Jedi Storytime: Pods & Ponies

Court Date & Charms United

Anakin groaned as he felt an awful pain in his head. He could swear he heard voices nearby, and he had no idea where he was, nor did he recall what happened.
"Ugh... where am I?"
The first thing Anakin saw when he opened his eyes... a pale pink unicorn with red and white candy striped hair.
"Good morning, sleepy head." said the unicorn, a gentle smile on her face.
"Ahh!" Anakin gasped as he sat up.
He looked around and found himself in what appeared to be a hospital bed, and it appeared someone undressed him only leaving his underwear on, and replacing his racing uniform with a hospital gown.
"Sunheart, Obi-Wan, the patient is awake."
"Where am I? What happened?!" Anakin breathed heavily as a man older than Anakin walked in dressed in a doctor's uniform, and a purple unicorn with a golden mane with a nurse's hat on.
"Now, now. Settle down. I'm Dr. Obi-Wan Kenobi." the doctor said. "This is the Naboo Springs Clinic. This is Nurse Sunheart, and my assistant Peppermint."
"How did I get here?"
"You were in an out of control pod, which is being checked now, and you sustained a sharp blow to your head and many bodily bruises. The good news, however, is you received no broken bones and nothing permanent."
Anakin started to remember the night before. Getting lost, losing control of the pod, the horses, everything!
"Was anyone hurt?" He asked.
"Fortunately, no one else was injured. Now, I'm going to do a more thorough examination on you since you are awake. What is your name?"
"Anakin Skywalker."
Obi-Wan began to check Anakin's blood pressure and then did a vision test.
"Can you tell me why you were riding that pod through town?" the doctor asked.
Anakin explained to Obi-Wan that he was a pod racer and was on his way to a big race in Alderaan City, when somehow his pod fell out of the trailer with him in it in the middle of the streets, forcing him to activate it and speed through the road.
"I don't know what happened. I guess the pod was more damaged than I thought. That happens sometimes. You know, pod racing, a dangerous sport. I'm the only human who can do it."
"You must have a cowboy's reflexes to be able to race pods." Obi-Wan said, getting out his reflex hammer and tapping it on Anakin's knees and elbows, all four limbs showing a quick reaction that nearly led to Anakin hitting or kicking the doctor.
"I am so sorry!"
"Not to worry. That is a good sign you have excellent reflexes. You would make a great goalie."
Obi-Wan ran a few more tests on Anakin and confirmed that he was in good health.
"You are a very lucky man to have survived and gotten out almost completely unscathed."
Sheriff Windu arrived at that time and asked Obi-Wan how the patient was doing.
"Is he good to go to court?" Mace said.
That struck some fear into Anakin. Was he being really being arrested for an accident?
"He is in good health." Obi-Wan said. "Let's just give him a moment to get dressed and then we'll head to the town hall."
The two men looked at Anakin, who didn't say a word.
Unfortunately, Anakin's uniform was torn and damaged in the accident with his pod. But luckily for him, Obi-Wan had a spare outfit to lend him that was just the right size.
Once Anakin changed out of the hospital gown and into the clothes Obi-Wan loaned him, he went with the sheriff to the town hall.

Anakin winced as he walked into the courtroom and there were people yelling at him angrily about creating so much damage to the town.
"You could've gotten my kids killed!" yelled a human woman.
"That window you broke could've injured my daughter!" yelled a Cerea male.
"Alright, everyone settle down." Mace said before turning to Anakin. "Do you have a lawyer?"
"No. I don't. My mother were going to look for one in Alderaan City though." Anakin said. "Don't I get a phone call or something?"
"We'll just have to assign a lawyer to you for now." Mace said. "Hey! Anyone wanna be his lawyer?"
No one seemed to volunteer. But then, a beautiful pegasus named Indira, being the calmest and one of the most rational of the group, stepped in.
"I shall volunteer, Sheriff Windu." Indira said.
"All rise." Mace said. "The honorable Judge Qui-Gon Jinn presides."
Everyone stood up as the doors opened and in came a man with sandy blonde hair like Anakin entered. He was dressed in black judge robes and came up to the podium. He looked strangely familiar, Anakin thought, but the young racer couldn't put his finger on it.
"Thank the Force no one was injured from this fiasco," said the judge, sounding relieved, but angry at the same time. "Nevertheless, whoever is responsible must face the consequences of his actions."
But when Qui-Gon looked at the plaintiff, he looked surprised.
"Carmine?" said the judge.
Now Anakin was confused.
"My name is Anakin, Your Honor. Anakin Skywalker."
Everyone else was confused as Qui-Gon seemed even more shocked by the revelation of the plaintiff's name, and even more so when he asked for Anakin's mother's name.
"Her name is Shmi Skywalker. May I ask why?"
"I... I had-"
Suddenly, that was when the doors opened to reveal a beautiful young woman around Anakin's age, maybe a little bit older, and there was another man with her who looked just like Anakin, but with glasses and longer hair. However, Anakin was more captivated by the woman.
"Sorry, we're late, Your Honor." said the woman, entering the room. "Someone wanted to stop to pick flowers."
"For Caroline," said the man with Padme, whose name was Carmine.
Carmine presented the flowers to another beautiful woman in the crowd, but Padme approached the bench to get on with the attorney business.
"Hi. Are you an angel?" said Anakin, looking dreamily at Padme.
"What?" said Padme.
"An angel, the most beautiful beings in the universe."
"If you think flirting is going to get you out of trouble, it won't. But if you're cooperative, I might be able to get the judge to go easy on you."
Anakin blushed at that.
"Padme, I believe you had the charges to list?" said the sheriff.
Anakin whispered to Indira, asking about Padme.
"Padme Naberrie is her full name. She's the town attorney, as beautiful as she is intelligent, and single but not easy to impress."
Padme presented pictures of all the damages that were caused to the town to Judge Qui-Gon. A broken window on the bookstore, the cafe's outdoor seating was all over the place, there were clothes from the boutique and bails of hay all over the road, and there was a big hole in the wall of the stable where Anakin's pod crashed.
"For the record, all that stuff was an accident. I didn't mean for any of it to happen. Something happened to my pod that made me lose control, and I'm very lost. I have no idea how far I am from where I was supposed to be."
"In the future, you should really consult the judge before speaking," said Padme.
"In that case, Your Honor, may I speak to the others for a moment?"
As soon as Qui-Gon gave permission, Anakin stood up and faced the others.
"Hello, everyone. I understand all of you are angry, and you every right to be. I never meant to endanger any of you, especially not the kids, or to cause so much trouble. I'm really sorry for everything, and I'm willing to pay for and fix the damage in any way I can."
"Do you have any evidence to support that this was an accident?" Padme asked.
"I think so." Anakin said. "Indira?"
"Defense calls Dr. Obi-Wan Kenobi to the stand." Indira declared.
Indira had Obi-Wan, as well as Sunheart and Peppermint come up to the stand one at a time, and each of them explained what they found Anakin's blood pressure earlier was consistent with post traumatic stress, and some marks on his body definitely indicated signs of struggle, but also some that looked a lot like some from physical abuse.
"Overall, he is on good health." Obi-Wan confirmed.
Padme also had Sheriff Windu step up. He testified that Tech and Echo Fett, two of the town handymen, found that the crashed pod had signs of damage that had to have been done before it crashed. There were wires that were cut, some parts were missing, and the engine had some kind of fluid that shouldn't be there.
"By the look of all these damages to the pod, I would hypothesize that someone sabotaged the vehicle on purpose."
"Sebulba!" Anakin growled, pounding a fist on the table. "He's cheated his way through in so many ways, but this is a new low, even for him. Just wait until I get my hands on him!"
Tech and Echo's parents, Zam and Jango Fett, however, also testified that the stable was badly damaged, and at least three of the horses' stalls had to be repaired.
Fortunately, the youngest Fetts, Boba and Omega, as well as Ki-Adi Mundi's daughter Comedia, all testified that they weren't hurt, aside from being a little shaken up. But still, Anakin had to pay for the damages somehow.
And, Padme had one question for Anakin.
"Where were you originally heading before you crashed in this town?"
Anakin explained to the entire court that he was a pod racer on his way to Alderaan City for a big tie-breaker race. But, that wasn't his only career; he and his mother were also slaves, forced to do their master's every whim, even when it put their lives at risk. The bruises, for instance; some of them were from the dangers of races, but others came from the physical abuse many slaves experienced, especially when they upset their masters.
It was then that Anakin noticed his transmitter was broken.
"At least now Watto can't find me quickly." Anakin said. "This may sound crazy, but I'm also in a bit of a quandary regarding this race."
"Other than it being a dangerous sport," said Ki-Adi. "What could possibly be worse?"
"The fact that my master is forcing me into marriage."
That shocked everyone.
"For years, my mother and I have been saving up to hire help to buy our freedom. Alderaan City is known for its astounding attorneys at law, and is outside the borders of permitted slavery. If I win the tiebreaker race, it would mean a great deal of prize money to help fund my family's needs. But, if I win, it also means I'll be forced to marry the daughter of Mrs. Talzin."
That was when Caroline spoke up.
"I've heard of her! A friend of mine used to work for her, and she is awful!"
"Why don't you just lose the race on purpose?" Omega suggested.
"If I do that, it would put my mother in danger. Watto may not be as vicious as the Hutts are with slaves, but he's gotten connections. And either way, win or lose the race, I lose so much more than a stupid trophy or champion title."
Hearing Anakin's story, now people started to feel bad for him, but nevertheless, the damages to the town did need to be prepared.
Padme asked to speak with Qui-Gon for a moment on a deal. Meanwhile, Anakin started to wonder what Qui-Gon was going to say when Padme entered, and how his mother was connected to it... but then he looked at Carmine and started to think... was the judge his...
"Dad?"
Everyone else was confused for a moment, but Qui-Gon seemed touched to hear that word.
Qui-Gon approached Anakin and placed a gentle hand on his cheek.
"Anakin...I'm so sorry if you ever thought I didn't want you. I thought you and your mother were gone forever."
"I never thought you didn't want me." Anakin held up his wrist with the lucky bracelet. "You did give me this when I was a baby, right?"
"You aren't the only one." chuckled Qui-Gon. "Carmine."
Carmine came closer.
"Meet your brother."
"Brother?" said Carmine and Anakin in unison.
Carmine rolled up his sleeve to reveal that he had a bracelet just like Anakin's. And when they united the two charms, they formed... a heart.
This was a lot for Anakin to take in, and for everyone else too. But, Qui-Gon and Padme came to an agreement on how to help the town and Anakin too.