The Tragic Jedi | Anakin Skywalker

𝓢𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓮 𝟒𝟐

❝𝑱𝒆𝒅𝒊. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌. 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒅𝒊 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍!❞ --𝑨𝒔𝒂𝒋𝒋 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔

❈✱❉✤❈✱❉

"Ahsoka escaped," Anakin informed the seated Council situated around the edge of the circular chamber. The room was dark as the moon rose higher in the Coruscant sky, and shadows gathered at the edges of the room.

Master Yoda's gaze dipped down to the ground as he murmured, "Of great concern this is. Continue to find the young Padawan we must."

"I have already contacted the Coruscant Security Force," Master Windu spoke up from where he sat with his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped together in front of him. "We will pursue her again tomorrow."

Astrid and Anakin had no choice but to nod at Master Windu's orders, and the stern Jedi Master said, "The Council is dismissed until tomorrow."

The Jedi Masters rose to their feet around the room, and Astrid envied them for having been able to sit down for just a few minutes. Her legs ached from running through the pipe system and along the base's perimeter wall. Plus, her feet hurt from standing up and being up and about all day.

"I'm headed to bed," she told Anakin quietly as they slipped out of the room behind the Jedi Masters, and he dipped his head once, looking a little absentminded. She dared to squeeze his hand briefly in reassurance before she turned and headed to her room.

Astrid was dead on her feet when she made it back to her room, and she only bothered to chuck off her boots and sling off her Jedi cloak before she collapsed onto her bed with a tired sigh. She pressed her face to her pillow with a tired sigh.

Had it been just this morning that she'd woken up in Anakin's arms, heart full of content and peace? That felt like years ago. How could things have changed so much in so short a time? One moment she was lying in bed, happy to simply be with Anakin--and alone with him for once-- and the next moment, Ahsoka was an escaping fugitive charged with murder and treason.

Despite her exhaustion, these thoughts kept Astrid tossing and turning restlessly on her bed before she finally forced herself to blank her mind and focus on nothing but the lingering honeyed scent on her sheets. Only then did she finally drift asleep.

❈✱❉✤❈✱❉

The next two days passed in one chaotic, frenzied blur. Anakin was determined to catch the real culprit behind the bombing and Letta's death, so he was often out in Coruscant, delving into the shady depths of the Underworld.

Sometimes Astrid tagged along to help, but it became increasingly evident that their efforts were futile. Whoever had bombed the temple and killed Letta was carefully and thoroughly covering up their tracks.

Today was the third day since Ahsoka had escaped to the Underworld. Anakin was off somewhere-- Astrid wasn't entirely sure where he was because he often left the temple at random spurs of the moment-- and Astrid was headed towards the training arena to shake off her stress and anxieties over Ahsoka's dilemma.

The hallways were empty save for a few Jedi, all of them grave and stoic. Astrid turned the corner and spotted Barriss Offee by the wall, talking into a holograph, a sort of phone that showed a holographic image of the person they were speaking with on a screen embedded into the wall in front of the phone.