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The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

—Gabriel Manigault

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The low crackle of a fire echoes in her ears, pulling her slowly from the dark.

She blearily blinks open her eyes, staring numbly at the glow of orange flames roaring over a pile of wood.

She stays like that for a moment, running the edges of her fingers across the rough surface of the jagged tree bark beneath her head.

And then she heaves out a weary sigh.

Her palms push against the rough surface of the tree bark, helping her body rise up to a sitting position.

Her eyes flicker around, numbly taking in the same sight as before, with only slight changes in variation.

The sky is a suffocating pitch black, and the night air nips at the tips of her ears, leaving an icy chill rising up on the surface of her arms.

The woods and terrain around her are the same as in her last dream, but it's obvious that the campsite has been recently moved from its original location, what with the way the two makeshift tents twenty feet to the left of her have yet to be strung up.

As she continues to take in the humming crickets and chirps of the night, a muffled sob reaches her ears.

She jerks her head forward at the sound.

Across the fire, an absolutely soul-shattering sight greets her.

Ahsoka's small frame is buried against Rex's armored side; the young Togruta's orange features concealed from Melanie's view as she hides her face in the groove of Rex's neck.

And the sounds—

Oh God, the sounds escaping Ahsoka's mouth are horrible.

Sobs of pure anguish tear from Ahsoka's chest; her narrow shoulders heaving with agony.

"They're all g-gone—" Ahsoka manages to choke out, voice clogged with tears.

Rex's shoulders slump forward at the words, pain flashing across his eyes.

Melanie watches hopelessly as Rex crushes Ahsoka tighter against him; the clone Captain's armored body beginning to rock slightly back and forth to try and ease the young girl's sorrow.

"I know, kid." Rex mutters, blinking back the shine of tears wetting the corner of his eyes. He stares through Melanie, gazing at some fixed point in the yawning darkness of the forest behind her back. "I know."

Melanie's throat tightens with emotion, a heavy ache clawing at the cracked edges of her heart.

In all the time that she's known her, Melanie has never seen Ahsoka like this before.

She hates it. She fucking hates that there's nothing she can do to ease Ahsoka and Rex's pain.

She doesn't know what to do.

Maybe... maybe there's nothing that she can do.

She stares across the crackle of the fire, continuing to helplessly listen as Ahsoka's gut-wrenching sobs tear through the silence of the night.

It feels like Ahsoka's pain goes on for hours and hours.

Finally, the sobs of anguish begin to gradually morph into a distant hum.

The hum grows louder. And louder.

It almost sounds like—

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Melanie blearily blinks open her eyes, taking in the holographic numbers of her alarm clock.

But it's not the sleek, elegant design of the one in her room at the Jedi Temple.

It's an older model; the one on board the—

The Resolute.

She heaves out a tired sigh at the reminder, rubbing at the dull ache building up near the edges of her temple.

Ah, yes. Right. She's on board The Resolute again.

Which is good, of course. It's good she's on board The Resolute again. That means she can get back to her absolutely insane fucking plan of trying to save the entire goddamn galaxy again.

Because that will be totally easy.

She scrunches up her nose in frustration at the annoying reminder of just how difficult her task truly is.

Ugh, she really fucking hates this insane universe.

She heaves out another tired sigh, reaching over her beside table to silence the shrill noise of her alarm, before slowly sitting up.

Dead silence settles heavily over her shoulders.

Seconds pass this way as she stares at the lifeless metal wall across the room, gaze scanning over the makeshift curtain she had hung up a few days ago to hide the tally marks scratched into the surface of the wall.

She managed to pinpoint a general idea of when she had first ended up in this insane universe, give or take a few months.

Ever since then, she has taken it upon herself to start counting down each day until the end of the war.

She stares at the gray curtain, leg bobbing underneath her on the hard surface of the floor. She thinks dully of the small group of tally marks that have been made; thinks about how far she still has left to go to survive all of this.

Unwillingly, the ghost of Ahsoka's gut-wrenching sobs echoes in Melanie's ears.

Her throat aches with grief at the reminder, the burn of tears building up in the corners of her eyes.

She lowers her head, shoulders drooping in exhaustion.

She just doesn't understand.

Why? Why does this keep happening to her? What makes this imaginary scenario with Rex and Ahsoka so special, that her mind would keep conjuring it over and over and over—?

A muscle in her jaw tightens.

God, how is she ever going to be able to act normal around Rex?

She feels like the minute she walks into the combat room for training today, that she'll take one look at Rex, and instantly burst into tears.

She winces, a shudder running over her body at the mere thought of embarrassing herself like that in front of the men.

Like hell if she wants to go through that type of experience.

Besides, it's not like she hasn't embarrassed herself more than enough lately.

Her mind wanders, thinking back on the days that had passed on Coruscant before she had finally returned back to The Resolute with Anakin and Ahsoka.

Some-fucking-how, she managed to pull off the miracle of all miracles, talking Obi-Wan into the impossible task of teaching her how to drive a skycar.

Obi-Wan had seemed like the safest choice at the time. After all, it's not like she could have asked Ahsoka. Or Mace. Or even—God forbid—fucking Anakin—

Melanie shivers at the mere thought of Anakin teaching her how to drive one of those sci-fi death traps.

He probably would have gotten them arrested or something, what with how fucking fast he drives.

Her brows furrow, mind flashing with the way Coruscant's skycars soar through the air.

Do you drive a skycar? Or fly it?

Ah, whatever.

The point is—at the time—she had really needed to learn how to drive a skycar, so that she could have it to evacuate Jedi younglings, in the very likely event that she fails at what she has been sent here to do.

Obi-Wan had taken—surprisingly enough—very little prompting on the matter.

Still, as one might imagine, the "driving lesson" didn't really go very well.

"Up! Up! Pull up!" Obi-Wan's voice shouted in her ears, his accented tone sounding suspiciously close to terror.

"Sorry!" Melanie yelped, fingers gripping the control wheel tighter. Her hair whipped her in the face from the chill of the wind as she yanked back on the control wheel.

The wind shifted; the skycar jerked upward at the rough motion.

Somewhere behind her, an ear-splitting honk rang through her skull.

And then Melanie and Obi-Wan were careening straight towards an oncoming vehicle.

A scream erupted from Melanie's chest at the blinding lights of a rapidly approaching skytruck, her muscles freezing in pure panic.

Just before death had the chance to slam into them, Obi-Wan's hand was reaching across her vision to Force-pull the control wheel to the right.

Melanie's neck made an audible crack as the skycar snapped to the side.

She screamed again as the neon lights of a hovering Coruscanti sign filled her vision, fingers digging into the cushion of her seat as the curses and honks of the drivers on the skylane passed Obi-Wan and her by.

Obi-Wan's hand twisted slightly to the side, before gesturing downward.

The front of the skycar swooped at a lower angle to avoid crashing into the massive neon sign; dodging this way and that with each sci-fi vehicle that passed between Melanie and the sweet sight of the approaching ground.

And then—fucking finally—Obi-Wan managed to direct the skycar to the lower grounds of Coruscant.

Melanie let out an audible sigh of relief as the loud thunk of metal against stone reached her ears.

"I'm sorry. I'm terrible at this." she said, tone lowering to a whine.

"Nonsense." Obi-Wan replied, waving a tired hand in her direction. His usually neatly groomed hair was disheveled by the wind, giving the man a roguish appearance. He reached up to adjust the collar of his robes, only slightly out of breath. "This has been absolutely wonderful compared to teaching Anakin how to drive."

Melanie winced at the comparison, crossing her arms with a pout. "No offense, but I don't really take that as a compliment."

Obi-Wan let out a breathless chuckle. "Do try to look on the bright side, Miss Bains! After all, this is only your first lesson."

Melanie leaned back into the cushion of her seat, giving a slight roll of her eyes. "Yeah. And I've already almost gotten us killed for the third t—"

She froze, unsaid words screeching to a halt at the glowing sign hovering miles above her head.

CITIZENS OF CORUSCANT!

Come and see the greatest love story of the century!

The Coruscant Opera presents:

THE JEDI & THE POLITICIAN

Melanie blinked rapidly, gaping up at the sign in bafflement.

Gradually, an unknown sensation started to bubble up in the center of her chest as the holographic words finally registered in her mind.

Before she even realized what happened, laughter was bursting from her lips.

Her hands held her sides as she basically convulsed with hysterics, thinking with a type of vindictive glee over what Padmé's reaction must have been, the first time the Senator had laid eyes on the sci-fi hoverposter.

Melanie could only imagine the look on Padmé's face.

Did the Senator panic? She must have, what with how serious the repercussions would have been for her in the public eye, if her and Anakin's relationship ever became public knowledge.

It was obvious that the play was just a coincidence. If someone had actually found out about Padmé and Anakin's relationship, the Jedi Order would've found out about it by now.

Still—there was something deeply hilarious to Melanie about the irony of Jedi love stories being popular among the people of Coruscant.

Were there romance holobooks? Oh, please tell her there were Jedi romance holobooks. That would be absolutely fucking hysterical.

And oh—Melanie knew it was cruel to think happily about Padmé's heart skipping with terror at the sight of the holographic sign for the opera play—but she just couldn't help it.

It was the least the Senator deserved, after all, since she continued to keep the Tusken's massacre under lock and key.

And Melanie was trying. She was really trying to get past her lingering resentment over the Senator's actions.

But there were some things that were just perfect karma for people.

This was one of those things.

She reached over to pat gently at the broad slope of Obi-Wan's bicep, struggling to get her giggles under control. "Oh... one day... you will know why I find this moment funny."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, appearing baffled over her behavior. "But you will not share your amusement with me now?"

"Nope!" Melanie cheerfully replied, giving him a final pat on the arm, before settling back into her seat.

She waited; ignoring the clear side-eye that Obi-Wan was drilling into the side of her head.

A few seconds passed in silence.

Finally, Obi-Wan sighed in exasperation. He shook his head, lips fighting the beginnings of a growing smile. "Well, I suppose we should continue with your lesson."

Melanie winced. "Oh, great."

Obi-Wan chuckled at her reaction, before gracefully stepping out of the skycar. "You shall have a few moments to gather your bearings before we begin again."

Melanie blinked after him in confusion. "Where are you going?"

Obi-Wan raised his hand in her direction, as if in placation. "Just wait here for a moment, my dear!"

She frowned at the Jedi's words, watching him walk towards the entrance of a sci-fi looking restaurant. "But—"

Obi-Wan walked through the automatic doors before she could even finish her sentence.

She huffed, leaning back in her seat with a small pout.

She tilted her head, squinting past the blinding sunlight blazing over Coruscant, green eyes scanning over the glowing sign hanging above the building's entrance.

WELCOME TO DEX'S DINER!

Melanie blinked up at the sign, utterly stunned.

"What are the odds...?" she mumbled, voice trailing off.

She waited there, peering through the gleam of the windows, watching Dex Jettster wrap Obi-Wan against his massive body in a cheerful hug.

Obi-Wan was clearly uncomfortable, patting at the male Besalisk's back awkwardly as Dex squeezed the Jedi in a tight embrace.

Melanie raised her hand against her mouth, fighting the beginnings of a growing smile at the endearing sight.

It was clear that Obi-Wan wasn't necessarily a hugger. But the ginger-haired Jedi was willing to give the affection needed to those closest to him. Perhaps he even enjoyed it, as long as the close contact came from his friends.

It was... sweet.

She watched silently as Obi-Wan and Dex exchanged a few more words, before Dex stepped back behind the restaurant counter to make some unknown drink for the Jedi.

Obi-Wan raised a hand in thanks, threw a few credits on the counter, and then made his way to the exit of the diner.

Melanie waited; green eyes taking in the way Obi-Wan walked out of Dex's Diner, opened the skycar's door, and settled back into his seat.

Obi-Wan craned his head back, taking a deep swig of the amber liquid in his hand that looked suspiciously like an alcoholic beverage. "Alright..." he cleared his throat and gestured forward, "... let us continue!"

Melanie blinked at him, eyes flickering to the glass in his hand, and then back to the dazzling gleam of Obi-Wan's smile.

Finally, she sighed, reaching down to restart the sci-fi vehicle.

The grind of her teeth resonated through her skull as the skycar began to hover in the air.

Her shaking fingers hesitantly wrapped around the control wheel, before pulling backwards.

She held back a screech of terror as the skycar roughly careened up into the sky of Coruscant again.

Melanie squeezes her eyes shut, visibly wincing at the memory.

Obi-Wan truly is a saint among men for continuing to teach her how to drive a skycar, after that first disaster of a lesson.

Melanie had almost gotten the two of them killed many times over that week, before she even had a chance at heading back out into the front lines of the war.

Luckily—by some fucking miracle—she didn't do that.

And so, Melanie had steadily improved in her driving skills as the week before rejoining the 501st went on.

The final day of Melanie's driving lessons, Obi-Wan informed her that he had an official meeting with the Galactic Senate to discuss the 212th's mission on a planet called Balmorra.

And so, Obi-Wan instructed her to drive him across two skylanes, before finally landing the skycar right in front of the Senate building.

As one might imagine, Melanie had been very apprehensive.

The gentle thunk of the bottom of the skycar landed precariously on the ground, directly near the wide arching doors of the Galactic Senate building.

Melanie heaved out a sigh of relief, leaning her head back against the cushion of her seat. "Oh, thank God."

From the corner of her eye, she spotted the way Obi-Wan turned to give her a dazzling smile.

"You did very well today, Miss Bains!" Obi-Wan said, inclining his head at her in a show of approval. "I must say—I do believe you are quite ready to drive on your own."

Melanie wrung her hands, eyes flickering hesitantly over in his direction. "You think?"

Obi-Wan's features softened at her question. "I have never been more certain of anything."

She huffed out a laugh, ducking her head shyly at the words. "Really? Of anything? Ever?"

Obi-Wan's eyes raised to the heavens, as if asking for guidance from a higher power. "Forgive me. You are correct, Miss Bains. Whatever was I thinking. I—of course—meant that I have never been more certain of anything regarding your astoundingly impressive improvement in your driving abilities. After all—anything is a fair improvement from almost crashing into the side of the Temple."

Melanie gaped at him, watching as Obi-Wan's lips twitched up into a mischievous smile. "You did not just say that!"

Obi-Wan hummed, reaching up to adjust the collar of his robes. "I do believe I just did, Miss Bains."

She reached out to shove halfheartedly at Obi-Wan's shoulder, trying to hold back growing giggles of amusement building up in the back of her throat.

Obi-Wan raised his head back, letting out an uncharacteristically loud burst of laughter.

Melanie blinked rapidly, mouth falling open in shock at the sound.

She had seen Obi-Wan smile and grin in amusement. She had even heard him let out a slight chuckle of fondness here and there from time to time around Ahsoka and Anakin.

But she has never—never ever—not until this very moment, seen Obi-Wan laugh like he did just now.

Melanie's lips slowly curled into a soft smile, watching the way all the tension seemed to leave Obi-Wan's shoulders for a minute.

When was the last time he laughed like this? When was the last time Obi-Wan just had a moment to relax?

A surge of emotion hit her at the sight, mind flashing with the heat of a blazing desert and blinding Tatooine suns.

Obi-Wan's soul would die in that desert. His body would live, but everything that he is—everything that he ever was—would be burned away.

Only Ben Kenobi would remain.

Melanie swallowed down the acidic taste of bile rising in the back of her throat, struggling to get her emotions back under control.

Across from her, Obi-Wan turned to face her again, his laughter finally dying down.

Obi-Wan's brows furrowed at her expression. "Miss Bains? Are you quite alright?"

Melanie swallowed, painting a false look of cheerfulness on her face. "Yep! Just peachy."

Obi-Wan hummed, squinting at her for a moment in silence.

It was very clear from the expression on the Jedi's face that he didn't believe a word of what she just said.

Finally, after a few more seconds passed, Obi-Wan gave a weary sigh, before beginning to step out of the vehicle.

"Very well." Obi-Wan said, clearing his throat as he shut the door of the skycar. "The Senate meeting will begin soon enough. You may join me if you wish, or wait here in the skycar."

Melanie shuffled nervously in her seat. "... I think I'll just wait here."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows raised at the response. "Are you quite certain? The meeting could last over an hour."

She nodded. "Yep! I'm good. I'll just chill here until you get back."

After all—that would be a whole lot better than running into fucking Palpatine again.

Obi-Wan inclined his head at her words. "Very well. I shall return in an hour. You may... chill... here."

She watched him step over and slide a few Republic credits into a sci-fi looking type of parking meter with a look of confusion. "You have to pay to park here? I thought Jedi had reserved parking spaces."

Obi-Wan barked out a laugh, as if she had said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Oh, stars no! Only the politicians and reporters get that most special privilege."

Melanie frowned. "But... you're part of the Republic's military. You guys literally come here almost every day to give the Senate information about the war."

Obi-Wan gave her a halfhearted shrug, appearing wearily resigned. "I do not know what to tell you, my dear. This is the way it has always been for the Jedi Order."

She watched as Obi-Wan turned to make his way towards the large archway of the Senate building, feeling a sense of righteous protectiveness bubbling up inside of her.

"Well, maybe it shouldn't be." she muttered under her breath.

She seethed quietly to herself for the next few minutes, glaring off into space as Obi-Wan's words echoed over and over again in her mind.

She was so wrapped up in her own feelings of rage on the Jedi Order's behalf, that she almost missed the sight of an elegantly sleek skycar landing right in front of her and Obi-Wan's own.

She froze, staring vacantly at the terrifying sight of Palpatine stepping regally out of the skycar.

How the fuck did this keep happening to her?

This couldn't be just a coincidence, could it? How did Palpatine always seem to be conveniently just where she was, at just the right time?

Fuck! Fucking dammit! Did he have someone tailing her?

It would be just like Palpatine to do some creepy shit like that.

She was yanked swiftly back to the horrific reality in front of her as the Chancellor's sleek skycar ascended back into the air, before taking off into the sky.

Palpatine tucked his hands into the long sleeves of his Senatorial robes, before glancing over in her direction.

A dull ringing began to fill Melanie's ears as Palpatine's lips twisted up into a blood-chilling smile.

The disguised Sith Lord walked over to stand next to the passenger side of her vehicle; the faceless forms of his Red Guard standing stiffly behind him, like two red Devils hanging over each of his shoulders.

"Ah, Miss Bains!" Palpatine began, giving her a grandfatherly grin. "How are you? I did not expect to see you here today."

Melanie felt her lips twitch up into a dull smile. "My planet never really had many skycars around. I never had the time to learn how to drive. Obi-Wan agreed to teach me the past few days. I'm only here because I drove Obi-Wan here for my final lesson."

Palpatine raised his eyebrows at the remark. "Ah! I must say, Miss Bains, I truly admire your initiative to improve your skill set from the primitive knowledge of your home planet. It shows a level of dedication that not very many people have."

Melanie pursed her lips, forcing herself to bite her tongue at the backhanded comment. "... Thank you."

Palpatine inclined his head, as if Melanie had just thanked him for the highest compliment he could bestow upon her. "You are ever so welcome, my dear."

Melanie stared numbly—heart beating with complete and utter calmness in her chest—as the Chancellor leaned closer.

"I was just about to go inside the Senate Chamber for a quick meeting about General Kenobi's future mission." Palpatine said, before giving a quick chuckle of amusement. "But I suppose you already know about that."

A hum of acknowledgment left Melanie's lips before she could even think about it. "Obi-Wan might've mentioned it."

Palpatine let out a loud laugh at her small quip, appearing genuinely amused by Melanie's antics.

There was something completely terrifying about that realization, and it made another wave of pure calm wash over her bones.

I am one with The Force, and The Force is with me.

Palpatine's heavy sigh reached her ears, pulling Melanie back from her mind's dissociative state. "I must tell you, I myself am quite exhausted. Personally, I cannot wait for the meeting to reach its end." He leaned forward, wrinkled fingers curling against the edge of Melanie's vehicle. "Would you like to join me in my office after the meeting, Miss Bains? I would very much like to get to know my dear friend, Anakin's, advisor better."

Melanie blankly took in that question, struggling to comprehend the level of sheer insanity that was occurring before her very eyes.

"Oh, as much as I might like to, I still need to ride back to the Temple with Obi-Wan. After all—my driving lesson isn't quite done." she said with a nervous chuckle.

Palpatine clicks his tongue. "Perhaps I could convince you with a game of Dejarik?"

Melanie shuffled slightly in her seat, staring at the wrinkled center of Palpatine's forehead. "I don't know that game."

Palpatine tilted his head, dark eyes scanning over every twitch of her features with a chilling level of precision. "You do not know Dejarik? Well, now there is something you do not hear every day." He gave her an artificial look of curiosity. "Tell me, my dear, just what type of primitive games do the citizens of your planet enjoy?"

A muscle in Melanie's jaw clenched at the remark, some vague part of her mind recognizing that Palpatine was continuing to test her reactions to him and what he could get away with. "Chess. It's a strategy game. The goal is to capture the other player's pieces."

"Ah! You see!" Palpatine's razor blade teeth gleamed eerily in the burning heat of the sun as he grinned down at her. "Dejarik is very similar."

In spite of everything, Melanie perked up, finding herself growing strangely curious.

Which was—of course—completely insane, considering who was standing in front of her.

And yet, the idea of finding a board game in this universe that was similar—if not the exact same—as the one her and her mom played together in her own, left her chest aching with longing.

"... Really?" she asked, unconsciously leaning forward. "I didn't think that Coruscant would have Chess here."

Of course, it's very likely that Palpatine was simply bullshitting Melanie to get closer to her.

But Melanie didn't know everything about this universe. Not like her mom did. It's not out of the question that Coruscant could have a sci-fi version of Chess somewhere.

Across from her, Palpatine's eyes darken, clearly recognizing the weakness that Melanie just exposed to him.

The disguised Sith Lord leaned even further over the open space of the skycar, giving her an enticing grin. "Yes, it is quite wonderful to learn all of what Coruscant has to offer. So, what do you say, Miss Bains? Will you join me for a game of Dejarik?"

Melanie's chest expanded, drawing in a calming breath of air. Then she gave the Chancellor a blank smile. "I don't know when I'll be able to. I can't today, and I'm heading back out to the front lines of the war in the morning."

Palpatine's razor blade grin widened even further, chilling the very blood in Melanie's veins. "Once you return then?"

Damn. He's really playing this whole 'growing friendship' thing up, isn't he?

"... Sure." Melanie finally relented, allowing her feelings of hesitation to play across her face.

Palpatine hummed, wrinkled features growing pleased with her concession. He leaned back, finally allowing Melanie a moment to breathe again. "Excellent! I shall eagerly await your return."

Melanie blinked rapidly, utterly astounded by how fast the gray-haired man could change trajectory in conversation.

Palpatine inclined his head at her in an artificial gesture of respect. "Until next time, Miss Bains."

And then the Chancellor turned—his two faceless Red Guards following swiftly behind him—before making his way towards the large archway of the Senate building.

Melanie watched him go, stomach sinking in dread.

She had a terrible feeling about all of this.

Melanie visibly shudders at the memory, disgust washing over her at the reminder of what awaits her once she returns back to Coruscant.

God, she really fucking hates that bastard.

She shakes the thought off, heaving out a weary sigh of exhaustion, before finally rising to her feet.

After all—

Her combat training still begins in an hour.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

The thunderous sound of male laughter rings sharply in Melanie's ears as she walks into The Resolute's combat room.

Her steps grind to a halt at the sound.

Melanie stands there for a moment, simply taking in the endearing sight of Rex and the rest of her chosen clone friends laughing and shoving at each other in camaraderie.

A shard of melancholy hits her at the sight, and she has to swallow down the thick ball of emotion lodged in the back of her throat.

She shakes the feeling off, before letting her feet carry her straight towards Rex.

The blended laughter of the male clones begins to die out as she approaches the group.

Melanie watches as Fives's lips twist into a wide grin; the goateed man giving her a two-fingered salute in greeting.

"Well, look what the Loth-cat dragged in!" Fives begins, leaning over to nudge Tup in the side to gather the man's attention.

The rest of the group's gruff voices blend together in a burst of loud noise as they greet Melanie; waving their armored arms in her direction.

Rex turns to face her, lips beginning to twitch upwards. "How'd you sleep, Shin—?"

The clone Captain's words die in his throat as Melanie barrels into his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso in a tight hug.

Melanie lays her head against Rex's armored shoulder, ignoring the way the room has gone dead silent at her surprising embrace of the clone Captain.

She simply stays that way for a moment, listening to the way Rex's broad chest rises up and down with calming breaths of air.

Some vague part of Melanie remains aware that she is trying to drown out the heartbreaking reminder of Rex's sobs of anguish that continue to haunt her dreams.

Luckily enough for her, the calming sound of Rex's breathing seems to be working.

Vacantly, she registers the barely there sensation of Rex's arms wrapping around her body to hug her back.

"... Melanie?" Rex murmurs hesitantly, his hands patting her awkwardly on the back. "Are you alright?"

Melanie clears her throat as she pulls back from him, blinking rapidly to keep any tears from gleaming in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Rex peers down at her with a look of disbelief, clearly sensing her bullshit. "You know, we don't have to train today. If you're not feeling up to it—"

"No." Melanie forces the corners of her lips upward into a too-wide smile. "I'm fine. Just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Rex hesitates, exchanging unsure looks with the rest of the men.

Melanie frowns at them all, a flash of irritation hitting her. "I'm fine, guys. Really. I promise." She looks around at them all, her tone gaining a slight pleading edge. "Let's just do it."

Rex glances back in her direction, squinting down at her in thought.

Melanie and Rex stare at each other for a moment, each locked in a silent battle of wills.

Finally, Rex's shoulders lower in resignation.

"Alright." Rex sighs, beginning to walk towards the unarmed combat ring. "Let's hop to it then, Shiny."

And so, that's how the next thirty minutes of her morning pass by.

After about the tenth time of Rex knocking her on her ass yet again, Melanie feels a surge of petulant annoyance beginning to bubble up inside of her chest.

She grumbles under her breath, allowing Rex to help haul her up to her feet.

To her right, muffled snickers of amusement travel over to her ears from the clones sitting on the sidelines.

Melanie huffs, stomping back over to her side of the combat room.

She ignores the look Rex gives her as she gets back into position again.

"Another round." she says, maneuvering her arms into the familiar defensive position that Rex taught her to use so many months ago.

Rex raises an eyebrow. "I think we've trained enough for toda—"

"—Rex!" she snaps.

Rex's jaw clamps shut at her words, giving her a knowing look of understanding.

Melanie ignores this look. If she gives in to Rex's kindness, she's afraid she'll start crying.

"Please." she mumbles, ducking her head in a silent show of apology for her snap of anger.

A few seconds of suffocating silence pass.

Finally—

"One more round." Rex concedes, before easily sliding into his fighting stance on the other side of the combat ring.

Melanie takes in a slow breath of air between her teeth, trying to calm her racing thoughts.

She stares across at Rex, green eyes scanning over the clone's tall body and muscled form.

Maybe she's been going about this all wrong.

Rex is stronger than her. He'll always be physically stronger than her.

And while—yes—Melanie has lasted longer and longer with Rex in one-on-one fights as time has gone on; the simple truth is that all she has been accomplishing is gaining a level of endurance.

It doesn't matter what she does or how long she trains. Eventually, Rex will always be able to knock her down, because of the simple fact that he has more muscle mass than her.

She can't beat him head-on in a fight.

But why should she need to?

All this time, Rex has been using his own strength and skillset against her in battle.

Why doesn't she just do the same thing?

Melanie inhales, muscles tensing in preparation.

Across the combat ring, Rex's eyes narrow. He tenses his shoulders, preparing for her attack.

A heartbeat passes. Then two. Then three.

Melanie exhales.

And then she plunges towards him.

She does the same move she used against him a few months ago.

Her hand snaps towards Rex's jaw.

Rex jerks back to avoid her strike, body already getting into position to sweep her legs out from under her.

Melanie ducks under Rex's arm, whipping around to latch her arms and legs onto his back again.

Rex curses under his breath. "This again?" He lowers himself to the floor, reaching up to begin the process of flipping Melanie's body over his shoulder.

He never gets the chance.

Melanie whips her blaster out of her thigh holster, before shoving the barrel of the weapon against Rex's temple.

Dead silence fills the room.

She physically feels it as every thick muscle in Rex's back freezes at the action.

Her heart thunders in her ears as she continues to hold the blaster against Rex's skull. She ducks her head to speak near the shell of Rex's ear.

"You're... dead." she manages to say, chest heaving from overexertion.

She waits.

Slowly, Rex raises his arms above his head.

Melanie gradually climbs off of his back, carefully pulling her weapon away from him.

She holsters her blaster, watching with dizzying numbness as Rex rises to his feet, before slowly turning to face her.

The look on Rex's face is one of complete astonishment.

Somewhere to her left, she vaguely registers Fives beginning to stutter with indignation.

"What? Hey, come on. That's not fair! She used a weapon. She cheated!" Fives whines.

Melanie never looks away from Rex's gaze.

Slowly, Rex's lips twist into a wide smirk.

"War isn't fair." Rex reminds them all, crossing his arms over his chest. He gives Melanie a wide grin, still never glancing over in the men's direction for even a second. "She used the tools she had to win the fight, just like any clanker would have."

Melanie's chin raises up as Rex takes a step closer to her.

"Congratulations, Shiny." Rex places a hand on her shoulder, tone filling with pride. "You just won your first fight."

Melanie grins brightly at the man, pure glee washing over her at the words.

She squeals, throwing her arms around Rex to yank him into a quick hug, before barrelling over to begin wrapping her arms around each of the clones around her in a close embrace.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she tells them all, all but bouncing on the balls of her feet as she gazes at each male face around the room. "I never could've done it without you."

The men duck their heads and wave her off, a blush building up under each of their skins at the words of praise.

Rex ducks under the rope circling around the training ring, shaking his head in exasperated amusement at her childish glee. "Remember what I said! Don't get cocky. And don't think for a second that this means you're done learning unarmed combat!" he reminds her, giving her a firm point with his finger for emphasis.

Melanie nods. "I know, I know. Don't worry!" She glances around at them all with a warm smile, expanding her arms out wide. "Now, come on, guys! Group hug!"

The men all groan and mumble under their breaths, but the gesture is clearly just for show.

They all gather around her, their thick armored arms engulfing her in a tight embrace.

Her heart swells with love at the feeling, grinning widely around at all of them.

She had always wanted a brother.

Now she has a squad full of them.

A few moments pass like that as they all continue to hug.

But then, of course, Fives decides to open his mouth to speak.

"I still think ya cheated though." Fives mumbles.

"Oh, just let me have this!" Melanie groans, throwing her head back with a low whine. But her words have no heat to them; already fighting the beginnings of a growing smile.

The clones all burst into laughter.

Melanie laughs along with them, her heart all but overflowing with warmth.

A shrill beep cuts through the silence, drawing Melanie's attention to the comlink on her wrist.

The deep baritone of Anakin's voice crackles over the line of her comlink, making her heart skip a beat in her chest.

"Advisor Bains, I need you on the bridge." Anakin says, voice filled with firm authority. "We're near Felucia airspace, and we'll be heading out to check on the medical station that has gone dark soon. We won't have the space for a full squad, so choose the two clones you want as your bodyguards on this mission."

Melanie swallows, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear in nervousness.

It's so... strange... to hear Anakin sound so authoritative. He can be so boyishly charming one minute, while switching to an absolutely terrifying level of darkness in the next.

Sometimes, it almost makes her forget all that he is truly capable of.

She twists the strand of hair she just tucked behind her ear around her finger, heart pounding through her veins.

Fuck. She really has to get past this lingering terror.

She clears her throat, before reaching down to press a button on her comlink. "O-Okay. I'll be there soon."

Anakin's voice rumbles out a soft hum of acknowledgment over the line, and then he cuts off the connection.

She lowers her arm back to her side, letting out a quiet huff of annoyance as her mind flashes to how this mission will go completely off the fucking rails.

She is so not looking forward to Anakin crashing them all out of the fucking sky of Felucia.

Ugh! And she is so not looking forward to meeting that asshole, Hondo.

Her nose scrunches up in disgust as she recalls what Hondo will try to do to Ahsoka in the future.

The truth is, I have my sights set on more nefarious criminals than I; a businessman who will pay handsomely for a Jedi. Hondo Ohnaka's voice snickers in her ears, lowering to a quiet purr. A female Jedi, at that.

A shudder ripples over her at the thought.

What a fucking creep.

She blinks back to awareness as the men around her begin to let out muffled chuckles of amusement.

She frowns at all of them in confusion. "What?"

"O-Okay. I'll be there soon!" Fives mocks, tone rising to a higher pitch to try and mimic Melanie's own.

To her left, Jesse feigns a gasp, clutching at his chest in shock. "Oh, is that the General? Whatever will I say?" he whispers with comically widened eyes, twisting some imaginary strand of hair near his ear.

Melanie gapes at them all, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. "I-I don't sound like that!"

"Oh, but you do." Fives grins, patting her gently on the shoulder. "You really, really do."

She stutters, stomping past them all towards the exit. "You all are fucking ridiculous! I already told you—!"

"—Yeah, yeah. We know. You don't have a crush." Hardcase interrupts her with a chuckle. "That don't mean I ain't waiting for the day Kix and Tup have to pay up, once I'm proven right."

Melanie whips around, utterly stunned at the revelation.

"You're betting on us?!" she shrieks, about two seconds from completely losing her shit.

Hardcase gives her a nonchalant shrug. "Hey, it ain't just me. We all are."

All of the men nod at Hardcase's words, baffling Melanie even further.

"I swear to God, if any of you spread that stupid rumor around—!" she begins, pointing at them all with a sharp glare.

"—Hey, hey! Relax!" Hardcase raises his hands in a peaceful gesture. "You're our burc'ya. We wouldn't go spreading something like that around the ship." He glances around at the rest of the men. "Right, boys?"

The clones all mutter their agreement at Hardcase's words, nodding in Melanie's direction.

Her shoulders loosen at that statement, making her let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Well... good." she says, chin dipping in a curt nod. She clears her throat, struggling to move the conversation along. "Now—who wants to come with me to Felucia?"

Fives and Echo are the first ones on their feet at her question, making Melanie's choice quite easy.

"I think Echo and I can handle it." Fives nudges one of his oldest friends in the side with his elbow. "Right, Echo?"

Echo shoves him back, rolling his eyes in amusement. "Right."

Melanie fights back a smile, struggling to stay mad at them all for having the sheer audacity to bet on some insane scenario of her and Anakin getting romantically involved.

"Alright. Come on then." she tells them, before turning to march towards the door.

Just as Fives, Echo and her make it to the exit, Rex's gruff voice stops her in her tracks.

"Hey, Mel!"

Melanie turns to face the group of clones she is leaving behind.

Rex gives her a soft smile. "Be safe."

A flood of warmth settles near the space behind her ribs at the words.

Her lips curl up into a bright smile.

"I will. I promise." Melanie says, waving at them all in farewell.

And then she turns, making her way to join Anakin and the others on the command bridge.

Fives and Echo fall in line easily behind her.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Melanie winces at the loud boom of the Jedi shuttle descending from hyperspace, fingers digging into the cold metal of the restraint harness that remains clamped down over her shoulders.

Fuck, she will never get used to hearing that fucking sound—

She blinks back to reality as the gruff voice of Echo lets out a low curse from behind her.

She cranes her neck to the side, green eyes just barely spotting the blurry shape of Echo raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck.

"Kriffing whiplash gets me every time." Echo mutters petulantly.

Near the front of the ship, Ahsoka glances over her shoulder with a teasing grin. "Power through it, Echo!"

Near Echo's right, Fives lets out a low snicker. "Yeah. 'Power through it', Echo."

Echo groans in annoyance. "Oh, go kriff yourself."

Right in front of her, the ginger curls of Obi-Wan's hair become visible as he tilts his head to gaze past Melanie's shoulder.

"Children, please do calm yourselves." Obi-Wan tells the men behind her, a twinkling glint of amusement in his eye.

Echo's affronted huff travels over to Melanie's ears.

"He started it." Echo mumbles.

Melanie rolls her eyes with a fond smile as the two clones behind her begin to bicker again, turning to settle back against the surface of her seat.

She takes in the swirling green colors of the planet just outside the ship's viewport, already feeling the growing sensation of dread.

Ugh! She cannot believe that she is about to keep her mouth shut about what comes next.

She is so not looking forward to the crash landing.

Again.

She is yanked swiftly back to awareness as the deep baritone of Anakin's voice rings in her ears.

"That's Felucia; dead ahead." Anakin says, hands slightly maneuvering the control wheel of the ship to the left.

Ahsoka leans forward, blue eyes squinting out into the vastness of space. "But where's the medical station? I don't see anything on my scanners."

Right on cue, every pair of eyes in the ship turn in Melanie's direction.

Melanie blinks around at them all, shoulders shrinking down from the attention.

"Well, Miss Bains?" Obi-Wan questions her with a gentle prompt. "Would you be so kind as to share with us your knowledge?"

A nervous chuckle falls from her lips. "Yeah, about that..."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrow. "Yes...?"

Melanie's eyes flicker around the small space of the shuttle, hands already beginning to wring together in anxiety. "The medical station is kind of..." her lips twist into a nervous grin, "... gone?"

"Gone? What do you mean by that?" Ahsoka asks her in confusion.

"It's... kind of been... completely destroyed." she awkwardly informs them all.

Fives's screech of shock all but shatters her eardrums. "What?!"

Melanie winces at the sound, shrinking even further into her seat.

She feels the burning intensity of Anakin's eyes before he even begins to speak.

"How was it destroyed?" he asks her, tone dead serious.

Behind the wild curls of Anakin's hair, the yawning shape of a circular shadow catches Melanie's eye.

Immediately, she knows exactly what the shadow must be.

"... By that." she squeaks out, shakily pointing at the orbital Vulture droid deployer looming over Anakin's shoulder.

Anakin snaps his head back around, blue eyes widening in shock. "Ah, kark."

Right on cue, the droid deployer comes to life; small ships already beginning to detach from its surface to fly in the Jedi shuttle's direction.

"Vulture droids." Ahsoka hisses, glaring at the approaching ships.

"Hang on!" Anakin barks, hands wrapping back around the control wheel to jerk the ship to the side.

Melanie's teeth all but chatter in anxiety as blaster fire starts to echo all around them; the Vulture droids already aiming their fire on taking the shuttle down.

As Anakin swoops the ship in a sharp downward spiral, her stomach begins to roil; bile threatening to spew from behind her clamped lips.

"This would have been a very informative thing to know about beforehand, Miss Bains!" Obi-Wan says, the accented lilt of his voice somehow managing to reach her ears past the screeching noise of blaster fire.

Melanie squeezes her eyes shut as the boom of an explosion echoes out somewhere from behind the shuttle. Before she even realizes it, her hand is reaching up to rip down her emergency oxygen mask that hangs from the ceiling. "You said a nudge here and there, remember?"

The ship jerks to the side from a loud explosion slamming into the back of the ship, just as Melanie's fingers are wrapping the oxygen mask around her head.

"That's not good!" Obi-Wan exclaims, tone tilting dangerously close to apprehension.

"Oh, I'm gonna kriffing hurl." Fives moans in dread from somewhere behind her.

"If you do, make sure you turn your head that way." Echo shouts over the blaster fire, pointing a finger at the metal wall beside Fives's seat.

"They took out the plasma conduit!" Ahsoka says, staring down at the screen of the control panel in front of her with barely concealed frustration.

A yelp of fear escapes the confines of Melanie's throat as the ship sweeps to the right, before circling down towards the oncoming ground of Felucia.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! She fucking hates this so fucking much—!

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Anakin shouts over the noise, glancing in Obi-Wan's direction.

Obi-Wan scoffs, already reaching up to begin wrapping his oxygen mask over his face. "Almost certainly not."

Melanie watches in a type of muffled deliriousness as Anakin's lips curl up into a wicked smirk.

Anakin's eyes snap up to her own, gaze taking in her petrified state.

His eyes soften almost immediately at the sight.

He winks, giving her a comforting grin, as if internally saying, I got this!

And then Anakin turns back around, reaching up to put on his own oxygen mask with a confident flair of his mechanical arm.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way." Anakin mutters lowly under his breath, before reaching down to begin fiddling with the control panel in front of him. "Starting ejection sequence!"

Oh, fucking hell.

Melanie squeezes her eyes shut, trying to uselessly prepare for the terrifying experience of being catapulted out of the fucking ship.

Distantly, on some offhanded level, she registers the muffled sound of Anakin and Ahsoka beginning to bicker back and forth.

"How come every time you fly, we crash?" Ahsoka shouts out over the screech of blaster fire.

The baritone of Anakin's voice rumbles in Melanie's ears as he opens his mouth to respond to his Padawan.

"It's not my fault." Anakin replies, tone growing petulant. "It's the ship!"

If Melanie didn't already have her eyes clamped shut in fear, they would have been all but rolling into the back of her head from Anakin's childish defense of his reckless flying skills.

Ahsoka huffs at her Master's explanation, clearly calling his bullshit. "Ready to eject." she grumbles over the comm channel to be heard by the rest of the group; the blaster fire all but deafening by now.

"Wait..." Anakin warns, voice trailing off as the ship drops closer and closer to the ground.

Melanie clasps the edges of her seat in a white-knuckled death grip just as Anakin finally gives Ahsoka the all-clear to pull the eject handle.

"Now!" Anakin barks.

A yelp of pure terror explodes out of the confines of Melanie's throat as her seat launches into the air.

She can't find the strength to pry open her eyes, even after the circular survival pod bursts to life around her seat to help cushion her fall.

She flinches as the first muffled thunk of the survival pod bounces off one of the unknown trees of Felucia.

This muffled sound goes on for quite some time as she rides out the experience of having to helplessly bounce down to the ground, barely managing to hold back the bile that threatens to spew from her mouth.

Just as the survival pod bounces a final time off an unknown tree branch and onto the surface of the ground, Melanie's head jerks unnaturally to the side; the force of the landing slamming her skull into the metal surface outlining the cushion of her seat.

A flare of pain surges to life, making stars burst behind her eyes.

"Fuck..." she groans, gritting her teeth at the sharp stab of agony.

Damn. That's gonna give her a raging headache later on.

The hiss of the survival pod bursting open just barely manages to register in her eardrums as she finally rolls to a stop.

Her stomach roils at the rough sensation, and she holds back a gag to keep from retching all over her suit of armor.

"Ugh." Melanie whimpers, rubbing at her aching skull. "Why does it always have to be the head?"

Muffled voices echo around her as the group begins stepping out of their own survival pods.

Somewhere near her left, the baritone of Anakin's low chuckle reaches her ears. "You alright there, Master?"

Obi-Wan huffs, clearly hiding his growing irritation. "I'm fine, Anakin."

"Does anybody else feel like they're about to hurl?" Echo groans out near Melanie's right.

"I feel great." Fives answers cheerily. "Practicing the flight simulator for fun will do that for ya."

Melanie never manages to truly make out the grumbled response Echo gives to his oldest friend; still too engrossed with trying to get the pounding drums in her head to stop bringing her flares of agony.

A few seconds later, Ahsoka's high-pitched voice is ringing through the air.

"Mel?" Ahsoka calls out, tone growing worried. "Mel, are you okay?"

Melanie cannot give the young girl a proper answer; simply letting out a groan of pain as she reaches down to shove the restraint harness up and over her shoulders.

She rises shakily to her feet just as Ahsoka makes her way over to Melanie's position.

"Mel!" Ahsoka's eyes are wide with apprehension at her friend's injured state. Her fingers curl around the skin of Melanie's right hand in a show of comfort.

"What's going on? What happened?" Anakin's voice is razor-sharp as he stomps over in their direction, and it makes a low shiver travel up the length of her spine at the sound.

Fuck! Say something, you idiot! Fucking placate him!

Melanie whips around to face the dark-robed man's towering form, an anxious smile pulling at the corners of her lips. "Nothing!"

Anakin tilts his head, the burning weight of his gaze instantly honing in on the wound near her hairline, making her heart skip a beat in her chest from embarrassment.

Ugh, she's so fucking useless! Of course, it'd be her who's the first one injured before they even have to enter a fucking battle.

Anakin's carved features immediately soften, his flesh hand rising up in an almost unconscious gesture to bestow a level of comfort. "You're bleeding..."

The scorching heat of his fingers just barely brush the skin of her temple, before Melanie is suddenly flinching away from him; breath hitching in her throat at the gentle act.

Some unnamed emotion flashes behind the blue of Anakin's eyes.

It almost looks like hurt.

"Sorry." Anakin ducks his head, a mournful smile curling to his lips. "Just trying to help."

A surge of guilt erupts in Melanie's chest at the way the light in Anakin's eyes seems to dim; something inside of her screeching in frustration.

Ugh! This isn't fucking fair. She's trying, okay?

Besides, why is Anakin just assuming her reaction was about her fear of him?

She would have flinched if anyone had touched her head wound in that moment.

Because, you know—

It fucking hurts.

It... It doesn't mean anything, though.

It doesn't necessarily mean that she had flinched out of fear.

Probably.

Ugh, what the fuck ever.

Melanie takes in a shuddering breath of air, struggling to calm her racing heartbeat. "It's f-fine. It just hurts, is all."

She raises her gaze to trace a path over Anakin's features, watching as the angled slope of his jaw tightens at her words.

"I could take some of the pain away for you." he offers in a low murmur, taking a suffocating step closer into her personal space.

Distantly, on some offhanded level, Melanie registers the muffled whispers of Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and her two clone bodyguards coming from somewhere over her shoulder.

When had Ahsoka let go of her hand? She thinks dizzily, continuing to stare up at the towering form of Anakin.

Fuck, why the fuck does he have to be so goddamn tall? This is not helping her anxiety.

Her throat forces down a swallow, a strange jittery sensation forming in the pit of her stomach as the never-ending heat radiating off the surface of his body continues to engulf her every nerve ending.

"B-But wouldn't that like... use up your 'energy level' or something?" she asks with a breathless chuckle, struggling with everything inside of her to hide her apprehension around him. She truly has grown to hate how much she hurts Anakin's feelings lately.

Anakin leans a little closer, soft lips quirking upwards at her worry over his wellbeing. Something in him seems to come alive at the knowledge she has recklessly just given away. "Ah, maybe a little." He raises one broad shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. "To be honest, I've never been good at the whole 'healing' thing. Takes a level of concentration that's hard for me to master." He lets out a low chuckle, giving her a grin that borders on boyish. "But dulling the pain for someone doesn't take as much out of a Jedi as healing does."

Melanie ducks her head at the revelation, a stuttery breath leaving her lips at the burning weight of his eyes tracking her every move.

God, has he always been this intense?

She can't remember. After all, she had avoided him like the plague the first few months after landing in this insane universe.

She supposes he always must have been like this, and she just didn't notice.

He's been trying to get closer to her. To be her friend. It makes sense that he would act more 'touchy-feely', so to speak, just like he does with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

Still, though—it's going to take her a while to get used to the way he always tries to meet her eyes.

Like now, for instance.

The light from Felucia's sun glints off the crystal blue flecks in Anakin's eyes as he gazes down at her, patiently waiting for her response.

Melanie fiddles with her hands, peeking up at him with a hesitant expression. "But... it could still weaken you."

Anakin's features soften, eyes shining with fond endearment. "Only a little bit."

"I know. B-But I'll be okay." she whispers, shakily reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Across from her, Anakin's eyes track the motion with a burning level of intensity.

He huffs, lips turning downward. "Mel..."

"I'm okay!" she says, giving him a soft grin. "Really! It's just a little scratch."

Her heart skips a beat in her chest as the angled curve of Anakin's jaw tightens; the dark-robed man clearly getting ready to argue his case again.

But he never gets the chance.

The ground beneath Melanie's feet rumbles ominously, making hairs rise on the back of her neck.

She snaps her head to the side.

A dozen feet past the heads of the rest of the group, the looming forms of two gigantic dinosaur-like creatures appear.

Melanie jerks backward at the terrifying sight, almost tripping over her own two feet.

She would've fallen on her ass if Anakin's muscular arm didn't reach out to steady her, the scorching heat of his flesh hand digging into the curve of her lower back to keep her from collapsing to the ground.

"I don't like the look of that." Anakin mutters uneasily, the deep sound of his voice resonating down the length of her spine.

Melanie holds back a shudder as Anakin helps her back to a steady position; the intense sensation of his touch leaving her skin a moment later.

But she still hovers near him, eyeing the gigantic creatures looming over them all with a growing level of nervousness.

She just barely holds back a yelp of fear as the next stomp of one of the creatures shakes the very air around them, teeth grinding together in anxiety.

Her pulse rapidly increases as the warmth of Anakin's breath traces the shell of her ear.

"Shhh." he murmurs, tone the gentlest she's ever heard it. "We don't wanna scare them."

Melanie jerks her head in a quick nod at the words. She bites her lip, squeezing her eyes shut to try and drown out the sight of the terrifying creatures in front of them all, angling her body a little bit closer to Anakin as a form of protection.

It's kind of hilarious how quickly she feels safer around Anakin, the minute a higher level of danger is near.

There is something deeply ironic about that.

Eh, she probably shouldn't think about it too hard.

A few more heartstopping seconds tick away as the massive creatures pass them by, before finally disappearing into the jungle-like forests of Felucia.

"Alright. They're gone." Anakin whispers, hot breath skimming along the length of her neck.

Her chest releases a trembling breath of air, muscles slackening in relief.

She takes a shaky step away from Anakin, knees turning to jelly from her lingering adrenaline of the encounter with the Felucian creatures; tremors coursing over every inch of her skin.

"You alright?" Anakin asks hesitantly.

"Fine!" she squeaks out, trying to get her shallow breathing under control. "Completely fine. Never been better."

Somewhere over her shoulder, she just barely registers the muffled sound of Fives choking down his laughter.

She curses him inside her head, quietly seething at the clone's childishness.

How many times does she have to tell him that she doesn't have a crush, before he finally gets it through his thick skull—?

On the edges of her vision, she already spots the way Anakin is frowning at her in concern, looking to be about two seconds from stepping in her direction again.

Thankfully, Obi-Wan has finally chosen this very moment to speak, saving Melanie from any further awkward embarrassment.

"We can't just wander around aimlessly. We need a plan." Obi-Wan points out.

Anakin struts past Melanie, before coming to a stop near Obi-Wan's familiar form. "You always taught me to go on instinct, and my instincts tell me to go that way." he says, pointing somewhere over Obi-Wan's shoulder.

Obi-Wan hums, rubbing at his beard with a thoughtful expression. "No. That doesn't seem right. I think we should go this way." he replies, gesturing to a random pathway near the left.

Melanie gradually approaches them all, coming to a stop beside Ahsoka and the clones. She stares, watching with an increasing level of fond exasperation as the two Jedi in front of her begin to bicker back and forth.

Anakin scowls at his former Master, arms crossing over the broad expanse of his chest with a huff of annoyance. "Why do you even ask for my opinion? You never do things my way."

Obi-Wan's teeth are all but blinding in the light of Felucia as he gives Anakin a dazzling smile. "We crashed the ship your way."

Anakin scoffs. "Very funny. I see your sense of humor has survived the landing."

"Yes, it truly is amazing what survival pods can accomplish." Obi-Wan agrees, tone purposefully cheerful. His head tilts, a twinkle of mischief shining in his eyes. "So, may we please try things my way this round, Anakin?"

Anakin frowns, blue eyes squinting at his former Master's strange behavior. "What? No way! I told you—my instincts tell me to go that way." he says, gesturing again at a fixed point over Obi-Wan's shoulder.

Obi-Wan's smile drops from his face. He huffs, expression growing weary; fingers scrubbing at the ginger-haired scruff of his beard. "I suppose it was worth a shot." he mutters under his breath.

Anakin narrows his eyes. "What are you blabbering on about, old man—?"

Melanie glances to the left, exchanging a look of amused exasperation with Ahsoka, before finally flickering her eyes back over to the two Jedi in front of her.

She subtly clears her throat.

Anakin and Obi-Wan's conversation comes to a halt, the two men simultaneously glancing over at her with looks of confusion.

She says nothing; simply gesturing with her head in Ahsoka's direction, already aware of what the young girl will tell them all.

Ahsoka gives the older men a sugary sweet smile, pointing at a trail of smoke swirling above the bright and colorful trees of Felucia. "If you two are done arguing, I think there's some smoke on the horizon. Which means people, and a way off this planet."

And then Ahsoka strides past them, chin raised with an air of confidence.

The two men blink, turning in Melanie and the clones's direction.

Melanie shrugs, lips twitching into an amused smile. She ducks her head down as she passes by Anakin's towering figure, before trailing after Ahsoka.

A few seconds later, she hears the faint sound of the rest of the group's footsteps following along after them.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

The muscles in Melanie's legs are begging for relief by the time they all reach their destination.

A quiet curse falls from her lips at the thick humidity coating the air, hand shakily reaching up to brush away a sheen of sweat that has begun to make golden strands of hair stick to her forehead.

To her left, the intensity of Anakin's gaze burns into the side of her skull.

She ignores him, struggling to calm the fluttering beat of her heart. Some part of her remains worried that if she can't hide her pain, Anakin will simply decide to use his Force abilities to try and heal her head wound anyway.

And while—yes—a part of her is aware of how ridiculous she is being; some part of her also can't help but remain paranoid at what could happen if Anakin does try to heal her wound.

Maybe it has something to do with what she has already witnessed during her other times on the battlefield.

At Ryloth, it was Straightshot. The first friend Melanie had ever made—gone in a single blast that had been meant for her.

At Devaron—Greaser had been the one to pay the price for Melanie's presence; the clone taking a shard of metal to the side for his troubles over breaking Melanie's fall on the way down from the crash of their ship.

Every time Melanie gets involved, people seem to die around her.

And while she's not necessarily worried about Anakin dying—what she is worried about is Anakin wasting his energy level on healing her wounds, causing the man to react slower than usual in his future fight against Hondo.

Which is silly; Anakin would barely have to use any type of energy to dull the pain for the gash on Melanie's temple.

But some part of her can't help but think that every action she takes is underneath a galactic microscope.

Like... like some type of weird butterfly effect.

Or some shit like that.

What if Anakin dulls her pain, and it weakens him just enough to where he makes a mistake in his future fight with Hondo? What if that gets some of the villagers of this planet killed? What if it gets Fives or Echo killed?

What if, what if, what if—

Thankfully, the dark-robed man never gets the chance to ask her if she is alright, because before she even knows it, Ahsoka's voice is dragging Melanie's mind back to the present.

"Look!" Ahsoka points excitedly at a small wooden entryway up ahead. "There's a village."

Anakin hums, the sculpted column of his throat arching upwards to take in the wide expanse of the village. "Maybe they have a ship we can..." he leans down to gently nudge Melanie's side, the low timber of his voice rumbling out a quiet chuckle, "... borrow."

Melanie's lips part, a breathless sound of amusement escaping the confines of her chest at his small joke.

Her eyes stubbornly stare ahead, her strides following after Ahsoka as the young Togruta leads them all into the village; the scorching burn of Anakin's body walking along beside her.

Ahsoka glances at the glowing flowers and plants blooming near the entrance. "Hmm, they're growing healing herbs."

Obi-Wan nods. "Nysillim, I believe. One of the most valuable crops in the galaxy."

Time loses all meaning as they all walk along the main pathway of the village, taking in the various buildings strewn here and there across the land.

Behind her, Echo's gruff voice rings in her ears. "Feels like a ghost town."

"You're right, Echo." Ahsoka agrees, glancing around at the buildings with a curious eye. "This place looks deserted."

Obi-Wan narrows his eyes in thought. "I don't believe it is. Crops are ready to be harvested. Tools are lying about." He shakes his head, hand scrubbing at his beard in thought. "No, something's amiss."

Fives comes up to stand near her right, hazel eyes peering over at her with clear expectation. "Care to share...?" he whispers, voice low enough for nobody else to hear.

Melanie says nothing, deliberately ignoring his clear side-eye.

Fives huffs, shaking his head in amused exasperation.

Anakin cranes his head to the side, the bright blue of his irises scanning over the massive structure near the back of the village. "Well, there's one thing I learned where I grew up. If you want to know what a farmer's up to..." his body sways closer, the burn of him suffocating every nerve ending on Melanie's skin as he murmurs a quiet, "... look in their barn."

His hot breath leaves the shell of her ear a moment later; long and powerful strides carrying him up to the entrance of the barn, before his hand slams against the large button on the far side of the wall.

Melanie stares after him, struggling to get the anxious shivers wracking her body back under control.

Ugh, she really fucking hates being so afraid all the time.

Her eyes flicker forward at the sound of the massive barn door screeching open, taking in the sight of the lumbering form of the ship that she already knows belongs to the bounty hunters that had been hired to protect this village from Hondo and his merry band of misfits.

Obi-Wan frowns in confusion at the sight. "This is an odd ship for farmers. Perhaps someone's here to pick up the sillim."

Ahsoka shakes her head, expression suspicious. "I still don't get it. Where is everyone?"

All eyes immediately snap in Melanie's direction.

She shrinks under the weight of their stares, shuffling awkwardly.

"Well, Miss Bains...?" Obi-Wan prompts with a raised brow.

She hesitates for a moment, but then finally sighs in resignation. "Check the houses."

Obi-Wan nods at her words, appearing satisfied.

And so, that is how the next few minutes pass.

Each of them checks house after house, searching for the Felucian aliens of this unknown village.

Finally, Melanie, Anakin, Ahsoka and the clones begin to step up the ramp to search a small house near the edge of the village, while Obi-Wan chooses to look around near the woods.

Melanie swallows, a slither of uneasiness forming in the pit of her stomach. She knows what comes next. The bounty hunters will find them soon.

She carefully steps around the enclosed space of the room, angling her body to subtly hide behind Anakin as a form of protection.

It's strange—she never would've even thought of doing that a few months ago.

After all, Anakin is still dangerous.

But he also wants to keep her safe, at the very least for the good of the mission.

There's something comforting about that; something comforting in knowing—as long as she remains behind Anakin, one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy—that she is safer than she ever would be while standing alone.

At least as long as Anakin is willing to care.

But how long will that last? Her mind whispers, the chilling thought curling around her brain like an annoying cloud of smoke.

Her jaw clenches, and she holds back a shudder.

A sharp clang from down below echoes in her ears, drawing her back to the land of the present.

Melanie winces at the sound, already knowing that the villagers are hiding in the basement below the floor.

Which also means that the bounty hunters are only moments away from discovering them.

Her fingers twitch at her sides, already itching for the option of yanking out her blaster.

She strangles the urge down, not quite ready to let their hidden enemy know she is aware of them yet.

She stares, watching numbly as Anakin gestures for her, Ahsoka and the clones to be silent.

Anakin leans down to open the metal door leading to the basement, metal hand hovering near his lightsaber.

The sight of terrified alien faces stare up at them all through the door of the hidden basement, their cowering forms pulling sharply at the ends of Melanie's heartstrings.

Anakin hums, squinting down at the aliens with an air of curiosity. "Mystery solved."

Fives peeks over Anakin's shoulder, blaster rifle lowered to the ground. "They're not clankers, are they?"

Ahsoka huffs. "No, Fives. They're just villagers. And they're terrified." She leans over, hands raising peacefully. "It's okay. We won't hurt you."

Out of the corner of Melanie's eye, she spots a shadow darting up the ramp of the house.

She doesn't hesitate.

"Fives and Echo, blasters up. Now!" she barks out, whipping out her own weapon just in the nick of time.

Fives and Echo whip around, blasters locked directly between the eyes of the group of bounty hunters surrounding them on all sides.

Melanie's hands shake only slightly as she stares right at the female Zabrak near the center of the room; the woman's blaster aimed directly in line with Melanie's own. It's clear from the confident air of the Zabrak woman who the leader of the bounty-hunting group is.

"Nice reflexes, blondie." the Zabrak woman purrs.

To the left, the click of a blaster draws Melanie's eye.

One of the other female bounty hunters has aimed her blaster near the back of Ahsoka's head, making Melanie's nerves skyrocket.

She grinds her teeth, glaring at the sight, before flickering her gaze back to the leader of the group.

The Zabrak woman smirks. "Kindly drop your weapons. That includes you too, Jedi." she says, gesturing with her head in Anakin's direction.

Anakin raises his arms in a peaceful gesture. "Take it easy, guys." he mutters, blue eyes flickering between Melanie, Ahsoka and the clones in warning. "We don't want any trouble."

The bounty hunter wearing a large-rimmed metal hat jabs his bowcaster roughly into Anakin's ribs, spitting a sentence out in some unknown language.

Melanie bristles at the action, hackles rising higher at the wince of pain that crosses Anakin's face.

Anakin shakes the rough jab to his side off, broad chest heaving out a huff of air. The curl of his lips takes a dangerous tint as he smirks in the male bounty hunter's direction. "It's not always about the numbers." he grits out, teeth glinting in a dark snarl.

The female alien holding the barrel of her weapon to Ahsoka's skull clicks her tongue. "Four on three is hardly a fair fight, even for a Jedi." She smirks at the man. "After all, only one of you has a lightsaber."

Ahsoka frowns, squinting in annoyance at the words. "Wait a minute—what do you mean, only one of us has a lightsaber? You mean two of us."

The bounty hunter encased in lumbering metal armor scoffs, taking a short step forward. "We don't count you, knee-high."

Melanie lets out a sharp bark of laughter. "You count me, but not her?" She bares her teeth at them all, blaster still locked directly between the leader of the group's eyes. "That would be a mistake."

She doesn't know where this sudden sense of righteous bravery has come from, but she lets the feeling engulf her, suddenly completely furious at the stupid, smug look of the criminals for hire threatening her friends's lives.

Her burning rage is swiftly cut through by the surge of blue igniting near the ramp of the small house.

"I do believe you are right, Miss Bains. Ahsoka is quite the force to be reckoned with." Obi-Wan says cheerily, bright blue eyes locked on the criminals who continue to have their blasters aimed at Melanie's head. "I must ask our new guests though—do you count me as a worthy adversary?" he asks with a sharp smile.

Melanie's blood begins to thunder in her ears as the seconds tick by; every hand in the enclosed space itching to dive head-first into a fight.

Obi-Wan's feet plant harder on the floor, preparing to leap forward.

To her right, Anakin's metallic hand twitches at his side. His gaze is locked on the leader of the group who has a blaster to Melanie's head, lips threatening to pull up into a snarl.

Fives and Echo cock their blasters, their aim never faltering.

Somewhere near her left, a burst of green fills the room; Ahsoka crouching down as she gets ready to attack.

Melanie glares daggers into the smug eyes of the Zabrak woman across from her, fury rising higher and higher—

"Stop! Don't harm them!"

A ragged breath escapes her lips, shoulders loosening at the voice of the village leader.

She watches as the small alien runs up the steps to stand in front of the bounty hunters, the leader's hands urging the criminals to lower their weapons.

"Can't you see these are Jedi?" the village leader says with an air of excitement. He pauses, peeking over in Melanie's direction, and then at the clones. "Well—mostly Jedi." His throat clears, turning back in the female Zabrak's direction. "Either way, we are saved!"

"Saved?" Ahsoka repeats, features twisting with confusion.

The Zabrak leader huffs at the interruption. She slightly lowers her blaster, peering down her nose at the male alien. "Need I remind you, Casiss, you already made a deal with us?"

Casiss nods, waving the woman's concerns off. "But with the Jedi's help—"

"—Excuse me, but help you with what?" Ahsoka interrupts.

Casiss reaches up to lower the Zabrak woman's blaster to the ground, his small features turning grim. "Pirates."

Melanie sighs wearily at the words, already beginning to holster her blaster.

Ugh, she is so not looking forward to this.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Over half an hour later, darkness has fallen over the sky of Felucia.

Casiss had led them all to his own home, explaining how it had far more space for a longer discussion with so many people.

The village leader and his citizens had offered them a strange type of colorful fruit to eat as they gathered around the alien's kitchen table; the soft texture of the Felucian food leaving a sugary tang pooling in the back of Melanie's mouth.

A soft sigh of contentment falls from her lips at the sensation. She's been starving for hours, and is so glad to have finally gotten the chance to sate her appetite. "Mmmm. That hits the spot."

Beside her, the baritone of Anakin's voice rumbles out an amused chuckle. "You want some of mine?" he murmurs, extending his flesh hand in her direction to offer his own fruit.

Her eyes trace a path up the sculpted muscle of his arm, lingering on the angled slope of his jaw, before finally locking her gaze with the burning intensity of his own.

She quirks her lips into a shy smile. "Th-That's okay."

Anakin shrugs, leaning over to nudge her gently with the scorching touch of his shoulder, a teasing look in his eyes. "Suit yourself."

A quiet shudder racks her body as Anakin pulls back from her, finally allowing her the space to breathe.

Her heart is still pounding from lingering adrenaline as he turns away from her to begin speaking to Ahsoka, who sits on the other side of him.

Melanie raises her gaze to look around, feeling the weight of a pair of unknown eyes searing through her.

Across the room, Fives and Echo are leaning against the wall of the small alien home. They both stare at her with raised brows and expressions of muffled glee.

Fives subtly raises a hand near the edge of his temple, quietly mimicking the appearance of being on the edge of a swoon.

She glares daggers in their direction, cursing the two clones inside her head.

Shut up! Just shut up! If they say one word, she swears to God—

A sharp stab of pain begins to pound near the corner of her skull, bringing her seething thoughts to an instant close.

She winces, a quiet whimper escaping the confines of her chest. Her eyes squeeze shut, her left hand rising up to rub at her now aching forehead.

Ugh! Goddamnit, she knew she was gonna get a headache from her stupid wound—!

Calloused fingers graze along the back of her hand, making her jump in shock.

She looks down, dizzily taking in the burning edges of Anakin's fingers tracing imaginary shapes into her skin. Her lips part, trying to find the will to speak, but she can't force any words out.

So engrossed she is in the scorching path of his fingertips, and the shivers fluttering over every inch of her skin, she almost misses the sensation of the ache in her temple leaving her entirely.

She blinks, raising her free hand to rub near her temple again.

The cut is still there, but it feels smaller somehow, like the wound has magically been made shallower.

After several seconds, it finally registers to her what just happened.

Anakin just numbed her pain.

Liquid warmth floods through her chest at the thought, and she can do nothing to stop it.

She glances over in his direction, heart fluttering in her ears from anxiety.

Anakin doesn't even glance over at her. The softness of his lips twitch into a small smile—his finger tracing one last path of fire on her skin—before pulling away entirely.

Her hand feels cold without it.

She stares, fighting the beginnings of a growing smile. Fondness sparks in the space behind her heart, the buzzing sensation clouding the alarm bells blaring in the back of her skull.

Damn him. He's so stubborn. She told him not to do that.

Don't get her wrong—it's nice to know that Anakin cares about her well-being.

But he also just pushed past the boundaries she had set out earlier, ignoring her wishes of not wanting to be healed.

That is... concerning.

But—considering the sweet sentiment behind the act—she's willing to let it slide, just this one time.

Melanie ducks her head, lips pulling up at the edges.

She is yanked away from her jittery thoughts of the dangerous man sitting next to her by the village leader; the small alien raising a hand to gesture them all to be silent.

"Now that you all have had the time to fill your stomachs, I will tell you why we need your assistance." Casiss says, tone turning grim as he looks around the room. "Simply stated, if we don't give the pirates a portion of our crop, they will destroy our homes with us in them."

Obi-Wan narrows his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his beard in thought. "Hmm, I see your dilemma."

Casiss nods. "Sillim farming is a meager trade. Without our herbs to sell, we will have no money for food, fuel or equipment."

Obi-Wan hums, bright blue eyes flickering in Sugi, the female Zabrak's, direction. "And yet you can afford to pay mercenaries?"

Melanie scowls at the annoying reminder of the criminals sitting across from her. She glares daggers in Embo's direction, still royally pissed off at the male Kyuzo for jabbing his bowcaster into Anakin's ribcage.

Near the head of the table, Casiss begins to speak again. "These bounty hunters drive a far more reasonable bargain than the pirates."

The scorching heat of Anakin's body engulfs her entire shoulder as he leans over her to peer down the table at Casiss. "Why not just fight them yourselves?"

Casiss scoffs. "Easy for you, perhaps. But look at us. We are farmers, not warriors. Even with the bounty hunters's help, I had feared the worst." He perks up, gesturing at each face around the room. "But now, there are ten of you."

Sugi sighs at the proclamation. She leans forward, narrow elbows digging into the wood of the table as she stares at Obi-Wan. "What do you want, Jedi?"

Obi-Wan's teeth flash in a dazzling smile. "We need a ship. Ours is beyond repair, I'm afraid."

Anakin rumbles out a chuckle, the low sound vibrating near the shell of Melanie's ear as he leans forward more, cerulean irises locked on the female Zabrak near the head of the table. "The one in the barn. That'll do."

Sugi huffs out an amused laugh. "That's our ride. It doesn't go anywhere without us. And right now, we're busy."

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow at the woman, voice sharp as he replies, "Busy extorting farmers?"

Sugi smirks at the ginger-haired Jedi, and it makes Melanie bristle with quiet annoyance at the woman's clear smug attitude. "I don't hear you offering to help."

"And I don't hear you offering to help the farmers without your payday!" Melanie snaps.

She clamps her mouth shut, shocked beyond belief at the reckless way she has just let loose her simmering anger.

But still—even though she is shocked at her level of bravery—she isn't sorry for her words in the least.

Sugi snaps her head in Melanie's direction, hazel eyes darkening with fire.

Melanie doesn't flinch. She glares back at the Zabrak, chin raising defiantly at the woman.

Why should she be sorry? It's the truth, isn't it? The only reason Sugi and her merry band of misfits are even here in the first place is for a payday. Otherwise, they wouldn't give a damn.

Near the shell of her ear, Anakin chokes down his laughter, appearing utterly amused over Melanie's uncharacteristic show of rage.

Obi-Wan subtly clears his throat, trying to quiet the growing tension in the room. "Unfortunately, we couldn't help even if we wanted to."

Ahsoka's head snaps in Obi-Wan's direction, eyes widening in shock. "What?"

Melanie heaves out a sigh, reaching down to take another bite of her delicious fruit.

It's gonna be a long night.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

The freezing chill of the night air nips at Melanie's ears as she silently watches the ongoing argument between Ahsoka and Obi-Wan.

They had all left the village leader's home only mere moments ago, and it had taken no time at all for Ahsoka to begin insisting on her point of helping the Felucian people with their current problem.

Ahsoka huffs, back to them all as she glares off into the darkness of the night. "Master, these farmers are in trouble. Why can't we help them?"

Obi-Wan sighs wearily, folding his hands regally behind himself in an effort to appear neutral. "Believe me, Ahsoka, I would like nothing more. However, we need to report that the medical station has been destroyed. If we stay too long, the Separatists will show up looking for us here."

Melanie winces at the remark, a shudder of fear traveling up her spine at the mere thought of Count Dooku or—God forbid—even fucking General Grievous stumbling upon them all.

Oh, she can never ever run into General Grievous. Ever.

Dooku can be reasoned with. Ventress can be stalled, as long as you're willing to let her swat you around like a cat while she plays with her food.

But Grievous?

Oh, he would fucking end her. And he would enjoy it too. Even more than Ventress, she suspects. The male cyborg is so far into insanity that a part of Melanie suspects that he kills people just for the thrill of it. Anything to spread the same pain that he himself deals with every day of his miserable life.

Huh. Kind of like what Anakin will do after he loses his fucking shit.

How ironic.

Ahsoka's voice draws Melanie back to the present, the young girl's tone showing a clear level of irritation at being forced to ignore the Felucian villager's plight. "But—"

Obi-Wan raises a hand to silence her. "Better they get robbed by pirates than attract the interest of General Grievous and his horde."

Ahsoka frowns, mumbling petulantly under her breath. But she bites her tongue, forcing herself to stay silent on the matter from that point forward.

Melanie quirks her lips at the sight, shaking her head fondly at the girl. Ahsoka has one of the biggest hearts Melanie has ever seen, and the young Togruta is slowly but surely becoming something like a little sister to her, even though Melanie had tried like hell in the beginning to fight it.

It's something that could become a big problem a few years from now, once the war is finally over.

Her stomach drops at the reminder, lips tipping into a frown.

It will become a problem. There isn't a question about that.

Either Melanie succeeds at what she has been sent here to do, or she doesn't.

And if she does, and if it's possible—

She'll have to return home.

She'll have to leave this place behind; leave all of her new friends behind.

She can't abandon her mom to wonder hopelessly about what happened to her. It would be cruel.

A wet lump builds in the back of her throat at the realization, staring with a type of melancholy at Ahsoka's small figure.

God, she'll miss her so much.

The surge of heat erupting to life near her right shoulder alerts Melanie of Anakin's close presence; the dark-robed man swaying forward to whisper near the shell of her ear.

"You alright?" he murmurs lowly, hot breath ghosting along the column of her neck, leaving tingles sparking over every inch of her skin.

She worries her bottom lip between her teeth, reaching up to shakily tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. She hates being so aware of him. A part of her knows it's related to her lingering fear, and it leaves her feeling frustrated at her own subconscious.

"F-Fine." she breathes out, hands wringing nervously together in front of her as she stares out into the darkness of the night. "Just wondering how long Fives and Echo will take to finish their food."

Anakin rumbles out a low chuckle, swaying forward to nudge her gently with the broad slope of his shoulder. "Worried they'll get into a fight with our new guests?"

Melanie's features twist into a scowl at the reminder of the bounty hunters, ignoring the way her heart skips a beat in her chest from Anakin's suffocating presence. "Worried the guests will get in a fight with them." she mumbles petulantly under her breath.

The weight of Anakin's eyes burns into the side of her face, making her feel strangely dizzy with anxiety. "You gonna hold a grudge against them the entire time we're here?" he asks her, the baritone of his voice lilting with fond amusement.

Melanie blinks, aghast at the statement. She snaps her neck to the side, gaze drinking in every inch of Anakin's carved features. "I-It's not a stupid grudge!" she stutters, arms crossing over her chest defensively. "That jackass, Embo, jabbed you in the side with his bowcaster! And Rumi held a blaster to Ahsoka's head."

Anakin's eyes narrow, neck tilting to the side. He peers down at her past the wild curls of his hair, appearing genuinely confused at her reasoning. "Come on—it's not like they would've had much of a chance against us."

Melanie raises a brow, just barely holding back a roll of her eyes at his arrogance.

Although, when you take into account who Anakin is, and the level of power he has deep inside of him, maybe he does have a point.

She shakes the thought off, pinching her lips together stubbornly. "That's not the point! Embo didn't have to do what he did. He just did it to be an ass and try to intimidate us."

Anakin blinks down at her in pure bafflement. "Is that what this is about?"

"Yes!" she bursts out, the words spilling from the confines of her chest before she can even think about it. "He hurt you, Anakin! He could've broken one of your ribs!"

She seethes at the reminder of the memory of the encounter, still kicking herself for not telling Embo off for his harsh treatment of Anakin when she had the chance.

So engrossed in her rapidly darkening thoughts, she almost misses the strange sight that happens across from her entirely.

It's like Anakin just... melts.

Anakin stares down at her like he's never seen her before, the soft bow of his lips parting open in astonishment. He lets out a breathless sound, features turning soft as he sways a little closer; the cerulean flecks in his eyes shining in clear fond endearment.

Melanie blinks up at him with a wide-eyed look, surprised at his response to her statement.

What is wrong with him? Can't he see that this is serious?!

"What?" she asks in a hushed tone, breath strangely lodged in the back of her throat.

Anakin shakes his head, lips widening into a soft smile. "Nothing." he whispers gently, the burn of his eyes tracing over every inch of her face.

They stare silently at each other for a few suffocating heartbeats, driving Melanie's nerves slowly insane the longer the tension lingering in the air goes on, and seriously, is he this intense with all of his friends—?

"Pirates!" a high-pitched voice shouts, snapping Melanie's mind back to the present. "Pirates, pirates! The pirates are back!"

Melanie blinks rapidly, a strange cloud of intensity leaving her bloodstream as she turns her head, watching one of the lookouts of the Felucian village approach them all, the alien's voice carrying a clear level of panic.

The rumble of Anakin's throat clearing fills her ears, drawing her gaze back to his own.

He peers down at her with a teasing smirk pulling at the curve of his lips, blue eyes clearing from the fog of unknown emotion that had clouded them earlier.

"Here we go." he mutters, giving her a slight nudge of his shoulder as he passes her by.

Melanie trails after him to join the others near the front of the village, struggling to fight the shivers of anxiety coursing over her body.

She comes to a stop beside Anakin's towering form a few moments later, watching with a growing level of annoyance as Hondo and his goons drive their speeder bikes closer and closer.

As the pirates finally screech to a stop in the center of town, Sugi steps forward to speak.

"That's far enough. I speak for the people of this village. State your name and business." Sugi snaps with a sharp glare.

One of the nameless pirates squints in Sugi's direction, appearing genuinely offended that the woman is stopping him and his friends from raiding the village. "My name is my own business. And my business is taking what's ours." he finishes, jabbing his spear forward in warning.

Sugi's lips curl up into a sneer. "There is nothing here that's yours! Unless you're here to buy it."

"Buy it?" an annoyingly familiar voice snickers from the shadows.

Melanie squeezes her eyes shut at the voice, just barely managing to hold back a groan of frustration.

Here we go...

Hondo Ohnaka struts out of the darkness of the night, a smug grin widening across his face. "Kenobi! Skywalker! I can't believe you came all this way to see me."

Anakin and Obi-Wan exchange exasperated glances, murmuring a simultaneous, "Hondo."

Sugi turns to face the two Jedi, appearing stunned. "You know each other?"

Hondo bursts out a laugh, approaching the group with an air of confidence. "Of course we do! Tell them how far we go back, Kenobi."

Obi-Wan sighs wearily. "Too far, I'm afraid."

Hondo's grin widens further, reaching out to grip the armor of Obi-Wan's shoulder. Around the male Weequay's neck, the small face of his brightly colored monkey-like pet crawls forward to inspect Obi-Wan's beard. "And here I thought we were friends."

Obi-Wan grimaces at how close the Weequay's pet has grown to his face. His hand reaches up to brush Hondo's touch away from his shoulder. "If you're truly interested in friendship, Hondo, may I suggest you stop threatening these farmers?"

Hondo gasps, raising a hand to his chest in mock indignation. "Threatening them?" He chuckles, strutting past them all with his arms folding smugly behind his back, making Melanie grind her teeth in anger. "Oh, please tell me you have not been listening to this bounty-hunting scum."

Sugi scoffs at the remark, clearly offended. "Scum? We're just here to help them protect what's theirs."

The mocking click of Hondo's tongue rings throughout the air as he turns to survey the Zabrak woman. "Oh, come, come, my dear. How much are they paying you?" He lazily raises his hand, as if waving the thought away. "Bububub! Does not matter. Whatever it is, I will double it." He approaches her with an enticing gleam filling his eyes. "And all you have to do is, uh..." he chuckles darkly, gesturing with a swipe of his finger, "... step aside."

Sugi narrows her eyes, hissing out a quiet, "We. Don't. Break. Deals."

A muscle in Melanie's jaw clenches at the remark, already struggling to keep her eyes from rolling into the back of her head.

"So noble..." she mumbles petulantly under her breath, still pissed off from her encounter with the Zabrak woman and her group earlier this afternoon.

On the edges of her vision, she spots the way Anakin glances down at her, the dark-robed man's lips appearing to be fighting the beginnings of a growing smile.

She ignores this look, green eyes narrowing at the way Hondo Ohnaka and Sugi continue to stare each other down.

Finally, Rumi snaps her blaster towards the group of pirates, prompting everyone on the bounty-hunting team to do the same thing.

Hondo's goons raise their own weapons as well, making Melanie's blood begin to pound in her veins from nervousness.

Anakin's throat releases a low growl at the sight. The scorching heat of his flesh hand splays across Melanie's stomach, urging her to step behind him.

Mindlessly, she complies, knees already threatening to give out from underneath her as she stumbles backward to escape the heat of his touch.

Her abdomen lurches as she heaves out a shuddering breath, a jittery sensation sparking inside of her at the threat of weapons aimed at her and her friends's skulls.

Shivers wrack over every inch of her body as she peeks out from behind Anakin's shoulder; the skin over her stomach feeling like it's on fire, even with the thick layer of armor that encases her from top to bottom.

"Steady, everyone." Obi-Wan warns, raising a hand in supplication.

Hondo smirks, turning to face the ginger-haired Jedi. "What is your stake, anyway, Kenobi?"

"All we want is a ride to the nearest Republic outpost. And I'm willing to pay you handsomely for it. Twice what you could make selling this crop." Obi-Wan tells him.

Hondo hums in thought. "Well, um, how do you plan to pay me?"

A muscle in Obi-Wan's jaw twitches, as if he already knows how the pirate across from him will react to his offer. "... A funds transfer when we arrive."

Hondo scoffs, turning his back to the Jedi. "Republic credit?" His tongue clicks in disappointment. "We've been over this before, Kenobi. My associates don't accept that currency."

Obi-Wan stalks toward him, tone growing frustrated. "I'm offering a deal that benefits us all, Hondo. Don't let your greed blind you to that fact."

Hondo lets out a dark chuckle, and the sound makes a curdle of dread settle in the pit of Melanie's stomach. "You know, I like you, Kenobi, but no one leaves this planet until I get my sillim."

"Then I hope you enjoy it here, because you'll be staying a long time, parasite!" Sugi spits out, glaring darkly at the man.

A cloud of danger simmers in the air as Sugi's words settle over the two groups.

Hondo's teeth glint eerily as his lips curl up into a sharp grin. "You know, this crop has not been harvested." He struts over to Casiss, leaning uncomfortably close into the alien's personal space. "You better hurry, old man, before things start to..." his shoulders heave in a nonchalant shrug, "... die on you."

Flames of rage erupt in Melanie's chest at the backhanded threat, and it carries her feet forward.

She shoves past Anakin's towering form, before stomping over to stand protectively between the village leader and Hondo.

Her eyes narrow in a glare as Hondo's grin turns into a disgusting leer; the pirate shamelessly running his gaze up and down her body.

"And just who do we have here?" Hondo purrs, taking a short step forward to survey her.

"Get away from him." she hisses.

Hondo clicks his tongue in amusement. "Mmmm. I like them feisty." he chuckles, raising a finger to stroke along the air beside Melanie's cheek.

Her nose scrunches up in disgust at the act, firmly slapping the pirate's hand away.

To her right, Anakin's chest lets loose a—rather frankly—bone-chilling growl of rage.

Anakin stalks forward, lips pulling back in a snarl. Already, his hand is reaching down to grip the hilt of his lightsaber.

"Buuut... I can see that you are already taken." Hondo says with a teasing grin, hands raising up in the air, as if in concession to a worthy foe.

Somewhere behind Ahsoka's shoulder, Fives chokes down a noise that sounds suspiciously like a burst of muffled laughter.

Melanie ignores the sound, too focused on the smug leer of the pirate in front of her. She squints at the man, confused over just what exactly he is implying.

Hondo gives her no answers. He simply struts away, calling his goons to follow along behind him with a lazy wave of his hand.

She glares into the darkness, watching in frustration as the pirates and their speeder bikes disappear into the silence of the night.

Distantly, on some offhanded level, she registers Casiss urging them all to return to the confines of his home, the Felucian alien's voice filled with terror.

The sound tugs sharply on Melanie's heartstrings.

She turns, taking in the sight of the group beginning to make their way back to Casiss's home.

Ahsoka comes up to stand beside her. "You okay, Mel?"

Melanie nods. "I'm fine."

Ahsoka peers up at her, arms crossing over the frame of her chest with a quiet huff. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

Melanie shrugs noncommittally. "Did I?"

Ahsoka snorts, shaking her head in amused exasperation.

Melanie ignores the sound. She glances back into the yawning darkness of the night, features twisting into a quiet scowl as her mind flashes with Hondo's smug grin.

"Stupid Jack Sparrow wannabe." she mutters petulantly under her breath.

Ahsoka squints up at her in confusion. "Who's Jack Sparrow?"

"Don't worry about it." Melanie mumbles, already turning to begin stomping back towards the village leader's home.

The looming form of Anakin makes her screech to a halt, the scorching heat of his palms wrapping around her arms to keep her in front of him.

Melanie blinks up at Anakin, mouth falling open in surprise.

Anakin's eyes lower, distracted by the motion. Then he blinks, focusing back on her face; the sizzling burn of some unknown emotion glinting in his eyes. "Snips, why don't you go on ahead." He tells his Padawan, a false level of cheerfulness ringing from his voice. "We'll catch up in a few minutes."

"Uh... okay." Ahsoka says, tone clearly showing her level of confusion over her Master's actions. She steps around them, giving Melanie a look of apology, before basically abandoning her to her fate.

Melanie screeches out a curse inside her head, about two seconds from stomping her feet in annoyance.

Why does this always keep happening to her?

Anakin's angled jaw clenches in irritation. "You wanna tell me what that was?"

Melanie's brows furrow. "What are you talking about?"

"You deciding to square up with Hondo!" Anakin snaps, making her heart skip a beat in her chest.

Melanie squints up at him, trying to ignore the shudder traveling up the length of her spine. "Yeah? So what?"

Anakin barks out a laugh. "So what? So, Hondo is dangerous!"

You're dangerous, she wants to reply, but—knowing how that conversation will turn out—she wisely decides not to.

Instead, she says, "I couldn't just stand there and do nothing! He was threatening Casiss."

"Do you really think you would have stood a chance against him?" Anakin asks her in disbelief.

Melanie feels her features twist into a scowl, a pang of embarrassment searing through her at Anakin's blunt reminder of her fighting skills. "That isn't the point!"

Anakin ducks his head to be more level with her eyes. His soft lips are curled into an irritated frown, the blue flecks of his irises glinting at her like diamonds in the darkness of the night. "Then what is the point?"

"The point is that it doesn't matter if I would have stood a chance against him or not!" Melanie snaps, arms slightly twisting in the scorching heat of his palms. She angles her neck back, exposing the vulnerable column of her pale throat as she peers up into his eyes. "I couldn't just stand by and let something like that happen. It wouldn't have been right."

Anakin stares down at her, the searing intensity of his gaze tracing over every inch of her face. His lips part, as if about to say something, but nothing seems to come out.

Melanie looks into his eyes for a few heartbeats more, waiting for him to speak.

But—as seconds of suffocating silence continue to pass—it becomes clearer and clearer that Anakin has no idea what to say.

Melanie heaves out a shuddering breath of air, carefully tugging herself away from him.

Anakin doesn't fight her; the scorching heat of his touch sliding gradually over her skin as she takes a few steps back.

"We should head back to the others." she whispers, gaze locked on the center of his chest.

And then she turns, walking back in the direction of Casiss's house.

For a moment, the weight of Anakin's gaze burns into the back of her neck.

And then—finally—the faint sound of his boots trails along after her.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Melanie stares down at the circular holotable, green eyes scanning over the glowing holographic mappings of the village encampment, as Obi-Wan continues explaining his battle strategy to the bounty hunters to help them defend the village for when the Jedi, Melanie, and the clones finally leave.

Of course, they won't actually be leaving.

But only Melanie is aware of that little fact at the moment.

Ah, whatever.

She blinks back to reality as Obi-Wan extends his hand to point at certain areas of the holographic image in front of him.

"When the attack comes, it will come from two fronts. The forest to the south, and the ridge to the north." Obi-Wan explains, accented voice lilting pleasantly throughout the silence of the room. "Whatever you do, you must defend both sides."

Dilanni—one of the male Felucian farmers that Melanie has only recently learned the name of—opens his mouth to speak up then.

"But there are only four of them. How can four bounty hunters defend against so many?" Dilanni asks, tone bordering on a whine. He is clearly terrified of the danger that will befall his village in the morning.

Embo mutters a few gruff words in some unknown language, but it's clear that he doesn't appear very optimistic.

The low baritone of Anakin's voice travels over to Melanie's ears from the left, drawing her attention away from the holotable.

She watches Anakin approach Obi-Wan's side; muscled arms crossing firmly over his chest as he begins to speak.

"The farmers are right." Anakin mutters in a low hiss, staring at his former Master with a burning level of insistence. It's clear what Anakin wants—he expects Obi-Wan to give in to the urge to join the fight in helping the villagers.

Obi-Wan clears his throat, deliberately avoiding his former Padawan's gaze. It's as if a part of him deep down inside knows that he will give in if he looks in Anakin's direction. "We've been over this, Anakin."

Melanie stares in fascination at the scene, a part of her mind quietly wondering how many times Obi-Wan had given in to his former Padawan's requests when Anakin was a youngling.

It's clear that Obi-Wan has learned a few tricks to avoid being put in a similar situation.

Anakin frowns, features twisting into a petulant scowl. He looks so boyishly childish in this moment, that for one surge of a second—Melanie has no idea how he could have fallen so far into the dark.

But, as the old saying goes—

Looks can be deceiving.

She holds back a shudder at the reminder of what Anakin will do in the future if she doesn't find a way to fucking do something. The grind of her teeth vibrates in her skull as she shoves the dark thought into the farthest pits of her mind; never to be seen again.

Sugi's voice yanks her back to the present moment at hand.

The female Zabrak smirks in Anakin's direction with a clear air of amusement. "You seem to lack confidence in our abilities, young Jedi."

Anakin releases a low noise from the back of his throat, strands of hair falling over his eyes as he peers down at Sugi. "I'm sure you're good at what you do, but you are in way too deep."

The curve of Sugi's lips turns sharp. "Said the peacekeeper who fails at keeping the peace."

Melanie bristles at the words, face twisting into a dark scowl. "Said the criminal for hire, preaching morality to the heroes of the Republic." she snaps, jaw clenching in muffled anger.

She is getting really tired of Palpatine's stupid fucking propaganda popping up all across the galaxy.

Fuck. She's gonna have to work on that.

Sugi narrows her eyes at the remark. "Have something you want to say, blondie?"

Obi-Wan subtly clears his throat, struggling to drain the growing tension in the room. He leans forward, armored elbows digging into the surface of the holotable to speak more. "The rift in the galaxy is not our fault. If more worlds would stand up for themselves against the Separatists, this war would have been over long ago."

Melanie is already turning her gaze to Anakin before the dark-robed man even begins to speak.

Anakin's eyes widen, a gleam of boyish excitement filling his gaze as he points an approving finger at his former Master's comment. "That's it! We'll just train the villagers to defend themselves."

Dilanni gapes. "B-But we are just simple farmers! Why are we paying bounty hunters to defend us, if we are just going to end up doing it ourselves?"

"Hush, Dilanni." Casiss murmurs, tone gently chiding.

Anakin steps a little closer to survey the group gathered around the holotable, soft lips curling into a smirk. "Trust me. We'll have you ready."

Melanie raises her gaze heavenward, as if asking for guidance from the annoying higher power that had dragged her into this insane universe in the first place.

Ugh. She is gonna hate every goddamn moment of this.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Early into the following morning, the Felucian village began to prepare for the looming threat of an oncoming battle.

While Obi-Wan and Sugi help lock up bushels of sillim in the famers's barn, Anakin has taken it upon himself to help train the villagers on how to hold their own in a fight.

Fives and Echo are fuck knows where at the moment; the two clones having murmured a low explanation to Melanie about how they were going to take a quick sweep of the perimeter of the town with Rumi. They had both been itching for the chance to do something, instead of, in Fives's words, "Sitting on their hands and waiting."

Melanie has decided to join the rest of the villagers in Anakin's training session. A part of her naively hopes that she can manage to improve her skills with her beskar spear to help hold her own in the oncoming fight.

The cold metal of the beskar spear chills the palm of her hand as she stares straight ahead, drinking in the sight of Anakin's tall form standing at attention in front of her and the rest of the Felucian aliens.

Anakin's shoulders roll back, the smooth resonance of his voice deepening with authority. "All right, everyone. Form up!"

Melanie licks her lips nervously at the sharp edge of his voice, heart skipping a beat in her chest. She steps forward, muscles straightening as she tries to stand at attention.

A few of the nameless villagers nudge each other, hands pointing in her direction. A couple of seconds later, three of the villagers line up behind her.

The rest of the crowd exchange unsure glances, feet shuffling awkwardly. It becomes quite apparent after a few moments of silence, that none of them truly know what exactly "form up" really means.

Anakin blinks, brows raising in astonishment at the sight. He clearly didn't understand until this very moment just how right Dilanni was when the male Felucian had informed them all that the villagers weren't soldiers. "Um..." he heaves out a tired sigh, making a sweeping gesture with his cybernetic hand, "... divide into rows of five."

The villagers mumble quietly, shuffling into uneven clumps here and there across the dusty ground beneath their feet.

Melanie winces at the sight, fighting the urge to smack her palm to her forehead.

Anakin appears to have similar sentiments. He shakes his head wearily, soft lips quirking up in exasperation.

"I told you, we are not soldiers." Dilanni whines, all but stomping his feet. "We don't even have weapons!"

Anakin rumbles out a low hum, the striking blue hues of his eyes turning thoughtful.

Melanie stares, watching with rapt attention as Anakin's towering figure takes a step forward.

"May I?" he asks one of the villagers gently, palm extended outward to request the small alien's farming spear.

The nameless farmer nods, handing his farming tool over.

Anakin accepts the weapon, backing up a few steps to give himself the space to work. His stance widens, planting the weight of his boots more firmly on the ground. The pointed edge of the farming spear sweeps downward as the muscles in Anakin's arms tighten in preparation.

And then Anakin begins.

He brings the base of the spear to the ground, and then firmly taps the side of it with the weight of his boot; the wooden tool beginning to spin into a circular blur a moment later.

Melanie's lips part, drinking in the level of sheer skill Anakin is confidently displaying with a look of growing awe.

Damn. He's not even breaking a sweat.

For a moment, she tries to picture herself ever being able to accomplish that level of physical prowess. But even in the deepest recesses of her mind, not even her wildest fantasies can spin together an image of her that competent.

Muffled voices blur into white noise all around her; the Felucian villagers also appearing to be thoroughly impressed with Anakin's display of power.

Anakin continues his fighting motions with the wooden staff, the blur of the weapon circling from one hand to the other as he spins the staff around the broad slope of his back with a level of complete ease. After a few more moments, he switches hands again; cybernetic fingers curling around the spear, before spinning the weapon high over the wild curls of his head.

The hiss of the staff whistles sharply in Melanie's eardrums as Anakin sweeps the farming tool downwards again; the firm sculpt of his forearms straining from tension.

Melanie's eyes roam over the expanse of his figure, lingering on the powerful stance of his legs, before slowly focusing back on his face.

"Yep, these will do." Anakin chuckles, rising back up to his regular towering position.

Dilanni groans, head lowering in defeat.

Melanie holds back a smile at the sight, green eyes flickering between the villagers's small faces, before being inevitably drawn back to the familiar carved features of Anakin's own.

Anakin's lips curve up into a teasing smirk, the blue of his eyes glinting with boyish excitement. "Alright then. Let's get to work."

And so, that is how the next half hour passes by.

Anakin goes over the basics with them all of how to plant your feet firmly on the ground when bracing for an attack. Then, he instructs the group to practice jabbing the tips of their spears forward, as if taking down an invisible enemy.

After that, he began to travel up and down the rows of the villagers, helping adjust the stances of the ones having trouble when needed.

A sheen of sweat trails down the side of Melanie's forehead, her muscles already screaming from overexertion as she shoves sharp the tip of her beskar spear forward, legs planted wide to help keep her balance.

On the edges of her vision, Anakin's towering form begins to approach her, dark-robed arms locked behind the slope of his back.

She feels the searing weight of his attention like the blazing twin suns of Tatooine, the intense burn of his eyes lazily roaming across the expanse of her legs and arms with rapt focus.

She stills—green eyes locked ahead on some fixed point in the distance—while she waits to see what he will say.

A heartbeat passes.

"Almost." Anakin murmurs lowly.

And then he takes a step closer.

Melanie's breath hitches in the back of her throat at the sudden scorching heat that engulfs her entire shoulder, every nerve in her body sparking with anxiety as he leans over her.

His boot slides between her legs to nudge her front foot forward the slightest bit to help widen her stance, making her heart skip a beat in her chest.

Metal fingers ghost over the narrow grip of her palm wrapped around the top of the spear, while his flesh hand burns into the slope of her back to straighten her spine.

All the air has been sucked from Melanie's lungs at the action. For just one moment, she fears that her knees will buckle from underneath her.

Anakin's touch is feather-light as he cautiously places his firm hand over her own. He just barely applies enough physical pressure to urge her palm the slightest bit higher on the spear, before breathing out a quiet, "This gives you a better grip."

Her throat forces down a swallow, shivers racking over every inch of her body.

She's not afraid. She is not afraid. It's fine. She's safe.

Her lips fall open as the heat of Anakin's breath traces the shell of her ear.

"Always keep the blade aimed high." Anakin murmurs, the timber of his voice lowering to a pleasant resonance. His breathing has quickened, broad chest rising and falling shallowly. He must still be tired from his physical display with the farming spear that he had demonstrated to the villagers earlier. "If you aim for the jugular, the fight could be over in seconds."

"Uh-huh..." she breathes out, heart thundering in the confines of her chest.

She dizzily registers Anakin releasing a low hum from the back of his throat at her easy compliance.

The scorching heat of his fingers flex around the skin of her hand and the vulnerable curve of her back, before finally sliding away to allow her the space to think clearly.

Her eyes flutter open at the sensation; body shuddering from the loss of heat emanating from his touch.

When had she closed her eyes? She can't recall the reason why.

As if pulled by a magnet, her neck arches towards him.

Anakin stares down at her with a heavy-lidded gaze, features crackling with some unnamed emotion. The azure flecks in his eyes seem oddly cloudy, as if dazed.

Her gaze hones in on the way the soft bow of his lips curl up into a cautious smile.

"You'll get there." he murmurs.

And then he steps back from her to continue on down the line.

Melanie stares after him, struggling to calm the fluttering beat of her heart. Shivers of anxiety course over every inch of her skin, threatening to make her collapse to the ground.

Maybe one day she'll get over her fear.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

A few bone-tiring hours later, Melanie has stepped underneath the shaded porch of Casiss's home, taking a quick reprieve from the burning heat of Felucia's sun.

Anakin had given her and the rest of the villagers a quick five-minute break to rest their aching muscles; the dark-robed man working them harder than ever for the looming battle to come with Hondo's gang of pirates.

Melanie sighs wearily, the narrow slope of her shoulder leaning against the steel beams holding up the roofing of Casiss's porch.

Her fingers reach down to unclip her water canister from her utility belt, taking a few large gulps of the liquid to wet the back of her tongue.

The faint sounds of footsteps reach her ears just as she is pulling the canister away from her lips.

Sugi struts over, her alien-like features covered in a sheen of sweat from her time out in the heat of the sun. She collapses into the steel chair near Melanie's right, letting out a deep groan of exhaustion. "I'm not getting payed enough for this."

Melanie scrunches up her nose at the remark, a quiet scoff escaping the confines of her chest before she can even think about it. "My heart aches for you." she mutters in a mocking tone, reaching down to clip her water canister back to the hook of her utility belt.

Sugi huffs, hazel eyes narrowing in irritation. "Okay, let's hear it, blondie. You clearly have something you want to get off your chest."

Melanie pulls herself away from the steel beam she has been leaning against, barking out a bitter chuckle. "Oh trust me—you do not want to hear what I have to say about you."

Sugi rises to her feet, stomping over to block the rest of the Felucian village from Melanie's gaze. By the pinch of her lips, it's quite clear that she's done with Melanie's bullshit. "Humor me."

Tension crackles in the air as they both glare at each other.

Then—

"Fine." Melanie hisses, taking a step closer, refusing to back down from the Zabrak woman's anger. "You want to hear the truth? You asked for it." One of her shoulders heave upwards in a halfhearted shrug. "I don't like you. In fact... I don't like bounty hunters at all." Her lips sharpen at the edges, her smile anything but friendly. "You'd hunt down anything and anyone, as long as you and your buddies got the right amount of credits in the end. Bounty hunting has no morals. No honor. You have no honor—"

"—You don't have a clue what you're talking about!" Sugi snaps defensively, lips curling into a sneer. "We don't break deals!"

Melanie barks out a harsh laugh, stunned at the woman's hypocrisy. "The only reason that you don't break deals, is because you know that you would be blacklisted by your clients if you did!"

Sugi's mouth slams shut, a flash of some unknown emotion flickering across her face.

A few seconds pass as Melanie and the Zabrak woman continue to survey each other.

Finally—

"Tell me something," Melanie begins, ducking her head to try and meet the bounty hunter's eyes. Everything about her voice has gone dead serious. "If Hondo had contacted you before Casiss and the villagers did—would you have said no? Even after learning what Hondo would expect you to do to these people?"

Sugi says nothing for a few moments, mouth opening and closing unsurely, appearing stunned into silence.

Suffocating seconds of silence tick away as Melanie stares at the woman, waiting to see if she will speak.

However, as more time continues to pass, it's clear that Sugi has no idea what to say.

The silence is what confirms Melanie's suspicions. If Hondo had contacted Sugi and her team before Casiss—

Sugi wouldn't have even hesitated.

Melanie shakes her head sadly, already beginning to step around the Zabrak woman to walk back in Anakin's direction. "... See you out there, I guess."

She feels the weight of Sugi's gaze burning into the back of her skull as she strides away.

Melanie never looks back.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Another hour of training with the villagers passes by in a flash, the looming threat of the battle against Hondo and his goons marching ever closer.

Obi-Wan has joined watching over the training session with Anakin; he and his former Padawan trailing up and down the rows of villagers to survey the fighting stances of each Felucian alien with a critical eye.

Dilanni had stomped away from the group a few minutes ago; the male farmer growing frustrated over his inability to successfully fight as well as Anakin had hoped.

"Every minute you waste teaching us to twirl these stupid poles, is time you could have spent beating those pirates yourselves!" Dilanni snapped, throwing his farming spear to the ground in a fit of annoyance.

"And what good would that do you?" Obi-Wan replied, raising an eyebrow pointedly at the small alien. "Another band of brigands would inevitably come along. Or do you intend to give away part of your crop every harvest season?"

As one might imagine, Dilanni had not taken Obi-Wan's gentle chiding well.

The frustrated farmer has yet to return from wherever it is he has stomped off to.

In the meantime, Melanie and the rest of the farmers have continued to practice their training.

A ragged huff of air escapes Melanie's lips as she jabs her beskar spear forward, keeping the sharp tip of the weapon aimed high, just like Anakin had taught her.

As if the thought had called him upon her, the scorching heat of Anakin's body sparks over her skin a moment later; the dark-robed Jedi nearing her side as he drifts down the middle row of training villagers.

A low hum of approval leaves the back of Anakin's throat as he passes her by, narrow pointer finger of his cybernetic hand reaching out to gently nudge the tip of her spear just the slightest bit to the right.

And then he continues on down the line.

Melanie fights back a smile, something in her chest fluttering with pride at Anakin's stamp of approval.

Hell—if The Chosen One tells you that you're doing well—then it has to be good. Right?

She shakes the jittery sensation of happiness away, struggling to keep her mind on the current task at hand.

After all, the battle is almost ready to begin.

A shudder travels up the length of her spine at the thought.

Ugh, she hates everything about this situation so, so much.

For no particular reason at all that she can name—she raises her gaze to the cliffside looming near the border of the town.

The spec of an alien-like face stares back at her.

Ah, fuck. Here we go.

She waits, knowing it can be only moments before the lone pirate is spotted.

A few seconds later—just as Melanie knew she would—Sugi's voice rings through the air.

"There! A scout!" Sugi shouts, pointing up at the spy that has been hiding from their view.

Almost immediately, the nameless spy from Hondo's gang disappears from Melanie's line of vision; the pirate clearly realizing that he has finally been spotted.

"Embo!" Sugi yells, gesturing for the gray-faced alien to chase after the scout.

Embo nods, muttering some reply in an unknown language. And then he tears off after the hidden spy.

Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Sugi immediately follow along behind him.

Melanie stays where she is, already knowing that she would only slow them all down.

To her left, Casiss opens his mouth to speak. He has come to stand near her, staring after the retreating forms of Melanie's friends. "Let us pray that they catch him before he can report our plans to the pirates."

Melanie sighs wearily, already feeling a sense of dread wash over her. "Oh, they'll catch him. But when they do... Hondo will be coming for us all."

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Thirty minutes later, Melanie, her friends, and the rest of the bounty hunters gather near the entrance of the village.

Anakin comes up to stand near Melanie's right. "The farmers are in position." He pauses, the angled curve of his jaw clenching in exasperated frustration. "Well, the ones who stuck around, anyway."

Across from Melanie and Anakin, Obi-Wan lets out a low hum, inclining his head in acknowledgment. "Very well, Anakin." His gloved hand gestures to one of the mechanical steel contraptions near them all. "Turn on the fence."

Anakin dips his chin in a quiet nod, reaching over to flip a switch on the curved side of the energy gate.

Almost immediately, verticle wires of green energy flicker to life.

The emerald glow of the wires expands quickly across the outskirts of the village, zipping from one steel energy generator to the next, before circling around to reconnect with the original one that Anakin had turned on earlier.

Melanie blinks rapidly, stunned at the sight.

A part of her still remains completely amazed at the heightened level of technology that she has begun to witness each day since falling into this insane universe.

She is yanked swiftly back to awareness by the rumble of speeder bikes flying over the horizon up ahead.

Her stomach drops, dread curling over her skin as she locks her gaze on the rapidly approaching pirates.

"Battle positions, everyone!" Sugi shouts, gesturing for all of the villagers to ready their weapons.

The Felucian farmers scattered around swiftly begin following her orders, small hands clenching tighter against their wooden staffs and spears as they get ready for the oncoming attack.

Obi-Wan and Sugi barrel across the ground to meet the pirates halfway.

Behind her, the click of Fives's and Echo's blasters fills her ears, the two clones already itching to begin blasting away.

Somewhere in the distance, the low roar of an animal rings through the air.

The noise rushes over Melanie's skin, making goosebumps rise up on her arms as the tension rises higher and higher over her brain.

Beside her, Anakin releases a low growl from the back of his throat. He reaches down to the slope of his hip, hands firmly wrapping around the hilt of his lightsaber as he unclips the weapon from his utility belt; a burst of dazzling blue igniting in front of his face a moment later.

Melanie licks her lips nervously, carefully unholstering one of her blasters to prepare for battle.

Just as she is turning to join Fives and Echo behind one of the makeshift walls that have been set up to provide cover, the scorching burn of Anakin's touch halts her in her tracks.

His big palm wraps firmly around the curve of her upper arm, gently tugging her body a little closer to him; the azure flecks of his eyes glinting like diamonds in the blazing sun of Felucia as he stares down at her with a look of complete and utter seriousness.

Melanie's lips part, a soft gasp falling out of her mouth at the sensation of his palm against her body. Her eyes stay on his, wide and timid, as she breathlessly waits for him to speak.

The tendons in Anakin's neck flex in a swallow as he looms over her; heavy-lidded gaze tracing a burning path over every inch of her shivering features.

A suffocating heartbeat passes.

Then—

"Be safe." he whispers, tone gentling to a quiet murmur. "... Please."

Melanie dizzily stares up at him, struggling to not collapse to the ground. Mindlessly, her chin dips down in a nod of submission to his pleading request. "O-Okay." she breathes, arm slightly twisting in the suffocating burn of his flesh hand.

Anakin's carved features soften, the bow of his lips brightening into a warm smile. The firm length of his fingers gives one final squeeze of her arm, before gradually sliding away. "Thank you."

His towering form stumbles back from her, exhaling a shuddering breath of air.

And then he strides away, the broad slope of his back stomping towards the battle up ahead.

Melanie blinks, only just now realizing that Obi-Wan and Sugi have already started to hold off the first wave of pirates.

Fuck! How the fuck did she not hear the blaster fire?

She whips around, shivers coursing over every inch of her body as she shakily stumbles over to Fives and Echo's battle position near one of the makeshift walls.

Her legs are trembling; knees threatening to give out from underneath her as she nears their side.

She gets into position, peeking her head over the top of the wall of cover as she aims her blaster at the approaching enemies.

Just as she begins to fire, Fives yells out something over the surge of chaos happening around them.

"Took you long enough!" Fives shouts, giving her a teasing tilt of his blue and white helmet.

Melanie ignores him, grumbling under her breath at his childish antics.

It's not her fault Anakin wanted to talk to her before the battle—!

Her seething thoughts are swiftly silenced as another explosion rings sharply in the air, threatening to shatter her eardrums.

She snaps her gaze to the side, spotting Embo collapsing in a tumbled heap to the ground. A smoking hole sizzles over the muscle of his shoulder, making Melanie unwillingly wince in sympathy.

She drags herself up and over to Embo, ignoring Fives's and Echo's shouts of her name.

Her knees hit the dirt near the side of the bounty hunter's head.

She wraps her hands beneath the man's arms, struggling to heave him over to one of the other makeshift walls of cover near the left entrance of the village.

Just as she drops the weight of the unconscious bounty hunter's body into the safe area away from blaster fire, a looming sense of doom washes over her shoulders.

"—Sir, are you crazy—?" Fives's gruff voice calls out, the heavy sound of his boots beginning to stomp near her.

For no particular reason at all that she can name, she snaps her gaze up and over Fives's helmet.

A nameless goon of Hondo's pirate gang looms behind Fives, the man's alien-like features filling with dark glee as he raises his weapon to aim at the clone's back.

Melanie doesn't hesitate.

Her blaster snaps up, firing directly over Fives's shoulder.

A red flash cuts through the air, and then explodes between the nameless pirate's eyes.

The pirate collapses in a boneless heap onto the ground, limbs turning slack, like a puppet being cut from its strings.

"Kriff!" Fives stutters, raising his free hand up to the scorch mark Melanie's blast had left in the side of his helmet as the flash of red had passed him by.

Melanie heaves out shallow breaths, slowly lowering her blaster to the ground.

She... did it?

She stares down at the lifeless eyes of the pirate, gradually feeling an acidic sensation of bile rising up in the back of her throat.

She... she killed someone. She just killed a flesh and blood person.

A dull ringing fills her ears at the horrifying realization.

Distantly, on some offhanded level, she vacantly starts to register that Fives is screaming her name.

Her hand is shaking, her blood pounds in her ears, blaster fire is echoing all around, and she can't fucking breathe—

"Blondie, look out!" a familiar voice calls out over the fog clouding her mind.

A body slams into her from the side, tackling her to the ground just as a flash of red zips past the space where her head had just been a moment earlier.

Melanie blinks open her eyes, taking in the blurry shape of Sugi's face.

Sugi... saved her?

Sugi carefully helps her to her feet, chest heaving from overexertion. Her voice is dead serious as she says, "Bounty hunting may not have honor. But I do."

Melanie stares at the Zabrak woman, feeling a sense of disbelief flickering over her mind.

Finally, her lips curl into a small smile.

Sugi smirks gently back at her, patting her firmly on the shoulders.

The touching moment is swiftly broken by the boom of an explosion tearing into the large barn of the farmers's village.

Melanie snaps her head to the side, eyes widening in horror as she realizes just what is happening.

Fuck!

The tank. She forgot about Hondo's tank!

"Shit!" she curses, before reaching down with Sugi and Fives to begin dragging Embo to safety.

"Everyone, fall back to the barn!" Obi-Wan shouts out, his firm order traveling over the noise of chaos.

Distantly, Melanie registers Echo and Obi-Wan running up to join her, Sugi and Fives on their retreat to the back of the village.

"That tank is going to tear the villagers apart." Sugi mutters helplessly, appearing genuinely mournful over the loss of the Felucian aliens's lives. It's clear she has no idea what to do.

Right on cue, Anakin's towering form flies past them all. His dark robes billow behind him in the breeze like a goddamn superhero as he Force-jumps high into the air, before landing gracefully near the wide barrel of Hondo's tank.

Melanie takes a moment to blink up at him in awe, before tearing her gaze away.

She helps Sugi and Fives drag Embo into the safety of the barn, before collapsing into a boneless heap on the ground.

Already, her muscles have begun screaming for mercy.

But there is no mercy to be offered. The fight is not yet done.

She grits her teeth as an explosion roughly tears into the side of the barn, clamping down her jaw to hold back a yelp of fear.

"Fuck, come on, Anakin." she mumbles, tone growing pleading as she peeks out of the wide doors of the barn and into the glowing sky of Felucia.

If she squints hard enough, she can just barely make out the pinpricks of Anakin and Hondo's figures locked in the heat of battle on the cliff looming near the village.

Just outside the confines of the barn, Rumi takes a blast to the shoulder, collapsing to the ground.

"No!" Sugi cries out, running out of the protection of the building to help her friend.

Somewhere out of the chaos, Obi-Wan appears. The glow of his blade deflects an incoming shot that had been aimed at Sugi's chest. "Sugi, watch your flank!"

Another boom tears through the side of the building, and rubble begins to careen down towards Melanie's head.

She flinches, jerking her body to the side to avoid a particularly large clump of stone.

Her body wraps itself over Embo's own, shielding the bounty hunter from any lingering rubble falling from the roof of the ceiling.

She squeezes her eyes shut at the sharp feeling of clumps of stone beginning to bounce off the hard surface of her armor, waiting to die—

But nothing happens.

She hesitantly peeks open her eyes, taking in the clouds of billowing smoke trailing around the wide entrance of the barn.

That's when she sees it.

The pirates have begun to retreat.

Melanie heaves out a sigh of relief, carefully dragging herself up to her feet.

She walks out of the building, coming to a stop near Obi-Wan, Sugi, Dilanni, and Anakin's tired figures. She raises her head, squinting past the blinding sunlight of Felucia, just barely making out the shape of Hondo Ohnaka's shadow standing on the edge of the cliff.

A looming shape ascends over the trees, revealing the circular steel ship of Hondo and his gang of pirates.

Melanie watches Hondo stand tall, the Weequay's dark-red cloak billowing in the rough winds strewn about by his ship, as he stares down at them all.

Hondo takes a breath, dramatically raising a fist in the air. "This effort... is no longer... profitable!"

And then the pirate turns, plunging towards the direction of his ship as he makes his quick retreat.

Melanie rolls her eyes, shaking her head in quiet exasperation at the man.

"What a loser." she mumbles under her breath.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Hours later, after the Felucian villagers have begun to gather together to celebrate their victory, Melanie and her friends are finally getting ready to leave.

Melanie leans the slope of her shoulder against the massive entrance of the farmers's barn house, watching Casiss raise his hands up to speak to the crowd of Felucian aliens standing around him.

"There are crops to harvest, fields to fill, and huts to rebuild. Now, let's get to work." Casiss says, giving the farmers around him a bright grin.

The farmers cheer, and then move away to begin the task of rebuilding their homes from Hondo's attack.

Casiss turns to face Anakin, Obi-Wan and Sugi, arms spreading wide in a gesture of gratitude. "How can I ever thank you for saving our village?"

Anakin chuckles, cerulean eyes glinting with a boyish look of pride. "We didn't save your village, Casiss. Your people did."

Melanie ducks her head at the remark, the edges of her lips twitching upwards involuntarily.

A part of her still can't wrap her head around how Anakin can be so sweet one minute, and then so cruel the next.

He's so exhaustingly confusing.

Ah, whatever.

She blinks back to reality as Casiss opens up his mouth to reply to Anakin.

"For the first time in my memory, my people don't have to be afraid." Casiss says, tone growing thick with emotion. His black eyes gleam with unshed tears as he inclines his head in a bow of respect. "We will never forget you."

Melanie swallows down a wet lump building in the back of her throat, genuinely touched at the village leader's words of thankfulness.

She dips her head down to bow along with Sugi and the rest of the Jedi, before carefully rising back to a regular position.

The touching moment is interrupted by Dilanni walking up to Sugi with a clipboard in hand.

Dilanni peers down at the clipboard, taking a moment to adjust his goggles, before glancing back up at the female Zabrak in front of him. "Excuse me for interrupting, but it appears that you have only packed up seventy-five percent of the amount of sillim you originally asked us for."

Melanie squints at the male Felucian, features flickering with confusion.

What is he talking about?

Sugi lazily waves Dilanni off. "Keep it. My cut of the profit is on the house."

Melanie gapes, completely flabbergasted at the bounty hunter's words.

Sugi glances over her shoulder, giving Melanie a teasing wink at the clear shock spilling across her face.

Melanie blinks rapidly, stunned at the surprising turn of events.

She watches Dilanni give Sugi a halfhearted shrug of compliance, before the small alien trots away.

"Suit yourself." Dilanni mutters, raising a hand to wave them all goodbye.

Somewhere behind Melanie, Embo begins to spit out some unknown words that sound suspiciously close to curses.

Sugi huffs, glaring over her shoulder at the man. "Oh, relax! You'll all still get your cut."

Obi-Wan pipes up then, the pleasant lilt of his accented voice sounding genuinely amused. "Growing soft, are we, my dear?"

Sugi scoffs, lips curling into a small smirk. "You wish, Jedi."

Obi-Wan chuckles, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

Sugi clears her throat, gaze drifting between each of Melanie, the Jedi, and the clones's faces. "I seem to find myself light on company. Still need that ride back to the Republic outpost?"

"If it wouldn't be any inconvenience." Obi-Wan replies.

Sugi's features soften. "On the contrary..." she glances over in Melanie's direction, "... it would be my pleasure."

In spite of everything, Melanie's lips curl into a smile.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Melanie lets out a sigh of relief at the gleaming sight of the Jedi Temple filling her vision; stepping off the ramp of the bounty hunters's ship and out into the Temple hangar.

Sugi had decided sometime after leaving the Felucian village to just go ahead and escort them all to the Jedi Temple.

Melanie had been grateful for it; something inside of her mind still completely baffled at the Zabrak woman's decision to not take her cut of the profits from the farmers.

It truly is amazing what can happen when a person decides to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror.

Melanie shakes the thought off. It's none of her business anyway.

She closes her eyes, taking a moment to breathe in the fresh air of Coruscant.

Distantly, the voices of the group of people behind her fill her ears: the Jedi, clones and bounty hunters all beginning to tell each other goodbye.

"Hey, blondie!" a voice calls out behind her.

Melanie blinks, turning around to face the ship she just stepped out of.

The Zabrak bounty hunter, Sugi, has broken off from the group gathered near the ramp of the ship.

Sugi struts up to Melanie with an air of confidence, a teasing smile curling up the corners of her lips. She takes out a small type of USB stick, and then reaches down to wrap her fingers around Melanie's wrist.

Melanie stiffens slightly at the contact, mouth falling open in shock as the female Zabrak slides the USB stick into a port on the side of her comlink.

The screen of her comlink flickers—a loading bar appearing on the small display monitor near the top of the device—before Sugi's name blinks to life on the screen.

Sugi smirks at her baffled expression. "If things don't work out with lover boy over there—" she jerks her head in Anakin's direction, "—feel free to give me a call."

Sugi traces her finger over the skin of Melanie's wrist, before finally pulling the USB out and taking her hand away.

Melanie gapes up at Sugi, completely flabbergasted.

Sugi grins, giving her a final wink. And then she turns to strut back in the direction of her ship.

Somehow, Melanie must have missed the sight of Fives and Echo approaching the two of them from the side. Because it is not until this very moment that she registers the two men standing mere feet from her.

She winces, holding back a groan of embarrassment.

As the screeching engine of the bounty hunters's ship begins to flicker to life, she peeks over in the two clones's direction.

Fives and Echo both stare at her, each of their lips seemingly fighting a hopeless battle against the urge to smile.

She points a finger in their direction. "Don't you dare—!"

But it's no use.

The second the bounty hunter's ship takes off into the sky, Fives and Echo are both leaning forward to grip the sides of their stomachs, each of the men descending into a loud explosion of cackles.

A pink tinge rises up on Melanie's cheeks.

She stomps over to halfheartedly shove at the broad slope of their armored shoulders. "J-Just—shut it! Shut up!"

Fives raises a hand to grip the muscle of her shoulder, looking to be about two seconds from collapsing to the ground. "Oh kriff, I can't kriffing breathe—!" he wheezes, before letting out another stream of laughter.

Melanie glares down at him, crossing her arms over her chest with an affronted huff. "Are you done?"

Fives never gets the chance to wheeze out a response.

Melanie feels the weight of Anakin's eyes before he even begins to speak; the scorching heat of his body surging to life near the curve of her back.

The low baritone of Anakin's voice rumbles near the shell of her ear as he leans down to speak. "What's so funny?"

Melanie squeezes her limbs tighter over her chest, holding back a shiver.

She's not afraid. She's not afraid. She is not afraid—

The low wheeze of Fives's voice breaks her from her stupor, yanking her back to the embarrassing reality in front of her.

"The sir was j-just... hit on—" Fives wheezes out, finally managing to get his lungs under some kind of control.

Anakin's towering form draws closer, blue eyes peering down at Melanie, and then back at Fives. "What? By who?"

"Sugi." Echo not-so-helpfully replies, embarrassing Melanie even further. "She made quite the show over it too, General. We were very impressed."

Melanie winces at the remark, just barely resisting the urge to bury her face in her hands.

She arches her neck to peek up at Anakin, already dreading the inevitable teasing that he will probably bestow upon her.

She traces her gaze along the angled slope of his jaw, eyes honing in on the way his lips just barely pinch together.

Anakin glares up at the receding ship flying away, the soft bow of his lips curling into a dark frown. "Good riddance. You can definitely do better than some kriffing bounty hunter."

Melanie blinks up at him with wide eyes, startled at the sharp edge of his voice.

Anakin, as if feeling her gaze, lowers his eyes to her own.

He stares at her, blue irises tracing over every curve of her expression; some unnamed emotion sizzling beneath the surface of his gaze.

But then he blinks, and it's as if the cloud of intensity had never been there at all.

Anakin wordlessly turns around to stomp back towards the still conversing forms of Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath as he strides away.

Melanie blinks after him in pure confusion.

Huh. That was weird.

Behind her, she distantly registers a smacking sound; Fives's muffled snicker echoing out not long after.

Melanie doesn't turn to look over her shoulder at the man.

After all—

It's probably nothing.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Melanie collapses in a boneless heap on her bed, letting out a loud sigh of relief.

"Thank fucking God." she groans, stretching out her tense muscles with a wide sweep of her arms across the sheets.

She's so glad to be back at the Temple.

The entire mission had gone exactly as expected.

And fucking hell, if she she didn't hate every moment of it.

Hondo Ohnaka's stupid grin flashes behind her eyes, making her grind her teeth in muffled fury.

Ugh! She absolutely despises that stupid, selfish fucking creep.

Melanie huffs, heaving herself to her feet at the annoying reminder of the man.

She rips off her fingerless gloves—having already taken off her armor some time ago—before tossing the leather material haphazardly on her bed.

The stomps of her feet carry her across the floor and into the bathroom.

Her hand curls around the nob of the sink to turn on the water, leaning forward to begin scrubbing at the dirt and grime beneath her fingernails.

She scrubs and scrubs and scrubs—hopelessly trying to burn the haunting image of the nameless pirate she had killed in Felucia from her mind's eye.

But it's no use. No matter how long she harshly rubs at the pale skin of her hands, nothing will wash away the coppery stain of blood that drips from the edges of her fingertips.

Just as a tingling sensation of numbness begins to travel up the length of her fingers, a loud knock sounds out from somewhere outside her door.

Her body all but jumps about ten feet in the air at the piercing noise, startled sharply out of her delirious stupor.

She blinks rapidly to try and get her bearings, struggling to get her emotions back under control.

A few seconds pass as she turns off the water and dries her hands.

An impatient knock echoes out again, the person on the other side of her door clearly growing frustrated with her slow response time.

Melanie's lips release an annoyed sigh, taking a moment to rub at the aching skin of her temples.

And then she drags herself over to answer her door.

She reaches out to tap at the touchpad beside the wall, watching as the automatic doors slide open—

—To reveal the terrifying sight of one of Palpatine's faceless Red Guards.

Melanie freezes, muscles stiffening in pure shock.

The Red Guard wastes no time with pleasantries. He extends a hand to reveal a small cylindrical holoprojector.

An image of Palpatine flickers to life in front of Melanie's eyes; chilling the very blood in her veins.

For a moment, she thinks the image is from a live holocomm.

But as the hologram of the Chancellor opens his mouth to speak, it becomes apparent to Melanie that the image is merely a recording.

"Miss Bains, if you are witnessing this recording, then I will assume you and my dear friend, Anakin, have returned from your journey to the front lines of the war." Palpatine murmurs, wrinkled features twisting into the image of a grandfatherly smile. "And—as promised—I have arranged for one of my trusted guards to escort you to my office, so you may join me for a game of a Dejarik."

Melanie flinches as the faceless Red Guard in front of her snaps his fist closed to end the holorecording.

The Red Guard never speaks; simply jerking his body to the side to allow Melanie the chance to step past him and out into the hallway.

She hesitates for only a moment, but then finally steps out into the hall.

All around her, Jedi Padawans have started to peek their heads out of their rooms; their small faces watching the exchange happening outside with curiosity.

Distantly, on some offhanded level, Melanie registers the orange and white image of Ahsoka's face swimming into view from the corner of her eye.

"... Mel?" Ahsoka calls out, voice hesitant.

Melanie takes a calming breath of air between her teeth, barely flickering her eyes in the young Togruta's direction.

"It's alright." She forces the corner of her lips into a blank smile. "Everything's fine."

Ahsoka swallows, blue eyes flickering between her and the faceless Red Guard, clearly not convinced.

"It's fine, Ahsoka." she emphasizes, tone growing firm. "Go back to your room. I'll be back in a few hours."

Dead silence.

Finally, Ahsoka's chin jerks forward in a nod of acceptance.

Melanie's shoulders loosen at the young Padawan's concession, a flood of relief washing through her.

She gives Ahsoka another forced smile, swallowing down the dread building up in the back of her throat.

And then she turns, following the faceless Red Guard down the hall and into the turbolift.

The last thing Melanie sees before the automatic doors slide shut is Ahsoka's face staring after her with a look of worry.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Melanie stares at the door that will lead into the screeching darkness of Palpatine's office, heart thundering in her ears.

But the loud beat of her heart can't hide what lies behind the layer of steel that separates her from the Devil.

Already—she can hear the screeching sound of wriggling shadows that slither across the surface of Palpatine's office.

She inhales, picturing her hand wrapping around the spongy muscle of her heart; imagines her fingers squeezing the organ in a calming rhythm.

And then she knocks on the door.

"Enter." the low voice of the Devil croons, beckoning her inside his domain.

She exhales, lips streaming out a slow breath of air between her teeth as she steps forward.

The automatic doors slide open, allowing her the chance to walk into the Chancellor's office.

The second she steps inside, the shrieking sounds of the shadows wriggling across the surface of the walls rise to a hair-raising level.

Melanie purposefully ignores the sound of this horrific hallucination. It is not important, and has no bearing on her situation at hand.

She stares, numbly watching as Palpatine rises up from the seat behind his desk.

"Ah, Miss Bains!" Palpatine extends his arms wide as he approaches her with an artificially kind smile. His hands fall over her shoulders, wrinkled fingers digging into the muscles of her skin. "I am so glad to see you have finally returned!"

Melanie stares through him, lips curling up into a vacant smile. "I'm very happy to be back too."

Palpatine chuckles. "I'm sure you are." He gestures to a small table near the corner of the room. "Let us take a seat, shall we?"

Melanie numbly allows the disguised Sith Lord to direct her near the steel table, before finally lowering to sit in one of the chairs.

Palpatine elegantly sits down in the chair across from her. "So, how are you, my dear? Did this mission go well?"

For no particular reason at all that she could name, she snapped her gaze up and over Fives's helmet.

A nameless goon of Hondo's pirate gang loomed behind Fives, the man's alien-like features filled with dark glee as he raised his weapon to aim at the clone's back.

Melanie didn't hesitate.

Her blaster snapped up, firing directly over Fives's shoulder.

A red flash cut through the air, and then exploded between the nameless pirate's eyes.

The pirate collapsed in a boneless heap onto the ground, limbs turning slack, like a puppet being cut from its strings.

A muscle ticks in her jaw. "It... went about as well as expected."

Palpatine hums, narrowing his eyes at her hesitation. "Miss Bains, I do apologize for my forwardness, but you seem rather... out of sorts."

Melanie shuffles, allowing a flicker of hesitation to appear on her face. "I... I don't know if I should say. I'm not sure the Council would want me to talk about the specifics of the mission."

The funny thing is—she's not technically bullshitting the Chancellor with her emotional reaction either. The truth is, she doesn't really want to talk about the mission. Not just because she knows the Jedi Council would prefer for her to use discretion, but also because she has no desire to talk about the lifeless eyes of the pirate she killed to save Fives that continues to haunt her mind.

And besides—she can't give in to Palpatine's advances so easily. It'll make him suspicious.

Palpatine tilts his head, lips curving into a grandfatherly smile. "Please, Miss Bains. I wish to have the chance to get to know you better. How can I do so if you won't share your troubles with me?"

Melanie lowers her eyes, giving off the appearance of being in deep thought.

All the while, shrieks of wriggling shadows sliding across the surface of the walls continue to ring in her ears.

She blinks back to reality; the low croon of Palpatine's voice reaching her mind past the horrifying hallucinative sounds.

"And after all, I am the Chancellor." He gives her a playful grin. "Whatever the Jedi Order knows, the Senate will know eventually as well. Including myself."

She raises her gaze, staring at some fixed point over Palpatine's shoulder. "We... we went to Felucia to search for a medical station that had gone dark. Things—of course—didn't go as planned. We crashed on the planet, and helped a village that was being threatened by a group of pirates. And I... I had to..."

Her voice trails off, hands clenching in her lap.

On the edges of her vision, she spots the way Palpatine's wrinkled features twist into a look of false sympathy. "Ah. You were forced to defend yourself, and took a life in the process. Am I correct?"

Melanie swallows, jerking her head in a quick nod. "... Yes."

Silence swallows the room for a moment as Palpatine takes in that statement.

She stares off into space, waiting for the man to speak. She's almost positive that the disguised Sith Lord is hiding his glee.

After all—

He always did love to watch the people around him squirm.

Palpatine leans forward, head shaking sadly. "Well, I must say, I am most sorry to hear of that, Miss Bains. It is always a true tragedy when a life is cut short—"

A muscle in her jaw clenches, and she just barely manages to hold back a delirious giggle at the complete bullshit that just escaped the Chancellor's mouth.

Across from her, Palpatine's voice irritatingly continues on.

"—but I must insist, you have no reason to feel guilt. You simply had no other choice." Palpatine murmurs, lips curling into a small frown.

She ducks her head, lifting one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. "I guess."

The next few seconds of silence almost suffocate Melanie from the inside out.

Except, it's not truly silent—is it?

No. No; even now, the ear-piercing screeches from the mass of darkness slithering across the blood-red walls will not be fucking silent—

The low croon of Palpatine's voice yanks her back from her rapidly darkening thoughts.

"Perhaps we should move on to a different subject—hmm?" Palpatine says, giving her the glint of his razor sharp teeth. He leans over to tap at a circular device that rests in the center of the table.

Melanie watches numbly as the holographic image of a checkered board materializes to life in front of her; a row of differing colored monster-like creatures appearing to life on either side, almost like the pieces of a Chess board.

She stares down at the hologram, a sense of disappointment washing over her.

And it's stupid. She knows that it had been stupid to have hope that her universe's version of Chess would be in this universe.

But she still can't help the feeling of melancholy that sears through her.

For just one moment, she almost thought she'd have a chance to feel close to her mom again.

It had been a naive hope at best.

Melanie stares down at the board, already beginning to feel a sense of exhaustion. "Actually... this isn't really what I was expecting." She slowly rises back up to her feet. "I should probably go. It's getting late."

She is being utterly moronic in this moment. She knows that. She'll never get a better chance than now at getting close to Palpatine.

And yet, and yet—

She cannot spend another second in this goddamn room.

Fuck! She can't do this. She's trying to make Palpatine think she's useful enough to keep around. Getting her ass kicked at some stupid sci-fi game is a sure fire way to annoy Palpatine into thinking she's incompetent.

She forces a smile to her lips, but the image probably looks more like a grimace. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

She turns to begin her slow trudge to the door to escape from this nightmare of a hellscape—

Before Palpatine's voice swiftly stops her in her tracks.

"Now, Miss Bains, let's not be hasty!" Palpatine has risen up from his seat at this point. He strides across the room to pick up a small stylus and datapad from the surface of his desk, before crossing back over to join her. "If you do not wish to play Dejarik, that does not mean our meeting has to come to an end so soon." He extends the datapad and stylus in her direction, teeth glinting eerily in the artificial light of the room as he gives her an enticing smile. "Why don't you explain to me the rules of this game of... Chess... that your civilization enjoys so much."

Melanie stares down at the datapad, features hesitant.

Every cell in her body is screaming at her to leave. To run. To fucking get the fuck away from this horror show of a place.

But goddamn it all to hell—she fucking can't.

Because one way or another, she needs to get close to the terrifying man across from her.

And she'll never be able to do that if she runs for the hills now.

Melanie swallows down the acidic taste of her fear.

And then she takes the datapad and stylus from Palpatine's hand.

Palpatine's eyes darken at her concession, lips twitching into a too-wide grin as she lowers herself back into the chair across from him.

She numbly watches as Palatine lowers himself back to a sitting position as well, the man clasping his wrinkled hands regally over the surface of the steel table.

"Explain the rules to me." Palpatine murmurs.

Melanie stares through him, imagining her hand squeezing the spongy muscle of her heart in a calming rhythm.

And then she begins.

She taps at the datapad, scribbling out the small designs of each Chess piece on the board, numbly mumbling to the Devil across from her; explaining what each piece represents, and what it is for.

She traces out the shape of the board, carefully coloring in the image of each of the sixty-four squares.

She scribbles down the rules of the game, going over each fact down to the smallest possible detail.

She saves the king for last.

"The king is the most important piece on the board." Melanie explains, green eyes narrowing as she colors in the final shape of the Chess piece. "But it's not the most powerful piece. The queen is. And you can win the game by losing the queen, but only near the end of the game. But if you lose the king—"

"—Then you lose the game." Palpatine murmurs, chin leaning against his clasped hands as he stares at every twitch of her face with a chilling level of precision.

Melanie pauses, glancing slowly up in his direction.

Dead silence fills the air as they both lock eyes.

She inhales, staring into the void of darkness that lies in the gaze of the Devil sitting across from her.

And then her lips curl into the ghost of a smile.

"Right." she mutters, giving the man a curt nod of approval.

Palpatine's lips twitch upward at the sight; a ripple of dark energy seeming to crackle from his very being.

Melanie exhales, a calm stream of air escaping the confines of her chest.

I am one with The Force, and The Force is with me.

She repeats this phrase over and over in her mind, trying to burn the mantra inside her skull; trying to burn the image of a dead pirate from her brain; trying to burn the image of Palpatine's decapitated body over her eyelids, so that she can always remember what she's even doing all of this horrific shit for in the first place.

And then she leans down to continue her work.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

☽

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

A/N: Oh, we're really in it now, guys. 🥶🥶

Palpatine has honed in more on getting close to Melanie. And considering just HOW far he's willing to go... it has bad implications for why he wants to gain her "friendship" so much. 😬🚩🚩🚩

Mel's brain is also being tortured with new and heartbreaking nightmares, which is always a fun time for her. 😭💔

What did you think about this newest chapter? A lot of progress was made with Mel! She won her first fight! ✊✊ And she also made her first kill shot. 🔫

And when I mean kill... I mean KILL. 🥶☠️

How do you think that will affect her moving forward? She didn't really have much time to process it. But it clearly made her feel nauseated, after it registered what she had done to save Fives.

What did you think of the little showdown between Mel and Hondo? 😂 Hondo's our funny little ha ha man, but as a flesh and blood person, he's a real jackass for Mel. She is disgusted by that man. 😂

But hey! Mel held her own with him. And she spoke her mind with Sugi, the Zabrak bounty hunter, and her words seemed to make an impact with the Zabrak woman, just like Mel made an impact with the leader of the Lurmen village. ✊👀

Maybe... a little TOO much of an impact with Sugi. 😂

Also, the training scene with Mel and Anakin. 👀❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 What did you guys think of it? That slow burn is sizzling now. Haha.

And there were other scenes with Anakin! Like with him worrying over Mel during the fight against the pirates, and his... harsh judgment... against Sugi's flirtations with Mel, saying Mel "deserved better." 👀👀😂

And the bonding scenes with Melanie and the clones/Melanie and Obi-Wan! 🥺🥺❤️ I was really excited to get to write those scenes. Especially the one with Obi-Wan, since Melanie hasn't gotten to interact with him and his battalion that much, since falling into the SW universe.

I literally bought a whole bunch of writing books, just to try and make this story good for y'all. 💕😭😂❤️ So I hope it keeps living up to expectations. Especially the Anakin x Mel scenes.

I have enjoyed reading all of your thoughts on how this story will end! I will say that some people have gotten pretty close. 👀👀

Others are a little off the mark. Just remember, the ending of this story is supposed to fit the theme of SW. ✨✨ And also have a solid foundation of realism. There is a reason the word "movie/TV show" isn't mentioned after Mel has accepted being in the SW universe.

I'm so excited to get into the push and pull of Melanie and Palpatine's rivalry. I've kind of based it off of the vibe of the rivalry of Katniss and Snow from The Hunger Games.

I'm also really excited to begin to explore how Mel and Anakin will grow closer. I've based a lot of the basic foundations of the journey of their relationship off of Pride and Prejudice. Anakin has to grow into a better person from his pride/greed, and Melanie has to learn to look past her own prejudice, realizing that people can still change, if they put in the work.

I find Mel's dynamic with Anakin so funny. 😂 If this were anyone else, it would be frankly silly for her to not realize what she is starting to feel. But considering how she's had nightmares of Anakin gruesomely killing her, I think it also makes a lot of sense that her LAST thought would be that she has a crush.

Fear and attraction also can have similar physical reactions. A racing heart and shaking hands can easily be brushed away as a result of fear.

As always, so sorry for the wait! 💕💕❤️ I know it's been a bit longer than usual. I've been a little under the weather, and it made me exhausted. My sister also got married too! ❤️ So there's that. Haha.

I'm always trying not to make it to the two week mark, but I sadly passed that milestone this time. Lol. 😅

I just always want to make sure each chapter is as good as it can be for you guys. ❤️

Over 28,000 words! 😭😖✊❤️

And thank you all for the kind words and well wishes about my mental health! 🥹💕❤️ It was very heartwarming.

See you all next time, my little reader ducklings! 👋👋💕❤️

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"How can you win the game if you never make a move?"

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