Chapter Text
Ahsoka has never known any other life other than one of a slave. She had been taken from her family when she was just three years old and in the ten years since had served four masters.
Her first master was the Zygerruan slaver who took her away from her family. While he was indifferent to her, his wife treated her (and the other slaves in their house) as if she was part of the family. Ahsoka would have stayed with them for the rest of her life but it wasn't meant to be. After a trip to Tatooine, her master lost her to a moister farmer betting on the pod races.
Life on the moister farm wasn't bad; once again she was treated like a member of the family, at least by her new master; his wife had wanted an older slave to help her around the house, not a preteen she had to keep an eye on. But everything changed when pirates came to the farm. To keep the pirates from taking everything they owned, her master's wife traded her to them in exchange for them leaving her and her family alone.
The pirates had taken her to Faloosha where she was expected to serve them. Of course, their captain wasn't going to let his men take advantage of a twelve-year-old girl. One of the serving women constantly kept an eye on her while she was working and, at night, she was locked in one of the rooms; not to keep her from running away but to keep the other pirates away from her. Things continued like this for nearly a year until bounty hunters working for Jabba the Hutt took her away as payment for a job they did with the pirates on Jabba's behalf.
Now she belonged to Jabba as one of his slave girls. Fortunately, she was too young still to preform all the tasks that the slave girls at Jabba's place were expected to do but she knew in five years when she was eighteen things would change; unless of course Jabba sold her but the odds of that were very slim since many of Jabba's bounty hunters found her just as attractive as the twi'lek slave girls. But then something happened that completely changed her world.
♡♡♡
The music in the main audience chamber of Jabba's palace was loud but, in the two months since her arrival, Ahsoka has learned how to tune it out without missing anything else. The other slave girls, all twi'lek, danced to the music to entertain their master and his guests. As one of Jabba's slave girls, Ahsoka would have been expected to join them if not for the fact that she was so young. Some of the bounty hunter would each select one of the slave girls as a "companion" for the night but Ahsoka was five years away from the legal age for such activities. Instead, she let her mind wander until a tug on the chain attached to the collar around her neck drew her back.
"Soon you will be out there joining them," Jabba said in Huttees, a language Ahsoka had learned over the past few weeks.
Ahsoka didn't reply, knowing that her master wasn't looking for one. Suddenly, music stopped and everyone turned towards the main entrance hall as two humans were escorted in by one of Jabba's twi'lek servants. Both new comers, a boy and a man, were dressed in a style more common on Onderon than Tattooine and the boy looked to be Ahsoka's age. She tried not to look at him but she couldn't help it. He and the man seemed so nice compared to everyone else in the room. The man spoke with Jabba (a parodical droid translating for them) but Ahsoka didn't hear a word of it. She just kept looking at the boy and he kept looking at her. Suddenly, Ahsoka felt a shift in the mood of the room. She couldn't explain it but she could sense things about other beings and sometimes even saw things before they happened.
"30,000," Jabba said angerly, the droid translating, "no more."
"The agreement was that we would assist you in getting your stolen cargo back and in exchange you would give us the 50,000 we need to negotiate with the Trade Federation," the man said.
Ahsoka had to give the man credit, he was brave. Not many beings dared to stand up to Jabba. She'd seen her master feed those that displeased him to both the rankor and the sarlak. The boy pulled at the man's jacket.
"What about a trade?" the boy said.
"What do you propose, boy?" Jabba asked.
"Give us the 30,000 and her," the boy said pointing at Ahsoka. "Aside from me, she's the youngest one here. She can't be of any use to you."
"The boy is right, master," the twi'lek servant said. "The girl is of little use to you. It will, after all, be five years before she's old enough to perform all the tasks that the other slave girls do."
Jabba seemed to be considering this. It was true that there was little Ahsoka could do in his palace. She was too young to service the bounty hunters that worked for him and he had droids to do the cooking and cleaning.
"You're right. She is of no use to me. Take her," Jabba said.
One of the twi'leks came up to Ahsoka and removed the collar from around her neck before leading her out of the room.
"I've been sold, haven't I?" Ahsoka asked.
"Traded," the twi'lek answered as she picked up a device from the table that would deactivate the tracking chip in Ahsoka's arm. "But it's basically the same thing. At least you'll be away from this place."
"But what if I'm going somewhere worse?"
"You won't be. The man in there is Nikko Bonteri. He's married to Mina Bonteri, the senator of Onderon. They have no need for slaves. You'll more than likely be set free once you're away from this place."
♡♡♡
The twi'lek was right. No sooner had they left the planet then Nikko Bonteri set her free. She'd come back to Onderon with them to get some decent cloths, a good meal, some sleep, and a check-up before they would talk about finding a way to send her home. Nikko's son Lux stayed by her side the entire trip. He told her all about his home on Onderon and taught her how to play a holographic chess. She wasn't very good at it (losing 10 out of 10 games) but, with time and practice, she was sure she would beat him once day.
When they landed on Onderon, they were met by probably the prettiest woman Ahsoka had ever seen. Judging by the way Lux and his father greeted her, she had to be Senator Bonteri. Ahsoka hung back, not wanting to interrupt the family reunion.
"Things went well I presume," Mina said.
"Well we got 30,000," Nikko answered.
"It's better than nothing."
"We also have a surprise for you, mother," Lux said.
"A surprise? What kind of surprise?" Mina asked as her son ran back to the ship.
"It's okay," Lux said to Ahsoka, holding out his hand.
Ahsoka took his hand and allowed him to lead her off the ship. Ahsoka stood before Mina, unsure of what the senator would think of her. But she didn't have to worry. Mina pulled her into a hug almost instantly.
"What a sweet girl," Mina said.
"We rescued her from Jabba's palace," Lux said.
"She was a slave there. Lux negotiated her release when Jabba refused to pay us the 20,000 he still owed. You would have been proud of him," Nikko said. "She'll be staying with us until we can return her to her family."
♡♡♡
Out of all the places she'd stayed at, the Bonteris' estate was Ahsoka's favorite. She was given her own room with a balcony and private 'fresher. The room was bigger than any she'd ever seen and open with warm, natural light coming through the balcony's double glass doors. The closet and dresser was filled with dresses and clothes that looked like they would fit her, almost as if Mina knew that she was coming.
After her first real bath in a long time, Ahsoka changed into one of the dresses in the closet. It was a deep purple one with a long skirt and long sleeves. She had grown accustom to the hot weather on Tatooine so the weather on Onderon was a little cool to her. After putting on a pair of shoes that matched the dress, she left her new room and went in search of the dining room. It didn't take her long to find it, she followed the smell of the food the chief had prepared for dinner. She stood in the doorway to the dining room, unsure if she should enter. When Lux saw her, he went up to her and took her hand.
"It's okay," Lux said, seeing how nervous she was. "You can come in."
"Well, don't you look beautiful," Mina said as Lux lead Ahsoka into the dining room.
Ahsoka looked down at the ground, almost as if she was too afraid to look at any of them as an equal. The family had no idea how long she had been a slave but one things was certain, she had been conditioned to act a certain way. Dinner was served and Ahsoka joined Lux and his parents at the table. However, it was clear that she was still very nervous. She wouldn't take any food until the others did and spent most of the meal looking at her plate. She only looked up when Mina said something to her.
"I'm sorry," she said, indicating that she hadn't heard her.
"I asked what your favorite dinner is. Cook can make it tomorrow."
Ahsoka looked back at her plate.
"I don't know," she said. "We were mostly given cold stew or a watery gruel to eat."
Mina and Nikko looked at each other from across the table. The poor girl had been through so much. They had to do everything they could to make her life comfortable while she was with them.
"Perhaps Cook can make a traditional Togruta meal tomorrow," Nikko said. "Would you like that?"
Ahsoka nodded but didn't look up. Mina laid a hand on one of Ahsoka's.
"It's okay," she said. "You're safe here. You don't have to be afraid anymore."
Ahsoka looked at her. She had kind masters before but nothing at this level. She also felt safe here. She hadn't been forced or expected to do any work since Nikko and Lux took her away from Jabba's palace.
"We're going to try to get you back home to your family," Mina said. "Can you remember anything that might help us?"
Ahsoka shook her head.
"I was really young when I was taken away," she said. "The first home I can clearly remember is the home of my first master."
"How long have you been a slave?" Nikko asked.
"Ten standard years," Ahsoka answered.
"And you're about thirteen?" Mina said.
Ahsoka nodded. Nikko and Mina looked at each other again. There was little chance of return Ahsoka to her family. There was a Togruta settlement on Kiros but it was fairly new, only five or six years old so it was unlikely that Ahsoka came from there. Shili was the best choice but there weren't a lot of cities there and the tribes tended to move around. It would be impossible to find Ahsoka's family. Lux looked at his parents.
"She can stay here, can't she?" he asked. "She has nowhere else to go."
They knew he was right. There were orphanages but they knew Ahsoka wouldn't last long in one of them, not after the other children learned that she was once a slave and conditioned to be submissive.
"Would you like to stay here?" Mina asked. "We can petition the Onderon Government to let us become your guardians."
Ahsoka nodded and for the first time since entering the dinning room she seemed to relax. She had her freedom back and she was safe and with people who cared about her. She had all the same opportunities now as other girls her age and the chance to life a life she wanted.
♡♡♡
"The poor girl has probably never known love in ten years," Mina said several hours after dinner. "And she's definitely never been allowed to do what she wants."
"We'll have to set some ground rules, we can't let her do everything she wants," Nikko said as he and his wife sipped wine in the front room. Lux and Ahsoka had gone off to watch a movie on the holonet. "But she'll definitely have more freedom than she did."
"Let's take things one step at a time. She's still uncomfortable and uneasy. If we force too many rules on her, she may feel like she's back with one of her masters."
"She's definitely comfortable around Lux. They bonded on the ship. Maybe keeping them together is a good idea. Lux can help her through the transition. And they'll both have a friend that doesn't want anything from them."
It was true. Ahsoka hadn't had a real friend in ten years; slaves rarely made friends with each other since they never knew how long they were going to be at the same house and slaves where forbidden to become friends with their masters' children. As for Lux, he did have friends but they were more interested in hanging out at the estate and use his things.
Laughter could be heard from the other room. Lux and Ahsoka had obviously found a funny movie to watch. Nikko and Mina looked into the room and smiled. Both Lux and Ahsoka were on the couch drinking pop and sharing a bowl of popcorn while they watched their movie, like two normal teenagers who had known each other for years not hours. They had to find a way to make this work and make sure that Ahsoka will be allowed to stay with them.
♡♡♡
Ahsoka felt very nervous as the doctor examined her. Both Mina and Nikko had reassured her that she wasn't going to be taken away and that they only wanted to make sure that, after everything she'd been through, she was healthy. Nikko had taken Lux with him to deliver some supplies to a nearby settlement so Mina had stayed behind as an emotional support for Ahsoka. In the three days since she had come to live with them, Ahsoka had grown to trust both of Lux's parents though it was clear that the two teenagers had a special bond.
"Well, how is she?" Mina asked the doctor after they left Ahsoka's room.
"She a little small for her age and her weight is a little low for someone her size but a few good, healthy meals will fix that," the doctor said. "She's a little malnourished but that's not surprising considering the life she had prior to coming here. Make sure she eats three good, healthy meals a day and a few healthy snacks and keep her on the vitamin supplements until further notice. I check back in a few weeks to see how she's doing. Other than that, she's in perfect health."
This was all good news but Mina could tell that there was more the doctor wanted to tell her.
"Is there something else?" she asked.
"You said she was a slave before she came here three days ago."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"She's a month pregnant."