Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Have you come to free us?” Anakin knows that’s what Jedi do, and Qui-Gon is everything Anakin imagined Jedi to be- tall, strong, brave and wise.

“No, I’m afraid not.” Qui-Gon tells him.

Anakin frowns. “I think you have. Why else would you be here?”

Qui-Gon sighs and says he can see there’s no fooling Anakin. He starts to explain how they’re on the way to Coruscant, leaving Anakin to wonder how they ended up on Tatooine of all places.

There’s a growing commotion outside their hovel, shouts from other slaves. Joyous shouts, not terrified ones.

Anakin rushes outside before Mom can stop him.

Qui-Gon follows him out- someone’s scavenged a holoprojector. The holonet is broadcasting another tall man with a beard but no mustache. Anakin would guess he’s as tall as Qui-Gon, but the man’s hat adds to his height.

“Is he a Jedi?” Anakin asks, not giving away Qui-Gon’s secret.

“It’s President Lincoln,” Kitster says, shocked.

Lincoln is wearing a shirt with a jacket and pants, hardly the robes of the Jedi.

Kitster shushes him as Lincoln declares “All persons held as slaves…” he says, which hardly seems fair to Wald or any non-human. Anakin quickly realizes he’s stopped listening, but tunes in to hear. “-are, and henceforward, shall be free.”

“Did you hear that?!” Anakin whoops. “Mom! Did you hear that?”

His mom’s eyes are shining. “This is wonderful, Annie.”

Padme shakes her head. “The Republic’s anti-slavery laws should have reached here long ago.”

They hadn’t, but Anakin’s too overjoyed to point that out. He feels like he finally finished a podrace; no, he feels like he won, he’s so happy.

Flying always gave him a sense of freedom; now that sense is real. He’s free, forever!

“Now they just have to take our trackers out, or we’ll go kaboom!”

“And now your dreams can come true!” Mom hugs Anakin tight, and Anakin returns it. They’re free together. They can go anywhere in the galaxy together, and never have to worry about Gardulla or Watto again.

Anakin wants to be a Jedi, but he still has to help Qui-Gon and Padme and Jar-Jar and R2 get off of Tatooine. 

He grins. Now he can enter his pod as a free person, and win the Boonta Eve Classic to help his friends. There’s no need to get Watto’s permission anymore; he only needs to get Mom to agree. 

Chapter Text

Anakin can’t believe how much his life has changed. He’d raced as a free boy, and he’d done more than finish. He’d won! Flying over the desert, he’d been free in every sense of the word. He wasn’t racing for Watto, but for himself, for his friends.

After the race, Qui-Gon had gotten the parts they needed, and Anakin and Mom’s chips had been deactivated- Watto hadn’t been happy about that. Anakin and Mom were the lucky first few to get their chips deactivated, and Anakin wonders how long it will take to fully free all the slaves on Tatooine. 

Anakin had gotten to board a real starship, a sleek, royal model of the Queen’s, and had seen Qui-Gon battle an evil Jedi with his laser sword. Anakin spent most of the ride in the cockpit, talking to the pilot, but when the chill of space had set in, he and Mom had huddled under Padme’s orange cloak, which she’d kindly lent them. 

Anakin had overheard the message sent to Padme, about how the Queen’s people were captured and dying. Anakin hoped they’d be saved, just as he had. Would the Jedi save them, the way President Lincoln had freed Anakin and the others?

The ship takes them to Coruscant, which makes Mos Espa look like a barren desert in comparison. Ships whiz by so quickly that even Anakin can’t identify every model, though his attention is quickly drawn to one man on the landing platform.

He stands tall, his hat making him even taller. His dark beard is fuller than Qui-Gon’s, and his clothes look more rumpled than the elegant robes of the two old men beside him.

“President Lincoln.” the Queen greets. “I was glad to hear of your Emancipation Proclamation.”

Anakin barely hears the names of the two old men- Valorum and Palpatine? He’s solely focused on Lincoln.

“Slavery should have ended long ago,” President Lincoln replies. His voice is somewhat horse and twangy, hardly a booming baritone, but he sounds heroic to Anakin.

“Thank you for freeing us,” Anakin says. Nobody can forbid him from speaking anymore.

Anakin senses Palpatine staring at him, but keeps his eyes on President Lincoln.

President Lincoln smiles down at him. “What’s your name?”

“Anakin Skywalker, sir.” Anakin says. “Thanks to you, I can really be a pilot when I grow up. Or a Jedi, maybe.”

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan take their leave to inform the Jedi council of the situation, and Anakin and Mom follow the Queen, Padme, President Lincoln and Palpatine into a speeder. 

Anakin can’t wait to see how his life will continue to change from here.