#also anyone catch the assassins creed ref

[thiefofstars16]

Right so I have a lot of Obi-Wan-centric ideas that will not leave me alone, but here's one that I wanted to write down the start of (and also Maz Kanata deserved more screen time):

Where Obi-Wan gets taught by Maz Kanata to deal with his overwhelming visions, questionably nice-ish Sith and frankly vicious Jedi holocrons, and somehow unexpectedly (or maybe predictably?) falls in love with Jango Fett, the future Mand'alor. Along the way, he royally fucks up the thousand-year-plan-to-rule-the-galaxy made by Darth Bane's idiots, saves the Haat Mando'ade and Mandalore as a whole, and gives the Jedi Order a collective kick in the ass to get their shit together.

----

Obi-Wan Falls while on Melida/Daan, and he's just...furious. Wants to rail at the injustice that he's suffered, at the injustice that the Young had faced, that he had faced on Bandomeer, on Phindar, at the Coruscant Temple itself, at his own Master who didn't even want him in the first place. But at his core, he's still the same even having Fallen, he knows this - he still wants to do good, still wants to help people. It's just...where does he go from here?

----

Obi-Wan Kenobi, cast out from the Order after the latest clusterfuck that was Melida/Daan, somehow ends up at Dex's Diner, alone, with no braid, no 'sabre, and honestly, no idea what to do next. He didn't even realize that he was in the diner that his Master - former Master - had taken him to in their brief time together.

Dex, though, sits across from this pint-sized former-Padawan, remembers that at one time the baby Jedi looked at him and decided that he'd save Dex because it was "the right thing to do " (the baby Jedi's words, not his). And Dex could not let this kid go out on his own, so he goes to his collection of interesting things - which was usually information - that included items which were supplied by a former pirate, who so happened to be quite knowledgeable in weird Force things.

Which is entirely the reason I'm entrusting Ol' Kanata with this kid, Dex thinks, a bit bemused, Though who's to say it's not Maz trusting me to lead Obi-Wan back to her? Considering she probably saw this coming in the first place.

So, he discreetly hands Obi-Wan the things he'd received from Maz for safe-keeping (who had given Dex a knowing look and said she'd be seeing these items again) - which, obviously, include a few holocrons (of slightly questionable nature), many spare credit chips, and (maybe not-so-suprisingly) two khyber and one adegan crystals that sing in the Force loudly enough to startle Obi-Wan from the daze he'd been in since he sat down.

"What's this?" Obi-Wan quietly asks, slightly wary, but intrigued at the hum of the crystals now in his hands.

Dex laughs. "Don't you worry, kid. I got all of this from a reputable source! In fact, that source could be your next stop, as from what I understand you ain't got no one to go back to?" Dex says, not unkindly.

A sharp sting of sorrow cuts Obi-Wan to the core, but he nods, somewhat confused.

"Well then, I can get you on a ship headed out to Takodana to stay with Ol' Kanata - she can get you settled real quick-like," he pauses, shrugs a little, "she'll also be able to help with any funny Force things that your kind get up to, Dark or Light."

The thing is, even only knowing Dex for a short while, Obi-Wan is one hundred percent sure that Dex knows an entirely illegal amount about what happened even if the larger populace remains unaware.

With this knowledge at the forefront of his mind, Obi-Wan is a bit wary. If he were a bit less numb, he'd probably be in tears at the suggestion that there might be someone actually able to help him deal with his recent trip into the well of the Dark. He knew that if someone were truly aware of how far he'd Fallen - because not even the Council knew the extent - then he would be in major karking shit.

But he counted Dex as a friend, and with a little questioning nudge to the Force, knew with certainty that Dex only wanted to help him, even if that meant skirting Republic law.

(He knew he Fell, he knew that he had killed people, though the memories of broken bodies and blood were so blurry that he couldn't remember their faces.

Their screams, on the other hand? Oh, he remembered those.

He couldn't stop remembering those.

A small part of him - the part that had raged at the Republic's refusal to get involved, at Master Jinn's own karking attachment to Master Tahl, at the Elders murdering each other, at the Elders killing their own damned children for the sake of war and death and blood - that part bared sharp teeth in savage triumph at the justice he had handed out and purred at the memory of those screams.)

Shaking himself from the direction his thoughts had taken, he looked at Dex and with a tremor in his voice, asked, "You think she could help me-help me get rid of my Darkness?"

The Besalisk sighed. "Kid, no one can ever truly get rid of their own Darkness. Hells, I know I'm not fully clean anymore and won't ever be," Obi-Wan slumped, and hastily wiped away the frustrated tears that had started to form; Dex leaned down to put one of his hands on Obi-Wan's shoulders, "But that doesn't mean she can't help you. Ol' Kanata knows a thing or two about Light and Dark, and she'll give you a space where you can sort things out for yourself, safely, and away from prying eyes. She knows quite a bit about staying off the Republic's radar, and she can give you a place where you can do all things you need to do. I know you, kid - I know that you won't want to stop helping people."

Dex paused, and said with warning, "It won't be easy, kid. There's all sorts hanging around her den - bounty hunters, smugglers, even Mandos - but she'll do right by you. And I have a sense that you need her. So. Whaddya say?"

The mention of those types of people, of Mandalorians, caused Obi-Wan to pale. But he frowned, opened himself up to the currents of the Force and tried to think this through, because really what choice did he have?

On some level he wanted to say no, to go crawling back to the Jedi Order and beg to be accepted again, to be a Jedi, he knew he was supposed to have been a Jedi Knight, he knew that war was on the horizon and that Darkness clouded the Force and that he needed to do something -

He stopped that thought in it's tracks. Because. Because...what was stopping him from doing something about what was coming? Truly? What was stopping him from being a Jedi? Yes, he wouldn't be a part of the Order, and maybe he wouldn't have a Master, but isn't the Code just a philosophy? Couldn't he strive to do good, to help others, to do as the Force willed on his own?

It was almost heretical. To be a Jedi that didn't bow to the Order. To be a Fallen Jedi that, that...that could work in the Dark to serve the Light.

He could do it, he mused. He could go to this 'Kanata', take the offer of shelter and learn from the artifacts given to him by Dex, learn from those who walked a different path. It would be dangerous, especially if there were Mandalorians involved. Though...if he did this, he wouldn't be a Jedi anymore, would he?

What else did he have to lose? He's already lost his chance at being part of the Order, at being a Padawan, at proving himself to the Masters that thought him too arrogant and brash and un-Jedi-like.

Well, Obi-Wan thought with a bit of self-reproach and no small amount of growing excitement, if I was already un-Jedi-like while actually being in the Jedi Order, then I suppose I really don't have anything to lose, do I?

With a nod of determination, a tight grip on the newly aquired items, and something of a new hope unfurling in is heart, he accepted Dex's offer of a haven with Maz Kanata and her possibly-not-so-legal den of wandering spacers.

Obi-Wan had no idea that in doing so, he changed the course of the galaxy.

(Somewhere, a bit later on, Palpatine feels a shiver of not-quite-unease crawl down his spine. But, he dismisses the absolute absurd idea that something had changed, that something had caused the galaxy to shift to the Light.

If he had looked into it, he would have found that one Maz Kanata, along with a former young Jedi by the name of Obi-Wan Kenobi, had a curious little run-in with the bounty hunter and Mand'alor Jaster Mereel.

Arrogance, as per usual, would be the downfall of the Sith of Bane's Line.)

#yikes that was longer than anticipated #a thought - the song playing on repeat during writing this is awakening by unleash the archers #i want to continue this but i am decidely tired af atm #maybe I'll post another bit again next week or so #idk if I'll finish this #but if i do #ill tag it as something that i can come back to #theifofstars fic - awakening #jangobi #sith obi wan #or really morally gray Obi-Wan #maz kanata #not really qui-gon jinn friendly #obi-wan is a bit fucked up #and a lot sad #sw fanfic #star wars #good gods I've edited this so many times lmao #lemme know what yall think? #also anyone catch the assassins creed ref #and sw pun? #i figure there'll be flashbacks to just before this and melida/daan #awakening: pt 1 #actually the song that fits this is 'the wind that shapes the land' by unleash the archers now that im thinking about it #obi wan kenobi