Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anakin sighed. It wasn't that he was trying to argue--he wasn't! But he'd been on so many missions with Obi-Wan already, he'd gotten so much stronger, and Anakin didn't understand why Obi-Wan kept trying to hold him back. He could handle whatever issue had the Council worried! As Obi-Wan's padawan, and thus half of the most successful Master-Padawan pair out there, Anakin deserved to know what Obi-Wan had been in meetings for. They worked together, which meant Anakin should know what they were planning so he could help; he was going to end up as part of the situation anyway. That's how things always went.

If only the Council could see that. If only Obi-Wan could.

However, until they finally bothered to fill him in, Anakin had no one to talk to who wouldn't immediately get into an argument with him about patience and "the will of the force." Anakin didn't usually mind that excuse, when it was working for him, that is. At the moment, it had him meandering down a hallway, still deciding what to do to take the edge off his frustration.

He was debating between training with his 'saber or working on a broken-down speeder when a presence caught his attention. Alright, so maybe he didn't have to be alone after all.

"Ezra!"

He twitched, but turned around, a lopsided smile on his face. "Hey, Anakin."

A few long strides took him right up to his friend, easily falling in step when he started walking again.

"Where were you headed?"

"Ah, I have to check up on the section of the gardens I was assigned this month, and then... sparring?"

Anakin felt himself grin, mood immediately lifting. "Absolutely. Though, I do have an idea your master might not like very much..."

A cough which sounded a lot like a laugh was muffled behind one of Ezra's hands. "He doesn't like most of our ideas. I don't know if that's a good measure for whether we should do it or not."

Ezra was one of the few other padawans Anakin could talk to. Well, talk to openly, and without feeling like they were talking more behind his back. The situation was rather funny, in that sense, since Ezra had been taken on to be trained by Mace Windu. Despite that Master Windu didn't seem to like Anakin at all, always frowning very intently and holding himself stiff, he had been very flexible when taking Ezra as his padawan. Master Windu wasn't his first master, after all. The other padawans had gossiped about it for weeks afterwards. In that sense, Anakin felt a sense of kinship with Ezra; He knew what it was like to be the center of attention in an uncomfortable way. And though the situations were different, they both had a similar experience of having to start learning with a new master in a different way than other padawans. Anakin because he hadn't been an initiate at all, Ezra because he'd lost his first master.

The camaraderie had grown each time they'd managed to get time to spend together, whether it be sparring, or studying, or crafting mechanical objects. While Anakin preferred to work on speeders or ships or droids, Ezra seemed to prefer working on his lightsaber, or making other weapons. Anakin never said anything against it, since he understood Ezra's Outer Rim need to have back ups to feel safe.

Fighting wasn't a Jedi's first choice, but growing up on the Outer Rim gave people good instincts for when poodoo was going to hit the thrusters.

"So," Anakin continued, pretending to ignore Ezra's little laughs, "I know you were working on an EMP which has better spread than most of the others in use. I don't know about you, but I'd like to try out how effective they are."

Ezra's smile faltered for only a split second. "What, like grab some of the training droids which Master Drallig explicitly said you, Anakin, were not allowed to use until you fixed all the programming you altered?"

"It's like you can read my mind. Are you in?"

"Oh, you know I am." Ezra lightly punched his shoulder, a mischievous grin on his face that Anakin couldn't help but mirror.

Whatever was bothering Ezra, and the feeling of frustration which plagued Anakin recently; hopefully trying out some fun new gadgets would help alleviate them both.

Chapter Text

Ezra was the first to find him, walking, pacing really, aimlessly around the halls of the temple. No one had stopped him yet, but something must have caught Ezra's attention, because he turned from wherever he'd been headed and started walking right alongside Anakin.

While Anakin wanted to appreciate the gesture, his mind was too busy contemplating the images he'd woken to--the ones which woke him up, really. He was, in fact, so wrapped up in thinking (not worrying, Jedi didn't worry!) that he didn't notice where they were until they had arrived. But when they walked through a beam of morning sunlight which hit Anakin directly in the face, he paused, blinking as he turned to avoid the rays. Then he took in the rest of the space around him. Plants of many kinds, all heights, shapes, and even colors, even if green was most prevalent. The obvious sounds of a nearby waterfall crashing into a pool beneath, and the feeling of light, calm, in the force. The sort of fresh, languid air which only ever happened before many jedi were awake, the room of a thousand fountains breathing in a new day.

"So?" Anakin blinked again, remembering who had accompanied him, maybe even steered him there. Ezra asked, "What happened?"

"I think my mom's going to die." Anakin winced at his own bluntness, at the desperation he felt, at... well, admitting a weakness, a connection. But Ezra didn't frown, didn't reprimand, didn't brush him off or look awkward and change the subject. While his eyes did widen in clear surprise, soon after he nodded, firm.

"How?"

"I, um, how...?" Anakin stuttered, caught off guard.

"Yeah, like- Just describe what you mean." At Anakin's hesitation, he assured, "You don't have to, I just thought-"

"No, yes, it's fine. If you're sure..." Ezra nodded, shoulders relaxing a bit. So Anakin cleared his throat, and started explaining. He mentioned the dreams, their increasing frequency the past week, the little he'd managed to see, what he didn't, but what he guessed based on his own knowledge of where his mom was.

By the end of it, they were sitting on the roots of a large tree, and Anakin couldn't stop moving. His hands shook, no matter whether he clasped them together, or put them in his robe's sleeves, to balled them into fists on his knees, or fiddled with his comm. His legs bounced, restless, no matter the position he put them in. He couldn't stop biting his lips or cheeks. His eyes flicked around, unable to stay still unless he was staring far into the distance, recounting a detail. He tried his best to control his breathing, like he was taught for meditation, but he couldn't stop the little hitches of breath when a detail grabbed at him a little too hard, or he considered that Mom might, that she might-... He was jolted out of his spiral by the body pressed up against his, side by side, grounding.

"Okay. Let's save her then."

Anakin sucked in a shocked breath. "Just... like that?"

Ezra's grin was understanding, eyes a little grim, and Anakin remembered he'd experienced loss, too. But it soon morphed into a smirk as Ezra stood, offering a hand. "C'mon, I've got an idea."

And Anakin reached out, smiling back, and took it.

0-o-0

"This is your idea?" Anakin hissed, just about ready to jump out of his skin again. "You promised to-" He'd have turned around and--not ran, jedi did not fear, though Anakin wondered if he was a very good jedi, considering that--walked the opposite direction had Ezra not been encouraging him forward. And, of course, had they not already been spotted.

"Padawan Bridger," Mace Windu, Head of the Jedi Order, said, frown perpetually in place. Anakin swore it grew deeper when Master Windu looked at him. "Padawan Skywalker."

"Master Windu," Ezra said, grinning and not bothering to bow. Privilege of being his current padawan, maybe. Not that Master Windu seemed to appreciate it, brow gaining one more wrinkle.

"What have you done," he stated, sounding... Well, Anakin was certain he was wrong, but he sounded sort of like a tired creche master wrangling younglings. Surely not, though; Master Windu was all... proper, formal, even with his own padawan.

That didn't stop Ezra from smirking, or from throwing caution out the window as he said, "We need to go to Tatooine."

Anakin felt his pasture go from straight to ramrod straight, his spine practically creaking from how tight he was holding himself. Master Windu's glance at him did not help.

"Why do you need to go to Tattooine?" Master Windu asked, each word slow and placed deliberately. Anakin would have taken it back, but Ezra, perhaps unfairly, showed no sign he understood what his master was really asking, which was clearly something along the lines of, "Are you serious? Did you hear your own words?

"We need to find Anakin's mother."

Anakin hissed out a short, sharp breath, very unhappy when a serious gaze turned to look at him, however brief.

"Why." Then Master Windu paused. "We?"

"Anakin and myself."

There was a pause then, weighted, silent, except for whatever they were clearly sharing through their master-padawan bond. They looked directly at each other, faces moving minutely. Anakin held his breath, only letting it out when Master Windu did. Surprisingly, he reached up, rubbing and pinching the bridge of his nose with a grimace, much like Master Obi-Wan did whenever he and Anakin found themselves in undesirable situations.

"I see," Master Windu finally said, flat tone saying he very much did not see. To Anakin's shock though, rather than banning them from going or even censuring them for thinking of doing something very un-Jedi-like, he only said, "Padawans cannot go on unsanctioned trips to the outer rim, especially alone. You must take an escort."

"Like?" Ezra sounded as if he was going to whoop in glee, even when Master Windu lowered his hand and pierced him with another glare.

"Me."

"Yes Master." And Ezra finally bowed, though it seemed more like teasing, at that point. "As you say. Thank you."

Master Windu grunted, and when he turned to Anakin, he too hastily bowed and murmured thanks.

"Don't thank me yet, Padawan Skywalker. You have to explain this to your master."

Ah. Well. Obi-wan probably wouldn't be too mad about it, not with the Master of the Order already on board. probably. Maybe Anakin would only have to do a few hours extra mediation on attachments. Actually, Obi-Wan probably would invite himself along, to make sure Anakin was following his punishment appropriately. (But Anakin didn't really mind. He sort of hoped his master would come.)

Looking at Ezra out of the side of his eye, seeing his friend give him a supportive nod, Anakin finally felt some of his stress fade, leaving behind a more welcome weariness. At least that he could sleep off.

So Anakin bowed once more, feeling a bit lighter despite his slight tiredness, and said with all his heart, "Yes, thank you Master Windu."