And I never thought we'd make it back so soon

[neverlosemyfocus]

Siri drew in a ragged, unsteady breath, disoriented and confused. She didn’t know where she was. Where she should be. The last thing she remembered...

Was...

Dying...

But she wasn’t. She was very much still alive. The pain was different than it had been. Should have been. It was still enough to steal her breath, but it felt... more like an echo of the agony she’d been feeling. Nothing more. Her eyes fluttered opened, and she looked up to see Obi-Wan, gazing down at her, his arms around her, warm and familiar. Memories came rushing back; ALL of them.

Waking in the Land of Make Believe. Finding Obi-Wan, and Anakin, and Padmé there. Learning of the future, the tragedy that came after her death.

Univille.

The Warehouse.

Their wedding.

She gasped, reaching up to cup his cheek with a trembling, unsteady hand, and she blinked in surprise. There on her finger, glinting faintly in the light, was a ring. A simple, silver band that Obi-Wan had slipped onto her finger only months ago. A ring that she hadn’t been wearing when this mission had started. She scarcely dared to hope, as her gaze moved from the ring, back to his eyes. Force, please let him remember... She could sense him in a way that she never had been able to, before Univille. Relief and joy in equal measure filled her chest as she grabbed a fistful of his robes and all but yanked him to her, kissing him fervently.

She could be wrong; there was the chance that he didn’t remember, that the bond didn’t care, Obi-Wan was Obi-Wan, and he would be pushing her away wondering what had gotten into her.

But that awareness of him made her reckless.

Comments

[master_kenobi]

He had been prepared for her to die never knowing what had become of them in that far away place. It had been foretold to him a long time ago, by the lake in the Land of Make Believe. The story of her death. That she would never go back home and live. Now, a year after his own return, events were playing out just like she said. Except that shaking last breath wasn't her last. It seemed to revive something in her, then suddenly she was kissing him and he made a startled sound.

[neverlosemyfocus]

She broke the kiss at the startled sound he made, pulling away just far enough to search his eyes, her hand caressing his face. “Please tell me you remember. I don’t think I could bear it if you don’t.” Her voice was low, the look in her eyes desperate and hopeful.

[master_kenobi]

"I have known for more than a year," he told her at a whisper. Didn't she remember when he had come from? "I have known since the day I discovered the origin of that saber dart."

[neverlosemyfocus]

Oh, FORCE.

To have had to bear that knowledge alone for all that time, with no way of knowing that it had even worked. Of seeing her, and knowing that she remembered NOTHING of what had occurred between them in the Land of Make Believe, in Univille. There had been so much potential for something to go wrong. Which was what had prompted her desperate question. She couldn’t stop touching him, her fingertips ghosting over the lines of his face. “Force, Obi-Wan. I’m sorry you had to go through that alone.” She would have been there if she could, if there had been any way for her to be returned earlier.

She drew him down to her for another kiss.

I’m here now. And I promise you I’m not going anywhere.

[master_kenobi]

"I still...I still don't understand how. You told me you died. I didn't think I would ever... I've told no one our secret."

[neverlosemyfocus]

“It worked. That’s all that matters.” She was THERE, now. He didn’t have to go through everything alone. She cradled his face in her hands, thumb brushing lightly over his skin. “We’re in this together.”

Always.

[master_kenobi]

"Siri, what are we going to do now?" He glances around, offering a hand to pull her to her feet. "How can we hide a Force bond inside the Temple?"

[neverlosemyfocus]

“I don’t know.” She took his hand, needing his assistance to stand; she wasn’t dying, but she was still injured. “Maybe… the same way we hide… other things. I don’t know if it’ll work… but we can try.”

[master_kenobi]

"Hiding 'things' from Anakin isn't the same as hiding a prevailing emotion from the entire governing Council," Obi-Wan pointed out, pulling her carefully to her feet. "This is risky."

[neverlosemyfocus]

“It is,” she agreed, sinking against him with a soft hiss of pain after he’d helped her stand. There was no avoiding a bacta bath, but at least she was able to walk out of the wrecked ship under her own power. Mostly. He hadn't had to watch her die.

She brushed gentle fingertips against his cheek. “But it’s worth it. I cannot, I WILL not, give you up again.” She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. “You’re my husband, Obi-Wan.” She might not be able to use his name, or wear his ring now that they’d returned home, but they were married all the same.

[master_kenobi]

"The other option is to leave the Order, of course. Before we are expelled from it."

[neverlosemyfocus]

His suggestion stunned her; it hadn’t even crossed her mind. And for Obi-Wan to bring it up... “Leave the Order?” she echoed softly. “You would do that? You could do that?”

He was right though. They would be expelled if the Council learned of their... attachment. Jedi didn’t marry. But... Force. They knew what was coming. “Can we do that?” She asked. “With what we know of the future?”

[master_kenobi]

"If we can't pull off the charade, we'll be forced to leave in disgrace and the result will be the same." A pause. "Perhaps we can find the heretic Jedi. Inform them of what we know."

[neverlosemyfocus]

“Will they believe us?” Siri asked him softly. “If we leave the Order and go to the heretic Jedi... would they believe anything we said?”

[master_kenobi]

"Why not? They're Force-users. They'll know we're speaking the truth," he reminded her. "They're our best hope right now." As much as he'd disagreed with everything they were and represented in the past.