"D-Darth Vader'cells? Wh-why?"
"That's exactly what I'm trying to ask you. Why would they throw you in here-you are but a mere child! But then again, it would be just like the Empire to do that."
Anakin was confused now- the Empire? What in the world was that? Some sort of company or planet government?
"Unless you are a Jedi- which I highly doubt. Wait, are you?"
"Ah w-well, n-no, not exact-"
"No, you aren't a Jedi. You're too shy. I've always imagined them to be fearless and particularly brave. Am I right?
Anakin blushed tomato-red, 'Well that was- that hurt!' But he knew that his shyness was often something that usually led to wrong conclusions. Of course, he was thinking of using his shyness as something to mislead others to his advantage.
"So maybe you're the son of a criminal?"
"A-ah, I don't- I don't know how to do crime. I-I haven't ever disobeyed my mentors."
The woman gaped, "Seriously? You haven't- ever! done a bad thing? Skipped curfew or drank a bit? I might be a little sheltered but even I know how to have a little fun."
Shrugging uncomfortably he started pushing his index fingers together. He didn't answer that he was a Padawan and that in the Temple such acts would have been punished severely and it wasn't as if he was upset over that. No Padawan seemed discontent over the rules because there really wasn't a reason to want to start doing bad things around the Temple.
"Well- never mind that, the main concern here is for you to stay low; as much as you can even though you are here. Who knows what would Vader do to you if he saw you."
Anakin felt a strange sense of fear settle in the pit of his stomach. It was just like those times back in Tattoine when Gardulla got especially angry. Or when both his mother and him faced the threat of being sold to cruel slavers. He had tasted fear; knew it like the back of his hand.
He just never wanted to feel it again because it was a terrible sensation. It made you feel helpless and that was the last thing he wanted to feel. Whatever this Vader was- it had power and wasn't afraid to use it.
And he had noticed the little injection pinpricks on the inside of the woman's arms. They were red with irritation and a little bruised around the edges. An uncontrolled shudder went through him.
He had heard from his mentors many things, but he remembered the subject everyone in class had been quiet for. Torture. A Jedi Knight had actually come to the class. Anakin still remembered the scratches around the man's throat, wrists, torso, and the healed laceration mark on his stomach.
It had been horrible.
And the more Anakin thought about it, the more reluctant he was about meeting this Darth Vader. The woman didn't look scared, but neither did she look like she was having the time of her life.
"W-what would he-he do to me?" He murmured softly, shivering even though he had several layers of tunics on him. 'Stupid fear.'
"To you? I...I don't know." She shook her head, her heart aching a little for the lost boy in front of her.
"W-w-well, then what n-n-now?"
The woman sighed, her eyes drooping tiredly while her head rested against the wall, "We wait. There isn't any particular thing I can do to get out from here, and I doubt you can. This place is fortified heavily."
"Ah. E-excuse me but ah- why are you here miss?"
"It's Leia."
"P-p-pardon?"
"My name is Leia. And to answer your question; Vader believes I am assisting the Rebel Alliance."
"Oh. Your name is pretty...it means child from heaven in Huttese..." Anakin said as he smiled with closed eyes, he recognized that name! It was from the story his mother always used to tell him.
"What? Huttese?"
Anakin snapped back to attention, blushing, "S-sorry Miss Leia, it-it's just that I-I was born in Tatooine. So-so I know the lan-language."
"Oh." There was an awkward pause when the woman leaned forward, "How old are you anyways? You're awfully short."
Anakin blushed redder than before, prompting Leia to giggle a bit before settling back into the wall behind her. "I-I-I ju-just haven't hi-hit my growth spurt yet. I'm thirteen, miss."
Leia leaned forward again, a sly smile on her face, intent on teasing the Ani again. Anakin was slightly frightened of the look.
"What makes you think you will grow much, hmm?"
Anakin looked down and started pressing his index fingers against each other. He did this so much everyone called it, 'Anakin's trick.'
"M-my men-mentor t-t-told me that the shorter a boy is as a y-y-young age, the t-taller he will be w-w-when he grows up."
Leia broke out laughing and Anakin blushed deeper. She laughed so hard, she started choking on her own saliva. The more she laughed, the more redder Anakin turned.
"Haha, I have never had so much fun in a prison like this- or with a short person nevertheless." She teased, wincing as she grazed her hand on the metal slab.
Anakin, being the perceptive boy he was, approached Leia cautiously, still hesitant on trusting her. But once he checked with the Force quickly, he relaxed. She was of no threat to him.
"M-may I heal y-your wou-wounds?" He asked, cowering beneath her easy stare.
"Uh- you know how to heal? With what? You don't have anything on you?"
Smiling slightly, Anakin took her questions as initiative to approach her. Standing on the toes of his feet, he climbed to the empty space on the metal slab. He was surprised to actually find a blanket beneath her with a small and pathetic pillow behind her back.
'At least they actually did provide something for her.'
He started healing her with what little he knew, his hands over her skin by a few centimeters, with the glow of the Force around his hands and her wounds.
Out loud he started speaking timidly, "The po-power of the Force is strong and it can do anything a-as long as the wielder knows how to channel his or her strength."
"The Force?"
"Yes, the power that binds all living things to the non-living and creates a truce between them."
"Huh?" Leia looked as if she had been told she would have twins with a smuggler while being a Jedi herself.
"The way we interact with non-living things I mean. If you use a blaster, which is non-living, you don't see it sliding out of your hand because of some invisible Force. It's a truce. Likewise, it binds the living to the galaxy."
"Wow, you actually aren't stuttering! But wait! If you know about the Force...then does this mean you are a Jedi?" Leia gaped, her excitement so palpable through the Force, Anakin was sure it could be felt parsecs away.
"A-ah no- I am m-m-most comfortable speaking on things I know to e-explain. And y-y-yes. I-I am a Padawan Learner."
Leia once again let her confused face show, "A who what!?"
Bowing his head, unable to meet the gaze of the woman, he repeated, "A Pa-Padawan Learner, miss Leia."
"...Keep that a secret, alright Ani?"
"Wh-why, miss Leia?"
Leia sighed sadly, shaking her head while looking ahead with hazy eyes as is she wasn't there. "The Jedi were massacred. Exterminated. Every single one of them, they were accused of being traitors to the Empire."
Anakin stilled as if he had been shocked. "Wh-what? B-but the J-J-Jedi would nev-never do that!"
Leia reached to lay a hand over Anakin's heavily covered shoulder, seeking to console him through that simple gesture. "I don't believe that neither...it's just this blasted Empire."
"Th-thank you! F-for believing th-that!" He smiled happily, a smile which took away Leia's breath.
Such small act of innocence, something she didn't see in the Rebel Alliance or around her home anymore, was something that made her resolve grow stronger.
'The Empire must be destroyed. This child...he's what I should have been had this never happened.'
At that exact moment, the door to her right blew to pieces to reveal a stormtrooper.
"You're even-more beautiful-than I-" the voice started before she interrupted, her confusion and uncertainty turning to puzzlement and then irritation.
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"
She heard the little giggle from Ani which made her turn to him. Ani immediately stopped and blushed, looking down. She turned back to the stormtrooper, glaring at him, "Well?"
The 'trooper' took off his helmet, revealing sandy-colored locks and piercing blue eyes. "What? Oh the uniform- I've come to rescue you. I'm Luke Skywalker."
"Pardon?" She asked politely, this time choosing to ignore the small choking noise Ani produced as soon as he heard the name.
"I said I've come to rescue you- Ben Kenobi is with me. We've got your two droids-"
This time, she interrupted out of gleeful joy, "Ben Kenobi!?" She started looking around, searching for the Jedi. One reason being to tell the former General about this new Jedi she had found. "Where is he? Obi-Wan!"
"Master Obi-Wan!?" Ani's voice echoed excitedly.
Leia turned towards the small boy, "Come on Ani!"
She didn't get to hear his answer as explosions shook the hallways.