Another scream tore through the air, what I had discovered to be the Force rippling through my senses as I clutched my ears and gritted my teeth.

Just be over with it already. I begged, hating that I could feel that my mother was in pain and that Anakin was in a state of raw fear, both emotions having a bad feel to them as I felt like I was drowning in something I couldn't see or feel with my regular senses, but I knew was there.

It had been nothing but sparks of light from people that I could detect after months of trying to center my thoughts and try to feel without touch, until Anakin started developing more. He just felt… loud for lack of a better term.

It had already been hours now since my mother had gone into labor, and I had been escorted away, but it didn't lower the volume of it through the Force in the slightest.

This wasn't something I could mentally handle. I thought being scared for my life, nearly petrified with fear when I was almost killed the first time was bad, but this was something I was completely unequipped to deal with.

Another scream echoed through the Force and my teeth clenched as I tried to steady my breathing and refrain from screaming right alongside my mother and Anakin.

But finally, after over 12 hours of torture, it ended. I felt an overwhelming calm seem to run through the air as everything went silent, the sound now absent.

'Reaching out', for lack of a better term, with the Force, I felt a rather large spark of something, my attention being drawn towards it like a moth to a flame.

Hello, Anakin. I thought coldly, wondering what kind of nightmare of a life I was in for because he was my brother. I probably was being punished, come to think of it. Someone else was given all the power in the world, and I was likely destined to be trapped on Tatooine with my mother, and Anakin would go on to murder innocent people and become a monster.

But he would be free, while I would be looked over by Qui-Gon in all likelihood.

Anakin seemed to grow brighter as I got angrier at the thought, which served to enrage me even further. It was like I was being taunted that I would be some weakling Force user when Anakin would have everything given to him, but reject it and set the world aflame.

Deciding to go and see my new 'little brother', I hopped out of the chair and exited the room. My footsteps scuffed against the ground lightly as I made my way down the hall, both my hands going up to push the door open from how small I still was.

The door opened with a groan and I saw my mother, sweat covering her and her hair a mess as I saw that she was holding a small bundle that practically glowed even when it looked normal to my eyes.

"Kane," She whispered my name a bit breathlessly, still holding Anakin snug to her, "Meet your little brother."

For the most confusing and incomprehensible reason, I felt like I had dodged a proverbial bullet when she said the word brother. I banished the odd feeling from my mind and walked up closer to her, hopping up in the chair as the midwife lady stepped away for a moment.

Now that I was eye level with my mom, I hopped into the bed and sat next to her, looking down at the newborn baby boy.

"Anakin." I whispered softly, feeling a stab of envy go through me as I looked at him for the very first time.

Shmi shifted gingerly, giving me more room to sit up and look directly at Anakin.

"He's going to need his big brother to protect him." Shmi said gently, her voice soft and soothing.

The way she said it cut through my envy and lessened it to a massive degree, my eyes tracing along my brother's face slowly and deliberately.

"Hi, Anakin," I whispered, reaching out and tapping his head as gently as I could physically manage, "I'm your brother, Kane."

He squirmed under my touch, but he didn't cry out like I had feared.

I sat with my mother and Anakin for a while, not budging even when the midwife showed up again and told me I needed to move.

/

Such a small thing, but capable of reshaping an entire galaxy. I thought to myself, looking at a fast asleep Anakin.

We'd received a crib to use for him, the now couple of days old Chosen One laying on a blanket and shifting around while I gazed down at him.

Shmi was currently fast asleep, while I had been doing the same thing I'd been trying for months since I figured out I was Force sensitive.

Reaching out with the Force… such a weird thing to think.

It still had hardly any results aside from me feeling sparks of something in my mind, and it was starting to aggravate me. But much to my surprise, I could always sense Anakin. He was like a beacon, and I only needed to focus some to feel that he was there.

Probably because he had such a bright presence, to be honest.

He was so fragile. This newborn, should he live, would become one of the most powerful Sith in history and would be the template of what a Darth is in popular media.

And he was my brother.

It felt weird to think that. Brother. That familial bond they talk about was withered and died long ago for me. The closest thing to it I knew was my brothers in arms that I fought alongside, the ones I died for.

I suddenly felt something in the air shift and Anakin opened his eyes, a bright blue like the sky meeting mine for a moment.

To this day, I can remember the exact number of beats my heart made as I looked at this newborn like it was any other, and when I truly understood who he was.

He was not Anakin Skywalker. He was not a slave. He was not Darth Vader in waiting.

He was my little brother.

Nobody would protect him from what was out there. Nobody could when only one person in this entire galaxy knew what was on the horizon for the next 50 years. Not a single person could protect him from others, and even himself.

Aside from me.

Anakin still looked at me with his bleary little eyes, before finally shutting them.

"I promise," I whispered, reaching into the crib and setting my hand gently on his head, "I will protect you, no matter what."

There would be no Darth Vader. No Empire. No Jedi massacre. If I had to join the Order myself to keep my little brother from being sentenced to a life of Hell, I'd do it with a smile on my face. And nothing said I couldn't leave the Order, with Anakin in tow, and pursue whatever I want afterwards.

No matter what, I will always protect him.

I turned away from the crib and went back to my own little cot, wrapping the old and fraying blanket of mine around me to ward off the cold. Hopefully, this would lead to a better tomorrow that didn't involve what I had feared since I discovered just who I was.

/

"Say Kane." I said to my six month old brother, said infant being propped up with a pillow while our mother was trying to repair a device just a few feet away from us. " Kane, Ani. Kane."

"K-" Anakin managed to slur out, his face breaking out into a wide smile when I laughed at his attempt.

" Kane." I said again, scooping him up and hugging him close to me. "We'll try again later." I sighed, but then blew a raspberry at him. The adorable little ball of sunshine predictably giggled like I'd taught him when I'd make that noise. I then ruffled his wispy blond hair and let him lean against the pillow.

"Please don't rile up your little brother, Kane." Shmi hummed lightly, flicking the on switch for the rinky dink, or at least by this universe's standards, device. It worked, much to her relief. She then set it on the table and walked over to us, picking up Anakin and giving him attention.

Traitor. I sulked when he didn't squawk to stay with me. Of course he wants mom.

"Don't have that look on your face or it'll be stuck like that." Shmi narrowed her eyes, but the smile on her face let it be known she wasn't actually upset with me, just teasing. "Ani needs attention and you know that."

Attention from you, you mean. I thought amusedly, not needing to be around the kid for 6 months to realize he was a big Mama's boy.

"But I will be taking Anakin to have some vaccines. Be sure to stay put in this room." She said sternly this time. "Understood?"

"Yes, mom." I replied quietly, putting on a show of not wanting to disappoint her.

She was still a little upset at me when I ventured out and happened across Jango fecking Fett of all people. I'd decided not to do anything else that would scare her, but I had needed to do it. Now that I knew Jango was indeed a Mandalorian and had been Mand'alor at one point, it meant Legends was where I was at. So, I needed to try meditation and space wizard fuckery when no one was around so I wouldn't end up dying early.

"Good," She smiled, carrying my little brother away with her, "I'll bring some food back. I love you."

Shmi disappeared around the corner and I frowned, waiting until I couldn't feel the extremely faint warp in my sort of vision whenever Anakin was near to get started again.

When it finally vanished, I crossed my legs and sat on my butt, setting my palms on my thighs and shutting my eyes. Meditation had been something I tried before when one of the guys in my platoon recommended it. He was a Buddhist and thought it would help, but it wasn't really effective then; I preferred punching and shooting shit to clear my thoughts.

But with the existence of the Force and an entire group of warrior monks somewhat similar to the Knights Templar and Shaolin monks, it might just be what I need.

Keeping my eyes shut, I slowed my breathing and let my heartbeat slow like I'd done for the past several weeks. It was slow going, but I had gotten to the stage where I could zone out and focus on my heartbeat and the slow and steady pace of my breathing.

Duh-dum. Duh-dum. Duh-dum. Each beat of my heart was steady and combined with the slow but steady breathing pattern of my lungs as I tried to seek that mystical energy that sang through my very being, whose notes I still couldn't hear without Anakin present.

I don't know how long I really was there, but I knew when Anakin and my mother returned because I felt them before I heard them.

I quickly sat up and made myself look busy, fiddling around with one of the devices that served as a toy for Anakin that I was fixing in my spare time when not trying to figure out how to use the Force.

The door hissed open and I turned to look at Shmi, who was holding a small bag of food in the crook of her arm while she had a very upset looking Anakin, who had tear tracks on his face from getting the dreaded needle shot.

"I got your favorite." She smiled, wiggling the bag before setting it on the small table in the corner that had a close equivalent to an air fryer on it that Shmi had salvaged and repaired from a trash heap.

My 'favorite' was meat from some type of animal that was as close to beef tasting as possible. It was to the point where I could almost be fooled into thinking that it was a cow from Earth, if not for the slightly different texture.

Anakin suddenly jerked in Shmi's arms and started crying once more, a faint ripple making my head faintly ache for a moment.

It honestly felt a bit like a migraine, and I couldn't do anything about it as frustration started to rise up as I stood up and walked over to them.

"Ani," Shmi groaned, adjusting how she was holding him as he kept crying while she tried to sift through the bag to get him some food while he was starting to be weaned off of milk. "Hold still." She said gently, trying to soothe him.

It didn't really work, and I could tell it wasn't going to, so I reached up to her and went to hold Anakin.

"Kane." Shmi looked at me confusedly, wondering what I was doing.

"Let me hold him." I offered, my hands still up. "I'm a big boy, lemme hold him."

I was physically strong enough to hold a six month old infant, and steadily at that. Don't ask how I was certain of it, but suffice to say I did know I was.

Shmi sighed and walked away from the table with the cooker, before beginning to hand Anakin to me.

"Sit in the chair," She instructed, which I did. She then reached out to me to probably show me what to do. "Support his head like thi-" she abruptly stopped when I supported his head a little bit like I was supposed to, and all the other things I learned from holding babies before.

Amusingly, Anakin stopped crying once I started holding him. The slight migraine I had also disappeared completely, the frustration and annoyance bleeding away completely.

"You're so smart." She smiled gently at the two of us, before kissing the top of my head. "But if he starts to cry, just talk to him and tell him how much you love him."

"Yes, mama." I replied, smiling down at my little brother as he stared at me with those same wide blue eyes of his that I'd rarely seen anything similar to.

Shmi went back to the table and began preparing our food, all the while I cooed at Anakin and made faces to get him to laugh.

/

"Faster." The grizzled old human that was instructing me on how to tear apart and repair a few mechanical parts said, wiping at his brow as sweat had started to build up on his face. "They'll hit you if you're not fast enough."

I nodded silently my understanding, setting aside the now functional Droid CPU and picked up a signal transmitter that was the most intact, grabbing its partner as well.

This particular overseer was a better one. He didn't hit me like the others had, just scolded me and warned of others being much less forgiving.

So it was a good thing Shmi taught me this stuff when at home, I guess.

Finishing up after borrowing parts from other less intact ones, the overseer inspected the items, before grunting dismissively.

"You're good enough to start doing this full time starting tomorrow." He said, dropping it back onto the table. "I'll let them know they have another to do this."

I nodded silently again, having preferred this over any other sort of work. This was a valuable skill and would serve me well in the future, especially once I was free and got ahold of the educational resources of the Jedi Order…

Assuming they'd let me in.

I already had a plan cooked up if everything went like it did in the Phantom Menace, aside from me existing.

They crash land and happen across us as per usual. If I'm fortunate enough to have figured out how to meditate and access the Force more consistently, then there's a decent chance that Jinn would try and bring me along with Anakin, or at least mention to the Council to send someone to get me.

And Qui-gon getting killed wouldn't derail my contingency plan in the event that Kenobi did the exact same thing he did in pretty much forgetting about Shmi. If I remembered correctly, Vos would be undercover in Mos Espa. He was a more unorthodox Jedi, similar to Jinn in not being well liked by the Council, and offered a window for me to have someone trying to get me and Shmi free in case Anakin was the only one taken by Qui-gon.

Also, it's Anakin over me if Jinn for some weird reason felt like he needed to choose between one of us. I could find my own way to become powerful enough to bring great change to the galaxy without the Jedi Order or the Baneite Sith, but Anakin wasn't. The Order was currently the safest place for him other than me if I were emancipated.

Shaking my head as I ran those thoughts through my head, I listened to the overseer as he told me to scram, my legs still too short for me to move anywhere with even a remotely similar pace as I had as an adult.

I couldn't wait to be fully grown again.

/

With my hand outstretched, I kept my focus on that remote spark of otherness that I can now imperceptibly feel at all times after months of almost catatonic levels of meditation that had left my mother concerned about me at one point.

I'd just turned 8 not that long ago, and I was left to myself after managing to fix a blown out engine cooler for a speeder in record time.

So, as a reward, I got a small candy bar that was undoubtedly expired and was dismissed a couple of hours early from my day's labour.

With that free time, I was trying to finally move an object with my mind, which was currently a small screw just a foot away from my hand.

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Meditation had been somewhat managed, my mind being much clearer and I could feel what I assumed was the Force a little better. I could detect people that weren't Anakin or Shmi better, and my thoughts were sharper than before.

Breathing steadily and keeping my mind in that elusive tranquil state, I reached at the otherness and visualized myself touching the screw and pushing it.

I thought I made it wiggle, but that could have just been a trick of my vision.

Focusing once more, I began to try it once again, the faintest beads of frustration starting to build on the edges of my mind.

The faint crack and abrupt gasp of the Twi'lek cuts through the still air and he falls to the ground. Rage burns like a sizzling and endless fire.

Something felt different now, it felt thicker now. I felt like another extremity of mine had caressed the screw, the sharpness of the threads reaching my mind as I reached further.

Just as I saw the screw roll slightly on the floor, the ghost of a grin starting to make its way on my face, the door opened with an audible hiss to reveal Shmi and Anakin.

"Kane!" Anakin shrieked, running straight towards me and hitting me with all the momentum his little body could manage, jarring me from my mental state.

And just like that, the fire was gone, leaving me suddenly cold.

"Anakin." I scowled, saying his full name instead of Ani. "I was doing something."

My little brother abruptly stopped smiling, his eyes blinking owlishly. "Oh."

I almost cringed from how his face fell and he looked absolutely crestfallen that I was annoyed. So thinking quickly, I shrugged and hugged him.

"It was fun, but you're more fun." I said, ruffling his hair and making him squawk.

"Stop it." He whined, trying to pry my grip off of his shoulders.

"Nope," I said, still messing with his dark blond hair, "You got pretty hair, like a girl!"

Another squeal of indignation left him, before I let him go and let him run around.

With moments like this, I didn't even care that I was a slave. We'd be on Tatooine sooner than later, and a few years later, Jinn would be there to kickstart all the shenanigans that would be known as the discovery of the Chosen One.

/

'Something else had to be done.' was my silent thought for the last few months now, ever since I had made the first successful attempt at moving an object with my will. The only way I was making a detectable headway was if I tapped into the fury I felt when I nearly killed the overseer years ago, and that frightened me.

Not frightened by being seduced by the Dark Side or anything like that. I knew I could never be a good Jedi, because I was too selfish and would kill savages the moment I received enough training to pull it off in mass quantities. Thousands of people in my past life had God to thank for not giving me superpowers.

The fear originated from the harsh truth that Anakin needed a good role model of the Light Side, or a close aesthetic to it, and that I needed to look like a prodigious Force adept that used the Light Side instinctively when the cadre of Jedi and Nabooens showed up.

It was going to be a pain in my ass, but that was the choice I made. I made the decision that Anakin was my brother in every way, that Shmi was my mother in every way, and that I would protect them the best I could… in every way.

Groaning to myself, I hauled myself up out of my cot and sat down on the floor in a rough meditative position I remembered Jedi being depicted to use. With that done, I went back to doing more meditative exercises, hoping beyond all hope that I could wrestle with my own inner desire for action and combat to make it useable for an 'acceptable' level by my eventual Jedi Masters.

(LINE BREAK)

"Kane!" Anakin squeaked, blue eyes practically glowing as he waddled up to me and reached upwards. "Let's play!"

Anakin was 3 years old now and was obsessed with the new 'trick' I'd managed to do with hit or miss results.

I could make a screw move, without using my anger or frustration.

Years of meditation exercises to clear my head, letting go of my material thoughts, and all that hippie bullshit to get me to be able to barely sense someone looking directly at me from a foot away and moving a screw.

The Jedi, Sith, and all the other Force sects can blow me. They got all the hax holocrons while I got the vague description of Buddhist meditation from some dumbshit who didn't know you weren't supposed to put metal in a damned microwave.

Grunts-1

Yoda-0

"Okay." I sighed dramatically, smiling at the kid. "Gimme a hug first."

Sure enough, Anakin accepted the tradeoff and latched onto me, making me close my eyes to sense as best as I could so I could feel him.

It was just an overwhelming feeling of warmth, I didn't even need to focus to feel his presence in the Force.

"Ready to see the screw move?" I asked him seconds later, his blue eyes sparkling as he looked up at me.

"Yes!"

"Okay," I smiled, turning to look at the table where there were some assorted parts and pieces in the singular room we were in, "Look closely, Ani."

Anakin burned bright enough next to me that it was actually a little easier for me to find my own internal light that I had figured out was my connection to the Force, and I reached forward with it to wrap around the screw.

Slowly and steadily, the screw began to levitate, giving me a weird sort of echo of sensory input as if my hand was touching it.

Next, I coaxed it towards me, focusing as hard as I could. Finally, it reached my hand and I grabbed ahold of it, showing it to Anakin.

"Wow," He marveled at it just as much as he did the first time you saw me do it, his eyes full of a childish wonder, "Can I do it?!"

"Maybe." I said, feeling sort of bad about trying to divert his attention from asking me to. "I don't know if you can, but we can try later."

Anakin 100% could do it, but I didn't have the slightest clue how to teach myself, let alone him. Basic Force sensing and rudimentary telekinesis was a very different thing compared to physical augmentation, telepathy, and being able to rip objects apart with your mind.

Thankfully, our mother called my name at that moment and freed me from Anakin's pouting, which he looked primed and ready to do.

Hell, I could feel his agitation.

"I'll see what mom wants." I said, sitting up and walking towards said woman while her back was turned to us. She was currently tinkering on a power cell for an older Droid model that I had become somewhat familiar with.

"Yeah, mom?" I asked, standing next to her chair that she was hunched over in.

"First," She said with a low voice, not looking up from her work, "I can tell you antagonized an overseer when assembling an engine two days ago. You're wearing a thicker shirt and you wouldn't let Anakin jump on you."

I grimaced when she said that. I thought I had concealed it more than enough. Bruised, but thankfully not fractured, ribs, a bit of blood in my spit for the first day, and a giant purple mass of bruising on my side.

But I made the bastard bleed. It was warranted after what that thing did.

"He touched another slave, a girl older than me." I said, my anger spiking just from thinking of it all over again.

Older than me meant only in the physical sense. She was at most 13 and that… that, animal touched her in a way no girl her age should be touched by when the humanoid who did it could easily be her grandfather's age.

"I told you not to fight back." She whispered in a hushed tone, looking over her shoulder to make sure Anakin hadn't snuck up on us.

"I would have noticed if he was close." I pointed out, having already not made it a secret that I could do things that Jedi could do. Because face it, Anakin would have said it, being little more than a toddler, and I didn't want my mom to think I was keeping secrets.

At least as many secrets as I had.

"And I won't just, just, sit by and let someone be hurt!" I said furiously, feeling a burning heat rise up within me and a few stray parts on the table shook slightly.

"Kane, control yourself." Shmi said, looking suddenly worried at my reaction "And I don't want to see my baby hurt. So please, don't keep doing this. You won't be able to get away with just a small beating from now on."

A faint flash of what I had connected to be worry flashed through her, making me tilt my head.

"What do you mean?" I asked, having managed to calm myself enough to be centered once more.

The look on her face said it all, and I didn't like it.

"First, we're all still together, don't be worried about that," She explained, looking grim, "But we have been sold. In two days, we will be on a freighter to Tatooine to work for Gardulla the Hutt."

Tatooine.

Gardulla.

Fecking. Tatooine.

Huh, so this was when they ended up on Tatooine.

"Okaaayy." I said slowly, still looking at her expectantly. "And?"

I probably should have shown more concern, but it would have been obviously fake. So I just stuck with a neutral detachment.

"Kane, I don't think you understand how serious this is." Shmi scolded me, but I didn't react to the soft glare she gave me. "The Hutts are ruthless. If you strike an overseer of theirs, they may kill you. They may even beat me or Anakin to make an example."

That last sentence made me flinch, the very thought of that being even a remote possibility sending a chill up my spine.

"You can't fight back, Kane. Promise me you won't." She reached out and grabbed my hand, pleading with me.

It felt like two parts of me were clashing with one another. The last 3 years, I had come to know something that was very different from the friendship and brotherhood I had with the men I had served with.

I loved Anakin and Shmi immeasurably, and I was willing to murder anybody who tried to hurt them. But, what if that viciousness puts them at risk?

Right as I was about to speak, I saw Anakin's head peak from around the corner, his wide eyes blinking slowly.

I could feel his curiosity at what we were talking about, meaning he hadn't heard anything.

Slowly, I let out the breath I'd been holding for several seconds. "I promise." I whispered, leaning down and hugging my mother. "I promise."

That almost physically hurt me to say, but I didn't want Anakin to think it was alright to violently lash out when at such a young age. He was never going to be Vader if had a say in it.

Shmi visibly relaxed, returning the embrace.

I just hoped I'd be able to keep that promise.

/

"Don't worry, Ani," I said to my little brother, holding his hand as he sniffled quietly, "We're going into the spaceship and see a cool place."

We were on our way to be packed in what was likely to be a storage section of the ship in front of us, and Anakin was almost inconsolable as he was confronted with the unfamiliarity of it all.

Me? Well, I was very put out by it all. I hated dry and hot environments, and Tatooine was both. Plus, this was but another step towards Calvary, the long march towards events that I may know, but would have to be a titan to contend with. Nothing I could do to prepare would protect me from Maul or pretty much any threat. Deflect blaster bolts? Need a Jedi or Sith to train me. Saber fight? Force augmentation and a lightsaber or metal that could withstand a saber. Nothing could be done, and I was at the mercy of slavers and scum.

The fact that I didn't even care that I was about to experience what every little boy wanted to, get in a spaceship, said something about my mental state.

Anakin just clung on to me, our mother glancing at us and giving me a reassuring smile while holding part of our meager belongings while I had the remaining amount in my tattered old knapsack I fished out of the trash pile.

It was a silent boarding; it was a silent take off; it was a rough and silent trip, and I just shut my eyes while holding Anakin close to me.

"It's okay, Ani. I'll always be right here."

/(LINE BREAK)

"Get moving!" A rough hand pushed at me as I stumbled off of the ship and onto the blistering and dry surface of Tatooine. And here I thought me being stationed in North Africa was bad; this was dry as a bone and I already felt a tickle at the back of my throat.

Anakin was still tucked close to me while our mom was to my left, several other slaves being in the same group as us that were being escorted by a ratty looking cadre of two humans and a couple of humanoid looking things I didn't recognize.

The sheer number of aliens I'd seen in under 10 years of living here was probably a match for the visible races of humans I had seen or known while in the military. That meant the actual number of species out there probably eclipsed the amount of human ethnicities there were throughout the millennia on Earth.

And that was a bewildering thought.

The outskirts of the impromptu port where ships would land and drop their cargo dropped off looked just like a third world shithole you'd expect to find slavery still in existence, which I had witnessed before during my deployment.

A market where what looked to be food being sold was about 100 yards ahead and to the left side of the street, a bandaged humanoid was bartering with an Ithorian on the right side, and a hundred other small interactions that my mind took in as I ran a fast paced threat assessment of the environment.

Anakin still clung to me as we kept walking, but I made sure to shield him with my body as I casually slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out a slightly rusted durasteel shiv I fashioned out of some jagged scrap from months prior. The piece of metal quickly disappeared up my long sleeve, and the dozen others alongside us were marched down the street.

Fortunately, we were technically seen as merchandise and were under an armed escort. So we likely won't be hassled, but it never hurt to be prepared.

"It's hot." Anakin muttered, coughing loudly as another gust of burning wind kicked up more sand into the air to assail us.

"I know, Ani." I replied, rubbing his shoulder assuringly as I tried to project some positivity to him; I didn't care whether it was doing anything or not. "But don't worry, I'll make an air cooler with some knickknacks. Heck, I'll go full wizard and make the air cold if I can."

I wasn't exactly embellishing the last part. I knew as a fact that I could use the Force to cool or heat things. The memory of a brother and sister on Yavin IV doing such a thing stood out the most…

A brother and sister who will never exist now, and probably not their mother or uncle either.

I banished that thought from my mind. It wasn't my choice to be reborn into this universe, so mulling over such things was stupid. Control what you can and don't fret over what you can't.

"Wizard." Anakin giggled quietly, drawing a smile from me as I felt him light up in my second vision.

"Yep, wizard." I nodded along, my eyes trained on the Palace in the distance that was likely to be our new home for the next couple of years.

Several thoughts went through my head as I kept Anakin close to me and practically glared at anything that thought it was fine to even look at me. Short I might be, but I was a warrior, a killer; no random desert dwelling rat that crawled out of the primordial muck of some far flung greaseball of a planet could scare me.

As I was appraising my surroundings once again, I heard a scuffle and a shout in Huttese that I didn't recognize.

A slave was running from an overseer, in broad daylight.

Our escort stopped and the leader barked out a command, causing his underlings to face all of us recently acquired slaves with their blasters at low ready.

It was that act that forewarned me about what was going to happen when the overseer, just a scant 50 meters away, was going to do when he started pressing buttons on his vambrace.

"Look away, Anakin." I instructed harshly, not waiting for my wide-eyed brother to listen and I wrapped my hand around his face, bodily lifting him with my right by the back of his shirt and wheeling him out of visual sight of the slave.

I cleared it by just under two seconds.

Instead of Anakin witnessing an attempted runaway explode into a pulpy mass of meat and bone shards that had an impressively large spread, only Shmi, the other slaves, and me did. I let go of Anakin, who was asking repeatedly what happened, but I was currently occupied counting my lucky stars that I stopped a pre-school aged kid from seeing something that screwed me up some when I first witnessed it. The human mind doesn't like processing exploded humans.

The relief at my small success was short-lived as the chief escort closed the distance between us and stared at me with an emotionless look devoid of anything to gauge his thoughts.

"Like the show? Don't get any ideas, kid." With that, our little caravan was moved onward again, the hustle and bustle of the area returning back to normal like someone didn't just get blown up.

With a world like this as a cradle for the mind, I'm surprised Anakin didn't become a Sith earlier.

(SCENE BREAK)

"So these are the new slaves that have just arrived." The protocol droid translated what the massive slug like creature lounging on an immaculate hovercraft looking thing had just said.

The Hutt's throne room was mostly brown sandstone with decorative arrangements along the walls, durasteel plating at certain structural points, and breathtakingly bright rugs and beautiful furniture where it could be placed.

It was beautiful, from the distance I could see it, that is. We were in the hall that linked into the central palace, but not the throne room itself.

Anakin was cowering away from our new master, while Shmi was nervous and was trying to look as small as possible. The other slaves that were brought in to be inspected by Gardulla, which confused me because I would have thought she'd delegate such a task to someone else, were also a mix of fear and apprehension.

After a second or two, her eyes turned towards me and she stared at me intently.

I returned the look, being incapable of backing down and acting like a good, little buck broken pet for her. Stupid of me? Yes. But I just kept returning her stare without saying a word.

Gardulla just said something lazily to the protocol droid, then turned her hover chair? around and floated away.

"Lady Gardulla says to disinfect them now," The Droid said to the armed escorts, "Especially the young human male."

With that, the translator scampered away to catch up to its master.

I was grabbed by my arm and I jerked around to look at who touched me, which turned out to be one of the larger humans escorting us.

"To the showers." He said harshly, roughly dragging me as Anakin called my name as we were separated somewhat and the group was taken down a couple of different halls, down at least two floor levels in a rusted turbolift, and finally to a torture chamber looking area that had several different rooms, one of which was smaller than the others.

"Take the females to one of the left ones and the males to the right. Kids go on the left too." The tall one ordered, still holding an ironclad grip on my arm as we walked to the door to the small room, which hissed open when we reached it.

I was then unceremoniously flung into the room like discarded trash. My elbow struck the wet ground and I felt pins and needles tingle all the way down to my fingertips as pain exploded from the joint.

"Get in the shower, slave!" The man laughed, pressing a button that had the walls making a whirring noise before he closed the doors.

Before I could say anything, a jet of water struck me in the back at such a fast velocity that I fell to the ground from the impact, another jolt of pain going through me.

"¡Me cago en tu puta madre!" I shouted one of the choice insults one of my Hispanic squad mates had said constantly.

Now that I was soaked, I pushed myself up and glared at the door, which opened seconds later.

Oh you gotta be shitting me.

Two of what I assumed to be cleaning droids, one silver coloured and the other a faded green, walked in with some foul smelling soap and brushes, which they promptly put to use when they ripped my clothes off and started rubbing my skin raw. The worst part was that I wasn't physically strong enough to push them away, all I could do was take it.

After a torturous several minutes, where I was subjected to this humiliation, I was dried off with the same lack of gentleness and was dragged out by the droids, with the faint suction of the used water being recycled being heard from behind me.

I was half dragged to the same tall human that lead me here and at his nod, the droids let me go and I staggered enough to nearly fall.

"Decontamination is complete." The silverish Droid to my right said in a monotone, which pissed me off because I felt like it was mocking me.

"Await further instructions in the corner." He said, rubbing at his beard as he reached into a pocket in his jacket with his other hand and pulled out what looked like a flask.

The droids silently walked away from us and the guard took a swig of his drink, before wiping his mouth and looking down at me.

I didn't say a word as I gave him the same look I gave on deployment to one of the villagers I shot after he was caught trying to abduct a woman off the street at night.

"I've seen that look in your eyes in others before, kid," He said, a cold grin making his already harsh features stand out even more, "And every single one of them was killed or whipped into a bloody mess. My advice, learn to be a good slave and look down."

As he finished saying that, I noticed that the other slaves, including Anakin and Shmi, were finished being cleaned and had already been gathered up. I was the only one.

But I still looked up at the man, not doubting my response.

"No."

...

*Crack*

I felt something scream out in warning, but it wasn't helpful enough to prevent a gloved fist from striking me across the head and sending me sprawling to the ground.

"Kane!" I heard Anakin scream, my little brother running straight towards me.

He must have pulled free from our mom, because he came straight towards me.

"Stay back!" I snarled, still hearing a ringing in my ears as I glared at my brother. "Go back to mom, now!"

Anakin froze at my tone, his eyes wide and already beginning to tear up. But he listened and ran back to Shmi, who looked absolutely terrified.

The bastard who struck me hauled me to my feet and inspected the gash on my head where his fist made contact, and he let out a snort.

"Your brother's smarter than you, be like him." He said, pushing me towards my mom. "Now follow me to your quarters if you don't want to be kicked."

With that, we were taken down into the lower levels of the Palace where the slaves were kept and the three of us were put in a room with only one small bed and a cheap looking blanket.

It was somehow worse than our previous room. At least the other had a large mirror and an actual lamp, along with a bed and cot both.

My head throbbed throughout the entire ordeal of me scowling at our new 'home', and the cut itched. But I could clean it later when Anakin and Shmi got situated.

"You and Ani get the bed, I'll figure something out." I said shortly, setting down my pack and pulling out the various trinkets and supplies we brought with us.

A pillow, a second blanket, wireless light, and a small canister of disinfectant were just a few of the things inside, but that was all I needed to take out for now.

Anakin practically passed out on the bed not much later, the day obviously being a trying one for him. He was just a little kid, and this was a stressful time.

Before I could do much else other than situate myself as well, Shmi walked up to me and inspected the cut.

"You need to clean it." She said, picking up the antiseptic and pulling out a clean bandage from the bag. "Sit down." She requested, which I listened to without complaint.

The cut was slowly cleaned and I sat silently, letting my mother do it herself. It'd probably put her more at ease to be doing it, so I didn't raise a fuss.

Once she applied a coated patch to my head, she set her palm against my cheek and smiled softly.

"Thank you for stopping Anakin. But, Kane, this is why you can't fight back. I know you hate it, but you need to not challenge them."

She might as well have told me I couldn't breathe or drink water. But I made a promise to her, and Anakin, the little warrior he is, would throw himself recklessly at anything that would threaten me…

Just as I would for him.

But I wouldn't let him have that choice. Anakin would be protected from that, and that was a burden I could deal with for a few more years until Qui-gon showed up.

"I know, mom. I won't let Anakin get hurt. I promise to watch out for him, even if it means I can't fight back." The words left a bad taste, but I did not go back on my word.

Shmi just smiled and leaned towards me, planting a kiss on my forehead. "You are your brother's keeper, Kane. I won't be here forever, so I need you to make sure Anakin doesn't get into trouble."

That first sentence she said made me tense. I wish she hadn't used those words, especially with what my name was.

I wrapped my arms around my mother and hugged her, closing my eyes so I could more easily sense her presence in the Force.

I'd make sure they'd both be freed. Anakin will be a Jedi, and I'll be right behind him to catch him before he falls. He will never be a slave again; not to the Jedi, or the Sith.

(END CHAPTER)

Kane's now got everybody's favorite Chosen One as a brother and they're on Tatooine. Just a few more years until TPM. Can Kane master his fury and become one of the greatest Jedi of all, or will he be doomed to a darker path?

We'll find out next time on Dragon Bal- Star Wars!

Raging.