792Chapter 28 - Master and Apprentice
"So I am your grandfather?" Obi-Wan asked over a cup of tea.
"That's what the blood tests say," Rey said, "But I never met you or heard your name before meeting you. At least, not that I can recall."
"Wow," Ahsoka remarked, "That is so wild."
It amused Qui-Gon that though his Padawan had successfully hidden her past/future for eight years, upon minutes of sharing the information with him, Rey then decided to share with first Obi-Wan who had been listening at the door and then Ahsoka who had joined them after one of their classes.
But then, Rey really wasn't one to do things by halves.
Obi-Wan shook his head, "But then how is Palpatine your father, he's older than I am." He made a face, "You don't remember him as an old man, do you?"
Rey shook her head, "No, he was definitely younger than he is now, I recognized his voice and his name."
"And the test came back with him as your father," Obi-Wan said, "but at least this explains why we couldn't find your mother, she doesn't exist."
Dooku came in without knocking, he looked at the four of them and Ahsoka hopped over from her seat to sit cross legged beside Rey.
"You look to be in a fine mood," Qui-Gon said pleasantly.
His old Master glared at him, "Things are not as simple as they should be. The Council has decided to move to Serenno but at the rate of their planning it will take years."
Qui-Gon raised a brow, "This comes as a surprise to you?"
Dooku sank down to the low cushion, his agileness showing that despite his age, he was still quite formidable. "No, but you think that knowing the Temple sits on a Sith Shrine would prompt some greater reaction."
"That they have decided to move at all is remarkable," he said.
If Dooku had been a less civilized creature, he might have rolled his eyes, his expression nonetheless conveyed the sentiment. Moving on, the Count asked, "What have you four been talking about?"
"The Force bringing Rey back from the future and her not telling us until today."
Dooku, to his credit, didn't bat an eyelash, "The disturbance in the Force, all those years ago that no one could explain. This explains much." He gave Rey a hard look, "You were wrong, Padawan, to not trust us with this sooner."
Rey bowed her head in respect and acknowledgement, "My apologies, Master."
Qui-Gon nodded, "Obi-Wan and Satine Kryze seem to be truly her grandparents. The only question now is how Sheev fits into it. Rey remembers him as younger, however…"
"However, that contradicts the idea that she is in fact from the future. So the maternal side is accounted for, your mother, this Ms. Kenobi, has yet to be conceived," he lilted the last and met Obi-Wan's gaze, who gave his hand a confirming shake of the head. Dooku went on, "Yet if your sire is who the blood test says he is then he could not be younger."
Rey bit her lip, and Qui-Gon's gaze narrowed on her, "Speak, Padawan mine."
"I- Palpatine was just a Senator from an Outer Rim world."
Qui-Gon raised a brow, "Our beginnings do not define our journeys, Padawan. You are one of the most powerful Force sensitives in the galaxy, and you were once a slave girl on Jakku."
The words were harsh, but Rey didn't react to the reminder of her past.
That pleased Qui-Gon, any worries that Rey had been too old to be trained, she disproved by overcoming her history.
"I am from sixty-six years in the future. In my time the Clone Wars harkened the fall of the Republic, and well, I think, the Jedi as well, and in its place, an Empire. The name of the Emperor was Emperor Palpatine. But I don't know that it was Sheev or our line of Palpatines. There are billions upon billions of people in the galaxy."
Dooku shared a look with Qui-Gon, before he said, "And if that is true, then why the Force chose to bring you back is evident."
"Do you think he had something to do with the destruction of the Jedi?" she asked.
"I don't believe the Jedi could be destroyed," Ahsoka remarked.
Dooku's expression was less sure.
"You've thought of something," Qui-Gon said.
"Patterns, Padawans," Dooku mused, "Rey's joining the Order set many things into motion. And had this course of things not been disrupted…"
"What?" Rey asked, challenge in her tone, something that -again- Qui-Gon had never heard her use with Dooku before.
And Dooku, to Qui-Gon's surprise, looked abashed, "Had you not joined the Order, young Padawan, I would have remained apart from the Jedi. I am not so arrogant as to believe that my actions in the Senate have defined the change that has been taking place. But I would have remained, rather than a Council member, a leader of the Separatist movement. And over the years… there have been events I might have used to help bring down the Republic."
"But why would you have wanted that?" Ahsoka asked.
"Because the Republic is a corrupted thing, Padawan Tano."
"But the Jedi support the Republic," Ahsoka pressed.
"The Jedi work within the Republic," Obi-Wan said, "And mind your tone, Padawan mine, Dooku is a sitting Council member."
Ahsoka gave her Master a brief look before her eyes went to Rey.
Obi-Wan saw that look and his face fell into sterner lines, "Rey is a senior Padawan and Qui-Gon's apprentice. Her relationship to Master Dooku is different than yours, and you will be respectful."
Qui-Gon hid a smile behind a tea cup. When Obi-Wan and he had first been partnered, he had been very stern with him, possibly to a fault. But Ahsoka Tano was wilder than Obi-Wan had been, and Ahsoka would benefit from Obi-Wan's structure and rule abiding ways, just as Rey had.
Dooku, who delighted in being a rebel, yet upheld manners higher than the Code, gave Obi-Wan an approving look before returning to the conversation at hand. "Rey, what was your education like in your other life?"
"I was self taught mainly, I had access to an old imperial computer that had several languages on it. That's how I knew how to understand Wookie."
"But not much history and not much knowledge of your own times," he surmised.
She nodded, "Kind of a useless time traveller in that regard. I'm from the future, but I learned more about the galaxy in a day with Master Jinn and Obi-Wan than I did in a lifetime. My life on Jakku was about survival. I heard stories about the Empire, the Rebellion, and the First Order, but I knew so little that when I found myself in the past… it wasn't hard to let go of legends."
"Until I mentioned clones 'not mattering', which you took out of context."
Chided, Rey dipped her head, "I agree with Ahsoka, knowing what I do know, I don't believe the Jedi could be destroyed. But I don't have the luxury of belief, I know that they were."
"Perhaps," Dooku said slowly, "the Force brought you back not for your knowledge, but for who you were."
Qui-Gon nodded.
Rey, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka looked between them, waiting for an answer, finally, all three of them asked, "What do you mean?"
Dooku smiled at Rey, "The Force could have brought back any Force sensitive that had more knowledge, could have told every pitfall of their future, of their one singular future. But you, you know so little that even if you had shared what you knew with us the day you arrived at the Temple, little would have changed. Sifo-Dyas has told us more about the future than you just did.
"And yet, Sifo-Dyas, with all his Force-given visions, has not been able to disrupt the sequence of events as you have."
"I have?"
Qui-Gon smiled at her, "We may never be able to see it, not exactly, but everyone plays a part in how the future unfolds. You living, being, acting on those around you, changes things. You did not try to fix the future, you simply lived, and you are, my Jedi Padawan -an agent of the Force. You have gone where the Force has guided you."
And perhaps where the Force kidnapped you and dropped you on a foreign planet in an alternate timeline.
She grinned, "I'm glad the Force brought me back, my life is better for having met you, Master Jinn."
He smiled, sending his own thank you to the Force as he sat with his Master, two of his Padawans, and his grandpadawan.
Some Weeks Later
Obi-Wan was pretty sure Ahsoka was going to be the death of him. He really wasn't sure why he thought his first mission with her would go smoothly. Of course, as south as the mission had gone, it was the return trip that really put his Master and apprentice relationship into perspective.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was not averse to droids, in fact, he had grown rather fond of Padme's R2-D2 unit.
But that didn't mean he trusted all droids equally. A message he had tried to share with Ahsoka when it advised an 'alternative' route home.
Never plan for droids to be your saving grace in a mission.
Never.
He gave Ahsoka a look as they disembarked at the Temple.
She looked proud of herself.
Granted, Obi-Wan was rather proud of her too.
However, he was a little annoyed that he was going to have to explain to the Council how they had somehow got swept into a worker's revolution, spent two days camped out in an air duct, discovered a hidden mining well of plasma with slave labour, almost started a civil war, and somehow, managed to get the people they had supposed to have been protecting, kidnapped and lost because Obi-Wan hadn't made himself clear enough about 'be at the ready' not translating to 'investigate suspicious behaviour on your own by way of unregulated mine shafts', all on a diplomatic mission to a small moon in the Mid-Rim.
Qui-Gon was going lord this over him to the end of days.
It was Obi-Wan's impression that if one threw Padawan Palpatine at chaos, she would somehow manage to spin that chaos into an unsuspecting symphony that nobody had asked for. Throwing Padawan Tano into a chaotic situation was more like throwing a barrel of kerosene onto a bonfire.
"Master?" Ahsoka asked tentatively, seeming to finally catch onto his mood. "Are you mad."
He sighed, "No, Padawan, you did well."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "Master, your words say one thing but your tone says another."
He smiled at her, "Hmm, well, I'm sure Master Windu will have some notes."
"What about your notes?" she pressed.
"We'll discuss after we have time to get showers, dinner, and meditate, no?"
She nodded, though she was practically skipping at his side with nervous energy.
No wonder she had been able to keep up with Rey.
The Council's reaction was to be expected.
Mace Windu drawled, "And after all that, on your return flight, you were captured by General Grievous?"
The name was not welcome in this room. Of the three Council members, Grievous had assassinated, only two positions had been filled by Master Shaak Ti and Sage Fay.
Shaak Ti was wide eyed at the mission summary, Fay looked amused.
Obi-Wan adored Fay, she was like an older version of Rey. She had been practising when they had time with him and Rey. She was making progress, but she had the same problem Mor did.
They didn't lack talent, they lacked familiarity with a saber. Fay was, however, exceptional when it came to picking up the more theoretical aspects of the Form VIII, and her jumps made anyone practising Ataru envious.
In answer to Mace's question, Ahsoka replied, "R3-S6 was a traitor, Masters. It was a set up."
"And where is this droid now?" Mace asked.
"Er- I kind of fried it with my lightsaber."
Mace sat back, "And did Master Kenobi indicate to you that such an action would also have destroyed any information of how or possibly who might have hacked one of the Temple droids?"
Ahsoka twisted her hands together, her only sign of nervousness as she answered, "Yes, Master, he did, but R3-S6 wasn't recoverable by that point."
Mace turned his head to Obi-Wan, "And Grievous?"
"He ran," Obi-Wan said, "He had four lightsabers with him, and he was trained. The lightsabers were blue and green, so either stolen or bought off the black market. I do not believe he was Force sensitive, but he knew the technical motions of the seven lightsaber Forms."
"Worrying, this is," Yoda said, "Trained he must have been, in our Order few are there who know all seven forms."
"More worrisome if it is a Sith Lord who knows that much," Obi-Wan added.
"And you did not pursue him?" Adi Gallia asked.
Gallia and Stas Allie had been close.
"That was my fault, Masters," Ahsoka spoke up, "I was caught behind a wall of battle droids. Master Kenobi had to stay back to help me."
"That is not your fault," Plo Koon said, "It was Kenobi's place to be at your side. You are fortunate to have a Master that could stand against the threat levelled against you." There was more to his words than laid on the surface.
Sifo-Dyas nodded, "We need to enforce sending our people out in groups of three or four or five."
Dooku quipped without a smile, "Diplomatic missions on small moons or no."
Nope, Obi-Wan was never going to live this mission down.
Shaking his head, Mace asked, "Was there anything else, Obi-Wan?"
"No, that about covers it."
As they were leaving, Ahsoka asked, "You didn't tell them about my falling out of the duct into that private haram?"
Obi-Wan took a page from Qui-Gon's book, keeping his face passive, he said, "Everyone falls out of air ducts. Despite how useful they are most of the time, they seem not to be designed for holding the weight of intruders."
She laughed.
He cracked a smile, "Go take a shower, I'll meet you out front of the Temple on the East side."
Her eyes lit up, "We're going out to eat?"
He shoed her, "Off with you, you little menace, I need clean robes if I'm to go out."
"See you soon, Master!" she said, sprinting off.
Obi-Wan smiled to himself. Ahsoka might very well be the death of him, but at least it would be an interesting life with the time he had.
Ahsoka was pretty sure she had the best Jedi Master in the Order.
The moment they entered the dinner, the cook exclaimed, "Obi-Wan!" leaping over the table.
The Besalisk wrapped his four arms around her Master in a familiar hug. Pulling back her Master introduced them, "Dex this is my Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka this Dex, owner of the finest establishment on Coruscant."
Dex roared, "Ah, Obi-Wan, there are never any doubts on how you earned your title, the Negotiator." He chuckled, "It's mighty fine to meet you little Jedi, why don't you both take a seat? I know when this one's here for information or grub. What'll you have?"
Ahsoka knew it wasn't polite to ask for three servings. But she didn't ask, Master Kenobi had simply ordered four servings and taken only one for himself.
"Thank you, Master," she finally managed to say after the first serving.
He was eating slowly, like a normal, unrushed, human being. He shook his head, "Qui-Gon used to skip meals with me. I can't tell you how many missions we went on where he forgot I needed to eat. I promised myself I would never do that to anyone else. Besides, tomorrow Rey is throwing you through your paces."
Ahsoka grinned, savouring each bite of perfectly fried meat. "She seems a lot happier since she opened up."
Master Kenobi smirked, "Neither Dooku nor Qui-Gon have told the Council yet."
She gaped at him, "Why not?"
"Because Dooku is contrary and Qui-Gon is the Order's resident maverick."
"But- I mean, are you going to tell them?"
He shook his head, "It is Qui-Gon's place. And Dooku is on the Council. But as they both said, it doesn't change much. And as far as the Chancellor goes, well, I doubt any of the Council would be surprised nor would it alter their opinion much if Rey told them Sheev was a Sith Lord."
He wasn't wrong, the Council despised the sitting Chancellor.
Still, the idea of time travel was still so strange for her. She had thought about it a lot since they had left Coruscant, and she had come to the conclusion that it was more a curse than a blessing. Sure, if you could time travel, you might be able to fix some things. But the galaxy was huge, and Ahsoka for one, wouldn't want to set something worse into motion. Or even know something bad was going to happen and be unable to change it.
No, Ahsoka was glad she didn't have Rey's history/future.
"So, Master Kenobi," she said in a lighter tone, "Do you think they will remember us on that moon?"
His blue-green eyes sparkled at her with mirth, "Padawan, I'm rather sure they will have to rewrite the history books for you."
She laughed, when she dreamed of becoming a Jedi Padawan she hadn't believed the reality could surpass her high expectations.
AN: Any feedback would be much loved :D
