Chapter 9 – Bonding
Author's Note: In which Ahsoka is a good big sister, and Anakin and Padme make plans. :)
~ Amina Gila
Ahsoka is a light-sleeper, at least she has been ever since the war started, and even if she is currently far more comfortable than she has been in what feels like forever, she still wakes up as the first tendrils of distress echo into the Force. She pushes herself up onto one elbow, careful not to disturb Padme, who is lying next to her. Maybe this is a bit weird – well, maybe it is for Anakin and Padme; she doesn't think it's that strange for herself – but Ani had wanted to stay with all three of them, because he missed his father too much to sleep.
Padme had finally suggested that all four of them squeeze into her bed, and so, they did. Ani is lying between Anakin and Padme – like he's their son or something, Ahsoka notes with amusement, which is a strange thought, because they're all only friends – and she is on Padme's other side. It's a bit crowded, but it's still very comfortable.
And it's Ani. Of course, it's Ani. His expression is discontented, and he is the source of the distress which she feels. Padme is sound asleep, so Ahsoka carefully leans over her, touching Ani's shoulder lightly. "Ani," she whispers, sending comfort to him through the Force. "Ani."
A quiet whimper escapes from him, but he reacts to her presence and touch, eyes opening. Their eyes meet for a moment before Ahsoka checks to ensure that Anakin is still sleeping. He is. Ahsoka thinks she should try to ensure that Ani is alright, but she doesn't know how to do that without awakening the others. "Do you want to come with me?" she whispers, slipping out from under the blanket and standing on the carpet with hardly a sound.
Ani looks at Anakin for a moment, gaze shifting to Padme before he sits up. His escape proves to be far more difficult, especially since he's between them. Anakin stirs as Ani is almost off the bed, and Ahsoka winces. She hadn't meant to wake him. "We're okay, Master," she assures him quietly. "Go back to sleep."
She isn't even sure how awake or alert he really was because he makes a sleepy noise of agreement before rolling over and going back to sleep. Once Ani is out of bed, Ahsoka picks him up without having to be asked – though he is rather heavy to be carrying around, but she's a Jedi, and she knows that it will be easier for Ani if she does this – and carries him to the kitchen. In the past, if she can't sleep or if she has a nightmare, Anakin often makes her something to drink which helps. He's told her it only needs to be something warm and soothing.
So, she pokes around through the cabinets, using the Force to levitate two mugs down to the counter, before turning her attention to Ani. "Nightmare?" she guesses.
Ani nods, expression distant. It's eerie how much it resembles the look Anakin sometimes gets after a major battle or after a particularly difficult night. "Do you want to talk about it?" Anakin never does, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
"No," he murmurs, turning his head to watch as Ahsoka uses the Force – far more than is truly necessary – to withdraw a bottle of some type of milk, though she doesn't remember what kind it was anymore, from the conservator, pouring it into the mugs before heating them in the nanowave stove.
After it's warm, she floats the mugs over to the counter, putting Ani down on a stool and hopping onto the one next to him. "Anakin usually does this for me if I have nightmares," she explains, wrapping her fingers around the mug and taking a sip. "I thought it might help."
Ani hums quietly, taking a swallow from his own mug. "This is nice," he admits, sounding almost shy. "Thank you."
"Anytime," Ahsoka grins back.
She tries not to let her mind wander to the child's father, tries not to wonder what's happening to him. She understands Anakin's pain and anger – and Ani's as well – but she thinks that they should try talking to Obi-Wan again. Surely, he would try to help Anakin if he knew how much he was being affected? In the heat of the moment, she would have been willing to fight him but… he wasn't trying to hurt them. He wouldn't do that, she knows – or at least she hopes. He thinks he's helping even if he's not. If nothing else, she can try talking to him. What harm could that do?
They sit there in silence for a few minutes, sipping from their respective mugs, before Ani speaks up. "What if Sidious comes for me?" His voice is quiet, almost barely above a whisper, and Ahsoka can't help but wonder why he's like that. Anakin never has been, even if he is rather quiet, in general. That doesn't mean he… never talks. And more than that, when Ani does talk, he never speaks loudly, not like most children do.
Ahsoka knows better than to dismiss Ani's fears. It won't help anything, and he needs reassurance as much as he needs the truth. Thankfully, the truth is on her side this time. "I doubt he knows of you," she replies, resting a hand on his shoulder. "The Council would have no reason to tell him of Jedi affairs, and your arrival was… an accident. He wouldn't be able to plan for it, much less take action against you."
Ani looks down, fingers tracing the handle of the mug. "He still could though," he insists. "He…" His voice trails off as he tries and fails to express whatever thought is on his mind, no doubt something pertaining to some of the horrors with Sidious put him through.
"If he tries, he'll have to go through me and Anakin first," Ahsoka replies confidently, "And the Jedi might have – well, they might not do everything right, but they will protect you too." In that, she has faith. Even if Custos is right – he's not – and the Jedi really do only want Anakin and Ani for their own purposes, they would still try to protect them for that reason alone.
Ani nods, though he doesn't look convinced. Neither of them says anything as they finish their midnight drink, and Ahsoka washes and puts away the mugs before hefting Ani back up into her arms. "Do you want to go back to bed now?"
"Sure," he agrees, looping his arms around her neck as she carries him back to the bedroom.
When she slips inside, she stops at the sight in front of her. Sometime in their absence – how long as it been anyways? She never did look at the chrono – Padme has rolled over and is now curled up next to Anakin, her arm wrapped around his waist in a very… intimate manner. It is not exactly… a just friends way of sleeping with someone, Ahsoka is quite certain. Maybe it only happened, because they were both sleeping, but… It's plain weird is what it is.
Are Anakin and Padme just friends, she thinks hysterically, before pushing the thought from mind and nudging Ani to look. His expression doesn't change, so she wonders if he realizes the oddness as much as she does. "Should we go to the guest room, or should we try to climb back in anyways?" she asks in a whisper.
Ani glances between the bed and her for a moment, before tilting his head towards the door. "Guest room, it is," Ahsoka agrees, backing out of the room and letting the door close. She hasn't been to the guest room more than once or twice, but she still knows where it is. This room is far smaller, of course, but it's plenty big enough for both of them, so she puts Ani down, crawling in next to him and pulling up the blanket.
"You okay?" she questions.
"Mmhmm," he mumbles, burrowing deeper into the blanket and pressing closer to her as he closes his eyes.
Ahsoka smiles to herself, wrapping an arm around his waist and letting sleep claim her.
**w**
When Anakin wakes up the next morning, he's momentarily confused as to why Ani and Ahsoka aren't there too before he remembers, vaguely, Ahsoka leaving with the child. He must have had a nightmare, but since he didn't feel anything after that, she must have handled it. Of course, she did. She has spent enough time around him to know how to handle a child-version of him. Sitting up, Anakin glances at Padme, who is still sleeping, before deciding to check on the two children.
He finds them in the guest room, and he can't help but smile at the adorableness of the scene: Ahsoka and Ani curled together, looking very much like siblings despite being different species. After a minute, he decides to take a holopic for blackmail purposes later, smirking as he imagines the look on Ahsoka's face when she realizes he has it.
He feels much better than he did yesterday, but the ache in his chest is still there, as is the gnawing need to do something to bring Custos back. He needs to think about it, but if the Council won't let him go… maybe it is time to do something a bit more drastic. Anakin would never, of course, ask his men to help him commit treason, but perhaps he can do something on his own. Perhaps he can scout out the prison levels in the Temple – via the ventilation shaft, of course – and see if he can try to free Custos on his own. It's very unlikely that it will amount to anything, but it's better than nothing.
Anakin nearly jumps when Padme touches his arm, eyes fond as she looks at the two sleeping children. "They look so peaceful," she murmurs, leaning up to steal a kiss from him, uncaring as to the fact that, if Ahsoka was awake, she would totally have seen.
At this moment, Anakin doesn't even care, so he returns her kiss, wrapping an arm around her.
"They do," he agrees. "If I thought Custos would even allow it, we could totally adopt Ani as our own." It's not the first time they've talked about children but is the most recent.
Padme nods. "Ahsoka already is," she says, and that certainly isn't something they've ever discussed. It's something of… an unspoken subject between them, and Anakin is glad that Padme agrees with him. Ahsoka is absolutely their child, and if they weren't Jedi, he would sign adoption papers for her without a second thought. "Maybe someday we can have children together," she whispers. "It won't always be like this: the hiding, the secrecy…"
"I know. I want that too. So much." But everything is up in the air now, especially if Anakin goes through with his silent resolution to do whatever he has to do to ensure that Custos is free, even resort to… unorthodox methods. If the Jedi really think that he'll let their illegal imprisonment go, they'll be in for a shock.
If he does this, it will affect Padme too, so he thinks he should probably talk to her about it. Without saying anything, he tugs her in the direction of their bedroom, waiting until the door slides shut to speak. "I have to get Custos out of the Temple, Padme," he tells her, hands clenching for a moment. "I can't – I can't leave him there, not when Ani needs him so much."
"What will do you?"
He shakes his head. "I don't know yet, but I think that I might have to… do something illegally."
She weighs his words, turning them over and probably analyzing the possible consequences. "I'll help you however I can," his wife promises, "But I can't guarantee that the Jedi – and maybe even the Republic – won't come after you."
"I don't want to ask you to get involved in this," Anakin admits, moving to lay his hands on Padme's shoulders. "I know how much your work means to you, and if something goes wrong, we could both be accused of treason."
Padme's smile is bitter. "I just found out that the Republic is being led by a Sith Lord. Maybe the best option is to walk away and try to start something anew. I don't want to think it, but it may already be too late to do anything to stop the Republic from collapsing, especially if Palpatine has been furthering the corruption to weaken us further."
Anakin wants to argue with her, because it's so… surreal to see how much her faith in the Republic has been shaken. But at the same time, he doesn't disagree with her. He would be far more comfortable if she left, if they both left, if they started something new away from Palpatine. It might be necessary to create a… rebellion of sorts if freedom is ever to become a reality. The Clone Wars should never have begun, and it all feels so pointless now: all the deaths, killing, and destruction.
"What do you want to do, Angel?" Anakin inquires, unsure what it even is that he wants to do.
"I want to fix the Republic," she answers immediately, "Long-term, of course. For now, I want you to focus on getting Custos out of the Temple. We'll need him. He knows about the Sith and how they work. He knows Sidious better than we ever will. If we want to take him down, now or in the future, we'll need his experience. Most importantly, Ani needs him. That's enough for me."
"Then I'll go to the Temple and see if I can find a weakness which I can exploit to get Custos out," Anakin replies determinedly. "We have one Sith to save and another to destroy. How ironic." He wants to laugh, and he might if not for the seriousness of the situation. Everything is moving far too fast, and all he can do now is focus on what is immediately in front of him. Custos comes first. Everything else can come later.
Perhaps once Custos is free, Anakin will be consider composing a message of warning to the Council about whatever is yet to come. What he doesn't understand is how Sidious thinks he'll be able to stop the Jedi unless he wants the Separatists to win the war. It doesn't make sense because the Jedi has the army. With the clones on their side, it would be next to impossible for Sidious to destroy the entire Order, unless he has a contingency plan which no one has uncovered yet. Custos might have an idea or two about it, and the only way to find out is to get to him.
The entire galaxy is resting on Anakin's ability to free a Sith from the Jedi Temple, and this is something he has to do alone. For now, it will be best if Ani and Ahsoka stay far away from there. He doesn't want to put either of them in unnecessary danger.
"Padme, I'm going to the Temple. Take care of Ani and Ahsoka while I'm gone, okay?"
"Of course," she agrees, and Anakin leaves.
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