Chapter Text
Ahsoka politely bowed her head, every bit the picture of proper Padawan formality. "Master Kenobi," she greeted, her voice pure ice. "Please wait here. I'll see if my Master wishes to speak with you."
She partially closed the door to her and Anakin's shared apartment, forcing herself to bite back the litany of curses on the tip of her tongue as she cautiously poked her head into Anakin's bedroom. "Hey Skyguy?"
Anakin looked up from where he sat at the foot of the bed, tinkering with Artoo's rocket boosters. "Obi-Wan again?" he asked, exasperation and annoyance masking the stab of pain Ahsoka felt through their bond. "Can you get rid of him?"
"Maybe for five minutes," she said, rolling her eyes. "He's pretty determined to talk to you. I could tell him you're busy, but he'll just come back later. I told him you didn't want to talk the last few times he came by. That didn't get rid of him either."
"Ugh," Anakin grunted, finishing the repairs on Artoo and affectionately patting the Droid's domed head. Artoo chirped gratefully at him, then squawked a disapproving beep toward the door. Anakin grinned at the droid. "I know, buddy, my thoughts exactly."
Anakin turned his gaze to Ahsoka. "Okay, fine, let him in, but I might need you to be an alibi witness if this conversation goes how I think it will."
Ahsoka did as her Master requested, and a few minutes later, she got the distinct impression the conversation was going precisely how Anakin thought it would.
The two had barricaded themselves in Anakin's bedroom, and though the door was closed, an argument was clearly taking place - a rather loud and nasty one if Anakin's tone and the violent ripples in the Force were any indication. A particularly sharp spike of painconfusionanger followed by Anakin raising his voice to a shout finally prompted Ahsoka to open the door. She'd been trying not to intrude, but at this point, Anakin seemed far more distressed than simply angry, and if she was already an established alibi witness, she might as well upgrade herself to accomplice. After all, Anakin taught her better than to do things half-assed.
Oblivious to Ahsoka's presence, the two men inside continued their quarrel, and for a moment, Ahsoka thought it had escalated to physical combat. She nearly ran to break it up, but she stopped herself when her instincts told her she was missing something.
"Get the hell away from me," Anakin snarled, roughly shoving Obi-Wan, who appeared to be in the process of trying to kiss Anakin's forehead.
What in blazes…
Obi-Wan looked thoroughly heartbroken. He kept his distance for the most part, but reached out a hand to stroke the other man's face. "Anakin, I..."
"We're on Coruscant, aren't we?" Anakin growled through gritted teeth. "There are plenty of brothels in the lower levels. Go find someone else to use."
Brothels…? Find someone else…? Oh. Oh stars. Holy kriffing Sithspit. If this was the type of relationship the two of them had, and Obi-Wan had still done what he did…Well, it certainly explained the intensity of Anakin's reaction. Of his ongoing reactions, Force help them all. And just what in the Sith hells had Obi-Wan been thinking when he…breathe, Tano. Breathe.
Ahsoka took a deep breath and quickly released as much of her newfound rage to the Force as she possibly could before striding into the room. "Master?" she called. "Are you alright? What's going on in here?"
"Ahsoka!" Obi-Wan lept away from Anakin like his former Padawan's flesh suddenly scorched his skin. "If you could please give us a moment, this is not…."
Ahsoka could hardly believe her eyes. The idea of two Jedi seeking each other out for sexual release wasn't exactly smiled upon in the Order, as it tended to lead to attachment, but Anakin brazenly ignoring the rules was hardly news. Besides, she'd always suspected Anakin and Obi-Wan had a more complicated relationship than simply being a former master-apprentice pair. Under normal circumstances, catching the two of them in this position would mean she owed Rex 20 credits and owed Anakin a week's worth of teasing.
But Obi-Wan's reaction, jumping back like he'd been caught doing something terrible by stroking her Master's cheek, ignited a new wave of fury in her that she couldn't bite back. "Are you kidding me?" she yelled, taking another step toward them. "After what you did to him, THIS is what you're ashamed of? THIS is what you're worried about me seeing? I don't care that you're fucking him, I care that you're fucking him up!"
Rage and disgust exploded within her, and in that moment, the burdensome hindrances of protocol and rank were furiously cast aside, consequences be damned, because kriff it, this was important. She squared her shoulders and locked eyes with Obi-Wan. "It's bad enough you used his feelings to manipulate a reaction out of him in the alleyway. Now you're trying to use them again to manipulate him into forgiving you too? How low can you get! There's no excuse for what you did and you don't deserve to be forgiven! You weren't here to see what it did to him because you were too busy running around playing dress-up, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out."
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to say something, but Ahsoka only raised her voice further. "What part of 'no excuse' don't you understand? And don't even think about hiding behind some stupid lecture on attachment and the Jedi Code! Don't tell me I need to shut up or that I'm stepping out of line either. I'm already in trouble for mouthing off to you, so there's no point in stopping before I'm done."
She protectively stepped between the two stunned knights, staring Obi-Wan down with enough defiance and contempt that he may as well be an errant Sith who'd broken into the temple to deface the walls with a Sharpie and a spray can. "My Master obviously doesn't want to talk to you, so you should probably get the hell out of his room. Just because you're an idiot doesn't mean the rest of us can't see how bad you karked things up. I know I'm not strong enough to fight you and win, but I'm strong enough to be a big enough pain in your ass that you might not think it's worth the effort. So you should probably do us all a favor and get the kriff out before this turns into an even bigger mess."
Anakin and Obi-Wan both gaped at Ahsoka's uncharacteristic explosion. For all her bickering with Anakin, losing her temper to this degree was rare, and swearing at a Council member was unheard of. She, of course, knew all of this quite well, and was partially relying on the shock factor to get her message across.
"Perhaps… this is indeed a bad time," Obi-Wan stammered, backing away from Anakin. Looking startled and disoriented, he exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Ahsoka glared after him for a few long seconds, then turned back to Anakin. "I know I'm in trouble. WORTH IT. And, Force, Master, you've got some shitty taste in lovers! All this time I thought you were sneaking around with Padme. I wish I'd been right!"
"Um, actually…"
"No. No way. Do they know about each other?"
"Ahsoka! Yes. Of course they do. I wouldn't…"
She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling stupid for even needing to ask. "Of course you wouldn't. You're not Obi-Wan. You don't betray the people who love you."
Anakin looked at Ahsoka like the entire universe had turned itself upside down. "This...um...has to be a lot to take in. You...you're not upset?"
Ahsoka indignantly placed her hands on her hips. "Not at you! It's not like it's some secret you're incapable of being a proper emotionless Jedi drone. Anyone who's ever met you knows that." She stepped closer to Anakin and looked him in the eye. "I figured you had something going on with Padme, and I knew you and Obi-Wan had a deeper bond than most sticklers for the Code would probably approve of. I didn't think it was any of my business, and I was glad you had people who made you happy. Besides," she reasoned, "What was I going to do? Rat you out to the Council so you'd get tossed out of the Order and I'd get reassigned to some boring loser who follows protocol? Not on your life!"
For the first time in what felt like ever, Anakin burst out laughing. Not a joyless hollow laugh, but true amusement and warmth. He wrapped his arms around Ahsoka and crushed her in a hug. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm really glad you're here."
She breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his chest. "So you're not going to kill me for yelling at Obi-Wan? Or get some of your goons from the pod racing scene to break my kneecaps since I know all your secrets now?" That got another laugh, and Ahsoka grinned up at her Master. "I picked these bad habits up from you, you know. Snooping into stuff, mouthing off to Council members. It's pretty satisfying! I think I'm starting to understand what the appeal is."
Anakin smiled down at her and affectionately placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just don't get too used to it. It's a hard habit to break."