"Good morning, Mr. Watto. Now it's official, in a few days I'll start working at NASA in Pasadena. I wanted to thank you for everything, with the job here I have survived over the years. What is wrong with your leg? Why are you limping?
"When the weather changes, I feel old injuries."
"Injuries?"
"Let's go to the office. You'll get one last check." He smiled, something what Anakin had never seen before.
Anakin sat down. Watto stumbled to his desk, pulled out the checkbook from the drawer, wrote down the last agreed-upon amount, signed, and handed the check to Anakin. He sat down and rubbed his knee in pain, his face contorted.
"Yes, there are injuries that hurt, but it's more mental than physical."
Anakin was silent, looking at him only. He thought Watto would talk if he wanted to, but he was curious about the injury and the story behind.
"I'm from Ecuador…" he began.
Anakin didn't know whether to interrupt him, but he said, "I thought you were Latino."
"Indio, actually...well, like I said, I'm from Ecuador. My father was Ecuadorian, if you can put it that way, my mother was American. My father was extremely intelligent and was supported by the Catholic Church. He studied biology at the Universidad Central del Ecuador in Quito. A scholarship enabled him to pursue his studies at Stanford, where he also earned his doctoral degree. There he met my mother and they fell in love. When my father got his PhD, he was forced to leave the country. They got married and left the USA together. That was at the end of the sixties. My mother came to L.A. twice to give birth to her children. I had an older sister, Yuma, who was a doctor, just like my mother. I don't know if you know what happened in Ecuador in the 90s...I'll tell you what led to my injuries...if you have time..."
"Yes, please, I'm interested."
"After the indigenous association from the highlands and the Amazon region merged in 1986, the first nationwide protests occurred in 1990. A manifesto was presented to the government. What was called for was the reform of the Ecuadorian constitution and the declaration of the country as a multinational state. There was also a demand for the recognition of the territorial rights of indigenous peoples. Confronted with the force of the movement, the government of President Rodrigo Borja was forced to negotiate. After a few back and forth, these were canceled without a result. The government's unwillingness to compromise led to further uprisings in 1992 and Borja's finally recognized the rights of the indigenous people over more than a million hectares of land, but that was only half of the territory demanded. The demand for the recognition of Ecuador as a multinational state was rejected in 1992 as a threat to national unity. The 1990s were marked by several waves of protests, culminating in the overthrow of then-President Jamil Mahuad in 1999...as you may know. But even before his downfall, the protests were brutal and bloody. While the protests raged and the demonstrators fought bloody street confrontations with the police and special forces, no one dared to leave the house. We watched the terrible scene and when the police left, my mother ran downstairs to treat the injured...the doctors feel bound by their oath, you know. When she went outside, people started demonstrating again and the police returned. They struck each of them with the buttocks of their rifles. A massive blow to the temple caused my mother to fall. I ran out and picked up her head, she was bleeding badly. It seemed to me that she was beginning to lose consciousness. Then I saw my sister run out the door, straight into the arms of the police. They dragged her away, she screamed, I'll never forget that. I sat on the floor and held my mother's head. I also received a few hits, but they weren't fatal. I saw that my mother was going to die, she looked at me and said...leave this country, right now...go to my family, and then I saw the life leave her eyes. She died in my arms..." He squeezed his nose with two fingers and looked like he was going to cry. "I left her there, ran into the house, took all the money, jewellery I found and my birth certificate, and ran through the side streets to the American embassy, I didn't have a passport. They let me stay there until the next morning and then sent me to the consulate. I got a temporary passport so that I could leave the country. I sold my mother's jewellery at one jewellery store near the railway station and got just enough to buy a ticket to L.A. I hitchhiked to the airport. Yes, that's how I came to live with my relatives here in Westwood. My grandparents were no longer alive at this point, but my mother's two sisters were. They were horrified and devastated. They supported me, but it was difficult at the beginning, I took every job I could find. I was a mechanical engineering student in my second semester, I didn't know that much. So, I decided to take over this garage when my aunt's husband died. I later looked for my sister and learned that she died in prison from pneumonia...more likely from systematic torture. My father died on suicide. He lost his wife, daughter and didn't know where I was, he probably assumed I was missing...like many in those troubled days. As you can see, Anakin, I'm doing well financially, I have a small house, this garage, but nothing else. I have lost everything I loved and if I wasn't a devout Catholic, I would have followed my father's path long ago."
"It's a terrible story. I'm sorry you had to experience something like that. I now understand why you are so sad sometimes." He didn't mean to imply obnoxious, but now he understood, Watto was a bitter man.
They said goodbye and Watto even wished him all the best.
When Anakin got home, he told Padmé what was Watto's life experience.
"Just like Grand-Máre said when I told her about Watto, people aren't born evil, the life makes them be that way."
Working at JPL was precisely what he expected, but he knew that. The colleagues were nice, everything went well. The only thing that was bad was the driving to work and back. What should normally take half an hour took longer than an hour, every day...over two hours were lost.
After a month, he discussed the living situation with Padmé. They decided to move somewhere closer to Pasadena, but not far from downtown because Padmé would also have an acceptable route later.
A month later, they found a house in South Pasadena with easy connections to the Pasadena Freeway, nearby schools, shopping and much more. The house was not renovated, so it was not so expensive. So they hired craftsmen and had the work done. Now they had a nice house with a pool and a mortgage to pay.
"At least we won't have to spend money on the pool boy." Anakin joked.
By the time they were more or less settled in, it was already the end of September. The twins were in bed and Padmé and Anakin were sitting on the patio in front of the pool after swimming.
"Padmé, you've been wearing my engagement ring for too long, it's time we wear wedding rings. We should get married in October."
"I am not going to run away."
"It's not about running away. We both have jobs, a nice house, kids, and we've loved each other for a long time... without a wedding ring, but we should make it official."
"Okay, let's hire a wedding planner…but please just families and a few friends, not a big wedding."
"That's what we do."
At the end of October, Padmé and Anakin married in the close circle of their families and friends. The celebration took place at the Ritz-Carlton, all at the expense of Ruwee Naberrie.
Padmé stayed at home for three years until the twins could go to kindergarten. Then she started working again in her father's law firm. As a future boss, she was always able to adjust her working hours to meet her needs.
She regularly met up with her friends downtown.
Anakin worked for NASA, developed many patents, published numerous publications, and wrote textbooks. His career turned out as he had hoped, he rose steadily through the ranks and was appointed director of JPL at the age of fifty. He held this position for ten years. While he served as director of JPL, he also served as vice president of Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. He later served as a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology.
Luke studied mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California Los Angeles, like his father, and Leia, like her mother, went to Boston to study law at Harvard. She later became her mother's successor.
Jobal and Ruwee Naberrie retired from the firm when Padmé was thirty-five years old.
Grand-Máre lived long enough to see Luke and Leia finish their first year of secondary school.
Sola and Darred continued to run their successful consulting company, Ryoo and Pooja took over the company after studying management at UCLA.
Anakin's parents remained in Yorba Linda and went about their real estate brokerage business. Anakin's stepbrother Owen and his wife Beru lived in San Diego and rarely came to L.A. They had no children.
Dormé and Sabé continued to work at various law firms downtown, married their colleague and had children. Rabé never married. Her life's work was Korkie, the son of her sister Satine and brother-in-law Ben Kenobi.
All of Padmé's friends, as well as Satine and Ben, maintained intensive friendly contact with the Skywalkers.
Padmé and Anakin had wonderful live together. They work a lot and long hours during the week, but still found time and energy for their love. Anakin always said that sexual intimacy is the essence of a marriage, when Padmé was tired from a long day at court. She then told him, she would give him the last ounce of her strength and she did, always.
Weekends belonged to the family, sometimes it was his or hers, but most Saturdays were spent with Grand-Máre while she was still alive. They knew she was happy when she was with them, and she could see her wish of seeing them together come true.
After the death of Grand-Máre, the house was sold. Everyone in the family had fond memories associated with this house, and when the keys were handed over, Padmé and Anakin were sitting in the car, in a tight embrace and Padmé was crying. It was the first time they had seen each other, the first time they had kissed.
"Don't cry, my Angel, no one can take these memories away, nothing is lost, if anything, it's gained. With this money you get now, we can pay the tuition fees for our children."
"I know Anakin, but it hurts so much."
"As soon as we get home, there will be a comforter...in our bed." He winked.
"You always know how to make me laugh."
"Of course, I know you, I'm your husband."
"I love you Anakin Skywalker."
"I love you too Mrs. Skywalker...uh, how long have we been together now, not counting the marriage license?"
"Almost fifteen years."
"Four times as much…"
"Or a little longer…"
They then began laughing.
"Who are we negotiating with? Something like that...we are here and now, Padmé, in our prime, thirties are the best years of your life. We don't want to be sad now, let's go home…for the consolation."
Best regards from Germany
It would be nice if you drop the comment ;-)