"The stillness in your eyes
convinces me that I
I don't know a thing
But I've been around the world
And I've tasted all the wines
A half a billion times
Came sickened to your shores
You show me what this life is for..."
-- Dance With You, by Live

You whisper soft words of love into my ear. I sigh against your skin, my beard tickling the tender flesh of your neck.

"Master," your voice is a mere breath. And I remember where we are.

"Obi-Wan," I answer, fingers moving lazily out over your skin. "We should get up."

Your laughter is music to my ears. "You first."

I turn to look at you, and my breath catches in my throat at your laughing beauty. All this wealth to be wasted on an early death.

"I should not have..." I begin, but you lay a finger over my lips, so gently.

"It was my decision," you say, smiling. "And I would make it again, forever, to be with you."

"Come here," I say. "Let me kiss you."

"Yes, Qui-Gon," you say, and your smile is still bright. You are a light in a dark universe, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I hope that our sacrifice will change things, hope that we will not die in vain.

Your arms slip around me and you raise your lips to meet mine. We kiss like the first time, for the last time. You pull away at last with a sigh, leaning your forehead against mine.

"Love?" I whisper at last. "It is time. We must be ready."

You frown for a moment and then with a quick soft smile, kiss my nose and tear your body away from mine. I sigh at the loss, and move to dress, as though my body were not craving yours with every breath.

I glimpse your face in the mirror as you pause behind me. "I love you," I say on the spur of the moment, my heart utterly swept away by your innocent beauty.

"I know," you say and our hands brush, sending ecstatic tingling through my blood.

"You're worth it," you say after a minute of silence between us. I turn to face you, quizzical. "Worth dying for," you clarify, and cross to me, laying hands on my shoulders. "The universe will never be the same after we die. Things will change. I feel it, I know it."

I lean forward to kiss you quickly. You are an irresistible temptation to this lover. "I trust you," I say. "Though I do not sense this."

You smile. "I've often sensed things you could not. And you know things I could not comprehend."

"Anakin?" I ask.

That's one, you tell me with your eyes.  "He will be all right," you say. "Xanatos is a good man, he will teach him well."

"You know, it was said that Xanatos was dangerous as well," I say.

"We are all dangerous," you say. "You are dangerous. I am dangerous. We can change the universe. We have the potential to bring great sorrow or great happiness. That is what makes us fearful beings." You let go of me and step away, still talking. "The power to shape our own destinies, be what we want..." You shake your head. "It overwhelms me sometimes."

"And this death is what you have chosen," I say, simply, flatly, a trace of a bitter tone in my voice. You look up at me, wisdom in your eyes.

"No," you say. "This life is what I have chosen, and this memory is what I have chosen. Isn't it wonderful to think that in future years we will be hailed as the ones who stood up for love?"

I smile at you and you lean in to kiss me, one more time. "Let us meditate," you say. "We'll have all eternity to love."

And I believe you.