rebels → anakin skywalker

XII

"you are in my very soul, tormenting me"

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THE three stepped down into the small house, noting how open yet how enclosed it was. Everything seemed to be the same sandy colour of beige, yet it seemed so comfortable to live in.

"Master Lars! Master Owen! Someone to see you!" Threepio called.

Out of a small doorway, a young man and woman both approached the trio. Anakin looked to the man straight away, wondering if this was the Lars man that Watto spoke of.

"I'm Anakin Skywalker. I'm here looking for my mother." He spoke with authority and concern, yet his eyes showed a sense of fear.

"Owen Lars. I guess I'm your step-brother." They shook hands as Owen gestured the girl. "This is my girlfriend Beru."

The timid looking girl smiled. "Hello." She said to the three.

"I'm Padmé, and this is Octavia." The Senator spoke; gesturing Octavia with a small smile on her face.

"It's nice to meet you both," Octavia said, trying to keep her nervousness for Shmi's fate concealed.

"I had a feeling you might show up some day." Owen told Anakin, a small sigh escaping his lips.

"Is my Mother here?" Anakin's voice was emotionless, his features like stone.

"No. She's not." Another male voice spoke. It sounded older, and more worn out. A man in a chair came out of another doorway, with one leg completely bandaged and one missing all together. Octavia wondered what had happened to the man as he held his hand out to Anakin. "Cliegg Lars. Shmi's my wife." He looked at the three before looking down at his leg and back to Anakin. "Come inside. We have a lot to talk about."

The group walked through a narrow doorway into a kitchen area, with a large table seated in the middle and several chairs surrounding it. The sun, the Padawan girl noticed, was starting to itch closer to the horizon, as the sky began to fade from its natural blue colour.

Cliegg began to tell the story of what happened to the mother of Anakin Skywalker. How Tusken Raiders, the savage creatures that lived in the hills of Tatooine, had snatched her away. As he finished, he placed a hand on his throbbing bandaged leg and winced.

"This isn't the way I wanted to meet you, son. This isn't how your mother and I planned it. I don't want to give up on her, but she's been gone for over a month. There's little hope she's lasted this long." Cliegg sounded hurt, but the rage and fear in Anakin's eyes showed a much deeper kind of pain. After a few moments of silence, Anakin stood to turn away.

"Where are you going?" Owen asked, turning towards the boy who stopped in his tracks to face the group.

"To find my Mother." His eyes trailed to Octavia's as she stood up abruptly.

"No, Anakin." She was afraid, something like this was uncommon, yet she knew there wouldn't be a good outcome.

"She's dead, son. Accept it." Cliegg spoke. Octavia glared at him. How could he be so cruel? This was Anakin's mother who he hadn't seen in years. He needed to find her, to know she was alive.