"Always"
Rating: PG
Obi-Wan must leave on a mission, but before he goes he has something for Bail.
Obi-Wan let himself into Bail's apartment. Though he wasn't expected it wasn't a large concern. The hour was still early and Bail normally worked from his home office after hours if he didn't have an engagement.
After hanging his robe on a standing rack near the door, Obi-Wan moved into the entertainment area. All he could do was shake his head. What he found, instead of a Senator hard at work at his desk, was a Senator sound asleep on the sofa. Bail was sprawled out, his clothes still on and a hand grasping one of the datapads that lay on his chest. A tray with a tea service, a decanter of brandy, and an untouched meal sat on the low table next to where Bail lay.
Moving quietly through the apartment to the bedroom, Obi-Wan took a throw from the foot of the bed, and went back into the entertaining area. He draped the throw over Bail's legs and then moved to perch himself on a corner of the table near Bail's chest. He reached out and carefully began to move the datapads. He was almost finished when Bail jerked awake with a start.
"It's only me." Obi-Wan took the last datapad taken from Bail's hands and put it on the table before brushing his fingers over Bail's cheek. "I'm sorry I woke you."
"I'm not sorry." Bail sighed in a combination of relief and pleasure. "I do wish you would stop doing that though. What would the people of Alderaan say if I had a heart attack?"
"The same thing I would say, that you work too hard."
"Don't they teach you anything at that Temple of yours?" Bail smirked and started to sit up. "Politicians and royalty don't work. We are an indolent class that live off the labor of others and spend our days being pampered and worshiped."
Obi-Wan returned the grin. "Yes, and you're all untrustworthy, greedy, and corrupt as well."
"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, Ben, but isn't this the wrong night of the week?" Bail rubbed a hand over his face in an effort to get his bearings; falling asleep on the settee while reading was becoming a habit in spite of the fact that it always left his back in knots. He felt a bit foggy.
The expression on Obi-Wan's face became serious. He looked down at his hands. "They've given me a mission."
Bail just sat there blinking. He had no idea what to say. In the back of his mind he realized he must look like a complete idiot. Finally, he put a hand to the side of Obi-Wan's face. "Well, we knew it wouldn't last forever. We've had almost two years."
Obi-Wan just nodded.
"Where are they sending..." Bail caught himself before he finished the question. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry. I know you can't answer things like that. I shouldn't have asked."
The response Bail received wasn't what he expected. Obi-Wan pulled him close and said softly, "Knight Kenobi may not be able to give mission specifics to Senator Organa but Ben can tell Bail a few things. In confidence."
Bail pulled back and looked at Obi-Wan. "Are you sure? I don't want you to do something that would..."
"I would never do anything that would directly conflict with my responsibilities as a Jedi but I have a certain amount of responsibility within our relationship as well. I may not be able to tell you where I'm going or the details of the mission, Bail, but I can tell you it's a simple diplomatic matter and I shouldn't be gone more than two standard weeks."
After a moment, Bail asked, "Will Anakin go with you?"
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No. Not yet. While he's learning quickly, it is my opinion that he's not ready. There are still matters of etiquette and custom that I feel he is uncomfortable with. The Council also feels that he needs more time in his studies before we undertake missions together. However, Master Yoda did tell me after my briefing that it is the general consensus of the Council that I should be sent on missions from now on to 'keep my feet wet' until such time as we can be assigned joint missions."
"That seems sensible." Bail absently picked at a loose thread on Obi-Wan's tunic. There was another question he wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure he was ready to hear the answer. "You really should get this replaced, Ben. It's starting to fray."
"I leave tomorrow."
Bail was rather proud that he didn't wince. "How did I know you were going to say that?"
"Bail..."
"It's all right, Ben. I've always known I'd have to face up to this. It's just that, well, the longer things went without you being sent off-planet the easier it became to just not think about it." Bail took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's just the first time they've sent you somewhere since..."
"I know," Obi-Wan sighed. "This will be the first time I've taken an off-planet mission – much less a diplomatic one – without Qui-Gon."
Bail reached out and took one of Obi-Wan's in his. "I'm sure it will be fine."
"Of course it will." Obi-Wan shrugged off Bail's assurance. "It will just be different. That's all."
Bail leaned forward and rested his forehead on Obi-Wan's. He closed his eyes and tried to simply be, to enjoy the feel of Obi-Wan's skin and the smell of him. He knew that the memory of it would be all he would have for a while.
"Bail," Obi-Wan said softly. He let go of Bail's hand and reached into his tunics. He brought out two small nerf-hide pouches. One was tied with a blue cord and the other with white. "I have something I want to give you."
The two pouches were so small they both rested neatly in the palm of Obi-Wan's hand. Bail opened his eyes and looked, first at Obi-Wan and then at the apparent gift. He tilted his head slightly, studying. Obi-Wan had never given him a gift in all the years they had known each other and he was intrigued.
"On my thirteenth birthday," Obi-Wan began, "my Master gave me something. It has grown to have deep meaning for me and I keep it with me always to remind me of the lessons it taught me. It taught me that appearances are not always as they seem, that small things are of great importance, and that my Master cared deeply for me and would always be with me."
Obi-Wan opened the pouch with the white cord first. As Bail watched he removed a small stone. At first it seemed nothing more than a black rock but as Bail studied it he could see faint veins of red threading through the surface.
"Qui-Gon found this on his home world when he was young and he gifted it to me." Obi-Wan placed the stone in Bail's hand. It was warm. "I thought it nothing more than a rock and I was disappointed. But in time, I understood what a treasure he had given me. He gave me a part of himself."
Bail looked up into the eyes of his lover. "Ben, I couldn't possibly..."
Obi-Wan silenced Bail with a small smile. He opened the other pouch then turned both of them upside down and emptied the contents into Bail's hand with the other stone.
From each pouch came a half sphere. Deep blue with threads of white, gold, and green, they had obviously once been a single stone but now were split into two perfectly equal parts. They were beautiful independently, but Bail had a sense of sorrow that such a precious thing had been altered from its natural state. He was just about to roll the two halves together to see what they would look like as an entire sphere when Obi-Wan reached out and took both pieces. He held them up, one in each hand, before Bail's face.
"I searched for a long time for the right stone. I spent many of my off-hours in the All Planets Market wandering the shops. I wasn't sure what I was looking for exactly but I knew that when I found it I would know." He moved his hands so that the two halves fit together. "When I saw this one, it reminded me of Alderaan and the time I spent there with you. I knew it was the one."
"The merchant was unhappy when I asked that it be cut but I insisted. I told him it had to be severed perfectly in half. I wanted it that way because we are equals." Bail watched as Obi-Wan separated the two halves of the sphere. "We come to one another independent, neither more important nor less important than the other. And like this separated stone, we are each of us just as significant and beautiful and complex on our own. But when we are together..."
Bail watched through misty eyes as Obi-Wan returned the two pieces to one another and fit them so precisely that the seam of the cut could barely be seen. Obi-Wan removed his hands and the pieces floated together in the air, spinning just a touch as they were held by the Force. The gold and white veins in the stone began to glow. It hung there, a bright and living thing.
"This is what I think of when I think of you."
After a few moments, Obi-Wan held up the pouches and the pieces of the sphere began to drift apart. He let one half fall into each. The black stone that Qui-Gon had given to Obi-Wan rose from Bail's palm and floated through the air to join one of the halves in one of the pouches. Obi-Wan then carefully tied the bags closed with the cording.
"I don't often wear the ring you gave me, Bail." Obi-Wan's expression was earnest and grave. "To do so would be foolish. Though I know the depth of meaning that it holds, it is more than a token of your affection for me. It is also a tool that could be used against you should something happen to me and it fell into the wrong hands. The seal of your House is well known in the galaxy and my wearing it always or taking it into danger would not be wise." He held out the pouch tied with blue cord to Bail. "I want you to keep this with you, close to your heart. You will know that I hold the other half next to mine. Distance is only space, Bail, as this is only a rock, and yet it is so much more. I will be with you always."
Bail couldn't stop the tears. They fell silently and he made no move to brush them away. Finally he reached out and took the offered pouch. He held it in both hands as though it were the most precious and fragile of crystals. There was so much in his heart that he longed to say but for the first time in his life words completely failed him. They seemed so insignificant compared to what the stone represented. He sat there looking at Obi-Wan's tear-blurred form, his mouth open to form words that simply wouldn't come. Bail felt unworthy of such a gift and wondered if he should hand the little pouch back, but he couldn't make himself do it. His heart wouldn't let him.
Obi-Wan tucked his pouch back into his tunic and reached forward to take Bail's face in his hands. He brushed away the tears with his thumbs, his expression concerned. "Bail?"
"I'll miss you," Bail croaked.
"I'll miss you too, Bail," Obi-Wan replied.
"You must promise me to be careful," Bail said sternly.
Obi-Wan nodded. "I promise."
"No heroics. No adventuring. No saving damsels in distress. Lightsaber firmly clipped to belt."
"No damsels," Obi-Wan said with a smile. "Absolutely no damsels."
Tears continued to course down Bail's cheeks. "Ben?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
~ fin ~