Assassin (A Star Wars Fan-Fiction) Book 1

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Once Qui-Gon was finished with talking to Padawan Kenobi, we were on our way again, scouring the town for parts. We walked down the street, our feet kicking up sand the faster we walked. After a moment, I couldn't hear Jar Jar's constant babbling about how crazy we were to be out here in the first place. I turned around, and saw that he had disappeared.

"Jeesa, where did Jar Jar go?" I asked, but heard no reply from her.

She was missing as well.

"Come on, I think I know where they are." Qui-Gon said as he walked past me in the direction we had come. Padme, R2, and I quickly followed him as we approached a small butcher shop right next to a restaraunt. Jar Jar was on the ground, his hand rubbing his neck as if he had been strangled. I remembered when Zendara had tried to kill me that way. The bruises on my throat had almost been as  bad as the one Danik had given me.

I saw Jeesa standing next to a small boy, the boy from the shop.

"Hey, Anakin." I said with a smile. He heard me call his name and turned in my direction, smiling back at me. I extended my hand to Jar Jar and he took it. I pulled him to his feet with Jeesa's help. "What happened?" I asked.

"Your friend here was almost turned into orange goo. He picked a fight with a Doug, An especially dangerous Doug named Sebulba." Anakin told me. I kneeled infront of him so we were eye-level, my hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you for helping my friend." I said. He grinned back at me as I got back up to my original height and began to follow Qui-Gon once again. Anakin began to follow as well, walking beside me.

"It wasn't a problem." he told me. I heard Jeesa and Padme snickering behind me and I quickly galnced at them, giving them the evil glare. They were immediately quiet, but I could still hear a few giggles. No doubt they were whispering like the teenage girls they were about Anakin. But I assumed that it would be over soon.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I stood outside the ship, the wind beginning to pick up even more. I had checked the scanners and learned that a huge sand-storm was headed in our direction. I prayed that Denali was alright. I wanted to ask her through our telepathic link, but knew that she was mad enough at me already. I didn't want to make things worse than they already were.

"This storm will slow them down." I said to Captain Panaka.

"It looks pretty bad." he said back to me. Suddenly his commlink beeped. He quickly pulled it from his belt.

"We're recieving a message from home." a voice from the other end of the commlink said.

"We'll be right there." Captain Panaka said as we walked back into the ship.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"My bones are aching, Ani. A storm's coming. You better get home quickly." the woman we were buying snacks from said. Anakin looked at me.

"Do you have shelter?" he asked.

"We'll head back to our ship." Qui-Gon said.

"Is it far?" Anakin asked.

"It's on the outskirts." I told him.

"You'll never reach the outskirts in time," Anakin told us. "Sand storms are very very dangerous. Come on, I'll take you to my place."

We followed Anakin down the dry streets to his house. By the time we got there, the wind had already started picking up and the sand was already starting to blow.

'Obi-Wan?' I thought.

'I thought I was 'Padawan Kenobi' to you.' he thought back to me.

'Can you stop being so stuborn? I just needed to ask you a question.'

'What kind of question?'

'A question about the weather.'

'Oh.'

'You sound disappointed.'

'I was just expecting something more....I don't know.'

'How's the sand storm at the ship? Is it really bad yet?'

'Yes, it's blowing horribly. Are you alright? Do you have shelter?'

'Yes, a nice young man has offered to give us shelter.'

'Young man? What do you mean by 'young man'?'

Just before I could reply, we arrived at Anakin's home. It was small, but cozy, as we stepped inside. In what I assumed was the kitchen was a small wooden table, a few wooden chairs, a stove, a heating and cooling generator, a sink with a counter, and a bowl of fruit on the table.

"Mom, I'm home." Anakin said. A woman walked through a doorway and saw us. She had dark hair, brown eyes, wore grey-ish blue-ish robes, and had a dishrag in her hands. I gave her a small smile as she and I made eye-contact. She smiled back at me.

"These are my friends, Mom." Anakin said.

"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn." Master Jinn said to the woman.

"I'm Shmi." she said. I extended my hand.

"I'm Denali Bleway. Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter." I said as she shook my hand. I felt a light tap my shoulder.

"Hey, Denali. I'm building a droid, would you like to come and see?" Anakin asked me as I looked down at him. He had an excited look in his eyes, as if he had never had company in his home before. I grinned and nodded. He took my hand, leading me through his home and to his bedroom. Padme, Jar Jar, Jeesa, and R2 followed as well. Once we had entered his room, I looked around.

"Isn't he great? His name is C-3PO. He's not finished yet, I still have to put the plates on him." Anakin said as he uncovered a protocal droid on a desk.

"He's wonderful, amazing even." I said with a grin. Mechanics had always fascinated me, especially robots and droids.

"You really like him?" Anakin asked, a happy smile on his face. "I'm building him so he can help Mom. Watch." Anakin pressed a button on the droid, causing the thing to stir to life. I took a step back in surprise as the droid quickly sat up. Anakin smiled and took my hand.

"Relax, he isn't going to hurt you. You feel this?" Anakin said as he gently pressed my hand over the chest of the robot. I could feel it vibrating through my fingertips. I nodded. "They call the thing that causing the vibrating the 'Heart of the Robot', it's the main power source that keeps the droid running." he explained.

"Oh my, where is everyone?" the robot asked.

"Oops." Anakin said as he quickly picked up a small circular object off of his desk. He pressed it into the eye socket of the droid, causing it to glow yellow. The droid looked at me with it's now-seeing eyes.

"Oh, hello. My name is C-3PO, human cyborg relations. How might I serve you?" he asked.

"He's perfect." I exclaimed.

"When the storm is over, I'll show you my racer. I'm building a podracer." Anakin said to me.

"That doesn't surprise me." I said. He looked at me, hurt.

"What do you mean?" he asked. I smiled at him and ruffled his hair again.

"A smart kid like you obviously knows how to create complex things such as droids, so it would only be logical if you raised your standards and created something even more above your level. Such as a podracer, the fastest podracer that ever hit Tatooine." I said to him. We both chuckled as his face began to turn red, blushing.

I didn't even want to know if Padme and Jeesa were chatting about Anakin and I behind out backs.