YOUNG BLOOD ( A. SKYWALKER ) [1]

V.

"Are you an angel?"

Layna turned her head to look at the boy seated on the table, who was staring right at the girl clad in Padawan robes. Layna glanced at Padmé, who had a huge smile on her face as she hid her lips behind her hand. She figured that the boy directed his question to the handmaiden, whose beauty far surpasses her own, but seeing as he was staring directly at her and not at Padmé further confused the young Padawan.

She furrowed her eyebrows together, lips drawn in a straight line as her chocolate colored eyes met the small boy's electric blue ones. "Do you say that to every girl you meet?"

The blonde boy shook his head, mirroring the confused expression on the Padawan's face. "No, I don't think I've met any other angels before today."

The young Padawan found her cheeks heating up from the compliment, and she quickly tore her gaze away from the young boy as she folded her arms across her chest. "We-well, how would you know if I was an angel, anyway?"

The dirty looking boy hummed, swinging his feet back and forth as he replied to the younger brunette, "I heard the deep space pilots talk about them, they're the most beautiful creatures in the universe." His answer sent even more blood rushing to the poor flustered girl's face, and she had to completely hide her face with her hand to avoid further embarrassment. "They live on the moons of Iego, I think."

Padmé suppressed the smile on her face as she stepped closer to the seated boy, finally stepping in to give her friend some time to collect herself after hearing such an adorable compliment from the small boy. "You're a funny little boy, how do you know so much?"

Layna took a few deep breaths, feeling the blood leave her cheeks slowly as she peered up at the boy, awaiting his answer. "I listen to all the traders and starpilots that come by here," he answered, twisting the nut on one of the parts he has in his hand. "I'm a pilot, you know. And someday, I'm gonna fly away from this place."

Hearing his words, the now calm Layna approached him as well, purposely trying to ignore the boy's bright blue eyes gazing upon her. "You're a pilot?"

"Mm-hmm, all my life," he replied, continuing to tinker with the small part.

"How long have you been here?" The handmaiden asked the boy, who just shrugged in response.

"Since I was little, three, I think? My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt but she lost us betting on the podraces." Layna's brown eyes widened slightly, realizing that this boy was not simply a worker in this junk yard - he was that alien's slave. Slavery isn't allowed nowadays due to the Republic's anti-slavery laws, and this particular act should be discontinued, although Tatooine is a desert planet far from the reach of the Republic, it would make sense for the laws not to apply here.

"You're a slave?" Padmé voiced out in disbelief, and the young boy's eyebrows furrowed when he heard the handmaiden call him a slave - something he refused to be called, seeing as it was so demeaning.

"I'm a person, and my name is Anakin!" He burst out, his light blue eyes turning a shade darker as Padmé quickly apologized to the offended boy, who they now learned was named Anakin.

"I'm sorry, I don't fully understand," the handmaiden said, her eyes wandering around the shop. "This is a strange place to me."

Layna agreed, reaching up to play with the end of her Padawan braid. "This is the second time I've been here and I still can't wrap my head around this planet either," she began to look around the shop, just as her friend was. The girl was oblivious to the blonde boy studying her closely, a small smile gracing his face as he did so.