He doesn’t like standing still.
But today, no one has told him to move.
Around him, the Council speaks in calm voices that are meant to sound neutral—but aren’t.
But what he really hears is:
something is being decided about him
He shifts his weight slightly.
He can feel it in his hands.
Anakin stands beside him.
Which somehow feels heavier than either option.
Luke looks up at him once.
Anakin doesn’t look back.
That’s the first thing Luke notices.
Finally, the decision comes.
A second layer of oversight.
Luke doesn’t fully understand it.
But he understands enough.
He looks at Anakin again.
This time Anakin is already looking at him.
And Luke realizes something strange:
That’s when it starts to feel real.
🌌 THAT NIGHT — ANAKIN’S WORKSHOP
The room is quieter than usual.
Even the hum of the workshop feels like it is holding its breath.
Luke stands near the doorway.
Anakin doesn’t look at him at first.
He’s tightening something unnecessarily.
Fixing something that isn’t broken.
That’s how Luke knows he’s thinking too hard.
Like he already knows that part.
Like he’s been waiting for the rest.
Anakin continues, quieter:
“Dagobah isn’t… structured.”
“You’re used to structure.”
He doesn’t like it—but it’s true.
Anakin finally looks at him.
Just fear disguised as instruction.
“You’re… resistant,” Anakin says carefully.
Anakin exhales through his nose like he regrets the word already.
“You push back. On everything. Even when it’s good for you.”
Because he doesn’t actually know how to argue that.
Just tired in a way Luke hasn’t seen often.
“Listen to me,” Anakin says more softly.
“Dagobah will feel wrong sometimes.”
“That doesn’t mean it is wrong.”
“And it doesn’t mean you are.”
Luke doesn’t answer immediately.
Because that is the first time tonight something has not felt like a decision being made about him.
something being said to him.
Luke finally asks, small:
“This is… to make sure you don’t become something you didn’t choose.”
Luke doesn’t fully understand that sentence.
“Will I still be your Padawan?”
That question comes out faster than the others.
Like it matters more than he meant it to.
Anakin pauses for a long moment.
But something in his chest still feels too tight.
Anakin places a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re going to do fine,” Anakin says.
Luke almost believes him.
Then Anakin adds, like it’s a warning he doesn’t want to say out loud:
“But you’re going to hate parts of it.”
Anakin’s mouth twitches slightly.
Like he knows exactly why.
“Because it won’t feel like you,” he says.
“And you’re going to think that means something is wrong.”
Because that… actually sounds familiar.
Anakin squeezes his shoulder once.
“Get some rest,” he says finally.
At the doorway, he stops.
“What if I don’t like who I become there?”
Anakin doesn’t answer immediately.
And when he does, it’s not perfect.
“Then we fix it,” he says.
Like that answer actually stays.
And Anakin stands alone in the workshop longer than necessary.
Because he understands something Luke doesn’t yet:
Dagobah isn’t just training.
And Luke is about to find out what happens when he looks too closely.
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