FORCE OF NATURE ( A. SKYWALKER ) [2]

XIII.

The brunette Jedi took a huge breath as she approached the garage area, where Anakin holed himself up to forget everything that has happened these past twelve hours. She hasn't seen him ever since they returned to the Lars homestead a little over two hours ago, and she knew that he needed some time to himself after what happened back in the Tusken Camp. She figured that she'd leave him alone for a little while then go check up on him when she felt that he's ready, and the said time was right now.

She carried a tray of snacks and a beverage, courtesy of Beru, in case Anakin was thirsty or hungry as no one has seen him in two hours. She took a step, then another, then another until she finally reached the garage. Her dark eyes were trained on the blonde boy attempting to fix a motor with a frown etched on his face, and his usually bright eyes were now a rather dull color and looked blank as he kept his eyes on the motor.

Layna cleared her throat as she stepped inside, her lips twitching into a small smile as she presented the tray of food and drinks to the frowning boy. "I've brought you something," she announced, in hopes of attempting to at least cheer him up a little bit, but her entrance did not affect the broken boy in the slightest. He still had his ocean colored eyes fixated on the motor he was fixing, the frown still present on his pale pink lips as he carried on with his way of distracting himself from the pain. "Are you hungry?"

Anakin pursed his lips as he still kept his eyes on the motor placed on the table. "The shifter broke," he told the brunette in the entryway, who heaved out a small sigh as she placed the tray onto the table in the center of the garage. She knew how fragile Anakin was right now, and she was the only one in the entire homestead who could come close to even attempting to repair him. She needed to proceed with caution, as she was treading water now that she has Anakin's undivided attention. "Life seems so much simpler when you're fixing things."

The dark eyed girl whirled around to face him, reaching up to run her fingers through her wavy chocolate hair. She slowly approached the blonde boy, who hasn't moved an inch since her entrance and still had his back to her. "I'm good at fixing things, always was. But I couldn't--" he cut himself off, knowing just how much it hurt to think about her all over again. Anakin took a huge breath as he expelled it, his eyebrows drawing together as he turned his head to peer into the beautiful brunette's chocolate colored eyes. "Why did she have to die? Why couldn't I save her?"

Layna pursed her lips together as she rested her right hand on her left shoulder, returning the Padawan's pale gaze as he continued to wear that agonized expression she wasn't used to seeing on him. "I know I could have!" Anakin pushed himself away from the work table, running his fingers through his blonde hair in frustration as he turned his back to the female Jedi Knight once more. He sniffled once he faced the other direction, thinking that Layna couldn't see what he was doing but she did, and she knew exactly how he felt right now.

He felt destroyed, he felt vulnerable, and he felt frustrated - she had to go through these exact same emotions before, after all. Back when she was but a young child, her mother became bedridden due to the disease that was slowly consuming her from the inside out, and she felt useless because she knew that she could have done something to save her, but by the time she could already save her, it was too late. For months, she thought that she was the one who let her mother die just like that, and it was her fault for not being able to get her hands on the medicine her mother needed to get better. Aria was the one who made her see that her mother's death wasn't her fault, and she finally managed to forgive herself soon afterwards. Aria became the reason why she got past that stage in her life, and Layna knew that she needed to be Anakin's very own Aria right now.

She stepped towards him slowly, gauging his reaction with every step she took. "You know that there are some things that cannot be fixed, Anakin. You're not all-powerful--"