ANAKIN SKYWALKER

Anakin started a steady run through Beggar’s Canyon, with Rex and Christo at his heels. There was no way they were going to get out of the Canyon before dark, but they were going to get as far as they possibly could.

The shrieks were getting louder now. A million images of the Sand People, brandishing their gaffi sticks and sniper rifles, ran through his head, urging him to pick up the pace. He knew what would happen if they caught him.

He kept running, but could hear his friends’ breathing getting heavier and heavier. Again, they didn’t know the land and the climate like he did. So he came to a stop. “Maybe we should take a rest,” he said.

The roars and feral calls of the Tusken Raiders were slowly fading, and Anakin briefly wondered who or what they had been chasing. “Wait here, and stay out of sight,” he whispered to his friends, and crept over to a bend in the path.

He stopped just before the turn, and heard running footsteps. He tensed, gripping his lightsaber, the white-bladed one that had been a gift from Christo. But then he realized that these steps didn’t sound like those of full-grown Tuskens.

He was just about to look to see who it was when two kids came barreling around the corner and smashed right into him.

“Will you watch where you’re going?” he said angrily, underneath a heap of two boys with gaffi sticks. The kids scrambled off of him, and practically leapt to a safe distance, still holding onto the sticks.

“We – We’re sorry, sir,” the older one, who had dark hair, said. He looked like he was about ten, and the little blond one who was half-hiding behind him looked about five.

“We didn’t mean to bang into you like that,” the blond one said meekly.

Anakin suddenly felt bad for having yelled at them. He discretely put his lightsaber back on his belt. Then he stood up, brushed himself off, and went to sit down on a nearby rock. “I’m sorry, boys. I didn’t mean to scare you. But what are you doing with gaffi sticks? You can only get those from–”

“Tuskens,” interrupted the blond one. “We know. We stole them!” He puffed up his chest like it was some big honor.

“So you actually managed to sneak into a Sand People camp and steal these?” Anakin was amazed. Had he not been a slave as a child, and despite stealing being morally wrong, it sounded exactly like something he would have done!

They shared a smile. “Yup!”

“It was so wizard! And it was all my idea!” added the blond one. Anakin couldn’t help but smile too. The younger boy’s smile was contagious, a little like his own was…

“What are your names, boys?”

The older one stepped forwards. “I’m Biggs Darklighter.”

The blond kid elbowed his friend out of the way, smiling widely. It was clear that they were both quite taken with him. “And I’m Luke. Luke Skywalker.”

AHSOKA TANO

Ahsoka had been trying to stand up for the last two hours. Some sort of glitch in Lux’s precious computers had called him away, but even so he had left her side regretfully. Which made her miss being able to stand even more, because she would have been able to go with him.

“Ughh!” she growled for the third time in the last few minutes. Yet another attempt to stand had failed.

After a few minutes of sitting on the floor, she managed to calm down. “Please… if there’s somebody out there watching over me… Help me stand, please!”

She curled up in a ball, sobbing. For a moment she let her tears fall. Then she felt a gentle hand start rubbing circles on her back, and thought she recognized it. “Go away, Amni… I just want to be alone right now.”

But it wasn’t her. She sat up, and saw a familiar face, glowing gently, as if in candlelight. It was Padme! Silently, the older woman took Ahsoka in her arms. She felt safe and warm in the tender embrace.

“There is something wrong with you,” Padme said after a moment. “A Darkness infected you when you were gone. Now, if you tip even the slightest bit, the Dark Side will take over. You won’t understand what I’m saying now, my darling, but you will later. I can’t do much, but I can heal what it did to your ability to walk.”

She took her arms out from around the young Jedi, and put the tips of her index fingers, one on each side, on her forehead. Padme’s irises glowed a brilliant gold, then faded back to their warm, chocolate brown.

Ahsoka closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, Padme was gone. She was sad, but she felt different. Better. More like she had before her coma. On an impulse, she shakily pulled herself up.

And she stood.

*Father meets son. What could happen? Will Anakin choose to reveal his true identity? Or will he leave as the father Luke never knew? And Ahsoka now has complete control over her limbs and mind. Or does she? Find out in the next chapter of the Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano!

Find out that your dad wasn't the navigator on a spice freighter but an epic Jedi Knight and may the Force be with you,

Sharron