Lux
Ahsoka hadn't left Lux's side since he woke up (and probably before that, but he obviously wouldn't remember that), and Lux was glad for it. He had always hated hospitals, and Ahsoka had been an immense help in keeping him grounded.
Not to mention the fact that she saved his life. Again.
He had come far closer to death this time than ever before, and Ahsoka had too, he realized with a start. According to what he had managed to piece together from reports and Ahsoka's account of the whole incident over the course of his weeklong stay at the hospital, it had been mouth-to-mouth respiration coupled with a small dose of the antidote that had kept him alive before the medics had been able to get to him. It had carried him all through their frantic research into the poison to identify it and its cure. But to save him, she had also exposed herself to the deadly lectrosterine he had in his system.
She had been willing to sacrifice herself so that he would live to see another day. Lux knew he wouldn't be able to repay that debt even if he had a thousand lifetimes to do it.
As if somehow aware that she was in his thoughts – but then again, she was a Jedi, so he wouldn't be surprised if she actually were – Ahsoka suddenly walked through the door into his hospital room.
"How are you feeling?" Lux asked, motioning for her to come sit next to him on the bed with a gentle smile.
"I should be asking you the same quest–" Suddenly, Ahsoka staggered a few steps to the side, grabbing onto an outcropping in the wall in an effort to remain upright. "I... oh."
Lux was on his feet in an instant, pulling her close so she could lean on him. "Careful now, careful," he said. "You're not well."
"You're in worse shape than I am. I should be the one helping you."
Lux grinned. "I've lost track of who's further in whose debt. But I stopped caring ages ago. We just... We just help each other."
Ahsoka butted her forehead against his shoulder as they sat down on the hospital bed, her fingers linking together with his. "That we do," she murmured.
It was quiet for a moment as they both looked into each other's eyes. Lux reached out and brushed the tips of his fingers over Ahsoka's cheek. She smiled, putting her hand over his to keep it there.
Lux leaned in a little, but as soon as it had come, any inclination to kiss her disappeared. Although she had always welcomed his affection, she had other obligations that always made her dig her heels in whenever things were really starting to go somewhere between them. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a good idea.
"I'm really not used to this," Ahsoka admitted, taking his hand off her cheek to play with his fingers. "Members of my species usually have great balance – it's literally a genetic trait thanks to our lekku and montrals –, and it's weird to be so suddenly cut off from that."
"Well, I don't have any crazy senses or anything, so I guess I shouldn't be able to relate," Lux said, laughing. But he sobered a moment later. "Ahoska, I haven't had the chance to really ask, but... what happened to you? With the lectrosterine, I mean? How bad did it hurt you?"
Ahsoka stopped twisting her fingers around his then, instead simply holding his hand. "What makes lectrosterine so deadly to Togruta is how it starts attacking you one thing at a time. First it goes after your lekku: first, your balance will be gone, then your hearing, then your proprioception. Then it spreads elsewhere, and it's your sight, and your muscle tissue, and so on, until you're completely helpless. Then it starts eating away at your vital organs until you're little more than a living corpse." Ahsoka exhaled softly, shaking her head. "I'm glad was lucky enough to only ingested enough to hit the first stage, and not enough to go further."
Lux couldn't help it – he pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her shoulder. "I'm glad for it too. I... I couldn't bear losing you like that."
"Lux..." Ahsoka held him tighter. "Lux, when your heart stopped beating back there in the palace, my heart stopped with it. When you fell, a part of my soul I need to carry on fell with you. I felt like I had lost something I couldn't live without."
"Oh, you'd have been just fine without me," Lux soothed her, but on the inside, he felt like jumping for joy. Everyone needed to be needed by somebody. Knowing that Ahsoka needed him made him feel like he could grow wings and fly.
Ahsoka pulled away then, her blue eyes deepened by an unusual seriousness. "No. I wouldn't have."
Then, she reached up and pressed her lips to his.
Lux melted into the kiss, leaning in closer. Ahsoka cradled his face in her hands before allowing them to drift up to comb through his hair.
Suddenly, she broke the kiss, biting her lip. Lux tried to lean in again, hoping to continue what they had started, but she stopped him before he could get too close. "I did it again."
"Did what?" he asked, although he knew perfectly well what she was talking about.
"Kissed you. I keep doing that spontaneously and entirely without meaning to. It overpowers me without me even realizing I'm being overpowered, but I can't help but feel like it happens too often to be 'heat of the moment'."
They were both silent for a moment, thinking it over. But Ahsoka's arms still hadn't left their places around his shoulders, and his hadn't left her waist.
"Where are we going with this?" Ahsoka asked. "I feel like we're just going around in circles, Lux – Senator and Jedi, to friends, to... to something more. And everything's blending together in my head. Sometimes, I feel like I just don't know which one we are anymore."
"Maybe we're all of them."
The hint of a smile appeared on Ahsoka's lips. "Maybe."
Suddenly, she yawned, exposing her sharp little teeth and her longer fangs. Lux found she looked quite like a kitten when she did. Her montrals and the heart shape of her face probably helped too.
"Are you doing anything important in the next hour? Because the medication they have me on is making me sleepy, and you're very comfortable."
"Yeah, you can sleep here if you want. But are you sure they'll be okay with it?" Lux nodded back towards the door, which he knew was being guarded by four clone troopers.
"Oh, they'll kill you if you try anything I'm not okay with. But they won't bother us otherwise."
Lux laughed nervously as they lay down on the bed and got comfortable in one another's arms. "Ha, that's funny. Wait, you're joking, right?"
Ahsoka didn't answer. She only smiled and snuggled closer to him.
*AAAAYYYYYY WASSUP I DID IT
I DECIDED NOT TO BE A LAZY BUTT AND POSTED THE SECOND CHAPTER FOR CHRISTMAS
Well technically it's close to 1am so maybe not
Well I didn't post it on Christmas DAY but I consider my day to end when I go to sleep and I'm not asleep yet, so it still counts...
So, HOW DID YOU ALL ENJOY THE FLUFF
I think at this point it's safe to say that my writing style is pretty much this: fluff, angst, fluff, fluff, angst, fluff, angst, angst, deep spiritual stuff, action, fluff, action, angst. Last chapter was angst and action and deep stuff (again, from a certain point of view), and now we're breaking out into the fluff.
All that's left is a bit more angst and action. Hehehehehehe >;}
Hope you all had a lovely Christmas/second day of Hanukah, and I'll see you guys in the next update!
Byeeee :D