A Heart Full of Stars ★ Obi-Wan Kenobi

Chapter 7

Abednedo - 27BBY

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Koral Nova had just returned to their ship from a mission on Abednedo.

Obi-Wan dropped into a seat at the back of the ship and said:

-This mission is a success.

Koral chuckled and replied:

-Obi-Wan... You know we lost Anakin.

-That's what I said, this mission is a success.

They looked at each other and smiled, then burst out laughing. Now all they had to do was wait for Anakin to find the ship alone.

***

Obi-Wan entered the Council chamber, accompanied by his Padawan. It was time for them to be assigned a new mission. He was surprised when he entered to see a face he thought was long gone.

Siri Tachi, the Jedi who had been expelled from the Jedi Order five years earlier. She had subsequently joined a Krayn slave trader and become his right-hand woman. He believed, as most Jedi do, that she had betrayed the Order, and so did not understand what she was doing sitting comfortably in a Jedi Council seat.

-Kenobi," Master Windu said, "I imagine you already know Master Siri Tachi. She's back from a mission, having broken up a slave trafficking ring, and we've decided to make her a Jedi Master. She will accompany you on your next mission.

Obi-Wan didn't know how to respond. He knew Siri Tachi very well but had been very disappointed when he learned of her betrayal, so at first, he hadn't believed it. He had come to terms with the fact that he would never see Siri again, and now he was told that it was all a lie and that she had never betrayed the Order. He turned to Koral, curious as to what she thought of all this. She gave him a reassuring smile as she raised both thumbs in the air.

Koral was not particularly stunned to hear this news. She was too young to know Siri Tachi, while Obi-Wan had trained as a novice with Siri and had been a Padawan at the same time. With their respective masters, who were friends, they had completed many missions together.

-Koral will accompany you," Windu finished. The Council knows you make an effective team.

-Yeah, I always said we were the best," said Koral.

-That's not true, she paid me," Windu replied.

Anakin laughed and Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile.

***

They went to Obi-Wan and Anakin's quarters. This is where Koral usually explained the mission to the rest of the team. Obi-Wan sat behind Siri so he could observe her discreetly. She was a cheerful yet serious young woman. She had long red hair and bangs covering her forehead which, like the rest of her face and shoulders, was freckled. Her skin was matt and she was of average height. He had to admit that he thought she was quite pretty. But he couldn't help comparing her to Koral, who had changed a lot in the last four years. Her hair had grown slightly, she now had bangs, but the rest of her hair was still very short. Koral loved to change her hairstyle regularly and hated it when someone had the same one as her. Obi-Wan suspected that she wouldn't keep her bangs for long, now that she knew Siri had them too. Recently, she'd ditched her usual blood-red shade for a golden lipstick, very fashionable on Coruscant at the time. He was brought out of his thoughts by the girl.

-A senator's son is missing," said Koral.

-Is that all?" asked Anakin.

Obi-Wan seemed outraged by the comment his Padawan had just made.

-What do you mean 'that's all'? That's a big deal! He lectured him.

-I don't mind, but I don't see why they're calling in the Jedi for this... It's not that bad. If you know what I mean...

-STILL," Koral interrupted him, seeing that Obi-Wan was about to say something back, which would have led them into an endless conversation about whether or not it was a big deal and if dinosaurs wore hats.

-The mission we've been given is to investigate the disappearance of this senator's son," she continued. However, he was in a school that was known to be very strict when he disappeared. So we're going to sneak in there and investigate just as quietly. Any questions?

-Does this mean we'll have to dress up?" asked Anakin.

-Jedi robes are kinda obvious, so yeah.

Siri Tachi hadn't said a word so far. She thought about Anakin's question for a few moments, holding her chin, then asked:

-What exactly will we have to dress up as?

-Well... I don't know," the young Jedi replied. I wasn't going to do the whole plan by myself, I left some of it to Obi-Wan, who likes to come up with lame schemes so much.

-So, first of all, my schemes never go wrong. And two, it was very nice of you to do most of the work by doing most of the planning," he replied.

-Did you know that you have to do the mission too?

He looked at her, half amused, half desperate.

-Anakin and Koral are both very young, we could pass them off as the school's students," Siri offered.

-I'm 23 years old," Koral replied, offended.

-You are? I thought you were sixteen at the most.

She glared at the girl before turning to Obi-Wan, smiling somewhat hypocritically. But he knew that deep down, Siri was adorable. So he didn't worry about Koral, even though she had disapproved of Siri's behaviour. She was old enough to control her moods and eventually not slit the throats of people who annoyed her. She had become a bright, wise girl. She sighed quietly before continuing:

-What will you and Obi-Wan be disguised as, Master Tachi?

-We'll be a couple who are considering placing their children in this school," she answered immediately as if it were obvious.

-Really?" asked Obi-Wan.

-Oh, yes," said Koral. It might be a better idea to dress up as teachers. You could just come in if Anakin and I need your help with the investigation.

-I think the headmaster would be suspicious if he saw two strangers coming into his school posing as teachers," Siri said.

-No," Obi-Wan contradicted her. All you have to do is hack into their database and make it look like two teachers are needed. It's doable from the mainframe on Coruscant.

-Yeah... she relented.

Koral left Obi-Wan and Anakin's flat to go to her own and pack her bag, followed by Siri Tachi. In the hallway, Siri Tachi quickly caught up with the girl.

-I'm not sure your plan is a good one," she said.

-You should have said so before everyone else approved, in that case," Koral replied.

-I didn't dare. You seem to attach so much importance to it.

-Don't worry about it, I'll have the opportunity to make other plans.

-You see, as the youngest Jedi Master in history, I have some experience," Siri Tachi chuckled.

Koral looked at her in mock surprise. She didn't like this Siri Tachi very much and this was the perfect time to prove she was better. The young Jedi had to admit, although she avoided bragging, she tended to be rather pretentious. Of course, she didn't say anything about it, but as soon as she was better than someone else, it was a party in Koral's head.

-You were the youngest Jedi Master in history?

-As I said, Siri didn't seem to understand.

-I'm sorry I dethroned you," she simpered.

-How long have you been a Jedi Master?

Koral was delighted to see the rage rise in Siri Tachi's eyes.

-It's been five years.

They said nothing more the rest of the way to their respective flats. Siri was boiling with rage and Koral was elated. Sometimes she was diabolical and she was very happy about it.

-The plan will be a success, I can assure you," she declared before abandoning Tachi in the hallway.