A/N: Thanks, everyone, for the help. I've altered it so that though Anakin is now a year younger than his older siblings, Ben will still be five years younger. I've never really had a good relationship with my own cousins and I wouldn't want Ben or Anakin to suffer the same fate.
I've included some strange things in this chapter, but after all, it's the same version as I told my little sister. Here goes…
Anakin held his breath till his ship had fully filled with water before he opened the door. Being killed via the force of water crashing into a pressurized craft wasn't exactly the way he had envisioned himself to die. If his end was to be in the sea, he'd rather be digested by a fish.
He put an underwater breathing mechanism into his mouth and pulled his bag, now soaked through, out from under the seat. It was an easy task to slide out of the sunken shipwreck. Glancing back at the formerly expensive pile of metal, Anakin realized that it might take a while for him to recover the cost. His father would have to pay for it at the present, but if Anakin didn't come back home with the replacement money, he wouldn't be expecting a warm welcome anytime soon.
The lake was dark, serene…but teeming with aquatic life. Fish were everywhere, scurrying about and nipping at his toes. There was certainly a lot of seaweed floating around, too. Some of it wrapped around his head, and he had to struggle to pull it off. Despite the chill of the water, Anakin felt warmth for this place, one which he had never felt for any other lakes he had swum in. This was different. This was how it felt to be alive. If only Uncle Luke had thought to sink an underwater Jedi Training camp here-
Anakin stopped in mid stroke. Uncle Luke. The reason why he had run away.
Abruptly he changed his mind. It would be better if nobody knew where he was; that way he could keep this refuge for himself. There were few things in life that he had for himself nowadays.
Well, except for one thing. Anakin looked over his shoulder at his backpack, trying not to feel guilty about the thing hidden inside it. He quickly continued swimming. Later, he would have to get back to the surface, to find a place to stay the night. The main problem was, he had no clue where he was, or whether there was any civilization around at all.
He suddenly realized that everything was quite still. While thinking, he had swum quite far away; deeper down than he had wanted to. 'Maybe I should return to the surface', he thought, and ascended upwards.
On the way, something caught his eye- something bright and pink. It swayed gently to the lull of the waves. 'Cool!' Anakin thought. He went towards it, noticing its odd figure as he swam nearer towards it. Stopping a few yards away, he noticed something in its middle: A bright, shiny red disc.
He had never seen anything like it before; that was for sure. It did look quite pretty, though. As soon as he had boosted another ship, or at least found enough Credits on the floor to buy one, he could send it to Jaina via an unidentified delivery service, preferably somewhere far out in the outer systems. She would like it.
He swam closer, closer, just about to grasp the red disk when-
"WHA KA MAA!"
And then a skinny hand had shot out of nowhere, dragging him to the side. Anakin's breather was dislodged from his mouth, lost in a whirl of water and dust. The disk blossomed and opened into a huge, gaping hole, complete with nasty sound effects and teeth.
A monster, then. And he had almost been lured into its trap. He hastily recovered his breather, placed it back into his mouth, and glanced at his rescuer, who was busily blowing raspberries at the huge pink mouth. He was a long, skinny amphibian with floppy ears and eyes that bugged out of their sockets (literally).
Anakin attempted to introduce himself. "Murrgh name is Ahhnagin," he garbled. "Hoo arggh you?" It certainly wasn't easy to talk underwater. He was already expecting a variety of strange answers, and wouldn't have been surprised. Still, he had not been prepared for such a response as:
"Mesa Mansa Musa Binks!"
This sentence was followed by the odd-looking amphibian's departure. Anakin had to swim hard in order to catch up with him.
"Wait!" he shouted. "What did you say?"
The amphibian looked back at him and patiently repeated, "My name es Mansa Musa Binks, and mesa a Gungan. What named be yousa?"
Anakin tried again. This time it was followed by success. Mansa Musa smiled cheerily at him, then jerked a floppy hand. "Well, my has to go. Da Big Bosses be an-gerr-rie with me if I stay out here too long. See ya!"
Mansa Musa expertly swam off. Anakin had to struggle to catch up with the creature again. This was getting annoying. "Hold on!" he said, speaking as clearly as he could. "My ship sunk and I was stranded underwater. Do you have any idea where the capital of Naboo is?"
The Gungan scratched his head. "Yah...but really far from here. Not easy to travel."
"Okay, well, do you know anywhere around here where I could stay for the night? Just until I find a way to get back?"
Mansa Musa looked around nervously. "Ehh…yah, yousa could stay at my place in da underwater city, Ota-Gunga. But bosses no like it if yousa caught, I warnin you! Follow me down under."
Anakin followed the Gungan deeper down into colder waters. At last, brimming in the distance, he could see a large circle of bubbles, all lit up with a strange inner glow. That was probably the underwater city. Strange that he had never heard of it before in his geography lessons…
After several turns, Mansa Musa slipped into a small bubble, about twice the size of Anakin's bedroom. It was rather wet, but at least you could survive in it without a breather.
"Disen my place," he said. "Yousa stay in the back area where no-body snouting around can find you. Later I come back with da food and mebbe some more things for you."
"How long will you be out?"
"Oh, about a couple of hours, till da bosses-DA BOSSES! I FORGET!" Mansa Musa shrieked, and burst out of the bubble before Anakin could say another word. Stunned, he went to the back room, where he sat down on a chair and waited patiently.
'What a strange place this is,' he thought, and then, 'I wonder if it was a good idea to come here, after all?'
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Ah, the Mos Eisley Cantina. Annoying aliens, menacing thugs, and overall, lots of drinking and fighting. It was just as he remembered from the last time he had been there. Han looked around, discreetly trying to locate Lando. At last, he spotted him. Still the same old face, cape, and mustache. The only thing that had changed was his expression. His eyes were slightly less bright than he could remember, and there were a few more lines creasing his face.
He walked over and eased himself onto a seat. "Morning, Lando," he said. "Hope it wasn't too much trouble for you to come here?"
"Don't worry. I always make time for my friends. So…" he said, flipping a credit at the small, frightened looking boy who had just brought them their drinks, "What did you call me here for? Got yourself in trouble?"
"Yeah, kind of. Mostly, I need to get myself a loan and a crew to scour the galaxy for my son."
Lando rubbed his mustache thoughtfully. "And what if I say no?"
"Are you so heartless as to say no?"
"As much as I'd like to help you, there are complications. I'm about as clueless as you, when it comes to a way to get a fast 15,000 credits."
Han ran his hands through his hair uncomfortably. "How about the illegal way?"
'Okay, so I hope Leia didn't hear that…'
Lando shrugged. "Whatever you want, it's fine with me." He sighed. As the man who usually had to pay the debt, Han was also the man who usually had a hard time paying it. And as the man who had a hard time paying the debt, he was also the man who got himself into a whole lot of trouble. Not this time. Not with Lando Calrissian at his side.
He leaned over on the counter.
"Say," he asked, "Do you still have some of those black suits we used to wear when we were doing undercover smuggling for that Corporate guy?"
The Corellian almost guffawed. "You mean those old tight things? The job wasn't even worth the trouble, why do you want those?"
A smile tugged at the corner of Lando's mouth. "Well, it's either to do or do without, and in the job I'm planning, it would be a lot easier to do with."
Han eyed him suspiciously. "Nothing stupid, right?"
"Nothing stupid at all."
Han sighed emphatically, then grinned. "Lando, my friend, you've got yourself a deal."
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It was night time, naturally. Seeing as it was the only setting where everything was basically dark. Lando climbed into the pilot's seat, sullenly tugging at his suit. "I forgot how fat I was," he muttered. "Comes from too little action and too much good living."
Han paid little attention to this comment as he shoved a small briefcase full of tools out from underneath a seat. "Are we doing this or not?" he asked. "I thought you said you'd stick your neck out a little; are you really going to chicken out so fast?"
Lando bit his lip. "Okay, then," he said, "Let's go." He took the ship out, flying as fast as he possibly could. Han had specified that they finish the job quickly, despite the fact that Leia was out on another Diplomatic Errand. Poor man, Lando thought pityingly. Han hadn't been the same since he had gotten married. He must have been henpecked nearly every day.
It took quite a time, but finally, they could see large planet looming into view. Han, who had been sipping some of Lando's finest wine, checked to see what planet it was…and nearly spit everything out of his mouth. They were approaching Taris.
"Excuse me?" he spluttered to Lando. "Taris has been deserted for…ages! As in three millennia! There are no life forms there, no nothing. You've tricked me." He grappled for the ship controls. Lando calmly kept him back.
"After all these years, you still don't trust me?" He asked, with a pitying look on his face. "Do you really think that I would bring you to the outer rim just to take you on a field trip in an abandoned planet? No, my friend, you are not getting with the-, "At this he snapped his fingers, "-big picture. Despite your argument, there are life forms on Taris. You just wait and see."
Han chewed his bottom lip. Perhaps he had been wrong when he had presumed that Lando had completely gone straight.
The ship eased through the atmosphere easily before cruising to a halt on a bleak stretch of deserted-looking landscape. Burnt out shells of houses and buildings, nearly reduced to dust, were common everywhere that you looked. It was obvious that this had one been a prosperous city; a ghost town of things once alive. Han shivered.
Lando waved a hand at him. "Come on," he said irritably, "it's nothing to worry about. "Besides, we're not going to meet anyone here."
"Then where are we going?"
"Lower down, to the Under City," Lando replied, and for one of the few times in his life, Han felt like running away.
A/N: Okay. That was weird. But could you rate and review, anyway?