Shmi and I looked out from the ground crawler at the spectacle of two children and a flustered man trying to cart an inert pod racer into the royal craft's cargo hold. I had the much easier task of transporting the meager Skywalker household goods, and pleasant company in doing it.
Shmi Skywalker was something of a surprise. She wasn't featured much in movies or the fiction I had read; my impression of her had been as a passive figure for Anakin to imprint on and then outgrow. But I should have known that anyone who could survive and protect her son through decades of servitude on a savage world would be made of sterner stuff.
Rather than celebration, she had responded to the news of her purchase with a calm acceptance, and under the surface, more than a little wariness toward me. It was clear she gave no weight to my words about being "free" and saw this as just another transfer of ownership; I wasn't the first to speak this way to her.
But one of the few things the real Obi-wan and I had in common was the ability to make friends. Once Qui-Gon had joined us at their home and took the boy off to see his racer, Shmi, Padme, and I had worked together to package up their lives into something that could fit in the cruiser.
"How much will I be allowed to see him," Shmi asked me as we moved her last container into the hold, "once he begins his training? Families are discouraged from visiting the Temples, I am told."
"Who told you that?" I hadn't mentioned anything about Anakin becoming a Jedi, not to either of them.
"It's why you bought him, isn't it?" The steel in her voice was harsh to my ears. "Don't mistake my meaning: I am happy for it. A better life than I could give him. I am surprised you bought me, too, though." Closing the hatch, we stepped onto the crawler and began the trip back into town. "A foolish expense, if you mean to take me from him anyway."
"You don't think you're worth anything on your own?" I quipped. She shrunk back at that; and I tried to figure out why. Her thoughts had turned to… oh.
"I am happy for it, I said," she looked at the distant desert, not at me. "I would… rather… with you, if that's what is needed…"
"I didn't buy you because I intend to use you, Shmi," the words came out quick, maybe a bit harsher than I intended.
She looked at me then, eyes hurting. "Why not?" There was more ego in it than I expected from her.
"Because I don't own you, for one thing. The transponder chip is coming out as soon as we get to Coruscant, and then we will be getting you Republic citizenship papers for whatever planet you decide to move to."
She shook her head, and sighed, but said nothing.
"As for your earlier question, Anakin isn't going to be trained at the Temple. The Council won't allow it." I banked the crawler around a sand dune.
"Your Master said that Anakin would be trained as a Jedi. That he would be a powerful Knight one day."
I nodded. "Both true. But not at the Temple." I looked sharply at her. "And certainly not away from his mother. More pain and loss is not what this boy needs in his life."
A few minutes passed while we parked the crawler in its place and I retrieved the truguts I had put down for a deposit. That done, we headed in the direction of the Skywalkers' hovel. It was one last chance to check for anything she might have missed. Once we left Tatooine, I doubted she would ever return.
Moving between two squat buildings, huddled together against the wind, I felt it. A predatory presence in the shadows up ahead. "Shmi, hide in that building there. We have company." She looked sideways at me as I pulled my saber and blaster, but did as I asked.
My blaster was primed and my sword humming as I broke into a run, bounding around the corner at full speed. The five large creatures were each of a different nonhuman species, but only two bothered to carry weapons. Those took blaster bolts to the chest.
The largest of the five, a reptilian with sharp claws, lost one arm to my sword as I spun around to force them to keep their distance. I followed up with a headshot to a different thug before stabbing the one-armed reptilian center-body, slicing upwards to free my blade.
The fifth alien, a squat creature with quills, had his back to me in full retreat. I started to change my blaster over to stun when I sensed a malevolent presence hiding in a nook nearby. No need to spare the runner, then. A lethal shot caught it in the back, and I rounded on the small companion.
The Rodian was less than half my size. Dropping my blaster, I lifted him with relative ease. ~I won't tell you anything!~ he squeaked as I held him by his tunic at arm's length.
"Did Watto hire you?" was all I asked. I didn't wait for a verbal answer, as his mind immediately confirmed it. That was all I needed from him. Two halves of Rodian hit the ground as I thumbed my saber off then bent to pick up my gun.
I remembered reading about some supplemental story where Watto had hired thugs to get Qui-Gon to return Anakin, but only after he won the pod race (which wasn't until tomorrow). I had planned to avoid any of that mess by leaving today.
Shmi met me at the mouth of the alley, looking over my shoulder at the carnage behind me. "Watto?" she asked.
I nodded. "Do you mind making your final house-check alone? I suddenly have one more piece of business to attend to."
She gave her own nod and moved away quickly. Trekking by myself to Watto's, I took a moment to radio my Master.
"Yes? Is everything all right?"
"Shmi and I were attacked. It looks like our Toydarian friend has seller's remorse."
"I see. Do we need to pay him a visit?"
"I believe I can handle this, Master. Is everyone else ready to go?"
"Captain Panaka says we can launch as soon as everyone is on board. Obi-wan?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Don't let anger cloud your judgment."
"Never, Master. We will be back shortly." I ended the call. There was no wind to speak of, but I wrapped my sand guard around my lower face. Better not to be clearly seen.
The shop wasn't empty; a Pa'lowick bent over the counter across from Watto, who was micro-welding some outdated part. I placed one hand on the bulbous shoulder of the frog-man. When he turned to face me, my other hand opened to reveal a half dozen small coins.
"You weren't here," I said simply. The man took the coins with one pass of his long webbed hand, and waddled toward the door.
Still hovering jerkily, Watto backed almost to the wall as he addressed me. "Hello again. Everything is good? With, eh, the drive?"
I nodded.
"Good!" He tried a smile but it faltered. "What, ah, can I-"
"Why did you send them after us?" I was still on the opposite side of the counter. I slowly drew my blaster, making sure it stayed below his line of sight.
"What? S-send who?" he lied.
"Why, Watto?" I asked again. "Why didn't you leave our deal alone?"
He flew forward enough to examine the part on the counter again, looked at it from different angles. "You knew something about the boy that I didn't. Once I found out what it was…." He glanced at me. "I fed and housed them for six years! I didn't deserve to get cheated, you understand." He shook his head. "But you got me, I know when I'm beat. I won't bother you again."
"No, you won't," I agreed.
The first two blaster bolts to the chest knocked him back against his wall shelves, but Toydarians are tough. He peeled himself off the wall and prepared to plead. I put the next three shots squarely into his head; they charred enough flesh and bone away to make him unrecognizable. I left his body there and started my search of his shop.
Watto's nest, tucked away in the corner of the yard, was a pungent mass of soiled linens and dried mucus. The large metal container was solidly anchored to the ground and fully covered by the stuff; the smell was the worst part.
Fortunately his strongbox was nowhere near as sophisticated as mine. His own microwelder cut the lock with ease, and I examined a much larger collection of valuables than I had originally brought to Tatooine. I had some more packing to do, after all.
An hour later, when I guided Shmi to Watto's landspeeder outside the slave quarters, she gave me an approving look. "You must have really frightened him, to get Watto to loan you this," she said, climbing in. I didn't respond.
Later, when she helped me unload the containers of valuables into the ship's hold, she didn't repeat her comments. She must have figured out what had happened. Her glances at me were laced with fear again.