make of this. It didn't really fit with everything he knew up to this point, but Obi-Wan was right about one thing: it was better to let people make their choices, poor or not. Just be ready to catch them when it failed.