The Kenobi Saga Book One:The Clone Wars

33. Family Dinner

Lore-Val followed Obi-Wan into the diner and was immediately hit by the greasy smell of breakfast foods mixing in the air.

"Look who decided to visit!" a loud voice called from behind the counter.

"Hello Dex," Obi-Wan greeted the besalisk, guiding Lore-Val to a booth. He waved to Wanda as he took a seat.

Wanda slid two menus across the table for them. "Do you want the usual hon?" Wanda asked Obi-Wan.

"Yes please," Obi-Wan said before pointing out some recommendations on the menu to Lore-Val.

Once they'd ordered and Wanda rolled away, Lore-Val finally got a chance to look around. She counted at least four different species at the other tables and at the counter even though the diner was nowhere near full. It was a weird time, after lunch but not quite dinner yet. Outside the sky was starting to darken and speeder lights were coming on. 

"Lore-Val," Obi-Wan said, pulling her attention from the window, "I need to tell you something-"

He was interrupted by heavy footsteps approaching the table. Obi-Wan looked up to see Dex had come over, carrying their drinks and a plate  of fritzle fries in his hands.

"Jawa juice for the Jedi, and fruit punch for..."

"Lore-Val," she introduced herself, making sure to thank him for the drink and the surprise order of fries.

"You're not a Padawan," Dex observed before eyeing Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan tried not to look chastised, "Lore-Val is my daughter."

Dex nodded, a knowing smirk growing across his face, "Let me guess," he sent a laugh towards Lore-Val, "you're Mandalorian?"

She nodded, a little confused, "Yes, I am. How did you..."

"Dex has been teasing me about your mother for years now," Obi-Wan answered.

"Did you know her?" she asked eagerly.

"Only from stories I'm afraid."

Lore-Val picked up a fry, hoping to buy time so she wouldn't have to speak, smiling at the crunch as she took a bite, "These are amazing,"

Obi-Wan and Dex chuckled, as she continued rambling about the fries, evidently not having had the snack before. Dex excused himself, ducking back into the kitchen.

"You were going to tell me something?" Lore-Val asked, popping another fry into her mouth.

"Yes." Obi-Wan shifted, "I'm afraid I'm being sent back to the outer rim."

"Oh. Do you know how far out?"

"Anaxes for certain, but I don't know where else. I do know that it will be a long deployment, a few months at least."

She blinked, "Months?"

"I know, it's not ideal," Obi-Wan said, reaching into his pocket and passing her a small red box, "I'm hoping this will make it a little less of a trial for us both."

Lore-Val took the box, she removed the lid to find a holoprojector tucked neatly inside, "This is for me?"

Obi-Wan nodded, "I thought it would be easier for us to keep intouch this way, since this assignment seems fairly long term. I had my frequency pre-programmed, as well as Solitaire, Anakin, and Padme's."

Lore-Val looked up at him, "Thank you, I," she paused, "It sounds silly, I mean you're a Jedi, but I worry about you when you're away."

Obi-Wan let out a dry laugh, "I worry about you when I'm away."

Wanda came rolling back, setting their plates in front of them. Obi-Wan didn't touch his food right away, instead watched as Lore-Val slipped the new holoprojector into her inner jacket pocket.

He took a bite of his brisket, continuing to watch as Lore-Val went back to staring out the windows as she ate. If things had been different, Obi-Wan and Satine could have brought her to the diner when she was small. That's what people did right? They brought their babies to meet their friends? He tried to imagine Lore-Val, as a toddler sitting in a booster seat, frosting from sic-six-layer cake all over her face. He looked at Lore-Val again and just couldn't imagine her being small.

The day he'd met her he'd realized he had missed most of her life. It hurt more now, not knowing how she'd grown into the funny and poised girl sitting across from him.

"You're doing that staring thing again," Lore-Val said, taking a sip of her fruit punch.

Obi-Wan smiled, shaking his head to clear the thoughts from his mind, "Sorry. Just thinking."

Lore-Val watched him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

"When you were young," Obi-Wan paused, trying to find the best way to word his question, "Did your mother take you to meet her friends?"

She spun the straw in her glass, "I knew her friends from the palace staff of course, but most of mother's friends were politicians so she never introduced us," she paused, thinking, "I'd met Prime Minister Almec a handful of times, but he assumed I was just a friend of Korkie's."

"I'm sorry neither of us could offer you a normal life."

She shrugged, a smile twitching at her lips, "I don't know that either of you would recognize normal if it slapped you in the face."

Obi-Wan chuckled, hand coming up to rub his brows and pinch the bridge of his nose, "You're probably right."

"Trust me I am," She took another bite of her sandwich. She chewed slowly before speaking again, "It's okay though. My life has been odd obviously, but for the most part I've liked it. Does that make sense?"

"Yes," he told her, "Did you have friends on Mandalore?"

She nodded, "I had Ettan and Korkie. And Korkie's friends were always nice enough."

"Good. That's good. When this is all over," he promised, "we'll work on finding out what normal is."

"Okay. But not boring. There's a thin line between normal and boring."

Obi-Wan smiled, "Of course. I don't think we'd have it in us to find boring even if we tried."

AN: According to the book 'Brotherhood' Dex knew about Satine but it was never stated if he'd met her, so I do what I want :) I hope this fills peoples' need for father daughter fluff. The rest of the book was edited over the weekend so we're all set for updates from here on out.