All the Stars :: Anakin Skywalker

Breath of Relief

"No, Anakin, you can't join me in the shower."

"It was a joke!" Anakin laughed from the bedroom. Behind the bathroom door. As I was undressing to get into the shower. "But I mean... it is your fault I'm feeling this way at all. You did admit to thinking about me all night."

"That was different! It was... a mind trick!" I fired back through laughs. "I'm serious! Don't come in here! I'm completely indecent!"

"Oh, yeah, that makes me want to come in there a lot less now," Anakin said quietly, but I heard him loud and clear.

"I heard that, Skywalker."

"Get used to that last name."

Now my cheeks burned red.

"Ani! Not okay!"

"What? It was a mind trick!"

"Wha- for what?! It had no purpose other than to fluster me!"

It was quiet between the two of us, until we both started laughing in our respective sides of the room. God, I wanted nothing more than to kiss him through the door. His laugh is something I'm still trying to get used to the feeling of.

It drives me crazy in so many good ways.

Suddenly, there was an urgent knock at the front door of the room. I felt an overwhelming sense of tension rise in the room. I heard Anakin's boots walk up to the door, then his muffled voice speaking with another low muffled voice that I immediately recognized the tone of.

Then the door shut, hard. It slammed, in fact, and I heard Anakin let out the most frustrated, heaviest sigh I've ever heard. But his breathing was shaky at the end of it.

Something's wrong. Something's very, very wrong. I can feel it.

I put his shirt back on, thankful for the fact that it goes well over my hind end, and emerged from the bathroom. I ignored the show of new skin, because the look of pure fear on his face sobered any concerns I had on my mind.

"Ani?"

"It's today. The- the battle. Muunilinst," Anakin looked up at me with watering eyes. "Ellie."

"I know," I bit my lip and tried to prevent my own tears, but the sudden fear for his life stripped away any control I had over my emotions. "It's okay."

"It's not okay. They made it today. The- the Banking Clan is making droid armies. We have to destroy their factories and take their controllers into custody. It's... it's going to be a huge and messy battle. We have to leave. All of us."

"I-" I didn't know what to say. My heart was pounding in my chest, seemingly pumping new waves of fear all throughout my body by the millisecond. I climbed into his lap and held him. His face buried into the crook of my neck. His breathing was shaky, just like the rest of him.

I didn't want to tell him to come back to me. Because that's exactly what he's worried about. I didn't want to make his fear worse.

I genuinely didn't know what to say to comfort him.

"You're an expert flier, Ani," I mustered up. "You're the head commander of that fleet because of your skill. You- you've already gone over battle plans and organized your fleet. You've got this. You- you'll come back to me, I know it. And I'll be right here waiting for you when you come back. I promise."

He sighed deeply again and pressed a few light kisses to my shoulder, then pulled back to look into my eyes. He looked like he'd gathered himself again. He looked stronger again. Braver.

"There's Ani," I faintly smiled and stroked his cheek. "You'll make it back. I promise. And we'll... do whatever you want to do for the rest of the night. Okay? You and me. No distractions or interruptions."