Mud | Obikin

6.

We meet again in the morning, when the ship enters Coruscant's atmosphere. He is on the opposite side of the deck, shouting orders to the men. His face is as tired and grey as mine.

We deboard together. The sight of Ashoka's petite figure waiting outside the spaceport wins a smile from us both. She desperately wants to run and throw her arms around her Master. Instead, she just hops toward us, barely restraining herself, making me remember how much I like her.

She stops a couple of steps from us, squinting suspiciously. "What happened?"

I try to sound reassuring. "We are exhausted, young one. It has been a long time, I'm happy to see you again."

Anakin places a hand between her montrals, gently driving her away. "I missed you, Snips. I will not let them separate us again."

Ahsoka is confused by his weird, serious tone, and searches my eyes for answers. I can just try a half-smile.

"May the Force be with you, Master," she says, looking at me over her shoulder as they leave.

What follows reminds me of a cold soup; reassuring, a bit boring, and not as good as it used to be.

First of all, I reach my quarters. All is exactly where I left it. Is there a better feeling?
I do my best to thoroughly enjoy being home, but the comfort I find is smaller than the one I was expecting.

After the 'fresher, I reach the Council meeting. There, I wait fifteen minutes for Anakin to show up, undergoing other Masters' disdainful looks when it becomes evident that he won't come. Finally, I resolve to hold my summary of our last weeks on my own.

I know where he is, I even know what he's doing. I make an effort not to think about it.
I learnt at my expenses that, when we're in Coruscant, it's important to avoid reaching for his Force Signature at all costs. Not consciously, not absentmindedly, not as the result of a habit. Experience tells me that I may not like what I find.

I take my lunch to the gardens and sit on the grass, dwelling in the fogged Coruscant sun I missed so much. After ten minutes, an unmistakable, imposing silhouette shadows it.

"Sit down, old friend. I must dry up my weary bones," I say, a hand protecting my eyes from the sunlight.

Quinlan obeys. "You look terrible. And I mean it."

"Thank you. 'Welcome back' would have sufficed. I didn't know you had already returned."

"I came back and left again while you were away. I've been here for a week now." He takes a look around. "Where's the Chosen One? I want to tell him I took care of his Padawan while he was away."

I almost spit my lemonade.

"No, you nasty one, not like that! Nice idea, anyway."

I try to look indignant. "She's too young, and you're disgusting."

"You're the one that implied this first!"

His laughter is full and contagious. I laugh too and say that, if Anakin were here, he would've killed us both.

"I only mean that the poor thing needed a guide, a wise mentor while her Master and her Master's Master were busy playing with mud."

"There are a couple of misleading concepts in your last sentence, especially regarding the wise mentor part."

He punches my arm hard enough to bruise and starts stealing food from my lunchbox.

We look at the flourishing garden, eating in silence.
The younglings play around us, their voices blending with the gurgling sound of the waterfalls.