darththalia (darththalia) wrote in tpm_flashback, @ 2004-11-19 10:06:00 |
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Original poster: emmagrant01
Title: A Family Portrait
Author: FernWithy (fernwithy)
Rating: PG
Pairing: None, though lots of Obi/Siri UST and great Obi/Ani master-padawan dynamics
Summary: Obi-Wan and Anakin, along with Siri Tachi, are assigned to impersonate a family to investigate a crime on the world of Malkiri, where the Jedi are hated.
Author's Email: fernwithy @ gmail.com
Link to Story: http://fanfic.theforce.net/fanfic.asp?a
Reason for recommending: This is such an amazing fic! It's novel-length, essentially gen, and fits perfectly into the post-TPM Star Wars universe. I wanted this to be Obi/Siri so badly, but alas, it never goes there. The author does make the attraction between the characters clear, though, and the tension is glorious. It's set not long after the beginning of the Jedi Quest series, and the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin is still wonderfully awkward. Siri has just returned from her long undercover mission with the pirates, and she's struggling with being a Jedi again. The three of them most pose as a family for an undercover mission to a planet hostile to the Jedi. Obi-Wan and Siri have little understanding of what families are like, and so Anakin has to spend a good deal of time teaching them how to behave like a married couple, which is great fun to read. There is a mystery to be solved, lots of action, and a gorgeous amount of character development.
In short, the characterizations are perfect, and the story is complex and satisfying. This one is canon, as far as I'm concerned. It's that good.
Excerpt from the fic:
The Jedi did not make a habit of completing missions undercover, or at least hadn't for many centuries. It was becoming more common, a practice that Anakin gathered many in the Order didn't much like. In addition to his apprenticeship, he also studied under history, humanities, and science tutors - most young knights, like Siri, who hadn't taken padawans yet. His history tutor had denigrated the strategy as "behaving like common spies."
Anakin hadn't made up his mind yet. Well, he sort of had - he agreed with his tutor. Jedi should be respected everywhere, and they should always look like Jedi. No one had any business not letting them.
But, at the same time, it had been fun to meet a secret Jedi in Mos Espa, and turning into a secret Jedi was also… well, kind of fun.
Siri, who had little patience with the tutors - used the same disdainful sniff that they did, but usually with a snide comment about their "vast experience working in the field" - was enjoying herself quite freely, and had attempted "looks" from four different human cultures so far. Anakin had liked all of them. The fifth one, the one she was working her way into now, was the best - a kind of wrapped around draped fabric that made her look like the big statues in front of Theed palace.
"Is that Naboo?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Naboo-inspired. Very fashionable in the upper echelons of Coruscant society right now."
"And very foolish to wear on a mission to a world controlled by the Trade Federation," Obi-Wan cut in, inspecting her.
"Oh. Good point." She looked dubiously at the others. "Oh, all right, then. I'll go Alderaanian."
"No, not Alderaanian, either. The Alderaanians have consistently sided with the Naboo, and if I'm to be a journalist, it should be from a world whose press is not considered deeply political." Obi-Wan smirked.
"Furthermore, you look like you're on your deathbed in that white dress."
Anakin laughed. "So, where are we going to be from?"
"Watch out," Siri said, "Obi-Wan is about to be dull."
"A cover story really ought to be dull," Obi-Wan told her patiently, but in a pointed tone of voice. "We don't necessarily want people asking a lot of curious questions. And, Siri, if it's all the same to you, the Code forbids me to take more than one padawan at a time, and it is more productive for me to be instructing Anakin than instructing you."
Siri recognized the insult well enough, and fell silent. Anakin didn't know exactly what to do; Siri was his friend and he knew he should defend her honor, but Obi-Wan was his Master, and it would be as big an insult to correct him.
The moment passed. "So we will be middle class Coruscantians," Obi-Wan said. "The light blue gown you wore second will be quite adequate, and we need not discuss our origins any further back."
Siri picked up the dress in question from the back of the chair she'd draped it over, leaving with only a very cold glare toward Obi-Wan.