Chapter Text

Day 1

It felt like coming home.

The sun was slowly setting, coloring the calm waters in soft shades of gold, painting the sky in orange, setting fire to the lonely clouds. The ocean was as tranquil as ever, slow waves crashing on the shore in the same, regular and peaceful, symphony. The slow and cold wind was the only one to disturb the last passerby, taking the laughs and seagulls’ songs away.

Obi-Wan had lost track of time again. The water was softly hitting his naked ankles, bringing with each wave more peace in his chest. To say that dusk’s colors weren’t assaulting his fragile eyes would have been a lie, but the pain was so pleasurable, he refused to acknowledge it: to wear sunglasses in front of such a spectacle was a mistake he refused to make.

He was alone on the beach. He was already alone when he had arrived: the summer break was coming to its end and the last vacationers were about to leave. All in all, it was a win for him as he could lose himself in his contemplation of the quiet ocean.

It has been a while since he had been able to gaze at this deep blue presence that was as calm as it could be violent. Obi-Wan couldn't deny he had missed the way the ocean called him, during these long months lost in the gray of the pollution, the rumbling of the cars, the screams of the unhappy. He felt like he was finally back where he was supposed to be, that he had finally returned home.

As the sun finally disappeared, leaving only its last warm rays behind, a deep sigh crossed Obi-Wan’s lips. He dropped his eyes down, staring for a few minutes longer at the blue water, the waves crashing on him, his feet in the sand. It took him an abnormally huge amount of strength to move, carrying his shoes in his left hand. He had abandoned his suitcase on the sand, alongside his computer briefcase. He should have probably been worried someone might have tried to steal him, but he was too tired after his train journey to be actually concerned.

The concrete was hot under his shoes and the wind cold in his hair. The streets were almost empty, as the greatest sign summer break was almost over, giving him a sensation of roaming an empty town. Not even a week prior, the place would have been almost crowded, even if the night was falling — it was the inconvenient of a town near the ocean, in the south of France, during summer.

It was strange for him to return to his father's place after so long, for so long. Obi-Wan had left his little home-town when he turned eighteen to go to college. If he still remained close — a two hour trip by car — for the first four years, he left for the capital — a three and a half hour trip by train — after changing academic career. For the past three years, he came back home only for Christmas, preferring using whatever holidays he had to work and earn money. He wanted to be independent and decided to stay away from his family. It was the first time he came back for the end of his summer break.

Twenty days back near the ocean and he couldn’t help already feeling happy. As he reached the street his father lived in, he thought he should come back more often, for his own good and also for his father. Their relationship was complicated without being complicated: they just didn’t know how to dance together anymore. It seemed like his mother was the one who held them together and now that she was gone, they weren’t sure how to communicate. Most of their conversations were heavy silences, awkward glances and tight smiles. Obi-Wan had left because he couldn’t stand it anymore: he couldn’t keep looking at this man who had raised him and not knowing what to say to him, who the man even was.

The house had not changed at all through the years and Obi-Wan was still astonished by this simple fact: it was the exact same place he had grown up in; the first and only place he had called his house. So many memories were hiding between the white walls; so many laughs echoed on the leaves of the ivy climbing over the facade. How many times had he waved goodbye at his friends, standing near the white low wall that surrounded his house and all the others? How many times had he pushed the blue wooden gate with his small bike?

The usual feeling of warmth took place in his heart as he pushed the wood, his steps echoing on the short flagstone walkway running on the front of the house and alongside its left to reach the backyard. He had spent an incredible amount of time playing on these stones with plastic cars and trucks, little animals and soldiers. He played for so long here, hidden from the worst of the sun, he had several times skinned his knees. He could still hear his mother’s sigh when he entered for dinner with grazed knees or hands.

Obi-Wan climbed the three steps of the porch, his left hand naturally finding the gray baluster, sliding on the cold metal for an instant. He could feel his heart beating with each knock he put against the door, made of dark mahogany wood. It opened a few seconds later, revealing the bright blue eyes and gray long hair of his father. A smile took place on both their faces.

“Obi-Wan! You should have told me you had arrived, I would have picked you up at the station.”

“Don’t worry, I wanted to walk a little bit.”

They shared a hug and, if for a brief second he felt a form of relief, Obi-Wan quickly felt slightly uncomfortable: the years had slowly erased the comfort of a father-son hug, leaving behind only a strange feeling of awkwardness. They parted, both men not sure what to do now. Qui-Gon was the first one to come up with an answer by inviting him inside.

The entry door opened on a corridor with the left wall still covered by the flowered wallpaper his mother used to love. The chest of drawers had changed place, now hiding under the stairs on his right where unused boxes used to be piled up.

“You cut your hair.”

His father’s voice almost made Obi-Wan jump as he was removing his shoes, abandoning them near the door.

“I did.” By reflex, he ran a hand in his hair; he wasn't yet completely used to its new length.

He used to have it falling down to his shoulders, but he had recently felt the need to cut it. It was a way for him to turn a page, move forward in life. His first action had been to break the mug his ex-girlfriend had bought him for his birthday; cutting his hair had been the second one.

Grabbing his stuff, he moved further in the corridor to reach the bottom of the stairs. His eyes drifted to the pictures hanging on the wall: old family portraits, a couple of drawings made by him and the poster of a documentary about whales he had seen when he was seven and got obsessed with. So many memories in so few pieces of paper. Entire years of his youth that seemed so far away, as if it was a whole different life he was witnessing through glass.

Trying not to think about how he still wanted to cry when his eyes met his mother’s smile, Obi-Wan dragged his stuff to the first floor. Things were impossibly the same in the house, making him almost nauseous for a second. The couches on his left were standing at the exact same place as the year prior, right in front of the library running alongside the outside wall of his bedroom. He could tell because the book he had forgotten on one of them was still here, the red bookmark slightly poking out.

Obi-Wan made his way to his bedroom, walking past his father’s. He opened the door and, as usual, childhood memories jumped at him. He had opened this exact same door a thousand times; he had accidentally passed one straps of his bag through the handle at least ten times; he had knocked his head against the wood because he was running and slipped on the wood floor once.

The inside hadn’t moved since he was five. His bed was still right in front of him, the blue sheets almost shining; the desk covered in too many things to be comfortably usable was still on his right under the window; the left wall was covered with bookshelves, a lot of them now empty, and the tall wardrobe that held about a third of it. Many posters, of animals, music bands and movies, covered the three others.

Obi-Wan dropped his computer briefcase on his desk chair, leaving his suitcase behind by the door, and jumped on his bed. His sheets smelled fresh and he was almost surprised his father had entered his bedroom and touched something, but he didn’t mind. The sheets were a bright shade of blue, with different ocean animals drawn on them. His father had bought them when he was seven — right after they saw the documentary about whales — and Obi-Wan always refused to change them. There was a time, when he was a teenager and started bringing girls home, he became conscious of them and tried to change — it lasted two days before he decided he loved them too much to actually care. Even now, at twenty-five, he didn’t want to get rid of them.

A deep sigh crossed his lips as he thought about hiding in his pillow for the next twenty days. He would have probably done it for at least the rest of the day if his phone hadn’t been endlessly buzzing in his back pocket. He grabbed it and sat with his back against the wall, head bumping against the poster of a white shark that was right behind. A smile took place on his face when he noticed the name shining on his screen.

Obi-Wan was an easy child, his parents always said. It didn’t mean he had never been angry for no reason at all or refused to eat broccoli — he still did — or any green thing, but he could have been way worse. If he was discreet in class, with no nattering and no participation, he was even more discreet in the schoolyard. It wasn’t that he didn’t like or was afraid of the other children, he was just fine by himself and no one was bothering him if he was playing alone. It changed when he met a short tan-skinned boy who looked at him for a minute straight before simply declaring: “you’re my friend now.” This was how his friendship with the second Fett’s son, Cody, started. A friendship that survived twenty years and caused Obi-Wan to receive eleven messages in less than a minute.

– You’re back!
– Your father told me
– You could have texted me
– I will remember this for your birthday
– More seriously
– Rexy is back from the US too
– So we thought it’d be nice to all hang out together considering we haven’t had any news from you for a while
– Btw you really could have texted us, i'm very disappointed i hope you know that
– Tbh we were already hanging out together but now you have to come
– (Shaak told me to tell you she says hi)
– We’re at the same usual place

Obi-Wan almost laughed: Cody wasn’t the most expressive man of the world — something he shared with his father and his siblings —, but he could be the exact opposite through texts: he liked to send ten messages when one could have done the trick, especially if it gave him the chance to annoy his best friend.

His eyes drifted to the sixth message once again and an amused snort escaped him in front of the nickname: “Rexy” was how Cody loved to call one of his younger brothers, Rex. Obi-Wan hadn’t seen him since last Christmas because he himself only came back for the holidays, but also because Rex was studying abroad and came back only once or twice a year when he could.

Even if the idea was appealing, Obi-Wan was feeling a need to remain hidden in his bedroom even though he wasn’t sure if it was because he was tired or because he didn’t want to cross his father. Believing the texts Cody sent him back, he had to come up with something better.

– Bold of you to assume you had a choice Kenobi
– If you don’t come i WILL come and drag you to the bar
– I got a car now and you easily fit in the trunk

Obi-Wan smiled at his screen for a couple of seconds before jumping on his feet. He had no doubt the Fett was actually able to kidnap him and the best way to avoid his father was to be out of the house.

He ran down the stairs, years of practice allowing him to not fall and break his neck, and turned right to join the living-room. Qui-Gon was in the kitchen, in the far right of the sole big room, and almost jumped when he noticed his son staring at him from the entry corridor.

“I’m going out to see Cody.”

“Oh, okay. When will you be back?”

Obi-Wan simply shrugged and left, almost bumping his head in the door as he tried to put his shoes back on. The great thing with summer was that the weather was mild and allowed people to wander streets at night without the need of a coat or long pants.

The place where Cody had told him to join them was an old bar near the center where their friend group used to go to. They started meeting there just to hang out or to study in a place that wasn’t school. It was also the place where they each got drunk for the first time, under the amused eyes of the bartender who followed all their adventures throughout their teen years.

Obi-Wan reached the place and pushed the glass door, allowing the scents of the inside to gently assault him. The counter was spreading on his left along the wall covered in shelves, themselves filled with bottles, as the rest of the room was composed of tables, some with simple chairs and those against the walls with red couches around.

He didn’t have to move far inside to spot his friends: they spotted him first. Too quickly for him to notice, he ended up with his arms full of Shaak who was hugging him almost hard.

“I’ve missed you so much!” She said, her voice muffled against his shoulder.

The first second of astonishment gone, he closed his arms around her and softly laughed. “I’ve missed you too, don't worry.”

She let go of him, a bright smile on her lips, and he finally noticed her hair was a vivid shade of red, just like her lipstick.

“I like your new color.”

“Thanks! I like your new cut.” Without another word, she grabbed his left hand and dragged him to a table where all their friends were.

“There he is!” Quinlan, beer in hand, wasn’t standing on the table, but Obi-Wan knew it probably wouldn’t last too long.

“I’m surprised you’re not drunk yet!”

“I was waiting for you, brother!”

On this, he emptied his bottle in almost one go as Obi-Wan was now hugging Depa.

“You like to play hard to get, don’t you?” She asked, softness in her eyes.

“You know I’m a queen.”

She laughed and fist bumped into his shoulder. Cody hadn’t moved from the couch and Obi-Wan knew he was not going to, so he put his knee on the red fabric and wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

Without even trying, the Fett pretended to push him away, a fake exasperated sigh leaving his lips. “Go the fuck away!” He wanted to sound hard, but the amusement in his voice was obvious.

“Come on, I know you’ve missed me really much.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, gently patting his shoulder. “Now let me breathe, leech.”

Obi-Wan laughed and sat right next to him. Quinlan was on Cody’s left and had next to him Rex who gave him a small nod. “Good to see you again.”

“Pleasure is shared."

Obi-Wan was about to ask about his studies when he noticed the two other people by Rex’s side. There was a boy and a girl he had never seen and who couldn’t be older than the Fett. She had long white hair gathered in a bum and bright eyes standing on top of an amused smile — Obi-Wan betted she was like an unstoppable dynamo. On the other hand, the boy by her side seemed more calm, with golden curls framing his face and deep blue eyes that immediately caught Obi-Wan. It was like drowning in an ocean.

He was about to say hi, but Shaak dropped on the seat next to him and spoke before he could. “Sorry, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen him. We had to flood him with some love.”

The girl chuckled and Rex cleared his throat before speaking. “So, this is Ahsoka and Anakin." Even if it wasn't really necessary, he used his right hand to point at the people he named, more by habit than anything else. "And this is Obi-Wan.”

Ahoka gave him a bright “nice to meet you” as Anakin simply raised his beer.

“Let’s get serious now, baby!” Depa — who had disappeared for a second — arrived with a tray covered in glasses, gaining a couple of happy exclamations.

Obi-Wan grabbed the beer she was handing him and, as he took a couple of mouthfuls, realized Cody had been more than right to invite him over. He could already feel the joy of being around his friends running in his veins, bringing a slight euphoria to his heart. It had been a while since they had the opportunity to simply hang out together as such, Christmas rarely being a good moment to go out with friends.

He put his bottle back on the table and noticed Ahsoka who seemed to be uncomfortable in front of her glass. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I just… I can’t drink, I’m a minor.”

Obi-Wan had not expected this and dropped his mouth open, which made Rex laugh.

“Don’t freak out, she’s nineteen.”

“Oh. Well then it’s fine. Legal age for drinking is eighteen in France.”

“But I’m an American so isn’t it going to be a problem?”

Obi-Wan shrugged and moved his beer in the direction of Anakin. “Well he didn’t wait.”

Of the different voices he could have expected to come out of the young man’s mouth, this deep melodic sound wasn’t one. “Oh no, I don’t care, that's why.”

Obi-Wan chuckled, a “fair enough” on his lips. Ahsoka wasn’t exactly convinced, but she did give her beverage a try. Her face twisted in a disgusted face, making both Anakin and Rex laugh.

“How can you guys drink this?”

“Don’t worry,” Quinlan said, “one day you won’t be able to stop.”

She appeared to not believe him in the slightest and Depa exchanged her glass — an awful ice tea Obi-Wan couldn’t understand was a legal thing — with the girl’s beer.

“There she is: mommy Depa.” Cody earned himself a slap behind the head by Shaak who almost hit Obi-Wan in the process.

“Don’t be mean to our mom!”

“Why are you calling her that?” Ahsoka asked as Depa simply seemed amused by the classical situation.

“Because, with her twenty-seven years of life, she’s the oldest and has the responsibility of bringing us back home in one piece,” Obi-Wan answered.

“She’s like Rex with us then!”

Cody, no matter how stoic he seemed in general, couldn’t help his laugh in front of the sole idea of his little brother being the responsible one in his friend group. Rex tried to hit him with his foot, but missed his brother and touched the couch.

Obi-Wan had to admit the idea was comical: he still could remember a ten years old Rex who had thought it would be a good idea to jump in his father’s pool from the house’s roof — it actually worked, giving Jango a heart attack in the process. “Is he?”

“Yeah. Skyguy and he are both twenty, but this man,” she said, pointing at Anakin with her left thumb, “is sixteen in his head.”

Anakin gently hit his beer against her temple. “Dare say you don’t like it.”

“Oh, I do. Rex doesn’t though.”

The two laughed, apparently sharing stupid adventures that only made Rex sigh.

“I swear to God they’re trying to kill me.”

“Dad would tell you that karma’s a bitch.”

Rex rolled his eyes as Cody seemed proud of himself — a usual feeling when he was making fun of his brothers.

Quinlan wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Come on, don’t be mean to Rexy! He’s going to cry.”

“Rexy?” It was written right on her face how much Ahsoka loved the nickname. By her side, Rex turned a bright shade of red, making everyone laugh.

“Are you all staying with Cody?” Shaak asked, releasing Rex from his unease.

“Rex and I are,” Ashoka answered and Obi-Wan guessed she was the sociable one in the trio. “Anakin is staying in a hotel.”

“Why?”

“Because I already spend all my time with them,” Anakin said between two sips of his drink. “If I have to live with them, I’m going to end up murdering someone.”

“Mood.”

This time, Rex aimed right and hit Cody directly in the left shin making him yelp in pain.

Their conversation moved on, always with this good mood. Depa ended up propositing they all said a quick word about themselves so they could learn more about each other.

“Oh boy, it’s like being back at school.” With a loud laugh, Quinlan barely avoided the napkin Depa threw at his face.

They all played the game even if it brought them all back to middle school. This was how Obi-Wan found out Quinlan had been — once again — fired from a restaurant. On the girls side, Depa was finally teaching English to middle school students, Shaak was still in the same tattoo shop and Ahsoka — just like Rex — was studying computer science. Cody was working in a motorbike shop and Obi-Wan was the last one still studying, trying his best to become a lawyer.

“That’s nice!” Ahsoka said, almost literally bouncing in her seat. “How long do you still have to go?”

“Well, I still have one year in college. After that, if I can get into EDA school, which is basically law school, I’ll have eighteen months to go before having my certificate.”

“That’s really cool! And how is it? Do you like it?”

Obi-Wan couldn’t help his chuckle in front of her visible excitement. His answer — a simple yes — was received by a snort from Anakin and he couldn’t help turning his gaze to the young man. “Why was that?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that you said this like I used to tell my mom I liked history class.” He took the last sip of his beer. “And for the record, I fucking hated this.”

Obi-Wan frowned: for the little interactions he had with the young man, he couldn’t tell he liked him this much. It wasn’t that he disliked him, it was more that he didn’t have any real interactions with him: Anakin was silent a lot, participating only when a question was asked directly to him or when he wanted to pick up on what Rex or Ahsoka said. With this simple statement, Obi-Wan could feel his liking for him dropping.

“I’m not sure I understand what you are trying to say…”

“I’m not trying to say anything, it’s just that you look like you hate what you’re doing.”

It didn’t take Obi-Wan much more to admit, at least to himself, that he definitely didn’t like Anakin although it wasn’t exactly for a fair reason. Since he was a child, one thing he always tried to do was make his parents proud of him. It was easy at school: he just had to come back home with good grades to receive congratulations from them.

For this reason, Obi-Wan had chosen to go into law school even though it wasn’t his main interest. Lawyer was one of these jobs that people held in high esteem and viewed as some realization of success. With his mother gone, and even if his relationship with his father wasn’t the best, he still had in him the desire to know he was speaking to his friends with pride when his name came up.

With this sentence, Anakin had put Obi-Wan in front of a truth he didn’t like to look at: he actually hated what he was studying. If he could have interest in anything as long as people explained it to him with any form of passion, he could barely find anything he liked in law. Most of his teachers seemed like they were teaching just to increase their salary and his classmates were in a constant war with each other — which reminded him of medical school.

Obi-Wan was about to answer him, probably sharper than he should have, but Quinlan beated him to this game. “It’s not because you haven’t found your path that you have to be annoying, kiddo!” He wasn't drunk yet, but his laugh was an indicator that he wasn't really sober anymore.

Anakin didn’t answer him, he simply rolled his eyes and focused on his empty bottle. Obi-Wan couldn’t help being satisfied that someone made him shut up even though he knew it wasn’t right. The young man had said nothing he should have taken badly, but he had been right and Obi-Wan couldn’t stand this.

This small clash — that was one only to Obi-Wan — didn't sully the global atmosphere that remained easy-going and warm. They spent a great part of the night together, starting a couple of drinking games and even playing with random strangers at some point. Cody was the one in charge of taking care of Rex, Ashoka and Anakin, as the others ended up in Depa’s car.

Quinlan was snoring on the back seat, head pressed against the window, with a not much more awake Shaak by his side. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, was wide awake. He was slightly drunk, but, with enough hope, his head wouldn’t torture him too much the next morning.

It took him a second long to realize the car had stopped right in front of his house. He found Depa’s smile when he looked at her. “Thanks for bringing me back.”

“You’re welcome. You know, each year we all take our vacations at the same time during the summer so we can hang out. Cody told me you’re here for a couple of weeks, right?”

“Twenty days. It’s the time I have left before going back to uni.”

“Well, we are all free so if you want to go out with us, you just have to send one text.”

Her warm smile brought an impossible happiness to his heart.

Cody and him met Quinlan in middle school when they ended up in the same class — a magistral year during which they drove a couple of teachers crazy. Shaak entered their chaotic trio during their first year of highschool after unfortunately repeating her year. She was the one who brought Depa to the group — a friend of a friend with whom she became very close. Almost ten years later, they were still the same group, still the same stupid friends who loved each other very dearly no matter the clashes that could occur from time to time.

Obi-Wan must have been staring at her for a long moment because she waved her hand in front of his eyes with a light laugh. “Earth to Kenobi, are you having a stroke?”

“I was just thinking about how much I love you.” He turned his head, eyes meeting the sleeping shapes of Quinlan and Shaak. “All of you.”

“And we all love you very dearly.”

With a soft smile to thank her, he got out of the car and reached his house. He was almost surprised to find the front door unlocked, but quickly thought his father guessed he hadn’t taken his keys — a good guess. With steps as silent as possible, he reached his room and dropped himself on his bed, clothes still on. He fell asleep after a couple of minutes, mind finally at peace after a long day ending a highly stressful year.