"Deception" From Another Point of View

Apologies and Consequences

Unknowingly, minutes of silence passed. The Jedi and Duchess continued to stand facing each other, the only movement coming from the city behind the windows. Hesitant to move, she eventually walked to the couch and sat down, making sure to stay as far away from Obi-Wan as she could. The Jedi sighed and turned towards her, trying, and failing, to catch her gaze as Satine continued to glare at her hands, both in fists of anger, set on her lap. Slowly and cautiously Obi-Wan began to walk towards the couch and took a seat across from her, resting his head on his hand. He sighed before speaking again, more cautious of his words this time.

"I don't know what to say. Satine, I never meant to hurt you, it all happened so fast, I never had time to plan out what would happen, how this could affect you. I didn't want to drag you into this..." Obi-Wan's voice softened and faded. Satine could hear the pain in his voice, the desperation for forgiveness, but she wasn't about to give in. Still, she couldn't speak, no words felt right. Instead she remained as she was, tears now rolling down her cheeks leaving a wet streak that she didn't bother to wipe off. Obi-Wan usually would've found this amusing, the Duchess of Mandalore, the woman who found any reason to argue with him, at a lose of words, but now, he was only more concerned.

She looked up, her eyes meeting Obi-Wan's, and couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Satine had never seen him so close to crying, so much emotion filled his eyes alone. Just the sight of him like this tugged at her heart. Countless times people had told her that Jedi were emotionless, knew nothing of love. She knew this wasn't true, though she had stupidly doubted herself more than once over it, but now looking at the desperation that had washed over him she knew the truth. He was real. He was alive, sitting in front of her, broken.

Her expression softened as she reached forward to place her hand against his cheek. The feeling was strange without the beard she had gotten used to. "What did they do to you?"

"Superficial only, I promise," he leaned in slightly to her touch. She didn't believe him for a second. "Part of my disguise while undercover. I went through transformation, became Rako Hardeen. It was rather painful, I don't recommend doing anything of the sort." His usual humor had returned and Satine almost smiled at the comment, almost. Obi-Wan could see her eyes brighten, but it wasn't enough. He hated seeing her like this, just as much as she hated seeing him like this.

Reaching up, he placed his hand on hers that was currently caressing his cheek and intertwined his fingers between hers. Despite how rough and calloused his hands were from years of war, they felt nice against hers. Despite this, Satine pulled her hand back, her anger at him for the deception getting the better of her once again. "Why couldn't you atleast tell me you were alive," she choked out through her tears.

"Satine, someone could've killed you for information like that, I couldn't risk it. We can recover from this, but if I lost you, I don't know what I would do..." his voice faded again and he, once again, reached out and placed both hands of Satine shoulders so she was facing him. "Please just hear me out."

The amount of desperation in his voice was unbearable. He was begging for her forgiveness, and even though she didn't quite know if he had it, he just looked to broken to continued fighting over this. Meeting his glance, she gave him her full attention. Even though the words were on the tip of her tongue she couldn't quite say them. Instead she simply nodded, tears continuing to fall. Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak again, but was silenced when Satine broke from his grip and threw herself in his arms. Once the shock wore off, the Jedi Master let himself relax in the embrace, wrapping one arm around her waist while the other held the back of her head tightly against his chest.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated quietly over and over into her hair, unaware of the tears now spilling down his cheeks. Still, Satine couldn't bring herself to speak, but that may have also been because Obi-Wan was holding her so tight against his chest she could barely breathe. She pulled away slightly, just enough to look into his eyes while still keeping her arms wrapped around him. He moved his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing away her tears.

"Obi, don't apologize, please, I..I'm..I'm fine, alright" Satine stuttered, not entirely convinced she believed herself. Obi-wan must've not been convinced either because he instantly leaned closer, brushed his lips against her cheek, and tightened his already strong grip on her. Aware of the fact the she was blushing, Satine eventually managed to squirm free of his arms and pulled herself onto his lap, her legs stretched out on the couch behind her. She immediately curled up against him again, nuzzling her head under his. "You came all the way here just to tell me." Her voice was soft and slightly muffled due to her position. Obi-Wan noticed she no longer sounded like she was crying.

"You deserved to be told in person," he responded, quickly kissing the top of her head while stroking her back. Just at those words, Obi-Wan could tell that Satine wasn't mad anymore, or at least not as mad. She was less tense than before and her force presence was peaceful again, the same as always. Obi-Wan had always liked that, just being near her he would feel so much more relaxed, unless, of course, she was mad at him, which wasn't an unusual occurrence. He could still remember the feeling of realization the he loved her once again when the council had sent him to investigate on Mandalore. He didn't understand how he had spent 16 years without her, not that a single day went by without her crossing his thoughts. Sometimes it just took one simple thing to spark his memory...

Obi-Wan was drawn out of his thoughts when Satine reached up and began caressing his check, where his beard would have usually been had he not shaved it off for the sake of the mission. "I love you," she whispered leaning forward so her forehead was resting against his.

"I love you, too." Satine smiled. It wasn't very often that he said that. "More than you could imagine." With that, she leaned forward and their lips met. Obi-Wan ran his hand through her hair, pulling her closer, not wanting to let go of her, not wanting the kiss to end. It was all too soon before the Jedi and Duchess pulled back. After catching their breath, their lips met again, and again, and again, more passionately every time. Obi-Wan knew the Jedi code, he knew these feelings were forbidden, but at the moment all that mattered was her.

Neither of them wanted this moment to come to an end, but of course, it had to. They both pulled back, breathless, gazing into eachothers eyes. Satine knew that Obi-Wan would have to leave in the morning, and she was faintly aware that is was past midnight and she was exhausted, so much so that she curled up right there on the couch, resting her head on Obi-Wan's shoulder, and closed her eyes. Within a minute she was asleep, her breath warm against his neck. Obi-Wan lifted her, careful not to wake her, and laid back against the couch, setting Satine on his chest. He used to the force to bring a blanket draped across a chair to him and placed it across them. Placing one last kiss on Satine's head, he shut his eyes and fell asleep too.

They remained like that, asleep in eachothers arms, for the rest of the night. It wasn't much, but for the two lovers in a galaxy at war, never knowing what the next day may bring, it was more than enough.

Su cuy'gar - hello; lit. your still alive

She ne'johaa - just shut up

Thanks for reading!