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He had knelt down, holding out a hand welcomingly, looking down at Anakin with gentle blue eyes and a warm half-smile as his long grey-brown hair waved across his neck and shoulders in the wind. For a moment Anakin had stood there, tears trailing down his face as he made a decision in his head: join this man and be safe, or continue the almost impossible task of looking for his lost mother. The two seemed to be in their own bubble, almost deafened to the screams and explosions that surrounded them. A sudden, harsh metallic cry of ‘EXTERMINATE’ caused Anakin to quickly make up his mind; the boy narrowly dodged the killing beam of light as he leapt forwards and tightly grabbed onto Qui-Gon’s hand. As he spun round, holding onto the child’s hand protectively, Qui-Gon yelled at Anakin to run and the two darted off amongst the debris of destroyed buildings, away from the Dalek that had been so determined to kill them.
Tatooine, one of the more distant planets that was involved in the Second Great Human Empire, was being raided by Daleks as the newly resurrected race seeked out to conquer the universe. Qui-Gon unfortunately had gotten there too late. When he had swung open the door of the TARDIS he had been met with a city that was almost destroyed, buildings in shambles, fires dancing across the sand-covered debris as they lit up the night sky, and people running for their lives as Daleks swiftly shot them down. Qui-Gon had found Anakin cowering in the ruins of what seemed to be the child’s old house, sobbing over his mother. He had asked the boy about his mother, and Anakin had choked out that his mother had disappeared, swept away in the chaos, and that he was going to find her again, no matter the cost. Qui-Gon had admired the boy’s determination, but he knew that if Anakin had gone out on his quest, it would have quickly come to an end the moment he encountered a Dalek.
“Come with me, I’ll keep you safe,” Qui-Gon had softly told Anakin, kneeling down and holding out a hand. Naturally the boy had been unsure, but under the threat of his life being taken away, he had chosen the safety that the stranger was offering.
After a short while of running, the two ended up in a quiet area that the Daleks had already swept through. There were no people screaming for help, just voiceless bodies littering the sand. Qui-Gon came to a stop, hardly out of breath as he let go of Anakin’s hand and scanned the area, pulling out a small metallic contraption from the inside of his poncho. He pressed a few buttons before pointing it outwards, holding it out as he slowly spun in a circle. Anakin looked up at the contraption in confusion, tilting his head and watching it curiously as he tried to recover his breath. It made a strange monotonous humming noise, and the end pointing outwards lit up bright green. Once completing a full circle, Qui-Gon let go of the button he was holding on the side of the contraption and it stopped humming and the light flickered off. He held it close to his face, looking at it and then listening to it in deep concentration; his scruffy eyebrows were furrowed.
“Okay, it seems like we are safe,” Qui-Gon said, lightly spinning the contraption in his fingers before tucking it away back into his poncho. He looked down at Anakin and his expression softened. “No Daleks here.”
“Um… sir?” Anakin said nervously, not sure at how to address this man he had just met. Qui-Gon chuckled lightly.
“Yes? My name’s the Doctor, by the way,” he replied, kneeling down once again to Anakin’s level. He rested his arms, one on top of the other, over the one upright knee. “And what’s your name, my friend?” Qui-Gon asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Anakin Skywalker,” the boy said, pausing as he started to twist the bottom of his shirt in his hands. “Will you help me look for my mom, Doctor?” Anakin asked hopefully. Qui-Gon’s smile slowly fell; he feared that the boy would ask him about this. He closed his eyes briefly before placing his hands on Anakin’s shoulders, sighing.
“Anakin, I’m afraid your mother is gone, most likely…” he trailed off, faltering, not wanting to tell such a harsh truth to a child so young. Anakin sensed what Qui-Gon was going to say and glared at him and stomped his foot in response.
“No! She’s still alive! I can feel it!” Anakin yelled. Qui-Gon was taken aback slightly by the boy’s confident response, and he sighed once again before getting back up to his feet. He clearly wasn’t going to win this fight.
“Alright, we’ll look for you mother. But Anakin, you might not like what we find, I hope you understand this,” Qui-Gon said, looking down at Anakin worriedly. The boy just looked up at him and nodded, his face set in determination.
The two travelled for a while, Qui-Gon just a little bit in front of Anakin after the boy had told him where he had last seen his mother, and the direction he had seen her be carried away in. Only occasionally did they have to duck behind some debris to wait for a Dalek to roll by as it patrolled the area, searching for any possible survivors, but for the most part their journey was safe. Anakin was asking questions almost the entire way, asking who the Doctor was and why he was there, along with other things, and Qui-Gon answered all of them as best as he could. He was pleasantly surprised at the boy’s curiosity, his eagerness to know more, and he found it rather nice to explain things to this kid.
Eventually they had made their way back to where Qui-Gon had found Anakin in the first place, only now it was much quieter, more like the place they had run to. The only sounds now were the crackling of dying fires as they burnt through the destroyed buildings and the soft whistle of a cool breeze that swirled through the area. Anakin held his arms protectively, the breeze getting to him. Qui-Gon noticed this and pulled his large grey poncho off, over his head, before gently putting it onto Anakin. He smiled, amused by the way the poncho completely submerged the small boy, the lowest points of it touching the ground. Anakin thanked Qui-Gon as he grabbed the excess fabric and began to wrap it around himself.
Now with the poncho off, Anakin was able to see the rest of Qui-Gon’s odd outfit. He wore a cream button-up shirt, with the top button undone, and it had little dark green question marks decorating the tips of the shirt’s wide collar. The sleeves of the shirt were buttoned up at the wrists, with more of the dark green question marks circling round the ends of them in a horizontal line. Over this shirt Qui-Gon wore a dark brown and cream checkered sweater vest, that had dark green trim around the base, neckline, and arms. Anakin noticed the metal contraption from earlier, poking out of the top of the sweater vest, obviously resting in the shirt’s breast pocket. His trousers were also cream in colour, with dark brown pinstripes running vertically down the fabric. On his feet he wore dark brown suede shoes that had thick rubber soles on the bottom of them, and just visible under the trousers Qui-Gon wore thick, dark green socks.
“Won’t you get cold, Doctor?” Anakin asked as the two continued on walking, the poncho now wrapped tightly and comfortably around the boy, the longest parts only just scraping along the dusty ground. Qui-Gon now had his hands casually in his trouser pockets. He exhaled sharply in amusement, the smile not leaving his face.
“No, I think I’ll be alright, Anakin, thank you,” Qui-Gon said. He was warming up to this kid. Not only did he seem bright and intelligent, he also appeared to be kind and thoughtful.
As they continued to walk, Qui-Gon heard some noise coming up from ahead, round the corner of one of the few buildings still standing. He jogged over to a pillar of this building, pressing up against the wall now on high alert. He beckoned Anakin over to him as he pulled out the metal contraption from his pocket and pressed a button, causing it to light up green and make that weird humming noise once again. Anakin stood close up to Qui-Gon’s legs as he looked up at the contraption.
“Doctor, what is that?”
“Oh, this?” Qui-Gon’s concentrated face briefly eased as he let go of the button on the contraption before holding it out so that Anakin could see it better. “This is a sonic screwdriver, a very useful tool that I carry with me at all times,” Qui-Gon explained quietly. The boy looked at it closely.
“What does it do?” he asked, taking it from Qui-Gon after he had held the sonic screwdriver out to Anakin. Qui-Gon watched him tinker with it warmly.
“Oh well it can do many things! Unlock doors, lock them again, hack things, scan for things, like I said, it’s very useful,” Qui-Gon explained. Anakin was looking at the sonic with a new-found interest, his eyes lighting up eagerly, and causing Qui-Gon to beam. A small part of him didn’t want to help the boy find his mother; he didn’t normally have children as companions but this child in particular was bright and curious, and Qui-Gon had taken a real liking to him.
“That’s so cool,” Anakin said, handing the sonic back to Qui-Gon who began to scan the area with it. Qui-Gon poked his head round the sturdy pillar that the two were hiding behind to look at what was ahead, pointing the buzzing sonic screwdriver out in front of him. But once he had looked round the corner and saw what was ahead, Qui-Gon quickly tucked the sonic away back into the shirt pocket as his face fell.
A huge crowd of people were standing against a crumbling wall that was not too far from where the pair were standing. The people were huddled together in fear as they were surrounded by about six or seven Daleks. The TARDIS was parked exactly where Qui-Gon had left it, against that same towering wall and now right next to the crowd of terrified citizens. Anakin peered round as well, a hand resting on Qui-Gon’s leg as he scanned the crowd. Suddenly his eyes widened and he tugged on the trouser leg he had been holding onto, causing Qui-Gon to sharply turn his head and look down at him.
“Doctor! My mom! She’s there!” Anakin piped, pointing eagerly to the crowd with his other hand. Qui-Gon looked up, eyebrows knitted together as he saw the woman the boy was pointing at. She was right at the front of the group, her face fixed in fear and her whole body trembled where she stood.
“Prepare to die for the glory of the Daleks!” one of the Daleks barked out harshly. Qui-Gon sighed heavily, closed his eyes and hung his head. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get everyone out of this alive, he didn’t have high hopes for even getting many people out alive. Anakin looked up at him fearfully.
“You’ll be able to save them, right Doctor? Help all those people and my mom?” Anakin implored. Qui-Gon opened his eyes to look back at Anakin, the boy’s expression breaking his heart.
“I will certainly try my best,” Qui-Gon murmured softly, smiling weakly. “You stay here, and don’t come out until I say you can, alright?” Qui-Gon knelt down once again and put his hands on Anakin’s shoulders, looking at him earnestly. The boy nodded, a tear trickling down his round cheek. Qui-Gon smiled tenderly as he brought up a hand to gently wipe away the tear from Anakin’s face, before standing up straight and turning to face the crowd.
“STOP!” Qui-Gon yelled as he strode out from behind the building commandingly. His face was fixed with a stern expression and his long hair billowed out behind him in the breeze, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He walked until he was fairly close to the line of Daleks before standing imposingly, glaring down the Daleks in front of him. They all turned round to face him.
“The Doc-tor! Come to save the day!” said one of the Daleks. Qui-Gon was looking around with his eyes, trying to come up with some sort of plan.
“These people do not need to die!” he demanded, holding his hands up. Anakin watched on nervously. “Let them go!”
“All life forms will be exterminated!” barked another Dalek. Qui-Gon was about to retort back when he was interrupted by a different Dalek.
“We will not let you talk your way out of this one Doc-tor!” it said, and before Qui-Gon could do anything else, all of the Daleks spun round in unison to face the crowd of people before firing upon them with their metallic cries of ‘EXTERMINATE!’. Qui-Gon’s face fell in horror as the slaughter began to unfold.
“NOOO!” he roared, helpless as people scattered, trying their best to escape their horrid fate. Qui-Gon was about to run forward, when suddenly panic gripped at his chest and his eyes widened as he heard Anakin rushing out from his hiding spot will a distraught scream of ‘MOM!’. Qui-Gon’s head whipped round to see the small boy sprinting desperately towards his mother, the poncho he had been given now unfurled and flapping out behind him.
It was like everything seemed to suddenly move in slow motion. Most of the Daleks were preoccupied with the rest of the scattering people, but one was focused on Anakin’s mother, firing a deadly laser directly at her. Qui-Gon began to charge forward, adrenaline starting to surge round his body; he may not be able to save them all, but he for sure wasn’t going to let all of them die. Anakin’s mother was dead before the boy reached her, the Dalek that had killed her now turning to aim at her child. Qui-Gon’s two hearts thundered in his ribcage and his feet pounded at the sand beneath him. He wished for them to move faster but no matter how hard he wished, they still moved at what felt like an impossibly slow pace. He was not going to let Anakin die, that boy’s future was so bright and Qui-Gon was going to make sure that he lived it through. Once reaching Anakin, he scooped up the boy in his arms in one swoop, tearing him away from his mother’s body. The child was screaming, face flooded with tears as he mourned, hands outstretched and reaching over Qui-Gon’s shoulder desperately.
A hand stretched out for the handle of the TARDIS and as it pushed at the small metal handle, Qui-Gon felt the bolt of energy hit him square in the back, sending shockwaves through his body. He screamed out in pain, collapsing forward into the TARDIS and Anakin flew out of his arms. The boy collided with the metallic floor and rolled, curling up into a ball and continuing to sob. Qui-Gon kicked the door shut behind him before he staggered to his feet, legs shaking, vision swimming, head rattling. He clutched onto the handrails and he practically dragged himself to the console in the middle of the large room, breathing heavily through tightly gritted teeth as he did so. His whole body was wracked in pain, but he still made his way round the console, hitting buttons and pulling levers. They needed to get away, escape to anywhere.
The TARDIS began to whir as it transported them off of the planet, the interior rumbling slightly. Qui-Gon crumpled to the floor, clamping a hand to his chest as he began to falter, his face scrunched up tight in pain. Anakin looked up as he heard the thud of his trusted protector falling, fresh tears welling up in his eyes. The boy had already lost one parent, he wasn’t ready to lose the only person left he trusted.
“Doctor!” he cried, crawling over to where Qui-Gon writhed. Anakin knelt beside him, placing his hands on Qui-Gon’s chest and looking at him, absolutely distraught.
“Anakin, it’s going to be alright,” Qui-Gon heaved, bringing up a shaking hand and cupping Anakin’s wet and tear-stained face with it. He smiled.
“But- I don’t understand! I don’t want you to go, Doctor!” Anakin wailed, panicking. Qui-Gon chuckled laboriously. He took his hand away from the boy’s face as it began to glow a wispy golden colour and looked at it in hope.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here, I’ll be different... but I’m staying,” Qui-Gon reassured, looking straight at Anakin with a warm smile and those same soft and comforting eyes that first allowed the boy to trust him.
“Now, you might want to move back.” Anakin did as he said and scrambled to his feet, utterly bewildered at what Qui-Gon meant. He gripped onto one of the handrails fearfully as Qui-Gon’s entire body suddenly appeared to explode with energy, glowing golden energy that shimmered in the bright lights of the TARDIS interior. Anakin watched in fear as the energy surged through, out and around Qui-Gon, swimming and whipping around in the air. The energy sang and hummed loudly as it continued to surround the body, filling Anakin’s ears with it’s strange song.
Abruptly the energy dissipated as quickly as it came, and Qui-Gon’s body flopped, lifeless, making Anakin fear the worst. At the angle he was at, Anakin was unable to see the face of the body, so he began to creep forwards hesitantly. There was no noise except for the gentle whirring of the TARDIS, causing panic to rise up in Anakin’s chest once again, until he let out a loud shriek as the body unexpectedly sprang up, sitting bolt upright. The panic was rapidly replaced with extreme confusion as Anakin stared at the unfamiliar face that was now on Qui-Gon’s body. It had bright and fluffy chestnut-brown hair, complete with a full, neat beard of the same colour. Qui-Gon’s clothes were now all roughed up from the process, and hanging loosely on the new body; it’s frame was clearly a decent bit shorter in stature than it was before. The eyes that looked over at the boy were still blue, but not the same blue as Qui-Gon’s gentle eyes. Even if they did look at Anakin with comfort, these eyes had a new spark of life to them that was unfamiliar. The moment these eyes landed on Anakin’s fearful face, the beard parted to form a wide gleeful grin, the new face looking at Anakin excitedly.
“Hello there!”