AN/Disclaimer: This is a rewrite of my fic A Jedi's Daughter. I wanted to clean it up some, add new things; but no worries the plot has not changed in any drastic way. Thank you to all who read the original posting of this fic, it was your enjoyment of it that inspired me to improve upon it. I must give credit where credit is due: the Star Wars universe and characters do not belong to me but to George Lucas. The only thing that is mine are certain plot twists, new characters, and new dialogue. The rest is George's.

STAR WARS: A Jedi's Daughter

Chapter 1: All in a Day

Life on Tatooine could never be anything that anyone would call simple, easy or enjoyable (although it had its moments). Still for all of its rough edges it was the one planet that she could honestly (and with some confidence) call home. Vaguely she was aware of the fact that she had not been born on the desert planet; it was not her ancestral home. Yet, she had grown up on the desert planet. For that, it carried a special place in her memory. It was not a particularly pleasant memory but it was there none-the-less.

Any recollection she did have of her life (before the unending sand and the harsh suns of Tatooine) was as fragile as a mirage of water. The only thing she could claim certain knowledge of was that she had been free. She assumed that she had been happy as well. Happiness and freedom should go hand-in-hand, she often thought. It would be a pity if freedom brought no more happiness than slavery. She had no way of knowing for herself, but she was content with the few day dreams she allowed herself. They had yet to fail her; unlike reality. It failed her daily.

Tatooine wasn't the nastiest planet in the galaxy, but it certainly wasn't the gentlest planet. The arid planet was harsh in every sense of the word; from its climate to the few laws that governed its inhabitants. It was a particularly harsh place to live for the lowliest of the low, the slaves. It was that category she had been banished to. A man who owed Gardulla the Hutt money had found her wandering the desert on the outskirts of town. He had tricked her into trusting him and then had sold her to Gardulla in order to cancel his debt. At the time she had only been five years old and she quickly learned the first lesson Tatooine had to offer; never trust anyone.

She may have learned it but she had a hard time believing that she could never trust anyone ever again. She could still remember that there was some good in the galaxy. Gardulla enjoyed beating that, and other foolish ideals a slave could not afford, out of her. She proved to be tougher than she looked and Gardulla enjoyed attempting to break the child. The girl assumed that it was because the Hutt enjoyed owning a readymade punching bag. Whatever the reason her insolence amused the crime lord and because of that she earned some begrudging respect. She took it even through more often than not it earned her more blows than any reward. She truly did not care if she was respected as a human/sentient being or not. She was more concerned about winning her freedom and that of the family she had forged for herself. If that meant she would have to take a few beatings then so be it.

There were some slave owners that feared Gardulla had given her too much personal power by respecting her stubborn refusal to yield. They would not dare approach Gardulla and criticize the Hutt in person – only a fool would be so stupid – but they did grumble and plotted half-hearted rebellions against the Hutt. Eventually their displeasure reached Gardulla's attention and it stopped the moment she offered to let the grumblers take a stab at breaking the 'renegade' slave. She had had more ruthless owners than she cared to count and had more cruelties done to her than she cared to remember. The memories of her torments threatened to drown her daydreams.

The injustice of her life was running through her mind (as it always did) while she traveled the crowded streets of Mos Espa. She was on her way to her second 'job' of the day and had decided to risk being late by taking a small detour through the junk dealer's shops. She wanted to stop by Watto's shop to check in on her adopted brother. There had been a vague threat made against him and if she was publically seen checking up on him than no harm would come of it. As she neared the shop she saw her little brother running off in the direction of home. Wondering why Watto would let him go early she quickly adjusted her path to follow the boy. Anakin had left the shop hastily and while it was not unusual to see him tearing through the streets of Mos Espa she did wonder what was making him run like that.

Fearing the worst she hurried her own steps but maintained a discreet distance between them. When she reached the market to find her brother coming to the rescue of some outlander, she was relieved. Until she saw that Anakin was defending the outlander against Sebulba. It was her turn to tear through the crowd and she did, a path opening up in front of her once people got a good look at the icy glint in her dark eyes.

"Achutta Sebulba," she said her voice low and quiet even as she placed her hand protectively on Anakin's shoulder. (hello Sebulba).

"Bona nai kachu," the boy added helpfully. (you're in trouble now).

"Hi chuba da nagg, shag?" The Dug asked belligerently ignoring Anakin. (what do you want, slave?) Although he tried to hide it she could sense the alien's nerves. She had a reputation just as bloody as his own and if it came to a fight no one in this crowd would back him.

"Hodrudda," she replied her eyes glowing wickedly. "Tinka uba vopa tah nee choo, kung?" (a challenge, think you want to die, scum?)

For a moment it looked like he would finally take up the challenge. Then with a snarl he turned back to Anakin and took out his frustrations on the boy. Sebulba was scum, belligerent and cowardly, he knew that he could not answer her challenge without going to the arenas. The arenas were her domain and to enter them would be the death of the Dug. Everyone knew that she would gladly kill him.

The threats he leveled at Anakin infuriated her. She knew that Sebulba would gain credit for great daring, threatening her brother in front of her. Everyone knew how protective of Ani she was and everyone knew how much she wanted to turn Sebulba into bantha fodder. They also knew that she would not act on those impulses – she kept the bloodshed in the arenas. Anakin's parting shot to Sebulba was rather masterful and she found herself resisting the urge to swell with pride for the lad.

At the approach of more outlanders she remembered that there was somewhere she needed to be and she was now dangerously late. Still she could not abruptly leave without saying goodbye to Anakin. After all she never could know when or if she would see him again.

"I must go Ani. Tell Shmi I'll be late for dinner and you need not wait for me," the boy nodded in response although she doubted if he understood. His attention was rather focused on the outlanders. Smiling to herself, she gave him a swift kiss on the check then said, "I'm proud of you for standing up to that slimo Ani."

She left then without a backwards glance.

She thought about trying to enter the training rooms of the arenas as unobtrusively as possible but then decided against it. Whatever she did her tardiness would be noticed. They always kept an eye out for her arrival. She was the one slave that brought the biggest crowd to the arenas, which translated into the largest cash flow they would see in a week.

Sure enough the moment she entered the training room she was greeted by the gruff bellow of the fight master.

"Hosta!" He bellowed across the room using the stupid nickname he had given her. "Do alay!" (you're late) She sighed in resignation then obediently (for once) turned to face the expected punishment. She wondered briefly if today's brutality would be any different than yesterdays.

It was not bad, certainly not the worst she had ever received. A few lashes with some white-hot iron coils, she did not even feel the need to flinch as they connected with her skin creating new and re-opening old scars. The fight master did not whip her for long or too harshly and then wonders upon wonders even applied rough medical attention to the wounds. That could only mean that Gardulla was in the audience and was betting heavily on the outcome of today's fight. The female crime lord would be livid if her best (only) money making slave was too wounded to perform properly. The slave must be punished but not so damaged that it cannot work, she thought sarcastically.

Today she would fight some random challenger; often they were forcefully pulled off the streets and shoved into the arena. It was this element of the unknown that drew in the spectators. Sometimes those random opponents would defeat the current reigning champion. She had been such a challenger; randomly thrown into the violence of the arena at the tender age of eleven in response to one of Gardulla's whims. She had not only managed to defeat her opponent that day but went on to reach a position that most free female fighters never achieved let alone a female slave.

It was only with a slight sense of trepidation and anxiety that she entered the fighting ring. Rolling her shoulders to loosen her sore back she took her place in the center of the ring. A place that some days was more her home than the hovel she shared with the Skywalkers.

What anxiety she had turned into excitement the moment she felt centered. This rush before a fight was something she never wanted to enjoy but looked forward to feeling every time. It was a blatant contradiction but one she had come to accept and expect. Her excitement grew when she saw that this time her challenger was a Dug. For a brief nanosecond she wondered if Sebulba had actually taken the bait she laid out for him. To her disappointment the Dug was just one of Sebulba's cronies. She should have known better, with a podrace just a day away Sebulba would do nothing to risk his own neck.

She gave vent to a bored sigh and lazily braced herself for the first attack. Impatiently she wanted for the gong to sound; she wanted this finished as quickly as possible. The only place she wanted to be right now was home, safe in the hovel with Shmi and Ani.