Kenobi closed the door of the Duchess' private office with a soft, if slightly reluctant gesture of his trained hand. He could've withdrawn, but he soon found out he couldn't. His eyes were glued to hers, pulled by her insurmontable magnetic orbs, and he could barely formulate sensical thoughts as he moved steps forward, towards her. He moved towards his inescapable fate, like a devoted subject who's also rebellious at heart.

It hadn't been long since the Rako Hardeen ordeal. He still felt pain, and sorrow, at having deceived her. He had expected her to react harshly, thinking he would deserve anything she accused him of being or doing. Perhaps, deep down, he had also hoped she would. But she hadn't.

She had... become more direct and less hesitating as the result of an "awakening", instead. She sure liked playing with fire. His fire. Come think of it, Kenobi wasn't that surprised. They - particularly she - had suppressed a part of her emotions for too long, just like he had avoided acting on them. And he was dead scared, now.

Or maybe not anymore.

Satine was sitting at her imposing desk. She didn't stand up, but was visibly more upright than ever. Pale as always, a light blush colored her cheeks, already. She was about to ask, but Kenobi preceded her.

"...I am not on the battlefield today, no"

"Weren't you supposed to be?"

"I... no... I mean yes, but..."

With a corner of his eye, as he stuttered, fighting against the sudden weakness that was seemingly taking over him, he noticed her leaning her forehead against a propped up hand, the hint of a smirk on her otherwise serious mouth, the curve of her lips rendered more dramatic by her lipstick.

"Obi-Wan" as she pronounced his name, his attention became wholly hers, once again, immediately making his mouth shut.

"Let's pretend for once that you were supposed to be exactly where you are" she appeared serious, but he detected the slightest teasing connotations to her tone of voice.

"P-pretend?" he stuttered, starting to tremble, aware how exposed he was, how much his physiological reactions weren't helping.

"It was never my intention to pretend" he finally whispered, steading himself.

Satine leapt onto the one small opening he had inadvertently offered.

"Really? Isn't pretending what Jedi do at their absolute best?" she kept pushing the envelope, arching an eyebrow and standing up to face him. She was wearing heels so they were almost at the same level.

Obi-Wan swallowed. Hard.

"I would beg to differ, but I will swallow the pride the certitude of my teachings allows me and say... yes... it is true. We spend our life trying to become one with the Force, attuning our feelings to its flow, rising above the temporary and the material. But in truth, all we're doing is pretending, pretending, pretending..."

"It is all a pretense we're putting out there for the world to see. The Jedi can't claim monopoly over this" Satine looked down, shook her head once, then stood still. "I understand, Obi-Wan" she reassured, sounding older. With that cold reassurance, any flame of hope - hope for meaningful interactions, and maybe even true love - risked to be extinguished. "Things have always been this way. They always will".

Obi-Wan squeezed his eyes, almost in pain. When he opened them again, his expression was changed. It was deep and entranced, whereas it had been undecisive and conflicted a moment earlier.

"No, it's not true" when he realized his mouth had moved, it was too late to go back in any way, which was every way possible, his soul knew without his mind fully rationalizing it.

"What isn't?" Satine seemed to oppose "resistance", having perhaps realized the dangers of being locked in her office with that man, of all people, in that moment.

Obi-Wan moved a slow step forward, without breaking eye contact. He took her hand in his, cradled it endearingly, then kissed it.

"This isn't"

Satine arched her back suffocating a gasp in her throat. Fearful and afraid, Kenobi increased the distance between them just a little, so as to make her comfortable again.

"Nothing of what you see from me is pretense. I have been trying. Hard. I have. I have had to. But I can't. I can't pretend when you're around. You make me fail at it. I denied it, but now, after everything that has happened, I wonder what would be the point of... continuing to pretend that I am pretending when I am around you.

Satine was still stiff. Obi-Wan strangely didn't feel the embarrassement he had anticipated, though. He felt lighter, like a feather.

"All right, Duchess. I'll... just go now" he whispered softly, as she showed no signs of progress. Leaving was the most caring and honorable thing he could do for her.

As he was about to leave, she stopped him, by tugging at his arm. Her touch betrayed a certain urgency.

"No"

He turned expectantly.

"You know what else isn't pretense?" her voice trembled.

Obi-Wan moved his lips, but no sound came out of them.

"This isn't" she started stroking his beard, as he soaked in the pure adoration she watched his face with. Being touched provoked an unanticipated startle from him. After having had tension rule over their mostly guarded interactions for so long, this came as a shower of pure light and goodness. A shower he wasn't sure he'd ever want to end.

She went from stroking his beard to touching his neck as he timidly started playing with some loose strands of her hair.

"And this isn't either" she breathed out before doing the unthinkable by embracing him more intimately than she'd ever done.

He held her back, then, taking her face in his hands, he brought himself even closer to her.

And they kissed.

Floating somewhere in the Inner Rim, on the Star Destroyer

Sidious was intrigued by a disturbance in the Force he had just recently perceived, somewhere close to the center of the Mandalore Sector. Disputes and fights were ongoing there, which was never a bad thing, considering how useful these were to question the status quo and allow room for "novelty" in the form of Imperial tentacles, so to speak.

But it wasn't all. He suspected there was something much subtler, yet potentially exponentially more destabilizing, going on there. Something that had, despite his careful efforts, escaped his notice thus far. Playing the Dooku card had come with its risks, after all. There was still time to fix mistakes, though, for the purpose of which he promptly sent a reliable probe droid investigating.

"Go and tell me what you see"

He licked his lips, experiencing a mix of anger and anticipatory, sickly pleasure at being able to shape lives, define destinies and dictate futures on yet another occasion.

By the same token, considering the potential circumstances, Sidious recognized the importance of speeding things up on Zygerria.

He realized it was time to test his impetuous apprentice's loyalty by raising expectations to a whole new level, something that he predicted would sail smoothly thanks to the safe environment he had created.

So he summoned Vader.