Anakin's Fortress - Book II (temporary cover)

Fifty - Harangue

Keep your face to the sunshine, and the shadows will fall in line.
Year 14

—————

Kat

Since Tatooine is nowhere close to Dantooine but isn't far from Mustafar, Luke agrees to let me drop him off first under one condition: I spend the entire trip telling him stories of his father.

I comply, because I want nothing more than to talk about my complex, beautiful, protective husband.

I tell him what I know of his time as a Jedi, of the few tales he and Kenobi have shared with me. Then, during the last hour of our trip, I tell him of his fight back to the light side—cleaned up for the young ears listening.

By the time we land outside his home, it's just after three in the morning, the desert cold and dark. We sit there for a minute, each of us in our own minds. But it surprises me when he turns to me and grips my hand, his eyes soft and filled with an emotion I don't understand.

"I know you're upset about what you did, but I'm proud of you."

My heart catches in my throat and I suddenly want nothing more than to be strong for him, but the way he's looking at me, as if he loves me as deeply as I've grown to love him...The tears prickle my eyes anyway.

"I...I don't know that I'd do it again if I knew. I don't know if I would have freed those slaves if...if I knew so many would be sacrificed." I try to imagine the Dominion going down above Mustafar but it's difficult to imagine that many lives being blipped from existence.

He nods solemnly, looking much older than he ever has. "I think you would. It wasn't just for those Wookiees on Kashyyyk. It was for every slave, every Wookiee that looks toward home."

I stare at him, believing his words. But instead of replying, I see the hesitation in his face and wait. "I, I heard something from your command station."

"What?" My voice reflects my caution, barely a whisper.

"There..." He frowns deeply, his eyebrows pulled together. "They said it started a chain reaction. A cluster of Wookiees took over a slave ship. The last report, according to the grumpy man down there, was that they were taking the bridge. They haven't heard from the ship again, haven't found it. I didn't quite catch the other one. Something about a revolt in a camp or something."

I stare at him with my mouth slightly ajar and blink three times before I clear my throat.

"You're saying we've given them hope?"

"I think so." All my attempts at foresight and I hadn't even considered this. My focus was the direct lives affected on Kashyyyk—you know, one problem at a time sort of thing.

My mind is already churning—I need to find out where these are happening and scrap together some sort of assistance.

"Alright then. I guess we can't bring hope without having a little ourselves, huh?"

———

Obi-Wan

Anakin is pacing. He's been pacing the whole day. Leia tried to distract him with endless Jedi questions, but Yoda grew irritated at his two to three-word answers and began giving her more solid explanations. Happily, to my surprise. He seems to like the girl.

I attempted to distract him by asking about Kat, but he was too anxious and changed the subject. The day she left, almost two days ago now, he built the lightsaber but has yet to turn it on, as if holding a blade that isn't screaming would rattle him.

Finally, I can take no more. I'm dizzy watching him stalk up and down the room.

"Anakin, relax." He sends me a dark glare but otherwise ignores me. I say his name again. "If anyone can claw their way out of suspicion, it's her. She will return. And she will never let anything happen to Luke."