The sunset strains Satine's shadow all along the dining hall floor. When she steps out of the light blade, she looks leaner than I remembered. Her eyes are rimmed with fatigue and her pale cleavage displays too defined collar-bones. This new, subtle frailty makes me want to tell her all is going to be okay, or perhaps just feed her Puff cake and Hoth chocolate.
"Duchess," I murmur, bowing my head to kiss her hand.
Satine holds my shoulders at arms distance, as pondering a kid's growth. What she sees troubles her. However, when I offer her my arm, her lips raise in a thin smile.
As long as we all hang around, carrying flutes of iced sparkling wine and discussing politics, it goes relatively well - which is something, given that the topics of Mandalore's neutrality and the Senate's radicalisation aren't soft ones, and so they are most of the interlocutors.
It's when we sit down and move to lighter subjects that I realise what I've got myself into.
"Burc'ya vaal burk'yc, bur'ya veman - hard times show us who our friends are," Satine starts from her place at the head of the table. "This wasn't the first time the Order had fought side by side with Mandalore, neither it was the first time a Jedi had saved my life. In behalf of my people and personally, I thank you for your loyalty and commitment."
The Jedi at the table nod and murmur random polite words.
We all want to get our minds away from what happened and are glad when Organa breaks the self-conscious silence.
"If I'm not wrong, the Duchess suggested that Jedi had saved her before..."
"Toward the end of Mandalore Civil War," explains Satine. "The Death Watch had become determined to take my life. They only failed because Master Jinn and his Padawan came to my aid. We spent a year on the run, and they saved me many, many times..."
"This means you've meet Obi-Wan before any of us," deduces Organa.
"It's true. We were just like Anakin and Padme... about their age, I mean." She faintly reddens. Probably, I'm the only one noticing it. "Master Jinn was an extraordinary man. Getting to know him influenced my approach to politics and life to a great extent."
Memories flooding back make us exchange a smile.
'Take a room already,' loudly thinks Anakin, gaining a poke in his ribs.
"What about twenty-or-so Padawan Kenobi?" He asks, wriggling away. He's sitting between Padme and me, of course, and looks perfectly content.
"Obi-Wan was - he will forgive me - a huge dork and an insufferable mir'sheb."
They all laugh and look at me.
"The Duchess is saying I was a smartass." I translate.
Satine gives an unusual girlish simper. "Glad to see your Mando'a is still good."
"I just kept in mind the good parts, ori'dush dala." I turn to the others. "As Satine put it, it seems she was a damsel in distress, desperate to be saved. I admit this is what I had been expecting too. However, when my Master and I arrived, we found out the hardest part of our mission would have been convincing the damsel to let us protect her... and keep up with her courage and determination. We lived hand-to-mouth for months, never sure what the next day would bring. If I ever had been the boy Satine describes, I wasn't anymore when I left. That year taught much to me as well - above all, to never underestimate a Mandalorian damsel."
Satine raises her glass. "To damsels and Jedi, so - and to all those who gave their lives for Mandalore."
"To Shaali Halerome," adds Padme. "May she recover soon."
Anakin leans toward me. "I'll bring you visit her first thing tomorrow. It will make miracles."
"There's no denying Master Kenobi is a pleasant sight," reflects Padme. "But... 'miracles'?"
"Shaali is Obi-Wan's fangirl," Anakin explains, making all the table quirk eyebrows.
"Please, none of you listens to him," I intervene. "He has no idea what he's talking about. Shaali has been incredibly brave, last night, and doesn't deserve..."
"Is she your fangirl or not?" Anakin interrupts.
Surprisingly, is Ahsoka that comes to the rescue. "Come on, Master, you're unjust. Obi-Wan is a well-known Council member and war hero. There's plenty of younglings and Padawans who dream to be like him."
"According to Master Vos, Shaali would rather be on top of him."
The grown-ups snicker. Ahsoka rolls her eyes.
"My dear Padawan," he continues. "The time has come that you know the truth; Shaali's illness is more common than you could possibly conceive. Just consider this: apart from you and Senator Organa - and I still can't swear on either - I know for sure all those sitting around this table contracted it, sooner or later."
"Enough of it, Anakin," I order, covering my face with my hand. From behind my fingers, I distinctly see both the women blush.
"I maintain I'm so far immune... just let's hope it's not contagious," says Organa, eyes shining at the new piece of information. "Well, now Master Kenobi should reveal how he does it so that we could all enjoy his same privileges."
"Bail, please, at least you... ignore these absurdities..."
Anakin starts stroking my thigh under the table, as to soothe a nervous pet. "The answer is simple. Obi-Wan flirts with everyone and everything, often without even realising - he just can't help it. Someone is mauling him? He still finds the time for intense eye contact and smooth lines."
Satine is stuck in between cringing and laughing. "I find myself obliged to confirm this last part, but let's focus on something else. Master Skywalker, you aim to embarrass the unfortunate victims of this disease, but your words reveal more about you than they do about us. Obi-Wan is handsome and kind, it's no news that women appreciate these qualities. It's your disclosure that's surprising... shouldn't he be a fatherly figure to you?"
If you're asking if I've ever wanted to call him daddy: yes.
Anakin's thought gives me a coughing spree. He hits my back, blatantly amused. "Your Grace, I assure you the Padawan/Master relationship you're alluding to is uncommon. On the other hand, one can hardly take a step inside the Temple without stumbling in a Padawan secretly wanting to bang their Master."
"I've never," solemnly and promptly declares Ahsoka before I can scold Anakin for his language like he was ten. "Though, I've never thought of you as a father, either. Big bro, maybe?"
"Thanks for reinforcing my theory, Snips, and for remarking I'm the only unfuckable Master of the Order... I'll try not to get offended. What I'm trying to demonstrate - and I beg your pardon, Duchess, for my colourful language - is that there's really nothing unexpected in my admission, moreover as my Master happens to be the same man whose virtues you summed up so well."
"Is this a declaration, Anakin? Touching."
"Well, Master, don't flatter yourself, now. I've never affirmed we were still ill, just that we had been, at some point."
"In any case, we're neglecting a fundamental aspect of the question..." underlines Organa. "Senator Amidala."
She replies between chuckles, apparently having more fun than everyone else. "Oh, I thoroughly stick with Satine's opinion, and confirm nothing of this is surprising."
"So, am I the only one taken aback by the revelation?" I conclude. "Somehow, I have the unsettling feeling I'm not making the most of it."
"You made him aware, Anakin!" Jokes Padme. "You created a monster!"
Note from the author:
- the 'hand to mouth' bit is quoted from a tcw episode
- I'm taking this moment to advertise: did you read my other fics?
Sand is a sequel of Mud, somehow. It takes place after rots. It's not obikin, but the Obi-Wan there is the same he is here, you gotta try it. just trust me.
Braid is silly, light obikin, from Anakin pov. it just started, it's my way to take a break from the struggles of the other two.
I wouldn't mind your opinion on both :)