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Kryzta and Tara sat tiredly in the local cantina of Tatooine. Their journey had been long and tiresome; all they wanted at that moment was a bed. Kryzta was listening into neighboring conversations. Random news of different events was spurred around but the only topic of discussion that caught Kryzta's attention was the one about a planet being blown to pieces. "Varis, it's gone. Blown to pieces by a natural disaster. But, that wretched Queen and most of her subjects managed to make it out alive. The Queen has spoken of reconstructing her home. She's so rich she could build five planets and still won't know what to do with the rest of her riches." A commoner snickered as he chugged down his liquor.
Unbeknownst to Kryzta and Tara, that was Tara's homeland. But, somehow, the news had captured Kryzta's attention. Perhaps, it was the force guiding her to know more about her adopted child, or perhaps it was simply coincidence.
* * *
A sandstorm was coming, Kryzta could feel it. Sand was beginning to swirl up in the air and Tara had her eyes squinted the whole time as she tried to keep her eyes from being polluted with sand. Tara, because of her eyes squinting, didn't see the droid passing by before her and she collided with it. "Oh!" She yelped.
A young boy hurried to help his droid back up and lended a hand to Tara. "I'm sorry!" He shouted over the howling winds.
Kryzta turned to watched their interaction. "Are you taking shelter?" The boy asked the girls.
"To our ship. On the outskirts." Kryzta nodded at the boy.
The boy shook his head. "You'll never make it on time. Come on!" He shouted before leaded the girls back to his home. There, other people seemed to be taking shelter in his home. His mother, and three other guests.
"This is Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, R2-D2, my mother and Padme." The little boy, who was about the same age as Tara, introduced.
Tara smiled shyly at the strangers who were all huddled up in the quaint and cozy home. But, Kryzta was growing quite uncomfortable. She had instantly recognized Qui-Gon. He was another Jedi, and was there when she was officially booted from the Order. Yet, she and Qui-Gon remained silent— not wanting to intrude in each other's newfound troubles. Tara turned to the boy. "And your name?" She asked quietly.
"Anakin," he smiled largely at her, then quickly digressed, "wanna see the droid I'm building?" He grabbed Tara's hand and yanked her into his room to show her his robot.
"I thought the one I ran into was yours?" Tara questioned.
"No, that's my friends'. His name is R2-D2." Anakin waved him off.
"Mine," Anakin peeled off the cover from the droid he was building to reveal it to Tara, "is named 3PO. Isn't he great? He's not finished yet."
Tara's little finger traced 3PO's metal arm. The tedious work that Anakin, such a young boy, put into the droid fascinated her. She never had time to get into a hobby. She was either training her what Kryzta called magic or studying her books. "Astonishing." Tara used a word from one of the many basic encyclopedias she had read.
"You really like him? He's a protocol droid... to help Mom. Watch!" Anakin talked a lot, the complete opposite of Tara. With a push of a button, the droid he made sat straight up.
"Oh, oh! Where is everybody?" 3PO's staticy robot voice crackled out.
"Oops!" Anakin realized 3PO was missing an eye socket and quickly shoved one in.
"Oh, hello! I am C3PO, Human Cyborg Relations. How might I serve you?" The droid looked directly at Tara.
"Outstanding." Another vocabulary word Tara had learned.
"When the storm is over, I'll show you my racer. I'm building a Podracer." Anakin began to get excited. He must've not seen many other children his age because he was entirely too excited to show Tara everything he had made. 3PO then got up and began walking over to R2 to socialize.
* * *
The sandstorm raged on and was slowly encasing Anakin's home. Anakin's mother, Shmi, was a good hostess. She fed and provided for all of her guests. She and Anakin spoke of their hardships as slaves of Tatooine. "You're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?" Anakin asked Qui Gon over dinner on the second night of the sandstorm.
Qui Gon glanced over at Kryzta and she looked away. "What makes you think that?" He asked Anakin.
"I saw your laser sword. Only Jedi carry that kind of weapon." Anakin spurted out to Qui Gon.
"No! I have one. I made it myself. It's pink. Kryzta says its to practice my magic." Tara spoke aloud, Anakin's outspoken manner was slowly rubbing off on Tara.
Kryzta gulped and slowly looked up at Qui Gon. She knew she couldn't be training a Jedi since she was no longer one and she wasn't supposed to be forging lightsabers either. But, she couldn't help it. The Force was within her and Tara and they had to make use of it somehow— especially without the corrupting influence of the Jedi Order. "Well, Anakin, you are certainly an intelligent little man. We're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic, on a very important mission." Qui Gon told Anakin was was subliminally telling Kryzta of their mission.
"How did you end up here in the outer rim?" Anakin asked. He was a bright boy.
"Our ship was damaged, and were stranded here until we can repair it." Padme explained.
"I can help! I can fix anything!" Anakin spoke excitedly.
"I believe you can, but first we must acquire the parts we need." Qui Gon elaborated.
"Wit no nutten mula to trade." Jar Jar spattered out.
"Gambling. Everything here revolved around betting on those awful races." Shmi suggested to the group.
"Pod racing... greed can be a powerful ally." Qui Gon hummed.
"I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever... there's a big race tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod." Anakin clasped his hands together in delight.
"Anakin! Watto won't let you." Shmi shot Anakin a look.
"Watto doesn't know I've built it," Anakin turned to Qui Gon, "you could make him think it's yours and get him to let me pilot for you."
"I don't want you to race. It's awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it." Shmi looked quite stressed.
"But Mom, I love it. The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need." Anakin argued.
"Anakin!" Shmi snapped at him.
"Your mother's right. Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who might help us?" Qui Gon asked. Shmi shook her head.
"Mom... you said the biggest problem in the universe is nobody helps each other..." Anakin triggered her soft spot. Shmi sighed.
"I'm sure Qui Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger. We'll find some other way..." Padme assured.
"No," Shmi sighed, "there is no other way. I may not like it, but, he can help you. He was meant to help you." Shmi told.
