There was a heavy sigh in the room, a very heavy sigh that was accompanied with a pinch between the eyebrow. Others just stared, amazement of surprise flowing through them all. They were all clustered around three figures, one of them towering over them, two of the figures were ducking their head bashfully.
"Are you telling me," Windu's voice was low and slow, disbelief and annoyance in his voice," that this is Skywalker?" Windu, Fisto, Koon were huddled around Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-wan in the hanger of the Jedi temple, the only place where Anakin could be without putting other in danger. Anakin's ear flaps perked up and Obi-wan almost groaned out loud when he felt Anakin's mischievousness. There was a loud chuckle at the back of the group, making everyone turn and look at Fisto, whose tentacles started to float up, the tips pointing straight up as a wide smile spread across his face. "That's definitely Skywalker." Anakin did a dragon's equivalent of a snicker before letting out a happy trill, amusement traveling over his bond with Ahsoka and Obi-wan before Fisto's appendages were gently set back down. Windu huffed and gave Anakin a stern look that made his ear flaps drop back down with a bashful grin.
"How did this happen exactly?" Obi-wan glanced over at Ahsoka, who ducked her head once all of the other masters followed his gaze.
"Master Skywalker and I were captured," None of them were surprised at that," they had given him a force blocker that he had a bad reaction to. "Ahsoka shivered at the mental image of her master. Of his flushed face and glazed eyes before continuing," I was trying to get out of my shackles when the battle droids returned and took him. I'm not sure what happened from there, I didn't see him again until I broke out and saw him with Master Kenobi and our clone captains in the hanger. He was already like this by then. "the masters listened attentively to Ahsoka detailing of the events that led up to her master getting changed into a dragon.
Anakin just watched them, unable to directly portray his thoughts due to their lack of a force bond. He looked down at the masters, trying his best to hold in his snickers at the sight of his warped reflection on the top of Windu's head.
He felt tiny hands grab his tail and he was barely able to push down the instinct of turning around and snapping at the perpetrator. Instead, he craned his head to turn around and look at who was playing with the tip of his tail in joy. A smile spread across his face at the sight of one of the younglings playing with his tail, the small boy holding it to his chest as if it was his best friend. Although it was just the tip of his tail, it was obvious that it was a little bit too heavy for the boy to carry, he was still fascinated by the appendage, making Anakin chuckle at the sight of him.
Then that smile disappeared when he realized that a little three-year-old had no place in a hanger of all places. With a gentle touch, Anakin carefully leaned over to the little boy, using his lips to get a hold of the back of his tunic before picking up the giggling boy and holding him over the masters. A huff of air ruffled his hair, making the child giggle and making everyone pause and look up at Anakin.
"Not sure why he's here in the hanger." He lowered the boy into Obi-wans arms," but he was messing with my tail." Although Anakin didn't realize it, all of the masters could sense his emotions, sensing the care he had for the unknown child, also the odd sense of protectiveness he felt for the child.
Windu almost smiled at the sight, but quickly moved on.
"Does anyone else know about this?"
"Not unless you count the entire 212th and 501st, we have already instructed them to keep this quiet. However, Chancellor Palpatine," Anakin hissed, his earflaps flattening against his head as hatred and distrust emanated from Anakin. Something that surprised the rest of the council members. They knew that Anakin didn't trust the Chancellor like he used to, Anakin himself had told them and the recent report from Obi-wan had reinforced the change in the Knight. But they didn't expect him to react like this.
Obi-wan sighed and looked up at Anakin before turning back to the others. "Give him a second, he will return to himself in a moment. "just as he said, Anakin calmed down after a little bit, his sentient self-coming back to the front of his mind again. The situation made Windu raise an eyebrow.
"Does this happen frequently?"
"No, only when you startle him or when you mention…him." Ahsoka tried her best to avoid mentioning the chancellor but still got a growl out of Anakin. The council members nodded in understanding, discreetly exchanging looks that made Obi-wan continue.
"Moving on, he is getting increasingly frustrated that Anakin is not speaking to him. Captain Rex is often reporting his behavior when the captain answers the call instead of Anakin. It is quiet concerning for him to be so interested in Anakin." They all hummed in agreement with his words, all of them looking up at Anakin, who kept on staring at the youngling.
"And what about you Skywalker? Do you have any idea how to return to normal?"
"Ah yes, I know how to turn back to normal but I decided to spend my days as a dragon." Obi-wan and Ahsoka didn't even comment on that.
"No, he says that he's not sure what they injected him with either, he was too delirious to remember. "
"I am almost offended that you didn't tell them what I really said Obi-wan."
"Shush Anakin, is there anything in the Archives that may help?"
"We have not found anything as of yet, however, I'm sure the padawans would appreciate some help." All of the masters got the hint before looking at Ahsoka, even the youngling and Anakin doing the same. Ahsoka noticed everyone's stares before sighing and putting her hands up.
"Okay, I got it, I'll help the others in the archives, I doubt I can find anything though."
"Ok, I know what we have to do," Ahsoka put the papers down onto the table with a sigh. Obi-wan perked up as he looked up from his data pad.
"Oh?"
"Yeah," there was a very heavy sigh, "He just needs to spend the night with the closest family member, preferably a blood relative. If not, then at least two very, very close friends." The two of them just stared at each other.
"So, if the two of us had just spent the entire night with him…?" Ahsoka sighed again.
"Yes, he would have been back to normal already." The two of them just stood there in silence, Obi-wan sighing heavily.
"I don't know why I'm surprised. This is Anakin we're talking about." He got a snort for that.
"Yep, put on your jammies Obi-wan, we get to sleepover in the hanger tonight."
"Of course, we do."
That led to Obi-wan and Ahsoka, both of which had their arms full of blankets, staring at the curled-up form of Anakin, who had already fallen asleep due to the slightly less than optimal temperatures of the hanger. Ahsoka sighed before wrapping herself up in the blanket and waddling under Anakin's wing, wedging herself between his wing and his body, where it was wonderfully warm.
Obi-wan looked at Anakin before doing the same thing as Ahsoka. He leaned his head against Anakin, being lulled to sleep by his breathing.
"I hope this works…"
"Hey, Obi-wan," a whisper made Obi-wan wake up from his position on the floor. He yawned and slowly sat up, blearily opening his eyes to look around, Ahsoka was nowhere to be seen, for some reason," What happened?" the slightly frantic voice of his student made him look to the left. A smile spreading across his face at the sight of his padawans blushing face as he wrapped one of their blankets around his bare shoulders.
"Well, I see you're back to normal, how do you feel?" Anakin shrugged his shoulders.
"I mean other than being naked, I'm fine. Also, I'm freezing." Obi-wan almost snorted at that.
"I'm not surprised."