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“You scared?”
Ezra stares at her incredulously. “You suicidal?”
Ahsoka grins widely at him, eyes laughing. “Only in the morning,” she says. “Now what?”
Ezra turns to look at the stairs. “Now comes the guy,” he tells her. “He comes from the museum up there, he’s a curator. Seems to be Palpatine’s boy toy, but the guy never spends the night so I’m not sure.”
Ahsoka nods, shoveling a handful of nuts into her mouth, eyes scanning their surroundings.
“Oh, here he comes,” Ezra sighs dreamily. “Man, this is my favourite part of the day.”
He appears at the top of the stairs, wearing dark tailored slacks and a loose silk red shirt, the top buttons undone to expose just a taste of deliciously tanned skin. There’s a thin chain resting on his collar bones, dipping down below the line of his shirt and highlighting the long arch of his neck. His curls catch the light, turning them golden as he walks down the stairs with a confident swagger and pouty lips. Those blue eyes don’t even notice them as he saunters through the lobby, completely unaware of the looks he’s getting.
“I’m still not sure if we can use him yet,” Ezra says as the guy walks past, not noticing how Ahsoka quickly turns to hide her face. “Actually, I don’t even know his name.”
Ahsoka sighs heavily. “Anakin,” she grounds out, knowing things have gotten so much more complicated. “His name is Anakin.”
+
It starts with a game miles too easy for either of them, an idea too crazy to even consider, and a charming smile too good at getting what it wants.
Obi-Wan Kenobi saunters back into her life four years after she’d last seen him with a gleam in his eye and exactly the right offer to lure her back in. He looks the same as he did before he went to jail, as if those years didn’t even matter, and she finds herself wondering if he’s changed at all. They scam a few thousand dollars from those rich kids and he tells her what he’s planning.
“I need a reason, Obi-Wan,” she says, searching his face. “Why do this?”
“Because the house always wins,” he grins, his crisp accent making the words sound so enticing, “unless when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big and take the house.”
She feels her lips twist up into a smile. “Been practicing that speech?”
“Only for the past few years,” he smirks, and she knows she’s all in.
+
They’ve got to put together a team. Luckily, they know all the people crazy enough to join them.
+
Bail Organa grumbles and grouses at them, telling them he’s not interested and that they’re idiots in the same breath. They’re told in no uncertain terms that they’ll fail spectacularly, that they should know better and that he likes them and all but they’ll have to do this without him.
“Just out of curiosity,” he calls as they walk away, “which casinos are you targeting?”
Obi-Wan glances at her with a small smile. “Oh, it’s the Suprema, the Maximus, and the Imperial,” he says casually, as if he’s not dropping a bomb on Bail.
“You’re going after Palpatine?” he squawks. “What have you got against Sheev Palpatine? He took my casino, ruined my business.” He eyes them over the rim of his sunglasses. “If you’re going to do this, you better goddamn know what you’re getting into.”
Obi-Wan and Ahsoka exchange a smile.
+
“Mace is in, he’s already putting in a transfer,” Obi-Wan tells him. “Drivers?”
“We’ve got the Fett twins,” Ahsoka says. “I rang them up, they’re looking for something to do.”
Obi-Wan laughs. “I’ve missed Cody and Rex. What about electronics?”
“Secura works mostly freelance lately,” Ahsoka says. “As good as she’s ever been.”
He nods. “Quinlan’s in town,” Obi-Wan suggests, raising an eyebrow when Ahsoka snorts.
“We’ll need to dig him out of trouble first.”
For their grease man, Obi-Wan’s unimpressed look disappears in about two seconds after seeing Barriss move. Ahsoka has to suppress a grin.
“We’re going to need Yoda.”
“He won’t do it, he’s retired.”
“Did he get caught?” he asks cheekily.
“No,” she tells him, “he got ulcers.”
+
They find Yoda at the dog track, as old and as cranky as ever. It only takes three minutes for her to see the interested gleam in his eyes and she knows they’ve got him.
Then it’s her and Obi-Wan in a bar and he’s saying, “Ten ought to do it. You think we need one more? You think we need one more. Alright, we’ll get one more.”
And that’s how Ezra comes in.
Young, fresh-faced, and as Ahsoka later comes to realise, fond of spending his afternoons drooling over Obi-Wan’s ex-husband. For his own safety, she keeps that last bit a secret.
+
She should have known. She should’ve goddamn known .
Ahsoka tries to contain her fury long enough to drag Obi-Wan outside so the others can’t hear them.
“Tell me it’s not about him,” she says, “or I’m leaving right now.”
“About who?”
“ Anakin ,” she snarls. “Tell me it’s not about screwing the guy who’s screwing your husband.”
“ Ex- husband, and they’re not screwing,” Obi-Wan snipes at her. “And it’s not about that.”
There’s a long pause.
“Okay, it’s not all about that.” He sighs. “Remember when we started doing this, we said we had nothing to lose. Well, I lost something - someone.”
Ahsoka softens slightly, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder. “And now you’re trying to get him back?” She sighs. “Obi-Wan, if things go wrong, who are you going to choose? Us or him?”
Obi-Wan manages a wry smile. “If everything works out the way it should, I won’t have to choose.”
She rolls her eyes and shoves him, her anger not yet fully dissolved. He bumps her shoulder, a small grin on his face that grows unsure in the dim light.
“How did he look?” he asks quietly.
She sighs again. “Good. He looked really good.”
Obi-Wan says nothing after that.
+
They sit together, later on in the night after everyone else has gone home. There’s a half-empty bottle of whiskey between them and a sad song playing in the background.
“I’m worried he’s better off without me.”
Ahsoka lifts her head, sighing. She’d wondered when Anakin would be brought up, and it’s no surprise that it’s happening now.
“I left him as much as he left me,” Obi-Wan continues, fiddling with his glass. He’s always been a confident man - though not arrogant - but even the thought of Anakin is enough to draw out his self-doubt. “He asked me to give it up, to try to find a career less dangerous, but I couldn’t give up the thrill of it, not even for him.” He sighs, reaching out to grab the bottle and fill their glasses again. “I didn’t realise that it was him I’d be giving up though, that he was the real price I’d pay for my sins.”
Ahsoka listens in silence, taking a small sip as Obi-Wan struggles to voice his troubles. “I didn’t think I’d ever lose him, so I thought I was invincible. I thought that he’d stay by my side.” He puts his head down on her shoulder, his eyes focused on her fingers as they trace the rim of her glass. “I didn’t know how much I was hurting him.”
+
“You’re late.”
“Yes, I’d say by about four years.”
Anakin’s head snaps up as Obi-Wan slides into the seat, a smile fixed firmly on his face. Anakin stares at him as if he’s seeing a ghost.
“What are you doing here, Obi-Wan?” he grounds out, tension in every line of his body. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Thought I’d pop in, say hi,” he smiles, all easy and casual, completely at odds with the intensity in his eyes as they scan Anakin’s face. He drinks him in, because the last four years were a drought and Anakin is the first few drops of rain on his face. He takes in the fine clothing, the elegance clinging to the hard planes of his body and finds himself missing the dungarees with the ripped knees and that yellow t-shirt full of holes that Obi-Wan hated but Anakin always insisted on wearing. “Did you miss me?”
Anakin snorts, leveling a glare his way. “No, I didn’t - I still don’t, so please leave.”
“Four years locked away and this is the welcome back I get,” Obi-Wan sighs. “I’m hurt, darling.”
“First of all, you’re not welcome back,” Anakin snarls. “Second, you’re not the one who was hurt, and third, I’m not your darling anymore, or did you not get the papers?”
Obi-Wan’s smile drops, his eyes tracing the lines of anger and resentment on Anakin’s face. “I never meant to hurt you, Anakin,” he says quietly.
Anakin laughs, but it’s mean and vicious and full of pain. He rubs at his chest through his shirt, fingers circling some sort of pendant hidden under the material. His fingers are clean, missing the flecks of paint that had always adorned them. Obi-Wan distantly wonders if he paints anymore. “You never mean anything, Obi-Wan.”
“And Palpatine does?”
He gets another glare thrown his way. “He’s honest with me in a way you never were,” Anakin says, his jaw tight. “He doesn’t lie to me.”
“No, he uses half-truths and lies by omission,” Obi-Wan counters. “Because that’s the kind of world he lives in, that’s how he thrives.”
“So, what? You think you’re better than him, because you’ll lie about stealing but tell the truth about lying?”
Obi-Wan watches him for a long moment. “Tell me, Anakin,” he says, “does he make you laugh?”
And oh, there’s so much bitterness there in Anakin’s eyes, so much anger still simmering within him, when he says the words, caressing the syllables as if that’ll take away the sting before they pierce Obi-Wan’s heart, “He doesn’t make me cry.”
+
“You’ve been red-flagged,” Aayla says as she hands him the incriminating piece of paper.
“How did this happen?” Ahsoka demands, turning to Obi-Wan, who shrugs, saying, “I have no idea-”
“Oh come on,” Ezra cuts in, a glare on his face. “It’s because he’s been hanging around Palpatine’s boyfriend.” He looks down at his feet when Obi-Wan directs his stare at him. “Ahsoka had me tailing you.”
Ahsoka shrugs, says, “I don’t trust you not to mess this up when it comes to Anakin.”
“Who the hell is Anakin?” Bail demands from the couch.
“My ex-husband-”
“Anakin’s here?” Yoda asks.
They descend into arguing, spiraling until Obi-Wan is off the job and Ezra is taking his place and everyone is left in a mood. The atmosphere is tense as they part ways, all off to ready themselves for later.
“Anakin is with Palpatine now?” Yoda wonders in dismay. “But he’s too tall for him!”
+
Ahsoka smirks into the phone as she strolls through the casino floor. “You try to stop us,” she says, “and we’ll blow it all up.”
She spins lazily and then freezes when she sees Anakin’s unimpressed stare right in front of her. She takes a deep breath, steadies herself. “Mr Palpatine, you can lose $80 million tonight privately, or $160 million dollars publicly. It’s up to you.”
She covers the phone with her hand and tries for a smile. “Hey, Anakin.”
“Snips,” and god doesn’t that warm her chest? “What are you doing here? Where’s Obi-Wan?”
“He’s fine, he said you should go upstairs, actually, watch some TV,” she says easily, as if he’s not staring at her with suspicion. She’s suddenly hit with how much she’s missed him, how much she wants him back in her life.
“Anakin, I -”
Palpatine’s voice cuts her off and then she’s walking away, leaving Anakin alone on the casino floor.
+
Anakin leans against the arm of the couch, eyes trained on the television screen. Obi-Wan, looking roughed up, is walking away from Palpatine, winding him up with his too-knowing smile that’ll get him in trouble someday, that has already gotten him in too much trouble before this.
“What if I told you I could get your money back,” he hears Obi-Wan say, “if you give up Anakin?”
And Anakin’s heart feels like it’s going to burst. Obi-Wan would always say that he wasn’t one for big gestures, that Anakin was the hopeless romantic, and yet here he is, robbing a casino to try to prove that Anakin’s with the wrong man. Anakin knows what Palpatine will do, what choice he’ll make, and yet it doesn’t hurt like he thought it would.
He grabs his coat and leaves the room, his heart racing as he steps into the elevator. The doors ting when he reaches the ground floor and he stops, staring straight at Palpatine’s face.
“Save it, Sheev,” he says, brushing past him roughly, not giving him a chance to speak. “It’s like you said, there’s always someone watching.”
He walks through the casino, wondering why it’s taken him so long to admit to himself that he hates this place, that he hates the shining opulence and gross displays of wealth so unlike everything he grew up knowing.
He gets to the door, breathing in the fresh air deeply. He looks ahead, sees the freedom of the night sky and wonders if he can leave it all behind - Obi-Wan, Palpatine, all of it. He’s done it before, he’s certain he can do it again.
And yet, he wonders if he wants to. He stands there, mulling it over in his head, but then his fingers reach up to pull at the long chain around his neck.
He tugs it loose from his shirt, exposing the gold ring it holds. He runs a thumb over the initials engraved on the inside of the band. OWK+AS . The metal is warm from where it was resting against his skin, always close to his chest and his heart.
He wonders if it makes him a fool, to still love Obi-Wan after everything. The man clearly hasn’t changed, still scamming and stealing - but not lying, he said. Anakin can feel something in him rising up, that goddamn foolish hope he held onto for years, as he remembers that evening in the restaurant.
Does he make you laugh? Obi- Wan had asked, and Anakin had wanted to cry, Nobody makes me laugh like you do, and no one ever will .
He turns his head, looking towards the valet and sees Obi-Wan, his Obi-Wan, being escorted to a police car. Anakin feels his legs moving before he realises as he breaks into a run.
“Wait!” He shouts. “Hold on a minute!”
He can see the moment Obi-Wan hears him, his head snapping around even as he’s manhandled into the car.
“Stop! That’s my husband!”
The words slip out without his permission but Anakin doesn’t care. He skids to a halt and reaches out to grab onto Obi-Wan. “What - how long will you be gone for?” he asks, eyes wild as they scan Obi-Wan’s face.
“Not long, sweetheart,” Obi-Wan smiles, his shoulders rising in a small shrug. “Maybe three to six months.”
Anakin bites his lip and lifts a hand to Obi-Wan’s face to draw him into a kiss. It’s too short and not enough and altogether too much for Anakin, and he breaks away, chest heaving.
Obi-Wan stares at him, adoration in every inch of his face. His eyes dip down to the ring hanging down the front of Anakin’s shirt, his mouth dropping open slightly. “You still have it,” he says, his voice full of shock.
Anakin says miserably, “Of course I do, Obi-Wan - how could I get rid of it?”
The look he gets is a mix of fondness, guilt, and love, and it makes Anakin’s heart hurt to be the receiver of it. Their moment ends, though, as the police officer pushes Obi-Wan’s head down and into the car.
Anakin steps back, a sick feeling taking over him for a second before his eyes meet Obi-Wan’s through the window. The smile directed at him is one of promise, one that says this isn’t it for them.
Anakin just has to wait.
+
He sits in the car with Ahsoka, the summer sun shining in through the front windscreen. He’s nervous, picks at the frayed edges of the hole in his jeans, his knee jiggling despite his best efforts to stop it.
“Anakin,” he hears her say, and when he looks over at her, she’s wearing a look of apprehension. “I want to ask you something, but I don’t want to pry.”
He gives her a smile. “You’re allowed to ask me anything, Snips. You always can, anytime.”
She smiles at him, nerves forgotten for a second. Then she’s squaring her shoulders and meeting his gaze. “Why did you leave Obi-Wan?”
He mulls it over in his head, trying to figure out the right way to answer. It’s something that he’s asked himself many times, despite always coming to the same answer.
“Because I promised myself I would if he ever went too far,” he tells her honestly. Her eyes widen in shock, clearly not expecting that answer, and he continues. “I remember asking him what I was supposed to do if he ever got in trouble - the kind of trouble he couldn’t talk his way out of - and he laughed and said he’d always be clever enough to work something out for himself. And,” he swallows, realising he’s never said this aloud, “and I realised that he had contingency plans for every heist he pulled, every theft, every scam - but nothing for me. He never thought about what I’d have to do if things went wrong and I didn’t have him anymore.”
He takes a deep breath. “So I told myself that if push came to shove, I’d leave. I don’t need him - I can make a good living by myself, have a nice life where I don’t have to worry about the cops showing up at my door to take my husband in for questioning every other week,” he says, smiling wryly at her before sobering, a wrinkle forming in his brow. “I wanted to make sure that I’d be okay if he wasn’t able to come back to me.”
She looks at him softly, reaching over to take his hand in hers. “I’m sorry, Anakin,” she tells him after a few minutes. “It must’ve been really difficult for you.”
He shrugs, trying for unaffected but falling short. “The thing I realised,” he says quietly, “is that I’m miserable without him either way. I can leave him and run halfway across the world, get away from the trouble he brings with him and still feel my heart breaking, or ,” and here, he sighs deeply, “I can stay with him and be waiting in the car next time he gets out of prison, heart still sore but a little less broken.”
He laughs to himself, quietly and full of disbelief. “Obi-Wan’s not a man you can fall out of love with very easily.” Ahsoka sniggers, even as her hand grips his tightly.
“You know he loves you, don’t you? More than anything in the world?”
He gives her a wry smile and a nod, says, “He better, or I won’t marry him again.”
Ahsoka is still laughing as she gets out of the car and walks to the prison gate.
+
Obi-Wan closes the door to the hotel room quietly after Ahsoka leaves, leaning his back against it as he watches Anakin fall onto the bed with a tired groan. Obi-Wan makes his way over, sitting down beside him, close enough to be able to run his fingers through those golden curls. He leans in slowly, hovering over Anakin until he smiles up at him and only then does Obi-Wan softly kiss him.
“I lied,” Anakin whispers eventually, once Obi-Wan pulls away. “I did miss you. Everyday.”
“Do you think we’ll ever go back to what we were?” Obi-Wan asks quietly as he moves to press kisses to Anakin’s neck.
“No,” Anakin sighs, tilting his head back to expose the long line of his throat. “But I don’t want what we had. We deserve better than that.”
Obi-Wan pulls back to look Anakin in the eyes. His throat is clogged with emotion and he struggles to respond, so overcome with feeling for the beautiful man he loves.
He can’t help himself. “I love you,” he gasps, pulling Anakin into a rough, desperate kiss. “I never stopped loving you, not once. I thought about you every day - I’d have gone mad without you, darling.”
He can taste Anakin’s tears as he returns the kiss fiercely. “I love you too, Obi-Wan,” he pants. “Did you think I’d ever stop? That I could? Or that I’d ever want to?”
“I wouldn’t have blamed you, my dear,” Obi-Wan says as his hands are pulling at Anakin’s shirt. “You had every right.”
Anakin wriggles as it comes over head, pulling Obi-Wan close as the shirt lands on the floor somewhere. “Never, Obi-Wan, I could never stop loving you.” He presses a bruising kiss to Obi-Wan’s lips. “You’re the only one for me.”
And they know they’ll fight in the morning, old hurts bubbling to the surface along with scars that never could fully heal. But now, right now, they can only drink each other in again, making up for the lost years and relearning what they never thought they’d forget.
Obi-Wan groans, pressing Anakin down into the bed. “Marry me,” he gasps out. “Marry me again, my love.”
Anakin manages to laugh through the kisses and the hands on his body. “Yes yes yes,” he chants, an ecstatic smile on his face as he agrees to marry the love of his life for a second time.