I love you all so much

I love you all so much! Your reviews make me so happy. I'm normally a very slow updater, but your support has really inspired me. Please ignore any spelling or grammar mistakes. I try to find them all, but sometimes they just slip past me. Hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: See last chapter.

Key:

The Force speaking

'Speaking to the Force/Mother/Crystal'

Mother/Crystal speaking

"Galactic Basic speaking"

/Other language speaking/

'Telepathy'

Thought

Child of Ilum

Chapter 2: Warrior Who Walks on Sky

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"WHY ARE WE SCREAMING!" The boy yelled and shut his mouth, an innocently questioning look on his round face.

"W-wh-why are we screaming!? I'm screaming because I just woke up to find a strange little boy three inches from my face! Why are you screaming!?" Obi-Wan was breathing hard and looked decidedly terrified, his hand clutching at his heart.

"'Cuz it's fun." The boy grinned, showing off pearly white teeth. He was clearly quite pleased with himself at being able to scare a Jedi.

Sputtering, Obi-Wan barely heard the gasps coming from around the room, as the other Jedi stared in shock at the mysterious little boy. He certainly was a spectacle with is bare feet and gorgodon hide tunic and shorts. How the boy wasn't freezing was beyond anyone's knowledge, and the child didn't seem affected by the blistering temperatures at all. But, all of this was the farthest thing from Obi-Wan's mind as he was still clutching his wildly beating heart.

"Because it's fun!?" A look of bewilderment entered the padawan's face. "You think scaring people half to death is fun!?"

The blond boy adopted a thoughtful look as he slowly taped his right index finger against his chin, before a grin split across his face. "Uh huh." He nodded his head vigorously, grin never leaving his face.

"What planet are you from!?" Obi-Wan was obviously still in shock as the question stupidly fell from his mouth. He knew that as a Jedi he should control his emotions and not let them control him like this, but he was too bewildered to care.

"Umm…this one." The child's face was thoughtful and he stated the answer like it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy.

Qui-Gon Jinn, who up until now had just stared in shock at the strange encounter, finally built up enough courage to actually find his own voice and enter the conversation.

"Child, there are no humans or other sentients living on this planet, so it is not possible that this is were you're from." His tone was meant to placate the seemingly imaginative child, but there was an undercurrent of unease as he watched the boy seem to glide across the floor closer to his padawan.

"Yes it is. I've lived here my whole life, with Mother and Father and my Sisters and Brothers."

"Your family is here too?" The Jedi Masters exchanged incredulous looks.

"Of course." The boy shrugged his tiny shoulders. "We've always been here."

"But we would have sensed it. We would have known if there were people living here." Clee Rhara, Garen's master, stated incredulously.

"Are you so sure of that?" The child's blue eyes twinkled with an amused sort of knowledge and an odd smirk formed on his face.

"Of course I'm sure!" The Jedi looked affronted at such an obvious smear at their skill.

"Oh? If you're so sure then why can't you sense me when I'm standing right in front of you?" It was a seemingly innocent question, but Obi-Wan could tell that the child was toying with them.

"What are you talking about? Of course we can sense-" But she was cut off when she realized that the boy was speaking the truth. She couldn't sense him even though she knew he was there!

"How is this possible?" Bant's master, Kit Fisto, whispered. "All living things have a Force signature. How can we not sense you?"

The boy just continued to smirk, not saying a word, watching as the masters and padawans sent looks back at each other. Slowly, he turned his head to the still startled Obi-Wan, the only Jedi not trying to find an answer to the anomaly that he was.

The Jedi padawan just sat there breathing hard and staring a the child, a suspiciously curious look on his face. The boy looked back at him and the grin disappeared, only to be replaced by the thoughtful look again. It was almost as if the child was looking through him instead of at him.

Murmuring came from behind, but Obi-Wan's attention was on the boy. Stretching out with the Force, the apprentice tried to determine if what the masters were feeling (or lack there of) was actually possible. Eyes squinted and brow creased, but right before he could say anything he was interrupted by…

"You're shorter than I thought."

All the murmuring stopped and Obi-Wan snapped out of his search in surprise. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're shorter than I thought." The strange child repeated, looking directly into Obi-Wan's blue-gray eyes. "You actually looked a lot taller from the loft."

Obi-Wan was speechless for a moment in surprise at the seemingly random statement. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you." He said after he gained control of his voice once again.

"That's okay." The boy went back to studying him. All sound seemed to leave the room as the Jedi watched with growing anxiety at what the boy was going to do next.

Stepping closer to the padawan, the child sat down in a criss-cross fashion and moved his head so that he was almost nose-to-nose with the older boy. The boy stayed like that for a moment, and Obi-Wan began to get decidedly uncomfortable.

"You're very odd." He said after a moment, and the padawan had a hard time not raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry?"

"No one has ever been able to sense me. Ever. But then you come along and sense me the moment you come near the caves. Hence, you are odd." It was said so astutely that Obi-Wan actually had to fight to maintain his equilibrium and not fall down under the boy's scrutiny.

"Obi-Wan, is this what you sensed?" The padawan turned his head sharply to his master's wary being.

Nodding his head slowly, Obi-Wan replied, "I think so. At least it felt the same went I searched for his presence a minute ago."

"Well of course it was me!" The boy stated indignantly. "Who else would you have been able to sense? I'm the only other human on the planet!"

"But didn't you say you lived here with your family?" Bant asked, her calm voice betraying her curiosity.

"Yep." The boy's face went blank for a moment as he turned not to Obi-Wan, but to the lightsaber the older boy clutched tightly in his hands. Then, he smiled and sent the padawan a funny sort of look.

"Little Brother says you have a very hard head." He grinned at the Jedis' shocked faces. Obi-Wan looked down at his lightsaber in estranged amazement.

"Little Brother?" Adi Gallia asked.

"Yeah." He said, pointing at all the crystals adorning the cavern. "Blue, Green, Brown, Yellow, and Grey Crystals are Brothers, and Pink, Red, Purple, White, Orange, and Clear Crystals are Sisters. Then of course there are the different color variations, but they're always the same as their base Sibling." He looked at their shocked faces. "It's complicated I know."

Shaking his head slowly, Garen sighed. "This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever."

"Yes it does, just ask Father."

"Father?" This time it was an exasperated Siri Tachi who asked the question, slightly fearing what the obviously insane child was going to say.

"Uh huh. You call Him the Force, I think." The child's head turned a bit in thought before nodding his head slowly. "Yeah, you call Him the Force."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Siri said, all Jedi calm and emotional tranquility leaving her in this moment of insanity. "You actually expect us to believe that you're father is the Force!?"

"But he is." He said heatedly, wind slowly starting to pick up around him.

"That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard, and I've been friends with this guy," she pointed at Obi-Wan, "almost my entire life!"

"Oh yeah? What does the Force tell you then?" The child asked hotly, crossing his arms in the process.

"It tells me that you're a little liar!" She yelled at him.

"I am not!" If there was one thing that the small boy hated more than being ignored it was being called a liar. "And besides, you haven't even checked through the Force yet. I would have known."

"Fine, you want me to check, then I'll check!" Calming herself down, Siri began to search the Force for the answer to the boy's absurd claim and what she found was not what she expected.

Opening her eyes slowly, the shock she felt rolled off her in waves. "Impossible."

"What is it, padawan?" Adi asked, concerned.

"He-he's telling the truth." It was whispered in shock, but the truth of her statement rang throughout the room.

"Siri, you're not serious?" Bant stated, her already large eyes going even larger.

The human girl nodded her head slowly, staring at the child in front of her. Silence rang throughout the cavern as the other Jedi started searching the Force as well, each time coming to the conclusion that the boy was telling the truth.

"But how can this be?" Master Gallia said, fighting the need to sit down and never get up. She turned to Qui-Gon and looked at him as if searching for an answer, but she founded the same stunned look on his face as well.

The little boy looked at the Jedi and nodded his he decidedly. "Yep, I was born from the Crystals because they're so attuned with Father." He looked at their stunned faces. "It's a really long, complicated story with so many twists and side stories that even I get confused sometimes. The point is, is that Father willed me into being and I've been here ever since."

"But-but how could no one have known? Jedi have been coming here for years and we've never picked up any small trace that someone might be living here!" Master Rhara cried, the situation becoming more than she could handle.

"Well of course you haven't!" Was the indignantly amused reply. "I'm very good at hiding." He was obviously very proud of this fact.

"But, what about food, clothing, heat, and other necessities?" It was obvious that the normally calm Jedi Master was grasping at any straws to disprove the boy's statements. "And how could you survive against the gorgodons? Actually, how could you survive at all in this frigid weather with those clothes?"

"Umm, you actually just answered part of your own question when you pointed out that I am in fact wearing clothes. As you can see, they're made from gorgodon hide, which I took from and already dead one and cut into clothes using sharp rocks I've found. Also, the gorgodons never come in this far and they've never bothered me when I travel out of the caverns." He pause thinking about what else she asked, as she had said it all in a rather jumbled rush.

"As for food, well, I've never had the need to eat, sleep, or even use a fresher in my life. Heat isn't a problem either as I've never been cold and the temperatures here are very nice to me."

"Are you sure you're human?" Obi-Wan asked, after having been silent for so long.

"Yep, I'm definitely human, although I suppose that if you wanted to be a poodoo head you could consider me near-human." He huffed, clearly not happy at not being considered completely human.

A sigh escaped Adi as she finally gave into her need to sit down. "Qui-Gon, please tell me that this is all a really weird dream and that I'll be waking up soon when everything is normal again."

"I wish I could, Master, but I'm afraid you're not dreaming."

"Ohh, that's what I was afraid of." She let out a low groan. "I realize that this is improper behavior for a Jedi of my rank, but right now, I just don't care. I have a huge migraine now and it doesn't appear to be leaving me any time soon."

The boy, who's name was still unknown, cocked his head to the side again and looked that the young council member. Seemingly gliding, the boy made his way over to her and placed both hands on his head. She lifted her head up in surprise and tried to call out, but once her eyes met his, her voice escaped her.

They were a calm blue unlike any she'd seen before and they held none of the childishness she'd thought they would. They seemed to be staring straight into her soul and as much as she wished it, she could not pull away. Just as she thought she was going to be swimming in the void that had started to become her mind, his eyes began to glow.

It wasn't a normal sort of glow either. It was a light blue that filled his entire eye, but where one might think it obscured everything about them, it only intensified the eye color. His pupils and irises darkened to a darker blue and the whites of his eyes became an icy sort of blue. Yet no matter the color, the eyes seemed to get brighter, and the glowing expanded till it seemed like his eyes were outlined in a thin blue fire.

Then, his hands began to glow a bluish color as well against her head and she slowly felt her migraine fade away. While she thought he was going to attack her before, he had actually been helping her. To be able to do that without proper training was astounding.

"Are you feeling better?" The glowing had stopped and his hands fell to his sides, but his eyes remained just as intense.

"How in the galaxy did you do that?" She asked in the din of the room. "It must have taken a lot of energy to do that and you have no proper training."

"A lot? I was just getting rid of your headache, which didn't take that much energy at all. And Father teaches me lots of stuff." The boy looked honestly confused, and Adi realized just how cute the child actually was. She had been so preoccupied by his insane claims that she failed to see how adorable the blond-headed boy was.

"But-but…you know what, I'm just not going to ask. I don't think I want to know, but I have a feeling I'll find out eventually."

"Okay." He said simply and turned around to return to his original spot in front of Obi-Wan.

The older boy looked slightly shaken up with everything that had happened and the boy watched as his mentor put a reassuring hand on the padawan's shoulder. It made the child smile slightly at the small show of fatherly affection, but it also made him frown on the inside.

As much as he loved his Family, they couldn't hold him and give him the same soothing feelings as a physical touch probably would. Oh sure, his Father and Mother had hugged him by wrapping their presence's around him, but that wasn't physical, it wasn't tangible, and it left a dull sort of ache in the young boy's chest.

He had watched countless times through his Father, as parents and their children interacted. Watching the many worlds around his own, and saw how no matter the culture or the species, parents and children always had the same kind of bond that they just didn't have with anything or anyone else. Oh yeah, their were those few bad shaaks in the bunch, but all in all, their was a special bond between parents and their children, a bond that, while similar, the boy just didn't have with his own Parents. But as soon as these thoughts surfaced, the child ruthlessly squashed them. It would do no good to focus on the unattainable, and either way, he was happy with what he had.

"I just have one question." Bant paused as she suddenly felt all eyes on her. Taking a deep breath she continued. "Why have you decided to make yourself known now?"

Realization dawned on the other Jedis' faces. Bant was right! Why had the child felt the need make himself known now?

"Oh that's an easy question." The boy smiled. "Because Father told me too. Mother used to always tell me to hide went Jedi came unless Father told me not too. He said that when I made my protector, I would be ready to leave. And now that I have, Father has deemed me ready."

"Wait! Protector? Leave? What are you talking about?" Kit asked, his normal smile absent in the presence of a confused look.

"Well, to answer your questions in order," He paused. "A protector is the same thing as what I believe you call a…lightsaber? Is that what it's called? The long glowing blade thing?"

Slightly perturbed by how the boy had described the weapon, the Jedi nodded slowly.

"Well, yeah that's basically what it is. As for the second question, Father told me that when Jedi came I was to leave with them and train with them." Here he paused again. "I don't know why, but Father told me that it was imperative that I be trained by the Jedi."

That made sense, in an odd, twisted sort of way. The Force would obviously want his Son to learn how to handle power in the Light Side before anyone of the Dark Side managed to find him.

"But wait a minute. How did you get the necessary materials to make a lightsaber in the first place?" That…was a very good question.

"Oh, I didn't use the same stuff you all do. My Crystal is actually Eldest Brother, the older Crystal in the cave. Actually, a few hours before you came, I created my lightsaber from the snow and ice around me and melded it together. According to Father, it will never break or melt."

A shocked silence met his remark. This day just kept getting stranger and strange. It was a pity too, just when the Jedi felt they had everything sorted out, this got thrown in their face.

Clearing his throat, Qui-Gon asked the question currently gnawing at everyone's minds. "May we see this—protector was it?—yes protector, of yours?"

"Okay, but don't drop it, 'kay?" He said as he reached down and put his hand in his pocket.

"I won't, I promise." Qui-Gon smiled reassuringly and received a bright smile in return.

Reaching out his hand, the Jedi watched as the most beautiful weapon was taken out of the boy's pocket. Just as the weapon was about to be put in his hand, the boy froze and Qui-Gon could actually feel the Force churning around the child. The boy's hand retracted quickly and he shot the Jedi Master an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Mister Jedi, Sir, but Father has told me that letting you hold my protector would be a bad idea unless you wanted to get your hand frozen."

"What do you mean, young one." Qui-Gon asked as he slowly drew his hand away. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his fellow Jedi walk over to his apprentice and him, for they too wanted to see this weapon.

"While it may be warm to me, my lightsaber was still made from the ice and snow of this planet. It was fused and crafted together by my use of the Force, making the cold that much more potent to anyone but me. It someone other than myself were to touch it, they would slowly be turned to ice, depending on how long they held it." He turned his head slowly to look at the Jedi. "You may look at it, but I would not advise touching it."

The Jedi slowly nodded their heads and peered at the weapon from a safe distance, while it rested innocently in the boy's outstretched hand.

It truly was the most magnificent lightsaber any of them had ever seen. It appeared to be a weapon meant for the Form V style of lightsaber combat, but it also had the appearance of an electrum lightsaber. However, while electrum was gold, this looked to be a silvery-white crystal almost and upon closer inspection, resembled tightly compacted snowflakes. But, as quickly as it was taken out, the boy put it back and looked at the stunned faces of the people around him.

They were in obvious shock about everything that had happened to them today, something the boy could understand, but as much as he would have loved to remain at home forever, he was given a job to do by his Father and his short attention span was beginning to show. When given a task where he actually got to experience something exciting, his patience at having to wait to start grew exceedingly thin, something his Sisters had always admonished him about, but he never listened too. And now, Father had told him to join the Jedi, so that was exactly what he planned on doing.

"Umm, excuse me?" All attention turned to him, something that was becoming annoyingly frequent today. "I don't mean to rush you as I know you're all still trying to process this, but do you think you can begin processing once we're in space?"

The Jedi stared at him for a moment in silence before anyone made any real movement.

"Right, well, let's pack up and get ready to go." Qui-Gon said, taking control.

"What!? Qui-Gon you don't actually mean we're taking him back with us!?" Clee yelled in surprise.

Raising an eyebrow, he replied, "But of course, Master Rhara. The Force had willed it and I'm not one to go against the Force's demands. Besides, how could you leave the boy here of all places when you know you could bring him someplace better?"

"But…but…" She sighed in defeat. "Fine, you're right. Take advantage of my softness." Her voice turned stern. "But I hope you realize that your apprentice is the only one who can sense him, so we have no way of knowing where he is without Obi-Wan."

"Obi-Wan rarely goes very far without me. Besides, where can he disappear to on a small ship such as ours?"

"Fine." She gave another sigh and muttered, "I never thought I'd have to rely on a padawan to sense a being so close to me."

"Now, why don't you go and gather up your things…err…umm…I'm sorry, but I just realize we never got your name." Realization dawned on the Jedi once more, and Obi-Wan could have sworn that he saw Siri slap he hand against her forehead.

"That's okay. I don't have anything except for my protector and the clothes I'm wearing, so we can go whenever you're ready." The boy smiled at them all. "Oh, and my Mother calls me Anakin, Anakin Skywalker."

Fwooo. I am tired. I think this is the fastest I've ever updated a story in my entire life. Oh and just to clear it up before I bet too many questions: Ani doesn't call lightsabers, weapons, but the Jedi do, so that's why they're called that when referencing what the Jedi are feeling.

Well goodnight everyone. It is currently 4:32 AM and I am going to bed. I don't know when the next update will be, but it will probably be soon.

Night!

--TimeMage0955