A few hours later, I'm heading toward the infirmary. Besides me walks the woman I just had sex with, and never touched once.
"I asked Anakin not to come," she says. "We're better than him, at this."
Not something I would wear on my sleeve.
"I thought about it, Padme. I can't ask a Knight to lie to the Council."
"Good thing I can, then. Just stay there and be as Master Kenobi as possible."
.
When we enter the room, Shaali raises her blue eyes from her holopad. She's half-sitting on her bed. Two long blond braids and an infirmary gown in place of the Jedi attire make her look like a child. The attempt to straighten up makes her grimace.
"No need to pull your stitches out," I say. "I just wanted to express my appreciation for what you did. Truly remarkable."
The girl's simper boosts my self-loathing.
Padme touches her shoulder lightly. "I'm so relieved to see you're better. You saved my life, Shaali. If there's something you need..."
"It was my duty, Madam." The girl frowns and looks down at her own lap. "Actually, to be bold... I could use a word with Master Kenobi."
Padme throws me a meaningful glance. "Of course, dear. It makes perfect sense, and it's easily done. I'll be waiting outside."
When we're left alone, Shaali gives the impression she's regretting her request. "I'm afraid there's no tactful way to say this, Master Kenobi... What they told on the news is not what-"
"The footage I saw was clear enough, Shaali. Still, I appreciate your concerns and discretion. In fact, Senator Amidala came here to demand you to confirm the official version."
"And what are you here for, instead?"
A straight shooter. I like it.
The girl profits from my bafflement to ponder me. Eventually, her mouth curls in a sly smile. "Your line here was: 'to commend you on your exceptional courage and make sure you were fine, young one.'"
"I must've lost the script... what's next?"
"Master Kenobi sits on the bed and takes the Knight's hand. 'I need you to cover for my former Padawan,' he says, 'because I must take care of his troubles personally. Do this for me, Shaali.' His eyes are so persuasive that all the poor girl can do is comply."
I find myself smirking. "I don't like the way I look in this piece.
"Trust me, the one where you denounce Master Skywalker to the Council makes you look worse... you can call Senator Amidala back if we're done rehearsing."
"We're missing the part where I thank the young Knight."
"Let's keep that for the sequel." Shaali grins.
.
On our way back, Padme doesn't bother to conceal she's studying me.
"You're troubled," she concludes. "If it's about Anakin, be assured we'll find a way to bring him back on track together... Is there something else I might help you with, my friend?"
Without looking at her - I just can't anymore - I refer what she could do for Satine.
Padme nods and says she and Bail will meet the Ruling Council in the afternoon.
"If someone understands what that woman has to face every day," she adds. "It's me."
Then, she reveals they need another day in Sundari to take care of the original reason that brought them here. I don't ask further, and she doesn't tell - if I know them, it has to do with the word 'coup' and Mandalore's potential support on it. We seem to agree a Jedi better not know too much on the matter.
As for me, I'm not spending another night like last one at the Palace. In truth, getting away starts to seem quite a priority. I plan to bundle my stuff up, check whether Ahsoka is joining me and leave this place in time for lunchtime.
Of course, I bump into Anakin before I can achieve any of these.
He presses his mouth to mine and promptly pushes me into the nearest room - the library again, as it happens.
I wriggle free and wipe my lips with the back of my hand. "You must be some special kind of stupid if this is what you have in mind. You took it too far, Anakin. If it's not your conscience, then it's the Council that will bite you back."
"Lectures are a big turn-on of mine as well, but I've been missing you too much for foreplay." He starts fumbling with my belt. "Kriff, a part of me wanted you to be mad about last night, not about Kalevala.
I grab his tunic and pin him against the shelves behind his back, so roughly some holobooks fall down. This makes him smirk. I'm close to hitting him.
"Why do that?" I hiss.
"Do what? I just left the door ajar, it's you that peered in... Honestly, there would be no need to hurt you if you could only show me you care."
"More than by karking all I believe in? I could die for you, and you still wouldn't be sure."
Anakin clutches my chin but frowns like he can't remember what he was going to do with it. "I'm just as trapped as you are, Obi-Wan. You ruined sex... you ruined everything; all that isn't you tastes like sand."
The need in his voice weakens my resistance. I let his lips trail along my jaw.
"Our Bond is eating us alive," I manage to utter. "I've been more Anakin than I've been me, over last weeks. I can't remember which thoughts are mine - which needs, and emotions. Sometimes, I even wonder why I should care. Staring into each other eyes can't be all it is. Wasn't what the Force showed us explicit enough?"
"The visions that scare me are about things I can't control. We can simply choose not to fight... I'd never hurt you."
My eyebrows raise.
This tints his irises with a cruel shade of orange. Anakin strokes my crotch rudely. The hopeless whine that escapes my lips surprises us both.
"Apparently," he whispers into my ear. "I have what it takes to win this negotiation."
It's true. I can preach all day long, but can't deny what I need right now is for him to fuck me.
"Patience, Master," he answers to my unspoken wish. "Down, first...'
Before I even realise, I'm kneeling before him, docilely undoing his trousers. Anakin guides my head toward his groin and growls when I allow him inside me.
"The mighty Negotiator," he cries, holding me steady. "On his knees for me."
Though, he's yielding to me just as much - this is why punishing me is so satisfying. If I deserve it, it is by reason of the pleasure I take in this.
Whenever I start to suffocate, Anakin indulges in one last, angry thrust before letting me catch my breath. He watches me cough, my eyes wet, before starting again, and again.
When he's had enough, he pulls my hair to shove me against Satine's desk, my stomach on the tabletop. He yanks my trousers down and uses his fingers, hastily, roughly. I must bite my lip to refuse him the satisfaction of my moans.
I'm unbearably vulnerable and exploited; yet, his violent thirst grants me power. There's more to it than the lust of being apart a few days. Anakin's marking his territory, writing his name on me for everybody to see. He covers me with his body, in fact, like an animal would do; pinning me down with his weight, panting behind my ear.
It's too hurried for our Signatures to blend, so they just clash one against the other, forcefully interlocking the way our bodies are.
I can't hold my whines back anymore. This inflames him. When I'm silent for too long, he shifts his position to make me cry again.
His hands move up from my shoulders to settle around my neck. His choking is disordered, this time, uncontrolled - Anakin doesn't calibrate it in gradual bursts, he just grips hard to get deeper inside me.
When the hold is tight enough, I know this is how it will happen - he won't use the Force, but his hands. I'll shout that I loved him, and watch him burn.
The sudden flash inside his mind washes away my fantasies. A crude energy runs from his limbs to his loins, making his whole body jerk.
The late drives are strained, as Anakin desperately tries to prolong the instant I was his.
Editing: JediStormbringer - check my Ao3 for the fanart that goes with this