n// happy obi-wan eve my loves! enjoy this super long chapter to celebrate :)
Anakin watched Ryha closely as she stared down at the grave of his — no, their — mother. She was still weak, but she was still her determined little self that Anakin remembered all too well. She wanted to get the hell out of Tatooine, but not without saying goodbye to the woman who raised her first.
"I hate that she had to be buried here," she whispered out into the twilight. "The planet that kept her a slave will continue to own her."
Anakin stayed quiet, but placed a comforting hand on her back. It was important to him that she knew that she wasn't alone, nor would she ever be alone again.
"But this is her home..." she continued, fighting back her tears. "She was... she was happy here. After Lars. After all of the things she suffered through, somehow she found happiness. The place that kept her prisoner became home. And this is how it treats her? And it gets to keep her?"
The tears had long since spilled over, and Anakin felt tears of his own prickle at his eyes. But he knew that his time to be weak had passed, he needed to be strong for Ryha now.
"Her body may lie here," he spoke, bringing the woman closer to his side. "But her spirit, which was what made her who we loved, is free. She is free. She's no longer prisoner, Ryha, she is with the Force."
His words sounded foreign to his own ears, ironically reminding him of Obi-Wan. But he knew they rang true, and he could see that they brought some sort of comfort to his beloved.
Ryha remained quiet for a moment, just staring where Shmi had been laid to rest and focusing on the warmth of Anakin's large hand across her back. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled and exhaled the dry desert air for what she hoped to be the last time.
"I love you, mom," she wept. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, and I'm sorry for everything I couldn't do for you. I'm so, so sorry."
Anakin barely let the words finish falling from her lips before he pulled her into his chest and held her tight. There she was, beaten and bruised, grieving the traumatic loss of the only mother figure she ever had, and she was apologising for his failures. He breathed in deeply, desperately trying to keep his emotions in check as he let her sob into his tunic. He hated more than anything that he couldn't take her pain away and that there was nothing he could do about it. He felt helpless.
What was the point of being a Jedi Knight if he couldn't even help the people he became one for? He should be able to have control of every situation.
"Get me out of here," Ryha pleaded, interrupting his train of thought before it could get any darker. "Please, Anakin, get me out of here."
Nodding, Anakin picked up her small bag and slung it over his shoulder, making sure that he never once broke their contact as they walked to his ship. Ryha boarded, and in the most pleasant way she knew how, ignored the sympathetic stares that she'd received from Padmé. Noticing this, Anakin pulled her further into his side, shielding her as best as he could. Placing her bag down, he brought her over to one of the ship's beds and ushered her in.
"But I'm not tired..." she trailed off weakly, looking at her best friend as he helped her take off her shoes and get under the covers.
YOU ARE READING
home 🪐 anakin skywalker
Fanfiction"clinging to me, like a last breath you would breathe, you were like home to me." in which anakin skywalker finds his way home to the only girl that ever felt like one.
