Chapter 11: Racing Goodbye

Like the last time she attended a race, the place was crowded, and therefore incredibly loud. As if the cheering crowd and shouted conversations weren't enough, the commentator's voices were deafening in their quest to being heard above all the noise, and Zarya knew it would only get worse once the numerous speeders were turned on, adding their grumbling hums to the racket, as well as more shouts of excitement.

As if all the sounds weren't enough to give anyone a headache, the sheer number of people made Zarya dizzy with the number of emotions coming from all around her.

She didn't know if she was oversensitive compared to other force users, but she was starting to think so when Qui-Gon showed no sign of discomfort, that or he had a way to block it all out. As for Anakin, she knew he was surprisingly in touch with other people's feelings, but he didn't seem to realize it most of the time, compared to her. She was thankful for that, since through their connection, she was able to cling to what he was feeling to avoid being swept in the swirl of emotions assaulting her from all around.

It helped more than she would admit as their group followed Anakin as the Troig announcer introduced the racers. She didn't pay much attention to what was going on, more focused on keeping herself grounded and waiting for the unwanted guest she knew was coming. Normally, she would be better at multitasking, but right now the last thing she wanted was to miss her chance.

Her memory of the movies often seemed far away, and she knew she would need to write down what she knew if she wanted to avoid forgetting more details, but one thing that was on the forefront of her memories was Sebulba's sabotage on Anakin's podracer. She mostly remembered since last time, he gave her quite a fright by literally slamming Anakin out of the previous race.

While she knew Anakin would most likely win today despite any difficulties caused by the dug, she didn't want to take any chances if she could help it. Her presence was changing things, and if there was the slightest possibility she might be a distraction to Ani, she would make damn sure it wouldn't be his downfall by avoiding any more dangerous distractions, like having to repair his podracer mid-race.

And so that's why, while Shmi was fretting over her son, she was leaning lightly on one of his engines not even looking behind her when she felt Sebulba approach his other engine. He was discreet, she would give it to him, but before he could get his grubby hand (foot?) on any important part, she spoke without looking at him.

"Cheeskar goo."

She did not know huttese as well as she would like yet, but insults always seemed to be a good direction to use in this language. Plus, calling him a cheater got her point across easily.

Zarya finally spared him a glance, eyebrow raised, challenging him to talk in his defense. Glaring at her, he only growled insults at her under his breath and walked away. Of course, he couldn't resist having the last word, saying how the human slave didn't need any help losing the race. With more curse words and derogatory words thrown in his speech of course.

Merely rolling her eyes, she pushed up with a relieved sigh, checked to be sure nothing was out of place, and made her way to Anakin.

"Hey. You feeling ready?", she asked.

"Oh yeah! This will be the one, I can feel it!

She couldn't help but smile at the elated grin on his face. "If you're sure, I don't doubt it. You be careful out there, I'm pretty sure Sebulba will do everything in his power to try and stop you from winning." At this she deadpanned. "And considering he has a flamethrower somewhere in there, you'll probably have to avoid being cooked alive."

"Yeah well, only another obstacle with the rest, right?" When she only looked at him in annoyance, his grin softened. "I'll be fine, Rya. And I have you this time. Just like we practiced!"

"Don't call me that." Still, her lips twitched upward at his confidence.

"You all set, Ani?" Interrupted Qui-Gon, walking behind her to reach said boy.

"Yep!"

"Right." With that, he picked him up to sit him in the open cockpit at Ani's surprise. "Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Use your instincts."

With a mischievous grin matched by Zarya, he responded. "I will."

(( ))

As Jabba himself announced the start of the race, the crowd cheered louder, and the many engines on the track turned on, one after the other while those still lingering around them raced out of the way. Pain spiked in Zarya's head, and she clung to Qui-Gon's hand, for once glad to be this young to be able to pull it off without being embarrassed. It helped her keep walking towards the observing stand waiting for them without focusing on her surroundings, so she could try and shift her focus away from all the unfamiliar sensations around her.

She wasn't able to focus on the conversation going on beside her, only feeling the annoyance coming from Padmé and the worry from Shmi, those being the strongest emotions close to her. Before she knew it, their stand was lifting high into the air, giving those tall enough a good view of the podracer and a good part of the race track. She was not among those tall enough. And the two-headed alien on the microphone was about to start the count-down already.

Before she could climb up the ledge to sit on it, aided by Shmi like last time, the Jedi saw her struggle and took her in his arms, settling her on his hip like she weighted nothing.

She blanked.

Okay, so she was very young, and Shmi did pick her up from time to time for a few seconds to help her around, Like Qui-Gon just did for Anakin, but she wasn't used to this. She was barely five when she woke up in this universe, and not once did anyone pick her up this way, and she didn't know what to think.

Qui-Gon wasn't looking at her, acting like everything was normal, and so she slowly relaxed, only now realizing how tense she was. This… did get her a better view to the race track and the tablet Shmi was holding. Yeah. Not too bad. Ignore the awkwardness, only you know you aren't really a child.

Weirdly enough, being so close to him also helped a lot in calming her down. It was like a bubble now surrounded her, the world around her becoming slightly muted in her head, and suddenly, she could easily ignore all the emotions previously drowning her. Her surroundings were still loud, but this… she could manage.

Deciding to explore this new-found peace later, she started concentrating on Anakin, easily strengthening their connection like it was second nature. She received a warm feeling that she sent right back to him, a greeting of sort they created to make sure they were welcomed in the other's thoughts. Both of them focused at the same time, like they had already practiced, to arrange who could send and receive what from the other.

With very little strain, they made it so that whatever Zarya was seeing, Anakin would sense it. A little trick they recently discovered when Anakin 'spied' on her when she went on one of her pick-pocketing trips when he was bored at the shop. She got annoyed at first, but quickly grew amazed at all they could get from one another, from sound and images to the emotions they already knew about. For the last few weeks, they kept playing with it, eager to try it in more useful situations like this race.

With this, whatever she saw on the small screen or from up in the stand, Anakin would know and could react accordingly. Cheating? Maybe. But when compared to a certain dug with illegal weapons integrated in his racer and under-handed techniques, they weren't feeling very guilty about it.

Just as Anakin sent a murmured 'ready' in her head, the gong sounded, and the light turned green.

Unlike what she had hoped, even not sabotaged, Anakin's podracer didn't start like it should have. It took him a few seconds to find the problem and finally advance, a good distance between him and the others already. She was worried Sebulba did manage to break something after all, but the spike of warning she sent Anakin was brushed off with his reassurance. As soon as he disappeared from view, she turned her focus on the screen.

He managed to catch up to the rest with ease, shifting beside and in front of many without her help. When he reached the cave, he avoided any danger on his own, though the explosion right behind him did give them a fright. She didn't let herself be distracted though. Should anything or anyone try and catch him by surprise, she would know it, and so will he.

Out of nowhere, Tusken Raiders started shooting at the racers, but any fire coming Anakin's way was completely avoided as soon as she made him aware of their presence. She couldn't remember if they had been much of a problem in the first place, but she didn't want to take any chances.

She ignored the first racers when they finished their first lap, only looking up from the screen when she felt he was close enough that she could see him, the others on the stand doing the same only when Padmé pointed him out. When Anakin heard the cheers at his arrival and the surprised praise of the announcer, he grew even more determined, accelerating as much as the current landscape would allow him.

Using every sense in his possession, he glided over his competition, avoiding all their attempts at throwing him off. When Zarya saw from the tablet the racer in front of him was about to get destroyed by Sebulba, 'was that an explosive?!', he knew in advance to keep his distance to avoid being hit, too. From there, he had no difficulty shifting in front of anyone, until he was second only to the dug. Again, the Tusken Raiders shooting at him caused him no problem.

"At the start of the third and final lap," said the Troig with enthusiasm in the microphone, "Sebulba's in the lead, followed closely by Skywalker!"

Now, he only needed to get past him to win.

From the start of the lap, the two were right next to each other, Sebulba alternating between focusing on the track and on Anakin, trying his best to throw him off track. For his part, the human boy only had eyes for where he was going, Zarya managing to show him his adversary's every move without prompting. Before anyone knew it, he let Sebulba hit him on his right flank, using the momentum to aid him in flipping his pod upside down, over and in front of the dug, taking the lead. 'Show off.'

"It's Skywalker! Amazing! A quick maneuver, and he's leaving Sebulba in his dust!"

Said racer, not ready to forfeit, immediately tried to get close enough that the energy beam between his engines would fry Ani from behind, but the boy avoided him by pushing forward when he was finally clear of the arches he had needed to maneuver through.

For a heart stopping moment, Sebulba managed to approach again when the two where in the narrower part of the race, where it was becoming extremely unsafe to gain any more speed. With no room to swerve from one side or the other, Anakin's only choice was to accelerate too. Shouts of shock were heard in the stands when both racers were moving at breakneck speed through the tunnel, showing no sign of slowing down to turn their pods to the side to get through the small exit. Zarya was dimly aware of Shmi closing her eyes, not wanting to see her son crash and burn, and her own hand twisted in Qui-Gon's collar where she was holding on.

Right at the exit, he finally turned his pod to the side as little as he could without hitting the stone walls on each side, taking Sebulba by surprise. The dug tried to do the same, but he was too late, and his engines too big. One of his repulsors scratched loudly on the cliffside, sparks showering all around him. Said engine exploded in flames barely a few seconds later, making the other spin out of control and pulling him off the track before that one too, crashed to the ground.

Immediately, cheers and some angry shouts rang around the stands, welcoming the winner excitedly when he crossed the finish line, a megawatt smile plastered on his face. Only when his racer came to a stop did Zarya let herself breathe, closing her eyes in relief. He had won, without incidents too. Qui-Gon put her on the ground, smiling down at her while everyone cheered. He had a curious look in his eyes, but she ignored it in favor of hugging Shmi when the woman bent down to hold her in her happiness.

She, Padmé, Shmi, Qui-Gon and Jar-Jar ran towards Anakin as soon as their podium touched the ground, Qui-Gon lifting the boy out of his pod and sitting him on his shoulder.

"I did it! We won!" He shouted in victory, fists in the air. A laugh escaped Zarya, his elation triggering her own. As soon as he was standing on his own feet again, he came to her and hugged her tight, his mother joining them in their embrace. "We did it, Zarya!"

She held him just as tight. "This one's all on you, Ani."

(( ))

It wasn't much later that Zarya had found herself dozing off in Shmi's arms, picked up for a second time in a day. All the excitement, her headache and her mind sharing tricks made her exhausted, and she had difficulty lifting her head off the woman's shoulder. Damn her child's body.

Anakin had been leading them towards their home, practically skipping in joy, still on a high from his victory. The others had gone to Watto's shop to retrieve their newly acquired hyperdrive generator, and then back to their ship to prepare for their departure.

Now, after having woken up a few hours later, she and Anakin were packing up their few belongings in a backpack each, preparing to leave as the Jedi was waiting for them, talking with Shmi. They didn't have much, but it still took longer than it should've, since it was done with an air of disbelief. Ani couldn't quite believe he was finally leaving Tatooine, and was as excited as he was wary. He would stop at every trinket and possessions he couldn't bring with him, like his nearly finished projects, C3P0, his bed, tools and the likes. Zarya didn't have such holdbacks, but she did feel his melancholy as if it were her own.

"We'll be fine, Ani. We're going in space, visiting other planets like you always wanted to."

"I know," he sighed. "I just… as much as I hate it here, I'm gonna miss it too. And my mom…"

Turning to leave their room, a pouch she retrieved from under his desk in her hands, she sent him a smug and amused feeling. "Trust me, you don't have to worry about your mom. She'll be out of here, too."

She felt his confusion as he followed her to the kitchen, were the two adults were waiting. Ignoring their curious looks, she set the pouch in front of Shmi, letting it slouch on the table, and looked at her expectantly.

"Zarya, what is this?" she asked, confused.

"Let's call it a thank you, for taking care of me when I needed it the most. Open it!"

"You didn't need to do that, you know that I care about, y— oh." She gasped when she saw just how much truguts and wupiupis were in the pouch. She raised her head sharply to look at the small girl. "Zarya, where did you find this? This… this is too much!"

"Don't worry, no one is going to miss it." Anakin let out a snicker behind her.

Qui-Gon was looking at her with amusement. "I believe this would've been enough to buy a hyperdrive generator."

"It wasn't its purpose," she shrugged. "This, with the money from the podracer is almost enough to, oh I don't know, buy your freedom from a shop owner who just lost quite a lot from a wrong bet?"

Shmi was not impressed by her innocent gaze.

"Zarya..."

"No seriously, a bit more and you'll have enough. Keep it, it's not like I'll need it."

"Please mom? It would reassure me a lot to know you're going to be free, too," Anakin added.

The woman gave a heavy sigh, looking at a still amused Qui-Gon, her eyes disbelieving. When she looked back at them, she seemed to give up trying to refuse. "I'm going to miss you two."

Zarya did not shed a few tears when she found herself in the middle of a hug again, right between Anakin and Shmi. She did not.

(

Well, I don't know if this chapter is too rushed or something, but I'm not used to writing races, so the rhythm is kinda off. Oh well, now it's done with anyway.

This chapter is longer than usually, I might try and keep making them this long, but it's mostly an apology for taking so long since the last update.

Thank you to thatfanboi, Liltorgy, Hearteyesmf and Minna Kivel for the reviews! I love reading theories, hopes and encouragements from you all!

Until net time!

-Maginary

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