A/N: I have great news! I have finished writing the chapters about small Anakin! Now that I've gotten into adult Anakin, writing is going faster (especially now that whumptober is over). Hopefully this means that soon I'll have this fic all written. Fingers crossed! I'm just about to get into finals, though, so no promises.

Anakin had been so busy with his first missions and building his full-powered lightsaber that he hadn't talked to his mom in several months. He was sprawled on his bed with Obi-Wan's comm because Obi-Wan was in the living room with Siri talking about lovey-dovey stuff now that she was back from dismantling a slave organization. He wrinkled his nose. At least Mom wouldn't have any lovey-dovey stuff to talk about.

Mom's tiny blue holographic form popped up. "Ani!" She smiled wide.

"Mom! I got my own lightsaber and I helped Siri arrest Krayn and even though I really wanted to, I didn't kill him, I just arrested him and he's probably going to be in jail for the rest of his life!"

"That's great, Ani! I'm so proud of you!" Mom said.

"Look!" Anakin held his lightsaber in front of the comm. "Isn't it cool? I built it myself!"

"Wow, that's impressive!" Mom folded her hands. "Ani, I have some big news."

Anakin drew himself up. Was she free? Was Watto selling her? "What is it, Mom?"

"Well, not too long ago, a very nice man came into Watto's shop and, well, we kept meeting with each other and…I'm in love."

"Oh, no, not you, too." Anakin slumped onto the covers.

Mom laughed. "What's wrong?"

"All Obi-Wan talks about is Siri and how amazing she is and how pretty she is and how smart she is and his dreams of the future. It's disgusting. And now you're going to do it too!"

Mom laughed some more. "Oh, poor Ani."

"Is he at least a nice person?" Anakin asked.

"He is. His name is Cliegg Lars, he's a moisture farmer near Mos Eisley and he has a son named Owen. And, Ani, Cliegg got up the money and bought me from Watto and freed me," Mom said.

"You're free? And you thought telling me you're in love is more important?" Love was weird. Maybe he should rethink this whole Padmé thing.

Mom just laughed again. "Oh, Ani. I'm sure you'll understand when you're older."

Anakin wrinkled his nose again. He doubted it. No way was love more important than being freed from slavery. "So you're finally free of old Watto, huh?"

Mom paused. "You know, it's the oddest thing. When Cliegg went to get my detonator turned off, it turned out that it was already off. Watto turned it off after you left. I guess he thought I was so upset I would just wander off too far."

"And he'd lose his slave?" Anakin's heart clenched. She had been that upset about him leaving?

"I don't know, I don't think that's fully it," Mom said. "I think that in his own way, he started to care. I've found it in my heart to forgive him. He's changed as he's gotten older, and even if he hadn't, I don't want to live in bitterness anymore. All it does it hurt me for no good reason."

Anakin sighed. He really didn't want to forgive Watto, but since Mom had, he'd have to think about it. Maybe. "At least you're free now."

"If you can get free of your duties, I'd love to see you at my wedding," Mom said.

"I'll have to ask Obi-Wan and see if we can," Anakin said. Mom getting married. Weird.

"So tell me more about your missions."

Anakin bounced on his feet. Couldn't the ramp lower any slower?

"Patience, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, laughing.

"I haven't seen her in five years, Master." The ramp settled on the sand outside. He squinted, his eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight. "Mom!" He bolted down the ramp. "Mom, Mom, Mom!"

He crashed into Mom's arms. She swept him up.

"Ani! Oh, my sweet little boy!" She pulled back, cupping his cheek with one hand. "You've grown so handsome." She pinched his cheek and planted a kiss on his forehead.

Anakin's face grew hot. "Mom, Obi-Wan's watching," he mumbled.

"Oh, hush, I haven't seen you in far too long," Mom said. She grabbed both cheeks and kissed his forehead again.

Even though a smile tugged at his lips, he pulled away and swiped at his face. "Mom!"

A hearty laugh broke through Anakin's protests. A slightly grizzled man stood next to Mom. "Got the teenage embarrassment of expressing love for your parents, I see." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Cliegg Lars, your mother's fiancé."

Anakin shook his hand. The man was dressed as any moisture farmer on Tatooine. Not too shabby, like the desperate ones. He had a solid handshake and a strong build. His presence didn't hint at danger or sleaziness either. "Anakin Skywalker, Jedi padawan."

"This is my son, Owen." Cliegg swept his hand to a young man standing at his shoulder with Threepio.

Owen nodded. "Nice to meet you. I…guess I'm your stepbrother."

"Oh, the Maker! It's so good to see you again!" Threepio said.

"Hey, Threepio," Anakin said. He still didn't have any coverings. Maybe he could scrounge up some with his allowance once he got back home.

"I've got some plating for Threepio back home, if you want to help me put it on," Owen said.

Anakin nodded. "Sure." He'd never had a stepbrother before. Mom seemed to like him, though, so he couldn't be too bad.

Speaking of brothers, though… He glanced back. Obi-Wan still stood at the top of the ramp, ducking his head. Anakin ran up and tugged him to Mom.

"Anakin, wait, I'm not sure they—" Obi-Wan started.

"Mom, this is Obi-Wan. He's amazing. He killed a Sith Lord all by himself," Anakin said.

"You're the one that's been keeping my son alive." Mom smiled. "It's so nice to finally meet you in person."

"Yeah, well, it hasn't been easy, Anakin is a bit of a stinker—oh."

Mom dove forward and wrapped Obi-Wan in a tight hug. Obi-Wan flailed for a couple seconds before returning the hug.

"Thank you so much for everything you're doing for him," Mom said. "From now on, you will always have a spot in the Skywalker family."

Obi-Wan turned pink. "Thank you, ma'am."

Mom laughed. "And polite, too. Come on, let's get to the farm. I'm sure you're tired after the long flight."

"Can I fly?" Anakin asked.

Mom and Cliegg laughed.

"What? I'm really good at it. Aw, come on, Mom. I promise I won't try and podrace in a speeder…again."

"Ani!"

"Kitster!" Anakin dropped his hand from the too-tight collar of his fancy clothes and spun to meet his best friend.

Kitster ran across the hot sand, dodging the plants Cliegg had presented Mom with as a wedding present outside the Lars moisture farm. Wald and Amee ran with him.

"You're back!" Kitster flung himself onto Anakin, wrapping his arms tight around him.

"Ani!" Wald cheered, hugging him as well.

Amee hung back, blushing. Why in the world was she blushing? Anakin wasn't that big of a deal. He was still the same person he always was, just five years older and less—what had Obi-Wan's mom said?—troubled.

Kistster and Wald released Anakin.

"What's it like being a Jedi?" Kitster asked. "Do you get a laser sword?"

"Mm-hm!" Anakin pulled his lightsaber off his belt and activated it. "I made it myself."

"Wow!" Wald said. "Have you killed anybody with it?"

"Not yet," Anakin said. "I killed somebody with the Force, though. He was trying to kill me." He deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it back onto his belt.

"Have you freed any slaves like you said you would?" Amee asked, grinning. Instead of a crooked grin jailed in by metal like before, she had all straight gleaming grown-up teeth. Weird.

Anakin nodded. "I actually just helped arrest Krayn. His entire organization is shut down now." Amee's mom had been stolen by Krayn when she was four. After he'd successfully completed the mission, Obi-Wan had praised him for handling the situation well without giving in to his anger over the past. The words had made his week.

Tears glittered in Amee's eyes. She darted forward and hugged him. "Thank you so much. You're my hero."

"Oh. Thank you." Anakin's face grew warm. He darted his gaze over to Obi-Wan, standing to the side cloaked watching the last few wedding preparations be put into place before the ceremony started.

Obi-Wan smiled at him but made no move to come and help.

Why was Amee acting so weird? "You can stop hugging me now."

"Oh. Okay." Amee drew back and hunched into herself, heaving a big sigh.

"Ani! Come on! The ceremony's about to start!" Mom called.

"I've gotta go," Anakin said. "I'll talk to you after." He waved at his friends and ran off.

Halfway through the ceremony, Anakin noticed a certain flying blue creature in the back of the small, gathered crowd that wasn't supposed to be here. He alternated glared at him throughout the ceremony and ignoring him to smile at Mom.

Once the reception started, he headed towards Watto. Mom grabbed his shoulder.

"Be nice," Mom said. "He's been changing."

"But…he wasn't supposed to be here!" Anakin said. "He wasn't even invited!"

"It's all right, Ani, I don't mind," Shmi said.

"I need to talk to him," Anakin said.

"I know," Shmi said. "But remember, holding onto anger does nobody any good."

Anakin sighed. One of the things Mom had taken to saying a lot lately. If only Obi-Wan hadn't revealed his struggles to her. Anakin had done such a good job of hiding them back on Tatooine. "Yeah, I know."

He strode over to Watto and jammed his hands into his pants pockets. "Hey."

"Little Ani!" Watto fluttered his wings faster, starting back. "A Jedi? Whaddya know!"

"Yeah," Anakin said.

"Do they feed ya?" Watto asked.

Anakin nodded. "They have really good food at the Jedi Temple."

"Won any more podraces?" Watto asked.

Anakin shook his head. "I haven't really had the opportunity to podrace again. But I've won a lot of swoop bike races in Coruscant's lower levels!"

"Ani!" Mom admonished. "I thought you said you would stop!"

Anakin jumped. "I did, Mom, I promise! That was before!" Although he didn't see what the big deal was. He was good at swoop bike racing and he enjoyed it.

"You're sure you'll be all right?" Watto asked. "With him?"

Mom nodded. "I'm sure." She rested her hands on Anakin's shoulders.

"Well, if you're ever not…I mean, the house will just be sitting there…" Watto trailed off. "Don't think this means I care about you."

Mom laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Well, then." Watto turned. "I'll see you around." He buzzed off, then froze. "Shmi, why did you invite Rertak Unquodin?"

"Who?" Mom asked.

Watto pointed to a Trandoshan near the edge of the crowded reception on the sands outside the Lars moisture farm. "Bounty hunter that just came to town. I didn't think you knew him."

"I don't," Mom said.

The Trandoshan fingered a large blaster on his belt and strode towards Obi-Wan, who was earnestly chatting with Cliegg, his back to the bounty hunter.

Anakin's neck prickled with danger. "I have a bad feeling about this." He grabbed his lightsaber and walked forward, then started to run.

Unquodin pulled out the blaster and fired it at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan automatically ignited his lightsaber just before the Trandoshan fired and barely blocked the bolt in time. The shot rebounded straight into Unquodin's chest. He spun and dropped to his knees next to the bounty hunter.

Anakin skidded through the sand to a stop next to Unquodin. "What happened? Are you all right?"

Obi-Wan nodded. He grabbed the arm of the hunter. "Who are you? Why did you attack me?"

The Trandoshan spat blood into the sand. "I told him the money…wasn't worth it." He slumped, the light going out of his eyes. Dead.

Despite their best efforts, Obi-Wan and Anakin couldn't find out anything else about the hunter. No one around the cities had seen him speaking to any possible employers and no one had leads about where he had come from. Anakin chafed at the lack of info, but there wasn't much either of them could do except wait for another attack.

But none seemed to come. Several years passed with drama from Granta Omega, undercover missions with stuck-up Ferus—turns out the kid wasn't too bad after all—and even a wedding between Obi-Wan and Siri. Occasionally, attacks on missions seemed to have something to do with the previous attacks. But there were so few leads that information was almost non-existent.

The lack of information was so drastic that even Anakin forgot about them after a while. He was too wrapped up in constantly growing out of his pants, a dramatic mission to Korriban that almost ended in disaster, and, by far the most important—his eighteenth birthday. Anakin had become an adult.