Anakin Solo (anakinsolo) wrote in starnomad, @ 2015-04-05 20:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: anakin solo, character: rikki barnes, date: [61.02], location: coruscant |
Who: Rikki Barnes & Anakin Solo
When: 61.02
Where: Somewhere in mid-rim space.
What: Rikki gets flight lessons, and they run into a surprise.
Rating: Low
Status: COMPLETE.
It hadn't been as difficult as Anakin had thought it might be to secure a ship for him and Rikki to use. Once he'd explained what he wanted it for to his Uncle Luke had nodded and had pointed towards an older X-Wing that they kept for the Jedi Order to use on quick emergencies if needed. It was nearly a decade old, but was in good working order and wasn't likely to cause them problems. And Luke was glad to see Rikki get some time in real space - her simulator flights had gotten decent - but there was only so much you could learn there. And Anakin had checked the ship himself, slipping into the docking bay and considering the entire thing, not just through a check-list type procedure, but in the Force. Was it going to be safe? Was there anything unseen wrong with it? But he was able to reasonably quickly convince himself that there wasn't. The ship was older, but it was sound, and it would work well for what they were doing. That settled in his mind he made his way to his Aunt & Uncle's apartments in the Imperial Palace, a grin on his face as he was admitted by Artoo and stepped into the apartments. "You know where Rikki is Artoo?" He asked the droid as he stepped in. Artoo tweedled a reply and wheeled off towards the room Anakin knew was Rikki's. And Anakin trailed behind him - only a little impatient. While Anakin had been busy securing a ship, Rikki had her own business to concern herself with. Her nerves twitched at the idea of going into space, having a ship under her control. While Anakin would be there and she had faith in his ability to teach and the guidance she had already been given there was a jump from simulation to actual practice. She was a quick study and knew it was a skill she would need in the coming months of the war but that didn't help the worry and concern that went into place. Which meant instead of worrying Rikki spent her morning going over some of the information that was starting to trickle back to her. There wasn't much, the contacts they had spoken to hadn't even had a full day to dig. Instead she was mostly stuck with information they had already gone over. But with a few hours sleep her brain was reset to look over the facts again, trying to present them to herself in a different way. It was frustrating but it kept her busy as she went over the data pad that she had entered what the knew on. Sometimes it helped to see it. "Come in." She said off hand as she heard artoo outside the door. Anakin stepped in the door past Artoo who whistled helpfully outside of the door and then glided away. "Hey," he gave Rikki a grin as he stepped into the room. Sometimes he thought about how easily he had started to just count on her being around and it was a little uncomfortable. But he did count on her being around. They'd done missions together, and this was just another one - and it was easy so long as they were on missions together to not think too much about the fact that she was pretty and she was fast becoming a good friend as well as a partner he could rely on in a fight. Today he was working to give her a little bit more of an edge in that regard. If she could fly she'd be more useful to all of them and the time in the simulator wasn't going to be enough without some practice in real space and it would be good for her to get that while the Yuuzhan Vong weren't breathing down their necks (at least hopefully they wouldn't be). "I got us a ship - you ready?" Rikki looked up automatically as the door slid open and couldn't help the returning smile on seeing him in the doorway. Immediately she dimmed it, controlling herself but for a moment it just felt normal again and it was a feeling she was fighting as much as she could. He was just a kid who already had too many expectations on him and her own would do him no good. There was a destiny and she wasn't part of it, she was just helping him get there by fixing an event beyond his control. "Hey," she answered, quickly shutting down the datapad and opening up a drawer. Clothes were lifted up and it was slipped underneath. It was habit more than anything, she didn't think that Luke and Mara had much cause to snoop through her things. And really outside of a few items technically it was all theirs to begin with, she was just a guest. "As I'll ever be." She slid the drawer shut and walked up to him, eyeing him for a moment. "Have you gotten taller?" Anakin looked over at her and grinned a little. He didn't know if he had or not, but he didn't mind the question. Thankfully he was getting a bit taller and while he was pretty certain he hadn't grown since she saw him last he didn't mind if it looked like he had. He shrugged lightly. "Shall we go with yes? I like yes." He'd parked a transport outside so that they could head over to Eastport where he had parked his own X-Wing near hers. Both together would allow them to clear everything around the same time, easily connect via comms, and Anakin had made certain she had an astromech that would help - truthfully for take-off and the like, the droid could probably take over if need be and direct the entire thing if it came to it, which meant that really Rikki would be covered regardless. There were things that could go wrong, but most of them were unlikely to, and she'd been acing the simulators recently. "So - I've got you hooked up with an R7 unit of your own," he informed her. "It's a pretty decent droid. No personality really, but it knows what it's doing and it can help you with the flight stuff if its needed. And I've gone over the X-Wing we've got for you - it's an older ship, but it checked out. We'll still want to do the pre-flight stuff - just so you have the practice though. But you're going to do fine with this Rikki. It's simple, standard take-off, we'll be linked on comms the entire time, if you need help the R7 can help you, and I'll be just a comlink away, right? So you'll be good." "Hmm." Rikki reached up and mock measured him against her before giving him a cheeky smile and walking past. "I don't think I like it." But as uneventful as the ride over was Rikki couldn't help the building tension inside. Logically she knew she could do this. Her simulations had gone well, she had gone over and over what needed to actually be done when she got inside an actual plane. It wasn't just nerves but excitement as she smiled up at the ship. The droid could take over if she messed up too badly and Anakin would be right there in his own ship. She would never learn by holding back so it was time to just go all in. "Yeah, I'll be good." She flashed Anakin a grin as she climbed up. Pre-flight was familiar, something she could easily practice and now was coming without hesitation. Her breath caught for a moment as the ship began to spring to life. Giddiness was tempered as she stayed focused, walking through the next part that she had only been part of less than a handful of times. This wasn't a simulation going through protocols instead actual voices on the other side, making way for them as they waited to get through to the atmosphere. Her eyes went wide when their turn finally came, following knowledge more than instinct. It wasn't anything like the motorcycle but there was that same thrill of movement, of control over the device beneath her hands. It was hard to say exactly the moment that it switched from atmosphere to just space with the stars brighter than they could ever be on Coruscant. "Wow." she breathed as she stared out for a moment before forcing her focus back. Anakin had spent most of the trip over to Eastport docks half-grinning at the memory of Rikki's measurement. It shouldn't have delighted him as much as it had, and he knew it. But at the same time - it had delighted him. The fact that she might be seeing him as a little more grown-up, a little more mature, a little more... well, her equal, did bring him more pleasure than he wished to spend time unpacking. It wasn't going to be helpful to their current tasks anyway. He'd spent the remainder of the trip running through a series of focusing techniques and had kept his eyes on her as she'd gone through pre-flights. He couldn't see her cock-pit, but he'd told the R7 to keep in contact with him if anything was unusual, and he had been able to keep up a verbal checklist with her as she'd gone through it. She'd done beautifully though - and he could tell that through the Force along with everything else. And as he followed up behind her, breaking atmosphere behind her X-Wing, he could almost sense her delight and awe in the Force as they pulled into the space around Coruscant. "Not bad, Nomad," he said with a quick grin over the com. "I'm going to send you a set of coordinates, and we're going to jump out to space - where there shouldn't be a lot of anything. We'll be out of the hyperspace lanes, and most of the traffic around Coruscant, and it should give you a chance to do some maneuvering in real-time. Fiver, shoot the coordinates over. They should be incoming..." "Now to make sure I don't jump through a planet." Rikki smiled slightly as Mara's continued warning played through her head. Which had never been a risk in driving lessons with gramps but there had been the whole melon on the side of the road bit which had been almost the same. The coordinates came in and Rikki walked through inputting them as she did. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, which it should in Rikkis opinion. She had had good teachers so far and it was not as if this was anything she hadn't done before, just in real time instead of simulation or at Mara's side. It was a short jump but rikki smiled wide at the lines of the sky all the same. Would they ever stop being so amazing? She wasn't sure, Rikki was fairly certain she wouldn't live long enough for the awe to wear thin. And open space was... A whole lot of nothing except for Anakin dropping out beside her. "A whole lot of nothing." Rikki commented quietly over the comms as she took in just how empty it was. Anakin cracked a grin at Rikki's comment and he waited for her to make the jump, tracking her trajectory as she left, and acknowledging Fiver's recognition that she'd been on course: "Of course she was, Fiver. She's good - she's just not very experienced. That's what we're working on." He pulled the lever for hyperspace following her in his own X-Wing and dropping into space beside her. It was a whole lot of nothing. No planets for lightyears, and they were off the main traffic-ways. Something might find them out here, but it wasn't likely that they were going to just stumble across Yuuzhan Vong - at least Anakin could hope not. He really didn't want to put Rikki up against enemy combatants just yet - particularly not Yuuzhan Vong combatants and their damn coral skippers. So he'd just have to keep his eyes and ears open - particularly his sensors open. The Force wouldn't do him any good right here. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?" he commed back at her. "But you're not going to run into anything, so that's good. Let's do some basic maneuvering first, just give you some time in it. So - you're in control, go forward, turn, come back. Let's keep it pretty simple for right now while you're still getting used to the real thing. Simulators aren't exactly the same after all." He hesitated, pushed some buttons on the panel to put his own ship into readiness and then added. "You did great going through planetary security. Like a pro. You're feeling all right now, yeah?" "Yeah I've a feeling running into things would be bad." Still she couldn't help the smile on her face as she looked out. It was humbling, completely surrounded by stars with no one else but Anakin for light years. And even then there was the vastness of a vacuum separating them from one another. It was just Rikki, her ship, and a droid that had no personality to speak of. Simulators weren't the same thing but they taught her enough to know what to do next. But she could hear that small bit of hesitation in his voice and she couldn't help but wonder why. Was it worry? With all they had going on for him to be worried about this, well, there wasn't really much that she could screw up out here with him and the droid as backup. Was it something else? Maybe it was just teaching jitters, how often was Anakin really in the lead at this point in his life? Yavin was still before him. "I think you're more nervous than I am, Shadow." she teased gently as she pushed her ship forward. "Nonsense," Anakin responded with an ease that hadn't been evident before. Maybe he was a little bit nervous, because he did know a thing or two that could go wrong out here even with nothing to run into. But he wasn't going to dwell on it. There was no sense in being anxious - and it would only make him less focused on what he was trying to do. And so he edged his X-Wing up, following her a little, but not too close. "All right - take it around swing left and bring her back, all right?" Anakin watched her as she moved the ship. He really wished he had a direct line into her cock-pit, and then he realized he could probably sense her movements and that of the ship in the Force if he really needed to. And he sat for a moment trying to decide if that's what he wanted to do. Was it necessary? And if not, was it going to over-all damage his ability in the Force? After a moment's hesitation he ended up leaving it alone. Unless she gave him some reason to check her in that way - he wouldn't. She was going to do fine. She would do more than fine probably - she would do amazing. This part felt more familiar. The controls were different, so very very different, but the concept was the same. For just a moment she could feel Gramps' steady weight behind her, shouting in her ear as the wind ripped past her helmet. An X-Wing wasn't a motorcycle but if Rikki could drive one of those she could figure out one of these right? After all it wasn't like they were asking her to be the next member of Rogue Squadron, just to be good enough that if she was needed she could figure out one of these things. She grounded herself to Anakin's voice on the comms and went through the orders as he brought them up. With space wide and open before them it gave her plenty of room and they had no definite time limit that they needed to be back. There was no wind, no road to follow, but the sensation of freedom and control was the same as it had been on the asphalt. "What's next?" Anakin watched her as he gave her suggestions of what to do next. Fiver tweedled and he glanced down at his screen and he was reminded that he really needed to upgrade the personality matrix for the droid. Fiver was decent enough in ability, but his sense of humor and general personality left much to be desired - something that was especially apparent after Anakin had been hanging out with Artoo so much in the past few weeks. "She's fine," he told the droid and she was fine. As best Anakin could tell her form was pretty decent and so that meant she was ready to do something a little bit more. As she came back in beside him he couldn't help but grin a little. He knew that he was going to feel better when she was capable in a fighter. It wasn't that she would be out in one - necessarily - but being able to maneuver a ship, to have practice doing so, if they ended up in a situation where more than a droid was required it would be nice to have her competent enough to fill that role even if she didn't have that extra edge that Force sensitivity might have given her. "Nice," he said briefly over the comms, glancing in the direction of her X-Wing as he said it. He could see her sillouette in the cockpit and it brought a smile to his lips. "I'm thinking next let's actually have you follow me. I'm not going to tell you what to do - I'm going to show you what - and it's your job to keep up, and not get too close, all right? I'll keep it simple - don't worry - but it'll be different from what you just did, and a bit more likely to be a possibility of something you'll need to do." Because if she was in a ship, there was a possibility she might need to follow an escort down to a planet, or away from one, and being able to keep up - follow their direction - even in the midst of comm clutter or chatter or distractions - it was a good skill to have. "You ready?" Off comms, Anakin turned to Fiver and gave him a set of instructions regarding the shields on the X-Wing, and then he took off straight,after a few moments he darted to the right, did a full figure eight flip, using the Force all the way through each maneuver to keep his senses attuned to where Rikki was in relationship to him. The figure eight he followed up by taking off to the left, a sharp turn that nearly stood the X-Wing on its side, and was admittedly probably a little more complicated than what he'd promised her that she'd have to deal with, but Anakin had a difficult time thinking simple and even if she didn't accomplish the turn so sharply, attempting it was good practice. Another figure eight and straight stretch to put him back near the coordinates they'd came into and he waited for Rikki to pull up beside him again even though he half wanted to keep going - just maneuver after maneuver between the two of them, how good a partnership did they have? How easily could she track what he was doing? If he needed to keep her alive -- would he be able to do so? If she needed to keep him alive - would she be able to do so? They were sobering, but undeniably important questions to ask. "Just like following a mark." Rikki commented lightly over the comms before her face settled back into concentration. "Ready." While the controls were still new and all at once the same and different from the simulations if there was one thing Rikki knew in this world it was how Anakin's mind worked. She didn't have the edge that the Force gave, that sense of simply knowing where she needed to be and what she needed to do next. But what she did have was a very good read on the man in front. Even if she didn't know how he flew, she knew how he fought, how he pushed himself even when he wasn't trying. And while this was about learning how to fly this ship around her Rikki focused in on Anakin and simply followed. It wasn't the cleanest job, Rikki was best on her feet. But she fell into pattern behind Anakin, knowing towards the end that he could never resist pushing himself just a little bit further. This was training but her teacher was Anakin, prodigy even if he never actually wanted to admit it. Hesitation on her end wouldn't teach her anything. Her form was sloppy, the figure eights weren't exactly figure eights, but as she followed it got easier, she fell into habit. It was... comfortable really. This wasn't too much different than a fight, keeping track on the ques in front to keep herself on target. And focusing on Anakin placed her in a state that she couldn't quite describe. There was a sense of calm as she held onto the idea of him, as if he was warm and comforting beside her. "That wasn't too bad. Unless I'm thinking I'm doing better than I am." A lopsided grin spread across his face even though he knew Rikki couldn't see him. But she was doing well. In fact, he'd been surprised at how well she'd been able to keep up with him. her movements hadn't been smooth or precise, but she'd managed to keep up with him and he'd felt her determination and focus in the Force, something that had impressed him. He wondered if he actually gave her a sense of where he was going in the Force if she'd pick up on any of it - probably not unless he was actually trying to impress it upon her, and that wouldn't really be - well it wouldn't be helpful probably. It wasn't as if she was going to typically be following him in space. "No, you're doing pretty well," he said aloud over the comms. "The figure eights we need to work on a bit. You want to go through some slower, or do you want to wait until you've had some time practicing on them in the simulators a bit more? It's not likely you'll need anything that clean if you end up in a fight - but at the same time being able to maneuver is going to help keep you safe if you do end up there." "No let's try them again." Rikki immediately replied. "We don't know when we're going to get the chance to go out again, better now than never right?" The simulators only did so much. Of course without them there was no way she would have followed Anakin as well as she had but there really was no replacement for actual experience. And with what they were working on in the Undercity as well as the Jedi Order's efforts in the war against the Vong, there really was no telling if Luke would be able to lend them an X-Wing again to train. All it took was someone else in the Order actually needing it and Rikki would have nothing to fly. But she didn't get much of a chance to say anything else before her clear view of the vast emptiness of space was interrupted. Dropping from hyperspace was a ship that didn't look like anything she had seen so far with the Jedi and the New Republic. Not that she was the expert on ships in any universe but the hair on the back of her neck stood up almost immediately. They weren't near any hyperspace lanes, that was the whole reason they were here. No one else should be, which could only mean one thing. There was no warning in the Force, but then there never was with the Yuuzhan Vong and their blasted coral skippers. The first warning was the sensor screaming at him and and Anakin swore under his breath as he turned his ship around to scan it, urgent commands being directed to his droid as he did so. "Fiver - do a full scan, shields up, rear shields full," and he smacked the comm to snap at Rikki with urgency: "Nomad shields up, now - 100%, ready your hyperdrive, Fiver's going to shoot you coordinates." If there was one ship out this far, it could be a scout - or it might be part of an advance group. Either way, it could be dangerous to them and Rikki had done decent in her maneuvering - but that had been simple, her following him, and despite the fact that he'd been impressed - good against him in a game of follow the leader was an entirely different thing from good against lasers and torpedos and a very real, ruthless, deadly enemy. Anakin pulled his X-Wing around, checking his own shields. "Fiver calculate a jump to the Alderaanian asteroid fields -send the coordinates to Nomad. Prep an instantaneous jump from there to Coruscant as well." Fiver tweeted his response and the instructions were relayed. "Nomad you've got those? As soon as those are clear you make the jump, got it?" And he pulled his X-Wing around between Rikki and the coralskipper. Shields were raised as soon as he gave order, Rikki quickly remembering just how to do that. Luckily the droid in back knew more about the ship than she did. With the coordinates coming through Rikki knew exactly what she needed to do. This wasn't the place for bravado or arguing. She barely knew how to fly a ship, even with her shield's up she would be close to defenseless against a trained pilot who had no qualms about killing a ship that could relay their existence to Coruscant. There were no illusions when it came to her actual ability in a ship, she was only just past the simulators. "You better be right behind me *you stupid Jedi or I will haul your butt back myself*" Rikki breathed as she plugged in the coordinates. She'd only ever done one jump before, not added in an instantaneous one after. But Anakin had already placed himself in front which made him the more noticeable target. He wasn't even supposed to be out here, this was a risk they shouldn't have taken and if something happened to Anakin it would be too soon and entirely her own fault. But despite the ice in her veins she finished inputting the instructions. "Well Barnes, no time like the present." With the instructions in, she took the jump, cold shock washing over her. There was a pause and then another jump and soon she was back above Coruscant. And that meant all she could do now was wait. "He'll be fine, he has to be right behind me." She said to no one in particular. Anakin was relieved when he saw her ship jump out and he hoped that she would make the jump and that it would be safe and there wouldn't be any unexpected visits at Alderaan. It left him with the question of whether or not he should follow her immediately, or if he should destroy the coralskipper. If a larger ship showed up - it might make his hyperdrives inoperable, but if it was a scout - he could send information back, and this particular place would no longer be safe. The decision was pretty simple and Anakin rolled into an attack position, firing his lasers at the coral skipper. He knew what to expect with the ships, their shields, and that he was going to have to work at getting through their shields. The Yuuzhan Vong ship pulled out in front, firing back, and Anakin darted. Even though he couldn't feel the ship or it's pilot in the Force, he still had his instincts and his skill and he was good. And it was one ship, one coralskipper that, despite the shields and difficulty penetrating those shields, he could manage. It took another two passes, the frantic moment when his own shields got hit, and Fiver squealed at him as he pulled a sharp, almost impossible turn out of the X-Wing, and sent a fantastic barrelling of shots over the coralskipper until it exploded into pieces. As he pulled out on the other side Anakin checked the hyperspace coordinates, and jumped - not to Alderaan where he'd sent Rikki, but in the opposite direction, taking three jumps back, just in case there was the possibility someone could have tried to trail him. The final coordinates dumped him at Coruscant and he immediately ran the comm signal looking for Rikki. "Nomad, do you copy?" "Shadow?" Minutes had ticked by, growing longer since she had arrived back at Coruscant. There was no answer back on the comms, dread making her palms clammy as the worst scenarios possible ran through her head. Logically she knew she was next to useless as backup, getting out of Anakins way was the smartest battle plan even for her. At least one of them getting back meant someone to report to Luke and Mara what had happened. And Anakin had grown up in ships. He knew how to fight and they ha the element of surprise as the Vong would not have been expecting them either. But the longer Rikki waited, hesitant on gaining reentry to the planet below the easier it was for panic to rise. She was supposed to be protecting anakin, keeping him away from death and she might have signed it away early instead. When his voice crackled over the comms rikki could have sobbed. But instead she calmed herself and took a breath. "Nomad here, Shadow." She replied into the comms. "status?" Anakin was likely not as relieved as Rikki was, but he was still relieved at hearing her voice on the comm. There had been, however unlikely, the possibility of running into Unfriendlies along the routes. Either Yuuzhan Vong, or pirates, or smugglers -- and they could have any of them potentially pulled her put anywhere along the way. Without him following along with her he wouldn't have known and she would have been left alone. He breathed a sigh of relief and managed a quick smile, his words casual and confident over the comm. "All in one piece, not even much shield damage. The pilot isn't going to tell his tale. You?" Logically Rikki knew she would have done the same thing. That scout had been a risk and in a zone that was previously thought to be safe. With only one there isolating the threat and destroying was the best course of action. But logic didn't mean anything to the churning confusion of emotions that she was experiencing at being proven right as to why he had taken so long. This time he had won. And of course he had, anakin was a trained pilot after all. But what if he hadn't. "No trouble." She commented back as she started protocol for reentry. This was something else new for her on her own, getting clearance and finding their way back to the dock. And she wanted to think that the time gave her the ability to process through her own confusion but all if did was remind her that she was supposed to be protecting anakin and instead she had left him in danger because she was useless. He had assumed as much, but it was nice to have it confirmed and he nodded although she couldn't see him and prepped the ship for re-entry. She took over and he let her, running through a series of Jedi focusing and calming exercises to deal with the spiked adrenaline from their encounter. And as he kept an eye on her, an ear on the comms as she chatted with planetary security and gave clearance codes, and was kept waiting in a queue of ships all doing the same things necessary to be allowed re-entrance into the planetary safe zone, he was given plenty of time to think. So far as they knew the Yuuzhan Vong were not that far into space. There were planets on that trajectory that were - so far as anyone knew - still in New Republic hands. How many beings were in danger currently? How much longer was the New Republic going to be able to protect them? Even with new ships, it took time to train people to fly them. Even with the Hapans support, it wasn't enough and Anakin knew it. He knew too that there weren't enough Jedi - even if the oldest and most trained at Yavin were able to come out it wouldn't be enough. He would have to report back what they'd seen to Uncle Luke, but he didn't know if it meant there was an invasion planned nearby, if the ship had been on its way elsewhere and simply paused, but the coral skippers didn't seem to be able to travel far on their own... no, it had been part of a larger convoy more than likely. As he pulled his X-Wing in behind Rikki, pulling the ship up and landing it at Eastport Dock once more, he glanced over at the older one, his brow furrowing. She needed practice in the ships, and they'd made progress, but it could have so easily have gone wrong. If there had been more than one ship dropping out on them - could she have made the jump out? If she'd had to pull into a combat situation - she wasn't ready for that and she didn't have the Force to draw on for instincts - and people who did have that, and far more training - like Kyp's Dozen - had gone up against the Yuuzhan Vong and found themselves no match. It was a frustrating Catch 22. Anakin didn't want to put her in danger, but she needed the practice, and today had just proven itself one very good reminder of why. He pulled off his gloves, gave some final instructions to Fiver, and pulled open his cockpit and climbed out heading immediately towards Rikki. Perhaps a little too eager to make certain she was all right and was really there with him. There was something to be said about focusing in on reentry. It wasn't much but it was something despite the dread only being given a slight reprieve. The Vong shouldn't e this far in yet, that much she knew. It could be a one off or it could mean that she had changed more than she thought at Centerpoint. The Hapan fleet still existed but so did more Vong. Had their plans been escalated? But as they touched down in docking Rikki had to push those thoughts from her mind because right now she had to see Anakin with her own eyes and not just hear his voice on the other end. She hopped out of her cockpit and immediately darted around his ship to see him. Pausing for a moment, Rikki took long enough to access that he seemed to be in one piece. One piece that existed to drive her completely mad and right now she couldn't hold back. The relief was palpable as she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him before she could even think about if she should, pulling him right against her. "You stupid idiot." Anakin hadn't been expecting that and the enthusiasm with which she threw her arms around him caused him to take a step back, wrapping an arm instinctively around her waist to simply keep himself standing. The hug, however unexpected, was not unwelcome and he returned it with a squeeze. The closeness, and the unexpectedness of it, was a jolt of pleasure that spread through his veins, but as he pulled back there was something that felt simple and safe about it too. He decided not to spend time thinking about the feeling in the moment, but instead simply gave her a grin. "I knew what I was doing - I was ready to jump if I needed to, but as it is he's not going to tell anyone we were out there, and not even a scratch on my X-Wing, so I'd say that's pretty good," he ran his hand down her arm to squeeze her hand when he reached the bottom of it. Having him close sent a painful ache through her, one she knew would happen but all the same it took her by surprise. Rikki had been so careful about touching Anakin, because she knew it would bring up more than he could return. The urge to shove him up against his stupid plane and kiss him was almost more than she could handle. There was always just something that felt right in the world when she held him though. When he reached for her hand Rikki nearly melted into the confusion of her own feelings. But luckily Anakin was still Anakin which meant he was also one of the most frustrating people she knew. "And what if you hadn't?" Rikki pulled back, her free hand gripping his shoulder and shaking him. The one he held squeezed back tight. "Anakin you were alone out there, I wouldn't have been able to get someone back in time if you hadn't been lucky enough to win!" There was no right situation and it had turned out all right. But the frustration of her uselessness frayed her nerves. "You were supposed to be right behind me!" "And I was," he countered. "I couldn't have been more than five or ten minutes max and at least three of those was because I took a different jump than you did in case someone managed to catch a trail to follow," he looked over at her seriously, unwilling to drop her hand despite the fact that the shake had been pretty strong too and she was clearly irritated with him. The last had likely been an unnecessary precaution with no one there when he jumped while at the same time being a bit of a risk because what if something had happened to her? But at he same time, they really didn't know what the Yuuzhan Vong were capable of doing so he'd taken it and in the end it had worked. They were both standing here on the ground in Coruscant. "Hey, you were perfect, okay? You did the right thing. You got out of there which allowed me to keep that guy from telling anyone he saw us there. We're both here and no harm done," he kept his eyes on hers and gave her a warm smile, finally deciding he should drop her hand so he squeezed it gently and did so, reluctantly. "And before that? You were doing pretty good in that X-Wing, and you more or less brought us in all on your own so it was good work completed, Rikki." "I know I did the right thing!" Rikki snapped, pulling away in just pure frustration for a moment because she couldn't look at the easy smile on his face. Everything had turned out all right, she should try focusing on that. But now that he was here and now that she knew with her own eyes that he was fine and that it all worked out in the end she had her moment to be just this close to furious. She didn't want to see that smile right now, reminding her of just what she was risking. That smile could be a tipping point for this galaxy even if he would never acknowledge it. "What if it hadn't been okay, Anakin?" she asked, the hand that had run roughly through her hair dropping to her side as she looked back at him. There was just so much at risk here and relief and anger were too overwhelming when put together. "We need to go tell Master Skywalker and Aunt Mara. They'll need to know about this." Anakin's smile faltered just a bit and he frowned. "It was fine though, and there's no point in dwelling if it hadn't been. I mean yeah it might not have been but the option was to leave him knowing we'd been there and we were in x-wings, Rikki. For all he knew we could have been military scouts - and who knows what that might have set in motion." He reached over for her hand. She was right about telling his uncle and aunt but at the moment he just looked at her. It occurred to him that while his adrenaline had been high, he'd done this before. She hadn't. "Are you all right?" No, she wasn't all right was the simplest answer. But it was more than that. He touched her again, taking her hand and Rikki couldn't help but warped her fingers around his, holding onto it tight for a moment. For so long Anakin Solo had been her tether when nothing in the world made sense, the person who she could reach out to and settle her mind and bring her back to reality. And for a very long time she had been without him, even when he stood right next to her. She couldn't reach for him, she couldn't tell him everything she wanted to. But she could make attempts to protect him, moving the entire fate of the galaxy if she had to. Right now she really just wanted to keep holding his hand, to know he was there, to feel like the world made sense. And it didn't and maybe it never would again. But Anakin had reached for her and that did more than she wanted to admit, the rush of emotion kept carefully concealed because it was more than he should have to deal with. "I'm fine." she answered, her shoulders relaxing just slightly. Anakin watched her carefully, but he could see her shoulders relax and he could see a certain amount of tension dropping out of her and he relaxed with that. He realised he hadn't really considered how terrifying it might be for her to come face to face with the Yuuzhan Vong for the first time. He could remember how unnerving it had been the first time he had - and that had been before anyone had realised exactly what they were facing. Sernpidal had happened yes, but they hadn't realised the extent of it. His eyes stayed on her face for a moment longer and he squeezed her hand again. "It's okay to not be," he offered softly. "I wasn't. Sometimes I'm still not. But you do get used to it. Sort of." She knew he wasn't. Just like Rikki knew that Anakin didn't sleep, that he cared more than sometimes maybe he should about what happened around them. There was such a huge weight on his shoulders and Anakin always took all of it on that he could. Their long conversations into twilight weren't just because they were friends, it made the night a little less lonely and holding off dreams a little more bearable when there was someone to provide a distraction. "I've lost a lot of people, Anakin." Rikki's voice was soft for a moment as she looked up at him, allowing herself the moment of honesty because it was more painful to not be honest with him. She had lost whole worlds, universes, one after another until she had ended up here by some kind of twist of fate or the Force or really she didn't know. All she knew is that she was here, watching him grow up and hoping that maybe she could change just enough without dooming him. Rikki let go of his hand only to wrap her arms around him again, pulling him in close in a gentler hug from the desperation of earlier. "Just... we stick together, okay? I don't want to be the one that leaves you behind." This hug was less unexpected, if only because he could feel the intention just briefly in the Force and he didn't bother to hold back but instead wrapped his arms around her. Maybe it was too close, he wasn't certain, all he knew for certain was that he felt that she needed comfort. She'd lost people and he knew what that was like. He knew that he'd wanted people to hug him at times and he hadn't always had it. But he was here and he could give her that. So he slid his arms around her and pulled her close and put his head against hers. "All right," he agreed. "We stick together. That goes for you too, you know?" And just like that he felt perfect in her arms and Rikki felt more like she belonged than she had in a long time. It wasn't the same, she knew that, but for just the briefest of moments she could pretend, leaning into his arms as the tension eased from her back. It was only when she felt the urge to kiss him that she pulled back. This wasn't some overwhelming kiss of passion though, it was different, the soft reassurances from someone she loved. The reminder that those reassurances didn't exist here was enough to pull her back to reality. Pulling back her hands ran down his arms, taking his own in hers as she looked back at him. "Yeah, okay." Anakin didn't really want to pull back. Kind of how he never really wanted to turn off the holo when they talked at night, or how he never really wanted to stop patrolling in the undercity or how he just wanted her around. It was something he wasn't used to and he didn't really know what to do with. He'd told himself it was just friendship or working together and that it wasn't anything more and sometimes despite this he fantasized that it was something more even though he was pretty certain that never could be, and then sometimes she crept into his dreams - just there and when he woke up it felt so real that he had to remind himself that they weren't that close. This was the closest real life had ever felt to one of those dreams. But it was real life, and they needed to focus and Anakin knew that. He looked into her eyes and he squeezed her hands and he smiled. "Good." He dropped her hands and stepped back from her, running a hand through his hair and glancing over at where Fiver had disembarked from the X-Wing and was coming towards them making slightly bored noises. "Did you grab all the information, Fiver?" He asked the droid and it tweetled at him in an affirmative. "Good. All right then, we've got as much information as we can give Uncle Luke and Aunt Mara and we should probably go give it." He turned back to Rikki, all business, but there was warmth in his eyes and concern, and something that said he wasn't going to forget the promise they'd just made to each other. |