When Sith Beat Jedi To The Prize (Of The Chosen One)

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel had intended never to go to Tatooine again. The entire experience the first time he was there was hot and miserable. The only good point, so far as he was concerned, was meeting Andronikos. But as luck would have it, his ship ended up deciding to need minor repairs. Nothing too bad, but it did require him to land somewhere to get the parts he needed, because of course, the bit that went was something he didn't have spare parts for. The only planet within reasonable range? Tatooine.

It didn't take long for a Force-sensitive boy to catch his attention. One strong enough that he was surprised the Jedi didn't already find him. Well, their loss was his gain. ...Once he pried him loose from Watto, anyway. He suspects he actually had an easier time of it than a Jedi would, although he's not going to hang around and give one the chance to give it a shot. At least, unlike them, he's willing to come to Tatooine from time to time so Anakin could see his mother. Probably not more than a couple times a year or so, due to it being best to go there when they're at least vaguely in that part of the galaxy anyway, but it's far better than 'sorry kid, we're never bringing you back'.

Of course, there is one tiny problem with this whole thing. He's never had to raise children before and doesn't know what he's doing. With the ship safely in hyperspace and not due to come out of it for a good long while, enabling him to do things that didn't involve sitting in the pilot's seat of the ship, he's in the lounge area. Time to figure out what he's doing. "Have you managed to get any kind of schooling? Like from someone you know, sitting down with you for an hour here and there as time permitted to teach you things like how to write?"

May as well figure out what he needs to teach besides how to use the Force consciously instead of unconsciously drawing on it.

Comments

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel just covers his eyes with one hand for a moment. This is not where he wanted you to go with this, child. "The conclusion I was hoping for was that the kind of people who like that sort of thing tend to be terrible people. And given we're talking about Sith, they're mostly just trying to get their own way about whatever they're trying to accomplish rather than helping people."

"I mean, I've used fear of what I might do to keep people in line who otherwise would have been doing things to screw someone over--assuming I wasn't angry enough to just deal with them on a permanent basis--but generally..." Ugh. Maybe he should have just gone with answering instead of making the kid think about it. Too late, now.

"One of the things about the Dark Side is that it's... very tempting to use," Garth'zel says carefully. "I assume you've seen spice addicts around? It's like that. It promises an easy and fast way to what people want and they may even get it in the short term. But then, like the addicts, what they previously wanted isn't enough and they want more. And they'll do whatever it takes to get that more no matter who they hurt along the way. Or what they do to themselves in the process."

[imaperson]

Part of the issue Anakin is struggling with is the idea that something is always good or always bad, even if that was what was typical of children his age - because Anakin wasn't typical nor had he had a typical upbringing. It was hard to teach a child stealing was wrong when stealing a person was not, after all. But on the other hand, he is still a child, and complex shading of morality isn't entirely within grasp of his development yet.

But he has seen spice addicts, gambling joints tended to have them and he knew of more than one family who'd seen their children sold to pay for the spice habit in one way or another. "But you don't seem like that."

[neverwantedtobesith]

"I'd also made a point of surrounding myself with people who could help keep me from becoming like that in the first place," Garth'zel says dryly. "And well, like I said. Jedi I've met have helped."

[imaperson]

Anakin thinks now may not be a good time to point out those people aren't here or at least don't seem to be. "So they were like weighstones, like what you use to lash a tent to so the winds don't blow it away?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

Said people have been dead for so long, there's not even dust left. Let it be, child.

"Mmm, sounds about right. Although I'm not sure I would have used that specific comparison in front of Ashara, given that women are often twitchy about weight." Note the use of past tense in referring to her. ...Along with the ship sharing a name.

[imaperson]

While the joke goes sailing right over his head, the past tense and the shared name do not. "I want to ask something, but I don't want to make you sad."

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel just looks at him for a moment. "If you're wanting to ask if she's dead, yes. And while we weren't actually married, it was only because the Jedi Council would have collectively had hysterics"--slightly nicer than saying 'shit a brick'--"at the prospect of her wanting to marry a Sith and said no. So we skipped that and went to her moving in with me. No, there's no children, because, we're different enough species we weren't genetically compatible."

So even if her death was within the last decade, at least there wouldn't be competition for attention from Garth'zel's actual kids.

[imaperson]

Being 'technically' married doesn't really matter to him. Slaves were property, property couldn't marry under the law. That didn't mean Anakin didn't know plenty of married people.

"You said your surrounded yourself with people who stopped you from being like that." He stops, because he is fairly deeply empathetic, and knows this isn't fun to talk about. "Does she still, because you remember her?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

He's quiet for a moment as he thinks about that one. "I think so. I mean, I try not to think about her too often because it hurts. I know the pain will eventually fade. Not go away, but get to where it hurts less."

[imaperson]

Anakin doesn't ask what to him is obvious, if thinking about her is so painful - and he can tell that it is - why did he name the ship after her or keep the ship if he'd had it before.

"Ok. I'm sorry." Both for Garth'zel's grief and his own questions which caused it to be brought up. He's quiet for a moment, trying to think of something to say to change the topic all together. Off Garth'zel's past, off the Force, at least for now. Except he can't, totally because this conversation has lead him to a path of worry and he needs to kick that away while he eats.

"I can wash up after I eat, if you want." Both an offer, because he should and to allow Garth'zel to leave if he wants to.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"What, you didn't get enough time playing in the water?" Garth'zel asks, eyebrow arched as he firmly stuffs his emotions in a mental box to deal with later.

[imaperson]

"Nope!" Anakin answers cheerfully, perhaps too cheerfully, because he is trying to forcibly take the conversation in a different direction.

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel rolls his eyes. "Are you hoping for your hair to never be dry again?"

[imaperson]

"Maybe." He could be happy never feeling such dryness again anyway.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"I'm thinking of practicing with the remote, which means I'll eventually need the towels after my own turn at cleaning up. I'd like to be able to get dry," he points out.

[imaperson]

"Oh. Um. How do you do laundry on this ship, by the way?" This is completely unrelated, he promises!

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel blinks slowly at Anakin before covering his face with his hand. "How did I remember to show you the medbay but forget to show you the laundry room?"

No, he's not honestly expecting an answer. "The relevant room is just one door away from the 'fresher."

[imaperson]

"Do you do your wash or does a droid?" In Anakin's experience, droids tended to do that, if you could afford one.

But he'd also go put the used towels in to dry once he could, just to be sure.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Back when I had one, he did it, but these days, I do my own laundry." Like everybody else Toovee is millennia in the past.

[imaperson]

"Are you used to parents doing all the laundry?" He's trying to puzzle out why Garth'zel may have forgotten. "But if you want a droid again, just find one. Even broken. I'll fix it up." There's an almost 'please' unspoken, Anakin wants him to get something broken to leave Anakin to fix, since he isn't trusted with working on the ship.

[neverwantedtobesith]

Showing the kid the laundry room just slipped his mind, that's all!

Garth'zel's eyebrow goes up again. "Child, I'm perfectly capable of doing my own laundry, as seen by the fact I do it myself these days."

...Child, what do you think you've been doing this morning?! Playing make believe?

[imaperson]

"Droids are useful to have around." And he wants to have one to play with.

...Doing stuff he's been able to do for years without supervision?

[neverwantedtobesith]

Give him a break, a course he's going to want to keep an eye on the nine-year-old at first.

"Mm-hmm. And I had one when I had too much to do and not enough time to do tasks like cook and clean as well."

If he does get another one, it'll probably be an astromech droid, rather than another one like Toovee or Threepio.

[imaperson]

"Most ships this size have an astromech droid or two, even when they have a bigger crew. A lot of the pilots used them to help navigate." He's not really arguing, he just finds it odd that there is only Garth'zel for crew.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Most ships also aren't owned by people who lost everyone that mattered to them, including their droids," Garth'zel says tartly.

Anakin may want to take this as a hint that the man's patience is wearing thin.