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Title: A Dazzling Display
Author: Merry Amelie
Archive: MA only
Category: Alternate Reality, Qui/Obi, Romance, Series
Rating: PG
Summary: Fireworks in Padua
I'm posting Arcadia and Q/O drabbles to TPM 100.
Series: Academic Arcadia -- # 127
A chronological list of the series with the URLs can be found under the header 'Academic Arcadia' at the Master Apprentice ML.
My MA story page is here.
Feedback: Is treasured at MerryAmelie@aol.com.
Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
For
My beta team: Nerowill, Emila-Wan, and Carol
Mali Wane for posting
My former betas: Alex, Ula, and Padawan Sue
Jo's reaction to their kiss mirrors Keith's in Father's Day.
Jo's memories of the 'New Year's Eve so long ago'.
Here are the yearly Academic Arcadia Fourth of July stories:
2004 -- 27) Independence Day: Let Freedom Ring
2005 -- 48) Declaration of Independence
2006 -- 81) Meditations on Freedom
2007 -- 105) An Arcadian Picnic
Ian laughed when Quinn snapped the dishcloth at him. He'd been getting a bit frisky instead of washing the last platter. "Hey! We're alone."
Quinn snorted. "The family's just outside."
Ian darted in for a kiss on Quinn's nose. "You said it --outside."
They were all in Padua to celebrate the Fourth of July, and the rest of the clan was in the living room watching fireworks on TV until the township's started.
"Oh, laddie, you're incorrigible." Quinn chuckled.
"And you wouldn't have it any other way." Ian even made smug look good.
So good that Quinn finally gave in and kissed him. But Quinn was right -- their privacy was tenuous. So, of course, that was when Jo happened to be standing by the door, on her way to get some soda.
She didn't know it, but she had almost the same instinctive reaction as her husband: 'a disorienting mixture of happiness for them, surprise at the unfamiliarity of seeing two strong men together, and chagrin at the awareness that she shouldn't be watching this at all.'
When Keith had told her about his inadvertent eavesdropping on the boys over a long-ago Father's Day, Jo was sorry that it happened, just as she was now. But seeing the joy on their faces was an extraordinary gift.
The love she felt illuminating them was so powerful that she almost gasped at seeing it displayed.
Their shorts were cut-offs and their t-shirts frayed, but the boys had never looked better to her than they did right now -- blissful in each other's arms.
Quinn was holding Ian with the gentleness that was such a part of him. His eyes were closed in perfect contentment as he caressed Ian's lips with his own.
And Ian! He looked more at home than Jo had ever seen him. Nuzzling into Quinn as if he could never get close enough.
'This is what they must've looked like before they fell asleep on New Year's Eve so long ago.' Jo's eyes misted; at last the picture was complete.
Forcing herself to move, she backed into the corridor soundlessly. She headed for the bathroom and locked the door behind her with relief.
She found herself smiling, their love calling to hers. Her children were happy. She was happy.
Jo washed her face and rubbed the towel over it vigorously. She looked in the mirror and saw Ian and Quinn's mom. Opening the door, she heard the fireworks as she walked down the hall.
By the time she returned to the living room, she had a grin for everyone, and even Keith had no idea of her intense experience.
The boys came in a little later, and Jo couldn't stop herself from smiling at them, with a hint of mischief. Luckily, no one noticed, what with the fireworks reaching a crescendo on TV.
Ginny made room for them on the couch, sliding closer to John's warmth. He tightened his arm around her, and they settled in for the finale.
Lelia was up and running around as soon as the commercials began. "Yay! Sparklies!" She waved her hands in the air.
Monty picked her up and swung her around in his arms. "Come and see some more." He carried her to the backyard, where Quinn and Ian had started to unroll blankets.
The couples lounged on them, their conversation a pleasant hum, occasionally broken by Lelia's giggle or the buzz of a mosquito.
Jo looked over to see Ian and Quinn lying on their blanket, copper and chestnut hair blending in the dim light from the porch. She wondered if they'd try for another kiss in the semi-darkness, then chided herself, wrapped as she was in Keith's arms. She settled in to enjoy the fireworks.
The fireworks began slowly, with a few rockets and sparklers. Then the fountains took over, blazing red, white, and blue as they fell across the night sky. Next came the favorites of Lelia and her uncles -- Roman candles. Duelling blue and green sabers brightened the heavens in a dazzling display.
A dazzling display, indeed, Jo thought with a grin.