Title: You Had Me At Hello
Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi ponders the moment he fell in love with his wife.
Disclaimer: George Lucas owns everything even remotely related to Star Wars. The character of Siri Tachi belongs to Jude Watson. The title of this vignette is a line from the movie Jerry Maguire, which belongs to Tri-Star Pictures, Cameron Crowe, and…well, not me. The plomeek soup part belongs to the people at Star Trek: Enterprise.
/
Maybe it was when I was twenty-five and Anakin and I returned from Naboo. She'd been standing there, just waiting. I saw the tears on her face right away; they weren't for Qui-Gon, they were for me. Maybe it was then.
/
"Are you okay?" she asked me softly, so softly in fact I had to strain to hear her voice. Her tan face seemed sad, as sad as my own had been for the past week.
Quickly the tears were falling again. I thought I'd cried as much as was possible, but I was wrong. Slowly, I shook my head. "No, I'm not."
Suddenly I was in her embrace. I lowered my head to rest on her shoulder. She wrapped her slender arms around me, one of her hands trailing through the hair at the back of my neck. Just being near her made me feel better.
/
Maybe it was when I was nineteen. I was so sick that I wanted to die. The pain of death would have been welcome if I didn't have to suffer through sickness anymore. She brought me soup and kissed my forehead. Maybe it was then.
/
"Obi-Wan, are you awake?" I heard her ask quietly.
"Barely," I answered her, my voice roughened by my severely sore throat.
"Are you okay?" was her next question to me. She seemed determined to make me speak.
"Barely," I answered again, hoping she'd take the hint that I really wasn't in the mood to talk with her.
"Well, I think this might make you feel better. It's plomeek soup, your favorite," she said to me. I know she wanted me to sit up and look alive at the mention of my favorite soup, but I just didn't have the energy.
Again, all I could manage was a one-word answer. "Thanks."
I closed my eyes then and tried to get back to sleep. I felt her hand run through my spiky hair at the same time I felt her cool lips against the heated skin of my forehead. I didn't need soup; just having her near made me feel better.
/
Maybe it was when I was twelve years old and on the verge of leaving the Temple forever, leaving her forever. She hugged me tighter than I've ever been hugged. She made me feel better when no one else could. Maybe it was then.
/
"Obi-Wan, you can't leave," Siri whined at me. She was trying to help, trying to make me understand how much she cared about me. It wasn't helping.
"Siri, I don't have a choice. I haven't been chosen so I have to go to Agri-Corps," I told her, surprising myself at how calm and collected I sounded. That sure wasn't how I felt.
Faster than I'd ever seen her move, Siri darted across the room towards me. Before I even knew what happened I was in her embrace. She was practically strangling me with her tiny arms, but I really didn't mind all that much. I suddenly realized that being hugged so tightly by her felt like…eternity. It felt like I'd found my eternity, my forever.
/
Maybe it was when I was five years old and she was three. She was as annoying as anyone I'd ever met up to that point. She was prissy, always straightening her blonde hair and strutting around like she owned the Temple. Maybe it was then.
/
"Obi-Wan, Garen, this is Siri. She's going to be in our crèche group from now on," the crèche Master said to Garen and I.
"Yuck, a girl," Garen spit out; his dislike for girls shining through. He'd been reprimanded for that comment.
"Siri, say hello to Garen and Obi-Wan," the Master instructed the tiny girl.
"Hewwo," I heard the small, hesitant voice invade my ears, and I knew.
/
"Well, did you figure it out?" Siri asked me as she wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head against my chest.
"Yes, I finally figured it out," I told her, running my hands through her blonde tresses. "You had me at hello," I said right before I leaned down and captured her mouth in a kiss that promised I would love her forever.