Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its characters belong to George Lucas.
Taking the Step
By Torny
Anakin Skywalker stared at the old holoplayer his mother had brought home to fix. Something was wrong with the displayer, she had said, and she was going to fix it after she had taken a nap. She had left wearily, warning Anakin not to touch it.
Lately, Anakin had been possessed by anything mechanical. Droids, engines, he wanted to learn about them, understand how they worked. His mother had told him to wait until he was older for such things. Even his friends, who were mostly interested in playing ball and other childish games, thought his fascination odd.
Although he was only six, Anakin Skywalker felt bad about how much work Shmi had to do in order to take care of him. Watto worked her hard, unlike Anakin, whom he had clean up his shop. Anakin didn't think it was fair that his mother had to work all day and night, barely catching a few hours sleep. Despite Shmi's warning, Anakin was determined to help. He climbed onto her workstation and opened the casing of the holoplayer.
I wonder what this does?
* * *
Shmi Skywalker woke up with a start and looked at the clock by her sleep mat. I was asleep for nine hours! She realized that it was morning and she hadn't fixed the holoplayer. Watto's going to be furious…
Shmi walked out into the main room of her family's slave quarters and immediately noticed the empty spot at her workstation where the holoplayer was supposed to be. Annoyed, she made her way to her son's room.
"Anakin, I thought I told you not to touch…"
Shmi paused as she took in the sight of her son's empty room. Anakin was not there. Where was he?
Shmi felt panic rising up and immediately pushed it away. Anakin was all right. Of course he was. But where was he?
Shmi ran out the door, intending to search all of Mos Espa until she found her son, and nearly ran him over.
"Anakin! Where were you? I was worried sick!"
Her son was grinning, and he seemed very happy with himself. "I fixed it, Mom!"
Shmi was confused for a moment. Then she remembered the missing holoplayer. Anakin had fixed it? But he was only six! He didn't know anything about mechanics.
"What do you mean, 'you fixed it,' Ani?"
Her son's grin grew wider. "I opened it up and took it apart to see how it worked. Then I found what was wrong and fixed it!" Anakin seemed to notice his mother's lack of enthusiasm. "What's wrong, Mom?"
"Anakin, didn't I tell you not to touch that player?"
Anakin looked uncomfortable. "Well yeah, but…"
His mother was very upset with him. Anakin was usually more responsible than this. "Ani, what if you hadn't been able to put the player back together? It would have taken me days to fix it instead of hours. And Watto would be furious!"
A small remnant of happiness reappeared on Anakin's face. "But Mom, Watto was happy that I fixed it!" he exclaimed. "He said he's gonna teach me how to fix all sorts of stuff in his shop! Besides, you were too tired to fix it last night, Mom. You hadn't had a good sleep in days!"
Shmi sighed, pushing some stray hairs away from her face. She realized that her son had a great talent for mechanics. And he seemed to have a desperate need to push that talent to the limit. Anakin had taken a step into a larger world, one he was very curious to explore. Watto would take advantage of that greatly.
But Anakin seemed to love the work. And he was happy. Wasn't that all that mattered?
I'll let it go,
she decided, turning towards the open door of their quarters. "Come on, Ani. I'll fix us some breakfast.""Yippee!" her son yelled cheerfully, running towards their home.
FIN
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