𝗙𝗔𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 | anakin skywalker

✰ 57: trust and the truth

Anakin. Of all people? Really?

He was her husband. He was supposed to trust her whenever other people didn't, not feed their doubts. He was supposed to be on her side. At least Master Kenobi tried. How could the Council not trust her? How could they take her off a mission like that? She didn't care if she died. She was a Jedi. Surely the Council understood that. And yet they just leave her off this war-altering mission, one that could end it all, and send Obi-Wan all alone to defeat General Grievous. The chancellor requested Anakin go, and she hadn't liked that, sure, but if he wanted to go, she wouldn't have stopped him. A warning, perhaps, but he couldn't be stopped.

That stupid, stupid boy.

A few knocks sounded at the sparring room door, and Akya looked to find Obi-Wan Kenobi taking a step inside, his gaze full of concern for the Padawan. "Akya," he said. "I need to speak with you."

"Are you angry with me?" she asked, retracting her lightsaber blade.

"No," he said.  "I understand your feelings.  I just want to talk." He glanced at the charred sparring dummy in front of the Padawan, then walked around it, both Jedi taking a seat on one of the benches on the side wall.

"I still don't understand," Akya began, taking a seat. "Why would they not want me to go? Why would Anakin not want me to go?"

"Akya, you must know, I trust you with my life," Obi-Wan said. "If it were up to me, you would come. But it's not up to me. The Council is not blaming you for anything, nor calling you a hindrance to missions. It would, however, be a hindrance if you were captured, or injured, or worse. They're already after you."

"I know," she said, looking down at her lap.

"Anakin was just trying to keep you safe. He's under a lot of stress right now. And trust me, he was not the deciding vote. More than half the Council voted on your stay."

Akya sighed, then turned to her master. "Were you on the Jedi Council when I first learned to use the Force?" she asked.

"I was not," he replied.

"But do you know the stories?"

"Plo Koon says you meditated for nearly a week straight before the abilities became strong enough for training to begin."

"That's what I told them," she said, nodding slightly. "But it wasn't entirely true."

Obi-Wan's face scrunched in confusion.

"I meditated a bit," she explained. "But the first time I felt the Force was not in meditation. It was with Anakin. He taught me."

"When was this?"

"Ages ago," she replied. "Before the Jedi were integrated into the armies. Anakin was still your Padawan then. He's the one who was with me for that week, doing tests and playing silly child's games, really. He was the first person who actually succeeded on my hopeless case. Every master in the Temple had tried, and it was that stupid boy who actually did it."

Obi-Wan smiled. "He's only looking out for you because he still sees that girl," he said. "And because in some ways, he is still very much that stupid Padawan."

"I should talk to him," she said.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Perhaps."

"Thank you for helping me calm down, Master," she said, standing.

"It's what I'm here for," he said, also standing. "You should have told me the other things sooner, though."

Akya smiled. "Probably."