Hope's POV

"Mum!" I call as I open the door. We enter the house.

"Mum! We're home!" Ani shouts. She appears from the kitchen. She looks at the off worlders in shock. "These are our friends mum" Ani tells her.

"They weren't going to be able to reach shelter before the sand storm. We offered them sanctuary" I tell her. "This is Qui-gon, Jar- Jar, R2 and..." I start to introduce the group.

"Padme" Ani finishes and I chuckle.

"You son and daughter were kind enough to offer us shelter from the sand storm" Qui-gon states.

"Well dinner will be ready soon, you're welcome to join us" mum tells him.

"Need help?" I ask her.

"No dear, you rest" she tells me.

"Come on! Let me show you Threepio!" Ani says leading Padme to our room. I follow them with R2. Leaving mum with Qui-gon and Jar-jar. "Isn't he great?! He's not finished yet" he tells her.

"Still need to find sheets to cover him with" I add.

"He's wonderful" Padme tells us.

"You reall like him?" Ani asks smiling brightly. "He's a protocol droid, to help mum and Hope" he states. "Watch" he says and turns C3PO on.

"How do you do, I am See-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations. How might I serve you?" C3PO ask.

"He's perfect" Padme states.

"I did his programming. Not easy with our limited supplies" I tell her. "Though Ani got most of the parts for him and found the body. We made him together" I state.

"When the storm is over, you can see my racer. I'm building a Pod-racer" Ani brags. I clear my throat giving him a look. "I mean we're building" he corrects himself. Padme smiles at us.

"So how old are you Padme?" I ask curious.

"I'm fourteen, you?" she asks.

"Eleven, but I turn twelve in three days" I tell her. "Well two days really as this day is nearly over" I state. Tomorrow is the pod race, then my birthday is the day after. We're called to dinner and go sit at the dining table.

"So why don't you guys leave?" Padme asks us curious.

"All slaves have transmitters placed inside their bodies somewhere. Hope doesn't have one as she was born free and remains so" mum tells her.

"Hope and I have been working on a scanner to try and locate them, but no luck" Ani states.

"Any attempt to escape" Mum starts.

"And they blow you up, Boom!" Ani exclaims.

"How wude" Jar-jar states. I think he meant how rude.

"I can't believe there is still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's anti-slavery laws..." Padme starts to say.

"The Republic doesn't exist out here, we must survive on our own" mum tells her. An awkward silence fills the room. I play with my necklace absentmindedly. It was the only thing mum had of my father and she gave it to me on my tenth birthday.

"Have you ever seen a pod race?" Ani asks changing the subject.

"They have Podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous" Qui-Gon states.

"I'm the only human who can do it" Ani states proudly. Mum gives him a look. "Mom, what? I'm not bragging. It's true. Watto says he's never heard of a human doing it" he states.

"He's right" I agree.

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you race Pods" Qui-gon states. Does that mean I can race also? Sure I've never piloted a pod before, but how hard can it be? Jar-jar attempts to snare another bit of food from the bowl with his tongue. But Qui-gon, in a flash, grabs it between his thumb and forefinger. Jar-jar is startled. "Don't do that again" he tells him before letting go of the tongue.

"I...I was wondering...something" Ani says nervously looking at Qui-Gon.

"What?" Qui-gon asks him curious.

"Well, ahhh...you're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?" Ani asks.

"What make you think that?" Qui-gon asks.

"Hope and I saw your laser sword. Only Jedi carry that kind of weapon" Ani states.

"Not true Ani, Sith carry them to. Though I'm sure Mr Qui-Gon isn't one as they wear black clothes" I state.

"Perhaps I killed a Jedi and stole it from him" Qui-gon suggests crossing his arms.

"I don't think so... No one can kill a Jedi Knight" Ani states.

"I wish that were so" Qui-gon says.

"I had a dream Hope and I were Jedi. We came back here and freed all the slaves...have you come to free us?" Ani asks him.

"No, I'm afraid not" Qui-gon answers.

"I think you have...why else would you be here?" Ani asks him.

"He has a point, as the Republic doesn't exist out here. There's really no reason for a Jedi to be here" I state. Qui-gon looks at us thoughtfully before answering Ani.

"I can see there's no fooling you both. You mustn't let anyone know about us. We're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic, on a very important mission, and it must be kept secret" he tells us.

"Coruscant...wow...how did you end up here in the outer rim?" we asks.

"Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here until we can repair it" Padme answers.

"We can help" I tell them.

"We can fix anything" Ani adds.

"I believe you both can, but our first job is to acquire the parts we need" Qui-gon tells us.

"Wit no-nutten mula to trade" Jar-jar adds.

"These junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind" Padme states.

"Gambling. Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races" Mum tells them.

"Pod racing... Greed can be a powerful ally.. if it's used properly" Qui-gon states.

"I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever. There's a big race tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod. It's all but finished" Ani tells him.

"Anakin, settle down. Watto won't let you" mum tells him.

"Watto doesn't know we built it" I assure her.

"You could make him think it's yours, and you could get him to let me pilot it for you" Ani tells Qui-Gon.

"I don't want you to race, Annie...It's awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it" mum tells him.

"But Mom, I love it...and they need help...they're in trouble. The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need" Ani states.

"Your mother's right. Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who might be able to help us?" Qui-gon asks.

"Mum, we have to help them. You said that the biggest problem in the universe is no one helps each other. Let Ani help them, he's the only one who can" I tell her.

"I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger. We will find another way" Padme tells mum.

"No, Hope's right, there is no other way... I may not like it, but Ani can help you...he was meant to help you" mum tells them.

"I'll help you with the pod Ani, it'll be ready" I tell him and he smiles brightly. We give the off worlders a place to sleep for the night. I then got ready for bed and called it a night.

A/N

Picture above of dinner scene from Hope's POV and picture on the external link of Anakin showing Padme C3PO from Hope's POV.