It was dawn again when they acquired passage to Taris - every coming day seemed to mark a new stage in their journey, a progression that moved like the sun across a speckled sky. They had stayed the night on Lothal, finally welcomed by the residents, to ensure the displaced people readjusted and the aftermath of the kidnappings was well managed.

The Mirialan woman was put away in a prison of her own making, and likely wouldn't breathe free air for a long while - forever, if they were lucky enough. Though Val would still argue that it was infinitely better than she deserved, better than a Republic prison. Val had spent some time there once; the repercussions for her carelessness in letting a job go wrong. It had been weeks before Rolfe had been able to get her out, and her stay there was not so easily forgotten.

By then, she had established a name for herself amongst the galaxy's criminal underground, as both the Captain's secondhand and as a ruthless swordswoman. And as Rolfe's enforcer, she had already wronged at least half of the inmates at the Kessel holding station on his behalf - and having her behind plasma bars was the perfect opportunity for revenge. There was little possibility of escape, and the guards rarely cared what happened within the walls of the prison, so long as that was where the prisoners remained.

Val would admit, her past self had been reckless and arrogant - and in truth not much had changed, but now she possessed the skill to add venom to her strikes. During her time in that holding facility, she'd never had much of a chance. Two or three attackers were easy enough to handle, but more always converged on her and soon enough she was narrowly escaping through the vents with a bleeding face and bruised ribs.

Rolfe hadn't said a word when he beheld her in the medical bay later, a simmering disappointment on his face before he turned coat and left. The shame that had coursed through her then had been worse than any broken limb. The pain had taught her something valuable then; that death was more acceptable than failure.

This woman was lucky she was not destined for a place like that.

Val and Anakin arrived back at the starport, acquiring passage from a kindly merchant who refused their credits on account of their deeds to the small community - Val felt slightly better about the hassle this was causing him when he admitted he was also heading to Taris to collect his wares. Taris was situated on the other side of the Outer Rim, a journey that would take them through the day with his modest ship. Val was glad of it. These past few days had taken their toll on her and she could use the sleep.

Secretly, a part of her dreaded the moment her eyelids closed again, fearful of the nightmares that hid beyond her vision - another dream that would overcome her, feeling all too little like a dream, and more alike to memory given form.

As they boarded the small freighter ship, Val glanced behind her at the rolling plains of Lothal again, saying her own goodbyes to the arid world and the truths they had uncovered there. They had a new destination now, a further piece of the veiled mystery to uncover. She still couldn't quite fathom the scope of this whole ordeal, how many layers deep it went. Dozens of people were taken to mask the kidnapping of one young girl, for a reason they still didn't understand - a plot lay skulking through the shadows before them like a fanged serpent, but they could only see its writhing tail... for now. Val steeled her gaze, a heavy breath leaving her lungs, before she turned and entered the ship with Anakin.

Despite the merchant's smaller vessel, the interior was vastly cleaner compared to the last ship they had bribed entry aboard. The merchant, a bumbling yet endearing Rodian male, directed them to the ship's cockpit and clumsily initiated takeoff from the starport's stone floor - he sheepishly glanced over his shoulder to them every few moments, almost as though he thought they were judgemental of him. Val laughed slightly, reminded yet again that a hero was most often not a saviour to all but only to a few; and those few would remember it for all time. The people of Lothal would likely remember them as saints, when in reality they were just two lost individuals trying to do right by the galaxy.

The ship exited the planet's atmosphere and made the jump to hyperspace, bright blue lights surrounded them and passed in the blink of an eye as they began the half rotation journey to Taris. The merchant turned to them, wringing his speckled blue fingers as he spoke shyly in choppy Basic.

"I only have one uh," He paused searching for the correct word, "Empty room."

Val smiled softly, putting her hand to his shoulder and speaking in Huttese soothingly, "You've done so much for us already, my friend. We will manage."

Val turned startled, when Anakin replied in the same rough Outer Rim tongue. "I'll stay in the cockpit, it's no problem."

Val's momentary shock subsided as she remembered his upbringing on Tatooine, and realised he likely spoke all the languages of that desert world. There was no room for the commonplace anger that always clouded her mind in response to his past to emerge as she acknowledged his words, and immediately protested.

Anakin gave her a tilted smile, "It's fine, Val. I'm not a child."

Val rolled her eyes, continuing with the Huttese as she replied. "I wouldn't be so sure, buzzard."

Anakin moved to playfully shove her shoulder but Val twirled away from him with a grin, before following the Rodian down the passage. As soon as her back was to Anakin, her smile fell. There was a hollowness in her chest that grew deeper as she walked further and further away. She couldn't quite discern its origin with any certainty, all she knew was that whenever he ached, so did she. And as he settled into the pilot seat and turned his gaze to the stars, she could feel his pain like an open wound.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Tell me about Alderaan."

Val was dreaming again. She could recognise it this time. The way the light shone a little too brightly through the crystalline windows or the way the sand-coloured stone beneath her feet was all too smooth, like gliding across water. Everything around her was saturated, teeming with life and colour and swirling around her like a fresh snowfall. It was as if the universe itself was bursting at the seams and, should she put one finger to the thread, it would collapse into a thousand sunbursts in her hands.

Beside her, she heard a deep exasperated sigh. Master Alden, his hands clasp dutifully behind his back, strolled casually beside her.

"You ask this of me every day, Lightbringer." Her Master replied, a small smile on his face as he used her nickname.

Valerie grinned, skipping along to keep up with his wide strides. She was small again, barely reaching up to his chest, but she was happy. Whole. "And every day you tell me something new."

Her Master laughed, running a hand across his beard thoughtfully. "Have I told you of Alderaan's royal family yet?"

Valerie shook her head excitedly, her long hair flowing freely around her through the dreamscape. Her Master laughed and Val relished in the long unheard sound, sighing wistfully in her non-corporeal form that seemed to reside in the crevices of the illusion, within the half-forgotten memories that still remained in her mind.

Val knew this wasn't a fabrication like the last dream had been; she remembered these early mornings with her Master, traversing the Coruscant temple. He had advertised it to the other Masters as a galactic history lesson, in reality, it was a chance for her to ask all the questions that the Créchemaster refused to teach.

Her queries were most often of her homeworld, the sparkling blue seas and alabaster mountains that consumed her young thoughts. She had wanted to know any and everything there was to know about the lush world, but could never bring herself to ask the questions she truly, desperately wanted answers to; her parents.

She could not bring herself to think of them to this day - to picture the people who had given her away. But then, amid the sunlit halls of the Jedi Temple, she hadn't needed to. Her parents were a distant, forbidden memory - one she would not touch for fear of expulsion from the Order, or for fear of what she might find hidden beneath her watery memories.

Even after the Order, when she was finally alone with her thoughts without the everpresent interference of the Force, she could not bring herself to seek them out. To look them in the eye and ask why.

"As you know, Alderaan is a monarchy. Ruled by their beloved Queen Breha and her husband, who represents Alderaan in the Galactic Senate." Her Master explained, speaking animatedly with his hands.

Valerie grabbed one of his fingers, holding it in her small hand. "Have I ever met them?"

Master Alden gazed at her for a moment, before replying. "No, I don't believe you have met the Queen."

Val nodded, attempting to appear placated but the thought of her desperate question remaining unanswered for any longer was eating her alive, gnawing at her inside. Her young mind, child-like and endearing by nature though so much wiser than her years, wondered if perhaps the monarch of her planet could explain why her parents would allow the Order to take her - surely a Queen would know.

Valerie had considered asking her Master this question about her parents many times, but feared he would have an answer. Instead, she could ask something similar.

"Do the Queen and Senator have children?"

Master Alden looked at her from the corner of his eye, caution apparent in his gaze. "No, they do not."

Valerie scrunched her eyebrows and in a fleeting instant, her query was lost as a new, more interesting, question found her. "But if they have no children, who will become Queen after Breha?"

Her Master looked down at her sharply, a veiled apprehension on his face. Her question seemed to have struck something within him; even now, as her older self watched his expressions, she could not discern what had alarmed him so. Still, he swallowed and schooled his features into a quiet dignity as he considered her question.

"Well, Queen Breha's line ends with her so in the event of no immediate children to take the throne, it would pass to Senator Organa's line."

Valerie nodded thoughtfully beside him, suddenly fascinated by these games of succession. "So who would the throne go to?"

Her Master shook his head, his eyes closed, a quiet pain on his face. "I cannot say, child."

Only later, alone in her youngling quarters, would Valerie question whether he could not tell her, or would not.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Val's eyes fluttered open, met with the steel grey ceiling of the merchant ship. The walls were rumbling gently as they continued steadily through hyperspace, making their way to Taris. Val sighed deeply, turning to lay on her side. She could discern the dream this time, could feel it flow like honeydew winds between her fingers as it crafted her perfect illusion - her perfect reality, one in which her Master still walked with the living.

She could not pretend seeing him each night did not hurt and heal her all at once, break her bones and then mend them again with his gentle laugh, his kind wisdom. The truth was, the truth would always be, that she missed him more than words could describe; he was her mentor, the only father she had ever known. The only father she had ever needed. And seeing him again in her dreams was both a blessing, and a cruelty.

She didn't understand why these memories were returning to her now, what their significance was to her current path. Val thought perhaps they had always been lurking within her, simply waiting until her course realigned with the stars. That didn't explain their meaning though, or why she felt an underlying dread twisting in her gut whenever she had them.

Val huffed, shifting around again and closing her eyes. A static quiet enveloped her, the silence of the empty universe beyond the walls imposing itself upon her. But regardless of how still she lay or how much she moved, she could not seem to achieve the depthless sleep she so craved.

Val scoffed after several more minutes had passed and her mind grew no less active. She moved the thick blanket off her shoulders and swung her feet onto the floor, running a hand through her tangled hair and loosening the tresses. She pushed herself off the single mattress that was bolted to the wall on a steel slab and dragged her feet towards the door, pushing it open and walking out into the corridor. The metal floor was ice against her bare feet and she wrapped her coat tightly around her as she made her way slowly to the cockpit, intending to quietly see whether Anakin was still awake.

The door to the cockpit was partially closed, so Val slid it open slowly, ensuring it didn't creak in case the Jedi was soundly asleep. Val found Anakin with his back turned slightly away from her, his eyes wide open and gazing longingly at the stars that passed them by in an instant. A small smile was on his face, and she swore his breaths came out in frosted puffs as he mouthed the names of the constellations that flashed by. His arms were hugged closely to his chest, his feet crossed beneath him on the seat to conserve heat.

Val leant her head against the metal wall, a soft smile on her face as she watched him dream with his eyes open. Somehow, Val quietly found herself thanking the Force for the path it had put her on. For if she had not endured all those losses, she may never have known warmth like this. A warmth like him.

Val pushed off the wall and came to lean against the back of his chair, gazing down at him from above. His smile grew brighter as he saw her, the air surrounding them thawing.

"What are you doing?" Val asked, moving to sit on the armrest of the captain's chair.

Anakin grinned sheepishly, "It's been a while since I could just sit and watch the galaxy. I forgot how peaceful it can be."

Val nodded, sharing his sentiment. With the war raging on and so much violence in the universe, it was easy to forget what was being fought for in the first place. Anakin's gaze turned sombre as he gazed back at the flickering lights that surrounded them like fireflies.

"When I was younger, my mother used to sing me songs about the galaxy. She would hold me at night and sing about Tatooine, Coruscant, Naboo, Alderaan. And during the day while we worked, she would teach them to me. So that if we were ever separated, I would always have her songs." Anakin said softly, looking deep into space like it was a memory itself.

Val was silent, unsure what to say. His past always made anger roil in her blood like a tsunami against the cliffs, but strangely, now she only felt a deep aching sadness - and somewhere amid that pain, she felt peace.

Anakin began singing softly, an ancient lullaby Val had never heard before. He sang in Huttese, but the coarse language flowed gently off his tongue like silk. He sang of desert sands shifting in the wind, iron chains broken by water and the light of a second dawn's rebirth. He sang of the Outer Rim world and the love he had buried there - the love he would give anything to get back. His voice was clear and piercing, gentle and lovely and light. Val found her heartbeat slowing as he sang, calming her active mind and body.

He reached the end of the lullaby, sighing deeply. He turned to face her, his addled mind suddenly aware she was actually there. "Wait, why aren't you asleep?"

Val smiled with a small shrug, though she yawned widely. "Couldn't."

Anakin watched as her eyes fluttering closed every few moments, and smiled at her. "Well, I take it that song helped."

Val nodded, holding back another yawn as she stood up. Anakin chuckled softly, "They always put me to sleep, too."

"Goodnight, Val." He said, turning away again.

Anakin paused, looking back to her when she didn't move after a few moments. He raised an eyebrow, but Val merely held out her hand.

"Come on," She said, "Not even my twisted conscience can stand to see you shivering there."

Anakin shook his head, brushing her concern off. "I'm fine, really."

Val gave him a mischievous smile, "Does sleeping next to me go against your vow of chastity, buzzard?"

Anakin's ears tinted pink instantly and his Adam's apple bobbed uncertainty as he struggled to answer her. Val laughed, holding out her hand more intently and wiggling her fingers at him with a grin.

Anakin sighed exasperatedly but took her hand, rising from his chair and dragging his feet as he followed her down the hallway. They entered the small spare room and Val immediately lay back down under the warm blanket, moving as close to the wall as she could. She knew she had already taken him out of his comfort zone, the least she could do was give him space.

Anakin stared blankly at her for a moment, long enough for Val to sit up on her elbow and ask. "What's wrong?"

Anakin shook his head, a grin on his face. "It's just like you to take the wall side of the bed."

Val raised an eyebrow, "Afraid I'll kick you off in the night?"

Anakin smirked and removed his bulky outer robes and folded them onto a chair, leaving him in only the soft inner tunic. "I wouldn't put it past you."

Val rolled her eyes, lifting the edge of the blanket so he could slip in. As Anakin curled up next to her, they both instinctively turned to face each other - sharing breath despite the room they had tried to give the other, like even subconsciously they couldn't bear to be apart. Val immediately felt a warmth deeper than the blanket could provide with him beside her, a kind of solar glow that melted into her bones and encased her in light.

Anakin listened to her breathe, feeling her heart beating rhythmically in her chest; feeling its pace increase. "Are you worried about what we'll find on Taris?"

Val shuffled slightly, "No... yes. I don't know. I think I'm more worried that we won't find anything, that the trail just ends there."

Anakin gazed at her thoughtfully, seeing her despite the darkness enclosing them. He thought for a moment, before reaching out and clasping one of her hands. "If this door closes, we'll force another open. We will get to the bottom of this, Val."

Val smiled into the pillow, threading her fingers through his in a split-second decision to tease him. "This traversing the galaxy would be so much easier with our own ship."

Anakin smirked, choosing to play her game by squeezing her hand gently and sliding closer until their foreheads were pressed together. "Then I guess we'd better find twenty-thousand credits somewhere."

His breath was warm on her skin and Val stuttered as her face flushed red, caught off guard by his sudden change in demeanour. She hoped he couldn't see how bright her cheeks were amid the sparse light as she cleared her throat, regaining her composure.

Val forced a confident grin onto her face, trying to calm her pounding heart that he could definitely hear. "You're not acting much like a Jedi, Jedi."

Anakin brushed his thumb over her knuckles, the goal of unsettling her the way she had unsettled him was lost as he traced a pale pink scar on the back of her palm. "I don't know if anyone could be a Jedi out here."

Val' blinked as his words failed to register in her mind, turning over and over on an endless spindle as she tried to discern their meaning. She knew what he was implying, whether he meant it in the way she thought or not, knew it as clearly as she could see his blue eyes shining in the darkness. Surely, he couldn't mean that. The Order was everything to him, his home, his purpose. She was a drifter among the stars, no one he could truly want in his future - as a friend or otherwise.

Val sighed, squeezing his hand once more before letting go. "We'll be there soon, we should probably get some sleep."

Anakin looked at her blankly for a long moment, an expression she refused to understand on his face, before he nodded and turned away from her. Val sighed quietly, holding her hand, still warm from his skin, close to her chest and closing her eyes.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

When Val opened her eyes again, she was met not with the grey of the ceiling but with soft black fabric against her cheek. Val closed her eyes again instinctively, unwilling to wake from the warmth and peace she felt at that moment. It was only several dazed minutes later that she realised the material against her face was Anakin's tunic, and that she was curled into his side, with his arm protectively wrapped around her waist.

Val expected the urge to recoil that she always felt in these uncommon situations to strike her then, but strangely the only true urge she felt was to bury her face in his chest and tumble back into the first peaceful, dreamless sleep she'd had in years. But another thought came to her then, more pressing than her hard-won rest.

Anakin.

Val sighed, deeply breathing him in once more before gently untangling from him and shuffling over to the foot of the bed. Her chest instantly felt like she had cleaved a bone loose; like there had been nothing but delicate nerve tying him to her and she had severed it when she'd let him go. Val breathed raggedly, putting her head in her hands and closing her eyes.

Her world was going dark anyway, the only thing she could do was try to be in control of it.

Her heart thrashed and bled within her chest but she silenced it with a thought; Val knew she was doing the right thing, but that didn't make it any easier. She did not have it in herself to push him away verbally, could not bear to see the fractured glass she knew his eyes would become if she spoke those words - instead she'd have to settle for this, the subtle distances she put between them to remind him of who he was. Anakin was a Jedi, it was all he truly knew in this world. She did not know, not truly, what agony poisoned his blood but she knew that it was the cause of his thoughtlessness.

Perhaps being away from the Order for so long had dulled his senses, made him forget the larger goal; the destiny the universe had waiting for him back in the smoke-hazed city. A destiny she did not fit into. Val chuckled quietly to herself. Anakin did not care for fate, or whatever path was laid out for him amid the stars. He cared for his friends, his family - the ones he... loved.

The prospect of his destiny would not be enough to keep him on the path of the Jedi, the rhetoric of a religion that did not truly care. He was a good Jedi, but a better man. He was not what the Order wanted him to be. She had seen his true heart these past months - saw the facade of the perfect soldier he pretended to be crack, and reveal the kind-hearted boy who glowed like the sun beneath. He was too stubborn, too heart-driven, too perfect. And, whether she deserved it or not, too loyal.

He would likely set the sky ablaze to warm her and, in kind, she would drown the universe to keep him breathing.

Val knew this well, and knew he would not make the right choice for himself of his own volition. So she had to make it for him. She would not allow him to choose between her and the galaxy.

A part of her knew the easiest way to ensure he regained his common sense was to send him back to the Order now, where he could remember who he was without her. But she was a selfish creature by nature, and not even the fate of the galaxy was enough to let him go.

A fleeting thought crossed her mind; perhaps the reason for all this was that he was simply lonely. Her chest caved in at the notion, a deep hollowing ache in her ribs, but she knew it was likely the truth. He had been gone so long from the people he cared for, that he had somehow extended that devotedness to her in their absence - she was a placeholder for those who truly deserved him, and in light of all she had done, Val knew she deserved no more than that. She shook her head; as soon as he returned to Coruscant, he would remember who he was.

And he would forget her.

Suddenly, inexplicably, she felt the urge to cry. Tears welled up in her eyes, a physical manifestation of the agony lancing through her chest, and she bit back a sob. Val covered her mouth with her hand, squeezing her eyes closed. Stray tears escaped and ran down her cheeks, falling onto the clenched fist in her lap and mixing salt with the blood from the crescent wounds that her nails left on her palm.

A broken chuckle escaped her lips. She hadn't truly cried in years - since her time in Rolfe's medbay, where she spent every waking moment in tears. The boy that lay soundly sleeping beside her had catalysed a change in almost every aspect of who she was. If a mirror were raised to her now and the reflection of she had been a mere month ago stared back at her with cold dark eyes, Val genuinely believed she would not recognise them. If she pressed her hands to the cold glass, it would shatter between her fingers and the remnants of who she had been would fade away at last.

Val sighed, breathing raggedly. She hadn't earned the privilege of forgetting yet; there was still so much to make amends for. She had spilt so much innocent blood and she had not bled nearly enough in penance. She looked to the red staining her hand and coating her fingernails; it was a start.

A dull reverb echoed throughout the steel walls as the ship landed. Val wiped her eyes, pressing her bloodied palm into the fabric of her coat to soak up the only evidence of her fractured heart and resolved mind. She stood and padded over to Anakin's side, gently shaking his shoulder until he woke up.

His eyes fluttered open, still caught in sleep's grasp, until he saw her standing dully beside him. Val cursed herself as his face immediately contorted in concern; she instantly forced a lopsided smile onto her lips, sighing in half-hearted relief when his eyes clouded in confusion, like he thought he'd imagined her gaping sadness.

"We're here," Val informed him, glad that her voice didn't shake.

She realised then with terrifying clarity, as she looked into his skybright eyes, the lengths that she would go to in order to protect this boy. Even if it was from himself. She would carve ruination into herself and the galaxy, rather than let him fall. Before the question of whether he was worth it could even cross her mind, she already knew the answer; he was worth every wound, every smile, every tear. Worth a thousand of her.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Val had made a mistake by not reading about Taris during their voyage.

They had landed on one of the lower quadrants, several levels below the surface but still able to see the sky from the docking bay. Standing on the metal-earth that ran through the planet's core like veins of steel, a severe panic took hold of her, rooting her to the spot like she had somehow merged with the network of the ecumenopolis. It looked just like Coruscant; a city masquerading as a planet.

Skyscrapers reached high above the cold earth like the branches of long-dead trees, still aching to touch the stars. The snow that came from above fell in dark grey particles that poisoned your lungs with every passing breath, the remnants of the smog-covered factors that acted as forest fires that could never be stamped out. The water flowed through the canals, dark and thick and injecting iron directly into your veins with each mouthful; that which you needed to live was slowly killing you.

Val understood the sentiment perfectly.

Force, it was just like Coruscant. Val thought that if she strained her neck far enough, she would see the dark, menacing galactic prison known as the Spire. She had almost ended up there once, and she thanked the stars every day that she hadn't - because then she would have been faced with the sight of the Coruscant temple at all times.

Just beyond the Spire, the gleaming towers of the largest Jedi covenant shone in the light of daybreak. Once, that temple had meant everything to her; Valerie had thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Now, Val couldn't stand it. She'd seen enough green and blue, enough colour and light in her life, to never want to be imprisoned in a golden cage again.

Anakin seemed to notice her aversion to the faux planet instantly, reaching for her hand with a reassuring smile. For the first time, he didn't look around to see if anyone was watching them. No one knew them out here, he could be whatever he wanted. And he wanted to hold her hand. Anakin threaded his fingers through her's again, pressing their palms together.

Silently, Val cursed her own weakness, when she couldn't make herself let go. A crash sounded to their left and they jumped apart instinctively, sparing Val the agony of giving him up herself. The thought flickered through her mind, that one day there would be no distraction, no one to make that decision for her, she would have to do it herself. Val knew she would never be ready.

The pair glanced around, neither having thought past this point. Val turned to Anakin, shrugging to him. "Where to now?"

Anakin looked around them, pointing at the large six printed on one of the steel columns that structured the planet. "We go find dock 17, I suppose."

Val nodded and they began the journey down to the lower levels. As they walked, she pressed her coat tighter around her shoulders, ensuring every piece of exposed skin was covered. She didn't trust this underground world, especially when she had made the foolish decision to go in blind - sparing herself from the acidic rain that fell from above in inconsistent bursts was a secondary reason. She kept Anakin a few paces before her at all times, watching his steps before she made her own.

He would glance back at her every few moments, but didn't press the issue - he could likely sense her inner turmoil, just as she could sense his.

Anakin didn't know what to think; what to think about Val's behaviour or his own. He wasn't sure what had happened to him last night, why the thought of not having her skin against his consumed him in a sudden pain - enough so that he reached out. Even holding her hand was enough for him. Her heartbeat had sped up within her chest and history had taught him that had two meanings; fear or desire. But when she pulled away from him, he suspected it was both.

Anakin wanted to laugh then; at first, it had been him pulling away, held back by thoughts of Padmé and the Order that scrutinized his every move. But these past few days had seen everything change. Between the marketplace and their embrace in the cavern, he hadn't known what to think. But when he saw her run into that burning ship without a second thought for her own safety, it became startlingly clear, and it caused a panic as he had never felt before to flood his veins.

Only his training had kept him disciplined enough to hold the ship together long enough for her to return, but the entire time she was gone from his sight, he was searching for her through the Force - through whatever cosmic connection bridged his soul to her's. He knew something was there, could feel it fluctuate and glow each time she smiled, but he didn't know what it was - it was like no facet of the Force he had ever encountered before. All he knew was that she lay on the other end.

When she'd emerged from the wreckage, he had collapsed to his knees from exhaustion but also from the sheer relief of seeing her unharmed. Anakin had realised then that it truly didn't matter what they were to each other, because nothing was worth losing her. And yet, his heart told him he would always want more.

But that begged the question, what did he want from her? The answer that immediately came to him may not have been as true as he had previously thought; they were friends, nothing more.

The lie seeped through his flesh, bringing a red flush to his cheeks. Deny it all he liked, it wouldn't make it any less true - she was more to him than he could admit. Val was slowly consuming everything he was; dousing every nerve and bone and broken-hearted piece of him in cold, clear water. Washing away years of agony and fear with a simple laugh that lit up the night like a solar flare. And yet, he was terrified to say the words, even though they reverbed a steady three-syllable beat in his chest.

He knew the fear was not only for her, but for himself as well; the fear that somehow, he had misinterpreted everything, and that her heart did not beat to the same rhythm as his. Anakin shook his head. He had been selfish with Padmé, and it had cost them both dearly. He couldn't be the same way with Val. But he didn't know how much longer he could continue on without knowing.

His feet scuffed to a stop as he felt a pull on his arm. He turned to see Val had a hold of his coat, bringing him to a halt. He raised an eyebrow and she wordlessly pointed to the seventeen written in large bold letters along the adjacent wall. Anakin nodded, embarrassed that his deep thought had caused him to lose sight of his surroundings - Obi-wan would have scolded him for that, but Val merely rolled her eyes with a laugh.

The two glanced around at their surroundings, neither certain of where to go from there. They were in an identical ship port, only further from the surface now and the air quality reflected that, surrounded by shabby buildings and shadier people who scurried past them with suspicious glances.

Anakin didn't spend much time on the lower levels of Coruscant, but he hoped it wasn't as bad as this - perhaps when he returned, he could broach the subject to the Council or the Senate, ask for an inquiry into the state of their planet and the living conditions of their people. He was sure Padmé would be happy to oversee the project, it was exactly the kind of thing she had always wanted him to take an interest in. He shook his head; that didn't matter right now. They needed a plan.

Before Anakin could raise the question to his partner, he felt a sharp jab in his neck. He put his ungloved hand against the skin, prying free a small cylinder with a needlepoint edge.

The world around him began tilting as he threw the object down. Anakin stumbled on his feet and Val raised her arms to his chest to steady him. Suddenly, Val's face contorted in pain and she immediately collapsed to the ground. Anakin's shouts were both terrifying and terrified as he fell to his knees beside her, holding her head in his lap. His own vision began to blur at the edges until he could no longer control his eyes as they drooped closed. Anakin swayed to the side, his head hitting the steel floor with a dull thud.

Despite whatever toxin infected his blood and stole consciousness from him, he never let Val go.

author's note:

... I'M SORRY I'VE BEEN GONE FOR SO LONG BUT IT WAS WORTH IT RIGHT???

boy howdy, the chapter title makes sense now, doesn't it. and that cliffhanger huh :] fun times!! i would promise you they're fine but that wouldn't be true soooo

what are our thoughts on this chapter, people? are we shocked? are we upset? are we annoyed that these two idiots are going around in circles when it is SO OBVIOUS they're in love??

I'm going into the really shitty part of year 12 so I'm not sure how consistently I'll be able to update but here's hoping!!

i love you all and I'll hopefully have a new chapter for you soon(ish)