Chapter Text
Anakin runs into the room and closes the door behind him, collapsing onto the bed.
Ben… is Obi-Wan Kenobi.
It makes sense, how he was so reluctant to talk about himself, how he knew the names of Anakin’s parents, how he had Sheev Palpatine’s personal number. Anakin flashes back to their conversation on dowry, how Ben seemed to be so furious with Anakin’s to be in-laws for taking dowry, and the subsequent phone call to Palpatine. He also supposes that he should have realized Ben had not lived in India for the past decade, given his surprise that the dowry system existed, and his insistence on protests being peaceful. Anakin still doesn’t know who the man he thought was Kenobi really is, and why he was at the house. That man was probably talking to the real Obi-Wan over the phone.
Anakin should be feeling angry and hurt, in fact that was his initial reaction to hearing the news, but now he just feels numb. He can’t believe that their entire relationship so far has been a lie.
But is there a difference between Ben and Kenobi? Anakin’s mind asks, which causes him to think.
He knew nothing of Kenobi himself. He had seen Palpatine and Dooku and made assumptions about Kenobi’s character. But he knew Ben - knew his kindness, warmth, and sincerity. Could he accept that they were the same?
Ben was nothing like his parents, and openly despised them. If he was truly pretending for Anakin’s sake, he wouldn’t have laughed gleefully at Anakin insulting Palpatine over the phone. And, he was willing to let Anakin go to Hyderabad, even if he was the one that had wanted to marry Anakin in the first place, just to let Anakin be happy. Ben was good.
That settles it. Anakin can and will accept the fact that Ben and Obi-Wan Kenobi are the same. He can feel a faint sort of happiness over the fact that Ben -no, Obi-Wan, really loved him back. The only question now is where they will go from here.
-
Obi-Wan is frozen in his seat. It’s all out now. Anakin probably hates him and will never want to talk to him.
Padme notices his panic. “Listen, he might not exactly be happy about it, but the only way you’ll find out if he still loves you is if you talk to him.” She smiles reassuredly.
Obi-Wan takes a deep breath. Padme is right, communication is key. He needs to talk to Anakin, or at the very least apologize to him. He makes his way to the door.
Knocking, he calls out, “Anakin? I just want to apologize.”
A beat passes, then the other man replies, “It’s open.”
Obi-Wan opens the door to find Anakin sitting on the bed, turned away from him, with his hands clasped in his lap. His shoulders are tense and Obi-Wan’s stomach sinks. He gingerly makes his way over to the chair so that he is facing Anakin. The other man’s eyes glance up at his approach and quickly look away. They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, neither knowing what to say. Eventually, it is Obi-Wan who takes the plunge.
“How are you feeling now?”
Anakin doesn’t answer.
“I am really sorry, Ani.” This gets Anakin to make eye contact at least. “It was wrong of me to lie to you. But the situation being what it was… I didn’t really know what else to do, and by the time I wanted to tell you it was too late.”
He still doesn’t look convinced, so Obi-Wan forges on.
“I’m still up for the em, marriage thing, if you are too. You don’t have to give me dowry or anything like that. We can live in a big house in America, or like you said earlier we can stay in Visakhapatnam. Qui-Gon is definitely not invited. I won’t let my parents bother us either. And we won’t be pressed for money, I’m a lawyer... “ Obi-Wan trails off as he can see that Anakin is clearly fighting back a smile, but doesn’t make any move to respond. He isn’t angry with me, Obi-Wan realizes. He just needed Obi-Wan to make himself as vulnerable as Anakin had been bleeding out in the auto, as proof of his sincerity. Suddenly, Obi-Wan knows what to do.
The older man stands up, then kneels on the ground in front of Anakin. He takes both of Anakin’s hands within his own, both of them blushing at the contact. Anakin’s eyes are round and hopeful.
“Anakin, my dear. I don’t have a ring to offer you, just words of promise.” Obi-Wan takes a second to compose himself, then continues. “I love you, Anakin Skywalker. I loved you as Ben Kryze and I love you now as Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are the burning sun to my moon, the sweet flower to my bee.” He lifts one of Anakin’s hands and kisses the palm of it. “I have learned so much about you in the past few days, and I have loved every new facet of your personality that has been revealed. Your fearlessness, your temper, your kindness, your recklessness - I will bear them all if you are willing to stay with me. So, Anakin Cliegg Jinn-Skywalker, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Anakin’s cheeks have tears streaming down them, and he lets out a watery giggle. “Of course I will marry you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I love you too.” He throws himself off the bed and into Obi-Wan’s arms, and they somehow end up crashing onto the floor, which makes Anakin laugh even harder. Obi-Wan hugs the other man tight, thinking of being in this same position with Anakin bleeding out a couple of hours ago.
They pull a couple of inches apart, and Anakin runs a reverent hand through Obi-Wan’s hair, gaze drifting down to Obi-Wan’s lips. His eyes seem to ask permission, and Obi-Wan makes the choice for him, bringing their lips together. Anakin makes a contented sound in the back of his throat, and Obi-Wan is happy to kiss him deeper to hear what other sounds he can get out of him. Eventually, Obi-Wan gets the sensation that he is being watched, and too late remembers the viewing window.
Gently breaking the kiss, he looks over to see Padme looking overjoyed for Anakin, who blushes and gives her a little wave. Tahl is crying in happiness, and Quin is giving Obi-Wan a thumbs up and an exaggerated wink. From what he can see of Yan and Qui-Gon, they don’t look disapproving, which is a start. Obi-Wan frowns at the calculating look on Sheev’s face, then decides he doesn’t care. Whether he and Anakin are going to live in America or in India, Obi-Wan is cutting ties with that man. If he wants family, he has his brother. And Anakin now, his mind reminds him, and Obi-Wan smiles at the thought. They pull each other off of the floor, and Obi-Wan kisses Anakin again just to remind himself that this is real.
“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” Anakin whispers.
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”
Anakin laughs a little. “I mean, this has got to be some sort of cosmic joke. Me running away from my arranged marriage only to fall in love with the same person I was running away from? Somebody’s finding this shit hilarious upstairs.”
“Or maybe it’s fate correcting the story,” Obi-Wan suggests. “About the Knight and the Emperor.” To be honest, he hadn’t even thought about the fact that their names had matched the ones in the legend in all of this, but when Anakin had said cosmic , he remembered the tale of the star-crossed lovers he had heard when he was a child.
“Don’t start,” Anakin warns. “Apparently your name was enough to convince my mother that you would be a suitable husband for me.”
Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow and smirks. “Well, am I?”
Anakin rolls his eyes fondly. “I’m marrying you, dummy. Answer that question yourself.”
They kiss once more, before turning to make their way out of the room, hand in hand. In their minds, they were already married: they had exchanged flower garlands at the Kanakadurgamma temple, walked around the holy fire in the marketplace, and Obi-Wan had placed a cloth over Anakin’s crown chakra in imitation of the mixture of cumin and jaggery. Whatever was awaiting them outside, they were ready to face it, together. Obi-Wan was Anakin’s and Anakin was Obi-Wan’s, and nothing would change that.
The End