POV: Anakin Skywalker

If there's one thing I've learned in the last three hundred and five years, it's that you can't trust anyone.

In my case, I can't trust the one person that I can actually call family.

"Obi-Wan, you can't be serious," I groaned. He'd kept me in his quarters all day, hoping that I'd be willing to listen to what he had to say to me. He told me that I needed a Padawan.

Who knows? Maybe he was right this time. Then again, maybe he wasn't. My recent activity in the temple hadn't been such a convincing point on my part, yet somehow the Council decided to allow me a Padawan.

They even allowed me to choose my own Padawan. I'd been forced upon Obi-Wan, seeing as though no one wanted to show me anything Force related. Jedi weren't supposed to feel fear, but there was always a great amount of fear in my presence.

"Anakin, you know me better than anyone."

I got up off of his bed and grabbed the bottle of Mandalorian wine from his small table. "That's so reassuring, Master."

He held his hand up in the air, pointing at me accusingly. "You don't know that you're right. You've made it this far. There's absolutely no turning back now. Also, don't drink the rest of that. I need some for tonight."

"Still down from your rejection?" I teased.

"If you weren't a hundred times stronger than me, I might actually challenge you. Anakin, lay off on the jokes for now. I knew it wasn't going to happen. She's the Duchess and I'm the Jedi."

"I'm the vampire that's going to compel her to fall in love with –"

"No," he said quickly. "Don't do that. If we're meant to be together, it'll happen."

I rolled my eyes and held the bottle up in the air, chugging down as much as I could in a gulp. "If you say so, Master."

"Come on. I think we've delayed the Council enough already. I hear a few of the younglings are eager to meet you."

"You and the Council are still the only ones that know, right?"

"Of course," he whispered. "If anyone else found out, you'd be at risk. Everything you've done to better yourself would be for nothing."

I put the bottle down onto the table. "Why am I being assigned a Padawan again?"

"It's a privilege to teach the next generation of Jedi, Anakin."

He got up from his chair and we walked out of the room side by side. "If this Padawan ends up dead in a lake –"

"He or she won't end up dead, Anakin. We wouldn't be forcing you into this if we didn't trust you. You've gained my trust and Master Yoda's trust. I know things have been hard lately, but you need to let go of your anger and despair. She's not going to come back. She's gone. You said it yourself, so I don't understand why you're putting yourself through this."

"I love her," I whispered, sighing. "I don't know why. She did this to me and I love her. It's been two hundred and eighty-three years. How am I still in love with her?"

"Attachments are hard to dissolve once they've formed. You told me yourself that you hate what you are. You hate her just as much as you love her. You need a distraction. You need responsibility."

"So giving me a child is giving me a responsibility and distraction? He'll probably be the death of me."

We entered the Council chambers. Five younglings were lined up before Masters Yoda and Windu. "Ah, Skywalker, we've been waiting for you."

I nodded and stepped forward. I glanced at the younglings. Two human males felt determined, yet afraid. The male Togruta felt superior and overconfident. The female Twi'lek felt nervous, but excited. The female Togruta felt… the most different. She seemed sad and unwilling.

I glanced at her face. I could see the fading bruises on her montrals and lekku. Her arms were bruised and she was trying to hide them by keeping her hands over specific areas.

"Anakin, these are the most skilled younglings of their class."

"Younglings," I greeted. "I'm Anakin Skywalker. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

The Twi'lek stared at me in awe and I forced myself to not make eye contact with her. My eyes traveled to Obi-Wan's face. "Introduce yourselves," Obi-Wan whispered, nodding at the first human male.

"I am Rutea Klyne." He was a red headed, arrogant young man. The way he spoke gave away his arrogance. His posture was nice, but forced. He seemed to want to impress me.

The second human male spoke up. "I'm Liam Ploid." He seemed determined and sure of himself. He was a possible candidate for my Padawan. He had a set mind.

I glanced at the male Togruta. "I am Jarkael Ly'son. I'm the greatest warrior of my tribe on Shili." He looked at the Togruti girl, giving her a menacing smirk.

I kept that in mind. He didn't seem like the type of kid I'd want to hang around with. The Twi'lek looked at me and smiled. This time, I actually had to look at her.

"I'm Lena Tyka. It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Skywalker." Once again, this child seemed to want to impress me. I could also see the lack of subtlety when it came to her attempts at flirting with me. The way she flung her headtails over her shoulders gave that away and I immediately pushed her out of my mind. Well, that was roughly three children down.

The last was the Togruti girl. She wasn't looking at me. She was staring at the floor. I raised my eyebrow as I stared at her. I crossed my arms over my chest and cleared my throat.

She jumped and looked at me, fear written clearly across her face. Instead of snapping at her for her lack of attention, I calmly asked, "What's your name?"

She stared into my eyes and I could see the pain in them. My lips parted as I felt her fear. "I can't do this," she whispered.

She ran out of the room, holding her face in her hand. Obi-Wan ran after her and I turned to face Master Yoda.

"Apologize, we do, for her actions," he whispered to me. He turned towards the younglings. "Dismissed, you are, until further notice."

They each nodded and filed out of the room.

"What was wrong with her?" I asked, curious.

"We aren't completely sure. The child seems to have a troubled past, yet she won't speak to anyone," Windu replied.

"Is she from the same tribe as Jarkael?"

They both nodded. I spanned my hearing out towards Obi-Wan and the girl. "Young one, you must tell me what's going on. You're at the top of your class, yet you do not wish to exceed past the rank of youngling. You were offered a chance to have a Master, to become a Padawan. Why would you pass that up?"

I heard their faint breaths and she remained silent. "Youngling, you will tell me what's going on or I'll be forced to speak with the Council about this. You haven't spoken to anyone in quite some time. I believe it's progress that you spoke before the Masters today."

"Excuse me," I muttered. I walked out of the room and around the corner. The girl was in tears while Obi-Wan stood in front of her.

I cautiously stepped towards them. "Master, may I speak with the girl?"

He turned around, eyeing me curiously. He nodded quickly and stepped back. "Be my guest." He walked up to me, heading back to the Council chambers. "She won't speak to anyone directly. You'll be lucky if you get anything out of her."

I nodded and he continued past me. I stared at the girl. Once again, she was looking at the floor. "Why don't you give me your name, little one?"

"Tano," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Is that your first name?"

She shook her head and lifted her hand to wipe her eyes. "Ahsoka."

"Okay," I said, drawing the word out. "Ahsoka, I'm Anakin." I held my hand out towards her.

She looked at my hand for almost a minute before gripping it with her own. She must have felt the hardness of my mechanical hand. Her grip tightened for a second before she pulled away.

"I hear you're not talking to anyone. Why is that?"

If she wasn't going to speak to me willingly, I'd have to force her to talk. I wanted to know what was up with her. She had no reason to fear me yet. "It's nothing. I apologize for the way I acted, Master. It was uncalled for."

I shrugged. "Hey, we aren't all perfect, little one. That's actually my point right now. I'm not perfect, you're not perfect. I can see the bruises that you're failing to hide."

Her blue eyes widened. "I – I don't –"

I stared into her eyes and began my compulsion spell. "Tell me what's troubling you."

Her eyes glazed over a bit. "I'm abused by my classmates."

"Why?"

"Because I have the highest ranking in the class."

"You sound like a good student, Ahsoka. You have no reason whatsoever to fear me," I said, lifting the spell. She gasped and blinked several times before looking directly at me.

"What happened?"

"You zoned out for a minute. Are you feeling any better?"

She stared at me and nodded. "A little bit."

"All right, little one, I believe you should go lie down for a little while."

I turned to leave, but her hand touched my arm. "Master, may I speak freely?"

I nodded and turned back to face her. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched her. "What's on your mind, kid?"

"What do you think of me after seeing how I acted in there?"

"I think you were just nervous and unsure of yourself. Your training skills are exceptional from what I hear, but perhaps your social skills are a bit lacking."

"You're going to choose Jarkael, aren't you?"

"I'm not sure yet, little one. I've met with those four, but I haven't met with you."

The eye markings above her left eye rose a little. "You want to talk to me?"

"I'm looking for someone with a decent personality. The one boy seemed pretty decent, but now that I've had time to talk to you, I feel like you're deserving of a better chance."

"Master, I…" she trailed off.

I felt her nervousness build up. I gently put my hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you don't have to apologize anymore. This isn't some healing session with Master Unduli. I'm just a friend to talk to."

"This is going to be the most selfish thing I've ever said in my life," she sighed. "Master, I hope you choose me as your Padawan. It's every youngling's dream to become a Padawan. I want to be free of the other younglings. I don't want to be at the top of my class again because…"

She must've forgotten that I'd already forced her to tell me. I rarely used compulsion, so I wasn't sure how it affected her. "If you give me names, I'll get the whole situation sorted out."

"What?" she asked quickly.

"Ahsoka, I know they're hurting you. I mean, just look at yourself. You're covered in bruises and scratches. It's kind of obvious."

She rubbed a scar on her wrist and bit her lip. I watched her put pressure on the lip until a small amount of blood trickled out.

My stomach and heart leapt towards her, wanting to drink every last ounce of her blood. "Hey," I said quickly, attempting to keep myself under control. "Don't do that. You're hurt enough as it is."

I heard her stomach growl and she quickly tried to hide it. "Hungry, little one?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

"Come on. Let's go to the mess hall."

"Master, I can't go in there. That's for higher ranking Jedi."

I smiled at her. "Well, then I guess you'd better get used to the higher ranks, my Padawan."

A/N: Here's the rewritten first chapter. I've got inspiration this time, along with more ideas, so I'm hoping to update chapters as much as I can! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.