Author's Note: This is the last chapter! Don't ask me for a sequel, I'll make Palpatine do a striptease. I swear I will. And nobody wants that! Besides, I'm off in another fandom - Devil May Cry. I'm hot for the twin sons of Sparda! Okay, I'll shut up now...

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The sun has yet to rise, leaving the sky darkened. If not for the artificial neon lights, Coruscant would be cloaked in shadow. Skyline traffic is low, many sentient beings on the planet are asleep and peaceful, excluding one tumultuous man.

In the bedroom of 500 Republica, Anakin Skywalker awakens, cold and shaking, from another half-blurred vision that has him in tears. If Padme was even the slightest Force-sensitive, the terror that has slipped through his shields would have surely awoken her. Though she remains soundly asleep on her side of the bed, completely unaware of her husband's turmoil. And he begrudgingly wishes sleeping next to him was not Padme, his wife, but Obi-Wan, his lover and dearest friend. He loves Obi-Wan. He loves him more than a jedi should, perhaps even more than the woman whom he had married.

Padme Amidala was a beautiful creature, pure and splendid with a natural regal grace. Anakin had nursed his infatuation for many years in the time he was not able to spend with her. He wrote about Padme in his journal everyday and his sense of longing grew exponentially that by the time he finally saw her again, he was convinced that he was in love. Now, in retrospect, he may have been very wrong.

Anakin swallows frantically, his throat having gone dry. He pants, gulping down lung-fulls of air because he can't seem to get enough oxygen. It's as if his nightmare - vision - has physically exhausted him.

.-.-.-.-.

Sobbing.

It's all he can hear. Loud and pained, echoing inside his head. Reverberating off the walls of his skull. He wants to cry too because he can feel the soul-ripping agony and desperation coalescing with his own heart, and he thinks it's going to smother him in its intensity. It's calling out to him, longing for him and despairingly begging for his presence... slowly only for a moment. He hears a raspy, broken voice, hoarse from crying, choke out his name.

"Anakin."

Ice shoots down his spine. He knows that voice and it makes the pain in his chest worsen. He loves that voice and never has he heard it in such complete misery. In pitch blackness and burning heat, he calls out and reaches for that voice in any direction, but all there is, is more and more nothingness.

Then... it suddenly hits him; cries of, "I love you," repeating over and over coupled with an excruciating pain that is reminiscent of limbs being severed...

.-.-.-.-.

Another tear trails down Anakin's face. He hates these visions. They scare him in the worst way imaginable. Anakin looks down at his shaking hands, barely perceivable in the darkened room. The shades are drawn tightly, so not even the bright neon lights of the city are visible. The chronometer reads three fslowlyty-six ante meridiem, Primeday morning. Anakin knows that he shouldn't be awake at all right now, but after his horror infested slumber, he can not possibly continue his rest.

He slides out of bed and quietly treads to the fresher to examine himself closely in the reflectisteel above the sink. His face and bare chest are damp with sweat, his hair is almost matted together in sweaty clumps and his eyes... they're red tinted and puffy. Force, he looks like he hasn't slept in two days - he feels like he hasn't slept in two days - and has been running in addition. Anakin's beating pulse and laboured breathing calms as he stares back at his grotesque reflection. He quickly turns the faucet on and cups tepid water in his hands, splashing it on his tired face, then drinking a few handfuls to ease his dry throat.

The apartment is on the cold side and the perspiration on Anakin's half-naked form is quickly starting to chill him, so he decides that it would be a good idea - a very good idea - to take a scalding shower. He steps into the opaque transparisteel stall after slipping out of his black sleep-pants. The water feels amazing on his cold and aching body, restoring some of his lost vitality. After thirty minutes he's more alert and no longer feels half-dead.

Suddenly, as the water pounds his neck and shoulders, Anakin finds himself in a state of desperate longing. He misses Obi-Wan. Primeday morning is the morning of Obi-Wan's departure - and its arrival is highly unwelcome. Today, Obi-Wan leaves on his own for Force knows how long to a planet made up of dangerous sinkholes to search for the even more dangerous General Grievous.

Anakin vigorously scrubs his body and his hair with cleansing soap that smells very good, and then rinses under the hot, powerful spray. He shuts off the water with the Force and dries himself with a large towel before wrapping it around his waist.

He exits the fresher and silently moves to the large closet, as not to wake Padme, looking for plain civilian clothes. He comes accross black pants, a thin deep blue shirt, and a brown traveling cloak. Anakin drops his towel, shuddering a bit from the cold air that hits his body. He quickly dresses himself, then exits the bedroom, walking to the large sitting room that has its own private landing pad - where his own personal titanium-toned speeder is docked.

Under the cover of nightfall, Anakin steps out onto the landing platform, tugging the travelling cloak around his tightly to block out the cold wind and enters his speeder. He settles in to the driver's seat and activates the controls, then pulls out fast into a lane of traffic, departing 500 Republica in the dead of night. He drives along lane five - the quickest lane - nearly colliding with an oncoming speeder that swerves into the wrong lane.

"Uba karking koochoo!" Anakin yells and freely extends his middle finger.

But the other driver is clearly inebriated and doesn't seem to notice or care about Anakin's expletive or the fact that they nearly killed him.

After a short moment, Anakin reaches the turn-off for the Jedi Temple, where he promptly docks at an empty landing bay that is rarely used. As he gets out of his speeder, a cold breeze plays with his clothes and hair, and he pulls the cloak's hood over his head as he proceeds inside the temple. The halls and corridors are vacant due to the late hour, so no one hinders him on his way. The eerie quietude of the temple reminds him of days long since passed when he himself was a naughty padawan running about after curfew. He cracks a small smile at the thought of a perturbed Obi-Wan finding him hiding inside a clothes bin in the laundry room.

Anakin walks up a couple flights of stairs until he reaches his intended hallway, and eventually his destination. He types in the security code; the door unlocks and slides open of its own volition. The apartment's interior is dark, barely illuminated by the glow of neon lights from the city through a small opening in the living area's curtains, but aided by the Force and familiarity, Anakin moves effortlessly through the room. He's silent and stealth as he opens the door of the bedroom farthest down the hall. He smiles broadly as he walks over to the bed where his master - former master - sleeps soundly. Obi-Wan, shirtless, is sprawled out on his back with a comforter half draped across his body. As soon as Anakin reaches the bedside, Obi-Wan's eyes open. They're hazy with sleep, but fully aware.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asks, "What are you doing here? It's late."

"I had to see you." Anakin admits, face placid.

Obi-Wan nods slowly in understanding and leans his head back on the pillow before running his hand over his face and gently rubbing his forehead. He can feel Anakin's strong desire to climb into bed with him, but appreciates the younger man's refrain. Silently, Obi-Wan slides over to the left side, providing Anakin with plenty of room. Anakin removes his cloak and his shoes and gratefully gets into bed, feeling perfectly comfortable to remain in his pants and shirt as he moves as close as possible to Obi-Wan.

Bodies pressed together and heads resting on a large pillow, Anakin lays an arm across Obi-Wan's mid-section, while his other arm is comfortably caught between their bodies.

Obi-Wan encircles and arm around Anakin's shoulders, hand resting on a firm shoulder-blade, while the other is laying over his closed eyes. Anakin places his warm flesh hand on Obi-Wan's bare torso and leans in to gently run his nose through his master's hair, inhaling the scent that's all Obi-Wan and ruffling a few strands along the way. He then slowly presses his lips to Obi-Wan's cheek, by his ear, leaving a soft kiss. Obi-Wan smiles slightly at the tender affection Anakin was giving him.

Anakin inches his hand down a bit, inconspicuously, until be reaches the waistband of Ob-Wan's sleep pants. His hand slides over the cottony cloth, massaging soft flesh beneath his palm and he knows that Obi-Wan is fully aware of this so-called inconspicuous touching.

"Mm. Feeling frisky, are we?" Obi-Wan asks, with a hint of amusement

coloring his accent.

Obi-wan consents to the groping, spreading his knees a bit farther apart, allowing Anakin better access to his intimate area. Anakin continues palming Obi-Wan's in a most gentle manner as he breathes against Obi-Wan's neck, warm breath fanning out across his master's skin. Obi-Wan keeps his arm over his eyes, almost shyly, as he starts becoming aroused. His breathing is a little uneven and he faintly grunts with each pass of Anakin's naughty hand.

Anakin smiles cheekily as he feels his master's arousal under his touches and Obi-Wan's effort to seem unaffected. As Anakin feels up his master, the contact alone and the deviant thoughts in his head are enough to make himself sexually aroused. He wishes Obi-Wan to know this, so, trying for subtly, he gently presses his clothed groin against Obi-Wan's outer thigh so he can feel his hardness. Without meaning to, Anakin lets out a barely noticeable whimper as he receives more pressure and friction than intended.

"Someone's getting themselves all worked up." Obi-Wan comments as he

feels Anakin trying to covertly hump his leg.

Anakin says nothing, instead breathes a heavy sigh and buries his face in Obi-Wan's neck, licking and kissing the taut muscles and soft flesh. Obi-Wan exhales in a pleasurable manner while Anakin mouths his neck and still massages his nether regions.

"Anakin..." Obi-Wan says softly, unshielding his eyes as he sits up and gently pushes Anakin back a little.

The looks on Anakin's face is of confusion and slight disappointment as he obviously thinks Obi-Wan is in no mood, though the contrary is true. Obi-Wan smiles and adjusts himself, so that he is laying on his side, rather than his back. He takes Anakin in his arms and pulls his apprentice close - former apprentice, Obi-Wan reminds himself, but it doesn't matter. Anakin will always be his apprentice, that almost parental love will always be there. Even slowly Anakin is a knight.

Laying on their sides with their bodies so close, clothed chest to bare chest, Obi-Wan wraps one arm around Anakin's back and slowly leans in for a kiss. Pleased, Anakin meets him halfway, grasping Obi-Wan's jaw in his hands and tilting his head to the side for a deep kiss with half lidded eyes. Obi-Wan eagerly responds, gently nipping Anakin's lower lip with his teeth. Anakin slides his knee between his master's legs to rest right against Obi-Wan's crotch, enjoying the little kiss-smothered groan he receives.

Obi-Wan parts Anakin's lips with his tongue, creating a deep, passionate, open-mouth kiss. Anakin quietly moans at having Obi-Wan's tongue down his throat and lets his hands move from Obi-Wan's jaw to his hair, grasping fistfuls of auburn locks. While keeping Anakin engrossed in the kiss so he won't notice too soon, Obi-Wan slides his hand down the back of Anakin's plain black pants, deft fingers quickly finding Anakin's entrance and pushes into him. Anakin gasps into the kiss at the unexpected penetration, jerking forward, thrusting his groin right into Obi-Wan's, who moans at the welcomed contact, but simply kisses Anakin deeper. Anakin throws a leg up over Obi-Wan's hip, effectively spreading himself wider and making it easier for Obi-Wan to finger him.

Obi-Wan locates a small lump amidst their passionate kissing and rubs it gently before firmly pressing down on it. Anakin breaks the kiss, moaning loudly as he buries his face in Obi-Wan's neck and thrusts his aching erection into Obi-Wan's pelvis. Obi-Wan continues to play with that little lump of flesh, driving his friend crazy with arousal. Obi-Wan feels himself becoming more aroused in the process. He loves torturing Anakin.

"Obi-Wan." Anakin cries and bites into his neck.

Obi-Wan inhales as teeth latch onto him.

"I want you." Anakin warmly breathes straight into Obi-Wan's ear after letting go of his neck.

Anakin reaches down between them to the front of his pants and manages to undo the clasp. Obi-Wan feels Anakin shslowlyting about and looks down between them to see Anakin's naked from his hips down to his knees. Obi-Wan shudders in delight as he shslowlyts his position and removes his fingers from Anakin, so he can climb off the bed. Anakin rolls onto his back, looking at his master as he lifts his legs slightly and, taking the silent cue, Obi-Wan pulls Anakin's pants completely off. Anakin comfortably rests his head on the large pillow behind him and spreads his knees wide before stroking himself slowly in a display for his master. Obi-Wan's eyebrows arch in curiosity as he stands beside the bed and removes his sleep pants, watching his apprentice touch himself the whole time.

Obi-Wan leans over and places his hands on Anakin's hips as he climbs back onto the bed. He crawls up the bed until he's hovering over Anakin. He smiles and brushes a few strands of dirty-blonde hair back off of Anakin's face just before he closed his eyes and leaves a lingering kiss upon those ardour lips. As they part, Anakin looks up into blue-grey eyes and smiles as a pleasant sigh escapes him.

"I wish you didn't have to go." Anakin says barely above a whisper.

Obi-Wan suddenly looks solemn at those words, his eyes downcast. "I know," he says, "I wish that I did not have to go either, or at the very least that you were going with me."

Anakin nods in agreement. "I'll miss you."

Obi-Wan smiles. "And I you." He then engages Anakin in another deep kiss. Those are the last words exchanged between them for the rest of the darkened morning.

Obi-Wan lays on top of Anakin and makes love to him sweetly, roughly, vigorously, passionately; their intimately joined bodies moving together in rhythm to their heartbeats and panting breaths.

Anakin cries out when Obi-Wan's final thrust causes him to orgasm; he shudders and clings to the man above him as he comes, moaning Obi-Wan's name quietly. Through the Force, he can feel Obi-Wan's ecstasy as it overpowers his senses.

Obi-Wan grunts in pleasure as he and Anakin both reach completion and his arms start to give out underneath his weight, so he lets himself lay fully on Anakin, who doesn't seem to mind as he starts coming down from the high of his climax and lovingly cards his fingers through Obi-Wan's auburn hair. Obi-Wan smiles and rolls off Anakin after a long moment of catching his breath.

Anakin sighs and looks over at Obi-Wan in the dimly lit bedroom. He admires everything about the other man; his eyes, his facial features that speak of wisdom and elegance. He notices the change in Obi-Wan's breathing - softer and more even. He's fallen asleep. Anakin scowls lightly at this. He wanted to speak to Obi-Wan and spend time in his presence while he was conscious! A small inkling of irritation passes over him as the feeling of being somehow slighted creeps up. Anakin chastises himself for his haywire emotions, reminding himself that he had woken Obi-Wan in the first after very little sleep.

He lays an arm over Obi-Wan's torso and lets out a yawn. Sleep sounds like such a good idea right now.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It's 7:30 when the chronometer beeps loudly in Anakin's ear, stirring him from a hazy dream that is just beyond the reaches of his memory. He assumes it wasn't a nightmare, because those are so vivid that they haunt him for the rest of the day. Anakin rubs his half-blurred eyes and then notices he's the bed's only occupant. Several un-jedi worthy emotions flare up again - fear, anxiety, worry, more fear. He sits up, throwing the covers off and standing to his feet. Anakin doesn't realise he's wearing no clothes as he wanders the apartment in search of his friend. His tired mind barely picks up the smell of freshly prepared food beyond the living room, in the kitchen.

He quickly heads to the kitchen and sees a plate on the table with a small note on a scrap of flimsy. It affectionately says that Obi-Wan left early and saved some food for Anakin. Then it simply reads, Take care of yourself. I'll be home in a couple weeks. Anakin's panic shoots through the roof and he bolts for the door. It slides open seconds before he reaches it he collides with the person who had just stepped through it.

And Anakin turns a few shades of red when he realises he's just naked-tackled his master to the floor.

"Well, hello there," Obi-Wan says, very amused and slightly flustered.

"Hey," Anakin manages to say, looking away and feeling mortified.

"You weren't planning on running down the hall in your current state, were you?" Obi-Wan teasingly inquires as he appreciatively takes in the view.

Anakin doesn't know how to answer that question. Saying no would be a lie, as he obviously was on his way out the door, but saying yes will just be too embarrassing for a plethora of reasons. Especially since he is mildly aroused at the moment.

Obi-Wan notices this too, commenting about it. "Someone's very pleased to see me."

"Lying naked in your arms doesn't help..." Anakin says indignantly.

"I'm sure," Obi-Wan offered a small smirk, "I do hope you let me up soon."

Anakin lets out a nervous chuckle. It isn't everyday he runs around the apartment with no clothes on... He has every right to feel awkward about it. Anakin stands and help Obi-Wan to his feet.

"Thank you." Obi-Wan says, properly adjusting his robes from their disarray.

"Welcome."

"Now, I came back to collect my data pad and R4 personality modifying chip. Excuse me." Obi-Wan smiles and goes to his bedroom.

Anakin pauses for a minute... R4 personality chip? He laughed. Guess when R2 said R4 was a bitch, he meant it. Obi-Wan returns, Anakin still is the same spot as before.

"You're still not dressed?"

"No..." Anakin ventured, "Should I be?"

"Yes. I thought you'd want to see me off."

"Oh, yeah." Anakin bites his lip and turns to go to his room. He'd totally forgotten about that - though it was the reason he'd been willing to run down the halls naked, so it shouldn't have slipped his mind so easily.

"Yeah. So go put some clothes on and you can walk me to the docking bay." Obi-Wan says and uncharacteristically slaps Anakin on the ass.

Anakin is taken by surprise and lets out a little yelp that sounds far too high-pitched for his liking. "Hornball." Anakin grumbles when he thinks Obi-Wan isn't listening.

Obi-Wan laughs.

He is gonna miss these moments while he's gone.

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~The End~