I Bet My Life

Fourteen: It's Okay

The kitchen had fallen uncomfortably silent after Cody recalled Order 66. To say the least, it reminded each and every one of them that what occurred on that day impacted certain groups of individuals. For the Jedi, they lost their entire Order that stood for millennials that sought to protect those who were less fortunate against the forces of evil. For the Clones, they lost a sense of themselves as their personal thoughts and feelings were regarded by one unwanted order that they couldn't control. That dreadful day saw the fall of many individuals, along with the burning regret for protecting the very people and beliefs that they let crumble to the very evils they'd been fighting for years. Cody was still tightly clutching Obi-Wan's hand from beneath the table, clearly still uneasy from giving his perspective of the events as Order 66 took place. Quinlan stared at the clone in awe, barely unable to speak. However, it wasn't long before the newcomer was called upon by Obi-Wan,

"Quinlan, I sense something uneasy within you... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just taking it all in..."

"That's not exactly what I'm addressing, I'm afraid... Why are you actually here?"

"I just heard that you were still out there somewhere and-"

"You've already told me that... I sense something else, my friend..."

"I promise you, Obes. There's nothing else..."

"Quin, please be honest with me..."

Quinlan sighed as he took a long and deep breath, taking the glass of water that Obi-Wan had offered him earlier and spinning it in his hands. He kept his eyes at the water as it slowly shifted in the cup, fearing any eye contact with Obi-Wan as what he would say next had unforeseen results. He took a deep breath before angling his vision towards his oldest friend from the temple,

"It's about Maul."

"What about Maul?" Obi-Wan asked inquisitively, not having a distinct reaction to Quinlan's words.

"He's still alive, Obi-Wan."

"In prison, I hope. Ahsoka, Rex, and the 332nd captured Maul, didn't they?"

"According to my inside contacts, Maul never arrived in the city of Coruscant."

"What?"

"He's still out there... And stronger and more influential than his last appearance on Mandalore."

The trio sat in silence, too shocked, stunned, or afraid to say anything more. Obi-Wan couldn't believe it, though he wasn't all that surprised. Maul had proven over the course of the lengthy years that with ever confrontation he faced against the Jedi, he managed to escape death's grasp by some insane miracle. However, this was something that Obi-Wan feared would happen the second the ex-Sith apprentice came back from the dead over a decade later as a result of the intense duel on Naboo. Every time the old foes came back in contact with one another throughout the Clone Wars, Maul returned with more hatred and a bloodlust for fatal revenge against the Padawan who took his Sith status and his lower half from him. Just hearing Maul's name brought Obi-Wan to have a sickening and uneasy pit forming in his stomach. This revelation also caused a sense of anger and regret for not taking that next step in permanently eliminating Maul during his Clone Wars encounters with the Zabrack. However, he allowed for his own self control and reasoning to take over as killing someone wouldn't result in any positive result, according to the Jedi Order of the time. However, the Jedis and Padawans who became Generals and Commanders during that span of four years were used to slicing down hundreds of droids. so being soldiers for the Republic was almost becoming normal at that point. Though the room was dead silent, Obi-Wan could sense that Quinlan wasn't entirely finished with his thoughts, and he could feel the uneasiness building in his friend,