AN: I recently watched Episode 1 again and I wanted to write my own take on the part on Tatooine. I do like Shmi and I think the movie didn´t do her character much justice. Also… I had to do some more or less minor changes, but if I just wanted to retell it there wouldn´t be much sense in writing an FF, right?

Also I decided not to write Jar Jar´s weird accent. For one thing I don´t think I can and also it is highly distracting, so he talks like a regular person here!

Have fun!

"…and this is my house. Mum, I´m home!"

Shmi turned around in the little kitchen, glad when she heard her son enter. A storm was blowing through the city and though she knew Ani would find a place to hide from it, she much preferred having him at home. When she walked out to scold him for not coming in sooner, she stopped short in her tracks. There were three strangers and a droid she had never seen before.

"This is my mum." Ani gestured happily at her. Shmi just smiled weakly. "Come on, I´ll show you the droid I´m building." With that, Ani grabbed the hand of the young girl in the group and dragged her to his room. Shmi looked at the two outlanders, a tall human and another tall non-human with big ears and a long mouth. She hadn´t seen one of his kind before. She wondered why Ani thought it appropriate to bring them here.

"Do you… do you want to sit?"

The tall human smiled and followed her to the small table. She had to offer them something, the storm would take hours, but she didn´t want to… they didn´t have that much…

"I´m sorry we intruded and we don´t want to cause you any inconveniences. We have a ship in the outskirts and we will repay you everything."

Shmi felt a sting in her chest. As if he knew. "Do you want some water? It was hot today."

She turned around, trying not show how displeased she was.

"Oh, I never was on planet that hot! My skin is totally dry!"

Shmi handed them both a glass, smiling. "Are you from a planet that is cold?"

"Yes, yes, and much more water!"

The human took a sip and put the glass on the table, seemingly not interested in the conversation. Well, they would sit here for a while, might as well get to know the strange creature.

"How much water? I heard that there are planets where water is just… lying around, and you can walk into it."

The non-human wiggled his ears excitedly. "Yes, lakes and oceans. Half of my planet is water! You can swim in it!"

"I can´t even imagine…" She stroked over her dry hands, cracked and healed so often she wondered if they had ever looked differently. "It must be beautiful."

"This place has its hidden beauties." The human gave the non-human a long glance. Obviously she shouldn´t get to know where they came from.

"I´m Shmi. We haven´t introduced us yet. How did Ani find you? You don´t look like you´re from here."

"I´m Jar Jar Binks and we.."

"We stopped for fuel. Qui-Gon Jinn, nice to meet you." He bowed slightly. "And parts. Anakin got curious when he saw us in the shop and I didn´t mind entertaining a child for a bit."

Something about him wasn´t right. She had a bad feeling about it. That moment, Ani came back with, the young girl and the droid. She was incredibly pretty, her skin so smooth, as if she had never been out in the sun. No wonder Ani had decided to bother them. But then again… he never needed much of an invitation to bother anyone.

"Mum, can we get something to eat? Jar Jar wanted something and started a fight with Sebulba, but I saved him. Sebulba didn´t want to hit me."

"Not true, I didn´t do anything!" Jar Jar seemed outraged and pouted. It looked rather cute. The girl smiled as well and she looked like a… a princess. Shmi raised her eyebrows, irritated by the thought.

"Sure Ani, I was just done when you came back." She petted his head which made him howl before she went to the kitchen, wondering how she was supposed to feed all of them. When she came back with a bowl, there were some fruits on the table as well. Before Shmi could ask, Qui-Gon waved his hand dismissively.

"Ani got us some discount at a friend of his. After barging in on you we should at least contribute a bit to it."

Shmi smiled weakly. "Thank you. I… appreciate it."

Ani was very excited about the guests, telling them about his work and his droid and pod racing and the planet… it would´ve been nice if Shmi didn´t get the feeling out of her head that someone could be bothered by her having strangers in her house. Her house, right, the house she was allowed to occupy.

"Shmi, maybe you can help, when we wanted to buy some parts this afternoon we realized that we can´t pay with republican credits here. You don´t happen to know someone who would exchange money?"

Republic… no one from the Republic ever came here. They wanted to stay away from the Hutts, she could understand that. "I don´t think so. No one here has any dealings that can be paid with credits. Most just… have business in Hutt territory." Qui-Gon looked displeased and Shmi immediately wanted to apologize. It wasn´t here fault that there weren´t enough big criminals on the planet for that.

"You are a Jedi, right? I saw your laser sword."

Shmi looked at Ani, her eyes wide. If that human was a Jedi… that meant trouble. The Jedi were only on republican planets, she didn´t even want to know what they were doing here. Qui-Gon didn´t answer, he just smiled again.

"I once dreamed I was a Jedi and would free all the slaves! Are you here to rescue us?" There was so much hope in Ani´s voice, it pained her to hear it.

"No, I´m afraid I´m not."

And that was the reason why. She let the breath out she hadn´t even realized she was holding.

"There shouldn´t even be any slaves here! The Republic…"

"This is the Outer Rim, not the Republic. No one cares about their laws." Shmi interrupted the young girl, obviously very naïve. She didn´t want to be to shatter her illusions, but then again she was a slave and not some stranger who would fly away in her space ship and continue her nice life in the Republic, so maybe some shattered illusions weren´t all that hard to bear.

"But… why don´t you run away?" The girl looked at Qui-Gon, wanting someone to support her. Understand why something so awful was happening. It was… nice, though delusional.

"Slaves are expensive, so they keep us from running away. We all have transmitters in our body. Ani is working on a way to find where they are, but until then, we can´t leave the city. If we do…"

"We´ll explode! BOOM!" Ani hit his hand on the table, making everything rattle. The girl stared at him, wide eyed.

"This is horrible…"

"We are not here to free slaves." Qui-Gon said, crossing his arms. Looking at the girl.

"Don´t worry Padmé, I´ll find the transmitters and mum and I will fly away from here!"

Padmé smiled weakly, it wasn´t much of a consolidation. Shmi knew that. It was her life, after all. Ani turned around to Qui-Gon again, obviously not done. "But sir, you have to be here to save us. Why else would a Jedi come to Tatooine?"

"Didn´t you just say you would free your mum yourself?"

Ani shrugged, playing with his fork. "If I were a Jedi, I would free everyone here. No one can harm a Jedi!"

Qui-Gon´s eyes got sad, so sad that Shmi wondered what had happened to him. "I wish that was true."

"So how do we get away?" Jar Jar looked around, curious. They were stranded. That made some sense. "We have no money and no parts."

Ani´s eyes got wide, he almost jumped out of his seat. "I can help you! There is a race in two days and I have a pod racer and if I win there´s enough money for you to buy your parts!"

Ani smiled wide and Shmi wanted to grab him and hold his mouth shut until he understood that he shouldn´t always shout out every thought that was on his mind. "Ani. Absolutely not. I don´t want you to race, it´s too dangerous." She was so tired. Not that she had a say in the matter anyway. "Besides, Watto wouldn´t let you anyway."

"But…"

"You must have Jedi reflexes to be able to compete in pod racing. It is very fast and dangerous, your mother is right." He looked at her shortly. Shmi averted her eyes before he could see how angry she was. Telling her boy things like that would only encourage him to do stupid stuff. And he was already in so much trouble all the time.

"But mum! Mum, I could say it´s his pod and he just wants me to drive it! Mum!"

"No, enough Ani!" He didn´t try to argue again. "The storm has stopped we should go to sleep. You are our guests, you can have the beds. Ani and I will sleep on the balcony."

Padmé wanted to protest, but Qui-Gon thanked her immediately. She didn´t know much about Jedi, wondered if they had a strict hierarchy. This one didn´t take long in deciding that he was worth more than them.

"I´ll go get the sand off the balcony. Ani, when I´m done it´s bedtime. And no more talk of pod racing!"

He pouted again, but nodded obediently. One day the boy would be her death. She shook her head lightly and got up. Padmé immediately followed suit. "I can help you, you already were so nice to us…"

Shmi pushed her gently down on the chair. "It´s okay, it won´t take long. You've got enough sand on you already."

"But…" Shmi was already gone from the room. The girl was a lot like her son. Hopefully they would be gone the next day.

"Your son is special."

Shmi didn´t even turn around. She had noticed him before he had come out on the balcony. "Yes. He is. That´s why I don´t want him to die in a dangerous race."

He heard his footsteps, approaching. Her broom was swiping with a bit more force than necessary.

"He is the only human who can compete, is he not?" He was quiet for a while, waiting for an answer she was not willing to give. "Do you mind if I ask who his father was?"

Shmi turned around, it was so hard not to show her anger. "I don´t know, some smuggler probably. What, do you think I fucked a Jedi?"

Qui-Gon´s eyebrows went up. "Well, he is strong in the force. And I´m not naïve enough to believe that all Jedi are so strict with the code."

She had no idea what he was talking about. "Do you want him? Isn´t that what your Order does, taking children away to train them?"

Qui-Gon walked a step back, looking at the sky before he looked back at her. "I would like to, yes. But for that I need a chance to get him from Watto. The race would be a good opportunity."

Shmi frowned, gripping her broom so hard her knuckles went wide. "Aren´t you ashamed of using a nine year old boy? I don´t think Padmé would like it." She almost spat the words out. He wasn´t her master, she didn´t have to be afraid of him. If he hurt her, he couldn´t even pay for her. She was safe.

"I wouldn´t even consider it if I wasn´t sure that Anakin will do just fine." He leaned down. She wasn´t sure if he was trying to intimidate her.

"Then free me as well. If Ani wins I want us both to walk away from here."

Qui-Gon straightened again. "I cannot promise that, Shmi. But I will do my best."

Later that evening she was looking at the millions of bright stars over her head, wondering if she would ever get to see even one of them. Ani was rolled up in her arms, warm and soft and breathing steadily. Jar Jar was on the other side, his presence calm and soothing. She had been surprised when he came to sleep on the balcony as well, thought one of them would sleep on the floor inside. But now she was glad that she wasn´t all alone. Maybe she would… be free in two days. A small smile went over her lips. Maybe she could visit Jar Jar´s planet, with all the water that you could walk in, and where it was cold all the time. She pressed Ani a bit closer and fell asleep.

Ani was completely wound up when they got back from Watto, immediately running behind the house to his pod racer. Watto had said yes after all. Shmi put the parts aside she had been cleaning all morning, just to walk in on Padmé and Qui-Gon trying to fight quietly about how wrong it was to bet their ship in a race that would probably be a disaster. Shmi liked her, she was smart and could stand up for herself. Qui-Gon just listened to her rant until she ran out of steam before he walked out to Ani. Some of his friends had already gathered, she heard the excited voices.

"How could you give him permission for this? You can´t possibly think that it´s a good idea?" Padmé was exasperated.

"I´m sorry, but…" She shouldn´t say it. It was a deal she made with Qui-Gon and he obviously didn´t trust his companions. Besides, what did she care if the outlanders would have to stay on Tatooine? She did owe them nothing.

"I changed my mind. I think Ani should try one last time. He has made it out alive of every race and I´m sure it will be the same tomorrow." None of them had said anything about the price money being Anakin´s, if he won. They had just accepted that he would give them the money. Of course the money would be Watto´s either way, but… "I mean, he has to win eventually. After he finishes his first race."

"What? He hasn´t even finished one yet?" Padmé stormed outside. Shmi got back to her scrap parts. If Padmé tried to strangle Qui-Gon, she would have to help him. But not immediately, no.

"…and I will be the first to visit them all!"

"I´d love to see that. Here, hold onto it for a bit." Qui-Gon showed Ani where to press the little piece of bandage against his skin.

"Why did you need my blood?" Ani poked at the fabric, probably trying to see if some blood hat seeped through.

"Just checking if you have any infections."

Qui-Gon smiled at him and Shmi thought it was appropriate to interrupt. "Ani, time for bed, come on. You have to clean up the mess in your room first!"

Ani pouted but trotted back into the house. Shmi waited until he was out of earshot before she approached Qui-Gon. "So what do you need his blood for? Trying to figure out which Jedi could´ve knocked me up?"

He pressed some buttons on his communicator, not even looking up. After a few seconds he inhaled sharply, typing away again. Shmi waited, patiently. She had learned how to do so, it wasn´t the first time she was ignored. Good slaves were always ignored, because they didn´t do anything to displease the master.

"I wanted to check his midichlorian count in his blood."

"His what?"

"Microorganisms that live symbiotically in some of us. They give us the ability to use the force. Anakin has an incredibly high amount of midichlorians."

That was good, right? That meant Qui-Gon would take him away from here for sure. "So he has to become a Jedi."

Qui-Gon sighed, putting his com away. "No one has to do anything. It´s his choice."

"But if he doesn´t want to, you won´t take him away." Or me. We will both stay here forever. "He wants it, he always wanted to be a Jedi. It´s his dream, he told you!"

"Shmi, it´s alright. I will take Anakin with me, and if he becomes a Jedi or not is his choice."

For the first time since she met him she felt a calming wave wash over her body and it felt as if it came from him. She was grateful, but her anxiety wasn´t completely gone. She didn´t sleep that night.

Qui-Gon avoided her after they arrived at the arena. He had done some business with Watto, she knew, she knew how Watto looked when he thought he landed a great deal and he had shouted it at them, how Qui-Gon shouldn´t bet everything away. If he ended up a slave on Tatooine, she would personally make sure that he knew her opinion of him. Poor Padmé and Jar Jar didn´t deserve it.

Shmi could barely manage to watch the race, every time something went wrong her heart would stop a beat and she was sure that it was done, Ani would die and she would have to take care of Padmé, the poor girl. But he managed it. Qui-Gon had been right, he had been right all the time and Ani won the race and Shmi had never run so fast in her life to get down to her boy and just… feel that he was alive. She had never been more proud of him.

"Mum, let go, it´s embarrassing. Stop!"

She didn´t care, not at all. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, a few more, until he squirmed out of her arms. But he laughed and soon the other´s followed, congratulating him as well. She saw the same relief on Padmé´s face. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Qui-Gon talking with Watto. The slimeball surely wanted to claim that the bet had been off somehow. She hoped that Qui-Gon was just as unrelenting as he had been all the time. When he came over, he smiled, but it didn´t quite reach his eyes. After hugging Ani he took her aside, just a bit. None of the other´s even realized, they were all to pumped up.

"Shmi, I´m sorry. Watto only wanted to bet over Ani, there was nothing I could do if I wanted to free at least one of you."

So that was it. She would´ve loved to see the planet with all the water. She smiled, tightly. "I´m so happy Ani can be free." And she was. She really really was.

It broke her heart to be reassuring, but Ani wouldn´t leave without knowing that she would be fine and she had to, she had to pretend everything would be fine, Watto was a good master and she would live and she would know that Ani had a good life, that he was free and that he was a Jedi and that he could live in the Republic, where all planets had so much water and no slaves, no one had slaves, and he should just not forget her. He walked away and when she made it back into the house she felt the tears sting her eyes. She hadn´t cried in so long, but somehow they didn´t want to stop, just spilling out of her, dripping down her chin. They left wet spots on the counter. What a waste of water.

Fin.

AN: One thing: I know that Palpatine had impregnated Shmi in canon to bear a super Jedi child, BUT imo Palpatine had a general plan that he had to adapt all the time because you can´t predict everything that could possibly happen, which means even if he hadn´t planned for Anakin to be born, he still could´ve adapted his plan to accommodate Anakin. He could still be strong in the force by pure chance.

And btw, I have no problem with Qui-Gon, this is just what I thought Shmi had to think of him from how he acted in the movie. Also, I had to give Shmi a bit more agency, and NO mother in the world would ever say to her nine year old son 'it´s your choice if you want to participate in the death race!' and for total strangers as well.

Either way, hope you had fun!