Sun Kissed

Chapter 7

Mi’aka sighed.



Only Obi-Wan Kenobi could leave Bandomeer to pick up new crop seeds and come back with a sex slave. It could only happen to him; and if circumstances were different she might have been tempted to laugh.



The boy was nervous. She could see the suspicion in his eyes as he looked around the Healer’s Ward, trying not to fidget.



Most of the story of their meeting had come from Obi-Wan to her through the Force; the slave market, his unbroken spirit, suspicion, contradictory dejectedness, confusion, and the Force potential. That in itself was interesting. Not that it would do him any good as to the Jedi Order, but he would benefit from training in the Corps if the Council allowed for it. And they should, from what she had gotten from Obi-Wan’s mind – the quickness and ease which this Anakin had picked up shielding was quite rare, especially for one so old and untrained, never knowing the Force even existed…



Once she’d gotten Anakin situated for the exam, she was surprised by his cooperation. She didn’t expect it. Being a pleasure slave, he was probably skittish with touch and it wasn’t something he’d readily welcome. His shields sharpened constantly on edge - she could feel it - but they were still new enough that parts of thought bled through.



He would allow the exam because Obi-Wan promised the slave tracking device could be found and removed, and the fact that Mi’aka was female and a Twi’lek acted as a comfort buffer zone. She was glad that with the gift of the Force she could avoid the majority of touching that non-Force sensitive Healers had to do. She could find injuries within the body through her mind alone.



She could understand too, as she took a blood sample with a calming smile and some small talk.



Almost 90% of all female Twi’leks were found in slavery. It was the curse of their grace and beauty; as well, the universe’s desire to own such elegance. She could feel Anakin’s respect for Twi’leks and good memories of the ones he had met. They were his equals back on Tatooine, one of the races who had first hand knowledge of what the pleasure market was about. They shared the same experiences of use and abuse.



He was growing more comfortable with her, and as a Healer, helped her a lot.



“How’d you become a Healer?” It was one of his many questions.



>>>



A Twi’lek Healer.



Anakin had never heard of such a thing. All of the Twi’lek’s he had met in his life were fellow slaves, not that he’d had the chance to meet anyone else anyway, but a Healer! A Twi’lek Healer!



He’d always had a soft spot for them. When he had been ripped from his mother’s arms it had been a group of Twi’leks that had taken him in and cared for him when they had been under no obligation to.



Over the years though, he had either watched them all be sold one by one, or waited as some went to see a client and never came back.



Ieiya had been the last to go, and the one who had been with him the most. He still missed her, and he missed his mother.



People had been ripped from him time and time again.



“Found it.”



The Twi’lek Healer’s voice brought him back from his thoughts.



“Mi’aka?” asked Obi-Wan.



“The slave implant. Middle of his right arm.



Anakin’s eyes flashed to his right arm.



Middle.



Right.



That’s where his implant was? It had been, quite literally, in front of him the entire time? So close by and he didn’t even realize… He could have had it out! He could have, if he’d gotten his detector to work. If Watto hadn’t disappeared! If he had remained in the Toydarian’s ownership, he could have freed himself.



He could have freed his mother…



Stars, even if he had remained a slave and had the same life, it would have been worth knowing that she was free. That she wasn’t owned. But now, he didn’t even know where she was.



He looked at Obi-Wan as he talked with the Healer. Would this man help him find her? With all his talk of the Republic and the Jedi, would he help? Anakin still had suspicions, those would take long to leave, but for another first time, he let himself continue with the hope that had started on the Proserpina.



Please don’t let this be a mistake.



>>>



Obi-Wan loved the Force. He truly did. Especially how it let the Healer’s check for physical injury without intrusion. Anakin hadn’t been severely injured or sexually assaulted before his auction but Obi-Wan suspected, with an uneasy stomach, that it would have brought down his sell price if he had.



Mi’aka redid the bandage on Anakin’s leg from where he’d been cut by the handlers. It was already beginning to heal but he really ought to start teaching Anakin how to go into a Healing Trance. It would help with the cut and minor bruising on his arms and wrists, and it would help him with his concentration too. The increase there would in turn help with his shields.



Obi-Wan nodded to Mi’aka as she left to find Anakin some clothes that would fit, there were always extra kept in storage. The Temple kept them well stocked. Especially in cloaks, which always seemed to be the most misplaced in the AgriCorps, and especially the Jedi, for some reason or another…



He turned his attention towards Anakin, whose own attention was all over the room.



“It wasn’t so bad was it?”



The boy focused on him and considered. “She didn’t touch me much.”



“The Force can show us where we are injured. It can also help us heal. I’ll teach it to you when you like.”



He felt Anakin’s face melt into wonder. If he hadn’t been so affected by Anakin’s thoughts, he would have taught him about healing trances earlier. But shields were a must unless Obi-Wan wanted his head to explode, and he liked his head right where it was thank you.



But speaking of explosions… The implant had been located –



“She’s a Healer.” Anakin’s statement interrupted his thought. “But she’s a Twi’lek.”



“Yes, she is.”



“It’s different.”



“It’s the Republic.”



A space with no slavery, a Twi’lek allowed to live without being someone else’s property, Anakin still couldn’t shake the ‘if it’s too good to be true, it probably is’ thought. It was ingrained.



“And she…” he started hesitantly. “She can take out the implant?”



“She’s already scanned it. Now she only needs to bring up a model and see how it works, before finding a strategy on removing it safely.”



Anakin nodded and resumed his earlier task of, once more, looking around the room. The AgriBuilding’s Healer’s ward was large and pristine – so much different than what he had experienced in the past. When he had been with Watto, the slave clinic had been little more than a hovel and for slaves whose Masters didn’t want to spend money on buying new slaves. Most owners though, if they were rich enough, would just let their slaves die and buy a healthier one. When he was with Kerr, an injured slave meant loss of profit, so a Healer was brought into the brothel. Though most slaves, if they required a Healer, were too broken to move.



It was a nice change.



>>>



When Mi’aka came back with extra clothes she told them they could head home.



“He’s healthy enough to leave with you, once I get all of the blood work done, and get the schematics for that implant I’ll send a comm. Should be only a day or two at most.”



Obi-Wan smiled and nodded. “Understood.”



“Then you’re both free to go. After we’ve done your post-mission exam, Obi-Wan.”



Obi-Wan winced. “I’d rather hoped you had forgotten about that.”



>>>



But she hadn’t. Mi’aka was always the one to catch him trying to sneak back home without the standard exams that he knew were required. But it still didn’t stop him.



In the hover flight from the AgriBuilding, Obi-Wan shifted restlessly.



“It wasn’t that bad was it?”



He turned to see Anakin looking at him sideways.



“Of course not, it’s just –“ Obi-Wan shuddered involuntarily. “I’ve never been good with Healers.”



“Why?”



His gaze shifted to watch the rocky plains shift to grasses behind Anakin’s head as he considered his answer.



“I was sick a lot when I was a youngling; as I grew older and out of the illnesses I became quite accident-prone actually. The Healer’s Ward was almost a second home. I hated every second of it. Haven’t ever been too keen on Healer’s since, even though I know it’s their job to help.”



Anakin nodded and looked back out the window of the vehicle. What was once barren rock had gradually transformed into bright grass, green intermingled with blue, and what he assumed were crops further out in the fields.



It was so different this planet.



From Tatooine’s golden deserts, and Coruscant’s heavy durasteel; from what was once unforgiving red rock, Bandomeer slowly transformed into something bright and natural. There were rock formations still around but now with a multitude of different colours and plants surrounding him.



A comfortable silence fell between him and Obi-Wan as he continued to look at the new world around him; they had eventually come through a small town. Obi-Wan told him that it was a farming community. A ways past the communal housing, there was a large glass building that held all the seedlings that the AgriCorps workers procured throughout the galaxy. It was there that they were nursed and utilized until they could be seeded and spread into an area of the planet to grow.



Every town had one, and they all worked together to produce enough fruit and grains for the planets that needed them most.



Passing through the town they continued on their way.



“You don’t live in the town?” asked Anakin.



“Hm? Oh no, I um…I’m a bit further out.”



And he was indeed. Slightly beyond the town, yet still in a fair walking distance, a pinnacle stood out near the coast. He had built his home there, far from prying eyes, and those who would try and engage him. He had lived in the small village when he was younger, and still disenheartened about not being chosen by a Master, had tried to shy away from all the people who wouldn’t leave him alone. All he wanted to be was alone.



And by moving he had been. He had become something of a recluse, a hermit almost. There were times when he was bothered by it, but the feelings always left. He had very few friends and, just like his Temple days, it was all he really needed. He was a very simple man.



And Anakin. What was he going to do with him?



The hover vehicle touched down outside his small house. The compact hut overlooked the town from its hillside perch, and a taller rocky mound sprang up behind it. Around the foot worn path from many years, a trail led around to over look the ocean.



Obi-Wan smiled. Ankain’s brows were already furrowed in the direction that the waves rocked into the shore. Deciding, Obi-Wan led Anakin from the vehicle and around the house to be met with a view of deep sapphire down below.



Anakin’s expression was priceless.