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A Presence
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(Y/n)'s POV
Now that I was able to enjoy the beauty of where we were, I was in awe, starstruck. It was the dead of night so I wasn't able to see the sunlight glisten on the dewy strings of grass or on the petals of the vibrant flowers. But the terrain that surrounded the lake house was flooded with fireflies that gave the grassy plane an ominous, yet beautiful glow. And far off in the distance was a forest, but I couldn't see anything passed the tree line.
I breathed in the fresh air as I walked around the house, taking in every window and door that I could see. I get why he wants me to do this, it is good to know your surroundings. But at the same time, what's the point? We'll know their there, but it's not like we can watch every door and window at once. If an intruder wants to come in, there's no doubt they'll get in, it's inevitable - all that matters is that we're alert and prepared to protect the Senator when or if that happens.
I believe the 'learn your terrain' part of a mission is better equip for assignments that don't include protection like this one, but more for actual battles or rescue missions.
But in order to not hear an annoying lecture from him just because I expressed my opinion - I said yes with a smile on my face. And I also may have said yes because I wanted a small piece of freedom to explore the area without him watching me like a hawk.
Normally I'd appreciate being looked after by my Master, it's a sweet experience to be cared about by someone — but I'm not sure if he's looking after me because he actually cares or if it's because he doesn't trust me not to fall into a snake pit or something and ruin his reputation by dying under his watch.
I sighed heavily as I stopped in the same place I had started—meaning I already made an entire lap around the large house—and looked up at the stars. I've seen stars more often than I've seen my own reflection, yet I never get tired of them. Master Ti once told me that each star represents a departed soul and it's the ones that shine brighter that belong to those who owned a place in our hearts. Which was comforting to think about when my eyes landed on a single star that outshined the rest.
"I miss you." I whispered, wondering if there was a possibility she could hear me, "And I know I promised you I'd be on my best behavior for my new Master, but he's making it real hard." I rolled my eyes to myself, "Like really, I might end up killing him," I joked, "Or he'll kill me - it'll be either one, that's the only way I see this ending."
I didn't expect a response, I'd be crazy to — I just enjoyed talking and hoping she's somewhere listening to my little rant. And I know exactly what she'd want to say to me too, 'be the bigger person' or 'have patience'.
The cold air whipped around me, raising both my cloak and my hair in the breeze - and that's when I sensed it, an unfamiliar presence was close by. On instinct, I dropped my gaze down to the forest and stood frozen in place; the only thing I could hear was the wind rustling in the bushes and trees, along with the sound of the water in the lake moving calmly.
I couldn't see anyone or anything, but I could feel something, although I wasn't quite sure what it was. Like I said, it was unfamiliar, yet familiar at the same time - confusing I know, but that's the only way I know how to describe it.
There was nothing dangerous about it either which is why I wasn't jumping into a defense, but the presence was oddly comforting. And before I could do any further investigation on what or who it could be — a bright green light shined in the distance, just beyond the tree line.
But it was only for a split second before disappearing, so if I blinked I would have missed it. And when the green light disappeared, as did the odd presence. Gone, like it was never there.
Was it Master Ti? Was it her apparition listening to me?
"What are you looking at?" A deep voice startled me and I jumped with a squeal of fear and surprise. My Master raised his brow at my reaction and I could see the amusement behind his tired eyes, "Didn't mean to startle you, I figured you would have sensed me coming."
Normally I probably would have, but my attention was so focused on what I felt and saw over in the forest that I wasn't aware of my other surroundings, "I was distracted," I sighed, looking back out at the trees, "I think I saw something passed the tree line over there."
"Saw or felt?" He asked, prompting me to look back in his direction.
"Both, there was a light, I think." It was so quick that it could've easily been my mind playing tricks on me. But I know I definitely felt something.
He hummed and looked away, his blue eyes shimmering under the moonlight, "I felt something too, but only for a second," He mumbled with narrowed eyes, "It's probably nothing or an animal, but I'll check it out. Go back inside and finish what I asked you to do and I'll meet you in our room." He said without taking his gaze away from the trees.
"I can go with you," I offered, but he shook his head.
"No, one of us needs to be in the house with the Senator and I'll feel more comfortable checking this out myself," He began to walk away and waved me towards the house, "Now go, but don't loiter with either of them, just do as I asked, then wait in the room." He demanded.
I sighed, knowing that fighting to go with him wouldn't do me any good. If anyone is more stubborn than me, it's him. Besides he might be right, maybe it really was nothing and my wish for it to be Master Ti was messing with my head, "Fine, call me if you need help with anything."
"Thanks, but I won't need you," He said a bit condescendingly. I resisted the urge to choke him like I did before and turned towards the house. He better hope he doesn't need me because I'll refuse to go if he calls, he can get eaten for all I care.
Anakin's POV
When I was dwelling in the awkward silence sitting with Padme and Moteé, I felt a presence that was unfamiliar, yet familiar at the same time. So I came outside to investigate it to find my Padawan staring off into the distance near where I had felt it.
So after sending her back to the house, I had my lightsaber ignited in my hand and I was walking cautiously towards the trees. The wind was picking up and blowing my hair towards the side while also raising the thin cloth on my tunic. I broke through the tree line and used my lightsaber to illuminate the darkness around me.
I turned around in multiple directions while using the force to aid me in searching my surroundings. But there wasn't anything here, no sign of an animal or a person anywhere in sight. I decided to chalk it up to it being nothing and turned back towards the house where I sensed an uneasy and nervous feeling coming from my Padawan. So my new priority was making sure everything at the house was okay.
As I walked through the leaves on the ground and stepped over the moss covered stumps lifting from the dirt, I paused when something caught my attention. I raised my gloved hand and ran my finger along the burn mark that singed the trunk of a tree. A burn mark that resembled that of a lightsaber strike.
The mark looked fresh and I could still feel the heat of it radiating through my glove to the nerve receptors on my mechanical hand. The crunching of a leaf prompted me to freeze in place and slowly side-eye the direction it came from, "I know you're there." I said aloud and dropped my hand down to my hilt again.
I was met with an ominous silence. The hair on the back of my neck stood up when I was met with another cold breeze that broke the silence when it went through the leaves on the trees.
Was someone there? Or was it simply an animal that crunched the leaf and I'm only being paranoid?
But still, an animal wouldn't explain the mark on the tree - unless it was me when I came through and didn't notice I scraped the tree, or it could've been (y/n), I never did ask her if she walked this far forward. Speaking of her, I could still feel her anxiety rising and it was making me feel unsettled. So after giving the forest one last glare, I walked out of it knowing that even if someone was there, they no longer were. So we're okay for the time being, but we may need to relocate if I feel something again.
(Y/n)'s POV
Everything was going fine.
Perfectly fine.
Until I was in the middle of my search of Motee's things when I heard her coming down the hall towards me. I panicked instantly and closed her suitcase before dropping down to the floor and rolling underneath the bed. It was a clique hiding place, but I literally had five seconds to think, that woman is a fast walker.
I placed my hand over my mouth as soon as I heard the door open and tried my best to keep quiet. I hate Anakin, I really hate him right now. I knew this was a bad idea, and now this is my karma for listening to him.
I listened to Moteé as she strode around the room and saw her shoes when she stopped and faced the bed. With a sigh, she dug through her suitcase and the sound went on for a little over thirty second, meaning she was searching for something specific.
Next I heard her speaking, she was talking as if someone else was in the room with her and she wasn't speaking English. Although English is all that I know, I can recognize other languages and what she was speaking right now was Huttese.
I slowly reached over to my comlink on my wrist and began recording everything she was saying. Maybe my Master will know what she's saying, or anyone else at least. I watched Moteé's feet as she paced around while talking, and sometimes I heard another voice talking back, a male, and he sounded like he was on a hologram.
Now I may seem calm, but honestly I was freaking out right now and my anxiety was through the roof. I can only hope she doesn't stay in here long so I could sneak away without her noticing me.
After what felt like a millennia of me listening to her incoherent conversation, I heard a knock on the door which was followed by what sounded like Moteé ending her call. The door to the room opened and judging by the limited view I had of two pairs of feet, it was my Master, I could tell by his obnoxiously heavy looking boots.
"Oh Mr.Skywalker, is there something I can help you with?" She asked kindly.
I scooted a little bit forward and slowly lifted the blanket a little higher and made quick eye contact with him before he looked back at Moteé with a smile. He knew I was here, meaning he came to help me get out of this mess, as he should for getting me in it, "Actually I came over here to apologize for my behavior earlier," He leaned in the doorway with a soft grin as he subtly eyed her up and down, "My quarrel wit Padme has nothing to do with you so I hope you know that we can still be friends."
Is he...flirting?
She giggled and I almost wanted to throw up, he wasn't even that charming it's definitely exaggerated. Or maybe I just find him repulsive because he's a narcissist ass most of the time, "Of course we can, but I hope you know that she cares for you like a brother and she meant no harm towards you. She was a kid, just as you were."
His demeanor changed for only a moment before he pushed a forced smile onto his face, "I'd rather not talk about any of that and instead I'd much rather get to know you better. Have you seen the fireflies outside? It's quite a beautiful sight," He held his hand out, "Not as beautiful as you, but a close second. I'd like to show you."
I'm not kidding, this is making me nauseous. He couldn't think of any other way to distract her? Like I don't know, he could have asked her to show him where the kitchen was again - something simple like that.
She laughed a bit flirtatiously and accepted his hand, making me grimace, "I have, but I wouldn't mind seeing them again."
"Then after you mi'lady," He led her out of the room and gave me one quick wink before closing the door.
I waited until I couldn't hear them anymore before crawling out from under the bed. I then left the room without inspecting her things further, since I felt like I did a thorough enough search before she showed up, and went across the hall to mine and my Master's room.
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Fifteen minutes later, the door to the bedroom opened and my Master walked in with a sigh before closing it behind him. I was seated at the edge of the bed with my arms folded over my chest - already in my nighttime clothing for bed, "Oh look who it is, Mr.ladies man. I wasn't sure if I should be expecting you back tonight or not."
He paused when he saw me, and for a moment his eyes scanning over my appearance before he looked away, "Shut up, you needed help, so I helped you," He took off his belt and hung it over the back of the couch that he'll be sleeping on tonight, "Did you find anything while you were in there?" He asked, not making any eye contact with me as he fiddled with his tunic.
"I'm not sure," I said with a sigh as I grabbed the comlink I was wearing today from the nightstand, "Do you happen to speak Huttese?"
I looked up at him and saw his eyes immediately snap to mine just as he removed his tunic and shirt, leaving his hair in a scruffy mess as he glared at me through the strands, "Why would you ask me that?" His tone was bitter and took me by surprise. It was a simple question, so I didn't understand why he had such a harsh reaction to it.
"Because that's what I heard her speaking and I recorded it so I need it translated?" I answered with uncertainty.
His expression instantly softened, "Oh," He dropped shirt to the floor, leaving him shirtless as he walked towards, "I do, but it may be a little rusty, it's been awhile." He cleared his throat.
"Um," I scooted an inch or two away when he sat down right next to me, his cologne invading my senses, "Do you think maybe you can put a shirt on first?"
He furrowed his brows, "It's just my chest, it's not like I'm walking around in underwear. Which is basically what you're wearing." He gestured to my pajamas which was a silk two-piece that subtly showed my stomach.
"This isn't even close to underwear and excuse me for not wanting to look at your nipples." I rolled my eyes. I also wasn't used to having a man be so... exposed in front of me, I guess I didn't know how to react.
He shrugged, "I have a simple solution for that, just don't look at them. I have to sleep shirtless or I get too hot, so you're just going to have to deal with it." He grabbed the comlink from my hand and after a few seconds of fidgeting with it, he played back the recording and said nothing the entire time he listened. Then when it ended, he stood up from the bed and tossed the com onto my lap, "We have nothing to worry about." He said as he turned away and walked towards the couch.
"Wait, but what was she saying?" I asked as he went into his duffel bag and pulled out the box that held his little project.
"She was talking to her husband, telling him she misses him and loves him - things you hear married people say." He placed the box on the bed, "It's weird though, she was awfully friendly with me for being a married woman. Guess I'm just that irresistible." He said with a cocky smirk.
I grimaced, "Or maybe she was just being nice to you."
He lightly shrugged, "Yeah if you say so." He said the words like there was more context than what I know.
I narrowed my eyes, and he pulled his project out of the box, "Why do you say it like that? Did you do something?"
He chuckled as he set it on my nightstand, "You sound like a jealous girlfriend," He flicked a button on the contraption and a glow appeared through the cracks and designs, "But no, I'm just saying she was awfully touchy, mostly my hair though, she wouldn't stop and it was kind of annoying." He explained, but I was too curious by what he was physically doing to really pay attention.
He then took a few steps back and turned the bedroom light off with the wave of his hand. I was preparing to have a minor anxiety attack in the dark, but I didn't when I realized the room was still lit, there was not a single dark corner, "What-" I looked at the item he had built and watched it spin as it projected constellations and other space-like designs around the room.
"It's a nightlight, this way you don't need to keep the light on and hopefully you'll sleep better."
I looked away from the lights and up at him, the light crossing his features every few seconds or so, "So it really was for me?" I asked in disbelief.
He nodded with the slight narrowing of his eyes when he saw my grateful and delighted expression, "Don't think too much into it Padawan, I only did it so you'll get proper rest and be more productive during training."
I slowly smiled, "Actually, I think I'm starting to grow on you Master Skywalker." I wanted to believe that because this was probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.
He huffed and walked away towards the couch and sat down, "Whatever helps you sleep better," He mumbled as he rested his head against the cushioned edge.
He then waved the bedroom door open and leaned over to make sure the other two had their doors open as well so he could keep an eye on them.
I laid down with my head on the soft pillow and continued smiling to myself as my eyes watched the nightlight spin.
I didn't hear a denial.
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Hope you liked it babes ❤️
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