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They were cornered.
The battlefield around them was charred, blackened and burning. They had no hope of winning with all of their air support blown up, half of their battalions slaughtered and a huge fleet of separatists closing in, and fast. They retreated into a trench, but Obi-Wan knew they could only hold it for so long. They would not win, and they would all die, unless…
Unless Obi-Wan let go.
“I hoped I had more time,” Obi-Wan said softly. He looked around at his men, his wonderful, incredible men, all tired and bleeding and brave. Even after days of endless battle, his men stood strong and proud. Waxer is crouched next to Boil, prepping piles of grenades. Wooley is prepping a cannon, and Helix is dressing the wounds of the few men they managed to save. They’re young, heartbreakingly young, but he’s never met better men.
He’s going to miss them all.
Anakin paused and set down his tools, his metal arm sparking. He rolled his eyes playfully, nudging him. “Master, I know this isn’t looking good- I mean, we half barely any supplies, I have one arm left, and the separatists just bought in an entire new fleet- but it’s just another Tuesday. We can win this.”
There was another explosion and the ground shook with its intensity.
“Not this time, Anakin,” and force, he wishes they could. He desperately wants Anakin to magic a brilliant plan from nothing and pull off a daring rescue, defeating ten fleets of the separatist forces. “Not this time.”
Anakin faltered, “What-what do you mean?”
Obi-Wan looked at Anakin with grave eyes and said simply, “We both know that I couldn’t stay in my human form forever. It’s time.”
Anakin froze, his eyes widening in shock and horror.
“No, Master, no! You can’t! You can’t leave me, not yet and not ever- I- I won’t let you do this!” he yelled, “I can't let you do this, master, I can’t let you go. It’s too soon, please, don’t go.”
“Anakin, you know I must-“
“No, we’ll find another way,” Anakin paced desperately, his eyes wild and his jaw hard, “We could- we could lead a sneak attack directly into their ships and rig them to blow, or we could capture their Generals and take them as hostages, or, or-“
“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said sharply. His former Padawan flinched as if struck, and while he truly regretted snapping, he must explain himself before he goes. It’s the only chance he will ever get.
“Anakin…” he said, sighing softly and opening his arms, “Come here, dear one. Let me hold you one last time.”
Anakin let out a small, broken noise and launched himself into his arms, burying his face into his neck. Anakin clung to his robes with his one arm like a child, and sobbed loud and desperate, heaving tears and choked breathes. Around them, the clones froze at their unusual display of emotion- he felt their confusion and worry in the force- and Ahsoka looked startled.
“Master,” Anakin sobbed, “Master, I don’t want to lose you. I already lost mum, I can’t- I can’t- I can’t- I- I- I-“ he cried high in his throat, a terrible sound, and all Obi-Wan could do was hold him in the force and his arms. He enveloped Anakin’s force presence with his own and cradled him lovingly and tenderly, never wanting to let go.
“Anakin,” he said gently, rocking the sobbing man gently, “I will never leave you. But you know that I must go now. Remember that song I used to sing to you after your nightmares? Let’s sing it together.”
He cleared his throat, his own tears stiffening his throat.
“Come stop your crying, it’ll be alright. Just taken my hand and hold it tight,” Obi-Wan’s rich timber spilled across the trenches, now silent apart from the distant sounds of bombing, “I will protect you from all around you. I will be here, don’t you cry.”
Anakin took a shuddering breath, his body shaking in grief.
“For one so small, you seem so strong,” Anakin whispered, his face pulled in anguish, “my arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm.”
He was nearly collapsing onto Obi-Wan in his grief. Obi-Wan kissed his forehead, “This bond between us can’t be broken. I will be here, don’t you cry.”
Memories unfolded. Anakin, crawling into his bed after a nightmare for the first time, so tiny and scared and hopeful. His first trip to Illum and his disgusted reaction to snow. His first taste of fish (which he promptly hated), his awestruck expression when he was given his very own credits card (For emergencies, Anakin, not ship scraps!), his smiles, his tears, his hugs.
Obi-Wan pushed his love through their bond and felt it glow. Their bond will never be the same after what happens next, so while he still has it, he sends every scrap of affection he’s ever felt towards Anakin. Anakin sobs again, but this time, it’s with a sad joy.
“Hush, Anakin. Now and forevermore, I promise you.”
Anakin drew back and looked at him with puffy and teary blue eyes, “Master… I- “
“I know,” Obi-Wan said softly. He cradled Anakin’s cheek in his hand and Anakin leant into his touch, his eyes squeezing shut in grief. “I know, dear one, and I’ve always known. I feel the same. How could I not love my little brother?” Obi-Wan paused, a teasing smile on his lips,” Well, now that I think of it… you’ve crashed my ships, set fire to my robes, and replaced my conditioner with green hair dye before very important diplomatic meetings… I think I love a gremlin.”
Anakin weakly punched him in the arm, “Stop it, Master.”
“You know I’m right,” Obi-Wan booped him on the nose, “Are you ready to let me go yet?”
Tears spilled down Anakin’s filthy cheeks, “… Don’ wanna.” But he didn’t say no.
Obi-Wan carded his fingers through Anakin’s shoulder length locks, “I’m so proud of you. You are brave and kind and compassionate and everything I ever dreamed you could be and more. You have been so brave, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said honestly, letting his love for him overflow into the force.
“I must go, but you will never be alone. Trust in yourself and in the force, and you will never be led astray. You have a lot of weight on your shoulders, and I know that it’s difficult, dear one, and you try so hard. It can be hard to do what’s right sometimes. But I believe in you, I always have.” He said everything that Anakin needed to hear, what he should have said years ago, and felt Anakin’s soul pulse with joy.
With one last hug, one that Obi-Wan and Anakin desperately clung to, they parted with heavy hearts.
“… You’re out of time, huh?” Anakin said humourlessly, “Funny, for some who is never a moment late.”
“I know.”
Obi-Wan turned to a bewildered looking Ahsoka and gave her a warm hug, “I haven’t been the grandmaster I should have been, but I am proud of you, Padawan. May the force be with you.”
“… Masters, what’s happening?” Ahsoka whispered, “Why is Master Obi-Wan saying goodbye?”
Obi-Wan smiled kindly, if sadly. “Because I have to go. The only chance you have of walking out of this battle alive is if I shed my human skin and destroy the separatists.”
Ahsoka shakes her head, “What, no, you're human. Skyguy, Master Obi-Wan is human, right?”
Anakin stayed silent, the tears leaking from his red rimmed eyes saying all she needs to know.
“I don’t understand.”
“Ahsoka,” he said gently, “I am a Starbird. A being of pure energy that inhabits a human skin for the first few decades of life, before bursting forth in towering flames and taking to the stars. Once I shed my skin, I can never return, and I will live amongst the stars for the next thousand years.”
Ahsoka looks devastated but she nods solemnly, a true Jedi. He is so proud of her. “I understand. May the force be with you, Master.”
“And with you, Ahsoka.”
The men look on with varying degrees of shock, horror and sadness. “It’s been an honour, General,” Waxer said, voice suspiciously wet, “We could have never asked for a finer general.”
“Thank you. You are the best men I’ve ever had the privilege to know. Aliit ori'shya tal'din.”
Family is more than just blood.
“Aliit ori'shya tal'din, General.”
There are more than a few men crying now. Obi-Wan bows deeply to them all, a sign of deep respect, and they all salute him. Wooley stands on a boulder and raises a fist, “Let’s hear it for General, Kenobi! Oya!”
Hundreds of clones together, roaring in pride and farewell, “OYA!”
Men cheered and cried as he walked away and out of the trenches. Anakin grieved but sent all of his love, all of his apologies, through their bond, and Ahsoka watched solemnly. Obi-Wan would miss them with all of his heart. He had truly believed, wanted to believe, that he could live as a human until he was old and grey and both of his Padawans had grown up to be Masters. It was not meant to be, as the force wills it.
He was six years old when he was told that he wasn’t quite human, and that one day he would leave his body behind. Starbird's are rare creatures in the galaxy, so rare that only a few have been seen in person. Almost nothing is known about them except that they are being’s pure energy, and their young, in human form, appears in a rush of flames in the presence of its chosen caretakers. Obi-Wan was not in the nursery until he suddenly was, the carpet charred beneath him and his eyes glowing with flames. The Jedi knew they were chosen to raise him, and they did.
He never wanted to leave this soon.
The energy and powers roils and pulses inside him behind the barrier of his human flesh. He can never touch it as a human, and the moment he lets that barrier down… there’s no going back.
A hand clasps his. It’s Cody.
“You didn’t think you’d be going without me, did you?” Cody smiled grimly, “I have to keep you from getting killed, ner Jettii. We’re in this together.”
“You do know that if you do this, there is no going back? You can never hug your brothers again,” Obi-Wan warns, “You would never know the touch of mortal flesh.”
Cody rests their foreheads together and closes his eyes. They both do. It’s a quiet intimacy, and it feels like they are touching souls.
“I would follow you anywhere. I would follow you into hell or into heaven, and I am going to follow you into the stars.”
“Are you sure?”
“Always,” Cody promises, and passionately kisses Obi-Wan for the first and last time. It was warm, and sad, and joyous and a bit wet from their tears, but it was perfect.
Obi-Wan breaks apart, breathless. The sound of bombs and blaster cannons was growing closer, and they had to do this now. He strokes Cody’s cheek and the other man’s eyes flutter shut, a tear falling from his eye.
“Always,” Obi-Wan agrees, “This is going to hurt.”
Excruciating, actually. He’s never done it before, but he knows it’s not going to tickle. Cody only shakes his head with a fond smile, almost saying ‘look at this idiot- still doesn’t get that I love him.’
“The best things do.”
“Don’t let go of my hand,” Obi-Wan breathes, suddenly terrified, “Please.”
Cody tenderly kisses his wrist, “Never.”
They were both ready. They have said goodbye to their families, and they will do what they need to do to save them. Obi-Wan will transform into his true form, and he will take Cody with him in the rebirth, and the Commander will be reborn as a Starbird.
Obi-Wan closes his eyes and exhales, and he let’s go.
It burns.
His flesh is being torn apart from within. His eyes turn to fire, light pours out of his mouth, his hands, his skin- he’s being cooked from the inside, being torn apart cell by cell, and it’s agonising. He screams soundlessly and great wings of burning fire erupt from his back.
Cody never lets go of his hand.
A pillar of opaque golden flames erupts around them. They are enveloped by the fire, and it is so bright that nobody can bear to look. From the trenches, the clones cover their eyes with a pained shout, and Anakin bows his head as the bond to his master changes.
The pillow of light and fire grows until it is hundreds of feet tall and it slowly expands until the fire suddenly pulls in until it is contained in a dense sphere no bigger than a fist. Obi-Wan and Cody are silhouettes of gold with great wings stretching from their backs, until the ball of light expands and envelopes them in an explosion of pure energy.
When the light disappears, Obi-Wan and Cody are gone. Or rather, their bodies are. In their place are two beings.
One is a fiery red and orange. It has no body, more like a shifting prism of light and fire, with two stretches of starburst and solar waves that go forever and also don’t that could be called wings. Its eyes could be the bottomless spheres of stars and constellations with the galaxy reflected within them, and if you look too long, you drown. It has no mouth or feet or organs- it has no need.
It’s Obi-Wan.
The second is smaller, but just as ethereal and otherworldly. Instead of the fiery red and orange, Cody is a calm swirl of dark blue and gold. His eyes look like nebulas, and his wings could be dark matter, or they could be something wonderous and better left unknown.
They are beautiful. Ethereal. You could stare at them all day and still not understand what they look like, or what they are. They could be as big as a mansion or as small as a man, nobody really knows. Their forms shift and change like the tide, and a man could go mad with their beauty.
They are dangerous. They are not meant to be seen by mankind.
With a beautiful, musical cry, the two Starbird's fly towards the separatists. The ships crumble if they so much as touch a wing, and the massive army of droids burns to a crisp. Epic blasts of ethereal Starfire cut through separatist ships like they are nothing, and their ethereal bodies paint the sky. Obi-Wan, with his fiery brilliance, and Cody, with his enchanting blue and gold.
Count Dooku and General Grievous die on those ships, as does Nute Gunray.
The two Starbird's sing and trill songs of love and goodbye that make the people below weep. Their families are safe, and they have to go now. They spin and twirl around each other, playing like children. They are joyful and endless, and as they spiral towards the stars, their colours entwine and mix and twist together, their great wings wrap around each other’s shifting bodies, before they disappear in a dazzling pulse of red, gold and blue fire.
Back on the surface, Anakin wipes at his eyes. His Master, his brother, is gone, but he feels oddly at peace. More peaceful then he’s ever felt in his life. He can’t quite remember what Obi-Wan and Cody looked like as Starbird's, or how they sounded, but they were beautiful.
“… Master, what just happened?” Ahsoka asked dazedly, still looking at where Obi-Wan and Cody disappeared in an otherworldly display of lights and fire.
He cried some more. Bittersweet.
“They went home, Ahsoka,” he smiled, tears streaming down his face, “Obi-Wan and Cody went home, but I don’t think they are ever going to leave us. Not really.”
His bond still thrummed with light, warm and love love love love, and he knew that whatever the future threw at him, he could handle it.
Years later, after Chancellor Palpatine was arrested and executed for treason against the Republic and the murder of millions, after Ahsoka was knighted, after Anakin retired from the Jedi and after Padme gave birth to their twins, Luke and Leia, a miracle happened.
Anakin was tucking his children into bed, now six years old, when a sphere of red, gold and blue flames erupted on the carpet. The twins screamed, Anakin brandished his lightsabre and Padme rushed into the room, when the flames died down and revealed a baby.
It had bronze skin and auburn hair. It was tiny, basically a newborn, but it had endless blue eyes Anakin would recognise anywhere.
His old bond shuddered with change love children baby mine look after?
Anakin picked up the baby girl and she giggled, a beautiful, joyous sound. He kissed her forehead, and he named her his own.
“Now and forever more, master.”