The young boy called out to his mother as soon as he got back home, his guests trailing right behind him awkwardly. The group barely just managed to seek shelter as the winds began to pick up outside, which meant that there was a huge sandstorm brewing. And to think that it was only just a few minutes ago that Anakin offered to bring them back to his home for shelter.

If they didn't encounter Anakin back then, they wouldn't have made it to their spacecraft in time and they would have been trapped in the sandstorm. Layna found herself feeling grateful to the kind young boy for saving their lives, smiling at the boy while he had his back turned.

Padmé however, did not miss that small smile and found herself giggling at the sight of her friend like this. Layna also caught that giggle, and she was aware of the reason why Padmé had let out such a laugh. She scrunched her nose up at her friend, who gestured towards the boy who was introducing the group to his mother.

"I'm building a droid, do you wanna see?" Anakin finally turned back around, his electric blue eyes fixed the two girls behind him. They both nodded, smiling kindly at the boy who seemed very eager to show the girls the droid he was building.

Qui-Gon turned to the boy's mother, bowing ever so slightly at the raven haired woman. "Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter."

Anakin quickly grabbed Layna's small hand, the girl's eyes widening in surprise as she stared at the boy incredulously. "Come on, I'll show you Threepio!" He pulled the girl towards his room, with the chuckling Padmé and Artoo following closely behind the eight and nine year olds.

Anakin released his hold on the Padawan's hand as they entered the room, the girl quickly drawing her hand close to her chest as Padmé stood right by the smaller girl.

Artoo let out a series of beeps as he entered Anakin's room, just as the boy pulled a dirty sheet off a half-finished droid on the workbench. The droid was still obviously a work in progress, as it was missing an eye, and the rest of his body still lacked any other coverings.

"Isn't he great?" the blonde asked, a proud grin on his face as he showed off his creation to the two beautiful girls standing behind him.

"He's wonderful," the handmaiden was the first to reply, her hazel eyes scanning the unfinished droid lying on the workbench. The younger girl was amazed to see that a boy not much older than her managed to build a droid with only spare parts, she now sees why Watto keeps the boy around the junk shop.

Artoo let out a series of beeps as if to reply to the boy's statement. Layna giggled as Artoo rolled past her, her hand rubbing the droid's head as he did. "He truly is magnificent, Anakin."

Anakin had a huge smile on his face when he turned to the Padawan girl, asking, "Do you really like him?" Layna nodded, running her fingers down the droid's robotic arm. "He's a protocol droid to help mom, watch!"

Anakin leaned over to press a button on the droid's neck, causing the droid to come to life, sitting up with a start. "Oh, where is everybody?"

"Whoops," the blue eyed boy grabbed the droid's other eye from a shelf, placing the missing eye onto Threepio's socket. The other eye then lit up, indicating that it is indeed functional.

The protocol droid turned to the two young ladies standing to the side, similar awestruck looks on their faces as they studied the unfinished droid with rather curious eyes. "Hello, my name is See-Threepio, Human-Cyborgs Relations. How might I serve you?"

The younger girl found herself astonished by the protocol droid, her lips tugging into a smile as the droid looked right at her. "He's perfect," the young girl remarked, her mouth slightly agape as See-Threepio pushed himself off the workbench to walk around the room.

"When the storm is over, I'll show you guys my racer. I'm building a Podracer!" The two girls felt anticipation building up, their hearts wishing the storm would end soon so that they could see the many wonders this young boy had built himself.

+

Layna stabbed her fork through the Tatooine dinner Anakin's mother, Shmi, had prepared for them tonight. She brought it up to her face, taking a quick sniff as she tried to figure out what exactly it was made of. Sticking out her tongue to poke at it, she quickly withdrew her tongue when the rich flavor spread through her tastebuds.

Anakin, who was seated right across the girl, giggled upon seeing the girl's reaction to the unknown food placed in front of her. Layna shot the boy a playful glare, kicking his foot under the table with little force.

Padmé, who was seated on the opposite end of the table's head, mischievously glanced at the two children kicking each other's feet under the table. She shook her head, taking another bite of the Tatooine dinner with a knowing smile on her face.

"All slaves have transmitters placed inside their bodies somewhere," Shmi began, pouring water into the Jedi's cup, as well as Jar Jar's.

"I've been working on a scanner to try and locate mine," Anakin informed them, and the young Padawan poked at her food, pondering when wonders will cease to exist with this peculiar boy.

"Any attempt to escape--"

"And they blow you up! Boom!" Anakin slammed his fist onto the table, as if depicting an explosion.

"How wude," the Gungan remarked as soon as he finished his drink.

Padmé gazed upon the slave boy sadly, turning to his mother who took her seat beside Layna. "I can't believe there's still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's anti-slavery laws--"

Shmi Skywalker cut off the young handmaiden's sentence, resting her arms on the table in front of her. "The Republic doesn't exist out here, we survive on our own."

The Gungan used his long tongue to grab a fruit from the bowl in the middle of the table, causing all of the humans present to stop what they were doing and look over at the Gungan. The Jedi Master shot the alien a dirty look, which the Gungan clearly did not tae seriously. "'Scuse me."

Anakin tapped his fingers on the table, looking around the table. "Has anybody ever seen a podrace?"

Layna definitely has heard of this dangerous activity, whispers in the streets of Corellia about podraces in Malastare weren't really easy to ignore. For a time, they were what everyone would talk about and Layna expanded her knowledge about podracing during that time, maybe even swiping a few hundred credits as she listened to the whispers in the streets. But she never has seen an actual podrace, although she thinks that she might see one very soon.

"They have Podracing in Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous," the former thief searched her memories for other information about Podracing, but failed to dig up anything else other than those she remembered.

"I'm the only human who could do it," Qui-Gon's eyebrows rose once those words escape the young boy's mouth, a spark of interest igniting inside of the older man.

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you race Pods." As soon as he said that, Jar Jar attempted to grab yet another fruit from the bowl with his tongue, only for Qui-Gon to catch his tongue before it could reach the fruit. "Don't do that again."

Jar Jar nodded, grumbling as Qui-Gon released his tongue, sending it straight back into his mouth.

Anakin began to tap his fingers on the table again, finally reaching a decision regarding an issue he wanted to confirm for a while now, since Layna told him that she was a Jedi apprentice back in the junk shop. "You're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?"

Qui-Gon found his interest quite piqued with the question the young boy asked, and Layna bit down on her bottom lip, knowing that it might have been her fault that Qui-Gon's cover was blown. She only told Anakin because she trusted him, but she didn't think the boy would figure out that her Master was one too. "What makes you think that?"

"I saw your laser sword," the boy replied, his mind pulling the memory of the brief sight of the laser sword earlier, from his mind. "Only Jedis carry that weapon. And Padawan."

Qui-Gon turned his attention to the only Padawan present, her cheeks heating up as she bowed her head down in shame. The Jedi Master just chuckled in amusement, leaning back into his chair with a small smile. "Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him."

"I don't think so, no one can kill a Jedi," Layna found herself inhaling sharply, thoughts of her mother dying from an illness just three years prior resurfacing. The young girl shoved them back down frantically, her struggle not going unnoticed by the Force sensitive man.

"I wish that were so," Qui-Gon shot Layna a look of worry, to which the girl just shrugged off with a forced smile. Layna then focused her attention onto the boy sitting across him, who didn't seem to notice the exchange between herself and Qui-Gon.

"I had a dream I was a Jedi, I came back here and freed all the slaves," Anakin trailed off, his electric blue eyes looking at the Jedi expectantly. "Have you come to free us?"

Layna's lips curled into a small frown, knowing that the reason why she and Master Qui-Gon were here was because of the mission given to the Jedi Master by the Supreme Chancellor. They did not expect to land in the desert planet of Tatooine, nor did they expect to meet a rather peculiar young boy who could fix absolutely anything. Layna knew that they had to tell the boy the truth, as much as she didn't want to see her friend disappointed.

"No, I'm afraid not," Qui-Gon answered truthfully. The boy's eyebrows met, as if unsatisfied by the Jedi's answer to his question.

"I think you have, why else would you be here?" Anakin turned to look at Layna this time, causing the girl to look down at her food. She couldn't possibly tell Anakin the real reason why they're here, if he gets involved, it would be even dangerous for the young boy. Layna did not want any innocents to get hurt, especially not the curious young boy whose bright blue eyes were currently fixed on her.

When Anakin realized that Layna wasn't going to tell him anything, he turned to the handmaiden this time, and Padmé tore her gaze away from the much younger boy, knowing that she could not speak of the true reason behind their visit to Tatooine either.

Qui-Gon leaned in, resting his elbows on the dinner table. He kept his light blue eyes on the boy, whose eyes were almost as bright as his was. "I can see there's no fooling you, Anakin." The bearded man glanced to the Padawan sitting across the boy for a moment, before choosing to reveal the true reason, but also leaving out the major details. "We're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic, on a very important mission."

"How did you end up out here, in the outer rim?" the blonde asked, genuinely curious as to why the trio ended up in Tatooine, seeing as it was extremely far from the central system.

"Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here until we can repair it," Padmé told the younger boy, who turned to look at Qui-Gon before turning right back to the fourteen year old.

"I can help, I can fix anything!" Layna finally looked up from her unfinished food, her dark brown eyes flitting to Anakin.

"I know you can, Anakin. But we must first acquire the parts we need, but we don't have enough money to buy these parts," Qui-Gon clasped his hands in front of him. "But these junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind."

Shmi's dark eyes lit up in realization, as she knew the one thing the junk dealers cannot resist. "Gambling, everything here revolves around betting on those awful races."

"Podracing. Greed can be a powerful ally," the Jedi Master narrowed his eyes, his mind racing as he tried to think of a way to use the dealers' greed to acquire the parts they needed for their ship.

Anakin's bright blue eyes lit up at the mention of podracing, and he took this opportunity to tell the man of the podracer he has managed to build. "I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever...There's a big race tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod."

Anakin's mother called his name, to reprimand him, telling him that their owner will not allow the boy to enter those races. "Watto doesn't know I've built it, you could make him think it's yours, and get him to let me pilot it for you!"

Layna immediately sent her new friend a worried look, one that he did not miss as he glanced over at her briefly. She might have only met the boy, but he has already given them too much - he saved Jar Jar from that awful Dug, they let them into his home and they even made them dinner. She didn't want Anakin to engage in podracing just to help them. She didn't want him to get hurt either, there was a huge possibility of dying during podracing and she definitely did not want to see him get hurt. "Anakin-"

"But Ani, I don't want you to race," the boy's mother croaked out, concern etched on her face. "It's awful, I die every time Watto makes you do it."

Anakin then turned to his mother, who hasn't sensed the amount of worry radiating off of Shmi. Layna was seated next to the woman, and she was soaking up all of Shmi's feelings towards her son's willingness to race for people they've barely even met. "But mom, I love it! The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need."

Qui-Gon, sensing Shmi's uneasiness, quickly held his hand up. "Your mother's right," he said, not willing to risk the boy's life for the sake of attaining those parts through this plan. "Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who might help us?"

Layna pursed her lips, knowing that there probably weren't any since this was the outer rim and she could still remember Shmi telling them that the Republic practically did not exist in this area. Her thoughts were then proven correct with the older woman shaking her head no, leading Qui-Gon to heave out a heavy exhale.

"Mom..." the young boy began, prompting everyone in the table to focus on the blonde boy. "You said the biggest problem in this universe is nobody helps each other."

Shmi let out a resigned sigh, and the Padawan beside her spoke up for the first time since the first time this conversation about Jedi business began. "I'm sure Master doesn't want to put Anakin in danger, we'll find another way to get those parts--"

Shmi then shook her head, turning to the brunette girl seated to her right. "No, there is no other way," she exhaled once more, choosing the words that would convey her message to the rest of the group. "I may not like it... but but he can help you. He was meant to help you."

With those words, the Padawan once more set her eyes on the blonde boy across her, studying him carefully. This boy definitely was a truly kind soul, and she believed Shmi as well - she felt that Anakin was meant to help them in this mission. It was as if the Force led the Jedi straight to Anakin, who she believed was the true reason why they were stopped on their way to Coruscant.

Maybe it was the will of the Force to encounter the young child, who was way more than he seemed.

Anakin must have felt her eyes on him, as he looked straight at her once he thanked his mother. His electric blue eyes clashed with Layna's chocolate brown ones, and he flashed the girl a huge smile. She couldn't help but smile back, despite the feeling of worry bubbling up inside her as she thought of the worst possible scenarios her friend might encounter during the race. But she had to believe in him, she needed to - he was their only hope.

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