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Nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker roamed the halls of the Jedi Temple, wondering what he should be doing. He had been Obi-Wan's Padawan for a few days and Qui-Gon's funeral had taken place five days ago. Anakin was still grieving internally even though Obi-Wan, erm, Master Kenobi, told him to release his feelings to the Force. Problem was, Anakin didn't know how to do that.
Lost in thought, Anakin didn't realize the figure coming closer to him. Without warning, both slammed into each other.
"Ouch!" Anakin exclaimed, rubbing his head where one of the bookchips the girl had been carrying hit him in the head. "Watch it!" he snapped angrily, getting to his feet.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you," the girl said, picking up one of the lost bookchips.
"I-" Anakin looked up into the face of the girl. She was beautiful, with bright brown eyes and brown curly hair that was pulled into a messy bun atop her head. A Padawan braid peeked out from behind her ear, reaching down to just below her collar-bone. Her clothing was traditional in most Jedi aspects, though her cloak was a bright orange at the hood that gradually faded to a sunny yellow at the hem. Instead of the usual utility belt, a dark red sash was wrapped several times around her waist with a lightsaber sporting a wooden casing hanging from it.
Her Jedi tunics and tabards were the normal tans, but the red, orange, and yellow colors gave her the aura of an early morning sunrise.
"I- I'm sorry for snapping at you," Anakin stuttered, retrieving a wayward bookchip from the floor and handing it to her. "I, uh, I'm Anakin."
"I know. Word travels fast. The Chosen One, right?"
"Uh, yes. I'm Master Kenobi's Padawan. Who's your Master? What's your name? I'm nine, but I'll be ten in a few days! How old are you? How long have you been a Padawan? I've only been one for like, four days or something. Do you like to read? I mean, I saw you had like, um, a lot of holobooks and stuff and-" Anakin knew he was rambling, so he trailed off. The girl laughed.
"You like to talk a lot, don't you? My name's Padme, my Master is Mace Windu, and I'm fourteen. I've been a Padawan for seven years. Yes, I do like to read. Do you?"
"Um, no, I mean, I, uh, I don't know how to read. I've been a slave, like, my whole life, so I've never like, um, had the chance or anything," Anakin said.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I could teach you, if you want?" Padme offered, shifting the pile of bookchips in her arms.
"That'd be great! I mean, uh, I should ask my Master first, but I mean, I don't know where he is, and I don't think he'd mind if I learned how to read, and-"
"So, is that a yes?" Padme's eyes sparkled with amusement.
"Yes! When do we start?"
"We can start now, if you want?" Padme offered.
"Sounds great! Let's get started!" Anakin shouted enthusiastically, plopping down on the floor of the hallway.
"Anakin, not here, we could go to the archives or...," Padme stopped talking. Anakin had grabbed the one book that was made of flimsy instead of datapad codes off the floor was looking at it with interest. He flipped it open to a big picture of a creature roaring in the snow.
"What's this letter?" he asked, pointing to a figure in the book. Padme laughed and sat down beside him.
"That's Trill. And you've got it upside down." Padme tugged the book out of his hands and flipped it over, then handed it back to him. "And that one's Aurek, and Usk, and Nern, and-"
"Trill and Aurek and Usk and Nern," Anakin said, pointing to each letter.
"Yes. That spells TaunTaun. This is a book on animals."
"Is there a Krayt Dragon in there?" Anakin asked, looking at the TaunTaun sketch.
"I think so." Padme flipped through the book. "Ah, here we are. The Krayt Dragon. That letter is Krill and Resh and that one's-"
"Aurek!"
Padme laughed and kept going.
"Yirt-"
"Trill!"
"Dorn-"
"Resh, Aurek," Anakin laughed, his eyes sparkling.
"Grek, Osk-"
"Nern!"
"You're catching on!" Padme exclaimed. Anakin nodded.
"Can you read to me about the Krayt Dragon?" he asked, pointing to the picture.
"Of course," Padme replied readily and began to read. A little while later, she felt a weight on her shoulder. Anakin had fallen asleep.
...
"Anakin Skywalker, you are late for meditation again and I am going to tan your hide," Obi-Wan Kenobi muttered under his breath, storming down the halls of the Temple, searching for his Padawan.
"Ah, lost your Padawan again, Master Kenobi?" a voice called after him, noticing his hurry.
"Yes, as a matter a fact, I have, Master Windu," Obi-Wan replied. "And he's late for meditation. Again. I am going to tan that boy's hide when I find him. I'll promise him that!"
"I don't blame you. Speaking of which, I seem to have lost mine as well," Mace mused. "Might as well join you in the search."
Several minutes passed before they found them, together, slumped over in the hall, asleep. Mace started in surprise.
"Didn't expect them to be together," Mace muttered, before setting his hands on his hips.
"Anakin Skywalker!" Obi-Wan said sternly, scaring his Padawan out of his sleep. Padme jerked awake when the weight on her shoulder suddenly disappeared.
"Master! Um, hi? I'm sorry for, uh, whatever it is that I, uh, did. What did I do, anyhow?"
"You missed your meditation. Again."
"And you, yours, Padawan," Mace's stern tone was directed towards Padme. She ducked her head and blushed.
"I'm sorry, Master," Padme said. Her Master was so intimidating sometimes.
"Master, Padme was teaching me how to read! I don't know how yet, but I know most of the letters! And then she was reading about the Krayt Dragon, which is my favorite animal and then I sorta fell asleep but it was really cool!"
"That's nice, Padawan, but get back to our quarters before I tan your hide right here and now!" Obi-Wan threatened, earning a wide-eyed look from his Padawan. Wonderful. Anakin thought to himself. He was still smarting from his Master's rebuke he had received yesterday. The thought of another on top of that made him annoyed. I just can't seem to stay out of trouble!
"Um, bye Padme! Thanks for teaching me how to read! Maybe we can do it again?" Anakin asked, leaping to his feet.
"Bye Anakin! Yes, we'll have to do it again. Next time we can read about the Pikobi!"
"Its a deal!" Anakin ran off.
"Walk, Padawan!" Obi-Wan chuckled.
"And the same for you, Padme. Go back to our quarters." Mace said, giving her a stern glare. Padme followed after Anakin quickly, towards the living quarters level of the Temple. Obi-Wan and Mace shared an amused look and burst out laughing. Boy, was it fun to scare Padawans sometimes. The two Jedi finally got a hold of themselves, and putting on the faces of stern disciplinarians, followed after their Padawans.
...
Padme caught up to Anakin and they walked together towards their quarters.
"What's your Master gonna do to you?" Padme asked in a horrified whisper.
"You heard him. Tan my hide. That's what he always does." The two stopped outside the door that read Kenobi/Skywalker.
"Same with me, probably," Padme said, "although, my Master's never put it that way before." Padme smiled ruefully.
"I'd better go," Anakin said opening the door to his quarters. "My Master'll be expecting me meditating in the corner when he gets here."
"Oh, okay. I'm glad to have met you, Anakin." Padme turned and headed further down the hall.
"I'm glad to have met you too!" Anakin called after her before ducking inside his apartment.
...
Oh, Anakin. He's been a Padawan for four days and he just can't stay out of trouble. And he's either exaggerating when he said "all the time" when he's really only had his hide tanned once or he's really telling the truth about getting his hide tanned all the time. I'm personally in favor of the latter because, even as an adult, he can't stay out of trouble.
Hope you enjoyed! I had a request from 666mewmew on a story where Padme was Force-Sensitive. I don't know if this is what s/he was hoping for, but this is what came to mind.
So, I went back after some time to reread this story again, and it seems, as I finished some revisions, I accidentally swapped the revised Chapter One for the unrevised Chapter Two. I decided to delete the whole thing, post this revised chapter, and rewrite the now lost Chapter Two. It should be up within a few days. Hopefully.