Author's Note: The last chapter. Thank you for reading and I hope you are not disappointed!


Thick black smoke; the crackle and heat of fire; a distant echo of alarms sounding; her eyes closed, Shmi sensed all this, but her attention was focused on the dull pain in her leg.

The crash had been fast. What probably had been only 20 to 30 seconds had felt ten times longer, and the sudden meeting of the ship with Tatooine caused Shmi to bite her tongue (which was still bleeding) and the ship to break to pieces around them. The dull leg pain came from Shmi scratching her leg on a screw that was protruding from the seat. Aside from that neither she nor Walker were injured.

As the thick smoke drifted upwards in the lazy breeze that was flowing through the cracked and broken ship, Shmi held firm to Walker, her breathing slowly normalized as the silence of the desert outside Motesta engulfed them. The alarm that was sounding began to fade and then it stopped. Shmi could see blue skies above her, and there was a gaping hole at the rear of the ship where the cargo hold had been. Through the hole and in the far distance Shmi could see the wavering, distorted images of the domed buildings of Motesta. She wondered how long it would be before someone saw the smoke of their wreckage and came out to investigate.

"You okay?" Walker asked thickly, coughing as the wind shifted for a moment and they were overtaken with the black smoke of the destroyed ship engines.

"Yes," Shmi responded, releasing her tight grip on Walker and fumbling with her lap belt. Her hands were shaking from the rush of adrenaline, and it took her several minutes to release the buckle.

Shmi heard Walker fumbling with his belt as she stood on wobbly legs and started to navigate the debris, heading towards the rear of the ship where freedom beckoned.

Crashing and grinding metal caused her pause. From the forward half of the ship came sounds of movement. Shmi looked frantically around for something she could use as a weapon. She would not let Karr take her back to Kel'Shebbol. She would die before she would let that happen. Settling on a twisted, sharply pointed broken piece of durasteel, Shmi had a fleeting moment of déjà vu when she gripped it. This was how it all started, she thought with perverted amusement.

Walker also grabbed a piece of durasteel and stood next to Shmi. The two shared a look, and Shmi felt in her heart that Walker had to be her brother. Nothing else could explain their closeness, their friendship and their ferocity in protecting each other.

The sounds moved closer until the blast door leading forward began to tremble under the stress of trying to open. Shmi's palms began to sweat as she doubled her grip on the durasteel.

The door finally gave and slowly slid sideways, meeting resistance halfway. The sight beyond the door was frightening. There was a fiery inferno and Shmi could feel the intense heat from the flames on her face. She couldn't believe Karr, or anyone, could have survived in that fire.

Shadowy movement behind the door strengthened Shmi's defensive posture and she waited with increasing terror, her imagination running wild as she waited for the burned and disfigured form of Karr to appear.

Relieved, Shmi almost laughed when what stepped through the half-open doorway was a dull, gray-colored protocol droid. Dropping her arm and the durasteel to her side, Shmi just shook her head. The droid, ignoring them completely, stumbled over the debris as it ungracefully headed towards the gaping hole now present where the ramp had been. Shmi and Walker watched it pick its way through the ship, and as it stepped out of the ship and into the desert of Tatooine, Shmi turned to Walker and they both just shook their heads in amazement.

Shmi turned her attention back to the forward part of the ship where the fire, having consumed most of the fuel available on the sterile, durasteel ship, was dwindling. Her smile faltered as Shmi realized there was no way that Karr was still alive. He was certain to have burned up in the crash and therefore any hope of Shmi finding out about her past was also gone.

"I guess we'll never know the truth now," Shmi said softly, Walkers presence next to her comforting.

Standing amidst the ruins of the ship with crackling fire and popping electrical displays around them, Shmi almost didn't hear the approaching repulsor engines. Ignoring Walker's questions, she made her way to the exterior of the broken and burning ship.

In the near distance was a landspeeder and it was approaching at a fantastic speed. Shmi felt her heart swell and she began waving her arms wildly to get the speeder's attention.

"Carreful," Walker warned, "this is Tatooine, full of Hutt's and other beings with less than sincere intentions."

The speeder was now nearly upon them and through the distortion of the rising heat from the desert sand the image of the driver wavered then suddenly cleared. Shmi, her arms in mid-wave, felt her whole body freeze. The driver of the speeder was the cloaked man. The man in black that had plagued Shmi's dreams, and haunted her every move since she'd left Kel'Shebbol.

"Hide," Shmi warned, her voice struggling to be strong.

"What?" Walker turned to her, his brow furrowed in concern.

"Hide!" Shmi said, more forcefully, though she knew it was too late. The speeder was meters from them, and slowing to a stop.

"Hide? Shmi, what's the prob-," Walker started but never finished. Before the question could be fully formed he was on the ground. Shmi stared at his body, knowing he was dead.

The cloaked man was now standing beside the stopped speeder. His black hood completely shadowed his face, only his chin was visible. He was just meters from her.

Shmi wanted to cry for Walker, but her fear was paralyzing. She stared in nightmarish horror as the cloaked figure took a few stops towards her.

"Come," he spoke in a gritty, almost echoing voice.

Shmi shook her head, planting her feet firmly and setting her jaw.

"I said come," the man said, and this time Shmi felt her body move against her will. Her legs walked as if they had their own mind. No amount of resistance would stop them and soon she was face to face with the cloaked stranger. He stood aside and indicated she should climb into the speeder. Shmi followed his hand and entered the speeder of her own power. She had abandoned all hope of escape and now that all her friends and loved ones were gone, where would she go if she were free?

"Oh, don't worry; you will be taken care of," the stranger spoke, as if reading Shmi's thoughts.

The speeder started moving towards Motesta, but at a wide angle that would bring them around and into the desert town from the other side. Shmi stared back at the broken and burned ship; the lifeless body of Walker on the desert floor. Her brother or not Shmi began to feel his loss and she struggled with her emotions. She didn't want to lose control, especially in front of this man. Shmi, however, was on the verge. A person could only handle so much loss and Shmi was very close to losing control.

"Things will begin moving quickly now," the man spoke and Shmi thought she heard a touch of amused pride in his voice.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she dared ask, staring at the profile of the man's cloak, his chin protruding. It was a pasty white, Shmi noticed with disgust, the distraction of conversation giving her a sense of control-whether false or not.

There was no answer from the stranger.

"What things. What can you possibly need me for? I'm no one, I come from no where," Shmi spoke, beginning to get angry, her moment of apparent control slipping through her fingers.

"Exactly," he responded.

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!" Shmi yelled, startling herself and the stranger.

"Quiet," he growled.

Shmi glared at him, her eyes boring into him, trying to imagine what the rest of his face might look like.

"Who are you?" she asked finally and he laughed. The sound sent chills down Shmi's spine and caused the hairs on the nape of her neck to stand on end.

"Aren't you curious about who you are?" he retorted and though Shmi knew he was purposely avoiding her question she took the bait anyway.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked with unmasked hope.

He laughed again and didn't respond for a moment.

The speeder was passing Motesta now, and he was steering it back towards the docking bays on the other side of town from where she had landed with Sky and Ana. The buildings were more rundown and the town looked a little rougher on this end.

"Shmi, daughter of Kin and Kera, born on Esnon. Brother Wies died three years after you were sold to Karr. Boy was tortured to death protecting you. Noble act, but stupid," he rattled, sounding like he was reciting a list of planets.

Hearing that Walker wasn't her brother was heart-breaking and Shmi had to fight back the tears again. She didn't remember anyone named Weis. Her heart ached for the little brother she didn't remember who had apparently, if this man was to be believed, died for her.

"Your mother cried for you," he said softly and Shmi stopped breathing. She remembered the piece of cloth she had found on Esnon…

He will kill me after I'm done. He's told me so. He says everything that's happened has been according to his plan. He's just told me to stop stalling. His voice is so cold and distant…

I can't remember what was said, word for word, but essentially it was this:

Him-"Your children will live. I have decided to let them escape. It was a valiant effort by you to save them. Now I want you to write everything you saw here tonight. After that, you will die. But you'll die knowing your children will live. That must make you…happy."

It seemed difficult for him to speak that word, happy.

Me-"I don't understand, what do you want here?"

Him (his voice colder, and crueler than before)-"I want you to write what has happened here, and then you will die. Do not question me further."

I now sit here, writing as he instructed, any moment now I will reach the end of this, my last act, and I will die. I can only guess someday, someone will read this and know of my fate. I hope whoever does read this, can tell my children (if they still live)-

"It was you?" Shmi spoke with utter incredulity.

He laughed, pulling the landspeeder up to a ramshackled hut where a Twi'lek was waiting. Shmi ignored the tentacled alien and stared at the cloaked stranger, his silence all the answer she needed.

"Why?" she asked, not expecting a response.

"Power," he said and Shmi was slightly taken aback by his answer.

Shmi was vaguely aware of the Twi'lek pulling at her arm, trying to take her from the speeder. She resisted, she wasn't through with her questions.

"What did killing the people on Esnon have to do with power?" Shmi asked, curious to see how much information he would share with her.

The stranger sighed and Shmi could see his jaw was clenched tight. She waited. The Twi'lek still had his hands on her arm, but he had stopped pulling on her. She assumed he was taken interest in what was being said.

"The Jedi like to think they are the most powerful force in the galaxy. I happen to know there is something more powerful out there. What happened on Esnon was simply the first step in what has become my lifelong quest. That is all you need to know," the man stopped.

Shmi, more confused than ever, opened her mouth to question further but wasn't given the chance. By either unspoken word or some sort of sign the Twi'lek pulled Shmi from the speeder with incredible strength, then tossed a bag to the cloaked man. The Twi'lek, who was gripping Shmi with such strength she could feel the bruises forming already, said something to the man and he laughed.

"Shmi," he called, "I hope to see you again."

Shmi felt waves of coldness wash over her as she watched the man steer the speeder and disappear through the alley and out of sight. The Twi'lek continued to pull her towards the ramshackle hut they were outside of and giving up, Shmi let him.


Hurilla the Hutt bought Shmi. She wasn't sure for how much, or for what, but she was a slave once again, banished to the dungeon domicile of the horrendously huge Hutt.

Shmi passed her days by fantasizing about where she would be and what she would be doing if she were still with Ana and Sky on Kianna's Dream.

Some nights she was plagued with vague nightmares of a faceless, shapeless terror. It was no longer the man in the black cloak that frightened Shmi, but the unknown future. Ever since she arrived at Hurilla's she had felt an incredible foreboding shadowing her. A dark future lay ahead of her and she had no clue how to prevent it. All she could do was wait with increasing fear for her world to completely crumble beneath her.

The End

Epilogue, coming soon…