Chapter 7

The silence that had fallen over the group was oppressive at best.

*Kuuuuuuh Kerrr*

Minus the ever present breathing of the source of the foreboding feeling. Before, they had grown accustom enough to the sound in order to tune it out with ambient noise or their own conversations.

*Kuuuuuuh Kerrr*

But there was nothing now to block it out. They could not find the right words to break the ice, and everyone in and around their path stared at them without a sound.

*Kuuuuuuh Kerrr*

"Must that be so loud?" Padme questioned in the most passive-aggressive voice possible.

*...*

Padme and Shmi almost tripped at the abrupt end to Vader's breathing; Qui-Gon glanced at the Sith with a raised eyebrow while Anakin tried not to laugh, even if the image of-

-his arms and legs failing, blood flying, screaming even as his lungs were shredded to mince meat-

Sebulba's fate remained fresh in his mind.

"You were just doing that to disturb others?" The Jedi Master questioned with distaste and strained civility.

"Hardly. It's merely less effective for my health this way," Vader explained without missing a beat. "Qui-Gon, I believe you and the boy have business to attend to?" he prompted.

Qui-Gon almost let his surprise show. He had been worried about leaving Vader alone with Anakin after that...display, concerned the Sith Lord might try to plant seeds of temptation into the youngling's mind. Instead, here he was, suggesting the boy go with him instead? He had to know that almost any Jedi would try to use that as an example of why one should never touch the Dark Side.

'You are a slave no more, Skywalker.'

...Unless, of course, the seed had already been planted.

Qui-Gon registered and quelled his mental conflict in the same instant before nodding. "Yes, I suppose it's time to collect our winnings," he answered as an excuse.

Vader nodded as he steeled himself for this next part. "Madam Skywalker, I will need to retrieve my belongings from your home," he explained without turning towards her.

There was a question in there. It wasn't if she took issue with him coming into her home. The question was if she would rather stick with the Jedi Master and her son. He was sure she would, but solemnly hoped he was right.

"It's fine, I'll go with him," Padme assured at the slave-woman's hesitation.

The mother nodded thankfully before turning to Vader with a look of conflicted gratitude. "Darth, I...thank you, for saving my boy," she said with a teary smile.

Vader looked and it nearly destroyed him right then and there. He only survived by keeping his eyes secretly on his younger self. He still looked...uncertain how to feel. Vader didn't blame him.

Anakin the Jedi had been weak. Anakin the Slave was and still is just a boy. Perhaps, just perhaps, this version of him would be better than the man he used to be.

"You are welcome," Vader granted before he turned to leave. The group watched him go before heading in their own direction towards Watto's shop as Padme sped up her walk to catch up with the cyborg.

Padme suffered the silence for a few minutes before she gave a suffering sigh, "Turn it back on."

*Kuuuuuuh Kerrr*

She could almost feel some form of smugness in the renewed breathing sounds as they made their way to the slave district. "So, are you going to pretend you didn't just do that?" Padme asked with a scowl.

"I am not pretending anything, Handmaiden, I am merely continuing past it. If you wish to address it, by all means," he invited simply.

"Address? You just sadistically murdered someone in front of everyone!" Padme reminded with a glare sent his way.

"No."

"...What?" Padme said slowly, not sure what he was denying. "No, what?"

"I protected the boy that just won not only our means to leave this waste of a planet, but his own freedom. Would you have preferred if I had allowed him to die? Was that concern before the race mere show?" Vader returned as they reached the slave district.

"You know it wasn't," Padme responded, struggling not to seethe despite the baiting question. "But you didn't need to take it that far."

"No, I merely thought it was fitting considering who I was killing," Vader agreed, idly tilting his helmet as he counted the doors until he found the right one.

"What are you talking about?" Padme asked with a scrunched brow as Vader went up the steps and paused to look down at her.

"Sebulba is infamous for cheating and violence, injuring and killing many of his competitors. It was considered a dull race if he was involved without a body count," Vader explained flatly.

Padme looked taken aback by that. "But why was he-" Padme stopped herself as she realized the answer.

"He was never punished by those in charge of the races because he was too popular to penalize. He was never arrested because there is no republic, seldom even law on worlds like this one, let alone a world run by Hutts," Vader elaborated.

Padme sighed deeply in defeat. "And because of that, there was no real authority to turn him over to," she summarized bitterly.

"Precisely," Vader answered with a nod. "Had I spared him, he would have continued on as he always had. Had I crippled him, he would have retired in luxury with his fame and fortune," Vader explained with a hint of anger in his voice. "I didn't feel like allowing him such pleasant fates. I chose to kill him with his own vehicle simply for the irony, not for the amount of pain it brought him," he explained as he opened the door and walked in.

Padme shook her head, begrudgingly accepting all of this as all technically true as she walked in, staring at the dark clothed human with a peculiar look. "That doesn't explain one thing though."

"And what is that, Amidala?" Vader asked, as causally as his voice modifier would allow, while he visually scanned the room for what he sought.

"Why do you care so much about Anakin?" she asked, letting silence reign for a moment as Vader continued his search. "Vader...are you his father?"

The Dark Lord paused, hand frozen in mid-air as it reached out to grab the bag laying in a cupboard. "...No," he answered after a moment, finally removing the bag from its hiding place as he did so. He was honestly debating saying yes to that, but...no, he was barely holding it together around his mother, he didn't need others to think he was her former lover or something.

Sith may not have limits, but they did have standards, thank you very much.

"Then why would you kill to protect him?" Padme pressed on.

Vader forced himself to sigh as he pulled the bag over his shoulder. "If I hadn't done it, the boy would have."

"...What?" Padme breathed out the inquiry, blinking. "What do you mean? How could Ani pos-"

"He's a force-wielder," Vader reminded bluntly. "Powerful of one enough that if he were being beaten to death, he would instinctively tap into the Force to push his assailant off his person. And in that frantic, Dark place all scared children go to in their mind, Anakin Skywalker would have thrown the Dug into the boy's own engines. Not to kill him, in the child's mind at least, but to make him unable to hurt anyone again," Vader elaborated as she stared at him in horrified fascination. "For all sapient beings speak of the young as innocent, there are few things crueler than the mind of a child."

The secret queen swallowed thickly as she played the scene over in her head. Anakin had been pressed against his own Pod. Even if he tried to get away, that would only put him in a better line to fling Sebulba into the turbines. "When you said you were protecting him..." she whispered, realization dawning in her eyes.

"It was as much from himself as from the Dug," Vader finished with a slow nod. "And the Jedi, the Jedi Order that is? They MIGHT accept a boy his age, but one already tainted from murdering with the Force?" Vader mused before making the best snorting noise he could.

"Tainted? He's a child! It would be self defense! Isn't that what the Jedi teach, defense of yourself and others?" Padme asked with a look of confusion.

"That is what they claim," Vader responded without really answering. "For now, we should return to the ship. To be honest, I do not trust any repairs I have not at least overseen myself and checked twice," he stated bluntly as he motioned to the door.

Padme rubbed her eyes in emotional exhaustion from trying to untangle the mystery of Vader before pulling her hand back with a start, turning to look at the Sith with wide, wide eyes. He patiently stared back, almost like he was waiting for her to catch on. "You knew? This entire time?" she asked slowly.

"Indeed, Your Highness," he answered with a nod that seemed just a bit too amused to be respectful.

"...What are you expecting to get out of this, Lord Vader?" Padme asked with a slow scowl. "Why help us, really? What reward are you expecting?"

Vader tilted his helmet, as if considering her words. "For a start? I'll settle for your gratitude," he answered simply.

Padme's scowl vanished in surprise as she watched him. "...Assuming that I'm right, that you are not planning to betray or trick me as I believe the Jedi fear?" she stipulated cautiously before allowing herself a small smile. "If you are the hero you mostly seem to be, Darth, then you already have that."

And just like that, she walked out, letting the Sith Lord collect his thoughts on that particular statement.

While there were the embers of a particular warmth he had not felt in nearly two decades...

There was also an undercut of irritation and amusement, summed up by a single thought: 'Great, we're back to people thinking my name is Darth.' Explaining that in the early days to his subordinates had been one of the few times he felt awkward.

Shaking his head, he left the only home he knew of as a slave, for the second time.

His only regret was that C3PO was still inside. Otherwise, he might have just collapsed the whole building.

Meanwhile

"You!" Watto exclaimed as soon as he saw Qui-Gon walking up to him with the two slaves.

"I've come to coll-" Qui-Gon started, only to find the Toydarian flying towards him with a large container.

"Here! Take it! Its got the control device for the slaves. Take them both, I don't want any trouble from you or your friend!" Watto insisted before rushing back into his shop.

Qui-Gon was very reluctant to accept anything extra gained from a situation like this, when the gains were from the machinations of a Sith. But more than his disagreement of the Sith's methods was his unwillingness to give a person BACK into slavery.

"What was that?" Shmi asked in concerned bewilderment as she helped Qui-Gon put the container down and check its contents. While she was no mechanic, between her work in the shop and her son, she understood what all the parts were. That didn't mean she knew how they worked or anything though.

"I managed to convince Watto to further the bet: the pod against Anakin's freedom," Qui-Gon stated as he rummaged through it. Yes, it was all there, including an extra rectangular little box that he presumed was the device in question.

"Are you serious?!" Anakin cried in disbelief. He was happy, but numbly so. Not from what he had seen, he just wasn't sure how to process it yet, that he was free.

"You did? That's wonderful!" Shmi exclaimed in joy, even as she noted she wasn't included in the deal.

"Wait, what about Mom? Watto said she's freed too," Anakin reminded in worry.

"He...originally wouldn't agree to including her, but it seems that Vader's action made him reconsider," Qui-Gon reluctantly admitted.

Anakin's face scrunched as he unraveled what that meant. "So, if he hadn't done that, even if I...survived...I would have been leaving Mom behind?" he summarized, his voice slow as he took that in.

"Anakin," Qui-Gon started with a sigh. "I know what you are thinking, but the path Vader treads is not one you should take or admire."

"What? You're making it sound like he's a bad guy," Anakin questioned with a scowl. "I mean, I know he killed Sebulba, but...Sebulba killed a lot of people. Stopping him shouldn't make Darth a bad person."

"And it doesn't," Qui-Gon admitted, surprising even himself a bit. "I don't approve, but I wouldn't have reproached him much if he just snapped the Dug's neck. What Vader did was to incite fear by exerting his power, in a rather...malevolent display. That is not a path you would want to follow, Anakin," he cautioned the young one.

"Master Qui-Gon," Shmi spoke up before either of them could say something they might regret. "Let me...speak with him."

The Jedi Master nodded without reservation. Perhaps a mother was better equipped to caution someone without a Jedi-mindset. While Qui-Gon picked up the box of supplies and made to step away enough to give them quasi-privacy, the now-former slave knelt down before her son to look him in the eyes. "Mom, I don't understand. I...feel sick thinking about what happened, but why is everyone so upset with him?" Anakin asked with a small voice.

"I'm not truly sure, Ani," Shmi admitted with a little smile. "But I do agree with Qui-Gon. You shouldn't want to be like Vader."

"But why? He's strong, he saved me and freed you! Even if he didn't know that would happen," Anakin retorted, his young mind and heart still in turmoil.

"Because I don't think even Vader wanted to follow down the road that made him who he is," Shmi stated with a sympathetic smile, much to his confusion. "I think the only people who turn out like him are the very evil...or people who were good but found themselves trapped in someplace without hope, without a way out. A place where they felt like they lost everything," she explained to Anakin's sorrow.

"You...you think Vader is like that?" Anakin asked softly.

"I like to think so," Shmi stated. Life as a slave had made her skeptical of how some people presented themselves. "I don't want you to end up like that though. I want you to live a happy life and I know you have a great destiny up there, in the stars, but I also know you have a good heart. I just don't want you to lose it along the way," she finished as the pair wrapped each other in a hug.

Qui-Gon heard every word, but didn't say anything. As a Jedi, he wasn't sure how much he agreed with that, but it was enough to explain to Anakin why he shouldn't idolize the Sith Lord.

Meanwhile

*Pssshhew!*

Padme was aware that she should be worried in this current situation, alarmed even. And yet, in this exact instance, she found herself sharing Vader's vague annoyance with their Jedi friends.

Upon arriving back at the ship, they walked up the ramp...and found a very nervous and almost scared looking Obi-Wan, pointing his ignited lightsaber at Vader.

"Padawan, what is the meaning of this?" Vader inquired with quickly evaporating patience. Both he and Padme could see the guards standing around the room, blasters down but at the ready. Ironically, most were eyeing Kenobi more than they were Vader.

"You killed them, didn't you?" Obi-Wan demanded, his voice shaking as his eyes watched every physical movement of Vader while honing what skill in the force he had to sense his nonphysical ones.

"Him. I've killed only one person today, Jedi," Vader retorted factually, still holding the sack over his shoulder.

While this conversation went on, Padme shared a look with Panaka. The guard captain drummed his fingers on his weapon and shifted his right foot. A coded question in an emergency situation, inquiring if she was secretly being held hostage. Luckily, her answering was much simpler and just as subtle: she blinked once, signaling that no, she was not being held against her will. Her pointed look towards the Jedi wasn't part of the code, but it said enough: she was more concerned with how the Jedi was acting.

"Which?! My Master or the boy?!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, gritting his teeth as the cold sweat on his brow became more prominent.

"Neither," Vader assured, which was ruined by his lack of concern.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you," the Padawan continued,clearly unconvinced.

"Padawan!" Padme called before this got any worse. "Vader is telling the truth! Anakin and your master are fine."

"Then why did I hear my master screaming at Vader while the boy was being attacked?! Why can't I sense them now?!" Obi-Wan insisted, glaring daggers into the Sith's soulless lenses.

"Padawan, I believe you know perfectly well you are no match for me. That you are still alive after pointing a lightsaber at me should be proof I haven't turned on you," Vader pointed out, in what Padme was sure was condescension. "The one I killed was attacking the boy. The Jedi took offense to how I disposed of the scum. Obviously the Dark Side swelled in the area, blinding them from your sight," Vader remarked dully. He was like a black sun in the Force, of course watching him too closely was going to dampen a Jedi's sight in the Force. "Your master and the child are alive and uninjured. Now step aside so I can prepare the ship for repairs."

"And if I don't? How do I know you haven't influenced all their minds already?" Obi-Wan accused, making several of the guards incensed and impatient.

Vader just stared at what would have been...or had been his Master in another time. He knew this one was still a Padawan, but this was just...disappointing. "That hardly sounds like someone of peace who denies emotions, Jedi," Vader stated as he intentionally dampened his presence by a fraction.

Just enough for Kenobi to feel the familiar presence of his Master in the force, along with the bundle of light that he knew to be this mysterious child. He grimaced as he realized how drastically he had misjudged the situation, deactivating his lightsaber. "I'm so-ah!" Obi-Wan started, just as Vader used the force to pull him off his feet by his ankles. The Sith Lord stepped aside as the young Jedi slid down the ramp and into the sand. The Padawan lay there for a moment, sensing he was in no danger as he spat out the grains in his mouth while shaking some out of his hair.

"Is there any particular reason you're force-handling my student, Vader?"

Obi-Wan winced and paled as he looked up at his Master, R2D2 pulling the box of supplies off a small gravity lift behind the Jedi Master. He was going to get an earful for this one and he'd deserve it.

"I should have given him worse," Vader said simply as he let the astrodroid roll by. "And I have a dozen witnesses that will vouch on my behalf when I claim he brought it on himself," he added before heading into the ship to start the repairs. "Leave the Padawan be, Captain. His master will deal with him," he forewarned idly.

Panaka wasn't entirely pleased being brushed aside, but accepted the suggestion nonetheless. The Jedi in general clearly had some issues to work out about which they kept the galaxy in the dark.

"That was incredibly reckless and unlike you, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon stated with a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Master, I allowed my feelings to run away with me," Obi-Wan apologized as he rubbed his head.

"And in the process, if your fears had been confirmed, you would have ensured he would have won in that mindset," Qui-Gon reprimanded with a sigh. "You still have much to learn, my Padawan, in practice if not in teaching."

"I know, Master," Obi-Wan admitted with a sigh. "Did he really kill someone to defend the boy?"

"Yes, he did," Padme confirmed as she walked over to them. "You are finished with your mad ravings, Padawan?" she asked, giving the young man a leveled look.

Obi-Wan had the decency to look sheepish before turning grim. "I am sorry, truly. I thought something terrible had happened and assumed the worst at the time," he admitted, brushing some sand out of his clothes before standing up.

"There are a hundred different reasons for force signatures to dampen themselves, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon reminded sternly. "If you feel the need to confront Vader at such a possibility, do it with a clear and steady mind."

"No reprimand for pointing a lightsaber at our ally?" Padme questioned with a scowl.

The younger Jedi looked at her in confusion while Qui-Gon almost looked amused. "There's a common, odd courtesy amongst all force-wielders, Handmaiden. We don't take too much offense at having lightsabers pointed at us unless the one wielding it is an actual threat."

The secret-queen blinked as she looked back at Obi-Wan. "You were expecting to lose," she summarized.

"I am legitimately surprised he didn't give me a concussion as a warning," Obi-Wan confirmed with a shrug before looking around. "Where's the boy?"

"Packing at home with his mother," the master explained, looking to Padme. "Watto freed Anakin as part of a bet. After seeing Vader's display, he gave up the mother as well."

"That bad?" Obi-Wan inquired, morbidly curious.

"He stuck someone inside a pod engine," Padme deadpanned.

The Padawan took a deep breath as he tried to resist but knew he couldn't. "I really don't want to ask, but before or after it was turned on?"

"After, and he did it slowly," Padme answered with extreme bluntness, still annoyed with the student's actions.

Obi-Wan grimaced and nodded to himself. "Okay, very surprised I'm still intact at all. Master? Can my punishment be a sabbatical to the MediCorp? I believe I just discovered a new appreciation for all my attached limbs and functioning organs."