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When Jango came to, he was in a cell. With his head still down he could tell he was on a ship. It made sense, the last thing that Jango remembered was being ambushed.
Only when Jango tried to reach out in the force, he realized that he couldn’t . He looked up at his wrists and saw force suppression cuffs on him. He sighed inwardly. Of course this wouldn’t be easy.
Jango surveyed his cell and realized he wasn’t alone. Across from him was a Mandalorian, without his helmet and chest armor. He had a gash on his temple, so Jango knew he went down swinging. His armor was neatly painted red, green, and teal as accents, but most was unpainted beskar it seemed. The Mandalorian’s cuffs were regular, Jango noted.
With only stubble, the Mandalorian looked young. His ginger hair was getting close to his ears; it was similar to when padawans become knights and revel in the fact that they can actually grow their hair. Something about him seemed familiar...
Oh well, he was patient, Jango’s master made sure of that. As a youngling, and a padawan, Jango had a short temper with the other kids; with Master Jedi, too. But now, knighted, Jango can see through his anger and let it go, so he will wait for the Mandalorian to wake up.
The Mandalorian woke with a start after some time, Jango guessed twenty minutes or so. He seemed to pull at the chains, ready to fight. His eyes were flashing when they looked up at Jango, a stormy blue.
He scowled. “ Jetii .”
“Yes, hello,” Jango greeted. For this to work, he needed to be calm. “Glad to see you awake.”
The Mandalorian only glared at him.
“My name is-”
“I don’t care what your name is, Jetii , I don’t need your help to get out of here,” he practically growled. “You’re lucky I’m in cuffs right now.”
As angry as the Mandalorian was, the threat seemed empty.
Jango stood and waited for the Mandalorian to calm down. He knew nothing he could say would calm down.
With a sigh, the Mandalorian laid his head against the wall. “I’m sorry, Jaster keeps saying I need to work on my anger. My name is Obi-Wan.”
“Jango Fett.”
Obi-Wan eyed him. “You a Master?”
“No, just a Knight so far.”
Obi-Wan nodded. “Any plan out, Jetii Knight?”
Jango raised an eyebrow at Obi-Wan. “I thought you said you could get out of here by yourself, why do you need my plan?” Jango simply smirked when Obi-Wan glared at him.
“Can’t you use the force to free yourself?”
“Sadly no,” Jango sighed as he looked back at the cuffs on his wrists. “Whoever has us was smart enough to use force suppression cuffs.”
With a huff, Obi-Wan closed his eyes, concentrating on something. After a moment of letting Obi-Wan do… whatever it is he’s doing, Jango spoke up.
“What exactly are you doing right now, Obi-Wan?”
Obi-Wan opened his eyes, made eye contact for a second before looking away. “Before Jaster found me, I… I was a padawan.”
Jango’s eyes widened. Was that why he was familiar? Once they were out of here, Jango had to ask about who Obi-Wan’s master was, figure out how he became Mandalorian.
“I haven’t used the force in a while, but, I just thought…” Obi-Wan looked uncertain. “I wouldn’t be able to do it, nevermind.”
“No, no,” Jango urged. “I can walk you through it, I can help you.”
Obi-Wan was quiet, and looked hesitant. “Fine.”
Jango smiled at him. “Great, to get your cuffs off, you need to reach out-”
With a blank look, Obi-Wan pulled his arms as far as he could, the chains clinking with his effort. “It’s kinda hard to reach out right now, Jango.”
“Reach out with the force.”
“Oh.”
Jango smiled as Obi-Wan’s face had a dusting of pink. “Right, reach out with the force. Focus on your cuffs, and the locks in them.” As Jango spoke, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and his face scrunched up in concentration. Just then, two clicks echoed out. Obi-Wan massaged his wrists with a beaming smile.
“Good work, Obi-Wan,” Jango said with a smile. He’d never had a padawan before, so Jango wasn’t sure he could explain it in a way that Obi-Wan would understand.
Obi-Wan ducked his head. “Thank you, I didn’t think I could still use the force.” He shook his head and walked towards Jango. “Your cuffs, could I use the force on them? I know it suppresses the force, but…”
Jango looked up at the cuffs on his wrists as he pondered the question. “I’m honestly not sure.”
It seemed Obi-Wan tried, closing his eyes again. When he opened them, he just glared at the cuffs. He huffed and looked down at his bracers, and a vibroblade popped on the outer side of his wrist.
“Stay still,” was the only warning that Jango got before Obi-Wan attempted picking the lock with his blade. How ever worrisome it seemed, Obi-Wan had him uncuffed in only a few moments.
The two stood in their cell before leaving, Jango checking his wrists out and Obi-Wan swinging his arms around. The position the two of them were in wasn’t great for their bodies, standing, unconscious, with their wrists chained high on the wall and all their weight being carried on their shoulders.
“I need my armor back,” Obi-Wan grumbled, looking down at himself. “Why they only took my helmet and chestplate is beyond me, though,” Obi-Wan looked up at Jango. “Your kad’au , as well. Let’s go.”
“If we run into any smugglers-”
“Smugglers? These were pirates that captured us, Jetii , not mere smugglers,” Obi-Wan corrected.
Jango huffed. “If we run into any pirates , we can’t kill them.”
Obi-Wan laughed abruptly. “ You can’t kill them. I don’t follow your code.”
“You used to.”
“You want me to kill you, Jetii ?” Obi-Wan said lowly as he got in Jango’s face. “I won’t need a vibroblade to kill you.”
“If you were going to kill me, Obi-Wan, you would’ve already,” Jango replied.
With a huff, Obi-Wan turned back to the door. Out of Jango’s sight Obi-Wan was able to get their cell door open. Silently, Obi-Wan gestured Jango to follow.
The two of them were able to get the end of the brig before they ran into someone. Obi-Wan headbutt the pirate, which stunned them both; Jango surged forward and gave the pirate a sleep suggestion and helped him into a sitting position.
When Jango turned, Obi-Wan was leaning against the wall holding his head, groaning. Jango walked towards him as he tried to stifle a laugh. Obi-Wan winced as he whipped his head up – clearly too fast of a movement for him right now – to glare at him.
“I’m used to having my helmet,” he muttered. “Instinct.”
“Good instincts, you got.”
Obi-Wan visibly took a calming breath, and muttered to himself, “Jaster better be proud of me.”
Jaster. It was the second time Obi-Wan said the name. He must be important to Obi-Wan, maybe a father figure?
“I don’t want to escape with a concussed Mandalorian, can I heal you?” Jango lifted one hand as he spoke cautiously. Obi-Wan glared at his hand like it offended him, but sighed as he nodded. Jango put his hand on Obi-Wan’s forehead as he used the force to heal him. It must’ve felt nice, since Obi-Wan hummed after a moment.
“Thank you, Jango.”
He nodded. “Of course, now let’s get out of here.”
They found a camera room before their weapons and armor. Jango, because he was leading, was able to use another sleep suggestion. He may not want to kill them, but Jango wasn’t stupid . These pirates would sleep for hours, ten at least.
“I see them!”
Jango turned to Obi-Wan, who was smiling at a screen. On the screen was either their armory or where they stored their stolen goods. On a table was Obi-Wan’s helmet and chestplate, but Jango’s lightsaber wasn’t there.
“My saber,” Jango said. “It’s not there.”
Obi-Wan gave him a look. “Look in the weequay’s hand.”
Looking back at the screen, the weequay in question was indeed holding his saber. He seemed to be showing it off to his crewmates. He spun around and laughed, and both Jango and Obi-Wan saw his face.
“Hondo,” Obi-Wan glared at the screen. “Of course, of course it’s Hondo.”
“You know him?” Jango asked. He knew Hondo, of course he did. He ran into him when he was a padawan. Hondo was honorable, so at least Jango didn’t have to worry too much about why they were captured.
“Hondo Ohnaka is pretty well known in the Outer Rim, Jango,” Obi-Wan sighed. “Good thing is that we don’t need to fight anymore.”
Jango turned to Obi-Wan with narrowed eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” Obi-Wan looked at Jango with a smirk. “We’re… close, you could say. I can work this out.”
Jango stared at Obi-Wan, who was ready to kill just a moment before. “If you’re sure, lead the way.”
When they made it to the pirates, Obi-Wan basically kicked the door down.
“Hondo, you bastard!” Obi-Wan yelled as he stormed to Hondo. Jango watched Obi-Wan, cautiously, but stayed in step with him. “Why did you kidnap me? I was doing a job for Jaster.”
“Ah, Kenobi, my friend,” Hondo smiled, and Jango noted that his lightsaber was still in Hondo’s hand. “I’m doing a job for Jaster, too, my boy!”
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at Hondo and scowled. Next to Obi-Wan’s chestplate was a blaster; assuming it was Obi-Wan’s, Jango called it with the force and handed it to Obi-Wan. He took it without a word and stepped closer to Hondo and put the barrel under Hondo’s chin.
“And what job is that?” Obi-Wan spoke in the same way he threatened Jango, the venom was there, but no real intent.
Hondo smiled down at Obi-Wan. “Setting his son up with a date, of course!”
The room was silent, not even the other pirates dared to speak. Obi-Wan unloaded the safety on his blaster.
“Would you like to repeat that, with the real job this time?”
Hondo laughed, uncaring about the blaster aimed at him. Jango wondered if Hondo took the bullets out. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Kenobi, your father was saying you need someone to help ground you, and I told Jaster, ‘why, I have just the man for your son!’ And, here we are,” Hondo gestured at Jango. “Obi-Wan Kenobi, meet Jango Fett.”
Obi-Wan turned to Jango. “ You know Hondo?”
Jango shrugged. “We’ve met. Once or twice.”
“‘Once or twice’? You wound me, Fett,” Hondo said dramatically, bringing the back of his hand to his forehead.
“ I’ll wound you, Hondo,” Obi-Wan spoke through gritted teeth, and his face was getting redder. “Jaster let you… let you set me up with a Jetii ?”
Hondo laughed again. “Oh no, Kenobi, Jaster doesn’t know he’s a Jedi. You can tell him when you get married!”
“ Married ?!”
Obi-Wan was getting redder by the moment, so Jango decided to step up.
“Obi-Wan-”
The man in question simply glared at him, but Jango noticed that his face got redder when they made eye contact. Interesting.
“Now that we know neither of us are in danger, I think you should put the blaster down,” Jango said in a low voice. His goal was to be calm, but…
Jango wasn’t blind. Obi-Wan was very attractive; so if his voice was a little suggestive, could he be blamed?
Obi-Wan said nothing, but stormed towards his chestplate and helmet. He put his blaster in his holster, which had been on his person, and didn’t bother to put on his armor before walking out of the room. Jango put his hand out in front of Hondo.
“My lightsaber, Hondo.”
“Ah, Fett,” Hondo smiled as he placed the weapon in Jango’s hand. “You and Obi-Wan will just make the perfect pair, I know it!”
“Thank you, Hondo, but a comm would be more appreciated than being captured,” Jango smiled at Hondo before turning to leave.
“But where’s the fun in that, my friend?”
Jango tracked down Obi-Wan, which wasn’t hard, following his presence through the ship. Obi-Wan was standing outside a ship – presumably Obi-Wan’s. His chestplate was on, but his helmet was still on the ground.
“Do you have room for one more?”
Obi-Wan seemed startled, jumping when Jango spoke. “Of course I have room, but not for you.”
“Look, Obi-Wan, I have no other way out of here. I don’t have my commlink–” a lie. “–so you would just need to drop me at the nearest Jedi Temple.”
Obi-Wan gave him a look. “Not on Coruscant?”
“Unless it’s the closest one, no.”
The two stared at each other, before Obi-Wan wordlessly turned around, opened his ship and marched on. Jango followed him; he didn’t close his ship.
“Get comfortable,” Obi-Wan mumbled.
“Could I join you in the cockpit? I need to see where we are to know which Temple is the closest,” Jango said as he looked around Obi-Wan’s ship. It had some memorabilia from planets and jobs, but it wasn’t too personal; which either meant Obi-Wan had a home to put his more personal possessions, or that he was just spartan in nature.
Obi-Wan breathed out a sigh. “Yes, of course.”
As Obi-Wan sat himself in the captain’s seat and began turning on the ship and readying for takeoff, Jango looked at the holomap.
“You have two choices, Alaris Prime in P-9, or Devaron in M-13,” Jango said.
“Tell me where we are first,” Obi-Wan said as he leaned back.
“P-17, closest planet is… Melida/Daan, it says.”
“Melida/Daan?” Obi-Wan was quiet, and seemed surprised, and maybe a little distraught.
“You know the planet?” Jango asked, despite it being pretty obvious to him
Obi-Wan let out a shaky breath. “Do you know what happened on Melida/Daan? Did they tell you at the temple?” He sounded bitter.
Jango thought before he answered. “Something about a civil war, I think.”
“That’s when I stopped being a Jedi.”
He waited a beat. “What?”
“My Master and I were sent to save another Jedi Master who was sent there,” Obi-Wan spoke almost… robotically, the most emotion he conveyed was when he said ‘Master,’ which was full of bitterness and pain . “Despite the third faction that came into play, the Young, my Master said it was pointless. It wasn’t pointless, he was just in love with the Master we were sent to save.”
“Your Master…” Jango whispered. “He left you? The Young were children I assume”
“Yes, and yes. He left and never came back. I don’t know what he told your council, I don’t even know if he has another padawan. All I know is that he never wanted me as a padawan and left me on a warring planet.”
“How old were you?”
“Thirteen.”
Jango felt disgusted. How could anyone do that and still be a Jedi? “I need to report this to the council. I can’t let that happen again, it shouldn’t have even happened . Can you tell me your Master’s name?”
Obi-Wan was quiet, and he was messing with the steering mechanism. “Qui-Gon Jinn.”
Jango nodded. “Obi-Wan, I… I’m sorry. That never should have happened to you.”
Obi-Wan only shrugged. Jango was a Jedi, he knew about conflicts. But a thirteen year-old on a warring planet…
“I was born on Concord Dawn,” Jango said. He didn’t want Obi-Wan to feel awkward, having to talk about his past; so Jango decided to share his own.
“That’s in the Mandalore Sect.”
“Yes.”
“But you’re a Jetii ?”
“Also yes.”
They were quiet.
“How did they… how did you become a Jedi?”
“My father died, an attack from Death Watch, so my mother flew herself, my sister, and I away. A few weeks out of Mandalore Sect and some Jedi spoke to my mom.”
“Your mother, a Mandalorian , let a Jetii take you?” Obi-Wan sounded appalled at the very thought.
“Yes, on the condition that I could reach out to her if I wanted to. And I did,” Jango smiled at Obi-Wan. “Mandalorians and Jedi, we don’t have to be in conflict.”
Obi-Wan looked up at Jango, and his stormy blue eyes didn’t look so stormy anymore. Obi-Wan must’ve noticed he was staring and looked away abruptly, his face reddened again.
“The quardenets, you said I had two options?”
They landed safely on Devaron near the Temple, but not too close.
“This is your stop,” Obi-Wan said, his hands still on the steering mechanism.
Jango stood, and dropped a piece of flimsi on Obi-Wan’s lap. “In case you ever want to talk.”
Obi-Wan picked it up and looked at it. He looked back up at Jango, surprised. “You’re giving me your Commlink code?”
“If you ever want to reach out,” Jango smiled, gave Obi-Wan a pat on the shoulder, and a kiss on the cheek. “I hope we meet again, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”