The Senator And The Jedi

Chapter Thirteen: Lux's Nightmare

Ahsoka

In the end, it was arranged for the Naberries and Janrens to stay the night. The house was more than big enough for all of them, and, several hours after the sun went down, everyone finally turned in.

Ahsoka had spoken to Lux some, but every time she got too close to him for Annina's liking, the latter would find some excuse to chase her away. The two girls had exchanged looks with narrowed eyes and crossed arms for the rest of the night.

The bitter taste of their jealous feelings towards one another was in the air, and it was the herald of a coming war. Ahsoka was a military commander, after all. She knew the signs when she saw them.

She sighed, rolling over in bed. She'd spent nearly an hour meditating, and had only just gone to bed. But sleep was ever elusive – her mind was too busy revising the different facets of Ryoo and Pooja's plan to allow it.

Suddenly, she felt a subtle tremor in the Force, like a drop of water hitting a still pool and creating ripples. She concentrated on it, probing it carefully to find out what it was and where it was coming from.

It was Lux. And he was having a nightmare.

But, unable to block out his fear and pain in the dream, which were polluting the Force around her, she got out of bed and put her leggings on under her sleeping shirt. His anguish hurt her too, and she wanted to see if there was anything she could do to make it better – for both their sakes.

She walked out of the room after taking a minute to figure out how the door worked. It turned out that it was one of the old-style pull-or-push-open doors that used a knob or a handle. No one used doors like these anymore, and it made Ahsoka wonder just how old the Varykino estate was.

Padding silently down the carpeted hallway, she made her way to Lux's room. Making a tough decision, she decided to walk right in without knocking. She didn't want to wake anyone else up.

Closing the door softly behind her, she walked over to the bed up against one wall. The window was open, and she could just see Lux's form in the moonlight.

Pale-faced, he was tossing and turning. His breathing was fast and irregular, and thanks to her lekku, she could feel his heartbeat; it was fluttering like a bird's.

He also wasn't wearing a shirt, putting a rather attractive ensemble of muscles on full display. But, despite how difficult it was, she chose to look past that.

She sat down next to him, putting a hand carefully on his shoulder. He flinched at her touch, but she kept it there anyways. "Lux! Lux, wake up!"

"N-no... Don't!" He made a quiet mew of fear. He was obviously reacting to something in his dream.

"Lux!" she hissed again. This time, it worked.

He sat bolt upright, his hands up in fists as if to ward off an imaginary attacker. Then he noticed her. "Ahsoka...?" he said, his breathing beginning to regulate again.

She took her hands in his, uncurling his fingers from the fists. "You were having a nightmare," she said. Through the Force, she could see some of the images from his dream – he had been reliving traumatic experiences from his past. "It's all right, Lux. You're safe now – you were never in any danger to begin with."

"I..." He sighed. "It just... It felt so real." Then an odd expression came to his face. "Wait... What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, sorry. I just... I could sense your fear. I knew you were having a nightmare, but I couldn't fall sleep when you were so afraid like that. I wanted to make sure you were okay." Suddenly her eyes darted to his shoulder, and to the trails of crimson that were dripping from it. "Lux, you're bleeding! What happened?"

He looked down at his arm, apparently noticing only then that the stitches over the blaster wound on his shoulder had opened up, and were oozing blood sluggishly. "Kriff..." he muttered under his breath. "It must have opened up again. I–" He broke off in a cry of pain. "Can you get the bandages? They're in my suitcase."

"Of course," Ahsoka answered softly. Then a slight smile came to her lips. "Hang on; I'm going to try something first. It's a Jedi Healing technique a good friend of mine taught me."

He nodded, though his expression was wary. A quiet laugh escaped her lips. "Do you trust me, Lux?"

He smiled and nodded, sitting up a little taller to give her better access to the wound. "I trust you," he said. Then he did something very unexpected: he leant over and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

She smiled, turning her head away to hide the blush on her face. Then she put her hands over his shoulder. Concentrating hard, and summoned the Healing energy as she had been taught by her friend – another Padawan by the name of Barriss Offee – from her inner Force-sensitive midichlorians.

The skin on his shoulder began to glow a soft blue, and Ahsoka could feel the flesh underneath her fingertips beginning to knit and heal itself. But after a moment, exhausted as she was since she didn't do this often, she was force to stop.

"Okay, that's the best I can do for now," she said. "I'm not really accustomed to using the Force like this – it's taking more out of me than I thought it would."

"That's all right," he replied. "It already feels a lot better."

She got up, a smile on her face, and went to get the bandages and a bacta patch. Then, careful not to agitate the wound, she put the bacta patch over the wound and twisted the strips of soft cloth around his shoulder.

Lux stayed still for the duration of Ahsoka's treatment, but when she had finished, he carefully moved to her side. She tried to calm her breathing, but her proximity to a shirtless boy – who just happened to be extremely attractive – was getting the better of her.

Oh, Force, she thought. I'm in love... There's no doubt about it anymore.

"So thanks, then," he whispered, before he leant in and kissed her on the lips.

This time, there was no one to interrupt them. Although Ahsoka's mind was screaming at her to pull away, her heart refused to comply. She kissed him back, carefully putting her arms around his neck. His arms snaked around her waist.

Things never got too intense between them, and Ahsoka was glad for that. She was still wary of what was going on; thankfully, the contact never escalated beyond gentle kisses. However, there was still passion coming into play. Ahsoka could tell that Lux was enjoying it, as was she, despite her guardedness.

When they finally parted – a lack of air was starting to get to both of them – Ahsoka found herself smiling. Her eyes still closed, she butted her nose gently against his. Their lips just brushed at that distance, but it wasn't close enough. Just for good measure, she kissed him again.

She flopped down on the bed, and giggled when Lux bounced as the bedsprings tried to compensate. "Can I stay here tonight?" She pulled the blankets up around her in pretend sleepiness. "Your bed is a lot comfier than mine..."

"Sure," Lux said, and came crashing down next to her.

After some shifting, they were both comfortable. He put his arms around her, pulling her close to him. Ahsoka relished in the contact: he was nice and warm, and his skin was soft and smooth.

Soon after, the Jedi Padawan and the Senator fell asleep.

*Hello all!! Sorry I haven't updated recently... The creativity wasn't flowing, and I only got around to writing it yesterday afternoon. And then I realized I had a ton of studying and written work to do last night so I'm posting this now, at the crack of dawn, before I go to school EARLY *growls* to finish up a project.

It's a nice, long chapter, and with some nice Luxsoka moments to make up for the wait. I'll do my best to update soon, but until two of three days from now, it looks like it's gonna be pretty hectic. School is never merciful at the end of the semester. So yeah.

Bye!