A/N: I do not own Star Wars.
One Moment
Anika Skywalker was nine years old when she fell in love with Padlon Naberrie.
For a little girl who lived on Tatooine most of her life, there wasn't much to get excited about. Well, there was the Bonta Eve Classics, which was the biggest Podracing event of the desert planet. The event lasted for days, and races from across the galaxy that lived on Tatooine would travel there to make wages, get drunk and watch for explosions from the racers. There had been many count abilities of deaths in these games.
Anika loved it.
For a human, let alone a nine-year old girl (nothing really special about her, just a bright blue-eyed girl with dirty blonde hair), to race in the Bonta Eve Classic was extraordinary for some. It was very uncommon for girls to race, but there were no rules that said that they couldn't. For the youngsters that did watch really admired Anika. Most racers frowned upon her since she hadn't finished a race.
She didn't care. Racing was her escape from reality.
The reality was that she was a slave.
She didn't really mind it too much: her Master wasn't a complete asshole (the thought of the word made her smile for a moment, for she knew that her mother would disapprove of her vulgarity). Watto didn't beat or whip them, like Gardulla the Hutt used to. He mainly just demanded that Anika fix up anything he threw at her. Most of that was just pit droids and engines, and she mainly just had to watch the shop.
Life passed this way. Anika would wake up, get dressed and have breakfast with her mother, Shmi Skywalker. It may have been a short breakfast, but she loved to talk with Shmi. She would tell Anika of the planets she had been on and the people she had seen. She didn't think that Shmi should have been a slave; she was such a gentle, kind woman, full of goodness. This made Anika hope that one day, she would visit these planets and leave Tatooine with her mother and be free.
After breakfast, she would walk through the street that was resident for other slaves in Mos Espa. She would say hi to her friends, notably Kitster and Wald, then head over to Watto's shop. It was old, run-downed shack that smelled of sand (obviously) and leaked oil. Broken parts of ships and droids polluted inside the shack, but more so in the back of the shop.
One day, in just a moment, her life changed when she saw him.
Anika was working on a cooler for Watto, which seemed pretty normal for her. Her Master shouted at her to go down to the shop. Looking down at the mess she had made, and the mess on her, she cursed to herself. Crud! He'll be even more mad to find this mess. Quickly, she patched up the cooler and ran down the stairs to Watto's shop.
"Brat! What took you so long?!" Watto demanded in Huttese. She glanced up at Watto. He was a Toydarian, probably as tall as her, but he hovered as high as three feet off the ground.
Anika brushed off the fact that he called her a brat. He does call me worse things, she admitted to herself.
"I was fixing up the cooler like you said-" she tried to explain, also in Huttese.
Watto interrupted her. "Watch the shop! I'm gonna make a sale!"
Grumbling to herself, she walked over to the round counter. She hoisted herself up on the counter and took out a nugget. As she cleaned it, she cursed to her Master. Stupid Watto! All he ever cares about is making sales, then he makes a nine-year old watch a shop!
She sighed. That's the life of a slave, Ani. Continuous, lifeless living...nothing to look forward to...
She dismantled the idea. I want to leave this place, become a pilot, and explore the galaxy!
That was her lifetime goal, ever since she could fly. Always trying to find a way to escape reality, and come back only to free the rest of the slaves on Tatooine. Perhaps even all the slaves in the galaxy... She didn't want anymore slaves to suffer, or for anyone to become a slave.
Anika made the simplest gesture that changed her life, and the rest of the galaxy's destinies, forever:
She glanced across the shop, and saw a boy.
It didn't seem any different to anyone if they were to witness this moment. Nor did it change the perspective of the boy. Or the strange orange creature who was making a mess in the shop.
It was, however, different for Anika.
For the first time in her short life, Anika's heart beat rapidly, and not in the way that she was running, which usually brought up her heart rate.
It was more that she was falling...
Something about just staring at him wanted to make her heart jump out of her chest. He wasn't looking at her, so Anika didn't get a good glance at his face. She just watched as the young boy- no, young man- took in his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was.
What is this that I'm feeling? she thought. It wasn't that she had never seen a boy, a teenage, before. there were plenty of teenaged human men in Mos Espa. Heck, one of them even bought her, Kitster and Wald a sizzling drink.
But this boy...
He made her heart jump.
He may from here, Anika realized. She would have recognized if he was from of Tatooine's clothing was the same: dark or light browns, or dull greys. The boy's clothes, however, were a silver-grey and dark blue. I've never see clothing like that before, although they do look Nubian, Anika thought.
She studied him more closely, noting the movement he made. His short, brown hair was cut to a smooth length, although there was little length to it. His skin was a light tan, perhaps closer to a pale Caucasian tone, which appeared smooth. If he were from here, he'd have a darker tan and rough hands.
The boy's hands indeed were smooth, along with the jaw line of his face.
Something made Anika want to speak to this boy; this strange, yet attractive, boy...
What do I say? she wondered.
"You're not from here, are you?"
Anika immediately bit her lip. Stupid! Stupid! Why did you say that?!
The boy turned around to face her. "Pardon?" He asked, as a smile flashed over his face and his chocolate irises sparkled.
Anika didn't respond. Her knees became weak; she was lucky she wasn't standing, or she would have fallen to the ground. An enchantment had seemed to bewitch the nine, almost ten, year old. Something about those brown eyes...
Anika swallowed. "You don't seem to be from here. I've seen many styles of clothing from many planets, although I think your clothing is Nubian."
The boy chuckled. Anika couldn't help but smile at the chuckle. She felt that she could met to such a chuckle.
"My outfit kind of gives it away, doesn't it?" He admitted, looking at his clothes. Anika shrugged, while nodding in agreement.
"Wait. How did you know it was Nubian?" he asked, confusion spreading over his face.
Anika shrugged again, as she cleaned the nugget tool in her hand. "The deep space pilots talk 'bout stuff like that. They even bring holos to show what they seen, especially the different foods, animals and humanoids." She grinned. "I remember one pilot talk about the beautiful angels from the moons of Iego." Good thing I didn't ask if he was an angel, that would have implied that I think he's handsome. She held back a shutter. And that would have been awkward...
The boy smiled, before the awkward silence sweated over the two strangers.
Say something else. "You know, I'm a pilot. I've really only flown pod racers, but I'm going to fly away from this place." Anika paused. "Well, once I get a ship, that is."
This time, the boy grinned, revealing perfectly white teeth. Man, what a smile, Anika wanted to sigh.
"Pod racers, like from Malastar?" He thought for a second. "Only the best pilots fly in those. You must be really good."
Anika couldn't help but blush. He knows about Podracing, and he said I'm good... "I don't mean to brag, but I've been a pilot since I could sit up by myself."
The boy looked impressed. "Then you are really good. I've talked to pilots, but most have flown since they were eighteen, at least."
Anika chuckled lightly. "Do you fly as well?" she asked, her smile growing. Could that be why you are so smooth-looking? she wanted to add, but she stopped herself. "You seem to know a lot about pilots."
The boy shook his head. "Only talked to them. My... field of study permits me of it." He shrugged. "It's... more politics-based." He cleared his throat, then asked, "Have you been here long?"
Anika was about to ask what career would be politic based for a teenager, but she was distracted by his last question. She gave a shrug. "Probably six, seven years. Slavers sold my mother and I to Gardulla the Hutt when I was three, but she lost us when gambling with Watto." She paused. "Watto may be an idiot, but at least he doesn't whip us."
The boy's eyes widened. "I...hate to sound rude, but are you... a slave?"
Although his intentions were sincere, the boy's words still hurt her. I am a person, and my name is Anika, she wanted to rudely point out to the boy, but she stopped herself. He's not from here, remember?
Calming herself, she slightly muttered, "Yes, but I'm still a person." She didn't look the boy in the eyes when she muttered her statement.
Anika glanced back at the boy, and noticed the guilt that crossed his face. "I'm sorry. Slavery is very uncommon where I come from; this place is backwards for me."
Anika nodded. She didn't understand, since she had lived on Tatooine for as long as she could remember. However, she tried to put herself in the boy's shoes: he must feel scared, alone, confused...
Wait...what is his name, anyway?
Anika took out a sandy hand. "My name's Anika Skywalker, daughter of Shmi Skywalker."
The boy grinned again, as he shook Anika's hand. "Padlon Naberrie, son of Ruwee and Jobal."
Padlon...
His name echoed in her mind, in an external tunnel. Hearing his name made time freeze for a while, and she didn't care.
All she cared, at that moment, was the stranger named Padlon Naberrie.
A loud crash that echoed throughout the shop interrupted the eternity.
Both Anika and Padlon changed their direction to the crash. The orange alien that came in with Padlon had activated a pit droid, and had started to run away from the alien. The orange alien had tried to catch the droid, but he missed and crashed into a bin.
"Hey, bud?" AniKa called out.
The orange alien grabbed the pit droid and glanced over at Anika, his attention on her.
"Hit the nose," she told him, letting out a small laugh. Some creatures are not as intelligent as others, she mused.
Padlon joined in on her giggle. Anika noticed that, although his laugh was deeper than hers, his was... stunning.
I would so marry him. But she didn't say that aloud.
They began to talk for a bit, mostly Anika telling Padlon of one of her Podraces that Selbuba cheated in, when an older man came in from the back with an astromech droid.
He gestured to Padlon. "Come, we are leaving." He grabbed the orange alien by the tip of his ear and dragged him out of the shop.
Padlon foolowed the man, but first looked back at Anika. "I'm glad to have met you, Anika."
Anika's heart skipped a beat. It's too bad he has to leave... "I'm glad to have met you too!" she called back.
Once the strangers had left, Watto hovered toward Anika.
"Outlanders! They think that since we live out here, we know nothing!"
Anika was still looking out where Padlon had left. Waiting, as if he would come running back to see her. I don't know what he's talking about. Padlon didn't treat me like I knew nothing... he felt bad that when he found out I'm a slave, but he was sincere...
"They seem nice to me..." she muttered in Huttese, not looking at her Master.
Watto sighed. "Clean up this mess, then you can go home."
Anika immediately jumped off the counter and began to clean. She was happy that she was going home to see her mother. To go out of the sweaty shop. Mostly, because she had hope of seeing the boy again.
Anika had experienced her first crush, her first love.
Little did she know, then, that the galaxy, and herself, would live with the consequences of this experience.
The End.