This chapter should end with a lot more fluff than last time. No trigger Warnings this time. Thank you for reading.
Chapter 29 - Mending What's Broken
Anakin collapsed next to the workbench. Fresh tears clogged up his vision.
"Hello. Who's there?" Ribou asked as he walked into the mechanical workroom.
Anakin turned to look at him.
"Anakin, what is wrong?" The Service Corps Jedi looked concerned. After a moment when Anakin didn't respond, he knelt closer to the Youngling. "You know, I was surprised when you weren't on the bridge today. I was prepared to let you and your friends help coordinate the landing."
Anakin couldn't help the sniffle that came out at the mention of his friends.
"I broke something." Anakin turned around to pick up the pieces of the broken air pump. When he found it in his bag, with the tools he'd rushed to pack, he felt lucky. But, as Obi-Wan always says, there's no such thing as luck. But then, perhaps the problem just needed a new perspective. "Can you fix this?"
"Let me see." Ribou took the pump and stood up. He turned on a lamp and began to look at the device on the table.
Anakin got up and watched Ribou from the other side of the table. After waiting patiently for several minutes, Anakin tried to explain the problem. "It's these bands here. This part won't stay put without them. I tried a different tie, but it needs to have some elastic give. Then I tried to glue the original band with an elastic polymer, but it wasn't strong enough."
Ribou looked at him with pity. "I'm sorry Ani. Some things, when they break, they just can't be put together again. But if you're worried about Initiate Ramu, we do carry a spare, and he's already put in a request, according to these logs."
Anakin sighed, 'Perhaps I should have activated the droid instead. Huyang,' he read off the name tag. 'The thing looks old. If it's database hasn't been updated, he probably wouldn't know either.
"We've landed already and the word has gone out. They want everyone to meet up in the main hold. You better hurry, or they'll come looking for you." Ribou changed the subject.
Anakin winced. He picked up the broken pump from his friend and dropped it back in his bag. Then he looked down at the bags. He brought his whole suitcase from the room. "Would you mind if I leave these here?"
"You're not supposed to. Don't you have a room to store these in?"
'Not for long.' Anakin hid the guilty look that tried to push through. "Yeah, but it will take at least ten minutes to get there, and as you say, I'm already late. Please, Master Nenn."
"Oh," Ribou blushed. "You are the only one who calls me a Master, little Ani. It's very worth it. Alright," Ribou accepted the excuse. "Leave them behind the bench there, and no one will touch them. Now go!"
At his urging, Anakin ran out and was on his way.
"We will all get a chance to go out and see the place, but Tatooine is not yet a part of the Republic. There are still dangers, and you will need to be escorted by knights. I am looking for a group of five volunteers to go with Initiate Skywalker, and meet the leaders of the movement to get us this far. Who wants to be the first to explore Tatooine?" Plo looked out at the gathered Jedi. He looked over and noticed Anakin, who had just walked in.
'Hwww,' The master breathed a sigh of relief. He looked over to Master Windu and nodded to him. The Master nodded back saying he's seen him too. 'Good, we can call back the search parties. Imagine that. Coming all this way, and we lose the youngling before even getting off the ship.'
Several hands rose up. Plo was surprised none of them were from the Bergruutfa Clan. 'Hmm, Yoda was convinced they'd hit it off. Could he have been wrong?' Plo would have loved to wait longer to see if they'd put their hands up, but he had an eager crowd in front of him. He began to tag younglings.
"And You. Now, we've already selected a group of knights to escort you. Please be amicable and courteous to our hosts, while you are there. And don't go anywhere alone." Plo made his way out of the crowd.
Anakin noticed none of his former friends even tried to volunteer for the outing. It hurt that they didn't want to join him, but he blinked away any tears it caused and rushed to find out where he was going.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan called out.
"Master," Anakin felt a weight leave him. He kicked himself for not going to talk to his Master first.
"Anakin, I wanted to go with you today, but Siri is leaving to start her assignment going undercover, and…"
Anakin suddenly realized he couldn't leave all his problems on his Master's shoulders. "Go," he said. "Take care of your girlfriend. And tell Siri to serve 'em well…"
"Done," Obi-Wan completed the phrase."
Anakin smiled. He was proud his Master had remembered the code he had taught him. The one that slaves used.
Obi-Wan laughed. "I'll tell her to kick their butts. You better go now. Master Windu is looking impatient." As his Master said, the usually serene Jedi was looking up after counting heads. His eyes were tightly wound in the wrinkles on his face.
"Bye, Obi-Wan." Anakin hugged him. Then he ran off to join the others.
"Hello Jedi. Oh my! When they said you'd be bringing your young'uns, I didn't imagine they'd be so small. Oh well, the cuter the better I say." The elderly woman pinched the cheek of a Sixteen year old Padawan. He went bright red, causing the Initiates around Anakin to giggle.
The Padawan's Master stood back and watched with a barely concealed look of amusement.
"Greetings, my lady. I am Master Windu. This is but a small group of those we brought with us. We have come to meet your town officials, and to express our gratitude for being invited to celebrate with you."
"You're welcome. The more people at a party, the better the luck for the next one. Around here, I am known as Granny Martha. My eldest is the Mayor, or she will be, once things are made official." She took a step past the town hall building, then stopped a second later, and put her hand on Mace's arm. "I run a stand in the market. I sell wigs and hair pieces. Be sure to stop by. I'll give you a good deal."
The thought of the bald Master buying a wig made even Anakin snicker.
Mace didn't even blush. He gave a well practiced nod, and then continued into the town hall.
The other Younglings followed him. Before Anakin went through the door, he looked across the street and he recognized a speeder. It was the same speeder his Mom used. A greyish green color with hints of rust on the door to the enlarged cargo area in the back, it was definitely the speeder he saw at the Lars' last time he was there. If it was here, it meant his Mom was also in town. Anakin looked up and read the sign near it, "P-o-s-t."
Inside the town hall, the Younglings all stood together while Mace talked to different officials.
It was all rather boring, considering Anakin used to sit in a boring shop all day, watching adults barter with Watto.
Eventually, the one introduced as the Mayor Elect said something that got everyone's attention. Anakin only remembered her position because he thought she said electric, and he wondered what was so technical about her job. She wore an expensive coat, for Tatooine, and it had no grease stains on it.
"Would you all like to join my staff for lunch?" The Mayor asked.
Mace bowed and said, "We would be grateful for anything you have to offer."
One Youngling, a few years younger than Anakin, sighed, "I thought that would last forever."
Another, a Padawan with a short braid, whispered, "It was ten minutes!"
"Come right this way." The Mayor held out a hand to lead them to a large room on the bottom floor.
When she turned her back to them, to order her staff, Mace turned to the group. "Now, we're guests here and it is polite to try what they offer you. Don't be greedy and take more than you can eat."
They were all led to sit down on large tables. Anakin sat next to Mace and the Mayor lady. Anakin smiled when he noticed their meals were not brought out by slaves. He decided he liked this Mayor Elect after all.
"Our community is growing. And after the new laws take effect, we will likely have even more growth as those new to their freedom decide to travel away from the cities. I may only be a Mayor in name, with no official power yet, but I have already drafted legislation to help them settle. We are a small community. Most have never owned slaves. Thus, more than ninety percent of my constituents support this..." The Mayor went on and on.
Anakin decided the only thing electric about her was her energy towards boring politics. But he did like that she wanted to help the soon to be former slaves.
Mace put a hand out when his comm vibrated on his belt. "I'm sorry, but I should take this."
Anakin looked out the window and he noticed his mom's speeder was still across the street.
Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to see his mother again. To tell her all about how Ramu was mad at him, and hug her as she wiped away his tears. "Master Windu… Master, I want to go see my mom. She's…"
Mace put a hand out to stop him, before he mumbled into the comm, "Yeah, yeah. Go ahead."
Anakin sighed. He knew they weren't supposed to go out unattended. Then a little voice in his head said, 'Well, he did say go ahead.'
Anakin looked over and noticed the Padawan supposed to be watching the entrance was looking the other way at a teenage girl in the building who waved shyly at him. 'Oh well, She's no Padme, but… No time like the present.' Anakin got up and ran to the unguarded door.
When Anakin entered the Post building, he didn't see his mom anywhere. But he did see Cliegg Lars. The man was holding a package and yelling at someone over his comm. "I know I accepted the package! It said "TX-117 on the packaging. But when I opened it and looked at the call number on the device, it said TX-113! That's not what I ordered!..." Anakin figured the conversation sounded important, so he waited until he finished it. "Then I will be telling whoever we elect as Senator to take a good look at that interplanetary trade agreement. This is the last time you will swindle this customer!" He pressed the button to hang up dramatically, with a gruff, angry look on his face. A look that melted as soon as he turned to see Anakin.
"Anakin. What are you doing here?" He seemed to look around for a guardian.
"Where is my mom?" Anakin asked.
"Shmi is still at home. I just popped into town to pick up a delivery."
"Oh," Anakin deflated.
"You know you will see your mom soon. There's plans for a big sleepover. Owen is very excited about it."
"Yeah, I was just hoping…" Anakin looked down and swung his arms around.
"Anything I could help with?" Cliegg asked.
Anakin was about to say no, but when he opened his mouth something different came out. "I have these roommates on the ship. And we were becoming friends, I thought. Only then I broke something, and now they're all mad at me."
Cliegg nodded seriously. "Was it an accident, or on purpose?"
"An Accident. Of course I'd never…"
"Okay, then all you need to do is apologize."
"But it isn't even my fault, not entirely. Kent…"
A noise sounding like a gruff chuckle escaped Clieggs throat. "Then apologise for the part that is your fault."
"I tried, but Ramu ran out of the room and wouldn't talk to me. Then the others were all 'Look what you did.' I was only trying to fix it."
"Sometimes you need to give people time to get over their emotions, when bad things happen. I'll bet, if you go to him later, he'll listen to you. Try again. There are very few things in life that can't be mended with an honest apology."
"Alright, I'll try that, Mr. Lars." Anakin looked up at the package his stepfather carried. It was a device for a Vaporator. Though apparently the wrong one, If Anakin understood correctly. But it was tied to it's packaging materials with these small bands. Now Anakin had looked at a lot of bands in the past half day. "Can I see that?" Cliegg handed him the package, which Anakin immediately opened to pull off one of the bands. He looked up at it with his mouth hanging open in surprise. "It's perfect. Can I keep this?"
Cliegg's face scrunched in confusion. "Sure. You know what, have a bunch of 'em. Here." Cliegg reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small handful and placed them into Anakin's hand. "All my parts come in them, and I never know what to do with them. As my dad taught me, I never throw anything away."
"Thanks Mr. Lars." Anakin turned to run back to the City Hall.
He hoped he could slip in unnoticed, but just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he turned to see Mace with his arms folded. The rest of the room was empty. "Skywalker. The council will be having a word with your Master when we get back."
Anakin gulped, not wanting to imagine just what this word would entail. He was half tempted to try his excuse about Mace saying 'go ahead,' but then he remembered Clieggs words about the power of an apology. "I'm sorry, Master Windu."
"Come along now, we have one more stop before we head back to the ship." He extended a hand ushering Anakin closer.
Later that day, Anakin tiptoed into his the Bergruutfa clan's quarters. He was using his Jedi senses to try and catch Ramu alone. He felt it would be better that way. But his heart was still beating like he was in a pod race.
He finally saw Ramu standing in the room. Anakin gulped, then he stepped out. "R-Ramu." The Nautolan Youngling turned and opened his mouth. "No wait. I am really sorry for earlier. When I see a machine and I understand how it works, I just get cocky and think I can fix everything."
Ramu's head tilted to the side to allow his tentacles to reach out towards Anakin. "I believe you. Don't worry. I forgive you. Honestly, I was more upset at Kent than you. What he said about my gills not being fully reabsorbed. I'm not a Tadpole anymore."
"But when he said that, you worried that I would think that," Anakin interpreted.
Ramu sighed, "Yes. Kinda embarrassing, isn't it?"
"No. Dude, you're going to meet my mom soon. She knows all my baby stories. If someone asks when I learned to pilot or what my first word was, I'll be the one embarrassed."
Ramu giggled.
"Hey look, I don't know if this makes up for it. I know you got another, but I uh…" Anakin reached into his robe's inner pocket and pulled out the pump. "I fixed it."
Ramu's eyes became bright and excited. "Really!"
"Yeah, I tested it in the sink," Anakin confirmed.
"This is great. The spare smells like swamp water." Ramu got up to put it in his tank right away.
A couple hours later, Anakin had made up with the trio of boys, and they were all lying on the floor discussing the disappointing conclusions to certain Holo-fics. Apparently the professor's rigmarole of attaching parts for an entirely incorrect type of spacecraft didn't work, and they were still stuck on that planet.
'Who could've predicted that!' Anakin thought with a suppressed eye roll.
The door chimed and Kent got up to go see who it was. Anakin looked up when he heard Kent gasp. "Master."
It was Master Windu. "Hello boys. I understand that you reported an issue to the Council earlier today."
"Oh that. It was a misunderstanding. We've worked it all out," Alex spoke up.
Kent still looked to be tongue tied. "Yup."
"Well that's good. I hope this means I can leave these." Mace pulled into view Anakin's bags. "They were found in the workroom. You really shouldn't leave stuff lying around."
"Yes, sorry Master." Anakin had meant to go get them, but he'd gotten distracted by his friends. Yup, he was sure that's what they were now.
Mace nodded. "And I commed your Master. You'll be doing extra meditations with me every morning for a week."
Anakin sighed. The others looked sympathetic. "Yes, Master."
Hi Everyone,
Ribou is the same OC character from chapter 6. He is in the service corps, which means he either failed his Initiate tests, or failed to get a Master by the 13 year old deadline. In the Jedi world he's basically a High School dropout and low class worker, but still a Jedi officially.
Huyang is a droid from the clone wars series who helps Jedi Younglings build their first lightsabers. He is old enough to have taught Yoda! I was tempted to wake him up here, but decided I would have more fun with the character when Anakin is finally ready to build his own saber.
And yes, they are on the Crucible. I know the ship usually only holds one or two clans at a time, but it is supposed to be 99 meters long, which is only a little shorter than a football field. I figured there was plenty of space for what I'm describing.
And Incase anyone doesn't understand Nautolan biology, according to my research they are Amphibians which means they are hatched tadpoles. Tadpoles, in the real world, breathe through gills, which are reabsorbed when it grows up. At the same time it also develops Lungs. I am assuming a lot here, because we don't have any intelligent amphibians, but for kids the transition from baby to grown up is a slow process. I am assuming that his Lungs have developed, but he also has gills still, and during the day he can choose to breathe through his lungs. But while he's sleeping things are more automatic, and he'll probably still be using his gills. As most kids are, he's sensitive to this, because it's a baby trait.
I hope you all forgive me for leaving out the make up conversations with the other two. I figure they were more mad as a defense to the other boy. And once they learned that he forgave Anakin, it wasn't long before they did too. At that point it would just be repetitive.
Next chapter I will probably be following Obi-Wan, which means the timeline may get messed with as the chapter will probably take place at the same time that this one does. I'll see you then.