Mutual Feelings

Journey to Coruscant

Once the shuttle was in hyperspace, Anakin began to talk.

"Master, do you remember what I said happened before Geonosis?" He asked.

"You travelled to Tatooine and discovered your mother had been taken by sand people. When you infiltrated their camp to rescue her, she died in your arms." Obi-wan said.

"There was something that I didn't tell you, master." Anakin said. "After my mother died, I... killed... every sand person in that camp. Not just the warriors. The women... and... The children. Their animals. Every last living being in that camp died at my hand that night."

"Force." Obi-wan swore. "Anakin..." his voice wasn't angry. It was just sad and disappointed.

"I don't want to have done it. If... I could undo it... I would." Anakin said. "Every night, at first, I saw the children... The women... I saw them every night... every time I closed my eyes. Over time... they disappeared. I don't dream about them as much anymore." Ahsoka snuggled against him.

"When I was doing it, I could hear a voice, pleading for me to stop." Anakin continued. "I think it was Master Qui-Gon."

"Anakin, he died thirteen years ago on Naboo." Obi-wan reminded his former padawan.

"I heard him." Anakin insisted. "When they tried to kill Padmé... The twins... I lost control." He paused for a second. "I made some new phantoms. They were nearly all unarmed. Defenceless. But I cut them down without any thought, other than that they deserved to die."

"What happened was a gross breach of the Jedi Code, Anakin. You killed dozens of unarmed prisoners. There will be consequences." He warned. "You won't remain on the council."

"Ahsoka?" He asked.

"I love you, Skyguy." She replied. "I don't think that I'm going to stop loving you."

"How exactly are you walking?" He asked. "Last time I checked, you could barely move your right leg, and your left wasn't much better."

"It's the armour." She replied. "They borrowed some tech from something called the Astartes Program. I'm wearing a chip on the back of my neck." She turned her head to one side, giving Anakin a look at what he strongly suspected to be a highly modified shock collar. That will be interesting to explore, if Ahsoka wants to explore it. "It feeds data to the armour, and turns that into motion."

"Do they do a swimwear edition?" Anakin asked, jokingly.

Ahsoka playfully hit him with a datapad. "Not at the moment, Skyguy." She said. "I'm sure if we asked nicely..." she didn't say anything more, instead looking at him with a look that suggested that sex was on her mind.

Anakin smiled back at her.

Then they settled back for the long hyper jump back to Coruscant, via the Hydian Way. Even with the class one hyperdrive fitted to the shuttle, it wasn't a short jump.

Half an hour into the flight, Anakin broke out the ration packs from the food locker. Ahsoka quickly laid claim to a steak and kidney pack, which had a red stripe to indicate it was designed for carnivores. Shaak-Ti, somewhat less vigorously, took possession of a second pack, containing a liver and bacon stew.

Watching warily, Anakin settled for an all-day corellian breakfast. He knew full well that he was unlikely to retain all of the contents. Obi-Wan, possibly more sensibly, went for a vegetarian meal from Alderaan.

It was perhaps five minutes before someone tried to steal from Anakin's plate. With an amused look, he noticed a half-eaten sausage begin to slightly spin around its long axis, floating a few millimetres from his plate. Knowing the tell-tale sign of attempted theft, he impaled it firmly, before glancing at Ahsoka. His former padawan was looking innocently in an entirely different direction.