"Anakin, where are you going?"
"To train with the Jedi's."
"How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know... Probably many years, I guess."
"Will you ever come back?"
"I will come back."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
The young Anakin Skywalker grasped the hand of a girl his age, her long, black hair falling around her face as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I promise," he whispered, and embraced her as the tears she had been trying to hold back flowed freely down her cheeks. The nine year old Skywalker pulled away as he heard his name being called.
"That's Qui Gon Jin. He's calling me. I have to go now," Anakin said to the girl.
"Please be careful, Ani," she responded.
"I will be."
"And please come back."
"I promise, I'll come back."
"Don't forget me and I won't forget you."
"I could never forget you, Janeia. Now I have to go."
Young Anakin gave the girl one last hug before trotting off to Qui Gon, who gave her a sad smile as he put his hand on Anakin's shoulder, leading him to the ship. Anakin turned around one last time, and Janeia waved sadly at him. He waved back, then the ship's hatch closed, and Anakin was no longer visible. The nine year old girl collapsed to her knees, weeping. She hoped Anakin would make it out all right, that nothing happened to him. But more than anything, she hoped that he would come back for her, maybe even to free her from her slave hood. Her shoulders shook as she tried to cease the tears, and her small hand was clasped around the gift Anakin had given her just moments before. The translucent-blue stone shimmered in the heat of the suns of Tatooine, but she could see the symbol he had carved into the surface. She gently looped the amulet's cord around her neck twice, she the cord was too long for her. The cool stone rested against her heart, and she looked up to see the ship, just disappearing from Tatooine's atmosphere.
"Good-bye, Anakin," she whispered. "I hope we see each other again.."
Translucent Heart
By midnight wolf of mine
End Of First Chapter