Hello hello :) Sorry for being MIA for some time. Preparations for college are killing me. People aren't kidding when they say they'd never want to relive their senior year of high school, yikes. Anyway, here's the next for for you and once again, sorry for the way. Enjoy!

Obi-Wan, though adventurous and thoroughly active most times, wasn't one for the party scene. He was never one to join the other padawan in sneaking out to clubs and other such entertainment facilities. He sought for a different kind of thrill rather than that of losing his conscious mind after one too many irresponsible drinks and risking getting in trouble with his trusting master. But after hearing the aforementioned master marveling on about Anakin the night before, Obi-Wan decided that an early morning walk would do him good and when he passed a cantina, he simple couldn't pass up the opportunity.

To be honest it seemed a bit ridiculous to him, thinking that Xanatos would try to replace him with a new shiny toy. That just wasn't his style; the man was more emotional than most to the point where he still had bottle caps from Obi-Wan's teenage years sitting around their quarters back at the temple. He preserved the charred and broken lightsaber that Obi-Wan had lost use of during their first outer rim mission and remembered people's names from decades ago. There was no way he'd simply discard of a bond and friendship developed over so many years-or at least that was how the rational half of Obi-Wan's mind put it. The irrational half, which seemed to have more impact with fewer words and less effort simply told him that crazier things had happened before and he was rather close to being knighted himself anyways. Whose to say Xanatos wasn't scoping out a new apprentice to take his place once he was gone?

The thoughts fogged up Obi-Wan's mind as he approached the counter to order a drink, but found even that to be a difficult task as he ddin't speak a word of Huttish. He growled a few curses under his breath in frustration and in the heat of the moment, slammed his fist against the counter, not loud enough to cause a ruckus, but with enough force to shake the mug of the creature next to him. Obi-Wan didn't even notice what had happened till the creature shoved him roughly on the shoulder. Stumbling to the side, he looked up, feeling confused on the inside but radiating anger on the outside. The gruesome three eyes beast began blithering on in Huttish, to which Obi-Wan couldn't say much, but he could half-heartedly mutter, "I mean you no harm, please leave me be."

The creature didn't seem to be pacified and instead shoved Obi-Wan once again, this time harder. And just as the padawan's hand reached for his lightsaber, a familiar figure appeared between him and his attacker. With a sweet smile on her face and a soft air to her, Padme spoke to the creature who she knew had no idea what she was saying. Still, she banked on the batting of her lashes to take her where her words couldn't, and they did.

"Please, don't hurt my friend, we apologize for however he may have offended you. Please, accept this as an apology and have another drink." With her words, she released a few coins from her palm and let them clatter onto the counter.

The creature nodded and grunted, seeming more pleased than he had been a moment before, and taking the window of opportunity, Padme grabbed Obi-Wan by the elbow and took off towards the exit.

"Come on, stop dragging your feet" she chastised as they stepped out into the blistering Tattoine heat, "It's not going to take them forever to figure out those are Republic Credits, you know."

A somewhat startled Obi-Wan did as he was told and when his elbow was released, he walked by Padme's side, finally summing up the coherency to say, "Thanks. I don't know what happened in there to be honest, I just-"

"You are most welcome" Padme nodded, "I told Mr. Omega he was better off watching his own charge instead of me but of course he wouldn't listen."

"Ah right, speaking of Xanatos, could you maybe not mention this to him?" Obi-Wan requested slowly, "Please?"

"Sure thing, skirmish" Padme rolled her eyes half-heartedly, internally smug at the leverage she now had against the padawan. Obi-Wan didn't seem very amused by the new nickname, but he remained silent.

A few hovels down Padme and Obi-Wan noticed Watto standing outside his shop, shouting manically in Huttish at a seemingly injured creature with Xanatos, Anakin and R2D2 standing close by. They made their way over as not to interrupt Watto's tirade and upon seeing them, Xanatos' expression lightened significantly.

"There you two are. Don't go wandering off like that, who knows what could happen out in these parts" Xanatos said in a hushed tone as the two younger came to stand next to him. Obi-Wan frowned as Xanatos usually didn't look down upon his ability in such a way, but didn't get a chance to voice his thoughts as suddenly Anakin joined the heated conversation in his native tongue.

"What's going on?" Padme asked the question right off of Obi-Wan's tongue. Xanatos took a breath and listened for a moment longer before answering, "Watto's pilot who was supposed race in that big event today got himself injured practicing last night and he says he can't race today. Anakin here wants to take his place."

The surprise was evident on both Obi-Wan and Padme's expressions but before either of them could come up with a response, Xanatos piped into the three way exchange as well, "I can sponsor him."

All other members of the area turned to look at Xanatos incredulously, but the Jedi Knight continued wasn't phased. To him this wasn't just some risky wager, it was a chance to prove a hunch. It was a chance to see if Anakin was truly as special as they had all sensed or if he'd simply been running on dumb luck all along, though Xanatos highly doubted this was the case. Either way, he figured this was clearly an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, given to him by the force. "I'll sponsor Anakin to be your new pilot."

"You wanta sponsor him insa race?" Watto asked dubious of Xanatos' offer, "You can't even afford parts. How can you sponsor him?"

"A proposal" Xanatos answered. He only continued once the interest became clear on Watto's face. "We team up; you front the cash for the entry fee and your pod. If we win, you keep all the winnings, minus the cost of the parts I need and if we lose, you keep my ship."

Obi-Wan immediately pitched in through the innate bond that he shared with his master, "Are you out of your kriffing mind?"

Xanatos twitched a bit at the sudden shout in his mind, responding mildly with, "I need you to trust me on this, ok? I have a gut feeling and the force is approving of it so just trust me, ok? Have I ever gotten you into anything I couldn't get you out of?"

"This apprenticeship."

"Oh, shut up."

"Alright, I trust you. Do what you have to."

With that, Xanatos turned to R2 who produced a small holo-transmitter from his storage. Once turned on the transmitter emitted an image of the Nubian ship they had arrived to the planet on. "The ship is in excellent shape aside from the missing parts. Either way, you walk out of this with something big, think about it."

But the Toydarian deemed the last bit of Xanatos' sentence unnecessary He was quick to accept the offer, but not without a word of, "Me thinks you might be makins a foolish mistake."

Xanatos simply offered a small smile, looking down at Anakin, who was radiating with excitement. He ruffled the child's hair and urged him along, pleased that Watto had taken the bait and hopeful that he hadn't just wagered the fate of everyone on the Queen's ship including herself, for nil.

Once the deal with Watto was struck, he returned to the Skywalker home with his two younger charges and Watto's pod to polish up. The Jedi Knight of the bunch had excused himself from the group to update Captain Panaka on the situation and as he ended the transmission Shmi joined him on the porch where he'd been watching Padme, Anakin, R2 and Obi-Wan working on the pod in the courtyard below.

"He's a good kid" Xanatos spoke, not moving his eyes from the happenings below, "You should be proud."

"I am" Shmi exhaled. There was a certain sadness to her that was familiar to Xanatos, that he remembered sensing in his own mother back in the day. It was a sadness Xanatos wished he could remove but was also aware of how out of his reach the goal was. "It's rare in children out here, but my Ani knows nothing of greed. He deserves better than a slave's life."

"Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early, and he would have become Jedi, no doubt" Xanatos sighed. It was a shame that such a clearly strong force user hadn't been brought in. It made him wonder how many more were out there in the systems of the great beyond and only fueled his dormant desire to bring Anakin back to the council with him.

"A Jedi?" The sadness in Shmi's tone seemed to grow.

"Once" Xanatos nodded, "He's too old now though..."

"How do you know?" Shmi asked. It seemed not to settle well with her that her son could have had a much different-better life if he'd been born just a bit closer to the Republic. "That he can be a Jedi, I mean."

"I've noticed things about him" Xanatos' eyes wandered back to where Anakin was working hard with the help of his friends, "Observed how he can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It's a Jedi trait. The Force is tremendously strong with him." Xanatos allowed a moment to pass before asked as politely as he could, "If you don't mind me asking, who was his father?"

Shmi's eyes were downcast in an instant. "I don't-I'm not entirely sure. Watto made me pertain to many tasks back in the day before Ani was born on various planets and I-"

"That's enough" Xanatos cut her off. He had no desire to hear any more. She reminded him so much of his own mother and to see her say such things made Xanatos inflected, angry almost.

"Can you help him?" Shmi asked after a moment's silence.

"Possibly, yes," was Xanatos' only response.

That was a teensy bit short, I know, but I already have the next chapter written up so it'll be posted much, much sooner. As always, let me know what you lovelies thought, comments, questions, suggestions, constructive criticism anything of the kind, I love hearing from you guys.