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Fireworks exploded across the sky. Bright light illuminated the wide, blue eyes of Anakin Skywalker. He had never seen so many happy people before. The euphoria of the Apheli people was unmatched; the young boy — with his life in his own control and the universe at his fingertips — could find a million reasons to smile too.
The atmosphere was electric. The crowd shone with more colours than Anakin had ever witnessed. It was like the biggest celebration on Boonta Eve but every guest wore a different shade of the rainbow. But as well as being a beautiful celebration, it was also overwhelming.
His Jedi robes were a huge improvement on his old clothes he had to wear until they were threadbare, and he liked the padawan braid that hung behind his ear. But he felt like an imposter. The Jedi called him the Chosen One, Aphelion called him a hero. All he knew how to be was Anakin Skywalker: slave boy and podracer. People around him already expected so much from him; Anakin didn’t know how to compete, how to learn. He wanted to be the greatest Jedi the galaxy had ever seen and didn’t want to let anyone (especially Obi-Wan) down. But he was only nine years old, and a few days ago he was still working at Watto’s junkyard with Oberyn, and the Jedi were practically mythical. How was he supposed to compete with others who had been training to be legendary all their lives?
Anakin managed to slip away from the celebrations while Obi-Wan, Padmé, Oberyn and all the others were busy. He found himself in the quiet backstreets of Alora, equally as pretty in the glowing moonlight as the parts of the city currently bathed in fireworks. Eventually, he managed to scurry up the side of a house which overlooked the main parade from a distance — close enough to see everything that was happening; far enough away that the noises were muted. But the rooftop was already occupied.
A girl sat on the edge of the flat roof in the furthest corner from Anakin. She was focused on watching the party so he didn’t think she heard him approach. Anakin turned to leave, to find a different place to hide.
“You don’t have to go.”
The girl’s voice caught Anakin off guard. He hadn’t expected her to hear him, let alone speak to him. So, instead, Anakin walked closer to her and sat down. Now he was next to her, he could get a better look at her.
The girl wore an emerald green dress made of the same soft fabric as Anakin’s Jedi tunic, her brown hair coiled back into something elaborate on the back of her head. She wouldn’t meet his eyes, so Anakin assumed she was shy but he could tell they were about the same age.
“Why are you up here?” he asked.
“I don’t like parties,” she replied, “Too many people, too much noise.” She finally turned to look at Anakin, allowing him to see her dark eyes for the first time. He thought she was pretty, if that’s something he was allowed to think as a Jedi. “What about you?”
“I’ve never been to a party before,” Anakin replied. “There’s a lot going on.”
The girl hummed in agreement and looked at her new companion properly. Anakin could see her studying his clothes. “Are you a Jedi?”
Anakin nodded, proud to be defined as somebody, as something great. “I’m Anakin.”
“The one who blew up the big Trade Federation ship?” The girl’s eyes were wide, she turned to face him and crossed her legs.
“The one and only!” The two kids giggled as Anakin puffed out his chest and rested his fists on his hips in a dramatic hero pose. “Who told you about that?”
“My sister-in-law, Fallon,” the girl answered. “She said you named my baby nephew, A’den.”
“Yeah, she—” Anakin paused. He didn’t want to reveal himself as a slave when this was the start of his new life. Fallon arrived in Watto’s junkyard with Master Qui-Gon. Fake blonde, bronze skin and dark brown eyes, Anakin thought she was an angel sent from the stars. Warmth and friendliness radiated from her like she was the sun.
Fallon had freed him, Oberyn and their mother from Watto. He had no idea how she had so much money to do it when she did not dress in riches like Queen Ianthe. She was so kind to him too — the first person outside his family to treat him like a person. If Qui-Gon had not been so certain that Anakin was the Chosen One, Fallon would have taken him and his mother to live with her family on Naboo.
Anakin begged Fallon to tell him stories at every moment they got. She told him about her family — the daughter she had back home who was half Anakin’s age, and the son she was pregnant with. When a sandstorm hit, Fallon had gone into labour and Shmi had delivered her baby. Anakin had never seen a newborn before; he and Overyn fawned over the screaming pink creature until the storm passed and the baby went to sleep. Fallon had asked the brothers to help her name him.
“What about Aydn?” Anakin had suggested. It was a word from Tatooine’s ancient language that meant fire. He knew there was a similar word in Mando’a (a’den) but he couldn’t remember what it meant.
Fallon considered it with a smile. “I like it. Did you know in my husband’s ancient language, a’dyn means dragon?”
“I love dragons!” Oberyn stated.
And by the time it was safe to go outside, A’den Uttara was born.
The fun ended soon after that. The boys’ mother, Shmi, could not travel to Coruscant with them, but Fallon gave her money to give her a chance to restart. The credits would never fill the gap of her sons, but they would help Shmi Skywalker to live again. In their mother’s absence, Fallon promised to look out for Anakin and Oberyn and be there as often as she could. She could not be around often (there were things in the galaxy that forced her to stay invisible), but her words were more than anything Anakin had ever been given. There was nothing he could ever do to repay her kindness.
“She saved me,” Anakin replied, at last, with a smile. He looked out at the parade and wondered if Fallon was there somewhere. Then he turned back to the girl. “I still know nothing about you.”
“I’m Alana,” she replied. “But I’m nothing special.”
“Well, I don’t think that’s true. Everyone is special.”
Another firework cracked like thunder above their heads, sparks raining down over the city. Anakin grinned and looked sideways back at Alana. They would probably never see each other again when he returned to Coruscant and was locked inside the Jedi Temple. Anakin knew he had to savour all his tiny moments of freedom for the rest of his life.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE.
hello hello i hope you enjoyed! writing anakin’s pov has actually been sm fun. thank you again for reading, ily 🤍
