Coruscant's night lights were always to die for, but looking out at the lit-up buildings and passing speeders from the new balcony was its own unique experience. Without the looming Jedi Temple standing menacingly in the distance, Sol could look out to the city without being reminded of what could happen if the Order were to see her in Padme's apartment. She could stand while wearing one of Padme's thin dressing gowns and let her mind wander with the scenery of twinkling lights and with her lover standing behind her.
Anakin had walked out from their new private bedroom and was leaning against one of the grand pillars. Still in his dark Jedi robes, he stared at the woman who watched the world go by with her hair in tendrils down her back, and with her slender figure highlighted in pink silk. Anakin could feel his chest widening at the happiness that dwelled in his heart and an uncontrollable smile grew on his tanned face.
'I can't believe she did this for us, Ani,' Sol said still in awe. Her eyes followed a speeder that passed with a man and his young daughter in the passenger seat. She beamed at the sight of the smile on the father's face as the daughter danced to the music that was playing on the radio, before the speeder drove out of the balcony's view.
'It's extremely generous,' Anakin answered while he pushed off the pillar. He took slow steps across the living space, taking in Sol's back profile with his wandering eyes, before he stopped behind her. At the sensing of his presence, Sol turned around and looked up to the man she adored. When her round face with her plump lips and sparkling purple eyes turned into view, Anakin felt a tingle in his fingers at the desire to take hold of her cheeks into hands.
'She can see that we're worthwhile,' Anakin mumbled, giving in to the urge to cup Sol's face. The warmth of her cheeks blessed his left hand, and it disappointed him that he couldn't feel the softness through his leather glove and robotic limb. His bionic fingers yearned for the opportunity to feel Sol's skin that was softer than her silk robe, but Anakin would suffice with her wonders through his one hand.
'I hope everyone else doesn't see it. Obi-wan worried me today,' Sol admitted.
'What do you mean?'
'When you went with the Chancellor, Obi-wan said that I could trust him to keep all my secrets. I usually wouldn't think anything of it, but he gave me a look that was different. I don't know if... he has suspicions about us.'
Anakin's thumbs were caressing the skin of Sol's cheeks when they paused in their circles. The mention of Obi-wan's name had not affected Anakin's Force signature, but when Sol finished, she looked into the Force and saw the soft orange darken. It wasn't enough to turn red, but it effected it enough to make Sol place her own hand over his on her cheek.
'What did he say? Was he accusing you?' Anakin questioned with his blue eyes frantically searching hers. He leaned forward as his tone grew more intense making their noses brush as he spoke.
'Not at all. He wasn't upset and didn't explicitly say that he knew, but I just couldn't help but think that was what he meant. Maybe I'm overthinking,' Sol shook her head with a dismissive smile on her face. 'Obi-wan's always been very understanding, Ani. Maybe... maybe we should tell him-'
'Absolutely not.'
Sol was shocked when Anakin pulled his hand away from her cheek and stepped away from her. She reached out at the loss of his warmth but stopped when Anakin turned around to descend into the lowered living space. Sol stood with wide eyes as Anakin threw himself down onto the sofa, spreading his legs apart and leaning forward to balance his elbows on his knees. He looked down at the floor with his head lowered and his shaggy hair skimming his nape.
Sol was wary after his reaction and went down the three steps carefully. When she stopped next to him, she noticed that Anakin was avoiding looking up at her. His expression looked contorted with his brow low over his eyes and his lip parted in thought.
'Ani? Don't you think he would be understanding?' Sol said quietly, looking down at him with concern. 'I know that Obi-wan advocated for me to be on the Council as a Master, so I know that he trusts me. And he wasn't accusing when he found out about the Sand People-'
'Don't mention that,' Anakin's head whipped up to face her with his harsh words, before they softened at the sight of Sol's beautiful eyes. '... please. It hurts to think about what happened... about my mother...'
'I'm sorry...'
Anakin pursed his lips and went to voice his own apology, but decided against it. The sight of Sol's worried eyes made him want to turn to jelly and get on his knees in forgiveness for being so abrupt. But when he thought about Obi-wan, about how he hinted that he knew about their relationship, Anakin's anger tried to take over. He had to suppress his emotions to make sure he didn't blow up in front of Sol, so he took his anger into his hands and clenched them tightly together.
'When you spoke to Obi-wan...' Anakin's words were clipped. '... did he say this to you after you spoke about me?'
'What do you mean?' it was Sol's turn to be confused.
'Did you talk to him about why you were acting so strange on the cruiser?' Anakin said as he stood up from the sofa. 'I noticed how you were towards me, Solaris. You barely wanted to look at me, and then you spoke with Obi-wan, and then you're back to your normal self. Did you talk about me? Is Obi-wan your shoulder to cry on, now?'
'Anakin, what is this about?' Sol was shocked at how Anakin's words fell out of his mouth as if they were poison.
When he stood from the sofa to tower over her, Sol looked up at Anakin with even more concern than before. Sol didn't like how the conversation had turned, but she didn't regret bringing the subject up. She had resisted in telling Anakin so many things lately, that she wanted to feel confident in suggesting something that Anakin found discomforting. If she could open up to Obi-wan about her troubles, she wanted to open up to Anakin about her progressive thoughts.
Anakin looked away from Sol with his jaw clenched. He could feel the anger heating his face, and he did everything he could to protect Sol from its wrath. He knew what he was capable of, and the last thing he wanted was to let his emotions get the better of him in front of the woman he loved. She was his safe space, his everything, and she didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of his lack of control.
'If its jealousy about Obi-wan, then you must be delirious-'
'Am I?!'
Sol jumped backwards.
'Am I delirious to think that Obi-wan is trying to insert himself into all this?! He's just like the Council; making sure they have full control over everything. Do you want to know what I think, Solaris?'
Sol glanced towards the bedroom over Anakin's broad shoulder.
'I think that he's trying to take you away from me.'
'What?!' Sol exclaimed in disbelief. 'That's insane! He's done so much for you and I! He put me forward for missions, a-and to become a Master-'
'To have you under their watch! If what you're saying is true, that Obi-wan knows, then of course he would want you on the Council!'
Sol couldn't believe what she was hearing. Anakin had turned the celebratory night into something negative and accusing. She thought that Anakin was happy about her achievements, as he had expressed how proud he was of her only hours before. He had spun her around Padme's apartment and was reassured that Sol would give up everything to be with him forever. How could the slight mention of Obi-wan and his kindness send Anakin spiraling into an angry, accusing, hateful version of himself?
'Do you know what it was that I spoke to Obi-wan about?' Sol couldn't hold back her bitterness. The sight of Anakin's darkening signature and the sound of his strong, harmful words made Sol want to make him feel guilty for how he was acting. It wasn't the Jedi way to give into the weak-minded desires of selfishness, but Sol didn't care. Anakin had yelled and accused her of betraying him in the relationship, and of their trust in each other, and Sol wouldn't let that slide.
'I was worried about how you killed Count Dooku,' her strong tone matched her now stoney expression. 'The Chancellor was wrong to push you like that, and I sensed how you felt when you cut off Dooku's head. You wanted to do it, and your Force signature went darker than I would care to admit.'
Just like after he had sleighed the Sith, Anakin felt his mind clear. The anger that boiled in his chest and made an uncomfortable heat sit behind his eyes calmed, leaving the peaceful flows of the Force to bring him back to reality. Anakin felt the cool air that blew off of the city on his face, like a barrier of hateful thoughts had been broken around him. He could now breathe, and see that he had lost himself in the thought of Sol being taken away from him by the Jed Order.
Anakin blinked and his tense shoulders relaxed. His arms rose at the desire to touch the softness of Sol's cheeks again, but she was standing a distance away; her eyes hard and her smile lost from her face.
'Solaris... I'm sorry-'
'You need to be mindful of this anger of yours, Anakin. Because if you ask me, ever since you started meeting with the Chancellor, you've been acting more and more like you were when your mother passed, and I don't want to see that side of you, again.'
Anakin's pleading eyes followed Sol as she walked out of the living space and headed around him into the bedroom. She disappeared into the bathroom and Anakin was left on the balcony, wondering what had come over him so suddenly.
---
Sol didn't venture to the training rooms of the temple much, as they were usually full of younglings. But after days of frustration and fromthe trouble of not being able to concentrate during mediation, Sol wanted to let the Force take hold of her heavy worries. With her lightsaber attached to her belt, she occupied one of the training rooms where a training droid was at her service.
Training droids had access to their own lightsabers, blasters and stunning batons. They were quick and usually used by Padawans to learn battle techniques before they would begin dueling with other Jedi in the sparring yard. To a Jedi Master, which Sol now classified herself as, training droids were child's play. They would hardly be a challenge for Sol, but it would at least occupy her limbs while her mind slipped into the Force's guide.
As the droid powered up, Sol ignited her cyan lightsaber and listened to the sounds of blasterfire fill the training room. With wooden floors and low ceilings, the room didn't let Sol's mind wander as she began deflecting blaster shots while flipping over the droid that advanced towards her. Its torso twisted around without the movement of its feet, and it went to use the stunning baton against her, but she stepped out of its way. It continued in trying to stun her, but Sol jumped from left to right with calls to the Force.
The main reason why Sol decided to venture to the training rooms of the temple was because she heard from Obi-wan that Anakin had gone to see Chancellor Palpatine today. The air between Sol and Anakin had been tense, which was filled by the occasional small talk that was anything but personal or emotional. They still retired to Padme's apartment every night and slept in their new large bed together, but it was synthetic. They acted as if they were under the watchful eye of the Jedi Order, yet they were in their safe space of each other's privacy and didn't need to be so cold and short with each other.
When Sol felt her mind slipping into the wallows of Anakin's recent behaviour, Sol gripped the handle of her lightsaber and sliced it through the middle of the training droid. She paused in her attack as her blade burnt through the droid's circuits in one swift movement. As the droid malfunctioned without its innards, Sol waited to hear its clang against the wooden floor. Sparks and whizzes sounded from its destroyed wires and its blue lightsaber made a whoosh as it sheathed into its holder.
'I hope this is a good time.'
With the strength to snap her neck, Sol whipped around to gape at the new presence in the room. As the training droid twitched and buzzed on the floor, Sol stared at the Force ghost she had given up on hoping to see again. The blue glow from the ancient Jedi's form made the training room darken and the cyan hum from Sol's lightsaber looked pathetic against the new, ethereal light source.
'Satele!' Sol exclaimed in surprise. 'N-Not at all is this a bad time! I have been anticipating seeing you again.'
'There has not been a time, Sol,' Satele said, her face as unmoving as Sol remembered. 'But you must remember that I am only to guide you. I know you have found that what I say is true about your heritage, and that was to be found on your own.'
'I met Revan! Revan Shan!' Sol couldn't help but grow excited at the mention. 'He is my cousin. I don't know my parents, but Revan was able to connect us and-'
'My child, please, I am not here for this.'
'O-Oh... right, sorry,' Sol said in embarrassment. She busied herself with the sheathing of her lightsaber before looking back up to Satele with blushing cheeks. Satele didn't look bothered by Sol's rambles, as her face never moved to show emotion anyway, but the hardness in her icy eyes still intimidated the Jedi Master.
'Please listen when I say this to you, Sol,' Satele was stoic as she spoke. 'The dark times are fast approaching, and the Jedi are not aware of its volume. You must stay with the light and do what is best for the good. Do not tread towards what you think is light and keep what you know is close. The future is forever changing, and you must remain what you are destined to be; the light to guide those away from the dark side.'
Sol's mind couldn't help but jump to the conclusion of Anakin, and the overbearing presence of Chancellor Palpatine. Whenever she was in the old man's presence, she wanted to remove herself from the situation as quickly as possible. Could this be who Satele was referring to? How could Sol possibly do what she says if she didn't know the details? How did she know if what she was doing was entuned with the light, when she enjoyed so many things that the Jedi Order considered a pathway to the dark side?
'I know it may be confusing, but you will know when choices need to be made,' Satele spoke as if she read Sol's thoughts. 'You will know, because that's who you are. You will always fight for the good.'
'But Satele, if these dark times are inevitable, and the future is changing, what if I don't realise that I'm... seeing the dark side?'
'Then you must make the choice to be certain.'