Free The Rise And Fall Of Darth Vader by Ryder Windham Page B

pushed his fingers through Shmi’s matted hair. I won’t leave her here. I have to get her back to the speeder bike. But those Tusken guards -
    He remembered the Tusken he’d encountered when he was a boy. 
    I saved his life!
    Earlier, Anakin hadn’t questioned the Tuskens’ motives. Now, he wondered if they would have taken his mother if they’d known that her son had once saved one of their own. Or is this how Tuskens say thank you? He quickly speculated whether the Tusken he’d rescued might still be alive, possibly in this very camp. I should have let him die! I should have!
    He thought of how the Tuskens had taken his mother, imagined what she had endured in the past month …
    Why would they do this? How could anyone do this?
    The answer came to him from the darkest reaches of his own heart. They did this because they wanted to. They did this because they could. As his grief transformed into anger, he knew exactly how he was going to dispose of the Tusken guards.
    Temporarily leaving his mother’s corpse, Anakin Skywalker stepped outside the tent and reactivated his lightsaber.
    He didn’t stop with the guards.

    * * *

    When Anakin arrived back at the Lars homestead with his mother’s blanket-wrapped body, Cliegg Lars, Owen, Bern, Padmé, and C-3PO emerged from the entry dome. They watched in silence as he lifted his dead mother from the bike and carried her toward the dome’s doorway. Anakin was in no mood to talk, and he had reconsidered his assessment that the Lars family was made up of “good people.”
    What’s the advantage of being good if you’re weak?
    His grim, scowling expression locked onto Cliegg Lars, who lowered his gaze.
    Perhaps you ‘re wishing you hadn ‘t given up on her so soon?
    Without breaking stride, Anakin redirected his glare at Owen and Beru.
    Maybe my mother never told you about how to be prepared to take care of things?
    Anakin didn’t even look at Padmé or the protocol droid as he descended with his mother into the underground dwelling.

    * * *

    Later, Anakin was standing at a workbench in the homestead garage, repairing a part from the swoop bike, when Padmé entered carrying a tray of food. She said, “I brought you something. Are you hungry?”
    Anakin continued to examine the bike part, moving slowly, as if he was slightly dazed. “The shifter broke,” he said. “Life seems so much simpler when you’re fixing things. I’m good at fixing things. Always was. But I couldn’t…” He stopped working and looked at Padmé. “Why’d she have to die? Why couldn’t I save her? I know I could have.” He turned away, looking into a dark corner of the cluttered garage. His rage had momentarily given way to grief.
    “Sometimes there are things no one can fix,” Padmé said. “You’re not all-powerful, Ani.”
    “Well, I should be!” he snarled back at her, causing Padmé to flinch. “Someday I will be,” he continued. “I will be the most powerful Jedi ever! I promise you. I will even learn to stop people from dying.”
    Padmé just stood there, confused and alarmed by his words. “Anakin …”
    “It’s all Obi-Wan’s fault. He’s jealous! He’s holding me back!” He flung a wrench across the garage. It smashed against the wall and clattered to the floor.
    “What’s wrong, Ani?”
    Still avoiding her gaze, Anakin tried to calm his voice as he said, “I… I killed them. I killed them all. They’re dead. Every single one of them.” He turned slowly to face Padmé, revealing the tears streaming down his face. “And not just the men, but the women and the children, too. They’re like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals!” Then he roared, “I HATE them!”
    Anakin began sobbing and slumped down to the floor. Padmé knelt and put her arms around him. She said, “To be angry is to be human.”
    “I’m a Jedi,” Anakin gasped between sobs. “I know I’m better than this.”
    And yet he also knew something else, something far worse