Born To Die ✸ Anakin Skywalker

Chapter Five

Anakin's eyes lit up. "So you do feel something."

Tahlia stared at him for a moment before she nodded. "Yeah, I do, but I'm not going to give up my future. And I don't want you giving up your future for me."

Anakin rose to his feet. "You are asking me to be rational. That is something I know I cannot do. Believe me, I wish I could just wish away my feelings, but I can't. I don't think you realize how much of an effect you have on me."

"Anakin—"

"I'm looking at you right now, and all I want to do is kiss you. It's killing me that I'm not." He cut her off, taking a step closer to her. She didn't step back, just stared at him as he stared back at her. "And I know you want to as well. I can see it in your eyes. If you don't, just take a step back."

Tahlia remained still. It was like her feet were glued to the floor.

Anakin was now standing in front of her, staring down at her. "Tell me you don't want me to kiss you."

Tahlia was silent.

Anakin grabbed her face with his hands and gave her a small kiss. He pulled away, looked down at her for a few seconds, before placing his lips back on hers. Tahlia melted into the kiss, slowly starting to forget what they were discussing. Her brain was telling her to pull away, but her heart was telling her to continue.

The kiss quickly turned heated as Tahlia's wrapped both arms around his neck. His hands moved down to her hips, pulling her body closer to him, if that was even possible. He seductively bit her bottom lip before slipping his tongue in her mouth.

Tahlia pulled away to catch her breath, but Anakin lightly grasped her neck and pulled her in for another kiss. He kept his hand around her throat as their lips molded together. After a while, Anakin separated his lips from hers, breathing heavily. The hand on her neck moved to her cheek, his thumb caressing her smooth skin.

"We could keep it a secret." Anakin whispered. "No one has to know."

"We'd be living a lie, one we cannot keep even if we tried." Tahlia whispered back. "I can't live like that. Could you, Anakin? Could you live like that?"

The smile on Anakin's face dropped. He stepped back from her, not one word leaving from him. He just stared at her. He was hoping she would go along with it, but he should've known better.

"No, you're right. It would destroy us." He finally said, turning around and exiting the room.

Tahlia exhaled deeply as she turned to face the fire. What she did was the right thing to do. It was best for herself and Anakin.

Two minutes passed, and Tahlia was standing outside of Padmé's door. She softly knocked on the door and it opened a second later. Padmé instantly smiled when she saw it was Tahlia, but it dropped when she saw her expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concern swimming in her eyes.

"Can we talk?" Tahlia asked.

Padmé nodded, stepping to the side so she can walk in.

She closed the door and joined Tahlia on the sofa in the room. In that moment, Tahlia began to explain everything that had happened between her and Anakin. When she was finished, Padmé didn't look shocked.

"Love is a powerful thing. You can't control it." Padmé said after a moment of silence. "I've been through something like this before."

"What did you do?" Tahlia asked.

"I dated him for a few months, but broke it off with him because I realized we weren't for each other." Padmé told her, her hand on top of Tahlia's. "But you and Anakin are for each other. I get you both made an oath, but listen to your heart, Tahlia. What does your heart want?"

The Jedi Knight was silent as Padmé's words lingered in her head.

"We can talk more about this in the morning." Padmé said, rising to her feet. "We both should get some sleep."

Tahlia rose to her feet, following the senator to the door. "Thank you, Senator."

"Please don't call me that." She said, a smile forming onto her face. "Call me Padmé."

Tahlia returned the smile. "Goodnight, Padmé."

"Goodnight, Tahlia."

The door closed as Tahlia walked away. She was halfway to her room when she heard noises coming from Anakin's room. She slowly pushed the door open and saw him thrashing in his sleep, murmuring 'Mom' over and over again.

He was having a nightmare.

She stepped in the room and approached the bed, placing her hand on his arm.

"Anakin." She whispered, lightly shaking him, but he didn't wake up. "Ani, wake up."

She continued to shake him until he finally woke up, sitting up with a horrified gasp leaving his lips. He found himself calming down when he saw Tahlia, who was looking at him in concern.

"It was just a nightmare." She told him smoothly.

He didn't say anything as he stared at her. Tahlia removed her hand from his arm and turned to leave, but Anakin stopped her by lightly grabbing her wrist. She turned back to him.

"Can you stay with me?" He asked her, almost sounding desperate.

Tahlia nodded her head without hesitation. She removed her robe before climbing into bed with him. Her head laid on his bare chest, listening to his heart beat. She felt his arm wrap around her, pulling her closer to him.

"I'll be here when you wake up." She whispered. "I promise."

A minute later, Anakin was sound asleep. Tahlia stayed awake for a while until she finally fell asleep herself.