Hey, everyone! So, winter break is officially here - which means more writing time! Yay! As of late, I've been trying to get adjusted to writing life after getting hurtled through all of this school/studying/life issues stuff. But hey, since it's time for nothing but relaxation, I'm hoping to make the most of all of this time.

As for this chapter, it was inspired by the song Drive (if any of you are interested). Enjoy!

Badlands four.

Time

("it's so simple but we can't stay")

He survived all kinds of risky situations – the walking dead, getting held captive, explosions (in space), and flying with his former Padawan…

This was probably the most dangerous situation of all.

"I'm safe," Satine was saying, sitting in front of her bed. She looked tired – she always seemed to, these days – but right now, sitting in nothing but her nightgown, face completely clean of makeup, and curls falling to her shoulders, Satine looked like she wanted nothing more than sleep.

And Obi-Wan, frankly, wanted to do the same. This day wasn't exactly as tiring as other days – in fact, today had been a bit mild, all things considered – but still, there was something especially…emotionally draining about the most recent events.

"You are," Obi-Wan managed to reply. He was hovering right in front of the doors, where anyone could walk in any minute. (Or maybe no one would. Satine had made it clear to her guards that she only wanted rest for now. Obi-Wan was only here for formalities – and to make sure that there weren't any other threats hiding on the ship. More specifically, her chambers.)

"We'll be on Coruscant soon," Obi-Wan told Satine. "You should get some rest."

"I will," Satine said, rubbing a hand over her weary eyes. "Although I might need this time to…think."

"Of course," Obi-Wan murmured, turning on his heel. His hand was just about to press the button for the doors when Satine called out, "Actually, Obi-Wan?"

"Yes?" Obi-Wan turned around.

Satine almost looked embarrassed. She pushed herself off her bed, saying quietly, "Would you…perhaps mind staying a little longer?"

Obi-Wan hesitated. He shot a wary look at the door again – and then turned to Satine, who remained as still as ever. Her fingers twitched over the sleeves of her nightgown – but besides that, that was the only movement. Her eyes flitting downwards, she said, "I'm sure you have other things to tend to – please forget I –"

"No – I – Satine," Obi-Wan paused. He let his own words sink over him, trying to control the arising embarrassment in his chest.

Out of all the times for his words to fail him…

"Of course, I can stay," Obi-Wan heard himself say at last. "It's no trouble." He took a full second to remain in front of the doors – and then his feet were pulling him towards Satine, his steps light and careful.

"It's been a long day – it's been a long night," Satine murmured, shaking her head. "And here I was, thinking that it'd be the journey to Coruscant that'd be peaceful."

"You were able to defend yourself. You had the deactivator, didn't you?" Obi-Wan pointed out.

Satine's lips quirked into a small smile. "I suppose so," she agreed. "Though I still wish –"

"The trip had been as peaceful as you thought it'd be."

"Yes."

The two lapsed back into silence. Obi-Wan tried his best not to look at Satine directly in the eyes – tried to make sure he was a comfortable distance away from her. Made sure that even the side of his legs wouldn't accidentally brush against Satine. It was clear why.

It wasn't fair.

Obi-Wan had thought it'd be the last time he would see Satine. He thought – not for the first time – that she'd die, and he'd be the reason for it.

Satine, to Obi-Wan's relief (or maybe confusion?), didn't seem to want to make any other advancements, either. She, too, flicked even the slightest bit of wayward fabric from her nightgown away from Obi-Wan, as though even the cloth might create offensive tension.

"Obi-Wan –"

"Satine –"

Obi-Wan tried for a smile. It faltered.

"You first," he managed to say.

"Well," Satine looked down. Her eyes were on Obi-Wan's hands. Or maybe it was directed at the floor. Obi-Wan couldn't think properly – all of his thoughts were blurring together, creating some unknown cloud in his mind…he couldn't bring together a coherent, sensible image in his mind. It was only Satine's voice that seemed to cut through the fog. "I understand you might not…particularly look back at…the particular moment that – happened between us…before."

"Ah." Obi-Wan murmured. He was staring at Satine's hands now. Or maybe he was looking at the floor. He couldn't tell for himself. Satine's hands were slim – slim and pale. Still, there remained a few bumps on the tips of her fingers – a few roughed-over callouses from possibly holding a deactivator so tightly. Such would be typical for someone who refused to use weapons…

"Obi-Wan?"

"Satine," Obi-Wan lifted his eyes only a little bit, so that Satine would know he was looking at her – but not directly at her. "What I said before – I…" He felt his mouth go dry. Dammit, why now? Why, out of all of the times he needed his words, why did they have to leave him now?

"You want to ignore that ever happened." Satine's voice was quiet.

"What? No, Satine – you can't – I mean, that's not –"

"Obi-Wan," Satine sighed tiredly, "I know you. And I know you would rather pretend that that never happened between us at all."

"That's not – I'm not –"

"And it's fine," Satine replied, her words growing softer and softer. "We both have our responsibilities. What happened when we were younger will remain that way – in the past. It won't become anything else." With each word Satine said, Obi-Wan felt his heart sinking lower and lower. There was something in his mind urging him to leave the room now – make up an excuse – tell Satine that this would be a good time for him to leave…

"I don't know."

Three words.

That's all it took.

Three words of ultimate confession – three words of defeat – three words of giving in.

"You don't know?" Satine asked, confused.

"I don't know." Obi-Wan repeated. He turned his face away from Satine. "I don't know what we're supposed to do with that now. It…obviously happened, and what you said was right – we can't expect ourselves to live…differently because of that." He swallowed. He closed his eyes briefly. His head was starting to ache – maybe it was the strain of the whole day, or maybe it was because the voice in his head was starting to grow louder – starting to become more insistent.

"We'll still be a little different, I would think," Satine murmured. "But it'll remain…to be something that…will be at least pushed away from us for now." Obi-Wan felt Satine's hand fall over his wrist – it was a tentative, almost shy touch – one that was meant to last only for a second.

Obi-Wan let a soft sigh slip from his lips. "Satine…"

"We have our own duties," Satine was saying. "And our own homes to look after. This was – just something that we didn't see coming. And it'll stay that way." She started to lift her hand from Obi-Wan's wrist, the pressure of her fingers lessening –

Obi-Wan turned around. Satine was staring down at the floor, a blonde curl falling over the side of her cheek.

"Satine," Obi-Wan repeated. He moved forward only a little bit, each movement slow and full of confused intentions. He could see an odd kind of wetness in Satine's eyes – and then, gently, Obi-Wan cupped a hand underneath Satine's chin.

"Obi-Wan," Satine whispered, not looking at him. "You should leave."

Obi-Wan couldn't breathe. He felt like if he did, everything would vanish before him.

"Is that what you want?" he asked quietly. "Because I will if you want me to."

There was a beat of silence.

And then, Satine was turning to him, eyes wide.

"No," she breathed. "I don't want you to leave right now. Do you?"

"No." The word came out faster than Obi-Wan expected – but it came out so easily…so effortlessly – as though he had been holding it in this whole time. Maybe he had.

Maybe he still was.

Satine's hands curled around Obi-Wan's shoulders, and then he was moving towards her before he knew what was happening.

Their lips collided against each other. Satine propped herself up on her knees, cupping her hands over Obi-Wan's cheeks and her lips taking him in – burning up his face – he was pushing his hands up her waist, his chest filled with something too tight and too loose at the same time.

"Just for now," Satine was whispering. "And then…we forget."

It seemed like a cruel twist on their ends – but Obi-Wan nodded. He wished they had more time – he wished this one moment could last longer –

But as Obi-Wan pulled Satine towards himself again, he realized two things –

One. He had meant every word of what he had said before.

Two. They had run out of time the minute Obi-Wan decided to leave Satine when she became duchess.

A/N - I don't know. It's been a while since I've last written Obitine, and I always thought this fit. (Because in TCW, there's always this secrecy/running out of time to be happy vibe between couples. So. There's that.)

As always, reviews would be wonderful! Constructive criticism is alright, but flames are not!