Accismus⋆౨ৎ˚⟡.• Anakin Skywalker⋆౨ৎ˚⟡.•

13.

Anakin marvelled at the soft face that was peaceful in its sleep. Her eyelashes brushed against her cheeks and her pink lips were parted slightly to let out small breaths of air. He wanted so badly to reach out and trace the smooth skin of her shoulder or her neck, but he didn't want to wake her. She could already be awake, waiting for him to leave so that she could eat without his prying eyes, or to avoid a painful conversation with him. He would make fun of the fact that she couldn't be that attuned to the Force if he was able to walk into her bedroom and stand beside her without her even flinching. And then he would leave, satisfied that he had made her blood boil, and with a warm feeling in his stomach from her attention.

Sol tormented Anakin. He knew he shouldn't be feeling the way he did when he saw her, or experience the nervousness he did when he thought that she could hear his thoughts. It wasn't forbidden to love, as love was something the Force wanted Jedi to feel in order to protect the things that were good. But love for another person, especially another Jedi, could result in being discharged from the Order. It was not the way of the Jedi, but who was to say that the Jedi ways were right?

Anakin had always questioned the traditions that were so deeply rooted in the Order. It was old-fashioned to believe that only evil could come from indulging in the pleasures of life, like love and family. In Anakin's eyes, the dark side is what comes from restriction and prohibition. Defiance of these restrictions leads to anger, and anger leads to hate, and hate is what allows the dark side to flourish. But how could Anakin hate anything, when Sol was the brightest light he had ever saw in the Force?

But he remembered something. She could be the Chosen One. She could be the one who will achieve the greatest title of all, the one who defeated the Sith and bring eternal peace to the republic. Sol would be deemed the greatest Jedi there ever was and she would be a Jedi Master that was viewed as a Force send. She would be known as the Force baby who was brought to her mother with a destiny like no other.

Anakin wretched the hand away that was hovering over the skin of Sol's arm. He hadn't realised he had subconsciously reached out to touch what looked so soft and silky. The thoughts of Sol being his opponent returned and he turned away, leaving through the door with haste. R2-D2 let out a slow beep at what he had witnessed and heard Padme retire to her bedroom, initiating the process for the droid to wake Sol from her nap.

---

They spent two days at Padme's childhood home. No attempts were made on the senator's life, and they had no further information from the Jedi Council. This had made Sol and Anakin wilfully slack in their guardship, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Sol had looked out for the surveillance droid in the trees surrounding the house, and Anakin had swept the estate for any suspicious bugs or slugs that could attempt to poison the senator, but nothing. They mutually agreed that they had avoided detection by travelling to Naboo, and could relax, as Padme had insisted from the very beginning.

On the second day, Sol decided to indulge in the waters of the lake. It was from Padme's suggestion, as she had rambled about the memories of swimming to the other island with her friends in her younger days. Padme said she would lend Sol some swimming wear and they could spend the afternoon in the warm sun and the diamond-like water. Sol gave in, enjoying the feeling of relaxing for one of the first times in her life.

'You won't have to fret about any watery creatures, either,' Padme explained as they laid out some towels on the sand. 'There are nets about a hundred metres from the shoreline.'

Sol didn't even bring her lightsaber out of the house and she was yet to worry about the decision to not have it with her. All she worried about was the risk of a sunburn and if the swimsuit Padme leant her was too revealing.