The quiet of the desert under the setting twin suns brought relief to Callera. A chance to breathe in the fragile peace of nature. Slow and steady air pumping in and out of her lungs in time to her calm heart. Reaching outward with each breath, her senses slowly touch the people around her: The steady calm of Master Qui-Gon, Padme's relentless worry, Jar Jar's anxious moving, Shmi's resolute endurance, and Anakin his hope and frustration warring with each other in the back area with Artoo and the podracer.

'He won't rest or be productive like this. Maybe I did bring down too much on the kid.'

Sighing gently she moves towards the back, watching the tense young man. If emotions could power weapons, his anxiety could probably power the Death Star.
"You need to relax Anakin. You'll make mistakes like that."

"I know! But this needs to be perfect! I can't let you down!" His words becoming more and more manic.

"Come here a moment and take a breather." Callera's gentle voice firm enough to brook no argument as she pats an empty crate. "Take a seat."

The bundle of nerves known as Anakin tries to do so, but his body seems to twitch and fidget as all that energy tries to escape.

"You're not going to fail us Anakin."

"But I don't want to be the reason you become a slave!"

"You won't be, I made the choice. It might not make sense to you right now, but as you grow up you will encounter choices in your life where you might have to risk everything you are for something you believe in. And this is one of those moments for me. I believe in you."

Anakin's blue eyes show the fight between concepts.

"I get wound up like you do often, and I have a trick to help get me back on track. Want me to let you in on it?" Callera's smile is soft and encouraging.

"Sure!"

"Close your eyes." His eyes close. "Take a deep slow breath in…hold….out…and again…in…hold…out…"
Callera keeps calling out the breathing pattern in slow soft tones, the tension slowly leaving Anakin's body. "That's it. Keep it up. Feel all that nervous energy flowing from your arms, legs, and head into your lungs as you draw in air. Feel that energy mix with the universe in your lungs as you hold. Feel that tension leave your body as the air leaves your body."

Without thinking her meditation guidance changes slowly. "Feel the Force flow into your center now as you breathe in, feel the universe as you hold your breath, let the Force flow from your center and through the rest of you with each exhale." As she repeats the words she feels the Force flowing through the young boy in front of her, not smoothly but there in time with her words.

Opening his eyes with a wide smile, all tension gone, Anakin's eyes say it all. Callera nods with a supportive smile, as he hops off and runs back to the pod. "Come on Artoo, let's get this thing working!" Artoo's beep in response brings a chuckle from behind her, causing Callera to jump and turn to see Qui-Gon behind her.

"The energy of the young is something to envy sometimes."

Callera snorts "Age might be biological Qui-Gon, but youth is a state of mind."

"You were good with him right then Callera, exactly what he needed at the moment."

"He's a kid who just got told his wish might be granted soon. That will make anyone act as if their Lifeday came early."

"Indeed, but I also agree with Padme. You've taken a big risk and put more pressure on the boy."

"I know." Callera's voice solemn yet quiet, "I didn't mean for him to know, but I didn't pay attention to his presence in the Force as I tried to play Watto. He's exceptionally greedy, and I was trying to play on that."

"Your plan only works if Anakin wins again in this timeline, and there is no guarantee."

"I have a backup plan to play further to Watto's greed, to make the bet void in our favor."

"You plan to get him to attempt to sabotage young Anakin?" Qui-Gon's curiosity wars with indignation.

"Yes." Callera's icy eyes boring into Qui-Gon's brown. "But if it works, Anakin won't be at risk at all."

"How?" Qui-Gon's voice brooking no argument.

So she tells him.

"You can do that with the Force?" His eyes carefully appraising the silver woman.

"I'm no master with it, but many in my Order and the Witches of Dathomir have a passing knowledge of the technique."

"Between that and Anakin's tech readouts, you feel that Watto will feel compelled to try to stop Anakin from winning even before the race?"

"He's a greedy man; a chance to have someone who can do that and keep the technical genius that Anakin is… He'll want to turn odds into a guarantee. And if it doesn't work, Anakin still has his race."

"But just for the sake of argument; he loses and Watto owns you and the boy?

"Then you get the queen out right after the race no matter what. When you get to Courscant send other Jedi to buy me and the boy from Watto."

"Other Jedi?"

"Your counsel and Obi wan's will be vital to the Queen to retake her world."

"What about your own advice?"

Callera snorts. "My advice would be frowned upon by many."

"And why is that?"

"My advice is simple. Cheat. Pull every legal tactic to force a withdrawal, or at the very least bringing in Republic observers to force the Federation to 'play nice' while using other tactics. Jam communications, slice their IFF sensors, false flag commando's into the blockade ships while tricking them to keep the bulk of their droids on the surface. If you're ever in a fair fight, one side or the other messed up. The Federation feels it has an advantage over Naboo, or else they wouldn't have chosen it as a target."

"Would the rest of your Order agree with those tactics?"

Callera's body shakes as she tries to hold her laughter in to avoid distracting Anakin or drawing attention from within the house. "Yes. Some of the more technical minded would probably have more options for the direct counters to the droids. Our more diplomatically minded would be looking for laws to wrap around the blockade like a noose to strangle it. For the first few waves of my order, becoming a Jedi was a second career choice: Starfighter pilots, smugglers, soldiers, diplomats, and spies. Anyone found to touch the Force was welcome. It was only later-on, once they had a few older Jedi did they start teaching younger students. It's that background of diversity that was our strength."

Qui-Gon ponders briefly before answering. "And which category did your Mistress fit in?"

Callera shakes her head in the negative, "Master Kirana Ti was my Jedi Master. When I say Mistress, that title belongs to Tamith Kai the Nightsister that was my first teacher in the Force." The reverence at the first name heavily contrasts the loathing in the second.

"My apologies." Qui-Gon tilts his head slightly

"None needed, you didn't know. But to answer the question as I believe you meant it. Master Ti was born to a tribe on the planet of Dathomir, home to a powerful and thriving Force culture. A matriarchal culture where Witches rule, but they have dark shadow."

Qui-Gon interjects softly, "I'm guessing the Nightsisters you mentioned."

"Correct. When I came to realize how wrong Mistress Kai was, I looked for a way out."

"That fight I saw in your mind, with the one who called you 'sister.'"

Callera nods in the affirmative before she continues, "We'd launched an attack on the Jedi's Praxeum, trying to 'acquire' more students, and I used that opportunity to take my stand. Lomi Plo found me and we fought to an exhausted standstill, both our fates left to whichever side won."

"And your Jedi were victorious."

"Yeah, took them a little while to trust me, but then Master Ti took me on and she took me to Dathomir. Rather than just training me as Jedi because of my grasp of Allya's ways, I spent time with the Singing Mountain Tribe to unlearn what the Nightsisters had taught me."

"But you chose to be Jedi rather than a Witch."

"A Witch's sphere of responsibility is her tribe, and I have none."