IMAGINE: Anakin Freeing You

     You're cleaning a R4 unit that came in early that morning. The grime barely comes away despite your hand aching so hard from rubbing it. You sigh and look out past the open door of the shop, looking longingly outside. “Stop slacking, Y/N, and get to work!" Barsk, the junk dealer who owns you, snaps, coming up behind you and hitting you in the back of the head. You jump and grimace, hurrying back to cleaning the droid. You've been enslaved from the moment you were able to walk. Your parents were too poor to care for you or themselves, so they voluntarily sold themselves as slaves. Your parents were murdered by your owners when you were only four. They tossed you onto the streets of Mos Espa, figuring you weren't worth anything. Barsk picked you up off the streets and became your owner. While he feeds you and gives you a pallet on the floor to sleep, calling what he's given you charity would be incorrect. He is a cruel, heartless owner who has only gotten worse with age. Now that he's older, he's more demanding, more verbally, mentally, emotional, and physically abusive to you. You want to escape and be free. Yet while you dream about it nearly every minute of the day, you know it'd be a death sentence. You have no money to your name and the clothes on your back don't even belong to you. You would be dead in a matter of days. You heave a sigh, admitting defeat for the thirteenth time that day.       As you finish cleaning up the R4 unit, you spot two kids laughing and running past the open door of the shop. Your heart tugs at you painfully and you look away. Perhaps this job wouldn't be so painful if you had people in your life—if you had friends again. Even just one friend would make you happy. You bite your lip hard, tears coming to your eyes at the thought of Anakin. Anakin was owned by Watto, another junk trader that was friends with Barsk. Often the two would work together, which meant that Anakin and you got to spend a lot of time together. While he was a few years older than you, you two latched onto each other. Even after work hours, you would hang out together. You felt that he was the only one that understood you—understood your situation. You were the best of friends. And then he was ripped away from you. Those two Jedi came and set Anakin free, taking them with him. Anakin begged them to take his mother Shmi and you with, but they were unable to. You pleaded with Anakin to sneak you on their ship, but he refused. He left you, heartbroken, angry, and terrified to be by yourself. You've been alone ever since. For ten years, you've had only yourself. A flash of anger floods your body and you try to stifle it down. One half of you is so relieved and happy that Anakin is free because he truly deserved it, and you want to see him happy. The other half of you, the shameful half of you, is furious with him for not taking you with him, for leaving you. You grunt and stand up, stretching your back. Your vertebrae pops and you sigh. “Y/N." Barsk barks at you. “Yes?" You ask, used to his harsh tone. “Are you done with the R4 unit?" You step aside. "All cleaned and ready for selling." Barsk squints at it and then looks at you. "I need you to make a delivery." Your eyebrows raise. "What? A delivery?" You ask in surprise. “No question. Just do as I say." He demands. You rub your forehead. "Give me the stuff." You sigh. Barsk hands you a heavy bag of stuff. "Send this over to the trader at the end of the road. And make sure he gives me enough money." He glares at you. "Understood." You reply, heaving the bag onto your back.  ———      The suns are going down on Tatooine and the sky has turned a pretty wisteria. The sand kicks around your feet as you make your way down the emptying street after having done the transaction with the trader. You spot a young man in a dark cloak talking to some woman beside him in a fancy blue cloak about twenty feet away. Your eyebrows furrow as he turns around to face you completely and your heart drops to your stomach. "Ani." You whisper, your heart pounding rapidly in your chest. So many emotions come running through you that your knees weaken. Anakin turns away and starts walking in the other direction with the woman, not even noticing you. You question for but a moment if you should call out to him. You run towards him. “Anakin!" You shout. He stops and turns to face you. You halt to a stop, ten feet in front of him. At first the look on Anakin's face is one of confusion, then realization. His eyes widen and his jaw drops. “Y/N?" He gasps, slowly walking towards you. You run the remaining feet to him and launch yourself into his arms, laughing and crying. He hugs you tightly. “Oh, Ani!" You cry, clutching onto him tightly. He pulls back and looks at you, wonder on his face. "Look at you. You're so grown up." He breathes. "Me? What about you?!" You laugh happily, cupping his face. “What has it been? Ten years?" You nod. "Yeah." You answer tightly. Anakin's eyebrows furrow slightly. "Wh-what are you doing back here?" You ask. “I came to find my mother." You feel the blood drain from your face. "Oh, Ani." You whisper. “Do you know what happened to her?" He asks desperately. Tears fill your eyes. "I'm so sorry." You whisper, your voice cracking. ———      Anakin and Padmé, the woman in the blue cloak who you saw ten years ago when Anakin left, wait for you to finish work that night. You told Anakin everything you know about his mother and her disappearance. “Where are you going?" Barsk demands as you start to walk out the door. “I'm not working so I don't owe you any explanation." You state. He grabs your arm tightly and pulls you close to him. "No, but I own you, girl, so I get the right to know where you're going." He spits. “Out. With some friends. I'll be back later." You wrench your arm from his grasp and stalk out of the shop. Anakin and Padmé are a little ways away so you walk over to them. Anakin looks so beyond distracted and distraught. Padmé tries to comfort him, her face kind and sympathetic. “Are you still a slave to Barsk?" Anakin asks, his voice hoarse. You nod, wordless. "You haven't left his service?" He whispers in horror. “Unlike you, I don't have a choice." You say quietly. Padmé frowns deeply at you. “Padmé and I are going to Cliegg Lars' home. We're going to find my mother." Anakin states. In your heart you know Shmi has to be dead after the Tusken Raiders kidnapped her. But you you know that telling Anakin that is pointless. He won't rest until he finds his mother, whether dead or alive. "Good luck." You say, offering him a sad smile. He hugs you tightly. "It was so good to see you again, Y/N." He whispers. Your heart nearly stops. He's leaving you again. Deep down, you were hoping he'd ask you to come with him. But he didn't. He's leaving you behind yet again. You shove him away from you, anger bubbling up within you. He stares at you in confusion. “Y/N, what's wrong?"      "You-you're doing it again." You whisper, tears coming to your eyes. "Doing what again?" Anakin questions, his eyebrows drawing. "You're leaving me behind. You're leaving me enslaved again. Every single time you have a choice, you leave me behind." You grit out. “Y/N, I'm sorry for leaving you last time, but I didn't have a choice!" He exclaims. “There's always a choice, Anakin!" You burst out. You take a step back and clench your jaw to calm yourself down. "I was so young. You were all that I had and then you left me behind. Every night I dreamed that you would come back for me, and I thought today was the day." You whisper, angrily wiping the tears from your cheeks. “Y/N, I'm sorry for leaving you behind all those years ago. Do you think I wanted to? Do you think I wanted to leave my mother and you behind? Of course not. If Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn could've found a way to set you free, they would have. But things just didn't work out, and for that I'm so sorry. I've thought about you every single day that I've been gone from you, and I regret not stowing you away on the ship with me. But, Y/N, I'm not leaving you behind today. As soon as I saw you today, I knew I was going to ask you to come with me. I wasn't planning on leaving you again. I wasn't planning on making that same mistake all over again." He tells you, taking your hand in his. You stare at him, your watery eyes making your vision go blurry. "Really?" You choke out. He grabs your other hand. "I'm not leaving without you, Y/N. Please. Come with me. Come with us." He pleads. You fall to your knees with a sob, relief flooding through your whole body. "Yes, yes, yes." You weep. Anakin gets on his knees and pulls you into his arms, holding you tightly. "Thank you." You whisper into his neck. You sniff. "W-we should go. We need to go find your mother." You stare at him. His face darkens again and he nods. "Do you know the way to Cliegg Lars' house?" You nod. "Yeah, I do." You reply. "Then lead the way please." He whispers. You give him a small smile and hold his hand, giving it a squeeze. [THE END] I hope you liked it!