Summary: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan finally start their honeymoon.
<g>
Note: Okay, I have a water fetish. It's a little kink I'm
working on but for the moment, the need to get the guys naked
and wet is just too overpowering for me to fight.
I slumped just a little and walked past the Gungan guards with
a sad attempt at a smile. They patted my shoulder in concern
and let me pass over the bridge towards my new home. I kept the
thought of Qui-Gon's loss in the forefront of my mind so any
stray thoughts would be sad ones. The last two days had been
spent at the Palace with the Queen and Anakin, so I was missing
him for real.
Shmi had stocked the cottage and prepared Qui-Gon's meals for
him but she'd returned this afternoon so she'd be ready to
leave with the others. The meetings were ended for now. The
royal entourage had packed up and was on its way for a tour of
the towns worst hit by the invaders. Ric Olie was piloting them
while Panaka and his squad went along for protection.
Anakin had been so excited about the trip, he'd practically
levitated the last few feet into the cruiser. I had admonished
him gently then accepted a strangling hold for a goodbye hug.
Ani had promised me he'd take good care of Dala and his mother
while the young Queen stood by. They'd played out their parts
for anyone watching. I'd allowed myself a sigh and a tired
smile before waving goodbye to them all and leaving the docking
bay to walk through the gathering storm back to our refuge.
Inside, I'd been bubbling over with an almost incandescent joy
that I was afraid would leak out into the air around me. I
didn't have to talk to Qui-Gon mentally when I could feel him
as a constant presence in the Force. But after two days without
touching him, I craved a physical reminder of my lover. A hug
or a kiss would do quite nicely, I decided.
A naked hug would be even better.
A three day kiss would be just about right.
Thunder grumbled in the distance and I eyed the lowering clouds
with a measuring eye. Another hour or so would see the storm
directly overhead. Now that no one could see me, I allowed
myself a quicker pace to the cottage that spelled home. No, it
wasn't the cottage but the man inside who was the center of my
universe.
Flinging open the door and hastening within, I froze two steps
inside the front room. Qui-Gon was in the cooking area,
half-naked with his hair loose about the broad tanned
shoulders, bent over something. I took a deep breath and spoke
evenly. "Put down the spoon and step away from the cooker and
nobody will get hurt."
My golden master looked over his shoulder with a teasing look.
"Shmi made it."
My heart leapt at the almost normal sound of his voice. Taking
off my outer robe, I tossed it onto the hook by the door
without a backward look. I couldn't quite help the note of
suspicion in my voice. "Then why are you stirring it?"
"She made me promise to stir it every hour until you arrived."
Qui-Gon smiled at my grimace. "She made the fresh bread as well
as setting the table so you wouldn't have to. We must think of
something nice to give her as a thank you."
"You swear you didn't put anything into it except the spoon?" I
dropped my utility belt on the bench by the table and crossed
to my master's side, sliding an arm around his trim waist and
taking a deep sniff of the aromatic dish.
"I'm shocked at your lack of faith, beloved." Qui-Gon leaned
over and brushed a kiss across my cheek.
I reached up and pulled him into the kiss I'd been dreaming of
for two days. I could taste the stew, some herbs I didn't know
and the unique flavor of my lover. Savoring the heated depths,
I entwined my tongue with Qui-Gon's. I'd become so addicted to
the sweetness I wanted to stay like this forever.
But my stomach had other ideas, growling in the silence.
Pulling away, I grinned. "It's not lack of faith. It's the
memory of the last two hundred times you cooked something."
Qui-Gon just laughed out loud and pointed to the table. I took
the hint and brought the bowls to the cooker so he could ladle
out the savory potage. The meal was delicious and leisurely,
not something we were used to. I realized that for the first
time in a very long time, we had nowhere we had to be, nothing
to study and nobody expecting us.
//It's called a vacation, Obi-Wan. Something we have needed for
some time.// The caressing thought brought a smile to my face.
I grinned and kept eating. //I believe Dala referred to it as a
honeymoon.//
//Ah, yes. Perhaps we should study up on what happens in a
honeymoon?// Qui-Gon's face was a study in innocence but hints
of passion colored the thought.
//I'm sure we'll be able to think of something.// I smiled
sweetly and licked my spoon suggestively.
Qui-Gon smiled gently and licked his fingers. I felt a slow
burn start in my stomach and flow outward in waves to the tips
of my fingers and toes. Reaching for the bowl of honey, I
drizzled just a little on my buttered roll, catching a drip
with my index finger and making a little show of licking it
clean.
My lover took a drink of cool spring water but his eyes never
left mine, heating the air between us with his gaze. We
continued eating in silence, our growing need pulsing in the
increasingly noisy atmosphere. The thunder had gone from a
distant rumble to loud claps that resonated in the air long
after the initial boom was gone.
The room darkened to an eerie green half-light that cast odd
shadows in the corners. Qui-Gon's smile told me that my mentor
still remembered my earlier fear of storms and I ducked my head
a bit to try and hide my blush.
//The only way to lose a fear is to face it, beloved. Will you
come outside with me, now?//
The gentle mind touch calmed the brief surge of fear and I
stretched out my hand to return the touch on both levels. //If
we're together, I can face anything.//
Qui-Gon laughed soundlessly and stood, pulling me up at the
same time. //Then, let's go play in the rain.// The blue eyes
gleamed at me. //Naked.//
I laughed out loud and hurriedly stripped while watching my
master gracefully shed the light pants he'd been wearing. Hand
in hand, we left the cottage and stood in the small clearing,
watching the trees sway and bend in the gusty wind. The
glimmering shield that protected the island had been designed
to ignore the natural elements so the first drops of rain
splashed on our upturned faces.
It felt . . . cleansing, I decided. Washing away the pain and
fear of the last few weeks. Unbidden, the memories of Qui-Gon's
death filled my mind with terrible dark pictures of despair. I
thought I'd banished them but they kept returning, no matter
how many I released into the Force. Warm hands broke the chain
of thoughts, hands that cradled my head and forced me to look
up into bright eyes.
//I am here, beloved. Not dead. Not a Force ghost. Right here.
Right now.// The words were loving but also a reminder of past
lessons. //Live in the moment, Padawan. This moment.//
I sighed my love into the mouth that gently took mine. //I love
you, Qui-Gon Jinn.//
//I love you well, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Force willing, I will always
be there for you.// His lips scattered little kisses over my
rain wet face. //But even if I can't physically be with you at
some point in our lives, I will still be loving you however I
am able.//
Dark blue eyes looked down into mine and I saw that the golden
glow that surrounded my master now extended around me too. My
hands and arms were luminous even without the bright lightning
flashes that came ever more quickly as the storm moved directly
over us.
"I've been meaning to ask you about the glow." I started to
question him but the twinkle in my lover's eyes stopped me.
"What?"
"What glow?" Qui-Gon asked him innocently, but the look of
mischief in his eyes made me smile.
"The golden aura that has surrounded you since the chapel. Yoda
kept muttering something about shields and the living Force. He
wasn't making much sense when he waved good bye to me on
Coruscant." I shook my head and watched the water drops whip
into the night air. At some point in the last few moments, the
sprinkling had turned into a shower.
"Perhaps I can show you rather than try to explain the
phenomenon. It is rather simple really." Qui-Gon tilted his
head back and I watched in awe while the rain sleeked his hair
into a cascade of darkened silk. All colors were leached out to
shades of gray in the shadows of the rain soaked glade. Except
for the glow.
Qui-Gon's hands pulled me closer, then closer yet. Our bodies
met and matched along every point, warmth blossoming wherever
our skin made contact. The chilling rain had no chance against
the heat we generated between us. I slid my hands up and down
the broad muscular back of my lover, luxuriating in the solid
feel of living skin.
We held each other tenderly and I arched into the caresses that
Qui-Gon pressed onto my flesh. I'd never known so many nerve
endings along my spine led directly to my groin. I was tingling
from my toes all the way up to the ends of my hair. Opening my
eyes, I watched as the very air around us took on a golden glow
as well. The center of the glade now shown with a gilded
splendor that seemed to be coming from us.
//Hush, beloved. Feel the Force flowing through us. Center
yourself and then let go.//
I nodded and found my still center. Opening my senses as I'd
done a thousand times before, I absorbed the different feel of
the Force in the here and now. The drops of liquid sliding over
my skin. The flashes of bright light zig-zagging across the
sky. The smell of damp earth surrounding us. The crack of
thunder resounding above. The taste of Qui-Gon's skin
skittering over my tongue.
But mostly it was the feel of Qui-Gon filling our bond with his
love. I reveled in the emotions and sent my own arcing back
through our link. So many different kinds of love we had felt
over the years, from platonic to carnal. But this time, I could
feel something different. Something vast seeped into me with a
slow pulsating rhythm like the beat of a giant heartbeat.
Eyes widening, I gazed at Qui-Gon in awe. My lover's heartbeat
was also the pulse of the Force. //You are one with the Force.
But you're not dead.//
//I died and returned to the Force from which we all come. But
Anakin was right. It was not my time. The Universe needed me
here and your love enabled me to resettle into this form.
However, my body was remade with the energy of the Force.//
I wasn't too sure what I was feeling. Confused. Stunned.
Unsure. And so very, very young. How could I make love to an
avatar of the Force? Because that was what Qui-Gon had just
described. An avatar of the Spirit. Why would that avatar want
to make love to me? I was just . . . ordinary. Not special in
any way at all.
//Hush, beloved. You are everything I ever dreamed of having.
Bright, inquisitive, daring and so very loving. Your heart is
larger than the universe and I am humbled that you love me.//
Qui-Gon cradled my head with both hands, his thumbs brushing
the tears from my cheeks.
I couldn't find the words to express that love so I simply
relaxed and let it all flow across our bond to the man in my
arms. It fed on our emotions, increasing exponentially until
love shone from us like a beacon of pure golden light. With my
mind's eye, I could see us becoming part of the light that
filled the universe.
Lips met, creating a firestorm of need.
Hands stroked quivering flesh.
Thoughts enflamed desires to a new level of excitement.
Arousal peaked.
And in that instant, Qui-Gon called to the lightning and the
power of the storm flashed down to enmesh us with its power.
Energy flooded through us, sending electrical pulses through
all our nerve endings. I arched into the solid body that held
me and felt us merge at the cellular level.
I awoke slowly, listening to the heartbeat beneath my ear. My
mind remembered the flash of pure light but nothing after that.
I was warm and dry now so Qui-Gon must have gotten us indoors.
Why weren't we dead? We'd been struck by lightning.
//Oh good, you're awake.// Qui-Gon's voice rumbled in my mind
and I raised my head to look at the man who held me.
He looked the same. Crinkles around his eyes, broken nose,
prickly mustache and firm lips. //What happened?//
//Besides being hit by lightning?// He teased me gently, his
lips quirking up into his same old know-it-all smile.
I stuck my tongue out at him while I thought back to the
feelings leading up to the strike. Merging. We'd merged
somehow. If I concentrated hard enough I could feel his body as
if it were my own. His stomach was empty and his left foot was
cold. Meeting his eyes again, I hesitated to ask my question.
He just smiled. //The Force has made sure that we are bonded at
all levels. I always worried that my age would tie you to a
doddering old fool while you were in your prime. You deserve
better than that.//
I interrupted him fiercely. //You have been foolish, my master
but you have never been nor will you ever be doddering.//
//Beloved.// Qui-Gon stroked my cheek. //We were both afraid to
fail the other. The Force has taken care of that problem for
us. Together, we are stronger than we are apart. You are now
one with the Force as well. Reach out to it.//
I frowned and opened my mind's eye to the currents of the Force
but I couldn't see them. Rolling off of my lover, I spied my
hair brush on the counter and called it to me. It flew across
the room and smacked into my hand as if it had wires attached.
Using my mind only, I willed the blankets covering us to rise
then fall back. Qui-Gon was right, the Force was now a part of
my very being which is why I could no longer see it separate
from myself.
//It will take some getting used to, Obi-Wan. I had quite
awhile to rest and test my boundaries.//
//Are there boundaries?// I asked tentatively.
He shrugged and the covers fell off his shoulder. //I haven't
found any yet.//
//Oh.// I sank back down and tried to wrap my mind around the
concept that I was now some kind of . . . I didn't know what I
was anymore.
//You are Obi-Wan Kenobi. Jedi Knight. Beloved of Qui-Gon Jinn.
Big brother to Queen Amidala. Master to Padawan Anakin
Skywalker. Friend to countless beings on a hundred planets. You
are still yourself, that hasn't changed. The Force has simply
taken you for its own. In one way or another, we are all
avatars of the Force. You just know about it now.// Qui-Gon
leaned up on one elbow and gazed down on me. //It is a gift and
a responsibility wrapped up in one. More lessons, I'm afraid.//
I tried to keep back my laugh. I really did but it burst out of
me like a geyser in full spate. The Universe was playing a joke
on itself by co-opting me as its representative. Qui-Gon just
smiled while my laughter ran its course. //The Force knows what
its doing, beloved. It's up to us to try and understand its
will then do it.//
//I'll try, Master. But it seems very bizarre to me.// I shook
my head and ran my hand over his where it lay on my chest. //I
can understand why it would choose you. And I'm so grateful it
did.//
He leaned down and kissed me gently, our lips parting almost
instantly to deepen the kiss. //It would not have succeeded if
your love had not been so strong, Obi-Wan. That is your gift to
the universe. And to me. I am the luckiest man alive because of
you.//
I moaned into the kiss, feeling it tingle all the way down to
my toes. His words and the conviction behind them settled deep
into my soul and soothed the wounds his death had wrought. I
was needed not just for my skills but for who I was. It might
take a little time to come to grips with this amazing turn of
events but I'd always been a good student and I'd be able to
learn this as well. Qui-Gon agreed with me and broke off the
kiss.
"Indeed you will, beloved. And since you threatened me with
mayhem if I cooked anything, perhaps you'd be willing to make
us breakfast?" Qui-Gon gave me a sorrowful look at the same
time his stomach grumbled.
Then we were both laughing and getting out of bed, ready for
anything the new day might throw at us.
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