In which Anakin fails a very important Spot the Difference test.
(AKA: the chapter that mostly exists because the idea hurt my feelings when I thought about it and you all have to suffer with me)
I was actually going to wait a day or two to post this, so the new Echos chapter could have its moment. Buuuuut I'm feeling impatient. So double update for Eclipse Monday!
Thanks all for reading! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! (And by enjoy, I mean please share in my suffering. I'm in so much pain!)
-Becks
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Chapter 21
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Anakin's eyes fluttered open slowly. She took a moment just to savor her surroundings. Her head was resting in Padme's lap and her husband was idly running his fingers through her hair. The sun was shining brightly, but they were curled up under the dappled shade if a lush, green tree. A pleasantly cool breeze crossed her face and sent the surrounding grass swaying in gentle waves. Off in the distance she could hear the happy shrieks of children tromping around.
"Good morning, love. Did you have a nice nap?"
Anakin smiled and pressed a kiss to her husband's hand before sitting up and stretching languidly. "It was wonderful." She looked around the immediate area and didn't see either of the twins, but she could hear them. "Where are the kids?"
"Rolling out the welcome wagon," Padme chuckled and pulled himself to his feet before turning and offering Anakin a hand.
She levered herself off the ground and dusted herself off. "Someone's here already?"
Padme laughed again and wrapped her up in a hug. "Ani, you just took a two hour nap."
Anakin groaned and pressed her forehead against Padme's shoulder. "You were supposed to wake me up."
"You deserved the nap, love." He pressed a kiss to her lips, which she gladly reciprocated.
"Oh gross, they're at it again. Shield your eyes children!"
Anakin broke away reluctantly and turned towards the familiar voice. Ahsoka had Luke riding piggyback while Leia pulled eagerly on her hand. She had managed to cover both children's eyes when they came within eyesight of Anakin and Padme.
The twins giggled and played along, making exaggerated retching noises when Anakin unashamedly gave Padme another smooch.
Ahsoka slid Luke off her back and hurried to hug Anakin once she was done making a spectacle of herself. "When did this happen?" She gasped excitedly, placing her hand over Anakin's rounded belly.
"Oh about six months ago." Anakin laughed and punched Ahsoka's shoulder gently. "You'd know these things if you came to visit more than once a year, Snips."
Ahsoka shrugged, not at all apologetic. "Work keeps me busy."
"Mmhmm, and what's Work's name this time?" Padme teased, giving the togruta a hug as well.
Ahsoka gasped again in feigned offense. "Well for that, now I'm not going to tell you."
Anakin flashed her a wry smile. "That's fine. I'll just get one of the twins to pry it out of you."
Ahsoka scoffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms defensively. "That's no fair, because in all seriousness I have been working a lot recently."
"Busy time escorting humanitarian missions?" Padme asked semi-casually, but Anakin could feel his concern and a yearning to know anything he could.
Ahsoka shrugged again. "The war ended five years ago, but the Outer Rim is still recovering. Relief vessels make for easy targets for pirates." She heaved a tired sigh. "There're still a lot of loyal Separatists out there trying to rally under their scattered leaders. They don't like the Republic sticking their nose into their home worlds now any more than they did during the war."
Padme hummed in agreement, nodding. After the uproar in the Senate at the end of the war, and things had settled down he had finally put in his resignation as Senator. Since then he had taken over organizing one such humanitarian group to provide aid where they could in the war torn planets of the Outer Rim. He and Anakin primarily stayed at home base on Naboo, but they had discussed getting back into the thick of things once the kids were older. Then those plans got pushed back when Nature decided there weren't enough little Amidala-Skywalkers running around.
Anakin only half paid attention as Padme and Ahsoka continued discussing the logistics of their work. Someone was approaching and she was counting to see how long until the twins noticed.
Luke was the first. He perked up and took off running towards the approaching figure. Leia was following him a second later.
"Uncle Obi!" they both called out gleefully.
"Hello children!"
Luke took a running leap for Obi-Wan and the Jedi barely managed to catch him in time. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared to catch Leia and the three of them quickly found themselves on the ground in a tangle of limbs and a cloud of dust.
Anakin took her time ambling over to help her friend up out of the dust. It had been a while since the twins had seen Obi-Wan; he could handle a minute or two of kids climbing on him.
"Be careful, Luke," she called out as she approached. "Obi-Wan's getting old. You wouldn't want to hurt him."
"Old?!" Obi-Wan shouted back indignantly. Then with a show of greatly exaggerated effort he managed to get back onto his feet while Leia hung off his shoulders and Luke hung off one of his arms. "How's that for old?" he said smugly, swinging Luke down onto the ground.
Anakin smirked and dusted off her son. "You're getting up on forty-five. I think that officially counts as old."
Obi-Wan tutted and rolled his eyes, hoisting Leia into a more secure position on his back. "Keep talking, Anakin. One day you'll wake up and be old too."
Anakin laughed dryly. "Please, I already feel old. But I think being pregnant has something to do with it."
"How are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked, concern leaking through his casual tone.
Anakin smiled broadly. "Good, great actually. Much better than last time."
"What happened last time?" Luke asked, looking between his mother and Obi-Wan.
"Nothing, love." Anakin patted him on the head. She gently pushed him back towards Padme and Ahsoka and they walked over as a group.
"You know, Mommy was afraid you weren't going to make it," Leia said gravely, resting her chin on Obi-Wan's shoulder.
"I did not say that!" Anakin gasped.
"But you said that you didn't know if Uncle Obi was going to be allowed to come." Leia insisted. "You told Daddy."
"What I meant was I wasn't sure if the Council was going to allow you to make the trip all the way out here for longer than a few hours." Anakin explained, somewhat defensively.
"That's not what you said to Daddy," Leia grumbled.
"Leia, sometimes grown-ups say things that mean something else, and if you don't know what they're talking about, then you won't understand the meaning."
"Well, grown-ups should just say what they want to say and not say things that mean something else." The girl shot back with stubborn insistence.
"And little girls shouldn't be eavesdropping on their parents when they've been sent to bed."
Obi-Wan could no longer hold his tongue or contain his hearty laughter. "Oh, stars, she certainly is your daughter, Anakin." Obi-Wan threw his arm around her shoulder and puller her into a side hug. "I can't wait until you get a taste of what you put me through when you were a teenager."
Anakin grimaced exaggeratedly. "Don't curse me like that!"
"Hellooo!" Another call came from the distance.
Leia slid off Obi-Wan's back and ran towards the caller. "Grandma! Grandpa!" She called out, rushing to give her grandparents a hug. Luke was only a little ways behind her. This was quickly followed by joyful cries of "Aunt Sola! Ryoo! Pooja!"
These greeting were met with mixed enthusiasm from the girls. Ryoo had recently turned twelve; she didn't do hugs with her little cousins unless she had to. Pooja on the other hand, had yet to lose her excitement of not being the baby in the family even after five years – the nine year-old adored her little cousins.
They all finally wandered over to the main group and Anakin gave her in-laws hugs and took their comments with grace. ("wow, Anakin, you're so big already. Are you sure it's not twins again?") Further greetings were made within the group. Jobal quickly turned her attention to her son and Ruwee engaged Obi-Wan in conversation. Sola pulled Anakin back into conversation with Ahsoka about work and their personal lives. The children ran off to play until it was time for lunch.
Inevitably, the main conversation turned back to Anakin and the new baby.
"So have you found out what you're having yet?" Sola asked as she sipped at her wine.
"No, not yet."
"Are you going to find out?" Ahsoka asked.
"We might," Padme said with a slight shrug. "With the twins the surprise was kind of ruined for us. It really depends on how impatient we get."
"Well, I'm surprised you don't know already," Obi-Wan quipped. "Patience has never been a virtue of Anakin's.
"You'd be surprised, Master," Anakin shot back. "If you wanted to teach me patience you should have just let me spend time in the youngling crèches."
Obi-Wan had a response ready. "Oh yes, exposing impressionable younglings to you at fifteen would have been a wonderful idea. You corrupted Ahsoka easily enough; imagine if an entire clan of younglings had been under your influence."
"Hey, I only picked up half of her bad habits!" Ahsoka shot back with mock insult.
The group dissolved into a fit of laughter, only interrupted a minute later by a particularly unhappy Luke. He wordlessly crawled up into Padme's lap and settled in with quite the scowl on his face.
"What's the matter, Luke?" his father asked.
"There's too many girls," he grumbled.
More laughter from the adults. Ruwee reached over and ruffled his grandson's hair. "You know, Luke, there may come a day when too many girls will be the exact opposite of a problem."
"No there won't." Luke said it with such conviction that the adults were sent back into a fit of laughter.
"You know, Luke, we were just talking about the new baby." Ahsoka said once the laughter had died down. "Would you like a baby brother or sister?"
Luke didn't even have to think about his answer. "A brother. Or else I'm going to be outnumbered for forever." He punctuated his statement with a long-suffering sigh as he slumped dramatically across Padme's lap. Padme had nothing to offer but a sympathetic pat for his son. Luke looked up at his father and asked, "When is lunch? I'm hungry?" his anguish already forgotten.
"Soon, Luke. We'll get it set up. Go find the girls and tell them it's time to eat." Padme set his son back on his feet and he ran off.
Anakin stood up stretching and watching her son run down to the little pond where the children were splashing in the shallows. For once, things were right in the universe. However briefly it could last.
A cold shadow covered the sun and Anakin looked up at the dark storm clouds that had suddenly rolled in. She could feel the electric tension of lightning ready to disperse. A low rumble of thunder reached her ears and the wind picked up violently.
"Mommy?" She heard Luke call after her tremulously.
She turned back to her son to comfort him. He was still afraid of thunderstorms, just as the sandstorms of Tattooine had terrified her at his age. But when she looked, he was gone. They were all gone. Padme, the children, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, her in-laws. The wind whipped fiercely at the remnants of their picnic, sending chairs tumbling away and snatching the blankets off the ground.
Anakin's heart stuttered fearfully and her breath caught in her chest. "Padme? Obi-Wan? Where did you go?"
She heard snatches of voices on the wind and turned towards the storm. They seemed to come from the near-black clouds. Voices all jumbled together in a cacophony that made it impossible to identify individuals.
"I don't know you anymore!" "No… you abandoned me!" "You are lost!" "My mother was not that monster!" "I will avenge her." "There are too many, what should we do?" "Murderer!" "Show me the way." "Traitor!"
Anakin started running for the voices. Frantic, stumbling steps. There were people in the storm. People she had to help!
Intense, burning pain stabbed through her abdomen, as if a lightsaber had been plunged into her belly. Anakin cried out at the pain, her hands gripping at her suddenly flat stomach. Her legs buckled and her knees smashed into stone. Her hands flew down to brace her and fell into a puddle of cool, viscous mud.
The pain disappeared as quickly as it had come and Anakin opened her eyes. She reeled back immediately, a scream dying in her throat. The puddle she had landed in hadn't been mud, but the blood of a young twi'lek boy. Anakin scrambled back to the body, but even without probing for a life force, she knew the youngling was dead. And he wasn't the only one.
Anakin scrambled to her feet and cast about wildly. She was in the Temple and everywhere she turned she saw bodies. Younglings and Padawans, Temple Guards and clones. She could smell the scorched flesh and spilled blood; she could hear screams and blaster fire.
Anakin immediately took off running towards the noise. She nearly tripped over Tera Sinube's fallen walking stick. She tried not to look, but the image was seared into her mind. The elder Jedi, his lightsaber hanging limply in his hand, his body crumpled on the floor before a group of younglings that couldn't have been more than four years old.
She tore through the Temple, trying not to think about the carnage around her. She was gaining on the sounds of battle. She'd know who was responsible soon enough and they would pay!
She heard lightsabers clashing and as she rounded the corner, Anakin saw Shaak Ti dueling desperately with a dark cloaked figure. Blue and green blades clashed, and Anakin could quickly see Ti was no match for the assailant.
"You! Stop!" Anakin called out reaching for her saber. But it wasn't at her belt! She froze as panic washed through her.
Without missing a beat, the assailant impaled Ti with their saber and threw out a hand at Anakin. Anakin didn't prepare herself for the Force attack, she couldn't. The Force seemed distant, unreachable. It refused to respond to her. Time seemed frozen for a moment between Ti falling and Anakin getting hit by the attack. She blinked and realized that the slain togruta wasn't Shaak Ti at all, but Ahsoka!
"No!"
The assailant's attack hit Anakin like a battering ram and she was thrown through the air and sent tumbling across the floor.
Anakin sprang back to her feet as soon as she came to a stop, ready to face the assailant, but they were gone. The Temple was gone. She was in a barren, fire strewn wasteland. She could see molten lava spewing up from the ground, air whipped against her, tugging at her hair and robes, but she couldn't feel any heat. She couldn't feel anything.
Anakin tried taking a step, but her legs gave out beneath her. She tried crawling but only her right arm seemed to want to work. She looked around frantically, trying to figure out where she was. Her eyes finally fell on Obi-Wan standing on a rise above her. He had two bundles tucked into his arms – her children! Why? – and he looked down at her, cold and unforgiving.
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin reached out for him, she knew her voice carried clearly. "Master, brother, help me!"
Obi-Wan said nothing, just giving her one last contemptuous look and turned away.
"No! Don't leave me! Don't take them away!" Anakin screamed and tried crawling after him, but something stepped in her way.
It had a vaguely humanoid shape, but it was made of a writhing, inky black void. Anakin recoiled fearfully. She could almost sense the thousands, if not millions, of souls that had been consumed by the darkness.
"Come now," it said with a venomous purr. "Be not afraid."
Anakin couldn't muster a protest as the void wrapped her up gently in its arms. Even if it chilled her to the bone she found herself weeping into the folds of its cloak like a lost child.
"Please, help me." She whispered, so earnestly it almost felt like a prayer.
"I will, my child." The void promised her, pulling her in closer.
Suddenly, the void felt less like a reassuring comfort and more like a suffocating presence. Anakin couldn't breathe, couldn't move. She struggled against the grip and tried to turn away, but it was too late. No matter where she turned, she only saw darkness. Even her body was being slowly enveloped by the void. Her legs and left arm were already gone, and black tendrils were wrapping around her body, quickly making it disappear.
Anakin opened her mouth to call for help and something poured into her lungs, choking her. Whatever it was writhed in her chest, expanding and contracting slowly and rhythmically in a mockery of breathing, but her lungs received no oxygen. Her chest burned, and her vision began to darken. Anakin gave up struggling, resigned to her fate. Somehow her right hand was the last to be consumed by the void, stuck in a clenched claw, as if grabbing at something. She watched it fade.
Suddenly, air rushed back into Anakin's lungs and she was able to sit up. She found herself twisted and tangled up in her soft sheets. Still gasping for breath, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and braced her head in her shaking hands.
It was just a dream.
Only a nightmare.
It wasn't real.
There were fuzzy remnants of the Force around her subconscious. Remnants that often came with a vision. But it didn't feel like the visions she had been having. It felt different, strange, foreign, tainted. It couldn't have been a real vision.
Behind her, she heard Padme roll over. "Ani? Waza matter?" He mumbled sleepily. "Iffiz the twins, is my turn. You sleep." He was already struggling to sit up.
Anakin couldn't help but smile. "It's nothing, Padme. Just a weird dream. Go back to sleep."
Padme didn't need much more convincing than that. "Mmkay." He was asleep the second his head hit the pillow.
Once she was certain he wouldn't wake up, Anakin got out of bed. She wandered onto the balcony and took in several deep breaths of the cool night air.
She couldn't help but remember several months back, after she'd started having visions, one had come to her while she slept at home. She had woken up sick to her stomach, heart aching, her whole body shaking with fear. She had tried to hide her tears from Padme, but he saw through her facade anyway.
Padme had wrapped his arms around her on the balcony, placing one hand over their growing children. He rocked her gently, and whispered assurances in her ear until even she believed that the vision had been a nightmare. Tonight's nightmare held nothing of the sticky, dark surety her previous visions had.
Anakin shivered and turned back inside. She wasn't ready to try and sleep again, so she padded softly to the nursery. Luke and Leia were fast asleep in their cribs. Safe and sound, and yet, Anakin felt a frenzied fear growing in her chest that something was going to happen to them. It was probably nothing, just a fearful caution leftover from her dream, but she didn't want to risk it.
Anakin slowly sank onto the floor leaning against her daughter's crib. It wasn't very comfortable, and there was a chair just a few feet away, but she wanted to be as close as possible without disturbing the sleeping babies.
She took a moment to focus on her children. She could hear their breathing, so quick and seemingly shallow, but perfectly normal. She could sense their rapid, tiny heartbeats. She could feel their presence in the Force, so young and undeveloped but already as bright as stars.
Anakin found her fear abating with every breath of her children. She reached into the crib and brushed a finger along Leia's head, through the soft fuzz that was already taking a turn to Padme's dark brown. She then did the same to Luke, his hair seemed quite firmly stuck in a fine, light blond. As she settled back against the crib, she found her thoughts returning to her dream. Particularly to the parts before it turned to nightmare.
It wasn't the first time she had dreamt of spending time with Padme's family. Ever since their marriage she had gone over how they would accept her so many times. And ever since she had gotten pregnant, she had dreamed of Obi-Wan becoming an uncle to her children. He was the closest thing she had to a brother. But Ahsoka... she hadn't dreamt of her padawan since that mess with Barriss. Her last dream of her padawan had been a nightmare of her getting gunned down in a chase – one that nearly came true when Ahsoka was under suspicion and Anakin had done nothing to help her.
Anakin shifted, swallowing nervously, and pushing away her guilt. Ahsoka leaving hadn't been her fault, or her choice, but she could have been more supportive of her Padawan. Trying not to dwell on those dark memories, Anakin forced her mind to other, more trivial, matters.
It wasn't long before she found herself lulled into a semi-conscious state, just listening to the twins sleep. She didn't sleep. She couldn't. She didn't want to dream anymore. Not tonight. Her mind was still reeling from the horrific turn of her nightmare.
She roused herself when the twins needed attention, but otherwise she just kept watch until dawn.
Padme shuffled in at some point, a robe over his shoulders but left open, still rubbing sleepily at his face. "I thought I had slept for too long without waking up," he mumbled through a yawn, eyeing the disabled monitor on the nightstand. "Ani, have you been here all night?"
"Half the night," Anakin countered, getting to her feet.
Padme reached for her hands and cupped his around them. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, love, I just wanted to watch them sleep."
"And that dream you had last night, was it another vision?"
Anakin looked at her husband sharply. She honestly had thought his three second of consciousness wouldn't have left a memory, but apparently it did. She pulled him into a hug. "No, just a strange dream. I couldn't sleep afterwards."
Anakin hadn't told Padme of her continuing visions. Her initial ones had scared him so much; she didn't want him dwelling on her fears when they had so much to do to prepare for the twins. Her visions were her problem to deal with.
"You know what we should do since the twins are still sleeping?" Padme mumbled into her shoulder.
Anakin certainly knew what she'd like to do with some quiet time before Padme had to go pretend like nothing had changed, and she had to be on guard for unexpected visitors – take a shower and sit down to a real breakfast. The playful, yearning tone to her husband's voice suggested alternate activities.
"Look, I know it's been a few weeks, and I'm a fast healer, but, stars, Padme I'm still recovering."
Padme snickered and squeezed Anakin tighter. "That's not what I meant, Ani. I was just thinking about how nice it would be to sit down and enjoy a cup of caf with my wife for once." He stepped back and took his wife's hand, leading her out of the nursery. "I'm too tired for anything else."
Anakin breathed a laugh as the nursery doors closed behind them. "Are we always going to be this tired?"
"According to my sister, yes. At least until the kids are eighteen. Then we'll be old and tired."
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Anakin had to admit, she was truly happy that Obi-Wan hadn't strictly adhered to the Order's protocol when it came to banished Jedi. His semi-regular visits were a godsend. She wasn't sure how well she'd be handling true isolation, cooped up at home with no company all day except for C-3P0. Padme's senatorial duties kept him busy all day, and sometimes into the night. It wasn't unusual, but Anakin hadn't realizeded before how busy he was until she no longer had anything to keep her busy.
Of course, she wouldn't trade spending time with her children for anything in the universe. She certainly didn't want to be doing anything else at the moment. But having another adult to talk to who wasn't a sycophantic droid was truly wonderful. …Even if they couldn't talk about anything important like the war or what was going on in the senate, or what the Jedi were doing.
It was particularly nice to have an extra pair of hands around for an hour or so when he came to visit. Especially today; it was Leia's turn for tummy time, but Luke refused to be happy unless he was in physical contact with someone at all times. Obi-Wan had only half-heartedly protested when Anakin handed over her son, and she did catch her old Master making faces at the now-content baby when he thought she wasn't looking.
"Anakin, I need to talk to you about Mandalore?"
Anakin raised a curious brow from her place on the floor. "I thought you couldn't discuss war business with me anymore."
"I can't, but this is something personal."
Anakin frowned. "Personal? What happened?" She could sense that this was something Obi-Wan had wanted to bring up for several days now, but hadn't had the chance to. If it was a personal matter, it could be one of any number of things. Something to do with Satine, or Maul?
"I... ran into someone."
"Who?"
"Ahsoka."
Anakin gasped, and found her heart pounding. She was on Mandalore! Of all the battlegrounds in the galaxy, she had to pick Mandalore! A thousand questions bloomed in her mind. "Is she alright? What was she doing there? Did she get out safe?"
Obi-wan held up his hand to cease her questions. Anakin clamped her mouth shut and waited for answers.
"She was alright, considering she was still running around a warzone. She was helping lead the Mandalorians to overthrow Maul. I left some of my troopers to assist her."
Anakin nodded, swallowing her fears. Of course, Ahsoka would have been right in the thick of things. But she knew her Padawan. Ahsoka was well trained and she knew what she was doing. If part if the 212th was with her, she'd be nearly unstoppable. Which left one last question...
"Did you tell her about... about me?"
"No."
"Why not?" Anakin wasn't sure if she was angry or saddened.
"She's not a Jedi."
"So?" Anakin snapped, settling in anger. "She was my Padawan; she had a right to know!"
"Anakin, nobody is to know yet. You know that."
"Who was she going to tell?" Anakin asked, her anger dying down quickly. "I would have trusted her with that. She should have been told."
"You'll have to tell her yourself then. The Council is still keeping this quiet for the time being."
Anakin scoffed. "Why does the Council get to keep dictating my life? I've been expelled, remember?"
"You are still part of the Jedi Order until your hearing, Anakin. But if you want the galaxy to know, there's nothing stopping you from going public."
Anakin scowled at the floor. Things as they were, she couldn't go public. That would paint enormous targets on her children and her husband. She and Padme had agreed they would go public after the war. When things were a little more settled.
"You know I can't do that," she said softly. Leia began to fuss, having grown tired of being on the floor. Anakin picked her up gently and held her close.
"I know, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied sympathetically. "When the time is right, the Force will guide Ahsoka back to you. I'm sure she would be beyond delighted to meet your children."
Anakin smiled tightly, remembering her dream. "I'm sure she'd love to become an aunt." She sighed softly. "I don't suppose she picked up a private comm line since I saw her last."
"No, she hasn't. But I told her that when she was done on Mandalore, she should come back and see you. We just need the war to end."
Anakin sighed again. "I know you can't say much, but is there anything you can report on the war that the Holonet isn't? Any sign of Grievous?"
"Unfortunately no. He continues to evade our grasp. Every time we get a bead on him, he disappears to some other hole. But the Separatists are beginning to fall apart without Dooku pulling the strings. Their tactics are becoming more and more desperate."
"I suppose that's a promising sign." A silence fell between them as the conversation trailed into "things Anakin can't know anymore" territory. Anakin slipped her finger into Leia's hand and her daughter gripped with surprising strength. She smiled and shook her daughter's fist around a little. Her daughter chuffed quite happily at this new game.
"Any news on my trial?"
"No set date yet. We just-"
"Have to wait until the war is over," Anakin completed the sentence, trying to keep the bitter edge from her voice. If her fate had already been deiced then what was the point of the Council dragging their feet? She had killed Dooku for them even though she had been unofficially expelled. Were they hoping she'd get frustrated, hunt down Grievous, and whoever this mysterious Sith Lord was that seemed to be orchestrating this entire disaster? If they wanted to continue using her to do their dirty work then they shouldn't have expelled her so quickly.
Anakin looked up from Leia's brown eyes and out into the city. Traffic continued to flow as it always had, only slightly interrupted by the repair teams rebuilding parts of the city. If she focused hard enough, she could almost sense the anxiety that threatened to cripple the city planet. An attack on Coruscant by the Separatists had been bold – and ultimately a failure on the Separatists' account – but it had rocked the Republic's faith in the army and the Jedi.
If Coruscant wasn't safe from attack, then who was? People no longer cared who won the war; they just wanted it to end. Dooku's death and Grievous' retreat had pushed the odds towards the Republic, but not enough to truly comfort the people. Life went on as best as it could for the people, but even they seemed suspended in their anxiety; afraid to step forward until they saw who was going to come out on top.
"It seems everyone is just waiting for the war to end." Anakin muttered.
It was coming soon. She could sense it.