#to step in when Dooku can’t

[dindjarindiaries]

Senator's Shadow - Chapter 6

summary: As time winds down to the upcoming attack, you and Sergeant Hunter both find yourselves as conflicted as ever.

pairing: hunter (the bad batch) x fem!reader

rating: mature (18+)

tags: bodyguard romance, forbidden love, fluff & angst, emotional & physical hurt/comfort, canon-typical violence, injuries & blood, trauma, eventual/mild smut

word count: 6.821k

chapter 5 ⟸ series masterlist ⟹ chapter 7

chapter 6 ⟹

“I just don’t know, Senator.” Your jaw ticked in your effort not to show the way you bristled with anger at the falsely disappointed words of yet another diplomat. “The problems are only getting worse, and Count Dooku is offering us much more than the Republic is.”

You furrowed your brow in frustration. “It’s not an equal exchange. Can’t you see that?” You looked around the massive, circular table full of Eirus’ highest-ranking officials, silently begging for them to understand your perspective. “Once they have their grip on our world, they will not let go. Their chosen government will absolve yours, and all of you will be outed while our people will be exploited and forced to work in their droid factories.”

The Prime Minister huffed an arrogant breath. “That’s a paranoid thought process, Senator.”

You fixed your intense stare on the Rodian. “It is not ‘paranoid’ when it has happened before on other worlds, Prime Minister. That makes it realistic.” You paused and looked around the group again. “And probable, if we cannot come to an agreement.”

“These attacks have only gotten worse since you arrived.” The Prime Minister wouldn’t back down. “Our people need order, and clearly, the Republic cannot provide that, seeing as it has failed to do so already.”

“It does not help that you have not implemented any of the resources the Republic and I have supplied you with from Coruscant.”

Another diplomat was quick to speak up. “Count Dooku is offering us even more resources.”

Your head snapped towards them. “And where is he now? Where are any of his officials?” You yet again waved a hand around, gesturing to the empty section of seats that would have been directly across from you. “They refuse to come here, yet here I am, trying to make things work in the best interest of all of you and our people.” You shook your head. “He cares so little about our world that he does not even value sending himself or someone else here on his behalf.”

Silence fell upon the diplomats as they considered your words. Some of them continued to stare at you, while others broke their gazes and looked around the room. You hoped that would promise some progress, but deep down, you knew the truth. 

You rose from your seat and continued. “But I care.” Hunter’s words from the night before ran across your mind, warming your chest as you went on. “And because I care, the Republic cares, too.” You nodded. “I fought for this world once before, and I will do it again if I have to.”

The diplomats shared looks, but you didn’t care to read them. Your frustrated rage was boiling hot just beneath the surface of your skin. This was a room full of people who would do nothing to save your world, and you weren’t going to wait for them any longer.

“With that, I believe we can conclude today’s sessions.” The Prime Minister was the next to stand from his seat, his gaze averting yours altogether as he nodded at the group. “We will resume tomorrow, as usual.”

You composed yourself with a breath and kept your mask on, despite the overwhelming urge to embrace your frustration wholeheartedly. With a dignified nod, you turned to the captain of your guard, allowing him to escort you out of the room. Even just stepping through the threshold released a tense weight from your shoulders, though it was far from eliminating all the burdens you were holding there.

The biggest was no doubt the decision that had been looming over your head for the past day. It was becoming more clear which choice you had to make, but it wouldn’t be easy to go that route. You would manage, but the squad who would be standing behind you… would they be punished for their role in your rebellion?

Would Hunter be punished, even hurt, for your own actions?

It wasn’t a thought that you could bear. You had to force it to the back of your mind for now, especially since they hadn’t yet arrived at your doors for the night. That thought at least brought a smile to your face. They were enjoying a meal, if all was well, and that satisfied you. No matter what was to come, you were still providing them with something.

You had a meal in the privacy of your suite, one you had to force down thanks to the pit that had been created in your stomach. In the silence of your lonesome, you ran through plans and probabilities a dozen times. The advantage to being betrayed by those you used to fight alongside was that you knew their plays—because many of those plays had been created by you.

As eager as you were to continue planning, you were utterly relieved by the sound of knocking on your doors. You smiled and rose from where you had been sitting, smoothing out the skirt of your dress before you reached the doors. They opened to reveal the sight of both Hunter and Tech.

You addressed Tech first, bowing your head in his direction. “Tech.” He returned the gesture before glancing back down at his datapad. You fixed your stare upon Hunter, who was already gazing at you with a once-over you were both familiar with and never quite used to. “Sergeant.” The smile on your lips remained even as you lifted an eyebrow. “Another briefing, I presume?”

Hunter bowed his head. “That’s right, Senator.” His dark eyes sparkled with too many emotions to identify in an instant. “We found what we were looking for.”

You were hit with a puzzling mix of both relief and dread as you nodded. “Good. I look forward to hearing about it.”

With that, you turned and walked back inside, encouraging Hunter to do the same. It wasn’t until you heard the doors close that you fully relaxed with a deep exhale. You closed your eyes and turned around to face the sergeant, only reopening them when you were ready for whatever he had to say. His worried gaze was already searching your own.

“How much time do we have?” Your voice was stronger than you had expected it to be.

Hunter took a step closer to you. “Two nights.” His voice was even raspier than usual as he spoke, as if there were also invisible burdens he was hiding on his own shoulders. You furrowed your brow. “Tech was able to slice into their comm channel, and he ran an analysis on their past attacks to prove it.”

You nodded, a rush of adrenaline pumping through you. “Okay, that’s fine. We can work with two more nights’ time.”

Hunter returned your nod, though his stare never left yours. “Have you decided what you’ll be doing?” He asked the question slowly, clearly reluctant to bring the topic up.

“I have.” You raised your chin, but only for a moment. “I’m going to fight.” Your gaze fell from his as you crossed your arms over your chest.

In your silence, Hunter approached you, setting his free hand upon your chin just as he had done two times before—but not since your beautifully haunting kiss. It was hard to focus with that thought lingering in the back of your mind. Hunter’s voice, however, broke through your brief reverie. “Then we’ll fight with you.”

You tightened your jaw, drowning in the comfort of his dark gaze as you voiced your fears to him. “Will that be safe for you and your squad?”

Hunter’s brow knit together. “What do you mean?”

You sighed a light breath. “I know you’re all willing to disobey orders, and that it’s a big part of the reason why I brought you with me. But…” you paused, gaining courage in the softness of Hunter’s expression before going on, “is it safe for you to do that?”

Hunter huffed, his gloved hand moving from your chin to your cheek in a smooth, calming motion. “Trust me, Senator. They stopped trying to reprimand us a long time ago.” He nodded, his eyes searching your own. “You don’t have to worry about us.”

Your hand covered his as you began to smile at him once again. “That’s much easier said than done, Hunter.”

The corners of Hunter’s lips also widened. “I know.”

The silence that followed shifted something between you, bringing you back to that moment in the base by the village. Both your gazes flickered low as your heart steadily started to beat faster and faster. You were drawn to him by the invisible tether you had created between you, and when your nose brushed his, you were yet again at a loss for breath.

But Hunter spoke before either one of you could make a move. “I should let you rest, Senator.” His voice was nothing more than a soft breath.

You shook your head, tightening your grasp on the hand of his that continued to cup your face. “You don’t have to leave.”

Hunter considered your words, both his stare and his voice lowering as he did so. “If I kiss you right now, Senator, I won’t be able to stop.”

The way his words weakened your knees further proved that you couldn’t let go of this moment, one you had been hoping for ever since that night at the village. “I’m okay with that.”

You made the move to close the distance between you, but you were stopped by Hunter’s thumb on your lips. Your eyes fluttered open to see that his were closed, as if he was in pain. You furrowed your brow and waited for him to break your tense silence. When he reopened his eyes, you saw all the conflict within him—and though your heart was stricken with pain on his behalf, it also filled you with a frustrated flame.

Hunter finally spoke, but his voice was nothing more than a whispered plea. “Please.” He exhaled, moving his face away from yours to lower his head. “Make this easier for me.”

His refusal was the last fracture that made you crumble under the weight of all your pressures. You narrowed your eyes and shook your head at him. “No.” Your hand grabbed his wrist and forced it away from your face. Hunter’s stare rose to yours again, and this time, it was filled with a confused panic. “I won’t play this game, Hunter.”

Hunter blinked a few times, his lips parted before he found his words again. “What are you talking about?”

You scoffed. “Days ago, you were encouraging me to indulge in my wants, telling me I didn’t have to choose between them and my people’s needs.” You gave him a disbelieving once-over. “Now, it’s suddenly a problem?”

Hunter hesitated, and you could hear the breath he held in his chest. His gaze was lowered, but it darted around as he tried to collect his thoughts. “It’s never been my intention to confuse or hurt you, Senator.” His stare met yours, its brown depths clouded with too much emotion to decipher. “I guess I’ve still got a lot to figure out myself.” He shook his head, and each word he spoke was strained with meaning. “I’m sorry.”

An apology wasn’t really what you wanted to hear, as genuine as it was. “Well, I’ve made my choice.” You lifted your brow, as if you were challenging him. “You have to make yours.” You gave your head another shake. “Because I’m not letting you have it both ways. Not when I’m already being torn apart by this crisis.”

The pained crease in Hunter’s brow nearly made you regret saying the words, but there was no getting around it. You already had the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders, and you couldn’t take on another with such a push-and-pull relationship. He was going to have to choose.

“I should get some rest.” You stepped away from him to move towards your bedroom, trying your best to ignore the burn of his gaze on your back. “I trust that you can see yourself out, Sergeant?”

For the first time, your use of his title was nothing but bitter. When you gained the faith to look at Hunter again, he just nodded dutifully, turning on his heel to stride towards the doors of the suite. Before he got there, however, he stopped. His head turned over his shoulder so that all you could see was his profile. “Senator?”

You said nothing. It was clearly the invitation he was looking for to go on, and the hopeful part of you that wanted to be wrong about everything you had just said let him do so.

Hunter’s shoulders rose and fell with a steady breath before he turned to face you again. Still, he remained where he was, respecting the distance you had put between yourselves. “I was made for this war. I’ve never known a life without it, and I’ve never been able to think of a life beyond it.”

Your heart weighed heavy at the painful truth of his words. You lowered your gaze in shame as he went on.

“I’ve never even had the luxury of ‘wants’ outside of battle, especially with the squad in my care.” Hunter gestured with his head to the doors. “It doesn’t excuse me letting you get caught up in my own confusion, but…” he paused, his gaze once again lowered and searching before he went on, “I hope it helps you realize that you’ve never been the problem.”

Hunter’s stare found yours again, and a rush of strong flutters exploded within you at the breathtaking sincerity of his gaze.

“I know what I want. I’m just not sure if I can let myself have it.” Hunter looked over his shoulder. “For their sake as much as my own.”

You couldn’t think of any words to say. It was your turn to be speechless, lost in the weight of what he had so vulnerably shared with you. He had spent this entire mission understanding your perspective and prioritizing your desires, but you had made the mistake of never once trying to do the same for him.

“Goodnight, Senator.” Hunter dismissed himself with another nod before he walked through the doors that slid open for him, leading him back into the corridor.

As soon as he was gone, you shouldered the heavy weight of his absence. The doors closed at the same time your eyes did, your chest rising and falling with a deep, trembling breath. At the beginning, you had remembered it so well, the weight of Hunter’s own responsibilities that could put him at risk if you pursued a relationship together. But then the kiss had happened, and your rationality slipped away. Rather than talking to him about it, you sought more, more of what he knew he could not have.

Then, you made him feel bad about it. You ended up hurting him after all, long before he would even set foot into the upcoming battle. And of course he remained as honorable and genuine as possible, never once putting the blame on you.

You forced yourself to turn back to your bedroom door and walk through the threshold. As you settled into bed that night, it felt colder and emptier than ever—especially with the creeping fear that you may have ruined whatever potential you and Hunter had for a future together. 

You woke earlier than usual that morning. The time on the chrono was still within Hunter’s window for his watch shift, and you couldn’t deny yourself a chance to at least apologize. You weren’t sure when you would get another opportunity alone with him, aside from the usual briefing later that night. You couldn’t wait that long to put an end to the anxious agony that had made your sleep so restless.

As you dressed for the day, your thoughts dwelled on your current inner crisis. The guilt consumed you whole, but so did the helplessness of the situation. You both wanted the same thing and you had no idea how to help him pursue that. Not when he had so many burdens on his shoulders already, burdens that he had quite literally been created with.

That could be explored later. For now, you just had to apologize. You reminded yourself of that as you headed to the doors of the suite, your pulse racing in anticipation as they opened for you.

You furrowed your brow when Echo turned around to face you. “Senator?” He checked the nearest chrono. “It’s pretty early for you to be awake.”

Your heart sank in disappointment, though you kept a small smile on your lips. “I have a lot to prepare for, Echo.” Was Hunter really so upset that he changed his watch shift?

The ARC trooper removed his helmet, revealing his raised brow. “At this time of the morning?”

You continued to mask with a soft huff. “It’s never too early to begin preparations.” You let out a deeper exhale, bowing your head. “But I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Echo. I…” You paused, trying to find a fitting lie.

“You thought it would be Hunter.” Echo’s words made your gaze snap back up to his. He was smiling, but when his stare caught yours, the smugness began to falter. “Did something happen?”

You swallowed hard, your gaze focusing on the sight of Hunter’s door beyond Echo. “I simply owe him an apology for something. That’s all.”

Echo looked as if he was going to question you about it, but he must have changed his mind. “Well, Hunter’s finally getting some sleep. He found out Wrecker hasn’t been getting enough rest, so he changed the shift schedule.”

Your chest constricted with a confusing number of emotions. “How so?”

“In typical Hunter style, he’s taking a double shift, now. Watching the doors for most of the night, getting maybe a few hours of sleep in before the wake-up call.”

You exhaled a soft breath. That was no surprise to hear, but the fact he hadn’t communicated such a change to you himself hurt worse than it should have. “I see.” You nodded at Echo. “Well, I’ll leave you to it, Echo. My apologies again.”

As you turned back to your doors, however, Echo went on. “If it’s any help, Senator, I don’t think he’s upset with you.” You froze, turning your rapt attention back to Echo. He lifted his brow. “He’s upset with himself.”

You faced Echo fully again and crossed your arms. “What makes you so sure?”

Echo sighed and looked at Hunter’s door. “When he gets upset with himself, he just… keeps to himself. Starts taking on extra responsibilities.”

You grimaced. “Like the watch shifts.”

Echo’s stare found yours again as he nodded. “Exactly.”

You held the side of your face with your palm and exhaled. “He shouldn’t be upset with himself. It’s my fault.”

Echo hesitated for only a moment before he spoke. “Well, Senator, if this is about what I think it’s about… it won’t be easy to convince him of that.”

Your self-loathing began to subside in your sudden concern for Hunter. You dropped your hand from your face and held your arms tighter. “Why?”

Echo shook his head. “Well, Hunter’s good at just about everything. Exceptional, even. But vulnerability?” Echo gave his head a fond tilt. “That’s not his strong suit. And if he thinks he hurt you somehow while he was already trying to be vulnerable…”

You were able to finish the thought. “He’s gonna shut me out.”

Echo stepped closer to you and set a reassuring hand on your shoulder. “But if anyone can get through to him, Senator, it’s you. I’m already amazed at how much you’ve been able to do that.” He chuckled and raised his brow. “Never seen the man so giddy before.”

Your ears burned as you laughed with him. You took his hand from your shoulder and held it between yours in pure gratitude. “Thank you, Echo.” You sighed and let your worry consume you for a moment. “I just hope he’ll give me the chance to help him.”

“Based on how he spoke about you last night during the schedule change?” Echo huffed as he slid his helmet back on over his head. “You don’t have to worry about that at all.”

You beamed, giving your head a fond shake as you turned back to your doors and stepped through them. They closed behind you, and though you should have tried to get more rest, you had too much to think about. You were already planning the next private conversation you would have with Hunter, one that would hopefully go much smoother than last evening did.

This at least made time move by faster, and soon, it was time to reemerge. You approached the doors with a new mindset, preparing yourself for a whole different kind of battle than the one you would be facing tomorrow.

When the doors opened, you were shocked to see that Hunter was already standing there with Echo. Your heart skipped a surprised beat at the sight of him, though the way he was already concealing his face from view with his helmet forced a pulse of disappointment through you.

Hunter’s visor turned to you, and you were caught in the intensity of it. He nodded, breaking the gaze almost straight away. “Good morning, Senator.”

The corners of your mouth tightened before you returned the gesture. “Sergeant. I hope you were able to get some rest.” It was time to give him a push, to see if Echo was right about his true motivations for taking yet another responsibility on his shoulders. You glanced at the ARC trooper. “Echo told me you changed the shift schedule.”

Hunter tilted his helmet. You wished more than anything that you could see his eyes. “It’s better this way. Now, everyone gets equal rest.”

You furrowed your brow. “Everyone except for you?”

Hunter straightened his posture at that. “I’ll be fine, Senator. I’m used to it.”

You still wouldn’t back down. “Cutting back on rest before such a dangerous mission isn’t a very wise choice, Sergeant, regardless of whether you’re used to it or not.”

Hunter sighed and set a hand on his hip. “Senator—.”

Echo cleared his throat when the squad’s doors began to open. You looked past Hunter to see Wrecker and Crosshair making their way over, and it was more than likely that Tech would emerge from your suite at any moment. You folded your hands behind your back and took a deep breath for composure. Once Tech had arrived, you spoke up to the gathered group first. “What are your squad’s plans for today, Sergeant?”

Hunter’s helmet turned towards you slowly, as if it was a cautious movement. “Scoping out their camp again. We need to get as much information as possible before we put our official plans in place.”

You nodded. “I concur. Will the briefing be tonight?”

Hunter shook his head. “We’ll do it tomorrow. I want it to be fresh.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Will I at least be briefed on today’s findings?”

Hunter lifted both hands to his hips. “If there’s anything to report, then yes.”

You gave him a disbelieving once-over. Never before had Hunter pushed back on keeping you as in-the-loop as possible. Now, after already failing to notify you about the watch schedule change, he was going to avoid your usual evening briefings.

You were going to have to push him even harder.

Tech tried to speak up into your stunned silence. “Given how much we already know, it is doubtful that we will find anything—.”

“Considering this is an attack on my home village, Sergeant, I would appreciate receiving details on any and all findings, no matter how small.”

“We can make that possible,” Echo cut in, clearly trying to both help you and ease the tension. “I’m sure we’ll find something worth noting.”

“That makes one of us,” Crosshair muttered.

“I have to say, I am with Crosshair on this one,” Tech added. “Like I attempted to share before, it is doubtful that—.”

Hunter was the one to cut him off that time. “I don’t want to waste any of your time if we don’t find anything worth noting, Senator.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Anything that has to do with my home village is not a ‘waste of time,’ Sergeant.”

Hunter exhaled and held a hand against his helmet. “That’s not what I meant.”

“It kinda sounded like it was,” Wrecker insisted. Hunter’s helmet snapped towards him, making Wrecker shrink back in surprise.

“Listen.” Echo continued to be the voice of reason as he cut into the noise. “We’ve got tons of daylight on our side right now. We’ll make sure we can find something for you by tonight, Senator, if only to put your mind at ease. All right?”

You nodded at him. “I like that plan of yours, Echo.” Your gaze flickered to Hunter’s visor, but only for a moment. “It’s a sensible approach.”

With that, you strided off, heading to your guards who awaited you at the far end of the corridor. The further you got from the group, however, the harder it became to leave them behind. Hunter’s stare was burning so intensely into your back that you were half-convinced he would leave a mark behind. Clearly, whatever you were doing was working to a degree, but you didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

You had never wanted to show a person they were deserving of love so badly before.

Throughout your diplomatic sessions for the day, your thoughts dwelled with Hunter and the two battles you were fighting. There was no point in participating in diplomacy any longer; you would keep your mask on and leave it at that. Yesterday had proven that these officials were far beyond saving. You could afford to let your thoughts stray in these sessions if it meant that all the people you were actually trying to help would be saved—if they would let you, Hunter included.

The day trudged on, but eventually, it came to an end. You were relieved to be heading back to your suite, even with the anticipation of facing Hunter again. You had rehearsed conversations in your mind a thousand times throughout the day, leaving you more prepared than ever to speak to him.

But when you got to your doors, he was nowhere to be found. It was Echo who awaited you with a half-hearted smile. You returned it even as you raised your brow and looked around the end of the corridor.

“Good to see you again, Echo.” You nodded at him, and he returned the gesture. “Where’s your squad?” You lowered your voice to keep it between the two of you. “And the sergeant?”

Echo exhaled and closed his eyes. “I tried my best, Senator.” Your chest tightened as Echo’s eyes reopened, his stare meeting yours. “Hunter insisted on staying later at the camp tonight, and he’s got Crosshair and Tech with him. Wrecker and I are covering the watch shifts until they get back.”

You frowned and attempted to ignore the worried pang that gnawed at your stomach. “How long will they be gone?”

Echo shook his head. “I’m not sure. I don’t think it’ll be too long.” He offered a hopeful smile. “Hunter doesn’t like to leave you on your own, even now.”

You scoffed and held your arms with your hands. “It doesn’t feel that way.”

Echo took a step closer to you. “I will say, Senator, that he stayed because he wanted to be able to bring back something new for you.” He lifted the corner of his mouth in a genuine smile. “Just like you had asked him to.”

You softened, though your frustration and worry continued to fester within your chest. “Well, it works very conveniently with his plan to avoid me.”

Echo huffed. “Yeah. For now.” He nodded at you again. “Just give it time. You’ll have your chance.”

You set a hand on Echo’s shoulder. “I hope you’re right, Echo.” You added a pat before you walked over to your doors and watched them open for you. “Make sure you get some rest, okay?”

Echo called into the suite after you. “You too, Senator.”

You smiled to yourself at his meaningful concern for you as the doors closed, leaving you in your lonesome once again. Though you wished more than anything that you would be getting an evening briefing from Hunter again, and thus an opportunity to talk to him, Echo had been right. He just needed time—and maybe you did, too.

But neither one of you had time, and that was the problem. Tomorrow’s battle would more than likely put an end to this mission, whether you were successful or not. Waiting was the last thing you wanted to do. You couldn’t bear the thought of letting both your world and Hunter slip through your fingers.

Despite these strong worries, you were able to do what Echo had gently requested you to. Your body was exhausted with the weight of all the burdens you had been putting on it, and it wasn’t long before you were able to fall into a deep sleep.

You weren’t sure what time it was when you heard the door to your bedroom open.

The knife was thrown before you could even sit up. Rather than hitting you, however, it disarmed a mysterious shadow at your side. You tried to kick your startled body into action, but before you could roll away to the other side of the bed, you were seized by the shadow’s two strong arms. They forced you out of the bed as they held you tight against their front, soon adding a blade to your neck as you were forced to look at whoever stood in the threshold of your door.

Hunter. You nearly breathed his name in your strong relief, despite the situation. His helmet was on, but you didn’t need to read his face to see all the panic and tension he held for you. The slight tremble of his blaster that was raised at your attacker spoke for him.

“Move, and she’s dead,” your attacker snarled. It wasn’t a voice you were familiar with, at least.

“Let her go,” Hunter warned in a menacing tone you’d never heard from him before, “or you’re dead.”

“Sergeant,” you called for him, raising your brow as his visor met your gaze. His protectiveness meant everything to you, but your injuries policy still stood. He had to understand that, even now.

“Quiet.” Your attacker’s voice shook with nerves as he tightened the blade on your neck. You grunted at the movement, but you weren’t alarmed by it. It was predictable. “Put down the blaster.”

Hunter tilted his helmet, and his grip on the weapon only tightened. “Yeah, I don’t really do that whole ‘following orders’ thing.”

You spoke up just after him. “Neither do I.”

You held your attacker’s arms and pulled yourself down as hard as you could, flipping him over your back. You rose back to your full height and took up Hunter’s discarded knife, but the sergeant had already shocked the attacker. His blaster, however, was now aimed behind you.

You stepped and turned just in time to avoid an attempted blow from a second attacker, who had hopped through the same open viewport as the other. Gripping Hunter’s knife tighter, you lunged towards them, jabbing the blunt end of the blade against their wrist to disarm them. Just as you leaned back to avoid another blow, the blue light of Hunter’s shot hit the attacker, stunning them and sending them into a steaming heap on the floor.

You steadied your breathing as you rushed over to the viewport, leaning out to make sure there were no others. When you closed it again and stepped away, you were immediately met with Hunter’s concerned expression, his helmet and blaster having been left behind on your bed.

“Are you okay?” Hunter’s brow was knit together, and his voice was strained as his dark gaze gave you a thorough once-over. Your ears burned when you remembered that you were still in your small nightgown. “Did they hurt you?” One of his hands held your shoulder as the other ran over your neck, where the attacker’s blade had been.

“I’m fine.” You kept your voice soft and nodded at him. “Thanks to your senses.”

Hunter exhaled a relieved breath, and as the adrenaline wore off, you could see him returning to his usual self. He withdrew his hands from you and returned your nod. You grimaced at the distance he was putting between you again as he reached for the comlink on his belt and spoke into it. “Boys, we’ve got infiltrators. Crosshair and Tech, do a perimeter sweep, make sure there aren’t any more. Echo, watch the outside door. Wrecker, I’ve got two men in the senator’s suite that I need you to take to the brig.”

You looked down at the unconscious attackers as he spoke. They weren’t any of the trained fighters you would have recognized, and that at least made one glaring truth evident. “These are rogue assassins.” You spoke before you even knew if Hunter was listening to you. “They’re not trained fighters.” Your gaze rose back to Hunter’s, which was watching you with both concern and curiosity. “If they were, that would’ve been a much harder fight.”

“And the trained fighters wouldn’t have jeopardized their upcoming mission.” Hunter lowered his stare to the two men and took a deep breath. “You’re right.”

You attempted both a smile and a joke. “Aren’t I always?”

That at least got Hunter to huff. The sound warmed your chest with a sweet flame, though it was quickly snuffed out when Hunter continued to avoid your gaze. Maybe pushing him wouldn’t be the solution, after all.

You sighed and wrapped your arms around yourself, suddenly conscious of the way you were dressed. “Thank you, Sergeant.”

Hunter’s stare found yours in disbelief. “For what, Senator?”

You chuckled and gestured to the bodies on the floor with your eyes. “For saving me.”

Hunter softened, even as his jaw tightened. There was a swirling cloud of emotions in his gaze that made it hard to resist reaching out for him. “You shouldn’t have to thank me for that.”

Wrecker entered the room before either one of you could continue. He gave himself some time to stretch before he bent down to pick up the unmoving men. “Looks like you two got ‘em easy.” Wrecker let out a hearty chuckle and nodded at you in approval. “Good work, Senator.”

You smiled and nodded at him. “Thank you for your help, Wrecker.”

Wrecker returned your nod and turned to Hunter. “You said you want ‘em in the brig, Sarge?”

“Yeah.” Hunter had already holstered his blaster, and he had his helmet tucked underneath his arm. “We’ll talk to them in the morning. For now…” he gestured to you with his head, but he didn’t look at you, “we should let the senator rest and recover.”

No, rest was the last thing you needed. What you needed was the same man who had just come to your rescue, and you weren’t letting him walk away again. As he started to follow Wrecker, you stepped forward, tightening your hands around yourself. “Sergeant?”

Hunter’s head turned back to you. You let your vulnerability show as you pleaded with your eyes, and your shoulders shook with a deep, trembling breath.

“If I could speak to you for just a moment?”

Hunter couldn’t deny you, just as Echo had insinuated before. He only turned to nod at Wrecker and dismiss him. Wrecker continued on through the threshold, leaving you and Hunter alone in the darkness of your bedroom.

You wasted no time getting to the point. “I owe you an apology.”

Hunter let out a heavy sigh, his head hanging in a guilt he wasn’t even trying to hide. “No you don’t.”

“I do.” You took a step closer to him. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that last night. What I should’ve done is remember that this isn’t as easy of a decision for you to make as it is for me.”

Hunter’s gaze darted around as he considered your words. You took his silence as an invitation to keep going.

“But you don’t have to avoid me. I understand that I was unreasonably harsh, and I can’t emphasize how deeply sorry I am for that, but… is this really what you want, now?”

The pain in your voice caused Hunter’s stare to find yours again. His dark eyes did nothing to hide the conflict he was holding deep within him, and neither did the strain of his voice as he spoke. “It’s not what I want at all, Senator.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “But I have to avoid you, because I don’t trust myself to be alone around you. I’ll only end up giving in and hurting you again, and that’s not something I’m willing to do.”

Your chest ached for him, but you still took another step closer, keeping your voice level as you spoke. “Your avoidance is hurting me more than the alternative would.”

Hunter’s eyes snapped back open at that, and they were widened in the same panicked way they had been last night. You softened and offered him a reassuring nod.

“Ever since we met, you’ve done all you can to understand me. To show me a sweet kind of sympathy I’ve never gotten before. And I… I never did that for you, at least not in the same way.”

You let your arms fall to your sides, opening up to him completely.

“Now I understand. I understand that this decision isn’t as easy for you as it is for me. But I think that’s because you’re forgetting something.”

You paused, giving Hunter the opportunity to speak. When he continued to remain silent, his jaw tight and his brow furrowed, you went on.

“It’s the same thing you’ve been reminding me this entire time. That I’m not alone.” Another step caused you to be nearly chest-to-chest with him. You reached a hand up towards his face, keeping the movement slow to let him stop you—but he didn’t. Your palm met his cheek, and he started to melt against it. “Neither are you, Hunter.��

Hunter’s eyes closed again, but this time, the motion was less desperate. He finally looked at ease, and you smiled to yourself at the progress you were making.

“If this is something you want… if we’re something you want… you don’t have to figure it out on your own.” You lifted your other hand to the tattooed side of his face, nodding once he had opened his eyes to look at you again. “I’ll be right here, and you know your squad will, too.” You giggled. “Especially Echo.”

Hunter laughed with you at that. It was a soft chuckle full of the same warmth you had gotten to see from him before. A hopeful flame burned within your chest, along with another that was deeply rooted inside of you. It was getting harder to ignore, and you let it fuel you as you leaned your face closer to his.

“Let me help you, Hunter, if that’s what you want.” You searched his gaze, which was only getting softer the more you spoke. “You gave me a choice before, and like I said last night, I’ve made mine. Now, you’re free to make your own.” You brushed your nose against his. This time, the motion drew a soft breath from his lips rather than your own. “Do you want this?” Your eyelids fluttered, your heart racing as your lips just barely touched his. “Do you want me?”

All the worries and pleas had been freed from your chest. You could only wait on him, now, even if every single part of your mind, heart, and body pleaded with you to close the distance. Like you had said, he had given you the choice before. This time, it would be his.

For a moment, Hunter pulled back, and your chest tightened with worry. Then, his hand wrapped around the back of your neck, and his lips were on yours for the first time in much too long.

chapter 5 ⟸ series masterlist ⟹ chapter 7

hunter tag list: @zenrobbins0021 @cw80831 @yunggoblin @maddiedrmr @Molmcb

senator’s shadow tag list: @violetlilly2020 @jellybeanstacey0519 @dindadjarin

[padawansuggest]

AU where Jango lives and somehow Jango and Dooku manage to get a hold of Obi-Wan at the same time and for once Jango is torn on who to go for first, arguably, Obi-Wan is the better target, seeing as Obi is less likely to hurt his son if he manages to win their fight and will likely drop Boba off with a more pandering adult to take care of him, but Dooku is Right There and he would very much like to murder him, but who knows if Obi-Wan’s family instincts will kick in and protect his ba’buir. But then. Dooku. Is just standing there. Vibrating at a frequency so high he’s almost able to perceive Qui-Gon in the force through that alone, 17 caffs into a binge on day 5 away with an annoying ghost son in his ear threatening that if he hurts Obi-Wan in any way whatsoever the first thing Qui-Gon is doing when he dies is punching him in the face and no he can’t hurt the baby clone either might as well just take a step back from this situation as a whole cause it’s not gonna go good, so, being the smart man Dooku is, Dooku just sorta shrugs (in the force, he’s so tense rn he couldn’t shrug if he tried) and proceeds to kidnap all three of them (confused preteen Boba is confused but relatively okay lmao) and that’s how Obi-Wan and Jango wake up locked inside a lovely set of ‘guest quarters’ in the Count’s palace with Boba and now they have to cohabitate with Dooku occasionally coming in to cry about how perfectly stupid Qui-Gon was as a small child and how he’d bitten So Many People and Qui-Gon says Obi-Wan bit even more as a kid than he did and Jango is just sitting here listening to a (tired??? Drunk???? Unsober. We’re calling that Unsober) Dooku cry about how perfectly feral his kids were and how most of their family is DEAD and it’s always falling to the dark side that does them in and Komari was ferally adorable as a wee one and Xanatos had been the bubbliest lil boy before Qui-Gon spoiled him too much and now Obi-Wan is somehow the most sunshine of their lineage while Obi-Wan looks on in horror at his childhood being spilled like this before mentioning that maybe Grandmaster should take a nap only to be picked up by said grandmaster and cried on because ‘he called me grandmaster! Fett did you hear that the sunshine baby called me Grandmaster!’ And Jango is like ‘god I wish I had a camera this could be so much blackmail’ and then finally Jango and Obi manage to escape with a still confused Boba (it’s his natural state) and make their way back to a very annoyed 212th where Jango is all ‘listen. I’ve thought about it. And I’ve decided I’m marrying Kenobi.’ And Obi is like ‘you are???? Why???’ ‘According to your ba’buir you’re the only good one’ and now Cody and Waxer and Boil are staging a ‘YOURE NOT MY DAD’ protesting fit and Obi-Wan is so confused at this turn of situation. Wtf.

[kenobster]

The thing about Anakin (in prequel trilogy movies) is that he actually is a really good person by default. He is a war hero for a reason; he cares so deeply and unconditionally. Sure, he's a little careless sometimes and a little impulsive. He makes mistakes and bad calls and sometimes he needs to get his hormones under fucking control. But overall, he's very much trying to do a good job. He listens to feedback, he asks for advice, and he apologizes and tries to improve when he realizes he's wrong. 

Really, he only ever crosses unforgivable lines when two very specific criteria are met: (1) when the most sensitive points of his trauma are being put under an immense amount of pressure; (2) when his support system, for whatever reason, is absent. 

And even when those two criteria are met, he still struggles not to cross those lines as hard as he can for as long he can--until he eventually just snaps under the pressure.

Example #1, the Sand People massacre. Long before going to Tatooine, Anakin’s trauma points were already under an extreme amount of pressure. He was having nightmares about his mom--reminding him of his childhood as a slave and of the slavery in which he’d left her behind. When Anakin does go to Tatooine, his support system consists solely of a girl whom he does like and does trust but whom he doesn’t know very well. Old wounds continue to reopen as he takes his first steps into Mos Epsa and speaks with Watto, a being who owned and abused him. Anakin has no reason whatsoever to think Watto isn’t the orchestrator of his mother’s torment. But does he kill, dismember, or otherwise attack Watto? No. He remains polite. So polite, in fact, that it’s unsettling.

When he hears about his mother's capture and torture from the Lars family, Anakin is, suffice to say, upset. To rescue her, he goes alone (no support system). Even with his mother actively being brutalized (trauma), Anakin does not arrive with the intention of violence. He does not massacre the entire village in an attempt to rescue her. His plan is clearly to sneak in unnoticed, grab her, and sneak out. Even after seeing her strung up, at no point does his plan seem to change… Until she dies. In that moment, his mom, the epitome of his failure to free all the slaves, has just taken her last breath. He is completely alone. His mom has practically been slaughtered. His mom. Thus, his trauma hits a breaking point, and his usual support system is out of sight. 

He snaps. 

It is his choice, yes, but it is the result of a decade of abuse and generational trauma. It is also very much a mistake/accident… In other words, it is not an example of his true values and beliefs; it is an example of their temporary absence.*

*Evidence supporting this is in the scene with the line “to be angry is to be human,” but that’s a subject that needs its own whole ass post. I’ll link it later if I ever write it.

Example #2, the Jedi massacre. There are so many posts on the subject already that I'm not going to spend time detailing every single instance in which Palpatine isolates Anakin or manipulates Anakin into isolating himself. But a brief overview: sowing distrust in the Jedi Council, creating a narrative of deceit around the Jedi Order, orchestrating events to get Obi-Wan dead/offworld, and associating the dark side of the Force with Padme’s presence (via suggestions that only a Sith Lord can save her). With that, Anakin's entire support system is crippled. Unlike in AOTC, he is surrounded by loved ones, yes, but they can’t help him. By Palpatine's design, Anakin eventually bars each of them from entry.

Meanwhile, Palpatine is putting his trauma under extreme pressure and manipulating the shit out of him. Starting on the Invisible Hand itself, when Palpatine encourages Anakin to kill Dooku.* The movie explicitly connects this scene to the sand people massacre, which immediately establishes an awakening of old trauma. Wounds reopen, and Palpatine presses on them and he presses on them and he presses on them. Padme’s looming death becomes the symbol of his past trauma (of what he failed to protect and what he did as a result). And through Palpatine’s misinformation campaign, the Jedi become the perpetrators of this trauma, rather than the support system.

*For reasons beyond the scope of this post, I do not consider Count Dooku's murder to be an example of Anakin crossing an unforgivable line. I consider it to be an example of Anakin making a bad call. Even so, one could easily argue that his support system was absent and that his pressure points were being targeted in this scene, too. But I find that argument uninteresting because it doesn't apply imo.

Still, Anakin resists. Still, he tries again and again to retain his ideals. He seeks advice from Yoda. He listens to Obi-Wan's feedback and apologizes. He opens up to Padme. He initially rejects Sith Lord Palpatine. He tries to do the right thing by telling Mace Windu and letting the Council handle things. Because that's who he is--that's his true nature. Anakin is alone in the Council chambers (no support system) when Palpatine taunts him with Padme's inevitable death (trauma). And still, he resists. He races to Palpatine's office, but does he immediately kill, dismember, or otherwise attack Mace Windu? No. Even as Palpatine continues to press on his trauma (“I have the power to save the one you love!”), Anakin tries to reason with Mace. However much he is rationalizing the truth to his benefit, he is still trying to get out of this trap. He even admits the core of it in the end: “I need him!” Even then, even when Mace rightly goes for the killing blow, Anakin is still resisting! He attacks, he dismembers, but he doesn't kill. He makes an impulsive, ill-thought-out, almost reflexive decision (supported by the horror in the line “What have I done?!”). It’s as if Palpatine has shoved him right up against that unforgivable line, and Anakin is using his last inch of space to not teeter over it. 

Then Palpatine kills Mace Windu. In his mind, Anakin has nothing left after that. In his mind, he is responsible for getting Mace killed (trauma), and he doesn’t see how the Jedi can possibly forgive him (no support system). In his mind, his wife is dying (trauma), and he is alone in the presence of his abuser (no support system).

He snaps.

Unlike in AOTC, this does not happen by accident. These events were deliberately and continuously manufactured by a Sith Lord with an agenda. Palpatine directs Anakin’s explosion onto the Jedi Order, where Anakin compounds upon his trauma with more murder and more death. He becomes isolated to Palpatine's manipulations by killing (or enraging) his entire support system.

Afterward, Palpatine has all of the fuel he needs to make Anakin snap and snap and snap, over and over, for a very long time.

Who is to blame is such a boring, irrelevant question when we have such a fascinating character. The prequel trilogy gives us a complicated villain who is simultaneously the executor of such horrific violence and also the boy who wanted to free all the slaves. A villain who kills a part of himself every time he kills another. A villain who is so horrifically victimized even whilst he commits his terrible crimes. And because it's fiction (aka the victims of his actions are narrative elements, not people), I'm allowed to feel unashamedly devastated for him. I’m allowed to see the truth: that Darth Vader is only the suit he wears. The mask concealing the good person underneath. The Jedi Order was Anakin’s family, too, and you should feel sorry that he lost them. You should feel sorry for the way he is abused in ROTS. Darth Vader doesn’t represent who Anakin is or what he believes, and blame is irrelevant to this truth.

Because support systems matter. They matter to people who have gone through trauma. Yes, sometimes they are even the ONLY difference between the choice to do good and the choice to do bad. Sometimes, all that is necessary to prevent a heinous crime is to help them before they snap. I think people are uncomfortable with Anakin because that kind of helplessness is a really hard thing to admit. It's not fun to realize that you could have made similar choices if you had been in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong person. Research has shown people greatly prefer to attribute their accomplishments to their own actions and choices in life. It makes sense. The realization that external factors may have played a role in everything we take pride in is scary--but this fear leads us to the bias that we could never become Darth Vader. Even if we were raised as a slave, even if our loved ones were taken from us, even if our sense of reality was being manipulated and distorted--somehow we would not be broken. We would remain Anakin Skywalker.

It's a comforting fantasy for people who have done nothing wrong.

As someone who is human, someone who has made mistakes and bad calls and who regrets the times I might have crossed lines, I find a lot more comfort in the message George Lucas provides. The prequel trilogy is a story about the harm someone (anyone) can do if they're not careful. Anakin becomes Darth Vader not because he’s innately evil but rather because he’s under extreme pressure and no one is able to help him. In contrast, the original trilogy offers compassion and an opportunity for self-forgiveness. Darth Vader chooses to become Anakin simply because one person looked at what he'd done and said, "Stop. This isn't you." In the face of how helpless and dangerous every one of us can be, I find Anakin’s story to be really meaningful, and I wish more of us appreciated it.

[phoenixkaptain]

Just imagining Baby Padawan Qui-Gon on a mission with Master Dooku and Yoda. Yoda is just hanging out on Dooku’s back, Dooku is like: “I thought I wouldn’t have to carry you around after I became a Knight” and Yoda’s like: “A Padawan’s duty it is, to support their Master. Carry each other, we do, as Master and Padawan. Insignificant your status is, my student I see you as always.” And Qui-Gon just has a realization.

Cut to later, after the mission is over, and Dooku notices Qui-Gon has been mulling over something. So, like a good Master, he’s like “What’s on your mind, Padawan?”

Qui-Gon hesitates, then asks, “Master, do you see me undependable?”

Dooku: “Of course not, Padawan.”

Qui-Gon: “Master, you don’t have to lie. Just tell me how I have to act to change your mind.”

Dooku: “You are very dependable, Qui-Gon, where is this coming from?”

Qui-Gon takes a deep breath: “You never ask me to carry you, Master.”

Dooku.exe: stops working

Dooku: “…what?”

Qui-Gon: “I know I’ve yet to reach your height, Master, but I assure you that I can lift you up! You don’t weigh that much, Master, I can carry you! You can depend on me, Master!”

Dooku: “…is this about the mission with Yoda?”

Qui-Gon: “Master Yoda said it’s a Padawan’s duty to support their Master. I can support your weight, Master, I promise.”

Dooku tries really hard to convince Qui-Gon that that is not what Yoda was talking about, that Yoda was teasing him, it wasn’t a literal thing, but Qui-Gon refuses to be convinced. Qui-Gon just gets more and more sad, convinced that Dooku doesn’t see him as someone he can lean on, and Dooku is like: “Qui-Gon, I am NOT going to make you carry me, you are twelVE-“ and Qui-Gon just: “You think I’ll drop you, you don’t trust me, how can I earn your trust, Master, I promise I can do it, please depend on me.” And Qui-Gon eventually gets his way, because Dooku is weak.

So we just see twelve-year-old Qui-Gon piggybacking Dooku around the temple. Qui-Gon is taking very slow steps and his tongue is stuck out in concentration because he has to partially lift his Master with the Force (Master Dooku is heavier than he looks, Qui-Gon thinks to himself) and everyone is staring at them because they’re very confused and Dooku is trying really hard to fight the urge to bury his face in his hands to hide.

They reach Yoda, eventually, who stops them and asks what’s up and Qui-Gon, positively beaming depsite the fact that he is trembling and sweaty and tired from carrying a grown man on his back for over an hour, just says: “You were right, Master Yoda. I realized on our mission that I’ve been making Master Dooku do all the carrying, so I decided to even the scale.”

And Yoda just looks at this cheerful boy and then looks at his old Padawan who is sending out very strong “don’t look at me” vibes in the Force and Yoda just says: “Good work you have done, Qui-Gon.” Because what else is there to say??? Qui-Gon looks so proud of himself! Yoda can’t admit he was trolling, not when Qui-Gon is so cheerful about learning from him!

All this to say, years later, Obi-Wan just drags a half-passed out Qui-Gon on his back, and it isn’t even really a piggyback because Qui-Gon is just draped over top of him, but Qui-Gon is like: “Wow, Obi-Wan. I didn’t even have to ask you, you just knew about this, you really did your research” and Obi-Wan is like “??? Yes, Master, I read the briefing for the mission, you said you weren’t going to, one of us had to-“

And years more later, Force Ghost Qui-Gon watches Anakin casually sling Obi-Wan over his shoulder and Qui-Gon just smiles and is like “I knew it. He really was meant to be a Jedi.”

And more years, more later, Ahsoka is dragging Anakin the same way Obi-Wan dragged Qui-Gon and Qui-Gon is SO proud!!!

Even longer, after everything’s gone to shit, and Luke is carrying around Yoda (he never got the chance to carry around Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon understands) and Qui-Gon is super pleased and Obi-Wan is like “???”

Qui-Gon: “Padawans are supposed to carry their Masters, just as their Masters carry them.”

Obi-Wan: “Yes, I remember hearing that as well, as a youngling, but I think it was supposed to be metaphorically.”

Qui-Gon: “That’s impossible, Obi-Wan. Dooku allowed me to carry him around.”

Obi-Wan: “…”

Obi-Wan, internally: So Dooku was the reason Qui-Gon randomly demanded to be carried… I would say I can’t believe this, but it’s Dooku, so I can.

(Then, Luke eventually trains Grogu for a little bit, and Qui-Gon is like: “ :0 Luke, no!!! He’s supposed to carry you!!!” And Luke is like: “??? He’s a baby.”

Qui-Gon: “I carried my Master when I was twelve :/ “

Yoda: “Determind you were.”

Qui-Gon: “You have to let him carry you, Luke, or else this just won’t work out!”

Grogu eventually ends up leaving and Qui-Gon is still muttering about how it never would have happened of Luke had just listened to him. Luke has mastered the art of tuning Qui-Gon out. Obi-Wan and Yoda wish they could do the same…

So, when Luke starts teaching Rey or someone, as his actual Padawan instead of just a student like the others, Qui-Gon is like: 👀

Luke: “No.”

Qui-Gon: 😔

And, long story short, Rey carries around Master Skywalker, at first because it made it much easier to make fun of him for being short, but then because Rey just finds it easier to get Luke to do things if she is physically carrying him to the thing he has to do.

Qui-Gon is so proud of them. Obi-Wan is so tired. Yoda wonders if he regrets inadvertently teaching Qui-Gon this, then remembers how absolutely mortified Dooku was whenever Qui-Gon piggybacked him around and Yoda decides that it was actually the best lesson he had ever inadvertently taught in his life.)

[cabezadeperro]

idk what ships you're feeling at the moment so

🖤 kissing while crying / goodbye kiss / desperation

for ship of your choice and just fuck me up, man

hiiiiiii

i wasn't sure if you liked this ship, but i was given free rein, so.

kenfetti, groundhog day au but with a twist. (timeloop from the other person's perspective). clone wars au, canon divergence. T, ~700w.

---

Obi-Wan closes his eyes and tries his best to breathe through the pain in his joints. He focuses on the feeling of Geonosis hot and dry air on the skin of his face, on the buzzing of the force field holding him still, on the sweat running steadily down his spine and on the smell of the red rock of his cell, frustratingly damp and cool, so very unlike everything else about the planet. 

The metal of the Force suppressors digs into the skin of his wrists. His fingers are numb. Obi-Wan tries to move them, and a painful tingling makes its way down his forearm and past his elbow.

Dooku’s words swirl around in his brain, crashing against Obi-Wan’s tidy mental shields. His eyes keep straying to the place where the man just stood, as if his echo—his ghost—might be able to make what he just told Obi-Wan make sense.

The door swishes open. Obi-Wan twitches, opens his eyes again—he exhales, relief filling his chest.

He can’t quite remember when it was that Jango Fett’s face started becoming one of his favourite sights, but there it is. There he is, and there they are. 

Jango closes and locks the door at his back and takes off his helmet before stepping closer to the platform, lips pressed together, the skin around his eyes tight. 

“Jango—” Obi-Wan starts. Jango sighs. He leaves the helmet on the edge of the platform and lowers him down, the motion jarring and awful. Obi-Wan closes his mouth with a clack and grits his teeth through it.

Jango’s hands are cold on his face. Obi-Wan sways into him, waiting for the telltale click of his cuffs being unlocked, for the Force to rush back in. 

It never comes. 

Jango lets him step away, his dark eyes tired.

“I can’t let you—leave,” he says. He works his jaw, chooses his words carefully. He keeps his eyes on Obi-Wan, his hands still.

“Why? Did you—?”

“No,” Jango says. He smiles, tiny and awful: for an instant, Obi-Wan thinks he understands, and then it slips away. “It wasn’t me. This is—this is just how it goes. This time.”

(That half a second of almost understanding will haunt Obi-Wan for the rest of his life, but he doesn’t know that yet.)

“I don’t understand,” Obi-Wan says after a long beat. “Please, let me—”

“I can’t,” Jango replies. He breathes out. He starts reaching out, stops himself, turns away. He reaches for his helmet instead and pauses there, staring down at it. He exhales again. “This was a mistake.”

Obi-Wan feels—he’s moved through the anger and the betrayal and into plain old confusion. He’s bewildered: he doesn’t understand, and he doesn’t understand why Jango won’t help him see whatever it is he’s missing. For the past five years he’s been first an ally and then a friend, a confidant, a lover. Obi-Wan has learned to rely on him, on his intelligence and on the clear-eyed way he has of approaching life. He used to think he knew Jango better than most, and now he feels as if he has never seen this man before, has never seen him so—so defeated. He feels as if he were meeting Jango all over again.

Jango huffs. He smiles, warm and tiny and awful. His hand is so cold on Obi-Wan’s face, but his lips are warm and dry on his cheek. They rest there before moving on to Obi-Wan’s mouth, to the thin skin under his right eye. Obi-Wan breathes him in and then holds his breath, doesn’t reach back, because he’s scared and he’s angry and he doesn’t know why Jango won’t help him just understand.

Jango steps away. He puts his helmet back on.

“I’ll see you soon,” he says, and then he leaves.

Obi-Wan remains in his cell until he doesn’t. He fights his way out of an era and into another one, survives war and heartbreak, dies on a ship two decades and two lifetimes later. Jango becomes yet another ghost, and Obi-Wan never quite forgets him or forgives him.

(At the same time, twenty five years in a past that no longer exists for him, Jango opens his eyes to the ceiling of his room on Tipoca. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last, and Jango’s running out of heartbreak: as always, he tries to make it count.)

[kaezerdoodles]

Wholesome Dan Phantom HCs

(You may or may not agree- questions and discussions are welcomed. These are post-AGIT)

Dan likes Star Wars- mainly to be different from Danny but also because of the themes of Dark and Light (His fav characters are probably Darth Maul, Count Dooku, Anakin/Vader and maybe even Kylo Ren- Def Anakin and Maul tho)

He adores being Dani’s “older brother” and loves Dani and Jazz dearly. It’d take him a while but I feel he’d warm up to Danny too

When he wants to he can be very intelligent and has a knack for engineering- specifically aerospace- and physics- especially Astrophysics

Dan listens to Metal (I’m talking FFDP and Bad Omens) mainly but also Hard Rock, Punk Rock, Rap Rock and Industrial Metal but his secret pleasure is new age orchestral- like Audiomachine and Two Steps From Hell (and maybe some pop- you can’t tell me he wouldn’t vibe with Lady Gaga)

He cusses- Vlad hates it. So he does it more

Dan picks up playing guitar- specifically electric or bass guitar. And maybe the piano but like hell would he let anyone know about it

He watches Bluey with Dani- it’s healing for the both of them

[howdidthisevenhappenanyway]

feeling wretched and can’t write so I decided to post a fic I probably won’t write idea thing

working title: Mr & Mrs Sith

when the jedi order can’t take in Anakin for some legitimate reason or other (human trafficking or something maybe? ‘there is an Standard of Procedure for a reason Master Jinn!’), Obi-Wan leaves the Jedi order to train him. he promised his master he’d tran the boy and he’d also threatened to leave if they wouldn’t take him and when they couldn’t? well obi wan wasn’t about to make himself a liar or no one would ever listen to a threat from him ever again!

Somehow in the course of leaving, Dooku re-introduces Obi-Wan to Palpatine and Obi-Wan, trained in the ways of a conman with the power of Force Suggestions at his disposal ends up marrying him for his money and contacts and the hopes he can convince him to change some of the laws that resulted in Anakin not being accepted.

so we know this is kind of bad because palpatine now has the influence over anakin he craves but Obi-Wan is running a con with Palpatine… and then one weekend, while Anakin is on a trip with his Uncle LaQuan and Cousin Laylah (training in slave-freeing ops and funds liberation), Obi-Wan somehow finds out Sheev is a Sith, and it all goes DOWN

the fic ends with not Obi-Wan killing Sheev or Sheev killing Obi-Wan, but Anakin stumbling onto the scene and trying to kill Sheev and Quinlan stepping in and taking the old man out to save the kid some angst that he’s not ready for, as he hasn’t been trained in Shadow coping mechanisms yet.

anyway there is a big kerfuffle but in the end Obi-Wan ends up stinking rich and possibly the chancellor, depending on how silly we want the inheritance laws to get.

[seven-oomen]

Caught somewhere in time preview

“Put me down! I can walk!” He squirms in Fett’s grip as the bounty hunter walks him through the Geonosian halls and to a chamber with several cells surrounding it.

“Stop squirming.”

“Cal?” Mom’s voice rises from one of the cells. There’s a tremor, an edge of panic to his voice.

He stops squirming at the sound and tries his best to locate him. But he can’t quite see inside the damn things.

“Mo-“ He stops himself. If he calls out to mom now he might give Fett and Count Dooku the edge they need. “-Master!”

“Easy…” Fett says as he gently puts him on the ground and turns him around to face an old white dude dressed in black. Count Dooku, he presumes.

“Cal Kestis. I did not expect to meet you, little one.” Dooku smiles down at him. On anyone else he’d call the expression fond. But this, this just makes him uncomfortable.

“Yet here you are, unfortunately.” He bites back, doing his best to sneer at the man. It’s not intimidating at all, if anything Dooku finds it amusing.

“You have your mother’s sense of humor, but your father’s tenacity, little one. ”

The words make his stomach drop and his blood run cold. He already knows. He knows about mom. And he knows… his father? But that’s- that’s not possible. Even mom doesn’t know who his father is. Right?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He honestly doesn’t but Dooku doesn’t need to know that. “You must be senile, old man.”

He swears Fett chuckles at the comment. But as he looks up there’s no outward sign he finds on the man. Not that it’s easy to see with the blasted helmet and all.

“Oh you’ll find out soon enough, little one.”

To his surprise, Fett steps in front of him and guides him back a few steps. From his new angle he sees mom suspended in the air in the cell to his left. He’s struggling against his bounds but stops for a moment when he registers what Fett is doing. It honestly makes no sense to him either. He’s saved him before, of course, but that had a clear reason of not wanting trouble in one of his hideouts. This… this he can’t place.

“Sir, what do you want to do with him?” Fett asks.

“He should be executed, like the other Jedi!” A strange green alien with a large black hat and red robes yells from the chamber beyond. His blood runs cold at the words. Mom will be executed? What about Padmé or Anakin?

“The boy will not be harmed.” Fett says, one hand on his blaster while the other holds him by the arm.

[monako-jinn-stories]

Echo X Fem! Reader FanFic

A Returning Echo ~ After the Citadel

Main Master List

Story Master List

Part Thirty Nine

Part Forty One

I'm barely alive and not kicking but here I am battling depression and anxiety with alcoholism and nicotine addiction WOOHOO COLLEGE IS SO FUCKING GREAT

ANyways I'm hoping to be 'back' soon so here's something I've been working on for months

Hope yall are well

Part Forty

As you stare at Tayah’s sickly yellow eyes, you feel the entire universe collapsing around you. Anakin is silent at your side, and you feel his discomfort rising. He’s just lost his padawan, and now you’re being given an offer to save someone close to you, bring them back to the light.

“I can go wait outside,” Anakin offers.

“I would prefer to keep you where I can see you,” Dooku replies, his eyes briefly leaving you to glance at the Jedi Knight. “I am sure you have a lot of internal conflict, but I advise you to make your choice quickly.”

“I-” you start, but then you bite your tongue, unable to speak the words. You stare at Tayah, noticing how helpless and desperate she looks. It’s as though even through the curse she’s pleading for you to help her. You glance at Anakin for help, and you already know what he’s thinking. You want to shake your head, knowing that his idea won’t work. But it’s at least worth a shot, right? “I’ll give myself up,” you say, “but release her curse first.”

“Now now, young one,” Dooku says while shaking his head, “I know better than to trust you deceitful Jedi.”

“I’ll prove my surrender,” you say before unclipping your lightsaber and using the force to pass it to him. He takes hold of it and examines it, a smirk residing on his lips.

“This will make a fine addition to Grievous’s collection,” he says before clipping it somewhere under his cloak. Next, you walk over to stand in front of him, and he motions for Tayah to get up and join you. She glares at you the entire time, eyes filled with the look of murder. “Tayah, you are now released from the sith curse,” he says while waving a hand above her head. You wait, hoping for something to happen, although you know it won’t. This has been pointless, you can’t take the sith curse away from someone. They have to give up the darkside themselves.

Tayah blinks a few times, confusion swirling in her eyes before she looks up at Dooku. “Master? What curse?”

A low, slow chuckle begins deep inside Dooku’s chest, and before you can get yourself back to your senses, his hand is around your neck and your back is pressed against his chest. He’s just barely choking you, and his lightsaber is held just millimeters from your throat. “You foolish Jedi,” he says in a humored tone, “you know there is no such thing as a curse to turn someone to the darkside.”

“It was worth a shot,” Anakin counters, igniting his own lightsaber. Dooku’s saber gets closer to you, and you stare at Anakin with wide eyes.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Dooku says, and you feel his hand loosen on your throat as he moves it to the back of your neck. You tense up, but then his arm is sticking out to the side. “Tayah, shall we show these Jedi all that you have accomplished so far?”

You feel your blood drain as you realize what’s about to happen. You want to scream, but all sound refuses to come out. When she steps forward, she ignites your lightsaber, and the green glow contrasts greatly with her orange skin and yellow eyes. You can remember the first time you’d shown her your lightsaber, how her eyes were silver like Kwol’s back then. 

“You don’t have to do this, Tayah,” Anakin says, holding his hand out, “you can come back with us. We can save you.”

“Don’t listen to his lies, Tayah,” Dooku counters, “remember how they abandoned you. How they never went searching for you.”

“We did all that we could, Tayah,” Anakin says, shaking his head, “we never gave up on you.”

“Why isn’t she talking,” Tayah questions slowly and quietly, her head turning to look at you briefly before refocusing on Anakin. “She’s the one who let me get taken.”

“I’m so sorry, Tayah,” you finally speak, “I tried, I did all I could, but when they jumped to hyperspace…We had no idea where they took you.”

“Why didn’t you use the force? You always told me about how you could use it to feel where people are.”

“It’s not that simple,” you counter. 

“Yes it is!” she screams, grip tightening on her lightsaber.

“I promise I would have come to you if I was able to!” you plead back, hoping to calm her down.

Dooku’s arm tightens around you, and you resist the urge to struggle in his grasp. “Quiet down, young Num,” he says quietly, “let’s watch this first.” His hand comes up and covers your mouth, and if it weren’t for the gloves on his hands, you would have tried to bite him. “Begin, Tayah.”

With that simple command, Tayah launches herself forward, a growl coming from her as she moves toward Anakin. In defense, he quickly grabs his own lightsaber and ignites it to block her strike. She’s small and quick, but Anakin is still more skilled than her. You watch in horror, unable to say or do anything while trapped in Dooku’s arms.

“This isn’t you,” Anakin says as he backs away from a slash, “you don’t have to give your life away, Tayah!”

“You don’t know me,” she growls back, and when their sabers clash together, something clicks in you. 

You take a deep breath through your mouth before you clamp your teeth down on Dooku’s covered palm, at the same time stomping on his foot. His grip loosens just enough for you to slip an arm backwards and grab one of his sabers. You ignite it just as he moves away from you, narrowly avoiding getting cut by it. He ignites the saber he still has and you lunge forward to clash with him. 

“No matter what you do, she is already too far gone,” Dooku states as he swings at you. You bend back just in time and swing towards him, which he again dodges.

“You don’t know that!” you shout as you shift into a better stance, “you’ve never tried to bring someone back!”

“You’re right,” he says, “but I tried to fight the urge myself. I tried to fight for your father’s sake, but it didn’t work.”

“Tayah isn’t you, she has family that loves her. Family that wants her back! She won’t be alone!”

“And you think that I would have been alone if I had reached out?” Dooku questions. “What about your father? Don’t you think that he would try to help his former master?”

“I didn’t know my father well,” you start, “but from what I’ve heard about him from others, he would have done anything to bring his master back to the light side.”

“That is the problem with you Jedi,” Dooku says before his eyes flash yellow. He thrusts his hand out, and you can’t dodge the force lightning that strikes your body. “You believe that everyone can be saved, when in fact, not many can be. Myself and Tayah included. You end up slaughtering more people than you save because you are blinded by pointless optimism.”

You scream as you writhe on the ground, and the shouts from Anakin are barely heard by you. You don’t see when Anakin gets angry, but in a matter of moments he’s slashing his saber toward Dooku and you are relieved of the force lightning. 

“Look at you! A Jedi flinging an innocent child to the ground!” Dooku’s words make you roll your head to the side and look for Tayah, and the sight of her crumbled on the ground spurs you into action. You reach out and pull a lightsaber towards you before pushing yourself off the ground and running to her. 

“Y/n, I need your help!” Anakin yells, and you pause, halfway between him and Tayah. She still hasn’t moved, but you can feel her life force. She’s not dead, but she might be injured. “We can help her after we escape!” Anakin shouts, and you give a silent apology to Tayah for abandoning her again, and you turn and run back toward the dueling pair. 

“Finally, a challenge,” Dooku sneers. “Fighting the daughter of my former padawan, and the padawan of his padawan. I can see him in both of you, but that is your weakness.”

You ignore his words and instead focus on blocking the swing of his saber. The force of his attack nearly knocks you down. It surprises you that an old man like him can be so strong, but then again, Yoda is one of the strongest Jedi you know, and he’s ancient.

“If only Obi Wan were here, that would be much more interesting of a fight,” Anakin jokes, but you just roll your eyes before rolling forward and trying to catch Dooku off guard. He jumps out of the way though, and you barely push yourself across the ground in time to avoid his strike. 

“Perhaps I overestimated you,” Dooku comments as you stand back up, “I should have known that just because Qui-Gon was your father, that wouldn’t inherently give you skill. I knew Codo was a weak Jedi, it’s a shame that your potential was ruined by him.”

You feel a rush of anger run through you, and you begin acting with less control. How can Dooku stand here and spew hatred about those that once loved him? Those who were once his allies, comrades? People he had spent a majority of his life with, training and becoming closer with the force?

“Codo is far from weak,” you spew out, “he is one of the strongest Jedi I know!”

“He’s a delusional man who believes that he can follow a life of passivity. He ignores the war raging across the galaxy to keep his own conscience clean.” Dooku raises his sabers and swings at both you and Anakin at once, and the power of each shows just how strong he really is. You wonder if it’s purely his skill and strength, or if the dark side is aiding him as well.

“You’re wrong if you think that makes him weak,” you fire back while swinging at him. Your blade nearly clips him, but he moves out of the way just in time, dodging both you and Anakin. “It takes great strength to choose passivity in a time like this!” 

“Passivity won’t bring the suffering to an end,” he counters, knocking you back and taking the opportunity to focus on Anakin. As you regain your balance, something coming from behind you feels strange. Your body seems to act on instinct, moving on its own. Anakin glances over to you in a free moment and you see his eyes go wide before he yells at you.

“Behind you!” 

You don’t hear the words, but you see them play on his lips. You turn as if someone is controlling you, slashing your lightsaber back before you even look to see what’s–or who is there. You don’t need to, though, as you already know the presence there. Your eyes only take in her face the moment her life leaves her body. It’s like you’re watching everything in slow motion, but you can’t make it stop.

You feel your lightsaber cut through her neck, swiftly and effortlessly. You didn’t even hear any screams of pain, only the rage that had slipped from her as she ran toward you. Nor had you noticed Dooku tossing one of his sabers, which now rests at your feet, having slipped from her grasp as her body fell to the ground. Her head rolled to the side, the tips of her lekku cut and singed from your lightsaber.

You don’t even think about your next moves, you just act. Rage flows through your body, and your vision seems to go red. You feel the saliva flying out of your mouth as you scream in anger. Dooku’s name rings from your lungs as you act with more power than you’ve ever felt before. 

It doesn’t register in your mind as Anakin backs off, nor do you notice the utter fear in his eyes as he watches you. You just swing, jab, slash, like there’s nothing else to life. Dooku’s face is contorted in an evil grin, and distantly you hear his chuckling. The noise spurs you on more, and you feel hot tears streaming down your face.

“You killed her!” you seethe out, the words barely more than snarls. Dooku stops chuckling then, and his face changes to one of pure hatred.

“I did not kill young Tayah,” he replies calmly. He pulls his saber back as you jump forward again, and he reaches his spare hand out as he finishes his sentence. “You, y/n Jinn, killed Tayah Caree with your own lightsaber, without a single thought against it.” You’re thrown back into the wall, all of your breath knocked from you by the force of the impact. Crumbling to the ground, you lay there, and in your mind you debate whether or not you should fight unconsciousness. You decide not to, as you don’t want to see the destruction you caused.

“Y/n, you have to tell them something.” Anakin is turned to face you as the ship flies through hyperspace. You’re staring out the viewport, trying to keep your mind off of the sight of Tayah’s headless body.

“Why? She was given to the Jedi Order, her family has had no contact with her or Ringo since. Nobody else is told when their children die, so why would I tell Ahni and Kwol?”

“Because they’re your friends, and Tayah was under your responsibility-”

“No, she was not under my responsibility,” you snap, turning in your seat to glare at him. “I have never been involved with the younglings except for a few lessons here and there. I do not take responsibility for her or for her life, or death for that matter.”

“But you’re the one who brought her here.” When you don’t answer, Anakin stares at you as if you’re crazy, but you stand your ground and don’t back down. “So you’re just going to burn her like any other Jedi? Not tell her family and just let her be dead? What about Ringo?”

“Ringo has likely felt the death of his sister through the force. There is no need to tell him, it’ll only distract him from his training.” Anakin shakes his head and looks away, and you turn back to the viewport. Is it really all that wrong to do this? It would keep so many people from hurting, and only you would bear the weight of knowing how she died. Well, you’ll probably tell Jawa Squad, they’ll know right away that something is up. 

“Num is an interesting name,” Anakin comments, and you can tell he’s trying to lighten up the conversation, but it does the opposite.

“My only biological family other than my daughter is dead, and I only found out who I was supposed to be when it was too late. It’s not interesting, it’s utterly devastating.”

A deep sigh comes from him as he slumps in his seat, but he sits up again and turns to you. “You’re not the only one whose mother is dead you know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you counter, “I didn’t realize that never having even known my mother was comparable to someone who got to spend most of his childhood with his.”

“I’m not comparing our tragedies,” he says, “I’m just saying that I know how it feels to not have a mother.”

“I’ve never had any sort of motherly figure to love me, at least you got some time with one.”

“Maybe that’s worse, because I know what I’ve lost, whereas you never knew her and don’t know who she was or what she could have been for you.”

“You’re right,” you sigh, “but I am a mother now, and with me being a Jedi, Echoa could have to grow up without me if something goes wrong. And Ahni is a mother who had to give up both of her children. We all have different pains, but that doesn’t mean one is greater than the others. From now on, just don’t mention that name.”

“Are you sure? What if we could look for some information about-”

“No,” you say, cutting him off, “I know everything I need to know. The more I find out, the more lost I’ll feel.”

“I understand,” Anakin replies as the ship leaves hyperspace. Coruscant glows below you, and for the first time it doesn’t feel like you’re returning home, it feels like you’re going to a cage. You feel like you’re even more lost than before, and nearly ask Anakin to turn around, but you know you can’t. You have to face the truth sooner or later, and you have to tell the Council what happened. You have to burn Tayah’s body in a proper Jedi funeral, but you know you won’t tell anyone who really cared for her. It’s better this way, you keep telling yourself. It’s better that they just move on, not knowing what happened to her, as at least they can still hope that she’s alive and well.

As he lands the ship, your mind jumps to Codo. You feel the color drain from your face as you imagine having to tell him what happened, what you have done. Is it possible that he can still love you the way he always has if you tell him you murdered your best friends’ child? Will he understand that it was out of instinct and to protect yourself? Or will he merely see it as you killing an innocent child who had needed your help to bring her back to the light?

Your mind then wanders to what Dooku had said about Codo and his passivity. Did he have a point?

“Y/n, it’s going to be okay.” Anakin’s hand rests on your arm as you pull yourself from your spiraling thoughts. You stop the trembling in your hands and take a deep breath. “I…I wish I knew what exactly to say, but I was there, so I know. I understand why it happened. I’ll be here if you need anything at all. Okay?”

“Okay,” you sigh, and he holds out his hand for you to take. You gently do, and he gives you a soft smile before pulling you in for a hug. Tears begin to well up in your eyes and before you can stop them, they spill down your cheeks. Anakin holds you tighter and you grip onto his shirt harder. “Why…why is it always me who suffers? Why do I always lose everyone?”

“I don’t know, y/n,” he replies, his hand rubbing at your shoulders, “I wish I could protect you more, you don’t deserve this.”

“Maybe I was just born cursed,” you sniffle, pushing back slightly to look up at him. “Do I look cursed?” He seems to be taken aback by your words as his eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. His expression quickly changes to one of sympathy as he shakes his head.

“No,” he starts, brushing his hand along your cheek. “You look like a strong Jedi master, a legendary queen, a ruthless and powerful warrior. You look like…” He trails off his words, confliction seeping into his eyes.

You shake your head, knowing why he had stopped. Who are you really? Y/n Monako? Y/n Jinn? Can you possibly be Y/n Num? “Thank you, Anakin,” you reply, wiping your tears from your face.

“I’m always here for you,” he repeats. As you close your eyes and take a steadying breath, he leans down and places a gentle kiss on your forehead. “I wish we could have grown up together. Maybe we would have been able to save each other.”

“I think we were both always destined to be this way,” you whisper, “but I will always love you as a brother.”

“And you’ll always be my little sister.”

You push back from him then, your mood suddenly changing. “Hold on, Skywalker. I'm the older sibling here.”

“But I’m taller,” he counters, “taller always means older.”

“No it doesn’t.”

“It’s just sad if someone is the older sibling and they’re shorter than their younger one.”

“Oh shut it. If anything, I’m the older one because I’m smarter than you.”

Anakin gasps and holds a hand to his chest, his face plastered with offense. “You are not smarter than me!”

“Bantha shit I’m not!”

“Prove it then!”

“What’s twelve plus five?”

“That’s not fair! You know I can’t do math!”

“Hence why I’m smarter than you!”

He huffs and folds his arms, eyes narrowing at you. “No, I don’t accept that. What’s the name of the system Felucia is in?”

“Well, its direct system is the Felucia system, but it is also a part of the bigger Outer Rim system,” you respond, folding your arms to mock him. He just huffs again and rolls his eyes, mumbling to himself as he grabs his cloak. You smirk triumphantly, but it doesn’t last long as you realize that now you have to take Tayah’s body to the funeral pyre. 

“Do you want me to come with you?” Anakin asks, but you shake your head no.

“I think it’s best I do this alone,” you reply before adding “maybe I’ll have Codo there since he worked with her the most.”

“You still set on not telling her family?”

“Yes. I don’t need to deal with that right now. Maybe I’ll make the time for it in the future,” you say before using the force to lift up her body. You walk past him as you leave the ship, and for once you’re not greeted by your troopers in the hangar. You hadn’t commed them to let them know you were returning, and they might be getting worried by now, but you have something important to do.

“I’ll see you around then, y/n,” Anakin says before turning away and walking toward the elevators. You sigh and raise your wrist up, comming Codo to ask him to meet you in the funeral room. You then comm Jawa Squad to let them know that you’re safe and back on Coruscant, but it’ll be a little while before they can see you.

~~~

When the door to the funeral room opens, Codo comes in quietly, followed by a small figure. At first you assume it’s Yoda, for obvious reasons, but then you realize it’s exactly who you didn’t want to be here. Ringo shuffles around to stand at Codo’s side, and you can already tell he knows about Tayah.

“Auntie y/n…?” he says quietly, “is that…Tayah?”

You glance from him to Codo, letting out a sigh before nodding. “Yes, it is. She…there was an accident. We tried to save her, but she was too far lost. I’m sorry, Ringo.”

“It’s okay,” he replies while looking down. “I felt her come to me after she died. She said she’d always be here for me. And with me. Master Daawa said it’s a force connection between us since we were twins.”

“I knew something had happened, I felt it as well. There was a disturbance when she left us,” Codo explains. “Is there anyone else who is coming to say goodbye to her?”

“No,” you say, “there’s no one else who needs to be here.”

“What about-”

“No.” You cut Ringo off swiftly, knowing what he had been about to ask. “They already said their goodbyes to you guys when you came here. I’m sorry, but they can’t be here. This is a sacred Jedi ritual, outsiders cannot observe it.” Ringo just nods and steps forward, reaching out to pull back the cloth covering Tayah’s body. “Don’t,” you say, quickly reaching out and moving his hand away. “It’s better if you don’t.”

“But…” Ringo trails off before looking pleadingly at Codo, who then looks at you.

“Are you sure he can’t see her? To give a proper goodbye?”

You take a breath before motioning for Codo to come over to you, wanting to whisper to him instead of speaking aloud. “She was…decapitated…” you say, “I don’t think it would be a good idea for him to see her like that.”

“I think it would help him to move on.”

“But it’ll be traumatizing.”

Codo thinks for a moment, looking back to Ringo who was patiently standing off to the side. “He’ll be fine. He’s strong enough, I can feel it, and I’ve seen it within him.”

“Fine,” you sigh, “but if he has a bad reaction, you’re the one responsible for helping him get through it.” You move back then, looking at Ringo. “You can look at her, but just know that it might not be what you want to see.”

“Okay,” Ringo says. He hesitantly steps forward, taking a moment before reaching up and pulling back the cloth. His face barely changes, and you see it flicker in his eyes for only a moment, but then he goes back to neutral. You realize he has better control over his feelings and emotions than you thought, especially because he is so young. “How did it happen?”

You bite your tongue, shaking your head. “I’d rather not talk about it. It just happened today. I need time to process it.”

“Okay. It probably won’t help to know. The energy just feels so…familiar around her. Like I know the person who did it…”

You take a deep breath and look up to the ceiling. Your emotions are pushing the limits of your control, but you make yourself calm down and proceed with the funeral. You can feel Codo’s eyes on you, questioning what is off about you, but you ignore it and focus on making sure everything goes to plan. 

It’s a bit rushed, and definitely not clean, but it gets the job done. It doesn’t matter to you, not really. She’s already gone, and nothing can bring her back. The funeral was the best way to get her close to the Force, and that is your only goal. The only Jedi funeral you’d seen before was your fathers, and you weren’t the one leading it. You didn’t have time to learn how to do it properly, though, as you wanted to get this out of the way and move on. But with the end of the funeral comes the questioning from Codo.

“Are you alright to walk back to the dormitories yourself, Ringo?” Codo asks, and you immediately perk up and shake your head.

“I think you should take him, I need to catch up with the Jawa boys.”

“I know there is a lot on your mind, y/n. I would rather hear it now and help you than let it fester. Besides, Ringo is alright to go alone.”

“I think you should talk to him,” Ringo agrees, “I can sense your feelings as well.”

Strong with the force, while his sister was weak, you think to yourself. You watch Codo nod before Ringo leaves the room, and you follow shortly after, waiting for Codo to speak first. The air is tense between the two of you, and you can feel him walking further away from you than normal. You know why, he can probably sense it, but you don’t know if he’s strong enough to ask it.

“What happened?” Codo finally asks, and you stop walking to address him.

You meet his eyes, making sure you’re holding eye contact before you speak. You stare in a way that holds him there, daring him to look away from you and your truth. “I killed her. I had zero thoughts about it. She was running up behind me, I sensed the danger, I swung my saber back and severed her head.”

Codo shakes his head, still looking at you. “My child…this is not how I trained you.”

“You trained me–no, you raised me–to take care of myself. To sense danger and act on it. To not let myself become the victim.”

“That was not my teaching, that was your Dohbarian military training.” He shakes his head again, looking down now. “They trained you to kill, but I trained you to defend. I trained you to practice peace, they trained you to practice war.”

“Peace can’t be gained without war,” you snap back, anger now boiling through you. “I’m sorry that my people, my culture, turned me into a murderer. I’m sorry I can’t just turn my back on reality like you do! I’m sorry that I have the courage to fight for what’s right, and not just sit in my room and meditate for peace!” Your words get louder with each sentence, and you feel the tears welling in your eyes, but you don’t stop. You can’t stop. You don’t want to. “I’m sorry I’m actually trying to make a difference in this galaxy, that I’m out there risking my life to save people, while you’re sitting here in your peace and safety, watching the drama play out with a karking bag of mantell mix! I’m sorry I’m not a weak, incompetent, old man who can’t bother to actually do something to help end this war!”

You don’t linger around to see his response. You don’t even think he would’ve had one. You’ve never blown up on Codo before, but you’re an adult now. You have the right to defend yourself, especially if he’s disrespecting you and your people. The only thing you didn’t mention, but probably fed into, is the lingering thrill of acting emotionally. 

When you fought Dooku after killing Tayah, you had let go. You let everything out, and you had the intention of trying to kill him, even though you knew you couldn’t. And when you blew up on Codo, you had done so with the intent of severing your ties with him, of showing him where the two of you stand in relation to each other. You wanted to show him his wavering importance in your life, and the increasing importance of following your instincts.

The silence in the room rings loud in your ears as Sans, Hex, Steele, and Aid wait for you to talk. You pour them cups of caf and add everything each one of them likes. It still surprises you that you can remember each of their ‘orders’, and manage to slip in a little surprise each time to watch their eyes light up. It doesn’t happen today, though.

“I found out what my mothers name was, and a bit about her,” you say, taking a sip from your own mug. “Well, just that she was a servant at Castle Serreno before she and her brother died.”

“You had an uncle?” Steele questions, his expression softening as he looked down. “I’m sorry, y/n.”

“His name was Estiv, and my mother’s Estia. Num was their last name—what I should have been named.”

“You wouldn’t have taken Jinn from your father?” Sans asks, and you shake your head no.

“If he wasn’t there to raise me with my mother, then I wouldn’t have acknowledged him until I came here. Although I suppose it would have been up to my mother what my name was, at least until I got older.”

Hex takes a drink before setting his mug down, letting Steele fiddle with a string on his undersuit’s sleeve. “I’d argue, respectfully and with my best understanding of your situation and life, that not growing up with your mother, or at least until you would have been brought here, was better than the life you could’ve had if that stuff had happened.” 

You look at him with a questioning look, curious as to what he means. “You wouldn’t be the same person as the y/n we know today. You likely wouldn’t have been as strong or smart. You understand your troopers better than all other Jedi generals because you grew up in a culture that emphasized military experience. You’re a kriffing queen for maker’s sake! You could put any of these other Jedi in their place. Hells, you could get the senate or that damned Palpa-piss to sit down and shut up. You are the best leader this Republic has, and if you hadn’t been raised the way you were, by who you were raised, you wouldn’t be these things. We’d probably all be dead if not for you and your leadership.”

You can’t help the small smile that comes to your lips as he speaks, and you look down and take another sip. It doesn’t take long for your smile to drop, though, remembering all that has happened because of you. “Tie wouldn’t be dead if I wasn’t your leader. Bomber wouldn’t be either. Not to mention all the other troopers under my command. And Tayah…”

“You didn’t kill them,” Sans counters, “like Hex said, we all probably would have died sooner if not for you. It’s because of you that we had so much time together, and actually feel as though we’re special.”

“You are special,” you say, setting your mug down. “I just…I don’t know.”

“Did something else happen while you were at castle Serreno?” Hex questions, pulling his hand away from Steele.

“A lot happened,” you reply while leaning forward and resting your head in your hands.

“Did you want to talk about it or just have us take your mind off of it?” Aid asks before adding, “we’re here for you either way.”

“Thank you, Aid. All of you, thank you for always being here for me and dealing with my banthashit.” You lean back and sigh before looking back up at them and starting to explain everything. “It was all a major mess,” you say to start, “it…it turned into something that it never should have. And now we’re never getting Tayah back…”

“You can’t give up hope, y/n. You know that we’ll help you find her, no matter what,” Aid states.

“No…she’s dead,” you reply, shaking your head. “It happened so fast. Me and Anakin were fighting Dooku–well, initially it was Tayah attacking Anakin and I was fighting Dooku, but then Anakin pushed her away with the force. I thought she was knocked out well enough to not wake up, but I was wrong. I got caught up in us fighting Dooku and didn’t sense her wake, but I sensed a presence coming up behind me. I instinctively swung my saber back, as all I felt was evil. But then I turned and watched myself slice through her neck. After that, I lost my grip again. I just…lost myself in my emotions. I couldn’t stop myself from moving, and I felt myself consumed by the same darkness that surrounded Tayah. But this darkness…it felt powerful. Exhilarating. I almost didn’t want to stop, but then Dooku ended the fight pretty quickly.”

“How does it make you feel knowing that you enjoy the power of the…darkside?” Sans questions, straightening out his sleeves.

“I don’t know, honestly. Well, I guess it sorta makes me feel like the Order is restraining me, but I don’t want to turn into a sith.”

“Well, do the Jedi need to know what you do and how you act?” Hex asks before leaning back. “I mean, theoretically, how would they even know? Unless there was another general on a mission with you.”

“You have a point I guess,” you agree, “maybe I can somehow convince…never mind.”

“What?” Aid questions.

“I was going to say maybe I can convince Quin to join me on missions, since he’s not really a Jedi, but then I decided it was probably best to keep him out of the war. Trix doesn’t need anyone else dying on her.”

“Well, who knows. Maybe you can get Codo-”

“No, no way in karking hells am I going to go on a mission with that fishman!” you sneer, and all of their eyes widen at once.

“What hap-”

“I don’t want to talk about it. All you need to know,” you say while standing up and grabbing your mug, “is that I won’t be talking to him for the foreseeable future. I finally spoke my mind to him, and need to move on.”

With that, you walk over to the couch and sit down, waiting for them to join you. Slowly they do, and once they’re settled around you, the tears fall again. They all take turns holding you, with Sans being the most gentle. After a while, you end up falling asleep, and the boys lay you down on the couch and begin to leave. As they do, you wake up and call them back, telling them that you don’t want to be alone. You’ve been alone for too long in your life, you can’t stand another second of it.

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[tomicaleto]

“I really need you.”

Anon, I must apologise to you the most because you sent me this a WHILE BACK (I think before July last year) and I'm getting to this right now so I'm so so so sorry. I just couldn't think of a good way of fulfilling this prompt and while I've been saying that in basically all of my asks, it's still doesn't make it okay.

Either way, I hope whoever you are you still see this and enjoy it

Prompt list: Four word prompts

This is set in this AU from a while ago

“Palpatine’s whereabouts are still unknown, and Dooku seems to be laying low lately.” General Windu was saying, his hologram flickering as the signal waved. Commander Cody stood just a couple of minutes to General Windu’s left, as General Koon was standing right in front of him. Across the hologram, he almost expected to see Rex, paying attention as well, but those were just his imaginations. His brother was gone for good and it would be better for him to keep his full attention on the councilman. “And the Senate has been wild these weeks, with every single one of the senators and representatives being investigated after Palpatine’s fiasco. With no apparent new chancellor on the horizon yet.” 

Ahsoka, just a couple of steps behind her new master, fiddled with the tip of her right lekku. Political news tended to put her on edge, especially after the former chancellor had revealed himself to be the man behind the war. Cody did not know the details of how that had happened. He had hoped, though, once the news spread across the galaxy, that it would mean the war would stop and peace talks would begin. 

Instead, as the Republic senate fell into absolute chaos, the Separatists had doubled down on the war, feeling vindicated in the corruption of the Republic, turning a blind eye on how Palpatine’s manipulations had played them as well. 

“Now more and ever, we need to send aid and resources to planets devastated by the war,” General Windu continued. “Especially those that are close to Separatist territories, we need them to know they are still being looked after, that the politicians may have failed them, but the Jedi order and the clones are still on their side.” 

One of General Koon’s claws was playing with his respirator. General Windu finished giving them their instructions for their deployment before his voice shifted slightly and he gently asked General Kenobi. General Koon gave a deep sigh before answering and soon Cody was dismissed and the meeting was over. 

He marched towards General Kenobi’s rooms, ready to report everything that had been said at the meeting. He had taken it as his personal mission, since General Kenobi tended to attend half the war meetings they were regularly scheduled for. 

He finally reached his general’s quarters and entered without knocking, knowing it was useless to do it, General Kenobi rarely answered when he did. The door slid open quietly. 

Obi-Wan was sitting on his desk, his back towards Cody. If he had noticed his commander in the Force, he didn’t give any signs. Instead, he was whispering to a holo picture of General Skywalker. “I still can’t believe you’re gone, Anakin.” Cody managed to hear and immediately regretted entering right then. “I need this all to be a bad dream, to wake up tomorrow and find you across the hall training Ahsoka.” 

Cody considered leaving and returning later. He really shouldn’t be listening to his general’s mourning moment. “But it’s not a bad dream. Every day I wake up and you’re not here, I feel like I’m going mad every time I don’t feel your force signature.” Obi-Wan sighed  and Cody did turn half-way to leave. “I miss you, Anakin, I’m not myself without you.” Or perhaps, Cody thought, taking a step inside the room and letting the door slide closed, he should stay and keep an eye out for his general, let him finish in peace.

“Please, Anakin. I know I should be happy you are one with the Force now, that master Qui-Gon must be there with you, but please…” He paused, and one hand reached for the picture’s face, going through it. “I really need you.” 

The hand fell on Obi-Wan’s lap and he hunched over as if in pain, even though he hadn’t been physically injured in their last mission. Cody remained quiet, letting him have his moment. And then, Obi-Wan turned the holo picture off and with another deep sigh, he turned around. 

“Do you bring me a mission report, Cody?” 

---

Thank you so much for sending this! Some little clarifications under the cut

So I always intended for Palpatine to somehow reveal his true nature after Anakin's death but I didn't write it yet, but yeah that happens but the war doesn't stop

Also, Ahsoka gets reassigned to Plo Koon and the 501st is either split into Plo and Obi-Wan's battalions or they remain under Obi-Wan's command

Obi-Wan doesn't go to most meetings since Anakin's death so Cody began reporting them back to him. If the meeting is really important, he does get summoned and does go, but he took Anakin's death really badly

Tagging this as obikin because while they didn't get to confess, the feelings were there

[josephsaturn]

A lil snippet from a WIP I’m writing:

There’s something on the resolute.

Nobody, not even general Skywalker and commander Tano, know what it is.

But that’s ridiculous, Echo can’t help but think. The last time he & Fives were on the ship, back when they were shinies fresh off of the Rishi Moon, there’d been no rumor. But now, all of a sudden, Rex had cornered them both on their first day back from ARC training with an already-too-tired look on his face.

“Probably just a couple’a sleep-deprived shinies saw a flashing light on a monitor or something,” he’d told them, rolling his eyes, “if it really was a seppie droid or a Sith, we’d know by now. Just ignore the rumor and focus on your orders, okay?”

They’d both agreed…and then the moment Rex had left, Fives dragged him halfway around the ship, interrogating every last shiny they could find about the rumor. Most of them didn’t know anything, but did report that a few ration bars and water packs had disappeared. A few claimed to have seen the thing, but when pressed, clammed up.

And then there had been Dogma.

“Are you gonna do your job and get rid of it?” He’d harshly asked before telling them.

“Maybe, if it’s harmful to the GAR. For all we know, it could just be a tooka that got lost.” Fives had responded, trying to placate.

“It’s not a tooka, and even if it were, it shouldn’t be on the resolute in the first place!”

“Well how about you tell Echo & I more about it so we know what to look for?”

“Well, are you gonna get rid of it?!”

And then a long and tedious argument that echo would rather not think about again that made his brain hurt. but after assuring the little stickler that yes, they’d do their best to get rid of it, he finally told them what he saw:

“It was…it was a cadet.”

“A cadet?”

“Yeah, but not like a clone cadet; a natborn cadet…a…kriff, what’s commander Tano considered? She’s like a cadet, right?”

“You saw commander Tano?”

“No! No, this cadet was different: he looked like a human, ‘s far as I could tell. He wore this kind of…costume, I guess, that was green with yellow bits, something metal around his neck, a red belt, and these big, chunky boots. his hair was green too.”

“Green hair?” Echo had interjected, because he’d never heard of a nat-born human with green hair before.

“Yeah, green. It was kinda dim, but I could definitely tell it was green. Green eyes too.”

“How’d ya see his eyes?” Fives has asked.

“Well, I found him roaming the halls while I was heading back to my bunk for lights out. Of course, being an unknown on the ship, I went to apprehend him, but before I could even take a step, he turned and looked back at me, like he could sense me or something.”

Force sensitive. A force-sensitive teenager (because that’s what commander Tano is, not a cadet) on the ship.

“Yeah?” Fives had asked, his usual teasing completely absent as he listened, enraptured at the shiny’s story.

“Yep. Then he got all surrounded by lightning and disappeared.”

“Surrounded by lightning.” Echo has deadpanned, and he watched the shiny’s face screw up in indignation.

“Well, how else am I supposed to describe it?! His body started spitting green lightning and then he disappeared in a flash of red! That’s what happened!”

Lightning.

And the color red.

Now, echo wasn’t exactly an expert on Jedi, but as he’d learned from experience, “red” and “Jedi” was a bad combo.

Even worse was when “lightning” was added to the mix. As he’d learned from Captain Rex, who’d learned from Commander Tano, who’d been told the story by General Kenobi about General Skywalker confronting Count Dooku, Lightning in the context of the force was something only Sith would do.

So there is a teenaged, green-haired, green-eyed, green-wearing kid who’s probably force-sensitive, maybe even a Sith, and used green lightning to disappear in a flash of red in front of the biggest rules stickler this side of the GAR other than echo himself.

And looking at fives, he could see that his twin had come to that same conclusion too.

[ragnarlothcat]

"Taking Care" for the wip title game pretty please 🥺

Hello friend, and thank you 🥰 I post the first chapter of that fic when I was sick so it's very funny to look back on and try to piece together where I was going from the very cryptic notes I left for myself. I think I'm figuring it out and I also think that I cut it at a weird point because chapter 2 is going to be way shorter. I used to insist on similar chapter lengths but I'm not going to draw out my smut to 9k words for the sake of symmetry.

Anyway here is the beginning of chapter 2! I might prioritize finishing this one actually because spending too long without completing a fic makes me anxious. I need the little green ao3 checkmark or else I might explode!

Chapter 2

The tension churns like a storm as the bouncer drags the offender away by the elbow. Obi-Wan’s heart is still hammering and his hands itch to go after them, to make that man regret striking Anakin, or regret ever having looked at him.

“Are you all right?” Obi-Wan asks, nudging Anakin with a tendril of concern.

He can’t see Anakin’s ass anymore, the slap on his cheek. Anakin’s had worse, of course, and in very recent memory. Obi-Wan still hears the sound of Dooku’s lightsaber and Anakin’s pained breathing when he closes his eyes, still wrestles with his own weakness and his failure to protect the boy.

This latest assault is obviously nothing compared to the loss of his arm but it seems more violating, somehow. Dooku is a traitor to the order, he recently captured Obi-Wan and Anakin both up in an arena and left them to be eaten alive.

But, Obi-Wan thinks, as his eyes catch on the strip of bare thigh above Anakin’s stockings, at least he let Anakin keep his clothes on.

“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan says, and he isn’t sure if he’s apologizing for the ogling or for something else. “I should have stepped in sooner. You never should have been put in this position—"

Anakin takes a step closer and Obi-Wan’s words catch in his throat, strangled by the scent of Anakin’s bare skin.

“Not here,” Anakin says, his voice low and his jaw set. “Not in public.”

This is actually a good argument. If this horrible, seedy club is somehow tied up in whatever vague crimes the council deemed important enough to risk the life and safety and purity of Obi-Wan’s Padawan, they should not be discussing it in front of total strangers.

Total strangers who are still leaking their desire into the Force, still eyeing Anakin like he’s a cut of meat.

Obi-Wan opens his mouth to agree, to suggest that they should have this conversation in a speeder on its way back to the Temple more or less immediately, when Anakin’s flesh hand darts up to grab Obi-Wan by the back of his collar like he’s an unruly loth-kitten and tugs him forward.

The crowd must see something in Anakin’s expression that Obi-Wan can’t, scruffed and restrained as he is. He thinks he should twist free, should scold his Padawan for whatever it is he thinks he’s doing and wherever he thinks he’s leading them.

But then the pulse of the music fades and Anakin jerks Obi-Wan’s tunic hard enough to cut into his collarbone and manhandles him down a dimly lit corridor. Now Obi-Wan can hear the thump of Anakin’s boots on the tiles and the thundering of his heart as Anakin leads him somehow deeper into the grimy depths of the club.

They turn a corner and Obi-Wan gets an impression of identical doors and cheap wallpaper before Anakin’s fingers tap out a code on a worn panel and he unceremoniously shoves Obi-Wan through the nearest door which clicks shut behind them with a click.

For a moment all Obi-Wan knows is the darkness of wherever they are (a closet? It feels bigger than that in the Force, his senses reaching out and tasting a lingering feeling, nearly overwhelmed by Anakin’s supernova of a presence—) but then the lights flicker on and Obi-Wan’s eyes adjust to the muted pinkish tones and pick out the shape of a fairly ordinary little room that smells like perfume and alcohol and dust.

And looks very much like a—

“What the fuck was that?”

Obi-Wan snaps his attention back to Anakin's face, which is worryingly close and unfairly pretty even when livid. And his boy is angry, that much is clear. It’s apparent in the tension of his long, collared throat, the twitch in his strong jaw and the crudeness of his word choice even by Anakin’s somewhat lax standards.

“Language,” Obi-Wan admonishes, and Anakin rolls his eyes. “Anakin, where are we? Why aren’t we leaving?”

“Leaving? Leaving? Why would we leave?” Anakin scoffs and jabs Obi-Wan in the chest with a gloved finger. “You, maybe.”

Yes, Obi-Wan does want to leave. He wants to leave this horrible club and this stuffy little room and wrap Anakin in as many blankets as he can find and cart him home to where he’s safe and Obi-Wan can keep him that way, far from the reach of handsy, violent drunks who want nothing more than to ruin Anakin and keep him for themselves. The council clearly lost their collective minds when they conceived of this plan, when decided to abandon Obi-Wan’s Padawan, his Padawan to the baser desires of the Coruscant underworld.

“Why would I leave without you? Surely you can see that this mission is ridiculous, that the council never should—” Obi-Wan pauses, and he cranes his head around Anakin’s shoulder. “Why does this room have a bed in it?”

[atornpageold]

have another thousand words of this game of thrones au

1k words of mess (cw: attempted murder, descriptions of violence and talk of war)

The histories spoke of Force-bonds and their bondeds the way storytellers talked of love—the great accomplishments and the even greater ends. Like all great stories, the events twisted and changed to suit their teller. Some liked to say that Force-bonds drove their bondeds mad and fueled their darkest emotions; jealousy, rage, pain, these were but a few that were sparked by the linking. Others claimed that the bonds made those who suffered from them feel like they never had; pleasures in the mind that couldn't even compete with those of the body.

But all the stories were the same—there were no happy endings.

The body on the bed would have been mistaken for a corpse if it were for the subtle rise and fall of the chest as the lungs took in the air. The auburn hair fanned across the pillow delicately, the strands soft and their original color instead of the hideous dark red that stained them upon arrival. Anakin stared at the face, soft now in the throws of a healing trance. Between them, the center of their bond clashed wildly, half relaxed and calm and quiet while the other raged and screamed for bloodshed, for justice. 

His fingers traced the edges of the lax face as his eyes roved over the man he had almost lost. The blankets covered the wrappings, but he was there when they had first brought him in and had felt every single injury or spike of pain across the bond. Nothing that King Obi-Wan—please call me Obi-Wan; none of that king business, not to you—had felt that Anakin hadn't. Thus was the nature of the bond, and he had raged until the moment he had seen Obi-Wan for himself, body blistered from blasters and bloody from scorch marks. Pure, unfiltered fear had run through him, and a thought that he never wanted to entertain again had run across his mind on a loop; what if he died? What if King Obi-Wan, chosen king of the Kingdom of the Jedi, died? 

Anakin could feel the snarl spreading across his lips once more, and he fought to control his emotions as his Force signature broke through his control and wrapped around Obi-Wan's own, possessive and protectively. Somewhere beyond the open window, high above the castle and laid bare in the sun, the furious bellow of a sun-dragon echoed his pain. He wanted to see heads roll, fortresses burned to ashes, and hear the screams of those that had betrayed them.

Needing to calm himself, the prince stepped away from Obi-Wan's healing bed, the man just as lost to consciousness as he had been when his men had arrived in the safety of his lands. The doors to the room opened when he approached the sensor, and he followed the sound of angry voices, all working to be the loudest in the room. In the living space off the suite where Obi-Wan was brought, the king's most trusted advisors all sat, bickering amongst themselves over who was to blame. Mace Windu paced the length of the room while others sat scattered. 

Quinlan Vos, who had accompanied Obi-Wan to the negotiation dinner in Serenno, was bloodied and dirty in the corner. Without him, without his Force ability, Obi-Wan would likely be dead, and part of Anakin wanted to walk up to the man and pull him tight in thanks. But he remained in the doorway, his rage simmering as he watched the other argue.

"We need to mount an attack against Serenno if Dooku has betrayed us," Windu said, halting his pacing to eye each room member. "It needs to be fast and quick and ruthless. This can never happen again." 

"Dooku will expect an attack," Vos said quietly, not looking up from his hands. 

"We can't just sit here and wait for a better time, Vos," Windu argued. "You saw with your own eyes what he is capable of, what lows he will stoop to."

"And we won't," Anakin said, and all eyes turned to look at him. "We will destroy them with every resource available to us. We will repay their treachery tenfold." 

The room broke out in murmurs of agreement. No one in this castle wouldn't denounce what Dooku had done, especially not toward their king. To attempt to slaughter guests at dinner, a dinner was held to negotiate a truce between the Jedi and the kingdom to the East. It was a blow to lose the support of Dooku to the Sith and even more of an impact on Obi-Wan, who had trusted Dooku because Qui-Gon Jinn once had. A vicious betrayal. 

"He is our king," Anakin continued, and no one dared question his word choice. "He is good and brave, and they tried to slaughter him at dinner—a betrayal of common decency. And we will not let it stand." The price grit his teeth, rage coloring his words.

The voices grew louder as they began to stand, crowding closer to the bondmate of their chosen king. 

"The Tatooine and Jedi kingdoms will not stand by as cowards play games behind our backs. We will make the traitors and conspirators of this pay," he continued, and Ahsoka moved in beside him—his key advisor who had brought forth the Force-bond suggestion. "Will you fight with me? Will you help me avenge our king?!" 

The group shouted in agreement, and Anakin smiled, his teeth glinting dangerously off the Tatooine sun that shined through the transparisteel. War was an ugly game, and when Obi-Wan had first come to him, there had been no stake in it for him. Nothing but the potential freedom of his kingdom. Perhaps the Force-bond had changed everything; perhaps it was just like the stories. Anakin knew without a doubt that he would burn the world for Obi-Wan, would burn anything that kept him from the cool and refreshing link in his mind. 

From the side of his eye, outside the circle of cheering advisors, stood Vos and Windu, staring at him with curious and uncertain looks. 

Anakin just smiled wider.

[moon-ursidae]

THE MANDALORIAN 3x06 SPOILERS

i’m caught up! didn’t think i would tonight but here we are!

i’ve seen some heavy spoilers for this ep already :/

so i know some of what’s coming

more darksaber focus in the “previously” hmm

god they really have just been setting shit up that bo-katan is gonna get the darksaber back and rule the mandalorians

last episode really propelled that one

idk i’m just kinda annoyed at this point

this season is just- ugh idk

i’m just gonna shut the fuck up about it until the episode is over

or when it’s relevant to the episode

empire ship??

WOAH THE WAY THAT TANK DRAINED WAS FUCKIN SICK

THAT’S A WHOLE STAR DESTROYER??

OH???? I WAS WONDERING WHEN THESE 2 WOULD SHOW BACK UP

AHHHHHHHH

omg the drama of this romance

guns for hire OOOOOOOOO THIS INTRO GOES HARD

i like that bo’s formed a relationship w grogu but that also makes me scared

like there’s so many things that make me think that something is gonna happen to din…

all of these major plot points being given to bo katan?? bad news bears man

god din is so attractive

i’m still shocked when i hear his name

like it’s still insider info to me

JACK BLACK AND LIZZO OH MY FUCKING GOOOOOOODDDDDDD

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

IAVSKABSKEBFKXBZKZVAOSVSKSBAL

i know lizzo was GEEKING being able to hold grogu

she’s gorgeous

jack black is having a week huh? fuckin good for him he deserves it

droid problem?

god i love jack black he’s so silly

“progrum” HAHAHAHAHAHA

BATTLE DROIDS?

din may fuck shit up if that’s the case

this feels so fucking video game-y

grogu do be lovin the scritches

GOD THE DIN DJARIN HEAD TILT™️ SO HOT

“you had me at battle droids” i knew he was gonna fuck shit up

HOLD ON I JUST HEARD “these droids” AND PAUSED IS THAT FUCKING CHRISTOPHER LLOYD

OH MY GOOOOOODDDDDDDDDD

IT’S FUCKING CHRISTOPHER LLOYD

the music from season 2 UGH so good

the fucking seperatist droids oh my god there’s so much history with these droids and din and bo

UGNAUGHTS???

DIN ASKING ABOUT THEM TOO UUGGHHHH

KUIIL I MISS YOU

if nobody hates droids, din djarin has left this realm.

one thing about din djarin? he’s gonna look damn good in an elevator

i’m gonna fucking cry if nick nolte voices any of these ugnaughts

“i am mandalorian din djarin, friend of ugnaught kuiil. you will answer our qustions and help us with our task. i have spoken.” I HAVE SPOKEN😭😭😭😭😭😭

THE WAY THEY IMMEDIATELY LISTEN AT THE MENTION OF KUIIL 😭😭😭😭

the voice of this ugnaught is SO FAMILIAR.

it’s pissing me off that i can’t name the actor

the practical effects are fucking awesome

it’s gonna piss me off that i can’t name that voice actor

ANYWAY

god the lights reflecting off of din’s armor is so sexy and will never not be sexy

BATTLE DROIDS SINCE THE CLONE WARS??? SO HIS HOME WORLD WAS ATTACKED AFTER???

din’s gonna fuck around and find out huh?

HOLY SHIT HE DEFINITELY FOUND OUT

HE GOT HIS SHIT ROCKED

that’s concussion # what now?? like 60?

THE SOUND OF THE DROID HITTING THE BESKAR HAHA

now THIS is the bounty hunting shit i missed

THAT LOOKED A LOT LIKE R2D2???

PLEASE THE WAY HE DOVE THROUGH THE WINDOW??? HE’S SO CRAZY I LOVE HIM SO MANY

THE LIGHTING IS FUCKING GORGEOUS

THIS IS THE BOUNTY HUNTING SHIT THAT I’VE MISSED OH MY GOD

this is also so obi-wan and anakin coded

plz din is so stubborn i love him

YOU CAN’T TAKE THE BOUNTY HUNTER OUT OF HIM I LOVE IT

this is literally an rpg game. there’s side quests to side quests and quest steps to quest steps

this is just becoming an episode of criminal minds: star wars edition

DARKSABER DARKSABER DARKSABER DARKSABER DARKSABER DARKSABER

THE MUSIC CUE AHHHH

THIS IS LITERALLY JUST AN EPISODE OF CRIMINAL MINDS HAHAHA

CHRISTOPHER LLOYD TEA TEA TEA

SEPERATIST??

COUNT DOOKU??

AHHHHHHH

YES MORE JACK BLACK AND LIZZO HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

SHE’S SLAYING

OH MY GOD GROGU HELPING HER😭😭😭

the difference between axe at the beginning seperating lovers meanwhile din and bo are helping these two lovers is so good

DIN DJARIN OF CONCORDIA?????

CRYING CRYING CRYING CRYING

HIS FULL TITLE I’M YELLING

KNIGHTHOOD FOR GROGU YEAAAAAAAA

oh god here we go

the gurls are fighting 👀

damn she rocked his ass

oh he’s pissed goddamn

this is crazy

wait is the knee slide in this episode?? i know kate was talkin about it in an interview but idk if it’s this ep

not this fight i guess

that was a cool fight sequence tho!!

here we go about who is the actual leader and who has the fucking darksaber

he’s gonna give her the darksaber isn’t he?

HE IS EVERY BIT THE MANDALORIAN THAT THEY WERE YUUUP YUUP YUUP LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

“then she shall have it” I FUCKING KNEW IT.

“would it not belong to her?” i-

ANYWAY

DIRECTED BY BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD YUUUUUUP YUUUUP YUUUUP SHE SLAYS EVERY TIME

i’m gonna do a whole seperate post about some of my other thoughts bc i have MANY.

[cabezadeperro]

jango/obi-wan + abduct? thank you :)

hello anon!

T, around 1k. canon divergent, takes place during the clone wars. feat. cody.

---

More often than not, winning the fight is not enough.

Jango rolls with a grunt, his shackled hands numb and slick, and blinks at the dark. He can hear himself breathing: rattling, hoarse gasps that echo in the small space. He caught a look at the cell before they closed the door—barely a cupboard, narrow and not very deep, with raw durasteel walls and floors and not a single source of light. He closes his eyes again, and shifts and settles the best he can to lie on his side. He’s pretty sure nothing’s broken. He’s bruised and bloody, shaky with pain and exhaustion and thirst, but it could be worse.

It might be. Jango swallows, throat clicking. He knows how this goes. It somehow makes it worse. The knowledge of old pain doesn’t make the certainty of future pain any easier. 

The cell is cold and damp in that impersonal way Jango has learned to expect from droids. Organic weaknesses are to be expected and managed: Jango will survive this, so his discomfort will be ignored as long as it doesn’t threaten his life.

Because they want him alive. Dooku wants him alive, if only to make sure this time Jango stays dead.

Jango licks his lips, tasting blood and sweat, and makes himself think. Think, and plan. It’s hard to look beyond his pain, beyond the awful, crushing fear, beyond his worry for his son. Droids are hardy but dumb. And he hurts, and he’s tired, but he’s not done. He tugs at his cuffs, the metal unyielding and digging into his wrists, and then he starts making a list of all the things he knows about B1 battle droids.

It’s quite a lot, and it keeps him calm and entertained for long, long seconds that become minutes and then follow him into an exhausted, anxious doze.

The crash rattles him to the bone. Jango curses and sits up. He glares at the dark, hands clenching and unclenching at his back, and starts the awful job of trying to stand up. Human voices, blastershot, the clanging noise of metal bodies hitting the floor, and then light flooding his small cell. Jango hisses, closes his eyes.

“Found him, sir.”

His own voice, twenty years ago.

Gloved hands wrap around his arms, and he’s pulled along the Seppie shuttle narrow corridor and into another ship, warmer and bigger: Jango keeps his eyes closed and doesn’t ask for his hands to be freed, because the Grand Army of the Republic might not be Dooku, but that’s about it. The troopers are very careful: Jango can feel their eyes on him, suspicion and curiosity doing very little to breach the calm professionalism he’s handled with.

He must be on a Republic Venator. Jango is pushed into a turbolift and then across another very long corridor and then into a smaller, even warmer room. It’s quiet and it smells of old caf and the rubber-stink of overheated electronics.

Jango opens his eyes. Meeting space, with a holopod and a table and half a dozen chairs. Small round viewport on the opposite window and caf machine on the narrow shelf to the side.

Boba.

Jango’s knee hits the floor half a second before Boba launches himself at him, skinny arms wrapping around his neck. Jango breathes him in, shushes him when he starts crying. The door slides open at his back: his cuffs click. Jango swallows a groan of pain and hugs his son back, his fingers so numb he can’t move them to wipe the tears from Boba’s face.

Kenobi and his commander step into the room, the door clicking locked once again. Jango watches them over Boba’s shoulder. Commander Cody looks at him like he always does, with his unique brand of belligerent, bland politeness. Kenobi is smiling, his lips tight. 

He looks almost as tired as Jango feels.

“Where’s my beskar,” Jango says.

Commander Cody raises his eyebrows.

“What beskar,” he replies, voice flat. Kenobi sighs. 

“Cody—”

Commander Cody turns to look at his general. For a beat, they just stare at each other, and then he snorts. He shakes his head.

“May I be dismissed, General Kenobi?” he asks. Kenobi presses his lips together. He’s annoyed, and the good commander couldn’t give less of a shit. Every time Jango meets him he discovers Commander Cody has somehow found new, infuriating ways to weaponize by-the-book decorum. 

“Of course, commander. I’ll see you on the bridge.”

“Sir.”

Jango waits until he hears the door slide closed again, and then he stands up with a groan. Boba helps, or tries to, his warm, stick hands holding him up around the torso.

“You deserve each other,” he tells Kenobi. Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. 

“We did find your beskar,” he says. “It’s—safe.”

Jango swallows. His throat hurts.

“Thank you.”

Obi-Wan blinks. He sighs and rubs his face, and then he’s crossing the small distance between them, pulling out a chair.

“Sit down before you fall down,” he says. 

Jango drops in one of the office chairs with a grunt, Boba still stuck to him like a too-big mynock. He’s very quiet and watching it all with huge eyes. He’s too pale, and Jango—

No. He’s fine. He made it. Boba will never have to find how to survive on his own. 

There’s a small conservator tucked under the shelf. Obi-Wan grabs a water pouch and then he stops in front of Jango, stiff and tense. He leaves it on the table. 

His hand is warm and dry. Jango closes his eyes, turns his face into Obi-Wan’s palm. Obi-Wan’s fingers twitch, just the once, and then he’s moving away.

Jango opens his eyes again. Obi-Wan has been put away: General Kenobi looks back from his face, hands linked at his back. 

“My men will escort you to the medbay. Take as long as you need,” he says. He pauses, and then he sighs, smiles.

“I owe you,” Jango replies. 

It’s a useless reminder. Kenobi already knows.

[kimageddon]

A Prince of Dathomir - Chapter 112

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Maul x Nightsister OC (Zaiya Valessa) - Slight Canon Divergence

Word count: Approx 3000 Contains/Warnings: Violence, injuries, abusive behaviour, threats, mentions of death. Chapter Summary: Zaiya, Feral and Maul race to save Savage from Ventress and the Jedi. Notes: (at the end!)

Witches - Part 2

Savage touched down in the hangar of the dreadnought, dragging the limp form of the Toydarian King with him. If not for the Jedi… Urgh! The Toydarian was supposed to come back alive! They’d interfered and now he would have to face Dooku with his mistake. This was meant to be his fledgeling mission to prove he could be a true Sith apprentice!

Savage could do nothing but lay the body at Dooku’s feet and wait for punishment. 

“You ignorant beast!” Dooku boomed, “I told you, I wanted him alive!” The lightning came a moment later and Savage tried not to scream in pain. He was not successful. 

It let up after about a minute and he managed to pant out an apology, asking for forgiveness. It was entirely the wrong thing to say and Dooku sneered at him before sending another blast right through him. Savage could barely move, he thought he was about to pass out, when the door opened before him and a familiar slender figure stood there. 

“Ventress…” Dooku whispered in disbelief. Savage could barely hear what they were saying, and it took too much effort to be able to pull himself to his feet. “Savage… you can make amends for your mistake-- by destroying this Witch!” But Ventress was already laughing at the old man. Savage felt confused, and his hand reached for his saber, his master had given him an order!

“I don’t think that will be happening, will it, Savage?” he moved to take a step back but she raised a hand and he felt a tap on his forehead. There was a sound in his head and it felt like a fog was lifting. “Remember where your true loyalties lie…” her voice swam in his brain and he remembered the mission to deceive Dooku! Yes, that was what he was doing here! Though everything seemed foggy, he had to remember, this was his mate… right? 

That strange voice in the back of his mind was louder now, and he felt parts of himself fighting internally. He could not hesitate though, he knew what he had to do now. 

“With you, Mistress,” he answered and ignited his lightsaber. He would finally strike against the man that had tormented him for the past few months. 

The battle was fierce and intense, he struck at the urgent demands from Ventress, the incessant nagging in his head, the wrongness he felt. What was happening?  Savage attacked again and again, but he was met with powerful bolts of electric pain that stopped him in his tracks. 

“Kill him!” Ventress screamed as she defended with her twin lightsabers. “Kill him you fool!” 

Couldn’t she see he was trying!? Everytime he stood, Dooku would blast him with lightning and Savage was back on the floor. 

“I… can’t!” he growled through gritted teeth, “he’s too powerful!” 

“Your weakness will not be my downfall!” she screeched and Dooku seemed smug.

“A failed apprentice makes for a foolish master!” he gloated. 

Savage saw it then, and the voice in the back of his mind called out. 

They didn’t care about him. They wanted him for nothing as a tool! Both of them! Why should he protect them at all?! She was willing to see him dead so long as she got what she wanted. 

He managed to stand and for a moment there was calm-- before rage exploded out of him. Power swept his body and he roared like the beast they claimed him to be, sending both of them flying back from the shockwave in the Force. He would show them. He would kill them both!

He charged, throwing both of them around the room, feeling a satisfying thrill as he inflicted more pain upon the two traitors! His success did not last however and in a moment between defending themselves, Ventress struck back and Dooku once again shot Savage down with blue lightning. He was flung back, and when he looked up, Dooku had gone and Ventress was leaping down an emergency escape hatch in the floor. Savage was too slow to make it however, and the door shut on him before he could follow. 

He raised his double bladed lightsaber to strike down and cut his way through but-- the main door opened once more. Savage heard voices and recognised the sensation in the Force. The Jedi had followed him somehow!

The rage built again. Were it not for them, he would not even be in this predicament! It was their fault! They had taken his success from him! With another furious roar he sent them back, he would destroy everything in his path!

He sent the Jedi back against the far wall, agony and fury surging through him, he just wanted to destroy everything! The two were on their feet, and he attacked with all the ferocity of a raging rancor, dodging the blue blades left and right, countering and parrying in a frenzy. He pushed them back through the halls of the Dreadnought, knowing that if he could not find Ventress or Dooku again, then he would have to escape, even in his rage he knew he could not take them all.

He narrowly avoided a strike from the bearded one, but the younger one slashed at his face, and caught two of his horns. His horns! The Jedi had cut them off! 

Savage screamed in fury as the hangar doors opened to find absolute chaos … and green fire. 

----

Zaiya had managed to land her ship, The Nameless, easily enough. Sixy had hooked into the system to trigger the ship to self-destruct. The Separatist droids were nothing to the three Zabraks and they had cut them down easily. Still, it had taken too much time, and Zaiya could no longer sense Ventress on the ship. 

One of the comms for the droids echoed a deep voice Zaiya had only heard in holo recordings; Dooku. He was calling for the execution of Savage and her hearts leapt. At her back Maul and Feral were finishing off a small group of droids and Zaiya ran forward-- just as the doors opened. 

Anakin and Kenobi had their backs to her, but she looked right past them to see a bloody and exhausted Savage… and his horns! She let out a growl as she slashed with her mila hanska blade and Kenobi only just managed to block it. 

“Siren?!” he gasped. 

“I knew it!” Anakin cried as he defended from Savage’s strike. 

“Savage!” Zaiya cried, trying to get around the Jedi. She shoved the two back and bolted over to the huge Zabrak. “Savage… Come on, we have to go. Tell me you remember me!” He raised his lightsaber but stopped, his eyes went wide as he stared down at her in shock. 

“You…?” 

The moment didn’t last and they were again having to fight off the Jedi, but this time back to back. 

“I knew you were behind this!” Anakin growled. 

“Ah Skywalker, as stubborn as ever,” she snarled. “If you don’t mind, I think I shall be taking our brother and leaving--”

“Brother?!” Anakin scoffed.

“Our?” Kenobi asked at the same time. 

“Savage…” Zaiya held back Kenobi’s blade and nodded behind him as she reached back and gripped Savage's forearm. She looked at Anakin with a firm and serious gaze. “I will do anything for my family.”

Simultaneously, Anakin’s expression softened, Kenobi looked away and Savage looked down at her. She saw the recognition in his eyes. 

“No…” Kenobi gasped. He was looking past the battle now… and at the two other Zabraks that were finishing off the last of the B2 Battledroids. Maul turned toward them, and his face became murderous. 

[Self-Destruct Initiated. Abandon Ship.] An automated voice spoke and in the moment of total confusion, Zaiya grabbed Savage tighter and yanked him with her as she kicked Kenobi away. 

“No time!” she yelled and dragged Savage with her. “Into the ship!” 

Sixy barreled through and charged back onto the ramp. Zaiya pushed Savage ahead of her and Feral helped his injured brother inside. 

Maul however moved to charge Kenobi, but Zaiya’s hand landed square in the middle of his chest. 

“You will not deny me my revenge!” he roared, the two Jedi having weapons raised to fight. 

[Self-Destruct in Two Minutes.]

“Never, sire, but there’s no time!” she urged, and she watched fury contort his handsome face. 

“I will kill him,” he growled. 

“And I will help you, but we cannot do that if we’re both dead!” He looked at her sharply and nodded, the two turning away. The Nameless was already hovering and they had to leap to get up there, the ramp closing as soon as the two were inside. 

Zaiya hurried to the cockpit to get as much distance between them and the dreadnought as she could. She did it. She had them. Savage was safe. 

Now she just had to get him to remember them. 

----

Obi-Wan ran back to his own ship with Anakin in tow. The Siren’s ship had already made the jump to hyperspace by the time the two Jedi had escaped the Dreadnought. 

“At least the Separatist ship was destroyed…” Anakin murmured. Obi-Wan said nothing, letting Anakin pilot, his mind churning. There was no way it could be true, no way that he could have seen what he saw. 

How could he be alive?! And the Siren was with both him and the monster Savage… it was worse than he thought. 

The image of the last time he had seen the red and black warrior. Standing over his Master, dying at his feet. Darth Maul had killed Qui-Gon Jinn and somehow… somehow he was still alive?! Obi-Wan had cut him in half! 

Jedi were not supposed to feel anger and hate… but by the Force if there was anyone he despised more he could not name them. Darth Maul had killed his Master, the man that had taken him as a Padawan when no other Master would dare. 

Darth Maul had taken the man closest to a father that Obi-Wan had ever had in his life. It was Qui-Gon that Anakin needed as his master, not him. 

“What I don’t get is why they blew up the ship. Wasn’t that big guy serving Dooku? He even had a lightsaber…!” Anakin sighed, then looked at Obi-Wan in alarm. “Are you alright?” Obi-Wan quickly used the Force to mask his emotions and tried to calm himself down. He couldn’t dwell on his emotions. 

“Did you see those other warriors?” 

“More of those Dathomirian Zabraks, seems the Siren is collecting them,” Anakin snorted. 

“I don’t know about that… the red one… we’ve seen him before.” Obi-Wan looked gravely at Anakin whose eyes widened. 

“You can’t be serious?! He’s dead! You killed him!” 

“I did,” the Master responded, looking out the viewport just in time to see the dreadnought explode in a fireball in the distance. He hit the hyperdrive and made the jump. “I am certain it was him, he recognised me, I could see it in his face.” That ugly twisted rage-filled face. Obi-Wan felt disgust crawl up his back. 

“So the Siren is a Sith?” Anakin asked, “I thought there were only meant to be two, if she was one, then that was at least three in that hangar… as well as Dooku… if they were working for him, why did the droids turn on them? Why did they blow up the ship?” 

“Those are all very good questions, Anakin,” Obi-Wan replied, “but for now we need to report this to the Council. Soon, we will find out what they are up to.” He had to focus on the task at hand. He would not let his emotions force a reaction. 

Even if he did want to tear that Sith to pieces. 

----

Maul let out a scream of anger, his hands balled into fists, the Dark Side writhing in him. He looked like he was ready to take his lightsaber to them all.

“He was right there!” he roared. Zaiya watched him as calmly as she could manage, but if she were honest, her own emotions were wreaking havoc on her insides. She was just as angry, but also worried. 

“I know,” she said, “but there was no time, fighting a Jedi on a Separatist ship, even if it’s not destroyed…” She shook her head, at least the ship was destroyed but…it was likely that Sidious would learn of Maul’s survival. What that meant for them, she didn’t know. It did make things difficult, however; they could not return to Dathomir and the Republic would come for them… likely so would the Separatists if their actions became known. 

Maul just gave a growl and his hands twitched. He let out a deep sigh and watched as she crossed the room, heading to the small medical bay in order to check on Savage. 

In the room, Feral sat by the cot, wrapping bandages around one of his brother’s forearms  and Savage himself seemed barely conscious, his eyes unfocused. 

“How has he been?” she asked. 

“I applied bacta, but he has… burns, like--” 

“Lightning,” Maul finished in a hoarse whisper, now right behind Zaiya. “It was my former Master’s favourite method of discipline, it seems his current apprentice has learned the same technique…” there was a look that crossed Maul’s face, the pale blue light from the wall unit reflecting on his face. For just a second he looked so vulnerable. Zaiya felt sadness and anger burn in her chest, she hated that she had waited so long. 

She turned back and stepped over to the big Zabrak, he could barely fit in the cot, his head shifting from side to side. 

“Savage,” she whispered, “can you hear me?” His fluttering eyes suddenly flew open and before she could stop him, his huge hand was around her throat. Feral and Maul jumped, ready to attack as she held up her hands at the same time.

“Where am I?!” he cried, but then his eyes seemed to focus and he released his grip.

“It’s alright,” she soothed, to the others. “Savage, do you remember me?” 

“I… I know you…” he said, but it sounded strained. 

“Feral,” she called, suppressing a cough. She was sure she was going to be bruised again. Feral stepped over and Savage’s eyes snapped toward the movement. His eyes widened again. 

“Brother,” Feral said gently, “you're safe now.” Savage slowly sat up, then he spotted Maul.

“Brother…” he whispered. It seemed that of all people, he recognised Maul with the most surety. Feral made a face and she instinctively laid a hand on his shoulder. 

“The spell has suppressed much of his memory,” she explained, and hoped he would not take it personally. She looked at Savage and gingerly reached out. “I need you to relax for me,” she said. He just watched her with those big golden eyes as she carefully laid her hands on either side of his head. He tensed but it seemed the residual memories of her told him she was safe. 

A green glow emanated from her fingers and she got to work unravelling parts of the spell. They looked like threads to her, and she had to carefully untie the thread holding his memories. The rest of the spell that had made him so large and imposing however, was not something she had the power to undo. 

Savage groaned, and she felt his large hands lay over hers, fingers digging in while she worked. She grit her teeth as his nails bit through her gloves. He was in pain, memories were not an easy thing to recover… 

Her hands began to shake slightly with the strain, the green smoke flowing from the contact points of her fingers. A moment later, he relaxed and  it was done. She withdrew her hands, stinging and aching from the pressure of his grip, but it needed to happen. 

“Savage…?’ Feral asked quietly. Savage looked up and his face changed into one of utter relief. 

“Feral!” he rasped. Zaiya stepped back as Savage wrapped Feral in a tight hug. 

It was a moment of light in what was otherwise four very dark lives. The family was finally together again. 

“Where are we?” Savage asked as he pulled back. 

“My ship,” Zaiya explained, “when we were small, Maul and I swore to travel, and bring you with us.” She gestured to the group. “That time has finally come.” 

“We aren’t returning to Dathomir?” he asked and Feral’s head lowered. 

“No,” Zaiya said, “I…” 

“She defied Talzin when she heard you were in danger,” Maul supplied, arms folded across his chest. “It was she that told the Jedi where you were.” 

“She betrayed me?!” Savage growled. 

“She was always going to, Ventress and Talzin do not care for anyone other than their own power and their goals. They would sacrifice any of us to get what they want,” Zaiya sneered. 

“Will the others be alright?” Feral asked quietly. A silence fell over the room. 

“I don’t know,” she admitted. There was a likelihood that the Nightbrothers may be punished… or even Zaiya’s mother. But if Talzin could not use it as leverage anymore, would it be worth her trouble? Zaiya couldn't be sure, but even before she had made the choice she knew she would be burdened by it. 

“As much as retrieving Savage was important…” Maul began and Zaiya had a significant sense of dread crawling up her back like a blackbane spider. “I still have unanswered questions, Lieutenant. You pushed the conversation away before, but now I want answers. Tell me about the collar.” 

Zaiya’s head lowered. She had begun to hope she would not have to tell him after dodging the question last time. There was no escaping it now. 

She would have to face the truth.

She would have to tell him about Zygerria. 

Notes: If you notice me posting late -- no you didn't!

I mean… Hello there. >> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Savage is back! Lets hope his memory is intact and he's alright. :/ Poor guy. They've all kinda been through the wringer, huh? But! Now they are altogether again! Except Feral's boyfriend of course… Are they gonna meet again? Next chapter… Zaiya finally has to come clean. Will Maul accept it? Or will he turn her away for her weakness?

As always I love love love feedback! Any comments or thoughts you have, send em my way! I love to read them! I hope you're all having a wonderful day!

----

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