Hi!! I love your writing so much! If you don't mind id like more of the Obi Melida/Daan and Jango one, maybe with reactions from obi wan side of things?
Obi-Wan is beginning to think he should’ve thought this through more. At the time, it had seemed like a great idea. Mandalore was a warrior culture, yes, but they were also rich, diverse and in need of allies. He’d neglected to take into account the Mandalorian view on children. More specifically, the fact that they frowned upon child soldiers.
He remembers this pivotal detail as he shows them Cerasi’s monument (how she would hate it). More specifically, he remembers the moment Prince Fett asks how old Cerasi was.
“She was fourteen,” Daria answers, unconcerned by the many things she has just revealed to their ally.
Obi-Wan winces, wishing it was socially acceptable to face-palm in front of visiting diplomats. Not only is this going to cause problems in an official capacity, Obi-Wan was really starting to like Prince Fett and Ser Myles.
Neither of them react outwardly, but Obi-Wan can feel a strange mixture of outrage, resignation and sadness in the Force.
“She was very brave,” Prince Fett remarks, studying the monument closely.
“She was,” Obi-Wan inclines his head, “She fought for what she believed in. She fought for peace, there is nothing braver than that and no nobler fight.”
Daria gives him a look that he doesn’t acknowledge. He’d been very strict when instructing them all not to talk about fighting with the Mandalorions. Mandalore might no longer be at war, but her people are still warriors. MelidaDaan is done with fighting. But Obi-Wan will not let anything diminish what Cerasi sacrificed, or what she sacrificed it for.
“On Mandalore, the most noble fight is the fight for family,” Ser Myles says, “And she did that too.”
Obi-Wan doesn’t mention that Cerasi fought against her birth family, because in the end it doesn’t really matter.
Obi-Wan had been hoping that Prince Fett and Ser Myles had been happy to brush over Cerasi’s age, but clearly he was wrong. The Manda’lor is coming to MelidaDaan, and that can only mean that this allyship has gotten much more complicated. The trade deal has already been signed, but if Mandalore withdraws there’s nothing they can do. MelidaDaan has very little political power and they lack the resources to fight.
Daria is unimpressed, “They’re sending their leader because we have child soldiers? Obi, we’re literally all child soldiers. You were thirteen. Barely thirteen actually. I was eleven. We were the child soldiers. All the Elders are dead or dying. Or so fucked they’d rather seclude themselves on farms than engage with our government. We did nothing wrong.”
“I know that,” Obi-Wan says, “But the Manda’lor doesn’t. He probably thinks we force our children to fight.”
“Well then, we just have to set him straight.”
“You don’t just set the Manda’lor straight, Daria! He’s the chosen leader of a culture of vicious warriors who spend centuries fighting over which faction had the right to call themselves Mando’ade. Mandalorians are warriors who have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later, especially when children are involved.”
Daria rolls her eyes, “I think you’re putting too much thought into this, Obi. If we tell him about the Elders and the war, he’ll be sympathetic! If they truly value children as much as you say they do then he’ll have to help us.”
Obi-Wan groans, knocking his head against his desk. He doesn’t know how to explain exactly what explaining everything that happened here will entail. He doesn’t know how to tell them that most of the galaxy would demand proof of their story, and that the Manda’lor will surely be no different.”
Daria gives him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, “Come on, idiot, let’s visit the babies. They always make you feel better.”
None of the babies are actually babies anymore. As the planet has been rebuilt the number of orphaned and abandoned children has decreased rapidly. The youngest baby will be two soon.
The moment they see him, the babies swarm around his legs.
“I missed you brother Obi!”
“You’ve been gone so long!”
“Will you tell us a story!”
Obi-Wan laughs, answering every question thrown at him until the clamour dies down. Mifa is on caring duty today, and they duck out gratefully as Obi-Wan and Daria settle in with the babies.
As always, they want a story about the wider galaxy. Obi-Wan tells them about Coruscant, the shining buildings and trillions of people. He doesn’t notice Jango lurking in the hallway beyond the room.