Padmé crouched next to Anakin behind the large, jagged boulder that rested near the edge of the rocky outcropping where they stood. She placed her hand on his shoulder and peered down into the Tusken camp in the valley below them.

Tatooine's largest moon glowed brightly in the clear, starry night sky, casting an iridescent glow to the landscape around them. In the valley below, she should see the smooth thatched domes of the Tuscan huts that occupied a large portion of the small valley below. Small campfires dotted the ground between the huts, and from time to time she could make out the cloaked figure of a Tusken guard moving silently between the huts. The sounds of massiffs, large dog-like animals that the Tuskens had domesticated over the years, could be heard growling and barking in the cool night air.

The air was cool; cooler than she was used to, and she shuddered as a cool chill ran up her spine and over her shoulders. The nights were sometimes as cool as the days were hot on this sandy, desert planet, and tonight was no exception. She wished that she had worn her heavier clothes, but there was little she could do about that now. She cupped her hands over her mouth and breathed into them to warm them, and her breath fogged between her fingers. She reached out with her hands and pulled her cloak tightly around her and moved a little closer to Anakin.

Anakin lowered the long-range binoculars he had been using and turned to her. "You cold?" he asked, a look of concern on his face.

"Just a little," she said, pulling her cloak tighter. "I'm not really used to the air being this cold." She smiled at him and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Anakin smiled at her. He knew she would be; she was strong, as strong as any woman he had ever known, stronger than most men he knew, for that matter. Nevertheless, he hated to see her uncomfortable, but he knew it was pointless to try to convince her to take the speeder and go back, or even to hope that she'd wait here while he went into the camp below to search for Shmi.

He turned the binoculars back toward the camp. "She's down there, Padmé," he said, "I know she is. I can feel her."

Padmé searched the camp with her eyes. "The question is," she said, nodding her head slowly as she scanned the camp, "Where?"

Anakin closed his eyes and stretched out with his feelings into the Force. It only took a moment for him to locate the familiar tremor of his mother, the one that had haunted him so much over the past weeks. The tremor was there, of that he was certain; but it was getting weaker. He knew he had to find her, and find her quickly.

He opened his eyes and turned to Padmé. "I don't know exactly where she is, it's too hard to tell from up here." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "We're going to have to go down there and search for her."

Padmé nodded in agreement, and the two of them made their way quietly down the face of the cliff and toward the Tusken camp waiting below them.

------

The orange-gold planet of Geonosis filled the cockpit window as Jango Fett brought his ship out of hyperspace and powered up his impulse engines. As he made his way toward the dense asteroid ring that encircled the planet, young Boba kept his keen eyes focused on the various sensor arrays and displays. Jango smiled as he watched his son work. He had always been an eager student, hungry to learn all that his father would teach him. Jango was proud of him, as proud as any father would be; Boba was a match for most men already. He would make a fine bounty hunter one day.

The console next to Boba's chair suddenly flashed to life, and a high-pitched alarm rang through the ship. "Dad!" Boba exclaimed excitedly, pointing toward an image of a small ship on the display, "I think we're being followed!"

Jango immediately recognized the sleek, wedge shaped ship as the sensors displayed its image on the screen. "Well, well," he said flatly. "He must've placed some sort of tracking device on our hull. This guy doesn't seem to take a hint."

Jango turned his attention back to the controls of his ship. "Power up the cannons, Boba," he said. "We're moving into the asteroid field. Once we're in there, we'll lose him." He smiled wryly at his son. "And we'll have a few surprises for him."

Boba's eyes flashed as he smiled back at his father, and Jango quickly swung the ship up and around the first asteroid and made their way into the field.

------

Anakin peered cautiously around the corner of the thatched hut toward the nearby campfire. He squeezed Padmé's hand, and she pressed herself close to the hut's wall and stood there motionless beside him.

She held his hand tightly, as tightly as she ever had. She could feel herself trembling slightly, and she realized for the first time this evening that she was afraid. She had heard the horror stories of the Tusken raiders, heard the tales of their cruelty and merciless torture of the poor souls who had the misfortune to be captured by them. For a brief moment, she almost wished that she had heeded Anakin's request and remained at the house with Clieg, Owen, and Beru.

No; she couldn't allow herself to give in to fear, not now. Anakin needed her, and she needed to be here with him. She looked at him as he peered around the corner of the hut, his tall, dark-clad figure silhouetted against the hut by the moonlight. His sandy blonde hair shone with bright contrast to his dark Jedi garb, and she could see the hilt of his lightsaber shining brightly in his free hand. She squeezed his hand again, and she smiled as he instinctively returned it, clasping her hand tighter. She felt her fear begin to subside as she began to sense his love and concern for her through that reassuring touch.

Anakin could feel the Force leading him to Shmi, could sense her vibrations stronger now. He had followed it like a needle on a compass as they had made their way silently into the Tusken camp. Now, as he watched the two guards at the nearby campfire, he knew that she was close. He looked across the narrow path toward the two nearby huts; they were larger and the Tuskens appeared to be guarding them closely. Shmi was in one of those huts, he was sure of it.

He reached into the Force, closing his eyes for a moment, then nodded toward the two guards. Almost instantly, they stood up, their gaffi sticks raised in alarm, and then ran quickly down the path away from Anakin and Padmé.

Anakin turned to Padmé. "They must've heard something," he said softly, a sly smile on his lips.

"Really?" Padmé asked, returning his mischievous smile. "I can't imagine what."

Anakin looked back down the path and watched as the two guards disappeared around the far end of the camp. "Come on," he said, and the two of them ran quietly across the path toward the two large huts.

Anakin paused for a moment, stretching out with his feelings into the Force. Almost instantly, he opened his eyes and led Padmé to the second hut. "She's here," he said quietly, and Padmé released his hand and took a step back as he ignited the blade of his lightsaber and began to cut an opening in the thatch wall.

The cut complete, he extinguished the blade of his saber and placed it quickly back on his belt, then kicked the smoldering piece of thatch through the wall. He quickly stepped inside, and Padmé followed closely behind him.

Padmé was still crouched, making her way through the makeshift entrance, when she heard Anakin's voice call out in despair.

"Mom!"

Padmé felt her heart begin to sink as her eyes took in the terrible sight before her. There, in the center of the tent, tied to a large wooden pole, was Shmi. Her battered and bloodied body hung limply, her arms tied to the wooden pole with rough pieces of rope and leather straps. The back of her dress was torn and shredded, and her back bore the cuts and bruises of the merciless beatings that the Tuscans had inflicted on her.

Padmé and Anakin stood still for a moment, not believing the site before them, and then they both ran quickly to Shmi's side.

"Mom?" Anakin said, the anguish he felt clearly audible in his cracking voice. "Mom, can you hear me?"

Shmi weakly opened her eyes and glanced around the hut, but all she could manage was a barely audible moan as she closed them again and went limp. Padmé and Anakin worked feverishly to free her from the straps and ropes that held her to the rough wooden frame, and Shmi winced in pain as her arms fell free and she collapsed into Anakin's arms.

Anakin caught her limp body and fell backwards against the hard ground, and he cradled her gently in his arms as Padmé knelt beside him.

Padmé's heart was breaking, and she felt tears stinging her eyes as she saw the anguished look on Anakin's face. "Mom?" Anakin said softly, gently stroking his mother's dirty, matted hair. "Mom, can you hear me?"

Shmi opened her eyes again, as she glanced around the room, trying to find the voice that called to her. She finally focused her eyes on Anakin's face, and a look of genuine bewilderment spread across her bruised and battered face. "Ani?" she said faintly, lifting her hand toward his face. "Ani?"

Anakin smiled back at her fondly as a tear rolled slowly down his cheek. "It's me, Mom," he said, "I'm here."

Shmi looked at him, barely able to believe that what she was seeing was real. "Ani?" she asked again, as she touched his cheek gently. "Ani, is it really you?"

Padmé fought back her own tears as she knelt next to Anakin, gently holding onto his shoulder as he cradled his mother in his arms. "It's me, Mom," Anakin smiled in reply. "I'm here, I've come to take you home. Everything's going to be just fine."

Shmi smiled at him proudly. "Oh, how handsome you are," she said softly. "You look just like I imagined you would."

Anakin returned her smile as another tear rolled down his cheek. Through the Force, he could feel how weak his mother's life force had become. She was barely holding on now, and he fought with all his might to keep her from slipping away.

"It's going to be alright, Mom," he reassured her. "You're going to be fine. We've come to take you back home."

Shmi took a deep, rasping breath, and then turned her eyes to Padmé.  She smiled, weakly, and Padmé did the same as she reached out and took Shmi's hand as she extended it to her.

"It's you," Shmi said, weakly, as she squeezed Padmé's hand.  "Oh, I always... always knew that I'd see you again."

"It's going to be okay, Shmi," Padmé said, very softly, as she squeezed her hand in reply. 

"I know," Shmi whispered, with a weak nod of her head.  "Take care of him for me," she said, very softly, as she gazed quietly at Padmé.  "I'll rest... I'll rest easier, knowing that you're there to... to take care of him."

Padmé could barely see, through the haze of tears that filled her eyes.  "I will, Shmi," she whispered, as she cupped Shmi's hand in both of her own.  "I promise."

Shmi turned her eyes back to Anakin again, and gazed at him, a contented smile on her face. "My grown up son," she said softly. "I'm so proud of you, Ani," she said. "So very proud of you."

"Stay with me, Mom," Anakin pleaded with her, as he felt Shmi's life force being to slip slowly away. "Don't leave us. Everything's going to be fine, you'll see."

Padmé could barely see from the tears that stood in her own eyes as she knelt by his side. There was nothing she could say, nothing she could do, other than to place her arm tightly around his shoulder, to let him know that she was here with him. Shmi was saying goodbye, that much was clear to her, and the pain of that knowledge was more than she could bear. She buried her face in Anakin's shoulder, sobbing softly, and pulled him to her as tightly as she could.

Anakin's own smile faded as Shmi took a deep breath and tried to speak.

"Now I am complete," Shmi said softly. She took another shallow breath.

"I love..."

Shmi's voice caught in her throat, and she took another shallow breath.

"I love you..."

Shmi's smile faded, and she collapsed limply in Anakin's arms. She was gone.

Anakin felt a wave of despair like he'd never known sweep over him as he gazed at his mother's limp, lifeless body. As the tears began to stream down his face, he reached gently up with his free hand and closed his mother's eyes, then ran his fingers gently along her cheek.

This couldn't be happening, he thought. This wasn't right; his mother's life wasn't supposed to end like this. He was supposed to save her, to protect her. He had promised her that he would come back and save her, hadn't he? He had never broken a promise to anyone before, much less his mother. This wasn't right; how could the Tuskens, even as cruel and primitive as they were, have subjected a woman as innocent and precious as his own mother to such mindless torture?

The wave of despair that had overtaken him slowly began to be replaced by a darker, more sinister emotion. He knew it was wrong; Master Obi-Wan had told him long ago of the dangers of anger, of fear, of aggression. All of these emotions led to the Dark Side of the Force. He tried to resist them, tried to remember what his master had taught him, tried to turn away from the temptation of revenge.

He gazed at his mother's lifeless body again. How could he let an act so horrible, so unspeakable, go unpunished? He felt himself giving in, felt himself willingly slipping into submission to the anger that grew so quickly inside of him.

Padmé felt him stir, and she lifted her head from his shoulder, her face wet with tears, as she watched him lay his mother's body gently on the ground in front of him. "Anakin?" she said, softly. "Anakin, are you alright?"

Anakin said nothing as he gently folded Shmi's arms on her chest, and then sat quietly for a moment, staring at her.

Padmé could sense that something was wrong. "Ani," she said again, softly. "Ani, can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Again, Anakin said nothing, and Padmé felt a cold chill run through her body as she saw his hand reach under his tunic and saw the hilt of his lightsaber flash brightly in the lantern's pale light.

Instantly, she knew what he intended. "Anakin," she said, "Anakin, no!"

Anakin squeezed the hilt of his lightsaber tightly in his hand as he started to stand up. "They have to pay," he said, coldly, flatly. "They have to pay for what they've done."

Padmé held tightly to his shoulders as she pleaded with him. "Anakin, no," she said. "It's not right. You can't do this, you know that!"

"They're animals," Anakin said, and then turned his eyes toward hers. "And I intend to punish them like animals!"

Padmé looked into his eyes. She had never seen such anger, such hatred, such blind rage as she saw in those eyes now. Something was wrong, of that much she was certain. How could those eyes, those eyes that were always so full of love, so full of happiness, now be so full of hatred, so full of pure, unbridled rage?

Anakin turned his eyes back toward the door of the hut. The rage had consumed him now, and he felt a wave of power overtake him like he had never felt before. A dark shroud fell over his eyes, and he felt as though he were inside a dark cloud, almost watching himself from outside, as he turned the lightsaber over in his hand and began to rise and head toward the door.

Through the overpowering wave of rage, deep in the recesses of his mind, he heard a voice calling to him. He paused, perched on one knee, as he listened to that faint voice speak to him.

Padmé got up from behind Anakin and dropped to her knees in front of him, placing her hands tightly on his shoulders. Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded with him, begged him to listen to her.

"Anakin Skywalker, you listen to me," she said forcefully. "This isn't right. You can't do this!"

Anakin stared past her, his eyes still fixed on the door to the hut, toward the place he needed so desperately to go, to meet out the punishment his mother's tormentors so richly deserved.

"I have to," he said angrily, his eyes flashing with rage in the dim lantern light. "I hate them! They all deserve to die!"

"Anakin, please!" Padmé pleaded with him. "You can't do this, it's not like you. Revenge is wrong, you know that. Your mother wouldn't want you to do this!"

Padmé took his angry, anguished face into her hands and turned him toward her own. With all her heart, she stretched her feelings out toward him, tried desperately to reach him through the anger and anguish that now filled his heart.

"Anakin," she pleaded with all her heart, "Please. I love you. You are my life. I almost lost you once, and I won't lose you now, not like this."

Anakin's icy, angry stare began to melt, as her words began to find their way through the dense cloud of anger and pain to his aching heart. Through the pain, his eyes finally focused on Padmé's anguished face. She was crying, begging, pleading with him.

"Please come back to me, Ani," she cried, gently stroking his cheek. "I need you, so very much." She placed her free hand gently on his, the one that held his light saber. "I love you, Ani," she sobbed. "Please don't leave me."

Padmé felt Anakin's hand begin to tremble, and she looked down through her tears to see his grip loosen and watched the lightsaber roll from his hand onto the dirt floor beside him.

Anakin gazed at her as she turned her eyes back toward him. The rage was gone; he had heard her pleading voice, heard her words of devotion, of love, and had followed them through the dark cloud of anger back to her side. He suddenly felt so weak, and the realization of just how close he had come to the Dark Side sent a shiver of terror through his heart. He had come so close to losing everything, even her.

"Padmé," he said weakly, pulling her into his arms and wrapping them tightly around her, "I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry..."

Padmé wrapped her arms around her beloved husband as tightly as she could; she had him back, she hadn't lost him, after all. "It's alright, Ani," she said softly, "I'm here."

They clung tightly to each other in the dim lantern light as, outside, the distant howl of the massiffs could be heard in the still night air.

------

Anakin gently stroked Padmé's long brown hair with his hands as he held her tightly in his arms.

He was a strong young man. Since he was a young boy, fear was something that he had rarely known in his life. The years spent racing pods for Watto had taught him that fear was something that could be controlled. Fear was a sign of weakness, Watto had taught him, and he had learned that lesson well. Too well, it seemed, for he and his master Obi-Wan had struggled over his strong-willed, fearless ways many times in the past. Bravery, Obi-Wan had insisted, was not to be confused with foolhardiness. Indeed, it would have taken a great deal to strike fear into the heart of Anakin Skywalker.

Yet now, as he held tightly to his precious Padmé, he was genuinely afraid. His brush with the Dark Side was still fresh on his mind, and he tried to banish