Hey guys, just a head's up!  I decided to rewrite part of this chapter, Alexa's POV to be precise, so you may want to reread that so that future chapters make sense.

-/-/-

Anakin POV

When the storm finally blew over I sat up and removed my hands from my face, blinking a few times as I tried to regain awareness of my surroundings.

"Is everyone alright?"  I asked, now that we would be able to communicate with each other.  Thankfully I had managed to keep any sand from getting into my eyes or throat, but I knew the others weren't so lucky when I heard the sound of coughing from nearby.

I turned to see Ahsoka coughing alongside her Majesty who was wiping away any sand that may have got into her eyes.  "We're fine."  The Queen replied as she looked back at me.

"So am I."  My old master replied.

"Me too."  I heard Rendal's voice as he came out from behind one of the speeders.

I scanned the area, doing a mental count to make sure that everyone was indeed ok, Ahsoka, her Majesty, Obi Wan, Rendal....  Wait!

"Alexa?"  I asked, then waited to hear a response.  Nothing.  "Alexa?"  Louder this time as panic began to set in.  "Alexa?!"  I ran over to the speeder she had been in and looked, but there was no sign of her.  She was gone.  "No, no this is impossible!  She has to be around here somewhere!"  Anger and fear welled in my stomach, and turned on Rendal.  "You were with her, what happened?!"

"She-She was right next to me, I swear!"  He began to stutter inaudibly before Obi Wan stepped in.

"Everyone calm down.  Panicking won't help the situation.  Anakin, use the force, try to sense if she's close by."

Taking a breath I nodded and tried to reach out with the force, but I felt nothing.  "She's not here."

"Well at least that means she wasn't buried in the sand."

"But where could she be?"  Ahsoka asked.

I already had an answer, I hated it and the thought made me sick, but it was an answer, "They took her."

"But where would they take her?"  The Queen asked.

I knew where, but I couldn't tell them.  Alexa had always made it clear that she never wanted anyone else to know about her past, I couldn't break my promise now.

"Ahsoka, you and Rendal take her Majesty back to the ship.  Obi Wan and I will find Alexa."

She nodded, but the padawan protested, "Master Skywalker, this is my fault, I should have protected her, let me go with you to save her."

"No, you need to stay with Ahsoka and guard the Queen."

"But-"

"No buts."  I said firmly and jumped into the speeder, impatiently waiting for Obi Wan to do the same.

"Get her Majesty back safely and wait for us in the ship, we will find Alexa and bring her back."  Kenobi told Rendal then finally got in beside me and I sent the speeder racing across the sands.

Ahsoka POV

The sandstorm had shaken me, but the news that Alexa had been taken rocked me far more.  Why would the bounty hunters take her and not the Queen?  It made no sense.  A youngling could be a valuable prize, but if they worked for T'doshok then surely her Majesty should have been the target.  Or at least that was what I thought before another thought crossed my mind.

I was kidnapped by Trandoshans once, they took me to Wasskah where I found out that they were kidnapping Jedi younglings and hunting them for sport.  I managed to escape with almost all of the younglings that I met, but sadly not everyone was so lucky.

Something that stuck in my mind though was that if they had taken them then why was Anakin not coming back to the ship so that we could go to Wasskah to find her?  Where did he think they had taken her?  Obviously he believed they were still here on Tatooine, but why?  Where could they hide her here and why wouldn't they be trying to get her off the planet as soon as possible? Anakin obviously knew more than he was telling us and when he came back I wanted to know just what he was hiding.

I watched them disappear into the distance then looked to the Queen, I couldn't dwell on that now, we had more important things to do.  "Your Majesty, we must get back to the ship, you'll be much safer there than you will here."  She nodded and we got into the speeder.  It was then that I noticed Rendal was still staring in the direction that Anakin and Obi Wan had gone in.  "Come on Rendal, we need to get going."

I heard him sigh softly before he walked over and got into the speeder with us.  I could sense that he was upset, but as much as I wanted to comfort him I knew that we needed to focus on getting out of here as fast as we could in case we ran into even more trouble.  I trusted Anakin and Obi Wan to bring Alexa back, and they were trusting us to do our job.  Our worries about Padawan Arnjard had to be put aside for now.  I just hoped that Rendal could do that.

Alexa POV

In the chaos of the sandstorm I never saw it coming.

I felt someone grab me then there was a sharp pain in my head and everything went black.

I don't know how long I was asleep for, but I was eventually awoken to the muffled sounds of someone speaking in a foreign language.  I opened my eyes, but my vision was blurred so I rubbed my eyes and tried to sit up, only to hit my head on something. I growled softly and my stomach filled with dread. When I opened my eyes again and looked around I saw bars.  It only took a second for me to realise I was lying, curled up in a tiny cage. My legs pulled up to my chest and my arms curled around myself.  It was the only way I could fit.

I felt a flash of anger as I fought against lashing out and trying to escape the bars.  I was caged like an animal.  A dirty, filthy animal and I hated it.  But if I tried to escape now and failed, it would only make things worse for myself.

It wasn't long after that I noticed that I was in a cargo hold. So now I'm in a cage, in a cargo hold on a ship.  I tried to shift so that I could get a better view of my surroundings, but if the tiny cage didn't make it difficult enough, the task was impossible as I discovered that my hands were held together with binders. While it was tempting, I knew better than to try and test whether or not they were Force inhibiting. The last thing I needed right now was to be electrocuted.  Plus, it would gain me the attention of the bounty hunter and whatever help he had with him, which I did not want.  However...  Something didn't seem right about all of this...  Aside from the obvious.

I had no time to dwell on it though as I felt a thud, meaning that the ship had landed. I quickly closed my eyes knowing that, if it was daylight on the planet, light would stream in when the cargo bay doors were opened and at the moment my eyes were only used to the darkness that surrounded me.

I had been right in my suspicion as I head the door open and sunlight came in, however it was more dimmer than I had expected. I pretended to be still asleep as I heard footsteps and felt the cage being lifted off the ground. The bounty hunter walked, swinging the cage slightly as he did so. I quickly grew warm as the atmosphere was humid.  I had the feeling that we were in some kind of marsh or something, a theory which was confirmed when my captor walked through a puddle, splashing some spots of muddy water on me.  Finally we must have come to the entrance of wherever they intended to keep me as my captor stopped and put the cage down.  I heard a grunt then listened carefully to hear the man reply.  He spoke in a language I hadn't heard in several years and I had to stop myself from trying to break out of the cage in a wild panic as I recognised it.

Things went darker again when we went inside and I could hear snorts and shuffling from nearby, most likely coming from the guards.

The further we went the harder it seemed to breathe, the already dank air bringing with it the sent of alcohol and spices which invaded my nostrils, burning them.  Leaving me with an overwhelming desire to vomit.  If I didn't already know where I was the music which was steadily growing louder would have confirmed it.  Especially when the familiar melodies of the slitherhorns, the growdie harmonique and the narlagon were accompanied by the sounds of rowdy laughter as the occupants indulged themselves in the entertainment that was available; namely drinking, smoking and gambling.

I realised we had reached the central room when the sounds were at their loudest, however everything ground to a halt as the cage was placed on the floor and the bounty hunter began to speak.

"My lords.  I have brought the prisoner to you as requested."

The cage was then unlocked and I was thrown out of it.  I landed on my face, sprawled on the cold floor, much to the amusement of those around who laughed at me, but I quickly scrambled to my feet.  I had expected my old enemy, however, I was surprised to find myself face to face with his family instead.

"The Hutt Clan.."  I hissed.  For a moment the obese slugs just looked at me, thier bulbous eyes scanning me while a shadow of a smirk lingered on each of their hideous faces.

At least this explained where I was.  I was no longer on Tatooine, though waking up in a ship had made me suspect as much, now this gave me an exact location.  I was in the Hutt crime lord's base on Nal Hutta.

Finally, one of the Hutts spoke, but I didn't quite catch the first part of what he said.  I guessed that he was stating that the bounty hunter had done his job well or something.  I didn't care about that.  It was what he said next that worried me.

"Jee-jee settah Jabba."

I watched, my heart beginning to beat faster, as they called the other Hutt, but I tried to maintain my nerve and glared at the blue holographic image of the slime ball when it appeared.

"Jabba, doe wee shahnit koose do shag, stuka."  The Hutt gestured to me and Jabba's gaze turned to me.

His eyes grew wide as he recognised me.  Had this been any other situation I would have laughed, it almost looked like he was surprised to see me.  Well I supposed that was understandable, it had been nearly three years since I had escaped.  "What's the matter?  Lothcat got your tongue?"  I asked with a smirk.

He laughed and spoke, "Chowbaso bunky dunko, Alexa.  Oid uba mee jeesh?"

Most would have had to wait for the protocol droid to translate, but unfortunately my time spent here previously meant that I had learned at least the basics of Huttese.  It was enough that I could understand what he was saying now.

"This is not my home, and I would never miss you."

"Ah tegwa...  Konchee u are sa nopa do bunky dunko, bata hagwa worry, u koose bata dunko oon.  U gusha, shags eesgoo ong bee hoohats."

My anger rose and my hands slowly clenched into fists, "Let me make this clear.  I am not your slave!"

He chuckled,  "Uba wrong, jee bedwanna uba, jee own uba. Uba belong jeesh. Uba mah pet. Jee should doo uba punished oefying uta-sha lorda an running away, besh oon't worree. Jee widd shulu merciful uba, pet. Jee widd take gooddé care of uba."

"Take care of me?!  Who are you trying to kid?!  You had me beaten and whipped! Look at the scars you and your goons have left me with!"  I pointed to my exposed face.  "You're not my master and I am not your pet! Now you can either let me go, or be destroyed."  I threatened, narrowing my eyes menacingly as I surveyed not only him, but the rest of the council as well.  Jabba let out a hearty laugh.

"Yoooh jab oestroee jeesh!  Uba'laz just bukee an weak bo at bettap!"

"I am not weak!"  I shouted and surged forward towards the projector.  I tried to pull my lightsaber from my belt, only to realise that it wasn't there.  Of course they had taken it.  I was going to try to destroy the projector anyway, but was stopped and pushed to the ground by the bounty hunter.  Had Jabba been there in person, I would have torn the fat slug limb from limb, but unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to him while he was just a hologram.  A fact which didn't help my temper.

Jabba's booming laugh echoed throughout the chamber and the other Hutts soon joined in, making the sound even louder.  I wanted to scream, but it would do no good.  Finally Jabba said he had other business to attend to and his hologram disappeared, but not before he promised that I would see him again shortly.

Once he was gone the Hutt that had spoken before, whom I now suspected to be Marlo, told the gamorean guards, "Put shash bu othahs."

His guards grabbed me roughly by the arms and dragged me toward the stairs that lead to the lower levels where their slave girls were no doubt kept.

"You've made a grave mistake Hutts! You will regret this!" I screamed at them as I was taken down into the depths of the palace.

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Uh oh!  Alexa's in big trouble now, it looks like her past has finally caught up with her.  Make sure to read the next chapter to find out what happens!

Also please let me know what you think of this chapter in a comment, all feedback is appreciated, and if you think it deserves it then please vote for it!

May the Force be with you!

~ Lexa

P.S.  For those of you who want to know what the Hutts were saying, here are the translations:

* "I will tell Jabba"

* "Jabba, the bounty hunter got your slave, look."

* "Welcome home, Alexa.  Did you miss me?"

* "Ah yes....  Where you are now is not your home, but don't worry, you will be back home soon.  You're lucky, pets never last long by themselves."

* "You are wrong, I bought you, I own you.  You belong to me.  You are my pet. I should have you punished for running away, but don't worry.  I will be mercifult to you, pet.  I will take good care of you."

* "You can't threaten me!  You're just a child, and a weak one at that!"

* "Put her with the others."