Homecoming part 1

Anikin was in the cockpit as they dropped out of hyperspace, the dual suns shining their rays through the windows. The young Jedi gave a sigh at the familiar sight, then a groan of realization.

"What's wrong Padawan?" Obi-wan asked, curious.

"It is nice to see the twin suns again, but then I realized that I would have to do the maintenance on the ship." Anikin sighed.

"You always like doing the maintenance, what's different this time?" Obi-wan was now puzzled.

"Sand." Anikin said in a flat tone.

"Sand?" Obi-wan just raised an eyebrow.

"When doing maintenance, I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere." Anikin groaned remembering the long times having to deal with getting the ever-present debris from tools and machines while growing up.

Obi-wan just gave a smile. "Well, it's a good thing you have a lot of practice keeping things working soft and smooth."

"Really Master Obi-Wan?" Anikin just rolled his eyes, knowing that he would be dealing with the dust and grit.

The journey down to the surface was uneventful, the barely existent traffic control barely giving them the energy to assign them to a landing bay. They landed in the city they had left a decade ago, as they knew people there that could get them an audience with the Big Hutt on the planet. The first place they went to was Watto's shop. There they found the flying blue shop owner trying to get a piece of stubborn equipment working, muttering under his breath in Huttese as a small group of pit droids tried assisting.

"Excuse me." Anikin said polity in Huttese.

"What!" Watto replied in the same language in an upset tone.

"I said excuse me." Anikin repeated still in Huttese.

"Shut down." Watto said to the droids as he narrowed his eyes slightly, the droid powering down and folding into their storage mode. "What? I don't know you... What can I do for you? You look like a Jedi. Whatever it is... I didn't do it." The shop owner obviously not wanting anything to do with the Jedi.

"Here let me help you with that." Anikin picked up a dropped tool and started fiddling with the stubborn device.

"Bah, last time I 'helped' out a Jedi, I lost the best worker that worked in this shop, the kid could get anything working." Nostalgia thick in the hovering alien's voice.

"You don't say?" Anikin commented as the machine whirred to life, a mischievous grin on the young Jedi's face.

"Ani?... Little Ani? No... is it you?" Watto asked, looking up at the tall human, the grin on the Jedi's face only growing larger. "Ah Ani! It is you, you little womp rat." At this point, Watto gave Anikin a big hug. "Wow, you sure sprouted up, what do they feed you Jedi, you were just a small thing last time I saw you, and a full Jedi to boot, whaddya know." At this point, The crafty businessman had an idea. "Say, you don't still race pod's do you, I haven't placed a large bet since you left, and my fingers are itching for a good score."

Anikin just laughed at the antics. "You haven't changed a bit, no not here for racing sadly... would be fun, but we are on a bit of a schedule."

Watto snapped his fingers and gave a mutter. "Ahh, too bad, so what you doing back on this dustball then? Last I saw, I would think you would never be back here again."

"Ah, need to escort a Senate Representative to meet with the Hutts." Anikin shrugged, indicating that you can't always get what you want.

"Ah, you need to see Jabba... I can see why you came here, I used to see the Hutts a lot when I was being a high roller... although... I still have my old contacts. I can see what I can do, you know how much of a Sarlacc pit the Hutt courts are." The Toydarian rolled his eyes remembering the backstabbing mess the system was.

"Ugh, don't remind me, I saw enough of the edges of that with Gardulla." Anikin shuddered despite the heat.

"I will see what I can do, good to see you kid. Everyone else does not have the knack you did. I can probably cut a good while off the wait, but if you want to get to the front of the line, you are probably going to have to either do something that catches his eye, or give a hefty gift." Watto noted as he got out his datapad and started looking through his contacts.

"Hmm, that could be an idea..." Anikin mused as he spotted some of the parts in the yard of the shop.