━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

      ANAKIN had once asked Araminta– out of spite, she believed –when the last time she had fun had been. The question had come out of left field, early on in the war when they had still been getting used to knowing each other after the events of Geonosis. Araminta had gone very quiet, taking on the sudden question, and feeling her heart sink. Anakin hadn't really been looking for a response, as he had turned his back to her and returned to whatever battle they had been involved in at the time.

But the question had sunk its hooks into Araminta, tugging at old wounds and making her think back on how small her laughter lines were and how it felt to not have the weight of Octavian on her shoulders. He had been teasing her, making fun of her seriousness, her deadpan, her constant teasing him at every corner as if it were the only fun she could find. He had been joking, as they always did.

Araminta had turned to him, all bleeding wounds and darkened memories, devoid of a childhood that wasn't long-buried under snow and a bloody farmhouse.

"Naboo," she had said, honestly.

Anakin had looked at her oddly, before realisation had dawned on his face. It was a shared moment, eating pastries in the fields and gossiping about first kisses like normal teenagers. They had thrown each other into the water, called each other names and collapsed into the blue together. Padme had been laughing, Anakin had been grinning, and somewhere deep in her memory, Araminta knew her heart had not felt so warm in years.

Returning to Naboo brought back that light feeling by association.

Even if it was to investigate an underground lab this time.

The sunset was spilling orange across the sky as they descended into the tropical atmosphere, Araminta watching outside the Twilight with fond memories and wide, golden eyes. She knew from their assignment briefing that Naboo had been suspicious of droid invasion for a while now, but had only just found the evidence to mount intervention.

Padme had asked for them specifically– well, Obi-wan and Anakin, which by default nowadays included Araminta and Ahsoka respectively. It had been revealed the droid they had intercepted had come from a lab of some kind, with the garbled word "virus" being repeated over and over. No one was quite sure what that meant, but with the Separatist involvement, they had been sent without much persistence needed.

Anakin docked them in the hangar, Araminta making sure all her sheaths were filled and her blaster was loaded as they stepped out of the ship and into the warm Naboo air. Captain Typho was there to greet them, accompanied by C-3PO and a Gungan.

"General Kenobi, Anakin, we're so glad to see you," the Captain greeted, his eyes briefly scanning over her and the padawan as well.

"Where's Padme?" Araminta chimed in as their friend was not a part of their welcome, quickly scanning the hanger. A knot had already formed in her stomach at her lack.

Typho sighed, looking defeated. "She went to look for the lab."

"And you let her go?" Anakin asked in disbelief.

"Senator Padme can be very hard to stop once she has made up her mind," C-3PO pointed out.

Anakin and Araminta exchanged looks. "Good point," Anakin relented. "We know what you mean."

"This is Peppi Bow," Typho said, holding out a hand to the pink Gungan standing to the side holding a shepherd's crook. "She was the last person to see them. Padme sent her here to safety."

"Theysa looking for the sick-maker," Peppi told them.

"They?" Obi-wan joined in, but it wasn't the part Araminta was concerned about.

"Representative Binks was with them," Typho told the group.

Anakin processed the information, Araminta watching him carefully as she had grown to do often. "Go with the Gungan," Anakin instructed his padawan. "See if you can find them."

Ahsoka nodded enthusiastically. "You've got it Master." She waved in greeting to Peppi as they headed off together. Araminta watched them go as Anakin stepped up to Typho.

"Why didn't you send someone to look for them?" he demanded, sounding concerned.

"Considering the latest developments, we thought it was best to wait for you," Typho replied calmly.

Anakin pulled back, furrowing his brows, as Obi-wan stepped forward. "What latest developments?" the older Jedi asked.

Typho looked grave as he turned away. "Come with me."

They followed the Captain out of the hangar, Araminta moving to walk between the two Jedi as she spoke up quietly, "She said 'sick-maker'."

"Sounds like something made her herd sick," Obi-wan reasoned.

"Something from a lab, I'd bet," Anakin added.

"Can't wait," Araminta snipped as they entered a communications room, a console in the centre with a droid's decapitated head on it. Araminta narrowed her eyes at it as they gathered around.

"We did a robo-lobotomy on the battle droids," Typho explained. "And came up with this piece of memory."

He hit a button on the console, which projected a holographic still of a pointed man Araminta didn't know if she was supposed to recognise or not. He was dressed in a lab coat, with thick gloves on his hands and a dull look in his eye.

"Who is that?" Obi-wan asked, arms crossed over his chest.

"Doctor Nuvo Vindi, the senior medic for the Perma families," Typho replied. "He disappeared ten years ago. There's more." Typho pressed a button on the console, as the hologram began to move, followed by a garbled, heavily accented voice.

"Good news, my soulless automaton friends," Vindi announced, looking around the projection. He was holding something, Araminta narrowing her eyes at the object he was caressing. "We now have enough of the blue shadow virus to start filling the bombs."

"He said bombs," C-3PO piped up.

"It's what he's holding," Araminta murmured, fixated on the sphere in the doctor's hands.

"We will only need to send one bomb to each key star system," Vindi continued, wiggling his fingers as he said, "Work quickly. I want them ready to deliver–" The transmission cut off.

"He found a way to remake the virus?" Araminta spoke up first, unable to hide the edge of concern in her voice. Sickness was something no amount of training would save her from, and the generations-old virus that had been eradicated for good reason was worth worrying about.

"We should assume so," Obi-wan said, sombrely. "If those bombs get delivered, we'll be facing a galaxy-wide plague. The war will be the least of our worries."

"There is some good news," Typho said quickly. Araminta's ears perked up as a new hologram was projected, one of what looked like a structural map. "Senator Amidala found the lab. She sent us the coordinates before she disappeared. We've managed to get a geo-scan of the area."

"It's enormous," Obi-wan murmured, blue eyes scanning it.

Typho nodded. "It looks like there are three entry points. Here, here, and here." As he pointed them out, the sections illuminated red. The colour faded away as a different section was highlighted. "This appears to be the main lab."

"And the bombs?" Obi-wan asked the big question.

"There seems to be an above-average amount of radiation in this area." Typho highlighted a new area. "It's likely where they're being assembled."

"If Padme has alerted them to our presence in any way we need to be careful," Obi-wan said apprehensively.

Anakin looked more concerned. "If Padme's in there and we go in guns blazing she may get killed," he pointed out.

"She knew the risks," Araminta said with a deep sigh. Anakin's face fell at her resolve, as the assassin added, "We'll do what we can."

Obi-wan nodded. "She's right. Doctor Vindi and those bombs must not leave the lab."

"And if they or we detonate one during the attack?" Anakin asked in exasperation.

Araminta blinked before looking back at her charge. "That's a better concern," she admitted.

Obi-wan only looked between them, frowning. "Better to have one planet infected than the entire galaxy," he proclaimed.

"Naboo thanks you for your help," Typho said with a small bow.

"Biological warfare. Great," Araminta said sarcastically as Typho left them, looking between the two men with pursed lips.

Obi-wan sensed her tone, looking at her carefully. "How much experience do you have with this?" he questioned as they left the communications room and headed back to the hangar.

"Not that much. We were taught mostly the theory of it," Araminta admitted. "We mainly used poisons, but sparingly. We were also drugged from an early age to develop a resistance to more common toxins, but nothing like this," she continued, using the vague 'he' when not completely private.

"He drugged you?" Anakin cut in, sounding unusually angry.

Araminta shot him a glance. "When will you stop being surprised?"

"When he's six feet under," he said firmly.

Araminta blinked at the response, unsure of what face to make to the statement as they moved, Obi-wan staying quiet beside her. "That'll be the day," she finally said with a laugh that was filled with no joy.

"Ahsoka will contact us with anything she finds," Obi-wan assured, cutting into the bleak conversation. "You can't have a lab that big and be invisible."

"If this guy's getting help from the Separatists," Anakin said lowly.

"Machines don't get sick," Araminta said with a shrug. "The same thing as on Maridun. Every living thing."

"Except this time it's not just a planet, it's actually everything," Anakin snapped. Araminta wasn't hurt by the tone, just curious, as she eyed the side of his head as they stepped into the hangar.

The sunset had begun to fade during their time with Typho and Ahsoka had been gone for almost an hour now with no communication or sign of return. Anakin's face fell a little further as they returned to find she wasn't waiting for them and was still gone, and with everything already happening, Araminta had a worried gaze fixed on him.

She knew him. Behind closed doors and between the lines of the Order, she knew him. He trusted her with things no one else knew and she saw a side of him she knew no one else did. That was what they had become since Geonosis and their time spent protecting Padme, stripping each other to the bone and bleeding out their insides.

Araminta knew they had something the Council would not approve of. Even as friends he was attached in a way a Jedi was not supposed to be. She had known it that day on Tatooine. She had known it the day he tried to offer her his sabre, the lifeline of a Jedi, and when he had talked to her in later nights, she had understood. And she always knew it when something happened, and she saw the dark look in his eye, the twisted concealment of anger or frustration.

Uncharacteristic emotions for the Jedi. But not for a human, as she had put it so long ago. The Order was all about compartmentalisation, if Araminta simplified it politely. Anakin was not quiet, he was louder than most, than her. She had tried to help him overtime, talking through it in the dark, sometimes revisiting his worst moments, but she still knew it was there. And she saw it right now as their friend, and potentially his padawan, were in danger.

"Where are they?" Anakin worried out loud, snapping Araminta out of her thoughts.

He looked close to pacing, and had been fidgeting for minutes now, unable to sit still or stay in the same position, head constantly turning back to the open hangar doors, which were letting in the glow of the sunset's final breath for the evening.

"Patience," Obi-wan said from where he was comfortably sitting, arms strewn across his knees. "They'll be here in a moment." Anakin shot him a look. Obi-wan frowned. "You seem a bit on edge," he pointed out.

Anakin's shoulders stiffened, running a hand through his hair, Araminta's golden eyes watching his every moment from where she was crouched beside Obi-wan, unwilling to ever settle unless her knees were bent and ready to move.

"There's a good chance we're about to destroy all life on this planet, including ours, and the Senator's," Anakin bit out, voice rapid. "So, yes, I'm a bit on edge. Why aren't you?"

"I'm better at hiding it," Obi-wan responded with a weak smile. Araminta only looked at the younger Jedi with wide eyes at the outburst. Anakin's face fell at the response as he scoffed and turned away. "Araminta," Obi-wan addressed, turning to look down at her. "What do you suppose he is doing now?"

Araminta scrunched her face up at the question. Octavian was a constant in her mind, not quite at the forefront, not something she focused on when she got out of bed, but always in the back somewhere, screaming at her.

His reminders were everywhere, in the brand on her shoulder, the scars across her layers of skin, the way she slept, woke up, how she stood and approached unfamiliar people and places. A part of him lived within her, quietly, the glossing of a weapon that he had once commanded. They were old habits, ones she had been raised with and participated in for eleven years out of the twenty she had existed.

He was a constant possibility in her life, far in the back of her mind, the sort of wild paranoid thoughts that only came from the type of childhood that raised a girl who held a knife like another hand. She would never put it past him to hunt her down or send someone after her, but she had pushed it to the back of her mind with the promise she would always be ready for it when she had to because that was the type of person he had made her himself.

"I hope he's angry," Araminta finally said. Anakin had tuned back into the conversation, eyes on her as she only looked at Obi-wan. His face indicated it wasn't the response he was expecting, regarding her carefully as she met his gaze.

"Araminta, if he were ever to come back–"

"Master, are you there?" Ahsoka's voice came in through the commlink, cutting off whatever Obi-wan was about to say. Araminta was grateful for it, tearing her gaze away from Obi-wan as her stomach knotted and the brand under her sleeve felt as if she had redone it, searing, drawing attention to it.

Anakin hesitated in answering, the heavy conversation still hanging in the air, before managing, "Did you find them?"

"Negative. Pretty sure they're inside the lab," Ahsoka replied. Anakin pressed his lips into a line at the news. "The whole area is wired with pressure sensors. There's no way to get in without being detected. But I'm more than happy–"

"Do not attempt to get inside," Obi-wan interrupted, getting to his feet. Araminta followed his lead, the older Jedi tapping the wrist comm, Anakin sending him a glare at the intervention. "I've sent you a geo-scan of the lab. I need you to detonate a bunker bomb at the south end of the facility. It should cause a nice distraction and seal off the bomb area while we come in through the hatches."

"You can count on me," Ahsoka replied easily.

"Rex and his men will be right behind you, Snips. They'll have your back," Anakin assured her. "I'll signal you when we're ready." The transmission ended, and Anakin immediately contacted his platoon who were waiting in the wings in the atmosphere. "Come on. We'd better hurry," Anakin said after a moment, quickly moving to meet the three gunships as they pulled into the hangar.

Obi-wan caught the tone as he followed his former-padawan. "I know she's your friend, but don't risk the mission trying to rescue her," he chastised. Anakin leaned against the gunship, fist clenched. "We'll take care of the bombs. You focus on the doctor."

Anakin sighed and turned back to them, snapping, "I know what's at stake here." He moved into a gunship and took off without another word, Araminta watching him go.

"What are we going to do with him?" Obi-wan said dramatically as they boarded their own gunship, Araminta following at his flank as usual. She scoffed at her superior, gripping the handle above her as they took off into the night.

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

      IT WAS DARK as they soared over the marshland and towards the coordinates of the lab, which was nestled amongst a thick canopy of trees it seemed. Anakin must have given Ahsoka the signal when they were a few minutes out, as Araminta heard the explosion cut through the relative silence of the swamp and the sound of the gunships' engines.

The ship Araminta was on with Obi-wan and a troop stopped short, above one of the three entrances, dropping their own collection of bombs which tumbled to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of orange and grey. The third ship kept going, dropping troopers into the lab as Ahsoka led the diversion.

Obi-wan shot her a very quick look, the briefest of signals as she jumped out of the ship with him, not waiting for the descending lines the clones were setting up. He landed first, lightsaber already brandished from when he activated it midair, Araminta nimbly landing beside him, removing her batons from her hips.

But there was not a threat in sight, only a circular corridor they had blasted a hole into from above.

"Quiet," Araminta jeered as the troopers began to join them, blasters raised.

Obi-wan nodded. "Ahsoka's distraction is working then."

He pulled up the map of the geo-scan on his wrist, a miniature version of it at least, scanning it for a few seconds before moving off, Araminta and the clones following after him as they headed for the bomb room.

They encountered no resistance as they moved, but remained on edge and ready for a fight in the heart of enemy territory, Araminta maintaining her usual position in Obi-wan's blindspot until her ears flicked forward, and she slowed to remove the sound of her own footsteps in her head.

Obi-wan noticed within a second, stopping, too. He watched her, as she glanced at the floor. "What is it?" the Jedi asked, lightsaber humming at his side.

"Below," Araminta said, chewing on her lip at the muffled sound of high-pitched blasterfire. She tilted her head, eyes flicking back to her charge. "Ahsoka," was all the assassin said.

Obi-wan glanced back at the corridor, before shrugging. "Well, we were heading down anyway."

They blasted a hole through the floor seconds later, the rubble collapsing onto shield droideka droids that had pinned Ahsoka and her troop, which included Captain Rex, from moving further.

The shooting stopped as Obi-wan jumped down on top of the rubble and crushed droids, Araminta following, looking at Ahsoka at the end of the corridor, the padawan's eyes wide and lightsabre still raised.

"Need some help?" Obi-wan teased.

Ahsoka sighed in relief, slightly relaxing her stance. "Oh, so good to see you guys."

Obi-wan moved down from the pile of debris, as the clones jumped down after them, joining forces with Ahsoka's troop. "Things are going well," Obi-wan told the padawan as they began to head off. "The lab is secure and hopefully Anakin has reached Padme by now."

At the end of the corridor they hit a right, which was met with another wave of droids, smaller than the last. Ahsoka immediately jumped in front, blocking the shots, as Araminta moved to the front of Obi-wan without instruction.

"I'll get the bombs," Obi-wan told Ahsoka, lifting a single finger on his lightsaber hilt, which Araminta followed. She fell into step with him and the four members of bomb-squad they had separated with orange uniforms joined them.

"I'll keep the droids occupied!" Ahsoka shouted back as they went their separate ways, leaving her with their reinforcement of troopers that weren't bomb squad.

Araminta and Obi-wan continued towards the bomb room without encountering any more droids, and the assassin found it hard to believe their plan was working so smoothly as they shot at the electronic lock on a door at the end of their current corridor and it slid open to reveal their goal.

Araminta blinked up at the walls, which were lined with bomb upon bomb like coats hung on hangers.

"Well, looks like the bomb room," one of the bomb squad said as they slowed to a stop in the middle.

"Yes, and luckily they appear inactive," Obi-wan replied.

As if the universe was laughing down at him, suddenly every sphere around them lit up with a red, blinking light in a harmonious ring that pierced Araminta's ears. Obi-wan paled.

"I spoke too soon. Get these deactivated now," he instructed the bomb squad, who quickly began to unpack the nearest bomb. Obi-wan pinched a hand to the bridge of his nose as he said into his comm, "Anakin, I'm guessing you didn't capture the doctor."

"I'm working on it," he snapped back. "I've got Padme. Do you have the bombs?"

"We're working on it," Obi-wan echoed as Araminta drifted from him, eyes scanning the walls and wishing she knew how to deactivate them. "Doctor Vindi has remotely activated the bombs. They're counting down," she heard her charge continue.

"That's great," Anakin deadpanned.

"One's missing," Araminta piped up, stopping at the back of the room.

"What?" Obi-wan and Anakin said in synch. Araminta only pointed towards the gap in the row of spheres.

"On top of everything," Obi-wan said in exasperation.

"It's down here somewhere," Anakin responded, surprisingly calm. "Ahsoka," Anakin chimed his padawan in. "We've got another situation. Send all the clones to search the facility. We've got a miss–" He cut off abruptly, and Araminta glanced at Obi-wan.

"He'll handle it," Obi-wan said, sounding as if he was assuring himself. "We can't leave and risk being interrupted." Araminta nodded, moving away from the missing bomb. "I still can't believe this doctor managed to recreate the virus. Such a waste."

"He's mad," Araminta agreed. "Bringing back a plague he can't survive either."

"Obsession knows no bounds," Obi-wan sighed.

Araminta sent him a glare. "Don't get all philosophical on me," she scoffed.

The comms at Obi-wan and Araminta's wrists suddenly erupted with noise. "Obi-wan, Solarii! Doctor Vindi's escaping," Anakin cried, the hum of plasma in the background. "He's at the landing platform!"

"We're on our way!" Araminta replied, not needing to look over her shoulder before Obi-wan was sprinting past her and she was following, leaving the bomb squad to disassemble the roomful in time.

This time, they did encounter droids as they headed for the landing platform, no doubt trying to stop them from intervening in time. Araminta led the charge, gauntlets and batons combined to crush the small battle droids blocking their way as Obi-wan sliced through the larger one that was twice Araminta's size.

"Well, they know we're here now," Araminta huffed as they continued moving, skipping a corridor full of battle droids that shot at them as they passed. Obi-wan merely spun his sabre as they went, blocking the shots.

"Ahsoka, spare as many clones as you can to the landing platform!" Obi-wan said into comm.

"Okay!" the padawan responded, voice and background noise sounding as if she were in the heat of battle as well.

"The doctor can't leave this lab at any cost," Obi-wan said after he disconnected. Araminta blinked at his tone, the Jedi looking at her pointedly as they ran.

Araminta abruptly came to a stop and faced the end of their corridor where three battle droids had turned into, beginning to fire at them. She let out a yell as she gripped one with the force and smashed it into the others and against the wall. She skipped back into a run to catch up with Obi-wan who still looked grave.

"Do what you must," he told her directly.

Araminta lowered her eyes at the words, the knives she always kept on her feeling heavy as they turned the corner and turned down the entrance to the platform.

"Skywalker!" Araminta shouted in greeting as they arrived, skidding to a stop at the closed hatch that he was trying to cut through. Behind them, a scattering of clones arrived, saluting Obi-wan and raising their blasters.

"Almost– got it," Anakin strained, both hands around his lightsaber as it was hilt-deep in the door to the platform.

"Leave it," Araminta instructed. Anakin raised an eyebrow as Obi-wan and her moved together, pushing with the Force and blowing the door inwards.

They moved forward, met with blasterfire immediately, which sent them scattering. Vindi was up on the platform which was rising into the sky and out of the confinements of the base, blaster haphazardly covering the ground below him as they attempted to stop him.

The clones tried to shoot but the angle made it difficult as Anakin covered them from the attack with his lightsabre. Meanwhile, Obi-wan jumped with no hesitation, catching the platform and clinging to the edge with his torso and arms. Araminta, with a dramatic roll of her eyes, followed after him.

Instead of going straight up, she leapt to a ledge on the pole raising the platform, using it to clamber up and pull herself over the ledge, crouching low as she pulled up on the side behind the doctor.

"Don't shoot!" she heard Anakin instruct. "If he drops one of those vials we're finished."

Araminta narrowed her eyes at the words as she noticed the case in his hands, the doctor removing three vials of glimmering blue and throwing them carelessly over the edge. Araminta's eyes widened as Obi-wan pushed off the ledge to catch them, disappearing below her view.

His words from earlier bit into her and she stayed where she was, unsheathing a knife. She skipped forward as quietly as possible, Vindi distracted from trying to fend off Anakin, before her knife kissed his throat.

"Oh," the doctor murmured as he realised what was happening.

"Drop the blaster," Araminta whispered. She heard the clatter, felt it at her feet– his height blocked most of her view, but she doubted he would take a chance with a knife at his throat.

She couldn't kill him– she knew the Jedi would want to put him on trial and question him intently, but as he moved to grab another vial she realised restraining the doctor who didn't care for his own life would be harder than she thought. He was willing to release the virus with no immunity– he did not care about his own death ultimately.

The platform had now surfaced, placing them back in the middle of the swampland, as Anakin appeared, having managed to get through with Araminta's intervention. He raised his lightsaber to the situation, but Araminta had gone very still, realising she couldn't do as much as she wanted to with the knife.

Do what you must.

But Obi-wan did not mean it in the way she was used to and what she was used to was not what she did anymore unless told explicitly.

"You're under arrest, Doctor Vindi," Anakin said, firmly.

But he began to laugh. "You think I need the blaster?" the doctor laughed, gripping a vial between only two fingers and holding it out in front of him. "If I die, I drop this. I don't care about the knife!" Araminta's eyes had gone very wide as she looked around Vindi's form, meeting Anakin's eyes. "Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!" the doctor cackled, swinging the vial dangerously.

Araminta removed the knife, before swiftly driving it into his shoulder. The doctor cried out, throwing the vial to the side, in the opposite direction of either of them, but Anakin was ready as he leapt forward. Araminta didn't pause to see if he made it as she tackled the doctor as he tried to strike out at her.

She shoved into Vindi with her elbow and shoulder, but he stayed on his feet, yelling as he went, reaching for the case in his hands. Araminta slammed a gauntlet at his head, shattering the visor he had on to protect himself from the virus. Vindi gasped at the action before she drove her fist straight at his face, feeling a crack as he dropped the case through his disorientation.

Araminta slid the case away from him before moving forward and placing a boot on his throat, staring him down as he heaved through his broken nose. Satisfied with the result, Araminta assumed Anakin had succeeded as she turned to see him approaching with the vial held tightly in his hand.

"Yes," the doctor cheered through the pressure, looking up at the two. Araminta glared back down at him. "The bomb's going off and we're all going to die!"

His eyes moved in the direction of his left arm, which displayed a glowing red timer getting dangerously close to the end. Vindi laughed. Anakin's brow pinched and Araminta could only frown as she knew the man had resolved to die with his creation so any threat to disable it would fall short.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Die!"

The light disappeared. The doctor's eyes widened in horror, and Araminta pressed against any words he might have had as his plan failed, and no explosions shook the ground. Anakin let out a sigh of relief at the presumably averted crisis, as Araminta crouched down and pulled the knife from his shoulder.

"Ahsoka, are you there?" Anakin said into comm.

"I'm here, Master. The bomb has been deactivated," she replied, and the confirmation only made Araminta more relieved. "Did you find Vindi?"

"Deactivated as well," Anakin said, smugly, exchanging a look with Araminta. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're all here," Ahsoka responded.

Anakin nodded even if she couldn't see him. "Good." He disconnected and turned back to Araminta. "You do trust me," he said, snidey.

Araminta ignored the feeling in her chest or the burning at her shoulder. "Didn't have much of a choice, did I?" she jeered back.

"If you say so," Anakin scoffed.

The words sat oddly in her chest despite their victory.

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

the wordcount for this story hit over 100k good lord. i finished nanowrimo's last half with this story so go figure but that is a wild number considering my only other fic is 107k finished. this story is maybe only 20% there lmao i've doomed myself to a 90+ chapter project (this is a joke i love araminta so much)

without spoiling pls remember "if you say so"

anyway shorterish chapter which i think is fine given everything the last few have been but it's got some fun obikinta moments in it and anakinta being touchy and sweet and trusting each other in the field

also for this arc just believe anakin is so worried because padme is his friend and he's just his overemotional self about saving people. same goes for ahsoka in the next chapter. the writers really weren't subtle with anidala and he gets so angsty

vote and comment <33 next chapter soon