Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Star Wars other than a video game and a book. I do own my character Kysha. Please don't sue me as the only things of worth I own are my Bible and my copy of Lord of the Rings.

A/N:

I apologize for how long this chapter took to publish. Sadly the next chapter will probably not be coming for awhile, I have Chemistry midterms coming up in a week or two. *gag, gag* I am very sorry, thank you for reading this story

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It was not a long flight to the crime lord's palace. In spite of this it took him less time to collect his bounty, refuse the Neimoidian's offer of a permanent job and get back to his ship.

The Slave 1 arrived back on Tatooine in the early morning cycle of the two suns. Boba was awake... and unhappy about it. He had gone to sleep in his chair as usual, but then he had woken sharply several times in the night to go and check on his prisoner. He vaguely recalled having read somewhere that small children woke up several times in a night needing to be fed. After getting up five times to find his charge sleeping soundly, he decided that either she was too old or THAT was what made her special. He rubbed a hand over his face as he returned to his truncated sleep.

'I definitely have to find out more about children. This is ridiculous.' He groaned softly when he saw the chronometer on the wall which now proclaimed it to be 06:00 Tatooine time. He dozed for a few moments but was awoken by the chime his control panel emitted to alert the piolet that the ship was about to drop out of hyperspace. He gave up then and manually steered the ship down to Mos Eisley spaceport.

Normally he went straight to Jabba's palace as he had much better accommodations there than anything Mos Eisley had to offer, but he needed to pick up the necessary items to care for a child. And, if he could find such a thing, a few holobooks on child raising.

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About a half an hour later Boba returned to his ship, laden down with a several bags of goods. He opened the door, walked in to the control room and put the bags on his chair. It was now his custom to check on the child as soon as he got back to the ship and that was what he intended to do but as he turned, there she was. He did not quite jump, he had better self control than that.

"What are you doing outside of your room?" He asked warily, disputing internally as to wether or not to remove his hand from his blaster pistol. He didn't think she could do him much damage but his memory flashed back to the alley and the ease with which she had taken him down. True he had been off guard at the time but she had proved that there was more to her than meets the eye.

She turned and pulled herself on to a console, sat down and started swinging her legs before she answered, "I got board. So I came out here. You never said I couldn't leave the room, just not the ship." She looked straight at him with big brown eyes and although her face was perfectly serious, the look in her eyes said that she was about to start laughing.

He sighed and started to put the bags containing his purchases in a locker by the piolet's chair. When he finished he turned back the girl who sat unmoving, watching him, this time with a slight smirk on her face. "How did you get out of the room? I locked it."

She raised an eyebrow, "You could do with some better locks in here. I guess you're just not used to having guests in your ship who aren't locked up in those cages of yours. Makes this more fun for me!"

"If the locks on my ship are so easy for you to get around, why didn't you leave while I was gone?"

The girl's expression quickly changed to a frown, "You aren't a total idiot!" Boba raised an eyebrow at that but refrained from comment. "The lock on the outside of the ship is a lot better. You probably don't want anyone stealing your ship. And I'm not stupid either. You're the best bounty hunter in the world," she dropped her eyes to look at the floor, then added in a softer voice, "and I'm less scared of you than I am of the lizzard guy."

It suddenly struck Boba that he wasn't dealing with an adult. She spoke so well and acted so mature that it was easy to forget that she was still a child. A lost, lonely, frightened child and Boba felt his parental instincts awaken. The feeling he had last night, questioning whether he could live with his newly awakened conscience if he turned this little girl over to criminals was back, and far stronger than before. He stood suddenly and shook his head hard. He knew he couldn't and not only did that do terrible things to his image as a bounty hunter, but it left him with the problem of what to do with the child now.

He stood there for a few moments, thinking. However he slowly realized that, 'Oh what is her name? Kysha!', still sat there staring at him with eyes that where getting increasingly watery. He frowned ever so slightly then decided that his best option was to just try being honest with her. "I'm not going to let Bossk anywhere near you. You are perfectly s..."

"No, I'm not!" The little girl almost wailed, "I've been kidnaped by a bounty hunter and my nana got killed and then I got left alone in a strange ship and then I could have escaped except I'm too scared and I'm an idi't and I'm probably gona get killed!" She sniffed hard and dropped her head, obviously ashamed of her outburst.

Her speech, which had until this point had been quite clear, suddenly began slipping into the way the very young spoke. He stood there, unsure of what he should do. Kysha solved the problem for him by jumping off the console and hugging him tightly. He almost jerked back but then realized she was calming down quickly and stood there, awkwardly, not sure what to do now.

She let him go after about a minute and backed away looking what Boba thought was suitably embarrassed. She stood there for a few moments, staring at the floor, turning redder and redder. Finally she raised her head and glanced up at his helmeted face, "I'm gona go back in my room now."

Then she spun on her heel and made for the door to the hallway as fast as she could with out running. Boba watched until she entered 'her' room and then slowly shook his head as he sat down. "I have got to get better locks in here."

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A/N:

Sorry this chapter is so short! Any and all feed back is welcome!