one night in coruscant || obikin

28

Pfshhh.

Anakin's door hissed open, and I took in his quarters. The floors were messy: littered with tools, laundry, and plates, his boots flung to the side of the door and his pack not too far away. A training droid hovered in the empty corner area where Ahsoka trained, and a mouse droid- which to my alarm seemed to have been retrofitted with tiny blasters- ran repeatedly into a wall near the 'fresher. Eyebrows raised in a look of mild amusement, I paced over, crouching down and looking at the droid with an air of pity.

"That's BECX-3. I call him Bex- he never worked quite right," Anakin mused behind me.

I rose, turning around to face him and crossing my arms, a comfortable expression on my face.

"Why don't you fix it?" I suggested, and Anakin merely cast a fond look at the droid.

"Eh. I think it's funny. He serves his purpose," he replied, watching as the little droid suddenly scuttled over to the opposite corner and shot a bug from the air. I turned to him, slightly incredulous.

"You built a droid to... kill... bugs?"

He merely shrugged. "For such a feisty kid, Ahsoka hates bugs- bad experience on a mission to Felucia..." he explained, looking as though the memory was not a fond one for him either.

Chuckling, I nodded and looked around me. The adjacent wall held a shelf, upon which perched several knickknacks Anakin had collected. A couple of books I'd given him over the years sat below a plant from Kashyyyk with color-changing leaves. Next to them, the old training saber he'd used as an initiate rested near a meditation stone Qui-Gon had given to me for me to pass on to my padawan.

He hadn't known it would be Anakin, but here we were.

Smiling, I wondered what Qui-Gon would think of me now- who I'd become, how I'd handled Anakin's training, my behavior in the past month. I doubted he'd be angry; it was him who told me my feelings for the Duchess weren't a crime, that they were natural.

'Although,' I mused dryly, 'I've handled my feelings quite differently this time.'

Anakin came to stand beside me, and I soon felt his chin on my shoulder. My eyes closed, and I leaned back.

"Where's Ahsoka?" I questioned cautiously, but relaxed when Anakin told me she had a class over Makashi- form II combat- with Master Tii. His hands wound around my waist, and I exhaled as he pressed a small kiss to my neck.

"Whatever will I tell the council, Anakin?" I asked, quickly adding, "and don't tell me not to worry about that. You know I've never been a good liar," I admitted, staring absently at the wall.

Anakin hummed and pulled me around to face him, his arms now wrapped around my waist, hands on my lower back. He didn't say anything, just smiled at me in the most beautiful way. I leaned forward into him, burying my face in his neck and letting the smell of the soap we'd used that morning fill my senses. Earthy, light, vivid- it smelled like Cerra's house. Anakin pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and I squeezed my eyes shut, telling myself this wouldn't be the last time he did so. No matter what happened, I'd have Anakin.

"You have me," he breathed, answering my thoughts and pulling me closer. My hands had, at some point, clutched the fabric of his tunic, and I released it now, letting them come up to wrap around his neck. We stood like this, holding onto each other like a padawan gripped their lightsaber the first time they came face-to-face with a cunning adversary. I held Anakin like a lifeline as we stood in his room, listening to each other's heartbeats and saying nothing, as though words would break something fragile.