FORCE OF NATURE ( A. SKYWALKER ) [2]

XII.

The younger Jedi gazed upon the Tusken Camp right below them, her lips set into a straight line as she kept herself calm despite knowing that there was a possibility of them dying at the hands of an entire camp of Tusken Raiders. It was a rather small possibility, considering the fact that there were two of them and they were both skilled in using a lightsaber as well as the Force, but they didn't know how many of them were down there. They could easily be overwhelmed and outnumbered despite the great power the two of them have, and that terrified Layna.

The dark eyed girl heaved out a long breath, her eyes flickering towards the crouching blonde to her left. He was examining the camp, checking if the coast was clear so that the two of them could sneak in to find Shmi. Although she knew that this entire rescue mission was reckless for two Jedi, it had to be done in order to save Anakin's mother, wherever she was.

"You ready?" the tanned girl heard him ask, his head turning to her as he peered into her eyes of dark brown. She reached up to run her fingers through her dark brown hair as an exasperated sigh escaped her pink lips. The eighteen year old nodded her head, and Anakin took this as a signal to begin their rescue.

The Padawan quickly hopped off the edge of the cliff and fell downwards onto the ground around fifty feet below. Layna hurriedly followed after Anakin, hopping off the cliff her friend just jumped out of and landed safely on the ground a few feet away from the blonde boy. He put his finger up to signal silence, and the brunette couldn't help but roll her eyes, nodding nonetheless as she followed his lead, creeping towards the Tusken Camp with as little noise as possible.

As the two Jedi crept along the many huts set up in the camp, the younger Jedi attempted to feel Anakin's mother through the Force. She concentrated on her exact location in the camp every time the twosome hid behind huts and rocks, resting as they tried to locate Shmi from the various huts present. A short breath escaped her lips when she felt Shmi's presence very close by, in one of the huts near two massiffs by the campfire. Layna tapped Anakin's shoulder to inform him, but it seemed that he, too, found his mother's presence in the same hut she had sensed her in.

The two of them dove past the quarreling massiffs and behind the hut where they sensed that Shmi was located. Layna watched as the blonde Padawan pulled his lightsaber out of his utility belt, activating it before using it to cut through the material used to create the hut so they could get inside. Layna sharpened her senses as Anakin cut through the hut's side, searching their surroundings to see if there was anything unusual or if there were any enemies nearby.

Once the blue eyed boy finished cutting a circular hole for him and Layna to enter, he quickly deactivated the glowing laser sword and placed it back into his utility belt. The twosome immediately entered the hut, but they definitely weren't expecting to see what was right in front of their eyes.

A gasp exited Layna's lips as soon as her eyes found the woman who was tied to the wall, wounds present on almost every part of her body and blood seeping through almost everywhere. She didn't want to see the woman Anakin loved the most like this, she didn't want to see her suffering and in so much pain, so she quickly tore her gaze away from the bloodied woman. 

The bloodied woman's son didn't waste any time in approaching his mother, untying her from her bonds and pulling her away from the wall gently. "Mom," the female Jedi heard Anakin whisper softly, holding the wounded woman in his arms. Layna covered her mouth with her hand, stifling the sobs threatening to spill out of her lips. "Mom? Mom."

Layna watched as the fragile boy gently lowered his mother to the ground, his arms still wrapped around her securely as he kept his light eyes on the weakened woman he knew as his mother. Layna wanted her best friend to find his mother, but she didn't want him to see her like this - in such a battered and weak state that the Jedi could barely even sense life out of the dark haired woman.