𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐱 || 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐤𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟖: 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐬.

—I got him a new ceremonial robe hand made by a Gallzar tribe.  —Obi-Wan swung the bag.

—Fancy.  —I nodded.  —Let's see who wins the best gift tonight.

— At least we got him something and didn't forget.  —Obi-Wan shrugged his shoulders with a huff.

—How could we forget? Like that's literally the whole reason for-  —I was mid sentence when Obi-Wan's reaction let me know what he was referring to.  —Please, no. He forgot to get him something?  —I closed my eyes, the second hand embarrassment getting to me.

—Yeah, he did.  —Obi-Wan sighed.  —Now I have to sign the card with both of our names.

—Why are you helping him out?  —I chuckled, shaking my head in disagreement.  —Let him experience the consequences of his actions.

—Saving Anakin's ass is second nature to me at this point.  —Obi-Wan gave up. 

—Oh, Obi, what would he do without you?  —I cocked an eyebrow, side hugging him and walking together to the party.

—Let's hope he never finds out.  —He laughed and opened the door for me to enter.

The ballroom was flipped upside down to make room for the banger of a party Qui-Gon planned: it was all dark, with LED lights spinning around to give the room the minimum of clarity to identify other people's faces. There were a couple of tables here and there, full of clones that were already tapping out their cans of beer. There was also a bar with gleaming signs and strangely, fake palm trees. The dance floor was marked up by the clones and female troopers already getting it down, the DJ spinning some tunes to brighten up the mood.

It was borderline catastrophic and overall excessively loud; similar to the type of clubs that would thrive on lower Coruscant.  I had been to places like these on my travels, mainly because they were the only open establishments in the late hours of the night. It could get kind of fun with the right amount of booze in the system, something I had to start working on.

It was mere seconds after my entrance to the site when the clones started to emerge from out of nowhere, asking me to take my present for me, guiding me to their table or offering me to bring me a drink. In my attempts to not be rude, soon I found myself getting overwhelmed by the amount of familiar faces surrounding me.

—Oh, get out of her face! Shoo, shoo!  —Qui-Gon yelled to them, appearing from behind me with a drink in hand.  —I swear to the Force, I don't know what's gotten into these clones.  —He spoke to me, talking as low as possible with the deafening volume around us.

—Happy birthday, master!  —I hugged him tightly. I hadn't seen him all day, so there wasn't an opportunity for me to tell him that in person until now.  —Hope you like it!  —I shouted, handing in the gift.

—Oh, sweetie! You shouldn't have! Thank you!  —He returned the hug, kissing me on the crown of my head.  —I'm sure I'm gonna love whatever it is.  —He rubbed my shoulder before letting me go.  —Run along, have fun! The drinks are over there-  —And he pointed to the mentioned bar.  —And the pizza is on that side of the room. I had also hired some waiters to roll around some canapés, so feel free to take as many as you want.

—Thank you, Qui-Gon.  —I bowed my head in gratitude.

—No formalities, just go and be young. The Maker knows I envy that.  —He laughed.  —Now, if you excuse me, I'm needed.  —And he went off while dancing to the floor, where a couple of the troopers of his squad were calling him in to celebrate.

I moved my head from side to side, laughing at Qui-Gon. Making my way to the bar to order a cocktail, I noticed the most distinguishable hairstyle in this room. It was odd seeing with his usual robe attire, maybe because he came here directly and didn't have time to change.