A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far Away

Chapter 136

Anakin was halfway to Luna's normal seat in the Archives when he realized it was occupied by someone else. He looked around worriedly, scanning the other tables, unable to spot the black haired girl.

Where was she?

"Knight Skywalker." Anakin looked up at his name to find Jocasta Nu coming towards him, straight from the entrance of the Archives. That was rather....strange, the librarian rarely left the Archives, especially when there were a far amount of padawans present. Anakin and Ahsoka had even once joked that the woman had a bed hidden somewhere in the library where she slept.

"Uh, yes Madam Nu?" Anakin responded.

"I have something to discuss with you," Jocasta told him, as she gestured for him to follow her.

"Alright," Anakin mutter as he began to follow. "Just out of curiosity, where is Luna?"

"Elsewhere, I'll take you to her, but first I need to tell you this." The librarian stopped at the end of an abandoned aisleway on the second level of the Archives. She glanced around to ensure they were alone before finally speaking, holding up a vial of something. "Someone, a Jedi I believe, tried to inject this into Luna's arm; it's a slow acting poison. I barely managed to prevent it from happening. I would suggest you make sure Luna isn't left alone anymore."

Anakin took a few moments to process Jocasta's words and implications. Someone had tried to poison Luna?

A day ago, he would have been accusing of whoever to be Vader, but it wasn't that particular Sith for obvious reasons.

So, who the hell was it?

"Who was it?"

"Unfortunately, I have been unable to find out who. I don't wish to consider it, but it's possible she is a Temple Guard, assuming someone didn't sneak into the Temple. Unlikely, but possible."

A Temple Guard?! "Okay," Anakin muttered running a hand over his face. "I'll definitely keep an eye out."

Jocasta nodded. "I just can't believe someone would try that."

"Do you think it was because she has something against Luna being here, or because she has fallen?"

"I'm sure it's just distrust of Luna, after all, she has been here for a while and many that do not know why she is here want her gone. I doubt anyone stationed at the Temple itself has turned. It was probably just to get Luna out of the Temple."

"Right, someone turning is not that likely," Anakin said, even as his thoughts disagreed on the matter. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

Jocasta nodded, turning away from him as she glanced around once more before lifting a hand to remove several books before placing them back. Anakin was hard pressed to contain his surprise when the bookshelf opened as a door to one of the many secret vaults hidden within the Archives.

Great. Yet another thing for Vader to exploit should he turn.

Anakin quickly moved his train of thought to other avenues, which was rather easy to do as he quickly spotted Luna already inside studying the artifacts.

How did she get in there and why?

Luna looked up at them as they entered the vault, a happy glow about her that Anakin honestly hadn't seen since they'd first arrived on Coruscant. It was actually somewhat refreshing to see her acting more like her age once more.

It was then that Anakin truly realized that the past few months had been taking just as much a toll on her as it had been on him.

"Anakin, you won't believe what's in here!!" the girl said excitedly. "There's this gun thing that you can put your lightsaber into and use it like a rifle!"