Soulmarks are practically a thing of the past. Only a few human planets still have significant populations of people who bore them. Other species tended to look at them with a bit of pity. Many considered markings sacred, like the Mirialans who considered the idea of being marked without consent to be blasphemous. Even cultures both human and other who had arranged marriages saw them as unfortunate. A marriage could be arranged around a community’s social needs.
There wasn’t even a way to predict when they’d show up. A person could be happily married and love their partner(s) and all of a sudden a mark showed up, throwing the idea of free will and established families into uncertainty. Plus the known galaxy was so vast that it seemed almost cruel to saddle someone with a partner they’d never meet. Most scholars on the subject agreed that Soulmarks indicated a kindred spirit, and those with corresponding marks had to work out the nature of their relationship as it wasn’t historically romantic or sexual by default. However others argued that the strongest human empires and achievements had been made by Matched pairs, or on rarer occasions, Matched polyamorous spouses. Though as fewer humans began to develop Soulmarks and technology and the galaxy moved on, less thought was given to such things.
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Anakin Skywalker had certainly never thought about Soulmarks. He’d spent his first nine years as a slave and slaves didn’t fantasize about such romantic notions. Then he was learning to be a Jedi as a padawan with a very sad Master.
Obi-Wan tried, he really did. But he’d been practically forced to take Anakin after losing his own Master, something new Knights didn’t do. And Anakin knew all about what it was like to know your fate was pushed on you against your will.
Their first few years together weren’t spent going on many missions. Anakin was behind on nearly every subject the Temple deemed important to future Jedi. Years behind. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t read. He could speak three languages and build droids but he was mocked by Temple Younglings who were fluent in reading and writing in Basic from a young age. So many of those years he’d spent embarrassed, hiding away with datapads and forcing himself to learn what Master Plo Koon was kind enough to teach him when he wasn’t on missions. He couldn’t bare the thought of bothering Obi-Wan by making him teach an illiterate slave. Obi-Wan was a great Jedi, not some charity school worker.
Anakin was quick to pick up Martial Arts and strong with the Force but slower to pick up reading or to understand why something in Galactic History was so important when it only mattered to a few people in the Core. So he was picked on, and learned to fight back.
After two years of life going at more or less that pace, he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to be a Jedi. He hardly ever heard from his mom. He’d learned to read and had some muscle from combat but no friends. His happiest moments were few and far between, like finding his Kyber crystal in the cave and constructing his ‘saber. He’d gone on a trip with younglings who didn’t yet have Masters. They didn’t speak to him but that was fine with Anakin. He’d had visions in the cave, like so many did. Losing his mother, Obi-Wan telling him he couldn’t be his padawan anymore. He’d almost lost himself to despair but he remembered getting lost in the harsh deserts of Tatooine, surviving beatings by Watto, and then seeing his breath crystalize in front of him. He was here. Loss hurt but he would stand on his own. His mother had raised him alone and he could find his own path. Then he’d seen the little crystal glittering and had run back to the entrance. His was bigger, more gray-ish than the blues of the others but he didn’t care. It was his. Despite being gifted with machines he didn’t rush to build his lightsaber. He took his time, carefully considering what he’d need out of his weapon. Obi-Wan accused him of not doing things with intent too frequently but he had to get this right.
He’d spent hours reviewing schematics, afterall. By the time the ship got back to the hangar he was done. His ‘saber had a longer than average hilt, made necessary by the very slight curve to the handle. It was still rounded enough to fit comfortably in his palm but more natural for stances like those in Jar Kai if he ever made a second one. Obi-Wan had been very proud of Anakin’s design and bright orange blade.
His ‘saber and sparring with Obi-Wan were his only moments of happiness. Not that he was supposed to want happiness. So he guessed that was convenient.
Then Ahsoka became part of his life. She was younger but only by two years. They’d shared some classes but he was twelve before they became friends. A few older younglings were ganging up on Anakin who was still small for his age after a lifetime of inadequate access to food. They were coming out of a class on Core Diplomacy which was one of the few subjects Anakin was still behind in.
A Rodian boy, a human girl who was nearly too old to be chosen as a padawan, and a Twi’lek girl with blue skin were making snide remarks about how bad they felt for him, a kid from the Rim given a great Master when his accent was sure to offend any politician in the Core. Perhaps the Council was just setting him up to fail to appease the memory of Qui-Gon Jinn.
Anakin knew better than to strike out at someone from the Temple in anger but he was at his wits’ end with the Temple. He felt the unhappy darkening of the Force around him and tried to take a deep breath.
“Hey! How about you worry about finding Masters yourselves instead of picking on other kids. None of you would last two seconds on the Rim!”
The group seemed stunned that anyone had stood up on Anakin’s behalf. Frankly so was Anakin. Initially he’d been angry and told her he could take care of himself but she’d only shrugged and said he shouldn’t have to.
Obi-Wan seemed happy he had a friend, though the man still spent most of his time alone.
However at thirteen missions became more frequent. Anakin lived for them. Even boring missions meant time away from the Temple, practicing piloting or other skills and meeting new people. And it meant Obi-Wan wasn’t as sad. They laughed more on missions, learned to trust each other. And at the Temple Anakin spent his time with Ahsoka and Master Plo Koon, who was fond of both of them.
When Anakin was fifteen he woke up in the middle of the night to a burning sensation on his left forearm. It wasn’t painful exactly but worrying. He turned on his light to find a Soulmark of all things. There on his arm was a simple but elegant design in black, red, and orange. A winding outline of a phoenix, the mythical birds of Tatooine. Unpredictable, powerful, capable of rebirthing themselves, and of returning those lost in the deserts to their homes.
At first he was thrilled. There was someone in the galaxy who was like him somehow. But what if he ever found them? He couldn’t be with them. The Council didn’t make allowances for that. Would he give up the life of a Jedi to love someone? The thought tore at him. He had no idea what to do.
In the morning he found Ahsoka and brought them to a secluded spot in the gardens.
“What are you up to? You’re sneaking around like a crecheling out after curfew!”
“Something happened! I don’t know what to do about it!”
“Okay, so what happened?” He appreciated that she was truly concerned.
He pulled his sleeve back and showed her. “Wait. You got a tattoo?”
“No, Ahsoka. I didn’t get a tattoo.” He sighed in frustration and her eyes went wide.
“Oh gods! Really? I thought humans hardly get them anymore.”
“They don’t. I guess I just got lucky,” he huffed sarcastically, pulling the sleeve back down.
“What are you going to do? Try and find who else has your mark?”
“I don’t know. What if I do find them? Then I have to choose between them and the Jedi.”
“But what if you don’t love the person like that? Not all marks are about romance, right?”
“I think having a Match violates the idea of treating all life with equal compassion.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess it would.”
Anakin sighed. He still loved his mother even though he was nearly certain the Council was interfering with his ability to send holo messages to her. He hadn’t seen her via holo in over a year and he’d grown almost two feet since then.
“You could ask Master Plo. He might know how to handle it.”
Anakin considered it but he wanted to ask someone who might have more familiarity. “I’ll ask Obi-Wan. He’s human too so maybe he knows more about how Jedi with Soulmarks deal with it.”
“Okay. Comm me if you need anything.” Ahsoka hugged him and he held her tightly, feeling her smooth lekku against the back of her head and wishing briefly that he was Togruta or Mirialan or any species that didn’t get soul marks.
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Luckily Obi-Wan was home, going over mission reports to be submitted to the Council.
“Padawan, something on your mind?” Obi-Wan could likely feel his unease in the Force.
“Yes, I need to talk to you about something.” He rarely called Obi-Wan ‘Master’, the word having a dark connotation after life on Tatooine.
“You sound serious. Come, sit,” Obi-Wan indicated the soft couch in the room and stood to make them tea. It was some kind of lemongrass blend, from the smell.
When they were both situated on the couch, almost touching knee to knee, Anakin decided to rip the bacta patch off.
“What are Jedi supposed to do if they develop a soul mark?”
Obi-Wan went very still at the question.
“Anakin, are you asking this for historical context or because you’ve developed one?”
Anakin knew he looked miserable. “Both.” There was no point in drawing it out. “Last night I woke up and...it was there, on my left forearm.”
Obi-Wan took a deep breath. “The Archives have much to say on the matter. In older times if a Jedi developed a Soulmark they were allowed a...leave of absence. To give them time to find their Match or Matches and see how they felt. They were given one standard year, typically. Other species also had or continue to have allowed stays away from the Order. Nautolans often need to spend time on their home planet to maintain their neural networks properly. Kel Dor sometimes return to Dorin for a time if they develop respiratory issues from over relying on masks. But leaving for to seek a Match was a bit different.”
“Because it meant maybe not coming back?”
“Yes. It’s not unheard for people to leave the Order. We don’t keep anyone here against their will. But the Code is demanding.” The last bit was said with such an air of sadness.
“It is. But it’s not allowed to take those kinds of leaves anymore?”
“It’s...unclear. It’s been over a century since a human Jedi had a Soulmark appear and asked to leave. Others have written that they felt obligated to ignore it to better serve the Order. Since humans no longer see them as frequently it’s become less of an issue.”
“Why did they stop showing up?”
Obi-Wan frowned. “No one’s sure exactly. Plenty of people have theories. We’ve spread too far across the galaxy to make them feasible or meaningful for many, interbreeding with other species, or that it’s simply a recessive trait.”
“But they always match? If two or more people are Matched then the Soulmarks are identical?”
“There may be some variations in color or placement but yes, they’re otherwise identical. That makes databases easier to keep. They used to be fairly common but then it turned out many were scams, tattooing people with matching marks to make money. Only a handful of such agencies still run in the Core and they’re tightly regulated. You have to do an in person interview, submit for authentication that it’s not a tattoo of some kind, and often pay a hefty fee.”
Obi-Wan was the kind of melancholy he didn’t get much these days. The kind of Anakin’s childhood. Something tugged at his brain. He was sad, and he knew an awful lot about Soulmarks.
“Master. Do you have a Soulmark?”
The auburn haired man smiled in a way that broke Anakin’s heart just a bit.
“I do. I thought, for a brief period of time, that I knew who my Match was. Convinced myself I was in love with them even though they’d never shown that kind of interest in me. I still don’t know if it was really that kind of love or not. It didn’t matter as they certainly didn’t feel that way for me. And before I could tell them, they died. I never found out if they were my Match. The idea of knowing was too much to bear. So I chose to simply keep it covered, not ever look into the Council’s stance on registration or leave of absence, and I dedicated myself to being a Jedi.”
Anakin suddenly understood much more about Obi-Wan than he thought he did. Soulmarks never went away. Even he knew about the tragic plays of star crossed lovers finding their other half already deceased. The idea of his own Soulmark being part of a permanently unfinished whole made his chest ache deeply, even though he’d had it for less than twenty four hours.
As though coming of age and having to deal with tripping over his own long limbs in combat and sitting through uncomfortable lessons on gender, sexuality, and reproductive biology wasn’t bad enough. Now he had a mark further singling him out.
“If I asked the Council for that time, would they let me go?” He couldn’t tell what Obi-Wan was feeling but knew his Master had tightly shut down on the flow of his own emotions.
“I don’t know. They might.”
He couldn’t read the expression in Obi-Wan’s eyes. “Of course I would. I would miss you but if you felt that that was what you needed to do, I would support you.”
Anakin hadn’t realized how much that question meant to him until he found himself hugging his Master. Obi-Wan seemed surprised as he always did at physical affection but hugged him back.
“I think for now, I’ll just think about it.”
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Within a year of the Soulmark appearing Anakin still hadn’t decided. They’d gotten busy with missions, sometimes going with Master Plo who had taken Ahsoka on years ago. Those were the best. He and Ahsoka pushing each other to work harder, be faster, more resourceful. And Obi-Wan and Plo always there when they needed them. Separatists were gaining ground and all out war was nearing. Missions that year became longer, left more scars both physical and mental.
Then they were assigned to a mission on Naboo, with Senator Amidala. Something in Anakin thrilled at the prospect of seeing the beautiful and brilliant Senator again. He had to stop himself from smiling in the elevator as Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and huffed fondly.
She was still so beautiful, all these years later. He ended up getting time alone with her and thanked his lucky stars. But the more time he spent with her the more he realized that even though she was beautiful and fiercely independent like him, something was off. One evening he decided to ask her about it.
“Do you know about phoenixes?” He asked her.
“What? Is that another legend from Tatooine?”
He frowned but pressed on. Maybe she just didn’t know the terminology. “Yeah. Mythical giant birds that can immolate and rebirth themselves. They’re wild and powerful but would sometimes choose humans to save or give great gifts to. I um...knew someone on Tatooine who had a phoenix Soulmark.” Smooth, he though. Very smooth.
But she did perk up at that. “Did you know Naboo has a higher than average population of humans with Soulmarks? No one knows what causes it.”
He figured it was rude to ask someone, but the mission would only last so long. “Do you have one?” He asked, feigning pure curiosity.
She grinned conspiratorially. “I do. I never thought I wanted anything to do with such foolish romantic ideas.” Anakin’s heart was in his throat as she continued. “I kind of hated it when it appeared. Bought ridiculous jewelry to keep it covered.” Anakin could sympathize. He had a thin black sleeve of fabric he used under his robe so no troops or anyone else would see it until he was ready to show them. “But then I met him! I wasn’t even looking, Ani and I met him!” And his stomach turned to lead.
“You...you found your Match?”
“I did. I haven’t told anyone else yet. Not even my sister. Please keep my secret for now? Once things are a bit more stable we’re going to marry.” She was still grinning, almost childlike in her excitement and happiness.
“Of course I’ll keep your secret,” he said stoically. He was worried about crying only...things would have been so much simpler. He could have loved her, left the Order. Perhaps that was naive. But if anyone deserved that happiness, it was Padme.
“I, I have one, too. I don’t know. I’m starting to think I should just have it removed, or cover it the rest of my life.”
“Don’t say that. If you want to find your Match, you should try.”
“I can’t just leave the Order with Separatist attacks happening. I’d be abandoning everyone. Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Plo, the troops we’ve trained.”
“The attacks are pretty easily contained now, aren’t they?”
“They...seem so, yes. But that could change.”
“Anakin. If it’s important to you, really important, then you can’t put your life on hold. I can tell this means a lot to you. I’ve never seen you this upset over anything. Not even leaving your mother behind.”
Anakin had to concede that. He’d allowed distraction and false hope but now...he had to know. He had to know he’d tried.
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“You seem very subdued. Did you not enjoy your time with the Senator?” Obi-Wan asked from the co-pilot’s seat of the small ship they were taking home.
“I did. She’s a good friend. I….realized things through talking to her.”
“Things you want to share?” Obi-Wan was looking at him curiously, clearly expecting that they’d had sex. Time to abandon all pretense then.
“Padme, she told me she has a Soulmark. And that she’s found her Match.”
“Oh. My. That’s quite something.”
“Yes. And I’m happy for her, I am. I just...I don’t think I can ignore my Mark any longer. I need to know if there’s someone out there that...could maybe just see me and be happy with that.”
“Anakin,” Obi-Wan looked deeply concerned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean...I’ve been...propositioned by other padawans at the Temple. But they don’t care who I am. They grew up at the Temple and sex is...different for them. They approach it like they don’t care. On Tatooine, romance and love and sex, those were things we just hoped weren’t taken from us by force. No one in the Order has ever seen someone who used to be an illiterate slave and thought they saw something of worth. Except you. I know you don’t see me like that but…”
“But your early years were difficult, and I was hardly the guardian you needed.”
“It doesn’t matter. I was raised right, raised strong. But I think this might mean a great deal to me. I think I have to go.”
“Anakin, I said it before and I meant it. I would never stop you. No matter what the Council says, I wouldn’t stop you from the destiny you chose.”
“I know, I just-” Anakin gathered the words. Why was this harder than hearing that Padme wasn’t his? “I care about you more than anyone. I don’t want to abandon you. Ever.”
“I know that. You’re young, Anakin. If this is what you are meant for, then it will be. And if not, you’ll be my padawan again in a year, no matter what the Council says.”
Anakin knows somehow, that everything will be alright.
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When Anakin stood before the Council and told them he wanted to leave for a year, he’d just turned eighteen. He’s nearing Knighthood and the Council is quick to tell him that this will set him back, but Anakin, with Obi-Wan at his side, stands firm in his belief that he needs to do this.Master Yoda eventually agreed that he could take leave for a year but any longer and it was implied that he shouldn’t bother coming back. So Anakin found himself hugging Obi-Wan in the Temple hangar. He’d been loaned the use of a small starship to use as he saw fit for the year.“Thank you, Obi-Wan. I’ll let you know if I find anything, I promise.”“I’d appreciate it,” the older man said, looking at the civilian clothes his Padawan was wearing and forcing down the feeling of loss.That night Obi-Wan barely slept, unable to keep his thoughts off the unoccupied bedroom next to his.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first place Anakin went wasn’t a Core planet with a registry but Tatooine. His mother deserved to know what he was up to and why. He found her living with a new owner. He’d been distrustful at first but apparently Cliegg Lars had bought her freedom in good faith and not as a way to continue owning her. And they genuinely cared for each other. It was better than he’d been able to provide for her.Over dinner on his second night at the small moisture farm, just the two of them, he told her why he’d really taken a leave from the Order.“Oh, my boy,” she’d said fondly, hugging him tightly. “That’s wonderful!”
It might be,” Anakin replied, unable to feel the kind of joy elicited in his mother. He still kept the sleeve over it. “It’s a phoenix. I thought maybe it would have something to do with Tatooine but I did some research and lots of planets have legends about phoenixes. But I’m glad you’re happy here. Really.”
Anakin only stayed a few nights on Tatooine but it was good to catch up with his mother and even have a few awkward conversations with his step-brother as they worked to patch up a broken pump one afternoon. His mom is happy and free if not living in the lap of luxury and that’s enough to make leaving the Order for a bit worth it on its own.
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On Corellia Anakin finds an outfit that specializes in matching marked humans. They’re legit though like Obi-Wan warned, expensive. Thankfully Anakin has credits from the Temple and he’ll take odd jobs if he has to.He doesn’t tell the organization that he’s a Jedi. Only that he’s a mechanic with not much formal education to speak of. They photograph his Soulmark and promise that they’ll only show it to other marked humans. Anakin declines to leave a photo of himself to show.After a few weeks he gets a comm from the agency saying they’ve found a possible match. Anakin feels like he’s floating and also like he might throw up. When he gets to the center he finds a young man with light brown skin in the same room as him and an attendant. They’re left alone to show their marks and well...they are very similar, but they’re not identical.The other man’s mark stretches over his right shoulder blade but it depicts a different bird, though the styles are similar.
After Anakin shows his forearm to him the other man laughs a bit.“You’d think they could tell the difference between a phoenix and a Quetzal,” he says. Anakin agrees and they exchange comm frequencies. The other man’s name is Cade and Anakin figures he wouldn’t mind knowing someone else in the area.They get dinner or drinks a few times over the weeks Anakin spends there.
One weekend Anakin tells Cade that he’s on leave from the Jedi Order and Anakin learns that Cade is desperately hoping to avoid an arranged marriage by proving he has a soul mate. His parents are both from wealthy families and his Soulmark appearing had upset their plans, much to his delight. They were insisting that Cade marry a woman even though he’d never found himself attracted to one and despite the fact that any doctor worth their degree could help a same gender pair have children. His parents insisted on ‘tradition’ and Anakin could only widen his eyes in disbelief at how archaic some people still were.“Have you ever been in love?” Cade asks after their third drink. Really, Corellian Rum didn’t get its reputation from nowhere, Anakin supposes.
“No. I think I wished I was in love with someone but it’s for the best that it didn’t work out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t have worked.”
“No, I mean I figured since I know more about your Master than I do about you. You don’t shut up about him.”
“Hey! Not fair! He’s...Jedi don’t get to be close to a lot of people.”
“Okay. But I know about Ahsoka and Plo. But I don’t know what their favorite foods are or how they feel about every vote that comes up in the Senate. I’m just saying...I don’t even know my dad’s favorite meal.”
Anakin took a deep sip of his rum. “Obi-Wan’s not my dad. He’s my Master.”
“That’s what I’m naying-saying, drunky,” Cade replied evenly.Anakin’s features scrunched up. He knew he loved Obi-Wan but not romantically. It was like Ahsoka. Someone who was family. Hell, he’d never think of Ahsoka as someone to date. It would be equally weird to think of...large warm hands and blue eyes and actually what would that ginger beard feel like if-no! That was Obi-Wan. His Master who was the perfect Jedi. Well, Anakin mused, everyone thought he was. Mace Windu might faint if he knew how mischievous Obi-Wan could be when he felt like it. The Great Prank War two years ago between the two of them and Ahsoka and Master Koon had proved that. Wait, he had a point. Right. That he didn’t love Obi-Wan like that.“I don’t love him like that. ‘Sides, Soulmark. Trying to find my Match.”“So Obi-Wan doesn’t have a mark?”“He does.”“Oh. Sorry, mate. What’s it of?”“No idea.”“Wait. Your own Master has a mark and you two didn’t think to just check in about what yours were before you left? What if he’s your match?!”“That would be so unlikely! Practically impossible!”“You are both idiots.”“Shut up and drink.”-----------------------------------------------------------------
After a few more weeks Anakin realizes he’s nearing two months of being gone from the Temple. He leaves Corellia to visit a few more Core Matching agencies but stays in touch with Cade. He thinks about calling an end to his search. Taking the odd mechanical job while he sits on his ass and waits for comms feels silly. Plus Obi-Wan is out on missions and Anakin worries that he might get hurt. Master Yoda is to comm him if things with the Separatists escalate but still, Obi-Wan is doing important work and Anakin is...not with him. It feels all wrong.
On Alderaan Anakin has dinner with Bail Organa and it’s nice because it almost feels like being back with Obi-Wan. On missions, he means. He hasn’t quite been able to shake the idea of seeing Obi-Wan as something more than just his Master since that night with Cade.On Alderaan he also gets another call about a possible Match. The other person is a woman with red hair that reminds him of Obi-Wan. But it’s neither a match nor even a pleasant meeting. As soon as Anakin enters the room the woman demands to “see your mark so we can get this over with.” Back on Corellia he tells Cade that he’s considering abandoning the pursuit of a Match.“No! Don’t leave me! Besides, shouldn’t you make the most of your time away from the Jedi?”“And do what? I miss Ahsoka and Obi-Wan.”
“I bet you miss one of them more.”
“No you won’t. You’d have to drink alone, then.”That gets a laugh out of Anakin.“But seriously, Cade. I’m wasting my time here playing with with speeders and drinking rum with you. It’s time for me to go back.”
“Alright, if you must. But don’t stop answering my messages just because Jedi life gets busy.”
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When Anakin returns seven months early he’s not expecting Obi-Wan to be at the Temple. He’s also not expecting the way his eyes find his Master’s immediately upon entering their rooms to send a thrill through his chest.He hugs Obi-Wan tightly, glad to be back with his Master. Ahsoka and Plo are out on a mission and for now it’s just good to be home.“Did you miss the frontlines that much?” Obi-Wan laughs, still holding onto Anakin’s larger frame.“What can I say? Civilian life is boring. Plus I can’t have you getting into trouble without me. It wouldn’t be right.” Obi-Wan hugs him tighter at that.
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Two months after he’s been back, Anakin gets a holo from Cade. It’s a message as he’s on a ship full of clone troopers with Obi-Wan and they’d been busy fighting back Separatists but it was a particularly satisfying victory.Obi-Wan is in the mess hall when Anakin plays the message in their cramped shared quarters.“Anakin, hope you’re doing well. You won’t believe it, well, you will because of how you know me, but I Matched! I met my Soulmark Match! He’s wonderful! We don’t know each other very well yet and my parents are livid which is also wonderful but we’re going to start spending loads of time together-”Anakin missed a few words as he heard Obi-Wan enter the bunk.“-and who would have thought I’d find my Match after so long! Can’t wait to meet you for that drink!”And the message ends.
“Obi-Wan!” Anakin beamed. He looked up from the holo to see that his Master looked as though he might be sick. “Obi-Wan, what’s wrong?”
“Wrong? Nothing’s’ wrong.”
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I’m fine. I didn’t realize that you were still pursuing matters from your leave of absence.”
“I guess I should have them take me off the lists, I just didn’t think about it.”
“Yes, well. I assume you’ll inform the Council you’re leaving then?”
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I’m not happy for you-”
“Master, stop. I don’t understand. Why would I be leaving? I came back here of my own free will.”
Obi-Wan sighs deeply. “Yes, but that was before you’d Matched.”
“What?!” Anakin squawks before he recomposed himself. “I haven’t Matched!”
“But the holo- that young man said he was your Match and you were meeting for drinks.”Realization hits Anakin hard sometimes.
“I-Oh! No, Cade is my friend from when I was gone. He and I were a possible Match but well, we didn’t actually Match. He commed to tell me he finally found his though. He’s really excited because it was the only way out of a terrible arranged marriage.”Anakin can’t remember seeing Obi-Wan look so visibly relieved.
“Oh. Um, I, that’s good then. Good.” He can’t remember the last time the other man stammered, either. “Obi-Wan. I knew what coming back meant. And I did it anyway. I’d rather fight droidekas with you than hang out in the Core bored out of my mind without you any day.”
Slowly Obi-Wan takes his bunk on the other side of the small room. “I shouldn’t have assumed. Though it would be your decision, either way.”
“I made my decision. Just like you made yours. Though it’s funny. Cade said that I was an idiot for leaving without knowing if you and I were Matched.” Obi-Wan huffs from his bed a few feet away. “You’re not. I’d feel sorry for anyone Matched to me. All I tend to bring people is disappointment.”
“That’s not true at all! You’re a great Master and my best friend. Also we are the winners of the Great Prank War that inspired what will be at least three generations of younglings.”
“There is that,” Obi-Wan grins back.And suddenly Anakin’s heart is beating very quickly in his chest and something in him has to know so that he can lay this to rest forever. He has to be sure.“I think I may get my Soulmark removed after all though,” he says carefully in the low light of their room. “I mean the forearm is kind of an annoying place for the flowy tail feathers of a phoenix.”
Obi-Wan freezes. “What did you say?” He asks in a clear, low voice that’s typically used for dangerous situations. Anakin swallows nervously. “Just that it’s kind of hard to hide all the time. The tail feathers go on forever, I mean.” Obi-Wan stands and Anakin thinks he’ll leave but he doesn’t. Then Obi-Wan is pacing in the small space between their beds.
“Master? Master is that-are we?”Obi-Wan stops and turns to Anakin like a Felucian jungle cat of some kind about to pounce.“I-my mark is a phoenix. Can you show me yours? Please, Anakin?”Nothing has ever been easier. Anakin stands and pulls his robe sleeve up and the extra inner sleeve down to his wrist, showing his phoenix with red and orange accents. Obi-Wan stares and then touches it, gently and with only his fingertips.
“Obi-Wan, are they the same?” Anakin rasps out. Without a word Obi-Wan turns his back to him and kneels, rolling up the leg of his right pants leg. And there is phoenix that Anakin knows only too well. Obi-Wan’s is larger, with the red accents in different places but there’s no doubt that they’re Matched. Holy Sith spit, they’re Matched.Obi-Wan turns back to Anakin and Anakin does what he realizes he should have done before he ever left Coruscant in the first place.
He slides one hand into the short hairs at the back of Obi-Wan’s hair and pulls him into a kiss. It’s slow and perfect and he’s very grateful for the fact that they don’t stop there.They spend a solid amount of time touching and tasting each other’s Soulmarks, murmuring and laughing against skin. At one point Anakin licks a stripe up the back of Obi-Wan’s leg and then lets himself taste and touch so many other parts of his lover.After bruises are left in each other’s skin and promises are made and sweat cools Anakin reflects that Cade was right. They are both idiots. But it works out because they ended up deserving each other.
