DISCLAIMER: All characters that belong to George Lucas still belong to him for I am not trying to steal his genius. However, all characters who DO NOT appear in any of the books or movies are mine.



At the Crossroads of Destiny and Time Part One:
The Hunted

Prologue

Time setting: Between Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi.

The lower recesses of Coruscant were like a cave. A deep, dark cave with many tunnels and passages that were easy to get lost in. These were tunnels full of seedy bars and those bars were full of seedy people. Most of these people lived out their entire lives in the cave of Lower Coruscant and were but pale ghosts of people. These people held secrets, just as the walls of the tunnels did. They knew of crimes and murders that would become rumours and words of the mouth. It was here where lowly, desperate bounty hunters and smugglers find jobs that will catch them a quick credit. Here a notorious bounty hunter would be a rare sighting.

Boba Fett was after a sly bounty who had thus far led him on a wild goose chase around the galaxy and back again before finally moving into the caverns of Lower Coruscant. This was a place the bounty hunter knew well. Fett was not in a particularly good mood, which was not uncommon. On one hand, he had promised this bounty on a day that had passed by many days ago, and in the other, he was just in a foul mood. Though he was familiar with the lower parts of Coruscant, they did not bring back good or pleasant memories or thoughts. Many of them had to do with his father. A bitterness her had not felt in a long time burned through Fett's body as he grudged on, giving him a new strength.

In his right hand, he was holding a hand blaster, and a smaller model at that. This was not his weapon of choice, but a weapon all the same and was ready to kill anything that got in his way, human, non-human, or animal alike. This prey of his was taking far to long to catch and a much longer time than he had promised his employer. Three days he had said. Shaking his head, that was something else Fett decided that he would never do again. Never again would he promise a set amount of days, for three days had come and gone and all of the other dead lines had passed as well.

His line of thought ended abruptly, however, when he sensed movement in the dark off to his left. He heard the soft breathing of a living thing and saw the outline of a figure. It was not until he had started to move that way that he noticed how slender the figure was. Fett knew that this could not be the man he hunted, for that man was on the larger side and definitely not graceful. For these reasons, Fett pushed the presence out of his mind.

"Probably no more than some whore who's lost her way," he grumbled to himself. He knew the likes of people who lived in these parts of cities and he knew what they wanted and how much he could get out of them.

Rather than stopping to investigate, since it would waste even more time than he had already wasted, Fett pushed on through the streets.



After what had seemed like several hours later, Fett still had not found the man he hunted and he was mentally beating himself up. Swearing under his breath, Fett did not notice the sounds coming from behind him at first. Then, as a heavy object was pushed over, spilling it's contents and clattering around, even echoing off the walls of the buildings, Fett was jarred from his thoughts. Turning on his heel and scanning the surround his area, his fingers groping for his blaster rifle, Fett noticed shadows moving and then a distinct shape. The fleeting figure from before ducked quickly behind the corner of a building and fell silent. Fed-up with being followed, and cursing more under his breath for allowing such a thing to happen, Fett holstered his pistol, brought up his blaster rifle, and fired a shot through the air. When it disappeared down the long, straight street behind him, he cursed again and stepped closer.

"Who's there," Fett growled. He gripped his blaster a bit tighter and stood waiting for an answer. When an answer was not returned, Fett took several steps closer to the building. Peering through the dark night, his eyes enhanced through genetic manipulation, Fett continued, unhappy about speaking out loud. If his bounty was near, he had certainly scared him off by now. "I know you're there. If you just stay hidden, you will die a more painful death than otherwise."

He watched as the figure moved in front of him, slowly coming closer.

"Please, don't shoot," a female voice answered back. Fett mentally stumbled as he recognised it from somewhere. He started to search through his memory to try and figure out the voice, but he stopped quickly, thinking it useless. Not being in the mood at the moment for games, Fett was ready to shoot the woman if she stepped any closer, familiar or not.

Fett grunted something indiscernible, but the woman somehow picked up on it.

"I have a child in my arms, Fett. The woman stepped into the light of a nearby dimming street lamp and Fett's eyes opened up wide beneath his helmet. He knew this human woman before him. He had touched her once before. He had smelled her hair and tasted her skin. These memories were forced from his mind as he stared straight at her.

She was tall, nearly his height and had long straight blonde hair which was pulled tightly back behind her head. Moving his eyes up her body quickly, he noticed just how thin she was through her hips and shoulders. Despite the clothes she wore, he could tell the birth of her child had not been long ago for the slight swell of her stomach still remained. Two pale and almost unnaturally clear green eyes shone out from beneath a pair of delicate blonde eyebrows which were furrowed in slight anger. She was clad in tightly fit pants of black and a tight tunic of the same colour. There was a great shawl wrapped and fastened around her shoulders and tall black boots that reached her knees. Around her hips there hung a utility belt full of tools and weapons of various shapes and sizes. Fett also knew that she had a surprising amount of other weapons concealed on her body despite her formfitting outfit for he had removed everyone of them once.

The woman looked at Fett, her eyes glowing in the light and an eerie, amused smile playing across her lips. "She belongs to you."

Fett did not quite register the words for he was occupied thinking of other things. "How did you find me, Aena?"

"I have my secrets," she smiled, risking a step forward. Fett moved his blaster slightly and stared straight at her. Aena stopped, but her eyes wandered up and down Fett's body. "My, you have not changed one bit, at least not your armour. Tell me, do you still smell the same? Do you still have the same habits and the same scars? Have touched other women you've bedded since me with the same raw need and desire you had for me? or do you just play them the fools most prostitutes are. They are not like us bounty hunters, tough and ready for what life might throw us, all they need is the knowledge that a man lusts after them and that they are wanted for at least s few hours."

"Just answer the question," he growled again.

"Your ship. It was in a docking bay," she shrugged, chancing a step closer. "It's really one of a kind. I can honestly say that I've never seen another like it." Aena started to walk closer, not seeming to care about Fett's threat. He let her come closer, though he did not know why and he even dropped his blaster to his side. She was no threat for there was something she obviously wanted from him. What ever it was, he decided right then and there, he was not giving it to her.

Aena moved closer to Fett until she was but a foot away. He did not raise his gun again even though every part of him was yelling and screaming to do so.

"Here," Aena shoved the sleeping child toward Fett. He looked down for a moment and then back at Aena. "Take her." Fett did not move to take the child, rather, he clutched his blaster rifle tighter, unable to figure out why he had not killed her already. Of course he had some amount of respect for the woman in front of him, but he had never trusted her. Aena was obviously growing impatient and moved the child closer. "Take her, dammit! Take her!"

Fett reached out more to touch the bundle than to take it, but Aena took this as a sign to let go. Fett quickly caught the child before she could fall to far and held her in his free arm, looking from child to mother.

"I can't take her," Fett said, taken completely off his guard. "My life is not a life for a child. I have no time to care for her. He couldn't believe the tone he was taking. It was almost as if he were going soft. "I won't take her."

"Oh, but you will."

"No, I won't." Again Fett kicked himself. This was a childish fight. It was not something he should be fighting over. There was a great urge deep inside of him to shoot both the child and Aena now just to rid himself of them, but he could not. He did not know why, it was just something he could not do.

When Fett tried to make his voice harsh, it came out as a cheap imitation of the real emotion. "You know the life I live. You even live the same life. You hunt too."

"Yes, but there is a difference between you and me. You're careful, Fett. You don't make mistakes," Aena glared at him.

Oh, but I do and the biggest one was taking you, he snorted.

"You can hide in a way I can't," Aena continued. "You have skill and a real passion and dedication to this job. I don't. Instead, I have a death mark on my head and will be dead within the week." Aena started to back away. She looked at the child in Fett's arms one last time before turning away.

"I would rather shoot you both where you stand than take her with me," Fett snarled bitterly.

"You don't mean that, I can hear it in your voice. Besides," Aena's voice and tone was straining to get these words out, "I don't want her. I never wanted her. She ruined my life. The little bitch ruined my God dammed life. It's your turn now." She turned her head to the bounty hunter and child one last time. Blinking back great tears threatening to escape, Aena bit her lip and turned away for what she hoped would be the last time. And so, Aena started to walk away. Then, just as she was nearly out of sight, she remembered something. She turned back to the stunned man and smirked. "Her name is Keilana and she was born nine months ago yesterday.

Aena then turned for the final time and disappeared into the dark night, never to be seen again by Fett. He could hear the sounds of running feet and falling items for many moments, but they too faded into the night.

"Keilana?" Fett touched the pale cheek of the child he held with a gloved finger. She turned into his chest and reached out to grab at a piece of his armour. Fett looked around in to the dark streets around him and shook his head. "Shit."