When Sith Beat Jedi To The Prize (Of The Chosen One)

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel had intended never to go to Tatooine again. The entire experience the first time he was there was hot and miserable. The only good point, so far as he was concerned, was meeting Andronikos. But as luck would have it, his ship ended up deciding to need minor repairs. Nothing too bad, but it did require him to land somewhere to get the parts he needed, because of course, the bit that went was something he didn't have spare parts for. The only planet within reasonable range? Tatooine.

It didn't take long for a Force-sensitive boy to catch his attention. One strong enough that he was surprised the Jedi didn't already find him. Well, their loss was his gain. ...Once he pried him loose from Watto, anyway. He suspects he actually had an easier time of it than a Jedi would, although he's not going to hang around and give one the chance to give it a shot. At least, unlike them, he's willing to come to Tatooine from time to time so Anakin could see his mother. Probably not more than a couple times a year or so, due to it being best to go there when they're at least vaguely in that part of the galaxy anyway, but it's far better than 'sorry kid, we're never bringing you back'.

Of course, there is one tiny problem with this whole thing. He's never had to raise children before and doesn't know what he's doing. With the ship safely in hyperspace and not due to come out of it for a good long while, enabling him to do things that didn't involve sitting in the pilot's seat of the ship, he's in the lounge area. Time to figure out what he's doing. "Have you managed to get any kind of schooling? Like from someone you know, sitting down with you for an hour here and there as time permitted to teach you things like how to write?"

May as well figure out what he needs to teach besides how to use the Force consciously instead of unconsciously drawing on it.

Comments

[imaperson]

Anakin hadn't been willing to leave, not really. He already missed his mother, and couldn't understand why she couldn't come too. He was sure he could have found something of worth to give Watto for her. Or the Zabrak could have.

He wasn't even sure what was happening. Sure his implant had been disabled. And he wasn't on Tatooine. But he was also mostly being ignored, and was feeling a little lost and very alone and also cold. No one had ever told him space was cold. He didn't even think he'd ever been cold before - and he didn't like it.

But once Garth'zel had come from the cockpit, Anakin had snapped to and watched him intensely. Even if he was staying just out of arm's reach. At the question, he shook his head 'no'. "I can't read. Or write. I know how to do some number. And fix stuff. I'm really good at fixing stuff."

timeskip!

[bittykin]

Several days had passed, Anakin having settled in some. It wasn't uncommon for him to get lost in whatever project he got into but he was much better than he had been the first time. He also was less jumpy around Garth'zel although there were still times of wariness, sleep shifts of ill sleep and nightmares, and Anakin generally finding ways to be completely underfoot or invisible in turns.

Mostly underfoot now, as they are approaching the planet Garth'zel had planned to stop at. Which meant he wasn't quite within striking range of his elbow, but it was a close call. Mostly because the boy was watching not the viewport but the controls as well, memorizing what they did in order to bring the ship into queue to land.