these are the days, it never rains but it pours...

[falconing]

Who: The crew of the Huntress and all visitors!
Action: On board the Huntress.
When: The month of January!

It's a mingle! For our new crew, resolving various catastrophes, and assuring Han Solo he made the correct decision in becoming a good person. Please send help.

Comments

[beardstrokes]

[ He briefly wishes he could check himself in the mirror before she came. Vanity, his master would say, but he would rather look the part of a Jedi when one is being called for. Nevertheless, he stands up, the robe swishing as he walks over. ]

Not at all. Come in, Ahsoka.

[resnipstance]

I wanted to pick your brain about something.

[Except then you are getting a surprise hug. It's-- a bit strange, really. She and Padmé hug all the time. But with the other Jedi in her life? ... Not so much. Even after seeing Anakin again after the whole kidnapping affair, they didn't hug. So... this is new.

But it's not bad. It's... nice. A bit awkward. But nice.]

[beardstrokes]

[ He inhales sharply. The last person to do this was . . . Satine. Powerful, brave, proud Satine who rushed into his arms like he could fix anything. Fix everything. He had to push her away, gently, because the timing was not right.

He puts his arms on her shoulders and . . . doesn't. Just this once, he tells himself. ]

Of course. . . Whatever you need.

[resnipstance]

[She stays like that for a moment, just enjoying the hug, before breaking away to look up at Obi-Wan.]

I've been wondering... why don't we do that more often?

It feels like the only time Jedi are allowed to hug is when someone's narrowly escaped dying. ... But there's no actual rule against it.

[beardstrokes]

No, there isn't.

[ He pats her lightly before letting go. ]

But Jedi are more than our sensations to this reality.

We are luminous beings, Ahsoka. We are connected to the universe in a way no one else is. Even when we are parted or . . . gone, we are always touched by each other. It is not something we discourage, the touch, but we try to remember that touch is not the bond we have.

It is the Force.

[resnipstance]

Well, then it's a good thing I'm not a Jedi anymore.

Unlike you, I can now demand all the hugs I want. So there.

[beardstrokes]

[ He huffs lightly. He would say it takes more than leaving to stop being a Jedi, but that's a realization she'll come to on her own. ]

I certainly won't stop you, though I don't know how often I'll agree to them.

[ It says a lot about his time lately that he received it so well. ]

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka knows it, too-- on both counts. She's just being whimsical for the sake of it. They could all use a laugh, really.]

I'll get you when you're least suspecting.

[beardstrokes]

Now that would be a credit to your training. Your Master often would try to ambush me to prove his readiness in combat.

His one failing was shouting before the attack.

[resnipstance]

[Pfffthaha.]

Why does this not surprise me.

[beardstrokes]

It would not.

Yet, I find myself continually surprised.

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka plops herself down on Obi-Wan's bunk without asking, bouncing there a moment and looking rather chipper.]

Anakin never says anything about the past. Not even the good stuff. You should tell me another one.

[beardstrokes]

Anakin . . . [ Has a deep attachment to his past. ] doesn't like to talk about it.

I wasn't there for this one, but I heard from one of the pilots that he snuck onto a fighter and began fighting the Separatists during the Battle of Naboo.

[resnipstance]

Wait, what? But wouldn't he have been like-- nine?

[beardstrokes]

He was, in fact, nine years old.

[ Probably the only amusing thing that he can recall at that time. The rest was shadowed by Darth Maul and his master's death. ]

[resnipstance]

It's amazing he's even alive...!

[beardstrokes]

Well, you know Anakin. The dramatics started early on.

[ Says the king of dramatics. ]

[resnipstance]

I'm sure it runs in the family.

[beardstrokes]

[ Family. It sobers him a little. Anakin has a family. A very different one. He's not even sure where he stands on that. He doesn't let the feeling linger. ]

I'll have you know that I was a model student.

[resnipstance]

Oh yeah?

You were Master Jinn's padawan, right? I never knew him. What was that like?

[beardstrokes]

[ He pauses, trying to gather his thoughts. Even now, thinking about Qui-Gon was difficult. ]

He seems stern, but he was . . . very gentle. He revered all life. He had a bad habit of being cryptic as well, which I would despair of, especially during tense political situations. Still, he would do whatever he felt was right.

The Council wasn't very fond of him and his ways.

[ How many times had Obi-Wan stood by his Master's side as Qui-Gon was being scolded for some adventure they had taken. It would make him wince and worry. ]

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka chuckles.]

Sounds like he would have gotten along well with Anakin.

[beardstrokes]

They did. Qui-Gon was Anakin's original master.

[resnipstance]

... What? ... How does that work? I thought you couldn't have two padawans.

[beardstrokes]

You can't. Master Qui-Gon perished some time later against . . . a Sith Lord. So I took Anakin as my padawan.

[ It's a strange dichotomy. Obi-Wan, in a way, wasn't Qui-Gon's preferred padawan, though their bond grew strong. And then it was the same for Anakin. ]