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Medicine

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(Y/n)'s POV
"But you can't tell anyone." I held up a pinky to the small hologram of Ahsoka that resided in my palm.

She smiled as she held hers up too, "It stays with me until my dying breath." And together we kissed our own pinkies. That's how her and I make promises to each other, and the promises are to be honored like it's the law. And usually it's the other way around—I kiss her pinky, she kisses mine—but with her and I on different planets, we improvised.

"So yeah, that's really the only big news I have to share, and I think Master Skywalker is starting to warm up to me a little too." I smiled while also feeling a small ping of joy. I still wouldn't say I was his favorite person—he's far from mine—but with our encounter in the forest earlier, I finally got to see that genuine side Padmé was telling me about, even if it was only for a moment.

And the fact that I saw it means progress, right?

She lightly rolled her eyes, "Good to know I won't have to cut his hair off in his sleep. So he's actually being nice to you then?"

I shrugged as I checked the doorway to make sure he wasn't near and eavesdropping, but the last I saw of him was when he was out on a balcony mediating while Padmé read a book nearby, "He has his moments, but he's definitely getting a little nicer each day. That doesn't make him any less of a pain though." I rolled my eyes.

"On the bright side, at least he plans to help you with this new ability you've discovered and not tell the council. Not many Masters would do such a thing, they're too by the book." She spoke as she glanced off screen. I was assuming she was making sure no one was listening either. Ahsoka and I are not supposed to be communicating right now, in fact she's not even allowed to know where we were. But I trust her more than anyone, so of course I would tell her.

I nodded in agreement, "And get this, he made me a nightlight." I revealed as I glanced up to the ceiling that had the glow from the nightlight I currently had on. The sun was barely setting too, so I also had an orange light that peered in through the open balcony, which made the sight in this room even more beautiful.

I looked back at Ahsoka in time to see her surprised expression, "He made you a nightlight?"

"Yes, it shows constellations on the ceilings and there are even a few planets I recognize; like Coruscant, Naboo, Felucia, Correlia, Kashyyyk, and Mustafar." I recognize them from the book I was reading and although there's more planets in the nightlight than that, those are the only ones I recognized.

"How thoughtful of him," She said with slightly knitted brows and she opened her mouth again like she was gonna say something, but she was interrupted by another voice.

"I thought I said no calls padawan." The voice uttered sternly. I snapped my head to the side to see my Master standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. He lightly shook his head at me as he gestured for me to end it.

"Gotta go Ahsoka, we've been compromised." I sighed.

She rolled her eyes, "I'll see you when you get back then, and I miss you."

"I miss you too, see you soon bye," I said with a smile before ending the call and glancing at my Master — my smile becoming a frown, "Am I in trouble now?" I groaned sarcastically, "You gonna make me swim a lap or two in the lake?" Which I won't do, especially after what happened at Kamino, open water is now the last thing I want to be in.

I swear my fears just keep piling up, I am a sorry excuse for a Jedi. No wonder the council has no faith in me, I hardly have any faith in myself most of the time.

He snorted as he shook his head and raised his hand, the communicator left my palm and flew into his, "I actually couldn't care less that you were talking to her, I expected it. My communicator got water damage in the forest earlier so I just wanted to use yours," He smirked as he turned it back on.

I narrowed my eyes, "You could have just asked, I would have said yes."

"And not be able to witness that irritated expression on your face? I don't think so," He strutted inside and sat on the bed next to me.

Asshole.

"Who are you going to call anyway? You don't have any friends."

He side-eyed me as he messed with the device, "For your information, I have plenty of friends."

"Master Kenobi and Captain Rex do not count," I raised a brow as I leaned my back against the headboard.

He looked away with a low scoff, "Yes they do," He mumbled and now I knew for a fact that it was one of them who he planned to call, "And you shouldn't be talking, you have one friend."

"Because the other Padawans and even some younglings are-" I began but froze when I realized how hostile my voice had become in a matter of seconds. Anakin was looking at me again, but this time with his head all the way turned, "Bullies." I finished low and although bully sounded like such a childish term, that's the only way I can describe their behavior — rude and condescending bullies.

Sometimes I hated them and I know that's a strong word and not something I should say or feel — but I couldn't help it.

"Hm," He hummed as he looked away and laid down to stare at the ceiling, the communicator still resting in his grasp, "I was bullied when I was a youngling — don't worry, it'll pass." He said calmly, his blue eyes shining as they gazed at the lights emitting from the walls. It seems this topic has caused him to temporarily forget that he was going to make call.

"You, bullied?" I said with a light laugh, "Everyone loves you, you're the chosen one — you're adored more than anyone else." It's not that I don't believe him, I do, I just find it odd.

"Now," He clarified without looking at me, "But I wasn't always adored or loved. My title and power made me feared, and fear makes people cautious and mean." He sighed, "As I got older things got better, but I still remember the ones who outcasted me and forced me to be alone most of my childhood." It was hard to miss the slight vexation that flashed through his eyes, but it was gone as quick as it came.

"I'm sorry, I know how that feels and it... sucks." I glanced down at the comforter and picked at the fabric with my fingertips.

"Understatement," He mumbled quietly as he sat up and opened his palm, preparing to finally make his call, "Give me a few minutes alone, I need to call Obi-Wan and talk to him about that vision you had."

"You're going to tell him? I thought you said-"

"No," He cut me off with the shaking of his head, "I'm going to say it was mine, don't worry." I do like Master Kenobi, but he seems like the kind that is by the book. And although that is respectable, sometimes I don't believe the code is always just.

That's one of the reasons Master Ti and I had our moments where we argued — I questioned things while she jumped right in, blinded by loyalty to the order.

I nodded and turned to walk out of the door, but his voice prompted me to stop, "I won't be long, so meet me in the dining hall in fifteen. And stay in the house, and out of the forest." He said with a raised brow.

"Yes Ma- Anakin," I nodded obediently despite the eye roll that was itching to come out. I hated that he treated me like a child sometimes, I'm just hoping that with time he'll start to treat me like the adult that I am.

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I sat at the dining hall table with my head leaning into my palm, and my gaze on the large window that looked out onto the forest. He said fifteen minutes, but it's been well over half an hour and I was getting agitated just sitting here.

So with a sigh, I got up from the dining chair and made my way back up the stairs to see what was taking him so long. And as soon as I reached the bedroom that we shared, I figured it out — he was sleeping.

With his head on the pillow and his body facing me, he was lightly breathing as he slept so soundlessly I wouldn't know he was there if I wasn't looking right at him.

He must've fallen asleep right after his call, not that I'm surprised. He's always talking about how he never sleeps, so now the lack of it was finally beginning to catch up to him. I could see it in his face now, the bags under his eyes and his exhaustion.

I walked over to him and began to untie his boots that he had laying on top of the comforter,  which were getting dirt everywhere. I tossed them to the floor on the side he was laying on, and pulled the blanket that resided at the bottom of the bed on top of him to keep him warm - since it looked like he was shivering due to the wind blowing in through the open balcony doors.

I glanced up at the doors after covering my Master and paused with my gaze peering into the darkness outside. I got a strange feeling that I was being watched and so I placed my hand on the hilt of my lightsaber, and walked slowly towards the doors.

My steps caused the wooden floor under my feet to squeak, and with the wave of my hand, I used the force to pull the doors fully open. And just as I was hoping, I was met with nothing. The balcony was completely empty, aside from the moonlight glow that lingered on the concrete railing that looked over the lake.

"I'm losing it," I mumbled to myself and waved the doors closed, then I locked them.

Seconds later I heard a light laugh coming from the hallway, one I knew belonged to the Senator. I glanced at my Master once more, realizing that since he was sleeping, there was no way he could stop me from finally going to talk to her.

So after flicking off the light and closing the door until there was an inch of a crack left, I walked across the hall to the Senators room and knocked on the halfway open door, "Come in," She said kindly, and I pushed the door fully open to reveal her and Moteé sitting on her bed. She smiled when saw me and held up her glass, "Good afternoon (y/n), would you and Anakin like to have some wine?"

"Anakin is sleeping," I informed her and glanced behind me at my bedroom door, before looking back at the Senator, "As for me, I would love to try it." I have never had alcohol before—not that I wasn't old enough, eighteen is our max age limit here—I have just never had the time or opportunity to.

"Try?" She raised a brow as she gently brought her cup down, "You've never had wine before? Are you old enough?" She sounded genuinely confused, and that's because wine drinking or casual drinking in general isn't a stranger to the citizens of Coruscant. Even members of the Jedi Order are known for going out for a drink or two at a few high star bars. Alcohol is known to calm the nerves, so it's seen as a form of medicine here.

I nodded, "I am old enough, I've just never had the opportunity."

She then smiled as she picked up a bottle from the floor and patted an empty space on her bed, "Come here, let me introduce you to a whole new world."

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"So I'm guessing since Anakin is sleeping, he has no idea you're here with me," The Senator poured herself a third glass, and me my second. It's safe to say that I liked it, it does have this aftertaste that isn't the greatest, but other than that, it's tolerable and even sweet.

I shook my head with a small smile, "He doesn't," I said with a sip, "He's hell bent on not allowing us to be in the same room, although I don't know why." I shrugged, she doesn't seem to be rubbing me the wrong way at all.

She sighed heavily as she swirled around the liquid in her glass, "It's because he hates me, which breaks my heart." She answered, a sad whimper lingering in her throat, "He was always a brother to me and so to be hated by him... hurts."

"It's okay," Moteé comforted her by rubbing her back gently.

"But why?" I asked with knitted brows, "What could you have possibly done?" She's one of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of talking to. It's hard to envision her doing anything that would warrant an emotion as deep as hate.

She glanced up into my eyes, a buzzed daze clear in them, "I made him a promise that I couldn't keep. But I tried, I swear I tried." She pleaded for me to believe her, and it was the sorrow in her eyes that proved to me that she was telling the truth, "But slavery in the outer rim is near untouchable, thanks to the Hutts who are more than unreasonable." She rolled her eyes as she took another drink of her wine.

I knitted my brows in confusion, "What does Anakin have to do with slavery?"

I saw something shift in her eyes, "It's nothing, I've said too much." She placed her glass on the nightstand next to her and waved her hands in dismissal, "Let's change the topic."

"No," I said with a head shake, and she paused with a surprised expression, "He's my Master and I'm going to be around him for a big part of my life. So I want to know who he is and I can't do that if everyone treats him like an unsolvable mystery." I don't want Anakin and I to always be strangers who don't understand each other, that would only lead us down a road of repetitive conflict. And I would like to get him and I to a point where we can at least tolerate each other for more than twenty minutes at a time.

She glanced at her open bedroom door, like she was making sure Anakin wasn't there, then she looked back to me, "Will you promise me you won't tell him what I'm about to tell you?"

I nodded, "I promise."

She sighed and chugged the rest of her wine before speaking, "I met Anakin when he was nine, he and his mother were slaves on Tatooine..."

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Hope you enjoyed it and I missed you all ❤️
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