FORBIDDEN ATTACHMENTS ─ star wars

XVIII. The Moisture Farm

Chapter Eighteen
Anakin

R2 alerts us that we have arrived at Cliegg Lars' moisture farm. I set the ship down a little ways away from the house, trying to mentally prepare myself for what's to come.

"Your old master," Fallon begins, a small smile on her lips. "He called you 'Ani'. Did everyone call you that when you were a boy?"

I nod. "My mother gave me that nickname, anyone who knew me back then calls me that."

"Does Obi Wan?"

I shake my head, letting out a laugh at the thought. "No. Padmé does though. It's strange to hear, it kind of makes me feel like a boy again."

Fallon looks out the window to the farm, getting out of her seat next to me. "You ready?"

I let out a sigh, standing up as well. "As ready as I'll ever be."

R2 will once again watch the ship while we meet with this farmer. Fallon sticks close to my side as we make our way towards the house, making me feel much less anxious than I did moments ago.

There are two droids talking to each other in front of the farm. One of them is a silver protocol droid, one that looks extremely familiar. As it opens it addresses us, I register why. "Hello. I am C—

"3-PO?"

The droid is silent for a moment before the same registration goes through his system. "The maker! Master Ani! I knew you would return! I knew it."

I look over my shoulder to Fallon, explaining to her; "I built him to help my mother when I was a boy. When I left he was still unfinished, I'm glad someone covered him up."

She smirks at the droid. "You're quite the craftsman, Ani."

I feel myself rolling my eyes, ignoring the blush that forms on my cheeks from her calling me by my nickname. I look back at 3-PO. "This is my friend, Fallon. We have come to see my mother."

"I think perhaps we'd better go indoors." 3-PO says, leading us towards the house.

Fallon and I both follow him, looking around the house as we enter it. It looks like any standard Tatooine home, but this one is much larger than the one I had. We are led through the kitchen and right to the center of the house, where an open pit where all the rooms connect to lies. Standing in this pit is a young man, far too young to be the man who bought my mother.

"Master Owen, might I present two most important visitors." 3-PO says, gesturing to the two of us.

The man smiles at us, along with a young woman beside him. I nod to the two of them. "I'm Anakin Skywalker and this is my friend Fallon Priya."

The man looks slightly taken aback, but he smiles nonetheless. "I'm Owen Lars. This is my girlfriend, Beru. I guess I'm you're step brother. I had a feeling you might show up someday."

So the man who bought my mother did marry her. I don't know whether to be relieved that she is in fact free, or disgusted that my mother married her former master. But I can sort those feelings out later.

"Is my mother here?"

"No she's not." A gravely voice says from a few feet in front of us. An older man with one leg in a hovering chair approaches us, extending his hand out to me. "Cliegg Lars. Shmi is my wife. We should go inside...we have a lot to talk about."

-

Cliegg brought us into the dining area of his house. He has been explaining to Fallon and I how he needed help around the farm and bought my mother for that purpose. But as soon as he did, he freed her and offered her a salary for working on his farm. Pretty soon he fell in love with her kind heart and asked her to marry him. The two have been married for a few years now.

Owen has been siting silently next to his father as he has recalled this tale. Beru left to grab refreshments and is bringing them to us now, just as Cliegg is explaining where my mother is now.

"It was just before dawn, they came out of nowhere; a hunting party of Tusken Raiders. Your mother had gone out early, like she always did to pick mushrooms that grow on the vaporators. From the tracks, she was about half way home when they took her," Cliegg sighs, shaking his head. "Those Tusken's wall like men but they're vicious, mindless monsters. Thirty of us went out after her, only four of us came back. I'd be out there with them...but after I lost my leg, I just couldn't ride anymore. Until I heal. 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."

This entire time I have felt like time has moved slower and slower. I don't believe anything that I am hearing. Part of me hopes, pleads that this is some nightmare that I'll wake up from any moment now. But I know this is my reality. My mother has been taken. The very thought of her in the hands of those beasts makes my breathing grow shallower, my blood grow cold. I can still hear her screams from my visions, her pain, her agony—

I stand up, letting out a shaky breath. I begin walking towards the exit when Owen stops me.

"Where are you going?"

"To find my mother."

Cliegg looks at me with a mixture of sorrow and pity, his voice low as he says; "Your mother is dead, son. Accept it."

I let out another uneven breath, shaking my head at them. "I can't." I tell them, my voice barely above a murmur. I feel my feet moving towards the exit, my mind still caught in the horrific tale of my mother's kidnapping. I try not to think about it though. I need my head clear if I'm going to find her.

I make it out of the house, walking towards one of the speeders nearby when I feel a hand pull on my arm. I turn around to see Fallon looking up at me. "Did you think you were gonna leave without me?"

"You need to stay here. These are good people, they'll take care of you."

"Absolutely not. You heard what Cliegg said. Thirty men went after her and four returned. These things are dangerous, you'll need my help."

"Those men aren't Jedi. I'm more powerful than they are, I can handle this."

"Now isn't the time to be an arrogant pain in the ass. You could be killed. Anakin, please let me help you."

I let out a sigh, gripping onto her shoulders tightly, trying to make her understand. "Fallon, this is something I have to do on my own. It isn't arrogance, I have powers that will protect me from whatever the Tusken Raiders can throw my way. You don't. I already have to worry about my mother's safety, I can't worry about yours too. I need you safe. Please, please stay here."

Fallon stares up at me for a long moment, her lips pressed together tightly. She sighs, bringing her hands up to clutch my arms tightly. "Don't get killed." She tells me.

I nod to her. "I won't. I'll be back soon." I tell her, letting go of her and walking towards the speeder. I turn it's engine on, glancing at Fallon one more time before I press on the gas, sending me flying across the sandy floor of Tatooine.