Disclaimer: I don't own any of 'em, except for Libow. This just kind of popped into my mind, one of the little mini-adventures of Anakin Skywalker, not to mention how it feel to be the only person to enter the Jedi Order at the age of nine...please R&R!
"Never put the engine coupling there; you'll short the whole thing out!"
Obi-Wan sighed. Anakin was tinkering. Again.
"Anakin? Is that you in there?"
A clank was heard, but no other response. Obi-Wan waited a while, and then finally opened the door to see a Twi'lek girl and a Mon Calamarian boy playing with toy speeders. Obi-Wan's brow furrowed; Anakin was normally in this area.
"Have either one of you seen Anakin?" he asked them. The boy shook his head.
The girl thought about it for a while. "I think he was…going to the…um, the…junkyard! That's it! He went to the junkyard!"
Exasperation filled him as Obi-Wan sighed and thanked them, closing the door. Obi-Wan wandered out of the Jedi Temple and walked towards the closest junkyard in the area.
An hour later, the Jedi Knight began to panic; Anakin was nowhere to be found. He had searched at least half a dozen different junkyards, and none of them showed any sign of Anakin being there at all. Going into the Force, Obi-Wan sensed out where his Padawan could be, and felt his heart clench.
Anakin wasn't conscious. Something was wrong.
Frantically searching out where he was, Obi-Wan found himself in a labyrinth of alleys nearby the Temple. He ran towards the end of the alley to find a young Jedi Wookiee kneeling beside an unconscious and bleeding Anakin. Obi-Wan fell to his knees beside his Padawan and checked his pulse; still there.
"What happened?" he asked the Wookiee.
The Wookiee gave a quick response, obviously frightened over Anakin. I was heading back after buying some snacks out in the market and a bunch of low-lying thugs jumped me! The new kid found me and helped me out, but he got hurt; they shot him in the shoulder, and the rebound of the shot slammed him headfirst into the wall…
The Wookiee seemed very distressed over Anakin's condition. Obi-Wan checked the blaster wound; still fresh and bleeding. Picking him up gently, Obi-Wan ordered the youngling to follow him and together they rushed back to the Temple and over to the Medical Wing.
After pacing impatiently, Obi-Wan found out from a medic that Anakin would be fine; he only needed his rest. By then, it was midnight; the youngling yawned.
Obi-Wan crouched down to where the Wookiee was sitting. "What's your name, young one?"
Libow. He replied.
"Libow, I need you to go to your quarters now," Obi-Wan told him. "Anakin should be fine; you need your rest."
What about you?
"I'm going to stay a little bit longer," he replied.
Libow gave a sigh and walked off slowly. Obi-Wan walked back towards the bed Anakin was lying on, and kneeled beside it. Taking Anakin's small hand in his own, he stroked it and rested his head on the bed, drifting off into sleep…
"M-Master…?"
Obi-Wan Kenobi's eyes popped open and his head jumped up into focus. Anakin was perched on some pillows that had been sat up to lean against the backboard. Anakin watched him with his eyes half open, his hand still in Obi-Wan's.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan jumped. "Anakin, are you all right? How are you feeling?"
"I'm tired," Anakin admitted. "But I think I'm…ow…fine…"
Obi-Wan got off the ground, his knees aching, and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his hand gently down Anakin's face. "What happened yesterday?"
Anakin took a deep breath. "I was going to the junkyard to…to tinker with some s-stuff…so I took a quick route that…that would get me there without running into y-you, in c-case you were out…and…"
Anakin winced before continuing. "And I saw some g-guys beating up on Libow…so I tried to stop them, but they had blasters…I'm sorry, Master…I didn't…mean…to…"
Another wince followed, and Obi-Wan put his hand to Anakin's mouth to silence him. "I understand."
"I'm sorry, Master…" Anakin tried again, determined to get it all out. "I didn't mean to get in trouble…they were b-beating on him…even if he doesn't like m-me, I'm n-not going…to let…them do that…"
Obi-Wan painfully remembered the terminology in which Libow called Anakin 'that new kid'.
He stroked gently down Anakin's cheek. "It's all right, Anakin."
The door to the Medical Wing hissed open as someone entered the room. Anakin's eyes moved over towards the doorway, too tired to move his head. Obi-Wan turned around and faced the person entering, expecting to see a medic…
…to reveal Libow.
His hands nervously fiddling with each other, Libow walked towards the bed.
Um…he started off, not exactly knowing what to say. Uh, Anakin, if…if you get better before I leave for my next mission—uh, whenever that is—I was just wondering if you—if you wanted to…well, you know, hang out a little bit?
Anakin's eyes widened, showing an expression of shock. This only seemed to embarrass Libow even more. Obi-Wan smiled.
"I'm sure he'd be happy to," he answered for Anakin.
Libow smiled and skipped out of the room. Obi-Wan looked over at Anakin, who still looked shocked, and raised his eyebrows.
"Well," he said. "Perhaps yesterday wasn't such a bad day after all."