7/2

[bring_balance]

Anakin has been in Darrow no longer than a day, but is already certain he doesn't care for it. Everything seems so primitive; speeders that roll on wheels, buildings so low to the ground, the streets in some places looking even more bare than the Jedi temple. And no matter how much he focuses and opens himself up to the Force, he can't sense anything beyond the boundaries of the City. To one edge, a shore and a great seat, to the other, a lush countryside, but beyond that... he can't be sure.

It's unsettling, to say the least.

But even though he's been told that they can't leave, Anakin remains unconvinced. With Obi-Wan there as well, he's certain they will find a way out. The two of them have met every challenge thrown their way, and this will be no different. It's not that Anakin is in a great hurry to get back to the war, but he's sure that getting back to Coruscant will mean his best chance at saving Padme. Perhaps it is coming to this place, with its primitive technologies that causes what he saw in his nightmare. He can't let it come to pass.

Obi-Wan explained their predicament in a way that only Obi-Wan could, but Anakin spent most of the day thinking of Padme. Reaching out to make sure he still sensed her in the city. Of course, he couldn't simply steal himself away for the sole purpose of seeing Padme alone.

It's longer than he would like before he's able to go to her, seeking out her familiar presence among hundreds of others in the unfamiliar city. He can't be certain that she's safe until he sees her with his own eyes.

Comments

[nabooqueen]

"I'm not sure it works like that," Padmé says. She'd worked this out last night, while thinking over all the things she'd been told upon her arrival. It's not exactly a pleasant conclusion, but it's the only one she can think of that makes any sense at all.

"Think about it, Ani - I was brought here from months before you were, but you don't remember me disappearing, right? And I probably didn't come back from Scipio talking about the imminent fall of the Republic." She has to be careful here - Obi-Wan's certainly told Anakin some of what he knows, but she can't be sure how much of it he believed, especially not where the Chancellor's concerned. "I don't know what that means - maybe we're replaced somehow when we're brought here, maybe finding a way back means we'll forget ever being here - but I'm not sure what we do here will make any difference to our lives back home."

So we may as well do what we want, she doesn't say. He'll come to that conclusion on his own.

[bring_balance]

A place where they don't have to worry about what the Council will say or how the Senate will react. Ever since he and Padmé have been together, there's never been a moment where they weren't keeping the secret of their love from someone. The idea that they won't have to in Darrow is... overwhelming.

"So as long as we're here... we stop hiding," Anakin says, following her train of thought. It's completely new territory for them, but it's what they've always wanted, to be... normal. To have a relationship like every other.

He's still not sure what any of this could mean for his nightmare. Could it still come to pass, years from now? He decides to keep it to himself for now, but is determined not to forget it. It's not something he will allow to happen. Not in their own galaxy, and not where they are now.

[nabooqueen]

"We stop hiding," Padmé agrees. She'd only come up with the idea a minute ago, but the more she thinks about it, the more she wants it. As happy as she'd been to be married to Anakin, a small part of her has always been jealous of the people who could talk about their relationships openly, who didn't have to sneak in secret visits in between battles and debates, who could walk down the street holding hands without having to worry that they might be seen.

"We stop hiding, and... we figure out how to rebuild this relationship on a foundation of trust. And how to have a normal relationship," she adds with a soft laugh. "I'm not sure either of us has the slightest idea of what that looks like."