#he resents the jedi for what they are but he also resents them for not being what they were supposed to be

[delkios]

Still can't get over the fact that after a year (two?) with the Empire, Scorch makes commander while Boss led one of the top commando squads for three years with the Republic and never got promoted passed sergeant.

[menaceborn]

maul hates the jedi because sidious brainwashed him, but he hates them even more for not saving him

[marsbotz]

ohhh star wars prequels save me ……

[neonmoonster]

“Of course I didn’t want you!”

Anakin recoiled like he had been slapped.

The anger he had felt only moments before towards the man in front of him dissipated and reformed into the keenest hurt he had ever experienced.

He had known this, of course—had known it forever, and he had prepared himself for the day the truth finally came out, building walls around his heart and forcing distance between himself and Obi-Wan for this very inevitability—but actually hearing it, actually hearing Obi-Wan say those words aloud? 

Nothing could have prepared Anakin for this moment.

I didn’t want you. 

Obi-Wan was still talking, ranting, but his words seemed far away, distant, like he was standing at the end of a tunnel, miles away from Anakin, who felt lightheaded, unsteady on his feet.

“—ster had just died, the Sith were back, and here was this boy,” Obi-Wan’s voice, tight and forceful, floated in and out of the air, “This boy for whom my master discarded me without a second thought, this boy, who was now my responsibility to raise and train.”

Anakin couldn’t look at him. Didn’t want to see the resentment in the set of his mouth, the long-buried hatred in the furrow of his brow. 

“My responsibility—me, a barely knighted Jedi, practically a padawan myself.”

Obi-Wan let out a bark of disbelieving laughter, a sharp edge to it that sliced Anakin to his core.

“I could barely take care of myself in the days after Qui-Gon died, let alone another human being. And now I had the duty to fulfill my master’s dying wish to train this boy on the off-chance that he would save the galaxy.” 

Do not cry.

Anakin willed himself to keep looking down, to stay impassive, to not raise Obi-Wan’s ire higher than it already was. If he betrayed how much these words cut him, how deep a wound they inflicted on his heart, then the magnitude of his attachment would be revealed, and that would only make Obi-Wan hate him more. 

And Anakin didn’t think he could take any more of Obi-Wan’s hate.

Do not cry.

He heard Obi-Wan take a steadying breath, audibly reigning himself in. When he spoke next, his voice was softer, yet reverberated through Anakin's mind as if he had screamed them.

“So, no. I did not want you.” 

He sensed Obi-Wan, his accursed, beloved former master, take a step towards him. Anakin stilled, a horrible thought overtaking him.

Would he strike him? Obi-Wan had never—would never—but he had also never said anything like this out loud to Anakin before. He had finally crossed the line.

Done the un-take-back-able.

Anakin had always walked a thin line with Obi-Wan, pushing and prodding, bringing out Obi-Wan’s frustration, his rolled eyes, dry jabs, and sometimes disappointed frown, but he had somehow avoided tipping the scales all the way over—at least, not until now.

Now, when he had finally pushed too far. 

Fuck. 

Do not cry. Do not cry—

A hand fell on his shoulder. It took everything in Anakin not to flinch.

“But don’t you ever think,” Obi-Wan said, the fierce passion back in his voice and Anakin’s stomach sank, sank sank. “Not even for one second, that you were not the best thing to ever happen to me.” 

Anakin’s head snapped up in shock. The very thing he had wanted to avoid doing at all costs, but surely he had misheard, surely Obi-Wan had not just said what he just said—

“You are the best friend I have ever had,” Obi-Wan said, and there was still that hard edge to his words, but now that Anakin was looking at him, he saw that his master's eyes were not filled with anger-hate-bitterness like he had feared, but simple determination.

A serious expression, but one that was interlaced with a gentleness that Anakin could only describe as fond.

“It has been… the honor and delight of my life to teach you,” Obi-Wan said, and Anakin couldn’t move because the truth of it was ringing in the Force, unmistakable and passionate and firm. “And now to fight and live beside you as equals.”

Was Anakin dreaming?

A flicker of a smile crossed Obi-Wan’s face, like he was lost in remembrance and, oh, Anakin’s heart couldn’t take it, couldn’t handle this emotional whiplash, his greatest fear and most secret hope come to life over the course of a single conversation.

“It only took you about a day and a half to win me over. I was petrified every day that I would mess you up, leave you worse than I found you, let you down, Qui-Gon down, the galaxy down—but not once did I regret you. Not once would I have traded you away from anything.”

Obi-Wan squeezed Anakin’s shoulder and Anakin shuddered, letting out a choked whimper that he immediately wished he could take back, but Obi-Wan’s eyes softened, and through their bond Anakin could only feel kindness, affection, maybe even—

Obi-Wan's expression shifted once more, for the first time his steadiness in the force wavering, and he swallowed, appearing nervous, if Anakin didn't know any better.

"I do not always find it easy to express myself with words, like this. It is... difficult for me. But it appears that it is necessary today."

Anakin stared at him helplessly.

“I am unbearably sorry that I have ever made you believe otherwise. That you could ever think that you are not my favorite person in the world.”

Anakin could not stop the tear from falling down his cheek. And Obi-Wan Kenobi, high general of the Republic Army, one of the strongest, most respected masters in the Jedi Order, and Anakin's former teacher, gently caught it with the pad of his thumb and wiped it away.

"You are," Obi-Wan's voice came out rough and tinged with something that made Anakin's breath catch in his throat. But then just as quickly, Obi-Wan gave him a small smile, his voice clear once more, even dry and teasing.

“I hope that's alright with you.”

Anakin's answering smile was watery, but it could have lit up the entire galaxy anyhow.

[obiwanwhat]

I know someone has probably said this better but. There's really so much about Luke & Ahsoka interactions that can be explored. Because honestly they have every reason to resent each other?

Anakin was arguably much more of a father to Ahsoka than he ever was to Luke (even if he was more of an older brother figure to Ahsoka than an actual father figure). He trained her and built her lightsabers and had a dumb nickname for her and made dad jokes and like - everything Luke ever could have wanted out of his dad. She knew him when he was still Anakin Skywalker and not Darth Vader. She knew Padme!! Padme also was kind of her mom! Luke doesn't even know Padme's name until sometime post ROTJ - it's possible Ahsoka was the first person who could have told it to him.

Not only that, but she had the Jedi Order. She was trained by the Order at its peak, raised from infancy in the rituals and knowledge that Luke now must piece together from whispers from ghosts and whatever old texts he can scrounge up from the corners of the galaxy the Empire somehow missed. He is doing all of this on his own with no guidance, no oversight, meanwhile it's knowledge that came to her as easy as breathing.

And she walked away from all of it. Everything Luke has ever wanted - a relationship with his parents, proper Jedi training, the Jedi Order itself - she had without ever asking for it, and she walked away from it without a backward glance. And she's still walking away from it - she's not a Jedi, she won't claim that title, she won't join Luke's new Order. Maybe she shows up from time to time and tells him some stories and shares from knowledge, but she won't train him, and somewhere deep down he knows that he will never be as much of a Jedi as she is even though she doesn't claim that title anymore, and part of the reason because is she won't help him.

And for Ahsoka's part. Anakin returned from the Dark Side for Luke. He couldn't - or wouldn't - return for Ahsoka, who he trained, who knew him and loved him and would have died for him. He tried to kill her and would have if Ezra hadn't saved her. But this boy, who shares nothing with Anakin but a name and half his DNA - he was enough to bring Anakin back. She wasn't, not with everything they shared, not with all the times she'd almost died for him, and he'd saved her, and she'd saved him. How do you not kind of hate someone for that?

And besides, he's trying to bring back the Jedi Order. The Order that cast her aside as soon as it was convenient for them, the Order that allowed Anakin Skywalker to become what he did and was too blind to see a Sith Lord under their noses and that died for those mistakes. And sure, he's trying to do it differently, he's trying to do it better, but what does this boy know of better? What can he know of the sins of the Jedi Order? When he speaks of the Order with stars in his eyes, what can he know of the pain that she suffered? That so many suffered? How can he correct what he doesn't understand?

I just think it would be cool to see more of that explored in canon.

[maeve-on-mustafar]

This is another Mace & Anakin scene that doesn't seem to be remembered by anyone except for me and maybe five other people, so I want to take a moment and actually discuss what's going on here.

Three important things are established in this scene, and I'm going to go through them one by one.

Mace trusts Anakin, a nineteen-year-old Padawan, to protect a Senator who's actively being pursued by assassins.

Whenever anyone tries to argue that Mace always hated/distrusted Anakin from the very beginning, this is a good scene to point to. Because this scene demonstrates that Mace trusts Anakin, and that he actually trusts him a lot.

Consider the situation: Padme has had two attempts on her life in the past twenty-four hours. And the person Mace appoints to protect her is Anakin, a Jedi trainee who's six years younger than Obi-Wan was in TPM and who's never been off on his own before.

The decision to appoint a Padawan to protect Padme rather than a full-fledged Knight demonstrates that Mace, and at least a majority of the Council, have the utmost faith in Anakin's abilities. They know Padme's assassins are determined and willing to try again and again without stopping--and yet, Anakin is the person they trust to stop/prevent the assassination from actually occurring. To me, that shows they think Anakin is not only prepared for solo missions as a Padawan, but that they think he could be Knighted soon. And they wouldn't believe either if they didn't think he could be trusted or if they hated him this whole time.

So, I can only conclude that to have given him this assignment and believe he would succeed with it, Mace both trusted Anakin and thought he was a capable and strong Jedi.

2. Anakin trusts Mace enough to reveal his misgivings.

I feel like this part gets overlooked most of all, but it's also important. When Mace instructs Anakin on his mission (his first solo assignment!) and Anakin immediately foresees an obstacle, he points out that obstacle to Mace. He doesn't think he has to hide any of his doubts and pretend like he's already got it all figured out, he doesn't have insecurity or anxiety that if he reveals any difficulties, he's going to lose Mace's trust or faith or even the assignment entirely.

What this line tells me is that as much as Mace trusted Anakin in order to give him this assignment, Anakin trusted Mace enough to ask for his advice. He doesn't say it in those exact words, but that's what he's doing with his statement, and that's exactly what happens. He trusts Mace enough to ask for his help when he spots difficulty on the horizon, and I think that speaks to their relationship in this film.

3. Mace is willing to advise Anakin on his next steps in order to accomplish his mission.

At first glance, this aspect might seem obvious, but I still don't think Mace gets the recognition he's due here. So I think it's important to acknowledge what is actually happening with this line.

When Anakin implicitly asks for advice, Mace advises. He doesn't ridicule Anakin, he doesn't act like Anakin's suddenly incapable of the assignment given to him (and he will later defend Anakin to Obi-Wan when Obi-Wan argues this very point), and he doesn't leave Anakin to work it out on his own. Mace goes ahead and helps Anakin when Anakin needs to know what he should do next. He trusts Anakin, he supports him in getting to go off on his own coming-of-age journey, and he advises Anakin when Anakin recognizes Padme won't be willing to leave the planet.

What Mace is doing here is, essentially, being a mentor. And it's very noticeable to me that both he and Anakin seem very comfortable for him to hold that role in this scene. There's no hint of dislike or resentment or stubbornness that we get from scenes of Anakin and Obi-Wan, where they're both sniping at each other and behind one another's backs. Mace seems to be a person Anakin holds in high regard, and for a Padawan Anakin's age, Mace seems to regard him fairly favorably as well.

What we see, in its totality, is a functional relationship of mutual trust and respect. Mace gives Anakin a potentially difficult and dangerous mission despite his young age, Anakin expresses that Padme might be unwilling to leave to go into hiding, and then Mace offers a suggestion about who could convince Padme to go. These are two individuals who believe in each other and have faith in each other's judgement.

This isn't Mace hating Anakin, this isn't Anakin hating Mace, this isn't Mace being unfair in some way. This is a scene that actively shows that Mace believed in Anakin more than Obi-Wan did at this point. It might not seem like that big of deal that it conveniently gets forgotten by almost everyone, but I just want at least a fraction of fandom to acknowledge its existence, and for the "Mace was always mean and unreasonable" misconception to finally fade away into nonexistence, where it always should have remained.

[fixfoxnox]

Luke Skywalker hc's!!!

NOW!!

THE WAY I COME OUT OF MY WRITERS BLOCK JUST FOR THIS RAHHHHH LETS GO STAR WARS ASK

Bonjour, to anyone who doesn't know I am a huge Luke Skywalker fan, I very literally stole his name and pronouns (like no joke thats why I'm called Luke teehee) so this feels appropriate, especially during the May 4-5 time period rahhhh

Anyways,

Luke Skywalker Headcanons

First thing to know about me, I'm a dinluke shipper, I'm built crazy like that

Luke is the gayest man I've ever seen. I fully believe that he was just so smug after Leia kissed him just because it bothered Han

If everything with Vader hadn't happened and Anakin and Padme just got to have the kiddos, I genuinely think Luke would have been Padme's mini-me

Like the fashion? Chanel boots Skywalker would have eaten them up frrrrr

However I do fully think he would have continued to follow his fathers passion for flying.

But anyways, back to canon

I like to think that Luke is extremely smart, but people tend to overlook it

They see him and think dumb blonde but he's genuinely so intelligent

And like not just with mechanics and flying, but like also he had to have learned a ton just about like farming and business from his time on Tatooine

Speaking of which, Luke for sure saw Din at some point on Tatooine and had a little swoon with his friends

Big strong man in a suit of armor? And the voice???

Luke loves kids. Like down pat he loves children so fucking much frfr

I think Luke probably wished he could have his own kids (I ignore comics if yall can't tell) but ended up sacrificing that to be able to start his jedi temple and take care of a larger number of kiddos

Semi-parenthood would be good enough for him

Speaking of which, I do genuinely think that Luke doesn't uphold the whole "no attachments" thing jedi had going on

I think he sent Grogu away because he could tell that Grogu was going to be better off with Din.

He offered Grogu the choice because he wanted to make sure that Grogu had a say in his future

Luke for sure had a crush on Han, particularly during Empire Strikes Back. Like I just know this boy was crushing hard

Definitely knew it was one sided, but ya know, can't control what the heart wants.

Took him a bit after Vader's death to actually decide what he wanted to do

I imagine he would have been filled in about things via Yoda or even the force ghosts, so he would have to take time to come to terms with all of the information given to him

I feel like a large part of him would have resented the Jedi order for a bit and struggled with this idea of "continuing" on the jedi

I think he only decides to continue when he realizes that he can do better. He doesn't want to relive the mistakes of the past.

[nicki0kaye]

here we've got Pre-Empire, lower levels hive-rat Sasha Kallus and Good boy Junior Guard Captain Garazeb Orrelios for the @bahrynfestival prompt 'In Another Life'. Zeb characterization and general Lasan HCs courtesy of @sidhebeingbrand

Now, I could be normal and say this is just a 'oh what if these two met before the Empire' thing but I'm far from normal and that's not JUST the story behind this pic. Yeah, they're meeting before the Empire, but there's also a bunch of other nonsense going on. Lemme explain;

Sasha Kallus hasn't felt like a person since inheriting his 'magic'. It's been a quirk of his family for generations, but lucky him, it seems he's been gifted a particularly 'bad' case. Instead of being able to influence the 'magic' in others, like his baba and older brother, Sasha is burdened with generating an overabundance of 'magic' in himself. It sizzles in his veins like a live wire, heightening everything, dialing up his senses, his reflexes, his strength, keeping his mind buzzing all the time, hyper-aware and overly sensitive. Without his brother Tuz there to bridle that magic, Sasha runs the risk of becoming something dangerous, of becoming so overwhelmed, he loses himself and lashes out in a way he can't take back. 

And he hates it. 

He knows he's scaring his family, that there's a 'good reason' Tuz keeps him on such a short 'leash', but Sasha resents it all the same. He wishes he could get rid of his stupid magic. He wishes he could run away and never look back. 

The family trait he knows as 'magic' is unheard of on Coruscant, and it's not quite the same as channeling the Force. Its two distinct flavors, however, are common and even revered on the planet Lasan as a gift of the Ashla. On Lasan, there are Watchers, who see with the Ashla's light, and their Guards, who shield the Watchers and aid them in honing their gifts. 

Junior Guard Captain Garazeb Orrelios is visiting Coruscant as part of his Queen's entourage. Personally, he finds the planet a disturbing, lightless place. Excluding the Jedi in their temple, it feels like no one here has been touched by the Ashla. He was told to expect as much, that there are no Watchers or Guards among humans, but still. It's freaky.  It makes this durasteel hive of a planet feel all the more dead inside. 

Perhaps it's because he's particularly freaked out that, when the faint spark of a Watcher's soul  suddenly appears several levels below them, he's the first to notice. Perhaps it's his disposition–his talent for meshing so well with any unbonded Watcher that might be in need of his aid–that keeps his awareness locked on this stranger, this lost soul. 

No, not lost, there is a Guard's presence keeping the Watcher stable, but. It's too fraught a union to be a healthy bond. The Watcher is in distress. 

Garazeb's duty is to all Watchers, even alien ones hidden in the depths of off-putting city-planets. He asks permission to pursue this stranger, to ensure personally that all is well. 

That's how Garazeb meets Sasha. 

Now, there's one last thing. On Lasan, it's understood that the Ashla has made every Watcher a Guard to compliment and complete them, and every Guard a Watcher, in turn. Bit of a soulmate thing. It's not guaranteed one will find their match, but it's likely and extremely obvious when it happens. Even for a talented Guard like Garazeb who seems to naturally compliment every Watcher he meets, the work of shielding his intended would be frictionless. 

Garazeb has been searching for his Watcher ever since he was small and learned one might be out there waiting on him. He had not expected to find a human, let alone one who considers his Ashla given Sight a curse, has no concept of a 'bonded pair', and has only known a Guard's influence as 'leash' to keep him to heel. 

There's no denying it, though. They meet, and even his superiors can tell the bond is special. Garazeb never, ever expected to forsake his home for the hellscape that is Coruscant, but for his Watcher? He might. Assuming Sasha will let him.

[goddessofmischief]

     —   ACROSS THE STARS (SITH!KIT TANTHALOS X READER)

Summary: Kit Tanthalos is a Sith apprentice - and your biggest enemy. Now she's fighting for your hand in marriage.

CHAPTER TWO: CHOSEN

Kit knew she wasn't wanted.

...But she was greedy. And young. Too young to understand that actions had consequences, too young to feel the depth of those consequences.

Truth was, she'd been planning a takeover of Naboo for some time. She wasn't here for you. She was here because she knew it would be easier to win the throne through your planet's own traditions, rather than taking it by force. She could have done it, of course, but it would've taken more time, more manpower.

After some time spent considering it, mulling it over, marrying you seemed like the obvious choice. Kit could even view it altruistically, if she tried hard enough: she was saving you from an unhappy relationship with someone else, after all. But she knew you found spending time with her just as displeasurable. She knew you resented, hated, feared her. Just as everyone else did.

And here she was, along with all these other fools. It was easy to size them up, almost immediately: Graydon, the prince of Zygerria, Jade, the Jedi, and - Kit's brother, Airk.

Of course.

Kit could never be best at anything, Airk had to be best at it first. Apparently, that was also true when it came to winning you. She had exiled him, long ago, and he had left Corellia without complaint. He seemed happier, now that he wasn't a prince. At least she could do that much for him.

So, that was her competition. Two princes and a Jedi.

Kit was sure she could beat 'em all.

"Knock knock, princess," Kit said, stepping into your quarters. She'd snuck up the stairs not long after the other contestants had gone to bed, longing to talk to you, wondering what you thought of her presence.

Well, she knew what you thought. Mostly, she wanted to know what you'd say.

"What do you want?" you snapped, and as you turned in Kit's direction she glimpsed tears in your eyes.

That... wasn't what she expected.

"Um," Kit cleared her throat, sitting on the ornate couch beside you. "I guess I just wanted to talk."

You waved a hand.

"Talk. Doesn't matter what I want anyway."

"I'm guessing you're mad that the people of your kingdom seem to prefer me."

You laughed.

"Yeah. Something like that."

"Well, who did you want them to pick?"

"I don't know, Jade? The honorable Jedi? Or Graydon, the kind prince? Even Airk. He's not the smartest, but he would've been someone I could've ruled with. Anyone but a Sith. Anyone but you."

"Ow," said Kit, and she hadn't realized she'd spoken it aloud until she saw your eyebrows raise. "I mean, I can't be that bad, right?"

"You've killed people. Innocents. You banished your own parents. Even your brother won't have anything to do with you."

"Airk was grateful I took over, okay? Now he has time to do the things he actually wants to do - like playing sabacc, or competing for princesses."

"Grateful? You almost killed him!"

"I did what I had to do, and I'm sorry that you're too stupid, foolish and naive to see that!"

You stared at Kit, lip trembling. She wanted to reach out for you, tell you she was sorry, tell you that she didn't think you were any of those things.

Instead, she just mumbled "See you tomorrow," and swept out of your chambers, cape swinging behind her.

taglist: @hea-vin

[antianakin]

I don’t know if you’re actually watching the Ahsoka series or not, but I was very curious on your thoughts on the newest episode, and the confrontation between Anakin and Ahsoka.

Bro traumatized her again. Lol. 😒🙃

I’m actually kind of satisfied that she showed a little resentment, but I still don’t like that she didn’t cuss him out or something.

Anakin not apologizing is infuriating at first glance, but I also think it fits his character.

It’s funny, if I think about it in a certain way: I wonder if Anakin himself views his “redemption” kind of the same way his fans do. He’s just like, “Why are you still pissed at me? I died stopping the Emperor, didn’t I?” 🙄

The only one I think he’d actually feel sad about is Leia, because of course he’d want his daughter to like him, but she never will now, because he fucking tortured her and blew up her planet.

You know… I don’t really view Anakin’s final moments as a true “redemption” in the eyes of the galaxy. George Lucas has a quote where he says parents are redeemed in the eyes of their children. I guess you could argue that Anakin redeemed himself in Luke’s eyes, but not the galaxy’s own.

And then there’s Leia, who will never forgive him or think of him as her father.

In a way, it’s almost fitting for Anakin, that each of his children represent something for him.

Luke represents forgiveness, and how it’s never too late to do the right thing.

Leia represents his mistakes and sins. As long as she lives, he’ll always look at her and remember the damage he’s done. She’d never let him forget it.

Which is funny, when going back to the recent Ahsoka episode, and how he was acting like a dick to Ahsoka.

Personally, I think he was purposely trying to piss her off to make her fight to not die.

Still though: he’s such a jackass. 😒

Anyways, I guess my main point is that I don’t view Anakin being a Force Ghost shows that he was “redeemed.” I view it more as a type of salvation. Like the Bible story where Jesus is on the cross with two other men next to him. And then one man decides to “believe in him” or whatever, and his soul is saved by the skin of his teeth.

This is kind of how I view Anakin’s act of saving Luke. His soul was saved, because he did a heel face turn at the last second. So The Force was like, “Good enough, I guess.” *Throws up hands*

Anyways, sorry for the long rambling. I hope you don’t mind the message. Haha. 😅 I just have found your blog really therapeutic, because while I like Anakin as the fascinating character that he is, it still just kills me how fandom woobifies him and blames the Jedi for their own genocide.

I don't mind this message at all, thanks so much for sending so many of your thoughts, this was great! It's going to be a long reply back, though, since there's so much to respond to and if you've been going through my blog, this probably won't surprise you.

I AM watching the Ahsoka show, I'm just putting my thoughts about it on a different blog to this one (this blog was created for me to be negative so I usually only review things on here if I KNOW I'm going to be negative about it, but I was hopeful I'd have positive things to say about the Ahsoka show lol).

I think I'm feeling RELATIVELY mediocre about the show. Like I don't hate the whole thing, I can see why it appeals to people, but it's not really hitting at what I would've wanted from a narrative perspective. It seems to be relying on fan service and pretty visuals rather than genuinely good writing to get them through. If you happen to be the fan being serviced, you probably like it fine. But if you are someone more like me, then you might be noticing that there aren't a lot of stakes, the character motivations are weak or missing, the two storylines aren't being spliced together very well, and the dialogue's just not that great. There's also several more nitpicky things that are really pissing me off about the show (the way they're treating Force sensitivity, Sabine being a Jedi at all for no good reason and how her character is being butchered, the very distant and aloof acting I feel like we're getting from everybody, and of course the requisite anti-Jedi bullshit that we can all expect from Filoni at this point).

But as for how I felt about Anakin and Ahsoka's scenes in the latest episode this week, I am personally of the opinion that it WASN'T Anakin at all. I know it's left ambiguous, so if people feel like it was truly Anakin in some way shape or form, that's fine, but I think it makes more sense to me personally that it wasn't. This is Ahsoka's manifestation of Anakin in a moment where she's literally drowning and emotionally at something of a low point and has to decide if she's going to live or not and that conflict plays out in her head the way we see it. I'm also open to the idea that this is one of those things where the Force "tests" the Jedi not unlike what we see happen on Ilum and Mortis and the Force is just utilizing Anakin's visage to bring Ahsoka's deepest fears out into the open.

What makes it interesting to me is that then we can look at the interactions as THIS IS HOW AHSOKA SEES HIM. Whether she thinks about it that deeply or not, THIS personality is how she remembers him. The immediate choice to be violent with her and test her fighting skills rather than talk to her more gently, the dismissive attitude he has towards her, the flickering back and forth between Anakin and Vader because she doesn't truly know which one he was most. He wasn't necessarily a great teacher and his way of teaching wasn't very Jedi-like, it's ruthless and merciless and unkind, and we see that reflected in their interactions in this episode, which could be a really interesting look at how Ahsoka still remembers him even if she didn't see it negatively at the time.

So him not apologizing isn't like... an indication of how Anakin might actually handle this interaction if it were truly him so much as just... Ahsoka being unsure sure if he WOULD apologize because she has no idea how much of him was Vader the entire time and Vader would clearly never apologize. I think the Anakin we see by the end of ROTJ probably would apologize at SOME point, especially if we're supposed to see him as redeemed and acknowledging/accepting of his sins, etc. But Ahsoka doesn't know that. Ahsoka probably kind-of knows through Luke that he turned back in his last moments, but she wasn't there for that, she didn't get to see it, and she obviously still has no idea what caused him to turn on the Jedi and become a Sith to begin with. Why did he come back for Luke and not her? Was it because she abandoned him? Did he just not care about her the way she thought? Was there something intrinsically wrong with her that he recognized from the beginning?

There's just too much uncertainty perhaps for Ahsoka to know if he'd actually apologize and she doesn't even necessarily need or want an apology so much as she just wants to UNDERSTAND. Because of course it leads into her doubts about HERSELF and whether being his apprentice (even for as short of a time as it was) has somehow influenced her to be more like him and if she should be worried that she'll go dark or cause a student of hers to go dark. If she doesn't know why HE made that choice, how can she trust herself? It's not entirely dissimilar to the statement she made at the end of the Wrong Jedi arc where she claims she's leaving the Jedi because if the Council couldn't trust her then she isn't sure she can trust herself, either. And now with Anakin going dark, she has to wonder if the Council saw something of that in her when no one else did, saw a future for her that she hadn't been able to see for herself yet.

I think personally I'd just rather look at this episode as the closest we're going to get to a "deep dive" into Ahsoka's psyche and character rather than try to analyze it as like "what does this say about Anakin." It's not Anakin's story anymore, it's Ahsoka's. Or it's supposed to be, anyway.

That all being said, I don't think it went far enough and I do dislike that we didn't get to dive into OTHER aspects of Ahsoka via other relationships in order to round out who she actually is. I don't think we know any more about her at the end of the episode than we did at the beginning. I don't think she really grows or changes through the episode at all. I don't know what the whole "choose to live" thing was about or how it connects to her overall arc because while, yes, she's obviously literally drowning in the moment, "choosing to live" is not something they've been exploring as an issue for Ahsoka throughout this season so far, so it didn't feel like this cool end to her character journey so much as just a really shallow one-liner made to sound badass without anything particularly profound behind it.

I think gffa said that one of the things you can tell about this show is that it's been percolating in Filoni's mind for so long that there's things he's leaving out because they're just totally obvious to him now and he's forgotten that the audience won't know some of it without being told or shown. If Ahsoka was depressed or suicidal or something like that, it never came across in the first four episodes. She barely seems to be struggling at all to me, personally. So maybe that's what Filoni wanted us to understand about her, maybe that was the intention, but it just didn't quite make it from his head into the writing or onto the screen.

And I keep going back to the Obi-Wan Kenobi show and the way they handled his character arc. They started him at a really low point where he's so CLEARLY depressed and just moving through life without actually living or finding any way to be happy. They spend so much time showing us how OUT of character Obi-Wan is in order for the pay off by the end and the slow growth of his character throughout the six episode story to feel satisfying. And while he's out of character in his depression, it's done in such a way that that's the POINT. We all know WHY he's out of character, we know what's causing him to be that way, it doesn't need to be explained because it didn't happen off-screen, it's literally the plot of an entire trilogy of films. It felt like a pretty natural extension of the state we last saw him in and it allows him the ability to actually have a journey that makes sense.

We've gotten NONE OF THAT for Ahsoka. Her relationship with Sabine is nonsensical and comes out of nowhere with zero explanation. Her weird thing about Padawans comes out of nowhere with zero explanation. Her aloof attitude is coming out of nowhere and does nothing to help us understand the state of mind she's in. She never seems to be acting SO out of character that it tells the audience how much she's struggling, but she's also SO flat that she no longer feels much like the Ahsoka everyone knew and loved from The Clone Wars. They're inventing new problems for her to have that make no sense instead of giving her a journey to actually deal with the problems she already had and hadn't gotten any resolution for. And they're unable to actually connect her problems from before into the Rebels storyline in a way that makes any real sense or feels genuine and meaningful for either Ahsoka or Sabine, so both storylines are getting half-assed and butchered in the attempt.

Personally, I think Ahsoka should've had a season set closer to ROTJ or even before it, just after she gets off of Malachor and 2-3 years prior to ANH, to explore her immediate reaction to Anakin's betrayal and have her overcome that on her own. Use original characters primarily, throw in Bail Organa or something if needed just to give her a quick plot, but let it be about AHSOKA. And only once her journey to finding herself is complete do we then move on to the Search for Ezra, which should be focusing WAY more on the Rebels characters than we're actually getting and should not involve any of the Rebels characters (except maybe Jacen) learning to be Jedi. Ahsoka would be a side character in this story because she has now had her story told and we can let Sabine and Ezra and Jacen and Hera be at the forefront of the story. (I also think we could've done something with Sabine that wasn't being a Jedi or her entire family being murdered off screen so she has an excuse to do a characterization 180 and act like a bratty teenager all over again.)

If I had to just change THIS episode a little, I have a few alternatives I've been thinking about. For one, I do just think we should've gotten to explore OTHER relationships beyond Anakin to emphasize the other things that Ahsoka is that aren't just "Anakin's Padawan." Rex, Barriss, Plo Koon, even Kanan or Ezra to try to make that connection to Rebels. She's been a friend, a commander, a rebel, a student, a mentor, an ally, a Jedi. She's been so many things that have nothing at all to do with Anakin and I think that might've been nice to explore as well. Yes, Anakin was important. Yes, she's fucked up about it. But that's not ALL THAT SHE IS. So I think starting off with her fears about Anakin is great, but then have her move on and sort-of go through it a little like Charles Dickens' A Christmas Story to show that she's more than this, too. This probably would've worked better if it had been a two parter thing rather than one 30-40 minute episode, depending on how many characters you wanted to throw in.

I also would've appreciated seeing her break and shatter at seeing Anakin. I wanted her to be ANGRY, to refuse to forgive him, to throw his betrayal in face. And then by the end of the episode, she lets it go. She's seen that she doesn't need to hold onto that anymore and it doesn't matter what choices Anakin did or didn't make, she's her own person and can make HER own choices. And so Anakin comes back at the end, and she's no longer angry. She can forgive him. I also would've wanted her to have been more snappy and frustrated and angry earlier in the season, as well, so we can TELL there's something simmering underneath that she's trying to keep repressed until it finally boils over in this episode.

The other alternative I came up with was the OPPOSITE idea where Ahsoka is basically just kind-of... in denial about it. She isn't acknowledging her own anger and pain and betrayal at all and she just wants to spend this time with Anakin the way they used to and Anakin is sitting there provoking her and trying to get her to break so she can let it all out. Eventually he gets her to admit it and get angry and yell at him and acknowledge her own pain finally so she can see how it's impacting her relationships in the present day. She's been trying up until now, but as Yoda's always said, sometimes trying isn't enough, and you just have to do or do not. She doesn't reject him at the end of this, but she can at least acknowledge what he did to her and how it's made her feel. You could even include some of her anti-Jedi bullshit in this and have her justifying Anakin's betrayal by saying the Jedi failed him the way they failed her and Anakin pushing back on that idea so that by the end of the episode, she can recognize that she's been blaming the Jedi because she's been uncomfortable with her inability to understand Anakin's choices and it was easier to blame the Jedi than live with that uncertainty.

I've discussed my feelings on Anakin's redemption a lot and they're definitely not in the majority. Personally, I just don't think he's redeemed at all. My definition of redemption is along the lines of "you can fix/undo the thing you broke/damaged" rather than just... "you decided to stop breaking things even if there's no way to fix it." It doesn't mean Anakin can't keep being a better person if he'd lived, or that he can't find redemption in more specific places (like Luke forgiving him for chopping off his hand), but that there is no redemption for what he did to the Jedi, to the clones, and to the galaxy at large. None. It doesn't matter what he does, it doesn't matter that he stopped himself and Palpatine, it doesn't MATTER. The Jedi and the Republic are still gone, the clones were still enslaved, the galaxy is still in shambles and traumatized from 25 years under the Empire.

You aren't the only one who's chosen to separate your definition of "redemption" from something else to make it make more sense. Someone else went for redemption being different from an absolution wherein you are just immediately forgiven of all of your sins because of one act or whatever, while redemption is the process of doing better. If that works for you, go for it. Personally, I just think Anakin isn't redeemed. He cheat coded his way into being a Ghost and the Ghosts don't make any sense anyway. I think it's definitely intended to represent his redemption IN THE NARRATIVE, like that's the point of the visual, but it just doesn't work for me, so I choose not to see it that way. It's ambiguous enough and the Force Ghost lore confusing enough that it's not that hard.

Your interpretation of Luke and Leia as the two sides of forgiveness is intriguing. I do think Leia could get to the point of forgiveness that basically looks like letting go of her anger because the man's dead anyway so there's no real point staying angry and understanding the history that may have led him to become the monster she knew, but that doesn't mean she has to LIKE him or ever consider him a father.

I think you could kind-of throw Ahsoka and Obi-Wan in there as different reactions to Anakin, too. With Ahsoka as someone who sort-of clings to who Anakin used to be and can't truly reconcile the two versions of him that she knew, and Obi-Wan as someone who rises above. Unlike Leia, he did know and love Anakin, but he is also able to let go of his anger and betrayal and accept Anakin for what he is now rather than pining for someone who no longer exists. And Ahsoka is the opposite of Luke as someone who also knew Anakin and loved him, but struggles a lot MORE with the revelation of who he was and his impact on her life. Everyone approaches Anakin and his relationship to them and his choices in a different way.

I wish the Ahsoka show wanted to explore any of that at all lol.

[jedimandalorian]

Dear Church of Ezrabine,

Today we are going to meditate upon the sacred text known as Ezra’s Duel with Danger, one of the most angsty Star Wars Rebels books in the series. It takes place after Droids in Distress and before Battle to the End.

In this book, Ezra has to cope with the depressing fact that Empire Day is also the date of his birthday. He has to overcome his resentment towards Tseebo who failed to save his parents and protect him when he was younger. Then, most challenging of all, Ezra must resist the and overcome the temptations and deceptions of the Dark Side.

On one of the worst days of his life, Sabine is the person who knows exactly how to cheer him up. She gives fifteen-year-old Ezra the first birthday present he has received since he was seven years old.

There aren’t as many Sabezra interactions to contemplate as in our other sacred texts, but we do have this mysterious little moment:

What could possibly be more important than Jedi training? For Ezra, it was whatever he was doing with Sabine. And no, he’s not “with” with her. Not yet, anyway.

Now for some major angst, dear Sabezra shippers. This is going to hurt. Ezra had a Force vision when he and Kanan were inside the Jedi Temple on Lothal.

Ezra goes from being happy that Sabine defended him to hoping that in a few years things would work out between them and they would be a couple to absolute heartbreak when Ezra hears Sabine say that “he’s just a little kid” who is scared and alone. She feels pity for him.

Ezra’s is so heartbroken that he starts crying. He may be young, but he really does love Sabine.

Ezra realizes that the conversation he heard wasn’t real. It was a Dark Side deception that was a manifestation of his worst fear: the fear that the people he loves most don’t feel the same way about him.

Here, we learn that Sabine is Ezra’s greatest weakness and by the end of Rebels and in Ahsoka Season 1, we see him realize that she is also his greatest strength. She is the person he can always count on. In the live action series we also witness how the reverse is also true. Sabine’s desire to be reunited with Ezra is her greatest weakness, but his love for her and confidence in her is what strengthens her emotionally, opening her up to finally being able to connect with the Force.

Sabine and Ezra belong together. Do not lose faith.

I have spoken.

[phoeebsbuffay]

Imagine Anakin Skywalker heals your wounds… especially after a tough day. By doing so, he is healed from his own shadows.

Warnings: short fic; drama, angst; emotional intimacy…

Warnings 2: fluffy endings.

Recommendations: “Video Games” by Lana del Rey.

***

Anakin’s been having troubling days, you know it. You try your best to comfort your husband, lending him an ear. And the general appreciates every effort you pay by doing him so.

However, he’s been so focused in his own growing resentment toward the Jedis and the anger that has been boiling within him that he didn’t realize you’ve been struggling with your own demons.

Out of the clonic wars, you’ve been going through a war yourself. Old insecurities come every time your plans don’t succeed, when relatives knock at your door with criticism sharp as knives, pleased to blame you for whatever’s been going on in their lives.

You’ve been married for nearly six years and as much as you’ve tried to step away, you know you couldn’t. The reason for it lies in your old attachment to the family you grew with, your inner child trying to heal from such wounds. But there’s your work too. You feel overwhelmed by how you are treated.

There are also the friends you lost for the war, the ones who don’t care about how you’ve been fairing since you’ve married—although few would know you have wedded a Jedi, but the ones who do are out of your grasp.

You begin to wonder if you are enough. It’s not as if you feel helpless when it comes to everything. You don’t wield the Force, you are not part of the politics world. What are even you?

Anakin’s been out for a while to protect the chancellor, so you have no clue what’s about to happen… or what would happen had he not been plagued by a very realistic view of your melancholy.

Quickly, he rushes back home, ignoring the Chancellor’s pleas. And to your dismay, Anakin finds you crying at the couch, heart breaking for the aforementioned reasons—but aching for him, craving for his comfort.

“My love? What’s the matter?”

“Anakin!”, you stand, trying to recompose yourself. “I thought you would not come home until…”

“No, no. This isn’t about me”, he is urged to go after you, promptly pulling you against him, holding your face with his hands, his own eyes tearing when seeing how your wounds came to the surface. “I’ve sensed something was going on. Please forgive me for not realizing this earlier…”

“It’s okay. This all happened whilst you were gone anyway”, you say as you are engulfed in his arms. “But you…”

“No. This isn’t about me”, says he firmly. “I will not leave you bleeding, I will rock you in my arms as I did before I left.”

Carefully, he leads you upstairs.

“Come, you need a shower.” Anakin speaks softly, but seriously nonetheless. “I won’t leave you ever again. Fuck this Jedi Order, fuck the Chancellor.”

You had just sniffed a bit when his words caught you off the guard.

“Ani…” You are brought to the shower, but you are so perplexed you don’t realize he’s preparing shower all the whilst tossing his clothing off. “What are you saying?”

As he comes to you, standing right behind you as he helps undress you too, you comprehend there’s been too much going on.

With both of you.

Threatening the domestic peace.

“I’m saying I’ve been away too long. I heard your silent screams. How your heart whispered “don’t go” , rioting against the imposed loneliness”, the way he reads your intensity so well freezes you.

Anakin side smirks at you. Now standing before you, he raises your chin and, holding it gently, says:

“I know my wife well. You shouldn’t underestimate my power, Y/Nickname.”

“I thought by hiding well, I wouldn’t trouble you. I mean…” And here you burst out at long last all that was well hidden, but improperly buried within.

But words are dissolved in the form of your tears, although Anakin needs not to hear them to understand you.

However, when soothing you, helping healing your emotional wounds, he realizes everything else has little importance.

Yes, he doubled his powers, but what importance are these when you are hurt? Yes, he’s built a great reputation in the war, but who cares about it when you’ve been fighting yours on your own? No. This would end, and to end this tonight releases the burden Anakin, formerly expected to fill the heavy role of the chosen one, has been carrying for years.

As you two move to be under the shower, every tear is wiped away when water comes clean over you. He holds you close, reassuring you in every possible way that he’s not leaving you anymore.

Not now.

Not ever again.

“Besides”, Anakin whispers. “I married you because of who you are. I was attracted to your y/c hair, your y/c skin, your y/c eyes, and not to mention your smile.”

He smiles when you give in and smile too. Your eyes are closed, your face is buried against his chest. His hands are going up and down your back, gently stroking your hair.

“But what captured my heart”, the Jedi proceeds, not realizing he’s finding the balance all the whilst light comes to the surface of his speech, “was your kindness, your good will towards every one you love. Your wit, your sharp brain. Yes, you are a very smart woman, Y/N. Remember when you listed every history of each of Coruscant’s countries? I could never do that!”

You chuckle fondly at the memory. You start to calm yourself, pleased to going back to your stable emotional self. At least for now.

Anakin senses the same, but he doesn’t quit with his work with you. Now, he’s more determined to fight away your insecurities.

“You have a peculiar sense of humor, I give you that, but so what? Even when you are shut in yourself, however shy you can be, you are friendly, lovely, loyal. You’ve been so helpful to me, Y/N”, and here is when he’s starting to get teary himself. “You are not just my lover, my wife, but my best friend.”

There is little need to say anything at all. You cast him a loving glance. Holding his face with both of your hands, you tiptoe and kiss his lips. Anakin holds you back, returning the kiss slowly and passionately.

It seems everything is solved. At least for now…

***

When Anakin wakes the next day, he’s taken aback by your absence on your side of bed. Quickly, he dresses and goes after you, unwilling to waste any more time.

However, every riot comes to silence when he finds you on the hills, meditating the way he taught you to. His own anxiety dying away, he slows his pace, eyeing you with the utmost care.

The male Jedi finds you at peace, part of the wilderness as wind blows against you. You may not be a Force user, but it’s clearly in you. Anakin remembers telling you about it.

“Every one is sensitive to it”, he told you, a side smirk displayed on his lips. “If you had the patience, dear one, I’d gladly teach you.”

“I’ll leave that to you. You know I don’t belong to this Jedi stuff”, you remarked lazily.

Nonetheless, he taught you many ways to use Force in your favor, especially when anxiety strikes you.

He sighs, though. When watching you in such a serene scene, his own nerves come down. Anakin’s own thoughts drift apart in some sort of dissociation.

He has his own hurting to heal, and though he feels better, the Jedi wishes to…

“I know you are there”, you break the silence between you two. You stand and move to where he is. “Why didn’t you come to me, Ani?”

Anakin sweeps away his troubling thoughts to concentrate in you. As he goes to where you stand, you notice a strange stark between you two: where he dresses black, you opt for red with details in white.

Reading your thoughts, Anakin says:

“I was merely watching you, love. You seemed in peace. But now I see you are overthinking… what’s it, darling?” He strokes your face, all the whilst pulling you closer. “My wild little thing.”

“You are the only one who sees that way”, you whisper, resting your forehead against his. “But I worry over you. Why are you dressing dark robes, sweet love?”

“They are practical, is all”, Anakin tries to move away from the topic. “I always saw you who you truly are and never shied away from you.”

You raise your eyes and Anakin, when contemplating them, is instantly drowned in you.

“I am taking you as who you really are.”

One moment of silence. Clouds start to tremble into one another. Wind howls louder now.

“There is evil in me”, he furrows his eyebrows, avoiding your eye contact as he speaks his thoughts out loud. “There is a winter coming that I have no strength to pull myself away from.”

To his dismay, you are comprehensive.

“You are not evil, Anakin Skywalker. You are misunderstood by others, but not by me.” You touch his face gently, bearing the sweet sensation his soul equals yours in a gentle harmony. “We are not simple creatures to be easily defined by others. We are more than that.”

“How can you say that after all the things I’ve done?”

You raise his face so his eyes meet yours.

“We live in days of war, my darling. But you are my peace. Allow me to be yours too.”

Anakin melts in a smile. Resting his forehead against yours one more time, his arms now hold you possessively.

“You are, Y/N. Maker knows you bring me such fortitude, joy and many other good things I am unworthy of…”

“Shush”, you quiet his darkness, softly so. “Let us not welcome any sort of agony here. I love you for who you are, not for what others want you to be, Anakin.”

When his eyes stare in yours, you see how easily they dance in between two irises: blue… and yellow. But you are not frightened. You remain there, locked in his arms.

“You have conviction”, so judges him.

“Yes”, you affirm. “You are my conviction.”

“I fucking love you, wife”.

And by saying that he kisses you. As you return the kiss, every rain falls over you, but no thunder finds way to break through the clouds that rumble in the skies.

***

• Epilogue

He watches you sleep peacefully, face buried in his chest. Anakin smiles at such sight as his hand plays with your curls.

“It’s you. It’s all for you, everything I do is for you”, he whispers.

As if you capture his words, your lips curl upon a smile. Anakin chuckles lightly, pressing a kiss on top of your forehead.

It rains outside, but it’s brighter on the inside. Sun isn’t setting on paradise, not anymore. And just after this contemplation, he holds you closer, decided to go back to sleep.

This is not a dream, but what’s the need to wake up from it?

[lavandula-ipsum]

The sweet waters of Plegethon

Asphodels ch. 2/2

Tags: dark!Luke x Fem!Reader, force sensitive reader, reader is injured, porn with plot, angst, smut. Like, this is the smut bomb of the series.

Summary: Waiting to be torn apart once again, two lovers find each other under the stars.

Asphodels is a sequel to Pomegranate, a short smut series that has kinda ended up growing a plot. I do think you can enjoy this part without the previous one, since you can infer enough of their dynamic from context if you're just here for the smutty fun. Feel free to check the previous chapters if you feel like it!

Asphodels pt. 1

It was a hard job convincing the rebel survivors that all they needed to do to avoid the mortal threat of the stormtroopers closing in around them was to take refuge in the caves and just wait for them to just leave. Huddled in the tunnels, the children of the Rebellion look up and fear that the promise won’t save them. There is a twinkle of understanding in (Y/N)’s new ally, old Imoviah, when she assures him they will be safe for now.

As soon as it mlike the danger has passed them by, the rebel captain hurries back to the cell where her prisoner awaits. Shame nails her eyes to the floor at first, handing him the comlink as she swallows thickly. She’s forgotten herself again, and now she has to deal with having to manage problems so abysmally different in nature she’d need to split herself in two for it. But she needs to suck it up and be a big girl today. Politics must come first.

After Luke dials in the code, he puts the device back on her palm, his hand lingering for a bit. At least he doesn’t seem resentful for leaving him like she did, bothered and denied. She mentally hushes herself, she needs to focus

“It will be alright, I swear,” he assures. The rebel tries to paint her expression with all of her resolve and hopes the Sith lord can’t choke her through this distance.

Suddenly, the little communicator emits the ambience buzz that indicates there’s someone listening on the other side. Faintly, the dreaded sound of a mechanic breathing echoes.

“Excuse me if I don’t introduce myself properly, lord Vader. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“I am well aware of who you are. And you will tell me, right now, how you obtained that communicator as well as this code.”

Her blood freezes at the idea that he already knows her. They have never met face to face, apart from a couple of occasions when her ship narrowly avoided capture by his TIE fighters while he looked down on the hunt from the Executor. Even then, his cold ghost managed to freeze the Force around her like a nasty omen. There was also the quick encounter at Bespin, though there wasn’t much time for pleasantries back then. No, he either has gathered intel about her, for whatever chilling reason, or Luke has been talking about her. She suddenly feels out of her own body and shudders at the ridiculous concept of Vader giving ear to the fallen Jedi’s story about a girl he almost came to love.

“That’s the interesting part, my lord. You see, right now I have in my power a certain prized someone you might be interested in getting back.”

Luke rolls his eyes at her, which lightens her heart a little bit. It almost makes her enjoy getting threats in exchange.

“You might think you scored some kind of goal with this, but no matter what you do, even if my troops have been ordered to spare your cowardly rats in hiding for now, the Rebellion is doomed.”

“I’ll keep my prisoner for myself then. Maybe I’ll find some better use for him before we’re all dead at your feet, my lord.”

“Your tone is starting to become cumbersome, girl.” He doesn’t need to raise his filtered voice for her to feel a dreadful cold creeping up the back of her neck. “I demand proof that he is unharmed.”

Luke steps forward, his eyes fixed on the girl at all times, reassuring that she’s navigating this delicate situation successfully but a little fearful it could all fall down with just a wrong word. “I’m here, father. Please, listen to her.”

Silence. For a few moments, only a faint metallic breathing comes out of the comlink. (Y/N) realizes now she’s been squeezing Luke’s hand too hard. She barely dares to even breathe until lord Vader speaks again.

“Alright, go on. And do not test my patience any further, rebel. Consider yourself greatly privileged to be having this conversation.”

(Y/N) is not aware of the dark lord having any tolerance whatsoever so, with a slight triumphant smirk on her lips, she continues. “These are my demands, Lord Vader.”

****

After long hours of packing and preparation to evacuate the refuge under the sanctuary, night has fallen once again over the forest. Right now, somewhere, the survivors must be leaving the surface of Jolah on a brand new Imperial transport. Even though they’ve taken all the precautions available to them to prevent being followed, (Y/N) still fears it might not be enough. However, the only thing she can do now is let them go and trust that her plan will work.

The silence is broken by the beeping in her hands right before Imoviah’s voice comes out of her comlink

“The starbird has taken flight. Good work.”

She sighs. “Thank you, friend. Take care. I hope our paths will meet again soon.”

“Likewise. May the Force be with you, girl.”

(Y/N) tries to answer it back, but the woshrds can’t find their way out before the communication is cut. So all she can do is reduced to just sitting there, her glossy eyes blurring the stars above her, as her fingers tear apart one of the wild flowers growing through the crevices of the stone table they’re sitting on.

“You’ve done it, they’re safe”

At her side sits her only source of warmth in this cold night. It’s Luke’s arm against hers that keeps her feet on the ground now that she feels like she’s inhabiting a stranger’s corpse. Perhaps the sensation has been accompanying her for a while. It’s by his side that she’s finally able to see the tension and constant nausea that’s taken hold of her body the last few hours.

His stun cuffs suddenly come undone and fall to the floor. Luke gives her a confused grin, but she looks away. She trusts him enough to free him. No, it’s way more than that, dangerously so. (Y/N) yearns to give him anything he might ask for. However, the question of why she’s waited this long to do it keeps her tongue tied in a knot.

The rebel also hands him back his lightsaber. The corrupted inner sizzling of the agonizing kyber crystal has been making her sick with the memories of how much time and effort he put into building it, how she clapped and laughed the first time she got to see the emerald blade. I'm proud of you, she had said after kissing his cheek.

And as revolting as its aura echoes in the Force, she feels a little colder after it's no longer in her hands. A cloud lifts in her brain too. It will be a while before Vader’s shuttle appears, a few hours at least. Hours she doesn’t feel like using on running away.

If only there was something that could keep him by her side.

“Your sister still believes in you, you know?”

“She does?” Luke seems surprised at first, but then he shakes his head. “That is too far gone.”

She’s too tired to fight about this again, so she just sighs and sinks down a little.

“Have you thought about how you’re going to get away?” he says.

“I was thinking of stealing your fighter, actually.”

He grimaces, but doesn’t complain further. “I guess that’s fair.”

(Y/N) groans and rubs her forehead on his shoulder. It takes him by surprise, but it prompts him to relax a little and open up his cloak so she can take refuge under it. But she can’t allow herself to rest while she still has homework left to do.

“You can have your questions now.”

A furrow appears on his brow, displeased by her transactional attitude. However, curiosity ends up being more powerful. “Is Leia being trained?”

“Yes.”

“By whom?”

“You don’t know her.” (Y/N) glares at him before standing up to pace around with the help of her walking stick, anxious. Even though she feels the blunt pull of the stitches on her leg, the movement helps clear her head. This is a subject she’s not willing to get into, and every word that slips out could be fatal to someone else. Thankfully, Luke seems willing to drop the issue.

“Where is your lightsaber?”

“I gave it to her.” However, he doesn’t seem satisfied with this vague answer. She thinks of a lie, something like she needed it but, again, Luke is not someone she can lie to. And she’s getting tired of trying to do it. “I did it because I was donafraid of ending up having to fight you.”

“So you’ve given up.”

“I thought you’d be happier about it.”

“I’m not. There’s the chance you’ll see yourself in a bad situation without a way to protect yourself.” His impatient tone also reveals he’s still hurt about what she said earlier, when they fought in the cell. “I never intended to make you weaker.”

“Well, then I guess I’ll have to either surrender or die if I find myself in a pickle.”

It would be easier to embrace either of those decisions if she took it beforehand, wouldn’t it?

The night is cold and the dark hides them, which is known to work the magic to conjure the words that seem impossible at any other time. The young man in black leaves the stone table to go after her, but stops a couple of steps away. His hand twitches at his side.

“Do you hate it when I touch you?”

(Y/N) thought these questions were going to be utilitarian in nature, so she’s about to complain about it for a second. However, she can just sigh at her lack of an answer. The reason why she freaked out when he touched her earlier is a mystery to her too. She liked it when he caged her between his bound hands and the wall to kiss her. It was sudden and desperate, with a passionate sense of urgency that could’ve been mistaken for roughness if she didn’t know him as well as she does. No, this fear has bloomed from a seed planted way before, that very first night they shared after learning of his betrayal. She steps closer to squeeze his hand, relieved by him reciprocating the gesture.

“I don’t. It’s just- Kark, I’m not sure I can explain it. ”

“Will you try for me?” he asks, need glimmering in his eyes.

“I think it started… the last time we were together. I was so confused. I lost myself and acted like a brat. I gave in to the idea that the pleasure would erase the pain, but then I felt so guilty. It wasn’t fair to you.”

“You don’t have to feel bad about it. I needed you too.”

“That’s why I tried to regain control. I wanted to give you everything, I really did.” She swallows a sob. “But I couldn’t picture myself surviving, or at least the part of me that matters, if I didn’t run away. So I did. And now I’m not even sure if it’s still alive.”

Luke’s fingertips graze the back of her hand on the walking stick, and a shy flutter reaches her through the Force as he gently takes her hand, slowly enough to watch in her expression and feel in her signature that he’s not overstepping, and presses his lips on her knuckles, “I don’t blame you.”

“I didn’t know I was going to react like that earlier. I was so focused on the little time we had I didn’t realize how scared I was.”

“Of me?”

“No, no. Of myself. I was terrified of losing control.” (Y/N) nuzzles his shoulder, every word a struggle. “I’m sorry, I’m a mess. I don't mean to mislead you. Isn't it messed up that I behave like this when I'm supposed to fight you?”

The finger tracing down her cheek melts her worries away until they’re just a bittersweet aftertaste in her mouth. “I’ll gladly take all you're willing to give.”

Grabbing his shirt collar, she gently brings him closer till their lips meet. The kiss is sweet and light, slow as if they had all the time in the world. Clean.

“Such a lovely mess,” he whispers against her mouth. She groans, sensing yet another worry fluttering around his aura.

“How many more questions do you have?”

“Only one. But it’s a bit selfish.”

“I promised I would answer. Shoot.”

“Do you still love me?”

Luke retreats back a little to look at her better, his gloved hand still under her chin. The frail hope trembling behind his eyes breaks her heart a little.

“I do. I love you. But I still hate you too.”

The wind lightly tousles his hair as a watery chuckle escapes his throat. He’s relieved. “I know. Don’t worry. Don’t let it hurt you any more than it needs to.”

This time it’s him who leans down to kiss her, holding her face between his palms as he gently parts her lips. Their invisible bond ripples with a wave of gratitude. Suddenly, she feels a little embarrassed about earlier, when she went straight to shove her hand down his pants.

“Your eyes are wandering, love.”

“I was feeling a bit guilty about something else, that’s all.” As (Y/N) looks down, finding by the tension on his pants that affairs are more or less where she left them. “I’m sorry I had to leave you like that earlier. I thought you would have, I don’t know, done something about it by now.”

His eyelashes flicker as he grows excited and flustered in equal measure with the understanding of what she’s referring to. “I haven’t.”

“Were you waiting for me?”

He nods, his fingers threading her hair, exploring her features in the search for a signal that she’s not out of his grasp yet. “Are you ready to let go a little? Only as much as you want to.”

The rebel delves in for another kiss, a tiny spark catching fire as her hands travel down his torso with a hungry caress. However, before they can reach his belt buckle, he stops her, a sweet smirk across his face. Without ever letting go of her hand, he takes her back to the carved table, where he sits in a purposely open position. However, doubt briefly returns to him just as she curls up in between his legs.

“I told you to take everything the other time, didn’t I?”

“Do you really think this is the place?” he teases, his hands all over her, carefully exploring every little limit each of the curves of her body represents before lovingly conquering the next one.

“What? Are you missing the cell? Or was it the stun cuffs that did the trick for you?”

Luke shakes his head, muffling a chuckle with a kiss under her ear, “I just wished I could give you something better than this rock.”

The rebel briefly thinks of the time she spent in his quarters, of the gigantic bed with silly silk sheets and at least a dozen fluffy pillows to comfortably plop herself on. Yeah, their first time could have been quite comfortable there, in theory. More than on rock and moss, under the cold stars. On the other hand, she doesn’t miss the constant buzz of the imperial cruiser, the many tiny signatures of officers and stormtroopers running around. No, this place feels far more peaceful. It lacks the luxury, but also all those other reminders that she’s already lost him.

Impatient to give herself fully this time, she guides his hands up her waist. Luke barely dares to brush the curve of her breast until she coaxes him to discover the hardness of her nipples through the fabric of her tunic. Watching over her shoulder, burning breath on her skin, his thumbs swivel over them, twisting them subtly between his thumb and middle finger while the index rubs the tip raw until little whines start escaping her throat.

Under her, his hardness grinds against her ass as she unconsciously swivels, anticipating the release of all the pent up heat cruelly repressed all day. The fire has spread to his hands, that turn her around so she faces him, impatiently undoing the laces closing off her dress. His hungry mouth leaves a tingly path of kisses along her collarbone in its way down to her tits, tender and sensitive under the unabashed wet sounds of his suckling. She cries out with that first frenzied attack, making him look up from where he’s devoted to the task of making her lose her mind. As an apology, his tongue becomes gentler, but the girl grabs the back of his hair and brings him closer again, begging for more. After a moaned hum, Luke sucks more intensely again, leaving her weaker by the second and dependent on the support of his arms around her waist.

Unable to bear the insufficient friction any longer, Luke lays her down, spreading his cloak over the carvings to protect her from the cold stone. (Y/N) briefly ponders what could the intended use of this altar have been, the sacred knowledge she should be diligently gathering to study it later, before having to hand this sanctuary over to the enemy. Instead, she’s getting fucked on it. Ravenous hands undo fastenings, take off shoes and outer clothes as their mouths look for each other again. His lips take a detour down the contours of her throat, then her shoulder, setting each centimeter of skin on fire as soon as it’s revealed to the cold night air.

But before Luke can realize his intentions of journeying down her body, she stops him by the collar of his open shirt. Though her anxious hastiness is momentarily driven to his skin as she falls quickly to the allure posed by the mauvish lines of his scars. (Y/N) grips her healthy leg around his waist in order to bring him close enough to kiss them. His heart beats fast under her tongue as she faithfully tends to that darker nest marking his chest, then following the paths of lightning to his neck while her hands caress tingly trails down his hips. Luke curses under his breath.

“Need you,” she begs, rolling her hips upwards against his erection, loving how it grows and throbs following her touches.

“You got me already,” he promises in between kisses, ”you got everything.”

With a quick movement of her fingers, she slips his cock under her panties, rocking her hips against it. “I want you inside.”

“Impatient, aren’t we?”

“I’m serious,” she whines.

“You’re soaking wet.” A note of morbid pride tints his voice, slowly grinding as the movement bulging through her panties teases her lips open. His voice is slipping out already. Their combined dance rubs her swollen clit, each stroke smearing precum on her underwear until the fabric is soaked. “You sure?”

With an excited hum, she captures his mouth again and devours it as his hands tug down on the elastic around her waist to take her panties off, his heated palms always careful to stroke around the bandages on her thigh. She gasps impatiently when she feels the warm pulse of the tip against her, making a nasty wet sound at first contact. Luke strokes her cheek, the gentle caress of his thumb on her lips, gaze locked with hers as they toy with the edge of this one last limit between them. Until, with a dallying thrust, his cock finally delves inside.

Despite the lubrication and his slow advances, the tension pulls a gasp and then a brittle whimper from within her. She’s already had him in her hand and in her mouth, and still she’s clearly overestimated how quickly she could take him.

“You ok?” he asks in a whisper. (Y/N) nods, fervent to deepen this feeling of being stretched so sweetly by him. Even though she shouldn’t find it pleasurable, he does it so deliciously slow she’s willing to take it all. So she wraps her healthy leg around him and brings him closer, making his cock finally sink all the way down into her. Luke shudders and shoots her an exasperated look, though lust-filled still.

“T-too tight.” However, she grips tighter, taken by the tingly wave of euphoria that just washed over her brain, erasing every other thought or sensation that isn't his body on her, breathing fire on her throat, her hole stuffed. “Don't do that, not yet, f-fuck.”

Oh, so he needs a bit to adjust too. It's probably her fault, for rushing into this without proper preparation. She probably shouldn't have, for both of their sakes, but those little whines he's making are too glorious to think of anything else. So she praises him, you're stretching me so nicely, and then he finally thrusts, his motions flowing at a lazy pace, still shy because of the fear of hitting a tender spot. Don't hold back, she begs. As Luke obliges, she lets out a thankful moan while he’s immersed in the slow plunging inside of her, seemingly spellbound.

“That’s it, love. Just like that,” he mutters, his voice hoarse. Luke pounds into her hard yet slow, deep. And yet, not a single time her wound gets grazed or her thigh handled in a way that makes it hurt more than it already does. She aches to switch places and be on top, but her wounded leg won’t let her, rolling her hips desperately to feel him deeper inside. Her frustrations get interrupted by a kiss.

“Please, let me serve you this time,” he pants against her lips, as if he’s sensed her thoughts dispersing. Fuck, of course he’d say this. He’s tried to hide it, but she knows damn well how he’s been enjoying himself all day, trying to help her covertly. “I’ve been needing you for so long. It’s been s-so long.”

She props herself on her elbows to follow after him, to kiss and nibble under his jawline. His hand at the back of her head keeps her close, the intimate gesture radiating a warm feeling that makes her clench harder involuntarily.

“Been missing you too, Luke. I thought of you every waking moment.”

They didn’t dare reach this step their first time together. There was expectation in the air, a need to wait and see where loyalties and affections lied and what might end up weighing more in the scales. Now (Y/N) knows more about her principles than she would have liked. She has seen the cost of his betrayal, tasted the pain and the bitterness of everything she held dear being twisted and stomped until she couldn’t recognize it anymore. And she hates herself for still loving him through it all.

It would be easier if she could keep her love contained in her chest, but she can’t hide it from him. Neither can he keep his own feelings locked down, even if she finds them so hard to believe. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to give in to the yearning of her flesh.

The tentative taste they had of each other last time now seems like an innocent game. The rebel feels spent and disillusioned enough to recognize the futility in the little hope she kept tucked away that maybe Luke would come to hold her hand and leave the shadow together. Now, pain has ruined her world beyond fixing. 

This just feels plain wrong and yet she enjoys it that way.

“That’s it, use me. Please, use me,” he begs, tightly pressing their bodies together so her clit gets that intoxicating friction she’s been chasing. “Use me.”

(Y/N) can’t help but softly whine his name, gripping his hips and steering him deeper into her pleasure before sinking her teeth in his shoulder. The sudden sharpness steals from him a deep moan and makes Luke embrace her even more firmly against him.

“Is it good?” he asks in between hasty exhales, “Please, please, tell me.”

“L-love you inside of me,” she manages to articulate, interrupted by her own voice cracking while trying to repeat it, the word love melting into incoherent whines. Each of those deep thrusts tests the limits of what she’d thought she’d be willing to take.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

She whimpers, unsuccessful at weaving coherent thoughts. There’s only his hands on her skin, that alluring frontier of his open shirt, an ever moving limit she’s burning to mark with her kisses following the lightning scars. His cock plunging desperately into her, making her head feel light and drunk with lust. Oh, her face must be pitiful right now. “F-feels good. More, please, more."

Limbs entangled, bodies hardly pressed and brushing against each other, Luke huffs loudly in her ear, one hand pressing her hips closer, the other cradling the back of her head. The impatient pounding turns to a deep rocking, smearing their combined juices all over where their skins brush together in the addicting chase of release. 

He praises her. So good for me. So nice and wet for me. And that seals it for her. In a broken chain of desperate whimpers she begs him to go faster, she grinds her hips harder against him, fingers digging into her flesh, until her legs shake. Every wave of evergrowing pleasure tightens her up, pushing his cock deeper as delight overflows all of her senses. Her head falls to rest weakly on the arm holding her, tingles still clouding her vision.

A mischievous smirk lights up Luke’s face.

“Did you just cum?”

She can just let out a faint moan in response. He gently brushes her messy hair away from her face in search of the flushed bliss across her cheeks, and he licks his lips as he softly caresses hers. It’s cute how he seems so damn proud of himself.  

“Stars, you’re beautiful. That just felt so good, it almost-” One of those last waves tenses her up around him and drowns his words.”S-stop, please.”

“But you just made me cum,” she teases, her body coiling around him with the rolling of her hips, “so hard.”

“Please, sweetheart. I wanna fuck you more.”

Luke leans down to taste her mouth once again, so her yes gets melted together with the blazing kiss. Her body, sensitive and vulnerable, screams from the inside when he starts moving again. Ah, it’s almost too much. Luke spreads her legs wide now, a gloved palm on her injured thigh pushing it up with the utmost care, and slowly picks up the pace. This new angle hits a sensitive spot within her, still tender after her orgasm.

“During every damned boring meeting I… I could only think of fucking you on the war room table,” he breathes out, railing into her with every word.

“In front of all those generals?”

“Well, no-” but his answer makes her laugh and clench around him, making his whole body shiver. “Oh, fuck.”

Pent up beyond what he can take, broken pleas loosely woven into his loud whimpers, Luke grabs her hips and ruts into them in a frenzy at a deep angle, the desperate thrusts making all of her thoughts vanish. Take it. Take it, he groans, like in a trance, most of his weight pinning her down while her broken sobs are all she has left to express how amazing it feelsple. For her, everything fades except his name spilling off her tongue like a deranged chant. 

“Where should I-?” He manages to string out, “…please, tell me, I can't take it anymore.”

“No, you tell me.” She has a feeling that she already knows the answer, but asks anyway, “Tell me where you're gonna cum.”

“I…” he moans. In his eyes she sees how he’s struggling to not completely lose his mind after a whole day of torture.

“Tell me.”

‘I-inside. Let me cum inside you, please. Please, please, please.”

She closes a fist around his hair to bring him close. Do it. Cum for me, she whispers. And the command finally pushes him over the edge. Luke moans her name in her ear, his fingers digging hard into her hips as he comes undone. 

With her limbs warmly tangled around him, they find each other for a breathless kiss. However, she finds herself still rolling her hips, enjoying those last lazy thrusts as he becomes softer inside of her, thick cum starting to drip down onto the carved stone. Luke sinks his head into the crook of her neck and, feeling him shiver as the sweat on his back gets cold in the chill night air, she runs her fingers through his hair in a comforting manner while he struggles to catch his breath. There are tears pooling in his eyes when he finally looks at her. It breaks her heart a little how young he suddenly looks to her. 

“I love you, Luke.”

However, playfulness glimmers in his gaze too. “I love you.”

(Y/N) is still trying to figure out this little hunch when his right hand starts stroking down her body, giving a soft squeeze to a tit, then caressing down her waist, finally reaching between her legs. The light stroke of his fingers up the overflowing slit unearths a gasp out of her, caressing the sticky mess until they’re slippery enough to swirl around her swollen clit.

“No, wait, I can’t. I just-”

Luke teases her with a wet kiss under her ear. “But you’re so needy still, love.”

She muffles a moan on the back of her hand, ashamed of how her body is opening up so greedy to the new stimulation. Her legs quiver at the intoxicating rhythm of his fingers; it’s too much, too soon. Gloved fingers go in, filling her lusciously, and her hips grind into them on their own. 

“Do you like my fingers that much?”

The rebel whimpers, defeated. “So much better than mine. Mine haven’t been enough since…”

“Since what?” Pumping deeper into her makes her words come out pitiful through lewd pants. But perhaps that’s his goal.

“Since you.”

Luke is all her wandering mind has been able to conjure during those few times when she’s managed to find enough privacy to hopelessly ram two fingers into her loneliness, longing for him. Indulging those fantasies always leaves her feeling empty, like she’d just betrayed herself, but her inability to find pleasure in anything else had her always coming back to her memories of him.

Suddenly, she feels a slight tingle on her inner thigh. A kiss. 

“Wait, that’s-”

“What?” he taunts, his lips softly brushing up her leg, his fingers still fucking her at a steady pace. Her voice is barely audible over her flustered gasps. 

“Dirty.” She stammers, her back arching with anticipation. "Th- this is so unfair," 

"Is it? Then I'll stop."

She sobs broken complaints, wordlessly begging. And Luke understands perfectly. His hand retreats to make room for his tongue, a flat and slow lick upwards, his icy gaze burning into her mind that delirious image of being eaten out right after he came inside of her. Clumsy in his relative inexperience yet desperate, voracious. His presence grows omnipresent on her skin, his flesh hand now caressing her thighs around him, now cupping a breast, while his gloved fingers pound into her relentlessly, his mouth on her cunt.

"Can I make you cum again? Will you let me?"

She looks down at the way his fingers fuck his seed back into her, obscene sounds escaping through his steamy sighs. And, through this unbearable ascent of her incredulous senses, his eyes always demand her attention. A devilish glint in them tells her that he won't allow her release until she begs for it. He goes back to suck on her clit, overstimulation bringing tears to her eyes. He’s on the verge of ruining her forever.

"I can't. Oh, Luke, please. I can’t."

"I think you can, sweetheart."

She can't muster a sliver of authority by this point, but the adoration in his smile confesses his desire to spoil her. 

“F-fuck. Yes, please, make me cum.”

"Thank you, love. Now, let go. Cum for me."

The licks become pointed, harder, faster; lips, tongue and fingers slipping over their combined fluids. When she squirms, his left hand lays on her stomach to keep her in place, closer to his face as she weakly tries to writhe away from the intense stimulation. Her trembling legs fight to close around him, helpless to resist the overwhelming delirium turning her senses into a devoted mush. 

And then she floats into that white fire. Even through the piercing bliss, she can feel his satisfaction through his pleased moans when she cries out his name, the broken syllables drowned in whimpers. Ah, she’d walk away from everything if he asked now. 

“That’s it,” a loving thumb caresses her lower lip, “love seeing you like this.”

It gently enters past her lips, sliding up and down her tongue suggestively. Leather and musk floods her senses as she blissfully lies there, contemplating this creature with the light of the moon behind him spilling a crown of silver on his head, looking down at her like an angel. She can merely drool on his hand as she pitifully tries to recover her breath. 

That’s when something grazes her knee, awakening her. He's hard again. So she sits up, eager to tend to him. However, he shakes his head. “Look at you, sweetheart. You barely-”

With a glistening finger, she teases the sensitive spot behind the flushed head “What?”

A muffled moan escapes him, all concerns defeated. 

“My beautiful girl,” Luke sighs just as she brings him closer for a kiss, her hand beating him up and down as she satisfies her own ravenous desire to taste them both on his lips.

“Where do you want it?”

“I’d like to be inside you again. But-”

“Then fuck me again,” she smiles. “Please.”

With a passionate kiss, (Y/N) struggles to climb on his lap, but she’s soon taken back by a painful flare on her wound. The captain whines a little, since she’s really eager to ride him until her legs give out. After Luke checks she isn’t in serious pain, he actually finds her pouting adorable. 

His kind hands gently bring her down, her back resting on him as he lies behind her, an arm hugging her waist, the other pushing her injured leg up and out of the way. Inside the warm chest pressed against her back, Luke's heart speeds up as his cock slides into her again. Penetration isn't as deep at this angle, but it rubs just right into that delicious spot.

His lips cover her neck with warm, generous kisses, though she can feel him peeking down to what his hand is doing traveling up from her waist to play with her breasts.

“Enjoy the view?” she teases, receiving  a muffled hum in response. 

Their mouths seek each other, treasuring each dallying thrust. His fingers come to tease her clit, already tender and slick. (Y/N) sobs quietly at the touch, too spent to complain about the maddening pleasure flooding her mind. And in spite of how much it is, far beyond what she can handle, she wants. She still wants hopelessly. What little remains of her, she’s willing to renounce it. 

And she yearns to tell him, she’s about to.

However, Luke silences her with another kiss, leaving her to whimper into his mouth as he gently wipes a tear off her cheek. Why? He could have what he came to this damned system for. Just- why?

It’s hard to think while being relentlessly filled by his thick cock, with his hands around her body pushing her down harder into him as he fucks her slowly.

“That’s it, love. Y-you’re taking me so well.” Though she can tell how much it overwhelms him too, Luke is still making the effort to keep holding her, praising her. Completely enveloped by his embrace, she hasn’t felt this safe in months. “Is this good?”

“Y-yeah, so good. So good for me.”

She shifts a bit to lie on her back so she can reach him better. She craves to look into his gleaming eyes as his fingers pick up the pace. Their hips buck into each other hypnotically, overflowing slick running down their legs. Growing needy as he approaches another climax, Luke moans her name, a tug in the Force sinking down into her chest and pulling desperately towards him, as if she’s going to vanish at any moment. 

“I’m here, Luke,” she reassures him, brushing away some dirty blond locks from his sweaty forehead. “Just like that. S-so close again, angel. Keep fucking me like that. K-keep…”

His heavy breaths turn into whimpers as words melt off his tongue onto hers, and his embrace grips her closer with the hastening of his thrusts. She cries out in sweet agony, overcome with the combined stimulation, unable to break eye contact. You're gonna make me lose my mind. Need and desire burn in the blue of his eyes, his fingers threadinglo her hair as his other hand turns her anguish into her last, glorious flare of pleasure. 

The orgasm tenses her up tightly around him, the aftershocks bringing him down with her along with the cute breaking of his voice, wretchedly loud. Their foreheads come together with those last few attempts to prolong what’s already over, smearing the dripping fluids into a hot, sticky mess over their thighs as his second load starts spilling out, hot and thick. 

Lacing their hands together, Luke’s lashes flutter on her cheek. Love you, he breathes.

Theyb stay there for a few moments, limbs tangled. With tears still streaming down her face, (Y/N) trembles because of the exhaustion as much as the biting cold. It's the perfect circumstance to hide a shuddering heart. A warm hand comes to rest on her face, as tender eyes take in the bliss in her features. Luke drapes his cloak over her, a soft smile on his face, so she can’t help but pull him closer under the cloak and kiss him, greedily holding his blazing cheeks between her palms. 

“You’re cold, I’m sorry.” His arms envelop her weakened frame. As she nuzzles his shoulder, he lets out a faint chuckle. “In the end you were able to do both things, rebel. Have the prisoner and fuck him too.”

“Not sure if I’ve been a good rebel, though,” she says, tracing a finger down a lightning scar before giving it a light kiss. Luke cradles her head closer, his cheek pressed on her forehead. The heart under her palm, the point from where the mauvish spiderweb expands, slowly relaxes its beating.

His eyes turn up, caught by a far away tingling in his senses. Their time together is coming to a close.

Dreading the possibility of being found naked by the incoming shuttle and her masked pilot, (Y/N) finally sits up to put on her tunic, which Luke imitates, though not without a whiny puff. When sitting up, she realizes the extent of the mess between her legs, though she has no other option right now than get dressed and let it dry on her skin. However, the euphoria of that third high still persists in her brain too much to find it gross.

When looking for the rest of  her clothes, a certain item seems to be eluding her. It isn’t long till she spots it in Luke’s hand.

“I kept the other pair. Would you mind…?”

“Starting up quite the collection, Skywalker.” 

“Keep the cloak in exchange. You’re gonna need it.” She laughs and nods, after which he puts the ruined panties in his pocket, not without his ears turning red. “There’s something more. When you go find my starfighter, look for the compartment under the pilot seat. What’s in there is yours.”

“Like the rest of the fighter, you mean.”

Luke snorts as he welcomes her on his lap, covering them both with his cloak again. “I’ll let you steal the ship if the idea thrills you so much, but this other thing is a gift. Way better than a hickey, I think.”

She raises an eyebrow, amused. “Oh, did I get you into an uncomfortable situation last time?”

“You hadn’t striked me as someone who’s into that, that’s all. But I did like it.”

Well, that’s a thing she didn’t know about herself until then. Until she left his side and spent the next two days blushing at any sensitive grazing of that tender, violet spot that her demands to be marked resulted in, finding a sick excitement in it. She did her best to keep it hidden, but she wasn’t all that successful this one time her clothes moved accidentally while trying to help her friend run away from imperial blasters. She didn't realize until later, when she was putting staples into Leia’s arm and saw reflected in the princess’ face her exact thoughts about the hickey. She seemed more disappointed than angry. Even shut off from the Force, (Y/N) could sense how sad it made her, alongside the complete lack of strength to scold her about it.

Luke seems lost in his own thoughts too, his fingertips drawing circles on her shoulder. “Remember when we used to teach each other? We could do that again.”

There’s nothing she’d love most. Exchanging the little knowledge they acquired from each of their masters, trying to puzzle together a whole that made sense. It seems they never were all that successful, or they wouldn’t be in this situation right now.

Her voice comes out tiny, fearful. “Earlier, I almost…”

“I know, love. Don’t worry.” 

In the heat of passion, for a moment she was about to give in. However, it was Luke himself who kept her from falling. It wouldn’t have satisfied him if she didn’t commit to him clear headed, and he certainly isn’t pressuring her for an explanation no. She combs some hair pieces off his brow and brushes their noses together, thinking about that world he’s about to leave her for.

“Will you be alright with him?”

“Of course.” His hand down her hair offers a comfort she can’t bring herself to believe in fully. “It’s not like you think. He’s… kind to me.”

The word comes out crooked, but she knows he’s telling the truth. Or some version of it. She squeezes his artificial hand, now uncovered as the ruined glove lies on the rock. Her fingertips stumbling on all the telltale signs of worn out synthetic skin, she can think of a few dozen reasons why things are indeed like she suspects, because she can imagine Vader committing a thousand atrocities, and none of them close to being kind. The fact that Luke’s fall happened while she was gone instills a painful jab of guilt. There’s something she must have missed, something vital that changed his world forever and can’t just be explained with words.

Sensing her concerns, Luke sighs. “He likes you better than he’s willing to admit, I know it.”

“Great, just what I wanted to know. Allow me to harbor some doubt, though.” The idea of him talking of her to Vader seems taken out of a fever dream, even in the weird reality she lives now, where everything has been flipped upside down. “You love him, don’t you?”

Luke’s gaze turns to the stars, and in the silence (Y/N) hears all she needs. Even if she’s been trying her best to ignore it, the bond between father and son is almost visible to her, like a thick echo, resounding on everything around them and turning it back into a signal pointed in the other direction. She tries not to wonder how much of what’s happened on Jolah was projected onto it. However, the freezing note characteristic of the Sith lord’s signature still pervades, like a stench that can’t be washed off.

The rebel senses how one of her worst nightmares hovers over her head as the buzzing approaches. 

Tears fall on Luke’s knuckles as she kisses them goodbye. Unable to do or say anything of weight, he sweetly takes her flaming cheeks between his hands and seeks her mouth one last time with a mortal hunger written on his lips. She surrenders to his warmth, her tongue deep into the kiss. Their lips dance with a purposely slow passion, an underlying anxiety over the approaching moment of separation looming over them. An open, warm kiss is all they can attempt to sooth each other. It tastes salty. (Y/N) opens her eyes to find that he’s crying too, teardrops caught in his lashes falling to tickle her cheeks.  

Looking up at the landing shuttle burns like putting a hand on a hot stove. She prefers to spend these precious last seconds memorizing his eyes, taking advantage of the lights falling from the starship that illuminate his face. As the kiss dies, she registers every single little fleck and threads of blue, that tiny speck of golden brown, how those irises glimmer with bittersweet adoration for her.

She wouldn’t remember the moment his body was torn from hers, only the dark shape of his shoulders walking away from her.

The rebel’s exhausted mind goes to those treasured details as the shuttle flies away. But it isn’t like last time, when she ran off and closed herself to the Force; fearing the pain too much just resulted in this dull void she’s been living in. No, now she can see the shapes of that unbreakable thread weaving their signatures together. It pulls when he jumps to hyperspace, so brutally she’s scared it might tear her apart. However, after the initial shock, it remains there, irremediably binding her to Luke.

(Y/N) awaits for the aftershocks of that ghost pain to subdue a little before standing from the engraved altar. 

****

Under the compartment Luke indicated (Y/N) finds a book. An actual book, made out of paper. The captain blinks, astonished to find what she’s sure is poetry written in Huttese, even if she can’t read it. He never mentioned an interest for that sort of thing, even though it’s true that they didn’t have time for almost any kind of leisure at all back in the Rebellion, nor was it something he had access to at home. Right now, this is just another reminder of everything she’s missed in his life.

She flips the yellowed pages, filling her nose with their old aroma. However, there’s another note to it, deep and sweet. Another object lies pressed inside the book. A single Malreaux rose, its darkened petals flattened in between the pages. Her fingertips stroke lightly the stains left by dark pigment, remembering the night she gave herself to Luke for the first time among spilled flowers, their scent mixing with his skin. After this little indulgence, she carefully hides the book in her clothes.

As she quickly does the basic flight checks and maneuvers the starfighter to leave the forest planet of Jolah behind, her hand doubts over the communications panel. She should contact the Rebellion. In a matter of minutes, Han’s voice would fill the cockpit, and she’d be shown the way home. However, she enters a different code, one she isn’t supposed to use except in case of a true emergency, unsure of what she’s even going to say during those dreadful seconds it takes to establish the transmission.

“You got some nerve.��

“Hey, princess.”

Leia sighs, “Already heard of your little feat. If it wasn’t for what you’ve done for the survivors of Jolah, I wouldn’t be picking up.”

“Did they get there safely?”

“Yeah, Han called to tell me.” 

Since Leia has been gone from the front to devote herself to the Jedi path, the ex-smuggler has stepped up as a general for the dwindling Alliance. Most of the few that still fight out there answer to him nowadays. Maybe it’s seeing what once was a powerful fleet turned into a guerrilla of a few stubborn rats, but something about the current arrangement doesn’t feel quite right. An inert buzz takes over for a few seconds as both women sit wordless. 

“I think I have an idea of how you pulled it off.”

“It’s ok if you’re pissed at me.”

“I am. But I also can’t find the strength to blame you. I’m too damn exhausted. Some people that could be dead lived, that’s what’s important.” Her tone softens a little. “Good job.”

“My pleasure. How have you been?”

“Exhausted. Artoo keeps me company, but he’s spending a lot of time switched off these days. Not that he’s missing anything, just me belly flopping into the mud.”

“And the training?”

“I didn’t think learning to kill would be so awful.” To kill him, is what she doesn’t say.

“Do you think it’ll come down to that?”

“Master Tano thinks so.”

(Y/N) clicks her tongue. “It should be me over there, the Rebellion needs you.”

“No. That’s not your path. I still got your lightsaber and you know I’m of the opinion it should be with its owner. But I don’t think that’s what you should use it for.”

“Why? You’re so confident I’d lose?” They both know the cockiness is fake, but she needs it. Even if she tried with all she’s got, there’s no way she’d win, no matter how much she got to train with an actual master.

“No. I just don’t feel like losing you too. You keep trying to find another way, ok?”

When they say goodbye and the transmission ends, (Y/N)’s not sure how she could have cleared that one out better. She isn’t trying anything, she’s just selfishly stumbling into her desires every time she encounters Luke. Truth is, she’s abandoned Leia to carry everything on her shoulders, a role she’s too eager to fill, even if it breaks her.

(Y/N) pinches her nose. She’s done running. These are words her friend deserves to hear. So the rebel captain sets course, hoping it’s not too late to speak the truth.

****

This transmission with the commander in charge of the division assigned to Jolah is testing the last remains of Luke’s patience. He doesn’t ever enjoy having to mingle with Imperial officers, but today every single second paying attention to this man feels like an unforgivable waste of his time. He’d much rather be left alone with his thoughts. 

“Make it effective right now,” he orders. The commander immediately straightens his posture and salutes, feeling how much of a nuisance he’s becoming.

“It will be done, sir. The whole squadron will be sent to Thediyo.”

Those men he’s condemning to the cruel cold of the inhospitable Thediyo aren’t but flies, so the fact that they’re able to do so much harm feels wrong. Absurd. They deserve to be destroyed. He made it well karking clear that they were to make prisoners without harming them, didn’t he? And they just hounded (Y/N) like she was a prey animal, which almost killed her. If they just listened to their orders this wouldn’t have happened to them. And still, they should be thankful for his mercy. It would be so easy for him to crush their puny rib cages and skulls until their eyes pop out. 

But something keeps him from giving in to unchained wrath, and it’s the possibility of her finding out. (Y/N) doesn’t deserve to have that in her conscience, and he’s sure she’d blame herself for their deaths. Because she’s actually good. And clean. Way more than she gives herself credit for. No, those men will suffer worse learning to listen to their orders by holding their blasters in the middle of an eternal snow storm until their fingers freeze off.

Luke can sense with distaste his own dark machinations vibrating into the bond next to him, like an insect trapped in a spider web. If his father thinks he’s weak for not just murdering the bastards, he can choke in his disappointment. The same with his thoughts of his whole ordeal. They’re close to winning, right? The Alliance will soon be no more, and he has had an important hand in that. He doesn’t have the right to reproach him about anything. Vader won’t chastise him directly, he rarely does, but the young apprentice knows training sessions are going to become hell from now on, even more of what it’s been. He doesn’t care.

His father’s tutelage has been tough. Back in the day, Yoda’s training had put his mind and body to the test far beyond what he thought possible. But his father’s can’t even begin to compare. Now that he’s endured it long enough, Luke is starting to see the seams that reveal the structure, the reasons behind every exerting challenge. Some things within himself had to be broken in order to build a new kind of power, a lot had to be torn down before his new master deemed the results satisfactory. And he came out of it more powerful than he could have imagined.

It had never been easy. After going to his father, to his family, he looked back and saw all the things he regretted leaving behind. Luke hadn’t held real hope of being followed to this side, except for her. Maybe it was self indulgent, wishful thinking on his part.

(Y/N) knows what he’s done in the frontlines and she’s still managed to look him in the eye. To love him. However, he can’t help but torture himself with the thought that if she knew the ways he’s used to delve deeper into the dark side, she’d immediately go retrieve her lightsaber and end his life with it.

But that selfish little voice wonders why, even after all the sacrifices, all the loses, she can’t see how close the fight is to its end, just as they both wished together in the past. If he could just be made to see…

Shit. That’s an ugly thought. He shouldn't forget he once thought of things in stark white and black terms. Once, falling to the dark side meant the destruction of a person’s soul, left as a hollow husk with no salvation other than slaughter. He'd be lying if he said he doesn't feel empty and beyond help sometimes, often on the battlefield. Killing isn't all that different now than when he did it for the other side, just the same fire and ash, burnt skin. The feeling that he’ll never be able to inhabit his own skin again after staining his hands with so much blood. The only difference lies in the lack of that wretched self righteousness he used to brandish to justify his actions. During the day, at least. At night come the ghosts of screaming, agonizing souls through the Force, right before the void of death. The hole in the fabric of the universe left by the annihilation of the Death Star, hundreds of thousands erased with a movement of his finger. It’s lingered ever since, always in the last nightmare before waking up, always in the corner of his vision and the faint ringing in his ears.

However, he pushed forward. Because it was all supposed to matter, because there was a plan. And then it turned out he’d been lied to. Soon after, (Y/N) was taken. He lost her because he was too soft and undecided. Too weak. He dragged on for a good while that he'd never see her again, that she was gone and it was his fault.

If she had been there that one time he encountered Vader again, after Bespin. It turns out the death mask held more than just the monster. When the lines between life and death, friend and enemy, were blurred, a kind hand capable of kindness was extended to him. It felt like family. There, consumed by shame and impotence, Luke became convinced that he'd never get to feel that again. So when it came down to the decision of killing it along with his father, he found an unexpected comfort in the realization that he'd already made his choice 

However, Luke doesn’t appreciate the impatient silence building up next to him, on the pilot seat. One thing that surprised him at first is that his father was a quiet listener, always pacing around the shapes of his thoughts. He also didn't expect not minding it at all, but also missing it when it was gone.

“Go on. Blame me.”

“I do not care. Some worthless flies just escaped for another day. Now matter how hard they wriggle, their downfall is inevitable now.”

“I thought you'd dislike my weakness.”

A discordant note rings through their bond, a bitter echo. It dissolves quickly, leaving the accusation unanswered.

Yeah, he's definitely saving payback for later. He can try all he wants, torture him even. Of all the things Luke regrets, this will not be one of them.

He shakes his head in distaste. The vertigo he felt when he made that jump of faith for his father still echoes sometimes. Even if it was his choice, he sometimes struggles to see if he really had any say in it. It all happened so fast, it was pure instinct. 

No, he won't fall to suspicion and start resenting him, that path ends up with an inevitable betrayal. That's the Emperor’s way and, with him gone, his ways must die too, for everyone's sake. Luke has found a new power in the dark side, and he's sworn to use it for good. Until now, he's been successful at keeping that intoxicating darkness at hand, that scarlet rush that tingles through his whole body with the temptation to let go all the way into blind, destructive rage. However, he’s found he can control his passions, harness them into a tool, as much as it hurts. 

Luke doesn't care about power, it's just a means to an end. He loathes it. He just wants all this to end

His fingers instinctively go to the inner pocket of his tabard where, kept close to his chest, he put a stem of those little white flowers that grew through the window of his cell. The delicate petals look reasonably intact, though a little sadder than this morning. He better press them soon.

His father subtly turns his head, but he doesn’t say anything. However, the exasperation travels all the way through their bond.

“I don’t blame you. However, this bond… You need to be prepared to be hurt if you keep it.

“You're saying she won't understand.” Luke runs a hand through his hair, feeling the fleeting warmth of her body leave his skin. “You've prepared me for pain, haven't you?”

“I’ve trained you to understand pain. To harness anger into power.”

Only the artificially aided breathing echoes while Lord Vader’s thoughts float far away, somewhere close to those white blooms in his son’s hand. Luke sighs.

“Then it's fine. I'll be hurt for it.”

[arianeemorythethird]

Today's horrible Star Wars thought, prompted by some meta I'm not sure I fully agree with: when would have Anakin actually found out what the inhibitor chips really do?

According to RotS Anakin's not present when Palpatine sends out Order 66, he's already heading out with the 501st for the Jedi Temple. And up until that point, just like the rest of the Jedi Council, he knew that inhibitor chips existed but had no idea they could actually control minds and cause the clones to act against their will.

So when would he have actually found out the truth? I think there's actually two options here.

Option one is that in some missing moment after Mace's death, while Anakin was swearing himself to Palpatine, Palpatine told him ahead of time exactly what the inhibitor chips would do. This is possible, and frankly I think there's a decent chance Anakin would have gone along with Order 66 regardless - but I don't think it's the likeliest option.

At this point Anakin is, frankly, delusional, and he's flipflopping all over the place. A few hours ago he was completely loyal to the Jedi and turned Palpatine over to them. Could Palpatine be totally confident Anakin was completely and securely under his control and wouldn't change his mind yet again?

Sure, by the time Anakin commits himself to the Sith he is fully onboard the Jedi=evil train with Palpatine, fuelled partly by his resentment towards the Jedi Council but primarily, imo, by his desperation to erase his guilt over betraying Mace by convincing himself that the Jedi were traitors all along so he did nothing wrong. But "support me, the Jedi are evil, btw these people you trust and feel responsible for don't agree so I'm going to have to use mindcontrol and fully enslave them so they help us" doesn't fit into this neat narrative Anakin is using to justify himself. And it surely would have had the potential to trigger Anakin's slavery issues - in the wrong direction for Palpatine's purposes. It might be a low risk, at this point, but it's still a risk.

But also, there was a better option and one that, imo, better fits Palpatine's usual style.

Because option two is that Palpatine doesn't tell Anakin the truth about the inhibitor chips immediately. He just tells Anakin that the clones are loyal to Palpatine and the Senate (and, critically, Padme), and the clones have realised that the Jedi are traitors too, and Anakin should trust them.

And sure enough! Anakin's men in the 501st willingly attack the Jedi Temple with him, even down to helping him kill kids. Anakin can sense as, all over the galaxy, other clones turn on their Jedi generals. The Jedi must be evil, if the clones are turning on them too; Anakin must be doing the right thing.

In the critical moment when Anakin was still only taking his first steps into the dark it would reinforce his delusions, it would reinforce the worldview Palpatine was trying to push him towards, where Jedi were evil traitors and Palpatine (and Anakin, and the clones) were doing the right thing for the greater good.

And of course, it would give Palpatine something extra to torture Vader with, much later - much, much later. Another atrocity to bind them both together, and keep Vader feeling like he was irredeemable, he was so deep in the dark he wouldn't deserve to find a way out.

And like - this is not an exoneration of Anakin. He should have known something was wrong. In their right minds the clones would never have killed kids on Anakin's orders, they'd never have turned on the Jedi - but quite frankly if Anakin himself was in a place to recognise that, he wouldn't have been killing those kids himself, you know?

[circadianaa]

caelifer

/ˈkae̯.li.fer/

supporting the sky or heavens

please meet commander caelifer! character introduction below ⬇️

everyone, please meet commander caelifer! he is eyre’s commander and the co-leader of the 228th battalion. i’m still developing him, so there’s not a ton of lore to divulge, but i will share what i have so far.

as eyre was not a full jedi knight, they only held the rank of commander during their time in the clone wars, and they co-led with CC-8622, also known as commander caelifer. caelifer is somber, serious, and has always carried the immense weight of pressure to succeed on his shoulders, hence his name.

though eyre cares deeply for their men and their well-being, caelifer is often forced to pick up eyre’s slack as (though they are not necessarily a bad leader) they are not trained in any military tactics whatsoever and have no experience with or qualifications to be leading a military force. though eyre—as a padawan commander—technically outranks caelifer, caelifer is the de facto leader of the 228th, and everyone—even eyre—is well aware of this. while they perhaps wish they could lead their men better, they bear no resentment for caelifer’s authority, and no jealousy for the burden of his position.

caelifer is never seen without a furrow between his brows, and many of his brothers joke that he ages even faster than the rest of them. surely, he’d be the first to go gray out of all of them—but he never lived long enough to find out.

roughly a year into the war, caelifer and all of the soldiers in the 228th tragically perished in the wake of an unfortunate combination of bad intel, bad terrain, and tired leadership. it was no one’s fault but that of the droids who pinned them in a blind and overwhelmed them, slaughtering them without mercy. their sacrifices would end up forgotten by all except eyre themself, the lone survivor of the event. caelifer and the 228th were lost to time, but eyre will always feel the guilt of their failure and the keen loss of the men under their command—beloved siblings to them—until the day they are reunited with them in the force.

thank you for reading, and please let me know if you’re interested in seeing more of/hearing more about caelifer, the 228th, or eyre in the future!

[paperback-rascal]

@kalm5​ and I were bouncing this idea between each other for a while.

We dubbed it as Janitor!AU but it’s rather a... JanitorAU!origin story/idea for both Clone Force 99 and 99.

The premise is as follows:

all clones registered as defective (and surviving the whole process despite the defects) are automatically registered as maintenance staff no matter how insignificant the mutations might be.

Once Nala Se decides to release four experimental clones from her lab to the training facility, to her horror, the system/framework immediately categorized them as defective and registers them as maintenance.

The brothers ends up working under 99, who at this time is not the clone we know and love from TCW as he is jealous of his brothers... especially his new “squad”: They have supernatural strength, above-average intelligence, inhuman eyesight, sixth sense, etc.  - they are super soldiers who, by accident, ended up sweeping floors.

99 has what? a hump, crooked spine, droopy face and a lame leg.

That turns 99 very bitter towards life, himself and, especially, other abled clones. He is not malicious towards The Bad Batch, but rather cold and aloof: he refuses to show them the ropes or how to efficiently preform certain tasks, gives them the most demeaning jobs, not tell them about shortcuts/ maintenance hallways of the facility, so they have a hard time getting used to their job of being well... janitors, which in turn fills them with resentment. Not to mention they also rebel against the decision as they felt they were denied their heritage as soldiers also they’d get treated harshly by “regs” due to their status quo (because at Kamino maintenance = defective)!

With time, 99 finds his “zen” - he forms a bond with TBB, learns to appreciate his squad and find his own strengths/weaknesses as TBB fight with the system to be approved for missions (with dash of help from Shaak Ti’s Jedi way of handling things and... Nala Se - who well, didn’t spend months/years in her secret lab tweaking clone DNA to produce maintenance staff!).

TBB also plotted to absorb 99 to their team in some way or another, but at the end of the day, 99 matured enough to realize that being a janitor/maintenance personnel is as much needed in war as being on the front lines. At this point TBB consider 99 as integral part of the squad, even though he is on Kamino while they are fighting.

The Clone Force 99 name is not to honor 99 post mortem, but the name of the team they build with him as they mopped grime of landing platforms, scrubbed clogged, piss coated toilets and washed sweat soaked training armor sets.

---

On the more humorous note I imagine them still being maintenance staff in the Kamino framework/system despite being approved for combat - once a clone is registered as defective/maintenance, there is no change of the status, because there is not way to actually fix the defect. They could be this fearless Clone Force 99 with 100% success rate and proudly wear black-and-red armor all they want (imagine if it was 99′s aesthetic! like... him always wanted to look super cool/ badass with skulls and such, while black-and-red color scheme came from him hating how unassuming janitor uniform looked), but in their files they will forever belong to a janitor closet....

now that I mentioned it - What if their living space was some sort of maintenance room they cleared out and started to squat in? What if TBB and 99 lived together for a while and what we know as Echo’s hammock in reality belonged to 99?

---

(also that’s why he was so helpful toward Domino squad later - he saw The Bad Batch in them)

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STAR WARS: The Clone Wars/The Bad Batch © George Lucas/ Dave Filoni/ LucasFilm/ Disney