Okay, here's the next chapter. Just a few little notes I have to establish
here.
First of all, BlackWings/Master Solo, thank you so much for your reviews. You have my undying gratitude. :--)
Second, just a reminder, I don't own Star Wars. Obviously.
Chapter Four
The quarters which Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker shared were located near the base of the northernmost spire, making for a fairly long walk for the young Padawans. One couldn't get lost in the Temple, but the three teenagers chose a roundabout route, taking them past the main entrance to the salle as well as through the greenhouse where much of the Temple's produce was grown. It took them several minutes to reach Obi-Wan's door.
Every set of chambers in the Temple had a small placard on the outside door, with the engraved name of Master and Padawan. Sammi noticed that the 'y' in 'Skywalker' was slightly lopsided, giving it the impression of a starfighter taking off-typical Anakin, she thought.
Her hand moved up to knock on the door when she suddenly stopped dead. Regan, noticing the pale-haired girl's hesitation, shot her a quizzical look. Sammi held a finger to her lips, and the twins listened closely to the noise that had distracted her.
From inside Obi-Wan's chamber, a woman's voice was laughing.
"..survive on love, then, if the galaxy can't support us," Anakin's warm, silken, and instantly recognizable voice was saying.
Sammi couldn't understand the woman's response, but heard bell-like tones of mirth in her voice. When the sweet voice grew serious, the words, questioning, became clearer. "..love is enough? When everything's against us?"
"It'll-" Anakin broke off suddenly, and Sammi heard him hiss, "I have to go."
Realizing that the older Padawan must have heard or sensed them, she banged on the door, not wanting to look as though they'd been eavesdropping-which, she reflected, they had been. The door hissed angrily as it slid open before them.
Anakin's voice when he spoke was calm, but the speed of his breathing belied a much greater tension. "Hello? Is there something you need?" There was just the right amount of sarcasm behind his words to mask any emotion that might have lain there.
Sammi, still shocked at what she had heard, opened her mouth to speak and realized that she had forgotten what to say. Regan stepped in for her. "We were wondering if Master Obi-Wan was here," she began.
"He's not." The teenaged Padawan interrupted shortly. "I'll tell him you came by - you're Regan, right? Master Sacha's Padawan?"
"Yeah," Regan breathed, and opened her mouth to speak again when Anakin broke in.
"Bye," he said, and flashed her the smile that had won the hearts of very many female Padawans over the ten years he'd spent at the Temple. It didn't warm his eyes. With a sudden twist that only Sammi could see, it warped into a sneer, and the door hissed shut, locking panel flashing red.
"That didn't go well," understated Ray.
"He knew my name," Regan murmured, sounding at once surprised, proud, and very much in love.
"And he seemed in a hurry to be rid of us," Sammi pointed out, ignoring her best friend's ecstasies. "I wonder who he was talking to?"
At that, the door shot open again, and all three teenagers were pulled inside the room and tossed onto a sofa. "What did you hear?" Anakin accused, face a mask of rage. Regan shrank back against the couch at his expression, and the only thing Sammi could hear was a mental echo of Rask, the Rodian baby's, words - "maybe he's sad."
She spoke before she could stop herself. "Are you sad?"
The defensive anger fled his face instantly, replacing itself with a look that molded utter confusion with the matched syntax of "are you crazy?"
"What are you talking about?" Anakin exclaimed, sounding almost sulky behind his surprise.
Regan stopped looking terrified and directed her gaze to Sammi.
"I - I mean, you seem so upset," the blonde girl stammered, "not about us eavesdropping, I mean - just - about everything."
Anger gone, Anakin looked utterly disarmed. "Upset? Why are you asking me this? You don't even know me." The sulky-sarcastic snap was back in his voice.
Sammi continued, entirely without thinking. " Master Obi-Wan's worried about you, you know."
"Worried? He's too busy criticizing everything I do to worry!" The golden haired Padawan complained.
"No, he is worried!" Sammi exclaimed, surprised at this pronouncement. "He cares about you so much!"
Anakin's face went blank for a moment; he closed his eyes, as if in pain. Then, almost as if Sammi had imagined the look, his eyes grew cold. "You didn't answer my question. What did you hear?"
"You were talking to a woman. I didn't understand what you said," Sammi admitted, meeting his icy-blue eyes, the color of sapphires, and just as cold.
"No, you didn't. In fact, you didn't hear anything at all when you walked by, do you understand me?"
"I'm going to tell Obi-Wan," Sammi stated. "He'll know who you were talking to."
There was a flash of panic on Anakin's face, then a brief calculating look before he spoke. "No, please, don't tell my Master. He'll make me stop speaking with her." His eyes pleaded for the Padawans' silence. "I love her. More than anything."
Sammi felt her heart give way, empathizing with the emotions Anakin was projecting, emotions whose falsity would have been blatantly obvious to anyone but a teenager in love herself. Anakin's secret would stay his own for a time yet.
The older boy led the other three Padawans to the door. Before he slid it open he begged again, "Please don't tell Obi-Wan what I was doing." Sammi nodded her agreement, and he gave a pitiful smile. "Thank you so much."
When the door slammed shut behind her, out of the spell of Anakin's eyes, Sammi began to realize that the episode had answered none of her questions, and left her with many more. As the three teenagers walked back to their rooms, Sammi turned the meeting over and over in her mind, realizing with increasing certainty that Anakin's pitiful act had indeed been nothing but an act, meant to put off her questions about the older boy's emotional state and the identity of the girl to whom he'd been professing his love. Had Anakin really read her clearly enough to know the one statement with which she would sympathize? Sammi didn't doubt it.
Nor did she doubt that Anakin was indeed in love. Nevertheless, his act had been false; there was something important he had held back. He didn't fear being forced to stop talking to the mystery girl, but some deeper worry troubled his thoughts.
It figured, Sammi reflected, that when she'd gone to look for answers, she'd ended up with only more questions.
First of all, BlackWings/Master Solo, thank you so much for your reviews. You have my undying gratitude. :--)
Second, just a reminder, I don't own Star Wars. Obviously.
Chapter Four
The quarters which Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker shared were located near the base of the northernmost spire, making for a fairly long walk for the young Padawans. One couldn't get lost in the Temple, but the three teenagers chose a roundabout route, taking them past the main entrance to the salle as well as through the greenhouse where much of the Temple's produce was grown. It took them several minutes to reach Obi-Wan's door.
Every set of chambers in the Temple had a small placard on the outside door, with the engraved name of Master and Padawan. Sammi noticed that the 'y' in 'Skywalker' was slightly lopsided, giving it the impression of a starfighter taking off-typical Anakin, she thought.
Her hand moved up to knock on the door when she suddenly stopped dead. Regan, noticing the pale-haired girl's hesitation, shot her a quizzical look. Sammi held a finger to her lips, and the twins listened closely to the noise that had distracted her.
From inside Obi-Wan's chamber, a woman's voice was laughing.
"..survive on love, then, if the galaxy can't support us," Anakin's warm, silken, and instantly recognizable voice was saying.
Sammi couldn't understand the woman's response, but heard bell-like tones of mirth in her voice. When the sweet voice grew serious, the words, questioning, became clearer. "..love is enough? When everything's against us?"
"It'll-" Anakin broke off suddenly, and Sammi heard him hiss, "I have to go."
Realizing that the older Padawan must have heard or sensed them, she banged on the door, not wanting to look as though they'd been eavesdropping-which, she reflected, they had been. The door hissed angrily as it slid open before them.
Anakin's voice when he spoke was calm, but the speed of his breathing belied a much greater tension. "Hello? Is there something you need?" There was just the right amount of sarcasm behind his words to mask any emotion that might have lain there.
Sammi, still shocked at what she had heard, opened her mouth to speak and realized that she had forgotten what to say. Regan stepped in for her. "We were wondering if Master Obi-Wan was here," she began.
"He's not." The teenaged Padawan interrupted shortly. "I'll tell him you came by - you're Regan, right? Master Sacha's Padawan?"
"Yeah," Regan breathed, and opened her mouth to speak again when Anakin broke in.
"Bye," he said, and flashed her the smile that had won the hearts of very many female Padawans over the ten years he'd spent at the Temple. It didn't warm his eyes. With a sudden twist that only Sammi could see, it warped into a sneer, and the door hissed shut, locking panel flashing red.
"That didn't go well," understated Ray.
"He knew my name," Regan murmured, sounding at once surprised, proud, and very much in love.
"And he seemed in a hurry to be rid of us," Sammi pointed out, ignoring her best friend's ecstasies. "I wonder who he was talking to?"
At that, the door shot open again, and all three teenagers were pulled inside the room and tossed onto a sofa. "What did you hear?" Anakin accused, face a mask of rage. Regan shrank back against the couch at his expression, and the only thing Sammi could hear was a mental echo of Rask, the Rodian baby's, words - "maybe he's sad."
She spoke before she could stop herself. "Are you sad?"
The defensive anger fled his face instantly, replacing itself with a look that molded utter confusion with the matched syntax of "are you crazy?"
"What are you talking about?" Anakin exclaimed, sounding almost sulky behind his surprise.
Regan stopped looking terrified and directed her gaze to Sammi.
"I - I mean, you seem so upset," the blonde girl stammered, "not about us eavesdropping, I mean - just - about everything."
Anger gone, Anakin looked utterly disarmed. "Upset? Why are you asking me this? You don't even know me." The sulky-sarcastic snap was back in his voice.
Sammi continued, entirely without thinking. " Master Obi-Wan's worried about you, you know."
"Worried? He's too busy criticizing everything I do to worry!" The golden haired Padawan complained.
"No, he is worried!" Sammi exclaimed, surprised at this pronouncement. "He cares about you so much!"
Anakin's face went blank for a moment; he closed his eyes, as if in pain. Then, almost as if Sammi had imagined the look, his eyes grew cold. "You didn't answer my question. What did you hear?"
"You were talking to a woman. I didn't understand what you said," Sammi admitted, meeting his icy-blue eyes, the color of sapphires, and just as cold.
"No, you didn't. In fact, you didn't hear anything at all when you walked by, do you understand me?"
"I'm going to tell Obi-Wan," Sammi stated. "He'll know who you were talking to."
There was a flash of panic on Anakin's face, then a brief calculating look before he spoke. "No, please, don't tell my Master. He'll make me stop speaking with her." His eyes pleaded for the Padawans' silence. "I love her. More than anything."
Sammi felt her heart give way, empathizing with the emotions Anakin was projecting, emotions whose falsity would have been blatantly obvious to anyone but a teenager in love herself. Anakin's secret would stay his own for a time yet.
The older boy led the other three Padawans to the door. Before he slid it open he begged again, "Please don't tell Obi-Wan what I was doing." Sammi nodded her agreement, and he gave a pitiful smile. "Thank you so much."
When the door slammed shut behind her, out of the spell of Anakin's eyes, Sammi began to realize that the episode had answered none of her questions, and left her with many more. As the three teenagers walked back to their rooms, Sammi turned the meeting over and over in her mind, realizing with increasing certainty that Anakin's pitiful act had indeed been nothing but an act, meant to put off her questions about the older boy's emotional state and the identity of the girl to whom he'd been professing his love. Had Anakin really read her clearly enough to know the one statement with which she would sympathize? Sammi didn't doubt it.
Nor did she doubt that Anakin was indeed in love. Nevertheless, his act had been false; there was something important he had held back. He didn't fear being forced to stop talking to the mystery girl, but some deeper worry troubled his thoughts.
It figured, Sammi reflected, that when she'd gone to look for answers, she'd ended up with only more questions.