Author's Note: I am litterally fucking crying. I just spent ten minutes getting ride of code. Why won't this upload like normal? Anyways, enjoy this chapter and the plot development ;P Stay sissy and bitchy everyone!
The planet was more hot and dry than either of the human like beings would have liked. They walked quickly and at a steady pace, Qui gon bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently as he walked slow enough for the young girl to keep up. "What is you name?" he asked offhandedly. She seemed taken aback for a moment, she placed a hand on her chest and opened and shut her mouth for a moment.
"My name is Padme," she finally answered with a small smile. "What is yours?" she asked politely, similar to the way that a child would ask when meeting a new friend. The Jedi Master cleared his throat awkwardly and shook his head lightly. She looked at him sternly before she began to speak again, "If you are allowed to call me by my name then I should at least be able to say your name after your title," she reasoned, sounding almost exactly like the queen had back on Naboo.
"You make a good point Lady Padme," he said fondly, smirking as he thought back to the young padawan he had raised, "My name is Qui gon Jinn."
"Well then," she said, sounding rather pleased at the name that he had called her, "What are we doing Master Jinn?"
He took in a steadying breath, something he had gotten in the habit of doing do to his padawan. "We are buying a part of for the ship because it broke down, but you mustn't tell anyone, do you understand?" he asked, sounding more and more like a father with each word. She nodded and picked up her pace so that he would not feel as awkward as he was.
A minute passed with an awkward silence before her words rang through the thick desert air once again, "What is this planet? Why is there no water?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned for the planet.
"It's Tatooine," Qui gon huffed, "there's little to no water here because," he paused and closed his eyes as if trying to find the answer. "Honestly, I think it was just a desert planet to begin with."
The woman on his left just nodded and made an affirmative noise. They walked in silence for a while before they finally got into the town. They walked down the main street of the town, glancing at the stalls that were full of different races of aliens buying and bartering for all sorts of items and some for actual beings. Qui-gon growled with disgust once he saw that slavers stall. The small woman gasped and backed up, stopping in her tracks to stare at the stall.
"Don't stare here, Lady Padme," he whispered to the young girl, looping his arm through hers and dragging her away from the stall. They walked like that for a few minutes before they finally found the stall that they needed. A young boy sat inside of it, playing with a couple of metal pieces that looked like he had found them off of the ground. "Are you running this stall?" Qui gon asked, his made his voice calm and steady as to make sure that the boy would not be frightened by him.
When the young child looked up at the Jedi, instead of fear and surprise in his eyes, there was a dull curiosity hidden behind what appeared to be a sickening level of compliance. The older males heart ached as he thought about what must of happened with this child to make such a feeling appear in his eyes as he was no older than seven. "I am running it," he replied, his voice a cautious monotone.
"I would like to buy a new hyperdrive," he said, his voice was filled with almost as much caution as the boy's was. A tingling sensation that Qui gon recognised all too well filled the jedi as he watched boy walk around the stall back to the house it was set up in front of.
After a moment, he skittered back, looking absolutely terrified before he regained the composure that a boy his age should not have been able to obtain. "Follow me," he said before taking on a "please sir." Qui gon only nodded before he signaled for Padme to follow behind him.
She hurried after him, her chest was almost touching his back with how close she was. The young slave led them to what looked like a junkyard. He held his hand out and gestured to a functional-looking hyperdrive. "Is this what you are looking for?" he asked, his eyes seemed like he was missing a very important part of himself.
"Yes, how many credits is it?" he asked.
"We don't accept credits on this planet," he replied, his voice expressing a cautious amount of concern.
An aching feeling filled the older man as he took the small, almost insignificant step to the dark side, just for a moment. "Credits will do fine," he said, he raised his hand in the traditional way as he poured the force into his voice.
"No they won't. I'm sorry," the boy said. He sighed enough that his shoulders caved forward and revealed how tiny he really was. "Are you a jedi or something? Because the last person that tried to do that to me said he was a jedi and tried to take me away."
"What?" Qui gon asked, his voice coming out in a mere whisper.
"Are you a jedi?" the boy repeated, finally allowing some sort of emotion to seep onto his features.
"May we speak with your parents?" Padme said, stepping up next to the Jedi Master. She had her hands clasped in front of her and a polite, but stern smile sitting on her lips.
"I think you mean my owner," the boy replied
ltr"Padme made a choking noise and her eyes looked like they were going to bug out of her head for a moment before the stern, now forced smile returned, "Yes, that would be lovely.:
The young boy walked away from them cautiously, turning around every once in a while as if to make sure that they were not going to steal anything. Once he was finally out of earshot, the handmaid placed her delicate hands on her hips and turned towards her companion. "How would he know if you were a jedi? He seemed pretty certain that you were," she said quickly and quietly.
"We have to buy him from the owner of this stall," Qui gon replied, not answering the question but instead giving the young girl more of them. "I have to get him to the Academy," he shook his head, strands of dark black hair fell over his shoulder
Padme jumped back a few feet once a strange looking alien walked over to them. The boy followed after him with his head bowed, like this man was his God. "What do you want?" the bug snapped, his proboscis flapping as he spoke.
"We wanted to buy a new hyperdrive, and this boy here does not think that credits will do," Qui gon said, his hands drifted into his sleeves as he folded his arms in front of his chest.
"We don't take credits on this planet," the alien growled, his eyes narrowed in a condescending manner.
"We will return tomorrow with the right type of currency then," Padme said with a small, pleasant smile. She then linked her arm with the older man and began to drag him away from the rows upon rows of stalls. "You need Obi-wan to come here and help you. I can go back to the ship and hold down the fort, but you need to get that kid out of there. I can feel that he's important," she murmured into his ear as they walked down one of the streets that, while crowded, did not have so many patrons that they would be heard no matter what.
He smiled and laughed, though the sound was forced a slightly fake, it was still a joyous, happy sound that caused the young handmaiden to shiver playfully, a smile gracing her own bright red lips. He leaned down, his lips just barely touching the shell of her ear, "I am well aware of how important that boy is. We'll get him regardless."
The rest of the walk was silent and slightly awkward, a pregnant, unspoken number of things hung in the air around then as they walked. As soon as they made it out of the town, Padme separated from the Jedi Master, her cheeks tinted a pleasant shade of pink as she stared down at the dry, dusty planet. "Am I that embarrassing Lady Padme?" he asked, a chuckle leaking through his words.
It's not that," she said, her ears now a flaming red color as she looked up at him with fear and embarrassment filled eyes, "I'm engaged to someone actually," she said, clasping her hands behind her back and looking over to the side, her eyes changing into a dull love like state as she thought back to her betrothed.
"He must be a lucky man," Qui gon said, thinking back to the man that he had once been loved by and that he still loved. "You love him?"
"Yes, I love he-him," she stuttered, her cheeks blooming with the small blush at her near slip-up. "It was not an arranged marriage."
"That is always a good sign," he sighed before he smiled down at her. The ship was close enough for them to see the looming, almost terrifying figure. The Jedi Master sent a message to his padawan with a simple push of the force and a flick of his wrist. "Obi-wan will be prepared to accompany me back to town as soon as we get there, I want you to make sure that no one knows that part of the ship is broken."
"I can do that," Padme said, her back straightened as she pushed her shoulders back, causing her chest to puff out.
"I know you can," Qui gon replied, she reminded him almost too much of his young padawan- and son.