Chapter 25: Burning Truth
Her lightsaber's handle made of whale bone was still an unfamiliar weight in her hands outside of the training halls; but the singing crystal inside, attuned to her and only her, was always a comforting presence.
Zarya made sure, for the first time without supervision, to switch her saber off the training mod. Clearly, her current opponents will have no qualms about hurting her, if not outright killing her if given the chance.
Unwilling to take her eyes off of them for even a second, she reached behind her with the Force to feel if Sedyn was staying out of sight and wasn't hurt too badly.
She was not quite sure what to make of the anxiety and dread clouding his presence, nor did she have the time to check.
"Well, look at that. Are the Jedi now so uncaring as to send the babies they stole to fight for them? How pathetic." The man she'd previously pushed in the wall looked her up and down, clearly unimpressed by what he saw. "They might as well ask to kill them off."
Oh great, taunting. Might as well take advantage and buy time or something.
She didn't know what could possibly help her if given time, but anything was better than being killed on the spot.
"Says the guy waving his gun around in a hospital. Couldn't wait for your victim to heal up, make it a fair fight?"
Maybe openly insulting the honor of two Mandalorians wasn't a good idea, if the way the one in the front gripped his bloodied vibro-blade tighter was any indication.
"This isn't about any victim. Nor is it about you, little girl, so scram. We're in a hunt, and you're in the way," he growled.
She heard a thudding sound and a hiss behind her, presumably Sedyn trying to get up and failing because of the pain. Zarya gulped.
"Sorry, but I can't do that."
Without giving them any warning, she charged towards them, jumping to strike from a higher point. She successfully caught one by surprise, the dark gray one fumbling to block her strike with his vambrace.
He was stumbling back but the other one, his own armor reflecting a dark blue, was quick to shoot at her to try and make her step back. Zarya wasn't fazed much, deflecting his shots just as she's been taught at the temple. She wasn't adept enough to make them ricochet back to them every time, but enough of his shots did for him to stop in case a lucky one got a hit.
Still, she wasn't offered a break before the gray one charged her with his vibro-blade in one hand and dagger in the other. He avoided her saber with the former, but only one counter strike against the latter made it clear it wouldn't be severed by her lightsaber. It was most likely made of beskar, too.
She was now caught in the exact same position Sedyn was mere minutes ago, fighting the man at close combat, lightsaber clashing against beskar armor and blade. Except she was much, much tinier than the full grown man bulked up in armor, or even the teenager she was currently shielding. And the Mandalorian used that fully to his advantage.
She made sure to make him run for her, dodging and weaving around him, sometimes jumping above him too.
Maybe she could have continued to fight like that for a little while longer, but the problem came when the one in blue went to pass by them and towards Sedyn. The hallway they were in was large enough for him to do with ease, out of reach from their fight, except Zarya couldn't let him.
Striking the blade of the one in gray away from his body, she jumped at him and kicked his chest full force with both feet, strong enough to make him stumble back a few steps. Zarya landed in a backwards roll and got to her feet, running to intercept the second Mandalorian before he could make it past her.
She made the motion to strike from low to high, too late to realize he wasn't raising his vambrace to defend himself, but to point it directly at her. Sedyn screamed her name in warning. Zarya tried to abort in time, raising her left, unobstructed hand in front of her.
Flames raced from his wrist to her at high speed, a last second push with the Force her only shield from the flames.
It wasn't enough.
Pain ignited in her right arm where the flames were hastily redirected, making her drop her saber with a scream and losing her concentration.
She could only close her eyes tightly and brace herself, expecting the pain of fire to consume her entirely because of her falter.
Yet nothing came. It was very warm, loud and bright, but not a single flame even licked at her skin again.
When she opened her eyes, all she could see were the flames right in front of her diverting to the sides and above, as if an invisible bubble was shielding her. Shocked, she took a gulping breath when her lungs started burning from lack of oxygen since she's been holding her breath in fear.
Turning her head to look behind her, she saw Sedyn, crouched with his weight on his uninjured leg and one hand on the cut to keep from bleeding out. His other hand was outstretched towards her, pushing to protect her from the flames.
After a moment of standstill, the fire started to slowly but surely get closer and warmer. Zarya gasped and stumbled back in a hurry when she realized, but only managed to fall on her rear, the pain from her right arm as she tried to catch herself making her cry out.
He wouldn't let up. The man kept advancing, forcing her to crawl back if she didn't want to be nose to nose with his flame thrower. She was forced to stop when she found herself right on Sedyn, her back leaning on his leg. She wanted to move out of his way, but she would only manage to burn herself if she attempted to do so.
She wasn't sure because of the loud roar of the fire, but she thinks she heard one of them laugh at her and Sedyn's predicament. She could certainly feel the sick glee coming off of them behind her own growing panic.
And then all at once, everything stopped. Sedyn felt so surprised and relieved by the abrupt end that he sank to the floor, letting out a pained groan when it put a strain on his bad leg. As for Zarya's, her vision swam as she tried to right herself up to look around and make some sense of what was happening.
She heard cursing as well as the sound of struggling in front of her. When her vision finally cooperated, there was a woman, a nurse if her uniform was to be believed, fighting the blue mandalorian and holding her ground.
The woman was armed with what looked like a taser, and she managed to get quite a few hits on the bigger man, as well as skillfully dodge his punches, and literally smack his gun out of his hand when he tried to raise it to shoot her.
It only took her a few seconds to get the upper hand, bringing him to a knee, twisting his arm backwards and tasing him in a weak point of his armor at his ribs.
His scream brought Zarya more satisfaction than it probably should.
He lost consciousness soon after, his helmeted head smacking hard on the ground when he became lax except for the occasional spasms going through him.
The nurse backed up, running a hand through her fringe as she looked at both men slumped on the floor. Zarya hadn't seen before now, but the gray one had a syringe still stuck in his neck, presumably what knocked him out while his friend was distracted trying to kill them with fire.
"Well, that was more violence than I expected today," the nurse reckoned as she observed the scene before her. She frowned a bit when she saw how injured both young Jedi were. Or maybe it was because they were gaping at her, unable to say a thing. "Hopefully, that's all the violence that'll happen today."
Just as she said that, the gray one groaned as consciousness sluggishly returned to him. Already, he was slowly pushing himself to get up, pulling the syringe out as he went. The other won't be far behind him in getting back up.
"I'm never that lucky, am I. Come on, get up! Go go go, follow me, you two!"
The woman pulled Zarya up by her uninjured arm and went to do the same with Sedyn right after, pulling his arm around her shoulder to help him walk when she saw just how much blood was coming out of his leg. There was a lot of it.
"What– who…?"
"Not now, no time to waste!" The woman cut Sedyn's fumbling questions. "Let's go, quick! "
Zarya pulled her lightsaber back to her before they headed for the stairs, descending as fast as they could considering the children's state. The woman kept glancing back up anxiously, probably worried about being followed. Zarya would normally check by reaching with the Force, but the pain from her burn was too great to concentrate on much else than not tripping on the next step.
Sedyn didn't look better, his skin quickly losing its color. Stars, there was a lot of blood. The sight had never bothered Zarya before, but seeing it on someone she cared about in such an amount almost made her dizzy.
They reached the bottom of the stairs just as the door at the top was being opened, the heavy sound of it banging on the wall making them all jump. They picked up the pace, Zarya straining to Force pull a few powered-down gurneys in a pile in front of the door at the bottom of the staircase. It would hopefully buy them a few seconds more.
The reception area was strangely silent, everyone having vacated the building as fast as possible or hidden themselves as well as they could. A receptionist was slouched on the counter, still alive but presumably knocked out by the intruders. Sirens could be heard approaching outside, the police force finally arriving to take control of the situation. The nurse didn't let her guard down just yet.
"Alright, the exit is right here, than we can—"
She interrupted herself when they heard footsteps running in their direction, tensing in apprehension only for a whoosh of air to leave her when she caught sight of Anakin turning the corner, the small girl from before right behind him as he tugged her along by the hand. Everyone's relief was apparent.
"Mom!" the girl exclaimed in joy. It was now clear who she had been looking for at the start of the chaos.
Said mother, supporting Sedyn, managed a smile for her daughter despite the situation while Anakin addressed his friends. "Thank the Force, you guys are back." His hand that wasn't still being held by the little girl was clutching his right arm, the same place where Zarya was burned. She winced, a wave of guilt worsening her dizziness. "I–"
"No time, ad'ika," The woman interrupted him. "They're right behind us, we need to go to safety now!"
Anakin looked like he wanted to say something but was interrupted by a loud banging sound coming from the messily barricaded door, everyone tensing again and looking worriedly towards the noise. "What do we do?" He ended up asking.
"The police force can take over this fight in our stead, let's be quick!"
She directed everyone to the front door where the red and blue lights were now clearly flashing through the windows. They ran as fast as they could, which was frustratingly slow with Sedyn's injury. Anakin and the little girl were faster, and therefore in front of the group when they burst through the front door; a good thing, since the police immediately let down their blasters at the sight of young children.
It also meant they weren't the ones in the most danger when the two Mandalorians finally burst through Zarya's made-up barricade and shot in their direction.
Zarya had no time to react. She could only look, eyes wide, as shots blurred by next to her, near, too near–
She tripped. Her hands and knees took the brunt of it, roughly scraping against the pavement, and she shrieked in pain and fear.
For some reason, she had expected sand instead.
She couldn't see where the others from their small group were compared to her, didn't know who the people surrounding her were. Her arm burned, her knees and hands hurt, the sudden grip on her upper arms that pulled her up used too much pressure–
The next few minutes were a blur of panic and chaos as policemen with ray shields quickly moved past her, more shots were fired in seemingly every direction, someone was holding Zarya's arm, screams and shouts surrounded them and–
All at once, every one of her senses shut down as a sort of wall appeared in her mind, acting as a buffer from the outside world. It was almost jarring how calm it was compared to before, but a sense of unexplainable peace washed over her, and she could easily recognize the feeling wasn't coming from herself.
It wasn't unwelcomed, though, especially since she instantly knew it came from her bond.
None of her senses were cut off for long, her vision the first thing to come back. She could finally see Anakin in front of her, clutching her shoulders and talking to her. She could only make out his words after a minute of looking at his lips moving, yet he still calmly repeated the same words to her over and over until she understood as her hearing slowly came back.
" – over, we're safe now. We're safe. Just take a deep breath," she did so, only then realizing she had been holding it, "and let it out slowly." She shakily exhaled from her mouth. "There you go. It's okay, it's over."
She'd had a panic attack. Again. Zarya had a creeping feeling she'll have to get used to them in the future. Once might be an incident, but twice hinted at the beginning of a pattern.
Anakin was still talking to her calmly despite all the flurry still surrounding them. His hands on her shoulders grounding her. He was looking her straight in the eyes, meticulously prodding the wall and taking over some of her senses to buffer those who were over-sensitive, and carefully opening those who had simply shut down.
"Sedyn?" She managed to ask. She couldn't see him, he'd been bleeding out and he had felt so desperate–
"He's going to be fine, medics and a doctor took him inside another ambulance. They'll take care of him, promise."
Her breaths felt steadier now. It took a few minutes for her to realize that she'd lost a few minutes between then and now. She was sitting on the edge of a vehicle's floor, which she quickly deduced was one of the ambulances, its large side door wide open as it hovered still on its spot. Her legs were dangling over the edge, Anakin standing before her. No one else was inside it, but she did have a weird looking blanket bunched-up at her lower-back that she was grasping in a bloodless grip on her lap, hinting that she'd been briefly looked after before she was left in Anakin's care.
Anakin, who was still holding on to her. Still talking reassurances. Somehow, he knew exactly what to do to help her in this situation, and she had the startling realization that while she had completely rejected the mere thought of ever having a panic attack again, he had prepared for it, asking around about how he could help her should it happen again.
He's stopped talking now, the expectant air around him telling her he was waiting for her to say something else, maybe to ask about the time she's lost.
What he didn't expect was the crushing wave of all-encompassing, sheer love she shoved through their wide-open bond. No small amount of relief/gratitude/adoration also accompanied the feeling.
Anakin's carefully controlled breath hitched as he was seemingly rendered speechless by what she readily shared with him. Eyes wide, his mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound made it through.
"Thank you," she murmured for his ears only, uncaring of who could be nearby at the moment. "I honestly don't know what I would do without you."
He let out a hesitant half-laugh, half-sob at that.
That's not what it felt like, lately.
And oh stars, how she had missed hearing him in her head. Even if it was to berate her.
I know, I'm sorry I ever made you feel that way.
Outside, still sitting in an ambulance and amidst the now calmer surroundings now that the fight was most likely finished, she pulled her brother in for a much needed, one armed (Force did those burns hurt) hug. He sighed shakily, but held her back just as hard, careful not to graze her injured arm.
I love you too, 'Rya.
Finally, since the beginning of this whole escapade, she felt like she could properly breathe again as his own feelings of adoration reached her. Her injuries didn't burn as much anymore.
(( ))
A few hours later as the sun slowly came down, reflecting strangely on the giant dome structure surrounding the entire sector, everything was finally calming down. The two Mandalorians (Bounty hunters, do you think? - Not sure, we'll have to ask.) had been subdued and taken away by policemen relatively easily, especially since one had been half-drugged and the other had previously taken quite the beating by that surprisingly skilled-in-combat nurse.
Now that nervous witnesses had told their version of the event, pushy reporters had been sated story-wise and the wounded were all being taken care of, Anakin, Zarya and Sedyn could finally relax a bit in the hospital room they were given.
Sedyn was almost dozing on the only bed in the room (It was more for him then them, after all), his thigh stitched up and patched with bacta. In a few short weeks, there will be next to no trace left of his stab wound. Zarya's burnt forearm had been wrapped in bacta-filled bandages, which was the most they could do when it came to burns of this degree.
She highly suspected she'll have quite the burn scar when it's healed.
"So," Anakin was the one to cut through the exhausted silence that had befallen them. He shifted on his chair, jostling Zarya's head that was leaning on his shoulder. She gave a displeased hum at the movement. "That wasn't how I saw our illicit adventure going, to be honest."
"Ooh," sleepily mumbled Zarya. "Illicit is a big word for you."
Her head was pushed off by a rough shrug for her comment.
Rude, Ani.
Right back at ya.
Stars, she was so happy to be able to tease him again.
"What did you expect from this 'adventure'?" Sedyn inquired, opening one tired eye to gaze at him in bemusement.
"I thought it would last longer than a day, for sure." Anakin tilted his head as he considered it more. "More fighting on my part, instead of babysitting a random kid. I mean, seriously, who was she anyways? She was cute, but I don't get why she was more important than anyone else in the hospital."
"She was one of the people who died in my vision," Sedyn informed him. "I'm pretty sure she's alive and unharmed today because of you, so thanks for hanging back and, well, babysitting, as you put it."
Anakin didn't have anything to say to that. The thought, and especially the direct proof of his actions having such an impact in someone's very life seemed to jar him a bit.
"The question I have is how you knew who she was, Zarya. How could you have recognized her?"
She blinked, thinking back on that moment. It was kind of blurry at the time, panic and adrenaline were running high. What she could remember was seeing that little girl among everyone and the distinct feeling that she was the answer to what she's been looking for for a while now.
Zarya knew that this feeling hadn't come from her at all, and even when tensions had been high, she had instinctively identified that fact on the spot, too.
"I know it was used as a punishment for you, but did you like being assigned to groups of initiates to look after the kids?"
Sedyn frowned in confusion at the sudden change of subject. "What– I mean, sure? Kids are fun, why do you ask?"
"Great! I'm sure you'll love being an older brother, then." Zarya shot him a completely innocent smile as she leaned her head back on Anakin's shoulder, a yawn cutting her mirth short.
A mental nudge asked her for an explanation and when she shared her theory with him, Anakin huffed.
Sedyn eyed them both suspiciously. "What are you even…"
A knock sounded at the door, interrupting his line of questioning. The nurse who'd saved them entered, smiling ruefully at them. Her daughter was following her, holding on to her uniform and hiding hesitantly behind her mother.
"Hi you three, sorry for interrupting. I wanted to see for myself that you'd all received the care you needed." The woman's eyes lingered mostly on Sedyn's bandaged leg, since it had been the worst of their injuries. "Do you mind if I check in with you all?"
"Fine by me," Zarya acquiesced with an easy smile. Anakin shrugged with his unburdened shoulder, not minding the interruption.
Sedyn nodded slowly, looking speechlessly at the woman as she approached them.
Looking to be into her mid-thirties, she was very pretty with pale skin, green eyes and delicate features. Her daughter looked a lot like her, too, though she was much younger, probably around four or five years old. What Zarya noticed the most though, was the jet black hair they both had, and the little girl's dark blue eyes.
Zarya looked back at Sedyn, watching softly, and a bit entertained, as his eyes never left either of their visitors for long. Uncertainty, hope and longing floated around him with an anxious buzz, slipping through his metaphorical fingers every time he attempted to hold them back.
To the woman's credit, she asked all three of them about where they'd been hurt, if they were in pain, etc. Nothing the doctor that saw them didn't do, but a check up was never remiss. Yet, it was obvious she was gravitating towards Sedyn the most.
"What's your name?" A small voice piped up near the two younger Jedi. The little girl had finally found her courage and approached them as her mother tended to Sedyn.
Anakin grinned at the small child. "I'm Anakin Skywalker, and she's Zarya." He nodded towards her, and Zarya waved at the kid, a small, upward quirk on her lips. "What's your name? I'm sorry for not asking you that when we were together earlier."
The little girl pursed her lips, frowning a bit. "You stopped me from going to my mom." She pouted. Zarya grinned in response.
Did you have to deal with a temper tantrum when you were babysitting her?
Shut up, you.
The woman let out a huff from where she was rewrapping Sedyn's leg when she heard her daughter. "Thank you, Anakin, for keeping my stubborn child safe and away from where she shouldn't be." She gave a pointed stare at her daughter at the last part, making her pout harder. She let the matter go for now, giving a mirthless laugh. "This really isn't how I saw our day going. My husband warned me to take more precautions, but I never thought anyone would try anything in a hospital, of all places." She said something in another language that sounded a lot like cursing. "I'm not going to hear the end of this for a long time, am I."
"Did your husband see this coming?" Zarya inquired.
"Let's just say our planet still has a few problems to sort through right after the civil war he fought in, and leave it at that. You'll forgive me for being hesitant in letting children, especially reckless ones, get involved in this mess, won't you?"
She said it with a smile, but it was evident that she wouldn't accept a no from any of them. Scary, but then again most mothers can be like that.
"Anyhow, I'm Esah Marr, and this little tyke's name is Verin Marr." She reached with a hand to her daughter to mess her hair as she introduced them, completely missing Sedyn's wide eyes behind her. "It is nice to officially meet you all, especially since you saved my child," she smiled gratefully at Anakin, " and risked your necks to save the hospital's occupants and staff."
Silence was her only response. Her brows furrowed in concern at this, looking at them all one by one as Zarya and Anakin seemed to hold their breaths, little Verin was looking very intently at Sedyn who seemed closer than ever to fainting, even compared to earlier when he was losing too much blood.
Esah's gaze settled on him, cataloging every shape of his face in more detail now that there were no immediate distractions like fighting, running or blood to worry about.
A faint feeling of recognition ran through her, something that had been shoved deep inside for a long time coming out from her, (desperation, love, grief, hope) but not quite yet allowed to run free.
"And what might be your name?" Her voice stayed steady despite it all.
He took a gulping breath before managing to choke out his name. "Sedyn Marr. My name is Sedyn Marr."
"Oh," her reaction was immediate, her whole being slouching in her disbelief before tears flooded her eyes. "Oh."
As one, Zarya and Anakin stood up and quietly crossed the room towards the door, intent on giving the newly reunited family some space and time for themselves.
The last thing they witnessed as they closed the door behind them was the mother's tearful eyes as she reached up to hold her son's face, his trembling hand as he tentatively went to hold her wrist, and his baby sister's curious expression as she climbed on his bed to join them.
They all had their own conversations that needed to be had.
(( ))
If asked, both children would admit to not being the most open of people when it came to talking about feelings.
Anakin was the type to put up a brave front, no matter what challenge he had to face. A front he created to show no weakness to his previous owners, and to assure his mother that it was fine, he was fine and she needn't worry about him. When he did show the world what he felt, it was mostly when his mask fell when everything became too much, too fast and he tended to snap at people.
When he'd been a slave, it was one of the worst mistakes he could make in front of his master. Now, he was told by many that it was unbecoming of a Jedi, told to control his emotions better. This type of reaction to his bouts of temper wasn't exactly a great way to validate how he felt, or encourage him to express himself at all.
As for Zarya, well. Reincarnation, barely-dealt with grief, childhood neglect, so many secrets… Does she really need to explain herself?
She had thought that Anakin and her were each other's exceptions; that he could always talk freely to her and she to him. Now, she saw that she hadn't been quite as open to him as she should have been.
She might tell him a lot compared to the nothing she gave to everyone else, but that didn't mean she shared a lot with him to begin with.
And it had done him more harm than good, against her wishes.
Now, as they sat on a bench under the golden tree the hospital was apparently named after, Anakin was carefully dragging one of the carving knives she had gifted him on a square piece of wood, meticulously shaving strips off of it to create a new shape. By the faint lines he drew on its sides, it would shape up to be some sort of creature, but it was hard to tell which type for now.
He was working slower than usual, the echo of her pain probably sending his own hand mixed signals, but he didn't complain.
This was like meditation for him. He could think better while working on something like carvings, mechanical parts and objects . Zarya tended to fidget mindlessly instead, like messing with the hair bands on her wrists, or making small braids in her hair like she was doing right now. Her bandaged fingers made it trickier than usual.
They weren't looking at each other, but the bond was open, and that was leaps better than what they had those last few days.
"I never meant to shut you out," Zarya suddenly started the dreaded conversation. Therapy had given her tools to work through tough stuff, might as well use them. "I didn't mean to insinuate I didn't want you with me. You did something I didn't expect, following me on that ship, and I felt… I don't know. Like you didn't trust me to deal with the whole thing with Sedyn, maybe? And that was after you had followed me to the lower levels of Coruscant, too, when I'd felt the need to go there. I guess I wanted to do this whole thing alone, and I was frustrated when you insisted on going everywhere with me."
She took a break, taking deep, grounding breaths as she offered him an opening to interject if he so wished. He didn't take it, continuing his carving. That was fine.
"I'm sorry, Anakin. You do know that I love you, right? That I would never leave you intentionally? I might sometimes want to be alone, but never to be rid of you."
"I know that, but I also know that you think you need to protect me all of the time, from everything, and it's frustrating!" Anakin finally exploded, slamming the knife flat on the bench on his other side. "We do practically everything together when our classes and my apprenticeship allow us, from training to studying to playing, but the moment there might be something dangerous involved, you want to push me aside, leave me behind and do it by yourself!"
He forcefully deflated, leaning back on the bench and looking up at the golden leaves dancing in the wind above them. She didn't interrupt.
"And you know, we both know that I can hold my own, that I'm even better than you in a fight should it come to it. If I had been the one up there fighting those men with Sedyn while you looked after Verin, there would have been less injuries and Verin wouldn't have panicked half as much in your company. Because those are our strengths, right? I'm better with a lightsaber and stronger with the Force, while you understand people easier, and you know how to act with them more than I ever could.
But you send me to the safest option the moment you see it, because you'd rather risk your own life than trust me to do my part! Is this how it's going to go every time, during every mission we go together, during the war that's coming? You running headfirst into danger, leaving me behind to feel you get hurt, but powerless to help you?"
He was clutching his right wrist, his skin there feeling too warm and tingly, as if he'd been burnt like she had.
She wanted to protest, to explain that she didn't want to see him hurt any more than he did her, but that would be hypocritical of her. She knew he was right, in the end. Going to the lower levels of Coruscant alone, without an adult, had been dangerous in itself. Confronting Sedyn when he planned to leave in secret, knowing full well that he might refuse to reconsider was reckless, especially since she doubts she would've let her friend go on his own. (After all, the fact she never knew of his existence before heavily implied he hadn't made it long enough to matter the first time around.)
And fighting two full grown Mandalorians while she was still an initiate was downright stupid.
She had wanted Anakin away from all of it, but she'd refused to afford herself that same safety in situations where she knew something had to be done.
"I'm sorry. You're right," she conceded. "I was wrong to put you aside when it suited me best. I'll do my best to trust you better in the future, I swear."
He gave a shaky sigh, finally looking at her with a mix of lingering frustration and resignation. She held his gaze.
"I know you'll likely never trust me completely. There is plenty you don't tell me, and don't plan to tell me either."
Especially when it comes to the future you saw in that story, he finished silently. I know you didn't tell me half of it; you kept it very vague, told the bigger picture with little to no names or specific events.
She looked down at her lap, biting her lip.
"I understand, as much as I can anyway. There's a lot on the balance, too many lives could depend on that knowledge, and I know you've got plans that could be easily ruined if someone decides to mess with something they shouldn't have. But Zarya… you need to review what you can't share with me, and what you just won't trust me with. I feel what you do; every time you're stressed out, or you worry, or you're so afraid you can't move a finger, but I have almost no context to it all, unlike you. I already have to share that burden, whether you want me to or not."
A galactic wide war. An army of enslaved clones. Jedi as generals and commanders to that army. The death of the Jedi by that army, who has no choice but to obey, and the Sith lord creating his empire. A Death Star, and a lone Jedi aiding a rebellion to defeat the empire. That's all you've said, and we both know there are many, many details you haven't shared.
Yet.
"I'll think about everything and tell you all I can, Ani. I promise you."
He scrutinized her for a minute and she let him, intent on keeping her word.
"Okay," he accepted.
"Okay."
As he took her hand, she knew that they would be alright.
And that was that. Now, it was up to her to make it stay right.
After catching up on sleep. All this stress and drama had exhausted her.
Zarya nudged Anakin lightly when he snorted at her, making them both sway. She laid her head on his shoulder again, and finally allowed herself to rest for a little while.
Everything else could wait for tomorrow.
(
Finally done with this chapter! I rewrote it a few times before deciding it was good enough, and I am now moving on before I rewrite it again.
Not everyone might feel this story arch is important, but there is a reason for it all that will be seen soon and later, too, so no complaints!
Thank you to The Dark Sapphire, walkmanapprenticewordsmith, AnEmIg-Chan and Valsiusmacto for the reviews! I am sorry for the typos and yes, the control chip is taking some time to get out but it will happen.
Until next time!
-Maginary
)