An alternative fate

An alternative fate

Less then nine hours later Anakin landed the ship on the out skirts of Tatooine. He looked out at the desert landscape that could be seen for miles. Anakin sighed and commented “force, Obi-wan I’ve not been here in seventeen years, how do I know if she still even alive?”

Obi-wan replied as he took the younger man into his arms and just held him “look deep into your self, look into the force. And tell me do you still sense her living life force here on this planet?”

Anakin closed his eyes and concentrated after a few moments he reopened his eyes and beamed at his love and replied happily and clearly relieved “Obi-wan thank the force, she’s still alive, I can sense her life force, and its strong, she is well.”

Obi-wan smiled happy for his love and placed a kiss on the smiling mouth. Anakin sighed and said “ok then we better go and inform the others that we’ve arrived. We’ll go and get settled first, then come back later on with suitable transport to come and load up our belongings.”

As they walked down one of the main hall ways, they heard C3PO yelp indignantly “R4-P17 that is disgusting. Oh blast it R2, Oh how I do mourn for the ever so polite and none rude R4. You R2 are a terrible influence on him.”

His protests were met with the obscene beeps and whistles of both R2 and R4. Threepio, he countered still very much indignant”why I never, how rude indeed.”

Anakin and Obi-wan had to smoother their mirth. Poor Threepio, R2 and R4 truly were being obscene to the point of sheer embarrassment to formal and most definitely none obscene Threepio.

Obi-wan whispered “he is right you know love, R2 is really a bad influence on R4. Sure I get just as amused as you do over the way Threepio acts, but it’s still obscene.”

Anakin replied flippantly “well, R2 is my droid, while R4 is yours. I’m changing you just as much as my droid is changing yours. Kind of poetic don’t you think?”

Obi-wan snorted as he placed a quick kiss on Anakin’s nose followed by his mouth. Anakin grinned and rubbed his nose lovingly against Obi-wan’s.

Anakin followed by Obi-wan walked to the back of the ship and grinned at the sight that had met them. Moira was sitting on one of the benches around the table.

Sabe and Dorme were lounging at the table in a similar fashion. Luke and Sirius were sitting with their head resting on the table, snoozing. While Leia sat off to one side and was combing the hair on one of her dollies.

They had all changed except for Luke and Sirius. The woman and Leia were dressed in a similar fashion to what Padme had been wearing when she had posed as a handmaiden and had met Anakin in Wotto’s work shop.

They all looked up when they heard the two men approaching their resting place. Moira asked around a yawn “so have we entered the land of the desert and the two suns yet?”

Anakin snorted and told them “yes we have arrived and we’ve landed the ship.” Obi-wan grinned teasingly and added for the benefit of both Dorme and Sabe “and guess what ladies, it’s the exact same surroundings and view from last time.”

Dorme and Sabe groaned and looked truly mournful after being told that. Sabe commented “thank heavens we’ll actually get to leave the ship and this god awfully boring out skirts of desert for miles around this time around.” Dorme nodded her agreement “yes most definitely amen to that.”

Obi-wan and the others cracked up with laughter at hearing the women complain. It was a pleasant change to see the normally shy and reserved hand maidens so comfortable in their surrounds and with their present company.

Anakin wiped a tear from his eye and turned to take in the current attire of his son and padawan. He noticed Sirius was also dressed in similar attire. He cleared his throat and told the young boys “ok you two follow me and Obi-wan into the other area of the ship. We are going to dress appropriately.”

Obi-wan added “you two will need to remove your belts, we don’t need to broadcast that we are Jedi or future Jedi in the making.” Anakin continued “the locals aren’t exactly what you’d call Jedi friendly, and a padawan to them is best off being disposed of, as they are only seen as a future threat.”

He walked along as he continued to speak “you shall both wear your light travelling cloaks with hoods, as one mere glimpse of your padawan braids will be a good enough advertisement of what you are.”

He continued “Now come along I want to get going as soon as possible. As I would like to find my mother and also come back here with suitable transportation to gather our belongings, before night fall, it does not do to be roaming around the desert after dark, that is when you are more likely to be attacked and kid napped by Tusken raiders.”

Fifteen minutes later Anakin and Obi-wan rejoined the women and Leia, with the young padawan’s in tow. Anakin and Obi-wan had removed their belts and had hid their sabres in the inner lining of their cloaks, on close enough hand so they could easily grab them at short notice if need be, but without advertising what they were and what they were capable of, even a almost three month pregnant member of said group.

Pregnant or not Anakin’s reflexes were faster then everyone’s on that ship, or doe Obi-wan came a very close second, but at the end of the day Anakin was naturally faster.

They made sure the hatch on the ship was firmly sealed before they proceeded to walk together in a close group. Making sure no one was lost or left behind, Anakin and Obi-wan leading, with Luke and Sirius behind them followed by Dorme and Sabe, then Moira and Leia.

An hour and a half later they reached the main market area, they were less then ten minutes away from Wotto’s work shop. It was mid afternoon. Anakin having grown up there up until the age of nine going on ten automatically took the lead. Seeing as their current surroundings and the different types of species and languages were second nature to Anakin, even after seventeen long years of being absent from his birth place.

Anakin leaded them to Wotto’s and hopped his grumpy ex-owner was more welcoming then he had been when Qui-Gon and Padme had come along with Jar Jar Bink’s all those years ago.

He sighed as he stopped outside the work shop before he nodded gratefully to his husband for the comforting feelings and love he bestowed upon him across their old and new bond.

He raised his head and squared his shoulder, he would not be intimidated by a foul creature that was above five times smaller then he was. He was no longer that scrawny nine year old slave. He was a strong and powerful over six feet tall, twenty five year old Jedi master.

He was the one with the advantage and upper hand this time around, and he fully intended to take full and complete advantage of this, after all those years of in enslavement he had been made to suffer and endure. It was pay back time.

Anakin entered the work shop and instantly spotted the airborne creature, which, much to Anakin’s delight had aged considerably, and still looked highly disgusting in the former slave’s opinion. Anakin cleared his throat gaining the attention of Wotto.

The shop owner turned in mid air and sniffed the air, and froze at a familiar scent he had not encountered in exactly seventeen years, not since one of his former slaves was in his possession.

He murmured “Ani?” He shook his head and snorted and mumbled “nah it can’t be.” Anakin sighed and replied “Wotto.” Wotto startled and spoke “whoa it is you. Well would you look that, you’ve sure shot up, not so little anymore, huh Ani?”

Anakin merely nodded and asked “my mother Wotto. Tell me is she still where I left her and in the health and condition I left her in?” Wotto eyed up the towering and much as he loathed to admit it, most definitely intimidating persona before him. He realised irritably that he no longer had any advantage over the fully grown and broad shouldered man in front of him.

Unfortunately for him he realised he was no longer dealing with a small boy. Long indeed gone was his former slave in his place he supposed was a Jedi knight, if his current attire was anything to go by, as it was exactly like that of the one who lost him his slave in the first place.

“Naturally Ani, she’s as you left her and where you left her, if not older, which is of course expected, as you human life forms tend to do with in time. She is still pretty much the same, with a few white hairs here and there of course. She still works for me, but she getting to that certain age where she is not as fast as she once was, as you can naturally understand, huh Ani.”

Anakin nodded knowing exactly what he was getting at. He had expected it naturally. She of course was not going to remain the young woman she had been when he had been with her. It had after all been seventeen years, it was expected that she would age along the way.

Anakin sighed and cleared his throat and asked “tell me is the quarters next to my mother, is still empty? I of course realise it had been seventeen years, but just the same is it empty?” Wotto nodded and eyed Anakin thoughtfully and asked “and what if it is what do you want with it?”

Anakin replied in a tone of voice that that clearly stated he would not be one to be messed around with. “I and my family are going to be spending the next six months of our time here with my mother. I want to know if those extra large quarters that can house six others, is still available next door.”

Wotto grumbled “hmmm. Fine is long as you don’t interfere with my slave and her work then fine you can have the quarters for the next six months.”

Anakin eyed the creature from between dangerously narrowed eyes and smirked as he told him in a matter of fact tone of voice, “sure. But word of advice Need I warn you or feel the need to remind you again, I sure as hell haven't got any such qualms of cleaning your head off your shoulders with one quick and clean sweep of my sabre. Think about what I just said Wotto.”

He added in a voice like ice and flashed a smile that was clearly predatory “and naturally I wouldn’t be at all heart broken for such an occurrence was to occur, it would rather be quite relishing after all those years you enslaved me, then continued to still enslave my mother.”

He discreetly moved his cloak a side to quickly flash said weapon that Anakin was clearly itching to take in a killer swipe to the head of the foul and overly confidant creature in front of him. Anakin merely raised an eyebrow.

Wotto was unable to cover the shudder of fear at the threat he sensed was more like a promise, he some how knew and believed the Jedi knight would have no such qualms in following through with said promise. Wotto back up and held limbs up that were supposedly hands and said “right got cha loud and clear Ani.”

Anakin merely nodded and spun on his heel his cloak snapping out behind him in a menacing and impressive display. Obi-wan followed Anakin outside to where the rest of their group was waiting.

Obi-wan, he was clearly stunned. He had never seen Anakin appear and look as intimidating as he had just appeared. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what he would be capable of whilst not pregnant. He suspected it would be not a pleasant sight. He almost pitied Darth Sidious and the sith when his husband came around to dealing with them, well almost, almost being the key word.