Angels Like You | (Out of Date)

Chapter 35

Anakin bursts forwards in his bed, throwing his blankets off of him in a frantic manner and catching his breath on the gasp stuck in his throat. The morning light filters through his room, pooling on the soft stone floor in front of his bed.

His dreams have gotten worse. Nightmares about Circe dead in the Dantooine forest, her skin split open as if some giant creature had gotten hold of her. His hands reaching out for her just as she slips over an edge into a shadowy abyss, screaming his name, screaming her hatred for him, the sickening sound of her body snapping at the bottom of whatever dark hole swallows her up. In some he reaches her first. In some she is pulled out of his grasp. In all, she dies.

He gets up quickly, his throat tight and dry. He readies himself for the day, washing his face, strapping his belt on under his robes, fidgeting with the switch of his lightsaber as he waits for his bedroom door to slide open.

Beside his, Circe's door is still closed. He knocks and waits, and then presses the button to open it. If she's still asleep he'll get breakfast alone, but he desperately wants to see her. Inside, her bed sheets are strewn over her bed and on the floor. His heart jumps. He thinks of his dreams, of her body lying twisted and mangled before him.

"Calm yourself, my boy." Chancellor Palpatine makes himself known outside the door, peering in to see what has made Anakin so flighty, "Your friend is safe."

"Chancellor," Anakin breathes, his shoulders dropping. Palpatine's presence calms Anakin almost immediately. The panic dissolves into soft, sugary peace, something he has not felt for weeks. "What are you doing here, sir?"

"I came to see you, of course."

This, too, eases Anakin.

"Come, Skywalker, let's go sit somewhere so that we may talk."

Anakin follows him out, giving Circe's messy bed one last glance over his shoulder.

"I was wondering how you were feeling now that you've reached a new level of connection with the Force? It has been a few weeks since you rescued Circe from her kidnapper. Much has happened, I hear." Palpatine asks, sitting on a bench towards the end of the empty hallway.

Anakin sits beside him. "I feel fine. The Council was unhappy with how I managed to do it. They are still suspicious of where I had learned it."

He nods. "I told you they wouldn't understand."

"I got her home safe. That's what's important. But they don't see it that way. They've been watching me, I can sense it, even if they're trying to be discreet. They're worried about me."

Palpatine nods and folds his hands gently in his lap. The simple gesture calms Anakin's fears about the Council being right. The Chancellor understands him, and who's judgement could be more sound than that of one of the most powerful men in all of the Republic?

"How is she?" Palpatine asks slowly, eyeing him. "Since Kesis."

He looks up at the Chancellor. "You know?"