The Archer

Chapter Nine: In the Archives

An incomplete list of unexpected truths about Anakin Skywalker, part one:

- He's emotional and compassionate. He rarely appears like he's trying to hide something - at least not from me.

- There are moments where he seems almost painfully vulnerable.

- He's been through things that are straight up horrible and I feel like it impacts him more than he may be ready to admit.

The last one weighs heavily, and it might or might not be the most crucial one - as well as the one I so desperately tried to deny but can't:

- I like him. Actually like him. And that scares me to dea...

My train of thought was interrupted by the buzzing noise of my comlink. Again. I let out a small sigh. This was at least the fifth time that day. And I didn't even need to take a look to know who it was - yet I still caught myself glancing at the message appearing on the small screen of the device.

"When were you planning to tell me?!"

About an hour after my shift started Becca began sending me these messages - and it didn't take long for me to figure out the reason why. Apparently our visit to the Chancellor's office the day before hadn't gone unnoticed, and an image of Anakin and me found its way onto the HoloNet. It was a picture of us being greeted by Palpatine on his landing deck combined with a subtitle that went something like "Jedi General Skywalker meeting Supreme Chancellor Palpatine - to discuss the new developments in the war zones?". I was already on the verge of a panic attack before realizing one could barely see, let alone recognize me in the tiny, low-quality image, and the „news" in general was only a small side note most people would simply overlook.

Not Becca, of course, who had a certified weakness for Jedi war heroes.

"I KNOW you're seeing my messages. You can't ignore me forever."

She was right. Nevertheless, I put off answering her for the time being. Partly because I was still trying to figure out what to tell her.

Instead I spent the morning working through a few tasks that had piled up over the course of the last days. Meeting Anakin has surely impaired my ability to focus the way I usually do and it showed. I started by preparing resources that were requested to be picked up - and immediately got frustrated as one of the Holobooks on the list was seemingly impossible to find.

How do these things just disappear into thin air?

I ran through the corridors to the place where it should be according to the system. The emphasis is on should.

You do know he'd never be interested in you, right?

As expected, the place on the shelf is empty.

Don't make a fool of yourself.

I double-checked the datapad in my hands. I was definitely in the right place.

Even if he did care for you the slightest bit, as a Jedi he'd never be allowed to have close attachments like that.

"Excuse me, miss?", I suddenly heard a high-pitched voice ask behind my back and turned around to see a young boy facing me. At first glance I'd estimate him to be around 7 years old.

"Oh, hi! What can I help you with?"

"Master Yoda sent me to get this Holobook..."

He showed me the datapad he was holding that seemed huge in his tiny hands. He had a shy, polite look on his face and was really adorable.