Across the Stars [Star Wars|Anakin Skywalker]

3

Later that night after Anakin and Natalia viewed his unfinished pod racer Ani, Natalia, and Qui-Gon were sitting in front of the house, treating one of Ani's cuts. Qui-Gon stuck a blood tester into his wound, which caused Ani to get uncomfortable. "What was that for?!" He yelled, "Just testing for infection. Don't want you to get sick." Qui-Gon lied, luckily Anakin believed him.

"Better get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow." Qui-Gon said, Anakin nodded and hugged Natalia good night and ran into the house. Immediately Qui-Gon contacted Obi-Wan over the comlink, "Obi-Wan, I'm sending you a blood sample, can you check the midichlorian count?" Qui-Gon asked, sending him the blood.

"Master, this isn't right." Obi-Wan said quietly, "What's the count?" Qui-Gon asked, "It's over 20000." He replied. There was silence until Obi-Wan spoke again, "What does this mean?" He asked, but Qui-Gon was unsure. "I don't know." He said before disconnecting.

"Is that a bad sign?" Natalia asked, "I don't know young one. I don't know." Qui-Gon said, Natalia could sense his worry, but it was clouded. "You should get some rest, Natalia. It's going to be a long day." Qui-Gon told her, "Yes, Master." Natalia said before walking into the house. 

Early in the morning, the team had a head start, Anakin was already out and working, Natalia and Shmi were working on breakfast and Padme and Qui-Gon were talking about the odds. "Do you think the boy will win?" Padme asked, "Yes, I do." He replied.

Meanwhile, Natalia had finished helping Shmi and ran to help Anakin with fine tuning the pod racer, "Natalia, do you think I'll win?" Anakin said, not looking at her. "Of course I do! You have a pretty good reputation in the pod racing community I've heard." Natalia said with a smile. Anakin nodded and continued to work on the pod.

"I'm not sure if I want to do this." Anakin said Natalia glared at him, "Anakin, of course, you want to do this. Without you, we wouldn't be able to leave here, and that would be very bad." Natalia said, "But I guess we could call for a Republic transport." Natalia said while looking at Qui-Gon, "No. I've got it, I'm gonna win and I'm going to help you." Anakin said, reassuring himself. Natalia smiled and nodded, she left him to do his work and went to find Qui-Gon. "Master, how is Obi-Wan doing?" Natalia asked, "You can talk to him. I've got to go into town for important business." Qui-Gon said while throwing his comlink at Natalia, she caught it and went to find a quiet place to call Obi-Wan.

"Obi-Wan! How are you doing?" Natalia asked she could hear a small laugh come from the other end, "I'm doing just fine, Natalia. I'm just sitting in the ship." Obi-Wan said before laughing again, "Okay, I was just checking. I guess you haven't been able to fix the hyperdrive?" Natalia asked, "No. It can't be fixed, it's in thirteen different pieces." Obi-Wan said Natalia sighed as she looked at Anakin. "I guess there's been no luck on finding a hyperdrive?" Obi-Wan asked, obviously quite stressed. "No, but we may have a hope." Natalia said, "And what's that?" Obi-Wan asked, obviously eating something, "That boy Qui-Gon told you about." All of a sudden Obi-Wan coughed, "WHAT?! TWO JEDI ARE RELYING ON A 9 YEAR OLD BOY?!" Obi-Wan yelled, "Uhm. Yes." Natalia said, trying not to laugh. Obi-Wan sighed on the other end, "I swear, if he doesn't win, you two are gonna end up being slaved." Obi-Wan said, clearly annoyed.

Natalia sighed and looked at Anakin who was hitting a Rhodian with a wrench. "Yeah, the odds aren't looking too good." Natalia said through the comlink while running her hand through her hair, "I'll see you soon, I know he'll win, he's strong with the Force, and the Force will be with him." Natalia said, reassuring herself and Obi-Wan. "I hope I'll see you soon, I wouldn't want the Republic to have to buy you two off the market," Obi-Wan said while sighing. "I gotta go Obi-Wan, it was nice to chat with you," Natalia said. The two said their goodbyes and disconnected.

"Who were you talking to?" Anakin asked Natalia, she spun around to see Anakin standing behind her, dirt all over his hands and face. "Just a friend that's on our ship right now," Natalia said Anakin nodded as he wiped his hands on his shirt. Natalia looked in his blue eyes, and at his blonde hair and chubby cheeks.

Suddenly Natalia had this weird feeling, it wasn't pride or sympathy. It was a feeling she had never felt before, it was like her world opened up and revealed its inside beauty, every time she looked at Anakin she had this feeling. This strange, beautiful, tingling feeling.