(Star Wars) ~ Alice

I

"...Happy Birthday to you!"

The family cheered as Luke and Leia blew it the candles on their fourth birthday cake. The twins looked around eagerly at their family before looking back at the cake with an excited glint in their eyes. Padme stood in a corner, bouncing Anakin Jr. in her arms; the only thing going through her mind at the moment was 'sugar high'. Hayden came behind his older siblings, hugging both tightly around their necks. "Easy Killer..." Anakin pulled the toddler away from his siblings. "Bubba and Sissy need air too." The toddler squirmed and then hung still; a pout was glued on his face until he saw another person join the party.

"Dakdak!" He shouted, squirming out of his father's grasp to be lifted by the other man. "Hayden!" Dak smiled back, matching the toddler's enthusiasm. "How's my favorite little man, hmm?" He chuckled, turning to Anakin. "Mama Jae said that there's another birthday package from the Hutts. It's down in the main entry way." He bounced the toddler on his hip, looking over at his brother as Anakin cut the cake for his twins and the Kenobi twins. "Okay, let's go see what it is... Hayden, let your uncle go and come eat cake. Daddy needs to borrow him for a minute." Anakin said, looking back over at the boy who had a finger stuck in his mouth. Hayden pressed a slobbery kiss to Dak's cheek before he hopped down and ran over to Luke. Dak followed Anakin out of the party, tossing Padme a smile as he walked out the door.

"Look, I know your dad adores the kids but seriously, he already bought them two mini speeder bikes along with force knows what else." He chuckled, putting an arm out to give Anakin a shake. "Doesn't Jabba know when to quit while he's ahead?" Anakin flashed him a grin. "Aww come on, they're his babies! Just wait until Hayden and Little Ani get old enough to appreciate birthdays." He joked, rounding the corner to the entryway.

"I'm just saying, your dad loves those kids more than his fortune nowadays."

"He's been heard to say they are his fortune... Don't ever repeat that or I'll hear about it." He said with another soft smile as he stopped in front of a large box. "Okay, even I'll admit I have no idea what he sent this time."

"Maybe the tag will give you some sort of clue..." Dak chuckled, thinking about what it could say. "Let me guess; it's radioactive this time, isn't it?"

"Um no, it just says handle with care; Dak, it's addressed to you." Anakin said reading the tags with a slight frown. "There's a note that goes with it." He said, passing the paper to his brother. Dak opened the paper, beginning to read the neat typing on it.

"Greetings. This is from Jabba the Hutt; how are you, my boy? Your brother tells me many good things, one of which is the reason I'm sending you this package. Anakin told me about how you saved the Twins from being kidnapped a few weeks back. Those two, along with their siblings, are my life; had you not saved them, I would've been devastated. As thanks, I'm sending you a special surprise straight from the Slaver district Ziro owns. Take Care, Jabba the Hutt."

Anakin just simply read over his shoulder, smiling as he did so. "Looks like you finally got on Dad's good side huh Dak?" He teased, turning his attention back to the box. "I guess so; kinda already thought I was on his good side for a while now." He sighed, putting out his pocketknife. "Let's see what he sent me... Please just don't be a gungan..."

"I really don't want to have to try and relocate if it is... It took long enough the last time he sent one here." Anakin grumbled, grabbing his own knife and starting on the opposite side. After a few tugs, whimpering could be heard from inside. "Another animal?" Dak kept removing the glue from between the boards. "Maybe..." Anakin said before yanking the boards on his side away to reveal the box's contents. "No way..." Dak knelt down at the opening, peering inside.

He saw a young woman curled up in one of the boxes corner; she was crying from the sound of it. Pale, scarred skin covered her frail looking body; her dirty, blonde hair hung to her waist from what he could judge. She was hugging her knees, her face not visible from where they were. Dak held out a hand to her. "You're safe now; come out of there, please..." She whimpered and shook her head, tucking herself tighter, making her body even smaller than before. "Kriff..." Anakin said under his breath, peering in alongside his brother. "I told him to stop sending them like this..." He muttered, his eyes a little angry.

"Go get Satine or Padme one; I'm gonna need to borrow something else for her to wear." Dak watched as his brother nodded before jogging off to do just that. He turned his attention back to the girl in front of him. "What's your name?"

"Alice." She whispered; even in the dim interior of the box, he could see her eyes wide with fear. "My name's Dak, Dak Vader. Can you come out of there so I can get a good look at you?" Again, he held out a hand to her. "I just want to see if your hurt; I promise you, I won't do anything else but look at you." Slowly she crept out, keeping away from his hand and staying as hunched as possible. As she came into the light, Dak could see she was indeed what was known to his community as a 'stray;' she was underfed, undercared for and even had the faint flush of fever.

"Oh Alice... I'm so sorry." His heart broke for her; no one should be treated like this. "How about we go get you some clean clothes and some food? You know what, before that, I need to let Mama Jae have a look at you. She's our caretaker and our main healer; she'll give you a check up and then send you off to shower." He stopped, realizing he was probably scaring her more than anything. "I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Can you stand up for me?" Dak held out both of his hands, ready to help pull her to her feet.

It took two false starts for her to finally put her thin hands in his and allow him to pull her up. Dak wasn't even all the way standing when she was; this slave girl was very short, almost like Padme. Alice seemed to realize without looking he was studying her and instantly crossed her arms, blocking as much of her body from his sight. She feared a wild punch would come out of no where. "Relax..." He chided, carefully taking a knee in front of her with his hands up in surrender. "I'm not going to hurt you. If anything, I'm going to take care of you." She finally raised her head to take a quick glance at him before slowly relaxing her arms, still keeping them crossed.

A moment later, Anakin reappeared, holding what looked like one of Padme's robes in his hand. "I grabbed this out of the bedroom, she looked to be as small as Mé so I brought it." Alice flinched and quickly ran behind Dak, peeking at this newcomer from around his shoulder. He began chuckling, turning his head to the side so he could look at her. "Alice, it's okay; this is my brother, Anakin. He won't hurt you, he just wants to help..." Anakin was chuckling too. "Nice to meet you... Here." He said tossing the bundle of cloth to Dak. "You two probably just need to be alone seeing as she's responding to you..."

He took the bundle before watching Anakin disappear from the entry way. "How about you come with me and I'll take you somewhere you can get treated and cleaned up?" Dak slowly started to turn, seeing as Alice has remained behind him. She nodded her head, prompting him to wonder how much she spoke on a daily basis; so far he had heard but one word from her. He stood up and offered her his hand. "You can walk with me or I can carry you; which would you prefer?" She started to walk behind him when he noticed she favored her right leg; she kept stepping cautiously as though afraid of the ankle turning on her. This prompted him to swiftly pick her up, holding her on his hip like a child seeing as she was so small.

"From now on, I'm taking care of you. You won't be alone again, Alice."