Chapter Text
The following weeks were chaotic, and somehow even more exhausting than the two years leading up to them. Obi-Wan, who'd been more or less ignored by the Jedi council since his retirement from the battlefield, was suddenly awash in priority duties and critical responsibilities. His somewhat off-the-cuff presentation of evidence to Bail, Padme, and their fellow witnesses had to be polished to something that could be published to the entire Senate - and, by extension, the full galaxy.
He had to provide context for and to their collection of living witnesses (not only Ashgad and Quest, but also the senators that Bail had collected and brought towards the sounds of fighting, guessing from Obi-Wan's earlier warning that this was a fight they'd need as many official witnesses to as possible.) Of course, Obi-Wan had arranged his own contingency for that. It had worked out fortuitously that the final fight happened in the senate building instead of the medical center, because Ferrus Olin had programed the cam droids so that any other directives were over-ridden to follow Palpatine when triggered (one of the things Thorn's squad had been responsible for arranging during a Plan Besch scenario.) So on top of the personal testimony of Bail and his peers, they also had almost the full fight recorded from multiple angles. Nobody was going to be able to argue that Palpatine wasn't a Sith, after footage and testimony of him waving about red lightsabers and shooting lighting out of his fingertips.
So far everyone had pretty much glossed over Maul and Savage's involvement, but Obi-Wan was sure they'd circle back to that once things were out of the crisis stage. Speaking of Maul and Savage, the Zabraks disappeared after the fight. All they found was Maul's one dismembered hand. As nobody had seen Maul after he'd fallen down the chamber, they weren't even positive if he was alive or not. But, as Obi-Wan had already tried to kill Maul by sending him plummeting from a huge height only to be proven unsuccessful, his money was on the Zabrak reappearing someday - probably when it was least convenient.
He'd made sure that Ahsoka's legal troubles were settled immediately, and she was warmly welcomed back at the temple.
The only mess he'd managed to personally avoid was handling things with the GAR. There was worry that Dooku might still trigger the control chips, and so the GAR was left without communications. Instead, Jedi and de-chipped commanders (Obi-Wan's medical droid had been joined by a veritable fleet of newly programmed compatriots) were traveling to each battalion in person to provide updates and start de-chipping clones on-site.
When Master Yoda arrived on Kamino, though, it was to find that de-chipping was already well under way. Apparently Alpha-17's brother Griss had staged something of a coup after Fives had been sent to Coruscant. Upon Yoda's arrival he'd been greeted by Master Ti, Griss, Colt, and a bound Nala Se ready to be shipped to the Senate to give her own testimony for her part in the chancellor's schemes.
While Obi-Wan was busy wrapping up the investigation into Palpatine, Fox was busy keeping Coruscant running. As they'd previously noted, the Coruscant Guard's responsibilities had been expanded to the point where they were involved in nearly every aspect of the planet's infrastructure, so with the government currently headless (in a metaphorical sense, Palpatine hadn't actually been be-headed), the daily operations of keeping the city functioning had landed on the Guard's marshal commander.
A job that was made more complicated due to the fact that Fox's first task was to track down Palpatine's known or suspected supporters to ensure they weren't able to do more harm or escape possible justice. Using Obi-Wan's collected information, that move left a concerning number of institutions also temporarily leaderless (and as a result being led in the interim by the Coruscant Guard.) It was grimly amusing to Fox that for all intents and purposes, Palpatine's military coup had succeeded. He just wasn't around to enjoy it.
All this was to say that Obi-Wan and Fox managed to go a full four days after the fight in the grand chamber before they even saw each other again. And when they did reunite, it didn't take long for Obi-Wan to realize that their meeting was doubling as yet another item of Fox's to-do list.
"When did Alpha-17 leave?" Obi-Wan asked, focusing on the details of what Fox was saying instead of his emotions.
Fox's expression was unbearably gentle. "He left yesterday. So he'll have met up with the 501st by now."
"Ah," the Jedi said. He found something over Fox's shoulder to stare at. "I'm- I wish was there. To help them... explain things, to Anakin."
Fox hummed. They were in Obi-Wan's rooms in the Jedi temple. He looked down at his hands, carefully removing his gloves and vambraces, dropping them gently on the couch next to his helmet. "Do you really?"
Obi-Wan's face twisted, and he looked away, blinking back tears. "No," he whispered. Was that terrible? He'd spent two years wracked with the guilt of abandoning Anakin. He still loved Anakin like a brother. But now that he had the chance to go back and try to repair the relationship, he felt... tired.
"You're not terrible," Fox said. Obi-Wan blinked. Had he asked that out-loud? He looked at the trooper, who was smirking at him fondly. "I know you," he said, and gently tugged Obi-Wan to sit on the couch with him. "You're not terrible for not wanting to be there. It's going to be a bad conversation. Master Windu knew it would be painful - and he knew that you not being there wouldn't make it worse for Skywalker. That's why they left without even telling you, so you wouldn't feel like you needed to force yourself to go."
Obi-Wan sighed, and laced his fingers in with Fox. "I'm glad he asked Alpha-17 to join him," he admitted it. "It feels- it makes me feel better, knowing he's there."
Fox squeezed Obi-Wan's hand. "From what I heard," he said, smirking, "Windu didn't invite Alpha-17. The crazy vod went up to him days ago, and insisted that he go along with whoever was bringing the news to Skywalker. Said it was non-negotiable."
Obi-Wan leaned his head back on the couch, eyes closed, and laughed. He didn't know what he'd one, those years ago, to earn Alpha-17's loyalty. But he was exceedingly grateful. When the laughter turned to tears, Fox wound his arm around Obi-Wan's shoulders, and tugged him to his side. They sat there together until Coruscant's vibrant sunset came and went.
The Coruscant Guard had swept through the Senate, GAR leadership, and Republic bureaucracy like a hot knife through butter, identifying and securing everyone whose ties to Palpatine made them a potential security threat.
In that environment, it was no wonder than when the Senate held emergency elections the following week, Bail Organa won the chancellorship in a landslide. The Senate was as divided as ever, but honestly Bail's opponents were too preoccupied with not bringing themselves under suspicion to put up much resistance.
Ashgad's replacement offered him their sector's Senate seat back, but the engineer decided to retire from public service. Director Isard was strongly encouraged to resign. By the time he went to pack up his office, the dark Force artifact had mysteriously disappeared. Sarcev Quest was sent to prison. So was Senator Viento. The Banking Clan and Kamino's senator were staying very quiet, likely hoping everyone forgot they were still there. Senator Burtoni didn't even protest at Nala Se's own detention.
Despite a large number of GAR officers suddenly disappearing or resigning, the clone commanders kept things running smoothly. Ten days after Palpatine's death and the latest report calculated that already twenty-eight percent of the army had been de-chipped. Battalions that had been completely de-chipped focused on keeping the Separatists in line. Which turned out to be easier than expected, as the Separatists had also been quiet over the last week.
The reason why became evident when Quinlan Vos returned to Coruscant with Dooku's body. A few days later, peace negotiations officially commenced on Mandalore. Thinking of how the last peace summit on Mandalore had gone, Obi-Wan wasn't surprised that the Republic delegation didn't include any Jedi.
Mace returned from the 501st without Alpha-17. Looking somewhat bemused, he told Obi-Wan that the clone had insisted on staying with Anakin until the battalion was fully de-chipped and returned to Coruscant.
Obi-Wan and Fox organized something of a party at the safehouse before formally returning it to Quinlan. The attendees were eclectic - everyone who'd called the safehouse home for the last month or so was there, of course. But they'd also invited Quinlan ('"you can't invite me to my own safehouse, you absolute dork"), Kaleen, Master Tholme (who watched Quinlan and Khaleen with a sort of resigned expression all night), Ferrus Olin (who'd surprised Obi-Wan when he arrived on Coruscant the day before, but he'd insisted the former padawan attend and meet some of his fellow conspirators), and Detective Obrim. The CSF officer had taken the realization of what exactly Obi-Wan had been up to this whole time with easy grace. He spent the whole night interrogating everyone on their part in the investigation and scheme, before becoming totally engrossed in a conversation with Master Tholme. Fives hovered nervously in Ahsoka's shadow for about ten seconds before becoming the absolute life of the party. A few hours in, Obi-Wan thrust a comm into Ferrur's hands, Siri Tachi's holo-image already present. Ferrus had looked panicked, then resigned, then slowly hopeful as he spoke to his former master for the first time since leaving the Jedi Order. "You could not have made me more proud," Obi-Wan heard Siri say, before being tugged away by Ahsoka to judge an arm-wrestling competition between Viper and Sunlight (Sunlight won).
Slowly, the situation softened from "crisis" to "new normal." The peace negotiations were ongoing, but a ceasefire had been called. Battalions across the galaxy now spent their time in patient recreation on their ships, and battle droids were put in energy saver mode. Bail got the Senate back to regular business.
Shivan commed Obi-Wan one day to inform him that Chancellor Organa had an availability for lunch, if he was free?
Obi-Wan had been camped out in the Corrie office all week. Mace had handed him a datapad full of the most recent health (physical and mental) evaluations of the Jedi knights, masters, and padawans deployed for the war. Obi-Wan's job was to go through the list and start flagging anyone who would need further evaluation before being approved for active duty again, once the war was officially ended. He'd brought the work to Fox's office, and was more than happy to be distracted by any of the Corries who stopped by to chat.
All this was to say that, yes, Obi-Wan was available for lunch with the chancellor. He caught a ride to the senate building with Thire, and was walking through the halls of the senate building in no time. He almost forgot that Bail had moved to the chancellor's office, and when he pivoted in the hallway to change course, nearly walked right into Padme Amidala.
"Obi-Wan!" she said, smiling wide. "How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you for asking," Obi-Wan said, hoping he sounded more charming than nervous.
"I finally heard from Anakin yesterday," Padme said, smile softening. "It's amazing how quickly the de-chipping is moving."
Obi-Wan's smile was more genuine when he said, "It helps that the troopers are so motivated to get it done, but yes it's quite impressive. When we started in secret, we could only treat three troopers a day. Now it's moving at more than a thousand-times that rate."
"I'm glad I saw you today," Padme said. "I haven't really had a chance to thank you for everything you did. I'm afraid things were starting to look rather grim for the Republic."
"It's a Jedi's duty to defend the Republic," Obi-Wan said quickly. "And I had a tremendous amount of help."
"Still, I wanted to thank you," Padme said. "And I wanted to share some exciting news with you."
"Oh?"
Padme placed a graceful hand on her stomach, smiling. Obi-Wan tracked the movement, mind blank. "I'm pregnant!" the senator said. Now that Obi-Wan was looking for it, he could sense the life growing within her. "I found out a month ago. I haven't even had a chance to tell Anakin yet, since they were in the middle of a campaign before, well, everything happened." Her smile was warm. "So you can see why I personally am so grateful. When I first found out, I was so scared. Things in the Senate were so critical, I couldn't imagine having the time or energy for children. And with Anakin at war- I was struggling to see it as good news. But now..." she stepped forward, and grabbed Obi-Wan's hand with both of hers. "The future is so bright and hopeful, now, and you gave us that."
Obi-Wan swallowed. "I'm- I'm so glad," he said. It sounded weak, but Padme must have seen the sincerity on his face, because she just squeezed his hand before letting him go.
Obi-Wan was embarrassed to say that he blurted out Padme's news before even asking Bail - his friend, the Chancellor of the Republic - how he was doing. But Bail Organa was a good friend, so he just laughed.
The 501st arrived on Coruscant. Anakin and Obi-Wan didn't see each other.
Obi-Wan was very brave and hugged Alpha-17 when he saw him. The clone held himself rigid as stone, and his fingers twitched toward his blaster after ten seconds, but Obi-Wan considered it a win. Then he offered to buy him dinner, and Ahsoka tagged along with them on a trip to Dex's diner.
Ahsoka knew of Alpha-17 from stories. She told him that Anakin said he was the devil, Cody said he was a genius, Rex said he was his hero, and Fives said he was the scariest person he'd ever met. Alpha-17 looked very pleased with himself as he started in on his third nerf burger. By the end of the meal, Alpha-17 had offered to watch Ahsoka's next spar, to "give her some pointers."
Obi-Wan heard a few weeks later that Anakin was leaving the Jedi order. That same day, Padme announced that she wasn't running for reelection later that year. She planned to return to Naboo and start a family with her husband. Obi-Wan spent the day meditating with Master Yoda, then then night being held by Fox.
The Clone Wars officially ended five months after Sheev Palpatine's death. By then the GAR was already well underway towards demobilization. Veteran housing was being earmarked or built across the galaxy, to ensure the clone troopers would have somewhere to go. One of Padme's last bills before her senatorial service ended was establishing an employment agency to help connect veterans with new jobs. Bail had already met with Fox to offer him a more permanent position running the rebuilt Senate Guard. Fox said he'd think about it.
Obi-Wan was invited to Ahsoka's knighting ceremony. He stood with Commander Cody and Captain Rex (who both looked like proud parents) as Ahsoka stood before the council, Master Koon (who'd spend the last few months helping her prepare for her trials) at her side. Afterwards, Obi-Wan was at least as touched as the clone commanders to be handed a portion of her silka bead strand.
"I don't think I would have become a knight if not for you, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka told him, before being swept up in a huge from Rex.
Evaluations of Jedi-returned-from-war had been completed, and the resulting roster of Jedi knights and masters currently ready for active duty was... smaller than it had been before the war. And while the war was over, the galaxy was starting to move again. Criminals and pirates were starting to try and fill in power vacuums created by the war. New Force-sensitive children were being born and were waiting to be Found. The Force called the Jedi to service, as it always did.
Mace warned Obi-Wan that, as one of the Jedi Masters suitable for active duty, he should be looking forward to a very busy year.
Queen Breha came to Coruscant to visit her husband. They invited Obi-Wan and Apha-17 to dinner, where Breha offered Alpha-17 a job on Alderaan. Apparently, she was looking for a combat trainer.
"Alderaan is grateful that the galaxy is at peace again," she explained to the startled clone, "But we've never been a people satisfied with sitting around while others suffer. We'll continue to respond to crises, and we have some... clandestine operations in Hutt Space. Our people are brave, but I'd love to see them better able to protect themselves."
"You want me to train your people to fight pirates and slavers?" Alpha-17 asked.
Breha smiled. She was, somehow, charmed by Alpha-17's blunt manner. Obi-Wan had to assume it was because everyone else was also so polite to the queen, it must be refreshing. "Precisely," she confirmed.
"I'm in," Alpha-17 said confidently.
He left for Alderaan with the queen two weeks later.
Obi-Wan joined Bail on the landing pad to see them off. When the ship had left atmo, Bail turned to Obi-Wan with a smile, sighed, and said "Duty calls," before he and his hovering aids headed back to the Senate building.
Something about seeing Alpha-17 off, even more than the actual end of the war, left Obi-Wan feeling like an era had ended. Somewhat adrift, Obi-Wan made his way to the Corrie office without much thought.
The office itself was in chaos. They were working on handing control back to Coruscant's respective institutions. Whereas the Coruscant Guard office had once felt like an isolated haven for the troopers, it was now a bustling hub as natborns and clones in new civilian clothing came and went. The government was well on its way to rebuilding its bureaucratic infrastructure after Palpatine's corruption had been carved out.
Obi-Wan waved at Jek at the front desk, and made his way to Fox's office.
"Alpha-17's off?" Fox asked, barely looking up from a datapad.
"Yes," Obi-Wan sighed, and plopped down on his crummy chair.
"Stone's gone too," Fox said. "Took a commission running one of the new housing centers, on Ryloth."
"Everyone's starting to move on," the Jedi said. It was bittersweet.
Fox put his datapad down. "What about you?" he asked. "Any idea when you'll start getting missions again?"
"It'll be soon," Obi-Wan admitted. "The Council hasn't said anything, but I woke up with the urge to check my go-bag, so there must be something coming."
The clone hummed. "Looking forward to it?" he asked.
Obi-Wan shrugged. "Mostly," he admitted. "It just feels strange with everything here changing so quickly. Like I'm not sure what I'll find when I come back."
"Still worried about everyone changing without you?" Fox asked. Obi-Wan was confused for a moment, until he remembered the conversation after Pong Krell's hearing. He smiled.
"Not so much, anymore. It turns out I changed just as much as they did this time. We're all... becoming, together."
Fox responded with a sincere smile that made Obi-Wan's heart skip.
“I want you to stay," Fox said suddenly.
Obi-Wan blinked. "What?" he asked. He felt a sudden flash of panic. Things had been going so well, but was this the moment his relationship with Fox suddenly came into conflict with his duty?
Fox grimaced. "Not literally. Just. For the record. This is me, asking you to stay."
Obi-Wan just stared at him, confused.
Fox sighed, and rubbed a hand down his face. "You said once that you would have stayed with Kryze if she'd asked you to stay. So, I'm... kriff, it's symbolic, but I'm.. asking you to stay. With me." His face was flushed, all the way up to his ears.
Obi-Wan felt a slow smile spread across his face.
"I probably won't actually be on Coruscant much," he said, head tilted.
Fox shrugged, forced casual. "I can take the Senate Guard job, be here when you return," the clone suggested.
Obi-Wan thought again of that conversation after Pong Krell. Of Fox's childhood dreams of adventures across the galaxy.
"What if you came with me instead?" he asked. Fox's gaze jumped to meet his. "Plenty Jedi missions are quite boring, actually. But we'll visit planets all over the galaxy. And you're pretty much guaranteed a good fight now and then" Obi-Wan's smile went lop-sided. "Give you a chance to get better with that lightsaber of yours."
"I have a condition," Fox said. Obi-Wan blinked.
"Oh?"
Fox set the datapad down and leaned forward in his chair, smirking. "Wear the beskargam, and I'm in."
Obi-Wan got up from the lumpy chair and walked around Fox's desk to seal their deal with a kiss. Thorn spotted them from the hallway and jeered, Hound's laughter in the background.
Nearly three years ago, Obi-Wan and Alpha-17 had sat in a med bay on Riflor, tired and hurting and filled with determination and dread. They'd made a plan. They hadn't executed it perfectly, but they'd been very, very lucky. They'd saved the galaxy.
Obi-Wan decided that Padme had been right.
The future was bright and hopeful indeed.