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It had been just over a week since Anakin had left with the Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. She didn't expect to ever hear from him or anyone else at the Jedi Temple ever again, but strangely, today, she was called to Watto's junk shop.
A thousand things went through her head on the way there. But what she found at the shop was far different than anything she expected. Standing in the shop with Watto was the young girl who'd come with Qui-Gon; Padmè. She was dressed in a simple purple and blue outfit, and her hair was braided intricately.
"Hello." The girl said, warmly.
"Hello." A little bit of surprise came through in her voice although she tried to hide it.
Watto looked at Shmi, and then at the girl, then back at Shmi. "It appears this young woman wants to buy your freedom."
Shmi was stunned. This couldn't be real... but it was. She could feel it. She looked at Padmè, "Is this true?"
"Yes. I never wanted to leave you here... nor did Qui-Gon..." she got a melancholy expression.
"He died, didn't he?"
"Yes. Wounded in a battle... but Anakin is in good hands, being trained by Qui-Gon's old apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi..."
Her heart was sad for the loss of Qui-Gon. He was a kind man. And Anakin was so fond of him... but at least he was being trained...
The girl paid Watto, and the Toydarian informed Shmi that he'd already disabled her tracking chip once Anakin left, not wanting her to get killed if she went mad with grief or something...
Less than an hour later, her things were packed, and Shmi was boarding a ship with the young woman, and they were heading towards Padmè's home planet of Naboo. Shmi was amazed at the grandeur of the ship, and that Padmè traveled with a crew, as well as the Queen. Later on, she found out that Padmè was actually the Queen, and the other woman was her decoy... but Shmi only found that out once they'd jumped to hyperspace, and Padmè sat down with her. She admitted that she was the Queen. It made sense...and they got to talking. Finally, Padmè took a breath, "I know that having you closer to Anakin will ease his pain at being separated from you... knowing that you're not a slave anymore... "
It was then that Shmi knew that there was a strong connection between Anakin and Padmè... and that she wanted to do anything she could to make things better for him and the people she cared about. Even though there was a few years' difference in their ages, Shmi knew that once they got a little older, the age difference wouldn't matter very much.
"I'm grateful for you freeing me, even more grateful that it was for Ani's sake... He's such a kind young boy, and of course, I love him dearly."
Padmè smiled but didn't say anything. But, she played with a necklace around her neck. Shmi recognized the characters carved into it, and knew it was something her son had crafted for Padmè.
