Accismus⋆౨ৎ˚⟡.• Anakin Skywalker⋆౨ৎ˚⟡.•

58.

'Yes, Chancellor. It's nice to meet you,' she said, and the grey-haired man enclosed her hand in his. With a light shake, Sol couldn't wait to pull her hand away. Palpatine held his kind smile, and his angled nose was the only point on the man's face that Sol could focus on. She tried not to recoil away when their hands loosened, and her arm fell by her side with its palm tingling. 

'I've heard much about you, my dear. Anakin has spoken very fondly of you,' the Chancellor said, and he exchanged a look with Anakin at his mention. Anakin smiled genuinely and knew that Sol was throwing uneasy glances to his side. He resisted looking at the woman and let himself relax in the presence of the Chancellor.

'If you don't mind, we'll move to a place where we won't be overheard,' the man looked mostly at Sol as he talked. 'If you would follow me, Sol, we can all have a little chat.'

As the Chancellor moved to head the way the Jedi had come from, Sol and Anakin looked to each other before they followed. Anakin couldn't ignore the lack of smiles on Sol's face. There was no sparkle in her eyes that he always loved to see, and there was no pink on her cheeks that came when Sol smiled or laughed in Anakin's presence. She wasn't for the idea of letting the Chancellor in on their relationship, and Anakin understood that, but to be cold towards the man was unlike her. 

Despite this, Anakin and Sol stayed silent as they trailed behind Chancellor Palpatine. When they arrived at the gardens, Anakin hoped that Sol would find the small collection of flowers a sign of peace with the Chancellor. When he sat down in the area for the first time, he found himself unravelling his feelings about Sol to the politician. Anakin put it down to the fact that he felt peaceful, like he was deep in meditation. So, when the Chancellor took a seat on the bench, Anakin stepped to the side to allow Sol to slip past first.

Sol barely looked at the orange petals and green shrubs that decorated the outdoor balcony. She was too busy concentrating on her steps and her movements past Anakin to the bench. When Anakin would perform such gentlemanly act, Sol would usually swoon and grab his hand to hold in hers. But she only dropped down onto the bench with a safe distance from the Chancellor and looked out to the city with her back painfully straight. Her knees were stuck together and when the bench lightly shook from Anakin's added weight, she shuffled closer to him while hoping it wasn't obvious that they were millimeters from touching. 

'Now, please don't think I am being intrusive here, but Anakin has informed me about some things,' Chancellor Palpatine began as he looked at the female Jedi beside him. 'Things that I know are not accepted in the Jedi Order.'

'I don't know what you're referring to, Chancellor,' Sol said, her voice one note and uninterested. But Sol was interested; in fact, she was riddled with fear. 

'My dear, I know that you want to keep this between yourselves,' he took a hold of her hand that was balled in her lap. 'But I want you to know that I will not tell a single soul about your feelings for each other. I support it, as I think it is unjust to forbid such a passionate bond.'

Sol felt like beetles were crawling under her skin. The Chancellor held her hand in his wrinkled ones, and she did everything in her power to not rip it away in disgust. She wasn't sure if the Force was flaring with her unease, but Sol could not suppress her thoughts of leaping away from the Chancellor and never looking at him again. She looked through the gentle eyes and harmless smile and saw the rising stinger of a desert scorpion. But with Anakin beside her and her deeply rooted manners sacred to her character, Sol let her arm play dead in Chancellor Palpatine's hold and nodded her head stifly. 

'Thank you, sir. Your silence means a great deal,' was all she could muster. It was enough for the Chancellor to pat her hand encouragingly before letting her take it back. She itched to pull her lightsaber off of her belt and slice her wrist, ridding her body of the tingles and rash that she felt crawling along her skin.