Explosions: anakin skywalker

chapter 16

the moon reminded him of her. so beautiful, so bright, and so far away.

Night crawls over the buildings of Coruscant, and Padmé is sound asleep behind closed doors. Obi Wan makes his rounds around the quarters, and Elara and Anakin sit unmoving in front of Padme's room.

They hardly breath out of fear of breaking their fragile silence. They sit close enough to each other to act like a guarding unit, but far enough apart so that they do not touch. Elara does not dare look over, and Anakin stares straight ahead to do the same.

It has been four days since Obi Wan and Elara arrived, and Anakin has not said more than he has had to to Elara. And when moonlight appears and the two are left alone, he makes sure that he lets nothing slip from his lips.

At every small noises throughout the house, Elara flinches, and Anakin wants nothing more to calm her worries. It's just the wind, it's just this place creaking, it's just my heart beating so loudly that it's impossible that you do not hear it...

He knows he should not write off these instincts, but Elara seems so on edge, more than even he is...he wishes she didn't have to be so afraid.

It takes all of Elara's energy to not look over at Anakin, which infuriates her, because she knows her energy should be channeled into her powers and into that only. She is sure that if the trespasser came onto the premises, she would be likely to miss them.

Her want for him distracts her to the point where there is nothing else to focus on but the sound of his inhaling and exhaling.

She wishes for a moment that she can see what is going on in his head. The man is like stone. She has not been able to decode his expressions at any point for the past four days.

All Elara knows is that he has been so far away when he was once so close, and the space he has left aches in his absence.

Within the next moment, she comes to the realization that with her power, she may be able to catch a glimpse of what is going on behind his cold, blue eyes. Elara dares to look over at him, and he is facing away. The moon beams and the city lights pour in through the windows to the left of him, bouncing off of his smooth skin and illuminating him. The emotions the vision of beauty gives her, fuels her, and she sends out her Force like vines searching up the side of a building, sleeping into cracks of the foundation.

He does not waver physically, but he feels her, and he sends a message to her just as she was on the verge of his mind.

Stay out of my head.

It is as if he yelled it, causing Elara's heart to beat wildly and her power to recoil back into the depths of her brain. She continues to watch him, hurt, and he feels her.

He lets himself feel her, and she devastates him.

"You have to stop," he breaks the silence and her breath hitches. Anakin's eyes shut for a moment, his head leaning back against Padme's door as they sit side by side. A flare of frustration spikes within her.

She glares at him as she speaks, "You know I can't. We cannot go on like this, Anakin. You have to let me in a little bit."

"Things are not as they used to be, Elara," he finally meets her gaze for what seems like the first time since her and Obi Wan's arrival, "I cannot give you a piece of me when I know all of it should belong to Padmé." All of him is not in Padmé's possession, and he feels guilty. The parts he cannot return to Padmé are held within the woman before him.

"I'm not even just speaking in terms of us together...like that," Elara stumbles over her words, but tries to stay generally unwavering, "We have to be a team. You, me and Obi Wan. If you love her so much, you would bury whatever disdain you hold towards Obi Wan and I and work with us in order for us to protect her." This truth strikes a cord with Anakin, and she sees it by the way his jaw clenches. Good. He does not see the latent, selfish reasons Elara wants him to reach out to her.

"You're right," he admits, his voice softer now, "I'm sorry." She tames his fire like no one else.

His apology surprises her, but she nods in response and looks forward again.

Now it is his turn to steal a view of her. The light catches her full lips and blonde tendrils of hair perfectly.

"I have missed you," he offers, his voice growing even softer yet.

Elara does not dare say she missed him too. He is torn, and she can tell by the way his voice fluctuates like the ocean, brash sometimes and smooth as glass at other times.

She cannot risk more, and she knows it. He could crush her, and she knows it.

Instead, she simply nods again. They both hear a shifting noise a little ways down the hallway, and Elara sits up quickly, her blue eyes wide in alarm. He knows she is on high alert and should be, but he finally speaks to sooth her, "Most of those noises are harmless, Elara. Take deep breaths. Calm your heart. It is going to be alright. If it was something, we can face it head on together. As a team, right?"

She gives him the closest thing to a smile that he has seen since they started spending time alone together again, and he foolishly lets his heart race a little. She is such a bright light, like a comet, but in these moments under the dimmer light of the moon, with sleep on her shoulders and eyelids heavy, she is devastatingly soft.

It was unfair of the universe to create such a being, someone capable of both the fury of fire and the softness of clouds.

He senses how tired she is and speaks again, every moment in her presence bringing more emotions to his surface that he is not able to stifle.

"You can sleep, if you wish," he whispers, "I'll wake you if I need you, but you seem so tired, and what good is a guard who is tired?"

"You have a point," she chuckles softly, her eyelids already drifting to a close as she watches him once more before letting sleep take her. She feels safe and at peace like the last time she slept beside him, a way she has not felt in what feels like eons.

"Goodnight, Anakin." The words find their way to his ears like music, and he lets a smile play across his lips as he replies, "Goodnight, Elara."

Silence settles back over the two night watchmen, but it is comfortable this time, for at least the two are on speaking terms now.

Using Padmé as an excuse, at least the two can finally spend time with one another without feeling as if they are stepping on shards of glass. Because they have missed each other, and any amount of time in any way together is better than none.

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WOWOWWOW I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER! Please comment what your favorite line was. Really excited to be bringing this story to life again.

Btw I probably will be writing that Han Solo fic soon, so watch out for that!!

Also, I very frequently update my poetry boom "Wearing Clear Skin", so if you ever want a piece of my writing in between chapters, that is a good place to look.

Thanks, love you all :)