YOUNG BLOOD ( A. SKYWALKER ) [1]

VI.

"Mom, I'm home!"

The young boy called out to his mother as soon as he got back home, his guests trailing right behind him awkwardly. The group barely just managed to seek shelter as the winds began to pick up outside, which meant that there was a huge sandstorm brewing. And to think that it was only just a few minutes ago that Anakin offered to bring them back to his home for shelter.

If they didn't encounter Anakin back then, they wouldn't have made it to their spacecraft in time and they would have been trapped in the sandstorm. Layna found herself feeling grateful to the kind young boy for saving their lives, smiling at the boy while he had his back turned.

Padmé however, did not miss that small smile and found herself giggling at the sight of her friend like this. Layna also caught that giggle, and she was aware of the reason why Padmé had let out such a laugh. She scrunched her nose up at her friend, who gestured towards the boy who was introducing the group to his mother.

"I'm building a droid, do you wanna see?" Anakin finally turned back around, his electric blue eyes fixed the two girls behind him. They both nodded, smiling kindly at the boy who seemed very eager to show the girls the droid he was building.

Qui-Gon turned to the boy's mother, bowing ever so slightly at the raven haired woman. "Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter."

Anakin quickly grabbed Layna's small hand, the girl's eyes widening in surprise as she stared at the boy incredulously. "Come on, I'll show you Threepio!" He pulled the girl towards his room, with the chuckling Padmé and Artoo following closely behind the eight and nine year olds.

Anakin released his hold on the Padawan's hand as they entered the room, the girl quickly drawing her hand close to her chest as Padmé stood right by the smaller girl.

Artoo let out a series of beeps as he entered Anakin's room, just as the boy pulled a dirty sheet off a half-finished droid on the workbench. The droid was still obviously a work in progress, as it was missing an eye, and the rest of his body still lacked any other coverings.

"Isn't he great?" the blonde asked, a proud grin on his face as he showed off his creation to the two beautiful girls standing behind him.

"He's wonderful," the handmaiden was the first to reply, her hazel eyes scanning the unfinished droid lying on the workbench. The younger girl was amazed to see that a boy not much older than her managed to build a droid with only spare parts, she now sees why Watto keeps the boy around the junk shop.

Artoo let out a series of beeps as if to reply to the boy's statement. Layna giggled as Artoo rolled past her, her hand rubbing the droid's head as he did. "He truly is magnificent, Anakin."

Anakin had a huge smile on his face when he turned to the Padawan girl, asking, "Do you really like him?" Layna nodded, running her fingers down the droid's robotic arm. "He's a protocol droid to help mom, watch!"

Anakin leaned over to press a button on the droid's neck, causing the droid to come to life, sitting up with a start. "Oh, where is everybody?"

"Whoops," the blue eyed boy grabbed the droid's other eye from a shelf, placing the missing eye onto Threepio's socket. The other eye then lit up, indicating that it is indeed functional.

The protocol droid turned to the two young ladies standing to the side, similar awestruck looks on their faces as they studied the unfinished droid with rather curious eyes. "Hello, my name is See-Threepio, Human-Cyborgs Relations. How might I serve you?"

The younger girl found herself astonished by the protocol droid, her lips tugging into a smile as the droid looked right at her. "He's perfect," the young girl remarked, her mouth slightly agape as See-Threepio pushed himself off the workbench to walk around the room.