All the Stars :: Anakin Skywalker

No One Promised Tomorrow

The moment that we had spent together standing in the rain seemed so far away now. It's been an entire week since I last saw Anakin. He was deployed on a mission with Obi-Wan to investigate where the Jedi suspected the spy had come from.

Some foreign planet I can't remember the name of. But, in the meantime, I was training with another Jedi who... was kind. And he was understanding and encouraging. But... he wasn't Anakin.

Training felt more like a chore than me showing off my skills. It felt like I was being forced into this instead of me wanting to become a Jedi.

"Come on, you're not trying hard enough. I've knocked you down three times," The man huffed and straightened out his back. "Anakin was bragging about how good of a student you were. Giving him a run for his credits. But you're not the student he was talking about. Not if you're letting down your guard."

I tossed the wooden saber and it clattered against the stone ground. This Jedi took me to a training room inside the temple instead of the gardens.

It's a lot more cruel looking inside than out.

"I'm sorry. I'm distracted."

"That's obvious. Your thoughts are loud."

"Exactly. So you know what I'm going through. I can't get my brain to shut up."

"It's just a mission. An investigation mission. He'll be back and alright as soon as they get the information they need."

"I know. I know. I just- I need to do something I'm good at. I need to distract myself from my distracting thoughts."

"Well, Anakin did request the training facility house one of these," The Jedi came out of the small weapons closet with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. "Would you know anything about this?"

My heart instantly overwhelmed with love for Anakin.

He got me my bow.

"Yeah, he got it for me," I took the bow from him and trailed my fingers along it's tight  string. "I told him during my first training session that I'm an amazing archer. This is amazing."

"Are you?" He looked amused. "Well, prove it. I want to see your skill."

Target practice is definitely something that I find boring considering I tend to hit the bullseye every time.

But he got out some targets anyway and motioned for me to shoot. 

I set an arrow and drew it back, took a deep breath, and shot the arrow straight through the center of the target. I felt my chest swell with pride at my small victory.

"Amazing! Do it again!"

I positively beamed at the man and slipped into a mental space entirely my own. The Jedi even used the Force to move the targets around.

That's when I used it too. And sensed each of the targets around me and shot them with shocking accuracy. By the end of the evening I'd stuck an arrow through the center of every target we had.

And the Jedi I was working with was in awe.

"You belong on the battlefield," He told me. "Truly. You would be a great asset to the troops. You could be a sniper archer and board a ship with the fleet."

"No, Anakin said that too. I have better accuracy when I'm right there on the field. Shooting moving targets from a far distance isn't something I'm good at."

"Well, alright. Maybe you could lead a battalion one day. Soon. Because you're positively amazing."

"I personally don't know how I feel about that. Being on a battlefield. That's just... not for me. Going on missions, yes, but... war?"