Ghost of You - Anakin Skywalker x Reader (BOOK 1)

Chapter 13

We travel for hours and hours on the speeder bikes. If it weren't such a serious time, I would have allowed myself the opportunity to admire the scenery of the desert. There are magnificent rock structures as far as the eye can see. It's hard to believe that such beauty can lie within a place of cruelty and violence.

The extreme heart of the setting twin suns of Tatooine burns my dark Jedi robes. It's times like these when I wish I opted for the typical, lighter style. I'm sure Anakin is thinking the same thing right about now. I sigh in relief when we finally enter an area characterised by shade and shadows. 

I really hope he knows where we are going, otherwise we will well and truly be lost in the desert.

We come across a large, oddly shaped vehicle after an extra hour of travel. Through my shared connection to Anakin, I know he wants to stop and speak to whoever is in charge of it. We pull over our speeders a safe distance away from the vehicle.

"What is that?" I ask Anakin immediately. It was like nothing I had ever seen.

"A sandcrawler belonging to Jawas." He says, as if I'm supposed to know what that means.

"Jawas?" I ask.

"Yes. They're passionate humanoid scavengers native to Tatooine. Be careful, they have a reputation for trying to steal things when the owners aren't looking." He explains.

I take that as a cue for me to wait with the speeders while he talks to them.

He approaches the sandcrawler and a crowd of the Jawas surrounds him in a circle. They are small, yet full of excitement. I guess they don't get many visitors around these parts of the planet. 

A slightly sophisticated one, a chief-like figure I assume, steps closer to Anakin. The two converse and the talking ends with the Jawa pointing off into the distance.

That's where we needed to go.

Anakin comes back over to me and sits on his speeder. I do the same and we both take off in the direction the Jawa had pointed to. We wasted no time. The longer we're away from Shmi, the longer she remains in the hands of the Tuskens. We had to get there. We had to get there now.

The suns have well and truly set now, with only the moons lighting up the sky. We continue to travel over the never-ending sand dunes until I notice a small flickering light in the distance. I know Anakin sees it too. We increase our speed as we rush toward it. 

We follow the light until we reach the edge of a cliff and each get off of our speeders. There's a camp resting in the oasis below us. A Tusken camp I assume. There are dozens of small huts and fireplaces filling the area.

Now that we're here, I, too, can feel the pain Shmi Skywalker is in. But nonetheless, she is alive.

"Over there." Anakin points to a hut with two Tusken guards outside it. "That's where she is. I can feel it."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I begin to walk past Anakin and toward the camp. He grabs my arm.

"Are you always this reckless?" He asks.

"You of all people cannot judge my recklessness." I roll my eyes.

Somehow, he manages to find humour in my remark in this terrifying time.

"We need to be discrete. The last thing we need is for the entire camp to attack us." He warns.

"I'll follow your lead."

We jump down from the cliff and into the camp. We flatten ourselves against walls to avoid being seen as we creep from hut to hut. The shadows become our ally as we struggle to remain unseen.