Luke Skywalker and his wife met the Millennium Falcon at the landing pad.

When Luke saw my face, he looked surprised.

When Mara Jade saw Jun, she blanched, turned, and then walked away.

"Difficult time?"

"That's an understatement," Han said.

Jun said nothing.

"Who is this?"

"The person that attacked us," I answered.

"Bring him in," Luke ordered.

I lead Jun inside, but kept him in cuffs.

Luke came inside, went to the senate kitchen, and returned with a bantha steak for my eye. I nodded my thanks and looked to Jun.

Jun was eyeing the meat covetously.

"You don't want his. It's raw."

That was obviously not a deterrent.

Signing, I used my lightsaber and carefully cut the meat into pieces. The pieces were now cooked enough from the lightsaber.

I sat next to him and fed him the bites.

Mara and Luke were in the council room. I could hear her crying and Luke trying to get her to focus and calm down.

Jun was ravenous. Well, he must have been from being so big at only nine years old.

Mara was calming down and telling Luke that Jun was dangerous. Thankfully, Jun seemed more interested in the food than their conversation.

The main trick with eavesdropping is to not get greedy. Usually, all one needs are tidbits. It also helps when you're smart enough to not go broadcasting the tidbits that you've learned.

Anyway, I heard something about experiment, DNA, Skywalker, monster, and death sentence.

Then, Luke said loudly, "He could join us," to which Mara yelled loud and clear, "NO! NO! NO!"

There was some hushed gibberish and then something about isolation and evaluation and Mara growling.

"Mara, you came from mercenary roots being the Emperor's Hand and wanting to kill me, remember? Look at how much has changed for the better?" I heard as Luke started to open the door.

Mara stopped him, and there was another period of hushed whispers and incoherent murmuring.

When they left the room, they came toward us and shooed me away from Jun.

Jun suddenly seemed afraid.

"Jun, we think that you could benefit from our way of life. This is a one-time offer. If you refuse, we will turn you over to the Republic's custody to be held accountable for your crimes and attempt on Han's life. What do you want?"

The air was thick with anticipation. I mentally begged him to accept Luke's generous offer.

Jun finally gave a curt nod.

I relaxed, but Jun seemed uneasy with his choice.

"If you're worried that those others will come for you, you needn't be. We will protect you. They will never lay a hand on you again," Luke promised.

Jun still did not appear to be convinced.

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Luke had me take Jun to the room where he would be staying.

Jun looked inside the room like he shouldn't be there.

"Go on," I urged gently.

Looking highly uncomfortable, Jun sat down on the floor next to the sleeping couch.

"No, here," I offered him my hand. He took it, and I guided him to sit on the sleeping couch.

"Let me help you clean up," I offered.

Jun nodded.

I pulled down a basin from the shelf and filled it halfway with warm water.

Jun hand taken off his shirt, revealing more wounds, scars, and marked on insults...and washboard abs.

I first wiped away the inked on cruel remarks.

Jun flinched at my gentle touch.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you unless you hurt me first."

Apparently, blue skin hides grit and grime well, because I had to change the water twice and use six rags to clean his enormous torso alone.

As I washed over his neck, gills suddenly appeared. I jumped at the morphing, but was fascinated. When his neck dried, the gills went away.

I knelt and eased Jun's horrid holy shoes off his feet as well as his threadbare socks.

I gently washed his feet, trying to be gentle on the fresh sores and lesions on his feet.

"Jun, will you please come to the sink, so that we can wash your hair?"

Jun stood and came to me at the sink. I turned on the water and checked the temperature with my wrist.

I put my hand on the back of his neck.

"Are you ready?"

Jun grunted.

I pushed his head toward the running water.

He did not panic.

I put soap in his hair, lathered it up, and then helped him rinse it out.

I used a towel and helped him towel dry his black locks.

He was clean on the top half, and I figured that was good enough for now.

"Han, Luke, or Ben will show you how to wash everywhere else, but you're clean enough for now. Rest until dinner time. Okay?

Jun nodded.

I left him alone in his room.

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I went back a couple hours later to check on him, but he was dead to the world.

I slunk away and walked into Han.

"Do you want to go with me to pick up Leia and Ben?"

"What kind of question is that? Let's go!"

Han ducked in on Luke and Mara and told them he was taking me along. Luke agreed that I could go.

Han, as husband to Leia and Senate consultant, was given free access to the speeder arsenal, and selected a nice red one, capable of seating four.

We arrived on the platform just as Ben and Leia were disembarking from the mouth of the ship. In her arms, Leia carried a rancor tooth. This was an odd take-home from Naboo.

Both Ben and Leia seemed shocked at my face, and Han told them that he would tell the whole story again to her and Ben later, after Luke brought them up to speed on what they would do with the kid we brought in

After his explanation, Leia tried to hand me the rancor tooth. I apparently looked confused by the offering.

"Asenath, this was in your old home. I looked up the address and went by it. It was abandoned, but I let myself in. This was on the mantle, and I figured that you may want it."

Once she said "mantle" I knew what it was, and the fact that I didn't want it became obvious to only me. My father hand brought this from Dothomir before the Clone Wars and fashioned it into an urn. My mother's ashes were put into the urn when her body was cremated. My father hadn't made it for a funeral urn, but that is what happened to it.

I started weeping. Leia looked mortified, having not known (still not knowing) what could have sparked such an outburst. Ben led me to the speeder and helped me get in. After a few minutes, he tried to help me calm down. I wasn't calming, and he kept touching my face, which made me cry harder because touching the bruises hurt.

Han drove us back to the Palace, put the urn in my room, and then Ben took my hand and dragged me to Luke, who we found sitting next to Jun in a chair.

"Who is that?" he asked.

"A new apprentice. Why is Asenath upset?"

"Aunt Leia brought back a rancor tooth urn from Naboo. She got it from Asenath's old house."

Luke looked at me.

"You remember the urn?"

"Mo...Mo...Mother's...aa...aa...ash…ashes."

Luke didn't really know what to say to that, but he knew something needed to be said to keep a conversation.

"Ben, did you see...Mother's tomb?" he asked.

"Yes. It's quite beautiful and well kept. I think I should go so that you can deal with her," he said, referring to me.

I let go of Ben's hand and he left. He briefly turned back, and then he was gone.

Jun was still asleep and Luke beckoned me closer. We were eye-to-eye.

"You don't want the ashes?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Those belong to my old life. That life is over now."

"True, but why not have something to remember your old life?"

"Because it's death. Haven't I had enough death? My mother chose death by having me. My father...could he have chosen death?"

"I suppose he could have, Asenath. But resenting them won't bring them back or change their choices. Or yours. But, by forgiving them and moving on, your attitude toward the past will improve."

"Maybe."

Luke took my hands. He was silent for a few moments to collect his thoughts. He spoke to me very softly.

"My aunt and uncle were murdered by stormtroopers. When it happened, I was confused, angry, and I never wanted to go back to Tatooine. But, had they not have died, I would have not left with Ben Kenobi to go rescue Leia, met Han or Chewbacca, or found out that Darth Vader was indeed Anakin Skywalker. Blessings can come from things that feel like curses."

"My past has a plus side?"

"You came to us. You're being trained. You helped bring Jun to us, possibly saving his life in the long run."

"If someone comes for him...do you think that we can protect him...at least you, you know, get him on our side for that fight?"

Luke thought about the problem.

"With a large enough battlefront and all able-bodied fighters, we will stand a chance. I'll contact Mon Mothma in the morning to see what we can do.

I only nodded as I looked at how peaceful Jun looked while asleep.