It's not the first time Anakin's been to a planet with ninety percent of its population being humans, but it certainly shocks him all the same. It's almost intimidating, staring out at a sea of people who all look so similar to each other. If Anakin were anything but human himself, he would likely go for a whole different disguise.
And a second later, Anakin realizes that this mission just got harder. How is he supposed to find a Twi'lek here? No doubt, Elem will be hiding. She might've changed her name as well. And while people would be more likely to notice another race passing through, he doesn't doubt Elem went to extra measures to make sure no one spotted her. Or her smuggler.
"C5, keep an eye out." Anakin mutters before they start walking out of the public transport center. The droid deeps as it rolls beside him, close enough to not get lost but far enough to not make Anakin trip over him -something C5 used to do often. They pass through crowds of people, Anakin keeping his head tilted down. He looks like any other poor refugee walking out of the station and his cover story will explain the N-1 starfighter. But past that, Anakin doesn't have much of a plan.
It's in times like these that he wishes he weren't alone. He did play off of Kenobi's ideas well, back in the war.
Anakin shakes the thought away before it can pull at him. He reminds himself of fire and lies. He doesn't trust Kenobi anymore and wishing about the past will only get him killed.
Walking down to a more populated area, Anakin finds that it reminds him quite a bit of Coruscant. The airways traveling overhead, people walking back and forth in crowds. And the occasional whiff of deathsticks brings him to the lower levels of the cities. Bakura must've been a developing planet before the Republic fell. Even as it stands, it's a marvel compared to the other planets out here.
C5 whistles and Anakin turns his head, following his droid's line of sight. He spots a shop wedged between two others with the title "La'seti's Sweets". Years prior, Anakin might've questioned his droid's sense or snapped something about not getting distracted on the job. But now? Now, Anakin knows C5 spotted something.
With a subtle turn, Anakin starts for the shop, his head still down as he walks. He doesn't stop until he's pushing through the door and the smell of sugary sweets hits him like a wall. It's almost sickening and the various containers displayed high on every wall is dizzying. What is the point in having so much candy? It's certainly not healthy for humans and any parent would be unfortunate to come here with a child.
Best not let Luke know he was here.
"Can I help you?" Anakin turns to the shopkeeper, not surprised to find a human woman standing there. Her hair is unusually long, reaching down to her hips even as they're tied in braids and looped back into her bun. A hairstyle Padm-
Anakin has to close his eyes before he can finish the name. For once, he's glad he can no longer cry.
The vocoder takes the waver from his voice as he speaks. "I was looking for...a gift." He says, suddenly unsure of why C5 pointed them in this direction.
"Well, you've come to the right place." The woman beams and as soon as she turns her back to them, Anakin looks down at his droid. C5's cone head turns from side to side, scanning over the area until it stops on one side of the wall. Anakin stares at it for a long moment, looking for any differences in the structure, but he comes up short. What is C5 seeing? "-and the chocolates are a personal favorite, of course." Anakin turns back to the shopkeeper. "So, what will your pick be?"
Looking over the walls of candies, Anakin feels himself quickly becoming overwhelmed at the different options. It's not like he's buying any -if he can help it- but in order to keep her distracted, he'll have to look like he wants to. With a long hum, Anakin points to a random display. "What flavors do those come in?"
"A great choice! They come in apple, bellfruit-" She goes on, pulling up a very long ladder that she starts to climb up to reach the container.
C5 starts for the spot he was looking at and makes a quiet beep. The droid taps at a display full of gummies with his hydrospanner, whistling expectantly, but Anakin doesn't move. Instead, he looks up at the woman and waves his hand just below his cape. "You will forget the candies." He speaks just loud enough for her to hear. He's not sure it'll work. He doesn't know what kind of person she is or if she'll recognize the mind trick, but he certainly hopes she doesn't.
"I will forget the candies." She repeats in a daze, slowly descending the ladder until she's standing in front of him.
"You will show me what's special about that display." He tries again, following her to where C5 is waiting.
"I will show you what's special about this display." She takes the top off of it and reaches her fingers all the way to the bottom, shoving gummies to the sides. Then, with a soft click, the wall opens and she backs away.
Anakin stares at the new opening, genuinely surprised C5 was able to catch this at all. Maybe it was his thermal settings? He can't be sure, but he's grateful either way. With one last wave, Anakin gives a final command. "You will forget we were here." And with that, he squeezes through the entrance, only closing it once C5 has made it through.
It's dark, more so than he expected, but Anakin hardly has time to adjust before an arm wraps around his throat, pulling him back. His training kicks in immedelity and he throws the body over his shoulder. A groan echoes through the air, but Anakin is quickly on top of them, finding smooth wrists and pinning them to the ground. He shifts so he can hold both of the creature's wrists with one hand, then pats them down for weapons.
A blaster and three knives. Huh.
"Who are you?!" Anakin snaps as he tries to make out the person's features. They look human enough. Slender, but he's not sure if it's due to starvation or a feminine frame.
"E chu ta!" A woman's voice hisses back, giving Anakin his answer.
"In basic!" He shouts back, his grip tightening until the creature gasps. "Tell me or I'll kill you with your own blaster!"
He isn't expecting the woman to suddenly kick off the wall, nor does he expect her to elbow him in the face. It lands on his vocoder but the pain still delivers as he's knocked to the side. A heavy weight lands on his stomach, knocking the air from his fragile lungs, but Anakin's present enough to grab the ankle and pull the woman down with him. She lands with a thud and he quickly stands.
This isn't good. He's not sure if his vocoder is broken or if he's just starting to recover his breath, but it needs to be solved quickly. His head thunders from the earlier blow and he can feel hot blood crawl along the line of his mask. He's supposed to be better than this. No one gets the jump on Actis.
The woman tries to kick his legs out from under him, but she screams when her organic limb meets his metal one. It rings sharply and the momentary pause gives him enough time to pull out his blaster and set it to stun, aiming it directly at his attacker. He hesitates for just a moment, finally able to breathe properly. "Don't make me kill you!"
"Stop!" A heavily accented voice shouts back, hands suddenly flying upward in surrender. "Stop! I...how did you find this place?"
C5 beeps and Anakin's reminded that his droid was there the whole time, likely just watching the fight happen. R2 would've stepped in, but C5 also doesn't have a taser.
"I'm looking for Elem Jifo!" He says instead of answering.
The woman's face, which is just barely visible behind her hood, snarls at him. He notices that she's bleeding too but it's the color of said blood that tips him off. A deep royal blue liquid drops to the floor. Anakin sighs with a curse, then puts his blaster away. Of course this had to be their first introduction.
"You're Elem." He states it simply.
"I don't respond to that name anymore!" She wipes at her blood, her eyes still burning with anger. "You work for that slime ball! I'm not going back! Kill me if you want!"
Anakin kneels down but stays well out of her reach. "I'm not taking you back. In fact, I wanted to ask you how you managed to escape." Elem doesn't answer, obviously not believing him. At least he planned for this. "I was a slave myself until I was bought into freedom. I want the same for the rest of us, but I can't do that without your knowledge...please."
Elem's eyes widen slightly, but the disbelief doesn't quite clear. "You...that's impossible. You can't free them. No one can."
"But you escaped. That's hope enough, isn't it?"
She laughs mockingly. "I nearly died cutting the bombs from under my skin. I don't imagine the others will be so lucky."
Anakin rubs at the line of his vocoder, wincing at the cut he grazes. Kriff, she's good. A better fighter than most lower hunters he's met. It gives him an idea. "Elem-"
"I'm Fiolla now!"
"...Fiolla. I've gathered a good number of allies within Jabba's direct circle. No one likes the Hutts and we're all about ready to see them die off, but I can't do that without you. You hold secrets I don't and if you can help me, then those who suffered beside you will be free. Don't you want that?" Anakin remembers dreaming of this his whole life. Out of all the other children Anakin knew as a boy, he was the only one to gain freedom. Kitster worked in Mos Espa's biggest cantina and Wald got moved to Anchorhead.
Fiolla just shakes her head. "I gave up on them a long time ago. I've accepted that it's either them or me. And I chose me."
Anakin stares at her, a rush of anger mixing with surprise. "So that's it? You don't care if Jabba stays in power? Let the rest of the slaves die-off?!"
"That's not what I said!" She sits forward, then winces. He thinks of apologizing for the attack, but decides against it. "I'd love to see the Hutts get what they deserve, but it's simply not possible. They're smart, smarter than you. Gangsters like them don't keep this much power off of pure luck and connections. And even if you round up every single slave he owns, you still won't win. You can't deactivate all of their chips before he notices."
This time, he has an argument. "You're wrong." He smiles at the shock that crosses her face. "I have a plan to deactivate every single bomb all at once. But in order to do that, I know where they are. You found yours and cut them out. How did you do it?"
Every slave is different. His weren't in the same place as his mother, nor anyone else's. It's all by design, to keep them weak. Afraid.
Fiolla licks at her bloody lip, then moves her hands upward. He tenses, ready to draw his weapon again if he needs, but she doesn't attack. Instead, she slowly pulls her hood down, exposing the back of her head. Where twin lekku once hung are now stubs, just like Anakin's limbs. One is shorter than the other, the brain stem clipped just barely. His eyes widen with the realization. How is she standing? How is she talking? She cut off a part of her brain!
"I found a half-finished scanner and hid it from Jabba. After a little bit of meddling, I managed to get the karking thing to work and it told me I had three bombs. Here," She points to her left leg, which is covered by her boots. "Here," She moves to a scar on her collar bone, where it seems to have healed improperly after a break. "And here." Finally, she points to the back of her lekku. "I cut them out and ran with whatever I could find. Thankfully, I had some help, but this is as good as I'll get. I paint myself every day to look human and even still, Sleemos like you manage to find me!"
He can't say he feels bad about finding her, but he does hold a new respect for her achievement. Anakin's not sure if he could cut his own brain stem in order to get freedom. His younger self certainly wouldn't have.
Maybe that's why he fell for the Jedi lies, and then Darth Sidisous' on top of that. Maybe he never had what it really takes to be free.
"Do you still have the scanner?" His voice rings too loud in his ears.
Fiolla nods. "It's in the back. All I own is in that bag, so if it's not there, then it's gone." Anakin stands and makes his way to the opposite end of the room. There's a small pad laid out as a bed. Aside from that, there's nothing but an old crate and a backpack. It certainly doesn't look like home, but then again, that's not what home is about. Tatooine is only considered home because Luke -and his siblings- are there. Coruscant was only home because of Kenobi, Ahsoka, and...her.
He finds the scanner quickly enough but pauses when he recognizes the design. It's the one he made before Qui-Gon Jinn won him from Watto. He never finished it, but let his mother keep it. She must've...well, done something to land this in Fiolla's lap. Standing again, Anakin returns to where the Twi'lek woman is sitting. Again, he thinks of apologizing. He's not sure what severing her brain stem has done to her, but it can't be easy to get kicked around like that.
He shrugs it off once again. "Who smuggled you out?" He wonders, if by some odd chance, it's Greedo. Wouldn't that be funny? That's the one person he went to for answers and he got little out of it. It doesn't feel like something Greedo would do, though. He liked his money too much to risk escorting an escaped slave from the palace.
"Are you going to beat him up too?" Anakin hears Fiolla mutter, but when he doesn't respond, she sighs. "A Kubaz named Garindan. He'll be coming back in a week or so to give me supplies. If you stick around, you'll probably catch him."
A whole week on Bakura? It sounds like a sure way to get caught. But Jabba didn't give him a time stamp and Anakin's just about run out of patience with the slug. So, he starts on the second half of his proposal. "I'm not just stopping at killing the Hutts, you know." Fiolla looks up at him suspiciously. "I want Tatooine to have a new government. A democracy that will prevent anyone like the Hutts from coming back. We'll be a part of the senate." And through the senate, he can focus on taking on Sidious. Though, that's an ambition he still has hesitation about. Unlike the Hutts, Sidious is a powerful sith and Anakin can't easily hide from him.
Not even Vader would've been powerful enough.
"A democracy?" Fiolla almost laughs, but then she actually starts thinking about it. "Huh. Didn't work so well for the Republic."
"The Republic was corrupt!" Anakin snaps. Good senators poured their hearts and souls into their work, only for others to twist their words and start a war. He should've seen that when they agreed to use clones in battle. Clones, who they saw as nothing better than the enemy droids. Clones who, because they looked alike, held no worth.
Anakin lost good men because of the Republic's arrogance. A lot of good men.
"Fine. Who do you plan to elect then? Yourself?"
He scoffs at the idea. "Of course not me. I can perform a coup, but I'm no political leader." He may regret never actually learning about how it works, for how many senators he was friends with, but it was all too boring. And it still is. He'd much rather assassinate a leader than sit in a conference room and debate with them.
She was better at that.
"No." Anakin continues. "I want you to be the new representative." Fiolla's eyes go wide. "I know someone who can teach you how to do it. Someone I trust will do Tatooine justice." Which is...another part of the plan he has yet to initiate. Kriff. He should've done that first, huh.
"Me?!" Fiolla stands now, a wince still crossing her face as she leans against her left leg. If that's the one she kicked him with, then it'll probably be bruised all week. "I'm...no. No way! I'm not a leader!"
"You could be."
"I'm selfish! If I were a leader, I would've freed every slave instead of just myself! You don't want me."
"Then who else?" That stops her. "Fiolla, you understand these people better than most. You lived their lives and who better than you to make them better? You still care, that much I can tell, but you were powerless to help them." He takes her hand and she flinches from his touch, but he doesn't let go. "Fiolla, they need you. Tatooine can be more than a hellish planet. Support the moisture farms, eliminate the raiders. Free our people."
Fiolla shakes her head violently, her teeth grinding together as she tries to pull away, but after her protests die out, she starts to cry. "I...I want to help but..."
"I'll support you. My allies will help you into office. We can change Tatooine."
"I'm so broken..."
"They need someone like you to lead them. They need to know you understand." Only a slave can understand what it's like.
Fiolla swallows hard, makeup running down her cheeks to expose dark green skin. "I...you promise this will work?"
He answers without question. "I promise."
Finally, the Twi'lek nods. It's just slight at first, then grows with her determination. She pulls away -he lets her this time- and she wipes at her tears. When their eyes meet, he can see a strong leader just waiting to take her position. He made the right choice coming to her. "I'll do it."
"Thank you." Anakin nods in respect, then taps C5's head. A com device pops out of a socket and he hands it to Fiolla. "Contact me when Garindan shows. I have to see someone about training you. Okay?"
"Okay." Fiolla's still wiping at her face, a slight frown crossing her lips as she looks at the ruined makeup.
He hopes this next part works. Because if it doesn't, then they'll be building a new government on nothing but hope; and as nice as that sounds, it's dangerous. There are still so many slavers on Tatooine and if something were to go wrong, Fiolla would be thrown to the Rancor.
He can't let that happen.
"Don't forget to contact me, okay? I'll come back." He waits for one last confirmation before he leaves the hidden room, careful to make sure no one sees him leaving.
Now, he has to grab green paint for Luke. And after that, he'll drop by Alderaan for a visit with Bail Organa.
I have so many one-shot ideas that it's difficult to focus on a linear story, but I really like how this chapter came out.