The meeting room doors opened. The instant Obi-Wan Kenobi saw two suits of beskar armor, his face twitched involuntarily.
("Old Wan… you really haven't let it go at all. If that's the case, you're way too unreliable—there's no way you can be my mentor.")
("If I tell the Jedi High Council the real reason, it'll probably seriously damage your prospects. If it affects your promotion to Jedi Master and your path into the High Council, that would warp the future too much—and that could cause me unnecessary trouble. No. I can't say it directly. I need another reason to reject you.")
In the brief span of standing up, stepping forward, and shaking hands, a whole chain of thoughts flashed through Max Vizsla's mind.
The risk was too high. Max absolutely could not allow the first love of his main political enemy to become his mentor. He needed a strong reason—one that could decisively veto this candidate.
"Hello. I'm the Mandalorian Max Vizsla."
"Hello. I'm Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi."
After both of them adjusted their expressions, their hands met.
Once the greetings were done, Max sat back down on the floor.
Seeing the Mandalorian and Aayla Secura seated cross-legged, Obi-Wan hesitated—then chose to remain standing to the side. He still didn't know why the High Council had called him here.
"Master Yoda, Masters," Max asked proactively, "may I ask why it's Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
"Experience, he has," Yoda replied.
"Experience?"
"Yes. Experience," the motherfucker raised a finger. "The experience of guiding the 'Chosen One.' In the entire Jedi Order, only Obi-Wan Kenobi has that. He is the best choice to serve as your mentor as well."
"Chosen One?" / "Master Windu…" Max and Obi-Wan spoke at the same time.
"Please." Max gestured for Obi-Wan to go first.
"Oh—please, you first."
Max nodded, then stopped yielding and turned to Mace Windu with an affected look of confusion. "Master Windu, what does 'experience guiding the Chosen One' have to do with serving as my mentor?"
Windu countered, "You aren't curious what the 'Chosen One' is?"
("What the hell—shouldn't the Chosen One prophecy be Jedi Order classified? First Qui-Gon Jinn, now you—both of you just casually blurt it out like your mouths don't have doors. Aren't you worried the Sith will abduct or assassinate your Chosen One?")
"Uh…" Max shrugged with palms out. "I am curious—if this isn't some Jedi Order secret."
"An ancient prophecy holds that a Chosen One will come, and through him ultimate balance will be restored to the Force. Lord Vizsla," Windu said, pointing toward the black-and-white diagram, "your understanding of the Force includes another possibility for 'balancing' it. We cannot ignore the possibility that you are the Chosen One—and that you will bring ultimate balance."
"And Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi is currently training another apprentice who may also be the Chosen One. Having him mentor you as well makes it easier for him to observe which one is the true Chosen One—or whether neither of you is."
Max made the referee hand sign for a timeout and said, "Masters, I believe this arrangement is inappropriate."
"Mmm. Speak, speak," Yoda signaled for Max to continue.
"Yes, Master Yoda." Max bowed his head. "Masters, there's an old saying from the Aakaash system—don't put all your eggs in one basket. If you concentrate me and the other possible Chosen One together, and something happens… what then? I think I should keep as much distance as possible from the other possible Chosen One."
"Mmm. Sense, it makes. Much sense," Yoda nodded, then asked Obi-Wan, "Obi-Wan—think, what do you?"
"Master Yoda," Obi-Wan bowed. "I agree with Lord Vizsla."
He arrived in a hurry and left in a hurry. Just like that, Old Wan showed his face—and then walked right back out of the room.
After Obi-Wan left, Master Depa Billaba asked, "Lord Vizsla—tell us why you want to hire Aayla Secura as your mentor."
Why?
The real reason, of course, wasn't something he could say out loud—Max thought Aayla Secura was sentimental, and therefore might be easier to pull to his side.
Aayla Secura was a genuine lightsaber master. In the original timeline, she took part in the Battle of Geonosis that ignited the Clone Wars, and survived the dense barrage of blaster fire inside the Geonosian arena—amid tens of thousands of battle droids.
And yet—even a fighter like her couldn't deflect or block a single blaster bolt after Order 66 was issued. Not one. Aayla trusted her comrades. She charged at the front, and gave her back to the clone troopers without reservation.
"No particular reason," Max said with palms together, putting on his best mystic act. "I think it's the will of the Force."
"Oh?"
"There are countless matters across the galaxy, and over ten thousand Jedi. Yet it was Aayla Secura who received the assignment to Cloud City. I think that was the Force's guidance. So the first time I saw Ms. Secura, I felt an immediate warmth and familiarity."
It was a flimsy rationale—but once you invoked the Force, it sounded strangely plausible.
After discussion, the Jedi High Council ultimately accepted Max Vizsla's request. They decided to assign Aayla Secura as the Jedi Temple's resident representative to Bespin, and to have her concurrently serve as Max Vizsla's light-side mentor.
The High Council only permitted Aayla Secura to teach Max light-side meditation methods, forbidding her from teaching qigong techniques or lightsaber forms—but Max didn't care.
("When you're in the field, orders from the capital can be… flexible. Bespin is far away. Plenty of chances to pry bricks loose from the wall.")
Lunch time arrived. Max had an excellent appetite.
PS: During the Mandalorian Civil War, Obi-Wan—still a Padawan—accompanied his master Qui-Gon Jinn to Mandalore on a secret mission to protect Duchess Satine. During that mission, the boy and girl fell in love and became each other's first love. After the New Mandalorians won the civil war, the mission ended, and they separated because of the choices they each made.
But the feelings remained buried deep. During the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan admitted that if Satine had asked him to stay back then, he would have left the Jedi Order to be with her. And when Duchess Satine was mortally wounded by Darth Maul and lay dying in Obi-Wan's arms, she confessed she had always loved him.
"Ben" was Satine's pet name for Obi-Wan during their brief romance. After Satine's death, Obi-Wan still used "Ben" more than once as a codename/alias during covert missions.
PPS: Not everyone in the Jedi Order believes the Chosen One prophecy with absolute certainty. Qui-Gon Jinn was obsessed with mystic prophecy and firmly believed Anakin was the Chosen One. Master Yoda, Master Windu, and others remained skeptical or uncertain.
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