𝗙𝗔𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 | anakin skywalker

✰ 4. everyone makes mistakes

That week was the most wonderful of Akya's life.  She decided to train with Anakin for a little while longer before showing the Masters her skills.  Each day, they worked on something new, and by the end of the week, Akya could feel Anakin from anywhere in the temple, and was finally beginning to move things with the Force.  Small things, of course— cups, pencils.  They often got time to themselves, as Anakin enjoyed lingering in her room even after lessons were finished. She'd even begun showing him her little good luck charms; things she'd never shown anyone.

"You really believe in all this stuff?" he asked her, examining a Loth Cat's foot on a chain.

"I like to," she replied.

"Why?  Where did you even get it all?"  He seemed to think it was childish.  Perhaps it was, but these things brought her joy.

"I became a Jedi Initiate at a late age," she explained.  "I had no family, so I was very glad when they took me in, but these were all I had.  They brought me hope and luck at a time where I had none.  I needed to believe in them."

"And you still do?"  He put down the chain.

"Maybe not," she said.  "But they've always given me confidence, so I like to keep them with me.  This one's my favorite," she said, pulling her necklace out from under her tunic, the one with the sun-shaped pendant.  "It's the only thing I have from my mother."  She took it off and handed it to Anakin, who examined it with great interest. 

"It's beautiful," he said. 

"Thank you," she replied, watching him stare at the way it reflected the light of the nearby window. "Did you ever know your mother?"

"Of course," he said. "I was ten years old when I was taken into the Jedi Order.  My mother..." Anakin looked down at the floor. Akya waited for him, allowing him to take his time in forming his answer. "We were slaves, on Tatooine," he explained. "They let me go, but not my mother."  Anakin handed her back the necklace, but still didn't look into her eyes.

"Tatooine?" Akya repeated, clasping it back on.

"Yes," he said.

"Anakin, I lived on Tatooine," she said.

Anakin looked back up at her, brows scrunched. "You did?"

"Yes," she said. "Until I was eight years old."

"You were taken in two years before I was. Where did you live?"

"I moved around a lot," she said. "But not far. I lived around Mos Eisely. It wasn't a nice place."

"I was in Mos Espa."

Akya's thoughts went to Tatooine. The two spaceports were not far from each other, and Akya had been to the town once or twice. "How could we never have met?" she said in disbelief.

"Maybe the Force needed us to wait," he said.

"Maybe," Akya agreed, looking back at him and his blue eyes.

"What happened to your parents?"

"I don't know," said Akya. "I don't think I ever knew them for very long. All I can remember is being on my own. When I was really small, people would take me in, but I never stayed for very long." She played with her nails as she spoke. "What about your mother? Is she still on Tatooine? Have you seen her?"

"I haven't seen her since I left," he said. "But she's still there."

"I hope one day you get to see her again."

— ★ ✰ ☆ —

Once ready, Akya went to the Masters and revealed her newfound skills. When the Council asked how she had found these abilities after all these years, she answered a partial truth.