You sit on a grassy hill on a soft blanket. It's a warm night, a slight breeze keeps the mosquitoes from being a problem. The sky is clear, that deep crystalline midnight blue it gets away from city lights, and you can see a hundred million stars blazing above you. Closing your eyes, you lean back against a warm, solid chest as two strong arms wrap around yours in a hug.

The breeze carries the scent of him -- warm skin, a certain spicy smell that always reminds you of one man.

He pulls you back against him and nuzzles your ear. "What do you see when you look up there?"

You're silent for a moment, trying to think how to express the wonder you feel when you look at the stars. "I see how small our world is. How beautiful a galaxy we live in." Sighing, you rest your head back against his shoulder. "I see an amazing beauty that I can't imagine being simply the result of a random explosion. I see artistry. The work of a master artist."

He always does this to you. Pulls thoughts out that you wouldn't ever express to anyone else. Thoughts you shelter because others might think you silly. You know they'll be safe with him.

You feel his lips pull up in a smile as he rests his cheek against your hair. "What else?" His voice is soft, barely above a whisper.

"I wonder how many worlds are out there. How many other beings, on their worlds, sit and look out at the same stars and wonder also." You turn your head to look up at him. "And you. What do you think?"

His arms tighten and a vibration fills you as his low laugh rumbles against your back. "I remember sneaking out of the crèche at night when everyone else was sleeping and creeping to the Temple gardens just to get a glimpse of the stars." His sigh stirs your hair. "I dreamed of travelling to all those distant worlds and amazing everyone with my Jedi skills."

You can't help chuckling. "I think you're definitely on a start to accomplishing that."

"Flatterer." He chuckles and hugs you tightly. "I dreamed of adventure. Of being a padawan and having a master who was so respected that everywhere we went people would be amazed." He shrugs minutely. "Later on I changed my mind. I only wanted a master who wanted me."

You reach up and wrap your arms around his, leaning back to nuzzle under his neck. "You were wanted, love. Qui-Gon was very proud of you."

"I wish..." Obi-Wan falls silent, but his arms tighten around you.

"I dreamed..." You snuggle back against him, dropping your arms to pull his legs on either side of you tighter. "..of meeting an amazing person some day. Someone who could dream...and yet not just be a dreamer. I wanted a dreamer who would be willing to *do* the things we dreamed of. Someone unafraid of challenges. An adventurer's heart with a romantic's soul."

"And instead you met stodgy me." Obi-Wan's chuckle rumbles against your back again.

"You are *not* stodgy!" You pinch the inside of his thigh and grin as he yelps. "Behind that oh-so-formal Jedi facade is a passionate man."

He's silent for a long moment, his breath stirring your hair. "It took a long time for me to be comfortable with letting others see that." Turning his face towards you, his lips touch your temple in a caress. "We were on missions so often, so rarely at the Temple that the friends I had almost became strangers. Then after...after..."

"Naboo," you whisper.

He nods. "I wanted to just lose myself in being a Knight. To forget...everything."

Reaching up, you stroke your fingers into his hair, carding through the silky mass. He leans into your touch, eyes drifting shut.

"I hated him for a while." His voice is so quiet that even that close, you almost miss what he says. It's hard for you to imagine this man hating anyone. He's passionate about many things, opinionated and not afraid to voice his thoughts. He's also fair, open-minded and often the first person many seek out to settle disputes.

He hates injustice. Prejudice. Hates those who take advantage of the weak and innocent.

When he doesn't continue you squirm around slightly so you can see his face.   You reach up and cup his cheek. "Who, love?"

This isn't something he's proud to admit. It's makes him uncomfortable, but still he shares it with you.

"Qui-Gon," he breathes.

The admission surprises you. Anakin had been your first choice on his least favorite list.

"He rushed ahead...did exactly what he always told me not to do." Strain creates lines of tension around his eyes and mouth. The crease that appears when he's thinking or displeased is present between his brows. "If he had waited...." Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan shakes his head, and leans into your hand. "Then his last words to me... They weren't anything about me."

A bitter smile pulls his mouth. "There I was, holding him in my lap, crying like an initiate."

You wrap an arm around his waist, rubbing his tense back and caress his cheek.

"He reach...." Obi-Wan stops as his voice chokes up, and he clears his throat. "He reached up to touch my face..." He nuzzles his face into your hand, finally meeting your concerned gaze. "And made me promise to train Anakin."

Obi-Wan closes his eyes, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around you tightly. You pull him close, stroking his hair as he presses his face against your neck.

There's nothing you can say.

How could you ever feel that pain? Both of your parents are alive. Obi-Wan never had a true parent-child relationship, but Qui-Gon was as close as he got to a father.

Then, almost as if the breeze whispers something to you, a thought slips into your mind. "Obi-Wan..." You're hesitant to say this. What gives you the right to explain to him? He was there.

He pulls back, eyes over-bright, but not crying.

You can see he's listening, and decide to plunge on. Biting your lip, you sigh. "Qui-Gon must have know how his death would affect you." You reach up to slip your hand behind his neck, massaging the tight muscles of his neck. "And I would venture to guess he knew you as no one else could. Every quirk, every habit. Every trait."

A reluctant nod and slightly wry smile. "After living with me over eleven years I dare say he could predict me quite well."

The muscles relax slightly as you rub them. "Did you ever think he might have thought he was helping you by giving you someone to care for? Someone to focus on and keep going for? A little boy who was as lonely and uncertain of the future as you were?"

Obi-Wan's brows draw together as he frowns at you.

"Forget for a moment that Anakin was the Chosen One. Forget that Qui-Gon was rash and didn't consider your feelings in declaring Anakin his apprentice. Remember..." You sigh. "..that Qui-Gon was passionate in what he believed and never hesitated if he thought the force willed him to act. Regardless of consequences. I think...." You make a face, half-worried, feeling foolish for speaking at all. "..that he was thinking of you, Obi-Wan. That he didn't want you to brood, or be alone."

You're both silent for a long time. Obi-Wan looking out at something you know isn't in the here and now.

You find a button on his shirt fascinating, feeling more and more stupid as the moments slip past with nothing said.

A warm hand captures your fingers that pluck at the button, wrapping around them and squeezing. "I don't think that small boy ever dreamed enough."

You look up, curious what he means.

Smiling warmly, that smile so rarely seen...the one only those closest to this man ever get a glimpse of...he reaches up with his other hand to cup your face.

"He never dreamed there was anyone like you," he whispers softly and leans forward to capture your lips with his in a gentle kiss.

His lips cherish yours, warming your soul with the brightness of his being. He pulls back to lean his forehead against yours, looking deeply into your eyes and smiling softly. "Sounds sappy, doesn't it?"

A smile quirks your lips. From anyone else, you would laugh at what sounds like *such* a line. But this man.... You can feel his sincerity wrapping around you, enfolding you like you're something infinitely precious to him.

"No." You sigh happily and snuggle close, inhaling deeply.

There's no where else you want to be.

Nowhere you can dream of better than this.

Nowhere safer.

Cherished.

"So..." You squirm around until you're sitting sideways, leaning against him. "Which planet is Coruscant?"

Obi-Wan chuckles, and drops a kiss in your hair. "You can't see it from here, love. And never with naked eyes."

"Alright..." You lean your head against his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart, a sound you could listen to for the rest of your life.   "Which is your favorite?"

His chest rumbles as he laughs again. "Earth."

You make a face and pinch his side, laughing as he jumps and yelps. "Which is your favorite star, then, Mr. Smarty Jedi?"

Wrapping his arms tightly around you, his face next to yours, Obi-Wan looks up into the midnight sky, bejeweled with glowing lights. "Second star to the right, straight on 'til morning."

~FIN~