Chapter Three

"You swindled me," Watto accused the moment Qui-Gon appeared in his sight after the race. His little blue wings beat furiously with his temper, and Qui-Gon had to fight himself from smiling again. He couldn't tell if it was because the sight of the Toydarian was amusing, or if he was just still pleased with the outcome of Anakin's race.

"Whenever you gamble, my friend, you eventually lose," Qui-Gon said sympathetically. "Bring the parts to the main hanger. I'll come by your shop later so you can release the boy and his mother."

"You can't have them," Watto grumbled, eyes downcast. "It wasn't a fair bet."

Qui-Gon's attitude faltered for a just a moment, but he quickly regained composure, standing tall over the Toydarian. Watto flew back a few wing beats.

"Would you like to take this up with the Hutts?" Qui-Gon asked menacingly. "I'm sure they'd be happy to settle this." Almost on cue, he could hear Jabba's voice above the rest of the crowd outside in the arena. It was a faint noise, but Watto seemed to hear it, too. He looked ready to protest, struggling to find the right words.

"Just the boy," Qui-Gon offered. "Since you've lost so much today already." Though he knew it would crush both of the Skywalkers, there would be no place for Shmi among the Jedi, and Anakin would have to learn to give up his attachments anyway. This would probably be the best solution for all involved.

Defeated, Watto seemed to sink lower in the air. "Take him."

Smiling and bowing politely, Qui-Gon left the Toydarian alone with his losses.

Obi-Wan was surprised to see Qui-Gon arrive at the ship with replacement parts, but no boy. Though he knew the authenticity of the vision, his stomach still leapt a little when he realized they might be able to avoid this whole complicated mess. But he hid those feelings deep down, and greeted his master with respect.

"I'll have to return to get the boy," Qui-Gon said as if sensing Obi-Wan's question. "But the ship can be fixed in the meantime, and then we can get out of here."

"About time," Obi-Wan agreed, taking the parts from Qui-Gon and returning to the ship. He only looked over his shoulder once to see his master already turned around and headed back to wherever he had discovered the supposed Chosen One.

"Mom, he sold the pod!" Anakin announced gleefully, running ahead of Qui-Gon and back into the slave quarters. "Look at all the money we have!"

"My goodness, that's wonderful!" Shmi said, shocked. It pained Qui-Gon momentarily to think of the good and bad news he was about to deliver, but he retained his Jedi stature as he entered the hovel behind Anakin.

"And Anakin has been freed," Qui-Gon announced, looking down at the boy as his face contorted into an expression of shock. "You're no longer a slave."

"Now you can make your dreams come true, Ani!" Shmi exclaimed with tears in her eyes. She then turned to Qui-Gon. "Will you take him with you? Is he to become a Jedi?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "Our meeting was not a coincidence. Nothing happens by accident. You are strong with the Force, but you may not be accepted by the Council."

"I want to go," Anakin said firmly. He already looked older than his nine years, Qui-Gon realized.

"Then pack your things," Qui-Gon said. "We haven't much time."

Anakin grinned and then turned to run to his room. He stopped in the doorway, seeming to realize something, and Qui-Gon knew he was about to deliver the bad news.

"What about Mom?" Anakin asked. "Is she free, too? You're coming, aren't you Mom?"

"I tried to free your mother, Ani, but Watto wouldn't have it," Qui-Gon said sadly.

Shmi slipped down out of the chair she had been sitting in, and knelt before her son. She took his hands in hers. "Son, my place is here. My future is here. It is time for you to let go...to let go of me. I cannot go with you."

Now there were tears running down Anakin's face. "I want to stay with you. I don't want things to change."

"You can't stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting," Shmi told him, smoothing back his hair. "Listen to your feelings, Ani; you know what's right."

He nodded sadly, and then moved to his bedroom to collect his belongings. Qui-Gon watched the scene from a corner, and waited for Anakin to return.

Qui-Gon kept to himself while the Skywalkers said their goodbyes. Every time he doubted what he was doing, the vision would flash into his mind again, and all he would hear was "the son of Skywalker."

Well, now he had the son of Shmi Skywalker. The next step was to get him to the Jedi Council and make him a real Jedi.

The night Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had shared their vision on Tatooine, they had thought they were the only two beings in the galaxy to know about the power of the son of Skywalker. Neither of them could have begun to think that there was a man somewhere on Coruscant suffering from the same vision.

Neither Qui-Gon nor Obi-Wan would have ever dreamed, either, that this man was a dark Lord of the Sith.

The Sith were supposed to be extinct. The Force was still out of balance, of course; any Force-sensitive being could feel that. But the Sith were supposed to have been extinct for a millennium.

Darth Sidious liked to think himself the exception to that rule.

Sidious had seen the vision of the son of Skywalker as well, and it had intrigued him greatly. He automatically recognized the name Skywalker from a failed experience with his late master, Darth Plagueis. They had tried to create a human being entirely out of midi-chlorians by manipulating the Force. It hadn't worked at the time, when they had been on Tatooine. Shortly before their failed experiment they had run into a young human female, a slave who had been screamed at by her owner at the time. She had been addressed simply as "Skywalker."

Sidious felt a sick smile creep onto his face as he realized the truth: their experiment had worked… just not in the way they had intended. Rather than creating a human out of thin air, the midi-chlorians had nested themselves inside the womb of a slave woman to create what appeared to be the most Force-sensitive human being ever.

Supposedly this boy would bring balance to the Force. Sidious smiled to himself. Obviously this boy would be capable of mass genocide if he were to destroy all of the Jedi.

Sidious had to find the boy, and he had to find him now. He had an apprentice, Darth Maul, who was willing to do his bidding. That very night, Sidious had contacted Maul and ordered him to Tatooine. His mission was to find and return the slave boy called Skywalker, who would be approximately ten years old. While he was at it, he could locate the queen's ship that had slipped away from the Trade Federation's grasp, which couldn't be too far away from the area. From what he had learned of reports from the Viceroy Nute Gunray, the ship had been damaged, and wouldn't have made it far without some sort of repairs.

Plan upon plan was coming into focus.

Sidious had assured his apprentice that the time was close. Soon they would have their revenge on the Jedi.