Accismus?????.? Anakin Skywalker?????.?

68.

'I want to be with you, Ani. I want us to be together without the worries of evil taking over in our absence. I want the people we care about to be safe; Padme, Obi-wan-'

Anakin tried to look away, but Sol placed her hand on his cheek to turn him back to her. The softness of her palm soothed his flash of anger towards his ex-Master, and Anakin was listening to Sol's plea once more. As if Sol's face had the magic powers of a siren, Anakin was enchanted everytime he looked at her. He was captured and his unwillingness to listen turned into an uncontrollable drug to stare and hang on every last word of the beautiful woman.

'They deserve a peaceful life, too,' Sol could see that something had gotten through to Anakin, and she felt the need to push further to solidify her movement. 'Hold me, Ani.' 

The old feeling returned. Anakin slipped his arm out of Sol's hold and wrapped them both around her back. Pulling her into his chest, Anakin suddenly felt the need to hide Sol away from the on-looking city that was now lit with nightlife. Sol let the side of her face rest against the robes over his chest and she felt a burst of warm goo from within her heart. With her arms looped around Anakin's middle, she felt his hands press against her back with a desire to hold her like he hadn't in so long. To finalise the embrace, Anakin rested the side of his head on Sol's, even going as far as to nuzzle his nose into the softness of her hair.

'I'm so afraid to lose you, Solaris...' he mumbled. 'I've lost so much and losing you would break me. My mother... Ahsoka... they all hurt to the point of me questioning whether the Jedi way was what I wanted. But I know I want you, and that's all I care about. I love you so much...'

'I love you, too, Anakin. You won't ever lose me. I'll always be here.' 

Sol felt the red retreat from Anakin's signature, and Sol knew that she would be able to change him eventually; even if it took several years.

---

'Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis "the wise"?'

'No...'

'I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a dark lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about... from dying.'

'He could actually save people from death?'

'The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.'

'What happened to him?'

'He became so powerful  that the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Plagueis never saw it coming. It's ironic; he could save others from death, but not himself.'

'Is it possible to learn this power?'

'Not from a Jedi.'

--- 

In the few times that Sol dreamt always came the confusion the next morning. Waking in Anakin's arms was bliss, but the dream that plagued her sleep was too apparent in her mind to forget. She hummed at the kiss Anakin's placed against her temple and she felt his cold, metal arm unwrap from her middle before he was out of bed. When she heard the bathroom door close, Sol fell into the memory of the voices that she heard in her dream.

It was undoubtedly Anakin's, and she could only assume the other was Chancellor Palpatine. She wasn't sure if the conversation had already happened or if it was in the future, but Sol knew that it was destined to occur. If the dreams Satele planted in her head did anything, it was the certain belief that Sol only dreamed about events in time. 

Sol would have liked to have spent all morning in bed pondering her dream, but she was pulled from her stare at the ceiling by a beep from her commlink. She leaned to the nightstand that mirrored the one on Anakin's side and grabbed her wristlet. With a groan, Sol used her elbow to hold herself up as she read the message on the screen.

'You got it, too?

She looked up to see Anakin standing in the doorway of the bathroom. Without a shirt and with his bionic arm holding his commlink, Anakin stood with a lazy smile on his face. The constant exercise of the duties as a Jedi were evident on Anakin's body, as the definition of his abdomen was hard to ignore. His broad shoulders and unruly blonde curls made Sol's stomach churn and in an attempt to hide the redness that formed on her cheeks, Sol dropped her head back onto the silk pillows of the bed.

With Anakin's impending footsteps sounding around the room, Sol pushed her dream to the back of her mind and turned to where he approached the bed. His right arm leaned on the mattress as he sat himself on the edge and his torso twisted to look at the woman among the silk sheets. Anakin beamed at Sol's dark, tossled hair on the pillows and stared at the curve of her waist when she turned on her side to face him. He reached out to lay his right hand on her hip and the mechanical fingers of his robotic limb caressed the bone through the sheets. Sol hummed when Anakin's face leaned into hers and the soft kiss he placed on her lips made Sol forget all the troubles in the galaxy.

'We don't have to go,' his voice dropped into a deep whisper and his nose skimmed the tip of hers. 'I'll think of something that would excuse the both of us.'

'It'll be too suspicious,' Sol said, hating to reject such a brilliant offer. She pushed herself up to kiss Anakin again before she glanced down to his hand on her hip.

The shine of Anakin's silver arm made Sol admire its magnificence. She had never shyed away from the robotic enhancement and she always tried to make him see the positives in having it. He had stopped hiding its appearance from her and the black glove he used in public would mostly lay on the side table when they were alone together.

Anakin caught how Sol was looking at his arm and he grimaced. He began to pull it away from Sol's waist in shame but Sol reached out for his wrist in haste.

'Don't,' she urged. 'I told you, I don't mind.'

Sol made sure to look into Anakin's eyes while she spoke and she saw his tight frown relax. She felt his resisting muscles give in and Sol held the metal wrist that was cold in her hand. With a pull to the corners of his lips, Anakin watched Sol admire his arm before he joked,

'At least I'm not a cyborg.'

'Speaking of cyborgs,' Sol started and held up the commlink in her free hand. 'This will be about the mission to find Grievous.'

'Maybe they'll finally let us take this one.'

Sol found it doubtful but nodded at Anakin to appear hopeful, and the two relished in the few moments they had together before they would need to leave for the temple. She knew it was a form of delusion and false comfort, but Sol decided to think only about the love and happiness she felt with Anakin. Pushing the thoughts of the falling Republic out of her head for the morning, Sol smiled and laughed as if times were normal and the galaxy was at peace.