WALK AWAY || a.s.

15

marwen's palms were persperating. she pawed anxiously at the fabric of her robes trying to berid of it. she, anakin, and obiwan had all moved towards a closed off comm room, the only light source coming from the blue glow of the table in front of them.

padme's figure appeared before the group, her usual stature of a nurturing and firm nature gave marwen a sense of comfort, and for the first time within the hour, she could feel herself breathe.

"obiwan," padme said. she looked to anakin and rex, pausing at marwen and giving her a knowing look. they had seen each other few and far between since marwen had joined the temple, but each greeting seemed to be more meaningful than the last. it hurt padme's heart to have an encounter under heavier circumstances. "i'm assuming general skywalker has alerted you of the state of marwen's mother." she said, her eyes falling low.

"he has." he confirmed. "padme, i feel as though now is a good time to allow freya and marwen to reunite, but with the current state of naboo and an impending battle on geonosis, i'm not sure how possible all of this will become." obiwan said in a defeated tone.

"i am fully aware of marwen's duties to the order, but because of the severity of the situation, i think she should return to naboo under the guise of guardianship, at least for the time being." padme offered. obiwan shook his head.

"as much as i want that to be a possibility, i don't know how it could be. marwen is not going alone, not with terrorist attacks hitting the capital at any given moment. she's not in a stable enough place in her training to be put in that environment alone." he told her. obiwan rubbed his temples for a moment. marwen met padme's eyes for a fleeting second. it was still long enough for the girl to feel fear. fear. it was something that marwen often repressed. master windu would spend hours chastising her about the amount of control it had over her, and so in a poor attempt at regaining her own control, she had simply shoved it down. all emotions. but from one look at padme, it was as if she had been given permission to finally release what it is that she had been clutching so tightly to. but even still, marwen didn't let the tears to progress more than a prick at her eyes.

"master, senator amidala is going to be on naboo with marwen." anakin said aside. marwen shook away the thoughts that seemed to slush behind her skull. she turned to the two masters. "bring ahsoka to geonosis. i'll go with marwen to watch over her and padme."

"a commander is not the same as a general, anakin." obiwan seemed hesitant, and nervous. anakin's ideas always seemed to go wildly wrong in one way or another. the younger jedi almost laughed.

"you and i both know that she's still just as capable." he gave obiwan a prodding look that lasted for a few moments before the man finally sighed.

"i'll send a request for guardianship to the council with direct instruction for the company of marwen and anakin." padme told them before obiwan could interject with any sort of questioning. she turned to marwen. "everyone is going to be okay, marwen. i promise you." and then her figure vanished.

marwen felt the twist in her throat tighten as the room returned to darkness.

"i have a bad feeling about this, anakin." obiwan warned. anakin gave him a slap on his back.

"when do you not?" the group walked towards the exit, marwen a little farther behind than she would have normally been. anakin turned back to the girl standing a few feet from the light and wanted to say something. ask something. but what? he had been at a loss for words as to what to say--- what to offer. he had nothing. he had been through the process of losing his own mother. he knew the pain, the sorrow, the hurt, the burning rage. and yet there was nothing that he knew to say to a girl who was a few coughs away from the same possible fate.

instead of saying anything, he closed his jaw, and sent her a soft nod, reaching out across the force to surround the girl with at least an inkling of confort. she seemed to receive it, as she looked up at him with a small expression of surprise. marwen nodded in response, and exited the room.

the two stood next to each other as marwen caught up to him. obiwan had continued his pace forward, but for a small moment, just for a second of the universe's time, there was a sense of solidarity, and understanding between two people that had yet to be spoken of. marwen had known not of anakin's past, but a part of her felt as though he truly was in understanding of the situation. he was in understanding of her.