AN: I really had a difficult time with this one and that's because of… Well, you'll see. I hope it was believable. I thought it was. I've met some damn stubborn seven year olds, tough as nails and talk about death like the weather. You decide with this one.

Read, enjoy, and review!

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Chapter Sixteen

"Concentrate," Yoda said to Leia as she meditated. "Clear all thoughts. There is only the force."

"I know how to meditate," Leia said. "You're distracting me."

"Then good practice it is. Ignore all outside forces you must," Yoda said.

Leia sighed. An entire year… She had been on this swamp planet way longer than she had originally bargained for, training with Jedi no less, something that she still had no desire to be after a year, even though she was very open minded to their way. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she had learned a lot from them. The thing was whether it was the stuff they wanted her to learn. Luke was well on his way to becoming a knight now, and even Yoda and Obi-wan admitted that there was no more to teach him to get to that level of accomplishment. However, there was one more thing he had to face, and Leia had a feeling they would both have to face it. A year ago, Leia's decision would have been simple but things were so much more complicated now.

After first having her initial vision in the dark cave, she had the vision again every so often and they even haunted her dreams. It was the reason she shied from meditating, even sleeping. She knew what she would see, and she couldn't bear to see the kind face of her mother, but always so sad. Her mother would have been against their dad for this. She wouldn't have done the things Ahsoka had done for him, and she would have wanted her children to be Jedi even if Leia was sure she hadn't agreed with some of their ways.

Leia didn't want to be a Jedi. She wanted nothing to do with the rebellion whose narrow views made them unable to see some of the good that was in the empire. It hadn't been all peace, love, and unity during the republic either. Leia was sure of that. Ahsoka never directly told her what happened during the clone wars and the many years before it, but she had told her wonders indirectly. Those times still haunted her guardian. Sometimes she would get this distant look in her eyes, like she wasn't with them, especially when they had been with the rebellion. Something told Leia that Ahsoka hadn't seen the magnitude of what had really happened during the Clone Wars until they had gone to stay with the rebellion. It was why she refused to fight any battles, be a part of missions, and clashed with Mon. Not only had her father's influence shaped Ahsoka's perception over the years, but just as much if not more so had the Clone Wars, at least that's what Leia thought.

Leia resisted the urge to scoff. The alliance accused the empire of arrogance and didn't see their own. They talked about the corruption of the empire (and Leia would be a fool to say it wasn't there. It was obvious), but forgot the corruption of the senate even before Palpatine had come into power and started pulling strings. But her mother had loved everything the republic stood for… Freedom, liberty, voice… Her dad believed in the same things. But he was a man of action and sitting around a senate to debate, showing how eloquent one could speak didn't impress him much, hence his more… brutal, less refined approach.

Leia sighed as she pushed the thoughts aside. She didn't feel like pondering these things, so she cleared her mind of all thoughts and drew deep into the force. She breathed it, let it course through her veins like a drug, felt its essence, falling into something of a trance, aware, but not aware at the same time. Then she felt it. She wasn't sure what it was as the emotion was clouded, like someone was trying to remain passive and hide their feelings on a matter, protect someone. Leia focused on it, tried to make it clear, but something stopped her, like she had run into a stone cold wall. She snapped out of her meditation. Something was happening and someone or something didn't want her to know it.

She looked around to find that Yoda was gone and glanced at the time. She had been meditating for a while… Leia shook her head and got up running to Yoda's hut.

"Where have you been?" Lana asked playing cards with Abdul. "You usually don't meditate this long."

"No time to talk," Leia said crawling into Yoda's hut to find Obi-wan and Yoda sitting near the fire. She didn't waste time trying to be polite.

"Something's wrong," she said.

"What are you talking about Leia?" Obi-wan asked.

"I saw something when I was meditating," she said.

"A vision perhaps?"

"No… more like a premonition. Someone was trying to hide their emotions or something but I felt it."

"Do you know what it was?"

"No, but whoever it was is trying to hide it. That's good enough for me. I have to go," Leia said starting to get up.

Yoda chuckled for a moment before getting serious and saying, "Like your father you are. A reckless move it would be to leave."

"But-."

"See where you need to go, did you?" Yoda asked.

"No, but I just have this feeling…"

"Leia not all things being hidden in the force are bad. Did you sense pain?"

"I told you," Leia said irritated. "Someone was hiding it. It was blurry. I couldn't completely tell. But-."

"Leia it's not wise to go blindly into this without being clear on what it was you saw. Besides, what did your father tell you?" Obi-wan asked.

Leia groaned. She hated when Obi-wan pulled that card. Months ago, almost a year, she had managed to get in contact with her dad (Luke had been amazed how she could hack the satellites from a backwater planet such as Dagobah to do that) and after they talked, she was ready to pack her bags and head for the Executor. But he told her to stay where she was. The emperor was watching them. He already knew about Ahsoka and no doubt he would figure out who she was. It wouldn't be wise to have her there and make war with the emperor without knowing where Shmi was and if she was safe. It meant the emperor would have something against them. Leia, after arguing with him for a good while, finally and reluctantly agreed. She hadn't talked to him since as he had forbidden her to do so as a precaution.

"He told me to stay put…" Leia finally said trailing off.

Obi-wan put his hand on her shoulder. "I know it's hard. But perhaps it's for the best."

Leia frowned. "The only reason you're agreeing to this is because you want to keep me away from his influence," she snapped.

"If bothering you this much it is, perhaps meditate on it more, you should," Yoda suggested.

Leia rolled her eyes. "Fine. But I'm telling you now, if I can make sense out of this, no instruction or your logic is going to make me stay on this planet.

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Han watched Shmi carefully. She looked at Lando with a hard expression as he attempted to get her to lighten up. This was odd for Shmi who normally warmed up to people with ease. A few jokes to appeal to her playful, mischievous, and curious nature and she was in her element. But so far nothing. She was really displeased about being on Cloud City. She had gone to clean up a little and then sat down on the couch with her arms crossed and Kishan resting at her feet. She had refused any services from Lando's servants and refused to put on the dress they had offered her, opting to keep on the jeans, shirt, and sneakers she had been in when they got to Bespin, adding grumpily that she had clothes on the Falcon.

Lando continued in vain to try to get her to warm up to him before finally Shmi narrowed her eyes, tightened her crossed arms and said, "You talk to me again and I'll let Kishan loose on your ass."

Han's jaw dropped in shock. Where the hell had that come from? Ahsoka was going to kill him if she found out her seven year old had spoken to an adult like that. But the more shocking part was that she appeared downright serious. She wouldn't really… Then he remembered Vader was her father.

Lando seemed to get the point and went over to Han who ran a hand through his hair apologetically.

"Sorry about her. She's not usually this… cranky."

"I would have never known," Lando said dryly. "Where did you get a girl like her from?"

"She's the sister of a friend of mine. Wanted me to watch her for a while," Han replied looking at Shmi closely. Maybe they should hightail it out of Cloud City. Maybe some gas was in the air messing with her personality.

"Some kind of intensity there," Lando said.

"She's half torgruta so maybe it has something to do with that," Han said though he knew it was much more than that.

"Actually," Shmi said not turning to face them as she looked out the window. "I'm mostly human according to my mother."

Lando was about to take this opportunity to try talking to her again but Han put his hand up.

"Don't do it. She may very well send Kishan on you," he warned as the door opened behind him.

Chewie growled in worry and Han turned around to see him carrying a box full of Threepio broken in pieces.

"Threepio!" Shmi said jumping off the couch to look in the box. "Oh no! Chewie, can you fix him?"

Lando winced. "I've got some people who can help with that. How about-?"

Shmi leveled him with a glare that got the point across before turning to look back in the box.

"How about while your friend's doing that, we have dinner?"

Han looked at Shmi and hesitantly said, "I don't know. She's a little irritable. Maybe we should go on and get out of here…"

"Come on. Dinner wouldn't hurt would it?"

"Alright," Han said.

"I don't want dinner. I want to leave!" Shmi said adamantly.

"Wait outside for a minute would you?" Han asked Lando and the man complied.

Han bent done to get eye level with Shmi.

"Okay kid. Talk to me. Why are you so cranky?"

"I don't like this place Han," Shmi whispered looking down. "It feels so dark."

"Dark?" Han said confused. This was coming from the girl that made herself at home with the Nightsisters, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to point that out.

"Han I don't want to stay here," Shmi said honestly. "Can we go back to Dathomir?"

"Fine. Right after we have something to eat. You can't tell me you're not hungry with your appetite?" Had asked with a grin.

"Fine," Shmi sighed gesturing for Kishan to follow them out the door to where Lando was waiting.

He smiled as he led them to the dining hall, and Shmi listened with little interest as he bragged about his mine. But the last part of their conversation caught her attention.

"Aren't you afraid the Empire's going to find out about this little operation and shut you down?" Han asked.

"That's always been a danger looming like a shadow over everything built here. But things have developed that will insure security. I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever," Lando said stopping at the doors and opening them.

Han cursed when he looked in and saw the room full of storm troopers and a woman with black hair and green eyes at the head. He swiftly pulled out a blaster, and Kishan began to growl but the troopers trained their blasters on them.

"I don't think that would be wise captain Solo," she said and then looked at Kishan who was still growling.

Shmi put her hand on the feline's head. "No."

Kishan fell silent but still didn't move his eyes from the woman.

"They got here right before you all did. I'm sorry," Lando said.

"Yeah," Han said pulling Shmi a little closer to him. "I'm sorry too."

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Shmi struggled in vain to get out of the woman's, whose name she found out was Melody, grip.

"Leave me alone. What do you want?"

"I want you child," Melody said to her dragging her to the room they had taken Han earlier.

"Why?"

"I know all about your father little girl and so does the Emperor and you're going to bring your sister and brother right to us. It'll be one big family reunion," Melody and then grew tired of her struggling. "You know, the tusk of tusk cats is very valuable in some places."

"Leave Kishan alone," Shmi snapped thinking about her pet that they had restrained back in her cell.

"Then cooperate," Melody said yanking her into a room where they had Han strapped to a table.

"What are you doing?" Shmi asked trying to stay calm.

"You care about you 'uncle' a lot don't you?"

Shmi didn't answer. She was more concerned about the sharp intimidating tools they had on a table opposite Han.

Melody nodded and Han's table leaned forward toward the other table and the various tool began to prod at him and send shocks through him.

Shmi covered her face with her hands and tried to tune out Han's eventually screams, but Melody yanked her hands down.

"You're going to watch every minute of it child," she said and Shmi moaned a little, her lips trembling as they continued with the torture.

"That's it child," Melody said. "Show me your pain. Show us your fear."

Shmi started to give in until she thought about what Ventress would say if she saw this. What would any of the Nightsisters say in fact or even her father that she had never met?

Show no fear, no weakness.

Shmi clenched her jaw and though a few tears fell as she watched, she drew into the force. They wanted her sister and brother, knowing that even across the galaxy they would feel her pain, just like she felt her mother's sadness sometimes even though she had no idea where she was. This woman wanted to use her for the emperor's game and if there was one thing Shmi hated, it was being used and bribed.

She wouldn't give them the satisfaction and so she pretended she wasn't there and after a while she couldn't even feel anything. When she was older, she would recall not actually feeling like she had seen Han's torture so the emperor could use her terror against her, but like she had watched someone else watching and listening to it from afar.

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Melody growled as she made a contact with the emperor. She just didn't understand. What kind of child was this?

"Have you succeeded?" Palpatine asked getting straight to the point.

"Nothing," Melody snapped. "We tortured the captain, tortured the wookiee, beat her pet and still nothing. It's like she's just an empty shell, no feeling, no nothing."

She expected the emperor to be mad but he only smiled.

"She is certainly her father's child. No matter. Send her directly to the secure location we discussed. Let her keep her pet."

"And what of Captain Solo and the wookiee?"

"Jabba has a large bounty on his head. I'm sure he'd appreciate a new ornament in is throne room."

"Yes my master."

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Han looked at Shmi in worry. She was one tough kid. That was for sure. Melody probably shouldn't have told her what she was doing. For all the girl's playfulness, she hated being toyed with. But it couldn't be healthy to hold all that pain in. Poor kid was traumatized by everything they had forced her to watch.

The cell door opened and in walked Lando.

"Dirty bastard," Han said weakly and Chewie growled something similar.

"I had no choice. It's not even you they want. They want her and her sister and brother," Lando explained.

"I'm not talking about me," Han growled. "You could have done whatever you wanted to me but what kind of person are you to make her watch all of that!"

"I'm sorry. I had no choice, but just listen. I'm trying to help you now…"

"Bullshit," Han said.

"Look, they're not going to do anything to her."

"Except kidnap her…"

"I'll help her get away," Lando said lifting the key to Kishans's bonds.

"How?"

"Listen, they're planning to freeze you in carbonite and send you and Chewie to Jabba. It's a long shot, but we can get her away when they come to take you away," Lando said to him.

"That's a wonderful agreement. Get her away how? She can't go out there on her own."

"I'm doing the best I can!" Lando said and then heard guards out the door. He tossed Han the key to Kishan's chains. "Better decide quick."

Lando went back out the cell, and Han sighed as he looked over to the girl leaning against the wall. This was all his fault. He should have left as soon as he noticed something was wrong with her. She had sensed this…

"Mimi," Han said scooted over to her.

For the first time since their ordeal began, Shmi's blank mask fell and she began to sob as she leaned into Han's chest.

"Why are they doing this Han?"

"I don't know kid. It's just the way the galaxy is," Han replied. "But I need you to get out of here."

Shmi looked up at him. "But how?"

Han passed her the key. "Lando gave us this. Unbind Kishan. When the guards get in here, Chewie will take care of them and I want you to run to the Falcon."

Shmi didn't say anything.

"You hear me kid?"

"But Han."

"No buts sweetheart. Now listen. You remember that flying lesson I gave you?"

She nodded.

"Do exactly what I told you and then plug in the coordinates to Dathomir. Tell the Nightsisters we were ambushed or something. They'll take care of you," Han said.

"But you hate the Nightsisters."

"It's the only thing we can do right now kid. Now you understand me?"

Shmi cried in misery as she undid Kishan's bonds. Chewie then took Threepio, who was half-built and strapped him onto the feline's back.

He let out a miserable growl at her and Shmi hugged him.

"It's okay sweetheart," Han said kissing her forehead. "You'll be okay. Now you remember what to do?"

Shmi nodded.

"Alright then," Han said as the doors opened and two guards came into the room.

Chewie let out a battle roar and grabbed hold of both guards..

"Shmi run!"

Shmi wasted no time as she got on top of Kishan, gripped him around the front and said, "Go!"

Shmi closed her eyes as Kishan ran, trusting him to find the Falcon for her. She heard alarms blaring around her but paid them no mind as she focused on the Falcon, willing Kishan to see the picture and take her to it. He stopped and scratched with dull claws on the door. Shmi sat up.

"In here?"

Kishan growled at the door and Shmi trembled in terror. How would they get through?

She then remembered something attached to her leg. It had been there so long she forgot that she had it and no one had thought to check an unassuming girl for weapons.

Shmi slipped her sister's lightsaber out the leg of her jeans and lit the blue blade. It vibrated in her hands and she took a deep breath before using it, slashing the door and part of the security pad with it. What remained of the door opened and Shmi sighed in relief as she saw the Falcon sitting there unguarded.

"Come on!" Shmi yelled as Kishan raced to the ship and up the ramp.

She ran to the cockpit and pressed the button to close the ramp first. Then she looked at the buttons and hoped that she was flicking the right switches and buttons as she started the ship. Then she pulled on the lever Han had showed her and slowly pulled it all the way down. The ship began to lift into the air and then, when she was halfway through, she yanked the lever all the way down and they shot into space.

She screamed as she steered just as Han had been helping her do in the last few weeks they were stuck on the ship. She slipped the piece of paper for the coordinates for Dathomir and placed them in the destination before copying the coordinates for Bespin that were already in the log into the starting point. Han told her to pick the first route that came up in the navi-computer. No matter how long or short, it was always the safest route.

With that, she hit the button to send them into hyperspace and nothing happened.

"Oh no," Shmi said trying not to cry when she heard the laser on her ship. "Now what?"

No weakness…

She groaned and slapped the button repeatedly. "Stang it. Work!"

Then ship lurched and Shmi fell down as the familiar sight of the stars blurring as they were hurled into hyperspace came.

"I did it!" she said elated and then sat down in relief. She had gotten away. She got away…

And then it all came crashing down on her. She was alone. The only ones were Kishan and Threepio (who she couldn't begin to think of where to start repairing). The tears fell as she sank on the floor and sensing her distress, Kishan curled up next to her. Shmi buried her face in Kishan's thick fur.

"Mama… Where are you? Help me…"

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AN: This was hard to write but necessary. The trauma Shmi goes through here is going to really shape her later in the story and in any other side stories that may stem from this universe. I read somewhere of traumatic events that it seems like a dream when it happens and I can vouch on many occasion that weren't nearly as bad as this, but had me feeling like I wasn't there, like I was watching someone else experience it and though I know it happened and will swear it did, I always kind of see it like a dream. Years of discovery health, college psychology courses and over a decade of writing really helped me write this.

The ship thing… I had a hard time. I'm sitting here like, 'does a ship had an accelerator?' what about the broken hyperdrive? In the end, I said well if I hit the buttons on the remote enough times, it'll work at least once even if it doesn't fix the problem. It just temporarily knocks something into place for that time and I said well lets treat it like that.

And Shmi's lightsaber, she didn't forget she had it. I forgot she had it. Lol. Anyway, this chapter came out better than I thought it would given how hard it was to write.

Hope you enjoyed. Review Please!