Love. It’s different to every person. To some it’s fulfilling, to some it’s pain, to some it’s their purpose.

And to some, it’s the oxygen that they breathe, the oxygen that stokes the flame of their passion.

That was what it was to Anakin. For the young Skywalker, love was what transcended duty and morality. It was binding, a splinter that had lodged itself deep into his heart and soul.

Perhaps that’s what pushed him to this point, where he was considering forsaking his duty and loyalty to the Jedi.

His eyes flitted down to your sleeping figure, bathed in the pale moonlight. Gently, he pulled the blanket up to your chin.

From the very first time Anakin had seen you, he’d known there’d be no one for him but you. Yet, for all his yearning, you’d always been a hand away from his reach. Not only because attachments were forbidden within the Jedi code, but also because you were a beloved Senator.

You’d been out of his reach, until you hadn’t. All he’d needed was the green light from you, and he’d been ready to go against his teachings.

And so, a marriage in secrecy had blossomed. For a few years, he’d enjoyed the quiet affection, the stolen touches, the whispered promises. The years brought a promise of a child, too—something which you’d been unsure about, but he’d seen it as a blessing.

That is, until the nightmares started. Nightmares of you, dying in childbirth. They haunted him, just as the nightmares of his mother’s death had.

But this time, he wouldn’t lose you.

“I won’t lose you,” he promised softly, his fingers brushing against your cheek. He watched your eyelashes flutter. He knew you could sense the growing darkness in him, the possessiveness, and that it worried you.

But…

“I’m no good without you.”