"Tatooine is by far the worst, likely because there is little other economy to speak of and it is so remote, but it is far from the only place the slave trade exists within the Republic." That needs to be said, since the question was asked. It deserves a complete answer.
"As for the Republic attempting to address the oversight-" He snorts. "I believe they have decided that sometimes individuals must suffer for a greater good." Yes, yes, Jedi reasoning being thrown out there. "Not worth the economic fallout or potential war, but that is little more than a guess. I was not much older than Anakin when slavers found me. I knew little of politics then and I know less now."
"We're too far out and Tatooine has little the Republic needs for them to devote resources for us," Shmi added a bit more illumination.
"We're just not a priority."
Anakin had fallen quiet while the adults spoke, he understood now a little bit more what everyone was saying.
But now he turned towards Qui-Gon. "Are the Jedi here to save us?" he asked innocently enough. "I saw your lightsaber- only Jedi have those," he added proudly, like he'd solved a puzzel.
He nods slightly at Shmi, to add a little more weight to her statement - though that statement covered a lot.
Then to Anakin--
Well that hurt and it showed a little in his expression and tone, but he answered it. "I think Master Jinn may try to get you and your mom out of here once he's able to leave the planet and finish his important business. But it's important to remember that the Jedi are defenders of the Republic, so he might not be able to."
Qui-Gon was just about to interject to explain the weren't here to address the issue of slavery - thanks Obi-Wan.
But Anakin's face lit up and he just jump right to excited talking.
"Really? You are going to get us out of here? This is the best day of my life. This is better than winning a podrace! Where would we go-"
"Anakin-" Shmi tried to quell her son's enthusiasm and shot Obi-Wan a look. She knew he had good intentions and she knew the game he was playing here. But Anakin didn't deserve to get his hope up.
But Anakin kept right on talking until he reached a logical question. "And Obi-Wan, too?"
He expected that Qui-Gon would feel the pressure of being considered a hero by a small child and the implication that he was a republic pawn to apply even more. That was the game. Anakin completely leaping over the caveats was not part of that plan.
He got up from the table - after sliding his plate to Shmi in a subtle way. He wasn't hungry and resources were limited, save it, eat it, or get it into Anakin - and moved around to where Anakin was. He turned the chair around and then crouched down in front of it, and offered the boy both his hands, palms up.
"Anakin...." He started, then stopped to try to forget the other people at the table. "Qui-Gon is a good man and I know he will try, but he is only one man - even if he has a light-saber, and Jedi don't always have a lot of freedom either." Then, quieter, and with eye-contact over Anakin's shoulder to Qui-Gon for a moment: "I chose to leave the Jedi. They aren't going to help me and they shouldn't." Then back to Anakin. "But it is really, really important to me that you get out of here with your mom."
Anakin had one simple question because everything was simple and black and white in his mind. "Why shouldn't you be free, too? You deserve help, too. You're a person, too!"
"I am a person." He smiled, a little at that, because it was so Anakin. "But I'm a person who made a choice and that choice had consequences. Also, if you get out and grow up you can come get me."
He was going to be dead by then but it was irrelevant and gave Anakin a goal.
He quirked a faint smile at that one, too, but it was pretty... strained. "Basically. The retirement plan's terrible, but I've met some really nice people and gotten to travel." In short he's not... going to explain that one to Anakin. Can't.
"No one deserves to be a slave," he said, his face set as determined. Because there were some truths he would not back down on. Not ever. Even when people made stupid choices. "Even someone who chooses to be a slave. You still deserve to be free."
"All right." He's not going to tell Anakin he's wrong about that, but not for his sake. "So let's get you and your mom out so you can come back and rescue me. Meanwhile." He stood up. "Let's eat dinner. Sounds like that storm's getting worse so we really are all going to be stuck here tonight, so nothing can be done before tomorrow, anyway and then there's a whole Jedi mission for Master Jinn before we know whether he can help or we need another plan. Ok?"
Anakin was feeling all kinds of conflicted, but he was still nine and easily distracted. Somewhat.
"What mission?"
A silence fell about the room.
Padme had been quiet after her first question because she had not anticipated what metaphoric explosions it would ignite. And she was sympathetic to the those stuck in the plight of slavery, but she also had an unjustly occupied world to consider. She couldn't stop thinking about what her people were going through.
So she'd stayed quiet out of a desire to just not make the conversation worse.
Now, however, she spoke, from their interaction tonight, she felt these people were trustworthy enough to explain a bit about why she and Qui-Gon were there.
"We are trying to escort the Queen of my home world to Coruscant to seek help from the Senate," though she hadn't been queen for long, she and her handmaidens had practiced the deception of decoys enough times that her identity was an easy lie of omission to make at this point. Just saying 'the Queen of my home world' rolled off her tongue so easily. "My home world of Naboo has been unjustly occupied by the Trade Federation and we need the Republic's assistance."
There was a but there.
"But we've been stranded here. Our ship was damaged when we escaped the Trade Federation, and without repairs, we can't make it to Coruscant."
"That isn't something we can fix tonight, either," Obi-Wan said, pragmatic and just tired. "Tomorrow Watto's shop we'll hope. Then it will just be a matter of hoping he has what you need and that you can pay for it or figuring out a way to pay for it. For tonight we really just need to finish dinner and wait out the storm"
Qui-Gon finally had an in to speak and something constructive to add, even if a bit of a disappointment.
"We've been to Watto's shop," he said. "He has the part we need. But we do not have the funds to pay for the part. Republic credits aren't accepted here."
"Which part is it," Anakin asked, because he was curious and he knew everything in Watto's shop.
Qui-Gon explained what was needed.
Oh yes, that was an expensive piece and Watto would notice if it went missing.
He chewed on his lower lip while the adults seemed to lapse into a silence to finish dinner.
"What if..." he ventured after a moment of thinking. "I could get you the money to buy it."
He glanced at Anakin and knew what he was suggesting immediately. He couldn't object to the idea given that it was desperate and Anakin did those races, anyway.
"All you need is a pod race and a willingness to gamble on an underdog."
That was his sole contribution.
Desperate situations, desperate measures and he was not taking his plate back just drinking his tea (it was his tea and water, he had contributed everything he had in his place, he was letting himself have that).
"He wouldn't even need to gamble," Anakin said. "Watto's racer is broken, but I have my own I've been building."
Qui-Gon, however, was not following.
"What are you proposing, Anakin?"
"Well, there's a big pod race coming up, and if I win, you can use the prize to buy the part to repair your ship."
Qui-Gon looked at Anakin curiously for the first time, as if he'd really started to notice him. He'd run across Force sensitive individuals missed by the Order all the time. It was unfortunate that the Order had missed them, but the Order had rules about who could join, and past a certain age, a child was simply not accepted.
"Pod races are very dangerous," he said skeptically. Force sensitivity was one thing, knowing how to use it was something else altogether. "Humans usually cannot compete in them, too fast for their reflexes."
Qui-Gon shot a glance at Obi-Wan- was he teaching the child?
"He has been competing in those races for as long as I've known him and he's gotten steadily better as he's been more aware of the Force and what it is." So yeah he's done some teaching, but mostly it's just Anakin. "And just as he's grown, of course. I suspect he's been losing races on purpose for a while. It's still dangerous, but he'll get you enough money for your part."
"Ani," Shmi said suddenly. "Is that true?" She looked from Anakin to Obi-Wan. Her thoughts were always about safety. "Watto would be very angry if he knew that." And she wouldn't be able to protect him, and she hated herself because of that.
"Mom," Anakin said, looking sheepish again. "It's okay. He never bets on me anyways. If I beat Sebulba, he'd take it out on Obi-Wan. I'm okay with coming in second. I don't need to win. Well, until now. I could do it now... But..." he looked at Obi-Wan. "Then you'd get hurt."
He listened through all that and he did not have a whole heck of a lot to say. He just looked Anakin firmly in the eyes and said directly and simply: "This is important. Win."
"Watto is immune to force suggestion but he's fairly easy to manipulate by conventional means. He's also greedy. It shouldn't be that hard to push the right buttons to convince him. Just play the game right, Jedi."
He doesn't think this is insurmountable but it is going to have to come from Qui-Gon.
For now though. "Let's all help get this cleaned up and head to bed for now." Please just - let him sit down and be quiet with at least a few fewer people. He wasn't likely to sleep but he could at least be quiet and rest.
After supper was cleared away and cleaned up, they divided up the space for sleeping. Shmi took Anakin's bed with her son and had insisted that Padme take her bed. Padme didn't want to impose, especially when everyone else had to sleep on the hard floor with just blankets and mats for comfort, but Shmi wouldn't hear of a refusal.
Still, Padme couldn't sleep. She couldn't do more than a one brief message back to Captain Panaka - who was probably hating her choice to explore the city more than ever now that there was a sandstorm. But the message was hard to hear, because of the storm, and it wasn't informative anyways due to the deception she was trying to pull off. She felt no more comforted about the situation of her world than she did when they landed here.
She'd been given a small glass of water before going to sleep. She'd set it on ground when she was done with it, planning to return it to the kitchen in the morning. But she tossed and turned and finally decided to just use returning it to the kitchen has an excuse.
She didn't expect to find another person sitting at the table.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't wake you did, I?"
He was just at the table, nursing a second cup of tea and being quiet. He heard - and felt - her moving around in there before she arrived and greeted her with a slight smile. "No." She hadn't at all. "I was just listening to the wind." And thinking. "Would you prefer tea to the water?" He can do that much for her and it may help with sleep, eventually.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 05:30 pm (UTC)"As for the Republic attempting to address the oversight-" He snorts. "I believe they have decided that sometimes individuals must suffer for a greater good." Yes, yes, Jedi reasoning being thrown out there. "Not worth the economic fallout or potential war, but that is little more than a guess. I was not much older than Anakin when slavers found me. I knew little of politics then and I know less now."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 05:46 pm (UTC)"We're just not a priority."
Anakin had fallen quiet while the adults spoke, he understood now a little bit more what everyone was saying.
But now he turned towards Qui-Gon. "Are the Jedi here to save us?" he asked innocently enough. "I saw your lightsaber- only Jedi have those," he added proudly, like he'd solved a puzzel.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 05:48 pm (UTC)Then to Anakin--
Well that hurt and it showed a little in his expression and tone, but he answered it. "I think Master Jinn may try to get you and your mom out of here once he's able to leave the planet and finish his important business. But it's important to remember that the Jedi are defenders of the Republic, so he might not be able to."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 05:57 pm (UTC)But Anakin's face lit up and he just jump right to excited talking.
"Really? You are going to get us out of here? This is the best day of my life. This is better than winning a podrace! Where would we go-"
"Anakin-" Shmi tried to quell her son's enthusiasm and shot Obi-Wan a look. She knew he had good intentions and she knew the game he was playing here. But Anakin didn't deserve to get his hope up.
But Anakin kept right on talking until he reached a logical question. "And Obi-Wan, too?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:04 pm (UTC)He got up from the table - after sliding his plate to Shmi in a subtle way. He wasn't hungry and resources were limited, save it, eat it, or get it into Anakin - and moved around to where Anakin was. He turned the chair around and then crouched down in front of it, and offered the boy both his hands, palms up.
"Anakin...." He started, then stopped to try to forget the other people at the table. "Qui-Gon is a good man and I know he will try, but he is only one man - even if he has a light-saber, and Jedi don't always have a lot of freedom either." Then, quieter, and with eye-contact over Anakin's shoulder to Qui-Gon for a moment: "I chose to leave the Jedi. They aren't going to help me and they shouldn't." Then back to Anakin. "But it is really, really important to me that you get out of here with your mom."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:10 pm (UTC)He was going to be dead by then but it was irrelevant and gave Anakin a goal.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:34 pm (UTC)"What mission?"
A silence fell about the room.
Padme had been quiet after her first question because she had not anticipated what metaphoric explosions it would ignite. And she was sympathetic to the those stuck in the plight of slavery, but she also had an unjustly occupied world to consider. She couldn't stop thinking about what her people were going through.
So she'd stayed quiet out of a desire to just not make the conversation worse.
Now, however, she spoke, from their interaction tonight, she felt these people were trustworthy enough to explain a bit about why she and Qui-Gon were there.
"We are trying to escort the Queen of my home world to Coruscant to seek help from the Senate," though she hadn't been queen for long, she and her handmaidens had practiced the deception of decoys enough times that her identity was an easy lie of omission to make at this point. Just saying 'the Queen of my home world' rolled off her tongue so easily. "My home world of Naboo has been unjustly occupied by the Trade Federation and we need the Republic's assistance."
There was a but there.
"But we've been stranded here. Our ship was damaged when we escaped the Trade Federation, and without repairs, we can't make it to Coruscant."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:49 pm (UTC)"We've been to Watto's shop," he said. "He has the part we need. But we do not have the funds to pay for the part. Republic credits aren't accepted here."
"Which part is it," Anakin asked, because he was curious and he knew everything in Watto's shop.
Qui-Gon explained what was needed.
Oh yes, that was an expensive piece and Watto would notice if it went missing.
He chewed on his lower lip while the adults seemed to lapse into a silence to finish dinner.
"What if..." he ventured after a moment of thinking. "I could get you the money to buy it."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 06:51 pm (UTC)"All you need is a pod race and a willingness to gamble on an underdog."
That was his sole contribution.
Desperate situations, desperate measures and he was not taking his plate back just drinking his tea (it was his tea and water, he had contributed everything he had in his place, he was letting himself have that).
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:09 pm (UTC)"He wouldn't even need to gamble," Anakin said. "Watto's racer is broken, but I have my own I've been building."
Qui-Gon, however, was not following.
"What are you proposing, Anakin?"
"Well, there's a big pod race coming up, and if I win, you can use the prize to buy the part to repair your ship."
Qui-Gon looked at Anakin curiously for the first time, as if he'd really started to notice him. He'd run across Force sensitive individuals missed by the Order all the time. It was unfortunate that the Order had missed them, but the Order had rules about who could join, and past a certain age, a child was simply not accepted.
"Pod races are very dangerous," he said skeptically. Force sensitivity was one thing, knowing how to use it was something else altogether. "Humans usually cannot compete in them, too fast for their reflexes."
Qui-Gon shot a glance at Obi-Wan- was he teaching the child?
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:20 pm (UTC)"Mom," Anakin said, looking sheepish again. "It's okay. He never bets on me anyways. If I beat Sebulba, he'd take it out on Obi-Wan. I'm okay with coming in second. I don't need to win. Well, until now. I could do it now... But..." he looked at Obi-Wan. "Then you'd get hurt."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:27 pm (UTC)And Shmi did see a problem. "He can do it. But you'll need to convince Watto to let you enter him."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:29 pm (UTC)He doesn't think this is insurmountable but it is going to have to come from Qui-Gon.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:39 pm (UTC)"Why don't you show me your pod racer in the morning. And we can discuss it more then."
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:40 pm (UTC)For now though. "Let's all help get this cleaned up and head to bed for now." Please just - let him sit down and be quiet with at least a few fewer people. He wasn't likely to sleep but he could at least be quiet and rest.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 07:55 pm (UTC)Still, Padme couldn't sleep. She couldn't do more than a one brief message back to Captain Panaka - who was probably hating her choice to explore the city more than ever now that there was a sandstorm. But the message was hard to hear, because of the storm, and it wasn't informative anyways due to the deception she was trying to pull off. She felt no more comforted about the situation of her world than she did when they landed here.
She'd been given a small glass of water before going to sleep. She'd set it on ground when she was done with it, planning to return it to the kitchen in the morning. But she tossed and turned and finally decided to just use returning it to the kitchen has an excuse.
She didn't expect to find another person sitting at the table.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't wake you did, I?"
no subject
Date: 2020-07-11 08:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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