Layna turned her head to look at the boy seated on the table, who was staring right at the girl clad in Padawan robes. Layna glanced at Padmé, who had a huge smile on her face as she hid her lips behind her hand. She figured that the boy directed his question to the handmaiden, whose beauty far surpasses her own, but seeing as he was staring directly at her and not at Padmé further confused the young Padawan.

She furrowed her eyebrows together, lips drawn in a straight line as her chocolate colored eyes met the small boy's electric blue ones. "Do you say that to every girl you meet?"

The blonde boy shook his head, mirroring the confused expression on the Padawan's face. "No, I don't think I've met any other angels before today."

The young Padawan found her cheeks heating up from the compliment, and she quickly tore her gaze away from the young boy as she folded her arms across her chest. "We-well, how would you know if I was an angel, anyway?"

The dirty looking boy hummed, swinging his feet back and forth as he replied to the younger brunette, "I heard the deep space pilots talk about them, they're the most beautiful creatures in the universe." His answer sent even more blood rushing to the poor flustered girl's face, and she had to completely hide her face with her hand to avoid further embarrassment. "They live on the moons of Iego, I think."

Padmé suppressed the smile on her face as she stepped closer to the seated boy, finally stepping in to give her friend some time to collect herself after hearing such an adorable compliment from the small boy. "You're a funny little boy, how do you know so much?"

Layna took a few deep breaths, feeling the blood leave her cheeks slowly as she peered up at the boy, awaiting his answer. "I listen to all the traders and starpilots that come by here," he answered, twisting the nut on one of the parts he has in his hand. "I'm a pilot, you know. And someday, I'm gonna fly away from this place."

Hearing his words, the now calm Layna approached him as well, purposely trying to ignore the boy's bright blue eyes gazing upon her. "You're a pilot?"

"Mm-hmm, all my life," he replied, continuing to tinker with the small part.

"How long have you been here?" The handmaiden asked the boy, who just shrugged in response.

"Since I was little, three, I think? My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt but she lost us betting on the podraces." Layna's brown eyes widened slightly, realizing that this boy was not simply a worker in this junk yard - he was that alien's slave. Slavery isn't allowed nowadays due to the Republic's anti-slavery laws, and this particular act should be discontinued, although Tatooine is a desert planet far from the reach of the Republic, it would make sense for the laws not to apply here.

"You're a slave?" Padmé voiced out in disbelief, and the young boy's eyebrows furrowed when he heard the handmaiden call him a slave - something he refused to be called, seeing as it was so demeaning.

"I'm a person, and my name is Anakin!" He burst out, his light blue eyes turning a shade darker as Padmé quickly apologized to the offended boy, who they now learned was named Anakin.

"I'm sorry, I don't fully understand," the handmaiden said, her eyes wandering around the shop. "This is a strange place to me."

Layna agreed, reaching up to play with the end of her Padawan braid. "This is the second time I've been here and I still can't wrap my head around this planet either," she began to look around the shop, just as her friend was. The girl was oblivious to the blonde boy studying her closely, a small smile gracing his face as he did so.

As Anakin studied the mysterious girl, he noticed the long braid running down her right shoulder and thought that it was a rather peculiar thing to leave out that one small braid, as the rest of her hair was tied into a high ponytail. "What's that?"

Layna and Padmé turned their attention back onto the young boy, who was staring intently at the braid running down Layna's shoulder. He pointed towards the braid, causing the beautiful girl to laugh lightly. "Oh, this is like a sign of being a Padawan."

"What's a Padawan?" Anakin inquired further, his electric blue eyes meeting those of the beautiful girl he thought was an angel.

"A Padawan is a Jedi-in-training," Layna answered, and she did not miss the twinkle in the boy's eyes when he heard the term Jedi. She remembered having the exact same look in her eyes the first time she met Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

"You're a Jedi and an angel? That sounds so cool," Anakin grinned, just as the handmaiden stifled another giggle, knowing that Layna would be blushing right now seeing as Anakin had just called her an angel yet again.

Layna's cheeks burned, but she tried to ignore it as she corrected the young boy. "No, I'm not an angel, I'm just a human training to become a Jedi."

Layna could practically feel Anakin's excitement, and she was reminded of herself way back in Corellia, when the young thief heard that she was going to be trained to become a Jedi just like her mother. This made her smile a little bit, much to Anakin's delight.

"I don't believe we've introduced ourselves," Padmé exchanged looks with the young Padawan, who just realized this as well. "But my name is Padmé, I'm from Naboo."

Anakin smiled at the older girl, then turned to look at the younger girl beside her. "And my name is Layna, I originally came from Corellia."

Unbeknownst to the Padawan, Anakin burned her name into his mind in that moment and he swore that he would never forget the name of the beautiful girl he met one day in the junk shop. "It's nice to meet you two."

Anakin set the small part he was playing around with beside him, and suddenly, the handmaiden became curious as to what a young boy was doing in a junk shop. "Why are you working in this junk shop, Anakin?"

Anakin glanced over at Padmé, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I'm usually just fixing the things around here. I think that's the only reason why Watto likes to keep up around, I wouldn't have lasted long if I weren't so good at fixing things."

"We're leaving," Qui-Gon's voice broke the three young ones away from their conversation and Layna raised her eyebrow at the sight of Jar Jar struggling to catch various parts he was toying around with. "Jar Jar."

Qui-Gon quickly exited the shop, followed closely by Artoo and Padmé turned to the young boy who she enjoyed talking with, even if it was just a few minutes. "I'm glad to have met you, Anakin." The handmaiden then turned around, following the Jedi Master out the door. Jar Jar also made his exit right afterwards, leaving the Padawan alone with Anakin.

The brunette girl pursed her lips, then gave the young boy a sweet smile. Even if she had only met the boy today, she truly did enjoy talking with Anakin. "It was so nice meeting you, Anakin," she began to walk backwards, and Anakin kept his blue eyes on her as she walked away. "Take care of yourself."

Layna then turned around and walked out of the door, hearing Anakin call out from behind her. "You too, Layna!"

+

This day just kept getting better and better.

First, they had to hide out in the desert planet of Tatooine - which Layna still disliked by the way, the only thing she now liked about this planet was that nice boy they met earlier today. Second, they had to look for parts for their spacecraft to work once more. And finally, the only junk shop that had the needed parts belonged to Watto, a Toydarian, whose mind was not as weak as they'd like. He has resisted the power of Master Qui-Gon's mind trick, leaving them to wonder what exactly they needed to do in order to get those parts peacefully. It was not as if this day would get any worse, right?

Hearing a sort of commotion behind them, Layna stopped and peered behind her, her dark brown eyes widening in surprise upon seeing Jar Jar being on the ground, with a Dug on top of him, holding the Gungan by the neck. "Damn Gungan," she pulled her lightsaber out, leaving her group and running towards the Gungan who was about to get killed by the tiny alien.

She was about to activate her lightsaber when she saw a familiar boy approach the two, saying something to the alien in the Tatooine native tongue. The alien stopped his assault on Jar Jar, listening to what the blonde boy had to say to him. Anakin continued to talk, smiling humorously at the alien before the Dug glared at him. He seemed to be threatening the boy, who just smiled and watched as the alien withdrew his foot from Jar Jar's neck and walked away.

Layna let out a relieved sigh, thankful she didn't have to blow her cover to save the Gungan. She placed her lightsaber back in her utility belt, approaching the young boy with a smile on her face. "It's nice to see you again, Anakin."

Anakin flashed the girl a smile, before taking a look behind Layna. "Hi," the young boy greeted, and a moment later, Layna found herself in the company of her friend, her Master and the R2 unit once more.

"Hi there," the Jedi nodded back at the boy, who watched as Jar Jar stood up, dusting himself off of the sand he had managed to collect when he was thrown onto the ground by the Dug.

"Your buddy here was about to be turned into orange goo. He picked a fight with a Dug, an especially dangerous Dug called Sebulba." Anakin explained to the old man, who just nodded with a rather intrigued look on his face.

"Mesa haten crunchen! Dat's da last ting mesa wanten," Jar Jar pouted, casting his eyes down onto the ground.

"Nevertheless, the boy is right. You were heading into trouble," Qui-Gon told Jar Jar, before returning his attention to the young boy. "Thanks, my young friend."

"But-but-mesa doen noten!" The Gungan exclaimed, as the group walked away from the scene. Anakin picked up his pace, so that he could talk to the older man who seemed to be leading their tiny group.

"Hey, Mister! Are you hungry? I know a place that sells really good fruits," Anakin didn't even wait for Qui-Gon's answer as he turned a corner, leading the group to wherever he wished.

Qui-Gon chuckled lowly, shaking his head as he followed the young boy. Layna and Padmé exchanged smiles as they followed Anakin as well, arms linked and giggles pouring out of their mouths.

Anakin stopped as he reached a fruit stand, and he greeted the old woman who was watching the boy with a kind smile on her face. "Here, you'll like these pallies," Anakin handed a few of those pallies to Qui-Gon, who took the fruits with a smile, thanking the young boy. Qui-Gon placed the fruits inside a small pouch underneath his poncho, and the lightsaber resting in his utility belt did not escape Anakin's eyes.

"Oh my bones are aching," the old woman complained, and the young boy turned back to the old woman manning the fruit stand. "Storm's coming up, Ani. You'd better get home quick."

He nodded, silently thanking the old woman before turning to leave with the group. He tapped Qui-Gon on the arm, cocking his head to look up at the much taller man. "Do you have shelter?"

"We'll head back to our ship," Qui-Gon replied to the young boy, who asked another follow-up question in concern. "Is it far?"

"It's on the outskirts," the young Padawan answered the boy, their eyes lingering on each other's for just a moment before the girl brought herself to look away.

"You'll never reach the outskirts in time, sandstorms are very, very dangerous!" Anakin suddenly thought of a brilliant idea, his electric blue eyes lighting up as he tugged on the Jedi Master's poncho. "Come on, I'll take you to my place!"

The Master exchanged a look with his Padawan, who gave him a rather worried look in return. They both knew that going with the child was the safest option for them, but they couldn't help but worry about the rest of the crew in the spacecraft back in the outskirts. They hoped that they wouldn't get caught up in the huge sandstorm and prayed to the Force to keep them safe, proceeding to follow the young slave boy to his humble home.