When I started running out of topics to talk about with Padmé, Shmi called us for dinner.
I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
It was genuinely difficult to pretend I knew nothing about the galaxy while possessing the knowledge I had.
I got up from the bed we had been sitting on together and headed into the main room, where a modest meal had already been prepared.
As we entered the kitchen, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Jar Jar was reaching for a basket filled with the fruits I had only recently acquired—an actual luxury in our diet.
Predicting exactly what was about to happen, I rushed forward and snatched it out of his hands.
Jar Jar was completely stunned.
He looked at me as if I had just insulted thirty generations of his ancestors.
Completely unaware of his own destructive potential.
I ignored him entirely and calmly placed the basket on the table, smiling at the others, who were watching me with obvious curiosity.
Although I knew Qui-Gon would most likely interpret it as some kind of Force premonition, the truth was much simpler.
I was simply worried about the Meiloorun I had received from Vardis.
Since arriving in this world, I had not yet had the chance to try any delicacies from the galaxy far, far away.
I had no intention of letting Jar Jar ruin that memorable moment for me.
We all sat down at the table and began eating, and the conversation quickly returned to familiar topics.
“All slaves have transmitters implanted somewhere inside their bodies,” Shmi said.
“Any attempt to escape…”
“…and they blow you up with the push of a button,” I finished.
“How cruel,” Jar Jar said.
“I can’t believe slavery still exists in the galaxy,” Padmé said.
“The Republic has laws against slavery…”
“The Republic doesn’t exist out here,” Shmi replied.
“We have to survive on our own.”
“Have you ever seen a Podrace?” I asked.
Padmé shook her head.
Jar Jar stretched out his tongue and reached for food from the other side of the table.
Qui-Gon looked at him disapprovingly.
“They have Podracing on Malastare as well,” Qui-Gon said.
“Very fast.
Very dangerous.”
“I’m really good at it,” I said.
“Sometimes I wonder if I’m some kind of destined pilot.”
I added with an inward smile, knowing exactly what was about to happen.
Shmi looked at me disapprovingly.
“Mom, what?” I asked.
“I’m not bragging.
It’s the truth.
Watto says he’s never heard of a human who can do it.”
“You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods,” Qui-Gon said.
I smiled, seeing that I already had his attention.
Jar Jar once again tried to reach for food with his tongue.
Qui-Gon instantly caught it between his thumb and forefinger.
“Don’t do that again,” Qui-Gon said.
Jar Jar mumbled something unintelligible.
Qui-Gon released his tongue, and it snapped back into the Gungan’s mouth with a loud crack.
I was honestly starting to feel a little sorry for him.
That must have hurt.
“I…
was wondering about something…”
“About what?” Qui-Gon asked.
“Well…
you’re a Jedi Knight, right?” I asked.
“What makes you think that?”
“I saw your lightsaber when you were buying those snacks,” “Only Jedi carry weapons like that.
You’re pretty recognizable.”
Qui-Gon leaned back and slowly smiled.
“Or maybe I killed a Jedi and stole it from him,”
“I don’t think so…” “I may not know much about Jedi, but I’ve heard they’re really powerful.
And that nobody can kill them.”
I honestly had trouble saying that with a straight face to a Jedi who, according to the original timeline, was destined to die.
I was starting to feel strange playing the role of an ignorant child.
Fortunately, the finish line was already close.
“I wish that were true…” Qui-Gon said.
“I once had a dream that I was a Jedi,” I said.
“I came back here and freed all the slaves…
Have you come to free us?”
“I’m afraid not…”
“I think you have,” I said.
“Why else would you be here?”
Qui-Gon thought for a moment.
“I can see there’s no fooling you…” he said.
“But you mustn’t tell anyone about us.”
He leaned closer.
“We’re traveling to Coruscant, the central system of the Republic, on a very important mission,” Qui-Gon said.
“It must remain secret.”
“Coruscant…
wow…” I said.
“How did you end up all the way out here on the Outer Rim?”
Judging by the slight stiffness in Padmé’s expression, she had probably noticed something was a little off, but decided to keep it to herself.
Only a few seconds later did I realize my reaction had been too enthusiastic.
After all, she had already told me about their destination earlier, and now I was acting like some clueless fool who had never heard of it.
Despite a slight twitch of her eyelid, she recovered quickly and began explaining.
“Our ship was damaged, and we’re stranded here until we can repair it,” Padmé said.
“I can help!” “I can fix anything!”
Padmé began shooting increasingly hawk-like glances in my direction.
I could barely stop myself from looking back at her.
After our private conversation, she had clearly realized that I wasn’t nearly as childish as I was pretending to be in front of Qui-Gon Jinn.
“I believe you,” Qui-Gon said.
“But first we need to acquire the parts we need.”
“Wit no-nutten to trade,” Jar Jar said.
“These junk dealers must have some kind of weakness,” Padmé said.
Composing herself with surprising speed, she immediately returned to practical matters.
“Gambling,” Shmi said.
“Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races.”
“Podracing…” Qui-Gon said.
“Greed can be a powerful ally…
if used properly.”
“I built my own podracer,” “It’s one of the faster ones on the planet.”
“The Boonta Eve race is tomorrow.
You could enter my racer.
It’s already finished.”
“Anakin, calm down,” Shmi said.
“Watto won’t let you…”
“Watto doesn’t know I built it,” I said.
“I’m sure of that.”
“You could convince him it’s yours and get him to let me race.”
“Watto likes winning more than earning money.
If he thinks he has an advantage, he’ll start looking for a wager himself.”
Qui-Gon glanced at Shmi.
“I don’t want you racing, Ani…” Shmi said.
“It’s awful.
Every time Watto makes you compete, I die from worry.”
“But Mom, I love it…” “And they need help.
They’re in trouble.
The prize money would be enough to pay for the parts they need.”
Besides, I’d finally get to fly the racer whose upgrades I had spent so many hours working on over the past week.
It would be a shame to get rid of it after all that effort, I added silently to myself.
“Mysa thinkin’ dis be very big problem,” Jar Jar said.
“Your mother is right,” Qui-Gon said.
“Is there anyone here sympathetic to the Republic who might help us?”
Shmi shook her head.
I decided, like the original Anakin, to pull out the atomic bomb.
“We have to help them, Mom…” I said.
“You always said the biggest problem in the universe is that people don’t help each other…”
I put on the most innocent expression possible and started blinking.
“Anakin, don’t…” Shmi said.
Silence settled over the table for a moment.
“I’m sure Qui-Gon doesn’t want to put your son in danger,” Padmé said.
“We’ll find another way…”
Padmé said, looking at me reproachfully, as if asking how I could do something like that to my own mother when she was so worried about me.
She was clearly aware that I had been steering things toward this outcome from the very beginning.
I had probably shown her a little too much of my true self during our earlier conversation.
I could see why she became a senator with emotional intelligence like that.
What was interesting, though, was that she hadn’t tried to expose me in front of the Jedi.
I wondered why.
Her reactions clearly showed that she had noticed I was pretending to be naive and childish while fully understanding the situation at the same time.
“No,” Shmi said.
“Ani is right.
There is no other way.”
She looked at me and sighed.
“I may not like it, but he can help you…” Shmi said.
“I think he was meant to help you.
That’s what fate intended.”
“So I can?” I asked.
I asked for final confirmation.
“Yes,” Shmi answered in a defeated voice.
The rest of dinner passed in unusual silence.
When we finished eating and moved into the main room, the adults sat around the table drinking Tatooine Sunset.
My mother clearly needed some way to calm herself before my race tomorrow.
“How long do sandstorms usually last?” Qui-Gon Jinn asked.
“Usually around ten hours,” “Boonta Eve isn’t until tomorrow anyway, so maybe you’d like to stay here for the night?”
Padmé looked toward the window.
Beyond it, nothing could be seen except swirling masses of sand.
“We might as well,” “I don’t think we really have another choice.”
Shmi busied herself preparing sleeping arrangements for our guests.
Somehow it ended with Padmé and me sleeping in my room while Jar Jar and Qui-Gon Jinn occupied the main room.
Shmi stayed in her own room.
Padmé couldn’t sleep there because it was too small for two people.
I honestly felt sorry for our Jedi.
Sleeping next to Jar Jar was probably not going to become one of his favorite memories.
But who was I to pity him?
After all, it wasn’t every day that someone fell asleep in the same room as the Queen of Naboo.
At least that’s what one part of my brain kept telling me.
The other part reminded me that I was nine years old and, to put it mildly, completely dysfunctional in those matters, so I didn’t even know what I was supposed to feel.
My brain wasn’t even producing the proper hormones yet, so I might as well have been sleeping next to Chewbacca.
What surprised me instead was how well my mother seemed to get along with Qui-Gon Jinn.
There was definitely some unexpected chemistry between them.
Which gave me several rather demonic thoughts that she deserved something from life too, and who could possibly be better than him?
I quickly buried those thoughts deep in my subconscious.
I already had enough problems without trying to play matchmaker for my own mother.
If anything was going to come of it, it would depend entirely on her ability to seduce a Jedi.
And considering that Qui-Gon wasn’t particularly attached to many of the Order’s rules, I’d say her chances were actually pretty good.
After all, she was a beautiful woman.
The only issue was exhaustion and chronic stress, which made her look much older and more worn out than she actually was.
Still, there was nothing there that a good bacta bath couldn’t fix.
As I watched their calm conversation over drinks, I noticed Padmé giving me that specific look.
The one that clearly said:
“We are going to have a very serious conversation later.”
Or else.
I had no idea how, but every woman in the galaxy seemed capable of communicating that message with nothing more than a glance.
And judging by Padmé’s expression, I had just officially received mine.
I sighed at my miserable fate and followed her into my room.
“Why were you acting completely differently at the table than when we talked earlier?”
“Pretending to be unaware and manipulating people.
I seriously underestimated your abilities.
Even Master Qui-Gon didn’t notice anything wrong.”
“First of all, everyone is getting what they need,” I said.
“I didn’t lie to anyone.
I simply guided the conversation where I wanted it to go.”
I shrugged.
“And besides, I didn’t lie to anyone’s detriment.”
I fell silent for a moment.
“And that’s the only reason he didn’t notice.”
Padmé raised an eyebrow.
“Didn’t notice?”
“Qui-Gon Jinn is very perceptive,” “Trust me, if I wanted to hurt him or harm him in any way, the Force would have warned him.”
She looked at me with genuine shock, clearly surprised by my awareness of the situation and my knowledge of such aspects of the Force.
For several seconds she simply stared at me in silence, as if trying to decide whether I was actually right or merely attempting to convince her that my manipulation was perfectly normal.
“That doesn’t explain how you know what Jedi are capable of,” Padmé said.
I shrugged.
“Because I have something similar myself,” I said.
“It has saved me from danger countless times.”
Padmé raised an eyebrow.
From her expression, I could easily tell she didn’t particularly believe the story about a nine-year-old boy being saved countless times.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame her.
I’d probably have the same doubts in her place.
“Of course, I don’t possess all the abilities of a Jedi,” I said.
“I’ve had no training, and my knowledge of the Force is still very limited.”
Padmé watched me for a moment before shaking her head.
“I honestly can’t believe you’re this self-aware at nine years old,”
For a moment, I noticed a smile appear on her face.
“When I was nine, I chased butterflies and waited for my mother to read me a bedtime story.
I wasn’t analyzing politics, slavery, and the nature of the universe.”
“Sounds like a much better childhood than mine.”
“Oh…
I’m sorry,” Padmé said.
“I didn’t mean to offend you or bring up unpleasant memories.
I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through, being a slave since the age of three.”
I shrugged.
“Honestly, I was very lucky that we ended up being lost to Watto in a bet.”
Padmé blinked in surprise.
“Lucky?”
“For all his faults, Watto isn’t the worst owner you could end up with on Tatooine,” “He’s greedy, lazy, and constantly grumpy, but he takes care of his slaves.
He also doesn’t let anyone hurt them.”
Disbelief appeared on Padmé’s face.
“That still sounds terrible.”
“Because it is terrible,” I admitted calmly.
“But it could have been much worse.”
I played with my cup for a moment.
“If we’d stayed with the Hutts, we’d probably be dead by now,” “Either we’d have ended up in some arena entertaining a crowd, or we’d literally have been worked to death.”
I looked into her eyes, waiting to see if she had any more questions, but apparently that was enough for her.
“Tatooine is not a place for the weak,” I added quietly.
gime stones(;