Healing Hurts (Anakin Skywalker)

Chapter 15

Anakin wasn't kidding with his warning about Kix. They'd stayed there at the window for a solid two hours before Kix found them. Havena got an earful from him for another hour after that before he finally calmed down and stopped going on about how reckless it was for her to leave the med bay for that long when they were still monitoring her condition. She had to hand it to him - he was much more attentive than the doctors and nurses she'd seen on Earth. It was kind of refreshing in a way.

Not long after returning Havena to Kix's clutches, Anakin was called away for his training session with Ashoka. And after three grueling hours (and a meal of some... unknown ingredients), Obi-wan returned to the room to let her know that they were approaching Coruscant.

He wasn't at all surprised at her near immediate begging to see the planet through a window. Anakin must have told him about their earlier adventure. But nonetheless, Obi-wan decided that it would be alright to make a quick pit stop on their way to their transport in the hangar bay.

It was beautiful. Havena didn't know how else to say it, or what to even call it, but the view in front of her was so stunning that she couldn't blink even if she'd wanted to. It was so... surreal. And to think that soon she would be standing on that planet... it felt like some crazy dream. But most of all, it reminded her of home. Earth. Of course she'd seen the pictures and renderings, but she just knew it would be more beautiful in person.

But that would never happen - especially if what they were alluding to was true. If... if she was from an entirely different universe, and being on Earth was making her illness worse... then she couldn't go home. She'd never see those blue skies again, or spend hours under the stars trying to piece constellations together. She'd never see her family again, or... or visit her mother's grave. She'd never truly apologized or said her goodbye, and now...

Everything she knew was gone.

"Alright, Havena. We'd best be on our way before they leave without us."

She didn't fight him that time.

Obi-wan watched the girl through worried eyes and furrowed brows as he lightly guided her chair through the hallways of the ship and toward the elevator. The air around the two had been so light and full of awe. Obi-wan knew it was from Havena. It had to be the force mirroring the girl's feelings as she stared in amazement at Coruscant through the window. But then after a few moments the air changed from light to heavy and Obi-wan could sense the despair radiating from her - the feelings of loss and fear that he was beginning to hope she could avoid.

Ultimately, he knew that they had to show themselves sometime. Wearing a mask can only fool oneself for so long.

But judging from Havena's silence she wasn't ready to talk about it, and Obi-wan knew better than to try to push her too soon. She would speak when she was ready. So instead of addressing his newfound concerns with the girl, Obi-wan simply guided her to the hangar in silence and gave her room to guide herself through her emotions. That, he thought, was the least he could do.

They had turned her world upside-down, after all.

Anakin and Ashoka met the two outside of their transport. Ashoka was the first to speak. Her energetic greeting knocked Havena back to reality, and the girl jumped with a light gasp.

"Oh- sorry! I wasn't paying attention," she gave the togruta a sheepish grin. "Hey, Ashoka!"

"Are you ready? I can't wait to show you the temple, you're going to love it!"

Havena gave the girl a small smile. "Yeah, I can't wait. Is it really as big as it sounds?"

"As big as it sounds? There are so many jedi - what, 10,000 at this point? The temple is huge."