The Most Unlikely of Friends (Star Wars fanfic)

Chapter 2

Anakin, to say the least, was annoyed.

Very annoyed.

They had been walking for three hours, and the millions of insects and dense foliage that was nearly impossible to walk through was grating at Anakin's every nerve. Not to mention the constant comments from Master Windu about keeping up the pace or the ever popular, "don't grumble like that, you're a Jedi, not a youngling," were seriously irking Anakin. He couldn't wait until they finally reached base again. He knew that if he complained to Master Windu, all he'd get was an unwanted earful about behaving like an adult.

So they kept going at the same monotonous pace, the only sound being the distant sounds of wildlife and the crunch of the two Jedi's boots as they walked. That is, until R2-D2 made a high screech of warning. Both Anakin and Mace snapped to attention, breaking out of their heat and fatigue induced daze. 

A giant cat-like creature more than 3 meters in length and height was leaping out at them through the brush! Instantly, Master Windu and Anakin ignited their lightsabers and leapt out of the way before they were swept away. As the creature turned around to make a second attack attempt, Anakin jumped at the beast, determined to prove to Master Windu that he was not a like a youngling. Except his foot happened to be tangled in a trailing vine. He managed to make it three feet in the air before he was roughly jerked back down to the ground, his lightsaber flying from his hand. 

Before he could be crushed by the fast approaching creature, Master Windu stepped a few feet in front of him. Diving under the animal, Windu quickly turned mid-dive with his lightsaber extended, cutting a huge gash in the underbelly of the monster, stopping it in its tracks. Anakin rolled out of the way just as the creature made a loud dying screech of pain, right before it thumped to the ground, dead. 

Anakin stood up, partially in awe, and partially mortified for making such a blunder. "You saved my life," he said to the Korun Jedi Master.

Master Windu brushed the comment off dismisively. "That is my job, Skywalker. You know that." He looked around the surrounding jungle. "Grab your lightsaber, and let's get going. We don't know what other animals we might have attracted with all that noise." 

"And we do not want to have to make camp here for the night," Anakin added.

Master Windu nodded in approval, his face softening slightly.

 Maybe he isn't so bad after all, thought Anakin.

That is until he decided to speak. "That may be the first smart thing I've heard you say, Skywalker." 

And the annoyance was back.

As they started walking again, this time at a much faster pace, Aankin couldn't help but experience the same thought again and again: annoying as Master Windu was, Anakin now owed him a debt. He shivered at the thought. Jedi don't care about debts, he tried to reassure himself. 

But the feeling of dread just wouldn't go away. Anakin and Obi-Wan had recued each other countless times, and it didn't mean anything. But this was different, somehow. A life debt, he thought. You owe him a life debt.

The bugs and the heat no longer bothered  him as much as the fact that he owed a life debt to the one Jedi he hated.