"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚."

I knew I really wasn't supposed to, but I ended up telling Trip about what had happened between me and Anakin in the medbay. I hadn't intended on talking about it to anyone, but when Anakin said he had to follow the code and left, I felt empty. Trip was the one I felt closest to along with Cody, but I didn't think Cody would exactly approve of what had occurred, as much as he liked to tease me.

Trip sat in shock and tried to cover his smile for my sake. I knew he was really happy to know that Anakin and I had finally made a move since he always bothered me about us, but the rest of that moment hadn't gone so well.

"I'm sure he'll come around, Sil," Trip offered a kind smile. "He's probably just really confused right now."

"It doesn't matter if he wants to be with me or not," I snapped. "I just wish he had made up his mind on what we were before I caught feelings," I buried my head in my hands. I felt so humiliated for being in such a dumb situation like this and I hated how much it affected me.

My comlink beeped. It was an incoming transmission from Anakin. This was the first time he had tried to contact me since the medbay yesterday. As angry as I was, I was curious of what he had to say. I put the transmission through, but I didn't say anything. I waited for him to speak. There was a long moment of silence until Anakin finally spoke.

"Sil, are you there?"

I didn't say a word. But Trip had to open his mouth and ruin everything.

"Yeah, she's listening," Trip smiled as he answered for me.

I sent him a glare and he laughed silently.

"Okay, well, I just wanted to say that I've been thinking-" Anakin began, but I cut him off.

"Really?" I said with sarcasm lacing my voice. "Well I've been thinking too."

"You have?" Anakin asked hopefully.

"Yeah. I've been thinking if I should ignite your lightsaber up your ass or give you a nice little lightsaber haircut."

Trip burst into laughter while there was silence on the other end of the line.

"Um, Sil. I need to tell you that it wasn't right of me to-"

"Look, Anakin. It's fine if you don't want to be with me, but you shouldn't have led me on," my voice broke towards the end and I cut the transmission. I looked at Trip who watched me silently. "I think I'm gonna head out," I said.

"Alright," Trip said softly. "I'll see you later."

We bumped fists and I left the empty barracks lost in thought. I wondered how I would interact with Anakin now that all of this had happened. So many of the missions I went on had him there as well. I groaned thinking about how annoying it was going to be.

"Hey Sil."

I looked to see Fives walking over.

"What's up, Fives," I responded and stood with my hands buried deep in pockets.

"Heard you fought Maul the other day."

"Yeah, it didn't go as well I hoped," I said.

"I also heard you got a couple teeth knocked out."

"Yeah," I let out a small chuckle. "I specifically asked the healers for new, SILver teeth."

Fives laughed along in agreement and then smiled in a teasing manner. "You know, General Skywalker was really worried when he found out about your secret mission."

My face fell and I just rolled my eyes.

"Woah, what did he do?" Fives asked noticing my reaction.

"Nothing."

"Oh, come on. You can tell me," he pleaded but I refused. Just because I was mad at Anakin, it didn't mean I wanted to create more problems for him. I knew Trip was a quiet person, but I wasn't too sure about Fives.

"All you need to know, Fives, is that your General is a real idiot," I said. "I'll give you five credits if you slap him."

Fives chuckled nervously. "As tempting as that sounds, I think I'll pass. How about you slap him?"

I laughed and shook my head. "It's probably best if neither of us slapped a Jedi."

"Agreed."

***

I kept to myself for the rest of the day. I knew if I talked to someone it would be hard for me to keep my thoughts from spilling out. Most of all, I was hurt that Anakin had been so insensitive to my feelings. I understood he had a code, but he had to understand that the decision he made affected me too.

The evening air of Coruscant had a chill to it. It probably wasn't even that cold, but my desert planet born self thought otherwise. I brought my arms around myself and kept walking, hoping the cold would drown any feelings of warmth I felt towards that Jedi.

A speeder parked next to me and Anakin hopped out. He rushed over to me with an apologetic expression on his face.

"Sil, will you come with me? I want to explain everything," Anakin said and waited for my answer.

"What's there to explain," I replied. "You seemed to have enough words to explain it all yesterday." I crossed my arms over my chest and continued on my way.

"Sil, please," he grabbed my arm turned me around, looking at me deeply. He looked so vulnerable at this moment and that's what softened me. Jedi always put on a strong front, but Anakin had a tendency to let his guard down around me. It made him so much more comfortable to be around.

"Okay," I said quietly.

Anakin smiled weakly and led me to his speeder. "Come on."

He took a seat and held out a hand to help me on. He put the speeder in gear and sped away. The cold wind blew harshly through my clothes and I wrapped my arms around Anakin's waist, holding him tight. I didn't even care to look at the city lights that decorated the night as we whizzed past. I just kept my head buried into Anakin's shoulder, finding comfort in his presence.

He stopped the speeder and I looked up to find myself in a different part of Coruscant.

"I thought we were going back to the Temple," I said.

"I figured that wasn't the best place to talk since the problem seems to be the Jedi," Anakin answered.

I nodded along in agreement. "Good call."

He threw his leg over the speeder and climbed out. Anakin held out a hand to help me off. It was an unnecessary gesture, but I let him anyways. I stared as my hand sat in his. Anakin finally took notice and quickly removed his hand with his face reddening. We walked into one of the public gardens that Coruscant had to offer. My mood immediately lifted. It was nice being surrounded by nature for once instead of an artificial world. The life here contrasted the death of the battlefield. Anakin sat down on one of the benches and I did the same. There was a moment of silence before he spoke.

"Sil, I'm sorry for reacting the way I did yesterday," Anakin started. "It's not like I don't like you. When we kissed," he said smiling a bit shyly and I felt myself heating up at the memory too. "I never felt happier." He looked at me and I could see the same shining eyes from the day before.

"Then what happened?" I asked.

"I..." he dropped his gaze and stared at the ground. "I'm obviously not supposed to do anything like this and it tears me apart. Ever since the Jedi brought me here, I had to be the chosen one. And I want to make the Council proud, but I don't know how to do that if they won't trust me."

His hands clenched into fists as he stared ahead. "The people I look up to, the Council, they lied to me. Even Obi-Wan did," his voice got low and I knew he was talking about Obi-Wan's undercover mission. "They hide things from me and it just doesn't make any sense. Sometimes they want me to be the perfect Jedi and other times they keep me in the dark. Yesterday, I guess I was trying to be the good Jedi, but I don't see anything good about destroying what's between us. I'm sorry I turned you away."

A wave of guilt washed over me. While I had been giving Anakin a hard time over an impulsive action, he had to deal with a million other consequences that I didn't even have to think about. There was a lot of pressure being placed on his shoulders at all times. I didn't want to be another problem.

"Anakin, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did either," I averted my eyes. "You have a duty as a Jedi and I respect that. I don't want to give you another thing to worry about."

"Sil, you don't get it," Anakin said. "I really, really want to be with you. You make me feel so happy," he smiled and in it I could see a thousand words. "You treat me like a person. I don't have to be a Jedi, a general, a master, or anything when I'm with you. With you, I'm at peace."

I blushed hard at his words and stared at my fingers bouncing on my knees. His eyes searched mine for a response. I raised my head to look at him.

"I feel the same way with you, Anakin," I smiled gently. "I lived my entire life thinking good people, truly good people didn't exist. But you prove the opposite to me every single time in battle. You do things out of kindness and it always gives me hope."

Anakin smiled sweetly at my words and let the back of his hand caress the side of my face. "Can we do this? You and me?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied as my chest grew warm. His eyes flickered to my lips and I put my arms around my neck to pull him closer. His hand found my waist while the other mixed with my hair. We met each other half way as our lips connected. I felt at home sitting there in his arms. I smiled into this kiss and he grunted softly.

"Stop smiling so much, I'm trying to kiss you," Anakin said grinning against my lips.

We both broke away in laughter. A sharp breeze cut through the garden and I shivered. Anakin put his arms around me to sit me between his legs and I lay contentedly with my head against his chest. I clutched his robes as the nighttime air continued to make me shiver.

"You're missing those warm, desert nights, aren't you?"

"I miss a lot of things," I sighed gently.

"What things?"

"Well, for one, you can't see the stars on Coruscant," I said.

I felt Anakin's head rise as he looked up into the starless sky. "Yeah," he agreed. "The city lights make that impossible."

"I know you don't like Tatooine, but minus the Hutts and killer Krayt dragons, it's actually a really nice place," I said thinking about our previous home. "There's something beautiful about it."

Anakin sat quietly for a moment. "Do you miss someone there?"

"Maybe."

"Then it might be time you paid a visit," Anakin suggested.

I chuckled lightly and tilted my head to look at him. "You can't be serious. They wouldn't let me go visit the Outer Rim."

Anakin shrugged. "I could pull a few strings."

I gasped lightly at the idea. "You'd do that?"

"Anything for you," he smiled and rubbed my shoulder. Anakin looked into the distance again, lost in thought. "I think I finally get why attachments are so dangerous."

"Why is that?"

"If anything happened to you, nothing in the galaxy could stop me from getting you back."