My Unfortunate Fate

chapter 68

No matter the obstacle, love prevails.

The Spice provokes odd dreams. At once, I dream of Eyn splitting my face open again and then dream of Ahsoka greeting me, sitting on the throne formerly claimed by Lom Pyke. I also dream of Anakin; I dream of being back on Coruscant with him, none the wiser after I had turned down the mission. This dream is convincing, but I do not believe it from the beginning because I feel so, so guilty, that it cannot be true.

I think I am awake and I think I hear the ray shields of my cell turn off.

"I told you, I don't know anything," I say weakly. I open my eyes, foreseeing that Eyn will be before me, angry and ready to cut my head off or laughing at the sight of my hopelessness.

Instead, I see Anakin. He's standing in front of me, motionless, staring at me.

"You...?" I breathe.

I'm too surprised to say anything else. Frankly, I am surprised at how shocked I am. I knew he would come, but I don't think I quite believed he would until now. I think I was afraid that our fight would make Anakin question whether I'm worth saving at all. It did not.

"What did he do?"

I expect him to sound angry, like the last time we were face-to-face, but all I hear is fear. Shock and terrible, overwhelming fear.

It's ironic that for years, holonet reporters have collectively nicknamed him 'The Hero with No Fear'. But I know that he has at least one fear, and that is the possibility of something causing me harm.

"Get me down."

He starts immediately, pulling the tube out of my arm first. I wince, but then feel pressure put upon it, and see him wrapping something around where the needle had gone in.

Then my restraints are loosened, one by one, ankles first. Anakin could remove them all at once with the help of the Force, but I think he's still taking in my condition. To be fair, I think this is a new low for me.

When he removes the last cuff, I fall, and he catches me. I wish I could lie and say I don't want him to hold me any longer because we have to get out of here, but I cannot lie. Not to him, nor anyone else in my current state.

I press my hands against his chest, and my chin rests on his shoulder. Anakin's strong arms are wrapped around my shoulders, his face nuzzling my hair. For a moment, there is peace and balance, and it's just us again. Then I open my eyes, and he slowly lets me go.

"Can you walk?" he asks, to which I nod. I'm not certain about my answer, but I want to keep this interaction as brief as possible. "Good. Let's go."

He starts to walk through the halls, and I follow. I can walk, but I have to get accustomed to it after being strapped to that contraption. I recognize this hallway, and I know it's where I last was because Lom Pyke's body is still in front of Silman's cell. We proceed in the other direction.

"Wait," I say, making Anakin turn around. "Silman. We have to get Silman. I promised I'd get him out of here."

"We don't have time," he insists.

"He's crazy. If we get him out, heal him on Coruscant, we could get the answers Eyn and I—"

"No," he says sternly. "I'm getting you out of here. We can't be led astray because of some crazy guy."

"But, Anakin, the mission," I try. "I came here to..."

"There was no mission!" Anakin finally snaps. I startle back. "The Council didn't need you here because of your skills, they needed you because it was him! They knew he turned to the dark side! They—"