Anakin was scanning the little camp of Tusken Raiders. He was standing on top of a small outcropping of cliffs as he analyzed the village with a pair of binoculars.

His teeth were gritted as he searched for any sign of his mother among the savage Raiders. He had still not located her but he could sense her nearby, but along with her location, he could also sense her pain.

Every time he sensed the distinct feeling of his mother getting hurt he felt himself sinking deeper into the growing pool of tar that was otherwise known as the Dark Side. He used every Jedi trick he knew to keep his head clear but it was getting harder and harder to control his bubbling hatred.

Putting down the binoculars and returning them to the bag he had left on the speeder behind him. Anakin began heading down from the cliff and towards the village. The sky had long since turned dark and the scorching winds of the dessert had turned freezing.

Sneaking into the small camp proved no trouble for the young Padawan, which was to be expected as the Tusken Raiders had never been known for their intelligence or cunning. Hiding behind one of the tents Anakin closed his eyes and tried to sense where his mother was located.

He was hit by a wave of pain and sounds of screaming, but he managed to locate the tent his mother was held in.

He made his way towards his destination while avoiding the occasional Raider. It would seem that most of the Raiders had already went to sleep and the Raiders patrolling the camp were a small group of men on watch.

Anakin finally arrived at the tent and he slowly and carefully lifted the tent flap a little before peeking inside. The tent was only lit up by the embers of a small fire in the middle of it but it illuminated the interior just enough for Anakin to spot the woman chained to a wooden pole.

When Anakin saw the woman he threw caution to the wind and rushed into the tent and towards the woman. In one smooth motion, he arrived next to the woman, ignited his lightsaber and severed the rusty chains that bound the woman.

He caught the woman in his arms before she collapsed to the ground and slowly lowered himself into a crouching position so her lower body could lie on the floor while he propped up her upper body and stared at her face.

Anakin´s face showed a face of anger and sadness as he looked at the condition of his mother.

Her body was thin and malnourished, her hair was so dirty that it looked black instead of her usual chestnut brown hair color, various scars and bruises marred her arms, legs, and face, and the only thing protecting her from the cold was a thin ragged robe.

Anakin tenderly brushed some of the dirty hair away from her face. The action seemed to wake the woman as her eyes began moving behind her eyelids.

Seeing this Anakin called out in a shaky voice.

"Mom..." His eyes began filling with tears as he watched his mother struggle to open her eyes.

"Ani? Is that you..." She managed to open her eyes slightly and asked in a hoarse voice.

Anakin gave a very forced smile and tried to get his shaky voice under control.

"Yeah, mom, it-it´s me," His voice faltered towards the end of the sentence and the words came out choked. "I´m going to get you out of here."

Anakin tried to move his mother but stopped as he heard her pained groan at being moved. He began panicking scanning the room for anything he could use to help. When he found nothing he began admonishing himself for not knowing any Force Healing.

Anakin was snapped out of his dark thoughts by the feeling of his mother´s thin but warm hand on his cheek.

"Oh Ani, my sweet boy," She smiled a warm smile, even as her face twisted in pain. "I will always be proud of you. I´m truly happy that I got to see you one last time..."

Her voice drifted off and the hand she had on his cheeks slowly fell limply to the ground. Her eyes closed and did not open again.

"Mom?" Anakin´s voice cracked as he began rocking his mother´s body back and forth. "No, no, nonononono! Don´t do this mom, please!"

Tears began rolling down his cheeks and landing on the peaceful face of his mother. A painful sob emerged from his throat as he lowered his head towards the ground.

"I´m so sorry, I never should have left you here alone. Please don´t leave me!" Such things streamed from his mouth as tears continued to fall from his eyes. He just sat there rocking his mother´s body as sobs escaped his mouth.

Until finally the rocking and sobbing stopped. Anakin´s face turned into an expressionless mask as he gently laid his mother´s body completely on the ground.

He leaned down, wiped off the tears that had landed on her face and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"I´ll be right back mom," Anakin whispered as he stood up and headed towards the exit to the tent.

He finally let go and let himself sink into the Dark pool that had steadily been growing inside himself. He ignited his lightsaber and headed out of the tent.

He was immediately spotted by two Raiders that were patrolling the area outside of the tent. They were armed with two crude-looking spears which they raised as they shouted their well-known warcry.

The one on the left was the first to rush towards Anakin as he calmly walked towards them.

Anakin didn´t even acknowledge the charge as he just stared ahead while he waved his left hand in a lazy motion. The charging Raider was violently thrown to the left and crashed into one of the tents destroying it. The sound of him being impaled on something sounded out soon after.

The other Raider seemed to be a bit taken aback by the sudden loss of his comrade but seeing the calm stride the enemy walked towards him with he still chose to charge.

This time he managed to close the distance between them and launched a strike with his spear.

Anakin once again didn´t even acknowledge it and simply sidestepped the attack while in the same motion swinging his lightsaber towards the Raiders midriff. The attack hit and the Raider was severed in two.

He continued on his way towards the huge tent that was in the middle of the camp.

It would, however, seem that the commotion had woken the rest of the camp as soon a dozen or so armed Tusken Raiders gathered in front of the large tent ready to protect it. Most of the Raiders carried spears but a few of them were armed with crude-looking laser-rifles.

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The spear wielders charged and the rifle carries began firing. Anakin calmly deflected the bolts as he continued on his way towards his destination.

The spear wielders arrived and began attacking the lone Jedi...It mattered little.

Anakin dodged the various attacks before he began the slaughter. Every time the sound of the lightsaber cutting through the air sounded out a Tusken Raider were sliced in two.

Each strike of his lightsaber also sent out a wave of unbridled Force power blowing Raiders and structures away. He grabbed one of the spear wielders with the Force and threw it at one of the rifles bearers. The Raider with the spear was thrown with such speed that when he hit his target both of their bodies were launched back and collapsed in a heap of broken limbs and gore.

It only took a few moments before the dozen-strong Raiders were reduced to three rifle wielders in the back. One thing that you had to respect the Raiders for it was their courage, or stupidity if you were being blunt because even after they saw their fellow Raiders being slaughtered they showed no sign of fleeing.

Instead one of the Raiders said something to the two others in their language before throwing down his rifle and drawing a large knife from the sash around his waist. The one next to him did the same while the last one headed towards the entrance of the large tent and guarded the entrance.

Anakin, of course, did nothing that would indicate he had seen any of the events that had just transpired and kept moving towards the tent.

The two Raiders charged him, but before they had even taken three steps towards him Anakin had thrown his lightsaber severing the head of the one coming from the right and before the body had even hit the ground he Force gripped the one on the left and threw him into a sharp wooden pole that emerged from the ruins of one of the tents.

His lightsaber returned right after and Anakin caught it in his right hand and continued towards the final Raider. The Raider managed to lift his rifle before Anakin lifted his left hand and made a choking gesture.

The Raider dropped his rifle and grabbed his throat with both hands while weird muffled choking sounds emerged from him. Anakin lifted him off the ground so his legs began madly kicking to find something to stand on. Finally, Anakin closed his hand into a fist and the crunching sound of a neck being broken sounded out and the final Raider dropped limply to the ground.

Anakin finally arrived in front of the tent and entered inside.

Inside were Tusken children and women all huddled together and exclaiming fearfully in their language as they moved away from the threating figure that had entered.

There was a brief moment when Anakin emerged from the Dark pit he had fallen into but he quickly feel back in and the humming of the lightsaber swinging through the air soon returned.

And the screams resumed.

Anakin emerged from the tent soon after. His lightsaber turned off and hanging on his waist. He used the Force on some burning logs from a bonfire nearby and threw them at various tents, including the big tent, making the cloth tents quickly catch fire.

Soon the entire camp was burning and Anakin headed towards the tent his mother´s body was located in. He walked inside just as the tent caught fire an carried his mother in both his arms as he exited the tent.

He walked with his mother in his arms as he walked away from the burning camp, smoke, and embers flying around him as he walked.

Anakin did not look back once, even as he felt the heat from the burning tents.

Or as he remembered the screams of the innocents he had slain.

The sun was beginning to rise when Anakin was finally done building the pyre for his mother. He had not used the Force for the task as he felt it was something he had to do with his own hands.

As he stared into the flames that were consuming his mother he felt a wave of nausea as he remembered what he had done the previous night but he forced himself to push it down, finally grateful for the Jedi teachings he had received.

He looked at the embers that were floating towards the sky and a sad smile emerged on his face. He and his mother always talked about leaving Tatooine and exploring the galaxy and while she had lived and died on the planet Anakin hoped that at least in death his mother would be free to explore the stars.

Finally, he turned around and jumped on the Speeder casting one last glance towards the pyre before driving away.

¤¤¤

Sar had just arrived on Tatooine and it wasn´t long after greeting the Senator that the two of them began arguing.

"It´s his mother for goodness sake!" Came the indignant voice of Padme. "What was he supposed to do?!"

"He should have informed the council," The calm voice of Sar sounded out, though there was a hint of annoyance in his voice. "He could have put both himself and his charge in serious danger."

Padme snorted.

"Isn´t the only reason you know we´re here because you wanted to warn us that Naboo wasn´t safe."

Sar frowned as he couldn´t really refute her statement but that didn´t mean it was entirely correct.

"It´s about more than just being lucky," Sar said unwaveringly. "It´s a question of discipline and responsibility both of which Anakin has now shown he lac-" Sar´s sentence was cut off by the distinct sound of a Speeder approaching.

Both Sar and Padme exited the hut. The former had a stern expression on his face while the latter wore a relived one. The Speeder came to a stop and Anakin got off.

"Skyw-" Whatever Sar had wanted to say died in his throat as he saw Skywalker´s face, he had never seen or sensed such intense pain. It would seem that Padme had noticed it too as she rushed towards him.

She embraced him in a hug and they both crumbled to their knees as Anakin slowly wrapped his arms around her and began quietly sobbing.

Sar looked at the two before looking up into the sky and closing his eyes. He would talk with Anakin later and then he would decide if he reported what he had witnessed to the Council.

Sar had not just refrained from saying anything to Anakin because of the pain he sensed but also because he noticed the faint presence of-

the Dark Side.