Night Skies

Just before Edge of Victory I: Conquest
The night air on Coruscant was cool and still. As Anakin stood on the balcony of his parents' large apartment, he felt his gaze being drawn upward, only to find that he couldn't see the stars. Coruscant tended to generate the effect, as unfair as it seemed at the moment. Part of Anakin needed to see those stars, the promises they held for him and all the Jedi.

That same part of him needed to see one star in particular; the star that the gas giant Yavin orbited. Because, several thousand light years away, his best friend was on Yavin Four, the moon on which they had spent the latter portion of their childhood together at the Jedi Academy.

Anakin pulled his jacket tighter around himself as a gentle breeze washed over him. The chill that passed through him was not entirely due to the cold night air. He had been out of touch with Tahiri for too long; he hadn't even sent her a message since the Battle of Ithor, and that had been a rather short message. If she was either mad or worried, Anakin hoped it was the former. Mad he deserved; mad he knew how to deal with. Worried… that was more complicated.

Anakin's gaze wavered from the night sky and its hidden stars and instead was drawn downward; down towards the equally hidden surface of Coruscant, and the lower buildings between the surface and the balcony on which he now stood. In his mind's eye, Anakin could see those buildings, and this one as well, torn half-apart by enemy weapons fire, ablaze with flames and smoke.

Oddly enough, a feeling tugged at Anakin's consciousness that he wouldn't have to worry about it. Whether that meant he wouldn't be on Coruscant when it happened, that the Vong would be stopped before reaching Coruscant, or, perhaps more likely, that he would be dead before it happened, he didn't know. He often felt vague impressions through the Force like this and, all too often, they were just as frustratingly unhelpful and not particularly detailed.

With a sigh, Anakin let his frustration bleed away with the help of the Force, and a sense of calm settled around him and stilled his racing heart. It didn't matter which of the reasons for his premonition were true, or even if the premonition itself was true; the Force would guide him as it saw fit, and everything would happen as it was meant to happen.

Anakin almost jumped as the lights within all the buildings around him went out simultaneously. For a moment, he wondered if the imagined attack was going to happen right now. That idea didn't last long; the New Republic was still at the peak of its defensive capabilities, which made it unlikely that such an attack would get through without warning. Power grid failure, he reasoned.

In a way, he was rather grateful for the surprise. Too often, everything went exactly to plan on the New Republic's capital world. Even the weather was controlled and regulated to a frightening degree of precision. Though, Anakin realized, with a grid failure, that goes out the window. Maybe we'll get a nice rainstorm or two while they fix it?

A smile tugged at the corners of Anakin's mouth. Yes, there was value to a surprise every now and then. If not in the surprise itself, then at least in the subtle rebellion against the status quo that it entailed.

Anakin gripped the railing of the balcony and sighed. At the moment, nothing so mundane could entirely lift his spirits. The dream had come again. Master Skywalker always said that Jedi never really dreamt, but Anakin wasn't a fully trained Jedi yet. When it had invaded his sleep the night before, he had told himself that maybe it wasn't a vision, but rather one of the occasional mundane dreams that Jedi apprentices were known to have. But such should not be recurring, and this one was.

The details were foggy in his mind, but the fierce green eyes that were as familiar to Anakin as his own name were clear as crystal. A few minutes ago, when the dream had torn him away from his slumber for the second night in a row, he had known. Tahiri was in trouble or was going to be, soon. Anakin hadn't been able to put all the pieces together yet, and the fact that he had to be at a meeting of all the Jedi who had come to Coruscant tomorrow morning wouldn't help, but what he did know was that something had to be done.

Once again Anakin's gaze fell to the now-dark planet below him. It occurred to him that maybe this was why he wouldn't be around to see Coruscant in flames. Maybe it was his destiny to save Tahiri, and he would lose his life in the process. Anakin didn't doubt for a second that he would do so if needed; he had known for a long time that he would give his life for Tahiri if need be. Nothing was more natural in his mind; Tahiri was as important to him as anyone else in the entire galaxy. She was even as important to him as his own family.

Anakin gazed upward again, and gasped upon seeing that the stars were now visible to him, as though the light that had obscured heavens had parted before him so he could gaze up at the myriad specks of light. As always, the stars seemed to call to him, and part of Anakin yearned to sit in the cockpit of his X-wing and rush up to greet them. But one particular star drew his attention on this night.

Yavin.

Anakin didn't have any trouble finding it in the night sky, despite how far it was from the core. He knew exactly where to look; his very essence was drawn to that one speck of light in the infinite darkness more than any of the others. The mere visibility of the stars, their light untarnished by the darkness sweeping across the galaxy, comforted him, washing away the sense of foreboding that was weighing down his soul.

Anakin knew that he would not find sleep again on this night. He could do no more than wait for tomorrow and hope that Master Skywalker would know what to do about whatever situation was developing on Yavin. And if he didn't… Anakin would take matters into his own hands. He would not stand by and wait while Tahiri became another victim of the darkness that even now engulfed countless star systems on the outer rim.

A vaguely warm feeling surrounded Anakin's heart. He didn't know what it meant, only that it had something to do with Tahiri. Instead of troubling himself with trying to figure out what it meant, Anakin simply let it wash over him, and felt a great deal of his strain and weariness leave him.

For the first time in a while, Anakin smiled. He was suddenly filled with complete certainty that Tahiri was awake right now on Yavin, looking up at the same stars, but with her gaze directed towards Coruscant's sun. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. He knew it as certainly as though she were right there with him.

Though he didn't find the peace to sleep again that night, for now, the stars offered Anakin Solo all the peace he needed.