Rey in the hands of Unkar Plutt calls out in the Force for her mommy. Anakin hears his granddaughter's call and becomes her protector and trainer in all that he knows.
Can he keep her from repeating all of his failures on her journey to becoming th...
Rey's favorite outfit, a crocheted dress of off-white with cap sleeves and a boat neck, fluttered at her knees as she ran. Her stunning mother sat not too far away on a blanket in the meadow with the waterfall behind her. But Rey was too busy to sit—she had to chase those yellow-bellied Heliconians to steal kisses from them.
Yet, as mothers were, she called her away right when she had just caught one. "Rey, time to eat. Come now."
Rey turned from her pursuit, her stomach growling. She ran back to her mother and fell into her arms, giggling. "Mommy! I love you!"
Leia held her little girl tightly and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, too, my darling Re—"
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Rey awoke suddenly, the cold, hard slab of the cellar floor immediately bringing her back to reality—a horrible reality where Mommy was not here. She struggled into a seated position, wincing as pains shot through her back.
She remembered the beating she had received the night before. She remembered the bad man. She remembered she was now a slave. And she cried.
Unkar Plutt's voice echoed throughout the complex. "I've found the brat. She's down here."
Rey could hear the bloated blobfish making his way through the extensive cellar.
The small girl crouched behind the sack of tubers again, grateful for the crates that—that Ani had moved to shield her last night.
Ani. Ani was real. He was not just a dream.
Rey counted the footsteps—Unkar Plutt was easy to identify, heavy and webbed as they were. Another set was light—probably Grekka. There were also two others with clunky boots—possibly Unkar's Weequay guards.
She gave out an involuntary whimper as the footsteps approached. She triedto push herself into the brick wall, hurting her back even more. The scabs tore opened, seeping blood into her rough, sleeveless dress. She bit her tongue to hold in a scream as tears ran down her face.
The Crolute mobster reached her hideaway first, grabbing the crates of portions and flinging them to the side. One crate burst open, spilling the portion packets all over the cellar floor. "There you are, you little brat."
He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up, almost dislocating her shoulder in the process. Rey screamed in pain.
Her master hit her across the face. Blood streamed from her nose. "That's for disgracing me in front of my guest last night. You will learn to obey, Girl."
"No! Let go!" She struggled in his grip. "Ani! Ani!"
Unkar took the whip from his belt and raised it to strike her again, but his hand froze in mid air.
Ani appeared behind the blobfish, one arm held out toward the mobster to paralyze his limbs. The ghost's blue aura lit up the cellar brightly.
"Ani!" Rey cried in relief when she saw her friend. "Where have you been?"
