Anakin had himself and Padmé to the nearest speeder as quickly as possible, not caring who it belonged to or if he'd get in trouble for stealing it.
He'd done it several other times on random missions and nothing ever really happened since authorities in the areas couldn't ever really catch up to him.
And he was protecting the former queen, for fucks sake, so what was the worst that could happen?
His only concern was Padmé and her safety.
"What happened?" Anakin asked, pushing the stupid white mask off his face and allowing the wind to take it as the two sped of.
He could feel Padmé shutter next to him.
"I-" She turned away slightly, arms wrapped around herself while her eyes momentarily eyes fluttered shut.
"Padmé." He looked over at her. "Talk to me. I can't fix it unless I know what happened. Did… Did someone hurt you?" Anakin looked away, clenching his teeth, knuckles going white as gripped the wheel. "Did someone touch you? Make advances towards you?" His words came out desperate and rough, anger masking fear.
"No, no… Nothing like that." The former queen sighed. "I saw someone. He used to serve as one of my Royal Guards." She explained, talking a little faster now, not wanting Anakin to assume the worst, though they were long passed that.
He just nodded, looking back to her as he continued to speed down the road, allowing his senses to guide him as he focused mainly on Padmé and attempting to comfort her.
He'd never gotten good at that. Comforting. Just wasn't his thing.
"Who is he? What'd he do?" He asked, trying to figure out what the hell had happened.
"He was… Trying to get information out of me. Something about another member of the senate." Padmé explained, looking over into Anakin's dark eyes.
"Did you tell him anything?" The Jedi asked, attempting to gauge how serious of a matter this was.
"No, of course not! I ran off and found you."
Anakin's eyes went back to the road.
"Did anything else happened?"
Padmé was quiet for a moment.
"No." She finally said. "It didn't seem like him, Anakin. It felt like I was talking to an entirely different person."
"Do you think it could've been a changeling?" He asked quickly, mind again finding the worst possible outcome.
"I don't know. Maybe. I just know that it wasn't him talking to me. Either that or he was being controlled somehow, but..." She looked over to him. "He'd always been so loyal. He risked his life for me. He would've died for me."
Anakin had a thought.
He didn't share it.
"We should get back to Coruscant."
"Ani, we just got here. We'll be safe back at my parent's home."
"If there's a changeling on this planet we aren't safe until it's captured or destroyed. I ran into one on a mission once a few years ago. They're very dangerous, Padmé. We have to get off this planet."
It was quiet for a moment, the only sounds those of the sharp wind against their ears as Anakin sped through the brilliantly lit up and sense dazzling city.
"Fine."
Their flight back to Coruscant wasn't pleasant.
Padmé was bummed and Anakin was off in his own little world, daydreaming about caramel colored hair and pale grey eyes as he navigated the two of them through space, while Artoo happily co-piloted their ship.
Well, at this point Anakin was more of the co-pilot.
He was so lost that he didn't even realize they were breaking through the atmosphere of the planet.
He needed a fucking nap.
Soon enough, the trio were landed safely on the planet.
After Anakin had carried Padmé's luggage to her apartment, he and Artoo headed back, fucking finally, to the temple.
He never thought he'd be so happy to see that place in his life.
Well, he wasn't entirely super-duper excited to check in with the Council.
So he didn't.
He simply headed to his room and went the fuck to sleep.
Anakin was awoken by the lovely Mace Windu, who was shaking his shoulders aggressively and peering down at him, looking mad as ever.
"Hey, hey! I'm up, I'm up." Anakin muttered, pushing Mace's hands away from him. "It's nice to see you too, Master Windu. My flight was fine, thanks for asking." He mumbled groggily, staring up at the ceiling.
"Is there a reason you didn't report back to The Council once you arrived, Skywalker?
"Uh, yeah. I was tired. Long flight."
Mace rolled his eyes, face somehow more scrunched up in annoyance than it usually was.
Anakin knew that look well.
Years of goofing off and being a brat at times had that perk.
"Get dressed and meet me outside once you're done."
"Why?"
sass
sas/
noun
1.
impudence; cheek.
"the kind of boy that wouldn't give you any sass"
verb
1.
be cheeky or rude to (someone).
"Because I asked you to." Mace raised a brow at him.
"Yeah. Heard you. But why should I?" Anakin responded.
de·fi·ance
dəˈfīəns/
noun
open resistance; bold disobedience.
"You have another mission. One that you can hopefully handle without failing indefinitely."
Insert definition of 'really extremely totally 100% done.'
"Hey, I handled my mission on Naboo perfectly. I got Padmé to safety as fast as I could. She's heavily guarded back at her apartment, I made sure of that." Anakin sat up in bed, running a hand through his messy hair. "I wouldn't ever let anything happen to her."
"You shouldn't have come that close."
"Nothing happened-"
"Get dressed, Anakin."
And with that, Mace was out the door.
Good fucking riddance.
That guy had never liked him, not since the day he stepped into the temple for the first time, his Master at his side.
Qui-Gon had basically begged the Council for the opportunity to train him, and when they declined him of his request, he did it anyways.
What a badass.
He'd had such fond memories of his Master, for which he was so grateful.
It made him angry that he was Taken™ away from him so soon.
Once Anakin was up and showered and dressed, he stepped outside to reveal, thankfully, someone who was entirely and completely 100% not Master Windu.
He was greeted with the warm smile of his good friend, Austin, who worked in the temple doing some things that the Jedi felt they couldn't sink themselves low enough to do. Assistance, droid maintenance, data keeping in the archives.
He was an all around handyman and certified great guy that Anakin had known for many years now.
They'd become close friends, and Anakin knew he was lucky to have someone like him in his life.
"Aye, right this way, Master Skywalker." Austin chuckled, bowing and simply being extremely Extra in every way possible.
"He's no Master yet." Ah, and in walked Master Buzzkill himself.
"Ah, right. Gotchu. Right this way, Skywalker." Austin chuckled, starting to walk and expecting the two Jedi to follow.
Anakin clenched his hands, balling them into fists at his sides.
It was times like this when he truly despised that title.
"I will be soon, Master Windu." He looked at the man next to him as they continued walking. "Qui-Gon was confident that I'd become a Master quickly, faster than most other Jedi."
"Master Qui-Gon thought a lot of things, Anakin." Mace didn't look at him as he spoke, leaving in the opposite direction without another word.
He always felt like less around Master Windu.
Common and unpleasant to be around. Scum. Always begging to be thought of as more.
Anakin wasn't common.
Everyone on the council thought of him as that fearful little boy from Tatooine they'd all feared would veer off in the wrong direction.
When he left Tatooine with Qui-Gon, knowing that he'd become a powerful Jedi, he thought he'd feel different after a while.
He never envisioned that he'd continue feeling like a slave.
He was free, after all.
Though he couldn't ever remember feeling so trapped, so pressured, or so looked down upon.
Qui-Gon had been the only person in that entire fucking temple to ever think anything good of him.
The Chosen One,
he'd called him.
"What a guy. Hey, don't even sweat what he was sayin' to you, Anakrizzle. Don't even worry. Sauce on 'em, tha's all. All ya gotta do, Skysaucer."
Okay, Austin always knew how to make Anakin laugh.
"Thanks buddy." Anakin chuckled, locking hands with him and effectively giving him the best bro chest bump thing ever.
"Anytime, man. A-Squared for life."
"We're all very happy to have you here, Anakin." Said one of the Senators in the room, a woman with short auburn hair and a kind smile on her face.
"I, uh, yeah. I'm glad to be here, Senator." Anakin still had literally no idea what he was doing, but he'd arrived here in the company of his good friend who he trusted immensely, so, he'd figure it out. Probably should've asked some questions before arriving. What was it that Master Windu had said? Something about protecting another Senator or something?
A couple of the other Senators in the room, including Padmé, laughed softly to themselves.
"So... "
A couple of the people in the room looked as if they were searching for something to say.
The silence was deafening.
"Hello there."Anakin felt as if he had been personally thrust into space itself.
In between planets, lack air; causing his chest to implode in on itself.
Because.
Because he fucking knew.
He knew that stupid voice and knew he'd be greeted by soft caramel and a catlike smirk as soon as he turned around.
Those stupid lacking eyes, those freckles he could see peeking out from where the mask stopped-
"Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi."