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

81.

Sol's fingers trembled as they took the cannister from Obi-wan's hand. She didn't need to wipe her eyes to know that she was crying, as it was a feeling she had grown to expect. As her fingers wrapped around the handle that used to be held by a gloved, bionic hand, Sol hated the aura the weapon held. It held the many lives that Anakin had taken for the good and contained the fall of the Republic, and it symbolised what Obi-wan had done. Without Anakin's presence beside his lightsaber, Sol felt emptiness as she held his prized weapon.

'We must go,' Revan said to Obi-wan, hoping that the man had the sense that Sol lacked in this moment. He glanced back towards the skriff and saw C3-PO waiting in the hull with a conscious Padme by his side. When Obi-wan looked in their direction, Padme cupped her mouth and turned to head back into the ship with a quiet sob. 

Sol didn't look up when Obi-wan stepped forward to take hold of her shoulders. He turned her to face the ship and her feet shuffled willingly. Obi-wan wrapped an arm around the quivering Jedi and started guiding her towards the ramp. Revan rushed ahead to help in the cockpit since Padme had burst into tears and was in no state to fly a ship. 

Obi-wan heard a sniffle before the sobs began. He gripped her shoulder and held Sol tight against his side up to the hull. The cool air should have made them sigh in the relief of being away from the burning lava river, but there was no relaxation in the skriff.

The ramp retracted into the hull and the ship hummed to life. Obi-wan tried to keep the crushing guilt and regret from his mind, because if he let it take control, he would spiral into the shadows of the dark side. Where fear and loss lived, was where the dark side grew. It's where Anakin found his solitude and where Darth Sidious was able to find his power. Obi-wan couldn't follow the same path, even if he longed to dull the pain that churned his stomach. 

Sol wordlessly stepped away from Obi-wan's hold and lowered herself onto the bench in the white corridor. Obi-wan knew that he couldn't say any more than he already had and turned to head towards the cockpit. On his way, R2 appeared from behind a sliding door and caught the Jedi Master as he passed.

'Where's Master Ani, Obi-wan?' he beeped with his red and blue lights flashing on his panel. But once again, he was ignored. It wasn't intentional, but Obi-wan didn't have the energy nor the words to explain to the droid why his master hadn't returned to the ship.

With a sad boop, R2 turned to head down the corridor in hopes of catching a conversation about what had happened. He didn't see the woman who was sat on the bench with her back to the padded walls and with her hands clenching the lightsaber of his fallen master. 

Sol's shoulders shook and her eyes clenched shut. The idea of never seeing Anakin again was unbearable, yet it was real. She had nothing but the memory of the way the corner of his eyes used to crinkle when he smiled, the way he smelt like fresh cucumber and honeysuckle, and the way he used to look at her when no one was looking. She would never see his beautiful clear eyes that would soften at the mere sight of her, and she would never hear his teasing that would accompany his heart-warming chuckle. 

'Oh, Sol...' Padme lowered onto the bench beside the quivering Jedi. Although her throat was still sore and she was feeling a light dizziness, Padme didn't hesitate to put her arms around Sol and lay her head on her robed shoulder. She didn't want to force her into an embrace, as she seemed to be focused on the lightsaber in her hands. Padme knew whose it was and sufficed with resting the side of her face against Sol's shoulder as a sign of comfort. But her own tears fell, and the two women wallowed in their sorrows together. 

'He can't be gone,' Sol let out through her sobs. 'I can sense it. There's still good in him.' 

Perhaps she sensed the twins in her stomach, as they emitted a light that would soon bring hope to the galaxy.