Disclaimer:

Me: I don't think I'm George Lucas do you?

GL: No, you are definitely not me.

Me: Good…I would NOT look good in a beard!

Alright, first, I'm crossing my fingers that I continue this, (reviews are likely needed for that though, so review please!), I tend to have SO many different story ideas that I never finish any of them! Anyway, story's pretty basic at the beginning, though I hope original enough that it's not boring! And just a warning, it's gonna get sorta dark this chapter, but from then on, apart from a few references, it should get a little better! So bear with me!

"Ari? Ari?" called Shmi peeking into the corner of the large common room Ari slept in. Shmi was worried. She hadn't heard Ari come home. Shmi was the only one that got to call her daughter, Lei'ala Ariadne Skywalker, that.

"Shmi!" came a man's voice from the bedroom, "Come back to bed!" Shmi unwillingly went.

Lei'ala swallowed. Nashi was angry. Again. Her master got angry easily. Especially when he had had some of that horrible Tattooine tequila. Normally he was one of the better masters…relatively. But when he had passed a third shot, he got angry, and like some beings, human or otherwise, he got angry and violent.

"Lei'ala! Come here!" He commanded and she had no choice but to obey, "Let's have a look at you…" She shifted nervously; this was new situation, and one that felt distinctly uncomfortable.

"You're going to be quite a beauty aren't you? In ten years I'm going to have all the brothels in Mos Eisley wanting to buy you. WON'T THEY!" He screamed unexpectedly. Lei'ala shrank back, nodding furiously. Agree with whatever he says, she reminded herself, you won't get in more trouble that way. At four years old, Lei'ala had had to grow up fast. Most girls would not understand, let alone have the self-preservation to agree with whatever the owner said. Lei'ala also rarely spoke unless to her mother, since she had learned by watching that one often got into more trouble when speaking and got more punishments. On Tattooine slave girls were not afforded the luxury of innocence and Shmi lived in fear of the day her daughter would become old enough to be sold into one of the local establishments.

Nashi downed his fifth shot, and continued, "Ha! You don't understand a word I'm saying do you?" He got up and grabbed her by her dark red hair, "Well I'll tell you, my pretty…that you're pretty and dumb will only make you more profitable to me! Everyone loves a girl who doesn't say a thing. And I'll tell you another thing-" Nashi wobbled and Lei'ala breathed a silent sigh of relief, then he abruptly fell down unconscious on the floor. Lei'ala walked over, climbed up on the stool and cleaned up the remains of the tequila. She was accustomed to Nashi passing out and cleaning it all up. She was finally on the way home when something dark came to her eye among the ever-present sand. Curious, she peered around; the street was deserted, so she veered from the path home to look. It was a blaster. Normally she shied away from weapons. But Nashi's comments had scared her and an idea came into her head. Quickly, she picked the blaster up and tucked it in the sleeve of her shift. Then, taking another cautious glance around, she started back towards home.

Shmi sighed in relief when her daughter came in. She immediately began scolding Lei'ala.

"Where were you? I was scared to death!" She held her daughter close, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Mom. Sorry. Nashi got to a fifth shot today and I guess he just lost track of time, don't worry…" Lei'ala smiled a small smile at her mother.

"Yeah, Shmi. Nashi's been known to do that. It's not a big deal," commented Be'ale. Be'ale was Shmi's lover…of sorts. A friend of Nashi's, he wasn't a slave and had a wife and family. But being a slave didn't just mean doing your owner's bidding, but his friend's as well, "Aren't you going to greet me Ari?"

Lei'ala started. She hated that he called her that, but then again, she too had no choice.

"Sorry. Hello sir." She ducked her head and did not notice the ominous, oily smile that came over his face. As quickly as she could, Lei'ala left the room. But Shmi did and she felt uneasy. And the line of conversation that commenced unsettled her more.

"How old is she now Shmi?"

"Four, why?" She asked, making sure her attention looked as if it was centered on getting food out for her and Ari's dinner.

"Nothing, nothing. Well, see you in a couple days." He made his way to the door and left. Shmi rested her head against the wall, pondering what was going on.

Later that night, Shmi found Lei'ala working on something.

"Ari? What is that?" She asked quietly. Lei'ala started and looked up in fear of reproof, "Ari! Where in the gods' name did you get that!"

"Mom, I know, but Nashi was… he was acting strange today. And I swear it was just lying there!" Lei'ala fumbled over her words anxiously, "I just thought that if I could get the ID chip out, then we could keep it…Nashi and… Be'ale scare me…" Shmi's heart broke at her tone. It was as if she was ashamed to admit it.

"It's alright sweetie. See, there you go, you got the chip out!" She was proud of her daughter. On one hand, Tattooine made children grow up faster and Ari was no exception to that, but sometimes Shmi wondered if Ari was special in other ways. She was smart, fast, and remarkably in-tune to people and things around her, "Would it be alright if I just put this in a safe place?" She asked her.

"So we'll keep it?" Ari cried hopefully.

"Of course. You were extremely resourceful, sweetie. You never know, maybe someday we will need it…" Shmi smiled over her shoulder at her daughter as she left to find a hiding place.

Shmi never dreamed that that day would be so soon, and she certainly didn't dream in a million years what would happen.

A month later, Shmi came home from the market to hear Ari screaming. Quickly, she grabbed blaster from the secret niche she had hid it, dropped the food and ran towards the screams. There in her bedroom, what she saw made her blood run cold and everything in her vision turned red. Be'ale was there, with Ari, and he was raping her. Shmi didn't think, she just shot. Miraculously it hit him below the heart and he collapsed. Ari's screams continued. Shmi continued shooting him, hitting him again three times before she was satisfied he was dead. Then she rushed over to her daughter and pulled her out from underneath him. Ari was bleeding down her legs and still screaming, but she grabbed on to her mother with a vice-like grip, burying her face in her mother.

Shmi bathed her daughter, applied bacta where she could, and did her best to stop her screaming. But it wouldn't stop, even when Lei'ala sunk her teeth into her own arm, biting herself to try to stop the screaming. Eventually, of course, the screaming stopped and with a hoarse throat and a battered mind, Lei'ala fell asleep. Only then did Shmi turn her attention to the dead man in the next room. She knew that despite the cause, Nashi would execute her. If found out, as a slave, her chances of surviving were zero. That being so, she went to the door, looked out, and came back dragging the man's body out into the desert. She then went back to the house, grabbed the matches and the pot of cooking oil. She poured the oil over the body, lit and dropped a match, and stood back while it went up in flames. Then she spat on the burning body, and went back inside. No one saw Shmi, and no one would ever know, the people in the houses around were inside, sleeping, escaping a world where they would spend the next day in more slavery.

Okay…that was difficult to write. I hate anyone going through that, even a fictional character of my own creation. And for those wondering, Obiwan WILL come into the story, just gimme a chapter or two!