Ghost of You - Anakin Skywalker x Reader (BOOK 1)

Chapter 15

I'm grateful for how short the journey from Tatooine to Geonosis is. It was pure luck that they were both located in the notorious Outer Rim.

From space, the planet is beautiful. Its surface is a mix of deep reds, yellows, and oranges. The combination of these colours and the rings surrounding the planet is a truly breathtaking sight. A sight I could admire for hours. Unfortunately, I know this beauty will not extend to the surface.

Anakin pilots the starship into the atmosphere and flies close to the ground. The planet is a desert like Tatooine only characterised by deep orange sand. Somehow, it seems even less habitable than the merciless planet we had come from.

He weaves through pillars of rocks while trying to remain unseen. His piloting abilities truly are unmatched. He may be deserving of the title of 'best pilot in the galaxy' after all.

I notice what may be a safe landing location.

"See those columns of steam straight ahead?" I point it out to Anakin "They're exhaust vents of some type."

"That'll do." He replies.

He pilots the starship straight down into one of the columns, flying through the steam until we land at the bottom. We prepare to leave the ship and enter the harsh environment that is Geonosis.

Padme stands and smoothes out her outfit. Why she chose to wear white on a desert planet is beyond me. There are so many other colours she could've worn from her extravagant wardrobe, yet she selected the one that would show the most dirt.

"Look, whatever happens out there, follow my lead. I'm not interested in getting into a war here. As a member of the Senate, maybe I can find a diplomatic solution to this mess." Padme requests before we exit the ship.

"And if that fails, you can rely on us to negotiate the Skywalker way." Anakin says and I can't help but chuckle at his joke.

"You? Negotiate? That's a good one." I continue to laugh but his face doesn't change. "Oh, you were serious." I say with a rather strained voice due to my embarrassment.

"Yes. I've seen the other Jedi do it." He says with a whinier tone of voice.

"So by negotiate you mean igniting your lightsaber when things don't go your way?" I throw shade at the Jedi way of doing things. We are promoted as peacekeepers, yet we are very quick to turn against this ideal when things don't suit our best interests.

"Precisely." He smirks. It's nice to see some of his usual traits resurfacing after such a traumatic experience on Tatooine.

Padme stands before us looking incredibly unamused. At times, she was like a disappointed mother trying to deal with her reckless children.

"Can you just agree to go with what I say?" She pleads.

"Don't worry. I've given up trying to argue with you." Anakin says. I can't determine whether he's being sarcastic or not. I'm given my answer when he winks at me playfully.

"Let's just get going." Padme says, proceeding to walk down the ramp of the starship.

Anakin and I share an exasperated look before beginning to follow Padme down the ramp.

"Master Ani!" A polished voice calls behind us. It can only come from one source...

"Yes Threepio?" Anakin asks the droid.

"Are you in need of our assistance?" He asks.

"We'll be fine. Stay with the ship." Anakin says slightly rudely.

"Thank you, Threepio." I expand on what Anakin had previously said "Listen out for a distress signal from us. If you hear anything, follow the signal to our location."

Artoo beeps at me which prompts a slight argument between the two droids. They are like an old married couple.

We take their distracted bickering as an opportunity to leave the ship and introduce ourselves to Geonosis. We walk across a pathway of sorts to a door. Anakin opens it with ease and we are greeted by a dark, strangely empty place.

I can't explain it, but the place has a dark feeling about it. Things seemed to be going too smoothly right now. I can sense the presence of living beings all around us yet I can't see any. The feeling became stronger with each step we took.

"I don't like this." I say to myself more than to the others.

"Neither do I. Stay sharp." Anakin says. I rest my hand on the lightsaber hilt attached to my belt.

We continue to walk further and further into the eerie corridor. It may be my imagination, but I think the pillars are moving.

"Wait." Anakin says softly, indicating that he feels it too.

Simultaneously, Anakin and I ignite our lightsabers and turn to attack. Before us fly horrible, winged creatures. We slice through dozens of the creatures before running alongside Padme to a far doorway.

There's an unfortunate problem awaiting us there. The walkway comes to a stop beyond the door. Just when I think things cannot get worse, the limited walkway retracts. Anakin and I manage to clutch onto the door but Padme slips and falls onto a conveyor belt below.

"Padme!" Anakin calls. He drops down onto the conveyor belt.

"Why don't things ever run smoothly?" I say to myself. I drop down and jog to Anakin's position, igniting my saber in the process.

We slice through as many of the disgusting, winged creatures as possible as we attempt to reach Padme.

"This was a great idea, (Y/N)!" Anakin sarcastically whines while fighting off the creatures.

"Not the time, Ani!" I yell back.

He chuckles. How he manages to find positivity in this is beyond me.

"Where are they coming from?" He calls as he slices the wings off of one of the creatures.

"Everywhere, in case you haven't noticed!"

There was a small break in the attacks from the creatures. Anakin and I take the opportunity to look at our surrounding environment. We were in the droid factory Obi Wan was talking about in his message. The space was enormous. I couldn't begin to imagine how many droids had been created here.

I look ahead and notice Padme dodging her way around stamping machines on the belt. She clearly isn't as helpless as the Council made her out to be.

The onslaught from the creatures picks back up with attacks coming from every possible direction. We stand back to back, desperate to fight off the never-ending army. I fear there may not be an escape this time.

In the midst of all the fighting and adrenaline, I forgot about the strength I get around Anakin. The closer we are, the stronger I am.

"On three, focus all of your force energy into a push!" I shout.

"Why?" He questions. Why must he always make things difficult?

"Just do it! One...two...three!" I shout.

We channel our shared energy and push the Geonoisian creatures far away from us. Our power was much stronger than I expected it to be.

Anakin turns to face me, shock, confusion, and awe plastering his face. The sheer power must have surprised him just as much as it did me. Distracted by the moment, Anakin doesn't notice a large piece of equipment coming toward him. It whacks him hard and he is knocked onto a lower belt.

"Anakin!" I shout as I run to the edge of the conveyor I am on.

I see his arm is caught in a moulding device of sorts and he is getting dangerously close to a cutting machine.

Anakin is in danger on the conveyor below me and Padme on the one above. I have a choice here. I can either obey my mandate and save Padme, my friend, or disobey my orders and save the boy I love.

I don't hesitate for a moment with my decision. I jump to the conveyor below me to save Anakin Skywalker.