Anakin Solo
Leia Organa Solo sat impatiently, her job as the co-pilot of the Millenium Falcon meant little while the ship was traveling through hyperspace. Beside her Han Solo sat in a daze with his chin propped on his hand. Both of them were on this trip because they were worried about Anakin. Their youngest son had been causing a lot of problems for his Uncle Luke at the Jedi Academy. It had reached the point that Luke was ready to send the boy home. This trip was hopefully going to change not only Luke's mind; hopefully it would also have a positive effect on Anakin's behavior problems.
The call they had received last night had made it clear that Anakin wasn't making any progress on his own. Calls reporting on Anakin's misbehavior had become far too frequent. After dinner Leia had been resting in her husbands arms when the call had come in. As soon as Leia saw Luke on the screen she knew there was trouble. Anakin was standing beside his uncle; the all too familiar look of distance was on his face. It was as if he was not at all concerned about the consequences of his actions.
Luke spoke first, "I'm afraid this is not good news," he said stating the obvious. " I'll let Anakin tell you what happened." He gave the boy a nudge as he stepped forward to face his parents.
"I got bored during one of my lessons today so I quietly removed myself from the room and found something more interesting to do."
"So you cut a class?" Han Solo was not pleased.
"I found him in my office, he was just sitting behind my desk, waiting for me" Luke continued. "He told me that he knew I'd be looking for him, that's why he was already there, so I wouldn't have to spend time searching for him."
Leia was confused, frustrated, and upset. The look of great concern on her face could not be disguised by any Jedi techniques she knew. "Luke, I'd like to speak to you alone", she said trying to keep her composure calm. Han got up and left her alone on the couch hoping his wife had an idea that could help solve this problem.
Luke sent Anakin back to his room and turned his full attention to Leia. "We're coming to get him," she said getting to the point. "He's taking up too much of your time, and I'm afraid this will be the only way for him to realize that we are serious about our disapproval of his behavior." Before Luke could stop her Leia gave him some instructions, "Don't tell him we're coming, perhaps if we surprise him he'll tell us what's going on. If there is any possibility of solving this problem without removing him from the academy I want to give it a chance. Are you willing to keep this a secret and go along with his training if we can solve the problem?"
"You have my word" Luke replied quietly. "As important as it is to me to see that Anakin become a Jedi, I realize that he is becoming a distraction in my work with the other students. " Luke cut the link and took a seat; he was disappointed, disappointed in Anakin and disappointed with himself.
Anakin had not been himself for over a month now. The problems seemed to begin just a few weeks after the Anakin had returned to the academy from a visit home. There was one incident that Luke could connect to the beginning of all this, the night a mysterious power surge had caused all the lights to come on. All of the students were in bed when suddenly everything came to life. Every light in the temple came on in its brightest mode at once.
Jacen awoke with a start, immediately he began to rub his painful, delicate eyes. He stumbled to the door and entered the hallway as the rest of the young Jedi emerged from their rooms. Soon he heard the familiar sound of Zekk's voice, "Hey Solo, what happened to your hair?" Jacen quickly licked his hands in order to wet and weigh down in unruly curls.
Before he had the chance to redeem himself Anakin spoke up. "Jacen's a scruffy lookin' nerf herder", he declared smiling proudly. At that all the young Jedi broke into laughter, to his dismay Jacen noted that even Tenel Ka was smiling at the remark. Embarrassed he went back into his room and slammed the door.
The hallway suddenly silenced as Jedi Master Luke Skywalker turned the corner and began to approach the young jedi. "What did I miss?" He asked with great curiosity.
There was no immediate answer, everyone slowly looked at Anakin who could do nothing but hang his head in shame. "All right", Luke said. "You may all return to your rooms the lights have been fixed and there is no reason for you to remain up."
Zekk noticed that Luke was approaching Anakin in search of an explanation and felt guilty. "Master Skywalker, I'm afraid this whole thing was my fault."
"Was there something I should be aware of, perhaps something that may have provoked my nephew to slam his door loud enough to wake a hibernating bantha?" Luke smiled at the two young jedi and motioned for them to join him in Anakin's quarters.
Suddenly feeling more relaxed Zekk and Anakin took seat at the foot of the bed and explained what had happened in the hallway before Luke arrived. Luke found the story amusing, still he sternly reminded them that Jacen's feelings should have been considered before they had been so quick to judge. After getting a firm apology for the disruption Luke ordered the boys back to bed. His next course of action was to ensure that Jacen was all right. As Luke had expected, he was fine. They had a short discussion and came to the conclusion that Zekk and Anakin had not meant to hurt him.
Anakin sat up in bed long after his uncle had left the room. He hadn't meant to hurt Jacen, he had just wanted to fit in with his older siblings and their friends. Teasing Jacen had seemed to be a good way to score points with Zekk. He had received the attention he had wanted from the group; the only problem was that he had hurt his brother in the process. Attention, that was what Anakin craved most. Perhaps if he could create a scene in one of his lessons, distractions were always appreciated by the other students.
Despite the disturbance in the middle of the night, Anakin was up early the next morning. Today he would prove that it would be worth their while for the older kids to include him in their activities. During the morning meal Anakin began to plan his prank. His first mission was to gather a consensus; he wanted to disturb the class that the group found to be most boring. There was no contest; everyone seemed to agree that the worst lesson of the day was math.
Jaina could sense that her younger brother was up to something. Usually he was half-asleep at the morning meal. Today he not only seemed to be wide- awake; he was actually leading the discussion. She knew Anakin well enough to know that his scheme would be revealed sooner than later. The problem with Anakin's schemes was that he never thought out the consequences of his actions. It seemed as if he always got caught.
Leia Organa Solo sat impatiently, her job as the co-pilot of the Millenium Falcon meant little while the ship was traveling through hyperspace. Beside her Han Solo sat in a daze with his chin propped on his hand. Both of them were on this trip because they were worried about Anakin. Their youngest son had been causing a lot of problems for his Uncle Luke at the Jedi Academy. It had reached the point that Luke was ready to send the boy home. This trip was hopefully going to change not only Luke's mind; hopefully it would also have a positive effect on Anakin's behavior problems.
The call they had received last night had made it clear that Anakin wasn't making any progress on his own. Calls reporting on Anakin's misbehavior had become far too frequent. After dinner Leia had been resting in her husbands arms when the call had come in. As soon as Leia saw Luke on the screen she knew there was trouble. Anakin was standing beside his uncle; the all too familiar look of distance was on his face. It was as if he was not at all concerned about the consequences of his actions.
Luke spoke first, "I'm afraid this is not good news," he said stating the obvious. " I'll let Anakin tell you what happened." He gave the boy a nudge as he stepped forward to face his parents.
"I got bored during one of my lessons today so I quietly removed myself from the room and found something more interesting to do."
"So you cut a class?" Han Solo was not pleased.
"I found him in my office, he was just sitting behind my desk, waiting for me" Luke continued. "He told me that he knew I'd be looking for him, that's why he was already there, so I wouldn't have to spend time searching for him."
Leia was confused, frustrated, and upset. The look of great concern on her face could not be disguised by any Jedi techniques she knew. "Luke, I'd like to speak to you alone", she said trying to keep her composure calm. Han got up and left her alone on the couch hoping his wife had an idea that could help solve this problem.
Luke sent Anakin back to his room and turned his full attention to Leia. "We're coming to get him," she said getting to the point. "He's taking up too much of your time, and I'm afraid this will be the only way for him to realize that we are serious about our disapproval of his behavior." Before Luke could stop her Leia gave him some instructions, "Don't tell him we're coming, perhaps if we surprise him he'll tell us what's going on. If there is any possibility of solving this problem without removing him from the academy I want to give it a chance. Are you willing to keep this a secret and go along with his training if we can solve the problem?"
"You have my word" Luke replied quietly. "As important as it is to me to see that Anakin become a Jedi, I realize that he is becoming a distraction in my work with the other students. " Luke cut the link and took a seat; he was disappointed, disappointed in Anakin and disappointed with himself.
Anakin had not been himself for over a month now. The problems seemed to begin just a few weeks after the Anakin had returned to the academy from a visit home. There was one incident that Luke could connect to the beginning of all this, the night a mysterious power surge had caused all the lights to come on. All of the students were in bed when suddenly everything came to life. Every light in the temple came on in its brightest mode at once.
Jacen awoke with a start, immediately he began to rub his painful, delicate eyes. He stumbled to the door and entered the hallway as the rest of the young Jedi emerged from their rooms. Soon he heard the familiar sound of Zekk's voice, "Hey Solo, what happened to your hair?" Jacen quickly licked his hands in order to wet and weigh down in unruly curls.
Before he had the chance to redeem himself Anakin spoke up. "Jacen's a scruffy lookin' nerf herder", he declared smiling proudly. At that all the young Jedi broke into laughter, to his dismay Jacen noted that even Tenel Ka was smiling at the remark. Embarrassed he went back into his room and slammed the door.
The hallway suddenly silenced as Jedi Master Luke Skywalker turned the corner and began to approach the young jedi. "What did I miss?" He asked with great curiosity.
There was no immediate answer, everyone slowly looked at Anakin who could do nothing but hang his head in shame. "All right", Luke said. "You may all return to your rooms the lights have been fixed and there is no reason for you to remain up."
Zekk noticed that Luke was approaching Anakin in search of an explanation and felt guilty. "Master Skywalker, I'm afraid this whole thing was my fault."
"Was there something I should be aware of, perhaps something that may have provoked my nephew to slam his door loud enough to wake a hibernating bantha?" Luke smiled at the two young jedi and motioned for them to join him in Anakin's quarters.
Suddenly feeling more relaxed Zekk and Anakin took seat at the foot of the bed and explained what had happened in the hallway before Luke arrived. Luke found the story amusing, still he sternly reminded them that Jacen's feelings should have been considered before they had been so quick to judge. After getting a firm apology for the disruption Luke ordered the boys back to bed. His next course of action was to ensure that Jacen was all right. As Luke had expected, he was fine. They had a short discussion and came to the conclusion that Zekk and Anakin had not meant to hurt him.
Anakin sat up in bed long after his uncle had left the room. He hadn't meant to hurt Jacen, he had just wanted to fit in with his older siblings and their friends. Teasing Jacen had seemed to be a good way to score points with Zekk. He had received the attention he had wanted from the group; the only problem was that he had hurt his brother in the process. Attention, that was what Anakin craved most. Perhaps if he could create a scene in one of his lessons, distractions were always appreciated by the other students.
Despite the disturbance in the middle of the night, Anakin was up early the next morning. Today he would prove that it would be worth their while for the older kids to include him in their activities. During the morning meal Anakin began to plan his prank. His first mission was to gather a consensus; he wanted to disturb the class that the group found to be most boring. There was no contest; everyone seemed to agree that the worst lesson of the day was math.
Jaina could sense that her younger brother was up to something. Usually he was half-asleep at the morning meal. Today he not only seemed to be wide- awake; he was actually leading the discussion. She knew Anakin well enough to know that his scheme would be revealed sooner than later. The problem with Anakin's schemes was that he never thought out the consequences of his actions. It seemed as if he always got caught.