Anakin watches as his mother leaves his bedside and heads for the door. She flicks off his light switch. Now the only brightness in the room is coming from the open doorway, a long block of yellow light traces the doors shape along the ground. Schmi steps outside and in doing so casts a shadow over to his bed.
"Goodnight sweetie" She says in a quiet tone.
"Night mom, I love you" he says much louder than his mother. He is still wide awake, and to busy thinking about his new toys to fake tiredness for mothers sake.
She shakes her head at him but he doesn't miss the growing smile on her face.
"Now, try to get some sleep" she says as she closes the door, leaving the room in darkness.
He scoffs to himself, if he went to sleep that would mean that he would be one step closer to getting up and going to work again tomorrow. And that is the last thing he wants to happen. He quietly slips out of his cot, and can feel bits of sand rustling around in his pajamas. He suppresses a groan. Sand is the worst! It gets everywhere. How did it even get in his pajamas? He sighs and decides to instead focuses on the object of his desires; the hyper spanner on his desk.
Mom told him not to bring it to work, but since he spends almost all day working that should mean that he gets more time to play with it at night right? He sneaks over to his desk, conscious of the thin walls of their hut, and plucks the hyper spanner from its resting place. It's cold to the touch thanks to the shiny metal incasing its insides. Anakin wonders if he can tamper with it and make it even cooler that in already is.
Its surface is covered in buttons, and he decides to press one at random. The hyper spanner abruptly starts vibrating and making a sharp screeching noise. He nearly jumps out of his skin with surprise. He angrily whispers several curses a five year old really shouldn't know and hurriedly presses the button several times before it finally stops making noise.
He is dead still, and listens for any clue if his mother heard him or not. The seconds tick by and nothing happens, the only noise is the gentle sound of the wind kicking up sand outside. Eventually, Anakin decides that he is safe and moves back to his cot. Sometimes he does wonder about his mother's hearing. He climbs back onto it and sits on the edge, letting his short legs dangle absently as he examines the hyper spanner.
Then he hears several loud thuds that make him gasp. His hands grip tighter around his hyper spanner. The sound is coming from outside. Is it a monster? Mom always says monsters aren't real; she even went as far as to promise him a million credits if he ever found one. But Greedo told him that tuskin Raiders steal slave children from their homes and feed them to their pets, alive. He goes cold at the thought of it. He always has nightmares about that happening. They may not be monsters but they defiantly act like them, and he knows they are real. Tuskins are really scary. There are three more loud thuds, followed by muffled voices. He hears a door open followed by his mother's voice.
And at that he is flooded with relief; someone must be at the door. It's not a monster; it's just a normal person. Although, why would someone be calling in the middle of the night? It's not like they had much guests anyway. No one official ever visited slave quarters, so the only guests he had ever seen in their house had been fellow slaves who knew his mom.
He shrugs, decides that Schmi will probably handle it and returns his attention back to his hyper spanner. But mere seconds later he hears his mother let out a heart-breaking cry. His entire body tenses. He hears Watto shout now. There is the sound movement outside. The shadow of whoever is lurking on the other side seeps through the crack at the bottom of the door.
Watto never comes here, something must be really wrong. The door abruptly opens to reveal a tall human wearing a long cape. His mother rushes towards him.
"No! Please!" She cries desperately.
Watto is holding her by the shoulder, slowly dragging her back from the doorway. Anakin doesn't like the way the strange man looks. He is old and has a cruel smile on his face that almost makes Anakin think he is enjoying his mother's distress.
"Mom?" He asks, struggling to hide the fear in his voice.
"Yes, this is the one" the man says, his accent is pure core world; rich and dignified. That only scares Anakin more. What's someone like that doing here? In his house?
"Don't take him! You can't take him!" Schmi cries, she finally breaks free of Watto and charges towards Anakin. But she stops mid stride, like an invisible hand has just halted her. An expression of confusion crosses her face, but it's quickly replaced once more by dread.
"I assure you, Miss Skywalker that your son will be well cared for. You have no need to worry for him" the stranger says, not breaking eye contact with Anakin.
Sudden realization slaps him across the face. He was being sold. Watto sold him. This man is here to take him away.
"But I don't want to go" he says so quietly it was almost a whisper. He doesn't even think anyone heard, they are all too busy focusing on his distraught mother.
"Come now Anakin, let's not waste any time" the old man says, though he does not make any move to leave.
His mother let's out another high pitched cry. Her face is red and puffy and wet with tears. Watto looks somewhat unsure of himself behind her.
"Watto?" Anakin asks, silently begging him to let him stay. He feels his own eyes welling up with tears as his stomach wells up with dread. His mom is like his best friend, the most important person in his entire world, he can't leave her!
"Go on kid, don't keep 'em waiting" Watto says.
"I don't want to" Anakin says again, a little more loudly this time.
The strange man lets out a loud sigh, rolls his eyes like everything about this situation is an annoying inconvenience and crosses the room in two graceful strides. He grabs Anakin by the shoulder with strength that he didn't expect a man of his age to have. His grip is cold and digs into his skin. The man drags Anakin off his bed and leads him towards the door. Anakin's heart constricts in tight, painfully cold knots. He can't believe this is actually happening, yet it is.
"No p-please! He is just a boy, y-you can't. He-he isn't any use to you" Schmi pleads through choking sobs.
The man ignores her and drags Anakin past his mother, and now he can't stop the tide of tears from coming either. He starts to cry too as his mother reaches out to him, he desperately reaches back. Their fingers graze each other's for a mere second before the stranger tugs him away.
"Mom!" He cries.
Her brown eyes never leave his as he is taken to the door, she tries to follow him outside but Watto grabs her shoulder and holds her back.
"I l-love you Ani, don't forget that, I love you, I love yo-" she is cut off as the strange man abruptly shuts the door behind them.
Without so much as looking down at his new possession, the count marches down the street. Dragging a distraught Anakin with him. He is stumbles backwards, because he can't turn around to walk forward. He can't not look at his home. Getting further and further away with every step. His mother is in there. Everything he owns is in there. Another cry escapes his mouth. He will never see her again. Never be hugged by her again.
"Now, my name is count Dooku, however you will only ever refer to me as master, I will of course expect..." the count drones as they turn a tight corner onto the Main Street. But Anakin isn't paying attention, not really. He can't. His ears are ringing, his eyes are burning. His grip around his hyper spanner tightens again and his hands turn white from the pressure. He never let it go. Not once, not even while Dooku hauled him out of his bed.
He can never let it go, not now; it's all he has left.
