𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙠𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨

• pretty for you •

"Good morning, Master Skywalker! It is an honour to have you on our planet, and I hope you enjoy your time with us. If you have any questions, or need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask me."

You had practised those lines a hundred times in the mirror, changing the way you smiled and your tone of voice each time. It had to be perfect for him.

The morning he arrived, you woke up extra early and put in a lot more effort than usual into your appearance. You spent an hour doing your hair, a further forty minutes doing your makeup, and it took you another hour to decide on an outfit. You had to look perfect for him.

Although you weren't royalty yourself, your father was a politician on the council, and so you were tasked along with Princess Valori to welcome the Jedi Master. You and the princess were best friends and you grew up together, giving you a bond as strong as sisters.

She hung towards the back of the hangar as she wasn't very interested in political matters, while you stood at the front waiting eagerly for Anakin to arrive. You had seen him in person a few times, enough to develop a huge crush on him, but had never had the pleasure of talking to him. This was finally your chance.

"You got so done up for him," Valori said with a playful eye roll. "What's so special about some Jedi guy?"

You ignored her words as his ship entered the hanger and landed in front of you. A few minutes later, the door opened and he exited, filling you with nerves and excitement. You watched as he stepped off the stairs and began walking towards you, a smile growing on his lips.

You pushed your shoulders back and smiled back at him, taking in a breath as you prepared to speak. He approached you, but just as you opened your mouth to voice the speech you had practiced so many times, he didn't slow down and instead walked straight past you, his shoulder softly brushing against yours.

He didn't even notice you.

Your heart immediately dropped and a pit of dread grew in your stomach. Blinking a few times, it took some moments for you to get a grip of what had just happened. Anakin Skywalker didn't notice your existence. Your majorly practiced, high effort, best-you-could-do existence. But what were you really expecting?

You turned around to see where he went when your heart dropped even further. He was talking to Valori, though it looked more like he was flirting as you heard her softly giggle while blushing at something he said.

You were disappointed, but not surprised. You were used to being in her shadow, and not just because she was a literal Princess. Valori had long, blonde hair that seemed to never get frizzy, and bright green eyes that could hypnotise whoever stared into them. She was thin and tall, with full lips that curved into the most beautiful smile.

Did you really expect him to choose you over her?

Looking down, you were almost angry at yourself. Why did you let yourself be hopeful? Why did you ever think that you'd have a chance with Anakin Skywalker? You felt incredibly pathetic for having put so much time into your appearance and still not being good enough.

It made your chest ache to watch them get along so well, and you gasped slightly when you saw his hand rest on her hip. You almost began to convince yourself it was just a friendly gesture, but something about the way Valori was twirling her hair and giving him those eyes told you it was most definitely not.

You stood there awkwardly as they spoke, not knowing what to do with yourself. It was your job to welcome him into the palace and make him feel comfortable, but Valori seemed to have been doing that pretty well herself.

It was almost laughable how stupid you had been. Waking up at the crack of dawn to put on makeup and curl your hair. You may as well have put lipstick on a pig. And your outfit was terrible. It did nothing to compliment your figure, and the colour never suited your skin tone.

You were too deep into your self-deprecating thoughts to notice they had walked up to you. Valori tapped your arm lightly, shocking you back to reality.

She laughed, "You okay?"

You nodded quickly, trying your best not to stare at Anakin. It felt surreal to be standing so close to him.

Valori poured slightly as she linked her arm in yours and poked your face, "Aw, Anakin, Y/N got so dressed up and pretty for you. Isn't she cute?"

You were absolutely mortified at her words and you quickly looked at her with a nervous laugh, "Uh, no I didn't." You couldn't even look at Anakin for fear that he would laugh in your face. Staring at Valori as pain filled you, you continued, "I, uh, I thought the entire Jedi council was coming. So... that's why... I thought that... maybe Master Yoda would-"

"So you got all prettied up for Yoda?" Valori asked with narrowed eyes and an amused look. You loved her, but in that moment you wanted nothing more than to punch her in her stupid, beautiful face.

"No, I just wanted to look presentable for the Jedi Council," You argued, feeling as though your cheeks were on fire.

"Leave her alone," Anakin said softly with a chuckle.

It hurt so much to hear his voice and his laugh, knowing he couldn't care less about you, and that he was only being nice because you were Valori's friend.

"Alright, we should head inside," Valori suggested. "My parents are waiting to meet you."

They began walking away, before laughing together at something. Pure dejection filled your soul as she walked arm in arm with him, looking up at him with that pretty face that made you want to scream. You'd never be able to enchant him like that. You'd never be able to make him laugh so whole-heartedly like that.

You'd never have his full attention like that.

Valori revealed a few weeks later that they had begun a secret relationship. Although it wasn't exactly a surprise, it still hurt you to no extent.

You wanted to rip your heart out, it hurt that bad. You wanted to rip it out just so you'd never have to feel again. So you wouldn't be filled with that jealousy everytime he looked at her with a loving smile. So you wouldn't want to kill her each time she gushed to you about something thoughtful he had done for her. So it didn't completely break you whenever you were reminded that a girl like you could never get a man like him to notice you, even when you were standing right in front of him.

It killed you to watch them fall in love and have to stand on the sidelines and pretend to be happy for them. Anakin would ask you for advice on gifts for Valori and how to cheer her up, and you'd convince yourself for just a moment that he was actually interested in hearing you talk and not just using you to get in her good books. But then you were reminded of the truth when he left you alone without even a thank-you, because he couldn't fathom the fact that he should've been grateful to you.

You weren't even a person to him; you were just another device he used to get closer to Valori and become the guy she wanted. You were just the best friend that he had to keep happy on the most shallow surface-level in order to make Valori content.

And you let him treat you like that. Because a shitty interaction that left you feeling worthless was better than no interaction.

He would glance around the room and your presence meant nothing. While you couldn't take your eyes off him, he was mistaking you for one of Valori's other friends. Valori found it funny when he called you by someone else's name, and as long as she wasn't upset, he didn't have to put any more effort into getting to know you.

You saw nothing but him. His voice stood out to you in a crowd, and you were barely a blip on his radar. It was impossible for you to get your mind off him, and he had never given you a second thought.

You planned their entire wedding, and he wouldn't be able to pick you out from a line-up with two other girls.

He was everything to you. But to him, you were nothing. And that would never change.

• • •

no happy ending bc i feel sad n ugly and wanted this to be a realistic depiction of what would happen if i was to meet anakin