Chapter 4

Corellia is different from Tatooine in many various ways. Usually, Tatooine is considered by spacers to rural backwater world without any source of grass and lakes. But Corellia contrasts everything Anakin Skywalker grew up around. A decent wealth planet that at least is going somewhere.

So, Anakin Skywalker being surprised when he first received new clothes is something that the ladies would remember, especially Eirtaé. The new clothes definitely do suit him; he's now wearing black pants and shirt with golden stripes clasped across his outfit as well as golden shoulder pads, a golden necklace now fastened around his neck.

Eirtaé talked to Ani briefly, and she does admit feeling bad for the sweet child. Still, she hadn't ever seen someone like Anakin Skywalker before. Children are after all mischievous, but he is following behind whoever commands, his feet shifting nervously as if worried to displease anyone.

When Sabé left, Eirtaé could see the disappointed glint in his eyes, the longing and the Hutt. This is going to be the place that they would work at for a while. Eirtaé honestly wishes they don't have to wait so long to save Naboo.

Eirtaé glances back at him, walking several yards behind them, which had made her suspicious at first, because she knows that being on Tatooine must have caused him to steal and pickpocket along with his mother and other slaves for survival, even though that would have been understandable those days. He'd claimed that he would be behaving himself while they try to reload resources for the next few days.

Now, looking back, Eirtaé can see that she'd been right to be suspicious of Anakin. He is munching on a Sunfruit, and by the looks of it is halfway finished. Anakin didn't get the Corellia credits for it so that only means...

"Ani," Eirtaé hisses, placing her hand on his shoulder softly but firmly and leading him elsewhere. "What did we tell you about stealing?" She is referring to the few new rules that they told him to follow about the days traveling in lightspeed and having to assure their stowaway doesn't get into trouble.

"Not to do it unless you all say to do it," the child replies, his expression showing true fear.

"So, what is that?"

"I didn't steal it," Anakin replies softly.

Eirtaé gives him a disbelieving look. Surely there are better excuses than that.

"I didn't."

"Then where did you get it?" she demands.

"I found it," Anakin replies

"Where?" Eirtaé responds, unconvinced.

Anakin takes yet another bite out of it before replying as if it is the most casual thing he has ever said. "In a garbage can."

Eirtaé's jaw drops. Then she finds herself wincing in disdain. "Anakin!"

"What?" Anakin inquires, his eyebrows shot up in curiosity. "It was right at the top and only had two bites taken out of it!"

"I don't believe you are telling the truth!"

Anakin grimaces, his body shuddering. He never liked being yelled at, and he wonders if Eirtaé is going to paddle him.

"I'm not lying!" Anakin starts to look a little hurt and irritated, his blue eyes going wide with fear, as he hugs his fruit tighter. Surely, she would not hurt him.

"Anakin, give me the fruit," Eirtaé says, outstretching her hand and trying to throw it away.

"What's going on?" Rabé's voice queries, walking up to them. "Eirtaé, what the kriff are you doing?"

Rabé grabs Eirtaé's arm and places it behind her back, saving Anakin from what most likely would have been a beating. It is the first time that Anakin has ever seen someone willing to protect him. His mother had been unable to do so back on Tatooine, but Rabé merely did it in five seconds with only her hands.

"Eirtaé doesn't believe that I found this," Anakin replies, showing Rabé his Sunfruit fruit.

Rabé frowns, releasing Eirtaé's arm, and throwing the younger female away.

"I believe that you found it! I just can't believe you're eating it out of a garbage can," Eirtaé replies pointedly, glaring at Rabé a bit for assaulting her. "Ani, that's disgusting!"

Now Ani is the one to grimace and Eirtaé feels a twinge of guilt, but why she didn't know. She looks at Rabé, and finds the expression on her face hard to read, but anger dwindles inside of her eyes.

Then Rabé reaches out towards the boy, and for a moment, Eirtaé thinks she is going to snatch the fruit away from Anakin and throw it on the ground or in another can where it belongs. Maybe force him elsewhere and ensure he doesn't get the fruit. Good. Such behaviour is...

Instead, Rabé pats Anakin's shoulder and then indicates for them both to start moving. What? So Eirtaé gets her arm pinned behind her kriffing back and Ani merely gets a pat on the shoulder?! Not that she wants the child hurt but come on! Rabé's grip is like durasteel itself when she grabs you!

This is why Eirtaé prefers to not spar with Rabé and fears that the woman would ever get angry. The only one who can counter her is Sabé.

"Come on. We need to get back to the palace."

"But –"

"Come on," Rabé repeats.

"At least make him get rid of it!" Eirtaé snaps.

"It's mine!" Ani protests and quickly takes another bite, swallow without taking the time to chew, and then yet another bite.

"It's unsanitary!" Eirtaé replies heatedly.

"I doubt it was in the can very long," Rabé replies without any small amount of exasperation. "It still seems fresh."

"That isn't the point," Eirtaé replies, folding her arms across her chest.

Anakin continues to scarf down his Sunfruit, almost like an animal who believe its dinner is going to be its last.

"Come on, Eirtaé, this isn't worth the scene you're making over it," Rabé replies, shaking her head. "He's a former slave child who is different than all of the kids back in the unknown galaxy."

This time when she stares at her, Eirtaé gets the distinct feeling that the look she is giving her is a severe one of despondency.

Which makes no sense! She isn't the one eating garbage out of garbage cans!

Listening to Anakin slurping the juices out of his fruit a few steps behind them as he bites into his garbage Sunfruit does not make Eirtaé feel less nauseous. By the time they reach the inside of the palace, Eirtaé is seconds away from bursting with frustrations.

Saché, waiting on the back side of the palace for them, takes one look at her angered expression, then one look at Anakin's hurt one, then gives them a look that clearly says, "I don't want to know," and turns on her heel to leave.

"Kid, go with Saché," Rabé says before she could get too far. "Eirtaé and I need to talk."

Eirtaé feels her face flush as she catches the shocked expression Saché send back at them. Eirtaé thought she could tell that this whole mess had been Anakin's fault, which it is, so she didn't comprehend anymore why Rabé wanted to give her a talking to.

And Anakin didn't argue, staying far away from her. He didn't even look at her, just hurry after Saché, who stiffens as Anakin draw nearer, then put a hand on the kid's shoulder like she thinks the kid needs reassurance.

Anakin stares over at Eirtaé at last and his eyes have tears going down them. Ouch. She didn't mean to make him break down and cry. She just wanted him to learn a lesson that such a manner is unacceptable.

Rabé waits until they are a safe distance away before finally beginning to talk.

"Eirtaé, have you ever been really hungry?" Rabé asks. "I don't mean just skip a meal kind of hungry. I mean the kind of hunger where you are forced to go so long without eating that you can't concentrate or think about anything except how hungry you are?"

"Well, no," Eirtaé admits. She'd been pretty hungry at times, but she'd never been that hungry.

"Never had whole three days or longer without eating?" Rabé asks.

"No," she admits again. The closest she had ever been was when they lacked storage in the last years, but they still had some food that helped them for the days though it had to spread out. Suffice to say, she would never want to go back there now.

Rabé looks like she expected as much of an answer. "Good. I'm glad."

Eirtaé waits, sensing she isn't finished yet.

"Before I became a criminal, I was not really suffering much. I'm sure there was a time or two I missed a meal, but I can't remember it now," Rabé replies. "After my whole world collapsed the first time, everything changed. It was only for the kindness of strangers - and eventually Padmé - who helped me after I got off my feet that I didn't starve. And I'm not too proud to say that some of those strangers fed me garbage from garbage cans. Garbage that they'd picked out and planned to eat themselves."

Eirtaé's throat goes tight. Rabé never opened up to her past a lot, and it is no secret that she misses Padmé. "Rabé..."

"It's something I'll never forget. People who had nothing, giving up what little they were able to scrounge, to keep me - a child who is nothing but a thief - from starving." Rabé suddenly looks thirty years older and thirty-thousand light years away. "Live through something like that and you'll never look down on people who have to eat out of garbage cans to survive either. It's one of the many reasons why I quit my criminal path and want to help other people."

"But Ani doesn't have to do that anymore!" Eirtaé stammers for a response. "I don't... I mean, I get why people who have nothing have to do that, and I'm not judging them, but Ani doesn't have to. So why –"

"It wasn't that long ago that he did have to, Eirtaé," Rabé replies. "Old habits die hard. He said he's been on his own since who knows how many years?"

Eirtaé is silent, thinking this over.

"I don't think any of you ever had to learn those kinds of survival skills just yet because we had each other," Rabé says after giving her a few moments to think. "But I know I did. That's why I hate talking about my past and I fear Anakin would eventually do so too, but from what little I say, and from how I act, there's a lot you can guess. Gaining his trust would cause him to open up like I am right now.

Eirtaé frowns, her head bowed down, realizing that she has been extremely cold. "I'm so sorry, Rabé, I-I didn't know."

"I'm almost positive none of you do, but you have to be careful around people like Ani, Eirtaé. He's doing what he did to survive. Even in different environments, he would still fall back to those old ways. We all are going to have to accept that, and as someone who had faced similar conditions to Ani, I'm going to have to explain to you lot that judging his actions would not work. Embrace them. Help him see that there are better ways through patience."

It makes Eirtaé want to cry. The thought of one of her friends being forced to eat from garbage cans so she wouldn't starve makes her wish she can take the pain away. She could imagine a few things worse, but not too many. One of the best and bravest people she knew so close to dying that they'd eat trash to survive. It is horrible. It is wrong. Rabé should never have had to do that.

Just like Ani never should have. She has to think about the slaves on Tatooine and the others who are forced to endure what Rabé had to suffer for years. Maybe that explains why Rabé was so cold when they first met and is still taking so long for her to heal from the past wounds.

Maybe that's why Rabé is the nicest around Anakin. She probably understands him more than everyone here because she knows all too well about being raised in such an environment. She didn't suffer slavery thankfully since it was not allowed in known part of the galaxy, but she did suffer being on the streets without a friend in the world.

And Eirtaé should know. Hell, they had to be bounty hunters and mercenaries just to survive!

'Yesterday's garbage.'

A term that makes her even more depressed.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Ani's the one you need to tell that to, Eirtaé," Rabé says. "Not me."

"I'll tell him too," Eirtaé says instantly, staring in the direction where the kid went with Saché. "I'll tell him, Rabé, I-I just you... You shouldn't have had to do that. I'm sorry."

Rabé's expression softens at the sight of her tears, and she reaches out to pat her on the back briefly as she steps past her. "You're a good person, but don't understand a life deeper than having to leave behind home. Had we been on Tatooine longer, you would have understood why we are fortunate to be born here. Just remember, your words can hurt worse than you might think."

Her words have hurt both Rabé and Anakin. And after everything they had been through, Eirtaé didn't think they deserved to be hurt anymore. She takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders. Then she goes to go find Ani. She owes him an apology.

Anakin feels his face burning as he makes his way through the palace with Saché. He didn't want to see the looks on her, Yané, and Sabé's faces, like the one Eirtaé had been giving him.

Skywalker attempts to leave before she sees him but he fails.

"Kid? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing," Anakin replies, trying to be cold, not wanting to talk.

Saché's grip grows tighter on Anakin's shoulder, not tight enough to hurt, but enough to keep him from getting away.

"Ani? What happened?"

Anakin didn't want to tell her. If Saché looks at him the way Eirtaé had, he just might snap.

He wrenches out of Saché's hold and glares up at her. "I didn't do anything wrong!" he says angrily, then make a break for it.

Or tries to. Saché catches him again, this time by the waist. Anakin is squeaking with fear. He is afraid that she is going to lay him across her lap and...

Saché does the opposite, instead peering close. "Then what happened, Ani? Talk to me. Why are you so upset?"

"I'm not upset!" Ani protests. "So let me go!"

"Ani, if you don't tell me what happened, I'm going to tell Padmé and Sabé."

Anakin glares at Saché, then back at Rabé and Eirtaé, who are in deep conversation. Understanding crosses Saché's face, and the handmaiden takes him further away.

"I don't have to be Force Sensitive to feel that you're hurt," Saché says, pressing Anakin down onto the bench sitting down next to him. "Talk to me, Ani. Tell me what happened?"

Anakin stares down at the painting on the robe. He didn't think there are any way out of this. If Saché can detect his pain from a mile away like his mother can, then he shall not receive the rest he wants. He knows the teenager isn't going to let this go without getting to the bottom of it.

"I found a piece of fruit while you were out in the conference."

"Hmm, guess you got bored easily..." Saché prompts gently.

"I didn't steal it!"

"I didn't think you did," Saché replies softly. And Anakin can tell that is true. "So, you found it... on the ground?"

Something about Saché's voice makes Anakin think she'd already figured out what had happened, so Anakin is very careful not to look up at her, even though he hears no judgement in Saché's voice.

"No. I found it on the top of a garbage can."

Saché's hand fell back to Anakin's shoulder, surprising him. He almost looks up before remembering his resolve.

"There was nothing wrong with it. It only had two bites taken out of it - guess whoever took it before was a kid. And it wasn't rotten, or wormy or anything. It would have been a waste," Anakin replies, defending himself. "I just didn't want it to go to waste."

"It's alright, Ani."

Those words surprise Anakin so much that he looks up by accident. Saché's eyes are sad, but not pleading. She looks... She looks like she understands. Does she have a history of this or know about the troubles of not eating for days?

Anakin's jaw hangs loose for a moment, then he quickly snaps it shut and avoids her gaze.

Saché keeps her hand on Anakin's shoulder, a warm affectionate presence, and they sit in silence for nearly a full minute before he breaks it.

"Eirtaé thought I was disgusting."

"I'm certain she doesn't think that," Saché replies, "but I think she probably thought what you were doing is disgusting, not that you yourself are disgusting."

"That's the same thing," Anakin replies waspishly.

"No, it's not, Ani," Saché responds. "Eirtaé cares for you. For everyone here and everyone back home. We're like family. She'd never be disgusted by you as a person. It was only what you did that made her disgusted. There's a difference."

Anakin shrugs, not certain that is really right.

"People who have never actually been starving have no clue how much hunger can hurt, Ani. You can't hold it against them."

Anakin really didn't know about that. He could certainly hold it against a lot of people, like all the stuffy slavers who just look at him and his mother with grins if not taunt them.

But then Saché's words sink in, and Anakin looks up at Saché in shock and horror.

"You?"

"No," Saché replies with a slight chuckle. "But we have seen it before. Ani, Yané and I basically ran a nursery business for people who hardly ever got some food back at home. This is basically a side job. It was horrifying. None cases have ever been worse than yours, but there are people who faces sleep deprivation, and abuse in all type of manners."

Anakin couldn't believe it. Eirtaé, at that moment, runs up to them. Saché can tell that whatever Rabé has been telling Eirtaé it is enough to make her apologize.

"Anakin, I want to say I'm sorry to you," Eirtaé says softly. "About the things I said today and the way I treated you. I didn't think – I never knew –"

"Apology accepted," Anakin replies lightly, seeming surprised at something but both Saché and Eirtaé can guess what.

"You shouldn't forgive me that easily, Ani. What I said was really horrible." Eirtaé responds.

Anakin seems perplexed. "Why are you so persistent in apologizing? No one ever says sorry."

"Apologizing is common courtesy in the galaxy, Ani, when we all make mistakes," Saché says softly.

Now Anakin appears uncomfortable. "That's something else you learn from slavery."

"What?"

"Not to question people of higher authority."

"I don't understand."

"Slave children are taught to let go fairly easily. You get over that phase really quick if you end up becoming a slave. Nothing's fair, and protesting would probably result in some sort of a beating," Anakin declares, something within his face seeming pained. "But the longer you're in slavery, you have respected your masters. Being able to play games instead of working is rare."

Both Saché and Eirtaé arches eyebrows at the young child.

"Holding grudges are not allowed at the risk of receiving more lashings," Anakin continues his eyes suddenly taking a fearful expression. "You have to accept other's words or you suffer for it. For example, you could be..."

"Be what?" Saché presses.

"Nothing," Anakin responds quickly, staring down at his arm and noticeably covering something, making both of them scowl in curiosity. "The point is that if you hold onto something then you would receive more beatings."

Saché, and especially Eirtaé, feel their heart break even more than it already has that day, as Anakin speaks. Eirtaé has a key interest to stare down at his arm, wondering why Anakin is rubbing that particular area for a few moments, before staring up at her, seeming to have nothing else to say.

She strides forward very deliberately, then wrap her arms around Anakin.

The kid freezes. Literally. She might as well have been hugging a statue for the response she gets from him. But that in itself is a response as well.

He doesn't feel comfortable with such close contact, Eirtaé thinks, and gently releases him from her hug. Probably another thing picked up from his time in slavery.

"You're a good kid," Eirtaé says.

"Uh, thanks?" Anakin offers, looking as confused as she'd ever seen him.

"Just know I would never beat you. I might not understand your actions but I would never lay my hand on you."

Eirtaé smiles, before motioning him down the corridors of the ship, while Saché takes her leave in an opposite direction, seeming to understand she is no longer necessary. "How about we spend some time together? I'm certain that Sabé is going to be tired when she returns as well as having to prepare to do a assignment so we can survive. If you want me to hold you..."

Anakin's eyes sparkle, those cute and baby blue eyes making him more kiddy adorable as he cuddles up with Eirtaé who wrap her arms around him as they both sit on the couch. Okay, the kid has great hair. His stands feel so gentle in her hands, and Eirtaé definitely is going to have to get a hairbrush for him in the near future.

Alone in slavery, his mother was his only companion before they came, survival the only thing on their mind, and nothing but his own conscience as a moral compass... until even that was taken away from him. And with being on an unfamiliar planet, he still doesn't know real laws or how to live like common people.

They was lucky to have met him, Eirtaé realizes now. So lucky.

And from now on, she would do her best to ensure that Anakin is lucky to have meet them too.

As proven today, he may do some things that are viewed as disgusting, but those disgusting things are something that Anakin depended on for survival as well as many others. He would not be hurt by her ever again, and she would try to understand him better.

And Eirtaé has a karking fascination for his hair!