Anakin Skywalker
At long last, the brown dust-covered ball of Tatooine comes into view. The same as it looked when we'd left.
A multitude of emotions stir inside of me. Excitement that we're seriously about to see Mom again after so many years, dread on what condition we might be finding her in, frustration that we were even put in a situation where we'd have to leave her and not come back until she could be in serious danger, and anger that I thought had long ago died away at the memories of this place. Most of all, I'm worried of what might have happened during our absence.
The spaceship finally lands in a spaceship parking area near the edge of Mos Espa. It's early in the afternoon, nearing the hottest time of day. A great place to be in dark clothes. Not. Perhaps we should have taken that into consideration before leaving.
"Home, sweet home," mumbles Aniya sarcastically as we disembark from the ship to see still somewhat familiar sights, even though it's been an entire decade. It doesn't seem like much has changed at all. We find a rickshaw and ride off down the streets of the town that was once our home. It's still so familiar, even after so long.
Finally, we turn onto the most familiar street of all. Straight ahead of us is Watto's shop. It looks pretty much exactly like it did when we left. I don't know why I almost expected something different. Anger surges in me as I remember back to the days of being a slave. More than that, though, I'm not quite sure how to react to the fact that we'll be seeing Mom again, very soon. I'm sure she's not going to be here anymore, but she was planning to stay around working for Watto after she was freed until she found a better place to go. At the very least, he should be able to give us a lead on where to find her.
"Wait, please," I tell the droid driver as we get off the rickshaw and approach the shop. Right outside, sitting on a stool is Watto, a scowl on his face as he works on a droid, trying to repair it with a screwdriver. Three other pit droids are right nearby, chattering non-stop in an attempt to help, but only seem to be increasing his frustration.
"No, not that one! That one!" he yells in Huttese, oblivious to our presence.
"Excuse me, Watto," I call above the commotion.
"What?" he yells above the noise, barely sparing a glance our direction.
"I said excuse me," I repeat, in Huttese this time. Maybe if we talk in that language, he'll pay us more attention. We don't have time to deal with him ignoring us.
"Shut down," Watto orders the pit droids, before flying up into the air and hovering in front of us, still holding the other droid in his hands. The droids promptly shut down and go into storage position.
"What?" he demands, "I don't know you. What can I do for you? You look like Jedi. Whatever it is, I didn't do it." The screwdriver slips out of his hand, falling to the ground. He starts cursing in Huttese. It's almost amusing that he seems a little nervous at our presence. How the roles have changed so much.
"Let me help you with that," I offer, taking the machinery from him and starting to tinker around with it, trying to fix it.
"We're looking for Shmi Skywalker," Aniya speaks up, "Does she still work here?"
Watto's eyes suddenly narrow suspiciously, and he looks back and forth between me and Aniya, then at Padme and Jaufre, before looking back to the two of us again.
"Ani?" he exclaims incredulously, "Little Ani?! Naaah!" The same moment, I finally finish fixing the machine, and it whirs to life.
"You are Ani! It is you! You little womp rats!" he explains excitedly as he looks at us. "You sure sprouted. Weehoo! Jedi! Waddya know? Hey, maybe you couldda help wit some deadbeats who owe –"
"Our mother," I remind him of the reason we came here. I may not mind helping him under other circumstances, but we're here to find Mom, and after that we need to be heading straight back to Naboo to protect Padme. After all, we promised our masters. Should the Council find us here, we'd be in big trouble.
"Oh yea, Shmi," he replies, "No, she doesn't work here anymore."
Aniya frowns, looking slightly worried. We both figured as much, but this is going to make it harder to find her. "Do you by any chance know where she might be living now?" questions Aniya.
"She left years ago," he responds, "But she mentioned going to live with a moisture farmer named Lars. Least I think it was Lars. Believe it or not, I heard that they got married." Married? She has a family now? We have a step-family? Millions of questions race through my mind, but now isn't the time to dwell on them. We need to find them, wherever they are.
"Do you know where this Lars lives?" I demand.
"Long way from here. Someplace over on the other side of Mos Eisley, I think," Watto replies.
"I'd like to know," I reply curtly, getting frustrated with his hesitation. This is our mother we're talking about! Not some random stranger.
Thankfully, he understands quickly that we mean business. "Yeah, sure... absolutely. I'll go look it up now," he says hastily, rapidly flying back into the shop.
Aniya Skywalker
The starship glides to a stop in the sand, landing not far from the homestead Watto told us about. Excitement mixed with dread swirls within me. We're about to see our mother again, who we haven't seen for ten years. What I'm concerned of is the state we'll find her in. I have an unexplained bad feeling every time I wonder.
As I step out of the heat, I'm greeted again by the intense heat of the planet. Right now, I seriously wish we'd chosen to wear a color other than black. I don't know how I could have lived here for a decade. After being gone so long, living on a much cooler planet, I've gotten almost completely used to lower temperatures.
"Stay with the ship, Artoo," Padme commands the droid. Artoo whistles in response as we turn and head off down the trail towards the homestead.
As we are approaching, my eyes fall on a certain vaguely familiar looking protocol droid working outside of the homestead. Threepio? He has coverings now, although they seem to be completely coated with sand.
"Look familiar, anyone?" Jaufre questions, obviously recognizing the droid instantly as well.
"Threepio?" I murmur disbelievingly, startled to see the droid, although I really shouldn't be. I hadn't really given any thought to what had happened to him. I haven't thought about him for I can't even remember how long, but it's definitely been a very long time. I knew Mom would keep him, of course, but I've had yet to consider that we'd probably see him again, too.
The droid looks up at us as we approach. "Good afternoon. May I help you?" he inquires, in the same always semi-confused, mechanical voice that I remembered.
"Threepio?" Anakin exclaims.
It stares at us looking a bit confused before it suddenly realizes who we are. "Oh, my... oh my! Master Anakin! Mistress Aniya! My goodness, I can hardly believe it! And this must be Miss Padme! And Master Jaufre," he gasps, sounding about as shocked as a droid can sound – which is a surprising amount for Threepio.
"Hello, Threepio," Padme greets him.
"I've come to see my mother," Anakin tells the droid.
Threepio tilts his head, as if trying to figure out how to respond. "I think we better go inside," he finally settles for saying. Uh oh. I have a very bad feeling about this, because of his hesitation and response.
"This does not sound good," I mumble quietly to Anakin, unable to keep the trepidation out of my voice. He nods in agreement, looking equally grim.
We follow Threepio into the courtyard. He stops outside the front door and calls, "Master Lars! Master Owen! Some people are here to see you!"
A brown haired, blue eyed man, who looks to be several years older than us approaches as we walk down the stairs into the courtyard. Behind him stands a woman with blonde hair, who looks to be around his age.
"I'm Anakin Skywalker," Anakin introduces himself.
"Aniya Skywalker," I introduce myself.
"We're here looking for our mother," Anakin adds.
"Owen Laws," the man introduces himself. "I guess I'm your stepbrother. This is my girlfriend, Beru," he adds, motioning to the woman.
"Hello," she smiles at us.
"I'm Padme," Padme introduces herself.
"And I'm her brother, Jaufre," Jaufre supplies.
"I had a feeling you two might show up someday," comments Owen, looking back to me and Anakin.
"Is our mother here?" my brother asks somewhat impatiently. We need to know what's happening to her. I don't mind all the talk, but I care to speak to our mother more than to meet our stepfamily. That can wait for a later hour. Guaranteed, once we've seen her, we'll be sitting down for a big, long chat. Just not yet.
Before the other two have a chance to respond, another voice from around the corner speaks. "No, she's not." I knew it. Something terrible has, no is, happening to her. All this time I had still tried to preserve a faint hope that maybe the nightmares were just warnings. But no. They aren't warnings. Something has already happened. I take a deep breath, trying to think through the dread coiling inside of me.
We turn to see a much older man come around the corner on a small floating chair. I immediately notice his severe, recent looking injuries. One of his legs is missing, the other is heavily bandaged. No, this is not looking good at all.
"Cliegg Lars," he introduces himself, "Shmi is my wife. Come on inside. We have a lot to talk about."
Minutes later, we're all seated at the table, listening to Cliegg's story. One that we need to hear so badly, but I'm dreading it. Honestly, I'm scared. I'm afraid we might already be too late to save her, all because we left and didn't come back. You didn't have a chance to come back, a dark voice in the back of my head reminds me, the Council wouldn't let you. I quickly shake off my thoughts and listen.
"It was just before dawn. They came out of nowhere. A hunting party of Tusken Raiders." No... I know where this is going... Those monsters. Beru walks into the room and sets a tray of drinks down on the table as Cliegg continues. I don't take one. I don't think I could stomach drinking anything right now.
"Your mother had gone out early, like she always did, to pick mushrooms that grow on the vaporatos. From the tracks, she was about halfway when they took her. Those Tuskens walk like men, but they're vicious, mindless monsters. Thirty of us went out after her. Four of us came back. Three more are still out there looking. I'd be with them, only... I just can't ride any more... until I heal," he explains
He pauses a moment before continuing. "This isn't the way I wanted to meet both of you. This isn't how your mother and I planned it. I don't want to give up on her, but she's been gone a month. There's little hope she's lasted this long."
I feel almost numb. Now everything finally makes sense. Why we had been having nightmares about what was happening to her for the past month... feeling her pain for this long. Because all this time she had been in the hands of the Tuskens. And it also explained why now that we are on Tatooine, I can feel her pain much clearer.
My emotions are running haywire, far beyond my control. Right now, I just want to move. We have to find her. She's still alive if we can feel her. If she's alive, she can heal. There may still be a chance. Anakin and I share a glance before rising to our feet simultaneously. We're going to find her. Now.
"Where are you going?" queries Owen, confused.
"To find our mother," Anakin states flatly.
"She dead," Cliegg sighs, the grief in his voice obvious, "Accept it."
"She's alive. I know it," I retort, turning towards the door to leave.
"I can feel her pain and I will find her," Anakin responds firmly, turning to follow me out the door. Whatever happens, we are not going to fail to save her from the Tuskens. We won't.
"You can't go right now. It's still a while before nightfall. At the very least, you need to wait until the cover of darkness before going there," interjects Beru worriedly.
"It's going to take some time to find the camp," I reply stiffly, "We can set out right now."
Owen sighs, clearly understanding we won't be talked out of this. "You can take my speeder bike," he tells us. I nod before hurrying out of the building, Anakin right behind.
Anakin's emotions are pouring into me through our bond, almost as strong as my own. Taking several deep breaths, I struggle to get my wild emotions under control. They're too strong. Both of us have always had a hard time with them, but I don't think I've ever lost it this much since the first year at the Temple.
We may have come too late. Mom's already been in the hands of the Raiders, the main danger here on Tatooine, for who-knows how long. All because no one came here to check on her sooner. I'm unexplainably upset at myself although I know there's nothing that I could have done about it. I can't bear the thought of her dying. She can't die! She can't!
Anakin pulls me into a hug, and I return it just as tightly. I blink back the tears that threaten to spill as I think about the possibilities. Now is not the time for that. Now we need to act.
Padme and Jaufre step out of the building before slowly approaching us, clearly understanding how much emotional turmoil we're under at the moment. We let go of each other and turn to them.
"You two are going to have to stay here," Anakin declares turning to the siblings, "These are good people. Padme, you'll be safe."
"Ani..." Padme begins softly but then trails off and pulls him into a hug. Jaufre wraps his arms around me as well, letting go after a moment. Anakin and Padme pull back from each other, and my brother walks over to the speeder bike. Padme turns to me and gives me a hug too. I would have liked to hold on much longer, but we need to find Mom as soon as possible.
"We won't be long," Anakin assures them as the two of us climb onto the speeder. He fires up the engine, and we speed off across the desert. For now, I push my emotions away so I can focus. Thankfully, I've learned that much at least.
The ride is dead quiet. There's really nothing to say. Anakin skillfully maneuvers us between the sand dunes towards the nearest camp of Jawas. The suns are low in the sky by the time we reach them. We pause there to ask directions. The Chief Jawa points out the way and we take off again at top speed.
As we keep on going, the suns slowly sink below the horizon. Suddenly, way in the distance, we a spot a fire burning. Well, obviously we're approaching some form of life. As we approach, I take in the sight.
Three farmers are lying dead by the campfire. A smoking, burned speeder lays a short distance off. The only living things that are still alive are two eopies which are tethered nearby. These are probably the three farmers who Cliegg said were still looking for Mom.... The Tuskens must have done this also, which probably means that they're not far from here.
Hatred and anger burn inside of me against the Tuskens for the things they've done. They're more like animals than people; everyone on Tatooine agrees. It sickens me to see the things they've done. They act as though no one's lives matter but their own.
We zoom past the camp, leaving it behind and going the direction the Jawa had pointed us to. I can feel Mom's pain far stronger as the journey continues. That definitely means we're going in the right direction, and that she's still hanging on, though in what condition is a different story. I can't quite suppress the very un-Jedi like feelings demanding that we make the Tuskens pay for what they've done to her.
It's twilight now, and night is fast approaching, the absence of the sun causing the temperature to steadily drop to a much more tolerable level. By the time we reach the camp, it's going to be completely dark. We'll be right on time.
We continue to zoom on and on through the desert, not exchanging an unnecessary word. Neither of us want to speak right now. As we keep on going, I can make out tracks in the sand that look to be from Tuskens' banthas. The tracks are quite fresh, so they were obviously around here recently. Following the direction, the tracks lead, we zip off in the speeder again.