|| Uninvited || An Anakin Skywalker Story

Chapter Six

Payto surprised me in the kitchen the next afternoon.

I was humming softly to myself, carefully stacking clean glasses on the back shelf after a busy lunch shift. Luckily, I was able to stay in the kitchen and work behind the scenes today. I had a feeling Glynn wanted to save unsuspecting Jedi from getting a glimpse at my face. While the cast and splint now covered my nose, the bruising under my eye had grown even more gruesome over the night. The deep purple hues drew grimaces from whoever I came across. So, I was happy when the kitchen emptied out and I was left with the kitchen droids to tidy up after the afternoon rush.

"Missed a spot on that one." I heard Payto's familiar voice say from behind me. I smirked at the smudge on the glass I was holding and then spun around to face my friend.

"You're free!" I exclaimed and strode towards him, tossing the glass to the droid who I knew would catch it. Once I reached him, I gently threw my arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. I could hear his muffled chuckle as he returned the gesture.

"Yep, good as new. Almost. Just need these cuts to heal." He replied.

Taking a step back, I examined his face again. My eyes followed the angry pink marks marring his smooth skin. His injuries already looked much better than they had last night. All thanks to the marvel that is Coruscant's medical technology.

"I'm sure they'll be gone in no time. Your face will return to its natural state of perfection soon." I said with a definitive nod, lightly tapping him on the nose.

"I don't know...I'm kind of into the idea of a face scar." Payto said with a smirk. "Definitely works for Anakin Skywalker."

I rolled my eyes in response and gently swatted his arm.

"Yeah, who knows, maybe that temple guard you have your eye on is into that kind of thing." I quipped with a raised eyebrow. Payto's face broke out into an easy grin at the mention of his newest crush, a handsome new guard who recently arrived at the temple from the outer rim.

"You know what Remlik, you may have a point there." Payto chirped and hooked his elbow with mine before dragging me out of the kitchen. We both ignored the droid furiously alerting us that my job was not yet done. But I didn't care, my best friend was back, and we had a lot to catch up on.

Once we got back to the living quarters, I filled Payto in on my encounter in the training room with Anakin last night. Only leaving out the part where Anakin told me he was once a slave. That story didn't feel like it was mine to tell. And selfishly, I wanted to keep something just between Anakin and I.

Payto, of course, had a million questions. Most were queries I also had whirling around my own brain. But the one that kept surfacing was why would Anakin Skywalker take the time to teach me how to fight?

"I mean I'm sure he has at least a hundred more important things to be doing with him time." I mused as I leaned back against the chair I was lounging in. Payto was sprawled across his bed on his back, peering up at the ceiling in thought.

"Who knows..." He said slowly before turning to face me with a devilish grin, "maybe he is secretly obsessed with you too."

I raised my eyebrow in response, and it only took about two seconds before both of us broke out into laughter at the thought.

"Shut up." I said between laughs and threw a dish towel that was resting on the table next to me at him. He made a dramatic display of the towel hitting him in the chest which drew more laughter from myself.

"All jokes aside though, clearly he has taken some sort of interest." Payto said as he absent-mindedly wrung the towel in his hands. I gently chewed my bottom lip and considered it.