𝗙𝗔𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 | anakin skywalker

✰ 2. anakin

In her boredom, Akya had decided to clean her entire room, and in sorting through drawers, she found many data chips she needed to return to the archives, as well as books and maps that needed to go back to the library.  Cleaning had taken all afternoon, and after supper and a long game of Novacrown with some of the Younglings, Akya had used up all her time in the day.  She made a mental note to do it the next morning— and that she did.

The hall approaching the Archives was one of the most crowded in the temple, often full of Jedi and Jedi Initiates of all ages, bustling to study for a test, search for information, or perhaps just find a cure for boredom. Akya found herself a regular at this place for all three reasons.  The Library, with its traditional paper books, was not as popular or convenient— especially at its place in the far east wing of the second floor— but Akya favored it over the Archives because of this.  The Archives were never crowded, and often quiet— but the Library offered a serenity Akya could find nowhere else.

Akya quickly returned the data drives to the Archives and made her way upstairs to the Library, carrying the books and maps she had borrowed weeks ago.  She was on no time constraint to return them, however, she was finished, and itching to take new books out. 

Akya watched her feet stroll on the carpet below, taking unreasonably calculated footsteps towards the quiet Library. But this habit of watching her feet was ill-advised, for Akya walked straight into someone ahead of her. She immediately looked up as their bodies clashed and she lost her balance, stumbling backward.  The boy in front of her reached out, not coming into contact with her, but instead stopping her mid-fall, almost as if an invisible cushion appeared behind her.  He pulled her back up and she stood, regaining her footing embarrasedly. 

"I'm so sorry," he said, picking up the map that had fallen from her grasp. He handed it back to her and she took it with a smile. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"That's okay," she said. "I wasn't looking ahead of me like I should have been. Thank you for catching me." She put out her hand for him to shake, completing their awkward first meeting. Akya didn't think she'd seen this particular Padawan in the temple before— he had dirty blonde hair that came into a small braid on his right shoulder, and the rest was pulled back into a short ponytail.  He had light blue eyes and a smile graced his face wonderfully.  "I'm Akya," she stated, putting her hand out for him to shake as she passed her books to her left hand to hold. 

"Anakin," he said, taking it.  They shook once but did not let go.  Something... something told Akya not to let go, like she was supposed to keep him next to her.  She looked down from his eyes to their connected hands, and wondered what it was that made her want to hold on forever.  But Akya shook out of her short trance and finally let go of Anakin's hand, taking her books back into both.

She shouldn't have held on for so long, it had become awkward.  "I— Anakin?" she repeated.  "Anakin Skywalker?"

The blonde looked down, then back up at Akya.  "My reputation precedes me."

"It most certainly does," she said.  He didn't seem overjoyed that she knew of him.  "You're—"

He cut her off, putting his hand up and signaling for her to stop.  "I know," he said. 

"Sorry," she said.  "I understand why you wouldn't want to hear it."

"Yes.  Um..."Anakin began to change the subject. "I've never seen you in the Temple before.  Are you a Jedi Knight already?  How old are you?"

Akya realized that her age and the fact that she was not sporting a Padawan braid might throw someone off. "I'm nineteen," she explained.  "And I am certainly not a Jedi Knight," she said.