Signature Bonds - Star Wars TCW

Chapter 40

Glowing colors splashed on the walls, blues and greens illuminating the faces of the two Jedi. The human man raised his saber and feinted left before striking right, only for the togrutan girl to block and parry away his blow. Sparring was comforting, she supposed, the colors bouncing around and leaving a hum in their wake. It was the most at peace she had felt in a while now after the mission underwater that had left her permanently scarred as far as oceans went. The mission itself had reminded her that war didn't just affect the surface worlds; war went far deeper than that. 

Sometimes, war was even fought with one's self. 

But right now, all was peaceful.

Obi-wan Kenobi walked into the sparring room, dodging to the right as Ahsoka nearly impaled him with her emerald blade. 

"Sorry, Master Kenobi!" She called, jumping again and flipping over Anakin's head. Obi-wan merely sighed, going to sit on a bench in a secluded corner of the room. He watched the younger two flip and twirl their sabers, the blades glowing and shining, sparking where they touched. It was poetic, almost, and Obi-wan figured that if he could watch this all day, he probably would. Watching his former pupil and his grand-padawan spar was a spectacle that was beautiful in its own way; they never once fought out of synch, always anticipating the next move, yet still staying in the present in a way few rarely managed.

Eventually, they paused in their fighting, both extinguishing their blades and walking over to the bench where Obi-wan was perched. Both grabbed bottles of water, drinking the liquid greedily. Ahsoka sat down next to Obi-wan, her breathing quick from the exertion.

"I feel so peaceful. What responsibility am I forgetting about?" Anakin asked sarcastically, plopping down next to the other two.

"Probably the fate of the galaxy," Obi-wan responded, and Anakin glared playfully at him. They sat in relative silence, the only noises being the sounds of Anakin and Ahsoka's labored breathing and swallows of water. 

"The force feels quiet," Ahsoka murmured, leaning against the wall. It was silent for a few moments, the three drinking in the calm and silence and the simple companionship of other presences.

"Yeah. Too quiet." Anakin stood again, walking around Obi-wan to Ahsoka, frowning. "Are you feeling okay?"

Ahsoka looked at him strangely. "I feel fine?" Obi-wan felt her signature through the force - it was the way it normally was, fiery and bright. He looked to Anakin, confused, and his former padawan's eyebrows knit together in frustration.

"Something is... wrong, you don't feel right."

Ahsoka looked to Obi-wan and shrugged.

"I feel fine."

Anakin shook his head, eyes screwing shut. 

"It's not you specifically. I don't think, anyway."

"I can get Luminara to check for you, but I don't think there's anything wrong, Anakin." Obi-wan stood and motioned for the two younger ones to follow him. "I feel like you two have magically become children again."

Anakin snorted, hand gripping onto his padawan's smaller one. "Yeah, but this time you don't have to babysit us."

"I don't know about that."

Anakin's mouth dropped open petulantly and Ahsoka laughed, Obi-wan's smirk growing.

"Hey!" 

They soon came to the Halls of Healing, and Luminara walked over immediately, throwing her arms around Obi-wan in a hug. He smiled and kissed the top of her head before pulling away and gesturing to Anakin and Ahsoka.

---

"How are you two doing?"

Luminara placed a hand on one of Ahsoka's temples and her other on one of Anakin's temples, tapping into their force energies. 

"I'm fine, but Anakin doesn't seem to think so."

Anakin rolled his eyes, "I said that it probably wasn't you specifically."

Luminara laughed good-naturedly, shaking her head before focusing again. The silvery threads connecting their force presences were some of the strongest she'd seen, and she plucked one of them experimentally. The thread sprung back into place just as any bond should, and she moved over to Ahsoka before stopping. There were at least a hundred little strings fraying on her side. They were breaking, disintegrating into the deep oblivion of the force. She carefully touched one, hoping to restore it, but it completely disappeared when she did, and Luminara gasped. Deciding there was nothing she could do right now, she turned over to Anakin, only to laugh at the pure irony of it. 

The knight was pulling so hard at their bond that he could no longer feel Ahsoka all that well. It didn't look like this was a new development either; the silver threads would have been strong enough to stop an onslaught for a while. Luminara smoothed out the bond on his end, feeling the knight's presence shudder. Ahsoka's presence calmed when she did so, relaxing into the feeling of the equal force of their bond.

Slipping away slowly, the healer shook her head.

"Anakin, you're getting too attached."

Said Jedi's mouth dropped open, first in shock, then confusion, then last, pure undulated rage. He stood, his presence a raging river, a hurricane making its way upstream, and Luminara backed up slightly.

"What do you mean, I'm getting too attached? Isn't that what I was supposed to do?! YOU even told me that I wasn't supposed to leave her alone for too long! YOU AND OBI-WAN told me...."

Suddenly, his presence soothed, the waves dissipating and the storm disappearing, and his body... well, it went slack, and fell directly back into Ahsoka, knocking her over. She held onto him, grunting as she got crushed under two-hundred pounds of muscle and Anakin.

"Master. You're heavy."

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Well, Happy New Year, guys! :) Let's make this a great one!

-FlamingStarbird