Hello, guys and gals! So, this is my first Star Wars fanfic. I haven't been a fan of SW for that long, so I'm a little out of my comfort zone here writing this. But I'm gonna give it a go anyway, because this plot bunny has been bugging me for an extremely long time.

So, let me explain. This is an AU fic, set around the time of ROTS. But I've changed some things to fit the story. One of the biggest changes is the fact that Padmé and Anakin will not be together in this story. However, Palpatine is still the Dark Lord of the Sith, and the Clone Wars still happened. Oh, and another obvious change is the fact that Count Dooku is still alive (obviously in the movie, he was killed by Anakin at the beginning of ROTS). And one more important thing; Shmi Skywalker is still alive and well, and still a slave on Tatooine. I changed all this because I didn't want Anakin's fall to happen in this story. That would.. err.. complicate things. xD

Like I said, I haven't been into SW for that long. I'm still a bit of a learner (Padawan learner, hah. Okay, bad joke xD). So if I make any mistakes, you guys should point it out to me. Constructive criticism scares me, but I know I'll probably need it so I'd definitely appreciate it.

Disclaimer: Own any of this, I do not. Belong to George Lucas, they do.

Mysterious Girl

Chapter 1

Demons In My Dreams

She had been feeling weird all day. She didn't quite understand why, because her day hadn't been any different than usual. She got up, she went to work, she went home, went to bed. Just the same old average, boring day.. so why had she just woken up from one of the most awful dreams she'd ever had in her life?

"Thank you, Mrs Skywalker," she said sleepily as a cup of hot chocolate was put down on the table in front of her.

"You're welcome. So, what was your dream about?"

16-year-old Kei-La sighed loudly, running a hand through her long blonde hair, not quite knowing what to say. She didn't want to bother Shmi with her problems; it was bad enough that she'd woken her up with her unconscious screaming and shouting... at 3 o'clock in the morning.

"It's nothing, really, Mrs Skywalker. I'm fine," she said, and she smiled a smile which she, in the back of her mind, knew didn't look believable enough for Shmi to just drop the subject.

She was right, too. Shmi gave her a look; a look which was her silent way of saying, 'I'm not falling for that'.

"Now come on, you can tell me." Kei-La looked down at the table, but Shmi leaned in closer to her, forcing her to look back up again. Their eyes met, and Kei-La knew she had to tell her the truth this time.

"It... it was a dream about..." Kei-La paused, swallowing hard before she finished the sentence, "...My parents."

"Ah." Shmi knew that she didn't need to say anything else, and neither did Kei-La. The mention of her parents was enough. Nothing else needed to be said.

She decided to change the subject a little. "Ani used to have dreams all the time."

"Ani?" Kei-La took a sip of her hot chocolate, slightly confused at what Shmi had just said.

Realising that she hadn't told her about Ani yet, Shmi laughed. "Ani. Anakin. My son."

"You have a son? I didn't know that!" Kei-La had only been living with Shmi for about a month. They were usually both so busy, they hardly ever got to sit down and really talk. Kei-La knew nothing about Shmi and her life. Shmi knew nothing about Kei-La either; apart from her parents, of course. She knew all about that. It had been the biggest story on Tatooine; so basically, everybody knew about it.

"He's all grown up now," Shmi said, a small smile on her face. But then her smile began to fade. "I haven't seen him since he was 9 years old. He would be about 20 now."

"Aw, I'm sorry." Kei-La suddenly felt slightly guilty. "What happened to him?"

"Well... he went off to become a Jedi." Now she was smiling again. "It was his dream, so I'm glad I let him go. And I'm sure he's happy, wherever he is right now."

"A Jedi? Wow, that's amazing! You're the mother of a Jedi!"

They both laughed.

"Just like my parents," Kei-La suddenly said, picking up her cup of hot chocolate and taking another small sip.

Shmi smiled a sympathetic smile at her. "What was your mother like? How did she cope with being a Jedi AND a mother to you?"

"She didn't," Kei-La responded, without thinking.

There was suddenly an awkward silence between the two of them.

"It wasn't that she was a bad mother," Kei-La began to explain, hoping she could redeem herself for what she'd just said, "She was just.. extremely busy. Never had time for her daughter, she always left me in the company of friends, because it wasn't like she could take me on missions with her. Being a Jedi wasn't just a job, it was her life. Considering how hard it must have been for her, I think she did a pretty good job. I'm proud to call her my mother." She put the cup down on the table, using both hands to wipe away the tears that were sliding down her cheeks.

Shmi leaned over, putting a hand on Kei-La's arm and rubbing it affectionately. "And I'm sure she was proud to call you her daughter." Shmi thought for a moment, wondering whether to ask the question that had popped into her mind. She didn't want to upset Kei-La any further, but she couldn't help but be curious. "Can I ask, what exactly happened to your father?"

"I'm not sure. My mother hardly ever spoke about him when she was with me. She said she'd never told him about me. She said she knew it would destroy him if he found out," Kei-La explained, sniffling a little, "She said if anybody learnt of the extent of their love, they would have surely been expelled from the Jedi Order. And that was the last thing she wanted. So I was kept a secret. If he's still alive now, then my father is still out there with no clue whatsoever that he's a father."

Shmi smiled a little at the irony of this, and her son crossed her mind once again. Kei-La never knew her father, and in a sense, Anakin never knew his, either. It was funny, really. Sad, but... funny.

"You could always go and look for him," Shmi suggested.

"There's no point. He could be dead, for all I know." Kei-La said, and Shmi could hear a slight sound of despair in her voice.

There was another silence between them. But this time, it wasn't as awkward as the first.

"It's hard losing your loved ones, isn't it?" Shmi said, sighing softly.

Kei-La nodded.

"It's even harder when your loved ones have no idea you exist."