So here I am with another new story. Who is surprised? Pretty much no one. This one has been in the chamber for a while and has been existing in one form or another in my document for quite some time. Finally getting to the point of becoming a story is pretty great. I hope it's as enjoyable to read as it is to plan…actually thinking back on that, I hope it's far more enjoyable to read than it was to plan.
Anyway, enough of this, let's just get to the story. Enjoy.
The sound of sabers clashing echoed through the forest from behind them as Mallie ran with her son in her arms. He was silent and still, only her connection to the force and his tiny breaths assured her that he was even alive.
She'd been forced to use a force technique to put him to sleep before fleeing. Otherwise, he would have continued to cry after they separated from his father. Mallie pushed those thoughts from her mind as she continued to run for the hidden ship that she and Kento had maintained just for an emergency like this.
The young mother bit back tears. She had hope that perhaps Kento could win, but both had felt that…monster through their connection to the force as he came for them. They'd known that the dark sider would kill Kento eventually and then pursue her and Galen. Their only hope was that he might buy her enough time to escape with their son.
As she broke through the last line of trees, she came to the aftermath of a large rock slide. Without slowing her pace she summoned forth a blast of power and blew away some of the rubble, not caring for the destruction the debris caused to the nearby forest.
She quickly approached the panel formerly hidden behind the rubble and began the process of opening up the tiny hangar hidden within the hill.
Not waiting for the door to open any further than was absolutely necessary, Mallie slipped through into the chamber beyond as the thick metal doors continued to slowly spread open. As she entered, however, a tremor in the force brought her up short. She could feel the swelling rage and fury boiling over her connection to Kento. He had occasionally struggled to remain free of the dark side in the past, but she felt it now. He drowned himself in the corrupting influence of the dark side in a desperate attempt to empower himself and at least buy a little more time.
Mallie forced back the tears she felt building at the sacrifice of her husband. She couldn't waste the chance he was giving them and got to work.
With practiced ease despite the years that had passed, Mallie rapidly disconnected the tubes and cables that kept the small transport shuttle hooked up to the building. It had once been the private ship of a small-time pirate. Its engines were completely overhauled from the original market-available configuration, making it surprisingly fast, even if it wasn't very comfortable or user-friendly.
The former Jedi made good progress, and soon, she was entering the last stages of preparing the craft for takeoff. However, just as she began powering up the ship, she felt the blow. The assassin had decided to stop toying with Kento and was tearing him apart now. A single brief moment later Kento Marek was slain. The dark Jedi, or whatever he was, practically bubbled with sadistic pleasure through the force. The fact that she could sense him likely meant he could sense her as well, and there was little time left for her and Galen to escape.
"Come on…" She muttered as she began running through a final check. They would be burning fuel quickly, so they couldn't go far. Just as long as it was away from here, it had to be an improvement, though.
The engines sputtered to life with a roar, and she let out a shaky breath as she began to coax the craft forward out of the little hangar. Just as she edged past the doorway, though, her forward movement halted with a lurch that woke up Galen. Mallie gasped in horror as their assailant emerged from the woods with a black-gloved hand extended forward as if grabbing the ship and stopping it in place.
"Galen, mummy will be back." She said soothingly to the infant before moving toward the door as the confused and frightened boy simply stared after her.
Mallie knew she had no hope of defeating her opponent in a straight-up fight, but she didn't need to actually fight him. He would surely rip her to pieces in a saber duel, but Mallie knew the terrain better, and she had always been more skilled than most others at manipulating the force. Not that she even entertained the idea that she surpassed the being before her.
Stepping over to the door, the Zabrak covered in Sith markings seemed to smile at the thought that she might face him.
"Good, my master was certain you wouldn't put up a fight, but I'm pleased you plan to try anyway." He commented.
Mallie said nothing as she stepped off the platform of the hovering ship. The moment her feet touched the grass below, her hands followed after and slapped against the ground, rupturing the reservoir of fuel and pressurized mechanical lubricant below them in the rest of the old pirate facility and causing a chain reaction as the underground chamber collapsed from the sudden change in pressure. The dark sider realized what she was up to, too late to prevent it, but he was not about to stand aside and allow his quarry to flee.
"No! You won't escape me!" The man screamed with rage as he watched Mallie leap back up into the shuttle and shut the door behind her.
The assassin was forced to release the shuttle from his grasp as the very ground he stood on began to split and shatter before chemicals spilled forward and burst into flames, forcing him to back even further away from the ship. By the time his footing was once again stable, the shuttle was long gone, as well as the woman he had been sent to kill and the boy he was supposed to have brought to his master.
Despite his slaughter of a former Jedi knight, Maul felt nothing but fear and rage as he knew punishment at the hands of his master was all that awaited him after this failure.
Mallie stared at the streaks of light as they raced through hyperspace away from Teth. The weight of everything that had happened crashed onto her as she failed to fight off the tears this time.
She looked over at Galen, who still seemed confused and sluggish from the technique she had used on him. Still, she pulled the baby up into her arms without any resistance and tightly held him as she let her pain and sorrow wash over her from the loss of Kento. Slowly, Galen tightened his hold on her and joined her in crying as he also seemed to realize his father was gone.
The pair remained like that for most of their journey. It wasn't a long one, and the ship didn't hold enough fuel to even make it out of the region. Just a distance down the Triellus Trade Route and onto the Gamor Run.
The options for the Marek family to stop at were technically pretty broad. The Outer Rim had a lot of worlds that Mallie could land them on. Unfortunately, every option seemed worse than the last.
Ryloth wasn't terrible as an option. Though, she feared being unable to leave again if she stopped there. It was even further away than the Arkanis Sector systems.
The Arkanis Sector itself was…her best option. It had several possibilities, and what was better was the opportunity to get her hands on another ship or supplies from a spaceport if necessary. Of those systems and planets in the sector, her best options boiled down to Arkanis, Tatooine, and Geonosis based on her chance of leaving again.
Out of those, Arkanis was far too developed to easily slip around unnoticed, something she needed to do if she intended to give the murderer of her husband the slip. Geonosis had a similar problem, though it lacked any notable non-native population for her to disappear into. Not to mention, it was a particularly hostile world for offworlders.
That left Tatooine. A desert world primarily ruled by Hutts. Practically lawless but with a good amount of traffic coming and going.
She would miss the forests of Teth, but safety in the sands of such an arid place sounded fitting. Beyond all that, though, she felt a pull toward that choice. A gentle nudge in her mind. The fact that she could sense it as it happened actually set her mind at ease.
"The force guides. Trust in the force." She muttered, smiling lightly as Galen stared up at her and babbled as if trying to repeat the mantra back to her.
Mallie and Kento had planned on educating Galen in connecting with the force in their own way. Not too dissimilar from the order they had left, but with a far greater respect for such natural things as love and compassion. Her baby was abnormally strong, stronger than she was at his age. Mallie was certain of that. With Kento gone though, she would have to work especially hard with Galen to get him to properly control his power.
Placing a kiss on Galen's head, she guided her shuttle into the path for Tatooine.
The city of Mos Espa was something that at one time would have filled Mallie with disgust. Crime was rampant, as long as it didn't interfere with the business and greater acts of crime controlled by the bigger players on the planet. Violence and a general state of lawlessness enveloped the whole of the city and really planet at large.
Worse, though, was the fact that Mos Espa was filled to bursting with slavers and their product. An entire quarter of the city was dedicated to the housing of the various slaves that either resided permanently in the city or were destined to pass through on their way to be sold off. Seeing the harsh treatment of fellow sentients stung bitterly at the soul of the former Jedi, but she could do little to ease their pain.
After all, she and her son were especially valuable targets for slavers. Most slavery conducted outside of the Hutt Cartel's directly controlled region of space was in the form of either skilled workers or pleasure slaves. Few would be considered more skilled than one capable of manipulating the force like herself and her baby. Fewer still were that and an attractive young single mother with no supporters.
The first time slavers came for her and Galen was less than a month after finding a cheap place to stay in the slums of Mos Espa. The only freed woman on the block was juicy gossip, and it didn't take long before her neighbors' masters began looking into a possible chance at profit.
The second time had been about a week after the first. She'd been lucky one of her neighbors had chosen to warn her of what was coming. Mallie had hidden with the woman while the slavers tore her tiny apartment apart before concluding she had skipped town.
Kind souls like Shmi Skywalker and her little son Anakin were rare in the outer rim, let alone on a world like Tatooine. Not as rare as force sensitives, though. Just like Galen and herself, Anakin was strong in the force, and already began to manipulate it unknowingly at the age of five.
"It's probably best if you don't go home for some time. If you wear a shawl and a head covering, I could make it look like you were my younger sister staying with me." Shmi offered Mallie.
"You would go that far for me? We don't even know one another. Won't your master punish you for it?" Mallie asked worriedly. She didn't want to turn the offer down, but she couldn't jump on it either. It felt like she might be taking advantage if she did.
"I can't bear to think of you or little Galen as slaves. If I could have kept Ani from this life…" Shmi trailed off glancing through the doorway to the other room where Anakin was observing the little baby napping in the other room.
"You deserve a much better life than this, Shmi. Both of you do." Mallie quietly replied.
"Maybe, but it doesn't matter much if we do. Our choices are to live our life or not. It's an easy decision." The woman said with some surprisingly dark humor.
"I suppose. Still, I won't allow myself to be a mere burden. I'll find some work here somewhere and help out. Something." She said, and Shmi simply nodded with a smile before they both went into the other room where the boys were at.
Mallie joined the older woman in smiling at the sight of Anakin being so gentle with Galen. They really could pass for cousins, she supposed. Perhaps in time, Mallie could pay the Skywakers back by earning their freedom from their master.
She'd have to work quite hard for it, though.
It took a year, but Mallie was finally close to paying for the freedom for her new sister and nephew. The older woman didn't know just how close she and her son were to being free yet, and it was meant to be a surprise.
Watto had set the price for the pair surprisingly high, but that was understandable in the mind of a slaver, she supposed. Shmi had spent her whole life bounced between masters and was a very dutiful and efficient slave who learned tasks quickly.
However, Anakin was something more. The little boy was already capable of stripping most basic machines down, finding whatever problem they had and fixing it. He couldn't even name half of the things his master had him working on, but still, he could repair and maintain them. He was what had truly driven the price for the pair up so high.
In the end, though, Mallie was growing close to buying their freedom. Unfortunately, she was also growing close to the local slavers, figuring out just who she was and where she slept at night. If she wanted to remain hidden from even worse dangers than slavers, she couldn't make use of her saber to defend herself and Galen from them.
That left blasters and subtle uses of the force. She had never been especially talented with a blaster, but now she trained when and where she could.
"Mallie, are you alright?" She heard Shmi call from the kitchen.
"Oh, yes, just caught in thought. I have another job to do tonight, so I'll be missing dinner, Shmi." She replied.
The older woman sighed. "You work far too hard for what little those men pay you. It's dangerous to work on the scavenger crews, too. If something were to happen to you…"
"The only woman I trust in the galaxy has my son with her when I go, so I can bear it." Mallie replied, getting only silence in return.
Shmi didn't approve. She was a very compassionate person and worried about Mallie day and night. Unfortunately, here on Tatooine, she would never get enough to free Shmi and Anakin, let alone get all of them off of this rock and to a better place unless she took some risks.
Shmi didn't know the worst risks she was taking. Snagging a few items here and there for herself to sell privately. The crew boss and his men would quite literally murder her if they found out about it. The money was too good to pass up, though.
"How are Anakin and Galen doing?" Mallie asked. She hardly saw either now that she was working so often.
Shmi chuckled softly. "Anakin tells the baby stories and has taken over the role of 'big brother' perfectly. Galen has no idea what's being said, but he seems to love hearing Ani talking to him."
Mallie grinned at that knowledge. She missed her husband, but the force had led her here, and she had grown to adore both Shmi and Anakin like her own family. The fact that they shared the same thoughts about her and especially Galen warmed her heart.
Tonight would be the night. She'd snag some good stuff and slip it into her robes so no one could see. It would be enough to buy their freedom. Just barely to the price that Watto had told her a year back.
"I'm going. I'll try to bring something for breakfast in the morning." Mallie called out.
"Be careful!" Shmi replied, still working on the meager dinner for herself and the boys.
Torqut had been watching her especially closely tonight. His eyes lingered on her, and every time she glanced his way, she would find herself briefly locking eyes with him.
Questions wondering if she had been found out swirled in her head. Did he know she was stealing some of the more valuable scrap? If so, why hadn't he ratted her out yet? He was the second in command of this outfit, after all. Even if he was a slave like Shmi was.
Perhaps he hadn't noticed her stealing. She knew that the older man found her attractive. He'd attempted to flirt with her several times, but she'd tried to make it clear she wasn't interested. He had always been kind and accepted her response, though he repeated some line about persistence being among his few virtues.
The Zabrak man had no way of knowing that the sight of him brought back the memories of that night that had taken her husband's life and forced her and her baby into a harsher life than she had hoped for.
A small flicker of anxiety ran through her mind as he began to approach. Perhaps he had tired of trying to wait her out. She didn't want to have to kill him, but she wouldn't submit herself to something like that if it was his intention.
"Mallie, you need to go home." He said nervously, catching her off guard. Thoughts that she was being given a warning for her stealing came to mind.
"I-" She began to try and defend herself.
"The boss found out you were staying with Watto's slaves a few weeks ago. He sold the info about two unchipped people in the slave quarter. One a baby, the other an attractive young human woman. They're going to wait until you are getting off and snag you at the hovel. Word's gotten out about how you threw those guys around when they tried to chip you a year ago. There's a bounty for you now, Mallie." Torqut warned her.
"Why…would you warn me?" She asked him.
The man smiled softly back at her.
"I'm chipped. It's no life I wish for another person. Especially for you and your little boy. I wish I could do more." He said sadly.
"It's more than enough." She said before hugging him.
Breaking the embrace, she took off at an unnaturally fast pace as she let the force imbue her body with speed and power, allowing her to blow past her baffled crew boss without having to bother with an excuse for her leaving.
Mallie made it back to the little hovel she had been sharing with Shmi. The older woman was gently rocking Galen while little Anakin was snoozing beside them.
"Mallie?" Shmi asked worriedly.
"Shmi, they know that Galen and I aren't chipped and they know about what I can do." Mallie said as the older woman stood up, and the drowsy Anakin rubbed at his eyes as he was woken up.
"Mom, Mallie? What's going on?" He asked, only to be ignored as Mallie gently took her son from Shmi's arms and pressed a soft kiss onto his head.
"I was so close to getting us all out of here. I shouldn't ask you this, Shmi…please look after Galen for me." Mallie said as she turned to the other woman and pressed the child back into her arms.
"What? Of course, I'll look after him, but-" Shmi began.
"There is money hidden away, I have it in a lock box that you already know the code for. It's not enough to free you and Anakin, not even enough to get off the planet, but it will help keep that sleemo Watto from bothering to ask too many questions. Flash a bit in his face every now and then, and he'll go gamble it away."
"Mallie. What are you planning?" Shmi asked, already having an idea.
"You and Anakin should run to Watto's shop. The slavers won't interfere with his business since he has Hutt protection." Mallie said, ignoring the other woman and bundling some blankets together as if it were a baby in her arms.
Shmi slowly nodded before taking hold of Anakin and fleeing out the door with both children in her arms. Mallie only watched them go, knowing that it would be the last she saw of them.
Ignoring the tears running freely down her face, she showed her saber away in the same hidden lockbox as the money she had promised Shmi and a letter addressed to Galen.
Once she had finished, she heard the pair of speeders come to a stop outside. The grunted orders to surround the hovel were easy enough to make out, and Mallie drew the cheap blaster pistol she had and readied for the fight to come.
At least, that's how it would initially seem. She was in no way planning to fight fairly. The moment the door opened, she shot the man entering with her blaster and slammed him backwards into his colleagues with the use of the force.
Using the brief surprise created, she grabbed the fake baby she'd made and raced through the doorway, only for her feet to go out from under her as a massive trandoshan swung the butt of his blaster rifle into her back.
Rather than sprawling across the ground, Mallie twisted and put a shot squarely into the lizardman's face, either killing or crippling him.
It wouldn't matter in a moment. No one in this group of slavers was leaving, and neither was she.
The best way for Galen to have a chance at freedom would be if they all thought he had died with his mother.
She triggered the collection of three thermal detonators she'd hidden within her false baby's blanket.
She hadn't made it to Watto's workshop before she heard the detonation. The crowded street seemed to stop as everyone craned their neck to see what had happened. Shmi didn't, though.
She knew that her friend was gone now, as did that friend's son as he suddenly came awake and began bawling. The mysterious power that her own child seemed to share with Galen and Mallie was capable of things like that.
Mallie had explained it as best as she could.
Shmi stepped into Watto's shop and made her way to the back, where she knew they wouldn't be bothered. She and her two little boys sat quietly as she soothed the whimpering baby.
She feared for what was to come, but she knew she wouldn't let her friend down now. She would find a way to keep Galen free and free her own son. Somehow. Even if it took everything she had.
For now though she planned to convince Watto that Galen was chipped by another master and as long as he kept it under wraps that she was caring for the boy, he would eventually work for Watto as if he was his own.
Obi-Wan Kenobi frowned as he received the signal from his master. The request he had for a pair of blood tests was highly unusual, but the master Jedi had always been a bit of an eccentric and had been especially odd since coming to Tatooine. They'd both felt some sort of weight in the force. It had caused them to both be on edge since their arrival.
The padawan had thought that the sensation from the force had little to do with his master's request, but now that he was checking the readings, he had called his master on the communicator immediately.
"What is the report, Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Master…the boys, their readings are incredible. They're both higher than Master Yoda's more than twenty thousand midi-chlorians…the elder of the two is even higher. The system can't even properly measure him." Obi-wan stated.
"I see." There seemed to be little surprise in the older man's voice as if he had fully expected such an absurd reading. Perhaps he had.
"Master. What does this have to do with the feeling in the force." Obi-wan prodded.
"I'm not certain yet, Obi-wan. I'm not certain that this is even what we have truly been feeling. Stay on guard for now." Qui-gon warned.
"Of course, master." The young man responded.
He ended the call and sighed. Whatever was going on was definitely something of great consequence. Such massive readings, as well as this continuous feeling in the back of Obi-wan's mind, made him certain that even more was at stake here on the backwater of Tatooine than the fate of the Queen of Naboo.
Qui-gon, enjoyed the brisk air of the desert night. Just as the twin suns scorched the world in the day, at night they left the planet chilly. The suns had only been set for a short while now and so the air was relatively pleasant if too dry.
"Master Jedi…" Shmi Skywalker, the woman that had given him and his small group shelter during the earlier sandstorm called quietly.
"Yes?"
"There is something we need to speak about. You've run a test on my boys already." She didn't ask, she simply said what they both knew to be true.
Qui-gon turned to face her fully as she stood in the door and stared at him. He would let her choose how this discussion proceeded. After all, he was little more than a guest of the woman at the moment.
"You are very different from what Mallie was like. You're different from how she described the members of your order as well." She said quietly.
"Mallie?"
"Galen's true mother. A dear friend." Shmi responded.
Qui-gon tentatively reached out toward the small child she spoke of. Galen was currently warmly wrapped in the arms of Anakin as both sat nearby to the handmaiden he had brought along with him. He could feel the strong bond between the boys. As Shmi had admitted, there was no blood shared between them but the bond of a pair of brothers was clearly present. It brought a small smile to his face at the warmth they had.
"You should be very proud of your boys. They are good, kind, and strong."
Shmi smiled softly. "Thank you. I am."
The pair sat in silence. It was clear that Shmi had much on her mind, and Qui-gon felt no need to probe for more from her. The woman was strong to survive under the conditions forced upon her. Especially strong if she managed to care for two boys while at the whim of the likes of Watto.
"I wish I could be as naive as Ani sometimes. When he mentioned that no one could kill a Jedi." She grew quiet again after that, though Qui-gon felt a bit lost at what she was saying.
"When you leave you must take at least Galen with you." She continued shocking him.
"What?" He managed to blurt out. He had been thinking of finding ways to bring both boys back to the temple since Obi-Wan confirmed his hunch that both were incredibly strong in the force. However to have Shmi so readily push for him to take the younger of the two struck him as incredibly odd.
"He does not belong here on Tatooine. His mother was simply trapped. No one even knew she was one of your people, except me. I still have her weapon hidden away. She was worried that the ones hunting her could find her if she used it."
Qui-gon grimaced at that. So Galen was the child of a fellow Jedi Knight. One that had somehow found themselves trapped and killed and forced to entrust their child to a slave. This Mallie must have sensed the same feeling around Anakin that he had, she had felt confident enough to entrust her own child with the boy's mother after all.
"How did she die?" He asked solemnly.
"She was a young beautiful woman living with a slave family in the slums. Slavers tried three times to take her and on the third she took as many as she could with her and made it look like Galen had gone with her." Shmi rubbed at her eyes, but managed to fight back the emotion in her voice as she spoke.
Again the pair stood in silence for some time.
"You can probably gain Anakin's freedom by getting Watto to gamble over it. Galen isn't really chipped, Watto just thinks he has another slave master's missing slave in his possession. You can get them both away from this life after the podrace." Shmi told him with a resolute tone he'd only heard once earlier in the day.
Shmi Skywalker really was a strong woman. Her boys were lucky all things considered.
"Then that is what I will do." Qui-gon nodded. "I'll get him to bet for both of your freedoms and take the three of you with us to Coruscant."
Shmi smiled sadly at him.
"No. He might be a gambling addict but Watto won't bet all of his slaves. Only one. It has to be Anakin."
Qui-gon stared into the woman's eyes before slowly nodding. "It has to be Anakin."
The woman slipped back into the doorway and into the house after that. Qui-gon sighed in sadness for the woman as he felt her fighting back a storm of emotions. He was as impressed as he was sorry for her.
If all things went right then he could not only be possibly bringing the child of a fellow Jedi back to the order but also perhaps none other than the chosen one. He just needed to convince the toydarian to take his bet. That and Anakin needed to win the podrace.
Qui-gon had faith though. More than that he felt like he could see the coming victory for the boy in the race. His destiny was far greater than what could be found here on Tatooine. Both of the boys' were.
Shmi had held Galen close to her chest through the whole race. The little boy hadn't been bothered at all and cheered on Anakin with all his might. Something that had the young girl from offworld swooning over him. Shmi was certain that one day the girl would make an excellent mother herself.
As the race had come to a close and Anakin had done the impossible and won, Shmi had felt something she hadn't realized she'd forgotten. Hope. Real hope. Her boys would be leaving her soon. It stung at her heart but it also filled her with such joy.
They shouldn't be here. Neither of them. There was so much more out there for them to experience and leave their mark on. A real life waited for them.
Still she cried as Anakin realized that he and Galen would be leaving without her. She knew enough from Mallie to know that Jedi were not permitted such things as a family. That Anakin and Galen would both be going with Qui-gon was enough to soothe her a bit. As long as they were not alone.
She at least had enough money from the small bet she had placed on her son's win plus what was left from Mallie and her own meager savings to purchase her own freedom. It was such a small thing, and truth be told she couldn't imagine living anywhere else than Tatooine, but living free and living as a slave were like night and day in her mind. Even if she would be nearly impoverished to start with.
"Mom! We sold the pod! Look at all the money we have!" Anakin cheered causing Galen to cheer from his place in her lap as well. Not that he really knew what having so much money meant.
Neither did Anakin truly. With this plus her other money she could not only be free but move out of Mos Espa. Perhaps to one of the prospector towns nearer the Dune Sea where the people actually looked out for one another.
"My goodness this is so wonderful!" She chimed in with her boys.
"Are you crying?" Anakin asked.
"Only in joy, Ani." She easily lied. It was only a half lie anyway.
"And, Ani has been freed." Qui-gon added.
Shmi smiled up at the man. He would be good for her boys. She hoped they could live by his example for a long time within their new life. She wasn't sure how exactly it worked for Jedi but she knew masters like Qui-gon were heavily involved with younger members of their order.
"What?" Anakin gasped.
"You're no longer a slave." Qui-gon told him with a smile.
"Mom…did you hear that?" Anakin asked as he turned back around to face her.
"Now you can make your dreams come true, Ani." Shmi smiled while pressing her lips to the crown of Galen's head.
Anakin grinned brightly before his lips suddenly fell into a deep frown and his eyes flicked back and forth between her and Galen. He seemed to be realizing that only he had been mentioned as free.
Before he could say anything about it though Shmi turned her eyes back toward Qui-gon. "You'll take them both with you?"
"Yes. They'll join the Jedi, our meeting was no coincidence." The man replied with no doubt in his voice at all.
"Galen too? We're both going with you on your starship!" Anakin cheered excitedly.
Galen picked up on that. "Into space!"
Shmi smiled at the cheering toddler in her hands who was trying now to get up and stand with Anakin. She let him go, watching him move over the corner of the desk and beside the older boy with a dexterity no normal four year old could possess.
"Boys," Qui-gon quieted them as he kneeled down to look them more closely in the eyes. "Training to become a Jedi is not an easy challenge, and even if you succeed it's a hard life."
"But we have to go. We always dreamed of doing it!" Anakin whined like the child he was.
"Yeah." Galen agreed, always the less vocal of the two but happy to add his support to Anakin's words nonetheless.
"Can we go mom?" Anakin asked as he and Galen turned back to her.
Shmi smiled toward them. She knew what would come, but still a part of her wondered if it was possible for them to stay and live a mundane life with her. She doubted it, but the chance, the choice had to be given.
"This choice is yours. The path lies before you and no one can decide but you. Both of you." She said turning her eyes between Galen and Anakin.
The younger boy turned to look up at his elder brother. He wasn't truly ready for such a choice. What child really was? Anakin as always was full of confidence. A single shared glance with Galen and he had settled on his choice for the both of them, whether he understood the ramifications for it or not.
"We're gonna do it. We gotta do it." Anakin said, shooting a grin at the younger boy.
Galen nodded after a moment. But he seemed to glance back up at Shmi for a bit of added encouragement. The woman that he only knew as mother smiled softly down at him until the Jedi shooed both boys off to pack a few of their things and get ready to leave.
"Wait, what about mom and Galen? How can Galen go on the starship. Did you free them both too?" Anakin asked as he stepped back into the room.
Qui-gon looked ready to answer but stopped as Shmi spoke first.
"Your brother is free too, and with this money I can buy my freedom as well." Shmi told him.
"Are you coming too?" Galen asked as he stared at her.
"No. Tatooine is my home." Shmi said carefully trying not to reveal the fact that her heart was breaking at the thought of sending them both away.
"You can come with us though, right mom?" Anakin pushed.
"Ani. My future is here. But yours, both of yours is out there. You have to let go." She told him.
"I don't want things to change." Anakin muttered with tears starting to build in the corners of his eyes.
"You can't stop change, Ani. Not anymore than you can stop the suns from setting. I love you boys. Now go get your things ready." She said as she hugged them both and pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads.
Fighting off their tears, both ran to their room and began collecting up their things. She could hear Anakin doing his part to help Galen pack.
"Thank you." She said as she stood and faced Qui-gon.
"I'll watch out for them. You have my word. I could take you offworld as well. Somewhere else, even Coruscant or Naboo after the crisis there is handled."
"No. Like I told them. My place is here. Tatooine is the home I know and I don't truly want to leave. I'm free now as well. I can make my own way."
"Will you be alright?" He asked tenderly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah." She said while staring off toward the boys' room.
"Here." She said slipping a metal saber hilt out of her robes. She took a last thoughtful look at it before slowly handing it over to the Jedi. The weapon was beaten and worn. However, she had done her best to keep it clean and in good condition. It was all that was left of Mallie besides her son after all.
"Her name was Mallie?" Qui-gon asked.
"Mallie Marek." She replied.
"Thank you." He said as he gently took the item from her.
"Galen should know about her some day. He's so young still." Shmi said.
"Older than most new initiates into the order, but I agree. He's too young for this yet. One day I will ensure he gets it though."
Galen followed Anakin and Qui-gon out of the house. Qui-gon carried his bag for him while Anakin carried his own things. Before they got far though, Anakin stopped and ran back to their mother. Galen followed right after him.
"I can't do it, mom. I just can't." Anakin sniffled as she dropped to her knees to hug him and bring Galen in for one as well.
"Will I ever see you again?" Anakin asked.
Galen chewed his own lips at the question. He didn't want to leave, but he wanted to go into the stars too. Just like Anakin. His mother was free; she could see them wherever Qui-gon took them. Or they could come visit.
"What does your heart tell you?" Shmi asked Anakin.
"I hope so. Yes. I guess." Anakin choked out.
"Then we will see each other again. All of us." Shmis said before bringing both of them in for a hug.
"Look after one another until then. Okay? Be brave and don't look back." She said before pressing their hands together so that Anakin could lead Galen back toward Qui-gon and on toward their destiny.
The three of them moved through the desert at a steady pace until Qui-gon seemed to notice something. He picked up Galen then and began to run, calling for Anakin to keep up as they jogged through the outskirts toward the sleek looking Nubian starship.
"Wait, Qui-gon sir! I can't keep up!" Anakin called out as he began to fall behind.
"Ani!" Galen cried out as he saw something speeding their way and feeling a familiar horrifying feeling that he just couldn't place.
"Anakin, drop!" Qui-gon shouted as he dropped Galen on top of his back pack to cushion the fall.
With a sudden snap and hiss both Qui-gon and the stranger that had nearly run over Anakin with his speeder bike, had drawn and activated their sabers. They clashed in a flurry of strikes and acrobatic maneuvers that awed Galen even as he scrambled to his feet and picked up his backpack.
"Anakin, take Galen and get to the ship. Tell them to take off!" Qui-gon shouted.
The boys didn't argue, nearly dragging the smaller child after him as they ran toward the starcraft. Qui-gon kept the man with the red blade from pursuing them, but Galen couldn't help but feel like everything was so familiar at that moment. Tears burned at his eyes and pain raced through his body even though he wasn't hurt.
Once onboard it didn't take long for the crew to jump into action. They called out commands and in moments the ship was lifting up off of the ground, somehow, below them Qui-gon managed to get aboard as well leaving the monster that made Galen's chest and head hurt behind.
Qui-gon seemed surprisingly unbothered despite sitting on the floor of the ship and struggling to catch his breath. He simply went about introducing the two boys to his young padawan, Obi-wan.
With that, they left Tatooine behind them and flew on toward their future and their destinies. Whatever they might be.
And I think that I will be ending this chapter here. I hope you enjoyed it. This is something I have been wanting to get into for a while. As you can see thai chapter had quite a bit of jumping around, though in the future we will see more focus from Galen's point of view rather than other characters. After all he is the main character. It's a bit pointless to write from an infant's point of view though.
Shmi is free a bit earlier but that doesn't mean her fate has changed. It also doesn't mean it hasn't changed. I guess we will see there won't we.
Galen and Anakin will have a lot more interactions as the story goes on. I mean they are effectively brothers so it should be expected. I look forward to exploring that sort of bond for both characters on top of everything else. Especially when we get to the clone wars.
I really hope you enjoyed this so far.
Anyway
Till Next Time.