Chapter Text
There are times when Satine wishes she had said something to her Jedi.
When they had made love for the first time.
When she had thought he was dead.
When he promised to always protect her.
Right before they left each other, with only the hope that they might see each other.
While she was hiding her pregnancy from her people.
Now, holding a little baby in her arms with tufts of auburn hair on him while Obi-Wan’s bright blue eyes blinked up at her, she wished above all that he was here.
But, he wasn’t. And that was for the best. The Jedi Order was his life, and she wasn’t about to let him throw it all away for something that was an accident. A happy one, but an accident nonetheless. It would be easier with him here, but it was better for him to be where he belonged.
A tugging on her loose hair made her look up from her son, to the other baby in the crib next to his. Her daughter lay there, light blue eyes gazing at her. The two-month old lifted her hand, making a grasping motion. Satine felt the tugging on her hair again, not hard enough to hurt, but as if she was trying to get her mother’s attention.
Satine put her now sleeping son in the crib, gently pulling up his blanket around him. She kissed his forehead. “Nuhoy pirusti, ner ad.” {Sleep well, my son.}
Korkie hardly stirred, just clutching his blanket. The tug on her hair pulled again, and she finally picked up her daughter from the crib. Jinn still clutched her Krayt Dragon stuffed animal that Satine had bought. Korkie had shown no interest in the toy, but Jinn had grabbed ahold of it and almost never let it go.
“You are just like your father, you know that? I’m certain that your love for animals will definitely get you in trouble many times. I can’t even count how many times Obi-Wan wanted to keep an animal and Qui-Gon had to make him put it back.” Satine chuckled at the memory, while Jinn gurgled and nuzzled her head into her shoulder.
Satine sighed as she gently rocked the elder of her twins. Korkie had shown some force abilities, but lately Jinn had been using the force more than Satine knew was possible. It was little things, like tugging on her hair to get her attention, or making her toy float several inches off the ground, but it made Satine worry. If she was showing these abilities this early, then there was a high chance that the Jedi would find her, then the truth would come out. She put her daughter in the crib, tucking her into the blanket. She brushed the fuzz of strawberry-blonde hair away from her forehead, before gently leaving the room and shutting the door behind her, finally going to bed with her children asleep.
It wasn’t until later that night, or early in the morning, that her daughter’s force abilities were the least of her problems. As she held her crying son in her arms, looking outside a broken window with a stunner in her hand, did she truly regret not asking Obi-Wan to stay with her.
Maybe then she wouldn’t be looking into the empty crib belonging to her stolen child.
*
“This way, Obi-Wan. The reports are coming from the village a little ways away from here.”
Obi-Wan sighed as he batted more leaves out of his path. The Order had sent him and his Master to a small planet in the outer rim that had a large village that asked for help. They were heading over to Naboo to deal with the blockade when they received the distress call, and Qui-Gon had the captain land the ship about a mile away in a large clearing. It didn’t seem too big, but he had heard that a terrorist group was attacking, and it was their duty, as Jedi, to help.
It reminded him of his time with Satine. No. He pushed that thought away, shoving it into the back of his mind. It was no time to become sentimental. No time to remember what was, think of what could’ve been. It had been eight years. She’s moved on by now.
Obi-Wan ran into his master’s back. The man had stopped and was looking around quickly. “Obi-Wan.” The utterance had Obi-Wan reaching out into the force, finding that they weren’t the only ones here. A very small force presence, similar to the younglings of the temple, was hiding in the bushes close to them.
Qui-Gon stepped towards the bush, slowly, raising his hands foreword and crouching a little. “Hello? We don’t mean you any harm, we’re here to help your village.”
There was no response, but a moment later a the barrel of a blaster was pointed out of the bush. Qui-Gon quickly retreated, holding his arm out in front of Obi-Wan. The blaster continued to move out of the bushes, revealing its holder. A very small person emerged, their identity hidden by a large Mandolorian helmet. It was too big for the person underneath, slightly tilting as they continued to adjust it. The color was a very, very deep blue, with a single back stripe splitting into two falling down the front and sides. They were not wearing armor, just a pair of pants and a coat colored a dark brown, the pants being tucked into black boots.
Qui-Gon raised his hands again. “We’re no threat.”
The blaster was lowered, the person standing straight from their crouched position. “Gar cuyi jettise?” {You are Jedi?”}
The two men glanced at each other, before Obi-Wan stepped forward. Satine had taught him quite a bit of Mando’a while they were on the run. He had also been practicing ever since they parted. Not for sentimental reasons, but just because it would be useful. That’s all.
“Elek. Cuyi gar Mandolorian? Tion'jor cuyi gar be'chaaj teh gar yaim?” {Yes. Are you Mandolorian? Why are you away from your home?”}
The person tilted their helmeted head, causing the helmet to slide over a bit. “Ni ganar draar oyacyir bat Mandalore. Tion'ad cuyi gar?” {I have never lived on Mandalore. Who are you?}
Obi-Wan pointed to himself. “Ni gai Obi-Wan Kenobi.” {I am Obi-Wan Kenobi.} He gestured to his master. “Ibic cuyir ner alor, Qui-Gon Jinn. Tion gar gai?” { This is my leader, Qui-Gon Jinn. What’s your name?}
“Ni gai Amaris. Mando'ad ved.” {I am Amaris. A Mandalorian soldier.}
Obi-Wan drew a breath in through gritted teeth. He had expected it, but to actually hear it? Whoever this child was, they were obviously young. Very young to be a soldier. And while Obi-Wan knew that the Old Mandolorians trained their young to fight, it was still somewhat of a shock to see it in real life. "Meg gar alor?" {Who was your leader?}
”Ni draar kar'taylir kaysh gai ra kaysh aliit. Val draar rejorhaa'ir ni mayen." {I never knew his name or his identity. They never told me anything.}
Obi-Wan’s eyes widened. “Tion'ad? Tion'val?” {Who? Who’s they?}
Val cuyi Kyr'tsad. Ner ba'jurir.” {They are Death Watch. My raisers.}
Obi-Wan looked back at Qui-Gon, speaking the word in Standard. “I think they said..Death Watch?” He glanced at the child, who nodded at him.
Qui-Gon joined him in crouching in front of Amaris. “It must be that terrorist group attacking. Now, that doesn’t explain why they're force sensitive.”
“I'll ask them about the force sensitivity.” He turned back to Amaris, who stood quietly, looking back and forth, adjusting their helmet every so often. “Vaabir gar kar'taylir meg te force cuyir?" {Do you know what the force is?}
There was no response, before almost every twig and rock in the immediate area lifted and circled around Amaris several times, falling back to the ground afterwards. “Cuyir ibac meg ibic cuyir?” {Is that what this is?}
Obi-Wan nodded. “Elek! bal bic seems guuror gar cuyir jate ti bic!” {Yes! And it seems like you are good with it!}
Amaris nodded. “Val or'parguur bic. Val or'parguur ni. Bic cuyir tion'jor ni payt.”{They hate it. They hate me. It is why I left.}
Obi-Wan turned to his master. “They have a gift, I can feel them very strongly in the force, Master. I think they've been practicing in secret, it would take a bit of training for a youngling like them to become that proficient in the force. I also think that this, Death Watch, are Mandalorians who follow the old tradition, those who hate Jedi. They didn't like it, or them, so they left.”
Qui-Gon was silent for a moment, thinking. “Ask them if they can lead us to the group. We can ask them the rest later."
Obi-Wan nodded and turned back to the child. “Ru'lis gar alorir mhi at te tsad?" {Could you lead us to the group?}
Amaris nodded and held out their hand to Obi-Wan. He took it, and they led the two further into the bushes, towards the terrorist group that was threatening the village. They stumbled, and that was when Obi-Wan realized that they had a large gash on their leg as a footstep came back wet in the dirt. They were limping, just slightly, but the uneven ground they were walking on had the limp much more obvious. Swiftly, and without really thinking, he scooped Amaris into his arms. They were immediately startled, but he quickly soothed them with a calming sense pushed through the force. “Slanar bat at ner norac" {Get onto my back.}
Amaris swiftly maneuvered to a comfortable spot on his back, wrapping their arms loosely around his neck. Before long they had miraculously nodded off, the helmet pressing against his shoulder.
“It’s quite a distance from here to the village. They were probably running on adrenaline only for a long time. Let them rest, we’ll most likely set up camp before we come to the village,” Qui-Gon murmured to Obi-Wan. "I'll contact the captain and tell of our plan, and of our guest."
Obi-Wan nodded at his master. They still had quite a bit to do before he could focus on the child, or why their force presence was very similar. It felt like his, but not quite. Oh, well. Obi-Wan just chalked it up to perhaps the latching onto the first force presence they had felt. Amaris mumbled and adjusted their head, the helmet moving a bit to show their chin. Obi-Wan smiled and adjusted his grip on them so they wouldn’t fall or jostle around too much. Best to let them sleep for a while, he felt like they needed it.
*
“Jetii. Jetii! Hoyir!” {Jedi. Jedi! Awaken!}
Obi-Wan grunted as he was lifted and then dropped several feet onto the ground. He heard his Master chuckling and leveled a slight glare at him.
“I believe they're getting impatient, Padawan. Both of us are ready to go, but you’re still sleeping.”
Obi-Wan slowly stood, shaking out his stiff joints from sleeping on the ground. With only his coat protecting him from the mossy floor, and an extremely restless child, he didn't get the best sleep. He wasn’t terribly mad about Amaris, however. They refused to sleep without their helmet, or even take it off, and they still had that injured leg. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were able to fix it temporally, some bandages Obi-Wan had in his pocket, but it would require medical help as soon as possible if no lasting damages were to be there. They agreed to patch it up on the ship.
“Ni hoyir, ad'ika." {I’m awake, little one.}
Amaris tilted their head forward slightly, which he had quickly learned meant they were irritated. “Ni cuy’ ori, shebs’palon!” {I am big, asshole!”}
Obi-Wan glared at the child and crossed his arms as he shook his head, hoping they would understand what he was meaning. Through the helmet he heard a raspberry being blown in his direction.
“Something wrong?” Qui-Gon asked the two, holding out Obi-Wan’s coat for him to take. Obi-Wan didn’t answer, instead taking his coat with a grumble.
Amaris pulled on the two men from a distance away, limping along the path that they had walked along for a few hours after walking in the jungle. The village was rapidly growing closer, and the smoke coming from it was a difference that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon knew wasn’t there before. The houses looked to be made in a simple and easy design, circular and uplifting. Many of them had blaster holes scattered about, a few were even collapsing from the damage. There was a gate with a fence at the front of the village, a different metal than the houses, that wasn’t damaged by blasters. However, it was shoved down towards the village. Amaris stopped, right in front of the village, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon right behind them. Obi-Wan reached for Amaris, intending to swing them around to face away from the bodies scattered about the houses, but they shoved him away and stepped forward, kneeling down by the body of a young man, around Obi-Wan’s age. It was surrounded by other bodies, all holding weapons, as if they tried to fight against what attacked them.
Amaris turned towards the two men. "Dalab gar sur'haai." {Bar your eyes.}
"They're going to take off their helmet. They want us to close our eyes," Obi-Wan murmured. Qui-Gonn nodded and did as they said, bowing his head, but Obi-Wan continued to stare at the child. "Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Amaris." {I know your name as my child, Amaris.} He held his breath. There was a chance that they might reject it, and he would know with their response.
They slowly took off their helmet and set it beside themselves, still making eye-contact with Obi-Wan. She was a young girl, with baby blue eyes, and blonde hair that had a red tint. It was pulled back into a braided bun. She looked so much like Satine that Obi-Wan forgot to breathe for a moment. Amaris turned back towards the young man, closed her eyes, and bowed her head as she shut the man's eyes. “Ni ceta.” {I’m sorry.} She placed her hand on his body. Obi-Wan’s eyes widened at the rare form of the apology, before he fell to his knees beside her, copying her position and covering his hand with her own.
Qui-Gon was silent, his eyes closed. Once Amaris rose and put her helmet back on, only then did Obi-Wan turn towards the elder. “You can open your eyes now, Master." He sighed. "She feels extreme guilt for not having come to save them in time, I can sense it.”
They followed Amaris further into the village, seeing no more bodies but more destroyed houses.
“You seem to have a very strong intuition to her.”
Obi-Wan shrugged, watching as Amaris stopped before a large pile of rubble, lifting pieces off two at a time, using the force. “She’s young, she probably just connected to the first Jedi who had any sense of both her home and the force-“ he ducked as a very large rock went flying his way.
“Osik! Shaadlar be'chaaj!” {Shit! Move away!}
“Amaris!” Obi-Wan planted his hands on his hips and turned to glare at the girl, who was holding a dark, black bag in her hands. She must've hidden it before the terrorist group attacked. It was almost comical, seeing his Padawan chastise a girl with a tone of voice implying he was her father. Well, now that Qui-Gon thought of it, she did have a similar force presence to Obi-Wan, and she might be the right age...
“Ni ganar ner kebise. Gar liser ba'slanar jii.” {I have my things. Where are we going?}
“Gar copaanir bah olaror ti mhi?” {You want to come with us?}
Qui-Gon looked back and forth between Obi-Wan and Amaris as they spoke, connecting a few dots that he doesn't believe his Padawan had yet. She was also Mandolorian, and as she crossed her arms and furrowed into herself, she looked just like his Padawan when he was younger.
“Gar narir gai bal manda. Narir...narir gar nu copaanir ni?” {You did the adoption ceremony. Do...do you not want me?}
“Ni narir. Al'enteyor cuyir Jetii. Pirimmur force. Bal gar enteyor hibirar drashaar hiibir gar buy’ce be'chaaj, ret'lini.” {I do. But, you must be a Jedi. Use the force. And you must learn how to take your helmet off, just in case.}
“A ni liser vencuyanir ner buy’ce?” {But I can keep my helmet?} Obi-Wan nodded, making Amaris go quiet. Her helmet shifted, and she placed it back in proper position using the Force. “Ni liser olarar. A’shi meh gar muun'bajir ni.” {I will come. But only if you teach me.}
Obi-Wan didn’t have the heart to tell her that he would very likely not be her teacher, as he was only a Padawan himself. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try his hardest to become her master when he could. He nodded. Amaris tilted her head, before she leaned it forward. Obi-Wan understood immediately, leaning his own head to gently touch her helmet with his forehead. He let it remain for a moment, before standing and taking Amaris in his arms. She struggled gently, but eventually submitted to him, leaning her head against his shoulder.
“Master, she said she’ll come with. But, she did ask for me to be her teacher…” he trailed off as Qui-Gon smiled.
“Well, I suppose you have your first Padawan,” he stated, before turning away to walk out of the smoldering village.
"I'm also technically her father?"
That stopped Qui-Gon in his tracks. He turned back towards his Padawan, looking at Amaris, before looking back at him.
"I preformed an adoption ceremony a little bit ago, and it's kind of the only reason she wants to come with. I'm-"
Qui-Gon burst out laughing. "Oh, I'm going to have fun explaining this to Windu, Obi-Wan. Hopefully he's in a good mood when we call. Now, let's get back to the ship," he turned once again, still chuckling, although not fully because his Padawan had preformed an impromptu adoption, but rather because he was fairly certain Obi-Wan had just adopted his own child.
*
“I’m sorry, you found what?”
Qui-Gon turned the comlink down to show Amaris. She was sitting next to Obi-Wan in the ships medical room, and as the small figure of Mace Windu approached her she tilted her helmeted head to the side.
“A Mandolorian child with Force capabilities. Right. How old is she?”
Qui-Gon paused, before turning to Obi-Wan. Neither had thought to ask her age. Obi-Wan turned and spoke to Amaris, before speaking to Windu. “She’s seven years old, sir.”
Windu shook his head. “She’s too old for the temple, Qui-Gon.”
Obi-Wan snatched the comlink from his Master’s hands, shooting him an apologetic look. “With all due respect, Master Windu, I believe that Amaris is perfect for the temple. She already has excellent control of the force, and it would be a shame to let the talent go to waste. Amaris-“ he spoke to her quickly in Mando’a, and she nodded. Not even a moment later, all objects not tied to the ground began to float around her, in the formation of a nearby star system, before settling back down to where they were. Windu widened his eyes as the girl respectfully bowed her head. He stared at her, before his response had Obi-Wan letting out a sigh of relief. “Very well. Bring her to the temple for evaluation. We’ll assess her full potential there."
"There's also another reason that she must come with us, Master Windu." Windu raised an eyebrow as Obi-Wan slowly spoke, trying to inject everything in the lightest way possible. "I adopted her. Mandolorians place a very high importance on family and children. And, in Mandolorian culture, only a child may disown their parents. If we were to give her back, it be seen as extremely...offensive, to put it lightly. Any sort of good-will we have with Mandalore currently would be destroyed by a Jedi giving back a child he adopted, especially because I'm male. And she also seems to have bonded with me in the force. I can feel the beginning of a bond that's like to one between...a...Padawan and...Master?" Obi-Wan stuttered his ramble to a stop as Windu dropped both of his slowly raising eyebrows into a glare. The man sighed and rubbed his temple with one hand.
"Force give me patience," he muttered before removing his hand. "We'll talk about this once you're back at the temple, Obi-Wan. Then we'll figure everything out. Now hand me back to your Master."
Obi-Wan did as he asked.
“I understand that you both were given a bit of leeway to stop by that planet before heading over to Naboo, but the situation has grown urgent. The Chancellor needs you there now to negotiate.” Windu glanced over at Amaris. “She can behave herself?”
Qui-Gon nodded. “We’ll make sure of it, Master Windu.”
“Good. This is high-priority, so you’ll just have to bring her along. And make sure she doesn’t do anything rash!”
"She'll be fine. Right, Amaris?" He peered down at the girl next to his Padawan, who just shrugged nonchalantly. Qui-Gon knew that she would have that sideways grin his Padawan always did when he was being snarking. He sighed as he clicked the comlink off, raising an eyebrow at his Padawan. "I'm going to go check on the Captain, see how we're doing. Can you fix her leg?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "It'll be no problem," he told his Master before he left the room. Obi-Wan kneeled before Amaris, and grabbed her boot. He gently slid it off and rolled up her pant leg to check on the bandages from yesterday, turning her foot this way and that to check on it. "Well, it seems that the bleeding has mostly stopped, so I think a few bacta-patches will fix you up in no time."
Obi-Wan stood and slowly, moved his hands toward the girl before removing the helmet with the utmost care. Her face was tilted downward, and she sniffled. Obi-Wan made to put his hand on her cheek, yet she flinched before he could. He went still, before moving his hand towards her ever so slightly. She didn't flinch as he cupped her cheek, which still had a slight bit of baby fat. She even leaned into it, closing her eyes. Obi-Wan frowned as he felt the tears silently streaking down her face, moving to pull the girl into a hug. The force sang with delight as Amaris grasped onto his cloak, rubbing her face into it.
"Vor'e, Buir." {Thank you, Father.}
Obi-Wan forced the thoughts of what could've been away, placing his hand on Amaris' soft hair and pulling her even further in. "Gar mi ad. Mhi aliit. Bal aliit ori'shya tal'din." {You are my daughter. We are family. And family is more than blood.}
Amaris let out a short giggle and leaned back, giving him a slightly crooked smile as her clear blue eyes looked back at him.
He matched her smirk and reached for a bacta-patch. "Even if this is only a negotiation, we still need you to be in full health. Some bandages ought to do the trick, and then we'll get you checked up once we're back at the Jedi temple in a day or two!"