Star Wars: Secrets of the Jedi (AU)

Chapter Nine

"What could possibly be bigger than you being married to Siri?" Anakin asked carefully, almost afraid of the answer he'd receive.

Obi-Wan shook his head ruefully. "Perhaps you should sit down, Padawan."

Anakin took a seat. He was looking suspiciously at his mentor. "This isn't good, is it?" he questioned.

Obi-Wan sat down across from Anakin and gave him a small smile. "That depends on how you look at things, I suppose. If you're willing to listen, I'm ready to tell you the truth; the entire truth."

Anakin knew a turning point when he saw one. He and Obi-Wan had connected when he'd told the older man of his marriage as well as when Obi-Wan confessed his own marriage. But he had a hunch that this was bigger.

"I'm listening, Master," Anakin told him.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath and began his story. "Six years ago, I went on a mission alone when you were ill. Do you remember?"

Anakin nodded. "Yes. You were sent to negotiate a treaty between the warring factions on...Alpha Nori IV."

"Right," Obi-Wan confirmed. "What I didn't know at the time was that Siri had been sent there as well, undercover with one of the factions."

Anakin considered that information for a few moments. "She didn't come back to the Temple until almost a year after that mission, Master. Did something happen?"

Obi-Wan gave the barest hint of a smile. "You might say that."

/

Two Months After Alpha Nori IV

Coruscant—Lower Levels

Obi-Wan was pacing. He had panicked from the very moment Siri had told him they needed to talk. They been married for four years, and they'd spent only a handful of moments together, but they were all good moments.

He could sense her presence as she neared his location. She was nervous as well.

"Obi-Wan?" came her voice from behind him.

He whirled around and gasped when he saw her face. He cheeks were lined with tears and she looked so sad. Obi-Wan immediately moved to her and pulled her into his arms. Her blonde head rested against his chest as she continued to cry.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly as he ran his fingers through her hair, trying to soothe her as best he could. "You're trembling. What's wrong?"

She pulled back and looked up into his eyes. "Something wonderful has happened."

"What?" he asked a little impatiently. He didn't like to see Siri upset.

She tried to smile, but couldn't quite make it happen. There was too much uncertainty in what she had to say for it to be something to smile about; yet. "Obi, I'm pregnant."

In that instant, a thousand different emotions coursed through Obi-Wan; fear, elation, anger at the Jedi Code that forbid him what was now his. But most of all, he felt an overwhelming love for his wife and unborn child.

"That's...that...that's wonderful," he finally managed to say.

Siri met his gaze with an intense and somewhat fearful one of her own. "What are we going to do?" she wondered out loud.

Obi-Wan framed her face with his hands and smiled. "We're not going to worry about anything right now, all right? This is a happy moment; the happiest moment of my life."

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers and drew her into a hug. They stood there for nearly twenty minutes before pulling apart and saying their goodbyes.

"I love you," Obi-Wan told her.

"I love you too," she whispered back.

/

Anakin was, to put it mildly, absolutely shocked. Of everything he'd imagined, hearing Obi-Wan telling him that he'd fathered a child had never once crossed his mind.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked after a few moments of silence. "Say something."

"I'm not sure I can," he bit out. "You're...wow, you're a father."

Obi-Wan chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, I am."

Anakin stood and walked across the room. He stood staring out at the busy space lanes. "Do you have a son or a daughter?" he asked after a few moments.

"A son," he answered. "His name is Zakk. He'll be five standard years old in a few days."

"Kenobi or Tachi?"

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "His birth record shows his official surname is Kenobi, but for the purposes of hiding his identity, we gave him the surname Zhantari."

Anakin whirled around, surprised. "That's where you were born. You chose the name of your home planet as his surname. You hid him in plain sight."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Exactly. It's the name of the world I was born on and it translates into 'bright star'. It seemed appropriate for him. He was our bright star from the moment he was born."

"How did Siri manage to hide a pregnancy from the entire Temple?" Anakin asked.

"She had been on so many undercover assignments that she felt burnt out, so she asked the Council for a leave of absence," Obi-Wan explained. "It was granted and she retreated to Corellia to have our child."

"Where is your son now?" Anakin wanted to know.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "He's here. After he was born, Siri returned to the Temple with him. She told the Council that his mother had died and he was Force-sensitive. He was accepted into the Jedi Order."

Anakin shook his head again. It was all so much to process. "I just...I never imagined my strict, by the Code master to be such a..." he stopped, not knowing what to say.

"Such a hypocrite?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin nodded guiltily.

"It's alright, Anakin," he told the younger man. "I am a hypocrite. But no more, I promise. There won't be any more secrets between you and me."

Anakin smiled. "Does anyone else know about him?"

"Master Yoda knows," he confided. "He found out four years ago right after I was injured."

Silence enveloped the room for a bit before Anakin spoke again.

"Can I meet him?" he ventured.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Of course. I've been waiting a long time for you to be able to meet your...nephew."

Anakin smiled at that reference. He'd always thought of Obi-Wan as a big brother, and now to have a nephew was amazing. Blood ties or not, Anakin knew there would be a bond between all of them that was as strong as any family.

The two men walked from the room, both so consumed by their discussion that they failed to see, or sense Chancellor Palpatine standing in the shadows across from their room. He had retreated to the dark corner after having stood outside the door, listening by way of Force-enhanced hearing to their conversation; just long enough to learn about little Zakk Zhantari.