Abandon
He sat there in the pure colorless private room listening to the hums and beeps of the machines that scattered the other side of the room. His eyes focused on the nothingness ahead of him, but his mind on the broken young man that lay at his side.
"May the Force be with you," he had told him. He had looked into those brilliant blue eyes with the same grin, the same concern… he knew that his student would make it. He always did. Until he almost hadn't.
May the Force be with you.
The words echoed in his mind like a broken recording. It was a phrase that had been used for centuries by the Jedi, a sort of 'good luck' and bittersweet goodbye. A wish for peace, prosperity, success. He had told his masters, his student, and his student's student the phrase time after time, departure after departure, without a second thought. The phrase was natural to them… almost like an 'I love you'.
It terrified the Jedi Master to think that there would be a day where the Force wouldn't be with Anakin. There would come a time where his best friend, his brother, would be lost to the almighty Force. There would be a mission, a campaign, something that would take him away from his master forever.
He would tell him "May the Force be with you," like always, a wish of good luck and safety, and it would fail.
It had nearly failed.
Obi-Wan sighed and brought his chair closer to the sleeping young man, trying to take his eyes away from the various wires and tubes, constraining his focus away from the smell of Bacta. He ran his calloused hands through the younger man's sleep tousled bronze curls.
The Force would abandon them.
Soon.
Daddy
Anakin felt truly at home once he stepped down onto the twinkling periwinkle veranda, the golden lights leading their way up the walkway. Obi-Wan followed behind him, marveling at the new decorations.
Both Jedi could hear the giggling and screeching from inside the apartment as the twins ran out onto the veranda, Leia chasing Luke with a victorious grin on her face.
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Luke chanted, running straight into Anakin, clinging to his leg.
Anakin froze. The air suddenly turned cold, his head began to spin. His heart raced in his chest and he felt the need to sit down, he was going to pass out. Years of secrecy, years of confidentiality shattered in a simple greeting.
"Ani?" Leia asked, tugging on his hand, both twins looked up at Anakin, worried. Luke was waiting for his usual greeting, a spin and a kiss as he carried both twins back in towards their mother.
He could feel Obi-Wan's shock waning off slowly in the Force. He felt the man bend down behind him and pick up the young princess. He let her squirm around in his arms to get comfortable. "Come on, Anakin. You can't keep a princess waiting." He said coldly, bringing Leia inside.
Anakin picked up Luke silently, not bothering to spin him around or kiss him like usual. He followed his Master inside and they waited patiently in the living room while Padme finished perfecting her hair in her bedroom.
Leia gave Anakin a doll and Obi-Wan her beloved stuffed bantha bear. "Play," She instructed and Obi-Wan made the bantha bear walk the area of the couch between him and Anakin, then onto Anakin's lap.
Luke ran in with a toy starfighter, painted purple, obviously a gift from Ahsoka. He flew his small ship, complete with noises, over their play scene and crashed it into the bantha bear, then into the doll Anakin held.
"No!" Leia yelled at her brother, "They were gonna get married!" She yelled, she tore after her brother chasing him around the small table.
Anakin couldn't help but laugh, Obi-Wan froze, mystified by Anakin's break in silence, but laughed as well.
How had he not noticed it sooner?
Peace
She could remember sitting in the Mediation Garden of the Jedi Temple with Barriss all of those years ago. They were cross-legged in the grass, Bariss tried her best to meditate while Ahsoka pulled out single blades of grass, tying them into a string.
Barriss had said something about how Anakin didn't seem like the type of Jedi that peace would sit well with. Ahsoka had agreed with her, thinking of how Anakin was much more battle oriented...
She had been wrong.
After her meeting with the Council she found her old master sitting in one of the meditation rooms surrounded by younglings. He was feigning mediation, monitoring the children around him with a slight smile.
A small Twi'lek girl furrowed her brow in focus, a little boy around Luke's age was curled up on his mat fast asleep, a Nautolan boy lay on his back staring at the ceiling.
Ahsoka cleared her throat and the Twi'lek girl's eyes opened, the Nautolan boy sat up. Anakin opened his eyes as well, looking to Ahsoka with a smirk.
"What's up, Snips?"
"Oh, I just wanted to let you know how my meeting with the Council went, but I can see that you're a little busy." She leaned against the doorframe with a smile, never in her wildest dreams during the Clone Wars would she be able to imagine the scene before her.
Anakin sighed, "Did they assign you a padawan yet?" He looked to the children around him, feeling their excitement building in the Force.
Ahsoka laughed, "They said that I can choose my own padawan."
"Who are you considering?" Anakin asked, not moving from his meditation cushion. He watched the young boy to his left sleep through their conversation, his mess of blonde hair reminded him of Luke's.
"Padme's kids." Ahsoka smirked, she looked down at her boots.
"Luke and Leia are too young, and I don't think Padme wants them to be Jedi."
"But if I convince her, then they can join the younglings and I'll be more than willing to wait for them to become of age." She looked up at him. "I promised Leia that I'd teach her."
Anakin sighed, "Ahsoka, you were pushing to get a padawan and now you're talking about waiting nearly ten years." He closed his eyes and prayed to the Force that Ahsoka would have the common sense to bring this up to Padme in private, not in front of the little ears. The last thing they needed was for Luke and Leia to fight on who's going to become Ahsoka's apprentice. He could sense her staring at him so he patted the cushion beside him.
She sat down and joined him, closing her eyes to 'meditate' hoping that sooner or later she'd be able to do the same with her own padawan.
Free
Ahsoka stood before her with a folded bundle of golden fabric, a deep maroon emblem on the face, the emblem of the Jedi Council. She placed the bundle in the senator's arms. "He would want you to have it." She said softly, tears falling down her face onto her dark Jedi robes.
Padme couldn't even nod in acceptance, she couldn't smile. She stared ahead at the dark wooden casket as the platform lowered and the vault closed emitting a bright beam of light. She felt herself shake and felt a sob escape from her lips. She knelt to the floor, hugging his flag, a marker of his service. She sobbed openly, her chest heaving with shaking inhales and exhales.
Obi-Wan's hand found her shoulder. He squeezed her slightly and knelt down next to her, tears falling down his own face as he wrapped his arms around her. He held her in his arms, her pain through the Force made him all the more vulnerable.
The Jedi had cleared the room early before, leaving the three of them to close the vault. Obi-Wan had requested to be the one to seal it. He had been Anakin's entrance into the Council, and his eternal departure.
Padme found the strength inside of her to quiet her own sobs, "He's finally free," She whispered to Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan held her tighter. He understood.
Anakin was free. He was no longer a slave—not to the Hutts, or Watto, or to the Republic. He hadn't brought an end to slavery around the galaxy, but he had ended his own slavery. Anakin was free.
Rebellion
"Where's your father?" Padme commanded, turning to her daughter.
Leia shrugged, "The hangar, like always? He's probably bickering with Ben again." She rolled her eyes, as long as her father wasn't around to scold her and Han, she didn't care where he was. She turned to a commander and gave him a quick order as her mother walked towards the hangar.
She could hear Luke's laughter and the trill of their Wookiee friend. She kept her distance from her son and called out to him, "Luke!"
He turned his head, almost dropping his helmet out of surprise. "Yeah, mom?" He started to climb down from his X-Wing, but she shook her head, stopping him.
"Where's your father?"
Luke stood, the machine underneath him wobbled slightly unsteady as Luke searched for his father. He pointed towards the hangar door, "He's with Ben."
Padme nodded sharply and went off in the direction that Luke had pointed her in. She stumbled behind Han's junky Corellian ship and found herself in the middle of a card game between Anakin and Ben.
"You're cheating," Anakin stated, brushing his long auburn hair out of his face.
Ben laughed, flipping over another card. "How can one cheat at a game of chance?" He stroked his beard before looking up at Padme with a kind smile. "Care to join us, senator?"
"That's General to you, Kenobi." She sat down the crate next to Anakin and gave him a quick kiss as he flipped over a card. "Ahsoka wants to talk to you. They've made it to Mustafar, but whatever Sidious had there is gone."
Anakin sighed. "Okay." He got up, helping her up to her feet as well. "We'll continue this later, old man." He said to Ben before following his wife. "Leia!"
His daughter froze from beside the clunky Corellian ship.
"You better not be meeting up with that awful smuggler."
Thorns
Barriss's favorite place in the Jedi Temple was the Meditation Garden. She would sit in the far meadow in a patch of lightly trimmed grass surrounded by intense foliage, her legs folded under her dark skirt, her eyes closed lightly, the heavy humid air more of a comfort than an annoyance. The air was thick, but so clear and aromatic that it only helped her meditate; it slowed her breathing, slowed her thoughts, slowed the world around her.
Ahsoka knew of her favorite spot and much to Barriss's chagrin the Togruta would bounce into her sanctuary destroying her sacred stillness. She would sit across from Barriss, observing her, picking at the grass below, looking at the surrounding flora. Barriss could feel every blade of grass or small flower that Ahsoka picked as though she was picking it off of her skin rather than out of the soft soil.
She hid her distaste for Ahsoka's flower picking in silence, biting her tongue every time another stem was plucked. Barriss hid her discomfort well and gave a show of faulty thanks when Ahsoka presented her with a chain of blooming pink flowers tied into a halo. She placed it on her head to make the girl smile, but once her master had called her away, she took the flowers down off her head and stared at them. Their life was precious too.
She placed the flowers down on the ground in front of her, meditating on them. She wished she could protect them from her young friend. She understood Ahsoka's sentiment and she enjoyed the company from time to time, but… these flowers.
Ahsoka joined her moments later, still as disruptive as ever. She took her place in front of Barriss and began to pick at the flowers again, but stopped after the first two she had picked. She released a small "Oh!" and Barriss could feel her pain through the Force.
"Are you okay, Ahsoka?"
Ahsoka nodded furiously although Barriss still had her eyes closed. "Yes, I just pricked myself on some thorns."
Blessing
"Our baby is a blessing,"
She laid there, her hair spread out underneath her head, her eyes tearing as the droid told her to relax. The pain rippled through her again and she screamed out, her face reddening with fear and hurt. She was all alone, she was always alone. She stared at the medical droid to her side, it rambled off something in its own warbled language in a calming tone. She wanted to hurl it.
The doors behind her slid open and she tried to contain herself in front of the Jedi Master that had carried her inside. She had heard the story of Qui-Gon delivering a baby in front of a little padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, but she knew that he wasn't prepared for her.
"Padme,"
It was a different voice, a younger and softer voice. He dashed over to her side, kneeling on the floor and pressing his gloved hands against hers. "Padme, I'm here." He whispered, "I'm so sorry,"
"Ani," She breathed, her voice shaking as more tears escaped her eyes. She felt him pull a hand away from hers and run it through her dark curls. "Ani."
"Padme, I came as soon as I could." She could hear the tears in his voice. He held her hand with his gloved flesh hand. It shook with anxiety and fear.
The medical droid warbled at her again and a droid in front of her instructed her to push.
She did so, screaming so loud Anakin was sure the hearing that he hadn't lost in battle was sure to be lost here and now. She gripped his hand so tightly that he squeezed her back.
"Our baby is a blessing,"
Padme screamed again, followed by another scream. One much more… different.
"It's a boy." The droid said softly.
She seemed to crumple slightly, her breathing ragged. She sobbed, gripping his hand much looser now until the medical droid instructed her to push again. Unquestioningly, she did.
"And a girl." The droid said again.
Padme face turned to Anakin, exhaustion clouding her features. She could see through the tears how her husband looked at her—tears falling down his face, a complete mess with the most beautiful smile on his face as he accepted his daughter from the droid, then his son.
"They're so little," He whispered to himself, attempting to sniffle away tears that continued to trail down his face. "We decided on Leia for a girl, right?" He cried, laughing a little.
Padme nodded, staring at the most beautiful sight. "Luke," she said ever so softly, a smile spreading across her own face.
Our babies are a blessing.
Fight
When Obi-Wan's eyes open, he finds a mess of dark curls in front of him and a tearful face. She presses him down back onto the ground when he tries to rise and her tears drip onto his face. She shushes him, looking over to the other side of the room as sparks sizzle from the broken monitor above them and the lights flicker. "He's out."
It takes him a few moments to realize what she means by 'he' and 'out'. She means that Anakin is still unconscious. It takes him a few more moments to realize that Anakin is unconscious because of him and that he was unconscious because of Anakin. He slowly sits up and surveys the area.
They're surrounded by the corpses of Separatist leaders, the ones that Kenobi can recognize at least. He can see beyond the broken table that lays in the middle of the floor at the crumpled black form that he supposes his Anakin.
Padme's breathing hitches when Obi-Wan gets to his feet and takes two shaking steps towards Anakin before he's steady and then kneels next to her husband. She sits on the floor, watching as the older Jedi rolls the younger on his back.
Something in the air clicks and in less than a second a hand is around Obi-Wan's throat. Before Padme can scream the hand is back down and Obi-Wan has pinned Anakin to the durasteel floor.
She can sense the fight that was once physical is now between them mentally, in the Force. She has little concept of what the Force really is, but she believes that she can feel it in the air. It feels sickening, like the heavy humidity and electricity in the air before a lethal storm; it feels like the static electricity between two clinging fabrics being pulled apart.
The two pull away, Obi-Wan staggering to his feet as Anakin's chest rages with ragged breathing. Her husband throws himself onto his hands and knees and pounds on the floor, his breathing still rampaging.
When Anakin and Obi-Wan have regained enough to speak, they don't meet each other's' eyes, or Padme's but both say the same word.
"Palpatine."
Teal
"Master, what's your favorite color?" Ahsoka asked, stroking another coat of purple paint on her starfighter.
Obi-Wan shifted his stance as he thought and fought against the instinct to stroke his beard like he did when deep in thought for fear of adding purple to his auburn color.
He had never really thought about colors before. He had never really considered having a favorite one, they were really just colors. He pondered over the colors that held significance to his life.
Red, the color of diplomatic immunity, the color of the Jedi, the color of the blood that so frequently stained his hands. Purple, a color symbolizing monarchy, a color that reminded him of Padme and Satine's lavish outfits, the color of fresh bruising.
Blue. He could see the calming waters of the Meditation Garden, clear skies, Anakin's lightsaber, the color of Anakin's eyes, Ahsoka's eyes, his master's eyes… Satine's eyes. A color that brought relaxation and peace. Blue had surrounded him all his life in subtle places, a constant among chaos.
He couldn't help but also enjoy green. The color of life and harmony. His favorite places were green—covered in vast flora, peaceful and joyful. It was the color of his lightsaber—a symbol of defense, protection, and security.
Ahsoka looked up from her stencils and paint, giving him a look that told him he was taking too long to decide. "Well, Master?"
"Teal." He answered.
Blue and green. Like him and Anakin. A harmonious mix of two distinct personalities that became one.
Nap
Padme slipped off her shoes at the door and immediately began to pull out the pins that kept her headpiece in place. She had been stupid—she had given Elle the night off thinking that her husband would have returned with the ending of one of the most recent sieges. She had ordered food from a caterer that specialized in Nabooian food that she hoped she could pass off as her own, although she knew their five blossom bread was nowhere near as good as her own.
The senator walked out into her dining area where a few crates of food were stacked neatly on the center of the table presumably by Threepio. She placed the packages in the conservator and sighed. She closed the door, not allowing herself to get into the Alderannian wine no matter how much she would've liked to.
She walked back to her den and stopped abruptly before her bedroom door. Her heart raced and she prayed to the gods that the long day she had just suffered through wasn't messing with her mind. She turned quickly and walked back to the long couch where her husband lay stretched out in a deep sleep.
She clasped a hand over her own mouth to keep herself from emitting any sort of noise of excitement that would wake him. She tiptoed in front of him, kneeling down so that she could get as close to him as possible. With the utmost cautiousness she stroked his dark bronze waves out of his face, studying every nanometer of her husband's face. She stroked every new and old scar, the roughness of his face from not being able to shave.
His eyes fluttered open when she caressed the most well defined scar, the one over his eye that split his eyebrow in two. He smiled softly, his eyes still dim and calm with sleep. "Are you an angel?" he slurred in a whisper.
"Are you?" She asked even softer, pressing her lips to his.
Woo! Even more angst and even more fluff. I'm sorry I haven't updated this in forever. I've run out of prompts now. I hope this longer update makes up for my lack of updating. Please review if you're reading this—even if it's just a simple "Hi there." Or "I read this." It helps a lot because I don't know if people are actually reading this when they open the link to this story. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Please send me prompts if you want me to continue… I'm getting a little tired of scouring the internet for more good words.
