"How is he?" Obi-wan walked into the hanger as he spoke, Ahsoka lingering right next to the door as she kept an eye on her master. She looked up from her data pad with a sigh.
"Still asleep, are you sure this is normal?" they both looked at Anakin, who was curled up in a tight ball in the nearby corner with his wings draped over him, sleeping. After they had thoroughly freaked out the Admiral and anyone else by the presence of Anakin, they started to head back to Coruscant. Due to his size, Anakin was forced to stay in the hanger, Ahsoka hanging out with him as Obi-wan went off and did his duties. It was a few hours into the trip when Anakin's started to complain about being cold, like he always did. So, they had thought nothing of it, it was just Anakin being Anakin. But when he didn't wake up in the morning, that's when they realized something might be wrong. Obi-wan stroked his beard as he spoke.
"According to my research, reptiles will go into hibernation when it's too cold," Obi-wan motioned for Ahsoka to follow him as he spoke, setting his hand onto Anakin's snout as he slept. And while he was still warm, he was noticeably colder than usual.
"I'm sure he will awake up when we warm him up a little bit, just be patient for now Ahsoka." Ahsoka pouted a little bit.
"I know, its just a little bit weird to see him sleep so much. The last time he slept this long was when he strained himself using the force so him and the boys wouldn't be crushed." Obi-wan hummed in agreement. Anakin had slept for nearly a day and a half when that happened. Even then, he had woken up just long enough for his men to thank him and eat something before going back to sleep for the rest of the night.
"Well at least he's getting rest for once, will you be staying here for the night again?"
"Yeah, I don't want him to be lonely in here." Obi-wan shook his head fondly before turning to leave.
"Alright, call me if anything happens."
Palpatine scowled as he checked the bond he had with Anakin. It was thin, and pitifully weak, nowhere near as strong as he wanted it to be. Ever since he was turned into a child, their bond kept on getting weaker and weaker, despite his best attempts to strengthen it without the Jedi noticing. It would have been easier of Anakin just agreed to talk with him, but he had been oddly busy since that meeting where he got a nosebleed, never having the time to talk.
With a frustrated growl, he attempted contacting Anakin again, already preparing himself for the wretched clone captain to apologize and give Palpatine the usual spill of Anakin being too busy to talk.
"Ah, Chancellor Palpatine, how may I help you?" he almost blinked in surprise when he saw Kenobi bowing down to him in a greeting but instead, put on the kind, grandfatherly look people seemed to fall for.
"Ah Master Kenobi, what a pleasure to see you." He got that trademark smile in return.
"Please Chancellor, the honor is all mine." He waved off Obi-wan with a smile, one that didn't reflect his true feelings.
"Please, enough with the pleasantries, may I speak to Anakin? I haven't bee able to talk to him recently and I sorely miss the pleasant conversations we used to have. "a slightly sad smile appeared on his face.
"I'm sorry chancellor, but Anakin is a little bit…preoccupied at the moment." If he wasn't trying to keep up a façade, he would have snarled out his question. He heard a hesitant 'Master?' in the background along with the shuffling of something but decided to ignore it.
"Is that so? What a shame," there was another call for Kenobi, this time, with a slightly more nervous and almost hysterical tone to the words, but they both ignored it," Do you know when he will be available?"
"I'm afraid not Chan- "the both froze as a deep animalistic growl became audible, Palpatine feeling a deep, strong sense of absolute hatred traveling over the bond he has with Anakin before the bond was torn to shreds, a single strand remaining.
That was when he realized that he nearly lost his chance at victory.
Obi-wan froze when he heard the growling right behind him, recognizing the growl as Anakin's. A sense of utter distaste, hatred along with other negative emotions traveling over their bond. Obi-wan slowly turned around and looked up at Anakin. He was standing over Obi-wan, his blue slitted eyes focused on the Jedi master. Ahsoka was right behind Anakin as he lifted his wings in a threatening manner while also protecting Ahsoka from whatever he saw as a threat. He heard a gasp come from the chancellor, but ignored it, reaching out of Anakin over their bond instead.
"Anakin?" when he got a snarl in return, Obi-wan realized with a start that Anakin's sentient mind wasn't even awake, it was the instincts he gained as a dragon that was propelling him at the moment.
Obi-wan slowly raised up his hands, dropping Anakin's commlink onto the hanger floor and bowed his head in attempt to look as harmless as possible. Anakin's eyes drifted over to the fallen commlink, his lips curling up in a snarl at the sight of it. Lifting up a massive paw, he brought it down onto the commlink, completely destroying it.
Obi-wan and Ahsoka just stared at Anakin as he calmed down, shook himself before giving Obi-wan a hesitant sniff and nudge of his snout, feelings of overprotectiveness and worry traveling over their bond. Obi-wan let Anakin check over him and got a huff of approval before he moved onto Ahsoka, doting over her like a parent would. They were both quiet, exchanging glances silently as Ahsoka got Anakin's huff of approval, who curled back into a tight ball, his eyes lingering on Obi-wan as they dilated again.
"Master?" They heard Anakin's tired and groggy voice, a yawn escaping him as he laid his head onto his paws," Is something wrong?" Obi-wan shook his head before setting his hand onto Anakin's snout.
"No, everything is fine, how do you feel?"
"Cold, its really cold."
"I'll ask them to turn up the heater." Obi-wan lingered for a little bit longer, now that Anakin was awake, he could tell that something had changed within him. His light was brighter than before, the darkness that was inside him before was smaller, much more manageable.
"You know, Chancellor Palpatine just called you." Ahsoka's words made Anakin wake up.
"He did?" Anakin's nose scrunched up in distaste at the news, "Well I hope you told him that I was busy." Obi-wan reassured him, he knew that Anakin wasn't as fond of the chancellor ever since he was turned into a child. Obi-wan thought it was just Anakin being scared of his appearance, so he was surprised when Anakin told the Jedi council that something had changed in the Chancellor and that it was for the worse.
"I don't want you talking to him Ahsoka, there's something slimy about him." Obi-wan was relieved when Anakin said that, because for years, he was uncomfortable with the way the Chancellor was interested in his student, it was almost disturbing. But despite Obi-wans attempts, discreet and obvious, Anakin didn't seem to realize it. It was a giant relief that he had realized it now.
"Yes master, now go to sleep you old man." Anakin snorted at that but started to yawn.
"I'm not that old."
"Yes, you are."
"If you get to call me old, I believe its only fair that Ahsoka gets to call you old as well." Anakin settled down again, falling back asleep.
"We will continue this later Snips." Ahsoka laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Sure, we will Master." There was a final twinge of amusement before Anakin fell back asleep. As soon as he was asleep, they exchanged glances.
"We better go and tell the council what just happened." Obi-wan nodded in agreement.
"Yes, we should."
Something was happening and they weren't sure what.
Reminder that FFN is not my main platform. If you want to get more updates on this, go to Ao3, it has the same title under Seasilver ^-^ ~02/09/2021
