DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
Mace Windu was there to greet the Jedi when they returned. He leaned casually against the wall, watching as the occupants of the Nubian piled out in rank of importance. The Queen came out first, followed by her handmaidens who clung to her person like a shadow. There were smiles all around, so he assumed what he sensed was true, that the mission had been successful. He also took note of the pained and semi-annoyed look on the face of Captain Panaka. The two men had shared the objection to Amidala joining them, but no harm had come to her. That was enough to satisfy Mace, but not Panaka. In the case of Panaka, well, he had to put up with this sort of thing all the time, so the look on his face was from the premonition that the captain would go through this again.
Anakin Skywalker came out with an older woman with slowly graying hair and a weary smile. His mother, no doubt. That sight filled him with immediate relief. Now he was certain there would be less danger in the boy's training. He was still anxious about it, but not quite as opposed to it as Yoda was. Perhaps this would help ease his friend's worries as it did his own.
As he stood there, watching the arrival, he heard someone coming up behind him. He turned slightly to the right to see Chancellor Palpatine coming up in his direction.
"Chancellor," Mace said with a slight nod.
The politician smiled. Inwardly, Mace felt himself cringe slightly. He didn't particularly favor politicians, especially after the whole Naboo fiasco in the Senate. Palpatine though had done his outright best in the situation, at least that's what he made it look like. He didn't trust the man and didn't plan to start any time soon. He always found it best to trust his first instincts.
"Master Windu, greetings. I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I had heard that the Queen was coming her and thought that I might greet her," Palpatine said.
"They are just arriving now," Mace returned, gesturing in the other direction.
Palpatine followed it with his eyes. "Ah, good. May I inquire as to what this was about?"
"I minor mission, nothing to be too concerned about," Mace said. Unless the Queen felt the need to share information, he wouldn't. No need to explain everything to uninvolved parties.
"I see," the chancellor replied.
Mace resumed his observance of the passengers. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were coming in his direction. He noted that the looks on their faces were not happy ones. Obi-Wan looked expressionless and Qui-Gon looked concerned. Something had happened.
"Excuse me," he said curtly and walked to meet them half way, keeping his pace quick, but not rushed.
Qui-Gon spoke before they were even face to face. "Master Windu," he began.
Mace strode up a few more steps and was before him. "What happened?"
"The Sith was on the planet, the same one who attacked me the last time we visited Tatooine and in the Theed hangar."
Mace furrowed his brow. "Any ideas to his intentions?"
Qui-Gon sighed. "I'm afraid so. I was not the one who faced him this time. It was Obi-Wan."
The Jedi Master looked to the newly promoted Jedi knight.
Obi-Wan spoke. "I believe, or rather a woman believes that he had come to Tatooine to kill Anakin's mother."
For a moment Mace was confused. "But why?" Then he knew. "How could he know?" Mace asked, but no one there had the answer. He felt the relief he had before evaporate. This did not bode well. "I'll assemble the Council..." Then he paused. "What woman?"
"Apparently, we weren't the only ones with the idea to free Shmi. When I had taken a walk and stumbled upon the Sith, he and the woman, Callisto, had been in a fight. She apparently had been trying to steal Shmi and was succeeding until he found her. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have won if she hadn't been there."
Mace let the information settle in his brain. "We may need to talk to her."
"That may be more easily said than done." Obi-Wan looked behind him to see the last passenger exit. Callisto walked out slowly, pausing to look left and right in the doorway of the ship's ramp. *Always anticipating an attack,* he mentally noted. She strode out, her long, brown, leather cloak billowing a moment through her own motions as she descended. Her right arm swung loosely at her side, brushing against the holster which carried her blaster. She kept it safely touch, just barely out of eyesight, but enough to warn away any attackers who would be so foolish. Her left arm, the broken, but now mended on was kept close to her side, not being moved. The bone had been knitted back together, but Obi-Wan assumed that it had to still feel incredibly sore. If it did, it wasn't showing on her face, from what he could see of it. Her strawberry blonde hair blocked part of the view.
"Callisto," Qui-Gon said as she approached.
But all she did was give them an empty look and passed them by.
"Interesting girl," Mace noted as she left them behind.
"That's putting it mildly," Obi-Wan said with a smirk. Then he walked off over to Anakin and Shmi.
Qui-Gon turned to Mace. "I think we should keep Shmi close for the time being and secure. The boy will want to spend time with her any how, so it wouldn't seem to obvious. Kill two birds with one stone."
Mace nodded. "I would have to agree. It wouldn't arouse too much suspicion or worry young Skywalker."
"My thoughts exactly." He paused. "Then there is the matter of Callisto."
"Yes, It would be a good idea if we were to get any information of her that she is willing to give. Hopefully, she remembers the details..."
"That's not what I meant, although that is true. What I meant was there is more to her than would appear."
Mace sighed inwardly. There he went again. For all the good Qui-Gon did, he sometimes did get carried away with running off on a tangent.
"Tell me," he said.
"I wish you wouldn't place yourself in that kind of danger, your Majesty," Palpatine said, his voice sounding lightly of chiding.
"I would have to agree with him," Panaka said.
Amidala let out a soft sigh. She had been expecting this conversation. She could see what it must be like from their point of view, but this was much different from what happened the first time they had been on Tatooine. Their planet had been in danger and she was the target of the attack. This time, though, she hadn't been in any danger, at least that's what she and the Jedi had suspected. However, she knew Panaka wasn't concerning himself with that. His job was to protect her from any form of hostility that came in her direction so he reflexively took up his guard. She appreciated that, but she really wished they wouldn't worry so much. There were more important things to worry about.
"There was no way we could have know that anything like that was going to happen. Besides, everyone is safe now so there is no need to... Ah. Chancellor, this is Callisto Lin."
Callisto paused for about half a second at the mention of her name.
"Hello," she said, still in motion. She really didn't want to stay and linger with pointless chatter, especially when she felt so uncomfortable in these surroundings. Corsucant was a nice place to look at, but now that she was in, she didn't like it that much. It was too closed, too crowded. She needed open spaces. It almost seemed hard to believe, but she was actually beginning to miss Tatooine, but only for it's open deserts.
"Callisto," Amidala continued, "this is Chancellor Palpatine."
Palpatine smiled and put out his hand. Callisto took it and noted the strong grip. She returned it, even though her arm still ached a bit. she had to credit the ship's doctor for the good work. She would have to remind herself to send him a note.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said smoothly.
"I'm sure," Callisto said, releasing his hand. "Now if you'll excuse me."
"Where are you going?" Amidala asked.
Callisto paused. she hadn't thought of that. "I was going to look around. Never been here before and thought I might see what's where."
Amidala nodded. "But are you sure that's a good idea? You've been through a lot and it might be a good idea to rest for a bit."
Palpatine agreed with the Queen. "I can easily arrange a place for you to stay. It's not any trouble."
"Don't do me any favors," Callisto said.
"Please," Amidala insisted.
Reluctantly, Callisto concurred. She was tired and some good, solid sleep might do her some good. "Fine," she said. "Nothing fancy though."
Apparently the Naboo had no concept of what "nothing fancy" meant. She ended up with a rather extravagant apartment not too far from the Jedi temple. Never in all her life had she ever seen such spacious room. Even Jabba didn't have anything even half as luxurious as this.
"Dear goodness, running water!" Callisto exclaimed in private. Tatooine didn't exactly have a plumbing system. She would have to take a long, warm bath before she took her leave.
She exited the bathroom and into the main room which adjourned to a bedroom large enough to fit a small house in and that was only half the size of the main room.
She nodded her approval. "I could get used to this."
Slowly, she slipped her cloak off and let it drop to the floor in a head. The action didn't hurt her quite as much as it did before. good, that meant she was healing. The sooner she was back up to 100%, the better. She didn't want to be open to any sore of attack, no matter how unlikely it seemed to be here, but she didn't let her guard down. she hadn't stayed alive for this long by doing that.
There was a chime at the door. Keeping her hand close to her holster, she opened the door. It was the Jedi with the goofy hair cut.
"Amidala told me where you were staying," Obi-Wan explained.
"Oh good, I don't have to send out any letters of change of address," Callisto said with sarcasm.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "May I come in?"
Callisto gestured him in. "Hey, it's not my place to begin with."
He strolled in, looking around. "It's nice."
She laughed. "You're telling me. I've never seen anything quite like it myself. I've spent pretty much my entire life on Tatooine. They don't exactly have the nicest residences there."
"So I gathered." He paused. "The reason I've come here is to tell you that the Jedi Council wants to talk to you."
"About Mr. Pointy?" she asked.
"Yes, Anything you can remember would be a great help."
Now it was her turn to fall silent a moment. Normally, she would have blown it off, but his time it was different. She was certain Shmi had been the target and could possibly be in danger still. She liked the woman and she liked Anakin even more. It couldn't be allowed that the boy could be directly or indirectly hurt.
"When?"
Obi-Wan looked surprised by her answer. He expected a no from her, or at least an argument. "As soon as possible."
"I'd like to sleep first. Don't worry, I'm not going to bail. I like that kid too much."
"He does grow on you," Obi-Wan agreed. "How long have you known him?"
"Since he came to Tatooine. He's like my little brother. I look out for him and he looks out for me. I do my best to protect him and believe me, it wasn't always easy, especially when I was a slave right with him."
"You were slave?"
She smirked. "Not for very long. I cut the transmitter out of my arm. Watto had no paperwork on me so he couldn't prove ownership although he did put up a fight. Didn't work out of course. It's not to wise to screw with me."
"So I gathered." Obi-Wan nodded and began to leave, but lingered at the door. "Do you need anything?"
Callisto was surprised by the question, especially to have it coming from him. "No, " she said, softly. "I'm fine. I'm jus tired."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I'll see you against after you've rested." Then he left.
She sighed and folded her arms, ignoring the dull throbbing. Walking across the room, she panned its expanse with her eyes. Not bad.
She slid the balcony door open to step outside. Before she could set foot out the door, a gloved hand closed over her mouth, and other clamed down across her arms.
"Alone at last," the rich voice of Darth Maul said.