---

Anakin couldn�t bear to watch the wind seep the grains of sand into the air, but Vader, on the other hand, gazed impassively as he lowered the fighter onto the landing platform.  Buried underneath a layer of fear, hatred, and anger, Anakin shook uncontrollably, remorse flooding him.  The feelings that stepping out of the hatch and onto his home-planet awakened suddenly became so strong that even Vader nearly stumbled, quickly recollecting himself and forcing the rising emotions back into the distant, quiet corner of his mind, where the small voice of Anakin, his unwanted conscience, remained.  Vader was confident that if he just could seal the door to that corner, Anakin would die along with it, bringing in the clarity he needed to serve his Master without interruption.

D�Tall Kah had already arrived�in fact she was lounging on top of her glider on a quilted blanket, absorbing the sun�s rays and half-heartedly raising her head for a moment to acknowledge Vader�s presence.

Vader, annoyed with her carelessness, strode with long steps toward her position.

�Ahem.� Vader stood, motionless as one of Palpatine�s bodyguards, by her side until she finally opened one eye and grunting, sat up.

�You know, it�s very hard to rest with someone watching you,� she commented, and shifted her position to where she was facing Vader.

Vader was appalled at her casual demeanor around him, he supposed he had already become accustomed to the fear that he usually provoked in others.  �We have work to do, D�Tall,� Vader reminded her, although he was finding it extremely difficult to retain his composure as flashbacks kept creeping their way back into his mind.

D�Tall observed Vader with a curious expression.  �Work.  Ah, yes.  Not one to beat around the bush, I suppose,� the Twi-Lek replied, raising an eyebrow at his silence.  Vader did not respond, he was not in the mood for games, but then again, �game� was a word that also resided in that distant corner in the back of his mind.  Vader was hoping that the drone of his breather would eventually unnerve D�Tall Kah, but it didn�t seem to phase her.

�So, Vader, you going to join me, or what?� She inquired, an amused smile playing on her lips, and she patted a spot atop her Glider.

Vader was still in shock over the casual way she spoke to him, almost as if she were flirting.  Had she no idea what he had done to the jedi? (What haveyou done to them, Vader?) How could she speak this way to him, a powerful servant of the Dark Side?

D�Tall, seemingly oblivious to Vader�s thoughts, (of course you nit-wit, the blue of eyes that SHE had loved so much are covered by a mask of darkness that has for a long time been) lifted both eyebrows as if saying �what�s the holdup?� and then pursed her lips.  �Well, suit yourself,� she said, and she lay back down.

Finally coming out of his speechlessness, Vader answered in a voice clearly holding back his frustration, �I would rather speak with you on the platform and not on the top of a flyer.� (After all, you do have a job to do, right Vader? Find him, make him all you own, forget he was once a part of Her�)

D�Tall looked up, finally noting the seriousness of Vader�s interests.  �Fine with me.  Although I was getting a nice tan.� She slid her slender figure off of her Glider, displacing the smooth surface of the sand when she landed, her feet leaving imprints that remained for a few moments, but slowly began to refill as the ever moving wind released some of the grains it had been waltzing with from some distant area of Tatooine�

�Vader?�

Vader�s mask lifted as he suddenly was carried away (from a far-away place that had once been his) on the voice of an increasingly aggravating Twi-Lek woman�

�I am not here to play games, D�Tall.  You are familiar with this area of Tatooine?�

The sand had now completely filled in her tracks�it was as if she had never stepped into the boundaries of the sandy particles in the first place�

(I don�t like sand�)

D�Tall�s harsh voice once again broke through Vader�s distant thoughts (memories), �Know it like the back of my hand, I come here often��

��Bringing smuggled goods to the Hutt? Maybe even new servants for his town? I know the way things work here, D�Tall.� (No, you have no idea.  I, on the other hand�) Vader called the dark side to him, and channeled it enough to build a temporary wall between him and the small corner that was Anakin�

The amusement seemed to vanish from the Twi-Lek�s eyes, swept away by the wind along a wave of new grains of sand.  �Yes.  I hear you used to be nothing more than a slave here, a long time ag��

Vader did not let D�Tall finish her word, he force-slammed her into her Glider, nearly knocking her unconscious.  The dark side was burning within him, with an unquenchable thirst for blood, which brought Vader�s hand to his lightsaber that rested on the side of his belt.  He ignited it, and positioned it just mere centimeters away from the Twi-Lek�s throat.

�D�Tall, it�s high time you learn whose presence you are in.  I am here bearing my Master�s orders, and they will no longer be made into a mockery.  Either you assist me, or I will kill you, and do so without any hesitation.  This is your only warning.�

Anger contorted D�Tall�s face, but she did not dare move as the lightsaber still rested between her and Vader.  �Okay, Vader, you win.  What do you want? Or should I say, what would you like?

Vader de-activated the lightsaber and began to pace.  �I believe that you know something, or more precisely, someone that the Emperor is searching for.� Vader stopped speaking to search D�Tall�s face, which revealed nothing but an angry sneer.  He tried to probe her mind, but the stubborn woman seemed to have learned how to construct a mental barrier, and not an ordinary one at that.  Normally, Vader could break down a mental block in order to gain information, if a person had even been trained enough to formulate even a simple one.  D�Tall Kah, on the other hand, supported a mystery in itself.  Who had trained her?

�You can�t get the information that way, I�m afraid.  Although if there is something to be done for the good of the empire,� D�Tall Kah finally stood up, imitating a bow and dropping her voice to a border-line sarcastic level, �I�m at your service.�

Vader�s hand cradled the hilt of the lightsaber, but he knew he could not kill her yet, even though the thought was extremely tempting.  She needed to learn her place.

�D�Tall, if he is here, he would be about nine years old now�blue eyes, hair either brown or blonde�� (I began training when I was nine).  Vader sighed, mentally.  The wall hadn�t lasted very long.

D�Tall made a face that resembled being deep in thought and when Vader stopped pacing and began to burn his stare into her she finally responded, �Hmmm�well, that description certainly narrows it down.  What would the Emperor want with a boy anyway?� D�Tall Kah was feigning innocence, but Vader sensed an ulterior motive behind her �uninterested� question.

�That�s none of your concern.  And he is a nine year old human boy.  Those are often difficult to come across here, wouldn�t you agree?� Vader would not allow the Twi-Lek to play games with him but since she kept persisting, Vader decided to play one of his own.  �D�Tall Kah, you career as a Bounty Hunter is simply based on your next paycheck.  You know this as well as I.  However, it seems as though you are bound, by some loyalty, to a certain level of secrecy.  But how much is this loyalty worth to you? Because, the Emperor, generous as he is, would be willing to compensate if you somehow have a slight slip of the tongue.  What would you say to an offer of 130,00 parsecs in exchange for this information?�

Giving candy to a baby, Vader thought, as he watched D�Tall Kah�s eyes light up at his offer.  As soon as she noticed that he was aware of her excitement, however, D�Tall quickly regained her sassy composure.  She had done so too late, however, and Vader now new for a certainty that D�Tall�s success as a Bounty Hunter was either underpaid, or over-exaggerated.  D�Tall brought up a hand, and brushed off both shoulders, as if clearing away the little angel and devil on each side.  Finally, after scratching her head, she addressed Vader, �Follow me.�

-----

�Aunt Beru?� a young nine-year-old boy with sandy colored hair and light blue eyes searched impatiently for his Aunt, while placing a hand over his growling stomach in an attempt to ease his hunger.

The was no answer in the kitchen, which greatly disappointed the boy, for after a long morning helping his Uncle cultivating the field, he was very hungry.  However, he was also very excited to go see his friend Jimmy who had not been able to play in a long time as his family had needed an extra pair of hands around the house.  Now Jimmy�s parents had been able to �stable their income� (that was the way Uncle Owen put it, but it meant nothing to a nine-year-old only interested in seeing his best friend), so if Aunt Beru would only fix something to ease his appetite and then let him see his friend, Luke would be having a good day.

�Aunt Beru?� Luke called once more, growing even more impatient.  Why was it always so hard to get someone�s attention around here? Luke paced around the kitchen, hoping to see some sign of lunch being prepared, but the only sign of any activity in the kitchen was a bowl of dough that was set out to rise on a counter, and a few corn husks left in the sink.  Luke sighed and began to absentmindedly break the husks apart and twist them into different shapes.  It was only after Luke had made a starfighter and a Hutt out of the corn husks that he heard the distinct shuffling of feet over to the kitchen.

�Good heavens, Luke! What are you doing in the kitchen?� his Aunt Beru hurried in and then breathed relief when she saw that he had only been playing with corn husks.  �Sorry about that, I�m just a little over-cautious after the bread incident��

Luke smiled sheepishly.  He had wanted to help his Aunt Beru out by putting the bread she had been making in the oven.  He hadn�t realized that there was a time or heat limit, but when the flames started getting a little to high and the smoke started filling up the kitchen, he realized that maybe he ought to ask his Aunt Beru if she needed any help next time because fixing food was harder than he had realized.  �I wouldn�t try anything like that again Aunt Beru.�

�Well I would certainly hope not! Now, when there is a boy waiting in the kitchen, there is always a grumbling tummy along with him.  Hoping for a little snack?�

Luke rolled his eyes at her baby-talk, but he shook his head at the prospect of food, although he was hoping for more than a little snack.

�Well, I�m afraid to say that I have nothing prepared,� Beru began and Luke dropped his head in disappointment, �but, that�s no problem because Jimmy�s father has invited us all over for a bite!�

Luke�s head popped back up, freshly decorated in a large grin.  �What are we waiting for, then?� he asked, and his Aunt Beru grinned and shook her head, �I don�t know.  Shoo.� And Luke ran off ahead of his Aunt, excited to see his best friend, completely unaware of how important a child such as himself was to the Emperor at that time�

---

The pod-racing ring had been destroyed.  In its place rose whips of smoke from an established Tusken Raider Camp.  Established being the keyword�one not often used in the same sentence as �Tusken Raider�.  Apparently, these Raiders were conducting a little business of their own, smuggling a broad array of mechanical parts and gaining a small fortune for doing so.

D�Tall had brought Vader into the middle of this disgusting camp, amongst the wretched animals.  A single Tusken was making his way across a sandy dune in Vader�s direction while many others scurried in and out of a large ship that Vader assumed the Tusken�s used to store and deliver their parts.

Hatred boiled in what was left of Vader�s veins at being taken to this location; the Tusken�s had been a strong source of anger in his past life, and he could not stand the memories that accompanied that anger.  He glared at the Twi-Lek beside him and in a loud voice demanded an explanation.  �What are we doing here?�

D�Tall Kah shot Vader an annoyed look.  �Are you the guide here, or am I?� D�Tall paused and then smirked, �Your Lordship.�

Vader wanted to kill her.  Oh, more than anything! But he needed D�Tall for now, so he instead, in his rage, ignited his lightsaber and swung it across the nearest Tusken�s midsection, cleanly dividing the horrible creature in two.  D�Tall gaped at his action, and Vader was inwardly satisfied.  Perhaps his demonstration would prove more effective than his warning.  �Next time, that will be you, D�Tall,� Vader verbally emphasized.  D�Tall narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing.  She spun around on her heel and began marching towards one of the smaller Tusken vessels; three or four of these miniature ships were stationed around the larger one.  Vader glanced around to see if any Tusken�s had witnessed the murder, but unfortunately, they were all too wrapped up in their own precious world of profit, so Vader had no excuse to kill any others.  Vader could have killed them all without an excuse if it had been up to him, but the Emperor had ordered Vader to avoid distractions and concentrate on the mission.  Return your focus to your son�he is more important right now, Vader mentally reminded himself.  That was the very reason he was standing in the middle of some Tusken transaction location, after all.

The peculiarity of Tusken�s conducting some marketing business reminded Vader of the question that he had wanted to pose to the Twi-Lek.  �D�Tall!� Vader called to her, as she had stormed away quite a bit faster than Vader�s purposeful stride had taken him.  The Twi-Lek pretended not to hear him.  Vader focused all his hatred towards the woman into an energy shaped like an extended hand, and he used it to pull the Twi-Lek backward to his present location.  Clearly, D�Tall had never encountered such a trick of the Force before, for she ridiculously attempted to shake the �hand� off, wiggling her shoulders and trying to slap at it with her hands, only to realize that what held her was energy, not matter.  Although D�Tall was dragged to Vader�s spot looking murderous, Vader did not consider her in the least as a threat, and he gave a long, chastising pause before speaking to the scowling Twi-Lek.  �Now,� Vader once again began, �Who are these creatures (Vader spat it like a swear word) working for?�

For a moment, D�Tall�s eyes met Vader�s squarely, and the indescribable mixture of hatred mixed with nostalgia that passed through them was such a bone-chilling look that Vader shuddered inwardly.  It was as if the Twi-Lek could see right through Vader�s mask and into the dark corner that was Anakin; sending him, and not Vader, a look that resembeled accusation.  When she finally lowered her gaze, D�Tall bit her lip and replied in a voice clearly pretending to be off-handed, �Why, those �creatures� are working for your master, of course.  The Emperor.  The Tusken�s care nothing for the Empire, but they do have quite a passion for payment.  It�s funny how money, and when it comes down to it, power can cause people to do the very things they hate the most.�

Vader was too blinded by his anger towards both the Tuskens and D�Tall to truly understand the meaning of her words.  �The Tuskens are not people,� he pointed out.

�No.  They are not.�

D�Tall�s words sent another chill through Vader, despite the fact that he was nearly more machine than human, and for a moment the blustering Tatooine air and the movement of sand was the only sound between the two equally infuriated on-lookers. D�Tall squarely returned his glare, unphased by his intimidating stance or his emotionless dark mask.  Then the Twi-Lek whirled around on one foot and began to walk towards the largest vessel oncew again.  Then Vader snapped back to reality and mentally chided himself for losing focus again, and he marched quickly after the Bounty Hunter, placing a large hand on her shoulder and turning her to face him when he caught up, which did not take a great deal of effort.  Even though her expression had softened a bit, her voice almost cracked with amount of anger she was struggling to hold back.  �I know, I know.  You are wondering why we are here, what this has to do with our search for the boy.� Vader hated the sound of the word �our�, but he nodded as she had accurately predicted his thoughts.  Let her think she has a greater role to play in this than she really does�, Vader figured.  D�Tall began her explanation, �Well, Tatooine is not the largest planet in the galaxy, let�s just say.  The Tusken�s here have developed quite an establishment�and quite an ear and eye at the same time.  Imagine now that the Tuskens even have an upper hand on the Hutts�� D�Tall motioned for them to keep walking, but Vader stayed planted and crossed his arms in a very skeptical manner.  D�Tall rolled her eyes and continued, ��Because the Tusken Raiders have a very valuable operation here that they would like to keep to themselves.�

Vader uncrossed his arms, and after a moment�s pause, began to slowly march forward, with D�Tall keeping up on his side.  Finally, he acknowledged her information by nodding, for the Tuskens had always been greedy savages, and the Hutts had always been coniving thieves, so D�Tall�s suggestion was plausible.  If the Hutts realized that a profitable exchange was occuring in what appeared to be an abandoned area, the Tusken�s operation would suddenly become �Property of the Hutts�.  The Hutts were constantly trying to own everything, from territory�to people and the Tuskens knew this, so they were keeping their operation �on the down low.�

�You see my point,� D�Tall continued, still in step with Vader.  �The Tusken�s also have knowledgeable customers, so I�m sure we could at least begin to question if anyone has seen the boy and the caretaker you described.  What did you say he looked like?� She inquired, furrowing her face as she tried to remember Vader�s words, and stopping in the middle of the sand to think.

A small voice in Vader�s head was warning him that D�Tall�s plan seemed too simple, but Vader shut it up to better focus on the mission.  D�Tall knew the area better than he did, for a lot had changed since his childhood years on his homeworld.  He had to believe she would not lead him astray; Vader was sure she already had an idea of what the consequences of such actions would be.  �You really have such faith in these savages?� Vader ignored her last question and inquired, still a bit doubtful.

D�Tall turned her head a bit to display an exaggerated smirk in Vader�s direction and then she once again turned her head to look straight in front of her while she resumed her steady pace.  �I would think you, of all people, would know, Vader, it�s all about the money. � D� Tall�s words were quickly swept away by the breeze and the Tatooine sand, but they did not go unheard by a shrouded figure who silently observed (from his hiding spot atop one of the high ledges of the above the former pod-racing track) the Sith and his Bounty Hunter make their way to the Tusken encampment.