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Aahntie Boo and the Jedi Meet Again - continued

continued from part 1

Aahntie Boo stood at the large window of her office, watching raindrops trace paths down the glass. It had been a long day at the end of a long week, and she felt weary. A headache nagged at the back of her skull and she rolled her shoulders trying to stretch out the tension.

The last session had been a hard one. It never failed to amaze her that people would pay for a session with her and spend their time discounting all of her advice and giving her a plethora of reasons why all of her suggestions were unworkable. If they had just wanted to fuck each other with a middle-aged woman watching, they could have gone and picked up one of the homeless ladies in the park and saved their two hundred bucks.

It had been a long couple of months. Her daughter's wedding had gone off without a hitch. Aahntie Boo had gotten to walk on the beach of Mauritius and toast to her new son-in-law, who actually turned out to be a very interesting fellow. And she'd been allowed to substitute a nice blue linen suit for the ceremony, consigning the fluffy pink silk to a sweet little chambermaid at the hotel who was effusively thankful.

Her daughter had moved to the country with her new husband and the house had been very quiet ever since. She even took the dog. It had been hers to take, but Aahntie Boo had become quite fond of it during the years that she cared for it while her daughter was at college. Some little part of her wished the dog missed her too.

How could watching two couples have sex make for such a tiring afternoon? And she was tired. Bone tired. She took another sip of her coffee, hoping that the caffeine would kick in and energize her into making her way home.

No such luck. There was a knock at the door. She couldn't even remember if she had another appointment this afternoon. She didn't think so, but maybe she was getting forgetful. "Having a senior moment, mom?" her daughter would ask. She preferred the more scatological expression `brain fart', but couldn't use that in mixed company. Rather than cross the room to check her appointment book, she opted for just opening the door. She didn't feel like making the trip across the room twice.

"Ben. Qui," she exclaimed, moving aside to let them in. After they left her the night of the bank robbery, she didn't expect to ever see them again. She hadn't seen Ben at the grand jury hearing, and she hadn't attended the sentencing when the robber pled guilty, so she didn't know if he'd been there or not. This was a treat.

"Come in, come in," she urged, closing the door behind them. "Sit down. Can I get you a scotch, Ben? Qui?"

"Aahntie Boo, just have a seat. Let us wait on you," Ben said, opening the bar and pouring a small glass of sherry. He handed it to her with a flourish.

Aahntie Boo smiled up at the young man. "You remembered," she marveled. "Oh, it's good to see you," she said, realizing that she meant it very much.

"How was Mauritius?" Qui asked.

"Much better for the lack of the cast," she answered. "But you should have been there when I tried to explain to the orthopedic surgeon what had happened to it."

Ben grinned. "What did you say?"

"I told him that I had gotten it wet and cut it off with the pruning shears," she answered.

Ben and Qui both guffawed. "And he believed that?"

"Well, he didn't have much choice, now, did he?" Aahntie Boo found herself giggling like a girl. "You should have seen them when he and the radiologist saw the X-rays. They kept trying to figure out how it had healed so well. They kept asking and asking and I finally decided that if I didn't give them something, I would be there all day. You'll never guess what I thought up!"

"Do tell," Ben said, grinning along with her.

"I told them I thought happened when I was struck by lightning." Aahntie Boo was laughing so hard it was difficult to articulate the words. For a moment, she was worried that she would pee on herself.

Qui doubled over. "And they fell for that, too?"

Aahntie Boo gasped and tried to catch her breath. "They didn't have much choice, now did they?"

It took several minutes before the laughter faded. When it did, they all looked at one another, still smiling.

"Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you this fine day?" Aahntie Boo asked, feeling a tickle in the back of her mind. "I appreciate the visit, but I have a feeling that this isn't just a social call."

Both men sobered quickly. "No, Boo," Qui said. "It's not."

"I'm a good listener, Qui," Aahntie Boo said. "Just tell me what's up."

It was Ben who started the story. "After the hold up, Mr. Jones, the bank president, came to me and said there was a reward for helping the police to apprehend the robber and said I should put in for the money. I wasn't going to, but he kept asking until I decided it would be easier to just do it."

"We were worried that his lack of proper identity might be found out," Qui said.

"They wouldn't have found any background at all if they checked, and then we'd have had to be on the move again," Ben explained. "But then one day this envelope arrived at the bank for me, and it had a check for a hundred thousand dollars in it."

Aahntie Boo whistled. "So now you're a rich man," she said.

Qui smiled. "Rich, Boo, is a relative matter. But the money certainly helped."

"Helped what?" she asked.

"We were able to buy supplies and machines to make the missing parts," Ben said. He looked a little embarrassed. "To fix the ship."

"The ship?" Aahntie Boo had forgotten for a moment that these guys thought they were from another planet in a galaxy far far away. They clearly had some special powers, that *force* Ben had used to stop the robbery and that Qui had used to fix her ankles. But this space ship stuff? They were such nice men; she really wished they would quit this nonsense. It was so disconcerting.

Qui took the sherry glass from Aahntie Boo and set it down on the coffee table. "We need your trust, madam," he said gravely.

"As if you need to ask," she replied, trying to suppress the wariness she felt from her voice.

Qui bowed his head for a moment, then took her little hand between his two broad ones.

Looking into her eyes, he said, "We have come to take you with us."

"Pardon?" she said.

"Back to Coruscant. We're leaving in the morning. We lack only one last thing and it is to be delivered by FedEx in the morning. As soon as it's installed, we'll be ready to go," Qui said.

"We'd rather leave after dark, so our departure wouldn't draw any attention, but it cannot be helped. We need to take off when the gravitation alignment can help us. We're still a little iffy on the propulsion engines," Ben offered.

"Oh, shit," Aahntie Boo exclaimed. "Just about the time I thought you guys might be getting close to normal, you start in on this stuff again. You simply can't go around telling people that you are aliens from outer space. You're going to end up locked up in straight jackets."

Aahntie Boo snatched her hand away from Qui and rose to her feet. After a few paces, she turned back to them. "Why are you really here?" she demanded.

Ben rose and put an arm around her shoulders. "Like Qui said, we're her to ask you to come with us."

"And why on earth would I want to do any such thing?" Aahntie Boo retorted. "I'm not the nut here; you are."

Ben didn't pull back from the angry words. He just patted her shoulder and pulled her a little closer.

Aahntie Boo jerked away.

"Please, just listen to us, Boo," Qui said reasonably.

Aahntie Boo had a momentary urge to slap the calm, unruffled look off his face, but she had run out of steam. All of the sudden, she felt dizzy and lightheaded and she sank back into the cushions.

"Please, Aahntie Boo," Ben pleaded. "Listen to him."

What could it hurt? "What?" Aahntie Boo asked. "I'm listening."

"You have leukemia," Qui said steadily. "You are dying."

"I what?" Aahntie Boo turned on him, shocked.

"It's a rare form and the doctors here will not be able to help you," Qui said.

"And you can?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, madam. I wish I could." Qui actually sounded genuinely saddened. "But we believe that the healers on Coruscant may be able to heal you."

As did most people when confronted with devastating news, Aahntie Boo's first instinct was denial. "Excuse me, but I think I'll wait for a physician's opinion before packing my bags and taking off with the two of you to some Jedi temple in the stars," she huffed.

With a deferential nod, Qui withdrew, sitting back against the sofa, making no further comment.

Agitated, Aahntie Boo rose from her chair and began pacing the small sitting area. She stopped, turning on Qui. "You aren't even a doctor. How dare you come here and try to scare me to death."

She resumed her pacing, then stopped again. "And to what end? What did you think you would accomplish? I'm all out of money right now. I just finished paying for my daughter's wedding, so if you're trying to extort money from me for some kind of mystic miracle, you're barking up the wrong tree here."

Still Qui sat silent, letting Aahntie Boo vent her frustrations and disbelief and she continued to pace, arguing with the unresponsive Jedi.

Ben stopped her by facing her and placing both hands on her shoulders, preventing her from pulling away. "Aahntie Boo, he's telling you the truth. He could feel it when he fixed your ankle."

Breathless, Aahntie Boo was running out of righteous indignation.

"You become fatigued early in the day lately, don't you?" Ben asked. "And dizzy at times?"

Stunned, Aahntie Boo nodded. "And look. . ." Ben pinched one of Aahntie Boo's fingernails between his thumb and first finger. When he released the pressure, the nail remained white for several seconds before the pinkish colour returned to the fingertip. "You are anemic and your circulation is compromised." Running the pad of his thumb over the nail, he said, "And you've got ridges in your nails too. You never had those before, did you?"

Aahntie Boo shook her head.

"And you are tired all the time; bone tired. That's because your bones *are* tired. They aren't making blood cells like they're supposed to."

Ben led Aahntie Boo to her chair and helped her down, perching himself on the side, keeping one arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Please, Aahntie Boo, come with us. Qui didn't want to ask you. I talked him into coming here. We're not supposed to interfere with the fate of any planet that doesn't request a Jedi presence. So we're not even supposed to be here. But under the circumstances, I don't think we'll get in too much trouble for taking you home."

Aahntie Boo sat digesting that little comment, not quite understanding at first. Then it dawned on her. If she was about to die, her presence on this Earth would be over soon enough; her influence gone. The `fate' of Earth wouldn't be altered but for a few days of her absence. That thought made her rather angry.

"And what makes you think I won't run all over town shouting to the rooftops that aliens from another planet have landed on Earth"

"We certainly couldn't stop you from doing that," Qui said quite reasonably. "But we will be gone early in the morning. Besides, after spending time on this planet and from what I have seen of its citizens, you would only be thought to be delusional rather than taken seriously."

That answer took the wind out of Aahntie Boo's sails. He was right and he knew that she knew it, too.

"Then why say you needed to trust me if you thought it didn't really matter?" Aahntie Boo asked, not in the least mollified.

Qui looked puzzled at first, then his eyebrows rose in comprehension. "I said we needed *your* trust," he said, "for you to trust us; to believe us."

Aahntie Boo contemplated this little bit of information. "But I can't leave," she protested. "My clients, my house, my daughter. . ."

"You will leave them regardless. We can only offer *hope* for your survival, we cannot promise you that the healers can stop your leukemia. Your real dilemma is whether to come with us knowing that if your treatment is unsuccessful, you will not be able to die with your family around you at the end."

"There's just my daughter," Aahntie Boo said softly. "And I wouldn't want to be a burden to her in her new life. She just got married, you know."

"I remember," Ben said, "the check you had to have before I could take you home after the robbery – for your trip to Mauritius."

Aahntie Boo smiled despite her mental turmoil. "You're such a bright young man."

Aahntie Boo contemplated her folded hands in her lap. After a moment of silence, Aahntie Boo looked up at Ben. She wasn't sure she could believe any of this. It had been hard for her to put what happened the night of the robbery out of her mind because, in her heart of hearts, she believed these two guys. She had almost come to the point of accepting their explanations about the force and all. But not quite. Not enough to let herself acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, there were lots of other planets out there inhabited by all manner of beings. And maybe there really were Jedi knights and masters and paddy ones. She asked, "Why me? Why are you asking me to come with you if you know that you might get in trouble for it?"

Ben reached for and grasped one of Aahntie Boo's hands, holding it between his two. "If it hadn't been for you, Qui and I might never have. . .well, you know. You broke the ice for us. Now that we have acknowledged how much we love one another, it's like a whole new world has opened up for us. It's hard to remember what it was like before, but I know I didn't feel like I was really living. We were just existing; going from day to day without meaning or joy. We both were slowly dying inside. Now. . .well, now I feel like each minute of each day is a blessing, a gift from the force to be savored and appreciated. We are truly alive. Even if the Council separates us when we get home, we will always have this."

Qui reached over and put his large hand over the three clasped hands. "We just want to try to help you to live, too. If we can."

Aahntie Boo felt the tears falling from her eyes, tracing paths down her cheeks. "But what about my daughter?" she asked, taking a tissue from the box and blowing her nose. "I can't just disappear."

"We've thought of that," Ben said. "It's a rainy night," he said looking toward the large picture window. "Your car will be found in the river and everyone will think you just lost control on a curve. But they will never find your body."

"It would be awful for me not to at least tell her goodbye," Aahntie Boo said.

"You could write her a letter," Qui volunteered. "We can drop it at the post office on the way to your house."

"But my clients, my house. . ." she went on, repeating her former words as if in a daze.

"Your daughter will take care of that. Just as she would have upon your death." Qui said gently.

"I'm not packed. . ."

"We can go pick up whatever you want to bring with you," Qui said.

"But it has to be light," Ben interrupted. "The ship is only supposed to have two crew members so we're going to be stretching the weight limit by adding a passenger."

Aahntie Boo started to speak, but then she realized she had been doing the same thing her last clients had done: finding excuses and reasons not to go. Maybe she needed to be thinking instead of how to make the idea work. And if these guys were bonkers, what was the harm? The worst thing she would be risking would be her car, assuming that once it was in the river, it wouldn't be worth much. But it was insured, so that wouldn't be too bad.

And if they were right but she didn't go with them, what would she be risking? Her life. It was a lost cause anyway if she really did have terminal leukemia. The only difference would be a little more time to wrap up her affairs. There was just one more question she needed to ask. "Why do you think that your *healers* will be able to help me if you couldn't?" she asked Qui.

"Because you weren't amenable to a mind-suggestion. Ben told me that after he had the robber restrained, he wiped out the memories of most of the witnesses. Well, those that had seen him use the force. But it didn't work on you."

"Remember," Ben interjected. "You told me to `quit it'."

Aahntie Boo did remember. She remembered the older man, the lady that was shot, and the teller; the dazed looks in their eyes when Ben told them that nothing had happened, and they repeated his suggestion almost word for word.

Ben went on, "And you could feel the force when Qui was working on your ankles. I could see it in your face that you could feel it; the force flowing through you from him."

Aahntie Boo remembered that, too; the all-too-brief ethereal feeling of well-being as if all was right with the world. "What does that mean?" she asked.

Qui answered, "That you probably have a different chemical make up than most of the humans on this planet. I could feel it when I was healing your ankle. I felt the illness, but I also felt your body trying hard to suppress it, to cure itself."

Aahntie Boo was through thinking about this. As usual, once she made a decision, she stuck to it and the only remaining issue was how to implement it. She straightened her shoulders, smoothed out her skirt over her knees and lifted her chin. "All right," she said. "Where do we start?"

Within the hour, the two Jedi had bundled Aahntie Boo into her car, driven her home to pack a few personal items, then taken her out into the country, depositing her in a tiny little one-room cabin in the woods. They had no electricity and the running water was pretty primitive. She was sitting in candlelight on an old leather sofa eating one last carton of Haagen-Dazs butter pecan while they left to put her car in the river.

It had taken her a long time to write the letter to her daughter, trying to put all of her love into those few paragraphs without sounding like she knew that she would never see her again. She had had to start over a couple of times when her tears had dripped onto the page, running the ink. But Qui and Ben had been quite patient. When she had apologized to them for taking so long, Qui reminded her that they had all night, to take her time.

Packing hadn't taken nearly so long. Just a few photos: her formal wedding picture, her newborn daughter in her daddy's arms; the family together on an outing to Disneyworld the summer before her husband had died. She added in a few love letters that her husband had written to her from Vietnam; several of her favorite items of underwear (large breasted women were rather particular about their bras) and a couple of changes of clothes. Although Ben assured her that no one on Corsun ever wore jeans, Aahntie Boo just couldn't imagine life without a pair in the drawer. She didn't expect she would be needing any of her nice jewelry where she was going, but it would look odd if she left her wedding and engagement rings behind and she was so fond of the sparkly diamond earrings she had bought in Belgium that she just had to wear them, too. She printed off a few of the pictures taken on Mauritius – her daughter and new son-in-law sandwiching her in a hug and another candid shot of her daughter in her wedding gown looking at her husband, who was talking to someone else, the love in her eyes shining bright. She added her toothbrush, a few toiletries, a book to read on the trip and her little walkman disc player and a few of her favorite CD's.

Taking one last look around her bedroom, it stuck Aahntie Boo how few of the possessions she had accumulated were really necessary. She loved her cozy little home full of all the creature comforts that had made her life more pleasant these years, but she didn't have to have them and was surprised to find that, other than the rocking chair that she had practically lived in that first year of her daughter's life, she really didn't mind leaving them behind all that much. But who knew what kind of bedding she could expect on this new planet, so she stuffed her small eiderdown pillow into the last remaining space in the backpack and she was ready to go.

This was a very strange little home these two guys had made for themselves. A bed, a leather sofa and chair, a coffee table, two wooden chairs at a small table, a wood stove that looked like it served for both cooking as well as heat constituted all the furniture. A few uniforms hung on pegs on the wall next to a very old fashioned looking ironing board with two of those old-timey non- electric irons. There were several oil lamps and a number of candlesticks which they had lit for her before they left. There were two small sheepskin throw rugs next to each other in a corner, but otherwise the floor was bare. All very Spartan. It crossed Aahntie Boo's mind that maybe they didn't really own this place; maybe it was some abandoned hunting cabin that they had just made do.

It was also incredibly neat and clean. She didn't one bit mind the prospect of spending a night here after all.

If she hadn't been so tired, Aahntie Boo might have had the inner strength to not indulge in the pity party that overtook her. In the space of a few hours, she had been told she was dying, had made arrangements to leave behind everything she had held dear for years and years and had put her life in the hands of two guys who claimed to be from outer space and were going to take her with them when they left in the morning to go back to their home planet. Two men who were, at this very moment, faking her untimely death. Was she being stupid? Or was it the smartest move of her life? And who would miss her? Her daughter would, of course. And some of her patients would, too, although she was sure that they would all find suitable therapists to replace her in short order.

Before she knew it, she was sobbing, crying her eyes out. It was a good thing that she had put a sizeable handful of tissues in her pocketbook on the way out the door. Just as she was regaining a measure of self-control, her sobs reduced to hiccups, she heard the cycle in the yard.

When the door opened, the smell of pizza preceded Qui and Ben into the small cabin. That was enough to dry up the last of her tears. Her last meal on earth was going to be pepperoni pizza and butter pecan ice cream. That sounded like a good idea to her.

Aahntie Boo hadn't finished her second slice before her eyelids were drooping. She was just too tired to finish.

Ben showed her to the little shed that they used for a bathroom. Courtesy of a heater powered by a tank of propane, Aahntie Boo had warm water to wash her face and brush her teeth, but she didn't have the energy for anything more. When she finished, Qui had made up a bed for her on the sofa. She lay down; tucking the small down pillow under her neck and watched Qui and Ben clean the dishes. When they had finished, they removed their uniforms and put on Hindu-type outfits of drawstring leggings and long tunic-like shirts. Then they sat facing one another on the two sheepskin rugs. Within moments, they looked to Aahntie Boo like they were asleep sitting up.

Aahntie Boo tried closing her eyes and counting sheep. She tried letting her mind wander. She tried telling herself that she was ready to go to sleep. Sometimes she had nights like this when she was dead tired, but couldn't fall asleep; nights when she just couldn't turn her mind off. Then she felt a warm hand on her forehead and Qui's whispered words, "Sleep now, Boo. Sleep."

Warmth flowed from his hand into her mind just the same was as it had when he fixed her ankle, and before she knew it, she was sound asleep.

Aahntie Boo's eyes eased open. She had no idea of what time it was or where she was. She felt a bit flushed and disoriented. It took a moment before her memory filled in the blanks. She was with Ben and Qui in a farm house on the outskirts of town and she was planning to get on a space ship and fly to some other planet come morning. And she was dying. She had no reason to doubt that Qui was correct – she trusted him and he would not have told her any thing so horrific were it not true.

Across the room, lit by a number of candles and an oil lamp on the bed side table, she could see a bare back on the bed, on its side turned away from her. A young strong back; it was Ben. There was a naked leg twined around his naked hip.

Aahntie Boo watched as Ben rolled onto his back, pulling Qui on top of him. They were kissing. Qui's hands carded through Ben's hair, petting and calming him as Ben's hands caressed his lover's back. The kiss broke and Qui lowered his head to lick his way down Ben's neck, settling on his chest where Qui made short work of lapping a rosy nipple to attention. Ben's back arched, moving his chest upward into the touch, moaning softly. Qui moved his head a little and the other nipple received the same attention.

Qui moved down, licking and nipping along the hard ridge of Ben's ribs, swirling a tongue deep into the navel. This time Ben back bowed, canting his hips forward, pressing his formidable erection against Qui's jaw. Qui nuzzled, teasing the tip of the cock with his bearded chin and cheek. Then, with Ben's hands clutching at his head, Qui took that erection into his mouth and it disappeared. Ben let out a strangled cry as Qui's head bobbed up and down.

"Shhh, love," Qui whispered, releasing the suction on Ben's penis. Ben moaned, trying to stifle himself but being only marginally successful. Qui returned his attentions to Ben's shaft, teasing the tip with his tongue, then swallowing the whole.

After a few moments, Ben pushed Qui's head away. "I don't want to come yet," he whispered. "I want you inside me."

Qui didn't answer, but nodded solemnly. As he reached into the bedside table drawer, Ben drew his knees up and, using a hand behind each thigh, opened and offered himself to his lover.

Instead of opening the small bottle, Qui set it down on the bed and used both of his large hands under Ben's buttocks to push Ben's hips up, pretzeling his body, raising his bottom far off the bed. He bent his head between Ben's legs, his tongue making a long swipe up the perineum and over the scrotum all the way to the end of Ben's cock, then taking one ball into his mouth, sucking softly. Ben gasped, then let his breath out slowly, as if trying to keep himself from crying out by measuring his air carefully.

After several minutes of concentrating on each ball in succession, Qui pushed up on Ben's hips again and moved his attention to the tight ring of muscle. Aahntie Boo could tell he was sucking softly on the sensitive tissue by both the sounds he made as well as the appreciative sighs from Ben.

Using one hand on the small of Ben's back to hold him in position, Qui reached for the bottle of lube and flipped it open. He dribbled some directly onto Ben's upturned anus and began using two fingers to spread it around. When Ben's body bowed up even tighter, Aahntie Boo knew that the fingers had breached the opening to his body. Ben bit into his fist, stifling his urge to cry out.

After a several more minutes of this loving preparation, Ben whispered, "Please, Qui. Please now."

Qui pulled one of the pillows from the head of the bed and tucked it under Ben's hips, lowering them gently. Ben's hands returned to the backs of his thighs, once again holding himself open and ready. After coating himself liberally with the lube, Qui moved forward, spreading his own thighs until his cock was positioned against Ben's anus. "Ready?" he whispered. When Ben nodded, Qui advanced slowly.

"Oh, force, that feels so good," Ben said, his voice low and breathy.

Once his hips were flush against Ben's bottom, Qui leaned forward onto his hands, locking his elbows and began thrusting, moving in and out, easily and smoothly. After a few minutes, he slowed down, resting his forehead against the center of Ben's chest. Ben's hands released his legs and cradled his lover's head tight against his chest, wrapping his legs around the larger man's waist.

"Oh, by all the gods, Obi-Wan, I'll love you forever."

"And ever," Ben intoned. He lifted his head as Qui lifted his and their lips met in a sweet deep kiss.

Aahntie Boo felt the tears gather in the corners of her eyes.

As if by mutual agreement, the men moved back. Ben grasped his legs again, pulling them wide apart and they resumed their lovemaking. As the thrusts got harder and faster, Ben's moans got louder. Qui reached up and slid two fingers into Ben's mouth and Ben gratefully suckled them hard, silencing himself.

Instinctively, after years of practice, Aahntie Boo found herself betting on Qui to climax first. But she was wrong. Ben released one leg and raised it to rest on Qui's shoulder. His hand moved to his own cock and he started fisting it in time with the rhythm of Qui's thrusts.

"You close?" Qui asked.

Ben's eyes opened wide and he nodded, still maintaining suction on the two fingers in his mouth.

"Go on, then, love," Qui whispered. He tilted his hips, changing the angle of penetration, lifting Ben's ass a little higher, pumping steadily. "Come for me, Obi-Wan. Come."

And Ben did, his hand gripping his own cock, his head arching back as his body convulsed. Qui pulled his fingers from Ben's mouth and covered it with his palm. Ben grunted several times, but did not cry out.

As Ben's body began to relax back onto the pillow, Qui slowed his movements to a stop, still buried deep inside his lover. Ben smiled beatifically up at Qui. His fingers drifted across his belly and he lifted them to Qui's mouth. Qui licked them delicately, and then took them deep into his mouth, sucking his lover's seed from the fingers, then releasing them.

"Your turn," Ben whispered. He wiggled his hips, encouraging Qui to resume his thrusts. As Qui regained his former rhythm, Aahntie Boo could tell from the way Ben's butt cheeks were clenching that he was clamping down his internal muscles on his lover's cock at the deepest moment of each thrust. Qui groaned appreciatively.

"Kiss me," Ben demanded. Qui complied, leaning forward, their tongues playing with one another, silhouetted against the golden glow of the oil lamp. As his time came upon him, Qui couldn't maintain the kiss. When Qui arched back, Ben leaned forward and with his sharp teeth, nipped at a waiting nipple. There was a sudden intake of breath by Qui, then he froze, his hips jerking a few times. With a sigh, he sank into his lover's arms and was held tight as the after shocks of his climax wracked his body.

Aahntie Boo closed her eyes, the tears slipping quietly down her cheeks. It had been a long time since someone had loved her that thoroughly. It was a beautiful thing, just beautiful. She slipped back into sleep, her own happy memories easing her into sweet dreams.

The sun was well over the yardarm when Aahntie Boo opened her eyes again. Qui was shaking her gently by the shoulder. Immediately, she could smell fresh coffee and bacon cooking. That was well worth getting up for.

"Boo," Qui said, "it's time to get up. We're almost ready."

Aahntie Boo could see that the bed across the room had already been made up. "Oh, me," she said sitting up, a wave of dizziness quickly canceling her appetite. Qui helped her to her feet and stood beside her while she regained her balance.

"Do you think you can get dressed by yourself?" Qui asked.

While a sharp retort to the effect that she'd been getting herself dressed every morning for over fifty years crossed her mind, all she said was "I think so."

Qui carried her backpack into the little bathroom and set it on the top of the porta-potty lid. "If you need me," he said, backing out of the room, "I'll be right here."

Obviously, a nice long bath was out of the question, since there was only the tiny sink and the potty. Sighing, she removed her clothing from the previous day, her nose twitching in disgust at how wrinkled and disheveled they appeared. At least the water was warm and a quick sponge bath felt good. By the time she had finished dressing in jeans and a polo shirt, she was tired. She wondered how she had managed not to pay more attention to this fatigue these past few weeks.

Qui seated her at the table, brought a plate of eggs and bacon and two mugs of coffee from the tiny kitchen area and sat across from her.

"What about Ben?" she asked, feeling a little guilty for taking the young man's place.

"We ate early. He's out in the barn. He had to wait down at the end of the drive for the FedEx delivery. They won't come this far up off the road. As soon as the crystals arrived, he wanted to get them into the engine and test it out." Qui smiled fondly. "I may be the better pilot, but Obi-Wan is, by far, the better mechanic. He's done almost all of the machining on the parts."

"Obi-Wan?" Aahntie Boo still wasn't used to that name. "I guess I need to quit calling him `Ben', don't I?"

"I don't think he cares either way, although on Coruscant, no one will know who `Ben' is. It was a name he could use at the bank because his own is too unusual. `Qui' could be short for `Quinton' or "Quinn", so we thought I didn't need to change. But how would we have explained something like `Obi-Wan Kenobi'? Or Qui-Gon Jinn, for that matter."

Qui took a sip of his coffee. "Ah, now this is something I shall miss. A good strong cup of coffee."

Aahntie Boo frowned. "You mean that they don't have coffee on this planet you're taking me to? How absurd."

"We have `caf'," Qui-Gon explained. "But it's not quite the same thing."

Aahntie Boo had finished her meal and was enjoying savoring what might be her last cup of coffee while Qui-Gon cleaned up the dishes. "I saw you two last night," Aahntie Boo said.

"We thought that you had woken up," Qui-Gon said, returning to refill her cup and sit across from her at the table, "but we weren't sure. Considering your profession," he smiled wryly, "we didn't think you'd mind."

"Oh, I didn't. It was actually rather nice to see that you two had progressed so far in your relationship." Aahntie Boo put a mock frown on her face. "Although I must say, the lack of a condom rather bothered me."

Qui-Gon looked a bit surprised. "But we don't need them. I distinctly remember what you said that night, although I expect that you thought I was too dumbfounded to recall much. You said that we needed to decide if we were committed to never having sex with anyone else, and if so, we might dispense with them."

Aahntie Boo just nodded.

"The force brought us together. He's my first and he will be my only. And I am the same for him. So there is no need."

"Are you sure?" Aahntie Boo asked.

"Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm quite sure," Qui-Gon answered, and Aahntie Boo had no doubt of the sincerity of his words.

"But I thought Ben. . .I mean Obi-Wan said that your Jedi priests might separate you when you got back to your planet. Is that true?"

"There have been bonded couples among the Jedi in the past, but they are not common and it is certainly not sanctioned when the parties involved are master and padawan," Qui-Gon answered. "It will be up to the Council to decide if we must be separated now."

"What exactly is a paddy one?" Aahntie Boo asked.

"Like an apprentice. I accepted Obi-Wan as my padawan when he was thirteen. I am like a combination of teacher, mentor and parent to him."

"Ah," Aahntie Boo sighed, "it's a relationship that could be easily abused by an irresponsible adult. I see." There was a pause. "But all relationships change over time. It was Ben . . . Obi-Wan who knocked on my door. He initiated the affair. I remember that at the time, I thought that you two would have never opened up to one another if he hadn't taken that rather drastic step."

"Smartest thing Obi-Wan ever did," Qui-Gon said, his eyes twinkling.

"I can talk to these people, can't I? I can tell them that this situation is mutual; there is no coercion here, no abuse. Surely with my professional credentials they would believe me."

"That would be a kindness, ma'am," Qui-Gon said, "but it may not be persuasive, despite your *credentials*. It would be a precedent that the Council may wisely wish to avoid."

"You don't have to tell them. I'm used to patient confidentiality, and I won't say anything either. Just keep it to yourselves. Gays here in earth are used to that."

"Being gay isn't the issue, Boo. We found that same-sex relationships were stigmatized by a lot of the citizens here where they are commonplace and unremarkable on Coruscant." Qui-Gon frowned. "But we would not attempt to deceive our fellow Jedi. It would be just as dishonest as to deny our love were we to be asked."

"Then why do you want to leave here and risk it? You can stay together here forever."

"Because we are Jedi and that's not the way we do things." Qui-Gon said.

"I guess I'm missing something here." Aahntie Boo shook her head. "While I appreciate it that you want to take me with you so that hopefully there can be a cure for me, I don't see why you are willing to give Ben up so easily."

"I did not say that it would be easy not to be with Obi-Wan every day for the rest of my life. But if the Council requires it, then we will accept the will of the force. If we must be separated, perhaps it would only be temporary and we could be together again after Obi- Wan has completed his trials." Aahntie Boo looked skeptical at this answer, so Qui-Gon continued, "He will always be with me, now and forever. There is no death, there is only the force and we will be together in spirit if not in the flesh."

"And you both feel this way?"

"We haven't discussed it. We don't need to. If the sacrifice is called for, then it will be made," Qui-Gon answered.

"I don't know," Aahntie Boo said. "I lost my husband when my daughter was ten. I think I would give anything I have just to have one more day with him; maybe even just one more hour. I wish he could have seen what a wonderful person his little girl has grown up to be. Got his eyes too, she does." Aahntie Boo felt her eyes getting moist, but was determined not to cry. Instead she snuffled into a tissue and pulled herself together. "If they make you two go your separate ways, aren't you going to be angry at this Council, whoever they are?"

Qui-Gon just shook his head.

"I know," she said, shaking her own head. "The will of the force and all that. I'm sorry for you. You wouldn't have to be hurt if you hadn't fallen in love."

"I wouldn't change a thing, Boo. We fell in love a long time before Obi-Wan came to you. We just didn't let ourselves admit it. That's why last night was so hard. It might be our last time together. And if it is, we both wanted it to be special."

It was time to lighten this conversation up before they both dissolved into tears. "Yes, it sure looked to me like both of you were pretty hard," she quipped.

Qui-Gon smiled at her and she could see how near he had come to letting go those emotions he worked so hard to rein in. He would not want her to see him like that, so she was very glad that she had turned the tide in the conversation before it went that far.

"It will be very *hard* to live without my Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon smirked, taking her lead. "But I guess I would just have to *handle* it if that happens."

"It looks like you two have been having lots of fun while I've been slaving over an uncooperative retro engine," Obi-Wan said coming into the room sporting a new spiky haircut, his long braid resting on his shoulder. "What is it you are supposed to have to *handle*, master?"

Qui-Gon chuckled. "Don't ask, padawan."

Obi-Wan looked confused for just a moment. "I've got the crystals in place, Master, and the engine started up without a hitch. I tried it out, but I had to stay low over the tree tops, so I couldn't really give it a thorough test."

Without giving the older man a moment to interrupt, Aahntie Boo asked Obi-Wan, "Are you really willing to go back to Corsun knowing that this Council might make you two split up? Not on my account, I hope. Why not just stay here?"

Obi-Wan didn't hesitate. "It's Coruscant, Aahntie Boo," he said. Then, smiling sweetly, his shining eyes locked on his lover, in a very gentle tone, he said, "We will never stop loving one another. Whether in this life or in the force, our souls will always be together." He turned back to Aahntie Boo, saying, "It is our duty to return and serve the light. It's what we do. We are Jedi. We must trust in the force, as my master has taught me."

Aahntie Boo knew when to withdraw and she did so now. Qui-Gon beamed at his apprentice proudly. They looked at one another and Aahntie Boo had this prickly feeling at the back of her neck; like they were using telepathy again or something. "Excuse us a minute, Boo," Qui- Gon said. Aahntie Boo could see that they had already slipped back into their old master / apprentice roles.

The two men retreated to the other side of the room and, before Aahntie Boo's eyes, began to disrobe. For a flash, Aahntie Boo experienced a moment of déjà vu, half expecting them to strip and climb into the bed for a therapy session. Instead, they both began dressing in elaborate costumes with snug soft-looking pants and undertunics and tunics and something over that, with lots of strings to tie. These were followed by very wide sashes, then by narrower buckled leather belts. Their outfits were the same other than Qui- Gon's trousers which were dark brown where Obi-Wan's were the same cream as the rest of the clothes. After tucking in their pants legs and buckling on very serviceable looking knee-high boots, both men donned dark brown hooded cloaks and clipped slim silver laser swords like the one Qui-Gon had used to cut off her cast onto their belts.

When they were dressed, Obi-Wan picked up Aahntie Boo's back pack off the floor and shouldered his own pack while Qui-Gon handed Aahntie Boo her pocketbook. Then he shouldered a pack and picked up a duffel bag, holding the door open for Aahntie Boo to pass out before him. Stepping onto the porch, Aahntie Boo could see something that looked, for all the world, like one of those space ships from that Star Trek movie about the whales. It was sitting out in the meadow a short distance from the cabin. Apparently, Jedi don't know about cloaking devices, she thought, trying to make light of a very tense situation.

Aahntie Boo knew this was the point of no return. Should she walk off this porch and out into that meadow and get into that silver thing she could see sparkling in the distance or should she turn back now, kiss them goodbye and wish them well?

"Master," Obi-Wan asked, "where should I leave the key?"

Qui-Gon turned to the younger man with a gentle sad smile. "Just leave the door open," Qui-Gon said. "There is no need to lock up." He offered his elbow to Aahntie Boo, who took it, and with a sigh but without looking back, started across the grassy field.

An Ceann