「 star-crossed ⭒ anakin skywalker 」

chapter twelve

Everything was blurry, yet the feeling was as clear as ever.

The pain from the shot that narrowly missed my heart still burned red hot.

But I ran. I ran until I saw it.

The blaster held up against my mother's blonde hair; her cries echoed through my head.

My body was paralyzed, like I was suspended in rayshields, helplessly trying to run for her.

I couldn't move. The throbs in my chest worsened with every rapid beat of my heart, the weight too heavy to breathe.

"I- I'm sorry," I could barely whisper out.

From there, my vision went bright red— a slow motion blur of my mother's pain stricken expression, a gasp from her throat when she glanced down at her wound.

"Noooo!"

My eyes shot open with a jolt, and I found myself lying on an unfamiliar bed, sweat sticking my clothes to my skin.

"About time your lazy ass woke up," said the one voice I could never misplace. On the bright side, his annoying insults were a distraction from my nightmare. It hadn't been the first time I've had that sort of dream, but they seemed to be getting more vivid and more painful each time.

"You try getting shot, Anakin," I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

When I finally did try to sit up in the bed, I noticed the new patch spanning across my wound— the medical droids must have done a good job because the pain was already pretty dull. I insisted I was fine, but Master Kenobi forced me to let them take a look when we got back to the Temple.

"The Council was worried when we told them what happened... especially Master Plo," Anakin said. "But I mean, everyone's glad you're not dead."

"How nice of them."
After a struggle to push myself up onto my elbows, I eventually looked in the direction of Anakin's voice and found him leaning back in a chair only a few feet from the side of my bed. His hair sat on his head in a tangled mess as he was stretching his arms behind his head— wait, how long has he been here? How long have I even been here?

"You've been asleep for a few days," Anakin said, as if he read my mind. "But don't sweat it, the Council knows you needed it. They just want you to heal."

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed so I was sitting up, facing him.
"Well whatever those droids did definitely did the trick. I'd say I'm healed," I shrugged, starting to stand up. Anakin rose quickly from his chair in response.

"Not so fast," he shook his head, pushing my shoulders until I was forced to sit back down on the bed. Anakin crossed his arms in front of me, his height making me tilt my head up to meet his stern gaze. "The Council put me in charge of you while Master Plo's on another mission. You're not going anywhere."

I rolled my eyes dramatically. They really do treat me like a youngling. And Anakin? I didn't take him as the babysitting type, but here we are.

"That's ridiculous. I'm fine"

"I know, but the Council insisted. Don't think I want to be here any more than you," he said.

"You're right, I don't want you to be here either," I deadpanned, causing a light smirk to appear on his face.

Just as he opened his mouth to reply, his comm began to beep. "Hold on, I'll be right back."

I sat, waiting for Anakin to return, actually obeying his orders for once. Being alone with my thoughts turned out to backfire, though, because the deep, burning feelings from my nightmare were slowly coming back.

The more I replayed the images in my head, the more my judgement blurred. Was it only a dream, or was it a vision of the future? Hopefully just a dream. But what if I'm wrong? What if my mother gets hurt because I can't trust myself and my feelings?

The door of the room slid open suddenly, revealing Anakin's tall figure.
"Well it's your lucky day, I guess," he said. "Obi-Wan needs my help— he found something strange on Mandalore."

"Mandalore?" I practically shouted. "Is the Duchess alright?" Panic started to seep into my chest, sending the burning sensation to its peak. Maybe it wasn't just a dream after all.

"He said she's being investigated. The Council thinks she could be working with the Separatists," Anakin shrugged.

"No, there's no way. My Auntie Satine has always kept Mandalore a neutral system."

"I believe you. But Obi-Wan says there was some kind of terrorist attack— some radical party of Mandalorians —and there's no way for sure to know who was behind it."

I gasped. "Death Watch."
I thought they had been banished to the moon, Concordia, many years ago for opposing my mother with their violent idealisms. What are they doing back on Mandalore? They're too dangerous for my mother to deal with alone. "Anakin, I need to come with you."

"Absolutely not. You're in no condition to—"

"No. I'm fine, and there's nothing you can do to keep me here," I said firmly as I stood up. My legs wobbled a bit when I took my first step, prompting Anakin to rush over and grab my arms to support me.

"Vienna...I can't let it be my fault that you get hurt again," he barely whispered.

"I'll be okay, but I need to do this, please. She could be in danger, and she's family," I pleaded.

He hesitantly let go of my arms and nodded. "I understand, more than I'd like to."
He looked like he was overwhelmed with his recent thoughts, but quickly shook his head and picked up his robe off the arm of his chair.

"The Council's gonna kill me," he sighed, finally leading me out the door and down the hall to his ship.

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A/N: Sorryyy again for such a long update lol!! Hope you guys like it :)

also that pic of obi-wan and anakin🥵
it doesn't really have anything to do with this chapter but it was worth sharing