Chapter 1
Padmé stares at the burning pyre of Qui-Gon Jinn, and she hopes the man was able to find peace in the end. It is a solemn thought that one of their heroes who inspired hope in them all was a fallen victim. She knows that post-traumatic stress is bound to be a long-term impact on her.
She stares. Across from her, Anakin is staring at the funeral pyre of the man for hours. Unknown to her, he feels as if his last hope of being a Jedi has suddenly died, stabbed in the back the moment when the gentle Jedi died.
"Anakin," the man, who appeared to have a strange sort of jealousy to him earlier, says softly. "I'm so sorry but I talked with Master Yoda earlier. The Jedi Council would not allow you to be trained and you are to be return to Tatooine to your mother."
Padmé narrows her eyes, knowing that the boy wanted to be a Jedi, especially since their encounter. He sounded so enthusiastic and excited to finally accomplished his dreams and it is unfair that those dreams are being thrown at his face.
"I am not going to be trained?" Anakin asks, sounding so innocent and so hurt that the Queen feels hurt on his behalf. "But... I left my mother behind and fought the bad guys. Isn't that enough?"
Even the young Jedi seems depressed and glum about how the boy is reacting. Padmé couldn't help but feel a nagging feeling in her chest.
Anakin cannot be sent back to Tatooine and coldly forgotten about - it would always strike her core That boy would always be on the forefront of her mind, especially after what he did for her and her home world. Damn it, it wouldn't be right no matter what, not even if the child has somehow found a way to achieve a happier life.
For all intent and purpose, Anakin is just a lost property who has been rejected by the Jedi and only freed by his slavery past due to a bit of luck. He is just a boy who is lost and off track, and the likelihood of him surviving the first-day return to Tatooine is slim.
'Take him in.'
That is something that she would never have considered at least initially. First, how can she? Even though she is Queen of Naboo, Padmé couldn't dispute the fact that she is a teenager herself. On top of this, how could she find a proper guardian to raise him without making his childhood more abusive?
The cruel fact is that this is not a normal child. This is a slave who would treat her as he did with his slaver back on Tatooine. And it would definitely be a political nightmare to how she would be able to gain custody of the child.
Surely, her powers as Queen of Naboo could be beneficial to that front, but there is the fact that she couldn't allow people to accuse her of kidnapping because the Queen of Naboo abducting a child would not be helpful and the thought of being brought before the Republic as a prisoner is not a welcoming thought for sure.
"Being a Jedi applies more than that," the Jedi Knight says, knowing that the boy is hurt and that he is crushing all his dreams the more he is speaking, but he doesn't seem to care. "You lack the emotional control of what it means to be a Jedi as well as not the suitable age."
'What a load of-'
"Again, I'm sorry, Anakin."
At that moment, Padmé makes her choice. Brutal his current torment may be and added to the depression that Anakin will face, it is better to keep him with her where she could help him and not allow him to suffer. Those slavers would only enslave him once more, and that outcome is not something she can allow, not after he had fought so hard for his freedom and afterward.
Padmé would not take custody of him but she would find someone who can fill that role suitably at least temporarily until she finds a plan to free his mother. She wouldn't have minded it but something within her is screaming wrong, something that she would never be able to recognize. Her parents made it clear they don't want any more children. Her older sister is currently not planning for a child.
There has to be another way.
Padmé walks up behind him, feeling him grimace at her sudden touch for the first time. "Are you okay, little one?"
Anakin shakes his head, the tears scrolling down his eyes. "I'm going back to Tatooine... Watto... The slavers... They are going to... They would not..."
"Easy now, Ani," Padmé says softly, rubbing his back in what she hopes is a comfortable way for him.
"Hey, Padmé, is everything alrigh-" Sabé comes in seconds later, only to see the scene of her best friend trying her best to comfort the kid. Behind her, Rabé and Eirtaé are alongside her. "Hey, what happened?"
"The Jedi... They rejected him..." Padmé replies, grabbing his small if not malnourished body and beginning rubbing his hair with the most comfort he would probably ever receive, at least except for his mother.
"What the kark? Why?" Rabé asks, unable to forget that hopeful stare from the little boy two days ago when he came to the chambers of the Queen on Coruscant. "Haven't he done enough for them?"
Eirtaé folds her hands behind her back. "Something tells me that they aren't appreciative of the thought of raising someone who could change their ways or already have enough of a trauma due to being raised in a harsh place in the Outer Rim. What are you going to do, Padmé?"
Now is the time to break the news to them. She doesn't know how they would react but she has a feeling they would support her. They do through the worst of times, and there is the fact that Anakin Skywalker saved them all in the end.
Naboo would do well to remember that and she would repay him by giving the kid a happy life somehow. There are obvious drawbacks even with all the other bases covered; the first is that Padmé doesn't know a thing about how to raise a child. She would not allow herself to be a parent to the kid but that doesn't mean she isn't going to be around.
He needs people to be attached to, for he is not a normal kid who would find independence. Padmé saw the shadows even now with how much abandoning his mother back on Tatooine has left an effect on him. She cannot allow him to become a colder individual who is left off course and barely living off scraps again because those who could change his destiny refuse to care.
"I would see later," Padmé replies after a long moment. "Right now, we need to stop the Jedi from taking him back to Tatooine."
Padmé leads Anakin away from the pyre to Naboo's office. Sabé and the others follow behind, knowing that they would have to wait for what is to come.
They enter the office of the Queen and she sits him down. She knows the Jedi would be coming for him.
The door opens, and Master Windu, Master Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi enter. They never met in person but she knows who the respective Jedi Masters are. She would be a fool not to.
"Greetings, Jedi, I feel it would be appropriate to thank you for what you have done in assisting the liberation of the Naboo," Padmé states, and she can feel her handmaidens' glares on the Jedi Masters. Naboo doesn't view betrayal too lightly no matter what.
"Glad to be of assistance in the freedom of Naboo, we are," Grandmaster Yoda replies, giving a small smile to each of them in the office, including Anakin Skywalker.
"I am not pleased, however, about how Anakin here is being treated by the so-called peacekeepers of the galaxy. He is just a kid and it's almost as if you are all being too hard on him. He left his mother behind and you all want to send him back to a hell hole where he would be enslaved again. Isn't it the way of the Jedi to defend those who cannot defend themselves in the galaxy?" Padmé queries.
"The boy is prone to emotion thus making him too emotionally compromised and corrupt," Master Windu replies stoically.
"Its call being a person with feelings," Eirtaé mutters in the background loud enough for all to hear.
Windu frowns at the handmaiden.
"The Jedi are not allowed to embrace emotional connection under any means necessary, madam," Windu replies, staring at the boy for a moment as if he is a test subject to be examined. Padmé didn't like that look. "A Jedi's life is sacrifice. His attachment to his mother is disturbing to some degree thus making him unfit to be a Jedi in our Order."
"That is the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard," Rabé responds, walking forward and staring deeply into his eyes, non-intimidated and bold despite how close she is in proximity to the Jedi Master. "He came to the Queen's chambers on Coruscant and guess what: he wanted to join your pitiful Order. He was excited and enthusiastic to help even when it didn't concern him. He flown a kriffing starfighter where he could have been killed because your pathetic band of Order couldn't give a damn. He shown more courage in mere hours than your entire Order did in days."
Master Windu is stunned at this seemingly silent handmaiden unleashing a tirade on him. Padmé cannot dispute her friend, for she is absolutely right. How many children would leave behind her mother on a different planet no less at his age and show the amount of courage he has?
Kenobi and Yoda are also quiet, but the latter seems to be amused at something. The former is showing remorse and regret, showing that he is not as impassive as the other Jedi is. He obviously wants to do something.
"Well, if you don't want him to be a nuisance that you obviously view him as, I'll find someone to take custody to him here on Naboo," Queen Amidala - now is not the time to be Padmé - says sternly, allowing her accent to slip through for all within the room to hear. The ladies behind her snap their heads in her direction, shocked as much as the Jedi.
Actually," Windu says thoughtfully, now speaking to his other companions, namely to the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. "That would be perfect. If you each can find someone to adopt him then we do not need to ponder on the thought of him being taken by the Sith. We would be able to monitor him through our own Jedi to assure there is little to worry about with concerning him."
"We'll take care of him," the Queen states, still feeling angry on behalf of Anakin. "You don't need to worry about him being a problem of your precious Order. He would be taught better here and given the education he needs to live as a common person."
Yoda nods, at last finally speaking. "Very well. May the Force be with you."
"Please leave," Queen Amidala coldly replies, not offering respect in her tone as they didn't warrant it. They were willing to send a kid back to slavery and they don't deserve her respect.
They bow despite her tone and walk out without argument. Kenobi lingers behind and stares at the boy for a moment before nodding and leaving himself, the door closing and allowing them to remain alone with the child.
Padmé never expected this before the mission, but what the kriff did she just start?
Despite how much Obi-Wan wished that the Council agreed with his lost Master to train the Chosen One, the young Jedi knows that they are absolutely correct. Anakin Skywalker is emotionally compromised and, in many ways, corrupt. Him being trained by the Jedi is not a wise decision.
Obi-Wan can see the boy standing alongside the ladies of Naboo. How they would be able to raise such a child is a mystery but he doesn't wish to interject, because he has the nagging feeling he would be shrugged off.
He walks up, sensing the upset emotions as well as the anger making itself through.
"Anakin."
"Obi-Wan," he responds coldly. It is surprising to Obi-Wan that Anakin is speaking to him on a somewhat positive note.
"I'm sorry, Anakin, about everything," Obi-Wan replies regretfully.
"It's alright," Anakin replies sharply. "At the very least, I know what the Jedi think of me and am not going to be a problem for them anymore."
Even now the words make Obi-Wan grimace. The child has darkness among him and how easily that darkness can fester is another reason why the Jedi rejected him.
"Anakin, I can sense your anger for the Jedi, but they didn't refuse you without..." Obi-Wan begins, glad that he can finally speak to Anakin without the Queen or her servants intervening despite how they would kick him out if Anakin doesn't want to talk with him.
"I guess I'm not good enough," Anakin whimpers. "The reason why I wasn't shipped off in an orphanage or forced back into slavery was because I just am good enough for someone else."
Obi-Wan stares down, still not wishing to separate like this. "Anakin, the Council feel as if you were emotionally unstable. This makes you not unfit to be a Jedi..."
"Unfit?" Anakin queries, appearing to be bemused beyond belief. With Tatooine not being an amazing place to raise a child, Obi-Wan is not surprised.
"This means you won't be a good Jedi..." Obi-Wan replies.
"I won't be a good Jedi?!" Anakin snaps, his eyes a dark blue. Had he been a Sith, they would have been two pairs of golden no doubt. For a second, Obi-Wan thinks they are, but when he blinks, those shades of gold are gone. "I literally went into a starfighter and saved a whole planet while the Jedi - the Order my dream in being - didn't seem to care. The only ones who thank me were the people of Naboo. I don't understand why they are treating me like this."
The newly found Jedi Knight is finding it hard for him to accept the Council's words that Anakin is correct despite everything. "Anakin, I know it hurts but you have to try to accept the Jedi..."
"Why am I'm not good enough, Obi-Wan?" Anakin snaps, tears now going down his eyes.
Obi-Wan has to admit to feeling a throb in his chest but he cannot recognize it. The child, despite being a slave and lacking in education unlike the younglings in the Jedi Temple or those across the common galaxy, is smart for his age and would have been a wonderful Jedi. However, any possibility of that happening is low.
"May the Force be with you, Anakin," Obi-Wan replies, knowing that whatever words they exchange from here on out would be utterly useless.
The decoy walks up to him and wraps her arms around him, staring up briefly at him, and there is disgust as well as a deep sort of understanding in her eyes. They whisper words that Obi-Wan cannot discern, before the child follows behind her, granting him one last glare before the door to the palace closes.
"Knight Kenobi, it's time to leave," Master Windu says, his voice stoic as always.
"We made a big mistake," Obi-Wan mutters, still staring at the two doors. "What if the boy falls into the hands of the now returned Sith?"
"We would make sure that doesn't happen," Windu responds, still showing indifference which makes Kenobi feels nothing but disillusionment. "The child is a danger to himself, and his emotional attachments make it best that he is left here. At the very least, Skywalker wouldn't be returned to Tatooine and to a life of slavery and imprisonment."
The Jedi Master has a valid point. The fate of Anakin could have been worse from here, especially if the decision was made that he was to be escorted to Tatooine. No one would have protected him, and the slavers would only want more revenge for him daring to refuse their influence over him.
Being left here on Naboo may allow him to be granted a happier childhood. That is something someone as selfless and caring as Anakin deserves.
After a moment of internal battle, the newly founded Jedi Knight concedes and walks off. The time of celebration is over and now is the time for him to leave Naboo. His thoughts continue to dwell over the boy and he knows he won't be able to forget the boy of Tatooine.
