Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anakin Skywalker stood in front of a battalion. Over a hundred men, all clad in white armor, with helmets on their heads. In front of the army stood two clone troopers. One with yellow markings on his armor, identifying him as a Commander, and the other with red ones, which identified him as a Captain. Next to Anakin stood his Master, with his hand on Anakin’s shoulder.

In another universe, Anakin would be older, maybe nineteen, and Obi-Wan would have to reach up to do this. But in this universe, Anakin was eleven years old and still much smaller than his Master.

“Are these the clones?” Anakin asked, looking up to his Master.

Obi-Wan nodded. “They’re the clones of the Grand Army of the Republic,” he explained. He could see how nervous Anakin was, so he nudged him a little bit forward and said, “Introduce yourself.”

Anakin looked aghast at his Master, who only smiled reassuringly. Anakin swallowed and nodded. He looked at the clones and said as clearly and loudly as he could, “I’m Anakin Skywalker, Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He faltered shortly, then added, “It’s nice to meet you. I hope we can get along as long as I accompany you.” He bowed a little bit at the end.

Obi-Wan could feel the bewilderment and bafflement of the clones. They weren’t used to being greeted so nicely, let alone to seeing someone bow down to them. He smiled, feeling the happy humming in the Force. He still didn’t like taking a child to a warzone, but he could feel that it would be a good influence on the clones.

“With all due respect, General Kenobi, I don’t think it would be wise to take a child with us,” said the clone wearing the yellow markings of a Commander. Unlike the Captain, he had a visor and an antenna on his helmet.

“I know, Commander, but I have to teach him. And I can’t train him if I’m on the battlefield and he’s in the Temple. Besides, I don’t intend to take him to the battlefield. He will stay on the ship or at the base. He must also follow your orders. Understood?”

The Commander saluted and Anakin, who also felt addressed, bowed slightly. “Yes, Master.”

“Now, we have wasted enough time,” Obi-Wan said in a lighthearted tone. They headed towards the ships, which would bring them to their fleet. On their way to the cruisers, Anakin looked curiously at the Commander and the Captain. Both noticed it and exchanged looks.

“I’m CC-2224, Clone Marshal Commander and this is CT-7567, our Clone Captain,” the Commander said.

As Anakin heard their numbers, he froze, but managed to break free and blinked. “Don’t… don’t you have names?” he asked timidly.

Again, the two clone troopers exchanged looks. “The men call us Cody and Rex,” the Commander answered warily. At this, Obi-Wan looked at them, like he heard it for the first time.

“Can I also call you by your names?” Anakin asked and looked at the ground. “I don’t like numbers,” he admitted.

Both clones and Obi-Wan frowned. This was a strange statement, especially to Obi-Wan, who knew that Anakin was in fact extremely talented at math and mechanics. He could even understand binary.

“I don’t have a problem with that, Commander Skywalker. You, Cody?” Rex answered. As a Padawan, Anakin had the rank of a Commander, although he still had to follow Cody’s and Rex’s orders.

“Me neither,” Cody replied.

Anakin happily looked up and smiled. “Thanks, Commander Cody. Captain Rex.”

Once they were on board, they immediately headed to the bridge for the briefing.

Anakin didn’t understand very much of what was said. Only that they were heading to Jedha, where a Jedi Master had disappeared after contact with troops of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and that they would travel for around four days. Maybe he would have noticed and understood more if he hadn’t been distracted by the sheer size of the bridge. He’d never been on such a large ship, and despite knowing the ship by heart theoretically, being on it was still incredible for him. His Master noticed this for sure, but he let it go this time.

“Trooper,” Obi-Wan beckoned one of the clones over.

The clone saluted and approached them. “What can I do for you, General?”

“Do you have time to show my Padawan the bridge and maybe the most important places like the mess hall, the medbay and the hangar?” Obi-Wan requested.

“Of course.” The clone trooper saluted. “Come along, Commander…” he trailed off, looking at Anakin.

“Anakin Skywalker,” Anakin introduced himself.

“You know my name, but what do I call you?” Anakin asked while they were walking through the corridors.

“I’m CT-5986,” was the clone’s answer.

“And what do the others call you? I’d like to call you by your name, rather than your number,” Anakin said.

“I… I don’t have a name,” CT-5986 answered uneasily.

“Oh… I’m sorry,” Anakin apologized.

“I’m a soldier of the GAR. I don’t need a name. I only need to do my duty,” the trooper explained.

Anakin swallowed. Since he met the clones, everything about them reminded him of slavery and his own slave past. His gaze went to the ground and he followed CT-5986 silently.

CT-5986 guided him through the corridors to the mess hall, the medbay and the huge hangar. They finished the tour by visiting the other bridge. It was used for starfighter operations and had a large panoramic window. Anakin loved the view.

They spent some time at the secondary bridge, looking out of the window. Finally, CT-5986 led Anakin back to the primary bridge, just in time to hear the last parts of the briefing.

“Captain Rex, you will stay with your Torrent Company and my Padawan at the base,” Obi-Wan was saying. “Cody, the 212th and I will search for our missing Jedi. If we find the Separatists, we have to find out what they want on Jedha. We won’t attack until we know what’s going on. Understood?”

Everybody except for Anakin saluted and said, “Sir, yes, sir!”

“Then we only have one last problem,” Obi-Wan said, a little bit dramatically.

The clones exchanged worried looks. At least the Jedi thought that, since they could feel their worry and confusion, but couldn’t see the clones’ faces. Anakin only rolled his eyes. He knew his Master’s tone, and that he only wanted to make a little bit fun of the others.

“Master, I know that you want to loosen up the mood, but I don’t think that you’ll be successful,” he said dryly.
Obi-Wan sighed. “I think you’re right, my young Padawan. But we have a problem nonetheless, because I don’t know where you’re going to sleep.”

The clones relaxed a little bit as they realized that it wasn’t a big problem.

“Erm… sir,” Rex said, a little bit unsure. Normally, a soldier had to wait until his superior spoke to him, unless it was something very important or he had a message to deliver.

“Yes, Captain Rex?” Obi-Wan asked, not feeling offended as Rex had feared.

“He can have my room. I don’t use it. I sleep with my brothers… with the other clones in the sleeping cabins,” he answered.

Obi-Wan’s eyes went wide as he heard Rex’s unfortunately phrased answer. He knew that he should get his mind out of the gutter, but now he had that mental image in his head. The others didn’t notice the Jedi’s train of thought and continued to discuss where Anakin should sleep. 

“There’s a problem,” Cody said. “We use your room as a storage room.”

“Right, I forgot,” Rex answered.

Anakin looked from one to the other and then uttered quietly, “I don’t need a room all for myself. I can sleep anywhere.”

Obi-wan shook his head, trying to erase the mental image of what Rex said from his mind.

“General Kenobi is right, sir,” Rex said, mistaking the shake of Obi-Wan’s head for a sign of his denial.

“No, no. I just... had the wrong picture in my head,” Obi-Wan said. “It would be too much work to clear out your room, Captain. We must find somewhere else for him to sleep, but as far as I know, we have no room we could use.”

Anakin snickered a bit. Cody and Rex exchanged looks, not knowing what Obi-Wan meant by the ‘picture’, but shrugged and continued.

“Then where should he sleep?” Cody asked.

“With your boys in the sleeping quarters, if this is no problem,” Obi-Wan answered.

The clone troopers were shocked. A Jedi with them in the sleeping cabins? No one has ever heard of something like that. The Jedi were their superiors, and superiors didn’t sleep in the same room as their subordinates.

“It’s not a problem, sir,” Cody answered, after he recovered from the shock.

“Then that’s cleared up,” Obi-Wan said, satisfied. “Now come, Padawan mine. We have a meditation session to catch up on.”

“I’m surprised, Padawan,” Obi-Wan said, after the meditation. “I expected you to want to come with me to help with the search, rather than be left behind.”

“Last night…” Anakin started hesitantly.

“Your vision?” Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin nodded. “It wasn’t quite the same as the last time, but it still was about this mission. This time, however, you weren’t there. I was with people who all had the same face, the clones, and Rex was there, too. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know that I’m needed at the base,” he explained.

Obi-Wan nodded and pensively stroked the beard he was starting to grow. “I’ll tell Rex to be alert while we’re down there, and to listen if you have a feeling that something’s wrong. But you still have to do what he says,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin nodded. “Yes, Master.”

“Good. Then will you go sparring before we eat dinner?” Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin’s face lit up. “Of course, Master,” he said, and jumped to his feet.

They weren’t the only ones in the training rooms. Some troopers were there sparring, while some others were watching Rex and Cody spar. They cheered and bet on who would win. As the two Jedi entered, everything stopped to greet their superiors.

“Keep going. Don’t let us bother you,” Obi-Wan said, and headed to an empty corner along with his Padawan. They began to spar, not noticing the glances the clones threw at them.

“Your concentration is lacking,” Obi-Wan observed after Anakin stumbled again.

“Sorry, Master. I’ll do better,” Anakin answered, and clenched his teeth as he blocked a powerful strike of his Master.

“You seem uneasy, why?” Obi-Wan asked, pushing his Padawan further on the defensive. 

“It’s… the clones,'' Anakin admitted.

Obi-Wan frowned. “I know it’s a matter of getting used to the same faces, but there’s no reason to be afraid. They’re humans, and I hope you won’t think less…” Obi-Wan started but was interrupted by Anakin, whose training lightsaber fell out of his hands and he stumbled back. Obi-Wan stopped his strike just in time. He wouldn’t have killed his Padawan, because his lightsaber was on the lowest setting, but it still could have hurt him.

“What…” he began, but stopped as he saw Anakin’s face. There was anger, but most of it was disappointment and frustration.

“How can you think that of me? How could you think that I’d treat them as something less? How could you think that, knowing my past?” Anakin asked, incensed, and stormed towards the door.

“Commander!” Rex and Cody shouted as he rushed past them.

Anakin spun around. “Don’t call me that. I did nothing to deserve this rank. I… I wish that you don’t call me that until you think I deserve it. Clear?” he asked.

The clones exchanged looks, then saluted.

“Of course, kid,” Rex said. Anakin could hear the bewilderment in his voice. It was clear that they were both baffled, but also glad that there was someone who didn't think that they were something less, and wanted to earn their respect rather than get it for nothing.

Anakin left. The room was silent.

“General?” Cody asked hesitantly as he looked at Obi-Wan, who picked up Anakin’s training lightsaber.

“Yes, Commander Cody?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I know it’s not my place, but I thought that you Jedi grew up in the Temple. Did something happen there while he grew up?” the Commander asked.

“Anakin is a special case. He came to the Temple rather late. His childhood wasn’t easy, but it’s not my place to tell you more,” Obi-Wan explained, lost in thought.

Cody nodded. “Of course.”

Chapter Text

Anakin didn’t know what he should do. He felt hurt, but also ashamed, because a Jedi shouldn't feel this way. But when he tried to release his feelings into the Force, they always came back soon. He sighed, but then realized that his feet had walked him to the hangar. A small smile came to his face. Maybe he could tinker a little bit. That would be a good idea.

He entered the hangar and looked around. A trooper looked up and saluted. “Can I help you, Commander?”

“Yes, don’t call me Commander. I told Commander Cody and Captain Rex that I need to earn this title,” Anakin requested.

The trooper hesitated, but then nodded. “Ok…” he answered uncertainly.

“Call me what you like. Captain Rex called me kid,” Anakin added.

“Ok, kid. So?”

“Oh… I wanted to ask if I could help you fix something, or if there are things I could tinker with. I’m pretty good at mechanics,” Anakin answered.

“You could help me upgrade the ship I fly,” the clone offered.

“Sure!” Anakin answered, smiling.

“Then let’s get to work,” the trooper said.

At the beginning, Anakin was only allowed to pass the things the trooper needed, but he gave ideas and tips. Some of them were things even the trooper didn’t know, so he let Anakin show him what he meant. He quickly realized that Anakin was surprisingly skilled, especially for someone his age. In the end, Anakin was the one tinkering and the trooper passed him the tools.

“What’s your name? And please spare me your number, unless you want me to call you by your number rather than your name,” Anakin asked, looking the trooper in the eyes.

The trooper smiled, then held out his hand. “Hawk is the name,” he introduced himself, smiling. “Nice to meet you.”

Anakin took his hand and shook it. “Anakin Skywalker. Nice to meet you, too.”

They continued with their work.

“So you’re a pilot?” Anakin asked while working. 

“I’m one of the pilots here, yes. Flying is the best thing I ever did and do in my life,” Hawk answered. “You?”

Anakin smiled as he thought of flying. “I know how you feel. When I’m flying, I feel free.”

“Oh yes, ad’ika,” Hawk answered.

“Addikar?” Anakin asked, confused, and Hawk chuckled at the wrong pronunciation.

“Ad’ika,” he repeated clearly. “It means kid, boy and so on. It’s Mando’a, our native language.”

“I thought your native language would be Kaminoan,” Anakin said.

“Well, we’re no Kaminoans. Technically, we’re Mandalorians, so we speak Mando’a,” Hawk answered.

“Ah. That sounds logical,” Anakin said, nodding. “Is there something else you want to upgrade?" he added.

“What? Did you finish it already?” Hawk asked.

Anakin grinned. “Yes, look,” he answered, and moved aside to let Hawk see his finished work.

Hawk inspected the ship and nodded, impressed. “Let’s run the tests,” he said, and grabbed the testing equipment.

“That looks pretty good,” Hawk admitted once the tests were finished. “It should work while flying. Maybe we could do a test flight after Jedha.”

“We?” Anakin asked, “We, like in you and me?”

“Of course. You did the most of the work after all,” Hawk answered, smiling widely.

“Wizard,” Anakin said. “What do we do now?” he asked, then hesitated. In the Temple, nobody liked it when he was pushy. “O-only if you want to do something else with me,” he added quietly.

“Why not, ad’ika? You’re nice company. But it’s late, so we should go to the mess hall before it closes,” Hawk answered

“Ok, then let me clean up quickly,” Anakin said happily, and jumped to his feet.

“Let me help.” Hawk helped without listening to Anakin’s protests. Together, they cleaned up quickly and headed to the mess hall.

The mess hall was relatively empty. Only a few clone troopers were still eating. Among them was Captain Rex, who waved them towards himself. Hawk saluted before his captain.

“At ease,” Captain Rex answered and then said to Anakin, “It’s good that you came. General Kenobi was starting to worry that you got lost.”

Anakin looked at the ground. “Sorry, I didn’t want anybody to worry. I was at the hangar with Hawk all the time.”

Rex sighed. “It’s alright, ad’ika… kid.”

Anakin looked up thankfully. “Thanks. And you don’t have to translate ad’ika. Hawk already told me what it means.”

“Well, then. You two should get the last rations of today and then I’ll comm the General and tell him that you’re with me,” Rex said and waved them off.

After getting their meals, Hawk and Anakin returned to Rex to sit with him.

“General Kenobi says that he’d like to speak with you tomorrow, if you don’t want to talk about the incident today,” Rex said as they began to eat.

“That’s good. Thanks,” Anakin answered.

Hawk didn’t ask what incident he meant, but sighed. “Every day the same rations,” he muttered.

“Don’t complain, trooper. Take an example at the ad’ika next to you,” Rex said sternly and pointed at Anakin, who ate his ration almost enthusiastically.

“How can you eat this plain food with such a happy face?” Hawk asked Anakin.

Anakin only shrugged, swallowed and then said, “I don’t care how it tastes. I’m only happy to have something to eat.”

“Is that a Jedi th ing? À la ‘Be happy with what you have’?” he asked.

“You could say so,” Anakin mumbled, finishing his meal.

“Since you sleep with us in the sleeping cabins, I think it would be good for you to finally go to bed,” Captain Rex said and was about to stand up, when he noticed Anakin’s bewildered look.

“But Hawk isn’t finished with his dinner,” Anakin said.

“What does that have to do with going to bed?” Rex asked, as bewildered as Anakin.

“I have to wait. When you eat with someone, you have to wait until everybody’s finished before you leave,” Anakin explained.

“Why?” Hawk asked curiously, but didn’t admit that he felt a little bit flattered due to the fact that someone looked after him.

“That’s polite. Have you ever heard of table manners?” Anakin asked. They both shook their heads. “What did you learn as children?” Anakin asked further.

“How to shoot, how to take the enemy down. We’re soldiers, not diplomats,” Rex answered truthfully.

Anakin pondered a little bit and then nodded. “Sounds logical. But I’ll wait and if Hawk also wants to go to the sleeping cabins after finishing his meal, we can go together.”

Rex nodded and decided to wait, too.

“So, you’re a Jedi child?” Hawk asked while eating.

“I’m a Padawan,” Anakin answered.

Hawk nodded. “That was mentioned. And that you Padawans have the rank of a Commander. But what is your job as a Padawan?”

“I’m learning from my Master how to be a Jedi,” Anakin said.

“Cody said it’s like a Jedi cadet,” Rex said. Hawk made an understanding face.

While finishing the meal, Hawk asked some more questions on the topic Padawanship. Anakin answered, having no problems with talking to an ordinary trooper. Rex first felt unsure if he should interfere. It wasn’t a trooper’s place to question their superior. But the little Jedi didn’t seem to care, and Rex was curious himself.

After dinner, they went to the sleeping cabins. Anakin got the bed above Rex's. It was obvious that the clone troopers in the sleeping cabins still felt a bit unsure about the little Jedi in their room, but Anakin was too tired to deal with it and Hawk and Rex glared at the rest, so everybody just accepted it and went to bed.

The next morning, Hawk showed Anakin the way to Obi-Wan's room.

“When you have spare time and want to tinker, you’re always welcome to come to the hangar,” Hawk said as he waved his goodbye.

“Thanks, Hawk,” Anakin answered, then knocked at his Master’s door.

Obi-Wan opened the door.

“Anakin, come in,” he greeted, and let his Padawan in the room. “I hope you slept well.”

Anakin made a defiant face. He didn’t like it when his Master acted as if nothing happened. “You wanted to talk about yesterday?” he asked.

Obi-Wan sighed. “You’re really bad at having a conversation,” he said.

“Well, I’m here to become a Jedi and not a diplomat,” Anakin responded.

“As a Jedi, you will have diplomatic missions,” Obi-Wan said.

“We’re at war. I think the Council will see that I’m better off on the battlefield,” his Padawan answered.

“First, I hope the war is long over by the time you become a Knight. Second, don’t underestimate the war and the battlefield,” Obi-Wan said sternly.

Anakin sighed, “Yes, Master.”

“To yesterday, then. You shouldn’t have run away. You still let yourself be controlled by your feelings,” Obi-Wan lectured.

“Sorry that slavery is a bit harder to overcome than a quarrel with a crèche mate,” Anakin mumbled.

His Master sighed the second time. “I know,'' he said.

Anakin gave him an angry look. “Do you?” he asked bitterly.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan admonished.

Anakin snorted. It was full of bitterness. Too much bitterness for an eleven-year-old boy. “My old Master would punish me with a beating for that. You only say my name,” he said, looking his shocked Master in the eye. “You don’t know,” he commented on his Master’s expression, “and that’s good.”

“I-I’m sorry. You’re right, I don’t know, and what I said… what I was thinking yesterday wasn’t right. I apologize for that,” Obi-Wan said, with a slight bow of his head.

“I-it’s okay…” Anakin said, after recovering from the shock that his Master, the perfect Jedi, apologized to him.

“I apologize for my behavior, too,” Anakin said, bowing his head slightly, too. Both smiled, content.

“What about breakfast before meditating? I think there will be nice rations with plenty of non-taste,” Obi-Wan suggested.

Anakin snickered. “The rations aren’t that bad, Master,” he said, and both left the room.

The four days' travel was fairly uneventful. Anakin spent his time training, meditating, doing homework with Obi-Wan, and tinkering and talking about flying with Hawk.

He also learned some strategies, tactics, and formations useful for the war from Cody and Rex. He met Rex's closest friends Jesse, the medic Kix, Denal and Coric, as well as Cody’s friends Waxer and Boil.

The cruiser dropped out of hyperspace above Jedha. Anakin followed Obi-Wan while he organized the final preparations for the landing. Then they all boarded the transports and flew towards the planet’s surface. Jedha was a rocky and sandy moon, dotted with some plateaus. It was cold. Too cold for Anakin, who froze despite his thick clothes.

The clones built their base with well-rehearsed ease. Once it was finished, Obi-Wan took Cody and the 212th with him to search for the lost Jedi.

“You’ll stay here and do as Captain Rex says,” he said to Anakin.

Anakin nodded, “Yes, Master. May the Force be with you.”

“And with you,” his Master answered before he left.

Chapter Text

Anakin was just going through some katas when he felt a sudden pull in the Force. His gaze went to the distance.

“Is something wrong, ad’ika?” Rex asked, and went to his side.

“Something’s coming. And it’s not friendly,” Anakin answered. He closed his eyes to connect more deeply with the Force. Rex signed to the others to increase their vigilance. Everybody got ready. They donned their helmets and drew their weapons.

One of the scouts they had out there came running back. “The enemy’s coming. A battalion. Around eight hundred battle droids, also some super battle droids and three tanks,” he reported immediately.

“In position, behind the boulders!” Rex commanded.

“Sir, yes, sir!” the company answered in unison, and got into position.

“Kid, stay behind,” the Captain ordered Anakin. 

“I would be more helpful at the front. I can’t slice through a droid with my training lightsaber, but I can deflect their bolts and provide better protection,” Anakin argued.

“Alright, kid, but stay by my side,” Rex answered, and turned towards the scout. “Order the other scouts back and don’t let them go through the battlefield. They can join us when they arrive safely,” he ordered. The scout saluted and did as ordered.

They didn’t need to wait long before they caught sight of the enemy. Rex held up his hand, a sign to wait. Once the enemy was in their shooting range, he gave the sign to attack. Laser bolts erupted in the air and the first row of battle droids went down, but it didn’t seem to phase the other droids, who just started to fire on their own.

Anakin used his saber to protect the clones who left their cover to aim better. He covered Rex the most, and it seemed to be working quite well. He managed to not get in Rex's way. Whenever a droid came too close, Anakin rushed to it and knocked the weapons out of its hands, only to retreat and let the clones shoot the now defenseless and confused droid.

They held their position well, but were also badly outnumbered. It was only a matter of time before they would be overrun. But they refused to give up.

It was tiresome for Anakin. He lost track of time, but felt his arms and legs get heavy. Some droids managed to slip past his defenses, only to be taken down by the clones. He was looking right after such a droid when a shout startled him. Then he was knocked off his feet. He cried out in shock, and felt something heavy land on him.

“Man down!” came a shout from somewhere, and then the weight was pulled away from him. Anakin realized that it was Rex. The Captain had saved him from being shot by taking the blaster bolt meant for him.

Before Anakin could recover from his shock, the Captain was dragged away and someone, probably Jesse, shouted, “Fall behind!”

Someone pulled Anakin back behind some boulders. The first shot of the tank destroyed the ground where they were standing just a moment before.

“Everything alright, ad’ika?” a trooper asked.

“Yes… Thanks,” Anakin answered, still a little shaken. He looked around, scanning his surroundings. Another pull of the Force made him turn to Jesse, who was standing by the wall of the plateau at their right side.

“Jesse! Get out of the way!” Anakin shouted, and pulled the trooper towards himself. Jesse cried out of shock and got caught by one of his brothers.

“What was…” Jesse started, but then the wall he’d been standing in front of exploded. Some clones aimed at the hole in the wall, then something fell out.

Anakin rushed to it, as he realized that it was someone. “Master Kosiyr Le’lyar,” he said, remembering the name of the lost Jedi. The Jedi Master didn’t respond. “Cover me!” Anakin shouted, as he turned the Jedi over. “And get a medic! He’s badly hurt.”

The Bothan was bleeding. His breath was shallow and his pulse was irregular. Anakin shook him a bit. “Master Le’lyar. Wake up. Please, Master!” he cried desperately.

The Jedi Master opened his eyes, albeit only a little bit.

“Two, one point zero, four, eight, seven”, he rasped, “to minus zero point zero, eight, eight, eight, six.” He closed his eyes slowly.

“What does he mean?” someone asked.

“It could be coordinates," another guessed.

“The Separatist base,” Jesse added.

Meanwhile, Anakin tried to get the Bothan to open his eyes again.

“Crystals… weapon… we can’t allow…'' the Bothan rasped faintly. Then he opened his eyes again and looked at Anakin. “May… Force… with you…” were his last words. Anakin felt the life leave the Bothan’s body.

Slowly and in shock, Anakin laid the body down. “He’s dead,” he said quietly. He breathed deeply, then took the Jedi Master’s lightsaber and looked at the hole in the rock wall. Behind it was a tunnel system.

“Jesse, take Hardcase and some men. Go through this tunnel and once you’re behind the enemy, blast through the walls, like Master Le’lyar did. Take something with you to take down the tanks. If we surround the enemy, we can win. And we’ll have the moment of surprise,” he commanded calmly.

“Yes, sir!” Jesse answered and took some men with him.

Anakin ignited Master Le’lyar’s lightsaber. Its blade was a light green.

“I’ll draw their attention to me. Take the chance to shoot them down. I’m counting on you,” he said before rushing forward, slicing the first droid down.

“You heard him, men. Go, go, go!” someone shouted, and the clones pushed forward.

It didn’t take long for Jesse, Hardcase and the men to get behind the enemy, take down the tanks and use their moment of surprise to destroy the enemy’s formation. After that, the clones had an easy game. The last droid was taken down, and the fight was over. Anakin turned off the green lightsaber, panting and leaning heavily against a boulder.

“Nice work,” Jesse said, as he and Hardcase came his way.

“You, too,” Anakin answered and smiled, exhausted.

“You should go to Kix. You have a pretty bad gash at your thigh,” Hardcase said, pointing towards it.

“What…” Anakin asked and looked down. His eyes widened. “I… I didn’t notice,” he said, baffled.

“Now, but you will soon,” Jesse commented.

Anakin nodded. “But I can take care of it myself. Kix has enough work.”

“Like the General,” Hardcase laughed. “Besides, that’s Kix's job, so please go to him. Or shall I accompany you?”

Anakin sighed. “Fine, I’ll go to him and look after Captain Rex,” he said.

“Greet him for us. We’ll take care of it here,” Jesse said. Anakin nodded and headed to the med station.

The closer Anakin got to the med station, the slower he went. He was afraid of seeing Rex injured because of his carelessness. He wondered if Rex would hate him. Didn’t want him anymore near him and his brothers.

He liked the clone Captain. He accepted Anakin for who he was. First, Anakin was his Commander, but after asking not to be called that until he deserved it, Rex had accepted his request. Here, he was not the slave, the latecomer, or the Chosen One. He was Anakin. Only Anakin, or kid, as he was called by the clones. He didn’t care, as long he was accepted as who he was. Anakin knew that the clones were still wary of him, but he could understand that. After all, he was new. He would also be wary in their place. Nevertheless, they gave him a chance. Yes, he liked them all.

As Anakin entered the tent, Rex and Kix looked at him. Rex was lying on a cot, with Kix fussing over him. The other medics were looking after the other injured clones, but thankfully, nobody seemed to be in grave danger. It seems that Rex was hurt the worst of them. Anakin didn’t know if he should feel relieved or guilty about that.

“Please don’t say that you're also injured, kid,” Rex greeted him.

“It’s only a scratch,” Anakin answered, and pointed at his wound. “I wanted to take care of it myself, but Jesse and Hardcase disapproved of it.”

Kix snorted. “Like our General, always looking after others and never after himself.”

Anakin looked at the ground. “Well, I’m pretty bad at it, otherwise Captain Rex wouldn’t be here.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It’s my job to keep you safe. And you covered me pretty well. I think you saved me out there once or twice. This is the least I could do," Rex said. 

Anakin looked at Rex, stunned. “You… you aren’t angry at me?" he asked hopefully. 

“Why should I? It was a rough fight, and you did pretty well,” Rex answered.

Anakin smiled. “Thanks, Captain. For saying this—and saving my life.”

“No problem, ad’ika," Rex answered.

“Now, let me look at this gash," Kix said and led Anakin to a chair.

Anakin followed and let Kix do his work. He began relaxing while Kix worked, as the Force made itself noticeable once more. It called him out of the tent. He had the urge to follow, and slowly stood up.

“I’m not finished, sit…” Kix began, but then noticed that Anakin’s mind was far away. “What is it?” he asked, and looked at his Captain.

Rex shrugged. “Maybe a Force thing," he guessed. Before he could say anything more, a clone arrived to report.

“We’re missing two troopers. During the battle, they chased some droids which wanted to escape, maybe to warn the enemy. The troopers didn’t come back. We lost track of them,” he reported.

Rex sighed. “Keep looking, but don’t let anyone go out there alone," he ordered, and then noticed that Anakin was gone. “Where’s the kid?” he asked, shocked. Everyone in the tent looked around, but nobody knew where the little Jedi had gone.

“We must find him! Cody and General Kenobi will be furious if we lose his Jedi cadet," Rex said.

Anakin followed where the Force led him. No one noticed him when he walked past. He himself was like in a light trance. Knowing what he did, but not paying attention where he went.

He stopped in front of a hole in the ground. The ground had collapsed there, making an entrance to a cave. He could hear faint voices coming from the cave. Anakin knelt down next to the cave entrance.

“Is anyone there?” someone called from the cave.

“Yes. I’m here. I’ll get help!” Anakin shouted back and wanted to run to the base, when the ground beneath him collapsed. He cried out, landing on his back. As the dust started to settle down, Anakin saw a clone in front of his face.

“It’s the Jedi cadet,” the trooper shouted to someone Anakin couldn’t see.

“Coric?" Anakin asked.

“Yes, it’s me. How did you know?” Coric asked, astounded.

But Anakin didn’t have the time to answer, as he realized that the ceiling was about to come down.
“We should move!” he cried, panicking slightly. Coric looked up shortly, then grabbed the clone next to him. Anakin jumped to his feet and ran deeper into the tunnel system with the others. The ceiling collapsed behind them, blocking the tunnel completely. A tiny bit of light still filtered in through the gaps between the rocks, but the openings were quite too small even for Anakin to squeeze through.

Anakin let himself plop to the ground he panted and stared at the schemes of the rocks, knowing he could lift them, even with the force. Coric laid the other clone on the ground.

“So, how did you know who I am?” he asked.

“Lucky guess," Anakin answered, regaining his breath and igniting Master Le’lyar’s lightsaber to lighten the dark. He looked past Coric at the other trooper, who seemed to be badly wounded.

“How did this happen?" Anakin asked as he rushed to the trooper.

“The droids we were following accidentally used a grenade. They managed to blow themselves, us, and the ground up. I was lucky and was able to jump away, but CT-5986 wasn’t. I would have carried him to the base, but I couldn’t reach the ceiling and as you can see, there are a lot of possible ways," Coric explained. Anakin nodded. They were at a crossing.

But then he got an idea.

“I can lead the way. I can feel a breeze. It must be coming from another entrance," Anakin said, and helped Coric sling CT-5986 over his shoulder. He only groaned, but didn’t wake up.

Together, Anakin and Coric hurried through the cave system, only briefly stopping when Anakin had to look or feel for the right way.

“There! I can see a light!" Anakin shouted and turned off the lightsaber as they came near one of the exits.

“Then let’s get out of here," Coric said, and sped up. Anakin suddenly stopped as he felt his hair on the back of the neck stick out. A sign of danger.

“Look out!” he cried as the unstable cave started collapsing again. Knowing that they weren’t fast enough, he pushed Coric and CT-5986 through the entrance just before the boulders came down and trapped him in the cave.

“Ad’ika!” he heard Coric cry out, and then it went silent and dark in the cave.

Chapter Text

Now alone, Anakin felt the cold much worse than before. He began to shiver.

He looked around, but it was completely dark. He let out a shuddering breath and wrapped his arms around him. “Great, Anakin, always helping others and getting himself into trouble. How typical of you,” he murmured to himself as he ignited the lightsaber again and began walking through the tunnels. But soon, he didn’t know which way he came from. He was lost.

Fear began to weigh heavy in his stomach. But then he heard something.

“…ni," it came from one of the tunnels.

“Ani!” someone shouted, more clearly now.

Anakin froze. “Mum?" he asked and then shouted, “Mum!”

“Ani!" it came back, and it was definitely his mother’s voice. Without thinking why or how she got in the cave, he followed the voice, running through the tunnels. He didn’t pay attention to where he went. He only cried after his mother and she cried after him.

After rounding a corner, he stopped suddenly. His mother was kneeling in front of him, fear written on her face. Someone was standing behind her, holding a red lightsaber at her throat.

“Mum…” Anakin whispered, but was afraid to come closer.

“You really came, young Skywalker,” the person behind Shmi said in a low voice. The figure’s face was hidden in the shadows, but from his build, it could be a human male.

“What do you want? Let my mom go," Anakin demanded, holding Master Le’lyar’s lightsaber in front of himself.

“I wouldn’t do that if you want your mother alive,” the man said, and Anakin stopped.

“What do you want? You wanted me to come. You have my mother, so you want something from me. What is it?” Anakin asked through clenched teeth. He couldn’t see the man grin, but felt the sadistic euphoria emanating from him.

“Clever boy. I’ll tell you what I want. I want you. I want you to become my apprentice and join the Dark Side of the Force," the man answered.

Anakin’s eyes went wide. “No…” he breathed.

“Please, Ani,” his mother pleaded, and began to cry. “Please, for me. Do what he says. I want to live with you. I just want to live.”

“Mum?” Anakin asked, and looked at the man. A silent tear ran down his cheek, then he nodded. “Let her go and I’ll do as you say,” he said. He dropped the ignited lightsaber and his training lightsaber on the ground as a sign of surrender.

“Thank you, Ani. I knew calling for you would save my life," Shmi said and stood up after the man released her.

But Anakin didn’t throw himself into her arms. He froze. “What did you say?” he asked gingerly.

“I knew that you would save me if I called after you. I knew that you would do as he says," she answered and wanted to hug him, but he stepped back and called the lightsaber to his hand.

“You’re not my mother. My mother would never do this. She would do everything to keep me safe and if she had to die, she’d never want me to join the Dark Side, because she loves the light and helping people," Anakin growled, and ignited his saber.

The man growled, too. “You really saw through my illusion. Well then, so be it. I’ll get you nonetheless," he said, and instead of dissolving the illusion, he beheaded the illusion of Shmi.

Anakin cried out. Even though it wasn’t his mother, it looked exactly like her, and seeing his mother beheaded made him see red. He stormed towards the obvious Sith, who defended himself with ease.

The Sith only deflected Anakin’s blows for a while, not even attacking, as if he was mocking him. Only after a while did he finally attack, quickly pushing Anakin on the defensive. 

“Take your hate. Use it. It makes you stronger. Take it and you will never see your beloved die!" the Sith taunted Anakin while fighting.

Anakin cried out again, pushed the Sith with the Force against the wall and held him there.

“Yes, use your hate. You can free all of the slaves with this power, and punish all of the slavers. You can show the Jedi how wrong they were for not wanting you. You can show them your power and how to make things right. Kill all of the slavers and their progeny, so that there will never be a slave," the man said, grinning.

“You wanted to use my mother against me!” Anakin growled.

“Yes, kill me! Satisfy your hate!” the Sith implored. Anakin wanted to thrust his sword through the Sith’s heart as he heard a soft, “Ani, no. Don’t do it.”

He turned his head to where the Sith had beheaded the illusion of his mother. A blue light was shining, and it felt like his mother. His mother wouldn’t want him to become a murderer, he realized.

Anakin looked at the Sith, who was still pressed against the wall. He retracted his lightsaber and shook his head. “No. You won’t make me a murderer,” he said determinedly, and the Sith disappeared.

Anakin stumbled back and had to lean against a wall in order not to fall.

After some minutes to recover, he pushed himself away from the wall and picked up the lightsabers. Then he looked at the spot where the illusion of his mother died. A crystal was lying there.

Anakin picked it up and heard soft music coming from the crystal. He decided to keep it, and put it in his pocket. Then he began to wander, searching for the right way, but all tunnels looked the same, dark and rocky.

He ended up back in the spot where he got separated from Coric and CT-5986. The collapsed ceiling was still blocking the way, but Anakin was too tired to continue his search and settled down. He shivered and leaned against the wall, looking into the darkness. He didn’t ignite the lightsaber. The light wouldn’t change his situation. He was so cold that he only wanted to sleep and to know if the both clones were alright.

He was about to fall asleep when the humming of the crystal in his pocket grew louder. He frowned. It was as if the crystal didn’t want him to sleep. He thought that this was silly. Why shouldn't he sleep? But then he vaguely remembered that you shouldn’t fall asleep when you were freezing.

He breathed deeply. The little crystal in his pocket gave him confidence. Someone would come and get him, he only had to wait. 

He was about to lose his confidence and fall asleep to finally stop feeling the cold, when he heard someone shout.

“If you’re down there, ad’ika, move away from the collapsed entrance, it’s about to blow up!”

Anakin's eyes went wide. They couldn’t just blow up an unstable cave entrance. But he didn’t want to risk it, so he got up and moved away from the entrance. 

He waited a minute, shivering and with aching muscles from the cold. Then, the entrance really blew up. It wasn’t a big explosion, just enough to clear a small opening to squeeze through.

After the dust laid down, he saw some clone troopers who hurried towards him. He leaned against the wall next to him and slid slowly into a sitting position. Knowing that he was rescued made the last of his strength leave. 

A trooper knelt down before him and took his helmet off. Anakin recognized him as Denal.

“It’s alright, ad’ika, we’ve got you,” Denal assured him and tucked him into the blanket someone handed him. “Can you get up, or should I carry you to the speeder?” he asked.
“I can walk. Thank you, Denal,” Anakin answered, and stood up slowly. Denal let him have his pride and only supported him on the way. 

In the speeder, Anakin sat down and received another blanket. While the speeder flew towards their base, he stared at the starry sky, thinking about his mother, and what she would think of him if he killed somebody for her.

“What do you mean, you lost him?!” Obi-Wan asked frantically.

“He was with Rex and Kix, but then he left. Nobody knows where he went,” a trooper tried to explain.

“How can you lose a child? The only child in the whole base?!” the Jedi asked loudly. 

The trooper winced. “Two troopers met him, but they got separated. We have already sent out some troopers to get him,” he assured.

“How c-can you stand h-here in the c-cold w-without freezing," someone stuttered beside them. Everyone jumped and looked at the person who was speaking. It was Anakin. He stood beside them, shivering. In his worry, Obi-Wan hadn’t noticed that the speeder had arrived and his Padawan had walked to his side. Behind him were Denal and the others who had saved him.

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan cried, relieved, and kneeled down to him, looking over him.

“Stop fussing, Master, it’s only dust and dirt. The only wound I have is the scratch from the battle, but could we go inside. I’m freezing,” Anakin said.

“Yes, yes,” Obi-Wan answered, then looked at the troopers. “Thank you. And I apologize for shouting at you,” he said, directing the last words at the trooper he had talked to.

All clones saluted. “No problem, General.”

Both Jedi headed to the med tent. As they entered, Anakin looked at CT-5986, who was lying on a cot. He was very pale, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. Anakin quickly walked over to him.

“How is he?” he asked Kix, who approached him and Obi-Wan.

“I’m sorry, kid. He’s not going to make it. It was too late when he arrived,” Kix said, crestfallen. 

Anakin’s heart skipped a beat, then he nodded and looked at the pale clone on the bed. 

“Anakin…” Obi-Wan started, but his Padawan shook his head.

“No worry, Master. I won’t let my emotions win over me. I know it isn’t my fault and that I couldn’t help him,” Anakin said with a sad smile.

Obi-Wan nodded, “Good.”

Anakin looked back to CT-5896, who slowly opened his eyes.

“What are you doing here, ad’ika. A dead man’s bed is no place for a kid," he rasped. 

“Maybe," Anakin answered. “But I won’t leave you. I’ll stay by your side, ‘til the end.” Anakin’s voice was calm and soft.

At this moment, Obi-Wan realized how old Anakin behaved for his age. Sometimes, he behaved like he was younger than he was, and sometimes, he behaved like a grown-up. Obi-Wan realized how the different upbringing influenced his whole behavior in many ways.

Obi-Wan didn’t like how Anakin’s eyes looked used to the sight of a dying man. But before he could think more about it, a clone reported that the Jedi Council wanted to talk with him. He sighed, but nodded. “Stay here, Padawan,” he said to Anakin, who nodded. Then he followed the clone out of the tent.

“Thank you, ad’ika," CT-5896 said, smiling, “I think the saddest thing is that I didn’t even have the time to earn myself a name.”

“Why didn’t you choose your own name?” Anakin asked.

“I don’t know… I think it is tradition that a vod… a brother gives you your name,” he answered. Anakin nodded slightly, lost in thought. Everybody in the tent silently watched the scene before them.

“The second thing I’m sad about is that I’ll never hear music again. I heard it once and I think I fell in love. Especially with the drums," the trooper talked to himself.

“Beat,” Anakin said.

“What?” the clone asked.

“Your name. It’s Beat. I know I’m not your brother, but I think it suits you. Everything I saw you doing was in the same beat. The same rhythm," Anakin answered and looked sheepishly at the ground. “Will… will you accept that I named you?” he asked.

“Thank you. I will hold my name near to my heart. Now I can die in peace," Beat answered thankfully and closed his eyes. “I think that was the best thing someone did for me… If I only… could hear music again…” His voice became slower and quieter.

All clones in the tent looked to the ground knowing their brother was dying. Then, suddenly but softly a voice sang out. A melody, a song nobody ever heard rang through the tent, soothing everyone in it.

The clones looked up, surprised to see Anakin singing. One hand was at the Beat’s chest and the other at his own. His eyes were closed, and he looked like he was concentrating, but his voice stayed soft. He wasn’t the best singer. His voice was untrained, but it still had a soothing effect on everybody, especially on Beat, who smiled and relaxed, showing no sign of pain.

As Anakin finished, everything stayed silent in the tent.

Kix was the first who stirred. He went to Beat and checked his vital signs. “He’s dead,” he pronounced, and wrote the time and date on his data pad. 

Anakin rose silently, but swayed. He was exhausted and barely even noticed that he was maneuvered to the cot next to Rex’s. He was set down on the cot.

Rex looked at him. “Thank you. Thanks to you, he could die peacefully. You did a great job, Commander,” he said.

At the title ‘Commander’, Anakin looked up. “What? Commander?" he asked and looked around, expecting to see Cody, but he wasn’t there. A few clones snickered at that.

“I mean you, Commander Skywalker,” Rex explained. “Today, you deserved this rank. I was told what you did out there after I was carried away. Thanks to you, we won and only Beat died. Everything stood against us. Without you, a lot more of us would have died today. So you really deserved it. And after what you did for Beat, I would love to call you my Commander, right, boys?" he asked the clones, who nodded approvingly.

“Thanks, Captain. That means a lot for me," Anakin answered, smiling with tired eyes.

“Let me have a look at your leg, since I couldn’t treat it completely before, and then you’ll go to bed. Understood, Commander?” Kix asked, fetching his supplies. Anakin nodded, but only thought of sleeping. He curled up in the bed and closed his eyes. In seconds, he was fast asleep.

The clones stared at him, some blushed, others mumbled, “How cute…” looking at their Commander curled up in the bed.

Kix frowned slightly. The young Commander’s position was clearly to protect himself. All of his vital spots were covered. Nevertheless, his face seemed relaxed. He had fallen asleep immediately. So he trusted them or was more exhausted than Kix thought, but his curling up looked so automatic that he was probably used to sleeping in this position. And Kix didn’t like the thought of his Commander needing to protect himself while sleeping. He didn’t really want to know how it came to this.

“He shouldn't sleep like this," Rex said, looking at Kix's frowning face.

“Yes, no kid should sleep like this,” Kix answered. The smiles of the clones vanished as they realized what Anakin’s sleeping positions meant.

“I will protect this adiik*,” Coric said determinedly, “He saved Beat and me without thinking of himself. He stayed by Beat’s side as he died. I have to protect him.”

The other clones agreed. Rex nodded.

“We all will protect our little Commander,” the clone Captain said. Kix went to his little Commander and finally finished treating his leg wound. He was glad that the wound wasn’t infected, and only had a little dirt in it. He was sure that it would heal soon and without any problems.

Chapter Text

Anakin woke up with the sunrise. He sat up and looked around with sleepy eyes.

“Good morning, Commander,” Rex beside him greeted.

“Morning, Rex," Anakin answered, but then blushed. “I-I mean, Captain Rex,” he corrected himself quickly.

“Sir, you’re my Commander, you don’t have to address me as Captain," Rex explained. Anakin looked at Rex thoughtfully and frowned. Rex blinked.

Anakin shook his head. “Maybe, but if I call you Rex, I’ll only do it when we’re off duty, but I won’t disrespect you in front of your men," he said and stood up from his bed. The little Jedi smiled at Rex. “I’m glad that you all see me fit the rank of a Commander, but I also know that you’re still wary of me. And of course, you are, you still haven’t even known me for even a full week. So why should you trust me as a person," he said.

Rex looked shocked. “Sir, we…” he began, but Anakin interrupted him.

“Don’t worry, I will prove myself trustworthy. You don’t understand, but I know your situation. I know how you live and how you grew up.” Anakin’s eyes had a grave deepness to them, which made Rex wonder if the boy was just saying that, or if he really knew how he and his brothers lived, were treated and grew up.

Anakin didn’t wait for Rex to end his thought and say something, and left him alone with his thoughts.

As Obi-Wan left his tent where he had had a meeting with the Council, he ran into Anakin, who was helping the clones to prepare for their departure. He frowned when he saw how happily Anakin accepted that Commander Cody told him what he should do and how. Obi-Wan didn’t know if he should be happy or concerned about this. Normally, Anakin argued when someone told him what to do and how to do it, especially when it was simple tasks like carrying things or relaying messages.

In the back of his mind, Obi-Wan knew that it was because that kind of work reminded Anakin of his life as a slave. He sighed and despite having to talk with his Padawan, he let him help the clones, noticing his determination and concentration while he worked.

In the evening, they finally boarded the ship and were ready to depart.

Obi-Wan couldn’t see his Padawan anywhere, so he decided to look for him in the mess hall, where most clones were going. After arriving, he saw Anakin eating with some clones, so he got himself some rations and sat down at the same table. The clones looked a little bit shocked and were about to stand up and salute, but Obi-Wan motioned at them not to do it.

“At ease, troopers," he said, and looked to his Padawan. “Good evening, Padawan.”

“Hey, Master,” Anakin said after swallowing.

“How’s your leg? I saw you working all day,” Obi-Wan asked.

“It doesn’t hurt at all. Like I said, it’s only a scratch," Anakin answered.

“Oh, Padawan. The graze of a laser bolt is not just a scratch,” he said, sighing, but also a little bit amused.

“Then a little burn, but it’s nothing big or critical,” Anakin answered, and his Master sighed.

The clones listened, fascinated. It was their first time seeing their General behave as a Master of a Padawan and not as a Jedi General. But the conversation ceased, and everyone ate in silence.

After the evening meal, Anakin followed his Master to his small cabin. When the door closed, Anakin found himself in Obi-Wan’s embrace.

“M-Master,” Anakin stuttered, surprised. He knew that Obi-Wan liked hugs, but didn’t do it often, and would never admit to it. The most times it was Anakin who hugged his Master and Obi-Wan hugged him back, after making sure nobody saw them.

“I’m sorry Padawan, Anakin. You never should get into a battle, especially not alone,” Obi-Wan said.

“But I wasn’t alone. The men were at my side and had my back,” Anakin answered and stroked Obi-Wan’s back. “I’m alright,” he assured.

“Nevertheless, you shouldn’t be on the battlefield, you shouldn’t see men dying or getting hurt. There are reasons why Padawans are not allowed to go on dangerous missions at such a young age. I shouldn’t have allowed this,” Obi-Wan said.

“But Master, I had to be there. I was able to help them,” Anakin argued. 

Obi-Wan let go of Anakin and sighed. “I know. I heard what you did out there. Because of you, they were able to win with no casualties.”

Anakin looked down. “Almost. I wasn’t able to save Beat… The clone I found in that cave with Coric,” he whispered.

“We can’t save everyone,” Obi-Wan answered and grabbed Anakin’s shoulder, squeezing it softly. “You did well out there. I’m proud of you.”

Anakin looked up and saw that his Master meant what he said. “Thank you, Master," he answered, and smiled a little bit.

Then he looked down again and said uneasily, “And seeing people die… I’ve grown up seeing people get hurt or die in side streets. I don’t like it, but I’m used to it.”

“Oh, Ani…”, Obi-Wan said, using Anakin’s nickname, and hugged the child again. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Master. It’s okay,” Anakin assured again.

They stayed a while in their hugging position before they let go. “I need a meditation over this. Come, you could use it too,” Obi-Wan said.

They sat down. As always, Anakin sensed how easily his Master fell into meditation, emptying his mind and opening himself to the Force to find peace and strength in its whisper.

But Anakin didn’t hear a whisper. He heard the Force roar. He didn’t need to listen closely, he needed to shield himself from the input the Force was giving him to avoid being overwhelmed. He couldn’t just sink into meditation like his Master.

He had once asked what the Force felt like when meditating. Obi-Wan answered that it was sometimes a silent lake he entered. A lake where he could breathe and feel weightless. When meditation was harder, it was just a little stream he could dip his hand into.

But water was not Anakin's expertise. For him, it was like entering a sandstorm. If he wanted to go into deep meditation, he first had to shield himself while entering. Then, when he wanted to open himself, he had to lower his shields, bit by bit. He couldn’t just lower them altogether. He had to calm down the storm, so he lowered them little by little, to just let a few gusts of wind in. With training, he could lower his shields more and more, but it was exhausting to lower them without letting them fall completely.

When he had first learned to meditate, he was afraid of this storm, but Obi-Wan had kept telling him to open himself, so one day, he tried it when he was alone in his bedroom. He opened himself to the Force.

It hurt; his mind was blown away by the Force. He lost himself in the storm and lost his control. After he managed to get out of the storm, out of the meditation, his bedroom looked like a storm had raged in it.

Luckily, Obi-Wan didn’t notice it, and Anakin was able to tidy up his room before Obi-Wan could see it. Anakin still wondered how nobody in the Temple had sensed his little Force storm. But maybe his wish to train meditation secretly to surprise Obi-Wan had let him unconsciously shield his bedroom.

Since that incident, Anakin never tried to open himself to the Force all at once.

Apart from the training and time he needed more than the others, his shielding didn’t let him empty his mind, because his shields didn’t just hold the storm out, they also bottled up his feelings and thoughts, and didn’t let them out. He had to push them out through his slightly lowered shields and that wasn’t easy, because the storm kept pushing against it. He mostly managed to push only a few of his feelings, minus the frustration his struggle created.

Deep meditation always left him exhausted, so he only did it when he was alone. His ego didn’t let him show his struggle to others. He didn’t want to see the faces of others or Obi-Wan when mediation had the opposite effect on him than it should, so he often only did light meditation when with others, or let himself be guided by Obi-Wan to his Force lake.

“By the way, why did you leave the base? I told you not to,” Obi-Wan asked after the meditation session was over.

Anakin’s eyes went wide, and he looked down sheepishly. “I-I’m sorry, Master. But in my defense, the Force led me. I just followed it. It led me to Coric and Beat. Maybe you already know, but they were trapped in a cave. I fell in it, too. I didn’t want it, but the ground just gave in. But because I was there, I was able to lead them out. Unluckily, there was a cave-in. Then there was something calling me and… I found this humming crystal. Is this a kyber crystal?” Anakin asked, without telling him about his mother or the Sith he met. If it was really a Sith.

While talking, he took the crystal out of his pocket to show it to his Master.

This time, Obi-Wan’s eyes went wide. “Yes…” he said. “You found your kyber crystal… Anakin, do you know what that means?”

Anakin shook his head and looked questioningly at his Master.

“You know that building your own lightsaber is something special for a Jedi,” Obi-Wan began and Anakin nodded, ready to soak up all new information like a sponge. Obi-Wan had to smirk about this thirst for knowledge.

“Well, it’s not only because the lightsaber is a powerful weapon and a part of being a real Jedi. It’s also because it needs a kyber crystal to work,” he explained, and Anakin looked at the kyber crystal he’d found, astounded.

“And not only any kyber crystal. You need the one the Force led you to. Traditionally, we go to Ilum for the Gathering, it’s a ceremony where a group of younglings go to find their crystals. After that, they build their first lightsaber. But obviously, the Force doesn’t care about tradition,” Obi-Wan told Anakin and laughed a bit.

Then he got serious. “I think your vision of accompanying me to this mission wasn’t just to help the clones to protect the base and to find the missing Jedi. I think it was also to find your crystal. The Force wants you to build your lightsaber, which also means it sees you fighting… I don’t like the thought, but I think you shall accompany me in this war,” Obi-Wan mused and felt the Force humming in agreement. It made him sad. No child should fight in a war.

“Don’t be sad Master. I know the war is bad, but I will do my best. We will win this war. It will end soon," Anakin said encouragingly.

Obi-Wan smiled. “You are right, Padawan mine. We will fight, do our best and we will win.”

Anakin was about to go when he remembered Master Kosiyr Le’lyar’s lightsaber.

“Oh, Master. This belongs to Master Le´lyar," he said, and grabbed the lightsaber from his belt to give it to his Master.

“Right. We have to return it, even if its owner is dead. Thank you, Padawan,” Obi Wan said and took it.

“Thanks for what?" Anakin asked, puzzled.

“For not keeping it. I know you’ve wanted to have a lightsaber since your beginning in the Temple. And I understand it. I appreciate it that you didn’t intend to take from the dead,” Obi-Wan explained.

“But Master, I took it from his dead body,” Anakin answered, staring at the ground.

Obi-Wan smiled softly and laid his hand at Anakin’s chin to make him look up. 

“Yes, you took it from the dead, but you did it to protect the clones, not to keep it. You never wanted to keep it. And forgetting about it after such a stressful day is just normal. I know it wasn’t willingly, so thank you for returning it,” Obi-Wan assured his Padawan.

Anakin gave him a small smile. “You’re welcome,” he said.

“New mission for you, we have. Come back, you can not,” the blue hologram of Master Yoda said.

Obi-Wan frowned. They were nowhere near Separatist space, and he wasn’t aware of any battles in any of the nearby systems.

“To Selvaris, you must go,” Yoda continued.
“The Separatists are trying to build a base there,” Master Windu explained. “If we don’t stop them, they’ll be able to stab us in the back. We have to prevent the heart of the galaxy and Coruscant from getting between two fronts.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “We’re near Selvaris, but we don’t have enough troops for a large battle, and it sounds like there are a lot of enemies,” he observed.

Master Windu nodded. “We’d try to send you reinforcements, but all of our units are already out there fighting their own battles. It seems that you’re on your own. We’re sorry, but you have to stop them by all means.”
“We understand, Master Windu. We’ll do our best,” Obi-Wan answered grimly. 

Yoda’s eyes went to Anakin. “Heard that great help you were, I have.”
Anakin smiled. “Thank you, Master Yoda. I also found a crystal. Master Kenobi said that it’s a kyber crystal for my first lightsaber.”
“Is that so?” Mace Windu asked.

Obi-Wan nodded. “I was rather surprised,” he said. “But it is a kyber crystal.”

Master Windu frowned. “Are you sure that it’s the right kyber crystal for your Padawan? He could have simply grabbed it in the cave and kept it.”

Anakin looked down. He hated it when the others thought he was lying or assumed that he did something wrong. 

“I’m sure it’s the right kyber crystal,” Obi-Wan explained. “My Padawan said that the crystal was humming to him. At the time he told me, he didn’t know that the crystal should be humming to him. He didn’t even know that he needed one for his lightsaber. We never talked about it. I felt that his surprise was real.”

Mace Windu sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Then he will build his lightsaber after you return,” he decided.
Anakin smiled, but then frowned as he remembered what he wanted to ask. The problem was that he didn’t know how to ask, and he was afraid how the masters would react. 

“Something to say you have, young Skywalker?” Yoda asked.

Anakin looked up, shocked. “I… um… yes, Master Yoda. I… I have a question or a request.”
“And this request would be?” Master Windu asked.
“The… the men… I mean the clones. They look rather similar,” he started cautiously.

Yoda chuckled. “Because clones, they are.”
“I… I know, but this makes it hard to tell them apart. I recognized that they all have different Force presences, but some of them are only slightly different. While in battle, I can’t focus enough to tell them apart without getting shot. I’m sure that you could do this without a problem, but I’m just a Padawan,” he continued, hoping the Masters would understand. He didn’t notice that he had started to speak quite submissively, and not in the cocky way he normally did. 

Obi-Wan and the other two Jedi Masters noticed it, and frowned. But Anakin didn’t notice, since he was staring at the ground. 

“And what is your idea to help everyone to tell them apart?” Mace Windu asked. 

Anakin looked up again. “I noticed that we have paint on board. They could paint their armor. Everyone could paint it something else, of course. They could also be allowed to have different hairstyles and tattoos, or something like that, so you can tell them apart even when they don’t wear their armor. Only things that won’t hinder missions, of course,” Anakin told them of his idea.

“And who decides what every trooper should paint on their armor?” Obi-Wan asked, being quite sure what the second, true reason for Anakin’s request was.

“They could decide on their own. It would be too much work for us to decide what every trooper should wear,” Anakin answered and smiled sheepishly. 

Mace Windu sighed, knowing what it could mean if the clones were allowed to individualize their appearance. Though he thought of it as a good thing, he was also sure that the Kaminoans weren’t going to like it too much.

“A good idea, this is,” Yoda answered, hiding a smile.

“You have our permission. But young Skywalker, you are responsible for it, and you have to make sure that it won’t hinder even a single mission in the slightest. Understood?” Master Windu asked. 

Anakin nodded and bowed. “Yes, Master Windu.”

“Good. It's settled, then. We'll send you the mission details while you're on your way. May the Force be with you,” Mace Windu concluded.

“And with you,” Obi-Wan answered and bowed. Anakin bowed too, and the transmission ended.

“While we wait for the information, my Padawan and I will catch up on our meditation. Tell Commander Cody and Captain Rex that we’ll meet at 1300 for the briefing. And tell them to read through the mission information as soon as we receive it,” Obi-Wan said to a clone trooper, who saluted in acknowledgement.

Chapter Text

Anakin sat on Obi-Wan’s bunk while his Master was sitting at his desk, reading the mission information. 

“What kind of planet is Selvaris?” Anakin asked, no longer able to let his Master read in silence.

Obi-Wan suppressed a sigh. “It’s a jungle planet, with some oceans. It has a breathable atmosphere and is uninhabited, as far as we know,” he answered without looking up.

“And our mission is to make sure the Separatists don’t build a base there, right?” Anakin asked his next question. His Master only nodded. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Anakin jumped down from the bunk and went to Obi-Wan.

“ We are doing nothing. You will stay on the ship while the clones and I take care of it,” Obi-Wan answered. 

“What? But I can help!” Anakin protested.

Now Obi-Wan sighed.

“You yourself said that the Force wants me in this war. So I have to fight, right, Master?” 

“First, you haven’t even built your lightsaber yet. Second, this won’t be an easy battle. Everything stands against us. You need to gain more experience in battles, but not in this one,” Obi-Wan answered determinedly.

“But I can’t just sit here while you fight out there!”

“Yes, you can and you will,” Obi-Wan said, “and if you don’t stop your complaining, I won’t allow you to come to the briefing.”

Anakin pouted, but kept silent. Obi-Wan waited if he would say something, but his Padawan only crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking sulky, so Obi-Wan let him look over his shoulder and read through the mission information with him. It slowed him down, because he had to wait for Anakin to finish reading before scrolling forward. His Padawan was still a very slow reader, although he was making good progress. He couldn't read Basic at all before he came to the Temple. 

“I think it’s time for the briefing,” Obi-Wan said, not as harshly as he spoke in their earlier dispute. Anakin only nodded.

His Master frowned; he’d expected Anakin to start their dispute again, or be excited over the briefing. But he was silent, like he hadn't been for over a year. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to think about it, so he headed to the briefing with his Padawan and let it be, for once.

They met with Commander Cody and Captain Rex in the meeting room.

"First, we’ll have to break through the blockade. Just the fact that they have one isn't good," Obi-Wan said.

Cody nodded. “That means that they probably know that we’re coming, so we can't come with a surprise attack," he said.

The plan was simple. Obi-Wan and Cody would take two squadrons to take care of the blockade, while Anakin would stay at the Star Destroyer and help where he could.

Anakin kept unusually silent during the briefing, but Obi-Wan could feel his anger and disappointment. He sighed as they finished. As always, his Padawan felt too much. Obi-Wan’s head pounded from the anger that came through the bond between Anakin and him. Ever since Anakin came to the Order, Obi-Wan had been trying to help him control his feelings, but nothing seemed to work.

“Padawan, how about you take Commander Cody and Captain Rex with you to look for the paint. We have a day left before we arrive, so they can begin painting their armor,” he suggested, hoping to lighten his Padawan’s mood. 

“What paint? Why should we paint on our armor?” Cody asked, puzzled. “Explaining is Anakin’s job. This whole thing is his project. I will go and meditate,” Obi-Wan answered and left the three of them.

“Well, al’verd’ika. What did General Kenobi mean?” Rex asked.
“I had the idea that all of you could paint your armor, so we can tell you apart,” Anakin answered and grinned.
“I see your point, but how should we paint the armor?” asked Cody.

“You can decide for yourself. It would be practical if not all of you painted your armor the same way, but you can draw whatever you want. Now come on, let’s get the paint,” Anakin answered.

“By the way, what does alwerdika mean?” he added.

“You mean al’verd’ika? It means something like ‘little commander’. Al’verde is Mando’a for commander, and ‘ika… I don’t know how to translate it. It doesn’t mean little, but it has a similar meaning,” Commander Cody answered.

Anakin nodded. “Like ad’ika?”
“Yes, like ad’ika,” Rex confirmed.
Anakin said nothing for a while, then nodded. “I like it, it’s like a nickname.”

While they went to the storeroom, Commander Cody parted from them to gather the troops. Meanwhile, Rex and Anakin found the paint. “Looks like yellow,” Rex said after inspecting it.

“I think it’s orange,” Anakin answered and looked for some droids who could help them with transporting the paint. He could persuade some power droids to let them stack the paint on them, so they would carry it to the barracks.

“How did you get them to help us?” Rex asked as they piled up the paint buckets on the droids. “When I asked them once to do something they weren't built and programmed for, they just ignored me,” he added.
Anakin chuckled. “Did you offer a quid pro quo?” he asked.
“A compensation?” Rex asked, confused.

“Yes. After they help me with transporting the buckets, I’ll repair their minor problems,” Anakin answered.
“If they have problems, the mechanics will repair them,” the Captain said.

“But the problems I’m talking about don’t hinder them in doing their work, so it doesn’t interest the mechanics. It’s like having a small rock in your boot. You can still walk properly, but it isn’t nice. The difference is that we can get rid of the rock without help, but they can’t get rid of their ‘rock’ without help, so I will do it,” Anakin explained as he put the last bucket on top of another.

Rex, Anakin and the power droids made a strange convoy on their way to the trooper quarters. Rex led the way, while Anakin walked last to make sure no bucket fell off. 

“Take one droid to our quarters. Cody and the others are probably already waiting. I’ll take the rest of the droids to the others’ quarters and explain everything to the troopers,” Rex told Anakin, who nodded and headed to the quarters where he, Rex and some others slept.

“There you are, al’verd’ika,” Hardcase greeted him.

Anakin smiled at the nickname, which seemed to have stuck. “Hey, Hardcase. I got some paint for you. Did Cody explain everything?” he asked. The others nodded.

“We also have something for you. Come,” Hardcase said and led him to the back of the quarters, where Jesse, Cody and Coric were standing. They presented him with armor. It looked similar to the clone armor, but smaller and slightly different. Technically, it was parts of armor, not a full set.
“We thought our little Jedi could use some protection. We took Beat’s armor and modified it so it would suit you. It should protect you, but also keep your agility as if you weren’t wearing it,” Jesse explained, smiling.
Anakin’s eyes went wide. “Wizard!” he breathed out, excitedly inspecting the armor.
“Try it on,” Hardcase suggested.
Anakin put his new armor on with Cody’s help. Then he looked at himself. His chest, shoulders, forearms and shins were protected now. It wasn’t much, but it was more than before.
“Thank you, guys,” Anakin said, smiling.

“You’re welcome,” Cody answered. “Beat would be happy that his armor can protect you now, al’verd’ika.”
“Then let’s get that paint on our armor,” Hardcase exclaimed and got a brush and a bucket. Everyone else did the same. Anakin looked around and then spotted Hawk. He walked to the pilot.

“Hey, Hawk, can I get your helmet for a moment?” he asked.
“What for?” Hawk asked, but passed it to Anakin.
“That’s a surprise, but don’t worry,” Anakin answered, took the helmet and walked away a bit, so Hawk couldn’t see what he was doing. Anakin soon returned and presented Hawk with his helmet, which now had two orange birds on it. Hawk took his helmet and examined it curiously.

“I thought since you love flying, you would like it. I mean, even your name comes from a bird,” Anakin tried to explain his doing. Hawk’s silence made Anakin think that Hawk probably didn't like it, as Anakin feared.
“It’s great, ad’ika, I mean al’verd’ika. I love it, thanks,” Hawk thanked him and grinned.

Like everyone else, Anakin took off parts of his armor and grabbed a brush. On the spot where his heart would be, he drew a note connected to a heartbeat symbol, like one would see on a heart monitor.

The droids waited for Anakin. After delivering the paint buckets, they gathered together in front of the troopers’ quarters. Anakin didn’t make them wait long. He left his armor in the quarters to dry and went with the droids to the hangar, where he got some tools. He sat down in a corner and began to adjust, oil and repair the droids’ minor problems. Other droids saw this and gathered around Anakin, hoping he would help them too, and he did.
While working, he talked with the droids, listened to them and even laughed when they told a joke, even when it wasn’t really funny for someone who wasn’t a droid. 

“You really get along with droids, little Commander,” someone said, startling Anakin. He jumped, looking up, and was about to raise his arms to protect him when he recognized Rex.
Anakin stood up quickly. “Captain Rex, I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you,” he said quickly and tried to hide his shock.

“Easy, ad’ika. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you could startle a Jedi,” Rex answered, holding his hands up, as if he wanted to show that he was no threat.
“It’s okay. You probably couldn’t startle Master Obi-Wan even if he was lost in his work like I was,” Anakin said and sat back down next to the mouse droid, who bumped impatiently against his leg. Also, he was only a Padawan and not a real Jedi, but he kept that part to himself.
“So, where did you learn mechanics? Hawk praised you as a genius. Do the Jedi teach mechanics?” Rex asked, without mentioning the protective posture Anakin had a moment before, as if he thought he was about to get a beating.
“They do, but I didn’t learn anything new in the Initiate courses. My mother taught me the basics when I was young and then I taught myself. I tinkered with everything I got my hands on. Mom always said that you have to…” Anakin trailed off.
“What did she say?” Rex inquired. As a clone made on Kamino, he didn’t have a mother, and he was curious about what mothers usually taught their sons .
“It’s not important. I should forget it and leave the past behind, like the Jedi want me to,” Anakin just said. He continued working on the droid to avoid having to look in Rex's eyes.
“It sounds like it’s important to you. And, well, I don’t want to interfere with your Jedi teachings, but I think that experience is important, and if we forgot about the past, we’d also forget what we learned, right?” Rex concluded thoughtfully.
That got Anakin to look up. “Master Obi-Wan said that I should earn more battle experience,” he added, now lost in his thoughts.
“Maybe you should talk with the General. Maybe he could explain what he meant by leaving the past behind,” Rex suggested, but Anakin only nodded and mumbled, “Maybe.”

He finished his work on the mouse droid which circled him, beeping happily, and disappeared. Anakin smiled and got to work at the next mouse droid.
“Why didn’t you paint your armor?” he asked Rex while he was working.
“You said that it is necessary to tell us apart. My armor is already painted with the red marks of a Captain. You can already tell me apart from the others,” Rex answered. Anakin could tell that Rex didn’t understand why he should paint his armor.
“You’re right, but the others seemed to have had some fun painting their armor. Why shouldn’t you have that kind of fun, too? I saw them talking about their motives and giving each other ideas. It is a kind of bonding to paint their armor together. I think it would do only good if you joined them,” Anakin answered and smiled at him.

Rex seemed to consider his Commander's words, when Cody, Hardcase and Jesse approached them.
“There you are, vod*,” Cody greeted Rex. “We looked for you all over the ship. What are you doing in the hangar with all those droids?” he asked. They didn’t see Anakin, who was kneeling exactly behind Rex's legs, hidden from the view of the three clones.
“I…” Rex began, but Hardcase interrupted him. “Not important, we got you your bucket.” He tossed Rex his helmet. Rex caught it and raised an eyebrow. “What did you do to it?” he asked, looking at the orange Jaig eyes** painted on it.
“We painted Jaig eyes on it, like you see. And don’t ask why, you know why,” Jesse answered, grinning.

And before Rex could protest, Cody said, “You deserve it, vod’ika.”
Rex blushed at that, which earned him a raised eyebrow from Cody. “You just called me little brother in front of our little commander,” Rex explained and stepped aside, so the three of them could see Anakin, who waved at them shyly.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to overhear your private conversation. But I didn't have the chance to let you know that I am here, too,” he apologized. Jesse and Hardcase saluted immediately, looking a little bit shocked.
“Sorry, Rex,” Cody said sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” Rex answered.

Anakin looked at them curiously. “You’re family. Why shouldn’t you call each other little brother or brother, or whatever? I also called my mother ‘mom’. Even in public. That’s normal,” he suggested.
“We’re on duty, and we aren’t bred to be a family. We’re soldiers,” Cody explained. His face got blank, like the faces of the others.

“I think that’s bantha poodoo. You are a family. A very big family, and nothing can change that. You may be soldiers and the Kaminoans may be something like your makers, but they can’t take your free will. And if your will is to be a family, then you’re a family,” Anakin argued, and stood up.

He looked fiercely at the clones, remembering what his mother and the other slaves had taught him. “Make yourself worthy to them. Do what they want you to do, so they leave you alone. But whatever happens, never let them take your free will. When they don’t know about it, about your feelings, about your wishes, then they can’t take it from you.”
They looked shocked at their little Commander, who talked like their older brothers sometimes did, when they were still cadets. It was like the boy in front of them knew what kind of life they had. And Rex remembered how Anakin told him at Jedha that he knew.
“I may be your Commander, and not one of you. I'm not a clone like you. But you don’t work for me , we work together. My military rank may be higher than most of yours, but as a person, we’re on the same level. I don’t know if you trust me that much, but you can come to me if you have any problems. You don’t have to be the perfect soldiers around me. I would like to get to know who you really are. But I can understand if you don’t trust me enough. You should never trust somebody who thinks he’s above you. Secrecy can save your life,” Anakin continued.

He looked down after finishing, thinking of the other things his mother told him, taught him. He wanted to tell them their stories, but he still was afraid to tell them about his past life. So he just scooped the mouse droid he was working at up, took his tools and left the clones to their thoughts. 

Chapter Text

Anakin stood at the panoramic window, looking outside. They were still in hyperspace, but they were only moments away from arriving at Selvaris. His Master was already sitting in his starfighter in the hangar, ready to take off as soon as they arrived.

The battle began immediately after they dropped out of hyperspace. Nothing could have prepared Anakin for what he was about to see. There was no time to adjust to the new area, no time to have a good look at the enemy before attacking. Anakin realized that none of his earlier training or mental preparation had any effect. He just stood frozen on the bridge, looking out the window, staring at his Master and the clones as they attacked the blockade. Although it was only a single Lucrehulk -class battleship, it was bristling with weapons and a squadron of starfighters immediately launched from its hangar and attacked their own Star Destroyer.

Rex gave the order to send out more of their own fighters to protect their Destroyer and support Obi-Wan and Cody, so they could concentrate on taking the battleship down.

Anakin could do nothing but watch the battle in terror. Yes, he’d fought in a space battle just like this one before, when he was nine. He was even the one who destroyed the battleship. But being out there was different. He didn't remember seeing people being blown up with their ships. Well, when he thought back, he did remember seeing it, but at the time, he hadn’t realized what he saw. It was just like a holo movie. He didn’t really have time to think about it at the time; he had to survive and destroy the blockade.

But he wasn't out there now. He was in front of a big window which separated him from the battle, but also let him see it in its entirety. He knew the men that died there, were blown up or sucked out into space. Even their helmets couldn’t save them, since they only had a limited supply of air. It wasn’t going to last until the end of the battle.

Anakin didn't realize what was going on around him, and the clones let him. They didn't have the time to take care of a child. Only a short, sharp pain brought him out of his stupor. His hands flew to his head, a sound of pain escaping his mouth.

"Commander!" the clones at the bridge exclaimed, shocked, not knowing what was wrong with him. 

"Master..." Anakin breathed and bolted out of the room. He ran to the hangar, only to see his unconscious Master being pulled out of a badly damaged ship.

"Master! " he shouted and wanted to run to him, but someone held him back.

"Al'verd'ika, don't. You’ll only get in the way," the clone who held him said. 

"But I have to help him!" Anakin cried, trying to break free. 

"You can't help him. Only the medics can," the clone answered. Anakin slumped back, realizing that the clone was right. He looked at him, only now realizing that it was Hawk. 

"I'm sorry, Hawk. I-I…" Anakin began, but Hank shook his head.

"I know, it's okay," he said.
“What happened?” Anakin asked as Hawk released him.

“Well, we were about to lose, but General Kenobi somehow flew inside the battleship, probably through their hangar. After a short time, he flew out again and the whole ship exploded. The General’s starfighter was hit while fleeing from the explosion and he got caught in it,” Hawk explained.
Anakin only nodded. From what he’d seen and heard, he knew that his Master was lucky to be still alive, but he wasn't out of danger yet. 

He realized that he didn’t know what he should do now. He couldn’t help his Master, but his Master was the only important thing right now, wasn't he? A small voice whispered to him that this was selfish. He should be helping the clones, some of which were still out there fighting. He should do what a Jedi and a Commander would do, but he couldn’t tell what that was. He didn’t know how he could help. He was just a child, just some random boy and a former slave.

“How about we repair the ships which can still be fixed,” Hawk suggested and looked around. Many starfighters got damaged in the battle and had returned to the hangar. All starfighters which could still fly were already out there, fighting.

Pilots were standing by their ships, either alone or in groups. Some of them had minor injuries, but nothing serious. Everyone who needed treatment immediately was being treated, so every medic and medical droid was currently busy. The clones helped each other, and it wasn't going to be long before every injured person in the hangar was patched up by one of his brothers.

Anakin nodded. Repairing ships was one thing he knew how to do. They both got to work, silently, but together. They got halfway through the hangar, with some other pilots and mechanics helping, as the last starfighters returned from the battlefield.
They looked up from work and watched as the pilots left their ships and the badly injured got carried away.

Commander Cody walked to Anakin, and saluted. “The battle is won. We lost around half of our men out there, and most of the survivors were injured. Some critically. General Kenobi is one of them,” Cody reported, stone-faced.

Anakin nodded. They had won, but no one was cheering or celebrating. There were too many losses to be happy about the victory.

“I’ll go check on the General, but from what I heard, they are still trying to save him, so we can’t visit him,” the Commander added.

“Thank you, Commander. I will stay here and help to repair the damaged starfighters. Or am I needed elsewhere?” Anakin asked, but hoped that he wasn’t needed. He didn’t know what he should do, or if he even would be strong enough. He only wanted to do something to distract himself, and repairing starfighters was perfect for that.
“I’ll take care of everything, al’verd’ika. You’ll be a great help here, in the hangar,” Cody said and gave Anakin a small smile, before he saluted and left the hangar. Anakin looked at Hawk, who also smiled. Together, they got back to work. 

With time, the hangar got quieter. The clones who had nothing to do left, going to their quarters, the mess hall or some other place with their brothers or alone.
Anakin was working on one of the last damaged starfighters when Rex approached him. He saluted as Anakin looked up. Rex seemed tired. He probably was, like Anakin himself.
“General Kenobi is out of surgery, he is stable and conscious. He asked for you,” Rex reported.

“Thank you, Captain,” Anakin answered. One part of him wanted to storm right to his Master. But something held him back. It was fear, he realized. Fear of seeing his Master badly hurt. And a little voice told him that his Master had to be disappointed in him, because he didn’t do anything to help in the battle, because he wasn’t able to protect his Master, no matter that his Master didn’t want this in the first place.
“I have to finish this and clean up first,” Anakin said and wanted to grab a tool, but Hawk got it first.

“I will do this for you, ad’ika. Go to General Kenobi. You shouldn’t avoid him. He will be glad when you visit him, and it will take away your fear,” Hawk advised.

Anakin’s eyes went wide. He was so shocked that Hawk saw right through him, he didn’t even deny that he was afraid.

“How did you know I’m a-”

“Afraid?” Hawk asked, and smiled. “I know this feeling. I think a lot of us know this feeling, when friends or the ones you look up to are injured. Go see him. It will help, I promise you,” he said.
Anakin took a deep breath and nodded. “Ok, I will go to him,” he decided and left the hangar. 

Anakin knocked on the door to the room in which his Master was lying.

“Come in,” came from the inside. The door slid open and Anakin stepped in.

Obi-Wan was lying on the bunk. A blanket was pulled all the way to his chest. His right hand and forearm were covered in bandages, and the right side of his face was red.
Anakin swallowed and stepped forward to his Master’s side. “Hello Master, how are you?” he asked anxiously.

Obi-Wan looked at his Padawan and smiled. “Hello there, my little Padawan. I’m fine. But you looked troubled,” he answered. 

“Troubled? Of course I’m troubled. I saw you being dragged out of your starfighter to the medbay. You looked horrible, you looked dead. Then I was in the hangar, waiting for news. Seeing all the damaged ships, I wondered if the pilots were still alive or if only their ships were brought back. It was hours until I got the news that you were stable and that I could visit you. All the time I was asking myself if you would make it. So don’t you dare to wonder if I’m troubled and don’t say that you’re fine, because you’re not!” Anakin shouted, all of his worry and fear bursting out of him. 

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened a bit, then he sighed. “I’m sorry, Padawan. I didn’t realize that you would worry so much. But I’m really fine. All of my injuries will heal without problems once I’m in a bacta tank,” Obi-Wan assured Anakin.

The Master yawned; he was even too tired to lecture his Padawan about his outburst. He knew that he should do it if he wanted to keep his distance from his Padawan. He hadn't expected Anakin to like him enough to worry as much as he did, but it seemed that he was wrong. And that worried him. They were at war, and the possibility was high that one of them would die. He hoped that would be himself, this time. If they were too close, the death of either one of them would be devastating for the other. But protecting Anakin from grieving over him too much wasn't the only reason he wanted to keep his distance from his Padawan. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was also afraid to lose his Padawan like he lost his Master, Qui-Gon. He was afraid to be as close to him as he was to his former Master.

“Why aren’t you in the bacta tank if you need it?” his Padawan asked, yanking him out of his thoughts.

“There are men that need the bacta tank more than I do. I have to wait until there’s a free tank,” Obi-Wan answered patiently.

“Oh,” Anakin said and looked at the ground, ashamed that he didn’t think of that possibility.
Obi-Wan smiled softly. “Thank you for worrying about me, but don’t let it take over you.”
Anakin rolled his eyes. His master was lying in bed, badly injured, and still found things to lecture him about.

“I won’t let it control me. I’m the only one who controls me,” Anakin answered stubbornly and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
His Master chuckled. “I know, my very young Padawan.”

But Anakin was still looking at him skeptically, so Obi-Wan decided to praise him a little bit. “You know, I also took a lecture from you and you’re right. Spinning is a good trick.”
Anakin’s eyes went wide. “You… you…” he stuttered.

“Yes, I tried to do what you did at Naboo. It worked well, until the explosion got me. How did you manage to get away back then?”
“Well, I just was faster than the explosion. You’re always too slow when you fly,” Anakin said, proud of himself, but then looked down. “Sorry, I didn’t want to make fun of you getting caught in an explosion.”
“It’s okay, Padawan, I know. Just think before you speak,” Obi-Wan answered tiredly.

“Yes, Master,” Anakin said and nodded. “I’ll go now, so you can rest.”

His Master nodded and closed his eyes, while Anakin left the room.

Chapter Text

Exhausted, Anakin headed to the quarters he shared with the clones. There was nobody there. Most clones were probably in the mess, but he wasn’t hungry, so he simply laid down and closed his eyes.

He woke up to the sight of an already familiar face of a clone in front of his face.

“Already morning, Captain?” Anakin asked sleepily and sat up.
“Oh, no. I just wanted to see if you were alright. You weren’t in the mess, and you were lying here as if you just passed out,” Rex answered, looking over the little Jedi.
“Oh. I just wasn’t hungry. The rations won’t be thrown away, right?” Anakin asked.
Rex shook his head. “No, they won’t.”
Anakin breathed a sigh of relief and was about to lay back down.
“You don’t want to make yourself ready for bed?” Rex asked.
“Oh… Yes, thanks, Captain,” Anakin answered, got up and went to the refresher to make himself ready.
Every quarter shared a refresher, but the clone troopers always let Anakin have it for himself when he had to use it.
As Anakin entered, a few clones who were showering looked at him, startled. The young Jedi didn’t really notice he was too tired to care. He went to a sink and began to brush his teeth.
It wasn’t that the clones were ashamed of being seen naked. There was no such privacy on Kamino, and it also wasn’t a problem around each other, since they all had the same body. But they had learned that normal people wanted to have a little privacy in a refresher. So they were a little bit shocked and speechless when their little Commander changed into his night clothes in front of them.
After changing and washing his face, Anakin left and went to bed. 

“Was that a scar on his back?” a clone asked, after finding his voice.
“I think so, but it was only small and barely visible. Probably from a training accident. I mean, we all have some scars from training. And I heard that Jedi cadets also have very hard training, where they can get a few scars,” another clone answered. The others nodded, satisfied with the logical answer.

Anakin woke up in the middle of the night. He sat up, confused. Everything was silent, and he hadn't had a nightmare. He looked around and only then felt what had woken him. He was able to sense when somebody had a nightmare, and right now, he felt that several clones were having one.

He stood up. Normally, he would use the Force to soothe their nightmares and lead them to a nightmare-free sleep. In the past, he used to do that often, even without knowing exactly what he was doing. But now, he knew that he shouldn't simply do that. He had learned that doing that would be a mind manipulation, and the freedom of the mind was sacred to him. 

Anakin walked to Jesse, one of the clones having a nightmare. Not knowing what else he should do, Anakin tried to wake him. Jesse jolted up, saw Anakin and reached for his throat with great speed, as if he wanted to choke him. Startled, Anakin stumbled backwards and fell on his butt.
He looked startled at Jesse's face. He knew the look Jesse gave him and it horrified him. He could see and feel Jesse's will to kill him. Only later, when he thought back, he realized that something was strange. Not only that Jesse seemed to want to kill him but that there wasn’t bloodlust. It seemed it wasn’t his own will and then Anakin remembers the slaves that had to fight and kill monster and even each other. That were the eyes of a slave.

"A-al'verd'ika!" Jesse exclaimed, shocked, as he came to his senses. Immediately, the whole quarter was in tumult.

Rex went straight to Anakin. "Commander, Jesse, what happened?" he asked.
Jesse was lost for words, but Anakin began to stammer. "I-I'm Sorry. I tried to wake him, but I startled him, so he reacted. It was my fault."
Rex looked at Jesse.
"I had a nightmare," Jesse said as if that would explain everything.
Rex nodded. "Are you hurt, Commander?" he asked.
Anakin shook his head.
"Good," Rex said and reached out with his hand. Anakin flinched, as if he thought Rex would try to choke him, too. Rex looked concerned, but pulled his hand back and said nothing. Anakin stood up and headed to his bunk.

"Ok, everybody. It’s in the middle of the night, we should sleep," Rex said. Everyone returned to their bunks. Rex exchanged a concerned look with Jesse before going back to his bed as well.

Anakin entered the bridge after being summoned. Cody and Rex were already there, speaking with the holograms of Master Windu, Master Yoda and Chancellor Palpatine.

He bowed. “Masters, Chancellor,” he greeted them, hoping that nobody would notice his unease. He didn’t feel so confident about being in front of Master Windu and Master Yoda without Obi-Wan. Then there was also Chancellor Palpatine.Not to mention that when Anakin looked at the clone troopers, he instantly remembered the incident from last night, when Jesse almost started choking him when he woke up.
Anakin didn’t want to be afraid of the clones, but looking at their faces suddenly brought back memories of being a slave and being choked when he angered his master or a customer. He remembered the cold eyes which didn’t see the person in him. 

“Hello, Anakin. It’s nice to see our Hero of Naboo again. I hope your Jedi training goes well,” the Chancellor greeted him, and smiled.
Anakin glanced unsurely at the two Masters, but then nodded. “Yes. Master Kenobi is a great teacher and I am working hard. I’m very grateful for the chance the Jedi gave me,” Anakin answered, trying to sound as formal and pleased as possible.

He didn’t know what to think of the Chancellor. He was kind. But Obi-Wan only trusted a few politicians, and the Chancellor was the most powerful man in the Republic. Moreover one of the first things Anakin had learned was to be wary about people with power. The same went for the Jedi Council members. 

Master Yoda only nodded. “Time for small talk, unfortunately, there is not,” he said.
“Ah, yes, of course. Please, forgive an old man for being excited about seeing a hero again,” Palpatine answered.
“As long as we can now go on with the briefing,” Master Windu answered. The Chancellor nodded.

“Unfortunately, Master Kenobi was injured in the battle and won’t be able to go down to the planet's surface. But we have to make sure that there aren’t any Separatists down there,” Mace Windu began. “Commander, take a platoon with you. Go to the surface and destroy their base. Make sure that there will be no Separatists anymore,” he said to Cody, who saluted. 

“I think you should take your Jedi Commander with you,” Chancellor Palpatine suggested.
“Ready to go alone on a mission, young Skywalker is not,” the Grandmaster replied.
“But he won’t be alone, and I think his Jedi senses will be useful down there. I recall that Selvaris is a jungle planet with a lot of dangerous creatures, and you Jedi are good at sensing that kind of danger, is that correct?” Palpatine countered.
“With all respect, Master Jedi, Commander Skywalker's sense of danger was very useful last time, and saved a lot of lives. We will protect him, and as long he listens, he won’t be in danger,” Cody added.
“Skywalker is not known for listening to instructions,” Windu responded.
“In the time he was with us, he listened to all of our instructions. We never encountered a problem with him,” the clone commander said.
“I will listen to every instruction and I’ll do everything I can to help them. I know how important this mission is. It won’t fail because of me,” Anakin interrupted.
Mace sighed. “Fine. You will go with the Commander, but only if you listen to every clone out there and don't interrupt the remaining briefing, which means only speaking when spoken to.”
Anakin bowed. “Yes, Master.”

The little Commander went to his quarters. He was excited to finally wear his new armor on a mission, but he also was a bit nervous. It would be his first mission without his Master.

After he got ready, he went to see Obi-Wan. His Master was still lying on his bunk in the medbay, now reading a datapad.
“Hello, Master,” Anakin greeted him and bowed slightly.
“Hello, Padawan. I already heard about the Council’s decision,” Obi-Wan answered and looked up. Anakin couldn’t say what his Master was thinking about it. 

Obi-Wan sighed. “Here. I collected information you could need about Selvaris and sorted it, so you can find anything you need in no time. You probably won’t have enough time to read it before you go down there, but if you need to look something up, you should find it here.” He handed his Padawan the datapad.

“Thank you, Master.”
“Be careful and listen to Commander Cody,” Obi-Wan said.
“Of course, Master,” Anakin answered.
His Master nodded, and then handed him his own lightsaber. “I trust you to bring this back.”
Anakin’s eyes went wide, then he took it and bowed. “I will be very careful with it and give it back right after the mission,” he promised.

The remaining time before the departure, Anakin read as much as he could about the flora and fauna of Selvaris.

By the time Anakin entered the hangar, everyone was already there. Beside Cody, he recognized Waxer and Boil. Everyone was from the 212th Attack Battalion and nobody from the Torrent Company.

They saluted as he approached them. Anakin still didn't like that.

They departed shortly after.

Anakin stepped out of the transporter and immediately stopped walking. He knew that they would land in a jungle and he knew what a jungle was, but seeing it with his own eyes was something else.
“How big…” he mumbled, went to the nearest tree and embraced it, trying to get his hands to touch on the other side of the trunk, but his arms were too short. He looked in awe to the top of the tree.
Anakin didn’t realize that the clones were watching him until Cody told them to get to work and build their base.

“Quite impressive, these trees, right?” a clone trooper, Waxer, said as he stepped at Anakin's side.

The young Jedi nodded. “I’ve never seen trees as tall and wide as these. Even the ones in the Temple are small compared to these here,” Anakin answered and let go of the tree.

“I can imagine,” Waxer said and waved Boil and another trooper to himself.
“Commander Cody told us to make sure our base is safe and that there are no threats nearby,” Waxer told Anakin, while the other two saluted.
“Makes sense. Then let’s go,” their little Commander said, eager to explore this jungle. Before going, Waxer gave Anakin a comm for emergencies. 

They scouted the surroundings. Anakin tried to take in as much as possible of this new surrounding. "This air... it's..." he began searching for words, "it's so wet. Moisture farmers would get rich here." He looked around again and then added, "But I doubt that they are needed here."

The clones exchanged glances. "Do you mean that the air has a high humidity when you say wet?" the third trooper,Trapper Anakin learned, asked.
Anakin looked at him questioningly. "Humidy?" he asked, not sure if he pronounced it right.
"Humidity," Boil corrected.
"Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air," Waxer explained.
"But I can't see any vapor," Anakin said, searching for any sign of vapor.

"It's too distributed to be seen, but you could also say that humidity states how wet the air is. And when it’s very wet, like here, it’s called humid air," Waxer answered.
"So the wetness of the air has its own word, wizard,” Anakin mumbled, happy to have learned something new. Especially about water. 

They’re scouting took longer than planned.
Anakin stopped often to look at the new plants and insects. The clones hadn’t the heart to stop him from looking, even if it slowed them down. At least they could make him understand not to touch strange new plants or insects or follow animals that fled at sight. 

“What took you so long?” They were greeted by Cody, as they came back. Before the clones could excuse themselves, Anakin spoke up “That was my fault. There were so many new things, I couldn’t help but stop and look. I am sorry.” Anakin looked sheepishly at the ground.
Cody sighed “Just don’t let it happen, when we don’t have the time or we need you.”
The little Jedi looked up and nodded. “Of course!”
“Good. We will begin the search tomorrow. We don’t have enough time to begin before nightfall,” Cody said. He turned to Waxer. “Show our al’verd’ika the camp. He should know what a typical camp in such an environment looks like,” he ordered. “Sir, yes Sir,” Waxer answered and saluted.
“Come al’verd’ika. If you have any questions just asked,” Waxer said to Anakin, who nodded.

Chapter Text

After looking around in the camp, a lot of questions and the answers Waxer gave willingly later, Anakin was brought to his tent. He had one for himself. 

“Take time for a rest. A searching mission can be exhausting. Especially in such an environment,” Waxer recommended. Anakin only nodded, already feeling a little tired. Therefore, the young Jedi said goodbye and entered his tent. 

It was nothing special, there was just his backpack and a sleeping bag. 
Nevertheless, he made himself comfortable at the sleeping bag and got his datapad to read more about Selvaris.
With time, the excitement faded away, and he could concentrate on the reading.
Anakin found the planet fascinating. There was so much flora, fauna, and water. 

“Commander?” someone asked outside the tent. Anakin looked up from the datapad. “Yes?” he answered while he went to the entrance of the tent and opened it. Outside was a clone, the symbol on his shoulder showed that he was a medic.
The medic saluted. “I came looking for you. We haven’t seen you for a while,” the clone answered. Anakin realized that it was dark outside. “Oh, I just was reading without noticing how much time went by,” the young Jedi said sheepishly. The clone smiled a bit. “As long as nothing happened,” he said, and then added, “Did you already eat?”
Anakin shook his head. “Then I would recommend doing so,” the medic said, and indicated the young Jedi to follow him. 

Together the two get some ration bars and since Anakin always ate with the clones, the medic took him along to his friends. Cody was also with them, eating his ration. 
The Commander looked up. “So Kit has found you, al’verd’ika,” Cody greeted. “Yes, sorry. I didn’t realize that it got late,” Anakin answered as he sat down. 
“There isn’t anything to apologize for. We didn’t say we would meet before dark. As long as you come, when we have a meeting, there won’t be any problems,” the Commander said, waving Anakin’s apology off. 
“He means, as long as you don’t forget to eat,” The medic, Kit, interjected, while sitting next to Anakin.
“Yes, that too,” Cody affirmed.
They ate in silence. Everyone else already ate and most were about to go to sleep.

“Why are you called Kit?” Anakin asked the medic after finishing his ration bar.
“Well that’s…” Kit stammered, getting slightly red. 
“That is a funny story,” Cody said, smiling.
“Commander, don’t,” Kit pleaded. 
“Come on, Kit. Let the kid have a story, and it’s not that the story is embarrassing for you. It rather is a story you should be proud of, you saved a life,” another clone trooper said. 
“Fine, but the Commander should tell the story. He gave me the name at least,” Kit gave in.

Cody nodded. “Then listen, kid,” he began the story, 

“Kit and his batch were on their first training mission on a foreign planet. I was with them as a trainer. It was about a year before the war started. The planet was like Selvaris. Except that the jungle wasn’t as thick as here and the trees weren’t so big. But the climate was similar and there were also wild and dangerous animals.
It came out that one of the scouts got cocky and wanted to scout the ‘enemy’s line’ by himself. He didn’t get far before he was attacked by a rancor. He was badly wounded and just survived crawling under a big log, too big for the rancor to move. Then he commed us. 
I was the first, who arrived, getting him out and trying to stop the bleeding. He was about to pass out. I called for a medkit and suddenly our medic stood next to me saying ‘I’m here.’ I know I was irritated, looked at him and asked ‘Are you a medkit, trooper?’. He got bright red and stammered that he wasn't but the medic and that there weren’t any medkits to be found. He was the only one left who had a chance saving the scout without any resources. Well, it wasn’t that he hadn’t any. He took off his breastplate, where we could see that he hid some bacta-patches, stim-shots, an irrigation bulb to clean wounds and a field cauterizer. Without hesitation, he began his work and ignored the glazes everyone was giving him for having medical equipment hidden in his armor. He saved the trooper’s life.
After getting back to the camp, I took him aside and asked why there weren’t any medical supplies. He said he didn’t know. He saw them getting packed in the ship, but as we arrived, there weren’t any. Then I asked him why he had medical equipment hidden in his armor. At that he answered, ‘Sir, you said once to be prepared for everything. So I prepared myself for an emergency without medical supplies. Since then, I always have some with me, even on Kamino. I don’t know why there aren’t any medical supplies or where they are. My preparation has nothing to do with it.’ He stood in front of me with determination written in his face and I must say, I believed him.
‘Alright, Kit. I believe you. You saved a life. Good job,’ I said to him and left him, before he could react to his new name. I remember his face pretty well. Shocked and disbelieving. It was hilarious.
Back on Kamino, I learned that the Kaminoans had unpacked the supplies to test how we react to that and how we adapted. And especially Kit did pretty well. With his little supplies and knowledge, everyone came back unscathed.” 

It was silent for some time, until Anakin exclaimed, “Wizard. You’re so cool, Kit.” Bringing the red color back to Kit's face. The other clones laughed at it. 
“Alright everyone. It is time to get some rest and let the watchmen have a quiet watch,” Cody interfered. The clones complied silently, but did as ordered. 
“Good night everyone,” Anakin said, waving and went to his own tent. He made himself ready for bed, falling fast asleep as soon as he laid down.

Despite the exhausting day, Anakin woke up nearly as early as ever, some time before sunrise. About half an hour before sunrise. Normally, he woke up one to two hours before sunrise. He learned that on Tatooine, and it continued on Coruscant without needing to adjust. It seems, even on Selvaris, his inner clock knew when the sun rose. He didn’t know why. Probably something with the force. Everything that was strange had something to do with the force, it seemed.
He still was tired, but no matter how tired he was, he got up because he knew he couldn’t fall asleep anymore.

He changed into his robes and the armor and left his tent. 
Beside the watchmen, who had changed since the beginning of the night, nobody was up. So he greeted them and since he hadn’t anything to do, he began to train his katas. He knew he should probably meditate, but he was sure that it wouldn’t work, so why should he try it? It wasn’t like he could train it. Since he learned the basics, he had little to no improvement with meditation, therefore he trained his katas. 

With the first sunbeams the first troopers awakened, and it didn’t take long until everyone was awake, working or eating breakfast. Anakin already ate his with the rising of the sun. 

After everybody was ready, Cody began the briefing. 
He split them up in groups to spread the search. They were split into six teams.
In Anakin’s team were Boil, Waxer, Kit, Trapper, Cody and two troopers Anakin didn’t know, but they introduced themselves as Wooley and Crys. They would go to the most dangerous area of the jungle.

Wooley and Trapper would scout the way ahead. Cody would lead the little group and Boil, Waxer, Kit, and Crys would be around Anakin, while Anakin was using the Force to check the surroundings. 

The first days of their search were uneventful but exhausting for Anakin. The little Jedi wanted to be useful and took his job, to have an eye on their surroundings with the force, very seriously.
“Al’verd’ika,” Kit said while one of their rests and handed Anakin a water bottle. “You should drink more,” the medic added.
“Oh, yes. Thank you,” Anakin said, taking the water bottle. He drank slowly with little sips but not much before handing the bottle back. 
“When I say, you should drink more, I mean more and not just a little,” Kit said, pushing the bottle back. 
“But I am not thirsty,” Anakin said.
“How comes that you are not thirsty, al’verd’ika?” Waxer asked. “It is hot, and I am sweating the whole time. You have to be thirsty,” he added.
“No, not really and despite,” Anakin answered, but didn’t finish his sentence and took the bottle and drank some more water. 

The clones changed irritated glances, wondering how somebody couldn’t be thirsty while wandering through a hot jungle. But they didn’t ask anymore. 

It was about a week, when they set up their camp and Anakin sat down, groaning, “Here isn’t a separatist’s base. Here is nothing of any enemy.”

Cody sat next to him, took off his helmet and looked sympathetic at him. “Our problem is that we don’t know where exactly it is. We only know that there is a base on this planet. Nothing more,” he said.
“But we can’t search a whole planet by foot. That will take ages. Why can’t we take a vehicle?” he asked.
“Because none of our vehicles can drive through this jungle. But now we have to make a call and update the General,” Cody answered and stood up, getting a handheld holoprojector. Shortly after, a hologram of a clone appeared. The clone saluted.

“Where is the General, Trooper?” Cody inquired. 
“He is in a bacta tank. The medics said that they couldn’t delay it further to ensure complete healing,” the trooper reported. “We must report to General Windu directly,” he added.
“Alright, connect us,” Cody ordered. The clone trooper saluted, then his hologram disappeared and a hologram of Mace Windu appeared. 
Commander Cody saluted and Anakin bowed to the Master.

“I will get directly to the point,” Master Windu greeted. “After several accurate scans, we could narrow down where the separatist’s base is,” He began.
A map appeared at the holoprojector.
“Commander, your squad is the nearest and will scout this area and find the base. The problem is, that our communication will be cut off. The jungle there is thicker and blocks all signals. We will send a backup to the last point we get a signal from you, but in there you will be alone,” Master Windu explained.

“Wait,” Anakin said, after he examined the map, “This area is huge. We will take years to search it all.”
“No, you won’t. If you have to search it all, you will search around a month, but we hope you find it earlier. And even if you need a month, this base is critical for the war. You have to find and destroy it,” Master Windu answered.
“Destroy it. How shall eight people destroy a whole base? If it is so important, it will have high defenses. Can’t we wait for more troopers?” Anakin asked, thinking their task would be impossible. 
“You can’t wait. Every day, every hour we let pass without searching can have a fatal ending for the Republic. You have to find and destroy this base as fast as possible,” Master Windu answered seriously.
“But…” Anakin began, but Master Windu interrupted him, “I will hear nothing more, Padawan Skywalker. May I remind you that you wanted to go on this mission? You have to get used to similar conditions. But if you think you can’t do it, then stay there and wait for the backup. But everyone else will search for the base, understood?”
Anakin nodded and tried to hide his boiling anger. 
“So, what is your decision, Padawan?” Windu asked. 
“I will go with the others,” Anakin growled. 
Master Windu seemed clearly unhappy at Anakin’s growling. “Mind your tone,” he said.

Anakin gritted his teeth but kept silent, only bowing. Then he left and entered his tent.

Chapter Text

Anakin didn’t stay long in his tent. He waited until the call was finished, then he left his tent and began to train his Katas. He was determined to protect everyone.

First he felt how everybody was looking at him, but soon he was in a sort of trance, only concentrating on his Katas. From what his Master always told him, Anakin thought, should he feel this calm and collected while meditating. He decided to ask his Master why practicing Katas felt more like meditating than meditating.
Then he let this topic fall and began to think which fighting style was the best to protect everyone.

Right now he only practiced the Form I Shii-Cho like every youngling and beginner in the Order. Obi-Wan always said this because this Form is the basis of every other form. If he didn’t know this form, then he couldn't master any other form.

Form V was the form he always wanted to learn, after he had heard from every form. It was called the way of the Krayt Dragon, and Krayt Dragons were strong. He wanted to become strong. He needed to become strong, if he wanted to achieve his goals. Another good point for Form V was that this form had a defensive stance and an attack stance. 

At the first thought, it was a good decision to do both. But as he thought more about it and what he learned, he came to the conclusion that the defensive stance was to protect the user and not his allies. It was only to protect himself and not others. 

The form to protect others is Form III Soresu, the form his Obi-Wan was about to master, Anakin remembered. With Soresu he could protect the others. He could deflect the blaster bolts of enemies while they shoot them down.

But still, he couldn’t cover everyone even with Soresu, he would need agility and speed like in Form IV Ataru. But this form was not a defensive form. 
Anakin sighed, while still doing his Katas.
He yearned to master Form V. He wanted to be as mighty as a Krayt Dragon.

Then he realized, he wasn’t a Krayt Dragon, he was a Skywalker and a Skywalker wasn’t known for his might. A Skywalker was known for his cleverness and the ability to adapt, to change himself in order to change other persons and things.

After this mission, he would ask his Master to teach him Soresu, and then he would learn the others' styles to switch while fighting and to be able to combine them. He needed to be a Skywalker to protect his loved ones.

With this plan in his mind, he ended his Katas, realizing that it was already dark.

After the call in Coruscant:

“Was this really a good idea to send a child there?” Mace Windu asked and looked first to Master Yoda and then to the Chancellor. They were in the Chancellor’s office.
“Ready, young Skywalker is not,” Yoda answered and looked disapprovingly at the Chancellor.
“Republic Intelligence said that this base can be a great danger for us. It needs to be destroyed. Anakin is a Jedi of the Republic. It is his duty to protect our Republic. And I think that he is capable of doing so. I trust his abilities and that he will complete this mission,” the Chancellor said with confidence.

Slowly, Anakin and the clones got in a routine. They were in the searching area for two weeks and the days were quite the same. It was a dark time. The day started late and ended early. It was dark when they began the march for the day, and dark when they settled down for the night’s rest.

And they were on their own. No signal got out and no signal came in. They even couldn’t communicate with each other when they were too far away from each other, so they never left too far.

In the third week, it began to rain, seeming endlessly. The clones got more grumpy with every rainy day. Even their armor didn’t save them from the endless rain. 
Anakin on the other side was just happy. Even after over a year on Coruscant, the rain was still something special to him, and he loved it even if it slowed them down.

“How can you be so happy, al’verd’ika,” Boil once asked, looking at the little soaked Jedi.

“I like the rain,” Anakin answered, smiling.
“The rain? It is wet and cold and makes the sky dark,” Boil said, thinking of the steady rain on Kamino. Anakin only shrugged. “I came from a desert planet. Being wet isn’t a bad thing for me. And I don’t mind being cold when it rains. I just like it,” Anakin explained and jumped in a puddle, making Boil wet and muddy. He grinned and heard the others chuckle and laugh as well. Even Boil felt lighter in the force and less grumpy.

It rained for about two weeks. Around midday, the sky cleared and Cody let them halt. 
“We will set camp here and let our things dry as much as possible with the high humidity,” the Commander said, and they began to unpack the wet things and hang them up to dry.

While they and their things dried, they could catch a longer break than the last month. 
Anakin settled down to meditate, so he could at least tell his master that he tried. He got to light meditation and was calmer than normally. He mused that it was due to nature and it’s sounds. But he still couldn’t reach a deep meditation without shielding himself from the storm that is the force.

A conversation got him out of meditation. He looked up and saw Waxer, Boil, Trapper and Crys standing in front of a branch.
“I dare you to eat the bug,” Waxer said to Boil. “Don’t say, you are afraid,” Crys teased. 
“Okay, I’ll do it,” Boil said and got the bug to his mouth. 

“What are you doing?” Anakin asked them and walked to them. 
“Al’verd’ika!” Boil exclaimed, looking up from the bug he wanted to eat.
“We want to know if Boil would eat a bug,” Crys answered.
“You can’t do that.” Anakin said, alarmed.
“I heard in some cultures it is normal to eat bugs,” Waxer stated. 
“Yes, but you can’t just eat it. This is a slug-beetle and unless you are a Gungan you shouldn’t eat it without removing the legs and wings, and you should cook it. There are only a few insects you can eat raw and even fewer you can eat whole and raw,” Anakin explained, taking the beetle from Boils hands. 
The clones stared at Anakin, not really realizing what happened.

“Can I have a knife?” the Jedi asked. Crys gave him curiosity about what would happen next. 
Anakin killed the beetle by cutting its head off, then removed its wings and legs. 
“When you put it on a stick and roast it, then you can eat it,” Anakin said and gave the beetle bag to Boil.

“How do you know all of this?” Trapper asked, examining the dead bug. 
“Like Waxer said, there are cultures where it is normal to eat insects,” Anakin only answers. 
“I can make us some snacks for dinner,” he offered.
“Oh, no no. That’s not necessary,” they answered quickly, looking skeptical at other insects that flew and crawled around them.

“I think it is a good idea,” Someone said behind them. They turned around and saw Cody with crossed arms in front of his chest. “And I would say you help our al’verd’ika as thanks that he saved you from doing something stupid,” he said and looked serious at his brothers. 
Some gulped, others looked ashamed at the ground. Anakin only grinned. “Don’t worry, I know that here live some I know from home, they really taste good,” he said.

Together they caught some insects. Anakin taught them how to do it. He showed them edible insects and not edible insects. Told them which are the richest and best to survive and which are the best tasting. There were also some they could eat raw, and Anakin dared them to taste these insects, eating some itself. 

In the evening, they roasted the insects and removed inedible things. Their young Jedi taught them how every insect tasted the best. And in the end they were fed up with insects not needing a ration bar, and it also tasted better, at least the most.

“We found it,” Trapper exclaimed as he and Wooley came back from their scouting. 

“We saw some clankers and followed them. The base is at a lake in an opening. It seems that the base continues into the lake. The front door is well guarded and has high defenses, but at one side is a ventilation shaft, big enough for us. It isn’t guarded there, so we could sneak in,” Wooley reported

“Good, it was about time,” Cody answered, and the rest breathed a sigh of relief. Their searching had come to an end.

It was about two months, they searched on their own in the thickest part of the jungle without a chance to contact the others out there.

Their rations were getting low and wouldn’t have Anakin showed them how to eat insects, they wouldn’t have any food left. Since last week, they lived from insects and some edible plants they found, so they had some rations left for any emergency.

“Show us the ventilation shaft. Then we can make a plan and can begin tomorrow with it. Everyone, this is about stealth, I don’t wanna hear anything from you,” Cody ordered and everyone, even Anakin saluted. Cody looked confused at his Jedi Commander, and Anakin blushed, looking sheepishly at the ground. “Sorry,” he murmured, but the clones only chuckled. 

“Let’s go,” Cody said, and they sneaked to the base.

“There it is,” Boil said, as they stopped at the side of the enemy’s base, looking at the ventilation shaft.
They hid at the edge of the jungle, between them and the ventilation shaft was only a deepening, nearly a big hole.
Anakin frowned as he saw it. 

“We should look nearer to the ventilation shaft,” Cody said and wanted to leave their hiding spot as Anakin held him back.
“Stop. I don’t think that this hole is just a little deepening,” he said, picking up a branch and throwing it in the hole. 

“What are…” Wooley began, but was interrupted by a tentacle coming out of the hole lashing out and a roar.
“Get back!” Anakin ordered, and they fled in the jungle, a tentacle following them but luckily didn’t reach them.

“What was that?” Trapper asked, catching his breath.
“That was a sarlacc. Our entrance is protected from a sarlacc, we can’t get around it. It will sense us and eat us. We need another way in,” Anakin explained.

“Haar’chak*. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy,” Boil cursed.
“The question is, is there another way,” Crys said.
“Maybe underwater. There could be a way. But we also don’t know what lives down there,” Trapper suggested.
“You are right, we don’t know, but I don’t think there is another plan or idea, right?” Cody asked and everyone shook their heads.

“You can swim in your armor?” Anakin asked.
“Well, not as good as in the underwater armor, and we have to leave some parts at the surface, but it is possible,” Cody answered.
“And your blasters?” Anakin asked the next question.
“As long as we don’t stay too long in the water, they will be fully functional,” Crys answered. Anakin nodded and looked at his Master's lightsaber, hoping it would be waterproof. 

He read once that it is possible to build a waterproof lightsaber, but this knowledge was long forgotten before Master Fisto rediscovered it, so Anakin wasn’t sure if Obi-Wan had already adjusted his lightsaber. He hoped so. But the lightsaber wasn’t the only problem.
He had only started learning to swim. He already was able to hold himself above the water and swim clumsily, but so far, he only swam in a pool where he could stand and see the bottom. The lake he saw was dark and deep.

Anakin gulped as they approached the water.
“Everything alright, al’verd’ika?” Waxer asked.
“I… I can’t swim very well. I only learned the basics some weeks before we came here,” Anakin admitted shamefully.
“Mhm…” Cody hummed. “Can you hold your breath and hold on Waxer?” he asked.
Anakin nodded eagerly. “I can do that,” he answered.

“Good. Waxer, you take our little Jedi. Boil and Kit, you two help him. Trapper and Wooley, you lead the way down there. Crys and I will have your backs. Alright?” Cody asked. They saluted, “Sir, yes Sir!”

“Why are we sneaking in now? I thought you wanted to do it tomorrow?” Anakin asked, as he got himself ready for their dive.
“I hope they will be distracted from the raging sarlacc which didn’t get his food,” Cody answered and unlocked his weapon. Anakin nodded and felt if the lightsaber was attached to his belt.

As everyone was ready, they dived in.

Chapter Text

The water was cold. Anakin tightened his grip on Waxer and tried to hold his eyes up.
They came to the base without problems, and it really wasn’t protected underwater. 

As they reached the base, Trapper and Wooley looked for a good place to get in, while the rest looked out for dangerous animals, but there weren’t any. It seemed that nothing lived in this lake anymore.
Anakin’s air in his lungs was getting low, as Waxer tucked at him and swam with him to Trapper and Wooley, who pointed at the bottom of a tube. Anakin nodded and ignited the lightsaber, hoping it would work. It did.
He cut a hole in the tube’s bottom, which needed more effort than he thought. Then they got in.
Anakin gasped for air, as he was out of the water. The clones removed their helmets, also catching their breath.

“I wonder why there weren’t any animals,” Crys said as his breath evened.
“I think… something is… wrong… with the water,” Anakin answered, still troubling to get enough air in his lungs. He held his hand up and the clones could see some redness.
Kit was quickly at Anakin’s side, looking at his hand. “It doesn't look dangerous, but too long contact with this water could worsen it,” he concluded and looked to the others, “I think the animals in this lake died because the water changed. Probably because of some chemical the separatists are pumping in there,” he added.
“Alright, then let us see what they are doing and how to destroy this construction. I don’t know what you guys think, but I want to go back to our ship,” Cody said and got his helmet back up. The others agreed and got their helmets back up, too, and Anakin finally stood up.

They sneaked through the corridors.
“We probably have to check all the doors,” Cody whispered, and the others nodded.
So they did. At first, they found nothing special, just once some surprised battle droids which they destroyed. Then they opened the door to a great  storage hall, full of bombs big and small.
Curious, they looked through it.
“Those aren’t normal bombs,” Crys murmured. “I’d never seen bombs like that.”

Cody and Anakin went to a computer terminal.
“No access,” Cody said and looked at Crys “Crys, come here. We need your expertise.”
“Right away, sir,” Crys answered and came. He worked at the terminal and got through the installed defenses.
“Wizard,” Anakin said, amazed, as Cody and Crys went through the information.
“Those are NBC weapons. Among other things, there are poison gas bombs,” Cody said.
“We have to destroy those!” Anakin exclaimed before he slapped his hand over his mouth, realizing that he was too loud. Luckily nobody came.
Cody glared shortly at Anakin but said without anger, “We can’t just destroy them, the poison might get out. We have to neutralize them first. They have to have something to do this. Nobody stores NBC weapons without being able to disable them in an emergency.”
Cody pondered then said, “We split up. Waxer, Boil, Crys, Trapper and Wooley you search for their power generator. Probably the best way to destroy the base. Kit, Commander Skywalker, and I will search for an option to neutralize those weapons.” The clones saluted.

Waxer, Boil, Crys and Wooley left the storage room, while Anakin, Kit, and Commander Cody entered a little room, attached to the storage room. This room was full of ampules which fitted in the bombs.
“These could neutralize the bombs, but how shall we know which ampule is for which bomb?” Kit said, examining the ampules.
“Maybe there is information in the control center or there could be a droid, which knows it,” Anakin suggested.
“It's worth a try,” Cody said, and they left the storage rooms.

They searched through the whole area, but except a few droids there was nothing at this level, so they entered a lift and went to the upper level. 

The both clones and Anakin were greeted by some battle droids. Anakin instantly ignited the lightsaber and dashed forward. He slashed through two droids, while a third aimed at him, but Cody shot it before it could shoot. Then they took care of the rest.
“I think up here will be some more battle droids,” Kit mused, and he was right.
They encountered more and more enemies, but with every battle droid they fought better together.

Finally, they found the door to the control center. They looked at each other, nodded and entered.

In the control center were more battle droids, also some super battle droids, two commando droids and a tactical droid.

At first, everyone stood still, then the tactical droid and Cody gave their orders at the same time.
“Neutralize the intruders!” came from the tactical droid.
“We need his head!” came from Cody, and he pointed at the head of the tactical droid.

Anakin ignited the lightsaber and reflected the first blaster bolts, then the clones fired as well. They stormed the control center and searched for protection behind some computer terminals.
The battle droids were shot down easily, but the commando droids concentrated their fire on Anakin and one drew a vibroblade and forced the little Jedi away from the clones, leaving them fighting against the two super battle droids.
The tactical droid held himself back. As it seemed, it didn't have a weapon.

Anakin was forced into the defensive. He never fought against two enemies where one was fighting with a blade and one with a blaster. They pushed Anakin further away against a wall. He already got cuts from the vibroblade, but the adrenalin let him forget the pain. Then he reflected a laser precisely in the head of the commando droid with the sword, which let him stumble back. Anakin used this to his advantage and cut off the arm with the blade. But before he could destroy the droid, he had to block some shots of the other, giving the first droid time to regain his balance and draw a blaster.
It still got easier for Anakin, and he was also able to attack.

Meanwhile, the clones were able to defeat the two battle droids. Immediately, they helped Anakin attack the commando clones from behind. And together they were able to destroy the two.

Various droids laid destroyed on the floor, leaving the tactical droid to be the last. Realizing that, the droid picked up a blaster and began to fire.
Anakin dashed forward, blocking the blaster bolts and beheaded the droid, letting the body fall to the floor. 

“We have the head, and now?” Anakin asked, holding the head up. “We need something to read out the data it has in its head,” Cody answered.
“I probably can build something out of the things I find in this base. But I first require the right parts,” Anakin suggested.
In the meantime, Kit examined the computers.
“Here, I found a map and the internal communication systems. We could order the remaining droids in one room and lock them up, and then we could call out for the others,” Kit recommended.
“Do that, Commander Skywalker and I will go to the room, we will send the droids in and lock it up behind them. Then we search for the right parts to build a device to read out this tactical droid,” Cody said. Kit saluted and went to work.
The clone commander and the Padawan did the same thing.

Locking up the droids went as planned. Kit contacted the others, telling them to come to the control center, and then he led Anakin and Cody to the storage rooms where they would find most likely the right parts for the device.

They met each other at the control center again, and Anakin and Crys built together the reading device and read out the tactical droid. 

“Guys, we might be able to contact the others. The interference is not strong here. They built a jammer in this base, but we can turn it off,” Crys said and looked at Cody.
“Good, do this. Commander Skywalker, Kit and I will neutralize the bombs and Waxer, Boil, Wooley and Trapper, you prepare the generator. I want it to blow up the whole base,” Cody ordered.
“I don’t think we should do that. At least not, while we are down here. I think the sarlacc might not like it when something next to him is blown up and probably destroys his pit,” Anakin said.
The clone commander nodded, thinking. “You’re probably right. Then, Crys, contact the star destroyer and tell them to get us a gunship down here to get us from this planet and destroy the base. Waxer, Boil, Trapper, Wooley, look if you find some detonators here. I still want to blow up this thing, but it has to be possible that we first get away before it blows up,” he changed his orders.
“Yes sir!” was the unison answer.

With the information out of the tactical droid, it was easy to neutralize the bomb and get all the information the base had.
Shortly after, everyone finished their task, they met at the entrance of the base and entered the ordered gunship.
Blowing up the base went as planned, but they had to gain high pretty fast, as an angry sarlacc jumped out of his pit, which collapsed because of the explosion.
Then they got back to their star destroyer.

Chapter Text

Obi-Wan paced up and down the hangar. His Padawan was three months down on Selvaris and the last two months they hadn’t even contact. Two months of not knowing what happened down there. Two months of not knowing if they were still alive.
Normally he would know it over the Master-Padawan bond, but theirs wasn’t strong, and that for two reasons. First, Anakin was very loud in the force, a bond would make him even louder for Obi-Wan and secondly, Obi-Wan was afraid to become attached to Anakin. He was afraid to lose him, like his former master, so he kept his distance from Anakin. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t care or worry about him. Anakin was still a child and Obi-Wan still responsible for him, so he paced up and down the hangar, as he heard that his Padawan was on his way back.

Anakin and the clones stepped out of the gunship, after they landed at the star destroyer. They were exhausted and ready for a break and a shower.
In the hangar, Anakin saw his master waiting, standing and without any injuries. It seems bacta had healed him rather quickly. He was glad that he was back on his feet.
“Welcome back. You did a great job down there,” Obi-Wan greeted formally. The clones saluted. “Thank you, sir,” Cody answered.

Anakin bowed. He wanted to hug his Master, happy that he had recovered. He wanted to get his praise for the successful mission. Furthermore, he wanted him to be happy that Anakin wasn’t seriously injured. He only had the cuts from the fight with the droids and the rash from the dirty water. But his Master's facial impression stayed neutral and formal, and Anakin couldn't help but feel crestfallen. Nevertheless, he also kept his face neutral. 

“Thank you, Master,” he said while bowing.

“Padawan, you should go to the medbay and let a medic look over your rash and cuts. If the medic says you can leave the medbay, come to the bridge for your report. If the medic says that he wants you to stay in the medbay, you do it and write your report when you feel well enough,” Obi-Wan ordered. Anakin nodded and bowed before he left for the medbay.

Obi-Wan looked after him. He wanted to praise the boy and to fret over him, but he would only get attached. 

Anakin did great out there in the war, and he knew he couldn't get him out of it. Obi-Wan was sure, Anakin would fight in this war and would do great things. He already did in the last missions. And on both, Anakin was on his own. Well, he was with the clones, but without Obi-Wan. The Jedi knight knew he could and had to teach Anakin more, but he knew that Anakin also had to be able to rely on himself, and that was another reason Obi-Wan kept his distance from his Padawan. He didn't realize that he hurt Anakin with it. He didn't realize what Anakin was going through and that he thought more and more about his past, falling in the old behavior he had as a slave. 

Anakin bowed again and said, “Yes, master,” Somehow it sounded wrong. Everyone heard it.
For the clones, it sounded like some of their “Sir, yes sir.” When they answered to a superior who hadn't earned their trust and used them like things and not human beings.
For Anakin, it was the “Yes master” of a slave. On the one hand, he asked himself why he sounded like that. On the other hand he asked himself that if the Republic and the Jedi enslave hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people without realizing it, who said that he was really free. Technically he was won by a Jedi and even when they said he was free doesn't mean it would be true. Master often lied to their slaves.
Obi-Wan also thought that Anakin's answer sounded wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't think about Anakin's past. For him, Anakin was a Jedi like everyone else in the order. 

Before leaving, Anakin handed Obi-Wan his lightsaber, bowed again and then left the hangar, going to the medbay.
In the medbay a medic treated his wounds and put a salve on his rash. After that, he was allowed to leave and went straight to the bridge.

Cody was reporting the moment he entered, so he kept silent and only bowed to his Master and the Jedi council. They only nodded in acknowledgment and continued to listen to Cody.
After Cody finished his report and answered all questions the Jedi had, it was Anakin's turn to report. 

He tried to report as neutral and professional as possible. But still, it was his first report. Everyone looked down at him with serious faces. He often had problems deciding what was important for the others, or stumbled over difficult words he tried to use, since he heard them sometimes from his Master. He wasn’t sure if he used them always right, but nobody said anything.

Anakin didn't realize that some Jedi were irritated that there weren't exclamations like “wizard” and how formal he reported. Young Padawans typically exaggerate their first report or digress.

The Jedi nodded as he ended. “You can leave now, Padawan. Thank you for your report. Meditate over the mission and rest then,” Obi-Wan said. Anakin bowed, “Yes, Master,”. Then he bowed to the Jedi Council. 

Cody saluted, and Anakin also gave him a sloppy salute and grinned. He was sure that Cody at least smiled, even if he couldn't see it under the helmet. After that, he left the bridge and went to his quarters. 

It was empty. The clones were probably working or training. 

First he entered the ‘fresher and took a shower, then he sat at his bunk and crossed his legs.
Anakin sighed. He didn't know how to meditate over something. Obi-Wan hadn’t taught him. But since he didn't want to give Obi-Wan a reason to scold him, he began to meditate normally. He didn't get into deep meditation. When he tried it, he felt his feelings boiling. The sadness and anger about how Obi-Wan treated him, as he didn't seem to care about him personally.
When he achieved to push the feelings in the sandstorm that is the force, It came back as if the force just blew it back to him.

It didn't take long for the past draining days to take their toll and the exhaustion to take over. He fell asleep while meditating.

Anakin didn't even wake up as Obi-Wan came looking for him. Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile as he saw his charge sleeping in the meditation position. He didn't have the heart to wake his Padawan, so he laid Anakin properly in the bunk and put a blanket over him.

The Jedi watched his Padawan sleep peacefully for a while, as some clones entered. Obi-Wan looked up and recognized Rex and Kix.
The clones saluted, but Obi-Wan waved it off. “Please stay quiet. He needs his sleep”, the General asked for.
The clones nodded. “Don't worry, General, we will take care that he can sleep without disruption,” Kix answered.

“Thank you. I will leave him to you then,” Obi-Wan said and left.

Back on the bridge, Obi-Wan saw the hologram of Master Plo Koon and Master Windu. He bowed to them.

“We have a new mission for you, Kenobi,” Windu greeted. “A new… But Master we are…,“ Obi-Wan began but was interrupted from Plo Koon. “You just have to pick my men and me up. We are stranded on a planet you are nearest.”

Obi-Wan exhaled relieved. “We will come and get you, Master Koon,” Obi-Wan said and bowed.

Chapter Text

After landing on the planet, they were greeted by Master Koon and a clone Commander. Anakin and Obi-Wan bowed to Plo Koon. “We are here to pick you up, Master Koon,” Obi Wan greeted. “Koh-to-yah Knight Kenobi. Thank you for coming, but we can't depart yet,” The Kel Dor answered.

“What is delaying our department?“ Obi-Wan asked. 

“Recently, we detected that there are some separatists droids in the surrounding area. The people here are mostly farmers. They would get killed if they met the droids,”
“We should clean this area from those droids before leaving. Otherwise, we risk high casualties,” the Commander next to Plo Koon said.
“Then we should do that,” Obi-Wan agreed.

Anakin scouted with his Master, Rex, Jesse, Hardcase and Kix. They were taking a rest, and the both Jedi separated themselves from the others to meditate. Rex and Hardcase were scouting their nearer surrounding to make sure they could rest safe.

The meditation of the Jedi was cut short as they heard a shot in the distance.
They instantly jumped to their feet and hurried to the place of action.
Rex laid on the ground, his breastplate was smoking out of a laser shot hole.

Kix was already taking care of Rex and shortly after Hardcase and Jesse came back from wherever they were.
Anakin decided to help Kix, while Hardcase and Jesse explained what happened to Obi-Wan.

“He can’t continue like that,” Kix stated after Rex condition was stabilized.
“But we can’t bring him back either. There are probably more droids from where these, which shot him, came,” Obi-Wan said.
“I saw some domestic animals near. There most be a farmer nearby. Maybe they can help us,” Jesse suggested.
The Jedi Knight thought about that, then nodded.
“We will bring him to the farm and ask for help. Hopefully they will take our Captain over one or two nights until he is back on his feet to go back on his own, or we are getting him after we finished our scouting,” Obi-Wan decided.

Arriving at the farm, they were greeted by a Twi’lek who pointed a blaster riffle at them.
“Please Madam, we don’t want you any harm,” Obi-Wan said, holding up his hands. “We are just searching for a place, where our wounded friend could stay over the night. We have urgent matters to attend and can’t take him with us,” the Jedi Knight explained.
The Twi’lek inspected him. “You are a Jedi, right?”
Obi-Wan nodded.
“That what wounded your friend, is it still out there?” she asked her next question.
“The droids which injured him are destroyed, but there could be more. That’s why we are here. But we can’t hunt the other droids down with a wounded comrade,” Obi-Wan answered, deciding to tell the truth.
The Twi’lek thought about it, then took down her riffle.
“He can stay in our barn, but I want a Jedi to stay as well for the case some droids come here,” she decided.
Obi-Wan nodded. “My Padawan can stay with you. He will be able to protect you should droids come here,” he said.
The Twi’lek looked skeptical at Anakin, but nodded and let them bring Rex in the barn and finish his treating.

Anakin was sitting on a chair next to the table Rex was laying on.
First he was proud of himself, as his Master had said, that he would be able to defend the farm alone. But as he waited, some doubt came in his mind. He didn’t know where it came from, but maybe Obi-Wan wanted him to stay here because he thought that he wouldn’t be helpful while scouting and that the farm wouldn’t be attacked.
The Padawan didn’t get far with his doubting, as Rex jolted up.
“Easy, Rex, easy,” he calmed the Captain and laid a hand on the uninjured shoulder to push him back to the table.

“Commander?” the clone asked, while laying back down.
“You got shot,” Anakin answered the unasked question and told what else happened.

“You should have patched me up, so I could still do my duty,” Rex said, a bit grumpy, after Anakin ended.
“Captain, if I understood Kix right, you can’t even use your left arm,” Anakin answered. “Anyway, it is too late now, the others are already gone,” The young Jedi added.
The Captain sighed, as the Twi’lek from before came in.

“I see, you are awake. I’ve got some fruits for you. I hope it is enough,” she said.
Anakin went to her, to take the bowl with fruits out of her hands. “It is more than enough, since you don’t have to provide us with food. Thank you, Madam,” he said, smiling.
Even after over a year as a Padawan, fruits were still something special for him. And it often tasted good.

“My name is Suu,” the Twi’lek said to Rex, who got up to a sitting position and looked skeptical at her.
“She was so kind, to let us use the barn, so you could recover,” Anakin said.
“Then I have to thank you, Ms. Suu,” Rex replied.

Anakin gave Rex a fruit, as a hover ball flew in the barn under the table, Rex was sitting on. Shortly after, a young Twi’lek girl followed.
“Shaeeah, you should stay in the house,” Suu admonished her daughter.
“But my ball got in here,” her daughter answered, as if this was a good reason to leave the safety of their house. Then she got her ball. While standing up again, her eyes fell on Rex.
“You look like my dad,” she stated, astound.
“Shaeeah, don’t bother the soldier and now back in the house,” Suu said sternly.
“Yes mom,” she groaned and left.

“Can I do something else for you?” the mother asked, but Anakin shook his head. “No, thank you, Ms. Suu,” he answered.

After Suu had left, Anakin gave Rex a blaster pistol. “The others left them for you. Better safe than sorry,” he added.
“Thank you, Commander,” Rex answered and put the weapon at his side while lying back down.

It was night as the eopies were getting in the barn, searching shelter in the night.
Anakin, who was still awake, watching over the sleeping clone captain, got up and tried to get the animals into their boxes. He didn’t want them to wake the captain, so he sent them some calm over the force.

He got the last eopie in its box and patted it, as someone entered the barn. It wasn’t an animal, it felt like a human.
Anakin was in the back of the barn, hidden in the shadows. He kept silent, as the human grabbed some sort of pitchfork, Anakin really didn’t know what it was. The young Jedi didn’t want to startle the intruder and grabbed silently  his training lightsaber while approaching the human, who approached Rex.
Rex was awake, only pretending to sleep, and sat up and pointed the blaster at the human.
Anakin was about to ignite his lightsaber, as he recognized the face of a clone at the intruder.
Meanwhile, the man disarmed Rex, pointing his sort of pitchfork at the captain.

“Stop!” Anakin cried, jumping forward to get between the captain and the other clone. In the short time, the two of them also recognized each other.
“What…” the foreign clone began, but stumbled back, as a young Jedi jumped between him and Rex.

“You’re a clone,” Rex stated and demanded rank and number from the other.
“I see, the war also got here. I assume there will be droids nearby?” the clone said, eying Rex and Anakin.
“I am Cut Lawquane, a simple farmer” he then answered Rex question.
“You are a deserter,” Rex accused him.
“Well, I…” Cut began, but Anakin interrupted him, sensing a dispute between the two, “No and yes… I mean, the war didn’t really come here, but some droids did crash-land here, like some of our men. We are here to hunt these droids down, but as you see, my captain got wounded.”
“Commander, he is violating his duty!” Rex argued.
“I just chose how to live my life and my only duty is to my family,” Lawquane answered, turning the lights of the barn on.
“It’s not…” Rex began, but was interrupted by Lawquane’s family entering the barn.
The two children went straight to their father, showing him a picture they drew for him.
“I see you met each other,” Suu said to her husband.
“Yes, I met Captain… What is his number?” he asked Anakin, since he is Rex superior. Anakin flinched, but Rex answered without hesitation. “Rex, I too have a name, believe it or not.”
Cut looked skeptical at Anakin. “His name is Rex, so please call him by that. And he can speak for himself, so asked him if you have a question,” Anakin said defiantly.
“His men brought him here, since he was wounded out there. I said he could stay for the night. The Jedi stayed with him, in case these droids that are out there would come here,” Suu explained the rest.
“My name is Anakin Skywalker. We are very thankful for your help,” Anakin said, remembering that he hadn’t introduced himself to Cut.
“You are welcome,” Cut Lawquane said. “Yes, we always help, when we can,” the youngest of the children, named Jek, exclaimed.

“You look hungry,” Cut then stated. “N-no, I at least am fine. I stay here,” Rex answered, a little unsure.
“No, please eat with us,” the children began to plead.
“Come on Rex, you need nutrition, if you want to heal quickly,” Anakin said.
The captain sighed. “Fine, Commander, I will eat with you,” he gave in.

While dinner Cut Lawquane eyed Anakin skeptical but the little Jedi didn’t react to it. He couldn’t hold it against him, since he was a Jedi, a superior to the clones. Anakin doubted that Cut had been treated as a free man, while he was in the army. He would be suspicious too.

“You have a name, captain, how come?” he then asked Rex, while his children were more interested in Anakin, asking him about the Jedi.
“We chose to give us names. From brother to brother,” Rex answered. He didn’t like how Cut eyed Anakin, the first person who really saw a person in them. Most Jedi were friendly and such, but neither had been interested in their name, at least nobody had asked. Also, neither had thought about talked to them from person to person. Always from General to soldier.
For the Jedi, they may be no slaves, but they weren’t more than soldiers.

“Then how comes, that your commander speaks to you, with your name?” Cut questioned.
“He asked us for our names, right after meeting us,” Rex answered and looked to Anakin, who nodded. He had no time to reply to them, since the children demanded his attention.

“Let the names make you feel unique?” Cut asked.
“Why do you talk, like you know me?” Rex asked with another question.
“Because I am as close to you, as anyone could be. I saw how you look at my family, my home. You, too, thought about leaving the army and choose the life you like,” Cut answered.
“What if I am already choosing the life I like. What if the army is the life I want?” Rex asked.

Anakin was listening to them, while answering the children’s questions halfheartedly until they asked their next question.
“Was that man in the robes that came with you, your father? He looks young and not like you,”
“I… he, he was my mentor,” Anakin said, not wanting to call him Master. He didn’t know what other people might think about that word.
“Then where is your family. Mother wouldn’t let us go alone anywhere,” the girl asked.
“I am not alone. My mentor, Rex, and the others were with me,” Anakin answered. He didn’t want to talk about family, but the children didn’t let the topic go.
“Yeah, but your parents weren’t with you. Dad or Mom would always go with us, especially if it’s dangerous,” the boy said.
“My mentor is the strongest man I know, nobody could keep me safer. But I also can defend myself,” Anakin replied.
Suu saw Anakin’s unease with this topic, chided the children asking too much and not eating.

After the dinner, Anakin volunteered to help Suu to clean the dishes, while the children went playing and the clones played dejarik.
The Jedi overheard them talking, why and how Cut became a farmer.
He sighed. He wanted to help, but he didn’t know how. Anakin also knew, that Cut didn’t trust him. The clone wouldn’t believe him, if he would say, that he understands.

The children’s crying alarmed all of them. They came rushing to the house, mumbling something about monsters.

“Commando droids,” Cut realized and counted them, “About twenty. That is not good. Suu, take the children upstairs,” he said and began to equip himself.
Anakin went to the window.

“We should catch them in a crossfire,” Rex suggested.
“Rex, you are not in charge here,” Cut said.
“But I can fight,” the captain protested.
“He is right, Rex. You should go upstairs and protect Suu and the children. You are injured,” Anakin said.
“I need you to be the last line of defense in order to protect my family,” Cut stated.
Rex hesitated, but then nodded. “I will take care of them.”
With that, he went upstairs.

“I can be your defense, while you shoot them,” Anakin said to cut and ignited his training lightsaber. It couldn’t cut the droids, but reflect the shots.
Cut nodded. “Alright,” he answered, and they get into position.

It didn’t take long for the droids to attack. Anakin instantly got into the defensive, already knowing what to do in order to protect Cut while give him the chance to shoot.

“You know, you are right,” Anakin said while fighting.
“What do you mean?” Cut asked.
“Everything. Especially the part of choosing the life you want. Everyone should have the right to have this freedom. Sadly, there are many people who don’t have this freedom and the clones belong to this people,” Anakin answered.
“What are you getting at?”
“I know the other clones are still your brothers, your family,” the Jedi said while deflecting a laser bolt and destroying a droid with it. Then he leaped backwards over Cut and protected him from a droid, which had been sneaking up from behind.
“I will not only fight next and with your brothers, I will also fight for them,” he continued and destroyed the last droid with its own laser bolt.

Anakin looked to Cut. “I know, that you don’t trust me. But you can believe me. I know what you were going through. I hadn’t the choice to live the life I wanted and as I had a choice, I had to leave my family behind.”
Cut only stared, undecided if he should believe Anakin or not.

The next day, Rex and Anakin were ready to leave.
Anakin patted the eopie they were given to return to their men, as Suu asked them if they would turn her husband in.
“It is my duty, but in my condition, I won’t remember any of this,” Rex answered, then all eyes went to Anakin.
“I don’t know what you mean, Ms. Suu. I only see a farmer with his family, who was so kind to provide us shelter and food. Thank you for everything, may you live a happy life,” Anakin said, then mounted the eopie and helped Rex up.

“You can always stay, Rex,” Cut offered. Rex looked a little perplexed, not quite believing that Cut said to him, to dessert in front of his commander, but Anakin smiled and nodded.
“We were attacked by droids, I couldn’t protect you…” he offered.
Rex eyes went wide. Even the ones of Cut and Suu. His commander just said, he would lie for him and help him to desert. Then Rex smiled.
“No, here is your home. My home and family are elsewhere,” Rex answered.

They were silent on their way to their meeting point until Anakin broke this silent.
“I mean what I said, and I will always mean it. Cut is right, everyone should have the right to choose the life they want to live. You and your brothers weren’t given this choice. But I want to give you the choice. While being a commander I won’t be able to do much, but when I am a General it is just a document I have to fill, you know,”
“I know, al’verd’ika, but I have already decided. Still, I will keep it in mind and make sure everyone knows,” Rex answered, and he was really grateful. He couldn’t imagine a life outside the army, but he understood the choice of Cut, and he wanted a happy life for his brothers too.

Chapter Text

They arrived finally at Coruscant. But right after they set foot at the landing zone, they were greeted by a grim looking Yoda and Even Piell.
“Time for rest, you have not,” Yoda said and really looked saddened about that.
“An important matter came in, and we need your diplomatic talent, Knight Kenobi,” Piell explained a little more.

Obi-Wan suppressed a sigh and nodded. “Alright, but I will let my Padawan here. He requires the rest,” Obi-Wan said.
Before Anakin could protest, Piell spoke, “No, you may require his expertise.”
“His expertise?” Obi-Wan asked, and even Anakin looked bewildered. He may know some languages, but he was sure that he had no expertise in the diplomatic field.
“You will go to Tatooine and negotiate with Jabba the Hutt. He blocked a critical trade route for the republic, despite our allowance to use this route. Make sure, that the trade route will be open again and in near time,” the Jedi Master explained.

Anakin’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he had heard. They should go to Jabba the biggest slaver of Tatooine and negotiate about some trade routes? And he should go with his Master because of his expertise? Which expertise did they mean? His expertise as a slave? Would they sell him to get the trade route back?
Slowly, he looked at Obi-Wan and tried to hide his fear. If he wanted to stay with the Jedi, he had to be the perfect Padawan. He had to make sure that they would want to keep him.
Obi-Wan also looked at him, but Anakin couldn’t read Obi-Wan’s expression.
He didn’t know, that Obi-Wan asked himself why Anakin became rigid. He knew that Tatooine was the place he was enslaved, but he was a Jedi now, and he didn’t know about any connection between Jabba the Hutt and Anakin. He didn’t know that being a slave or having a slave past always was connected to Jabba the Hutt, no matter if the person had ever met him. This Hutt ruled Tatooine, and he controlled the slave market, even if some slaver didn’t want that to be true.

“Take some of your men with you. Make sure he gets the message that we won’t tolerate something like that again,” Piell added.

Obi-Wan bowed, “Yes, Master.”
Anakin bowed too, a little deeper than normal.

“Cody, Rex, Kix, Jesse and Hardcase, you come with us,” Obi-Wan ordered, and they went to a light freighter from the order.

“W-wait…” Anakin spoke up.
“Mhm?” Yoda sounded.
“We need money,” The Padawan explained.
“Money? We won’t pay Jabba for something we have a contract for,” Piell replied.
“Not for him. You don’t get far on Tatooine without money. And I don’t mean credits. We need wupiupi,” Anakin explained.
“My Padawan is right. Credits don’t have any value at Tatooine, but when we require anything, we will need money. Tatooine is ruled by it,” Obi-Wan said and looked to Anakin, who nodded approval.

“Money you will get,” Yoda said, “Good preparation important for Jedi is.”

Obi-Wan smiled proudly at Anakin, but he was already back in his thoughts and didn’t see it.

Anakin was silent the whole journey long. Somehow the space felt colder than normal, but he didn’t seek shelter in his bunk.
Obi-Wan tried to distract him by giving him more task you could imagine possible at a light freighter. The Jedi Knight didn’t know what else he could do, but what astonished him was that Anakin never asked if they could visit his mother.

Anakin did everything his Master told him to do, but neither co-piloting nor attending the medic droid could distract him enough of his thoughts.

He pondered about what he could do to make sure that he wouldn’t be sold. The best thing probably was to help his Master in every way possible. To do that, he went through every mission information he got.
He had to make sure that Jabba would be in a good mood. That would be their best chance to get what they want.
But how could he try to please the one who enslaves his people?
He had sworn to come back and free them all. Now he came back to make sure the contract between the republic and this slaver maintained.

The clones were uncertain how to behave around their little Jedi. Since they had their new mission, he never smiled, despite some fake smile that looked really sad. The most time, Anakin looked as he wasn’t there, as he was deep in thoughts, while mumbling to himself in huttese.

Anakin sat in the co-pilot seat and studied a map from Tatooine. It was strange to see the places he knew since he was small at a real map and being able to recognize them.

“Master, we should land at these coordinates. There, the ship is safe from sandstorms and Jawas as well as the Tusken raiders,” Anakin said, pointing at the coordinates.
“It is next to Mos Espa, your old hometown,” Obi-Wan said skeptically.
“It is also near the palace, but we should go to Mos Espa and get a speeder. I know where to get the best speeder for the best price,” Anakin replied.

“Why don’t we land next to the palace or at the spaceport of Mos Espa?” Jesse asked from the background.
“Jabba’s palace stands already a long time now, and he is as powerful as ever. I doubt that that would be possible if you could just land in front of his door our even near it. I don’t know for sure, but I doubt that there is a save landing spot. You can never trust a Hutt. And the spaceports at Tatooine should always be your last resort. The prices are too high, and the people are one of the trustworthiest I know, and I know a lot of untrustworthy people,” Anakin explained, dead serious.
Obi-Wan looked at his Padawan. He knew Anakin could be serious and very confident, but he had never seen this child so certain and serious at the same time.

Even Obi-Wan took this mission serious, but Anakin knew this planet and its inhibitors, so Obi-Wan decided to trust his Padawan. If it meant to take this mission as serious as a deadly mission where lives are in danger, then he would do it.
What Obi-Wan didn’t thought about was, that there were lives at danger and not only their own. Anakin knew that Jabba could attack them, even if it was unlikely. More likely was that a Jabba in a bad mood would be deadly for his slaves, especially for the young and weak.

They landed and went to Mos Espa. Only Kix stayed with their ship to have an eye on it and for them to be able to flee as fast as possible if it is necessary.
It was quite a long way. For getting a safe landing spot, they had to walk half a day to Mos Espa.
The clones were glad to have white armor, but it was still hot with the twin suns shining. Obi-Wan however asked himself why Jedi had to wear so much layers and how Anakin seemed to have no problem with it.

The young Jedi knight shook his head. The answer to his last question was clear.
“You really knows the way, Commander?” Jesse asked, a little skeptical. Around them were only sand. Maybe in the far one could identify some plateau.
“Yes, as long as the plateaus are at each of our side, we only need to head north, then we will get to Mos Espa,” Anakin answered, walking seemingly tireless.
“The sand is getting all in my boots,” Hardcase complained.
“Mine too, Hardcase, mine too,” Obi-Wan answered sympathetic:
“Oh,” Anakin exclaimed making a sheepish face. “Sorry, I should have told you, how to wrap clothes around your shoes and legs to hinder the sand from getting in,” Anakin said apologetic.
“That is possible?” Hardcase asked.
Anakin nodded and showed him that he had wrapped clothes around his shoes and legs.
“Well, now it is too late,” Obi-Wan said. “And it isn’t your fault. I at least could have asked, knowing you could have some tips or us,” he added.

In Mos Espa, Anakin guided them through the busy streets and alleys. All the attention were on them. No wonder. The clones were practically shining in the sun, even with their, a little worn out, armor.
But for once it wasn’t a bad thing. For once, it was good, that the people knew of their presence. They had to show their presence in order to show Jabba that they were strong and wouldn’t hide. He had to make sure Jabba would take them seriously. Anakin knew, that Jabba would know of them being there before they got to him.

With Anakin’s guidance and his talent in haggling, they got a pretty good speeder for a relative fair price. The young Padawan wasn’t really surprised that nothing seemed to have changed while he was gone. In all his years in this city, there weren’t any big changes.

Obi-Wan had a good eye on his Padawan, as they went through the city, but beside being able to navigate through the streets without problem, he showed no sign of thinking about his past or even any emotion. The Jedi Knight didn’t  know if this was a good or a bad sign.
Since he didn’t know what to do, he let the topic fall.

“Master, let me speak first to Jabba. You have to let him see your strength in your posture. Despite showing him your respect, you shouldn’t let him think he could toy with you,” Anakin requested from his Master, “And no mater what I do, don’t react to it.”

“Why shouldn’t I react to your doing?” Obi-Wan asked.
“You know, how I was irritated from some of your core-worlder behavior? It is the same thing. You won’t understand everything I do, but showing this is a sign of weakness. You are the boss of our group, you stand above the things we do,” Anakin explained.

Obi-Wan nodded, still not sure, but he had decided to trust his Padawan.

“And you,” Anakin turned to the clones, “you should stay back. Your hands slightly on your weapons. No open aggression, but show them that you are ready to shoot if necessary. They have to take you serious. So the best thing is to have a stoic silent. Watch out for everyone in our surroundings, even the dancers and the children. Everyone could attack, if Jabba wants or if someone is just stupid. If Jabba wants to see your faces, only take your helmets down when my Master tells you. You will only listen to him, not even me. Like I said, he is the boss. And if you take your helmet off, look as grim and deadly as possible.”

“Sir, yes sir!” the clones saluted.
Everyone was surprised how well Anakin had everything thought out. But it remembered them again how serious this mission was.

They were brought before Jabba the Hutt.
Anakin went slightly behind his Master, holding his head submissively down, while Obi-Wan held his head high. He didn’t like how his Padawan behave, but he trusted that Anakin knew what he did.

Cody, Rex, Jesse and Hardcase went behind them, always ready to react.

As they were before Jabba, Anakin went to the front of their little group and knelt down.
It took every self-control Obi-Wan and the clones had, not to react to this.

“This lowly servant of the Republic greets his Excellency Jabba Desilijic Tiure of Nal Hutta, Eminence of Tatooine, in the name of the mighty Jedi and victorious General of the Republic Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Anakin greeted in huttese.
“You speak for the Jedi?” Jabba’s protocol droid said in huttese as well.
“I am to introduce and explain our reason to come here, so the negotiations may run without problems,” Anakin answered.

“Then what brings this mighty Jedi here, lowly servant?” Jabba asked, emphasizing ‘lowly servant’. Anakin knew what Jabba was thinking, ‘slave’. But despite hating being thought as a slave, it was his plan in this case. It also let Jabba think that Obi-Wan was mighty and cruel enough to have a slave. In Jabba’s case, it was a good first impression.

“My Master is here to ‘negotiate’ about our use of the trade rout his Excellency has blocked. Our contract provides us with the allowance to use this route. In exchange, we pay you. It also says that we don’t disturb each other's businesses,” Anakin began to explain, everything in huttese.
“Since his Eminence is blocking us from using the trade route, the republic feels compelled to terminate the contract and see you as an ally from our enemy. But we don’t want to lose our relationship of live and let live. There is no need to endanger his Excellency’s great imperium,” Anakin ended with glancing to the clones.

He was sure Jabba got the hint. They had an army, a big one. And would he be seen as a separatist’s ally, his crime imperium would be in danger.
Since Jabba was a greedy one and always trying to gain more, the idea of losing so much, was terrible for him.

Jabba probably knew all this beforehand and Obi-Wan would have told the hutt the same as Anakin had, but Jabba thought the Republic as something weak. And just telling the hutt what would happen if he doesn’t cooperate, wouldn’t be taken serious.
Anakin managed to let Jabba believe that even the Jedi were cruel enough to have slaves, and the presence of the clones as the army did the rest.

It went to silence, after Anakin had ended. Then Jabba answered.

“The mighty Jabba is ready to negotiate with the Jedi and General Obi-Wan Kenobi,” the protocol droid translated in basic.
With that, Anakin stood up and get to his place behind Obi-Wan, still with his submissive posture.

Obi-Wan stepped forward and began the negotiations, but Anakin didn’t listen.

His heart was racing and he felt sick. All his memories of slavery came in his mind. All the pain and humiliation. He just wanted his mom to hold him in her arms, sing for him or telling him stories. Anakin just wanted to forget.

Jabba’s laughter got Anakin out of his thoughts.
“Very well, Jedi. The mighty Jabba will accept, if you show us that you are willing too to continue the contract,” Jabba got translated.
“What has the mighty Jabba in his mind?” Obi-Wan asked.

“One of Jabba’s worker hasn’t come back with Jabba’s goods from Mos Espa. Your accompaniment shall bring him and Jabba’s good back. You can keep one of your soldiers here with you. Will you accept?” the protocol droid asked.
Obi-Wan thought about it then nodded.
“Padawan, take Captain Rex, Jesse and Hardcase with you and bring this man back,” he said.
Anakin bowed, “Yes, Master.”

Chapter Text

The drive back to Mos Espa went uneventful and silent.
The clones kept eyeing Anakin, wondering why their little Jedi was so different and submissive in Jabba’s palace.
“I don’t like this… this…” Hardcase began wondering about a fitting word for Jabba.
“Slug,” Anakin offered.
“Yes, slug is good,” Jesse said, “I can’t believe the Republic negotiates with such a criminal.”
“Jabba controls the most important trade routes of the outer rim. They are also essential for the republic, especially in this war,” Anakin replied.
“We would lose foot in the outer rim, when we lose these routes. The most of the outer rim would fall to the separatists,” Rex explained.

At Mos Espa, Anakin took the clones to a shop to get some ponchos for the clones. The time for to get all the attention was over, and Anakin was glad. “Why are we getting these now?” Jesse asked, looking at the poncho he wore. “Because when you search someone here, you don’t want anybody else to notice,” Anakin explained.

Normally, attraction was one of the last thing you wanted at Tatooine.
“You know this city pretty well, al’verd’ika,” Jesse commented as they walked to the streets, looking for the man with Jabba’s goods. They had seen a holo of him, but didn’t know which goods he was transporting. At least Anakin had an idea.
“I used to live here, before the Jedi found me,” Anakin answered dry.
“You are from this dust bowl? No wonder the Jedi found you so late,” Hardcase said.
Anakin looked at him questioning, wondering why he knew that.
“The General told us, that you came late to the Jedi, but not more,” Rex answered, sensing, that this was a sensitive topic for Anakin. Anakin just nodded in response and guided them to the edges of the town.

The clones changed looks. They were sure Anakin already behaved older than a child his age should, but how he acted on this mission was something else. How he had planned all this and went through this plan without faltering. Even the General followed his words in this mission.

They were near some kind of warehouse as Anakin stopped and closed his eyes, feeling the force.
“In this building is something we are searching,” he said and opened his eyes pointing at the warehouse.
“Be cautious and don’t make any rash movements,” he ordered, opened the door and went in.

The warehouse wasn’t big. In there were only some boxes.

Between these boxes were five people. Two human male, one with long hair, the other had no hair. Then there were also three Twi’lek female. One had white skin color, the other two were purple, but one had four lekku instead of two. Three of them were holding of the white Twi’leks down, while the long haired cut with a knife in the Twi’lek’s tight. 
They stopped immediately as Anakin and the clones entered. The next second a pistol was pointing at them and the other hold the knife in front of himself, ready to protect the ones behind him.

“Leave, or you be dead!” the Twi’lek with four lekku hissed.
The clones were about to their guns, but Anakin shook his head and got his hands up.
Then he made a sign with his hand. A sign the clones didn’t know, butt the five strangers in the room looked surprised to Anakin. Then one of them made another sign and Anakin, who seemed to understand this, answered with another hand sign. After that the weapons were laid back down and after Anakin’s nod, the one with the knife turned again to the Twi'lek.
The four lekkued Twi'lek was still skeptical and kept a close eye on the clones and Anakin.
“Tematta nel utta*,” she mumbled cynically.
The clones who didn’t understand anything that happened there were astounded to see, how their little Commander looked at the ground, seemingly hurt by this comment. But then he looked up at the Twi'lek and pointed at himself.
“Vikka-terak**,” he said bitterly.
“Let it be,” one of the man said to the Twi'lek looking pitifully at Anakin.
“It would be better if you leave Vikka-terak,” he then said to Anakin.

Before Anakin could say something, the door was kicked open.
The human male Anakin, and the clones were searching, stood in the door, scanning the scenery. His eyes went wide as he saw the one with the knife was about to get something out of the tight.
Anakin saw it too and then looked at the intruder again. He got a gun in his one hand and some devices hanged at his belt.
“Tooska chai mani***,” he cried in huttese and activated one of the devices.

“Nobata****!” Anakin cried and did one of the first things he had learned to do with the force, as he was still a slave. Pulling.
But in his panic, he pulled too strong.

A tiny chip flew out of the tight wound in Anakin’s hand, then it exploded. Everything happened in a second.

Anakin cried out in pain, as his right hand exploded. The clones reacted swiftly, seeing this as an attack on their Commander, and shot the intruder.

The next second, the man laid dead in the dirt, and Anakin fell to his knees.
He was holding a bloody stump to his chest.
“Al’verd’ika!” the clones exclaimed, rushing to his side.
“Jesse, take all devices the man had, it must be five, then get these people to our ship and let Kix take their chips out. Take the speeder, you must, make haste,” Anakin pressed through his gritted teeth. 

“Al’verd’ika, you have to get to Kix, too,” Jesse argued.
“Too far… Will bleed out… Know where to go,” Anakin answered, strained, and got up. Rex was instantly at his side, supporting him. Rex’s eyes went wide as he saw, that his little Commander’s right hand was gone. Swiftly, he took Anakin’s robe and  pressed it against the wound.

“Let me carry you, Commander. We will bring you, where you lead us,” he said. Anakin nodded and let Rex pick him up.
“Jesse, go!” Anakin ordered, after seeing that Jesse still stared at him.
That got the clone out pf his rigid. “Yes sir!” he saluted and then added, “stay alive.”

Anakin nodded, and was carried out of the room, followed by Hardcase.

Chapter Text

They ran in some kind of ghetto. It was different from the others residential areas, but Rex couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was different.
Hardcase was right behind them, always having an eye on the surroundings.

Anakin pointed at a door. Again, Rex couldn’t pinpoint what was different. This hut seemed exactly like the others. Was his Commander in delirium?
But he had to trust him.
Could it be his mothers' hut? He used to live here, after all.

Rex carried his Commander to the door.
“Let me knock…” Anakin mumbled. His eyes were only half open and his voice was weak. The robe which Rex pressed with one hand against Anakin’s wound was already wet.
Anakin knocked with his left hand. It was some sort of rhythm and despite being rather weak, they could hear hurried steps.
Then the door was opened. A Togruta male with a blue and white skin color stood before them, staring, his none existing brow furrowed.
Before him stood a man in white, armor with a poncho and a bleeding child in his arms. Behind him was another white armored man with a poncho, watching their surroundings.
The Togruta wanted to say something, but Anakin began to mumble. Rex couldn’t understand it, but the Togruta seemed to understand it. He let them in, pointing at a room.
“Get him in this room,” he said, and hurried away.
Rex nodded and hurried in the room.
An old Togruta female, whose skin color was completely orange, sat there, looking up as they came in.
She nodded at the floor in front of him. “Lay him there, young one,” she said soft.
Rex didn’t let himself be irritated from the young one and did what she said. His Commander trusted this people, and he trusted his Commander.

Hardcase and Rex kneeled at Anakin’s side. The old Lady went to Anakin’s other side.
The Togruta from before came back and began to tie off the blood circulation to Anakin’s wound.
“You can do it with this…” Anakin whispered and holding his training lightsaber in his left hand.
A human female, who had entered the room, nodded and took it. The blue and white Togruta put a wooden stick in Anakin’s mouth, so he couldn’t bite his tongue.
The old lady leaned forward and whispered in Anakin’s ear. Then the woman cauterized his stump.
Anakin groaned, but didn’t cry. They had to be silent. Nobody should suspect something. Nobody should know that they were here.
It was over quickly. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep, but he knew he couldn’t.
“My Tabat and Obi… For the wound,” Anakin said and pointed at the clothing parts he wore.

The woman nodded, and the man helped him up. Carefully they removed these parts and the women began to wrap the wound.

“Don’t you have bandages or bacta?” Hardcase exclaimed and earned a stern glaces from the strangers.
Anakin closed his eyes shortly and then looked at Hardcase.
“Hardcase… Bacta and bandages a luxury here. Be thankful they help us. I would die without them,” he explained
“I am sorry,” Hardcase said, looking down.
“We understand,” the old Togruta said, then looked to Anakin. “Your companions care deeply for you,” she said, but her gaze was questioning.
“As I do for them,” he said and pause before having the strength to continue, “We have much in common.”
The old lady nodded in understanding.

“May I ask your names?” she asked.
The clones introduced themselves first, and Anakin was happy that they used their names.
“Anakin Skywalker, Grandmother,” he then said, smiling. The lady returned the smile.
“Son of Shmi Skywalker,” she said, nodding, “Yes I remember. I heard of your birth. The birth of a healthy child,” she told as if that was something special.
Anakin only nodded. 

The woman who had cauterized his wound entered the room again. Anakin hadn’t realized that she had left.
She gave him a cup with a thick fluid. It was a painkiller.
Anakin’s eyes widened. They had used water, for him. His eyes fell at the water canister they carried with them.
Grandmother only smiled. “Drink, child,” she said.
“Thank you, Grandmother,” Anakin answered and drank.

“You should go now. If you don’t get better medical help, your life will still be in danger,” Grandmother said.
Anakin nodded and Rex wanted to pick him up again, but Anakin shook his head.
“I will walk out of the city. We will get all the attention if you carry me again,” he explained and stood up with the help of the blue and white Togruta.

One last time, Anakin looked at Grandmother. “Tell her that I have not forgotten. I remember,” he said and left after the old lady had nodded.
“Good luck, Vikka-terak*,” the Togruta male said. Anakin faltered shortly. He was called that now twice from two different people, then he nodded.

Their way out of the city wasn’t easy. Not that somebody minded them, but Anakin was very weak, only able to walk slowly. And his wound hurt, despite the painkiller. That took only enough pain away for Anakin not to pass out from the pain.
Rex supported him all the way, not letting him out of his eyes.

Out of the city, Rex immediately picked the little Jedi up.
“Nobody can see us anymore,” he just said.
“Thank you,” Anakin whispered and leaned his head against Rex breastplate.

The side effects of the painkiller began to set in. It began with dizziness and a headache. Followed by sleepiness. It was hard to keep the eyes open.
“Stay with us, al’verd’ika. You have to stay awake,” Hardcase said. Anakin only nodded with half open eyes.

The suns were about to set, when Hardcase looked at something far away.
“What is that?” he asked, and Anakin looked up. His eyes widened. 

“That’s a sandstorm!” he exclaimed. He asked himself why he hadn’t felt it, but it was probably due to his condition.
“We need to seek shelter. Our best chances are one of the plateau sides,” he said.
“They are far away and so is the storm. We will be able to get to our ship,” Hardcase said.
“No, we won’t. The storm will be here in less than an hour. We will be lucky if we find shelter before it hits us. Hurry!” Anakin yelled.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the clones began hurrying to the nearest plateau side.

They weren’t fast enough.
The storm hit them with all force, and Rex nearly fell with Anakin, if Hardcase hadn’t grabbed him.
They were lucky to have their helmets, but Anakin could only use clothes to cover up. He had bound one of the ponchos around his face. Hardcase had helped him. It covered his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. Breathing was hard due to the covering and the storm, but it was able.
The eyes he closed, nonetheless.

They clones stayed steadfast and continued walking.

That saved their live. At the plateau side they found a small gap which continued in a tight cave.
They squeeze through the gap, only to find that there was already someone in the cave.
“A tusken raider child,” Anakin realized. For around a minute, they only looked at each other. Anakin could feel the fear of the child. They were young. He asked himself how they ended here alone, but that wasn’t important right now.
“Let me down,” he said to Rex, who did it rather reluctantly.

Anakin new a bit of the tusken sign language, but despite the difficulty only having one hand, the child seemed to understood him. Then he grabbed his water canteen and offered it to the child.
She, as Anakin learned, took it and drank, then she offered it to them again.
“Hardcase, take a sip, then give it to Rex. You also take a sip and give it to me,” Anakin explained. The clones did as asked. Anakin took also a sip and gave it back to the girl.
“Why didn’t you keep it?” Hardcase asked.
“Because it was a gift. She was so generously to let us drink, too. It means, that we can stay here with her. In peace,” Anakin answered and settled down.

He felt sick and was sure that he would be vomiting at some point. For this case, he sat nearest the entrance. He didn’t want to vomit in front of anyone's feet.

It was a horrible night. The sandstorm didn’t seem to weaken.
Anakin vomited several times, but nobody said anything. They only looked worried at him.
Around midnight, he began to run a fever, and he was sure that his wound got infected. It just hurt more.

The storm was over in the late morning.
Anakin was delirious, and the clones hovered frankly above him.
“We have to hurry,” Rex said and scooped Anakin up.
“Ooda pon tona,” Anakin mumbled in his delirious. The clones only exchanged irritated gazes. Neither knew what it meant.
Together they left the cave, the child following.
The suns were nearly blinding them, after a night in a dark cave.
After their eyes had adjusted to the light, they found themselves in front of several tusken raiders pointing with their weapons at them.

“Eh… Commander?” Hardcase asked, not really sure what to do, but the child ran in front of them talking to the other tusken raiders.
They lowered their weapons, but seemed to still want something.

“Give them your water…,” Anakin mumbled with only one eye open.
Rex and Hardcase were irritated, but did as said.
The sand people took the water canteens and left them without any word or acknowledgment.

The clones stared at them leaving until Anakin groaned in pain.
Immediately, they continued their walk back to their ship.
They may not understand what happened, but it wasn’t important now.

“We are lucky,” Anakin said sometime.
“What do you mean?” Rex asked, only happy that he was awake.
“They were peaceful… Only had to prove…”, the child in Rex arms answered.
“Prove what?” Hardcase asked curious.
“…child told truth… we were kind,” Anakin replied fragmentary, then went silent again.
The clones fastened their pace.

Chapter Text

Finally, they arrived at their ship.
The five strangers, Jesse has taken with him, stood outside.
One entered the ship after seeing them, and Kix and Jesse came hurrying out.

“How is he?” Jesse asked.
Rex described short what happened.
Kix nodded. “We have to hurry,” he said, and they made they way into the ship.

“The chips?” Anakin asked, only looking at the strangers. He needed all his willpower to stay focused, because he had no strength left.
“Later, Commander,” Kix said.
“No!” Anakin exclaimed, and everyone was surprised about the strength he got in his voice.
“We are free, Vikka-terak*,” the white Twi’lek said.
Anakin smiled weakly. “Do you know where to go?”, he asked. Kix began to get inpatient, but he could sense, that his tiny Jedi would fight, if he wouldn’t let him talk to them.

The strangers nodded.
“Good,” Anakin said, the strength leaving him.

“Thank you for everything. We have to go now. There is still a long path before as,” one of the strangers said.
Anakin only nodded and waved a little bit as the five people went their way.

With that, the clones carried him into the ship to the one medical coat with the med droid. It wasn’t a medbay, but it was enough to save a life.
The Padawan was laid on the coat and Kix began to examine him.

“Take the chip and the detonators,” Anakin ordered to the other clones.
“Let them blow up… then contact Master… show them the devices. Tell, their man is dead. He blew up Jabba’s…. Jabba’s goods,” he continued with his last strength. He closed his eyes. He did everything he could to safe his fellow slaves. All energy he had left him.
“Hey, ad’ika! You have to stay awake!” Kix exclaimed.
“Try…” Anakin mumbled.

The others stared, shocked and afraid of loosing their tiny Jedi.
“Out with you!” Kix ordered. “You have your orders!”
Jesse, Hardcase and Rex saluted. “Sir, yes sir!” they shouted. Determined to follow their precious Commander’s orders.

Kix removed the cloth, rapped around Anakin’s stump.
“That doesn’t look good,” he said to himself.
“I can’t give you an anesthetic. I am sorry. That will hurt. I have to cut away the infected areas. There is nothing I can do with the things I have,” Kix explained.
Anakin nodded and prepared for the pain.
Kix began with his work. He hated that he couldn’t take away the pain but the anesthetic they had was too strong for Anakin’s weakened body and the painkiller they had wouldn’t help at all, for the reason they were too weak.

Anakin couldn’t help but to cry out. It hurt more than the explosion or the cauterization.
Maybe because there wasn’t any adrenalin left in his body, or he had nothing to protect, to be strong for. It could also be, because the cutting needed more time than the explosion or cauterization.

Somehow, despite the pain, he had to see it, so he looked.
It didn’t look good, what Kix did. It was bloody, but somehow it didn’t disturb him. Perhaps because it was nothing compared to the things he already had seen in the streets at Mos Espa.

“Thank you,” Anakin murmured. Kix looked up, irritated, but didn’t stop in his work.
The young Padawan’s eyes were glassy. Kix couldn’t be sure if he was clear in mind, or hallucinated. Nevertheless, he answered, “Your welcome.”

The thought of hallucination wasn’t farfetched. Anakin knew it was Kix before him. But he still was remembered of his mum, when she cared about his wounds, he got from fighting with others, burning himself at work or being punished by a master or a client from their master.

Obi-Wan was angry. Maybe not angry, but a mix between irritated and angry. Anakin was to come back with the wanted man and Jabba’s goods, but not only didn’t he came back, he didn’t even commed personal. The wanted man was dead and the goods destroyed.
For a short moment, Obi-Wan had thought that Jabba would cancel their agreement, but despite being mad, the Hutt didn’t seem to see the guilt by his Padawan.
So in the end, the mission was a success and Obi-Wan and Cody returned to their ship, but the Jedi Knight was still mad at Anakin.

Cody and Obi-Wan were greeted by Hardcase who cleaned his blaster from the sand, that got into it.
“Where is my Padawan?” Obi-Wan asked immediately.
“Probably in his bunk,” Hardcase answered, mistaking Obi-Wan’s harshness with concern.
Obi-Wan nodded and entered with Cody.
The Jedi went straight to the bunks. Meanwhile, Cody called all the clones together before they could say something.
Cody wasn’t pleased either.

“Padawan!” Obi-Wan exclaimed as he approached Anakin, who laid in his bunk.
Anakin jumped a bit and sat himself up, his right arm still covered with the blanket.
He hadn’t the energy to stand up.

Obi-Wan didn’t seem to notice something wrong. He didn’t seem to look at Anakin at all.
“Why didn’t you come back? Why didn’t you commed yourself? It was your mission, the first you had to lead,” Obi-Wan began and didn’t let Anakin speak, “It was your responsibility to report. I thought you were ready. I thought since you were so professional despite being at your home planet, I thought you could do that. But seeing now, that you weren’t able to report back, just because the mission failed, I probably was wrong. And I know that you only found the man dead and Jabba’s goods destroyed, so you didn’t fail it personally. But doesn’t that made it worse not to report personally?”

“Master…” Anakin began and stand up, despite the dizziness which came instantly and his wobbling legs.
“No Padawan, you…” Obi-Wan began but stopped as he saw Anakin tremble, his pale skin and then his stump. Half of Anakin’s right forearm was gone. The stump was heavily bandaged.
Obi-Wan’s eyes went wide, and he felt to his knees.
“What… what happened?” he breathed.

“I am sorry Master, that I failed you,” Anakin said weakly.
“No, no. I… I didn’t realize. I was wrong. Lay down. You have to rest,” Obi-Wan interrupted, got back to his feet, picked his charge up and laid him back down in the bunk.

“It wasn’t the Commander's fault!” shouted a clone, Hardcase, while entering a hurry.
“He was injured, he couldn’t report. And the goods… They weren’t only things,” he began to explain, but Obi-Wan signed him to stop.
“It’s alright, Hardcase. I saw the injury. I am sorry, that I assumed that Anakin was at fault. It is me, who was wrong, I am sorry,” the Jedi Knight said.
“I am sorry too,” Cody, who had followed Hardcase with the others.

“But now, what happened. How did you…” Obi-Wan began to ask, but stopped as he looked at the stump.
“My hand?” Anakin asked. Obi-Wan nodded sorrowfully.
Anakin began to tell, 

“The man Jabba searched was an overseer, and these goods were slaves on the run. We found the slaves, while one was about to get her chip removed. The overseer came shortly after us and triggered the detonator of the chip. I pulled it to me with the force, but my pull was so strong that it was in my hand before it explode. So I lost my hand. Jesse, Hardcase or Rex shot the overseer. And that was right, he probably would have attacked us. I ordered Jesse to take the slaves to Kix and let he remove all their chips.
Rex then carried me to helpful people. They stopped the bleeding, bandaged it and gave me a painkiller. Then we made our way here.
On the way, a sandstorm came, so we had to hide over the night. My wound got infected. So Kix had to cut the infected area away.
We let the slaves go, and I ordered to let the chips explode, so we could ‘prove’ that  the goods were destroyed.”

“Oh Anakin. I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have let you go, I…” Obi-Wan began to apologize, but Anakin shook his head.
“I am glad that you let me go. So we were able to safe fives live. Not only safe them but also free them. A hand is a price I am willing to pay for that. It was worth it,” Anakin said, smiling.

“Sir, if I may speak. I hope you won’t always pay such a prize. Someday there isn’t anything left for me to patch up,” Kix replied.
Anakin had to grin, and the others chuckled a bit.
“I will try to haggle a better price next time,” the young Padawan said.

“Well then, I think it is time to fly back to Coruscant,” Cody said, and they all agreed.
“I have one question left,” Hardcase said, suddenly.
They all looked at the clones.
“What means ‘Oda pon dona’? You said it, in the morning after the sandstorm. You were in delirious, but I still wonder” Hardcase continued.

Anakin blushed.
“Do you mean ‘Ooda pon tona’?” he asked, saying it right.
Hardcase nodded.
“It means ‘I like bubbles’,” Anakin said, a little embarrassed.
Everyone looked at him confused.
“It was my first real sentence in huttese. My mother told me that there existed water that bubbled. I was so fascinated by the idea that ‘Ooda pon tona’ became my favorite sentence back then,” Anakin explained, looking sheepishly at the ground.

Luckily, he didn’t see the clones trying not to laugh.
Obi-Wan smiled. “I think I like this sentence, too,” he said.
“Ooda pon tona,” Cody phrased and nodded seriously, “Yes, a good sentence.”

Anakin looked up, seeing that nobody laughed at him, only smiling, maybe grinning, but without bad intentions in their eyes. That reassured him, and he smiled, too.
After that and in a better mood, Anakin got to sleep, and the others started the ship to get back to Coruscant.

After arriving, Obi-Wan brought Anakin instantly to the healing halls.
A Padawan healer fetched them Chief Healer Vokara Che, a blue Twi’lek.

“Why is it always you, Kenobi?” Vokara Che said while entering the room.
“This time it isn’t me, although I would prefer that it was me,” Obi-Wan answered and pointed at his Padawan who sat exhausted on a chair.

Che couldn’t help but stare for a second. She already saw a lot of severed limbs and also some children with severed limbs, but the view of a child with a severed limb was always cruel.

“You must be Padawan Skywalker,” she said, and Anakin nodded.
“Can I look at your arm?” the healer asked.
“Of course,” Anakin answered and stretched his right arm out.

“Thank you,” she said and examined it.
“There isn’t much we can do anymore. Some medicine for the fever and the healing. Regular changing of the bacta and bandages. Maybe some salves to smooth the scarring. And I will get in contact with professionals in the area of children prosthetic,” she concluded.
“Professionals?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Despite the beliefs of the society, prosthetics for children are still hard to construct. Of course, for normal civilians, it isn’t a big problem. But if Skywalker want to continue his training, his prosthetic can’t be a normal one. It has to have a high durability, but also the fine motor skills have to be as good as a real hand. It has to feel as real as possibly for using the force. He also has to be able to feel at least a little bit with the hand. If he grabs someone, he shouldn’t crush him. Or be able to say if something is hot or cold. Jedi prosthetics aren’t mass products. But the adult body isn’t growing anymore and not in constant change like a child's body. That’s the reason I will contact professionals, so he gets a good prosthetic,” Vokara Che explained.

“Wizard,” Anakin exclaimed.
“Anakin, getting a prosthetic isn’t ‘wizard’,” Obi-Wan criticized.

“I mean what the prosthetic has to be able to do,” Anakin replied. And Obi-Wan realized that Anakin meant the mechanical aspect. He sighed. He was sure that he needed a good meditation and long rest.

“Alright. Knight Kenobi, you should go and report to the council. I will keep your Padawan here to get the routine check done and to examine the rest of the body. That will take some time,” the healer said.
Obi-Wan nodded, despite not wanting to leave his Padawan’s side.
“Thank you, Master Che. I will get him, when I finish the report,” he said and left.

“Master Che, can I learn to heal with the force, too?” Anakin asked as Master Che continued to examine him.
“Did you show any potential in healing?” she asked.
“Not that I know, but a lot of people say that I am ‘the chosen one’. Obi-Wan says that I am strong in the force. I don’t know what being the chosen one means, but it has to be good for something, hasn’t it?” he said.

Vokara nodded and then asked, “Do you have a reason, for wanting to learn healing with the force?”
Anakin thought about what to say, but decided to tell the truth.
“On Jedha, I couldn’t save one of the troopers. He was badly hurt and there were no medics. I got him back to the camp, with the help of another trooper, but he didn’t make it. I wasn’t able to save him and I can’t change that anymore, but I want to be able to save others when I am out there. There isn’t always a medic near or there are too many injured. I want to be able to help even after the battle. I want to be able to reduce the number of dead. To make sure more troopers will survive the missions,” he explained.

Now it was Vokara’s turn to be in thought.

“Let me think about it. I will contact you or tell you, when we meet again to talk about your prosthetic. I know that every one of the healers in these halls had potential in healing, but I doubt that it is impossible to learn force healing without having the potential. But you have to make yourself clear that it won’t be easy, even as the chosen one,” she answered finally.
“You think that I am the chosen one?” Anakin asked curious.
“I don’t know. But right now you are my patient,” she answered and began to get him the medication.

Chapter Text

Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the clones had finally some time to rest.
Due to Anakin’s injury, he even was freed from his lessons.
The first days he welcomed the rest, but then he wondered if he should go to his courses nonetheless. He was already behind his peers in most classes.
Before the mission he had finally caught up in some courses, but after the mission and the medical leave he was probably behind them again.

It wasn’t that Anakin liked classes very much. He didn’t really seem to fit in, but he loves to learn and to read, even if nobody would believe him.

Normally, slaves weren’t allowed to learn reading. Only if it was necessary for work, but even then they only learned the basics, the words they needed and nothing more. Reading in books, data pads or other devices was unbelievable as a slave, even for the ones who could read.
Anakin was lucky that Watto wanted him to learn to read some huttese, but even in huttese he was a slow reader. And that was the reason Anakin only loved reading when nobody watched him. His peers always made fun of him being illiterate or dumb. When he had to read out loud in class, they rolled their eyes or whispered to each others, because he was so slow and stumbled over some words.

Only after his fever was gone, Obi-Wan allowed him to read and to watch as much podraces in the HoloNet as he wanted. But Anakin’s Master made sure that he slept enough for his circumstances.

First, a Padawan Healer visited them every day to change Anakin’s bandage. After he was fit enough, he had to go to the healing halls for the bandage changes.
But at the end of the first week there wasn’t a Padawan Healer but Vokara Che, who waited for Anakin.
“Padawan Skywalker, how are you?” Vokara greeted.
“I’m fine. The pain lessened, but there are still phantom pains, as Obi-Wan calls them, from time to time. But these are also not bad with the painkillers I have to take,” Anakin answered and sat on the chair the healer pointed at.

“Phantom pains are very common, but with time the phantom pains will happen lesser and lesser. And it is possible to help you with them, even after your medication. You don’t have to endure them,” She answered and began to remove the bandages, wipe away the bacta and examine the stump. It was still sore and not fully healed, but it was better than before.
Anakin watched her and his stump. It was still strange to see the stump, and his arm was surprisingly light, for the fact that he still had most of his arm. 

“It looks good. I have been told that the prosthetic will be here in two weeks. I would say, that you can go back to your classes. No physical work and when you don’t feel well, you should rest. If it doesn’t get better, come here,” Healer Che said to Anakin.
“You can slowly reduce your medication, but take these, if the phantom pains get too bad. If it doesn’t work, come here,” she added and handed him some medicine and a flimsi with instruction how to reduce the medication.
“I will, thank you, Master Che,” the Padawan replied.

“Oh, and I thought about your request. I can help you to learn healing, but you have to do much yourself. I am pretty busy, so I send you a message when I have time for you. If you don’t have lessons, you will come to the time. It could be quite spontaneously, and it could be that I cancel our meeting even if you already stand before my door. But first, you should read these in the archives,” Vokara said and handed him another piece of flimsi with names of books.
Anakin nodded eagerly, “I will. Thank you,” he said and bowed.

Before leaving, Vokara Che called a Padawan to bandage Anakin’s arm again. 

After his visit in the healing halls, Anakin went straight to the quarters he shared with Obi-Wan. Since his Master wasn’t there, Anakin left him a note and went to the archives.

He found an empty terminal and looked up where to find the books. After writing down in which area and shelf they were, he collected the datasticks on which the books were saved.
Back at the terminal, he began to read.
Since Vokara Che had noted in which order he had to read, he began with a book about basic anatomy and how the body worked. It was specialized on humans, but often referred to other humanoid species.
Anakin realized quickly that Master Che didn’t just choose any medical books for him to read. She had thought about which books could help him the most. The first book wasn’t easy to read, but Anakin could understand it. It had many pictures to explain and compared it regularly to simple mechanic processes and devices, which made it easy to understand even complex mechanism and structures of the body.

“You know, you could download it on a datapad and read these in the quarters,” someone said next to Anakin. He jumped and turned around to see his Master.
“Master… I thought you had things to do,” Anakin said irritated.
“I had, and I have done my tasks. It is afternoon, Padawan,” Obi-Wan answered, smiling a bit amused. “Oh…” Anakin uttered and looked sheepishly on the ground.
“I hope the book you read is a good one, if it captives you like that,” Obi-Wan said, still smiling.
Anakin looked up, glad that his Master wasn’t mad at him, then he nodded. “Yes it is very good,” he said and let his Master have a look.
“Anatomy?” he asked.
“Master Che recommended it. I want to be able to help if no medic is around,” Anakin admitted.
Obi-Wan looked at his charge, his smile went sad. He was proud of him, but was sad that Anakin had already realized that the war wouldn’t let him go.

Just that day, he had discussed with the council about Anakin’s role in the war. They came to the conclusion that Obi-Wan had to fight, since he was a good General. But Anakin was still his Padawan. There was no other option than to let Obi-Wan take Anakin with him.
Nobody was happy about that, but Anakin did good at his first mission and got along well with the clones.
Still, he and the 212th got to stay at least for a week, before moving out again.

“How about you take a break and come with me,” Obi-Wan said.
Anakin nodded and stood up.
“Let us bring the datasticks where they belong and tomorrow we can ask Madam Nu if these are allowed to be downloaded on your datapad,” the Jedi Knight suggested, and together they brought the datasticks back before leaving the archives.

“You have your crystal with you?” Obi-Wan asked. Anakin nodded. “I have it always with me,” he said and showed his Master the crystal.
“Good,” Obi-Wan replied.
“Where are we even going?” Anakin asked.
“You will see. I promise, you will like it. And think about what you want to eat for dinner. We could also eat out,” his Master suggested.
Anakin grinned, happy about it.

They entered one of the oldest part of the temple. It wasn’t used much, but still regularly cleaned by the cleaning droids.

They halted in front of a wooden door. Anakin had never seen such a door in the temple. Then Obi-Wan knocked and to Anakin’s surprise and delight an ancient droid opened it.
“Young Kenobi, what can this old droid do for you? It isn’t long since you lost your last lightsaber or damaged it,” the droid greeted him.
Anakin looked with wide eyes at his Master. How could that be, his Master was the perfect Jedi and always lectured him when he misplaced his training lightsaber.

“Master Huyang! That was years ago,” Obi-Wan exclaimed, embarrassed.
“The last time would be exactly three standard-years eight months and two standard days ago. It was Zhellday,” the droid, Huyang replied.
Obi-Was face went red. “Please, not in front of my Padawan,” he requested.
At this, Huyang looked at Anakin.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Padawan,” Huyang greeted Anakin.
Anakin bowed and smiled, “It is nice to meet you too, Master Huyang.”

He liked this droid. It must be a special droid, since it was respected by living people.
“Now, how can this droid help you?” Huyang asked again.
“Ah, right. My Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, found his crystal at Jedha. We came here to build his lightsaber,” Obi-Wan explained.
The droid nodded and let them in.

Huyang guided them to his workshop and pointed at a seat cushion.
“Take a seat, young Skywalker,” he said, and get lightsaber parts together.
Anakin sat down and watched the droid.

Huyang began to explain, how lightsabers worked and how to build one.
Anakin listened eagerly.
Obi-Wan watched him, smiling about Anakin’s interest in this topic. He thought about how he had built his first lightsaber and his Padawanship under Qui-Gon’s care.
Now he had a different lightsaber, his second one. The first one he lost, the same day he lost his Master.
He had lost his first lightsaber a few times, but always got it back. The first time was early in his apprenticeship. Back then, he was still unsure if Qui-Gon was going to keep him as his Padawan. The greater was his panic as he lost his lightsaber. His Master hadn’t noticed it, and since he didn’t know what to do, he headed to Huyang pleading to him to let him build a new one. But the droid didn’t let him. In his panic, Obi-Wan had forgotten that he needed a crystal. Instead, Huyang had helped him find his lightsaber.

“Do you want a tea, while we wait?” he was torn out of his thoughts by Master Huyang.
“Ehm… Yes, Master. Thank you,” he answered, and followed him to the adjoining room, where a table and some kitchen utensils were. Enough to provide something to drink and some biscuits.

Meanwhile, Anakin inspected his crystal and the lightsaber parts, then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating on the humming of his crystal.
For a short time he could hear the faint humming of many other crystals, one he recognized as the one of Obi-Wan, but neither felt right, only his own. Then the moment was gone, and he only heard his own.

He could see the blue light of the crystal turning in one of the three moons of Tatooine. The other two were slightly visible.
Then he heard voices. Anakin recognized Obi-Wan’s and Huyang’s. They talked about tea. Not concentrating on it, new voices and sounds ringed in his ears. Children’s laughing, the backwards speech of Yoda. He could hear animals and was sure also the plants moving and growing.
Anakin was sure he could hear everything living in the temple.
Suddenly, far more sounds and voices appeared. Crying, laughing, heated discussions. Anakin realized that he began to hear everything living in the whole galaxy. He could hear the good things, children celebrating their birthday. But also the bad things, people getting hurt and betrayed. He heard the normal life, people going to work, daily conversations.
“Anakin…” his mother. Her voice was clear and distinct. Everything went silent.
‘I won’t forget’ Anakin wanted to say, but no sound left his mouth.
“I know,” he heard his mother saying, as if she knew what he had wanted to say.
Then again, voices and sounds hit him. But this time it hurt in his ears. The crying of children, the pain they suffer. He heard his people and he heard the clones. He heard all the people he wanted to free.
And from one second to the other, he was back in Huyang’s workshop.
He looked at his hand. There laid a lightsaber. The hilt was made of light wood. The wood of Tatooine. Then there were three overlapping circles out of metal at the back of his hilt.

Still examining his lightsaber, Anakin stood up and went to Obi-Wan and Huyang.
They looked up as he entered.
“How can I help you, young…” Master Huyang began, as he registered the lightsaber.
“You constructed it so quickly, does it work?” Obi-Wan asked, perplexed.
“I don’t know,” Anakin said, and activated his lightsaber. A blue blade appeared. He swung it a bit through the air. It worked without problem.

“Remarkable, young Skywalker. That was the fastest construction in a hundred of years. May I see it?” Huyang replied. Anakin nodded and gave the droid his lightsaber.

“I don’t know how I did it. I only did, what you said. I felt the force and concentrated on my crystal. I think I got in some sort of trance. But, I don’t remember building it,” Anakin confessed as he did something wrong.
“That is a high feat. Not many are able to build a lightsaber completely guided by the force,” Huyang answered.
“Could it be that you are from Tatooine?” the droid then asked, as he handed the lightsaber back.
“Yes, how do you know, Master?” Anakin replied, astound.
“Your hilt is out of Japor ivory wood. The materials Jedi use for their lightsaber are often connected to their culture and home. Even if they grew up here, it is still the place they were born. I think it leaves a little imprint on one's force signature, but that is just my theory,” Huyang answered.

Obi-Wan and Anakin bowed to Huyang before they left.
On their way through the empty floors in this old part of the temple, Obi-Wan laid a hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “I am proud of you, Padawan,” he said.
Anakin smiled at his Master.

“Do you already decided what you want for dinner?” Obi-Wan then asked.
“I thought that I could cook for us today. We only need to get some ingredients from the kitchen,” Anakin answered.
“You?” his Master asked.
“Yes, me. I know how to cook. I am probably a better cook than you,” Anakin answered and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Obi-Wan chuckled. “It is not hard to be better than me, but if you want to test it, then how about we invite some friends. They can decide who is better,” he suggested.
“I will win, Master,” Anakin said and grinned at him.

Chapter Text

The dinner was a nice change to the war. They had invited some of Obi-Wan’s friends. Quinlan Vos, Garen Muln and Bant Eerin enjoyed dinner with them. They all came to the conclusion that Obi-Wan really was a terrible cook and Anakin far better than one would think of an eleven-year-old kid.

“Well, I think, when your Padawan cooks, you can invite us more often, Obi,” Master Vos said as he left after getting called to the council.
Knight Eerin and Knight Muln remained, helping to clean the dishes.

“Where did you learn to cook? Probably not from Obi,” Bant asked Anakin.
Anakin smiled a little. “I helped my mom back in Tatooine. Since we hadn't had  much, we had to be creative. Her meals were the best I ever tasted. She could make the best out of nothing. Sometimes I had to cook for her, when she… wasn’t able to,” Anakin answered. He faltered once, thinking of times when his mother was beaten by Watto or other costumers, so hard that she wasn’t able to do anything without pain.
Obi-Wan glanced to his Padawan unsure how to react, but Bant only smiled at Anakin. “That is very nice from you. Mayhap we could eat and cook together more often. I would like to see how you improve, and maybe I can learn some things from you. I like to cook and am happy to learn more,” she said.
Anakin smiled brightly. “I would like that. Maybe I could learn some things from you too? Only if you don’t mind,” he replied.
“You can count me in. Perhaps he will be able to teach Obi how to cook,” Garen commented.
Obi-Wan sighed. “We can do that if you stop to make fun about my cooking,” he said.
“But Obi, where is the ‘fun’ with that,” Garen laughed and Bant snickered.
“Don’t worry Master, I will teach you. I was a bad cook at the beginning too,” Anakin tried to calm down his Master.
Obi-Wan only sighed while his friends laughed.

“Ehm… Master. Since I am allowed to go to my courses again, could I visit Rex and the others? I just wonder how they are,” Anakin requested hesitantly.
“I don’t see why not. We could visit them tomorrow and ask if they don’t have a problem with it,” Obi-Wan answered and smiled a bit at his Padawan. He wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. On the one hand, he was glad that Anakin got along with the clones and saw more in them than just soldiers. On the other hand, he questioned himself if Anakin got too attached to them. They were in war. Many of the clones would probably die, and Obi-Wan asked himself how Anakin would take it, when one of his closer friends would die.
He remembered how well his Padawan dealt with Beat’s death, but Anakin hadn't known the clone very well. How would Anakin deal with the death of Rex or the others?
Obi-Wan sighed. He could think about it, when it happens. For now, it was good that Anakin had friends who could help him through the horrors of war. And Obi-Wan was sure that Anakin was a great help for the clones as well, so he decided to support his Padawan there.

Obi-Wan accompanied Anakin to the Military distract, where the clone barracks were.
Cody and Rex were waiting outside.
The two clones saluted as they arrived.
“I contacted them to meet us here,” Obi-Wan said to Anakin, as he looked questioning at him.
“General, Commander,” Cody greeted, “How can we help you?”
“My Padawan wanted to visit you, seeing how you live and what you do while we are on leave,” Obi-Wan replied.

The clones exchanged short, and a little irritated glances. Rex then shrugged.
“Well, these are normal barracks, with a normal mess and all, but since you are our General and Commander you always can come here. I wonder what we are needed for? Should we show you everything?” Cody wondered.
“Well, first, we don’t want to intrude, no matter that we are your superiors and how I know my Padawan, he probably wants to visit more often but only if you are fine with that. We don’t want you to feel bothered or controlled,” their General answered.
“Well, some might feel a bit uncomfortable at first but since the most are used that he even slept with us in our quarters, I think we will get used to him quite quickly. I don’t know what speaks against our al’verd’ika hanging out here,” Rex said, and Cody nodded.

Anakin smiled brightly about this and Obi-Wan was glad, too.
“Thank you, I will leave him in your care then,” he said. Anakin pouted.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” he grumbled. Obi-Wan laughed a bit.
“I make sure that he don’t get in trouble, sir,” Rex said.
“Thank you, Rex,” Obi-Wan replied, then he got something out of his pocket.
“I’ve got you a comlink, so you can contact me, if you need me,” he said and handed Anakin the comlink.

“Well, Rex. Since you agreed to look after our al’verd’ika, you can show him around, but don’t be late,” Cody said, after their General had left. He then entered the barracks.
“Late what for?” Anakin asked Rex.
“Training. We may be at leave but have to keep up,” Rex explained.
“Well, then let us begin the tour,” he added and showed his little Commander around. 

“So, in this barrack is only the 212th accommodated?” Anakin asked.
Rex nodded. “Each barrack is for one battalion or sometimes for an entire legion,” he explained.
“It looks blank but here we have some luxuries, we don’t get at the star destroyers or other bases. We have some varieties of meals in the messes. Each mess provides three to five battalions. Then each barrack has one better equipped training room. And there are more specialized training rooms for everyone. The best are the common rooms. Each barrack has one to three common rooms. They may be blank too, but it’s better than to spend our free time in the quarters or the mess,” the Captain added.
Anakin only nodded. He knew to expect little from then barracks, but the minimum the clones were provided still strengthened the feeling, that the clones deserved so much more.

While they walked through the barracks, they met various clones. The ones who didn’t know Anakin or only saw him a few times on the star destroyer were a little vary and only glanced at him. The others, like Jesse and Hardcase greeted them, delighted that their little Jedi visited them. They asked how he and his arm was, chatted a bit, and Hardcase even joked a bit. Hardcase saw Anakin already as one of his brothers.

“Well, I have to go now to the training,” Rex said after a while. “Do you want to come with me?” he asked.
“I would like to, but I hoped to meet Kix. I thought he might be interested that my arm heals well and that I will get a prosthetic soon,” Anakin answered.
“Kix should be in the medcenter. I can explain how to get there. It is quite easy. It is right next to the barracks from the 104th. These are the ones we picked up, as we traveled back here,” Rex answered.
“You mean the ones with Master Koon as their General?” Anakin asked and Rex nodded.
“Okay, then I will visit Kix. Thank you for showing me around. I would like to come back the next days if it’s alright,” Anakin said.
“Of course. You can come whenever you want, al’verd’ika. When you call me beforehand, or sent a message, I can see who is here and has time,” Rex replied.
“Oh, you don’t have to. I just like the company of you all. I don’t want to bother or keep you off from work. Maybe I could even help with a few things. Even one-handed, I am a good mechanic,” Anakin said.
Rex smiled. “I think we find a way. Say hello to Kix from me,” Rex said his goodbye, and they parted.

Anakin entered the medbay and was greeted by saluting clones. One of them was Coric.
“Hello, Coric. How are you?” Anakin greeted. Coric smiled. “I am doing well, Commander. Can I help you?” he replied.
The other clones who didn’t know Anakin were astounded, first that a Jedi Commander could be so young and second that he spoke so casual to a clone and even used the clone’s name.

“I thought about visiting Kix. Thanks to him, I survived this,” Anakin answered and showed him his stump briefly. Because of his wide Jedi robe, the missing of his half forearm was easily overseen.
Despite already hearing from the injury, Coric’s eyes went wide.
“I… I can bring you to him. I was about to fetch something out of the stock for him,” the clone offered.
“May I help you?” Anakin asked.
Coric hesitated, looking where Anakin’s stump was hidden by the wide sleeve.
“I still have one fully functional arm with a hand. If it isn’t too heavy, I can carry it,” Anakin said, a little annoyed.
At this, Coric barked a laugh. “Right, that is our Commander, always helping,” he replied, “then come with me. Let’s see what you could carry.”

Together they carried medical supplies to Kix.
“What are you doing here?” Anakin asked Coric while carrying.
“I… Well, I asked Kix if he could teach me a bit, so I can help my injured brothers more,” Coric answered a bit uncomfortable.
Anakin scrutinized him. “It is because of Beat. Because you couldn’t help him,” he concluded.
“Yes, if I could have provided some medical help, he could have survived,” Coric admitted. Anakin nodded.
“I know the feeling. I have the same,” Anakin said.
“I asked our chief healer to teach me force healing. But this would take time, so I wanted to ask Kix for help too. I know first aid but…”, Anakin began.
“First aid is for some brothers not enough. Some wounds are too big to stop the bleeding. And if there is internal bleeding, I want to be able to do more,” Coric finished. They smiled at each other. It was good not to be alone with this feeling.
“Do you think we should learn together?” Anakin asked and Coric nodded.

Together they entered Kix’s office.
“There you are, I began to think that you got lost,” Kix said, without looking up from his datapad.
“Well, I found an al’verd’ika on the way and decided to bring him with me,” Coric replied, while putting the supplies on the stretcher.
Hearing that, Kix looked up. “Commander!” he exclaimed, jumped up and saluted.
“Relax, Kix,” Anakin waved it off.
“What are you doing here? You should rest. Wait, did you carry these with Coric? Coric, how could you allow that, you know that he is injured,” he began his tirade.
“Chief healer Che allowed me out of bed. I am allowed to go to my courses, so I am allowed to come here too. And I didn’t use my injured arm. I didn’t strain myself. Coric did nothing wrong,” Anakin instantly protected the stunned Coric.
Kix sighed. “Sorry, Commander, Coric,” he apologized.
“Since we aren’t taught much about how to patch up children, I might be a bit overprotective. Still, if I find out, that you don’t follow the healers or medics orders, I will get you and bind you personally at your bed,” Kix added.
Anakin grinned. “Alright,” he said.

“So, what can I do for you?” Kix then asked.
“I began to learn force healing but learning this would take some time, and since I need to know anatomy and probably basic medical knowledge for it, I wanted to ask if you could help me. Like Coric, I want to be able to help your brothers, when no medic is near,” their little Jedi answered.
Kix couldn’t help but smile. “I would welcome that, thank you,” he said in earnest.
Anakin blushed over that and looked sheepishly at the bottom. “I… I am your Commander, your safety is my duty, isn’t it?” he tried to give a formal explanation. He liked to get a better relationship with the clones, but it surprised him how ready Kix was to thank him. Him, one of his superior.
Anakin knew, that the clones didn’t hate him and probably even liked him a bit, but he belonged still to the republic, which used and treated them like things, tools.
“I am thankful nonetheless, Commander,” Kix replied.
“And since you are here, you could begin your first lesson with Coric,” he added.
“I would love to,” Anakin said smiling.

Kix pointed at the boxes they had brought him.
“In there are unsorted medical supplies. Everything you need as a medic on the battlefield. These are unused leftovers from battles. I want you to sort them and see if they are still good. If not, you can put them aside. They can be used for training. After you checked that, I want you to think for what each of these is used and what else they could be used for,” Kix assigned them.
Coric and Anakin saluted and began with their work.

After some time, Kix had used the time to work himself, he came to them, and they spoke about their ideas. He explained, showed how to use some supplies and even gave them homework.

It was evening, when Anakin get back to the temple, and he was feeling good.

Chapter Text

In Anakin’s first week back, his sleep was deep and restful, thanks to the medications. With reducing them, his sleep got back to normal. Falling asleep required more time and wasn’t as deep. But he could still get a good night's rest. Until the night before, he would go back to his classes.

He heard screaming. It was a man. As he looked around, he recognized that he was on one of the lower levels of Coruscant. He followed the screaming to an abandoned storage hall. He walked through the hall. The screaming stopped. Then he heard something behind himself. He spun around. There were Gardulla the Hutt and Watto.
“So you have decided to come back to us?” Gardulla asked laughing.
“I… I am free…” Anakin stuttered and backed away.
“Free?” she laughed and leaned forward, looming over him. She was giant and he felt tiny. He wanted to run away, but couldn’t move. His hands and feet were in shackles.
“This… this is the republic… You… you can’t…” he tried to explain.
“And you think the republic cares?” she asked.
“Slavery is forbidden…” Anakin’s voice got smaller while his fear grew.
“Forbidden,” Gardulla laughed. It boomed in Anakin’s ears.
“A lot of things are ‘forbidden’ but still exist,” she replied.
“Watto, show our slave how the republic cares,” the Hutt ordered.
Watto cackled and raised an electro-whip.
“No… please…” Anakin begged, still knowing the pain of this torturous instrument.
Watto swung the whip at his right arm. He cried out in pain. Numerous screaming filled his ears.

“Anakin!” someone shouted.
Anakin jerked up, eyes wide.
He sat in his bed, sweating. His injury throbbed painfully.
“Anakin, it was just a dream. You are in the temple, I am with you. Everything is alright,” Obi-Wan, who kneeled next to his bed, said.
“M-Master…” Anakin mumbled and looked at him.
“I am here, Padawan,” Obi-Wan said and grabbed Anakin’s shoulder.
Anakin sighed in relief. But grimaced, as the pain got worse.
“Does your right arm hurt?” Obi-Wan asked, but grabbed already the painkiller and used the force to get a glass of water.
Anakin nodded, took the painkiller and looked at the floating glass.
“What about unnecessary use of force?” he asked weakly as he grabbed the glass and took the medicine.
“I didn’t find it unnecessary, if my Padawan is in distress and in pain,” Obi-Wan replied.
“Thank you,” Anakin said and smiled. The painkiller began quickly to work.
“You are welcome,” his Master responded.
“Do you want to talk about the dream?” he then asked.
Anakin hesitated. “It was just a bad dream, probably triggered by the pain. It also pained in the dream,” Anakin answered.
Obi-Wan nodded. He wasn’t satisfied, but let it slip. It was early in the morning, an hour before sunrise, and he saw how worn-out Anakin was due to this dream. It wouldn’t do his Padawan good to be bothered with it, that he was sure of.
“Do you want to sleep a little more?” Obi-Wan asked, but Anakin shook his head. It still was the time he often woke up, so he probably couldn’t sleep any longer even without fearing the nightmare would come back.
“Okay, then let us make a relaxing breakfast,” Obi-Wan suggested. 

And that they did. Obi-Wan enjoyed a cup of tea, and Anakin had gotten a cup of hot chocolate. Something Obi-Wan allowed him to drink only rarely.
Anakin couldn’t forget his nightmare, but he could relax and think of other things.

It was time for Anakin’s first class that day. It was late morning and the painkiller started to wear out.
He waited with the other Padawans, who were all older than him, for their teacher to arrive.
The teacher, a male human, arrived and let them in the room. As they took their seats.
Anakin sat in the last row next to a female Mirialan named Vylo Torfree.
“Padawan Torfree, I want you to share your notes after the class with Padawan Skywalker. Due to an injury, he is unable to write,” their teacher requested.
“Yes, Master,” Vylo answered, but didn’t seem very happy about it.

The lesson began and Anakin tried to listen. It wasn’t easy. He still wasn’t used to sit quiet and listen. Normally, he would doodle in at his datapad while listening. He just needed something to do for his hands. But that wasn’t easy now, and the increasing pain didn’t help either.
Despite the pain, Anakin stayed in the lesson. He didn’t like his classes, but he didn’t want to fall further behind his peers.

After the classes, Vylo copied her notes to Anakin’s datapad. He thanked her and packed his things together.
He was on his way out of the class, as someone grabbed his right arm, right over the bandage.
Before he could react, he was yanked against a wall, his arm pressed against the wall.
It was Vylo, who stood before him, holding his arm and staring at him.
“You are some spoiled kid. Getting in our class, because your Master could negotiate for you to skip basic mechanics, and come to us in advanced mechanic. You are at least two years younger than we. And now you don’t even have to take notes, because of some injury. Let me guess, you got only a little burn while lightsaber training,” she hissed. What she didn’t see in his rage was Anakin’s sleeve hanging down, making it obviously that he was missing a part of his arm.
The other children gasped, as they saw it.
Slowly, after she didn’t get any answer from Anakin, she looked at his arm and her eyes widened, as she realized, that it was far more than a little burn.
She wanted to step back and apology, as a fist hit her in the face. She stumbled back and got a kick in her gut, sending her in a table.
Anakin stood before her, getting ready to beat her further.
He was about to punch her face again, as their teacher entered the room again, after a Padawan had fetched him.

“Skywalker, stop that at once!” he cried, but Anakin punched his classmate nonetheless, and the teacher had to grab him and get him away from Vylo.

Obi-Wan hurried to his apprentice’s classroom. He just came back from watching some initiates because their caretaker was ill, as he got a message telling him, that his Padawan got into a fight with a classmate.

In the classroom, Obi-Wan saw the Jedi Master, who taught this class, Anakin’s classmate Vylo Torfree, her Master and Anakin.
Anakin looked shortly at him and then back down. Obi-Wan sighed. It seemed his Padawan hadn’t learned to control himself, despite doing so good in the war.
“Take a seat, Knight Kenobi,” Anakin’s Teacher said. Obi-Wan nodded and said next to his Padawan.
“Padawan Torfree, could you tell us, what happened?” the Teacher said and before Anakin could complain, he added, “Skywalker, you can tell us your point of view after Torfree.”
“I was angry, that I had to give Padawan Skywalker a copy of my notes. I thought he was just spoiled and didn’t have a server injury. I grabbed his arm and pressed him against the wall, telling him my opinion. In my rage, I didn’t realize that I hurt him. I acted out of anger. That wasn’t right. As I realized what I did, I wanted to step back and apologize, but he attacked me. Punched me and kicked me in the table. Still, I want to apologize. It wouldn’t have happened if I had released my anger in the force,” she told her part of the story.

“Thank you for telling us. It is brave to admit mistakes. And it is good to regret it. But we can’t let something like this unpunished,” the teacher said, and then looked at Anakin. “What is your point of view?”
Anakin looked up. He hesitated before answering, “It was, like Padawan Torfree said. I felt her anger, so I thanked her for the copy and wanted to go, so that I couldn’t anger her more, but before I couldn’t leave, she pressed me against the wall. I defended myself.”
“How is your injury?” Torfree’s Master asked.
Anakin rolled up his sleeve. Bloodstains were on the bandage. It seemed that the wound had opened.
Before anyone could react, the Mirialan Padawan stood up and bowed deep to Anakin.
“I apologize profusely for my wrongdoing and hurting you,” she said.
Anakin blinked, he hadn’t expected an apology.
“Uhm… It’s okay, I guess,” he replied tentative.
“Why didn’t you said something. It probably hurt,” Obi-Wan said a bit unsettled.
“It hurts all the time and I won’t bleed out,” Anakin just said.
“Padawan, your Master is right. You should have said something. Your well-being is the most important,” their teacher said.
“Yours too, Padawan Torfree, I hope you didn’t hide something that hurts you,” he added, but Vylo only shook her head.
“Good, then do you think we could finish this before you go to the halls of healing, or should we postpone this discussion?” the teacher asked.
“I am alright,” Anakin said baffled. He couldn’t quite process that they were concerned about his well-being. Didn’t they think he did something wrong? Maybe they were afraid that he would be further damaged. That would make sense.
Anakin didn’t realize, falling back in his slave thinking, once again.

“I trust you there. But after that I want you to go to the halls of healing,” the teacher replied and Anakin and Obi-Wan nodded.
“Ok,” he continued, “You said you defended yourself, what is quite understandable. It is still violence against a classmate, but since you were in pain, and she acted first, I can understand this. But why didn’t you stop after that? You had fought her off, but then continued to attack.”
Anakin looked at his teacher, not understanding.
“But that was part of the self-defense,” he said, confused.
Now it was part of the others to be confused. Obi-Wan frowned.
“How can that be self-defense? She was fought off and showed no sign of touching you again,” the Jedi Master said.
“But how could I know that?” Anakin asked.
“Well, here at the Jedi temple, it isn’t common for Padawans to fight. And if they do, they stop after they realize they made a mistake and Padawan Torfree clearly realized her mistake,” the Master explained. Anakin nodded, but still didn’t understand it.
He was used that once someone harassed you, he will continue, if you don’t show him, that you won’t take it. If you made clear that you would defend yourself and that you are not weak, they normally leave you be. Nobody wants to get in a fight they could lose. The most people only harassed others, when they were sure they would get unharmed away. But when they realize that they could get hurt, they stop and wouldn’t attack you again.
He forgot that what he thought wasn’t the case in the republic.
But the others didn’t realize either that he could think in different ways. They only saw a Padawan which defended himself but couldn’t control himself and attacked.

“You don’t deny attacking your classmate?” their teacher asked.
Anakin thought about it, then shook his head. “I did attack her,” he said and thought ‘But only to defend myself and make sure she doesn’t attack me again,’.
“Has someone to add something?” he asked. Nobody spoke up.
“Then, to sum this up. Padawan Torfree attacked Padawan Skywalker first, and did this out of anger. Padawan Skywalker defended himself but began to attack Padawan Torfree after fighting her off,” the teacher said and everybody nodded.
“Since you both did something wrong, you both need to be punished. But Padawan Torfree showed remorse. Something Padawan Skywalker lacks,” he continued and looked at Anakin, but Anakin remained silent, so he proceeded, “Padawan Torfree, you shall do crèche duty for three days. I want you to explain the children what you did and why it was wrong. They shall learn from your mistakes. Padawan Skywalker, since you are not to strain yourself, you will help Master Nu in the archives for two weeks. You will do, what she tells you to do and of course she will make sure that you don’t strain your body. And I want you to apologize to your classmate. Knight Kenobi, I suggest getting your Padawan a book about how to solve conflicts peaceful, to read.”
“Yes, Master,” everyone said in chorus.
Then Anakin stood up and apologized to his classmate, who accepted.

Obi-Wan apologized to the other Jedi for the trouble Anakin made and excused himself and his charge to get Anakin to the healers.
“I hope you will think about your behavior and come to a conclusion to avoid it the next time. And after we were in the healing halls you will meditate about it,” he said.
“Yes, master,” Anakin answered and suppressed a sigh. He felt totally misunderstood. Everything felt wrong. First they were concerned for his well-being, then they told him everything what he did was wrong, but didn’t explain why. He was glad that his classmate probably wouldn’t attack him again and seemed remorseful, but people often apologized without meaning it. People are always talking and most times lying. Anakin only knew that one couldn’t trust the word of another. That was the reason he didn’t expected the clones to trust him, and why he tried to do everything to show them that he was sincere with them. 

Chapter Text

Anakin accepted his punishment without complaining. After lessons, he went to the archives. He had to register new data and check over older datasticks. He had to sit much but when Madam Nu registered that he became restless, she ordered him to walk through the shelves looking if every datastick and book were where they belonged.
Anakin couldn’t make sense of Madam Nu. She had a stern face, making it clear, that he was there as a punishment but when she ordered something, she did it gentle. She never barked at him. Didn’t comment when he was reading slow or fidgeting with something. She told him to take breaks, when needed and come to her, when he was in pain or had questions.
Anakin wasn’t sure if she was sincere and decided not to bother her. He knew that some masters used that to punish slaves further.

Since his disturbing dream, which tended to come back nearly every night, and his fight with his classmate, he wasn’t sure anymore, if he really was free. If he was free, he wouldn’t get punished for no reason. He could understand, if he would be punished for hurting his classmate, while defending himself, but he was punished for the act of defending himself. And as he knew, defending oneself was a right of a free person.
What Anakin didn’t know was, that his understanding of self-defense was different, than the understanding the Jedi had. Neither he nor the Jedi realized the misunderstanding.

Despite not speaking up, when he was restless or in pain, Madam Nu somehow knew it. And instead of ignoring it or chastising him, she gave him work, where he walked around, when he was restless or let him leave earlier, when he was in pain. 

But even when he left earlier, his punishment wasn’t over. Obi-Wan had added to read two books about peaceful problem-solving, and he had to meditate every day one hour more than usual.
Even being freed from homework, due to his injury, he had not enough free time to visit the clones again. He had only enough time to read in the books, Master Che wanted him before sleeping.

Obi-Wan noticed the change in his Padawan. Anakin was much quieter and smiled less. He asked himself if the punishment was too harsh, but attacking a classmate without realizing doing something wrong, was no small deal. Especially for a Jedi. So to lessen the punishment was no option, but Obi-Wan decided to reward him for not complaining about everything. 

Anakin came back late, this day. He had lesson till afternoon and then duty in the archives.
It was early in the evening as he entered the quarters. Obi-Wan was sitting at the dining table. A cup set before him and another at the empty place across from him. Both were still steaming, probably with tea.
“Come and sit down. I made hot chocolate for you. Thought you might like some after such a long day,” Obi-Wan said with a little smile.
Anakin’s eyes got a little bigger. He hurried to the chair, sat down and drunk the hot chocolate. He smiled a bit.

“I thought about something. Padawan learner get pocket money when their Master thinks that they are ready to learn to handle money. The most get pocket money when they get thirteen or older. But I thought since you already know how to handle money, at least at the Outer Rim, you are ready to learn how to handle money in the Inner Rim,” Obi-Wan begun to explain.
Anakin’s eyes lit up. With money, one could get relative far. Maybe he could save enough to free his mother.

Obi-Wan placed some credits in front of him and even a credit chip.
“I made you a bank account, like every Jedi has. You will not have full access right away, and I can control your account but when you prove yourself, you get more rights for it and when you become a Knight, I will have no access anymore. First you get five credits a month, but it can increase, when I see that you handle your money responsibly. You can make with it, what you want, as long as it is legal, of course,” he ended his explanation.
Anakin took the credit chip and the money. “Thank you, Master. I will not make you regret it,” he said and bowed his head, smiling.

“I don’t doubt that. And since you have much experience how much things should cost on Tatooine, but no such experience for Coruscant, I thought we could get those experience together tomorrow. We could buy some ingredients to cook. Some things the temple may not provide, or maybe some sweets. I could show you, where to get some droid parts for you to tinker with. How does that sound?” Obi-Wan asked.
“That sounds great, Master. Thank you,” Anakin answered now smiling pretty bride.
Obi-Wan smiled too. “Then tomorrow after your archive duty,” he said before drinking his tea. Anakin just beamed at him.

The next day, Anakin was in a good mood. He couldn’t wait for his lessons and his duty in the archives to end. And maybe, just maybe, he was freer than he thought.
Madame Nu noticed that his temporary substitute was pretty jittery that day and after letting him work for two hours, she let him leave early. She watched how Anakin raced out of the archives, not bothering to tell him not to run.

“I’m back, Master!” Anakin called, while entering their quarters. “Madam Nu was so nice, to let me go earlier,” he added while putting his backpack next to the door to his bedroom.
There was no answer.
Anakin frowned and looked through the kitchen, the living room and the fresher, but Obi-Wan was not there.
He asked himself if Obi-Wan had forgotten it, but then he remembered being back earlier. Maybe Obi-Wan hadn’t planned that he could come back earlier and had still things to do. Anakin nodded to himself. His Master would come later.
He decided to wait patiently, got himself something to drink, his datapad and sat on the couch in the living room. Anakin could use the time to read into a book about force healing, Vokara Che had recommended.

It was getting later and later, but Obi-Wan didn’t come. Disappointment but also concern came up in him. Anakin decided to look in Obi-Wan’s bedroom. He was only allowed to go in there, when his Master said it, but maybe something happened.
Anakin knocked, but he didn’t receive an answer. Not that he expected something else.
So he took a deep breath and entered. Obi-Wan wasn’t there, but what surprised him was the mess in his bedroom. Every time Anakin was in this room, it was cleaned up. But now there were robes on the floor, the bed wasn’t made, and even the desk was in disorder.
“Did something hap…” Anakin murmured but stopped as he saw something, or more accurate didn’t see. The backpack Obi-Wan always used when he went on missions was gone. 

Anakin sighed. His Master was on a mission. He was glad, that nothing happened to his master, and he knew, that Obi-Wan wasn’t at fault for getting a mission, but Anakin was disappointed nonetheless. Obi-Wan could have left a note, at least. But there wasn’t any.
It was also strange that he wasn’t put in the crèche, like the other times, when Obi-Wan had to go on a mission. Not that Anakin thought of needing a caretaker. He could take care of himself pretty well.
Still, it felt like Obi-Wan didn’t care about Anakin.
“Since when does a master care about their slave?” , a voice, which sounded very much like Watto’s, said in his head.
Anakin shook his head. There was no use in thinking like this. Obi-Wan was gone and he still here. He still had classes, his archive duty, he still wanted to learn force healing and added to this he now had to take care of himself and do all the chores. There was no time to question why Obi-Wan had left without telling him.
And he wanted to make sure, that Obi-Wan would have nothing to complain about. Maybe he would be proud of him and wouldn’t leave like this again.

Anakin’s daily routine didn’t change much, but it definitely had gotten more stressful.
He had to make himself breakfast, which he would even do, when Obi-Wan was there, if he didn’t have only one hand. But after some trying, he was able to make himself breakfast every day. Classes and archive duty didn’t change. He still hadn’t any homework and no physical strenuous lessons. But after archive duty, he had to do all the chores.
In the past, Obi-Wan and Anakin split the chores among themselves, and after Anakin’s injury, Obi-Wan did everything on his own. Now Anakin had to do it on his own.
With only one hand, it took a long time. It took until late in the evening, before making a light meal and go to bed. 

Anakin didn’t get much rest in this time. He woke up early, had no time for a break during the day, and went to bed late. The young Jedi didn’t want to leave any chores out, and he still tried to learn as much as possible about force healing.
Somehow, he managed to get through the week. 

Halfway through the next week, he got a message about his surgery date. In three days he would get his prosthetic.
He informed his teachers and Madam Nu about it. Madam Nu even ended his archive duty three days earlier than planned, so that he had the day before the surgery free. 

The surgery went without any problems. Still, Anakin had to stay in the healing halls for three days. They wanted to make sure that nothing happened in the aftermath. And for once Anakin was glad about it. The phantom pain began to lessen, but the new connection between the prosthetic and his nervous system hurt extremely. The healer said that it was normal and would stop completely after a little while. Until then, he got strong painkillers.
During his stay in the healing halls, Anakin learned much about his prosthetics. They taught him how to fix little issues, which could occur but didn’t need an expert to solve. And they trained his motor skills with his new arm. It was frustrating that he had to learn how to grab again.
Still, he was determined to be able to use his prosthetic like a real hand, as fast as possible. Despite that the most things are easier, with two hands and him being able to catch up to his peers in theoretical and practical courses, he also wanted to make sure that the Jedi would keep him. 

More frequently doubts came in his mind, whether he was truly free, or just the Jedi’s slave. Sure, they treated him better than even Watto did, but they didn’t free him either. They won him. They decided for him to be a Jedi. Qui-Gon said that he is free, but since he was part of the Jedi Order, only what the council said was important.
Yes he wanted to be a Jedi, he wanted to be strong enough to free slaves, but how can he do that, if he isn’t free himself. They never had let him decide. He never had a choice.
Obi-Wan gives him sometimes a choice about which tea he would like to drink or what to eat, but maybe these are just an illusion of free will. When he wants more dessert, Obi-Wan often says that he can’t have more. In the end, Obi-Wan decides no matter what Anakin’s choice is or what he wants. And he always takes the right to oppose Anakin's decision.
In the end, the most significant indicator of him being still a slave, is his slave chip. He knew it still was there.

Chapter Text

The days after Anakin was released from the healing halls, he was still freed from his lessons.
They told him to use the time to recover and getting further used to his prosthetic. He was glad, because that gave him more time for the housekeeping.

He pondered if he should tidy up his Master’s room. Anakin knew Obi-Wan didn’t like him to rummage through his stuff, but he wouldn’t do that and Obi-Wan would probably appreciate coming back to a tidy and clean room, with no layer of dust on his bed.
And maybe, he will find the detonator to his chip. It had to be somewhere. Either Obi-Wan or the council should have it. But since Qui-Gon was a coreworlder it could be, that Watto never gave the detonator to him, with Qui-Gon being none the wiser.

Anakin shook his head. There was no use for these theories. He would probably find nothing, since nobody would have a detonator just lying around, and Anakin couldn’t risk to leave evidence of a search.

In the end, he decided to clean his Master’s room and do nothing more. While doing this, Anakin felt more depressed than he ever had.
He could feel his Master’s force signature lingering in this room, reminding him of the strict but often nice man. But he couldn’t trust him anymore, he shouldn’t have trusted him in the first place.
Kind masters are the most dangerous. They use not only your body, but also your mind. These masters get your trust and use it to ask more of you, than you would ever give to another master. They betray you in every way possible, leaving you behind like a drained corpse. No beating or punishment could hurt more than that.

As he was finished, he slumped down at the freshly made bed.
There was instantly the thought that he had to make the bed new, when he stood up again. But the even scarier thought was the lesson of an elderly slave back from Tatooine.
In the slaves quarters, they hadn’t any beds. One reason was that beds were a luxury. They were nice to sleep on, but not necessary. The other reason was that beds were some kind of trigger for some slaves. In the brothels, they had beds, but not to get a good night's sleep. And when a master or costumer took a slave to their bed, the slave knew it would be horrible and painful.
The first months, Anakin had problems to sleep on the bed he was given, but Obi-Wan insisted after he found him multiple times sleeping on the ground. With time, he got used to it and since nothing happened, besides his normal nightmares, he was able to sleep rather relaxed and peacefully in his bed.

Now he sat on his Master’s bed and finally realized that he had slipped into old habits and old thinking. He sighed and kept back his tears. He couldn’t risk it anymore. Anakin couldn’t pretend to be free, when he wasn’t really free. He wouldn’t let his guard down anymore. Wouldn’t trust the Jedi and Republic.
Anakin would be a good slave. He would please his masters. But he would stay true to his name: Skywalker. For slavers, it was a slave name. For slaves, it was a hero’s name. He would trick his masters to be an obedient slave, and then he would break his chains and the ones of the clones.
Once he swore to free his people on Tatooine. He decided to free all of his people, and the clones definitely belonged to them.
But foremost, he needed their trust, so they would listen to his teachings.
He didn’t know how they would react when they find out that he is a slave. They could begin to trust him because they would see him as one of them. But they also could be even more suspicious of him because he was their superior and had a better living than them despite being a slave too.
Anakin knew that he had to be careful and despite wanting to take action, he also knew that he had to be patient. He could do that. For himself and for his people.

He brushed over his master’s blanket. This was the end of his “free” live. The next time it would be real. Then he took a deep breath and stood up.

First, he should use the time his master was away with no one watching over him.
Back on Tatooine he had tried to build a scanner to find his slave chip, but it didn’t work. Maybe he would find the right parts here. Anakin knew where the Jedi stored their scrap from destroyed droids or old ship parts, until it was brought to a scrapyard.
He didn’t know on which days it was brought away, but taking a look wouldn’t hurt.

He wanted to run to the storeroom, but even if he there was no supervisor for him, it didn’t mean that the Jedi hadn’t an eye on him. Luckily, the storeroom was next to the hangar, and it wasn’t unusual for him to visit the hangar. And most important, he was allowed to go there without a master because he was in the advanced mechanic course. 

As he entered the room, he smiled relived at the piles of scrap. The room was nearly completely full, what could only mean that the scrap would be picked up in the next days. He had to hurry and find what he needed. 

Anakin had only begun to search through the first pile, as an upset mouse droid come out from behind the pile. Straight towards him.
“What is it. Is there something?” Anakin asked immediately and crouched down. The mouse droid raced around him once and beeped.
“You want me to follow you? Then lead the way,” he said, and hurried after the little droid.

The mouse droid fit easily through the small gabs between the piles. Anakin often had to climb a bit to follow the droid. But soon the droid stopped before a huge pile at the back of the store room. The mouse droids side flaps opened, and it used its mechanical arms to point up the pile.
Anakin looked up and searched for something out of the ordinary, and then he saw something moving and heard a weak beeping.
He frowned, it sounded like a droid, but that couldn’t be. Only dead droids, meaning droids which are irreparable damaged or that old, that their central unit gave up, literally meaning that they died, would be brought to the scrapyards.
The Jedi were proud to be thrifty, but Anakin didn’t see the thriftiness in it. Wasn’t it normal to use something until it couldn’t be used or repaired again. But then you don’t just throw it away. You could always use the droid parts to repair other droids or build a new one. In the end, the Jedi were just weird.

Putting the thoughts about thriftiness away, he climbed the pile to get to the droid. He couldn’t see what kind of droid it was, because it was half buried by literal scrap, but it definitely moved, so he grabbed it and pulled.
He got the droid free with a jerk, leading him to lose his balance and roll down the pile.
“Ow…” Anakin exclaimed, as he landed with the droid falling on him. He remained lying, only breathing and calming down from the shock of falling. It didn’t felt like he hurt himself bad. Probably only some bruises. And his prosthetic felt alright, too, when he ignored the sore throbbing between his flesh and the prosthetic’s metal. 

The mouse droid poked him and beeped, asking if he is still functioning. Anakin chuckles about the phrasing. “Yes, I still work,” he said, rolling the defected droid gently to the side and got up.
Now he recognized the droid as a JN-66, one of the archive's analysis droids. The JN-66’s had repulsors, instead of legs, giving them the possibility to get to the top shelves of the archive without problems.
It was in a bad shape, looking like it was used as a punching bag. His left arm was even missing, looking like it was sliced off by a lightsaber.
The droid made some miserable beeping, but it didn’t even make sense in binary. Its processor seemed to be damaged.
“Poor guy,” Anakin murmured. “You want me to help your friend?” Anakin asked the mouse droid, which chirped in affirmative.
“I can do that, but I don’t have my tools with me and I probably need some spare parts. Bringing him to my quarters would be difficult. It would be suspect dragging a broken droid through the corridors. Maybe you and some of your friends would be able to drag him through your droid tunnels to get him to my quarters. I will search for some spare parts and come back as fast as possible.
The mouse droid beeped happily, assuring that they and their friends would do everything they could do to help.
“Great, then I leave it to you,” Anakin responded and began to search.
His body ached a bit after his fall, but he had been worse, and he had to help a friend, so he ignored his pain and kept going.
Anakin didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary. Anyone could come in at anytime. He decided that he should search first for the parts he needed for the droid and come back later for the parts he needed.

Anakin arrived before the droids and began to prepare a workspace in the living room. He had a little workbench for his projects in advanced mechanics, but it was too small for the droid.

Shortly after, the droids arrived, bumping against the door, since the bell was not in their reach. Anakin hurried to the door and helped the four mouse droids inside.

Together they brought the damaged droid to the dining table. Then he got the parts, he even found the droid’s arm and a replacement for the destroyed shoulder part, and tools he required and put them next to the droid.
“Who of you wants to help me?” he asked the mouse droids. The smallest of them waved with his claw beeping eager, meaning that he would be the best out of the four.
Anakin smiled. He liked the droids. They were easy to understand, always honest and blunt. They didn’t say something while meaning something completely different, and when you are nice to them, then they are nice to you. Droids were loyal to their friends, at least from a certain level of intelligence. But what most people didn’t realize, is that most droids, even the simplest, end up at this level of intelligence. The only requirement was the ability to learn, which most droids possess since sentient beings are too lazy to reprogram their droids, when they need to learn something new.

Anakin grabbed the droid and placed them on the table.
“I need you to hand me tools, hold things in place or even use some tools, when I don’t have a free hand. You can do that?” Anakin asked, and the mouse droid beeped, happy to help.

They started together and everything went smoothly until they got to the precision works. There he realized that he could do a lot of things with his mechanical hand, but most fine motor skills work was still difficult. He even came to the conclusion that the prosthetic wasn’t good attuned with his brain as he needed.

“That won’t work”, he concluded, and laid his tool down. The droid on the table beeped questioning.
“Don’t worry, we will save your friend, but I can’t get it done with this hand. But maybe I can readjust it”, he explained and went to his bedroom to collect the toolkit, he was given for basic repairs at his prosthetic.

He then settled down next to the droids and took a deep breath. This would be his first time tinkering with his arm.
Foremost, he disconnected his nervous system from the prosthetics.
He wasn’t prepared for the pain that shoot up his arm. Anakin gasped and doubled over.
A mouse droid nudged him concerned, but Anakin waved it off and began to readjust his prosthetic. It took some time, since he was very careful.
Reconnecting the nerves was painful too, but this time he was prepared. The young Jedi got up and tested on the droid, if it was better now.
Still not satisfied, he settled back down and disconnected his arm again.

It took Anakin several attempts until he was satisfied. Then he got back to the droid and finished its repair.
He was exhausted when he finally could turn the droid back on.
The droid booted up and looked around. The mouse droids beeped delighted, and Anakin stumbled to the couch and let himself fall on it.
His arm pained him terrible. Anakin closed his eyes, trying to breathe through the pain.

“Hello, young Padawan. I am JN-66-37. My colleagues told me, that you repaired me. I am very thankful for this. May I know your name?”, Anakin heard a robotic voice next to him.
“Your welcome, ‘37. I am Anakin Skywalker”, Anakin murmured, knowing that the repaired analysis droid was hovering next to him.
“You seem in distress. Can I help you with anything?” the droid asked.
“Could you get me my painkiller and a glass of water?” Anakin asked and looked up.
“Of course, where can I find everything?” ‘37 inquired and began gathering everything, after Anakin explained to them where to find it. 

Anakin sighed in relief, when the painkiller kicked in.
“Tell, ‘37, do you worked in the archives?” the young Jedi asked.
“I did. And I wonder if Madame Nu knows what happened to me”, the droid answered.
“What do you say about staying here overnight, and we go to Madame Nu tomorrow?” Anakin questioned.
“You won’t only repair me but also accompany me to the archives?” the droid asked and Anakin nodded. “I wanna make sure you’ll have a safe place to stay and maybe work again and that you won’t be cast away again”, he answered and smiled.
“Thank you very much, Padawan Skywalker”

Anakin and JN-66-37 decided it was less suspicious if they went separated to the archives and meet there.

Entering the archives, Anakin saw 37’ and searched Madame Nu with them.
It didn’t take long until Anakin saw her.
“Madame Nu?”, he addressed her.
“Padawan Skywalker”, she greeted while turning to him. Then she saw the droid hovering next to Anakin.
“JN-66-37 what happened to you and where were you?” she asked astound seeing the missing droid.
“Padawan Skywalker found me at a scrap pile and repaired me. I am fully functional again, thanks to him”, the JN-66 unit answered.
“At a scrape pile? What happened?”
“I can’t recall all of it, since part of my memory got damaged and because I have sensitive data in my memory, I couldn’t let Padawan Skywalker working on it. But from what I recall, there was another Padawan angry at me. He let his anger out on me and probably tried to get rid of the evidence by bringing me to the scrap room”, ‘37 answered.
“Well, I am glad that you are back. We will let a mechanic look over you and your memory, and then you can be back to work”, the chief librarian said. Then she turned to Anakin, “I am very thankful for repairing and bringing him back, but what were you doing in the scrap room?”
“I am in advanced mechanics, but one of my projects went wrong. It was beyond repair and I couldn’t use it for something else, so I brought it to the scrap room. There I saw ‘37. He was slightly moving, so I wanted to take a look. I realized that he wasn’t beyond repair and decided to repair him and bring him here. It was strange for a repairable droid to be at a scrap pile and even stranger that one of his arm looked as if it was sliced with a lightsaber”, Anakin answered. It was only half the truth, but he lied without problem.
“That was a good observation. But maybe you should tell a Master before doing all alone. It could be dangerous. Such a droid is heavy, and it could have a malfunction, attacking people”, Madame Nu said, but as she saw the young Padawan preparing himself for a lecture she added, “But there won’t be any consequences for you. I only hope that you remember my words for the next time and know that I am thankful for your help.”
Anakin bowed slightly. “You're welcome and I will heed your words when I encounter a similar situation”, he replied.
Madam Nu smiled and let Anakin go, while she went with JN-66-37 to a mechanic.

Chapter Text

After leaving the archives, he was greeted by the mouse droids, who helped him with JN-66-37.
“'37 is alright. Madame Nu accepted him back. She was quite happy, so don't worry,“ he told the droids, who beeped happily.

“Well then. If you need help with something, you can always come to me,“ Anakin then offered and said his goodbyes.
As he went to go to the scrap-room, the mouse droids followed him.
“Guys, you can't just follow me. We all can get in trouble, when you don't work. They may even dispose of you,“ the young Padawan chided them. They made some sad noises, but hurried off, not wanting to get their new friend in trouble. Only one mouse droid stayed at Anakin's side, answering that they didn't have any task to do right now.
“But you still can't just follow me,“ Anakin tried to argue. He didn't want to get that little droid and himself in trouble, if some Master misinterpreted seeing them both together.
/No rule against it. Droids without task, not allowed to hinder other droids or living beings. Not allowed to leave the temple. No rules about following friend Anakin/ , the droid answered in binary and whistled happily, as he circled the young Padawan.
Anakin sighed in defeat. “Just don't break any rules.”

They arrived at the hangar and Anakin went straight to the scrap-room. Hopefully it wasn't already cleared. He didn't want to wait any longer before building the scanner. He didn't want to risk his Master noticing, when he came back.

“Padawan Skywalker?”
Anakin cringed slightly and turned, seeing Master Plo Koon come at him.
“Master Koon,“ Anakin greeted, bowing.

“Koh-to-yah, young Skywalker. I was wondering what you were doing. Heading to the scrap-room with a mouse droid,“ the Kel Dor replied.
“I… I wasn't abducting the droid, I swear,“ Anakin immediately going into the defensive, “They were just following me, because I helped them once.”
“Peace, young Skywalker. I didn't want to imply anything. I was merely curious,“ Plo Koon tried to settle Anakin.
“Oh… I am sorry. I was hoping to find something I accidentally threw away with a project gone wrong. I was hoping it is still in the scrap-room. And this mouse droid offered to help me,“ Anakin told the Jedi Master.

Something in the force made him trust this Kel Dor. At least so much to tell him some truth of what he was doing.
“I see. Then I hope you find it soon. Tomorrow the room will be cleared,“ Master Koon answered, “I can help you, if you want.”
“Oh, no. That is not necessary. My little friend will help me. I don't want to… to impose,“ Anakin answered immediately.

“You wouldn't Padawan. But when you don't want my help, I will accept your decision. Know, that you can always ask for help, young Padawan,“ Plo Koon accepted.
“I will. Thank you, Master Koon,“ Anakin replied, bowing in goodbye.

“Be careful.”

~S*W~

In the scrap-room, Anakin looked to the mouse-droid. “Now, little one, I want to build a scanner. A handheld device, nothing big. Would you mind helping me find fitting parts?“ he asked.
The droid didn't mind, being happy to help, and instantly begun to search.

“By the way, how are you called?”, Anakin asked while searching.
/MSE-6-GD1/ the droid answered.
“MSE-6-GD1… How about Giddy for short?“ he asked, and Giddy whistled happily. Then they continued silently.

It took time before Anakin decided that they had found enough and was sure that he didn‘t have to come back for new parts.
“Thank you for your help, Giddy,” he said while storing all parts in the many pockets of his Jedi robes.

Together, they left and began their way to Anakin’s quarters, as Giddy stopped. “Is something?” Anakin asked.
/New Task/ Giddy answered.
“Then off you go. Be careful, Giddy, and you and your friends are always welcome,“ Anakin replied.
Giddy, whistled happy, circled Anakin one last time and hurried away.

Back in the quarters, Anakin went to his workbench and begun to build a scanner.
He worked non-stop. Not eating, drinking, or sleeping. He didn't even realize how the time went by. Only as he finally finished the scanner and his eyes fell on the date at his data pad, he realized that he worked nearly fifty hours.
He blinked, as tiredness washed upon him. He closed his eyes and prepared himself to stand up.

After getting up, he needed to support himself at the wall, as dizziness came upon him.
Slowly he made his way to the kitchen, getting something easily to digest and put on water for a stomach calming tea. He knew how hard it was for the stomach to digest something after eating nothing for a long time. In the past, he was used to longer periods without food, but now his body was used to eat up to three meals a day.

He began to eat slowly and only small bites. Halfway through his meal, something slammed against the quarter door.
Anakin went to the door, opened it and saw nothing. He frowned as something bumped against his feet.
Looking down, he saw a mouse droid.
“Giddy,” he exclaimed, smiling.
The small droid beeped his greetings.
/Questioned if friend Anakin having a bug or defect. Friend Anakin hasn't reacted to attempted communication in the last fifty-one hours, forty-six minutes and seventeen seconds/

“Oh, I am sorry, Giddy. I was building the scanner and didn't realize how the time went by. I am low on energy but fine in every other way,” Anakin explained.
“What would you say, if I give you allowance to enter this quarters on your own?” Anakin asked. Giddy whistled happily.

Most droids in the temple could send a signal to open closed doors, since not every door had terminal access for droids. Every door needed a unique signal, like a key, to open.
Jedi could give specific droids access to their quarters. It was often used, if one was on a long mission and wanted a droid to clean their quarters, so they could come back to a dust free quarter.
Anakin went to the quarter’s terminal. There he could control things like the temperature in their quarters or give droids access.
He looked up Giddy’s register number and activated the entrée signal.
Shortly after, Giddy whistled a tune and at the terminal plopped up a message, to inform that the access was granted.
“Now you can always look for me, when you're worried,” Anakin said to his little friend, who circled him making happy sounds.

/Friend Anakin should fuel up and go recharge now/ Giddy suggested.
”You are right. I’ll finish my meal and go to bed,” Anakin replied.

Again, his nightmare about slavery in the republic hunted Anakin and woke him up. Surprisingly it was morning, past sunrise, and he still felt tired. He rose from bed nonetheless and checked his data pad. There was a noticed that he had an appointment at the halls of healing for a check-up. Anakin checked the time and noticed that he had enough time until the appointment.
While changing, his eyes fell on his workbench and the scanner. He stopped, realizing that he hadn’t tested the scanner yet.
Anakin hurried to the workbench and took the scanner. He activated it with trembling hands.
He scanned his body. First his limbs. Nothing. He knew that this wasn’t good. Removing a chip from one limb was the least dangerous.
He still had the little hope, that his chip was gone with his right hand.
Then he went over his abdomen and worked his way up. He came to his chest when the scanner made a sound.
Anakin gulped. There was no way, that he could remove the chip from his chest area. He took a deep breath, then he increased the sensitivity of the scanner. Even when he knew that he couldn’t remove the chip, he still wanted to know the exact position. Therefore, he continued his scan, until he could pinpoint the positions right under his left collarbone.

Anakin had to sit down. It was hard to control and hide his inner turmoil. Nobody should feel it. He couldn’t risk the Jedi to suspect something.
Finally, he knew where his slave chip was. He was looking for it for so long. But he still felt devastated. He was glad that the chip wasn’t over his heart, but it was still near it and over the upper part of his left lung. It probably was even nearer to heart, when he was younger.
He had heard that Gardulla the Hutt was one of the slavers who killed their slaves instantly when they didn’t obey. She did it, even just for fun.
Most slavers just wanted to blow up a limb, making sure they didn’t flee but could still be used.
Even knowing this, Anakin had hoped, especially since he had survived the implantation when he was no more than one-month-old.
Now he knew, but it couldn’t stop there.
“When I can’t remove it, I have to jam it. I still can make sure that the detonator’s signal can’t trigger the chip,” he decided and stood up. 

Anakin immediately went to work. There were enough parts to build a signal jammer. Building it was easy. The hard work was adjusting it. He couldn’t risk it to interfere with other things like his comm. The safest thing would be to tune it to the specific signal, which could trigger the chip. But to find out what this signal was, he needed an even better scanner. For that scanner, he would need parts, he could not find in some scrap pile.
Anakin sighed. For now, he only could narrow down the range of the scanner. As small as possible, but as big as necessary.
He attached a leather band and hung it around his neck.
The young Padawan took a deep breath. He was safe for the time being.

The appointment in the halls of healing was short. They asked him how the pain and his movement was, then they examined the connection between prosthetics and flesh. After a short wait, he was told, that he could go back to his courses and even do light physical training. He wasn’t allowed to spar with his classmates, and he had to stop when his arm felt sore. The healer seemed to feel Anakin’s eagerness to go back to training, so they made him promise that he really would stop, when he felt sore or exhausted.

The first classes, he had, went uneventful. His classmates gave him some strange looks, but left him alone. Anakin was glad about his. He wanted to keep to himself, but he felt more lonely with each passing day. Sometimes he didn’t speak for two days in a row.
In class Anakin never spoke much, but he went even more silent, only spoke when spoken to or when, he got the feeling that it would impact his grades too much. He didn’t want the teachers to complain to Obi-Wan about his participation in class. He would do enough in class to satisfy the teachers and his Master. In order to talk as little as possible, he worked hard at his homework and silent work during classes so that he could make up for the little verbal commitment.

The time came, that Anakin had his first lesson in lightsaber combat, after going to the war. He was nervous. Since he began his lessons in lightsaber combat, Anakin hadn’t such a long period not training, as with his injured arm. He knew that he wouldn’t have forgotten everything, since it was only a few weeks, but still the anxiety stayed.
Nobody could deny that Anakin Skywalker was a prodigy in swordsmanship. He went from lessons with Younglings much younger than him, to lessons with Initiates his age.
First, he had a hard time with his age mates. They looked down on him, since he was the new and odd boy, but also since he hadn’t a lightsaber yet. He had proved himself being better than most of them, but then they only thought of him as arrogant. It was better than being looked down.
Now he had a real lightsaber, but Anakin feared that he wasn’t as good as before, since the lightsaber was still new to him, and he hadn’t trained for some time.

Faster than he wanted, he stood in front of the door to the training halls.
Anakin hesitated before taking a deep breath and entering the halls. 

Chapter Text

Master Cin Drallig, the temple's Battlemaster and the classes' teacher in lightsaber combat, was already there, as well as a few classmates.
Anakin was glad, that he wasn’t the last one arriving, but the present people still looked at him.
“Padawan Skywalker, it is good to see you in class again. How is your arm?” Master Drallig greeted. Anakin bowed to him.
“I am glad that I can train again. My arm is well, but I have yet to test wielding my lightsaber with my prosthetic”, he replied as formal as possible. Anakin had decided to be as quiet as possible in classes, but considering how important his skill in lightsaber combat would be at the battlefield, he wanted to train hard and learn as much as possible. Master Cin Drallig was one of the best lightsaber combat teacher, so Anakin hoped to make a better impression on him than before, hoping to get good tips. Anakin also hoped, that the Master would like him enough, that Anakin could ask many questions without getting on the Master’s nerves and getting good answers.
The young Padawan felt, how Master Drallig studied him. Anakin was never outright rude to his teacher, but he also never spoke as formal and polite as he did before.

“Right, I heard that you found our cyber crystal and build your lightsaber. May I see it?”, Anakin’s teacher asked.
“Of course, Master,” Anakin answered, went to Cin Drallig and gave him the lightsaber.
“Interesting. It is rare to see wood and leather being used for the hilt,” Master Drallig said and handed the lightsaber back. “For your training today, keep it simple. You will repeat the basics of Form I. It is important to get a feeling for the new hilt and in your case also for your prosthetic. When you make a mistake or something feels wrong, repeat the kata until it feels right. When it doesn’t work, come to me, and we figure something out. Understood? Then you may begin. And remember, your goal is to get a feeling for your lightsaber hilt and prosthetic. It is not your goal to present a perfect Form I or do many repeats,” assigned the battlemaster Anakin’s task for the lesson.

Anakin began his task while the rest of the class arrived. They began their lesson too, first repeat the katas of Form I and then get together in groups of two and spar.
Anakin didn’t like to be left out and not doing the same task as the others, but he could understand why.
What bothered him more were the whispered comments of his classmates. He listened how they spread rumors, that his cyber crystal was not the right one, because he didn’t get it from the gathering. Or that he didn’t deserve to have his own lightsaber yet. Other rumors were about what he probably did or not did at the battlefield and how he lost his right hand. The most suspected that it was his own fault, that he was just a bad Jedi.

Anakin yearned to show them, that he was better, to curse them and hurt them. He was angry, hearing the others slander him. He wished that Master Cin Drallig would hear them, but his classmates kept silent, when he was near and when they spoke, the teacher wasn’t in hearing range.
Taking a deep breath, Anakin kept working on his katas, trying to ignore them. He couldn’t risk losing his composure. Especially in front of the teacher, he wanted to please the most.
He decided that he would take revenge, making sure, no one would suspect him. 

The thought of revenge, calmed him a bit, helping him to get through this lesson, but as he wanted to leave, Master Drallig called him over, telling him that he wanted to talk to him.
Anakin gulped, asking himself if he did something wrong, if the battlemaster had felt his hate. He made sure that the shields in his mind were up and tight. He shouldn’t project any of his feelings, but Cin Drallig was an experienced Jedi Master, so Anakin couldn’t be sure.

They waited until the classmates of Anakin had left.
“Relax, Padawan. You are not in trouble,” Cin Drallig began, sensing Anakin’s uneasiness.
“Then, what do you want to talk about, Master?”, the Padawan asked, relaxing a bit.
“Normally I ask Younglings when they become a Padawan, what fighting style they prefer, or give advice when they are not sure. I couldn’t do this for you, since when you became a Padawan, you hadn’t even begun your training. But now, you built your own lightsaber, you have gained experience in battle, and you are competent in the basics of Shii-Cho. Therefore, I thought to talk with you now, about your favored lightsaber Form,” Anakin’s teacher explained.
“Oh,” Anakin mouthed, surprised. That was not what he had expected, but maybe he could get some advice for a got fighting style for the battlefield.
“Now, I presume you already gave this topic a thought or two,” the Master assumed. Anakin nodded.
“I thought about Form III Soresu. Like my Master,” Anakin said, a bit uncertain.

“Soresu?”, Cin repeated surprised, “I didn’t expect that. To be honest, I thought you would choose Form IV or Form V as your way to fight.”
“I wanted to master Form V but at the battlefield I changed my mind. When I am out there, I want to be able to protect the men behind me. I thought that Soresu would be the best way for that,” Anakin explained.
Cin Drallig’s Stoic expression softened at that.
“Soresu requires patience. It was made to power the enemy out. You can deflect a blaster bolt, but it won’t give the same satisfaction as cutting the enemy down. It is probably the most controlled form. I got to know you as someone who approaches a problem straight forward, not holding back. And in spars, you prefer to attack.

“What I want to say, is that Soresu will be hard for you and frustrating. I do not doubt, that you can master it. You are a fast learner and are gifted with the lightsaber, but you know it probably too, Soresu is not your style,” the battlemaster told the young Padawan in front of him.
Anakin looked down. “I know that, but still. I want to protect our men. And if I have to learn Soresu to do that, then I will,” he replied.
Master Drallig smiled a bit. “I am sure of that. And Soresu is probably the best way to achieve your goal. A master of any form would be able to protect their men, but until mastery, it will be harder to protect them. I would advise you to read more about Soresu, what mindset is expected and how training would be. And if you still want to learn Form III, I will gladly support you on your way,” Anakin’s teacher suggested.
Anakin smiled and bowed deep. “Thank you, Master. I will read and let you know about my decision,” he said, thankful that his teacher would support him.
“This is my duty. Now go, take a shower and a break. You did great work today,” Cin Drallig replied.
Anakin nodded, exited and made his way to his quarter.

Anakin did, as the battlemaster had recommended, and read further into Soresu. It was definitely the last form he would like to learn, weren’t it for his goal to protect the clones on the battlefield.
Therefore, the young Padawan stayed with his decision and informed Master Drallig. The Master accepted Anakin’s decision, and after he was satisfied with Anakin’s Shii-Cho even with his prosthetics, he personally taught him the first moves of Soresu, after the lesson ended.
In the following lessons, Anakin trained these moves. He was still not allowed to spar, despite him being now used to his new lightsaber and prosthetic. It frustrated him, but the healers kept saying that the collision of two lightsabers, while training, were still too much since the area, where flesh met prosthetic, needed much time before not being sore anymore. The healer had explained to him why it required so much time, but Anakin was still getting more frustrated with every day, especially when the other Initiates would comment to it and taunt him. 

One day he snapped. It didn’t come to a quarrel, since Cin Drallig intervened, but Anakin’s anger was even for non force users noticeable. The battlemaster told Anakin to step back and wait, while he spoke to provoker.
Anakin did, letting his head hang. He waited, fearing what would happen now.
When Cin Drallig was done chiding the troublemaker, he dismissed the class and went to Anakin.

“I presume you know what you did wrong?” he asked. Anakin was glad that the Jedi Master didn’t sound admonishing, but the neutral expression and way of speaking didn’t let Anakin even guess what he was thinking.
“I shouldn’t have let my anger get the better of me,” the young Padawan answered.
“You are right. You should be glad, that I could interfere, so nothing happened.”
Anakin nodded. “What will my punishment be?” he asked, sure that he would be punished.
“I decided, that there won’t be a punishment. But should something like that happen again, I won’t continue to help you to learn Soresu. You probably know, that you should always in control, when you want to master Soresu. Should you not be able to do that, I don’t think you could be able to learn, let alone master Form III,” Cin Drallig answered.
Anakin’s eyes went wide. The thought about losing the battlemaster’s support was worse than any punishment.
He took a deep breath. “I understand. Thank you for your lenience. It won’t happen again,” he said, bowing to the Jedi Master.
“I truly hope so, for your goal is an honorable one,” Master Drallig replied and dismissed the young Padawan.

Leaving the training grounds, Anakin run into Mace Windu.
“Master Windu,” he greeted, bowing. In his mind, he searched for any reason Master Windu could have to be angry with him, but he couldn’t find any. Even if the Jedi Master already knew about his outburst, it would be in Master Drallig’s responsibility and not Master Windu’s. At least this was what Anakin hoped.
“Padawan Skywalker. I just came to inform you that the chancellor wants to meet you. In the next days you will get an appointment on your data pad. Remember that the chancellor is the head of the senate and the Jedi order is under the senate's jurisdiction. I hope you will be at your best behavior for you represents the order, when you are in front of the chancellor,” the Jedi Master told him.
Anakin blinked. That was not what he had expected.
“Do you have any questions?” Master Windu asked.
“No… No questions. I will do my best,” Anakin answered, still processing what he just heard.
“Good,” Mace Windu said and Anakin bowed, as the Master went on his way. 

Anakin looked after the Jedi Master before going to his next class. He couldn’t concentrate, still pondering about the future meeting with the chancellor. His teacher chastised for his lack of attention, but Anakin didn’t care. He had to prepare himself. The Jedi send him to the most powerful being of the republic. The chancellor stood even above the council. It would be the same if Watto would send him to Jabba the Hutt. The only problem was that Anakin knew how to behave in front of Jabba. He didn’t know what the chancellor expected of him.

Chapter Text

Some days later, Anakin got the date of his meeting at his datapad. 

On the day of the appointment, he went to the entrance of the temple. The message with the date he got, said, that he would be picked up.

He greeted the guards at the temple, which only nodded and opened the door for him. They probably were told, that the Padawan Anakin Skywalker was allowed to leave without an adult, because some clones of the Coruscant Guard would come and get him.

Anakin waited outside, while the guards had an eye on him, until three clones came, looking around and then walking to Anakin.
They saluted in front of him.
“Commander Skywalker, right?” one of them asked. “Yes, that’s me, and you are?” Anakin replied.
“We are from the Coruscant Guard and are supposed to bring you to the senate building. Please follow us,” one clone answered. Anakin nodded and followed them to a speeder.

It was silent while they flew through the traffic.
Anakin studied the three clones. All three wear the plain white armour with no markings. They looked the same, but in the force they felt different.
The driver felt reserved, focussed on his mission. The clone next to the driver felt cautious. And the scraps of thoughts, Anakin picked up, were all about weapons connected with his cautiousness.
The last of the clones, next to Anakin, felt eager but also desperate. 

“May I asked what your names are?”, Anakin took the courage to ask.
The clones hesitated then the driver answered, “My number…” but Anakin interrupted, “When I say names, I mean names and not numbers. It is weird to call someone by a number. But if you don’t want to tell me, it is okay.”
“My number is CC-4477, but my brothers call me Thire”, the driver replied.
“May I call you Thire as well?” Anakin requested. Thire paused then nodded. “If you wish, Commander.”
“You can call me Rys, like my brothers and the one next to Thire is Jek,” the clone next to Anakin then said, and he felt somewhat happy to tell Anakin his name.
“I can introduce myself, vode,” Thire grunted, but Rys only snickered.
Anakin smiled and leaned back. “Thank you for trusting me with your names. I am Anakin Skywalker. You can also call me by my name, if you like,” the little Commander thanked them. The brothers exchanged some looks, but kept silent.
They felt like a mix of confused and happy now.

Arriving at the senate building, another clone with the markings of a commander approached them.
The clones saluted, “Commander Fox,” they greeted in unison.
“I take Commander Skywalker from here. I have another mission for you,” the clone called Fox replied and handed them a datapad.
“Sir, yes sir,” the others said, “Have a good day, Commander Skywalker.”
“You too,” Anakin responded and waved, while they went on their way.

“Sir, I am Clone Commander CC-1010. I am here to bring you to the Chancellor,” Fox stated.
“May I call you Commander Fox?” Anakin asked, while the Clone Commander guided him through the corridors of the building.
“You can, but I would appreciate if you call me by my designation, Commander Skywalker,” Fox answered. Anakin felt his gaze on him, as if he was waiting for Anakin’s reaction.
The young Padawan suppressed a sigh and nodded instead, “As you wish, Commander CC-1010.”
For a moment both were silent, then the Clone Commander replied, “Thank you, Commander Skywalker.”
With that he was silent again. Anakin, too, kept quiet. It seemed that Commander Fox was preferring to have as few interactions with him, as possible. Anakin could respect that.
Commander Fox seemed to have a high rank in the Coruscant Guard, maybe even the leading officer. At least Anakin was sure he had much contact with the senators and the Chancellor. The very people who bought them, the people who were their slavers. Anakin could understand that someone like Fox would be especially careful.

First, they went to the chancellor’s secretary, who told the chancellor via intercom that his guest has arrived.
Commander Fox said goodbye, since the secretary would have an eye on Anakin until the Chancellor would welcome him.
“Thank you for your escort, Commander. Have a good day,” Anakin thanked the Commander as he saluted him. “Just doing my duty, Commander Skywalker,” the clone commander replied before leaving.

Anakin didn’t need to wait long, before the secretary told him, that he could enter the chancellor’s office.

“Young Skywalker. It is a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for finding the time. Your schedule must be pretty full, since becoming a Jedi is a great feast,” the chancellor greeted Anakin.
The young boy bowed, “It is an honour meeting the chancellor of the republic.”

“Oh, please. There is no need to bow or be that formal,” chancellor Palpatine replied while getting up from his chair, “You are the hero of my home planet. It is an honour for me having you here.”

Anakin looked up and smiled slightly. He still wasn’t quite sure what behaviour the chancellor expected of him, but it seemed that the old man tried to create a relaxed atmosphere.

“I asked for you because I was curious how you’re doing. It is uncommon becoming a hero before becoming a Jedi. It is the other way around the most time. So I was curious, and I hoped you could accompany me for an errand I have to run,” the older man explained.
It was strange for Anakin being complimented and praised so much, as special from a powerful person, someone standing above him. He conducted it was because the chancellor wanted Anakin to trust and like him.
So the young boy smiled brighter and nodded. “It will be a pleasure, chancellor,” Anakin replied. 

Anakin followed the chancellor down to Level 2685. He looked around. He had heard of the lower levels and how dangerous they are. The lower, the more dangerous, he was told.
It didn’t seem that dangerous to him, but that could be because he was used to Mos Espa. Actually the level remembered him of Mos Espa, only that there were a few police droids on the level, something you would never meet in Mos Espa, or anywhere on Tatooine.

“It must be the first time for you getting down here,” the chancellor assumed, looking interested at Anakin.
“Yes, I didn’t really get out of the temple. But I heard of the lower levels and that there aren’t really safe,” Anakin replied.
“Really, won’t the Jedi let you leave the temple grounds? You aren’t a little child and even a Jedi Padawan. You should be allowed to the upper levels at least. They are pretty safe.”
“Padawans aren’t allowed to leave the temple ground unsupervised. And the Jedi masters are often too busy to accompany a Padawan exploring the city for no good reason,” Anakin explained, “I would love to explore the city and see new places.”
The young Jedi dared to add a little desire, curious how the older man would react.
“Of course, I would desire the same,” the chancellor responded, smiling at him.
“You would? Are you coming often down here?”
Anakin couldn’t imagine the chancellor of the republic, the most powerful man on Coruscant, going often to the lower levels. The levels, which are rumoured to be full of criminals and shady people.

“I visit the lower levels all the time. I feel that it is my duty. As you say, it is rare for Padawans to come down here, but I believe it is even rarer for one of these people, down here, to get up to the surface. Here, even the sun is a myth,” Palpatine answered.
Anakin blinked. He couldn’t believe that the sun could be a myth. He himself still remembered the burning presence of the twin suns on Tatooine. 

“Many senators and even my predecessor happily pretend that these levels and the habitants don’t exist. But I cannot. It is the darkness that most requires the light,” the chancellor explains while entering an establishment, a nightclub, “of course I do it anonymously, like we are right now.”

They searched for a table and got one next to a game table.
“Thank you for accompany me, you must be busy with your Jedi training,” the chancellor said and sighed, “to be honest, sometimes I am a bit envy of you. You are training to become a Jedi. Your entire life is decided forever. It simplifies things, no troubling choices.”
Anakin’s breath hitched, but he hid his shock quickly.
This was it, the cue. Having their life decided forever, no “troubling” choices. That is the life of a slave. Being born as a slave or being enslaved decides your life forever. You need a great amount of luck to get free. And the only choice a slave has is, doing as ordered or not, but this is not a real choice. If you disobey and don’t follow orders, you get punished or end up dead. 

The way the chancellor talked, was the same way a slave owner would talk to the slaves, when he tries to gain their trust, so he could exploit them even more.
Anakin was now sure, if the chancellor talks like that to him, it must mean that he is the Jedi’s slave and the chancellor knows about it. He must consider Anakin his own slave too, since the Jedi obeying the senate.

Anakin took a deep breath, trying to hide it as good as he could and then responded to the chancellor, while smiling, “Yes, it is the best that ever happened to me.”
The chancellor smiled, “I am glad to hear this.”

He then indicated Anakin to look around.
“Look at this place. Anything can be procured here. Absolutely anything. Lives are bought and sold in this club. Every single day. It’s revolting.”
Anakin did his best to control his expression.
Was this a warning, a threat?
Or was the chancellor indicating that Anakin was special. That nobody should know that he is a slave because that would make the chancellor seem bad. The chancellor has to be seen, as someone who is against slavery.
Did he want Anakin help him to hold up the illusion of a chancellor fighting against slavery? But then why would they be in disguise. Nobody would know what they do here.
There were still some things about the chancellor that Anakin couldn’t figure out, and Anakin didn’t like that. 

“I don’t understand. This place is awful, why doesn’t the senate do something about it?” Anakin asked. In case that he should play the free person for the chancellor, this should be the best approach.
It seemed to be the right decision, since the chancellor smiled.
“The senate doesn’t do something, since it is full of hypocrites. This place here is full of senators,” the old man answered and nodded to the game table, where some people were gambling.
“The one with the chance cubes, his name is Colandrus. Senator of the Suntilla system. He is a very influential senator and uses the senate as his personal bank. He is one of the most corrupt senators of the senate, but also so careful that it is hard to prove his wrongdoings.
I wish his luck with the chance cubes would run out. He is an addict and would keep the dice rolling in an effort to make up his looses. But if his losses were large enough, he would seek bigger bribes and this would leave a trail. My agents would finally be able to prove his corruption, and we could remove him. Return justice to the senate.”

There it was. Anakin now knew what the chancellor wanted him to do. And he began to understand, why the chancellor spoke to Anakin as if he wasn’t as a slave. They way the old man talked, made it easy to believe in him. Anakin had to be cautious not to fall for the sweet and seemingly righteous words of the chancellor. 

Anakin really didn’t want to do the chancellor’s dirty work, but what choice did he have. So he concentrated on the force and as the dice rolled, it wasn’t hard to manipulate them and let the corrupt senator lose his money.
Anakin didn’t know why the chancellor wanted the Tarsunt out of the senate, but he was sure that his corruption wasn’t the reason.
Anakin just hoped that the senator was at least as bad as the chancellor described him.

Seeing Colandrus loose let the chancellor burst out laughing. The Tarsunt and his bodyguard turned to them.
“What is so funny?” the senator asked. When nobody answered instantly, the bodyguard grabbed Palpatine’s cloak, demanding an answer.
Anakin’s hand went to his lightsaber, since he had to protect the chancellor in an emergency, but the old man shook his head, as a sign not to attack.
“My son told me a joke. Nothing more. Now, if you will release me, we were about to leave,” the chancellor answered.
The guard grumbled, but let the old man go, so he and Anakin could leave.

“May I ask you a question, Anakin?” the chancellor asked, while they were on their way back.
“Of course, chancellor,” Anakin answered.
“Your Jedi abilities allow you to move objects, right?”
Anakin nodded.
“Could these abilities be used to move, for example, a chance cube?”
Anakin hesitated. Why would the chancellor ask a question he knew the answer already. But if the chancellor wanted to continue this weird play, Anakin would play along.
“It does. I’m very good at this kind of force use,” the young Padawan answered. Palpatine chuckled. “A very useful ability, that’s for sure.”

They went back to the chancellor’s office.
“Say, Anakin. Do you have a comlink?”, the chancellor asked, while taking off his cloak.
“I have,” Anakin answered, “but I only got it to call my Master or the clones.”
“Really. Do you don’t have friends you want to stay in contact with?”
“I can send other Padawans or Jedi simply a message over the datapad. The Jedi have an own network with an internal communication function,” Anakin answered.
“Nobody outside the temple?” the chancellor continued questioning.
“Well…” Anakin began, unsure how to continue.
“Could it be that you know someone you want to be in contact with, but don’t know how to contact them?” the old man guessed.
The young Padawan hesitated, then nodded. “I would like to talk with Padmé again, but I don’t know how, and I think the Jedi wouldn’t allow it,” Anakin decided to tell the chancellor.
He was sure the chancellor would be able to tell, if he lied and if Anakin did it right, he could get in contact with Padmé. She was a queen the last time they met. Padmé was the only one in a powerful position, Anakin was sure he could trust.
“As luck would have it, I know the young queen quite well. If you want, I can contact her and ask her if you may contact her. When you give me your number, I can contact you, when I have an answer. And for the Jedi. It shouldn’t be forbidden, but just keep it for yourself. No reason to make a big deal out of this. See this as a thank-you for accompany me today.”
“It was my pleasure to accompany you, chancellor. And if you would do this for me, I would appreciate it,” Anakin answered and bowed slightly. He wasn’t sure, why the chancellor would do this for him, but he took the chance to get in contact with Padmé.

“Oh no, that is nothing. Now, let me call an escort for you. We don’t want the Jedi to worry about you,” the chancellor responded, smiling.
They exchanged numbers, and then Commander Fox came to get Anakin back to the temple.

While sitting in the speeder, Anakin got an idea.
He wanted to help the clones, to make their life better because he knew that he couldn’t free them in just a few weeks or months. It could take years. So he wanted to improve their lives as much as possible until they would be free. But for this he needed money. He also wanted to help the slaves on Coruscant, which also required money.

“Commander, do you get around Coruscant a lot?”, Anakin asked the clone commander.
“I do,” was the short answer.
“Do you also get around the more shady places?”, Anakin continued asking.
“My duties often require for me to get to the more shady places. May I ask why you ask me about this?”
“I… I am searching for someone. They are a racer, but also have high standers. They like to make sure they get their money and as few problems as possible. But I don’t know where I should start searching,” Anakin said. This lie came easy over his tongue. He hated lies and especially lying to people he likes, but it was for their own good.
Commander Fox hesitated.
“Is this a command, Commander?” he asked.
“Let’s say it is,” Anakin answered.
The clone trooper looked at him, examining. Luckily, they were in a traffic jam right now. As the traffic get moving again, Commander Fox had to look straight ahead again.

“When this racer is as cautious as you say, he won’t be above Level 3000 but also not lower than Level 1600. On Level 1782 are some races they might find interesting. Another would be in the slum district G17. I am no expert, so this is all the information I have,” Fox then answered.
“Thank you, Commander. That will be a great help,” Anakin replied, happy that the clone decided to answer his question. He was sure that the clone suspected, that he didn’t search someone, but the clone commander didn’t make any remark.

They arrived at the Jedi temple and Anakin jumped out of the speeder.
“Thank you for bringing me back,” Anakin thanked Commander Fox.
“Just doing my duty,” Fox replied and then added after a short break, “be careful, don’t want to get the order to search for a lost Padawan in the lower levels.”
Anakin smiled, “don’t worry, I will be careful.” Commander Fox only nodded and started the speeders' engine again. Anakin waved him a last goodbye and then entered the Jedi temple, already planning in his head, how he could sneak out of the temple with no one knowing.

Chapter Text

Sneaking out of the temple was easier than Anakin had first anticipated.

While contemplating ways to sneak out, Giddy, his mouse droid friend, came to visit. After Anakin explained what he was pondering about, the little droid suggested using the droids passage, a tunnel system for droids to move through the temple without bothering the Jedi or other staff. There were even passages for the bigger droids, so Anakin should be able to fit through them easily.

Of course, the Jedi had thought about the possibility for outsiders or unruly Padawans to sneak through the tunnels. The entrances could only be opened by a temple droid. And the few exist out of the temple could only be opened by specific security droids.

This made it nearly impossible for a living being to get through the passageways, if you didn't have a droid as a friend, who’s ready to help out.

Giddy was more than ready to help his friend.

First, the little mouse droid got in contact with the security droids, explaining the situation and making a deal which Anakin accepted too. The young Padawan would make a throughout maintenance for them making sure that they were as good as new. Knowing that this would take a few days, Anakin, and the security droids decided to begin the maintenance for one droid before sneaking out and do the rest the days after.

The security droids were skeptical, the first time the little human came through the droid's passage to their “break room”, the room where their charging stations were. The young Jedi had brought his tools and the mouse droid, which had accepted the name Giddy, given by the human, brought everything else the human needed.

The security droids were surprised when the human greeted them happily, introduced himself, and began to prepare his temporary workplace. SG-GA-1B was the bravest of the security droids and stepped forward, indicating that he would be Anakin's first droid to work with.

“Hey, I will take a look at you first. Please tell me if there is something I should definitely take care of. And when something gets uncomfortable, tell me too. Feel free to tell me what you want me to do, I want you to be able to relax,” the tiny human explained and began to examine SG-GA-1B. The security droid named a few things that bugged him. Anakin made notes and asked some question, then began to work.
Surprisingly for the droid, the tiny human really made this maintenance a relaxing experience, as far as a security droid can relax. They hoped this wouldn’t be the last time getting such a wellness maintenance. Satisfied with Anakin, the security droids promised to let him out of the temple through the droids passage and told him, that he can always come and visit.

Anakin and Giddy met a few days later in the late evening and entered the droid's passage in a remote corridor of the temple, making sure nobody saw them.
It didn’t take long for them to get to the exit, where SG-GA-1B was already waiting for them.
They opened the exit and told Anakin to send a signal, when he wanted to get back in.
Anakin thanked them and promised not just come back for the other droid’s maintenance, but also to do the upkeep more often for every droid who wanted to have one.

He scooped Giddy up in his arms. The small mouse droid protested, but Anakin explained that they had to hurry if they didn’t want to risk being seen by a Jedi. Giddy accepted his fate and let himself be carried as Anakin hurried to the next public transport. On the way, he contemplated if he should buy a ticket or not.
The less money he had, the less he could bet and win. But even a Jedi had to pay for public transport. He asked himself if Jedi got a permanent ticket, but no matter the answer, Anakin had none. Would he be bigger or older, he probably could convince a controller that he had forgotten his ticket in a hurry. The young Padawan was sure that no one would stop a Jedi in a hurry. But he was but a child, and no one would take him serious.
Anakin sighed and Giddy beeped questioning.
“Everything is fine. When we are in the transporter, you have to be completely silent. We will travel without a ticket and don’t want to get any attention. Get that?” Anakin asked.
/Giddy will reduce his audio output to the minimum. Friend Anakin doesn’t need to waste computing capacity about this/ the mouse droid answered.
Anakin mumbled a thank you and speed up his tempo.

After arriving at the public transport stop, they didn’t have to wait long for the transporter to arrive. Anakin used the force to cloak them in an aura of unimportance. Giving the surrounding people that this child with the mouse droid in his arms belonged here, was always there. Someone they saw every day and needn’t think about, a background character.
Using the force for this was an easy task for Anakin. It was something he had learned as a slave, and after the realization that he was using the force for this it became easier, and he got better.

They left the transporter at Coco town. The commerce district was always crowded and therefore the best place to disappear in case someone did follow or recognized them.
From there, the odd pair took other public transporter and elevators to get down to the Coruscant underworld.

They first got down to level 2685. The level where Anakin was with the chancellor. Anakin knew that it was possible that the chancellor was down there, but it was the only lower level he knew at least a part of and therefor the only place for him to orientate himself.

Giddy got restless being carried all the time and demanded to be put down. Anakin obliged. “But stay right by my side,” he said. Giddy beeped and circled the young Jedi happily.
Together they continued their journey. It didn’t take long for Anakin to be back in his element. Making his way through streets full of gangsters and scum came easy to him. He could recognize the most dangerous people from afar and dodge them.
They got further down to level 1999, only sporadically looking through random levels for any sign of potential races.

They walked through some shady back alleys when a Gran stumbled over Giddy. The mouse droid screeched, and the Gran cursed before grabbing Anakin by his collar. “You should have a better eye on your little droid,” the Gran growled angrily.
“I-I’m sorry, sir. I will keep an eye on my droid. This will not happen again. Please, forgive my carelessness,” Anakin stammered rapidly, while making himself as small as possible. “You better do, you little…,” the man said, pleased with Anakin’s display of fear. But before he could end his sentence, he saw the little Jedi’s braid come out of his hood.
“What do we have here? A little Jedi?” The Gran asked and pulled Anakin’s hood down.
He laughed as he looked all over Anakin, without letting him go. “You really are one of these soon to be Jedi. Say, where is your trainer?”
Anakin thought about lying, that he just dressed up to play Jedi, but he knew that this brute wouldn’t believe anything he said, probably not even the truth. And given the man’s reaction, playing Jedi probably wasn’t something many children would do living in the lower levels.

This place is durasteel Tatooine, Anakin thought. He himself had believed in the Jedi, saw them as almighty heroes back on Tatooine, but many, especially slaves, didn’t really think high of these self-proclaimed peacemakers. Anakin suspected that it was worse in Coruscant’s underworld. He couldn’t blame them.

“My master isn’t with me. I sneaked out,” Anakin replied, glaring at his captor. The man laughed again. “Those high and mighty Jedi would never let their precious spawns out of their eyes, let alone down here.”

“It’s the truth,” Anakin replied.
“I don’t like being lied to,” the Gran said and pulled the little Jedi close to his face. But before he could do something to Anakin, someone placed a hand on the Grans shoulder. Someone bigger than the Gran.
“If I were you, I would let go of this child, immediately,” the person suggested with a deep voice. Anakin looked up, and the Gran also moved his head to see the origin of the hand and voice. It was a Besalisk, a four-armed beast of an alien.
The Gran gulped and let Anakin go. Anakin stumbled back and got his hood back up.
“I-I am sorry… I go now,” the Gran stammered and then ran away.
The Besakisk huffed before he turned to Anakin. “You alright, little Padawan?” he asked.

“I… uhh Yes, I am fine,” Anakin answered perplexed. He didn’t expect that someone would help him down here. “Who are you?”
“Dexter Jettster the name. Just call me Dex,” the Besalisk answered.
“Thank you for helping me, Mister Dex,” Anakin said. Dex laughed, “No Mister, child. Just Dex. But what is a Padawan doing down here, alone?”
“I… I…” Anakin began but struggled to find a good explanation. He couldn’t be sure that the Besalisk is really friendly just because he helped him once.

“You sneaked out of the temple, that is obvious. As far as I know, every Padawan sneaks out at least once, but they normally don’t come this far down,” Dex said and looked over the little boy.
“Well, it is not that important now. We should get you out of here and back to the temple,” Dexter decided.

“No! I-I still have things to do. Can’t you just let me go?” Anakin asked desperately.
“Kid, it’s dangerous down here. I can’t just let you go. What if something like this happens again. This Gran could have killed you,” Dex argued.
“I know that too. I know how to take care of myself,” Anakin responded and began to look for Giddy. He hoped the little droid fled.
“Are you looking for the mouse droid?” Dex asked.
“Did you see him?”
“Yes, he was hurrying through the streets, screeching for help. Luckily FLO, my WA-7 waitress droid, was with me and translated the little mouse droid. He is with FLO at the beginning from this alley. Didn’t want to get the both in the way and possibly damaged.,” Dex answered.

Anakin let out a sigh of relief. “Thank the force… or better, thank you,” he thanked Dex.
Dex sighed after he made his decision.
“How about you come with me. I know a place where it’s safe… as safe as it can get. We drink something, no alcohol for you, and you tell me what business a Padawan has down here. Then I decide if I help you or if I bring you personally back to the temple. Alright, kid?”

Anakin hesitated, considering his option, but the force nudged him to take the offer. Therefor, the little Jedi nodded.

“I thought of taking you to my diner, but I have some Jedi regulars, so I thought you wouldn’t want to take the chances,” Dex added as they were making their way out of the back alley.
“Thank you,” Anakin mumbled. Then he saw the waitress droid and Giddy.
“Giddy, you alright?” he asked, as he ran to the little droid. Giddy, beeped affirmative and circled his friend happily.
“Thank you for getting help,” Anakin then said and petted the mouse droid.

“You really like this droid,” Dex observed.
“He is a great friend,” Anakin replied, smiling at his friend.

Dex lead them to his speeder and flew them up to a cantina in the Uscru Entertainment District.
“This is probably not the best place for children but better than where I found you and I know the owner of this bar. She is a good one,” Dex explained.
Anakin followed the Besalisk out of the speeder, followed himself by Giddy and FLO.
“79’s?” he asked, reading the cantina’s sign.
“Yeah, don’t know what she thought while naming this place,” Dex answered.

They entered the cantina. It was well visited by various of people and specimen. It had a dance floor and various screens broadcasting sport events. What surprised Anakin was that it looked like a typical bar with critical events. There were droid and organic waitresses, but neither were harassed. If one of the guests tried, someone stepped in between or the waitresses were able to handle it themselves. What Anakin didn’t see at the first glance were any illegal drugs. And people who were too intoxicated would get escorted out of the establishment or at least brought to a more silent corner and got some water.

Dex lead Anakin and the droids to a more silent corner and waved to a waitress to order.
Anakin took a seat from which he could see the whole establishment, Dex took place across from him.
“First, what do you want to drink, no alcohol. And maybe something to eat, you look pretty thin, young one,” Dex began and had another looked at the little Padawan. Out of the back alley and in more light, Dex realized that this child was tiny for a Padawan, at least compared to what he knew about the Jedi and the Padawans he had met.

“I don’t need anything”, Anakin replied. The less money he had for betting, the less he could win.
“Sure? I would pay, if that is the reason,” Dex said not knowing if Anakin had any money on himself.
“I appreciate this, but I wouldn’t even know what to order,” Anakin said a little embarrassed. He had heard various Younglings and Padawans talk about drinks and foods they wanted to try when they get the chance. The refectory also had some special things from time to time but Obi-Wan never ate those and even when he never forbid Anakin to eat it, the young Padawan used to stick to the things his Master ate.
“Then what do you like and dislike?” the Besalisk asked.
“I don’t have any dislikes. I eat and drink everything,” Anakin answered. Dex sighed. “B-but, I like spicy things and fruits,” Anakin added quickly.
Dex nodded satisfied and ordered for the both of them.

Chapter Text

Instead of the droid, which took Dex’s orders, a white colored Twi’lek brought them their drinks and fries.

Anakin blinked and furrowed his brows as he saw her, then realization hit him. “It’s you!” he exclaimed. The Twi’lek was one of the slaves he and the clones helped on Tatooine. She looked at him funny, and Dex wanted to apologize and to chide Anakin, but as the woman got a better look at the Padawan, she began to smile, showing her teeth. “Desert Child!” she greeted, finally recognizing him.
“You two know each other, Miss Nos?” Dex asked. Anakin's brows furrowed. The two knew each other too?
“Yeah, we met on Tatooine. I owe him my life. I told you about him,” she answered. “Wait… He is the 'little Jedi' the Padawan you told me about? This scrawny child?” Dex was in disbelief but did not only know the Twi’lek but it also seemed her story. The Twi’lek, Miss Nos, chuckled. “How about you two come with me to the back? It seems there are many questions that need answers. I also want to introduce our Desert Child to Sam. She always loves to meet our saviors.”

“I don’t understand. Who is Sam?” Anakin asked, clearly overwhelmed with everyone knowing everyone. Miss Nos knelt next to him and smiled warmly. “I am sorry. It’s probably a bit much right now. Sam owns this establishment and is the one who helped me a great deal, and not only me. And I know Dex because I learned at his diner before working here,” she explained.
“I would like to introduce you to Sam, since I owe you both. Dexter is always helping too. In the back we have it more quiet. There we can talk and answer any questions. I sure am curious what you are doing down here this late. ”Anakin nodded and followed Miss Nos with Dex to a break room. She also took the drinks and fries with them.

“Take a seat,” the Twi’lek said, nodding to two couches facing each other with a coffee table in the middle. “I’ll look for Sam.”Dex and Anakin sat down on one of the couches, which was a bit tight with Dex’ big form. For once the young Padawan was glad that he was still small and thin for his age.

“Oh, and Desert Child,” Nos said from the door, “you don’t need to fear Sam, trust me. ”Anakin looked puzzled to Dex, who just shrugged and took his drink. “I wouldn’t say Sam's intimidating, but not many people can intimidate me,” he said.

It didn’t take long for someone to enter the room again. “It’s been a while, Dex,” the entering woman greeted. “Sam, s’good to see you”, Dex replied cheerfully but Anakin froze. Fear was written on his face, and he took one of Dex’ hands for reassurance. 
The woman, Sam, smiled softly. “Quite the understandable reaction seeing me for the Desert Child,” she explained to Dex and stood still, waiting for Anakin to allow her to approach.
“You’re a Zygerian,” Anakin spoke narrowing his eyes. “Only in blood,” Sam answered, “I don’t see myself as part and citizen of the Zygerrian Kingdom. I am a political refugee. I tried fighting slavery on my birth planet but didn’t get far with the tight grip the royal family has on it, so I had to flee before achieving anything. There are Zygerians like me who fight slavery. We are rare, but we exist.”

Anakin took a moment to think, then nodded and let go of Dex’ hand. “Okay. I trust Miss Nos, and she told me that you are an ally,” he decided and then added “I'm sorry for assuming…” but couldn’t finish. He couldn’t find the right words without making it sound insulting.
“No need to apologize. I probably would react worse if I were in your situation,” Sam answered, now approaching and sitting on the opposite couch.

Dex was a bit confused. He knew that Miss Nos was a slave before coming to Coruscant. He also knew Zygerians were slavers and that Sam tried to fight it, had to flee, and then continued fighting slavery. She takes in former slaves, makes sure they have a place to live, and get medical attention. They can work in the cantina until they know what they want to do. Dex himself had taught some of them in his Diner for Sam, since his Diner was calmer and had less shady visitors. A safe place to learn to cook or to be a waitress.
What confused Dex more was the Padawan’s obvious inner emotional turmoil. He looked to young for having missions which could bring him near slavery. The Besalisk knew that those missions were dangerous and could go horribly wrong. Therefore, Dex couldn’t think of any possibility for the boy to get in contact with slavery, the Zygerian slave empire, or even an enslaved Miss Noss. But he did, as Miss Noss said. The thought of the Padawan, whose name he still didn’t know, Dex realized being enslaved himself didn’t even dare to cross his mind. Maker, he looked too young to go on any mission or even be a Padawan. He should be an Initiate. How old was he anyway, Dex wondered. Nine, maybe ten at most, considering his small and thin frame. What did the Jedi feed him anyway, to let him be this thin?

Miss Noss coming back brought Dex out of his thoughts, which he was quite glad about, since they didn’t lead him anywhere.
Anakin looked curious at the two snacks the Twi’lek brought along with two extra drinks for herself and Sam.
“These are fruit sticks with a spicy sauce, and I mean real spicy,” she began to explain, looking at Dex and Sam as she spoke about the spice level before continuing, “And these are milaflower toast. It’s toast with fruit, soft cheese, milaflowers and honey. Both are my favorite, coming from a desert planet and such.”
It really sounded incredible to Anakin, nearly too good to be true, causing him to hesitate. “Please eat,” Miss Nos encouraged, taking herself a fruit stick. The young Desert Child followed suit, dipping his stick in the sauce. Dex too copied.
Both their eyes widened after the first bite, but for two different reasons. Not being able to handle the spiciness, Dex took a napkin, spitting everything out, then grabbing his drink, desperately trying to get rid of the burning in his mouth. “I told you it is spicy,” Nos said, looking accusingly at the wasted bite of fruit stick before taking the rest of Dex’s and eating it. No wasting food, something engraved in every slave, even more in those with food scarcity like Tatooine.
She then offered Dex a toast “This should help with the cheese and honey.”

“This isn’t spicy; it is pure fire,” Dex complained after eating the toast. Anakin, who was already at his fourth stick, giggled. “It tastes perfect to me,” he said.
“I’m glad you like our food and am pleased to meet my employees savior, but I guess there are more reasons for us to be gathered than just to meet, right?” Sam asked.
“Yes, but we should probably start with introductions,” Miss Noss answered and introduced herself first, “My name is Nenju Nos. I was enslaved on Tatooine. The Desert Child helped me and others to get free. I came here, was introduced to Sam through others who helped me, and got help and work from her. To get experience as a waitress I worked shortly for Dex. His diner being further on the surface made it a calmer and safer place to learn and get used to freedom. Then I came back here. Sam does everything possible to ensure our safety, but we are in the lower levels which in itself bears risks.”

“Then I guess it’s my turn. My name is Syazoth Nirmekal, or Sam for short. As I just told you, I had to flee from Zygerria for fighting against slavery and opened this cantina. It is of course, to earn money for my living expenses, but also to help free slaves. I employ former slaves, helping them to stand on their own but also to gather all kinds of information. This establishment is down here for exactly that reason and because fewer people ask questions about where my employees are coming from. We also use it as a base for operations when freeing slaves, but we are mostly an end station for freed ones before they live on their own. I have plenty of connections and am the one who roped Dex into it,” Sam explained.

“Well, I’m Dexter Jetster, or Dex. I have a Diner at the Overworld, in Coco Town. I used to do crime but now use my criminal knowledge and contacts to help Sam in her work and some Jedi. I didn’t have much contact with slavery, never wanted to go down this path while I was a criminal. Since I owed Sam one and wanted to redeem myself, I decided to help her fight slavery when she asked. It sounded like a good thing, though I am not as involved as them, haven’t met many of the others, who help with freeing slaves, and don’t know much; just help out where I can, when asked and every so often when not,” Dex introduced himself.

Now everyone was looking at Anakin. He shifted in his seat and then began hesitantly “My name is Anakin Skywalker.” Nenju gave him an encouraging smile. Anakin took a deep breath and continued “I was born into slavery on Tatooine. Owned by Gardulla the Hutt. It was just me and my mom. Didn’t take long before Gardulla lost us to a junk dealer named Watto in a bet. Over a year ago some Jedi crashed on Tatooine. Mom and I gave them shelter when a sandstorm came, and then they bid on me in a Podrace, the Bonta Eve Classic. I won and with that the parts they needed for the repairs and me. Due to one of the Jedi’s dying wish I became a Padawan.”

For a moment it was silent; it was Anakin’s first time telling someone his story. Then Sam spoke “So you are saying that you were born a slave and then won by some Jedi who bet on you winning one of the most dangerous races in this galaxy. We are speaking of the same Jedi who have their order here on Coruscant?”
Anakin nodded.
“And your mother?” On that, Anakin looked down but then shook his head and said “They couldn't, but that’s okay. I am going to free her. I’m gonna make money and get her free.”

“I guess you intend to win races to earn this money?” Sam asked raising a brow. Anakin looked sheepishly to the side “That’s what I am good at. Just need something to race in. Speeder, bike, or pod, whatever.”
“And the Jedi probably don’t know about your plans? That’s why you sneaked out and didn’t want me to bring you back to the temple,” Dex concluded and sighed. Anakin just nodded.

"Alright kid, I’ll help you,” Dex said. “You mean, we’re going to help him,” Sam interjected.
“What?” Anakin stared at them wide-eyed.
“I guess you would just sneak out again if I just brought you back. Can’t let a kid wander the lower levels and get in trouble on its own. And it’s for a good cause,” Dex answered.
“Exactly. Freeing slaves is what we do. And if you are really that good at racing, then I guess we could make some money too. And I guess you don’t know where you could race or get a vehicle to race in, right?” Sam asked.
“And you’ll need a manager,” Nenju said, before Anakin could answer, “The only races you could just enter as a kid are the ones you really shouldn’t. The chances to get your money and get away alive even when you win are really low.”
After a moment to process, looking at everyone with wide eyes, Anakin began to grin. “I’m gonna make y’all rich, promise.”
Sam laughed. “Good, good. Then we should eat up. There is a lot to discuss if we want everything to go smoothly and save.”

“Now, if we do this race thing, we should do it right,” Dex began after finishing his drink. “First you need a manager, as Miss Nos mentioned. Someone who handles everything around the races, that your vehicle works, that you get your money, which races you do etc. Someone who can handle issues so you can concentrate on racing.”

“You should also use an alias, or better yet, stay completely anonymous, hiding your face. It wouldn’t do you good if someone recognizes you as a Jedi or a child,” Nenju added.
Anakin nodded. “So I should hide my Padawan Braid and maybe use a mask with a vocoder. But what about my size? Anything to extend my limbs will affect my flying.”

“How about hiding the fact that you are human? There are some humanoid species that are rather small. With some baggy clothes, hiding your face, maybe letting a fake beard peek out, we could trick people into thinking you are from such a small species. One of my waitresses can do incredible makeup. No one will recognize you,” Sam said.
“That should do. Then I will contact a trustworthy manager. I know one who owes me. And Sam takes care of make up and clothes. The remaining question for now would be, which species should you become?” Dex asked.
“Mhmm,” Anakin voiced, while she and the rest pondered over the question.
“How about a Bimm. The humanlike kind not the hairy one,” he suggested. Sam nodded “Yeah, we should be able to pull that off. There aren’t many Bimms on Coruscant, but enough to avoid questions.
”The rest nodded along, and they fell into comfortable silence, having everything settled.

Slowly the excitement over a plan that would help him free his mom faded, and he couldn’t help but feel suspicious. It was too surreal to be real, and despite knowing that these were good people, how could they help someone they just met?
Nenju could recognize the boy’s struggles and offered him a smile. “We don’t help you for nothing. We will also gain a lot money. It’s a win-win, not charity,” she said, to ease some of the child's suspicion.
“But why do you trust that I can win? I mean I know I can, but you don’t,” Anakin retorted.
“I, for one know that a human boy won the Bonta Eve Classic. As the first human to ever win, the news traveled all over Tatooine. Second, it's easy to check, since the race is in the HoloNet. Third, you are a Jedi Padawan, so you have superpowers, and fourth, I trust you. You saved me. That’s the least I can do.”

“Oh… Ok,” Anakin replied not completely convinced, but she was right in all she had said. “Then how about you think about it first? Take your time. I also want to introduce you to some colleagues. All freed slaves,” Miss Nos offered.
Anakin nodded, glad not to decide immediately. And if the rest of the former slaves got treated well too, then maybe Sam and Dex were trustworthy enough to help him.