DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
Panaka stood besides the Queen with a grim look on his face. He had been right again. How he was beginning to get sick of always being right and of everyone never taking notice of it. He had known it was a bad idea for the Queen to come back to this planet and he had been proven right. At least this time she hadn't been the focus of the attack. Had she? No matter who the center of it was, it filled the captain with dread. He didn't like any of this and fully planned to make his feelings known to the Queen.
Right now was not the time. Her face was as worried as his own. Amidala sat in her chair, accompanied by Sache and Rabe who both stood, their faces masked by shadow. Her ivory hands, folded on her lap, silence filling the room. Her only real comfort was the no one she had known had been hurt. But people she didn't know had. A man had died and a woman was lying in a medical bed within the ship.
Amidala stood and walking to the window, her handmaidens following behind. She pressed her fingers on the tiny sill and watched the sky change from blue to the speckled black of space. Sometimes it was a little disconcerting to know that only a couple of inches of glass separated her from the vacuum, other times it was a delight, especially when the stars whizzed past her. She loved to fly.
So she stood there, alone with her thoughts, and tried to stay in the moment to distract herself from the possible implication of the events which had just transpired.
Anakin Skywalker sat next to the medical bed which Callisto lay silent. Her neck was bruised and her arms both treated. The doctor said she would be fine, but still, Anakin worried. He had seen what that Sith Lord could do from that brief moment back on Naboo. She was a fine fighter, but she wasn't trained, not the way the Sith Lord was. He probably had years of experience, whereas she fought for survival. When it came down it, that just wasn't enough. If Obi-Wan hadn't decided to take a walk when he did, or arrived a moment later, she might be dead. And his mother... Best not to dwell on what might have been. The point was that everyone he cared about was safe.
For now at least.
Callisto opened her eyes. Anakin immediately got up off his chair and walked over to her bed. "Hi," he said quietly.
She felt very confused. She wasn't sure if it was because she had the crap beaten out of her or because she didn't have the slightest idea what was going on. Perhaps it was both.
"You got kicked in the head," he said bluntly.
Callisto smiled. You had to love how unfiltered children were. Well, she was pretty unfiltered herself. What's more she was proud of it. "I think I was born kicked in the head, Ani."
The boy laughed.
"Where are we?" she said, a trace of worry in her voice. She liked to know exactly what was going on at all times. She loathed surprises.
"On a ship."
Reality slowly seeped back into her brain. "What are you doing here? How did I get here?" She looked around, always slightly suspicious.
"I came back... to... to get mom."
Callisto sat up slightly, wincing at the pain in her arm which had lessened now with treatment. "Well, did you get her?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, then you did what you came for," she said quickly. "Now what do we do? "
"Cal, you should sit back. You got really hurt."
She shrugged. Ow, that was a mistake. "It's just a scratch."
"You have a burn on one arm and he broke the other one."
"Trust me, kid, when the rematch comes, I'm wiping the floor with him." She paused. "Just who the hell is HE anyhow?"
"Trouble," a third voice said. A soft spoken young man with a funny looking hair cut stepped into the room. He was a Jedi, given the make of his clothes and the obvious indicator: the lightsaber hanging from his belt within easy reach. He felt familiar. Then she remembered. This was the man who had stepped to her rescue back at Odome's.
"Hi. Who the hell are you?" Callisto said in a sweet, annoyed voice.
The Jedi didn't react. "My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi." Before he could say anything further, Callisto interrupted.
"Yeah, hello. Mind telling me just what is going on?"
Obi-Wan sat down in the chair Anakin had abandoned. "We had come, like the boy said, to free Shmi Skywalker."
"Ha, well, join the club. Congratulations, we did it. Now would someone explain the pointy headed man with the messed up tattoo?"
Obi-Wan looked a little uncertain for a moment. Callisto knew that look. He was trying to decide how much she should be allowed to know. It had to be important, otherwise he wouldn't be worrying what to keep from her.
"Whoever he was, he tried to kill me, killed Odome, not that I miss him or anything. He was pretty much a pile of bantha fodder, but he was trying to kill Shmi." Callisto looked up to see another Jedi in the doorway. A man with longer hair and a beard. "Just how many of you are there on this ship." She stopped. "What ship am I on even?"
"This is Qui-Gon Jinn," Anakin offered.
Qui-Gon nodded to her and smiled slightly. "Hello. And to answer you're question, just three Jedi."
At that, Anakin beamed. Callisto couldn't really repress the smile. Things were finally working out for the kid. She was glad for that, but she had to focus on the matter at hand.
"So, is one of you three Jedi going to tell me just what is going on here? Yes? No? Maybe? I think I have a right to know."
"Was he trying to kill Shmi?" Qui-Gon asked.
Callisto nodded. "I'm certain of it." She noticed Anakin paled slightly at that. "Hey, don't worry about it, kid. I kept him away from her, didn't I? How many times do I have to tell you, I got your back."
"I think I'm going to go now," Anakin said. He then scampered off to find his mother. He wanted to see her now more than ever.
"Why anyone would want to kill that woman is a mystery to me. She was just a slave and never hurt anyone in all her life."
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon exchanged a serious look.
"What? Someone throw me a bone here. Need the info, please."
Qui-Gon answered. "We don't know his name or where he came from. All we know is that he is very dangerous."
"That's kind of obvious given what just happened. I get the feeling I'm not being told the whole story here."
Qui-Gon sighed. "This may be part of a plot. I don't know what that is yet, but rest assured, we will tell you when we know."
"I'm sure," Callisto said, doubtfully.
The two Jedi nodded to her and began to leave.
"Obi-Wan?" Callisto said. The younger Jedi turned around. "There's just one thing I got to say to you."
He paused, expecting a thank you of some kind.
"How drunk was the guy who cut your hair?"
He frowned and left, Qui-Gon following behind. They walked down the narrow hall of the ship to a large window facing the opposite of the direction they were heading. Qui-Gon stood at the window, watching the stars come up from the front rapidly and disappear as quickly as they came. He had seen Queen Amidala doing it a number of times when he sensed uneasiness from her. It always seemed to calm her some. He was hoping it would do the same for him.
He had lied when he said he didn't know what plot was afoot. He knew with a great degree of certainty what was going on.
The Sith Lord had a reason for trying to kill Shmi. If Anakin found out that his mother had been killed, it would arouse anger in the boy and that was exactly what the Sith wanted. How they had found out the boy was the Chosen One was beyond him. Perhaps he had sensed it when they had battled in the main hangar on Naboo. Or perhaps someone else told him. There were so many uncertain variables and it was making him nervous.
The aging Jedi master sighed and closed his eyes. He needed to focus. He could sense a great deal of trouble coming in the future and he had to be ready for it.
"She certainly is a colorful girl," Obi-Wan said, trying to remain polite. "I suspect she won't be staying with is for very long. She doesn't strike me as the type."
Qui-Gon smiled. "I think you may have feelings for her."
Obi-Wan paused, dumbstuck by the boldness of those words. "Nothing of the kind."
Qui-Gon grinned wider, walking now toward his quarters. "I think you do."
"I do not." Obi-Wan turned, calling after him
"Do," Qui-Gon said, nearly out of ear shot.
Obi-Wan paused in the middle of his doorway. "Do not!"
"Do." And then Qui-Gon quickly stepped into his quarters, out of hearing range.
Anakin pretended to sleep until he felt his mother's breathing change. Now he was certain she was asleep. Good, now he could worry all he wanted without her sensing it She always knew when something was bothering him and he would never be able to lie to her if he asked.
Quietly and slowly, he slid her arm off his body and got up. He needed to clear his head.
The corridor was empty, for that he was glad. He wasn't really in the mood to explain to anyone why he was troubled. He didn't want Qui-Gon to make him feel better just then. He just wanted to stew in his own emotions. He knew that was bad because at one point he knew he was going to get angry. That was something he shouldn't do. His mother wouldn't want him to be and both of the Jedi would highly discourage it. Anger was the path of the dark side. The path of the man who had come to kill his mother.
Had he really tried to kill his mother? Anakin wanted to hope that Callisto was wrong, but he trusted her. He knew she was right, he just didn't want to truly believe it. He was only a boy, he couldn't very well protect her!
"Ani?"
He turned around. He bowed slightly. "Hello, your Highness," he said. Suddenly he felt a little better to see Amidala.
The young queen was without her makeup and heavy dress, now apprently in the stage of getting ready for sleep, wearing far more simplistic clothing.
"Is something wrong Anakin?" She wore a worried look on her face. Anakin found he couldn't lie to her either.
"I worried about my mother," he said simply.
Amidala took him by the hand and led him into her more elaborate quarters. "Sache? Could you please get us both some tea?"
The pretty handmaiden nodded. "Yes, my Queen," she said and turned to carry out the request.
Amidala turned back to her friend. "Tea always helps me a little when I'm upset about something. Do you want to tell me why you're worried?"
Anakin said nothing.
She shrugged. "It's fine if you don't want to tell me, I understand. But you should know, it helps when you talk to people. It's much better than keeping it all bottled up inside."
"He tried to kill my mother," Anakin blurted, a small sob mixed in with his voice.
Amidala's face fell. Then she pulled it back up. "But he didn't. Your mother is safe and she's going to be just fine. Your friend, too."
"He might come back."
"Well... Even if he does, I promise, she'll be safe. The Jedi will protect her. You seem to forget how many friends you have. Remeber Jar Jar? He's your friend and so are the rest of the Gungans. They have a whole army you know. And they remeber how you saved them by destroying he control ship. They'll help protect her too if we ask. And I will protect her. I am your friend, too."
Anakin smiled. He was feeling better now.
Sache returned with the tea