Eternal ~ Anakin Skywalker ~

2: A Little Gifted

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I never thought I would be out amongst the stars. They were like diamonds, sparkling in the endless void for all eternity. Well, unless someone blew up space... that would take an extraordinary amount of explosives and possibly make every star go supernova. As terrifying as it sounded, a picture formed in my mind. A great cataclysm of dark clashes with a fiery orange explosion lighting up every shady crook and cranny. Maybe someone should make a disaster holovid about it.

I placed my petite porcelain hand on the window. Despite the awful experience, I was glad to be here, even though I wanted to go to the Republic Capital and not this Tatooine. I glanced to my side and saw the droid roll his way back in. As much as I liked looking at the stars, curiosity about the atsromech took over. I wandered over to him: It made the cutest beep-boop sound ever!

"Hi, I'm Leta!" I said excitedly, patting the droid's head. Its body shook with approval... at least, I thought it approved. I looked under his head to find its number. It read.

                     R2-D2.

"Can I call you R2?" The droid bounced with another cute beep. He seemed happy, so I decided to call him that.

I sit cross-crossed with my new buddy beside me. I didn't know how long it would take to get to this stupid planet, but it better be soon. I was itching for that adventure I'd always dreamed of.

My sister came over with a wet rag and scrubbed the droid. She gave me this bright smile that always made me giggly. It eased my troubled mind, knowing she could smile in a time of peril. I felt weird smiling in the face of danger; people gave me funny looks. Maybe because I was still an 11-year-old child who didn't understand harmful situations, or I always tried to be positive when everyone looked at the glass half empty. Perhaps it was both.

"Hello." Both my sister and I looked up to see a strange alien looking at us with its beady yellow eyes. It didn't have hair but two skin-like flaps, almost like a Twi'lek, flowing down what I would call his elbows.

"Sorry. Husa, are yousa?"

My sister dropped her rag and gave the alien a warm smile.

"I'm Padmé, and this is my little sister Leta."

"Hi!" I waved my hand more excitedly than a monkey lizard with a banana.

"Mesa Jar Jar Binks."

"You're a Gungan, aren't you?" asked Padmé.

"Ah-Uh."

I looked at her, then Jar Jar; I had never met a Gungan. I was always told to stay away from them — that they were enemies — and any encounter with them would result in a fight. But this one seemed friendly, so why shouldn't I be nice back?

My sister and him, I assumed he was a boy — had a brief conversation about how he ended up with us. He talked funny, so I didn't quite catch it all. Eventually, he left, my sister continued cleaning R2, and I returned to look at the stars.

The elder Jedi approach me with his arms between his robes.
He knelt at my level with a scrutinizing gaze as if studying me for something. I didn't know what he was trying to find, but he better do it quickly before he strained something.

"Hello, little one, I'm Qui-Gon Jinn. Who might you be?" he asked.

I crossed my arms and gave him a haughty glare. "I'm Leta, and I'm not little."

The Jedi looked down and chuckled. His voice was soft, deep, and soothing. I wished he had been around to read me asleep when I was younger.

"When you get about my age, everyone is little," he joked with a warm smile.