Fear Part 7

"I'm going to go into the village today to pick up some more supplies," Anakin announced at breakfast Saturday morning. "Anyone want to come with me?"

"I do," all the padawans except Keren chorused.

He nodded and glanced over at the others. "Luke, Keren , Chewie?"

Keren looked suddenly anxious. She was much more relaxed now at the lake retreat and with everyone there, except for Anakin, but the thought of going to a new place and seeing strangers was still unnerving for her.

Luke gauged her reaction and looked at his father. "I think Keren and I'll stay here." //I don't think she's quite ready for that yet.// he sent to Anakin.

//All right, Luke. You two can come along another time.//

Chewbacca growled that he wouldn't mind tagging along, but since their speeder hadn't been modified for Wookiees, he thought it would be a little uncomfortable.

"That's all right, Chewie," Luke said. "You can come with us. We're going to go for a walk in the woods. Who knows? We might even climb a tree."

"You're already teaching the fine art of climbing trees?" Anakin joked. "Wouldn't Master Yoda be proud?"

"Hey," Luke gave him a look of mock indignation. "I climbed quite a few trees on Dagobah."

"Hmm. I've never cared for climbing trees," Anakin remarked. "Maybe that's why he never liked me."

"How come Master Yoda didn't like you?" Gil asked curiously.

Realizing suddenly that he'd strayed onto a deeper topic than he'd meant to, Anakin looked away, his eyes filled with shame and embarrassment.

"We'll talk about that later," he muttered. "Come on. I'd like to be back by lunchtime."

So Anakin, Elissa, Tera, and Gil drove to the small village several miles away. It was a quiet, peaceful place with wide, tree-lined streets, and quaint stone buildings. People strolled along, often pausing to chat with friends or wave to an acquaintance. There were several droids and gungans about, but most of the inhabitants seemed to be human.

Elissa and Tera looked around eagerly as Anakin parked the speeder near the local market. Neither of them had been to the village before and they were curious. Anakin studied the village with interest, too. He'd only been here once, when he'd come to register Gil in school a few weeks ago, and that had been a short visit. Only Gil, who came to the village almost every morning, was blaise about it.

"Master Anakin, could we walk around on our own?" Tera asked. She and Elissa gazed at him pleadingly.

Anakin nodded. "All right, but stay together and meet back here in a couple of hours."

"Gil, you want to come with us?" Elissa asked.

Gil hesitated, but then shook his head. "No, thanks. I'll stay with Master Anakin."

So they split up, Tera and Elissa wandering along the street, peering into shop windows, and Anakin and Gil heading for the market to replenish their supplies.

As they picked out fruits and vegetables, they chatted about school, Jedi training, and life at the Academy, Anakin had a momentary pang imagining if he'd been able to do things like this with Luke when he'd been small. Gil had always reminded him of Luke a little bit, at least in looks. He had the same fair hair and wiry build, though his eyes were green and not blue like Luke's. It was easy to let himself imagine what might have been when he was around Gil.

Still, bittersweet paternal feelings aside, they had a pleasant time, though Anakin was aware that they were attracting attention from other shoppers. Some people smiled or simply seemed curious, but others looked at them with suspician.

Anakin also knew that in their sand-colored outfits and his brown cloak, they were easily identifiable as Jedi and that some people in this village did not want them there. He suddenly wondered if letting the girls go off alone had been a good idea. Or if they should send Gil to school here, for that matter.

"Gil, how do you feel about school now?" he asked as they were paying for their groceries. "I mean, do you feel safe?"

Gil shrugged. "I guess so. Reynard and his gang say mean things, but they don't try to hit me anymore. Not since I learned to use a Force-bubble."

"What about the other people here? The adults? Do you feel safe around them?"

"Yes," Gil considered. "You can tell some of them don't like Jedi. They look sort of funny or glare when they see me, but nobody's ever said anything."

Anakin let the subject drop as they placed their groceries on a hover sled, but he had to admit he felt a little relieved when he saw Elissa and Tera approaching. They were walking back towards the speeder when Gil stopped and tugged at Anakin's arm.

"Master Anakin, could I get a ice-treat? Please?

He was pointing across the street at a sweets-treat shop. Anakin nodded and took several credits from his wallet. "I suppose so." He turned to the girls. "Do you girls want one, too?"

They shook their heads so Anakin handed Gil the credits and said, "Look, the speeder's right over there. We'll be loading up the groceries."

"Okay." Gil skipped off, pausing on the other side of the road to call back, "Thanks" and hurried into the shop.

He'd bought an oppago-flavored ice-treat and was leaving the shop when someone abruptly knocked him down just as he'd stepped out of the doorway.

"Hey, watch where you're going, Anonymous," a familiar voice sneered, and Gil looked up to see Reynard laughing at him.

The ice-treat lay in a puddle on the ground now and Gil felt a flash of anger. It was a little thing, but he'd never had many treats in his life, and he wasn't crazy about being knocked down and laughed at, either.

Momentarily, he considered getting a few good punches in while Reynard's Goons weren't around to protect him, but then he remembered how earnestly Master Anakin and Master Luke talked about not giving in to anger and aggression, and he swallowed his resentment. He would be a good Jedi, and make them proud.

He did swiftly close a Force-bubble around himself, though, as he got to his feet. No point in letting Reynard beat him up.

"Get out of my way, Reynard. I've got to meet Master Anakin."

"Master Anakin? You wouldn't catch me kowtowing to any demon Force-user," the other boy declared. "Of course, you've been a slave. I guess you're used to-"

Gil's fist shot out and landed squarely on Reynard's jaw. He staggered back a couple of steps, then recovered and rushed at Gil before slamming into the Force-bubble and falling backwards to the ground.

By this time several passersby had stopped to see what was going on. A tall woman with black hair drawn back into a knot at the nape of her neck pushed through and pointed accusingly at Gil.

"How dare you attack my son, Jedi brat! Using your powers against defenseless victims!" she looked around at the crowd. "This is exactly the kind of thing I've been warning everyone about."

Just then Anakin, followed by Elissa and Tera , suddenly appeared at Gil's side, while a well-dressed middle-aged man standing nearby spoke up.

"That's not what happened, Mrs. Kane. I hate to say it, but Reynard started this. If anyone's to blame, he is."

"What's going on?" Anakin laid a hand protectively on Gil's shoulder while surveying the scene.

The woman took a quick step back from him, pushing Reynard behind her, and glaring at him with gray eyes that were dark with fury.

"You!" she hissed. "You just stay away from us. Things are different now. Your kind doesn't rule the galaxy anymore." Her gaze shifted to the other man. "And you, it's your fault they're here. You've sold out your own kind. But you'll live to regret it."

She spun around and hurried off, dragging her son after her.

"What happened?" Anakin repeated.

"Reynard knocked me down when I came out of the store," Gil explained. "I told him to go on, but he kept saying stuff." He sighed, knowing Anakin would not like the next part. "I got mad and hit him. Then he ran at me and crashed into the Force-bubble. Then his mom came, and well, you heard her."

"Yes, I did," Anakin didn't look happy. "Look, Gil, Reynard shouldn't have started anything, but you lost your temper and acted out of anger. That was wrong."

"I know," Gil mumbled, staring at the ground.

"I wouldn't be too hard on him, Master Skywalker," the man who had spoken in Gil's defense earlier said. "The other boy was more to blame. He started it."

"True, but a Jedi has to have self-control," Anakin replied. "If we act aggressively, even if there is some provocation, this group that doesn't like us might grow larger. Not to mention that it could lead to falling to the dark side. I know."

Gil frowned. "But he said-"

"We'll discuss it later," Anakin told him. He turned to the man, and surprise crossed his face as he recognized the stranger. "Mr. Shafliz!"

Shafliz smiled. "I wondered if you would remember me."

"Of course I remember you. Everyone," He looked about at the three padawans. "This is Mr. Shafliz. He owned the lake retreat after my wife's family sold it. He graciously gave it back to us as a gift a few months ago."

"It was nothing compared to the gift you gave us. Master Skywalker and his family saved my little girl's life," Shafliz smiled at them. "You must be the new Jedi students."

They all introduced themselves and then Shafliz commented, "As it turns out, we're going to be neighbors. My wife and I love the lake country so much, we've bought another home out here. It's just a few miles south of your Jedi Academy. We're vacationing here for a few weeks while school's out."

He smiled at Gil. "You know, my little girl, Wrennet, is just about your age. Maybe you'd like to come over and play sometime, as long it's all right with your Jedi Masters." He looked questioningly at Anakin.

Just as Anakin was nodding, a little girl with long brown hair and blue eyes ran up. "Daddy! Where have you been? Mama's ready to go home now." She looked at Gil. "Hi, I'm Wrennet Shafliz. What's your name?"

"Gil," He waited for her to ask about his last name, but she didn't seem to notice the absence.

"It's nice to meet you. Are you a Jedi? What can you do? Would you like to come over and play with me? I like it here, but I miss my friends from the city. All the other kids here already have friends and they don't like newcomers," she chattered.

"I know," Gil commented wryly.

"Although you wouldn't think I was still a newcomer. We've been coming here on vacation for years. I think they're jealous cause Daddy's rich, too."

"Wrennet," her father said reprovingly.

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Okay, Daddy, I know that's not good manners, but they are. So can Gil come over and play, please?"

"Well, that's up to Master Anakin," Shafliz looked questioningly at Anakin. "Gil's welcome to come over to our house this afternoon. We'll bring him home at dinnertime."

Anakin glanced down at Gil, who was looking at him pleadingly. "Would you like to do that, Gil?"

As the boy nodded eagerly, Anakin said, "Thank you, I'm sure Gil will have a good time."

"Daddy, can we please get an ice-treat?" Wrennet seemed to have suddenly noticed that they were standing in front of the sweets shop.

"All right," Shafliz handed her some money, and then gave some to Gil as well. "Here. You lost your first treat. Why don't you go get another one?"

As the children hurried inside, he added, "I hope that's all right with you?" to Anakin.

"Of course. Thank you. It's nice to have a friend here. If that woman, Mrs. Kane, is a typical villager, then it sounds like some of the villagers have the wrong impression of us," Anakin said in concern.

Shafliz shook his head. "That was Ignatia Kane. Her husband is a member of the village Advisory Council. He's a nice fellow, but she's always been a bit odd. I did hear that she's the one behind all the anti-Jedi feelings here, but I have no idea why she feels so passionately about it."

He shrugged. "But I wouldn't judge all the villagers by her. Just because they're not coming out in droves to welcome you doesn't necessarily mean anything. Most of the families here have lived in this village for generations. They're nice enough folks, but they tend to view newcomers with suspician. Like Wrennet said, we've been vacationing here for years, and they still see us as outsiders."

Just then Gil and Wrennet came back outside and the two groups departed. Gil left to spend the afternoon with the Shaflizes, and Anakin, Tera, and Elissa returned to the lake retreat.

While the girls told Luke and Keren about the morning's events, Anakin took Threepio into the library and asked him to begin a background check on Ignatia Kane.

"I'm very curious to know what exactly she has against the Jedi," he explained. "Gil said she and her son called us 'demon Force-users' which doesn't make sense to me. I could understand her calling me that, but the Jedi as a group have always defended the people of the galaxy. If we can find out what's turned her against us, maybe we'll know how to counteract it."

"I'll begin at once, sir," Threepio promised.

Anakin thanked him and went to join the rest of the family for lunch.

TBC