The Naboo Star ship descended, hovered, and landed on a bluff. Anakin, Mary and Padmé got out. They looked down from the edge of the bluff to where the homestead was seen on the desert floor below.
"Stay with the ship, R2."
R2 whistled as they started down the trail toward the homestead.
C-3PO was working outside the homestead. He still lacked an outer covering; his inner parts and wiring show. He looked up as they arrived.
"Good evening. May I help you?" asked C-3PO.
"C-3PO?" Mary and Ani said.
"Oh, my... oh, my! Masters Anakin and Mary! My goodness, I can hardly believe it! And this must be Miss Padme."
"Hello, C-3PO."
"We've come to see our mother." Mary said.
"Oh, dear! I'm so terribly sorry, Masters Ani and Mary."
"3PO, what's happened?" asked Padmé.
"I think we'd better go inside."
They arrived in the courtyard. C-3PO shuffled ahead.
"Master Lars, Master Owen! Somebody to see you!"
Owen Lars and Beru Whitesun came out into the courtyard.
"We're Anakin and Mary Skywalker. We're here looking for our mother." Anakin said.
"Owen Lars... I guess I'm your step-brother. This is my girlfriend, Beru."
"Hello." waved Beru.
"I'm Padmé."
"I had a feeling you might show up some day." Owen said.
"Is our mother here?" asked Anakin.
"No, she's not." Cliegg answered.
Cliegg Lars swinged from the house on a small floating chair. One of his legs was heavily bandaged; the other was missing. He balanced awkwardly and put out a hand.
"Cliegg Lars. Shmi is my wife... Come on inside. We have a lot to talk about."
Beru put several steaming cups of ardees on a tray and exited the kitchen...
"It was just before dawn. They came out of nowhere. A hunting party of Tusken Raiders." Cliegg said.
Cliegg, Owen, Padmé, Mary and Anakin sat around the table, Beru brought the drinks from the kitchen.
"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 couldn't ride any more... until I heal." said Cliegg.
Cliegg grimaced, easing his throbbing leg.
"This isn't the way I wanted to meet you, son. 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." concluded.
Silence. Then Anakin stood up.
"Where are you going?" asked Owen.
"To find my mother."
"No, Ani!" said Padmé.
"She's dead, son. Accept it." Cliegg said.
"I can feel her pain, and I will find her. I know she's alive." Anakin replied.
Anakin turned abruptly.
Anakin stood looking across the desert. Mary came running out of the homestead after him, followed by Padmé and Owen. Anakin turned to Mary.
"You are going to have to stay here. These are good people, Mary. Stay with Padmé. You'll be safe." Anakin said.
"No, I'm coming with you. I don't leave you alone." Mary said.
"Take my speeder bike." Owen added.
"Anakin... Mary..." said Padmé.
Padmé hugged them. Anakin and Mary walked over to Owen's speeder bike, which was standing close by.
"I trust you'll watch over her, Owen."
"Don't worry."
☾☼
Anakin and Mary swung onto the bike. The engine fired.
"We won't be long." Mary affirmed.
The twins took off across the desert. Padmé watched them go.
The twins stood in the middle of a crowd of Jawas. They asked them from directions. The Jawas conferred excitedly, then the chief Jawa pointed in a particular direction. They got on the bike and speeded off to where the Jawa pointed.
They rode over a large dune toward a small flickering light in the distance. They rode up and stopped the bike in front of a campfire. There were bodies of three dead farmers lying beside the campfire, along with a burned and smoking speeder.
They rode the speeder bike through three exotic landscapes. In one shot, they stopped and looked down at some tracks. Then they started up the speeder and rode off. The lights of the vaporators blinked in the night sky. Somewhere close by, a night animal howled.
They pulled up near the edge of a cliff. They got off the bike and creeped to the edge. They looked over to see a Tusken camp in the oasis below. One of the huts at the edge of the camp had two Tusken guards outside it.
The twins creeped through the camp, working their way from hut to hut, flattening themselves against the walls, overhearing snatches of Tusken conversation from inside, using the shadows to hid them until they arrived at the hut with the two guards. They were sitting a short distance from the door. The twins wriggled around the black. They took out they lightsabers and cut into the base of the wall.
The lightsabers completed the hole in the wall. They wriggled in. They pulled themselves to their feet. There were candles everywhere.
A shaft of moonlight from a hole in the roof pierces the gloom of the hut. By its light, they saw Shmi, hanging from a wooden frame in the middle of the hut.
They cut her free, Anakin took her into his arms, and lowered her gently to the ground. Her eyes were closed. Her face was bloodied. She had been terribly beaten. Anakin cradled her tenderly.
"Mom... Mom... Mom..." said both.
Shmi's eyelids fluttered and barely opened. They were caked with blood.
"Ani...? Mary...? Is it you?"
Shmi's eyes focused slowly. Mary gave a little choking gasp.
"We're here, Mom. You're safe. Hang on. We're going to get you out of here..." Mary said tearfully.
"I'm so glad... to see you, my children... Now... I am complete..."
"Just stay with us, Mom. We're going to make you well again. Everything's going to be fine." Anakin said.
"You look so handsome. My children... my grown-up children. I'm so proud of you, Ani and Mary... so proud... I missed you so much... I love..."
Shmi died. Anakin drew her to his breast. Mary cried in silence. Suddenly there was silence for a moment. They lifted their head, listening for a moment, then they sat on the floor of the Tusken hut, Anakin was cradling their dead mother in his arms.
The pale light grew. Thin tendrils of smoke rose slowly in the cold, clear air. Somewhere a dog barked. An old woman came out of one of the huts. She carried a pail. She swirled it and tossed the dirty water onto the ground.
As she went back inside the hut, a Tusken child ran past, dragging a stick in the sand. The child ran through the line of huts, turned a corner, and stopped suddenly, staring at the bodies of the two Tusken guards. Between them, Anakin stood outside the hut door. His face was a grim mask. The child stared, then there was a flash of light as Anakin's lightsaber switched on.
☾☼
All was quiet. Beru came out of the house. She went to a moisture line and started to draw water. Padmé fixed the last piece of covering onto C-3PO.
"There!" said Padmé.
Padmé stood back. Owen was with her. They looked at C-3PO. He wasn't the golden figure we knew because Padmé had had to use whatever stuff she could find in the garage. He was multi-coloured in several textures, but he was complete.
"Um. How do I look?" asked C-3PO.
"Great! You look perfect."
"Perfect? Oh, Miss Padmé, I'm so happy! Thank you." C-3PO said.
He forgot formality and hugged her. Padmé hugged him back, laughing.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" said the droid.
"Well, Padmé, I think he should be yours from now on... I know that is what my Mom would want." Owen added.
"Oh, my!" exclaimed the droid.
Then suddenly, from outside:
"Come topside, everybody! They're back! They're back!" yelled Beru.
They ran out of the house and saw Anakin with Shmi's lifeless body, followed by Mary. After burying Shmi, the twins locked themselves in the garage. Padmé followed them and said in a sweet tone to them, "Hey." then silence.
Mary after a while broke the silence saying "Why did she have to die? Why couldn't we save her?". Anakin let out a groan and said with fury, "It's all Obi-Wan's fault. He's jealous. He knows we're already more powerful than he is. He's holding us back."
"Anakin, please calm down." Mary said in a sad tone.
"What did you do?" asked Padmé.
"She did nothing. I...I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead, every single of them. Not just the men, but the women and the children too. They're like animals and I slaughtered them like animals... I hate them." Anakin said.
Padmé pulled the twins to her, holding them tightly as the twins cried.
"Why do I hate them? I didn't... I couldn't...I couldn't control myself. I... I don' want to hate them... but I just can't forgive them." Anakin said.
Mary held the twin's hand and kissed its back as a sign of comfort.
"Thank you, sis." thanked her.
"I'm a Jedi, I'm better than this. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." said Anakin crying.
The twins gazed down at their mother's grave.
"I know wherever you're it's become a better place. You were the most loving partner a man could ever have. Goodbye my dearest wife. And thank you." Cliegg said.
"We weren't strong enough to save you, Mom. But I promise we won't fail again. We miss you so much." Anakin concluded.
"What are you doing here R2?" asked Padmé seeing the droid.
"It seems that he's carrying a message from an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Masters, does that name mean anything to you?" said C-3PO.
A rough hologram of Obi-Wan was projected onto the garage by R2. The twins, Padmé and C-3PO watched the flickering image.
"...Alliance have pledged their armies to Count Dooku and are forming an... Wait!... ah... attack... I don't... make it... aaaggghhh!"
The hologram cut off. Anakin jumped up, agitated.
"I'm going after him!" said Anakin.
"I thought the first thing he said was to retransmit his message to Coruscant." Padmé stated.
"Yeah, you're right, you're right."
They left the homestead, waving to Cliegg, Owen and Beru as they went into the desert.
Anakin sat down in the cockpit with Padmé and Mary. 3PO was behind them. R2 was beside him. They were watching a hologram of Mace Windu.
"We will deal with Count Dooku. The most important thing for you is to stay where you are. Protect the Senator at all costs. That is your priority."
"Understood, Master." both said.
The hologram switched off. Padmé was looking at the readout on the ship's control panel.
"They'll never get there in time to save him. They have to come half way across the galaxy. Look, Geonosis is less than a parsec away." Padmé affirmed.
Padmé started to hit buttons and flicked switches. Anakin put a hand over hers, stopping her. She stared at him.
"If he's still alive."
"Ani, are you just going to sit here and let him die?? He's your friend... your mentor..." Padmé exclaimed.
"...He's like my father, but you heard Master Windu. He gave us strict orders to stay here." Anakin said.
"He gave you strict orders to protect me..." added Padmé.
Padmé pulled her hand free and flicked more switches. The engines fired.
"...and I'm going to save Obi-Wan... so if you plan to protect me, you will have to come along."
Mary looked at her proudly. Anakin grinned and took the controls.
The Naboo Star ship rose from the bluff and zoomed away. The Naboo Star ship headed toward the rings of Geonosis. The Naboo Starship landed.
Anakin switched off the engines. R2 and 3PO were in the navigation area of the cockpit. Mary was in the co-pilot's seat. Padmé got up.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Mary.
"To find Obi-Wan."
Anakin got up and went over to her.
"No! You're not!" Anakin ordered.
He grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me!"
"I'm not letting you go out there. It's too dangerous." Anakin stated.
"What?!?"
"It's my job to protect you. I said it's too dangerous. You're not going, and that's final!" Anakin ordered.
"Don't you give me orders, Ani! I'm a Senator of the Galactic Republic. You have no authority to contain me, restrain me, or direct me! You remember your place, young man. Now you can come along and protect me or stay here. It's up to you." Padmé said.
Mary looked at her shocked.
Padmé stormed out of the cockpit of the Naboo Starfighter. Anakin stood scratching his head, then the twins followed.
R2 beeped and whistled.
"Yes, it is, R2. Most confusing. One moment they're generating a pleasant mutual attraction and the next, waves of violent hostility. Even though I'm programmed to understand them, I doubt if I ever shall." 3PO said.
R2 whistled a plaintive sigh.