Saga Heart of a King (A/P, TPM-AU) UPDATED: 1/25

Heart of a King
by Vivid_Scripts

Genre: Drama, Intrigue, Philosophy, Romance, AU

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Watto, various Original Characters, some cameos by Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Darth Maul

Timeframe: TPM. We start off the day that Anakin and Padmé met in Watto's shop.

Author's Note: In this AU, Anakin is 4 years older than he is in the Cannon (making him 13). Padmé is still 14.
And yes, this is a re-write of a story I've already done. Sometimes I feel like all I can do is rewrite. The day I come up with a new original idea...
Those that have read the original of this... (don't even say the original title!) I wrote that when I... sucked. I had no feet as a writer. Thats the main reason why I felt like I had to come back and do it right.

All criticism welcome!

 

Uno.

Young Anakin Skywalker rose from his bed. The process of actually waking and rising from sleep took half an hour, and it consisted of a half-unconscious Anakin doing battle with his alarm chrono by slapping the sleep button every two minutes. The struggle was a manifestation of his reluctance to embrace miserable another day of his slave boy existence.

Still, he rose. Still, he had hope.

He sat up in his bed and rolled his shoulders in an attempt to undo some of the displeasure that the uncomfortable mattress had bestowed upon him in his sleep. He bent down and searched the underneath of his bed for the box that contained his most prized possessions: a homemade scanner and a photograph of his mother.

He kissed the likeness and bowed his head to it, honoring the woman that had brought him life and cared for him when he was a boy. Watto sold her three years ago, an act for which Anakin was forever bitter.

When his mother was sold, the scanner took her place as the object of his devotion. After years of perfecting his creation, it was finally adjusted to match the frequency of the transmitter that the slavers had installed in him.

His eyes glimmered with hope as the scanner identified object that was embedded deep in his left forearm, just above the elbow. The scanner was an object of hope, but it was not a complete solution. Even with the scanner to identify and help remove that transmitter, he still needed a way to escape Mos Espa.

Anakin replaced the photograph and the scanner in their rightful place underneath his bed. He stood and continued to prepare himself for his duties. Another day, another search for potential escape routes from Mos Espa.

The slave boy sighed and proceeded to his morning exercises. When he had completed his stretching, pushups and sit-ups he went to the kitchen to prepare food. He never learned to duplicate his mother?s culinary skills, but his rudimentary abilities are adequate enough to make edible food. When he was done eating, he took his morning shower and slipped on his work clothes.

He hadn?t stepped but two feet out of his apartment when a young boy, not more than eight or nine years old, ran clean into him. His initial reflex was to reach out and push back. The boy fell backwards, skidding across the sidewalk, stopping only when his head hit the guardrail.

?Why don?t you watch where you?re going, kid?? Anakin roared.

?Ow! What-? The boy cut himself short as he looked up at the person he ran into. His face paled instantly. Anakin?s benign reputation preceded him wherever he went, but his temper around the slave quarters was legendary. ?I?m sorry, Anakin.?

?Just get out of here, kid.? He scowled and looked down the corridor. ?Wait, what are you running from??

A red-skinned male twi?lek rounded the corner. He looked like a smuggler. He reeked. It wasn?t exactly a foul smell that Anakin detected, but he sensed something. This guy was... distasteful, to say the least. Slaver. Scum.

?Is there a problem here?? Anakin asked. The boy ran behind Anakin, seeking refuge in the elder slave?s silhouette.

The red-skinned twi?lek responded in huttese.

?Leave the kid alone,? Anakin replied, his scowl deepening.

The twi?lek replied, again in huttese.

?Or what? There is no ?or what?. Leave him alone!?

The twi?lek replied, his voice growing distinctly more hostile.

?You think I?m afraid of you?? He balled his fists, preparing for a confrontation. His body was very well developed for his age, a side effect of extended hours doing heavy lifting in the machine shop. ?You think you can faze me??

The two slowly trudged closer to each other, trading insults in huttese. Before long, they were standing face-to-face, separated only by a few centimeters and the conflict was reaching a boiling point.

?So, what are you going to do, you schutta??

He saw the first punch coming before the twi?lek even cocked back to swing. Anakin ducked, avoiding the punch and pushed his foe, using the twi?le

 

This looks cool!

Please add me to the PM list

 

A vrey good start! This definetely looks interesting

 

Cool. I never thought about what would have happened to Anakin if Qui hadn't come and freed him. PM's, please!

Raptor517

 

PM list (so far):

Raptor517
G__Anakin

 

This looks neat
I'm liking this
Please add me to the PM list, and I'm looking forward to more

 

PM LIST:

Raptor517
G__Anakin
General_Kenobi_66

---

[b][color=red]Deuce.[/color][/b]

Anakin hated Watto, so much. After spending so many years honing his skills as a master mechanic, nothing upset him more than being reduced to a task as menial as clean-up duty. That was why his apartment was such a mess.

Yet hating Watto was difficult, because it was so hard to vent the emotion. Yes, Anakin could lash out at others, because Watto was willing to pay for whatever damages he did, but to lash out at Watto himself? Unacceptable.

The Hutt laws allowed a slave owner to pay for the damages that his slave inflicted but were very harsh when it came to punishing slaves that rebelled against their masters. Any sort of aggression against Watto would have him standing before Jabba?s firing squad at dawn.

There was a time when the slave boy did everything he could to help Watto, believing that he could somehow earn a better keep. That notion dissolved, along with all other hopes he had placed on Watto, when the Toydarian sold his mother three years ago.

No matter how much money Watto made, the stingy Toydarian would never open his wallet to give anything to Anakin. A few years ago, when the fridge in Anakin?s apartment broke, Watto wouldn?t spare a single credit to repair it. Instead, the boy had to scavenge for spare parts and fix the unit himself.

From then on, Anakin learned to express his hatred in a more passive way. First, he learned how to short the register, taking a small amount of money without Watto even noticing. Next, he started stealing parts. Small motivators first, but eventually he worked his way up to taking entire circuit boards and small power couplings. He ended up using most of those parts for his own creations, which he often sold to the shop across the street.

Later, he would sabotage his master by telling customers about better deals from the shop across the street or by helping customers steal parts when Watto wasn?t looking. Other times, he simply scared them away by telling them that Watto?s parts were defective when the Toydarian went out to the junkyard to check the stock.

Sometimes, when business really picked up, Watto would have customers flocking to the store, and he couldn?t deal with all of them so he assigned Anakin to start selling parts on his behalf. Whenever this happened, he would find ways to sell Watto?s parts for inflated prices and keep the difference.

Ripping off Watto was satisfying, but a part of Anakin wished for true retribution for all the misery Watto had caused him. He had dreams where he lopped off the Toydarian?s wings, leaving his owner crippled. As satisfying as that violent retribution was, however, he never forgot that the best part of those dreams was that he was a pilot, smuggler, soldier, or a Jedi? not a slave.

Anakin hoped to someday have enough money saved up from ripping off Watto to buy his passage off of Tatooine. That was his brightest hope for escape.

He?d just finished cleaning when the bell rung, indicating that the first customers of the day had arrived. The leader, a tall man in his early twenties, had brown hair, a short ponytail and a stern, serious expression. Anakin could tell he was an outworlder, despite the moisture farmer?s poncho he wore. With him was a blue R2 unit and a girl...

Normally, Anakin would have tried to sell them something, pocket the money, and get them out of the store before Watto flew in from the junkyard. But he was distracted by the girl. She was beautiful, in ways that he couldn?t describe. Her hair, her eyes, her face... it mesmerized him.

He couldn?t say a single word until he heard the familiar thud of Watto?s ever-beating wings.

?[i]Achuta chowbaso[/i],? Watto said in Huttese, greeting the customer.

?I need parts for a J-type, 327 Nubian.? The tall outworlder replied. ?R2 has manifest of all the parts we need.?

?Ah, Nubian, we have lots of that.? Watto turned to Anakin, and ordered him to watch the shop in Huttese before leading the customer and his droid out

 

Great Chapter Vivid_Scipts! This is turning out to seem very intresting!

 

Great update

This is a really neat idea; I am looking forward to more

Thanks for the PM

G_K_66

 

Watto is in for it... Great update! And thanks for the PM!

Raptor517

 

Oh, I like this! Please, add me to the PM list. Anakin sure is angry

 

G__Anakin, G_K_66- Thanks!

Raptor517- Watto is in for it...

maybe....

J_Ro- Added!

PM List:
Jaded_Rose
Raptor517
General_Kenobi_66
G__Anakin

 

Ohhh looks like my type of story! Anything A/P goes
Looks great to me so far. Please add me to your pm list

 

Of course!

PM list:
Jaded_Rose
Raptor517
General_Kenobi_66
G__Anakin
Lieutenant_Jaina

---

[color=coral][b]Tray.[/b][/color]

Even with the twin suns setting, the heat of Tatooine was unbearable. Young Obi-Wan Kenobi scowled against the brightness. He winced as he felt tiny grains of sand slap his face, the result of the howling winds.

The Jedi Padawan turned away from the gust and raised his communicator to his mouth.

"Yes, Master. I tried every trick in the book and I couldn't sway him."

On the other end, Qui-Gon could sense his Padawan's frustration. "Don't be so harsh on yourself, Padawan. Toydarians have an unusual physiology which makes them immune to the mind trick. I assure you, its failure is not due to your lack of skill."

Obi-Wan sighed, once again irritated by his blunder in the Toydarian's shop. "Either way, Master, that shop is the only one with the parts we need."

"Are you certain that there's no way we can convert Republic credits to Hutt currency?"

"Not here, Master. On Nar Shadaa, maybe. But here, Huttese Peggats are used almost exclusively."

Amidala gave the Jedi a passing glance before straying from him to explore different shops in the bazaar.

As Queen Amidala, she could not be afforded a simple quiet moment to enjoy the landmarks or enjoy the atmosphere of a foreign city. As Padmè Naberrie, she could get all the peace she wanted. The spotlight was focused upon the Queen, not her handmaidens, which is why she cherished her opportunities to travel in disguise. The gravity and fame of her title was something Padmè never enjoyed and never truly got used to.

The winds were growing stronger, and many shops in the Bazaar were beginning to close down. As she peered down one row of closed shops, she spotted the boy from the Toydarian’s junkshop.

A nervous tide washed over her as she considered approaching him. He was handsome and funny, with a real likeable sense of humor. He had deeper problems though, she was sure of that. His sadness as he confessed his slave status was palpable.

Padmè scowled, again horrified at the institution of slavery and its existence in the outer rim. Why aren’t Republic laws enforced out here? Moreover, why aren't Republic credits used out here?

The Queen stepped over to the slave boy. As she brushed away a stray hair from her brow, she smiled at the irony of the situation: here she was, Queen of Naboo, trying to impress a slave boy.

"Hey," she said.

He looked up, his eyes lazily registering her presence. After a moment, his lips crowned as he remembered who she was.

"Hi," he replied.

"Hey, I just wanted to say I'm sorry again, about earlier."

"Don't worry about it. You're not from around here, you don't know your way around. I hope you were able to get the parts you needed."

She shook her head. "Your shops the only shop that's got what we need and we only have Republic credits to trade with..."

"Republic credits?" His expression changed into a scowl, then to a grin. "You guys are core-worlders, aren't you?" He chuckled. "Who else would come here with no peggats?"

"Yeah, I'm a little worried that we might be stuck here for a long time."

The slave boy paused and looked around, assessing he weather. The wind was kicking up even stronger, and more dust was in the air. The storm was still fairly calm, but it was gradually building.

"Is your ship nearby?"

"We're landed over by the outskirts."

"Oh, you'll never make it there in time." He paused as he caught sight of Obi-Wan Kenobi trudging through the wind. "This storm will be in full effect by the time you reach the town limits."

"Hello." Obi-Wan considered the slave boy carefully before glaring at the disguised Queen questioningly.

"I'm Anakin Skywalker." The slave extended his hand.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi." He accepted the handshake.

"You guys need a place to stay and wait out

 

I couldn't read it, sorry.

Do you think you could PM me when it's fixed?

 

just did. I had to delete everything and retype all the quotes and apostrophes by hand. This glitch I have is very very annoying

 

Great Chapter! I liked the conversation! It was done very well

 

Good job! I really liked the interaction between Anakin and Padme. Glad to know they'l be helping out each other. Looking forward to the next post!