this is the last chapter. enjoy! :) ~mrs. k.

What the Color of Roses Contain

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Chapter Three

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by ~mrs. k.~

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It was late, after midnight, and Obi-Wan was lying on his bed, Amidala asleep next to him. The last few days, since he had lost his sight, she had stayed with him.

Amidala had an arm wrapped around his neck and the other clutching Obi-Wan's right shoulder. She let out a long breath in her sleep and shifted. Obi-Wan reached up and took her hand, playing with her fingers. He thought about what Amidala had said to him earlier. Maybe he had lost his sight so that he could become stronger.

I don't know what to believe, Obi-Wan thought. I don't even know what to feel or to say anymore. I feel worthless. I don't care what Amidala says. I may not be a worthles being, a lost cause, to her, but I am to me. It's what I think about mysel...

"It's what I think about myself," he whispered. And in that one instant, Obi-Wan felt it all coming back. His strength, his confidence, his will to carry on. His faith in himself.

Slowly, as to not disturb Amidala, Obi-Wan carefully slipped out of her grasp and sat up. The Force...it was coming back! Things were starting to become clear again in his mind. The pain from Anakin's turning, the one deep sorrow he had started out with, was still there, but Obi-Wan knew it always would be. But right now he felt renewed...reborn...

"Here...yes, it's right there..." Obi-Wan whispered, reaching out to the nightstand next to the bed. "Here's the lamp," he switched it on and off. Quickly the Jedi swung his feet over the side of bed and stood up.

"Bedpost," he touched and sensed different articles in the room, naming them off as he did so. "Right there is the bureau...fan switch...light switch...picture on the wall...closet doorknob..."

Obi-Wan felt glorified. He could see it all in his mind! It was as if he were looking at it with his own eyes. "The Force has returned to me!" he exclaimed. "Right here are the balcony doors...and there's the desk...the refresher door..."

I've got to wake up Amidala and tell her the Force has finally returned to me, he thought, bounding towards the bed where she was still asleep. He sat and reached out for her.

Obi-Wan's fingers touched and traced the outline of her cheek. He stopped, then went slower. Gently he traced them down Amidala's jaw line, under her chin, then up over to her left jaw. Suddenly he withdrew his hand.

"Amidala?" he said quietly. "Are you awake?"

When he received no answer, Obi-Wan reached out to her again. He traced his thumb over her bottom lip.

Amidala, half asleep, stirred. Everything felt like a dream. She felt someone touching her face. "Anakin - ?" she muttered in her sleep. The fingers cradled one side of her face. Her blue black lashes fluttered halfway open.

"Amidala?"

The Queen opened her brown eyes wider. "Obi-Wan..."

He swallowed hard. "Ami? Are you awake?"

"I felt your touching my face..." she sputtered.

"Did I wake you?" Obi-Wan asked, forgetting about everything...that he was blind, that the Force had returned to him...suddenly it was Amidala who only mattered now.

"Sort of," Amidala replied.

"I'm sorry...I had to tell you something, though," he said.

Amidala sat up. "What is it?" she tried searching his expression, depressingly remembering that Obi-Wan's eyes could not say anything.

"The Force...it's come back," he said. "Everything is clear again...well, there's still the exception of my eyesight, but I can finally, clearly, sense everything again."

Amidala smiled and hugged him. "That's wonderful! Things are getting better! I told you they would."

Obi-Wan hugged back tightly. "I have you to thank," he replied softly. "I know it's only been a few days, but it's felt like a year. Without you to help me, I don't know what I would have done."

Amidala loosened her embrace and looked at him, smiling. "That's so sweet of you to say. Thank you, too, Obi-Wan," she said and gave him a small kiss on the lips.

Obi-Wan blinked a few times, speechless. "What'd you do that for?"

"I'm sorry, did I startle you again?" she asked.

"No...it was...just a.... surprise, that's all," he assured her.

"Oh...well," Amidala smiled again. "You know, you're my greatest friend, Obi-Wan. I'm so happy that things are getting better. Perhaps for the both of us." She yawned. "It's almost two o'clock in the morning. Do you mind if I try to sleep a little more? If I don't, I'll be a nightmare tomorrow."

"No, I don't mind. I was just going to say the same thing."

Obi-Wan laid there for a while, until he was sure Amidala was safely asleep next to him, and got up. Opening the balcony doors, he cautiously stepped out onto the balcony. A breeze brushed against him.

"She kissed me. . . ."

~*~

The next morning, Obi-Wan knocked on the door of Amidala's bedchamber doors.

"Come in," she called.

He opened the doors to reveal the Queen standing there, tidying up her room. She was wearing a simple dress of pale violet silk. "Hi, Obi-Wan. Sorry I left you this morning. I just had to come back to my bedroom and put on some fresh clothing and makeup. I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's all right," he replied, sitting down on her bed.

"Everything okay?" Amidala asked, stepping in front of her vanity to examine herself in the mirror. She picked up a brush and ran it through her chestnut curls. "Is the Force getting clearer for you?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan replied with a smile. "Every minute."

"That's great," she smiled back. The Queen brushed down her dress. "Oh Gods, I look awful." She stared at her reflection.

"No, you don't Amidala. Lavender really is your color."

She scoffed. "No, I always look bad in -" Amidala paused, her eyes slowly growing wider with realization. She turned around and looked at Obi-Wan, speechless. "No..." she whispered, a hopeful smile growing on her face.

Obi-Wan smiled harder and rose to his feet. Nodding, he said, "Yes."

Amidala sniffled and dove into his open arms. Obi-Wan twirled with her around and around.

"You can see again!" she sobbed. "You can see!"

Obi-Wan put her back down. "I remember last night when I was sitting out on the balcony - after you'd fallen asleep. I was just thinking over everything that had happened the past few days. And I realized something. I went to bed then, and when I woke up, everything was clear. Inside and out."

"What was it?" Amidala asked.

He reached out and wiped the tears from the Queen's face and whispered softly, "That I.....that I....love...you."

Amidala started to cry again.

"What? What is the matter?" Obi-Wan asked nervously, afraid he'd said the wrong thing.

She smiled up at him, picking up on his tone. "No, Obi-Wan. It's all right. It's just - I love you, too."

"Really?" he asked, bewildered.

"Yes," Amidala said.

The Jedi and the Queen embraced each other tightly. "Even though you still love Anakin?" he whispered in her ear.

"Anakin was my husband, and I will always love him for the caring and kind man he once was. But I love you for the caring and kind man that you are," she whispered back.

Obi-Wan loosened his grip to look into Amidala's eyes as she stared straight back into his. There they stood for many moments, just looking into each other's eyes.

How I've missed that look, they both were thinking.

Obi-Wan smiled, sensing that her thought was the same as his. Leaning in closer, his lips fell on Amidala's in one perfect kiss.

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el fin

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