Chapter Summary: Life returns to normality. You and Anakin go to the beach, he even makes a friend. All seems well if not for one thing...
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"Ma, look! The sea!"
You readjusted the bag you were carrying over your shoulder. "Yes, Ani. That's the sea."
Going to the beach had been your idea. After a week your internalized anger and and frustration had passed and then guilt had come once again. You wanted to do something nice, something normal, for once. So why not show him the sea? He'd never been with you, there hadn't been the time to go. At least, you sighed internally, at least you'd shown him how to swim.
It was as magnificent as you had remembered it to be. The wind, the sun, the crashing of the waves… Like home. You hadn't seen it in so long. But you had to make the best of this life you had been given, nothing would come out of nostalgia.
"Ani, stop staring," you said as you picked him up. He still was small enough to be carried by you but you remembered how tall the Anakin Skywalker you knew would become. You would take what you could get." The water's not going to disappear if we walk further up the hill."
"Is the sand here like the sand on the playground?" Anakin asked and gestured to be let down again.
He took hold of your hand as you walked further.
"No," you reassured him, taking a some sand and showing it to him. "Look, it's fine and soft. There's no stones in here, not like on the playground. Perfect for building your majestic sandcastle!"
You could understand where he was coming from, however, you doubted that any of the other children were going to throw sand at him. It had happened once when he was younger. You'd only looked away for a second and there he was, with a bloody gash on his face and sand in his eyes. You hadn't gone to a playground with him for years, until recently.
While Anakin got out of his clothes you let the bag fall down and opened it. Food, sunscreen, water, towels, wet wipes- Ah. There was the blanket!
"I'm going to run down the hill." Anakin informed you matter as factly.
"Hey wait!"
You hadn't even applied sunscreen to him yet.
"Bye, Ma!"
And then he was gone, disappearing down the sandy hill you'd just stopped on. Where did he take all of that disobedience from?
Whatever, let him get a sunburn, let him learn his lesson. No, you shook your head. You come down later after setting up your place here and then he was going to have to suffer though the sunscreen. You would not take no for an answer. Because it would have to be you who'd to take care of the burns later and you would do your best to avoid that.
You placed the blanket on the ground. This was the perfect place, in the shade but on top of the hill as well. You'd be able to keep an eye on Anakin all day without having to go in the water every time.
You got out of your day clothes and sat down in the bathing clothes you'd been wearing underneath. After that you took out a towel and placed down behind you, the perfect pillow to lie down on. Which you did.
Fingers activated your datapad, putting in your passcode, and opened up the HOLO-NET. Then you began typing.
"Academy of Therea – reviews"
You hadn't had that much time recently to continue your research on which school you should be sending to. You'd been working on multiple jobs from clients simultaneously and that took up a lot of your time. It always would and you hated it.
But so far you hadn't had any luck with getting hired at a legal establishment. And if the Cantina hired you, you would not get paid enough to take care of Anakin, yourself, and your soon to be cat. You still had some of the funds left over from your years of working for Gardulla, however, those were for safekeeping if it ever came to the point that there was an emergency. If you stopped and worked at the Cantina, you would soon after need to take out of those funds.
So you had no other option but to stay where you were at. Being a criminal.
You swiped to the next site.
"Great staff, excellent art's program," you read out loud. "Two of Naboo's queens started their education within these halls." That sounded promising. "However, recently-"
Two loud thuds.
Another.
Anakin, having come back up, was now standing proudly in front of you.
He had not... He could not have?
"Anakin, please tell me you did not roll around in the sand," you begged. However, there was no denying the obvious. You could see the damage. You could see the sand falling down onto your clean blanket. You eyed your son warily.
And then he shook of the sand, getting it over everything and everywhere. The wonderfully clean blanket, you, his clothes and yours.
"Anakin!"
You could not scream at him. Screaming is never the answer-
"Now you'll have to come into the water with me!" Anakin declared.
You nodded in defeat and stowed away the datapad. Better be safe than have him drown... or do something else even more stupid. Plus you needed to get rid of the sand. Now.
"Ma, can I go play with my friend?"
You stopped shaking out the blanket, honestly shocked.
"Your friend?"
Anakin pointed towards a boy a few meters down the hill, who was building a sandcastle and throwing tentative glances towards the two of you. When he noticed you looking at him, he offered a small wave before turning back to the castle.
The one time you look away to get rid of the sand disaster he'd caused and here he goes making friends. A true miracle and the first time anything good had happened when you looked away. You shuddered at the memories of Anakin running off towards danger or almost injuring yourself. You might be overbearing but not without reason. Because he gave you a lot of them.
Anakin was beaming!
"His name is Kyu! He's here with his mom just like me. He's only four but really nice and he helped me finish my own sandcastle! Now we are building one together!"
You'd never seen him look so smug. Adorable. Here he was normal. Here he could be a kid.
"Alright, go off, Ani." You brushed a hand though his mop of blond hair. "I'm going swimming, so don't worry if I'm suddenly not sitting here anymore. I won't be far away."
"Have fun!"
Anakin didn't even pick up his own shovel or a bucket. But it seemed like his friend had shared with him so far. That was good.
"You too!" you said. But he was already gone.
_
"Is that your son?" a soft voice asked next to you. Your shoulders tensed and you stopped drying yourself off with the towel you had been holding in your hands.
The voice belonged to a woman, only a few years older than you, who was struggling to carry a large array of beach toys. She looked just like the little boy Anakin was playing with.
"Oh yes! That's my Anakin," you replied and threw the towel next to your bag, barely missing it. Well nobody said you had to be good at throwing. You were better at shooting anyway...
You shrugged off the thought and cleared your throat. "Then you must be..?" you didn't want to presume anything.
"Kyu's mother, Hjigé," she answered with a chuckle, letting a green shovel fall down in the process. Luckily you caught it for her.
You answered with your own name but refrained from placing the shovel at the top of the mountain of children's toys in her arms. There was no way that wouldn't fall over..
"You want any help? I wouldn't mind," you offered with a smile. "Since our boys seem to get along so well."
"Oh thank you! I don't even know what Kyu needs all those toys for," Hjigé grumbled. She sighed with relief when you took half of the weight out of her arms. "I don't see him playing with them, I see us carrying them around!"
You laughed.
"I know that feeling. Anakin's the same, always having me running after him."
"Don't get deep to the water without me! Only as far as I can see you! So only up to your shoulders, Anakin. And don't you go anywhere with a stranger, no matter how nice they may seem! Also remember to come back for sun screen often enough."
"I know! I'm not a baby!"
"Are you sure?"
"Hey!"
"I was only joking, Ani," you said, laughing at him. You opened the cap of the sunscreen bottle. "Come here."
"Ma, please." Anakin suddenly said, very seriously. Too serious for you to take it without chuckling, but you remained from doing so. Barely. "I'm already five and if Kyu hears-"
"But-" if you stopped yourself. From his perspective you might actually appear to be a bit overbearing. You couldn't tell him why you were so paranoid, so afraid that anything could happen to him. You'd already scared him enough when you talked to him about his powers. Though that had been necessary. If he didn't than how could he not decide to leave one day. Leave to fulfill a bogus destiny that would end in death and destruction-
"Oh god, " you said, for once falling back on a saying you hadn't said in years, trying to lift yourself out of your miserable mood. "I'm such a helicopter mother- This is embarrassing."
"What's a helicopter?" Anakin asked.
"Oh uh," you grimaced, applying the last bit of sunscreen to his face."It's just a word I made up. Now go play with your friend down there, he's been waiting for you down there at your sandcastle!"
You watched Anakin race down the hill.
"And don't go too deep into the water!"
"Yes, Ma!" he shouted back.
You looked after him, watched him until he run he crashed into Kyu and his mother, who'd been waiting for him down the hill.
You blinked groggily. When had you even fallen asleep? You'd just closed your eyes and- You definitely were more exhausted than you'd thought you were.
You took a look at the time. Already the early hours of the afternoon had begun. It would be fine to go home now, you decided. You would still have to cook and do the laundry-
But Anakin was still playing in the sand with the other children of the beach. You couldn't go home yet, it would be cruel.
You applied more sunscreen to Anakin's back. He was already showing the first signs of a bit sunburn. He had not listened to you when you'd said to regularly apply sunscreen and look where that got him!
"Do you think we'll see Kyu again next time we go the beach?"
"His mother and I exchanged details, so don't worry. You'll get to have your playdates," you revealed. "But Ani, remember that we'll also be heading back home in half an hour. I don't want to hear you complaining later on that I didn't say anything."
"Okay! Can I go back down to the water? I think I saw something cool in it. Can I go look? Please, Ma, please," he begged. More like whined.
"Sure. You still have half an hour like I said. But not too far, right?"
"I won't," Anakin replied, picking up his shovel and a bucket.
You finally got time to use your datapad. However, this time you weren't checking up on potential schools for Anakin. You were trying to find any updates on your family.
During your last visits to the Cantina's you'd picked up on hushed whispers of the Hutt's enforcing an even harsher rule on Tatooine. Whispers you could not ignore. You might have left them and you might have disappointed them, but they were still your family.
You only needed to know how they were doing, nothing more...
Suddenly a shadow fell over your face. Blocking the sun. Something. Someone.
"Ma."
You put your datapad to the side to to see Anakin standing above in front of you.
He could not have found a worse moment.
"Ma, my hands are dirty."
"Just clean them in the water," you replied, maybe even slightly peeved if you were honest. You propped yourself up. His hands were coated by a foul smelling thick blue substance. No wonder he couldn't clean it off. Just your luck.
You turned over to your bag and pulled out the wet wipes you'd brought with you. Because one could not go out with a child without something going haywire.
"Sit down." You used your other hand to pat down the space next to you. "Give me your hands."
You wiped the wet wipe over the substance on his hands. It was sticky and it just would not come off.
"How'd you get this all over your fingers?"
Anakin's nose scrunched up in distaste. "I fell in something."
You clicked your tongue. The stuff just wouldn't come off! What was that even? How come only your child seemed to get into the biggest messes imaginable?
You took out another wipe.
"Next time, look where you're going, Ani. You don't know where this might have come from, it could be poisonous, you know," you chided.
There was already some progress, his hands were starting look a lot cleaner than before. At least he hadn't been rolling around in the sand again, that would have made this even worse, you decided.
You frowned.
He'd said he had fallen but... There was no sand on his skin or on his bathing shorts. He wasn't wet with water either. How'd he gotten the sand off his body?
"Hey Ani-"
Anakin's lip wobbled.
"Do you think it's poison? Ma, will I- will I die now?
"No! Of course not, don't worry!" you reassured and quickly stuffed the used wipes into your bag. You'd have to clean it out later either way.
"Are you sure?" He didn't look convinced.
"Yes, of course! I won't lie to you. Here, see?" You pointed at his hands. "All gone."
"Can we go get some ice now?" Anakin asked, pointing at an ice cream vendor standing across a dune.
You'd just cleaned his hands! How could one child be so hungry all the time? But how could you say no to those big eyes? Easy answer, you couldn't.
You sighed. "Let's see if there's even some ice left." On the inside you prayed that there wasn't.
Next time you'd definitely say no.
You took Anakin by the hand and started your trek across the beach, already calculating how much the ice would cost you, while Anakin was smiling gleefully besides you. In the trouble you forgot all about Anakin's lie. When you came back later, both eating an ice cream cone, you didn't even think to question where the shovel and the bucket had disappeared to.
AN: Yeah, Anakin killed an animal on that beach, offscreen.
Reader really is oblivious. Or is Anakin just good at pressing her buttons?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
I'll upload chapter eight tomorrow, I didn't want this one to be longer than it had to be, it would have ruined the flow. In it we'll finally get to meet the cat and see how it fits in with this family.
