Star Wars One-Shots

Trapped in Fleeting Moments - Part 2: Revenge of the Jedi

Author's Note: Minor warnings for Obi-Wan's 101-How-To-Adopt-Your-First-Child-Guidebook. Just don't do any of his Do's. :)

Usually.

Also, I don't think some of the stuff in here is how the Force or the chips work like at all, but I decide. =)))

PS. This is for Day 5 of the Anakin Rarepair Week.

~ Tirana Sorki

"How are the injured?" Anika asks, a light breeze whipping past her as she stands next to Fox outside, overseeing the cleanup. Buildings are still smoking from the Separatist attack on Coruscant. It's the first real battle she's ever been in. And Palpatine was kidnapped. Dooku knows who he is, so it must've been at least partly staged but that didn't stop her fear for him.

"Most of them will make it," Fox replies – a lot of the Coruscant Guard were lost in the attack. They were the main forces here, other than the Jedi, to defend the Republic from losing their own capital.

Anika nods. "That's good."

"What about you?" Fox asks, "You came pretty close to being taken with the Chancellor."

"I'm fine. Still recovering from seeing Grievous, though." She'd barely made it out the door form that general – he's a monster and she would've bene perfectly happy to fight him, but she had to play helpless. She can't wait until she doesn't have to anymore.

She's seventeen now and she's been a Sith apprentice for years. (Doesn't mean she's looking forward to everything she knows actively being a Sith will entail, though.)

"No doubting that," Fox agrees dryly.

Anika's gaze drifts across Coruscant's surface in front of her. There's something... Something's been nagging at her ever since the attack.

The war is supposed to be almost over, even if she doesn't know what Sidious has planned after that. Never asked. It's not her place.

But Dooku was captured when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan went on board the Invisible Hand, and now Obi-Wan's gone to hunt down Grievous. Everything should be wrapping up, but... something feels wrong. Dark. And like it's only going to get worse. To be fair, she has no idea what the end of the war is going to mean for the Jedi, but... Sidious will have to work out something with them, right? He never did say how he intends to... be rid of those who won't cooperate. It wasn't something she needed to know.

Fox's hand touches her shoulder, and she starts slightly, looking up at him. His helmet is off, and she briefly meets his gaze, ignoring the longing that twists in her heart. It's been nearly three years since they first met, and since – But it doesn't matter. Anything more is just a dream. She needs to remember that. At least they can be friends. "Are you alright?"

Anika shakes her head. "I think something's wrong. The war should be almost over but... I don't know. Gut feeling, I guess." She probably shouldn't mention it at all, but... It's still unsettling that Fox remembers nothing of her ability to use the Force. She'd like to know what Sidious did to him, but she's never brought herself to address that again. Sidious rubbed that failure in her face enough times – she's glad no one else has talked about it since, but sometimes she could swear she feels the Jedi's eyes on her, watching, wondering.

Her comm beeps suddenly, a message from Sidious, telling her to come back to the Senate immediately. A prickle of unease runs through her, even if she's not sure why.

"I'll... see you later," she says, ignoring the strange feeling inside of her that when she sees him again, everything is going to be different.

***