II
It did not take long for Watto to give us the location of Shmi's new home. Before long, we were back in the Naboo starship, rising from the underground parking lot and taking off for the outskirts of Mos Eisley.
By late afternoon, our small ship had made its way from the slime hole of Mos Espa to the outskirts of a small homestead off of the city.
The ship descends to land, hovering for a moment, and then gently lands on the flat expanse of land around the homestead.
Anakin and I exchange glances. For some reason, he looks more nervous than happy. I give him a look of comfort and place my hand on top of his.
We both rise from our seats in the starship and head to the exit ramp.
"Stay with the ship, Artoo." I say to Artoo, wrapping my big, heavy cloak back around my body and pulling the hood over my head again. He whistles and beeps a small response and remains fixed in his position in the cockpit.
Anakin and I start down the trail that leads to the homestead. He looks more and more nervous the closer we get. Even though he is finally about to see his mother again, there is something that is troubling him. I can see it in his face. He's desperately searching for a sign of her even from such a great distance.
We get close enough to a condenser in the ground and see a human-shaped droid standing nearby working on it. It looks fragile and skeletal, with dark wires crisscrossing and wrapping over each other.
The droid looks up at us, as if to greet us. As soon as it looks at us with its metallic, illuminating eyes, I can already hear him before he begins.
"Oh, hello. How might I be of service? I am See…"
"Threepio?" Anakin finishes, grinning at his old friend and creation.
It has been ten years, but C-3PO looks just as he did when we last saw him. He may be the only thing in the galaxy that didn't change.
Funnily enough, Threepio studies us for a moment, as if searching through his vast, computerized mind for our faces to match to an identity.
"Oh, my," Threepio says suddenly, cocking his head to one side, "Oh, the maker! Oh Master Anakin! I knew you would return. I knew it! And Miss Padme!"
I'm startled that he remembers me, even under this large hood, since I hadn't spent nearly as much time with him as Anakin had.
"Hello, Threepio," I reply, smiling.
Even though his metal face is fixed, it seems as if he's smiling the broadest smile I've ever seen.
"Bless my circuits! I'm so pleased to see you both!" He says ecstatically, his head bouncing around on his neck joints.
"I've come to see my mother." Anakin replies, walking past Threepio.
Threepio freezes in motion, as if the smile was just wiped from his face. He looks suddenly grim and speechless. Anakin's eyes narrow when his droid does not automatically respond.
"I think…I think…Perhaps we better go indoors." Threepio says.
A wave of worry passes over me as well. Where is Shmi? Why can't Threepio take us right to her? Why did she not rush out to see her son? She must have seen us land the ship.
The three of us walk down the steps made from the ground to a courtyard within the homestead. Threepio is shuffling in front of us.
"Master Owen, might I present two most important visitors?"
A man and women in their early twenties come out into the courtyard. They are wearing clothes that remind me very much of the wardrobe Shmi and Anakin wore when they were citizens of the planet, years ago.
"I'm Anakin Skywalker." He says to the man, who is of equal height, though he has a stockier build than Anakin. His scratches his unshaven face and studies Anakin and his wardrobe for a moment. He fits the type of a Tatooine farmer—quiet and reserved.
"Own Lars," He answers, shaking Anakin's hand. "And this is my girlfriend, Beru."
The girl turns to us and mutters, "Hello."
She looks very passive and pleasant. Her tight, blond braids were wrapped neatly around her head.
"I'm Padme." I say, introducing myself.
Owen turns to Anakin, "I guess I'm your stepbrother. I had a feeling you might show up some day."
He gives Anakin a small, courteous smile.
Anakin looks perturbed. He passes by, walking around the courtyard for a moment. I know what he's thinking. He's wondering why his mother hasn't come out to greet him yet. He's searching for some sign of her in this home. Where could she be? I'm beginning to get nervous myself.
Something is wrong. Between Threepio's bothered reaction, to the absence of Shmi's motherly joy, Anakin and I both can see that something had happened that Watto was unaware of when he led us here. Anakin looks both frightened and torn. He wants answers. He wants to know what happened. But he's afraid of what he may hear. He's afraid of hearing the worst.
"Is my mother here?" Anakin asks, finally, as if he cannot waste any more time on meaningless, polite conversation.
"No, she's not," a low, grumbling voice mutters from behind.
A small, floating chair carries an aged, tattered man out to the courtyard. The man is larger than Owen, but bears an uncanny resemblance. One of his legs was wrapped heavily in bandages, covered in layers and layers of new bandages. The other leg was missing entirely. Balancing on his floating chair, he extends a hand out to Anakin.
"Cliegg Lars. Shmi is my wife. You better come inside. We have a lot to talk about…" He says darkly, avoiding looking Anakin in the eyes.
We all assemble around a table in the small dining area. Beru emerges from the kitchen carrying several glasses like a warm hostess.
I take off my cloak, revealing my underdress, feeling awkward. It is a loose fitting, light blue dress. Like the dress I wore to visit my parents, this ensemble is in two pieces, as well. The top, is wrapped crisscrossed over my upper chest, and flips back to an ornately decorated cape that hangs to my lower back. Two oversized sleeves cover my arms, and a matching blue skirt hangs from my waist to my feet decorated with a glistening, silver buckle. My abdomen and waist are open in the hot, humid air.
I have decorated my hair similar to the way it was decorated for my meadow picnic with Anakin. A silver, metal headpiece is fastened to my head, while my thick, curly hair is bunched into the headpiece fittingly.
My ensemble makes me feel strange and out of place, surrounded by these natives wearing their tan, sandy colored garbs.
"It was just before dawn. They came out of nowhere. A hunting party of Tusken Raiders." Cleigg begins, grimly.
Tusken Raiders. I remember them from the Anakin's podrace ten years ago. They had camped out on the canyon sections of the track, hoping to sabotage the race by firing at any pods they could hit. They were the wretched nomads of Tatooine. They were barbarians. Even the most vicious scoundrels, smugglers, and thieves in the cities of Tatooine would flee in fear of the Tusken Raiders.
Beru sets the drinks of the table. Everyone takes one, but Anakin. He looks frozen, frightened. I know he's assuming the worst already.
"Your mother had gone out early like she always did, to pick mushrooms that grow on the vaporators. From the tracks, she was just about home when…they took her." Cleigg said with a troubled look. Retelling the story truly bothered him.
"Those Tuskens walk like men, but they're vicious, mindless monsters." He adds, easing a pain in his leg.
I can't even process the things he is saying to Anakin. It's truly horrific. How long had it been? Had we left earlier, would we have been able to get here before she was taken? Anakin looks as though he's not even listening. I can't blame him. I can't imagine hearing a story about barbarians kidnapping my mother from a complete stranger. The thought of my own mother going missing makes my eyes fill with tears. Shmi was all Anakin ever had. All he wanted to do was see her one more time, show her how he had grown, make her proud of what he had accomplished.
"Thirty of us went out after her. Four of us came back. I'd be out there with them, only…after I lost my leg, I just couldn't ride anymore…until I heal." Cleigg finishes.
Beru clings to Owen. Recounting story must be painful for her to hear too. Shmi was such a wonderful woman. She had touched the lives of so many people. Even her two stepchildren, who she hadn't spent nearly as much time with as her own son, had felt the impact of her tragic, untimely absence.
After a long moment of silence, Cleigg looks back to Anakin, who is looking down, probably studying the thought of his mother being taken away by those animals.
"This isn't the way I wanted to meet you, son. This isn't how your mother and I planned it. I don't want to give up on her. But she's been gone a month. There's little hope she's lasted this long."
A month? I repeat in my head. My mouth drops open and I look around the table. Cleigg has an expression of hopeless grief. Owen looks as if all efforts have been lost. He's accepted the defeat. Beru sits, her head resting on Owen's shoulder, a tear running down her cheek.
I give Anakin a sympathetic look, but before I can place my hand on his leg in comfort, he abruptly stands up.
I can see what he's thinking. He won't accept the fact that his mother is dead. He won't sit here and allow himself to not see her while he's this close. I could tell that his heart was now filled with ice. He had no love inside of him anymore. Only pain, and hurt. His nightmares have come true. His mother really was in pain. His mother really was dying.
"Where are you going?" Owen asks him, seeing him rise from his chair.
"To find my mother." Anakin replies, convinced that his mother really is out there somewhere waiting for him.
I cannot hold back my objection.
"No, Ani!"
I realize that I truly have no say in his actions. I cannot imagine being in his situation. I would go in search of her too, I suppose. But I cannot imagine seeing Anakin go out by himself to the camps where those mongrels dwell.
"Your mother's dead, son. Accept it." Cleigg tells him with honest reality.
But I know Anakin is not so foolish. Anakin will not accept it.
"I can feel her pain. I know she is out there. I will find her. I will." He says to all of us at the table.
We all stare at him for a moment. I feel tears forming in my eyes. I can't bear to think of him going out there.
"Take my speeder bike." Owen offers.
Anakin nods in thanks.
"I know she's alive." Anakin says before turning abruptly.
Despite the story and what Cleigg wants to believe, Anakin is convinced that Shmi is alive and out there somewhere to be rescued.
We sit and watch as he leaves the dining area, and goes out to the courtyard, his dark Jedi robe cast an ominous shadow from the hot, setting suns.