Chapter 11
Trying hard not to run, Padmé walked quickly along the corridors to the landing platform. She had forgone the wardrobe and make-up of the Queen for the simple dress of a young woman from Naboo. Her handmaidens jogged to keep up with her long strides as did the security that was assigned to guard her on this day.
Entering the hanger, she hung back slightly as the ship hovered in preparation to land. As it lowered gently to the platform, she smiled brightly when she saw Anakin behind the controls, but his attentions were on the console.
The hatch hissed with released air as it opened and began lowering. Obi-Wan stood at the top with Shmi, Cliegg, and Owen by his side. Before any of them could make a move to exit, Anakin came hurriedly through the barrier to run down the plank. Owen made a face of disgust at his new found acquaintance as he watched him pick the Queen up and twirl her around. She laughed out loud before demanding that he put her down. Anakin grinned and placed her lightly on her feet. He grabbed her hand and led her to the bottom of the gang plank just as his mother stepped off the ship.
"Padmé, you remember my mother," he excitedly introduced.
"Of course; it's a pleasure to see you again Ms. Skywalker." Padmé smiled in welcome as she gently shook her hand.
Shmi returned the pleasantry as she introduced Cliegg and Owen. Obi-Wan stood off to the side as he was prone to do when Anakin suddenly grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him into the group. "Padmé, you remember Obi-Wan?"
Padmé turned and focused on the former Jedi with upset eyes. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. Aren't you the one that promised to bring this young man for frequent visits? I would not call once in four years frequent Jedi Kenobi." Padmé stood regally before him, her expression daring him to dispute her complaint.
Obi-Wan bowed while responding, "You're right Milady. I neglected the promise I made; I apologize."
Padmé suddenly grinned as she offered her friend's mentor a quick hug. "You're no fun, Obi-Wan. You give in way too easily."
Obi-Wan smirked as she pulled away. "I blame it on my proper upbringing, Milady."
"I thought we had been through this the last time you were here. Please, Obi-Wan, call me Padmé or I'll have to insist on calling you Master Jedi."
Obi-Wan mock shivered at the thought and received varying degrees of chuckles as the rest of the family gathered around them as they walked into the palace.
X
After dinner, while everyone was preoccupied with the physician that was currently explaining in a more detailed level the surgical procedure that would remove Shmi's slave implant, Obi-Wan quietly slipped away. He walked the halls of the palace not really thinking of where he was going. Images of the battle he and so many others had fought in flooded his mind. Some were so real that he could almost see them as they raced around him in an attempt to complete their duty. Shaking his head, he quickly stopped as he noticed the tall steel doors in front of him. His eyes widened as he realized exactly what lay behind that gate.
Lifting a hand that shook noticeably, he pressed the activation switch to the side of the entrance and watched as the steel barrier lifted to reveal the numerous walkways where he and Qui-Gon had fought the sith. Hesitantly stepping inside, a quick rush of emotion swelled inside of him as the events from that day came rushing to embrace him full force; he staggered slightly as he was shaken from the impact. His gaze was wild as he watched the images in his minds eye fight along the catwalks. He followed them until they reached the laser beam lights that had cut him off from his master and the abomination that they fought.
He looked down the long corridor through the red hazed beams. Noticing a control panel to the left of where he stood, he walked over to study it before realizing it contained the switches that would deactivate the cycling of the obstructions in front of him. Pressing the levers one by one, he heard more than saw the doors shutting down. Once the last hindrance had disappeared, he began his descent into the core reactor room.
He stood at its entrance as he surveyed the remnants of the place that had taken his master's life. The circular shape drew his eyes to the pit he had fallen into as did his feet as they unconsciously stepped to the edge to peer down into the hole where the sith had vanished.
A hand upon his shoulder startled him and he nearly lost his balance if not for the strong arms that reacted quickly in pulling him back from the rim of what appeared to be a bottomless well.
The arms that encircled his chest were holding tightly as the figure they were attached to waited patiently for his breathing to even out before releasing him.
Obi-Wan felt panic as he struggled to free himself from the one who temporarily held him captive.
"Easy, Master," Anakin said in answer to his sudden alarm.
Obi-Wan took deep breaths to calm his racing heart from the memories that had once again begun to plague him. Once he had calmed, Anakin backed them up a bit further away from the pit before releasing his friend.
"So this is where it happened," Anakin stated in quiet reverence to the man that had fallen.
Nodding, Obi-Wan looked to his right where he had held his dying mentor. He kneeled down on the floor and sat in silence. Anakin sat down beside him, and waited.
X
Qui-Gon entered the training salle that had served as his rehabilitation center a few months after he first awakened. He was determined to speed-up his recovery, but in order to do so he would have to tend to his exercises more often than what the therapist was allowing. The first few months had been spent in just being able to sit up by himself without someone helping him to push himself up. When he had accomplished that task, the therapist came in to begin his training, first of which included strengthening his upper body.
He grasped hold of some weighted ankle bands and strapped them to his legs. He then lifted his leg as high as he could before lowering it as gently as possible and repeating. His arms had recovered quickly as he was constantly using them to lift himself from the bed to the hover chair and vice versa. Not to mention pulling himself up to the parallel bars. His upper body was as strong as it had been before the accident; it was his lower extremities that needed tending to now. And when he was up and about, he would need to start on the next area, his cardiovascular system. He tended to become winded easily whereas before he could spar with his apprentice for hours before the toll of the workout finally caused him to need rest.
The sweat beading on his forehead as he strained against the weight on his ankle was annoying to say the least. He lay there momentarily before sitting up and lifting himself back into his hover chair. Moving over to the bag hanging in the center of the room, Qui-Gon stilled his movement while staring at the weighted sack. Taking both hands, he grasped hold of each side and held it. His mind was reliving the events of the past year: waking up, finding out the child he had raised had left his home to fulfill a promise he should have never had to make, his body was out of control and wouldn't do as he bid it, he was tired and scared though he would admit it to no one, and he was angry. Angry with himself for being too caught up in his need to protect his apprentice that he didn't wait for him during the battle; thereby, leaving the boy to fight the sith alone.
His anger was increasing within him. He knew he should release it to the force but he didn't want to. He wanted to feel his failures; he wanted to feel the heat that burned through his veins at the thought of the three and a half years that had been stolen from him due to the darkness that he had failed to kill. His hand struck out on its own accord, slamming into the sand filled bag sending it swinging. His other hand smacked hard on the tough outer covering as it swung back toward his way. One after the other knocked into the bag until he couldn't hit it anymore. When he stopped, he held his head in shame at having lost control, something he would have chastised his apprentice for doing. Sadness crept past his barriers and seeped into his mind. Tilting his head to the side, his brow furrowed as he wondered where this unexpected grief had come from as he knew that it wasn't his. Before he could grasp it and follow it back to the source, it dissipated as if it had never been.
"Feel better do you?" The strange dialect caught his attention and he maneuvered his chair to face his unwanted guest.
Qui-Gon merely stared at the wizened master before nodding that it did indeed make him feel better.
"But?" Yoda prompted.
"It isn't the Jedi way, and it isn't my way."
Yoda smiled understandingly before turning to walk from the room.
X
Lars, Skywalker, and Kenobi waited in the lounge for news of Shmi's wellbeing. The three men paced the room aware of where the others were so their paths would not collide. When the doctor stepped in, they hurriedly walked over to the physician and waited with bated breath.
"We located the receiver, removed it, and she's doing fine." The healer smiled as they allowed their relief to show. "The incision we made is on the upper chest. The transmitter had lodged its way into some tissue just under her collarbone causing her to have sporadic bouts of pain which she will no longer have any problems with."
"Can we see her?" Anakin and Cliegg asked in unison.
Obi-Wan laughed softly at their eagerness.
"Yes, but only for a bit. She needs her rest."
"When can she be released?" Obi-Wan asked.
Anakin turned to view his mentor and gave him an understanding look. He knew that Obi-Wan wanted to leave soon. This planet held recollections that he hadn't been ready to face.
"If she continues to do well through the night, I'd say tomorrow afternoon. But no traveling for at least a week."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Understood."
The three of them walked quietly into Shmi's room as if afraid that stepping too loudly would disturb her. They shouldn't have worried; she turned to look at them and offered a welcoming but tired expression.
"How are you feeling?" Obi-Wan asked as he was the first to reach her bedside.
"Tired but well," she answered.
"We won't keep you. We just wanted to say hello and to see you for ourselves," Cliegg said. He gently kissed the back of her hand and patted it softly. She returned the gesture by squeezing his before retracting her hand in order to hug Anakin.
"The doctor says you may be able to leave tomorrow afternoon but that you can't travel till the end of the week," Anakin said.
"I don't know, Ani, it's kind of nice having people wait on me here. A change of pace I think," she teased before releasing him.
"We'd better get going. We'll stop by tomorrow." Obi-Wan took hold of Anakin's arm and led him to the door knowing that his apprentice would just assume stay right where he was.
"Behave you three."
Cliegg offered her one of his rare grins, ones he used just with her. "We will."
X
Owen sat on the roof of the palace outside his window watching the city of Naboo. He breathed deeply allowing the scent of various flowers and the smell of water to enter his senses. The handmaidens had joked with him about his ability to smell water. He had tried to explain that where he came from it wasn't an abundance that they could take for granted. Here, it just smelled of water everywhere. A light shower began to fall and Owen turned his face toward the heavens. His smile widened with each drop that fell upon his face.
"It's wonderful isn't it?"
"Yes it is. Why would you have ever wanted to return to Tatooine when Obi-Wan was willing to train you here?" Owen asked, knowing who had joined him.
Anakin shrugged as he opened his mouth to catch the water. Swallowing what little had managed to get in, he answered, "I missed my mom and for better or worse, Tatooine is home. Besides, it makes us appreciate so much more the wonders this place has to offer."
Turning to look at Anakin, Owen asked, "How's your mom?"
"She's doing well. The healer says she can return to the palace tomorrow."
"That's good. I like your mom, she reminds me of mine."
Anakin met his gaze. "I'm sorry you don't have a mother anymore, Owen. I can't even imagine what that would be like."
"You don't want to imagine it, Anakin. It isn't something you ever get use to." Owen replied. Changing the subject he asked, "Do you think our parents will marry?"
Anakin sputtered a moment before he addressed the question. "I don't know. Obi-Wan thinks they will."
"Your brother has been helping them in getting together. You did know that didn't you?
"I kind of figured as much."
Owen smiled smugly before changing the subject again. "Have you ever seen a podrace?"
Anakin's eyes widened in excitement. "Are you kidding?!" he shrieked. "I was in several of them!"
Owen turned his body sideways in order to better view his companion. "No way! No human can pilot those pods at those speeds. They'd smash themselves on the first canyon wall."
"A non force-sensitive human perhaps," Anakin replied.
Owen grinned. "So what was it like?"
Anakin was more than happy to discover that he and Owen did indeed have something in common. "It's like nothing you've ever experienced...."
Obi-Wan walked away from the window's edge to give the boys some privacy. He had originally come in to ask them to come in out of the rain. Both being natives of Tatooine, their visit here had so far consisted of keeping them dry and in good health. Obi-Wan grinned, Cliegg hadn't been much better. When he saw the lake behind the palace he had jumped in and motioned for the boys to follow him. It took an hour for him and Shmi to gather the three of them up and get them inside into dry clothing.
As he walked out onto the covered terrace near his room, he hoisted himself onto the banister, his thoughts beginning to dwell on Master Yoda and how much he was finding that he missed the little troll.
X
"You won the Boonta Eve Classic?!"
Anakin nodded his soaked head emphatically as he and Owen continued to talk about a sport that he dearly loved. "That was how I gained my freedom, although I didn't know at the time that that was a bet Master Qui-Gon had made with Watto."
The boys were drenched from head to toe as the rain continued its steady downpour. "I watch the podraces from the top of the canyon sometimes, when my dad is busy out on the south ridge. Do you want to come next time?"
"I'd love to!" Anakin replied, then a sobering thought passed through his mind. "But I'll have to ask Obi-Wan first. He doesn't care for the sport that much and prefers I stay away from it."
"Oh. Well, it's not like we're participating or anything. I would think he'd be fine with just observing."
A corner of Anakin's mouth quirked up. "Yeah, well, he doesn't think I can just watch a race and unfortunately as much I hate to agree, I don't know if I can either."
X
When Cliegg found the boys on the roof, he was tempted to climb out there and join them; however, the slight shiver they had both experienced when he peeked out on them had him changing his mind. "Get inside, both of you." Stepping back he waited as they climbed back in. Giving each a towel, he suggested they take a hot shower to warm up and put some dry clothes on. Both boys agreed without being told twice. Saying their goodbyes for the time being, Anakin left and went to his and Obi-Wan's quarters.
The rooms were quiet when he entered. The common area separating the bedrooms was empty. He scanned the balcony outside and upon seeing no one there, he dropped the towel and started for the door.
/ I'm here padawan. I'm on the terrace just down the hall. I'll be in soon /
His steps halted and he calmed his breathing before replying, / Can't you just leave a note or something like a normal person? /
Laughter filtered through the bond calming Anakin's nerves. He hadn't heard Obi-Wan genuinely laugh in quite some time. / I thought you and Owen would have talked longer, considering the topic /
/ Ease dropping now? /
/ Not on purpose, no /
/ Don't be long, I've got something I need to ask you / Before Anakin reinstated his shields, he heard Obi-Wan's thought, I have a bad feeling about this. Chuckling to himself, he entered the fresher to clean up.
