Hurricane // (AU) Anakin Skywalker

38. Awake

another chapter that I have spent hours editing. I hope you like it :')
this one is also a rollercoaster and all your emotions are gonna bounce off the walls.
Love ya always
_________

~Aayla's POV~

This week has been turbulent to say the least.

We've divided enough crazy shit amongst the 8 of us that tops the cup off. Just when you think you're in the clear of anymore disasters, that the glass is about to overflow, we get smacked upside the head, teetering on the unwinding rope of sanity. Like some kind of sick fucking curse.

As much as my heart wants to guide me to that front step, nudging a single toe inside of the Skywalker house would be like strutting into a pit of vipers. Nobody has this past week, antsy to walk into a lions den of rage or despair or get swallowed into a soul sucking depression. So space was decided. Even by Artey.

Padme is bouncing off walls in our home, finding small task that keep ranking higher in terms of odd. Rearranging closets, discarding random belongings, sorting spoons... applying various makeup looks one after the other until her skin is raw from rubbing it off. The list goes on.

"I don't know. I'm just worried about her."

Maul drew my body in tighter under the sheets, keeping a palm in my hair while his chin perched on my head. It's these moments, away from his job and the chaos of a Naboo night, where I get the princess treatment that nobody else gets to witness.

He sighed over me, casting a balm of warmth on my crown. "She has you. Keep an eyes on her and I'll keep mine on this pretty face in front of me." He raised my jaw with his finger to kiss my lips tenderly. "I'll try to get ahold of the-"

On cue, the ringtone sounded.

My eyes involuntarily glanced at the screen, enough to see a bolded 'A.' My drowsiness rejuvenated into a ball of energy that shot me wide awake. Ahsoka has minimally kept in touch, gaining the role of caretaker while Anakin played dead. And something we didn't expect, was a call this early. While excitement and relief circled my mind, it fought with fear all the same due to impending news that was just a click away. "Holy shit."

He waited briefly, long enough to hear a breath. Maul spoke softly through the phone. "Hey man, it's good to hear from you... Aayla's here... no you're not interrupting anything, but if you called about 10 minutes earlier," I hit his chest. Now is not the time, "joking. Is there anything I can do for you and 'Soka?"

I tried to decipher the monotone muffling on the other line with a deep grumbling tone. Like a corpse, his words groaned lowly, eliciting a hum through the speaker. I kept track of Maul's face, his expression eliciting a sort of fog as he kept nodded to himself amidst those furrowed brows. "What's he saying!?"

All he did was look at me. A perplexed look, like his eyes were translating the spoken story on the other line. I sensed his tension, a sorrowful feeling, which made my heart shatter and spear incisions inside of my stomach. "Anakin I encourage you to really really think about that. Don't be reckless... I-... but Ana-... okay, okay... I'll see you in a bit. Bye."

He placed the top platform on the bridge of his nose defeatedly before nonchalantly letting the phone fall from his hand and bounce off the floor. "What the hell is going on!?" He exhaled, trailing his hands through his hair, simultaneously putting pressure on his temples. "Maul!?"