Ch. 8

Anakin pulled Padme through the dark streets of Tatooine, his hand gripped on the hilt of his light saber, ready to pull it out and fight at any time. Padme let the tears fall from her eyes, for the first time ever unsure of where her children were, if they were safe… if they were even alive, though Anakin's manner told her they were. She didn't know what Anakin's plan was, or what he was doing, but he seemed to have some idea, and so she followed, blindly, crying and stumbling through the streets behind the one person she knew she could trust in the galaxy.

Anakin searched for something, thought it was unclear what. His eyes raced back and forth in every direction, and his mind, unseen, probed the Force for feelings of disturbance, and for his children's' weak but existent Force signals. However, his frustrated grunts showed that he wasn't finding whatever it was he searched for. Something led him to Watto's shop, he was unsure what but he felt that it was the right place to go. He put his finger to his lips, telling Padme to be silent. Stealthily, he slipped into the back of the shop, leaving Padme near enough to sense at all times, just behind the door. He entered completely unnoticed, a true Jedi Master at work, and immediately saw an astonishing scene unfolding. In his native language, Watto was yelling at the boy, and, uncharacteristically, the boy was letting the tears fall from his face, showing his extreme vulnerability. It was the first time he had truly looked like a twelve-year-old boy, instead of one weary of life and hardened to the universe.

"How could you let this happen?" Watto spat at the boy.

"It's not my fault!" The boy yelled, defiance peeking through even this most vulnerable moment for him.

"Do you realize what this means? The Chancellor's children missing? Anakin Skywalker's children? You'll have the entire Jedi order and Republic after you, they'll throw you in jail, or kill you- but what's worse, I will be associated with this. I am responsible for you, and now you have brought this upon me. I want you to go, you have no home here, no work here, any more. And don't once mention my name to anyone you may encounter, or I will kill you." Watto slapped the boy hard, and the boy held his cheek, still crying.

"You don't understand-" The boy attempted again.

"I understand," Watto spat at him. "You'll use any means to get what you want, what you need- to keep yourself comfortable. Not thinking about who you put in danger… now look, we'll be held responsible for whatever happens to the Skywalker twins." Watto was fuming, fluttering madly around the store.

"No, There's no way to trace this to me, I-" Again he was cut off.

"The Jedi will find a way, I can promise you that."

"Why would I have even come to you if I did anything wrong?" The boy pleaded.

"I ought to just kill you now, and be done with the matter," Watto said, pondering the blaster he held in his hand. "You have disgraced the entire village…" He raised the blaster, and pointed it at the boy in front of him. Just as he was about to shoot, a light saber burst into the scene and cut the blaster out of his hand.

"This village was already disgraced, the second someone brought a slave to it," Anakin spat at his former owner. "Do not harm him."

"Surely you have discovered that your children are missing?" Watto said in a very harsh tone.

"Why should I not suspect you," Anakin spat, his eyes blazing with anger. Padme watched it all in incomprehensible silence- she didn't understand the language they were speaking, but she understood Anakin's tone, and though she knew it was for their children, it scared her. She just hoped that Anakin would not let his anger get the better of him, as he had come so close to doing so many times. "Get out of here!" Anakin yelled, his light saber ready to strike Watto, though he knew the creature wasn't to blame. Watto didn't hesitate to flutter away.

"Don't you ever come back to me," he yelled at the boy as he left.

The boy turned to Anakin, about to thank him, when the humming blade was at his throat.

"What did you do with them?" Anakin demanded, pulling on the boy's tunic with his hands. "Where are they?"

"Anakin!" Padme yelled. "Don't-"

"Let me handle this, Padme," Anakin spat, holding her back with the Force. "Where are they?" he asked the boy again, and the defiant glare was back in the boy's eyes.

"I didn't do it," spat the boy. "I knew I didn't like Jedi," he mumbled, as he tried to twist away from the weapon in front of him.

"You know something," Anakin told him, and it wasn't a question. "What happened to them?"

"It's not my fault!" the boy said again, holding his own will power strongly against the Jedi.

"It would be in your best interest," Anakin threatened, bringing his light saber closer to the boy's throat, "To tell me whatever you know."

"Leave me alone," the boy said. "You don't know nothin' about me. I might gamble and a might cheat, but I ain't no kidnapper and I wouldn't hurt those kids. Let me go!"

Anakin stared at the boy, and the boy stared just as intensely at Anakin. Anakin saw the sincerity in the boy's eyes, but he couldn't believe that he hadn't been involved. The boy knew something, and he wouldfind out, no matter what the cost.

"Anakin," Padme said again, more tenderly this time. "Please, don't do anything stupid."

Anakin turned to her, not loosening his grip on the boy. "He knows something, Padme," He said. "And I will find out what. This is our children we're talking about," he said, his eyes softening a bit, pleading with her. "We don't want to take any chances," he said more angrily, directing the last comment at the boy.

"You don't know that he knows anything, Anakin. He's just a child," she said, tears streaming down her face. She saw the boy give her a pleading look of thanks, and more than ever he looked very young and scared.

Anakin turned back to the boy in front of him. He glared once again into the boys eyes, then angrily threw him to the ground, sighing. "Let's go then," he said to Padme. "I'm not going to just wait around so that they can be taken farther and farther away."

"What about him?" Padme asked, but Anakin's intensity told her to forget it. She sighed, and walked out. Anakin looked back at the boy, this time with a look of compassion and remorse, and they locked gazes for several seconds. The boy saw, surprisingly, tears fill the eyes of the Jedi Master in front of him. As this happened, Anakin turned quickly and stormed out of the shop.

Anakin grabbed Padme's hand, and this time the two ventured more slowly out into the night to find their children.

"Wait," they heard a small but determined voice say from behind them. They turned, and the boy, covered in sand and blood, with tears in his eyes, stared at them with a seriousness far beyond his years. "I can help you," he said resignedly.

He approached them cautiously, eyeing Anakin's hand as it traveled dangerously close to his light saber. Padme's hand was quick to intertwine with her husband's, preventing it from completing its path to the light saber. She put her arm around the boy's shoulder, and smiled at him. However, he shook it off, again with a look of rebelliousness- though it had softened since the first time they saw it.

"First things first, I ain't guilty," he said, staring both at Anakin and Padme, in turn, to make sure they understood. "So don't go pointing that thing at me again," he said, eyeing Anakin's light saber.

"If you aren't guilty," Anakin said angrily, with Padme restraining him. "Why would you run away and not tell us that something was wrong?"

"Look, I don't have to explain myself to you," the boy said. "Do you want my help or not?"

"Those who are innocent never flee," Anakin recited an old Jedi proverb, challenging the boy as if they were equals, ignoring Padme's warning look at him.

"I didn't do it!" The boy yelled, staring straight at Anakin, and Anakin grabbed him again, unable to contain himself.

"Anakin!" Padme screamed, but it was no use.

"Why did you run?" Anakin demanded again, glaring. The boy struggled intensely to get away, but finally responded contentiously.

"I was trying to help them," he spat, then looked down, hoping with all his heart that Master Skywalker would feel great remorse for having suspected him, as he should. Anakin immediately loosened his grip, seeing the utter sincerity in the boy's eyes. The issue hadn't been of guilt, but of pride. The boy, who fancied himself so tough and indestructible, had been reluctant to admit that he had felt compassion for the children. Still, Anakin was angry that he hadn't told them.

"Why wouldn't you wake us up?" He asked, still obviously upset. "Why would you try to keep it from us?"

"I thought…" the boy began, glaring at him again. "I thought I could catch them myself, and get them back without you knowing, because…because I didn't want you to find out, see…"

"You are involved, aren't you?" Anakin asked, again livid.

"No!" The boy said immediately, again glaring at him. "But… See, what I do at night is I gamble, play Sabaac and stuff like that… I'm real good at it, and I win… sometimes, though, when you get a couple drinks in you, you start to talk to the people you're playing, right… and I uh, I may have let it slide that your family was at my house, and uh… well I was playin' a real shady creature, hood up and all, and I'm kinda afraid he's the one who took your kids- he seemed real interested in them. But it ain't my fault." He said stubbornly.

"You gamble and drink at your age?" Padme asked, trying to contain her impulse to give this boy a hug. She couldn't imagine the kind of life he'd had to lead him to this.

"Like I said, I'm much more mature than my age. You have to be, living like me. I just do what I have to do to get by, ok? Look, I thought he was just some local guy, maybe he wanted a ransom or something, and I'm pretty tough, especially with the locals, 'cuz I'm not from around here… anyway, I thought I could catch him and get them back easy, then no one would have to know I'd let some information like that slide. But when I ran after them, there were a bunch of 'em, and they took off across the desert in speeders. And that's all I know…" He paused, looking at them sincerely. "I'm sorry, really I am. But I ain't guilty, all right?"

They paused, staring at this boy in front of them who had seen and experienced so much for his very young age- both Anakin and Padme couldn't help but feel sadness for him, but still, he had been very irresponsible. Of course, what could you expect from a twelve year old, but to be manipulated by the scum found in the bars of Tatooine…

"You should have told us," Anakin said. "I could have stopped them."

"I know," was all the boy said, and Anakin could tell he meant it.

"Do you know where they were going?" Asked a very worried Padme.

"I think," the boy said. "I'm not sure now, but, I think they were taking them to the Hutts…" Anakin and Padme stared at each other- this was bad. The Hutts were not exactly compassionate beings, even with children- especially with children, in fact, because children were of no use to them.

"Well then, that's where we'll go," Anakin stated.

"If you have a way to get there, I can take you as far as Jabba's palace on Tatooine. But if you're going further into Hutt Space, I want passage into the core. I can't go gettin' involved, or anything." However, his last statement didn't have the confidence the rest of his comments held- they could tell he had nowhere to go, and Anakin knew that getting involved certainly wasn't the worst thing the boy could think of.

"I know the way," Anakin said, and somehow all three understood that this had more meaning than Anakin had intended.

Without a word, all three were soon aboard Anakin and Padme's ship, preparing to fly across the planet to Jabba's palace. The boy watched in awe as Anakin flew the ship, amazed at how well the Jedi Master could fly, especially just above the ground like this. Padme brought a blanket and some food to the boy, who ate it ravenously, still staring as Anakin flew.

"We could use you, you know," Anakin said, sensing the boy's interest in him. "Where else do you have to go?"

"I keep to myself, all right?" The boy said, though his voice wavered.

"You're just twelve," Padme said, compassionately. "We can help you, you must have parents somewhere…"
"None," The boy said, closing the matter.

"Then why not help us?" Anakin asked him, and the boy gave no answer. "We can take care of you…"

"I don't need to be taken care of," the boy retorted, sitting stubbornly with his arms across his chest. The matter was left to rest for now, and no one spoke. Padme let silent tears streak down her face, desperately hoping they would find the children soon, and that they would be all right. She approached Anakin, and he gave her a hug, though it wasn't reassuring- she could tell that Anakin was as worried as she was.

"We willfind them," he told her, and finally they put the ship back on the ground a few hundred meters from Jabba's palace.

"Do you know how to use a blaster?" Anakin asked the boy.

"Anakin, he's twelve!" Padme protested.

"Yes," said the boy. "I have to defend myself, you know."
"Take these," Anakin said, giving each of them a blaster, "and stay here. If anythingout of the ordinary happens, send a message to my comlink and to Coruscant, and then hide."

With a goodbye kiss to Padme, and reassurance that he would find the twins and be back soon, Anakin was gone, running across the sand to sneak into Jabba's palace and search for his children.