ANAKIN
If there was any consistency in the world, it would be Tatooine. It was still the same: poor planet half buried in sand and smelled of metal and stale ale. It was filled with various unsavory faces with dubious ideas brewing inside their minds. Ideas of how to gain money quickly or steal it without being noticed.
Shasta gave Padme a quiet glance, watching the young woman's face bloom with awe. Shasta's lips turned up into a small smile. "Ain't much to look at, honestly. A bunch of moisture farms with tribes and scavengers as well. There ain't a lot of spaceports, and those around are havens for those who wish to disappear."
"Like us…" Padma said absently.
Shasta gave her a knowing look and nodded. "Just make sure you keep an eye on your pockets; you'll get stripped down to your skin if you ain't paying attention."
Qui-Gon chuckled softly. "Shasta, You're not speaking from experience, are you?"
Shasta's lips curled up into a smirk. "Yeah…but I wasn't the one who got stripped."
Qui-Gon shot her a look, but Shasta ignored it and led the group into the junky-looking spaceport.
After a moment, Qui-Gon spoke up again. "We should try some of the smaller dealers first, correct?"
Shasta shrugged. "Worth a shot, but be mindful." She began as they headed into one of the little junkshops. "A lot of these places will try and rip you off and sell you crap that doesn't work." As soon as those words left her mouth, a tumbling sound came to her ear.
Looking up, a pudgy blue creature snarled at her from the other side of his shop. He was inspecting a bit of machinery when he heard Shasta's comment and had dropped the piece of disgust at her words.
"Hey, last time I checked, I didn't sell junk." Watto, the blue creature, grumbled and fluttered his fast wings over to them. "I sell things that I know you'll be interested in. After all…why would you be in my shop if you weren't interested in buying," he said.
Shasta quickly bit down on her lips and looked away for a moment, feeling a bit embarrassed. Still, she quickly recovered herself and nodded her head. "You're… you're right about that. We're looking for parts for a J-type 327 Nubian."
Watto laughed and opened his arms, welcoming the business. "Ah yes, ah yes. Nubian. We have lots of that. What kinda junk?" He turned his head to the side and, in a different language, called into the next room.
A young boy then came running into the room. He looked a little disheveled with his dirty clothes and ragged appearance. Slave, Shasta immediately knew, and no older than nine years old, too.
The boy looked up at Shasta, and for a moment, their eyes met. Shasta felt a sting deep in her heart like an electric shock that caused her whole body to shiver. Quirking her lips into a perplexed stare, she studied the boy a little more but didn't know why she had such a reaction.
"Strange…" Shasta muttered without thinking.
Qui-Gon gave her an odd look before looking back to Watto. "My droid here has a readout of what I need."
Watto nodded and said a couple more things to the young boy. Probably for him to watch the shop while he was busy.
As Qui-Gon went off to talk to Watto, he reached up and stopped Shasta from following. "Maybe…I should be the one to talk to him."
Shasta's lips clamped shut. She didn't even argue with that and just nodded. "Yeah…I think I'll let you take this one."
Qui-Gon gave her a gentle smile. He patted her back, and he walked off to follow Watto. Once they were all alone, Shasta couldn't help but sneak glances at the young boy. He sat on the counter beside them, cleaning something with an oil-covered rag.
The boy then lifted his head and stared soly at Padme. Like there was no one else in the room. The boy hesitated for a moment before gathering her courage to talk. "Are you an angel?"
Padme looked at him, amused but also a little confused. She glanced at Shasta for a moment to confirm she heard him correctly. "What?" she asked.
"An angel." The boy repeated. "I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They live on the Moons of Iego, I think. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They are good and kind, and so pretty they make even the most hardened spice pirate cry."
Padme was taken aback by such a compliment that she didn't know what to say. Still, her smile didn't fade. "I never heard of angels."
The boy shrugged. "You must be one...maybe you just don't know it." He muttered under his breath, turning his head down almost meekly.
Shasta crossed her arms over her chest and snorted a little. "Ain't you gonna ask if I'm an angel?" she spoke up playfully with a smirk. She's met many kinds of people before. In her own life and past memories of others, none came close to the sheer innocence that came from this boy. A slave boy with such…pretty words.
The boy turned his head up and squinted his eyes to inspect her. Taking her in sharp features and dark appearance. "No. You don't look like an angel. I don't know, just…not an angel."
Shasta felt her heart still before her smirk cracked into a large grin. Bold, unrefined laughter spilled from her like a current. "Ain't you a cheeky little sandworm," she said, her smirk returning, a silent challenge.
The boy frowned in almost a pout. "I'm not a sandworm. You're…. you're…" he fumbled on his words while trying to think of an even snarkier comeback, but Shasta already knew she had won the small banter when the boy fell silent.
Padme stood beside Shasta and patted her shoulder, looking back at the boy. "You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much?"
"I listen to all the traders and star pilots who came through here. I'm a pilot, you know, and someday I'm gonna fly away from this place."
"You're a pilot?" Padme asked.
The boy nodded. "All my life?"
Shasta spoke up. "How long have you been here?"
"Since I was very little, three, I think. My Mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us, betting on the Podraces, to Watto, who's a lot better master than Gardulla, I think," the boy said, answering a question that Shasta already knew.
"Ah…so you are a slave," Shasta said dryly, noticing the slight shock on Padme's face when she realized it too.
The boy frowned even further at Shasta's dry response. He had a rage of defiance in his young eyes. "I am a person! My name is Anakin."
Keeping her arms crossed, Shasta walked over to Anakin and hunched over until she was at eye level with him. Her voice was smooth and undeterred. "Indeed…" she nearly whispered before offering her hand. "Shasta. Person, too. And she's Padme."
Anakin flinched a little and stared at Shasta's hand. Hesitating, he reached out and shook her. Her hands were the same as his, rough and callused. Yet, they were warm, firm, and gentle.
"You're a strange girl," Anakin said and pulled his hand back. "Both of you." He gestured between her and Padme.
Shasta leaned back against the counter beside Anakin. "You're pretty strange yourself." she said with a sly smile. "You know anything about machines?"
Anakin scoffed at the question. "Wouldn't have lasted long if I weren't so good at fixing things. I'm making my own droid..." he turned his attention to her. "What about you?"
Shasta rocked her head to the side as she rolled through her memories, thinking about the mess she had back at home. About the hundreds of lightsaber designs she wanted to make and the hundreds of machine parts lying in boxes. "I know a few things," she said.
At that moment, Qui-Gon came back into the room steadily. He looked between his companions and made a gesturing motion. "We're leaving."
Shasta nodded and ushed Padme and Jar Jar to follow. "Come on…" she said, giving a final wave to Anakin as she followed after Qui-Gon.
"I'm glad to have met you," Padme called back to Anakin.
"I'm glad I met you too," Anakin answered back.
Shasta followed close next to Qui-Gon as they walked through the sandy streets of the spaceport. "So...what happened? Did he have the a hyperdrive generator?" she asked, but she could see the slight frustration in Qui-Gon's usually calm gaze.
"He does, but he won't accept republic credits," he said, trying to mask the frustration in his voice. "I tried subtly influencing his mind, but it wasn't working." He glanced down at Shasta. "Do you think it would work if you tried it?"
It was common knowledge with Jedi that Eve's had a strong connection with the Force and could do amazing things with it, but this time, she was afraid her skills wouldn't be useful here. "Sorry, but I can't help in the area. He's a Toydarian, so it wouldn't be easy. There are some species that can't easily block out mind tricks. I might end up melting his brain before he gave in."
Qui-Gon tightened his jaw but quickly accepted her answer. "Then we'll have to find another way. Come along."