"Now, go my son. Leave me," Once Darth Vader, now Anakin Skywalker urged to his son.

"I can't leave you here. I've got to save you."

"You've already had, Luke. You've already had. Tell your sister, you were right." Closing his eyes, Anakin accepted his fate aboard the second Death Star.

…

The first thing Anakin Skywalker noticed was that he was weak, so weak. His muscles were sore, and his skin was achy with a light coat of sweat glistening on him. The second thing Anakin realized was the feeling of touch and it was a strange sensation too as Anakin hadn't had real contact with objects for over twenty years. He could feel the thrifty clothing snugged on his skin and a cool, damp rag laying on his forehead. More importantly, though, Anakin Skywalker could feel human contact. The hand was dry but gentle as it rubbed his shoulder in a soothing manner. The presence that the hand belonged to was someone who was loving, caring, and nurturing; it was his mother.

Finally opening his eyes, Anakin looked at the beautiful face of his mother with no filters from the red vision his helmet always gave. He was seeing her pure as a newborn, no scars or pain was shown to her. Anakin reached out for her to carefully cup her face. Immediately he noticed his bare arm, tan, and the size of a child. Still, though, he smiled sincerely at his mother, breathing in her scent for the first time since she died.

"Mom?" he whispered, not used to using his own voice to speak. Although, he couldn't help but frown at the sound of his voice. It was high-pitched, almost sounding liked it belonged to a girl. If he didn't know better, he would say that he was a pre-adolescent boy.

"Oh Ani!" his mother cried out happily. "You had me so worried. How are you feeling?"

"Where am I?" he asked, ignoring the question his mother asked him.

Propping himself on his elbow, Anakin tried to look past his mother to get a feel for his surroundings. The room was small, built out of clay, with tools and mechanical equipment scattered across. Clothes were dumped in a pile and a collection of crumpled up paper covered a small work area. At the other side of the room hung a poor, broken mirror; however, it was enough for Anakin to get a good look at his reflection. He could see the blonde, sandy hair; his youthful complexion, and most importantly his eyes as they contained a dazzling blue color. There was yellow no more.

"Why, in your room, Ani. Don't you recognize it?"

Anakin did, barely of course, but it didn't help his confusion. His last memory told him he died on the Death Star which meant he should be in the afterlife; however, this was not how he pictured it. What if the Emperor wasn't dead and this was a test for him because surely the Force wouldn't let him relive one of the most painful memories of his life. Unless this was some sort of punishment for the darkness he caused in the galaxy.

"What is this?" he demanded softly, moving to stand up.

Shmi put a hand on his chest to stop him from rising, but he swatted it away, proceeding to stand up. Anakin could tell the aggressiveness startled his mother, but he didn't know how to react. Everything felt out of place, the whole galaxy did. It had a different rhythm to it, one that wasn't so dark.

"What do you mean? You came home sick this afternoon. You've had a fever all night." The look in Shmi's eyes was full of worry and confusion, maybe a little fearful.

Anakin couldn't help but feel angry; his hands strongly hanging by his side going into a fist with his breathing slightly becoming heavier. Nothing added up and he didn't know how to handle it. Rage was coursing through his body. He hated to have his mother watch him like this, but he didn't even know for sure if that was his mom. There had been plenty of times when the Emperor had people impersonate someone from Anakin's past to test Darth Vader; however, this was different.

For now, he would go along with it. "Nothing, mom," he said, trying not to make his smile seem forced. It wasn't that he didn't want to trust his mother, but until he got answers, he was going to stay attentive.

…

Anakin didn't sleep the rest of the night. Instead, he went into a meditative state until his mother woke him up to get ready for Watto's. Although while in the meditative state he found no answers, he did find the truth. His surroundings and everyone in them were real and this was no trick which only confused him more. Had he time-traveled? Time traveling was not possible; however, through the Force anything was. Which brought the question why was he back in time? Perhaps this was his punishment, as he hated nothing more than being a slave. At least the Force allowed him to have his mother. Because of this realization that was why he decided to go along with it; otherwise, he would not have been going to Watto's that day.

Anakin was about to leave their complex until his mother stopped him, telling him he had not eaten, brushed his teeth or hair, and made his bed. Truthfully, Anakin was in disbelief. The thought of brushing his teeth and hair was almost a foreign concept to him. After all, he had none after the Mustafar incident and Dark Lords did not sleep in beds so there was no making a bed. Even eating was weird as he normally had tubes to bring the food to his stomach. Yet, he still performed the tasks for his mother's approval which she accepted with open arms for a hug. The act, of course, froze Anakin. Sith Lords did not hug individuals, even for a Jedi, it was frowned upon. However, Anakin was neither, but could he still dip down into that momma's boy role so easily. The answer was yes. He went into his mother's arms and at first was hesitant in wrapping his arms around her, but eventually did, never wanting to let go.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

After the farewell, Anakin walked into the hot heat of Tatooine. Even though it was early in the morning, the two suns were glaring down at all who was below. For the first time, Anakin was missing his Darth Vader suit as it always gave him a preferable temperature. He was never too hot or cold and it gave him a considerable amount of protection. In his slave attire, he had no armor or weapon. It made him feel naked. The thought of being defensiveness however soon became an afterthought as he realized he was lost. That was the third he had already past that fruit market.

Anakin stopped where he was to reflect. Beings of all kind filled the streets as they all had a destination to reach. The streets were filled with bounty hunters, and droids, farmers, and slaves, business owners, and natives, but the one thing they all had in common was that they were scum. Every one of them. They only cared about themselves and did what was best in their interests which were why Anakin didn't even bother to ask for directions when he realized he was lost, not that he would have.

"Get up, you scum!" a voice was heard above all others.

Anakin tuned in to a Zygerrian hovering over a Togurta slave. The slave was weak and tired, whip marks stained her body. The girl was young, looked to be around fifteen years old with tears filling in her eyes. The crowd went around them like the scene didn't exist, but Anakin didn't take his eyes off them, all focus on them. The Zygerrian brought his whip back to hit the girl a second time when time had seemed to stop. The girl had gone into a fetal position until she noticed the whip never came down on her. Her and her master both looked at the young boy who bravely/stupidly stopped the beating. Anakin let the Zygerrian's hand go with a blazing furry in his eyes. The pains of being a slave haunted Anakin, bringing back horrid memories of his own times being whipped. It fueled his anger. People were never meant to be slaves. It was wrong on so many different levels. Even as Darth Vader, Anakin never stood for slavery. It just was not right.

The slave master blinked a few times in confusion before he realized what had happened. Even Anakin had to come to his senses some as he had acted on instinct.

"Why you little-"

Before the Zygerrian could finish his sentence as he was reaching for Anakin, Anakin held the Zygerrian in a Force hold and then Force-pushed him into a fruit stand. Subconsciously Anakin reached for his lightsaber that was supposed to be hanging from his belt, but when he realized it wasn't there he decided to lift the being in the air with the Force, slightly tugging on the Zygerrian's throat.

"I'm giving you this one chance. You free this girl or will suffer the consequences," he snarled before releasing him.

Anakin understood that he probably looked the most unintimidated person in the galaxy; however, if everyone was smart enough they would heed his advice. It almost scared him how easily he reverted to Darth Vader's old habits. Although he was still Anakin, Darth Vader would have killed that scum without a moment of hesitation. Anakin Skywalker only scared him. Turning to face the girl, he examined her cuts and bruises, silently cursing at the torture she must have gone through. He put his hands on her body and closed his eyes, becoming one with her to heal some of the pain.

When he finally opened his eyes the girl asked, "Are you a Jedi?"

Flashing a smile and mockingly standing in a heroic pose, Anakin replied, "No, just your guardian angel for the day." With that, he helped her stand, or tried to at least as he was shorter by a foot, and said, "I should probably get going. Don't want my master mad at me too."

The girl wished him bye and Anakin couldn't help but think of a time during the Clone Wars when he had a Padawan and they were fighting Zygerrian slave masters.