As much as I want to sleep more, I can't. I'm pulled out of my dreams by the beeping of Anakin's comm link, which is attached to his glove, the hand it belongs to rests on my back lek. I take in my current setting - as this very well may never happen again. I'm curled up with my head resting on my former master's chest, my arms are around his waist, and his encompass me as well.
The comm keeps beeping and Anakin stirs. He's definitely not a light sleeper and I know that for sure. "Morning, sleepy head," I joke, pulling slightly on one of his sandy brown curls.
"Hey, Snips. And what exactly is this?"
I can see the smile tugging at his lips as he observes out half hugging, half laying position.
"I got tired," I banter back. "Also your comm is beeping and has been for, like, three minutes. It's getting kind of annoying." I punch his shoulder playfully.
"Fine," he drawls, then sits up, his mouth to the comm link. "Skywalker here."
"Where in the galaxy have you been for the past twelve hours, Anakin?" That voice, a very puzzled one, belongs to the one and only Obi-Wan Kenobi.
'I bet he'd love to know,' I mouth. God, I love teasing Anakin, whom just smiles at me with a big toothy grin.
"I'm still on Coruscant," Anakin says rather matter-of-factly onto the comm, then just shrugs at me.
"That's quite obvious, Anakin. I mean where on Coruscant? You do realize that I can feel your Force signature a thousand miles away."
"Places."
"Oh, how specific," the older Jedi says through the comm.
"Well if you can feel my whereabouts through the Force, then why are you asking me?"
"Stop evading the question..." Obi-Wan is impatiently prodding Anakin for an answer now, which I find oddly hilarious. Probably because I have to bad blood with the man.
"Fine - I'm with Ahsoka." That's the end of the prodding - Skyguy's finally given up.
"Somehow I knew that," Master Kenobi mutters.
"But why did you continue asking then?"
"Another time, Anakin." The line is almost disconnected when Anakin reaches for the comm button but alas, "We need you back at the Temple, Anakin."
My former master sighs - more like groans - and answers with a simple "Fine," before hanging up the line. He then turns to me and says, "First they hunt down my innocent Padawan like an animal. Then they expel her from the Jedi Order, almost give her a death sentence, then invite her back. She takes the oh-so-holy freedom of leaving and they send me on leave - then immediately ask me back after about forty-eight hours."
I shrug because I honestly don't know what to say. After a moment he sighs again. "Are you - god I feel so guilty saying this - okay with me going back to the Temple? Apparently it's urgent."
I give him a soft smile. "Why would I mind? You have a job to do there."
"Because of what they did to you."
"It doesn't matter; it's all over. You have a duty to protect the galaxy and I'm not going to keep you from it."
"You sure you'll be okay, Snips? I feel bad showing up then having to leave straight away."
"Now how many times have I been on missions without you?"
"Plenty I guess."
"See? I'll be fine - just like always." I watch Anakin's face morph into a look of contemplation, then a sort of smirk.
"Well... fine. But I'm not going to leave you forever. I'll figure something out that'll fit the both of us."
I boost myself up onto my side to face him. "That sounds good. I'll be able to hold out until then."
"As long as you're safe." Anakin smiles at me, which I find comforting. "I'd better go..." He glances at the chrono on the shelf on the wall and gets out of bed. I follow a few seconds later.
Anakin "fixes" his hair - if you can even call it that - and walks to the door. Of course, I mess it up again, ruffling his brown tresses with my fingers.
"I guess this is goodbye for now, Skyguy," I say. I can't really walk him to the door because my current living space is more like an extra-glorified closet. My former master pulls me into a warm, friendly hug. "It won't be long until we see each other again. I promise, Snips." I nod and he rubs my shoulder.
"Bye-bye, Skyguy."
"So long, Snips." He leaves through the door and winks at me before it shuts.
xXx
Of course I'm not hungry so I sit down and ponder what the heck to do with my life. Helping people? Yes. Bounty hunting? No. Going back to the Jedi? Even less likely than becoming a bounty hunter. How does one help people at this day in age? There's law enforcement and Jedi... I hear myself let out a sigh, then decide to go eat anyway. If I don't, I'm going to regret it later. And instead of wasting away my time being bored later, how about a little shopping?
xXx
I find myself in a mall that's about as cheap as you can get while still looking sophisticated. I have enough credits in my pocket to but a few outfits, even more so if they're on clearance.
I find the nearest store and figure I'll take a peek inside. The clearance rack miraculously finds me - not really - and I see how much of a bargain the stuff is. And it actually looks like something I'd willingly wear. A green top catches my eye. I haven't worn anything but brown, red, purple, black, and white in about two or three years. It seems like a lot of colors but it's really not.
Three years... I think of how long I've known my master - my former master as of now. I'm just so adjusted to calling him Anakin. But the thing is, during the last year or so, I've started calling him Anakin more. We were becoming closer and I'm not afraid (or sorry) to admit it. I feel like calling each other by our names rather than our respective titles gives the idea that we're equals, even if we have different positions. Our friendship is special to me; I feel like it will be forever, no matter what happens.
I manage to snap out of my thoughts - I've been getting lost in my mind lately. Not the best thing for me, but I suppose it doesn't really matter. I pick a few more tops off the rack. I only know one thing about what I want to wear: no more skirts or dresses.
The changing room is around the corner. I'm not going to lie - I'm a bit excited. New clothes after years of wearing pretty much the same thing? Yes please!
I save the green top to try on last. The first is a navy blue long-sleeve top that's a bit baggy on the bodice but tight at the sleeves. It's a pretty shirt and all, but the fit isn't that comfortable. The next is a mahogany red, completely sleeveless top that starts an inch below my collarbone and stops at my hips. It even has gold trim at the bottom. Of course, I think this is way too pretty to be crime-fighting in, so I put it on the hook that I've designated for "no." The last top is the green one, which I've come to favor greatly. Once I slip it on, I know I want it. It's comfortable like something I'd prefer to wear. The green compliments my skin, as it's more of an olive green than a forest green. It's made a lot like the current upper half of my dress: a higher neck tank, only without the small cutout near the top of my sternum. This is the style and color I like. It also has singular gray striped going around the sleeve, collar, and bottom hem. Gray will be its compliment then.
I go back and pick up a few more tops that look like this on clearance, then move onto scouting around for a pair of bottoms. I happen to come across a gray pair of leggings with - wouldn't you know it? - green stripes down the outside seam. The boots are too easy. Gray boots up to the knee with more olive green on the laces. I have an entire clearance stash with half my credits remaining. I think I seriously lucked out.
xXx
I arrive home - well, what's temporarily my home - with my boatloads of clothing. I take them out of the bags and use the Force to un attach the tags because I don't have any scissors. I put them in the washer and drier on the second floor and watch until they're done in case some theif decides to go laundry-hunting.
The rest of the day goes on as normal, we, as normal as it can be in an unfamiliar setting. I reach out for Anakin's Force signature before I go to bed. It's faint but I can still feel it. He must've left the planet on a mission.
One day turns into two, two to three then four, then eventually a week. Every night I check and every night it's faint. He's the Chosen One, so this freaks me out.
I lay down on the eighth day, ready to fall asleep. I reach out for Anakin. Now something feels off. I start to talk aloud to myself, contemplating what might've happened.
"Mission? Yes." I nod once as I start to keep track of my stats while I hug the warm gray sheets to my chest. "Days... eight. His Force signature keeps becoming more and more faint. This isn't necessarily bad, but it's not good. Maybe he's just getting further away..."
A couple of minutes pass and I resolve that I need to stop worrying. He's Anakin Skywalker. Yeah, he's impulsive, but he knows what he's doing. And I know one thing - he wouldn't want me worrying about him, let alone losing sleep worrying. He's fine, we're fine. Everything good... I drift to sleep, but this conclusion still isn't good enough for me. But it doesn't keep me awake.
xXx
I turn on the holonews because I don't trust just my judgement alone. The Force may hold the truth, but it can also be a misleading source. A rhodian woman, the news anchor, flickers onto the screen. Apparently it's supposed to rain today, and I only notice the gentle tapping of raindrops on my window when I hear this. But this isn't what I want to hear. I hardly ever leave the hotel room I'm in to go to the lower floors, much less go outside.
I guess I'm just scared. My best friend could be hurt or worse and I can't do anything about it. I know that if I were hurt and alone, Anakin would worry. It used to happen so much... I almost froze to death in the cockpit of a ship carrying medical supplies and clones zombified by Geonosian worms. I could very well have been killed on Trandosia's moon when I was hunted for sport. Not to mention the one time I actually did DIE on Mortis.
Anakin could've died a number of times - too many to count. So many battles, crashes, outnumbered fights, captures... And I worried-
There's a picture of the Jedi Temple up on the screen now. There's a caption: Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker Mission In Action During Latest Separatist Battle.
"I knew it!" I yell, hardly able to restrain myself from whipping something across the room in frustration and making a lot of noise. "I knew it..." I sink down onto my bed and curl in on myself, hugging my knees to my chest.
