The two suns rose on a city buzzing with energy. The streets were packed, people buying last minute parts and placing last minute bets on the day's race. It was so crowded that Sienna couldn't even drive her speeder without fear of running someone over, so she left her home early and walked the bike to the track.

Today was important. She could feel it in the way the Force curled with anticipation, unlike anything that she had ever felt before. As she neared the track, the feeling grew stronger, and when she found the Skywalkers and the visitors milling about near Anakin's pod, she sucked in a breath at the threads she could see in her mind's eye. They seemed to float around the group, particularly Ani, like spider's silk dancing on a breeze.

"A shatterpoint is a crucial moment in a timeline," Master Azimuth had once said. "When you find one, remember the First Rule. Do Not Meddle. While some mistakes can be rectified, influencing a shatterpoint will irreparably change the course of a timeline."

Was this a shatterpoint? Sienna had never perceived one before, and had been under the impression that only the Masters on the Council could see them.

"Sienna!" Anakin's call broke the illusion, the threads disappearing and leaving only the vague sense of anticipation in the Force. He waved enthusiastically. Shmi and Padmé turned as well, but Qui-Gon had gone off to speak with Watto.

"Hey scamp," she greeted, walking over. "You ready for the big race?"

"Yeah!"

"He barely slept at all," Shmi said with an amused smile.

"I couldn't help it! I was too excited."

Sienna laughed. "Well, it's a good thing you seem to have an endless supply of energy, We wouldn't want you falling asleep out there, would we."

Anakin made a face that was supposed to look offended, but it didn't last more than a second before he was grinning again. "I won't fall asleep! I'm wide awake. I have sooo much energy."

"Good. Remember to channel that into focus though."

"I will. I even practiced meditating this morning for a whole five minutes."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! Didn't I, mom?"

"He did," Shmi said, "It was very impressive."

An announcement came over the intercom that instructed the racers to get their pods ready to bring out to the track. That was their cue to get going.

Sienna crouched down to give Anakin a quick hug. "May the Force be with you," she told him. "Listen to it well, remember what I've taught you."

"I will," Anakin promised, hugging her back. "Will you be watching?"

"From my usual spot."

"Don't get shot by any Tusken Raiders."

"Do I ever?"

"Well, there was that one time."

"Brat," Sienna said, straightening up and ruffling his hair. She stepped to the side so Shmi could hug him. "I'm heading out now. I'll see you all after the race."

"Be safe," Shmi said.

"I will."

Sienna hopped on her speeder and set out along the less-traveled side roads that would lead her out of the city. If she timed it right, she should be at the cliffs just before the first pods raced through them.

Sure enough, she heard the sound of fast approaching engines just as she made it to the top of the cliff. She parked the speeder, dropped to her belly, and crawled to the edge to watch the race from above. There were Tuskens on the other cliff, but she tugged her cloak close around her and shrouded herself in the Force. Unless their attention was specifically drawn to her, their gazes would pass right over as if she wasn't even there.

Sienna had chosen this particular spot to stake out the races because it was exactly halfway through the circuit, and the farthest point from the city. If someone got badly hurt out here, it would take ages before anyone found them, and by then it would be too late. She had rescued a handful of pilots over the past year, dragging unconscious bodies out of wrecked speeders, wrapping wounds and splinting limbs. Just enough to keep them alive until a clean-up crew could find them. For the ones that were critically injured, she had tried to make them comfortable until they passed, wrapping the Force around them to take away their pain so they could fade peacefully.

The sounds of engines grew louder and the pods came into sight, skidding around the corner of the canyon. Already, Sienna counted fewer than she had seen at the line-up. That was common. Folks stalling at the starting line, or crashing within the first minutes of the race. Sienna noted with apprehension that Anakin hadn't come through yet, but just as she was beginning to truly worry his little grey and yellow racer came around the bend and disappeared again on the other side. He must have had trouble at the starting line.

She hadn't been sure when Anakin claimed his pod was the fastest ever, but seeing it in action she thought that he might be right. He seemed to be covering the lost ground pretty easily, eating up the distance between him and the pods that had started on time.

Come on, Ani, you can do it.

With the pods out of sight for the next few minutes until they came back around in the second lap, Sienna sunk into a light meditation. She stretched out her senses, feeling for Anakin's Force-signature. It was easy to spot, even from a distance. It shone like a nova in the Force, its light magnified by the lack of Force-sensitivity in any of the other racers. She opened herself to it, letting Anakin's feelings wash over her. He was excited, focused, determined. Irritated when someone tried to knock him off course. There was no fear in him though. He was confident, even when a destroyed pod nearly crashed into him. And he was open to the Force. Sienna could see it flowing through him like a river, whispering instructions that he obeyed without hesitation. And when something went wrong with one of his engines and she felt anxiety prickle the Force, she swept it away, pouring calm and focus into the thread of a bond that had developed between them over the course of the past year, and he righted the problem and raced on.

By the time they came around for the final lap, Anakin was right on Sebulba's tail. It was just the two of them now. Hope and excitement rose up in Sienna's chest. And when she felt the explosion of elation and pride in the Force around Anakin, she knew he had won, and she let her own feelings of pride and joy dance in the Force around her and flow to Anakin.

Good job, she whispered over the bond.

A thrum of joy answered her.

Her job here as lookout was done now, so Sienna stood, stretched, and walked back to her speeder. She'd drive along the outer edge of the track, far enough to be out of view of the cameras but close enough to see if anyone had crashed in the home stretch and needed ammateaur medical attention.

She did find a couple of wrecked pods, already being scavenged by Jawas. They ignored her as she approached and she ignored them as well. The drivers of two pods were dead before she got there- they'd likely died on impact. Another was unconscious, but a quick scan with the Force showed that he was otherwise unharmed. Sienna grabbed some scraps from his pod and erected a mini tent over his head, to keep him from getting too badly sunburnt, and then left him for the cleanup crew.

Just as she reached the end of the circuit and the stands came into view, a dark feeling rippled through the Force. Sienna turned her head to the left and saw a cloaked figure standing in the distance on a dune. The Force whispered in both recognition and foreboding. And yet it tugged her in that direction.

Sienna hesitated only for a second before changing course and driving towards the figure, who had disappeared over the ridge. The Force was wise, and she would always heed its direction. Hopefully, Anakin would forgive her for being late to congratulate him.


Anakin grinned as his friends cheered around him, Qui-Gon hoisting him up onto his shoulder. He'd done it, he'd won the race. The Jedi would be able to buy their parts, and fix their ship, and get to Coruscant.

Looking around at the crowd though, he noticed one was missing. Where was Sienna? Maybe her speeder had broken down, and she was having to walk all the way back. Or maybe she was helping someone. She was probably just running late.

Then how come he had such a worried feeling? It was like the Force itself was telling him something was wrong.


"Mom! Look at all the money we have!" Anakin dumped a handful of peggats into her hands.

Shmi's brow raised in surprise, and a smile spread across her face to match. She didn't know the exact sum, but from the looks of it, it was almost enough. "Oh my goodness, but that's so wonderful Ani!"

"He has been freed."

Shmi froze, lifting her head to stare at Qui-Gon in disbelief as Anakin exclaimed "what?!"

"You're no longer a slave," Qui-Gon said, smiling.

Shmi could barely believe her ears. This is what she had hoped for since the moment she first held Anakin in her arms.

But Qui-Gon had only said that Anakin was freed. And she knew, in that moment, that she was about to be parted from her little boy.

She was happy, so happy that he would be free. And she was sad, so sad, that she may never see him again.

"Did you hear that?" Anakin asked her, eyes wide.

"Now he can make your dreams come true," she told him. "You're free." She looked up at Qui-Gon. "Will you take him with you? Is he to become a Jedi?"

"Yes. Our meeting was not a coincidence. Nothing happens by accident."

"You mean I get to come with you in your starship?" His excitement was palpable, even without the Force.

"Anakin," Qui-Gon crouched down to the boy's level, "training to become a Jedi is not an easy challenge. And even if you succeed, it's a hard life."

Anakin was not deterred. "But I wanna go, it's what I've always dreamed of doing. And Sienna's already taught me, and she said I'm doing really good. I can do it, I know I can." He whirled back around to his mother. "Can I go mom?"

Shmi reached out and placed one of her hands over his. "Anakin, this path has been placed before you. The choice is yours alone."

"I wanna do it," he said.

"Then pack your things," Qui-Gon said, "We haven't much time."

"Yippee!" Anakin shouted, dashing to his room. And then he stopped, suddenly realizing something, and he turned back around.

"What about mom?" He asked. "Is she free too?"

Qui-Gon sighed, a note of sorrow circling in the Force. "I tried to free your mother Ani, but Watto wouldn't have it."

Anakin couldn't accept that answer. "You're coming with us, aren't you mom?"

Shmi sighed, and took her boy's hands in hers. "Son, my place is here, for a while longer. It is time for you to let go."

"I don't want things to change."

"But you can't stop the change, any more than you can stop the suns from setting," she said. She placed a hand on the side of his face. "Oh, I love you."

He dove into her arms, and she hugged him tight. "I don't want to leave you, I don't want to be free without you," he said.

Shmi sighed, then stood and moved Anakin back a step. "Ani, let me show you something." She took his hand and led him to her bedroom, then crouched beside the bed and pulled a box out from underneath it.

"What's that?"

"This," she said, putting a key in the lock, "was for your future." Shmi twisted the key and lifted the lid. Inside were neat stacks of coins. "Every day since you were born I added coins to this box, hoping that one day I could buy your freedom. And when Sienna came, she gave me some of her pay, and the stacks grew. And now you have won a podrace, and the winnings you brought home will be added to this box."

Anakin seemed to catch on. Hope brightened his eyes. "And then you can be free."

"Yes. Not yet. But very soon." She reached up to brush her thumb over his cheek again. "I will not have enough to leave Tatooine. But I will be free. And someday, when I can, I will come to visit you. Ok?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Ok." Anakin hugged her again, but he was smiling now, and his excitement returned. "Or maybe I'll learn how to fly a starship, and then I can come back and visit you!"

Shmi chuckled. "Maybe you will. Now go pack your things. Hurry."

Anakin ran from the room and off to his own. Shmi watched him go with a smile, then closed up the box and put it back in its hiding place. She returned to the living room where Qui-Gon still stood.

"Thank you," she said. He had given her the greatest gift imaginable.

"I will watch over him. You have my word," Qui-Gon said. "Will you be alright?"

"I will miss him," Shmi said honestly, "but we will meet again."

Qui-Gon nodded. He himself was not so sure, but there was something in the Force, something that whispered of change.

Maybe Shmi was right.

When Anakin emerged with his backpack and they had all stepped outside, he gave his mom one more hug.

"Ret'urcye mhi," he said.

"What does that mean?" Shmi asked.

"It's a phrase Sienna taught me in Mandalorian. It means 'maybe we'll meet again.' It's better than goodbye."

Shmi chuckled. "Well then, ret'urcye mhi, my beautiful boy. Say hello to the stars for me."

"I will."

With that, he followed Qui-Gon, away across the sand.


Sienna pushed her speeder faster, squinting in the sunlight. She had been driving for some time, the figure just ahead on his own speeder. They were matched for speed and so Sienna barely gained on him, closing the distance slowly over time with her skill alone as she navigated better than he did around rocks and across the sand. She rose up over a dune-

-and was promptly thrown from her speeder as a red lightsaber slashed out the engines.

Sienna hit the ground, tumbled, and leapt to her feet, lightsaber in hand. She had just enough time to straighten and block a lightsaber flashing towards her neck. A red and black lip curled back in a snarl, white teeth bared and yellow eyes narrowed.

Great. This guy. Sienna had fought him only once, (in the future) but he was rather hard to forget.

Sienna snarled right back. She ducked low and swept around, maneuvering herself out of the deadlock. Maul turned as well and came at her with a primal ferocity she hadn't faced in a long time. His double-sided 'saber slashed from the right, then the left, then up then down then forward in a series of quick blows she found herself struggling to parry. It had been a year since she last sparred with anyone, and despite her frequent practicing on her own, her skills with an actual opponent were rustier than she would have liked. And she wasn't the best swordsman in the Order to begin with - she was far more skilled with a blaster.

They fought for a couple of minutes at a dizzying pace. He was wilder and more aggressive than Sienna remembered, less refined and less patient. And yet Sienna had the uncomfortable feeling that he was holding back, toying with her, testing her.

She knew she couldn't kill him. The last time she had met him was in the future, for this timeline at least, which meant he needed to live if she was going to keep the timeline intact. She aimed to disarm, maybe knock him out so that she could escape. He didn't seem to be aiming to kill her either, so that was good, right?

Right?

Just when Sienna was starting to feel a burn in her muscles and the beginning of fatigue, the Sith seemed to decide he was done playing. She felt the shift in the Force as he drew more power from it, throwing more weight into each blow. Sienna grunted as she struggled to catch and deflect his strikes.

He moved the lightsaber to one hand, jabbing high, and Sienna lifted her saber to block the blade swinging at her head.

Like a viper, Mail struck, shoving a knife into her abdomen.

Sienna gasped in pain and stumbled back. Warm blood began to soak her shirt, trickling down her side. She had a light armor plate over her chest, but Maul had jabbed the blade just under the edge of the armor.

Well, Kriff.