Please excuse the stupid chapter title! If you have any better names for this chapter, please tell me!

Chapter 7- Ani and his Mommy

Hannah felt dazed as she walked through the streets of Mos Espa. That Anakin kid already seemed to be the greatest guy in the galaxy! And he was so cute…

He's going to be Darth Vader one day! the intelligent left side of her brain was saying. He's anything but cute!

Are you mad? the free-spirited right side was saying. That kid was so adorable! And he called me an angel!

Are you saying that he's an angel? Are you mad?

He's so sweet! He has to be an angel!

Excuse me, but angels don't destroy galaxies! Angels don't force the Jedi into extinction! Angels don't team up with Voldemort!

Voldemort! Whoever said that Darth Vader works with that murderer?

Hey, they're both on the Dark Side! It's possible!

"Will both of you just shut up and let me think for myself!" Hannah yelled out loud. Everyone stared at her.

Great, now people are staring at us!…again!

Then they heard somebody say in a foreign language, "Una noto wo swag, me wompity du pom pom." (If you weren't a slave, then I'd crush you right now.)

The group turned around and saw a really ugly creature staring at Jar Jar and Anakin. It had thick beige skin and many arms. Once it said it's comeback, it turned around and walked down the street.

"Eh, chee bana do mullen ra." Anakin muttered when it left. (Yeah, it'd be a pity if you had to pay for me.) He then brought Jar Jar back to his group.

"You're buddy here was about to be turned into orange goo. He picked a fight with a Dug- an especially mean Dug named Sebulba."

"No Hannah, no!" Jar Jar whimpered. "Mesa hate cruchen! Dat's da last thing mesa wanten!"

"Relax, Jar Jar, it's okay!" Hannah assured the nervous Gungan. "Just be happy that Anakin saved your life." She turned back to Anakin, and said, "Thanks for saving him. I think he still owes me a life debt, and he owes you one too!"

"No problem!" Anakin told her, and then started walking with the group.

See? He saved Jar Jar's life! Hannah thought as they walked.

They stopped at a fruit stand, where Anakin greeted the old woman there. "Hey Jira! I found that cooling unit I was looking for! It'll be fixed in no time, I promise!"

"You're a good boy, Ani!" the lady commented.

And he helps people without reward…

"I'll take four pallies today," the boy told Jira.

And he buys food for us…

Anakin looked at his coins, saying, "Whoops! Make that three; I'm not that hungry."

And he sacrifices food for us…

He wasn't hungry! the left brain pointed out.

Yeah, right! the right side protested. Look at him! He and Harry could compete to see who's skinnier…

"Hurry on home, Ani! A storm is coming!" Jira warned her friend.

"Do you have shelter nearby?" Anakin asked the group.

"Our ship is on the outskirts." Qui-Gon replied.

"You'll never make it in time!" Anakin gasped. "Sandstorms are very dangerous. Come home with me."

Now he's offering us shelter! the right brain exclaimed. He's not evil at all!

The group ran towards Anakin's tiny apartment in the slave quarters. A dark-haired woman was waiting in the living room. Hannah was surprised that she had brown hair and hazel eyes, very unlike her son. Ms. Skywalker was equally surprised to see her child come in with such a large group.

"Ani! What is this?" the woman asked her son.

"These are my new friends, Mom!" Anakin told her. "I don't know their names, though…"

"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is Jar Jar Binks." the Jedi introduced himself and the Gungan.

"I'm Padme, and this is our droid, R2-D2." The handmaiden added. R2 let out a little beep.

"This is Stitch, and I'm Hannah Potter." the witch finished. For some reason, the woman stared at Hannah for a moment before introducing herself.

"I'm Shimi Skywalker," she said. "I'm afraid that we don't have much to eat…"

"That's all right," Qui-Gon told her, and handed her a few food capsules.

"Come see my droid!" Anakin exclaimed. He went into his room, with Hannah, Stitch, Padme, and R2 following.

Sitting on the workbench was a tall, humanlike droid. It didn't have any coverings, so the thousands of wires were exposed. Anakin flipped a switch on the back of it's head, and it came to life. The droid sat up, while Anakin put in his other eye. It saw the new people, and introduced himself.

"How do you do?" the droid greeted himself. "I am C3PO, Human Cyborg Relations. How might I serve you?"

"He's perfect." Padme commented.

"When the storm is over, I'll show you my Podracer!" Anakin told the group enthusiastically.

"Ani built Podracer? Great!" Stitch exclaimed. After building the Firebolt 3000, Hannah could have guessed that Stitch loved space vehicles.

R2 let out a series of beeps, and 3PO looked at him.

"I beg your pardon…what do you mean I'm naked?" he questioned.

R2 beeped again.

"My parts are showing?" the droid cried. "Oh my goodness. How embarrassing!"

Later that evening, the group was eating dinner. Anakin and Shimi were explaining slavery to their guests.

"All slaves have transmitters placed inside their bodies somewhere." Shimi told them.

"I've been working on a scanner to try and find them, but no luck." Anakin muttered.

"Any attempt to escape…" his mother started.

"…and they blow you up!" her son finished. "Poof!"

Padme, Jar Jar, and Stitch were horrified about this. Hannah, on the other hand, wasn't so surprised.

"They used to have slavery on my planet," she informed the Skywalkers. "It wasn't because of gambling, though. It was because of skin color, and some were afraid of people different from them."

"That's terrible!" Anakin gasped.

"I can't believe there is still slavery in the galaxy." Padme stated. "The Republic's anti-slavery laws…"

"The Republic doesn't exist out here…" Shimi informed her. "We must survive on our own."

They were quiet for awhile, but then Anakin asked, "Have you ever seen a Podrace?"

"Nope!" Hannah replied. "I've wanted to see one, though."

"They have Podracing on Malastare." Qui-Gon interrupted. "Very fast, very dangerous."

"I'm the only human that can do it!" Anakin told them.

Shimi glared at him.

"Mom, what? I'm not bragging." the boy told her. "It's true. Watto says he's never heard of a human doing it."

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you can race pods." Qui-Gon commented.

Anakin smiled at him. He then mumbled, "I…I was wondering…something…"

"What?" Qui-Gon asked, even though he and Hannah already knew what the boy was trying to say.

"Well, ahh…you're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?" Anakin asked.

Qui-Gon tried to act surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"I saw your laser sword." the kid admitted. "Only a Jedi carries that kind of weapon."

A smile slowly grew on Qui-Gon's face. "Perhaps I killed a Jedi and stole it from him."

"I don't think so…" Anakin said. "Nobody can kill a Jedi."

"Actually, that's not true." Hannah blurted.

Anakin looked at her in surprise. "Are you a Jedi too?" he asked. "I thought you were just a witch…"

Hannah looked at Qui-Gon, who simply nodded. She then smiled at the boy and replied, "I'm both."

Anakin sighed. "I had a dream I was a Jedi." he told them. "I came back here and freed all the slaves." He looked at Hannah, and then Qui-Gon. "Have you come to free us?" he asked.

Hannah sighed. She didn't want to admit that wasn't the reason why they came here. "He's a smart kid, isn't he, Master?" she asked Qui-Gon.

"Yes, he is." Qui-Gon agreed. "You mustn't let anybody know about us." he told the boy. "We're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic, on a very important mission, and it must be kept secret."

"Coruscant…wow…" Anakin said. "How'd you end up here?"

"Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here until we can repair it." Padme informed him.

"I can fix it!" the boy told them "I can fix anything!"

"You probably can, but we're missing a few things." Hannah told him.

"Watto not trading." Stitch added. "Doesn't like credits."

"These junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind." Padme pointed out.

"Gambling." Shimi told her. "Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races."

"Podracing…" Qui-Gon thought out loud. "Greed can be a powerful ally…if it's used properly…"

"I've built a racer!" Anakin blurted. "Fastest one ever. There's a big race, on Boonta Eve tomorrow."

"Anakin, settle down." Shimi scolded. "Watto won't let you…"

"Watto doesn't know I built it!" her son told her. He then turned to Qui-Gon and said, "You can make him think it's yours, and I'll race it for you."

"Anakin, I hate it when you race." Shimi cried.

"He doesn't have to do it, you know." Hannah assured her. "Stitch is a great pilot too-"

Stitch shook his head. "Ani wants to do it. Ani should do it."

"We have to help them, Mom." Anakin pleaded. "You said the biggest problem in the universe is that nobody helps each other."

"See? Ani wants to." Stitch said.

They all waited a moment for Shimi's answer. She then sighed and said, "Ani's right…there is no other way. I may not like it, but he can help you…he was meant to help you."

"Yippee!" Anakin shouted as he danced around the house. "That was a yes!"