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Cody was happy for the easy mission, but also dreading it. It was nice to get a break from the main fighting to escort a Senator, a decent Senator at that, home, and then do some bodyguard duty while the issue of the threats were sorted out.
But Cody also wasn't looking forward to slowing down. To having less occupying his mind. He didn't like thinking about where things went wrong with Obi-Wan. He didn't like having the time to think about the wonderful disaster of a Jedi Obi-Wan was. He thought he handled things wrong before, but he wasn't sure exactly where he went wrong.
And then he made it worse for Ahsoka. Got a mild concussion out of it too, and a couple of lectures. One from Wolffe about not letting Jedi deal with Jedi and one from Obi-Wan about respecting others boundaries. One line kept sticking out in his mind.
“Even when you know without a doubt that someone is making a mistake, you should never try to take away that choice to make that mistake if there is no danger.”
Cody groaned and dropped his head in his hands. He didn't even bother checking his comm when it buzzed. It was probably Bly complaining about Aayla and her putting distance between them again. Or maybe it was Rex with some comment about Ahsoka and her antics. Or Fives and his pranks. Cody didn't have the heart to tell Rex that Fives' accomplice was probably Ahsoka. At least she was thriving, partly due to learning the art of dual wielding, and recently, faster than anyone expected, being allowed to implement it in the field.
The comm buzzed again. He sighed and checked. Oh. Bail Organa was officially picked up off of the planet he was bringing relief to, and would be docking shortly. He grabbed his bucket and started off to the hangar at a jog. He didn't want to be late to greeting the Senator.
Obi-Wan was already there. He studied his former partner. Obi-Wan seemed... pleased, happy even. He was bouncing a little, barely noticeable. There was a slight upturn to his mouth. His hands were not in their sleeves to try to appear more Jedi-like. He was tense with anticipation.
Then Bail stepped off of the transport with the troopers who had accompanied him (Tooka, Sunset, Twilight, Blaze, and Sasha had the honors this time). His face lit up when he caught sight of Obi-Wan and they met in a rather tender embrace, lingering longer than most friends would.
“This is going to be just like that time Breha wanted a vacation.”
Obi-Wan chuckled, pulling away. “You mean how I had to rescue you two after your transport was attacked by pirates.”
“Oh, please, you were right there alongside us enjoying the privacy.”
“And so what if I was?” That was Obi-Wan's flirty voice. Why was Obi-Wan flirting with a married Senator?
Wait a minute... enjoying the privacy? No, no don't read too into it. Cody stepped forward, keeping all conflict off his face. “The guest rooms have been cleaned and are ready for you Senator.”
“Thank you, Commander, though I'm not sure they're necessary.” The Senator winked at Obi-Wan who seemed the happiest he had been since Cody ruined things between them.
“Oh, really? What makes you say that?” Obi-Wan retorted, sparkle in his eyes.
“I've heard along the grapevine that you're once again single, and Breha does so miss you. Now, why don't you show me to these rooms?” Bail offered his arm.
Obi-Wan took it cheerfully. “You know I can't risk our friendship like that, we did decide it just wasn't going to work.”
“Ah, a man can dream, right?”
“I can't say I blame you,” Obi-Wan conceded.
Cody was relieved to see that he wasn't the only one who felt like their brains were exploding. Had Obi-Wan really been in a relationship with the Senator and Queen of Alderaan at the same time? A married couple had a threesome with him? How long did it last? How were they still friends? ...why was Obi-Wan in a relationship when the Order banned relationships? He'd always been so careful about revealing their relationship to anyone, especially Jedi previously.
“Uh, General?” Waxer spoke up after some nudging from everyone around him. “Are you saying you dated both this Senator and his wife, the Queen of Alderaan?” his voice was tinged with a heavy dose of disbelief.
“Ah, yes, I did.”
“WHEN?” Cody wasn't entirely certain who asked that but he was pretty sure it was more than one person. Maybe including himself, he was too stunned to be sure.
“Oh, we dated for close to five years, and ended it... two years before the war started.” Obi-Wan glanced at Bail for confirmation.
Bail nodded, grinning. “It was a good five years. But our priorities are too different, so it was for the best. Especially with the Separatist movement gaining momentum.” He glanced at Obi-Wan. “Doesn't mean we don't miss your considerable talents in the bedroom.”
Cody felt like he was short circuiting. He and Obi-Wan had never progressed to the point of exploring things further than kissing, though he had dreamt. And now he was getting teased with what might have been. He was feeling far more confused than he expected for this mission. It was going to be a long one, and he'd have to be in close proximity to their flirting the whole time as a commander. Sometimes, he hated his job.
“Wait, did General Skywalker ever find out?” He wasn't sure who asked, but that was actually an excellent question.
Obi-Wan smiled. “I never actually told him, but it should've been obvious when he couldn't find me in the mornings when we were on Alderaan on vacation and even found me with them before we went to breakfast. He never said a word, though. Just kept complaining about not understanding how I get along with politicians so well. Which I actually don't, Bail's just special.”
“Aww, I knew you loved me,” Bail teased. “But anyone who knows you can tell when you're dealing with someone as a professional rather than actually being friendly.” Bail leaned in to whisper in his ears something that had Obi-Wan frowning slightly and nodding, before they picked the mood back up.
Cody frowned; wondering about that comment then winced when he realized Bail may have been meant him. How withdrawn from Cody Obi-Wan had been lately. If he could notice the difference, Bail certainly could. Apparently.
It was only a day. Less than, even. He could survive that long. But could he survive doing the protective detail on planet? They weren't sure how long the threat would last, so they were slated to be there for two weeks unless some emergency came up. ...What if Obi-Wan took them up on the offer? Sure, he was openly declining it, but what if he wouldn't decline it in private?
Cody took a deep breath as he led the two down to the guest rooms. He had to let it go. He had promised him he wouldn't trample on Obi-Wan's boundaries anymore. He couldn't do that. It wasn't right. Obi-Wan had drawn a clear line. It wasn't any of his business what Obi-Wan did with relationships anymore. No matter how much he questioned it.
He listened to them continue to flirt playfully the whole way. He had never heard Obi-Wan like this. And he thought Obi-Wan flirted a lot with the enemy. This was ridiculous.
But... why had Obi-Wan never really flirted like this with him? Had he ever been comfortable enough to get that far? Sure, they hadn't been dating that long, but surely it had been long enough to get to the start of this type of flirting? Right? ...Right?
He stopped outside the door and typed in the code, then excused himself. He hurried to his room, not wanting to talk to anyone before he had the chance to do something about his frustration at this situation. He really hoped he wouldn't be subjected to more of the flirting. Reminded more of what he did not have.
He flopped onto his bed and screamed into his pillow, a muffled sound coming out. Once he had screamed himself out, he got some water to soothe his throat. Cody then considered how to proceed. Before he could get very far, he got a call.
“Rex?”
“Cody! Someone's corrupted Ahsoka, I just caught her helping Fives with his most recent prank.”
Cody raised an eyebrow at the sight of Rex. He was covered in paint. Dripping down his face and armor and falling onto the floor. “Looks like you were their victim.”
He earned an annoyed look in return.
“Well, better than my problems right now. At least Ahsoka is up to doing things like pranking, right? After everything?”
Rex relaxed. “You're right. Wait, better than your problems? Weren't you guys just assigned as protective detail?”
Cody groaned. “They're flirting. Non-stop.”
“Who? Obi-Wan?”
“And the Senator, Bail Organa. Apparently, they used to have a threesome with his wife, who is the Queen of Alderaan. I don't think I'm the only one whose head exploded at that news!”
“You're joking.” Rex gaped at him. “Seriously? Anakin has never said anything about Obi-Wan having relationships.”
“Apparently they didn't tell him, but Obi-Wan did spend the night with them on a vacation to Alderaan and Anakin never said anything about it.”
“Seriously? I knew Anakin could be dense, but I didn't think he would be that dense.”
Cody huffed. “You're telling me. Now I have to figure out what to do with this information. Also, why is Obi-Wan acting like the relationship was okay? Why is he so open with it but so secretive with ours?”
“I don't know. Maybe he thinks others will think they're joking around?”
“Maybe. I can't help but feel we're missing something here.” Cody sighed. “And I have to deal with this flirting until our security detail is over. Which means days of this. And who knows what the Queen is going to be like. She might be just as flirty.”
“Yeah, I don't envy you here.” Rex chuckled. “Maybe you can solve it while you're there? See if there's any hints?”
“Maybe.” Cody huffed. “I am going to be suffering.”
“Probably. Have fun. Thank you for cheering me up.” Rex cut the call before Cody could make a retort.
He smacked the back of his head against the wall and sighed before getting back to work. Life as a commander didn't stop because one was having a relationship crisis, after all.
.
They finally made it down to the surface of Alderaan. The 212th was to be split between the ground and space. Cody had been informed that as commander, he should be on the ground doing most of the coordinating. He grumbled, but agreed. It wasn't any worse of a tactical place to be. It would allow him to better protect the Senator against the threats he had picked up. Even if he wasn't happy about being guaranteed to see Obi-Wan flirting as a result.
He frowned over the men that were following him and Obi-Wan to where they would be staying for the time being. There seemed to be some sort of shift since the last time they were on leave. A shift that had started becoming apparent after Ahsoka's first Jar'Kai lesson. They didn't respect him any less, but some groups stopped hanging out with other groups. Some of the men were redrawing lines and separating themselves from others. It wasn't interfering with their duties, but that didn't make him any less worried.
He watched, later, after everyone was settled, how Obi-Wan greeted Breha with a kiss to the cheek and another enthusiastic hug, that she returned with a teasing feel up. He pushed her away and scolded her while laughing. And she teased him back. There was something about her... she certainly seemed to be the stronger one in the relationship between her and the Senator. But the two adored each other, and thought fondly of Obi-Wan.
They teased him about more than just bedroom activities, too. They teased him about his style, about his eating and sleep habits, which he happily returned the favor on. They actually seemed to touch on a lot of topics. But they never touched his emotional health as a source of teasing. That was a little odd; it being so clearly off limits.
Why if they teased him about everything else, would they not tease him about that too? Cody stewed over it for the rest of dinner. He managed to finish eating, and follow them to the after dinner song and storytelling that was apparently a normal thing with Alderaan and wasn't a fancy dinner thing.
The room was decently sized, and there were all kinds of comfortable chairs and pillows to sit on, along with stacks of blankets. Warm drinks and desserts were on a table against the wall for people to help themselves. Instruments were laid out to be played, and it just seemed like a good set up for an evening.
After a while, Waxer joined him. “You seem pretty thoughtful, what's that about?” Waxer asked, not teasing like he might usually do but hadn't lately. Cody was fairly certain he was on Obi-Wan's side in the divide between the 212th, but he couldn't figure out what triggered it. Obi-Wan tended to be private and would never have shared what was said between them with any of the vode.
Cody sighed heavily. “Thinking about Obi-Wan with those two.” He nodded to where Obi-Wan was sitting between Bail and Breha and singing. The other two had pulled out instruments to accompany him with. Wait, Breha had gotten up at some point, apparently, leaving her husband and Obi-Wan behind as they started a new song.
“Why?”
“He's open about their previous relationship, but he's never been open about ours, even after... breaking up.” It was starting to hurt less to speak about, but it was still painful. “And... trying to figure out how Anakin never figured it out himself. It should have been obvious...”
“Commander, if I may speak with you?” Breha cleared her throat.
Cody jumped and twisted to look behind him. “Oh, uh, sure.” He had gotten rather comfortable on the cushion he had claimed for the evening. As he stood, he missed the nod and pleased looks exchanged between Bail and Breha.
Breha didn't say a word until they were a little ways away from the room. “You hurt Obi-Wan immensely.”
“Uh, yeah. I'm still not clear on how.”
Breha shook her head and led him into a smaller room that was empty besides two chairs. That was an odd choice. She pointed to the less comfortable chair and claimed the other.
“Let's start with why Obi-Wan was never open with your relationship. He didn't think you wanted it to be known. You were taking pains to keep it quiet, so he followed suit. He's open with our previous relationship because he is normally open about all of his relationships. As for Anakin, he was even denser as a child than he is now.”
Cody blinked. “He was quiet because... I thought...” He couldn't quite articulate his thoughts and closed his mouth.
“I would consider that the Jedi who became a Jedi at nine years old a rather terrible source on the truth of the Jedi compared to those who actually grew up from a much younger age with their teachings. I also was there frequently when Obi-Wan was teaching Anakin on vacations, and Anakin frequently would misunderstand. Whether on purpose or not, he did. Obi-Wan had patience with his idiocy far more than I would in his place. At the very least you should have cross checked your information with someone else before making your decisions.”
Cody stared at her. “So... I hurt Obi-Wan by not... getting information from him?”
Breha shook her head elegantly. “He never told me the details. You hurt him by not trusting him. By never giving him and the Jedi a chance. That is all I know.”
Cody frowned, wanting to argue but suspecting it was a bad idea. “Um, okay. So... why am I here?”
“You hurt Obi-Wan.” Breha's eyes flashed with protectiveness. “I'm not going to let it slide.”
“Uh... Okay? What do you want me to do? He's the one who broke it off and refuses to talk to me.”
Faster than he was used to natborns (that weren't Jedi) moving, she was on him with a knife to his throat. He froze, eyes wide as he looked up at her.
“You shut him down without giving him a chance to explain. You didn't trust him. And you know nothing about the Jedi, basing it off of the little slave boy who wanted to be a Jedi because it was cool, not because he believed in their beliefs. He can leave at any time, but he chooses to stay and subject himself to their rules.”
Breha glared at him. “You trusted his brother over him. You put him second again. He's never first. That's why we were ultimately incompatible because he deserved to have someone who could put him first, but Bail and I have to put both our people and the Republic first, and can never truly make him a priority. And you... You chose someone you don't even see every day over the person you do see every day. You cut him deep. He was considering resigning the 212th to become a shadow or be a floater like some of the other Councillors. You made him question everything. You made him sink back down to low self-worth, for all that he's good at putting up a front. You did that.”
Cody nodded minutely. “I guess I did do that.”
She released her grip on him and sat back down primly as if nothing had happened, knife gone from sight. That was terrifying. She stared him down with no mercy. “You are allowed to have your feelings, to be upset that you have broken up. But you are to respect his boundaries. Do not approach him if he does not want you to. Give him space. And assume he actually knows what he's doing when it comes to the Force and the Jedi.”
“Then what did I get wrong?”
“I don't know. He refuses to tell us precisely what the triggering event was. He didn't want me to do this, you see. But he told me enough. And he mentioned a day later that his dreams from his many times as a slave had returned, so I expect it has something to do with that.”
“...His times as a slave?”
Breha raised an eyebrow. She sat with her back straight, her hands folded in her lap. “You didn't know? Obi-Wan has been a slave for longer than two weeks on at least five separate instances, and has had close brushes with it dozens of times. It's a higher rate than usual with Jedi, but on average, by the time they're twenty five, most Jedi have had to fight someone who wanted to enslave them at least once, if they were lucky enough to foil the attempt in the first place. By the time they're fifty, 60% of Jedi have experienced being under the control of a slaver at least once in their lives, with almost all of the remaining 40% having had to fend off those who would enslave them. Ani is only unique because he spent nine years of his childhood as a slave and came to the Jedi late, not because he was a slave at all.”
Cody sat back, stunned. When he put that in context with what happened with Vos, it was apparent that Vos had asked his friend how to act like a slave because he knew his friend actually had experience. But then, how did Anakin get involved. Before he could puzzle over that, Breha started speaking again.
“As I was saying, I don't know what precisely you did wrong, but I know enough to not like you. I know enough to say that you need to learn more about the Jedi. I have a book I will ensure you get.” She paused, considering what to say next. “I bet there's something about emotions because I know that's something little Ani always struggled with and almost everyone misunderstands what the Jedi do regarding their emotions.. Obi-Wan is dealing with his emotions. That's part of why I know what I do. Talking to Bail and I is part of how he deals. But only part. Just because he can hold it together and compartmentalize until it's safe does not mean he does not deal with his emotions, and meditating is also part of how he does that.”
She leaned forward. “Do not expect kind treatment from me. You hurt Obi-Wan, who was our partner, and who we loved, and still love. You. Hurt. Him.” She emphasized, knife back in her hands as she studied it. Wait, that was a different knife. “He does not deserve that. You do not deserve him. Please do your best to learn from your mistakes so he doesn't suffer from his choice to stick with you and his battalion.”
Breha stood up and delicately smoothed down her dress. “Oh, and you might want to read up on Alderaan's history. Bail has a heart of gold and isn't the violent type, but I won the throne through combat. A fight to the death.” She smiled sweetly at him and swept out of the room.
Cody stared after her, frozen and shaking from that confrontation. At no point did he have the upper hand. He may be leader of the vode, but he wasn't acknowledged, and he didn't have the power she did. And he had let his guard down, thinking that she was like her husband and most royalty and leaders. He definitely had to look up the history of Alderaan if they allowed someone to take the throne in a fight to the death.
He managed to shake himself out of it, filing it away to think about later. He stood on initially shaking legs and stumbled to the door, barely managing to make it back to the song and story room. No one seemed to have noticed he was gone aside from Waxer. Obi-Wan was still singing. He really did have a good voice.
He collapsed onto the cushion on the floor he'd occupied originally. He then drew his legs up and resolved to listen to the stories as they were being told nearby. Hopefully there would be some stories about Alderaan and they wouldn't all be fictitious.
Waxer looked at him. “Uh, you look like you've seen a ghost.”
“The Queen is terrifying,” Cody mumbled, face covered by an arm in embarrassment.
Waxer frowned at him and turned to the Queen who was now singing along with Obi-Wan. “Really? She seems quite nice.”
“She has at least two knives on her and I didn't see where they came from.”
“You're joking!”
“I wish I was. She, uh, wanted to make it clear that she's not happy with the circumstances of what happened.”
Waxer's eyes widened and then he grinned. “Oh, really? You got a lecture for hurting him?”
“Yes. I did.” Cody sighed. “It wasn't pleasant.”
Waxer laughed. “I bet.” He paused, sobering up. He hesitated, then very carefully started speaking. “I've heard rumors about what happened. I think the General shared the details with others, and I don't know how it got out, but there's some crazy rumors out there. If even half of them are true, we're lucky the Jedi haven't been treating us horribly.”
Cody blinked. “What, now it wasn't that bad. I just... made an error in judgement and didn't listen to his side of something. That's all.”
Waxer, who was pretty sure he knew what the entire story was at this point from having heard some things from Ahsoka, didn't call him out on the very simplistic statement. The general consensus was no one was sure they wanted to ruin the current status quo by bringing it up. They would deal with it after the war was over instead of now. Though sometimes... it was very tempting.
And he knew that some of Cody's brothers were struggling. Had seen Cody walk by Bly and Bly having to be restrained from pouncing on him. Cody was in for a rude awakening one of these days, but then it seemed he had just gotten one of those. Probably not enough. But maybe it would start him actually thinking.
Cody meanwhile was just trying to figure out how to get through the next few weeks without losing it. Between the flirting, the teasing, and the threats, it was going to be a long two weeks.
And it was. He couldn't stop thinking about Obi-Wan because Bail and Breha were continuously flirting with him and he flirted back. Their dynamic was nothing he had ever seen with Obi-Wan before, though to be fair Obi-Wan didn't get to interact with his agemates often due to the war.
After a couple of days, he suspected that they were maybe playing it up for him. To show him what he was missing out on or something. If he'd still been dating Obi-Wan, he probably would've been invited to just join in with them.
The longer it went on, the more he imagined. Some of the flirting got very specific, and it hurt. It hurt knowing he couldn't have it with Obi-Wan. He wanted to reconcile and he was reading the book about the Jedi, though he wasn't sure how he got it. It was better than what he and Rex had understood from Anakin, but he was convinced that it was a telling with rose tinted glasses. That this was a happy telling of it, and they were still hiding secrets. Because none of it explained Anakin's experience.
Then, finally, the last day arrived. Cody went about the day as he had been, ignoring how his heart ached at the sight of Obi-Wan. Ignoring how much he wanted. But at the same time, he was also considering that maybe he shouldn't try to earn Obi-Wan's trust and love again. Because he wasn't sure he could believe Obi-Wan over Rex and Anakin, and that wasn't fair to him. Nor was it fair to himself; could he really be with someone at odds with people he claimed as family?
As he should have expected, there was an assassination attempt that day. They foiled it. Obi-Wan was magnificent in getting to the bottom of it. He had also never seen such a hint of protectiveness and anger in Obi-Wan before. But unlike Anakin, he kept it under control, used it as a tool. It was awe-inspiring, really.
And then Cody was left to sulk as Obi-Wan fretted over Bail who did get hit with something during the skirmish. Breha was still doing the Queen thing and making sure everyone was safe before she could fuss over Bail too. It probably helped her that she trusted Obi-Wan to see to him.
Cody had to hear every word Obi-Wan and Bail exchanged. It hurt and he just wanted it to stop. He couldn't get Obi-Wan out of his head anymore. He was living there rent free all the time. All thanks to the flirting introducing him to a whole new side of Obi-Wan.
But at least the mission was over and they would be back out to do their usual soon enough. He just had to get through a few more hours, a day at most, since they were supposed to be leaving the next day anyways. How bad could it get?