(Jayden's PoV)
Anakin has just exited the shop early, a privilege that Watto doesn't easily give out. He can spend more time with his mother with early release from his work.
As a slave, privileges like this don't exist. In fact, the word privilege doesn't exist in their dictionary.
One may think that Watto is a bad guy for owning slaves, but he was not.
If he hadn't brought Anakin and his mother, others would have, and their lives would be far more miserable. Not all slave owners are as patient as Watto. They would be angered by even the slightest mistakes, which the slaves had to pay for, even if the slaves were not at fault.
Some may question why he didn't let the boy and his mother go free when Qui-gonn Jinn arrived or why he didn't give them the ship parts for Republic Credits?
Remember, he has to make a living.
In Hutt space, those credits are worth nothing. Even dirt may have a higher value than they do.
Regarding Anakin and his mother, he brought them with his money. If he lets them go with any payment, he has to incur the losses.
What Qui-Gon Jinn did to Watto by using Jedi tricks may appear good in the movie, but in real life, that was wrong.
Well, he may have taken advantage of Watto's gambling issue, but he did use a Jedi trick to make Anakin go free of the slavery without actually paying Watto anything.
I mean, he could have sent something to Watto to pay for Anakin and his mother's freedom, but he didn't. Sure, he died quickly, but he could have done something in the short time he had before he returned to Naboo to reclaim the planet for the Queen.
The reason why I like him is that he was someone who wouldn't hide his failings. He would try to bury them. Maybe he might have freed Anakin's mom if he had lived. Perhaps he would have paid the money to Watto in some way.
He died quickly after the incident, and was busy with other things, so who knows what he would have done.
---
"Hello, you work for Watto?" Master Jinn asked as Anakin neared us.
"Yes, I am a slave owned by Watto. My mother and I. So, I have to work for him", Anakin responded.
Jinn nodded his head, thinking something, but I have no idea what. If I had to guess, it would probably be how to free the boy.
Whoosh!
"Do you have shelter? The sand storm is coming," Anakin said.
"No, but we would be heading to our ship on the outskirts", the maid replied.
"You would never reach the outskirts in time. The sandstorms are dangerous. You can stay with us until the storm passes away", Anakin offered.
Our ship was not far away, but taking them there would mean that Jinn wouldn't be able to check on his suspicions.
"Master Jinn, you should go with the boy. We can meet early in the morning after the storm goes away", I spoke to him.
Qui-gon understood what I was trying to do.
He smiled, "Master Ventra, Padawan Arkent, we will meet after the storm passes".
We went our separate ways after that. We went back to our ship, while the other group went with Anakin.
---
Early in the morning, once the storm had passed, we reconvened with the group, and this time, we brought the ship's parts required for the repair, not just the bare essentials, but everything necessary to make the ship function optimally.
While Jinn and my master, along with R2-D2 and "the maid", returned to the ship to give the parts for the repair, I, along with Jar-Jar, accompanied Anakin and his mother.
I came to know more about Shmi Skywalker over time. If I were older, I would have praised her for her courage and will to survive slavery.
I mean, it shouldn't have been easy what she went through.
She was sold as a slave, and while on her travels, she became pregnant, without any father to support the child. Slaves already get nothing much to survive, and she had to take care of an infant at that time.
Anakin worked on his droid and podracer vehicle, which I assisted with a bit. Having a good knowledge and grip on Engineering made it easy for me to do more than the chosen one, who had to build the machines from the knowledge he gained from repairing and disassembling them.
I wouldn't have grown to this stage if all that was available to me was what he had access to.
Chosen Ones are really a cheat.
Things come to them easily, but they have to carry a lot of burden on their shoulders.
Though I envy the chosen ones for their power and learning ability, I am happy that I am not one. If I were one, everyone's eyes would be on me. They would be expecting me to be a saint and do things for free, even if they are the ones who tried to chain me previously.
This is how the life of the chosen ones would be. I am not particularly interested in becoming a puppet in the hands of others. No, I like to live my life, my way.