Shmi, Sky and Ana were walking side by side down the crowded and bustling sidewalk of the busy market on Corellia, laughing at a now forgotten joke while eating sweet rolls. Sky carried the wrapped parcel they had picked up on Lav as they headed towards their next appointment. Shmi was truly happy, feeling completely comfortable and secure as she licked sweet frosting off her fingers.

It was to be short lived however; Shmi was violently pulled from her reverie as a blast filled the air and Ana fell forward to the ground, her sweet roll tumbling from her motionless, outstretched hand and coming to a rest in the debris filled gutter. Shmi stared disbelievingly at the sight of Ana on the ground with a black and smoldering blaster mark in the center of her back.

Sky and Shmi turned in unison to face their attacker when another blaster bolt hit Sky in the center of his chest. As if in slow motion he stumbled forward a few steps, the parcel and the sweet roll somersaulting in the air before they landed soundlessly in the same gutter that harbored Ana's sweet roll. Sky turned to Shmi, his eyes widening with shock and surprise before life forever escaped them and he fell with a dull thud to the now abandoned sidewalk.

Shmi screamed and cast her own sweet roll to the ground without another thought. Throwing her body to the sidewalk, Shmi grasped Sky and Ana, wailing cries like none she'd ever had cause to let go before.

Soon there were hands grasping her, pulling her from the two people she'd ever known who had cared about her. Two people Shmi had grown to love like family, like a mother and father.

The hands grabbing her were strong, their vice-like grips on her arms certain to leave black and blue bruises. Shmi ignored the pain and screamed more to be let go, to be killed. She wanted to stay with Ana and Sky. Even in death she wanted to stay with them. Still the hands pulled her from them.

Shmi's feet left the ground as she absently registered the sensation of flying. She was being carried away from the dead bodies of Sky and Ana, and Shmi felt her heart breaking. She turned her head to spit in the face of the ones carrying her away when real fear gripped her.

It was the man in black, and Karr. They were working together. Shmi felt a devestating glum satisfaction the she had known the truth.

"Time to go home," Karr growled with a toothy grin that froze Shmi's blood.

"No," she whispered with fierce intensity, tears streaming down her face.

"What was that?" Karr asked, laughing. Shmi heard the others, the black cloaked, faceless others gripping and surrounding her, snicker too.

"NOOOOOOO-," she screamed at the top of her lungs…


"NOOOOOOOOO!" Shmi bolted to an upright position, her scream waking her from the horrible nightmare as she wept tears that were not part of her terrible dream. Slowly her face relaxed from the twisted agony she had been in before waking.

She was breathless and covered in drenching sweat. The bedcovers were strewn across the floor and apparently Shmi had thrown her necklace across the room; she panicked when she reached to grasp its comforting shape and it wasn't there. Searching the floor she found it quickly in the corner of the room, the center stone glistening brightly in the darkness, like a beacon of hope meant to lead Shmi to safety.

The visuals of the dream were slowly fading and Shmi didn't quite remember the details, only that Sky and Ana had been murdered in front of her, and while they were on Corellia. Shmi didn't believe she held any gift of premonition but suddenly she felt afraid that what she dreamed might come to pass as Corellia was their next stop.

Checking the chrono next to her bunk Shmi was glad to find a new day had begun. She couldn't go back to sleep if she wanted too; images of Ana and Sky dead on the ground assaulted Shmi as soon as she closed her eyes.

Dressing, Shmi considered telling them about her dream. As she slowly walked the hall of the quiet ship to the tiny mess area she was still struggling with the thought of revealing yet more upsetting dreams to the kind, older couple.

The giggling, whispering voices of Ana and Sky caused Shmi pause. She lingered just around the corner from the little dining area, listening to the comfortable chatter, not caring what they were saying just relishing the pure happiness that radiated from the voices. Steeling herself for it, Shmi entered the room.

"Mornin', girlie," Sky smiled as he stood from the table, his laughter fading like the images of Shmi's dream. Gone, but not forgotten. Shmi felt her mood worsen as she felt the total fault of ruining their lovely morning together.

Ana smiled and poured Shmi a cup of tea, inviting her to sit with them. They were close to Corellia, should be landing in less than a standard hour, Sky informed them as he left to pilot the ship the last leg to the planet. Shmi watched him go, feeling for the first time since she met this wonderful couple that she was intruding, damaging their relationship and bringing danger and death to their lives.

Forcing a smile, Shmi accepted the warm cup of tea but still her heart felt frozen, beating only out of necessity and providing more pain than comfort.

The women sat in silence, sipping their warm mugs. Shmi stared at the scarred and scratched table-the evidence of the time and distance it had traveled humbling her. Staring at the worn surface Shmi felt her throat constrict. She had to tell them. It would be unfair not to. If this was to be their final day in this galaxy, they had the right to know.

"Ana-," Shmi started but choked on her own thoughts. The words she wanted to say would not form. She couldn't make her mouth confess the truth, the contradiction she felt within; she couldn't confess that she knew she needed to leave. Her presence was a risk and Shmi was not willing to put these wonderful people in any more danger. Her nightmare replayed over and over in the back of her mind, the images of Ana and Sky lifeless on the cold ground sending waves of nausea through her. She put her mug of tea aside.

Ana stared at her expectantly, a gentle but cautious smile formed on her lips.

Opening her mouth, Shmi again found her voice had left her. There was nothing she could say. Speech, the power that set humanoid beings apart from all over living things, had abandoned her. Fine, she thought, I won't say anything, yet.

"Nevermind, it's nothing," Shmi tried to laugh it off, her voice suddenly reappearing and whether Shmi imagined it or not, she thought she saw a wave of relief cross Ana's face.

You're being paranoid, stop it! Shmi scolded herself as she took up her mug again. The tea inside was cold. Cold like I feel inside, she couldn't help but reflect.

"I'm going to the front, come up when you're ready. Sky and I want to talk to you about something," Ana excused herself from the room, leaving her mug on the table.

Resigned to think the worst, Shmi's stomach sank lower than she thought possible. This was it, they're going to politely kick me off the ship. I knew it, Shmi couldn't help but wallow in self-pity, the only comfort being that she wasn't forced to explain her nightmare and her fears and…I don't want to leave!

Shmi battled herself while she cleared the table and the small mess area before she ventured forth to the cockpit of the small ship.

Approaching the cockpit there was only silence. Softly stepping, Shmi came into the small cockpit and observed Sky and Ana seated in the pilot and co-pilot seats, watching the door for her appearance.

Shmi's nerves were completely frayed and it was all she could do not to burst into tears and beg them to let her stay. Beg them to accept her, to love her like she's grown to love them. Instead she offered a quick smile before sitting on the small bench running the length of the wall.

"Ana'n me, we wanna ask ya somethin'," Sky started and Shmi bit the inside of her lip to keep herself from going into hysterics.

"We want to ask you-," Ana started but Shmi could take it no longer.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, the tears simply spilling over her lower eyelids like a dam had broken. Ana and Sky stared at her, confused.

"I'll leave. I'll take my few things and you can be on your way. I'll find another way off Corellia and to find my family. I know I've asked more of you than I ever had the right too, but you've been so wonderful and I just ca-ca-ca-ca-,"stuttering the last word Shmi's body wracked with sobs and she buried her face in her hands, too ashamed to even look at the people who had literally saved her life.

For a moment the only sounds were Shmi's devastated cries, then from nearby she heard a soft cooing sound and soon felt the warm and gentle hands that could only belong to a mother grasp her and pull her close. Shmi allowed herself to be held as she let go of everything she had been holding onto since she'd started this journey. Every heartbreak and every joy, every discovery, every setback. Every single moment replayed with crystal clarity until Shmi was devoid of any more tears, her body now wracked with the hiccups of a child who has cried themselves sick.

"Shmi, we don't want you to leave."

As Shmi slowly regained control Ana moved back to her seat in the co-pilot chair. They stared at her as if her breakdown had never happened.

"We want you to stay, permanently. We want you to be part of our family. Sky and I have felt the wonderful grace of what it might have been like to raise Kianna to become a young woman like yourself. We feel like you have become that young woman, that daughter that we so desperately miss."

Shmi's eyes welled again, but instead of tears of heartbreak she wept tears of love and joy. All thoughts of her nightmare were erased from her mind. Elation took hold and Shmi leapt to Ana's arms, embracing the woman she felt was as much a mother to her as the woman who had birthed her and saved her life with her own.


Ana and Shmi walked arm in arm through the market. They were smiling and giggling like best friends. Sky was at his meeting and the two women were shopping. They passed carts with every kind of product one could think to legally purchase, eyeing the expensive Mouni Silks and the thick warmth of the Lavian wool.

Losing track of time and place, Shmi and Ana walked on. Up and down each side of the road until they were exhausted and starving. Pointing ahead, Ana suggested they get a sweet roll.

At the mention of the sweet roll Shmi faltered. Flashes of Ana falling dead to the ground played before Shmi like a slide show. The terror and devestation of that sight threatened to take over again, pulling Shmi back down to that dark place she couldn't escape that morning until she was rescued, by Ana.

Feeling the desire to give in, Shmi fought against it and was amazed at how easily she won. Taking charge of herself she looked around and took notice for the first time of precisely where they were. Shmi raised her head to take in the street and the shops, the passersby and ships coming and going overhead. They were on the same street Shmi had been on before. And just ahead of them was the shop where Shmi had gained her first clue in what had become a search for her past.

"Hena," she spoke softly.

"I need to stop in here," Shmi called over her shoulder as she jogged ahead ignoring the questions from Ana, who followed several paces behind.

Approaching the shop Shmi suddenly was nervous. She still had nothing to offer Hena for the information she had shared. Shmi hoped her thanks would be enough for now.

The shop loomed before her, Hena's Frocks. Shmi smiled at the name-she'd not noticed it before. But her smile faded. The shop was closed up; locked tight; dark.

Peering through the dark glass Shmi frowned. The shop was deserted. The racks and shelving empty, devoid of anything even slightly resembling the clothes Shmi had purchased here just days before.

The dark mirrored image of Ana appeared behind Shmi.

"What is this place?" she asked as Shmi stood and stared into the vacant store. Shmi just shook her head. The confusion of the suddenly empty store, the eeriness of her dream, it was all too much and Shmi felt the small part of her still clinging to some sane, stable reality start to fray under the pressure and stress of all she'd been through since leaving Kel'Shebbol. Her battle against herself turned the other way, Shmi's thoughts turning dark and foreboding; dangerous.

A familiar shadow moved in the mirror of the glass, catching Shmi's attention. Her pulse quickened as the shape of a dark, cloaked figure floated behind them. Spinning on her heels Shmi searched the thinning crowds but didn't see the figure.

Ana was grasping Shmi's arm and moving her mouth but Shmi heard no sound. Feeling like she was losing her mind Shmi closed her eyes, willing herself to fight off the doom, she had done it once before. She let herself breath and felt a calming spirit fill her and her world normalized again.

"-are you looking for? Shmi? What's wrong?" Ana's worried voice finally reached Shmi's ears and she opened her eyes to smile at the older woman.

"I'm okay," Shmi finally spoke and grasping Ana's arm and turning she started leading the two of them back to the docking bay. "I think we should get back."

There was an urgency in leaving that street, and that storefront. Shmi felt they needed to leave Corellia at once. If they could make it off Corellia, they would make it anywhere. Shmi's fear had no basis, but it was all she had and she clung to it like she clung to Ana's arm; unwilling to let go, even a little bit.

And once again, the sweet rolls were forgotten.


"Ready, girlie?" Sky called down the ramp to the docking bay floor where Shmi sat watching some young kids play with a bright yellow ball. She felt better now that they were leaving. Her dream had not become reality, and there had been no other sighting of the man in the shadowy, billowing, black cloak.

Shmi turned to Sky and smiled. Standing she brushed off her rear end and ascended the ramp hearing the creak in its hinges as it closed leaving Corellia and its demons behind her.