ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝔸𝕃 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 1}

【 TWELVE 】

     ɪ ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ Qᴜɪ-ɢᴏɴ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪᴛᴄʜᴇɴ ɴᴏᴛ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴍʏ ᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʟ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋᴅᴏᴡɴ. In the time it had taken me to get over myself, Shmi and Jar Jar had finished dinner and summoned Anakin and Padmé to eat. Shmi invited Qui-gon and I to take a seat, and we did so eagerly. Qui-Gon and I took up the end seats of the table, leaving Padmé and Anakin next to each other, and Shmi and Jar Jar together on the other side. As soon as we were served, we dug into the food at once--Anakin especially tearing into his meal. He hadn't been showing it, but he appeared to be very hungry, just as hungry as Shmi looked.

"All slaves have a transmitter placed inside their bodies somewhere," Shmi explained as she poured us drinks.

Anakin smiled proudly at all of us. "I've been working on a scanner to try and locate mine."

Shmi patted her son's cheek fondly as she passed him. "Any attempt to escape-"

"And they blow you up! BOOM!" Anakin cried, sounding a bit too excited for something so dire. He emphasized his last word with a smack of his fist on the table.

Padmé shook her head, looking almost depressed. "I can't believe there's still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's antislavery laws are-"

As Shmi sat down again, she looked at Padmé gravely. "The Republic doesn't exist out here," she told the girl. "We must survive on our own."

Just then, Jar Jar, who had been eyeing the apples lying in a basket on the table, stuck out his long tongue and snatched one, bringing it to his mouth with a loud slurp. He swallowed it whole with a loud gulp, then smiled sheepishly around at all of us, who were staring at him, realizing that he'd interrupted the conversation. "Xcuse me," he said, glancing at Qui-Gon, who was giving him a serious side-eye.

The table settled into an awkward silence. Anakin, trying to fill it, looked around at everyone. "Has anyone ever seen a Podrace?"

Padmé glanced at me momentarily before shaking her head no. That made sense. I couldn't see our father ever even considering bringing his precious daughter to a planet that would host a podrace given the rules he'd laid out for me when I was a kid. As for me... I'd travelled more than Padmé for sure, but I'd never had enough time on any planet I'd ever been on for leisure... much less to sit down and watch a Podrace of all things. Qui-Gon was the only one of us who had seen one. He nodded at Anakin, engaging him.

"They have Podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous."

Anakin stared at him thoughtfully before boasting, "I'm the only human that can do it."

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods," Qui-Gon commented, sharing a contemplative look with me across the table.

It was true. I'd never seen a Podrace before, but from what I'd heard of them, they were super involved--and humans never participated. An average human's reflexes weren't quick enough to be able to pay attention to all of the controls, obstacles, and other drivers, especially at the speeds required for the tracks. If Anakin could successfully race, that meant he had some serious, Jedi-level reflexes.

Almost as if in demonstration of said reflexes, Qui-Gon lashed out and caught hold of Jar Jar's tongue right as he stuck it out to grab another piece of fruit. It was impossibly quick--Qui-Gon never would have been able to do it if he hadn't been able to sense the occurrence before it happened. He glared at the Gungan in immense annoyance. "Don't do that again," he sighed before letting go.

Anakin regarded Qui-Gon curiously before speaking up. "You're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?"

Alarmed, Padmé stopped chewing at once, looking up between Qui-Gon and I, as if waiting to see how this would play out. Qui-Gon shot me another look before focusing on Anakin. "What makes you think that?"