Autumn Leaves

by RavenD (ravendreams@earthlink.net)

Archive: M_A, Bail Now! anyone else, pls. ask

Author's web page: http://www.ravenswing.com/ravendreams/

Rating: G

Summary: Things are changing.

Notes: Thank you to Pumpkin for the support and the title. Thanks to Smitty for asking the right questions at the right time. Thanks to BostonAnn for taking the time to want the fic. :D

Feedback: Waited for with bated breath.

Disclaimers: I don't have enough to pay attention. Lucas owns everything.

I knew, when I saw him that first time -- sunlight and leaves in his hair, exhaustion and sorrow and a hint of fear in his eyes -- I knew I would touch him.

I knew he would touch me.

So many slow careful steps -- around his sorrow, around my need, around our duty. We've waltzed ourselves into one dead-end street after another until finally we ended here.

I love my home. The water, the trees, the graceful lines of buildings flowing one into another. Creams and blues -- they suit me. The garish reds of Senate quarters belong to Coruscant.

I belong here.

Knight Kenobi came to attend a banquet, to see me accept my appointment, my rank, his padawan, blond and solemn at his side. They ate, they mingled, they gathered what information they were sent to get and then they retired.

Obi-Wan was sitting on my divan when I arrived in my quarters. He looked odd -- an island within my personal sea.

"It's been a long time." His voice is heavier with grief now than it was a year ago.

A year ago we were not about to wage a war.

I nod. "It has."

"Things are changing." For the barest moment I am gifted with his eyes -- honest, clear, aching. I can see him as the child he was before he was encapsulated within Jedi robes.

"Things are always changing. Now is what matters."

He chuckles and something within him relaxes. I don't know what I've said, but I'm glad I said it.

I sit beside him, soak up him warmth, the autumn-leaf smell of him.

I feel his hand, hard and rough against mine. "It has been a long time."

"I..." Suddenly I don't know what to say. I want him, want more than just a quick lay and yet, we're soldiers, politicians. I no more belong to me than he belongs to himself.

He smiles over at me. "Funny, isn't it? We've been dancing around each other for so long. Now we're here -- no excuses, nothing but us."

I could fall in love with that funny, joy-filled grin hidden beneath the plastered on layers of serenity.

I reach out, touch his cheek, the wiry hair of his beard, the wrinkles beside his eyes. He feels weathered -- old suede, dried and brushed.

His lips feel like every other pair I have kissed, but Obi-Wan tastes different -- musk and moon-lit soil and decades of strong tea. I could learn to need that flavor.

When he pulls away, his eyes are soft, unfocused, full of desire.

They're looking at me.

"It's been a long time."

I nod and stand, holding out my hand, and lead him to the bed. "Yes. It has."

The end.