Chapter 9
Vader remembers this. Of course, the child was able to race decently if not more so than the first time. Of course, there were times when Vader was honestly worried such as now in the second round, though he masks it well to the point where his fellow Force Sensitives cannot detect it.
Anakin is in sixth place. As the race progresses, he is slowly disappearing into the workings of his racer, becoming one with its engines, feeling the strain and tug on each rivet and screw. Wind whips by him in a screaming rush, locking him away in its white noise. There is only himself and the machine, all speed and response. It is the way racing affects him, melding his body with the Pod and engines until he is a part of both. Moment by moment, the symbiosis deepens, joining them, giving him insights and understandings that transcend his senses and knowledge, projecting him past the present and into a place others cannot reach.
Approaching Arch Canyon, he bores down on the leaders, young face intense. Skimming the flats, he whips past Aldar Beedo and side slips Clegg Holdfast. To one side, a fast-closing Ody Mandrell banks too hard over a sandy rise and catch his engine in the sand. Ody's racer cartwheels in a spectacular twisting of engines and Pod and explodes apart.
Anakin is only four racers back from Sebulba and can see the Dug's craft clearly in the distance.
Everything happens quickly after that.
The racers whip tough Arch Canyon and out the other side in a ragged line, with Anakin narrowing the gap between himself and the others. Tusken Raiders, hiding in the rocks of the cliffs that form the corner of Tusken Turn, get lucky and hit Teemto Pagalies. Teemto's racer simply explodes and is gone. Anakin flies through the vaporized wreckage in pursuit of the others. He passes Elan Mak and Habba Kee in a rush. Ahead, Mars Guo is closing on Sebulba, wary of the Dug, keeping down and away, trying to sneak past. Anakin draws nearer to both, leapfrogging sand dunes in a long depression, easing slowly up on Mars Guo.
Suddenly Sebulba reaches out of his Pod's cockpit and releases a ragged bit of metal directly into Mars Guo's left engine intake. Metal clashes violently against metal, and the damaged engine begins to spew smoke and fire. Mars tries to hold the machine steady, but the failing engine bucked and lost power, causing the Pod to veer sharply into Anakin. The racers collide in a shriek of metal, and a leading edge of Mars Guo's vertical stabilizer snags the Steelton line to Anakin's left engine and releases the binding.
Instantly Anakin's Pod begins to swing violently at the end of its single remaining line, whipsawing back and forth. The Radon-Ulzers continue to act in concert, locked together by the energy binders, but the racer is out of control. Anakin works the stabilizer pedals with his feet, fighting to hold the Pod steady as it swings like a pendulum. The unhook line snaps viciously in the wake of the engine's exhaust, threatening to tangle or snag on an outcropping and drag the racer down. Anakin gropes along the floor of his cockpit, searching for the magnetic retriever. When he finds it, he flicks on the power button and extended the retriever out to the left side, trying to make contact with the loose line. The effort forces him to pull back on the thruster bars to cut power, and he falls behind Sebulba once more. Elan Mak, Habba Kee, and now Obitoki as well sweep by him, giving chase to the Dug.
Anakin glances frantically over his shoulder. The bulk of the pack is closing on him once more.
After a dozen tries, he finally focuses his concentration sufficiently to snag the loose engine line with the retriever and maneuver it back to its hook. Sweat and grit coat his face, and his jacket sleeve is ripped. Casting down the retriever, he jams the thruster bars forward once more. Stabilized at the ends of the Steelton lines, the Pod holds steady now as the Radon-Ulzers bucks, and the racer accelerates after the leaders.
Anakin catches Elan Mak first and slides around him easily. He is closing on Habba Kee when Obitoki tries to pass Sebulba.
The Dug waits until his rival pulls alongside, then uses the same tactic he employed against Xelbree. Opening a small side vent in the left exhaust, he sends a gush of fire into the housing of Obitoki's right engine. Fuel in the lines catches fire and explodes, and Obitoki's racer dives nose first into the desert, sending a wide spray of grit everywhere.
Habba Kee flies into it just ahead of Anakin, low and tight to the ground. Momentarily blinded, he swerves the wrong way and caught a piece of one of Obitoki's engines where it juts from the sand. Engines and Pod tangle and crash in the wild explosion. Anakin follows Habba Kee into the smoke and grit, blinded as well. A piece of steaming metal flies at him out of the haze, careening off his right engine housing and barely missing his head. But the boy is seeing with more than his eyes, sensing with his mind, calm and steady within himself. He can feel the danger waiting, and he works the thruster bars smoothly, sliding past the wreckage.
Then he is in the clear again and bearing down on Sebulba.
He catches the Dug as they scream past the arena and under the finish arch for the start of the third and final lap.
In his mind, Anakin can see Qui-Gon and Jar Jar watching him; Kitster, standing in the crew pits, his friend cheering wildly, and R2-D2 and C-3PO, the former beeping, the latter nattering back at him in response; Padmé, her beautiful face frame with worry; and his mother, her eyes fill with terror; Obi-Wan, emotions unclear but worry in his eyes. He can see them all, as if he is standing among them, standing outside himself, watching the race...
He blocks their faces away, banishes the images from his thoughts, and focuses everything on Sebulba.
They are speeding out of Arch Canyon when Sebulba decides to put an end to Anakin once and for all. The Dug knows where all the droid observation cams are situated. He knows the angles of placement and how to avoid giving himself away. Swinging his racer close to Anakin's, he opens the side vent on his exhaust and tries to scorch the boy's engine housing as he does with Xelbree and Obitoki. But Anakin fall victim to that particular trick once before and is looking for it this time. He shifts just above the cutting flame and out of reach. When Sebulba tries to follow, Anakin drops down again - but too far, momentarily losing control. His racer veers from the course right into a line of warning signs, sending them flying in all directions. Desperate to recover, he lifts the nose of his craft skyward, jams his thruster bars forward, and accelerates. The Radon-Ulzers booms, his racer gives a frightening lurch, and he leapfrogs right over Sebulba to take the lead.
Down through the first set of caves and past Tusken Turn the racers tear, Anakin leading, Sebulba right on his tail. At speeds too great for maintaining proper control, the antagonist banks, and angles as if safety is of no importance at all.
And finally burst into the clear once more.
Again, Sebulba tries to regain the lead, pushing for an opening. Anakin holds him off, but then one of the horizontal stabilizers on the left engine begins to shudder violently. A momentary vision of Sebulba hammering on his stabilizer just before the start of the race flashes through Anakin's mind. He eases off on the thruster bars, jettisoned the stabilizer, and switches to an auxiliary mount. In the process, he is forced to give way. Sebulba races past him to take command of the lead once more.
Time and space are running out on Anakin Skywalker. He shoves the thruster bars forward and went after the Dug. Sebulba sees him coming and fishtails his Pod back and forth in front of the boy to keep him from passing. Over the causeway they speed, jockeying for position. Anakin tries everything he knows, but Sebulba is a seasoning veteran and can counter each attempt. Metta Drop flies past as the racers roar out of the dune hills and onto the final stretch of flats.
Finally, Anakin shifts left, then right. But this time when Sebulba moves to block him, Anakin fakes the third shift, drawing the Dug left again. The instant Sebulba begins his blocking move, Anakin jerks his racer hard to the right and noses in beside the Dug.
Down the flat, open final stretch of the course the Podracers tears, side by side, the arena stands and warding statuary beginning to take shape ahead. Sebulba screams in frustration and deliberately swerves his Pod into Anakin's. Incensed by the boy's swine persistence, he slams into him, once, twice. But on the third strike, their steering rods catch, locking them together. Anakin fight with his controls, trying to break free, but the Pods are hooked fast. Sebulba laughs, jamming his racer against the boy to force him into the ground. Anakin whips the thruster bars forward and back, trying to disengage from the tangle. The Radon-Ulzers strain with effort and the steering rods groans and bend.
Finally, Anakin's rod breaks completely, snapping off both the armature and the main horizontal stabilizer. The boy's Pod jerks and spins at the ends of the Steelton cables, shimmying with such force that Anakin would have been thrown from the Pod if he is not strapped down.
But it is much worse for Sebulba. When Anakin's steering arm snaps, the Dug's Pod shot forward as if a catapult, collapsing the towlines, and sending the engines screaming out of control. One engine slam into a piece of ancient statuary and disintegrated in flames. Then the second go, ramming into the sand and exploding in a massive fireball. The towing cables break free, and the Dug's Pod is sent skidding through the flaming wreckage of the engines, twisting and bumping violently along the desert floor to a smoking stop. Sebulba extricates himself in a shrieking fit, throwing pieces of his ruined Pod in all directions only to discover that his pants are on fire.
Anakin Skywalker flies overhead, the exhausts from the big Radon-Ulzers sending sand and grit into the Dug's face in a stinging spray. Hanging on to maintain control as he crossed the finish line, he became, at nine years of age, the youngest winner ever of the Boonta Eve race.
From within the crowd, unbeknownst to most, Vader smiles. He is just that good, even as a child. One of the traits that lasted even after he became Vader is his tendency to brag.
As the viewing platform, he occupies with Shmi, Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Jar Jar slowly lowers, Qui-Gon watches the crowd surge toward Anakin's racer. The boy brings the Pod to a skidding halt in the center of the raceway, shut down the Radon-Ulzers, and climbed out. Kitster already reaches him and is hugging him tightly, and R2-D2 and C-3PO are scuttling around them both. When the crowd converges moments later, they hoist Anakin aloft and carry him away, chanting and shouting his name.
Qui-Gon exchanges a warm smile with Shmi, nodding his approval of the boy's performance. Anakin Skywalker is special indeed.
The viewing platform settles in place smoothly, and its occupants off-load onto the raceway in a rush. Allowing his companions to join the celebration, the Jedi Master turns back toward the stands. Ascending the stairways swiftly, he reaches Watto's private box in minutes. A knot of aliens departs just in front of him, laughing and joking in several languages, counting fistfuls of currency and credits. Watto is staring out at the chanting crowd, hovering at the edge of the viewport, a dejected look on his wrinkled blue face.
The moment he catches sight of Qui-Gon, his dejection transforms, and he flies at the Jedi Master in undisguised fury.
"You! You swindled me!" He bounces in the air in front of Qui-Gon, shaking with rage. "You knew the boy was going to win! Somehow you knew it! I lost everything!"
Qui-Gon smiles benignly. "Whenever you gamble, my friend, eventually you'll lose. Today wasn't your day." The smile drops away. "Bring the hyperdrive parts to the main hangar right away. I'll come by your shop later so you can release the boy."
The Toydarian shoves his snout against Qui-Gon's nose. "You can't have him! It wasn't a fair bet!"
Qui-Gon looks him up and down with a chilly stare. "Would you like to discuss it with the Hutts? I'm sure they would be happy to settle the matter."
Watto jerks as if stung, his beady eyes filled with hate. "No, no! I want no more of your tricks." He gestures emphatically. "Take the boy! Be gone!"
He wheels away and flies out of the box, body hunched beneath madly beating wings. Qui-Gon watches him depart, then starts down the stairs for the racetrack, his mind already turning to other things.
Within an hour, the arena empties, the racers store or haul away for repairs, and the main hangar is left almost deserted. A few pit droids are still engaging in salvaging pieces of wreckage from the race, coming and going in steady pursuit of their work. Anakin alone of the Pod pilots remains, checking over his damaged racer. He is dirty and ragged, his hair spiky, and his face streaks with sweat and grime. His jacket is torn in several places, and there is blood on his clothing where he slashed his arm on a jagged piece of metal during the battle with Sebulba.
Qui-Gon watches him thoughtfully, standing to one side with Padme and Shmi as the boy, Jar Jar, R2-D2, and C-3PO move busily over the Pod and engines. Can it be? He has been wondering for what must have been the hundredth time, pondering the way the boy handles a Podracer, the maturity he exhibits, and the instincts he possesses. is it possible?
He shelves his questions for another time. It would be up to the Council to decide. Abruptly, he leaves the woman, walking over to the boy and kneeling beside him.
"You're a bit worse for wear, Annie," he says softly, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders and looking him in the eyes, "but you did well." Smiling reassuringly, he wipes a patch of dirt off the boy's face. "There, good as new."
He ruffles the boy's unruly hair and helps bind his injured arm. Shmi and Padmé join them and move in to give Anakin fresh hugs and kisses, checking him over carefully, touching his cheeks and forehead.
"Ah, gee... enough of this," the boy mumbles in embarrassment.
His mother smiles, shaking her head. "It's so wonderful, Annie-what you've done here. Do you know? You've brought hope to those who have none. I'm so very proud of you."
"We owe you everything," Padmé adds quickly, giving him an intense, warm look. She is thankful Sabé, Rabé, Eirtaé, Saché, and Yané isn't here. They would have certainly teased her mercilessly for how she has been treating the boy. She mentally groans in horror. Wait until they find out...
Anakin blushes scarlet. "Just feeling this good is worth anything," he declares, smiling back.
Qui-Gon walks over to where the hyperdrive parts are loaded on antigrav repulsors led harnesses to a pair of eopies. Watto makes the delivery as promised, though not without considerable grumbling and a barrage of thinly veiled threats. Qui-Gon checks the container straps, glances out into the midday heat, and walks back to the others.
"Padmé, Jar Jar, let's go," he orders abruptly. "We've got to get these parts back to the ship."
The group moves over to the eopies, laughing and talking. Padmé hugs and kisses Anakin again, then climbs onto one of the eopies behind Qui-Gon, taking hold of his waist. Jar Jar swing onto the second animal and promptly slid off the other side, collapsing in a heap. R2-D2 beeps encouragingly as the Gungan tries again, this time managing to keep his seat. Goodbyes and thank-yous are exchanged, but it is an awkward moment for Anakin. He looks as if he wants to say something to Padmé, moving up beside her momentarily, staring up at her expectantly. But all he can manage is a sad, confused look.
Slowly, the eopies begin to move off, Anakin and his mother standing with C-3PO, waving after.
"I'll return the eopies by midday," Qui-Gon promises, calling over his shoulder.
Padmé did not look back at all. She never wants to come back to this planet nor has any plans to.
Qui-Gon Jinn and company rode out of Mos Espa into the Tatooine desert, R2-D2 leading the way, rolling along in front of the eopies and sled at a steady pace. The sun are rising quickly to a midday position in the sky, and the heat rose off the sand in waves. But the journey back to the Queen's transport is accomplished swiftly and without incident.
"I was getting worried," Obi-Wan announces without preamble as he dismounts from his eopie.
Qui-Gon dismount and then helps Padmé down. "Start getting this hyperdrive generator installed," he orders. "I'm going back. I have some unfinished business."
"Business?" his protege echoes, arching one eyebrow.
"I won't be long."
Obi-Wan studies him for a moment, then sighs. "Why do I sense we've picked up another stray?"
Qui-Gon takes his arm and moves him away from the others. "It's the boy who's responsible for getting us these parts." He pauses. "The boy whose blood sample you ran the midi-chlorian test on last night."
Obi-Wan gives him a hard, steady look, then turns away. Though, by the Force, Qui-Gon can swear there are undercurrents of a slight smile. So, it is true, he obverse, Obi-Wan likes the boy.
Anakin walks home with his mother and C-3PO, still wrapped in the euphoria of his victory, but wrestling as well with his sadness over the departure of Padmé. He hadn't thought about what would happen to her if he won the Boonta Eve, that it will mean Qui-Gon will secure the hyperdrive generator he needs to make their transport functional. So, when she bends to kiss and hug him goodbye, it is the first time he gave the matter any serious thought since her arrival. He is stunned, caught in a mix of emotions, and all of a sudden, he wants to tell her to stay. But he can't bring himself to speak the words, knowing how foolish they would sound, realizing she couldn't do so in any case.
So, he stands there like a droid without its vocoder, watching her ride away behind Qui-Gon, thinking it might well be the last time he would ever see her, and wondering how he was going to live with himself if it was.
Unable to sit still once he walks his mother to their home, he places C-3PO back in his bedroom, deactivates him, and goes out again. Qui-Gon tells him he is relieved of any work today at Watto's, so he pretty much could do what he wants until the Jedi return. He gives no thought to what would happen then, wandering down toward Mos Espa Way, waving as his name is shouted out from every quarter on his journey, basking in the glow of his success. He still can't quite believe it, and yet it felt as if he had always known he would win this race. Kitster appears, then Amee and Wald, and soon he was surrounded by a dozen others.
He is just approaching the connector to Mos Espa Way when a Rodian youngster, bigger than himself, blocks his way. Anakin cheated, the Rodian sneers. He couldn't have won the Boonta Eve any other way. No slave could win anything. Anakin is on top of him so fast the bigger being barely had time to put up his arms in defense before he was on the ground.
Anakin is hitting him as hard and fast as he can, not thinking about anything but how angry he is, not even aware that the source of his anger has nothing to do with his victim.
Then Qui-Gon, returning by now with the eopies, is looming over him. He pulls Anakin away, separating the two fighters, and demands to know what this is all about. Somewhat sheepishly, but still angry, Anakin tells him. Qui-Gon studies him carefully, disappointment registering on his broad features. He fixes the young Rodian with his gaze and asked him if he still believed Anakin cheated. The youngster, glowering at Anakin, says he did.
Qui-Gon put his hand on Anakin's shoulder and steers him away from the crowd, not saying anything until they were out of hearing.
"You know, Annie," he says then, his deep voice thoughtful, "fighting didn't change his opinion. The opinions of others, whether you agree with them or not, are something you have to learn to tolerate."
He walks the boy back toward his home, counseling him quietly about the way life worked, hand resting on his shoulder in a way that makes Anakin feel comfort. As they near the boy's home, the Jedi reaches beneath his poncho and produces a leather pouch filled with credits.
"These are yours," he announces. "I sold the Pod." He pursues his lips. "To a particularly surly and rather insistent Dug."
Anakin accepts the bag, grinning broadly, the fight and its cause forgotten.
He ran up the steps to his door and burst through, Qui-Gon following silently. "Mom, Mom!" he cries out as she appears to greet him. "Guess what! Qui-Gon sold the Pod! Look at all the money we have!"
He produces the leather pouch and dropped it into her hands, enjoying the startled look on her face. "Oh, my goodness!" she breathes softly, staring down at the bulging pouch. "Annie, that's wonderful!"
Her eyes lift quickly to meet Qui-Gon's. The Jedi steps forward, holding her gaze.
"Annie has been freed," he says.
The boy's eyes go wide. "What?"
Qui-Gon glances down at him. "You are no longer a slave."
Shmi Skywalker stares at the Jedi in disbelief, her worn face rigid, her eyes mirroring her shock and disbelief.
"Mom? Did you hear that, Mom?" Anakin let out a whoop and jumps as high as he can manage. It isn't possible! But he knows it is true, knew that it is!
He manages to collect himself. "Was that part of the prize, or what?" he asks, grinning.
Qui-Gon grins back. "Let's just say Watto learned an important lesson about gambling."
Shmi Skywalker is shaking her head, still stun by the news, still working it through. But the sight of Anakin's face makes everything come clear for her in an instant. She reaches out to him and presses him to her.
"Now you can make your dreams come true, Annie," she whispers, her face radiant as she touches his cheek. "You're free."
She releases him and turns to Qui-Gon, her eyes bright and expectant. "Will you take him with you? Is he to become a Jedi?" Anakin beams at the suggestion, wheeling quickly on Qui-Gon, waiting for his answer.
The Jedi Master hesitates. "Our meeting was not a coincidence. Nothing happens by accident. You are strong with the Force, Annie, but you may not be accepted by the Council."
Anakin hears what he wants to hear, blocking away everything else, seeing the possibilities that had fueled his hopes and dreams for so long come alive in a single moment.
"A Jedi!" he gasps. "You mean I get to go with you in your starship and everything!"
The thought strikes him like a thunderbolt, wrapping him in the such expectancy that it is all he could do to listen to what the Jedi Master says next.
Qui-Gon kneels before the boy, his face somber. "Anakin, training to be a Jedi will not be easy. It will be a challenge. And if you succeed, it will be a hard life."
Anakin shakes his head quickly. "But it's what I want! It's what I've always dreamed about!" He looks quickly at his mother. "Can I go, Mom?"
But Qui-Gon draws him back with a touch. "This path has been placed before you, Annie. The choice to take it must be yours alone."
The man and the boy stare at each other. A mix of emotions roils through Anakin, threatening to sweep him away, but at their forefront is the happiness he feels at finding the thing he wanted most in all the world within reach-to be a Jedi, to journey down the space lanes of the galaxy. He glances quickly at his mother, at her worn, accepting face, seeing in her eyes that in this, as in all things, she wants what is best for him.
His gaze returns to Qui-Gon. "I want to go," he said.
"Then pack your things," the Jedi Master advises. "We don't have much time."
"Yippee!" the boy shouts, jumping up and down, anxious already to be on his way. He rushes to his mother and hugs her as hard as he can manage, then breaks away for his bedroom.
He is almost at the doorway when he realizes he forgot something. A chill sweep through him as he wheels back to Qui-Gon. "What about Mom?" he asks hurriedly, eyes darting from one to the other. "Is she free, too? You're coming, aren't you, Mom?"
Qui-Gon and his mother exchange a worrying glance, and he knows the answer before the Jedi speaks the words. "I tried to free your mother, Annie, but Watto wouldn't have it. Slaves give status and lend prestige to their owners here on Tatooine."
The boy feels his chest and throat tighten. "But the money from selling..."
Qui-Gon shakes his head. "It's not nearly enough."
There is a hushed silence, and then Shmi Skywalker came to her son and sit down in a chair next to him, taking both of his hands in hers and drawing him close. Her eyes are steady as she looks into his.
"Annie, my place is here," she says quietly. "My future is here. It is time for you to let go... to let go of me. I cannot go with you."
The boy swallows hard. "I want to stay with you, then. I don't want things to change."
She gives him an encouraging smile, her brow knitting. "You can't stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting. Listen to your feelings, Annie. You know what's right."
Anakin Skywalker takes a long, slow breath and drops his gaze, his head lowering. Everything is coming apart inside, all the happiness melting away, all the expectancy fading. But then he feels his mother's hands tighten over his own, and in her touch, he finds the strength he needs to do what he knows he must.
Nevertheless, his eyes are brimming as he lifts his gaze once more. "I'm going to miss you so much, Mom," he whispers.
His mother nods. "I love you, Annie." She releases his hands. "Now, hurry."
Anakin gives her a quick, hard hug, and raced from the room, tears streaking his face.
Once within his own room, Anakin stands staring about in sudden bewilderment. He is leaving, and he does not know when he will be coming back. He has never been anywhere but here, never knowing anyone but the people of Mos Espa and those who come to trade with them. He dreamed about other worlds and other lives, about becoming a pilot of a mainline ship, and about becoming a Jedi. But the impact of what it actually meant to be standing at the threshold of embarkation to the life he had so often wished for was overwhelming.
He finds himself thinking of the old spacer, telling him that he wouldn't be surprised at all if Anakin Skywalker become something more than a slave. He had wanted that more than anything, had hoped with all his heart for it to happen.
But he never, ever considers the possibility he would have to leave his mother behind.
He wipes the tears from his eyes, fighting back new ones, hearing his mother's and Qui-Gon's voices from the other room.
"Thank you," his mother is saying softly.
"I will watch after him. You have my word." The Jedi's deep voice is warm and reassuring. "Will you be all right?"
Anakin couldn't hear her reply. But then she says, "He was in my life for such a short time..." She trails off, distracted. Anakin forces himself to quit listening, and he began pulling clothes out and stuffing them into a backpack. He didn't have much, and it didn't take him long. He looks about for anything of importance he might have missed, and his eyes settled on C-3PO, sitting motionless on the workbench. He walks over to the protocol droid and switched him on. C-3PO cocks his head and looks at the boy blankly.
"Well, Threepio, I'm leaving," Anakin says solemnly. "I'm free. I'm going away, in a starship..."
He didn't know what else to say. The droid cocks his head. "Well, Master Anakin, you are my maker, and-I, sh you well. Although I'd like it better if I were a little less naked."
The boy sighs and nods. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to finish you, Threepio-to give you coverings and all. I'm going to miss working on you. You've been a great pal. I'll make sure Mom doesn't sell you or anything. Bye!"
He snatches up his backpack and rushes from the room, hearing C-3PO call after him plaintively, "Sell me?"
He says goodbye to his mother, braver now, more determined, and walks out the door with Qui-Gon, his course of action settled. He gets barely a dozen meters from his home when Kitster, who trails them back from the fight, comes rushing up to him.
"Where are you going, Annie?" his friend asks doubtfully.
Anakin takes a deep breath. "I've been freed, Kitster. I'm going away with Qui-Gon. On a spaceship."
Kitster's eyes go wide, and his mouth opens in a silent exclamation. Anakin fishes in his pockets and comes out with a handful of credits, which he shoves at his friend. "Here. These are for you."
Kitster's dark face looks down at the credits, then back up at Anakin. "Do you have to go, Annie? Do you have to? Can't you stay? Annie, you're a hero!"
Anakin swallows hard. "I..." He glances past Kitster to his mother, still standing in the doorway looking after him, then down to where Qui-Gon is waiting. He shakes his head. "I can't."
Kitster nods. "Well."
"Well," Anakin repeats, looking at him.
"Thanks for everything, Annie," the other boy responds. There are tears in his eyes as he accepts the credits. "You're my best friend."
Anakin bites his lip. "I won't forget."
He hugs Kitster impulsively, then broke away and raced toward Qui-Gon. But before he reaches him, he glances back one more time at his mother. Seeing her standing in the doorway brought him about. He stands there momentarily, undecided, conflicting emotions tearing at him. Then his already shaky resolve collapses altogether, and he races back to her. By the time he reaches her, he is crying freely.
"I can't do it, Mom," he whispers, clinging to her. "I just can't!"
He is shaking, wracking with sobs, disintegrating inside so quickly that all he can think about is holding on to her. Shmi let him do so for a moment, comforting him with her warmth, then back him away.
She kneels before him, her worn face solemn. "Annie, remember when you climbed that dune in order to chase the banthas away so they wouldn't be shot? You were only five. Remember how you-collapsed several times in the heat, exhausted, thinking you couldn't do it, that it was too hard?"
Anakin nods, his face streaked with tears.
Shmi holds his gaze. "This is one of those times when you have to do something you don't think you can do. But I know how strong you are, Annie. I know you can do this."
The boy swallows his tears, thinking she is wrong, he is not strong at all, but knowing, too, she had decided he must go, even if he found it hard, even if he resisted.
"Will I ever see you again?" he asks in desperation, giving voice to the worst of his fears.
"What does your heart tell you?" she asks quietly.
Anakin shakes his head doubtfully. "I don't know. Yes, I guess."
His mother nods. "Then it will happen, Annie."
Anakin takes a deep breath to steady himself. He stops crying now, and he wipes the dampness of his tears from his face.
"I will become a Jedi," he declares in a small voice. "And I will come back and free you, Mom. I promise."
"No matter where you are, my love will be with you," Shmi tells him, her kind face bent close to his. "Now be brave, and don't look back."
"I love you, Mom," Anakin says.
She hugs him one final time, then turns him around so he is facing away from her. "Don't look back, Annie," she whispers.
She gives him a small push, and he strides determinedly away, shouldering his pack, keeping his eyes fixed on a point well past where Qui-Gon stands waiting. He walks toward that point without slowing, marching right past the Jedi Master, fighting back the tears that threatened to come yet again. It takes only a few minutes, and his mother and his home are behind him.
From the perspective of the natives who are pacing through the streets of Tatooine, everything was less than normal, given that two occurrences never thought will happen; Sebulba finally lost in the race, and a former slave gone by the name of Anakin Skywalker is the first human who won in a race in the history of podracing.
This would be forever remembered in Tatooine's history, perhaps long after the boy is in his twilight years or dead. This will more likely than not motivate other humans to involve themselves in podracing. Anakin Skywalker's name will be remembered in legends, told in bedtime tales to children.
Hooded and clouded all too familiar with his march on the Temple, Vader marches through the streets of Tatooine, maintaining a stern expression across his face. He managed to slip away from the group, and he swore he was going to throttle anyone that gets in his way of freeing her.
His mother died last time due to the inefficiency of the Jedi and that begins his plummet down to the dark side. The death of Shmi at the hands of the Tusken Raiders was a major catalyst in his fall to the dark side. He'd slaughtered an entire Tusken village including women and children. Anakin came to blame the Jedi Order for causing his mother's death.
Her death is a logical precursor for Palpatine to exploit Anakin's disillusionment with the Jedi and fall to the dark side.
Vader would hardly consider himself a humble man publicly, but his intimidating form is enough to warn he is not someone to be messed with. Not that is necessary, they are celebrating the victory with the Podrace.
As Vader takes a turn to the left, he sees it; Shmi Skywalker, still standing and staring out where the younger version of her son just went.
Anger briefly flashes within him. He loathes that attachment rule of the Jedi with vicious anger. Despite being one with the Force, it's apparently not enough for him to control his emotions at seeing his mother cry.
Vader approaches. Ideas formulate in his head. He can free her after Naboo, but that will only bear further hardship. Additionally, the timeline is changing so he wouldn't be surprised if his mother probably dies earlier.
But freeing her now also comes with a consequence; Cliegg Lars. Cliegg's father was a kind Human male moisture farmer on Tatooine, but the young Cliegg rebelled against the elder Lars and left Tatooine for the Core World of Ator. He married a young woman named Aika, and they had a son, Owen. Aika died during Owen's youth, and a devastated Cliegg returned to Tatooine with his son, made amends with his father, and took over the family farm. Shmi healed that depression for a time but if Vader takes her away, that means the Lars would never have their moments of happiness.
Conflict, all too familiar to him on the second Death Star, burns up inside of him.
In the end, Vader knows what he has to do. Anakin needs his mother's influence at all costs to be a better person. She lovingly raised Anakin, contradictory to everything the Jedi preach to their students. Despite their arrogance, Vader recognizes the Jedi do have a point; attachments can lead to the dark side but the Jedi don't teach their students to control attachments properly.
Vader scowls as he turns away. He would have to arrange a little visit to Watto's shop.