you pulled me into focus; closed;

[kanyounot]

WHO: Kanan and Hera.
WHERE: A park in Heropa.
WHEN: November 30
WHAT: LOOK, sometimes a guy and his lady friend just want to enjoy a picnic in the park, okay????
WARNINGS: Mind-numbing, tooth-rotting cuteness.

It's a beautiful day in Heropa, not too humid or hot, with a nice breeze blowing through the trees, so it really makes perfect sense that Kanan and Hera would decide to take their evening meal outside. The park where he likes to practice his lightsaber forms has lots of nice, soft patches of grass, with shade from the sun, and a blanket underneath them while they eat sandwiches and fresh fruit - a lot of fresh fruit.

Kanan leans back on an elbow, licking sticky juice from his fingers and enjoying the feel of the lowering sun on his face. "You know, this might actually beat Rion," he comments lightly to his partner.

Comments

[phoenixleader]

It's nice, to be able to take a break like this. Maybe it's the fact she's finally gotten used to the war being on hold, or that there was nothing left to fight. Just her, and Kanan, and this peaceful world.

Her hands pluck a piece of fruit from the basket he's prepared- a "strawberry", and she smiles up at him. Her lekku are crossed twice over, something she rarely does in public. But here and now? Well, it's not like anyone would know just how publicly she's declaring her love for him.

"I think you and I remember Rion very differently." She teases, offering up a piece of fruit for him to try.

[kanyounot]

His own mask is discarded, leaving his scarred face unguarded, a smile playing at his lips as he turns his head towards her voice. Something touches his lips and he opens them, biting at the strawberry with a hum. They are a pretty good food for a romantic picnic. Boyle had the right idea there.

"The parts where we weren't being shot at were great," he says around a laugh. "And that sunset..."

He trails off on the memory.

[phoenixleader]

"Sunset? I was a little too busy driving that speeder to appreciate it." She laughs, teasing him with gentle strokes against his cheeks, her fingers sticky with the juice of the fruit. But Rion had been breathtaking, when she could stop and appreciate it. The first time in her career she had really found herself slowing down enough to look- really get a good look- at Kanan as more than just her co-pilot.

"Although I would love to know where exactly you came up with a promise ring at such short notice. Were you planning the whole 'married to throw off suspicion' plan all along or was it spur of the moment?" Was that even Rion? In those early days, with just him and chopper, a lot of their missions blended together.

[kanyounot]

"Please, you could drive a speeder with your eyes closed," Kanan murmurs, shifting closer to her almost unconsciously at her touches. And one of the first missions where they actually had to confront the feelings between them - at least on some level.

"You know I never plan anything that far in advance," he points out. "I probably saw it in a holo once. They fell for it, didn't they?"

Now he's wondering what happened to that ring.

[phoenixleader]

"Could, but not a particularly good idea." She leans up to steal a kiss from her partner's lips, leaning her head against his shoulder after. The sunset is beautiful, and it does pull her back- not to Rion, but Atollon. The sun setting before he left for Malachor.

There's a soft pang in her heart at that as she feels the scarred flesh graze against her lekku, as she realizes that for Kanan, there won't be any more sunsets to share.
"... It does sound like an old Republic holodrama. 'My wife the separatist spy' or something like that."

Gently, she takes his hand. He doesn't need to know that that ring's tucked away in her quarters on the ghost. One of the few mementos she keeps.
"... This sunset's like one of Sabine's paintings, you know. Heavy on the purples and dark pinks." She takes his hand to guide him, tracing lines across the sky.

"Here, dark purple. There's a couple of the first stars of the evening, too. Right here, and here." She guides his hand and points them out, index finger atop his so he can 'see'.

[kanyounot]

Kanan hums a little, relaxing fully onto the blanket as they settle close. It's quiet, peaceful, comfortable. Talking about everything, and nothing. Hera's always a steady presence, warm and welcoming next to him.

A small pang in his own chest as she takes his hand, begins describing the sunset. He doesn't even have to ask - she understands. She can help him paint a picture in his mind of what his eyes can no longer see.

"Her abstract period," he says, smiling at the thought of Sabine and her paintings.

[phoenixleader]

"Her abstract pieces were always so beautiful." Hera agrees with a smile as she traces Kanan's fingers across a line of clouds.
"Here, clouds, they look like tufts of bandages with how the sunset bleeds into them. Soft and puffy. Fading into a smear of pinks and golds." She keeps leading his hand, splaying his fingers like the last rays of the sun.
"The sun is at the very edge of the horizon. And there are buildings jutting out against it." She traces the skyline on the back of his hand with her fingertips. Shadows against the sun. Gold and black, pink and purple, dark blue of night against their backs.

"Their lights haven't come on yet. Or if they have, it's one," a gentle poke against where she had marked a building. "Or two." Another. "Like the stars coming out at night."

[kanyounot]

It's so easy to relax like this, with a nice breeze over them, rustling the grass nearby, and Hera's hand warm against his, and her voice - honestly, this has been true since the moment they first met - Kanan could listen to her talk about anything, and be the happiest man in the galaxy.

And she's gotten good at being his eyes, at painting mental pictures for him, so it's almost like he's seeing it himself and not just having it described. He can see the washes of colors, the wisps of the clouds, in his mind's eye, and as always he silently thanks the Force for bringing their paths together.

"Funny how some of the most beautiful things in the universe are so... brief," he murmurs thoughtfully. "Puts things in perspective."

[phoenixleader]

Brief. She had never really been able to stop and appreciate the beauty of things, the moments that she had with Kanan until he dragged her out of her own head or the Rebellion in order to appreciate the moment. In a way, it's how he'd won her heart- not just the chivalry or courage he showed on the battlefield, but the small spontaneous moments where he'd convince her to go have lunch, or check out a local ruin, or even just stopping to appreciate the fauna.

Force, she loves him. And she knows she's blessed for their paths crossing, for not writing him off as some other pathetic sleemo hitting on her in a bar. For the single impulsive thought that had brought them together all those years ago on Gorse.

"... I love you."

When is the last time she's actually said it? Of course there were obvious signs- the crossing of her lekku, the pet names she called him, the fact that she would give the entire world to spend five more minutes in bed with him in the mornings. The little things like shared touches, soft kisses, staying up all night to just talk.

But none of it compares to when the words leave her lips, and she feels like she's taken a blaster bolt to the chest. Saying it out loud is like some sort of forbidden thing, some superstition that pilots who say it to their loved ones will crash on their next flight.

Gently, she guides his hand back to her entwined lekku as she says it again, this time in Ryl.
"I love you more than words can say."

[kanyounot]

Kanan allows her to guide his hand, caressing her lekku gently as she speaks in her native language. He doesn't know what she's saying, but he has a hunch. He doesn't even bother to ask her to translate.

Instead he smiles, enjoying the contact, the closeness, the intimacy they share after so many years of partnership.

"I love you, too," he murmurs. "Can't imagine my life without you."