Star Wars: Secrets of the Jedi (AU)

Chapter Three

Obi-Wan's senses told him that he was alone in the bed even before he opened his eyes and saw the empty space beside him. His eyes roamed his quarters in search of his wife. His gaze quickly settled on the top of her blonde head, barely visible at the foot of the bed as she sat on the floor in meditation.

"You're finally awake," she said as she felt him clearing the sleepy haze his mind and body had fallen into.

Sitting up, he grabbed his sleep pants from the floor where they'd been carelessly tossed hours earlier. He stood momentarily to pull them on, then sat back down and leaned back against the pillows.

"It would appear so," he quipped. "It's a wonder I didn't sleep until nightfall. You were very...energetic. I'm still exhausted."

Laughter escaped her, unable to be suppressed. She stretched in her position on the floor before standing and joining her husband on the bed. He gathered Siri into his arms, her head going to rest on his shoulder. She let her hand rest on his chest, over his heart.

"Anakin will be back soon, and I don't think you want him to see us like this," she whispered, every word cutting her heart in two. She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her days and nights curled in his strong arms.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath as he prepared to alter their existence forever. "Anakin knows," he said, his voice much stronger than he actually felt.

"What do you mean by 'Anakin knows'? He knows what exactly?" she demanded.

"He knows that I'm married," Obi-Wan said straight out. He'd learned long ago that the best way to deal with Siri when she angry was to very honest and forthright in his answers. "Yesterday, after he returned from Naboo, he said there was something he needed to speak to me about. We went out into the city and he confessed...he told me that he and Senator Amidala were married after he escorted her home."

Siri wasn't as shocked as Obi-Wan had thought she'd be the news that his apprentice was a married man. "That doesn't surprise you at all, does it?" he wondered.

She shrugged slightly and let some of her anger fade away into the Force. "You told me yourself that he had an attachment to her from the moment they first met. To answer your question, no it doesn't surprise me at all. To be honest with you, what surprises me is the fact that he told you of their marriage."

"Well, then you understand why he now knows that I'm married as well," Obi-Wan said. "I couldn't very well let him confess everything and get nothing in return. He finally was able to trust me enough to tell me the truth. I felt as if I owed it to him to return that trust and honesty."

Siri looked up into Obi-Wan's blue-gray eyes. Emotions he only let himself feel and display when in her presence were swirling like mad in their depths. Angst, hurt, anger, fear, loneliness, passion, loyalty; they were all visible to her through her deep understanding of the man she had so easily chosen to love.

"I do understand, husband," she told him in a gentle voice that spoke of her feelings for him. "I know that you've spent the last ten years struggling to get Anakin to obey the rules when you yourself have disobeyed. I know you've felt torn between your loyalty to the Jedi, the Code, Anakin and our relationship. I know you've felt hypocritical every time you chastise him for his feelings. So yes, I understand why you told him the truth. If it helps things between the two of you, then I'm happy that you told him."

Obi-Wan smiled a bit. He was pleased that she understood and wasn't angry. "Well, I wasn't completely honest with him. I never told him that you are my wife. I merely told him that I was married and that my wife is a Jedi."

Siri smiled back at him. "What other revelations did you happen to share?" she asked, the image of their son coming easily to her mind.

"I said nothing to him concerning our son," he told her, having sensed her wish to know if he'd told their deepest secret. "We'd said enough already. Another life-altering secret might have been too much for him."