Vergence

PLEASE NOTE! THESE ARE SLASH STORIES - THAT MEANS TWO MEN IN ROMANTIC &/or SEXUAL SITUATIONS!

Warning - this story takes up all the usual SW slash fanfic plot devices and wields them shamelessly!

Vergence
by elfin

Qui-Gon walked through the grand hallways of the temple. In all his time spent at the temple, he'd never known it so quiet, so empty.

It had been a long time - four years - since he'd been back here, but frequent reports to Yoda had given them time to gossip.

The troll usually knew every little thing that happened within the temple walls, and he'd been keeping his ex-Padawan up to date.

That didn't, then, explain what was happening on this night.

Finding no one of importance inside the temple, Qui-Gon crossed the gardens, heading for the academy.

As he neared the main training arena, he heard shouts and cheers rising into the warm night air.

Surprised, Qui-Gon headed for the arena.

It was packed with Jedi; Masters and Padawans, teachers and priests, adults and children alike of every spieces. Qui-Gon thought that maybe everyone who lived in the temple and the academy was packed into the arena stalls.

He climbed the stairs to the top level and found his old friend, Master Eyea sitting close to the edge of one of the benches. She looked up when he sat beside her, and smiled openly at him.

"Jinn... when did you get back?" She almost had to shout above the cheers. Usually a lightsaber display was a time of hushed whispers.

"A hour ago," he told her. Just long enough to drop his things into his dusty rooms before coming out to find someone. Leaning forward, he looked over the incredible drop to the arena floor below.

He sat back, then leaned forward again to reassure himself he wasn't losing his mind.

Mace Windu, whose 'saber skills were considered to be second only to Yoda's, was duelling fiercely against a young man who Qui-Gon had never seen before.

Mace was at his heightened best. But the stranger was holding him off with ease, making his own attacks.

"Who is that?" Qui-Gon asked Eyea finally in the light of an exquisite parry.

Eyea's head snapped around and she stared at the other Jedi Master. "Yoda has not told you of him?"

Qui-Gon shook his head. "Yoda has not mentioned him." But he was beginning to get an inkling that there was perhaps much Yoda had kept from him.

"He is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Oh, Qui, what you have missed!" She smiled and leaned back. "Kenobi arrived over two years ago." Qui-Gon's eyes widened. "It was almost like... one evening he just arrived at the temple. He apparently went into a closed council session, and when he came out he'd been assigned rooms and a master."

Peering once again over into the arena where the battle seemed to be nowhere close to its end, Qui-Gon frowned. "But he must be in his late teens?"

"He was sixteen when he arrived. The oldest padawan ever taken on by the temple."

"He will be too old, surely, by the time he is ready to complete the trials?" Qui-Gon simply couldn't believe what he was hearing, nor could he believe what he was seeing.

"He passed the trials last year, Qui. Ten months after he began his training. Master Aswar - "

"- Aswar? He swore never to take another padawan! He's so...."

"Old," Eyea finished for him. Aswar was the oldest Jedi on the council save for Yoda. "Master Aswar barely had to teach Kenobi anything."

Eyes straying once more to the fight below, Qui-Gon muttered, "Someone had to have taught him to fight like that."

Eyea leaned next to him, pressing her shoulder against his. "Watch his lightsaber, Qui," she breathed.

Qui-Gon looked at the 'saber blade. It was... blue. Yet those purple shimmers were not coming from the clash of Mace's sword. The newcomer's blade was blue and violet, the two colours wrapping around one another, intertwining in the length of the weapon's reach.

"What is that?"

Eyea shrugged. "Everyone's interested in him, yet no one knows anything about him."

Qui-Gon shifted, realising he was becoming uncomfortable, but not knowing yet why. "Interested in him?"

"Feel, Qui!"

Reaching out with the Force, he didn't have to look far. There was a pulse of something heavy and hot in the arena. Desire.

Qui-Gon was suddenly glad of his long robes. He stared at Eyea. "Does this always happen when there's a lightsaber battle?"

"If he's fighting."

They watched together for a short while. Enhancing his vision with his senses, Qui-Gon brought the young man into focus. He wore only the undershirt of the usual Jedi garb. Tight beige leggings, brown boots. His hair was golden, grown to shoulder length, pulled back for the battle into a tight ponytail except for one lock, longer than the rest.

"He still wears his padawan braid!" Qui-Gon wasn't sure why this detail, in everything, should touch him the most.

"In a manner of speaking."

It was loose, not braided. Each strand of golden hair hung free from the rest.

Qui-Gon felt his cock start to throb with the ghost of an image in his mind.

The crowd erupted, moving as one to its feet. In the arena, Kenobi was holding his lightsaber, fired and still humming with the two colours, and Mace's, dead and quiet.

Kenobi had won.

Bowing to his opponent, offering him back his lightsaber, the winner turned to the amassed crowd. So many watching him. Yet his eyes went straight to Qui-Gon, despite the distance and the fact that the stranger was just one in thousands. Their eyes locked for a single heartbeat, and Kenobi smiled.

*

Qui-Gon had almost finish unpacking his clothing and few belongings from such a long time away when there was a knock on his door. He'd hoped that Yoda would come to see him, yet the little troll seemed to be keeping his distance, physically and mentally, and Qui-Gon was just too tired. In the morning, he'd seek out his ex-Master for a long and indepth talk about keeping secrets.

Reaching out, he opened the door with a nudge to the Force.

"Knight Kenobi." He was surprised. Or perhaps he wasn't.

"Master Qui-Gon Jinn." A small smile played over the full lips. "May I?"

Qui-Gon swept his free arm out in front of him, dropping his armful of robe to the couch.

"That was very impressive tonight, Knight -"

"Please, Obi-Wan will suffice for now."

'For now'. The words seemed to caress Qui-Gon's skin for a brief moment. "Obi-Wan." He tried the name on his lips before he realised he was doing it.

Closing the door, Obi-Wan strolled into the room, looking around him until he came to the ceiling-to-floor windows that looked out over the gardens of the temple. There wasn't very much green on this plateau of Coruscant.

"A beautiful view," he murmured, almost to himself. In the dark of the night, small spots of illumination gave an impression of what it would look like in daylight. When he turned back, he smiled openly. "You've been away."

"On Etti V, yes. It seems I've missed a lot."

The corners of Obi-Wan's lips turned up. "You mean me."

Qui-Gon chose not to acknowledge that. "You beat Mace Windu at his own game."

"For the first time," Obi-Wan pointed out as if that changed things. "He's beaten me so many times I was losing count. He's an excellent swordsman."

"As are you." Qui-Gon almost bit back the words. His own voice was betraying him! Those three syllables had come out not as a compliment, but as a pick-up line! If the other had noticed, he didn't give any indication. "Where were you before coming here?"

"On Tatooine. I was a slave there all my life. I never knew my parents. My first memory is of my alien master raping me when I was five years old."

The words should have been a cold blast for Qui-Gon's churning emotions and low-thrumming desires. But they weren't. Because of it, his shame was.

"Obi-Wan...."

"Please, don't feel sorry for me. That isn't why I told you. He only did it the once, believe me."

Qui-Gon stepped forward, hesitating. "You killed him?"

The young man's eyes widened, and he shook his head. Despite the painful subject, Qui-Gon could feel nothing but pace and calm coming from the stranger in his rooms. "No. He... vanished. I might have killed him I suppose, had I been presented with the opportunity. He left for the café he owned that morning and never returned. I had my freedom. And so I ran the café until I had enough money to come here."

"Twelve years to travel to the Jedi temple?"

A nod. "I could have found other ways to make the money. But I didn't feel that I could put a price on myself."

"You're a remarkable young man."

"Thank you. But I didn't come to see you for compliments."

The obvious question wasn't one that Qui-Gon wanted to ask. He didn't want to break whatever spell was weaving itself around them. Whatever pain Obi-Wan had known, he truly had released it into the Force.

With a little focus, Qui-Gon could almost feel the protection around the other man, the way that his Force signature seemed to blend with the living Force all around them. This unheard, unseen vibration would have helped to produce the affect he'd felt in the arena tonight, the Master silently observed. But how, and why... the answers felt clouded, just out of reach.

Maybe that was why he looked as comfortable as he did, standing with his hands clasped in front of him. He was beautiful.

"What were you doing on Etti V?" Qui-Gon's visitor asked him suddenly, his tone light but sincere. It pulled Qui-Gon from his musings, took his mind from the thrumming heat though his body.

But for a single second, the Master couldn't remember. The last four years of his life were a blur and the only thing he knew was the moment.

"I... I was an Ambassador for Coruscant and the Jedi Order."

A sly smile slid over Obi-Wan's lips. "You were an Ambassador? Forgive me, Master, but I had heard that diplomacy wasn't your... favourite past time."

Qui-Gon smiled too, at the tactful description. Yoda wouldn't have been so careful with his words. "The situation and the governing body on Etti V required less diplomacy and more determination and knowledge." Someone who could not be bought or corrupted.

"Did you enjoy your time there?"

It should have seemed odd, this young stranger standing in his quarters in the dark hours of the night asking him about his time on Etti. But it felt... right. As if they were just passing the time.

Having answered that he had enjoyed it, but as Obi-Wan had pointed out, practising the delicate art of diplomacy wasn't really why he'd become a Jedi, he decided on some questions of his own.

"Master Eyea told me that you passed the trials last year?"

Obi-Wan turned, leaning his back along the wall between two windows. "Yes." He didn't say anything more about that unique accomplishment.

"Yet as a Knight, you remain at the temple?"

"I like to teach."

"You could do the order much good on more... dangerous missions."

"I could, and I will." There was a sure set to his posture and a certainty underlying his words which did not open itself to questioning.

Still Qui-Gon pressed him. "But not now?"

"Soon." The golden head tilted, and the Master's eyes drifted to the loose lock of hair that would, on a padawan's head, have been braided. On Obi-Wan, the lock hung free to his waist, each silken strand wrapped around nothing but another strand. Qui-Gon's hand lifted of its own volition.

With an open smile and a dancing light in his eyes, Obi-Wan stepped forward.

Later, Qui-Gon would not be able to explain why he'd reached out.

He would remember the beautiful young man stepping up to him, head lowered. The hooded, sparkling grey eyes that locked with his own.

He would remember taking the long lock of silken hair into his palm, wrapping it around his hand one turn at a time, bringing the youth closer with every pull. It must have been painful, but he had felt nothing but heat and desire radiating from Obi-Wan.

He might have asked what was happening, just before their mouths had met in an open, feral kiss. But he never received an answer. He didn't need one.

Their hands were suddenly everywhere, all over one another.

The hurry to shed their clothes was unparalleled, fuelled by a desperate need to feel skin against skin.

They made it through to the bedroom somehow, never parting, mouths battling, tongues duelling.

Naked, they dropped together on to the white sheets of the large bed. Obi-Wan straddled the older man, lips suckling on pebble-hard nipples, bringing their hard cocks together, revelling in the maddening friction caused by the contact.

At once, each explored the other. When Obi-Wan crawled down Qui-Gon's body to take his lover's hardness into his mouth, Qui-Gon pulled the youth around so that his own cock would not be ignored.

As he sucked, using his throat muscles to work the top of the shaft as his lips worked the base, Qui-Gon stroked down the smooth, curved back above him until his hand rested on the upward swell of the firm ass.

Wantonly, Obi-Wan parted his thighs, giving Qui-Gon better access to the tight entrance of his body. He lifted his lips, and settled slightly further down. Qui-Gon smiled to himself, and although he'd never done this before, it felt natural to slide his tongue over the soft, pliant skin of Obi-Wan's balls, further back until he was circling the man's anus.Obi-Wan moaned around his lover's cock and pushed up and back with no shame. The action made Qui-Gon smile, and he rewarded it by working his tongue deeper.When the teasing became too much, Obi-Wan released the cock he'd been sucking on with fervent joy and threw his head back, howling his pleasure into the room.

"More," he groaned. "More, Qui, please!"

When had they become so familiar? What had sparked this incredible passion between them?

Obi-Wan's hands on his body felt as if the man had known him for his whole life. He clawed his fingers into the firm buttocks around his tongue, delving as deep as he could, tasting the dark flavour of his lover. He felt a single, slick finger work its way into his own ass. In response, he parted his legs, toes curling as his cock was sucked back into the heat of his lover's mouth.Obi-Wan was the only thing in his entire world. All he could taste and all he could feel. He wanted nothing else.

He wanted to bury himself in this beautiful stranger whose nature was desire itself.

They moved as one, twisting around one another until Obi-Wan was tucked under Qui-Gon. In the arena, indeed in Qui-Gon's outer chamber, he'd been a strong and powerful warrior, the youngest Jedi Knight ever. He was giving all that to Qui-Gon now, submitting absolutely.

Qui-Gon lowered his head and bit into Obi-Wan's shoulder, loving the laugh that followed the howl of pain mixing deeply with pleasure.

"Fuck me, damn it!" The humour in the words underpinned the heavy plea.

Qui-Gon kissed his way across his lover's shoulders, nibbling on the skin above the top vertebrae, licking Obi-Wan's neck and on his ear. He sank into the willing body easily, despite his thickness and size. He pushed hard passed the tight ring of muscle, sinking into the hot channel. He let loose a low moan which joined with Obi-Wan's in the heat of the room.Lapping at the shell of his lover's ear, Qui-Gon whispered, "Don't come."

"Qui! Force, you're incredible. How can I not...?"

Using a tendril of the Force, Qui-Gon wrapped a tight sash of light energy around the base of his lover's cock.

"Oh, Gods...."

"I want you to come inside me."

"Yes...."

A hiss of agreement before Obi-Wan was pushing back, desperately wanting to deepen the contact, to get his lover as far inside him as he could.

Qui-Gon pounded into the young body, stopping a heartbeat before he came, dropping down onto Obi-Wan's back, enveloping his lover completely in himself.

When he finally spent himself inside the pliant body, it was like pouring his soul into another, and he screamed.

*

Qui-Gon awoke slowly. His body ached gloriously, and he stretched with feline grace before opening his eyes.

He was alone, the white sheets twisted around him where he lay on his front. But he knew without a shadow of a doubt that his lover was still close by. A moment later, he heard the shower start and he sighed contentedly.

He was due to meet with the council in one hour. This morning, there seemed absolutely no reason to rush, and every reason to indulge himself.

Closing his eyes, he replayed the previous night in his mind. After his own orgasm he'd released the Force's hold on Obi-Wan and had been practically eaten alive. Ankles linked behind Obi-Wan's head, he'd given himself over to a thorough fucking. He'd felt every stroke, every pulse of the cock as it released inside of him.Sated, the young, supple man had climbed into his lap and been welcomed there. They'd rested for a while. Before starting over.Qui-Gon dozed until he heard the water stop and listened to the quiet sounds of someone in his bathroom. It had been a very long time since he'd spent his waking minutes like this, hearing another person around the rooms.

He sensed Obi-Wan as the young man padded barefoot across the polished, wooden floor and opened his eyes with a smile.The younger man was crouched beside the bed, wrapped in a white towel, his hair a mess from being roughly dried, his skin almost glowing. Qui-Gon stretched out one hand and it was taken immediately, soft lips pressed into his palm.

"By the Force, you're beautiful," Qui-Gon breathed. "And I haven't felt like this in years." Every fibre in his being was sated and contented. If he never saw Obi-Wan again, the last night would remain to him a bright memory to be treasured and looked back on in private moments of indulgence.

Obi-Wan's lips curved into a smile against the other man's skin, before he began kissing lazy trials along the long fingers in his grasp.

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. "You flatter me, young one. I'm many years older than you and don't have the benefits of youth."

"I didn't sense you lagging behind last night, Master," Obi-Wan teased gently.

Wondering about the term, whether the other was using it as an endearment or a title, Qui-Gon chuckled. "I haven't been with anyone in a long time. You flattered an old man by coming to me."

An expression that the Master couldn't read crossed Obi-Wan's face, yet it was gone in a heartbeat, replaced by contentment and peace.

"I have a class to teach," the young man said with some regret, still playing with Qui-Gon's fingers. "I have to go."

Stretching his fingers through Obi-Wan's grasp, Qui-Gon stroked the smooth skin of the other's jaw and cheek. "You've given me a great gift, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I don't seek to take anymore than has already been offered."

Pressing his face into the gentle touch, he closed his eyes for a moment. "Later, then," he murmured.

Obi-Wan dressed quickly, casting glances in Qui-Gon's direction where he remained in bed, watching his lover. Once wrapped in his Jedi robes, he bowed slightly before taking his leave.

*

There was definitely something different about the temple this morning. It was quiet, and those who were around seemed... pre-occupied.

Qui-Gon felt better, more complete and at one with the Force and himself than he had in years. He felt as if the previous nights' activities had left him suffused with energy. He could feel it tingling in every part of him. He was surrounded by a warmth, a feeling that seemed to spread from his heart out to engulf his whole being.

He hummed softly as he passed through the temple halls to the council chamber.

As he passed the corridor that lead to the food hall, he saw Mace heading down to breakfast.

"Mace!"

The dark man turned, and instead of the joy Qui-Gon had expected, at the return of his old friend, he was scowling.

"Jinn," he ground out. "I might have known. Of all the sith-spawned Jedi...." He shook his head and continued toward the hall, muttering to himself.

Confused, Qui-Gon went to the council chamber and pushed open the door. Only Yoda was present.

"Qui-Gon, good to see you, it is." The small, most powerful Jedi in the galaxy, smiled as his ex-padawan stepped into the large chamber.

"Master, I believed that I was to report to the entire council."

"You will, Qui-Gon." Beckoning the tall man over, he bade him take the next seat. Qui-Gon sat cross-legged.

"Why is Mace angry with me?"

Yoda chuckled. "Done it you have. Chosen you were. Knew it, I did."

Qui-Gon stared. "Pardon, my Master, but what are you talking about?"

A sly grin shaped the troll's features. "Knight Kenobi."

His eyes widened, mouth fell open. "How do you know...?"

"Feel it, the whole temple did!"

What? Was he broadcasting that much? "Apologies, Master. It was... one night."

Slowly, Yoda shook his head. "No, Qui-Gon. The rest of your lives, it was."

What? Qui-Gon felt like he had side-stepped accidentally into a parallel universe. "Master, it was one night of... fierce passion with a man who has interested and probably had many in the temple and academy."

"No!" Yoda's definite answer surprised the other. "Not one other has Obi-Wan touched in his time here. Waiting he was."

"Waiting? For who?"

"For you, Qui-Gon. For the other half of his soul."

Qui-Gon stared, unable to find the words. He stared some more. Then something made him look to the inside of his mind, somewhere he didn't usually spend too much time. He felt only the same peace and acceptance he'd been feeling all morning. "I don't understand, Master."

Yoda took a deep breath, and released it slowly. "Obi-Wan... is a vergence."

"That's... not possible."

"True, it is. Knew it we did, the night he arrived. Needs you he does, to anchor him."

Qui-Gon knew what that meant, but he was more than sceptical.

A vergence was a sentient being completely at one with the Force. Some believed that a vergence was a child of the Force, having no actual parents. Others insisted that was nonsense. Wherever they came from, they were very rare, and the prophecy was that a vergence would one day bring balance to the Force.

But there was always a downside. A vergence was a catalyst. At one with the Force, they were brilliant. At one with the Dark Side, they were powerful beings unchallenged by a moral guide. They were believed to need anchoring to the light side of the Force by a Soul Bond. A close, intimate bond with a Force-chosen Jedi, a bond that would ensure that the Dark Side didn't get a look in.

Yoda was suggesting that a Soul Bond had been initiated between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. But what they'd done the previous night hadn't been a bond! It had been sex. Wonderful, glorious fucking.

"We... coupled, Master, that was all."

"Coupled, did you?" There was definite humour in the rough voice. "Felt your coupling the whole temple did! No sleep anyone has had."

That they'd created that much of a disturbance in the Force was beyond Qui-Gon. Not that it hadn't been good... hadn't been mind blowing.

"He came to see me, after the battle."

"Why think you that he did, Qui-Gon?"

"I...." He had no idea. "We... talked, about his past, about my time on Etti."

"And arousing this discussion was, umm?"

No. But Obi-Wan was. The most arousing person he had ever laid eyes on.

"A vergence he is, Qui-Gon. And now, belong together you do."

*

Not until he saw Obi-Wan again, did Qui-Gon realise the truth behind Yoda's words.

The young man was training a group of padawans about his age. The play of lightsabers in the arena that had last night seen the incredible battle between Kenobi and Windu was even more amazing this morning.

Qui-Gon sat in one of the ground stalls and watched from closer up this time as his lover of the previous night fought all ten padawans at once. His lightsaber pulsed with the dual colours of light. Was that a part of who he was?

Three of the knight's opponents were closing in, a line of light determined that one would not beat ten.

Obi-Wan turned off his lightsaber and with a flick of the wrist, he tossed it end-over-end into the air in a high backwards arc. At the same time, he too jumped.

Somersaulting in mid-air, he caught his 'saber moments before he landed, behind the line and weapon fired.

Had they been his enemy, he could have killed them all with a single stroke.

Obi-Wan halted the battle and drew them around him, talking to them quietly. After a minute or so, they erupted into laughter.

Qui-Gon felt his heart swell with a pride he didn't understand. He had no claim over this man whatsoever, no reason to be proud of his accomplishments, of the skills he had both as a swordsman and a teacher.

He considered what Yoda had said. A Soul Bond wasn't rare in the Jedi Order, but it usually joined Masters and Padawans, who were already linked by the training bond. Or couples who had become so intimate that they, for all intents and purposes, were one another.

He'd barely known this man for twelve hours, and yet Yoda was suggesting that the Force had bound them together for the rest of their lives, and beyond that into death.

The idea of being so closely linked to another that their death would cause yours was one that had always seemed frightening to Qui-Gon. But now he was starting to get an inkling of why that was how it worked. It was nothing but a feeling, but it was growing stronger with every beat of his heart.

The group disbanded, and Obi-Wan immediately crossed to where the Master was sitting.

"Qui...." He smiled openly as he leaned on the barrier between the seating and the arena. "I didn't expect to see you."

Had he been feeling any anger toward the young man, or the situation he'd found himself in, it would have melted away at Obi-Wan's genuinely happy expression and the ease with which they seemed to be together.

He returned the smile, resisting the sudden urge to reach out and touch. "I believe we have much to talk about, Pad-" He stopped, biting off the word, not quite believing what he'd been about to call his lover. "Apologies, Obi-Wan." He bowed his head, adding wanly, "I can't think where that came from."

The young man smiled. "Please don't apologise. I've never been anyone's padawan. I think I may have missed out on something very special."

Qui-Gon frowned. "But Master Aswar took you on, did he not, to train you?"

"He did. But he was more a teacher than a master. Our training bond was barely matured when I left for my trials."

"Then at least you will experience a full bond, if not one with your Master." Qui-Gon couldn't help the tease, but he was smiling.

Qbi-Wan regarded him steadily. "Are you angry?"

"No. I was surprised. I didn't know what had happened, didn't feel anything like the beginnings of a bond! I know what I did feel though, and it wasn't anything bad."

"I knew the moment your ship landed on Coruscant. I suddenly knew who you were, who I'd been waiting for. When you entered the arena, I felt... completed. And yet not. There's still more."

With a nod, Qui-Gon murmured, "I know. I have heard others describe the consummation of a Soul Bond."

"I've had much time to read up on the subject, I've known what it was that I was awaiting, if not who my mate would be. A vergence in the Force must be anchored against the Dark Side."

"Yes. That the Force has chosen me to be your anchor surprises and amuses me, Obi-Wan. But don't think for a moment that I'm not honoured, and moved by its choice."

"As I am, Qui-Gon." He barely managed to hide a cheeky grin. "Many stories are told about you, your defiance of the council, your love for Master Yoda and your apathy toward every other Jedi."

"So you've read up on me too, um?" The playfulness he felt around this man stunned him. He imagined, for a moment, leaping over the barrier that separated them and rolling the knight to the padded arena floor, tickling him to within an inch of his life.

Obi-Wan smiled at him, making him wonder if the image had been passed between them. Was the bond already there and they did not know it yet?

"We should talk, you're right," Obi-Wan spoke up finally. "Let me shower and I'll meet you in the gardens."

Qui-Gon nodded, tearing his gaze from the other man's eyes. He was sure they'd been a grey colour, but now they shone with a crystal blue. "Later, then," he echoed Obi-Wan's words from that morning.

*

As they walked side by side through the beautifully kept gardens, both Jedis were aware of many sets of eyes upon them, of interested glances and shameless staring.

"I do hope this at least will ease down," Qui-Gon murmured. Obi-Wan knew instinctively what the Master was referring to.

"I do seem to have been a thing of so much interest since my arrival here." There was no pride in the smooth, rounded 'slinky' (as Qui-Gon had earlier mused) voice.

"The Force isn't just strong with you, Obi-Wan. It... shapes itself around you. It can be highly distracting."

Bright eyes caught Qui-Gon's amused gaze and Obi-Wan laughed. "I apologise, Qui. I have no control over the living Force. It tends to do what it deems fit."

They stopped on the gentle bank down to the large pond in the centre of the gardens. Seating themselves on the grass, both adopting a tidy cross-legged position facing one another, they quietly meditated for a few long minutes.

Yoda found them there, serene, unaware of the affect they were having on the others in the gardens.

"Stop this you should," Yoda stated seriously, leaning on his cane.

Both Jedis opened their eyes, casting glances around them.

"We were merely meditating, Master," he defended them both.

"Told you I have, Qui-Gon." He turned to the other man. "Know better, you should, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon heard the affection in the troll's voice as he spoke the knight.

"Apologies, Master Yoda. It is not my place to rush Master Jinn into anything. We believed it best to mediate on our course."

Yoda's eyes sparkled. The words, so innocently spoken, were nevertheless a subtle tease, and Yoda knew it. He reached out and ruffled the golden hair with three short fingers.

Qui-Gon stared.

"Honourable, your intentions are," Yoda told him, "I think," he added wisely. "But stop teasing the entire Jedi order you should."

Finally managing to form words, Qui-Gon spoke. "This happens to be something I've never done before, Master," he intoned as respectfully as he could.

Obi-Wan hid a sudden chuckle.

"Exactly what it is entailed, your suitor knows," Yoda reassured patiently. Qui-Gon felt as if he were missing out on the galaxy's biggest joke. "Tell him, you will," he prodded Obi-Wan's shoulder. Then he hobbled away slowly.

Qui-Gon waited until he'd gone before turning his head back to his lover.

"Tell me, you will," he echoed with a smile.

Moving to his knees, Obi-Wan gracefully shifted closer to Qui-Gon. The Master stretched his legs out in front of them, allowing Obi-Wan to straddle his thighs, to sit in his lap. Qui-Gon wrapped his arms around the lithe body like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Obi-Wan looked down into wide, sapphire eyes. "We have to open ourselves to one another," he murmured, sweeping his hands over long, brown hair, setting it free from its tie. It takes a couple of cycles for the bond to fully mature. In that time, we'll be inseparable. We'll need to be close, to be intimate. We'll ache to touch and we'll start to hurt if we don't. The whole temple will feel us until the circle closes. When it does, we'll be as one, sharing thoughts and emotions, able to dream together, to talk without words."

A single cycle ago, Qui-Gon hadn't even heard the name Obi-Wan Kenobi. They were talking now about a commitment that would last beyond death.

"Obi... nothing has ever felt like this. Nothing has ever been this easy. But I'm so much older than you. You're tying yourself to a man old enough to be your father."

A contented smile was his only reply. And a kiss, gently touched his lips.

"Tell me that this is what you want, Beloved. I know it's the will of the Force, but tell me it's your will too."

Obi-Wan tipped his head back and laughed, a breathtaking sound of joy.

"Qui." Grey eyes shot through with bright blue danced in front of him. "You're the other of my soul. How could I not want this?"

"It's the Force telling you that...."

Still smiling, Obi-Wan rested his forehead against Qui-Gon's. "Last night, it wasn't the Force that was guiding us, it was our own more animalistic instincts."

True enough.

"It's time then," Qui-Gon spoke in certainty. "Before Yoda comes back."

Pressing another kiss to the Master's lips, Obi-Wan closed his eyes. He still his hands, his fingers full of long brown hair, palms rested on the other's back.

Qui-Gon too closed his eyes. His arms enfolded his young lover, fingers spread on Obi-Wan's back. He took a deep breath and released it as he released the barriers and blocks shielding his mind.

Opening their very selves, each to the other, both mentally reached for their bondmate. Slowly, vague feelings began to pass between them, a link opening that would be theirs alone.

Qui-Gon could feel the roots of the bond like fingers softly ghosting over his mind, the trusted presence of another, one welcomed and adored. The touch brushed over the places he was most willing to share. The rest would come later, as they learnt to trust deeper and deeper until nothing was hidden between them.

Moving without conscious thought, Obi-Wan sealed his mouth over the parted lips awaiting him, tongue gliding confidently over tongue.

Bringing one hand from Qui-Gon's back, he slipped it between them, pushing the sides of the Master's robe apart, pressing fingertips under the waist band of his leggings.

A hum, which might have been a word, passed silently between them and they moved as one.

Obi-Wan unfastened Qui-Gon's leggings, making them loose enough to free his straining erection. As Qui-Gon wrapped the draping folds of his cloak around them both, hiding their nudity from prying eyes, Obi-Wan pushed his own leggings out of the way and positioning them both, he sank down onto the weeping shaft.

Qui-Gon buried his face in Obi-Wan's shoulder, a muted sob escaping his lips as his cock penetrated his lover, was pushed deep inside the hot, tight channel of his body.

More passed between them along their silent connection. Pleasure shared, the deep love that was blossoming, the sadness of loss and the joy of being united.

The Force sang around them, broadcasting their happiness throughout the temple for all Jedi to share.

Even the dark ones.

With agonising slowness, Obi-Wan rose and fell on the cock impaling him. His face pressed into his lover's hair, he penetrated Qui-Gon's mind as he himself was penetrated. Each invasion was infinitely gentle.

Losing themselves in one another, time passed unnoticed.

Whispered thoughts and half-formed notions were shared. Dark, cold places, long since forgotten in the Jedi mind, were filled, brightened and warmed. They would master skills and learn of knowledge that had died with ancient Jedi. In time, they would know one another perfectly. Nothing but the darkest powers would be able to touch them.

Nothing, in the boundless universe, would ever separate them.

Qui-Gon's orgasm, when it finally came, was echoed to Obi-Wan through the awakening bond, shaking them, soul deep, again and again. The pleasure cycled between them, feeling Obi-Wan's own physical release.

Sitting on the other side of the large pond, Yoda rocked back and forth, eyes closed, mind also casting out. But for darkness, not light. Something had been threatening Obi-Wan Kenobi, something close to them yet shrouded by power. Now, he could no longer feel the threat. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or bad.

*

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon passed through the corridors of the temple, hand-in-hand, aware of the eyes upon them. The Force all around them was pulsing with energy, an energy that would not dissipate quickly.

Today, and for the next few cycles, many hidden desires would be revealed. They had to trust in the Force that no one would be hurt.

In Qui-Gon's rooms, they settled themselves on the rug next to the windows.

Legs out in front of him, Qui-Gon leaned back against one of the grand pillars and Obi-Wan settled in his lap, curled up beside him, head cushioned on his lover's thigh.

It was easy to remain in silence, with so much passing between them. But as yet no words were possible, and finally Qui-Gon's thoughts took him to a place where he needed to ask.

"What were your trials, Obi?"

It was with surprise that Qui-Gon felt his lover tense. Obi-Wan had shared painful and personal secrets of his past with no hesitation when they'd been perfect strangers. He'd opened himself up in a way more intimate than either had ever previously known. Why then would this question cause such a reaction?

"I'm sorry, you don't have to...."

"No, it's all right. You have every right to ask." Sitting up, pulling one knee up under his chin, he gazed out of the window at the gardens now bathed in the amber glow of the last sunlight of the day. "No, I need to share everything with you. When the bond completes itself you'll know everything, and you'll feel the pain I felt. You should be prepared."

Qui-Gon's brow furrowed, and reaching up he stroked his hand over the golden hair, fingers followed the braid lock down to his lover's waist. A gesture of simple affection.

"I was sent to Belderone as a slave. My mission was to break a slave ring selling young teenage boys to wealthy nobles as whores." Qui-Gon's heart started to beat just a little faster, anger fuelling the emotions rising within him. "There was much that the council failed to tell me. I spent five days in the hands of two slavers who tortured and used me, never going as far as to rape me, but leaving little else out. Then, on the last night, I woke to find my lightsaber at my side. I freed myself and overpowered my slavers easily. I could have killed them. I wanted to. But instead I had them arrested and turned over to the justice system."

Qui-Gon reached for his bondmate, arms tightening around him. Strong emotions were rushing across the bond, battering Obi-Wan. But the young man took it all, accepting his lover's anger, releasing it into the Force.

For Qui-Gon, everything now was falling into place. This was why he'd been requested to remain on Etti V for longer than his planned two year stay. This was why Yoda had told him nothing of the young man they were training. The council had forced his lover - the other half of his soul - to endure the worst punishment in order to test him to the limit. They had placed him in the hands of men who had hurt him, and then offered him revenge. Not just on the two slavers, but on his past, on the alien master who'd taken his virginity from him at such a young age.

He felt hands stroking over his hair as Obi-Wan pressed his cheek to Qui-Gon's, trapped in his iron-tight embrace. Apologising, Qui-Gon released him a little.

But Obi-Wan stayed close. "Don't be angry. I understand why they did what they did. I do not blame them."

The part of the Master that had been captured in the Soul Bond ached for the knight. "Obi... my beautiful one, your trials should have been a time to be proud of. They shouldn't leave you with memories of pain and humiliation."

"But with me, they needed to be sure, Qui. You know that. You know what I am, as do I."

"It's no reason for them to have made your trials a misery for you." Carefully Obi-Wan pulled back a little and Qui-Gon loosely wound the soft braid lock of his bondmate's hair around his hand. "I used to think, of the Soul Bond, that to be so closely linked with someone that their death would mean your own was a frightening thing, a bad thing. But now, what scares me most is that my death would mean yours. To lose my life in battle or an accident, to know that you will share my fate no matter where you are, isn't a thought that is easily accepted."

Smiling peacefully, Obi-Wan moved his head, side to side. "Wherever you are, Qui, I'll be with you. If you are in battle, I too will be. What affects you affects me. Even now, with the bond so young and fragile, I could not bare to live without you here, inside my mind. To know you would never again be inside my body would be worse than death."

They settled into silence.

As the sun set behind them, they remained in one another's arms and in one another's minds.

*

Yoda turned as Mace joined him on the north-facing balcony.

"Exhausted you look," Yoda murmured.

"Exhausted I am." A flicker of a smile moved his lips. "I've been meaning to take Rahni out for many months-"

"Years."

"-years. So much wasted time." There was a wistfulness in his voice that the old master had never heard before.

Yoda smiled. "Waste no more time, you should." They looked out for a while over the busy city. So different up here from what it was down on the ground. "Angry, you were, with Qui-Gon."

Mace laughed heartily. "I got no sleep that night he came back. I must have masturbated at least eight times."

"Jealous, you were."

"Everyone was."

Yoda tipped his head to one side, but he let the matter drop. "Rehearsing for the concert tonight, the players are."

Mace nodded. The temple choir was backing a concert by Master Alleyne, a solo electric violinist. "It will give me something to take my mind off... other things."

"Not if attending the new bondmates are." There was a sneaky humour in the rough voice that caught Mace off guard.

"Oh no...." He cringed. "Maybe I shouldn't have invited Rahni to accompany me."

"Behave themselves, they will," Yoda said with little conviction. "Or my wrath they will feel."

*

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon arrived just before the concert was about to start. They walked close to one another, their hands lost inside their long robes.

Everyone turned to look, while at the same time trying to appear as if they weren't looking, as the two took seats at the back of the auditorium.

The concert began.

After only a minute or two, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon reached for one another's hands at the same time. Decorum be Sith-spawned. They needed to touch. They'd tried remaining apart physically, sitting at either end of the room only to be drawn together within moments by the pain that took hold.

Sometimes it was enough to be held in each other's arms. Sometimes Obi-Wan needed Qui-Gon inside him, Qui-Gon needed Obi-Wan. It completed the circle that started with the maturing bond.

After a couple of minutes, one hand wasn't enough for Qui-Gon. As the choir started in harmony, he reached for Obi-Wan's other hand, stroking the long fingers.

The voices and the haunting sound of the violin reached out and touched them all.

It accentuated the new and complex emotions being shared between the master and the knight. With the music as their background, they turned to one another.

Something in the bond was suddenly demanding attention, but as yet neither were sure what it was.

There was a flicker in Qui-Gon's eyes, and Obi-Wan leaned toward him. "There is nothing to be frightened of, Beloved."

The whisper of his words touched Qui-Gon's lips moments before he pressed his own against them.

The kiss deepened quickly, their fingers linking, pushing to be closer. Qui-Gon was sure he could feel whispers in his head, but he couldn't catch the actual words. Obi-Wan's tongue was caressing his own, slowly feeding his desire. He hadn't felt so energised in as long as he could remember, and certainly he was making up for many years of forced celibacy.

The passion was building in the music. In the front row, Mace turned to look at the two who were unknowingly changing the tone of the playing. Turning back, he glanced at Yoda, who rolled his eyes toward the high ceiling.

"Shoot them, I will," he muttered under his breath. Mace stifled a laugh.

Breaking the kiss Qui-Gon pulled back. "We should leave," he told Obi-Wan, licking his tongue along the line of his bottom lip. "Something's happening."

Obi-Wan nodded quickly and together they rose. The left the auditorium silently, but their exit was noticed by every being in the room.

Obi-Wan's room was closest. It was simpler, more modest than Qui-Gon's. He had little furniture to speak of. There were throw cushions on the floor, on rugs next to the windows, although he did not have the beautiful garden view that Qui-Gon had. Instead, his living area had a spectacular view of the top of the city. There were only two arches off the main, wooden floored room. One was into a bathroom, the other into a dark bedroom. Qui-Gon could see a mattress on the floor, but little else.

The master took in the details in the scant few seconds before Obi-Wan shrugged his robe off his shoulders and stepped into Qui-Gon's arms.

The bond pulsed between them, growing, sending sparks of pain down their spines. "Is this how it should be?" Obi-Wan breathed, hands insinuating themselves between the material of his lover's leggings and the smooth flesh of his ass.

"I don't know, Obi." Moaning softly, Qui-Gon thrust gently against the young man in his arms, erections rubbing together, the friction of the rough material of their leggings maddening against their sensitised skin.

"Please! Qui, this isn't enough!"

The throbbing in both their minds was starting to overwhelm them, driving them to the edge of the abilities to release the pain to the Force.

Tearing the cloth that kept them from touching, Qui-Gon lifted the smaller man and carried him to the cushions next to the windows. He'd meant to lie them both down. But as he walked, Obi-Wan shifted in his arms, wrapped his arms around Qui-Gon's neck and his legs around the man's waist.

The shifting weight knocked the taller man off balance and he dropped back against the wall, in a corner between the edge of the room and the windows, arms locking around his lover as Obi-Wan's mouth sealed over his own.

Qui-Gon's hands slid down, cupping Obi-Wan's ass, gently separating the cheeks. In turn, Obi-Wan climbed a little way up the strong, muscled body until the thick tip of Qui-Gon's erection nudged at his anus.

One of them, maybe both, nudged the Force just a little to make Obi-Wan's fall onto his lover's cock as painless as possible. He relaxed, opening himself to his bondmate, taking him all the way in before tightening his legs around Qui-Gon's waist.

Not moving, Obi-Wan rested his head on Qui-Gon's shoulder. Carefully, Qui-Gon sank down until he was seated on the cushions, still buried inside the young man now in his lap. The deep, physical joining eased the pain in their minds and they simply sat like that, snuggled together in the corner of the room.

"It hurts, Qui," Obi-Wan murmured after a time. It was a soft statement, but Qui-Gon could hear the strain in his voice.

"I know, my beauty." Being so close had eased the pain initially, but once again it was starting to pulse, to increase in sharpness.

"I thought... I was ready for this." There was a forced laugh in his voice.

"You are. We are." But he couldn't keep the edge from his tone.

There was a fire in their minds, embers beginning to burn.

"Qui...." A sudden flash seared along Obi-Wan's nerves, causing his whole body to tense. "Oh, Force, Qui...."

Qui-Gon felt the pain's echo, followed by its reflection. He froze, clinging suddenly to the body in his arms. "Gods, Obi...." He clenched his teeth. "What is that?"

"I don't know."

Again, the white hot pain flashed between them, jerking them against one another, bringing tears to Obi-Wan's eyes.

Needing to do something, Obi-Wan moved his hands to his lover's shoulders and started to move. Rising up, he lowered himself once again onto Qui-Gon's thick cock. The Master shuddered, the intense pleasure a balm over his burning nerves.

"Obi...."

Again, the knight rose and fell, starting into a slow, languishing rhythm.

The pain in their minds continued to worsen, but their building orgasms were in counterpoint to the agony. They wrapped themselves in one another, releasing pain and pleasure to the Force. The intense feelings were balancing out, spreading through the Living Force, touching everyone in the temple.

Desperately, Obi-Wan captured Qui-Gon's mouth, plundering it. He picked up his rhythm, feeling his lover's hands grasping his hips, lifting him, forcing him down hard. He growled into the hot mouth, feeling, with each fall, that hard, thick cock touching the very limits inside him.

The sensations were incredible. A heady mix of sharp, deep pain, and the pleasure of a caress inside where no one else had ever touched him.

Inside their minds they could feel one another, as close and deep as Qui-Gon was inside Obi-Wan.

//Master!//

Obi-Wan came hard, spilling himself between them, over their bellies.

Qui-Gon had frozen for a moment. The word hadn't been cried out aloud, but had been spoken directly inside his mind.

//Obi... Beloved...//

His own orgasm struck hard as he thrust up one last time into his mate's body.

Shaking against one another, they held on tight. But as the pleasure ebbed away, it took the pain with it, leaving in its path a deep peace.

//Words...// There was no definite accent to the voice in Qui-Gon's head, but it was unmistakably Obi-Wan. The velvet flow of his soft tones was translated to sensation, almost like a caress.

//Yes, my Beloved, words. That's what was happening, the bond has matured// Slipping from his lover, Qui-Gon felt the aching pain from his abused rectum as if Obi-Wan had been inside him for the last two hours. //Shower, Obi. Let me take care of you//

His offer wasn't refused.

Inside the auditorium, the incredible climax of the concert still rang in the ears of those in attendance.

* * *

"A mission we have for you."

//About time!// Qui-Gon stepped up behind his bondmate, sliding his backs of his fingers across the centre of the other's hand where it hung at his side. He felt Obi-Wan smile at the touch.

//Do you think any pair have ever done it in the council chamber?//

The taller Jedi hid his smile well.

"Don't think we are unaware of your silent communication," Mace chided gently. At his side, Yoda chuckled.

"What say you?" Yoda questioned Obi-Wan.

"We are curious about the mission, Master Yoda. The council have kept us teaching here since we bonded sixty cycles ago."

"For your own safety it was. Protect one another you will, into death itself and into the Force beyond. Needed to know, you did, how to move as one, how to work as one."

They had learnt. They had spent hours and hours in the arena, battling one another and there never being a winner, battling other pairs, groups, and never failing.

They were each aware of the movements of the other. There were one soul now, while remaining two people, two very individual and strong minds.

Their passion for one another would never be sated, they suspected. The intoxication of being so completely wrapped in one another was a sensation they often drowned in. It was like a drug, and they were addicted.

Yet at the same time, they were so attuned to the Force that if threatened, they were able to act faster than any Jedi, even in the middle of a deep act of lovemaking.

"An attack there has been, on the planet of Kamino. Investigate you must."

Obi-Wan bowed his head. "Yes, Masters." Qui-Gon responded in kind as his linked his fingers with his lover's.

They turned to go.

"Qui-Gon!" As if interrupted in conversation, Qui-Gon turned to Mace. "You might want to take a rain coat. Be ready to leave in one hour.

//Umm... the thought of you soaking wet, your robes plastered to your skin...//

As they stepped out of the council chambers, Qui-Gon lowered his head to press a kiss to the back of his bondmate's neck.

//They'd better make that two hours//

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