Disclaimer: I own nothing from Star Wars, unless it is of my own creation.

Chapter 2

After packing up all of the belongings that they had, which wasn't much, they went off to Watto's shop to finish up the paperwork for their freedom. After the paperwork was finished and the transmitters that had bonded Anakin and his mother to slavery were then deactivated permanently, they said their farewells to Watto, but they could hear the Toydarian still grumbling about the unfairness of the bets. They were soon on the main street, heading out of Mos Espa towards the ship that would take them away from the planet that was a prison all their life.

They traveled quite a while through the desert over hills, through valleys, until they reached the crest of the hill overlooking a small, flat valley of sand and rock. There sitting in the middle of the valley was the ship, reflecting the blue sky from the top half, while the bottom reflected the sand below. They hurriedly went down the hill and made it to the bottom of the valley before Qui-Gon suddenly turned around to see a black speeder bearing down on them.

"Drop, both of you!" Qui-Gon shouted, before activating his lightsaber.

Both Anakin and Shmi dropped to the sand as the speeder whipped overhead, barely missing both of them as it headed for Qui-Gon. The Jedi Master was in a defensive stance with his lightsaber in two hands ready for an attack. The speeder bore down on him, before the rider was on top of Qui-Gon, wheeling the speeder to the side at the last moment, closing off the thruster, and leaping out of the seat, all in one swift movement. The rider's lightsaber was activated and was already slicing at the Jedi Master even before the rider's feet were on the ground. Qui-Gon was surprised at how fast and relentless the rider was, he was barely able to block the attacks with his lightsaber. Both Anakin and Shmi got up off the sand and watched what was happening not too far from them, with Shmi holding onto Anakin. Qui-Gon saw them standing there, while holding off the rider.

"Get to the ship!" he shouted to them. "Tell them to take off! Go!"

In a split second, both mother and son took off as fast as they could to ship and they managed to make it up the ramp and onto the ship where they found Padme . When Padme caught sight of them, her eyes went wide.

"Qui-Gon's in trouble!" the boy blurted out, still trying to catch his breath. "He says to take off, now!"

Padme told them to follow her and they raced into the cockpit, while Anakin was trying to tell her what had happened. The pilot and a young man, dressed in a Jedi uniform turned towards them clearly wondering who they were.

"Qui-Gon's in trouble," Padme announced quickly. "He says to take off."

The Jedi was on his feet at once and was looking out the cockpit viewports trying to find Qui-Gon.

"I don't see anything," the pilot said, looking out onto the land.

"There!" The Jedi caught sight of movement. "Take off now! Fly us low over there!"

The man called Ric hit a few switches and had the the big repulsorlifts kicked in with a low growl, and the ship lifted off and wheeled smoothly about.

"Right there," the Jedi pointed out.

They could see Qui-Gon now, still engaged in battle with the black rider surging back and forth across the flats, lightsabers flashing brightly with each blow. Ric took the ship towards them quickly, skimming the ground barely higher than a speeder. His hand slid over the controls before swinging the ship around and the combatants disappeared from view in a swirl of sand. They all watched the viewscreen for any signs of Qui-Gon, then he appeared on the ramp before grabbing a strut. Ric hissed his approval, before moving the ship away as fast as possible from the rider and the planet, while raising the loading ramp up, leaving the black rider to watch with frustration in his yellow eyes.

Qui-Gon managed to scramble up the rampway and into the ship before the hatch sealed and the Nubian ship began to accelerate through the atmosphere and into space. He took a minute to catch his breath and brush the sand off, before heading to the cockpit where he figured everyone had gathered. Entering the cockpit, he saw that several of them had a worried look on their faces and he couldn't tell who was most worried, Anakin, his padawan, or Shmi.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asked, his face mirroring his concern.

Qui-Gon nodded. "I think so. That was a surprise I won't forget about."

"What was that thing?" Obi-Wan pressed, brow furrowed.

The Jedi Master shook his head. "I'm not sure. Whoever or whatever he was, he was trained in the Jedi arts. I believe he was after the Queen."

"Do you think he'll follow us?" Shmi asked with worry in her voice.

"We'll be safe enough once we're in hyperspace," Qui-Gon answered while putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I have no doubt that he knows were we are going. If he found us once, he will find us again. But we will be patient." He took a few steps, before turning everyone.

"Anakin and Shmi Skywalker meet Obi-Wan Kenobi," Qui-Gon introduced. "Obi-Wan Kenobi meet Anakin and Shmi Skywalker. The driod below is C-3PO, a protocol driod that Anakin here built."

"Ready," the pilot announced over his shoulder.

"Let's hope the hyperdrive works and that Watto doesn't get the last laugh."

Standing behind Ric, the group watched silently as he slid his hands to the controls and activated the hyperdrive. There was a sharp whine and all the stars that had filled the viewport turned into long streamers as the ship went into hyperspace smoothly, leaving the planet Tatooine behind.

- N -

Night had fallen over the planet of Naboo, but the silence in the city of Theed exceeded even that normally experienced by those anticipating sleep. The only activity of the city was happening in the ornately adorned throne room once used by Queen Amidala, but now it is under the control of the Trade Federation. The activity was the sentencing of Governor Sio Bibble, by Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, Rune Haako, several other Neimoidians, and a vast amount of battle driods armed with blasters to keep the prisoners in line.

Nute Gunray came into the room sitting on a mechno-chair. It carried him to Sio Bibble and the other Naboo officials, where the Governor faced Gunray with anger and determination, his eye challenging the Viceroy.

"When are you going to give up this pointless strike?" Gunray snapped in irritation, displaying his displeasure.

"I will give it up when the Queen is-"

"Your Queen is gone. Your people are starving!"

"The Naboo will never be intimidated, not even at the cost of innocent lives," Bibble stated.

"You should be worry more about yourself, Governor!" Gunray cut Bibble off sharply. "The odds are against you and you are going to die sooner than your people! Take him away!"

Battle driods around the prisoners came up and seperated Sio Bibble from the rest of the officials, and started to take him out of the throne room.

"You will gain nothing from the invasion! Nothing!" Bibble stated. "The people will not live in tyranny..."

No one heard the rest as the door closed. The rest of the officials filed out after him silent and dejected. The Neimoidian watched them for a moment before turning to OOM-9 as the commander of the battle driods stepped forward for a report.

"Viceroy, my troops are in position to begin the search of these rumored underwater villages. They shall not stay hidden for long."

Nute Gunray nodded and dimissed him while thinking how well this invasion went. The only thing left to do was for the Sith Lords to bring him the Queen, but he knew he wouldn't be happy until all this was over.

- N -

It had been several hours since the Queen's ship had entered hyperspace, and during that time, Qui-Gon had given Anakin a book on what it is like to be a Jedi, called The Jedi Enchiridion. He had started reading the book and found it very interesting. After reading a chapter or two, Anakin had set the book down and sat in a corner of the central chamber, trying to decide how to get warm, since everyone else was asleep. Jar Jar slept to one side, stretched out in a chair, head back snoring loudly, while his mother was fast alseep on a cushioned seat. C-3PO and R2-D2 were resting as well with little lights blinking softly.

Anakin just stared into the darkness of the room trying to get to sleep, but still wasn't able to and he was trying think what he could do. His thoughts were soon interrupted by a slim figure entering the room, and he watched as the light of a viewscreen illuminated Padme's soft face. She was dressed in her flame-like handmaiden dress, standing there as if carved from stone, watching a recording of a man pleading to the Queen to return home to save her people from starvation and free them. After the recording had shut off, Padme stood there with her head bent for a few minutes before looking up in his direction as if she sensed him watching. She turned quickly toward him and approached him while picking up a blanket from a chair. As she knelt beside him, he could see that her beautiful face was tired and careworn. He tried to stop his shivering but was left huddled before her.

"Are you alright, Annie?" she asked softly.

"It's very cold," he managed to whisper to her.

She smiled and took the blanket in her hands, covered him, and tucked it about him. "You're from a warm planet, Annie. A little too warm for my tastes. Space is very cold."

Anakin nodded, pulling the blanket tighter. "You seem sad," he said.

"The Queen is worried. Her people are suffering and dying. She must convince the Senate to intervene or it won't be pretty," she stated with concern. "I'm not sure what will happen." She looked away and stared off into space.

"I don't know what will happen to me, either," he said kind of worried. "I just don't know."

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a intricately carved wooden pendant. "I made this for you. So you can remember me. I carved it out of japor snippet. It will bring you good fortune."

She took it and studied it for a moment, then slipped it around her neck.

"It's beautiful, but I don't need this to remember you." Her face lifted with a smile. "How could I forget my future husband?"

She looked down again and fingered the pendant thoughtful. "Many things will change once we reach Coruscant, Annie, but my caring for you will not be one of them."

Anakin only nodded. "I know, and I won't stop caring for you, either."

Padme just sat down by him, drew him against her and held him close, while covering them with the blanket. After a few minutes, Anakin drifted off to sleep with his head lying on Padme's shoulder, and she follow him off to sleep soon after. Hours later, Handmaiden Eirtae entered the central chamber looking for Padme and found her sleeping in a corner with the young boy that they heard about. She smiled at the pair, thinking how cute they were. She left swiftly and was back moments later with a porta-cam, she had taken several photos, but the flash of the last photo woke Padme up. Not wanting to be caught taking pictures, Eirtae hid the porta-cam in a inner pocket of her overjacket. She straightened up and moved closer to the Padme.

"Sorry to wake you, but you need to be in the Queen's chamber," Eirtae whispered softly.

"Alright, thanks Eirtae." Padme replied sleepily.

"You know. You two look cute sleeping together there!" teased Eirtae and got the result she wanted. Padme blushed at that comment, before slowly moving out from underneath Anakin, laying him down and covering him back up She turned and walked out with Eirtae at her side.

"Don't you dare say a thing to the other girls!" Padme said to Eirtae before entering the Queen's chambers, while Eirtae behind her just smiled. 'The other girls will know, but you don't need to know that.'

-N-

A/N: I want to thank everyone who read the story and also those who have reviewed as well.

Morgothrond: I have thought of possibly having a flashback, but with the way I want the story to go, it just didn't fit at all.

Annieisawsome: Yes, I have seen many people shorten Anakin's name down to Ani and Annie. I'll have to check that out, but thank you for the heads up.

KittyVampire: You will be surprised by the changes that will take place in the story. I hope I can keep you guessing. :)

The third chapter is still in the works, and should be done with everything by Tuesday or Wednesday next week. So, I hope all of you will be satisfy with this chapter till then. Also, I want to thank my beta reader, MissCHSparkles, for another amazing job. Finally, please post a review, it will only take a minute for you to tell me what you think. Thank you and May the Force Be With You!