Are you an angel?
What?
An Angel. I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the moons of Iego, I think. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe.
You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much?
I listen to all the traders and star pilots who come through here. I'm a pilot, you know, and someday I'm going to fly away from this place…
Anakin grimaced as he felt something cool push against his face and a soft feminine voice soothe him out his dreamful sleep. He groaned at the nice feeling of something damp on his face and a small smile graced his lips as the memory of Padme came to his mind. He had been dreaming about when he had first met the Queen of Naboo in Watto's shop all those years ago.
There hadn't been a day since then that he hadn't thought about her.
"Shhh," came the female voice, "you're okay."
Anakin found himself leaning into the soothing hand, the touch reminding him all too much of his mother. How she would run her fingers through his hair and how she would dab a damp cloth over his face when he was sick and talk to him soothingly.
He found himself almost believing that it was his mother, but it couldn't be. His mother was back on Tatooine where he had left her all those years ago with the promise that he would come back and free her, but that promise remained unfulfilled.
His blue eyes snapped open and stared at the dark figure of a woman as she smoothed a hand through his blond hair and continued to dab a cold washcloth over his sunburned face. As soon as she saw that he was awake, she placed her hand on his shoulder in a calming manner.
"W-who are you?" he asked hoarsely as he stared around at his unfamiliar surroundings. He was laying on a hard bed in a small and dimly lit room, but he could tell that it was daytime from the light that streamed out from behind the tapestries that covered the windows.
"Where am I?" he asked the older woman, who had been staring at him with large inquisitive brown eyes that were framed by her long gray hair.
"You are in my home," she said in a thick accent as she motioned around the hovel that was her dwelling. "My son found you passed out along the road last night and he brought you here. Good thing he did, or you would've died."
Anakin did not remember having passed out, but he was glad that someone had found him and was kind enough to help him. The only thing that he had remembered was how he had been trying to make it to the settlement that he had felt through the Force, but apparently, he didn't make it there before his dehydration and exhaustion had caught up with him.
"Here," she said as she pulled out a canteen that was covered in some sort of animal hair and handed it to him. "Drink."
Anakin took the canteen and held it up to his parched lips and let the refreshingly cool water run down his throat greedily. He hadn't had anything to drink in almost a day and he was thankful to have finally gotten ahold of water.
"Thank you," he said as he used his sleeve to wipe away the water that was running down his chin before handing the canteen back to her.
"What were you doing in the desert all by yourself? With no food or water?" she asked as she sat the canteen down, her questioning eyes coming to rest over his appearance. As soon as Raji had brought the boy home, she knew from the poor boy's appearance that he had been wandering through the desert and that he did not have food or water, which was a must-have in the desert.
The boy had been in such bad shape when Raji had found him and Nayeli had felt responsible for the young man, who could not have been older than eighteen. He was young and also unusually dressed and obviously confused. It was easy to tell that he was not a native to Ben'we.
He was also dressed unusually as well as having a long braid that hung down onto his shoulders and had red and blue beads, not something that Nayeli had ever seen anyone do to their hair.
"I crash-landed here," he said as he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position and placed his feet on the dirt ground, his eyes lingering over his robes which sat in a pile on the mat by the door.
"You crashed?" asked the woman with wide eyes as she searched his form for any sign of injury. He didn't seem to have any deep lacerations or broken bones, which was surprising if he had managed to survive a crash landing.
The great spirits must have been watching out for him if he had managed to walk away from a crash with no major injury. And then to have walked through the desert unharmed with no food or water was just as miraculous. The Huo'Nabbi desert had many vicious creatures who liked to stalk their prey and attack them before eating them.
But this boy had not been preyed upon and the heat had not killed him.
He must be have been favored by the Letan'ii, the desert spirits who liked to devour the souls of men by sand and the sun. It was rare that they allowed safe passage through their sacred domain unharmed.
"Yes and I have no idea where I am," he said with agitation.
"You're on Ben'we," she said as she made her way over to where his dark robes had been laid out. Nayeli had taken them off of him and had mended them as well as washing them so that when he woke up he would be able to wear his clothes again.
They were still a little damp but at least they no longer stunk of sweat.
"I don't know what system this is?" he asked as he accepted his robes.
"Most people don't," she said with a sigh as she took her seat. "You're in the Ben'alli system."
"I've never heard of it," he said as he shrugged his robes back over his undershirt but opted not to put the leather vest back on because of the heat it would attract.
Nayeli watched him silently before getting up and making her way over to the table where she had laid out some food for the boy when he awoke from his sleep. She knew that he would be hungry when he woke up and so she made sure to prepare something for him as well as Raji, would be returning from the marketplace soon.
"Where are you from?" she asked curiously as she started to cut into the bread.
"Coruscant," he said absentmindedly as he started to slip his boots on.
Nayeli paused at the name that the boy had given her but shrugged it off. Some people still referred to Imperial Center as Coruscant and Nayeli didn't particularly care what people called that place. She had never been to Coruscant but she had had the pleasure of visiting a few of the other planets in the galaxy, such as Jedha and Stewjon. Her father had been a trader and he would sometimes take Nayeli and her sister along with him, but after her sister had been taken by slavers, Nayeli could not bring herself to leave the safety of her home planet.
Her sister was probably dead by now or a slave on some outer rim planet beyond the reaches of civilization. It pained Nayeli to think of her lost sister and she knew that she would never see her again until they died and reunited in the heavens above, but until then there would always be an ache in her heart.
"What's your name?" she asked over her shoulder as she tried to take her mind off of her sister.
"I'm Anakin, you?" he asked as he stood up and made his way over to the table.
"Nayeli," she said as she noticed him staring down at the food. His stomach gave an audible grumble and she let out a little laugh as his face twisted in slight embarrassment. She had raised a son of her own and she knew how hungry teenage boys could get.
"Here," she said as she handed him the bread along with a bowl of mush that reminded Anakin of the porridge that the Temple cafeteria would serve.
"Thank you," he said as he accepted the food and he started to chew away at the bread. He could tell that Nayeli and her son did not have much food and that them sharing what they had was a big deal.
He knew what it was like to not have much and he was thankful that she was willing to share with him what she had.
Anakin was in the middle of eating when the door opened and slammed and a man walked into the house, his huge frame filling out the entire room and making everything appear a lot smaller than it actually was, including Anakin.
"Raji," said Nayeli as she walked over to greet her son, "how was the market today?"
"Fine," he said gruffly as he dumped his bag on the floor and pulled out a piece of paper before stomping over to where Anakin was.
"Is this you?" he asked as he shoved the piece of paper in the teenager's face, his voice low and menacing.
Anakin took the paper out of the older man's hand and stared down at the grainy picture of him that had probably been taken from one of the security cameras on board that ship. The picture was grainy and Anakin barely recognized himself, but he knew that it was him.
They had given out his physical description as well as identifying him as a Jedi and offering an award to anyone who could contact the Empire about his whereabouts.
"Raji!" said Nayeli in a chastising tone, "don't speak to Anakin like that!"
Raji ignored his mother as he glared down at the Padawan and crossed his beefy arms across his chest. He wanted to know whether or not he and his mother were harboring a fugitive of the Empire or not and whether this boy posed a danger to him and his family.
Anakin stared down at the poster and looked at the amount that they were offering to pay anyone who found him and cringed when he realized that Nayeli and her son could easily turn him in and receive enough money to have a better life.
"Answer me, kid!" said Raji harshly, the anger on his face evident.
Anakin didn't know what to say as he stared down at the poster with his information on it, his mind trying to work out what his next course of action.
It wasn't right to lie to people, especially those who had taken him in and cared for him.
They had a right to know if their lives were in danger by his mere presence.
Anakin solemnly nodded, "yes, it's me."
There was a pregnant pause as Anakin and Raji stared at each other from across the room while Nayeli shook her head in confusion.
"What is going on here?" asked Nayeli as she stared at her son and Anakin.
"He's wanted by the Empire," said Raji as he took the piece of paper from Anakin and handed it over to his mother. "There are Stormtroopers all over Yanasia and Ra'lli. They're searching every home and building for a Jedi."
"A Jedi?" asked Nayeli after a few moments of silence, her eyes traveling over to where she had placed Anakin's lightsaber before looking back at the young man. She had not been as old as she was now when the Galactic Republic had fallen and she had clearly remembered the Jedi. They had been guardians of peace and although Nayeli had never had the pleasure of meeting one, she had respected them nonetheless.
But the Jedi Order was no more and those that had survived the Purge had gone deep into hiding and the rest of the galaxy had been told that they were traitors and had tried to overthrow the Chancellor.
And now seeing this boy, this Jedi with his strange clothes and braid who was lost and alone on an unfamiliar planet, Nayeli could not simply abandon him because of the Empire. But at the same time, she did not want her son or his wife and children to get hurt by his presence.
Nayeli knew what happened to those who had harbored Jedi from the Empire, but at the same time, she knew in her heart what had to be done.
The boy had been lead here for a reason whether it be by the great spirits or by the mystical Force that Nayeli knew so little about.
"What did you do?" asked Nayeli. "Did you escape from the Empire? Is that why you crash-landed here?"
"They took me against my will!" said Anakin, almost defensively.
"So you ran?" asked Raji in disbelief, "and you brought them here? Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
"Raji," said Nayeli as she placed her hand on her son's bulky bicep, "he's just a boy. You know what the Empire does to Jedi! They would've killed him!"
Raji let out an angry puff of air as his dark eyes came to rest on Anakin, who was standing completely still with a rigid posture. He could sense the hostility coming from Raji and he wasn't about to let himself get into another potentially dangerous situation.
Raji took a few large breaths before he finally seemed to calm down, his eyes softening when he too saw that Anakin was just a boy. This Jedi was just a boy who had barely reached manhood running away from the Empire only because his life depended on it.
Had he not escaped, they would've killed him like they had so many others.
"Who is this Empire you keep mentioning?" asked Anakin after a few moments of tense silence, his curiosity getting the better of him. He wanted to know what the Empire was and why they were capturing and killing Jedi, and why the Council on Coruscant seemed to be oblivious.
Nayeli let out a short laugh, "you must've hit your head in that crash. Everybody knows who the Empire is. Are you not a Jedi?"
Anakin tilted his head to the side in confusion. He knew he had not hit his head in the crash and he most certainly did not know who the Empire was, despite him being a Jedi Padawan.
"I'm a Padawan, I haven't completed my trials to become a Jedi Knight yet but that doesn't change the fact that I have no clue what this Empire is."
Nayeli dipped her head to the side before staring up at her son, who also had a confused and perplexed look on his face. How could a Jedi not know about the Empire?
"You should know," said Raji, "they've been hunting your kind down for the past twenty-two years like animals."
"What?" asked Anakin. He had never heard of an Empire hunting down Jedi and the way these people talked it was if they were from a completely different time period. Or maybe they had been living under a rock for a few thousand years, either way, this did not bode well with Anakin.
Mostly because he could sense the truth behind their words.
"The Jedi Order was destroyed," said Nayeli. "They were purged and those who did survive have been in hiding ever since."
"No," said Anakin as he vehemently shook his head, "no such thing has happened. I was just on Coruscant less than three days ago and the Order was still there. You must be mistaken."
Nayeli shook her head sadly, "no Anakin. We're not. We may live on a remote planet in the Outer Rim, but even we know what happened to the Jedi."
"That's impossible," said Anakin in irritation as he once again reached out in the Force to try and feel the presence of the Jedi, but just like all his previous attempts, he found nothing. He could sense the truth behind their words but refused to believe it.
It was simply impossible.
The only explanation was that he was somehow in a different time period, but that was utterly impossible. Time travel was an absurd concept that had become a popular literary tool in many holo-novels and movies, but outside of fiction it just wasn't possible.
Was the Force even capable of manipulating time? There was no known record in Jedi history or teachings that suggested the possibility, but then again there was still so much they did not know about it.
"W-what year is it, exactly?" said Anakin as he licked his dry lips, dreading the answer even though deep down he already knew the truth.
Raji and Nayeli shared a worried look but Anakin didn't care how crazy he sounded. He just needed to know.
"How many years has it been since the Treaty of Coruscant?" asked Anakin. There were so many calendars in the galaxy and most people within the Republic counted up the years since the Treaty had been signed.
"It's 3656 ATC," said Nayeli, slowly. "Why do you want to know?"
"No, that's... that's impossible," muttered Anakin in disbelief, ignoring the strange looks on Nayeli and Raji's faces as he mentally counted out the years. It was supposed to be 3629, but if what they were saying was true then that meant that Anakin had somehow found himself twenty-eight years in the future.
Anakin's breathing became labored as he let his control on his emotions gradually slip away. He was starting to panic at the notion and he was having a hard time controlling his fear and confusion.
He was in the future, and the Jedi had somehow been destroyed, but how?
Had it been the Sith Lord that the Jedi had been trying to locate for years? Had he been the one to destroy the Jedi? Was that why Anakin had been brought here? To prevent the destruction of the Jedi?
Anakin had never asked to have the prophecy of the Chosen One placed on him. It wasn't something that he wanted but had been given to him regardless of his feelings by the Council.
He had lived years within the Order, under their scrutinizing eyes as they waited to see whether or not he would fulfill the prophecy or screw up and It made Anakin feel uncomfortable. Like he was some sort of science experiment that they were observing, waiting for him to either fail or succeed.
It wasn't fair to be held to such high standards and to have so much expected of him when for years they had looked down upon him as nothing more than just an ex-slave from the uncivilized reaches of the Outer Rim.
He had remembered the way his fellow Jedi would silently mock him when he did or said something that did not align with the ideology of the Order. To them, he had been an outsider who had not been raised in the prestigious Order but had instead grown up a slave.
And to some degree that would always be true.
But was this a part of the Prophecy? For him to come here to this time of all places? To witness the future so that he could return to the past to change it?
Anakin did not know and nor did he want to find out. He just wanted to go back to his own time and find Obi-Wan and forget everything that had transpired over the course of the last twenty-four hours.
And if the Jedi had been destroyed and he could no longer feel his Masters presence, did that mean-?
Anakin shook his head in grief and denial as the Force confirmed the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He didn't need to be told by anyone, he could already feel it in his already shaking body.
There were no words to describe the empty cold feeling that seemed to hover over Anakin, only that it brought him physical and emotional pain that seemed endless and eternal. He just wanted something to hold onto, something familiar to anchor him down to the reality that he was faced with.
But there was nothing. Nothing familiar except for that bright and shining presence that Anakin felt connected to, somehow-
And even now, he could feel that presence, shining brightly in the Force and steadily growing closer and closer and brighter with every passing second, but that presence was not the only one. There was something else that was also drawing closer and closer, but unlike the other presence, this one was shrouded in darkness. The presence was tainted and poisonous and it gave Anakin a clear picture of who the presence belonged too.
Someone who reeked of the Dark Side.
It was obvious that the lighter presence could feel his sudden panic through the strange bond that they shared and they tried to calm him down by sending him soothing waves through the Force, but Anakin ignored them.
The Force muttered a warning to Anakin, telling him to control his raging and unrestrained emotions before they got the better of him. He could feel the urgency through the Force and he knew it was because of the dark presence that was heading this way. If he lost control of his emotions and let his shields up, they would be able to feel his presence and know where he was.
So Anakin took a deep breath as he tried his best to calm his emotions and strengthen his shields, which had begun to wane under the pressure of Anakin's emotions.
"It doesn't matter what you believe, it's still true. And now the Empire knows you're here and they're looking for you. We have to get you off this planet before they find you."
Nayeli's voice was soothing as it seemed to ease Anakin out of his Force-related stupor and back into the present situation. They wanted to get him off the planet before the Empire found him, but Anakin was unsure if he should further endanger Nayeli and her family. This Empire did not sound friendly and Anakin feared what their fate would be if they found out they were harboring him.
Anakin nodded solemnly, "I wouldn't want you or your family to be put in danger because of me."
"Nonsense," said Nayeli, "we know someone in Yanasia who can help get you off the planet, but it won't be easy."
"No," said Raji in agreement, "by now the Empire has probably called for reinforcements to set up a blockade around the planet and they have Stormtroopers posted in every major city from here to Tanesh."
"So what do you plan to do?"
"We can get you into Yanasia but we cannot help you anymore at that point," said Raji as he shook his head. "I will not endanger the lives of my family anymore today. I'm sorry but I'm sure you understand that the consequences would be dire."
Nayeli sadly nodded her head in agreement, "Raji is right. The Empire has no mercy."
"I understand," said Anakin truthfully, "I will not ask you to endanger your family any more than you already have today."
Besides, Anakin shouldn't have too much trouble in the settlement. He just had to keep his head down and make sure to avoid any potentially dangerous situations, but even then there were no guarantees.
Nothing was certain.
"Once you get into the city, you'll need to find a man by the name of Philio. He owns a cantina in the lower parts of the city. Just tell him that Raji sent you and he should be able to get you off the planet, no questions asked. And if he does give you grief, just tell him that he owes me a favor."
Anakin nodded, "where will he take me too?"
"Just tell him you want to go somewhere with as little Imperial presence as possible. Philio will know where to go."
Anakin was unsure whether or not this was the right decision. Should he stay on the planet or should he take his chances and leave? Could he trust this Philio person to get him off the planet safely? Or should he stick around and see if that presence would come and find him? And what of the dark presence? What if they reached him first?
Anakin did not know what to do, and the Force was being strangely silent on the subject, leaving Anakin at a loss for what he should do.
Should he stay? Or should he go?