[ Claude's hand disappears and then, as he speaks, the process of their imminent separation begins as well. Again, he feels an almost overpowering urge to hold onto him and make certain that they won't be apart - he could take him captive, he could prevent him from leaving and make him see... see what, exactly? That the Empire is, at the base of it, worth fighting for? Not even Anakin believes that and maybe he never truly has. He knows Claude and Claude would never. If he takes his choice away from him, the other man will lose more than just that and Claude has done nothing to warrant something so awful. People like Anakin lose parts and pieces of themselves to darkness and betrayal; that's how the story goes.
But Claude, he thinks, should not be forced to lose what makes him Claude and consequently, Anakin closes his eyes behind his mask, lets the respirator breathe for him for a long moment, then nods. Takes the comlink and puts it away in his belt. ]
I will contact you when I'm able.
[ He's now officially defecting without a plan, without a goal and without anything to guide him aside from the thought of Claude being alive in the galaxy - which, while enough to make him almost grateful to Obi-Wan for leaving him half-dead and not actually dead-dead, isn't much of a plan in and of itself. There are many things he must do if he is to honour Claude's wish and stay away from Sidious; the bond they share is fragile at best, his initial gratefulness to the older man for saving him after his loss on Mustafar having soured considerably since.
But even so, it remains.
And so does Anakin's link to the Empire along with the part he's played in its birth.
He wants to ask whether they'll see each other again and pushes the urge away. He doesn't want to risk getting an answer that he can't accept. Instead, he puts one, large hand on Claude's thigh, right above his knee and rests it there, his sensors telling him less than his memories. ]
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But Claude, he thinks, should not be forced to lose what makes him Claude and consequently, Anakin closes his eyes behind his mask, lets the respirator breathe for him for a long moment, then nods. Takes the comlink and puts it away in his belt. ]
I will contact you when I'm able.
[ He's now officially defecting without a plan, without a goal and without anything to guide him aside from the thought of Claude being alive in the galaxy - which, while enough to make him almost grateful to Obi-Wan for leaving him half-dead and not actually dead-dead, isn't much of a plan in and of itself. There are many things he must do if he is to honour Claude's wish and stay away from Sidious; the bond they share is fragile at best, his initial gratefulness to the older man for saving him after his loss on Mustafar having soured considerably since.
But even so, it remains.
And so does Anakin's link to the Empire along with the part he's played in its birth.
He wants to ask whether they'll see each other again and pushes the urge away. He doesn't want to risk getting an answer that he can't accept. Instead, he puts one, large hand on Claude's thigh, right above his knee and rests it there, his sensors telling him less than his memories. ]