After the race
"Qui-Gon?" Bekah asks him in a small voice behind him.
He turns to her, finding Anakin gazing up at him pleadingly. "What is it?"
"Anakin would like me to go with him to sell his podracer. Would that be alright, while you take the parts to the ship with Ida and Padme?" she asks as Anakin steps closer to her.
"That is fine. I will meet with you at his home when I return," he acquiesces, knowing by now just how immovable from a plan of action she truly is. "Just be careful, alright?"
The two younger humans grin widely and nod. "Thanks, Mister Qui-Gon!" Anakin cheers, before grabbing Bekah's hand and literally dragging her over to his pod. "So, how do we do this?" he asks her.
She smiles joyfully and points towards the entrance of the bay. "For starters, I think there may be a bunch of people who have already given offers for the winning pod. How about we look at those, and go from there?"
He nods and they go over to the small crowd shouting offers to a harried looking Watto. "Watto?" he asks carefully.
The toydarian grumbles and flies away, gesturing for the clamoring crowd of humans and many other species of sentients to deal with his former slave. Suddenly realizing his position as the center of their attention, he half hides behind the teen accompanying him, who rests a hand on his back and holds him steady.
"Boy, I'll pay you 3,000 for your pod!" one voice shouts from the back of the gathering.
A higher pitched voice exclaims, "I'll pay 5,000!"
A grating, electronic voice intones, "7,000 right now." Even more voices blend in, the value steadily increasing with the volume of the bidding.
Getting somewhat frustrated with the shouting of random amounts from the crowd, Bekah shouts, "Shut it!" The crowd instantly silences, though not without a little working of the Force on her part. "Now, let's try to be calm about this, and let me continue with the values. Raise your hand if you are willing to pay the amount, and if you don't want to pay, then you can leave."
Anakin gives her a grateful smile. "Thanks," he whispers.
She smiles down at him and calls out, "The last value I heard was 14,000. Any takers?" Ten hands raise, and fifteen beings walk away with disgust, but full wallets. "Okay, 15,000?" Nine remain. "16,000?" Five left. "Okay, now you can share what you are willing to pay," she instructs them tiredly.
A Neimoidian has a smug air about him as he steps forward. "I will pay 20,000 for the winning pod," he informs the duo formally.
Only one of the other bidders, a snotty looking human with clothes fancier than the common garb, steps forward. "I will make my final offer at 22,000, and not one bid higher."
The Neimoidian gapes, and shakes his head when Bekah raises a brow to see if he will raise his bid. "I cannot match that price, regrettably."
Anakin and Bekah nod, and shake hands with the slimy human. "It's a pleasure doing business with you, sir," the younger human informs the elder man.
"A pleasure, young man." He pulls out the chips and counts the value he offered, placing them into Bekah's hands. "Thank you very much."
She smiles tightly at the man, simply gesturing for him to go into the garage and take the pod, before kneeling before Anakin. "Ani, that's more money than I thought anyone would ever offer for the winning pod! Congratulations!"
He grins and gives her a quick hug. "I didn't even think I would get offers of over ten thousand!" He then gasps, and pulls away from her. "I think I might be able to buy mom her freedom with this money! Can we go find Watto and ask him? Please?"
"Yeah… we can do that," she whispers, nodding carefully.
Without hesitation, the nine-year-old pulls the nearly eighteen-year-old along behind him, dodging around people offering congratulations to him for having won the race, though some are rather bitter for having bet on any one of the racers not having been the young human. He accepts each congratulation kindly, if not a bit shyly, though obviously enjoying the attention he would never have otherwise received. They slowly make their way back to Watto's shop, where they find the blue toydarian sulking over the loss of most of his money and his prized slave behind the counter.
The boy, sensing that his owner is upset, having not known of the other bet Qui-Gon had made, is unaware of his new freedom, approaches quietly. "Watto?" he asks hesitantly, though confidently.
"What is it, boy?" is the growled reply, without making eye contact.
"Um, how much money do you want so I can buy Mom's freedom?"
The Toydarian's wings falter in holding him aloft. "You want mother's freedom, eh? How much money will you pay me, huh?"
Anakin looks back to Bekah, unable to figure out how to make this bargain. "We can offer fifteen thousand for his mother, sir," she informs Watto carefully. "However, we can offer little more than that."
The alien scowls at her, and floats up to her, getting into her face. "You think to torment me by taking the last thing I have, do you? She's not for sale, you can't have her."
She glares darkly at the blue, flying creature before her with a building anger. "Really? What use do you have for her now? You've gambled away almost all you had by betting on Sebulba, when you should have at least bet a little on Anakin. It seems to me you will have to sell her sooner or later to make ends meet, or you'll lose her to someone else in your next gambit. Admit it, you won't be able to take care of her with your empty wallet now."
Watto visibly deflates, having had the truth exposed in such a harsh manner. "Alright, fine," he grumbles sadly after a moment. "Sixteen thousand, and she's free."
Without hesitation, she takes the chips with the money and drops them onto the counter. "Thank you for your business, Watto. May you learn from your mistakes before you lose what little you have left." She leads the small boy out of the shop, taking the papers Watto hands over as well as the transmitter for Shmi's tracker. The second they are back in the sunlight, they find Qui-Gon walking past a nearby building. Shoving the new items into her pockets and taking Anakin's hand, they hurry up to him. "Qui-Gon!" she calls, making the man pause in the middle of the road.
"Ah, Bekah, Ani. You've left Watto's shop?" he asks, frowning in confusion.
"We have a surprise for mom," Anakin whispers conspiratorially. "Don't tell her, please?"
The Jedi Master raises a brow, and strokes his beard in thought. "Are you going to share with me?" he asks in amusement, thinking they merely had a small trinket for Shmi.
The younger duo smirk at each other. "Of course not, we wanna surprise you both," is all Bekah will say, Anakin nodding along as she hands him his money.
He merely shakes his head. "You two were up to something. It's nothing too bad, is it?"
Anakin laughs and releases Bekah's hand, choosing to walk alongside the Jedi he has come to worship. "It's a really good surprise, I promise!" With that, he speeds up his pace, and dashes into his home ahead of his two guests. "Mom, look at this! We sold the pod!" they hear as they reach the doorway, the Jedi allowing the girl to enter first.
"Oh, Ani! That's amazing," she praises her little boy, cupping his cheek. "I'm so proud of you!"
Qui-Gon chuckles at the sweet scene before him. "You have much to be proud of, Shmi. He has earned his freedom," he informs the group.
They all gape up at him, before Anakin bursts. "What?!"
He smiles down at the small boy with something like pride gleaming in his eyes. "You are no longer a slave to Watto."
The two youngest in the room trade brilliant grins, before Bekah reaches into her pocket. "Well, that's some of the best news we've had today, but I think I might be able to one-up you, Qui-Gon." She pulls out the transmitter and paperwork from Watto. "Shmi, would you care to do the honors of informing our favorite Jedi Master what this is?"
Her eyes widen and her hands fly to her mouth. "My slave papers! And the control to my transmitter! How did you get those from him?!"
"Well, Anakin was the center of a small bidding war for his racer, and we got someone to pay us 22,000 credits. Then Anakin thought of the most amazing gift he could think of to you, and I had a small… chat with Watto." She then smiles at the mother staring at her. "Once he saw that I wasn't wrong, he asked for 16,000. And now, here we are."
Tears in her eyes, Shmi rises from her seat and rushes to the young girl, crushing her into a hug. "Thank you so much!" she whispers, before kneeling to pull her son into her arms. "We are free," she whispers into his hair, almost disbelieving.
After a moment, Anakin pulls away from his mother's arms, and gazes hopefully up to Qui-Gon. "What's gonna happen to us now, Master Qui-Gon?"
He kneels down to be more on level with the boy as Shmi leads Bekah into the back of their small home to pack what little belongings she and Anakin will need for the journey ahead. "That is up to you, but if you would like, I could take you to the Jedi Temple, and we can see if you will be allowed to begin your training." He closes his eyes, and resorts to giving him a hope. "I don't know about your mother, but I will see to it that she is safe, and happy wherever she goes."
"Just like I've always wanted to, sir?" he asks, his voice hushed slightly.
The Jedi sighs as he shakes his head. "It won't be an easy path, and I can't promise you anything. The council will have to discuss this matter, and I have no way of guaranteeing that you will enjoy it. But you have the potential to make it."
Anakin squares his shoulders and sets his jaw stubbornly. "I know I can do it," he informs Qui-Gon.
"We know you can do it Anakin, otherwise it wouldn't have been an offer," Bekah murmurs as she reenters the room with the boys. "Now, we have your things packed up for you, and Threepio is going to have to try to keep up with us as we go to the ship."
"Oh Master Ani, I am not so sure about the idea of going on a starship," the incomplete droid complains in a manner Bekah is not so fond of hearing once again. "It just is not a good idea, and may I remind you that I have never been in space before? Just think of all the dangers!"
"It's okay, Threepio," Anakin tries to assure his hysterical creation. "I've never been in space either. It'll be fun, trust me!"
The droid shakes its head, but calms down nevertheless. "I do hope that it isn't as bad as I fear it might be."
Smiling, the teen offers Anakin his bag, filled with his tools, spare droid parts, and some clothes. "Are you ready?"
He swallows nervously as he takes his bag, settling the straps over his shoulders easily. "I guess."
She smiles tightly, then seemingly glides from the house, quickly followed by the three human companion and obnoxious droid. "Is there anyone you want to say goodbye to, Anakin? Shmi?"
"Yeah, I want to stop by Jira's stand really quick," Anakin pipes up excitedly, thinking of the money he has that won't be any good where he's going.
"Then we ought to get going, shouldn't we?" Shmi smiles down at him, taking his hand and leading the way.
Qui-Gon catches up to Bekah, and when they reach Jira's small food stand, leads her away to give the others a bit of privacy. "You are worried, young one. Anything that might be of some concern to me?"
She quickly shakes her head, refusing to meet his gaze. "It's nothing," she whispers.
He sighs and crosses his arms. "I would appreciate the truth." When she simply turns her face away, he reaches out, grabbing her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze. "Bekah," he quietly growls, though it seems to be more of a plea.
"I… I miss home, and I miss my mom," she mutters, pulling away from his grip. "I want to go home, I have for months."
Shocked, he lets his hand fall back to his side. "Then why haven't you?"
"Hah, like I could," she laughs humorlessly. "I don't know where home is, and now I can't ever get back."
"We're all set now!" Anakin calls, running up to them as Qui-Gon opens his mouth to continue interrogating his first straggler.
With a quick look promising his questions are not over, he smiles down at Anakin. "Well then, let us be off," he says with a wave of his arm, indicating for Bekah to lead the way through Mos Eisley. However, just as they reach the last of the buildings of the spaceport, a black, hovering droid rushes the group from behind, a vicious claw arm sparking with purple electricity. Before it can bring any harm to the group, Qui-Gon draws his lightsaber on it, in the same motion lighting the deadly blade and slicing the malicious device nearly in two.
"Whoa, what is that?" Anakin asks, half scared at the close encounter yet awed by the foreign technology.
"A probe?" Bekah suggests, keeping an eye out for another.
The Jedi nods in agreement. "I would have to agree with that. But I've never seen anything quite like this one." He sucks in a breath as his head shoots up. "We need to get out of here. Now!" He grabs Shmi by the elbow as they start running, Anakin automatically grabbing Bekah's hand as they charge out of the town, trying to get to the outskirts before the owner of the droid could track either them or the queen back.
Ida, tell them to get the ship ready to go! We might have been found! Bekah calls out to her friend on the ship as her feet slide around in the sand as she runs.
Okay, I'm going to the cockpit now. How far away are you?
Bekah shakes her head and pants as the heat of running in the desert makes her head swirl. We're close, maybe another few minutes.
Okay. Her presence vanishes from Bekah's mind before rushing back in. The startup is underway, we can go the second all of you are on board.
Thanks, she calls back, before using her physical voice again. "Qui-Gon, they'll be ready when we get there," she pants, almost weakly as her shoulder stings, and a warm trickle down her arm begins again.
"Alright," he calls back to her, hardly breathless from their fast pace, which can't be said of the former slaves and herself. "Come on, we're almost there," he encourages them, feeling their weariness through the Force, before the warning of danger at the crest of the hill overlooking the ship nearly freezes his heart. He looks back to where the younger two are lagging behind to find a darkly cloaked figure on some kind of speeder nearly on top of them. "Bekah, Ani, down!" he shouts in a panic, shoving Shmi behind himself as they obey, drawing his lightsaber.
The two of them dive to the sand just as the cloaked being passes over them, preparing to jump off and reaching for a long handled lightsaber clipped to a belt. "Ani!" Shmi shouts, fearing for her son's life.
Head spinning, Bekah pushes the little boy to run for the ship, reaching down to her boot for her lightsaber as Qui-Gon ignites his own in defense. "Anakin, tell them to take off!" she orders him, pushing herself to her feet to offer what little experience she has to aid the Master Jedi.
Before she even takes two steps forward, a gloved hand rises, aim set right to her heart. "Bekah, look out!" Qui-Gon shouts, a second too late as lightning flies through the air between her and his opponent. With a scream of agony, she finds herself thrown back into the sand, writhing as her vision fails her, and her head swirls around worse than before, only this time laced with pain.
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