Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You’re not from here. You’re from another galaxy, universe—another dimension altogether. But somehow you know this place, just like how you know  you’re not dreaming. 

It’s terrifying.

Your smartphone might as well be a flat brick in your hand, lying dormant and useless. And it makes sense, you’re pretty sure Verizon doesn’t work here, but that doesn’t stop you from trying to call someone or anyone you think might be able to help. The phone might as well be on airplane mode, so you switch it to that to save your battery.

Perhaps praying comes easy to you, maybe it doesn’t, yet you find yourself doing so because you are afraid beyond comprehension.

The sun is low in the sky, and the wind blows enough so that the dust and sand swirl around you, blowing your hair in your face. You try to squint past that other light in the sky just above the sun, maybe it’s a glass building? But it’s not; it’s a whole other sun!

You’re on Tatooine?

You must be, so maybe you can find Luke Skywalker! Or another Jedi, but you don’t even know what year it is here, all you know is the plot of the Star Wars saga.

Before you think on this further, you hear some kind of air-craft descend nearby. It looks alien—scratch that, everything looks alien, and you’re smart enough to know that you don’t want to be abducted by aliens. You just want to go home, but you’ve got a bad feeling that’s not an option.

You run, and damn, it’s been awhile since you actually have had a reason to run, and you high key hate it. There is no cover, no escape, and the whirring of the air-craft gets louder and louder. Your ankles hurt from trying to run in the sand, and eventually one of them just gives out on you and you collapse.

The air-craft lands, and you resort to covering your head with your arms and squeeze your eyes shut. Maybe it’s all a bad dream, but your breath hitches and you can’t believe the lie as there are footsteps that make your ears prick. Tears stream from your eyes and you’re too frozen in fear to think about how weak you look to your abductors. You’re just a normal person! Surely you aren’t of interest to anyone?

“Do not be afraid, young one.”

You peek through your fingers to see a man, dressed like a typical Jedi, and he sounds like an Obi-Wan Kenobi type. But you cannot trust that deduction. Just because you’re on Tatooine does not mean that you would run into a Jedi the first hour you’re there. This man could be anyone—

“I don’t think she can understand you, Master.”

“Anakin, she’s clearly terrified, don’t get too close to her—!”

You see boots right in front of your nose, and then you look up and see Hayden—no, Obi-Wan guy said “Anakin” right? Was this the Clone Wars?

He’s smiling at you, and it’s definitely an attempt to calm you down but the grin is slightly eerie. You know who this kid becomes, and he’s borderline psychotic, if not extremely mentally ill. Well, maybe not yet.

He has a weird rat-tail of a braid off of his right shoulder and neither of his hands is gloved nor looks like a Terminator hand. He’s still an apprentice, or what did they call it in Star Wars…?

“Padawan, I’m not sure that’s the best—”

“…Jedi?” You rasp, your voice scratchy from disuse. You clear your throat, “Is this Tatooine?”

Anakin is still smiling, but his eyebrows furrow. “Um, yes.” He pokes your shoulder, straight up pokes your shoulder like you’re some kind of ghost or specimen. You flinch despite yourself.

“Can you take me to Earth please?”

Anakin and Obi-Wan exchange an inquisitive glance. 

“I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with that system,” Obi-Wan, yes it is Obi-Wan Kenobi, says as he kneels next to Anakin in front of you. “And I’m also sorry for my apprentice’s behavior. He should know by now not to poke people—”

“Master, I had to make sure she’s even real. She doesn’t have a Force presence of any kind.”

“I can sense it, too. Quite the anomaly.”

Luckily, they don’t seem hostile but at the same time you never know. “I just want to go home,” you whimper. Seriously, what the hell is going on? You were asleep in your bed one second, and the next you were waking up in a desert wearing clothes that reminded you of what Rey wore! 

Maybe it was like Narnia, and you just walked through a strange wardrobe in your house to a land that needed saving… but that’s wishful thinking. 

(Some might say that’s Mary-Sue thinking—ugh, you’re sure if you were a guy you wouldn’t call it that.) 

“We can help you, but we’re going to have to go back to the Temple,” says Obi-Wan. “Anakin, contact the Council. Tell them we found the disturbance in the Force.”

“I’m a disturbance?”

Anakin laughs, and it seems genuine but you’re still wary of him. “That’s not exactly what you think it means. I thought it was strange when I first heard it, too.”

“Yes, and you’ve been lovely company these past ten years, Padawan,” Obi-Wan grounds out. 

So it seems that the Clone Wars haven’t started yet, Anakin hasn’t gotten all creepy around Padme, and maybe the Separatists aren’t really a thing yet?

But what if this is an alternate universe where the Jedi are all evil…? No, somehow you know that’s not true. The vague understanding that settles over you like a soft wave is oddly convenient, but a comfort to you nonetheless. Going home would certainly be ideal at the moment, however it simply does not seem to be an option. If you can trust that this really is the Star Wars universe, then you can trust Obi-Wan Kenobi (maybe not Anakin Skywalker, though).

“Hey, ah, I don’t… I can’t sense what you’re feeling so can you tell us what you’re thinking there?” Anakin asks. Obi-Wan shoots him a glare, but the younger Jedi only shrugs in response.

“You can help me at the-the Jedi Temple, right?” you say hesitantly. As soon as the words leave your mouth you can’t help but think about how stupid you would sound to anyone back home but here you sound really cool. Okay, maybe not cool, but it’s amazing and terrifying that it is real.

“Yes, young one. And no harm will come to you, I give you my word.” Obi-Wan shoos Anakin to the side and extends a hand down. You examine it, take one last look at your surroundings and then you take his hand.

(It’s time to let old things die.

I did want to take your hand… Ben’s hand.)

Well, you’d never get to meet Rey and Kylo, but the prequels were always the movies you remembered the most of anyway.

Chapter Text

Their ship was tiny, and you grip the arms of your seat with white knuckles as the dusty earth of Tatooine grows smaller and smaller; rather, further and further away. Airplanes are one thing but this…  

The twin suns have almost set completely, and you notice Anakin watching them through the tiny cockpit with a wistful look on his face. Obi-Wan seems oblivious to it, and you’re looking at him too long because now his gaze is cast on you. 

“Were you from there?” he asks.

You shake your head in reply. Your answer does nothing to wipe the sad look off his face—if anything, his brows furrow even more. 

“I was,” he says so quietly it’s basically a whisper. Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow at the two of you, but says nothing. 

You’ve been so engrossed in this conversation that you never even noticed that you’re actually in space right now. Huh, guess space travel isn’t as turbulent as it was back home. When the ship goes to classic Star Wars light-speed, you hardly feel a thing (the jolt freaks you out, but then there is practically nothing else after that).

“I’m from Earth,” you repeat. “But it’s not in this universe I don’t think,” you’re quiet, but they still can hear you.

Anakin sits in the chair next to you, and you flinch.

Okay, Anakin always was one of your favorite characters in the saga (including Darth Vader) but that was because he was fake, his stupid decisions never affected you in real life, so of course you didn’t mind rooting for him. Now that he’s real… well, you’re not too eager to get close to this psycho even if he’s not a psycho yet.

“What do you mean, ‘different universe’?” Anakin asks, his previous melancholy seemingly forgotten.

“You won’t find it here,” you reply. You aren’t quite sure how you left Earth, so you don’t say anything else. Whatever you’d come up with is probably wrong anyways. 

“How old are you?” he asks, and you stifle a laugh. You almost forgot you’re both kids technically, and that is exactly what a kid would ask.

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan scolds, which actually makes you laugh a little.

“Sorry,” he says, wincing.

“I’m twenty. I’m a sophomore in college… not that you both would know what that is, though.” You pick at your cuticles as your voice trails off. But, for the first time since you woke up in this extremely stressful situation, you smile—no midterms for you this week!

“I’m almost twenty!” Anakin exclaims, an you know it’s false by the look Obi-Wan gives him from the pilot’s seat. “Well, I’m nineteen. Just turned nineteen. I’ll probably be knighted soon; I’ll be the youngest Jedi ever knighted. Ever,” he adds for emphasis. He really must not get a lot of attention from people because he’s trying to brag about himself to you and you’re a complete and total stranger. Poor kid, but it’s also a bit humorous (a little annoying, too) that he wants to impress you from the get go.

“You aren’t even close to the trials, my very young Padawan.”

“How would you know?” he snaps, completely missing the fact that Obi-Wan was only slightly joking, but joking all the same. This is the Anakin Skywalker you remember bothering you when you watched the movies. He would lash out for the littlest things, and he always thought that everyone was out to get him. It would eventually make him go mad and he’d become Darth Vader. 

Granted, Obi-Wan was being a bit rude towards the kid; he’d have to be blind to not notice how much Anakin sought validation that he was “the best”. Eventually he would have to learn that no one is truly the best at anything… one ends up just being or doing the best that they can. But even you have a hard time convincing yourself of that sometimes.

You try to change the subject because you’re scared this might escalate into a full-scale argument, and you’re clinging to any sense of normalcy you can find right now. Being with arguing strangers is awkward and uncomfortable. 

“Twenty isn’t all that great… can’t even go to the bars until you’re twenty-one anyways. It’s a huge thing at college.” Talking about home helps you feel less homesick, even if the two of them have no idea what the hell you’re saying. 

Obi-Wan shoots you a half-surprised half-thankful glance but you try to ignore it—you refuse to take sides here. That would be even more awkward.

Anakin seems to think you defended him in some way, and he grins at you. “That sounds exciting! What’s that about?”

You hesitantly proceed to talk about college parties and bars and all the things that get romanticized when everyone else talks about their school—or how it looks to everyone else  when the Snapchat stories you see almost look too staged and posed to be true. But that’s part of the fun of it for some people, you guess.

And that is all completely irrelevant to your current situation, but again, thinking about your mundane problems back home helps distract you from the huge problem staring you in the face.

“We should be dropping out of hyperspace soon.” Obi-Wan flips a couple switches on the dash which must be prepping the ship for its descent to another planet. You still cannot wrap your head around that.

Anakin’s biting the inside of his cheek, and looks at the floor when he says, “I’m sorry I snapped at you, Master. I should be grateful you let me visit my mother on this expedition.”

Wait wait wait. What?

And Obi-Wan accepts the apology as the gears turn in your head, taking in what you just heard. You suppose that the two Jedi being sent to find you on Tatooine never happened in the Star Wars story that you know, but if that changed what else could have changed? Would the mom still die and then make Anakin slaughter “not just the men, but the women and the children too”, or would things be better now? Or worse? Was he getting the vague nightmares again?

(For as much as you love Star Wars, the writing of the prequels is subpar. The characters are great, production was great, plot was decent, but the actual script? Not quite clear.)

With another jolt that had you gripping your armrests again like your life depended on it, the space ship stopped moving at light speed and the city planet of Coruscant was in view. The first thing you note is that the planet is dazzlingly beautiful and looks magnificent in real life without any CGI. But to be honest, the CGI was pretty spot on and it’s probably just your mind being amazed at the sight of another planet other than Earth or Mars. You wish you’d gotten a better look at Tatooine too, but maybe you’d see it again sometime. 

You decide to stay silent for now. Anakin was so talkative he’d probably tell you anything you’d need to know without even asking, but just in due time. The less they know about what you know, the better—at least, for now. Who knows what else might accidentally change?

Suddenly, you actually realize how exhausted you are as you rub your eyes and rest your head in your lap. This whole thing happened in the middle of the night for you, and you feel like you’ve had anxiety attack after anxiety attack which leaves your brain tired beyond your body’s physical fatigue. You doubt you’d actually fall asleep if given the chance because your anxiety has your body on high alert, no matter how much you would kill to pass out right now. Maybe this was some kind of extreme lucid dream. A trip? You don’t do drugs, but that honestly seems more realistic than the reality of the situation. 

“Master, she should get some rest before we meet with the Council,” Anakin looks at you, concerned, before standing up and tugging on Obi-Wan’s arm. You’re too comfortable to move from your slumped position, and settle for staring back at the two of them. You must look weird, but exhaustion makes you not really give a crap. 

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to argue, but he meets your eyes and his expression softens. You really must look as shitty as you feel, then. “Yes, perhaps you are right, Anakin. Um, I’m so sorry that I never asked—what is your name, young one?”

And this is the part in all the video games and similar scenarios where you get to design your character how you want and name them. Well, sucks for you because you’re not a character and you’re just you.

You tell them your full name because it’s not like they could track down your family if they really wanted to anyway. They start out calling you by your first and last name, but you correct them and tell them what you prefer. Anakin catches on quicker than Obi-Wan does, but it’s probably because he’s younger. Obi-Wan is low key like well over thirty years old, you remind yourself. He’s at that awkward stage where he’s too young to be old but too old to be young. 

(Well, he’s still young enough you suppose. Someday you’ll be in your thirties and hope people think you’re still young too.)

The ship lands with one last jolt, and you flinch into an upright position even though you know everything is perfectly fine with the ship. You even make Obi-Wan and Anakin jump.

“Sorry,” you mutter, and stand up shakily and your legs wobble with each miniscule step. You’d been walking fine before! Maybe all of that anxiety really was catching up with you. You almost fall as you take another step but Anakin steadies your arm. You flinch at his touch, which doesn’t go unnoticed by him, mostly because you weren’t expecting to fall in the first place.

Great. Now you look like a weirdo who’s forgotten how to walk.

“Master, I think she’s going to pass out!”

“I’m not gonna pass out,” you bark, but it doesn’t come out as harsh as you thought since you yawn immediately after. “I’m just anxious.”

“Anxious? You mean unwell?” Anakin asks beside you.

It’s sort of an insult but you’re too tired to argue. “Yes, very similar… Can I just sit down again…?”

“No, I think we should take you to the Halls of Healing. You seem to be exhibiting symptoms of shock,” Obi-Wan says as he slings one of your arms over his shoulders, and Anakin copies him on the other side.

“Shocker…” you mumble, trying to hide the embarrassment at being carried out of a friggin spaceship by the two characters you loved since you were a toddler.

Anakin snickers at your punn—at least someone got it—before Obi-Wan just completely carries you, sweeping your legs off the floor.

Your head is on his shoulder and your embarrassment rises to ungodly levels. “That’s-that’s not necessary, uh—”

“Nonsense. We’ll all get there faster this way. And you can pass out, if you want.”

“Oh, I want to, but knowing me I won’t.”

Chapter Text

You didn’t pass out. At least, not until they had you under warm blankets and in some comfy bed did your eyes finally slip shut as you fell into a dreamless sleep.

You awaken to find fresh folded clothes and Anakin Skywalker sitting at the foot of your bed. You feel tens of thousands of times better, and deduce it must have been whatever the doctors or healers or whatever gave you. You suppose that their medical practices were far beyond that of Earth’s… 

…just not in noticing when someone is mentally ill.

Which brings you back to the kid sitting at the foot of your bed, and the fact that everything that had just happened was real, and that while your anxiety and fear isn’t exactly gone, any physical trace of it has disappeared completely.

Blinking a couple times and stretching, you make enough noise for Anakin to turn his gaze from… whatever piece of technology he’s fiddling with to you. He fumbles the piece of machinery awkwardly and it drops to the floor with a loud noise. 

“Oh, ah, good morning! Do you feel any better?” he clears his throat as his voice cracks. 

Don’t laugh, don’t you dare laugh—

“I… actually feel a lot better. What, uh, what exactly did they do?” you gesture to the staff dressed in what you assume is Jedi robes but meant for a medical facility. 

“Just some medicine. They didn’t even need to use the Force or anything like that.”

“Right… ‘the Force’.”

This is awkward.

“Yeah. Um, there’s food upstairs once you’re ready. Obi-Wan’s already with the council, and I’m supposed to see you there.” He pauses, you nod. He’s looking at you in a weird way, and you realize your hair probably looks like you’ve been struck by lightning, as is courtesy when you wake up every morning.

“Anything else?”

He shakes his head, but not to say “no”. “Sorry, but… are you really not shielding yourself in the Force right now?”

“No… I don’t have that special power.”

“It’s just—well, I’m proficiently strong in the Force and I can almost always sense anyone or anything in it. Except you.”

Tell that to your Pal, friend-patine.

(Oh, the memes you could make after this.)

“Well, I don’t know why that is. Maybe it’s just because we’re different?”

He scowls. “You’re mocking me. You think I can’t figure it out.”

“What!?” you shout. Some healers look your way and even Anakin is surprised that you took after him and threw a tiny tantrum. “Why would you think I’d say that?” you ask after shrinking back under your covers as much as possible.

“It’s what everyone thinks.”

“ I think you’ll find that’s not exactly the case. Classic social anxiety, my friend.”

He looks at you with another strange glance, but he’s not mad anymore so that’s a good thing, you guess. He stands up and grabs the clothes folded at the foot of your bed, handing them to you. You take them and nod your thanks. 

He smiles and it’s less creepy this time. “It’s almost… soothing. Not being able to sense you, I mean. Not as loud.” He accidentally kicks the little piece of machinery he dropped earlier and scrambles to pick it up. “I’ll wait outside for you,” he says, bowing. 

Oh, that must be a Jedi thing. Whatever. You give him a salute and he looks on, confused, before turning and striding out the door.

The clothes they give you are more like actual clothes than whatever pajamas they gave you last night. They’re Jedi robes, and although they look rather cumbersome they actually end up being extremely comfortable and functional. It’s much more comfortable than what is deemed stylish back home, even if you look like a weirdo wearing it. 

One of the healers had given you a little goodie-bag with what you assume is a toothbrush and toothpaste and dry shampoo/conditioner. You’ve never used dry shampoo before, but this kind knocks anything you’ve seen back home out of the park.

You’ve finally washed up, and you thank the healer who gave you the goodie-bag. They don’t really respond, but they bow so you assume that means something. You grab your useless smartphone off of the counter and slip it into one of the pockets in the Jedi garb that you wear.

Your parents would be pissed if you lost your phone, so best not leave it anywhere.

You walk out the door you saw Anakin exit, and you find him standing there fiddling with the little machine thing again. 

“Hey, what is that?”

He jumps because he somehow didn’t see you—wait. Normally he probably doesn’t have to look or listen if someone is coming, he’d just use the Force. So when it comes to you, he’s almost visually impaired. He actually didn’t see you walk up to him, then… 

“Sorry,” you apologize sheepishly.

“No, no no it’s fine! Um, it’s just a commlink. Obi-Wan’s broke a couple days ago and I’ve been trying to fix it. Well, I already fixed it I’m just upgrading it, actually.”

“Oh cool.”

“Thanks!” He waves you over to follow him as he heads up the long hallway you find yourself in. Right then, for a moment, he really seemed like a normal person. But what he says next reminds you that this isn’t normal at all, “You’re in for a treat, they got us Nubian pears for breakfast today! Once we pick that up we will make our way to the Council chambers where the other Jedi masters are.”

You blink. “Nubian pears?”

He laughs. “You’re lucky. The Council won’t ask to see just anyone in the galaxy. They saw me when I was nine,” he adds. It takes everything in you not to roll your eyes. You remind yourself that Anakin probably is only used to gaining praise when he brings up his achievements which is already kind of screwed up in the first place. Not necessarily his fault… that he’s sort of a narcissist.

“Good for you.”

Thankfully, he hardly notices your sarcasm. “Yeah. I just miss my mother, even though I’m not allowed to,” he mumbles.

You nod, about to agree that you miss your parents right now too, but then you falter. “Wait, what?”

He pretends not to hear you (or maybe he actually didn’t hear you) and you ride an elevator up to where the cafeteria is. The food selection is a small, but you quickly realize just how good everything tastes. Sometimes food at home can turn out to be processed and icky, but the food here for the most part just fills you up and doesn’t make you feel horrible. The so-called “Nubian pears” taste like some new kind of watermelon that is delectable. 

Anakin talks more about his and Obi-Wan’s adventures together, and you gawk at how many times they’ve actually come close to death. Well, you know that’s normal for these characters, but in real life that’s probably terrifying! Not that you’d let Anakin know you thought that, though. Cocky bastard didn’t need anymore encouragement to continue to act cocky. 

Eventually you both make your way through the Temple to the Council chambers. You try not to stare at the weird looking aliens you pass wearing the same robes as you—they probably think you look funny. 

Studying the architecture, it feels like you’re walking through the Sistine Chapel or something. Maybe not as holy, but just as beautiful, and you accidentally say this out loud.

Anakin looks at you funny, and you laugh nervously. “Sorry, you definitely don’t know what that is.”

“It sounded like a compliment, so I’m sure the Jedi will see it as such.”

“Thanks, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For helping me, and bringing me here. I never really said that before, I guess.”

He smiles. “Of course. Besides, ever since you’ve come along things have been less dull,” he says casually, and then seems to realize that it could be weird taken out of context (not really, but he was at that awkward stage so he probably kept second guessing everything he said). “Not-not like that—”

“Don’t worry. I get what you mean,” you reply simply. He noticeably relaxes as if he was expecting you to lash out at him. Did he get scolded for like anything he would say here? Or was he just overly paranoid? Either way, it was disheartening to see. “So, I guess the Council is at the complete opposite end of the Temple as the Healing Halls. This place is like a mile wide!”

“Yeah, Obi-Wan always tells me that it is especially tiresome if you’re late to a Council meeting and have to run over there.”

“Couldn’t be us!”

But based off of the pace at which he’s leading you, you’re best guess is that you are most definitely going to be late to this meeting—who the heck knows when it was supposed to be.

Chapter Text

The Council Chambers look exactly like you remember them in the movies aside from the notable lack of early 2000s CGI. It’s eerie, but it’s really cool.

The Jedi masters just seem to be chilling when you and Anakin walk in. Obi-Wan had been talking to Samuel L Jackson—Mace Windu, who gave Anakin a dirty look as soon as he entered. The boy bowed, pretending not to notice.

You just stand there awkwardly as all the Jedi masters stare at you, each seeming to figure out all at once that you don’t have a “Force presence” or whatever Anakin called it. 

“Welcome, young ones,” Yoda says. Yoda, who is neither puppet nor CGI, but is real and a living, breathing little green guy. 

You gawk for a moment, but regain your composure an instant later. Anakin leads you to the center of the room and Obi-Wan joins the both of you. He smiles softly at you and pats Anakin on the shoulder.

“Good job, Anakin. You made it here in one piece.”

At least Anakin knows it’s a joke this time and only rolls his eyes in response.

Obi-Wan recounts the chain of events that led to your meeting, leaving out any mention of Anakin’s mother. He falters slightly at the part where you can tell he’s omitting it, but no one says anything. You’ll figure out that part soon enough, you tell yourself.

Now, they ask for your side of the story. You tell them everything you remember about how you got to Tatooine, but you have to explain that you’re not really from this universe. 

Many of the masters scoff when you say this, which makes you angry. They’re so arrogant, no wonder they couldn’t see the Sith right in front of their noses.

Yoda seems to believe you. “Your home, you say, this other universe… familiar with the Force, is it?”

“No, not really. It’s only fiction… it doesn’t actually exist.”

“Impossible!” one master shouts.

“Let her speak!” Anakin growls back. It’s nice that he comes to your defense, but it only makes you look worse in the masters’ eyes if you’ve found favor with the reckless Padawan. Well, honestly it doesn’t matter what they think. If Anakin likes you then you’d at least have one friend here (maybe not your first choice, but you’ll take what you can get at this point). You’re going to need one, especially if they’re gonna be assholes.

Obi-Wan glares at Anakin, but then adds, “I think we should all listen. There must be a reason we cannot sense her, and perhaps it is truly because there is no Force on this ‘Earth’ system.”

“Mm-hm. The Jedi are actually based off of the Samurai in Japanese culture—” you stop yourself. Even if you are in a nerd’s heaven you can’t get all nerdy on the Jedi. “There are stories about you, about the Order and the galaxy. From what I can tell, I’ve arrived towards the beginning.”

“‘Towards’ the beginning? When did it begin?” Obi-Wan asks.

You look at the floor. “Um, it started with you and Qui-Gon Jinn heading to Naboo to discuss something with the Trade Federation. I-I honestly don’t know how that came about, though.”

Obi-Wan looked shaken, and you feel bad that you caused him to relive that memory. Duel of the Fates plays through your brain as if mocking the situation you’re in right now. Such an epic song and battle, but only when it was fake.

“How…?”

“I know a lot of things that would surprise you, but I’m not sure I should tell you because then I might change the future which will then change what I know.”

Windu narrowed his eyes. “How can we trust you? We can’t tell if you’re lying like we could otherwise.”

You narrow your eyes back. “I know your lightsaber color is purple, Mace Windu.” He never bothered to introduce himself, and his eyes widen at your statement. Still, you understand their caution. There really is no proof or reason to trust you yet. So, you think of the randomest things that no one else could possibly know! “Master Yoda is fond of the planet Dagobah for some reason. Um, and… oh! Obi-Wan was on Mandalore for a year and had a thing with—”

“Alright, alright, that’s proof enough, yes?” Obi-Wan cuts you off, his face burning red with embarrassment this time. You suppress a laugh… Anakin doesn’t suppress his. “I thought you said the story started with Qui-Gon and I traveling to Naboo?”

“Yes, but in the future a lot about all your pasts is brought to light… it ends up being a really long story with lots of other stories mixed in there.”

“And defeat the Sith, do we?” Yoda says, testing you. 

You glance at the boy beside you for a split second, recounting all of the horror he’s going to put the galaxy through only to be the one to save it. “No… and yes. I’m not sure if I’m here to change things or if this is some huge accident.”

“An accident, I do not believe your being here is, young one. Just standing there, you and young Skywalker are, and the Force sings in harmony. Your lack of the Force, appeases Skywalker’s overwhelming presence, it does. Like two sides of a coin, it seems you are.”

(Hey, like Merlin and Arthur!... Well it better be in a platonic way, though, because no way were you gonna play Padmé’s role in this series. No thank you.)

“But I don’t think I should share everything, Yoda—Master Yoda, Grandmaster Yoda?” Eh, it probably didn’t matter what title he had but damn your social awkwardness. “And how am I going to be able to go back home? Your universe is beautiful, truly, but I have a life and people I love I need to return to.”

As many times as you dreamed you could travel to the Star Wars universe, or Narnia or Middle Earth or anywhere, you missed home because that was where you were meant to be. 

It’s, well, home.

Yoda brings his little claw to his chin. “Hmmm… I do not know yet. But know one thing for sure, I do: safe with the Jedi, will you be, and assigned with Master Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker for the time being, will you be.”

“Oh, uh, I would just be a burden, I don’t think that’s necessary—”

“Master Yoda is right,” Windu surprisingly agrees. “The Force surrounding you and Skywalker is… balanced. This could bode well for the prophecy and the galaxy. And in the mean time, we will work on trying to find you a way back home… but it won’t be easy.” Huh, Windu actually wasn’t too mean. That was good to know. 

But you still didn’t want to feel like another burden shoved onto Obi-Wan Kenobi; not that Anakin was a burden, but the knighted Jedi could barely handle one kid and shouldn’t have to deal with two at once. 

“I agree,” Obi-Wan says, much to your surprise. “If it is indeed the will of the council and the Force, I will see it done.”

“Let’s be realistic here, though; I can’t really defend myself, I mean, I can, but not like you guys, and I’d just be a liability if you guys actually had things you had to do. That-that didn’t make much sense but you know what I mean!”

“I think you’ll be alright,” Anakin speaks up after awhile. “Maybe you can’t use the Force, but the Force does not work on you, either. If I try to push Obi-Wan—” he proceeds to lift a hand and Obi-Wan staggers backwards.

“—Anakin—!”

“—I can do it, but if I tried to push you…” he lifts an arm again, and you flinch, but nothing happens. 

There are gasps that go around the room, but really from what you could tell Anakin just lifted his arm. “But you didn’t do anything that time.”

“That’s the thing… I did.”

Chapter Text

“All I’m saying is that if I got an actual lightsaber I’d slice off my own hand—I don’t get to use the Force as a cop-out!”

After the meeting with the council, Obi-Wan and Anakin led you back through the Temple to where the living quarters were. They were like dormitories except much, much nicer than any you’d seen at any college campus. They’re nice apartments you’d expect to find in an expensive part of a major city or town, and you low key dig it. 

Until an apartment could be designated to you, you’d be in the spare room in Obi-Wan and Anakin’s shared quarters. It was awkward for you because they’re two men, and you’re, well, you. But there was a whole other bathroom or refresher or whatever they called it in your room, so there shouldn’t be any awkward situations to arise. You sincerely hope.

At present, you sit at the counter next to Anakin as Obi-Wan prepares tea for the three of you.

“No you wouldn’t! There’s a safety mechanism in the hilt, and in the blade—it’s impossible to harm yourself with your own lightsaber. Well, I guess without the Force it would make things a bit more difficult…”

You blink. “I’m confused.”

“When we go to Ilum—” Anakin begins, but he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly when Obi-Wan casts him a disapproving glance. “I… have to get another lightsaber since my last one is—”

“Yes, Padawan, where is it again?”

He hangs his head. “Completely vaporized in a ship’s engine.”

You laugh, and Obi-Wan does too. “How did that happen in the first place?”

“Go on, Anakin. Tell her.”

“Let me just say,” he begins after a pause, “it started out as my Master’s fault.”

“No it didn’t.”

“I’m going to have to take Obi-Wan Kenobi’s word for it, here,” you agree, and Anakin straight-up pouts like a petulant child. Obi-Wan tries to hide his fond smirk, but you can tell the older man finds his Padawan endearing. He never let it show in the movies, really, and you wonder why that is?

(Obi-Wan also seems grateful that you take his side on almost everything—despite the fact that you are much younger than him, you understand things from his “certain point of view” pretty easily. Star Wars is just as much Obi-Wan Kenobi’s story as it is Anakin’s at this point.)

Anakin tells you all about how he lost his lightsaber, then how he’s excited to teach you how to fight with a lightsaber, and you just go along with it because that would be awesome, just highly unlikely. Then again, everything happening around you was hardly real in the first place. 

That night, you go to sleep feeling a lot more relaxed than you had been that morning. But, homesickness still nags at your heart and tonight it’s hitting you really hard. The cups of tea you’d had today with Anakin and Obi-Wan remind you of winter nights spent at home with your family in front of a warm fire or classic movie with a cup of tea in hand. You wish you could share everything you’ve been seeing today and yesterday with them, but they’re not here. 

You’re alone.

The thought brings tears to your eyes. You had fun today talking with your new friends, but it just was not enough to make you forget all that you were missing.

Tossing and turning, you find it much harder to fall asleep without being physically exhausted this time. You angrily throw the covers off of you and step out of your bed. Swiping your phone off of the bedside counter, you turn it on and open your Notes section as you sit in one of the reading nooks out in the living room of the apartment.

Date: April 7th.

Missing home a lot right now…

You type this, but hearing a door shut you turn around and realize you’re not alone in here anymore. More speeders zip past the common area window, their headlights the only provided light for you to see the figure standing behind you. It’s Anakin.

Oh, he better not be getting the weird nightmares now!

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” he says.

“No, you’re good.”

He nods, and proceeds to get water from the faucet in the kitchen. You study him closely, looking for any sign of discomfort or anguish you’d expect to see on his face after a nightmare. Either he’s fine, or really good at hiding that he’s not okay. You’re not sure which it could be, unfortunately.

“You’re staring.”

You shake your head. Way to look like a weirdo. “Sorry. You can’t sleep either? You have a nightmare?”

He freezes. “Jedi don’t have nightmares.”

“Pretty sure everyone does. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably lying.”

“I didn’t have a nightmare,” he says more forcefully. “Just… can’t sleep.”

You take a deep breath, preparing for him to lash out after what you’re about to say, “Were you thinking about your mom?”

“No,” he’s quick to reply. He doesn’t shout at you though which is nice, but it could be because it’s the middle of the night and he would then risk waking up Obi-Wan. 

“I was thinking about home. I miss it.”

He looks shocked at your statement. “Everyone else I know thinks of the Temple as their home. They’d tell you that you should now, too.”

“That’s stupid. I just got here, why wouldn’t I miss my family? Some people can do it, move far away from home and not miss everything they left behind… I’ve never been able to. I’ve gotten much better at it since I was younger, though,” you say, thinking back to your first sleepover. Tragic. It’s certainly gotten better now that you’re at college, but homesickness will never truly leave you, you guess.

Anakin scowls. “You don’t have to become a Jedi. You don’t have to hide how you feel and get scolded for not doing so properly.”

“No, I don’t.” He frowns even more, slumping into the couch at the opposite end of it. “But I think you should be allowed to miss your family. It can become a problem when it stops you from living life to the fullest, though. You’ll end up holding yourself back. At least you’re choosing to be here. You could have given up a long time ago, but you didn’t. That takes strength, Anakin.”

It also sucks that you technically didn’t choose to be here either, so it makes it a lot easier for you to miss your family now than when you’re away at school. But you are totally away now—in a galaxy far, far away… 

Thankfully, whatever you said seemed to get through to him and he visibly relaxes in his seated position. It’s great that he feels better, but you’re still homesick. You could be Anakin’s therapist all you want, it wasn’t helping you in the slightest right now. A chill works its way from the crown of your head down to your fingertips, and you can feel your eyes stinging—a telltale sign you’re about to cry.

Do not cry. Not in front of a stranger.

You’re so focused on your white-knuckled grip on your phone and not crying that you don’t notice Anakin scooting over from the edge of the couch next to you, now. It’s kinda awkward, and makes you squeeze your eyes so you for sure won’t cry.

“I will get you home. I promise you that.”

“You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better. Not even Yoda knows how to get me back home—Master Yoda .”

He delicately grabs your hand and your fingers twitch. It seems to be in a good-natured, platonic way so you choose to see it as such. “No, I mean it. I-I always focus on what I don’t have, not on what I’ve been given. I might not have my mother, but I’m no longer a slave and I have Obi-Wan. You… you have been taken from your home against your will and you don’t deserve that. You’re a kind soul, and while I’m grateful for you being here, now, I want to help you get home in any way that I can.”

Hearing those kind words come from one of your favorite movie characters definitely helps you feel better, but it also makes you wish your friends were here to see this. You aren’t sure if you’ll ever see them again, and at that thought all the tears you fought to keep back streamed from your eyes.

Dang it.

“Th-thanks. Sorry, I just really wanna go home… but thank you for being a good friend to me. Even if I’m far from home, at least I met you,” you pause, and you notice him blush so you’re quick to say “and Obi-Wan, too.” 

Okay, he’s really cute and he’s Anakin Skywalker, so it’s really easy for you to make things more awkward than they already are!! But you’re not looking for some strange intergalactic romance right now. Plus, he’s supposed to fall for Padmé in like a couple weeks so you can’t distract him from that. Again, you do not want to fill that role. You shouldn’t have to worry, though, because you’re definitely reading way too much into it as per usual.

You both are content to sit there watching the speeders go by, and after a few minutes Anakin moves to grab you some water. You both relax into the couch and sip your cups of water, trying not to think too much about why you’re both having trouble sleeping. Just sitting in silence helps you feel more drowsy, and you hardly realize your eyes are closed until a particularly loud speeder flies past the window.

Jumping awake, Anakin jumps next to you, probably close to falling asleep too. “I think I’m gonna to back to bed now,” you say sluggishly.

“Yeah,” Anakin yawns and stretches his arms, “me too. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you in the morning.”

You part ways, and finally you feel relaxed enough to crawl into your bed and snuggle under the covers. Yeah, you’re not going to feel better right away, but you don’t feel so alone anymore. That thought is a comfort enough to send you into a peaceful slumber, then waking up ready for the next day’s adventure.

Chapter Text

You start out the day watching Obi-Wan train Anakin in what looks like a mix between a workout gym and a martial arts training room. 

It’s almost magical watching them practice the art of the saber, and you wish that you could train with them. It’s an unrealistic thought, though, because they’re only this good because of how long they’d been training so far. Ten years is a really long time, and you’re not too eager to spend a decade in this universe. 

But… a couple lessons wouldn’t hurt, right?

Anakin goes to fill up his water bottle (what a mundane thing to do!) and Obi-Wan shows you the basic stance and then the first defense position and then attack position in the mean time. It reminds you a bit of Tae Kwon Do, and you definitely don’t get it right away. You practice by yourself when Anakin returns, thanking God that this room is secluded enough so no one sees you, you look like an idiot to the Jedi and an idiot to any normal person probably too.

You sort of start to free-style with the wooden kata but after awhile you glance over to see what Obi-Wan and Anakin are doing.

Obi-Wan is teaching him the “Obi-Ani-spin”. That was the only move you were able to reenact with a stick when you were little after watching the movie. You always thought it was insanely cool looking, ignoring the fact that both Obi-Wan and Anakin used it to try and kill each other.

Battle of the Heroes plays through your head, and this time it leaves a hollow feeling in your chest. You loved that song, you and your friends would play fight to that song all the time when you were little. It made you sad, in a way, because you vaguely knew what was going on in that scene but were too young to understand it fully.

(You still listen to it because it is an epic song, but now you know the implications of it. It makes the scene that much more intense and admittedly more exciting to watch.)

It’s almost impossible to fathom that these two people in front of you who are practically family end up fighting to the death—that Anakin still becomes Darth Vader. How could he do that?

You drop the training kata and it clatters to the floor. The noise is loud so that Obi-Wan and Anakin stop their training and look to you, but you hardly notice them anymore. Your mind is in one of its famous spirals and it’s hard to focus on anything at all.

How were you supposed to change that? What if you didn’t? Was Anakin going to kill you? Would Palpatine kill you? What if you never got home? What if you make things worse? What if Luke and Leia are never born? What if Anakin kills Obi-Wan? What if the clones kill you? What if the Force ends up killing you because you’re not supposed to be there? What if Anakin and Obi-Wan actually hate you? What if they attack you? What if they kill you right now? What if you never get home? What if you never get home? What if you never—

“Are you alright?”

You snap your head up to see Obi-Wan’s bright blue eyes that are wide with concern. You try to get ahold of your breathing because they probably are going to be mad at you for freaking out over nothing.

“It’s-it’s nothing,” you squeeze the words out of your throat, trying to convince yourself more than anyone. 

He smiles warmly. “I don’t need to use the Force to know that something is upsetting you.” When you don’t respond, the smile slides off of his face and his brows furrow. 

Great, you made him mad—

“Sit with me.”

“W-what?”

“We’re going to meditate. Sit with me, please,” he says and he gingerly holds your hands and leads you down to the floor. You criss-cross your legs, matching him, but you’re still far from calm.

You are breathing too sharply—your inhales barely give you any oxygen and your exhales aren’t releasing enough air. Normally, you would do a breathing exercise but you’re afraid to do so in front of people, which only adds to your anxiety.

Anakin appears from behind Obi-Wan, getting the cue that he should be silent for once. He mimics Obi-Wan’s position, and watches you with something akin to fear in his eyes. Why the heck is he afraid when you’re the one who is freaking out?

And it’s not like you’re having a panic attack—you’ve gotten good at hiding these anxious episodes from people. But you’re in an unknown environment, so calming yourself down has become much more difficult than usual.

“Now, just breathe. Focus on the breath. You’re going to inhale for four seconds, hold for four, and exhale for eight seconds,” says Obi-Wan.

“Yeah, I do this at home.”

“Good. Now, just follow along with me…”

He proceeds to lead you through a meditation that reminds you of one from that Calm app that you downloaded on your phone a year ago. It’s very helpful and soothing, and is even more so when the voice leading you through it is Ewan McGregor’s. 

Eventually, you begin to calm down and the anxious episode passes—as they always do, you remind yourself. The meditation is finished, and you open your eyes (you can’t remember when exactly you’d closed them) to see Obi-Wan smiling at you again. Your eyes flick to Anakin who looks much calmer now, probably because he too followed along in the meditation. You can only imagine how much more helpful things like this would be for someone with the Force. The thought makes you a bit envious and sad, but you’re too mentally exhausted to give it much merit.

“Thank you,” you say. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have freaked out, I was just—” you pause, realizing that neither of them was going to cut you off and yell at you (which was good) or try to change the subject (not good). “I haven’t had that happen in awhile. I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need for apologies. You’re very far from home, and everything here is strange and different, even if it looks familiar. It’s alright, young one. I know the feeling.”

“You do?” You keep the incredulous tone out of your voice, at least, you think. 

“When Qui-Gon passed, life at the Temple was… different,” he nods, and Anakin looks at his Jedi Master with such anguish it almost brings a tear to your eye. “I didn’t think I would be enough for Anakin when I couldn’t even save my own Master—”

“And you are more than enough, Master,” Anakin drops his input—he can’t help himself, and Obi-Wan chuckles.

“I know, Anakin, but it doesn’t change how I felt at first. I didn’t want to fail you. I still don’t want to fail you, but it just goes to show that I’m still going to have these feelings. It’s natural. Although, it must be even harder for those who cannot give their emotions to the Force.”

(“I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you.”

“This is the end for you, my Master.”)

You shiver. 

If you were Obi-Wan, you’re not sure how you would have gotten over the events of the Prequels. And the grief Obi-Wan must have felt… you’ve experienced grief, but you’re lucky that you haven’t experienced it in quite the same way. And now here the Jedi Master was, trying to relate his extreme emotional traumas to your seemingly small ones in comparison.

(It’s not a competition, but of course your mind goes there.) 

Having Anakin to look after Qui-Gon seemed like a curse to you before whenever you’d think about it, but looking at the two of them now it seems like it was a blessing. Anakin was the perfect distraction from Obi-Wan’s grief in that particular case, but it would prove to be detrimental down the line. He loved Anakin too much, and refused to see the signs that he would fall before it was too late. 

You weren’t sure someone could love someone else too much, but for some reason in Star Wars that seemed to be a recurring theme. You would have to change that somehow.

But actually… how?

“I… I know what happens, in the future. You did something, a move, that reminded me of it and I have to change it. I guess that’s what made me freak out. I feel like I’m pressed for time…”

“The future?” Anakin asks, and you almost want to slap him. It’s his dumbass who makes everything fall apart in the first place!

The anger comes and goes just as quickly. Anakin needed help and received none. You would help him. You would help Obi-Wan. You would help them help each other, and then maybe you will have served your purpose. Then maybe you can go home.

“I can’t tell you,” you decide aloud. “But, it’s just… awful, what happens—”

(“I HATE YOU!”

“You were my brother, Anakin… I loved you!”)

You swallow past the lump in your throat. You want to tell yourself that it’s just a movie, that it doesn’t matter, but now you actually have a reason to be upset. Even after a few days, getting to know Anakin and Obi-Wan has been really fun and they have been so kind to you. Regardless of the fact that you love their characters, you certainly would not want to see them go through the pain of Revenge of the Sith now!

You avoid their eyes, mainly because you’re afraid that by just thinking about it, Anakin’s will turn that sickly sith-yellow and Obi-Wan's will glaze over with tears of anguish.

“Anakin, why don’t you get us some more water,” says Obi-Wan. Anakin hesitates, but you give him an encouraging nod and he stands up and leaves the small room.

You and Obi-Wan sit in a charged silence for a moment. He holds your hands again—you didn’t even realize they were shaking, and they aren’t; Obi-Wan’s hands are. You meet his eyes, and you find what you feared you would see in them—anguish.

“I lose him too, don’t I?” Your face crumples as you nod, and he covers his mouth with one of his trembling hands, the other still grasping your own tightly. “Does he—does he suffer?”

It’s called the “Immolation Scene”. That’s the song that will always give you chills whenever you hear it or see the scene itself. It’s theatrical, it’s almost over the top, but fifteen years later and watching Anakin Skywalker burn alive is still terrifying.

“Yes. I’m so sorry…”

The older man’s eyes are brimming with tears and the sight makes you want to burst into tears yourself. In fact, you’re pretty sure you do. It’s the first time since this whole debacle that you really think about what’s at stake here, and although the anxiety attack has subsided your overall anxiety feels like it’s going to suffocate you slowly. 

“I’m so sorry,” you repeat over and over, feeling like an idiot as you weep about someone you hardly know to someone who just learned their child is going to be taken from them in the future.

He pulls you in for an embrace, and you happily oblige. It doesn’t really make sense because the Obi-Wan you see in canon hardly ever is this “touchy-feely”, but then again he did cradle Qui-Gon in his arms when the old man died, and he did tell Anakin he loved him before the end. The Jedi were just trained to be so emotionally constipated that maybe he never really knew how to express his feelings, much like how Anakin was quick to anger or quick to appease.

You don’t stay like that for long since you hear the door open and hear Anakin come back in the room. You dry your eyes on your sleeve, and Obi-Wan must be doing that thing where he releases his feelings into the Force, because whatever signs of sadness you had seen before have vanished. He looks drained and upset slightly, but otherwise impassive.

“Hey! Are you alright?” Anakin rushes to your side, handing you a cup of water. You shouldn’t be coddled like this, it’s downright dumb, but again there’s no way they can truly grasp the situation you’ve been thrown into here. You’ve always been under the impression that you should just soldier through your anxiety every single damn time, but actually letting it overwhelm you and letting it out through tears has helped you enormously. 

“I’m okay. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t freak out like this… I’ve got to stop thinking like an idiot.” You’re talking to your dumb anxious brain but they don’t really get that. 

“You’re not an idiot,” Anakin says with a laugh, and his smile gets you to huff out a small chuckle. “These things happen to me, too.” He glances nervously at Obi-Wan, but there is no judgement on the older man’s visage—rather comforting encouragement. “I’ve been working on these meditations for ten years, and I still have trouble releasing my emotions into the Force. It’s… embarrassing.”

“You’ve improved greatly, Padawan—”

“I don’t think it’s good enough,” Anakin says curtly.

“Well, you’re part Force, aren’t you? You can’t release your emotions into the Force because that’s like… I don’t know, taking a bucket of water from one end of a pool and emptying it into the same pool.” You speak what you’re thinking out loud. Sometimes this happens and you really wish it wouldn’t. What did you even just say?

The two Jedi look at you, gaping.

“I don’t think that made sense,” you relent.

“No; that’s why we’re shocked, because against my better judgement I’d say it actually did,” Obi-Wan cracks a grin.

The three of you laugh hysterically, and the brevity of the moment is enough to get you off of the floor and moving on with the day… one step at a time.

Chapter Text

The three of you have left training to go to the mess hall for dinner. Anakin hadn’t said a word since you all left the room, and now you were afraid you’d offended him. You stand closer to Obi-Wan almost on instinct, wishing you could hide behind him completely. 

It seemed that normally, the two Jedi would cook dinner together in their own apartment but right now it was probably best that you all were somewhere with lots of other people. You all need the distraction.

You grab your tray of delicious food and walk towards the table you and Anakin and Obi-Wan had claimed. The weird looks you receive from all the other padawans and masters alike isn’t anything new, but it still makes you duck your head and try to hide your embarrassment.

Your head is hung so low, you hardly notice that you’ve almost bumped into two other people.

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

And it’s two kids (younglings), one is a ginger who looks very young, and the other is an alien who is also very young, but at least looks older than the other one. 

The alien girl looks oddly familiar, and her voice sounds oddly familiar too. “No worries! Hey, you’re the one who is assigned with Master Kenobi and his padawan, aren’t you? I’m Ahsoka.”

And after you blink a couple of times, your brain finally computes that this little girl in front of you is Ahsoka freaking Tano.

“I—uh, yes, I suppose,” you say. You introduce yourself after a few seconds, still in awe.

Ahsoka never was your favorite Jedi to be honest, but she definitely grew on you. When she showed up in that one episode of Mandalorian? That was freaking epic.  

The boy next to her hasn’t taken his eyes off of you the whole encounter, and you’re slightly freaked out. Ahsoka seems to notice your discomfort, and elbows the little boy next to her. He snaps out of it and gives a cute little bow.

“Hi, I’m Cal Kestis. You… you don’t give off any type of echo, that’s amazing!”

You squeak from excitement because no way. Fallen Order is one of the best video games ever and Cal is such a freaking cool character! And he’s so smushy as a little kid, it’s adorable.

With this luck, you’ll be running into a little Kanan soon enough, too. Maybe even Grogu!

“Thank you,” you laugh. “How—are you both friends?” It’s an odd question, but you have to ask because if they knew each other it would have been so cool for Ahsoka to show up in a second Fallen Order game or something. They are both such awesome characters that it would totally be cool if they were friends as kids!

Ahsoka grins. “I watch out for him,” she says, wrapping an arm around Cal’s tiny shoulders. “He’s psychometric, and some of the other initiates think it’s something to make fun of, but not me. I foresee Cal being one of the strongest Jedi ever!”

You grin in turn. “So, he has psychometry and you can see into the future. Did I get that right?”

She looks at her shoes. “Well, I don’t have foresight like Master Yoda quite yet… but Cal doesn’t need to know that,” she whispers, but based on Cal’s glare he definitely heard her.

And then you really think about what she just told you before that… what was it with Jedi kids bullying other Jedi kids? Weren’t they all supposed to be monks basically?

The other padawans sound like they give Anakin a rough time, and now the littler ones bully Cal Kestis? Oh, hell no. 

You try to breathe through your annoyance, though. That isn’t in your control to change right now. You glance back at Anakin and Obi-Wan, sitting at your table. Other things are.

“Hey, would you like to sit with us for a bit?”

The five of you all have dinner together, and it certainly helps you to feel better after what happened earlier in the training room. 

You realize that Obi-Wan is actually really sassy, Cal has a super dry sense of humor (even at his younger age), Ahsoka loves playing with and looking after the younger younglings, and Anakin eats so much food it’s like he’s a vacuum cleaner. 

You start to note all of these things because you have always seen these people as characters and not truly as people, let alone friends. And the age disparity between all of you (except you and Anakin) is much larger than with your friends back home, but it’s almost refreshing to get along with so many different types of people that you wouldn’t really talk to otherwise. 

(Ahsoka calls Anakin “Skyguy” and he nearly flips a shit, but you’re cackling because you know it was bound to happen eventually. Eventually your laugh makes Anakin laugh which makes you laugh even more, and then you’re both laughing for no reason at all until Anakin tries to drink water while laughing and he chokes. Then Obi-Wan is laughing too.)

The day reaches its end and you have to bid farewell to Ahsoka and Cal, who seem pretty attached to you now despite the whole “Jedi do not form attachments” thing that’s in the movies. You think that maybe all that the Jedi were missing really was some human (er, alien?) connection. You’re still not sure why the bullying is still such an issue, but it’s still an issue back home so you’re not sure you’ll ever truly crack that. 

You get ready for bed while Obi-Wan and Anakin do some Force-medititation thing together. They’d asked if you wanted to join but you politely declined because while you can meditate like any other human you suppose, you can’t use the Force to help you like those two can. Obi-Wan gives you a book to read instead, and you snuggle under the covers of your bed with a fresh cup of tea and read about Jedi history to help you fall asleep.

The next week proceeds just like this, and you start to feel more comfortable here at the Temple. You try to imagine it’s like you’re back at school again, only you’re training for something much more… fantastical than any degree you could think of your department having. You get to know Anakin and Obi-Wan a lot better, and they get to know more about you in turn. You’re afraid that they aren’t going to like you after awhile, think that you’re annoying or get angry for not sharing information about the future, but neither of these are the case. You get along very well.

(Yes, Anakin uses up all the hot water whenever he takes a shower, but eventually you’ll have to get over that.)

Ahsoka seeks you out every time you find yourself in the mess hall, and she regals you with all her tales about her initiate classes. You tell her about your imminent trip to Ilum and she expresses her jealousy; she says she’s been before, but she wishes she could go more often. So now you’re extra excited for the journey.

(You just have to pretend you’re flying on an airplane instead of a spaceship… it’ll be fine.)

The day arrives when you three are supposed to depart, and you bring your bag of changes of clothes and jacket (because Ilum is super cold, apparently) onto the same spaceship that you began this whole adventure in. 

The spaceship makes a whirring noise as it makes ready to take off, and you’re gripping your seat with white knuckles despite yourself again. 

Anakin notices your discomfort, so he gets you talking. “This planet you’re from… Earth… does it snow there ever?”

“Um, yeah. It’s a planet with four seasons that switch off, depending which hemisphere you’re on.”

“Interesting! Obi-Wan and I have visited a few planets like that. They’re very complex—much more complex than Tatooine, that’s for sure. We only had a dry season and hardly even a wet season, we just called it a ‘less dry’ season.”

“There are some climates like that on Earth, but I can’t imagine a whole planet being like that and still being able to sustain life.”

Anakin scowls, “I don’t know why anyone chose to live there in the first place. It’s a special kind of torture—forcing slaves to do work there.”

Oh, shoot. You kept wanting to forget that he was a slave once upon a time. The movies made it seem like it wasn’t really a big deal, but you’re getting a bad feeling that wasn’t quite the case. 

You hardly notice you’re in outer space until the jolt of the ship reminds you that you’ve just entered light-speed and you smile your thanks at Anakin for distracting you. Picking at your cuticles, you work up the courage to ask him what you’d been wanting to since the last time you were in this ship. “When you found me there, or I guess before that, did you get to see your mom?”

Anakin looks down at his hands. There’s no rear-view mirror in a spaceship, but if there was Obi-Wan would be looking at it to glance back at the two of you, you’re sure.

“I… I saw her, but there wasn’t enough time to talk to her. I know she’s been freed, but I don’t know much else. She looks happy,” he smiles to himself. “That’s all I want for her, now.”

And that’s oddly wise of him to say, so maybe Obi-Wan and you are starting to actually get through to him.

Still, you can’t help but feel horrible, as if his whole situation is somehow your fault (it’s not). “I’m sorry, if-if you hadn’t had to find me, you could have talked to her—”

“Oh no no no, you’re not taking the blame,” the way he says that makes you almost laugh, and it seems that’s what he was going for. “In all seriousness, if we were never sent to find you, I’d never have gotten to see her at all.”

“I guess you’re right…”

“Of course I am! I’m never wrong.”

You roll your eyes so hard that he’d have to be blind to miss it. “What did I tell you about being too much of a narcissist?”

He laughs. “Something about it being a weakness comes to mind.”

“Yeah. A great Jedi once said that ‘your overconfidence is your weakness’, so, heed those words, young Padawan apprentice-boy.”

“And which Jedi was that?” Obi-Wan chimes in. It’s unexpected, because usually he does this sort of thing to Anakin, not to make fun of you.

“Luke—uh, you guys don’t know him yet.”

“Uh huh, very convincing.”

You slug Anakin on the arm, and he nearly falls out of his seat which makes you feel bad for a second, but Obi-Wan laughs so then you start to laugh and then Anakin snorts out a laugh.

Something beeps on the dash and Obi-Wan pulls a lever. “Exiting hyperspace. Strap in!”

You do as you’re told, and with another jolt, Ilum comes into view.

It’s stunning, and you aren’t sure your eyes could get any bigger after looking at the growing planet below. 

It’s then that a thought occurs to you. “How do you know that the atmosphere is survivable? Like, is the oxygen content the same as Coruscant? Because I have a very fragile, uh, bodily system or whatever so I’m not sure that—”

“Not to worry,” Obi-Wan says. “When you were in the Jedi Temple healing rooms, they gave you an adaptation serum that allows one to undergo interplanetary travel safely. You’d probably be fine regardless, but it’s best to take precautions.”

Your head tilts to the side. “Oh. That’s convenient, but a relief I guess.”

The ship lands, and it’s a bit turbulent because of the blizzard that’s happening all around the area in which you’ve landed. Almost instantly, the cabin of the ship starts to get colder, and you hastily grab the winter clothes you’d packed. 

The three of you prepare for your expedition, and now that you’re here, you’re giddy with excitement. Coming to Ilum was your favorite level in Fallen Order because you love getting to rebuild the lightsaber at that point in the game. As soon as you step outside, though, your excitement lessens. The weather is absolutely awful, and you know for a fact that you’re going to catch a cold after this, special serum be damned. 

Anakin doesn’t seem to be doing much better than you, and you remember he’s from an extremely warm planet so he’s probably still not quite used to temperatures like these. At least you’ve lived through some crazy winters so you know how to handle the cold, even if it feels unbearable at the moment. 

You want to stand around and gawk at the ancient Jedi architecture, but you’re so cold to the point that even the nerd in you is subdued. Once you get inside the small ice-temple, it gets to be a bit warmer and you realize your nose is running profusely. You try to wipe it discreetly, but you make eye contact with Obi-Wan and he smirks at you. You narrow your eyes in response—you can’t help that your nose likes to run marathons when it’s even just slightly chilly out!

It seems that he’s smiling though because Anakin is in the same situation as you are, sniffling and wiping his nose. You both bond over your annoying noses, until you finally reach that room with the circular windows and the crystal.

This particular puzzle was super hard to figure out the first time you played Fallen Order, but the more you played it the more tedious it became instead of challenging. The same seems to be true for Anakin and Obi-Wan, who must have done this quite a few times, now.

The frozen waterfall-door melts, and as soon as it does Anakin runs through the doorway.

“Hold on—” you shout, but he only waves an arm behind him. 

“Don’t wait up for me!”

You huff in annoyance as he disappears into the place where you know he’s supposed to find his new kyber crystal. Now, it’s just you and Obi-Wan waiting by the door, watching as it slowly refreezes with time.

After a beat of silence, Obi-Wan says, “You know, I’ve considered locking him in there numerous times.”

“I can see why.”

Chapter Text

You stand with Obi-Wan in sort of an awkward silence, because it’s not very often you are with him without Anakin. The last time was when you sort of spilled the beans about his future. 

You can tell that he’s wanted to ask you about it again since then, but he’s mature enough to know that it’s a sore subject for you, too. Not to mention that it could be dangerous for him to know exactly what happens.

“About that time in the training room…”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, young one. I just—I pray none of what you know comes to pass.”

“We can change it, you know. You and me. But I think a lot of it is going to come from you.”

He thoughtfully strokes his beard, turning to face you. “How so?”

“Anakin is the Chosen One. Qui-Gon was right. But his destiny kind of gets muddled along the way, and it really comes down to his mental health.”

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow. “His… what?”

“The Jedi have become too stagnant in their beliefs, so the story goes. It ultimately leads to their extinction. But I think accepting a little change is better than refusing to change at all and allowing everything to burn down in the process, don’t you?”

“The Jedi Code—”

“It isn’t necessarily wrong, no, but it needs to evolve. I think Anakin is some kind of ‘omen’ for that. He can’t be trained like the rest of you because of where his story began, and that shouldn’t hinder him—but it is. He probably won’t tell you, but he’s definitely being bullied by other padawans or Masters.”

Obi-Wan tilts his head to the side. “Still?”

You squint. “‘Still’? What do you mean, still?”

He sighs, rubbing his forehead, “A couple years after he became my apprentice, there were a few padawans who would antagonize him during training. Anakin… he attacked them one day afterwards, and I made him apologize. I thought he’d scared them off, and that was the end of it—”

“Of course that isn’t going to be the end of it, Obi-Wan!” You want to face palm, but you refrain from doing so. “That’s the whole thing about bullying! Even little Cal Kestis is getting bullied for being psychometric.”

“That’s not in my control, nor yours,” he says harshly. 

Now you really do face-palm. “I know, I know, but you could at least address it instead of pretending it doesn’t exist! Why can’t you let yourselves give a damn about your padawans for five minutes?”

He looks offended, and shrink in on yourself. You might have crossed a line there. “As great as it is that you and Anakin get along, you are not a Jedi. You have no idea what sacrifices must be made in order to help bring peace to others.”

That hurts. You feel just as cold as you were when you were standing outside the Ilum temple, but it stings more because he’s not wrong. Even if you are literally living in a fantasy, you’re still you from your hometown. You’re not the Chosen One, you’re not a Jedi with the Force, you’re not a Skywalker. You really have no place in this universe, and sometimes that sense of purpose would escape you even when you were in your own universe—you had hoped it would be different here, but that was extremely wishful thinking.

Obi-Wan was just telling you the truth.

“I know,” you say quietly.

Any anger on Obi-Wan’s face disintegrates, and all you can see is guilt. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“You’re right, though. But what I’m saying is that no Jedi is perfect, Master Kenobi. And if you think you have to be, there’s no doubt Anakin thinks he has to be, too. And that leads to your destruction—to his destruction. Trust me, it’s as simple as that.”

Normally you just would shut up after being scolded, but someone has to tell him this! The Jedi ideology is something to strive towards, yes, but no one can truly embody it. It’s like trying to be without sin in a fallen world like our own. It’s just impossible. 

Something about the Order needs to change. Obviously, it’s not your own culture so you can’t say too much (as Obi-Wan pointed out), but if it is going to save itself from near extinction, it has to start now with Anakin and Obi-Wan.

You expect Obi-Wan to tell you that you don’t know anything, that you’re just misinformed, but he does nothing of the sort. He simply ponders over what you have just said to him, and the two of you stand in a silence that quickly becomes uncomfortable for you. 

Your mind sprints through thoughts of regret and guilt, thinking about how you just got in an argument with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who goes through unimaginable trauma throughout the entire saga. Who are you to say those things to him? Maybe you should have just shut up.

“I’m so sorry, I should have thought before I spoke, I didn’t—”

“It’s alright,” he says, placing a hand on your shoulder. You feel as though you don’t deserve his forgiveness, and you furrow your eyebrows in confusion because you’re receiving it regardless. He seems to sense your incredulity. “And I shouldn’t have said what I did. You may not be a Jedi, but you are one of us, young one. It was immature of me to try and make you feel as though you weren’t.”

“I’m a stranger, I couldn’t even presume to—”

“You’re here for a reason, are you not? The Order should accept whatever advice and help you can give. I see that now.” He chuckles, “The other masters may not necessarily agree, however.”

“Yeah, I’ll probably have to tone down the teen angst a wee bit—God, I’m not even a teen anymore.”

“Yes. Just a ‘wee bit,’” he agrees with a fond smirk.

You laugh, and then you cover his hand on your shoulder with your own. “Thank you.”

He nods his response, and there’s not much time for anything else because you both hear footsteps from deeper within the temple approaching rapidly. You look at the doorway, and you realize it’s actually almost frozen already! Just looking at the door makes you realize that the temperature has dropped at least ten degrees, and you cross your arms over your chest to keep you from shivering.

Anakin returns with just enough time to spare, and you don’t want to admit it but you were actually a bit worried as soon as you noticed the door begin to refreeze shut. 

He narrowly misses slamming his forehead on the bottom of the door, and you wince at the thought of his head not missing it.

“Well, certainly took you long enough,” Obi-Wan says.

Anakin takes a moment to catch his breath, resting his hands on his knees. You can see the puffs of air leaving his mouth with each breath, so you know that it must have been getting colder and closer to evening on this planet. 

It certainly took him less time than when you had to complete the Ilum level in Fallen Order, but you refrain from saying anything about that.

“Did you get a crystal?” you ask with wonder. You jog over to him, trying to move around as much as you can since the cold is beginning to seep too far into your limbs.

The door closes completely, and Anakin lets out a sigh of relief at the sight. “Yes, I did. Want to see?” he says, sensing your excitement.

He holds out a hand, and you see a bright blue crystal between his thumb and forefinger that blinks with what looks like a little heartbeat. It’s beautiful.

But his hand isn’t open all the way, and there is a much smaller glow hidden between the rest of his curled fingers. “What’s that?” you ask, stretching out a hand to point to the little light.

He glances at Obi-Wan, and then back at you. “Crystals speak to Jedi. That’s how we know which is the right companion as our lightsaber’s lifeblood. Master Yoda said that we,” he nods to you, “are somehow connected, and the crystals seemed to know that, too.” He opens his palm and extends his hand towards you, resting it atop your own outstretched hand. You see a much smaller crystal that gives off a white light—you can’t tell quite yet if it’s a cold or warm one. It too glows with its own little heartbeat, and the closer you look the more you can see that the color isn’t completely white.

It blinks with a hint of your favorite color, almost smiling at you.

“No, this isn’t for me…”

Anakin dumps it into your hand, and you almost drop it. You glare at him, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “I was surprised because I’d already found mine, but that one called out to me, too. It was calling your name, though. Maybe you can’t use the Force, but it certainly recognizes your presence.”

“That’s… never happened before,” Obi-Wan says, astonished. He walks over to you and examines the crystal in your hand. “It’s so small, hardly enough for a full saber.”

“That’s what I thought, too, but you said so yourself that you’d probably slice off your own hand if you had one. No offense.”

You shrug. “None taken.”

“But, if she is going to come with us on missions then she might need something more ‘civilized’ than a blaster,” Anakin says, impersonating Obi-Wan.

The older man pretends not to notice your and Anakin’s smirks. “A dagger. Interesting, Padawan.”

“Hold on. A ‘light-dagger’? That doesn’t sound right.”

“Hey, I didn’t need to stop and get that for you,” Anakin jokes.

You hesitate, and then you give him a small hug. You’re awkward when you hug your friends at home too, so you just don’t think about how dumb you probably look. “Well, thanks for thinking of me.”

He awkwardly returns the hug, but a couple seconds and pats on the back later it’s not so awkward anymore. But, you do notice he’s shivering and you can’t keep your teeth from chattering anymore.

“If you both wouldn’t mind, I’d like to get back to the ship before we all freeze in here,” Obi-Wan thankfully cuts in.

“Oh, I thought the cold didn’t bother you that much.”

He rolls his eyes. “It does when it’s reaching hypothermic levels, Anakin. Besides, you know you shouldn’t be in the cold for very long, you’ll get sick again!”

The three of you hurry outside of the temple and back to the ship. The blizzard has only intensified as the day fell into night. And the days were certainly much shorter than on a normal planet, because you couldn’t have landed more than a couple of hours ago. You squeeze your hand holding the kyber crystal tightly so that you don’t drop it as you try to navigate the winds and walk straight. 

Yep, you’re definitely going to catch a cold after this.

Upon your return to Coruscant, you and Anakin go to the “forge” as they call it, and work with a droid to prepare your lightsabers. Well, really you just watch Anakin build his lightsaber, but the process is amazing. Different saber parts float in the air around him as he picks which parts will house and protect his crystal. 

With a hiss, the lightsaber connects together and is formed. Anakin grabs it from where it floats in the air and turns on the weapon. 

Woah! A real lightsaber!!

Anakin helps you choose which parts to use for your mini lightsaber, and he asks for your crystal. You’ve become attached to the little thing, so you’re a bit hesitant to give it up but it’s all a part of the process. 

Like before, the parts you’ve chosen snap together with a hiss. Anakin holds it out before you with a bow almost overdramatically, and you laugh.

You turn on the little weapon, and its humming tones almost sound like a melody to your ears. You’re speechless. 

Anakin watches you strangely, but you ignore him for a moment and all your attention is focused on the blade’s frosted/melted color that you still can’t decide is warm or cold.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

You focus comes back to you and you meet Anakin’s gaze. “It’s literally unbelievable. You have no idea how long I’ve wished to have one of my own of these things!”

He laughs, and the two of you head back up to your quarters to unpack from your daytrip. 

You fall asleep that night with your dagger’s hilt (completely powered off, don’t worry) snuggled next to you like it was a stuffed animal.

You wake up the next day with a terrible cold and catching news that “Count Dooku” has openly joined what would be called a “Separatist movement”.

Perfect timing!

Chapter Text

“This just sucks, ugh,” you say before blowing your nose. You knew that being out in the cold was going to get you sick, but you don’t even want to think about what you could possibly be sick with. What virus equated to the common cold in this universe?

Anakin isn’t any better off. “I’m telling you, the medicine should kick in any time now,” he groans, his voice extremely scratchy.

“Oh, so you have special serums that let you land on whatever planet you want, but nothing to completely prevent you from getting sick?”

It takes longer than usual for him to really understand what you just said. He takes a long sip of tea that Obi-Wan made for both him and you, and then rests his forehead on the table at which you sit. “Yes. That is correct,” he says, his voice muffled.

Obi-Wan had been gone for the entire morning now, talking with the Council about the new development. Apparently, senators were flying in from everywhere to vote on some bill or something (the politics make absolutely no sense in this universe but whatever).

You could only assume that Senator Amidala would be among the group, which meant that she would be landing in Coruscant soon and her ship would be blown up (well, her decoy would be blown up). You aren’t sure how that happens, and you’re stressing about how you could go about preventing that. 

Not that you tell Anakin, though. He doesn’t need to be tweaking out yet. 

You sigh, swiping your own mug of tea off of the counter. “Well, I’m going back in my room to sleep or read or something.”

“No, don’t go,” he groans overdramatically. “I’m bored.”

“I’m not your source of entertainment, young grasshopper.”

He raises his head and blinks. “What?”

“Just go back to sleep, you’ll probably wake up feeling better.”

“I can’t. I’m supposed to meet with the Chancellor today.”

That stops you in your tracks. 

Shit. You nearly forgot about Palpatine. “Why don’t you just call in sick?”

“Because Jedi don’t get sick.”

“That’s such a lie and you know it. Don’t listen to your brain when it tells you that,” you admonish. Your eyes flit back and forth around the room, trying to figure out how to either get Anakin away from Palps or get him to see the old Sith for who he really is. “Besides, isn’t he busy with all this Separatist stuff going on?”

“Well, he cares about me too. He wants to check in with me.”

You squint. “If he really cared, wouldn’t he let you get some rest? That’s what Obi-Wan said you should do.”

“Obi-Wan doesn’t understand. I don’t need rest,” he growls. Great, now he’s angsty again.

“Dude, you literally are so tired you can barely keep your eyes open right now,” you point out. He blinks a few times, trying to widen his eyes so as to prove you wrong, but in the end he only proves you right. “I would trust Obi-Wan’s judgment over the Chancellor’s, wouldn’t you?”

He hesitates, and that’s not a good sign. “I-I don’t know…”

“Okay, I know you are gonna hate me after I say this but please listen, okay?” He furrows his eyebrows, but you don’t give him room to argue. “Palpatine probably compliments you all the time about everything, right? Makes you feel like you’re accepted and wanted when Obi-Wan is critical of you. And I bet he’s sometimes too critical of you, but I think he’s going to work on that. The Chancellor tells you what you want to hear, Anakin. Not what you need to hear. Obi-Wan genuinely cares about you. Palpatine cares about your power—”

“You're patronizing me. What would you know of it, anyway?” he spits venomously. Even still, you hold your ground.

“I'm not—!" you calm yourself before you continue. "Because I know what happens,” you state firmly. “And I know you and Obi-Wan after living with you for almost a month. I’m on your side, and I believe in you, not what the Force can let you do.”

“Well, I don’t trust you!”

You falter, taking a step back. “Excuse me?”

Palpatine must really have gotten into his head if he’s going back on everything he’s said to you since you’ve known him. Again, this is the annoying Anakin that ends up going off the rails and murdering people. You almost want to second guess this friendship you’ve created, wondering if Palpatine has won him over already. 

No. You’re here for a reason. Obi-Wan is right, and you were right. You can do this. Don’t listen to your own stupid brain!

He looks remorseful, but he’s too stubborn to apologize. You want to just leave the room, let him think about what he just said to you, but he’s not emotionally mature enough to know why exactly that hurt your feelings. You’ve got to try and see this from his perspective… this story is about him, not you.

“I’m sorry. I know he’s your friend, but, I just… I just want to protect you from someone I think might hurt you, that’s all.”

He softens at that, and you feel that you can finally turn your back on him and make your way to your room. You hope he’ll take what you said to heart, and the fact that he’s not talking back to you leads you to believe that he actually is listening to you.

You relax in your room for an hour or two, reading until you begin to doze off. The tea soothes your sore throat and you actually are starting to believe that whatever medicine you took that morning was working. 

There’s a faint knock on the door, and you put down your book to see Anakin standing shyly in the doorway. He looks better than he did earlier, so the medicine must have been working for him too.

He looks at his feet. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yeah actually.” You look at your own hands. “Did you go to your meeting?”

You wait with bated breath for his response, and he smirks when he says, “I ‘called in sick.’”

A laugh escapes you, and he finally meets your gaze. He’s smiling, so you know he’s not pissed at you anymore. You were right! Palpatine hadn’t gotten to him yet.

(Unfortunately, he’s still a little shit. But that you can deal with.)

At that moment, Obi-Wan walks into the apartment, and it’s back to business as usual. You hop off of your bed and follow Anakin into the common area where Obi-Wan has plopped down in one of the chairs.

“How’d the meetings go?” you ask. 

He sighs heavily, which isn’t a good sign. “The Separatists are proving to be more of a threat than we anticipated.”

“Wait. This isn’t the first you have heard of them?”

“No… but we thought they would burn themselves out over time, like every other resistance to the Republic—”

“Oh no…”

The two of them turn to face you. “What? What’s wrong?” Anakin says. 

You twist your hair between your fingers almost unconsciously. “It’s, uh… it’s a future thing.” Your eyes snap to Obi-Wan’s and he seems to understand what you mean. “I just realized that I definitely have less time than I thought.”

“So am I to assume that the Separatists are actually a threat, and the Chancellor was wrong to let them fly under the radar?” Obi-Wan deadpans. 

You wince and grit your teeth. “Yes?”

“Blast!”

Anakin says something in another language, but you can tell it’s also a swear based off of his tone. 

“Good thing you didn’t meet with the Chancellor, then. Looks like he’s got a lot of explaining to do,” you tell Anakin.

“Actually, they’re placing the blame on Count Dooku. There are rumors that he’s tried to have multiple members of the senate assassinated today alone,” Obi-Wan rubs his chin deep in thought.

“Wait. So were you assigned as security for Senator Amidala yet?”

Anakin nearly has a stroke. “Ami-Amidala? Like-like Padmé?”

“Yes. We are to protect her while she is on Coruscant—”

“But what am I supposed to do?”

Obi-Wan looks pained here, “The Chancellor apparently would like to meet you.”

“No,” you say immediately.

Anakin seems to have awoken from whatever daydream he was having about Padmé when he registers what you and Obi-Wan are talking about. “That doesn’t make sense. I told him we were sick… He’d wanted to meet with me earlier—”

“And you told him ‘no’?” Obi-Wan raises his eyebrows in surprise. 

“I-I took your advice and got some rest, Master,” he replies sheepishly. Obi-Wan practically glows at the admission, though, and you almost want to coo at the cuteness of the moment. 

But then you remember that a creepy Sith is going to try and talk to you, probably find out that you know he’s a Sith, and then he’s going to kill you somehow and blame it one someone else. No, no you cannot, under any circumstances run into Palpatine. 

“I’m not going to see that man,” you repeat. 

You feel as though you’re on the verge of another anxiety attack, but you swallow it down with a few deep breaths, remembering that you have control over the situation here. Palpatine can’t hurt you because not even the Force can hurt you. 

“Hey,” Anakin says, steadying you by grabbing ahold of your arm. “It’s alright, the Chancellor is a good man—”

“No, he’s not,” you cut him off shakily. “It’s-it’s like I said before… this is a future thing,” you say, but Anakin looks doubtful. “Please… trust me.” You pour as much honesty and vulnerability into your words as you can. It might not be best to say why exactly Palpatine is a villain, not yet, but someday you’re going to have proof. 

“We do trust you, young one. But if the Chancellor is someone to be wary of, wouldn’t it be best to keep up appearances—act as if nothing is wrong?” Obi-Wan suggests. Anakin nods along with him, but it’s more like he just wants to act as if nothing is wrong just as Obi-Wan said. 

The fear in your heart tells you that you should just up and run, but logically it all makes sense. If Palpatine thinks nothing is amiss, then you will still know what to watch out for.

“You’re right,” you agree, nodding your head in some subconscious attempt to convince yourself of that fact as well. 

Both of them can tell how uncertain you are (well, it can’t be that hard, your hands are almost shaking). “I’ll go with you,” Anakin says, sticking out his chin. “We’re both sick, right? We’ll go tomorrow. Kill two porgs with one stone.”

“…Don’t you mean two birds with one stone? Or is that actually the saying for you guys?”

Obi-Wan sighs. “No. We had one mission with a planet inhabited by porgs and Anakin has been obsessed ever since.”

“Oh come on, Master. They were hilarious little creatures.”

“You found it ‘hilarious’ how they squealed when you kicked them. Not exactly what I find funny.”

Your eyes widen in disgust. “You kicked a porg?” Was he already showing his violent side even as a kid? What the hell was wrong with him?

“No, it was an accident! I laughed, but that was because he was fine! Little guy would not leave me alone after that… he might have pooped on Obi-Wan’s robes when I tried to train him to land on my finger—”

“Anakin—” Obi-Wan uses that tone—the one that means Anakin’s completely fabricating a story.

“Okay, I accidentally kicked a porg and it made a weird noise, I laughed, and then its whole flock was after me. They pooped all over the both of us and now I would like nothing more than to roast the little bastards on a spit!”

You’re not sure whether you should be alarmed or dying laughing. You settle for the latter, because there have been times when you thought the same way about geese that poop all over the sidewalk and having to scrub goose poop off of your shoes later. It sounds bad, but you just have to hope that Anakin’s meaning is as harmless as your own. 

It’s not like the porgs killed his mother.

That thought brings you back to the situation at hand, and the time that you’ve been wasting talking about porgs (okay, it made you laugh though and your hands have stopped shaking). You calm yourself down, wiping at the tears in the corners of your eyes from laughing so hard. “Oh man, I’m never going to forget that one.” Anakin glowers at you, but his eyes crinkle in a way that you know he’s not actually mad. “Has Padmé arrived in Coruscant yet? Wait, never mind, you said she did. So, we tell the Chancellor we’re still sick, but we can get started on the mission to protect Padmé today, and make sure the weird worm things don’t get to her that were sent by the droid sent by the shapeshifter sent by Boba Fett Sr. sent by Dooku—”

“Huh?”

You mentally slap yourself at how overly complicated that whole subplot is. “Let’s just go.”

Chapter Text

You and Anakin change into nicer robes, and then the three of you head through Coruscant to where Padmé should be staying. Thankfully, whatever medicine you’ve taken has actually done its magic and you feel as though you weren’t ever sick in the first place. You might still be sniffling, but you’re thankful for the relief from how awful you felt that morning.

Now, you’re all squeezed into a tiny clear elevator, and you know exactly what scene is about to play out. 

“You seem a little on edge,” Obi-Wan says.

Anakin fixes his robes for the seventh time in the past ten minutes. “Not at all.”

“I haven’t felt you this tense since we fell into that nest of Gundarks.”

“ You fell into that nightmare, Master. And I rescued you, remember?”

“Oh… yes.” You snort a laugh, and not for the reason they’d probably think. Anakin chuckles nervously, and Obi-Wan turns his attention to him again. “You’re sweating. Relax. Take a deep breath,” he says, but you can tell he’s taking great pleasure in Anakin’s unease.

“I haven’t seen her in ten years, Master.”

You pretend to look at wherever you think the camera would be, and you make yourself laugh because you feel like you are in The Office. 

“Well, she’s going to look basically the same,” you say. “And besides, you don’t look half bad yourself.” You elbow him in the ribs. 

“Thanks,” he sighs, but as the doors of the elevator open, he grows more flustered. “Wait what?”

And in two seconds, Jar Jar Binks is upon you and you want to pull your hair out. This bitch.

“Obi! Mesa so smilin to be seein yousa!!!”

It takes everything in you not to groan at the sight of the Gungan. You avoid any and all eye contact, and eventually you’re lead into another room where Natalie Portman as Senator Amidala stands by a window and turns gracefully as you enter.

“Looky looky, Senator. Deesa Jedi arriven.”

You’re technically not a Jedi, but you have no desire to even acknowledge Jar Jar’s existence, let alone engage in any form of conversation with him.

Obi-Wan bows, and you follow suit. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Anakin is struck with so much awe at the sight of Padmé that he actually forgets to bow. 

“It’s a great pleasure to see you again, my lady.”

“It’s been far too long, Master Kenobi.”

This brings a strange thought into your head. You remember thinking when you saw Phantom Menace for the first time that Padmé and Obi-Wan were going to be a thing, and seeing the way she’s eyeing him now does nothing to dissuade you from that old assessment. But he’s too old for her… right?

Her eyes flick over to Anakin, and recognition flashes in her gaze. “Ani?” The shy boy steps forward with a grin on his face. “My goodness, you’ve grown.”

You try not to gag at what any other guy Anakin’s age back home would say in response to that.

“So have you,” he says, stumbling over his words. It’s endearing, but for him it comes across extremely awkward. “Grown more beautiful, I mean,” he blushes, glances as Obi-Wan, and then says, “well, for a Senator, I mean.” The cover-up is lousy, and Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. 

Padmé seems to get that Anakin is still in an awkward phase, so she tries to downplay the situation. Much to what you’re sure will be Anakin’s dismay. “Ani, you’ll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine.” You almost laugh at the obvious friend-zoning that just happened, but Padmé’s gaze is now set on you. “Hello.”

Obi-Wan introduces you to her, and her to you. You bow again, forgetting that you already did so. You remain silent. If Padmé is trying to size you up, she’s doing a great job at hiding it. You’ve dealt with enough bitchy girls from home that at this point, no one really intimidates you in that way anymore. Padmé doesn’t seem bitchy, so she’s most likely trying to assess if you’re actually a threat to her safety, not her social status. 

You all sit down at some kind of couch area. The eye-patch guy introduces himself as Padmé’s head of security, and Padmé admits that she wants answers as opposed to protection.

“…not to start an investigation,” Obi-Wan’s saying as you zone out a little. 

“We will find out who’s trying to kill you Padmé, I promise you,” Anakin says meekly. 

“We will not exceed our mandate, my very young Padawan learner,” Obi-Wan rebukes. 

“I meant it in the interest of protecting her, Master, of course.”

“We will not go through this exercise again, Anakin. And you will pay attention to my lead.” Honestly, while Obi-Wan should discipline Anakin, he definitely should not be doing it in public. It just makes the situation more awkward for everyone else present, and probably makes Anakin feel even smaller than he already does. 

But then Anakin says, “Why?”

“What?”

Thankfully, he’s not questioning why he should “follow Obi-Wan’s lead” but something else.

“Why else do you think we were assigned to her if not to find the killer? Protection is a job for local security, not Jedi.” There’s that air of superiority that he tends to cling to. He wants to prove he’s better than everyone else, so why not throw his status as a Jedi in there? “It’s overkill, Master, investigation is implied in our mandate.”

Unfortunately, he does have a point. 

“We will do exactly as the Council has instructed—”

You know exactly where this conversation is going, and you know that it’s going to place a bit of a rift between Anakin and Obi-Wan, so you try to appease the situation quickly before either of them say something they don’t really mean. “He’s not wrong, Obi-Wan,” you say. All eyes snap to you, seeing as you haven’t really said anything the whole time you’ve been there.

“Not you too.”

“I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it. Besides, this wasn’t even the Council’s idea, it was Pal—uh, the Chancellor’s. I’m sure you’re granted a little lee-way here. If you don’t catch the assassin, who’s to say they won’t try again and again? Might as well investigate.”

Obi-Wan rest his head in his hand. “Have I no authority here?”

“I do believe she is right, Master Kenobi,” Padmé speaks up. You’re surprised and kind of excited that she agrees with you. Being friends with Padmé Amidala would be so friggin cool! She rises from her seat, and everyone else in the room does so as well. “Anyway, I think I will retire. It’s been a long day.”

“Of course, Senator,” Obi-Wan relents, bowing.

The rest of her party follow her into the apartment, finding their own respective rooms. Finally, it’s just the three of you alone.

“Alright, before either of you say anything, that went much better than it could have gone.”

“‘Better’? You both completely ignored the laws of negotiation and did not follow my lead.”

Anakin has a far off look in his eyes. “She hardly even recognized me,” he mumbles to himself. “She’s forgotten me completely.”

Really, that’s what he’s still thinking about? He’s not even worried that Obi-Wan could be mad at him right now. In all honesty, he had been acting like a little prick in front of everyone back there.

But Obi-Wan softens at Anakin’s tone. “You’re focusing on the negative, Anakin, be mindful of your thoughts,” he pauses, and gives his padawan a small smile. “She was pleased to see us.”

“Yes, Anakin, chill out, would you?”

“Well, how would you feel if you were faced with someone you wished to meet but never thought you actually could?”

You roll your eyes, but it’s good naturedly. “True, I would be freaking out too. Just… a word of advice?” He nods, granting you permission to bestow your “wisdom” upon him. “Don’t try and look tough or cool or superior by talking back to Obi-Wan. It doesn’t look cool, it looks childish. You were right this time, but you just have to relax, okay?”

“Right… relax.” He’s skeptical that he could ever be able to relax, this much you can see, so you rest a hand on his back and pat him reassuringly.

“I’ll be your middle-man. Er, woman, girl, whatever. Either of you need to discuss something, all three of us will talk together. Communication is key, but sometimes you don’t need to say everything in front of people, if that makes any sense. Basically don’t call each other out in public, okay?”

You really wish you were more eloquent with your words, like the Jedi are, but that’s just not how you were raised to talk unfortunately. 

Luckily Obi-Wan and Anakin seem to understand. They nod, and Obi-Wan starts to follow the head of security through another doorway.

“Come, let’s check security.”

Time passes, and it’s now nighttime as you sit outside Padmé’s apartment. Obi-Wan and Anakin are arguing again about using Padmé as bait, how attuned their Jedi senses are, etc. etc. You roll your eyes, but then Obi-Wan says something that catches your attention.

“You look tired. Have you not been sleeping?”

“It’s… it’s nothing, Master.”

Oh no. Not the nightmares. He told you he wasn’t having nightmares! If he’s dreaming about his mom, then you need to save her like now. If they wait, it’s going to be too late.

“Are you sure you’re not having nightmares, Anakin?” you ask, genuinely concerned. You rest a hand on his shoulder but he shrugs it off like your touch burned him. His eyes are blown wide when he looks at you, but when he blinks the fearful look is gone. Did he just see something… Jedi-y?

(You feel like Mando when he doesn’t realize he’s in a Star Wars show for over ten episodes.)

“Dreams pass in time. Like you always say, right Obi-Wan?” he looks up at his Jedi master with such vulnerability that Obi-Wan even deigns to wrap an arm around his padawan.

“Yes, but it does help to talk about them. You’ll get better quality rest that way, my young padawan.”

Anakin is going to say something else, but the two of them sense something and dash into Padmé’s room.

Now, you knew the weird worm things were going to show up, that Obi-Wan would jump through the window, and that Anakin would run and grab a random speeder, but you forgot that you were included in this now too and weren’t sure what to do with yourself. You’re about to run after Anakin when he says, “Stay with Padmé!”

So you do, and the rest of her security detail is with you too. You sit there for awhile, and eventually you find yourself dozing off where you sit. A bleep-bloop noise makes you jump awake. You look to your left and see R2-D2, beeping at you anxiously. You feel like an idiot for being excited and nervous to meet a little robot, but this is the Artoo, the droid that basically carries the entire saga on its back.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand you buddy.” You extend your hand, silently asking for permission to touch the astromech droid. You’re not sure if Artoo is scanning you or determining what is in the depths of your soul, but he deems you worthy and scoots over to let you pat him on the head. He beeps with delight.

Aww he’s so cute!

“Most Jedi would,” Padmé says, appearing almost out of nowhere and sitting down next to you.

“I’m not a Jedi.”

“I gathered that, yes. You must be at least a few years younger than me,” she says. It must be pretty obvious that you’re not in the Jedi Order, and that thought makes you pout a little.

You’re not sure how much information you’re allowed to divulge to her, so you keep it at the bare minimum. “I’m twenty years old. I’ve been with Kenobi and Skywalker the past month, learning from them.”

“You’re a close friend of Ani’s, then.”

That’s an odd deduction to take from your statement. “Uh, I guess we’re friends, yeah.”

She hums, and then Artoo is beeping again, and a hologram of Obi-Wan shows up.

“Senator.”

“Master Kenobi.”

“The fugitive was killed by whoever must have hired them, and we don’t have much information to go on. But, we can assume that you are safe for now.”

She nods, looking far older than she probably is. “That is unfortunate, but as long as you Jedi and I are safe, I believe we all shall find some respite tonight.”

You sag in your seat at that. Sleep sounds absolutely wonderful.

You finally head back to your quarters, and you nearly fall asleep as you’re walking there. You bump into Anakin at least three times as you shuffle your way through the Jedi Temple. He snorts a laugh, and you muster a small apology as you continue to shuffle onwards.

It has to be at least 2AM, and the Jedi don’t seem tired at all! It must be a Force thing.

You cannot remember the last time you were this tired, and you find reality and the dreams and memories in your head blending together. You make your way finally into your hotel room, no, the apartment, and drag your feet to where your room is.

Your eyes are slits as you make out your bed, noting the curious lack of pillows and your favorite blanket on your bed at home. Weren’t you at home? You don’t see your nightstand or your water bottle where it usually is even though you could have sworn you just saw it. 

Whatever. You probably left it downstairs and you’re too tired to go get it. You’re also too tired to change into pajamas, and the clothes you’re wearing are pretty close to pajamas anyways. You curl up on your bed and you’re almost asleep as soon as your head hits the singular pillow.

The light is still on in your room; you forgot to turn it off. Somehow, it flicks off and you think you catch the footsteps of your parents or someone in your family. You feel something soft encompassing your body and snuggle into it. A hand delicately moves a piece of hair behind your ear and you hum in content. It must be one of your parents.

“Night night. Love you,” you say, as you usually do when you go to sleep at night at home.

Whoever it is chuckles and then whispers, “Goodnight.”

And then you’re out for the count.

Chapter Text

You wake up the next morning on top of your bed, still in your day clothes. You vaguely remember falling on your bed, not bothering to even take your shoes off. They’re off now, and you have a fuzzy blanket draped over your body. For some reason, you expected to wake up in your bed at home, but then the past month of memories slams into you. You’re in your bed at the Jedi Temple.

Someone (most likely Obi-Wan) must have taken pity on you and turned off the light for you and covered you with a blanket. Whoever it was helped you sleep a bit more comfortably without waking you up.

So… it wasn’t someone in your family?

Then you remember you said “love you” to whoever it was, and your cheeks are flushing with embarrassment and the utter awkwardness of the situation. Oopsie. Hopefully they’ll know you were half asleep and think you don’t even remember it.

You get ready for the day, and today is also the day when you and Anakin have to go meet with the Chancellor before getting your next assignment from the Council. You shiver at the thought of having to meet Palps, but you try to imagine him as the funny cartoon version in those YouTube videos with the villain pub. 

You laugh to yourself as you brush your teeth, and then you braid your hair. As you put your boots back on, Anakin knocks on the doorframe and enters. 

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s get this over with.”

It’s just a meeting, you’ll be fine. It’s only going to be like twenty minutes max, then you can go home and relax.

“Obi-Wan?” Anakin calls into the kitchen.

“Right here!” the older Jedi says, appearing from behind the refrigerator door (or whatever equated to a refrigerator). He closes the fridge and takes a bite out of an apple-like fruit when he says, “Sleep well?” He’s got a teasing tone in his voice, and that all but confirms that he’s the one who “tucked you in” last night. You pick at your cuticles sheepishly.

“Yes. Thank you for asking,” you drawl sarcastically. You’re going to let it go but then you feel the need to say, “I’ll have you know I was half asleep already when I went to bed last night—!”

“It’s alright, young one,” he chuckles. “Next time you’re that tired you should tell me. I forgot you cannot repress your exhaustion like Anakin or I can.”

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t really say anything while you two were jumping through windows and whatnot.” Obi-Wan smirks, and for some reason the sight warms your heart. You shrink in on yourself and say, “Thanks for helping me, though. It was really nice and you didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course,” he laughs again, and pats you on the top of your head. Now you really feel like a little kid.

You try not to smile, but you just can’t help yourself. Meanwhile, Anakin looks angry. He’s probably just mad that he doesn’t get to see Padmé today, but you can’t help but feel he’s angry at you for some reason.

“Are you okay, Anakin?”

His scowl scarcely disappears. “Yes. I’m alright. Let’s go,” he lies. You don’t push him though. It could be that he had a bad dream or just is in a bad mood this morning. You decide to just let it go for now, and if he’s still bad later then you can bring it up.

The three of you cram into a speeder and make your way to the Senate building which is huge. Far larger than any building you’ve seen so far. You pass through a bunch of security stations as you make your way up the building, until finally you’re outside what you assume is the Chancellor’s office.

“I take my leave. I’ll see you downstairs,” says Obi-Wan. You gulp, feeling your nerves eat you up again. Obi-Wan hesitantly takes a few steps back before turning and disappearing completely down the staircase from which you came. 

Anakin stands in front of the huge metal doors but doesn’t walk in. He’s hesitating too, and you wonder if your nervousness has become so strong that it’s now contagious.

He’s squinting at you, and you scowl back. 

“What’s your problem?”

He pouts, and he looks like he’s going to say “nothing”, but he decides against it. “Do you like Obi-Wan more than me?”

So maybe they both did hear you say “love you”. Okay, that’s awkward… and you’re really extra embarrassed now but like, are you actually surprised this dumbass would actually think that?

You blink. “What are you, five?”

“What?”

“You guys are my friends! I was like half asleep last night—” you growl, frustrated. The amount of teen angst this kid exudes is unbelievable. “I tell my friends back home I love them too! What, you want me to say it to you now too? ‘Love you, Anakin’! There, happy? Lord, you are literally in middle school!”

His eyes are huge and you realize you either sound like a crazy person or a really mean person. Either way, you didn’t mean to yell at him even though you were joking—especially right before you see the most triggering person in the whole saga.

“I’m-I’m sorry, I just…” Think about it. What’s actually bothering you right now? “I really don’t want to be here, and I shouldn’t yell at you, I’m really scared, I’m sorry—”

He grimaces. “No, that’s not—I’m being unfair. I think I’m overreacting, aren’t I?”

Your lips twitch. “Maybe a little…” You’re proud that he’s actually recognizing he’s being a bit irrational. Another sign you’ve been deviating a bit from his original character!

“I am sorry,” he says genuinely. “We don’t have to go—”

But as he’s about to offer you an out from this hellish meeting, the metal doors slide open and there are two guards who beckon you inside.

You take a very shaky breath. No turning back now.

Chapter Text

Palpatine stands up from his desk and spreads his arms out wide. “Anakin! My dear boy, I’d heard you were sick! It’s so good to see you,” he says. He looks at you and you can almost see the contempt in his eyes, but he’s covering it masterfully. You wouldn’t see it if you weren’t looking for it. He bristles, probably noticing you don’t have a Force presence, and he’s also probably trying to figure out why. “A pleasure to meet you. I was not aware Master Kenobi had taken on two padawans, now.”

You introduce yourself with a bow, and the Chancellor acknowledges you with a nod. “I’m not a Jedi, but I hope to learn more about the Force under the guidance of Master Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker.” You swallow, feeling anxiety rise in your chest like nausea. Your face feels hot and your palms sweat, but you still try to distract yourself from the feeling by pulling on your ear or pinching your finger, or anything to relieve the sick feeling. 

“Indeed?” he raises an eyebrow. “I also want to express my gratitude for aiding Senator Amidala’s security team in protecting her last night. I am truly in your debt.”

Bruh, you sent the assassin.

The joke lifts a bit of the weight on your chest, happy that you know your thoughts can be kept from this evil man. Anakin doesn’t necessarily have that luxury, and he doesn’t even know that. It’s not fair to him.

“Of course, uh, sir.”

Anakin deserves to be free in all aspects of his life after growing up the way he did. If he knew how Palpatine had been manipulating him all this time, you doubted he would still trust him. Somehow, you’d figure out a way to prove it to him… when he’s not in a bad mood.

“Chancellor, do you know what we are going to do about the Separatists?”

“Anakin, my boy, you shouldn’t trouble yourself with these things. I have everything handled—”

“I just… I worry for the safety of the Republic, your excellency.”

You’ve got a feeling any one else who interrupts the Chancellor would probably be executed or something (maybe not something to that extreme but you never know), but Anakin seems to be the exception. Thankfully. 

Palpatine almost seems pleased at Anakin’s interruption, and there’s a malicious glint in his eyes when he says, “And for the safety of a certain Senator…?”

Anakin gives you a quick sideways glance, and you narrow your eyes in turn. What’s his deal? “Among others.”

The Chancellor flicks his eyes back and forth between you two. “You should not be ashamed of your feelings, Anakin. I understand perhaps more than the Jedi or your Master would about wishing to protect those you love.”

Ah, here he goes again, trying to separate Anakin from the Jedi. You’re having none of it. Despite the fear that is suffocating you, you know you have to say something. 

“I think the Jedi understand more than you give them credit for. Particularly Master Kenobi,” you say as respectfully as you can. Not that you respect Palpatine, but you hate getting in trouble with authority figures. 

Anakin smiles a bit at you, and the sight alarms the Chancellor. For a split second, you see the old man’s nostrils flare and his eyes actually glow a completely different color! How the heck did no one else catch that?

Fear crawls up your throat. You try to act as if you saw nothing, and it’s not too difficult because Palpatine masks whatever he was feeling a second prior so easily it’s almost scary. 

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

The seed of doubt doesn’t seem to be taking root in Anakin anymore, though. You’re glad, but you can’t help but feel that you’re on Palpatine’s hit list now. You’re a variable he did not account for, and somehow he’s going to have to get you on his side or killed, you just know it. You pinch your finger harder, hoping the brief pain will get you out of your head enough so you don’t get swallowed by the anxiety bubbling beneath your skin.

But like, what even is his goal outside of taking over the galaxy? Like what’s the point? No one even knows that the Emperor is a sith except for whatever Jedi are left, so it’s not like the sith have “reconquered” the galaxy. Not even the Empire ends up knowing what a sith is. So what the hell is the point!?

The rest of the time in the office is spent with Anakin recounting your adventures you’ve had since you arrived, as well as the speeder-chase through Coruscant last night. From what he recounts, it sounds like everything went exactly as you remember in the movies. You still feel sick to your stomach, and you know your mind is going to wander in dangerous directions if you continue to stay silent right now—you need another way to distract yourself.

“Wait. What made you jump out of your speeder? Like, how did you know how not to die?”

The damn boy shrugs and makes a “dunno” sound. You almost want to shake him and say that he should be more careful with his life, but in this universe it seems Jedi can survive almost anything except other lightsabers and blasters en masse. You leave it be for now, but you’re gonna grill him about it later, that’s for sure.

(Or maybe not, your anxiety is just making you freak out about everything right about now.)

The Chancellor seems unimpressed aside from rasing his eyebrows every now and then, and Anakin notices this. You’d think he would grow more agitated, but at this point he just looks extremely tired.

You almost wish he would go back to his whiny angsty self because this version of Anakin is almost more painful to be around.

Maybe he is beginning to realize what you’ve been saying about the Chancellor is true? You doubt that’s entirely the case, but you hope that maybe he finally is seeing the old man’s true colors.

“Oh my, I almost forgot I have another appointment in a few minutes! I’ve lost track of time. Anakin, why don’t you wait outside for your friend for a moment. I would like to speak with her alone.”

If you didn’t know what you knew about Palps, it would have been a harmless situation, but you knew.

You’re too frozen in shock to object, and even Anakin shoots you a concerned glance. You nod your head against your better judgement, silently telling him that it will be alright. He cautiously walks backwards out of the room, nearly forgetting to bow before the steel doors shut completely.

Palpatine wastes no time. “Who are you really?”

You ponder this for a moment. What could you tell him without giving him any important information?

“I’m no one.” And who else was deemed to be no one in the Star Wars universe? “I come from nothing. I’m nothing.” Maybe you could play your cards like Rey here for a bit, just existing as an unknown variable that has been completely unaccounted for. This way, it’s going to take time for Palpatine to really figure out what you’re trying to do.

“You’re no Jedi.”

“Indeed I am not.”

Palpatine rolls his eyes at your feeble attempt to create confusion. It almost makes you laugh to see him do so. You’re panicking far too much to laugh.

“How do I know you’re not an enemy of the Republic?”

“Because I’m trusted by the Chosen One. Whoever is with him, you’re going to need.” Which is true in terms of the upcoming Clone Wars, but also for whatever he has planned in order to make Anakin turn to the dark side. Or so you think, you asshole.

By convincing him that you’re close to Anakin, maybe then Palpatine won’t kill you now and instead think there’s more use for you later on in his weird dark side plan. 

He must have figured something out on his own, because you notice a twitch of his lips that looks suspiciously like a smirk. “Perhaps you are right. Well, I only wished to express my gratitude for your part in saving Senator Amidala’s life.”

Right, just pretend like he wasn’t trying to paint you as an enemy like two seconds earlier. “Yeah, no problem.” 

You bow, and he nods in acknowledgement as you turn and finally are able to exit the room. You seriously could not be more glad that this meeting is finally over.

As the steel doors close behind you, you nearly run into Anakin trying to get the heck out of there. He hesitantly holds your shoulders. “Are you alright? You’re shaking.”

You feel like bursting into tears, but you’re too close to the office still to let yourself cry in public. You grab Anakin’s arm, dragging him behind you as you practically sprint out of the Senate building to where you think Obi-Wan said he’d meet you. He’s not here yet, but you have faith he will be soon. 

You take this moment to let yourself unravel for a second, whilst also congratulating yourself for making it through that meeting in one piece. You hug Anakin without a word, hoping to gain some comfort from a familiar face so you don’t completely freak out. He hugs you back with less hesitancy than you’d expect, almost like he’s clinging to you for comfort as much as you are him.

“It’s over. It’s over,” he mumbles, and you finally start to calm yourself down.

Taking the first deep breath the whole morning, you let yourself relax in his arms. Your heartbeat slows enough so it’s not thundering in your ears, and your jaw subconsciously unclenches as the sick feeling finally disappears.

Unfortunately, the relief you feel is tainted by the knowledge that it’s not over; it's just the beginning.

Chapter Text

Eventually, Obi-Wan shows up in a speeder, apologizing for being late. He says he was at Dex’s Diner, and you vaguely remember that part of the movie.

You try to forget your conversation with Palps, and end up zoning out as Obi-Wan explains that he must inform the Council of and discover where this “Kamino” system is. You watch the speeders zip by and wishing you could listen to a radio station from back home right about now. In fact, one of the things you miss the most is music. Maybe you’re a musician, maybe not, but you haven’t really had time to find any way to listen or make any music aside from humming or singing in the shower.

Arriving at the temple, you all make it back to your apartment. Obi-Wan is about to head out again right away, but you stop him.

“They’re going to say Kamino doesn’t exist. But it’s because someone deleted the file.”

He stalls. “What?”

You smirk to yourself as you think of the meme.

Impossible, the archives must be incomplete!

“Someone deleted the file from the archives. To save time, you should just head to the coordinates where you think it is. Or something. I forget how you find it, tbh.”

“‘T.B.H.’?”

“Oh, sorry. It means ‘to be honest.’”

“Then why didn’t you just say that?” Anakin asks. It comes across rude, but looking at him you can tell he’s just teasing. In his own way.

“It’s a thing we do back home. It’s like, uh, shorthand, but for texting? And we say it out loud, I’m not sure why, but I think it’s funny.”

“Oh.”

You chuckle to yourself, thinking about all the different acronyms you could teach them. 

Convincing Obi-Wan to eat something with you both, the three of you have a snack together before the older Jedi heads out to meet with the Council. 

He ends up being gone most of the day, and you and Anakin end up having to cook lunch for yourselves. Well, Anakin does most of the cooking because you have no idea what the heck any of the ingredients actually are in this universe so…

Anyway, you help him put all of the ingredients together to make a really delicious salad and some kind of flatbread that’s really good too! You’re pleasantly surprised; you didn’t take Anakin for a cook.

Whenever you bake or make anything at home you usually have music playing in the background. So, to fill the silence now as you wait for the food to heat up, you absentmindedly start humming to yourself.

You hum a variety of tunes, but your mind becomes fixated on a theme from Star Wars (given your current environment, it’s not that surprising). The Force theme (or binary sunset theme) gets stuck in your head from time to time, and now apparently is one of those times.

“Are you—How do you know that song?” Anakin asks, his eyebrows raised in surprise. 

“What?”

“That’s the melody I hear when I have to meditate or sink into the Force. I’ve never been able to describe what it sounds like!”

Amazing! So the music actually does play when the major events are going on.

You hum the song again, “That’s the melody you hear?”

“Yes! Hearing it is like remembering an elusive dream—I’ve always known that the Force sang to me, ever since I was a boy…”

“You still are a boy, by the way.” He scowls, and hopefully he knows you’re joking (sorta). “But this is great! The Star Wars soundtrack is awesome, there’s so many songs—”

“Star Wars?”

“That’s what the stories are called. You know, the ones about you and Obi-Wan and the Jedi? Technically it starts with Darth Vader and Luke Sky—” You stop yourself from making a huge mistake, “Jedi Master Luke.”

“You talk about this ‘Luke’ a whole lot. Do I ever meet him?”

(“No, I am your father.”

“...that’s not true! That’s impossible!”)

“Um, when you grow up, yeah.” That’s one way to put it. You hope that you can prevent Anakin from becoming Darth Vader in the first place, and then maybe he gets to raise his kids in peace the rest of his life…?

His scowl from earlier is back. “I am grown up. I’m practically a Jedi Master.”

“Right. Deepest apologies, Master Skywalker—” you begin to joke, but the title reminds you of another meme (that in reality is actually horrible):

(“Master Skywalker, there are too many of them! What are we going to do?”)

Ice makes its way through your veins, but you shake the memory off. You’re on your way to stopping that from ever happening in the first place. You don’t need to worry about that—this Anakin that you’ve become friends with isn’t on that track anymore. 

There’s still work that needs to be done, though.

Luckily, the oven beeps and finally the food is ready.

“You joke, but I’m nearly there. You’ll see,” Anakin says shaking his finger at you. It’s such a Darth Vader thing to do (in a harmless sense) but you can’t find it in yourself to laugh. 

He takes the food out of the oven with the Force so he doesn’t have to touch the burning metal. Smart. You know if Obi-Wan were here, he’d probably scold him. But, Anakin uses the Force all the time for no reason at all so it seems whatever lectures Obi-Wan has been giving him the past ten years aren’t working—like at all. That makes you laugh.

The food ends up being delicious, and actually reminds you a bit of home.

You’re both starving, so you scarf down your lunch in silence. Anakin eats twice as much and as fast as you, which makes you wonder if he has two stomachs or something. How the heck is he still so lanky?

“Dude, I wish I could show you deep-dish pizza or New York style, you’d love it.” you say as you help clean up afterwards. Obi-Wan is kind of a clean freak, so you both make sure there’s almost no trace that you ate anything. 

“You’ll have to figure out how to make it to show me, then,” Anakin smirks.

You narrow your eyes. “Not my fault I don’t know what the heck any of the food is here!”

“Always an excuse.”

“Oh, shut up.”

He laughs, but once he puts the last dish away his whole demeanor shifts. He’s tense, and you don’t need the Force to feel the air around you sink with a sense of melancholy.

“I am sorry about earlier. Before we met with the Chancellor, I mean. I was being… childish.”

He’s not wrong, but you still shake your head. “Don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I was just—”

“Anxious?”

“Hey, you’re catching on!” you joke, but then you soften. “But seriously, if something is bothering you, you can tell me. I shouldn’t make you feel like you can’t. I know you probably feel like that a lot around here, and I’m going to try to be different. ”

He doesn’t respond, and you look up to see if he’s even listening. It appears he is listening too well, his eyes wide and mouth agape in shock. He smiles for a split second but then looks away hastily. “Thank you,” he says with such sincerity and shock that it almost makes you angry. It shouldn't be so surprising that you, a friend, would be there for him. “But… I-I can’t.”

“You can. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I’m your friend—that’s what friends are for, we’re there for each other. Obi-Wan too.”

He scowls for a split second at the mention of Obi-Wan, but the more he thinks the more his expression softens. “I am grateful for his guidance but… I can’t help but feel like he’s holding me back sometimes, and then what if I fail to do what is required of me? I need to be powerful enough to protect—” he stops himself, and for once you actually want him to keep talking. He doesn’t. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

You’re annoyed that Anakin still blames Obi-Wan for his own shortcomings, yet you know it’s only because he’s human. You’ve felt the same way before about your parents or coaches or whoever, but you’ve learned to move past it in most cases. “He loves you—”

“I don’t know—”

“Believe me, he does.” You think back to the time in the training room, how the great Obi-Wan Kenobi nearly broke at the prospect of losing Anakin, even now. “You’re his brother, his best friend. We both care a heck of a lot about you. If you remember anything, please remember that, okay?”

He cleans and puts away the last dish, hesitating to turn around and meet your eyes. 

“Anakin.” Finally, he turns and rubs his eyes like he’s a four year old trying not to fall asleep. It’s friggin adorable but you say nothing of it. “Maybe you should take a nap.”

“I’m fine. But thanks.”

No, he’s not fine. What could you do to get him to admit that? Or maybe you could get him to rest without admitting that he needs to rest…

An idea pops into your head.

“Have I ever shown you my phone?”

You lead him into your room and pick your phone up off of the desk where it lay dormant next to your lightsaber. It still has some battery left, but not nearly as much as it did when you began this journey. Every now and then you would turn it on to look at pictures of your family or write to yourself in the notes section, but you did all of these things sparingly.

“Oh, it’s kind of like a holopad?”

“Yeah, and a commlink all rolled into one. It doesn’t work for communication purposes—or really in any other capacity—since there’s no network for it to connect to. That, and it’s from a completely different universe. I wish I could still charge it, though…”

“I can build a charger!” he exclaims, moving to go back to the main room, “Let me just grab—”

You tug on his arm, stopping him. “That would be great, but let’s just relax for a second, okay?” He pouts, but he nods his head in agreement. 

He sits on your bed, crisscrossing his legs and you sit on the floor with your back to your bedframe. Swiping through your apps, you get to the one you were looking for: audiobooks. 

“There’s this story I’ve downloaded, so it should still work even here… aha! It works!” You click on the audiobook you were searching for. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. You aren’t sure how it ended up on your phone in the first place, but you’re glad it’s there nonetheless. It’s a little bit of home. “They recorded someone reading this book from my home, and it’s an excellent story, deemed one of the best in the century. I think you’d like it.”

And if he for some reason didn’t like it, hopefully he would fall asleep to it. In fact, you’re hoping he falls asleep to it regardless. 

You press “play” on the audiobook, and the narration begins. You place your phone on your bed and turn up the volume so you both can hear it. “So far, it sounds interesting,” Anakin says, still sitting upright as if he had to meditate with Obi-Wan right now.

“Relax. You can lay down.”

“You’re just trying to get me to fall asleep, aren’t you?”

Damn it.

“If you don’t lay down right now, I will come up there and knock you out myself.”

He laughs, but technically you could do it if you punched him hard enough. No Force for you, remember? Not that you would ever do that, though.  “Sure,” he says incredulously.

“Alright, even worse, I will cuddle you to death until you submit.”

“If I’m already dead, how can I submit?”

You roll your eyes. “Just take a damn nap, will you? Or at least listen to the story.”

And eventually he relaxes his posture as time goes on, finally laying down on your bed. You smirk to yourself as you sit on the floor. Mission accomplished.

Your plan is working too well, because after an hour the floor starts to seem a lot more comfy than before. You find yourself laying down as Frodo says something in the story, but you’re too tired to know what it is.

You pass out on the floor, and at one point you think Obi-Wan peeks past the door after hearing the main door to the apartment open up. He doesn’t seem to wake you immediately, though.

What really wakes you up is Anakin shouting and Obi-Wan running into your room.

Chapter Text

“Woah! What-what’s goin’ on?” you exclaim, rubbing your eyes. Your heart is pounding because you’re scared shitless after being woken up like that. (Your phone has long since died, but you know Anakin will hold up his end of the deal and make a charger at some point.)

“Anakin was having a nightmare,” Obi-Wan says, concern etched on his face.

“No, I wasn’t—”

“I’m sorry, I thought if you took a nap you wouldn’t dream—” you begin, but Anakin still denies that he even had a nightmare in the first place.

“It’s the afternoon, I could not possibly have a nightmare—”

“‘Nap’mare, whatever—”

“I need to speak with the Chancellor,” Anakin says abruptly.

You and Obi-Wan exchange a confused glance, and the elder Jedi furrows his eyebrows. “Why do you need to talk to him?”

“I-I need his help.”

“We can help you with whatever it—”

“No, you can’t, ” he cuts you off rudely for like the third time. 

“Palpatine is not who you think he is,” you state firmly, your grogginess from your nap gone but your judgment still hasn’t kicked into full gear yet, apparently. Anakin looks back at you like he’s a puppy you’ve just kicked, and you curse yourself in your head. “I’m sorry, Anakin. I’m sorry, I thought I could keep this from you, but… I want to protect you and I think this is the only way how.”

“What are you saying?” he says apprehensively. God, you really hope he isn’t going to be mad at you again after this. Even if your friendship is new and slightly unbelievable, it’s not a relationship you want to lose.

Obi-Wan sees where this is going, and he steps in to put a hand on your shoulder to coax you to continue. You oblige.

“Palpatine is… both the leader of the Republic and the Separatists.”

You refrain from mentioning he’s the Sith Lord they are looking for, because they don’t even know to look for a Sith Lord yet. 

“You’re lying,” Anakin says simply, and you can tell he is trying so hard to convince himself of that fact. “I understand what you were saying before, but this… this…”

“I know it sounds insane—”

“Sounds insane? It is insane!”

“Padawan—” Obi-Wan tries to cut in but Anakin is having none of it.

“No! No, don’t make up stories about the one person who treats me like an actual human being and not like an object! Like your precious Chosen One!”

And Anakin’s past reared its ugly head yet again. But that reminds you of something…

“Anakin, he’s planting nightmares in your head about your mom and is going to let her be killed!” you blurt.

“What?” he whimpers, and you really want to kick yourself now.

“I…” you struggle to dig yourself out of the enormous hole you’ve put yourself in. “See, this is why I don’t have any time! I don’t know if I’m supposed to let Geonosis happen, I don’t know how we’re supposed to rescue the clones, I don’t know anything! I wish someone could tell me what to do, how to save all of you, but there’s so much…”

Damn George Lucas for cramming so much into three movies. 

“Nightmares…? No, no, Mom was fine when we saw her, it’s—” Anakin cuts himself off with a choked cry.

Seeing him tear up brings you more pain than you thought it would. It hurts even more to see how hard he’s trying to hide his emotion in front of you and Obi-Wan. But another thought occurs to you… 

“You really haven’t been having any nightmares?”

“N-no… not about her…” he mumbles.

Obi-Wan looks concerned, but also sad? The anguish is present in his eyes again as he touches his padawan’s shoulder softly, his other hand grazing the boy’s cheek. “What is it, Ani?”

You know he’s truly worried because you’ve never heard him use Anakin’s nickname before now (in fact, you aren’t sure he’s ever used it in the entire saga, either). He also has never held Anakin like this, and you’d want to say it was cute, but it only breaks your heart further.

Anakin breaks under Obi-Wan’s concerned visage, and he’s sobbing as he practically collapses to the floor. Obi-Wan goes down with him, trying to console him in any way possible.

Now you really feel like shit, because you’ve made Anakin Skywalker actually cry. (Which maybe isn’t that hard to do and you already made Obi-Wan cry on like day three so you aren’t sure why seeing the younger Jedi cry is more jarring for you).

“Is it of Padmé? Of me? Qui-Gon?” Obi-Wan soothes. 

Anakin shakes his head fervently. Through the boy’s hiccups and gasps, you hear him say, “It’s me, and you...” his watery eyes meet your own, and you’re frozen in fear. “Somehow, it’s my fault… you’re hurt, in pain, and it’s my fault! And I tried to-to believe that the dreams will pass, like you told me they do, Master… but now I’m afraid I’m going to lose her!”

Frick.

Alright, so it turns out that Anakin’s nightmares have been about you being injured or dead, and you’re not quite sure how to process that. You’ve moved so far away from canon now and that was exactly what you were afraid would happen. You’re prepared to save Anakin’s mom, but you have no idea what might happen to you.

(And what if his mom is still in danger, and Palpatine wasn’t actually behind her death?)

You’re praying again, hoping that one way or another, you’ll end up back at home when everything is said and done, and that this universe will somehow be better off than it was when you arrived.

You find yourself on the floor next to him, hugging him and trying to console him the best you can. The only reason you’re not freaking out and crying is because you’ve come to the realization that whether Anakin actually has premonitions of the future or if they’re planted by Palpatine, they come from the Force. And like Anakin demonstrated almost a month ago, now, the Force cannot harm you. Therefore, you assume that you’re not going to die in some self-fulfilling prophecy that tends to happen in Star Wars sometimes.

But you can’t help but shiver at the thought of dying here.

(What happens back home, if you die here?)

Death is a terrifying concept that you’ve actively ignored thinking about in your time here, but you have to come to terms with the fact that even if Anakin and Obi-Wan are practically invincible in this universe you are not. You’re not a soldier, a Jedi, a hero… you’re a civilian who could easily die if you fell from a certain height or got shot by something or—

Thinking about that isn’t going to help you right now, is it?

You instead think back to Narnia and the similar situation you find yourself in. If the Pevensies could make it through their adventure, then so could you. You just needed to have faith. 

“Anakin, I’m going to be fine. It can’t be a coincidence that you get the worst nightmare yet after we both meet with Palpatine. He probably thinks you’re attached to me more than your mom at this point, and you’re more likely to snap if I’m not here to be your therapist.” Which makes sense. You’re probably the one of the only ones helping to keep him sane right now. You’re proud he’s actually learned so much from what you have told him, but you are still anxious that it might not be enough.

And what would happen to him when you go home? (Well, you hope you’ll be able to go home.)

Obi-Wan is still hugging him, but he wraps an arm around you as well and now you’re all in a big group hug while Anakin still cries. 

It sort of feels backwards because this is very reminiscent of the scene that takes place after Anakin’s mother’s death.

“I’m better than this, Master, I swear,” he chokes out, almost pleading.

“You don’t have to be, my young Padawan.” He embraces Anakin tighter.

“But-but my feelings of attachment—”

Obi-Wan’s eyes flit back and forth, until they finally meet your own. “I don’t think the Order has done the best job at keeping the balance between what it means to love and what it means to be attached.”  A look of understanding passes between you two and your heart swells. He figured out what you had been trying to say in that cave on Ilum. You’d done a shit job at explaining what you meant, but he understood anyway! “I know you struggle with letting go of your mother, and the truth is that you shouldn’t have to. I loved and lost Qui-Gon, and it almost destroyed me because he was my Master, my father. But I realized that I would not be able to appreciate how much I love you if I did not know what it meant to love at all.”

Woah. Did he just—?

“You-you love me?” The disbelief in his voice makes Obi-Wan flinch.

“I care arguably too much about you, Anakin. But that’s just the Jedi in me talking. Our friend here has helped me to realize how important it is I express this to you,” he smiles at you, and you grin in turn. “And you should know that I am always going to be here to help you in whatever way that I can. You shouldn’t have to turn to anyone else.”

“Until you all leave me—”

“And that happens, Ani,” you say, his nickname sounding extremely weird coming from you but apparently it helps him to calm down when he hears it. “We all lose people, whether it be to death or-or distance…”

“It’s death that… that terrifies me.”

Anakin never admits when he’s afraid, and you’re proud to see him do so now.

“Death is just another path, one that we all must take,” you say, quoting another character from Lord of the Rings—you can’t quite remember who at the moment. “I’m not sure how it works in your universe, or in mine I suppose, but I believe that at the end, we all are reunited for all eternity. The time we spend apart becomes miniscule compared to the time we get to be together.”

“You don’t know that, though.”

“You’re right, I don’t. But I just have to have faith, I guess.” You pause, noting the doubt on his face. “I know that’s not enough—I know that. But even when you lose people, like how I’ve lost my family and friends, you find the same relationships in different people… like you guys.”

And saying this out loud helps ease the twinge of homesickness that never entirely went away since you’ve been here—it probably won’t ever go away completely. 

“She’s right, Anakin.”

The younger Jedi is starting to calm down now, and Obi-Wan pulls you both in for one more hug before releasing you. He stands up, and extends a hand down towards Anakin. The boy takes it, and even you can see the weight begin to lift off of his chest. 

This is what Anakin Skywalker needed.

“I’m scared too, but we’ll get through this… right?” you say, looking to Obi-Wan for reassurance, because in all honesty you really aren’t certain that you will be okay even if you’re “Force-immune”. 

He pulls you up from the floor with steady arms. “We will. I care too much for both of you to let us be otherwise.”

He… he cares about you like he does Anakin? After you’ve done nothing but uproot his life day in and day out?

Obi-Wan senses your doubt somehow, and gives you a tight nod to relieve you of it all.

For the first time since this whole debacle began, you really feel like you belong.

Chapter Text

“They’re splitting us up?” you exclaim.

After you all calmed down, Obi-Wan began to explain what the Council had planned for all of you. Padmé would be safe for the rest of the day, but she needed to get off of Coruscant discreetly by tonight. You and Anakin are supposed to accompany her, and you almost laugh at how much of a third wheel you know you’re going to be if that is the case. 

Obi-Wan is being sent to Kamino, and you know exactly where that path is going to lead him. You aren’t sure if you should let the Clone Wars begin, if it’s even in your power to avoid, but if things go the way they do in the movie you won’t have a choice but to elicit help from the clone army. At least you would get to meet Rex, you suppose (if you’re here that long).

But what are you supposed to do?

“This is going to start a war, Obi-Wan,” you continue as Anakin goes to his room to pack a bag. “And I don’t know if I can stop it.”

“While you are here to help us, young one, you don’t need to place the fate of the galaxy on your shoulders.”

“But if I can save lives, shouldn’t I?”

He grimaces, his lips pulled into a tight line. “Whatever happens is the will of the Force,” he says after a pause. “You may be able to prevent some things, but who is to say something just as bad will not occur in their place? We have to keep the Chancellor as much in the dark as possible, if he is indeed our leader and our enemy.”

You gulp. “That’s not exactly reassuring.”

“For now, focus on keeping the Senator safe.”

“Trust me, Anakin’s all over that,” you say, but then your eyes widen and you clamp your mouth shut. Obi-Wan’s cheeks turn pink and you want to slap yourself. Come on, you gotta cover for Anakin here! “I mean, don’t you need help? I could go with you—”

He chuckles, “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ll be fine. I am quite adept at investigating, and Anakin is going to need you. He’s come so far in the little time you both have been together, but I fear that this assignment is going to test him. I trust you to look after him, you understand?”

Yeah, maybe you’ll be able to keep Anakin from getting married at age 19. That’s at the top of your list.

(Honestly, you don’t care if he dates Padmé, but he probably should not get married when he’s only known her for like two weeks at best.)

“Yessir.”

“Good.” He pauses before pulling you into a hug. “Thank you,” he says, and he’s so sincere that it makes you blush. You don’t feel like you’re that important or anything, but to your friends it seems that you are. That’s a huge comfort.

After you pack your things, you’re forced to change into more “civilian clothes” which is really just a poncho over your shirt and pants. Your little lightsaber is stashed in one of the poncho’s pockets, out of sight but in reach if need be.

It’s been an extremely long day, but your nap from a little while ago is helping you have some energy right now. 

You meet up with Padmé at some kind of public travel station with R2-D2 and her head of security. She is also dressed in relatively normal clothing, but it’s way cuter than what you have on. Lucky her, you wish you weren’t stuck with your bland poncho.

“Anakin, don’t do anything without first consulting me or the Council. This is a delicate operation.”

“Yes, Master,” Anakin whispers.

Obi-Wan nods and turns his attention back to the rest of the group. “Should the vote be taken while you are away, who have you chosen to stand in for you, Senator?” he asks. 

“I’ve chosen Jar Jar to represent Naboo…”

She keeps talking, but you can’t hear her over the amount of internal screaming you’re doing right now in your head.

“Can’t you just like Webex or Zoom in?”

“Pardon?”

Shoot, what did they call the hologram thingies? “Or, uh, holocall? Like the Jedi Council does.”

“The Senate might not legitimize the vote if I’m not there in person,” Padmé explains, although she seems uncertain.

“Are you positive? I think it is important that you’re safe, miss, ma’am, uh, Padmé, but I think your opinions and your opinions alone should be representative of Naboo. Not Binks.” Anyone but that buffoon.

Padmé smiles. “I like your way of thinking, friend.”

Obi-Wan gives you a knowing look (he can tell this is a future thing), but also furrows his eyebrows. You shrug, silently saying that you’ll tell him about the whole thing later.

“I’ll get to the bottom of this plot quickly, milady. You’ll be back here in no time.”

“I am most grateful for your speed, Master Jedi.”

Anakin narrows his eyes at Padmé’s and Obi-Wan’s exchanged grins. “Time to go.” He storms out of the little shuttle, but Obi-Wan’s words stop him.

“Anakin, may the Force be with you.” 

“And also with you, Master,” he replies.

And one step after the other you, Anakin, R2-D2 and Padmé exit to head onto the ship. 

“Suddenly, I am afraid,” Padmé admits.

“This is my first assignment on my own,” Anakin adds. “I am too.”

“Yeah. At least we have Artoo to protect us,” you say, and the little droid beeps in agreement.

The three of you giggle and the seriousness of the situation seems to lessen a little bit.

The transport ship is a little crowded but you all find a place to sit that’s secluded enough to spend the journey. You sit, and the ship prepares to take off. Despite your few times traveling in space, you are still gripping the armrests of your seat hard enough to leave marks. Anakin and Padmé are having a conversation, so you don’t want to interrupt them. You try to keep your fear as low key as possible, and it works for the most part. Eventually, though, when the ship jumps to lightspeed you can’t help but jump in your seat a little bit. Padmé excuses herself to use the restroom, and it’s just you and Anakin.

“Are you alright? I’m so sorry, I should have asked you before—” Anakin begins, moving to sit next to you.

“I’m fine now, it’s okay.”

You’re not quite alright yet, and he picks up on this.

“What do you have against Jar Jar?” he says to get you talking.

“Bruh, I can’t even with that guy.”

“Can’t even… what?”

“Never mind,” you smile to yourself. You suppose without Jar Jar there wouldn’t be the funny memes about him either, so you keep your hate for him on the down low for now. “Are you actually scared?”

He shrugs. “Yes, but with you here I am less so.”

Aww that’s sweet.

“Same here,” you exhale, letting yourself relax. “Don’t tell Padmé that though.”

“Why?”

“Because, when you’re trying to get someone to like you, like, like-like you, it’s probably best not to talk about your other friend who is also a girl, you catching my drift?”

He blushes, “I don’t… I’m not trying to—”

“You don’t have to explain, it’s okay!” You laugh. Artoo beeps excitedly, and the little droid gestures to where the other passengers have lined up—it’s a buffet. He rolls his way on over there and you’re not sure what he’s saying. Do droids even eat? You hope that’s not dumb of you to ask.

“Alright buddy. Be careful!” Anakin calls out after him. Well, at least he understands what the droid was saying. 

“He’s so cute!”

“He’s just a droid.”

“Well, we don’t have droids where I’m from. And Artoo is the best. He’s going to be a very important companion down the line, you’ll see.”

Anakin holds his hands up, refusing to argue with you.

At this moment, Padmé returns. She’s eyeing the two of you in a strange way, and you hope she doesn’t think you are together. That would not bode well for the future, that’s for sure.

You clear your throat. “I think Artoo is getting us food.”

“Oh. Alright,” Padmé says. 

There’s a bit of an awkward silence. Both are broken eventually; the silence is broken by Artoo returning with three bowls of what looks like some kind of soup, and the awkwardness is broken by Anakin immediately taking a sip/bite of his steaming soup.

He makes a sour face, “Force, that’s hot! ”

Both you and Padmé laugh, and you blow on your bowl of soup in an overexaggerated fashion because obviously Anakin doesn’t know how to do that.

“Oh, shut up.”

“I didn’t even say anything!”

Padmé just laughs, and the air around you all feels so much lighter.

Chapter Text

You’re trying to get some rest, and Padmé has chosen to stay awake for another hour yet. Anakin has been sleeping for the past hour, and you had been telling Padmé all about where you are from and your adventures since you’ve arrived in the galaxy. You both are getting to be fast friends and you’re glad. Aside from Ahsoka, you haven’t been able to talk to many other girls while you’ve been living with Anakin and Obi-Wan. It gets exhausting dealing with them all the time in all honesty.

You’re trying to sink into sleep now, but you hear Anakin tossing and turning in the cot next to yours. You are stuck in that in-between where you could fall asleep in the next few minutes but you’re still aware of what’s going on around you, so as much as you want to check on him, your limbs just won’t respond.

To everyone else, though, you appear to be sleeping.

Padmé walks over to Anakin and shakes him awake. He jolts into awareness, mumbling your name.

Oh great. Another nightmare.

“You were having a nightmare,” Padmé explains to him. 

“I-I’m sorry if I disturbed you,” he says, and you could hear him push himself up and off his cot, walking towards the little table.

“You were dreaming about her?”

“Not in that way—” he’s quick to clarify, and you force yourself not to snort even in your sleepy state.

“I know,” she laughs, not unkindly. “Your relationship runs deep, but I know Jedi aren’t really allowed to love, are you? It’s forbidden.”

He pauses. “Attachment is… forbidden. Possession is forbidden—compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi’s life. So, you might say that we are encouraged to love.”

If only he truly knew the difference between possession and compassion, love and attachment—if only the Order knew the difference between the two.

“You’ve changed so much,” she says.

Well yeah it’s been ten years for them…

“You haven’t changed a bit. You’re exactly how I remember you from my dreams.”

Shit, he’s being creepy. Ugh, why is he so freaking creepy what the hell—

But, for some God-awful reason, Padmé doesn’t seem to mind. She chuckles. “You’re doing a poor job of convincing me you don’t have feelings for her.”

What?

“What?”

“Well, they may not be romantic—”

“I assure you, it’s not like that—!”

“Alright! Alright, I’m just teasing,” she giggles, and you can only imagine how red Anakin’s face must be right now. “It’s good that you care, you know.”

“Well, she is my only friend—I guess you could say my best friend. I’d be a bad friend if I didn’t care, wouldn’t I?”

“And the Jedi are okay with this?”

“The Force brought her here, and there’s this… bond between us. I think the Jedi would be foolish to go against the will of the Force.”

“Indeed.”

He hesitates, and you think the conversation is over but at last he continues, “I’ve never told anyone, but I think it’s been a blessing. Something was clouding my mind before she arrived, but now everything feels clearer. She’s helping me in a way no one ever did, and I just wish I could help her somehow. She’s in pain a lot of the time.”

“Pain? How do you mean? She seems alright to me.”

“It’s not exactly physical pain, but it can manifest that way occasionally. Her mind ails her, she calls it ‘anxiety’, and I want to take that burden away from her, but I can’t. No one can, not even the Jedi healers,” he says, and he sounds angry.

You frown where you lay. You didn’t know your anxiety bothered him that much. You’ve become so used to it being a nuisance in your life day after day that you forget how it might affect the people around you. Perhaps that is selfish, but you do try your hardest not to place that burden on your family or other people.

And damn it, you seem to have failed at that.

(But like, you’re in a completely different universe, of course you’re gonna have anxiety attacks. You gotta cut yourself some slack—you could do with some slack at home too, actually.)

You understand Anakin’s frustration though, and you wish you could just fix whatever the hell you feel is wrong with you. Yet, everyone has their burdens to bear and this is yours.

That doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve to be comforted, though! Don’t forget that!

“She must be strong,” Padmé says with what sounds like fondness in her voice.

“She’d disagree, but she is. Stronger than many Jedi I know.”

That’s sooo not even close to true. No way… right?

And with that thought, well, now you are fully awake and there’s no point in trying to fall back to sleep. You shift in your cot, and the two of them become silent.

You swing your legs over the edge of the bed and rub your eyes tiredly. “Hey, do you think we’re gonna land soon?” you yawn, and they seem to think you were asleep that whole time. You intend to keep it that way.

“I believe so. We will be landing in Theed, Naboo’s capitol,” says Padmé.

You squeak to yourself. “I’m so excited! This is going to be like going to Europe, I’m so stoked!”

“What’s—oh, never mind. If it’s important, I’ll find out,” Anakin says, but you’re grinning so wide that he doesn’t have the heart to really look annoyed. 

You’d explained to Padmé that you are indeed from another universe where this galaxy only exists in stories, but you left out the bit where you know exactly what happens to all of them in the future. You probably are going to have to bring that up later, but right now you’re just going to enjoy the moment.

And the fresh air!

You step off the cruiser finally and take a deep breath of the new planet’s air. The city of Theed is certainly a sight to behold sans-CGI, and you feel as though you are in three different Mediterranean cities all at once as you stroll along following Padmé. It’s quite stunning, and you can tell Anakin is in just as much awe of it as you are.

Padmé grins. “If you think this is beautiful, just wait until we get to the lake country.”

Boy oh boy, do you need this vacation.

(Unfortunately, with your luck, it’s only going to be about a day of actual relaxing for you.)

First, you have to visit with the Queen of Naboo to inform her about the Senate vote and the possible civil war that could break out in the galaxy. 

“We must have faith in the Republic,” the Queen says.

You’re biting your tongue because the Republic is so far gone that it’s going to become an oppressive empire in a few years. But how do you point out its flaws to people who have dedicated their lives to serving it?

You’ll have to figure that out some other time, seeing as you are being ushered out of the throne room.

The one senator/leader guy asks Anakin (as opposed to you or Padmé, ugh) about the plans for Padmé’s security. He even calls him “Master Jedi” which certainly inflates Anakin’s ego.

“Oh, Anakin is just a Padawan learner. And I was thinking of heading to the lake country, and laying low there for awhile,” Padmé answers for him. 

Oh lord. He was gonna do something angsty, wasn’t he?

“Well hang on a minute! I’m supposed to be in charge of security here, m’lady,” he practically whines.

“We both are,” you quickly cut in. Best diffuse this dumb situation as quickly as possible. “We would only wish to be consulted about the plan beforehand, if that’s alright?”

This is tough. You have to convey like twelve different meanings behind what you just said, and raising your eyebrows isn’t gonna cut it. For one, you have to somehow show Anakin that he needs to calm down. Second, you need to sound polite in front of the senators and literal Queen of the planet. And third, you’re trying to make it so Padmé isn’t mad at Anakin or you, but also gets the fact that you actually do need to be consulted about that kind of stuff.

Phew.

For the most part, you seem to be successful since Padmé smiles at you and Anakin pouts less than he was before.

“Of course,” Padmé agrees.

You exit the building, and Padmé explains what plans she had in mind for your time on Naboo. First, you would be heading to her previous home in the city to check in with her family. After dinner, you would head to her super secluded lake house and chill out there for a bit. (Obviously these aren’t the words she uses, but that is the gist of it.)

The journey to Padmé’s house is shorter than expected, but the conversation the three of you have on the way has got to be nearly word for word from the movie. Anakin throws in his little compliments to make Padmé blush, and you do your best to not cackle at the complete oddity of their relationship. 

You don’t recognize her family—probably because this part was a deleted scene or something—but once you finally get to eat dinner, you cannot be happier to be in what at least resembles a normal household. 

Dinner is… interesting to say the least, especially when the mother asks:

“So, how long have you two been married? I’ve been trying to set up Padmé with suitors for years  but she just can’t find the right man, it seems.”

You gulp your water down—damm near choke on it—and slam your goblet on the table all at once, saying “I beg your pardon?”

First of all, you’re only twenty years old. You still feel like a child—you could argue you still are a child—so how could you possibly be thinking about marriage already? Why should Padmé, even if she is a bit older than you?

“Oh, we’re not, uh, I think you misunderstand—” Anakin stumbles over his words so bad that he hardly is speaking English (or whatever they equate to English).

“Mother, they’re Jedi-in training. They cannot possibly be married,” Padmé rolls her eyes as she cuts in. “They have been assigned as my security detail.” 

“Shame,” the mother says. “You would make a beautiful couple.”

Now Anakin chokes on his drink and it takes everything in you to not laugh. Was this lady serious? Like what? Alright, well she simply has no filter. You want to say that Padmé and Anakin are actually the ones who end up winning “galaxy’s hottest couple” in the future, but you keep that to yourself for now. You’re enjoying this shit show far too much.

“How much trouble are you in, Padmé?” Her sister asks. At least someone picked up on the dire situation at hand that would require two Jedi as security. Not that you’re a Jedi, but it’s just easier to say to other people that you are one instead of explaining the truth.

Padmé recounts the past few days on Coruscant and gravely tells them of the death of one of her handmaidens. When she is done, it seems any joy has been sapped from the table as her family understands the gravity of the situation. 

It’s less fun after that. The younger members of Padmé’s family still play with Artoo, and you and Anakin watch over them while Padmé says goodbye to her family. After finding out the kind of danger she’s in, it can’t be that easy of a farewell. 

Eventually, Padmé exits her home with tears in her eyes and says she is ready to go. You wrap an arm around her shoulder so as to comfort her, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. 

You might not be able to comfort her, but at least you can tell her that you know exactly how she’s feeling. “I miss my family too.”

Her only response is a sad smile.

Chapter Text

The ride to Padmé’s lakehouse is quiet, yet very beautiful. It’s like you’re driving through the Italian countryside or something. The lakehouse is only reachable by boat, so once you all dock the skiff at the house, Anakin is the first to jump out using the Force to help you and Padmé up.

Showoff.

You settle for walking aimlessly around the grounds, and you kind of try to go off by yourself to give Anakin and Padmé some “alone time” but Anakin is following you around like a lost puppy. So, you’re stuck looking over the beautiful lake while Anakin rants about sand and awkwardly leans over next to Padmé like he’s going to kiss her but then doesn’t.

You give an exasperated sigh. “I’m going to the bathroom. Brb.” This is like watching the worst one-on-one date on the Bachelorette ever.

“Wait!” Anakin shouts. “You shouldn’t go alone.”

“I know how to use the restroom by myself, thank you very much,” you snip, but he looks at you with a frantic and concerned glance, and all at once you understand; he’s worried you might get hurt like in his nightmares. You humor him, saying, “I’ll take Artoo with me, don’t worry.” You throw in a reassuring grin, and that seems to abate his worry.

Artoo beeps as he follows you inside, and as soon as you enter the mansion you’re entranced by its architecture and design. The doors aren’t exactly marked, so it takes you a minute to figure out where exactly the bathroom is, but you find it eventually. You send Artoo off to rescue Padmé and Anakin from whatever awkward situation they’ve put themselves in—scratch that, you put them in that situation.

The little droid is apprehensive, but you assure him that you’ll meet up with them in a minute. He whistles and rolls along down the hallway you just came from, and you close the bathroom door behind you, locking it.

You’re washing your hands when you think you hear something outside of the door. It sounds like a droid, so you say loudly, “Artoo?”

There is no answer, only silence. But that was weird, you could have sworn that you heard something, and you never hear things that aren’t there.

A spike of fear shoots through your body as you poke your head out through a crack in the door, trying to see what it is you heard. You see nothing, but you still exit the room cautiously and on high-alert. 

Again, something could have changed the plot that you know from home, and maybe there is another attempt on Padmé’s life here. You can’t be too careful.

Tip-toeing down the halls, you think you’re finally in the clear to run to the patio where Anakin and Padmé are. 

Suddenly, some big metal thing flies right in front of you and a red light nearly blinds you. It’s some kind of flying droid and its red light is a scanner or laser pointer or something. 

Your fear freezes you in place for a moment, but once you’ve overcome your shock you sprint out of the hallway and zig zag your way back outside. The droid pursues you, and you know it is hostile as something blazing hot whizzes past your ear and into the pillar next to you—a blaster bolt.

Oh shit!

Thankfully, adrenaline kicks in and your speed increases ten-fold. You’re surprised you’ve lasted this long, seeing as you are a regular person and, well, you. The way you’re avoiding getting shot? That’s some main-character Jedi-level shit right there.

Not that you have the time to think about that, though. 

You want to shout as you run, hoping that Anakin might hear you, but you’re afraid that might make it easier for the killer-droid to find you. Adrenaline can’t keep you going forever, and you can feel yourself tiring. If you don’t find help, you’re done for.

“Anakin!” you scream, the fear in your voice raising its pitch a whole octave. 

Another blaster bolt singes your sleeve, and you yelp. It didn’t hit you, but the next one certainly might. You have your little lightsaber with you, but you obviously don’t have the skill nor the Force to help you deflect the blaster-fire back at the droid. Anakin really is your only hope right now.

That’s a terrifying thought. 

Finally, you reach the outdoor patio as sunlight pours into your vision. While you’ve made it to Anakin and Padmé’s last known location, you have just completely exposed yourself and made it ten times easier for the droid to shoot you. 

Luckily, it doesn’t get the chance to benefit from your misstep. A higher pitched blaster bolt lands almost dead center of the killer-droid’s “face”, and that makes it stop shooting. You follow the shot to see that it was Padmé who fired it, holding a small, handheld blaster. 

Bad. Ass.

The droid isn’t destroyed yet, somehow, and it turns its attention towards Padmé for a brief moment. It scans her while she shoots it in the face again and again, but it does not retaliate. It seems that Padmé’s blaster isn’t big enough to actively destroy the droid, which sucks, and once it’s done scanning her it turns its attention back towards you.

Fear grips your heart again, and you cover your face with your arms and crouch down into a little ball in preparation for the next strike. It doesn’t come.

Anakin runs from behind the droid and literally roars as he slices it in half with his lightsaber. That does the trick. But blue continues to arc back and forth as Anakin goes on to hack the droid into pieces, the anger on his face nearly as terrifying a sight as watching the murder-bot shoot at you. 

Right. He’s Darth Vader.

You’re too damn terrified of everything that just happened to tell him to stop, because honestly? You want to make sure the droid is gone for good too, regardless if it’s overkill. 

Tears are on your face, but you don’t remember when you began to cry. You probably look like a baby seeing as these people face death like every other week, but where you come from, what just happened to you is a rarity. It’s less anxiety that makes it nearly impossible to breathe right now and more so panic. There’s a ringing in your ears that won’t stop, and you won’t open your mouth to take in a deep breath, to relax, even though you are safe now.

Padmé makes her way over to you and places a calm, steady hand in your own shaky and sweaty palm. She rubs your back soothingly, and you’re trying your damnedest to just calm down, but now you’re just distraught. You know the danger has passed, but it was so scary how scared you had just been.

(On paper it doesn’t make sense, but the feeling is as real as any other—it’s a near-death experience.)

You watch as Anakin finally stops reducing the droid to literal ashes before the anger in his eyes slowly shifts to concern as his gaze meets yours. Thankfully, his previous rage is forgotten for the moment and you don’t have to feel so afraid of him anymore.

He drops his lightsaber on the ground, literally drops it, and runs over to where you are crouched. Your tears were starting to subside, but when he gathers you in his arms and hugs you, you find yourself actively weeping.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re safe, now,” he soothes.

“What did I do wrong?” you whimper to yourself, trying to figure out why the droid even came after you in the first place. Did you break a law or something? Accidentally get on some bounty hunter’s watchlist? Did Palps already want to kill you?

“Nothing, it wasn’t meant for you, it’s alright—”

“That-that’s not true…”

“She is right, Anakin,” Padmé adds, still holding your hand. “It scanned me, but went right back to targeting her. It doesn’t make any sense.”

You don’t need to look to know that Anakin’s eyes are flitting back and forth. Your head is resting quite snug against his chest, and you can hear his heartbeat quicken. “My dreams…” he mumbles, and his grip on you tightens.

“Ani, we need to get out of here,” Padmé reinforces.

“I wanna go home,” you whine, quiet enough so they don’t hear you. If this is going to be the rest of your experience in the Star Wars universe, forget it. You’ll take ten final exams over this feeling you have right now. 

“Did the droid look familiar to you?” she asks Anakin.

“No,” he replies. “And there won’t be much left of it to examine…” he says smugly. 

“Regardless, if it knew we were here, then others could be on the way. We really need to go.”

You’re finally getting ahold of yourself, and you lift your head up from Anakin’s robes and he lets you back a little bit but doesn’t let you go. Thank God he doesn’t let you go.

“If someone is after me, then they could also be after Padmé, or be in kahoots with Dooku,” you say, your voice a bit scratchy. “So we can’t stay here.”

Anakin laughs, and it’s so genuine that despite everything your lips quirk upwards a little. “What does ‘kahoots’ mean?”

You sniffle. “That’s what you picked up on out of that sentence?” You want to laugh, but if you do you know for certain it will come out as a sob. Your lips quiver.

“Hey,” he says again. He tenderly cups your cheek in his hand, wiping away the undried tears still on your face. You inwardly cringe because it’s such an intimate gesture and it’s just… kind of weird, but at the same time it shockingly comes as a comfort to you. “No harm will ever come to you while I am here, alright? No matter what, I’m going to look after you.”

Doesn’t Eowyn say something like that to Merry right before Pelennor Fields?

(No one’s said that outright to you before.)

“You shouldn’t have to, I’m sorry.” You’re not sure why you say that, but it just comes out of you and Anakin looks horrified for a moment.

“I—” he begins to say, but decides against whatever it was, “That’s just what best friends do.” He slowly rises to his feet, helping you do the same. “You’ve already done it for me.”

You hug him again to stave off another bout of crying. He rests his chin atop your head, and you try not to feel embarrassed or awkward or scared right now. Your friend is here for you, and you’re exceedingly glad for that.

After a moment, his head shifts and you can tell that now he’s talking to Padmé.

“We’re going to Tatooine.”

Chapter Text

After the fact, you’re extremely embarrassed about everything that just happened. For one, you looked like a blubbering toddler in front of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. For another, you just had to be practically cuddled by Padawan Anakin Skywalker in order to calm down.

So, so embarrassing.

But, on the bright side, going to Tatooine actually fits in with the plot of the movie, so things should be going normal…

…except hopefully Shmi Skywalker is actually fine so Anakin won’t massacre a village of Tuskens. That would be preferable.

You take that uber-shiny spaceship Padmé has and finally get to change back into your normal “Jedi” clothes. They’re not much different from what you were just wearing, but being in them somehow gives you a boost of confidence and strength that you don’t have otherwise.

Anakin won’t stop hovering over you though, and you can’t believe you’re thinking this, but it’s starting to get annoying. Normally, you’d kill for someone to check up on you, see how you’re doing, but this has become overkill.

You try to distract everyone by getting a conversation going on the spaceflight there. “Have we heard anything from Obi-Wan recently?”

Padmé shakes her head, and Artoo gives a low whistle (probably also meaning “no”).

“I wonder if he found Kamino,” Anakin says. At this point, it’s probably safe to divulge what’s been happening on Obi-Wan’s end, so you do.

“He does find it. And the bounty hunter, Jango Fett, is there. There’s this whole clone army that supposedly was ordered by the Jedi like ten years ago, but it was actually ordered by the Sith. There’s these inhibitor chips in their heads that can make them become mind controlled and kill everyone—”

“Woah, woah! What happened to not sharing too much of the future?” Anakin cut in. “Not that I’m complaining, though.”

Shoot, he’s right. It’s very hard to keep the storyline straight, though! Order 66 is absolutely terrible for both the Jedi and the clones involved, and therefore one of the most memorable things about the end of the Clone Wars. “Yes, thank you for reminding me,” you say half sarcastically, half seriously. “But the most important thing to note is that this war that’s about to happen has been in the works ever since Palpatine became Chancellor.”

“Palpatine?” Padmé questioned. “Why would the leader of the Republic want a war?”

“Well, when there’s war or danger of war, people are more willing to give up their freedoms in exchange for their safety,” you speculate. “That leaves even more power left over for the Chancellor and the Empire that will emerge after the end of the war. The more planets he gets engaged, the more he can insert himself into their dealings and take over.” You’re pretty sure that was the point of the Clone Wars, but you could be totally wrong, too. “Sorry if that didn’t make sense, I don’t think it did.”

“It’s… genius,” Padmé mumbles in awe. “But so incredibly cruel.”

“That’s Darth Sidious for you.”

“Darth ‘Sidious’?” Anakin exclaims. “There’s another Sith out there that we don’t know about?”

Damn, you really need to work on your filter right now. “Maul’s master,” you say gravely.

“You-you know about Maul?” he practically chokes.

“I do.” It takes everything in you not to say btw, he’s not even dead for some reason. “But Sidious is worse, believe me. He persists. ” You say the last word with a hiss of disgust.

No way does he survive being thrown down a radiator shaft and the explosion of the second Death Star. That’s one of the biggest things the sequels did wrong… it has to be. Otherwise it’s ridiculous, and it makes Anakin’s sacrifice be for nothing.

“But… you’re going to help us change all that, right?” When Anakin says this, he looks the youngest you’ve ever seen him look.

“I want to,” you say simply. Who knows how long you’ll be here, or even if the changes you have made already are going to make any difference. 

“We will,” Padmé states firmly. Her confidence is contagious, and for a moment you feel like you really just might change things for the better.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a beeping noise on the dashboard of the ship. 

“We’re about there. Dropping out of hyperspace,” Anakin says as he pulls a lever and the ship silently slips out of light-speed into… regular speed.

And behold, there is the beautiful dustball of a planet Tatooine—viewed from space! Ever since Obi-Wan and Anakin found you here, you wanted to be able to go back and see what it would look like from space since last time you weren’t really paying attention. Ha! You knew you’d get to see it again!

Landing is rather easy since you don’t have to land in one of those space-port thingies like in Mandalorian. You instead land outside of the famous little sandstone-igloo that stands alone beneath the intense heat of binary suns. 

It’s amazing.

You exit the ship, leaving Artoo to stay behind, and good Lord it is hot outside. Anakin seems unphased, but you and Padmé’s moods sour noticeably.

As you get closer, you run into a really dusty and dirty droid that looks like—

“3-PO?” Anakin asks after the droid speaks.

Oh yeah, it’s C-3PO!

Eventually you are led further into the “estate” and now you’re meeting Owen and Beru, and finally Cliegg Lars shows up. 

Still no sign of Anakin’s mom.

You try to shove away the anxiety you feel at the thought of her being dead already. You have to hope that Palpatine had planted the dreams in Anakin’s head and that it had all been planned. It had to be.

“Where is my mother?” Anakin asks apprehensively.

Cliegg hesitates, and your heart drops into your stomach. Oh no…

The older man looks over his shoulder, and you’re preparing for the worst when another person walks in behind him. “Ani?” Shmi Skywalker—blessed, healthy and not-dying Shmi Skywalker walks in and you can’t be more relieved. “That can’t be my son…”

Anakin grins with a watery smile. “Hi, mom.”

“Oh, look at you! All grown, so handsome! My boy, my son—” the woman says, becoming too choked up to continue. She walks over to Anakin hastily, taking his face in her hands and examining him closely before hugging him close.

And Anakin… he looks the happiest you’ve ever seen him, in the movies and now. 

It’s almost too precious a moment for you to be witnessing, and you notice Padmé divert her gaze as well, most likely thinking the same thing. After awhile, the two separate and Anakin introduces you and Padmé.

“You remember Padmé… she was actually the Queen of Naboo but in hiding at the time,” he says, and then turns to you. “And this is one of my best friends! We’ve been at the Temple together for a bit, and we were assigned to help keep Padmé safe as her security, but—that’s actually why we’re here… we need to lay low for a couple of days.”

“And you are a Jedi as well? Did you also study under Master Qui-Gon?”

You shake your head grimly, looking to Anakin to respond. He sadly tells her of the Jedi Master’s demise, and gives a brief explanation of where you are from although he makes it sound extremely strange. Well, you suppose it is really strange.

“I appeared on Tatooine, and that’s where Anakin and Obi-Wan found me,” you add. “I’m not a Jedi. I guess you could say I’m the opposite of Anakin? Where he’s the most powerful in the Force, I exist outside of the Force.”

“Ah, so none of his little Force powers work on you,” she teases, and Anakin blushes.

“They’re not ‘little powers’!” he says indignantly, but he then turns serious. “We’re being hunted throughout the galaxy, but no one could possibly know that we’re here, now. All we can do now that we’re here is wait for Obi-Wan to contact us, and then we’ll know it’s safe to communicate with the Council again.”

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you will need. But now that you are with me again… I might not be able to let you go again, Ani.”

The rest of the day is pretty chill, and you explore around the little property and see the exact spots where Luke would hang out in the very first film—it’s unreal. 

And, the more time you spend inside, the more you realize there is something like air-conditioning that circulates throughout the house so you’re not like dying the entire time you’re there. 

After dinner (which consists of not a lot of food but luckily Padmé’s ship came stocked so you can have some snacks from there later) the air outside begins to cool and it’s actually the perfect temperature. You stand outside of the stone igloo, and look towards the two setting suns of Tatooine.

(Surprisingly, your eyes aren’t hurting at all, and it must be because of the weird serum thingie that you got at the beginning of your journey.)

You put your foot up on a little mound of sand and let the wind blow through your hair as you pretend you’re Luke Skywalker, if only for a moment. But unlike him, you don’t look at the sunset with longing—you look at it with a sense of peace you’ve rarely felt ever since this whole debacle began. 

Even here, the secrets of creation still manage to put you in awe.

And that thought grants you a strong sense of comfort because being here, in this moment, is not unlike being at home. You feel at home, even if only for a moment. 

“That song is playing again.” A voice startles you from your musing. Anakin moves next to you, sitting down on the dusty ground and you follow suit. 

“It’s the ‘Force theme’. Or, as it is also known,” you gesture to the beautiful suns, “the ‘binary sunset theme’.”

“Why would Tatooine be connected to the Force?” he asks.

You grimace, hugging your knees to your chest. You try to meet his eyes, but it’s just too difficult. “Tatooine is where it all began, and it’s where it all ends. In every sense of the phrase.”

“Right,” he says bitterly, although the bitterness is not directed at you, “the prophecy.”

Now you find yourself able to look at him. You scoot a bit closer so that your shoulders are touching—as the suns disappear behind the horizon, the air has become much more chilly. “The Jedi think it’s a prophecy, but it’s more like the Force has grand plans for you. The way you get to that point… well, it’s entirely up to you.”

“Something happens to me, doesn’t it? In the future?” The bluntness of the question yet also vagueness catches you unaware for a moment. “It’s why Obi-Wan is so worried.”

“He’s worried because he loves you,” you clarify. “But yes. The story that I know… isn’t very kind to you, Anakin. Nor Obi-Wan.”

He’s angry, and for once you don’t blame the kid. “Why?”

“I think that’s just because it’s a story. We’re meant to learn something from them since they mimic reality. Real life isn’t always kind to us either, but some of us, like me, use stories to help us overcome the difficulties set in our path. If you can overcome the Dark Side, then maybe there’s hope for anyone dealing with their own darkness.”

“The Dark Side?” he says, alarmed. “I-I become one of them? How could I?” He sounds disgusted, but what surprises you yet breaks your heart is that it is directed at himself.  

You rest your chin on your knees, feeling incredible sorrow and pity for the boy next to you. “I don’t know. I mean, I do, but you still have to choose it. After getting to know the real you, I can still see it, but it’s been getting better.”

He looks like he’s going to yell at you for the small accusation, but he doesn’t cling to anger. “But I don’t want that.”

“What if the only way to save someone you loved from dying was to join the Dark Side, though?”

He hesitates, slightly horrified by your suggestion. “I’d find another way.”

“Sometimes there is no other way—”

“I am the most powerful Jedi ever. I would find a way!” he reiterates.

Sometimes, you find yourself thinking the same in other aspects of your life. You can’t blame him for wanting a third option.

“I’m sure that you could, but only if you accept the possibility of failing. Otherwise, I think you’re going to be blinded by that fear into choosing the wrong path. I don’t want that for you.”

“Well I don’t want you, or Mom, or Obi-Wan, or Padmé to die! I don’t want that for you, don’t you get that!? I love you!”

You aren’t sure if that’s directed at all the people he just named or you, but you choose to believe the former. (That would make the most sense…?)

You want so badly to comfort him, to stop his torment, but you know you have to explain what was supposed to happen on Tatooine.

“Anakin, in the original plot—er, story, your mother is captured by Tuskens. Possibly at the order of Dooku, it’s unclear. But, your nightmares are about her, and when you get to her, you’re too late. She’s gone.”

He stares at you with wide eyes, tears streaming down his face. “Gone—like… dead?” he whispers, looking far too young. Well, dammit he is too young.

You nod, and he buries his face in his knees, only letting out a muffled sob before looking up at you again. He wants you to tell him the good news, that it’s not all bad, but unfortunately it is.  

“And in your anger, you murder all of the Tuskens. All of them.”

“Not… just the men?”

“Women and children, too.”

“Oh Force,” he whimpers, covering his hand with his mouth. He squeezes his eyes shut, probably trying to get the images that you’ve put into his head out of it. You’ve seen it so many times, and it literally is a meme. It’s hard to imagine one of your friends first losing his mother, and then going on to slaughter the ones responsible and their families. It’s just… so unfathomable. “Why? Why will I do such horrible things?”

“I… I think you need help, the kind of help I’ve been trying to give you. But I also think it’s Sidious. He plans for these things to happen to you—”

“Then I’ll kill him,” he says coldly and it actually makes you flinch.

“Why is that your first impulse? To harm, to maim, to kill?”

“It’s… I’m angry. He can’t do that to people! To you!”

“I know. It’s wrong. But killing in cold blood isn’t the answer. If it’s the only way to save someone? That’s harder to decide, but being angry is understandable. Wanting to hurt someone who hurts your family makes sense, but you can’t let the Force blind you into thinking you can kill people just because you have the power to do so. That’s not right.”

“If I can save people, shouldn’t I?”

“Defend, yes. Kill? I don’t know. That weighs heavy on your soul. It… would taint you, Anakin. I’ve seen it. You become something you would have actual nightmares about, and your loved ones turn away from you.”

He looks at his hands. “I don’t want to lose you all, but I don’t want to be a monster and lose your love. I’m not sure which is worse…”

“I know,” you say, even though you don’t really. You’ve never been in his position and probably never will, but that doesn’t stop you from trying to save him. 

You let out a deep breath, turning back towards the sunset. One of the suns is almost completely below the horizon, and the other is following close behind.

“I’m selfish,” he says all of a sudden.

You furrow your eyebrows. “What?”

“I told you that I would make sure you made it home… but I’ve found myself hoping you never leave. I… these feelings, this anger, has always made me feel so isolated and-and confused. But every time I talk to you, it’s so much better. And the Force doesn’t feel so overwhelming anymore! I don’t feel alone. I don’t think I can do this without you.”

That wasn’t what you expected to hear. Honestly, you never thought you actually meant that much to someone, let alone this literal Chosen One archetype sitting next to you. “Anakin, you will. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“No, your presence… it’s so soothing. And your melody, it’s… beautiful—”

“My ‘melody’?”

“Ever since we made your lightsaber, I’ve been able to hear it. I know the Force is null around you, but your ‘saber was made for you and is a part of you. You’re… cherished by the Force. Like me,” he explains, and then blushes, “I don’t mean that as a self-compliment—”

“You’re literally the son of the Force, makes sense that it favors you,” you reassure. “But why would I be?”

“Wherever you are from… the Force pities you.”

You scoff a laugh, “As it should.”

Anakin narrows his eyes in concern. “Why—”

“I’m mostly joking, don’t worry.”

“Oh.” He lets out a little awkward laugh and you nudge his arm so he doesn’t feel so estranged. If he were to be at your home, well… he’d probably be abducted by the FBI or something once they found out about his powers. He is kind of like an alien.

(The thought of Anakin walking around on a college campus though makes you want to burst out laughing.)

But the thought of going home and not being able to see him or Obi-Wan anymore finally hits you full-force with the strength of a train. You’d get to be home, with your family, but Anakin and Obi-Wan would be gone—forever.

It would be the same as if they died.

“Thank you,” you say, nuzzling against his shoulder against your better judgement. You could be embarrassed about it later.

“Why?” he mumbles, wrapping an arm around you.

“For liking me. And being my friend. I didn’t think you would—want to be friends with me, I mean.”

You find yourself questioning why your friends even hang out with you half the time, why they even like you. These worries are unfounded of course, but you can never truly convince yourself of that sometimes. As stupid as that makes you sound.

“‘Like’ you?” Anakin huffs a laugh. “I love you. I don’t know how many times you’ve gotten me to say that, now. Especially since Jedi are not allowed to love.”

“I thought Jedi were encouraged to love.”

His eyes widen with horror. “You heard—”

“You say that in the story that I know. To Padmé. Shockingly, you’re actually kinda right.”

He pulls away from you, and you almost fall over now that you can’t lean against him. “Shockingly?” he feigns offence. 

“Hey! I could have fallen over!”

He’s about to make another quip at you when Shmi calls you both inside. You’re not sure what for, but you notice both the suns have sunk below the horizon now so you should probably be heading to sleep anyways. Lord knows you’ll have a busy day tomorrow.

You both clamber up from the dusty ground and walk side-by-side back towards the Lars residence. Anakin’s hand slides into yours and you can’t bring yourself to let go, even though you are sure it probably looks like more than it is. 

He stops right before the entrance to the residence and turns towards you. He delicately removes his hand from yours to place both of his hands on the back of your head. Leaning down, he kisses the crown of your head before resting his forehead against your own.

“Thank you for liking me. ”

You smile so wide your cheeks hurt.

Chapter Text

The next morning is pretty relaxing, and you just hang out with Padmé for most of the day while Anakin talks to his mom. He’s probably telling her about what you told him, which is good. If anyone can help prevent Anakin from turning to the Dark Side, it’s his mother. 

You and Padmé are sitting and tanning (sorta) drinking little drinks of the famous Tatooine blue milk. Or whatever it is—you don’t dare ask.

“I’ve decided I am not going to get in the way,” Padmé says suddenly with a sigh, changing the subject of your previous conversation. 

“What do you mean?”

“Anakin loves you. It’s very plain to see. And I know you care for him…”

“No! No, it’s not like that. At least, I don’t think it is. Um, it’s just… where I’m from, he’s a character in a story that I’ve loved all my life. And in that story, he was, well, kind of annoying, brash, impulsive. But since I know that about him, I think I’ve been helping him with it. And we have some Force presence connection I think since I have no Force presence and his presence is extremely bright and loud,” you pause, noticing how nervous you’ve gotten. “Sorry, I’m rambling. The truth is… you and Anakin are supposed to fall in love and get married eventually. But, his fear for your demise in a few years time ends up getting to him and—”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s, uh, very hard to explain… Look, I do love him, but not in that way necessarily. I’ve always loved his character, and I’m sorry if that comes across as—”

“Do not apologize!” Padmé says quickly, almost looking horrified. “You have every right to feel the way that you do.”

“I guess,” you say quietly. “But… I’m not going to be here forever. At some point we’re going to have to let each other go. You’ll be the one here for him.”

You both sit in a moment of silence when C-3PO comes in the room. 

“Excuse me,” the droid begins politely, “but R2-D2 urgently would like me to tell you that he has received a message from an Obi-Wan Kenobi.

(“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”)

The both of you hustle back to Padmé’s ship in order to hear the message, only to find Anakin already there. Curiously, he hasn’t started the message yet.

“Artoo insisted I wait for you,” Anakin grounds out, almost reading your mind.

The little droid beeps in delight as you pat him on the head. You urge him to move towards the center console of the ship, and he begins playing a message that you know relatively well…

“ Anakin, my long-range transmitter has been knocked out. Retransmit this message to Coruscant… ”

Padmé pushes some buttons on the console, and you assume she’s “retransmitting the message”.

“ I have tracked the bounty hunter, Jango Fett, to the droid foundries on Geonosis. The Trade Federation is to take delivery of a droid army here, and it is clear that Viceroy Gunray is behind the assassination attempts on Senator Amidala. The Commerce Guilds, the Corporate Alliance, have both pledged their armies to Count Dooku and are forming a— ”

Obi-Wan does not finish his sentence, looking beyond the camera/transmitter at something else.

“ Wait, wait—! ”

He ignites his lightsaber to fend off attacks from a rolly-boy droid (droideka), when the transmission cuts out. Anakin audibly gasps, terror written all over his features.

And your heart clenches in your chest. Obi-Wan would be fine, he’d have to be. He was in the normal storyline, at least…  

What if you sent him to his death? Or now that Anakin’s mother is alive, something is going to happen to Obi-Wan? Because you got on Palpatine’s radar he was trying to kill you instead of her, but what if the universe deemed that one of them had to die? It would be all your fault, and Obi-Wan would be killed, no no no—

“Anakin,” Nick Fury—er, Mace Windu’s voice through the live transmission brings you out of your thoughts, “we will handle Dooku, what’s most important is that the both of you stay where you are and keep the Senator safe.”

“Y-yes master,” he replies, and then the message cuts out, leaving the three of you in silence.

You rest your head in your hand, letting out a sigh. “We have to help him.”

Anakin shakes his head vehemently. “No, no, no, you heard what the Council said! Obi-Wan wouldn’t want us to disobey the Council.”

“But… he’s our friend,” Padmé says quietly. “He’s your friend—”

“He’s like my father!” Anakin exclaims. “But I don’t want to disappoint him, I can’t fail him…” He sinks down to the floor of the ship, pulling at his hair. His face is twisted in anguish, and you can only imagine how much worse he would feel if this was the regular storyline and he had just lost his mother as well. 

That is bound to mess with someone.

“What would Obi-Wan do in your position do you think?” you ask, kneeling down in front of him.

(If he says “stick to the mission” you might scream.)

“I think he’d try to rescue me,” he replies with a sigh. “But he would also make sure you were both well-protected, and do what the Council required of him.”

(Eh, you guess that answer works.)

“Well,” Padmé says as she starts up the ship, “I’m going to help Obi-Wan. If you want to protect me, I guess you’ll both just have to come along.”

You smile at the familiar line, and Anakin grins as well. 

You briefly say goodbye to Shmi and the Lars family, and Anakin has a few more quiet words with his mother before embracing her with all his might. She kisses his forehead, and they finally release each other. 

Anakin turns away from his mother, and back towards his duty to Obi-Wan and as a Jedi.

The flight to Geonosis is pretty short, and you’d like to think it’s in the same system or area because they are both arid planets… but that most likely isn’t true and you don’t want to seem unintelligent for asking (even though both Anakin and Padmé wouldn’t care). The ship lands in a foggy exhaust vent just like in the movie, but almost as soon as you land there is a beeping noise coming from the ship’s center console. A message pops up in a script you can’t read, but Padmé seems to understand it.

“The Senate is convening!” she exclaims.

This didn’t happen in the movie. But then again, you remember telling her that she should be informed when the Senate has to meet about some bill or law or whatever instead of just having someone go in her stead. Now, perhaps you can make a better plan than hoping to get through the droid factory like a level in a video game.

While she listens to the meeting, you and Anakin try to figure out what you are going to do next. 

“You’re staying on the ship,” he blurts sternly.

“Uh, why?”

“Because. I will not put you in harm’s way.”

“Okay but like leaving me behind is also putting me in harm’s way technically. There’s no way no one noticed us land here. They’re gonna send scouts soon enough.”

He scowls, tapping his fingers against the side of the ship anxiously. “That’s fair,” he says in a way that makes you want to laugh. Did he really think you all were being that stealthy? “What would you suggest then?”

“Well, we could try to talk to Dooku ‘diplomatically’ and then when he inevitably imprisons us we could find where he’s holding Obi-Wan and break him out.” You’re pretty sure there’s a deleted scene where they sort of do that, but you don’t remember how that played out. Either way, you know that Anakin and Padmé never sought out Dooku peacefully, only being captured for sneaking around, so if you play this like innocent “diplomats” then you could make Dooku seem even more evil to people who don’t think the Separatists are bad.

(The Republic is bad too but that is a plotline to hash out another time.)

“But how would we escape? They would probably take our weapons, not to mention once Dooku sees that you have no Force presence, he will know something is up.”

“I think no matter what he’s going to capture us, Anakin.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Did you really think you were gonna sneak in and come back out with Obi-Wan by just… walking quietly?”

“Oh, don’t patronize me,” he says once he sees the barely contained smirk on your face.

“Dude, seriously! Think it through! Odds that they already know where we landed? Very high.” And that thought isn’t necessarily a comfort even though you are partially joking with him. “If you engage Dooku in combat, you’re toast.”

He’s about to quip back at you but you’ve let the smirk slide off of your face and concern fill your eyes instead. Anakin loses his fricking hand. That’s got to be pretty traumatizing, and you’re not looking to lose any limbs of your own either.

“You know I have to try—”

“I’m trying to protect you—”

He grimaces and starts to say, “You underestimate my pow—”

“Don’t! Do not finish that sentence, for the love of God.”

Thankfully, Padmé chooses at that point in time to return to the main cabin of the ship where you are, interrupting your previous conversation. She looks weary as she slumps down in one of the chairs, rubbing her forehead as she sighs. 

“The Senate has voted to give the Chancellor temporary emergency powers. I tried to dissuade as many as I could from the idea, but it didn’t matter. I made sure to keep Palpatine off of our scent, saying that I opposed the notion only because I wished to ‘preserve democracy, regardless of how “noble” the leader in charge may be’. I’m not sure he believed me, but I got some other senators to think more critically on the matter, I think.”

You move over to her and rest a hand on her shoulder. “Padmé, you did the best you could. At this point, I don’t think anything short of removing Palps completely would have prevented the Clone Wars anyway. I should have known how much time I had left to do that…”

“It’s not your fault. I’ll say it until Tatooine gets its first flood,” Anakin cuts in. “What matters now is rescuing Obi-Wan.”

“In that case, the clone army he found on Kamino is going to come in real handy.”

The three of you laugh, and make a new game plan. 

First, you are all going to try and cut a deal with Dooku diplomatically and let Padmé do all of the talking. In the likely event Dooku cheats and captures you all, you are going to be the only one armed with your little lightsaber. It’s so small that you could technically hide it in your shoe, and Anakin insists that you keep it with you at all times. 

You have little involvement in that part of the plan otherwise, but you are secretly hoping that once Dooku realizes you are a Force-anomaly-thing, he will capture you first to interrogate you. The thought terrifies you, but you are all banking on the hope that he would try to get you on his side by telling you his “evil plan” like he does to Obi-Wan. In your other shoe, you are going to have a recording device to collect everything Dooku says and bring it back before the Jedi Council. While you’re there, Anakin and Padmé will probably be in the weird arena thing with Obi-Wan. You know how that plays out.

You are almost as against this idea as Anakin is, but you have that vague feeling again that it is going to work out fine… for the most part. You also know that the clones are coming to your aid, and if you remain calm then this should all proceed as it does in the movie. Just… hopefully without as much fighting, but you might not be able to avoid that anymore.

Here goes nothing…

Chapter Text

So, here’s how it ends up going:

You take literally two steps off of the ramp before you are surrounded by Geonosians and Jango Fett and battle droids, and after taking your weapons (not noticing your little light saber) they lead you to some grandiose conference room.

And the sight of Christopher Lee as Count Dooku is sad because he was a wonderful actor and human being back home, but he is not so here. You have to remind yourself of that. 

Padmé does some diplomatic fancy-talk that impresses you and Anakin, but Dooku unfortunately doesn’t seem to share the sentiment. Like you predicted, he proceeds to arrest you all and notices your lack of Force signature almost immediately. 

Next thing you know, you are being split up and Anakin fights against the droids holding his shoulders despite himself. The sight of him freaking out makes you want to freak out, but you repeat the plan to yourself and silently urge him to do the same. Not like he could actually hear your thoughts anyways, but maybe you could tell him with your eyes? 

Nah, that’s not really a thing either. 

You’re on the verge of a panic attack—your hands begin to sweat and your face is heating up while your jaw clenches—as you are lead through a bunch of twisting and turning hallways until you are sort of lead/shoved into a small room, and two feet before you is Obi-Wan.

The door closes behind you, and in an instant you find yourself engulfed in a modified hug (seeing as his hands are bound). Your anxiety doesn’t disappear completely, but the panic you had been feeling previously flutters away at the sight of your friend.

This has to be too good to be true… you’re probably being watched, so you have to be careful what you say.

“Are you okay?” you ask him, blinking so many times so that you most certainly will not cry.

“I’m alright, are you? I thought you and Anakin were supposed to be protecting the Senator?”

“Uh, about that…” You struggle to find the right words to say so that whoever is listening won’t be able to get any insight as to what you know about the future. “There was an assassin droid on Naboo, so we had to flee to Tatooine.”

“How did it find you there?”

“It… I can’t tell you now. I’ve got a feeling we’re being watched.”

He understands, his expression softening as he pulls you in for another hug. “Are you sure you’re alright?” he whispers.

Your face crumples. “No,” you mumble against his shoulder. You can’t help yourself from tearing up, wishing you were back at the Temple and hugging Obi-Wan there. And soon enough, you would be. It would be alright.

It’ll be alright.

You repeat the thought in your head like a mantra, hoping to convince yourself of that fact so you can keep the sick feeling that has snuck up on you at bay. 

You find yourselves now sitting on the floor of the dimly lit room; you’re curled into Obi-Wan’s embrace and he rests his cheek against your head. Waiting for what happens next is unbearable, and no amount of small talk can dissolve the sense of impending doom that has befallen both of you. You pray now that Anakin will be alright, just like in the movie, but you’ve strayed so far from the original plot that you’re scared anything might happen. If Anakin, Padmé or Obi-Wan die or get hurt because you changed things, well, that would be devastating.

You try to hide yourself in Obi-Wan’s robes at the thought, and the effort proves futile. 

“Remember what I told you before?” Obi-Wan says suddenly, breaking the silence.

“No?”

He huffs a laugh. “That none of this is your fault.”

Before you can respond, the door to the room slides open ungracefully to reveal Dooku and two super-battle droids. The droids take Obi-Wan forcefully from the ground as he tries to hold onto you, but the grip of the droids is too strong.

You shout as you are shoved to the ground by one of the droids’ metal arm, and that seems to enrage Obi-Wan. Even with his hands bound, he extends them forward and uses the Force to push that same droid into the opposite wall. In retaliation, the other droid used his blaster on the stun setting and aimed right at Obi-Wan’s head. He jerked just in time for the shot to miss his head, but it still caught his shoulder and the rest of his body down from there. 

“Obi-Wan!” you screeched, watching helplessly as he crumpled to the ground, luckily still conscious but in no state to fight back anymore. Now you really feel like a “helpless side-character” archetype, and you wish so badly there was something you could do to protect your friend. Perhaps you could use your little lightsaber still tucked away in your boot, but you would get no further than Obi-Wan had using the Force.

“It will be alright, young one. Trust me,” he wheezes, and your eyebrows pinch together in both concern and disbelief.

Please don’t leave me here alone.

In this situation, no matter how much your blood boils, you can do nothing but watch.

“Now now, let’s not be hasty, Master Kenobi,” Dooku drawled. “I am reuniting you with your precious padawan and the beloved senator Amidala. You ought to thank me.” He nods his head sharply at the two droids and they drag Obi-Wan away. You can’t help yourself from reaching out for him, even though you know the attempt is stupid and helps no one. 

Now it is just you and Dooku. 

You inch backwards and he chuckles at the sight. “You could not have destroyed the assassin droid with that attitude.”

“So you sent it.”

He ignores you. “My Master has plans for Skywalker. You are interfering with those plans.”

Okay, so it is Palps who is after you. 

“You do realize he intends to replace you with Anakin, right?”

“By then, I shall no longer be an apprentice but a Lord of the Sith.”

You scarcely hide your smirk.

(“Dew it!”)

Now, you’re really going to feel like Gandalf, “There can only be one Lord of the Sith—and he does not share power.”

You’re shocked to see Dooku visibly tense up at your statement, trying to hide it under his own malicious grin. “You lie, peasant.”

“Tell me, ‘peasant’, when did you abandon reason for madness? Does that come with the Dark side? It is obvious your master is using you until he is done with you; at which point he’s going to cast you out like a scorned dog, I mean, just look at Maul—”

He grimaces and lifts a hand and you think he will strike you, but instead he shoots lightning out of his fingertips straight at you. You flinch and scream in anticipation as it hits you, but you feel nothing. You keep the act up, though, partially because you’re terrified and partially because you don’t want him resorting to something that could actually hurt you. 

He stops the onslaught, and you let yourself collapse to the floor (you assume that is what someone in your place would do, anyway).

“It seems I was mistaken. You are simply a Jedi with very strong shields. They will break, in time. Just as I will break Skywalker before your very eyes. I see the way he cares for you, they all do—Kenobi and Amidala. Once you are gone, Skywalker will have no one to turn to and my master’s plans will be complete.”

“You’re wrong. He is stronger than you give him credit for,” you mumble. “Anyway, your master does not intend for the Separatists to win, you know.” You try to change the subject away from Anakin and back to the impending war, remembering the little recording device in your other shoe. It wouldn’t be fried by the lightning seeing as it is tucked under your non-conductive foot. 

“This is much bigger than just the Republic or Separatists, child.”

“It’s always one versus another. Empire and Rebels, First Order and Resistance… no one ever actually achieves anything. You won’t either.”

“I will subjugate the entire galaxy to my master’s rule if need be.”

Gotcha.

“Sounds lovely. But still, you’re never going to achieve that,” you pause, remembering something else. “How could you even serve the one who had a hand in your own apprentice’s death?”

He scoffs, turning to leave but stops just outside of the doorway so that you can’t see his face. Maybe bringing up Qui-Gon struck a nerve? “Perhaps you will become my apprentice, as opposed to Kenobi. Then, you shall understand.”

“Eh, I’m not looking to be ‘Darth’ anything, to be honest. What’s your Sith name, even? No one calls you by it,” you bait him, hoping this can make the connection for the Council when they can’t figure out who ordered the clone army. 

“I am Darth Tyranus,” Dooku growls, “And soon the whole galaxy will know it.”

With a dramatic swipe of his cape, he exits the room and the door slides shut. 

Okay, boomer.

Now, all you can do is wait for the climax of the movie to commence. You hug your knees to your chest, awaiting the end.

Chapter Text

Sitting in that room alone has given you far too much time to think, and after a couple of anxiety attacks and meditations later, there is a pair of sonic booms that shake whatever building you are in, and instantly the lights go out in your little room. 

If the power is down, then the cameras or whatever security devices are hidden in there must be out, too. 

You finally pull your little lightsaber out of your boot and ignite it. The pale light illuminates the room.

“Woah.”

You inch towards the door, searching for the lock for a few moments before you find it. Plunging your lightsaber into the locking mechanism, it crackles and sparks before going out.

Then nothing happens.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

Since that obviously didn’t work, you outline the whole door in hopes that you can kick it in. You watch as the heat of the ‘saber leaves orange marks on the door, and eventually you’ve made a perfect orange rectangle. You kick at the metal door a few times before it finally gives way and falls to the ground. You whoop in excitement, but your joy is cut short at the sound of blasterfire and other explosions. 

Running towards the sounds of battle (even though you want to run away from it), you hear Obi-Wan and Anakin talking to Dooku. You position yourself behind a corner of the wall, not wanting to give away your position quite yet. If you did, Dooku would probably sick a bunch of droids on you.

“I know you have her here,” Anakin is saying in his stupid growl that is hella angsty. You laugh to yourself—you never thought you’d miss his angstyness.

“You are quite dense, Padawan,” the old Sith spits, “I have no further use of her. She is dead.”

“Liar!” he screams, much like he does to Padmé in the end of Revenge of the Sith. 

Dooku seems to relish in Anakin’s anger. “Kenobi? Care to refute?”

“You-you didn’t. She was alright, I was there—” Obi-Wan’s voice is shaky, but you’re glad to hear it nonetheless. 

Phew, so they’re both alive.

“What reason have I to lie?”

“To get this exact reaction out of us,” Obi-Wan replied, his resolve hardening. He was smart, thankfully, even if Anakin was… less so. Both his and Anakin’s lightsabers ignited. “We take him together—”

“No, I’m taking him now—”

“No! Anakin, no!”

This part goes exactly like the movie, and while Obi-Wan and Dooku are fighting you take the opportunity to run over to Anakin to help him up after he is struck by Force lightning. 

He looks at you in awe. “You… you—”

“Yeah I’m fine, you saw me literally two seconds ago—but you gotta help Obi-Wan beat Dooku, so get your ass up!”

He straight up laughs, and you both run over to aid Obi-Wan (you’re more like moral support, though). 

They fight for awhile until Dooku flings Obi-Wan into you and you both go tumbling to the ground. Now, it’s just Anakin versus Dooku. The younger boy calls out both your names in concern, but he can’t run over to you without Dooku stabbing him in the back.

“I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate, you have anger, but you do not use them.”

Shit, wrong movie, why was he saying that now?!

“It takes strength to resist the Dark side, Dooku. Only the weak embrace it.”

Woah, wtf?!? That was Obi-Wan’s line! Anakin has no right to say something so wise and true, he’s supposed to be the dumb angsty one!!

At Anakin’s statement, Dooku growls and redoubles his efforts. Obi-Wan soon rejoins the fray, and Dooku looks like he’s backing down until the Sith turns his attention to you. 

Dang it, does this mean you actually have to do something now? You were quite content with pretending you were helping but not actually doing anything. 

Anakin pulls his attention away from you for a moment by swiping at him with his lightsaber, but the movement is futile. Dooku lifts his free hand and you know he will shoot Force lightning once again. You’re not sure how many hits of that Anakin could take, and you’re not eager to find out. So, you move in front of Anakin—nearly shove him to the floor—as Dooku’s lightning arcs around at you as opposed to your friend. But this time, you don’t have any time to pretend it hurts you. Obi-Wan reaches for you and Anakin shouts beside you, but they at once realize that you are quite alright as you stand there awkwardly. Dooku is enraged, nostrils flaring and body shaking in complete contrast to your calm posture as you receive no harm from him. 

Anakin tries to take advantage of Dooku’s surprise but the old man stops the lightning onslaught and a quick Force push with Dooku’s same hand sends him flying, so for the moment it is only you and Obi-Wan against the Sith.

Then you do something really stupid.

Empowered by the fact that the Force doesn’t work on you, you surge forwards and try to block Dooku’s attack that was aimed for Obi-Wan. You technically do block it with your own lightsaber and the old Sith is livid. He tries to push both you and Obi-Wan away, but only Obi-Wan is affected by the Force move. 

You’re engaged in a classic ‘saber-lock when Dooku shouts, “We shall see how well you can back up your pathetic statement with someone you love dying on the floor before you!”

Okay, kinda overdramatic—

As you were silently insulting Dooku, his lightsaber slips past yours because of the difference in length and while you are able to keep him from hitting your heart, you cannot stop him from hitting your shoulder. 

Your left shoulder explodes with numbness and you’re in too much shock to retaliate. He’s furious that he did not kill you on the spot, and you take that moment to swipe at him with your right arm. Dooku removes his blood-red lightsaber from your body in order to block your attack, and the release of pressure makes you feel woozy.

Anakin is crying… you notice that somewhere in the back of your mind, but Dooku is kicking you to the ground and you nearly pass out as soon as you hit the floor. Unluckily for you, this does not happen. 

You feel the pain begin to spark outwards from the wound, replacing the numbness ever so slowly.

Anakin yells a bunch of different things in some other language as well as English, and his voice is wracked with such emotion that it cracks at every other word. 

Well, you hope he could tell the wound was not instantly fatal but from their angle it probably looked worse than it was. It certainly felt like you were dying as the numbness kept inching outwards while the pain replaced it. You skipped being impaled by a sword or knife and went straight to being stabbed by a futuristic weapon that you have no previous way of describing what its pain felt like.

(It is suffocating—so much so that you don’t even have the air to choke on a panic attack. Everything is stilling, and it makes you feel like you are gonna throw up even if you won’t. It’s… not a good time tbh, and you wish it would just go away. You want to go home.)

You watch as Obi-Wan rams into Dooku, engaging in a far more furious duel than they were in before. Anakin runs to your side, tears in his eyes as he holds you in his arms delicately. His robes are soft and he is soft which is nice but he’s crying so much that his tears are actually landing on your face and it’s uncomfortable. Not to mention the change in position makes it hurt more, and you miss the cool sensation of the floor. You whine, wishing you could just ptfo but of course you’re not that lucky.

“No, no, no, stay with me, alright? Please, please, don’t leave me like this—”

“‘M not dying, dumbass…” You didn’t mean to sound bitchy, but the pain was making you the opposite of sentimental. “My shoulder,” you grimace as he jostles you, the spike of pain making your eyes squeeze shut and you hiss involuntarily. “Stop moving! Stop—it hurts, make it stop…” Now you’re crying, and the pain combined with your tears is making everything fuzzy. It hurts so bad. You can hardly see Anakin’s face above you.

“No! Do not pass out, you hear me?” He’s rather demanding, even if his voice cracks a lot, and it pisses you off. But then again, maybe you actually are dying and you just didn’t know it and only Anakin can tell… who the hell knows. At this point, you’re far too delusional to care and your eyes almost slip shut again. “Hey! What did I just say?”

You scoff. “Love you too,” you mumble as half of a joke (that was supposed to be something like ‘good to see you, too’ but definitely came out wrong), but also you realize you kind of mean it. After all this time, you can say that both Anakin and Obi-Wan are friends you love and cherish. Maybe that was the point of this whole thing? And now you’re supposed to fade back into the real world… or die. You seriously hope out of the two, it would be the former. 

At least then the pain would stop.

Anakin chokes out a sob, and he kisses your forehead and your temples and your hairline, which is hella awkward (but kinda cute?) so you don’t do anything about it. It seemed platonic, but you could care less either way. The confusion you feel distracts you from your shoulder, so you can’t complain. He presses his forehead to yours and he cries again, but unfortunately you both can’t stay like that forever.

You hear Obi-Wan cry out from across the room, and Anakin moves his head away from yours. Gently and reluctantly, Anakin places you back on the ground. You wish he could just hold you like that until the pain goes away or you fall asleep, but Obi-Wan needs help. In the movie, he gets hurt (maybe not as bad as you, but bad enough). Right now, you feel that he’s more important.

“You’re going to pay for this, Dooku,” Anakin’s voice drops to the deepest register you’ve ever heard, and you think for a moment it is Darth Vader standing above you. 

Then, he engages in combat with Dooku alone. You hardly have the strength to turn your body around to watch, so you turn your head instead. Obi-Wan limps/crawls up beside you, his arm and leg on his left side sporting matching lightsaber wounds. Otherwise, he seems okay.

“Oh Force…” he mumbles at the sight of you. He gingerly cups your cheek with his good hand, and you lean into the touch seeing as it too distracts you from your injury. Honestly, you can’t be hurt that bad compared to them, so even though you are internally freaking out you aren’t sure why they are freaking out… it’s making you freak out even more. “We need to get out of here.”

“Yoda’s rolling up soon… save Anakin…”

In your head, you said, Yoda should be rolling up to the party soon, but we have to save Anakin before he gets hurt. Evidently that is not what you said.

Obi-Wan helps you sit up against his chest, then leans you up against a wall, and you both are facing where Anakin duels Dooku. Their fight has brought them back closer to where you are and Obi-Wan stands up like he is making ready to somehow get back in the fight. He’s definitely too injured to really do much, but he tries so damn hard that it doesn’t look like he is hurt at all. 

Unfortunately, you see what is happening before it even happens but are too slow to stop it:

Your lightsaber trembles on the ground beside you, and you look up to see Anakin nearly slice through Dooku’s lightsaber, yet failing to do so. The Sith takes the opportunity to disarm the green lightsaber Anakin had been using, and now he’s left with only the blue lightsaber Obi-Wan must have given him (like in the movie).

Something bad is about to happen, you just know it, and as your lightsaber trembles even more you reach out to grab it with your good arm. Dooku pulls it towards him before you can, but your hand just skims the hilt so that its trajectory is thrown off its original course—it’s not thrown off enough.

You stare in horror as Dooku quickly sheathes his red lightsaber at the same time as he ignites yours midair, and it lodges itself in Anakin’s back, just below his heart. Had you not thrown it off course, it would have killed him instantly.

A legit scream rips out of your throat because you’re so utterly shocked; he was supposed to lose his hand, not his life, this was so much worse—

“Anakin!”

Obi-Wan’s voice shakes with perhaps more terror than yours even, and your heart breaks completely when his voice cracks. The older Jedi runs as though he was never injured in the first place, reaching Anakin’s side as soon as he crumples to the floor, your now guilty lightsaber rolling away as Dooku discards it. He levels his lightsaber at Obi-Wan’s throat, forcing him to back away from Anakin.

From your view, you can tell he is absolutely murderous, the red glow of Dooku’s lightsaber illuminating Obi-Wan’s face in a way that would serve as a perfect image in a film of a Jedi teetering towards the dark side. All that’s missing is the imperial march music… oh, and the fact that it is technically supposed to be Anakin who struggles with the dark side.

(Then again, it is perfectly valid that Obi-Wan is angry right now. That doesn’t automatically make him a Sith all of a sudden. Silly Star Wars.)

Your vision swims with both the pain of your injury and your fear for your friends’ lives. You’ve never actually seen anyone you love die in front of you, and the possibility alone makes you feel like you are going to pass out or have a heart attack. You can barely make out what’s happening in before you anymore. 

“You will let me see to him, Dooku.”

“Or what, Master Kenobi?” Dooku taunts, and you can hear the smugness in his voice without having to see the smirk you know would be on his face.

Obi-Wan Force-pulls your lightsaber to his hand and bats away Dooku’s lightsaber harshly. “Unlike you, I will never leave my Padawan behind!”

The comment makes Dooku falter, and as fast as lightning (honestly, it looked like it could be a finisher move in a video game) Obi-Wan cuts off what looks like to you just the hilt of the Sith lord’s lightsaber, but actually catches a few of the man’s fingers as well. It’s not a whole limb like it typically is in Star Wars, but you’ll wager that it’s good enough. 

Dooku growls, and shoots off Force lightning at all three of you before making his escape. You can hear the noise of a cane rapping against the floor grow louder, which must mean Yoda has finally arrived.

And none too soon. Obi-Wan slumps to the floor after the lightning onslaught, but is slowly pushing himself to his feet. You move away from the wall you’ve been resting against and crawl (more like drag your body with your good arm) to where Anakin lay far too still. 

His breath stutters, and the sight makes you literally sob. 

“Anakin? Don’t die. Don’t die…” you mumble with what little strength you’ve got left.

“Never going to leave you… and Obi—” he begins to say, but even speaking aggravates his wound and he cries out in pain. You settle for grabbing his hand, unable to move anymore as the throbbing in your shoulder finally overcomes every sense that your have. 

You still aren’t passing out, but your eyes have closed and feel like you are going to doze off even if you don’t at first. Fire burns through your veins like acid, the pain still not letting you fall asleep completely. You really wish you could just blink and be back in the Temple, snuggled under the covers of your bed where you can cry in peace. 

Because you certainly are crying after listening to Obi-Wan cry to Yoda.

“Master, I can’t—I cannot lose him too, you have to do something… I am begging you—”

“Live, they both should, but let your Padawan go, you must. Only then will you find peace.”

“No,” he whimpers, “no, I will never let go of him. I love him, and I am still every bit the Jedi I should be!”

You expect Yoda to argue, but he doesn’t. There’s a long pause before the Grandmaster says, “Told you this, she has?”

“I—yes, she did, but I need to save them. Help-help me—”

Obi-Wan cradles Anakin against his own chest, and then pulls you forward so your head rests in his lap. It is much more comfortable than the ground, and the acid in your blood starts to cool off ever so slightly. 

“Have faith in the Force, Obi-Wan,” Yoda mutters with sympathy. “Too strong a soul, you are, to despair. Young Skywalker believes in you, and leave you, he dare not.”

Obi-Wan huffs out a laugh, but it is followed by a sob. He embraces both you and Anakin tighter, and your consciousness finally begins to fade as you hear Padmé’s voice from afar, along with someone who sounds like both Rex and Jango Fett at the same time.

Help is here, and with that thought you start to let yourself go. Before you pass out completely, you give Anakin’s hand one last squeeze and you think he might have squeezed back, but you honestly can’t remember.

Chapter Text

Next thing you know, it’s bright and your left shoulder hurts like a bitch. For a moment, you try to recall why you would be in a hospital with a broken arm, and you wonder where your parents are. Then, it hits you that you’re still not in your own universe. 

You’ve been in the Jedi Healing Halls before, and this is an identical, if not the same exact room you were in the first time.

You groan at the brightness of the lights, and shut your eyes in order to fall asleep again.

The next time you wake up (you aren’t sure how long it’s been since the last time, but probably awhile since there are people in your room now) you are not alone. The lights are a lot dimmer, so you assume that it must be either really early in the morning or late at night.

Obi-Wan sits in a chair at your bedside, holding your good hand and rubbing soothing circles into your palm. When you shift, he releases you and scoots his chair closer to your bed (he must not have known you were awake yet, then).

“Good morning, young one. How are you feeling?” he asks, his voice impossibly soft. It’s so soothing that you nearly fall back asleep, but you force yourself to stay awake. Or are you dreaming? Has this all been a dream?

You yawn, but that slight movement of your jaw feels as though you yanked your shoulder and that leaves you whimpering in pain despite yourself. 

Definitely not a dream—leastways not a good one.

“Not very well, I take it… the medicine should be taking effect soon. I’ll try to distract you from the pain as best I can until then, alright?” He strokes the hair back on the top of your head and the motion does actually help a little bit to relax you, but your shoulder hurts so damn much that you’re crying again. 

Well, were you even crying before? When was before…?

“Oh, stop, you’re breaking my heart—don’t worry, it won’t hurt for much longer, dear one—”

“I just wanna sleep,” you mumble through your tears. 

“I know, I know,” he soothes. And he probably does know because he got hurt in the battle against Dooku in the movie. At least he didn’t lose a limb, though, like—

Why is he here if Anakin isn’t?

Anakin didn’t lose a limb this time.  

Wait wait wait… there’s no way you could have screwed up so badly that Anakin was dead. Your friend was not dead. He’s not dead. It’s not a thing. 

The horror overtakes every sense that you have, even the pain (which could be thanks to the medicine too).

“I’m so sorry, oh God…”

Your mouth clamps shut, your teeth grinding together as if that would cure the fire burning beneath your skin and your bubbling stomach. 

“No, it’s alright, I promise. Just breathe with me, remember?” He leads you through a calm meditation and you follow along. The anxiety begins to fade, but something else lingers. Something heavy and hopeless, and you really just want to sleep.

You need validation first, though.

“I got him killed, didn’t I? I’m so sorry, this wasn’t supposed to happen, why do I do everything wrong? I can’t do anything right, why the hell am I here if I can’t even help? I-I didn’t want to lose him, you weren’t supposed to lose him again—”

But bless Obi-Wan Kenobi, because he knows exactly what you are feeling and how to go about this new episode of emotion. He hushes you, kissing your forehead and providing whatever familial love you would need in a situation such as this.

He cautiously embraces you, and you barely feel anything in your shoulder from the movement anymore, which was also a blessing. Seeing that you are not crying out in physical pain, he moves so that he’s sitting on the hospital bed/cot with you, resting your head against his chest.

“You have no reason to feel at fault—you did nothing wrong. It’s you that we’re all worried for. You were unconscious since Geonosis which was four days ago, and then you woke up yesterday and have been asleep since then. You don’t heal very easily, you know? Scared the living hell out of me.”

“I’m—”

“No, I did not mean to lead you into another apology. It’s just… I know I haven’t known you for very long, but I don’t want to be without you. To see you so hurt, well, it hurt me too.”

You weren’t sure if he was saying all this to make you feel better, or maybe because you remind him of Anakin, but it was hard for you to believe.

(He was not lying).

“Obi-Wan, he’s—Anakin’s…” you sob out, crying at the loss of your best friend in the universe (in your current universe, that is).

“He’s here, dear one—” he begins to reassure, but the door to the room slides open and cuts him off.

Whoever enters the room only makes it a few steps before halting completely. 

You peek from behind Obi-Wan and see the one you’d been afraid you’d basically killed moments before. 

Anakin, just standing there like an idiot. 

He wears robes that are almost identical to the ones you wear, meaning he must have still been staying in the Halls of Healing while he recovered.

Yes, he was alive.  

His face scrunched up at the sight of you, and you couldn’t tell if he was crying because he was happy or sad. You were certainly happy—you thought he was frickin dead. 

“Oh thank God.”

“Thank the Force.”

You both speak simultaneously, and Obi-Wan chuckles.

You bury your face in his chest, crying in relief as you hear Anakin’s footsteps grow closer. 

You’re alive, he’s alive, and you’re okay. It’s okay.

Chapter Text

Anakin rushes towards you, and Obi-Wan releases you a bit so that the younger boy can hug you. All three of you are hugging, and you feel so safe and secure that the heavy hopeless feeling lessens immensely.

“You weren’t waking up, I was so worried, they couldn’t use the Force to heal you, I was so helpless—” Anakin rambles but you stop him. 

“Are you okay? I thought you were… like hurt really really bad.” 

He pauses, and pulls away from your embrace to meet your eyes before looking away shyly. “You saved me.”

“You mean Obi-Wan saved you,” you say, trying to keep him away from dramatics and stick to the truth.

“Well, yes, he did too, but you… you knocked Dooku’s attack off course. It hurt, but it was not a fatal wound. At least, not instantly. But the Force could heal me. You, on the other hand…”

Obi-Wan stepped in this time. “Normally, Lightsaber wounds cauterize instantly. Anakin’s did, luckily, and also luckily did not hit anything vital. Yours was at a joint, so it must not have cauterized fully… It began to bleed profusely, and we nearly lost you to shock. But obviously that did not happen. You are too strong for that.”

“But… it literally was just my shoulder, Anakin got impaled! Like, come on, no way it was that bad.”

“It was,” Obi-Wan whispers gravely. “It seems, where you are from, you are much more fragile without the Force.”

But what if that was your only way home? Like in Inception, the only way to wake up from the dream is to fake-die? Or, what if it was like Narnia and you just needed to pass through the wardrobe?

“But we’re here now,” Anakin’s voice cuts through your thoughts. “That is all we have to think about. This moment.”

Why the frick is he all wise now?

Obi-Wan smiles fondly, “You are certainly right, my young Padawan.”

“Yeah, well, not living in the moment is like second nature to me so… I may need some help with that.”

“Oh, Anakin can’t either, don’t worry. He may sound wise but—”

“Why must you always insult me, Master?” His tone suggests he is joking, and so you bark out a laugh.

“Because, it makes her feel better.”

“Fair point.”

You laugh again. “Thank you for agreeing to be the brunt of the joke, Anakin.”

He smiles and hugs you again, but the ache in your limbs returns accompanied by a chill in your bones that exacerbates your discomfort. You must visibly wince or something since Anakin pulls away from the embrace like your touch burned him.

“Are you alright? Did I just hurt you? What’s wrong? Is it—”

“No no, I’m just really cold and it’s…” you shift, trying to get comfy but it’s just not working, “really uncomfortable.”

“Do you need more blankets? I’ll find more blankets—” Anakin moves to stand up but does so far too quickly and consequently grunts, flopping back down and almost lands on top of you.

“Alright, hold on. Anakin, don’t overwork yourself, you need to relax before you hurt someone. I can search for some extra blankets. In the meantime, try to rest. Perhaps go back to sleep?” Obi-Wan rises from his chair and turns to leave the room, not before patting both you and Anakin on the head fondly. 

“Okay,” you mumble, trying to snuggle under the covers as if that would make you feel better. To be honest, it kind of does.

“Sorry, Master,” Anakin grumbles as Obi-Wan exits. It’s just the two of you now, and he moves to put his feet up but you stop him.

“Oy, shoes off if you’re going to put your feet on my bed.”

Anakin grumbles again before sliding his shoes off and then lays down next to you. Your cot is bigger than a twin size you’d expect to be in a hospital. Well, you guess this isn’t exactly a hospital anyway. So, he fits next to you so it isn’t really that uncomfortable. 

“You really scared me, you know that?”

You scoff, “Dude, you scared me! I legit thought you were dead! I guess you guys get hurt a lot, have a lot of near-death experiences, but I fortunately don’t. Do you know how scary it is to watch that?”

He sits up, looking at you incredulously. “Yes, I do! You and Obi-Wan got hurt—”

“Yeah, but I don’t count—”

“You don’t count? How could you believe that?” He says this incredulously, like you must have been joking and anything otherwise was outrageous. But you’re not joking, and he realizes this with a look in his eyes that’s akin to horror. “You are so important to me, I don’t understand why you don’t get that. You matter, I love you, you’re my best friend!”

“Stop saying that—”

“Why?!”

“Because you’re not real! What you’re saying isn’t real. I don’t deserve that. I’m not a part of this story, and this has all become far too unrealistic to be true.”

He pauses. “Where is this coming from?”

“I… um, I don’t know. Sorry…”

“Do you really think those things about me? About yourself?”

“I don’t know.” You’re too tired for this. “I’m sorry for sounding dramatic, I’m fine. Just think the pain is coming back, maybe.”

Anakin shakes his head. “No.” He lays back down and holds your hand (the good one, obviously) and puts his other arm around your shoulders pulling you close. “You have been helping me, so much, just let me be there for you. Let me care about you, alright?”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I think I get mean when I’m in pain. I’m just gonna try to sleep, like Obi-Wan said.” You snuggle into your pillow again, only you sheepishly realize that it’s Anakin’s side this time, not actually your pillow. Again, you’re too tired to care.

“Yeah. Me too,” he says, yawning. 

You fall asleep to the sound of his breathing and also the faint humming of the medical machines around you. 

When you wake up, Obi-Wan is back and Anakin is still next to you but he’s fast asleep.

Oh, and the pain is back.

It’s becoming pretty redundant at this point, and you’re sick of it. You’d think it would go away by now, especially with the futuristic medical serums and machines that the Jedi have and those painkillers Obi-Wan mentioned earlier. The pain makes you feel almost feverish, and you wish that you could take some ibuprofen right about now. 

You whine at the ultimate discomfort you feel, even if you were comfortable before. Obi-Wan snaps his head up and looks away from whatever book he was reading. He stands and makes his way over to the side of your bed that Anakin does not occupy and sits next to you, swiping his thumb across your forehead.

“You’re sweating.”

“No, I’m freezing,” you correct him. “Why is this still hurting so bad? Am I sick?”

He narrows his eyes. “Possibly, but highly unlikely. The only other explanation could be infection, but the wound has been thoroughly cleaned. We know that you are extra fragile, and that was accounted for.” Obi-Wan places his whole hand on your forehead and his other near your shoulder. 

The sudden contact with your arm literally makes you jump because of how painful it is. This consequently wakes up Anakin, who looks around and blinks blearily.

“Wha’s wrong?” he slurs, and any other time you would laugh at how adorably stupid he looks.

You whine again involuntarily, tears springing to your eyes. “I’m supposed to be feeling better now! Why the fuck is this so fucking painful!!”

You haven’t dropped an F-bomb here before, and both Obi-Wan and Anakin seem to understand that it is a higher level of curse than your normal vocabulary even if they don’t know what the word is. 

“Master, she’s really hot,” Anakin says, alarmed.

You have a joke on the tip of your tongue but it’s not worth saying, not when you’re in this much pain. 

“There must be some kind of infection,” Obi-Wan says quietly, but you can still hear him and you grunt in annoyance but also fear.

What does that mean?

“But I thought—” Anakin begins.

“Stay here, I am going to get the healers.” And just like that Obi-Wan is gone but the pain remains.

“I can’t handle this anymore,” you state plainly. You’ve had it. 

“Yes you can. You’ll be alright,” Anakin reassures as he sits up. He’s got a pensive look in his face, but he also looks pained. Does he feel sick too? “Just… breathe. That always helps, right? Let’s breathe.”

He’s not wrong. “Yeah, okay.” Your voice is a lot smaller than normal, and you wish your parents were here to take care of you right about now. “Are you okay?” you ask, remembering how pained his expression just had been.

“I don’t like seeing you like this,” he mumbles. “So I am going to breathe with you. It will help me, too.”

You nod in agreement. He lets you squeeze his hand while you take a couple of deep breaths, and you start to feel better but then the chill in your bones becomes a fire underneath your skin. You realize as you hold Anakin’s hand that he is actually quite cool, and you’re low key delirious so you take his hand and put it on your forehead.

He giggles, “What are you doing?”

If you could shrug, you would have. “Your hand is cold. Need to cool off.”

“I thought you were cold?” His joy fades and the concern leaks back onto his visage again.

“Not anymore.”

Anakin smoothes back the hair on your head and you can tell he is trying to smile, but it looks like he’s grimacing. “Dammit, where is Obi-Wan?” he mutters, looking over his shoulder. 

As if on cue, the door to your room slides open and healers come pouring in. They shoo Anakin away from you and off of your bed, and you whimper at the loss of a familiar presence. There’s nothing like being completely out of control in your situation that makes you feel like a little kid again, reaching for your parents or siblings or friends. 

“Hey! Hang on a minute—!”

Obi-Wan shushes Anakin with a simple look, and he approaches your bedside.

“They need to take a look at your shoulder, young one. They are going to give you something that should help you fall asleep before then, alright?”

You flinch at something cold touching the inside of your wrist, and almost immediately you feel super drowsy. Wtf.

“Okay,” you whisper, and Obi-Wan brings his forehead to your own as you drift off to sleep once again. 

Anyway, the next time you wake up you feel like ten times better, so you’re not as scared anymore. You feel super duper extra tired, though.

You know your eyes are open, but this is probably one of those occasions where they don’t actually look like they are open. That must be why Anakin and Obi-Wan don’t take notice of you.

The former clutches tightly to the latter, letting out quiet sobs as Obi-Wan hugs him back just as tightly. If you focus in more, you can make out what Anakin is saying.

“I was going to do horrible things—I was supposed to do that… and yet she still wanted to help me? And I have the audacity to feel relieved that my nightmares came true about her instead of my mother? I am a terrible person, Master! I am evil, I am no ‘chosen one’. I cannot protect the people I love, or even treat them properly… I’m a failure as a Jedi and a failure as a human being—”

“Padawan, don’t do that to yourself. You cannot focus on what might have been. You said it yourself yesterday—bring your attention back to here and now. I love you, you are my brother, and I would never turn my back on you. Neither would she. Our love is not conditional.”

“But-but I don’t deserve—”

“It isn’t about ‘deserve’, Anakin. That’s why it is unconditional. That is why we must be here for each other, for her. It might not feel like things are alright right now, but it will be.”

Anakin sniffles, turning his head so he can rest it in the crook of Obi-Wan’s neck. “It’ll be alright?”

Obi-Wan hums in affirmation, and the sound coaxes you back to sleep. 

You can’t help but think of a song that also grants you comfort right now:

It’ll be okay.

Chapter Text

The next few days are pretty much the same, you having to do some physical therapy for your arm, and Anakin doing rehab for his back. 

Obi-Wan’s wounds apparently were only surface level, even though they had still been painful initially. 

Turns out your shoulder actually was infected and the healers couldn’t really tell because it set in so late. You’re not sure if or why that was even possible, but it could have been a Force thing or a lightsaber wound thing. Who the hell knows.

But the point is, now you’re getting back to where you were before your injury and things are starting to look up. After one week you were allowed to go back to your own room in the Temple, and after two more weeks you got your stitches out. Then it was a few weeks after that when you felt almost completely healed except for the fact that basic daily tasks felt like an intense workout. You figure it will get better with time, and to build up your strength and stamina again you continue your physical therapy along with taking walks around the Temple grounds that get progressively longer each time. 

There were so many parts of the Temple you hadn’t even seen yet! It truly is stunning, and you can’t believe Jedi just get to like, live here.

You watch as Anakin slowly gets back into lightsaber training again, his connection to the Force aiding his recovery incredibly. You wish you could do that.

He does a flip over Obi-Wan, and only barely grimaces when he lands.

Obi-Wan is definitely concerned.

“Anakin—”

“What? It’s fine—”

The elder Jedi rolls his eyes, Force-pulling the wooden kata out of Anakin’s hands.

“Wait!”

“I think that is enough training for today, Padawan.” His tone suggests that there is no room for argument, and luckily the younger Jedi picks up on this.

Anakin pouts, and the sight makes you snicker. He narrows his eyes at you, but you just shrug in response. Obi-Wan puts the training katas away, while Anakin jogs over to you (most likely only jogging to spite his Master).

“I’ve been working on something for the past couple of weeks and I want to show you!”

“Oh cool. What is it?”

He smiles, “Well, it is a surprise.”

“Eh, okay…?”

After telling Obi-Wan you’ll meet him in the mess hall for lunch, you follow Anakin down the hallway outside of the training rooms and into what you probably would equate to a locker room. He pulls something out of his designated cubby, but before you can get a good look at whatever it is he hides it behind his back.

“Dude, come on. You’re not good at surprises.”

“No,” Anakin laughs, “you just do not enjoy surprises.”

“Well, I do sometimes when the other person isn’t being sketchy!”

“‘Sketchy’?”

You sigh, opting to just try and reach around him to see what he’s hiding. Unfortunately, you telegraph your move and he jumps out of the way, giggling.

“Anakin, stop,” you laugh nervously, starting to get the tiniest bit anxious instead of excited.

“Force, and people say I’m impatient.” He moves his hands from behind his back to reveal some type of device that looks eerily similar to your iPhone charger… until you realize it is a charger for your phone, seeing as your once dead phone is plugged into it.

“It’s a charger!” he says excitedly. “I told you I’d make one! I felt bad that you used up all its power trying to get me to sleep that one time… Anyway, that’s not even the best part—”

You’re speechless. He literally manufactured a smart-phone charger. And that wasn’t even the best part? “What the—”

“I created a way for you to access the data you previously had back in your universe, just without the same communication grid that it was on. But now you can send messages to my commlink!” he says, buzzing with excitement. 

A million things are going through your mind right now, but for some reason your brain lands on, “I can show you all my music!”

“And we can finish that story, too,” he says. “I wanted to know what happened next. In fact, I think I had a dream about it one night.”

Your homesickness never quite left you, and hearing him want to do a bunch of things that remind you of home? Well, it makes you tear up (in a good way, though).

“Thank you so much,” you say. “Seriously… you have no idea how much this means to me. I’m… I’m literally speechless.”

“Well, think of it as a birthday gift.” He looks at his shoes and his cheeks are red. “I’m not sure how much time would have passed in your world, but just in case you’re now 21… I couldn’t show up empty handed.” It’s an interesting theory, but it’s almost too specific to be the truth. You know he just did it because he cared. Nevertheless, you indulge him.

“Woah I didn’t even think of that… Ha! I’m probably two years older than you!”

He crosses his arms defensively, “I am nearly 20. So, don’t get too excited.”

“Fair enough.” Shoot, you gotta think of a present for him… eh, that’s another day’s problem. You laugh, hugging him gently even though you know you won’t make his injury hurt anymore (it’s become a habit). “But seriously, thank you.”  

He hugs you back. “You’re welcome.”

At lunch, you’re showing Anakin and Obi-Wan some of your favorite playlists when a small voice breaks you out of your conversation. 

“So now you all finally show up at the mess hall again!”

You look up to see Ahsoka with her arms crossed. You grin sheepishly.

You guys kind of had been skipping lunch altogether the past few weeks, letting yourselves sleep in enough to the point where your breakfast was your lunch, so you hadn’t been back until today. You haven’t seen Ahsoka since leaving with Padmé.

“Snips—”

“No, ‘Skyguy’, I though you all were dead!”

“That’s not true, we knew you were fine,” pipes up Cal as he pokes his head from behind her, and he looks to be shivering in his little Jedi robe.

“Are you cold, Cal?” you ask.

He pouts, and it takes everything in you not to say awwww!

“Well, I just don’t understand why the robes we wear don’t close in the front.”

Anakin slams his hand on the table. “Exactly! I have been saying that for years!”

Oh no, the fangirl in you can’t keep quiet now. “Omg, Cal, have you ever heard of ponchos?”

Chapter Text

You get Cal fitted with a small poncho that used to be Anakin’s apparently, and takes off for the training rooms now that he allegedly feels much more comfortable (he’s so friggin adorable!!). But Ahsoka isn’t letting you off the hook so easily. She follows you all back to the apartment and demands a detailed account of the entire adventure. 

“Wait, don’t you have class or something?” you ask.

She shrugs, “Master Plo can bail me out.”

“Fair enough.”

(Obi-Wan looks to the side incredulously, obviously thinking something to himself but shakes his head and says nothing of it. It seems he is reminded of the fact that he is indeed surrounded by children.)

You tell the story, sparing no detail. Ahsoka seems a bit disgusted when you explain yours, Obi-Wan’s and Anakin’s injuries, but you try to cheer her up a bit by distracting her with your phone (hey, it works for you and every other kid you know so why wouldn’t it for her?).

“Ahsoka! I have your theme song on here…” you scroll through your Star Wars playlist on your phone, and find Ahsoka’s theme. She seems pretty entranced by the song, and Anakin and Obi-Wan look at her fondly. 

Another idea pops into your head, “Did you know that they made you guys into a video game too?”

“How would we have known that?” Anakin laughs.

“No, it’s just a saying—” you roll your eyes. “Never mind. Don’t know why I even try…”

Anakin’s grin slides off his face in less than a second and Obi-Wan barks out a laugh at the sight. “No, no, I’m sorry, what were you going to say?”

“How come you can make him less snarky after being with him a tenth of the time I’ve been with him?” Obi-Wan says.

“No, him being snarky is his way of showing that he loves you, but for me I guess he gets self-conscious, idk.”

“You know, I’m sitting right here!”

“Good, so now you’re paying attention!” you say, grinning. “There’s this video game called ‘Battlefront II’ and you’re both in it! Cal has his own video game for when he gets older, and I hope that Ahsoka gets in a game one way or another soon, that would be sick!”  

“Is that on your phone as well?” Obi-Wan asks.

You shake your head. “Unfortunately, you would need a whole-ass gaming console and I didn’t happen to be carrying that when I got, uh, sent here.”

“Hey,” Ahsoka says, calling your name, “what is ‘Anakin’s Dark Deeds’?” She somehow had taken your phone from you when you weren’t paying attention, and now she’s scrolling through all of your Star Wars playlists.

Your blood runs cold. “It’s… just a song.” You try not to look at Anakin because you know for a fact he will see right through you and know exactly what that song refers to. You instead focus your energy on grabbing the phone from Ahsoka and she laughs, obviously not understanding the tense situation you’ve found yourselves in.

“What, does Skyguy get up to some shady stuff in your stories?”

At this comment, you hear Anakin push himself angrily out of his seat and storm out the door of the apartment. You curse your short-sightedness, knowing that some of the songs from the soundtrack were bound to be named after key scenes in the films, so you shouldn’t have even showed anyone that music. 

Ahsoka looks down, flushing with shame. “Did I do something wrong?”

You shake your head, “No, Ahsoka. Anakin just is, um, really sensitive to that stuff, you know?”

“Oh, yeah. You’re right, I suppose.”

Obi-Wan moves to go after Anakin, but you beat him to it (seeing as you sit closer to the door). “I’ll talk to him. I’m the one who told him about this stuff in the first place. Obi-Wan, can you tell Ahsoka about it?” You have no idea how much information you should disclose with the young girl, but you figure Obi-Wan would know exactly the right thing to say to her so you selfishly leave him behind to do it. You can thank him later.

“Alright,” he says hesitantly. “Just get him to come back, if you can. When he runs away, he tends to get into trouble on occasion…”

You smile briefly before it turns into a grimace. “You have some experience in that arena?”

He huffs a small and tired laugh, “You could say that.”

“I’ll be back!” you say, turning and walking out the door. 

When you step out of the apartment, you see Anakin turn the corner whilst storming down the long hallway. You start to walk after him, but he was so far ahead of you that you figure you should probably run to be able to catch up to him. You keep running, eventually turning the corner that he passed earlier. You see him up ahead down this new section of the hallway, and you call out to him.

“Anakin!”

He doesn’t stop. 

“Anakin! Come on, you don’t need to—” Dizzy. You feel dizzy. The world before your eyes fades in and out of view and is overlaid with something else… your room at home? Your TV? But then the wall and hallway you were in before rematerializes and black spots dance in your vision. You lean against the wall for support, leaning against it before sliding down to the ground and landing on your butt ungracefully.

More visuals flash before your eyes, and it looks like…

Darth Vader, walking through a village dragging civilians behind him or simply killing them left and right. Obi-Wan, making a brief escape only to find himself face-to-face with Vader again. 

“What have you become?”

“I am what you made me.”

They fight, but Obi-Wan is no match for Vader this time. You get lost in the fury of their lightsabers, and then you see it:

Vader—no, Anakin dragging Obi-Wan through fire. Obi-Wan screams like you’ve never heard him scream before, and it is nauseating and terrifying. You scream in turn, hoping that it would stop, stopstopstop STOP!

“Hey! It’s okay!”

The scene is back to where it started, with you in a hallway in the Jedi Temple. Vader sits in front of you, trying to suffocate you, burn you, or who knows what. He’s not just some silly bad guy anymore with a stupid costume, he’s a psychotic monster.  

“Get away from me! Get the HELL away!” you scream, breathing far too fast and tears spilling down your face. 

“But… it’s me! It’s Anakin! You are safe—”

“No, you’re a fucking psychopath! Oh my God…” you exhale out shakily, barely even speaking.

You hug your knees together and hide your face in your arms, sobbing. For a moment, you had been sent back home and that must have been the Kenobi show that you had heard about before… well, Before. 

That was terrifying, holy shit.

Your vision and mind is fully back to you now, and Anakin does kneel in front of you. He probably came back for you once he realized you stopped running after him and sat down on the floor. You feel bad for what you just said, but you’re also still freaked out about how sadistic he had been in that scene in his future. Any good memories or scenes of him from Clone Wars or even your own adventures are almost too far out of reach for you to let it go.

Obi-Wan runs down the hall to you two, and as soon as you see him you cling to him, arms flailing and fingers trembling. You try to hide whilst you hug him, not wanting to see Anakin’s face again. It’s too much, too much knowing just how awful he becomes that is worse than what you thought previously. It couldn’t just be the dark side that makes him do that, he must already have something wrong with him. 

(Somewhere deep down you know that isn’t true, but whatever the hell you saw is making it hard to believe right now.)

“What happened?” Obi-Wan says, concerned and careful.

“I-I-I don’t know… she just—I think she saw something… I don’t know, she faded away for a moment, and then she was back, screaming.”

Obi-Wan looks down at you, carefully lifting your head so that he can meet your eyes. “Was it what happens in our future?”

You’ve started to calm down, and you wipe your eyes. (Seriously, the amount of times you have broken down in front of these people is absolutely horrible.)

You nod. “Yeah.”

“Of Anakin and I?”

You almost agree again but you spare a glance at Anakin who looks almost as devastated and terrified as you do. 

It only makes things worse, actually.

“Darth Vader,” you say. “Anakin becomes Darth Vader. He tries to burn you alive…”

Both of them lock eyes, Obi-Wan concerned for Anakin and Anakin looking generally terrified. The latter scrambles backwards on his butt, before turning completely and running away down the hallway. 

“Anakin—” Obi-Wan starts, but the boy is already gone. 

“I don’t know what to do,” you whisper, crying again albeit quietly. “I should talk to him, but… I don’t know if I can help him. I don’t know who can help him. If he even deserves it.”

“Don’t say that,” Obi-Wan says firmly, but encouraging. “I think you can. We can. You are not alone, I swear it to you. We can do this.”

“It was so scary, though…”

“Take your time, breathe, and then we will figure it out. One step at a time, alright?”

You take two very deep breaths and close your eyes, trying to remember the good things about Anakin and when the other images come back, you let them float away without judging them. 

Anakin… you pushed him away. And now you were just… sad. Emotionally drained, but sad. He needed help, but you needed help too. Yet you could help yourself, and the reason you were here was to help prevent everything that you just saw. Anakin is a person, and already you’ve been making progress. 

You lean back from Obi-Wan and wipe your tears. “You need to help him. Please. I need some time, I’ll get over it, but he might not. He needs you right now. I can face him later.”

He nods, knowing your conviction is strong and does not question you. He rises to his feet and takes off towards where Anakin ran off to.

You head back to the apartment and walk in to see a startled Ahsoka, anxiously brewing some tea. 

“Are you okay?” she asks. You wish you had the older Ahsoka with you right now… or Luke. People who could see the good in Anakin and still loved him. You wish that was you.

Well, it could be you. It is you.

But you are still so sad, and that was going to take time to get over.

Chapter Text

Ahsoka sits down across from you and hands you a cup of tea. You take it and nod your thanks. 

“You’re really cool, you know that?” you say.

“‘Cool’?”

“You become a great Jedi. The perfect Jedi, actually. But you encounter lots of struggles because of that, and even still you end up okay and sure of yourself.”

She eyes you carefully, analyzing something and you don’t know what to do under her scrutinizing gaze. 

“I don’t think I would ever be completely sure of myself. If anything, you seem super sure of yourself.”

You huff a laugh, “Well, looks can be deceiving I guess.”

“Exactly! So, in reality no one is ever really sure of themselves. That’s a more comforting thought to have, don’t you think?” she says in her little voice, sounding unsure of herself.

What she just said was incredibly intelligent and wise, and you kind of want to kick yourself for not thinking of it first. Granted, this is Ahsoka Tano, so would you expect anything less?

No, not really. 

You groan internally, resting your head in your hands. “Oh man, Anakin is gonna hate me now.”

Ahsoka merely shrugs, not really offering comfort, and states matter-of-factly, “I doubt it. You both make a great team… if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you both were family.”

You sit with that idea for a minute. It was true—you loved him like family, Obi-Wan too, so why did you just freak out at him like that? Why were you shown that future? Why were you sent back home for a split second?

“I… don’t know what to do.”

Ahsoka bites her lip as she thinks until she says, “You could talk to Master Yoda. That’s what everyone does when they have foreboding feelings in the Force. Not that you have the Force, but still.” 

(“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”)

Yeah. Great at advice, Master Yoda is. 

Although… it could be beneficial to talk to the old Jedi Master about some things you’ve been seeing, and maybe you could get him to start thinking about how to let the Order adapt before it’s too late. You vaguely remember Obi-Wan saying something to him about caring for Anakin when you were fading in and out of consciousness on Geonosis. Perhaps that had cemented something in Yoda’s mind, and hopefully he did more than just “meditate” on it. (Yoda was so frickin passive in the prequels… probably because if he wasn’t then the whole plot wouldn’t happen anyway. Well la-di-frickin-da, you’re here to ruin the plot!)

Anyway, getting help from Yoda is probably your best bet right now seeing as the rest of the Council listens to him. For some reason though, you’re scared to go—at least, to go alone. You’re definitely one of those people who needs someone to come with you in certain situations to do whatever you’re doing. 

“If I go, will you come with me?” you ask. It feels ridiculous because Ahsoka is a literal child, but she also is intuitively one of the wisest people like, ever. And she’s your friend.

She doesn’t even hesitate when she says, “Of course. Typically, the Council members have meditation hour at around now, so we could go and see if Master Yoda is available?”

“Is that like office hours?” you accidentally say, but you realize that she definitely doesn’t know what that is. Still, it is funny to think that even the Jedi have office hours. “Never mind.”

You both finish your tea, and then meander through the Temple until you reach Yoda’s “office”. It is really zen and gives off super chill vibes and it looks like the perfect place to take a nap. The sunlight streams in through the blinds in the window just enough to give the room an ambient golden glow. It’s very peaceful.

“Welcome, young ones,” Yoda greets you both, standing with his little cane. “If it is alright, speak with her alone, I would like to,” he says gesturing to you. 

Ahsoka looks to you for your reaction, almost asking for permission to either stay or leave. You can tell she wants to know more about this whole situation, so she definitely would appreciate staying and hearing all the “tea”. You know deep down though it’s better if she doesn’t know everything right now. 

You nod to her, and she bows (you forget they’re all monks sometimes but then they do stuff like that). “I should probably be getting to class anyway. Only so much Master Plo can bail me out of, after all.”

You snicker as she smirks and makes her exit, leaving only you and Yoda.

“Interesting, it is, that you would seek me out today of all days,” he says grimly. 

“Why? What is it?”

You both sit across from each other on the little cushions and you settle in, getting comfortable. 

“Grave news, I have. But unfortunately, specifics I have not. Something has happened to your home, young one. Something in the Force, it mourns, but not this universe.”

This… was not even close to what you thought you were going to talk about. Somehow, this makes you feel even worse than earlier when you saw that scene from Kenobi. 

“What?” you whisper.

“I know not what has happened, but know it left a tremor in the Force, I do.”

You grit your teeth. Dealing with the future in this universe was one thing, but your home? What the hell? “There isn’t any Force there. How would you know?”

“No Force in the conventional sense, there is. But that does not mean there is no cosmic energy to feel, even here.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“The Force urged me to. Aid, it offered… but in what way, I do not know. I will need to meditate on this. Perhaps it is aid to offer young Skywalker as well. Share this burden with him, you should.”

“I… I came here to talk about Anakin.” You want to change the subject, need to change the subject from this vague nightmare Yoda is suggesting is real. You swallow thickly, bracing yourself for what you’re about to say. “He… becomes a sith in the story that I know, and now he knows that, and I’m afraid that I’m hurting him more than helping.”

Yoda brings a little claw to his chin. “If a sith Skywalker, the Chosen One becomes, doomed the Order may be. More powerful than the sith, we must become. To be able to defeat Skywalker, new methods we will need.”

“He doesn’t have to become a sith! That only happens if we all fail him.”

Yoda shakes his head. “But attachment, you would support. Only make clear a path to the Dark side, this would—”

“No, not necessarily. Love, compassion, and empathy can make someone more powerful and hold more light inside them than someone who is selfless with sympathy but lacking in empathy. That’s where I think the Jedi stray too far from the Light. Not everyone can fit that mold, and when someone like Anakin grows up in an environment like that? There are bound to be repercussions down the line.”

“It seems only young Skywalker struggles with our way of life. Other Jedi do not, and do not lack compassion.”

“But couldn’t that be arrogant of you to assume?” You cringe at your wording. “Well, not that you’re arrogant, but that thought could be. Love and attachment aren’t necessarily the same thing even though you claim they are. Without love, how can you claim to be compassionate?”

“We cannot abandon our ideals, young one. Down a dangerous and uncertain road, that would lead us. Safer it would be to gain power over the sith.”

You feel like you’ve heard that argument before back home, and it low key annoys you. Then, you are reminded that something is wrong back home, and it makes you miss it like crazy! You sincerely hope that everything is ultimately okay…

That’s because there are people and things that you love and live for there. Anakin needs that too. Every human being should have that.

“It’s neglect, what you’re showing him now. I know there is a war, but you need to focus on your own people first. If you can’t protect and care for yourselves, how can you hope to protect others?”

Yoda exhales, closing his eyes in deep thought. You both remain silent for a minute, until he speaks again. “Obi-Wan spoke of something similar… even brighter in the Force, he became. Believe you both, I do, but in truth I am afraid. The future would be uncertain for the Order. It is far too chaotic to try to commit to something now. But, I fear you are right. There is only som much you can do. To us, some of it must be left to. This is why you see visions of the future, why your home struggles, perhaps. Have the same shortcomings as the Jedi, it does.”

There. There’s the answer that has everything clicking into place for you. Yoda is certainly right about your home, and here it seems the Jedi struggle with similar issues that could lead to their downfall. The Jedi need to do something or else everything that you do will likely be for nothing. 

“But… how do we save them?” You mean both Anakin and your home (with whatever danger the latter may be in). 

“I do not know, young one. But learn of these secrets, I must. Meditate on this, I will. In the meantime, continue to aid young Skywalker. His presence grows less dark, and Kenobi is smiling. Despite what you may feel, progress you are making.”

You stand up and bow like you see the other Jedi do, and it makes you laugh internally because you must look ridiculous but whatever. 

“Thank you, Master Yoda.”

He nods in acknowledgement, and you slip out of the room and head back to the apartment. Even though you didn’t figure out exactly what to do, talking with Yoda has helped you feel a bit more at peace with the whole situation. At the very least, you don’t feel like this whole thing is on you anymore—the Jedi are willing to work with you. That was something you were afraid might not happen once you revealed parts of the future. 

You’re exhausted, and decide an early night in is just what you need to recharge and figure out what you are going to say to Anakin next time you see him.

Finally you make it back and almost immediately you run into Anakin and Obi-Wan, sitting silently in the kitchen. It’s been quite a few hours since you last saw them and it was almost past dinner time. Luckily, you had leftovers in the fridge you were planning to eat so you didn’t need to worry about cooking. You did, however, need to worry about what the heck you’re going to do in this awkward situation.

You thought you would have more time to come up with a plan for this, but karma just hates you for some reason. 

You freeze as soon as you make eye contact with them. Anakin’s eyes are red and he looks so tired and it scares you. He just looks so… done. Obi-Wan seems tired too, but it seems like it’s because of the late hour. He’s got that worried look on his face and he wrings his hands together under the table, the pinching of his eyebrows unceasing.

It feels like you’re interrupting something, like you’re not supposed to be here, and it makes your chest tighten. They can tell you a million times that you’re “one of them”, but it doesn’t change the fact that you aren’t from this world—that Obi-Wan and Anakin will love each other more than they will love you, and that is how it should be. You’re just… in the way, causing drama. Hurting Anakin.

You take a deep breath and maintain eye contact with Anakin. “I’m sorry. I’m just… sorry.”

He doesn’t respond, and it makes you feel as though he is angry with you and you hang your head in shame. Wordlessly, you grab your leftovers from the fridge and take them into your room, closing the door behind you softly.

You read for a bit after you eat, but you’re eventually closing your eyes and slumping your head onto the book so you decide it’s probably best to go to bed. You feel like in the morning things will start making sense again and you just need to sleep everything that happened today off.

It takes you almost no time at all to fall asleep, but it definitely isn’t a dreamless sleep.

You dream of your favorite public celebration you would look forward to when you were younger. You’re with your family, and everything is like you remember it. It’s fun and exciting, and the company you keep makes you genuinely happy and you can’t be more content than right then.

Then the fireworks start.

Only, they aren’t fireworks.

People scream and run to get away, and most do. Some don’t. Blood stains the streets that you’ve walked innocently on your whole life, and you can’t help but wonder if it was any other year, any other time, it could have been your family that was hurt or worse. You could have been one of the children who will have to grow up with this trauma of a horrifying memory. You could have lost your family. 

There’s a figure on a rooftop, but it shifts out of sight so quickly that you can’t make much sense of who it was. Because who would do something like this? You’re frozen in fear, and everything in front of you is appalling. You want to turn away but you’re glued to the spot. You watch as people die… right in front of your favorite shops and restaurants. 

Suddenly, Yoda’s warning starts to make sense. While you were worried that Earth as a whole was imploding or something, it was actually your specific home that was in peril. Somehow, that almost feels even worse. Nowhere feels safe anymore, the Shire isn’t fair and green anymore, it’s all gone—

You wake up legitimately screaming. You’ve never done that before you don’t think, and it frightens you to the point where you are hyperventilating. You try to take deep breaths but it isn’t working, it hurts to think about.

Just when you think you’re going to die from the anxiety pressing in around you, your door to your room opens swiftly. Anakin comes in, looking like he just got out of bed seeing as he’s not wearing his robe. Obi-Wan is right behind him, and he too wears only his sleepwear. You feel awful because you must have woken them up when you screamed. That thought certainly doesn’t help your anxiety attack.

There aren’t enough words to desrcibe what you’re feeling right now… you don’t even know what you’re feeling. 

Despite everything that’s happened recently, Anakin does not hesitate to reach your bedside and envelop you in a hug. You sob in his embrace, and you can feel Obi-Wan wrap his arms around you both.

You’re utterly confused. You don’t have the Force, but you know that was a “vision” or apparition or whatever of what Yoda must have felt yesterday. That was real. It was real. Perhaps that was the most terrifying thought of all. All of that violence didn’t occur in some far away place, in a story, to characters, it was all real people—your people.

“What was it?” Anakin mumbles, his chest rumbling as he speaks. 

It takes you awhile to find the breath to respond—hell, you don’t even know how to respond. 

“It was real…” you whisper, screwing your eyes shut as another wave of tears crashes over you.

“What was real?” Obi-Wan says, patient and gentle.

“My home,” you whine, not wanting to believe it. “It… people are dead. Real people. My people.” 

You can feel Anakin’s sharp intake of breath, but he doesn’t act on whatever he’s feeling any further. 

“Is…” Anakin hesitates before fully asking, “is your family alright?”

You nod. That’s one comfort at least. You know they are safe, but who is to say that they won’t be the next time something awful happens?

Thinking back to another part of what you could see and feel from that dream, you shiver. It hadn’t been regular passerbys who were hurt—who were shot. There were children who were injured, some to the point of injuries with life-long effects.

“But there was a little boy, he was hit… Another little boy was shielded by his parents and they both died while he lived… A girl ran with her mother but was the only survivor… All of this happened where my parents would take me to get ice-cream as a kid!”

And you’re crying all over again, crumpling into your friends’ embrace. Normally, you would probably internalize this whole thing. You would let your emotions take root deep in your stomach and chest and let them weigh you down without making any outward show of it. That’s how you would try to deal with your anxiety too, but when you first wake up you always feel vulnerable and you can’t always protect yourself from your feelings. Like now.

“It will be—” Anakin starts, but he changes what he’s going to say . “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry. For all of it.” He kisses the crown of your head while you gasp for breath in between your sobs. 

“And this happens all the time, but never in my home, that just doesn’t happen! I’m not safe anywhere anymore.”

“No,” says Anakin sternly. “You are safe with me. Always.”

“But you can’t come home! You-you’re not real there and it just sucks because you could actually do something about this. I can’t, I can’t do anything.”

“I think you can,” Obi-Wan says, rubbing your back.

“You don’t know what it’s like,” you say, your voice quieter and a bit steadier. “My world… there’s too many things in play to actually make a difference. Things are better than they could be, we’re free, but it’s just… when stuff like this happens… it’s unbelievable.”

Obi-Wan sits back a bit. “What did you mean when you said that this happens all the time?”

You turn your head from where it’s buried in Anakin’s chest and meet Obi-Wan’s eyes. He looks horrified, and you know that he should be. But there’s a part of you that wants to think he’s overreacting, that there’s nothing to be worried about because it’s normal—but it’s not when it happens to a place and people you love. 

A thought occurs to you that strangely puts most things in perspective for you, but you still feel like a piece is missing. “There’s small-scale Order-66 attempts and large ones we don’t even know about in far away places.”

“I don’t understand—” Obi-Wan begins.

“I pray that you never will. I prayed that I never would, but now I do in a sense.”

Anakin growls quietly, but you can hear it no matter how much he tries to hide it. “I will find a way there. I’ll make sure you are all safe.”

“It doesn’t work that way, you can’t—”

“Watch me!” he snaps. You flinch at his words, and he takes note of this and flinches in turn. “I-I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please, don’t be afraid of me—”

Listening to him breaks your heart because you can’t handle when other people are more scared than you. It’s okay if you break, if you’re afraid, but not if others are.

“I’m not, because you’re not Vader yet. If I can at least do something, I wanna prevent that. I don’t even want that to be an option. I didn’t mean to scare you, please… I don’t think I can handle you being scared too…”

Anakin tightens his grip on you as Obi-Wan holds onto both of you. “As long as you are here, I’m not going to be scared.”

Obi-Wan stiffens beside you, and both he and some part of you know that Anakin is lying. But, your young friend’s words promise safety and security and comfort, which is all you need right now. It’s a lifeline you hold onto with everything that you have, especially since you do not have your family with you now.

Your crying has stopped and tiredness seeps into your bones as you sag into your friends’ embraces. 

“Can you—can someone stay with me please? Because… I’m scared.”

Both Obi-Wan and Anakin get settled sitting up on your bed and the three of you just sit side-by-side, comfortable and calm. You fall asleep on their shoulders.

When you wake up, only Obi-Wan is there.

Chapter Text

You search frantically for your other friend, but he’s not in your room. Maybe he went to the bathroom?

“Where’s—” you cough, clearing your very dry throat. Yep, crying yourself to sleep will do that. “Where is Anakin?”

Obi-Wan strokes your hair back from your head gently.

“He is in his room. He left early this morning and at first I did not even notice. But then the Force felt… cold. It woke me up, so I tried to find its source…”

Your shoulders droop. “It was Anakin.”

Obi-Wan sighed. “He was headed to the Senate building. For what, he would not say, but I was able to convince him to come back.”

The Senate building? You think for a second in relief that he probably went to go see Padmé but then your panic returns because you know she is still on Naboo with her family. That only leaves one person that he would meet with at the Senate.

(“I am the Senate!”

“Not. Yet.”)

Okay, that meme makes you laugh internally (seeing as the situation is too serious to laugh out loud).

“You stopped him, right?”

“Yes, but I have no idea what he was doing there. He’s closed off our bond—so much so that I can hardly feel him in the Force. He won’t tell me anything. I think… he just needs some time to be alone.”

You want to disagree, but it is true that sometimes it’s better to be left alone (in a safe environment) to work things out. You hope that’s what Anakin is doing, and when he’s ready he’ll come to you so you can help him, just like he helped you last night. 

You try to shake that dream out of your head, but it’s still rooted deep in your mind and thinking of it makes you shiver. Obi-Wan senses this and gives you a hug, resting his chin on top of your head.

It makes you feel safe, and also makes you realize just how grateful you are for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Being friends with Anakin is a great and fulfilling adventure, but being friends with Obi-Wan is a blessing. 

Obi-Wan’s comm-link starts blinking and beeping, and he pulls it out of his pocket to look at it.

“Council?”

“Yes,” he says, eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “My presence is requested, and I am being assigned a clone battalion, it seems.” His eyes widen, and by studying him closely you can tell he is not only surprised, but fearful. Jedi were peacekeepers, after all. A war wasn’t something they tended to facilitate.

“You can go. I’ll stay here with Anakin in case he wants to talk.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

You nod. Like Anakin, you think you might need some time for yourself to work through… whatever it is you’re feeling. 

Obi-Wan releases you, but before he leaves he places a hand on your cheek and looks at you fondly. “I will be back soon, young one.” And with that, he walks out of your room and you hear him exit the apartment.

You’re still super tired, and since it seems like Anakin and Obi-Wan are foregoing training today you feel like you can sleep in extra (even though it is already late morning, borderline noon). 

Once you wake up the second time, you decide to eat something and go into the kitchen to grab something that is like an equivalent of a granola bar. 

You sit at the kitchen table, enjoying your snack and listening to some of your favorite (non-Star Wars) music. That’s when Anakin walks in. 

He grabs a granola bar from the cabinet too, but he doesn’t make any move to sit down by you. He just stands by the fridge and eats in silence. He looks utterly exhausted—his eyes are sunken with dark circles around them, and you can see his hands tremble where he’s holding the wrapper from the granola bar. He even sways on his feet!

You pause your music. “Hey.” You wave to him.

“...Hi.”

“I just wanted to say… thanks for helping me last night. That—I needed that. Thank you.”

He grimaces, and he then takes a furious bite of the granola bar. “Of course.”

“You look tired.”

“Not your fault.”

“No, that’s not what I—”

“What are you trying to actually say?”

He seems like he doesn’t want to be near you at all, but at the same time he isn’t leaving the room. Maybe it’s his way of asking for help without asking for help? You probably have to initiate it. 

“Obi-Wan told me… about this morning. Why did you go to the Senate building? Is—is it Palpatine?”

He refuses to look at you, his angsty pout directed at the floor but you know he’s listening. “I need to confront him.”

Your heart drops into your stomach. “You—! Are you insane? That’s suicide at this stage!”

Now he chooses to look up at you, and there is no humor in his gaze even though you wish that there was. “That’s the idea. Either I stop him, or he stops me. I won’t let myself become that… Darth. I will not hurt Obi-Wan. It’s all Palpatine’s fault, isn’t it? That is what you have been saying the whole time?”

Did he just say what you think he said?

“Yes, Palpatine is the problem, not you. You-you don’t need to die to fix things, Anakin! God, why would you ever think that!?”

Tears fall from his eyes but his expression remains rather impassive. “It would be the heroic thing to do, would it not? The protagonist’s final sacrifice. Because that’s all I am, isn’t it?” he says your name and his voice wavers, but he does not stop. “I’m just a character, doomed to fail, to be a-a metaphor! That’s all I am to you! You watch me fight, win, lose, fall, and you get to carry on because it doesn’t matter! Tell me, were you always rooting for me or was it only pity that made me one of your favorites? I’m not a person! So why would it matter if I live or die?”

“That’s not true,” you whisper, even though deep down there is some merit to his words. Back home, it really doesn’t matter what happens to him because he’s not real, as much as Revenge of the Sith or the Kenobi show make you want to cry sometimes, you ultimately know that the end is happy in some way so you don’t need to worry about all of the bad things that happen. It’s not real. 

“Please. Don’t lie to me.”

And yet… there’s a reason you love these stories so much. “You, your stories… are everything to me. It’s a form of art, of poetry. It’s a parable for the most tragic of human experiences. Not everyone sees it that way, but I’m not them. You aren’t real in my world, no. I wish you were. But you’re real here. Anything from the story I know doesn’t define you. You know what kind of good you are capable of. When you are too hard on yourself, you’re too harsh with that little boy from Tatooine who wanted to see all the galaxies in the universe. He doesn’t deserve that, so neither do you.”

He takes what seems like a deep breath but is way too shaky to be beneficial in any way. “Just hate me. It will make things easier. I’m capable of such terrible things—” Here, he chokes on the last word and starts speaking again more desperately, “All I think about every morning when I wake up is of the unspeakable horror that is my future! I didn’t want you or Obi to worry or to think I was falling already, but it’s been a living nightmare! I need it to stop! I thought that by doing this, it would stop…” he pauses, trying to regain his composure but it is futile. “I could very well be the type of person who hurt your home! I can see that as my future if I lived in your world…” Anakin has dissolved into a puddle of tears on the floor, and he looks so small and helpless and you are fearful for him. This is a new low, and it’s one you are not prepared to deal with. 

It is now when you recognize your biggest mistake since coming here. You think back to when you told Anakin about Palpatine, when you told him about his mother’s death, about Sidious… you remember him weeping in Obi-Wan’s arms for fear of his own future when they thought you were asleep in the Healing Halls. Ahsoka finding that damning song. You think of what you said to him when you saw that scene from Kenobi.

An image flashes in your mind again whilst the real world around you fades in and out like static. 

“Anakin—”

“Anakin’s gone. I am what remains.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Anakin. For all of it.”

Theres a pause, and Vader—no, Anakin meets Obi-Wan’s eyes.

“I am not your failure, Obi-Wan. You… didn’t kill… Anakin Skywalker…”

He sounds remorseful, but reassuring and it’s a shock. Is he telling Obi-Wan not to blame himself?

“I did.”

The hate, anger, ice-cold delivery of that phrase makes you shiver, but there’s something lingering behind it. You want to think he said that because Vader has become pure evil, but it is more than that.

It’s self-loathing.

There’s something else after that. The antagonistic figure from your dream has the face of Anakin, then Darth Vader, right as he decides to give in to the violent crimes he will commit. That’s frickin scary.

Your vision comes back to you, and you’re crumpled on the floor again like you were the other time this happened. Anakin kneels in front of you but is just far enough out of reach. You meet his gaze, and that self-loathing in Vader’s eyes is present in Anakin’s now and it kills you.

You’re supposed to save him! All you’ve done is taken away his youth and innocence and shoved him into one of the darkest parts of his life!

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, Anakin. For-for all of it,” you say, parroting what he told you last night and what Obi-Wan says to him in that one scene you just saw.

“What?”

“I thought I was helping…” you stifle down another apology. Your guilt is irrelevant. This is about him and the people he might hurt, not you.

(Of course what you feel is relevant, but guilt has a way of making you think you don’t deserve to feel anything at all.)

(Is this what Anakin feels all the time now?)

“Someone else needs to be doing this… I’m only making things worse! I should just…” You want to say you should go home, but that’s bringing all the attention to you again and you are now hyper-aware of that fact every time a thought springs to mind. 

No, you’re getting hysterical. Anakin’s like almost always hysterical, so you need to be the calm one. It’s the only way you can get him to make it out of this. This isn’t just a story right now, this is a friend who needs help, who needs comfort, and doesn’t need to think about the responsibility associated with his destiny (Uncle Ben quotes be damned).

You need to approach this like he’s a friend from home, because honestly? He is your friend. He is a person—not some glorified character that ought to be one thing or another. 

But how the hell do you go about preventing his dark thoughts from spawning the evil things he’s going to feel and consequently act upon? That’s not in your control. It’s almost like if your friend decided gradually to become a mass shooter or terrorist. It sounds over dramatic, yet unfortunately things like that happen all the time in places all over your world. Why should here be any different? Would you realistically forgive Anakin if he did something like that? Something worse?

No. You wouldn’t.

But the best you can do is help him feel loved and secure so that doesn’t happen. You don’t have the power to control laws or the way that the Order operates, or the Force. You can’t do things like that at home, either. But you can’t let him fall prey to the manipulations of the Sith and the trauma of his past. If you protect him, then it won’t ever get to that point. You won’t let it. 

(Maybe that was how you could help people you encounter in your life from doing bad things to themselves or others, too.)

Touching his arm, you silently ask permission to hug him and he all but falls into your embrace right after. He straight up sobs, and the sound of his crying and shouting makes tears fall from your eyes. Maybe you’ve had to do this for a friend before, maybe not, but Anakin did this for you. No matter what, you swear to yourself that you will always be that person for Anakin. If never for anyone else in your life, let this be your penance for that. 

“I’m so sorry,” you whisper into his cloak, breath hitching. He continues to weep albeit a lot quieter, and you simply hold him until the flood stops, until the storm peters out.

You rest your forehead against his as a sign of good faith, and eventually he leans back enough so that you can look at him in the eyes. 

“I don’t know what to do,” he says, voice breaking. 

You want to tell him that you know how to fix everything, what he’s supposed to do, but you don’t. You’re very nearly clueless, but that’s how life is in the real world, too. “You don’t need to know right now.”

At that moment, the door to the apartment slides open and reveals a disheveled and recently-crying Obi-Wan.

“Master?”

“Our bond… Anakin, why didn’t you tell me you felt like this!?”

Anakin hangs his head. “Because I’m a Jedi. I need to be a Jedi—”

“No. You have nothing to prove,” Obi-Wan says, kneeling next to you both. “Jedi or not, you are Anakin Skywalker and you are my life. I would love you through the darkest of times. That includes now.”

“You say that now…”

You think back to the scene you just saw… Obi-Wan was in tears, apologizing. In some way, he still did love Darth Vader. If you were him, you’re not sure you could possibly feel the same way. “It’s true. I saw it.”

Anakin sniffles, seemingly comforted by the fact that you saw something good in his future story. “Okay… okay.” He takes a few deep breaths, following the pattern that should help calm down an anxiety attack, and afterwards he physically relaxes in your arms. “I… I am very tired. Is it alright if just… sleep?”

You nod, rubbing his arm encouragingly. The fact that he feels like he has to ask is kind of sad. “You want your bed or the couch?”

“Here’s good.”

For the first time in a while you feel like laughing. You don’t laugh, but you let yourself smile for a second. “Um, here’s not good for me. It’s uncomfortable,” you deadpan.

“Too late.”

“Anakin… don’t make me carry you,” Obi-Wan threatens, but his tone is lighter too.

“Weren’t you meeting with the Council, Master?”

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes at the feeble attempt at changing the subject, and picks Anakin up out of your arms, carrying him with surprising ease. Anakin whines, and it takes everything in you not to laugh at the sight of this. “I was, but I felt you through the bond. You were… in pain.” He places Anakin on the couch and gives him a couple blankets for the younger boy to snuggle into. “I was worried.”

Anakin buries his face into the cushion of the couch. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You are far more important than any Council meeting, Padawan.”

You didn’t think about it until now, but you realize that you have changed Obi-Wan’s character a bit as well. The Obi-Wan from Clone Wars would never have admitted that, let alone to Anakin’s face. 

For the first time all day, your heart feels warm and beats steadily.

“Thank you,” Anakin whispers, and Obi-Wan does that thing where he presses his hand to Anakin’s forehead and brushes his hair back. He leaves quietly after that, moving to go sit in the kitchen. Before he makes it there you stand up and envelope him in a hug to which he reciprocates.

He breaks the hug, and gestures over to Anakin. “Go on. Be with him.”

At first, you scrunch your nose. What was he insinuating?! “I feel like that would be weird—”

“Oh, for Force’s sake, be with him platonically. There, that is what I meant.”

Oh. That makes sense. “Right. Just making sure.”

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes, but it’s with a fondness that makes you laugh a little. Good to know your awkwardness is appreciated.

You sit on the couch next to Anakin’s feet, and eventually he moves his feet to rest on top of you. You know he’s still awake when he does that, but you let him get away with it. That way, he’ll know you’re not going anywhere. He’ll know he isn’t alone.

Chapter Text

The next day, you all make a huge breakfast to make up for the fact that you hardly ate anything the day previous. It’s delicious, just like every meal Anakin and Obi-Wan ever make. 

It definitely makes you feel a lot better, and it seems the same is true for your friends. Ahsoka and Cal come over for breakfast too, and it certainly brightens the mood even more. 

Once breakfast is all cleaned up, Ahsoka and Cal head off to class or whatever they’re supposed to be doing. Obi-Wan’s face turns a bit more serious as soon as the youngin’s leave.

“The Council assigned the battalion that we will be working with, the 212th, and we are supposed to meet our clone captain at some point this week. As my Padawan, Anakin is to be considered the ‘Commander’ whilst I am the General.”

Anakin pouts. “Hang on. Why are we not both generals?”

Obi-Wan smiles, but it’s not in a condescending way… more like a fond smile. “Because, as you love to point out, I have quite a few years on you.” He turns serious. “War is a terrible thing, Anakin. It is not to be taken lightly. You will have thousands of men to keep alive, to lead to victory, and it is a burden you do not want to bear.”

“You shouldn’t have to bear it either, you know,” you say. As much as you and Anakin joke about Obi-Wan’s age, he really isn’t that old. He has his own anxieties that pester him, and you’re sure there are some traumas deep in his memory that war might bring back up again. 

Obi-Wan refuses to meet your eyes. “I have no choice. Our enemies have chosen this path, and we have to stop them by any means necessary.”

You know the whole thing is bullshit, but you also know that nothing short of defeating Palps, Dooku, and Grievous will stop the Clone Wars at this point. You know Obi-Wan and Anakin aren’t ready for that, so really it’s a lose-lose situation. You have to go along with the story that keeps them alive the longest. 

“Well, you won’t be alone.”

“Yes, both you and Anakin will be with me, and though I wish to spare you the dangers of war I would not want anyone else by my side.” He smiles, and he looks to be in less despair than a few moments ago. You’re so relieved to see that he’s feeling better about it that you almost miss that he said both of you.

“Wait. Why am I coming with? I have legitimately negative experience with anything remotely like this. I would only be a hindrance, if not an outright danger to whatever operation you’ll be running. And, I seriously don’t wanna deal with near-death experiences every weekend.”

He takes a moment to think but you can’t read his expression. “Fair enough, but if we are gone I don’t want to leave you too close to Palpatine. We can make it so you have diplomatic immunity, like Padmé. That way, you can stay off the front lines.”

“Okay but like I’m literally a civilian…”

You’re starting to get anxious thinking about having to actually go through a war, live on a spaceship for months at a time, and not be able to come home to your apartment whenever you want. It’s your space where you feel comfortable, your home away from home. You’ve already had enough adventures to last you a lifetime, you’d rather just chill for a lot longer.

(Then again, when would there ever be a time when you willingly would forsake comfort for adventure? That’s just not what your brain tells you to do. But you know better, you know that you need to step outside your comfort zone in order to lead a fulfilling life.)

“Do we die in the Clone Wars?” Anakin blurts out.

“What? No!”

“Then you have nothing to fear. You won’t be in nearly as much trouble as us.”

“Yeah, but something might change if I’m there.”

“That’s a risk we take every day, young one. I daresay your presence has made changes ultimately for the better. It’s never going to be all good, no, but you already knew that,” Obi-Wan says, resting a comforting hand on your shoulder. “If anything, I at least hope your presence will help Anakin be less reckless.”

Anakin scoffs. “Oh, you’re one to talk, Master.”

“Okay but like where’s the lie?” you say, laughing. “You’re both low key insane and reckless. He takes after you, you know.” You point at Obi-Wan, and he holds his hands up in surrender. It only makes you laugh harder.

Anakin laughs patronizingly. “Now I’m not the only one who is the brunt of the joke! How does it feel?”

“Well, you’re the one who got impaled by Dooku. I’d say that leaves you as most reckless, Padawan.”

“Obviously, that was only one time. I’m sure you’ve had worse.”

“No, I really haven’t.”

“Well, whatever.”

You stare at the two of them in almost disbelief. “You guys should have your own reality TV show. This is literally endless entertainment.”

They both roll their eyes, but they’re both smiling. Who would have thought you would be able to laugh again after the past couple days?

You watch them train later that day, and it’s one of the most intense sessions you’ve ever seen them have. You’re not sure if it’s because Anakin wants to work out his frustration from the last few days, or if Obi-Wan wants to make sure Anakin is prepared for the dangers to come. Whatever the case, it’s almost beautiful to watch—especially considering that their training arena is an outdoor space and the sky of Coruscant is sunny with a fresh breeze that makes you forget it’s a huge city-planet.

Even though their battle at the end of the third film is very emotional and saddening, you can’t help but love how cool that duel is. This training duel moves at that same speed, and it’s mesmerizing. You before would have freaked out at the thought of the end of Revenge of the Sith, and you still do slightly. But, you’ve gotten better at dissociating when that particular thought comes up and you try to think of it as just being a movie like you would back home. 

So, really you can just appreciate the art of sword fighting that these two excel at.

“Sometimes I forget just how powerful they both are.”

You turn to see Padmé walk in and stand next to you!

“Hey! Omg, it’s been forever!” You turn and give her a light hug to which she reciprocates. You both bonded a lot during your mission, and you really missed her when she went back home to Naboo. 

“I missed you too. When I heard that you and Anakin were released from the Healing Halls I was so relieved. I wish I could have stayed longer than a few days and been there when you woke up, but I needed to get the proof you recorded from Dooku trimmed for the Senate—”

“No, don’t worry about it. I’m grateful that you got it into the right hands. Hopefully, the Clone Wars won’t last so long because of you. But I’m especially glad you got to go home. You deserved a break after that whole mess.”

“Well, I am glad I get to see you now,” she says with a smile, and it’s almost like she knows how rough the past few days have been, and it just makes you feel so supported. You miss your friends from home, but Padmé is proving to be just as good of one. 

You tell her about everything that’s happened since your recovery, and she looks concerned. You assure her that things have been moving in a better direction, but you know deep down that it’s still not okay. You aren’t sure when it ever will be. 

You also tell her about Anakin and what he had been prepared to do yesterday. 

“We eventually are going to need a plan for Palpatine. Anakin is too eager to get himself killed, and Obi-Wan prefers not to think about it. I don’t want to put this on you, but—”

“Oh, no. If Palpatine has orchestrated all of this… caused Anakin to feel that way, caused you and Obi-Wan pain, the galaxy pain, then he must be stopped. I will not let liberty die, and I will not let my friends despair.”

“Well, he didn’t really cause my pain. That just happened on its own.”

She shakes her head. “From what you’ve told me, it seems it is people like him who allow for such evil things to happen on your world. I hope that by making a difference here, I can prove to you that it is possible to bring change to your home too. I don’t want you to give up hope for yourself, for your own life.”

Those words… they’re daunting and a bit hard to believe, but it’s exactly what you need to hear after all the things that have been happening lately. You nod, too overcome with emotion to respond properly.

Eventually, Obi-Wan and Anakin notice Padmé’s presence and they finish their duel with a bow before hustling over to say hello. Anakin is less nervous than he was when he reunited with Padmé the first time, and he is a lot more comfortable in her presence than you remember the last time you all were together. You wonder if they figured something out while you were asleep still in the Healing Halls before she left to go home. You sincerely hope they didn’t get married, but it doesn’t seem like that is the case here. 

(Thank God.)

The four of you hang out all day and decide to go out to a cool and vibey restaurant in downtown Coruscant, as per Padmé’s request. The place reminds you of something you would find in a cool California place or something, and you pretend for a moment you’re all on vacation and just living life and having good vibes. Really, all of those things are true except the fact that you’re not on vacation. 

Well, you kinda are but that’s besides the point.

Obi-Wan lets Anakin have a couple drinks (it seems that the drinking age here is like 18 or something, but Anakin still needs permission to order drinks?) and the boy is a little extra chatty. You and Padmé can hardly control your laughter at the sight. He’s not drunk by any means, but it’s so refreshing to see him relax a little bit after everything that’s happened. 

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is ripping back shots. He doesn’t even look phased.

Padmé sips at her own drink, and you sip at your own. Nothing that would make you feel any different, though. 

“Who do you think looked better with the Padawan haircut, me or Obi?” Anakin asks enthusiastically.

You bark out a laugh, nearly spitting out your drink. “Bruh I don’t know! It’s so cringe either way.”

“I think you both look rather handsome with it,” Padmé says, barely containing her own laughter. 

You look at her incredulously. “You have such weird taste in men, girl.”

She scoffs, “You’re one to talk! We have basically the same taste.”

“I mean yeah but the haircut doesn’t do them any favors. You can’t possibly think that’s cute.”

“Tell me they aren’t cute even with the haircut.”

You hesitate. “Okay, objectively they were, but—”

“Case closed.”

You roll your eyes. She definitely thinks the haircut is hot, but calling her out on it isn’t gonna do much apparently. 

“Aw, you think I’m cute?” Anakin says with a lopsided grin. Okay, maybe he is a bit more tipsy than you originally thought. “I think you’re both beautiful.”

You blink. 

Well, he’s probably seeing things a little fuzzy so you’re not going to take his word very seriously. Even still, it’s a nice compliment. You smile awkwardly, refraining from saying “you too” and just trying to accept the compliment.

(Maybe you’re blushing, but you seriously hope not.)

Padmé giggles, and at first you think she’s laughing at Anakin but she’s looking at you.

“What?” you say a bit harshly, but she continues to laugh despite it.

“Nothing, nothing. I just… you both make each other so happy and it is adorable. Your friendship is rather comical.”

“You’re welcome for the entertainment then, Padmé,” you say dryly. “But really it’s Obi-Wan and him who make for the funniest interactions.”

“Hey, Obi-Wan!” Padmé calls out. “You can’t escape this conversation—”

“Oh, I plan to pretend this conversation never even happened,” he says from the other end of the table. He barely even sounds tipsy. Who would have thought Obi-Wan would be a tank!?

“Yeah, what did the girl from Mandalore think of the Padawan haircut?” you snark, and he chokes on air. You decided to omit Satine’s name because, you know, discretion. He’s a bit of a lover-boy too, even though he tries to deny it.

To be honest, he isn’t too bad looking either, but the age disparity between him and Anakin and therefore him and you is large enough where you don’t typically think of him like that. But, if you were older… maybe he would make you blush, too.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Obi had a crush!? Oh, ‘omg’, that’s what you say, right?” Anakin leans over to you, nearly bouncing with excitement.

Obi-Wan points at you. “You see what you’ve done?”

“All in good fun, my friend.”

Padmé joins him at the other end of the table, and when the food finally arrives they eat their dinner and engage in some sort of deep conversation. Eavesdropping, you can hear that a lot of it surrounds the evidence against Dooku and other Senate and Jedi stuff. Then, the conversation gets to be more casual, and even a tad bit flirty. But then again, both of them are naturally flirtatious so it’s hardly out of the ordinary. 

As you eat your own food, you watch Anakin practically inhale his dish. You snap a quick picture of him like that with your phone because it’s simply too priceless a moment not to. Then, you take a picture of the whole table, and then a selfie with everyone in it, even though they weren’t all looking at the camera.

“Hey,” Anakin whines in fake-protest. 

“Just for the mems!”

The next picture you take he’s looking at the camera and you both smile. You’re laughing, he’s laughing, and both Padmé and Obi-Wan laugh and watch you both fondly.

These are your very best friends here, in this situation you’ve found yourself in, and you’re so grateful to have met them.

Chapter Text

The next day, Padmé has to go back to work at the Senate and the rest of you need to meet with the 212th. You guys stayed out a little late last night so you’re all a bit tired but it’s not too bad. Well, Anakin is a bit hung-over but he seems to be handling it well enough. 

Before you all part ways, she hands you a small metal disc and looks at you like you should know what it is (you have no idea what it is).

“It’s a commlink,” she says, basically reading your mind. “I want you to comm me whenever you need something, or need someone to talk to.”

“Oh, I don’t wanna bother—”

“No, I want to hear from you. If you’re ever feeling… well, the way you’ve been feeling, I want you to tell me. I’m here for you, friend.” She gives your hand a squeeze and you feel so grateful. 

“Thank you.”

With one last hug, you say goodbye and you, Obi-Wan and Anakin head to the hangar where your ship should be waiting. 

The hangar is huge, and of course it is, but you never thought it could be that big. Nor can you believe how big the Venator-class ship is, alas you don’t have much time to gawk. The three of you walk through the hangar with a purpose, and you can’t help but feel like you’re somebody important surrounded by all the machinery and official-looking stuff.

You all walk up to the ship’s ramp and there is a bunch of clones with orange paint on their armor there to greet you. One steps forwards in front of the rest.

“Sirs,” he greets, looking at all of you. 

Oh God, you hope they don’t think you’re in charge of anything.

“Captain,” Obi-Wan acknowledges. “I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, and this is my Padawan Anakin Skywalker and our shadow,” he says, introducing you too. You’ve been shadowing them, so it makes more sense to call you that than another Padawan. 

“Honor to officially meet you, General Kenobi and Commanders. I’m Cody. If you’d like, I could introduce you to some of key members of the 212th you may see every now and again.”

“We would be honored, Captain,” Obi-Wan says with a bow. 

Now doesn’t feel like a good time to say that you shouldn’t be considered a Commander. You’ll just have to bring it up to Obi-Wan later. 

The ship is (again) huge, and you’d think that the lights on the inside would make your head hurt like fluorescent lights could if there were too many of them. But the lights are at the perfect level of brightness that it feels like the glow of sunlight.

Two clones greet you as you enter, and Cody introduces them.

“This is Waxer and Boil, two of the most loyal men you’ll ever meet, and over there,” he gestures to a clone walking in hastily through another entrance, “is Trapper. Usually a couple minutes late, but he’s working on it. Right, trooper?”

“Yessir!” Trapper says with a swift salute. You can’t help but feel sorry for all of these clones, especially getting to know all of them personally. But, if you do things right, then they won’t be turned into weapons for the Empire. They’ll be free.

Cody and Obi-Wan start talking about their first Council-sanctioned mission with the others. You space out for a bit, realizing that while you all were walking you were heading to the ship’s bridge. It’s super official looking and futuristic and you love it. The holograms and levers and other cool stuff make you feel like you’re in a real-life video game. Which, in some ways, you are. 

“We should arrive at Scarif after a few hours of hyperspace travel…” you hear Obi-Wan say.

“Cool, we’re going to Scarif!?”

Everyone turns their attention to you. You look down at your shoes… maybe you should work on staying quiet when there’s official business going on. You never bothered to before, but you don’t want to waste any of the clones’ time like you would the Jedi Council’s.

(But okay, you seriously could use a beach day. It’s been so long since you got to enjoy some nice weather and breathe some fresh air. Even if it’s for work… well, actually a war, going to some place tropical and beautiful will be something you’re looking forward to.)

Obi-Wan looks at you inquisitively, trying to piece together why you would recognize the name of that specific planet. He shakes his head, putting whatever it was out of his mind.

“Sorry… I just want to see the beach.”

“This isn’t exactly a vacation, young one,” Obi-Wan chides, and you roll your eyes.

“No shit,” you say, but you didn’t mean to say it out loud so you clamp your hand over your mouth and your eyes widen in horror.

Obi-Wan tries his best to look agitated but you can tell that he’s hiding his laughs under a light cough. 

Meanwhile Anakin is completely zoned out, fiddling with some piece of machinery that looks like his commlink. Since you’re looking at him, Obi-Wan looks at him and scrunches his eyebrows.

“Anakin,” he says tiredly. 

Anakin jumps as if awakened from a deep trance. Maybe he was actually in a meditation of sorts?

“Yes, Master?”

“Please pay attention. This part pertains to you.”

“Of course, Master.”

You feel like he says “Master” whenever he feels like he did something wrong or he’s trying to gain Obi-Wan’s professional approval or the approval of others (namely the clones in this situation). It’s interesting because he does rank above the clones, but in some way he still sees them as superiors or at least people he wants to impress. 

You think at first that it’s because he wants to appear to others that he is a great and wise Jedi, that he is powerful simply by using the Jedi lingo, but now you realize he does it when he wants people to like him. He wants to appear as a good and obedient Padawan, and you think it’s something he passively learned from the Jedi Council. It’s kinda sad, to be honest.

It is also heartening though that he sees the clones as people first of all, and second of all as people he wants to befriend. He could easily get detached from it all, but he doesn’t. The Jedi might see that as a weakness, but in Anakin’s particular case you see it as a strength.

“There are some old files that are stored in the Republic base there, and they haven’t been copied to any hard drive that we can access remotely. The planet is near Separatist space, and the Senate worries that the national and planetary security of the Republic might be compromised without a significant military force present.” Obi-Wan says this all whilst stumbling over his words a bit. 

Peacekeepers…

“How long will we be there? What’s our end goal?”

“About a week. We will only be on world for a day, though.”

“Aw, why?” Well, it is important to know why. But seriously, you should probably shut up soon.

Obi-Wan is amused, and if your embarrassment brings him out of that agonizing anxiousness then you don’t care how stupid you look. “We have to transmit plans and files remotely, but really we will be making sure that there is no possibility of Separatist, er, hijacking.”

That sounds suspiciously like what they do with the Death Star plans in Rogue One… and that had a huge battle. You really hope it wouldn’t come to that, but seeing as this is your first assignment you doubt it’s going to be anything eventful. 

Time passes and once all the preparations are made the big venator ship takes off and you’re in space again. The ship is so big that you don’t even feel like you’re moving at all which is a blessing. The jolt into lightspeed is minute enough so you don’t feel that either. 

You’re in hyperspace for awhile, and during that time you and Anakin help the clones take inventory of all their supplies and help make sure that the gunships are all fueled. You have absolutely no idea what the heck any of the stuff is that they’re talking about (it is quite literally rocket science) so you just follow along and repeat the same process for each ship and container. 

You think Anakin is pretty agitated by all the busy work, especially since Obi-Wan is still on the bridge doing most likely more important stuff. His scowl is pretty hard to miss. Honestly, you’re getting pretty bored too even if doing this is better than sitting around doing nothing. At least you’re passing time, and you tell Anakin as much. 

“I understand the importance of all these tasks, but…” he responds and hesitates before finishing his thought hurriedly, “I don’t like feeling inferior.”

You smile warmly. “It’s Obi-Wan who has to lead right now. He definitely doesn’t think he’s more important than you, it’s just an experience thing.”

“I understand that, I know that he has my best interests. I can’t shake this feeling, though. I don’t know how to make it go away.”

It probably comes from his upbringing, both before his time with the Jedi and during. Not that you’d tell him that right now, though. “Well, doing mindless tasks?” you say, lifting another crate onto some transport and then checking it off on your data pad thing. “Definitely helps keep your mind off things, or helps you to think through things. But… we’ve been doing this for a long time. We gotta be done soon, right? I’m getting bored.”

Anakin huffs a laugh. “We should be out of hyperspace soon. Then perhaps Obi-Wan can shed some light on what exactly the strategy is here.” His expression turns frustrated. “I mean, I’m supposed to be learning from him. I can help shoulder the burden!”

Your eyebrows furrow. “You’re worried about him.”

“I… I guess so.”

“Me too,” you say. “But I don’t wanna stress him out more… Maybe there’s something we can do once we’re done with this.”

“Good luck getting Obi-Wan to admit he needs help.”

“It’ll be more interesting than this, at least,” you deadpan and Anakin laughs. “Seriously, they ought to pay us by the hour for this!” You almost make another joke to hear Anakin laugh again, but it was going to be something along the lines of how your busy work is like free labor—given his past, it would not have been a tasteful joke. Luckily, your filter kicks in before then. So, you just enjoy the sight of his smile along with the tension releasing from his shoulders and you figure that would be enough for now (even though you love making him laugh).

Eventually, the ship comes out of hyperspace and Cody calls you both back to the bridge to talk with him and Obi-Wan.

Both you and Anakin practically sprint to the bridge and once you meet up with Obi-Wan you eagerly await any news that he has. He seems amused at the sight of you both but doesn’t have time to comment on it.

“Our transmissions are being blocked, we think that there is a Separatist ship on the other side of the planet causing interference. We’re going to have to go planetside and collect the intel manually,” Obi-Wan explains. “And by ‘we’ I mean me and Anakin.”

Anakin jumps with joy at the thought of doing something actually productive, but his expression sours at the last bit. “Why just us? If there’s any possible chance of Separatist involvement, shouldn’t we bring some more men with us?”

“Well, there could be droids at the data archive—we cannot take clones with us else they will notice our presence immediately. You remember when I taught you about cloaking oneself with the Force?”

“Yes, but—”

“This sounds like it’s gonna take way too long,” you blurt, rolling your eyes. “You’re going to need some way to transmit the plans really fast.”

Obi-Wan looks at you confused. “‘Plans’?”

“Oh, sorry,” you say, shaking your head. “I got the mission mixed up with another one that, uh, you guys are a part of at some point.”

Never mind the fact that it is Anakin who is the evil pursuer in that future and Obi-Wan is the one who ends up receiving the plans. You honestly forgot about Rogue One when this whole universe-hopping thing began, but now that you’re reminded of it you remember how much you enjoyed that film. Even still, you sincerely hope it will not come to pass. 

Anakin agrees with you about the transmission stuff, and starts rattling off some kind of technological-mechanical jargon that sounds rather foreign but Obi-Wan seems to get at least some of it which is more than you can say for yourself. 

They all like whatever idea Anakin had, and Obi-Wan smiles at him proudly before announcing that they will begin their descent to start the mission in fifteen minutes. 

It’s quite a quick turnaround, but you have faith that Anakin and Obi-Wan can hold their own pretty well. 

You hug them both before they get into their transport shuttle thing, and tell them to stay safe (knowing their track record, you don’t have a lot of faith in them with that one).

“And, I want that base cleared out so we can hang out at the beach for a day at least! We’re gonna catch some rays and chill, alright?”

Anakin gives you a salute, much like the ones you always give, and then the door closes and their shuttle takes off. You watch wistfully as they get further and further away, wondering distantly if there was some way to be with them on their mission. You know that there is a good reason you are not going with, that it will probably be too dangerous and you’ll only be a hinderance, but you’re worried that something bad might happen if you’re not there. 

“They’ll be alright, Commander,” Cody says from behind you. “If anything happens, we’ll be ready.”

You turn and give him a small smile. “Thanks, Cody.” You then look around awkwardly. “I, uh… is there anything else you need help with?”

“Actually, yes. You ever been on comms before?”

You shake your head, “No. Sorry, I don’t really know anything about… well, anything.”

He chuckles. “That’s alright. I’ll show you.”

You spend the next few hours learning how to do the equivalent of “ground control” and are able to keep in touch with Anakin and Obi-Wan intermittently throughout their mission. 

They eventually make it to the server room and begin downloading and then wiping the data onto a hard drive of some kind. It is gonna take a really long time because there is a bunch of servers and cloud computers to grab the data from. Anakin makes his boredom rather plain to Obi-Wan, and the older man completely ignores him in retaliation. 

(You wish you could film their interactions because it’s just so damn funny.)

After awhile you’re practically falling asleep at the command computer when something actually happens.

There’s a blaster shot that sounds loud in the comms, meaning that it must have come from somewhere really close to where they are.

“Oh my God, are they okay?”

When Cody doesn’t answer you immediately you start to panic. He instead moves to the comm port and sends a message request.

“Sirs, do you copy?”

There’s some static but then Obi-Wan answers, “Yes, we are fine. Might have a bit of a situation but—”

“By situation, he means an ambush,” says Anakin dryly.

There’s more blaster fire through the comm, but it gets progressively quieter as Anakin and Obi-Wan take out the remaining droids you’re assuming are there. Eventually, it is quiet again and you ask if they have any injuries or anything.

“Uh, I think we’re good!” Anakin says cheerfully, and you roll your eyes. “You guys should come on down! It’s beautiful here.”

“In the storage facility?” You say, barely stifling a laugh.

“What—no! The planet—”

“Anakin, she knows that. It is a joke, Padawan.”

“Ah, right, yes. I knew that.”

What a cute frickin dumbass.

Chapter Text

You make the journey planetside with Cody and a few other clones (who haven’t introduced themselves but you aren’t sure if you should ask what their names are or if that’s just rude) in a gunship. It would be a lot more comfortable if you could sit down and put a seatbelt on or something instead of hanging on to those handle things that make you feel like you’re on the train, but it’s a very short flight thankfully. 

Once you land, you all cautiously make your way into the facility. It’s there that you notice a shit ton of droids start walking in too so you tap Cody’s shoulder and in an instant you and your whole party are hidden behind some crates. The droids walk dramatically slow as they pass you, and you hold your breath. You don’t want to die, and you don’t want any of these clones to die—after watching Clone Wars, you know how often and easy it is for random clones to die in a fire fight against “clankas”. 

(You really hope they start calling them clankers, it’s so funny.)

Once they are long gone, you let out a breath in relief, and Cody huffs a laugh next to you.

“Anxious, Sir?”

You do your best to not bark out a laugh and as a result let out a weird sort of snort. Oh, he had no idea.

“Well, yeah.”

The company hides for a bit longer, one of the clones trying to pinpoint Anakin and Obi-Wan’s last known location. You all coalesce in the hallway ones the threat has left and you huddle around the clone with the tracking technology. His name is Sigma, if you remember correctly (which begs the question how the hell do they have the Greek alphabet here?). He says he’s got the location when a hand rests on your shoulder and you flinch and turn around at the sudden contact.

Your arms flap around uselessly as you let out a yelp in surprise. Jump scares are not your thing, so whoever snuck up on you probably didn’t have to try too hard to freak you out. 

“It’s just me,” Obi-Wan says, stifling a laugh. He appears out of the darkness into the light of the hallway, sans Anakin. “That was quite the reaction,” he says smugly. 

“Don’t start.”

The lightness of the moment is short-lived seeing as the power shuts down and then the red emergency lights are the only thing illuminating the hallway. Even though this is a completely different scenario, you feel like Darth Vader should be showing up and start absolutely tearing shit up. But, thankfully, the younger (not[?] homicidal) version of him that is at large is on your side, so you don’t really have to worry about that. 

“Separatist droids must have reached the control room. It won’t be long until they realize that the data is already gone—” Obi-Wan begins, but a strange mechanical humming noise stops him. The emergency lights eventually short out as well, and you are left in total darkness. You almost ask Obi-Wan to turn on his lightsaber for light, but you know that would definitely give away your position to whatever droids are nearby or possibly in the same hallway.

Obi-Wan apparently senses something, because he says rather exasperated, “Oh for Force’s sake…”

The door on the opposite end of the hallway from you opens to reveal a small squadron of droids with their weapons primed to shoot. Fear freezes you to the spot, feeling ice course through your veins. 

But then, you hear something rattle above you and then drop out of the ceiling, landing in front of you all. What the heck? Were there faulty vents or something?

Everything is still dark as you wait for the droids to shoot in your direction or make their way over to you, but they never get the chance. 

It had been Anakin who dropped from a vent in the ceiling, and he stands tall in front of all of you. He ignites his lightsaber in a dramatic fashion, only leaving blue illuminating the hallway. Then, he unleashes hell upon the poor droids.

“Never safe when there’s a Skywalker in a hallway,” you mutter to yourself, almost giggling.

“What?” Obi-Wan asks, but you can’t answer because then he is jumping into the fray alongside his Padawan. You stay behind the clone troopers, making sure to avoid any stray blaster shots. 

The downside to being so well protected and shielded is that you can’t watch the hallway scene happening right in front of you.

“Ugh, please tell me someone is filming this!”

(Of course, no one is.)

The whole ordeal ends pretty quickly, but you have to make sure that the building is secure so you have to sit around waiting for everybody to come back. The droids are gone, but Obi-Wan and Anakin are making sure that there aren’t any more hiding anywhere. 

You are just chilling with one other clone trooper, his name is Porch, and you get so bored that you eventually teach him how to play “chop sticks” and you guys do that for awhile. 

Finally, Anakin and Obi-Wan come back, saying that the building is cleared and the information they needed is secured on a drive. You all exit the building, and take in the gorgeous tropical sun and air. 

You practically shove Anakin once you finally see him.

“Dude! That was so sick! Were you like in the ceiling or something?”

“Yeah! In the vents! And I shut off the emergency lights so that when I dropped in only my lightsaber would illuminate the hallway. It must have looked epic.”

Obi-Wan sighs from behind the two of you. “Anakin, a Jedi does not do heroics just to keep up appearances. You know this, yes?”

“Yes, but come on, Obi-Wan, you have to admit it was both tactical and awesome,” Anakin says. Obi-Wan’s silence is answer enough, and Anakin’s grin splits even wider. 

You and Anakin babble about how you completed your first mission, and you can see out of the corner of your eye that Obi-Wan watches the two of you fondly. 

“We are one day ahead of schedule, you know,” Cody says, definitely smirking behind his helmet.

“So… what I’m hearing is that we get a beach day?” you say, raising your eyebrows. 

Before either Obi-Wan or Cody can say anything, you and Anakin are racing each other to the crystal blue waters at the edge of the white sands that are incredibly soft beneath your feet.

Chapter Text

You rip off your shoes first, and you get to feel just how soft this sand actually is. Anakin eyes the sand warily, and you roll your eyes.

“It’s actually really smooth and soft.” That did nothing to persuade him, so you say, “You can wash it off on the ship anyway, alright?”

That makes him perk up, and he concedes to taking his shoes off as well. 

“Oh, you’re right, it isn’t so bad… but I still don’t like it,” he pouts.

You roll your eyes again but more lovingly this time. “You don’t have to, but still, let yourself enjoy this! The beach is one of my favorite places to go back home! I wish I could take you.”

The idea that Anakin will never actually see all of the things you tell him about and reference makes your heart sink. But, you don’t have much time to dwell on it because all of a sudden you’re getting splashed with water.

It was Anakin, already ankle-deep in the ocean. “Well, you’ll just have to show me one day!” he says, smirking. 

“You got my hair wet. You traitor!” you do your best Kylo Ren impression before kicking a bunch of water onto him and you get his robes wet. “Aha! Retribution!”

You think he’s going to splash you again, but he does something much worse.

He takes his shirt and robe off. And he’s fit.

You look to the side awkwardly, trying not to be awkward but it’s too late—it’s awkward.

“Um, don’t expect me to do that too.”

He’s completely oblivious to the situation. “Oh come on, all undergarments are waterproof, but robes aren’t. You’ll be fine! Obi-Wan will be rather cross if we get saltwater on our robes.”

“Yes, so please do not ruin your clothes,” Obi-Wan says, walking up behind you both and then putting his feet in the water.

He has no shirt on either. Repeat, Obi-Wan is shirtless and fit, too.

Oh, for the love of—

“Gah, you could at least give me a warning—”

Anakin laughs, “Oh come on, we’re all just going to swim…” but then he pauses, actually thinking before he speaks for once. “If it’s too embarrassing, you don’t have to go in, it’s alright—”

“No! No I want to swim, just got freaked out for a second… ” You feel a bit more comfortable, and you really want to get a good tan. You guys are all just swimming, it’s just the fact that you had a crush on both of these guys at some point when watching the movies, so you’re just kind of bashful… but now you’re chilling out. It’s okay. These are your friends, and you are safe with them.

“Whatever you decide, we will respect,” Obi-Wan says. “In all honesty, I’m only here to shove Anakin into the water.”

“Ha! I dare you to try, Master!”

Anakin is knocked on his ass two seconds later.

You wear your undergarments like a swimsuit and board shorts, and you jump in the calm water.

The clones watch from far away, some of them indulging in their own versions of a beach day a bit further down the beach and the sight makes you smile.

You try body surfing on some of the waves, and Anakin actually catches one at one point and it looks really cool! You assume he is using the Force to help him do that, and Obi-Wan rolls his eyes at the “frivolous use of the Force”.

The day is very fun, and eventually you three are just sitting on the beach, tanning.

“That was fun,” you say. “Wish I had a book, though.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan agrees, “me as well.”

Anakin scoffs, “I’m not much of a fan of reading.”

“I know, Anakin,” Obi-Wan says exasperated.

“Ugh, and sand is even worse when it is wet!” he says next, glaring at you. “You neglected to tell me about this part of things!”

You roll your eyes. “You’re supposed to dry off before you lay back down, which you neglected to do.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know? We never had beaches nor hardly any water on Tatooine!”

There is a bit of a bite in his tone, so you know he’s not really just bantering anymore. It’s a bit ridiculous he’s getting this worked up about sand, but you know that there’s a deeper meaning to it all so in this scenario, it isn’t something to make fun of. 

“What I usually do is rinse off in the water again before we leave, dry off with your feet still in the water and then slide your shoes on right out of the water. Of course, we don’t have towels and our shoes aren’t water proof so we can’t do that anyway. But, now we know to do that next time! Right?”

“I suppose,” Anakin grumbles. “I would rather be sopping wet than full of sand, though.”

“Anakin…” Obi-Wan warns. “I’ll not have you walking around in wet clothes on the ship. And not in no clothes either!”

Anakin rolls his eyes and moves to stand up and head towards the water.

“I mean it, Padawan!” Obi-Wan calls after him.

“Yeah, you both gotta save it for when Padmé shows up,” you mumble. Evidently, you mumble too loud and what was meant to be a joke for you makes Obi-Wan blush and Anakin guffaw. You grimace. “Too far…?”

Anakin smirks, and you’ve got a bad feeling before he even opens his mouth. “Maybe you like it when I don’t have a shirt on! Ha! Think of that?”

Now you’re blushing involuntarily.

Obi-Wan sighs. “Alright, children, let’s not get into it now. There are only so many headaches I can take in a day.”

You shoot to your feet. “You are totally getting shoved for that!” you shout, chasing Anakin into the water once more. 

Eventually, it is time to go back up to the ship and await orders for your next campaign. You all take modified showers and get the sand off of you (and Anakin rejoices). You’re making your way to the mess hall when you almost run into one of the medics that Cody introduced you to a couple days ago. 

“Commander,” he greets. 

“Hi Coric, how are you?”

“I’m quite alright. I actually meant to ask you for some medical information… I noticed your birthdate was not listed in your file. Do you… know when your date of birth is?”

“Uh, not here, no. I just know I’m 21, maybe 22, I’m not quite sure how time moves here…”

“Well, that’s alright I suppose. You don’t exactly have a straightforward background from what I gather. As long as I have a range I suppose that will have to be enough,” he says with a shrug. 

You silently thank him for his kindness with a smile, but then you get an idea.

“When are Anakin and Obi-Wan’s birthdays?”

He checks his datapad, and then responds, “It’s a bit funny, actually. The General and the Commander have birth dates only two days apart, and they were this past week.”

You curse to yourself, and Coric raises an eyebrow. 

“Sorry, I just need to get them a gift!”

He grimaces, but it looks like he is trying not to laugh. “Not much to buy or gift on a Venator, I’m afraid. I bet you’ll think of something Commander!” he says with a wave of his hand as he walks away.

It takes you all of ten minutes to actually come up with something.

You don’t have anything really tangible to give them, no, but you can make them a music playlist that reminds you of all your times together. It’s definitely a last minute thing, but the songs you choose have been on your mind for awhile so there’s that. 

After taking a few minutes to do this on your phone, you meet up with Anakin and Obi-Wan in the mess hall. You stomp up to them with faux-frustration, and they look at you quizzically.

“I didn’t take up all the hot water this time, I swear—” Anakin begins (at which Obi-Wan rolls his eyes) but you cut him off. 

“Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthdays this week?”

“With the mission and everything… I suppose it did not really come to mind,” says Obi-Wan.

You sit down at their table with a small huff, your fake anger all gone. 

“Yeah, that makes sense, I’m not actually mad by the way—”

“Don’t you mean ‘btw’?” Anakin says with a grin.

You don’t dignify him with a response. “Anyway, I still wanted to give you both a gift. Well, it’s nothing like what Anakin got me because I don’t have access to currency and I have no technological skills whatsoever so…” you’re rambling, and you focus yourself back to the point of the conversation. “I made a music playlist of some songs that have lyrics that have made me think of you and everything that has happened ever since I got here. It isn’t all happy-go-lucky stuff either, but it’s just really good music. I want to keep adding to it too as we go on more adventures together.”

You slide your phone over to them and they look through the titles of the songs you have compiled together. They play some of them, smiling at some and thoughtfully grimacing at others.

“This…” Obi-Wan begins, “this is wonderful. I…” he looks up at you and his eyes are somewhat shiny.

Not this. God, whenever Obi-Wan cries you cry.

“I’m so grateful for you both, you know? I love you guys,” you say, your voice wavering.

And oh, is that true. They have helped you in so many ways—you have learned from them, been comforted by them, and shown care by them. Your relationship with them resembles the epitome of friendship and even though you are away from home, you find yourself blessed to have woken up on the sands of Tatooine all that time ago.

Obi-Wan shifts to embrace you from the front and then you feel Anakin hug you from behind. 

“Thank you,” you hear Anakin mutter. “Thank you for everything.”

You’re sort of crying but it is in a good way. You smile to yourself and let out a wet laugh. 

“Happy birthday, losers.”

They laugh in turn.

Chapter Text

Evidently, your next mission is to essentially track down Ventress, but the Council doesn’t know that it is actually Ventress yet. 

You stand with Anakin and Obi-Wan in front of those cool hologram things and Yoda is speaking to you about where you’re supposed to go. 

It is a planet you have never heard of, so you assume that this is a mission you aren’t going to know the “plot” of. That thought is a bit scary, but the last mission was like that so you have a feeling that things will work out in some weird way like they tend to.

You’re on the Venator for another few days until you finally reach this planet. It looks green from above with a weird orange tint to its atmosphere, so you wonder how the heck you are supposed to survive down there.

It’s then that you remember the serum-ex-machina from way back when that allows you to do interplanetary travel safely. 

Obi-Wan briefs Cody on the gameplan and then the clone commander relays the information to a couple squads of clones that will be going planetside with them.

This mission is more dangerous than the last, so you are just going to be staying in an outpost with Coric and some other troopers by the dropships should something happen to either the Jedi or any of the clones.

You have somewhat of a bad feeling before watching Anakin and Obi-Wan disappear into the weird green and orange forest, the former in the rear and the latter leading the group. Anakin recognizes your anxiety immediately (after being in close contact with it unfortunately many times).

“What song are you going to add to the playlist for this adventure?”

It’s going to be alright.

“I don’t know, I’ll think on it and show you when you get back!”

Come back in one piece, please.

With a smirk, he waves a hand to you before he is engulfed by foliage.

It is a boring waiting game, and you sit by the radio with a clone named Raster who is monitoring the satellite imagery being taken from the venator and in situ measurements on the ground. All you hear is just military jargon from Obi-Wan to his detachment of clones, and you’re getting bored. But, it’s better that you are bored than for something to happen because that way, your friends will stay safe. 

And of course, the fragile peace does not last.

It’s a couple hours before you hear anything alarming, and Raster checks the imagery that is making a beeping noise. 

“They’re here at the base! Everyone move, move—!”

An explosion rocks the tent you’re in, and Raster shoves you out and covers you as he drags you to the gunship. It’s smoky now, and through the haze you can see droids making a slow but steady advance towards where your little camp is. They have tankers, and you watch helplessly as one shoots a cannon and the explosion tears apart the tent you were just in.

You think you’re in the gunship just to take cover, but Raster shoves you in and you hear the engines fire up. You give him a confused look.

“We’re going to have to do satellite surveillance, and that’s something we can do from the command ship. In situ’s been compromised—” he says, though is cut off by another explosion that prevents the gunship from taking off. 

“What about Anakin and Obi-Wan?” you shout over the noise, gripping the sides of the ship with white knuckles. 

As if on cue, a blue lightsaber gracefully arcs into your field of view. It’s Obi-Wan, and he’s got only about half the amount of men that he took with him. He takes down droids with ease, and from where you’re standing he looks unharmed. You breathe out a sigh of relief knowing that he is alright, but also because you feel so much safer with him around. 

He looks around, and when his eyes lock with yours he runs to take cover with you. 

“You need to go back to the command ship,” he says hurriedly.

“What about you guys? Where’s Anakin?”

“On his way, I’ll find him. We need to finish the mission down here, but you need to be as far from a battlefield as possible!” he shouts as he jumps back into the fray.

“Obi-Wan—”

“Go! I’ll take care of the tankers so you can take off,” he says, and then he and his blue lightsaber disappear in the smoke and haze. He stays true to his word, and the explosions stop even if the blaster fire is still loud as hell. 

Your ship takes off successfully and you are swiftly taken back to the venator. 

It’s even more waiting once you’re up there, but you are silently grateful for the respite. That shit was scary, and you have a feeling that some of the clones you had just befriended down there wouldn’t be making it back. You prayed that Anakin and Obi-Wan would be okay.

The battle continues on and you still don’t hear anything about Anakin or see his little red dot anywhere near the battle on the map you and Raster are looking at. You’re staring at his designated dot, and suddenly it disappears. Raster isn’t looking, so you tap him on the shoulder to show it to him. 

The trooper checks some other data that he has at his disposal, and then makes a long range call down to Obi-Wan.

“Sir, Skywalker’s comm just went offline. We’ve lost eyes on him.”

“Blast!” Obi-Wan curses. “What the blazes is he doing?” There’s some more blaster fire in the sound of the comm, and then he speaks again. “Once we clean this up, I’ll lead a search party for him. He should have been here by now, regardless of the ambush. Cody will lead casualty and injury inspection. Kenobi out.”

Well, that sure makes you feel anxious. You’re not sure you can stomach this battle or mission much longer, so you excuse yourself and decide to wander the halls of the ship until you reach where your room with your bunk is. You take a modified shower, and decide to take a nap afterwards to help calm yourself. Not the healthiest way to deal with anxiety, but it’s literally all you can do at the moment. 

When you wake up, it’s to a call from Cody asking for you to come to the bridge to meet with him and Obi-Wan. 

You make your way there, trying to count your breaths and keep them steady as you get closer to the ship’s bridge. Cody only mentioned himself and Obi-Wan, so that must have meant Anakin was still missing. 

You vaguely recall this mission from the 2003 animated Clone Wars special, but not in as much detail as everything else. You know Anakin ends up okay, but the whole thing is triggering you because you watched him almost die on Geonosis. 

You feel helpless, and you can’t help but feeling a sense of dread that logically is unfounded, but you’ve convinced yourself that the worst is going to happen. It makes you angry that you can’t be more optimistic, and that frustrates you to the point where your eyes start stinging. 

You shake the feeling away as best you can by digging your nails into your palms as you approach them. It doesn’t really work.

“Hello there,” Obi-Wan says as you step up to the center console. He looks almost feverish, and his hair is in a bit of disarray like he had been running a hand through it. “We have some things to go over.”

The sight of him makes you unbearably anxious. You shake your hands, absentmindedly trying to get the nervousness you feel out of your body and it helps for a second, but doesn’t really address the problem. 

“Yeah?” you say hesitantly. You know they can see your hands shaking and when they ball up into fists, but they don’t say anything about it. Cody simply nods his head and leaves the two of you alone to discuss whatever it is Obi-Wan has to say.

The older man sighs, and you feel like he looks old beyond his years in that moment, but the look of fear on his face matches that of a child. It’s eerie, and does nothing to soothe you.

“Anakin is missing, as I am sure you’re aware by now,” he says slowly. 

“Yeah, I figured,” you reply in a small voice.

“Do you have any recollection of this mission? Anything that might give us a clue as to where he might be?”

“Um, I think there is a Sith acolyte, dark Jedi, or whatever you would call her who was sent after Anakin. She’s Dooku’s new apprentice—Asajj Ventress. Bald lady, speaks super sultry, and is kinda ugly… but she’s dangerous,” you add, your voice getting tighter the more you talk about it. Your throat aches from holding back anxious and panicked tears. You are doing a decent job of hiding your anxiety attack, though, because Obi-Wan doesn’t seem to notice.

“Does she hurt him?” he asks, his face grave.

Your resolve cracks and stinging tears spring to your eyes. “I don’t know, I think so… he ends up okay, so it’s fine, I know that logically, but I’m so freaked out and I don’t know why, I just keep thinking the worst is going to happen and it’s going to be because I missed something and I don’t know how to fix it or prevent it—” you cut yourself off with a choked whimper, and it’s super embarrassing. But you haven’t had a feeling like this in awhile, and it just sucks. Never before had it been quite like this, though. It felt like you needed reassurance as opposed to comfort, and there wasn’t any reassurance to be had because Anakin was still missing and you were still panicking.

Obi-Wan lightly grabs your elbow and the contact breaks you out of your spiral for a moment, but the relief doesn’t last as long as you would like. 

“He’s going to be alright, young one.”

“We don’t know that, though—”

“We have to believe it anyway—”

“I can’t.” you whine. 

Really, you can, but your anxiety is overcoming your common sense, and you hate this feeling. It’s not even your worry for Anakin that is bothering you, it’s the uncertainty and the fear that the worst possible outcome is going to be something you can’t handle. You barely handled it before when you both got hurt, when you had that terrible dream, and you’re terrified something like that is going to happen again.

You just can’t handle it—

“You can. We can,” Obi-Wan speaks softly to you, and pulls you into an embrace.You didn’t realize you were speaking—that’s how bad this is getting. But Obi-Wan helps immensely, and you feel so grateful for him in that moment. You nuzzle into your friend’s chest, and you let your choked sobs out quietly. They’re muffled even more by his soft robes, and you wrap your arms tightly around him while he strokes your hair.

(You wonder if this is how Anakin has been feeling.)

The anxiety attack subsides and you’re exhausted, even though you just took a nap, you feel like you could go to sleep for ten hours. 

“I’m sorry Obi-Wan,” you mumble as you pull away from him.

“Whatever for?”

“That you have to be here for me and deal with this from both of us. I mean, Anakin and me. We should be there for you, too.”

He shakes his head. “No, I love being there for the both of you. You are my family, and with that comes unconditional support. You taught me that. I am here for you because I want to be, and for no other reason. We can help each other through this, alright?”

You nod, feeling so grateful once again that you have a friend that cares for you this much.

“I love you Obi-Wan, you know?”

He chuckles and then presses a kiss to your forehead. “I love you too, dear one.”