shadowmaat:

This could work. Bandomeer and Mandalore are both on the Hydian Way trade route. Maybe the ship has engine troubles or something and has to divert to Mandalore. In the ruckus Obi-Wan manages to escape. He’s heard of the hostility between Mandalorians and the Jedi, but right now ANYTHING sounds like a better option and the Order has made it clear that he isn’t a Jedi, anyway.

There’s a bit of proving himself involved, but it’s nothing he can’t handle and soon he’s adopted into a clan. Maybe Clan Fett, for simplicity’s sake. Having a “real” family is a much bigger adjustment than learning the Mando way of life. People who openly care about him? And show affection? The idea of attachments being a good thing? It takes time, but Obi-Wan flourishes and adapts to his new home.

He’s still learning to adapt when Jango is called to deal with the problem on Galidraan. He’s allowed to tag along as it’ll be a good learning experience, though he’s sent with Myles (Jango’s aide-de-camp) to keep him marginally safer. The Mandos may be tough, but they aren’t ruthless. Or not all of them anyway. Jango doesn’t want to lose his new baby brother just as he’s finally getting used to him.

Obi-Wan senses the arrival of the Jedi and his first irrational thought is that they’ve come to drag him back to Bandomeer. But no, he quickly realizes that isn’t the case and when Myles makes ready to fly up to support Jango Obi-Wan tries to convince him not to, saying he has a very bad feeling about this. Obi’s “bad feelings” are something that Jango has learned to respect, but Myles is a little more skeptical. Obi beats him to the punch, however, and flies up first.

When the Jedi leaps up to strike him down, Obi-Wan Force-shoves him away and lands beside Jango, where he proceeds to read the Jedi the riot act about blundering into a situation without understanding what they’re doing.

The Jedi are a bit taken aback to have a Mandalorian reciting their own tenets back at them. Especially a Mandalorian who is so clearly Force sensitive. Everything grinds to a halt while the Jedi figure out what to do and Jango manages to get his men to back down for the moment to see what happens. Myles catches up and is FURIOUS. He may never forgive Obi-Wan for taking off like that and making him look like an idiot.

Dooku, meanwhile, thinks Obi-Wan’s name sounds familiar. Some kind of tragedy involving his former padawan, Qui-Gon. He needs to consult with the Council about this mess, anyway, so maybe he’ll ask about it.

In the end (maybe via an ambush when the insurgents realize their plan didn’t work) the Jedi and Mandalorians wind up working together to stop the Death Watch splinter group and restore peace.

Obi-Wan earns the nickname of Paklalat (silver tongue) and Jango is grudgingly proud. Talking your way out of a fight doesn’t seem very Mandalorian, but he’s also VERY aware of what would have happened if Myles had been the one in the air instead of Obi-Wan when the Jedi attacked, so he’s willing to see the wisdom of it.

Now. *cracks knuckles* As for Maul, he would technically have been snatched by Sidious at around age 3 and would be around 10 at the time of the Not-Battle of Galidraan. That’s around the age he was sent off to Orsis Academy and he spent a few years there before it all went to shit for him. But we’ll say that at some point Jango had reason to snoop around Orsis and maybe uses Obi-Wan as bait. 

Obi-Wan picks up on Maul right away and being the Paklalat he is he soon manages to talk himself into some kind of friendship with Maul and Kilindi. More Kilindi than Maul, probably, be he’ll follow her lead.

LOTS of stuff happens, including an attempted kidnapping of Maul that Obi-Wan helps foil, the arrival of a Mando Jango despises, and a whole lotta heck. Obi-Wan has been quietly talking up the possibility of Kilindi and Maul becoming Mandalorians themselves. Kilindi is skeptical (but less so after the foiled kidnapping). Maul flat-out ignores him because he knows his Master wouldn’t approve. But then his Master tells him to kill everyone, including Kilindi and Obi-Wan and suddenly Maul finds himself hesitating.

Jango is helmet-palming so hard when Obi-Wan brings home a couple of strays, but they are welcomed anyway and find homes of their own. Maybe part of Clan Fett, but not Jango’s own home.

Sidious is FURIOUS about losing his apprentice, but his efforts to regain him keep failing because of that damned Jedi washout Obi-Wan Fett. (When Dooku found out who Obi-Wan was he was… very displeased that the Order had kicked out so promising a student, but Obi-Wan refused all careful efforts to recruit him back and frankly Dooku couldn’t blame him)

In this ‘verse the True Mandalorians and Jedi wind up with some fairly strong bonds thanks to Obi and Jango. Sidious tries to drive a wedge between the two groups by dropping hints that the Mandos are harboring a fugitive Sith, but it doesn’t work and only makes Obi-Wan even more protective of Maul. They probably send Dooku again and Obi tells him enough that Dooku, who is already a bit iffy on the “wisdom” of the Council, decides to back off and see what magic this tiny Paklalat can work.

Obi, Maul, and Kilindi are all very close. A lot of experimenting happens before they work out arrangements that they all like. Jango continues to be proud and frustrated by his little brother. Obi-Wan becomes a right terror of a negotiator and people who think he’s all talk and no action often learn the hard way just how wrong they are.

Kilindi still favors assassinations and takes to bounty hunting like a duck to water. Maul forges his own path with a lot of help from his friends and manages to overcome his past. He still has close to ten years of abuse to cope with, but he has a support system- not just Obi and Kilindi, but the Mandalorians themselves, who know a thing or two about PTSD and how to help.

There’ll be some Obimaul. And maybe some Maulindi. And other arrangements. Life for all of them is more or less happy and a damn sight better than it would have been if Obi-Wan had made it to Bandomeer. The Jedi will definitely come to regret letting go of Obi-Wan. Yoda in particular has fucked up pretty solidly in his attempts to manipulate Obi and Qui and this particular backfire may eventually shake the Order to its core.

Sidious, too, will have no end of trouble because as clever and manipulative as he is eventually someone is going to figure out exactly who keeps sending assassins after a fifteen year old (or however old Maul is when he escapes). The whole shape of the universe will change and all because Obi-Wan Kenobi seized the opportunity the Force presented to him and chose his own destiny rather than letting it be decided for him.