just you and me (and the rest of the world) || anakin & ahsoka

Chapter 5

IT'S SATURDAY I KNOW I KNOW IM CUTTING IT CLOSE BUT IM GETTING A CHAPTER OUT THIS WEEK HA

—

Her room is painted white. She likes it like that because it feels like she's free to put up as many posters and pictures as she wants to. It's a clean color—a little too clean, like everything else in her mom's apartment.

Ayra doesn't have a lot of blankets, like Anakin does. Ayra has heaters that send warm air blowing through the vents in each room, so an abundance of blankets isn't entirely necessary.

The first thing that she does after setting her bag down on the bed is take a shower. Her mom has all the good lekku scrubs and creams—the fancy ones that don't make her montrals dry and her head tails crack.

She changes into an old t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts, feeling clean once she tucks herself beneath the covers of her too-large bed. Anakin's is a twin. Her bed at Ayra's is a queen.

"Did you eat before you left?" Ayra asks, peeking into the room with a little wave of her fingers in greeting. "Doria made hotcakes for breakfast this morning and I know you always say that your friend, Korkie's, are better than hers but there's lots left over if you want them."

Ahsoka smiles and leans forward to grab the yearbook off of the top of her suitcase as she says,

"I ate already, but I'll have them in the morning."

Ayra pouts playfully—one of the many things she does that annoy Ahsoka to no end for reasons that she cannot explain.

"I wanted to take you out to breakfast tomorrow," she tuts, voice an octave too high. Sometimes, Ahsoka thinks that her mom is so caught up in trying to be her favorite parent over Anakin that she forgets to focus on Ahsoka herself—that she forgets that her daughter is nearly fourteen, not four.

"We can go for lunch," Ahsoka replies, holding back a sigh as she drums her fingers on the spine of the book's hard cover, soft pads of the tips barely making a sound against it (her nails have been chewed raw for years, much to Ayra's frustration each time that she wants to get them done together).

"That sounds perfect," her mom practically sings, stepping all the way into her room.

This time, Ahsoka doesn't hide her sigh of annoyance, knowing that whether she wants her mom in here with her or not, it won't matter.

"What have you got there?" the togruta woman asks, gesturing toward the yearbook. Before Ahsoka can speak, she lets out a sharp gasp, throwing her hands over her mouth. "Is that my yearbook?" she cries.

"Dad's," Ahsoka mutters as Ayra takes a seat beside her, gently tugging the book out of her hands.

"I'm sure that you're in here somewhere, sweetie," her mom says absently as she flips through page after page of colorful pictures of students of all different species. "Aha." She points a white, manicured nail at an image in the top left corner of a page titled Memories.

Ahsoka leans forward to get a better look at it, recognizing a familiar tan face with a thin layer of bright blond hair atop it, holding a bundle of blankets close to his chest, two tiny, blue bumps peeking out of it. His mouth is open, in mid-laugh from the looks of it, and another hand is hovering just inches away from her. She assumes that it's her dad's because the man holding her in the picture is her Uncle Rex—Anakin's best friend.

"How often did you guys bring me to school?" she asks, taking the book back and placing it in her own lap, legs crossed.

Ayra smiles, tapping a finger against her chin.

"You stayed with your grandmother for a lot of the time—Anakin's mom. I know you don't remember much about her since she, of course, passed when you were very little," she says softly.

From all the stories that Ahsoka had been told about the insanity that had been her parents' lives after she'd been born, she had learned that her mother's parents had been very disapproving of Ayra's pregnancy, and had kicked her out almost immediately. Shmi had taken her in and cared for her until Ahsoka had been born.

Her dad always speaks so highly of his mother, and sometimes Ahsoka wonders what it would be like to have a relationship like that with her own.

"There were some days, though, that we brought you in," Ayra continues. "Dad liked to have you close to himself at all times. He only trusted Uncle Rex and me to hold you," she laughs.

"Sounds like him," Ahsoka teases. "Always protective."

"Very," Ayra sighs back, rising from her spot on the bed. "He used to threaten anyone who gave me odd looks while I was pregnant."

Ahsoka nods along to her mother's words, very much ready for the woman to leave her alone for the night. Talking with her always makes her tired.

There's a somewhat uncomfortable kiss on her orange forehead (Ahsoka doesn't like physical touch much. There are very few people who she'll allow herself to indulge in it from), and an artificial laugh from the redder of the two, and then the lights dim and the door clicks shut. Ahsoka lets out a breath of relief. She likes to be alone when she's staying with her mom.

The blankets are cool and crisp—new. The bed had been freshly made for her before she'd arrived, likely by Ayra's maid, Doria. It's cold, Ahsoka notices, because these blankets haven't been used by anyone else. They don't hold the same sense of comfort as Anakin's do when she takes his bed for the night, with or without him. It doesn't smell like him—it doesn't smell like home.

It doesn't feel like home.

But she has the yearbook and she can flip to page 86, where it says that the students with last names starting with S can be found, and she can see the love in her father's blue eyes as he stares back at her through nothing but ink and paper.

And she can pretend that he's really here, kissing her goodnight in a way that feels warm and real and doesn't make her cringe.

And she'll call him tomorrow night. She'll hear his voice, and he'll hear hers, and everything will be alright.

—

so ayra's not as much of a bitch as i was planning on making her. she's just... kinda fake, yknow? anyways hope you enjoyed! see you sooooon :) have a good night!!