Disclaimer: Star Wars and its characters are owned by GL; I make no money off this fic.
AN: This is just a one-shot, though I may allow Andrea to write a sequel at some point in the future.
If you're waiting for updates for 'Forbidden Longing' and 'Dark Descent', don't worry, they'll be up on the site soon. :)
The Passing Storm
The sun shone down on the extensive green plains with the light of a new spring morning. The regions outside the capital city on the planet Naboo were beautiful in ways rivaling those of many planets in the Core. Though there weren't large forests, there were verdant green plains that stretched for miles all around, clear lakes aplenty, and a gorgeous series of mountain ranges that covered a large part of the planet. It was about as beautiful a place as you would want to live at, if you wanted to get away from the frenzied activity of the city. It was said that once you went to Naboo even for a minor visit, you would never want to leave – an opinion that was shared by many in the galaxy. Though some people missed the frenzy of worlds like Coruscant, most found they preferred the soothing charm of nature to the muted hardness of duracrete and steel.
Anakin Skywalker emerged out of the pastoral house he shared with his wife in Naboo's rural countryside several miles outside of Theed. It was a good day. The sun was shining, the spring flowers were in full bloom and their aroma was in the air, giving no hint of the chaos that was going on outside of Naboo's calming atmosphere. His angel had told him that profits for their business were up by 15%, definite good news where their family was concerned.
The brisk country air swept through the field in an invigorating wave. He stretched his arms over his back, breathing in the cool, refreshing air. For some reason, today seemed the perfect day for an atmosphere of reflection on his part. He contemplated how much things had changed for him in the past several years.
It had all begun back when a Jedi Master and a Queen's entourage landed on Tatooine. Anakin had offered them shelter and his mother had been generous enough to agree. The Jedi Master was on a mission to get the Queen to Coruscant and protect her by whatever means necessary. Anakin was fascinated by the Jedi Master and he was absolutely enraptured by Padmé, the young woman who had identified herself as the Queen's handmaiden. He was even more entranced when she showed him a kindness that was lacking on the harsh desert planet, and he realized that her inner beauty easily surpassed her outer one.
Thanks to their damaged hyperdrive, Qui-Gon and the Naboo representatives were stranded on Tatooine with no way to repair the damaged component. They needed to obtain a new hyperdrive and their available funds just didn't cut it. Tatooine was a place where corruption ruled, and 'respectable' Republic credits were not worth the metal they were minted from. One of the downsides of having a planet where a Hutt could dictate the local economy: the Republic had little tangible influence there. The fact that slavery was alive and well on the planet, and that Anakin and Shmi were victims of it, was proof enough of the Republic's lack of jurisdiction.
The matter was eventually resolved when another Jedi traveled from Coruscant, with funds to repair the ship after they had called for help. Anakin didn't know why it was so much trouble at the time, but he later realized that they had taken a great risk, by revealing their location via a simple communications signal. Still, Qui-Gon didn't forget about the kindness Anakin had shown by wanting to help them so eagerly, and while he was there, he realized that Anakin was strong in "the Force", the source which gave the Jedi their mystical talent. To Anakin and Shmi's surprise, Qui-Gon confided in them that Anakin had the potential to be trained as a Jedi. Anakin's 'feelings' and special intuition, which had served them well over the years, were easily recognized by the Jedi. Qui-Gon wasn't allowed to release Anakin from servitude, but he promised to return and free Anakin after the mission was over. The two eagerly anticipated his return, although they realized it could be weeks or even months until he had a chance to fulfill his promise.
And that was when all things went wrong.
It was a few days later when they received word that Qui-Gon had been killed during the Naboo's resistance against the Trade Federation. They weren't that removed out there. The death of a Jedi Master was a major occurrence in the Republic, and news of it reached all the way out to Tatooine. Anakin and his mother were horrified when they heard about how Qui-Gon had been murdered in cold blood by some unidentified agent working for the Trade Federation. What kind of creature could kill a man like Qui-Gon, and why would they do that to such a kind hearted man? Even worse than the shock, was what Qui-Gon's loss represented for them in particular. Now Anakin's only chance for a better life had been taken away, and Shmi had lost the opportunity to get to know better a man who was almost beginning to become a friend to her. The following weeks were solemn, although their sadness had at Qui-Gon's passing some limits, given that they hadn't known Qui-Gon that well. In retrospect, Anakin didn't know how they got through that episode with such relatively little grief. He didn't know what was crueler: to never have the promise of a better life presented to you, or to have the promise of a better life offered to you and then horribly taken away by awful circumstances?
Unwilling to give in to self-pity, Shmi refused to let this break them. She told Anakin that things like this sometimes happened in life, and you needed to learn to deal with them. As long as you refused to give up, there was always hope of a better life.
Shmi and Anakin tried to return to their daily routines, although their lives were a little dimmer now that they had been shown the prospect of a better life and then had it cruelly ripped away from them. Still, Shmi didn't give up on the hope that something life changing would happen with their situation. Qui-Gon's appearance had shown them that there were people who cared, and that there were good people in the galaxy, despite others' corruption. They never could have imagined the way in which that hope would eventually manifest.
Back in the present, Anakin turned his thoughts to a more pressing issue. The Empire would be sending the sector Moff to check on things today, for the next week. They mostly left them alone, probably because Naboo was the Emperor's home planet. The parliament cooperated with them and there was little need to show some force to demonstrate why they should maintain their loyalty. The peace was partly an illusion. The Naboo hated the Empire. He heard it in daily conversations, sensed it in the feelings of those around him, and there was a general disquiet that wasn't there before the Empire rose a few years ago. But the Naboo were intelligent and they saw how hard the Empire had come down on worlds which initially resisted the new rule. They knew it was imperative that they keep quiet and prevent their world from facing the suffering that worlds like Chandrila, Axum, and Alderaan were dealing with.
They had forced Padmé to quit. She was a very vocal opponent of the war, and when the Empire rose to power after it, they made it clear they would not tolerate any dissent. Padmé was a very outspoken critic of Palpatine and they were very much convinced that she was disloyal to the new ruler, and a traitor. They persuaded her that they would drop the charges, if she would step down from her position and relinquish her influence in the Senate. Padmé was infuriated with their scheming, but she knew she had a losing hand and she could not continue to serve the Senate knowing that none of their policies would pass now. When the Emperor rose to power, the Senate had lost all of its legislative power. Until a legitimate resistance could be launched against Palpatine, there was no point in risking her life needlessly. When they heard about the charges being leveled against her, her family was terrified. They wanted her to retire and she agreed. She had something more important to attend to than playing the role of a figurehead without any real power.
She taught at Theed University, where she enjoyed passing on the knowledge of political science and galactic history to the next generation of Naboo's public servants. The only thing she enjoyed more than her fulfilling job teaching Naboo's youth was spending time with her family, which she had neglected when she was a senator. It wasn't that she didn't care about them, there was just wasn't enough time to spend significant time with them back then. Now that she wasn't in the Senate anymore, that wasn't an issue anymore. Ironically, the one good thing that had come out of her forced resignation was that she had a lot more time to spend with her family. She had never been as close to them as she was now.
Padmé's caring nature was central to her character. It was one of the things that had made her a great leader, and it remained central to her life despite not being in a position of leadership anymore. It was one of the things he loved most about her.
Anakin reflected that he was incredibly lucky to have her. Never could he have imagined that he would be living with the love of his life on a planet that felt more like heaven than any other place he'd heard of.
After the visit from the offworlders, Anakin and Shmi tried their best to get on with their lives. It wasn't easy. Watto wasn't a difficult master, but they were always reminded that they were owned by someone else. The indignity of having to admit you were property grated on Anakin more than it did on Shmi. Shmi was much older and had become accustomed to the experience of life as a slave. Anakin was still young, and he was still learning about the many ways people could look down on you for being a slave. As the months went by, it became impossible not to think about what Qui-Gon had offered to him. He would have had a better life if the Jedi had been able to deliver on his promise of training him. He even began to become resentful of the Jedi, for letting himself get killed before fulfilling his promise and leaving them stranded on an unforgiving world, where people thought they had the right to own another sentient being and treat them like nothing more than garbage. But eventually he realized that it wasn't Qui-Gon's fault. Shmi made him understand that things happened in life, and sometimes their lot was a bad one. That didn't mean life was pointless, and there was always hope so long as they didn't give up. He shouldn't blame someone who had tried to help them, and that anger would only hurt him more than it would affect someone who was gone. Qui-Gon had made the effort, and that was what they should remember about him: that he cared enough about what was right to try.
Nothing much changed in the years following that fateful day. As the years went by on the desert world, Anakin learned to live with the realities of being a slave. Surprisingly, Watto never sold them to a harsher master, as he learned to appreciate Anakin's mechanic abilities and Shmi's attention to detail, and ability to keep his business running smoothly. Anakin took on many various jobs during his little free time, but he never earned enough money to buy his freedom from Watto, or that of his mom. Fortunately their situation didn't remain the same.
Padmé had come and freed him when he was 15, and a short time later, a man named Cliegg Lars had come and freed Shmi, and later married her. Anakin was grateful for the moisture farmer's aid, to say the least. He had wanted Shmi to be freed first, but Shmi would have none of it. Padmé wanted to free them both, but Watto drove a hard bargain. Fortunately, Cliegg's intervention had saved them from being separated too long. Anakin had begged his mother to come to Naboo with him and Padme, along with Cliegg, but Shmi politely refused.
They fell in love. When he was 19, they were married. Shmi had flown to Naboo for the occasion and Padmé's whole family had attended. They had been together for three years now and were more content with each other than they had ever been alone. Anakin had to admit, his life had turned out pretty well. Although he still regretted that he had not been chosen to train as a Jedi, Anakin reflected that perhaps it had been a blessing in disguise. He knew he would have had to meet Palpatine eventually. And if he had stayed on Coruscant, he might have been killed…or worse. He had heard rumors of a Jedi who tried to kill the Sith, overcome by rage. He made it as far as the Senate building before he was stopped by the Sith Lord himself. Kenobi…he thought that was his name. For some reason, he felt like he should know that name more closely.
It was funny. He had idolized the Jedi Knights since his childhood. He never thought he would live long enough to see their deaths.
Sometimes Anakin wished he would have been there to help them. But what would he have done? He was just a boy when it happened. He would have been killed along with them, or he would have turned, just like that other Jedi. Anakin didn't truly understand what that phrase meant, but he knew that was what had made Lord Tyranus and the Emperor so maliciously evil. If not being trained as a Jedi was the price to avoid it, then he would gladly pay that price by living a normal, peaceful life.
It wasn't easy. He had always been restless ever since he was a child, and it was something that caused him a lot of grief while he was living as a slave. There was an adventurous spirit inside him that yearned to go places and make a name for himself in the galaxy. He hadn't really gotten to do that now that the Empire had risen. But he had learned to quiet such anxious thoughts in favor of appreciating the wonderful life had had now. He may not have had everything he wanted, but he had everything he needed. And it was more than enough.
He heard his angel call him back inside, interrupting his train of thought. Yes, his life was full indeed. He didn't need status or recognition to improve it. Soon, it was about to get fuller. Padmé was expecting with their first set of twins. Never had she been more overjoyed before, and he soon found himself following in her enthusiasm. Anakin was concerned about whether he would be a good father, never having a father on Tatooine. Padmé assured him he would be a good father, and he always had Shmi for support. Anakin had doubts, though. Cliegg and Ruwee were great father figures, but would he be able to live up to their example? He'd like to think he had absorbed some of their lessons on raising a great person, but there was no way to tell until the twins were actually there. It was a terrifying idea, knowing the safety and well being of two human beings would be almost entirely in his hands. Still, Anakin had the family he always wanted, and the rest would soon fall into place, hopefully. It would almost be perfect, if the galaxy weren't in the grip of a tyrannical regime.
The Empire was a blight on the galaxy. It bothered him that Luke and Leia would grow up in a galaxy where they would be denied the freedoms that were intrinsically theirs. Anakin sighed. Perhaps one day, there would be a legitimate resistance against the Empire, and he would be able to aid them with driving back this oppressive rule from the galaxy. Until then, the tranquil life they led even with the Empire's tyranny in the background would have to do. He had to admit, their lives were nearly perfect in spite of that.
Padmé called for him again, and he knew his time of reflection here was over. It was go time to go back inside. He wasn't usually a very contemplative person; the work of running the shop kept him busy, and he usually preferred to spend time with his family rather than focus on what-ifs. Thinking about what could have been different didn't accomplish anything. It was nice to take some time out to reflect occasionally, though. It made him appreciate what he had, and how truly lucky he was to have his family. Anakin Skywalker hadn't been all over the galaxy like many others, he had never trained as a Jedi Knight, and didn't have one single claim to fame anywhere that was important in the galaxy, but in some ways he was luckier than all of them. He had seen an imperial regime rise and take control of the galaxy, he had witnessed the destruction of his childhood idols in a vicious purge of idealists, and had seen once powerful senators being rounded up and executed for voicing even thoughts of disloyalty, but he still had what truly mattered. He had his family, their love and their relatively peaceful lives on a world which somehow managed to avoid most of the misfortunes of the Empire inflicted on other planets. Amid all the death and destruction in the galaxy, here was one idyllic segment of the universe where not everything was dark and grim, and beyond hope. A former slave boy from Tatooine couldn't ask for anything more.