This is purely self-indulgent. As any writer knows, thousands of perfectly good words end up cut from stories because they're extraneous, redundant, or simply don't fit the style or themes of the story. As a general rule, by the time I finish the editing process, I can delete all those extra words with only a small pang of regret and the satisfaction of knowing they served their purpose in my creative process. Once in a while, however, I have to cut something that I really love, and when I complete the draft, I cannot bring myself to delete what I've written.

This is one such scene, which developed when I was working out the zero draft of Leia's POV in chapter 25. Everything that was important in this vignette is in the final version of that chapter, and Leia and Chazzer's meeting has no bearing whatsoever on the plot of the main story. But I love these two characters and haven't been able to write them nearly as much as I want to. So I cleaned up the scene, slapped a quick title on it, and I'm presenting it for anyone who would enjoy some fluff in the Krayt's Oath 'verse. I make no apologies, either for the pointlessness of this piece or for the fact it's going up practically unbeta'd. Many thanks to RecklessRonto, who did give it a quick once over.

Timeframe: During the three days while Anakin was out in the desert and the clones were knocking off Jabba

Conundrums and Nuisances

Leia bent over a vaporator and clutched a hydrospanner until her knuckles whitened. Kraytrider's shop was dim and quiet as it had been since he had left the day before yesterday.

Uncle Ben was meditating in the one shady corner of the courtyard. He had invited her to join him, but Leia was too jittery to sit still contemplating the secrets of the universe. Especially with Uncle Ben, who had deceived her about something so important.

There was nothing to do here. No one but Artoo and Uncle Ben to talk to. In desperation she had finally picked up some tools just to occupy a few hours.

She scowled at the sand-pitted housing of the vaporator. The project occupied her hands, but it wasn't doing a thing to take her mind off the sick knot of apprehension coiling in her gut.

Darth Vader was her father. Did he expect her to call him dad? To let him train her in the Force? To leave Uncle Ben and live with him?

And what was she supposed to do now? To think? All those stories Uncle Ben had told her about his adventures with her father—had any of it been real? Or was that all lies too?

Uncle Ben had warned her how the Dark Side warped its users. How it twisted every virtue into a fault, while it swelled every flaw into a vice. She wondered what had happened between her uncle and her…father.

She grunted and strained as she renewed her battle with the bolt. It was so confusing….He had been so kind, all those months she had asked him for advice and help. Uncle Ben always said her father had had a heart as big as the galaxy for those he loved. That he had been generous, warm, and intensely loyal to those close to him.

And the worst of it was that she had seen flashes of that man in Kraytrider.

He had sold her parts for Artoo at far less than their value. He had helped her repair the booster jets at no charge. He had shown concern for her safety. All in all, he had appeared to be a taciturn but kind man, and she had begun looking forward to her monthly visits to his shop.

And now he had left—just disappeared, apparently, without any indication why or where he was going.

The coward.

To knock her entire life off its foundation and then not even give her the chance to yell at him.

She ignored the voice that suggested it was simpler to wrestle with the revelation in his absence.

The bolt she had been struggling with gave way without warning and her hand banged against the vaporator housing. She shoved her hand against her teeth while she blinked tears of pain and frustration away.

Artoo, who had not left her side since Kraytrider's departure, whistled softly and bumped against her leg. She patted him with her other hand while she inspected the injury. No visible damage. It stung, but not enough to cause her to abandon her efforts. She picked up the hydrospanner and set to loosening the next bolt, hardly aware of Artoo's stream of comfort and commentary.

"Who are you? Where's Mr. Kraytrider?" a voice demanded in Huttese.

Leia glanced to her left where a small boy stood outlined against the sunshine in the shop doorway. "What?" she said in Standard.

The boy switched to the same language. "I said, who are you? I've never seen you here before." His tone was not rude, only insistent.

"You know…Kraytrider?"

The boy approached the workbench. "Yeah, he's my dad's friend. You don't work here, so why are you fixing that?"

"I—um—I was bored. I'm staying here for a few days."

"Mr. Kraytrider doesn't let people work on stuff without him."

Leia set down the hydrospanner. "Uh, yeah. Probably not."

"He lets me work with him. We fix things together." Pride radiated from him.

"You do? But—you don't work here, do you?"

"No. I just come after school sometimes. Mom says it's okay—if I'm not a—" he paused for a moment, then said with an effort— "nuisance. Yeah—that's it. So I just help. Mr. Kraytrider lets me clean things and sometimes tighten bolts. Last week he showed me how to fix a pit droid."

"He did?" Leia frowned. "Your parents let you spend time with him?"

"Of course! He's a Kraytrider. That means he's brave and good. He comes to our house for dinner. My mom and dad like him a lot. Especially my dad. I heard them say he 'puts up a good front.' I think that means he pretends. You know—like he pretends he's not helping slaves escape. But I know he is."

"You do? He is?"

"'Course he is," the boy said stoutly, "his name's Kraytrider, isn't it? That's what they do."

"But that's not his real name."

"Well, yeah. Everybody knows that," he said in the tone of someone stating the extremely obvious.

"I didn't."

The boy gave her a disbelieving look. "You didn't? That's dumb. Everybody knows Kraytriders take their name after they escape their masters. It's to tell people they're smart and strong enough to escape and not die. Usually they run across the desert, but Mr. Kraytrider flew away in a spaceship. He's awesome!"

"I…" Leia trailed off, unsure what this flood of information meant. "What master? You mean—the Emperor?"

"A'course not the Emperor," the boy scoffed. "His slave master. Golly, don't you know anything?"

"That's not right. He wasn't a slave," Leia protested.

"Shows what you know. Sure he was—or why would he take the name Kraytrider? Only escaped slaves can use it. If someone who wasn't a slave tried to use it, they'd call down the curse of the desert," he said with relish. "Nope—he told me himself. He escaped his master in a spaceship. Someday I'll get to hear the rest of his story. Dad said he didn't want to tell it right now—but someday he will. I bet it's amazing!"

"What story?"

"How he escaped, of course. His master must have been really mean. Dad says the more scars a slave has, the meaner his master is and the harder it is to escape. So I know Mr. Kraytrider had to be really brave to even plan an escape. And he actually did it!"

Leia stared at the boy. This was an angle she had not considered. She was aware slavery existed, of course. The Rodian who worked in this shop was a slave. But to consider Darth Vader had been one?

"Then why does he keep a slave?" she demanded.

"He doesn't! He freed him the minute he bought the shop. Mr. Theec told Dad. It's one of the reasons Dad likes Mr. Kraytrider so much. He said it takes a good man to be willing to lose money to do the right thing."

She knew little of Darth Vader beyond his public reputation. He had always seemed an almost mythic figure, with the power and authority of the Emperor at his fingertips. On the other hand, Uncle Ben had warned her that the Dark Side enslaved those who used it. Maybe he meant that far more literally than she had realized.

She was not ready to discuss her thoughts with a strange boy, however, nor to tell him what she knew of Kraytrider's story. She certainly was not going to mention her own connection to the man.

"I guess it does," she said as a peace offering. "My name is Leia. Kraytrider asked me and my uncle to stay here for a few days while he's out of town."

The boy looked surprised. "Mr. Kraytrider took a trip? He's never done that before. My mom takes trips a lot. Sometimes my dad does too. He should have a good story to tell when he gets back!"

Leia laughed in bemusement. "You sure are obsessed with stories."

"Yeah—'cause they're interesting. As long as I don't tell them to other people. Mom and Dad say I can't tell anybody the stories I hear."

"Then I won't ask. Can you at least tell me your name?"

"Chazzer. Can I help you fix that?"

"Um. I guess so….But you said Kraytrider doesn't let anybody fix things while he isn't here."

"Are you good at fixing stuff?" Chazzer climbed onto a stool and looked at her expectantly.

"Pretty good." Leia cast around for a credential to offer. Her eye fell on Artoo. "I worked with him to fix my droid's booster jets a couple of days ago."

"Neat. Then let's fix this." He settled himself more securely on his knees on the stool.

"Okay. If you think it will be all right."

"'Course it will." He examined her with his head tilted to one side. "You feel better now."

"I—what?" Leia was taken aback by the apparently random observation.

"When I came, you were mad. Now you're not. Show me what to do."

They wrestled with a corroded bolt together, and Chazzer beamed when it finally gave way under their combined efforts. Leia couldn't help but smile back.

A medium-height man entered the shop.

Chazzer groaned. "Daaad. It can't be time for supper yet."

"It's not." The man grinned. "I wasn't actually looking for you, son. I want to talk to Kraytrider."

Leia straightened. "He's gone."

"Did he say anything about when he'd be back?" the man said with a frown.

"I didn't talk to him. He told my uncle he didn't know."

The man ran his hand through his dark hair. "D—" he glanced at his son. "Darn. I really need to talk to him and he isn't answering his comm."

"You can talk to my uncle if you want."

"Yeah. That would be great."

"Artoo, would you get Uncle Ben, please?"

The droid splatted and his dome rotated.

She sighed. "I know. I promise not to go anywhere. Just get Uncle Ben. I don't think…Kraytrider would want me to leave them alone in the shop."

The droid blatted again.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't care what you think. Just do it."

Still muttering softly, the droid rolled toward the courtyard.

Leia looked back to Chazzer, who regarded her with big eyes. "Do you know what it said?"

"Yeah. Sort of. Sometimes I don't know exactly, but I get the idea."

"What was it saying?" the boy asked.

"Oh, um—he just didn't want to leave me alone. He has loyalty protocols that make him overprotective sometimes."

"It's a he?" Chazzer said, fascinated.

Leia shrugged. "Uncle Ben always called him a he. I know droid personalities are just programming and it isn't the same as people, but he's a friend. It feels rude to call him it."

Uncle Ben entered from the courtyard. Artoo wheeled over to take up his post at her side once again. Leia turned her back on Uncle Ben and pretended to be absorbed in her project. She still wasn't ready to talk to him, even about something so impersonal as this man's request. She knew Uncle Ben considered her for a long moment, judging whether it was worth the effort to reprimand her attitude.

Evidently he decided it wasn't.

"Can I help you?" he said to Chazzer's father.

"My name's Kitster Banai. I'm looking for my friend Kraytrider. Do you know how I could reach him?"

"Ben Kenobi. Yes, he mentioned you might come around. He said he had to go somewhere, but to tell you that you can do it without him."

"That's it?" the man demanded.

Leia suspected Uncle Ben had shrugged, but she wasn't going to turn around to find out.

"I do apologize. That truly is all he told me. I have no more idea where he went than you do. Perhaps less."

"Blast." Banai paced the shop several times. "This isn't going to work without him. I—" He broke off. "You really have no idea where he is?"

"As I said, he was quite vague about his plans. I don't even know when he'll be back. I wish I could help more." Leia could hear that Uncle Ben was giving his apologetic smile—the one that conveyed a helpless desire to change things and an utter inability to do so. It was frequently an act, but in this case, it was probably genuine.

Banai sighed. "All right. If he comes back, tell him I need to see him as soon as possible."

"Of course." Uncle Ben was smiling more genuinely now.

"Chazzer, we'd better get home. Your mom won't be happy if I haven't made sure your schoolwork is done every day."

"But, Dad—"

"No, son. Whatever you're going to say, the answer is no." He made his way to the door.

"I'll see you later," Chazzer said with a longing look back at Leia and the vaporator. "Don't fix it without me!"

A wave and he had trotted after his father, leaving Leia alone with her uncle and many new thoughts to ponder.