Promise - Anakin Skywalker

.04

Ahsoka and Barriss were the first people Ella had ever thought of as friends, or what she imagined were friends. Just the Jedi Temple itself was a culture shock to Ella; she'd lived in isolation her entire life. Now there were hundreds of creatures in one building that was a thousand times the size of Ella's hut back on Hoth. Just Barriss's room was five times the size of it.

The three girls had already begun to plan their to do list since Ella had done absolutely nothing.

"Maybe we'll start by just walking around the temple?" Ahsoka suggested. "I don't want you to have a heart attack going outside into the city!"

"Ahsoka's right! Only Anakin and Obi Wan would bring a person who's lived in isolation most of their life to the busiest city in the galaxy," Barriss chuckled.

Seeing that both Ahsoka and Barriss were laughing, Ella forced a laugh out of herself. As soon as the sound came out of her mouth she immediately stopped- her fake laugh was monotone like a droid. There was a second of silence from everyone, followed by real laughter.

"So what was it like, Ella? Being around Anakin Skywalker?" Barriss asked, swooning as she said his name.

Ahsoka jokingly punched her arm. "Barriss!" She shrilled. "Attachments!"

"Come on, Ahsoka! We're teenage girls! What else can they expect?! Admit it!" Barriss teased Ahsoka, her sly smirk making Ahsoka laugh.

"Okay! Fine! I was wondering what it was like too!" Ahsoka finally admitted. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. They both turned to Ella who only looked confused. She didn't understand why they were so giddy all of a sudden.

"You don't think Anakin is cute?" Barriss asked like Ella had broken a law. Ahsoka looked concerned.

Ella shrugged. "I don't know! Am I supposed to?"

"Well, no, but it's - I guess - common?" Ahsoka said awkwardly. "I don't know how to explain it!"

"If this puts it into perspective for you, any teenage girl here would have probably gone to the dark side to get a day with Anakin Skywalker," Barriss said.

"Really? He annoys me, to be completely honest. We argued a lot," Ella confessed to her friends.

Ahsoka's mouth dropped wide open. She fell backwards onto Barriss's bed. "Someday you'll realize how amazing that is," Ahsoka hummed. "Is he hot when he argues?"

"Oh my force, Ahsoka! I thought you didn't like him!" Barriss teased, mocking Ahsoka's voice.

"Wait, what exactly is the Force?" Ella asked, breaking up the teasing between Ahsoka and Barriss.

"Well you know how you listened to Anakin and Obi Wan's conversation, stole Anakin's lightsaber, and knew the Wampa was in its cave? That's all because you harnessed the force," Ahsoka explained.

"It surrounds everything and connects living things," Barriss said. "I can tap into the force and braid your hair, for example."

Without moving a muscle Barriss simply stared at Ella's long brown hair. Effortlessly, all of Ella's hair moved to one side of her head, separated into three sections, and began to weave itself into a long braid. Barriss moved her hair so gracefully, it was like magic.

"Try using the Force to tie it up now," Barriss said, pointing to a black rubber band on her dresser.

Ella nodded, shifting all of her focus onto the tiny hair piece. Just like the Wampa, she simply felt for it. It was definitely more challenging here, there were so many other things intact within the Force. I need the rubber band- just the rubber band, Ella said to herself.

She tuned out her senses that were tempted to feel all of the new sensations that the Force opened up to her. And soon enough it floated into the air. Now that the hard part was over, Ella simply guided the rubber band through the air and looped it around the end of her braid.

Ahsoka and Barriss both clapped proudly. "Look at you! You don't even need any training!" Barriss exclaimed, playfully shoving Ella's shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a sharp rap on the door. "It's open!" Ahsoka called.

Anakin Skywalker ducked under the low door frame. Ella could feel Ahsoka and Barriss go numb, she herself felt stiff in the moment.

He'd cleaned himself up - showered, shaved, changed his clothes - and Ella had to admit his appearance intimidated her. He towered over the three of them, but his face showed courtesy and respect. Ella stared at him and realized she was curious - who really was this infuriating Jedi?

Mystery surrounded Anakin. The way he looked, the very way he carried himself left Ella wanting to know more. He was deeper than his tough appearance, maybe even weak. She wanted to know, and she would find out.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," he said politely, "Ella can I speak to you privately?"