Disclaimer: Il n'appartient pas à moi. Mwahahaha it's FRENCH!
IMPORTANT A/N: Okay, so I was dabbling into the world of Harry Potter (I wrote a one shot about James and Lily if anyone wants to read it—it's kinda really really fluffy, but I was in that mood), and to get a better idea of their characters I started reading other lily and James works. And apparently, has started this new rule that you're not allowed to reply to your reviewers (why, I don't know)—and some fics got kicked off the net because of that.
Because of this new rule, and because I don't want this fiction kicked off the net, and because of school (blargh) taking up so much time, I'm not going to reply individually to each and every reviewer. I'm so sorry! I wish I could because I love corresponding with you all, but I can't. If you guyz want me to reply to something you have to say, I think you're going to have to e-mail me. It's a hassle, I know, and I apologize, but I don't want to get booted off!
On the other hand, just because I don't review individually DOES NOT mean that I don't read EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR REVIEWS and appreciate them like crazy. Thank you all so much for the input, I am eternally grateful.
Once again, I apologize for not replying to your guyz individually, and for the late update. Real Life just got in the way, gargh. Stupid school….anyway…thanks for reading and reviewing, and PLEASE CONTINUE TO DO SO!
PART ONE: BUDDING
Chapter Thirteen
The crowd was roaring in anger and frustration. A full five minutes had passed since the last duel, and there was no sign of the next one coming. The boos filtered into Ali's brain, mixing with the cold empty buzzing that was the original inhabitant, and made her feel sick.
Ali felt like she had just been doused in buckets upon buckets of ice water, and was now in shock. It had to be a dream, the whole horrible last half hour. A terrible nightmare. She would wake up any second now.
But she didn't. The annoyingly loud voice of the announcer brought her back to the real word. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, this was reality.
"The judges have come to a decision," the speakerphone boomed. "Padawan Alianne forfeits on account of unprovoked and unjustified acts of violence. Padawan Sera is the victor by default!"
Ali felt all feeling drop out of her stomach, and knew that if she didn't run away from it all very, very soon, she would throw up all over the floor.
"We will now take a minute to arrange the matches for the final three," the voice continued, and now the entire crowd was cheering. It was sickening, how they all acted as one block, one mindless blob that would follow anyone's leadership.
Ali bolted, running as fast as her legs would carry her. She headed towards the exit—away from the raucous crowd, away from that horrible announcer, away from the shame, the guilt, and the disappointment in Master Lyra's eyes. Pushing open the door, Ali felt the tears come.
Anakin, from another corner of the stadium, saw the blur of red that could only be his friend's hair, streaming behind a slim figure as she headed for the exit. And he followed suit immediately.
He found her a short while later, sitting against a pillar in the hallway, her knees up to her chest and her face buried in her hands. She looked so pitiful and tiny, that all the grudges he held against her for befriending Ryan just melted away.
"Oh, Ali," He murmured sympathetically, sitting down beside her. She didn't acknowledge his presence.
He sighed and leaned over, enveloping her in a gentle hug. She still didn't react, but he refused to let her go. Anakin felt his friend's body heave with silent sobs, and knew that she needed him here to comfort her.
At last she lifted a tear streaked, pain filled face to look at him. Her eyes were starry and her face flushed, and Anakin felt a funny jolt run through him at their closeness.
"Ani," she whispered, leaning her head onto his shoulder. "I failed." And she continued crying. He soon felt her tears seep through his cotton robe.
"No you didn't," He said soothingly. "You just made a mistake." She snorted derisively, in a most unladylike way. "Everyone makes mistakes," Anakin continued, ignoring her reaction. "It's a failure if you don't learn from them."
She nodded dubiously, and Anakin could tell that she didn't really believe him.
"What exactly happened?" He murmured, inhaling the flowery scent of her hair.
She sighed unhappily. "Short version is that Sera was being Sera, and I rose to her bait and threw a fireball at her. And thus I forfeited the match. I lost to Sera, Ani! Sera!" Anakin couldn't help but smile slightly. It was such an Ali thing to do.
"Well then," he ploughed on. "Next time you'll know not to let your emotions get the better of you."
"Yeah," she said, smiling bitterly. "Next time." Quickly Ali reached up and brushed away her tears with a brisk back of her hand.
"I feel like such a child," Ali admitted. "Crying and rising to Sera's bait like this."
"You're not a child," Anakin replied firmly. "You're one of the most mature, sensible people I know."
"Who are you comparing me to, Zane?" Ali asked, grinning. Anakin laughed.
"Oh, Sith," Ali cried. "I forgot you still have a battle to finish! Who are you against?"
"Ryan," Anakin answered stubbornly. "But I'm not leaving until I'm sure you're okay."
"I'm fine, Ani!" She said, smiling to prove her point. "Now go! I don't want you to forfeit as well because you were late! GO!" He picked himself up off the floor, looking down at her.
"You're sure everything's fine?" He asked again. At her nod, he began to sprint down the hall towards the gym.
"ANI!" He heard a voice call, and spun around to see his best friend standing a while back. He quirked an eyebrow at her.
Kick his ass. And so he did.
Anakin burst into the Jedi Master's conference room, his face still lit up from the victory of half an hour ago. The gold medal hung from his neck, and in his hands he carried a trophy.
"Sorry I'm late, Masters," He gasped, trying to catch his breath. "The crowds wouldn't let me through." Anakin glanced around offhandedly and saw Ali, Sera, Kyla, and Ryan all in the room. A small part of his brain registered that these were the top five finalists in the previous tournament. Perhaps they were here to get another medal?
"Forgiven, you are, Padawan Skywalker," Yoda said, folding his hands in his lap.
"Now that you are here, however," Mace Windu said. "We shall be telling you all your prize."
"All?" Sera said blankly. "I thought it was just for the first place winner."
"All," Windu repeated firmly. "The five of you have proven yourselves to be talented and quick thinking in the field. We believe you are all ready to be given a mission of your own."
Ali felt her breath catch in her throat, and her eyes widen in surprise. The other Padawans gave the same reactions, Anakin smiling so largely Ali was shocked his face didn't burst. Sera had put her hands over her mouth and Kyla had gasped earlier. Even Ryan seemed ecstatic.
"Of our own, Masters?" Kyla questioned incredulously. "Without our Masters there? Just us five?"
Yoda nodded in confirmation. "Be your mission leader, Padawan Skywalker will."
"You shall check in every three hours to update us on the mission progress," Windu said sternly, handing Anakin a hologram device. "If any trouble is encountered that you are not able to deal with, we have a team ready to be sent off as soon as you call. Padawans Alianne, Sera, Ryan, and Kyla—you are now under Padawan Skywalker's orders. He is your group leader, and I do not want to hear any tales of disobedience." He fixed a severe gaze upon each of the teenagers.
"What is our mission, Master Windu?" Ali inquired eagerly.
"We have received a message from Senator Padme Naberrie Amidala from Naboo," Windu said coolly, clicking a few buttons upon a table. A hologram of a pretty, petite woman draped in elaborate clothing sprang up for all to see. Anakin grinned—he remembered Padme quite clearly. "Senator Amidala is an activist for democracy and weapon control. Recently she held a speech against the embargo of certain firepower to planets outside of the Senate, for they are not under the Confederation and have thus not agreed to limits on the use of weaponry. Shortly thereafter, she received a threatening message from an anonymous sender. We believe that an attack may be made at a senatorial ball she is attending this weekend. You will be leaving in three days. Once at Naboo, your job is to protect her at this party. Blend in—do not alert the enemy of your presence any more than is necessary. Senator Amidala is vital to the Senate. Do not let harm come upon her. We are depending on you, Padawans. May the Force be with you."
Once outside of the Jedi Council's presence, Sera and Kyla began to squeal in happiness. Their own mission! This was a chance to prove themselves worthy of knighthood, a chance to truly experience life out on the field. Anakin and Ryan were grinning ear to ear, and Ali was still in shock.
Their own mission! Their own mission! Ali had been on many a Jedi assignment before, but never without the presence of Master Lyra. This was almost enough to redeem the day from the disaster of the afternoon. Oh, how exciting!
The next three days didn't pass fast enough. Ali and Anakin spent it mostly together, their previous feud forgotten. It was as if the previous two weeks hadn't happened—Ali and Ani were inseparable again. The five were excused from classes because of extra information that they had to be briefed on, or because of training sessions they had to go through to further prepare them for their first assignment.
"Who do you think would want to attack the Senator?" Anakin inquired lazily one day before they left. He and Ali were supposed to be meditating, but their nerves were abuzz from anticipation. It was too hard to focus, so the two had given it up.
"I don't know," Ali admitted. "But when we were researching the embargo of weaponry, didn't it say that Dewar had the most imports of the Senate's weaponry? And isn't Dewar allied with Wyrn? I'm betting it's either Dewarians or the Wyrnish."
"Well, Master Obi-Wan and I took care of the Wyrns," Anakin replied. "So it's probably the Dewarians."
"Not…quite…" Ali said hesitantly. "Didn't you say that you couldn't find King Tyrannus? Well…isn't it possible that he left, gathered a bunch of followers with him, and went to his greatest ally, the king of Dewar?"
"Possible, not probable," Anakin yawned. Ali frowned again.
"Ani, you really should take this more seriously," She began. "What if King Tyrannus is still at large? He swore to have revenge on you--"
"I know, I know," Anakin sighed in a bored tone. "Can we talk about something else?"
Something nagged at Ali's conscience, but she didn't want to get in another fight with him. "Sure."
Ali couldn't sleep that night. She kept tossing and turning in her bed, her mind plagued with 'what ifs' and worries. Now that the big day was nearing, Ali was doubting herself. Was she skilled enough to be assigned such a huge responsibility? What if she wasn't, and because of her incompetence, Senator Amidala was killed?
Ali knew she would never fall asleep with these thoughts paralyzing her brain, so she decided to take a nice, calming walk in the gardens. She had scarcely exited the Jedi Temple when a very familiar voice called from behind her: "Wait!"
She turned around to see Anakin. "What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise.
"I couldn't sleep," He answered, ruffling his hair in embarrassment. "I just kept thinking: what if I'm not good enough to stop the attackers? What if someone gets hurt? What if Pa—Senator Amidala is killed? And then I decided I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk."
Ali laughed. "Not you too!" She said, still smiling. "I suppose it's first mission nerves, and it's natural for both of us. I wonder how the others are feeling?"
"Hopefully a bit better," Anakin replied wryly. "Someone has to keep their confidence up, or else we'll all fall apart."
Together the two best friends started to walk in the gardens surrounding the Jedi Temple, chatting amicably. For all their pretenses, however, the tension was still there. The two were nervous about the next day, but deliberately avoided the subject.
"Oh, look!" Ali cried excitedly, pulling on Anakin's arm. She was pointing at a small bunch of flowers over in a corner of the garden. "They're in bloom!" She ran off towards that little area giddily.
He ambled slowly after his friend, and kneeled down beside her to look at the pretty plants. The petals were white and waxy, the fragrance sweet and tempting. Ali smiled happily at him, and buried her nose into one of the blossoms.
"They're called lilies," She said knowledgably. "They only bloom during this season, because they're exotic and not used to cold weather. Aren't they pretty?" She redirected her attention to the flowers and ran a gentle finger over one. She smiled up at her friend, her eyes soft and sparkling in the moonlight.
"Beautiful," Anakin breathed. For some odd reason, Ali realized that he wasn't looking at the blossoms, and she felt a very uncomfortable feeling arise in her chest region.
"Well then," Ali said, laughing uncomfortably. "I'm going to go off to bed, Anakin. We can't expect to protect the Senator when we're sleeping on our feet, can we?"
She stood up quickly and began to walk back to the Temple. Their pace was brisk, and the small talk limited. They departed for their separate dorms, bidding each other a courteous good night.
Once inside her room, and snuggled under her covers, Ali breathed a sigh of relief. That awkward feeling was gone from her stomach, and she must say it was for the better. Things weren't supposed to be so…uncomfortable with Anakin! She inwardly seethed. It was the moonlight, she decided. Stupid thing made hormones run wild. She didn't—couldn't—like Ani that way, and he didn't like her either. Rebuking all further thoughts of improper feelings and nerve wracking ideas of failing at her mission, Ali rolled over and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Anakin, meanwhile, fell asleep with a peaceful expression on his face, his dreams filled with a sweet faced, pretty redheaded girl with a lily in her hair. When he woke up, he would deny all such dreams and thoughts. They were, after all, forbidden.
A/N: I know that I didn't describe Ani's fight with Ryan, but I just wasn't up to it. SORRY! Does the Ali/Ani relationship seem a little rushed to you? Because I have two options in my mind, and they all depend on whether or not you all think the relationship is rushed. If not, then I'll go on with my original plot (my preferred route). If yes, then I'll deepen it…I think. Please read and review! I apologize tenfold for the delay in updates. I'll try and do the next one next weekend. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
P.S. If you are an HP fan, could you check out my one shot plz? I know it's really mushy, but I would like input on it...it's my first attempt at writing HP fanfiction. THANKS!