Chapter Text
Several hours later, Qui-Gon guided them back to ordinary consciousness with a series of delicate bells. As he opened his eyes, Obi-Wan found that he was still tired, but he felt refreshed and strong in a way he hadn't in weeks, or maybe even months. The jittery edge that frayed his patience and wore at his steadiness was gone. Though he hadn't had a fever for some time, he felt as if one had just broken, clearing away the last layer of fogginess in his mind. He drew in a long breath and exhaled slowly, letting the tension that had built up in his hips and knees and shoulders melt away as he stood.
Anakin was the first to break the silence. He looked energized and happy, even if there was a flicker of disbelief in his Force presence.
"Masters," he said, standing and proffering a half-bow. He waited for Qui-Gon and Ahsoka to get to their feet, shifting his weight and clasping his hands behind his back. "I know we have much to talk about. I don't know what this… revelation… will bring. But I trust you. And.. er…." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "...I am sorry about my temper."
Obi-Wan nodded, letting his approval soften his gaze. Anakin’s remorse held none of his usual defensiveness and that was a very good sign.
"I am glad I didn't hurt you," Anakin said to Qui-Gon. He looked down. "I didn't want to."
Qui-Gon hmmed and caught Anakin’s eyes as soon as he looked up. He considered him for a moment, head tilted, gaze serious, but not unkind. "I know, Anakin. But if you had...."
Anakin winced. "I will work on it."
Qui-Gon nodded and said somberly. "Yes, we will."
Anakin smiled a bit sheepishly. "Our departure was rescheduled to tomorrow,” he said, smoothing his tunic. “I…” He paused and looked back and forth between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.
“Anakin?” Obi-Wan asked, curious and a little concerned.
Anakin took a deep breath and swallowed and squared his shoulders. “I want to spend the night with my... wife."
"Wife!" Ahsoka squeaked. Qui-Gon's eyebrows shot up and he blew out a breath.
Obi-Wan started in surprise. "Wife?" he repeated, marvelling at the word. Anakin, married? When had he had the time? He was shocked, and he wasn't. A part of him was proud that if Anakin was going to have deep feelings for someone, he had the sense to make a commitment to her. Still, he felt a pang of sadness for Padme then, and for Anakin. So much secrecy, so much time apart, so much lying and longing. His face fell.
"Master? Are you very disappointed?" Anakin sounded worried and suddenly very young.
Obi-Wan shook his head and gave Anakin a regretful smile as he grasped his shoulder. "Only that I wasn't there."
Anakin exhaled sharply and visibly relaxed. Then his face lit up in delight. "I'll have R2 play you the holofeed.”
"What? R2 was there?! And he never told me? That little…!" Ahsoka blurted.
"Easy, Snips. You can watch too,” Anakin promised.
"Wait, so does this make Padme my aunt or something? Stepmother? Step-master?" she asked teasingly.
"Ugh! Stepmother? That would make me your father. I'm way too young to be a dad. Dads are old. Like Obi-Wan," Anakan said with a moue of disgust, waving in Obi-Wan’s direction.
Obi-Wan snorted, but caught a strange look on Qui-Gon's face: wistful and suspicious at the same time.
"Don't tempt fate, Anakin," Qui-Gon warned.
Anakin grimaced. “Ugh. I really hope that doesn't mean what I think it means."
"What?" piped Ahsoka.
"Just be careful, that's all. A war is no time to have children," Qui-Gon said gravely, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Ugh, it did,” Anakin said, squirming under Qui-Gon’s gaze. “Alright. That's it. I'm outta here."
Ahsoka paled and then sniggered. "Oh! That kind of careful. Ew!"
"Let's talk tomorrow, before you ship out," Obi-Wan said, ignoring Ahsoka's embarrassment.
Anakin nodded. "Sounds good. We'll meet you here at 10h. Right, Snips?"
"Roger that. Okay, I'm off to find Bariss. She and Luminara arrived at 19h,” she said, donning her robe.
"Not a word, Snips,” Anakin said, index finger pointed in caution.
"Never,” she said quickly as her expression shifted to one of utmost seriousness. “I understand. This will be a long road, won’t it?"
"It will," Obi-Wan answered, proud of her thoughtfulness and sense of responsibility. "But I am hopeful we will be able to start the changes the Order needs to make soon. Qui-Gon's research will help. And we have changed. Even the smallest pebble can alter the course of a river over time."
"And we have a set of boulders, don't we?" Ahsoka said with a smirk.
Obi-Wan laughed. "Anakin counts for at least three."
"Are you saying I'm dense?" Anakin said with mock affront.
"Never, my young Padawan," Obi-Wan said with a wink, before embracing Anakin. "Say hello to Padme for me. Thank her for her help with this...situation.”
"I will,” Anakin said, shifting so that he could look at Obi-Wan without letting him go just yet. His smile that was so bright it made Obi-Wan’s heart ache.
Obi-Wan met his eyes. "I love you very much, Anakin. And I always will. Nothing could ever change that."
Anakin squeezed him tightly. "Thanks," he whispered, voice wavering. "I know. But it's nice to hear it." Then, even quieter, “I love you too, Master.”
Obi-Wan pressed his eyes shut against a wave of relief and hope that things were already mending between them. The Force rippled its approval like a soft breeze along the surface of water. He sighed and hugged Anakin closer before releasing him. And then he hugged Ahsoka, who looked at him with grateful eyes and relaxed in his arms.
“Thank you,” she whispered against tunics.
"Thank you, Padawan,” he said, taking her by the shoulders so that he could look at her. “Without your honesty, and your bravery, I’m not sure we’d be standing here.”
Her Force presence shimmered with delight and pride and she grinned at him.
His heart clenched. He was glad he would see both Anakin and Ahsoka again before they were deployed. It was harder to think about sending them into battle when he was present to his love for them. But he could and would. They had duties to fulfill, all of them. The war was far from over, and it was unclear how their tiny revolution would change the Order and affect the dangerous political climate supporting the violence. He only knew that they had stepped on the right path. With his love, Obi-Wan found a gentle sense of certainty, a deep knowing, that grounded him in a way he had not expected. He hoped they could feel that too—and he had good reason to suspect that they did. He saw Ahoska’s smile and steadiness in her own space. He watched the ease and peace that infused all of Anakin’s movements as embraced Qui-Gon and guided Ahsoka out of the quarters with an affectionate hand on her back. And when he turned to face Qui-Gon, his former master and new padawan was gazing at him with awe.
"You are magnificent, you know that, don't you?" Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan huffed. "Aspiring to magnificence is for padawans," he replied, lips curled into a wry smile as he fought a rising blush. "I am as I have always been, just myself." He moved to tuck his hands into his sleeves and realized he was not wearing his robe.
"That's not true, and you know it,” Qui-Gon replied, eyes shining as he closed the distance between them. “You felt what happened here today. A vergence in the Force, nothing less."
"A vergence?" he asked, looking up at Qui-Gon, who was suddenly very close. It dawned on him that they were finally alone. He tried to ignore the nervous flutter in stomach. He was glad to have something to focus on besides Qui-Gon’s looming presence.
Qui-Gon nodded. "I was also granted a Force vision."
Obi-Wan’s brows furrowed."Really? When?” Another vision. How strange. The Force was rarely in the habit of being so direct.
"Today. When we arrived here after the council meeting. It’s why I was so distracted.”
“What did you see?”
“I saw their children,” Qui-Gon said with an air of wonder. “Anakin's and Padme's. And Ahsoka, all grown up.”
Unbidden, an image of Anakin and Padme nestled beneath an arching Nubian mulberry tree, each holding a baby, a dark haired girl and a blond boy rose in his mind’s eye. They gleamed in the Force, bright and powerful.
“Twins?” he asked.
Qui-Gon narrowed his eyes. “Yes.”
“I can see them,” Obi-Wan breathed. “They will be strong in the Force.”
Qui-Gon nodded. “We will train them. You, and me, and Ahsoka.”
Obi-Wan blinked. "Me?" he asked, realizing as he spoke how disconnected he had been from any sense of the future. “What about the war?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how it ends. But the war was over. And I saw you as an old man, gray-bearded and smiling.” Qu-Gon paused, a shadow passing across his striking features. ”You looked… free,” he said, voice heavy with compassion and regret.
It was too painful, far too painful, to be seen so completely in his current state, emburdened by the staggering responsibilities of the GAR and the Order and his own unwavering sense of duty. Trapped by the endless war, he had long ago learned that to survive this, he couldn’t look at it, nor could he imagine life after.
He choked on the cry that escaped him.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what's—" he gasped, pressing his hand over his mouth as he squeezed his eyes against stinging tears.
"Shhh, Obi-Wan.” Qui-Gon laid a steadying hand on his elbow. “You have nothing to apologize for. You just upended four thousand years of tradition and carried the Order into a new age.”
"I—we're not there yet, Qui-Gon,” Obi-Wan objected with a wave as he stepped back. “There's still so much to do. And I didn't do it alone!"
"Magnificent and modest," Qui-Gon sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as his shoulders fell. "I wonder if there is anything in ancient prophecies about the teacher of the Chosen One, because you have put something together that no one has been able to see for millennia."
"It was the Will of the Force. Without the vision—" Obi-Wan explained.
Qui-Gon shook his head. "You listened, Obi-Wan. You listened. And more importantly, you loved. Despite everything. You loved without giving into fear. You loved with hope and trust in the Force, in yourself and in us…” He stopped, flushing at his word choice. “In all of us. I have never seen a Jedi be so brave,” he said, voice tight with emotion.
"Qui-Gon!" Obi-Wan protested, squirming at the undue praise.
"Any fool can risk his life, Obi-Wan. Only the courageous risk their hearts,” Qui-Gon declared, voice rising with such conviction that Obi-Wan’s embarrassment was powerless in its wake. Against the backdrop of the Coruscant twilight, Qui-Gon was the magnificent one, his vast chest and long limbs energized with the strength of his sincerity. He towered like a Wroshyyk tree, filling Obi-Wan’s field of vision completely.
A memory of his early padawan days flickered to the surface of his mind. After their bumpy start, Qui-Gon had been reserved. More careful than caring, more kind than affectionate, he had guarded his heart after Xanatos’ betrayal like a krayt dragon guards its egg. Obi-Wan had felt like he was living on the outside of some great fortress, only allowed to roam the grounds. And then one quiet, unremarkable day of training and study and meditation and a stroll in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, something shifted. Obi-Wan had looked up into his Master’s face and seen Qui-Gon’s smile reach his eyes and there had been a warmth shining there that Obi-Wan had never experienced before.
Obi-Wan swallowed, trying to clear the lump in his throat. He took a deep breath and met Qui-Gon’s eyes. "I learned it from you," he said simply and watched Qui-Gon’s mouth fall open in surprise.
"‘We are what they grow beyond, that is the burden of all masters’,” Qui-Gon whispered, brushing tears from his eyes. “But Yoda is wrong—it's not a burden, it is a measureless joy."
Another Jedi aphorism came to Obi-Wan’s mind then, and it was simultaneously so perfect and absurd that he couldn’t help but quip, "I suppose we could say, the student has become the master.”
Qui-Gon stared at him for a second of disbelief before his expression cracked and he laughed out loud—a bright and rippling sound that carried Obi-Wan with him into laughter that had them both curling forward and wiping tears from their eyes.
And then Obi-Wan wobbled, but instead of falling, he found himself in Qui-Gon's arms, gasping for air. He slipped his arms around Qui-Gon's broad back and looked up into deep blue eyes full of love and a smile that made his knees weak.
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon breathed as his hand found Obi-Wan’s face, brushing his cheek with his thumb.
Obi-Wan blew out a breath, heat squirming in his belly and lower. His mouth went dry and his heart hammered in his chest. "What changed?" he choked out, pressing his hands against Qui-Gon’s shoulder blades in a vain attempt to anchor himself.
"What didn't?" Qui-Gon answered, looking down at him with all of the desire Obi-Wan had sensed in the Force, but had never seen before. Qui-Gon’s eyes were dark and his features sharp with something like hunger. Qui-Gon gripped Obi-Wan’s waist with shaking hands as he leaned down and brushed his lips against Obi-Wan’s. The kiss was tender and tentative, as if Qui-Gon was asking permission.
Everything in Obi-Wan’s being resounded with yes.
He kissed Qui-Gon back with the fervor of a bonfire set ablaze after twenty years of gathered kindling. He pressed up against Qui-Gon's body, chest to chest, nearly unable to breathe for the thrill of meeting a desire so long awaited and so recently denied that pain and pleasure mingled in excruciating intensity.
After decades of dreaming about this moment, Obi-Wan was shocked to find that neither he nor the world around him dissolved into a haze, nor did he startle awake when he lost himself in Qui-Gon's taste, his scent, his body—familiar and new all at once because he was allowed, now, to touch and taste and stroke hard muscles beneath soft fabric.
He cried out in surprise when Qui-Gon's hands slid down his back to grip his buttocks and lift him clear off the floor. Keening with pleasure, he wrapped his legs around Qui-Gon's waist, pressing his swollen cock against Qui-Gon's massive frame. Qui-Gon growled as he hoisted Obi-Wan higher and hauled him into the bedroom. Obi-Wan felt his back hit the mattress and then Qui-Gon was on top of him, a heavy weight between his legs that was grounding and exhilarating at the same time.
"I love you, Obi-Wan, I love you," Qui-Gon gasped, breaking the kiss and bowing his head to Obi-Wan's chest. He pressed his lips against Obi-Wan’s heart. Even through layers of tunics, the kiss was searing. Qui-Gon’s whole body trembled above him, cock hard against Obi-Wan’s hip.
"I love you too,” Obi-Wan wept, stroking Qui-Gon’s long-beloved hair. He drew on the Force then to steady them both. “We don’t have to do anything tonight, Qui-Gon,” he whispered, fighting creeping disappointment. He could tell Qui-Gon was as overwhelmed as he was aroused.
Qui-Gon nodded, catching his breath. “I—”
“Yes?” Obi-Wan asked, hope and lust burning through him in equal measure.
“I’m not sure I can bear it if we don’t,” Qui-Gon bit out.
Obi-Wan’s heart leapt in relief. “Oh, thank the Force,” he gasped.
He arched up against Qui-Gon as he scrambled with Qui-Gon’s belt and tunics. A flurry of hands and lips and far, far too much fabric, before their clothing was torn off and tossed aside. And then the world became nothing but skin against skin, Qui-Gon’s tongue in his mouth, Qui-Gon’s hips thrusting, and Qui-Gon’s long fingers pressing their weeping cocks together. Obi-Wan wrapped his arms tightly around his lover, shields crumbling as his entire being struggled to withstand the ecstasy tearing through him. Pure happiness and love enveloped him when Qui-Gon dropped his shields in turn and collapsed on top of him, shuddering.
They came at the same time with answering cries and tears in their eyes.
They held each other until their bodies stilled and their breathing slowed enough for them to rearrange themselves. Qui-Gon rolled onto his back and reached for a discarded tunic to dry them off. He curled his free arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulders as Obi-Wan settled his head on Qui-Gon’s chest.
As he sank back into his body, Obi-Wan became aware of the waning light, the slight chill in the air, and the tickle of Qui-Gon’s chest hair against his cheek. He looked up and ran his hand along Qui-Gon’s jaw, feeling the soft bristles of his beard.
“Stay?” Qui-Gon asked, laying his hand against Obi-Wan’s and leaning into his touch.
“Tonight? Of course,” Obi-Wan said with yawn. Sleep was already beginning to beckon, as much he didn’t want to sleep just yet.
“Tonight, yes. And also tomorrow. And the day after that,” Qui-Gon rumbled, leaning over to kiss Obi-Wan.
“As long as you want,” he promised, returning the kiss with a sigh.
“How about forever?” Qui-Gon asked.
Obi-Wan stared at him speechless. Had he misheard?
“I am serious, Obi-Wan. I do not know what the next few weeks or months will bring, but I have to tell you: in my vision, I saw love in your eyes.” His voice was solemn. “I know that our future is together.” Qui-Gon’s eyes shone and his face was peaceful as he spoke.
Obi-Wan searched inside himself for any reservation, any worry, or fear, yet he could find nothing but joy and hope and the Force singing its approval.
There were tears in Obi-Wan’s eyes when he finally spoke. “Forever, then.”
Qui-Gon’s smile brightened the whole room.