Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. All the characters are the property of George Lucas and LucasFilm Ltd.
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Author's Notes: Hey everyone! It sure has been a long time… Funny really how fast time flies. Here's the next chapter and I hope the long time gaps have not diminished your interest! Have a great read!
Chapter VII
Sebulba always wins. Anakin, on the other hand, he is a good pilot but Sebulba is even better. That is why, it seems like a logical step to bet on Sebulba rather than on Anakin.
There is that strange tall human coming into the hangar. The one who required a Nubian hyperdrive and was offering Republic Credits! Ha!
He wonders once again from whom he had acquired the pod from. But really, what does he care? The fastest ever built? Yeah, right.
Oh, the Gungan is with him as well.
As soon as Qui-Gon joins him, he speaks as a greeting, "I want to see your spaceship the moment the race is over."
"Patience, my blue friend. You will have your winnings before the suns set. And we will be far away from here."
What does he mean? Sebulba will win. What is he up to?
"Not if your ship belongs to me, I think. I warn you, no funny business."
"You do not think Anakin will win?"
"Do not get me wrong. I have great faith in the boy. He's a credit to your race, but Sebulba there is going to win, I think."
"Why?"
Watto laughs. "He always wins. As a matter of fact, I am betting heavily on Sebulba."
"I will take that bet."
Wait, what?
He stops laughing. "What? What do you mean by that?"
"I will wager my new racing pod against…say…the boy and his mother."
"A Pod for slaves. I don't think so. Well," his greedier side taking over, "perhaps. Just one…the mother, maybe…the boy is not for sale."
She is not much use to me anyways. But Anakin? No… he is too proficient in mechanics to just let go for a small pod.
"The boy is small, he cannot be worth much."
Watto shakes his head, already having made up his mind.
"For the fastest pod ever built?"
Uh…let's see.
However, he still shakes his head.
"Both, or no bet."
"No pod is worth two slaves…not by a long shot…one slave or nothing." He replies forgoing the specific demand for sale of only Shmi and not Anakin.
"The boy, then…"
Yeah, you do not get to decide that outlander.
He pulls out a small cube from his pocket. "We will let fate decide. Blue, it is the boy, red his mother…"
Watto tosses the cube down. Much to his dismay, the cube turns blue.
Suddenly angry at having lost the toss, he speaks, "You won the small toss, outlander, but you will not win the race, so…it makes little difference."
That's right. This means nothing!
He turns to leave. On the way, he meets Anakin coming on eopies with one another slave, his mother and the rest of the outlanders.
Unable to help himself, he taunts Anakin, "Better stop your friend's betting, or I will end up owning him too."
He walks off then, laughing nervously. Watto is sure that Sebulba will win and Anakin will lose.
Yet, when he glances at the group once more before leaving he cannot help but feel anxious.
I have a bad feeling about this.
-x—x—
Anakin does not respond to Watto's taunt. Instead, he just busies himself with getting his pod ready. He is still somewhat in a sour mood. He really does not know why but he just does not feel quite happy or excited. Which is strange because racing is something that has always thrilled him no matter what.
He is well aware that Qui-Gon has just made the bet to free him. But not his mother. Does not matter, he thinks, I have fixed the scanner and after the race the first thing I am going to do is get the slave chip out of her.
He hears C3PO respond to R2, "Oh my! Space travel sounds rather perilous."
Artoo emits a series of beeps.
"I can assure you they will never get me onto one of those dreadful starships."
On hearing it, he cannot help but chuckle. If only C3PO knew…
"This is so wizard! I am sure you will do it this time, Ani." Anakin blinks. He had almost forgotten Kitster was there.
Need to be more aware of my surroundings.
But what is he talking about? I will surely do what?
Padme voices his question out loud, "Do what?"
"Finish the race, of course!" Padme and Anakin just stare at Kitster before Padme turns to look at Anakin with a shocked expression.
I had never finished a race before this?!
Seeing Padme's look, Anakin has to resist squirming under her gaze.
"You have never won a race?" Geez, thanks a lot for telling her that, Kitster.
"Well…not exactly."
"Not even finished?!" Oh boy…
"...but Kitster's right, I will this time!"
"Of course you will." Anakin has never been more grateful to hear that deep baritone voice of his grandmaster.
-x—x—
Seeing Jabba boils his blood more than the heat of the twin suns of Tatoonie. He clenches and unclenches his fist to dissipate the anger flowing in his nerves. Do not kill him Anakin. At least not yet anyways. Yes, that is right kill him after the race.
When Sebulba's name is announced, he stands and waves to his fans. A small pep band plays as his fans wave and cheer.
Kitster attaches the giant engines to Anakin's pod with a long cable. Shmi gives Anakin a big hug and kiss which he accepts gratefully. She looks him right in the eye.
"Be safe." Despite all her anxiety, fear and nervousness evident in the Force, her voice sounds firm and encouraging.
"I will, Mom. I promise." He puts as much reassurance in those words as he can. She leaves.
Jabba then announces his name and the crowd cheers. Grinning despite himself, he waves at his fans. Jabba continues with his introductions.
Kitster leads the eopies away and Artoo beeps that everything is okay. Jar Jar pats Anakin on the back. "Dis berry loony, Ani. May da guds be kind, mesa palo."
Padme comes up and wishes him luck. Anakin grins. He knows Padme will interpret it as a grin of confidence but Anakin is grinning for different reasons altogether.
Near his pod, at this time, a Dug is finding his hands unable to move. He had come to sabotage that slave boy's pod racer because what limited knowledge he had of mechanics showed that his pod was superior. He cannot risk losing. So that leaves just one option: cheating.
But as he was just about to bang on a part protruding from Anakin's engine, his hands and feet remain fixated on the ground.
"You carry all our hopes."
"I won't let you down."
Padme moves away and Anakin turns around to see the Dug paralysed near his pod. He smirks, "What are you doing here, Sebulba? Picking up a few tips for improvement in that piece of junk of yours?"
He walks closer until his face his near his. "Or have you finally realized that you cannot beat me without cheating?"
With that he releases his grip on the creature.
"You won't walk away from this one, slave scum! You are bantha poodoo." Sebulba replies with venom in his voice although Anakin senses fear in him as well.
"Yeah, right, sleemo!"
Anakin looks Sebulba in the eye with a cold stare. Qui-Gon approaches and Sebulba backs off towards his racer.
Jabba's voice booms across the stadium to let the challenge begin. There is going to be no challenge. I will be the winner.
Qui-Gon picks up Anakin and helps him sit in his pod. Anakin just stares at him with wide eyes. Did he just pick me up? I could have gotten into my pod just fine without your help, thank you.
"Are you all set, Ani?" Anakin narrows his eyes slightly but nods. "Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think." Feel, don't think! Is that not what made me into a Sith Lord in the first place? I only felt Master Qui-Gon. I never thought about the consequences of my actions and it resulted in being stuck in a life support suit for twenty three years.
"Trust your instincts." Qui Gon smiles. "May the Force be with you." And with you. Anakin returns the greeting in his mind,
With that he takes in a deep breath, puts on his goggles, and flips a switch to start the engines.
He spreads his senses out to his surroundings and suddenly feels every living being in the near vicinity. He closes his eyes and tunes out everyone with practised ease and focuses only on the race track. He pushes all his worries and stray thoughts to the back of his mind and concentrates on just one objective: to win this race.
He opens his eyes and tightens his grips on the consoles.
Jabba bites off the head of a frog and spits it at a gong.
The race had begun.
-x—x—
He does not remember the exact details of the pod race that he had taken part in the previous timeline. But he is sure it was not that easy.
But he guesses Sebulba had sabotaged his pod the previous time, so it had malfunctioned and it had seemed a great big deal.
Now, he surpasses them with practised ease gained through countless missions, battles, flying half ships, and chasing the Rebels.
They are flying across the desert and Anakin has easily surpassed everyone except Sebulba. They are competing for the first place. Sebulba tries to block his way.
Getting tired after playing fair for so long, Sebulba attempts to drive his pod into Anakin's forcing him into a wall of large rock formations. However, Anakin pulls up at the last moment and Sebulba's pod gets pushed through the momentum in the rocks. It momentarily stops him but he soon recovers.
His pod must be stronger than he anticipated. However, in those few precious moments, Anakin takes the lead. Few pod racers surpass Sebulba as he revvs the engine of his pod once again but Sebulba soon recovers his position of being the second.
Anakin senses the Tusken Raiders before he sees them. He dives into the canyon to protect his pod. Sebulba follows however few of the racers are not so lucky.
Sebulba is cheating even if it is not with him at the moment. He can hear the distinct sound of blasts occurring due to the crashing of pods and glancing back confirms his suspicions. One of the racers who was challenging Sebulba in his position had exploded.
Finally, he sees the starting line once again. He comes in first followed closely by Sebulba. I should have made the Pod go faster.
As lap two begins, he senses Sebulba catching up to him. He is a good pilot, he grudgingly accepts.
The reason he cannot go any faster is because he has already stretched the pod to its maximum limit. If he had the parts available like when he was a Jedi or Sith, he would have completed this race in a matter of minutes. But as it is, he has to make do with what he has.
The second lap goes on without much event with Anakin closely maintaining his lead and Sebulba being the cheat he is.
As the third lap begins, Sebulba finally catches up to him. They run neck to neck over the rough terrain. Sebulba uses his side exhaust port to try to cut through Anakin's engines.
He refrains from using the Force to just push Sebulba off course. Anakin is struck with an idea and he remembers that this is what he did the last time as well, though forcefully.
He gives Sebulba the satisfaction of having pushed him off course. As Sebulba grins at his supposed victory, Anakin smirks and on a tight corner, dives into the inside and takes the lead.
He can practically feel the fury radiating off the Dug. Now, for the final move, he latches onto Sebulba's pod and lets him practically lead him all the way. Sebulba tries to unhook his pod but Anakin does not allow him.
In the meanwhile, Anakin opens a compartment of wires and deftly works through it to transfer all power in the back thrusters keeping the minimum at the engines to just keep them running. He does not need more than that as the momentum will be more than sufficient to propel him towards the finishing line.
As soon as the finishing line is in sight, Anakin unhooks his pod from that of Sebulba's the momentum pushing Sebulba into an ancient statue while giving Anakin the much-needed push towards the finishing line.
In that instant he also activates his back thrusters and gracefully finishes the race.
The crowd stands up cheering as Anakin puts his racer to rest.
He grins widely as he comes out of his racer waving and cheering to all his fans. Before he knows it, however, he is engulfed into a hug by none other than Kitster.
At first, he wants to move away but sensing the genuine glee radiating of his friend, he hugs him back. His numerous fans approach him to congratulate and someone puts Anakin on his shoulder. "Woah!" But he enjoys it all and Anakin gives in to the moment and enjoys himself.
Jar Jar, Padme and his mom all give him a hug one by one and Anakin gladly returns all of it all the while beaming.
"It is so wonderful, Ani. You have brought hope to those who have none. I am so very proud of you…" His mom says.
"We owe you everything." Padme adds.
Anakin has to stop himself from crying right now. Their faces are so full of hope and happiness. Helping others selflessly, that is what he had always wanted, was it not? Then where down the way had he turned selfish?
Why could he not see through the lies of Palpatine? He just wishes to capture this moment right here right now and never let it go. But he has learnt his lesson and he is content enough to let the moment pass and focus on the next rather than getting attached.
-x—x—
He is furious. No scratch that, he is beyond furious.
Somehow, that outlander knew that Anakin was going to win. He must have cheated. Now, he had lost everything. A major part of his money wasted. But that is not the only thing infuriating him at the moment. The other thing is that he has to let go of the boy as well.
While he is grumbling under his breath he sees the outlander standing in the doorway.
He cannot help it. He just yells. "You! You swindled me! You knew the boy was going to win! Somehow, you knew it! I lost everything."
He flies up to the tall outlander and puts his face right up against his. Much to his anger, the outlander merely smiles.
"Whenever you gamble, my friend, eventually you will lose." Now, he is just rubbing in the wound.
"Bring the parts to the main hangar. I will come by your shop later so you can release the boy."
He cannot take the boy! He is worth too much!
"You cannot have him! It was not a fair bet!"
"Would you like to discuss it with the Hutts. I am sure they can settle this."
The Hutts! The boy is valuable but not valuable enough to lose my life over it.
"No, no! I want no more of your tricks! Take him!"
Qui Gon is about to depart when a thought strikes his mind.
"Watto?" He says turning back to face the blue Toydarian. What does he want now? Has he not ruined me enough?
"What?" He spats.
"How many truguts will be required to free Shmi as well?"
What? I must have not heard him right.
"What?" He again asks.
"I asked how much will it take to free Shmi?"
My bad, I did hear him correct.
At first, he thinks to outright refuse him that he cannot buy Shmi as well. But then a more rational part that is governed by his greed takes over, "How much are you willing to offer?"
Qui Gon looks at him for a few moments before he replies, "Eight thousand truguts."
"Ten thousand."
"Nine." "Deal!"
"Great," the outlander says a genuine smile playing over his lips, "I will pick up her when I come back with your payment."
"Okay." With that Watto flutters away. After all, he reasons, Shmi is not much use to me anyways. With the money I can buy a new slave and promote my business.
-x—x—
/Padawan, how many truguts do you have?/
/Around twelve thousand. Why?/
/I will tell you later. Get ready, I am bringing the parts soon./
/Yes Master/
Obi Wan smiles as his conversation with his Master over their bond gets over. He knows pretty well why his Master has asked about the amount of truguts he possesses. So, I did not have to suggest the idea to him after all. He has freed Shmi.
Obi Wan wonders now what effects it will have in the galaxy. Hopefully, it will all be for the good of the galaxy.
The feeling of happiness and relief when flooded his senses a while back, he knew Anakin had won the race and essentially bought the parts they really needed.
His mood becomes grim when he realizes that he will have to meet Anakin soon enough. He shudders involuntarily at the thought. I will have to mask my feelings, he thinks.
Qui-Gon will definitely pick up any hostile feelings I have towards him anyways. He also makes a point to be gentle and more caring towards Anakin from the start so that their trust starts building from now only.
Even if Qui-Gon will train him, I need to be on good terms with Anakin so that when he needs a friend, he comes to me and not Palpatine.
He forces a formal smile on his face as he informs the Queen and Captain Panaka that they have got the parts they needed.
Taking their leave, he realizes that before meeting Anakin there is the meeting with Darth Maul coming up.
Tbc…
Well, the first major change was initiated in this chapter. Shmi is about to get her freedom!
RyuuShadow: Your welcome! Thanks. Writing them is great fun as well. Thank you so much for the support and understanding! I love it that you like it. Have a great day :D
Talentz: Thank you! Hehe, I understand. But I am sure the Team will be in agony when meeting each other as well! :)
Nightshade's sydneylover150: Thanks so much! It means a lot to me!
MMM73181: Searches for any transmitters or trackers on the laptop. Found none. Wonders if MMM73181 can read minds or predict the future…I honestly cannot believe you just said that! I was plotting the future storyline in my mind and then I read your review I thought, "Hey! That's exactly what was going on in my mind!" I am pretty sure you are a mind reader my friend!
anthraquinblue: I love time travel fics too! Me neither! Fingers crossed to hope it comes out as good as I am imagining it in my head. :D
yiggdrasill: Yep, picking up a little bit of pace! So…I hope the race was good? I personally feel the end of it could have gone a little better but I was actually running low on ideas on how to do it. Nevertheless, do tell whether you liked it. : )
As always, Please Read and Review!