YOUNG BLOOD ( A. SKYWALKER ) [1]

XIII.

"Why are you so jittery today, my young Padawan?" The platinum haired woman asked the young girl pacing back and forth inside the empty Council room, her green eyes hiding behind her eyelids as she tried to concentrate on the power of the Force deep within her.

The Padawan girl she had been training for the past seven years still continued to pace, her Master's words falling on deaf ears as the now teenage girl was still lost in her own thoughts. She ran her thumb across her upper lip, her front teeth biting down on the finger nervously as her dark brown eyes dart around the Council floors.

Master Sola was well aware of the reason behind her Padawan's jittery state, she has known Layna ever since she was a child and she was practically her second mother at this point. She knew the girl like the back of her hand, and she could sense the anxiety practically oozing out of the pacing girl.

It has been two years since the last mission Master Sola had been assigned to work with another fellow Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and they were to head over to yet another planet to work together once more for a very important mission. The only difference now is that their respective Padawans get to come along with them, as their Padawans were thirteen and fourteen, both strong with the Force and skillful with the lightsabers. They were ready for missions far more dangerous than the previous ones, to further their training even more and assess how well they would fare in life-threatening situations during missions.

Layna was absolutely excited knowing that she will be coming along with her Master on missions much dangerous than those she used to do previously, and she knew that she'll be able to satisfy her never-ending craving for adventure. But when she heard that Master Kenobi shall be accompanying them in the mission, all of her excitement faded into this ball of anxiety.

The reason why the teenage girl was pacing was because she was nervous, as she hasn't seen her best friend since two years ago. She missed the boy terribly, but she wasn't the same girl she was back then - she was now thirteen and she was officially a teenager. She's been growing in ways more than one, and she wasn't just talking about her Padawan training either. She didn't know how Anakin would react to seeing the girl he knew like the back of his hand turned into a blossoming young lady who still hasn't finished growing.

She was nervous, as she was now self-conscious of the way she looked, unlike how she was a few years ago. What if Anakin didn't recognize her when she tried to talk to him? She couldn't possibly forget the mortification she'd get if he couldn't recognize her as the Layna he knew so well years ago.

Layna didn't even understand why she cared so much about what Anakin thought. Sure, he's still her best friend but she didn't think she'd get so nervous about her best friend seeing her change so much. And she didn't think she'd be nervous seeing him again, either. He was just Anakin.

She's never been this nervous about seeing him before, it was strange. She couldn't understand why she feels like this, but she wasn't really in the right state of mind to ask herself why at the moment.

"Please stop pacing, Layna, you're giving me a headache," the young girl heard her Master say from behind her, and the girl sent an apologetic look in her Master's direction but she still couldn't help but feel anxious about seeing Anakin again for the first time in years.

"I'm so sorry Master," the brunette girl heaved out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her dark brown eyes darted to the entrance when she sensed two familiar presences nearby, her heartbeat racing as two figures entered through the doors.

The young girl felt her breath hitch as soon as her eyes landed on the blue eyed boy, unaware that his did as well. Anakin had grown, he was at least four inches taller than her now, as opposed to how they were almost the same height back then. His blonde hair, which was a few shades darker this time grew a little bit, as he needed to keep his hair cropped short. His bright blue eyes were still the same as ever, shining just a little bit brighter now as he laid his eyes on Layna for the first time in two years.