Chapter 15
It was a cool afternoon with rain in the air. It had taken a lot of convincing, but the Jedi and clones were loading their new ship to travel home to Coruscant.
Obi-Wan leant on one of the pillars to look out over the oasis to the ship. They had said their goodbyes, but Obi-Wan wanted to see the ship go.
He wrapped his hands around the vial on his chest. Maison had refilled it with water from the source after saving him. He still couldn't believe Maison had saved him. For some reason their relationship felt different now.
"You should be resting."
"I'm fine." Getting there was a better description, but Maison worried too much.
"You have a hole through your chest, you're not fine." He looked out the window to see what Obi-Wan was looking at and then sighed. "I can't believe I'm letting them go."
"Thank you." Obi-Wan tugged Maison closer to kiss him.
"You have too much power over me…"
"You like it."
"Hm." But Obi-Wan saw that little smile. "I would like it if you went back to bed now." He kissed the top of his head and then picked him up.
Obi-Wan winced slightly as Maison carried him back to his room.
"Will you stay with me?"
Maison nodded and made himself comfortable on Obi-Wan's bed. Obi-Wan rested his head on his chest and let Maison wrap his arms around him. He took a deep breath and smiled as he finally felt the ship leaving Beimeni.
Everything could go back to normal now.
o-O-o
Qui-Gon sat beside Dooku's body on the ship. The relief at seeing Obi-Wan alive before they left was quickly fading again. On Geonosis he had been tempted to join his Master but now he saw Dooku was just as corrupt as everyone else. That only made grieving him more confusing.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Anakin.
"Why didn't you report me on Geonosis?"
Anakin sat down, looking particularly grown up today.
"Because we both failed that day. I wasn't prepared to admit that."
"Padmé," Qui-Gon said simply. He had realised it when he was watching the way the King held Obi-Wan. The way he threw caution to the wind to save him. Because he loved him. Qui-Gon had seen that before. He had felt that before.
"I…" Anakin ran his fingers through his hair, "I love her."
Qui-Gon nodded slowly. "You want to be with her?"
Anakin was watching him carefully, weighing his words. "I am a Jedi. The Chosen One. I can't."
Anakin looked startled when Qui-Gon snorted a laugh. "You know… The thing about prophesies, they're meant to come true anyway. I should stop thinking I can control fate." He placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder and squeezed lightly. "I trust that your choices will take you where you're meant to go, Anakin. Whether you're in the order or with her."
A silence set between them, but it was a comfortable silence. They still needed to talk about how to proceed with the Council and the Chancellor. Even Anakin could admit the whole mission was suspicious. But that was something to deal with later.
For now, Qui-Gon was feeling more at peace than he had since Melida/Daan because of all the things he had to worry about, he could finally let Obi-Wan go.
A/N: And that is the end. Thank you to everyone who read this until the end. I hope you enjoyed this weird idea that I had.
