Tolerance

by Merry Amelie (MerryAmelie@aol.com)

Archive: MA only
Category: Alternate Reality, Maternal Angst, Qui/Obi, Romance, Series
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jo is quite observant.
Series: Academic Arcadia -- # 44 A chronological list of the stories with URLs can be found under the header 'Academic Arcadia' at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/master-apprentice/files/
My MA story page: http://www.masterapprentice.org/cgi-bin/qs.cgi?keyword=Merry+Amelie
Feedback: Is treasured at MerryAmelie@aol.com
Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
To Alex, my friend and beta
Many thanks to Ula for her beta work.

Tolerance. Jo could barely tolerate that word at the moment.

She had been having a wonderful time at the reception her three sons and daughter had thrown as an anniversary present. Then she'd watched Rory re-route Ian and Quinn from the dance floor, and seen the expression on her boys' faces. One look at their trajectory had told her that the dessert buffet was soon to be decimated, but her brother didn't know them as well as she did.

Her first instinct had been to go over there and defuse the situation. But maternal protectiveness gave way to the maturity she saw etched on her sons' faces under Rory's onslaught. They were more than capable of fighting their own battles.

Their dignified triumph over shocked sorrow held her transfixed, and glad that she, unlike her brother, had not acted heedlessly.

Jo's imagination reeled under the barrage of possible cruelties that the sanctimonious Rory could have marshaled. And he counted himself among the tolerant. All she knew was that Quinn and Ian had left the party immediately afterwards, and not returned that night.

She tried to put it out of her mind as she celebrated with Keith, but the mothering gene could not be so easily denied. The incident was in the back of her mind throughout the rest of the reception and their private festivities later on.

Jo decided not to burden Keith with this on their anniversary. Ever since Father's Day, when he'd told her about the passionate kiss he and Monty should not have witnessed, Keith had accepted the men as lovers, rather than the best friends with nebulous perks that he had subconsciously preferred them to be.

She wisely said nothing to Quinn and Ian either, and was fairly sure she'd been the only one to observe the conflict last night. Her mother's heart ached for them. The men had raised circumspection to an art-form. They had been ever careful not to display their relationship, even in the friendly refuge of Padua, and now Rory was finding trouble where there was none to be had.

Jo had no idea of what to expect at breakfast. Would Ian and Quinn even come? She knew firsthand of their courage and fortitude, but there was more than just Rory to consider. Her boys would not want to become fault-lines along which the Prentices were divided. They would view any rift between themselves and Rory as a potential breach with like-minded relatives, such as Mal.

When Ian came in and treated Rory as if nothing had happened, Jo was never more proud of him. His ability to forgive slights and put them behind him was a gift she'd valued from Ian's earliest childhood in his squabbles with Monty. And Quinn. She had tried and succeeded at putting him at ease for as long as she'd known him, and was gratified to see his calm in the face of a potential Prentice storm.

Something did surprise Jo, however. While they waited to check out, she caught the gleam of Quinn and Ian's rings before she grasped their significance. The last time she had seen them was during the 4th of July cookout. Then she'd been quick to realize that they were the men's expression of personal freedom, and showed their trust in the family.

Seeing them now was no coincidence. Ian and Quinn were clearly making a statement without saying a word. Rory's action last night had precipitated this reaction, and for that she was glad. If not for Quinn's unfortunate dilemma, Ian might have taken this step long ago.

When Ian had first told her of his love for Quinn, she had been so worried about his welfare in a hardscrabble world that she'd encouraged his reticence. But Ian's sunny nature needed air and light to thrive, like one of Quinn's plants, not perpetual shadow.

Here, on the Prentice side of the garden, their love had blossomed for over a year, and now with the advent of the rings, would reach full bloom.

Jo was almost grateful to Rory for being the catalyst, although all that discord over a misunderstanding still bothered her. It was an indication of a deeper problem which remained unsolved. Her family loved Ian, of that she had no doubt. Most of them were happy for the men, and treated them just like any other couple. But a few of the relatives were tolerant of Quinn and Ian without embracing them, as they ordinarily would fellow members of the clan.

The difference between tolerance and acceptance was that between a family gathering and a celebration, courthouse vows and a wedding reception.

Tolerance was an admirable trait, but had evaporated in Rory's case when it came to protecting his children.

True acceptance would come when he realized that there was nothing from which to protect them.