"Goodbye mom."
Anakin tried to sound braver and more determined this time, but his resolve was nonexistent.
"Mom! I can't do it, Mom! Please, I don't want to go! I don't want to leave you! I don't want to!"
Anakin's shoulders trembled and he sobbed, nearly screaming in despair when the sadness burn through him like lava.
He broke down falling, gasping, retching out sobs. All he could do was hang onto his mother. He never wanted to leave, he never wanted to leave her warm embrace.
She comforted him with her warmth.
"Mom, please..."
She knelt before him, her worn face kind.
"Mom..."
"Remember when you saved those banthas from being shot? And the time you saved those people from those Tuskens? The one time with the droids and Jawas? Remember how you helped hide Kitster so the Hutt's killers didn't get a hold of him? Remember how you would run through the city and cause trouble by doing all of those tricks? All of those times you wee exhausted, but kept pushing and going, do you remember?"
"I don't want to leave you."
Shmi squeezed his shoulders, smiling lovingly. "You are so kind and so brave. You have to help people my son, so many people that you can't begin to count. You have always helped anyone who was in need. I know how strong you are, Annie. I know how kind and compassionate you are. I know you can do this. I know how much of a difference you can make...I know how much good you are capable of. I know how much you touch people's hearts."
"I love you mom."
He tried to wipe away his tears. She was wrong. He was not strong. He couldn't save her. He couldn't stop himself from leaving her.
He never even got to say goodbye properly.
But, she decided he had to go, even if he found it hard, even if he resisted, like he was right now, she made up her mind.
It was for his own good.
"Will I ever see you again?"
You died...
"What does your heart tell you?"
In my arms.
Anakin didn't look her fully in the eye. "I hope so...I really hope so...Yes."
His mother nodded. "Then it will happen, Annie."
You died in my arms.
Anakin took a deep breath to steady himself and wiped away his tears.
"I will become a Jedi Knight. And I will come back and free you, Mom. I promise. I promise to free everyone here on Tattooine and in the galaxy. I will end slavery so no one has to have chips put inside of them so they blow up and so no one is sold and called a slave instead of a person with a name and with feelings."
Shmi smiled.
"My love is always with you. No matter how far, what planet, what star, what system you are on, even as you dream, even when I pass on from this life, and even when you pass on...I will always love you, my little Annie. I will always be right..."
She smiled, poking his beating heart.
"Right here. Feel it beat? My heart beats with your heart, always, my son."
"I love you mom. I'm so sorry."
"Do not be sorry. Be brave. Be strong. Never forget your courage, compassion, and love. Never forget that you know the difference between good and evil. To be good, to do good, and to not think of your own gain. Bring some good to the galaxy and don't look back even once my son. Be a hero."
"I love you, Mom. I love you. I love you! I love you!" Anakin cried.
She hugged him one final time, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop her from turning him around so he was facing the desolateness of loneliness.
I don't want to leave, mom!
Don't make me leave you!
"Don't look back, Annie."
She gave him a small push.
He found himself striding forward.
Now, he was alone.
He walked towards a point on the horizon without slowing down, marching stubbornly, crying without restraint. He wiped his running nose and slammed his forearm over his eyes, letting out a loud sob as tears and snot soaked his sleeve.
My mother is dead...
I have no home...
Master Qui Gon is dead...
He kept trudging on. Eventually the tears dried and he just took deep breaths, reeling, trying to recover, but seeing a familiar smile made him break into a sprint.
"Snips!"
His former Padawan turned to him, smaller, eyes big, but her smile was the same.
"Snips, what's wrong? Are you leaving me too?"
Seeing tears run down her face, Anakin knew it was true.
"E-Everyone I love either leaves me or dies. They're always snatched away. It isn't fair!" He began to sob again, slamming his forearm into his face to soak the tears.
He blinked, sniffing hard when she grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.
"It was never you, Master. I know you always believed in me, gave me a chance, and you fought by my side to the very end."
"Then why are you leaving?"
"Because...I...I don't know if I can trust myself. And if the Council doesn't trust me...If my fellow Jedi don't trust me, how can I trust myself? How can I be a part of something bigger?"
"Snips, come on." Anakin was grasping for straws, ready to just snap in frustration. "Come on."
She smiled, not letting go of his hand. "It was never you, Master."
"Who cares about the Council! They're all stupid!"
"Anakin..."
"Why are you leaving me?"
She looked deep into his eyes, gripping his hand tightly.
"I am not leaving Anakin Skywalker the person, my Master, my friend, and...I am leaving the Jedi Order. It is no fault of your own. None of this is your fault nor will I ever blame you for any of it. This is not goodbye for all eternity, Anakin. We will see each other again in the future. That is what we promised each other a long time ago, don't you remember Master?"
Anakin jolted awake, gasping, staring into the realm of hyperspace. Finally he remembered where he was and what he had been doing.
It had been a dream, but it felt like he was right there. He could hear his mother, hear his former Padawan, he could feel their emotions, his own turmoil, their love, their touch, and...
"You were my Padawan...For such a short time."
Cadus didn't finish his sentence.
He looked away, biting his bottom lip.
The gray eyed girl regarded him with a soft smile.
"It's okay, Master. I am always with you."
Cadus could hear the happy tone in the girl's voice, but he could feel himself and her breaking down with each passing second.
He shook his head. "You are my first Padawan...You're like a daughter to me. I wish you well. I really..."
"I'm sorry I can't stay with you, Master. I'm going to miss working with you and spending late nights talking like we always did. I'm really going to miss our discussions about history and eating fried ice cream with you and going to those diners! You've been a great Master...And, even more...A great father to me. I'll make sure I don't waste your training or your wisdom. I promise!"
"Where will you go?" He asked.
"I am going to the Outer Rim and beyond to help people most in need."
Cadus stared deep into her eyes. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a handful of gold coins, shoving them into her hand. "Here. If someone hassles you, one of these will be enough to get their whole crew to back off."
The girl's gray eyes flicked down down at the gold coins, then back up at Cadus.
"Master...Thank you..."
Her hands shook as she took the coins.
Tears ran down her cheeks. "Thank you so much."
"Do you have to go? Do you have to? Can't you stay with me?"
The girl swallowed hard. "I..."
She glanced past him, at some point beyond the horizon.
She shook her head.
"I can't. You taught me to be good and to do good, to touch the hearts of other people, and I will spread good one person at a time. I will touch the hearts of one person at a time."
Cadus nodded. "You are not a Padawan anymore..."
"Well..." She trailed off, biting her lip, looking at him.
He tried to smile.
"Thanks for everything, Master Cadus. Thank you for choosing me to be your apprentice, thank you for making me your Padawan. Thank you for raising me into a Jedi Knight! You're my best friend!"
Cadus cried, biting his bottom lip. "I won't ever forget you or everything that we did together. You're like a daughter, I don't want you to go."
He hugged the girl mightily.
They stood there, tears burning their eyes, a storm of emotions tearing them apart.
"I can't do it, Master! I don't want to go!"
"I don't want you to leave!"
Cadus shook, crying, straining, gasping for oxygen, doing everything he could to just hang on.
He never wanted her to leave his side, he never wanted her presence to be away from him. She looked him in his eyes the first time they seen each other, and without ever saying a word, they had understood each other in that moment.
He would be her Master and she would be his Padawan, but he had not chosen her...She had chosen him when she was still a little one.
"Remember when we saved those people by covering them in those leaves so they weren't detected by those hunters? And, there was the time we saved the family of Wookiees from that syndicate of slavers? And, there was that time with the family of Cereans. Remember how you always wandered off in the Jedi Temple, but always told me you didn't mean to wander off and would be in the gardens?"
"The rainbows in the mist, Master!"
Cadus nodded.
"You will be the mist that springs forth flowers. I know how strong and compassionate you are. I know you can do this. I know how much of a difference you can make...I won't confine you to myself or the Jedi Temple."
"I love you, Master!"
"Will I ever see you again?"
"What does your heart tell you, Master?"
Cadus shrugged. "I hope. Yes...I hope..."
She nodded with a bright smile. "We will always see each other."
Cadus took a deep breath to steady himself and wiped his tears from his face.
"I will train more Padawan into fine Jedi Knights. And, they will do what they can to help you when the time comes."
"No matter how far we are, no matter how many light-years separate us, no matter how old we may get, I will always be in your heart and you will always be in mine. For all eternity, Master. There is no separation between us, just as you chose me, and raised me into a Jedi Knight, we are forever bonded in the force. In each other." The girl told him, smiling kindly.
"You grew too fast, far too soon. I wish you would have been more silly and aloof like the others, you always picked up on things and understood the deeper depths to it all very quickly."
She hugged him tight and he returned her hug, clenching her brown robes like his life depended on it.
"It is all thanks to your teachings, Master. Little by little I will spread love and compassion, and every act of good I do will spread that good. Every person's life I touch, they will touch another person's and another, and from that, goodness will spread. I will protect precious lives and touch precious lives, just as you've always taught me. Just as you've given me the strength to do with my own two hands." She grinned, gray eyes shining with tears.
"You are a fine Jedi Knight."
"All thanks to your training and wisdom, Master!"
Cadus looked away, past the horizon, eyes setting on something he couldn't see. "I..."
"We will always be together, Master. For all eternity. You are my friend. My friend, just like the new summer wind."
Cadus's eyes snapped open, he took a deep breath.
Still in a haze, he closed his eyes, and massaged his throbbing temples. He had been dreaming, but, something about the whole thing felt more than a dream, almost like he was...