I cannot stop thinking about Shmi for some reason so, you're in for it. It's going to be a bit so I'm going to put it under a cut.
More thoughts on Shmi's Force User AU.
Shmi Skywalker was taken from her parents at a very young age, as was common. She was taken to the Jedi Temple and trained with the other Younglings. She was intelligent, perceptive, empathetic and compassionate. The Jedi Temple was a haven, a place of learning and wisdom and Shmi thrived... Until a point. At the age of 10, Shmi began to question more thoroughly within her own mind what the teachings were based upon. She had shown disdain early on for the use of Lightsabers. It was not for her. That was a way of violence to Shmi and she did not want to take a violent path. That was for others to do as they wished. Instead, she focused on meditation and feeling the Force within herself and within the world around her. It brought her a great sense of peace that she could not find anywhere else. Peace was not enough though and Shmi was spirited and passionate about the natural order and harmony among all things. She was astute and kept much of her feelings to herself, but she was more than aware of the looming separation that was to come. Her life as it was could only be sustained for so long.
It was when Shmi was slated to attempt the Trials that she had the perfect opportunity to do as she wished. She would not do them. She abstained and voluntarily left the Temple. She would be no Jedi for that was not the Order she believed in. She also did not believe that the Force wished for her to become a Jedi. Everything and everyone has it's place in the world and hers was not adhering to rules and regulations that she believed were unnecessary, dangerous and in some instances barbaric.
Shmi knew what she needed to do and she quickly gathered her few possessions together and chose to leave for the Outer Rim. There were no tearful goodbyes.
As she grew older and, in her view, more wiser, Shmi did the work she believed she was always supposed to do. She helped the poor, the sick, the dispossessed, the enslaved. She righted whatever wrongs she could and she offered support with all of her heart, reaching people in a way she knew she never would have been able to do as a Jedi.
During her travels and work, Shmi ended up encountering someone whose opinion she had valued highly when she was still involved with the Jedi; Qui-Gon Jinn. There was much they could discuss and several things they could agree on philosophically and practically. She understood that there was the lightest touch of disillusionment present and she was determined that she would be there to support this man, no matter where his own personal journey took him.
It was not long before they fell into a romance of sorts, brief but beautiful. Despite using the relevant protections available, Shmi still conceived a child, a child who would go on to be told that he had been created by the Force itself. In Shmi's view, she was not necessarily wrong. For the sake of Qui-Gon's reputation, she chose to keep her beloved Anakin a secret. Qui-Gon would never be denied the right to see his child, but nor was he obligated to place them above or even beside his duty to the Galaxy as a Jedi Master.
She continued with her work and Anakin grew up knowing a life of freedom and a life of responsibility, of duty to those who needed them most. It was inevitable when he reached a certain age that he would need to decide if he wished to follow the path of the Jedi or not. Shmi told him that this was his decision and that she would support him no matter what choice he made. It was not surprising to her that he followed Qui-Gon to the Temple. What did shock her was that they had gone from Tatooine and then to Naboo into an active war, a conflict that ended up claiming Qui-Gon's life. Shmi mourned him deeply and she worried about how this would affect Anakin and who would become his Master. She was far from thrilled when the young Obi-Wan was chosen but she had to believe that someone chosen by Qui- Gon would be able to effectively pass on his teachings.
Shmi kept up communication with Anakin although it was very limited and she was only occasionally able to speak with him and see him, following the rules established by the Jedi. Whenever she spoke to him, she reminded him always that love was a beautiful thing and not something to be feared or shunned or denied, that it was a strength to feel love as keenly as Anakin did. He should not deny this. Ever.
Unfortunately for Shmi, Anakin would not always listen to her. Where she tried to exert a positive influence on him along with Padme, Palpatine was not the individual she expected and his manipulation of Anakin's fear drove him to commit acts she could never have expected even in her worst nightmares. She was too far away to stop it from happening and was left trying to pick up the pieces afterwards. Shmi found her way to Padme, she held her hand during the birth and she gave as much as she could to keep Padme alive. Padme didn't die, but she was incredibly weak. Together, Padme with Luke and Leia left and they went to Alderaan to stay with Senator Organa and his family. By the time the twins were 4 years old, the family had settled into their new life but tragedy was around the corner. Padme passed away after a short but aggressive illness and she was laid to rest on Naboo. Luke wished to remain on Alderaan and although it hurt her to do so, Shmi agreed that she would leave him in the care of Bail and his wife who had desperately longed for a child. Shmi would keep Leia with her because she was so much like her father and Shmi feared what could happen if they remained and were discovered by what was left of her son, the now styled Darth Vader.
Shmi returned to Tatooine with Leia and together, they made a life. It was a simple life but Shmi had never had a problem with a simple existence. There she was able to exert a strong, positive influence on Leia without much in the way of outside influence. There was one influence that Shmi did allow though and that was of the Force spirit of Qui-Gon whose wisdom she gladly took. It helped her to know she wasn't alone and that she was doing right by her family under the circumstances.
Shmi was an active user of the Force but she would never be an active fighter. It was not within her to be so aggressive. She would defend and she would save others but not at the expense of her own moral compass. She instead focused on deepening her knowledge of the Force and figuring out how to move with it and among the world with the Force.
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