Sol awoke to the sun trickling in through the window of her bedroom. It was early morning, but Sol didn't mind the idea of rolling out of bed and venturing to the balcony that looked over the grand lake. Early mornings were calming and an ideal time to meditate. Meditation was a vital process in connecting to the Force and can mean the difference in being a skilled Jedi, and being a Jedi that is separated from the Force. Meditation next to a lake was far more calming than in the Jedi Temple overlooking the city on Coruscant.

She dressed in her underrobe and pulled the thin hood over her hair. With her pants tucked into her boots, Sol left her bedroom and quietly headed through the house. There was a light chill in the hallways of the thick-walled house, but Sol welcomed it, knowing that when she stepped into the sunlight, she would be warmed beyond the cold air of the morning.

In order to reach the door that led out to the balcony, Sol had to walk through the living space and dining room. Her steps were light, and she was already looking into the Force to find some peace. But a familiar orange glow made her halt in her journey through the living area and turn to the terrace that could be seen through open double doors.

Stepping through the doorway, Sol found the origin of the warm, orange glow in the Force. Anakin soaked up the sun with his feet spread apart and his hands clasped together behind his back. He was in some brown pants and a beige shirt, and his Padawan braid dangled from behind his ear. Sol saw that his eyes were closed, and he was deep in meditation. She stared at the golden skin on his face and his slim neck that stretched tall. If she stood next to him, she would be half a foot smaller than him, even with his legs spread apart like they currently were.

She knew what it was like to be immersed in meditation, so she turned to slip back out the double doors and continue on her walk to the lake. But Anakin's voice was smooth as it called out to her,

'Don't go.'

She stopped and turned back. He didn't move from his position or open his eyes to look at her. Sol took notice of the slight plea in his voice, but ignored what it could have meant as she stepped back out onto the terrace.

'I don't want to disturb your meditation,' she admitted, glancing to the early sun.

'Your presence is soothing.'

She let out a quiet laugh.

'I've been told its white.'

'The purest I've ever seen. Even brighter than Master Obi-wan's.'

Sol felt heat creep up her neck and settle onto her cheeks. It wasn't that she had never been told what her Force signature was like, it was that Anakin was almost praising it. Without any jokes or snide remarks, Anakin was honest in saying that Sol was the purest in the ways of the Force. She thought about what Padme had said when they were in the lake; about Anakin admiring her. Her feelings hadn't changed on the topic of forbidden thoughts and attachment, but she dwelled on the conversation more than she cared to admit.

'Anakin,' Sol said, willing herself to think of something other than the day at the lake. 'I sensed something last night. You were disturbed in your sleep. Was this... another nightmare?'

'Jedi don't have nightmares,' he defended, and Sol resisted a scoff.

'Everyone has nightmares.'

'Do you?'

Sol paused.

'I know you don't. You never dream when you sleep,' Anakin turned to face the young woman with his eyes open and staring into her's. 'You sleep like there's nothing wrong in the galaxy. There's nothing you fear-'

'I have fears,' Sol said, her voice unplayful. 'But they don't play on my sleep. How did you know that I don't dream?'

Anakin avoided her gaze after just meeting it for the first time that morning. He looked out over the terrace again, his mind troubled. Sol dropped her inquiries of her sleeping habits and felt Anakin's heavy thoughts. They hung over him like a stench that never faded. It chilled the already brisk morning air and Sol was thankful for the sun's rising heat. But Anakin wasn't revived from its light like she was, and his meditation didn't seem to have a calming effect on his mind.

'I saw my mother,' he finally stated.

'In your dreams?'

'I saw her as clearly as I see you now. She's suffering. She is in pain,' he continued. His expression turned to anguish, and he whipped around to look at Sol again, teeth clenched and brow heavy. Sol saw the purple lines underneath his blue eyes and knew that restless sleep was a common occurrence for the young man.

'I have to help her. I don't have a choice. It's killing me knowing that she's alone and hurt,' Anakin stepped closer to Sol and looked down at her. 'I know I'm disobeying my mandate to protect the senator. I may be punished and possibly thrown out the Jedi Order, but I must go. You will stay here with Padme.'

'What?' Sol gapped. 'You're going to Tatooine by yourself?'

'It's my mother, Sol. I can feel her pain and suffering. I have to find her.'

Anakin's eyes glossed with tears and Sol felt her chest ache at the sight of his trembling lip. She felt like she couldn't relate to Anakin's feelings of missing his mother, but she could feel the clench of her heart and the ball in her throat. Her eyes stung as his did and her nose threatened to block. She was feeling what Anakin was, as if he had transferred his emotions by simply standing on the terrace with her.

'I'll go with you.'

'What?' It was Anakin's turn to be astounded.

'I'll go with you to Tatooine. I'm sure Padme wouldn't mind lending one of her family's many ships.'

'What about the senator? You can't leave her here unprotected.'

'There has been nothing suspicious for three days,' Sol reasoned with a shrug. 'Or we can bring her with us.'

'Absolutely not,' Anakin's definitive tone was intimidating, but Sol for some reason felt giddy from it. 'The planet's crime ridden. She'd be walking right into her own assassination.'

'Do you really think she would let us leave her here, anyway? I know for a fact that her father's constant fussing over her is beginning to irritate her ladyship.'

Anakin let out a sigh, knowing that what Sol said was true. Through his aching chest, he was able to hold on to Sol's presence and smother it into the cracks of pain in his heart. It fit into all the right places and soothed the edges that tried to cut into the other parts of him. 

Anakin gazed at his Jedi partner, giving into his feelings for a short moment. Her bright eyes looked up at him, seemingly larger than usual, and her seriousness to accompany him to his home planet was an unexpected kindness he appreciated. The way the hood of her light robe sat on her head made her look like the angels from the moons of Lego, who wore hooded robes with their magnificent wings behind them.

His attitude towards her from yesterday was forgotten. She hadn't taught him her ways of the Force, and he was upset at her lack of effort, but this somehow made up for that. She had never been to a planet like Tatooine, yet was willing to follow him there without a thought. Sol was kind, and Anakin was beginning to admire and adore that about her.

'You do know that coming with me to Tatooine could get you thrown out of the Order, too, right?' Anakin made sure, his hand itching to reach out and stroke the softness of her cheek. She wasn't aware of his desires, but Sol didn't miss a beat with her reply.

'Rules are made to be broken. Master Yoda would be disappointed, but it's a Jedi's place to help the good.'

'You know, you're not that bad, Solaris,' he mumbled with a smile, and Sol returned it.

'Only when I'm doing you a favour, right, Ani?'

---

Much like Sol had predicted, Padme would not lend the Jedi a ship unless they took her with them. They didn't have a say in the matter, as she was the one they were meant to be protecting. If they left her behind by slipping away without her noticing, she could contact the council with R2, and then the two would be out of the Order before they had even left the planet of Naboo.

'Artoo, can you work on covering our signal when we enter Tatooine's atmosphere?' Sol instructed the droid after they boarded the luxurious, silver ship. R2 beeped in acknowledgement and the ship took off, Anakin piloting it off of Naboo and into hyperspace.

Sol sat in the passenger seat and watched the lights of space fly past the windscreen at an undetectable speed. She hadn't even considered the fact that she would be vising another planet after having not seen the outside of Coruscant more than twice. The wonder of new planets had been shadowed by Anakin's dull mood, which still hovered over him in the driver's seat of the ship.

'Do you feel her now?' Sol asked and Anakin looked from the control panel to her. 'Your mother, I mean?'

'Always. She never left me.'

She was beginning to understand Anakin more and more. His brash decision-making and passionate emotions were all tying back to his past of leaving his mother behind. He grew up a slave and was taken in by the Jedi Order, told he was the Chosen One, before Sol was introduced to him as the Chosen One who was trained privately by Master Yoda. While Sol was given sanctuary in the Order, away from the lower levels of the city, and knew of Anakin as just another youngling who could also be the Chosen One. 

Anakin deserved to break the rules to see his mother, and Sol wouldn't tell a soul.