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Falling Upwards

Chapter 3: Informed Dealings

Summary:

Anakin gets a check-up and makes a deal

Notes:

I've got one more chapter already written after this one, but I still have my outline. I also found that I love writing sassy teenage!Anakin. He is a grumpy, sassy kitten and I adore it. Hope you guys enjoy it!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Anakin sat through the examination, thankful the doctor waited until he had finished his crying. The doctor, a togruta woman with a friendly face greeted him. 

“Hello, young one. I am Baar’ur Daila, she/her/hers. And I’m going to check your health today.” She looked at him, waiting. 

Feeling awkward, with the tear tracks drying on his face, he fidgeted with his hands. “I’m Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Padawan.” He looked at her, daring for her to contradict him. 

Instead, she smiled. “And what are your pronouns?” 

“Oh, um, he/him/his.” He answered. 

She nodded at him. “Very good. Now, we’re just going to do a routine scan. I’m sure you’ll want out of here so you can explore. So, we better get to work.” As he tried to protest the idea of wanting anything to do with his situation, she ignored him and began performing a standard medical exam. She looked at the results, frowning slightly. 

She looked at him more critically, almost pitying. Anakin immediately wanted to get away from that look. 

“You seem to be within a healthy range for your age and height. But there are a few worrisome results.” 

Anakin sighed, knowing from experience just what she was seeing. 

“I was enslaved until the age of nine. That’s why it indicates an effect on my potential growth and why I have a scar. They had to cut me open to remove my tracker because it doubled as an explosive to prevent slaves from running away.” He was proud of his calmness as he spoke. 

“And where were you enslaved? The jetii serve the Republic and the Republic outlaws slavery.” It seemed the doctor was well-informed about him. Sighing again, he doubted he would get out of talking about his past. 

“I was born in Hutt space. I primarily lived on Tatooine until I was freed. I have primarily lived on Coruscant since then.” He looked her directly in the eye. “As a free person.” 

“I am glad to hear it.” She smiled at him. “Are there any allergies we should be aware of, or any potential triggers?” 

“No allergies. As for triggers...” He scrunched his face up in thought. “Lacking choice is a pretty big one. So maybe you should arrange for me to go home.” 

“Well, since there is nothing wrong with you,” the doctor waved someone over, “someone will escort you to the other Foundlings. There’s Mx. Wral, I’m sure ze won’t mind.” 

The person, presumably Mx. Wral, who looked to be a Theelin, came over, seemingly projecting friendliness. The doctor performed the introductions and asked zem to escort him. Wondering if it was worth the fight, he glared at both of them. Once it was clear he wasn’t moving, the Theelin sat down on the nearby chair. 

“I’m not going.” He finally said. 

“Yes, you made that pretty clear already.” Ze was still smiling. “I will admit to being surprised. I have a child close to your age and Sioth absolutely refuses to stay in Medical if there is literally any other option.” 

“That isn’t what I meant.” He could feel himself pouting. By Tian, he could have sworn he stopped that by now. Perhaps whatever knocked him out earlier was still affecting him? 

“Then what did you mean?” There was a tone that reminded him sharply of his mom. He could feel himself tearing up again. He tried to stop, he had already wasted water earlier. Warm arms surrounded him and he was suddenly nine years old again, begging his mom not to die and leave him all alone. He was pretty sure he didn’t say that out loud, but he could feel the arms tighten around him. 

“There now.” He had finally calmed. “Who is it you’re missing?” He looked up at zem. Though the Theelin looked nothing like her, zer face could have been a copy of his mom’s. 

“My mom. She’d know how to deal with all of this.” He answered honestly, feeling like it was the right thing. 

“Where is she?” Ze asked him. 

“Buried in the sands of Tatooine for four years now.” He buried his head into zer shoulder. Ze smoothed his hair. 

“Well, I am sorry for that. But, if I know anything, I’m sure she wouldn’t want you neglecting yourself.” As if to agree, his stomach let out a sound. “How about we go get something to eat? I hear that uj’alayi is being served for dessert today. And maybe afterwards, we can introduce you to some others your age?” 

After everything that day, the idea of eating sounded really good, even if he had to meet more people. So, he nodded and got off the bed. Slipping his hand onto zer arm, he walked away from the healers. 

*** 

Jango finished placing food on his tray, ready to return to his office. Work was never done after all. But then he spotted Akkus with the jetii’ka. And ze spotted him looking at them. Ze waved him over. He cheerfully walked over, hoping the adiik would get a better impression of him over a meal. 

“Su’cuy” He greeted. 

“Su’cuy, Alor.” Akkus greeted before turning to the adiik. “Anakin, you’ve met our leader, Jango Fett, the Mand’alor.” They nodded cautiously, giving him a wary glance. 

“Hello.” They whispered, focusing on the meal. 

“He just got done with is examination and was found perfectly healthy.” Akkus informed him. Jango smiled, as it also gave him the right pronouns. He focused on Anakin. 

“I am glad to hear that. A healthy child is always good news.” He said, diplomatically. Anakin stubbornly kept focus on his plate. “And of course, it will allow us to find you the right buir without issue.” He looked up and glared at Jango at that. 

“And what if I don’t find the right one? Are you going to keep me there against my will? Will you enslave me like the Hutts did?” Shock ran through Jango. The jetii'ka was a former slave? Obviously, they had gone about dealing with the adiik all wrong. A new plan formed in his mind. There were a few options from the Integration program, where former slaves that had been free for a few years, but required an intense program. An inkling of an idea formed in his mind. He knew how to at least arrange it. Jango got up and walked around the table, kneeling to face him. 

“A child chooses their new parents. When my buir’e died, I was allowed to choose. The willing buir makes the vow, but the child can choose to reject it and it will not be ignored. We will introduce you to anyone that is willing, though we will make sure to look for those that have dealt with feeling the Force, if you wish.” He held Anakin’s hand in his, loose and gentle. 

“I thought you didn’t have any Jedi here?” Anakin was interested and was trying to show he wasn’t. Perfect. 

“We don’t. Most of those with the Force here are untrained.” He admitted. “But they might be able to understand you better than others.” 

Anakin’s eyes widened. “Untrained? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?” He pulled his hand away and got up, clearly needing to wrap his mind around the issue. “They can hurt others and themselves! How has no one died? I nearly died as a kid. If it hadn’t been for my mom...” He had wide eyes and they were focused on Jango. Jango could feel the storm surround them. No doubt he may have even drowned in it if he let it. 

“There have been deaths, mostly children.” Jango could only give the truth. It was far more useful at that moment than any lie could be. “We haven’t found a teacher for it in some time. Without a teacher, we do the best we can.” 

“But you claim to protect children! How can you do so when you let them die?” 

“We do the best we can. We know very little about the Force. As I said, we will introduce you to those that experience it. Perhaps you could talk with them? Maybe help them if you can? At least give advice for some of the more common causes of death.” Jango had to admit, he hadn’t planned the last part, but his instinct told him it was the right thing to say. He knew the idea of being around other Force sensitives could help. And gaining someone that not only knew how to control the dangers, but also understood on a realistic level would be a boon. The reminder of the worst possible situation would bring Anakin to the point Jango wanted him. 

“Of course. I don’t want anyone to die.” His eyes were wider than before. Any larger and they would have taken over his face completely. 

“Then how about we make a deal?” Anakin looked curious. “You stay around to show some of those in danger how to protect themselves. If you still want to leave afterwards, I will escort you to Republic space, myself.” He was going to do everything to convince the child to stay for every second he could, but he would keep his word if needed, even if it wasn't likely. A former slave will always be more accepting if there was a choice first.  

“And I won’t be adopted?” He asked after a minute. 

“Not if you don’t want to. And not by anyone you don’t want to be.” Jango promised. 

“Fine.” The child finally agreed. 

Jango smiled, returned to his meal, and ignored Akkus’s knowing glance. 

*** 

“I’m here to teach the Force. Why do I need to do my own lessons? Especially since they have nothing to do with my teaching?” Anakin was confused. A lot of the material he was given looked interesting. And he did love learning. After Obi-Wan taught him how to read Basic and showed him where the library was, he had spent so much time there, learning whatever he could. And, as long as he made sure to go to his classes and meal times, nobody got angry at him for wanting to learn everything. 

“You are here to teach the Force, that is true. But how are you going to approach it?” The tutor that he was told would oversee his learning asked. “The Mando’ade were not taught the same way jetii are. I was told you came to them late. Did you have trouble understanding concepts that everyone else understood or took for granted?” 

Anakin thought back, considering her words. He had spent the first year constantly playing catch-up in order to learn with anyone even close to his own age. And there were times when Obi-Wan, who had tried to be so patient and answer all questions, had trouble understanding his thought process or confused by a leap of logic. 

And, from what he saw, Mandalorians seemed to think even more differently than he did. 

“That makes sense.” He admitted. His tutor, Mx. Fertuia smiled. 

“Then, how about we spend the next few days giving you a good background of what your students will know? That way, you’ll have to spend less time on teaching them, yourself.” Ze pointed back to the datapad. 

“Alright. Can we start with something easy? Like machines?” He had been in the advance classes back at the Temple. The fact that he got to learn far beyond what he could have imagined back at Watto’s junkyard was one of the best aspects of his free life. 

Ze chuckled. “First, we need to see what your education level is. The only one we have an expectation on is language, as most that come here from other systems tend to start at the basic level. I can guess that you have a high knowledge of machinery, though.” 

Anakin nodded. “I worked at a junkyard back when I was a slave.” There was no change in zer face. Still focused and warm without pity. 

“So, you have a lot of hands-on experience.” Ze nodded at that. “Good, we’ll add some time in our mechanical workshops for you, if you’d like. We encourage people, especially ones coming here from elsewhere, to be productive and offer several ways to do it. I’ll show you where the workshops are after our lesson today, since you don’t have anything listed for your schedule until your lateday meal.” Mx. Fertuia was checking zer own datapad as ze spoke. 

“Thank you.” Anakin was genuinely happy at the idea and knew a little gratitude could go a long way. “You seem like a good teacher.” Perhaps he was laying it on a little thick, but both Watto and the Jedi Masters liked to hear heartfelt-sounding compliments. 

“Thank you. I specialise in teaching those that weren’t born Mando. I hope it will allow me to help you best.” Ze smiled at him again. He decided he liked zer smile. It wasn’t fake. 

“Alright. So, what language is this test in?” He focused on his datapad. 

“Which are you most comfortable with?” 

After thinking for a moment, he decided on Basic. While he was more eloquent in Huttese, he could read better in Basic, simply from it being more common in the Republic. 

“Let me set it for Basic, then.” Ze tapped on his datapad, pulling up the test. 

Feeling like he did when he had taken a similar test at the Jedi Temple, he read the first question. 

*** 

Mx. Fertuia smiled as ze dropped Anakin off at the workshops, allowing for one of the less busy workers to give a reasonably thorough tour. Ze had no doubt the boy would prove his skills there quickly. Ze had been worried when zer Alor told zem of the unique circumstances surrounding zer newest student, but Anakin had quickly charmed zem. 

He was clearly a passionate, stubborn adiik, who had a unique background compared to most children they received. Ze had taught former slave children on postings on more recently acquired planets. That was part of the reason ze had been chosen. But Anakin had then been educated in the Republic, by one of the most insular, secretive groups in that system. As such, ze was unsure which techniques would work and which would be recognised and resisted. 

It certainly didn’t help that Anakin was a Force user who could potentially read minds. While ze were fairly well-traveled, ze still felt underprepared and undereducated on integrating a Force user. But, the techniques worked today and they were able to perform an evaluation and begin language lessons. Anakin proved to be a quick study and would know doubt speak competent Mando’a by the end of their time together. 

Ze returned to zer room, ready to create the personalised, intensive coursework that the Mand’alor requested. It was clear Alor had a deep interest in the adiik, from the terms of zer approach to the arrangement with Anakin. Perhaps there would be an announcement of the Mand’alor adopting soon. Whether that would be happening, however, depended on zem doing zer job competently. 

Mx. Fertuia had a lot to do and certain results would only help. 

*** 

Jango sat with Anakin, listening to his chatter about what he had learned over the day. In less than a week, it had become a nightly custom that he had come to enjoy. 

“And the astromech droid kept telling them what was wrong, but they don’t speak binary. So, they finally decided to bring the droid in and when everything got explained, they just said ‘Why didn’t the droid say anything about it?’ That poor droid.” The boy shook his head in sympathy. Jango found his viewpoint to be interesting. 

“I’m sure, An’ika.” He ruffled the boy’s hair. “But there are people like that everywhere, with all sorts.” 

“Yeah, but they should at least try to understand and not blame the one trying to tell them.” Anakin was pouting. 

“Well, sometimes people have trouble with communicating and they don’t want to admit it. You’ll be getting your own practice in soon.” Jango reminded him. 

“That’s right! How many am I teaching, anyway?” He put a large bite of meat in his mouth as he asked. 

“We’ve arranged for six Force users to learn from you. Most are about your age, though one is much younger.” Jango mentioned, thinking of the trouble Trox Wuzlon had been having. 

“Shouldn’t they all be close to the same age? To make my teaching the basics easier?” The adiik frowned in a way that would be adorable on a slightly younger face. But, at this age, would be seen as needing to be serious. 

“Normally, yes. But the younger student is in need of instruction that cannot wait without risking his life. It seems he is able to lift items with your Force, but tends to break the items and has risked injuring those around him.” Jango made sure to look into the boy’s eyes, showing his worry. 

“If I were my Jedi Master, Obi-Wan,” Anakin began and Jango tried to hide how the name made him want to grind his teeth. Whenever he spent time with An’ika, he would always find a way to bring up the man he was adamant could never be his buir, the perfect jetii, surpassing even the Head of their Order with his talents. Jango could only hope that Anakin’s integration would lead to less discussion of the supposedly perfect jetii. 

He would have to arrange for the boy to meet some of his greater citizens. Perhaps if the boy met some of the better Mando’ade, he would focus his attentions away from the jetii. 

“And so, I’ll have to see him lift something with the Force to see what to do.” Anakin finished, bringing Jango out of his thoughts. 

“That seems reasonable. Afterwards, how about we do some weapons training?” He could arrange for a few Mando’ade to bond with Anakin, showing their ability to teach and parent. Yes, that would work. “I recall that you haven’t used a blaster before the circumstances that led to your stay with us. We wouldn’t want you to be captured by anyone that would harm you, after all.” Anakin frowned at that, but he didn’t immediately object. “Since you don’t wish to join an aliit, it is our duty to ensure that you are capably able to defend yourself before we part ways.” 

After a minute, Anakin slowly nodded. 

Notes:

Okay, so we have some forward plot momentum! Also, we have some of jealous and possessive Jango peeking through (aka, the best kind of Jango.) And poor Anakin, he doesn't realise nuance at all. If he did, he'd certainly be more wary of sharing info and making deals. Between his age, his history, and most of the kindness he's gotten since arriving, he really doesn't have a clue. But I love my oblivious human disaster child. Tian, who he refers to, is one of the twin suns of Tatooine. The doctor and tutor are my OCs, created solely for this fic. And Jango, while still pretty new to his position of power and slightly unsure, was raised to lead and deal with people. So, he definitely knows how to get what he wants when he isn't panicking over whether he's doing the right thing.

Now, on to the translations:
Baar'ur-Healer
Jetii-Jedi
Jetii'ka-Padawan (lit. Little Jedi)
Uj'alayi-Uj cake (dense, very sweet flat cake made of ground nuts, syrup, pureed dried fruit and spice)
Adiik-Child age 3-13
Su'cuy-Hello
Mand'alor/Alor-Sole leader of the Mandalorians
Buir-Parent (pl. Buir'e)
Mando'ade-Children of Mandalore
An'ika-Nickname, like Rosita is a nickname for Rosie (lit. little Anankin)