#chapter i

In case you were wondering (you weren't), Oleander's poem was actually written by my late grandmother. she wrote literally hundreds of poems during her lifetime, and earlier this year my grandfather published them in a book in light of her passing. I did all the typesetting and cover design for him. here's the full text of the poem, which had a rather on the nose thematic relevance:

Neighborhood Deer

Hi! I hope you like this, especially since the benlos well is so fucking dry. It would suck if the new content is something you don't like :/

So yes. Benlos is endgame and so is Malvie and Jane with Lonnie. Jay... Well, you're gonna have to find out on your own. No hate to Benmal, though. I'll try to make them not assholes and have a decent breakup/divorce and not make them look like they were emotionally cheating on each other. I hate that trope personally, but I'm till a beginner in writing so...

I'm also gonna project A LOT onto Carlos because he's just like me fr so he's definitely going to be OOC and slightly more feminine (because I'm more fem myself. So. Carlos in Corsets.)

OH also Carlos obviously lives, so I'm not counting the Wedding Special and everything afterwards as Canon

Either way, this is the

Masterpost!

From the very moment the twin suns’ pink and orange hues illuminated your face, a young Anakin knew.

It was the kind of feeling that lit a gentle fire within the soul, the origins of which unbeknownst to the wandering yet growing minds of children. The kind of feeling so grand it engulfed his very being from within. A sentiment, sense of belonging and excitement he did not yet know how to describe, but oh, could he feel it.

It made his heart falter, skip a small beat. It made his baby blues sparkle internally, rays reflecting out into the world of chaos around him with a fresh breath of happiness. His hands were just a bit faster, just a tiny bit more nimble as he worked with spare droid parts at his master’s shop.

He knew.

Just like he knew he would see the suns rise again. That he would see his mother that night with open arms and heart, beckoning him in to share a meal.

Like he knew, from the bottom of his heart, that he would be free one day, his family slaves to no one.

If only you knew.

A merely nine year old boy, albeit an exceptionally wise one, but just a little boy, knew he loved you.

How could he? How could a small boy know about love, let alone feel it?

That must have been love, right? The kind he heard whispers and stories of on the streets of Tatooine. The feeling that made all the beautiful things in this world appear - hugs, kisses on the cheek. Blue skies shining back at him. The sparkles on his red and orange speeder. The gentle beeping sounds of a functioning droid.

A dreamland full of water and beautiful trees adorned in all shades of green, the ones that existed in the better half of his dreams.

Love was happiness to him. The kind that made him laugh and smile even after being exhausted all day. Ever since you beamed into the shop looking for some scrap sensors to fix your passion project, it had been nothing but happiness when you were around, so much so that he lately did not mind his master’s ordering around.

He wanted nothing more to understand that little gentle light within him, to make sure it never disappeared from his life.

He wanted to find a way to keep the twin suns from setting. That would make it daylight forever, allowing you to stay with him.

That would convince your parents to let you stay out with him just a bit longer. Anakin was very confident that he could make that work, even if it took him forever.

He would not let go.

The gentle hum of buzzing machinery and a certain girl whispering a shallow profanity after a series of mechanical thuds took him out of his thoughts and back to reality of the desert.

Back to the sand that kept hitting his skin no matter how much he covered.

“Do you have it yet?”

“Almost,” came your voice from a bit afar in the scrapyard, knee deep in all the spare parts, screws, scrapped metal of all sorts around Watto’s shop. His master being gone to the outpost to scour for his necessities meant a certain relief, finally being able to work on something a bit more fun. A few more broken rotors and springs thrown out from the pile followed by an “aha!”, you quipped in excitement to the newly discovered part.

The slightly rusty body of the partially disassembled protocol droid stared at him, waiting to be granted life. With a clear intention in mind, the little Anakin had worked on the droid whenever his master’s watchful eyes were not all over him, and sometimes overtime after he was dismissed. Working on the manmade creature also gave him an excuse to tinker with you.

He had worked hard to dig for spare parts in the vast scrapyard, his talented fingers tightening each bolt and screw that connected the limbs together, the network of wires originating from the motherboard to each corner of the machine to grant energy to the droid when all parts were tied together.

Up until then, he had been missing the servomotor, if not the most crucial part of it all. He had been searching for it for the better half of a week now, and had requested your assistance as a second pair of eyes and hands.

How else was the protocol droid supposed to move to help protect his mother, if not for the motor?

The smile stretching your lips was contagious as your running legs carried you  towards a waiting blond boy, clutching the motor tightly in your small hands as you skipped occasionally to avoid the leftover parts, sand flying around under your boots with each stride taken. An excitement ran through Anakin, as he readied the metal opening to, almost ceremoniously, tie the missing piece altogether.

“Let’s do this.”

Sounds of metal clinks, wires strapped to their place, a few huffs following the cutter as the motor clicked into it’s place. The moment he had been waiting for for a while now, as he made sure to securely attach all the mechanical limbs and double check the circuits. With his heart thumping and you crouching next to him, he hit the switch.

He shot a smile mixed in with a laugh, catching your eyes with the biggest joy when he heard the whirl, focusing back when the droid’s eyes lit up a calm yellow, head turning with a screeching sound - but moving nonetheless.

The two little troublemakers found themselves laughing with content, celebrating their creation. Now, his mother had someone to help protect her against the heat, even if it required a bit more maintenance, polish and oil.

Your eyes found Anakin’s light blue ones, partially shaded under the fabric of the tent, yet the sparkles in them were enough to light the galaxy.

“You will do great things, Ani.”

The words flowed out as if they were the most natural. You always had meant everything you said to him, it made him believe that yes, one day, he would indeed do great things.

To that, he responded with a wide smile, laced with a child’s innocence and pure hope.