"That has to be the worst idea I have ever heard," Nathrrya stated, shaking her head. "Are you out of your bloody mind?"

"It will help us to blend in if I take Jar Jar with me." Qui-Gon replied. He saw no reason for this to be a bad thing.

"With us, you mean, Jedi," she replied, becoming annoyed. "I'm coming with you whether you approve of it or not. If you bring Jar Jar I'm sure I'll accidentally end up Force choking him and it won't be my fault if I do." She raised her hand, rubbing her temples, trying to alleviate an oncoming headache due to the sheer stupidity of having Jar Jar tag along. "Enlighten me, Master Jinn, but how can you possibly think that having Jar Jar with us will assist us in blending in? He's a Gungan, a swamp-dwelling...thing… and we're on a Force-forsaken desert planet. He will attract more attention rather than deflect it."

"Master, Nathrrya does make a relative point," Obi-Wan offered, attempting to calm things down between the two. They had been arguing for at least ten minutes by this time and he was impressed that the Sith hadn't lost her temper as he thought she would. But her tense shoulders, the frown on her features and the general feel of the Force around her indicated that it wouldn't be too long before she did. "You have to admit… the Gungan is rather accident-prone."

Qui-Gon considered his Padawan and looked to the Sith again before he eventually sighed in defeat. "Very well - perhaps it's best that Jar Jar stays here on the ship." After the statement, there was a not-so-muted sound of "yippee!" heard in the background followed closely by more than a few groans of dismay. "And we all felt the disturbance in the Force."

Nathrrya snorted and dropped her arm, her hand slapping her side as she did so. "Is that what you call it? A 'disturbance'? To me if felt a lot more like a herd of stampeding Bantha. You-know-who is most likely looking for us as well as the queen. Trust me, you'll want me around if his apprentice shows up and pays us a visit."

Just at that moment, the astromech droid R2-D2 rolled into the room and made a series of beeps and whistles. Nathrrya's mood seemed to calm some when he announced the good news. She reached down and patted the little droid on his dome appreciatively. "That's great to hear, Artoo. And with the list of parts we need, we can get this hunk of junk off this planet." She raised her voice slightly. "And we know that half of the crew is standing in the hallway. They forget we're Jedi and can sense them."

The droid rolled out of the room and the Sith followed. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were left alone. The Padawan crossed his arms and grinned at his master. "Looks like she outmanoeuvred you again, Master."

Qui-Gon frowned. "It would seem so. One would think she'd taken over control of this mission."

"Would that be a bad thing, considering what it is we may face?"

"Perhaps not," he replied, considering Obi-Wan's question. "But it's quite awkward to have my authority challenged in such a fashion."

His Padawan nodded in agreement. "I understand, Master. But she is a master in her own right, if what we believe about her to be true, I can see that the two of you won't always see eye to eye."

"You're correct in your assessment, Obi-Wan." He nodded, indicating that the conversation was over. He put his hand on his Padawan's shoulder briefly. "Remember, don't let them send any transmissions. The Trade will attempt to locate the Queen if they do so."

"I understand, Master. May the Force be with you."


"And how is that keeping a low profile?" Master Jinn asked when Nathrrya walked up to him. She was wearing the same outfit as the day they met outside Jedi Temple. "And how do you still have that outfit?" He asked realizing the only addition was the blaster pistol in the holster on her utility belt.

"You'd be surprised what people don't take notice of. I could pass as a mercenary or a bounty hunter. I've always worn this style to distract my targets; succeeding each time." She grinned, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. The dust was already beginning to tickle her nose and she hated it. "As for how I still have this outfit, I just put the Jedi robes on over the top."

Qui-Gon nodded. "Where is your lightsabre?" he asked.

She pointed to a place in the duster that she wore. "It's right here, out of sight but within easy reach if I need it."

"Wait!"

Captain Panaka had called to them as he was coming down from the ramp of the cruiser. Both the Jedi and the Sith turned to see him rushing towards them with one of the Queen's handmaidens in tow. Both Naboo natives seemed to falter when they saw Nathrrya's choice of clothing, very different from the Jedi robes she had been wearing up to this point. When she noticed the peasants garb Padme was wearing, she had to use a significant amount of effort to keep herself from facepalming.

You've got to be kidding me, she thought to herself. If taking Jar Jar was a bad idea, this had to be a completely different level of stupid and it happened to be another crate of monkey-lizards that she didn't want to open. She just prayed that nothing else happened. Maybe an asteroid or a meteor would strike the planet with them on it.

Nathrrya looked up at the sky for good measure.

"Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you," Panaka said. "She wishes for her to observe the local..."

Qui-Gon shook his head. "No more commands from Her Highness today, Captain. This spaceport is not going to be pleasant."

"The Queen wishes it; she is curious about this planet." The Captain replied.

Nathrrya saw the look of consideration on Jinn's face. "For the love of the Living Force, please don't tell me you're actually considering this insane request?"

"I've been trained in defence. I can take care of myself." Padme had spoken up for the first time.

"Don't make us go back and tell the Queen you refused." Panaka almost begged.

"Neither of you should because she's right here," Nathrrya said. She turned to Padme with a glare. "Isn't that right, Your Highness?"

"How did you know?" Padme was obviously surprised. Captain Panaka also wanted to know how it was discovered as well. Even the Jedi Master was intrigued.

The Sith rolled her eyes. Did she really have to explain this? "In the hangar on Naboo, your decoy made the tactless mistake of turning towards you when she spoke of the risk. You made the equally tactless blunder of responding. I found the exchange to be odd."

Padme looked to deflate in her confidence. She noticeably slumped and even her tone didn't have as much bite to it as it had a moment ago, "So, I guess this means I'm not going with you to Mos Espa?"

"Damn right you're not, Your Highness," she said. It was harsh but she honestly cared about her safety. "Look, the spaceport is going to be filled with slavers, smugglers, criminals…" To make her point she ticked off each thing on her fingers. "And, let's not forget this Force-forsaken dust-ball is also controlled by the Hutts, so in addition to all of that, you also have prostitution, gambling and the trafficking of every illicit substance you can think of, ten times over."

Padme was young, but she wasn't an idiot and Nathrrya communicated in such a way to address her more intelligent side. She saw that Padme was slowly understanding the true danger the planet possessed. Nathrrya turned to Panaka.

"Captain, I implore you to do your job and safeguard your monarch. Your post is head of security, so please… for the love of the galaxy… secure her!"

Panaka noted the sharpness of her command, indicating that she was very much in charge now. He snapped a salute to her with a "Yes Sir!" before escorting a grumbling Padme back to the safety of the cruiser.


The Sith, the Jedi and the astromech, R2-D2, made their way through Mos Espa to locate some of the smaller junk dealers. While the three of them made their way through the streets it was obvious that most of the male population, alien or human, were ogling the woman rather openly. The stares, mutters and the occasional cat-call didn't bother her in the slightest. However, one of the street thugs decided to be bold and attempted to frisk her, to which he was promptly knocked to the ground before he could really touch her and had the barrel of the woman's blaster flush against his manhood. Nathrrya's cold, hard stare and evil smile terrified him. Seeing her display, the other men decided to give them all a very wide berth.

Once her dominance was established on the streets they managed to find a suitable junk dealer shop. As they entered a flying alien insect creature came out from the back and grumbled in Huttese.

"What do you want?" Watto asked.

Qui-Gon nodded his head in greeting. "I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian."

Shit - could this become any more difficult? Nathrrya was becoming sour. Toydarians were immune to Force suggestion and mind tricks. She had never dealt with them but she had heard things. Again, she looked out of the nearest window towards the sky just to be sure her meteor theory hadn't turned into a reality.

"Ah yes, ah yes. Nubian. We have lots of that. What kinda junk?" Watto turned towards the back of the shop slightly. "Boy, get in here! Now!"

"My droid here has a readout of what I need." Qui-Gon said as R2 beeped a conformation.

Nathrrya's attention was taken by the arrival of a rather dishevelled, scruffy looking, blonde haired boy who she'd guess to be about eight or nine years of age. Her Force senses threatened to overwhelm her as the boy was awash in the Force. His power was vast, untapped and untrained and if his Force signature was much brighter she would have to wear eye protection just to look at him. What Nathrrya found strange was that he had no Darkness in him at all - not a speck. Considering where the boy lived that was hard to believe.

She glanced over at Qui-Gon to see if he had noticed it as well and it was his stoic demeanour that made her promise never to play cards against him. If the Jedi Master had picked up on what she felt, then he was showing no outward sign that it was the case.

"What took you so long?" Watto asked raising an arm as if to strike the boy.

"I was cleaning the bin like you..." Anakin replied trying not to flinch.

"Never mind!" Watto waved away the excuse. "Watch the store I've got some selling to do here." He turned to Qui-Gon. "So, let me take you out back. You'll find what you need."

As the Jedi and the astromech left with Watto, Nathrrya found herself a comfortable spot on the wall to lean against until Qui-Gon returned. The boy had hopped up onto a counter and was trying to look busy by, apparently, cleaning some random parts. He was carefully and sneakily studying the woman he was left with.

The boy, Anakin Skywalker, was able to read people. He didn't know how he could do this and he didn't know why, but he just could. It came in handy at times, this mysterious ability. It was telling him this woman, innocently leaning against the wall, could be extremely dangerous even though he felt completely safe around her. Though if he were to explain it to someone, they would think he was strange.

"Are you an angel?" Anakin asked thoughtfully.

Nathrrya raised an eyebrow at the question. "No, I don't believe so. Though I've been called many names in my life, young man, most of which were not very complementary." The Sith considered the boy for a moment. "Tell me about these angels?"

"I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them," he answered. "They live on the Moons of Iego, I think. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They are good, kind and so pretty they make even the most hardened space pirate cry."

"Hmm, can't say I've ever met one of these angels…" she said, thoughtfully. "Then again, maybe I have now that I think about it, or perhaps know of someone who could be one and doesn't know it."

In Nathrrya's opinion, the boy had described Padme well. The young monarch was beautiful, or would be given a few more years, and she was good and kind even if she were a little naive. Nathrrya just wished the Force would stop prodding her so damned hard. "Would you like to meet an angel?"

Anakin's eyes went wide. "Do you mean that?"

"Well I can't promise anything but I'll do my best to arrange something." Nathrrya said honestly. "Tell me young man how long have you lived here?"

"Since I was very little - three, I think - my Mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us betting on the Pod races to Watto, who's a lot better master than Gardulla, I think." Anakin replied.

"Hutts and slavery, that doesn't surprise me." Nathrrya said darkly wishing she could Force choke the lowlife that had sold a mother and child into servitude on this pit of a world... and probably several other sentients while she was at it.

"You don't like slavery, do you?" Anakin observed.

"No, I don't. I utterly detest the practice." It was one reason she had removed Vette's shock collar as soon as she could. Her blue skinned Twi'lek thief had become a surrogate sister in time. Just thinking about her brought a pang of loneliness to the Sith's mind, but she pushed it aside when Qui-Gon re-entered the shop followed closely by R2-D2. The astromech was making a series of disgruntled beeps and whirs.

"We're leaving." The Jedi Master said as he passed Nathrrya.

The Sith rolled her eyes knowing exactly what had happened. "Well it was nice meeting you..."

"Anakin," The boy replied "Anakin Skywalker."

"Call me Nathrrya." She said before going after Qui-Gon. She had to jog to catch up with him and soon fell into step beside the man.

"You tried a Force suggestion, didn't you?"

"Yes." Qui-Gon said clearly grumpy.

"Watto is a Toydarian," she pointed out with an amused tone. "They so happen to be immune to them."

"So, I've discovered." Qui-Gon replied "Why didn't you say something?"

"You never asked." Nathrrya said in a smug tone.


Watto entered his shop, shaking his head "Outlanders! They think because we live so far from the centre, we don't know nothing." He grumbled. "Thinking he's Jedi ha!"

"They seemed nice to me." Anakin replied. "Jedi?"

"Yeah, the male thought he was Jedi. Tried to mind trick me. If he really were Jedi he'd know that don't work on my kind." Watto said. "Clean the racks, then you can go home."

As Anakin jumped down off the counter he had a thoughtful expression on his face. Was it possible? A Jedi here on Tatooine? And now that he thought of it, there had been something about the woman, Nathrrya. Was she a Jedi too? The boy shrugged and ran out the back to finish his work for the day.


"Obi-Wan, you're sure there isn't anything of value left on board?" Qui-Gon asked his padawan via commlink.

"A few containers of supplies, the Queen's wardrobe, maybe. Not enough for you to barter with. Not in the amounts you're talking about."

"The Queen's wardrobe, really? Obi-Wan I can't see her allowing that even if it were a possibility. So, we've got nothing to barter with, fantastic." Nathrrya said sourly.

"Alright. Another solution will present itself. I'll check back." Qui-Gon said before he put his commlink away.

"Let's kriffing hope so." Nathrrya shot back as she looked off to the east and contained herself enough to keep from kicking the sand like a disgruntled child. "Oh, how lovely! A sandstorm is on its way." She pointed off in the distance at the hulking, swirling mass of tan and brown coloured sand. She hit herself in the head, thinking that if Qui-Gon had eyes he would have seen it without her having to present it like an award.

"We'll head back to the ship then." Qui-Gon replied. His companion shook her head.

"No way will we make it back there before that gets to us. Tatooine sandstorms are deadly. There haven't been any survivors. We'll have to hole up somewhere and ride it out." She felt a wave of Force energy tickle her senses and she turned just in time to see the boy from the junk shop. She called out to him and he looked up, seeing her and her friend. He smiled.

"Hi Nathrrya! What do you need?"

She pointed to the large obvious, ominous cloud of dust. "Sandstorm! We won't make it back to the ship before it hits us. Do you know where we can take some shelter until it passes over?"

As she spoke to the boy Qui-Gon had adjusted his robes. In doing so his lightsabre was briefly revealed and Anakin got a quick glimpse of it, which he took note of. He then thought for a moment and had an idea. "Well, better come home with me and stay there for now. Mom shouldn't mind."


"Mom! Mom! I'm home." Anakin called as he, Qui-Gon, Nathrrya and R2-D2 entered the slave hovel Anakin called home.

"I've seen worse." The Sith said as she looked around the compact space.

Anakin's mother, Shmi, came into the main room from her work area and was clearly startled to see the room full of people.

"Oh, my! Ani, what's this?" Shmi asked placing a hand over her chest.

"These are my friends, Mom. This is Nathrrya, and... gee, I don't know any of your names." Anakin said.

"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn," the Jedi Master said with a slight bow. "And this is our droid, Artoo-Deetoo."

"Anakin why are they here?" Shmi asked a little concerned about her son's actions.

"A sandstorm has hit Mos Espa," Nathrrya explained, her voice gentle and friendly. "As we would have never made it back to our ship, your son was hospitable enough to offer shelter until it passes."

"Come on! Let me show you Threepio!" Anakin tugged at Nathrrya's sleeve.

The woman just shrugged and followed the eager young boy into another room and R2-D2 rolled behind them, beeping all the way.

"Don't you think she's a bit old for my son?" Shmi asked amused by the whole thing. Qui-Gon, admittedly, didn't know how to respond to that.


Anakin showed off his partly completed droid to Nathrrya, which was lying across his workbench. The Sith eyed the… thing. There was only one eye receptor on the head and pretty much the entire body of the droid had no outer casings.

"Isn't he great?!" Anakin asked, enthused by his creation. "He's not finished yet."

"I can see that," the Sith replied, amusement in her voice and a smirk on her lips. "You've got some very impressive mechanical skills to build him from nothing."

"You really like him?" Anakin asked. Nathrrya just nodded. "He's a protocol droid...to help Mom. Watch!"

Anakin activated the droid. As soon as it sat up Anakin saw the missing eye receptor and ran over to the other side of the room to retrieve it and quickly pressed it into the empty socket. The light lit up and the droid slowly swung his incomplete legs over the side of the bench and stood up, though wobbly.

"How do you do?" it said. "I am C-3PO, Human Cyborg Relations. How might I serve you?"

"Oh Force! You've recreated 2V-R8!" Nathrrya groaned when she heard the voice. The look on her face was rather dismayed. "I honestly don't know if I should be impressed or terrified…"

Anakin gave the woman a very confused look, one which didn't go unnoticed by the Sith. She calmed herself and rubbed the back of her neck. "Many years ago, I had a ship that came with a protocol droid called 2V-R8. He sounded almost exactly like your C-3PO."

That clarified things, but Anakin was still a very excited young boy and, of course, the topic changed. "When the storm's over I'll show you the racer I have. I'm building a Pod racer!"

The Sith looked thoughtful upon hearing this. Pod racing might just be the answer to their little problem and she certainly was going to remember this. During her musings, R2-D2 let out a whirl of beeps and whistles towards the protocol droid.

"I beg your pardon... what do you mean I'm naked?" it asked. R2-D2 beeped again.

"My parts are showing? Oh, my goodness. How embarrassing!"

Nathrrya couldn't help herself as she burst out into a fit of very girlish giggles which then turned into full blown laughter.


Qui-Gon had taken five small capsules from his utility belt and handed them to Shmi. "I have enough food for a meal."

"Oh, thank you!" Shmi replied, taking them. "Thank you so much. I'm sorry if I was abrupt. I'll never get used to Anakin's surprises."

"He's a very special boy." The Jedi master said thoughtfully. The woman smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I know."

Qui-Gon's communicator went off and he turned away. "What is it, Obi-Wan?"

"We've received a transmission from Naboo," he said. "Conditions there are not good. If it's to be believed, then the people are dying. The Queen is upset... but absolutely no reply was sent."

"It sounds like bait to establish a connection trace." Qui-Gon said.

"We suspected they would try such a thing," the Padawan agreed. "What if it's true and the people are dying?" he asked.

"Either way, we're running out of time." The Jedi master said grimly.


It was night time on Coruscant and two cloaked figures were walking along a balcony overlooking the city.

"Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the trace was correct, I will find them quickly, Master." Darth Maul said as he walked several paces behind his master.

"Move against the Jedi first... you will then have no difficulty taking the Queen back to Naboo, where she will sign the treaty." Darth Sidious instructed.

"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge." A sinister smile crossed the Zabrak's face.

"You have been well trained, my young apprentice. They will be no match for you. It is too late for them to stop us now. Everything is going as planned. The Republic will soon be at my command."


"Have you ever seen a Pod race, Nathrrya?" Anakin asked as they ate dinner.

The Sith shook her head noticing the worried look on Shmi's face as she did so. "I've heard of them but I've never had the chance to experience one."

"They have Pod racing on Malastare." Qui-Gon said. "Very fast, very dangerous."

"I'm the only human who can do it." Anakin said with some pride. He then noticed the look his mother was giving him. "Mom, what? I'm not bragging. It's true. Watto says he's never heard of a human doing it."

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you race Pods." Qui-Gon said. Or a Sith's. He thought looking over at Nathrrya, who just smiled.

"I... I was wondering... something..." Anakin asked unsure.

"What?" The Jedi Master prompted.

"Well, ahhh... you're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?" the boy asked.

"What makes you think that?" Qui-Gon said raising an eyebrow.

"I saw your laser sword. Only Jedi carry that kind of weapon." Anakin said.

Qui-Gon leaned back and slowly smiled. No Anakin, Jedi are not the only ones to carry such a weapon. He thought glancing at the Sith sitting across from him. And I fear you'll learn that all too soon. "Perhaps I killed a Jedi and stole it from him." Nathrrya almost snorted in her drink but managed to contain herself.

Anakin shook his head "I don't think so... No one can kill a Jedi Knight."

"I wish that were so..." Qui-Gon said sadly.

"I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves... have you come to free us?" Anakin asked hopefully. Nathrrya glanced between the boy and the Jedi Master as she drank.

"No, I'm afraid not..." Qui-Gon replied

"I think you have... why else would you be here?"

Qui-Gon looked thoughtful for a moment and made eye contact with Nathrrya, who gave a slight nod and an encouraging smile. Anakin didn't notice the exchange but Shmi had and it made her wonder just who the red-haired woman was if a Jedi Knight was conferring with her.

"I can see there's no fooling you..." Qui-Gon said as he leaned forward. "You mustn't let anyone know about us... we're on our way to Coruscant - the central system in the Republic - on a very important mission, and it must be kept secret."

"Coruscant... wow... how did you end up here in the outer rim?" the boy asked.

"Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here until we can repair it." Nathrrya explained.

"I can help! I can fix anything!" Anakin cried. The boy's eyes brightened at the idea of working on a ship.

"I believe you can, but our first job is to acquire the parts we need." Qui-Gon said.

"But we have nothing to barter with." Nathrrya reminded the master. It was all she could do to keep her annoyance down. "The junk dealers have a weakness, don't they?" she asked, turning to Shmi.

"Gambling," she admitted. "Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races."

"Pod racing... Greed can be a powerful ally... if it's used properly." Qui-Gon noted.

"You almost sounded like a Sith when you said that, Qui-Gon." Nathrrya said telepathically, clearly amused by the thought. She grinned at him over the forkful of food she put to her lips. The Jedi Master gave the Sith a dirty look in response - once again overlooked by the boy but not his mother.

"I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever... There's a big race tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod. It's all but finished..." Anakin said becoming excited.

"Anakin, settle down…" his mother chided, her expression worried. "Watto won't let you."

"Watto doesn't know I've built it!" Anakin said as he turned to Qui-Gon. "You could make him think it's yours, and you could get him to let me pilot it for you."

Both the Sith and the Jedi could feel Shmi's anxiety, she clearly didn't like her boy racing pods. "I don't want you to race, Ani... It's awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it."

"But Mom, I love it... and they need help... they're in trouble." He turned to his mother and pleaded, as he sought her approval. "The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need."

"Your mother's right," Qui-Gon said, siding with Shmi.

For the love of the Living Force, Nathrrya sighed inwardly. Qui-Gon, make up your mind on who's side you're on.

"Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who might be able to help us?" Qui-Gon asked, looking at Anakin's mother.

Shmi shook her head. "No, the Republic doesn't exist out here."

"We have to help them, Mom...you said that the biggest problem in the universe is no one helps each other..."

"I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger," Nathrrya spoke up. "We will find another way..." She knew full well that the only other way would be to outright steal the parts they needed. She didn't have any trouble with that course of action, but her Jedi companion most certainly would.

Or would he?

"No," Shmi said, shaking her head. "Ani's right, there is no other way... I may not like it, but he can help you... he was meant to help you."

"Is that a yes?" the boy asked, enthusiastically. His eyes brightened and he all but jumped out of his chair. "That is a yes!"