𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎

𝐒𝐈𝐗

    The two look at the lake, memorized by the synchronized movement of the ripples in the water and the relaxing melody of the birds. Anakin forces himself to keep his eyes on the water, knowing if he didn't, he'd lose all self-control. He knew if Obi-Wan could hear his thoughts, the Jedi Knight would be scolding him.

    "Tell me more," Anakin says, earning a confused look from Astrid, "about your memories here."

    A smile blossoms on her face, eyes glimmering with joy. Astrid pondered about it for a second, before her face lit up with a thought. "I feel like so you don't think that I was the evil one, rather than Padme, I'll tell you a trick she pulled on me once."

    "Oh, this is going to be fun," Anakin grins, dipping his head closer to the girl, who suddenly becomes increasingly aware of how painfully close they were.

    "Yeah, for you," Astrid cringes before telling the story, "I think I was about seven... no, I was five. My dad brought me here because of Ruwee's birthday. Padme and I went to the shore over there," the girl points to a sandy shoreline. "Somehow, little me believed Padme when she told me that the sand was just a tiny little bug waiting to eat me."

    A snort falls out of Anakin's lips, making Astrid pinch his side, which made him fully start laughing. Astrid playfully pouts before laughing along with him.

    "That's not even the worst part!" Astrid says, still giggling, "the little witch pushed me into the sand and tried to cover my body with it using her shovel. I'm still traumatized. I didn't talk to her for weeks and now, I hate sand."

    Anakin, still recovering from laughing, looks at the Apollonian girl, "hey, if it makes you feel better, I don't like sand either. It's coarse, rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere." The padawan looks at Astrid with eyes so full of admiration, the girl feels hyper aware of her surroundings, "Not like here...or in Apollo. Everything here is soft... and smooth."

    The Jedi's fingers travel over the senator's arm, setting alight a burning trail of desire as he goes. Astrid was painfully aware of the beating in her chest and the fluttering in her stomach, she'd never felt this good from just someone's touch. Normally, if any man looked at Astrid like Anakin was, she felt uncomfortable, but when Anakin did it, it sent a wave of desire throughout her body.

    Trying to keep her thoughts from going too haywire, Astrid starts ranting about this island, "There was a very old man who lived on the island. He used to make glass out of sand–and vases and necklaces out of the glass. They were magical."

    Now looking at her eyes, the boy's fingers travel higher up her arm and onto her bare shoulder. She thanked Padme for giving her a spaghetti strapped dress–and as a bonus, it was backless. In a low, raspy voice, the dirty blonde spoke, "everything here is magical."

    Astrid looks into Anakin's eyes, the veins on her neck moving as she swallows the growing ball of nerves lodged in her throat. She had never wanted something more in her life. The boy's fingers move down from her shoulder to the small of her back, goosebumps erupting on her arms as she does. Every nerve on her body was now overstimulated and under stimulated all at once.

    "Sometimes, when you believe something to be real, it becomes real," he whispers, his head slowly getting closer to Astrid. She does the same without realizing. It's like he was the sun, and she was the planet gravitating close to him.

    His body warmth heats up her exposed skin as their chest brushes close to him. The feeling of Astrid pressed up against him made him snap. Surging his head forward, his lips catch Astrid's, who responds back immediately.

    It still wasn't clear if he dreamed this moment to life, but there was raw emotion in the way her fingers curled around his. Anakin kept his eyes half open, sneaking a guilty peek at her every time he came back for air, just to make sure this wasn't a product of his imagination.