'Has he progressed at all, Master?'
'I'm afraid that I have seen no Force sensitivity in him. He has a normal presence in the Force, and he would be showing signs at his age.'
'How can this be? My ancestors... they were all strong with the Force...'
'It is not genetic. Although, it is unusual after generations of Force users. But this does not mean that Theron is not gifted in other areas. Being a Jedi is not the only pathway.'
'I know, Master. I suppose I am just... knowledgeable in the Jedi ways. I could have guided him, but I would had to have hid his relation to myself.'
'I understand that you are still in the field, so I will continue to look after Theron, but I will no longer attempt to train him with the Force.'
'Thank you, Master. I understand.'
---
When Sol woke from her dream, she was confused when she didn't see the ceiling of her sleeping quarters. The darkness was thin, as the blinds were angled to allow some light in from the sleepless city. After a series of blinks, Sol remembered how Anakin had surprised her with Padme's penthouse apartment where they could spend time away from the Order together. The ceiling that she saw was the ceiling of Padme's master bedroom, and the bed she felt underneath her, were the freshly cleaned sheets that Padme had laid for their stay.
Sol rolled her head around on the pillow to view the man who she shared the large bed with. She had been nervous to slip under the sheets with someone, as she had slept lonesome ever since she could remember. When she was a child on the lower levels of Coruscant, a thin mattress was all she had, and when she moved into the Jedi Temple, her quarters were small with a single-sized bed. Never had the woman thought that she would be in a bed large enough to hold more than one person, and it was even stranger that the other person would be Anakin Skywalker.
Anakin slept with his back to Sol. He had kept his space throughout the night and despite his preference to be shirtless in bed, Anakin wore a thin grey shirt with some comfortable pants. But apart from the mundane aspects of Anakin's sleeping form, Sol noticed that on the bedside table was Anakin's black leather glove. She recalled from earlier that night that Anakin had said he only ever took off his glove to shower and sleep, meaning that his robotic arm was visible. But the stars hadn't aligned enough for Sol, as Anakin lay on his right side with his right arm tucked underneath his pillow.
Sol knew that Anakin wasn't ready to show his artificial arm to her, so she respected his privacy and stayed on her side of the room. But she wanted some fresh air, as the dream in her short sleep was the first she had seen since the mission to Ahch-To. It was the same as before with no visual aspects and only the voices of supposed Jedi. Sol never dreamed, but these recent spurts of past memories from Satele Shan had rocked her sleeping pattern, and she wanted to step out of the bedroom for a moment of clarity.
With a quiet shuffle, Sol made her way out of the bedroom with a night robe over her shoulders. She hoped that Padme wouldn't mind that she was using her sleeping attire as it would be cold out on the balcony. The temperatures dropped heavily in the early hours of the morning, so Sol pushed aside her hesitancy of using the senator's things and wrapped herself in a purple robe that was hung on the wall beside the door.
The balcony that was attached to the living space was an addition to the apartment that Sol liked. She remembered speaking with Master Obi-wan about her frustrations with Master Yoda on the platform, and even then, she had admired the view that was just a step out from the apartment. Its was spacious, and speeders were far enough away to watch but not be bothered by their zooming speeds. The night sky was visible, which was a luxury in the concrete jungle that made up the entirety of Coruscant. It allowed Sol to take a deep breath and feel the cold, sharp air burn at her nostrils. Her mind was cluttered with the thought of her dream, and she took the time to think about what she already knew so far.
Satele's memories were being shown to Sol, yet she still didn't know why. The woman had claimed that Sol was her descendant, and she was working on believing that. Satele's tellings of her time as a Jedi were scattered, but she was slowly working out what had happened in the Order through the dreams she scarcely had. But when it came to the mentioning of the dark times, Sol couldn't help but worry.
'There is a danger coming. The dark times are close, and I am here to guide you to your destiny.'
Sol had thought that these clone wars could be considered as the dark times. There were deaths across the galaxy every day and people will look back on these times and be glad that they are over. But something in the Force told Sol that this wasn't what Satele Shan was referring to.
If there were dark times coming, Sol had half a mind to tell the Order. But in doing this, Sol would reveal that she was being visited by the ghost of Satele Shan, the woman who they had to have not mentioned in their teachings for a reason. But was that selfish? What if some drastic events could be avoided?
Sol knew that all future events were unavoidable. If something was meant to happen, the Force was in control to ensure the events occurred in the way they were meant to. All Jedi knew this and respected it, but Sol and Anakin had voiced their opinions of this before. Not about the existence or the power of the Force, but of the Jedi Order's worship of it.
When Anakin lost his mother, he questioned why the Force took her. Sol had seen the fury in Anakin's eyes, and the way that his Force signature had flared with red was frightening. He left Tatooine angry and hurt, but rescuing his Master had taken over his mind at the time. But Sol knew that his mother's death had left a mark on Anakin, and that mark had never left. Anakin lost faith in the Order for its complete obedience to the Force, but he would never let anyone know this; all besides Sol, of course.
At the thought of Anakin, Sol's Jedi senses peaked at a feeling in the Force. From the balcony, Sol's chest experienced the dull ache that she knew all too well. As if there was a pressure around her heart that expanded through her ribs, the Force told her that Anakin was having a nightmare. His emotions were strong, and Sol looked over her shoulder to the bedroom she could see from the balcony. The Force sent ripples of pain and anguish through its sensors and it was as if the feelings were rooted in Sol's being.
'Anakin?' Sol tried to speak to him through the Force like they had done so before. 'Can you hear me, Ani?'
There was no reply. The realm of the Force was empty of the smooth voice and throaty tones that Sol melted at the sound of. As Sol turned to head to the bedroom, the ache in her chest subsided. The Force returned to its stable level and the night felt quieter, even though speeders still passed, and the city held its usual hum that was ignored by most Coruscant citizens.
'Are you okay?'
'I should be asking you that.'
Anakin's arrival was anticipated, and Sol was prepared with her reply. She looked out onto the city with her hands on the wall of the balcony and Anakin stopped in it's doorway. Clad in his sleepwear, he ignored the twinkling lights of the city that most would die to view and stared at the woman in its foreground. His nightmare was momentarily forgotten at the sight of Sol's flowing presence in the Force, and with her clad in something different than her usual Jedi robes, Anakin wondered how someone so beautiful could stand so innocently in front of him.
'I sensed your nightmare,' Sol turned from the city and met eyes with irises of light blue. Anakin leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed and his hair blowing lightly in the wind. She swooned at his intense stare that looked at nothing but her and when his Adam's apple bobbled in his throat, she looked down anxiously to his arm where his black glove was back in its place.
'It was about my mother, again...'
Sol was pulled from her admiration of Anakin's handsome features. Perhaps the Force had made her think of the events on Tatooine to alert her that Anakin was dreaming about it. But she dared not to say, as Anakin's face was telling of the nightmare's effects. The dark lines underneath his blue eyes had grown deeper and he looked away from Sol to the floor of the balcony.
'Have you ever slept through the night since her passing?' Sol asked, and Anakin looked up to meet her eye again.
'Only a handful of times. I always hear her voice, and I always see what those... animals did to her-'
'Anakin,' Sol took long strides to stop in front of him. 'That's behind you. Please, when you're awake, try not to think about it. It'll consume you.'
Animals. That's always how he referred to the Tusken Raiders. Sol knows what he did to the tribe that killed his mother and whenever he talked about it, his Force signature reddened. His anger was deeply rooted in his hatred for the people, and even though Sol didn't blame him for it, it scared her to see the way his orange glow changed. Its centre would deepen, and the redness would grow like a rash. The warm tangerine that Sol loved would be infected and crimson would roar in angry flames.
To calm himself down, Anakin exhaled loudly through his nose and looked down at the woman below him. At the sight of her pleading look and at the concerned glaze in her eyes, Anakin felt his nerves calm. The anger that overcame him diminished and the ball that was hot in his stomach cooled as if a dam had broken and washed away its fire. The nightmare had worked at his fears and his first instinct was to resort to anger, which is not the reactions of a Jedi. But with Sol's words and soothing presence, Anakin didn't care for what the Order would think about this. Sometimes, meditation was not the answer.
'You're right. I'm sorry,' Anakin took hold of Sol's hands and leaned down to ghost his lips against her hairline. 'Why are you out here? Did you dream?'
Sol nearly spoke without thought when she felt Anakin's lips press against her head. His chest was an inch away and with her hands clenched in his, she was speechless at their closeness. She still wasn't used to being graced with delicate touches and close proximities, but it wasn't something she complained about. But with a push from the logical side of her brain, Sol calmed her beating heart and answered like normal.
'No. Just felt strange being in Padme's bed, so I came out here for some air.'
'Well, you're freezing. So, come inside. We can at least sit on the sofas.'
Letting Anakin pull her inside, Sol stuck close to his arm as they collapsed onto the sofa. They intended to continue talking and to enjoy more alone time, but it wasn't long before they both fell asleep for the rest of the night. With Anakin sagged against the corner cushion, Sol was strewn over his chest with her arms around his middle. This time, both of their sleeps were dreamless.