#LIKE SHE SURELY SUSPECTS BUT SHE NEVER REALLY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO PADME OR THAT LUKE AND LEIA ARE PADME

[jayaorgana]

I mean, whatever you do, don't think too hard about Mon Mothma, man. That's how they get ya.

[padawanlost]

Hey! I just came around your blog and I’m actually new to the Star Wars fandom (I know I’m ridiculously late 😭) and I happen to be a huge Anidala shipper 🥺 they’re just so wholesome and sweet. But I did want to ask if there’s any official material out there (such as novels, or comics) explaining why they both love one another so deeply? Your one of the blogs I find has the most reliable prequels related stuff, so I’d love to hear your answer ♥️

Hey!! Welcome to the PT fandom, we're lucky to have you :)

I wanted to write a love story in a style that was extremely old-fashioned, and frankly I didn’t know if I was going to pull it off. In many ways this was much more like a movie that from the 1930s than any of the others had been, with a slightly over-the-top, poetic style-and they just don’t do that in movies anymore. I was very happy with the way it turned out in the script and in the performances, but I knew people might not buy it. [George Lucas]

Beyond the obvious "they had to", I can give you a thousand reasons why they fell in love: the trill of "forbidden love", shared childhood experience, mutual admiration, their physical appearances, mutual idealization, loneliness, shared values like loyalty and family, a escape from duty, etc. Because they are such complex characters we cannot reduce their story into a simple equation that could explain why they fell in love. Because…why do people fall in love? we can’t rationalize human behavior like that, not perfectly anyway.

Her life before Anakin belonged to someone else, some lesser being to be pitied, some poor impoverished spirit who could never suspect how profoundly life should be lived. Her real life began the first time she looked into Anakin Skywalker’s eyes and found in there not the uncritical worship of little Annie from Tatooine, but the direct, unashamed, smoldering passion of a powerful Jedi: a young man, to be sure, but every centimeter a man—a man whose legend was already growing within the Jedi Order and beyond. A man who knew exactly what he wanted and was honest enough to simply ask for it; a man strong enough to unroll his deepest feelings before her without fear and without shame. A man who had loved her for a decade, with faithful and patient heart, while he waited for the act of destiny he was sure would someday open her own heart to the fire in his. [Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]

Both Anakin and Padmé were laughing now, and their laughter increased as they saw the look on the unfortunate creature’s long-billed face. Anakin looked at Padmé and the girl at him. Their laughter died away. The girl reached up to touch her hair self-consciously, but she did not divert her gaze. “I’m going to marry you,” the boy said suddenly. There was a moment of silence, and she began laughing again, a sweet musical sound he didn’t mind at all. The creature who accompanied her rolled his eyes.  “I mean it,” he insisted. “You are an odd one,” she said, her laughter dying away.  “Why do you say that?” He hesitated.  “I guess because it’s what I believe …” Her smile was dazzling. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t marry you …” She paused, searching her memory for his name.  “Anakin,” he said. “Anakin.” She cocked her head. “You’re just a little boy.”  His gaze was intense as he faced her. “I won’t always be,” he said quietly. [Terry Brooks. The Phantom Menace]

Personally, I like to think their relationship was the culmination of their time together and apart. Their jobs, their sense of duty, their longing for peace and family and, most of all, empathy for each other.

Most people looked at them and saw a senator, a jedi and little else. They built these masks to protect themselves…but when they were together they could see each other for what their really were. That’s rare and for it to happen you have to empathize with someone and, most importantly, trust them with yourself.  Anakin and Padme had that. They had the bond, the faith in each other that allowed them to fully opened themselves and sustain their relationship beyond physical attraction.

[gwarden123]

I’m not sure how I feel about the Ahmed Best scene... I guess kind of negative but I also guess kind of nothing. Like, it didn’t really achieve anything and it didn’t really show us anything new or anything we didn’t already know. It is just filler in an episode that was already three quarters of the length of a typical episode. On the other hand, I do think filler is an important part of a TV show, one that gets too frequently ignored in an age of more “cinematic” television, and I’m not sure if it’s really fair for me to complain about it when it’s about something I just don’t like. On the other other hand, it still didn’t make me feel anything.

They really are getting their money’s worth out of those reused sets and props though, right? I did think it was a little distracting that they used Padme’s yacht from the movies for his escape vehicle without at least painting a stripe on it or something. I know in the real world, vehicles are mass-produced and many people could have the same car painted in the same colours without it being the exact same car. But we’ve never seen that at this point in Star Wars. So that’s Padme’s ship.

(The reason why in movies you don’t see characters having the same car, even though that’s plausible in the real world, is because movies are a visual medium and you need to be able to convey information at a glance. This is why big, noticeable props that get reused are often repainted or have a tarp draped over them.)

Actually, I think I know what was bothering me about that scene. Or rather, how I think the scene could have gone to not feel like it was just nothing. Because we already know how Grogu escaped. We know it because that’s how every other Jedi kid escaping Order 66 escaped. He didn’t even crawl out through a toilet, which I’m still not sure would have been worth seeing beyond a line of him saying “Hey, I crawled out through the toilet”. It also doesn’t really connect to what the Armorer is saying, or more specifically, it doesn’t connect to the audio queue of the forge banging. You know, the thing that removes all their weakness?

So, why not instead of a long unbroken scene of a guy doing unrelated action things, we have much shorter clips timed to the beating of the forge, alternating a happy memory of Grogu’s with a Jedi with a short, brutal glimpse of their death. Paint a good, emotional picture of what Grogu has lost and why he might feel some trepidation opening up to a new group, because the same thing might happen to them.

Because the tone is off, right? Grogu is flinching at every strike of the hammer, his little ears are down and he’s quivering, and then... we have an action scene where Grogu is a passive observer and an unrelated character is doing adventure hero shit. So traumatizing!

And if you want to have Ahmed Best doing adventure hero shit, why don’t you just have that? Do a Murder She Wrote where Grogu turns to the camera, laughs and says “That was a wonderful note from an old friend. Let me tell you about a Jedi Master I used to know who saved my life a couple of times. His name was Kelleran Beq” and then you just have the episode and it’s the Kelleran Beq Show for an hour, like it’s a bottle episode and they could get the principles for filming that week, which I’m starting to suspect is what this episode was. Then you could have his bit actually having a bit of a plot? And not just pointless action for what felt like ten minutes?

[helbertinelli]

I just saw a post calling all us who don't like tcw anidala cowards. I guess because we don't appreciate the "drama" it has. I don't understand why some people feel the need to insult those who don't agree with them. Also I like drama and angst but only if it's well written and in character.

That's so rude of them tbh. I like Anidala because it was the ride or die couple who were them against the world all the time. They had things they disagreed on, but it was never to the point where they ended their entire relationship. Except when Anakin turns to the dark side but that's meant to be end of the relationship and having Padme constantly break up with Anakin throughout their relationship cheapens the end of their relationship.

Anakin hurting Padme on Mustafar and her not being able to follow him through with his plan of taking over the galaxy is meant to show how far gone Anakin was. That he was so corrupted by the dark side that he would hurt the one person he would have never dared to hurt. And Padme telling him she can't follow him and she doesn't know who he is anymore is also meant to be the first time this happens because Padme would do anything for Anakin (just like he would for her), but she doesn't want him turning into something he's not. Even so, Padme does stay there and she offers him to come with her. Even after Anakin rambles to her about taking over the galaxy, she tells him "come back to me, I love you," meaning she still wants him in her life.

TCW cheapens this by having Padme break up with Anakin for stopping a guy who was about to force himself onto her. I know TCW portrays the fight between Anakin and Clovis as a bad thing that Anakin did, but Clovis is an actual villain and no matter how you look at it, he wanted to hurt Padme and he did so multiple times. Even after the fight, in a different scene, he uses Padme as a human shield and puts a blaster to her head. And TCW still tries to make him a martyr. Also side note, it was such bullshit that Anakin couldn't lift both him and Padme. Don't get me wrong, I liked that Clovis died, it was the best thing he did, but Anakin held Obi-Wan and Palpatine and himself up. So idk about Clovis, but I doubt he weighs as much as Obi-Wan and Palpatine combined and you know Padme doesn't weigh as much as either of them (especially not in TCW where she looks like Victoria from the Corpse Bride).

TCW also has Padme do things just to spite Anakin, even though she didn't want to do them in the first place and that ruined their whole "us against the world" and "ride or die" dynamic. It really cheapened their relationship to have Padme say she'll do something especially because Anakin doesn't want it. Leia would have done that to Han for sure, but Padme isn't Leia.

I didn't like the constant bickering. That's not Anidala. They're not snarky to each other and they don't try to go against one another. They're a team. That's what's appealing about them because they come from such different backgrounds and they're basically one soul. The movies did a good job of showing the powerful connection they had, what I read from the ROTS novel did too. TCW focused too much of Anakin and Padme as individuals and they never cared to show just how connected the two of them were.

They also removed the unconditional love aspect of their relationship. There's no way that Padme, who saw Anakin at his lowest on Tatooine and decided to love him and put her life at risk for him (by going to Geonosis to save Obi-Wan) and who went to Mustafar to run away with him, and would have still left with him if he just gave up on his ruling the galaxy idea, and who died thinking there's still good in Anakin, would just end their relationship like that in TCW over Anakin beating up the guy who was forcing himself onto her and who got her arrested and got her handmaiden killed. Come on...

And same with Anakin, there's no way that he would ever suspect or accuse Padme of cheating. He wasn't the Anakin on Mustafar yet. We clearly see in ROTS that Anakin changes drastically towards the end of the movie. But TCW took place before that and there's no reason for Anakin to even think that she wouldn't be loyal to him.

I've said this before, but TCW didn't understand Padme or Anakin or their relationship. They just wrote a cheap version of HanLeia. And again in Rebels, with Kanera. It's like the only type of romantic relationship that they know how to write.

I don't know why wanting a couple to have a healthy relationship instead of constant bickering and going against one another constantly means being a coward, especially when that couple's relationship has been established as being a loving and strong relationship. The media is so devoid of healthy relationships, it's not too much to ask that Anidala, who was always portrayed as healthy and strong unconditional love, be kept as a healthy relationship. And yeah, I like drama and angst too, but it really doesn't have a place in Anidala, at least not in the way TCW wrote it.

[fanfictasia]

Yiu know what's the difference between the clones and Anakin? Anakin CHOSE to start killing the Jedi. The entire point of the chips is that the clones had no CHOICE. As for the alleged treason of the Jedi, Anakin had just learned Palpatine orchestrated the civil war. The Jedi knew the Sith were leading the Separatists because of Dooku. That isn't treason against the Republic?! Anakin literally yells that Palpatine has to live because Anakin NEEDS him (to save Padmé from.... something).

You clearly lack the most basic understanding of treason, so I’ll feel free to explain to you what it means. Treason is “the crime of betraying one’s country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.”

And since you’re an idiot, I had better go ahead and define the word “sovereign” for you, so you don’t get confused again. Sovereign means “one possessing or held to possess supreme political power or sovereignty.” Okay, so I think we can both agree that Palpatine fits that definition, since he was the Chancellor and the head of the Republic.

What were the Jedi doing when they instructed Anakin to spy on him? They were committing treason. Palpatine is the head of the Republic as well as the head of the military. The Jedi are all military officers serving underneath him. The fact that Palpatine had the ability to request the Council put Anakin on it is, I think, proof enough that he had a great deal of control over them. Why do you think the Council didn’t want Anakin’s assignment to be on record?! It’s because if he was discovered, then there’s no proof that the Council was involved. Anakin would have taken the fall for it alone, and he would have been executed. Can you even imagine how horrible of a thing that was? The Council was literally setting Anakin up to take the fall for their choices! Why do you think he was so upset at being given those instructions from Obi-Wan? Anakin is literally married to a Senator, and he’s spent much time with the Chancellor. He would have definitely been well aware of many laws, especially those about treason, given what happened with Ahsoka.

It’s so convenient to pretend that there are no laws that have to be followed in Star Wars, but it’s not reality. There are laws, and whether good or bad, Palpatine was the elected head of the Republic. If he’s guilty or suspected of being guilty of a crime, there are appropriate courses of action which can be taken. The Jedi do not have the authority to get involved. It’s a Senate matter. It’s something that the Senate would have to investigate. Not the Jedi. By trying to arrest Palpatine without any evidence of his guilt, the Jedi again committed treason against the Republic by “attempting to kill the sovereign.”

See, Palpatine never said “I am the Sith Lord who orchestrated the Clone Wars.” No, he said that he knows the ways of the Dark Side. It’s not illegal to be a Dark Sider. Palpatine was clever, and everything he did, he did legally. Was it immoral or unethical? Oh yes. Absolutely. Was it illegal? No. When the Jedi tried to kill him, they were committing treason, and as such, he had the authority to take whatever actions he deemed necessary to protect the security of the Republic. It might be hard for you to grasp the idea that your precious Jedi Council who Can Do No Wrong could have messed up so badly, but they did. They acted without thinking of the consequences or the legality. And they committed treason.

Anakin was trying not to commit any crimes akin to treason all throughout ROTS, and he was successful. Yes, he had a personal motivation in wanting Palpatine to be alive, but so what? Windu was still committing a crime for which he would likely have been executed regardless of whether or not he was successful in killing the Chancellor. It’s all good and well to think that Anakin is Bad because he stopped Windu from killing Palpatine, but you’re not thinking realistically. Maybe if the Jedi had listened to the Force the way Anakin did, they would never have made so many mistakes.

And you also mentioned that Anakin chose to kill the Jedi, unlike the clones. But did he? Did he? He had no way of knowing what Palpatine would ask of him when he agreed to join him. The Jedi were already doomed, and nothing he did would have changed that. Anakin had two choices: follow orders or don’t follow orders. He, with his own eyes, saw the Jedi committing a major crime, and as a military officer, it was Anakin’s duty to mete out justice. If he didn’t follow orders, he would have been killed, and Padme and their child would have met the same fate if they were lucky. In a worst-case scenario, Palpatine would have adopted and raised the twins as Sith, but let’s not get into that, shall we?

You are also conveniently ignoring the fact that despite the fact that Anakin’s choices were practically non-existent, Palpatine has been grooming him to kill the Jedi for years. Victims who face this type of abuse generally feel as if they have no choice but to comply with their abuser, even if they hate themselves for it. I’m sure @englishlady wouldn’t mind expanding on this if you really need the clarification, though I suspect you’re just being ornery, since there’s no way you haven’t already seen what she’s said about Anakin being groomed.

Even if I was answering a rather inane question… at least you were polite about it. Lol.

[starkskypines]

any prompt, I just want Padme and Obi-wan friendship

Hi Coalmine!! Thank you for this prompt! I love Padmé and Obi-Wan friendship!!

20. “You broke another mirror and you’re turning into something you’re not” : post-deception arc padmé and obi-wan feels

>>>

Padmé sees the dark circles under Obi-Wan’s eyes when she invites him and Anakin and Ahsoka over for dinner. Anakin seems to have not noticed them, or to have acknowledged Obi-Wan at all.

The dinner is completely normal except for the fact that Anakin and Obi-Wan don’t talk to each other. Anakin won’t even look at Obi-Wan. Even Ahsoka is subdued around him. Padmé knows the reason why of course. She was there on Naboo. She was there when Anakin grew cold and distant in a rage-filled way. She knows that Anakin is still not over Obi-Wan faking his death. She also knows that Obi-Wan is not sitting easy with what happened. She suspects no one has reached out to him to find out how he’s doing.

She takes matters into her own hands and demands Chee Chee Berry Cake. She sends Anakin and Ahsoka out into the Coruscant nightlife to find some. It’ll take them at least a half-hour, maybe more.

She offers Obi-Wan the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. She’s not great at making tea. Usually, Teckla does that when Padme is in a tea mood. So she has the necessary fixings, but not the know-how.

She leans against the counter as Obi-Wan begins to make his tea.

“My aunt used to have a saying, ‘broken mirrors lead to broken windows.’ It took me a long time to understand it.”

Obi-Wan turns around to look at her.

“Mirrors are the things on the outside. You look in the mirror and you see messy hair, lines on the face. Or you see a bright smile and the perfect outfit. It’s exterior, and a only a reflection of the truth. Windows are interior. It’s what’s going on in your soul. If the outside is broken, so is the inside.”

Obi-Wan frowns at her.

“You’ve got dark circles under your eyes. You haven’t been sleeping.”

Obi-Wan smiles in a way that holds nothing but sadness. “I’m fine, Padmé.”

Padmé huffs. “Obi-Wan. We’re friends. And I can’t help fix this mess with you and Anakin unless one of you opens up. Anakin’s not talking about it.”

“Well, neither am I,” Obi-Wan says with attitude. He doesn’t look at her as he finishes making his tea. Padmé stays quiet as he does so, giving him time to open up and talk. He’ll do that. Anakin too. They’ll grow tired of the silence and finally open up. But Obi-Wan isn’t doing that.

“You broke another mirror, and you’re turning into something you’re not,” Padmé says quietly.

Obi-Wan takes a sip of his tea and doesn’t take his eyes off the stove. “I think I broke more than a mirror. Anakin doesn’t trust me anymore and never will.” Obi-Wan turns around then and there’s a touch of heartbreak in his eyes. “I’ve got a reputation for being indestructible. No one was going to believe I got picked off by a sniper on Coruscant unless Anakin thought I was dead. And we both know he can’t act.”

“You don’t think you could’ve left a note?”

Obi-Wan shrugs. “I should’ve. Should’ve made a dozen different moves, but I didn’t. And now I have to deal with the consequences.”

“Not alone though. I’m here, Obi-Wan. We’re still friends.”

He looks away and takes another sip of his tea. “When you sent Anakin and Ahsoka away, I thought you were going to lecture me. Express the same anger as anakin.”

“I don’t see how that would help.”

“I just want a chance to explain things to Anakin, to Ahsoka, but they won’t listen. I didn’t want to lie. I didn’t want to do the mission. But it got us close to Dooku. We saved the Chancellor.”

Padmé can’t help but notice the way he repeats those accomplishments in a monotone voice, like he’s repeating what’s been said to him, not what he really feels. She notices he does that a lot. She’s not sure she’d ever actually notice if Obi-Wan’s windows broke. She wonders how many have broken already in his life and he’s just hidden it behind mirrors.

“I didn’t–I didn’t realize how much Anakin cared. I–After Kavado…I don’t think I really recovered.” His words are said with a broken quality that Padmé has never heard in his voice save for once, after Qui-Gon died.

She moves to his side and lays a hand on his arm. “Anakin never talked about it. Never heard much from the Jedi on it either.”

“Mission went wrong. We all got captured. I should’ve been there for Anakin. It was a slaver’s compound. But I couldn't–I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t help anyone. For all my–I was nothing. Anakin had to save me. I wasn’t there for him like I should’ve been.” His voice is shaking now, and he’s leaning into her touch.

“Can I hug you?” Padmé asks softly.

Obi-Wan leans toward her but doesn’t answer. But he does put his mug of tea on the counter, and she thinks that’s his answer. She wraps her arms around him. It’s been a while since she’s hugged him, but he feels too thin. All muscle really. More so than Anakin.

Obi-Wan melts into her.

“Obi-Wan, you can’t save Anakin from everything.”

“He’s my padawan,” comes the muffled words.

“So trust that you trained him well. He’ll come back. He likes to stew, you know?”

Obi-Wan nods against her shoulder. Then he pulls away with a frown and looks at the tea. “The tea...”

“I only have decaffeinated.”

Obi-Wan turns to her with a look of affront.

“I have a spare room. You should sleep. I’ll keep Anakin and Ahsoka occupied.”

“Can’t stay here.” Obi-Wan hasn’t pulled out of her arms, and Padmé knows he’s tired, sleepy.

“Something’s wrong with your rooms or you would’ve been sleeping there.”

Obi-Wan shrugs. “Hard to sleep since Kavado.”

She wonders if it’s nightmares or if it’s the fact that he’s alone at night.

“Easier to sleep on the cruiser.”

She thinks that answers her question. It’s always a guessing game with Obi-Wan. She can read him better than others, but he still keeps so much hidden she’s never really sure about anything.

“We’ll all still be here when you wake.”

Obi-Wan doesn’t protest as she turns and guides him to the spare bedroom. He pulls away and turns to her.

“Thank you, Padmé.”

She smiles. It’s nothing she wouldn't do for any friend of hers. Nothing she wouldn’t do for Obi-Wan again, no matter how many times he forgets that they are friends.

[vagrantblvrd]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Late-night and also half-assed AU idea times?

The one where Luke gets sent back in time (Because Reasons) to Clone Wars era shenanigans.

Also Because Reasons Obi-Wan is put in charge of keeping an eye on this kid, idk, Biggs Antilles because everyone is so hapless in the Star Wars universe when under pressure, like seriously.

Anyway.

Obi-Wan is suspicious like a suspicious person and so is Anakin and Luke is kind of losing his mind because he never knew (suspected, but never had proof) that old Ben was a goddamned menace and all his lectures to Luke about same are like, wow, dude, wow.

Oh, and also his dad.

And Ahsoka?

And all the clones and everyone else and he’s like, ;____________________; at what could have been, you know?

But also not sure if he’ll ever get back to his time - he really hopes so because there’s this Mandalorian with an adorable kid - and oh, God, he needs to check on Grogu in this time stat, but yes.

Shenanigans in which Luke desperately tries to hide his real identity because everyone’s iike “He feels like Anakin,how strange, and Luke in the corner like “Hahaha, yes, STRANGE. :DDDDDD

And then adventures in which he ends up having to save Obi-Wan more than he ever expected to when he woke up twenty-something years in the past, and oh dear God is that his mom? (Leia looks so much like her. Mostly the angry part right now, because Anakin and recklessly endangering his life and uh, oops, he didn’t mean to eavesdrop???

But like. Luke is kind of bleeding again (he,too, recklessly endangered his life alongside his father and Obi-Wan) and thought medbay was this way and -

Wait, why are you looking at him like that?

Anaking and Padme worried Luke’s going to at them out to, idk, the Jedi council or whatever about their ~forbidden love, and Luke is just.

“What.”

So then the thing about attachments and how they’re bad because emotions is explained to him and Luke looks at his father who clearly loves his mother so much. Thinks about the nonsense about attachment and how scared it would make someone like Anakin, and Obi-Wan -

Luke loves him, but the man’s made mistakes. (And, like. Luke gets it, he does. Some adventure with Obi-Wan and sharing of past loves because they weren’t sure they’d make it out alive and why not share this thing with someone kind of friend-shaped, and anyway,)

Luke is like, okay, wow.

Because one, the thing about attachments is bullshit - show him one Jedi master who isn’t attached to their padawan for starters - and anyway.

Not his business who they love, an then he scurries off to medbay before he bleeds out in hallway or wherever, which is where Obi-Wan finds him and is like  >:((((( at the bleeding thing and :| about the attachment thing but also *SIGH* because Luke reminds him of this padawan he had once, what was his name???

Anyway.

Yes

Also, though, also.

Them taking Luke to Coruscant to meet with the Jedi council because they have no idea where he came from - Luke floated the possibility of time travel being real to Obi-Wan once, but as a hypothetical and really, never mind him - and anyway.

Luke being like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ as they ~question (interrogate) him because he has read up on the Jedi Order and their rules and whatnot. And where he might have been in awe of getting to meet all these Jedi masters once, now he just feels. Pity. He feels pity for them.

It shows, a little, and they call it arrogance for someone so young to think they know better than the entirety of the Jedi council and yet?

Luke doesn’t care.

Which kind of makes him a threat in their eyes, this incredibly powerful Jedi who appeared out of nowhere and shows so little - if any, really - respect for their Order.

And, they realize, who both Obi-Wan and Anakin like.

Ahsoka too, but she’s a padawan, young and such, doesn’t know better.

But also, also, after all the fun-times had with the Jedi council Luke walks out to find Palpatine talking to his father and his mother while Obi-Wan stands by and chips in with a comment or observation every so often and he is like !!! because he never expected this???

Somehow after hearing stories from people, he just. Didn’t expect the fall of the old Jedi Order to take place in a tastefully appointed waiting area, potted plants and chairs and such Maybe one of those little fountains you see in an office sometime for the soothing sound of moving water and whatnot.

Anyway.

Maybe it’s his own personal experience with the man in the throne room on the second Death Star with the dramatic lighting and so on, but it’s a wee bit jarring.

He has one of those “episodes” as the others call them, and gets hustled out of there posthaste while Palpatine is all, “Oh, dear, I do hope he feels better,” and Luke does all the meditating exercises so as not to blurt out that hey, so, that sith lord everyone’s trying to find? RIGHT THERE.

Because lack of evidence and such.

And it’s like.

After seeing what things were like, he’s just. He’s stuck here, probably, right? So. Maybe he can fix things, even a little.

(Right the wrongs that Palpatine wrought and so on.)

And while he’s doing that it occurs to him that Din, okay, Din is alive in this time. And he told Luke about the attack that killed his parents, about being rescued by Mandalorians, and is like.

Can he change that too? Should he? Searches everything he can only to realize he’s too late to do anything about it. That the attack happened before Luke arrived in this time and he has this.

This little breakdown in a library or some such somewhere, because all that fretting and whatnot he did about whether or not he should intervene was for nothing, a moot point because he was too late, and it’s like.

Existential crisis time because if he changes things more than he has, will he even exists in the future? Will Leia?

Will any of their friends exist, and on his way back to the quarters he’s been given he runs into Padme - perhaps sneaking out from visiting Anakin - and she’s surprised to see him, maybe a little worried too.

(She knows his views on the whole attachment thing, yes, but her and Anakin have kept their relationship a secret for a long time now and old habits)

Still, she notices he’s obviously not doing well and they talk for a bit, Luke asking her a hypothetical, like if she could go back in time to  change something to save someone she loved from suffering, would she?

And of course she is like. No, because doing so negates their choices and how would it affect others and so on?

Luke is just, right, of course.

But then she goes on and says, as a person, not a politician, a leader, she absolutely would.

Luke is like, oh, because of course that makes sense, doesn’t it.

Good of the many and so on and anyway.

He goes to his quarters and thinks on it for a bit and realizes, yes okay, the thing with Din was mostly selfish - he wants to say he wouldn’t have done it, but he still doesn’t know  - but Palpatine, okay, Palpatine.

How many million, billions, maybe more, lives was he responsible for? (Luke has his own count for the dead, and monstrously high it may be, but Palpatine is at the heart of all of it.)

So.

He he starts laying the groundwork to expose Palpatine, or maybe just build up, idk, say a Rebel Alliance to oppose him - and discovers that oh, would you look at that.

Because Padme and Bail and their closet conspirators who know something is coming, that Palpatine is surely part of it, but they don’t know the full scope of things.

And honestly, even Luke doesn’t, but.

They think he’s a spy or whatever, and there are all these shenanigans in the meantime, and Luke doing what he can to prove that he’s really on their side, and anyway, anyway.

He plants seeds here and there, everything Leia taight him, everything he picked up, and goes to Obi-Wan for help because his former master and watchdog, and anyway.

Before Luke gets to see if anything he’s done in the past pays off he gets booted back to his time.

Or a version of it.

Ripped back to his time and this moment where he’s sure he’s dead - in the middle of a space battle or collapsing temple somewhere and glowy doohickey, something like that, or, okay, Palpatine trying to kill hi again for the first time - and anyway.

Super disorienting.

Especially when he opens his eyes and Obi-Wan is there along with his father and is that Ahsoka?

But, like.

Older.

Also, though, Din.

And Grogu and Luke is very confused?

But there’s no time for that, as Padme and Leia run in and tell them the Imperials found them, did you get him? Yes, oh, good, and now with the running???

In which they do the running to a familiar ship Luke knows well, and also a few others he likewise knows, and anyway.

They escape just in time because an Imperial fleet was looking for them, and anyway.

Luke is super confused, but that’s okay because exposition time in which he finds out all those seeds he planted worked.

Palpatine was exposed, but didn’t matter because he had contingency plans, you know?

Order 66 never went into effect because someone - Obi-wan was prompted to go back to Kamino and ask after the clones, any...special features that may have been added and anyway.

Palpatine never got his clone army, but he made up for it with battle droids and conscripts and the Empire didn’t win? But neither did the Alliance.

Not yet, anyway, and they’ve been fighting for years at that point. No Death Star - at least not a completed one - and anyway, yes.

Alderaan’s still there, Leia doesn’t have to pretend she can see it in the night sky, and anyway.

A lot has changed but so much is still the same, and everyone, okay, everyone thinks Luke an idiot.

(They’re also not surprised by that, because Skywalker, but yes.)

This whole thing of Luke’s original memories clashing with this new timeline - he keeps his old ones, but it makes for a confusing time, you know? Some point where Luke gets this faraway look and turns to someone - maybe they were dead in that original timeline - and tells them how different everything is.

If they’re feeling brave enough, and honestly most people in Luke’s life are that brave, they ask what he was thinking about to get that look on his face and he’ll tell them about terrible future that didn’t come to pass.

One he feels a little guilty for missing sometimes because those other versions of the people he knew, loved, are gone and he’s the only one who remembers them? But then he’ll see one of them, or someone who was dead in that other timeline and realizes it’s not as simple as that.

Looks at the life he knew before and the one he’s learning now and can’t decide if what he did was the right thing?

But then he’ll catch his parents on a balcony somewhere lost in on another’s eyes and these soft smiles and the love between them that’s grown over the years. Or see Obi-Wan walking about with Cody, and soft smiles and quiet laughter and hundred dozen little moments like that and thinks, selfishly, he doesn’t truly regret it if these people he’s come to love get something like that, you know?

And, then, of course, then Din finds him, or maybe Luke goes back to their quarters on whatever ship or base they’re at then, and he’ll be waiting for him.

They were on the cusp of something when Luke got thrown back in time, but things changed once he got back.

Slow, awkward, because different timelines and experiences, but something new and good, and anyway, anyway.

Din’s there and Luke is being a little (lot) selfish in wanting to keep whatever the two of them are building between them, and Din seems to want the same, and anyway.

Yes????

[chokemeanakin]

Give Me Love

Chapter Three

Wc: 2.3k

MASTERLIST

All along, Anakin knew what he was doing. He could sense the crush you had on him since the night he had thanked you for saving Ahsoka. He didn’t even have to reach out to feel the effect he had on you-- your force signature sizzled with nerves, so strong sometimes it twisted his own gut.

He thought it was cute, until he realized the strength of your anxiety hadn’t faded, even weeks after you had first met. Then, he grew worried. Was your bashfulness not of infatuation? Were you actually scared of him? What had he done to make you feel that way?

His concerns grew stronger as he tried time and time again to catch your eye. To get you to carry a conversation with him. He would watch you from across the room, laughing and gesturing wildly with your hands as you talked with Sabe and Ahsoka. But when he came around, always, you would pull away-- duck your head, soften your voice, recede back into that shell of yours. He just wanted you to talk to him.

So when the opportunity to walk you home from Dex’s came from his scheming Padawan, there was no way he could refuse. Sure, he’d just gotten done with his Jedi duties for the day, and he was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to shower and hit the pillow. But your company and attention was dangled over his head— a chance to understand you better, understand why you avoided him like the plague-- obviously he had to take it.

That night, it was confirmed that you liked him. You liked him a lot. He felt the waves of your burning heart crackle over his skin, sink its way into his own veins. He was giddy with flatter, but something else buzzed at the back of his mind. It added a pep to his walk as he raced down the apartment steps, opening the door up to the fresh night air, sucking in a deep breath to soothe his sparking nerves at the sudden revelation:

He liked you.

He had suspected, when your sweet face appeared in his dreams for the third night in a row. And then, when he heard your timid voice come over Ahsoka’s com—

“Hello, General Skywalker”— his stomach did a funny little flip.

When he had said your name in the starfighter hangar, he felt that gushing warmth leak off of your force signature, and a similar feeling encouraged a fond triumph he felt at being able to get such a reaction from you.

And again when he knocked on the door to your workstation in the medbay— the one he found because Ahsoka had given him the room number after a careful inquisition— and he had seen you covered in blood like the first time you guys met.

That first day on Hyloth, he hadn’t really been paying attention. His Padawan had very nearly died, and he couldn’t focus on the wide-eyed fawn sitting across from him that had just worked magic with her hands, saving his apprentice’s life.

But now, the thought of those steely eyes had him spurning to action. He had been searching for an excuse to get you alone for weeks, when finally— that ticket to the hell-gates they call the Opera turned out to be his paradise in disguise. It was smooth sailing after that.

For you, it was all stress-tears, tugging hair, and trashed closets as Sabe and Ahsoka struggled to help find you something to wear.

“You’re going to come right from your shift,” Sabè pointed out. “Why can’t you just stay in your scrubs?”

“Anakin said we could stop here if I wanted to change,” you answered meekly. “I can’t go to dinner with him in scrubs!”

“But you like your scrubs.”

“He probably doesn’t.”

“Y/n,” Ahsoka caught you by the shoulders. You sniffed tearfully. “Get ahold of yourself. Anakin does not care. You could be wearing a trash bag, for Force sake, and he’d still like you.”

“He’d— what?”

Ahsoka paled. Sabè snickered.

Her words played over and over in your mind on a tape reel. He’d still like you. He’d still like you. He’d still like you.

He likes me?

Your face erupted into flame, and your heart stuttered in your chest. All thoughts left your head except for those four glorious words, growing louder and louder with each passing second, sounding less and less like a dream.

He likes me!

“Gaahh,” Ahsoka moaned, throwing herself onto your bed and crossing her arms fitfully. “This is so training school. I did not tell you that.”

Her sharp Togruta teeth made an appearance at the request/threat, and you nodded automatically. Your head was still fuzzy, but you found your lips moving.

“Did he… did he tell you that?”

90% of you still didn’t believe it. You trusted Ahsoka with every bone in your body, and Ahsoka had no reason to lie, but for some reason you just could not absorb the fact that Anakin motherfucking Skywalker might like you.

It was impossible.

“He didn’t have to,” Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “I know my Master like the back of my hand.”

“But… but how do you know?”

“Please, have you seen the way he looks at you? He’s constantly asking about you— ‘Have you seen Y/n today? Has she done something different with her hair? Will she be coming by the mess hall later? Why doesn’t she want to talk to me?’ He even asked me what your station number was in the medbay yesterday so he could find you— and he thought he was being sneaky about it.”

All these new revelations coming out.. they punched you in the stomach, one by one. The thud of your heart became thick, and your breathing grew labored. Sabè heard the telltale whistle first, and her hand flew to the bedside drawer.

“Easy there, iron-lung,” she teased, tossing you your inhaler. It smacked into your palm, but the flesh was numb as you fumbled with the cap to get it off. You fit the opening between your lips and pressed on the top. The medicine dispensed into your throat, and you sucked in to force it to take action in your lungs. Ahsoka chewed on her lip as she waited for you to inhale another dose before she spoke again.

“You really like him that much?” Her voice was soft.

You nodded, pouting and capping your inhaler. If it wasn’t obvious, you were head over heels for Anakin. You thought she was just now beginning to get the true depth of your feelings.

“Okay,” she ran two stressed hands over her face. “Okay.”

If this was any other Jedi you were talking to, you would have been nervous. The Order forbids attachment, meaning Jedi cannot be in relationships. They can’t love exclusively. They can’t hold a romantic position in anyone’s life.

That’s why you had tried to hide your feelings about Ahsoka’s Master from her at first. Why she had such a hard time getting it out of you— you naturally assumed she was just as strict on that rule as the rest of the Jedi. But then… after a girls night out, where you, Sabè, and Ahsoka were sitting at a table in a nightclub, having some fun and shooting back far too many shots… she let the truth slip out.

Too many truths, really, and none her own.

She slurred about how angry Anakin made her. How he kept secrets from her, and how much it hurt that he wouldn’t trust her. Trust her with what?

With his relationship.

You and Sabè had reeled back, and then laughed. Anakin? In a relationship? Impossible! Ridiculous! It was forbidden. But Ahsoka wasn’t laughing. She explained how he was in love with Padme Amidala, the Senator from Naboo.

Sabè stopped laughing. That was her boss, and she was second in command to the woman. They worked closely together all their lives. You watched as Sabè’s mind whirled, and slowly the pieces clicked together.

It could make sense. I’ve seen her slip away a few times… seen her come back all flushed and giddy… like a girl in love.

Your heart dropped. It had been plummeting ever since Ahsoka mentioned Anakin was in a relationship. It felt like it was being torn out straight from your chest.

That’s not allowed, you protested. As if that could change anything.

You should know by now, Anakin rarely cares for the rules. He’s loved Padme since he was a little boy— nothing was going to stop him from having her.

You tried to hide your wince with each stinging word. More than anything else, you wanted to just stop talking about it. To forget you ever found out, and live in that blissful fantasy you’d created in your mind where anything was possible. Every new truth that saw light felt like an ice cold bucket over your head, smudging out your burning heart. But you had to ask, just to see her stance on it...

You’ve been keeping it a secret?

Of course I’m keeping it a secret. I know he’d do the same for me. And she made him happy, so I didn’t really see the harm. Sometimes… I wish I could have what he and Padme had. I think it should be allowed.

And then.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. He was a wreck when they broke up. Wouldn’t talk to anyone for days. Not even me. Why won’t he trust me?

Your heart paused in it’s free-fall.

Why’d they… why’d they break up, do you think?

I did overhear him and Obi-Wan discuss her when they thought I was sleeping. Obi-Wan was asking why the two never spoke anymore when they had once been great friends. All Anakin said was that she was using him for political gain. ‘She had the voice, but I made it echo,’ is what he said. It makes sense. The Senate views him as a hero, and if they knew she was good friends with him, more votes would sway in her direction.”

Your insides were spitting confetti, cheering bells ringing in your head. A calm ocean of relief washed over you— nothing to worry about. Anakin wasn’t taken. And Anakin had a history of dating. Which meant… feasibly… in your imagination… it wasn’t impossible for what you yearned for so desperately. Your silly little daydreams didn’t look so silly anymore.

It could happen.

Your mind took it and ran, conjuring up all sorts of scenarios where he took you in his arms and declared his love. You thought about it before you fell asleep, woke up to his fading voice swearing his loyalty to you over and over, played it through your head as you completed your everyday procedural tasks in the medbay. They were fantasies— ridiculous and impractical— but they were your comfort to quell the molten burn of your lava heart.

The day after, Ahsoka had woken up with a terrible hangover and an even terrible regret.

You can’t tell anyone I said that, she had cried— the first time you’d ever seen her cry. I promised myself I would never betray Anakin like that.

Of course you wouldn’t go to the Council. She really had to have more faith in you and Sabè. His secret was safe with you, and so was Ahsoka’s similar disregard for the “no attachment” rule.

That’s why you were comfortable with sharing your true feelings about Anakin with her— because you knew she would accept it for what they were, and not freak out and get Anakin kicked out of the order. She had romantic experiences before as well, all of which she’d come to you and Sabè for advice, and then a shoulder to lean on when they didn’t work out.

You really thought the Order should rethink that rule. Two of their greatest Jedi have broken it, and they’re still doing good work for them.

But alas, it had to remain a secret. Just like Anakin’s feelings for you, as it so gloriously turned out.

“Wear the scrubs,” Ahsoka finally got her thoughts in order. She sat up and poked you on the cheek. “He likes seeing you in your element.”

“It’ll take a lot less time, as well,” Sabè chimed in, always the voice of reason. “Dex’s is 8 blocks over. It would be ridiculous to go from the Temple, here, and then backtrack 10 blocks just so you can put on a dress. Besides, it’s Dex’s.”

She was right. You didn’t need to look fancy at all. And if Anakin liked seeing you in your scrubs… well…

Excitement began to battle out the nerves. But— you were still so nervous. You couldn’t help it. It had your stomach churning, nausea rising steadily as each second that passed brought you closer to your dinner with Anakin. Now, with the excitement coupled in, your nerves were beginning to feel burnt out, your mind frazzled and weary. You sat down heavily onto the bed next to Ahsoka, rubbing your forehead with your fingers.

“I can’t take this stress,” you admitted. It was one thing to be buzzing with it every second that Anakin occupied space in your mind. It was another to admit it to your friends out loud— to give in to the insecurities.

“You can,” Sabè leveled a steady gaze into you. Her brown eyes were warm and brave. A politician's confidence with a freedom-fighter’s heart. “Just think of what could happen if things turn out amazing. Think of how proud of yourself you’ll be.”

“Besides, it’s just Anakin,” Ahsoka tried to hammer that statement into you once again, with little luck. “He already likes you. You have nothing to lose.”

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[gffa]

Honestly, I don’t know.  Both of these characters did love each other very much, but they’re coming at this with a whole lot of baggage. For Anakin:  Despite that Padme never gave him any reason to doubt her, he still couldn’t stop fearing that she was going to betray him.  She made it very plain that she wasn’t interested in Clovis as anything other than a friend, that she had important reasons for working with him, but Anakin time and again kept boiling it down to her having romantic feelings for someone else.

Padme did everything “right” with Anakin, she always treated him with sympathy and softness, no matter what.  She poured all of her love into him, she got swept up in the romance with him just as much as he did many a time, yet he still cannot trust her. It’s the same on Mustafar--she has given every indication that she wants to be with him, wants to have a family with him, wants to leave with him, but he still turns on her and thinks she’s plotting behind his back when Obi-Wan reveals himself.

He’s willing to turn on her with the slightest indication without giving her a chance to explain. She says, “No!  I love you!” and he screams back that she’s a liar and starts to Force-choke her.

This is what Anakin is bringing to this relationship--yes, he’s high on the dark side and this is a really bad critical moment, but that’s what the dark side does.  And further canon (especially Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith and Vader Immortal) really hammer home that he’s unwilling to face his own mistakes about this, that he was responsible, that the dark side twisted him into this. Would he be willing to come back if Padme were still alive, would he be willing to leave the dark side behind for a second chance at a relationship with her? I honestly can’t say.  I suspect not, because as much as he loved her, he didn’t really want to live a simple, quiet life.  He desperately wanted something bigger and grander, he wanted to rule an Empire with her, he wanted to remake the galaxy into what he wanted.  He wanted a shadow of her, this idea of her, not the woman who actually said no to him.

Then there’s the other side of this relationship. For Padme:  She is someone who does try to put her foot down, to set boundaries.  We see that she does this really well in Attack of the Clones, where she tells him, “Stop looking at me like that, it makes me uncomfortable.” But then in that same movie, when he confesses that he’s killed the Tusken women and children, she doesn’t express any horror at this, only comforting him, telling him that being angry is being human.

She sees someone who is in incredible pain, it’s completely understandable, but it also shows that she’s willing to overlook his actions for how sad he was about his mother’s death. By the end of the movie, despite knowing him for about a week, she’s marrying him.  Yes, the circumstances on Geonosis are intense, which will put intense feelings into a boiler pot and make them even more intense, but she’s still known him like a week.  Padme is very much someone who gets swept up in romance and how she feels empathy for Anakin, she aches on his behalf. It’s the same with the Rush Clovis arc in season 6, where he beats the shit out of Clovis because he thought Padme was kissing him and she says they need to take a break.  By the end of the arc, intense circumstances (Clovis’ death, her own almost death) have her setting all that aside again to be with him, to exchange romantic holo-messages with him, to daydream about having their baby together on Naboo. She has seen what Anakin does when he has dreams of someone dying, like with his mother.  He directly says that these dreams are like those and he won’t let Padme die, but she says they’re just dreams. And when Anakin murders the Jedi younglings after having turned to the dark side, Padme’s first response is angry disbelief.

She goes to Mustafar to try to talk him back, but he’s off the deep end, so she backs away, saying, “You’re not the person I married, you’ve become this person I can’t follow any longer.” She absolutely does mean this--but she’s meant it before, too.  And she’s come back before, too.  Even her final words about Anakin are, “There’s still good in him.” because Padme cannot maintain those boundaries. So, I’m not sure how this set-up would necessarily even work, if Padme even could set down the boundary of “turn back to the light or we’re done” and keep it in a way that would actually force Anakin to change.  Because the dark side isn’t just anger, it’s also pain and suffering--which Padme is incredibly vulnerable to in Anakin. If she somehow could maintain that boundary, it’s possible that Anakin would come back, but I wouldn’t be willing to bet money on it.  Anakin has always loved the idea of her just as much as he loves her for herself, so much of their relationship was about his feelings for her, that nothing was more important that the way he felt about her.  And when she goes against what he thinks she should be doing, goes against his feelings that he’s giving her, he gets furious and lashes out.  He’s absolutely willing to physically assault her if he gets angry enough and that trigger is a hair trigger at times. And here’s the other thing:  I think Anakin loved Obi-Wan just as much as he loved Padme, though, in different ways (even if they’re both romantic or if one’s romantic and one’s platonic, they’re still different), he knew Obi-Wan loved him and he knew Obi-Wan would accept him back if he turned away from the dark side.  He knew if he went to Obi-Wan, even after everything, and asked for his help, Obi-Wan would listen to him, would still love him.

In the vision he has in Dark Lord of the Sith, the Force/the kyber crystal shows him this and Anakin’s eyes are blue again, he’s able to make his choice freely, and he rejects it. He rejects coming back from the dark side.  Now, his relationship with Obi-Wan and Padme are different, he can’t break down Obi-Wan’s boundaries the way he can Padme’s, nor does he have the same physical power over him that he does over Padme, the fight on Mustafar illustrates that.  Obi-Wan gives Anakin every chance, the entire battle is written to be like a married couple having a fight where Obi-Wan is trying to give him time to calm down, as well as Obi-Wan will not let this happen, even though he desperately didn’t want it to come down to this. Anakin refused to come back, though.  Once the dark side got its hooks in, once he was willing to murder the Jedi and the Jedi children, once he was willing to help burn the Republic to the ground, he couldn’t go back.  He knew what he’d done was wrong, he was never going to be able to accept someone who knew what he’d done, knew him and what that really meant. That’s why Ahsoka could never have brought him back, either.  Because Anakin hated himself for what he’d done so deeply that he couldn’t accept anyone who knew him, that’s why it could only have been Luke or Leia who made him have his final selfless moment, someone that represented the future, rather than his past.

"Just imagine this person that’s so wrapped up in their hatred for themself as much as external hate, that he just can’t deal with it.  He needs to destroy [Ahsoka].  So there isn’t empathy for her.  I’ve never thought that she could be something that would turn him back from the dark side, because that would completely rob Luke.  That would make it seem like that story was just one possiblity of many, when I think that Luke or Leia are the only possibility of their father’s redemption.”  --Dave Filoni Anakin knew these people that he loved would accept him back, knew they loved him, but he couldn’t face it.  He tries to bring Padme back in Dark Lord of the Sith, when he’s fresh off his turn, but even then it’s just a reflection of himself that he’s chasing after, not really her.  In Vader Immortal he’s also trying to bring her back, but he’s chasing a shadow of her, not really her.  It’s not about her, it’s not about what she would want, it’s not about the horror she would experience at what he’d done in her name (murdering children, murdering entire planets), it’s not about how she would react.  It’s about his feelings for her.  And that’s not something that would bring him back from the dark side. Padme is different in that he’s used to eventually breaking down her boundaries, so he feels a possessiveness towards her that he can’t have for Obi-Wan or Ahsoka (who assert their boundaries and keep them), but ultimately if Padme asserted those same boundaries, if she refused to take him back unless he turned away from the dark side, he would do the same thing he did to her on Mustafar, the same thing he did to Obi-Wan, the same thing he did to Ahsoka--try to kill them, because he cannot stand to look at what he’s done and work through it, he has to keep justifying it or he’ll fall apart and he refuses to do so.

[spacegirlinorbit]

Help Me Understand

Part 1

Obi wan x reader

Angst, fluff

Takes place during ROTS. Y/n there to be by Obi wan side as he discovers the truth behind the abrupt turn of events in the war, Anakin becoming darth vadar, and eventually how he will come to fight him.

Let’s be honest now, I don’t know how the fuck Obi wan did this without falling to pieces and having multiple breakdowns on the spot

Angst prompts :“I don’t want space. I want you. ...I need you, please stay with me.” “You don’t have to face him alone, you’re not alone.” 

SIDENOTE: ‘//’ when its one parenthesis's they are talking through the force and when its double ‘’ like normal its being said aloud 

We all felt it. The shift in the force and environment of the entire infinite galaxy. Jedi all connected felt the buzz in the air and their connections faltering causing minor pain of links being cut without warning. The force connected the Jedi to all things. Alive and dead. The war that we have been fighting has taken a turn for the worst. It wasn’t hard to suspect what was taking place, but even I knew as I felt the confusion in the force right before my fellow Jedi fell. 

Chancellor Palpatine had called for Order 66. 

We were not prepared for our own army to turn against us, but here we are. I try to silence the force as it overwhelms with my sensitivity to see and feel the emotional tethers that connect Jedi to the force. Jedi face a war within their walls. The clones have turned on them and a power shift has caused a rift in the force. 

I, friends with Obi-wan and Anakin, have been asked to stay with Padme. To protect her while they fight their battles. I did not mind seeing as Padme and I have grown to be friends over the years as her a senator and me a Jedi. 

Many times we have been stationed on Coruscant doing our diplomatic duties to the republic. Only now I fear, those efforts were for nothing. 

As the pain fell away, I reached out to the force and let the force guide me to my brothers and sisters. My heart felt like it was being stabbed a thousand times over as they all fell with grace. 

May the force be with you. A tear ran down my face and I drew out of the force. 

Then I hear it like a distant dream, ‘My love’ whispers softly that I barely caught it. 

“Obi- Wan?” I say aloud with a gasp, he’s never called me that before.  ‘Are you okay? Are you safe?’

‘I am now, dear. I have just received contact from Senator Organa. I am going to meet him now and Master Yoda.  Are you safe? Are you and Padme safe?’

‘Yes, Obi. We are safe for now. I fear the clones will come for me any minute.’ 

‘Be vigilant and I’ll be there soon.’ He says and I can hear and feel the frustrations in his heart and mind. Confusing times and the stress on top of it all doesn’t help it. 

‘Stay safe, Obi. Please.’ I try to contain my composure on the outside but on the inside I can’t hide my dread and panicked state. 

‘You too, y/n.’ 

‘Obi’ I reach out a bit more with a bit of harshness like I was crashing into him. 

‘Yes?’ He breathes. I want to question what he meant before. My love. Sure he’s called me nicknames before but that’s nothing new for the flirty handsome Jedi master. But that felt different. 

I decide against bringing it up now. ‘Just...get back to me once you have received news. I’ll keep my comlink open.’

‘Will do, dove.’ 

The connection is cut. We pull away from the force and I sit on the couch lowering my head into my hands. 

“What’s wrong, y/n?” Padme asks standing by the window she has been staring out of. 

“Nothing. Just talked to Obi.” She looks at me confused and then her face resorts to understanding. 

“The force.” She says. 

“Yes. He is safe. Something has shifted in the war, but everything will be fine.” I say trying not to have the emotional pregnant woman burst into tears. 

“C3PO.” I say as he walks into the room. He nods to me and walks over to Padme. 

“The chancellor's office indicated Master Anakin returned to the Jedi Temple. Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be alright.” C3PO relays to Padme. 

I knew it from the moment I felt in the force earlier. Master Anakin Skywalker has fallen to the dark side. 

Padme can’t hold back the sob and pours out her emotions as she cries into her hand, hugging her body with the other. I get up and do my best to soothe her. Padme has been on edge when it comes to Anakin and with the senate nothing has been looking good lately.

“Come sit down.” I tell her and pull her to the couch. I know she doesn’t need to hear it to know what C3PO’s message actually meant. But I feel it within her and in myself that maybe there's hope for Anakin. 

I look out the window from the couch and see the jedi temple up in smoke and burning down slowly as it’s licked with flames spread about the temple. I don’t even want to try to reach out to Anakin for fear of what will confirm that I should be hopeless after all. Probably best for my protection anyway. If he’s at the temple now and he hasn’t detected a change in me I could be good as dead. 

So I do the one thing I never thought I would have to do. I cut myself off my the force. I hide my presence and make it ordinary. Like a switch has been turned off but a very powerful switch that will and can leave people wondering if I live or died. I just need to buy time in order for Anakin not to sense me. 

I watch out the window and as I suspected I see Anakin make his way through the other speeders and fighters in the sky. It’s now or never. 

“Padme listen to me. I have to hide now. Obi wan has told me the clones have turned on us Jedi. I sense Anakin on his way. He will be able to protect you now. Meanwhile I must go and see if fellow Jedi are still alive in the building. But please don’t relay any of this to Anakin. Just tell him I went out and I haven’t been back. Don’t let him know you know about the clones.” I talk fast knowing I only have two minutes before Anakin arrives. 

“Of course. Is he really-“ I can see it in her eyes as she hesitates to finish her question. 

“All I know is that he loves you. Have hope.” She nods and squeezes my hands as she takes them into hers. Letting me know it’s okay. 

Everything is not okay. Everybody knows it. 

I go inside Padme's bedroom and go to her bathroom. And hop on the counter to prop myself up into the ceiling vents. I climb through the ceiling vents so I’m close to where Padme and Anakin stand on the balcony. 

“What happened?” I hear Padme. 

“The Jedi tried to overthrow the Republic.” Lies. Anakin sounds different. Something is terribly off about him but with my force down to insure my safety I can’t figure out what. 

“I can’t believe that.” Padme acts well considering what I have told her. Her senator instincts must be kicking in.

“..Master Windu..” it’s getting hard for me to hear as the vents start to rumble slightly at the cooling system turning on. “assassinate the chancellor…”

No. I felt it in the force right before I cut it off. Master Windu had died and somehow Anakin was a part of it. 

“My loyalties lie with the chancellor.” Well damn be the republic now. 

“With the senate and with you.” He finishes. Maybe Padme is Anakin's only hope out of this. 

“What about Obi-wan? Y/n?” She mentions me as the system starts to fade out. I can hear them better now. 

“I don’t know. Many Jedi have been killed.” You can hear no remorse or sadness or any sort of pain in his voice. He barely spares a word for Obi-wan. His teacher. His friend. His brother. 

I pick up on their conversation and hear Anakin mention his mission from the chancellor. I must warn Obi-wan now. 

I climb out of the vents back to the bathroom and make my way down onto the counter and soon out of the room. Padme can be seen clearly in distress. 

“He said wait for me.” She tells me. 

“I know. Padme you can not let him know what you know. You’re pregnant as well and should rest. Don’t need the stress to kill you.” I joke with her giving her a small smile. She nods and heads to her room to sleep. I know she won’t sleep well without Anakin or knowing he is safe, but at least she is resting. 

I meditate on the floor in front of the large expanse of the window. I fill my body with its spirit and energy course my veins. My force has returned. 

‘DOVE! Y/N!’ I hear through the force immediately it almost makes me physically falter. 

‘Obi!’ I yell back trying to trace him through the force. Finally we collided and our energies reach out hand in hand to one another. I can feel him reach relief as he connects with me. 

‘You’re shaken. What’s wrong? Why couldn’t I sense you? I thought I lost you. Are you okay?’ 

‘Obi calm down. I’m safe. Anakin was just here to see Padme I had to hide myself from the force so he wouldn’t detect me.’ 

‘Oh thank the stars, I-I thought-‘ I can feel him sigh. ‘Please warn me before you do that. I thought you were gone.’ 

‘I’m sorry.’ I try to ease by reaching out with feelings of calmness and serenity as focus on regaining my power with the force. 

‘I-‘ We both start and Obi speaks up again. 

‘You first.’ 

‘Anakin he is different.’ 

‘Master yoda and I have just discussed Anakin. He’s changed hasn’t he?’ I feel Obi Wan falter in his feelings. It’s an ache in his heart and he’s in pain and conflicted but it’s controlled. He was always good at controlling his feelings. It’s what made him the best. I admire him for it. How he is able to do what I can not most days. 

I have to tempt my feelings for Obi Wan down quickly. I can’t let him know. Never. We’re in a war. We are Jedi. And our friend needs our help. 

‘Yes, but I feel there is hope for him yet. He is strong with the force. He’ll make the right decision.” I pray my words will ring with truth. 

‘I know.’

‘Obi-‘’ 

‘I’m coming back to Coruscant. We have to figure out how to decode the clones.’

‘We?’ 

‘Yes, you’re the best at decoding well anything really. We could use your help.’

‘Then I will help you anyway I can. May the force be you, Obi-wan.’ 

Later that night Padme had received word that a senate meeting was to be held in the morning. Perfect. I can meet Obi Wan then as she is in the meeting. 

The next day, I received word that Obi was landing on Coruscant at the Jedi temple in an hour. I make my leave from Padme giving her a hug and telling her to keep her blaster on her just in case. I told her I was going to make myself scarce and left quietly and quickly from the Senate building to the Jedi temple. By the time I arrived I see Kenobi and Yoda have done the work of taking out the clones. It’s a sad sight to see the army that was helping you fight the war was just propaganda to fight against you.

(Part 1/2) 

A/N: THIS all took up ten pages on google docs and so I had to make a part 2 lol

[duxhess-kryzewan]

obi wan gets caught in a lie? can be as heavy/light as you want

A/n: hello!! im so sorry for the sudden disappearanc, but im back and will hopefully be posting regularly again!! (also, i didnt quite know how to write a scenario with him lying to satine, so hopefully this stays as true to the characters as possible)

- White Lies - 

Satine had spent a large portion of her youth biting her nails.

She knew it was a nasty habit. Aside from it being unsanitary, it was beyond improper for a lady - especially one of nobility - to do so. It was only during her time on the run with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan that she managed to stop. Partly because she was so distracted by her concern for her people, and partly because trekking through the wilderness of various planets tended to get her hands dirty.

Yet here she stood, in the middle of her Coruscant apartment, chewing absentmindedly on her nails, not caring in the slightest that years of work to break the habit had all been for nothing.

She had been on the planet for two days now, both of them consumed with Senate proposals and a barrage of questions for the neutral systems, most of which were nothing more than ploys to side with the republic. Even in the face of aggressive senators though, Satine had held her ground. While she may be a pacifist, she was still a Mandalorian, and a Mandalorian never backed down from a fight. She was no exception. There wasn't much that shook her these days.

Except, perhaps, the absence of Obi-Wan.

He had promised her he'd be there before the sun set, but the city had been shrouded in darkness for hours now and he was no where to be found. She only commed him twice - not wanting to come off as overbearing - but it was beyond unusual for him not to follow through with his word.

So she commed Padme, the only person who wouldn't question her, and asked if she had seen or heard from him.

"I haven't," The younger woman said, "Anakin hasn't came home yet for me to ask him. If I hear from either of them I'll be sure to let you know."

"Thank you." Satine said before ending the transmission.

So she paced, chewing on her nails and trying her best not to think of the worst possible scenario. He was a Jedi, she rationalized, even if something did happen he was more than capable of taking care of himself.

It didn't help ease her mind.

So when the familiar beeping of a keypad and sound of her door opening sounded through the apartment she couldn't have been more relieved.

She rushed to meet him, barely giving him enough time to shut the door before she threw her arms around his shoulders.

He cradled her against him in response, his hands winding around her tiny frame. She didn't need to be in tune with the force to feel the exhaustion radiating off of him. Yes, something had certainly happened, and it had drained him.

"Are you alright?" Satine asks, pulling away just enough to scan her eyes over him, searching for any kind of wound or otherwise out of place detail.

"I'm fine," He says, reaching out and tucking a bit of stray hair behind her ear, "It's been a challenging day. The council was relentlessly questioning Anakin and I about the events of our most recent mission and then I got tied up with him at Padme's."

Her blood suddenly runs cold, her body all but frozen in his grasp and it took her a moment to truly process what he had just told her.

She pulls away from his grasp and takes a step back, "You weren't at Padme's."

Obi-Wan pauses, mouth slightly agape, a mouthful of words he was planning on saying frozen on the tip of his tongue. If she looked hard enough she's sure she could see them dancing around, begging to be spoken out into the world.

"I commed over there Obi-Wan," She says, "You weren't at Padme's."

He already knew that, of course. His eyes always betrayed him. Not that he was keeping up the charade; he knew he had been caught. There was no point in pretending now.  

"You lied to me," Satine says, not bothering to hide the hurt and confusion in her voice, "Why would you..."

She trails off, unable to bring herself to finish the question. Obi-Wan didn't lie to her. Not ever. Faking his death aside, he had never been anything less than honest with her.

"Satine I..." He too is at a loss for words, eyes wide and full of something unfamiliar. Fear, perhaps? Worry about what the consequences of his falsehood? It makes her feel sick either way.

"Where were you?"

"Please Satine, I promise you, it wasn't anything you need worry about. You know that I would never-" He paused, suddenly unable to finish his statement.

Cheat on her? Yes, she was fairly confident that would never happen. Even in light of his lie she knows without a doubt that was a line that would never be crossed.

"No, you wouldn't." She grants, "But I also thought you would never lie to me. I thought we were honest with one another despite the consequences."

His eyes fill with sadness; a mirage of guilt that she's never seen before and if her heart wasn't already hurting she's sure it would have broken for him all the more.

"I- of course. You're right. I should have never..." He sucks in a shaky breath, "There was an incident. Two really. Bail Organa and Lothals senator were attacked by separatist assassins. They were working on your neutral systems proposal when it happened. It's suspected they wanted to sabotage your place with the Senate. I didn't want to worry you. That's all, I swear it."

Dizziness washes over her. Of course she was always at risk for an attack on her and her beliefs, and of course Obi-Wan tries to shelter her from the horrors of the galaxy despite the fact that she's keenly aware of the atrocities transpiring around her.

"Obi-Wan.."

"That's all it was Satine, I swear. I didn't want to upset you with the news."

"All the same, you lied to me. And you made it look easy Obi-Wan, like it was nothing to you."

He closes his eyes, her words hitting him like a slap in the face and its almost too much for her to bare. As if her words physically stunned him.

"I have to be a good liar, you know that. I lie to the council every time they question the nature of our relationship. I lie to them, but not to you." His voice was steady, more assured than it had been before.

"But you just did."

She wants to stop; wants so badly to calm down and forget about this, but she can't bring herself to do it. Not when it felt like her trust had been violated. There were too many people in her life - valued friends and allies - who had deceived her in the past. Her trust had began wavering amongst the people who crossed her path, but never in Obi-Wan.

He can't look at her and it both breaks her heart and infuriates her more.

"You're right," He says, "And I'm sorry. You've always had that confidence in me and I broke that trust."

"You've never lied to me before," She says, "And it matters that you did it so well, how can I-" She swallows the sudden threat of a sob, "How can I know that this was the only time?"

The words come clawing their way out of her mouth and it stung more than she could have imagined. And maybe she was being unfair; maybe he hadn't thought about how much weight such a simple lie would carry, but it hurt her in places she didn't recognize.

"You know me Satine, you know I would never lie to you about something that really mattered."​ He counters, voice laced with a twinge of frustration.

Her eyes narrow, "And what matters and what doesn't?"

They hadn't fought in months; never fought like this at all. It wasn't unusual for a snide comment to be thrown out here or there, and they certain had their fair share of disagreements, but this? This was something entirely new and she didn't know what to do with it.

"I don't know what you want me to say other than I'm sorry."

She felt dizzy. Trust was something that she valued more than anything. Obi-Wan was the last person she ever thought would betray that. Regardless of the severity of his lie, it stung more than she could have imagined.

She grabs her cloak without a second thought.

"I'm going," She states, "I need to get out for a bit."

He suddenly looks panicked, and for a moment she actually reconsiders leaving, but she knows ultimately its better for her to go calm herself down before she truly said something she didn't mean.  

​"Satine, please."

She sighs, "I'm coming back, Obi-Wan. I need to go clear my head."

"Where are you going?"

"Padme's. Back to Mandalore early perhaps."

His eyes grow sadder when she mentions the latter, "Satine…"

She's out the door before he can finish his protest.

---

The streets of Coruscant were becoming more and more familiar to her with every visit, though she would hesitate to really claim she knew her way around anywhere aside from the heart of the city. Regardless of that fact, she wandered the streets without much care.

Instinctively she wrapped her arms around herself, pressing tightly against her rib cage. It felt like her bones were about to crack open, her heart having experienced too many emotions in such a short period of time. From worry to hurt to anger. It was all too much.

She had been deceived and lied too more times than she could count. But Obi-Wan, her shining Jedi Knight, never had. Not until now.

She stops abruptly, her thoughts suddenly hitting her full force once more with his lie. It hurts her. Frightens her, even, the way her anger had crept into her mind and overtook all rational thinking.

Why would he lie to her? Why would he do the one thing he knew would break her heart more than anything else?

Because he protects you from what he thinks you shouldn't have to see.

Satine frowns, trying to shove the thought out of her mind. But it was useless. She knew it was the truth, that he had always done his best to shield her from dangers and horrors alike. In his mind, she had seen enough wicked things in her youth and endured more attempts on her life than she should have had too. Obi-Wan had always been trying, whether she realized it or not, to keep her from baring more weight.

But the question lingers in the back of her mind; had he lied to her before?

You know he hasn't, She thinks, The look in his eyes when you even suggested it was all the proof you needed.

Another ache soars through her chest. She trusted him. And when she really digs deep down in herself, she knows that she still does. Obi-Wan Kenobi is still the person she trusts most.

So why didn't the pain in her chest fade? She wasn't angry anymore, not really. The cool night air and desolate streets provided release from whatever vexations and grief burrowed within her, and yet something dismal still gnawed at her.

Then the realization hit her.

Obi-Wans absence was the source of her heartache.

She had fled, a momentary lapse in judgement in an effort to calm down, and left him standing in the wreckage of their little time together. They would have to part ways in two days time, and she had effectively cut that even shorter.

She turns around without a second thought.

--

When she steps through the door she finds him in the same spot she left him in, perched on the floor with his eyes closed, legs crossed in the all too familiar pose of meditation. It didn't surprise her. He often did so to sort out his feelings.

The sound of the door didn't cause him to move, nor did the sound of her footsteps coming towards him. He only opened his eyes when she crouched down onto the floor and all but threw herself against him.

He instinctively envelopes her in a hug, cradling her in his arms as they sat on the floor.

"I'm sorry," Satine says, nuzzling her nose against the side of his head, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," He murmurs, "I should have just told you from the start. I'm sorry to have deceived you."

She feels guilty all over again. Obi-Wan carried often carried the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. The last thing she wanted was to add to that.

"No, I-" She drops her cheek against the top of his head and tightens her hold on him, "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. It was unfair of me. I shouldn't have gotten upset and I certainly shouldn't have walked out. It was wrong on my part."

She often wonders what life would be like if they weren't so tied to their duties. If she weren't born a duchess and he not born a Jedi. If they were simply Ben and Satine, a couple tucked away in a quiet corner of the Galaxy. Would they have fights like this? Or would they bicker over mundane things? Certainly their quarrels would never be as a result of governing bodies or separatists attacks. It would be nice, she thinks, to be so carefree when they were together.

"I've never lied to you before." He tells her, gripping her hand in his own.

"I know you haven't."

"I won't do it again."

"I know."

"Do you forgive me?"

She pulls away from him, worming her way out from his arms enough to look him in the eyes.

"There's nothing to forgive my dear."

Her hands come up to cradle his face, thumbs brushing over his auburn stubble.

"I need you to say it," He tells her, covering her hand with one of his own, "For my own peace of mind."

She smiles softly, "I forgive you."

Wouldn’t she always?

[evabellasworld]

Storm of the Republic

Chapter 30

AO3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

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Summary:  When Tup murdered General Tiplar during a battle, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex dispatched Ahsoka, Fives, and Yara to solve the mystery that was plaguing the Clone Army. Meanwhile, Senator Padme Amidala contacted Commander Fox, Commander Tori, Riyo Chuchi, and Dipper to help her continue investigating the death of Palpatine, suspecting that Dooku was behind the evil plot. But when Dooku send an ISB agent to stop them, the team had to race against time to search for the truth, which could alter the course of the galaxy.

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Gazing at the shimmering blue moon, Fives sat on the balcony of the guest room all by himself, with tears dried up in his eyes. It was past midnight, and he had trouble sleeping on his warm bed. His surroundings were serene, with less crowd wondering in the city square and the lights cut off.

The stars above him were shining as bright as a gem, though the ARC Trooper was too focused on the plain balcony floor instead. He always enjoyed the stars in the dark sky, though it doesn’t feel the same right now. I could have died instead of him, Fives thoughts, leaning against the wall. I could have saved him back there. Why did I let him die?

As he buried his face between his knees, Fives heard the sliding door opened behind him, prompting him to lift his face and found Yara standing there, wrapped in her thick sweater and house slippers. “Oh, hey Yara.”

“I see you have a problem sleeping,” Yara spoke, as she approached him and sat beside him.

“What is sleep anyway, when someone just died today?” he let out a sniffle from his nose.

“I’m sorry, Fives,” she placed her arms around him. “I miss Tup too. I thought he was going to make it, but looks like it didn’t go as plan.”

“What do you mean, it didn’t go as planned? We had everything under control, but somehow, we had to lose him. God, why do the good ones always have to die too soon?”

“Fives, we did all we can to save him, but in the end, we have to surrender to the Angel of Death. We can never escape our fate, no matter how much we tried. Sure, we could have brought Tup earlier and somehow, he’s still dead.”

“I know we can’t escape death, Yara!” Fives snapped, pounding his fist on the balcony. “But for goodness’ sake, can’t you just be more sensitive?”

“Fives, I am being sensitive,” Yara shouted back, standing on her ground. “I’m just saying that there was nothing we could do to prevent Tup’s death, that’s all.”

“Tup was always so healthy. He was running around the fields and taking down every battle droid in sight. And then something struck him, and now he’s not here with us anymore. Tup is gone, and we never even got to say goodbye to him. I never got to tell him how much I loved him and how sorry I was for all the hurtful things I did to him. You don’t know what it was like, Yara. You’ve never experienced that, so it was easier for you to say that.”

“Easy, my ass,” she retorted. “I’m just as sad as you are for Tup, but that you have to tell me how I never experienced that kind of pain was the most fucked up thing for you ever said to me.”

“Oh, really?” he mocked, crossing his arms. “Then tell me how sad you are right now, cause you seem pretty fine, if you ask me.”

“You son of a bitch! Didn’t you see me bursting into tears when Dr. Urakchaevy broke the news to us? Oh wait, you didn’t notice that cause you were too shocked to even do anything about it.”

“So now I can’t get shocked when someone told me a close friend of mine died? Is that what I’m hearing, Yara?”

She bobbed her head, fighting her tears from her eyes. “You told me how I wasn’t sad enough for Tup’s death, so now I’m saying that to make you feel empathy, which is something you’re never good at, anyway.”

“What does empathy have to do with this?” Fives asked, his voice laced with redness. “Tell me, Yara. How cold I am to you right now?”

“You’re worse than Commander Fox,” sobbed Yara. “At least he understood what Riyo was feeling. But you assume that everyone else grief as the same way as you, which is a jerk move, actually.”

“Since when?”

She slapped her own forehead and let out a groan. “Just now, you told me I’m being too insensitive to you and said that I don’t know how it was like losing someone I loved very much. How brain dead are you, Fives?”

“I don’t give a shit whether you call me brain dead, really, I don’t. But for heaven’s sake, can’t you just use your head for once? You may be well with the emotional aspects of things, but with actually getting things done, you always jump to conclusions. That’s what you are.”

“How do I always jump into conclusion, cause the last I checked, I was correct when the Empire wants Tup for a reason? Am I right or am I wrong?”

Fives rubbed his temples as he turned around before continuing the argument between them. “That’s the only time you were right. Most of the time, you were always screwing up things for everyone else. I mean, remember when we were training back on Kamino and you woke up later than usual? All of us had to be subjugated to gruelling punishments because of you.”

“Dude, that happened a long time ago. Besides, you weren’t a saint yourself when we were still in Domino Squad. You were always fighting with Echo every single day and I could barely sleep because of that. So who’s fault is that, Fives?”

“Well, Echo and I got along with each other, so I don’t see the point of you bringing that up right now,” his voice trembled. “Besides, I’m not the reason the rest of the Domino Squad perished at Rishi station. It was your fault that Hevy, Droidbait, and Cutup died back then.”

Yara clenched her fist tighter, holding her breath in her chest. “Hevy sacrificed himself on Rishi moon. We tried persuading him to come along, but somehow, he wanted to do his duty as a soldier, and he died because of that. Droidbait and Cutup, on the hand, weren’t so lucky, and sure, we can grief on how we could save him, but there was nothing we can do. But Echo, well, you could have saved him but you let him die in the Citadel.”

Fives’ eyes widened as he took a few steps backwards, gripping on the balcony. “I’m sorry, but what did you say?”

“You let Echo die on Lola Sayu, and you did nothing to stop that from happening,” she uttered a cruel sentence towards him. “Echo was a kind soul, but you let him die in the hands of the Separatists. Honestly, if he was still here, he would be really disappointed in you, Fives. He would look at you and wonder why are you still alive. That’s what he would do right now.”

He blinked as he gazed at Yara’s narrowed eyes, before bobbing his head and sigh. Without saying a word to his sister, he headed back inside the guest room, leaving the ARC Trooper all alone on the balcony, shivering in coldness. Maker, what have I done?

[underworldobsessed]

Burn the World for You ll An Obitine Fanfic

Title: Burn the World for You Rating: T Ship: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Anakin Skywalker/Padme Amidala Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Satine Kryze, Padme Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Bo-Katan Kryze Series: ABO Obitine (Part 8 out of ???), TAS Week (Omegaverse week) (Part 5 out of 7) Summary: Temples and Sabers Week: Day 5 Omega Auction ll Satine and Padmè are enjoying an afternoon together when a surprise visitor tells them of an Omega Auction ring, and when they try to comm their respective Jedi, they find that they had already gone to investigate and hadn't been heard from in a few days, since they were supposed to check in. Those running the ring quickly learn what happens when someone harms their omegas, as they will burn everything down to ensure they're safe. Author’s Note: This quickly spiraled out of control, but in a good way! I hope you all enjoy! Mando’a translations: Cyar'ika - Beloved Vod - Sister K'oyacyi - Come Back Safely, or Survive.

Read here or under the cut

Having Padmé over for tea was always such a treat. Satine and her both had been so busy lately that the time to just see friends and relax seemed far in the past, but they did always try to make time to see one another. It was sort of fun to engage in just idle gossip and spend time with those who didn’t have ulterior motives.

“So Obi still has no idea about you and his padawan, does he?” Satine laughed, shaking her head. She adored her jedi, but she absolutely knew that he wasn’t going to notice the obvious. After Obi-Wan had faked his death, Satine had grown closer to Padmé and confessed to her one night that she had been mated to Obi-Wan for years, after which Padmé had confessed to being married and mated to Anakin, which had only caused the two of them to grow closer.

“Not at all, it’s almost funny. Obi-Wan is smart, but he can’t see what’s in front of him. I love Ani, but he really has no idea how to be subtle about our relationship.” Padmé laughed and sipped at her drink, spiked with a little something that Satine had lying around. Neither woman was drunk, they both had high tolerances, but they were relaxed.

A knock on the chamber door tore their attention from their conversation and Satine stood, putting on the familiar mask of Duchess as one of her guards entered the room.

“Forgive the intrusion, Duchess,” She sounded apologetic “But there is someone here to see you. I wouldn’t have given permission but you said that this is one of the few people to allow access…”

The guard moved out of the way and in walked a woman in full Beskar’gam.

“Death Watch!” Padmé moved to stand in front of her friend with her blaster raised. “I won’t let you hurt the Duchess!” Satine reached and lowered her friend’s arm as the woman removed her helmet, revealing a young face with red hair, chopped almost sloppily above her shoulders.

“Bo!” Satine moved forward, but stopped not far in front of her estranged sister. “What are you doing here?” She glanced behind her momentarily to make sure no other Death Watch members were waiting for her to let her guard down, before she looked, truly looked at her. She had never seen such fear on her face before, not even when Satine had to flee their home after their parents had been assassinated. She knew Bo-Katan to be a hardened warrior, to wear her emotions under the surface so no one would see how she truly felt, but whatever this was, really terrified her.

Bo-Katan glanced over at Padmé, as if she was judging whether or not she could trust her, but she ended up just moving to lean against the wall. She tried to school her expression, but Satine could still see the fear in her face. She knew her sister well, even after all these years.

“You know I wouldn’t come to you unless I was desperate.” Bo’s voice was even as she looked over at her sister. “But something has come to light that Death Watch is doing that I can’t stand to see. I’ve tried to convince them to stop, but they refuse to listen to me. I think they suspect that I’m not an alpha like them, because why else would they not listen to me on this?”

“Bo, you’re rambling.” Satine gently told her, moving closer to her to squeeze her hand. “What is Death Watch doing?”

“...Omega auctions..” Bo’s face turned white as a sheet as she told her this, and for a moment, Satine thought her sister was going to be sick. “They’re taking Omegas from their homes and auctioning them off to either other Death Watch members or just to the highest bidder. I know I’m on blockers; both Pheromone and Heat blockers, but Satine, what if they discover me? These poor Omegas… They don’t deserve what they’re going through.”

Satine felt ice run through her veins. Omega auctions were illegal in all parts of the galaxy as far as she was aware. So the fact that Death Watch was running one was enough to get the attention of the Jedi Order, and get them to put a stop to it. But the question remained, why was Bo telling her this?

“Bo, why are you telling me this? I can’t do much here. I only handle the neutral systems.” She didn’t understand where her sister was coming from.

“I couldn’t go to Pre. He doesn’t know about my presentation, and I didn’t want him to find out and… send me to auction with the rest of them, and I know about your mate being jetii. I know that you have connections that I don’t, and that you could maybe help. Please, Sat’ika..” The childhood nickname caused a lump to form in Satine’s throat. She hadn’t heard her sister call that in so long, and knew she had to help her if she was that desperate.

“Of course, Bo’ika.” She promised, moving to her commlink to try and connect to Obi-Wan, noticing how Padmé had gone to reach out to Anakin at the same time. When neither of their communications were answered, they shared a worried glance. “Did Master Skywalker tell you he was going on a mission where he wouldn’t be able to be reached?”

“No, did Master Kenobi?” Padmé asked, which only got a shake of Satine’s head in turn. “Do you have Ahsoka’s frequency?”

“I do,” Satine let her worry slip through as she went to reach out to Ahsoka, who picked up really quickly.

“Duchess, thank the force you called,” Ahsoka sounded worried “I may need your assistance.”

“Padawan Tano, what’s going on? Where’s Obi-Wan and Anakin?” Satine didn’t need the force to know that something was off, that her mate may be in danger again.

“They… they went on a mission to stop what was rumored to be an Omega Slave Ring but that was days ago and they haven’t returned to Coruscant yet. Master Yoda won’t let me go after them, but I think they’re in danger.” Ahsoka glanced at her lap. “I’m not an Omega though, but the two of them both are… What if they were found out?”

Possessiveness flared in Satine, turning her skin hot and one hand clenched in a fist. “I’ll make sure they’re alright, Ahsoka.” She didn’t even recognize her own voice as she spoke, the tone unnaturally angry for her. It wasn’t even like the anger she felt towards Obi-Wan when he had faked his death, no this was primal and she knew she would raze down the entire galaxy if it meant bringing her Omega home to her. From the look in Padmé’s eyes, she knew that it would be the same for her as well. “Everything will be alright, I’ll contact you when I get them.”

“Do you know where you’re going?” Ahsoka asked, ready to tell Satine the details if it came down to it.

“Don’t worry, I have a source.” She hung up the commlink, before looking to her sister. “I suggest you tell me everything, Bo, because if Obi and Anakin have failed, we may as well be their last hopes.”

The whip was sharp against Obi-Wan’s back, and he did everything to prevent them from seeing his pain. There was a part of him that wondered why they were damaging what he knew was the merchandise. He and Anakin both had been captured as they were investigating an underground omega slave ring. He didn’t know how they knew that the two of them were omegas, but they knew.

And now, they were on the sales floor as the hottest merchandise.

“Well, look what we got here,” Obi-Wan looked up and saw a man in full Beskar’gam. So Death Watch was involved… fantastic. “A Jedi Omega… pity you’re already marked. We can’t sell a marked Omega easily. Your friend on the other hand…”

“No!” Obi-Wan thrashed against the chains that were holding him. He glanced to Anakin… poor Anakin. The poor man had been through so much in terms of slavery, and to use his secondary gender as another excuse to put him in chains. Even now, his head was down, looking so lost and broken. “Remove my mark, make me unmarked, just let Anakin go!” He didn’t want Anakin to go through that again. He didn’t deserve that to happen to him. At the revelation that Obi-Wan was marked, Anakin’s head shot up and he looked over at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan tried to remember if he had ever told Anakin about his mate, but he was drawing a blank. Now was not the time to consider that.

“Hmm… too bad, not going to happen, though we can remove that mark and fetch both of you for a fitting price. And how ironic, that the mate of the Duchess Satine will help us fund our efforts to dethrone her.” The whip came sharp against his back once more, and he didn’t make a sound, though he could feel the blood drip down his back. He had been taking every strike, and thankfully, because he had been vocal about it, they were diverting their attention to him. Anakin had been receiving minimal blows, but nothing compared to what Obi-Wan had been dealing with.

“Now let’s see our other prize,” The Death Watch member walked over to Anakin, and sliced off his shirt, armor long since being removed. “You’re marked too? What happened to the Jedi not taking mates.”

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened, shocked that Anakin had also taken a mate. But judging by the look of defiance on his face, Anakin’s had been done on purpose. He had knowingly taken a mate. Part of him wanted to scold Anakin for his blatant disrespect for the Jedi Code, but this was not the time for that, and it would sound incredibly hollow with what he knew was his own disregard for it when it came to Satine.

“No matter, we can sell you both and after you’re purchased, just remove that mating mark of yours. You’ll both still be worth plenty of credits now that I think about it. A jedi omega. If your new alphas can break you, you will be a fine pet for them. Now, it’s your time on the sales floor.” Even behind the helmet, Obi-Wan could hear the smirk in his voice. He thrashed against the chains, wanting to do anything to wipe that smirk off his face but the chains were designed with holding a Jedi in mind, unwilling to bend with the use of the Force. The whip hit his back one last time, and Obi-Wan felt his body just go slack. He couldn’t take anymore pain.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin called, wanting him to respond but his fighting spirit had just… snapped. Or rather, his energy had faded. He had lost a lot of blood because of this, and the last whip against his skin, tearing at the flesh, was enough to cause him to give him. “Obi-Wan! You need to keep fighting, please.”

Obi-Wan didn’t respond, not wanting to let Anakin down, but he felt himself giving up. The Jedi Council didn’t know they had been taken. Their commlinks had been confiscated and he knew they had lost. At least they didn’t die at the hands of the war. For a moment, his mind flickered to Satine, his beloved. He didn’t want them to remove his mating mark, but because of what he knew it would do to her. Their bond had already been severed once before, but a purposeful removal of a mark was different. A heat and a rut would trigger in each of them, and nobody would be there to help her. He wished it had been different, they had been more careful. They should have been more careful.

“I’m sorry, Anakin.” Obi-Wan finally spoke, lifting his head to look at his former apprentice. “I failed you. I should have protected you from this, and I failed.”

“You didn’t fail me, we’ll find a way out of this. We always do.” Normally, Obi-Wan would agree with his optimism, but something like this wasn’t going to be easy, and with the chains preventing him from using the force, he knew there was nothing he could do. “... I suppose my secret’s out in the open now.”

“Is it Senator Amidala?” Obi-Wan asked, and watched as the color filled Anakin’s cheeks, turning him a bright red. Ah, so he was right in his suspicions that they were closer than they let on. “I’m not a moron, Anakin, I can see how you feel for her, feel it in the force. And honestly, who am I to scold you with the fact that you’re mated when I am too. You deserve to be happy, my friend.”

“When did you and the duchess…?” Anakin was almost afraid to ask, but they were being open with each other, laying their cards on the table. Anakin knew that it was because Obi-Wan thought they wouldn’t get out of this situation, but he hoped that Ahsoka would come, bringing their clone troopers and make a daring getaway.

“When I was still Qui-Gon’s padawan, when we were protecting the Duchess from bounty hunters. My blockers had been left at our previous camp and I went into a heat, a terrible thing at the most inconvenient time. During one of the times I was lucid, I asked Satine to… to…” His voice quieted, now it was his turn to blush “And she did, but we both got lost in the passion, and she marked me. She apologized but I was okay with it. I thought maybe it would make things easier, and I… honestly had become tired of denying how I felt. It did, until I had to leave. Leaving the other half of you is not easy, and I didn’t see her again until the council asked me to investigate Death Watch on Mandalore and then we became her protection detail on the Coronet.”

Before either of them could speak again, the platform they were on began to rise, and they found themselves in front of a small audience of, from the smell alone, Obi-Wan knew to be exclusively Alphas, many of which wearing Mandalorian armor.

“Alphas!” A voice boomed around them “I present to you two new options for sale, and they are not just any options, but they are Jedi as well!” A murmur rippled through the crowd, especially upon seeing both of their mating marks. “No worries, when you purchase these two find specimens, we will be more than happy to pay for their mark removal.”

A chill ran down Obi-Wan’s spine, and he wanted to fight against the chains, but he couldn’t. He was trapped in there, and his body was still aching from the whips. He didn’t want another alpha. He wanted Satine. No other.

He didn’t hear how much either of them were going for, focusing on the fear on Anakin’s face, the stress, and the smell of that stress in the air. He tried to use the force to calm Anakin down, knowing this was incredibly traumatic for him.

As the crowd started to bid on him, there was suddenly an explosion from behind the crowd. Emerging from the rubble was Satine, Padmé and a woman in full Mandalorian armor… another member of Death Watch? Then why was she fighting alongside Satine.

Alpha ! Obi-Wan’s inner Omega sang, and instead of being as excited as that part of him was, his body grew more limp. The blood loss was getting to him more and more each second. The last thing he remembered was Anakin calling out his name, and Satine pulling out a small trigger from somewhere before his consciousness finally faded.

Satine knew that she would regret what she was doing once she really thought about it, but seeing Obi-Wan and Anakin there, with Obi-Wan losing consciousness, chained up as they were about to be auctioned off… Well, rationality left her mind.

“You really thought two Jedi could go missing and no one would come looking for them?” Satine’s voice was angry, the calm and collected Duchess taking a back seat to the angry alpha in her mind. “You really thought you could take the mates of a Duchess and a Senator and not assume we would burn the world down looking for them?”

“You? The weak willed, pacifist duchess wouldn’t raise a finger,” A member of Death Watch spoke up as they landed in front of her “And you, Bo-Katan, I should have known you would betray us. You were always so weak when it came to your sister. Besides, you think you’re so good at hiding your weak nature, but nothing could keep the stench of Omega off of you. You’re lucky Pre is in the dark, otherwise you would be on that stand as well” Satine could feel her sister preparing to launch herself at the warrior, so she raised an arm to keep her where she was.

“I won’t raise a finger to hurt you, you’re right, but the same cannot be said for this place. And you act like I came without preparing for every circumstance. You see, you harmed my mate, and I won’t let that sit.” She passed the trigger over to Padmé with a smirk. “You know Senator Amidala, yes? That man right there is Anakin Skywalker, her mate, and unlike me, she doesn’t have a problem with violence. If I say the word, she will press that trigger, and a bomb will go off underneath your feet. The fall and the explosion won’t kill you, and we have members of their Clone Troopers on their way to arrest you all for your crimes. However, my darling sister,” She glanced at Bo, who had her blasters in her hand. “Is entirely willing to blast your heads off if any of you try anything. And well, if I don’t see her do it, who’s to say what she did.”

“You don’t have the guts to try.” The Death Watch member sneered as he pulled his weapon on Satine.

“You forget, I may be a pacifist, but I am also a Mandalorian, just as much as any of you are.” She turned her head away as Bo fired off a single shot, knocking them down. Many of the crowd quickly moved out of her way, and she stalked forward, her gaze on the unconscious form of her mate. Not long after they had made their way forward, the sound of Clone Troopers boots rang out and they came in to arrest many of the Alphas there.

Both she and Padmé came to a stop in front of their chained up Omega’s. Padmé moved first, moving to hug Anakin and pulled out a vibroblade to cut the chain that was holding him.

“Angel..” Anakin mumbled as he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck, breathing in her scent and allowing it to surround him. It took a moment for him to remember, and he pulled back. “Obi-Wan, we need to help him.”

But he didn’t need to say anything, because Satine was already trying to get him out of the chains, taking the blade from Padmé to cut them and catching Obi-wan as he fell forward. Her heart broke at the sight of the whip marks lining up and down his back. “Oh cyar’ika..” She mumbled, looking up as Bo moved forward.

“The clones have arrested many of them here. I… need to go before they think I’m involved too..” She glanced around for a moment before she looked down at Satine. “Thank you, vod, for helping me.”

Satine set Obi-Wan down for a moment before she got up and hugged her sister. “You are always welcome with me, Bo-Katan, if you ever choose to return to Mandalore, you will be welcome. You are my sister, and I will never turn you away.”

She felt Bo shudder in her arms before she wrapped her arms around Satine briefly, but then pulled back. “Not while you're the leader of Mandalore, Satine. We are not a peaceful people… and I can’t bear to see us like that…” She took a few steps back before she got her jetpack going and she flew off and out of there.

“K’oyacyi, Bo-Katan…” Satine mumbled, before her attention immediately went back to her mate. He was definitely looking worse for wear and she didn’t know how long he had been bleeding. She wasn’t strong enough to carry him back to the ship, but she looked over at Anakin. “Help me carry him.” He nodded and moved to lift up Obi-Wan, both him and Satine flinching at the pained moan he let out.

The four of them went back to the ship, in silence. As soon as they were back on the ship, Anakin sent Obi-Wan down on a bed, and went to aid Padmé in the take off. After grabbing some bacta to put on his wounds, Satine moved to brush a strand of hair out of his face, relieved as his eyes finally opened.

“Cyar’ika… thank the stars you’re okay.” Satine smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead “You scared me.”

“Hello, my darling.” Obi-Wan gave her a pained smile “If you are not the most beautiful sight I could have laid my eyes on.” Satine wanted to roll her eyes, deflect his attention, but she felt her skin heat and she smiled. She was hopelessly in love with this man.

She didn’t say anything at first, moving to start applying the bacta to his bare back. Even with it, it was going to take some time for him to heal. She glanced towards Anakin and Padmé for a moment, but realized that their secret was out in the open now. Anakin knew, truly knew, and they didn’t have to hide their relationship from him anymore.

“I want you to stay at my apartment on Coruscant with me for a few days,” She said, knowing that the fire that burned within her when she learned of Obi-Wan’s predicament still burned. She wanted to keep him close at least until she needed to return to Mandalore. “I need you by my side.”

“Satine, I…” He moved to sit up but quickly fell back to laying on his stomach at the pain. “I need to be at the temple. We can’t…”

“Please, Obi,” Her voice became slightly pleading. “I cannot begin to describe the way I felt when I heard that you went to investigate an Omega Auction ring, and seeing you chained up, unconscious, turned me into a woman I never wanted to be. The reason I want you by my side is entirely selfish, but I need to be sure you’re alright, that I haven’t lost you..”

There was a moment’s hesitation, and Satine was certain that he was going to say no again. She wouldn’t hold it against him. She knew just how important this was for him, to keep up the facade of the two of them not being together. If he said no again, she would understand, but she would still stay on Coruscant until she was certain he was okay. However, after a moment, she saw him nod.

“Okay, Satine, I’ll stay with you.”

She had to contain her emotions, but she moved to kiss his cheek. She would care for him there as an alpha should, help him heal before he would go back to his jedi duties.

It was the least she could do as she thought that she failed to protect him before.

[thechaoticfanartist]

The Screams Of Empire Day

Words: 3800

Summary: It is Empire Day, marking the twelve year anniversary of the rise of the Empire. Or for Grim the twelve year anniversary of the day the screaming began. To distract herself from the screaming of a long dead friend Grim decides to give the Empire a nice gift, only things go wrong and Grim is captured by the Empire, leaving her wife Ahsoka Tano to save her.

Pairings: Ahsoka Tano/Grim (OC)

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Implied/Referenced Torture, Past Death, Post Order 66

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @padme--amygdala @soclonely @mandomydad @mildy-radioactive @mrfandomwars @jgvfhl @milf-luminara @milfphasma @zeldaiscool19 @touchstarvedasclones @milfspectre1 @togrutanduin

Read On A03

His screams echoed in her head. It did not matter that those screams were from years ago, she still heard them, and she could never be rid of them. Years and years of hearing those screams, the horrible wails of agony haunting her, and the sinking guilt of knowing she could have prevented them. Grim had people for her now, she was never alone, she had her wife who would always stay by her side no matter what, still Grim feared to tell her what went on in her mind everyday, the screams that she could never escape. Today the screams were even louder than normal, today she couldn’t escape the screams, as today was the day that the screams occurred. Twelve years today Grim saw such gruesome things, things that as a teenager she never should have seen, but by then she had seen many things a child should not have seen. Today was Empire Day, the day where people celebrated the rise of the glorious Empire, and though Grim knew that the people who celebrated it weren’t aware of the horrible crimes that had happened that day she couldn’t help but feel angry at them. They could celebrate while all she could do was hear screams and mourn the horrible day it all happened. The day Grim witnessed more death than she should have ever seen, nay more death than anyone should have ever seen.

Grim got out of her bed, she gave Ahsoka a glance and kissed her on her forehead before heading outside their home. They lived on a quiet world, well it was quiet until several months ago when the Empire arrived. They had considered leaving but they had decided against it, perhaps they could help the people on it. The wives had yet to do anything heroic though, and for the most part they stayed off the Empire’s radar, though Grim was a suspect for criminal activities by them after she had blown up one of their tanks. She had gotten yelled at by her wife afterwords, having placed the two Jedi at risk, and Grim had no excuse, she was only doing that to vent out some anger at the Empire. Grim sat down in a field not far from their house at the edge of the town they lived in, and looked up at the sky. The sky was littered with stars, and distant planets, and had three very beautiful moons. Moons that Grim still wasn’t used to, it was funny, Grim had been in Star Wars for fifteen years and still wasn’t used to seeing multiple moons in the night sky, and for the three years she had spent staying with Obi-Wan on Tantooine she hadn’t gotten used to seeing two suns in the morning sky either. Grim had only ever been in one place that reminded her of her old home from her universe, yes universe, that was one of the many things special about the Jedi, that she wasn’t even from the universe she lived in, but from the one we are from. Grim continued to watch the early morning sky that still shared the qualities of night, she would not be able to lay back in bed with her wife, nor sleep again later, for the screams echoed in her head.

Yes we arrive back at the screams, to whom do the screams that haunt the Jedi belong to? Well it changes all the time, but mainly the screams belonged to that of Anakin Skywalker. Grim had been there on Mustafar for that fateful battle on that day, though she did not fight in it, for before that battle had begun she had lost an arm to Skywalker, having rushed to Mustafar without her master to help. After seeing that recording, watching as her friend cut down innocent children, and the masters that had tried vainly to protect them, Grim was filled with such an anger and hatred and rage that she had never felt before towards the man she considered her brother that she wanted to see him dead, and Grim knew her master would not be able to strike him down. Oh if Ahsoka knew of this, Grim was sure Ahsoka would despise her and Grim would not blame her, as Grim despised herself after all. When Grim had arrived on that hellscape of a world, she had marched towards Anakin, her lightsaber already ignited, the purple standing out against the reds,oranges,browns,and yellows of the planet’s surface. Grim had the full intent to strike down the fallen Jedi, but Anakin had stopped that with a swift slice of his own blade, severing the arm from the girl. Grim had been moments away from losing her head as well if it weren’t for the arrival of Padme Amidala. When Skywalker had noticed her ship arrive he pushed Grim back, as well as her arm and ran to greet his wife. Grim hadn’t bothered to watch, she could only stare at the arm that used to be attached to her, and stare at the scorch mark that was on the shoulder, where the blade had met flesh. It was not until she heard the ignition of a lightsaber that she looked away from the arm, only to see to her horror a duel began between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Grim had wanted to join, and had even pried open the hand that was no longer attached to her in order to retrieve her lightsaber. It was hard to do as she only had one arm left and it was her right arm, which was not the one she used, but she did manage in the end to pry her hand open. It was lucky that she had designed her saber to be curved as that was how she removed it from the hand, by using it as a lever and prying open the fingers. Once Grim had done that though she was already too late to stop the Jedi, and when she caught sight of them again Kenobi had already reached the high ground. He had warned Anakin to not do anything foolish but the fallen Jedi was too wrapped up in the dark that he did not heed his former master’s warning and Kenobi had sliced off Skywalker’s remaining limbs where he then fell into the lava and set ablaze, leading to him screaming. The same scream that haunted Grim now in the present as she watched the moons set and the sun rise on this awful day.

Such an awful day it was, to others it meant the day a horrible war ended in victory, the day the bloodshed ended, and the day peace once again ruled. That was a nice idea, one Grim wish was true, for if it was she could enjoy this day, and perhaps even ignore the scream that grew ever louder. It was the scream that reminded the Jedi what today really represented, This day was the day an entire people were massacred, leaving very few left. This was the day that children were slaughtered without mercy in their own home, a place that they thought safe, a sanctuary from the war that burned across the galaxy. This was the day that men who had grown to be more than the soldiers they were bred for lost their identities, their minds wiped clear of their emotions, leaving them only a faceless army as they butchered their friends, family, lovers, without remorse and only because they could not feel, not after the Sith had taken away their minds, their lives. Yes, Grim was aware that it wasn’t only the Jedi that suffered horribly that day, she knew the clones did too, and now just like Jedi very few clones remained. Today was the day that the light went out in the galaxy replaced by the dark masquerading as a friend. Grim laughed hollowly, despite the atrocities people still believed the dark really was the same as the light’s embrace, but in reality the darkness suffocated people, and they choked on it believing it to be the warm hug of the light. Empire Day was not a day to be celebrated but a day to mourn the many who suffered on that day and the years that came after. If you were a Jedi who survived the atrocity of Order 66, you would still be hunted and killed, or worse, you would be captured, tortured, broken until you became a tool for the people who killed your family and sent to do the same, a shell of the person you used to be. If you were a clone you would live a shadow of the man you were until the Empire lost its use for you and then you would be discarded like garbage and left to rot and die all alone, for no one cares for a clone. The Jedi cared for them, but the Jedi now lay as corpses, many dead by their own bullets.

The sun was now fully in the sky and Grim noticed as the early risers began to wake and make their daily routines in life, sighing knowing that this meant her time of silent mourning was over Grim stood up and headed back to her home. Ahsoka would still be asleep and so Grim considered trying and getting some rest but she knew it would be pointless, after all Grim could not sleep with the awful day that had begun. What was worse was Grim knew she had to go along to the festivities, though she found comfort in the fact that she would not be alone, Ahsoka would be by her side. Still Grim was angry today, because as the scream reminded her, today was the day people suffered horrible fates. Grim decided she was going to get some revenge today, even if revenge was not the Jedi way, there were no Jedi left to stop her. Upon reaching her home Grim began to plan to sabotage the parade that would go through the town today. When it would start it would end, for Grim planned to rig it to explode when it powered on. The crime was not as big as one that fit the Empire after what it did but she felt it would suffice. Grim checked the time once she had finished her plans, she still had another hour before Ahsoka would wake up, and so Grim left the house again.

The town was full of stormtroopers paroling the streets for anyone who might try and sabotage, so it was a good thing Grim wasn’t on the streets. Grim leaped from the roofs, careful to avoid being spotted by the troopers. She enjoyed the rush of bounding from roof to roof, the wind flying through her hair, the energy that pumped through her, the pounding of her heart, and if she closed her eyes she could almost feel like she was a padawan again. A young and reckless child unaware of the horrors she would face, yet untouched by the darkness that would tear away her innocence. A smile came across Grim’s face as she remembered her silly game with Cody, all because of Obi-Wan’s reckless habit of dropping his lightsaber, the smile fell when Grim realized they never did count that final point, and see who won the game of who could pick up Obi-Wan’s lightsaber more. Though Grim’s sadness did not last long as she continued to imagine the better days, the friendship she built with Anakin, dealing with silly rumors that she was the daughter of Obi-Wan because of their similar features, though Grim only felt they shared the same color of hair, and his was more red while hers more blonde, she never did get what other features they shared that made people jump to the idea that she was his secret daughter. Suddenly Grim felt a very sharp pain in her legs and she shot open her eyes, she hadn’t even realized they had closed while being lost in memory. There was screaming and at first she thought it was the same scream that echoed in her head but then she realized the screams were coming from her, realizing this Grim covered her mouth, but it was too late several stormtroopers had heard her cries and ran to investigate. “Um, hello there,” she greeted awkwardly, the pain in her legs caused her ears to ring and her vision was blurry from unshed tears of pain. Though her vision wasn’t so blurry for her to not see the stormtrooper look at her bag. The black bag had fallen off her during her tumble from the roof and it had opened the contents having spilled out, revealing several objects that were enough to turn her in for treason, the most prominent of those objects however was a black lightsaber hilt with a red curved end. The stormtroopers pointed their blasters at her and Grim raised her arms in surrender, there was no escaping this.

Grim was led to the imperial base, and she did not fight back, unable to do so in her condition. She noticed that the trooper in front of her was looking at her lightsaber with much curiosity, “what, never seen a Jedi’s lightsaber before?” she asked him. “I’m not surprised, after all twelve years ago today your Empire killed all of us, not even sparing the children,” she added, her tone calm, hiding her fury well.

“Shut up, you scum,” the stormtrooper shot back, clipping her lightsaber to his belt.

“ Scum ?” replied Grim, offended. “It was the scum of the Empire that eradicated my family and friends, slaughtered children, and still does so without much care. Tell me, trooper who truly is the scum?” she asked, fury seeping into her voice.

The stormtrooper did not reply, and Grim held her head high as she was taken into the compound and led to the holding cells. The entire time she was being led, Grim observed the area, mentally taking notes of every small detail, any openings she could use in an escape, cover in case of a shoot out, and that seemed inevitable with her escape, subtly had never been her specialty, as her master would always tell her. Every tiny detail that she could use Grim would note for later, creating a mental map of the facility. When they reached her cell the troopers violently shoved her inside and closed the metal door, locking her inside. Now Grim was alone with only her thoughts to keep her company, her thoughts and the screams. Empire Day was never a good day but it really wasn’t a good day today. Grim could only hope the Empire did not recognize her, she could not deal with Vader on top of everything else. Though Grim would not mind being tortured right about now, she knew it would happen and right now she could not stand being alone with his screams. Perhaps that was her torture to hear the screams of her brother, though she knew the Empire did not know of what haunted her, today more than any other day. The cell door opened and a man dressed in the dull grey of the empire came in, Grim looked up at him, “come to question me?” she asked the man, once the door closed behind him leaving the two alone, except for the two stormtroopers that stood at either side of the man.

The man stood directly in front of the Jedi, “perspective little Jedi aren’t you?” he remarked calmly.

“Perhaps I am,” Grim spat back, trying to maintain what little dignity she had left.

The imperial chuckled, “and feisty too.” His expression turned stern as he stared directly into Grim’s green eyes, this made her uncomfortable and she shifted slightly to avoid his gaze. “Now Jedi, what is your name?” he asked.

“Something that doesn’t belong to you,” she spat. “Very few can speak it, thanks to your Empire’s genocide of my family, I will not have an enemy know.”

“Well I need something to call you, Jedi.” he retorted.

“Call me Jedi just as you have,” Grim shot back. “It’s a nice reminder that we’re not all gone.”

“Enough with your games, Jedi, what is your name?”

Grim stopped her smirk dropping. Messing with this man was dangerous, she could tell. Taking a deep breath Grim considered all her options, she still had the force, and she could probably take out the two guards in the cell with her simply by banging their heads together with enough force to knock them unconscious and then she could take one of the blasters, and with that she could threaten the man that was questioning her, causing the two guards outside her cell to rush in, and she could use that opening to escape the cell. She could make the rest of the plan on the go. “My name is…” Grim reached out into the force and grabbed hold of both troopers and banged them together, causing them to drop their blasters and go down. Then with the force she called one of the blasters to her, “Jedi.” Grim pointed the blaster at the man, and then said loud enough for the other guards to hear, “open this cell or he dies!” The man began to reach for the other blaster but Grim kicked it out of the way, “don’t think about it,” she told him sternly. The other two troopers rushed in and Grim fired the blaster, the bolts hitting them in the heart, killing them both instantly, then Grim ran out and locked the cell door, leaving the man trapped.

Grim began running as fast as she could towards the exit, but halfway there she remembered she needed her lightsaber. “Lightsaber is my life, I can’t lose it,” she muttered. Grim changed course, she didn’t know where her lightsaber was being kept but she trusted that the force would lead her to it. “Oh force, I’ve turned into my master,” she realized much to her own horror. Just then the alarms started the blare, “kark,” she said, “they’ve realized.” Grim started to take off even faster, stormtroopers began to shoot at her and Grim shot back, rolling behind a crate for cover. “Heh, look at me now, using a blaster, how uncivilized,” she joked to herself.

There was the sound of lightsabers igniting and Grim turned around to see Ahsoka standing over her, her white lightsabers standing out against the dull grey of the Empire’s design. Ahsoka tossed Grim her lightsaber, “well if you need a more civilized weapon.”

Grim grinned, and ignited her purple saber, and stood up joining Ahsoka in deflecting the shots. “Thanks for the save, babe, but I think I had it under control,” Grim told her.

“The alarms, and blasterfire say differently,” Ahsoka replied, getting in front of Grim and redirecting a shot that almost hit her. “Not to mention you were going the wrong way for your lightsaber,” she added.

Grim rolled her eyes and positioned herself to be back to back with Ahsoka. The two Jedi fought off the stormtroopers together, the troopers dropping dead like flies as the wives overpowered them. “Just like old times, huh?” Grim asked as she deflected another shot. “Except instead of droids it’s stormtroopers.”

“And instead of having backup it’s just us,” Ahsoka retorted as the two turned around, switching spots. “Seriously, Grim what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I could give the Empire a gift for Empire Day!” replied Grim, sending a shot directly at a stormtrooper’s head. The two switched around again, “force! Where are all these troopers coming from?!”

“Where do you think , Grim?” Ahsoka retorted.

Grim looked around confused before realizing Ahsoka was talking about how they were in the only imperial building in town. “Oh.” Again the two switched, fighting perfectly together, “when are we gonna get out of here?” Grim asked.

“You didn’t have a plan?” Ahsoka asked, shocked.

“Have I ever?” Grim retorted, sending a kick to a stormtrooper's stomach causing him to tumble to the ground.

Ahsoka sighed, sometimes her wife could be really tiring, “not really, okay follow me,” she deactivated her blades and Grim turned around and followed, deflecting any stray shots. The two Jedi reached the exit and ran out into the streets, where Grim instantly collapsed into Ahsoka.

“Looks like I’ve fallen for you,” Grim joked lightly.

“Not the time!” Ahsoka shouted.

“You’re right,” agreed Grim, “but seriously my leg is injured I can’t run anymore.”

Ahsoka sighed and picked Grim up, carrying her like a bride, Ahsoka looked down and saw Grim’s face. “Don’t,” she pleaded.

“Just like our wedding.”

“Yes, because I remember running away from the Empire while having to carry my injured wife on our wedding day,” Ahsoka remarked.

Eventually the two reached their home, and upon doing so Ahsoka dropped Grim on the couch and locked all the doors in the house. Once she was sure they were safe Ahsoka turned on her wife, “Grim, what were you even thinking?!”

“I’m sorry, Ash, It’s just it’s Empire Day and I….I couldn’t stand the idea of people celebrating today when today is also the day…” Grim trailed off and bowed her head. “The day....” tears filled her eyes.

Ahsoka’s face softened and she sat down next to Grim and held her gently. “The day we lost everything,” she finished for her. Ahsoka sighed and brushed her fingers through Grim’s hair and Grim allowed herself to cry for the first time today. The two of them just sat there on the couch in silence, save for Grim’s sobs for the longest time.

“I-I was there,” Grim choked out after about half an hour. “At the temple I mean, I saw it, saw what happened to it,” she explained. “The younglings ...oh force, Ahsoka the younglings , they had been slaughtered without mercy, it was horrible,” Grim began to sob again. “Their faces still haunt me, the betrayal etched on them, killed by those they trusted. T-then Anakin. ..his screams , I hear his screams everyday, oh Ahsoka I am so sorry , they’re all dead because of me, will you ever forgive me?”

Ahsoka held Grim even tighter and kissed her on her forehead, “Grim,” she whispered softly, she brushed away some of the hair away from Grim’s face, “of course I forgive you,” Ahsoka put her face closer to Grim’s. The two Jedi stared into their eyes, green and blue, then slowly Ahsoka brushed her lips against Grim’s. “It was never your fault, and never will be,” Ahsoka kissed Grim, closing her eyes. Grim smiled against the kiss and kissed Ahsoka back. Maybe Empire Day wasn’t all bad.

[beewisethoblog]

Betrayal of the Cruelest Kind

Prompt: You Find Out Obi-Wan Faked His Death

Author’s Note: So I was watching the Clone Wars and the Deception arc came up where Obi-Wan fakes his death, and I was feeling angsty because of it, so this came into existence. Let me know if you’d be interested in a part two, I’m thinking of writing more from this.

Word Count: 1,989 words

It had been weeks since the night Obi-Wan died and the snake of pain that constricted your chest still hadn’t lessened its hold. Everything around you felt like a reminder of him and that he was gone.

Your apartment felt littered with him and his things. An extra cloak he left once when he visited hung by the entrance. The glass he chipped while the group had been over for dinner. His favorite drink sitting untouched in the fridge. Pictures on the walls of him. Even toiletries he bought and left there from the times he would watch over you as your bodyguard and needed to stay the night. You could barely stand to be home anymore.

Yet the streets weren’t much better. Everywhere you looked you saw him. There would be the flash of a cloak in a crowd, and your heart would pound in anticipation only to remember that he was gone, and the cloak couldn’t be him. You would pass someone with his same strawberry blonde hair and reach for them only to apologize as a stranger stared back at you.

He haunted you not just in your waking state, but in your sleep as well. You were tormented by images of him being shot and falling from that roof, the limpness of his body, the lifelessness of his face. You hadn’t been there when it happened, and yet somehow you knew that what you saw was the reality. You would wake, every night, sobbing, clutching the robe that once belonged to him, his scent long replaced with your own after the countless nights you held onto it. You had taken to using his soap from the other bathroom just to remember what he smelt like.

None of this went unnoticed by Anakin and Ahsoka, who had taken to spending every day they could with you since that night. You and Anakin found solace in each other and your kindred aching hearts. The two of your had always been close, Anakin was the one who introduced you to Obi-Wan after all, but in those weeks your friendship had only gotten stronger. You were the reason he didn’t kill Obi-Wan’s murderer and instead sent him to jail, you kept him reeled into the light side, stopped him from falling too deep into his emotions.

Anakin had suspected before your feelings for Obi-Wan, but seeing your reaction, smelling his soap on your skin, seeing you wearing his robe around your apartment made him sure. It had never been outright stated, you never felt it needed to be, but you loved him. Even now, even though you knew he was gone, your heart still yearned for him. You only wished that you hadn’t felt like you had all the time in the world with him, that you hadn’t taken the time you did have for granted. You knew that Obi-Wan adhered to the Jedi code, and you never wanted to make him choose between his life, so the two of you had never been anything more than friends. But you had been content just being close to him, knowing you couldn’t be anything more.

The man who murdered him, Rako Hardeen, had been put in jail. The night Anakin confronted him, you had almost wished he would have killed him, that you could have gotten revenge, justice for the hurt that man had caused you, for the life he ripped away from you. You knew that Anakin had done the right thing deep down though, that he had done it for Obi-Wan and for you. But that was until Hardeen managed to escape jail, sending you and Anakin almost off the deep end. Ahsoka was the one who had to remind you two to keep a level head.

An unspoken agreement had gone between you and Anakin then. You could see the anger in Anakin’s eye, and you knew that he wouldn’t give Hardeen another chance if he found him. A part of you felt it should stop him, but the greater part of you wanted nothing more than to see Hardeen dead.

You, of course, weren’t allowed to accompany him and Ahsoka, seeing as you weren’t a Jedi. They had bid you goodbye three days ago. It was the first time that you had been truly alone, and Anakin realizing this, had sent Padme your way.

You went to bed late one night, after going out drinking with Padme. You had both fallen asleep on your couch. It was barely hours later and you woke to a loud banging at your front door. Padme was stirring next to you on the couch and the two of you turned towards the door, wincing at the headache forming in both of your heads.

The banging didn’t stop, and you groan as you walk over to the door. You had barely opened it when Anakin pushes it open and comes stomping through, Ahsoka following behind him.

“Master, you need to calm down.” Ahsoka tries to tell him, but you could tell her heart wasn’t in it. She too seemed upset. You were just standing there, staring at them with confusion, unsure about what was happening.

“Calm down! Snips, how am I supposed to calm down after what we just learned?”

You gasped as Anakin turned around and you saw all the bruises littering his face. You take a step closer to him, reaching out.

“Anakin what happened?” From the couch, you could see Padme’s worry as well. Anakin stepped away from your touch, turning away from you again in anger.

“Ahsoka what happened? Did you find Hardeen?” You ask the padawan instead, seeing how upset Anakin was.

“Oh, we found him all right.” Anakin scoffs, and you look to Ahsoka for answers. Her eyes seemed red as if she had been crying, and you could see the disappointment she held in them.

“What does that mean? Is he the one that gave you those bruises?” You look between the two of them anxious for answers.

“Y/N, I think you might want to sit down,” Ahsoka says gently, leading you back towards the couch, where Padme watched with the same confusion you felt.

“Y/N…” Ahsoka starts before sighing and looking towards her master. She seemed to not know how to continue. “Obi-Wan, he’s-“ You continue to stare at her, mind racing for what she could say next. “Well, he’s alive.”

You gasp and look at Padme, whose face was equally in shock.

“What do you mean he’s alive! I thought-I thought that he was killed by that blaster! We buried him, I was there at the funeral, he can’t be alive.” You ramble, heart beating out of your chest, breaths uneven.

“We found him. Turns out Hardeen didn’t kill him-” Ahsoka continues. “But Y/N-“

“What’s the matter then! He’s alive! This is great news. This is- I- can I-“

“Y/N-“ Ahsoka tries to interrupt, but you ignored her, pushing to your feet.

“Can I- can I see him? Where is he? Is he alright? Where has he been?”

“Y/N,” Ahsoka urges and you turn to her expectantly.

“Obi-Wan faked his death. He’s been masquerading as Hardeen.” Anakin finally spits out and you blink at him.

“I don’t understand.” You reply slowly, taking in Anakin’s angry face and the downcast eyes of Ahsoka. “What do you mean he faked his death? Why- why wouldn’t he have told any of us?”

Padme stands up and puts her arms around you, seeing how your form was shaking, and tears were starting to form in your eyes. You lean against her as you try to steady your breath, each one coming out ragged and dry.

“Anakin, please explain.” Padme pushes.

“We tracked Hardeen to Nal Hutta. There we spotted him on a ship with Bane and managed to get them to land. Hardeen came out of the ship and I attacked him in anger,” Anakin closes a fist. “He defeated me, but I felt Obi-Wan’s presence. I had a suspicion that he was still alive. When I confronted the council about it at the temple, they revealed it to be true.” Anakin finally looks you in the face, his eyes tormented with emotions. You could see the worry he held for you at this revelation. “He’s alive Y/N.”

Tears start to stream down your face, emotions conflicted within you. Obi-Wan was alive. The man you cared for deeply and wanted nothing more in the world to see again was alive. You imagined being able to look up into his blue eyes and see his smile as he teased you for missing him, as you hugged him and felt his arms around you.

And yet, you couldn’t help the anger building up inside of you. He left you. He let you think that he had been killed, that his murderer was out there on the loose, and instead, he was there alive, pretending to be somebody else. Were all those sleepless nights spent crying for him, was the pain that had been left in your chest all for nothing? He left you and the people who care about him in misery for what? Secret intel for the Republic? Is that really all you mean to him? 

And then it hit you. If not you, then Anakin. How could he do this to his best friend?

Your heart pained as you realize that the Jedi would always come first, that if he could leave you like this, in pain, not realizing what his death would do to you and the others, then he truly never cared for you. The need of the Republic and his duty came before anything he felt for anyone. He was a Jedi after all, they weren’t supposed to have attachments. Maybe you had all been fooled into thinking you meant something to him.

You pull out of Padme’s arms then, and Anakin and Ahsoka look at you in worry, taking a step forward. Your face had hardened, and your fists were clenched. You wanted to scream, you wanted to throw something, you wanted to sob and bang your hands against the floor and rid yourself of the pain that was growing in your chest. But you just stood there breathing heavily, tears streaming silently down your face. It wasn’t until one of them tried to reach for you that a scream finally cut through your mouth and you screamed and sobbed till your throat felt raw. And all around you objects started to fly against walls, crashing and crumbling to the ground. You sank to the floor as destruction ensued around you. Ahsoka was calling your name, and Anakin you could feel had gone to protect Padme.

“Y/N, it’s okay. You’re okay. Calm down.” Ahsoka wrapped her arms around you, and you turned to sob into her. The shattering and noise quieted suddenly, and your head pounded some more as you finally felt your self calm down. You were afraid to open your eyes, to look around you at the destruction you had somehow created without lifting a hand.

Suddenly you felt another body wrap you in their arms, and you knew it was Anakin. And then Padme was there too, and together you all cried for the betrayal of someone who was meant to be a friend. Of the pain you endured for weeks under the false belief of his passing. Of your shared misery through the bond you all felt at that moment.

“How can I ever forgive him?” You whisper hoarsely as you all pull apart. You stare at Anakin then, and you saw the same conflicting feelings in his eyes.

“I don’t know.” He answers honestly.

[rainydaydream-gal18]

Rex x Reader: Gray Sky

(Author’s Note: That bonus ending just sort of happened XDDD.  It made me smile!  Enjoy! 

Word Count: 1,469)

    The overcast sky painted the city outside your window gray.  Pressing a hand against the cool glass, you exhaled and watched the rain patter on the other side.  There were no meetings today.  Nothing.  There was some paperwork if you were desperate for something to do, but you couldn’t bring yourself to sit quietly and work.

   It wasn’t clear whether the dull weather reflected your mood or was causing it.  Either way, you wished to break out of the cycle.  The life of a politician in your time could be lonesome.  Some days you were surrounded by allies, and other days, there was no one to be found.  Today was the latter.  You had even tried contacting your friend, Padme, to see if she wanted company as well, but she told you she had a guest arriving that afternoon already.  With a heavy heart, you told her to enjoy her day in the cheeriest voice you could muster and ended the holo-comm.

   It was times like these you almost wished you hadn’t fallen for a soldier.  Of all the men in your home country- fellow politicians and activists- and men from other lands you had met over the course of your career, you fell for a captain who was forbidden to have a relationship.  But that was because, out of all the men you had met, none were quite like him.

   There was no reason to fret over it now.  He was on duty somewhere.

   You pulled the robe tighter over your form and walked over to the door leading to the balcony.  It wasn’t recommended that you spend time out there because it made you more vulnerable, but just for once, you felt like forgetting about protocol.  No one was here to tell you “no,” so you might as well take advantage of it.  You unlocked the door, and it automatically slid open.

   The air was warm and damp, and the scent of rain on duracrete filled your nose.  It was a strangely calming smell, reminding you of warm rainy days as a child.  The ships and speeders below were a distant hum.  Eyes closed, you lifted your face to the sky and let the cool raindrops fall on your skin.  It made you miss going outside in the spring rain back home.  It was about time you visited.  Springtime was so beautiful there; so many flowers blooming, their petals and sweet scents filling the air...

   A particularly loud ship cut through your nostalgia as it zipped by a few levels down.  You watched it for a moment before closing your eyes again.  Home continued to occupy your thoughts, and you felt your face twist from sadness.

   “You shouldn’t be out here.”

   You spun around to face the source of the voice.  It had sounded like him, but there’s no way it could be.

   “Rex?  You’re here.”

   “Yes, I’m here.”  He opened his arms, and you quickly embraced him.  “The question is, what are you doing out here on a balcony on Coruscant with no security?”

   “It’s my day off.”  You buried your face in his shoulder.  “Officially, I’m not even here.  As a matter of fact, how did you find me?”

   “General Skywalker is here to see the Senator.”

   Funny thing is he didn’t even have to say which senator.  You knew all too well.

   “She told me she had a guest arriving today.  It all makes sense now,” you mumbled.  “She could’ve just told me!”

   “I inquired on your whereabouts, for official purposes of course.”

   “But of course,” you nodded in mock seriousness.

   “And she was happy to oblige.”

   “Do you think she suspects anything?”

   “I am ninety-nine point nine percent sure both she and Skywalker suspect something.  In fact, he teased me about it on my way out.”

   You laughed.  “Well, it was bound to happen sometime.”

   Now that Rex saw you up close, the smile disappeared.  He reached up and wiped a bead of moisture from your cheek.

   His caramel eyes met yours.  “_______, are you alright?”

   “Yeah, just getting some fresh air,” you responded.  “And it happens to be raining outside.”

   “This isn’t a raindrop, ________.”

   “I was just lonely is all,” you admitted.  “I miss friends, home, and I miss you.”

   His expression fell, eyes softening and lips forming a frown.  He pulled you into another tight hug.  “I’m sorry.”

   “It’s alright.”  The tears came back at the realization that he was really here.  “You have your duty, and I have mine.  We knew what we were getting into.”

   He sighed.  “I know.  I just don’t like being away from you, and I don’t like how it hurts you too.”

   The rain picked up at that moment.  It steadily went from a quiet trickle to a heavy downpour.  You and Rex pulled away from each other, smiling.  You ran a hand over his buzzcut, only darkened by the rain.  He then reached up to touch your hair.

   “I know, I know.  My hair looks like a mop,” you joked. 

   “It’s beautiful.”  He then wrapped his arms around you and lifted you up, carrying you back inside.  The automatic door shut behind him, and he set you down.

   “So, what do you say?” You asked, planting a kiss on his cheek.  “Do we enjoy an afternoon indoors and order in, or go out to eat?”

   “Well, it depends.”  Rex shook his head.  “How long will it take you to decide what you’re in the mood for.”

   You rolled your eyes.  “Oh, please.  It doesn’t take me that long.”

   “Whatever you say.”

   “Here, let me get my cloak.”  You had a special cloak designed to hide your features so you would not be recognized in public.  You were a politician respected by many, but also in danger because of the Republic you stood for.

   “Guess we’re eating out then,” he chuckled.  “There’s a place the boys in 501st told me about.  It’s only a block or so away.  You up for it?”

   “I believe so.”

   The two of you downstairs to exit the building.  As you stepped out into the pouring rain, it was a totally different feeling than earlier when you were on the balcony.  The sky didn’t seem so dark.  The raindrops didn’t seem so cold.  The day overall didn’t seem so lonely anymore.  You looped your arm with Rex’s, unable to stop stealing glances at him as he led you to the restaurant. 

        - - - - Bonus ending - - - - 

   The bell chimed as you and Rex opened the door.  It wasn’t anything fancy, just a small diner with a few customers sitting here and there.  Some sat in booths, others sat at the counter, and a few more were waiting for takeout.

   There was a couple dressed in bland cloaks about to be seated.  They spoke quietly to each other, but something sounded awfully familiar.  Suddenly, one turned around and looked you dead in the eyes.

   “________?” she said, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

   “Padme,” you stated, equally shocked.

   The other figure turned around.  “Rex?”

   “Skywalker?  What are you doing here?”

   Never had you seen Anakin look so caught-off-guard.  You had to refrain from laughing at his wide-eyed expression.

   “We heard about this place...Well, I did from some of the men...”  Anakin replied.  “So I thought we’d, er, have lunch.”

  The four of you exchanged looks, eyes shifting from person to person.  Finally, you spoke, looking at Padme. 

   “So, a guest, huh?”

   She folded her arms and whispered, “Well, what was I supposed to tell you? That I was meeting with my secret husband?”

   “It’s not really a secret that something's going on with you two,” you whispered back.  “But I will admit,” you clasped your hands together, “I did not know you were officially married.  So, congratulations to you on that.  But that’s beside the point...”

   She sighed.  “I wasn’t expecting you to be supportive considering this is against the rules.”

   “Are you kidding me?  I would have gotten you a wedding present if I’d known.  And well, as you can see I am in no place to judge.”

   While you and Padme exchanged words, the men stood there absolutely baffled.

   “Should we….get a table together?” Rex asked finally.

   The four of you exchanged looks again. 

   “No, no,” Anakin protested.  “This is already getting out of hand.  Let’s just say that your business is your own, and our business is ours.”

   “Yeah, you’re right,” you agreed.  “That would be odd.”

   The group fell silent, with only the sound of plates and silverware around you.

   Minutes later, you and Rex found yourself seated across from Anakin and Padme.  Anakin had been reluctant to share a table, but in the end, both couples were too curious to let the opportunity go by.

   “This day just keeps getting better and better,” you remarked with a smile.