Chapter Text
“It was a pleasure to see you again, my friend.”
Bail looked tiny on the holoprojector of the spaceship, but his voice was strong and honest. Obi-Wan smiled and nodded.
“Likewise. You were right when warning me of the difficulty to split your time between two planets, my friend. Any tip you may have would be welcome.”
“The key is to make sure not to neglect your loved ones, no matter what,” Bail replied with a smile. “Which is easier to say than to put in practice, unfortunately.”
“I can imagine. How are the children?”
“I must admit that when we adopted two clones, their overprotectiveness wasn’t the first thing we had in mind,” Bail said with a chuckle. “They can always be found around Latena, one way or another. Last time I saw them, they had taken her from her cradle to nap together.”
“Your Princess will be well protected.”
“Maybe a tad too much. I foresee a few quarrels in our future.”
“Oh, they’ll keep you on your toes, I guarantee it,” Obi-Wan agreed, laughing. “But you wouldn’t have adopted three kids in two years if you weren’t up to the task.”
“Breha likes to say that I needed a new challenge after becoming Vice-Chancellor. I rather think that I needed a reminder of what truly matters. One can get lost and blinded by politics, but coming back to your children… it’s humbling.”
“I understand the feeling. Living on Coruscant is so different from living on Lothal. I’m reminded of it each time I land on one after months away,” Obi-Wan admitted. His eyes drifted to the doorway to the cockpit where Cody was leaning on the wall and signed to him that they would land soon. Obi-Wan nodded and smiled at him before finishing his thought. “Lothal feels like a breath of fresh air, compared to Coruscant.”
“That might be due to the actual presence of greenery,” Bail joked with a smirk.
“Very funny,” Obi-Wan replied, chuckling. There were tremors due to the ship entering atmo, and he stabilized himself with a hand on the table. The holo flickered due to interference. “I have to leave you soon, my friend. The next time you come to inspect our progress, do come with all your family, we’d love to see you all.”
“Likewise. I’ll certainly try to bring the boys. They’d love to see it, I’m sure. They might not talk about it, but I know that being apart from their brothers was a difficult change for them. You were right to suggest we adopt two, one would have been lonely.”
"It's an issue we noticed early on, and one of the many reasons why the older clones are reluctant to consider adoption."
"How many have been adopted yet?"
"A few hundred at most. The process is long and difficult for everyone, and since the move to Lothal, fewer and fewer clones volunteer. They have been raised in this communal life, and they aren't looking forward to leaving it."
"Is the sponsorship between generations working?"
"Yes, very well. The men love their little brothers dearly."
"Good. You have a great thing going there, Obi-Wan."
“I agree. Take care, Bail. May the Force be with you.”
“And with you.”
The communication ended, and Obi-Wan went to the cockpit. Plo Koon was piloting with Wolffe in the copilot seat and Cody in the navigation one. Obi-Wan held onto the back of Cody’s seat as he watched their approach to Lothal’s Temple.
The creation of Aliitiya (literally "the Clan's city" in Mando'a) had not changed the Temple in any way. The natural stone spire was standing tall as it had been for centuries. However, it was now surrounded by houses and public places built in concentric circles around the Temple, only two floors high at most to not hide the view of the Temple from afar. Gardens, pathways, and walkways connected each circle and building. From the ground, it offered a charming little town where everyone who wished for privacy could have it without being isolated. From the air, it traced a harmonious design centered around the Temple.
Obi-Wan loved it dearly. It was home, in a very different way than the Coruscant Temple, but still home.
“The kids have been let loose,” Wolffe commented as they hovered above a landing pad and slowly went down.
Indeed, there were colorful garlands on every surface available, including the smallest stone spires. Obi-Wan chuckled at the sight.
“Do you miss the extravagant Coruscanti decorations?” Cody asked.
“Force, no,” Wolffe grumbled, “I can still feel the headache those strobe lights gave me.”
They were just coming back from the celebration of Armistice Day on Coruscant. All members of the Jedi Council and former Commanders of the GAR were invited each year. Although all of them hadn't gone like they had the first year, they made sure that most of them showed up. The four of them had left as soon as possible, however, so that they could be present for the celebrations on Lothal.
The Command of the Clones (elected representatives of the vode) had decided that the Republic could have Armistice Day, but they would celebrate their own event: Citizen Day, four days later. Obviously, the Jedi were expected to attend. Neither Obi-Wan nor Plo would miss it.
The two pairs of Jedi and (ex-)Commanders went to grab their bags before leaving the ship. Cody, always ready, had already prepared his and Obi-Wan’s luggage, thus they came down the ramp first. They were met by a small welcoming committee.
“Master!”
Obi-Wan smiled at the young Tholothian who was bouncing on her toes. “Good afternoon, Padawan.” He offered her an arm, and she beamed in delight, running to him to hug his side. He patted her back and stroked her scaled cranium. She immediately relaxed, all tension leaving her frame. Obi-Wan hummed. “We’ll have to take a moment to meditate before the celebration, I see.”
“Sorry, Master,” the young one murmured.
“That’s alright, Katooni. We talked about this, don’t apologize for it,” Obi-Wan reassured her before smiling at Boil as he walked up to them. “Everything’s alright?”
“All good, Sir. The kid was just beside herself being separated from you for the first time,” Boil explained with a shrug.
Obi-Wan pretended not to notice when his padawan handed over a small bag to Cody behind his back.
He had taken Katooni as his padawan a few months after the Armistice. The youngling had been marked by the war and an unfortunate adventure she had had during her Gathering on Ilum. She had developed an anxiety disorder which she controlled by stress-baking.
Obi-Wan could admit (to himself and Cody, but never to Anakin), that he had been oblivious when the initiate had brought him milk rolls nearly every morning. He had naively thought that she did it for others as well. The exasperated Head Cook had come to scold him, thinking he was letting the girl stew on purpose. She ended up explaining to an embarrassed Jedi Master that he was the only one to get warm milk rolls every morning and that the youngling was doing it to get his attention.
Katooni and he had a long conversation after that. Obi-Wan had agreed to take her as his padawan but insisted she shouldn’t bake for him. She had agreed. Now, she gave everything she baked to Cody, who invariably shared the food with Obi-Wan.
Case in point…
Cody held out the container under Obi-Wan’s nose while he bit into a cookie pointedly. Obi-Wan sighed but reached for a cookie without a comment. He was happy that Cody and Katooni had such a good relationship, he wasn’t going to begrudge them their little game. An eye poked out from underneath Obi-Wan’s arm, and he hummed approvingly.
“Excellent nut and chocolate combination,” he commented.
She beamed in delight.
“Hey, squirt!” Wolffe called as he loudly came down the ramp.
The young Nautolan he was talking to made a face but accepted the head rub he was given, resigned. Nonetheless, he evaded Wolffe as soon as he could to reach Plo, who squeezed his shoulder in greeting.
“Hello, young padawan.”
“Master,” Zatt sighed. “Why did you have to take him and leave me?”
Wolffe laughed as he walked away to the communal house he shared with his pack. “When you’re tall enough not to be squished by a crowd, we can switch, kiddo!”
“I’m tall!”
“Next year, padawan. You’d have had your growth spurt by then,” Plo told him gently before turning to Obi-Wan. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Definitely.”
They parted ways to go back to their housing, greeting the Jedi and clones they met on the way. Obi-Wan (and by extension Katooni) had chosen to live with Cody and several members of the 212th and 501st in a communal house. Since he split his time between Coruscant and Lothal, he felt it was silly to keep a whole house for himself. Like most Jedi (and clones), he was rather unused to the concept as well. Two bedrooms were sufficient for him and his padawan.
“Hey, Master Kenobi!”
Obi-Wan looked up, raising a hand to cover his eyes from the sun. A clone was leaning over the railing of a roof deck and waving at him.
The first thing the Jedi had requested from the clones if they wished to continue living together was to avoid all military ranks. The Jedi were all too eager to get rid of their ‘General’ and ‘Commander’ status.
“Joker, is that you? What are you— Oh, is Tsix with you?”
“Yeah, she’s doing her topography reading thing,” he replied, a drone passing over them to confirm that Tsix was hard at work mapping the land to plan for their next extensions (they had to be careful with the underground tunnels). “How was Coruscant?”
“As crowded as ever.”
“Sucks to be you. Did Katooni tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Obi-Wan asked with a raised eyebrow at his padawan who avoided his eyes.
“The Skywalkers are waiting for you.”
“I was supposed to keep it a surprise,” Katooni sighed.
“Ah.” Obi-Wan chuckled and patted her shoulder. “I’ll pretend to be surprised so Anakin doesn’t bother you.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Anakin liked to tease his sister padawan, but Katooni wasn't a great fan of his humor. She tended to put Ahsoka between the two of them whenever she was available.
Their communal house was similar to all the others, but its walls were personalized with paintings done by its inhabitants (a legacy from the clones painting their armors) and thus were mostly orange and blue.
The entrance led into a large common room currently filled to the brim. Obi-Wan didn’t need to force himself to act surprised. He hadn’t quite expected so many clones being present and welcoming them back loudly.
Anakin came out of the crowd to grab Obi-Wan by the shoulders with a large smile. “Didn’t I tell you we’d arrive before you?”
“Didn’t I tell you it wasn’t a race?” was the fondly exasperated reply.
They had seen each other three days before but had little time to talk between the different celebrations and the need to hurry back in time for Citizen Day. One day they would manage to celebrate everything together, including the twins’ birthday, but in the meantime, Obi-Wan had to drop off the presents and eat a piece of birthday cake in between two meetings. They would have to find a better arrangement once the children were older.
Padmé was a guest of honor of Citizen Day. She was sitting on a couch, surrounded by eager clones, although they were most interested in the two children by her side. Luke was curled against Padmé’s side and waved at Obi-Wan, but Leia, bolder, had stood up on the couch to look around her, leaning on Rex who sat beside her and kept her steady. Ahsoka was chatting (or play-fighting?) with Jesse and some others near the stairs.
The six of them often could be found together, although Rex and Ahsoka also traveled on their own. Once Anakin had been brought back from the Dark side (and it had taken weeks, and then months for all of them to be confident that he wouldn’t Fall again), he had left the Order to dedicate himself to his family. The choice had been inevitable. He had proven to himself and everyone else that he couldn’t handle both at the same time, and his Fall had weakened the trust that the Order had in him (and that he had in himself).
As difficult as it had been, Obi-Wan was content with the knowledge that his padawan had never been happier than he was now as a stay-at-home dad. He wasn’t sure that it would last indefinitely… but hopefully, he was wrong, and if not... they would deal with one thing at a time.
oOo
The drums started to beat a steady rhythm once the night had fallen.
“Uncle?” Luke mumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Now?
Obi-Wan hummed and kissed the boy’s forehead before lifting him a bit higher in his arms. Luke was extremely fond of him, for some reason, while Ahsoka was “Leia’s favorite” (as Anakin said). “Yes, Luke. It will start at any moment now… Ah, here, do you see? That’s the signal.” He pointed at a light over the Temple’s top.
Luke stared expectantly with a little fist in his mouth and then clapped when the fireworks show began. He had stayed stubbornly awake since his father had promised him a grand technical show (the boy already showed a fondness for everything mechanic, just like Anakin; thank the Force he was a little... calmer). Leia had given up after waving at the crowd “for hours, mommy” and fallen asleep in Rex’s arms. She was currently being shaken awake by Ahsoka. There would be a tantrum about missing the show, otherwise.
Obi-Wan smiled at the boy’s simple joy and glanced to the side to meet Cody’s eyes.
“They’re improving each year.”
Former munitions specialists had taken lessons to become pyrotechnists and create the fireworks themselves. The previous year had had a little malfunction at the beginning (“just a little bit of grass on fire; no big deal, Master Kenobi!”), but this time was perfect.
Cody chuckled and nodded in agreement.
The twins fell asleep again by the end of the show, and their parents gathered them to take them to bed.
“It’s a miracle they lasted that long,” Padmé commented, “they slept through the whole Armistice day show.”
“Bah, this one was better anyway,” Wolffe grumbled from where he was sprawled on the ground.
At the couple’s raised eyebrows (as nice as this one was, it was half as long and big as the one on Coruscant), Obi-Wan gestured to his eyes, made the hand signal for ‘light’ and then rubbed at his temple to explain Wolffe’s dislike for the Coruscanti show. They nodded in understanding.
“Thank you for inviting us, Master of the Temple,” Padmé said politely to Plo Koon before taking their leave.
“Thank you for joining us, Senator,” Plo replied kindly.
With the Temple of Lothal rising in importance for the Jedi Order, the Council had decided to make a few changes to their organization. Four members of the Council resided permanently on Lothal while six stayed on Coruscant and two traveled between the temples depending on where they were needed.
This organization had taken months to finalize, but it was currently working well.
On the other side of the half-circle formed by the crowd who had sat down to watch the show, Bly was looking at Master Koon and Kenobi thoughtfully.
“Why aren’t one of them the Master of the Order anyway?” he asked his companion.
Cal Kestis looked up from the padawan braid he was doing anew after it was undone when he play-fought with a few young clones. He followed Bly’s glance and tilted his head.
“Because they didn’t want to.”
“They didn’t?”
“You didn’t know? Before the vote could happen, they both stated that they didn’t wish to be considered. Master Koon wanted to stay here permanently, which wouldn’t work with the title, and Master Kenobi didn’t give a reason. Why? What do you have against Master Ti?”
“Nothing,” Bly assured promptly. “I just thought they made more sense.”
Cal hummed in understanding. “Yes, Master Tapal says that if they hadn’t refused, one of them would have definitely been chosen, and that’s why they said no.”
Bly blinked. “What?”
Footsteps made them turn around to see Master Tapal and Secura coming back from the buffet. Bly and Cal tried to stand up, by force of habit, but they were waved down. Jaro and Aayla sat with them on the soft grass instead.
“The most experienced are the most obvious leaders, but the most experienced are also the most tired men,” Aayla explained to Bly. “Master Kenobi and Koon have had to handle more than their fair share of responsibilities during the war, this one was too much and easily avoided.”
“Master Koon still accepted the title of Master of the Temple of Lothal.”
“Because it agrees with his interests, yes.”
Bly hummed in understanding. “And Master Kenobi?”
Jaro, who had taken over from his padawan to braid his hair and tie it, explained: “He’s currently enjoying a level of freedom which he has been deprived of for a while.”
“They make a cute team, Cody, Katooni, and he, don’t you think?” Aayla asked Bly.
“Yes…” Bly replied slowly and warily. He knew her well enough to guess that she was fishing for something.
She smiled. “I believe that Ganodi is ready for her first mission. Would you come with us?”
“Oh.” Well, that was an acceptable request. The Rodian kid was alright, and every clone knew that a young padawan needed to be supervised at all times. Being trained in the Force was synonymous with 'trouble-magnet'. “Of course.”
“Excellent. Now I can get Quinlan to leave me be and go back to his therapy sessions.”
Bly froze. That was a trap. Kriff. He needed to disappear for the rest of Master Vos' stay on Lothal. That man hated therapy sessions more fiercely than the Wolffe Pack hated the Kaminoans... well, no, that wasn't possible, but he was trying.
Next to him, Galle came out of his light doze and reached for him, mumbling: “D’you need an extraction?”
Snorting, Bly patted his shoulder. “Go back to sleep, Galle. I’ll live.”
“But at what price? I can get Meili to hide you among the cadets. You’d just have to play babysitter the whole time.”
“Leave it, Galle. I won’t join the Care Corps.”
“Come on. Your talents are wasted in the Builders Corps, Bly!”
“You still didn’t recover from your last laserball game, have you, Galle?” Aayla asked with an amused smile.
“He’s such a sore loser,” Bly pointed out with a roll of his eyes, pushing away his vod as he tried to grab him in retaliation.
The clones of Lothal had divided themselves into two corps: those who built and maintained the town, and those who took care of the young and the Jedi. Their rivalry had started with competitions such as laserball, parkour, or other sports they organized to entertain themselves.
It livened things up… a lot.
“Attention, please!”
They fell silent and turned to see Meili Kocho had walked onto the stage raised for the occasion.
“For some reason, the Command asked me to do this… like… speech thing,” she said when she got the attention of the crowd. She was standing with her hands on her hips. “But I’ll make it short. You all remember that, last year, the Jedi brought a surprise for the celebration.”
She gestured behind her at the large statue commemorating Fives’ sacrifice and how he had saved them all from disaster. The statue was standing between two natural stone cones, right in front of the Temple, and couldn’t be missed.
“Well, this year, the Command have their own surprise for the Jedi… ready, boys?”
The clones called in agreement, ignoring the Jedi's curious glances.
“Ok then…” She cleared her throat and said in the most solemn voice she was capable of: “Execute Order Sixty-six.”
Aayla startled as she was suddenly covered in… (she raised her full hands to her baffled eyes) flower petals? She looked up at a grinning Bly and Galle, wide-eyed, and then turned to find that several clones had sneaked up on her with a (now empty) bucket.
Cal squealed in delighted surprise as he was caught and lifted up. “Nimble!”
Beside him, Jaro chuckled as some of his men tried to kiss the top of his head.
Near the stage, Obi-Wan was in the middle of a group hug. He couldn’t be seen anymore, but his laughter rang loud and clear.
“If you hear ‘execute order sixty-six’, protect and hug your Jedi, and kriff everyone else who says otherwise!” a tipsy clone shouted from the crowd, and the rest of them cheered.