Life-Force
by XanthePart 10
Sometime later, as they both lay nose to nose, butt naked, their limbs entangled together, Obi-Wan dropped his bombshell.
"You know, I've been thinking about your predicament, Walter, and I have a suggestion."
"Hmm?" Skinner opened his eyes, and Obi-Wan gently stroked the side of his face.
"I think I know a way for you to live," Obi-Wan whispered.
Skinner sat up. "Now he tells me." He looked at Obi-Wan in disbelief.
"I had my mouth full before." Obi-Wan reminded him with a sly look.
Skinner growled, and pulled the other man close. "Tell me," he demanded.
"Your devotion to your padawan impressed me," Obi-Wan mused. "I...I realise I haven't yet fulfilled my duty to my own padawan. He doesn't have the skills yet, to stand by himself, however confident he is." Obi-Wan shook his head ruefully. Anakin was over-confident in his view. "Walter - I have to go back," Obi-Wan turned and looked into Skinner's eyes, "and I want you to come with me."
"Go back?" Skinner repeated incredulously. "I didn't realise that you could."
"I'm not sure that I can either." Obi-Wan shrugged. "But I can try. If it's possible - would you come with me?"
Skinner sat up, and started to pull his clothing back on. "What place is there for me in your world, Ben?" He asked. "Could you train me to be a Jedi?"
"No. You're too old for that, Walter." Obi-Wan shook his head.
"Then what use am I? What use would I be in your world?" Skinner asked in despair. "Listen, Ben, here I know what I am, and what I can do - I have a use. In your galaxy, I'm nothing."
"Not to me. To me you're everything." Obi-Wan pulled Skinner around to face him. "You're not the sum of your power and authority in this world, Walter, you're so much more than that. You're so many things that you haven't discovered yet. If you stay here, the dark side will surely take its revenge on you. If you come with me, you have a chance to live. Choose life, Walter," he urged. "Choose me."
Skinner looked at him, his big hands absently rubbing Obi-Wan's bare shoulders. "This is all so new to me. You've brought so many changes into my life. I can't keep up," he murmured. "I need time. I need air." He turned on his heel, and walked out the door.
Obi-Wan washed and dressed, feeling a weary tide of sadness inside him. To find Walter, and then to lose him, was almost as painful as losing Qui-Gon. True, he had known that it might come to this, from the beginning of his friendship with the big man, but even so, that didn't make it any easier. Seeing Walter with Mulder had intensified his need to go home, to be with Anakin again, and to fulfil his vow to Qui-Gon that he would train the boy. He knew in his heart that his task wasn't over yet. Obi-Wan retrieved his cloak, and put it on, then fastened his light sabre to his belt. He wandered outside, and found Walter staring at the night sky.
"Do you know which star is yours?" Walter asked.
"You can't see it from here. It's too far away," Obi-Wan told him. "Walter, I'll stay here with you until..." he trailed off.
"But you want to get back - to your apprentice."
"I made you a promise. You won't die alone." Obi-Wan threaded his arm around his lover's waist.
"Ben, I'm sorry. Clinging to what's familiar is just what I do," Walter sighed. "Knowing you has been so good..." He paused, bit on his lip. "But I guess I'm more afraid of the unknown than I am of death. Go." He pressed his lips to Ben's forehead. "With my blessing."
"No." Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'll stay until..."
"I don't want you to watch me die." Skinner interrupted him. "I've been there before - it isn't a pretty sight, believe me."
"That doesn't..." Obi-Wan began to protest.
"I mean it. Just go." Skinner kissed Obi-Wan on the lips. "I'm not very good at long goodbyes, or all this...you know...talk. Sharon used to despair of me."
"Qui-Gon said I talked enough for both of us when I got going." Obi-Wan grinned. "Come with me to the Gateway, Walter. Do that much at least."
"All right." Skinner nodded.
They spent their last night together, making love with a passionate frenzy that gave way to a tender languor, a haze of kisses and caresses - neither one of them wanting the love-making to end. At dawn they returned to the street in Washington where Obi-Wan had crashed into Skinner's car. Obi-Wan could see the faint, shimmering disruption in the force, where the Gateway flickered, and felt a pang of regret - if it hadn't been here, he could have stayed, without a guilty conscience.
"Please. Reconsider." He turned, his eyes beseeching. "There are so many places in my galaxy, so many worlds, so much to explore. You're a clever man, Walter, and you have that warrior's soul that first made me love you. There would be a place for a man such as you anywhere you went."
Skinner hesitated, his eyes plagued by doubt. "You're asking me to leave everything I know behind." He shook his head.
"And embrace something new." Obi-Wan held out his hand, stepping close to the Gateway. "Choose life, Walter. Please." There was a moment of agonised fear in Skinner's eyes, and then it faded, to be replaced by a grim resolution. He reached out, and took Obi-Wan's hand, and Obi-Wan smiled so hard he thought he'd split his face in two. He took one step, then two, and felt Walter's lean, solid thigh at his side, his lover's tall body matching his own, step for step, and Obi-Wan felt at peace for the first time since Qui-Gonn had died. He cleared his mind, focused his thoughts on the dusty plains of Irudan, and then, with Walter by his side, they stepped together over the threshold.
Azharia stood in the doorway to her hut, waiting. It would be today, she sensed that much, although she wasn't sure when. She stood there for a long time, the dusty wind billowing through her hair, and a sudden flurry obscured her vision for a moment. When it cleared, she saw Obi-Wan's familiar brown cloak, and she stepped forward, then hesitated. Beside him, stood the one her dead people had whispered about. She looked at them, as they walked across the plain towards her, their footsteps perfectly synchronised as if they belonged at each other's side.
"Welcome, Obi-Wan." Azharia pulled him into a hug, and then released him, and looked at the big, solemn man at his side. "It would seem that I was right - Qui-Gon is not the only man with a good heart in this universe."
"Are you always right?" Obi-Wan teased.
"Generally speaking, yes." Azharia laughed.
"Azharia, this is Walter." Obi-Wan said, and the big man held out his hand to her. She looked at it for a moment, then guessed the greeting, and took it between her hands, warming the large paw with her fingers, her mind floating hazily.
"I'm pleased to meet you, ma'am." Walter said, in a deep, sensuous voice.
Azharia smiled at him. "Yes, he'll do very well, Obi-Wan," she murmured. "Very well indeed."
Azharia ushered them both into her hut, and poured them a drink. She placed her hands on Walter's shoulders, and he looked up at her. "It's new - but you'll grow accustomed to it," she told him, sending him as much reassurance as she could. He gave an uncertain smile, and Obi-Wan reached for his lover, and kissed him. "There's no taboo here, Walter," Obi-Wan said. "We can be openly affectionate."
"I'm not sure it's in my nature." Walter admitted wryly.
"We'll see." Obi-Wan grinned. "Azharia, did you know where I was? Where the Gateway led me to?"
The blonde woman nodded. "I felt your presence, Obi-Wan - a look way in the future, and many galaxies away. I'm glad you found a way back."
"I worried about Anakin," Obi-Wan admitted. Azharia nodded, and her eyes lost their focus for a second. "What do you see?" Obi-Wan asked.
"I see you, and Walter, living a long, and happy life together. I see many troubles - but not between the two of you. He'll help you through a difficult destiny, Obi-Wan, and he'll die in your arms of old age." Walter looked stunned by this revelation. "It's all right." Azharia soothed him. "You've already performed the most dangerous part of your destiny, Walter, and performed it well. Now you can enjoy the rewards."
"And Ben? I mean...Obi-Wan?" Walter asked. "What about him?"
"He won't live long after you. A few years," was all Azharia would say. "Enough of the future - you have the present now." She looked at Obi-Wan. "You're lucky - you found what you went looking for."
"I went looking for Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan replied, puzzled. He knelt down beside the fire, and rested his head against Walter's knees.
"No," Azharia smiled at both of them, enjoying the look that passed between them, seeing their lives stretch ahead of them, full of love. "You went searching for something you'd lost - and now you've found it," she said softly.
THE END
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