Who: Anakin Skywalker and Luna Lovegood. What: Titanic Portal. Where: Titanic. When: May 5. Evening. Warnings: None. Status: Closed | Completed gdoc.
Anakin was unsure of what the Titanic was, or why there was a portal to such a place. But, then again, he hadn’t been sure of ancient Japan, either. That place had ended up being rather interesting. …of course, it may have been due to the company he’d had in ancient Japan, as well.
Which was why he had reached out to Luna to see if she wanted to investigate this Titanic place. Perhaps she’d know a bit more of Titanic than he did. There was a good chance she did.
He’d opted to leave R2D2 at home once more. Despite the fact that the droid wanted to be with Anakin at the ship regardless. It had taken Anakin some convincing. But he appeared at the portal, sans droid. Waiting patiently for his young friend.
Luna had worked out that she should avoid Anakin to get over the crush but…she didn’t want to do that. Besides, he was basically her best friend in town, so she agreed to meet him.
The Titanic didn’t mean anything to Luna, but she thought a ship sounded fun. When she saw Anakin she couldn’t help the smile which lit her face and she waved. “Hello!” Then she noticed no R2. “No droid joining us?”
“Ready to go through the portal?” Luna didn’t know what to expect, and she’d brought a deceptively tiny bag, which she used the Extension Spell so she brought a day’s worth of things like snacks and toiletries. Who knew what might happen? Not with Anakin, but in general.
Anakin knew the Titanic to be a ship, and not a flying one at that. That was about all he knew of it. He didn’t know of the fate of the ship or anything. He just knew that it sounded like an interesting portal to explore. And he was glad that Luna agreed to go with him. She was his closest friend here, closer than Rey even. Though he did feel close to Rey due to their mutual use of the Force.
“I was not sure if a droid would be accepted on a sea-faring ship,” he explained, when Luna asked about R2D2. “I promised him he could see you the next time we got together.”
Because the droid did like Luna. Much like Anakin liked her.
Anakin nodded in response to Luna’s question, “I am ready. I am not sure what to expect, though,” he admitted.
Luna nodded at the reason for leaving R2 at home. “Maybe when we head back I can pop by and see him for a minute.” R2 was always a welcomed sight for Luna, but she understood why Anakin chose to leave him at home.
“I don’t know either. I know it sinks, because I read up on it, but that’s like later in the voyage.” She wasn’t positive, but assumed this was like the first day.
When they got to the check in type area, Luna gave her name. “Right this way Mr. and Mrs. Lovegood.” She almost corrected him, but then remembered unmarried people hanging out during this time period was frowned upon. That didn’t stop Luna from looking at Anakin in confusion though.
A few minutes later they were led into a room best described as opulent. And a moment after that they were alone. “What the bloody hell just happened?”
“Apparently they think we’re married,” Anakin mused, as he looked around the room they were brought into. The room they were left in alone as a married couple. That was… a little strange, but he supposed it might have to do with the time period. Unmarried couples in this time period were probably frowned upon. Not that he and Luna were a couple, but the man who had greeted them didn’t know that.
“Not that I mind being a Lovegood. Being Anakin Lovegood has less…recognition than Anakin Skywalker does.” He shrugged slightly at this. It was possibly the first time he alluded to who he would become in the future. At least, to Luna.
“I suppose we’re expected to dress a certain way for dinner?”
Luna thought it best to proceed with the charade for the time being. “Should we examine the room more fully?” It was a rather handsome room and Luna wanted to poke around.
“I think the name suits you,” Luna stated and considered his question. “Probably. Thankfully for us I looked up information including the fashion of the time.” With a flick of her wrist, they both wore appropriate clothing for a first class meal. Luna wore pretty dress and Anakin looked smashing in his tux.
“You look really handsome.”
Anakin looked down at the clothing that he was suddenly wearing, thanks to Luna. He then looked Luna over for a moment. “You look very pretty yourself, you know,” he said, with a slight smile. There was just one thing that was bothering Anakin, though. He held up his obviously fake hand, the one that wasn’t covered by a glove any longer.
“Can you make this look like my other hand?” he asked. He wasn’t certain if she could or not, it was obviously robotic in nature, silvery and not real in the slightest.
“Then I think we should go find some food. Maybe see if we can dance after dinner.”
“Sure.” Luna concentrated for a moment, to recall the proper spell and then his hands matched. She did blush slightly at the compliment, but then nodded that she chose the right spell. “It should hold for the night, but we may need a brief escape so I can redo it.”
“I’d love to get food and dance.” Then she looked at him. “I should tell you, I’ve developed a bit of a crush on you, but I won’t act on it. I like our friendship as it is.” There, she couldn’t go back, but at least she’d been honest.
Anakin studied his magicked hand for a moment. He decided that if he didn’t know it wasn’t his real hand, he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. He offered Luna a bright smile, and leaned in to kiss her cheek quickly, in thanks.
“You’re brilliant,” he told her.
Then her words registered. He understood the word crush, understood she’d developed feelings for him. “It might be a very bad idea to act on it,” he said, softly, as he offered Luna his arm. “Seeing as who I am to become in the future.” He offered the blonde a small smile, “I don’t want to see you getting hurt.”
Of course Luna knew she was brilliant. But she smiled at the compliment. “If neither of us can tell the difference, that’s probably a good thing.” The cheek kiss made her stomach flip-flop, but she held her composure.
“Thank you.”
She considered his words as her arm linked through his. Of course Luna didn’t want to get hurt. But like everyone else in her life, she could assess his good points and bad without any influence.
“You haven’t been that person here. If you had been, I wouldn’t be here with you.” No, she wasn’t trying to convince him, but reminding him his future at home wasn’t necessarily his here.
They walked to the dining room and enjoyed a meal with others, some who seemed very excited about their situation. Luna wouldn’t mention how it ended. After dinner, she held out her hand. “Ready for a dance?”
“No, I haven’t been,” he agreed. “If I had been, you wouldn’t be spending time with me. Rey wouldn’t spend time with me. I wouldn’t have either of my friends here.” He offered Luna a small smile as they spoke, as they headed down toward the dining room to enjoy their meal.
He smiled slightly when Luna asked about the dance. He nodded, and took Luna’s hand within his. As they headed toward the dance floor, he leaned in and placed a quick kiss to her cheek. “If you do not believe I am that person here, Luna, then…”
Anakin sighed softly, and turned to face her once they reached the dance floor. He rested his hands on her waist, pulling her close to him so they could dance. “I can’t make any promises,” he offered. “I am married back home. But… that may not mean anything here?” He wasn’t trying to give her any false hope or anything. He truly did care for Luna.
Luna, to her credit, didn’t get panicky or nervous about being so close to someone with whom she had romantic feelings. She didn’t exactly have a lot of practice. Even at balls back in Hogwarts, she tended to just dance with her friends and then sometimes have a slow dance with one of her male friends.
The second cheek kiss, though, did cause her to blush again. As they danced, she thought for a moment about her reply. “No, I don’t believe you are.” Her arms wrapped around his neck, although he was a bit taller than Luna. “I don’t want promises. We’ll take things slow and see what happens.” His marriage did mean something to Luna and she considered her next words carefully. “I think if you ever feel you’re being disloyal to your wife, we’ll sit down and talk. But this town makes such things …difficult to navigate.” She didn’t want to make him feel disloyal and she did care for him and his friendship.
Anakin considered Luna’s words for a moment, then nodded. Her words made a lot of sense. The town did, in fact, make things difficult to navigate. Padme wasn’t here in Madison Valley, and Anakin honestly didn’t know if she would ever appear in the town. He knew he didn’t want to spend his time here pining for a woman who may never come to the town. He knew Padme wouldn’t want that, either.
He also didn’t want to hurt Luna. He understood that she could likely take care of herself. He knew she could, really. He also knew that she hadn’t told him of her feelings in hopes they would be reciprocated.
He leaned in and placed a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth. “I will let you know if at any time I feel disloyal to her,” he said. He felt he could promise that, at least.
If Padme ever ended up in town, Luna would gracefully return to being Anakin’s friend only. Because a marriage meant something to her, she’d never come between Anakin and Padme. But Padme wasn’t here and the Dome offered no guarantee about specific people arriving.
And she would be okay. Luna had been okay after her mother’s death, so she’d be okay if Padme did arrive. And no, she’d told Anakin to be honest, not out of any expectation of reciprocity.
The kiss to the corner of her lips startled her. Not in a bad way, but it was essentially her first kiss. Back home she’d had one person try and kiss her, but Luna hadn’t been interested, so she had politely declined. “I will hold you to that particular promise.” Luna felt a weight lift off her shoulders. This could have gone many different ways, and this felt like the best outcome.
Anakin offered Luna a small smile, and pulled her in a bit closer as they danced. It was rare for Anakin to give any true smile, especially at this point in his life. He’d had such stormy thoughts and dreams recently, it was hard for him to be happy. Padme had made him happy, and it seemed as though Luna did as well.
“You better,” he said, and leaned in to place a quick kiss against her lips. He hadn’t been sure if she would have allowed it with the first kiss, but when she hadn’t brushed it off, he felt slightly bolder about the whole situation.
Padme had been the only person he’d been with, romantically, so this was all new to him. He had a feeling it was all new to Luna, too.
Luna didn’t mind being closer to Anakin. And she recognized how rare his smile was. Also it made her feel light when he offered it to her; like a piece of rare treasure. Her fingertips lightly played with the ends of his hair.
For Luna the second kiss felt heart stopping. When he pulled back, her hands moved to cup his face and this time she kissed him, still light, but a little longer before she moved back so they were dancing and not getting looks from those around them. Of course, everyone else thought they were married, so hey newlyweds.
This definitely was new to Luna, but a type of new that excited her and didn’t leave her feeling terrified…something that happened more than once at Hogwarts.
Anakin wanted a bit more of the kisses, but he knew it was neither the time nor the place for such displays of affection. He was accustomed to not showing affection toward someone outwardly, in public. He hadn’t been allowed to with Padme for a long, long time. Even after their marriage he hadn’t been allowed to. So with Luna, he was okay with the small amount of kisses he’d received from her.
For now.
He didn’t feel terrified by the idea of starting this relationship with Luna, but he was a little nervous. Which was different from terrified.
“I do like this portal,” he decided, after a moment.
Luna was used to some PDA, having gone to school with people from eleven to seventeen. But, she didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.
Did she feel nervous? Yup.
“I like this portal too,” she said with a smile and, since no one saw, she raised one of his hands to kiss the knuckle.