Chapter15

The spa and bathhouse known as Corals was in an out-of-the-way location, but it had the reputation as one of the finest in the Sector. Many a new cab driver had needed to stop and ask for directions over the years until they learned where it was tucked, between three larger building complexes. There were many such bathhouses scattered around the City, places for its residents to go play or relax and forget its stringent water conserving measures for a little while. The very best were run by Mon Calamarians. Their prices tended to be higher and they were pickier about what species they admitted in to use the baths, but their standards were impeccable and their houses were beautifully run.

Valia remembered the name of the place from a visit years before. Qui-Gon simply told her to pack what she needed for one night, and had gone off to make arrangements. He'd been insistent, and so it was before the day was too much older she found herself being led through the sumptuous foyer with its polished coral walls and floors, past the public pools, to a lift and up to the building's circular upper floors.

From the air, the structure looked almost like a bulbous flower. The center was the main water tower, where it was processed and recirculated. Just below, ringing around it were the private rooms with small swimming pools, hot tubs and showers. Walls of windows allowed guests expansive views of the city, at least on the side that wasn't enclosed by other structures. Observers in the nearby buildings and passing traffic could not see in through the reflective window surfaces.

Qui-Gon and Valia entered their roughly wedge-shaped suite at the narrow end. They hung up cloaks in the entryway, and Valia dropped her bag on the floor just inside the doorway to the bedroom. She'd unpack it later. Not that there was much in it to unpack. She had a strong hunch, tinged with a shiver of anticipation, that she would not have much need for clothing.

She saw a mirror on the wall, and stopped to admire the pearlescent shell frame. She caught a look at her reflection in it, and she saw that she looked a little pinched and pale. She was sure that in a few hours or less she'd have a much healthier glow.

She picked up a purple long-spined seashell that adorned a tabletop and turned it over to admire it. She raised her eyes and saw Qui-Gon looking through the open bedroom door. She followed the direction of his eyes and saw that they rested on the bed. She put down the shell and moved to stand next to him. She slid an affectionate caress up his arm and gave the room a good looking over herself. It was small and functional, secondary to everything else in the suite, where the focus was on enjoying water. Had Valia wanted to go to a place off world to do a little swimming, she had a feeling Qui-Gon would have taken her that day without hesitation.

"It looks a little short for you, doesn't it?" she asked. A lot of beds tended to be, when he chose to use them.

"Are you talking about the bed or the bathrobe across it?"

She grinned and slipped past him into the room. She picked up one of the two tempting-looking, soft white robes that had been laid on it and held it up against her. "Well, this one is about my size," she said and laid it back down. She picked up the other and moved to hold it up against him. "Hmmm, it might fit." She spread the shoulders and did some estimating with her eyes.

"That is if I bother to wear it," Qui-Gon said, taking hold of her hands, causing the robe to drop in a careless heap on the floor between them. He pulled her against him.

"Oh, well, fine with me if you want to walk around here buck naked." Valia flashed a smile up at him as he laced his fingers with hers. Something intense, almost like an electrical thrum was in his grip.

"I would hope you'd do the same thing."

"For you, my favorite Jedi Master," she said, slipping out of his hands and dancing playfully away from him. "I would." She bent over in to take off her shoes, giving him an all too brief but tantalizing point of view of her. She sank her bare feet into the thick area rugs. "No matter how cold I get." Qui-Gon partially followed her, taking up a position that clearly blocked the doorway, and any chance of her dancing back out of the room. He watched her casually admire a wall hanging done in every color of a sunlit sea, running a hand down its woven edge.

"Who says you'll be cold? At least here, I can turn up the heat."

"Yes, you certainly can," she said, catching his double meaning and smiling coyly. "I'm getting hot and bothered already, just thinking about it." She reached to the back of her head and undid her hair fasteners and let the coil of hair drop. It untwisted and loosely fell about her shoulders. "So, what will it be first, a soak or a swim?"

Qui-Gon studied her closely to see if her question was only more coyness. It seemed to be an honest question, but even so, it was teasing of the worst sort at the moment. Who exactly was getting hot and bothered? He took a deep cleansing breath, but knew it probably would do little to dampen his body's responses that were running amok. He could still feel the skin on his chest tingling where her breasts had brushed against him.

"Neither."

Valia smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed. She started to slowly undo the buttons of her blouse. Now he knew she was well aware of what he was going through.

Valia watched him as he stood there, looking positively vexed. There was an odd sort of glitter in his eyes, and a hungry look about him. Actually he looked like a very thirsty man in need of a long drink of water. He folded his arms.

"I thought I understood the need for a strong tradition of celibacy among Jedi before," he said in a low voice.

"Yes?"

"Now I understand it all too painfully. Because when you break that tradition..." He looked away from her to look at the wall. "That is, with someone you love..." He looked as though he were struggling to find the right words. "And then you go without for so long..." He met her eyes again. "It hurts."

He might not always say what he wanted, but there it was, clear as day in front of her. How could she possibly refuse such a plea for help one more second? Her lips moved and formed the words, but there was too little breath to make a sound.

"Come here," she said.

He was on her in less than two steps. She needed to do little to continue undressing herself, because he was doing it for her. His hands and forearms pushed her own hands out of the way when she moved to help. Somehow both their clothes disappeared in a breathless flurry. He bore her down diagonally across the bed. He would force himself to slow down or stop if she asked him to. But she knew she wouldn't. He was taking her with barely restrained roughness. She caught and held his eyes above her. There was a storm in their blue-gray depths. She did not try to gentle him or hold him back, because it would have been like trying to stop a storm. She could do little more than put her arms around his back and hold on. She closed her eyes and buried her face against his neck, unable to move her head to either side as he pinned her deep into the bedding. A small soft moan escaped her as he entered her, at the slight pain. This time, he was not going to wait for her complete readiness, or her pleasure.

Valia felt the edge of the bed sliding beneath her head as he pushed her closer to the edge of it. The skin of her neck began to pull tightly against his hard shoulder. She moaned and writhed under him to reposition herself. It only seemed to spur him on. He wanted it hard and fast, and she could certainly help him. Using what strength she could, she pushed upward against him. She nipped his earlobe and whispered a lewd encouragement in his ear. He slid his hands under her hips and drove her down with more of his weight. He stiffened and trembled. Valia felt him throb deep inside her.

She was there to catch him as he fell. She held him as he sagged loosely on top of her. Now her hands were gentle on him, stroking his back and hair as his ragged breathing slowed and became even. Her touch forgave his brief loss of control, told him she understood.

At last he lifted himself partially from her and moved back slightly so his face was level with hers. Valia captured his mouth in a kiss before he could ruin their frenzied reunion with some sort of apology. His hands crept up to either side of her head and he wove his fingers into her hair. He pressed random tender kisses all over her face. He rested his forehead lightly on hers and simply breathed for a long moment.

She stroked the sides of his face, smoothing his hair back. When he lifted his face to look into her eyes, he saw the confident smile of a woman who was willing to wait for her own pleasure if it meant her partner was blissfully sated.

"Better?" she asked.

"For the moment, yes," Qui-Gon said. He made himself comfortable, bringing up his elbows so he could rest on top of her without crushing her, and keep fondling her hair.

"I thought of something else I want."

Valia traced his mustache with a fingertip. "Mmm, what's that?"

"I want to never be separated from you like that again." His voice was rough with emotion. Valia understood what he meant. She knew much distance and time would come between them, and yes, they would most likely have an argument or two again. But it was the sorrow, uncertainty and misunderstanding that had made them far more distant than anything physical. Reunited, they rested together contentedly.

"Do you want to have a look at the rest of the place, or should we stay right here?" Valia asked at last.

"Let's have a look," Qui-Gon said.

They left the bedroom, and without dressing, they explored the rest of their private retreat. The showers were next to the bedroom. Valia eyed the multiple taps and spouts with eager interest and admired the dark polished stone walls. The hall then opened onto the largest room of all, the one with the small pool and soaking tub.

The afternoon sun slanted on the buildings, which filled the sky beyond the window wall. The reflected light filled the vaulted room with sunshine. The edge of the pool went nearly to the transparisteel window so that the water seemed to end right at the buildings. The reflected light shimmering on the water was broken by many small objects floating on the water. Curious, Valia left Qui-Gon's side and walked past the sunken circular hot tub to the pool's edge to see what they were. The surface of the pool was nearly covered with large white flower petals. Their faint fragrance mingled with the fresh scent of the water. Then she noticed the many small, unlit oil lamps along the pool's edge.

"This isn't part of the usual package," she mused.

"And what would you know about the 'usual package'?" Qui-Gon asked, coming behind her and resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Uhhh, well," she smiled and recalled her one and only previous visit. "I've been here before, about ten years ago. The City shockball team had a party here after winning a playoff game, and some of us, uhhh, friends and fans were invited along." She recalled how that party had begun in the public pool area, and gradually proceeded to these rooms. And how it had gradually proceeded to turn into a wet, drunken orgy involving at least a hundred naked people. "We were all cordially invited to leave by the police when things got a little loud and out of hand."

"You were 'busted' and kicked out."

"You could say that." She stooped to pluck a flower petal out of the water.

"Would that explain why you were hiding behind me when we checked in?"

"I was not hiding," she said with smiling indignance. "But Mon Cals do have very good memories."

"Perhaps I should start asking more questions about your wicked past, woman."

"I think you know most of the highlights by now."

"Here's something else I want," Qui-Gon said wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the top of her head. "To discover even more of these interesting details of your past life."

"I want to know a few more of yours, too." She trailed the petal along his arm. "All the sordid details."

"I'm a Jedi. I don't have any of those." Valia could hear the smile in his voice through her hair on top of her head.

"After fifty years, I know there have to be at least one or two."

"I confess. There are." He squeezed her close to him. "And every one of them happened in the last two years." She affectionately slapped his arm.

They sat down together at the pool's edge with their legs in the petal-strewn water. "Don't worry about it," Qui-Gon said after a moment.

"Don't worry about what?" Valia smiled and ran a hand down his long thigh.

"About some worker having to skim all these out of the pool tomorrow morning." The very thought had just crossed her mind. She laughed. "A woman never complains when a man gives her flowers, no matter how he does it." Qui-Gon pushed himself from the edge and slid into the water. He turned to face her and pulled her in with him. "Beginning with the last hour," he said drawing her against him, "We have the use of this room for an entire day's cycle. I suggest," he paused to nibble the edge of her ear, "We continue to make the most of it."

They swam until it became dark outside. No one disturbed their privacy, and no one would unless they requested something. They swam for exercise, as the pool was just big enough for a proper lap. When they'd had enough of that, they swam for fun. Valia tired of the repetitious laps first, and invited Qui-Gon to play by lunging through the water on top of him and grabbing him around the waist. As fair a swimmer she was, she still knew there was no way she'd be able to out-swim him as he came after her with a mock growl. So she held her own by splashing him. But as thoroughly as she doused him in the face, he sent tidal waves of water crashing over her. And just when she thought he couldn't get any more water through the hands she held over her face, he found the chinks between her fingers by squeezing his palms together and squirting pinpoint jets of water at her. She laughed and dove, seeking escape in the deep end. Only to find her ankle grabbed just as she reached it. He held her down firmly until she had to break the surface for air. He was right behind her, pinning her against the pool's side as she gasped for breath. His nibbles on her shoulder, neck, and behind her ears did nothing to help her catch it any faster. When she regained enough breath, she turned, wrapping her legs and arms around him, and fought fire with fire. When she felt him relax and assumed he was distracted enough, she pulled her mouth from his and was actually able to slip out of his embrace. She gleefully struck out for the shallow end. When she reached it, she took one glance over her shoulder. She didn't see him. By the time she saw the shadow under the water arrowing toward her, it was too late. She found herself hoisted out of the water, and draped over one broad shoulder. She screamed as he began to let her slide down his back but he caught her legs tightly before she could plunge back into the water.

"Look what I've caught," he said, sounding quite pleased with himself.

"I know what you're going to catch," a dripping and struggling Valia said, straining to reach downward to tickle the backs of his knees, well below the reach of her fingers. She yelped and laughed as he turned his head to gnaw on one water-slicked butt cheek. She began to believe he would happily have stood there in the water the rest of the night, her with her derriere pointed toward the ceiling and her wet hair hanging forward over her face.

"What shall I do with such a pretty fish?" he mused between mouthfuls.

"Let her go!"

"But she's so very sweet."

"So is the fisherman," Valia said, deciding to work with what she could reach, using her hands, and her mouth. She worked her tongue and lips in slow circles in the hollow of his lower back, and kneaded his buttocks. She was thinking of getting far bolder with her hands, and she was already sliding them forward around his hips when he spoke.

"Still, there are times when I believe 'catch and release' is appropriate. Let her go, it is." He loosened his hold on her legs and she barely had time to hold her breath before she plunged headfirst into the water.

Valia came up, laughing. She blew away a flower petal that had draped itself over her nose and mouth, and came at him.

"Truce?" Qui-Gon suggested, holding his hands up.

"Truce," she agreed.

Since it was dark, Valia now gave her attention to the tiny oil lamps along the pool's edge, a few dozen of them in all. Qui-Gon watched her as she went, lighting them from the water, bringing golden light to the chamber. The light sparkled on the drops of water clinging to her skin. Her light-colored hair fell in a damp twist down the length of her back between the petals still clinging there. He focused on the one resting lightly in a hollow in the small of her back, mesmerized by the water swirling about her hips as she moved. He suddenly and very strongly wished they had more than one night here. And that he didn't have to leave Coruscant again in a mere few days. Then he sighed and knew wishes could not make a thing so, and that he should be making the most of every minute he had with her right now. As if they might be the last. He moved toward her as she lit the last lamp and took her in his arms. He drew her to the middle of the pool, turning as they went in a slow kind of dance. He held her close, cupping her pale sleek head to the center of his chest.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"You're welcome. Now we can see where we're going, and what we're doing."

"No. I mean..." He paused to find the right words. "For the way you do the same to my life. For everything. For all you give to me and are to me."

Valia smiled against his damp skin. She was going to tease him about how cute he was when he was being mushy, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it in the face of such a heartfelt declaration.

They floated on their backs for a while, their heads close together, gazing up at the ceiling. They were content to drift for a while, then Qui-Gon stood up and gently towed her through the water. Her long hair trailed around her head,veil-like, decorated with a corona of many petals. The look of love and trust on her face as her body lay suspended in the water brought home to him how they were now bound together. As she had told him she would take care of him, he would take care of her. The vision of her at that moment sealed itself into his memory. Qui-Gon had a flashback-like sensation he had seen it before now, in some other lifetime, and would see it again.