If adventure was to come to anyone, Jupiter believed herself to be the last person to be so lucky. On her home planet of Tatooine, adventure rarely came to anyone. Travellers would come and go, bringing news of the outside universe before going on their way again. Jupiter worked for a merchant, simply called "Master" as he did not give his real name to anyone for his own protection. Jupiter suspected he was in great debt to someone in another system or something, what other reason would he have to hide his true self?

Every day she would lift and carry objects as her master commanded, as a slave she had to obey. Now he was not overly cruel or unkind to any of his slaves, he fed them, gave them enough to support themselves but he was strict and very easily displeased. Master ran his trade with routine and effectiveness, which meant every second counted. Jupiter was one of his favourite slaves as when an object became too heavy for her or anyone else to carry manually, she would lift it using her magic powers.

The only thing strange about her, her powers. She could lift any object she desired if she concentrated hard enough however, sometimes she simply couldn't. Like when she was told to raise a ship so that the others could steal some of its parts. No matter how hard she tried, it was impossible. She had been punished for her incompetence, left without food for two days and without any water breaks. To say the obvious, she was exhausted afterwards.

Her only friend was a little boy she had grown up with. Anakin Skywalker was like a brother to her, she had found him being bullied by a bunch of older boys so she had stormed in and fought them off. His mother Shmi adopted her and brought her in to her home out of love and kindness Jupiter felt she would never be able to repay.

Her own parents had abandoned her as a baby, leaving her to a slave wet nurse and she had never heard from them again. She had never forgiven them for that. What kind of parent would ever abandon their child to a world as cruel as this one? Jupiter might have been born free, on any other planet, however they had chosen to leave her on one so remote that very few actually know of it.

"Jupiter!" Anakin's voice cut through her daydreaming and she turned with a smile.

"Hey there racer, what are you doing here?" She smiled at him, running a hand through her black hair to push it out the way of her face.

"Mum wants to know if you're going to be home on time tonight." He told me and I sighed.

"No little brother, I have to work late tonight, tell her not to wait up for me okay?" Anakin's sweet face visibly fell.

"So I'm not going to see you until tomorrow?"

"No, but tomorrow is my last day before my day off, I promise I'll come and help you with your pod then." She ruffled his hair then knelt down in the scorching sand. Anakin had always loved Jupiter's eyes, they were a bright, clear blue like the sky, large and inviting. They seemed to permanently shine but if you looked closer, you would see darker flecks of indigo in their depths close to the pupil, making them look even deeper.

"Okay then. I guess I'll see you around." He gave her a hug then hurried off after Jupiter told him the Master was coming. She ducked behind a stack of barrels then began to work on labelling them. The fat little man waddled close but did not see her, his piggy eyes barely able to see out from his thick skull.

Jupiter worked for the rest of the day into the night until she was finally permitted to leave. She ran all the way home then did her best to get to bed without waking anyone.

"Jupiter, is that you?" Jupiter winced.

"Yes, it's me." She smiled as the light flicked on and Shmi walked in.

"I've been waiting for you, I saved some dinner for you. You need to eat." Her motherly features smiled softly as she guided Jupiter to the table.

"I thought I told Anakin to tell you not to wait up."

"He did tell me, I simply chose to ignore what you said." Shmi answered as she heated up the food.

"Thank you." Jupiter smiled then yawned, stretching her aching back. Shmi sighed as she put the food on the table then went to fetch the oils Jupiter used for her back which were rubbed raw from the salt of her sweat and her rough spun clothes, patches of skin rubbed away to reveal ugly blister like wounds.

"One day, that man is going to break you."

"I know." Jupiter did not argue.

"I wish I could save you the pain but unfortunately, there is nothing to be done."

"I know. I've come to terms with that, mum. I'm not broken yet." Jupiter said between mouthfuls.

"Maybe not yet but one day soon, he's going to ask you to do something beyond your capabilities. Then no amount of oil will fix you." Shmi told her before giving a long, regretful sigh. "I wish I could free you both."