Coruscant Police Academy, 23 Years Ago…
“Tell me again, Anakin… why are we the willing idiots who came back to this hell? Did all those grueling trainings get wiped from our memories the second we stepped off the training ground?” nineteen-year-old Obi-Wan asked, his nose scrunching like his face remembered pain before his brain could process.
He could still feel the phantom sting from last year’s punch, the one that had cracked across his nose bridge when he dueled a fellow trainee, Bruck Chun, in hand-to-hand combat.
Anakin didn’t even look remotely traumatized. In fact, he looked annoyingly fresh for a man who had sweated, bled and gotten thrown onto mats for sport in the name of “discipline.” His white uniform shirt was crisp, sleeves rolled and his grin had the audacity to look like sunshine.
“That’s the charm of it,” Anakin said, voice bright with the kind of confidence that should’ve been illegal on academy grounds. “We survived the first round, got our acceptance, and then our brains decided to protect us from the trauma. It’s called self-care, Obi-Wan.”
Obi-Wan shot him a look. “Self-care. Right. Is that what you call smiling while walking into
a building designed to break you into smaller pieces?”
Anakin tilted his head, curls already escaping regulation like they had a personal vendetta
against authority. “No. I call that ambition.”
“There’s also delusion,” Obi-Wan muttered, hiking the strap of his duffel higher on his shoulder.
The morning air in Coruscant was cool but the academy courtyard still felt like it radiated heat from yesterday’s sun. Recruits poured in through the main gates in neat clusters, trying to look calm, like they hadn’t made the worst decision of their lives.
Anakin leaned in like he was sharing top secret. “Listen. We could be anywhere right now. We could be working some boring jobs in some boring district, drinking boring caf, living boring lives.”
Obi-Wan deadpanned, “I didn’t realize you were allergic to stability.”
“I’m allergic to wasting potential.” Anakin straightened, eyes sweeping the academy like it belonged to him already. “Also, I want the badge.”