After that difficult nighttime adventure, I finally decided to get some sleep.
I was far too exhausted to spend several more hours meditating.
When I regained consciousness a few hours later, I barely had any contact with reality.
The reason for my brutal awakening was Shmi, who burst into the room with pure stress written all over her face.
“Anakin!
You won’t believe what happened during the night!”
For a moment, I only blinked, trying to understand anything from the flood of words that immediately crashed down on me.
As it turned out, the entire city was talking about one thing.
One of the powerful water merchants on Tatooine had supposedly attempted to seize technology belonging to a competitor.
The plan ended in disaster.
The target of the attack not only survived the assassination attempt but responded with complete ruthlessness.
According to rumors, the attacker’s residence had been destroyed, his warehouses seized, and most of his assets had changed hands before dawn.
Even a significant portion of his workers and contractors had supposedly gone over to Vardis’s side.
Shmi told everything with great emotion, probably wondering whether this matter would negatively affect our lives.
“People are talking about it everywhere.
At the market, in the workshops, even at the water points.
I’ve never seen rumors spread so quickly.
Every neighbor I spoke with knows about it.”
I listened to her in silence, gradually regaining full awareness.
It seemed that the night had been far more fruitful for Vardis than I had initially assumed.
Not only had he gotten rid of a competitor operating in the same industry, but he had also obtained new technology from me that could significantly reduce his operating costs.
As if that were not enough, he had also taken over most of the man’s wealth and property.
It was honestly hard to imagine a better outcome.
His fortune had probably at least doubled, and in the near future it would grow even more once he digested all the gains.
He was certainly very pleased with how yesterday’s events had unfolded.
I slowly hauled myself out of bed, rubbing my eyes with difficulty.
I glanced at Shmi, who was still miles away in her thoughts as she shared the latest gossip she had picked up in town.
Apparently, she had not even noticed that I could barely stay on my feet from lack of sleep.
I gathered the last of my strength and went to take care of my morning routine.
So much had changed since yesterday, and yet everything looked exactly the same.
We still ate the same not very tasty breakfast.
We still lived in the same small house.
And we still went to open the same shop belonging to our master.
Sometimes life could be truly strange.
Just a few hours earlier, I had fought for my life, gotten rid of my slave chip, and regained my freedom, and now I was returning to my daily routine as if nothing had happened.
Even so, I did not want to change the course of the “accidental” meeting with Qui-Gon Jinn.
Too many things in my plans depended on events unfolding in the right way.
As usual, I spent most of the day repairing various mechanical components.
However, I was so sleep-deprived that by the end of the day I could barely remember what I had actually been working on.
When I finally returned home, I literally dragged myself to bed.
This time, I did not even have the strength to think about attempting meditation.
I fell asleep almost instantly.
The next three days passed in a relatively normal rhythm.
In my beloved podracer, I tightened loosened components, replaced the most worn parts, and repeatedly checked every system responsible for engine operation.
I was no longer looking for additional performance.
During a race, even a minor failure could mean defeat or death.
When I finished the final inspection, I looked at the speeder with satisfaction.
It was ready.
Now all that remained was to wait for the arrival of a certain ship from Naboo and the events that would change my life forever.
Aside from a temporary increase in crime caused by our acquaintance dismantling a hostile organization, everything quickly returned to normal.
The inhabitants of Mos Espa, as usual, focused mainly on their own survival and earning their next credits.
C-3PO.
He still looked like a collection of cables, metal rods, and randomly matched parts, but to me he was something much more.
He was one of the final elements to finish before this extremely important day.
Carefully, I connected the main power supply, checked the connections, and slid the last wire into the proper socket.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the droid’s photoreceptors flickered with a faint yellow light.
“Initializing basic functions…” a quiet mechanical voice sounded.
He worked.
“Hello, 3PO,”
The droid moved his head with a slight crackle of old servomotors.
“Oh my…” he said uncertainly.
“Am I… functioning?”
“Yes.
In a way.”
“That is very reassuring, although I must admit that the phrase ‘in a way’ sounds exceptionally worrying.”
I snorted with laughter.
Even assembled from scrap, he still sounded like someone who could worry in advance for no reason at all.
Yesterday, I finally removed the bandage.
The wound had closed exceptionally well and, to my satisfaction, had left no scar behind.
Apparently, bacta and the capabilities of the surgical droid had been worth every bit of money spent.
Unfortunately, I had to leave him with Vardis.
Some of his internal components had been damaged during the fight, and my knowledge still did not reach the level required to repair machines that complicated.
On top of that, there was the lack of access to parts.
When I woke up on that beautiful day, I could not stop myself from smiling.
Today was the day.
At last, I was going to end this repetitive life of a slave.
For the first time since my rebirth, I truly felt that I was standing on the threshold of a new stage in my life, a complete transformation.
Only one thing has changed in my panel
Strength – Level 5 (500/800 XP) → Level 6 (50/1600 XP)
As usual, almost from memory, I prepared to leave the house.
This time, however, I could not hold back my excitement throughout the entire morning.
Today, I was going to meet a real Jedi.
Qui-Gon Jinn.
And Queen Amidala herself.
I truly could not wait.
If someone had measured my pulse at that moment, they would probably have concluded that I was only a few seconds away from a heart attack.
After all, for years I had only watched these characters on a computer screen.
And in a few hours, I was going to stand face to face with them.
“Calm down,” I said to my reflection in the mirror.
“Just don’t go crazy.”
My reflection, of course, offered no particularly helpful answer.
I took a deep breath, then headed toward the door.
That day, I left home with a much lighter heart than usual.
As I walked through the streets of Mos Espa, despite the ever-present noise, crowds, and chaos, the world somehow seemed a little brighter.
I passed several smaller market stalls, squeezed between groups of residents, and finally reached Watto’s shop.
To my surprise, the owner was already there.
Usually, he appeared later, leaving Shmi and me to open the shop.
This time, however, he was hovering behind the counter, reviewing some datapad and muttering under his breath.
The sight of Watto working from early morning was rare enough that, for a moment, I wondered whether I had accidentally entered the wrong shop.
However, after comparing his current expression with memories from previous days, I had no doubt.
It was Watto.
Apparently, something had put him in an exceptionally good mood.
I ignored this remarkably rare phenomenon and got to work on repairs.
For the next few hours, I dealt with more damaged parts as usual, while impatiently waiting for a certain memorable moment of the day.
After four hours of waiting, it was difficult to maintain the same level of excitement.
I do not know how excited one would have to be to avoid calming down after that much time.
I was slowly beginning to doze off.
On top of that, I had deliberately finished all my duties earlier so Watto would not accidentally find me more work and force me to stay in the shop longer, ruining my carefully prepared plans.
So I was now sitting in the shade of the workshop, pretending to very carefully analyze a pile of spare parts.
In reality, every few minutes I glanced toward the entrance.
Waiting for the moment I knew almost by heart.
Then I heard the familiar bell above the entrance.
A few seconds later, Watto’s voice rang out.
“Anakin!
We have customers!”
My legs almost immediately grew wings.
I sprang to my feet and ran toward the shop so quickly that under normal circumstances Shmi would probably have told me to slow down before I broke my neck.
This was the moment.
Finally.
I rushed into the main part of the workshop and looked at the new customers.
The first thing I saw was Jar Jar Binks.
The Gungan was playing with one of the energy cells lying on the counter and looked as if, in a few seconds, he might accidentally blow up half the shop.
For a fraction of a second, I literally froze.
I almost had a heart attack.
Of all the characters in the galaxy, the first one I had to see was Jar Jar.
For a moment, I did not even pay attention to anyone else.
My brain desperately tried to reconcile memories from the movies with the fact that this walking generator of chaos was really standing a few meters away from me.
“Kid, what are you standing there for?!” Watto yelled.
“Take care of the customers while I show the goods!”
Without waiting for an answer, he flew off toward the warehouse.
Only then did my gaze fall on Qui-Gon Jinn.
The Jedi was pulling some part out of Jar Jar’s hands before the Gungan managed to do something exceptionally stupid with it.
For a moment, I had the impression that he looked like a man who had been fighting for hours to preserve the last remnants of patience, which were vanishing with every passing second.
Then he gave me a brief, attentive look.
It lasted barely a second.
And yet I had the strange impression that, in that time, he had assessed me more thoroughly than most people would in an entire lifetime.
Then he turned his gaze away and followed Watto toward the warehouse.
I was left alone.
Alone with Jar Jar.
Then I noticed the girl standing slightly to the side.
And for a brief moment, my brain literally froze.
She was truly beautiful.
Of course, I knew that Padmé was only fourteen, so I looked at her only as an ordinary teenager assessing the appearance of another person.
Even so, it was hard not to notice how much she stood out against her surroundings.
She looked almost exactly like Natalie Portman from my memories.
Maybe even slightly better.
For a moment, I simply stood there and stared.
Then I remembered that I was staring at the Queen of Naboo like a complete idiot.
I immediately regained control of myself and looked away before anyone could notice.
And then I remembered the words Anakin had spoken in the film.
For a moment, I fought with myself.
On one hand, I knew how awkward it would sound.
On the other…
It was one of those scenes that simply should not be changed.
Barely holding back my embarrassment, I looked at her and forced myself to ask:
“Are you an angel?”
Padmé blinked in surprise.
“Excuse me?”
“They live on the moons of Iego, supposedly,” I explained, trying to speak in the calmest voice I could manage.
“At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”
Inside, however, I wanted to sink into the ground.
I had really just said that.
Exactly the same thing.
After all those years of watching that scene, I had become part of it myself.
For a moment, I enjoyed the fact that Padmé had been stunned after a nine-year-old called her an angel.
I got a rating that there is definitely too much monologue, let me know if it bothers you too