A/N: in response to a review; no, I'm not going along the lines of a rumored actual plot of the actual ep. II. I'm just going with how I'd do it. Anyhoo, this chapter is a bit darker than the first, and I apologize that it's so short.
Star Wars Episode II: An Empire's Birth: Chapter Two
Obi-Wan stormed through the wide double doors, barely contained anger threatening to lash out. "Where did he go?" He demanded.
Amidala frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure –"
"And don't pretend you don't know anything. Your Majesty, the sith lord will be able to feel his presence if Anakin goes anywhere near him. He is no where near prepared to face a fully trained enemy. Where did he go?"
Amidala's frown deepened. She was grateful that only her handmaidens were around; she preferred not being scolded about information she already knew in front people in general, but at least her hand maidens would not think she a weakened queen.
"Obi-Wan, you underestimate Anakin. He may only be 19 but he is stronger in the force than anyone seems to acknowledge-"
"It is not his strength in the force that causes anyone concern. It is the enemy's strength in the force and Anakin's weakness in giving in to his impulse emotions. You think that he can take care of himself, that any life threatening situations he can handle. You do not understand that it is not his life for which we fear, but rather his traveling down the wrong path."
Amidala stood up angrily though she kept her voice relatively calm. "Why am I the only one who has faith in Anakin? Why am I only one who trusts his judgement?"
Obi-Wan's voice became gentler. "Because you love him." The moment of gentleness passed quickly and his voice became hard again. "Now tell me where he went."
Amidala's expression softened at the Obi-Wan's words of loving Anakin. "You should not stop him. What he is doing is good for many people."
Understanding quickly crossed the jedi's eyes. "He went to free his mother."
Amidala nodded. "He will come back, Obi-Wan. He promised as much."
Obi-Wan had already reached the door. "You're right about that. I will see to as much."
~*~
Amidala watched Obi-Wan leave, and as soon as he had she sank into her chair, her beaded stole loudly clicking as it's position was disrupted. No sooner had she let out a relaxing sigh then the doors swung open again. Amidala rose from the chair in surprise.
Palpatine's smile didn't hold the illusion of friendliness for her that others saw. "What is so important that you must contact me unannounced, Chancellor?" Amidala asked icily.
He chucked as if it were unimportant that he'd ignored all etiquette despite dealing with a queen. "A matter that must remain in our confidence, my Queen, and not in that of your maidens."
Amidala suppressed a frown. She didn't want to be alone in a room with Palpatine, but she was unsure of how much she could go against him anymore. "Go." She told her maidens.
When they had left Palpatine's smile grew, sending a shiver down the Queens back. She didn't let it affect her regal appearance though. What the people don't see doesn't hurt you. She remembered someone saying to her.
"Let me be blunt, Amidala." This did cause a frown. They were certainly not on a first name basis, so whatever he was about he obviously thought he had the upper hand. "I am much more powerful than you. And the gaps between how much more superior I am than you continues to grow every day. However, I don't think it can reach it's full potential while you're a queen belonging to your beloved senate. Now I hate to seem demanding, but what are the odds of you giving all your support to me, your allegiance, your promise to serve?"
Amidala glared at him. "Chancellor, I was elected to protect, provide for, and maintain the peace of my people. Since these things are not in your interest, you can see how I have no choice in the matter. I believe that is all you came to discuss, so it would be appropriate for you to leave."
Palpatine's continued smile was not reassuring. "I'll leave your presence, Amidala. But you cannot make me leave the palace. Soon you won't be able to make anyone do anything. I hope queens know how to handle regret as much as regality; for you will soon find out how much regret suits you. Unless you're wise enough to take this chance to change the path that you were going to follow before you have a chance to regret defying me?"
Amidala pointed to the door. "I can be blunt as well, Chancellor. So I am telling you to make your departure quickly."
Palpatine inclined his head. "As you wish. Your mind is strong, Amidala. But you are young still, and there are many weaknesses you've yet to discover. I look forward to helping you with that."
Amidala shuddered when the doors closed after him. She wished immediately that Obi-Wan and Anakin hadn't just left. She felt alone and unprotected. Calling in her handmaidens, she kept her voice calm. "We have much work to be done and little time. The Chancellor is getting ahead of himself, and we must move the senate to action before it is destroyed." And before I'm killed. She thought miserably.
~*~
Anakin stared at Shmi's crippled form, breathing in her shallow, ragged breaths. She'd cowered in her dark corner when he'd opened the door, letting sunlight fall across her pale face. Now she stared up at him, reeking of fear as he approached, her eyes empty of all emotions except sorrow and fear.
"Mother." His voice was quiet and full of disbelief. She had been so strong, so brave, now she looked shattered and broken. "What did they do to you?" he reached his hand out to touch her tear stained face, but she shrank away.
"Don't touch me! Don't touch me, please, don't touch me!" her raspy voice didn't hold the strength he remembered. It held despair and desperation.
"Mother, it's me. I would never hurt you. It's me, Anakin, your son." She looked up at him, confusion added to the sorrow and fear in her eyes. "You have to remember me."
"I heard her yelling. She didn't try to attack you, did she?" The deep male voice coming from behind him startled him despite his Jedi training. How could this be his mother? "She tried to attack someone a while back. Didn't work out too well for her; she hasn't been able to walk the same ever since."
Anakin swallowed the lump in his throat. "Tell me about how she came to be this way. I want to know her records for the past ten years." Ten whole years. Anakin thought miserably to himself. Why did I have to wait so long? I'm so sorry Mother. I'll find the bastards that did this to you and-
"Well, her owner records are pretty strange. Someone bought her a few months after her son was sold. Then he sold her for next to nothing to some dirty, cheap concubine house where most of the customers are so drunk they hardly notice they're with a female, much less what her age is.
"She was there for three years. Then the same one who bought her in the first place, we'll call him Mr. Dick, for the sake of buyer's confidentiality and not using pronouns. Well, anyways, Mr. Dick bought her back again. And then right away, sold her, again, for next to nothing. This time to some miners. It's a rough place to work, I don't know how Mr. Dick convinced those guys to take her, even for as little as they paid.
"The mine's ruined her lungs and her eyes; she can't see to well or breathe too well. Plus an accident crushed her right arm under a few tons of rock. The bones never healed right. She attacked her owner with a knife, and they broke her legs in a few places. They were about to get rid of her when Mr. Dick came back again. It had been another three years.
"This time he sold her to this doctor I know who works with brains and memories and dreams; to be used in experiments and such. Screwed her up pretty bad with his trial and error. He pretty much wiped her memory clean from what he told me. It also screwed up her senses. She doesn't see color any more, and the range of sounds she can hear is pretty limited. Anything the least bit shrill or too deep may as well not have been spoken.
"She's been here for the last year and a half. The doc gave her to me as a joke. You see as kids we had – well, it's a long story. But since she wasn't there for three years, I guess Mr. Dick didn't have a chance to take her back. Well, that's her history with all the detail I know. So how much you willing to pay? I'm willing to go pretty damn low, of course. Her conditions is pretty poor, poor old lady."
Anakin took in a breath as ragged as his mother's. At his sides his hands were open, but with his right he cupped it as if it was around a throat, and slowly squeezed. He wasn't even surprised when the slaver collapsed on the ground, lifeless eyes staring at nothing, hands around his throat as if tearing at something.
Anakin took a device out from his pocket. He had been working on it for a long time, as if using it's development as a reason to delay coming back to Tatooine. The device could locate the chips inside slaves, and could send a pulse of electricity of just the right frequency to burn out the chip.
"Trust me." Anakin said softly, the Force adding weight and conviction to his words so that Shmi would trust him as he leaned forward and activated his chip-killer. He smiled as a small green light lit up, indicating that she was free.
"You're not a slave anymore mother. You are free, with your family, and you will never be hurt again." Anakin lifted her into his arms, and carried his mother away from her cage, feeling the anger and hate within him grow with each step.
~*~
Anakin looked over the pile of metal scraps and rusting parts. He smiled as he found an un-paneled arm and dragged the droid out from the pile. "I should have finished you C3-P0." Leaving the droid off, he dug further through the remains of his things. He found parts of his pod racer all over the place; crashed once and never rebuilt by Watto.
Sighing, he tossed another piece of metal on the pile of usable parts next to C3-P0. It would take him some time yet, to build more of his chip detecting devices. But he would make this work.
Already he'd found the perfect place to use them; the mines. There he would free dozens of strong-bodied, weak-minded workers. With a wave of the hand he'd use them to free others and spread the word, with minimum work on his part.
A sharp intake of breath made him look up suddenly, to where his mother was lying. She was still asleep though; probably in nightmare. She looked much better already; wearing a clean dress, with her hair pulled back and bandages around her wounds. It had been hard, but he'd cut off her useless, deformed right arm and replaced it with a synthetic one. Her breathing returned to normal, and he looked back at his work.
It had not taken him long to find the three previous owners; and now three more deaths lay at his name. It almost scared him; how little regret he felt over that. I'm not Jedi yet. He reminded himself. I've got time left to be imperfect.
~*~
Obi-Wan was careful to take in deep, calming breathes. Deep, calming, slow, breathes. I will not give in to my anger. I will be in control. I am not angry with him, I am simply - Obi-Wan stuck the controls of the cruiser with his fist, leaving a dent in the metal. Tatooine was still hours away, and Anakin had probably reached it a few days ago. Enough time for Anakin to accomplish what he'd gone to do.
Do not underestimate the power of Anakin Skywalker. Do not underestimate the power of the Dark Side. Those phrases were too similar for comfort, and a ragged sigh escaped from the Jedi Knight. "Maybe Yoda was right. Maybe he should not have been trained." He remembered his promise to his master. "Little choice I had in the matter. Qui-Gon's dying wish isn't exactly something I can ignore."
He had wanted to, at first. But then Anakin had become like a son to him. "Being blinded by any emotion; even love, is no excuse." He reminded himself miserably.
His cruiser was hailed and Obi-Wan opened a channel to it. It was too much to hope that it would be Anakin, but he waited eagerly.
"036-K58, please state your destination and starting point."
Obi-wan frowned. "What is this? I own this cruiser, and-"
"Official procedures with all un-registered ships."
"This ship is registered. I was unaware the republic had authority to make such-"
"We are not under the authority of the republic. Under the authority of the Emperor Palpatine, you must state your destination and starting point until government stability or registration of this ship."
Obi-Wan gaped. "That's impossible! An emperor would never be made without the consent of the Senate and there's no way that-"
"All senators have either offered their fealty, are being persuaded into offering fealty, or have been destroyed. Now state your destination and starting point."
The man's words sunk in. Oh no. And we left Amidala all alone . . .