Chapter 12

Aeryn walked down one of many corridors of the quarters area of the Temple until she came to the apartment that she was going to. The lights in the corridor were dim as night slowly began to envelope the Temple and the surrounding area. When she reached her destination, Aeryn quickly checked her surroundings to make sure no one was watching and then typed in the code. The door slid open with barely a hiss and Aeryn slipped into the lit quarters.

She sensed her mom was in the kitchen and after checking with the Force that her mom's apprentice was not around, she ran into the kitchen. "You're back!"

Siri put the kettle of water on the stove as Aeryn embraced her and she hugged her daughter back. "Yes, for a little while." She smiled and kissed the top of Aeryn's blond head of hair, so like her own.

Aeryn backed up and looked up at her mom's face. "Will you be at the lightsaber tournament tomorrow?"

"I'll be there. Did you have supper yet? Bant left a casserole in the fridge, but Ferus has been delayed in returning to the Temple for a couple more days."

"No. Can I help heat it up?" Aeryn asked, already headed for the fridge.

"Yes you can." Siri said as she finished making her tea and began to prepare some iced tea for Aeryn.

Aeryn took the casserole out of the fridge and put it into the miniheater and pressed the reheat button. "Dad took me out to eat at Dex's last week."

"Really and how is Dexter doing?"

Aeryn got the plates and silverware and set the table. "He's well. He helped dad identify the origin of a dart." She sat down on a chair next to the head of the table and Siri handed her a glass of iced tea. "Zane and Anakin are protecting a Senator from Naboo. Naboo has a lot of plants, I hope I get to go there someday."

Siri sat down on the seat at the head of the table with her tea and took a sip of the cooling liquid. "Maybe. You'll get to visit many planets once you're a padawan."

"Have you ever been to Naboo?"

"Once briefly. It is very pretty."

The heater dinged, indicating the casserole was ready and Siri went to get it

"I like it when Bant makes her casserole dish." Aeryn said as Siri put some casserole on Aeryn's plate.

"Yes she does know how to cook." Siri agreed as she served herself some. "She has been meaning to teach me how to make this casserole, but I don't ever seem to have time."

Aeryn swung her legs beneath the table as she ate. "She can teach me to make it."

"That's a good idea." Siri agreed.

"I think Master Adi Gallia is going to choose me to be her Padawan." Aeryn said randomly, stuffing another piece of casserole into her mouth.

Siri paused halfway to bringing another forkful into her mouth. She had been under the impression that her former Master had decided not to take another Padawan. Quickly recovering from her surprise, Siri finished another bite of the casserole before speaking. "She's a very good teacher. Just don't be disappointed if she doesn't choose you."

Aeryn nodded. "I know. But it would be cool to be trained by your former Master."

Siri simply smiled even as she worried that her former Master might be reminded of her former padawan if she trained Aeryn and figure out Aeryn's parentage.

...

As Anakin and Zane traveled along the route that Owen had indicated, they passed by a burial site and a burnt out speeder, possibly the site where the farmers had attempted the rescue. The two suns made their slow descent into the horizon and before long disappeared completely. The air began to chill, bringing a welcome relief from the scorching heat.

By the time they passed the location Owen had arrived at before turning back, Anakin and Zane had a better reading through the Force on the location of Shmi. The full moon shone down on them as Anakin slowed the speeder on top of a high dune. Zane jumped out of the speeder and scouted the area ahead and looking down of the edge of the dune he spied a Tusken encampment.

/The encampment is below us./ Zane said, Anakin having opened his end of the bond.

Anakin grabbed the medkit from under the passenger seat and he headed over to where Zane was. He could sense is mother even more clearly now, her pain radiated strongly from within the camp.

They carefully climbed down the dune, using the Force to create an illusion of nothing, they crept toward the camp. They moved from hut to hut, staying flat against any of the hut walls and when there were no huts to hide behind they belly-crawled across open spaces. Slowly but surely they crept to the one guarded hut and before long were behind that hut.

The wall of the hut was soft, but strong, Zane noted, a little bit stronger material than the other huts. Zane checked to make sure there were no tuskens inside the hut and then handed Anakin a knife that Zane had hidden in his boot.

Anakin took it and quickly cut a hole into the tent, using the Force to enhance the blade's ability to cut through the material. Once he finished he handed the knife back to Zane and crawled through the small opening he had made and then Zane followed right behind him after checking to make sure the guards were still unaware of their presence.

"Mom," Anakin said and his legs became weak. There were dozens of candles lighting up the room, and a hole in the top of the tent let in the light of the moon, illuminating the figure of Shmi. She was tied facing against a rack to the side of the tent, her arms were outstretched and bound at bloodied wrists, her face showed the weeks of beatings.

Moving past Anakin, Zane quickly cut Shmi down and gently lowered her to the ground.

Willing some strength back into his body, Anakin stepped forward and dropped down to the ground and cradled his mom's head in his arms. "Mom…Mom…Mom," he whispered softly, repeatedly.

Zane grabbed the medkit that Anakin had dropped to the ground and opened it up. Taking out a small portable medical scanner, Zane scanned Shmi's body to find out the extent of her injuries.

Shmi's eyelids fluttered open as much as Shmi could manage to get them open due to swelling and dried blood. "Ani?" She whispered back. The harsh wheezing confirmed the reading on the scanner that many of her ribs were cracked, maybe even crushed. "Ani? Is that you? Gradually her eyes focused more on Anakin's face and a thin, weak smile came onto her battered face.

"I'm here, Mom," Anakin told her. "You're safe now. Hang on. Zane and I are going to get you out of here." His voice choked and tears burned in his eyes.

"Ani?" Her eyes drifted until they focused on Zane. "Zane?" Her eyes flicked back to Anakin. "You look so handsome."

"Save your strength, Mom," Anakin said. "We've got to get you away from here."

"My son," Shmi went on, and she seemed to be in a different place than Anakin, a safer place. "My grown-up son. I knew you'd come back to me. I knew it all along."

Zane's face was pale as he searched frantically through the medkit. The medkit supplies could only help so much. Moving her would be dangerous because of her ribs, there was evidence of eventual eternal bleeding, infection, dehydration, and possibly several other things that the scanner might not have detected. He could sense her life force dwindling with every passing second and cursed under his breath in huttese.

"I'm so proud of you, Ani. So proud. I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too, Mom, but we can talk later…"

Zane cursed again, louder this time as he took out a small injector of pain killer and a mild sedative and injected each into Shmi. "Don't you let go now!" Zane said.

Anakin glanced at Zane and reopened the bond he had closed again to sense waves of fear and anger, determination mixed with rising hopelessness. Zane was gifted with an unusual ability in the living Force that allowed him to detect medical conditions in a person and whether or not their death was imminent.

Anakin knew that Zane blocked this ability to the point of shunning it which was why Zane didn't detect that Qui-Gon's health was going to fail. Now, Anakin could sense that Zane had unblocked this ability, resulting in the high level of emotions and stress he was detecting.

Zane was drawing close to a breaking point, the Force swirling around uneasily, an emotion filled tumult, dwarfing Anakin's own pain, fear, and anger. If Zane didn't calm down, the results-. Not finishing that train of thought, Anakin reached over and gripped Zane's shoulder in a firm hold. "Zane, this is not helping."

Zane's face turned to Anakin, but his eyes looked past Anakin to something unseen. Zane's eyes had shifted to a stormy gray and there was a blank look in them.

Dread wormed in his gut and he looked back at his mother who was drifting into sleep from the mild sedative, but weakening with every passing second. Anakin looked back at Zane and was about to say something when a loud shrill pierced the air, a sound like a huge wave knocking onto a beach followed it and then, darkness.

...

Deep in his meditations, peering through the darkside, Master Yoda felt a sudden surge of anger, pain, confusion, and other emotions surge wildly beyond control. The diminutive Master's eyes popped open wide at the overwhelming strength of the new emotion that now mixed into the disturbance, rage.

Making a cue noise, he lurched forward to come out of his trance just as the door opened and Mace Windu rushed in.

"What is it? Mace asked.

"Pain. Suffering. Death! I fear something terrible has happened. Young Kenobi and young Skywalker are in pain. Terrible pain." Yoda slowly shook his head.

...

Obi-Wan jerked awake in his starfighter as he sensed an overwhelming combination of strong emotions rip through the Force. After the wave passed him he gasped fro breath and bent his head down. Once he had regained his breath he massaged his head with his fingers as a headache blossomed. He reached out to the bond he had with his son, but found it shut closed and hot to the touch. He reached out to the bond he had with his Padawan and also found the bond blocked and hot to the touch of his inquiring probe.

He had a sudden urge to go to his son and padawan but immediately pushed that feeling away. He had a mission to accomplish. They will be alright. I must trust in the Force.

The farther the starfighter flew from the disturbance the more his gut twisted with guilt. Again he took the hindering feeling and released it into the Force. There are many others in need of help, but if one can't focus on only one then nobody gets the help they need. Balance is the key, he quoted to himself a saying from one of his class instructors.

...

Darra gratefully relaxed in the seat of the cockpit as she made the jump away from Ryloth. Her first solo mission had gone quite well, although it was a task a junior Padawan could have easily accomplished on their own. She was about to drift off to sleep when she felt a disturbance in the Force in the Tatooine system. Since Tatooine was on her way, she decided to go investigate. She instructed the computer to take her out of hyperspace when a safe spot opened up. As she closed in on Tatooine she detected two very familiar Force signatures coming from the planet.

...

The twin suns were rising in the sky, breakfast was eaten, and chores were being done, all without a word from Anakin or Zane. Padme walked back to her ship, worry etching her face. She slept little that night as she waited for their return. A roar sounded above her and she looked up to see a small Jedi starfighter coming in for a landing beside her ship.

The ship had barely finished its shut down sequence when the cockpit opened and a human female vaulted out of the cockpit, bright, golden brown hair flying upwards as she landed.

Padme spied a padawan braid as the girl ran up to her, indicating that she must be a senior level Padawan.

"Senator Amidala," the girl said, immediately recognizing the senator as she came to a stop. "Where are Anakin and Zane?" The disturbance in the Force continued to pound at her senses and she could feel the Force urging her to move quickly.

"They went to rescue Anakin's mother from the Tuskens. Why, what's wrong?" Padme asked, now believing that something was definitely wrong to have brought a senior Padawan to Tatooine.

Rusty colored eyes flashed as the girl looked out into the wide open desert. "I'm not sure." She whispered. "Do the Lars have a speeder bike I can use?"

Padme nodded, "There's one in the garage." She quickly led the way to the garage where Owen was currently working and quickly explained the need for the speeder.

As soon as Owen let the female Padawan take the speeder and gave her the direction that Anakin and Zane had gone, the girl jumped onto the speeder bike and roared away.

Owen and Padme watched from the doorway of the garage as the speeder disappeared in the distance, both wondering what had happened to Anakin and Zane.