Chapter Text
The first time Cody saw esteemed Jedi Master, Sith Killer, General Obi-Wan Kenobi was not when he was placed under his command. It was not on a battlefield, and it was not even a face-to-face meeting. The first time Cody saw Obi-Wan Kenobi was when he was soaking wet, hair plastered to his forehead, and walking through the walls of Kamino.
There had been whispers of a Jedi finally having come to the facility, and the whispers had reached Cody first - his long years of gaining the respect and loyalty of his brothers didn’t come without perks - so he wasn’t necessarily surprised when he spotted someone in dripping brown robes walking alongside Taun We and Lama Su. What did surprise him was the grace that the Jedi still managed to exude despite the entire situation.
The second time Cody saw esteemed Jedi Master, Sith Killer, General Obi-Wan Kenobi was a face-to-face meeting, but it was so brief and insignificant that it never made it into any official reports. Whispers had traveled once again, this time concerning Jango and Boba Fett. They were fleeing from the Jedi, or so his brothers claimed. It made sense, then, that Obi-Wan would pursue.
“Oh, hello there,” esteemed Jedi Master, Sith Killer, General Obi-Wan Kenobi greeted Cody, an insignificant clone, with a smile that made Cody’s chest feel tight, “Lovely to meet you, now if you’ll excuse me.”
The Jedi left, and Cody watched him go. The clones were made for the Jedi, created to fight alongside them in a war that had yet to start, but as Cody watched the Jedi rush after their template, Cody couldn’t help but wonder that maybe - just maybe - the Jedi were created for them as well. Two sides of a coin, two halves of a whole. Unknowingly fulfilled when together.
That’s my general , something deep within Cody’s very soul whispered, Ner jetti
~*~
Esteemed Jedi Master, Sith Killer, General Obi-Wan Kenobi was not what Cody thought he would be. He was not the aloof and calculating being that the Kaminoans' lessons had made him out to be. He was not the heartless slave to the senate that the Cuy'val Dar said he would be either.
This man loved to make sarcastic comments and bicker with his former Padawan the way Cody bickered with his fellow command clones. He flirted with the enemy to throw them off and hated caff with a burning passion. He went out of his way to learn everyone’s name and assured them time and time again that they were people and they were not expendable.
On top of all of those things, the most jarring trait that Obi-Wan Kenobi held that set him apart from Cody’s teaching was the fact that, for the life of him, he couldn’t keep track of his lightsaber.
“We nearly left the planet without this, Sir,” Cody set the general’s - Obi-Wan, he insisted Cody called him Obi-Wan - lightsaber on the nightstand next to his medical bed, “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“And it likely won’t be the last,” Obi-Wan smiled, though he seemed antsy.
Cody was well aware that Obi-Wan had a knack for avoiding the medics no matter how severe his injuries, but a boulder had fallen on the general’s arm and broken both bones in his forearm - leaving him with no choice but to get help. Helix was ecstatic at the opportunity to actually treat the general, and Cody couldn’t say he blamed his vod’s enthusiasm.
“You should take better stock of your weapons sir, especially one as important as this,” at the beginning of the war, Cody would have been terrified to speak to his general, his superior, in such a manner. Now, however, Cody scolded his Jedi more than anyone else.
Obi-Wan chuckled, and at Cody’s confused look explained, “You just reminded me of something I used to say to Anakin quite often.”
“Well whatever you said to him, perhaps you should take your own advice.”
Obi-Wan feigned a scandalized gasp, causing a smile to break out on Cody’s face, “My dear commander, that would be a much too simple course of action.”
The two of them sat there in silence for a few moments. Cody kept his eyes on Obi-Wan’s wrapped arm, wondering if there was something more he could have done. The general had been hurt plenty of times before, but this seemed like such a preventable incident, paling in comparison to all his other heroic feats that led him to the medbay.
“Cody?” Obi-Wan spoke and Cody hummed in response, looking up and meeting his Jedi’s eyes. Had Obi-Wan been looking at him this whole time? “Where do you think you’ll go after this war?”
Cody didn’t have an answer. Not until several months later. Much had happened in those months. More battles, more death, but beyond that was the relationship that formed between Cody and his general.
Cody wasn’t entirely sure how it happened. Perhaps that was because it developed so naturally. One day Cody and Obi-Wan were close but maintained a professional distance. The next, well, the next they were pulling each other into darkened corners and holding nightly “strategy meetings” in Obi-Wan’s room.
After one such strategy meeting, they were drinking a cup of caff and tea respectively, basking in each other’s presence. These were Cody’s favorite moments- when they could simply be together without protocol or the Jedi Code acting as a barrier to what was between them.
“I want to visit my home planet after the war,” Obi-Wan stated suddenly, looking over to Cody and smiling, “And I want you to come with me.”
Cody’s heart leaped to his throat at Obi-Wan’s offer, managing a choked, “I thought your home was the Jedi Temple.”
“It is, but it’s not my home planet . I’m from Stewjon. It’s supposed to be beautiful, covered in beautiful flora with unique fauna. I have this memory of standing right next to this large waterfall in the mountains. It’s all I remember of my life before I was given to the Order. I want to go to that waterfall, feel the mist across my face, and look out at the mountains.”
“And you want me to come with you,” Cody whispered, unable to stop his own smile.
Obi-Wan set his cup of tea down and reached out for Cody’s hand, “I asked you once if you knew where you wanted to go after the war and you didn’t have an answer. Share my answer until you have your own.”
Cody let his eyes roam over Obi-Wan’s face, finding nothing but love in his blue eyes and pure happiness in his smile. Cody loved this man. He would have died for him if he asked. But he didn’t. All he asked was for Cody to travel with him after the war. How could Cody refuse?
“I will.”
“Cross your heart?”
Commander Tano once demanded a heart crossing from General Skywalker when he promised to show her a new lightsaber move. As far as Cody was aware, it was a common method of securing a promise around the Jedi Temple.
Cody traced an X over his heart, “Cross my heart.”
Leaning over, Obi-Wan pressed his forehead against Cody’s in a keldabe kiss, before moving forward and joining their lips together in a true kiss.
~*~
It was covered in dirt and bruises nearly a year later when they whispered the riduurok to each other.
The campaign had been brutal, with the 212th taking heavy casualties. It hardly felt like a victory, despite the valuable Separatist general they had in holding. There were men to identify, reports to make, and a local government to pacify, but for a few moments none of those things seemed to matter.
“We don’t know how long we’re going to last in this war, General,” Cody reasoned, pleading- begging his general to give him this, “I love you, I want us to be connected even when we’re a galaxy away from each other. Please.”
There were shouted orders and the endless shuffling of vode outside of the command tent. Anyone could walk in at any moment and see Cody holding his general like he was never going to see him again. But all Cody could hear was the hitch in Obi-Wan’s breathing as he realized what Cody was asking of him, all Cody cared about was that Obi-Wan was alive .
“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde,” Obi-Wan declared without a moment of hesitation.
The Sith Slayer, The Negotiator, the man often hailed as the “Perfect Jedi” had just willingly forsaken one of his Order’s strictest rules in order to permanently tie himself to Cody.
“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde,” Cody swore back.
Threading his fingers through Obi-Wan’s hair, Cody pressed their foreheads together in a keldabe kiss. Whispers in the dark, secret meetings, promises of a better future. It was all they could give each other now. One day the war would end, one day Obi-Wan would leave the Order, one day they could simply be together.
Today was not that day.
That day would never come.
It was pure luck that Anakin told Obi-Wan about his time with the Chancellor at the opera. Obi-Wan had been on his way back from a meeting with Cody at Dex’s when he ran into Anakin, who had just returned. According to Obi-Wan, Anakin was clearly conflicted and Obi-Wan sat him down and listened to everything he had to say.
The Jedi Council put together a team immediately, much too suspicious to stand back and do nothing. Not when Anakin had so much to say about the poison he’d unknowingly been told for years, not when someone finally got a Mind Healer to look at him and saw darkness that had to have been fed by a Dark Sider.
These were all things Cody was told over comm messages from Obi-Wan because he was not a Jedi or a member of the High Council and therefore not able to actively be a part of the situation. The last message Cody received from Obi-Wan before he went off with the rest of the Council to face Sidious was a simple: I’ll see you soon, my dear commander
So Cody waited in the barracks, pacing for the first twenty minutes before growing so restless that he went and sought out sparring partners. He made it through Boil, Waxer, and Helix before Rex tracked him down and offered to give the other members of the 212th a much-needed break.
Cody wasn’t sure how long he and his vod fought. All he knew in those moments was the therapeutic movement of dodging blows and the satisfying feeling of attacks connecting. Rex must have entered the same headspace because no matter how hard they hit or how long the fight went on, they just kept going .
Finally, when both of them could hardly move they fell back onto the mats. Cody closed his eyes tightly, struggling to catch his breath and gather the energy to push past the aches and pains he felt to get up and drink some water.
“I’d suggest we call Helix, but I doubt he’ll want to help us after what you did to him,” Rex jested, drawing a quiet chuckle from Cody.
“Commander.”
Pushing himself up with a grunt, Cody stumbled to his feet and turned to the doorway. General Skywalker stood there, with rumpled robes and his hands clenched tightly at his sides.
“General,” Cody greeted cautiously, wondering why he’d come to the barracks to speak to him and not Rex-
Oh. Oh ka’ra .
“Commander, Obi-Wan informed me of your, ahem , relationship earlier today. There was just going to be an official announcement released but I- I couldn’t just,” the general’s hands were shaking, and his voice broke as he turned his head to hide his tears, “That shouldn’t be how you find out.”
“Find out what, sir?” Cody knew. He knew but he had to hear it. It wouldn’t be real until he did, it couldn’t be real until he did.
“When we were fighting the Chancellor, Obi-Wan he- it wasn’t supposed to happen like that but he did it anyway and-”
“General?” Rex stepped up next to Cody. He knew too.
“Obi-Wan distracted Palpatine long enough for me to cut off his head. He got killed because of it.” General Skywalker finally bit the words out.
Cody closed his eyes. The world faded away. In that moment it was just him, just him and his grief and unachievable dreams. All the quiet laughter they shared over cups of caff and tea. Brushing their hands against each other in moments when they couldn’t do anything more. Whispered promises in the dark. Talks of children, of raising warriors like they swore to do when they spoke the riduurok . These moments flashed through Cody’s mind, fresh as though they just happened. Cody grabbed these moments and held onto them desperately, unwilling to let them go. He wouldn’t be able to replace these memories.
“The pyre ceremonies are normally kept between Jedi but exceptions can be made and I know he’d want you to be there and- Commander?”
Cody came back to himself. Rex had a tight grip on his shoulder, grounding him in the way only a vod could. Cody left his memories to face the present, though he wished he could trap himself away in his mind forever.
“I’ll be there.”
There were many exceptions made for Obi-Wan’s pyre burning. It was not because he was the Sith Slayer, the Negotiator, or because he was the Perfect Jedi. It was because he was a good man, who had saved many and touched the hearts of even more.
It was these thoughts that prevented Cody from shattering upon seeing his riduur . Knowing he was so loved when Obi-Wan often spoke of his feelings of failure- oh, Obi-Wan, if only you could see how loved you truly were. Cody stood in between Rex and Ahsoka Tano - who had returned for her grandmaster’s funeral - and watched as the fire was lit.
The Jedi would say that Obi-Wan was one with the Force. Cody’s partially Mandalorian upbringing said that he wasn’t gone but merely marching away. The Force willed it, the end of the war required it. It was inevitable, necessary.
Cody couldn’t find comfort in any of those things while he watched his love, his hope, his future burn.