Memories Chapter 4-1

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A dream...

There is always an end to the dream.

No matter how fun a dream is...

No matter how scary a dream is...

It always comes to an end. Morning always come. That unchanging morning scenery is always there.

The dream ends, and I would awake, wrapped in my bed linens, Father by my side.

The dream always ends.

But I have to wonder... I have to know... when did the dream become endless? Why does morning never come?

When did my dream become endless?

When did it become that my dream was to wake up?

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Anakin laid on his bed, the covers pulled up to his chest, and his hands laced together beneath his head. He stared at the ceiling trying his best to remember something, anything from his time here six years ago. It was an old task, and one he had struggled with many times over the years.

Finally, a scene began to play out in his mind.

He was sitting at a table, breakfast spread out before him. A shadow flickered over his plate and he looked up to see a young blonde girl.

"We need to talk, Anakin," she said.

"Oh hi," he said with a grumble as the girl sat down across from him. "Look, I don't like to talk in the morning," he tried to explain.

"Nonsense. You don't like to talk period," she replied. "Last night I did all the talking. Now I want to know a little bit about you."

He watched her, and slowly, methodically, chewed his food.

"Go on," she prodded him.

"You're not going to leave me alone no matter what I say, are you," Anakin asked grumpily.

She just stared at him, her green eyes glowing. Anakin hated telling people about himself. He swallowed, and then quickly began to recite his family history.

"My mother and father are famous. My mom is Leia Organa Solo and she's a princess from the planet Alderaan and chief of state of the New Republic. Both she and my father, Han Solo, were Rebel heroes. My uncle is Luke Skywalker, the famous Jedi Master and the founder of this academy. The entire family is almost too much to live up to." Anakin growled. "Okay, are you satisfied now?"

"You don't have to live up to them," she said matter-of-factly. "You aren't them and they aren't you."

"Easy for you to say," Anakin replied.

"I would rather have a family than not have one at all," Tahiri shot back.

"I thought your family was the Sand People," Anakin said.

"They are, but not really," she answered. "The Sand People found me in the desert. But my real parents were moisture farmers on Tatooine. My parents had machines that pulled water from the air. That water was used on the planet for drinking and farming. I don't really remember them. The Sand People said they were killed when I was four. I'm not sure how they died though."

"I'm sorry," Anakin said.

"Don't feel sorry for me," she replied fiercely. "I'm lucky that the Sand People found me in the desert. Just like I'm lucky that Luke and Tionne found me on Tatooine."

"You're right," Anakin agreed. He was beginning to feel more at ease with the girl. He took another bite of food, and then said, "I even have an older brother and sister. They're 13 years old and their names are Jacen and Jaina."

"What are they like?" the girl asked.

"Well, Jacen is pretty wild. He loves spending time outside. He collects bugs and gets into a lot of trouble. Jaina is more like me. She likes taking things apart and then figuring out how to put them together. I don't get to spend too much time with either of them. They were on Yavin 4 for the past few months studying. Now I'm here," Anakin explained.

"You miss them, don't you," she said.

"Yeah. They're my best friends," Anakin admitted.

"Well, now you have me," she said with a quick grin. "And I have something I need to tell you. Last night I had a dream-the same dream I've had most of my life for as long as I can remember. It's a strange dream. Strange, because in it I'm rafting on a river and before yesterday I'd never seen a river. In fact, before I came to this moon I'd never seen so much water in my life. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that this dream I've been having has always taken place here, on Yavin 4. Which is truly weird, don't you think, because this is my first time here." Tahiri didn't wait for Anakin to comment. "Anyway, in the dream I'm always rafting a river when a terrible storm begins. The winds howl and the water of the river grows into giant waves. One of the waves hits me and I'm thrown out of the raft. That's when I usually wake up. But last night I didn't wake up. Instead I almost drowned. I didn't, though, because the breakfast bell rang and I was woken up. But that's not important right now. What's important is that for the first time in all the years that I can remember dreaming this exact same dream, someone else was in it too. That someone was in my raft, and when I was swept into the river he held out a silver paddle to save me from drowning. The boy who held out that paddle was you!"

Anakin was silent, staring at her, chewing another bite of food.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she asked impatiently.

"Well, I don't think it's so strange that you had a dream with me in it," Anakin began. "After all, we met last night right before you went to sleep."

"Don't flatter yourself. You're not so terrific that I'd have a dream about you for no reason," she retorted, her irritation flashing in her eyes.

"Don't be annoyed, Tahiri," he said. "I just thought that might be one explanation."

"And what about the river, the storm, and the fact that my dream has always taken place here, on this moon, when I've lived in the desert all my life?" she asked in exasperation.

"Well, you said yourself that you can hardly remember anything about your life before the Sand People adopted you. Maybe you've been here before," Anakin suggested.

"Been where?" Luke Skywalker asked from behind the girl. She whirled around to face the Jedi Master.

"Nowhere," she said with a huff. Then she kicked back her chair and stalked from the table.

The creak of the door dragged him from his memories and he glanced that way to notice it slowly being pushed open. Lifting an eyebrow, he stretched out with the Force and felt Sannah at the door. He smirked and lay back on his bed, closing his eyes.

The soft shuffle of her footsteps drawing closer almost caused him to smile.

Movement sounded right by his head, followed by a soft giggle.

She whispered, "Three... two... one..."

He popped open his eyes, noticing that Sannah was standing by his bed, holding something over his head. Then he yelled, "Zero!"

She jumped back as a scream ripped from her throat. He looked at what she was holding, recognizing it as a block of rigden, a tasteless, jelled substance used to make deserts and meals. He sat up in the bed, leaning on one elbow to watch her.

"What were you planning on doing with that?"

Her eyes shifted back and forth for a moment - a weak grimace appeared on her face. "Midnight snack?"

"Ah," Anakin said, as he started grinning slightly. "So... go ahead."

"Go ahead?" A frown flickered onto her face.

"Yeah. Go ahead an eat it." He replied, his grin growing larger as he nodded his head towards her.

Hesitatingly, she lifted the rigden to her lips and took a small bite from it. She grimaced as she swallowed.

"So, how is it?" he said.

"Tasteless," she replied.

He nodded his head once. "Well, finish it."

"I'm full..."

"You don't want to waste food do you?" He said with a smirk.

She raised it to her lips and took another bite as Jaina opened the door to his room. She looked between them and asked, "I heard some yelling from in here. What's going on?"

Anakin looked at her, the smile still on his lips and nodded his head towards Sannah. "She wanted a snack, and chose some rigden."

"No! I didn't choose rigden, it was for your fa-" her mouth snapped shut in mid-sentence.

Anakin's grin grew broader. "My what?"

"Nothing," she sullenly replied.

Jaina snatched the rigden away from her. "If you want a snack, I'll go make you one."

Sannah stood up, her head bowed slightly and Jaina wrapped her in a hug. Then she led her from the room, giving Anakin a cross look in the process. He chuckled to himself as the door closed and then rolled over and pulled the blanket over his shoulders and fell to sleep.

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