ic contact

[sandhate]

"Skywalker here."

Comments

[beardstrokes]

I wasn't aware I had to explain the definition of allergies to you, Anakin.

[sandhate]

[ A short laugh. ]

I wasn't aware you were defensive about it, Obi-Wan.

[beardstrokes]

I didn't think I needed to defend myself on account of physical contact.

[sandhate]

That's probably the problem in the first place. You don't think about it at all.

[ swiftly change subject so he gets the last words!! ]

C'mon, are you really here because you miss me or is there something else?

[beardstrokes]

[ Amused, but softer. ]

I guess that would come as a surprise.

[ Jedi do not admit to such things, after all. ]

[sandhate]

[ He just gives Obi-Wan a look, caught between disbelief and a mirror of Obi-Wan's gentle amusement. ]

I'm right here, Master. You don't have to miss me.

[beardstrokes]

. . . You're right.

[ He coughs lightly, changing the subject. ]

So. I assume you'll be busy with your projects.

[sandhate]

It's just something to do. Padme has her ship duties and cooking, Ahsoka's busy bothering other people, and you... meditate, I assume. I have to have something while I'm stuck in the slowest space travel in my life.

[ he shouts the last part to no one in particular, hoping that atroma is listening ]

[beardstrokes]

[ He raises an eyebrow at that melodrama. ]

Well, I've had a few people approach me to teach them more about the Jedi. One little girl in particular was quite insistent.

[sandhate]

[ calm thy eyebrows, obi-wan. ]

Huh. I thought you were done with teaching. For a while.

[beardstrokes]

[ Obi-Wan takes his time with his answer, looking away. ]

. . . I needed to recognize what teaching is. I always saw it as a reflection of myself, my views, my ideas. Perhaps I wasn't the best teacher, in that regard. What I have done, I am proud of. But I don't think I did enough.

[sandhate]

Obi-Wan. You trained one of the most difficult students, who -- not to brag -- turned into one of the most talented Jedi during a galactic war. Whatever happens in the future, don't blame yourself. They were... will be my choices.

[ He smiles, a little sad, to himself. ]

The little girl. What's she like?

[beardstrokes]

Precocious. And very determined to do what it takes to be a Jedi. I thought it might be a way to . . . revise my own teachings.

[ He doesn't believe he led Anakin or Ahsoka astray, but it was hard to reconcile at times. ]

[sandhate]

[ A short laugh ]

Sounds like someone I know.

[beardstrokes]

It sounds like it was a dream of hers. I don't think it would hurt to indulge her.

[sandhate]

You better be careful, old man. You're starting to pick up -- what did you call it? Strays?

[beardstrokes]

I believe Master Qui-Gon still holds the record there. I'd be loathe to beat it.

[ Though Obi-Wan does an impressive job of it. ]

[sandhate]

[ He flips his wrench around, thoughtful for a moment. ]

I think he'd be proud. [ More casual wrench flinging ] Of us.

[beardstrokes]

[ Sometimes, Anakin can blindside Obi-Wan so easily that he simply stops thinking. He could never say something so casually, so openly. But then, Anakin did not know how long and hard Obi-Wan worked to gain Qui-Gon's approval.

Even now, he wonders what Qui-Gon would say, looking at Obi-Wan. Part of the Council, part of the reason his students can't find acceptance in the Order. ]

I see a lot of him in you.

[sandhate]

[ He paused for a moment; he knows his disregard for the Order is something they share, but Qui-Gon has always seemed so tall, so unreachable that he can't even imagine how they could share anything else. He smiles, light and warmth flowing out of him. Because regardless of what he thinks, he knows Obi-Wan doesn't say that lightly. ]

Thank you, Master. For saying that. I know how much he means to you.

[beardstrokes]

[ He tilts his head slightly, acknowledging that. ]

He meant a lot to you too.

[sandhate]

[ He recalls the connection he had with Qui-Gon and the pull of the Force he hadn't known anything about yet. ]

He did. He-- He freed me. [ Could have freed his mother, could have left me ] But it's not the same as what you and Qui-Gon shared. He was your Master.

[beardstrokes]

Oh, Anakin.

[ He shakes his head lightly, turning away. In those days, talking about Qui-Gon was difficult and Obi-Wan had put him on a pedestal, when he was bereft of guidance. ]

He was that. And more. But perhaps I should have spoken of his flaws too.

[sandhate]

Then you understand... [ He swallows and turns to face Obi-Wan, even if his former master has turned away. ] how much you mean to me.

[beardstrokes]

[ They've never said it before. They couldn't, wouldn't . . . there were so many reasons between them, an ocean of can'ts and won'ts. Many of them had been of Obi-Wan's making.

But they were making up for it. Standing besides Anakin now . . . it felt they were more than a team. Obi-Wan never denied what Anakin was to him. But he never said it. Even now, the words falter in the face of Anakin's boldness.

( my brother )

So he places his arm on Anakin's shoulder, squeezing it tightly, for all the words Obi-Wan couldn't say, still can't say. ]