2.1k words

✦

Knocking on Deaths Door

✦

Anakin's POV
Slowly, I opened my eyes when I felt a shift in the bed sheets and something rubbing against me. I also began to notice a slight breeze of warm air that was only hitting my bare torso and I was a lot hotter than usual. Then I heard a low mumbled, so I glanced down and my breath hitched in my throat when I realized the position I was in.

All I could see was hair, because my padawan had her face buried into my neck and my arms were wrapped tightly around her, keeping her this way.

Basically, we were cuddling... and the worst part about all of this was that I have a little visitor that I and every man tends to get in the mornings. And the fact that her nightgown was rolling up her thigh and exposing more than I needed to see made this all the more harder - pun intended.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I needed to get the hell out of this position, especially before she wakes up. She doesn't need to know any of this occurred, I was already uncomfortable enough for the both of us.

So with an aggressively beating heart, I slowly began to remove my arms from around her and backed away onto the floor to pull our bodies apart. I cringed a few times when I thought she was about to wake up, but sighed quietly with relief when her eyes remained closed. She then began to roll onto her other side when I was removing the arm that was under her, and with one final pull, I got myself fully free.

I exhaled with solace as I sat on the cushioned floor by the bed. I knitted my brows and looked down when I remembered the floors were wood, so it shouldn't feel cushioned. And what I happened to be sitting on was the large pillow that was meant to be our pillow wall. I narrowed my eyes at it — this thing had one job to do.

"Master? What are you doing on the floor?"

I snapped my head up when I heard (y/n)'s sleepy voice. She still looked half asleep, and her tired eyes were on me with a slight furrowing of her brows, "Uh, meditating." I quickly lied as I cleared my throat.

She nodded slow with understanding before closing her eyes again and dropping her head down, "I think I'm dying." She groaned as she pulled the blanket up to cover half of her face, leaving her closed eyes uncovered.

I smirked; the infamous hangovers, this will teach her a better lesson than I ever could, "You're not dying. It's called a hangover and it's going to kick your ass."

She fluttered open her eyes and I felt something similar to what I felt in the forest yesterday, but I didn't understand what it was, "You're not going to make me do any training today are you?" She asked in a soft, but worried tone.

I chuckled, "I should," I said and her doe eyes slightly widened, "But I'm not that cruel, so no." I assured her as I stood up, her eyes followed me, "I'll let you rest up here for the day, but it comes at a price."

"Of course it does," She sighed.

She should know by now that my kindness doesn't come cheap, especially after I had to take care of her drunken ass last night, "That means tomorrows training will be twice as long." My smirk grew.

"Fine," She didn't put up a fight, much to my surprise, "But I want it to be in the meadows that you promised you'd take me to see."

I nodded in agreement as I picked up the pillow from the floor and tossed it onto the bed, "You have yourself a deal padawan," The pillow landed on her face and she squealed in surprise before removing it and sitting up. She glared at me in annoyance as she tightly held it in her hands, ready to beat me with it, "Nuh uh," I called the pillow to me and it flew from her grip and into my hands, "Don't move too much, you'll get even more nauseous than you already are." I threw it back to her, this time she caught it, but it still hit her in the face with a satisfying amount of force. "Now I'm gonna go meet everyone downstairs for breakfast, I'll check on you later."

She angrily set the pillow in the middle of the bed and laid down to hug it like it was a person, "I hope you choke on your food."

I was walking backwards towards the door as she threw her remark, and I couldn't help but laugh, "Hey do you happen to remember undressing in front of me? Because I saw everything," I emphasized and I watched her cheeks burn red in embarrassment.

I had told myself last night when I realized what she was doing that I should look away, that it would be the gentleman thing to do. But as she unbuttoned her tunic and revealed her chest — I had a little devil on my shoulder that was whispering, 'you're not a gentleman.'

But looking at her the way I did last night is not something that is going to happen again. She is my padawan and there are boundaries, and ogling her with certain thoughts is definitely crossing those boundaries.

She didn't give a response and so I took that as my victory, "Try to get a lot of rest, you're gonna need it." I two-finger saluted before exiting the room and closing the door behind me.

I then glanced down and noticed I was still in my sweatpants and never changed, since I was too distracted by her, "Damn it," I turned around and faced the door with a heavy sigh before going back in. I already know she's going to taunt me for this.

✦

I waltzed into the dining room, and locked eyes with Padme who was slowly scooping eggs up with a fork, looking just as terrible as (y/n). I smirked, "Having a good morning Ms.Amidala?"

She instantly noticed my sarcasm and rolled her eyes, "Nerf herder." She mumbled, continuing to eat her breakfast. And I looked around the room and took notice to Captain Typho who was staring out of a large window that looked over the forest, and I also saw that Moteé was not here.

"Hey Captain," I gained his attention and he turned to face me, "Where's-"

Just on cue, Moteé strutted into the room with an innocent smile on her face, "Sorry I took so long, I was dropping off water and food for (y/n). Poor thing looked like she was knocking on deaths door," She looked straight at me when she said that last part, "How are you doing this morning Master Skywalker?"

"Peachy," I mumbled, taking a seat across from Padmè with my eyes on the breakfast plate, but my attention on Moteé - our little mole.

So that conversation I overheard wasn't with a husband at all. I lied so my padawan wouldn't worry or panic, She's still fragile given recent situations. And I also didn't want her to ruin anything by being obvious about knowing.

Moteé—although her motive is still unclear to me—has something to do with the recent attacks on her mistress. I don't know her entire role, nor do I know who she was talking to, all I heard was her giving away this location along with a date and a time. The date being two days from now, so I know for the time-being, we're safe from any advances.

Captain Typho knows too, I filled him in not long after he arrived.

We didn't want Moteé to know we knew, we wanted her to continue with her plan and bring whoever the hell she plans to bring here, so we can unravel more of this with the most people involved.

I do feel a slight sting of betrayal though, Moteé has been by Padmé's side for years, I've also known her for years, yet here she is stabbing us all in the back. And I know Padme and I's relationship is far from how it used to be, there's a lot of bitterness, but I still would never do anything to harm her. A part of me still cares, despite the fractured friendship, because she's a good person. So I was having a hard time wrapping my head around why Moteé would be doing this.

I looked at Captain Typho and we shared a knowing stare before he went back to gazing out of the window, and I dug into my food.

But then I froze mid-bite when I realized something she said. She was in my room, where I left my very vulnerable Padawan sleeping. That didn't sit well with me and I was taken over by an urge to check on her.

Without wanting to make a scene in case I was just being paranoid, I calmly stood up from the chair — she wouldn't try something while we're all here and she's alone, right? "Captain Typho, I need to check on something, but I'll return shortly," I glanced towards Moteé who was conversing with Padme, a fake smile spread across deceiving lips.

I looked back at Typho to see him give me a nod with a silent, 'I'll keep an eye down here' and I quickly left the room. Now that I was no longer in their sights, I ran down the long hall and up the flight upstairs, nearly tripping more times than I could count.

Once I reached the door, I pushed it open and my heart dropped into my stomach when I saw the bed completely empty. The tray of food and water that Moteé claimed she left was sitting on the nightstand with the empty glass cup tipped over to the side, "(y/n)!" I yelled, but didn't receive a response.

Did Moteé die something to her? Did she have have someone take her? If so, where? And why? Why her?

With my hands shaking due to my erratic nerves, I fumbled through my pockets and got out the device that was connected to the tracker that I placed on her braid. I swear if something bad has already happened to her I'm going to kill that-

Before I could even turn it on, I heard the toilet flush, the sound of running water, and then the creaking of the hinges as the bathroom door opened. Out walked (y/n) with a care-free yawn as she rubbed her eye and she froze in her steps when she saw me, "Why do you look like that?" She dropped her hand down and stared at me with a confused expression.

"Like what?" I asked as my racing heart slowly calmed down now that I saw she was perfectly fine. My worries were just all in my head.

She eyed me up and down, "Like you're about to pass out." She walked towards the bed and picked up the glass that was toppled over, "I'd offer water but I drank it all in like five seconds-" She went to get back on the bed but paused and placed her hand on the headboard, "Oh." She blinked rapidly and her breathing started to change.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I rushed to her side and as soon as I got there, she fainted. She started to fall forward onto the bed, but I caught her with my right arm and she hung over it, completely passed out. I fixed her position and laid her down on the bed, "Hey," I gently shook her, but she didn't wake up. And her skin was hotter than usual, and she was sweating a significant amount. And the way she was breathing was also making me nervous, every breath sounded like it was about to be her last, "Can you hear me?"

"An-" She tried to move her head, but I cupped her cheeks to keep it in place.

To say that I was panicking would be an understatement, I had no idea what was happening right now and- I looked at the empty cup that once held water and the plate of food that was half eaten — Moteé.

Did she... did she poison her?

"I told you she was knocking on deaths door."

✦
Hope you liked it! I'm going to try get more updates out but I do have a research paper I'm writing so bear with me if I'm slow.
✦