It was a rare occurrence for the three of them to be on Coruscant at the same time these days, even rarer for the three of them to spend that time together and uninjured.
Mace treasured the moments they managed to spend together.
When briefings ran long and the war weighed heavily on him he remembered these precious rare moments.
These quiet moments with his lineage.
His padawan, so wise and strong now. Depa, grown into a wonderful Jedi. Her padawan, curious and young. Caleb would make a fine Jedi in his own time.
Mace did not doubt it.
This was not the time for contemplation of a happier future though, Mace had responsibilities to face.
Preparing food for anticipated guests was one of the few of his many responsibilities that brought him calm.
The process soothed him, reminding him of more peaceful times.
A memory came to mind, Depa, still so young and with so much to learn sneaking around his quarters, stifling a childish curse at a stubbed toe and holding her breath to avoid being caught.
He smiled at the memory, they were so young then. Mace, doing his best and certain that other masters surely didn’t feel this lost.
They did, he knew that now. No matter how wise, there was always something to learn, always room for new growth.
He remembered debating how exactly he should address the strange new behavior, remembered cursing his migraine under his breath, remembered deciding to take a nap and worry about Depa after.
The tea she made was awful. The worst cup of headache soothing liquid he’d ever tried. He could have helped. It probably would have gone better if he had but, in the privacy of his own mind, he could admit, that was the first time he truly saw the Jedi she would become.
Mace shook himself out of the memory at the sound of a knock on his door.
He let Depa in with a small smile.
She smiled back and subtly glanced around.
“Master, I don’t suppose you’ve seen my wayward padawan?” She inquired.
“I’m afraid not.” Mace answered and offered her a hand. “You missed rolling the noodles out.”
She had been insistent on helping, in those very early days of her apprenticeship. He hadn’t been quite sure how much responsibility to give her and ended up settling on having her carefully roll the dough out flat and cut it into thin strips when he made noodles.
It was one of the first things they’d done together as a team.
“It is good to see you, Depa.” He guided her into the kitchen.
She hummed, taking it with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Getting nostalgic in your old age, Master Windu?”
“Perhaps.” He returned. “I see the younger generation still has trouble grasping certain pieces of wisdom.” He offered her an apron.
She grinned and followed him back to the counter. The gentle teasing glint faded as she prepared her own vegetables for the soup. A more serious, focused tilt to her mouth.
She was such a wonderful Jedi.
“How have you been, Master?” She asked quietly, in that compassionate way she had.
“Tired.” He would not lie to her. “I have been tired.”
They sighed together, the weight of countless battles weighing heavily.
Mace did not want to dwell on the war. It tugged at them, slowly picking at their souls. What else was there to dwell on? War was so much of what they did now. He checked on the noodles, pleased to find them dry and ready for cutting.
“How is your Padawan?”
She smiled, a small precious expression of her joy.
“He is wonderful, still so full of questions.”
Mace began to finish preparing the broth, humming to show he was listening.
“I wonder sometimes if he will infuriate the young ones by asking his own questions instead of answering their questions one day.”
“Oh, the dreaded ‘what do you think, youngling?’” Mace chuckled.
Depa joined in for a moment, her quiet laughter warming his heart.
They finished putting the soup together and chatted over the counter while it cooked.
Mace found joy in reporting the latest lighter Council nonsense to Depa as she gave her most serious nod. He was pleased to find he had enough material from baffling mission reports to continue until a loud knock interrupted their visit.
“I’m sorry Masters!” Mace’s Grandpadawan started, panting with exertion and clutching some sweet rolls in a bag to his chest. He had obviously run as fast as he could to meet them.
Depa smiled from where she’d taken over watching the soup from Mace.
“I’m sure you had a good reason, Padawan.” Now that they were all together she started dipping up a bowl for each of them.
“I did! Padawan Kestis got his deployment! They had to leave quickly and I wanted to say goodbye!” He rushed to explain.
“No doubt your efforts were appreciated.” Mace said.
“I hope so!” Caleb grinned.
They settled at Mace’s small table with their bowls. Mace took a moment to breathe, to appreciate the moments they had together.
He listened to Caleb's chatter, watched Depa’s calm smile and, for the moment, was at peace.