For Valentine's Day, a happy reunion. The timing just worked out.

Alive!

In the midst of war word spread of one tiny miracle, of life where before there had only been death. Amidst all the losses, amidst all the sorrow, there was now relief and quiet gratitude amongst the Jedi, for one of theirs, mourned and pronounced dead, was alive after all.

"Master Kenobi is alive…Master Kenobi is coming home…Master Kenobi – have you heard? Kenobi – his clone companion – both alive – still alive after all this time."

If the news of Obi-Wan Kenobi's death had spread rapidly, the news of his miraculous escape and resurrection had spread even quicker. He and a clone trooper had managed to escape after several months of capture and torture. They had been ultimately rescued by Padawan Skywalker and Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, and the ship bringing them would be at the Temple hangar in the morning.

Little was known about the two men's condition. Alive, certainly. Whether they were able to walk on their own or required assistance was not known. Torture had been confirmed; details had not and probably would never be.

No Jedi would give in to curiosity and be at the Temple hangar to greet the returning men unless they had reason to be by position or friendship. The members of the Council at the Temple would certainly be there. Garen and Reeft, long time friends of Obi-Wan were off-planet, or they would be there. Bant Eerin would be there with another healer.

Other than a few mechanics off in the distance busy at work, there were few Jedi other than the welcoming party in the hangar. The six members of the Council present had drifted in, including the just recently returned Adi Gallia and Plo Koon – so recently returned that Adi had not even had a chance to greet her former padawan.

Beyond the Council members stood the two healers, Bant and Healer Neille. Siri caught her breath at the sight of the two repulsor-stretchers behind them, until reality caught up to her. Standard procedure dictated them; neither man would be allowed to walk to the healers ward. No trauma team stood by, either, a clear indication that neither man was in dire need of medical aid.

Siri stood apart from the Council members. Her right to be there was not questioned, but she preferred to stand a distance away, separate from the formal greeting.

Nothing outwardly betrayed her apprehension and delight, or worry. Obi-Wan was alive and almost home, but what shape was he in?

What if – oh, Force – what if Obi-Wan was mentally damaged? Unresponsive, inwardly wandering in a mind that had lost itself?

Oh, Force, let him be okay she breathed.

There were Jedi that survived physically, but were never the same again. At least two Jedi were permanent residents for the rest of their days in the healers' ward, minds too damaged by horrific wounds and experiences to ever lead independent lives again, and the worst part of it was that both of them seemed to realize it in some half-aware part of themselves.

Siri would never forget the whispered words spoken to her as she had visited one of them – an age mate she remembered with a ready smile and a carefree attitude.

"I wish I remembered how to laugh…. " Not just the words, but the look of puzzlement in his eyes had nearly brought tears to Siri's eyes.

Would Obi-Wan remember how to laugh? To smile? Would those expressive eyes so full of life and mirth be dull and lifeless, haunted by memories he couldn't release? Would his sleep be nothing but nightmares, his days little better?

Yoda, Bant – even Anakin – might assure her he wasn't in that bad of shape, all things considered; that he had managed to survive relatively unscathed in mind even if not in body, but she had to see for herself.

She had been on her way back to her quarters just the day past when Yoda had asked her to meet him on his way down from Council. "Talked to Obi-Wan I have," he said, and she had hurried her pace to meet the little master in an alcove in the Grand Hall.

"Not well he is, as to be expected, but in far better shape than one would dare to hope," Yoda offered earnestly as Siri joined him. "Spoke to him the Council did and in good spirits he was if a bit overwhelmed. See him soon we all shall and then answers to our questions we will have, but know this – Obi-Wan is soon home and himself he shall be again with time and care. Pass this on to his friends as well – time I have not myself, though to Healer Bant I have just spoken as well."

All she could do was nod and try to master that which had just fled her – patience.

Now patience was about to be rewarded. The ship had entered orbit and was even now only moments away.

She was determined to be restrained and proper in her greeting, but wasn't sure she could pull it off; one reason she stood to the side. No Jedi before her had waited to greet one she loved, now freed from a long and no-doubt traumatic captivity.

During Obi-Wan's long absence, Siri had come to not just realize, but accept the true depth of her feelings for him, but just because she had been startled into that realization by his apparent death did not mean he had thought of her at all. Not that way.

Not even when startled out of her meditation by the sound of Obi-Wan's voice, by the brush of his hand across her face and the feel of his lips against hers, dared she hope his feelings were the same as her own. Logic told her it could not have been real, that moment that lingered in memory, of love transcending space and time to unite them, even if the Force whispered differently.

Her greeting would be appropriate, that of one good friend to another. It would not be unseemly for two friends, even two Jedi, to briefly hug – just not too close an embrace – perhaps a gentle kiss brushed against his cheek – not lingering, avoiding the lips – no, such should convey sufficient happiness at a dear friend's safe return without impropriety.

The ship settled slowly onto the landing pad and shut down its engines as the pad retracted within the hangar and the ship's ramp lowered. Siri's eyes flickered to the healers – were they snapping to attention, ready to board as soon as possible? Every Jedi's attention was focused on the opening, but the two healers stood just as still as the Council members: all patiently waiting. Apparently both men were deemed capable of moving on their own power from the ship to the waiting audience.

No sigh of relief escaped Siri's lips, but her heart unclenched just a bit, even as her fingernails pressed deep into the palms of her hand. Oh Force, now was the moment she feared and anticipated. Obi-Wan was back, but was it her Obi-Wan or one who was a stranger to her?

The Force surged as two figures appeared in the open hatchway, mere silhouettes for the moment before they moved forward into the subdued hangar lighting. Siri only had eyes for one.

Two men exited the ship side by side, one cloaked and half-hidden within his cowl and moving without his trademark grace, moving slowly, like a man half-broken yet moving without assistance. Something about his posture bespoke utter weariness; perhaps it was the slight stiffness of his gait. The other man walked beside the Jedi, visibly marked by cruel treatment, yet sturdier in his movements, not appearing as if he was about to break at any moment under the weight of his own bones.

Siri tore her eyes away long enough to glance back at the top of the ramp, to see Master Mundi and Anakin standing at the top of the ramp watching, and it seemed as if Anakin itched to be at his master's side, holding onto one arm. He saw Siri and smiled at her, wider as he caught her whispered, "thank you."

Obi-Wan put a hand on Alpha's shoulder as they approached the waiting Council members, clearly introducing him, and then inclined his head as he exchanged his own words of greetings. Siri's former master, Adi Gallia, smiled and her fingers touched Obi-Wan's face gently as she spoke, and he seemed to lean gratefully into them for a brief moment. Mace Windu smiled one of his rare smiles and clasped the younger man's shoulders before stepping back and assuming his usual stern expression.

Yoda hobbled forward a few steps and Obi-Wan dropped awkwardly to one knee and bowed his head. Yoda braced the man as he wobbled and said something that brought a smile to Obi-Wan's face. Siri couldn't quite see it, but she knew it – the Force sang its approval and welcome.

Mace extended a hand and helped Obi-Wan rise to his feet, steadied him as he turned to Alpha and the two men clasped hands. The Council members each took a moment to speak to the Clonetrooper, before he moved over to join the healers and Anakin. Adi glanced at Siri and smiled, as if to say, "He's yours now."

With a friendly clap on the back as he passed by Obi-Wan, Ki-Adi-Mundi joined the Council members as they filed slowly away. Anakin stood talking to the healers, his attention for the moment diverted from Obi-Wan. Siri stirred, and at the movement, Obi-Wan looked towards her.

She thought she had been prepared; she had not been. Her imagination had been vivid, but the reality was worse. This was not the man she had said good-bye to.

Not well he is. Yoda's words were a masterpiece of understatement.

Blue-gray eyes burned from within deep shadows carved by captivity, brightening as his eyes caught hers. A weak and pale man, bearded visage half-smiling through pain and weariness, he reached out a hand as he slowly moved forward to meet her. Healed and half-healed scars marked his hands and face even as they must have marked his psyche, but Siri saw none of that at that minute, had not since their eyes had met.

She only saw Obi-Wan, alive and moving on his own power and for the moment no one else existed but the two of them.

"Hello, there." The grin was pure Obi-Wan, so was the lilt of his voice. "I'm back."

The memory of the man consigned to her heart suddenly was the reality of the man almost within her touch. Siri Tachi paled and only immense will power schooled her features.

"Obi-Wan?" Shock made her waver on her feet; despite his own weakness Obi-Wan caught her arms and steadied her. "You are alive."

"So they say. I'm not so certain, myself." He shifted his grip on her and suddenly he was hanging onto her, face white and drained. She braced him, put her hands on his face and stared into his eyes. Underneath the lingering dregs of pain and suffering, she could see a spark of his usual humor. This hurt man wasn't the Obi-Wan she knew, but he was still there, within.

Her Obi-Wan was home.

"How? Why?" She felt the tears build behind her eyes and tried to blink them away. All they did was blur the features of the man she had once thought dead. Was half-dead from the sight she had of him. Held captive, tortured, yet alive - and trying to smile at her.

He was concerned for her! Those blue-gray eyes held both amusement and uncertainty as he searched her eyes, clearly wondering what was wrong.

Shaking hands whispered over his temple, over his lips and down his chin. His beard, so untidy now, was soft under her hands while his lips were dry and cracked, trying to smile under her fingers; then he was gently kissing her fingers as his sore hands gently cradled her face, stroked through her hair.

He smiled at her as he said softly, "You didn't let me go."

"You wouldn't go."

They smiled, his eyes again crinkling at her as they separated; only their hands remaining clasped. "Anakin didn't let me go, either. As Jedi you both should have released me a long time ago."

"Ah, but if you were not one with the Force, how could I release you into it, Obi-Wan Kenobi?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You didn't know otherwise."

"I felt otherwise."

"Ah. Anakin had the bond and so felt that I had not died to sustain him."

"And I had not one, too?" Obi-Wan merely looked at her, and she smiled back with a little half-smile.

"It was a long time ago and I thought behind us. Behind you." He spoke carefully as if one misspoken word would shatter a friendship carefully balanced on the fulcrum of duty and choice. They had never spoken of their past; it had been locked in silence for their entire adult lives, for Siri had forbidden Obi-Wan to ever mention or even think of it.

Be gentle with him.

"I thought it best to keep it hidden," she replied, but unable to deny her heart she added softly, "Where it must stay, but know it is still there, Obi-Wan. Keep that in your heart should you ever leave me again, or I, you."

"You will always reside there, Siri," he said, leaning forward as a weary smile played over his face. He took her face within still pain-gnarled hands and gently kissed her, this time on the lips, chaste and tender both.

His lips were bruised and cracked, the skin of his hands rough and scabbed, and Siri thought the touch of each was pure bliss. It made her giddy and reckless. It made her no better than an adolescent girl determined to bedevil an adolescent boy, speaking words that would never have been spoken by Jedi adolescents then or ever, words she had never even thought to speak, and words that surprised her as much as it did Obi-Wan.

"Kiss me again and I'll take you right here, Kenobi," she hissed.

"Would you now?" His voice held the lilt that Siri loved and a hint of a gentle laugh; though a soft flush infused the pale skin and his eyes were wide with surprise.

"I just might," Siri was a bit amazed at her own words; she clapped a hand over her mouth in mortification as her eyes begged Obi-Wan to pretend this conversation wasn't happening. What had gotten into her?

Instead, Obi-Wan looked around at the departing Jedi and the waiting healers; he managed a crooked grin. "That I'd like to see," he whispered and leaned in again, his words in contrast to the deepening blush on his face. Siri poked him in the stomach and stepped back. He groaned. "Promises, promises."

"I keep my promises, but I couldn't keep that one," Siri exclaimed, trying hard not to blush in return. She hadn't expected Obi-Wan to react to her teasing like this, and she hadn't expected to be teasing him like this, either. Losing him, only to regain him, had loosened something within her, made her reckless.

Adi and Yoda may have encouraged, or at least removed any objection to their relationship, but she truly never expected Obi-Wan to react in such a manner, not after years of denial and strict obedience to the Code. Had she not, even, spoken of keeping their emotions buried inside where they had lain for so long? Back off, Siri.

"And you – you're a member of the esteemed Council." Catching sight of Bant and Neille coming their way, she couldn't help whispering, "Try it later, you gundark, and you might just get lucky – but I make no promises."

"Like you'd ever give me a chance," he mocked her, once again the unruffled Jedi he had grown into. "If I know the Temple healers, I'm going to be stuck in a bed for a while." He grimaced and frowned as the healers approached him, before turning to greet them.

"That sounds cozy," Siri murmured.

Obi-Wan sighed and returned over his shoulder, "If you're trying to inspire me to get well quickly, well, it's definitely enticing, but I'm sure the healers would frown on that."

'Is it working?" Inside Siri almost died; she was blushing, she knew. She hadn't thought he had heard. "Obi-Wan – I'm so sorry – I don't know what's come over me – sorry."

"I never knew you to be such a tease, before." His face was creased in the frown that meant he was puzzled, and what he was attempting to decipher was Siri or her words to him. His bewilderment was endearing as well as understandable.

Maybe he really had put their past behind him and moved on. He probably hadn't even thought of her more than in passing during his captivity. Poor man: here she was, confusing and bedeviling an obviously weary and unwell friend, who wasn't expecting any of his friends to all but throw herself into his arms like a long separated lover.

"So, who's teasing back?" Keep it light, a joke, teasing, she told herself.

"Someone in dire need of a friendly touch," and for a moment he seemed to stare into a memory, but he blinked and the look vanished, "– but not ready for that friendly," and he shocked Siri with a wink. For the moment, he looked to be free of his memories, but only for a minute as his eyes clouded over and grew a bit unfocused.

Obi-Wan with haunted eyes – it brought back memories of Obi-Wan returning from Naboo years ago. That wound had gone straight into his heart, but these wounds were worse, far worse.

Obi-Wan was older now, more experienced in shedding emotions into the Force, yet he had been unable to shed them all. He must have gone through hell, to have his mind, body and soul so scarred. That he could joke and tease with her told her he was well along on his healing; it gave her hope he would soon be totally recovered.

Siri touched his hand and was pleased when Obi-Wan pressed his fingers briefly around hers. It was okay; they were okay.

"Thank you for being here," he said simply.

"Thank you for coming back," she returned, equally simply.

It was time to move back and let the healers do what they could to help him. It was time to let Obi-Wan and his best friend be reunited. "I'll see you later, okay? Bant's waiting to greet you, too, you know."

"Bant, you're a sight for sore eyes," Obi-Wan murmured as he turned around and smiled.

"Obi, you've got to stop giving us heart attacks," Bant scolded as Obi-Wan caught her in a hug. She was blinking back tears. "What would I do without my best friend?"

"Find a new line of work, I'd say." He chuckled at Bant's huff of exasperation and half-hearted smack on his arm.

"I just can't stay away from you healers, can I?" he shook his head, grinning. "I can walk there on my own power," he protested, though resigned to the fact protocol alone meant he had no choice.

"You have an appointment with a bed, my friend," Bant said firmly, wrapping a hand around his arm and guiding him towards the waiting repulsor-stretcher. As she helped him onto it, Obi-Wan swiveled his head and winked at Siri, mouthing "alone."

Siri stood there, shaking her head and smiling. Once more, Obi-Wan had managed to get the last word in. Some things just never changed – and that was comforting.