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Saying Armin disliked Coruscant would be a huge understatement. He loathed the damn planet and often wondered why he took the job as a senator, spending his days in the heart of the Republic. Coruscant was nothing like his homeland, always bursting with action, never sleeping with no means of relaxing or slowing down.
How could the Jedi even have their temple on such a planet? It was a question that often troubled the young senator. He asked his Jedi friends about it once. T he Jedi erected it on top of the remains of ancient Sith shrine, to reclaim their place on Coruscant, like the even more ancient Jedi did. It didn’t make much sense to Armin at the time.
Armin Arlert was a promising young politician from the often forgotten inner rim planet of the
Pyrshak system, Manaan – a planet which had the entire surface covered with salty water. The ocean, they called it. It was a peaceful planet with the native species called Selkath, aquatic race of caring and peaceful people. Armin was part of the human minority, but they mostly accepted him as one of their own as he was born there, in the heart of Ahto City. He would spend his days on the surface, gazing at the ocean stretching beyond the horizon, endless and eternal.
When the Selkath asked him to be their senator, Armin just couldn’t refuse – he knew what the humans were like and how they treated non-human people and he swore to defend the peaceful aquatic people of his homeworld and dedicated his heart for their rights as a neutral member of the Republic.
And that is how he found himself spending his time on a rowdy planet like Coruscant. Do not get him wrong – he learned much there and found people who he could call friends. However listening to his Jedi best friend Eren talk about the sharp mountains of Alderaan, the ocean of fire on Mustafar, the never ending fields of sand on Tatooine, or the tropic oas es on the frozen world of Belsavis made his heart ache for his home, and more. He desperately wanted to see the galaxy and explore the stars, like Eren did.
And yet he was sitting in his senator apartment in the top part of the city, gazing down on the endless stream of airspeeders and starships, with the Jedi temple sticking out among the skyscrapers like a sore thumb.
He wondered how Eren and Mikasa’s recent mission went. What world did they get to see this time? Would Eren go out of his way, breaking the Jedi rules, to bring him a little memento again? He wanted to know. He wished he could see it all with them. He of course knew he couldn’t, he was just a senator, not a Jedi. Armin knew his way around with a small blaster, hidden in his elaborate blue-white robes, but that was it.
A sudden ring of his apartment doorbell woke him up from his daydreaming and Armin did his best to compose himself, smoothing out his hair and curling his lips into a smile as he made his way to check who decided to visit him. To his surprise and delight, Eren and Mikasa appeared on the holo-screen, and not some other senator of some more influential world, trying to buy rights to their oceans with no good intentions.
When his Jedi friends arrive to his apartment, all his self control goes out of the window as he flings himself into their arms, hugging them tightly. Eren and Mikasa share amused looks but hug him back as tightly. They shouldn’t care for each other as much as they do, but it was those two, and the rule of attachment was already broken by the two, thanks to their strong friendship. Mikasa’s scarf just was another proof of that. But they were strong knights, strongest while working together, so no one ever really attempted to punish them.
“Eren! Mikasa! I’m so glad you’re alright!” Armin whispered as he let them go, gaining back his composure.
“Armin… It was nothing more than usual mission to help regain peace on a planet, nothing special or very dangerous,” argued Mikasa in a calm voice, smiling affectionately at the shorter man anyway.
“And we brought you a gift! Fresh from Rishi!” added Eren, all excited, pulling out a string of seashells out of his coat, giving them to Armin.
“Thank you. You shouldn’t have.” Armin feels touched, already planning on displaying the seashells on his bedroom shelf, where they would match all the other little presents Eren brought him from his missions.
*
“And then, just as I was ready to catch that little monkey, this creature called Grophet, which is like really fat big four legged animal, ran straight into my back and ruined it all!” said Eren dramatically, flailing his arms around, making Armin laugh softly over the wine glass.
It was already evening and Mikasa had retreated back to the temple, but Eren insisted on staying a bit longer, finishing the bottle of wine and their dinner. Armin didn’t mind that at all as he was quite fond of the young knight. Maybe a bit too fond, actually. But he knew the Jedi were forbidden to form such attachments. Even the deep friendship Eren and Mikasa shared was frowned upon a lot. Especially Mikasa’s attachment to Eren. What would people think if it ever happened to leak? Senator of a forgotten insignificant world like Manaan and one of the strongest young Jedi knights? That sounded like a very bad time and a juicy scandal to Armin. Love was a weakness, a path to the dark side, or to an unprofessional downfall of one’s reputation.
“How tragic...” he responded to Eren, cutting off his own thought process.
Now was not the time for such thoughts , he reminded himself.
“I know right? I landed face first into the sea! That water is salty!” Eren complained and Armin just rolled his eyes.
“Eren, I know this might come as surprise to you, since you have never visited my homeworld, but I’m from Manaan. The whole planet is one giant ocean. Of course I know the seawater would be salty!” he replied, snorting, and Eren’s eyes widened.
“Oh! Yeah. Right,” he said, looking down at the ground. “I want to visit it one day. With you.”
No, stop it, Armin pleaded his overreacting heart. He is a Jedi and even if he likes you like that, you can never be together .
Ah well. This was clearly enough wine today for Armin, since he started to actually consider all of this. He set the empty glass down, focusing his attention back at Eren.
He was a nicely built young knight, his dark Jedi robes hiding the strong figure beneath it. His lightsabers were, as always, attached to his waist, plain metal hilts that were so Eren, hiding the shining blue blade of light that reminded Armin of how the sun reflected of the ocean on Manaan. His brown hair had nice haircut instead of the horrid padawan style and he could get lost in those teal eyes. In summary, the young blonde senator had it bad.
“Shouldn’t you be getting back to the temple? Won’t they mind?” he asked instead, looking into Eren’s eyes.
“Yeah but… The temple doesn’t feel good. It’s cold and dark, unlike you and this place,” Eren mused, locking his eyes on Armin, who was now blushing and not only because of the wine.
“I think you should get back anyway,” said Armin, averting his gaze, biting his lip. “People might get the wrong idea if you spend all your nights here.”
Eren frowned, looking down, seemingly thinking about something for a bit and then he got up on his feet, straightening his back. Then he looked at Armin, nodding and began making his way to the exit of the apartment.
“I’ll come around tomorrow anyway,” Eren insisted when he stopped by the exit to the elevator.
“Don’t give Mikasa too much trouble.” Armin smiled, looking at him.
“Take care of yourself,” Eren whispered as he suddenly drew Armin into a close hug, burying his head into his shoulder, continuing in whispers, “I don’t know for how long I can see you anymore. The days of peace are running out.”
“I know,” Armin breathed out, enjoying the hug for the short time it lasted and then letting Eren leave into the night.
He knew very well the days of peace were coming to an end. It was matter of time now. He just hoped Manaan kept its neutrality and would be unaffected. Even if they were galaxy apart, he would hold Mikasa and Eren in his heart and hope they would come back to him.
Armin had troubles sleeping that night. Regardless of the wine, he had a bad feeling about something, but couldn’t identify what it was. He would be a mess in the morning, when the senate meeting was to happen on the issue of medical supply trade routes. That affected Manaan greatly and he should be at his best if he was to make his voice heard. And yet…
*
A sound of an intense bell buzzing woke Armin up quite abruptly. He was still in his night clothes, his hair sticking in all directions when he got to the door . He was quite surprised to see Eren and Mikasa along with few of his Selkath advisers and a Jedi Master whose name he desperately couldn’t recall. Did he oversleep? Did something happen? Armin’s mind was overflowing with worrying thoughts when he let them in, attempting to at least make his hair a bit presentable while waiting for their elevator to arrive.
“What happened?” he barked out as soon as they all came inside, seeing the distressed look at Eren’s face.
“There has been a report of a device resembling a Sith holocron being present on Manaan,” the Jedi Master spoke.
“Uh… I’m not sure I follow? Does that mean there are Sith on Manaan?” Armin frowned, looking at all of them.
“There is the possibility of that, yes. It could have also been there for years. This is bad,” said one of the Selkath, stroking his cephalic lobes as if it was facial hair.
“So… You’re going to retrieve it and dispose of it, right?” Armin asked, looking at the Jedi Master directly.
“We need you to come with us, it is the ultimatum the Ahto High Court gave us,” explained Eren scratching the back of his head.
“Then give me ten minutes to pack and we are going,” he answers decisively, not sparing the Jedi or Selkath another look, going back to his room.
Once there, he gives himself a minute to calm down and then goes to pack few robes and make himself look presentable. Manaan is his home and he still has his family home there in case he needs anything, but one can never be sure enough. His heart drops at the thought of something so foul like a Sith holocron on his home planet, but then also feels a sting of the thought of long lost knowledge… which has most probably been acquired by very unethical measures.
Still, how did it get to Manaan? Is the endless ocean their hideout? Is this a ploy to lure out the Jedi? He hoped it was just an artifact from the past, from when the Sith had their own Empire and presence on Manaan, remnant of the Cold War that happened so many years ago. But then there was the question of how did it stay hidden for thousands of years only to be uncovered now?
He had so many questions and so little answers as he sat in the Jedi starship, Eren and Mikasa sending him worried looks from the other side of the room. He ignored them, staring out of the window at the shimmering light of hyperspace travel. His head was still buzzing with intrusive thoughts. Armin wanted to go back to Manaan, but not like this. Not because there was something wrong.
Another thought hit Armin at the moment. Why did the government want Armin to specifically come with the Jedi? The meeting about the trade routes was quite important… Wait, was this means of getting him off Coruscant so he couldn’t be present, leaving only his Selkath advisers to deal with the meeting?
This whole thing was starting to get more and more suspicious each second. Armin had a really bad feeling about this. And to top this all he was stuck on a ship for few hours with Eren, in a small room with Mikasa present, of all things. He always had the feeling she could read him like an open book, knowing his every feeling and though. While sometimes that was quite comforting, right now it made him feel even more uneasy. And so he tried to focus on anything but the two Jedi, failing miserably.
When he stepped out of the starship, the first thing he noticed was the air. Clean, smelling of saltwater and kolto. He didn’t realize how much he missed the fresh air of Manaan until he was here again, breathing it. The clean and simplistic light colored buildings of the surface Ahto City brought back so many emotions and feelings, that for a moment, Armin forgot why he was here. It didn’t matter for a second – he was home. He heard Eren and Mikasa gasp at the sight and it made him smile even more.
“Welcome to my homeland,” he said in a light tone, almost feeling like jumping over the edge into the ocean, which, well, would be quite suicidal, so he didn’t actually expand on that feeling.
“It’s beautiful,” Eren and Mikasa sighed in unison.
They didn’t get to talk any more as the Jedi Master, whose name Armin finally learned on the journey there to be Erwin Smith, ordered them to go forward, because they weren’t here for the sightseeing, but on a mission. Armin tagged along, feeling the worry gnawing at him again.
The talks with the Ahto High Court went exactly as expected. Armin, as their trusted human, was there to oversee the extraction of the holocron by the Jedi and make sure no harm was done to either the building in question or the environment and living creatures in the area.
“I don’t see why it’s necessary to put you in danger too! What if it’s already opened? Or there is a Sith Lord with it as double package?” Eren fumed when they walked back, now about to rest before tomorrow’s mission.
“It is all in accordance to Manaan’s laws,” Armin reminded him sighing. “You’re lucky you didn’t get one of our military with you. Though I am surprised they sent me. I guess that after all, I am just human tool for these judges.”
“You’re not a tool. You’re a human being!” Eren protested.
“Yeah. A minority on this planet. Non-native species,” Armin said, like he was explaining it to a child.
“Senator Arlert, if you excuse us, we will retreat to meditate and rest for tomorrow. I recommend you do the same,” said Master Smith suddenly, ending their debate right there.
And just like that, all three Jedi were bowing to him, leaving him to his own business in the city. His home was on the other side and Armin didn’t particularly like the idea of being so far from the Jedi right now, so he simply took the previous offer from the Jedi about staying in a room next to theirs, blaming it on safety reasons.
Armin couldn’t sleep tonight either. There were simply too many thoughts nagging at his mind, so many questions and doubts. His world. The holocron. Eren. The meeting. Eren’s teal green eyes. The trade routes.
It was deep into the night when he gave up, instead sneaking out of his room just in his night attire, consisting of long sleeved oversized shirt made of silk and flowing white pants of the same material. He walked down the city, to the place he always liked to go while staying in the center of Ahto – a small square, if you could call it that, with a few already closed shops and a beautiful fountain. He always liked to sit on the fountain and look at the stars and the ocean. The calm mix of the sounds of the sea, wind and the fountain had extremely calming effect on Armin. There he felt at peace, gazing up at the sky, the rim of the galaxy and the stars blending together in beautiful artwork reflected by the ocean waving around lazily, lapping at the edge of the town, but never spilling over the barrier.
Engulfed by the sounds and the feeling of the sea breeze in his hair, Armin didn’t even notice someone had followed him. When another person sits down next to him, he almost falls down into said fountain, squeaking out like a mouse, only saved by Eren’s quick reaction.
And that is how Armin finds himself in Eren’s arms, a place he didn’t exactly imagine himself to be in tonight. He blinks rapidly, making sure he didn’t fall asleep and drown in the fountain, but finds himself to be very much awake and alive.
“How did you… Why did you...” Armin seems to be at loss of words, completely captivated by the situation.
“I saw you sneak out. I was curious,” Eren smiles and finally lets him go as he looks up at the sight before them, breathing in the air deeply. “I must say, this is a beautiful world you have here.”
Armin doesn’t reply to that, instead choosing to observe Eren – how the shine of the stars reflects on his face, how the fain t city lights illuminate his face. He wonders if Eren would look even more beautiful had Manaan been orbited by a moon that could light up the sky on a night like this.
“Why are you awake so late?” Eren suddenly asks and Armin finally tears his gaze away from Eren, looking at the horizon again instead.
“I couldn’t sleep. Too worried and nervous I presume,” he answers in a calm voice, letting the wind mess with his hair.
“Me neither,” Eren then says, answering the question Armin didn’t dare to ask.
“This should be good for clearing your mind then,” he says, almost quietly enough for it to be a
whisper lost in the cold night breeze.
“I’m glad I get to see your homeworld Armin,” whispers Eren, wrapping his arm around the blonde senator pulling him closer.
“I just wish it was under different circumstances,” Armin finishes his thought with a deep sigh, not even minding the closeness – he forgot how cold Manaan gets at night so the warmth of the knight is appreciated.
“Yeah. But I’m glad anyway. I finally got to see your ocean. It’s even more beautiful than I thought,” he looks at Armin with a faint smile on his face.
“I told you it was,” Armin says, looking at Eren too.
“It suits you. If I were to choose a planet to describe Armin to the world, it would be Manaan. The ocean reminds me of your eyes,” he whispers as he smooths down Armin’s currently very messy hair and from there his fingers slide gently on his face, moving the hair out of his eyes.
It feels as if the time stops in that moment, and Armin is clearly not thinking straight tonight, but he knows that no matter what the whole galaxy and his own brain tries to tell him, his heart wins the fight in this exact moment, as he leans in, taking the leap of faith.
And then Eren’s soft lips are on his and Armin feels overwhelmed. It’s different from what he ever expected and imagined, but in a good way. His arms fin d a way around Eren’s body, one of his hands finding its place in Eren’s hair. Armin doesn’t want to let go. Even if this is just a dream, especially if this is just a dream he’s having, he doesn’t want to let go. He doesn’t want this moment to end.
So he doesn’t and that’s fine with Eren. They kiss slowly and softly, as if they have all the time in the world and are just two regular people, not the senator of Manaan and a Jedi Knight. It’s a nice feeling and the longer it lasts, the more Armin likes it.
When they do eventually pull away, they keep looking at each other, existing in their own tiny world, far away from any worries and Armin somehow knows that no matter what happens from now on, even if they are the whole galaxy apart, if he has Eren, he is not afraid. He will be holding Eren in his heart and Eren will hold Armin in his. He feels courage welling up inside of him at the mere thought.
Wrapped up in their little world, they don’t notice the cloaked person hiding in the shadows turning around and running away while they gaze into each other’s eyes.
Even though Armin got very little sleep that night, he feels refreshed in the morning, ready to take on the world. H e and Eren try to act as if nothing happened, but he senses Mikasa is onto them anyway, as she wears permanent bitter face today and when asked, claims to have felt very uneasy trying to sleep and meditate close to such powerful Sith artifact.
The actual mission to retrieve the holocron is much less exciting than everyone anticipated – it’s located in one of the older buildings, one that is sitting down at the bottom of the ocean, which in this part isn’t that deep. It’s also smaller than Armin expected, as he watches Master Smith insert it into a sort of cube that reminds him of the Jedi datacrons.
Armin notes that the building it’s located in doesn’t look used at all. The holocron might as well have been laying here for centuries, maybe even thousands of years, untouched, until a curious Selkath stumbled upon this place in search of a place for new research facility.
He thinks this is way too easy and convenient to be just like this. Nothing ever goes this smoothly. And he is right – as they almost reach the surface again, they are ambushed by a mysterious figure with a mask, but very distinctive red lightsaber. It’s a mess and Armin doesn’t really stand a chance with his small blaster as he’s pushed out of the destination of the red blade by Eren, getting knocked out in the process.
When he wakes up it’s all over – the mysterious user of the dark side is long gone, taking the holocron with them. Thankfully, that is the only loss, but even then, it is a painful one for the Jedi. He notices Eren and Mikasa patching him up with some kolto packs, thanking them. He feels bad. His head hit hard against the ground, a fact Eren is apologizing for constantly, making the pain in Armin’s head hit even sharper, but that is not all. He couldn’t even defend himself. Once again he was a burden to someone. That felt even worse than his physical pain.
“You were pretty good trying to shoot a Sith Lord,” Mikasa says suddenly, as if reading his train of thoughts.
“Yeah. We have two lightsabers each and you went to shoot him! You’re the bravest of us all!” Eren cheers along and presses another fresh kolto pack against his head – bacta would probably be more effective, but Manaan is known for its kolto, not bacta.
Armin is left speechless once again. Do his friends really think he is that brave? He is not Force-sensitive, but even then he can tell they are genuine. And then he smiles. While he loathes being a burden to them, he really loves his friends and there was nothing in the world that could make him happier than their supportive words and soft smiles.