[ anakin looks askance at her when she grabs him. the arm underneath the black glove is too hard, too unyielding to be skin and bone. the only warmth it knows comes from the sunlight beating on the black leather. the other hand, naked and living, curls into a loose fist at his side.

her fear hums electric in the dust-filled air. he knows panic. he's seen the mistakes an instance of it can produce. but being scared won't excuse her actions. ( it doesn't occur to him that it's him who frightened her so. ) ]

By painting a target on your back? [ he stops. he pulls on his arm in nonverbal gesture to let go. anakin skywalker, hero of the clone wars, once hailed as the hero with no fear, doesn't like it when girls not his wife hold his hand. ]

How long did you hope to last? There's a time and there's a way, but that wasn't then and it definitely wasn't how!