Chapter Text
"Bullshit!"
Anakin made his presence loud and clear as he stormed into the training rooms. Another talking down from the council had left him feeling enraged. So engulfed in fury, he ranted to the only other person in the room, a boy sitting across the room, meditating. He didn't know him, but at this point, he didn't care.
"I've tried everything to prove to them that I'm ready to be a Jedi Knight! I've gone on missions, I've brought peace, I've followed the code. And they still look at me like I'm a monster!"
Piles of pebbles for practicing concentration with the Force lay on some mats. He kicked all of the piles until half the room was littered with rocks. The boy paused from his meditation to look at the mess around him. He couldn't help but smirk and comment.
"And clearly you've proved them wrong."
Anakin stomped over to the boy. Now wasn't a time for him to take a joke.
"What, you think they're right? That I'm some freak who shouldn't have been trained to be a Jedi? That I'm better off back on Tatooine as a little slave boy--"
"Calm down, hothead. I don't know about whatever you're going on about, but I think the Council is bullshit too."
"...Really?"
"Are you kidding me? They're a joke."
It was so strange to hear someone so boldly speak against the Jedi Council. Anakin was so used to having to angrily argue with another Padawan until he was tired. An endless cycle of frustration, taking out that frustration, and rinsing and repeating. He was taken aback by such strong agreement.
"I wouldn't say they're a joke…"
The boy turned to Anakin and beckoned him to sit.
"Alright. Sit down. Let me share some something about those fuckers."
"You swear a lot." said Anakin, as he sat down and criss-crossed his legs.
"No, I fucking don't. Anyway, they've been giving me shit for not following that Jedi Code bull. As soon as me or some other kid goes through some tough shit, they expect all of us to repress it and not care like the rest of them. You know how many times I got in trouble when my master caught me crying about my family?"
"They do that to me too, every time I think about my mother back home. They tell me to not get attached to her."
"And has that ever helped you?"
"…No. I still miss her just as much as when I left."
"Exactly."
"If you think they're so 'bull', why are you still here?"
"What other life could I be living? My whole family's dead. I got nowhere to go. And I do pretty alright as a Jedi."
The boy went back to meditating. Anakin found him and his bluntness strangely appealing, even with how outlandish he found his take on the Jedi Code to be. And he couldn't help but take a few moments to stare at his calm stature as he meditated. Long, black hair flowing over the front of his narrow shoulders, a tranquil face with stunningly long lashes, every limb oozing with purely calm energy--
"Do you need something?" the boy said as he opened an eye, snapping Anakin out of his head.
"...No. I've got to head back to my master, anyway."
"Alright. Later, Hothead."
Anakin made his way to the doors. Halfway out of the room, he went back in to ask one more thing.
"What's your name, by the way?"
The boy opened one eye, "Fen Sudime. And you're Anakin, right?"
"Yep."
"That Chosen One guy?"
"Yep."
"Neat." he said, closing his one eye and returning to meditation.
As Anakin walked to where his master was, he thought about the slightly strange boy. He seemed unphased by the fact that he was talking to the Chosen One Kid, and even more unphased about teasing what would be the most powerful Jedi to ever exist. Either he was really brave or really dense. And yet, his oddities seemed to only make Fen all the more a delight to think about.