𝗙𝗔𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 | anakin skywalker

✰ 44: do something about it

"Akya," called a voice in a whisper.  Akya had been sitting on a bench just outside the hall that held most of the sparring rooms, trying to quiet her mind.  The meditation had done some good, at least. 

She opened her eyes to find her husband walking toward her, fast.  She stood up and met him in the middle of the empty hallway.  The couple threw their arms around each other and spun from the impact.  Even after they stopped, neither let go. 

"Anakin," she said. She looked up at him, her hands still on his upper arm. He held onto her in the same way. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"I know," he said.

"She's..." Akya didn't want to say it. "They expelled her?"

Anakin nodded.

"I know how hard this is for you," she said. "I can feel your anxiety. Your conflict." The way the Force surrounded him right now was like an entanglement of yarn— you could never find where one emotion ended and another began. It had all blended together, like a cloud of dust.

Anakin shook his head. "They can't do this, Akya. They can't. There has to be something I can do." This meant that they had indeed expelled Ahsoka from the order, and her Republic trial was to start soon.

"You're doing it," she said. "You're doing all that you can. Ahsoka knows that."

"I just wanted to come see you," he looked back into her eyes and said. He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear— her bangs were now long enough to do so, as she had been growing her hair back out for a long time now. "I needed comfort."

"I'm glad you came," she said. She looked around. The wide hallway was empty and would most likely stay that way, but Akya's anxieties crept up on her. "We shouldn't be out in the open like this."

"I know," he said. "I have to go now. Padmé is representing Ahsoka in the trial. I'm taking her to the building where she's being held."

Akya and he both let go of each other, though stayed close. Akya sighed. Anakin kissed her forehead, and she smiled up at him. "May the Force be with you, Anakin."

Anakin half-smiled at her. He tried to put on a good face, but Akya could tell by his eyes the anxiety and frustration he was feeling. She understood that. Akya was glad that, at least for a moment, she was able to quiet these emotions by being his comfort, his calm during the storm. But calm could only last so long. The hurricane would always come back.

— ★ ✰ ☆ —

Akya sat. And she waited. Obi-Wan was sitting in on the trial, and who knows what Anakin was doing— he wouldn't be allowed to attend the trial. There wasn't much else to do in the quiet Jedi Temple, so she took to one of the sparring rooms and began practicing her forms. The repetitive nature of this task passed time rather quickly, but it was only 30 minutes before Anakin Skywalker barged into the room. She turned to face him immediately, donning a look of surprise. She hadn't been expecting him.

He pulled her cloak from one of the hooks near the door as she retracted her lightsaber blade, confused as to what he had come for.

"Come on," he said, holding out her cloak. She walked over to him.

"Where are we going?" she asked, clipping her saber onto her belt. She then allowed him to help her into the cloak.

"We're going to do something."

Akya followed her husband deep into the lower levels of Coruscant, the only lights coming from luminescent signs signaling different shops and advertisements, all written brightly in Aurebesh.