WHAT HAD ONCE PROVIDED WARMTH NOW SINGES her skin, her heart. His concern for her had been a comfort yet she now knows what those worries will do to him ( had done to him! ) & she wants to tell him to stop! Stop caring, stop worrying, there are things you cannot control — yet she can. Newfound knowledge is a burden she cannot cast aside ( & love for the boy before her — & even the man he becomes, not allowing it ), nor will she sit idly by. No, she will stop it from happening ( & what a STRAIN he had borne so quietly, watching her die in his nightmares. Now she understands. Now, she will bear it in his stead. ) Too familiar is her name on his tongue ( yet it isn’t, not nearly what it had once been, what was once so full of love & tenderness now so full of trepidation — & she hates that it will remain as such, can’t be any different. ) ❛ Yes. ❜ You w ill be. Her tone is formal & detached, eyes elsewhere ( so he doesn’t see the turmoil brewing within, the falsity she bears upon her lips. ) Tone is gentler yet words are not. ❛ As I have assured your master, I’m fine. This is really unnecessary. ❜ This being them, being him standing as her protector ( a duty he takes unto his shoulders into the fiery pits of Mustafar, into the darkness she cannot follow. )
a disturbance has separated them : something he cannot quite understand. THE ENTIRE ATMOSPHERE HAS CHANGED , EVEN BREATHED AIR SEEMS DIFFERENT. tastes like bitterness and confusion , scratches down his throat — and it’s impossible to swallow. such a wonderful day had started with a walk , with shared stories of their childhoods , tales of years spent apart. between the pair a bond could be felt , even after so much time. in her voice he had found sweetness , happiness at being home ( and he could play pretend , too — hope elation came due to his company. if only ! for a heartbeat he had let himself believe it : how naive , how childish ) ; woven in his words there’d been admiration , of sentator amidala and of naboo. yet now — now formality has seized up brief notes ( no longer summer rain and melting gold , no. distance coats them , a knife between his ribs , aimed straight for foolish heart ) while her eyes avoid a meeting. ❛ I —— ❜ the padawan attempts to clear his voice , rawness climbing up his stomach. he’s nervous , more so than before , for gentle smile has disappeared. it’s given space to harsh words ( however musical her tone is , what she says aches through his chest , spreads ; disappointment in hand ) so he looks away. ❛ the council doesn’t seem to think so , m'lady. there was an attempt on your life , after all. ❜