A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far Away

Chapter 111

....really worry.... Luna wanted to laugh.

She was already far beyond that point, and Obi-Wan wasn't even close to being sent off to fight Grievous yet.

Luna took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together. Anakin was accepting his mission, not easily, but he was. Furthermore, he was doing it willingly.

Now all she needed to do was find a way to suggest watching Palpatine closer without strictly suggesting it.

Easier said than done. Luna would have told Anakin to look closer at Palpatine's actions if she knew that he wouldn't immediately think she was accusing the Chancellor of something, as so many people were doing, and there would be yet another flash of Vader, which she had not enjoyed seeing in the slightest. And if he decided that there was way more to the hint because of her knowledge, then he might make a premature discovery. Whether or not Luna liked it, Grievous needed to be found, and preferably dealt with, before Sidious or else the Sith would have supported to run too.

Or worse yet, the war would get completely out of control with Grievous himself being the only person running it.

And Luna had thought EOGs were stressful.

She wasn't ready for this. She wasn't prepared.

Luna was only a kid, and yet the galaxy was now depending upon her.

And with her past, with how much of a disappointment she was, how weak, how utterly broken, the Force couldn't have made a worse decision. Was it really so hard to have Luke or Leia or, better yet, both of them travel back in time and fix things?

No, the Force had to choose a fourteen-year-old girl that was unused to such stress and had anxiety problems.

Luna was having a silent mental breakdown behind the mask she had crafted her face into and the walls around her mind.

Yes, she loved being in their world even though she hadn't even been there for more than a week, even if they were counting the entire Bespin thing, but how was she supposed to stop the Empire's creation if she didn't even really know how? Luna wasn't a fighter. How was she supposed to stop Sidious if she couldn't stand up against him?

That was, she didn't think of herself as a fighter.

As Anakin had noticed back on Earth, Luna had it in her to fight, she just didn't.

But now....

Now Luna didn't have a choice. It was time to find out how much a fighter she really was, given she still had some time before things got to that point. First she had to deal with the subtleties, and that meant Anakin needed to be okay with opening up to her and be able to see what little was obvious.

"You know Anakin, about your mission," Luna said, speaking for the first time in awhile. Obi-Wan had gone off to the Archives, and Anakin had decided to try and see if he could drill a few more steps of one of the forms into her. They were on their way to one of the training rooms to begin. "You should really watch everyone, even....even Palpatine. You know, if he acts a certain way around different people, you may be able to get a better read on the situation...."

That works right? Hinting, but not hinting? Luna questioned herself.

"Palpatine's a good man! Why does everyone think he isn't?" Anakin responded.

"I didn't say that he wasn't," as much as I would like to. "What I'm saying is that you should watch his interactions with people and keep yourself open to the Force. Force knows where, or when, you may be able to find hints. Just a suggestion."

"Right.... Luna I'm sorry, it's just...." Anakin dropped off. Luna didn't need to know the story to know he was under stress too.

"It's alright Anakin. Don't worry about it.... Do you want to talk?" she asked, looking up at him, her voice sounding a bit hopeful at the end, despite her attempt to control it. Anakin sighed. Luna wouldn't have known it, but her mask slipped, her disappointment showing for a moment. "It's alright if you don't. I understand."

But I can't help you if you don't.

"I'm not a very open person myself, so I get it."

You're rambling.

Luna bit her lips to prevent herself from continuing to talk.

"It's not that," Anakin replied. "It's just.... We're all on the same side, aren't we?"

Mainly. Depends upon your point of view. "We are all against the Separatists."

"Then why is it that the Chancellor doesn't trust the Council, enough so he wants me to watch them, and the Council mistrusts him so much that they want me to watch him? We're all on the same side, but everyone is using me to make up their political agenda."

"To be honest, neither are really using you for a political agenda," as of yet. "Palpatine thinks the Council wants to overthrow the Republic, which they don't, and the Council thinks he wants to disband the entire Order, which isn't true," because he wants to straight up destroy it. "Anakin, I see both sides, and both sides have good points." If I were a Sith Lord in Sidious's position, or anyone that meant well and actually needed emergency powers, this would be the right path of action. The Council also is right to fear Palpatine and his growing power, and I am fully on their side. "I just have the bonus of hindsight. I know where this goes, and right now the Council needs the most help.... After all, Palpatine nominated you for just about the same thing that the mission is. He wanted you to keep an eye on the Council, the Council wants you to keep an eye on him. You can make both sides fully transparent to the other without telling them that each is fully transparent, but I would suggest stuff that is strictly Jedi business, like where I'm from or the circumstances of me being here, stay in the Council Chambers." Please don't tell Palpatine anything more than is needed about me.... Or any Jedi escape plans once I figure out a way to get that movement going. "Especially since anything you tell Palpatine may be going straight to Sidious as well."

"I see your point," Anakin told her after a moment. "I hate to lie to him though...."

"Don't think of it as lying.... Think of it as withholding certain truths or looking at it from a certain point of view. Someone can give you the full story and still withhold tones of information," like I'm doing now, Luna thought to herself guiltily.

Like I will be for a very long time.