Chapter 6: All Because of a Race

Lyyr remained with the Hutts to watch the race at Gardulla's invitation. But also because she thought it would be best to be able to demand her 'winnings' from Gardulla the moment Anakin had won. Lyyr did not want to give the Hutt any reason to dismiss their bet. Therefore with the slightest bit of apprehension in her heart Lyyr found a place from which she could watch the race in relative comfort. As she watched Lyyr had to constantly remind herself not to give away anything she felt. She was unused to this role of a spectator and found herself fighting the urge to chew her cheek or bit her nails. A couple of nervous habits she had developed long ago; moreover they were ones that did not suit her assumed reputation of icy indifference.

Sitting there pretending to be unconcern was perhaps one of the most difficult things she had ever done in her life; particularly when Anakin's pod stalled before even reaching the starting line. She wanted to howl in frustration but instead remained quiet outwardly unruffled by the delay. She contended herself with cheering silently as Ani finally got the blasted pod to start working.

Lyyr experienced another harrowing moment when Sebulba forced Anakin onto the service ramp in the second lap. With some quick thinking the boy managed to turn what could have been a disaster into an advantage; coming down in front of Sebulba's pod and taking the lead. Lyyr almost forgot where she was, she was so excited. At the last moment she prevented herself from jumping up and crooning in delight out of sheer willpower.

From that point on she could clearly see that no matter what would happen Anakin was going to win. She waited impatiently for the final lap to be completed; unfazed by Anakin's brief engine trouble and the unexpected connection between his and Sebulba's pods. When her brother's pod was the only one to cross the finish line she allowed herself one brief smile of triumph.

Lyyr ignored Bid as he tried to wake the sleeping Jabba; instead she focused all of her attention on the female Hutt. Gardulla looked furious – but that was not about to stop Lyyr.

"Molulee rah," she demanded. Her voice was soft but firm and it gave her a great deal of pleasure to see how much it infuriated Gardulla. (payment)

"Ees hoppada nopa." Gardulla responded, and although it was not totally unexpected Lyyr still found herself surprised by the Hutt reneging. (I'm not going to pay that)

"We had a deal Gardulla," she retorted, reverting to Basic.

"Bargon wan chee kospah." (there will be no deal)

"Gardulla, keel-ee calleya ku kah," the now aware Jabba interjected. (Gardulla, you disappoint me)

At first Lyyr was confused by Jabba's willingness to support her bid for freedom. Then it occurred to her that once freed from Gardulla, Jabba would have a chance to make her his slave. It was true what they said; Jabba never made a move unless he could make a profit from it. What neither Hutt knew was that she had no intention of remaining within the reach of their slimy greedy paws.

She waited patiently as the two Hutts argued back and forth; knowing that eventually Gardulla would be forced to honor their bet. Soon the female crime lord was left staring at her former slave in helpless frustration. After a moment she waved her hand in a quick dismissive gesture and that was all the invitation Lyyr needed. She turned her back on the Hutt and walked away; keeping the sudden euphoria she felt rushing through her veins concealed beneath an unreadable mask.

At first Lyyr thought to seek out Watto and tell him what had transpired but then on a whim changed her mind. She walked off in the direction of the hanger, knowing she would find her family there and wanting to congratulate Anakin as soon as possible. It was not her place to deny Gardulla the honor of explain to Watto, Shol and the rest exactly how she had lost such a valuable slave. The thought brought a vindictive smile to Lyyr's face. It wouldn't be fair of me to spare Gardulla such acute humiliation; she thought unkindly relishing in the idea. Gardulla's everlasting embarrassment was not the revenge she had dreamed about delivering but Lyyr was content with it. After all no one would ever forget how the mighty Hutt lost a bet to a lowly slave.

She entered the hanger just in time to witness Shmi give Anakin perhaps his tenth hung since he switched off the pod's engines. Lyyr smiled at the boy's obvious embarrassment at his mother's affection. She stood slightly behind the Gungan and watched Anakin, proud of his accomplishment. As she stood there she wondered, briefly, who would notice her first; Anakin or Shmi. She also began to wonder when, if ever, Shmi would let her go of her son.

"Lyyr!" Anakin yelled joyously, spotting her. He squirmed free of his mother's embrace and rushed head first towards his sister.

Without thinking Lyyr bent down and captured the nine-year-old in a hug then, standing suddenly, spun the boy around in a large arch. With a whoop of surprise Anakin began to laugh and his laughter encouraged her to spin him faster. She did so, her own excitement over the outcome of the race making her feel carefree and whimsical. Two emotions she hardly ever recalled feeling before and she happily indulged in them. She only set the boy down when she began to feel so dizzy that she thought she might fall. But she did not release her hold on him completely without first giving him a sound kiss on the cheek.

"Congratulations Ani, it was a masterful race," she told her brother giving him one of her few genuine smiles. Sensing eyes upon her, she looked over to see Shmi and the others staring at her. The gawking of the outlanders, like the throbbing protest of her injured shoulder, could be ignored. But she could never, ever, ignore Shmi.

"So you did watch the race then," Shmi stated more than asked. From the way she looked at her daughter, Lyyr came to understand that Shmi knew that something important had just occurred.

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything."

"Will you come home with me now Lyyr?"

"No, not yet Shmi," she answered and her voice gave nothing away. The same could not be said of the look in her now lilac eyes. "Watto wants me to take those parts out to their ship."

That wasn't a complete lie, the flighty blue junk dealer had mentioned wanting Lyyr do just that. What he hadn't known, and she did not mention, was that she had no intention of returning. With a nod Shmi accepted the lie then unexpectedly reached out to embrace the girl she called daughter. She held onto Lyyr tightly before pulling away slightly to whisper in the girl's ear.

"Uma ji muna, Lyyr," Shmi murmured softly correctly interpreting the girl's gaze. (I love you) "Chess ko, mee jurz ku." (be careful, good-bye)

Lyyr only nodded in response, returning Shim's and embrace while rapidly blinking away tears. Now was not the time for her to cry – latter she would be able too.

"Let's get these parts back to the ship," the Jedi's voice intruded upon Lyyr's awareness and she welcomed the interruption. For the first time sense meeting him Lyyr felt something akin to gratitude towards Qui-Gon. "Come Lyyr you can ride behind Jar Jar."

With one last hug from Shmi and a quick tousle of Anakin's hair she walked towards the Eopies. She swung up behind the Gungan and grabbed his belt, not to steady herself but to keep the painfully clumsy outlander from falling off.

Lyyr remained silent as they traveled through the dessert towards the outskirts and the outlander's ship. Never before had she found it so difficult to her keep her customary closed expression in place. Apparently today is not my day for rock steady composure; she thought ruefully. A small jolt of redemption made its way down her spine and Lyyr wondered if she had been wrong to trust her feelings so explicitly. Wrong or not it was too late for her to turn back now.

Besides she would have had to be the unfeeling monster she pretended to be not to feel any kind of fear or uncertainty about her future. She may not have been happy as a slave but at least she had always known what to expect each day. Unlike what she faced now; she had thrown her lot in with a group of strangers and had no way of knowing if she had not just traded a bad situation for a worse one.

Her fears appeared to be confirmed as they neared the damanged ship and she saw for herself just how big it was. For some reason she had pictured nothing more complicated than a slightly larger pod retrofitted for space travel. She had never spent much time or paid any attention to space pilots, she didn't even bother to notice the ship parts Watto had her haul around. Unlike Anakin, he noticed everything about the pilots and the vessels they flew. She might be capable of piloting a pod or speeder but that did not mean she took any interest in flying. Now she was seeing firsthand what people meant by the word 'spaceship', somehow the word just did not seem sufficient. Her anxiety increased as she noticed all the activity about the ship, it announced that there had been ore people on board than just the Jedi, girl and Gungan. She had been a fool to think that the outlanders were only traveling with an astromech droid as company. When she realized that most of the people causing the flurry of activity were men, it was all Lyyr could do to stop herself from bolting out into the desert. She was sorely tempted to shove Jar Jar off the Eopie and then ride off into the endless sand.

Instead she did the only thing she could think of to calm herself – retreat behind a wall of icy indifference. She dismounted with the rest of the group and kept quite hoping to fade into the background. When she was asked to help bring the container of parts into the ship, she did so without protest. She viewed the manual labor as an opportunity to observe the people she now found herself with discreetly. Lyyr noticed a few puzzled looks in her direction but she ignored them.

In fact she ignored the majority of the activity surrounding her until she noticed that Qui-Gon was preparing to take the Eopies back and collect Anakin. For some reason the sight of him preparing to leave made her more anxious than she already was. She did not fully trust the man and they did not get along but she felt more secure with the Jedi around. Not that she would ever let anyone (especially Qui-Gon) know that. Conflicted and uncertain about what to do Lyyr decided to continue loading the ship parts in silence. As she approached the remaining pile of part containers she noticed a young man talking to the now remounted Qui-Gon.

"Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic life form?" Lyyr overhead the young stranger remark to Qui-Gon; she stopped what she was doing to glare at the stranger in open irritation. Outlanders, foolish and arrogant the lot of them; she thought harshly. A nanosecond after she thought that Qui-Gon looked up to see Lyyr staring daggers at the young man's back and smiled knowingly to himself.

"It's the boy who's responsible for getting us those parts," Qui-Gon replied with more than a knit of rebuke in his voice. "The boy is not the only one joining us, however."

"Who else then?"

"His sister," Qui-Gon answered motioning to Lyyr who had remained rooted to the spot. Lyyr did not blush at being found eavesdropping nor did her expression change as the young man turned to look at her.

"Pathetic life form, eh?" She asked her tone biting. The man gave her a hesitant sheepish grin in response. Lyyr was not about to fall for any attempts to charm her.