The Jedi Princess (An Anakin Skywalker Story)

Chapter 21

"Mom." Anakin whispered, and gathered the injured women into his arms. It had been only been a few minutes since the pair had entered the tent, but the bad feeling Elara felt back on Naboo continued to grow.

"Ani? Is that you?" Shmi croaked, her face lighting up in happiness, despite her condition. "Oh, you've grown so handsome! My son!" Elara could feel Shmi's life force getting weaker and weaker. The girl had no doubt that Anakin felt it too.

"Stay with me, Mom." he begged, as tears began to roll down his cheeks. Elara rested her hand on Anakin's shoulder comfortingly, and looked upon his mother with growing sadness. She had never met this women before, but found herself blinking away tears.

"I-love...I-love" Shmi began, but was unable to finish her sentence. Elara averted her gaze as she felt the women's life force disappear completely. Her heart ached with pain for Shmi, and for Anakin.

"I'm sorry, Anakin." Elara spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. The boy turned to her wordlessly, with tear-stained cheeks. His normally bright blue eyes were replaced by a dull grey.

"It's my fault. If only I had come earlier..." Anakin looked down with his face scrunched in pain. "I'll avenge her." he added, and when the boy looked up again, Elara saw an unfamiliar emotion flicker in his eyes. He stood up abruptly and left the tent. The sound of a lightsaber igniting could be heard, which caused Elara to jump up in shock.

"Anakin, what are you doing?" the girl exclaimed, running out of the tent after him. The boy turned to her with a hardened gaze, his blue lightsaber glowing in one hand.

"Go back inside the tent, Elara." He said- no, demanded. The girl looked at him incredulously.

"No, I'm not leaving you out here. Let's go back together, okay?" She suggested, taking his free hand in hers. His gaze softened, but the deadly aura swirling around him remained the same.

"I don't want to put you in danger. Please-" Anakin began, but was cut off when a Tuscan raider noticed them and began running their way. "Elara, move!" he shouted, using the force to send her flying backwards. The girl stumbled but managed to catch herself.

"Anakin, st-" Elara began, but it was too late. Anakin had already slashed his lightsaber through the man, watching as the Tuscan crumbled at his feet. This caused a commotion throughout the village, and many Tuscans came out of hiding to see what was going on. As Anakin moved to advance forward on the villagers, he felt a hand grab his shoulder tightly.

"Stop. You can't kill innocent people. I know some of them must have been the ones to harm your mother, but you can't blame a whole species for something only a few people did." Elara spoke, and even sent some calming feelings to her friend through the force. "He needs to stop before he loses control of himself." the girl thought desperately.

"Elara, you don't understand! They killed her! They're animals, so I'll treat them like animals!" Anakin shrugged her hand away. The deadly aura around the boy grew stronger with every step he took. Elara looked at him in shock as he raised his lightsaber, about to slaughter an innocent Tuscan woman. She had shoved her children behind her, protecting them with all that she had. Just as the glowing blue blade was about to end her life, it was blocked by Elara's green one.

"Stop, Anakin! She's innocent and you know it! Come to your senses!" The girl exclaimed, barely recognizing the boy before her. She pushed her blade against his strongly, sending him stumbling backwards from the impact.

"Step aside, Elara. I mean it this time." Anakin demanded, after he had regained his balance.

"Not happening, idiot. If you want to hurt them, you'll have to go through me first." Elara retorted, glaring at him with frustration.

"As you wish." Anakin returned the glare challengingly. As quickly as he had spoken, the boy jumped forwards and slashed his blade against Elara's. The two engaged in a heated duel, with both of them struggling at maintaining the upper hand. Anakin's movements were strong and powerful, while Elara's were quick and agile. No matter how much force Anakin used, he could not match Elara's speed.

"Is this what you want, Anakin?" Elara exclaimed over the hissing of their blades. "Are you willing to slash through me as you did to that man?" she added, looking deep into his eyes. "I know you're in there somewhere. Please, come back."

"You know that I would never hurt you, Elara, never! I'm only trying to wear you down until you let me finish what I started!" The boy argued, slowing down his attacks a bit.

"Can't you see that what you're doing right now is hurting me? What you plan to do? This isn't you!" Elara shouted, taking Anakin by surprise and allowing her to disarm him. She called his lightsaber to her hand before he could retrieve it. It was then, that the girl allowed herself to break down.

"Elara..." Anakin spoke softly, staring at his freely crying friend. He instantly felt regretful, and found himself coming back to his senses. The boy walked forwards and lightly placed his hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry."

Elara looked up at him through her tears, and was relieved to see that his eyes had returned to their normal blue colour. She found herself crying harder at this in relief. He's back.

"I'm so sorry..." the boy sobbed, resting his forehead on her shoulder. He didn't know what had come over him. It scared the boy to no end. All Elara could do was hold him, and try not to imagine what would have happened if she hadn't intervened. Perhaps the dark side lingered closer than they thought...

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey everyone! Long time no update, I know. Sorry about that, I have been quite busy with school recently and totally forgot about this story. The good news is, I intend to update it as frequently as I can! I've also been working on a new SW fan fiction, and it's already up for anyone who wishes to read it. It's called "The Clone Wars: Starfall" and it's been pretty fun to write so far, so I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you for sticking around with this story, it really does mean the world to me. I wish you all the best!

-Charlotte