That won't happen to you

Chapter 45

Anakin sat there for a very long time and just held Ahsoka in his arms.

He knew that without Lou she would trust them even less than before.

But he would manage that.

He would get his 'soka back.

Despite his embrace, Ahsoka still stared at Lou, while she held Lou's hand tightly.

The young man stood up and looked down at the two of them.

He saw so much more than just two girls.

The Force allowed him to see so much more.

He saw how much pain the two had survived side by side, and the hope they had shared.

He saw the deep connection that was born out of pain and dreams.

He knew the feeling they had when they were down there on Tatooine.

He had grown up with it.

Alliances, bonds forged in the hope of freedom were always the strongest. Always took the shortest to form, were the hardest to break, and were always the strongest of all.

He knew why she trusted Lou and not him.

It was not because he had supposedly bought her, or at least that was not the most decisive reason.

Lou had been there when Anakin wasn't. When he could not be.

He would do anything to change that, but still he could only regret it.

And when Ahsoka had met Lou, they had been equals. No one better than the other. Neither higher than the other.

Anakin and Ahsoka, on the other hand... they had always been separated by their titles.

He saw her as a sister, but he would never be allowed to tell her.

Lou was a friend to her, a sister, and she had made that clear to her.

Lou was there for her, while he, while Anakin was afraid to scare her.

He didn't want to scare her and therefore kept away.

He had to change that, he realized.

No matter what happened now, he would be there for Ahsoka, support her and help her.

The universe could put as much against him as it wanted, he would not give her up.

By the Force, now he realized how right he was.

No matter what happened, he would always stand by her side.

Even if she would fall. If she would kill someone or attack the Jedi.

She had grown far too close to his heart for him to let her fall. Abandon her.

Not that she would do any of those things.

Gently, he put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her.

There was a childlike naivete in her gaze, an honest concern and innocent hope.

Things he had not seen in her since Christophsis.

It was almost like a miracle that she was still so much a child, despite everything she had to go through.

An incredible, shining, hope-giving miracle that someone could still keep being so so much like a kid after all these horrors.

He left his hand where it was and looked gladly at the young Togruta.