So, this was it!<br/><br/>She had found the focal point.  Not that he was entirely surprised by her doing so.  Alethea was, after all, quite gifted.  Their recent bonding time together had truly given him a new perspective of his companion.  She had discerned the moment they had both been looking for.  It was, perhaps, not as good as the ancient ability of shatterpoints like Master Windu once had, but she had found the moment they needed all the same.<br/><br/>It had to be this.  Thal-ion thought about it for a moment as he steadied his heart rate.  If the boy won his freedom in the race, but the mother was unable to be freed - then he would leave her behind to travel to Coruscant with the Jedi and Queen.  If that happened, wouldn't that leave a bad taste in the boy's mouth.  Anakin Skywalker was fated to turn to the Dark Side of the Force, and to become the legendary Emperor's Enforcer:  Darth Vader.    It would be this boy who would turn into that monster to hunt down the Jedi who survived, and be one of the greatest foes of the Rebellion.  But, what if the problems of Anakin had begun right here!  Having to leave his mother in slavery would not be good for him.  He would have hated leaving her behind to such a fate.  What if they could change that?  What if...just perhaps...they could rescue Shimi Skywalker from her fate as a slave, and allow her to go with Anakin and the Jedi once the race was won?<br/><br/>Thal-ion exchanged glances with Alethea that told her all it needed to.  They needed to find a way to save Shimi.<br/><br/>"Well, this is it.  She is the focal point, I think.  I very much doubt Anakin will do well if he has to leave her behind as a slave.  I know I would feel rather stupid and frustrated if I had to do such a thing.  Even it was to follow the best dream ever - it would leave a bad sensation that I doubt would ever go away.  The question is, how do we rescue her.  By force is absolutely impossible.  Clearly, Qui-gon has attempted to win both of their freedoms, but was only able to gain Anakin's.  Money and gambling seem to be the weakness here, but what can we offer to gain such?  Jedi aren't exactly rich, or anything, but I am not sure what we have on the ship that could possibly be worth enough to gamble with.  Certainly can't use our sabers - that would make us targets in a heartbeat.  Thoughts?" he said to his Companion as he glanced back over at Qui-gon concluding his deal with the Toydarian.<br/><br/>Gambling for Shimi's freedom seemed the only possible route that he could think of, but perhaps not directly.  The last thing they needed to do was make the Toydarian more suspicious.  They could, perhaps, make such a bet with one of the other people, but who was another matter and with what or how much.  Those were the questions they needed to solve first before they could do much more.  If they moved wrong in their endeavor - they would not just fail - they would end up messing up the timeline.  Each move they made had to be calculated with great care.