"What if this plan fails, Master?" Obi-Wan asked. "We could be stuck here a very long time."
"Well it's too dangerous to call for help. A ship without a power supply isn't going to get us anywhere. And, there's something about this boy..." Qui-Gon trailed off.
Obi-Wan, ever the perceptive Padawan, picked up on his Master's tone. "Something else, Master?"
Qui-Gon sighed, brow furrowed in thought. "Have you ever heard of a Padawan by the name of Sienna Retrograde? Human girl, about your age, perhaps a few years younger?"
A pause, as Obi-Wan searched his memories. "I don't think so. But I don't know every Padawan in the Order. Why do you ask?"
"There's a girl here of that description. She calls herself a Padawan, but she hides her Jedi status from me. She doesn't know that I know- I overheard her speaking with Shmi. And she has been training the boy in the ways of the Force."
"But that doesn't make sense," Obi-Wan said, and Qui-Gon could practically hear his frown, "what would a Padawan be doing all alone on Tatooine? I suppose she could be on a solo mission, she could be a senior Padawan like I am. But why would she hide that from you? And it's forbidden to teach outsiders our ways."
"It doesn't make sense," Qui-Gon agreed. "I hope to have a chance to speak with her later, find some answers." He sensed Shmi approaching and decided it would be best to wrap up the conversation. "I'll contact you when I have news."
"Good luck, Master. May the Force be with you."
"You as well, Padawan mine."
Shmi walked out onto the balcony just as Qui-Gon tucked the communicator into his belt. She offered a smile in greeting, and he smiled back, shifting to make more room for the both of them.
"You should be very proud of your son," he said, "he gives without any thought of reward."
"Well he knows nothing of greed," Shmi said softly. "I have tried to teach him to be kind and generous, to keep his heart warm despite the troubles of our lives. And sometimes, he teaches me. Like today." She looked out at Anakin tinkering with his speeder, the two droids with him. He was bent beside the back of the pod, checking something underneath the cockpit. The sight tugged at her lips, softening and widening her smile.
"I worry about him, like any mother. But he has always come back from his races with a grin on his face and nothing worse than a knocked tooth. It scares me to death, but he loves it. Racing makes him feel like he is his own person. And I can't fault him for that. It's a miracle, how he avoids the worst. It seems like someone dies in each race, or at least is badly injured. But never Ani. And for that I am thankful."
"He has special powers," Qui-Gon commented. It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact, and Qui-Gon watched Shmi curiously to see how she would react to it.
Shmi glanced up, and nodded. "Yes."
"He can see things before they happen," Qui-Gon continued, turning to look back at Anakin, "That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It's a Jedi trait."
Shmi nodded again. This she knew. Sienna had explained the Force and many of its workings to the Skywalkers as best she could.
"He deserves better than a slave's life," Shmi said softly.
She had once dared to ask Sienna if she would take Anakin back with her, to her planet, to her Jedi. The girl had shaken her head sadly. "I've thought about it, but it isn't the will of the Force for me to take him with me. Few Jedi are brought to our Order from other Times. Most are from our own planet and time, or else things can get rather... messy." The girl had looked up at her with sincerity and a hint of sorrow in her eyes. "I'm sorry."
Shmi had nodded in understanding, did her best to hide her disappointment, and had not asked again.
"Had he been born in the Republic we would have identified him early," Qui-Gon commented, "The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who was his father?"
Shmi hesitated. "There was no father."
Qui-Gon concealed his surprise with a slow glance up and away, taking in the statement. No father?
"I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him," Shmi looked away, and then back at Qui-Gon, willing him to understand, to not call her a liar. "I can't explain what happened."
Qui-Gon considered this. The prophecy of the One who would bring balance to the Force spoke of a boy conceived purely of the Force. Could this be that boy?
"Can you help him?" Shmi asked, cutting into his thoughts. Sienna couldn't bring Anakin to her Order, which existed in an entirely different plane of existence. But Qui-Gon's Order existed here and now. Maybe there was hope.
"I don't know," Qui-Gon said. He looked out at Anakin working on the pod, and then back at Shmi. "I didn't actually come here to free slaves."
Shmi met his gaze, and then turned back to watch her son as his friends came to visit him. Her disappointment seeped into the Force, but she still held onto a shred of hope. Qui-Gon had not given a hard 'no', which meant there was still a small chance of a 'yes.' And if Anakin won the race and Qui-Gon couldn't free him, perhaps she could convince the Jedi to give her some of the leftover winnings to add to her savings for Anakin's freedom. Her entire life in slavery she had hidden away every spare wupiupi, hoping against all odds that she would be able to save up enough. When Anakin had been born she knew she would never have enough for both of them, but if her boy could be free, that was all that mattered.
He deserved better.
"What of the girl?" Qui-Gon asked after a moment of silence. "Who is she? Where does she come from?"
"Sienna? She's a kind girl. She showed up here a year ago, lost in the desert, and stumbled into Ani. She helped him drag a pod back to Watto, and he brought her home for dinner." Shmi smiled at the memory. "She's been around ever since. She's part of the family at this point."
"Anakin seems to think she is a Jedi Padawan," Qui-Gon said. It was true, technically, though Anakin had never told him so. But he couldn't say that he had eavesdropped on the conversation in the kitchen, nor that he had heard Anakin speaking with Sienna through the Force.
A beat passed. "Yes," Shmi agreed hesitantly, "that is true."
"That Anakin believes it, or that she is a Jedi?"
Shmi chuckled. "You can't be fooled, can you?"
"A Jedi is not easily fooled, if his senses are sharp," Qui-Gon returned with a smile.
"Yes to both. She is a Jedi Padawan, and Anakin probably knows more about her than I do. He loves listening to her stories."
"I am surprised to find a Padawan out here all alone. She can't be more than what, twenty standard years? You said she was lost in the desert?"
"She's twenty-one," Shmi corrected gently, "And as for her story, you will have to ask her yourself. It is not mine to tell, and to be honest I don't really understand much of it. The things she speaks of are beyond my imagination."
"Understood," Qui-Gon said, "I'll have to speak with her when she returns."
They lapsed into silence again, watching Ani tinker, each lost in their own thoughts.
The deliveries to the moisture farms went smoothly, and Sienna made it back an hour before first sunset. She dropped off her speeder at her own apartment, making her way to the Skywalker's dwelling on foot. She spent so much time each day on a speeder, it was nice to just walk. Besides, she wasn't in any kind of hurry. There were still a couple of hours before Anakin's bedtime.
When she arrived at the Skywalker's place, Anakin grabbed her hand and dragged her over to his pod racer. "I finally finished it! And it works!"
"That's great!" Sienna said, smiling at the boy's enthusiasm. He had been working on it for years, and its completion was something Sienna was glad she had the opportunity to see. She circled the pod, checking it over, prodding at wires and testing bolts but knowing she would find no fault. Anakin truly was a gifted mechanic. Her fingers stilled on a swoosh of paint, the Galactic Basic symbol for the number five. She had told Anakin about her alias. Apparently, he had seen fit to add a piece of her to the pod.
"Do you like it?" He asked, the Force around him bubbling with excitement and a bit of nervousness. He bounced on his toes and fidgeted with his hands, staring up at her with bright blue eyes.
"I love it. It gets the Sienna Retrograde Stamp of Approval." She made a fist and mimed stamping a sticker on the side of the pod.
"Yippee!" Anakin was positively beaming. "I'm gonna win the race tomorrow. I can feel it."
"I think you will," Sienna said, and she meant it. She could feel something stirring in the Force, something important. Tomorrow would be a big deal. "Just remember to trust the Force, like I've taught you."
"I will. Are we gonna train now? You said last week that you'd let me try your lightsaber this time. Your real one, not a training stick."
"I did, didn't I." She looked around, trying to think of a place that would be safe for lightsaber practice. Training with a stick was innocent enough, nothing that would draw attention. But a lightsaber would definitely turn heads, and Sienna didn't want to create any suspicion in the community. That was the main reason she had held off on training him with one for as long as possible. "Why don't we go over to those rock formations and train there. That's far enough away that no one will stumble into us."
Anakin nodded eagerly. "I'll go tell mom we're going." He dashed up the steps, calling for his mother, and disappeared into the house. Only a minute later he was running back out again. "She says we have to be back by second sunset."
"Sounds good. Come on, I'll race you there."
The boy grinned. "3, 2, 1, go!" He tore off across the sand.
Sienna jogged after him, fully aware that she could best him in a race given her height advantage, training, and ability to use the Force to give her a boost. But instead she stayed just behind him, right on his heels, swiping playfully at his messy hair, and he shrieked and pushed himself to move faster, unconsciously calling on the Force to lend him more speed. She made a mental note to start teaching him how to control that.
"I win!" He high-fived the rock, and turned to stick his tongue out at Sienna.
She laughed. "Alright, speeder boy. Keep doing that and you'll get mistaken for a Gungan."
She had politely inquired about Jar Jar, and learned that that was what his species was called.
Anakin sucked his tongue back into his mouth and scrunched his face in a mock scowl for about half a second before his expression brightened again. "Can I see your lightsaber now?"
"First we have to check to make sure no one is watching. Close your eyes."
Anakin sighed impatiently, but did as he was told.
"Now reach out in the Force. Try to sense what's around you. Tell me what you see."
Silently, Sienna moved to the side.
"Um, I see rocks. And, hey, you moved." He turned around so he was facing her, eyes still closed. "Um, that's all I can sense."
"Good. You can open your eyes."
"Did I get it right?"
"Yes, you could sense where I was, which is great. I did a scan too, there's no one around. We can start."
Anakin watched eagerly as Sienna pulled her lightsaber out of its hiding place in one of her blaster holsters. He tracked her movements, eyes glued to the 'saber as she began to explain its different parts.
"This is the switch to turn it on. And this dial adjusts the length of the blade." She flicked the switch, and then twisted the dial up and down, showing Anakin how the blade changed. "It's important that the blade is the right length for your height, or else it will be hard for you to use it. There's also a heat dial. That changes how much damage the blade can do. Right now I have it all the way up at the normal combat setting. I can cut right through a rock." She demonstrated by picking up a fist sized stone, levitating it, and cutting through it with her saber.
Anakin's eyes went wide, mouth opening slightly in awe. That was so cool.
"This setting is dangerous because it can also cut right through a person. But if I turn it down, it will just cause a light burn. See, now it can't cut the rock."
Anakin frowned at the unimpressive burn mark. The cut rock was way cooler. "Why would you ever have it on low? What's the point?"
Sienna snorted. "The point is to not cut anyone's limbs off accidentally, brat. It's the setting we train with."
"Oh. That makes sense I guess. Can I hold it now?" He was bouncing again, buzzing with anticipation.
Sienna adjusted the settings, turned it off, and held the hilt in her open palm. "Here. Pick it up."
Anakin gently picked up the hilt, holding it between both hands reverently, gazing at it as if it was the most fascinating and precious item in the world. He titled and turned it, looking at the various buttons and dials, and he ran his fingers along the seams, trying to construct a mental schematic of the weapon. He wondered what allowed it to make such a focused beam of energy. "Can I turn it on?"
"Hold it like this," she adjusted his grip, "Ok, now flick the switch."
Anakin pressed the button with his thumb and the gold blade leapt out, buzzing cheerfully.
Hello! It called in greeting.
He waved it around, doing a few experimental swings. "Wizard."
Sienna smiled. She wondered briefly if that is how she had looked when she first held a lightsaber- all wide eyes and awe and thrill. "Remember the stances I taught you with the sticks? Try that with the lightsaber."
With Sienna's guidance, Anakin moved through the basic stances. He caught on quick, and soon was moving through them with the fluidity of an average youngling, not a boy who had never used a lightsaber. Sienna levitated a few small rocks and had Anakin swing at them, correcting his grip and stances. When he could do that with relative ease, she drew the rocks to herself and let them fall into her palms.
"Good. Now, try and practice deflecting."
She tossed one at him, and he swung the lightsaber.
"Ow!" The rock bounced off Anakin's forehead.
"Focus, Ani," Sienna said.
"I'm trying," he lowered the blade, rubbing the spot. It probably wouldn't even leave a bump, Sienna had been gentle, but it still stung a bit. "I can't see it, the lightsaber is too bright."
"Use the Force, not your eyes."
Anakin sighed, but lifted the 'saber again.
"Close your eyes."
He frowned, but did as instructed.
Sienna tossed another rock. This time, Anakin hit it, and the stone fell to the ground with a small singed mark.
Anakin's eyes sprang open, lighting up with pride. "I did it!"
"Good job! But stay focused." She tossed another rock at him.
He hit that one too. Sienna could feel his rising excitement in the Force as he succeeded in hitting several rocks in a row without missing any. And then he missed one, and it glanced off his shoulder.
"Focus," Sienna said again, "You got excited, and that distracted you. Stay focused on the present, on what you're doing. You can be proud of your accomplishment after."
Anakin grumbled, but Sienna felt him try to re-center himself. They continued.
They spent the rest of their training time like this, Sienna tossing rocks at Anakin and him having to sense and deflect them. The exercise had a couple of purposes. It fulfilled Anakin's eagerness to learn how to use a lightsaber, but more than that it trained him in focusing on and trusting in the Force to alert him to obstacles and dangers. That was the skill he truly needed. He would never have a lightsaber of his own if he wasn't a Jedi, but expanding his senses and keeping his mind focused were crucial skills.
Especially for tomorrow's race.
Anakin had a tendency to be impatient and was quick to grow irritated. But he also had a great potential for focus and patience, as evidenced by the time and care he had spent building his pod racer. The trick would be getting him to be patient in things besides tinkering. He was still just a child, and outbursts and lack of control were to be expected to some extent. Sienna by no means faulted him for that. Heck, she could be impatient herself. But if she could help him find his focus, that would serve him well throughout his life.
"I think that's enough for tonight. Good job," she praised as he powered down the lightsaber.
Anakin grinned, wiping sweat from his eyes with his sleeve. "Lightsabers are fun. And hard."
Sienna laughed. She held out her hand for the hilt, and he passed it to her somewhat reluctantly. "They are. You did pretty well, for your first time training with one."
The boy beamed, soaking up the praise. "You're a pretty good teacher."
"That she is."
Sienna whirled, instinctively placing herself between Anakin and whomever had spoken, tilting her 'saber to a ready position and resting her other hand lightly on her blaster.
Qui-Gon Jinn raised an eyebrow as he approached. "But perhaps she should practice what she teaches."
Sienna relaxed a fraction upon seeing it was just the older Jedi, but she didn't clip her 'saber back to her belt. He was right, she should have sensed him coming. Though she told Anakin to focus and listen to the Force, she herself had been too distracted teaching him to notice Qui-Gon.
"How long have you been watching?" She asked.
"Not too long," he said. His arms were casually crossed under his poncho. "Don't worry, Padawan, your senses are not so dim that you missed me in your original sweep. And I admit I was shielding myself as I approached." He turned to Anakin. "Your mother would like you to come finish your chores before dinner."
The boy groaned, but started off across the short stretch of sand that separated the stones from the dwellings. He waved to the pair of Jedi, who nodded and smiled in acknowledgement.
"I take it you want to talk to me," Sienna said once Anakin was halfway home.
"Indeed I do." Qui-Gon's tone held no malice, just serene curiosity. He sat down on one of the boulders, and gestured for Sienna to do the same.
She did, and sitting across from him with about six feet of space between them, she waited for him to speak first.
They sat in silence for a while. The Force rolled lazily around them, offering no suggestions but also no warnings. It simply waited, as Sienna did, for Qui-Gon to speak. She could feel his many questions. They swirled in his presence like curious minnows, dipping on the currents of the Force. She got the impression that he was meditating on which question to ask first, and searching her Force-signature for any clues it could give.
"You are not of my Order," he spoke at last.
Sienna almost rolled her eyes. Apparently he had chosen to start with the glaringly obvious. "No."
"Then why do you call yourself a Jedi, and wield a Jedi's weapon?"
"Because I am a Jedi."
Qui-Gon frowned at that. "Any being is free to leave the Order at any time," he said slowly, "but they are not permitted to claim continued affiliation with the Order, nor to train others in our ways."
It was Sienna's turn to frown, but hers was at the slight reprimand in his tone and the implications of his words. "You think I'm a Lost Padawan? Someone who turned away from the Order?"
She found herself offended by that assumption. She would never in a million years abandon her Order, her home, her family. She felt Qui-Gon's surprise at her words.
"Are you not?"
"No."
"Then how do you know so much of our ways? You wield a lightsaber, and from your instruction of Anakin I can see that you know at least the basics of the Forms. Your control and connection to the Force evidences formal training of your own. If you are not a member of the Order, and are not a wayward Padawan, what are you? The only other reasonable conclusion is that you were trained by a Lost Knight."
"Is that the only reasonable conclusion?"
Qui-Gon's frown deepened. "I do not catch your meaning."
Sienna smirked. "I'm from a different Order."
Another spike of confusion in his Force-signature. "There have been no offshoots in a thousand years."
"Once again, you assume that your Order is the only one."
"Do you mean to tell me that there is an entirely separate Jedi Order that has never crossed our path?"
"Is that so hard to believe?"
"While I do not pretend to be all-knowing, I find it difficult, yes."
Sienna found his skepticism to be both annoying and somewhat amusing. She sensed that he was the sort of man who liked to speak in riddles, and it was just a bit satisfying to be the one with the upper hand in the riddle-talking. The Force brushed against her, chuckling with its own amusement. Serves him right, it seemed to say, and given by Qui-Gon's ever-deepening frown she suspected he could hear the Force's giggling too.
But she had to cut him some slack, given that her Order was intentional about staying undetected by his. "To be fair, this is where things get a bit complicated." Sienna paused, consulting with the Force.
Qui-Gon waited.
"I am a member of the Cosmic Order," she said at last, "We exist on the planet Felidae."
"I've never heard of it."
"You wouldn't have. It's beyond your galaxy, farther than your ships and explorers could hope to reach."
"If your world is so far, how did you arrive here on Tatooine?"
"The quick answer? The Force."
"And what is the long answer?"
"That I fell through a Force portal a year ago by this planet's time and landed in the middle of the desert, and haven't been able to find another to get home."
Qui-Gon was silent for a stretch. "...A Force portal."
"Yeah. Have you never heard of one before?" Sienna knew that Time Walking was a rare gift in her galaxy, but she wasn't sure how rare it was in this galaxy. And even if Time Walking was rare, portals across space alone weren't terribly uncommon, if you knew where to look.
"I've heard of them," the older Jedi said after a moment, "but they are said to be incredibly rare, and incredibly dangerous, and to exist only within specific and ancient temples. No Jedi that I know of has seen one, save perhaps members of the Council, much less accidentally fallen through to an entirely different galaxy."
"Huh. Well, interacting with them is more or less a daily occurrence for my Order."
"Hmm. That sounds… risky." His tone gave Sienna the impression he both disapproved and was intrigued.
She shrugged. "The Force is with us, and we go where it leads. We never- well, we usually don't have any problems."
"I take it your accident is a unique exception."
"Yes," she said, tone betraying her exasperation with her circumstances.
Qui-Gon's expression softened. "You want to go home."
"Yes."
"Your Order has not come for you?"
Sienna looked down at her hands resting on her knees, and then out at the fading light of the sunset. "They probably have no clue where I am. The universe is large and always expanding, and portals are almost impossible to trace. And as far as I know, this is the first time someone has accidentally fallen through one. Normally, the Council keeps track of exactly when and where someone is going, so that if they're needed they can be found. And we have anchors too, and special communication devices. No one has gotten lost in Time since at least as long as I've been there. "
They fell into silence again. Qui-Gon looked thoughtful, gazing out at the expanse of desert that was currently bathed in the warm glow of the setting suns. Though he said nothing, his Force-signature was warm and curious, indicating that he had taken what she said as truth. Sienna found that she was glad that he believed her. She suspected not every Jedi would be so quick to accept the idea that another Order existed in another galaxy, or that the Force could bring people between the two.
"Why have you stayed on Tatooine?" He asked, "Why not come to Coruscant, and seek the help of our Order?"
Sienna shrugged. "I didn't think you'd be able to help. And I figured I'd be easier to track down if I stayed in place."
The older Jedi nodded. "Wise thinking. But it is possible that there may be something of use in the Temple archives. I have spent enough time mulling over ancient prophecies to know that the existence of portals is at least acknowledged in the texts, even if I have not put any energy into exploring how much is known."
"Hmm. Maybe. But to find out, I'd have to find a way to get to your Temple."
"Perhaps that can be arranged."
Sienna raised an eyebrow. "Are you offering to help me?"
"Perhaps."
"Don't you have a mission?"
Qui-Gon chuckled at that. "My missions tend to get sidetracked into many smaller ones."
For the first time, Qui-Gon saw her crack a genuine smile.
"I know the feeling."
