Chapter Text
𝑪 𝑯 𝑨 𝑷 𝑻 𝑬 𝑹 𝑶 𝑵 𝑬
❝ THE VERY BEGINNING ❞
4 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐆𝐎
....
❝𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑, 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐀,❞ Master Nebala's voice sounded out with steady authority, her voice calm compared to the intense sparring we were currently doing, "focus on your breath, let the Force guide you."
My heart was beating against my chest at the drastic movement, and I nodded at her words. There was a distance between us as we faced each other, our lightsabers ignited and humming with energy.
I steadied my stance, holding my breath and focusing on my master. I picked up on every little move she made, analysing her as I prepared for the duel to continue. And with a fluid motion, Master Nebala lunged at me, and our lightsabers clashed with a loud crash. The orange glow met with my purple one, resulting in sparks flying from impact.
My heart raced as I blocked off another attack, moving quickly and using the force to help me determine where she was going to move. I felt the coursing energy from my lightsaber infiltrate my soul, touching on the raw power that it gave me.
"You have grown greatly, my young Padawan—so much potential within you," Master Nebala let out with a proud grin, circling me as we blocked each other with our lightsabers, "but there is still so much to learn."
Her blade came at me again, and I sharply responded with a chain of timed blocks and strikes—fully aware of the balance between attack and defence.
"Trust your instincts," She advised, her strikes becoming more challenging with each passing moment, "Your strength lies not only in your technique, Tabitha, but in your connection to the Force."
I was only half-listening to what she was saying, as I was concentrating on the strikes between our lightsabers. I could feel and sense the intensity that Leitha was putting into her hits, and I had to exert the same amount to match it—balancing it so I wouldn't lose our sparring duel.
She had never been this hard on me when sparring, and I was starting to struggle. She was far more experienced than I am, and so I was utterly surprised I've even lasted this long.
Our lightsabers clashed and I gripped mine tight, my jaw clenching and my wrists shaking from the amount of muscle I had to use to stand my ground. Our eyes met, and the reddish-brown from our lightsabers illuminated the side of her calm face, "Let it guide you."
I was inhaling and exhaling heavily, my chest rose up and down at a rapid pace as I tried to keep my breathing steady.
Our eyes stayed locked, and the blades of our lightsabers still clashed against each other. I said nothing but grunted as I let my instincts take over. I pushed myself even further and the power from it had Leitha stumbling for only a slight second. It hadn't stopped me from attempting to win the spar, as I sensed an opening to disarm her thanks to that tiny distraction.
My blade sliced through the air with a familiar hum, the purple glow circling around my body as I hurled a series of rapidly calculated strikes at her. I continued to follow my instincts and in no time, I had disarmed Leitha with a triumphant grin etched across my face; my lightsaber and her lightsaber pointed at her as she gazed at me with shock.
Then pride overtook her face when she realised what had just happened. I was grinning from ear to ear as she nodded at me, gesturing that I had the victory this time; "Very well, my young Padawan."
I was going to treasure this moment because I was sure it was probably never going to happen again. This was the second time I had been able to beat her in a sparring duel since I became her Padawan three months ago, and so I didn't take this win lightly. Not only that, but she was one of the best Jedi to have as a Master because of her skill, and taking her on in a duel wasn't something easy—and never ever did she go easy on me.
I deactivated the lightsabers and handed Leitha's back to her as I clipped mine back onto my belt, the smile on my face was still roaring with life.
Then I sensed a shift in the force and my head instantly turned in the direction of it. Stood there at the entrance was Master Kenobi, who I recognised, and his Padawan.
I glanced at Leitha who was standing next to me now, she didn't meet my eye and smiled at the two men; "Kenobi," My master greeted. She placed her hand on the middle of my back, urging me to walk with her toward them.
Master Kenobi and Leitha were, what I sensed to be, good friends. They went on regular missions together because of their matched skills as Jedi Masters, which had resulted in a lot of respect for each other.
This was my second time meeting him. But I had heard a lot about him, as Leitha said nothing but good things about him. And it was a rare thing to gain that much respect from Leitha.
"Nebala, losing fights now, I see?" Obi-Wan teased, smirking at her with a playful sheen in his eyes.
She hummed and I felt her eyes glance down at me for a hot moment, "I told you my Padawan was good."
My eyebrows raised lightly and I looked over at her.
I'm not one to brag... but.
Wow.
...I'm good.
"What do you think, Anakin?"
I glanced at Obi-Wan's Padawan at the mention of his name.
He was The Chosen One. He was only a year or so older than me and had been Obi-Wan's Padawan for about a year now. I had never met him, though. I had heard about him—just like how every other Jedi here has.
Should I bow?
I had seen him every now and again. I didn't really think or know much of him, only that he was quiet. But he didn't seem like a shy person to me, he exuded self-confidence—he was just somebody who preferred to keep to themselves, which was completely understandable.
Anakin nodded his head, his eyebrows raising a little as he did so and looked away from the floor and at his Master. "Yeah, she's good," He said and his eyes then locked with mine, "I can see why they want us to train together."
Tr-What?
Wait.
My mouth opened as I went to question what he just said, but then Leitha's voice interrupted me; "I have a feeling you two will be a good match."
Oh my god.
My head turned and I looked at Leitha pointedly. She didn't look back at me, which had clearly answered my unspoken question. I assumed that the reason why she hadn't told me anything about this selection was because she didn't want me to be discouraged at all by being put as The Chosen One's sparring partner, and decline.
Did she want me to die?
I know she had been searching around for a Padawan who was around the same level as me when it came to defence and combat to be my partner, but come on. Let's be real. Who does she think I am?
"As do I," Obi-Wan confessed, his voice carrying a touch of amusement and understanding. I saw the corners of Anakin's mouth twitch upward, "It will be good for them to train together, it will give them a chance to feel challenged."
Challenged?
I mean, I'm good but I'm not that good.
God knows I've been dying for somebody who was more up to my level to spar with, unlike previous partners of mine. I had always managed to beat them, and so it wasn't helping me improve and reflect on myself because they were always so predictable. So maybe I needed this—Anakin as my training partner.
If I knew about this then I just know I would have messed the hell up when sparring with Leitha earlier. And she knew that as well. She was sneaky and it clicked in my head that the reason she had been more extreme than usual with our sparring session earlier was because of this—to prove something. I didn't know whether to thank her or be annoyed at her.
I internally sighed, shoving my personal feelings away as I remembered my manners; "It's nice to meet you, Anakin." I held my hand out.
I was praying he wasn't a germaphobe.
Anakin's intense blue eyes lowered briefly to my outstretched hand before meeting my eyes again. He accepted my gesture with a firm yet gentle grip, his lips forming a small smile as we shook hands.
"You too," he replied with a small nod, his voice was friendly and carried genuineness.
Our hands parted and I brought mine back to clasp together in front of me, gazing at the floor with a shy smile. I felt Leitha's hand pat my back where it had been resting, urging me to continue.
"Um," I let out, my eyes moving up again to meet his once more. He was looking at me expectantly as to what I was going to say, "Do you wanna grab some dinner at the cafeteria with me?"
Anakin's eyebrows arched ever so slightly, his initial surprise evident in his parted lips. He seemed momentarily taken aback by the unexpected invitation. However, the warmth of his smile soon overcame any hesitation, and he nodded affirmatively, his blue eyes locking onto mine; "Sure."
Oh. Aw.
Look at us bonding.
I wasn't going to lie when I said I was surprised by the warmth he exuded with his friendliness. I assumed he was the type of person to look scary and be scary.
Leitha had allowed me to finish training to go get some dinner at the cafeteria with Anakin. Usually, I had to help her put things we used for training away and clean up before I was allowed to leave.
Anakin and I were silent most of the way there, just dabbling in on a little small talk until we reached the cafeteria. He let me go in front of him when we lined up to grab some food and we found a free spot at a table not too far away.
I took a seat next to him as I bit into my buttered bread roll and I almost melted into the chair—the bread roll was that good to eat. The training session with Leitha had me exerting a lot of my energy, and so I was hungrier than normal.
Anakin was drinking some water as his eyes flickered around the dining hall. He put the cup down, licking his lips and he looked at me; "How long have you been Leitha's Padawan for?"
"About three months-ish?" I shrugged lightly, going off the top of my head, "Feels a lot longer, though."
Anakin nodded, glancing down at his food with a knowing smile. I was about to ask him how long he's been Obi-Wan's Padawan for when a single chip was thrown our way. I frowned at it, my gaze leaving the spot where it had landed and over to where it had come from.
A group of boys were watching us with smirks, clearly the culprits. One of them had another chip in his hands, his elbow resting against the table and readying to throw it.
I glanced at Anakin, he kept his head down and tilted away from them, obviously trying to ignore their mean antics. He wore an annoyed expression on his face but he wasn't attempting to do anything about it.
Another chip was thrown at him, this time it hit him on the shoulder and bounced off onto the table in front of me. I glared over at the group of boys who were now laughing and mumbling a good job to the boy who was throwing the food.
I looked at Anakin again, his eyes were cast down on the table and he didn't look up to meet my gaze. "Why aren't you stopping them?" I asked.
He shrugged it off and quickly rolled his eyes, "It's fine." His words were a lie, as his tone was one of annoyance.
The hell it isn't fine.
I studied his face, and his body language; and an unspoken revelation crossed my mind. The boys did this to him a lot and looking at everyone around the room, nobody paid much mind to it, only doing as much as rolling their eyes at the boys and that's it.
The boy threw another chip, and I watched as Anakin's jaw clenched.
That's it.
Without even thinking of a plan, I straightened up and looked at the boy; "Oi," I called out, "Do you wanna not do that?"
Okay. It wasn't the greatest plan of action, but what I was saying was completely on the spot. I haven't ever called somebody out like this, bearing in mind that it was a group full of popular boys who were older than me. So you gotta give me some sort of understanding.
I saw Anakin's eyes instantly widen and they snapped up to look at my face, he was faintly shaking his head, whispering; "No—Tabitha."
I ignored him.
Because if I didn't then I would realise the full extent of what I'm doing and would probably start hyperventilating on the spot.
If worst came to worst then I could fake pass out. Play dead.
The boy who was throwing the chips, who I assumed was the leader of the group, looked at me with raised eyebrows. He grinned, clearly amused at the way I was defending Anakin. And I was about three seconds away from grabbing my chair and beating the boy's face up with it.
"Anakin can't even stand up for himself, so he gets his girlfriend to," The boy tilted his head to the side, looking at me as if I were inferior to him, something to make fun of as he fake pouted; "That's adorable."
See how adorable I am when my foot is shoved up your ass.
His friends laughed at his response.
Yeah, that's right. Laugh it up, assholes. I hope you all catch your dicks in your zippers so you can all laugh about that too.
Don't grab the chair, Tabitha, don't grab the chair. It didn't deserve that kind of suffering.
I got up from my seat, and I sensed Anakin was pretty much going into cardiac arrest at that; "At least he would be able to get a girlfriend. And with a face like yours, I can't ever see that happening," I let out, my steps slow as I went to stand next to where Anakin sat; the boy's expression only fell and I could see that I had hit a sensitive spot, "You got a face only a mother could love," Then I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth and fake pouted, "Which is a shame really."
None of us knew our mothers.
I heard people "oooh" and "aaah" around me. I suspect the guy hadn't ever been called out like that before, and I could already see death waiting for me with the way he got up from his chair. He looked like he was plotting my murder with the way he was glaring at me.
Uh oh. Uh oh.
Why did I have to say such dumb things?
Oh my god, I'm going to die.
I heard alarm bells going off in my head when he started to come over. I don't think he was in a good mood. I think I heard myself physically gulp when he was a few feet away from me, but I think I just momentarily blacked out.
Please say nice things at my funeral.
"What did you just say to me?" His ugly voice boomed out and I took a step back. Anakin had turned around in his seat and was watching with parted lips and wide eyes.
All of my confidence—Gone.
I was holding my breath, readying for whatever was going to be thrown my way; which ended up actually being the guy. One moment he was walking and then the next he was tripping over Anakin's outstretched foot and fell on the floor right past me, he had grabbed onto the back of the chair on his way down for some sort of balance but he brought it down with him and it landed on him.
What the fu-
My face was one of surprise and my eyes landed on Anakin's just as he shot up from his seat and grabbed my arm, wasting no time in tugging me with him away from the guy who was trying to get up. I heard him yelling things at his friends to go chase after us but we were out of the dining hall in no time.
Abort mission.
Our legs carried us far and wide, taking us all the way to the library where Anakin pulled us in when we were in the all-clear. It was now that I was mentally thanking all of the times I was forced to run laps to build up my stamina.
Good grief, I was unfit.
I was still trying to catch my breath as Anakin led us up the stairs and over to the far side of the railing. He sat down crossed legged and I plonked down next to him with a big sigh. My head fell back against the railing behind me and I looked up at the ceiling.
We didn't have to worry about getting in the way of anyone where we sat because it was dinner time, and mostly everyone was in the dining halls. There was like, nobody at the library but us and probably two other people.
I swallowed, my chest still rising up and down as my breathing started to become calmer. The adrenaline of the moment slowly dissipated and I kept my gaze forward.
I brought my legs up, tucking them to my chest.
"How long have they been doing that for?" My face scrunched up slightly once I said that, regretting the question as soon as it came out of my mouth.
... "A while."
His voice bore a weight of emotions that were impossible to ignore—sadness, insecurity, and even a tinge of shame. I understood it all completely, which is what made the whole thing worse.
I was going to say something, offer him some comforting words but then he continued; "You shouldn't have done that."
His tone wasn't mean or rude, or anything like that which was a relief. Thank God. It was one of concern.
My gaze finally shifted to him, turning my head slightly to the left as I looked at him with a faint frown, "Why?" I asked, seeking clarity in his perspective.
He blinked, his blue eyes locking onto mine as he elaborated with a gentle lift of his shoulder, "Because now they'll have you to harass as well."
Oh. Yeah.
I didn't think about that.
It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing.
Oh well.
I didn't care.
I was silent for a moment, just looking at him as I thought of what to reply with, "Has anyone stuck up for you before?"
Surely...
And much to my dismay, he shook his head. My frown softened and I bit the inside of my cheeks, shrugging lightly as I replied; "Then it's okay," My voice was genuine and his head, which was also resting against the railing, turned to face mine, "Somebody needed to."
I fiddled with my thumbs, twirling them against each other as I eyed him. He smiled at me, his small dimples popping out at the curve.
"I think they're just scared and intimidated by you," I began to explain, "They know you're more powerful than they could ever dream of being. And they're insecure about it, which is why they're horrible to you; so they can feel better about themselves." He stayed silent as he waited for me to finish, but I looked away from him and my head faced forward again, my eyes falling onto my fingers which were busy playing with the delicate fabric of the transparent skirt that was fastened to my pants; "People used to not like me because of the same kind of thing."
I felt Anakin's gaze on the side of my face and I looked up at the ceiling, my eyes tracing the detailing of it and I sighed softly through my nose. Anakin then looked away from my face and in the corner of my eye, I saw him turn his head forward again, looking ahead.
For a short yet calming moment, we remained in a comfortable silence, the echoes of our recent encounter fading away—nothing but retreating echoes now.
Then, like a gentle touch, breaking the stillness that had once enveloped our little bubble was Anakin's voice; "Thank you," he had murmured, his words and tone laced with genuine gratitude.
A faint, honest smile graced my lips in response to his appreciation, "Thank you for saving me." I replied, hinting back to the way he tripped the guy up to protect me.
Anakin chuckled softly at remembering it, "Did you see the way the chair fell on him?" he asked, a playful glint of amusement in his voice.
I was the one to giggle then, my mind relaying the moment my chair ended up actually hitting him, "His face was so funny." I recalled, the humor of the situation washing away any lingering tension of what had happened in the dining hall as we laughed together.
𝑫𝑬𝑺 𝑻𝑨𝑳𝑲𝑺!▬▬
The very very beginning!!
Next chapter will be set 4 years after their meeting.