Star Wars is George Lucas', except Malaiya, she's mine.
Anakin Solo is about 19.
A New Arrival
Anakin Solo ran out to Yavin 4's landing area as his Uncle Luke's ship landed. He and Jaina had been put in charge of the academy when Uncle Luke left for Coruscant. Jaina caught up to her brother as the landing ramp slowly descended. Uncle Luke descended, and was greeted with a hug from Jaina. Anakin knew he was supposed to greet his Uncle also, but Anakin was rooted to the spot, staring with rapt attention at the landing ramp. But it was not Uncle Luke that caught his attention, but the person coming down behind him. Uncle Luke brought someone back with him. A beautiful girl was slowly walking down the plank, looking very nervous. She looked about 20, with dark brown hair, and a slight slant to her lavender eyes. She was noticeably skinny, and a little shorter than Uncle Luke. Jaina gave her brother a little force nudge, and he started, realizing he'd been starting with his mouth open. Jaina tried to hide a smile as he closed his mouth, and moved to embraced his uncle.
"So who's this, Uncle Luke?" Jaina spoke up.
"This is Malaiya," Luke explained, "This is my niece, Jaina, and my nephew, Anakin." Jaina extended her hand, and Anakin nodded.
"Jaina, could you show Malaiya to her new quarters, please?" Luke asked.
"Sure thing, Uncle Luke. What room is hers?" she inquired.
"Chelsca won't be needing her room anymore, why don't you two set up in there. It's right next to yours, Jaina, so you can help her if she needs it." Jaina nodded, and she walked off with Malaiya. Anakin stared after them. Luke watched him with an amused smile.
"Well, what do you think?" Luke asked, with his rare boyish grin on his face.
"She's an… angel," Anakin stammered.
"What?" Luke asked, baffled.
"Huh?" Anakin said, coming out of his trance.
"What's an 'angel'," he questioned.
"I don't know, maybe a new species," Luke shook his head in amazement. Anakin could be weird at times, but never this weird. Anakin saw his Uncle looking at him like he was crazy.
"What?" he asked. Uncle Luke just shook his head.
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Jaina lead Malaiya to her room, explaining where things were all the way there.
"Well, this is it, home sweet home," Jaina said. Malaiya flinched, but Jaina didn't notice.
"I'll help you unpack if you want," Jaina offered.
"Um, well, I don't have that many things to unpack," Malaiya stammered.
"Oh," Jaina said, as she sat down on the bed. Malaiya sat beside her.
"Yeah, I didn't have much to begin with." She explained. Jaina looked sympathetic. What am I doing! Malaiya thought. I'm telling my life's story to a complete stranger.
"Well, I think I can manage now," Malaiya hinted. Jaina nodded, and got up.
"I'll call you for lunch."
"Thanks," Malaiya replied as Jaina left.
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When Jaina had left, Malaiya set up her easel. When she was nervous, scared, bothered, or puzzled, she always painted to get her mind off of things. Most times, she just painted without thinking, and the result would be a surprise. Like now. She was in a new place, and very unsure of her self. She absentmindedly swirled different colors across the canvas. She was so involved in her work, she didn't hear Jaina enter.
"Hey," Jaina said, "what are you doing?" Malaiya whipped around.
"I was, um, painting. Whenever I have a problem, or something like that, I just paint. I never know what I'm painting, so the ending result is always a surprise." Jaina smiled in amusement as she looked over Malaiya's shoulder.
"Looks like this time you've painted my brother." Malaiya whirled around. A portrait of Anakin lay in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise. She turned back to Jaina.
"I… um, well" she stumbled. Jaina saved her.
"I do the same thing. Except I don't paint. I always go to this one spot in the jungle, and it always clears things up for me. Anyway, the reason I came here is to tell you it's dinner time. The food's not as bad as you might think, actually, some of it's pretty good." She and Malaiya made their way towards the temple's mess hall. Jaina didn't bring Anakin up anymore, and Malaiya almost forgot all about him.
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Over the next few days, Anakin didn't see much of Malaiya. In fact, he had almost forgotten about her. He was always busy helping the students develop and harness their powers, and other stuff that needed attending. Right now, he was working with a student named Jayci. He didn't know why he always wound up with her. Uncle Luke knew that Jayci liked him. Yeah, as in liked him, liked him. It was sort of uncomfortable for Anakin sometimes, and yet Uncle Luke always assigned her to him. Probably so Anakin could practice some of his skills that he rarely used. He was having a particularly trying session, when Uncle Luke walked over.
"What can I do for you, Uncle Luke," Anakin said, barely hiding the relief in his voice.
"I was hoping you could work with Malaiya for a while. I'm short on teachers, and I want her to learn quickly."
"Of course Uncle. We'll continue this later, Jayci."
"I'll be looking forward to it." Jayci said, with a sappy sweetness in her voice. Anakin groaned inwardly. Anakin walked to Malaiya's room, and found the door ajar. He poked his head in. He was more than a little surprised to find Malaiya with a paint brush in her hand, painting a beautiful landscape of a place that looked not unlike his mother's pictures of Alderaan. He looked at Malaiya again in curiosity. She certainly provoked interesting feelings in him, to say the least. With a start, he realized why he was here in the first place, and cleared his throat. Malaiya turned around, and gasped when she saw who it was.
"I'm sorry if I startled you," Anakin apologized.
"No, I just thought you were Jaina," she explained. Anakin rose an eyebrow. When it was clear she wasn't going to say anything more, he spoke.
"Uncle Luke sent me to further your training."
"Um, ok." Malaiya said. She followed Anakin into one of the practice arenas. He sat, and gestured for her to sit across from him.
"Now the first thing I need to do before we begin training, is to determine your level in the force. I will need to enter your mind, and find a sensitive spot. All Jedi respond to this spot… quite interestingly. You will feel no pain."
"Alright," she replied. She watched him as he closed his eyes. She felt him enter her mind, and she instinctively wanted to put up her barriers, but she felt like she could trust Anakin. There was just something about him- her thought was interrupted as he opened his eyes in surprise, and flew all the way across the room where he connected with the wall with a thud. Malaiya uttered a soft cry, and hurried over to where Anakin was laying. Malaiya's worried face looking down at him was the last thing Anakin saw as he drifted out of consciousness.
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The next day at lunch, Malaiya gathered up her courage, and sat down next to Anakin. She looked into his ice blue eyes, and started to speak.
"Anakin… I'm sorry. I don't know what I did, but I'd never intentionally hurt you, I-"
"Malaiya, it wasn't your fault at all," Anakin interrupted, "that's part of the test. All Jedi react like that when probed in that area. The more powerful you are, the farther the prober flies!"
"Oh," Malaiya breathed, "that's good. I thought I…" What's happening to me, she thought. She couldn't find any words to say how she felt. In truth, she didn't even know how she felt.
"It's alright, no permanent damage," Anakin said reassuringly, putting a hand on her shoulder. The touch sent a burst of electricity through him, and he quickly took his hand away. What was happening! Malaiya was just an acquaintance, a friend, wasn't she? Blue eyes met lavender in puzzlement. Malaiya abruptly broke the contact, and stood up.
"I have to go," she explained quickly, as she hurried away. Anakin watched her go, and stirred his food thoughtfully.
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Malaiya decided to try Jaina's technique, and find a place in the jungle where she could think by herself. She found a cozy little spot by a river. She sat down on the bank. Everything was overwhelming her, and she needed to think. Her past hadn't been all that great, but now that she was used to it, she was relocated to a totally new place. New surroundings, new faces, a new home. And to top it all of, Anakin. She was sure, but unsure around him. He seemed different somehow. His touch made her shiver. She had never experienced these things before. She curled up and hugged her knees to her chest as she watched the sun set.
Anakin set out in the Yavin jungle. He was headed for his favorite place. He always went there when things were bothering him, and it seemed to help. His mind drifted to Malaiya. His thoughts were all scrambled, he needed to sort them out. He reached his spot, and was surprised to see Malaiya there. She hadn't noticed him yet. He could still make it back to the temple without bothering her. But his feet started walking towards her, and he stood next to her. Her tilted eyes widened a little in surprise and she stood up as he reached her side. For a moment, they looked at each other, and then Anakin's gaze turned to look across the river. Malaiya's gaze soon followed.
After a while, they Anakin turned to her, and opened his mouth, but closed it abruptly. They had a bond. Not like the kind he had with his family, but a special one all the same. That was why she seemed so… different from every one else. She turned to look at him, with a look of understanding blooming on her features. They stood staring at each other like that for some time. Suddenly, something came over Anakin. Malaiya was becoming more than an acquaintance, more than a friend. She was becoming much more. He tentatively leaned over, and brushed his lips to hers, and pulled slightly away. But instead of running away, as he expected her to do, she pushed her head up until her lips met his once more, and deepened the kiss, taking both of them into a place they'd only dreamed of before. His hands slid around her protectively, and she responded by pulling her hands up to his head and neck, trying to push them closer.
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Jayci was returning to the temple from her nightly jog. She jogged into a clearing, and stopped mid-stride when she saw what was in front of her. She should have stepped back into hiding, but she couldn't move. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, for the two people in the clearing didn't notice her anyway. Jayci's face turned beat red with anger. Her Anakin was liplocked with Malaiya! I'll fix this, she thought, making her way back towards the temple. An evil grin appeared on her face as she formulated her plan. Malaiya won't be happy for long.
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Malaiya and Anakin finally broke apart, and just stared at each other. Words were not needed. Together, they walked back to the temple, hand in hand.
To be continued…
Please review, I'm new at this, so I could use some feed back. I'm planning a sequel soon, The Revenge of Jayci!