Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its associated characters; they all belong to their respective owners. I only own any characters or plotlines that you do not recognize.
50. Not a Half Bad Place
A gentle chill had settled over Gleann. The sky was cloudless, and moonlight spilled across the mountains and the glens, illuminating it all in cool, blue light. Rivers glittered as they flowed. Drops of water became pearlescent on bowed blades of grass. It spilled across and softened the look of quiet contemplation on Elara's face. It was a vaguely furrowed look, which pinched her eyebrows together slightly, puckered her lips into a tiny purse. But the moonlight buffed at the small, hard edges and made them gentle. It swathed her in a coolness that blended her into the backdrop of the quiet calm of the planet, almost as though she had become a part of it. For sat atop the low stone wall directly across from the door to the Pag household, Elara looked perfectly like a perfectly natural fixture. Like she was meant to sit there, and had always been meant to sit there.
Elara shuffled the blanket wrapped around her shoulders a little tighter around herself. It was thick enough to fight off the chill, but it still managed to inch its way down along her neck and beneath the neckline of her tunics. So she pulled the blanket upwards and tighter, and ducked her head to poke her nose into the warmth she was preserving. It was a beautiful night, and even the cold couldn't keep her from trying to enjoy it. The air still smelled of wet grass and damp dirt. The skies had fully cleared to reveal the star studded blanket of space. There was a quiet peace that had befallen the planet, the sort that made you stop and think. About how truly marvelous it was that such a place existed. That, even more a moment, you were allowed to bear witness to it. And from those thoughts spawned other ones. Ones more personal, more existential. Ones that danced along the edges of silent thought as eyes followed the rise and fall of mountainous peaks and valleys. It was in such a state that Elara had lost herself in. Her mind was caught in a continuous loop of thought after thought, question after question. Each one grabbed hold of her and dragged her along a twisting path, unrelenting and insistent. Though she hadn't intended to be outside for so long, she found herself unable to pull herself to her feet.
There was an airy, hissing whir––the sound of a door opening. After a moment, it sounded again––the sound of it shutting. Footsteps scuffed against the drying dirt path, got louder as they got nearer, and stopped just behind Elara.
"Can I sit?" asked Anakin.
Elara lifted her head, baring her chilled nose to the world once again, and glanced back at him. Anakin stood behind her quietly, awaiting her answer. He seemed to glow in the moonlight, as the blanked he'd bundled himself in was pale cream in color, heavily embroidered with delicate lilacs and beiges, highlighted in silvers. If anyone who knew them well could see them, they might have remarked how they appeared to have swapped color palettes. For the cloth swaddled around Elara's shoulders was a rich maroon, interrupted by curling swirls of deep, warm browns, accented with hints of gold. Where hers made her melt into the coolness of the night, it caused Anakin to stand out vividly. With a gentle smile, she worked an arm out from inside her swath of blanket and patted the spot beside her.
"Of course."
Anakin fully climbed on top of the knee-high wall, fussing with lifting his blanket around his legs like a skirt. He then sat himself down beside her, readjusted the thick fabric around himself, and settled in. Neither of them said anything. Not at first. All they did was stare out across Lárnach, which sleepily drifted through the night. Hazy curls of smoke from dying fires spiraled into the air. Very few lights glowed in the windows. The ambient sounds of daily life had taken a rest. It was just… blissfully quiet.
"Y'know… if there was any place to become falsely betrothed, this one isn't half bad," Anakin quietly remarked.
A smile split across Elara's face, full and unbidden, at her brother's comment. Her eyebrows quirked skyward and she chuckled. "Not in the least," she agreed.
"And all of that was because of a flower?"
"Mm-hm."
"And you kept it."
The smile that had risen with such ease tightened a little. She shuffled the blanket tighter again, and ran a thumb over the ornate weaving at its hem. "I did. It's a, uh… it's a beautiful flower."
Though not as beautiful as the smile that had played on Obi-Wan's face as he'd given it to her. Or the way that his eyes twinkled as he'd tucked it into her hair. She could still recall the gentle brush of his fingertips against the shell of her ear as he'd nestled it in place. The blossom was beautiful all on its own, but it would never be as beautiful as the moment it had been given to her.
All Anakin did was nod. He scratched at his cheek while his eyebrows knit together, like he was thinking hard about something in particular. There was a muffled slap as that hand fell back into his lap, cushioned by layers of fabric. From the corner of her eye, Elara saw his head twist around to take a peek at her. After a moment of noting the feel of his eyes on her, she turned to meet his gaze. It was wary, but it was intent.
"I… don't wanna bring up something… bad at the wrong moment, but… I've been sitting on it for a couple days and I just… need to to know. When I felt your pain the other night, it didn't just feel like… pain. It was more poignant than that. I-it was so bad, I feared you might've been…" Anakin trailed off, lips screwing up. A deeper furrow pinched between his eyebrows and caused his forehead to crinkle. "It felt like someone had shattered something within you. It… it felt like he broke your heart." A pause. "Did he?"
Elara's eyes fell shut as the question breached her ears. Her heart gave a wounded throb, which twisted her lips into a pained frown that would easily answer the inquiry. Within the simplicity of that question, there was a terrifying complexity. Those two words––did he?––implied that Anakin could, to some degree, have acknowledged that her attachment to Obi-Wan was greater than one of friendship. A friend could break one's heart, yes… but Elara could only imagine that was a different sort of pain. That there was a distinction between the two. And if she was aware of that, Anakin likely was, too. Now her heart seized up for an entirely different reason. There were many reasons why she'd hoped that her brother would have never become privy to this particular conflict. As the older sibling, she was meant to set an example. What sort of exemplary behavior would breaking the Code set? To make matters worse, all of this involved Obi-Wan––Anakin's best friend, former teacher, and mentor. So discussing it with him, even vaguely, was all around difficult.
"Anakin…" Elara sighed. One of her hands wormed its way out of her blanket and reached up to rub at her eyes. "It's… complicated. Very complicated…"
"I'm not a kid anymore. I can handle 'complex.' Lari." She looked over at the plead of her name, and watched Anakin shuffle around, wobbling side-to-side on his bottom to turn himself to face her. His eyebrows arched as he leaned towards her. "You can tell me anything, you know that. You don't have to… tell me all of the details, but… i-f this is serious… I want to know––I need to know." A somberness sobered his expression. Tightened his mouth and fell over his eyes like a glaze. "Obi-Wan is my friend. But you're my sister. If he's done something that's hurt you, I need to know."
A slump dragged her shoulders into a hunch. Briefly, her head dropped forward to hang low, chin tucked in on her chest. She stared down at her lap in silence, the intent burn of her brother's gaze boring into the side of her head. There was no hiding this. Not after what Anakin had felt. Not after the way that he'd found her. The path of vagueness was still the one she'd tread, but there was simply no avoiding giving this answer.
"Yes," Elara murmured. "He did." The sound of a gruff exhale met her ears, and upon looking up, she saw that Anakin's brows had pulled into a low, crinkled furrow over his eyes. A frown, sharp and displeased, twisted at his mouth. Quickly, she let go of her blanket and let it pull open at the front, and a hand shot out to grab his knee. "Please… don't be upset with him."
Incredulity widened Anakin's eyes, and he proceeded to gape at her.
"Don't be upset?" he pressed.
"He's your best friend," she reminded with a lightness to her tone that was almost pleading.
"You're my sister!" he shot back, loud enough for his voice to ripple in an echo through the night air. He shook his head, eyes flicking over her in a stricken once-over. "I felt what he did to you, saw how that affected you and I'm not supposed to be––" The word 'anger' was visibly choked back, his mouth clamping and swallowing around that forbidden word. A slow, seething inhale caused his chest to inflate and his shoulders to rise. As he let it out, his eyes fell shut. His eyelids trembled gently, like he was forcing them to stay closed. "There's no excuse that gives him the right to have done that to you."
A new, melancholic ache bloomed inside Elara's chest––it was staticky around the edges, a tell-tale sign that this was not something she was feeling. This was what Anakin was feeling. Within him burned a conflict. One where he stood between two of the most important people in his life, and instinctively felt as though he must pick one side over the other. He felt desperately confused over how to handle Obi-Wan's side of this ordeal. He was Anakin's friend, their friend––if he had been anything less, it might have been easier to handle. But he was more than that. Much more, to both of them. For as much as what Obi-Wan had done inspired a true, instinctive anger within Anakin, he didn't know how to channel or dispel it. It threatened to build and build and build until it exploded into something he couldn't control.
Such feelings had been unwittingly shared with Elara, who squeezed the knee she'd been grasping. The increase of pressure prompted Anakin's eyes to slowly open. In them was the cutting gleam of anger; but there was a conflicting softness there, too. The confusion. The melancholy. Elara let go of his knee, braced her hands on the stone beneath them, and turned herself to face her brother head-on.
"You don't have to pick and choose in this situation, Anakin."
A grimace tore across his face. "It feels like I do. A-and if I have to, the choice is obvious."
Elara shook her head, and reached out to snag both of his hands. She squeezed them tightly as her expression shifted to match the melancholy air about him.
"You don't have to choose. I don't want you to."
"But he—"
"What he said hurt me, yes. And I'm still hurting… but I can't let you throw your friendship with Obi-Wan away because he and I aren't seeing eye-to-eye. You can't cut him out of your life—because I'm not going to be," she revealed. Her voice had taken on a slight tremble, one that she tried to banish by swallowing hard.
A furrow appeared between Anakin's brows. His lips puckered into a curious pout, and he shuffled forward until their knees touched. He gave a slight shake of his head, eyes darting between both of her own.
"But he broke your heart," he pointed out so softly his voice croaked. Like he simultaneously didn't understand, but wanted to.
"He did," she confirmed. "But there's no reason for either of us to break his." Elara dropped her gaze to their conjoined hands. She started to run her thumb over the side seam of the glove that covered Anakin's mechno-hand, as thoughts tumbled into words on the tip of her tongue. "Despite it all… despite everything that's happened… I'm going to treat him with kindness." The slightest of smiles lifted her lips, but there was a sorrowful aspect to it. "I would hope it was not his intent to hurt me as he did. You assured me that my kindness and compassion are what makes me strong––and I agree. Therefore there is no reason to be cruel to him. It's not my way of doing things. And perhaps in doing so…" Elara lifted her eyes and met her brother's, a little more determined than she'd been before, "I might prove him wrong."
Despite all that had happened, all the pain that she had experienced, the tears she had shed, and the hours of silent ruminations, Elara simply couldn't bring herself to think of acting cold towards Obi-Wan. Even if she tried to harbor some kind of deep seated animosity towards him, she knew it wouldn't take. Even if feeling a passionate sadness was something innate to her, she couldn't find it in herself to truly hold it against him. Something in her found that enormously frustrating; another part of her was quite content with it. She cared for him too much. Just the thought of snubbing him at every turn caused the ache in her chest to grow worse. But Elara also felt as though she couldn't do what he wanted her to do. To alter their interactions so severely that they no longer resembled what they were before. To act as they had when they'd barely known each other. So the conclusion she'd come to was the one she had just told Anakin––she would treat Obi-Wan with kindness. There were lines that they could no longer overstep, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be kind.
And maybe––just maybe… that kindness might sway him. Not necessarily to change his mind on the whole of the matter; on that he seemed particularly steadfast. But, perhaps, they could find friendliness again.
Anakin, who'd readily met her gaze, said nothing for a long moment. All he did was search her face with small little shifts of his eyes. Elara could feel his conflicted ache wane into something a little less defensive; something more perturbed and hazy at the edges. He started to shake his head, as though he were disbelieving of something he'd found or thought.
"How are you so full of hope?" he murmured inquiringly.
Elara's shoulders lifted and fell in the smallest of shrugs. "I have to be. For you. For the 442nd… for myself." The melancholy smile returned. "For Obi-Wan. For every put-upon civilian and planet we try to save. We know what it is to be without hope. I would like to spare as many as possible from having to feel that way," she explained.
With another shake of his head, Anakin dropped his eyes to their hands. He lifted them slightly and dropped them back down. "Even with your heart in a thousand pieces, you're trying to look out for everyone else…" He glanced back up, a corner of his mouth lifted. "You amaze me."
A warm little half-chuckle bubbled from between Elara's lips. It had her mouth curving into a returning smile, and leant a lighter twinkle to her eyes. Anakin's smile grew at the sound. It was one of those smiles that reminded her of how lucky that she got to see this side of him. Not the Jedi Knight, not the Jedi General, not the petulant student, or the hot-headed young man. Just Anakin. A caring young man with a passionate heart, who'd do anything and everything for those he loved. Someone who had willingly considered permanently altering his relationship with his best friend for his sister. Someone who at least had an inkling that things between said pair were not what he'd initially believed them to be. Who, beyond all that, was not upset with them because of that; and was only upset because she had gotten hurt because of it.
It was remarkable how situations such as the one Elara found herself in threw everything into sharp relief. For while she had always been grateful to have a brother such as Anakin, she didn't think she'd ever appreciated him as much as she did in that very moment. Because if there was one person that could help her suffer through all of this––it was him. It would always be him.
OOOO
The translucent, rippling blue image of Count Dooku hovered over the holoprojector inside the Assembly's Council room. It was this image that Elara glowered at with arms crossed over her chest. Leave to him to ruin the celebrations of a calm, quiet re-election ceremony. It had all gone off without a hitch. The day before, Senator Noth had undergone his reelection before a crowd of overjoyed Gleanneans. The day was one of unadulterated joy, filled with lively music, spirited celebration, and time-honored traditions. The patrols encountered no problems. Both Elara and Anakin had encountered no trouble whilst escorting Senator Noth. Not a single threat was made, nor were there any signs of the Separatists anywhere near the Beinn System. Everything had gone perfectly according to plan.
Until, of course, they woke up the next morning to Rex gruffly announcing that Noth been contacted by Dooku.
"What did he want?" Anakin asked in a low, monotonous tone. He, too, was offering Dooku's visage a none-too-happy look; though the way his lips twisted served more of a sneer than his sister's accompanying glower.
"I am at liberty to play it for you," Noth informed. He reached out to press one of the buttons on the holoprojector's panel, and once it was activated, Dooku's image flickered to life.
"Congratulations are in order, I believe, Senator Noth," drawled his cool, imperious voice, which matched his cool, imperious look. Even in his recorded form he inspired ire deep within Elara's being. The recorded image of Dooku bowed his head in deference and placed a thin hand over his heart. "My colleagues and I are most happy to hear that you have maintained your position on the most glorious planet of Gleann. You have our congratulations and our utmost support. Should you find you ever need assistance… please. Do not hesitate to reach out." There was a slight pause, here, where Dooku righted himself back into his usual, stiff shouldered posture. A single corner of his mouth ticked upwards so briefly, it almost looked like a malfunction in the recording. "Oh––and do tell the Jedi I hope they're enjoying their stay."
With that, the recording ended, frozen on the frozen image that they had walked into.
It was a short message. And there was nothing inherently intimidating or forceful about it. But it was Dooku––and every word crawled with hidden intent, every phrase had some secondary meaning. This was an attempt to seem affable. To come off as everything that he was not in some kind of attempt to sway the re-elected senator. And the direct address to them, to 'the Jedi,' was a taunt. He knew they were there, he knew what was happening, and he wanted them to know as much. It had Elara sighing and reaching up to clasp a hand partially over her cheek and mouth. She stared at the Sith Lord's looming visage before she turned her head to glance over at Ack-Ack. The hand that had been pressed to her cheek shifted to her neck, fingers lightly tangling in her hair.
"Any signs of a Separatist fleet on the radar?" she asked.
Ack-Ack shook his head, though his lips were twisted in a troubled manner. "No, sir. Nothing but domestic vessels entering and leaving."
"Good. Tell the men monitoring the radar to keep a keen eye peeled; we don't want him sneaking up on us."
"Yes, sir. Right away, sir," he agreed. And with a sharp salute, he was off, the sounds of his boots thumping muffledly as he marched along the length of the Council Room.
Elara turned back to Senator Noth, who stood with a hand poised elegantly over his mouth. "We were already going to stay two more days, but if you would like us to stay longer, we will," she offered.
Anakin nodded his agreement and stepped forward to stand beside his sister. "We've dealt with Dooku before, we know a number of his tricks. We'd be more than happy to stay for however long is needed to ensure the safety of you and your people."
Noth's brilliant green eyes lifted from where they'd been focused on the floor. They bounced between the two Jedi, as though considering the offer. And then he did something that neither of them suspected. He shrugged. Elara blinked at the dismissive gesture, and watched as he swept his hand away from his mouth, lithe fingers gliding through the air.
"I am not worried about Count Dooku," Noth informed them. "To me, he has always been nothing but hot air and pretty words. If he so desperately wishes for my allegiance, as you have alluded he might, then he will do nothing to my planet. He will continue to make me carefully devised offers, and I shall continue to deny them."
This was said with an air of such confidence, it almost came off as blatantly, rudely dismissive. But Elara knew Noth well enough to know that when he spoke like this, he truly meant it. He wholly believed that this was something he could handle. That Dooku was something he could continue to brush off. And, quite possibly, he might be able to. If the Separatists truly wished to capture Gleann, wished to rule it by way of swaying their most beloved senator––they could not do anything to him. They could not do anything to the planet. But this theory supposed that the Separatists were patient. That whoever controlled their actions was patient. After fighting this war for damn well near a year, Elara was sure of one thing: they were anything but that. They were brash and ruthless, and their patience was as thin as a strand of hair from her head. They'd only toy with Noth and Gleann for so long before they did something; and the thought cramped up Elara's heart and stomach sharply.
"Count Dooku doesn't play by the rules you'd expect," Anakin warned. He walked over to one of the high-backed chairs around the long, narrow table, and grasped the top of the splat. A grimace had further twisted at his mouth, like he tasted something bad. Or had recalled something distasteful. "I've mentioned that we've come to blows with Dooku before; and in total transparency––he managed to outsmart us on both occasions. He may have once been a Jedi, but he doesn't operate by those rules anymore. He makes his own by twisting the laws and precedents around him for his own benefit. You may be able to hold him off for a while… but he'll use that against you."
Noth pursed his lips and drew his fingers along the length of a cheekbone, fingertips dancing along his thin, black tattoos. That hand came to a stop at his lips, where it hovered thoughtfully, and tapped gently. After a moment, he nodded.
"I understand your concerns; and the fact that you have such concerns warms my heart. It truly speaks to how dedicated you are to your cause, to the keeping of peace––for you are that, above all else. Peacekeepers, no matter what else is said. But I do not believe that Count Dooku shall do anything in the coming days. If you should wish to stay longer, please, you are welcome to. But I do not wish to suspend you from your other duties. There are others that require your assistance more than I," Noth insisted.
Elara gently cocked her head to the side and sighed. She smiled softly, but troubled, and approached the Senator. She placed a hand on his shoulder, palm brushing against ornate brocade, and lifted her eyebrows in a subtle arch.
"Our duty is, as you say, to keep the peace. If Dooku is aware of the happenings on Gleann, that means that there's someone here that is in contact with him. How else would he have known that we were here?" she posed. After a moment, in which she searched Noth's face, she sighed again. "I… do have to agree on the belief that he won't do anything soon. But I also agree with my brother––he will only play the long-game for so long. And when the Separatists attack… they do so without warning."
A grim look passed over Noth's face. There was a subtleness to it––a slight puckering of the lips, a downcast of his eyes, and a faint crease across his browline. Elara wondered if he was possibly picturing what that might look like. How the landscapes of Gleann would be ravaged by blaster fire, the streets alive with screams of terror, verdant glens overturned by the feet of walkers and the tracks of tanks. Skies hazed over with smoke. Buildings crumbling. All of the casualties. The true horrors that they had been strangers to. And if he was… her heart broke for him.
"I… shall speak with the Prime Minister. Discuss taking precautions, and see what we might be able to do to find this… potential Separatist sympathizer. I should still like to hold out hope that such a thing won't befall us." Noth moved towards the holoprojector, which left Elara's hand to slip off his shoulder. He stared up at Dooku's image before, with a scoff, he thrust a finger at the button which dismissed it. "I will not sit and cower in fear of some Sith Lord who hides behind projections. It is not him that I fear coming to claim my life."
There was a moment of pause before Elara realized that his last statement was rather peculiar. She stiltedly turned her head to catch Anakin's gaze, and found that he, too, seemed to have picked up on what she had. He cleared his throat and leaned forward over the splat of the chair.
"If I may, Senator… who or what is it that you do fear will take your life?" Anakin asked.
Noth turned away from the holoprojector. "Wyle Brostal. The man was contracted to take my life before, I'd not be surprised if he was hired to do so again."
The name gave Elara a remarkable amount of pause. Wyle Brostal had been Gaeriel's accomplice. Of the two, he hadn't appeared to be the brightest, and had been, perhaps, more empathetic. It was clear that Gaeriel, with her brash personality and rough-and-tumble attitude, had taken advantage of her partner's softness. She'd seemed to believe him to be an idiot, someone expendable. But Wyle was loyal, and given by the number of scars he had, dedicated to the job. If he and Elara had met whilst she'd still been a slave on Tatooine, he was someone she would have done her best to please. For he looked the part of the intimidating bounty hunter; and his aim would have been true, had the Force not guided her to avoid it. Noth had every right to worry about him.
The thing was––Wyle was imprisoned.
"You have no need to be worried about Wyle Brostal. He's been imprisoned on a Republic prison ship for almost six years," Elara said with a quiet assuredness.
Noth appeared surprised at this.
"You have recaptured him?"
This time it was Elara's turn to appear surprised. "Re-captured him?"
Anakin let go of the chair with one hand and pointed to the Senator. "Implying that… he was, at one time… not in captivity?"
Dead silent, Noth first looked at Anakin, and then slowly shifted his gaze to peer at Elara. His eyelids fluttered as he read the confused surprise on her face. A slow look of dread realization bled into his expression.
"You mean to tell me that no one told you? I presumed that with the hand you'd played in his capture, they would find it fit to inform you and the Jedi Council." He paused and waited to see if either Jedi's memory was jogged. When it was clear neither were, he continued, and started to slowly approach Elara. "The Republic prison ship Atonement experienced a prison riot some months ago. During which, a number of prisoners managed to escape before they got it all under control––Wyle Brostal was among them."
An instinctive pang of something––worry, perhaps––struck Elara hard. Wyle was not someone she often thought about; only when someone mentioned the mission on Gleann did he come to mind. How, for a moment, he'd been willing to cooperate. How it had appeared to her that he was someone that might be able to turn his life around, to see the error of his ways and try and rectify them. But, in the flash of a moment, he'd proved unwilling. He had gone back on his cooperation and attempted to bar their progress. The day that she and Obi-Wan had foiled their plan, Wyle had been taken away in restraints with a grimace on his face. He'd glowered and muttered all the while, shot glares back at them. Back at her. Elara recalled the low boiling hatred in his eyes, the spark of absolute detestation that flitted across his face. And as those eyes bored into her through her memory, something clicked. Like the final piece of a puzzle being pushed into place. All the breath left her lungs and left a cool wash flooding across her body.
"I am surprised, truly that you were not informed of this––"
"How long ago did this happen?" Elara asked, voice leaving her mouth in a wheezed croak.
"I was contacted about the escape a little over three months ago."
Elara's heart gave a hard, deep throb. It seemed to reverberate through her chest, rattle between her ribs. She turned a purse lipped look over at Anakin, who looked as though he were trying to piece something together. Like he knew the time frame was relevant, but he couldn't quite place why.
"We were on Florrum about two months ago," she pointed out.
Visibly, realization registered on Anakin's face. His eyes widened and his face went slack. "Oh."
"Senator Noth," Elara turned to him with a sobered expression and a somber pull to her mouth, "I don't think you need to fear Wyle's return; I now have reason to believe he's set his sights on someone else."
Green eyes narrowed at her in confused curiosity. Noth crossed his arms over his chest, the embroidered sleeves of his official robes crumpling up as his hands tucked themselves beneath his biceps. "You do? You were only informed of his escape mere moments ago," he pointed out.
"Yes, but not too long ago I discovered that a bounty had been placed on my head. Whoever placed it, I've been assured, must hold a certain amount of animosity towards me. They want me alive, but don't care how close to death I am when delivered. I've been trying to identify who might've done such a thing… and given the time frame… Wyle might just be who we're looking for," Elara explained. She proceeded to incline her head to Noth, hands swept backwards to clasp at the base of her spine. "If you would excuse me, Senator Noth, I believe I have a call to make to the Council. I'll leave you under the watchful eye of my brother."
Noth stood before her, dumbfounded. He blinked at her, then over at Anakin, and back at her. One hand untucked itself from under his arm and rose to hover over his mouth. The gesture was elegant, but it was troubled. The sort of thing one might do when dealt a shock. It then fluttered forward, flapping at the door on the other side of the room.
"Yes, of course. Do what you must. I am… terribly sorry to hear this news. Should he ever, by chance, come to look for you here, if it is him who is looking for you… we will be sure to contact you immediately," Noth already reassured.
Elara smiled at him thankfully––albeit a little tightly––, inclined her head a second time, and turned to take her exit. Anakin reached out to gently squeeze her shoulder as she passed. The smile she'd offered Noth wavered a little, twisting down a little at the corners. Her brother nodded to her encouragingly, and let his hand fall away. She continued towards the large, ornate doors that led into the rest of the Assembly, and let out a steadying breath. If it was Wyle that had done this, they'd finally be taking a step in the right direction in identifying him. And if it was him that did this, there'd be a chance to put all of it to rest. Unfortunately, they would have to find him first. And if a bounty hunter didn't want to be found, they made damn well sure no one could find them.
And Elara had a sneaking suspicion that Wyle did not wish to be found.
OOOO
"Escaped, you say? Aware of this, we were not," said Yoda, whose small form glowed over the holoproj in the palm of Elara's hand. Beside him stood the taller form of Windu, and both of them appeared genuinely taken aback. Brows were furrowed, foreheads wrinkled. Yoda's fingers drummed atop the head of his walking stick, and Windu had both arms firmly crossed over his chest.
Elara stood alone in the middle of an isolated, winding path in the hills just outside of Lárnach. The skies were overcast again, leaving a sheet of grey clouds hovering overhead. The air smelled like rain, but it had yet to fall. After she had left the Assembly, Elara had returned to the ship to do a little research on the prison break. She'd discovered that it had, indeed, happened and that Wyle had been one of the escapees. With such a confirmation rattling around in her head, she took a little walk to let the information settle in, and then made her call.
"I did a little digging in the databases and found that the Atonement, where Wyle was imprisoned, faced a staged riot whilst they were in neutral space," Elara explained. "No one 'of particular danger' was noted to have escaped, so they just let the matter be and didn't officially report it. All they did was contact those that might be directly affected, such as the Senator. I imagine they wished to avoid embarrassment. The Atonement has been a model ship of its class, and has often boasted of its inability to be overtaken."
"Mm… troubling, this is…" Yoda hummed with a shake of his head.
"And you believe that Wyle might be the one that set the bounty on you?" asked Windu.
With a little shrug, Elara offered an honest sigh. "As of this moment, I believe so, yes. I not only played a part in his arrest, I killed his partner––whom he was incredibly loyal to. Bounties have been placed for less. He escaped a month prior to our discovering the bounty; that would have given him ample time to hide, settle himself, and find someone to place it with."
Truthfully, now that Elara considered the circumstances, Wyle seemed like the only option. There were plenty of Separatists who likely detested her as they detested any other Jedi; but they were usually quite open with such things. They didn't go through back channels to deal with messy things. They just did them. Wyle was a thug. A man who had made his living in seedy underbellies, who thrived in the back channels, and preferred to operate there, in the darkness. Bounties of this sort were, very often, personal. Elara had done nothing to personally offend the Separatist Generals and Officers she'd encountered. What she had done was kill Gaeriel, something that Wyle had seemed very adamant to not let happen. Insisted that he wouldn't sell her out, wouldn't betray her––but Elara had killed her, aided with the information that he had given her. It was entirely possible that he blamed her for making him a traitor.
And when one saw one's self as entirely and totally loyal––being a traitor is the worst thing to become.
"We'll do some more digging, too, see if anyone's seen Wyle Brostal in or near neutral space," Windu said.
"If you send feelers out into the Outer Rim, it's best to be subtle. Bounty hunters of his sort can be skittish; if he discovers we're on to him, he could disappear for years," she warned.
"Will do. This is a good lead, Skywalker, thank you for informing us. We look forward to your return, and hopefully we'll have some more information for you. May the Force be with you."
Elara inclined her head to the holograms of the two Masters. "May the Force be with you."
The hologram disappeared in a wobbling flicker, and Elara let her arm fall to her side. She tapped the holoproj against her thigh a couple times, eyes turned out over the expanse of Lárnach in the glen below. It was good to have a lead. But, somehow, putting face and a name to it inspired more anxiety. Now she knew who it might be and why he might've done it. It had her analyzing what she had done to have caused this. Reminded her that Gaeriel's death had changed much in her life, and that quite possibly, it had altered more than she had realized. A heavy sigh flooded from Elara's mouth, and her eyes turned back to the path that stretched out before her. When they settled on a tree atop a small hill some twenty feet away, her gaze narrowed. For sitting under that tree was a trooper. Unmistakable in their white armor, they sat leisurely beneath it, completely unbothered by the coolness of the wind or the overcast sky. Patrols hadn't been assigned this far outside the city. There wasn't necessarily a reason why this trooper should be out so far. Curious, Elara tucked the holoproj into a pouch on her belt, and continued down the path towards the tree.
Just as she crested the top of the hill, she was greeted with a pleasant surprise––this trooper was one of hers, a man from the 442nd. It was Blinker. He sat beneath the tree, which was relatively young in comparison to others on the planet. Its trunk had started to split into three separate trunks just above the trooper's head, which created a natural alcove. In fact, Blinker had reclined his head into that little spot. One leg lay splayed out before him, and the other was tucked up to support what appeared to be a thin slab of wood. In one hand he held a narrow piece of charcoal, which he dragged and brushed across the surface of the wood, leaving behind streaks and swaths of black. His helmet sat beside him in the grass, which gently caressed the plastoid.
"Hey, Blinker," Elara greeted.
The trooper's eyes, which had been intently focused on his work, shot up to find Elara's. He grinned up at her brightly and lifted his head away from the trunk. "Afternoon, General. What brings you up this way?"
Elara shrugged and continued her approach, hand flapping back at the path she'd walked. "Had some thinking to do and a call to make, and this seemed like the best place to do so." She came to a stop beside him and gestured to the wooden slab in his lap. "How about you? Hard at work?"
"Ah, nah!" Blinker chuckled. He lifted the slab blasély to show her what appeared to be a quick sketch of the humble city-scape below. "Just doodling."
Her eyebrows rose in a slow, high arch at the word 'doodle.' It was a remarkable drawing. Even with the crumbling stick of charcoal he'd been using, Blinker had managed to get in small details, like crooked chimneys and the texture of thatched roofs. It looked almost amazingly like the city below them.
"That's a doodle?" she wheezed disbelievingly.
Blinker shrugged and looked back down at his work. "Yeah. 'S not what I usually do, but I like to practice things other than armor detailing. I'll probably just toss this when I'm done."
"No, no, no––if you're just gonna huck it off a cliff, give it to me. I like it."
"Alright." Blinker grinned up at her again. "It'll be yours. It really was just supposed to be practice, but now I've gotta make it good…"
Elara clucked her tongue, reached down, and ruffled her fingers through his half-black, half-white hair. "Oh, stop it."
Blinker snorted and batted her hand away, and then reached up to pat his hair back down. With a lingering chuckle, Elara listed sideways till her shoulder met the left-most trunk of the small tree. Simultaneously, both she and Blinker turned their eyes back to the view before them, which they admired silently for a moment.
"I like this place," Blinker admitted. There was a somber honesty in his voice, which had Elara glancing back down at him. Even standing above him, even from just seeing his profile, she could tell that this was the serious side of him. All joking had been set aside. This was the state that she'd stumbled upon him in. Quiet and thoughtful. "It's… it's real nice to see a place that's not been ravaged by war. Where the people are still… innocent, in a way. Still trusting and happy. Y'know… This––war––is what my brothers and I were bred for. What we were… created for. It's a… cruel thing to be made to live so we can die… Most of us don't expect to live to see the end of the war. But in the moments where we think about the off chance that we do… we wonder what will happen. What we'll do," Blinker said.
Elara was quiet a moment before she sat herself down beside him. She looped her arms around her knees and cast him a genuine, curious look. "What do you think you'll do?"
He chuckled, expression brightening a little. "Me? I dunno. Guess I could do something with this." He lifted the panel of wood to display his drawing. He tapped it against the plastoid alloy on his thigh a couple of times, thoughtful. "I think I'd like to settle down somewhere, though. Somewhere quiet, peaceful." His lips curled into a gentle smile as he looked at the expanse of landscape before them. "Y'know… this wouldn't be a half bad place to settle. Don'tcha think, Genny?"
Elara took a moment to admire the bright look that overcame Blinker's face. The lightness that came from the contemplation of possibility. The possibility of life, of life beyond the war, of finding happiness and peace and restfulness. It made her heart swell, made it feel as though some part of it had been repaired. It had always been her intent to ensure that her men got through the war; but this added fuel to the fire. They would see the end of this––because that was what they deserved. They deserved to know more than pain and death and sadness. They deserved something like Gleann.
She followed Blinker's gaze and smiled. "Yes," Elara agreed. "I think this would be a perfect place."
Blinker chuckled and stayed quiet for a moment. Then he rocked sideways and nudged her arm with his shoulder. "What about you? What's the mighty General Skywaker gonna do once all this is over?"
A breath sucked in between Elara's teeth, her eyebrows rose, and her shoulders moved in a shrug.
"Continue my work as a Jedi, travel the galaxy and keep the peace. Other than that… I dunno. Sleep, probably," she joked flatly. They shared a laugh, which got caught up in the wind, and whirled around them. Elara reached for Blinker's helmet, picked it up, and held it out in front of her. She smiled at the green markings he'd painted on it, at its scuffed edges and the spots she could tell had been freshly re-touched. "You're really good, y'know? With all of the painting and the drawing. You're really very good." She paused and stared at her reflection in the helmet's visor for a moment. "Y'know… the Assembly, for as beautiful as the architecture is… could do with some color, I think." She smiled over at Blinker softly. "Maybe they'd consider hiring a muralist."
Blinker craned his head around to look at her, white eyebrow arched. "Y'think?" he asked. Really asked. In response, Elara smiled and lifted her eyebrows encouragingly. He tapped the end of the charcoal stick on the corner of the wooden panel, leaving behind little black dots and fine, black dust. "Hm… might have to consider that… should start brushing up on my skills, get Acks to let me do some nose art…"
"So long as it isn't lewd," piped up the voice of the Captain in question, "go right ahead." Ack-Ack came up on the other side of the hill, the one that dropped back down towards the city. His helmet was sandwiched between his arm and his side, and his hair was a little wind rumpled. Beside Elara, Blinker suddenly sat ramrod straight, armor clacking as he started to haul himself to his feet. But Ack-Ack waved him off, hand flapping down at the ground in an invitation to sit again. "At ease. 'S not you I'm here for."
Blinker froze, halfway to his feet, and then flopped back down to the ground with an air of drama. He leaned towards Elara and pulled a face. "Looks like you're in trouble, Genny…"
With a laugh, she rose to her feet and set his helmet back down beside him. "I'm always in trouble with Acks." She gestured to the wood in his hand pointedly. "I expect to have that when you're done, Blinks."
With a cheeky two-fingered salute, he replied with, "Sir, yes, sir," and then returned to drawing.
Elara, with a soft smile, turned to Ack-Ack, who gestured for her to follow him back the way he'd come. They started back down towards Lárnach, the outskirts of which were only a stone's throw away from the foot of the hill. The sounds of music signalled the starts of afternoon festivities, which she was sure many of the men were already enjoying. They walked in silence for a while. Elara presumed that Ack-Ack would be taking point on this conversation, that there was something that he wanted to talk about. But when they were halfway down the hill and he still hadn't said anything, she offered him a side-long glance. There was a heavy furrow to his eyebrows, and a serious downturn of his lips. She watched him for a moment before clearing her throat.
"Did the men find something on the radar?" Elara posed.
"No, no––there's not been a sign of Separatist ships, let alone a fleet, in the system for weeks. We're in the clear," he informed.
Elara nodded slowly, and her eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "Good. That's… good. So why was it that you––"
Ack-Ack froze on the path and turned towards her suddenly, the soles of his shoes grinding pebbles into the dirt. He peered at her pointedly, the look on his face now identifiable––concern.
"Are you alright, Sir?" he interrupted. The words poured out of his mouth in a great rush of breath, like he'd been holding them back for quite some time. His eyes went wide, almost as though he couldn't believe he'd just said what he had.
Elara stumbled to a stop after a few more steps, tripping over her own feet at the sudden inquiry. Wide-eyed, she stared at Ack-Ack, mouth hanging open. He stared at her, steadfast, though there was an apprehension twitching at the corners of his mouth. He shifted his weight from foot-to-foot subtly, as though he had started to severely question what he had just asked. He stood perfectly at attention, if not a little overly so. Shoulders so square and back so straight he appeared to be leaning away slightly. The fighters on his right hand had curled around the bottom of his helmet, and the ones on his left into a fist. For what felt like an eternity, all they did was stare at one another. And then Elara cleared her throat and reached up to tuck hair behind her ears.
"Am I… alright?" she reiterated.
Ack-Ack nodded––a little stiltedly––and inhaled sharply. "Yes, Sir. I've noticed that you haven't quite been yourself recently, and… I'm worried, Sir. The men are, too. I don't wish to overstep in asking, I just… if there's anything that I could… do… maybe… I'd like to know if I could…"
This was the first time that Ack-Ack hadn't seemed completely assured in what he'd been saying. He was nervous, almost. Worried that he, as he said, was overstepping a boundary. Though the both of them had grown markedly close over the last year, this wasn't a side she'd ever seen of him. Elara, with a faint smile, reached out and placed her hand on Ack-Ack's arm. She gave it a little pat, palm grazing the scratched plastoid alloy.
"You aren't overstepping, Acks," she promised quietly.
"Are you, then?"
She was quiet for a moment, and her eyes dropped to the dip in his breastplate, where she could see the fabric of his undershirt. It was a question that Ack-Ack had asked her time and time again, after skirmishes and space battles, in calm moments and in the midst of combat. But this one felt different. This wasn't just an inquiry about physical well-being––this was more. He wanted to know about her emotional state, which he had clocked as being off. The fact that he'd noticed, and he'd asked caused a warmth to bloom deep within her chest. The naked concern that Ack-Ack displayed in this moment was heartwarming. Elara had never second guessed their friendship, but this––this was a beautiful confirmation of it.
With a slight shake of her head, Elara let her hand fall away from his arm.
"No. Things have been… difficult as of late," she openly admitted.
Ack-Ack, with a grim set to his lips, hummed lowly. His shoulders had relaxed a little, and his eyes started to dart between both of hers, searching. "You mean a lot to the men of the 442nd," he told her in a matter-of-fact tone. The typical assuredness he spoke with had returned to his voice, as had the confidence in his expression. What he was saying, he truly believed. "They appreciate that you treat them like people, not pawns. You care about their lives, not numbers. What numbers you do concern yourself over are those of casualties; and… and that means a lot, too. You've become more than our General. That's not something we expected when we were put under the command of a Jedi, and I know I'm speaking for most all of us when I say that we were happy to be proved wrong. You're family, now. And we'd do anything for you."
Elara had been rendered absolutely speechless. She stood before Ack-Ack feeling as though his words had rooted her to the spot; her mouth opened to say something––anything––but she couldn't. Words of thanks and appreciation had been washed away in a flood of emotion. Her nose started to sting, which in turn caused her eyes to water. Lips fluttered around soundless consonants and vowels while the warmth in her chest threatened to melt her into a puddle.
"Acks…" she squeaked out. It was all that she could manage to say; the utterance of his name was followed by a shaky exhale.
Ack-Ack steeled himself with a deep inhale and composed his face in something markedly more stern.
"I imagine that your distress, as of late, has something to do with General Kenobi," he said confidently. Elara blanched upon his voiced realization. Ack-Ack sighed a little and his countenance softened. "On Ryloth… when I came around that rock… it just seemed like he might've said or done something to upset you. And since then, neither of you have been acting the same. Again, I don't mean to stick my nose in business that isn't mine, and you don't have to tell me anything about it, but… if it's bothering you––it's bothering me."
A single tear spilled from the corner of Elara's eye. It rolled down along her cheek and towards the curve of her jaw, cutting a damp path across her skin. Ack-Ack's forwardness had struck a particular cord within her. She'd had talks like this with Anakin a number of times before––the most recent being the night before––but this one… hit her differently than those. Ack-Ack kept his emotions closely guarded, the way many soldiers did. In a war, it was hard to wear one's heart on their sleeve; it got injured easily, bled profusely, and threatened to never stop. There was no question at all that this man cared… but to hear him explicitly state it was something else. It was beautifully remarkable.
A shuddering breath pulled in through Elara's mouth and a wobbly smile stretched across her face. She laughed a little and reached up to dash at the wetness on her cheek. That hand then dropped away, and both arms hung uselessly at her sides. She stared at Ack-Ack for a long moment, steeping in a silent debate. A moment passed before Elara stepped forward, reached her arms out, and wound them around the Captain's shoulders. The plastoid of her armor clacked against his, the sound hollow and plasticky. That trembling smile appeared on her face again, but this time her eyes were scrunched shut under furrowed eyebrows.
"Thank you, Acks," she murmured.
Slowly, an arm came to wrap around her waist; a second one had curled to rest diagonally across her back. Ack-Ack's hand started to rub a steady back-and-forth path across her shoulder blade, the tips of his fingers occasionally bumping into the edge of her gorget.
"'Course, Elara," he replied.
Another laugh, delighted and watery, bubbled from Elara's mouth––for not only was the first time they'd hugged… this was the first time that she had ever heard him say her name.
"All that being said…" Ack-Ack said with a quiet levity. "If he upsets you again, the 442nd'll have no qualms with putting him in his place. Jedi or not."
Afterword: And that should conclude our time on Gleann! There was lots of down time, so I hope it didn't feel like it dragged too much, or that it was too episodic and didn't amount to much. I just… had always wanted/always knew that Elara was going to need this quiet time after all the stuff that went down with Obi-Wan. Speaking of him… get ready for the first post-fight interaction, 'cause that's what's up next!
Review Replies!
DCDGojira: Ahh, thank you! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
bukspwn737: I don't plan on doing every episode of Clone Wars, as that would take… many, many years. I have carefully selected arcs and episodes that I feel benefit the story in developing character relationships, and furthering plot. I've got a lot of stuff planned for the "Deception" arc, because when I saw that, I was like "YES, THIS." And I hadn't put a lot of consideration in including comic stuff (as I'm not that well versed in SW comics). I have, however, just ordered a copy of Last Stand on Jabiim (which is so hard to find, oh my god xD); I read a synopsis and an excerpt and I'm very much into it. If I were to use it at all, I'd have to mess with timelines, as it would have already happened… but I'd be into drawing from more stuff like comics and such! Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
monkeybaby: Ahh, I'm glad! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
MalirBly: Thank you so much! Returning to Gleann has been a much needed break, and it got me real excited for all the stuff to come. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
MsRosePetal: Ani is definitely (at least a little) wise to how Elara feels. He knows that this isn't the kind of pain that someone would experience if the person were just a friend. There's a weight to it that he senses. What he doesn't know is how Obi-Wan feels; which, for as much as Anakin's Big Confused on how Elara's fallen for Obi-Wan, he'd be… off the wall in finding out that Obi-Wan reciprocated such feelings. And it's definitely going to spur him to think about whether or not he should tell her about Padmé… which would ease his guilt immensely. We'll catch up with Obi next time, see how he's feeling about not going to Gleann in the end. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
bambam411: He knows! And it's certainly going to be a potential catalyst in his thinking about whether or not he should tell her about Padmé… which would make things so much easier for them both. By the end of next chapter––or the start of the one after––we'll be on the road to seeing Hondo again! I'm so ready. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
WaywardandWanderlust: I've really loved writing Ani and Lari together again. It's been too long since they've had quality time with one another; they both needed and deserved this. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
zikashigaku: Anakin was so not prepared for any of that conversation xD To first be under the impression that his sister and his mentor––who have very obviously had a big falling out––are engaged; and then to be faced with the full-on guilt of realizing that how he felt in that moment might very well be how she feels if she finds out about him and Padmé? Poor boy got straight up smacked across the face with emotions. And I totally agree––a biiiiig Star Wars theme is secrecy, lack of communication, and misunderstanding, and how these things lead to the absolute destruction of everything in the galaxy xD I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
Nerdette92: I love writing about Gleann so, so much. I developed the planet whilst sitting in the waiting room of a military ID office, which was small and warmly lit, on a rainy fall day––so that's always the energy I try and capture when I think or write about it. I'm glad you enjoy it so much, too! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
GreyMemories: Anakin definitely has a lot of food for thought to mull over; there's a distinct possibility Elara may find out… and when/if she does… boy is that conversation going to be a doozy xD I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Getting to write Gleann again was so much fun; it was like returning back to a favorite place, so I got a wee bit into the poeticism of all the wording xD I'm happy that Anakin's reading as well written! Trying to juggle Clone Wars Anakin's personality and Trilogy Anakin's personality is always fun––I'm always trying to see if I can strike a good balance between them. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
Isabelnecessaryonabicycle: Ahh, thank you so much! For both the compliment on the story, as well as the drawing (which I still marvel over, it's so absolutely lovely)! I've got loads more planned, and I hope that you're ready for it! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
RemiSparklez: I also wish we had seen more of the ultra protective, wholly passionate side of Anakin in canon. Because it explains so much of why he ends up doing what he does, so I'm having a lot of fun adding in moments like that to add a weeeeee bit more depth into that part of his character. 'Cause it can be easy to pass him off as a whiny young man who makes bad decisions… but he's so much more than that. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
person2309: The Obi-Wan/Elara/Anakin dynamic is definitely going to be interesting for a little while. Especially while things are still fairly tense between Obi-Wan and Elara. I am planning on writing Satine into the story! We'll actually see her for the first time in a couple of chapters, and I'm so looking forward to it! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
Guest 1: I have plans for Order 66, so we'll see what's coming for all the Jedi when that rolls around!
Guest 2: We'll have to see when we get to that era of the Clone Wars to see what happens; I've got specific plans, and there's always finagaling with plot to work around it.
PrettyRecklessLaura: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Elizabeth: I have finally caught up on sleep, which is great and has done loads to help me get back on track with writing. They definitely needed the break; and in the coming chapters, they'll be very glad that they had it. I think it was also very important for them to see a landscape untouched by war. Helps remind them what they're really all in this for. To ensure peace. I'm glad that Elara being so haunted by the memory of Obi-Wan being there with her hit you the way it did! I was hoping it would. Because Gleann, in her memory, has always been a place for her and Obi-Wan. Being back, especially while they're in the stages of renegotiating their relationship, was bound to drag up those memories. And I had… so much fun writing all of the imagery of 'ghosts' on Gleann. For as beautiful as it is… that beauty and the things that have transpired there will always haunt her. And, oh, Anakin is most certainly going to be poking fun at the fake betrothal once things calm down. All the time. At inopportune moments. Just to get her to glare at him. As I was writing that scene, I suddenly realized that Anakin would absolutely be caught off guard by this secret. At first he would be completely thrown for a loop––but then he'd realize he's keeping the same secret, except that it's real. If they ever get to have a conversation about this all, it's going to be… quite a thing. It's going to be so much xD I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again! (Also, so glad you enjoyed that skellie gif, I love it so much xD)
lolistarkiller: Elara is definitely not going to forget how guilty Anakin looked/felt; it's not the right time to really dig into it… but she won't forget it. 'Cause it's such a specific kind of guilt in a specific moment. There's no possible way she won't bring it up at some point. We might get an Ani POV next chapter; and we also might get an Obi POV, I just have to see how the whole chapter is gonna pan out. And, oh, Palps is definitely getting wise that if he wants to drag Elara into his clutches, he's going to have to change up his tactics. Writing Palps can be so gross and smarmy, but it's so, so fun. And if Obi-Wan and Elara can make it work, then Yoda is going to be very, very pleased. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
thenerdnextdoor: I hope that switching back to the office has been a half-way decent transition! It always sucks having to make such a big switch, especially after a year of getting so settled into distanced working. Soft times on Gleann are always a must; it's basically what it's there for xD So when Obi-Wan and Elara can finally get back there together… it's going to be so, so nice for them. Walks and tea in the evening… quality alone time… ugh, I can't wait. I love Acks too––he's so unused to people being so openly nice to him that the gift of the scarf just threw him for an absolute loop. What a sweetheart :') I also almost took out Ani blowing the fluff into Elara's face, but it stuck out as such a true to life sibling moment that I kept it in. I just had to bring back child-like Anakin for a bit last chapter; I was like 'how would this hit him?' And a big ol' pouty face and crossed arms came to mind, and so it came to be! He's also definitely getting there in being able to talk about him and Padmé. After this, the pressure is definitely on. They'll both feel a lot better once they can have a decent heart-to-heart. They deserve it! I'm so, so glad that you enjoyed the last chapter, and hope that you enjoyed this one as well! As always, it was wonderful talking to you! Thanks again! Hope that you're doing well!
camelotprincess1: The clones deserve the warm welcome that they got, and all the hospitality; they'll talk about it for weeks to come. Always be longing to go back, just as Elara (and Obi-Wan) have. And it really has been an age since we were on Gleann––a full on year in real life, actually! Little bro Anakin really came out to play in the last chapter; he was definitely stricken with the news of the 'betrothal,' poor dude xD Their adventure on Gleann was quiet and is now coming to a close, so I hope it wasn't too underwhelming! It was very calm. But a needed calm. And oh, GOD, if someone told blinker about the betrothal, he would've gone ballistic! All his dreams would've come true xD I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
And thank you to those that have added this to their follows/favorites; it means a lot!
Back to Coruscant next episode! And from there, we get to see Hondo again! I'm so excited for our favorite space pirate to waltz back into the picture. Especially since he's gonna be a gd flirt and Obi-Wan and Elara are still on iffy terms. It's going to be… amazing. Thank you all, so much, for sticking around! It's officially been a whole year since I started to regularly update this story, and I'm always stunned by the support that I've received from you all. Thank you again! Y'all rock!
~Mary