Empire: The Rise (Anakin x Reader)

The Twin Sun Festival Part I

A/N: DOUBLE RELEASE: THE TWIN SUN FESTIVAL PARTS ONE AND TWO BOTH PUBLISHED NOW! <3 So sorry for the delay, everyone! I was hospitalized for an illness lol. I hope you guys like these chapters! Thank you so much for reading!

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Anakin wasn't sure what woke him the morning of the festival - perhaps it was the birdsong outside of his window, signaling activity in the blossoming day. Or maybe it was the gradual lightening of the gray sky, overcast with smog and clouds as always. The twin suns looked like distant lights - bright enough to increase visibility, but not so bright that one couldn't look directly at them. He had once heard of a time where the suns were so powerful that looking at them with bare eyes would render a man blind. Would this still be the case, were their sky not so polluted? These were questions he so rarely asked, feeling indifferent against the enormity of the issues surrounding them. 

He sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He hadn't any idea how (Y/N) had the energy to take action every time she found something that needed improvement. He wasn't sure how she had the heart to care for it all.

As he sat up, cool linens gently cloaking his skin, his senses tuned in all at once. The smell of a delicious smoke curling through the open window, wafting off of roasts in the square. The dichotomy of the incredible noise of talking, laughter, and shouting outside, alongside the silence within his own room, was jarring. It was as if the day of the festival had started without him. 

To Anakin, this was pleasant. It was unusual for things not to revolve around him and his decisions, like an exhausting, incessant merry-go-round. He wondered if (Y/N) was already awake, taking control of today's ride; one glance across to her tower at her neatly made bed told him this was the case. 

They hadn't slept in the same room last night, or any of the nights since their last meeting, on the account of Anakin staying up for hours each time, fiddling with the explosives. He had finally gotten it down to a science, and had spent the last evening enlisting Obi-Wan's help to package them in preparation for the event today.

After dressing, the Emperor wandered out into the main courtyard, surprised at the amount of activity.

"What is all of this?" He called to a sweating Obi-Wan, who was going over transports with a list in his hands.

"Anakin!" The auburn-haired General cried out. "I've been trapped! The Empress has caught me in a-"

He was abruptly cut off by the smack of another list against his head, as Qui-Gon appeared next to him. Obi-Wan turned slightly to raise his hands in defense, still looking at Anakin as he gave an open-mouthed laugh. 

"What General Kenobi meant to say is that Empress (Y/N) has us verifying the inventory of supplies, as we're decorating the city this morning," Qui-Gon said lightly, a twinkle in his eye.

"I can see that," Anakin said, lifting one of the decorations with a low whistle. "Where did all of this even come from?"

He counted cart after cart of decorations, starting with flags and banners of a deep crimson, the twin suns embroidered in the center. Hundreds, if not thousands, of the small emblems were present, ready to be strung up above the streets of Ra. Ribbons and boxes of large paper mache shapes were not far behind. Intricately crafted suns, planets, and flowers were stacked neatly near each other, careful not to rub off their paint. After that, lanterns of various color were placed carefully on strings, bordered by basket after basket of flower petal confetti.

"The flags and banners are commissioned from Alderaan," Obi-Wan said. "(Y/N) requested and paid for them. She sent her handmaiden Padme there, and she has remained as a diplomat for the past weeks to ensure preparations and communications go smoothly."