Touch Starved

Chapter 20 - Sidious

Author's Note: The removal of Sidious from the equation was important. :') xDXD

~ Amina Gila

After talking with Anakin, the rest of the journey to Coruscant passes relatively quickly and quietly, maybe aided, in part, by the fact that Obi-Wan coaxed Anakin to rest once he found out how difficult it has been for him to sleep properly over the past month. Ahsoka comes to get them when they're approaching their destination, and it's with reluctance that Obi-Wan stops gently carding his fingers though Anakin's hair, his head is resting on Obi-Wan's thigh, and nudges him back to wakefulness.

It's late morning on Coruscant, and they can't do anything until late afternoon, when most of the Senate is ready, but they have to get everything set up. And to do that, they have to go to the Senate, which they do. They keep their shields locked tight as they traverse the halls, heading towards Padme's office. She has all her files stored here, as well as another copy elsewhere lest this one be destroyed, and she plans to make her transmission to the galaxy from her office. She'll be safe with Ahsoka so long as they destroy Sidious quickly and expediently.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon passes in a tense blur as they set everything up and double-check the information that Padme has compiled, looking for anything that might be missing or out of order. And then, they fret and stress and worry and wait. It's the waiting that's hard. It's the waiting that has Anakin twisting the cuff of his sleeve while Obi-Wan paces and strokes his beard. It's the waiting that has Ahsoka shifting restlessly every second, tapping her leg or her chair alternately while Padme keeps shifting items on her desk for no apparent reason.

And when it's time, Anakin looks as terrified as Obi-Wan feels. What they do now will either fix or destroy the galaxy, and they have no idea what the outcome will be. Either of them could die. All of them could die. And they don't have a say in that. They don't have a way of preventing that. All they're doing is their duty to the galaxy.

"It's not too late to leave," Anakin points out, tone casual. "We can still go back to Tatooine, get Lyla, and run off into Wild Space where no one will find us."

Obi-Wan hates that the offer is so tempting. But they can't leave. They can't get closure if they don't at least try. "We have to go, Anakin," he replies. "We both know we'll regret it if we don't." Besides, after everything that Sidious did to them both, after how he manipulated Anakin and torn the two of them apart, Obi-Wan won't deny that he wants revenge. Anakin is his. His Padawan, his best friend, his brother, his child. His. He won't let Sidious do the same thing again, and there will be something very satisfying about watching him die.

"True," Anakin concedes, looking back at Ahsoka and Padme. "Be careful, both of you."

Padme steps forwards, suddenly, walking up to Anakin. "You two," she replies, leaning up to give him a brief, fleeting kiss before stepping back, leaving Anakin staring at her in surprise, shock, and regret.

He merely nods before giving Ahsoka one final look and gesturing to Obi-Wan. Together, they leave Padme's office, keeping their hoods up the way they did when they first entered the building. The Senate guards hadn't questioned them, because it's not uncommon to see Jedi coming and going from the premises. Besides, Padme had said they were accompanying her before they could be questioned. They need to be discrete. There's no reason to attract any undue attention before they arrive at their destination.

Sidious is, predictably, in his office when they arrive, and the two Red Guards let them pass without question when they see Anakin. It makes Obi-Wan feel highly uncomfortable, knowing that Palpatine has ordered his own personal security to let Anakin pass at any time. It's... wrong, and he doesn't know why he never put a stop to it sooner. How could he not have seen what Palpatine was doing? It wasn't as if he didn't know there was something strange about a politician of Palpatine's rank taking interest in a young Padawan.