ANAKIN had gone down to a parking lot for speeders and picked a random yellow one to jump in. Elia followed after him, hopping over the door and into the seat and Anakin started the speeder. He pulled out of the spot and flew it forward, Elia gripped the hand bar on the side. The Padawan's searched for the Jedi Master in the sea of speeders around them.
"Does he jump out of windows often?" Elia joked as she glanced down below them. Flying did not scare her, in fact, she was quite good at piloting.
"All the time." Anakin said back, going along with the joke as she dodged between slower speeders in the car. Elia spotted The Jedi Master free falling ahead of them.
"Anakin!" Elia pointed, Anakin dove for Obi-Wan. Elia's braid began to fall out as the wind whipped her face. Anakin got under Obi-Wan finally and the older man crawled into the back seat.
"What took you two so long?" Obi-Wan shouted at them over the rush of the vehicle.
"Anakin had a hard time picking a speeder he really liked." Elia quipped, Anakin smirked at her remark
"There he is." Obi-Wan pointed for a flying jet ahead of them, Anakin followed after him.
"Oh, you know, I just really needed one with an open cockpit and the right speeding capabilities. And I thought this yellow one looked pretty." Anakin shrugged, causing Elia to laugh.
"If you spent as much time practicing your saber techniques as you do your wit, you would rival Master Yoda as a swordsman." Obi-Wan said to his Padawan who dove down below the traffic.
"Well if that's true, someone better tell Master Yoda I'm coming for him." Elia chimed in, this earned a chuckle from both Anakin and Obi-Wan. They sped after the assassin, who was diving through head on traffic to lose them. But Anakin was a very determined pilot and dove after them. A large public transport separated the Jedi from the assassin, as Anakin neared the ship quickly.
"Pull up, Anakin. Pull up!" Master Kenobi shouted at his Padawan who laughed loudly at the distress of his Master. The teenager pulled up at the last minute. "You know I don't like it when you do that." The Jedi Master complained.
"Sorry, Master." Anakin said back unapologetically. "I forgot you don't like flying." Anakin smirked as his attention stayed focused on the enemy.
"I don't mind flying but what you're doing is suicide." Obi-Wan quipped, Elia glanced back at the Jedi Master.
"Well, I'm an excellent pilot." Elia told him, flashing him a smile. This did not make him feel any better.
"You're a pilot?" Anakin asked her, his gaze shifting momentarily from the sky in front of him to her side profile. This peeked his interest even more in the Padawan.
"One of the best, as Master Windu would say." Elia replied over the rushing over the wind.
"You can't be, I'm the best." Anakin argued, following the assassin into an energy plant. They shot out their window at a pair of power couplings that were now activated.
"Anakin! How many times have I told you—"
"Ow, ow, ow, ow."
"—stay away from power couplings!" Obi-Wan finished after being electrocuted lightly by the energy. "That was great." The Jedi Master said sarcastically.
"I'm the best pilot, he says." Elia mocked him, earning a glare from the Skywalker boy.
"Where are you going? He went that way!" Master Kenobi shouted at his apprentice, who kept his eyes forward.
"Master, if we keep this chase going any longer, that creep is going to end up deep-fried, and personally, I'd very much like to find out who he is." Anakin told his Master.
"And who he's working for." Elia chimed in.
"This is a shortcut. I think." Anakin gave another glance at Elia who rolled her eyes at his unsureness. They came around a corner to a big intersection and Anakin came to a stop.
"Well, you've lost him." Obi-Wan said from the backseat.
"I'm deeply sorry, Master." Anakin replied, locking eyes with Elia.
"That was some shortcut, Anakin." The Jedi Master huffed at his Padawan. "He went completely the other way." He continued. Anakin gestured with his eyes to the steering wheel.
Take the wheel.
Anakin's voice echoed in her mind, Elia blinked. She wasn't aware that either of them were able to communicate through their minds. Elia nodded at Anakin.
"Once again, you've proved—" Obi-Wan was cut off by Anakin standing in his seat.
"If you'll excuse me." Anakin excused himself, flashing a grin and a wink at Elia before jumping out of the speeder. Elia climbed over to the drivers seat to take over for him.
"I hate it when he does that." Master Kenobi muttered as he jumped into the seat next to Elia now.
"He takes after you." She pointed out. The blonde girl spun the speeder over itself before following Anakin as he fell down. She watched as he landed on the jet of the assassin. Obi-Wan yelped in the process of her catching up to Anakin.
Elia drove the speeder below Anakin and the assassin in case he were to fall out, when his light saber fell instead. Elia let out a gasp as Obi-Wan caught the weapon. The jet started on fire as it slowly plummeted to the ground of people below them.
Anakin came crashing down before the speeder, rolling onto the cement. Elia quickly landed the speeder with ease and jumped out to get to him. Anakin lost the killer in the crowd, pausing to catch his breath as Elia and Obi-Wan came to his side.
"She went into the club." Anakin told them through panting breaths.
"Patience. Use the force. Think." The Jedi Master told his Padawan.
"Sorry, Master." Anakin replied.
"He went in there to hide, not to run." Kenobi told him before going into the club. Elia held up Anakin's saber in her hands.
"I think you dropped this." Elia tossed it to him, following Obi-Wan into the club.
"Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?" Obi-Wan sighed as they walked in together.
"Don't say that, Master. You're the closest thing I have to a father." Anakin replied. Elia thought this was the most genuine thing she'd heard Anakin say that night.
"Then why wont you listen to me?" Obi-Wan asked the Padawan.
"I am trying." Anakin said, shrugging. The trio came to a clearing and stopped to look at their surroundings. The club was swarming with people.
"Can you see him?" Master Kenobi asked either of the Padawan's.
"I think he is a she, and I think she is a changeling." Anakin told them, Elia closed her eyes and tried to search for the assassin with the force, but it was too loud.
"I'm that case, be extra careful." The Jedi Master warned them. "Split up and go find her." He ordered them.
"Where are you going, Master?" Anakin called after the man.
"For a drink." Obi-Wan said over his shoulder. Anakin sighed and turned to Elia.
"I'll go this way, you go look over there." Anakin pointed to the other side of the bar.
"Good luck." Elia said to him before walking off, Anakin blinked at her briefly before leaving. Her hand hovered over her saber at her waist. She slowly stalked through the crowd, listening for anything.
The sound of a lightsaber igniting and a woman shouting in pain made Elia run for Obi-Wan. Anakin met her there as they looked down at the changeling who was now missing a hand. Obi-Wan picked her up and began to carry her out of the club.
"Easy. Jedi business. Go back to your drinks." The Skywalker boy told the onlookers who whispered as the three Jedi exited the bar. They carried the assassin out into an abandoned alley and tossed her onto the cement.
"Do you know who it was you were trying to kill?" Obi-Wan question the woman as he held her down.
"It was a senator from Naboo." The woman grunted, holding her injured hand.
"And who hired you?" Elia asked next, Anakin almost jumped at the sound of her voice. It was not light like it had been moments before when she wished him good luck, but almost darker now.
"It was just a job." The assassin murmured.
"Answer her. Who hired you?" Anakin leaned in, Elia stood over them with a dark look on her face. "Tell us now!" Anakin shouted at her, losing his patience.
"It was a bounty hunter called—" But her sentence was unfinished as a dart was shot into her neck and she died instantly. Reverting back to her real form. The trio of Jedi turned to see the bounty hunter taking flight away from them. Obi-Wan picked the dart from the changeling's neck.
"Toxic dart." The Jedi Master told them. They left the body in the alleyway as they went back to the speeder, as it was still parked where Elia left it. Anakin headed for the drivers side when Obi-Wan spoke. "Why doesn't Elia fly? Her flying seems to make me feel... less sick." He said to his Padawan who's jaw fell. Elia smirked as she side stepped the boy to climb into the drivers seat.
"Master, you're being dramatic." Anakin shook his head, going over to the passenger seat now.
"Don't be butthurt because I'm the better pilot, Anakin." Elia told him, catching his eye with a wink before turning the speeder on and flying away. They arrived back at the Jedi Temple and headed back up to Padme's penthouse, Obi-Wan offered to take watch the rest of the night to allow Anakin and Elia time to rest. They took separate couches and fell asleep quickly.
In the morning, the three Jedi went to the council to report the events from the night before.
"Track down this bounty hunter you must, Obi-Wan." Master Yoda told the trio. Elia nodded in agreement to the small green alien.
"Most importantly, find out who he's working for." Elia's Master, Mace Windu, added in.
"I said the exact thing, Master." Elia said aloud, Mace gave his Padawan a knowing smile.
"What about Senator Amidala? She will still need protecting." Obi-Wan asked the council.
"Handle that the Padawans will." Yoda replied, pointing to Elia and Anakin.
"Anakin, Elia, escort the senator back to her home planet of Naboo. She'll be safer there, and don't use registered transport." Master Windu instructed the young Padawans. "And travel as refugees." He added, Elia opened her mouth to speak but Anakin interrupted.
"As the leader of the opposition, it will be very difficult to get Senator Amidala to leave the Capital." Anakin said to Mace, who raised an eyebrow to Elia.
"That won't be a problem, Anakin. I'll handle that." Elia told the blond boy, Anakin nodded subtly in reply.
"Until caught this killer is, our judgment she must respect." Master Yoda stated before making a soft humming noise.
"Anakin, Elia, go to the senate and ask Chancellor Palpatine to speak with her about this matter. He is more likely to convince her than any of us." Elia's Master said to the both of them. Elia, Anakin, and Obi-Wan bowed their heads before exiting the room. The two Padawan's walked to Chancellor Palpatine's office, they found the older man staring out his large window.
"Chancellor Palpatine." Anakin called out upon entering.
"Ah, Anakin, good to see you." The Chancellor greeted the boy, then his eyes turned to Elia's green ones. Something about this man made Elia nervous, but she was unsure of what. "And Miss Stormborn, a pleasure to see you as well. How can I help the two of you?" Palpatine smiled and gestured to the seats across from his desk, the trio shuffled over and sat.
"Chancellor, we need you to speak with Senator Amidala about her safety." Elia began, her knee bounced nervously under her robes.
"Yes, I heard you two had been assigned to her." Chancellor Palpatine nodded.
"The situation has gotten worse, it has been requested by the council that she returns to Naboo for her safety." Anakin told the Chancellor, the older man stroked his chin thoughtfully. "She would refuse us if we told her, so if it came from you..." The boy trailed off.
"I see. I will talk with her. Senator Amidala will not refuse an executive order. I know her well enough to assure you of that." Palpatine told them. Anakin glanced over quickly at Elia, he could feel the vibration of her nervousness in his own body.
Are you alright?
He asked her in her mind, Anakin watched Elia's knee stop bouncing and the nervousness disappeared.
"Thank you, Your Excellency." Anakin bowed his head to the Chancellor.
"And so I see they've finally given you your first assignments. Your patience has paid off." Palpatine said to the Padawan's, Elia did not like the feeling she was getting and fidgeted in her seat.
"Your guidance more than my patience." Anakin replied gratefully.
"You don't need guidance, Anakin." The man told Anakin simply. "In time you will learn to trust your feelings." Chancellor Palpatine stood and began to walk to the two teenagers to the door. "Both of you. I have said it many times: You two are the most gifted Jedi I have ever met." Elia knew this bit to be true and smirked.
"Thank you." Elia bowed her head to the Chancellor, she was becoming more on edge by the minute.
"I see you two becoming the greatest of all the Jedi's, Anakin and Elia. Even more powerful than Master Yoda." This surprised Elia, but also did not at the same time. Anakin and Elia had more midichlorians singularly than Yoda, therefore making them much more force sensitive than the small green man. "There is a prophecy, which I'm sure you've heard a million times before." Palpatine brushed over the subject waving his hand.
"What prophecy do you speak of, Chancellor?" Elia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. However, Anakin did not look surprised. It seemed Elia had been left out.
"The council has not told you? Well, there is a prophecy of two strong Jedi that will bring great balance to the force. The council believes that it is you two." Chancellor Palpatine explained to them, Elia and Anakin shared a quick glance before bidding goodbye to the man.
"Why wouldn't they tell us about the prophecy?" Elia asked Anakin on their way to see Padme. Elia judged the look on Anakin's face, and he was looking to the ground. "You knew?" She frowned at him.
"Perhaps they were waiting for us to be older... I don't know Elia." Anakin replied. "There was a reason they did not tell you, there has to be. I've known since I was a child." The Skywalker said to the blonde girl. He could feel her anger rising.
"And of course, it was Palpatine who told me. I mean, you know I have a hard time believing the Chancellor. I said so last night." Elia replied sternly, her head hurting. She reached up to rub her temples gently as they walked.
"Was that why you were so nervous? I really don't see why you don't like him, he's a good man." Anakin argued with the platinum blonde haired girl who scowled at him.
"He seems... manipulative. I just don't trust him." Elia shrugged, telling him her opinion. Anakin scoffed at her response. "What? Don't scoff at me, because I know you feel it too." Elia said, rolling her eyes.
"Well, maybe I'd be able to feel it better if you weren't jamming my senses up with all your nervousness." Anakin snapped at her, Elia's jaw dropped.
"Me jamming you up? Oh please, Anakin. All I can feel when I'm around you is your obsessiveness over Padme, who by the way, isn't interested." Elia shouted at him before storming off from him. Anakin stared after her with a glare.
This was what Chancellor Palpatine wanted. To separate them. With Elia on good terms with Anakin, he knew he could never separate them. Elia stood in Padme's room while the Senator packed her things.
"I do not like this idea of hiding, Ellie." Padme told her friend.
"I know, but the council has ordered an investigation. It won't take Master Obi-Wan very long to find this Bounty Hunter." Elia promised Padme, who pursed her lips and went to her closet.
"I haven't worked for a year to defeat the Military Creation Act to not be here when it's fate is decided." Senator Padme explained to the Padawan, Elia took a seat at the edge of the woman's bed.
"Sometimes we must let go of our pride and do what is requested of us." A voice said from the open doorway. Anakin leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed. Padme stopped folding clothes to look up at the boy.
"Anakin, that's very mature of you to say." The woman pointed out. "You've grown up."
"Master Obi-Wan manages not to see it." Anakin scoffed, walking to the window in the room.
"Well, perhaps you need to stop acting like a child in order to not be treated like one." Elia muttered, not looking up. Anakin shot the girl a glare.
"You're both acting like children, you're distracting me. Please leave me be." Padme snapped at them, her voice full with stress. Elia sighed and bowed her head to her friend, as Anakin followed behind her. They went to the living room and sat in silence before Elia broke it.
"I know how you feel." She started, picking at a loose hangnail on her finger. "Master Windu has always treated me like I'm some... stupid fragile vase." Elia let out a dry laugh, Anakin looked up at her with his eyebrows knitted together. "It's probably why he didn't tell me." She muttered to herself now. "Have you ever felt like you needed to be more? Like nothing you ever do will be enough?" Elia watched Anakin nod sadly.
"I suppose that happens when you're the Padawan to some of the greatest Jedi Masters." Anakin sighed, his own knee bouncing up and down. "It's just not fair." The boy added.
"It's not, but life isn't fair, Anakin." Elia shrugged. It went quiet again as Anakin looked up at the girl who had her attention turned to the window next to her.
"I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have made you feel bad for feeling. It's just so strange being able to feel someone else's emotions as strongly as I feel yours." Anakin began, Elia met his blue eyes with her green ones.
"I agree." Elia replied simply, she was not going to apologize for what she had said. It wouldn't be a true apology, and Master Windu had always said never apologize unless you mean it. Padme came into the living room with her bags, Elia and Anakin stood to help her with her bags. Together the trio went to the transport station where they met Obi-Wan, Mace, and Captain Typho.
"Remember your teachings, Elia. Stay focused, stay alert, and—" Master Windu began.
"—And be mindful of my choice, for they all have consequences." Elia finished for him, Mace gave his Padawan a knowing smile. Obi-Wan and Anakin joined them now.
"Don't do anything without consulting with the council." Obi-Wan said to Anakin.
"Yes, Master." Anakin bowed his head to the Master. The boy left their side to help load the Senator's bags onto the transport.
"Elia, please keep an eye on Anakin for me. He can make irrational and quite questionable choices sometimes." Obi-Wan told the blonde girl softly, Elia smirked and nodded.
"So I've heard. You can count on me, Master Kenobi." Elia bowed her head to Obi-Wan and then to Mace.
"Even my Padawan can be questionable at times." Elia heard Master Windu say as she walked away, the girl chuckled.
"It's time to go." Anakin said to the Senator.
"I know." The woman replied sadly. Elia gave her friend a sympathetic smile as they stepped onto the transport.
"Anakin, Elia, may the force be with you." Obi-Wan said to them.
"May the force be with you, Master." Anakin replied to his mentor as the doors closed in front of them.
"Suddenly I am afraid." Padme said from between the two Jedi learners.
"This is my first assignment on my own." Elia replied. "I am too." Elia reached out and took the Senator's hand in her own.
"Don't worry. We have R2 with us." Anakin gestured to the small robot that had followed them on board with a smile.
"Oh, yes. The small droid will save us from many things." Elia joked, laughing. R2 beeped as Anakin and Padme let out a laugh too. Suddenly, Anakin caught himself not looking at Padme's smile, but Elia's.
gracis notes: anakin switching up!?!?!? yeh we knew that was gonna happen. anyways don't forget to vote for my chapters besties🫶🏻