Chapter 12

                                    

                                          
Anakin lands the starship on a plain of sand. I walk to the door of the ship and notice a homestead resting on the desert floor below. Anakin walks onto the ramp and stops halfway down.
                          
"You, Padme and Artoo can stay with the ship." He demands rather than requests.
                          
"Okay," I say as I walk past him toward the desert below. 
                          
He grabs my arm to keep me from going further. A smile appears on my lips but I quickly return to my straight face.
                          
"I said stay with the ship." His tone is slightly ruder this time.
                          
"Don't tell me what to do, Ani." I say. Anakin's occasional child-like whining is beginning to rub off on me. "You may need my help down there anyway."
                          
Padme and Artoo appear at the doorway of the ship.
                          
"Don't worry, Anakin. Artoo and I will stay with the ship for now. You and (Y/N) both need to go there" Padme says. 
                          
I'm grateful that my friend has better judgement than Anakin. I can't believe he honestly thought I was going to follow him all the way to Tatooine only to be left in the ship when we got here.
                          
"If anything happens," Anakin starts.
                          
"We'll be fine." Padme assures him.
                          
Anakin and I begin to continue our descent down the ramp. Artoo starts beeping behind us.
                          
"We won't be long, buddy." Anakin tells his worried droid. 
                          
I love the dynamic they share.
                          
As we draw closer to the homestead, I notice a rusty grey protocol droid is working outside. The droid isn't finished by the looks of things. 
                          
"Good evening. May I help you?" The polished voice of the droid asked. 
                          
"Threepio?" A surprised Anakin asks.
                          
"Oh, my. Oh, my! Master Anakin! My goodness, I can hardly believe it!" The droid- Threepio beams.
                          
"You know this droid?" I question. 
                          
"Of course I do. I built him."
                          
For Anakin to have built Threepio, he would have been nine years old or younger. I always knew he was clever when it came to building and fixing things, however this was still astounding. 
                          
"Threepio, this is (Y/N)" Anakin introduces me. 
                          
"Ah Miss (Y/N). It is a pleasure. I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations" He politely says.
                          
"It's lovely to meet you, Threepio" I smile at the kind droid.
                          
"We've come to see my mother." Anakin says, desperate to see her.
                          
"Oh dear. I'm so terribly sorry, Master Ani" Threepio doesn't have emotions, yet I can still feel the grief that comes with his choice of words.
                          
"Threepio, what's happened?" I ask calmly. If I show that I am worried, it will only make things worse for Anakin.
                          
"I think we better go inside." Threepio turns and shuffles toward the homestead.
                          
I begin to follow Threepio but notice Anakin is standing still. His head is turned toward the ground. I walk back to him.
                          
"Anakin?" I ask to get his attention.
                          
"I'm too late. I can feel it." He whimpers.
                          
The pain his is feeling hits me like a dagger to the heart.
                          
"You don't know that." I attempt to comfort him.
                          
"I do, (Y/N). She's not here and you heard what Threepio said."  His voice is strained, weak.