Author's Note: This probably won't be what you expected to follow the end of Touch. However this is what I always thought would follow. In my head their intimacy should be allowed a lot of time, which is not available when they have several loose ends to tie up. So this is my tale of how they begin to do that, only begin, as Anakin will take a long time, you know how difficult he can be.

With that in mind, enjoy.

AFTER THEIR KISS.

Sequel to The Touch of Her Hand.

Considering the gravity of the feelings recently confessed, the kiss Obi-Wan offered to her was quite reserved. She felt herself chasing his lips as he withdrew, only to pause when his hands went from embracing her to take hold of her own and bestow equally pure, yet somehow deeply intimate, kisses to each of her fingers.

"May I have a look at your back?" he asked her softly. "We did not have time on Geonosis for me to offer more than a quick Force sealing over."

She looked at him astonished as she realised why the scratches from the Nexu were not as nearly as bad as they had first felt. Nodding, she turned round, letting him gently take hold of her hair and place it over her shoulder so he could view the wounds better. She felt him carefully peal back one of the bacta strips from her skin. It fell to the floor as a slight breeze brushed against the exposed scratch. Another strip soon joined the first on the floor, as she ascertained that he was finishing what he had begun while seated behind her within the Geonosisian arena; healing her injuries.

When he was done, she felt his fingers lightly caress each patch of now spotless skin, the touch as intimate as his previous benediction on her fingers. She heard him take a ragged breath, before drawing her into his arms, pressing her back gently against his front.

He was fighting to control his desire for her, she realised, as she felt him caress her hair with his lips, his breathing slowly evening out as he began to calm himself down. As much as she wished that he would let go of his control and surrender to his desires, she knew that they needed to talk before they could allow themselves the freedom to celebrate their love in the joyful communion of bodies and souls.

Only when her own heart had ceased pounding in excitement at his display of affection for her, did he withdraw his embrace, handing her the poncho she was about to put on before he had entered the room. Suddenly self-conscious, she quickly pulled it over herself, before taking a seat on the bed, as he took residence on one of the chairs that was by a table across from it.

"I hate to sour the mood," he began, "but how much more can you tell me about Anakin's behaviour from the time I left you in his care until we were reunited on Geonosis?"

"You mean if I saw him act in a manner that was atypical of a Jedi?" she sought to confirm.

Obi-wan nodded. "Yes. I need to know as much as possible before I tell Master Yoda about what he did on Tatooine. Although if what he said to you was not an exaggeration, it is possible that Master Yoda felt the darkness."

"You can feel when another Jedi goes dark?" She asked him.

"Sometimes," he replied. "The Force is within the energy of everything, surrounding and flowing through us like the currents in water. Sometimes even those who do not have the ability to use the Force can detect the sudden appearance of darkness or light into a space where before it was absent. Master Yoda is certainly the most sensitive to them. He is considered the wisest and strongest out of all of the Order."

She felt silent and thought for a time, reflecting on everything Anakin had done since they left Coruscant. Recalling the evening when he confessed his feelings for her, the words he used struck her anew, as she realised the fear she instinctively felt tangled up in the shock of what he was saying. "Before we left for Tatooine, Anakin told me of his feelings for me. The language he used," she paused, shivering as she recollected it. "He felt I was tormenting him. He had kissed me when we first arrived at my villa in Varykino. I let him because I was so surprised by his boldness. When I realised what was happening I withdrew and took responsibility for it and he let me. He claimed that it haunted him, that he did not want it to become a scar. He asked me if I was suffering as much as he was."

Obi-Wan nodded, taking in her words with care. If he was jealous then he did not show it outwardly. "And what was your reply?"

"I tried to make him see reason. I pointed out the gulf our differing responsibilities should have placed between us. I told him that he could be expelled from the Order, that I was not willing to let him give up his future for me. Then he proposed we keep it a secret. I told him that I could not live with such a lie. I thought he agreed with me, but now I'm not so sure."

"What made you change your mind?" he asked her.

"After what he did on Tatooine, I thought loving him might save him from further darkness. But when you touched me in the arena, I realised that I would be lying to him and to myself about my feelings. That there was the possibility that one day he might realise the deception and resent both of us for it. That the lie actually might push him towards the darkness more than the truth would." she sighed. "I just wish I had realised that before I told him that I loved him."

"I don't need to tell you that the lie will only make it harder when you talk to him tomorrow," Obi-Wan remarked. "But then so will the events that will inevitably follow my conversation with Master Yoda."

"What are you going to tell him?" she asked.

"That I can no longer obey Qui-Gon's promise to train Anakin," Obi-Wan replied. "That I probably never should have taken on such a responsibility in the first place. Master Yoda was right to caution me when I told him of my intentions back on Naboo, but I was still freshly mourning my master's passing. I refused to listen to him, believing that Anakin was my responsibility, when I should have let wiser minds prevail. I cannot change the past, I have to put my faith in the future. Anakin needs guidance from mentors he is willing to listen to. How many that turns out to be after he learns that what he did on Tatooine is no longer a secret remains to be seen." After a short pause, he added, "it might also prove wise that I am no longer Anakin's master when you and I go public with our new relationship."

Padmé did not object to his last assumption, given their positions it was inevitable that their new found intimacy would not remain private between them for long. And it was probably better for all concerned that it did not. Yet a part of her hungered for that seclusion, the heady sensation of having something that only herself and another knew of. Not as a secret, for it was it did not break the rules as a relationship with Anakin would, nor as a union to be ashamed of, for it had not be soiled by either of them committing a dark and wrongful deed. It felt too precious to let anyone else become a party to it, something to be savoured fully before letting others learn of it. However given the current circumstances it would prove impossible to do so for long.

The value of privacy was only truly realised when it was about to be lost.

Obi-Wan looked up from his musings and caught her thoughtful gaze. He held out his hand in an invitation to join him. Padmé rose from her seat across from him and took the space offered, letting him take her into his arms.

"I never thought for a moment you might feel the same for me as I do for you," he murmured reverently, his hands running soft caresses up and down her back as she snuggled against his chest.

"You never would have told me, would you," Padmé realised, "if not for my carelessness. You would have let your feelings go unrequited forever. I am glad you did not. I have a hunch that events would have gone badly for the both of us if you had held your peace."

"It may yet still," he remarked, "things are so uncertain. What happened on Geonosis was the first battle in what I suspect will be a long war. The Jedi Order will be called upon to defend the Republic with the Clone Army we took ownership of against the Separatists. It has been over a millennia since we engaged in armed conflict. I cannot see a peaceful way out of this. Only a way to protect the Republic from being involved, though I'm not sure the argument will wash with the Confederacy."

"What way is that?" she asked him.

"If the Order takes sole responsibility for what happened on Geonosis, if we distance ourselves from the Republic and insist that the conflict with the Separatists is between the Confederacy and the Order, that the Republic is not involved."

"But I'm a Republican Senator," Padmé reminded him. "I represent the Republic and I was involved with the conflict yesterday. Though I suppose we could argue that I was defending myself and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. When I spoke with Count Dooku about freeing you, I used the authority of my position. And Dooku did condemn me to death along with you and Anakin." She paused, mulling over his idea some more. "There's no harming in making the attempt though, it might work." She looked at him carefully. "What will that mean for us though? It could put our relationship in a difficult light, politically."

"It would," Obi-Wan agreed, "but we can argue that our public positions are separate from our private lives. It is unlikely that you will find yourself on the battlefield again."

"I better take care not to," she added, "if the rest of the Senate accept your argument." Gently, she shifted her position forward until there was little between them except their clothes. Placing her hands upon the tunic covering his chest, she began another subject. "I think we can leave talking about everything else now until after our meetings are over tomorrow. Which leaves us."

"Indeed," he acknowledged, his hands halting their caresses to rest his palms against her back. "I'm afraid you don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"I don't think you do either," she returned before kissing him. Unlike their previous one, this was full of everything they had kept hidden, passionate and tender all at once. His hand moved from her back to cradle her head, fingers threading themselves into her dark hair, whilst her own explored the tunic across his chest, looking for the limits of the cloth. She pressed herself against him, feeling herself blush as she realised that she wished for a deeper intimacy than this current embrace and felt what she believed to be his own body's desires for the same.

Breathlessly she drew back from him to ask another question. "Should we wait until you have the Order's blessing to continue this?"

"Until you're ready," he corrected gently. "I don't want to rush this, however uncertain the future might be."

"I don't want tonight to be our only time," she said softly. "But I hadn't envisaged you leaving my sight until tomorrow morning either."

"Nor I you," he replied. "We'll just have to exercise some restraint then," he proposed before kissing her once more.