Chapter Text
There were two things the younglings looked for when they saw Anakin Skywalker enter the crèche.
The first one, of course, was whether he was injured. It was common knowledge that Skywalker-and-Kenobi somehow always got involved in the most reckless and crazy missions and with the start of the war, that hadn’t changed.
If Anakin was not injured, then it was alright for the children to throw themselves at him with no need to watch out for any possible complications. Usually, those actions were accompanied by a cry of pure joy and delight, or, in the case of the children sensitive to touch, an enthusiastic wave sufficed.
The second thing they watched out for was whether he had his lightsaber with him. Now, this was the point where it got especially interesting for the younglings. If Anakin had this lightsaber with him then it would be just another regular fun day playing around listening to him tell stories about the war and the brave soldiers he fought with.
But if he didn't have a lightsaber and was not heading into the direction of the toddlers who couldn't be trusted to be around such a weapon, chances were high that instead Anakin was going to spend some time with the Initiates, particularly those who were supposed to go on their Gathering soon. As it were, Anakin had a bit of a reputation for losing his lightsaber. It wasn’t that he just lost it somewhere in a ditch by being careless. When Anakin Skywalker came to tell you how he had lost his lightsaber, it would always be a story worthy of the stars about glory and dangerous risks and perhaps a Senator or two that needed to be saved.
This morning when Anakin headed into the rooms of the Dragon Clan he was very much not holding onto his lightsaber. He was also uninjured, even though he felt a little like hurt in the Force, but that wasn’t anything unusual in these times and nothing a calm day around his fellow Jedi couldn’t fix. Therefore the general assumption was made that he was alright enough to hug.
“Good morning,” Anakin greeted the tired senior Padawan sitting at the desk near the entrance.
The Weequay teenager smiled cheerfully despite the long bags under his eyes. Anakin was sure he had seen the Padawan in the halls of healing just yesterday when he had returned to Coruscant with a couple broken ribs, but Anakin wasn’t going to rat them out for sneaking off to crèche duty. He had done the same often enough, still did if he was honest. His trips had become less frequent with the war effort and his own Padawan to train, but he still tried to go there somewhat regularly. It was his duty as Obi-Wan’s first Padawan to make sure the next one would be a promising and interesting youngling after all.
“Knight Skywalker, what has brought you here today?” The boy asked.
“I spoke to Master Cherem yesterday, I’m picking up the Initiates for their Gathering.”
The boy’s eyes darted to the belt where Anakin usually kept his lightsaber and found the weapon missing. His already impossible bright grin seemed to lighten even more.
“Is it time already for the next group to go?” The boy asked. “Oh, wow, time sure flies… Well, you know the protocol I assume?”
Anakin rolled his eyes mock-annoyed and swiftly filled out the forms the Padawan had given him. “I haven’t lost my lightsaber that often. I happen to enjoy taking younglings to Ilum.”
And it wasn’t even a lie, Anakin really did enjoy it, even if there were plenty Knights who preferred not to be stuck on a small ship with a bunch of overly excited children who were so nervous, some might even vomit. Anakin actually enjoyed the sensation, the younglings running around him like the bees in a hive. He had always been the most relaxed in places where there were so many Force-sensitives, their own tunes in the Force distracted from the abyss Anakin could gaze into so easily at all times.
“Have fun, Master Skywalker, and may the Force be with you.”
Anakin smiled in turn and made his way into the crèche proper. As soon as he stepped into the rooms the Initiates were in, a hush fell over the group. It only lasted for a split second, as long as the children needed to realize he was there, then Anakin opened up his arms and let himself be dragged to the floor.
“Hello, Knight Skywalker!” They chirped from all sides before beginning to chase him with all kinds of questions about his most recent missions.
Laughing, Anakin tried to quiet the group, but they proved to be as convincing as always. One moment he had been lying on the ground, the next he was sitting in the middle of the storytelling corner, surrounded by pillows, blankets and of course a hoard of younglings listening attentively as he told them a simplified version of a mission that had contained significantly more trotting through the dirt and complaining to Obi-Wan than he relayed to them. They didn’t seem to mind that he embellished some parts. They likely heard enough gruesome details about the war already, saw the clones walking their halls and the Jedi returning home with incredible injuries. If Anakin could give them this peace of mind, that would be enough.
“Anakin, why are you here?” A Kel Dor youngling asked after he had finished the story.
“Well,” Anakin said slowly, dragging out the word. “I was going to take the oldest of you to their Gathering, but I think I can also just-“
The rest of his sentence was lost in-between the excited cheering of the children.
“When are we going?” A Tholothian child asked. They appeared to be one of the older children, so likely one of those Anakin was going to take to Ilum.
“Depends,” he replied. “As soon as you can finish packing.”
As soon as he had said it, five of the children broke away from the pile and rushed into the directions of their rooms, cheered on by the rest of their clan. Fondly, Anakin watched as they disappeared behind different doors before returning his attention to the remaining children.
“Alright,” he said. “Who wants to hear another story in the meanwhile?”
The expectant eyes all focused on him were answer enough.