"And you're certain this will work?"

Maul rolled his eyes as he placed the tracking device onto the front of his speeder bike.

He'd done as she asked, or demanded in this case, and made his way to her farm, making sure to arrive ten minutes late. Upon his arrival at the pitiful little ditch they called a home, she'd told him just how displeased she was with his timing and that a portion of his pay would be removed; he wasn't intimidated. If anything, he was somewhat amused by her act.

"Yes, your majesty," The ex-sith promised in an exasperated tone. He was already regretting accepting this job.

"Explain it to me again." The woman folded her arms over her chest, standing off to the side as she tapped her foot in the sand impatiently. At least he wasn't the only one having a bad time. With a frustrated sigh, he wiped the sweat from his brow and proceeded to tell her once more about the in's and out's of his plan.

"This device is going to locate your husband. I typed in the serial code from Skywalker's vehicle and the device will track the data chip within it. If your husband strayed from his speeder bike, it won't be hard to follow his trail." Maul heaved his thick cloth-pack of general supplies onto the back of his bike before strapping it securely in place. Padme raised an eyebrow.

"How will you do that?" Maul scoffed at her question.

"It's Skywalker."

He couldn't decide whether or not she took offense to the comment; she was as stoic as the grave. He didn't much care, though. He knew enough about the surviving jedi that the need for the tracking device might not have been as severe as the Zabrak initially thought. Just follow the trail of chaos and destruction usually associated with the human.

It wasn't long after that that he felt the woman's presence fade; she must've skulked off back into her poor excuse of a living-space. Not a problem, the bounty hunter had all the information he needed to get on with his mission. But as he continued to check and make sure he'd packed all the equipment he could possibly need for this journey, the intense energy returned and he glanced over his shoulder to see what the infuriating harpy wanted.

"What now, your majesty?"

What he saw in her arms made him hate this mission even more than he already had.

A sleeping bag, backpack, and extra blaster strapped to the front of the pack.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes," his employer persisted and shoved her belongings into his hands. "You don't have a choice in this. If you want to get paid, you're taking me with you. No exceptions."

"You have no idea what kind of danger you could be walking into," There was no way, no way, that he was going to let this happen. No. Absolutely not. Being in this she-demon's presence was already draining enough. "What of your other children?" She hadn't mentioned any other child besides Kenobi's, but Maul was desperately reaching for something, anything, that might sway her mind.

"They're staying with one of our workers in town," She explained, though a bit suspicious as to how he knew about them, then proceeded to swing her leg over the speeder bike and took a seat. "Hurry up, we're losing daylight."

"And if we find something you don't want to see?" Maul countered. "If Skywalker is dead and your daughter is lost?" That had to hit a nerve, he was counting on it. Some sign of weakness in her decision-making. Just a sliver of doubt that he could work with. "You know how those savages can be, I've heard about how they're known for attacking farms..." Manipulation was one of his greatest assets; all it took was the right moment. But his words were worthless to her. It was like talking to a stone wall.

"The father of my children is missing and my adoptive daughter was kidnapped; there's no talking me out of this." She scooted back a bit to make room for the zabrak on the seat. "Now let's get going already. We're wasting time standing around and I want to be back home within the next two days."

He couldn't believe this. After years of training, years of being feared, respected, this was really the situation he found himself in? Taking orders from a stuck-up, wamp-rat of a woman constantly demanding things? Maul was powerful, dark energy literally flowed through his veins. He was one of the biggest threats in the galaxy, and now he was trapped on a worthless rock, forced to work as a bounty hunter, and currently being pushed around by his infuriating current employer. He was worth more than this, more than scraping by and slaving over tasks for lesser individuals.

"My price just rose by 30 percent," He snarled and, reluctantly, strapped all of her stuff next to his. With an annoyed groan, he climbed aboard the speeder before starting up the vehicle and revving the engine. The woman gawked.

"On what grounds? You were late so your price has already been docked. If anything, you're barely back at your original cost."

"Or I could just kill you and steal your money, then go after Kenobi's child myself."

"You wouldn't dare."

Maul didn't respond, just slammed his boot on the gas pedal so hard it nearly sent the ex-senator flying off the back of the vehicle. As the speeder-bike shot away from the moisture farm, clouds of sand billowing in their wake, she let out a shriek before clinging onto the fabric of his robes. He knew she was yelling at him, he could feel her anger. But the speeder was too loud for him to actually hear her words and a satisfied smirk crossed his lips at that.

Maybe this job wasn't going to be so bad after all.

***

When Kalani woke up next, it was dark outside and the fire in the center of the tent had been refueled with more logs of wood. Her eyes were no-longer crusty with dried blood and the restraints on her wrists and ankles had been loosened. Not enough to escape, but the fabric wasn't digging into her skin and rubbing the surface raw like it had before.

"You are awake."

The sudden sound of someone speaking caused the girl to jolt and she glanced around til the source was found.

It was the same girl as before, Ember. Standing off to the side in all her wraps and cloths, her back was facing Kalani as the shaman dipped a bowl into the same water jar her last caretaker had used to keep her hydrated. Though she was still a bit suspicious of her captor, the fear in her heart was significantly less than if someone else had kept her company. Ember walked towards her and sat down on the sand before lifting the bowl to Kalani's lips. The prisoner didn't hesitate to accept her gift.

"What is your name?" Ember asked as she gently wiped the excess liquid from the girl's chin.

"Kalani," She said it without thinking; her father always told her not to tell her name to strangers. But Ember didn't... she didn't feel like a stranger. And she was the only person in the camp that had shown her any sort of kindness. Plus Ember had given her name, it was only fair for Kalani to share her own as well. "Kalani Skywalker."

"Kalani Skywalker..." Ember repeated, practicing its pronunciation. Kalani couldn't see her face beneath her mask, but the tone of her voice made her assume a smile had graced her lips. "I have not spoken with someone outside the camp before." Ember stood up and walked back over to the water-jar, though this time she returned with a bowl of small purple berries. "Eat, you need your strength to heal."

"I didn't know Sand People spoke Basic," Kalani said before Ember plucked one of the berries from the bowl and placed it in the prisoner's mouth. The girl didn't know what to expect of the fruit at first, but as she bit down into the juicy berry, a cold, sweet taste spread across her tongue.

"They don't," Ember reached down for another berry and fed it to the girl. "I was very young when they found me in the desert."

"You were abducted?" The human asked through a mouthful of purple juice. Ember shook her head.

"No, I was rescued," Ember began to explain and continued to feed her as they talked. "I was in a ship with my family that crashed on this planet. I alone survived." Kalani felt her heart ache for the girl. "I walked the desert for days before I finally collapsed. When I woke up, I had been taken to this camp and my wounds from the crash had been tended to. If Chor hadn't found me when he did, I surely would have died."

"Chor?"

"The chieftain of this village," The shaman got to her feet when the bowl had emptied and went to refill it. "My father, he took me in and claimed me as his own when the others would have just made me their slave, or worse." She spoke over her shoulder.

When she returned and sat back down, Kalani's face had gone white.

"Is that..." The prisoner cleared her throat and averted her eyes to the ground. "Is that what they're going to do to me?"

"I..." Ember paused, and that moment of silence was enough to tell the human exactly what she didn't want to hear. "I don't know. I will do my best to convince them you are of value. My father will listen to me."

"And if he doesn't?" Ember was silent once more and lifted another berry to Kalani's mouth, but this time the prisoner shifted her head to the side, not willing to eat until she got the answers she needed. Even if the answers were unfortunate where she was concerned. The shaman sighed and lowered her hand back to the bowl.

"I have seen what they do to prisoners-"

"And I've endured it," Kalani snapped. "How much worse is this going to get for me?"

A moment of soundless, fearful anticipation rose between the two: Ember trying to grow the courage to tell her, and Kalani mentally preparing herself for the worst.

"If my father does not listen, you will be dead in three days."

***

"Deidre? Deidre? Are you even listening to me?"

It had been twelve hours since the discovery of the ransacked penthouse apartment. Nine hours since she woke up from her strange dream. Five hours since she and her father packed up a few of their belongings and arrived at the spaceport. Four hours since her father told her where they were going. One hour since she saw her mother for the last time.

And ten minutes since Bail told his only daughter that she would be going to Corellia, one of the most dangerous and volatile planets in the galaxy, alone.

The girl shook her head, doing her best to return to reality.

"Sorry, father," She apologized, too numb to even be mad at him for the decision he'd made for her. Corellia. Ever since the Empire rose to power, that scum-bucket of a rock had been transformed into an Imperial cruiser-construction powerhouse. Cesspools of gangs, child-enslavement, and an extremely unsettling lack of law-enforcement were the very heart and soul of Corellia.

And her father thought she would be safer there than with him?

"I don't know how deep the Empire's roots run," Bail sighed as he stood in front of her, keeping her company as she waited in line to board the next ship off Alderaan. "But I have a friend there I trust and it's one of the last places the Emperor or Verrat will think to find you." He spoke almost in a whisper. Deidre could barely speak at all. "She'll pick you up at the spaceport when you land and take you somewhere safe."

Deidre scoffed, the first sound of emotion she'd made since the news. Safe.

As the line continued to move forward, the senator's daughter could feel her heart sink with each step. She didn't want this. She didn't want to leave, and something inside her told her going to Corellia was not a good idea, not a good idea at all.

When the duo finally reached the very front, Bail set her luggage down before pulling her into a tight embrace.

This was too fast. She hadn't even fully processed the situation and now she was saying good-bye to her father, not knowing if she'd ever see him again. She couldn't breathe and everything was going by in a blur of words and movements. Deidre tried to remain in the present, but she could feel her chest caving in and the world losing sync around her. It was as if the universe had grown fuzzy and chopped, like a glitched hologram that slowed and sped up at random intervals.

"I love you, Deidre. Your mother and I love you with all our hearts."

She couldn't remember getting onto the ship or sitting down in a seat. She couldn't even remember saying good-bye to her father, if she'd even said anything at all. Things only returned to a somewhat normal pace after the freighter had left the atmosphere and Alderaan disappeared in the distance.

As the princess looked out the window at the stars and nearby planets zooming by, she clamped her hand over her mouth to muffle a sob and cried for a life she knew she'd never truly return to.