#Features of Galaxy Watch 4

[plutoswritingplanet]

It's A Special Death You Saved (Feyd Rautha Harkonnen x Female!Reader) pt.1

a/n: i had a "no bald men" rule before he licked a knife... so y'all know my priorities are in order. Cross-Posted on AO3

Warnings: Dub-Con (as per usual), Arranged Marriage, Reader is an Atreides (it's just such a good prompt i couldn't help myself),

Summary: A month-long engagement to the na-Baron Harkonnen makes you question, whether a marriage can bloom on the grounds of hate. Loosely based on "Special Death" by Mirah.

Pt.2, Pt.3 Pt.4 (finale)

The message comes from the Emperor himself. An indisputable order that renders your Father speechless. You've never seen him quite as distraught, as when he has visited you in your chambers to deliver the news. Hands fidgeting, eyes refusing to meet yours, heavy shadows falling across his face. He seems to expect your reaction, not giving you as much as a flinch, when you scream your protests at him. And he should've expected as much, you were always the more impulsive of Duke Leto's children. 

- But the Harkonnens are beasts - you argue, voice breaking - You've said it yourself, many times.

- Actually, I think that was Gurney...

- You've never denied it!

And he doesn't deny it now, head hung low. Never, not once in your life, have you seen your Father give up. Until today. 

Your Mother enters just a few seconds after him, her dress flowing around her ankles as if she had floated in on a cloud. She stands to the side of your bed, hands folded, and an impassive expression embedded onto her features. And the more she speaks of the centuries of breeding, the importance of an union and the powers beyond your understanding, the less you see of your mother. What stands before you, instead, is a Bene Gesserit sister, veiled in schemes and dark plans, which were in the making before you were even born. You curse yourself for not noticing this stranger sooner, and storm off, out of your room, your shawl blowing out behind you like bat wings.

Paul doesn't visit you, but you can hear him, even through the effort of swallowing down your tears. He fights for you against your Father. He would fight for you against the whole Empire if he had to, and your heart swells, as he throws a particularly nasty curse into the air of your Father's study. It doesn't change anything. According to the decree of the Emperror, the oldest daughter of the Duke Leto Atreides will marry Feyd Rautha, an heir to the Baron Harkonnen. A centuries long dispute is about to be put to an end, and all thanks to the small sacrifice, which is your life. All would be well in the galaxy. Really, you should be honored, to be tasked with such a monumental peace treaty.

Everyone in the court seems to know about your situation. Mournful looks follow you, as you walk into the training barracks, ridding yourself of layers upon layers of flowing fabrics, leaving you in a rather tight costume, light enough to beat your frustrations out on someone.

Duncan Idaho meets your searching eyes, and you know he is aware as well. All it takes is one inclination of your chin, and he's up on his feet, sword in hand. Loyal as ever, he stands in front of you, watches with mixed feelings as you enable your shield, no questions asked. None needed. 

He barely has time to put his defenses up, when you charge at him, fury and despair pushing your movements into stances which are clumsy and ill though out. Still, there's power within your strikes, a strength of someone who needs to move, unless they break. So he lets you, for a couple of minutes. He dodges your attacks, pairing some of them, never moving quite into the offense.

The rest of the soldiers scurry off somewhere, for which you will be thankful in the future. They might hear your cries of anger, but they will not see you break. They will not see the way your blade smashes into Duncan's shield over and over again, with no regard for the slow attacks, which would penetrate it. Likewise, they don't see your sparring partner fall to his knees and swipe you off your feet in a split-second movement, making you hit the floor with a frustrated snarl. And they don't see you finally give up, and cry, hugging your blade to your chest, the severity of your circumstance falling onto you, crushing you down.

- Never fight in anger, Princess - Duncan reminds you, voice cautious, and you growl at him like a wild animal - It dulls your instincts, makes you distracted.

- Did you know? - you demand, your sharp voice cutting through his half-assed lecture.

For a moment he looks truly remorseful. His eyes float around the room, and your heart sinks when he sighs deeply.

- I found out not long ago - he confesses - Your Father told me. 

Your blade slides against the floor as you throw it, a raw scream tearing through your throat. Duncan takes a step towards you, hand extended towards your shaking form. But, before he can attempt to touch you, you're up, rolling your shoulders forcefully. Tears stain your cheeks, and you wipe them roughly with the back of your hand, skin becoming irritated almost instantly. There are swords laid out on a small table, just beside you,  your fingers grip the cold handle so hard, your knuckles seem to creak under the pressure. Duncan readies himself as well, dusting off his trousers. 

He's not good at comforting, but he's the best at fighting, and if that's what you need in this cold morning, he'll oblige. 

- You'll make it through, you know - he says, his voice genuine, and you laugh without any mirth.

Your blades clash, faces coming closer as you absentmindedly notice small scars adorning his cheeks.

- You can adapt to anything - you strike against his shoulder, the shield pushes your blade away - We could send you to Arrakis right now, and a week later you'd be riding a damned Sandworm into battle.

To that, you laugh, this time your smile reaching your eyes. The idea is preposterous, but it renders your footsteps lighter, and you twist to dodge a nasty blow to the right arm. Duncan huffs a laugh as well, as you slip through his fingers. He points his blade in your direction, a smirk playing across his lips, and you bare your teeth in a playful display of wildness.

- Careful, Princess, you might scare your betrothed away - Duncan teases, as you roll your dagger in your hand.

- Scare a damned Harkonnen? Do you find me that intimidating? - the idea thrills you just a little bit, you're woman enough to admit it.

- I think you're fucking terrifying.

- Duncan Idaho, you better not be swearing at my Daughter.

Your face falls immediately, as your Father approaches the two of you, shooting Duncan a stern gaze which holds no real threat. Still, your sparring partner raises his hands, his blade tucked away safely into his belt. There's sweat clinging to your skin from all the training, mingling with drying tears on your cheeks, and Duke Leto tries very hard not to comment on your choice of processing recent events. Still, he nods at you, and like a good daughter, you put your blade away, walking from the barracks after him. 

***

The Emperor has called for a traditional, Atreides engagement. A mercy, which you're eternally grateful for. You're not too aware of Harkonnen customs regarding marriage, but given the House's reputation, it couldn't have been pleasant. House Atreides however, took to such matters much more ceremonially, old-fashioned to some. 

Soon, a ship is arriving, with your betrothed onboard, and a month-long courting period willcommence. After that, official engagement and soon after, a wedding. Then, you will be transported back on Geidis Prime, where a life of misery awaits. That's all the time you have. A month.  

The dress, which was picked out for you, is uncomfortable and shows both too much and too little skin at the same time. While your legs are bare and exposed to an almost scandalous degree, a high, stiff collar nearly chokes the life out of you. This whole getup was the idea of your mother, as an attempt to highlight your best features and hide all that might be considered less desirable. 

You have no idea what's wrong with your neck. Perhaps, by cutting off your airflow, your mother aimed to keep you docile. 

She frowns deeply as you tug on the fabric, nerves climbing up your spine, growing more desperate every second. She swats at your hand, and you throw her a look. Out of the corner of your eye Paul smiles at your antics, your only consolation in this hopeless place. 

- Stop fidgeting, you'll tear the dress - Lady Jessica scolds you, and you can sense actual worry underlining her stern voice.

The Harkonnen ship slowly glides into the atmosphere of your home planet, a black, awful thing. Like all things on Geidis Prime, dark and miserable. Soon, you'll join them, adorned in equally black and lifeless clothing, never to see your family again. Never to see the Ocean. Your nails bite into the collar of the dress, you can hear a stitch tear.

- Stop that.

Your hands fall uselessly against your body, as your mother uses the Voice on you. Wouldn't be the first time, you were quite the unruly daughter and Lady Jessica was determined to make a Lady out of you no matter the means. Still, this time, the unnatural tone feels more like a panicked plea,  than a light-hearted scolding. 

- Relax Mother - your voice is sharp, despite the slight tremble - In a months time I'll be gone from here forever, stuck in some blackened cell, wistfully sighing "ooh" "aah".

You place your hand on your forehead in a dramatic display of doubtful acting abilities. When you were younger, your mother would laugh at you, as you enacted scenes from romance books. You would throw yourself at a nearby piece of furniture, pretending to be some wronged lover, or an unhappy bride waiting for someone to liberate her. And your mother would clap her hands, thoroughly entertained.

Today however, she doesn't even crack a smile.

- I don't expect you to be happy about all this - she whispers - But I do expect you to wear your grief with some grace.

A slap would've been kinder, you think, and stare ahead, as the Harkonnen ship opens, and a group of people dressed in black spill out of it like ants from a drowning anthill. Your heart is thrumming hard in your chest, and your hand reaches out, despite all your apprehension, towards your mother. A force of habit, to search consolation within her disregarding the fact, that it was her meddling that put you here. 

Her fingers lace with yours, thumb stroking your palm in an attempt to soothe you. 

Immediately, you know which one of the bald headed Harkonnen is your betrothed. 

He's much taller than you, an imposing figure even despite his rather lean built. His skin is almost completely white, as expected, his teeth are blackened out, as expected as well, and his eyes are bearing into you with an intensity so oppressing, you almost look away. Almost. 

- I present to you, Feyd Rautha, the na-Baron of House Harkonnen. 

The pale man steps forward, releasing you from his gaze for only just a moment, to trade pleasantries with your Father, who looks beyond miserable as he fixes your soon-to-be husband with a tired look. Then, Feyd Rautha is brought before you.

There's grace to his movements you did not expect, as he pushes his black cloak aside, and kneels in front of you. Harkonnen were known for their bulky ruthlessness, but this one... This one reminded you of a panther, the way his eyes travelled the length of your body, full lips pulling upward into a barely noticable smirk. 

Customs, you remind yourself, as your mother's hand squeezes your fingers. You don't want to let her go, but you do, slowly, with so many mixed thoughts rattling around your brain, it makes your head swim. 

Feyd Rautha grabs your extended hand in such a gentle manner, you're almost convinced the Harkonnens have shaved some poor bastard and dropped him off instead of the real na-Baron. Then, he lifts your palm up, until his lips press against your fingertips, a gesture so tender, your heart does a flip in your chest. And then, it stops all together, when his grip on your palm tightens, and he pulls your hand closer, to kiss it properly. As if he can't help himself, he looks up at you, and you realize. 

You almost got yourself caught, but reading people's intentions have been taught to you as fervently as reading texts, and you can see right through this facade of chivalry. There's darkness in this man, a swirling void, which brings a wave of cold fear upon you. This cunning, depraved creature will soon enough become your husband, and you'll be stuck with him forever. How long will he keep up this impeccable appearence? Was this performence for you, your Father, his own twisted fun, or all the things combined?

With a furrowed brow, you tear your hand out of his grasp, a full body shiver running up your spine at the sight of his self-satisfied smirk. He drinks up your reactions like a man parched, and you fight hard to put on a mask of indifference, as he rises from his knees to stand before you in all his imposing glory.

***

You can feel his eyes follow you, as the welcome committee retreats into the Palace. He doesn't let you out of his sight throughout the feast, which takes place immediately after his arrival, and even now, as he gets ready to "entertain" the court by indulging in some barbaric ceremony of his, his eyes are trained only on you. 

It's uncomfortable, to say the least, having him stare at you, while you sit surrounded by your family, who, for the most part, say nothing. Except Paul. Your dear baby brother, your protector in all this madness. As Feyd Rautha throws his coat to the side, showing off his (admittedly impressive) muscles, Paul leans towards you.

- He looks like a hard boiled egg, don't you think sister? - he whispers and subsequently ends your vow of silence. 

The giggle you let out is caught quickly by everyone around, your betrothed included, before you press an open palm against your lips. 

- Behave - your mother warns, and you try, you really do.

But in the serene light of the fading sun, your soon-to-be husband's head does look frighteningly egg-ish. God, you'll get yourself killed, before the wedding ceremony is even resolved if you keep this up.

You're seated high in an outdoor theater. One of your grandfather's favorite places, where he used to dance with bulls for sport. Where he met his demise.

Feyd Rautha presents his knives to you and your family, their blades glint ominously in the setting sun. Again, you are struck with the sheer grace this man exudes. His movements, despite being forceful and wild, have a beauty to them, as if he was rehearsing ancient dance moves, rather than killing blows.

And, despite your brother's earlier comment, there is something enticing in the way his pale skin catches the rays of bleeding sunshine, slowly creeping towards the horizon. He's almost beautiful, almost handsome enough to consider. 

The thought leaves your head almost immediately, as the Harkonnen servants bring in his apparent opponent. Your heart drops to your stomach at the sight of a beaten, dark skinned warrior. Immediately you recognize a Fremen, you've read so much about them in your free time. You know how they filter water, what they eat, how they move through the sands, and despite your knowledge you can't fathom, why this poor man has been brought here. 

At your side, Paul shifts in his seat, all jokes leaving him in a hurry. The both of you watch, as the man you're promised to toys with a clearly drugged victim. Slashes bloom on the prisoners skin, blood sprays in the air. You refuse to look away, to show such weakness, even as Feyd Rautha grabs the poor man by his hair and with a forceful push impales his throat on the blade. Blood pours down onto the sand, paints the Harkonnen's face and chest a deep shade of red.

It's a brutal display of power, of cruelty and wildness the Harkonnens are known for. Suddenly, everything Gurney has warned you about, while training your fighting skills, rings like a thousand of bells in your ears. This is who you will marry, who you will spend your entire life with. 

You swallow down an urge to throw up, and stand up from your seat. 

The show must go on, you think, throwing your Mother one, venomous look, trying to force her to understand your pain. Then, you lock eyes with your betrothed, who watches you from below with a cruel smile, blackened teeth on full display. You meant to congratulate him, to play the part as instructed, but you can do nothing of the sort. Instead, you stare back at him, disgust flowing from your features like a broken faucet. 

Lady Jessica opens her mouth, but before she can, without a doubt, scold you again, you're out of the seating area, your footsteps echoing in the halls. 

Once you're sufficiently tucked away from prying eyes, your back hits the wall, and you allow yourself feel the luxury of unbridled panic. Your breathing comes out in fast, shallow pants, as cold sweat forms on your forehead. Thoughts racing, your fingers tangle into your hair, tugging at the roots. This is your future, the only future waiting for you, and it's filled wth pain and blood.

- Have you enjoyed the fight, my Lady? - you immediately know it's him, despite not hearing him speak before.

A gasp of surprise leaves you before you can catch it, and your back straightens almost painfully fast. 

There he stands, tall and lean, and terrifying. Blood still decorates his torso creating a contrast that is both terrifying and hypnotizing. He watches you, curiosity and humor swirling behind his eyes. You can't decide whether they are completely blackened out, or if they hold a blue, almost serene hue. 

- No - you answer, finding your voice entirely too shaky for your liking - I did not enjoy it.

He laughs, a guttural, low sound that makes the hair stand at the back of your neck. You know he wouldn't dare try anything here, right under your Father's nose while the engagement is still in the making. Yet, as you stand frozen, just you, him and the marble walls around you, dread finds home in the pit of your stomach.

- Was that man Fremen? - you ask, partially to fill the silence, partially because you're genuinely curious.

The man shrugs, you can see muscles moving under his white skin. He takes a step towards you and you will yourself not to run.

- Sometimes we bring a couple of captured desert rats home - he explains with a nonchalant tone - Mostly for entertainment.

The almost bored intonation he uses to describe this barbaric ritual makes something boil deep inside you. 

- That's cruel - you counter, emotions flowing freely onto your face, much to the man's delight - To deny those men the honor of dying on their home planet. To drag them into a completely foreign place, just to kill them for sport, like some animals... It's...

- Some of them live - he cuts you off, taking another couple of steps towards you, but in your growing outrage, you barely notice - Our brothels are filled with Fremen whores.

Your face twist into an expression of utter repulsion, and Feyd Rautha raises his eyebrows in a pathetic mask of confusion, almost childlike giddiness lighting up his eyes as he looks down at you.

- Oh, don't give me that look, my Lady. - he cooes, and you've never felt a stronger urge to slap the daylights out of someone - I know for a fact there are brothels on your planet filled with hungry soldiers.

- Yes - you bark back at him - but the people there are working prostitutes, not slaves!

He shrugs, looking somewhere to the side of your face.

- A waste of money, if you'd ask me.

- Good thing no one has - there's venom in your voice, and your betrothed sucks a breath through his teeth.

You curse yourself for leaving your dagger, for not concealing it somewhere in this ridiculous dress, because the way the Harkonnen's expression shifts freezes blood right in your veins. 

He looks at you, amusement tugging at the corners of his lips, while something much darker lurks in his eyes. His bloodied hand comes up, finger making contact with the exposed skin of your shoulder. You can feel the thick liquid stick to your flesh, as he drags his hand down, painting you, marking you.

- You're quite the little viper, my Lady.

Watching him silently, you don't respond. Don't know how to, when he closes the distance between your bodies enough to make you feel the heat radiating off of his chest, while the smell of blood and sweat completely assaults your senses. It's sickening, the way he looks at you, like you're a new toy, just waiting to be unpacked and destroyed by too eager hands. 

- My Uncle, the Baron, has instructed me, to be the utmost gentleman to you. To woo you completely - his voice is low, barely above a whisper, as he grins down at you - But I just can't lie to my future wife like that, can I?

He leans closer and finally, you take a step back, sliding out of his space, assessing a cautious stance. His hand almost follows you, the skin of your shoulder feels conflictingly cold without him.

- Once we're wed, I will possess you completely - this time you stand your ground, as he approaches, circling you like a lion stalking it's prey - And then...

He leans down beside you, shoulder to your shoulder, close enough for you to feel his hot breath graze your ear.

- Like the bull that took your grandfather's life, I shall pierce you.

The violent innuendo doesn't slip past you, and with hatred brewing behind your eyes, you look straight at him, forcing your fear to lay dormant. 

- You're disgusting.

- And you're blushing like a lovely, virgin bride should - he concludes, sending an awful wink your way, before withdrawing from you completely. 

Your veins burn hot, as you watch him leave, a selfish confidence painting his steps, and you beg every God in existence to grant you a sword in your hand. Or a dagger. A kitchen knife would do as well. Anything, that would help you cut this unbeatable, patronizing, infuriatingly handsome smirk from Feyd Rauthas face.

Alas, you're left with nothing, only a small glimmer of hope dangling in front of you, after your damned betrothed's words fully register in your brain.

A bride you might be, but certainly not a virgin one. Duncan Idaho made sure of that many years ago. The thought makes you smile, despite nerves wreaking havoc in your body. At least that's the one thing Feyd Rautha won't be able to take from you.

[nasa]

5 Years, 8 Discoveries: NASA Exoplanet Explorer Sees Dancing Stars & a Star-Shredding Black Hole

This all-sky mosaic was constructed from 912 Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) images. Prominent features include the Milky Way, a glowing arc that represents the bright central plane of our galaxy, and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds – satellite galaxies of our own located, respectively, 160,000 and 200,000 light-years away. In the northern sky, look for the small, oblong shape of the Andromeda galaxy (M 31), the closest big spiral galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away. The black regions are areas of sky that TESS didn’t image. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (University of Maryland College Park)

On April 18, 2018, we launched the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, better known as TESS. It was designed to search for planets beyond our solar system – exoplanets – and to discover worlds for our James Webb Space Telescope, which launched three years later, to further explore. TESS images sections of sky, one hemisphere at a time. When we put all the images together, we get a great look at Earth’s sky!

In its five years in space, TESS has discovered 326 planets and more than 4,300 planet candidates. Along the way, the spacecraft has observed a plethora of other objects in space, including watching as a black hole devoured a star and seeing six stars dancing in space. Here are some notable results from TESS so far:

During its first five years in space, our Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has discovered exoplanets and identified worlds that can be further explored by the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

1. TESS’ first discovery was a world called Pi Mensae c. It orbits the star Pi Mensae, about 60 light-years away from Earth and visible to the unaided eye in the Southern Hemisphere. This discovery kicked off NASA's new era of planet hunting.

2. Studying planets often helps us learn about stars too! Data from TESS & Spitzer helped scientists detect a planet around the young, flaring star AU Mic, providing a unique way to study how planets form, evolve, and interact with active stars.

Located less than 32 light-years from Earth, AU Microscopii is among the youngest planetary systems ever observed by astronomers, and its star throws vicious temper tantrums. This devilish young system holds planet AU Mic b captive inside a looming disk of ghostly dust and ceaselessly torments it with deadly blasts of X-rays and other radiation, thwarting any chance of life… as we know it! Beware! There is no escaping the stellar fury of this system. The monstrous flares of AU Mic will have you begging for eternal darkness. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

3. In addition to finding exoplanets on its own, TESS serves as a pathfinder for the James Webb Space Telescope. TESS discovered the rocky world LHS 3844 b, but Webb will tell us more about its composition. Our telescopes, much like our scientists, work together.

4. Though TESS may be a planet-hunter, it also helps us study black holes! In 2019, TESS saw a ‘‘tidal disruption event,’’ otherwise known as a black hole shredding a star.

When a star strays too close to a black hole, intense tides break it apart into a stream of gas. The tail of the stream escapes the system, while the rest of it swings back around, surrounding the black hole with a disk of debris. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

5. In 2020, TESS discovered its first Earth-size world in the habitable zone of its star – the distance from a star at which liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Earlier this year, a second rocky planet was discovered in the system.

You can see the exoplanets that orbit the star TOI 700 moving within two marked habitable zones, a conservative habitable zone, and an optimistic habitable zone. Planet d orbits within the conservative habitable zone, while planet e moves within an optimistic habitable zone, the range of distances from a star where liquid surface water could be present at some point in a planet’s history. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

6. Astronomers used TESS to find a six-star system where all stars undergo eclipses. Three binary pairs orbit each other, and, in turn, the pairs are engaged in an elaborate gravitational dance in a cosmic ballroom 1,900 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus.

7. Thanks to TESS, we learned that Delta Scuti stars pulse to the beat of their own drummer. Most seem to oscillate randomly, but we now know HD 31901 taps out a beat that merges 55 pulsation patterns.

Sound waves bouncing around inside a star cause it to expand and contract, which results in detectable brightness changes. This animation depicts one type of Delta Scuti pulsation — called a radial mode — that is driven by waves (blue arrows) traveling between the star's core and surface. In reality, a star may pulsate in many different modes, creating complicated patterns that enable scientists to learn about its interior. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

8. Last is a galaxy that flares like clockwork! With TESS and Swift, astronomers identified the most predictably and frequently flaring active galaxy yet. ASASSN-14ko, which is 570 million light-years away, brightens every 114 days!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[yikimiki]

Can I please request;

King eren who's been lusting after his personal maid for the longest time. Smut when he has her clean every inch of him during a bath and tells her to clean his cock with her mouth.

I LOVE fantasy aus, this was heaven-sent. Note! Eren is older here, around his early 30s, and I imagined reader to be around early/mid 20’s (though age isn’t specified). Also this is LONG! I don’t know WC Bc I wrote on tumblr but i guess around 4-5K!! 🪦

>> of marble and gold

⚠️ warnings: smut, obvious power imbalance/abuse (so dub-con), dark content because Eren is… obsessive, heavy objectification/degradation of reader (“whore” and such), oral, creampie, bruising/marking

—

The brown leaves twirl to the ground as a new season begins, and King Eren’s patience — and self-control — has reached its limit. After almost fifty years of the Jaeger family negotiating with the neighboring kingdom, the new ruler broke tradition like it was nothing more than a frail wax seal. The message is clear: no more commercial settlements, no more food trade, until they returned with the treasure they had stolen nearly a century ago. Until the vaults are full, and his people are once again able to enjoy their own crops, friendly conversations are off the table.

Surprisingly, it works. After panic has subsided and a tense meeting is scheduled, the threat of an upcoming war is larger than the power of negotiation — with that, a new system is at play, and the table dips a little more towards Eren’s kingdom.

It’s one of the easiest years in a long, long time — plates are full, the people are happy, and the small economy is finally blossoming into something more substancial. Eren is constantly surrounded by all types of people who seek to impress him (or take his newly found riches), little annoying flies buzzing around him during the day, then trying to enter his chambers at night.

But Eren is difficult to impress. He’s a serious man with serious goals, and a short dress skit or an inviting deal isn’t enough to make him pay attention. However, amidst all that calamity, you manage to make him double take.

The influx of people to his lands came with the news of a fruitful economy, so it isn’t a surprise that he doesn’t immediately recognize you. There are countless new servants in the castle, some of which are constantly out of his sight, so your random appearance is, in a way, expected. And, yet, amongst so many faces, his gaze stills in yours.

Once again, Eren is a serious man with serious goals — and with even more serious needs and desires. The switch of your position (from a kitchen servant to his personal maid) is swift and direct, leaving no room for objection. It’s not typical for women to assist royal men in such personal affairs such as bathing or clothing — not officially, at least — so he expects that the change with cause a little fuss. But no one has the guts to go against him.

The first time you see King Eren, he is a giant in front of you, watching closely as you kneel in front of his throne. There are dark shadows over his face and his green eyes shine with amusement, long brown hair falling like a cascade over his features. There’s a hint of a smile on his lips as he tells you to stand, and countless scars on his hand as he holds yours and orders you to be at his chamber at nightfall, so you can help him bathe. You agree and leave hurriedly, heartbeat booming in your ears.

Eren is a handsome man, that much you knew. But what you didn’t know is how massive and overtaking his very presence is — well, you suppose that is expected of any monarch, but it’s different when you witness it yourself. He is the center of the galaxy and everyone else, yourself included, is simply gravitating around him, moving aimlessly through life until he, even if briefly, gives meaning to it. To have someone so great, so respected, to personally chose you amongst so many to serve him… is strange.

You’re not naive — the years being both a commoner and a woman have taught you more than most maids in the castle would’ve dreamt of living. You know what men want, especially powerful ones like Eren, and you know your position is extremely delicate. Even if, now, you don’t wish to deny any of his advances, you know that the mere possibility would mean death to you. So you accept, even knowing you’re placing a noose around your neck. Even knowing you’re only getting out of this if he loses interest or, somberly, dead.

The first night you spend in Eren’s chambers you know that the first option is nearly impossible. He looks at you like you’re a mythical being, the finest piece of art, watching your movements closely as you help him bathe — your hands moving up and down on the water, keeping the circle of wetting the rag, cleaning his skin, and wetting it again. You’re strictly professional, never staring at his body, especially the parts beneath the water. From your peripheral vision, you see his defined muscles and deep battle scars, but don’t dare to look at it directly.

“Where did you come from?” He asks eventually, scaring you and making you drop the piece of soap in your hands. Eren’s voice is deep and commanding even in such intimate situation, and you feel yourself shrinking. “You’re not from here.”

The second part isn’t a question. “I came from the East, my king.”

Eren isn’t satisfied by your answer. “Why did you come?”

“My family’s farm was burnt down and I needed to work, my king,” you tell him, placing the dirty rag aside as you move to reach for the soap. Thankfully there is a layer of bubbles on the water now, and there is nothing else to see. “So I came here.”

He hums, laying back against the cool material. “Look at your king,” he orders. You blink, overwhelmed, and do as he says. His eyes are looking directly at your soul, one wet strand of hair glued to his forehead, and you squeeze the bar of soap so tightly that your nails dig to the surface. “Better. What is your name?”

You tell him.

“You’re beautiful,” he says. You gulp and sit back against your heels, watching as his hand moves closer to you, pushing your hair behind your ear. Shadows and candlelight reflects on his face like a dream. “It’s quite obvious you’re a foreigner. We don’t have women as beautiful as you.”

“T-Thank you, my king.” You look down. Your heart hammers like a caged bird against your ribcage, your lungs fight against expectation. His touch lingers. “I believe your bath is finished, your highness, do you wish for me to help you into—“

“Finished?” He raises one eyebrow, and you feel the noose around your neck tighten. “It is not. You forgot a place.”

You lower your head. “My deepest apologies, your highness.”

He hums, then startles you as he abruptly rises from the water. You use all your force not to look up at him. “Come. Dry me.”

You blink. “My king, what about…”

“Don’t argue, sweet girl. Your king commands you,” Eren says. There is poison dripping from his lips and you nod, getting up to your feet. “Dry me.”

You swallow. “Yes, my king.”

The pace in which you dry Eren’s body is torturous, your gaze glued to your own hands as you move the dry towel over his skin. First his face and hair, where he stares at you intently, then moving down to his chest, his arms.

Eren himself is enthralled, unable to cut his thoughts of you. Up close, you’re flawless, divine. Every movement you make is perfect, even the way you bite your lip and blink at him makes him dizzy with desire. He has never seen someone as beautiful as you, a young maiden with plump breasts and a delicate face; someone who listens to him so closely yet keeps their distance, respectful and fearful of their king — as all should be. He must have you. More than this, more than as a worker, he must have you, body and soul.

Your body arches as you move closer to his abdomen, touches becoming clearly more clumsy as your hands approach his private parts. The mere anticipation of having you so close makes Eren’s cock grow, thick and heavy, until it’s almost fully erect and you pause, startled.

“There, love. That’s where you missed a spot,” Eren says. You gulp and look up at him, wide eyes searching for something in his expression. He signals towards his erection with a movement of his head. “Clean it.”

“M-My king,” you speak, nervous. “Do you wish me to… clean you? There?”

He nods. “With your mouth. Be a good girl and clean it all up.,” he says. You lick your lips and look down at his large member — you knew it would come down to this and, yet, you are taken off guard. You didn’t think it would be this way. “And it’s Eren. These titles are making me mad with rage.”

You kneel in front of him — Eren realizes he is quite fond of that position. “Yes, my- Eren.” 

Your hand seems so small against his cock, now fully erect, barely taking him halfway before your lips touch his crown. Eren is both long and thick, throbbing in your hand as you suck on his head, humming around him before daring to go a little deeper. The size makes you choke up slightly, but you prevail. You want to pleasure your king, and if this is the way, so be it.

“Don’t be afraid to put it all inside, love.” He sighs. You do as you’re told, fighting against the tears as you push more of his size inside your mouth. It touches your throat and you gag, but you don’t stop. When Eren starts to moan, a deep groan in his throat, you start to set a rhythm. “There it is, there’s my obedient whore. Just as perfect as I had imagined.”

There’s wetness building between your thighs at his filthy words, a growing desire inside you as you look up at him. Eren is a god above you, made of marble and gold, looking down at you like you’re nothing but a hole for him to use. The defined muscles of his abdomen are contracting as you suck him harder, his eyes focused on your stretched-out lips as you struggle to take him.

“Fuck… what a perfect little mouth you have,” he breathes out. You close your eyes and take him even deeper, making a string of curses and threats fall from his mouth. His large hand meets the back of your head and pulls a handful of your hair, moving your face as he likes on his cock. “Good fucking whore,” Eren moans. “My fucking whore from now on. No one will fuck you. Only me.” You gag around his cock, but he doesn’t stop. Eren fucks your mouth until you’re sobbing, until he’s about to spill inside it — and then he pushes your head away. “Get on the fucking bed. I’m going to make you mine forever.”

You’re so overwhelmed that you barely process the walk between his bathroom and the large bed — in fact, you don’t even have time to think about how that is the single largest piece of furniture you’ve ever seen before you’re thrown on the bouncy mattress. One second you’re standing next to your king, and the next Eren is looming over you, kissing you like you’re the air that he breathes, like your mouth is made of honey. His hands are all over your body, literally tearing and ripping your dress in a desperate, animalistic attempt to get you undressed.

“Fuckin’ perfect,” he mumbles before he latches onto one of your breasts, sucking as his hand squeezes the other one. You’re fully naked now, lying in a bed of rags — rags that used to be your dress.

Eren marks you up with his hickeys, spanks the skin of your thighs until it’s bruised and you’re whining for him to stop. You sob and cry, but he shuts you up with another kiss just so he can tear those pretty sounds from you again.

“M-My king, please,” you beg. The wetness between your legs is embarrassing, and your body is all marked up by the time Eren is done with exploring it. He is lost in the mission of making — of marking — you his, barely even hears what you say. “I need…”

Then something clicks. He holds your face in his hand and pushes it closer to his, squeezing your cheeks together. There is fire burning at the bottom of his eyes, and you know you’ve said something wrong. “You don’t need anything, you don’t request anything. Understand? I’m your king, and you’re my whore. Act like it.”

You swallow — your throat hurts. “I’m sorry.”

“You will be.”

Eren is a serious man and a man of his word. You can’t even think about what to say to redeem yourself before he starts pushing his cock against your pussy, rubbing the tip against your folds once, twice, before slamming himself deep inside you. You sob at the feeling, walls fighting to adjust to his size, but he doesn’t even let the burning sensation subside before he starts fucking you.

“What is it? Did you not need this?” He coos. You half-nod half-shake your head, not even sure of it yourself. Eren sneers at your pathetic situation — all teary eyes and messy hair, holding onto his arms as he drills his cock in and out of your tight hole. And, yet, he still thinks you’re the most heavenly thing he has ever seen. “Your pussy feels so fucking… so fucking good.” He moans. “I’m going to fill it up every night. Get you all full with cock and cum every chance I get.”

Your eyes roll back at his words, as promise feels like a dream. You’d like that — after so many years of struggle and hard work, you would love to be a brainless little hole for your king to use and abuse whenever he wishes. You’d love to be dressed in the finest of silk and kissed with fervor, be treated like royalty, even if it isn’t true. You would love it with all your heart.

“Look at me when I fuck you, whore. Look at your king,” Eren brings you back to reality. You do as he says, meeting the savage look in his eyes as he fucks you harder, deeper, hitting all the sweet spots you didn’t even know you had. “Who do you belong to?” He asks, frowning. “Tell me.”

“Eren— I belong to you, Eren, my king,” you answer without hesitation. Your cunt squeezes him tightly as you cum hard, moaning loud and unashamed. You’d regret it in the morning but now… now you’re made of gold and marble too.

“You’re your king’s. Remember that,” he says. You nod, barely aware of the world around you as you dive deeper into pleasure. “Going to cum,” Eren strains. Forget that — now he looks like a god. Muscles tensing and jaw clenching as he uses your body however he pleases, plunging his cock inside you again and again until your wet pussy milks him dry; cock throbbing as he cums inside you. “Fuck, fuck,” he moans, hips faltering as his cock releases inside you again and again. “God, that’s so much fucking cum.”

A whine escapes your mouth as you feel it soak the sheets beneath you, but you say nothing. You dive into the moment like it’s your last one on earth: a moment in which you’re monarchy, loved and fucked into bliss, not a care in the world but the feeling dripping between your thighs. Though, the illusion never lasts long — you watch as Eren finishes and then rolls around next to you, staring at the ceiling with a sigh.

Even after everything, it feels wrong. Like you shouldn’t be here. “M-My king,” you speak after a second of silence, “should I go?”

He turns to you, somber as always. You can’t decipher his tone as he answers. “Not yet,” Eren speaks. “Only when the sun comes up. If I’m done with you by then.”

[im-a-wonderling]

Rescue Me, Part 4 ~ Obi-Wan Kenobi

If I didn't have @writing-on-the-wahl's help, this part would've taken so much longer and would've been so much worse. As always, my friend, you are an angel, and I adore you.

Summary: Now a Jedi Knight with her own padawan, Y/N gets an individual mission unlike anything she's done before.

Warnings: Yeah, this one's dark, so bodily harm and mortal peril and possibly more?

Word count: 9.8k

Rescue Me masterlist | Main masterlist

“Why does the council want to see us?” Ghon asked, keeping up with my brisk pace as best he could in spite of his tiny stature. It likely looked comical, but none of the Jedi we passed gave us a second glance. 

We’d landed on Coruscant not ten minutes before, and the waiting attendant had immediately informed us the Jedi Council was waiting.

The guilt of dulling my feelings for Ghon’s benefit weighed on my mind, but my padawan didn’t deserve to feel my anxiety as well as his own. Perhaps a day was coming where I would be able to stand in front of the council with confidence, but it wasn’t coming any time soon. “Likely to debrief us on our mission and brief us for the next one,” I replied, answering his question as calmly as I could. 

Ghon frowned. “But we just got back!”

I didn’t bother admonishing him for the complaint, not when I was also weighed down with a fatigue that seeped through to my bones. There was very little time for rest since I’d become a Jedi Knight, and it was almost too much for me to handle at twenty-two years old. Ghon was only eleven. 

“Such is the way of war,” I sighed as we stopped in front of the sliding doors. As we waited to be called in, I resisted the urge to smooth down my robes. My appearance did not matter. In fact, the more ruffled I appeared, the more humble I appeared. 

The Force buzzed to my left, and I glanced at Ghon to see him chewing on his lip.

He’d barely qualified as a padawan, evident by his deep-seated need to please. He needed lots of encouragement, but he made it easy to give. Everything he needed to be doing, he was. If only he could believe it.

I reached out and tugged lightly on his braid, making him smile. I barely had time to drop my hand at my side again before the doors slid open.

Each face expectantly watching us featured grim expressions with worry lines. The tension in the room was palpable, and I knew it had everything to do with the war tearing the galaxy apart. Every Jedi felt it, the pain and death radiating off each planet, and there was no solace from it. 

But the most depressing sight was the empty seat.

The seat which had been empty the day I cut off my own padawan braid with my lightsaber, and empty every time after. I knew better than to ask. Once in a while, a story drifted my way of some daring escapade, and I would know that my old master was still alive. 

I couldn’t lament it, for it was as he said: this is what we were made for. 

I bowed once I reached the center of the room. “Masters.”

“Congratulations on your success on Rodia,” Master Mundi said, mustering a smile. “Senator Farr thanked us on behalf of his people.” 

Senator Farr, leader of the swampy, waterlogged planet of Rodia, reached out to the Republic to ask for aid after he defied the Trade Confederacy. The Republic obliged, sending relief aid in the form of supplies and a Jedi healer. 

Me. 

I inclined my head. “I was gratified to be of help.”

The Force rippled as the attention in the room shifted to the young man beside me. “And your padawan seems to be learning quickly,” Master Mundi added.

I opened my mouth to agree, but the words died.

The humming of a light. 

Instantly, my insides were all aflutter. I hadn’t felt that light in months, and yet I could never mistake it. On every planet I’d been dispatched to, I searched for it and never found it. The sparse amount of times I’d been on Coruscant even, the light was nowhere to be found.

But now there was no mistaking it: the light was here. The sensation grew steadily, the source far too close to be anywhere farther than Coruscant's atmosphere.

I looked around at the council members to see if they’d felt it too, but none of their signatures seemed any different than they had before. 

“Yes,” I cleared my throat, “he is eager and very intelligent. He was of great assistance on Rodia.” 

“You picked your padawan well,” Master Fisto said, smiling at Ghon. 

“That I’ve never doubted,” I managed to say in spite of the humming. Maybe they would think me arrogant for saying it, but I never wanted Ghon to feel he stood alone in front of the council. 

Master Windu leaned forward, dousing me in the full weight of his skepticism that momentarily drowned out the humming, bracing his elbows on his knees. “How is Padawan Ghon’s learning going?” The light drew nearer, its humming filling my ears like the buzzing wings of a Grutchin. Ghon shifted beside me, reminding me of the question. 

“All things considered, I couldn’t ask for more. I look forward to the day when he doesn’t have to learn during a war.”

“As do we all,” Master Mundi murmured. 

The light grew louder still, loud enough for me to hear the exhaustion and anxiety within it, echoing the stress already present in the room.

“And what does your padawan think?” Master Windu asked.

Overwhelmed by the light as I was through the Force, I could still feel the flash of uncertainty fill the room and knew the council could feel Ghon’s reaction as strongly as I did.

“It’s been an honor to learn under Y/F/N Y/L/N.” He lifted his chin even as his hands shook slightly. “I’ve learned much.”

The light was shouting now, making it impossible to perceive anything else. “Well, it seems you’re a good teacher,” Master Ti's lips formed, his voice lost within the volume of the Force.

And then the humming cut off, beautiful silence caressing me. And into the silence came the words: “I should hope so.”

My breath caught in my throat. That voice. I could be dead and buried six feet under the ground and still recognize it. Still want to run towards it. 

Slowly, with my heart hammering in my chest, I turned to look.

In the open doorway of the councilroom stood none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

His hair, neatly sheared, was far shorter. Instead of being combed back with the tips resting on his shoulders like normal, it laid on his head, making his forehead appear smaller. His beard, however, was fuller than before, giving his face a longer look. He too wore the worry lines every other master sported, far deeper than I'd last seen.

And yet with all the differences, his smile was the same as always. 

I almost started to greet him with an “old man” and a smile, but stopped myself. This was no longer my master with whom I could joke around with. This was a master, a member of the Jedi council who was only to be treated with respect and formality. “Master Kenobi,” I said. The honorific felt strange coming off my tongue.

His face pinched, as if the formality of his title filled him with as much strangeness as it did me.

“Ahhh, Kenobi,” Master Windu sounded about as pleased as he ever did, which wasn’t saying much. “Join us.”

Master Kenobi glanced over my shoulder at Master Windu and gave a quick nod, before brushing past me to sit in the empty seat. Remembering myself, I bowed respectfully, and Ghon followed suit as Master Kenobi settled into his seat.

“As it happens,” Mace Windu said, drawing my attention, “we have your next mission.”

Ghon straightened. “Are we going back to Rodia?”

“Appreciate the enthusiasm, we do, Padawan Ghon,” Yoda said, chuckling. “But a mission for your master alone, this is.” 

A mission of my own? If it was too dangerous for my padawan, was I capable of it myself? Ghon looked at me, the uncertainty lining his features reflecting what I felt in my gut. “There’ll be stuff for you to do,” I assured him in spite of my misgivings.

“I think Master Yoda could use some help with the younglings,” Master Fisto said kindly. “Until then, you can get food and perhaps some sleep.”

Ghon didn’t move. 

I nudged him, and he reluctantly bowed to the masters and left the council room. 

As soon as the doors shut, I turned back to Master Yoda. “What’s the mission?”

“To go undercover, you are.”

Surprise bloomed in my chest, but I remained silent, trusting the council to elaborate and alleviate my confusion. 

Master Koon leaned forward in his chair. “We’ve received intel of a Separatist trader that spends his evenings in one of the clubs here. We want you to meet him there for some business.” 

“I don’t have any experience with undercover work,” I said slowly, taking great care to sound confused and not defiant. 

“Experience you have not,” Master Yoda agreed. “Skills you do.”

“We would not have chosen you unless you were the best fit for the job.” Master Windu’s tone left no room for argument. “The Republic is running low on PLX-1 and PLX-4 missile launchers. We want you to make a deal with this trader.”

What? 

Paying for weapons? From a Separatist? 

This was not the kind of mission I’d expected. Master Windu continued, talking of the money I was to offer and how many launchers I was to ask for. I kept my eyes on him, but I shifted my focus to the no-longer-empty seat.

The turbulent light of Master Kenobi’s Force signature only made me more wary. 

“Conflicted you are,” Master Yoda said, drawing my attention. “Unsure of the mission’s integrity, hmmm?”

“It feels odd,” I said slowly, “to be a peacekeeper and be dealing weapons. Wouldn’t it be better if one of the senators met with this buyer?”

The light shifted slightly, a little more desperate than before. 

“We believe this buyer would prefer a transaction off the record,” Master Windu said. “We’ve also received intel that he prefers human women of a certain…physique.”

Discomfort roiled in my gut like acid. The council was giving me this mission because of my physique? “How dangerous is this man?” I asked carefully, and the light flickered. 

Master Windu’s impassive face did not inspire any confidence. “We have no reason to believe there’s any additional danger in this mission than any other.” Considering a significant amount of my missions involved outright combat, that wasn’t as reassuring as he likely meant it. Or perhaps he did not intend to comfort me at all. 

But Jedi were called to obey, regardless of and even in spite of comfort. 

“Wherever I’m needed,” I said slowly, meeting Master Yoda’s gaze, “I will go.”

The light flickered again, but I kept my attention on Master Yoda, who did not react. Master Windu sat back in his seat. “Then you are dismissed.”

I bowed and left the council room, mind buzzing. 

Ghon leaned against a wall outside the council room, eyes half-closed with exhaustion. He needed to sleep, and yet he was waiting for me. This would be our first time since becoming Padawan and Master that we would be separated. There was bound to be some strain. 

He stood straight when he saw me. 

I reached out to rest my hands on his shoulders. “It’ll be okay,” I said softly. “My mission won’t take very long, and then we’ll likely be off to the Outer Rim again.”

Ghon did not look comforted. “What will I do if it takes longer?” 

“There’s plenty to be learned right here,” I told him. “You can meditate, and there’s plenty of people for you to practice your swordplay with.” 

“But what if…it takes longer than that?”

I watched him, feeling the waves of anxiety pouring off of him and realizing it wasn’t just anxiety at being separated. “I will be alright, Ghon. You don’t have to fear for my safety.” I smiled comfortingly at him. 

“Don’t worry about your master, young one.” The comfort infused into the familiar voice made my eyes flutter shut. Opening them quickly, I turned to see the council all filing out of the councilroom. And strolling towards us was Master Kenobi, smiling kindly at my padawan as he said: “She can take care of herself.” 

Ghon bowed in respect, but did not say anything. 

There was a silence where I felt Master Kenobi’s eyes on me, where I watched Ghon…who was gazing at Master Kenobi. My padawan heard his fair share of stories about Master Kenobi, and not just from me either. The awe radiating from him was justified.

“Master Kenobi,” I stood behind Ghon, my hands on his shoulders, “this is my padawan, Ghon Laster.”

A strangely fond smile on his face, Master Kenobi held out his hand. “Pleased to meet you.” 

I couldn’t see Ghon’s face, but I could feel his shyness as he shook Master Kenobi’s hand. “Pleased to meet you,” he echoed, likely not knowing what else to say. 

“I can sense your worry.” Master Kenobi’s eyes flicked up to mine before returning to the young man. “It’s natural to feel such things, but trust in the Force. It will look out for your master the same as it does for me or you.” 

It wasn’t just my own apprehension that eased. Even if I couldn’t feel Ghon’s feelings through the Force, the slump of his shoulders made his relief clear.

“Ghon, why don’t you go rest before joining Master Yoda with the younglings?” I said. “We didn’t get much sleep last night, and this is your chance to get some.”

“Yes, Master,” Ghon said, bowing his head towards Master Kenobi before walking off in the direction of his quarters.

My eyes lingered down the corridor even after he was gone from it. Look at him, I told myself sternly. Acknowledge him. I managed to turn my head, but somehow, my gaze lowered. Why? It wasn’t as if the floor was particularly interesting.

“Knight Y/L/N.” 

I could tell from Master Kenobi’s tone that it wasn’t a goodbye. He was waiting to talk to me. Steeling myself, I finally looked up at my old master.

He tilted his head. “I haven’t seen you in months.”

“Yes, well, the council keeps me busy.” I flashed him a tentative smile. 

“We have a knack for doing that,” he replied loftily, but the jovial look in his eye told me his pretention was teasing. 

I fished around for a snippy reply, but it didn’t leap into my mind as it used to, the rules of our engagement covered in dust. I realized that the awkward silence had returned, and yet it was too late for me to reply to his snark.

What could I say? What was I allowed to ask? 

“I was about to go to the gardens to meditate,” Master Kenobi said before I could figure out whether to extend or end the conversation. “Would you…care to join me?”

The light flickered. Was he…uncertain? What could he be uncertain of? “I would appreciate a chance to meditate with my old master.” I smiled at him, and the light steadied. Master Kenobi gestured down the hallway. We started walking together, taking every stride together with such ease, neither one having to adjust their pace for the other. 

The Jedi Temple gardens were one of the only green places on the planet of Coruscant, and it took a lot of work to keep up. But having a space where a Jedi could reconnect to the Force through plants, the most innocent of living things, was worth it. 

“I must say,” Master Kenobi finally said as we reached the courtyard, “I’m curious.”

“About what?”

Master Kenobi clasped his hands behind his back. “I…hear stories.”

“What kind of stories?” I replied, reaching out to brush my fingers against a leaf. 

“Stories about my wayward padawan.”

I pursed my lips to keep from smiling. To some, it’d be insulting to be called padawan once they’d ascended to being a knight, but being Master Kenobi’s padawan was always a good thing to me. “Oh?” I asked vaguely, even though I could probably guess some of what he’d heard. “What do they say?”

“Well,” Master Kenobi ran a hand over his beard, “they say you fought a whole pack of Nexu on Cholganna.”

“Grossly exaggerated,” I said lightly. “I only fought three.”

Master Kenobi snorted, and I felt suddenly too warm for my cloak as I grinned back at him. “And your run-in with Aurra Sing? I suppose the two of you didn’t actually resort to fisticuffs?”

“Well,” I lifted my chin, “that’s true, but she was asking for it."

“No doubt you were also.”

“Just the opposite,” I replied. “I was trying to heal one of her coworkers, but some people just won’t be told.”

Master Kenobi’s merry laughter filled the hall, and I couldn’t help smiling at him. Was it possible that our old normal could return so quickly? Just as I thought the thought, his smile faded. “I also heard you lost part of your hearing in one ear.”

Had he truly been keeping such close tabs on me to know about my hearing? I nodded, solemn. “An explosion on Bora Vio.” I swallowed, looking down at the leaf as I remembered the pain of the blast. “I’m lucky a bit of my hearing is all I lost. Not even the best of us can make it through a war unscathed.” I glanced up to see Master Kenobi smiling down at me in a way that reminded me of our past. “Unless, perhaps, you’re Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Master Kenobi’s face fell. “I’m far from unscathed.”

Panic flared in my stomach. “Is everything alright? Are you injured?”

“I’m quite well,” Master Kenobi assured me. I instinctively reached out with the Force, searching for any sign of pain or damage. Master Kenobi raised his eyebrows. “I see the healer training has paid off?”

My cheeks warmed as I quickly withdrew the Force. “Yes…it has. Vokara Che has been a wonderful instructor.” 

“Well?” Master Kenobi turned, holding out his hands. “What’s the verdict?”

I gave him a sideways look. His light seemed brighter than it’d been when first I sensed it before he joined the council meeting. The exhaustion was still there, as was the fear, but somehow the light gave off more warmth than before. “You’re not injured,” I replied, the only thing I was sure of.

“As I assured you.”

We reached the center of the courtyard, which was a plain yet polished marble circle. Master Kenobi sat down, and I sat across from him. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

The awareness started with myself.

Then it crept along the floor around me, the radius spreading until I was aware of the dozens of lives around me. Plants. Creatures. Jedi. I could sense the movement of the transits and speeders, carting people around this planet bursting with life.

But none of it compared to the light that sat directly in front of me.

Truly, I’d never felt anything more vibrant or mighty through the Force than Master Kenobi’s signature. If he ever happened to step foot on one of the dark planets like Dagobah or Mustafar, I was certain the planets would have a historic appearance of sunshine. 

Somewhere deep within me, there was a pull towards that light. Was it in my stomach? Or in my chest? Or perhaps even my head?

I couldn’t tell, but the Force seemed to sort of gather in between myself and the light, growing more and more dense.

Then a sharp tug came from nowhere, and because I was so in tune, I couldn’t stop it. 

My head jerked forward, only to collide with something so hard, I saw stars. “Ouch!” I blurted, opening my eyes and rubbing my smarting forehead. 

Master Kenobi mirrored me. “What in the blazes?” he muttered. 

“I don’t know,” I replied. I hadn’t leaned close enough to invade Master Kenobi’s space, unless…he leaned too?

With my eyes open, I couldn’t see the strange collection of the Force anymore, but I could’ve sworn I felt the Force laughing, and if I could feel it, Master Kenobi could feel it too. From the looks of him, he didn’t understand it any more than I did. 

The comm at my wrist dinged, and Master Windu’s voice filtered through.

“Knight Y/L/N, the attendant has arrived to dress you for your mission tonight.”

Head still aching, I pressed the button on the comm. “I’m on my way.” I gave Master Kenobi a quick, apologetic smile as I started to get to my feet. “Duty calls.”

“I’ll see you tonight then.”

I froze, paused in a sort of awkward crouch. “Tonight?” I echoed.

Master Kenobi’s mysterious smile filled me with the feeling I stood at the edge of a cliff. “I volunteered to be your backup for the mission.”

-

“The council agreed to this?” I asked for the millionth time as I looked at my reflection. 

“Yes, ma’am.” The attendant didn’t falter in her…attending.

Truthfully, I couldn’t explain what she was doing. She whirled around with brushes and bottles and sparkly adornments. Every movement she made directly correlated to my reflection morphing from a humble Jedi Knight to a midnight woman of decadence. 

The deep blue velvet dress clung so tightly to my body, I felt like it was strangling me. Draped over me were strands of precious stones of white, blue, and silver that caught the light every time I breathed. A matching hairpiece rested in my elaborate hairdo. The white, translucent gloves the attendant helped me put on helped me cope with how bare I felt, but the feeling of air against my collarbones and my back made me periodically shiver.

I’d never had this much of my skin exposed, nor the outlines of my body so easily made out. As the attendant had told me, the council approved, but I didn’t know if they’d seen the dress and approved it. Somehow, the idea of them all discussing the garment I was now wearing made me more uncomfortable in it than before and even more uncomfortable than when Master Windu commented on my Separatist-buyer-pleasing physique. 

And yet, strangely, as my appearance distanced me from the Jedi Code, the Force remained steady. It was comforting to know the Force could recognize me in spite of the sudden splendor.

I might've looked like someone else entirely, but I was still me inside.

The brush strokes on my lips ceased, and the attendant stepped back to study my reflection in the mirror. “You look perfect,” she said with great satisfaction, closing her trunk of paints and jewelry. 

I wanted to argue, but what did I know about such things? I rose from the chair and nearly toppled over, reaching out to steady myself. “How do I walk in this?” I grumbled, shuffling forward.

“Gracefully,” the attendant replied. “Here are your shoes.”

My eyes widened as she held up the platforms.

-

I stood nervously at the top of the stairs, looking down at the distance I somehow had to cover. I had a sinking feeling that these platforms made stairs dangerous, but there was no other way down. 

Lifting the skirts up enough to be able to see my feet, I stepped down, not looking away from the floor. I knew the moment I lifted my gaze, I would trip and ruin the attendant’s hard work as well as breaking my neck. 

Only halfway down the stairs, the Force shifted around me, as if it were parting for someone’s gaze. I stopped where I was and looked up.

Master Kenobi stood at the bottom of the stairs now, gazing up at me with an odd expression on his face. His expression resembled Ghon’s whenever I tried to explain that a visible lightsaber could be perceived as a threat to non-Jedi. 

“I know, it’s strange,” I said, redirecting my gaze downward to resume my treacherous descent. “I don’t even look like myself.”

“No,” Master Kenobi slowly said as I finally reached the bottom of the stairs, free to look up again. “No, you don’t.”

I nodded, pleased that he agreed. But when I opened my mouth to say something along those lines, I noticed how Master Kenobi’s eyes seemed to linger on the necklace around my throat. I lifted a hand to make sure it was still in place. “Blinding, isn’t it?”

“It certainly…demands…attention.” Master Kenobi cleared his throat, meeting my eyes. “The buyer will be pleased.”

I cast about for something to say in response, suddenly feeling my cheeks warm. “Hopefully Master Windu was correct about the type of company this buyer prefers.”

Master Kenobi’s face didn’t change, but the light took on a slight yet sickening green tint. He stepped to my side, turning to gesture down the street. “Shall we?”

“We’re walking?” I glanced towards the path and the great yawning distance before us.

“Is that a problem?” Master Kenobi asked.

I looked down at my shoes. I’d never walked long distances with them before. Surely it wouldn’t be an issue, even if I had to take smaller steps than I was used to. 

Quickly, I was proven wrong. 

I was moving slower than a Hutt, and it only took maybe twenty steps in the ridiculous shoes before my feet started to hurt. 

Night was falling in Coruscant, and the bustling nightlife didn’t seem to take much notice of a beautiful woman walking beside a Jedi Master. I envied Master Kenobi for being able to remain in his normal attire, but I supposed he wasn’t the one executing the mission. 

I opened my mouth, ready to ask Master Kenobi where he would be while I was in the club, but just then, my ankle wobbled. I flung my arms out to catch my balance. 

Unfortunately, the jerky movement sent my elbow flying into Master Kenobi’s gut.

“Oof!” he grunted, his hands coming up to grab my arm, helping me stay on my feet even through his pain.

“Sorry!” I said quickly. 

Instead of falling away, his calloused hands gently moved up my arm, offering me aid in my balance and offering something else entirely. “Here,” he said lightly. “Lean on me.”

We walked the rest of the way with my arm tucked into the crook of his elbow. 

With his aid, it was much easier to stay on my own feet, and I wished we could’ve walked the whole way arm in arm. Strange how being with him made me feel like a padawan again, as if with him, I had the option to not be strong. It felt almost like a luxury.

Master Kenobi stopped me when we were two blocks away from the club. “Here.” He dropped a comm into my hand. “I’ll stay here, out of sight.”

The sudden reminder of the situation made my chest tighten. I swore off all luxuries when I became a Jedi. It was time to be the Knight I’d been trained to be, the Knight Master Kenobi trained me to be. I squared my shoulders, gave a short nod, and then made the rest of the trip on my own. 

-

The novelty of my midnight dress had worn off. The cocoon of soft fabric against my skin felt wrong, and I missed the telltale scrape of my roughspun tunic against my skin. This self-serving grandeur wasn’t in line with the vows I’d taken. As I glanced around at the expensively clad bodies and breathed the air rank with alcohol, all I wanted was to be back in the temple.

Back in the garden. 

Master Kenobi wasn’t my only back-up. Alateen, a Rodian male I'd first met on his home planet, stood behind the counter. He also had a comm linked to Master Kenobi, and it was him that supplied me with the blue-tinted, tasteless and non-alcoholic drinks that matched with liquid sloshing around in the glasses of everyone around me. While drinking wasn’t expressly against the Jedi Code, I needed all my wits about me tonight.

“When was the senator supposed to get here?” I asked, lifting my glass to my lips to hide their movements.

“Fifteen minutes ago.”

I could tell from the edge to Master Kenobi’s serious voice that he was approaching no insignificant levels of stress.

I set the glass down, lifting my hand to delicately brush at invisible drops on my lips. “How long are we going to wait for their appearance?”

“At least a little longer.”

“You’re lucky,” I grumbled. “You can’t hear all the clammer and clatter.” The dull roar of music, conversation, and laughter was overwhelming. Master Kenobi couldn’t hear any of it and as a result wouldn’t have a raging headache later.

I missed the calm of the temple garden, meditating in silence, feeling the Force all around me. This place was so crowded, I barely felt like I had room to exist.

A Vurk male stumbled against my table, hitting it with such force, my drink toppled over, dumping half the contents onto my lap. “Ugh!” I grunted.

“What’s wrong?” The immediacy with which Master Kenobi’s voice came through the comm made me smile softly. 

“It’s okay.” I grabbed the cloth napkin and started wiping up the liquid. “Someone just knocked over my drink.”

“Do you want me to tell Alateen that you need another one?”

The Rodian male was leaning over the counter, talking very animatedly with a grinning Twi’lek female. “I think he’s otherwise engaged.”

“I’ll tell him,” Master Kenobi said gruffly.

“No, don’t.” I sighed, tossing the wet napkin onto the table. “There’s no point in having back-up if–”

“Well hello.”

That voice...the voice from many a nightmare I’d had in the past few months.

I jumped to my feet, whipping around to face the speaker. My heart kicked up into a ratchet pace, making me breathless. I stared into the soulless eyes I’d dreaded seeing since the first time I looked into them.

“Dooku,” I whispered in horror. 

“WHAT?!” Master Kenobi shouted into my comm.

Dooku’s hand shot forward, clenching my wrist before my fingers could graze the knife I had concealed. “Don’t say a word, or my agent will kill yours.” I glanced over at Alateen and noticed, for the first time, the way the Twi’lek’s hand lingered over the blaster strapped to her thigh.

“Y/N?” Master Kenobi’s voice asked. “Y/N, what’s going on?” I remained silent, staring at Dooku.“Talk to me! Where do you see Dooku?”

Dooku let go of my hand and pulled out my chair, a gentlemanly action to all those watching, but I wasn’t fooled. Alateen’s life depended on my cooperation. 

“Can you hear me?!”

I did my best to ignore his voice as I sat. Dooku took a seat across from me, looking as stiff and yet put together as he did while standing.

“I’m on my way, Y/N, just tell me if you’re alright!”

Dooku slid my drink across the table towards me. “Pull out your comm. Drop it in.”

“Y/N!”

My head urged me to obey Dooku, but my heart shouted back, begging me to say something to Master Kenobi. Dooku lifted his hand to his own ear. “Stoma, Y/N needs convincing.”

My eyes darted over to the Twi’lek, who gripped her blaster with her hand out of Alateen’s sight.

“No!” I burst out before clapping a hand over my mouth.

“Y/N, are you hurt?! Tell me–”

I yanked the comm out of my ear and dropped it into my drink. “I’m sorry, okay? Call off your agent.”

Dooku rested his hand on the table, palm down. A miniature countdown projected above his hand where a small black gadget rested. “In a moment, you’re going to stand up and follow me into the backroom.”

“Where are we going?”

Dooku fixed me with a look and said nothing. 

“What do you want with me?”

No reply.

“What about Alateen?” I asked. “If you hurt him–”

“Obey me and he won’t come to any unnecessary harm.”

“Unnecessary?” I asked, eyeing the numbers above his wrist. I had less than ten seconds left.

“One has to make sure your agent isn’t in a state to follow us.”

He’d thought this through. Everything had been accounted for. 

My heart sank. This was a trap, and I was already caught in it because all I could do was watch as the time counted down.

Three.

Two.

O-

With a loud boom, smoke filled the club. Screams reached my ears as the smoke made my eyes burn enough to make tears well up. Before I could reach up to rub at them, Count Dooku had firmly grasped my upper arm, leading me towards the bar. He didn’t drag me. He didn’t need to.

I reached out with the Force and immediately felt Alateen’s beating heart. With a bit of exertion, I could feel his unharmed body. He was unconscious, but so far, Dooku was telling the truth. 

My platformed foot ran into the doorway Dooku pulled me through, making me trip, but his death grip on my arm kept me upright. Once we were through, I turned to ask Dooku what was next. 

Before I could, I felt his hand on my shoulder and a sharp prick in my neck.

The last thing I remembered before my vision went black was the floor rushing to meet me as my knees buckled.

-

My head pounded. 

I squeezed my eyes shut tighter against the pain, but it didn’t lessen. 

As more awareness returned to me, I noticed the strange, aching position of my shoulders. I tried to shift, but I couldn’t move more than an inch. What was happening? 

“You’re awake.”

I jolted, my eyes flying open as I tried to step back. 

And didn’t get very far.

My heart sank as I looked up at the reflective surface of the metal chains which trailed from the ceiling and bound my wrists, keeping them aloft above my head. I looked down to see the dress, the jewelry, the gloves, and the sparkling strands of stones were gone, leaving me only in undershorts and a thin undertunic that I definitely hadn’t been wearing under the dress. My bare feet were freezing against the floor. I studied the wall in front of me, which seemed made of stone, but not smooth stone. It felt like the room was a cave, reinforced by the only source of light in the room being the open doorway behind me.

And when I twisted my neck, straining against the chains to give myself room to look, a figure stood in the doorway. Based on the silhouette, which was all I could make out, it could’ve been anybody.

But I could feel that same signature I’d felt before and knew exactly who it was.

Where were we? How long had it been since he’d knocked me unconscious in the club? Why had he taken me?

“What do you want with me?” I asked. He wasn’t the Jedi council; it didn’t matter if he judged me for asking questions. Dooku didn’t answer, and I felt nothing shift in his emotions. Either my questions didn’t matter to him or he was shielding himself completely.

He seemed to be in no rush. He just stood behind me, watching me. I could feel the weight of his gaze on my face. The weight turned into a distinct probing through the Force.

I let him probe away.

I wasn’t going to resort to Sith techniques.

Dooku walked slowly around, his face now illuminated in the light. “Apologies for the crude bonds. This planet doesn’t like technology, so we had to be a bit primitive.”

We were on a planet with high moisture then. Or perhaps a heavy gravitational pull?

“It’s high moisture,” said Dooku, making me pause. He was tapping into my thoughts. I stiffened, turning away from him, as if it were my face he gleaned the information from, not the Force. Why couldn’t he just hurry up and tell me what was going on?

The probing increased.

“Do you think I can’t feel you?” I asked.

“Why aren’t you stopping me?” Dooku asked. He stepped closer. “Push me out.”

I settled my gaze on him. So this was his game. He wanted to bully me into using a Sith technique. “No.”

A sharp searing pain shot through my head, and I sucked in a breath. As quickly as it came, it left. I’d only felt something like it once before.

“You felt me,” I blurted out. “On Taris. When I meditated, you found my signature and you cut me off.”

Dooku’s face remained impassive. “I assumed you were Kenobi.” 

How was that possible? Dooku said himself that I had darkness in my signature, and Master Kenobi’s signature was like pure light.

The pain lanced through my head again, cutting off my train of thought. “Push me out.”

“No.”

The pain was worse this time, enough to make a strangled groan leave my lips.

“Ahhh,” Dooku said. “I had a feeling Kenobi wouldn’t let you do such a mission on your own.”

I jerked my head up at him, feeling suddenly as though I were going to throw up. “What are you doing?”

"Imagine what he must've felt, storming into that establishment, only to find you were already gone." Dooku clasped his hands behind his back. “A worthy opponent is no good if there's no one to fight."

“If you wanted to fight Master Kenobi, you should’ve stayed on Coruscant.”

“And fight on his home turf?”

“I never took you for a coward,” I replied.

“Only a fool would fight a battle he does not need to.” The probing resumed, and Dooku tilted his head. “You have a padawan waiting for you on Coruscant, do you?”

My shields were half up before I even realized it. I forced them down. 

“He’s quite attached, is he not? The council doesn’t like that.”

I kept my shields open, silently apologizing to my padawan for putting him in danger. I could only hope that I returned to him in time to keep him safe.

“He’s young. Impressionable.”

An image formed in my mind, an image I hadn’t created, of an older Ghon dressed in black, wielding a red lightsaber.

“Stop that!” I blurted. 

“Do it yourself,” he replied. “Push me out.” I shook my head.

This time, the strike of pain spread down through my neck and into my chest and lingered longer. I let out a pained hiss as my heart contracted painfully under the strain. “What do you want from me?” I cried out in desperation.

“I want you to be the Jedi your master raised you to be!” Dooku thundered back.

I blinked at him, not understanding. Why would he want me to be more like Master Kenobi? Why would he want me to be more of a worthy opponent when he already had me where he wanted me?

Then it clicked. 

Pong Krell.

Of course.

Because everything always came back to him.

Master Kenobi was right on Taris; the attention Count Dooku was giving me stemmed from both of my masters. I looked at Dooku with new eyes. “You set a trap for me.” The ripple of darkness told me I was right. “You planted the information about the buyer and the type of women the buyer liked. You knew the council would send me.” They’d unknowingly delivered me right to him, gift-wrapped in a midnight blue dress.

Not even a hint of a victorious smile lingered on Dooku’s face. He didn’t revel. He only fixed me with a determined look. “Show me you’re Pong Krell’s padawan.”

I released a long breath. “No. Because I am the Jedi my true master raised me to be. And I will remain that Jedi until the bitter end.”

The pain reached all the way down to my hips this time. 

Again and again, Dooku repeated his command. 

Again and again, I refused.

Each time, the pain increased. When my body started to shake, rattling the chains above my head, I stopped keeping count.

-

There seemed to be no pattern to Dooku’s appearances. 

Now, whenever I refused him, I felt the pain from my head to my toes, and I was sure that every visit, the pain increased. Dooku didn’t seem amused by the pain nor did he seem to enjoy inflicting it. He was dogged in his pursuit of getting me to push him out.

Every time I almost broke, I thought of Master Kenobi, who’d hidden himself from the Force on Taris to protect me and wondered if I was endangering Ghon by not shielding. 

But I’d worked so hard to undo what Krell had done. How could I revert right back to it?

“No one’s coming to rescue you,” Dooku said during one of his visits. “You can feel the council’s doubt, don’t you? They see Krell in you just like I do, only they see it as a weakness.”

“That is their responsibility,” I’d replied. “Mine is to be the best Jedi I can be.”

The pain was horrid…but being left alone in the darkness was worse, because with the darkness came the scratching sounds.

There must’ve been some kind of rodent in my cell that came out in the dark because I never heard the scratching sounds when Dooku was there. That or I was starting to hallucinate. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched a conclusion; my hands were starting to shake from lack of food, and there was an unswallowable pain in my throat from lack of water. Three times since I’d woken up the first time in this cell, a human male brought me enough water to sate my thirst. Once he even brought some rations. When I tried to ask questions, he just stared at me and did not answer.

I had no way of knowing if Dooku sent him or if he was defying Dooku to help me. Either way, the food was only enough to remind me just how close I was to starving.

Unfortunately, even if my hands were free and a Jedi healer could heal themselves, hunger couldn’t be healed. I’d treated enough starving citizens throughout the Clone Wars to know that. 

As I listened to the horrible scratching sounds, I wondered if I would ever get the chance to heal someone again.

-

My head lolled back, and I stared up into the darkness where the ceiling was supposed to be.

Dooku had been more forceful this time. Perhaps he hadn’t expected me to hold on so long, however long I’d been here.

I had no way of knowing how much time had passed. There was no window for me to see day or night passing. If Dooku came into the cell once a day, it’d been a least a week since I was taken, but I had no way of knowing for sure. Perhaps he came twice a day. Or even every hour. Every period alone in the dark felt like ages. 

The longer I spent in this cell, the more my hopes of being rescued dwindled. If I was simply a hostage, I would’ve been returned or killed by now. If the council were organizing a rescue, would it have taken this long?

I was certain that the remainder of my days would be spent in this cell. I wished I felt the peace of the Force, but I could only feel the trickles of desperation Dooku clearly wanted me to feel. When would this end? Would it end with Dooku’s lightsaber buried in my gut? Or would it end with my body surrendering my spirit? 

-

My head lulled forward, breaking me out of my light sleep. I groaned as I lifted it to stretch it out. Now my neck ached as much as the rest of my upper body, but I still didn’t have the effort to hold it up. I could only rest it on one of my shoulders. It was freezing, but my body was too tired to shiver.

Today was surely it.

I could feel the Force in me going out like the ocean tides of Pabu, as if it were preparing me to leave myself and unite with it once more. 

As Jedi, we strived for the peace that came with the acceptance of death, and yet facing the prospect of my own was only wearying.

Had the council told Ghon of my capture? Probably, considering my mission was only supposed to last for an evening. Stars, I hoped that whoever told Ghon did so gently, for it was a heavy burden for any padawan to bear, and he was so young.

Well, my second master had far exceeded my first one. Maybe Ghon would get lucky in that way too. 

The sound of the door behind me scraping open reached my ears, and even with my eyes closed, the light of the open doorway was blinding.

“Y/N.”

The sound was far away, yet I shrank from it, expecting the pain that swiftly followed any sound. 

“Y/N.”

I knew that voice. My eyes fluttered, but it hurt too badly to keep them open. Something tugged on the chain holding my left arm up, and I let out a whimper as it pulled on my desperately sore muscles. 

“Y/N, it’s Obi-Wan.”

Obi-Wan.

Not Master Kenobi.

Obi-Wan.

“Obi…” My scratchy voice sounded like nothing I’d heard before.

“Shhhhh, save your strength, it’s alright, I’m here.”

I peeled my eyes open again, fighting the drag long enough to catch sight of the deeply concerned features of my favorite face in the galaxy.

My eyes fell shut again.

My body and mind had officially given up if they were conjuring such a welcome sight as Obi-Wan. Yet the impossible granted me an inkling of peace. Thank you, I said to the Force. For letting me say goodbye before taking me. I tilted my chin down to the ground, ready to give up.

The door scraped shut, throwing me back into darkness. Fingers tilted my chin up once more. “Open your eyes,” said my master’s voice. Instead of his voice getting further and further away, it was getting louder.

Confusion swirled, giving me enough strength to obey. I blinked but there was only darkness again. “I’m getting you out of here.”

Was this…could it be…?

My hopes rose.

“Darling, you have to hide your feelings,” Obi-Wan’s voice hissed. 

The hopes fell dead, dashed against the rocks of reality.

I’d never once known Obi-Wan to call someone by a pet name.

This was another trick, a new strategy of Dooku’s to get me to comply. How cruel, to take advantage of my failing mind to summon the image of my master, the very man I would never be able to resist. 

But resist I did.

If I’d made this far, I couldn’t cave now, not when the peace of death was so near.

“Y/N,” said the equally blessed and cursed voice. “Please, you have to hide yourself or he’ll find us.”

No. I am a Jedi.

“I know, but if we’re going to get out of here, you have to.” The sound of his pleading voice was far worse than any other pain Dooku had inflicted on me. I felt a mouth hovering by my ear. “Y/N, if I ever earned your trust, listen to me now. You have to raise your shields.” Even the graze of his beard against my cheek felt real, dwarfed only by the wave of despair crashing over me. “C’mon, honey, do it for me.” 

I let out a whimper, knowing there was only one way to make this vision stop.

I’m sorry, I thought miserably, I can’t take anymore. I squeezed my already shut eyes tighter, shrinking away from the Force and waiting for the cruel vision to fade.

It was like losing one of my arms. Or cutting off a friend. Or falling with no hope of ever hitting ground.

It’d been only seconds of separation, but my body was colder, weaker, and hurting more and more every second. How had I survived cutting myself off from the Force under Krell?

I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like it at all.

But the fingers kept stroking my cheek. “That’s it, that’s it.”

Why was the vision still here? Dooku could only project it through the Force, and I’d pulled away from it. The vision should’ve faded, which meant…

My eyes flew open, and I wished more than ever that there was light so I could see my master. I tried to say his name, but my voice failed. 

The finger underneath my chin disappeared, and once again, there was a tug at my bindings. A strained whimper broke through my lips. “I know, I know it hurts, but I have to get you out–” He froze and then whispered under his breath: “Hells, he’s coming.”

Before I could muster up any thoughts or movements, all of Obi-Wan’s touch disappeared. I struggled against my restraints, the despair returning. There was a tiny, invisible caress on my cheek. “I’m here,” he whispered. “I’m here, but you have to shut yourself off.”

I hadn’t realized, in my panic, I’d reconnected with the Force.

I had barely enough time to lift my mental shields before the door scraped open again.

“Oh,” Dooku said from his place in the doorway. “Today is the day, then?” I heard the silent scraping of Dooku’s boot against the floor, drawing nearer and nearer. “Today,” he murmured, his voice far too close for comfort, “today, you give in.”

I managed to lift my head to see his keen eyes watching me.

I wanted to hurl a statement at him or even spit on the dungeon floor. I wanted to show him defiance, to tell him that he didn’t get to revel in my pain. But there was none left in me. I didn’t even have the energy to speak. I simply lowered my head again, shutting my eyes, hoping his visit would be quick today.

“You know you can’t live much longer.” His boots walked slowly around me. “Are you trying to die privately?” he asked. “Or are you trying to protect Kenobi from feeling the moment your life ends?”

I didn’t answer, even as my heart twinged in my chest.

There was a pause as the sound of his boots finished his rotation. He didn’t speak the words, but I felt the hidden message: join me.

My lips parted as I mustered all my strength. “I'm...” The word sounded no louder than a gentle breeze. “I'm a Jedi."

Dooku pushed his face close. “Jedi don’t shield themselves from the Force,” he said. “You’ve already given in. And for your submission, I think it’s time you got some food.” 

Guilt stabbed at my gut, and I was not comforted by the fact that Dooku couldn’t feel it. 

Dooku walked out of the room, the door sliding shut. 

Obi-Wan, wherever he was hiding, let out a long breath of relief. 

My body couldn’t even flinch at the blinding blue light that suddenly flashed through the chamber, nor at the screech of the chains as Obi-Wan’s lightsaber cut clean through them. 

For the first time in I didn’t know how long, my arms lowered past my shoulders. Unable to do anything, I collapsed, closing my eyes in preparation for hitting the floor. 

Instead of cool stone, however, my shoulder collided with a warm body, my head falling to rest on a broad chest. 

“I’ve got you.”

Obi-Wan lowered me to the ground. I had many questions, many expressions of relief ready to leave my tongue, but all I could manage was a high-pitched: “ouch.” It ripped through my dry throat, and I swallowed hard, trying to gather myself to say more. 

Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around me, offering me a modicum of warmth. “Where’s your dress?” he whispered.

I managed to shake my head. I don’t know.

Obi-Wan rubbed my arms up and down. He was probably trying to generate warmth, but the feeling of his hands on my skin was strangely painful. Then, his hands disappeared for a moment before wrapping a cloak around me, perhaps the one he’d been wearing himself. 

How long? I strained to ask as he wrapped the cloak around my neck, the clasp laying cold and heavy on my bare skin. I croaked twice, the croaks somewhat resembling the words. 

“Too long,” Obi-Wan whispered. “Eleven days.”

Eleven days.

My head felt too full and too empty to process the weight that came with the timeline. 

“Come on, up you get,” he said lowly. His arms hooked under my arms, pulling me upright. Another grunt burst through my lips as my muscles lit up like fire. “I know it hurts.” Obi-Wan pulled my arm around his neck, his steady body keeping me straight. “But we must leave before Dooku returns.”

He pulled me to my feet, and I nearly buckled.

“I know, I know, but I can’t hold my lightsaber if I carry you. You have to walk, Y/N, I need you to walk.”

And then we were walking.

Even as my feet and legs moved, my eyes fell shut, too tired to stay open. If it had been anyone else, I would’ve just laid on the floor, but it was Obi-Wan, so I would keep going.

I heard an electronic ding, and I opened my eyes just in time to see a door sliding away to reveal a barren, frozen wasteland I recognized.

No.

Not this infernal planet again.

The cold Neftali wind blew past my body, and my shivering began anew, but no complaint of any kind could pass through my lips before Obi-Wan dragged me into the snow.

Oh, it was so much worse than my memory made it out to be.

My bare feet were numb in almost an instant.

Obi-Wan couldn’t move carefully, not if he was going to get through the snow, but every movement of his body pulled at a part of mine that ached even as my body was quickly going numb. “Just a little further,” Obi-Wan kept saying as he half-led, half-dragged me. “Just a bit further.”

I pulled the cloak as tight around me as it would go. Even though it was thin, it was better than the brutal winds on my bare skin. I didn’t know where Obi-Wan was leading me, and without the Force, I couldn’t sense anything about my surroundings. 

“Just a little more.”

“Stop,” I panted. I felt horrible for saying it, considering Obi-Wan was practically carrying me, but I couldn’t walk anymore.

Obi-Wan came to a stop, gently lowering me to sit on the snow. I clutched onto his arms with my weak grip, which wouldn’t have kept me upright at all, had he not held me up. I desperately tried to catch my breath.

While my master’s appearance revived my spirit, my body was still shutting down.

“I’m…okay,” I managed to say. “Need…breath.”

Oh, every word was a colossal effort, and judging by the speed with which Obi-Wan’s eyebrows drew together, they weren’t as comforting as I’d intended.

“We need to–” He broke off as the distant sounds of voices reached us.

I wanted to cry. I couldn’t go any farther yet, not one single step, but our enemies drew ever nearer. The longer we stayed here, the more likely we were going to get caught. Between the snow and the dungeon, I would rather perish in the snow than be dragged back to that place. 

I couldn’t let Obi-Wan get caught, not when he came to rescue me. I looked up into his worried face, trying to summon the strength to move. It didn’t matter if I died on this planet, but if Dooku captured Obi-Wan, he’d subject him to the same pain he’d subjected me to. 

Clutching at Obi-Wan’s arms, I tried to sit up. 

Obi-Wan’s hand shot out, pressing down on my shoulder. His expression was pinched and cloudy with thought. “Okay,” he said to himself, seeming to come to some decision. “Okay, Y/N, you need to stay here, I’ll draw them away.”

“No!” My arms were weaker than my voice, but I still managed to grab ahold of him before he could slip away. Don’t be an idiot!

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I thought we’d have more time, but I have to lead them away.”

“Don’t–”

“Wait here for me.” Obi-Wan easily peeled my hand off his arm, squeezing it tightly. “I’ll come back, I promise.”

“Obi–”

Obi-Wan lurched forward, resting one hand on each side of my head as he pressed a kiss to my hairline, his beard scratching against my skin. And with that, he took off running. Blue light appeared as he activated his lightsaber, but soon, he disappeared altogether.

Even as my terror about Obi-Wan’s safety ricocheted through my brain, my eyes fell closed.

I’d seen many bodies suffer too much to hold on, but I’d never experienced it. Is this what it’d felt like for every patient I’d ever lost? Was this how much energy it took simply to hold on?

A grim certainty settled over me. If I stayed here in the cold much longer, my body would officially give up.

The sound of more voices became discernible over the roaring that could’ve been from the storm or could’ve just been in my own head. The voices grew closer. 

Did it matter much if they found me? 

No.

But would Obi-Wan endanger himself again to rescue me and get captured himself?

I couldn’t risk it. 

The desperation got me moving. Slowly, I managed to get to my hands and knees and started to crawl. 

I didn’t look up, not wanting to know how far I still had to go. I just kept crawling and crawling and crawling. 

The bunker, I remembered. But where was it? And how could I find it without the Force leading me?

Without the Force, I had no idea if I was even headed in the correct direction. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would’ve waited for Obi-Wan, but I didn’t, and now I was lost. He wouldn’t be able to find me when he was cut off from the Force, but reconnecting to it would bring Dooku right to him. 

Too tired to do anything, I half rolled, half collapsed onto my side, my arms falling limply to the ground as my head came to rest. The biting cold snow against my face hurt, but I couldn’t muster up energy to lift it.

Soon enough, I didn’t feel the cold anymore, nor the wet snow against my body, not even the thumping of my headache.

Everything was silent.

Everything was hazy.

And then everything was nothing at all.

-

Part 5

Overall tag list:

@thelastpyle @valiantlytransparentwhispers

Rescue Me tag list:

@penfullofwordsaheadfullofstories @starlazergazer @blackqueengold @ajwild220 @exploringalaxiesfarfaraway @mortallycrispyglitter @nerdory10 @shinybananapastanickel @sassysaxxy @sunshine-girl013 @fablesrose @marrily @friskynotebook @burnthecheshirewitch @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @thriving-n-jiving

[rz-jocelyn]

[NEWS] Sato Ryuji has been Cast as Matsuno Chifuyu in the "Musical 'Tokyo Revengers' #2 Bloody Halloween"

Preview Video

STAGE INFORMATION

Tokyo Performances

Dates: March 28, 2025 to April 06, 2025

Venue: The Galaxy Theatre

Capacity: 746 people

Kyoto Performances

Dates: April 11, 2025 to April 13, 2025

Venue: Kyoto Theater

Capacity: 941 people

STORY DESCRIPTION

The "Musical 'Tokyo Revengers' #2 Bloody Halloween" is the second installment in the "Musical 'Tokyo Revengers'", and as the title says, will likely be covering the events surrounding Bloody Halloween in the Valhalla Arc.

In the manga, this arc is covered in Chapters 34 to 77, and in the anime, it is covered in Episodes 13 to 25.

Sato Ryuji has been cast as Matsuno Chifuyu, the vice captain of the First Division of the Tokyo Manji Gang, and a close friend of Hanagaki Takemichi.

For more information about the full story of "Tokyo Revengers", please refer to this link: HERE

CAST

Takenaka Ryohei as Hanagaki Takemichi

Kitamura Ryo as Sano Manjiro

Isaka Ikumi as Ryuguji Ken

Suzuki Shogo as Baji Keisuke

Kishimoto Yuta as Hanemiya Kazutora

Sato Ryuji as Matsuno Chifuyu

Sakayori Futa as Mitsuya Takashi

Koki as Hayashida Haruki

Kubo Yudai as Sendo Atsushi

Sasaki Takashi as Sano Shinichiro

Hiramatsu Raima as Kisaki Tetta

Isono Dai as Hanma Shuji

Sato Nobunaga as Tachibana Naoto

Ita Riria (Nogizaka 46) as Tachibana Hinata

NOTE:

[1] Ryuji and Suzuki Shogo have worked together before in the "Engeki no Mouri-san - The Entertainment Theater" where they did "Hoshi no Oujisama" ("Le Petit Prince"/"The Little Prince").

Ryuji played the prince while Shogo played the pilot.

[2] Ryuji has worked with Kitamura Ryo before in the "Live Spectacle NARUTO", the Movie Theatre "Success Sou" and "Kamen Rider Geats".

[3] Ryuji and Sato Nobunaga have co-starred together before in "Itoshi no Hakana" and the "Musical Touken Ranbu".

[4] Ryuji has also been a guest on "Bokutachi no Asobiba", which features Isaka Ikumi as one of the regulars. To watch all the episodes with Ryuji, please refer to this link: HERE

TICKETING INFORMATION

Ticket Types

VIP Seat (all seats in the first 5 rows; stage pamphlet included): 16,800 yen

S Seat (stage pamphlet included): 12,800 yen

Pair S Seat (set of 2 seats; stage pamphlet included; 1,000 yen goods voucher included): 25,600 yen

A Seat: 9,800 yen

Sato Ryuji Fanclub Ticket Application

Application Period: Now to 23.59 (Japan time) on September 16, 2024

To apply for tickets using this method, please refer to this link: HERE

NOTE: A fanclub membership is required for this application. To register for a membership, please refer to this link: HERE

"Musical 'Tokyo Revengers'" Official Twitter: HERE

"Musical 'Tokyo Revengers'" Official Website: HERE

Source(s): ( x , x , x , x )

[photogirl894]

Sorry for not specifying, lol. Those were from the angst prompt list! (this is the person who requested the Rex one-shot)

I can most certainly do that for you, anon, and thank you for specifying the list!! 😊

**Slight spoilers for TBB s3 ep6**

"Bodyguards"

4. "Do you know what it would do to me if I lost you?"

16. "It's my job to protect you."

Pairing: Rex x fem reader

***

Rex had assigned you to be a bodyguard for Senator Riyo Chuchi after her own guards had been lost in an assassination attempt, especially now that she was neck-deep in her support of the Clones. She was going to need someone to watch her and she didn't want to risk anymore of her own security detail, so Rex entrusted you with that task, which you were glad to undertake. You and Riyo were similar in the fact that you both weren't Clones, but supported them in everything, fighting for their right to have a place in the galaxy. Though, after the Emperor declared the Clones were dangerous and would be replaced by his own order of stormtroopers, you knew that you and Chuchi had a lot ahead of you to help protect the Clones.

Soon after, Rex really began working hard on improving his underground network of Clones to fight back against the Empire while you helped Senator Chuchi from the inside. Neither side had it easy by any means. You and Rex kept each other informed of everything going on. He was always checking in on you, making sure you were safe. You were important to him, just as he was important to you. There was always something unspoken between the two of you that you honestly were a bit surprised hadn't been brought to light yet, given the constant danger you both were in. It didn't matter, though. You both had work to do and lives were at stake, so any feelings would have to wait.

A few months later, Chuchi was going to meet with Senator Avi Singh, the former Separatist Senator, and both you and Rex were going to be at that meeting for extra security. It wasn't long into the meeting that Rex got word something was wrong and then suddenly, there was a beeping noise in the room. A thermal detonator was thrown through the window of the room and Rex jumped into action. He caught the detonator and threw back out the window, nearly seconds before it exploded.

He had saved both Senators' lives, but seeing him throw himself into danger with such a close call made your heartrate spike with fear. He could've been killed just then had he only waited a few seconds more. Before you could say anything, he ran off to pursue the assassin while you got Senator Chuchi and Senator Singh to safety.

Some time later, he met back up with you, reporting that the assassin got away. Once you saw he was all right, you suddenly couldn't hold back.

"What were you thinking, jumping in front of the grenade like that?" you questioned him.

"I was protecting the Senators. It's my job to protect them," he stated. Then he looked intently into your eyes. "It's my job to protect you, as well."

You stepped closer to him. "I don't need you to protect me...and even so, I wouldn't want you to protect me by risking your life like that."

"I'm a soldier. It's what I do," he said.

"I don't accept that," you replied, laying your hands on his cheeks. "Do you know what it would do to me if I lost you?"

Rex's lips parted in surprise at the question, his eyes searching yours, but then he turned his gaze away, guilt etched in his features on his face as he whispered your name.

With a gentle nudge, you made him turn his head back to look at you and you stated, "Yes, we're soldiers, but we're also both human. That doesn't mean our lives are nothing to just throw away for someone else's sake. We both deserve to live...and to love."

Then, with those words having been spoken, you brought your lips to his and kissed the Captain softly and lovingly, enough to get your point across and hopefully not scare him away. After seeing him nearly have a brush with death, you were willing to take a chance at admitting your feelings. The time for waiting was over.

The sensation of your joined lips sparked a fire within the Captain that only been just an ember for so long. His arms were around you so quickly and tightly, nearly crushing you against him, and he deepened the kiss almost right away, seemingly wanting to lose himself with you.

After a passionate moment, he broke away, his breath heavy. "I know I said I was protecting the Senators," he said, "but all I could think about was you. I...I didn't want to see you hurt."

"I don't ever want to see you hurt either, Rex," you said back. "Please don't ever do something so risky like that again. We need to get through all this together."

He took your hands in his and gently kissed your fingers. "Together."

Photogirl894's Angst prompts

Photogirl894's 1,300 Followers celebration fics

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

03/28/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Leslie Jones; Taika Waititi; Vico Ortiz; Samba Schutte; Kristian Nairn; Watch Parties; Trans Day of Visibility: Cool Pirates; Fan spotlight; LoveNotes; DailyDarby/Today's Taika

Hey lovelies! I'm taking your advice and not stressing too much if I can't get the recap out by end of day due to life stuff. So! That means if you don't see one from me, it doesn't mean it's not gonna happen, it means I probably fell asleep and I'll finish it up the next morning :)

=Cast & Crew Sightings =

== David Jenkins ==

Chaos dad popped into to show @bainecessitiesco some love for their amazing affirmation cards we've all seen circulating :) If you haven't seen them yet, feel free to check out Mik's Instagram

== Samba Schutte ==

Samba's been a busy man today! Roaches Rascal's over on the Cameo discord server got another cameo from Samba! This one features some great impressions from Samba, but also a "legend" of how Rhys as Merstede got out of the water with that costume on.

= Cameo =

"How Merstede Got Out of the Water"

Full Cameo

== BTS ==

On top of his cameos, Samba gave us yet another pile of BTS Videos! This time shouting out the background and stand in actors! As usual, Tumblr only allows me to upload 1 video per post, so here's the videos on various tumblr posts below:

Video 1 - Spanish Jackie's

Video 2 - "How you hanging there?" feat Alex Sherman

Video 3 - Spanish Jackie's 2 - "Hey How you doin?"

Video 4 - Con O'Neill and His Middle Finger

Video 5 - Cursed Ship Background Actors

Video 6 - Republic of Pirates In The Evening

Video 7 - Goldie The Cow

Video 8 - Hot and Bothered Practice

Video 9 - Truck Full of Actors

Video 10 - The Red Flag Crew == Leslie Jones ==

Leslie's back at The Daily Show rocking it!

== Taika Waititi ==

New video on Rita's IG, see it here on tumblr on @fuckyeahworldoftaika's post

== Vico Ortiz ==

There's another episode of Date My Abuelita, First! Season 2, Episode 5 is out!

Source: Date My Abuelita, First Instagram / Website

== Kristian Nairn ==

Kristian Nairn is joining the list of the crew going to the San Jose Galaxy Con August 16-18, 2024! For tickets and info visit: Galaxy Con Tickets

= Dominic Burgess =

Jeffery Fettering is poking his head out again!! Can Dominic get any cooler, truly? Thank you JessieB for giving Dominic the inspiration to hit the high seas! Source: @edteachseawitch's Twitter

= Event Calendar =

For Friday It's #PhoneInFriday in the UK!

== Watch Parties ==

=== Boy ===

Sunday 31st, @tillychmo and @regg_official on Twitter will be hosing a 'Boy' Watch Party

Hashtags: #OurBoyMeansEgg

2 pm GMT

10 am EDT

7 am PDT

== Cool Pirates ==

First #CoolPirates for the celebration was Vico Ortiz! Feel free to visit the @saveofmdcrewmates tumblr to see the new ones each day!

== Fan Spotlight ==

Tonight's cast card is Mama Teach! Thank you @melvisik for giving our lovely Simone Kessell some love!

== Dead But Delicious ==

If you're near Alameda CA, there wil lbe a WWDITS Themed Variety Show going on at the Alameda Comedy Club on June 20th! 8 PM! Feel free to check them out! Learn more on their IG!

== Kudoboards Reminder! =

REMINDER! KUDOBOARDS close on the 31st. 

Go send the cast and crew some love folks!

David Jenkins

Nathan Foad

Con O'Neill

Ruibo Qian

Leslie F*cking Jones!

Matthew Maher

Vico Ortiz

Samson Kayo

Alex "Ass Tonight" Sherman!

David Fane

Gypsy Taylor

Kristian "Wee John Wondays" Nairn!

Samba "BTS and Baking King" Schutte!

Fellow OFMD Fan Crew!

== Love Notes ==

Hey Lovelies! This is a bit of a silly love note today because I'm behind on everything, but I just wanted to give you some silly permissions (I dont have any real authority to give permission but this is a reminding you YOU have the authority!) to go out and do something out of the norm today.

I decided that I was going to have some ice cream after breakfast today. Why? Idk cause this weeks been crazy and ice cream sounded good.

Give yourself a treat today, whatever that happens to be for you-- going for a walk, eating ice cream, going to see that movie you have been holding off doing. Do something that makes you smile, you deserve it!

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

I think some of these may be repeats but they make me smile every time I see them so tonight's dance time!

Darby courtesy of @thunderwingdoomslayer

Taika courtesy of @celluloidbroomcloset

[scribe-of-maat]

Ranking DC Pride 2024

8. Phantom Rodeo (Jules Jourdain/Circuit Breaker, Jay Garrick/The Flash)

Dead last because 1 - it's not self-contained. 2 - it has nothing to do with anything Pride related and 3 - it's the return of the complete rando from last time. At least before the incredibly cool couple of Jess/Flash and Andy/Aquawoman featured heavily but no, because of detractor 1 Jay is here instead. Personally, I don't care about Circuit Breaker and I really hope someone else gets their spot next year.

7. "Hello, Spaceboy" (Starman/Mikaal, Komak)

If I knew who either of these characters were, this would probably be a lot higher. But the competition this year is steep so at 8 they go. Komak and the blue-purple warp zone 80s color pallet is REALLY slick. I thought I was familiar-ish with Starman but clearly there are multiple people running around with that name who have nothing to do with the JSA.

6. "Lessons in Astral Projection" (Nia Nal/Dreamer)

I stopped watching the CW shows that weren't about Black Lightning or Batwoman a looong time before Dreamer was intro'd (or after? I know I wasn't watching Flash way before she came along) but I knew of her and thought her powers and connection to the Legion of Superheroes was cool. I didn't like that there was no confrontation with Maeve in the story but it definitely would have gotten in the way of the feel-good affirmation vibe of the story.

5. Spaces

I'm 99% sure I've seen mention of Phil Jimenez across various DC fan spaces, so the only surprises here were that he was LGBT and that they were bringing back the real-person issue-ender like they did Mr. Conroy. It was nice seeing his journey, and it being so well-told is a real plus. No superheroes anywhere in sight though, save Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman.

4. Marasmius (Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy, Janet-from-HR)

Now THIS one was a ride. The opening left me a little rudderless and I'm not the biggest Harlivy fan so I thought I wasn't gonna get much out of this but if there's one thing I can believe, it's that if we had interplanetary travel the 'phobes would preach their nonsense across the galaxy. Ivy being an anti-villain is used to great effect here. No hand-wringing about morals, no reasoning with hate. Just do unto others as they would do unto. VERY cathartic.

3. Bros Down In A-Town (Jon Kent/Superman, Jay Nakamura, Ray Terrill/The Ray, Miguel Barragan/Bunker)

This one 3rd because I relate heavy to feeling weird about being openly LGBT out and about in public. I thought it was a surprising feeling that doesn't get touched on a whole lot because people generally don't like to see that type of real queer struggle being depicted in media that's supposed to be heavy on escapism. This artstyle though. I follow the artist on twitter because it fascinates me how one person's character can bleed through so transparently in the way they draw.

2. The Rivers and the Lakes that You're Used To (Jackson Hyde/Aquaman, Ha'Wea, Orion)

My bias for Jackson Hyde is showing but this story was also incredibly cool on its own merits. Orion being stone-facedly het for half of it was a choice but my boys showed up and officially got together - which I was surprised to learn hadn't happened long before now - so of course it shot up further in the rankings than it otherwise may have. Him saying he feels like himself when he's around his boyfriend is just *chef's kiss*.

1, Steeling Time (Natasha Irons/Steel, Traci Thirteen/Traci 13, John Constantine, Xanthe Zhou)

Natasha and Traci's appearances were the only things about this I got spoiled on, but after reading this they've instantly shot up to join Jackson and Ha'Wea in my pantheon on ships. I do like how it showed the steps to reconciliation and they were both still clearly open to the idea of rekindling things eventually. But this artstyle makes me want to see a webtoon of these two YESTERDAY.

[direwolfrules]

Would anyone care for some unsolicited fanfic recs in this trying time?

Star Wars (because I have no other life):

(Re)convene by Nightfall_1409:

10 years after sacrificing himself for the Rebellion, Ezra Bridger is offered the chance to turn back the clock and alter the course of history forever- the Force sending back with him a ragtag band of heroes, all whom have proven themselves worthy of the chance, all of whom have the drive to prevent the events that turned their lives into living nightmares, all of whom have the chance to save their loved ones from their fates.

Now 35 years in the past, returned to the era of the Republic 6 years before the rise of the Empire, 3 years before the start of the Clone Wars, he has to unite his scattered allies- Ahsoka Tano, Din Djarin, Boba and Omega Fett- and put together the puzzle of what caused the galaxy to fall, or they'll all be doomed to watch it happen again.

Personal Thoughts:

I really like this one. Time travel is my favorite trope. It’s well written, it draws you in, and the author has done an excellent job of mashing up Legends and Canon in fun and unique ways.

It has everything: Force Sensitive Omega, Tired Space Dad Din Djarin accidentally becoming a main character, Ezra and Anakin as chaotic besties, no Jedi bashing, and much more that would be spoilers.

The author tries to update twice a month. It’s really good. Also this is the only one I’m including the summary for because I’m lazy.

Time-Traveling Artoo by SpiderMansUnfriendlyNeighbor

Crack fic go brrrr. Seriously though, it’s just Artoo fucking with Sidious and then kidnapping children to matchmake. I was laughing the whole way through.

A Means of Survival by LessAttitudeMoreAltitude

In which Ursa finds a half dead Jedi Padawan named Caleb and the Mandalorian Adoption instinct activates. Listen, Sabine has decided the Jetti’ad is her favorite person, they can’t just not adopt him

The Time Heals ‘verse by jessicas_pi

Force Sensitive Sabine travels back in time to the Clone Wars, accidentally bonds with a Force Entity that I’m 99% sure is the Brother, becomes Obi-Wan’s Padawan, and keeps accidentally-on-purpose bringing people back to the past.

Also Quinlan Vos is there.

It’s Sabezra if that’s a turn off for anyone.

You Either Die A Hero… by RennyBanette

The 501st gets trapped in a time loop on Umbara. Delightful crack full of Krell murder and fire.

The Desert Storm by Blue_Sunshine

This is the Star Wars time travel fic. It’s so good. 4 years after the fall of the Republic Obi-Wan gets caught in a sandstorm, and when it passes he’s back in time when Anakin’s just a three year old clinging to his mom’s skirt.

Naturally, Obi-Wan frees the Skywalkers, changes his name to Ben Naasade, takes his younger self as a Padawan, and gives Mace Windu so many headaches.

Featuring: Jedi Shmi Skywalker, Pong Krell getting his shit wrecked, Legends stuff, Jedi Shmi Skywalker, Mandalorians being awesome, Alderaan being awesome, Jedi Shmi Skywalker, Obitine, the Sith being evil and creepy, and most importantly, Jedi Knight Shmi Skywalker

[saspas-folder-of-art-relateds]

In all the galaxy, there's only a few species to be feared.

Dipthorians, who can reach sizes of 6 meters tall and easily throw a smaller alien into a wall. Minorly aggressive, they won't attack unless provoked or insulted.

Galgoros, with low visual acuity, and relies on sensory tentacles across the ground. They've successfully thwarted many ancient invasions of their home planets through drowning their attackers. It's hard to even float in liquid water.

And Humans. They're small in stature, only reading an average of 2 meters, and have no visibly threatening features. From far away, anyway.

But you zoom into a human, and you see how they interact with their environment, and you begin to realize they fit into a class suit only ever hypothesized: Class S Predator.

You see, most alien species have evolved similarly. Eyes in the sides of their heads, perhaps a biological defensive structure, and an acute sense of smell. Obviously, colors and sizes and shapes differ, but when you get down to it, the 4-6 legs variation doesn't matter so much with the rest of the features.

Now, some species do come from more aggressive planets. They've had to evolve more specially- the abilities to regulate body temperature, sense different light patterns, and create instruments to measure things like the weather.

Humans, though. Humans scare other species. Humans have front-facing eyes that dart around. The ability has been described as "uncanny".

Humans have four limbs, but are bipedal. Bipedal! Only one other sentient species has ever been documented as bipedal, and the Thraminians are well on their way to extinction.

Humans have the most staggering brain-to-body ratio that other species have ever seen. And their ability to recover from lethal injuries? Unheard of. It was a miracle to hear that humans couldn't regenerate lost limbs, but they make prosthetics anyway. Of course. Because of their massive brains, they can do largely impossible things with very little issue.

Humans are territorial. Horrifyingly territorial. There are wars recorded in human history that are purely territory-based. In the rest of the galaxy, you don't take land or resources, it's an unspoken agreement between species.

There are a lot of unspoken agreements, in fact. So when humans finally venture out into their unknown, dozens of species watch with stifling unease and vague fear. None have ever met a human, and perhaps that's for a good cause.

The Xanthau are the first species to achieve interstellar travel. They are the ones who bring many other species together and free them from their gravitational chains. They went to Earth to attempt the same exactly once.

It went swimmingly, if by swimmingly you mean not one Xanthaurum returned.

Each Xanthaurum traveled to different parts of Earth. According to the visual recording instruments each had, they were all met with loud vocalizations and aggression. Even when they attempted to signal peace and cooperation, the instruments caught the Humans brandishing weapons, running away, however awkwardly it seemed, on their two legs.

Strangely colored and shaped humans took a few of the Xanthau to a similar place each, with a recurring symbol on the walls. The instruments were then deactivated.

The rest experienced what the Xanthau can only hope to be a painless passing. They didn't dare attempt to recover their comrades. The videos of the humans were meticulously studied, but there were significant holes in the research.

The most disturbing thing was part of their features. Before one of the Xanthaurum revealed themself, the humans appeared to be baring their teeth at one another, though they appeared to be peaceful. However, when they saw the Xanthaurum, their faces changed minutely, and showed aggressive behavior.

Humanity achieving interstellar travel might be a death sentence for galaxykind.

[raccoonfallsharder]

here are a few sneak previews of what we’ve got going on (this is really more to organize my thoughts and force myself to come up with titles than anything else)

upcoming rocket raccoon fics behind the cut

1. Window Across the Galaxy

aka long&angsty. hoping to start posting on Sunday or Monday.

Slooowww burn + eventual smut. elements of hurt/comfort because rocket is the saddest-angriest boy. Slight AU starting pre-GOTG volume 1 (but will hit most of the same major plot points).

Rocket is captured by a Ravager crew hoping to get rich off the excessively large bounty on his head. Throwing a wrench in everyone’s plans is the Terran girl they hired to do some freelance assessing on a recent haul of goods they’ve seized from a Xandaran luxury liner. Oops.

She looks at the rusted bars, and back to her brute of a tour guide, and sighs heavily. Slowly, she turns back to the cage, swaying toward the bars so she can peer in at eye-level. She’s immediately face-to-face with the creature. His ears are still pressed flat against his head, fur bristling, and he’s gazing back, clearly suspicious and probably - justifiably - feeling more than a little bit mean. She’s suddenly certain that if she got close enough, he’d take out her eyes. There’s no helping herself, is there? One corner of her mouth twists up in exhausted resignation and she nods. “Welp,” she says solemnly to the raccoon, “fuck me, my dude.”

2. Blackmail Material

(codename: pwp???). will probably post part 1 in a week or two.

just pure fucking smut. this was gonna be two parts but I'm leaning toward three now (smut // fuff // smut). probably takes place sometime after endgame but before volume 3? not that it really matters tbh because there is NO FUCKIN PLOT HERE. ur girl's got a praise kink so that'll definitely be featured per usual.

basically: rocket finds your vibrator.

“I’ll tell you what,” he offers up, still grinning that shit-eating grin. “I won’t say a word and I’ll give it back to you. You can even keep whatever batteries are in it.” That sounds too good to be true. You raise a brow and cross your arms in front of your breasts. “If?" “If you let me watch you use it,” he challenges, eyes daring you. “For science.”

3. Domestic Scenes in Space Travel

(codename: ok sweatshirt girl.) i dunno -maybe post the first one by mid-august?

Comics-inspired but not exclusive - just a buncha feel-good fuffy one-shots and equally feel-good smutty one-shots. Series of slice-of-life readerxrocket one-shots following The Very Boring Adventures of Space Pilot & Sweatshirt Girl.

“Just try not to push any buttons or pull any levers till you know what they do.” You snort. “I fully intend to keep my hands completely to myself unless I have your explicit permission to touch.” Rocket leers. “That could be fun.” Your eyes narrow. “Space Pilot, I’m gonna need you to focus on the task at hand so I don’t end up accidentally jettisoning us.”

4. Other Duties As Assigned

(codename: schemers, dreamers, & multicalendar memers) i don't have an intended outcome for this fic yet so while i am VERY much enjoying it, i first need to grapple with whether or not i'm okay posting something that may be unfinished. i usually try to avoid that.

I have no idea whether this will get smutty or not (probably, knowing me?). Begins five months after The Snap.

Natasha Romanoff is an administrative nightmare - a fact that does not go unnoticed by the (interim) captain of the Milano. First she demands that the remaining two Guardians of the Galaxy be reachable via a primitive Terran messaging system, and then she can't be bothered to read the frickin' emails.

Thank fuck she's hired a new assistant.

**THIS MESSAGE IS ENCRYPTED** To: <nromanoff@aee.org> From: &lt;rocket@aee.org> Subj: re: WHAT THE FUCK RED Date: Monday, September 24, 2018 7:34am well that’s probably the nicest message I’ve gotten since I hacked the internet I’m gonna have to kill your boss though

(a super-secret spoiler sidenote - i have a formula and I shamelessly overuse it, so there are no surprises here: girl falls first, raccoons falls harder. every fuckin time friends.)

[hedgypipes]

My Super Mario 40th Anniversary Predictions

-A New Mario Variant of Switch 2 get announced and released

-News On Mario Movie 2

-Special Event held at Nintendo Museum where they show artifacts and relics from Mario’s History

-New 3D Mario

-Mario Kart 9 or 10

- New DK Game

-Remaster of Galaxy 2 (I hope but doubt)

-Super Mario 40th Anniversary Direct

-Special Events held at all Universal Studios Theme Parks themed Around the Mario franchise

-Luigi’s Mansion 4 or 1 HD

-Wario gets announced for Mario Movie 2

-Mario Baseball Sports Game

-A New Mario Game & Watch gets releases alongside with the old with the new one featuring Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario USA or/and Super Mario World with a Mario version of an old G&W Game included as well

-Volumes of Super Mario Kun get rereleased in different languages

-New Merchandise including pins

-Teaser of A Mario Spinoff Movie

-Amiibo

-NSO Content

-Super Mario 40 Battle Royal Game

-Collaborations

-Special Events in Nintendo Stores

-New Bowser or Daisy Spinoff Game

-Dr. Luigi Port

-Remasters/Remakes of a Mario Game(s)

-A New Smash Game might also get announced and maybe even released during Mario 40th Anniversary Celebration so there will be added content in the game that would be based on the Mario Series as well as maybe a Mario character added into the game as a playable character as well.

- Lego Mario Minifigures (I really doubt this would happen but who knows)

I think that’s it for now, thanks for reading!

[phoenixwatchesmovies]

2023 Favorites

I'm kinda glad I was keeping track of what I watched, in retrospect, because looking back over my posts this year, I realized I forgot about a lot of stuff. XD After looking over the recaps and excluding rewatches, here's my top ten New Stuff I Watched for 2023:

10. Cabinet Of Curiosities

Bizarre nightmares unfold in eight tales of terror in a visually stunning, spine-tingling horror collection curated by Guillermo del Toro.

If GDT is your guy, give this a watch. Creature features, cursed objects, aliens, you name it. 8/8 tentacled eldritch abominations.

9. Wolf Creek

Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.

Holy shit, this was intense. And as I said initially, so mean. If you're into Texas Chainsaw Massacre, try this. I'm into franchise bingo, so I'm going to look into the sequels and TV series. 3/3 heads on a stick.

8. Requiem For A Dream

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep.

I get the feeling this is one of those that hurts so much more on rewatching, so there's that to look forward to. I've also rarely seen movies that do so much harmonizing between the music and the visuals, and it was so satisfying. 4/4 refrigerator jump scares.

7. Evil Dead Rise

A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

This was probably the most fun I had with a horror movie all year, TBH. Horror exploring family dynamics will always be a fave, and this brought plenty of fresh stuff to the franchise while also holding onto the core traits. 5/5 Staffenies.

6. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.

This was the most fun I had watching a movie all year, period. If you know nothing about DND, it's a good fantasy movie. If you're a DND nerd, the game mechanics are baked into it. If you're a fan of found families, guess what! 6/6 stealth checks.

5. Cowboy Bebop

A ragtag crew of bounty hunters chases down the galaxy's most dangerous criminals. They'll save the world--for the right price.

I got exactly what I wanted out of this, so haters be damned. The anime is a masterpiece and a classic, but if you're not in the mood for the existentialism and other heavier themes, here ya go. 3/3 shower-bath-showers.

4. The Black Phone

After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer's previous victims.

Near perfect, as far as I'm concerned. The older I get, the more kids-in-danger as a concept fucks with me, making this the most stressful movie I watched this year (though It Chapter One gave it a run for its money, and I still think they would make a great double feature). 5/5 black balloons.

3. Evil Dead (2013)

Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.

It's gnarly. It's badass. I almost puked. I had THE BEST time. The story works as an effective allegory, the effects are gruesomely awesome, and the finale is metal af. Plain and simple. 70,000/70,000 gallons of fake blood.

2. The Crow

A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder.

Beautiful, sad, aesthetic for days, hella good soundtrack. *chef kiss* I still haven't seen The Batman, but they seem visually similar, so if you like that, you'll probably like this. For more in-depth thoughts, read my post. 1/1 epic rooftop guitar solos.

1. The Fall Of The House Of Usher

To secure their fortune (and future) two ruthless siblings build a family dynasty that begins to crumble when their heirs mysteriously die, one by one.

Not just a new favorite Mike Flanagan. A new favorite in general, and my number one for the year. I just screamed about this one last month, and I don't have anything more to add. I've seen Succession comparisons, and while I have no idea how accurate that is, there's my "if you like that, here's this." Holy crap. 7/7 deadly sins personified.

Happy New Year! 🥂

[thisispoggers]

To be fair the comics has always been way more vioent/emotional heavy than its animation counterpart for YEARS, galaxy s1 comic featured fang's backstory where his parents dies, movie 2 comic's version of the elements disappearing is just brutal (Retak'ka just grabs solar's face and the poor boi is crying); it also featured boi being more sad and coming to terms with leaving the others behind.

The comics has always been somewhat known as for teens and up. Sadly for season 2 its whole premise was given to the comic creators and not the usualy animation writers, this of course leads to a lot of changes between both (especially since there was no plan for an animated season 2 so the comic writers were allowed to go wild for it)

In full retrospect, if the animation was created before the comic version not many complaints would've been given to it (at least not as much as right now)

NAW BUT FR THO (excuse my babble below the cut lol)

My lil boyo getting that plot stick beating whenever he’s on paper lmao and honestly good on the comic writers to go ham on it cuz damn my boy went through the wringer (good lord the 2nd Movie comic bruh)

Also I have since detached comic from its animation not only for BBB but for really all types of fandom I’m in (think OPM as an example cuz One literally just lets Murata do whatever lol)

Cuz animating something from a comic, that you know is gonna be streamed on TV in a literal worldwide network, is hella tricky cuz the comic deals with heavy stuff so tryna adapt that to animation and also work out how y’all are gonna sneak this pass through network is gonna be a bit of a b so whatever “true to comic” animation scene we get im happy for it (not gonna jinx on EP 4 so imma just say that I’m curious how they’re gonna do it lmao) (also I hope they patch out plot holes in case that happens and also make Kuputeri a badass again PLS MONSTA PLS) (still big mad that our queen didn’t get to beat someone up)

Also on the thing bout if the animation is released before the comic? Honestly yeah that’s so true cuz if I were to watch the animated series, I’d be vv entertained and liking how it’s going ya kno?

My lil boy may be getting a beat down at every turn but hey atleast he still got that lil kiddy sparkle within him that lets him have fun even during a really bad situation

Bruh imagine if it actually goes that route like saying “wow the animated series is rather heavy I wonder how’s the comic doing” and then the comics get out and everyone just says a resounding “oh no” when Oboi starts farming trauma points against his will

Anyways am I kinda miffed bout the animated series? Nah not that much it’s doing fine rn (they have since won me over by providing BoEl content like they don’t need to give us RiSol and TTM moments but they did and hallelujah for that)

Is it going great? Mmmmm it’s really too early to say cuz we are only 3 episodes in also I forgot how many episodes it’s supposed to be but judging from how’s it running I think around 10 or over that so they still got some time

[sunshinechildskywalker]

Feel free to answer any or all questions for the ask game

Hello there, friend! Thanks for the ask, and thanks for putting this all together! I'll take #s 1, 2, 4, 10, 13, and 18.

#1: As for Qui-Gon, I have mixed feelings, but I mostly really like him. I appreciate his defiance for the Jedi Council and his alignment with the Force (gray Jedi). However, I think he could have tried harder to free Shmi and didn't have to be a bit of an asshole about the situation ("You know I didn't actually come here to free slaves.")

#2: My signature Padme look would be her yellow meadow outfit! Yellow is my color (in case you couldn't tell from my blog and icon 😆💛) and I absolutely love her hair in that one😍

#4: Original trilogy all the way. Prequels are a close second, but I could live my whole life without ever seeing the sequels again and die perfectly happy lol

#10: If I could change any Star Wars scene, I'd actually change an entire movie. I would wipe TLJ from ever existing (TFA if I could, too, but TLJ pisses me off more than anything. Ask me for my rant about Luke's character demolition)

#13: My earliest Star Wars memory was at eleven years old. I had never seen any of the movies, books, or anything at this point. My brother was super into Angry Birds and Angry Birds Star Wars had just come out, which prompted him to want to see a Star Wars movie for the first time. I agreed (although reluctantly) to watch A New Hope with him and my dad, and the second I heard Threepio exclaim "this is madness!" I was hooked! From that moment on, I was a goner- I fell in love with the tales from the galaxy far, far away! 😆💖

#18: My favorite piece of Star Wars merch isn't really tangible merch, per say, but it's memorabilia nonetheless! It's my Tatooine sunset tattoo, featuring Luke looking out onto the horizon. I absolutely love it and am so happy I got it😍

Thanks for the ask, friend! May the Force be with you!!!

[sweetrevxnge]

Like Phantoms, Forever

Chapter Nineteen | Balance and Composure

Pairing: Ben Solo x Reader

Summary: Your destiny had never been clear to you, only becoming so when it led you to leaving behind the life you knew to train with the galaxy's sole Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker. His Jedi Academy became your new home, bringing with it the promise of someday becoming a Jedi Knight. While navigating the ways of the Force, an inexplicable connection forms between you and a fellow student—the heir to the legendary Skywalker bloodline, Ben Solo. Together, the two of you must face your destinies and forge the path to your true selves.

What to expect: fluff, violence, sexual content, general angst, mentions/descriptions of injury and death

Additional info: this story is set in 28 ABY, six years prior to the events of TFA

*concurrently being published on AO3 and Wattpad as well!

Masterlist

Spotify Playlist

Word count: 5.2k

A/N: ok so... I'm sorry for disappearing for so long. I was prepping for SWC, and then subsequently going to SWC, so my free time was being devoted to that. Hopefully I can get on a better writing schedule going forward, but also I'm going to be moving these next few weeks so apologies in advance. I appreciate you guys and your patience so much!!!

───────── ⋆ ☆ ⋆ ─────────

When the suns’ light eventually spilled through the blinds the next day, the empty space beside you was profound. The only proof of Ben’s presence from the prior night was the faint scent of his cologne clinging to the cotton sheets, and while intangible, there was also a soft, cottony warmth stirring in your chest. Part of you feared that such physical evidence would incriminate the both of you, but another part of you savored it, committing the notes of pine and spice to memory.

Although Ben had restored 4-3B to his functioning state before sneaking away, the droid was not your only company this morning. As you cracked your eyes open, you questioned if you were still asleep, trapped inside of a nightmare.

Perched in the bedside chair was Voe, long legs folded against her chest as she peered through the blinds. Quiet breaths whistled through her nose as she watched the Academy come alive. Students hurried past the infirmary, shoving the last bites of their breakfast wraps into their mouths as they rushed to the training grounds. The question of why she wasn’t among them jumped to the forefront of your mind, and with her stoic features offering no explanation, you were left with no option but to inquire for yourself.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” you grumbled, rolling onto your back as you stretched your stiff muscles.

Voe’s head whipped around, her wide brown eyes landing on you immediately. Despite clearing her throat, her words came out disorganized. “Oh, hi—um—I don’t mean to intrude. I just wanted to talk.”

The irony of her words wasn’t lost on you. What was a bigger intrusion of privacy than visiting—or watching—someone while they were sleeping? Even so, she seemed sincere. Whatever matter she wanted to discuss with you must have been important enough to force her to swallow her pride and come to you.

You propped yourself up on your good arm, trying to ignore the blood that rushed to your head with the sudden movement. “I’m listening,” you said, yawning as you rubbed your eyes with the heels of your palms.

With that, she rolled the chair closer to the bed, still leaving a sizable distance between you. “Master Skywalker told us what happened, and I just wanted–”

Your widening eyes seemed to interrupt her before your words could. “Wait, what exactly did he tell you?” Fear shot through you like lightning, hot and crackling as it invaded your mind. Master Skywalker wouldn’t divulge what you had told him in confidence to your peers, would he?

“He didn’t say much,” she said cautiously, a crease forming between her brows. “Before he said anything, we had already noticed that the Grimtaash was missing from the shipyard, along with its pilot. Everyone had their own theories as to what might have happened that would cause Ben to leave in the middle of the night, but the consensus was that the two of you had run away together. To where? We weren’t sure. But given Master Skywalker’s reaction, we quickly abandoned that theory.”

Embarrassment heated your face. Because of course that would be the assumption. Not wanting to give their theory any merit, you pushed past the subject. “So, what did Master Skywalker say?”

The trace smile on her lips disappeared. “Just what he knew. That the Academy’s security had been compromised and that you and Ben were missing. It goes without saying, but he didn’t share our suspicion that you two were runaway lovers. And judging by the multiple calls he made to Senator Organa, neither did she.”

The mention of the word “lovers” made your skin crawl, causing you to pick at the loose threads of the wool blanket in your lap. Honestly, you preferred her barrage of insults over being called that.

“Well, they were right. I didn’t run away…” You reached for the glass of water on the side table to soothe your arid mouth before continuing. Unfortunately, the water betrayed you, putting your trembling hands on full display as you lifted it to your lips. Even now, after discussing it with Ben and Master Skywalker, having to acknowledge that what happened to you was an abduction unsettled your stomach. “A group of mercenaries kidnapped me,” you said, feeling as if you were testifying before a jury. “I don’t remember most of it, and honestly, it's better that way."

Voe nodded in understanding. “I can imagine so. I’m sorry, I didn’t come here to force you to talk about it.” Her hands were restless, her fingers alternating between picking at her nails and tapping her thumbs against each other. As terrible as it was to admit, seeing her nervous filled you with a strange sense of satisfaction. “I just…”

The subsequent words must have caught in her throat, causing her to choke on them. You leaned in a bit, expressing your interest in hearing the rest.

“I came here to apologize for my… behavior,” she forced out, swallowing hard immediately after.

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. 4-3B must have slipped a hallucinogen into your medication cocktail. As unexpected as it was, you appreciated her apology.

“For a long time, I thought I would’ve liked it if you were gone…” Her composure seemed to waver as she continued. “But when that became reality, I quickly realized that wasn’t true.”

You watched her with narrowed eyes, listening intently. An odd way of making her point, but you knew what she meant.

“You didn’t deserve the treatment I gave you,” she added. “Truthfully, I should have directed my anger at Ben from the beginning, but I couldn’t help it. It’s just that… well… he’s taken so much away from me.” 

Her words dripped with venom as she spat them out into the universe—seemingly for the first time. “What do you mean?” you asked, furrowing your brows, but undeniably eager to gain more insight into their tumultuous relationship.

She stretched her neck up to the ceiling, looking up at the white tiles as if the answers would be written on them. “This is how it’s always been with him. Everything comes easily to him, and without having to lift a finger, he gets what he wants.” A grimace twisted her features. “He was fortunate enough to be born into Master Skywalker’s family, while the rest of us were just lucky to be adopted by him.”

You hadn’t thought of it like that. She wasn’t wrong, though. In a way, Master Skywalker was your family now, making the Academy the closest thing you had to a home.

“But the most frustrating thing about him is that before you showed up, he wanted nothing to do with women—or men, for that matter. Hennix would always tease him, insisting that he was taking the Jedi values too seriously. I didn’t pay much attention to him until…” Her gaze trailed to her hands in her lap as she chewed her lip. “Until Dayna took an interest in him.”

The name sparked a faint, indiscernible memory, like an itch you couldn’t scratch. You sifted through the blur of introductions and meaningless conversations you’d engaged in with the other students upon your arrival until, finally, a face matched the name. Dayna had been one of the first people to greet you at the Academy. A cheery, copper-haired girl with a firm—but welcoming—handshake. Aside from that, you knew little about her. Until now.

“She likes Ben…” you whispered. The realization sank through your chest like the glowing blade of a lightsaber, scorching the soft flesh of your heart as it ripped through it.

Panic flashed in Voe’s eyes. “No, no, this was a long time ago—over two years ago now. I didn’t mean to insinuate that–”

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t.” Another realization fell over you, one that made a lump form in your throat. Even if it weren’t years ago, it wouldn’t matter. The two of you weren’t official. After all, how could you be? Master Skywalker would put an end to it faster than you could say “rathtar.”

You inhaled deeply, clearing those thoughts from your mind. “So, she liked Ben, and it was… unreciprocated? I fail to see what that has to do with you.” You didn’t intend to sound as abrasive as you did, but as soon as the words left your mouth, you noticed the shift in her demeanor, along with a familiar look of longing in her pale eyes. By the stars, you must have been the most oblivious person in the entire galaxy. “Oh…” You paused, suddenly afraid to overstep a boundary. “You liked Dayna?”

She sighed, releasing the tension in her shoulders. “Yes. I kept it to myself for years, afraid that if she knew the truth, I would lose her entirely. But then she started talking about Ben constantly. When she would ask me for advice, I wouldn’t even know what to say. To be completely honest, it was unbearable. So, I allowed myself to be angry—at him, at her, and at the universe—for making me pick up the pieces of her heart when he eventually turned her down.”

The jealousy stirring in your chest dissolved, quickly replaced by a sense of accomplishment. Any shred of doubt you’d had about Ben’s romantic history was erased, but now was not an appropriate time to relish in it.

With a sigh, she added, “I didn’t want to see the same thing happen to you.”

You were at a loss for words. What were you supposed to say? Did she expect gratitude from you? For months of verbal abuse, alienation from your peers? Or maybe she expected sympathy, your heartfelt condolences for the girl she liked getting rejected so long ago. 

“I appreciate your apology, as well as you sharing all of this with me. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to do,” you said, stopping yourself before you could say anything too kind. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you made me feel terrible for being with Ben.”

Voe nodded, lowering her gaze once more. “I know, and I was wrong to do that. My perception of him is much different from yours, and that was something I had to come to terms with.”

You wanted to laugh—or scoff—but you resisted the urge. “That doesn’t change the fact that I trusted you with that information and you used it against me.”

“I know it doesn’t mean much, but I am truly sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted that way,” she mumbled. “Please, just… listen to me. That’s all I’m asking of you.” For the first time since you’d known her, she was pleading, showing a vulnerability you didn’t know she possessed. 

Reluctantly, you nodded.

“I know he makes you happy, and while I can look past a lot of things that Ben does, there’s something… off about him.” Her jaw tensed, causing unease to settle in the bottom of your stomach. “Tai says it all the time—Ben is the only person he can’t read.”

“What do you mean ‘read?’” you asked warily.

“The Force allows Tai to sense more than most of us can. We’ve affectionately dubbed it as his ‘psychic powers.’ Sometimes, I think he knows when I’m upset before I even do.” She stood from her seat and stepped closer, causing you to instinctively lean away. Her eyes were sharp, matching the contours of her face. “And it’s for that reason that I trust Tai’s judgment. If he’s concerned about him, then so am I.”

“That’s… understandable,” you said softly, hoping that it was the response she was waiting for. “But I don’t need to get into his mind to know what’s going on. He tells me everything.” Well, everything wasn’t necessarily the right word to use. He shared most things with you—but people are allowed to have secrets. Stars knew you didn’t want every thought locked away in your brain to be discovered.

Voe placed a hand on your shoulder, a gesture that would’ve been comforting coming from anyone else. Instead, her touch felt like a hot iron. “Just be careful, please,” she said, letting her hand linger for a moment too long.

Such advice felt unwarranted coming from her, but you said nothing, only nodding in agreement, debating if squirming away from her grasp would yield a favorable outcome for you. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see 4-3B hobbling over to make its first assessment of the morning. You had never been so grateful for an interruption.

Voe stepped back, shoving her hands into the pockets of her robes. “Well, um—I should get going. Feel better soon, and uh…” The gears turning in her head were nearly visible, working in overdrive as she tried to find the right way to say goodbye after a conversation like this. Finally, she settled on one. “Take care of yourself.”

“I will. Thank you,” you replied with as much emotion as you could muster. Maybe with time, you would come to appreciate her apology more, but for now, you wanted nothing more than to be as far away from her as possible.

4-3B cleared you for training a few days later, practically shoving you out of the infirmary as you left. Something in your gut told you that the droid was aware of its brief lapse in sentience.

The culprit of 4-3B’s downtime hadn’t returned since that night, leaving you equal parts bewildered and concerned. You couldn’t help but worry that something had happened to him—a line of thinking you admonished yourself for allowing. The Academy was now more secure than ever, with more N5 sentry droids than you cared to count roaming the grounds and New Republic patrols routinely passing by overhead. Master Skywalker had spared no expense when it came to protecting his students, and you were sure that having a senator for a sister accelerated the process. Wherever Ben was, he was surely safe.

“He’s off-world at the moment. I sent him to get some supplies for your upcoming trip,” Master Skywalker said, eyes still closed as he meditated across from you.

“Getting more supplies? I thought he already did that.” A stray hair tickled your face, threatening to break your concentration. With a slow—and targeted—exhale, you were able to redirect it away from your cheek.

He sighed. “Yes, well… Ilum isn’t exactly a vacation destination, and my ice picks have seen better days.”

“Ice picks?!” The focus you had been struggling to maintain quickly slipped away. “I knew there would be snow, but no one said anything about needing ice picks!”

The Jedi Master only laughed in response. His determination to guide you through your healing journey was admirable. Less than a day had passed since you had been released from the infirmary and he was already walking you through your first lesson: mindful meditation. Settled beside him was his blue and silver astromech unit, which was rather noisy for a non-verbal droid. That was until R2-D2 entered resting mode, evidently feeling left out of the meditation session.

“Well, I would like to think that Ben is wise enough to take a better path, but unfortunately, he is Han’s son. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.” Abandoning his efforts, Master Skywalker opened his eyes, a weary smile peeking through his coarse beard.

At that moment, it clicked, and you found yourself wondering why you hadn’t realized it sooner. Perhaps if you had paid closer attention during history lessons, you would have. Of course, General Han Solo would be Ben’s father. It made perfect sense, given that he fought alongside Senator Organa and Master Skywalker. That must have been where Ben picked up his affinity for flying, too.

“I may have also instructed him to buy some additional lightsaber pieces. These kids picked my collection clean when they built theirs, and I don’t want you to be left with the scraps.” He stood from his mat, brushing off any lingering dust from the surface.

“That’s kind of you,” you said with a smile. It wasn’t something he had to do, but knowing that he took the time to consider things like this made your heart warm. 

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to be stuck with a lightsaber you didn’t like,” he said with a wink. “On that note, we’ll end this session here. I think your focus will be much better when you’re back from Ilum.”

“I think you’re probably right,” you replied, unfolding your crossed legs and stretching the tense muscles. Sensing Master Skywalker’s movements, R2-D2 chirped to life, joining the conversation with a series of unintelligible beeps. Well, unintelligible to you—a necessary reminder to brush up on your linguistic manuals soon. “What’s he saying?”

Master Skywalker rested his gloved hand on the droid’s head, patting it gently. “He’s worried that Ben won’t pick out any suitable pieces for you. In that case, we’ll just have to hope that he inherited his mother’s tastes.”

Ben could pick out scrap metal from the innards of a trash compactor and I would probably still love them, you thought. A smile spontaneously formed on your lips as you returned your mat to its storage bin before coming to stand beside Master Skywalker and his droid.

Silence filled the air between you, only interrupted by the occasional hum of R2-D2’s inner mechanisms. Finally, you said, “I’m nervous, Master.”

He let out a long sigh through his nose. “It’s normal to feel that way—especially after everything that’s happened recently. But finding a kyber crystal is every Jedi’s first trial, and I have faith that you will conquer it with grace.”

The fear of disappointing him fell over you like a plume of storm clouds. Uncertainty filled your gut, weighing heavily on your spirit. “I hope you’re right.”

He chuckled. “I have a feeling that I am.”

The walk between the temple and your hut was only a few minutes long, but you managed to prolong it by nearly triple the time. Dread settled in your chest as you meandered through the Academy grounds. Fear of what you would find when you entered your room.

With a trembling hand, you pulled the door open and entered slowly, as if the shadows were hiding the same monsters from that fateful night.

Instead of monsters, all you found was disarray. The mess left behind by the mercenaries was all that remained in your absence—perfectly preserved, like a grotesque exhibit in a museum of horrors. A fine layer of dust had accumulated on the displaced furniture, which appeared to have only sustained minor cosmetic damage in the attack. Having to imagine what the scene looked like that night made your stomach twist. How Ren and his men probably dragged your limp body out by your arms or legs—or worse—carried you out. Given the head wound you sustained, you believed it was the former.

Not wanting to look at it anymore, you began returning your belongings to their assigned places. Each step felt as if you were treading on eggshells, afraid to misstep and plummet through the floor. Tears brimmed your eyes as you smoothed out the blankets on your bed—a mess you would otherwise attribute to a rushed morning. The sanctity of your space had been tarnished, and as your thoughts spiraled, you wondered if anything would feel the same as before. Even just being around Ben felt different now. His touch was lighter, softer—like your skin was made of dry petals, threatening to crumble under the slightest amount of pressure. But that was the last thing you wanted him to think of you as.

Instead of dwelling on it, you flicked on the lantern beside your bed to accommodate the waning sunlight filtering through your narrow windows. For the first time in a long time, you weren’t sure what to do with yourself. It felt too early to go to sleep—not that you were exactly eager to sleep alone in this bed again. But with Ben gone, what other option did you have?

The datapad peeking out from your open bedside drawer offered you a solution.

Minutes gave way to hours as you perused HoloNet articles, catching up on what seemed like a lifetime’s worth of news articles. To your surprise—and mild disappointment—there was nothing published about the Zeffo incident. Just the usual headlines of civil unrest in the Outer Rim, as well as the rising tension within the Senate. There’s one way to put me to sleep, you thought as you skimmed another article outlining the conflict between the Populists and the Centrists. Knowing what you did now, you couldn’t help but wonder if the Empire—or rather, First Order—had been disguising themselves as benevolent Centrists this entire time.

Oddly enough, there was a common focus in every article—from both Populist and Centrist publications. Regardless of bias, Senator Organa was a recurring character in each story. Whether the source referred to her by her senatorial title or as the former Princess of Alderaan, one thing was obvious: she was outspoken about this conflict. Despite never meeting her, she felt familiar—if only by association.

When the low battery alert interrupted your reading and the suns had fallen beyond the horizon, you resigned from your informal political studies and traded your starchy robes for a fresh set of thermals. A chill ran across your skin as you pulled the material over your head, prompting you to add a woolen tunic for warmth.

With every day that passed, it was becoming increasingly easier to move your injured arm. Getting dressed was no longer an arduous task—a triumph you hadn’t expected to happen so quickly. 4-3B’s bacta treatments were truly a miracle. Now, there was only one thing left to try.

Your fingers tingled with currents of invisible electricity as you reached for the lightsaber on your dresser. Trepidation filled your stomach as you slowly lifted it, finding that it was… fine. Just like before your injury, your muscles tensed and relaxed at your will—albeit with less intensity.

You rolled the hilt around in your hand, thumb hovering over the ignition. This was the last test—the Force’s determination of your worth. An unsteady breath left your quivering lips as you engaged the ignition, bringing the glowing blade to life.

Relief crashed over you like a tidal wave. The Force wasn’t reprimanding you for you using its darkness. There was no trial or atonement required to wield a lightsaber again.

Not wanting to impede your recovery, you tested a few careful spins. The movement, while slower than usual, felt natural. Tendrils of the Force seemed to weave through your fingers, guiding your movements. Your confidence grew as you continued, allowing yourself time to adjust to the familiar motions.

Captivated by the glow of the blade moving around you, you didn’t even notice the door opening behind you. That changed when a deep voice permeated the room. “Is now a bad time?”

The saber clattered to the floor as you spun around, stumbling backwards into the dresser, every drawer rattling as it collided with the wall. “For fuck’s sake, Ben! Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Sorry, sorry,” he said with a wince as he closed the door behind him. Though he apologized, there was no masking his smug tone. His dark eyes flitted between you and the idle lightsaber at your feet. “I take it you’re feeling better.”

Partially obscured by his body, you could see that he was holding something in his other hand. It appeared to be a small, violet gift bag of sorts, and as he walked toward you, the writing on the front came into view. Jobi’s Sweets & Confectionery Depot, written in swooping, butter-yellow letters.

“Yeah, much better,” you said automatically, eyes trained on the bag. “What’s that?”

His face lit up with boyish enthusiasm. “I got us some treats for the road. There’s more on the ship, but I couldn’t resist the temptation of having one now.” He reached in and retrieved two frosted containers, both tied with matching yellow ribbons, to protect the pastries inside. “My favorite: Chandrilan puff cakes. I also remembered to grab some candied oranges for you while I was there.”

The smile on your lips faded as hesitation replaced your excitement. “Wait, where’d you get these? How do you know they’re safe to eat?”

Seemingly unfazed by your reaction, he answered, “The first supplies shop I stopped at on Daiyu was almost entirely out of stock. So, I thought I’d try a store in Hanna City.” He set both of the cakes down before untying the ribbon from one of the boxes and plucking up the treat, sparing no time as he took a generous bite. “Jobi’s a family friend. He used to make desserts for my family all the time.” His eyes met yours, soft and understanding. “It’s okay, they’re safe.”

You swallowed the lump forming in your throat. It was something so insignificant, yet it illuminated one of the many lasting effects of Zeffo. Perhaps with time, you would regain your inherent trust in food sources again. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to seem so paranoid. It’s just… hard.”

A smile formed on Ben’s lips, which were now covered in crimson-red frosting. “No need to apologize. It’s not going anywhere.” He pushed the last bite into his mouth before continuing. “You can always have it later. Or, if you decide against it entirely, I’d be more than happy to take care of it for you.”

You considered the pastry tin in front of you. It seemed like a lifetime ago since you’d had cake, most likely your last birthday at home. The bakeries on Khoonda weren’t known for their exceptional quality, leaving you and your mother to take it upon yourselves and bake from scratch. What had once been a collection of pleasant memories now felt like touching an exposed nerve. A mix of emotions rose to the surface.

At that very moment, you pulled the tie free and sunk your teeth into the spongy treat. Every expectation you’d had vanished the moment the cake touched your tongue. A delectable pairing of vanilla bean filling and another flavor you couldn’t quite recognize swarmed your senses, topped with a creamy teal frosting and a sprinkle of salt flakes. A satisfied moan vibrated in your throat. “Mmm, this is just what I needed. Thank you.”

He leaned in and gave you a quick kiss, creating a new shade of purple frosting on both of your lips. “You’re welcome, princess. I’m glad you like it.”

As you enjoyed your puff cake, Ben busied himself by collecting the trash and stowing it in the gift bag. His eyes searched the room, a puzzled look on his face. “Have you packed yet?”

“No, not yet,” you answered with a mouth full of cake. It wasn’t because you didn’t know what to bring, but rather that packing for the journey would make it feel real—too real. The nerves that had settled in your stomach erupted at the thought.

“Well, let’s change that,” he said, rummaging through your drawers for a bag. “We’re leaving at sunrise.”

Shit. You set the pastry down with the promise to return to it later and started pulling sets of robes out of your dresser. “Why in the galaxy are we leaving so early?”

Ben’s face fell slightly, subtle enough that had you been anyone but him, you would’ve missed it. “I figured leaving early would give us more time together.”

The robes trapped in your clutch nearly slipped free. “Oh… I hadn’t thought of it that way,” you whispered.

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured you, handing over an empty backpack he had pulled from your dresser before moving to sit on the edge of your bed. “It doesn’t help that I’m overly eager for this trip. I know your enthusiasm has wavered, and that’s okay.”

An invisible force squeezed your heart, but you didn’t feel the need to elaborate on his point. You knew his meaning, just as he knew your feelings about this undertaking. There was nothing more intimate than that, you supposed.

As you shoved clothes and toiletries into the bag, you looked up, finding Ben now scrolling through your freshly charged datapad. “Keeping up with my mom, I see,” he said, raising an eyebrow as he tapped the screen. “You want to bring this? Just in case you get tired of listening to me.”

You scoffed, snatching it from his hands. “First of all, I promise that I wasn’t being creepy. I was just bored. And second, I don’t think I could ever get tired of listening to you.”

 Though it seemed like an impossible feat to accomplish, you had rendered Ben speechless. What you said wasn’t revolutionary by any means, but you found yourself wondering if it was the wrong thing to say. You quickly averted your gaze, reading the headline of the current article with a renewed interest: Vice or Virtue? Former Princess of Alderaan Caught Betting Amongst High-Rollers on Bastatha. In the same way that a womp rat was a cuddly companion, this gossip piece was breaking news—which seemed to be the case for many of the publications pushing the Centrists’ narrative.

Before you stowed the datapad in your bag, the word “princess” caught your eye. “By the way…” you mused, debating if you wanted to bring this up after all. It was a silly thought to begin with, and not one you were sure Ben would appreciate. But the gleam in his eyes told you that you had captured his undivided attention. “Since your mom was a princess before she was a senator, then technically speaking, doesn’t that make you a prince?”

He rolled his eyes as he let out a short, dry laugh. “I guess so. I’ve never really given it much thought.”

Tucking your chin to your chest, you curtsied in front of him, using the tapered fabric of your tunic as a mock skirt. “Your highness…” you said in a proper tone, earning a brief—but genuine—laugh from the Crown Prince of Alderaan.

He shuddered and made a noise of disgust as he grabbed your hips, pulling you to sit on his lap. “Please, never call me that again.”

Straddling his thighs, you melted into him, your nose brushing his as you leaned in. “Fine.” You kissed him swiftly. “But only…” Another kiss. “Because…” Another. “You asked…” One final peck. “So nicely.”

He grinned against your lips, fingers bruising your waist. “You make a good point, but you forgot the most important part of all.”

You tilted your head slightly. “And what’s that?”

His breath warmed your skin as he hesitated to complete his thought, almost intentionally building suspense. “That if I were a prince, I would make you a true princess.”

You stiffened under his touch—not because you were uncomfortable, but because you couldn’t believe what he had said. It felt as if someone had opened a bottle of Daruvvian champagne inside the chambers of your heart, flooding your veins with tiny, effervescent bubbles. Even if he were joking, a declaration like that carried with it many implications—one of which had been occupying your thoughts since Voe’s visit.

Trying to play it cool, you let out a sigh through your nose, leaning in close enough to brush his soft lips with yours. “Stars, Ben. At least take me to dinner first.”

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “If you insist.”