The archives, your sanctuary , your most favorite place in the temple and yet something felt off today. What was it?
You looked up from your datapad. Master Jucasta Nuu was sleeping, just you, the archives, peace and quiet and Anakin Skywalker stalking right towards you. You went back to your resear- Pardon? You looked up again, holding yourself back from comically rubbing your eyes like in one of those bad holo-dramas.
You doubted that Anakin Skywalker had ever spoken to you before or even acknowledged your existence. You refrained from scoffing, that was simply undignified. He was the chosen one, so why should he? There were probably tons of things he did everyday that were more productive than talking to his lessers. But it wasn't that you disliked him, you just didn't care about him, big difference!
"Hey?"
That didn't mean you especially wanted him to sit here, next to you, where other Padawans could see you.
It was just... Anakin had the very awkward habit of staring at everyone and everything all the time. No blinking, no nothing.
But you had thought wrong because of course, Anakin sat down there right next to you.
—
Abandoning your table and leaving the archives failed to prove itself as a useful solution when confronted with Anakin Skywalker. How could he be so persistent?
"Stop following me!"
"I don't want to."
Oh Force, he was going to murder you, wasn't he?
You put another step between you and Anakin and put up your open palms, procuring as any barriers as possible between you.
"Uhm, why?"
Anakin mumbled something ineligible and fumbled with the sleeves of his robes.
Wasn't he always 'Mister-I -am -better- than -everyone- and -their -Master'? He couldn't have made you anymore confused with this paradoxical behavior.
"What?"
"I said that Master Obi Wan told me to go find friends my own age," he admitted and kicked away a lone pebble on the ground.
"Oh,"
"Yeah."
Awkward pause.
"So, wanna be friends?"
"Sure, Anakin why not?" you sighed exasperated.
You had never been more convinced at any point of time that you were making a stupid decision, however, you'd never been good at listening to your subconscious.
—
Surprisingly though within a short time the two of you adapted to one another and shared enough traits for you to sink in the social hierarchy to the same level as Anakin. Well, fuck them, you decided.
Speaking of assholes...
"Heyy!"
Anakin instinctively turned his head at the sound, only to groan and bang his head against the desk you two were sharing in the archives. You had to stifle your own grunts of frustration when you realized who had called out to you. Why were it always people that you could not stand suddenly materializing in front of you?
Edye Xcrapper, the most unlikable Padawan according to you and Anakin, was on direct way towards you, a stained book bag slung lazily across her shoulder. Neither of you liked each other. You, because she disliked Anakin and by curtsy you since the two of you were attached by the hip. Anakin, because he thought she was an annoying showoff. (Ha! Ironic that he would be the one to think so when that was the reason the majority of Padawans couldn't stand him,)
"What do you want?" you gritted through your teeth, even forcing a smile. Could she hear how annoyed you were? You sure hoped so.
"Don't be so unfriendly, I haven't done anything to you, have I?" Edye said and took a seat in the lone chair in front of you and Anakin.
Anakin muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'not yet'.
Edye ignored him, keeping her gaze locked on you. "I need you to help me with Master Rekam's recent philosophy lecture."
Not even saying please. You huffed.
"Do I look like I actually enjoy these lectures? Do I?"
Oh you definitely were going to take offense on whatever she said until she'd take the hint. You were patient, a character trait one gained by spending time with Anakin Skywalker, though even that patience could be stretched to it's limit and you were fairly close to it.
"No! I was just saying that it looked like you do?"
You put your hands up in the air."All of this is essentially school, a lifetime of it. I hate school and I will always hate school! Why? Because it is school!"
Your Master would surely envy your wisdom. Okay probably not, but at least she wasn't nearby to listen to your unedited thoughts.
"But you have so much time on hand," Edye whined, "Why can't you help me just a bit? I'll even give you some of my toke-"
"How about you fuck off! You are getting on my nerves, Edye," Anakin barked and sent a condescending glare at the other Padawan, then turned back towards your datapad. It surprisingly did the trick, she went. Oh Force! She was actually going to leave you alone, Anakin's vortex of repressed anger lying thick in the force - you had become accustomed to it, but she hadn't since the two of them avoided each other like their life depended on t. You could have kissed him right about now.
"Alright, alright! I'm going, sorry for asking! Force!"
You could hear Anakin snickering and had to repress your own satisfied grin as Padawan Xcrapper stalked away to hopefully bother someone else. You didn't care as long as it wasn't you.
Even though you quickly became friends, it still took you a few months to comprehend what your new friendship with Anakin really meant. From then on only one thought dominated your mind and you needed Anakin's help to accomplish it.
Where was he anyway?
You reached out into the force looking for the warm golden flicker you had grown to associate with Anakin.
Aha, to the Gardens it was.
You didn't have to search long, Anakins tall form wasn't easy to overlook and he stood out harshly through his dark robes. Little diva. Anakin send you a look filled by suffering when he did finally spot you approaching. He was (most likely involuntarily) involved in a conversation with his favorite Jedi, Master Rekam. She was a small human woman with long grey hair, dressed in wildly flowing beige robes, and the most prominent Core-accent you had ever heard. You didn't envy him, that woman was a bore. Padawans being forced to attend her lessons because according to the council "The process of gaining knowledge never stopped" didn't make her popular with any of that specific percentage of the Jedi population. You didn't like her either.
However, now it was up to you to come up with an excuse to rescue him from her endless lectures on Jedi the Jedi Order. Force, hopefully she hadn't begun talking about Bastila Shawn yet, if so not even you would be able to save your fellow Padawan.
"Master Rekam! Padawan Skywalker, I am glad to have found you! I have been looking all over for you. Master Windu is expecting you, though he wouldn't tell me why, I just had to get you. Please follow me, it is urgent!"
You bowed respectfully and hit Anakin's side with your elbow, forcing him to bow deeper, then you intertwined your arm with Anakin's and pulled him along.
"Thank you! I thought I would grow roots there before she ever left me alone," Anakin whispered when you had walked a great distance from the talkative old woman and crossed into the visitors wing.
You immediately pointed to the big neon-green vending machine that had been slowly turned into an eyesore to you for as long as it had been here.
The candy in there was of a higher quality than in the Padawan quarters which meant it had been in high demand since the first of your age mates had stumbled on it a few months ago. The true, real, problem (according to you that was) was that the content of that machine was meant for the visitors of the temple, which included politicians, noisy tourists, school classes and of course curious citizens of the Republic. Padawans could only get a piece of that good junk if their Masters were kind enough to give them vending tokens and well, your Master didn't see any reason for you to stuff your face with sweets. Seeing that bothersome neon atrocity only reminded you again and again that you were stuck with stale old candy that was probably even older than Master Yoda.
But you still needed to get that candy. It was a matter of life or death!
So you had to go through other means aka. Anakin and the abundance of tokens he had been given by his Master Obi Wan Kenobi, (who you didn't fawn over thank you very much!) to get what you wanted. And you would be spending time with your best friend which definitely was a plus. You were glad he couldn't read your thoughts, realizing you considered him your best friend would only increase the size of his gigantic head. You liked your friendly arguments too much for that.
"Why can't we be given something to do by the council? Any mission would do! Just something besides sitting here and doing nothing or even worse, listening to another of those lectures Master Rekam likes giving so much. Force, will that woman ever shut up?"
Anakin was in a bad mood today. So instead of him sitting down to join your small shared cycle of friends, he had chosen a table for himself far away from your usual spot. You knew he was to prideful to admit it but you had felt his gratefulness in every fiber of your being after you had apologized to your friends and followed him. Some times it made you a tad uncomfortable how strong of a force presence Anakin had, today was not such a day. It was nice to communicate without words, just touches and waves flowing alongside you.
Now you and your moody best friend were sitting in a secluded corner of the mess hall, gossiping and of course stuffing your faces.
"Pssht not so loud! I don't want any of those boot lickers to hear and snitch," you flicked your head to the right where another group of Padawans were seated, that Anakin and you - what a surprise, could not stand.
But honestly you couldn't stand anyone these days. How they could actually believe all of that shit baffled you. You were a Jedi at heart, but even you could see that everything was going to shit lately and that quite frankly the council didn't seem to give a shit. But when even remotely mentioning any sort of criticism of the current agenda you got to hear things like: "Stop complaining, it's unbecoming of a Jedi.", "That's blasphemy!" or "Ugh. You are spending too much time with Skywalker, you're even starting to sound like him!". As if you couldn't think of the obvious ongoing problems by yourself.
You took another bite out of your sandwich and swallowed.
"Even a diplomatic one, Anakin? You know, one of those really boring ones you usually complain so much about?"
He grinned at you, eyeing your plate.
"Any negotiations can be spiced up, especially if I am around."
He took a swipe at your plate and missed. You had already anticipated it and swiftly pushed it to the side. One thing those Jedi reflexes were good for, besides of course the obvious. You took another satisfied bite, Anakin could starve for all you cared, he had already eaten his and hadn't shared with you. This was yours.
"It is almost as if you are a magnet for trouble - maybe that's why we're stuck together?" you mused an wolfed down the last bits of your meal.
"Because you are such dangerous company?" Anakin laughed. Well he did until something lodged inside of chis throat and he began to choke on his spit. You had to pat his back of course.
Anakin coughed one last time. "Good joke!"
Ungrateful ass.
"Well it certainly cannot be your charming personality, can it? It has to be something far greater than that or otherwise I might have to question my sanity, this friendship is beyond rationalization," you said and send a lackluster kick towards his feet with your own.
It was a month later that while you were on your way to hang out with Anakin, you rounded a corner and stumbled into something that could only be described as highly uncomfortable. Anakin and his Master were clearly involved in a very loud and very public argument in the same hallway you were about to step into. It wasn't yet a shouting match, however, if the disgusting feeling of overflowing negative emotions was to be trusted, they weren't far from it.
Anakin's face had been taken overtaken by an angry red and you could almost hear his clenching teeth from over here. Should you say something? No. Nope, not your problem and probably not worth being reprimanded by a Master that wasn't even your own. Master Kenobi looked as if he was one second away from snapping and you certainly did not want to be around when that happened.
You tuned on your heel and went back into the direction you came from, pulling out your beloved datapad and leaned against the most inviting looking wall. Now all you had to do was to simply wait for them to calm down or kill each other - both was fine by you.
By the time you'd finished the second episode of that new popular holo-drama everyone had been talking about, Anakin stomped around the corner, his arms crossed and fists clenched. Without saying anything he settled into his place next to you, leaning his left leg against your right.
"So," you said stressing the o. "What's up with you and your master? That looked really tense."
"It's nothing, just the same as always," Anakin said and shrugged. It was obvious that it wasn't nothing but what could you actually do? Prideful was basically his middle name. You held back from rolling your eyes and instead clicked your tongue, admittedly a bit annoyed. You didn't like not knowing what to do, being out of your bounds, especially not when it came to those who you considered close.
"You can tell me, it's not like you have any other friends around here," you teased and gave him a slap on the shoulder.
"Thanks."
At least you had made him smile.
However, in other moments you wondered what had ridden you when you decided to you were going to be friends with that idiot. The hallway argument been quite some time ago, when you were currently were praying for Master Kenobi to appear and dispose of his student as soon as possible.
"Anakin, stop tugging on my braid."
"What if I don't want to?" he asked, smug as always and gave it another tug.
"I'll make you hurt very bad, Ani."
"As if you could beat me."
Where was Kenobi when you actually did need him and his presence for once?
" I could," you hissed before stomping on his feet as hard as humanly possible. " And I can! Now let go of me before I really do hurt you!"
AN: This whole story originated from an abandoned scene from a future installment of my Star Wars AUs, because the exchange simply didn't fit into it at all. So overhauled it and turned it into it's on story. I'll update the second and last part tomorrow:)