Anakin hadn't expected the speed at which Sol attacked him with. Without his lightsaber, he had no choice but to jump to the left to avoid the woman who leapt into the air and went to strike him down from above. Her cyan weapon hummed past his ear, and he barely had a moment to think before she twisted around to strike again. With the end of her foot creating a circle in the dirt, Sol's twisted like a ballerina, which was from an ancient style of dancing. She was delicate and precise, but her sword-work was deadly.
The heat of her lightsaber was constantly too close for comfort. Anakin didn't have the mind to think about where the Force was and to imagine where it might not be; he was too busy leaping backwards and ducking out of Sol's way. It seemed impossible to articulate his movements and to look into Force while mid-battle.
'You're not even trying, Ani!' Sol called, her voice distorted over the buzz of her weapon's beam of light. 'Feel where the Force is! Imagine its rushing to catch up to you!'
'How can I, when you're coming at me like this?!' he said in frustration. He flipped backwards to avoid another attack and thought he had a moment to rest, but was mistaken when Sol was already in front of him once more. Anakin's breath hitched in surprise, and he bent backwards at her sideways swipe, watching the beam fly over him.
Anakin was growing irritated and was yearning for a rest. He pushed his upper half up to be straight and leaned to the side as Sol used both hands to bring her saber down where he had been. With one call to the Force, Anakin shot out his arms and took hold of Sol's wrists that sat together. Her stance was leant forward from the momentum of her attack, meaning that she was facing the flower-filled grass below her feet.
'Hey! That's not what I meant by calling to the Force,' Sol looked up at Anakin who was to her left. His fingers held her wrists and her lightsaber was cramped in her hands, making an ache bloom through her fingerless gloves and into her palms from the grooves of the handle. But the Skywalker's grip didn't loosen, and she inched her finger to the button that would shealth the cyan blade.
'I need a break! I can't think that fast while in battle,' Anakin said in defence. Sol's face sat in the shadow that Anakin created by standing in the sun's glare. She could see the sweat that glistened on his forehead and on the bags under his eyes. He had tired quickly, meaning that he didn't call to the Force at all when sparring. This made Sol realise that she had overestimated how much Force training Anakin had undertaken.
'You will need to when the situation is dire,' Sol said, pushing herself to be standing straight and out of her leant position. 'Your saber skills are good, but you need to let the Force guide you. I'm sure Master Obi-wan has told you this.'
'Too many times to count,' he grumbled.
'It's for good reason. Its what Master Yoda emphasised the most in my training,' Sol finished and looked down at the entanglement of limbs between them. 'Can I have my hands back, now?'
'Oh, sorry...'
Anakin pried his fingers from the dainty wrists of Sol's that were covered by her gloves. The remnants of his hold left a cooling sensation as her circulation was able to flow freely at its absence. She rotated her wrists and grabbed Anakin's lightsaber that she had attached to her belt, replacing it with the handle of her own. Sol wordlessly held it out for Anakin to take and he looked down at it, before gazing at her with pinched eyebrows.
'Are you doing another demonstration?' he asked as he took it into his hand.
'No. We're done here.'
His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Sol stepped around Anakin and made her way through the tall grass towards Padme, who was still amongst its cluster of flowers. Her legs pushed to part the strands as she walked, and Padme got to her feet at the sight of Sol's incoming figure. She beamed at the Padawan, ready to chatter about the training session she witnessed within the meadow.
'What, that's it?' Anakin whipped around to call after Sol. She turned around before she reached Padme and held a slight frown on her round face.
'I wasn't aware of your lack of Force training. I thought Obi-wan had gone farther with you, but I miscalculated-'
'Lack of training?! Are you saying that I'm slow?!'
'Don't get offended. I thought I could guide you into looking into the Force to move like I was taught, but you didn't look into the Force at all. The only time you tried, was when you grabbed me to pause the battle, and even that was just out of frustration.'
Anakin had never felt so degraded and embarrassed in his life. He felt like when he did as a youngling among the children who had been training to be Jedi from much younger than him. At nine, he was in a group of seven-year-olds who had already been training for two years. He barely knew how to call objects to him at that age and felt behind when they entered saber training. They demonstrated light Force-based skills, while he was still learning what the Force was. It didn't help that Anakin was also a slow learner, but he tried to counteract this by working extra hard. But his prominent ego and boosted confidence at the title of the Chosen One blinded him, and Master Obi-wan always tried to remind Anakin that he needed to train like everyone else.
'This is why I wanted you to ask Master Kenobi about this first,' Sol's voice irked him to no end. 'He knows what level you're at and could have helped you where needed. I'm sorry, but-'
'So, you're just giving up on me before I've even started?' Anakin let out a scoff in disbelief. 'You're just like Obi-wan. Forget I ever asked you, Solaris. Thanks for nothing.'
Sol should have anticipated Anakin's reaction. He turned in the direction of Padme's house and took long strides against the grass. His head hung low, and his shoulders were hunched as he left the senator and his partner in the meadow with dropped jaws and wide eyes.
'Ani!' Padme tried to call, but he continued his stride to the trees. Sol watched his figure grow smaller before he disappeared, his Force signature dying and leaving Sol cold.
'He doesn't take criticism well,' Padme said in a sad tone. Sol turned to the senator and let out a sigh, walking the rest of the distance to be next to her.
'He's frustrated. I get it, but there's nothing I can do. He still has a lot to learn,' Sol said simply and the two began heading for the trees after Anakin. Padme held up her dress to be able to see any bumps in the dirt, but glanced back up at Sol as she did so.
She could see that Sol looked disappointed and guilty for not being able to meet Anakin's expectations. She didn't know anything about Force training, but she knew enough about Jedi to understand that it took a great deal of time to fight the way they did.
'When you said that Ani only used the Force to stop the fight-' Padme started. '-did you mean it as a bad thing? Isn't it a good thing that they're at least some signs of being able to use the Force when in battle?'
'Anakin's emotions seem to play a large part in nearly everything he does,' Sol said as she walked with the senator. 'But in battle, he needs to separate himself from the situation; especially when it comes to wanting to end a fight. Him getting frustrated could cloud his judgement and the Force can't help him when he's fighting on pure emotion.'
'But why is that such a bad thing? Not using the Force might improve his sword-work, right? Why does the Force have to be in everything?'
Sol paused and turned to look at Padme who was unaware of her words. When she sensed her stare, the senator looked up from her held-up dress and saw the tight lips of the Jedi beside her. She could see in her lilac eyes that she didn't want to answer Padme's innocent questions, but it would be unethical not to.
Padme raised her eyebrows at Sol's stare, and the Jedi Padawan's reluctance to believe what was true made the woman's aura darken. With a low volume, Sol replied,
'Because that's how you can fall into the hold of the dark side.'
---
Night fell over the estate and the lake of Naboo. The house was quiet, as everyone, including the two Jedi, slept in their respected rooms. They had drawn back on their watches of the senator throughout the night, but kept their doors open to make it easier to sense if anything changed in Padme's bedroom. The precaution was still present, but it was evident that their escape from her bounty had been successful when they boarded the starfreighter off Coruscant.
Anakin had a restless sleep. A nightmare that was more vivid that any he'd ever had before ravaged his subconscious. Calls from his mother who was in pain filled his ears and he tried to reach her in his dreams, calling out pleading words and sweating in his sleep. He awoke with a cry, but it was confined to his own room. No one else in the house heard his strained groans and moans and he was partially grateful for this. But a part of him wished he had woken up the only other person in the house who had their door open.
But she never came, her own sleep deep and dreamless as it always was. To find some peace, Anakin looked into the Force. His spiritual form moved through the dark hallway and into the room nearby, where a white flame simmered. At the sensing of Sol's signature, Anakin felt his heartrate slow and his stomach ease from its churning, but his mind was still troubled.
Hi mother was in trouble. There were no details in his dream, but to have reached him all the way from Tatooine, she had to be in immense pain. The thought of leaving her had saddened Anakin for years. Nightmares disrupted his sleep and it was something that Master Obi-wan always worried about. They were meant to be disconnected from their attachments as Jedi, but Anakin never seemed to be able to let go of his mother. And after this dream, which ached his being even now in his bed, he knew that something was wrong.
He had to see his mother, Anakin had to go back to Tatooine.