Chapter 1
The Line is Blurred
Anakin stepped slowly through the vast desert, his feet sinking into the sand. All around him was nothing but sand, the red sun blazing in the sky. He breathed slowly and deeply, keen eyes glancing about. What was this place? What was going on?
He sighed heavily through his nose, and paused for a moment. Turning his head, he took in the landscape about him. Nothing. Nothing but the sea of sand that stretched out as far as the eye could see. He had a powerful urge to yell out for assistance, but soon thought better. If there were any creatures-whether dangerous or not-he didn't want to attract attention.
"We're lost," Came a small voice behind him. Anakin whipped around to see a small boy, probably at least ten years old. He wore shabby clothing, his soft hair laying flat on his head.
"What?" Anakin asked, looking perplexed.
"We're lost," The boy said again, shrugging his shoulders. Anakin studied him for a moment, taking note that the young lad was tan, probably meaning he worked outside a lot.
There was silence for a moment, the young man and the boy staring at one another. Anakin took this to study him better, and was stunned to notice how much this boy reminded him of someone. But he couldn't put his finger on it...Who was-
"You're a jedi," The boy remarked, eyes glancing down at the lightsaber that hung at Anakin's belt.
Anakin glanced down as well, then couldn't help but let a wary grin creep on his lips.
"Yes, I am," Anakin nodded, eyes lingering over the child. God he looked so familiar!
"Im going to be a jedi one day," The boy proclaimed proudly, straightening his back,"Im going to be the best!"
Well, that sounded familiar. All to familiar.
"It'll be hard work," The jedi replied.
"I know. But I can make it."
There was more silence.
"What did you mean we're lost?" Anakin asked, getting back to the first thing the boy had said to him.
The child shrugged, looking at his feet for a moment than looking back up at the older boy, studying his facial features.
"Exactly what I said. We're lost. Im lost. You're lost," He replied,"We'll never make it out of here."
Anakin felt a pang of pity for the kid, a sort of fatherly compassion for a split moment.
"We'll make it out."
"No, we won't."
Anakin sighed, kneeling down in front of the boy, making it so that he could be on the same level as the child.
"A jedi would never lose hope," He said, and was surprised at the child's reply.
"You're losing hope with Padme."
Anakin was stunned, eyes snapping wide at those words that somehow seemed to float in the air around him before floating down to the grains of sand.
"How do you know?" He asked, the once parental emotion melting, leaving hard, cold eyes. He made a grab for the boy's shoulders, not noticing that the lad didn't try to wrench out of his grip. "Tell me! How do you know about Padme!"
The boy looked at him for a moment, a grim smile flickering on his face for a moment.
"Don't trust him. Don't do it, Anakin, or you'll lose her," He said.
Anakin stared, speechless. His grip had loosened, making it easy for the boy to glide out of his grip eerily and start to back away. That grim grin still twitching at his lips and cheeks.
"You'll be sorry, Anakin. Don't trust him," The boy said, backing away.
Anakin stood up quickly, taking hold of the hilt of his lightsaber and pulling it out, hearing it blare to life in his hand. But before he could do anything else, he noticed that the child was started to fade away, as if he were never there.
Anakin suddenly jerked awake, laying in his own bed, Padme sleeping soundly next to him. Anakin could feel the sweat on him, beads rolling down his face and chest, as if he had actually been in that desert. He looked around, eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room, expecting to see the boy.
He surprised himself by bringing a hand up to his face, wiping away a single salty tear that had rolled out of his eye. Finally, he knew the identity of the child.
"It was me," He said to himself, and clenched his jaw, determined not to let another tear roll down his cheek.