thesaurus | ITT: SAD JEDI

Entry tags:

!caitlin,
#ic

ITT: SAD JEDI

Obi-Wan stood behind the little hovel he called home, tending to Rooh-the-eopie. He watched the first of the two suns sink below the horizon, halving the amount of light that bathed the desert. Dusk was here, and soon so would night, and so too would the bad dreams arrive: the images of terrified younglings and friends dying. But he closed his eyes against the early onslaught of thoughts. There was no need to let them plague him before their time; if he let them take him at any moment at all then there was no way that he could go on.

Opening his eyes, he stroked Rooh's snout carefully, calming her as she became restless. He made sure she was secured, fed and watered, then he moved onto her son, Tooh. Tooh wasn't big enough yet to be ridden, but that was alright. When he took Ferus to Mos Eisley they could walk and he would lead the eopies with them. He could ride Rooh home, or pick up some supplies and have her carry them. But the walk there would be good for them all, he thought.

Ferus Olin was inside the hut, taking care of whatever would pass for dinner that night. It wouldn't be long now before they parted ways, before Ferus took his leave to Alderaan, but for now the company was something of a comfort. Ferus was family, though they hardly got along perfectly. Ferus mouthed off, for one thing, and questioned Obi-Wan regularly. It was a little like having Anakin--

Obi-Wan stopped his thoughts again, patting Tooh and straightening up. Ferus wasn't Anakin. He never would be. But he had come closer to becoming Anakin than either of them dared talk about.

For now there was much pain for both of them.

He stood on the hill, looking east, toward the Lars homestead in the far distance. He waited for the second sun to set and wondered. He wished he could reach out with the Force to Luke, check that all was well, but he couldn't connect to him. Shouldn't, even if he could.

It was lonely in the desert, so far from everything, even with Ferus there. In some ways, Obi-Wan thought, more so because Ferus was there, comfort or not. They had both lost so much: friends, family, purpose. More than Obi-Wan could bear, he thought some days. But now they were guardians of the galaxy's hope. It would be a long, difficult job, but Obi-Wan would shoulder that burden. He only hoped that Ferus could too. He didn't know how the young man was coping. Obi-Wan barely knew how he was coping.

The sun finally disappeared, leaving him in relative darkness before the stars began to twinkle into life. He turned his chin up to the sky, searching for familiar constellations he would never find from this remote planet. He had never paid much attention to Tatooine in the past, even knowing it was Anakin's homeworld. It wasn't as if it should have mattered. But a remarkable amount of the galaxy seemed to orbit around this little planet on the outer rim.

And here they were, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ferus Olin. Two men, stripped of everything, almost ready to say goodbye. How long would they need to hold together before peace returned?

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Eyes widening slightly, Ferus took a tiny step further back, then mentally kicked himself for showing his surprise-slash-apprehension so clearly. But could you really blame him with a comment like that?

"Your, uh, husband?" he repeated lamely, staring at her, mind trying to piece this together.

The implication was ... clear, but also difficult for him to really grasp and process.

"My husband," Leelee confirmed musingly. She stepped up to Ferus, studying him. There was a hint of pheromones in the air. The few nearby shoppers shuffled away awkwardly. "Maybe we could have you over for dinner. I could make you some art."

Ferus took a full step back this time, and didn't even beat himself up for it, because he could tell that she was doing something he wouldn't like or want her doing. Taking a step back seemed the easiest way to get out of that. Some.

It was also clearly marking his disinterest. He hoped. He wasn't sure. He wasn't actually sure what he was doing at all, but decided to go with the firm-but-honest approach.

"No thank you. Not interested."

Well, as firm as he could manage, anyway. It wasn't too bad.

Leelee didn't seem put off by Ferus's rejection of her. If anything, she just seemed amused. She might have started to argue the point, or to change tactics, but they were interrupted.

The young woman who had been glaring at them slammed her cup down on the table, liquor sloshing--it would have spilled, had it not been so low. Her shoulders shook.

"Oh, shut up, Pace," the girl said, voice hoarse. "He doesn't need that kind of attention." Then, low, to Ferus, in a voice that caused a hush to fall across the room, she asked, "so tell me, Thyo: every Kenobi a killer, or is that just your uncle?"

Snapping his eyes to the young woman as she called attention to herself, Ferus smoothly took a step away from Leelee to look at her openly this time, taking her in. Angry, upset, young - but an adult, still.

And what she had to say definitely made him pause. He knew he had to handle this delicately, but he also had no idea what exactly he was handling. He'd have to rely on what these people were telling him for the most part.

Well, he'd just been told Obi-Wan was a killer. This wasn't news - most Jedi were, even if not by choice. But of course that was something the rest of them didn't know about Obi-Wan.

Nothing they know about me ether, Ferus reminded himself, measuring the situation in his head as he let the moment stretch.

Startled incredulousness seemed a good way to go.

"- I'm sorry?"

Suddenly Ferus might as well have been on his own with this girl, for all the others in the Claim wanted to get involved. Leelee stepped back and away; Wyle sat down at an unoccupied table; Gloamer simply looked unsure what to do.

But the young woman, she was determined.

Slowly she stood, unsteady on her feet.

"You heard me," she said. "Are you like him? Are you here to ruin everything?"

She was intoxicated, he noted. He could use that to his advantage, but he also wasn't sure what kind of advantage he was looking for. He couldn't let any of them believe Obi-Wan was a killer, or that he himself was one: there'd be a hunt, cries for vengeance and justice, or suspicion that would lead to monitoring at the very least.

But he wasn't sure what he was arguing against. Thankfully, as an actual outsider, he had a good excuse to fish for the information.

"I hope not", he said, letting her see some confusion, not wanting to confront her and give her too much traction for her anger by being too calm, like he'd already picked sides. "What did he do, exactly?"

It wasn't a bad tactic choice, on Ferus's part. The young woman--Veeka--faltered at the apparent confusion on their guest's face. It put her off her game, made her a little less sure of her accusations.

"He made everyone hate my dad," she said quietly, first, then raising her voice. "And then he murdered him. He's gone. And it's all Ben's fault."

A few of the men in the room exchanged a look. One started to say, "that's not how..." only for one of his companions to shush him.

Ferus took a look around at the rest of the customers, then made a decision and took a few steps across the room to the young woman, gesturing to the seat opposite her.

"Is it okay if I ...?" he asked softly, wanting to hear her out, what she had to say, but not wanting to make a scene or put either of them on too much display. He paused and added, "my uncle never tells me anything, you know. You should tell me what happened."

He was taking a bit of a chance, but her hesitation led him to believe they could work it out this way, over conversation, if she'd give him a chance.

Once again the girl faltered. She didn't say anything at first, just mutely nodded, then sat back down unceremoniously. She used her foot to push the other chair out, giving Ferus the space to sit down.

"Why would you care?" she asked, voice still dangerous, but less immediately aggressive.

He gave her a quick, small smile in thanks and sat down, putting the bag of eopie feed by his feet. He hadn't expected her to open up immediately in any way, but the fact that she was allowing him space was a good sign.

Aware that most people were watching them, he nonetheless kept his eyes on her, and said, with a little more feeling than he intended, "I don't like to see people hurt."

There was a long moment of silent struggle before she finally said, "no one's that good."

There was a little less fire behind the words that time, though. It was quieter. More resigned.

There was a very faint, sad smile when he answered, "I know."

It was easy to call to mind again, all the ways he'd abandoned parts of what he was, had willingly thrown goodness to the wayside for results, for anger, for vengeance.

He wasn't that good. He understood her skepticism, and felt both sad and sympathetic towards her, whoever she was, whatever had happened.

Maybe it was just that grief finds grief. Anger finds anger.

"But I'm not lying to you", he told her, voice low, private.

The young woman nodded slowly at that, considering Ferus's words and weighing whether or not to believe his assurances. Ultimately though, she leaned forward a little, picking her drink back up and stared at it--before finally speaking.

"My dad was a business man around here," she said, struggling to keep her voice low. A few people around them seemed interested in the conversation. "He wanted to protect people. But he--and my brother--died after Ben Kenobi made them look like fools."

There was some muttering around the room from those who listened. Veeka's grip on her drink tightened.

Well, Obi-Wan had said he had a hand in what had happened. Her father had to be the corrupt man he had talked about, the one he had exposed. Something that hadn't come without backlash.

But Obi-Wan hadn't mentioned that the man had died, or that there had been others involved. Not that Ferus had asked. Still ...

Folding his arms on the table, he kept his attention on her still, willing this to stay between them, willing her to trust him. He still didn't feel sure of exactly what he was trying to accomplish, but he knew he couldn't leave this alone, either.

"What happened to them?"

Veeka was quiet for a moment as she considered it, reaching through muddled thoughts to gather together the story she had. The story she'd been holding onto for some time now.

She'd struggled to piece it all together.

Of course, the version she told might vary from time to time.

"We--all of us, even the other settlers," this said with a glare at some of the men around them, "went after your uncle and the Tuskens. My father said he was in league with them. And maybe dad didn't always tell the truth, but he was trying to protect everyone! My family chased Kenobi and the Tuskens off. But he was in league with their leader and she attacked us." Choking, she lowered her head. "She killed my brother and I had to get away. I never saw my dad again."

"I'm sorry."

He said it gently, seeing clearly how fresh the loss was to her, and he made sure not to think about his own. He couldn't do that if he was going to handle this with the care he had to, for both Veeka's sake and Obi-Wan's. He had no space in this, he told himself. He couldn't say he understood.

"My uncle ..." he said after a moment, "I know he's ... strange. But he wouldn't want anybody dead."

He had to try to defuse that assumption.

The young woman's shoulders shook. She gripped her drink tightly between her hands. She seemed to weigh that a moment.

"He told my dad to 'turn back.' He kept threatening him like that."

There was some rustling around the room, but no one interrupted, yet.

"Turn back where?"

He made sure to keep his tone carefully gentle still, but he wasn't afraid to prod. If 'turn back', something that simple, was perceived as a threat ... well, it meant that Veeka or her family had a reason to feel like they might be threatened, and Ferus wanted to know what that reason was.

"Home, I guess," Veeka groused. "But we couldn't go back. We had to make a stand against him and the Tuskens."

"Maybe 'cause Gault needed a scapegoat," a man nearby interrupted, voice dripping with disdain. "So we wouldn't take him on for his lies."

"Shut up!" Veeka snapped, spinning in her seat and nearly toppling over. The man tensed but didn't rise to the challenge.

Ferus moved instinctively to help steady her, but ultimately didn't touch her, didn't finish that movement. He looked to the man who had spoken up, measuring him. Whoever he was it seemed he was on Obi-Wan's side, or at least on his side of the truth.

Half standing, hands on the table, he took another quick look around the room. It seemed that tension in general was running high.

He thought for a moment to ask the man himself what he meant, but instead leaned forward to Veeka, put on a look of concern, and asked her. "What does he mean?"

For a moment, neither of them answered Ferus, eyes locked in a glare. But Veeka slowly looked up at him, her gaze struggling for a moment to properly focus on him. She squinted, almost accusatory, as if she'd forgotten who he was for a second there. But he appeared to be on her side.

"Dad," she choked. "People didn't like the ways he tried to get people to join the Call. Or what he was doing with the money. But it wasn't his fault! The Calwells were in on it."

The man who had interrupted stayed silent this time, struggling but not denying it.

Eyes darting to the man for just a second, Ferus looked back to Veeka, trying to keep eye contact. She was somewhat accepting of him, but she could decide otherwise at any point, especially with other people involving themselves in the conversation.

That said, Ferus was glad for the man and the way he kept watching them. Just by being there, he was helpful - Ferus hoped he wouldn't turn around or back out just yet, because his reactions and expressions were helpful to finding out the truth.

Weighing his words for a moment, he ventured, "That must have been frustrating to him. To be accused like that."

"Of course it was!" Veeka shot, voice raising as she got heated again. "His whole business was protecting the settlers from the fripping Sand People. But they still turned their backs on him!"

"He attacked us and blamed the Sandies," the man at the next table over growled.

Veeka struggled for a moment, expression wavering between anger and shame. She didn't know which one to feel. Ultimately, though, she was cowed and turned her eyes away. "It was for everyone's own good."

General statements sometimes got you more information than questions did, and Ferus was glad to see that that had worked. He looked to the man, noted the anger; looked back at Veeka and saw her conflict.

Whatever had father had done or hadn't done, it was clear that he'd been a dishonest man, one way or the other. Probably one with excuses and justifications. That's what Ferus was looking for now.

"He had a plan when he did that, didn't he?"

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