4 BBY

For three years, the krayt dragon pearls stayed hidden in the cellar, untouched and unused. They could be sold for hundreds of thousands of credits each to the right bidder, but instead Kaleena hid them away, occasionally only bringing them out to stare at them. According to Tusken Raider culture, having one meant you were a great warrior and it was grounds for respect, if not idolization. She slayed a krayt dragon at age thirteen. And what was she allotted in return? Slightly more freedom. Don't be gone for too long. Don't go too far. Go to town and then come right back.

Kaleena was kept on a short leash. Sure, she was at least allowed to leave the hut alone without her father, but it wasn't much different. Not much had actually changed. The bartenders, shopkeepers, and pilots in the nearby towns grew to know her as a wandering child who would show up then disappear shortly after.

She was truly biding her time.

As each day passed, Kaleena's resentment over her situation grew. She was stuck on a dustball of a planet with nothing to do other than people watch and train to be a Jedi. Even the Jedi way was eating her apart. Her father was trying his best to keep her occupied and learning about the old ways, but she couldn't take it. Either Obi-Wan was overbearing and overly critical or not present enough. He never listened to his daughter's pleas to do something meaningful with her time or even move on and practice more advanced things. "Becoming a Jedi is hard and takes time and patience," he had said. He still treated her like a child, no matter how much she had progressed throughout her years training.

At age sixteen, she had mastered two forms of lightsaber combat, was advanced in another, and widely practiced another two, while still being proficient and knowing the basics of the last two. She only practiced form VII in the cellar or in the canyons when she went out. She knew her father wouldn't like knowing that she secretly enjoyed the feeling of Juyo and Vapaad as it was considered the most volatile of the lightsaber forms. It made her feel powerful. It made her feel like she was doing something right.

Ataru and Shien were fun, Soresu was incredibly useful and made her father proud, and Shii-Cho was the basis for all lightsaber combat, but Juyo and Vapaad felt like they added a missing piece of Kaleena's life. Form VII provided a form of excitement, of thrill. It allowed her to channel her frustrations and anger into a flurry of motions that wouldn't hurt anyone but herself and an unlucky opponent.

It was once she came to terms with that, that Kaleena realized she had to leave. For her sanity. She had to leave Tatooine. She had to escape the sand trap and forge her own path. And she knew exactly how she could manage it. They had been sitting in her room for three years. But her father and Tatooine were the only things she knew. Kaleena was scared.

Over the course of a few days, the young Jedi gathered minor supplies into a backpack. Dried food, bandages, an extra change of clothes. She removed the krayt dragon pearls from their tin under her bed. After putting them in her backpack, Kaleena stared at the other thing present in the metal container: the bracelet she made with all the kyber crystals her father gave her. She couldn't make herself take them all. She removed a green one from it and set it on her nightstand before placing the bracelet on the bed.

Kaleena tightened her belt and the leg straps and put the crystal bracelet in the pouch on her thigh. She hid her lightsaber in the backpack along with a holocron that stored lessons on each of the lightsaber forms. She braided her hair and wrapped herself tight in her tan jacket. Then she laced her boots over her pants. After making sure her old practice lightsaber was set next to the lone kyber crystal, Kaleena shouldered her backpack and left the cellar.

At the sound of the cellar door opening, Obi-Wan looked up from the table. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern. "Where are you going?" he asked.

The cellar door slammed loudly as Kaleena simply let it fall shut behind her. She stood her ground, standing tall as her father rose from his seat. She had to do this. "I'm leaving," she said, her voice mildly shaking.

"What?" Obi-Wan questioned, not exactly sure he heard his daughter correctly. "What do you mean, you're leaving?"

Kaleena took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Exactly what it means. I'm leaving Tatooine. Without you."

"You can't simply leave," he argued, his eyes and voice growing stern. "You aren't done with your training."

She shook her head, knowing he would say something like that. "It's always about the training. But it isn't really, is it?" Anger flared in her dark eyes.

"I don't-"

"Yes, you do!" she cut off, pointing at her father. "You do understand. You never let me in. You never tell me anything. If you would like to change that go ahead!" Kaleena waved her hands roughly at their surroundings. "Why are we on Tatooine? Really? This is truly one of the worst planets to hide on to not be hunted down. Unless that's not why we're here." She gave her father a moment to defend his actions, but he couldn't. Obi-Wan couldn't face the truth. And that was always his problem. He loved and believed with all his heart, but he could never shy away from trying to protect others, even when they should know the truth.

Kaleena scoffed, not surprised that her father would stay silent. "I'm leaving." This time, her voice was filled with a renewed strength. "You can't make me stay." She trudged past him, towards the door to the dwelling.

"You're just like your mother, wanting to leave when times got hard." His voice was both sad and angry, but the anger was pointed at himself. Obi-Wan turned to look at his daughter with pleading eyes. "You aren't ready to go out on your own. The world is harsh and cruel."

"I've lived on Tatooine forever, I think I get the gist." Kaleena's hand rested on the button to open the door, but she didn't press it as Obi-Wan spoke once more.

"No. Some places are far worse, especially with the Empire."

The young Jedi whipped around one last time. "At least with the Empire there's order." She said it, but she didn't actually believe it whole-heartedly. She was angry, and she knew what to say to make it hurt. "Yeah, they've down terrible things, but was the Republic much better? The Jedi: peacekeeping generals?" Her laugh was empty. "How hypocritical. Sure, there was little to no slavery, but the bureaucrats have been kept in line. No surprise invasions from the Trade Federation have occurred. Also, you can't forget that the Sith literally flourished under your noses."

Kaleena pressed the button to open the door but realized she had another thing to say. "Oh, and by the way, the code is bantha fodder. Emotions are what make us sentient, fear can be useful in survival, and love is good motivation. Even you in your holy righteousness broke the love rule. So, I'll be seeing you, Master." The door closed behind her as Kaleena walked into the sandy unknown. Obi-Wan watched through the window, unable to choose his daughter over his duty.

Kaleena made her way to the nearest settlement as quickly as she could with nightfall approaching. After years of spending time in the town, if it could be called that, she went directly to the one person she knew she could sell a krayt dragon pearl to. Ancorhead was mildly small, but it had a descent market and black market. She made her way to the back of the market, close to one of the alleys, to the one stall that could barely be seen.

A Nimbanel by the name of Braln Moselleb saw the young Jedi heading towards his stall with a determined look. "Oh, look, the kid returns," he said in Huttese mostly to himself, but his associate, a human, heard it as well and chuckled.

To survive on Tatooine, one of the languages you had to speak was Huttese. "Hello, Braln," Kaleena greeted in the language of the Hutt's, leaning on the alien's stall. The Nimbanel looked at the human behind him and shooed him further away, knowing the girl's expression well.

"You know, you should never walk so sternly towards my stall," Braln pointed out. "People might think you're up to no good."

Kaleena waved her hand, glancing around. "I'm desperate and selling something you might be interested in."

That drew Braln's undivided attention. He was always interested in valuables that he could pawn off at a higher price than he got it for. "What are you offering, little lady?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. She pulled off her backpack and held it in front of her, protecting it's inside from prying eyes. Kaleena slowly drew the fist-sized white krayt dragon pearl from one of the side pockets, careful to make sure Braln was the only one who'd be able to see it. The dealer's eyes widened at the sight. "A white one? The only thing rarer is a red one."

"Do you want it or not?" Kaleena asked, inadvertently switching back to Basic.

Braln held out his hand, but Kaleena glared at him. Braln clicked a few times and shook his head in disappointment. "I have to verify it's authenticity first."

"Not without assurance that I'll be paid."

A light chuckle was heard from the alien. "You've spent too much time at this stall." Nevertheless, Braln pulled out a case and set it on the surface in front of him. He clicked it open a partial amount, enough for Kaleena to see it was filled with spice. Kaleena set a hand on the case handle and handed the pearl to Braln with the other. He held it gingerly since it was rare for anyone to come across them. He scanned it to garner its molecular makeup and found that the young girl was telling the truth. "Out of curiosity, how did you come across this?"

"I found it," she said quickly.

Braln didn't believe her, but also didn't think she killed an actual krayt dragon, so he dropped the topic. He thought she probably looted a dead dragon. Tusken Raiders only ever take one pearl since that's all they need as proof they've killed one. They don't sell them. "I'll give you fifty-thousand credits."

Kaleena rolled her eyes. "I know it's easily worth more than that."

"You said you're desperate." Kaleena didn't budge, continuing to stare down the dealer. "You can't blame me for trying. Fine, seventy-five."

The girl considered the offer. "Throw in two blasters, decent ones, and the pearl is yours."

Braln grinned. "I knew I liked you." He handed her back the pearl and put the case of spice back under the table. "Let me get the credits and blasters." Kaleena slipped the pearl under her jacket as Braln turned and gestured for his associate to come forward to watch the stall.

Soon enough, both Kaleena and Braln walked away happy.