Destruction of the Innocent (Anakin Skywalker)

The Rude Awakening

           I sat in the bathroom stall near the bridge of the ship. Feet on top of the toilet seat so no one could find me. Once I made sure everyone was gone, I pulled the joint from my boot and put it to my lips. 

My eyebrows furrow in concentration at my fingertips. Not a second later, a ball of flames roar to life in the palm of my hand.

I lean forward to light it then sat back again, squeezing my fist shut and fire hissed into nothing.

    Smoke swirled around me as I took the first puff, then another. It flooded through my nose like a dragon as I sit back against the wall.  A long, frustrated sigh escaped my lungs.

       My Mother is from an organization of sorcerer/enchantresses from Kashyk, just as hardheaded as I am, if not more, but as sharp as a knife. 

It's where she met my Father, who was in a starfighter until they shot him down and he crash landed on her planet during the war. Right as they were about to ascend upon him, my Mother appears from nowhere to save his life.

At the time they were sworn enemies of the Republic, but soon stepped around their differences and became allies.

    My eyelids felt heavy as I yawned, thinking about my bed at home. How I just wished it were right here in front of me. After the day I've had, I'd dive in and never come out.

I spent my day training new Rebel pilots that were activated for duty. Mostly clones, but thankfully there were few who knew what they were doing.

They crashed 3 planes and a server board I'm going to have to document later and request for repairs. One didn't even leave the runway. My Father'll be real pleased with me. My Father.



     I squeezed my eyes shut at the thought of talking all of this over later at dinner. It didn't matter what I said, it's on my watch."

My Father was never really the understanding type, more of a 'do it now, ask questions later. And if you don't, I'll find someone who will.'

My entire childhood was filled with competitions and me bending over backwards to try and impress him. I knew why, of course.




He had always wanted a son. A son to pass the torch to and share in the glory of being one of the faces of Coruscant. Not me.

Someone who would follow in his steps without a single question and do as they instructed to get their way to the top.

But instead, he got me. And I do things my own way, fortunately.

The more and more I pushed myself to jump through the hoops, the more and more I found I hated myself for this reason. And began to suffer deeply for it.




I had taken sessions to control my anger, erase it. Hide it.

But my Father knew just as well as me, this isn't something you can just hide. It's hereditary. It's a tool. A gift.

Only in a moment of total despair is it beautiful instead of terrifying. One that destroys others around you, and if you aren't careful, it will take you with it.

Bur only the most power hungry, blood thirsty let it consume them and that is the one thing I will not do.

Destroy.

Another puff in thought, and I watched it waft up to the soft white light above me in the stall.

All of a sudden, the ship rocked so hard it threw me into the wall. I put my hands out to hold myself steady as the evacuation sirens began to go off, pulsing in time with the red light that took over the bathroom.

And suddenly, my relaxed state left my body and was now wide awake.

One last puff of my joint and I put it out, stashing it in my boot again before I raced out the door.

Flinging the door to the bathrooms open, I stepped into the hall. Passengers hurried to the evacuation dock as staff and ship personal hurried to their stations.

I grabbed a hair tie off my wrist with my teeth, and took off towards the bridge, began tying my very long obsidian hair up into a half-up, half-down.



      " Nova!"

I turned mid hairdo over my shoulder to see a curly brown mop shake his head in disappointment. My friend and co-pilot kicks himself off the wall and follows me.

He already had his orange flight suit on, his helmet tucked under his arm.

"Talk to me, Echo. What's going on?", I mumbled quietly so only we could hear.  I finished my bun and flip the rest of my hair away as we round a corner.





"Where in the Hell have you been? I've been looking for you for over an hour! I paged you a million times, but nothing!", he answered.

"I left my pager in the bridge, there's only so much I can take", I sighed. There was another explosion that sent everyone to the floor. The lights sparked and dimmed so much it almost went out completely.

There was panicked commotion starting to lift through the hallway as everyone got back to their feet. 

Echo and I were one of them as we helped each other stand. Although he put on a tough guy act, I could see the worry in his big brown eyes. We nodded in agreement, then booked it down the hall towards bridge like never before.

   
"Let me get to the bridge-my Father will know what's going on", I muttered, more to myself than Echo.

We arrived at a door in the hallway where I had to swipe my I.D. card.

"You know were not supposed to be here, right?", he rolled his eyes. I gave him a look as I opened the door. He stopped and held it before I could go any further. 

I stopped and looked at him for a moment. "If there's something you're not telling me, please, spit it out!"

He looked conflicted for a moment as he decided.

"I heard General Grevious's battleship has been spotted on enemy lines", he finally said.

My eyebrows furrowed and I turned towards him in thought.

"I figured that might be of interest to you", he raised an eyebrow.

I nodded. "Meet me in the hanger in 10 minutes. I'll be right there. Tell the rest of the team suit up if they aren't already."

We nodded once in understandment , then spun on our heels and after the task at hand.