I walked through the gardens, running my gloved fingers across the morning dewdrops that glistened on the pale pink rose petals. The golden light of the barely-risen sun reflected off the hundreds of tiny half-spheres, sending slivers of hope into my low mood. I hadn't slept hardly at all last night, and I was exhausted because of it. Sleep evaded me, or rather, I evaded sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I was hit by a memory.
She lay dying in my arms. I couldn't believe that I was too late. Had I come a week, even a day, earlier, maybe I could have saved her. But there she was, weak and wounded, dying in my arms. Scars and cuts marred her beautiful, gentle face, and her wrists told of the ropes that had been so cruelly tied around them. She was in so much pain, and she had been waiting, asking, begging for me to come. But I was too late.
"You look ... so handsome." She reached up to brush my face, her cracked voice searing into my breaking heart. "I ... love ...."
My blue eyes snapped open again, the memory a fresh wound in my mind. I traced my bare fingertips across the droplets on my black glove, loving the feeling of water on my hand. Two years had passed since she died – exactly two years.
I found sweet solace walking through the quiet stillness of the gardens, brushing my fingers over the soft flowers and experiencing the thrill prompted by the cool bite of dew. My only company at this time of morning was a pair of perfectly-white doves, who were settled in one of the trees and cooing softly to each other. I stood watching them for a full five minutes, the caring companionship between the two birds reminding me of the gentle love of my beautiful wife. It never ceased to amaze me how Padmé Amidala, the fiery, strong-willed senator of Naboo, could be the graceful and forever-attentive light of my life. She always knew just the right thing to say to me, and she constantly remained loyal to me, even if we had to be galaxies apart. How I wished she was at my side now. But just the thought of her pretty face and sparkling smile was enough to lighten my mood, and I continued my slow amble through the Jedi gardens, occasionally reaching out to touch and feel the plants.
My black boots clicked quietly along the stone pathway that snaked its way through the gardens, morphing into the background noises of distant speeders and ships. I don't know how much time passed before I reached one of the carved, bench seats which were littered throughout the area. I sat down stiffly, uncaring of the dust that would likely cling to my dark brown pants, and breathed in deeply, taking in the sweet, slightly smoky Coruscant air. A gentle breeze puffed through the trees and shrubs, ruffling the loose, cream-white shirt that I wore and blowing my dark blond hair into my face. I pushed my wavy locks back slowly, ignoring the sting of the scar which ran down my right eye. In my mind's eye, I pictured the scar on my face, then scrunched my eyes shut when I was hit by the memory again. She was scarred, wounded, bruised ....
I forced my eyes open as fast as I had closed them. That was it. I was going to see Padmé. Standing up, I checked the sky as a gauge for the time. The sun still hung low on the horizon, so I would have time at least to pop in on her. She was probably just getting up but wouldn't have started her senatorial duties yet.
In a matter of minutes, I was sneaking onto the balcony that branched off her apartment and knocking softly on the crystalline glass doors. I felt like Romeo waiting for his beloved to appear at the window. Then she was at the door, opening it with a flustered frown of confusion on her beautiful face. A navy-blue dress, tightened at the waist and wrists, accentuated her slight figure, and she had a hand dug into her curly brown hair as I had caught her part way through doing it up.
"Ani," she scolded, her brown eyes anxiously darting to the other door in her apartment, "you shouldn't be here! And why aren't you dressed properly?" She indicated with something akin to disgust to the loose shirt that replaced my normal Jedi robes. "What do you want?"
I felt a little hurt by her greeting. "I wanted to see you, Padmé."
"Now's not a good time," she said in mild frustration as she rapidly ran her fingers through her hair before grabbing a hairbrush and attacking it that way. "I've got an important meeting today. Can you come back tomorrow?"
I shuffled uncomfortably, looking down. "It's kind of pertinent to today."
She was standing at a mirror, frantically trying to fix her hair. "What is?" she asked in exasperation, around a mouthful of pins.
"What I wanted to talk to you about," I mumbled.
"Sorry, but can it wait?" she asked, rushing around her apartment as she grabbed things. She whisked out to where I still stood on the balcony and planted a quick kiss on my cheek. "I really have to go."
I backed away slowly. "Yeah, sure."
"Thanks, Ani." She quickly shut and locked the glass doors, and I could just see her hastening out the other door.
"Not just yet, Ani," Mother's silky voice called from where she worked at the counter. "I'm a little busy at the moment. Can we talk over dinner?"
I shook myself out of my daydream and glanced at the sky. I knew I should put some speed on if I didn't want to be late, but I really wasn't feeling it. Despite my mental protests, I forced myself to get back to the Jedi Temple quickly.
I sneaked into my room just as people were starting to move around and shut the door blandly. My hand lingered on the door handle for longer than necessary, and I stared into nothing as my mind drifted elsewhere.
"Skyguy? Skyguy!"
I blinked, shaking myself back into the real world and looking across to see my chirpy padawan sitting cross-legged on her bed. Her blue eyes danced as she bounced in excitement. She was dressed in her maroon tunic and leggings, but her boots were propped against her bed, as yet untouched.
I frowned. "Ahsoka, why aren't you ready for the day?"
She grinned, her whole orange-coloured face lighting up as she pointed to the bundle of squirming fluff on her blankets. A little grey head popped up, and keen yellow eyes peered back at me, a straggly tail twitching in pleasure as its tiny paws kneaded holes into Ahsoka's covers. I could hear it purring from the other side of the room. "Look, what I found, Master! She's a stray, so can we keep her please? Please!"
"Can we get a pet, Mom?"
"I'm sorry, Anakin," she responded sadly, looking up from the book she had been writing in. "We can't afford one."
I sighed, tossing a broken device onto the table. "Yeah, I know."
"N-no," I stammered, dragging myself back into the present, "no, we can't."
She pouted, and I found I had two pairs of pleading eyes gazing at me. "Aw, come on, Skyguy! She's only little, and she needs a home. I've already picked a name for her!"
"No, Ahsoka!" I said with more force than I intended.
"Please!" she begged, cuddling the kitten in her arms, trying to make it appear as cute as possible. "Please, she's called Kato, and I'd love to have a pet! Please, please, please!"
"No!" I snapped. "We can't afford –" I stopped myself and took a deep breath. "No, we can't. Get your boots on, and get up."
She looked crestfallen but obeyed, silently pulling on her boots. "What are we going to do with her?" she asked quietly.
"Take her out. She should live at the pet shelter."
Ahsoka nodded, not meeting my eye. I thought I saw tears glistening in her eyes as she carefully picked up the purring fluff ball and carried her out of the room. Once she had left, I changed into my brown and black Jedi robes. I sighed when I noticed my commlink buzzing like crazy. Tapping it reluctantly, I cringed to hear the irritated voice of my former master, Obi-Wan.
"Anakin, what are you doing? I've been trying to contact you for the past half hour! Where are you? I need you at the Council chambers right now!"
"Coming," I responded unenthusiastically and clicked my comm off.
"Ani?" Her voice, always soft, had the whisper of an edge to it as she called my name for the fifth time. "Dinner's getting cold!"
"Sorry, Mom," I answered from my room. "I'll be there in a minute."
I tried to pull my mind from the memory and forced myself to go to the Council room. Upon entering it, I was no more energised than when I told Obi-Wan I'd be there. I stood sullenly in the centre of the round room and glanced at the Council members moodily.
"Good morning, Skywalker," Mace Windu greeted me briefly. "We were expecting you a while ago."
"Sorry, Masters," I mumbled half-heartedly. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Obi-Wan shaking his head at me.
Windu sighed but continued. "There have been reported sightings of Asajj Ventress, and we need you and Kenobi to check it out. Take your padawan. We believe that Ventress is on Tatooine."
My heart almost stopped. Scenes and memories of my life as a slave and of my mother flashed through my mind so fast and hit me so hard that I nearly fell over. My heart started to pound, and it felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. I felt dizzy as Mother's face smashed into my mind, so vividly that no matter which way I looked, all I could see was her dying in my arms.
In the fuzzy distance, Mace kept talking. "The search might take a few days, or it might be a week. We need you to go now."
Blood was thundering through my temples and my breaths were rapid and shallow as I could only see the Tuskan raiders camp in the moonlight. She was in a tent, injured, covered in sand. If I had gone sooner, if it had been now, maybe I could have saved her. But I didn't.
Voices all around me, both inside my head and out, both past and present, crashed into each other, magnifying the explosion in my heart. People were speaking, whispering, and shouting my name, but I felt immobilized, unable to answer a single word.
"... go to Tatooine now."
That was when I fled the room.
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Hey, guys and girls! So, this is like my third Wattpad book, and I hope you're enjoying it so far! Poor, Ani, he's not having a very good day today!
I hope this chapter made some sort of sense, and I hope I haven't jumped into things too fast, or too slow, for that matter.
Happy reading! :)