Pain. Stinging, burning, throbbing pain. A bright light. Voices. More pain.
Where am I?
Boba slowly opened his eyes to reveal an unfamiliar room. A droid was poking at bandages on his left arm. More bandages covered nearly every inch of his frame, from head to toe. His armor was nowhere to be seen. Gentle, dimmed, mid-afternoon sunlight filtered in from a tinted window.
Boba raised his head tentatively. The room tilted a bit. He pinched his eyes shut, bidding his stomach to stop churning and the room to stop gyrating.
“Please remain still.” the droid droned.
“Oh, shut up.” Boba tried to snarl but it actually came out as more of a wheeze. He stubbornly raised his head more. None of his bones felt to be broken, but between the bandages and the unwavering attention of the droid, Boba concluded that he wasn’t in very good shape.
Abruptly the door slid open and a woman with blue skin slipped in the room. Boba had a faint memory of her as a dancer on Jabba’s sail barge. What was she doing here? She turned to the bed and instantly broke into a smile.
“You’re awake!”
Boba grunted a reply, hoping she would just leave him in peace, but no such luck.
“Dengar! Come see!”
That was Dengar at the Sarlacc. Boba thought. He had only hazy memories of his dance with death. Dengar, the one I drugged at Jabba’s. This is going to be interesting.
A moment later, Dengar himself stumped into the room. He stood silent for a moment, then parked himself on a chair to the side of the droid, next to the footboard of the bed.
“Excellent.” He said. “We didn’t think you would make it, you know.”
“How long have I been here?” Boba asked.
“About a month. My medical droids have you under excellent care.”
A month! Boba’s mind screamed. I’ve been stuck in this bed for an entire month??
“I see.” was all Boba said.
“Do you know what happened?” Dengar asked.
Boba thought for a moment. “Fighting. We were fighting. Something to do with Skywalker. I went from the large sail barge to the execution stand. Skywalker cut my blaster in half. And…” Boba trailed off. He did faintly remember what happened from there, but he didn’t want to verbalize it. A random pistol shot. His jetpack going off. The side of the sail barge coming up to meet him.. falling… the teeth of the Sarlacc raking him on his way down… darkness….
“You should be dead, for all intents and purposes.” Dengar said bluntly.
Thank you for reminding me, Dengar. Wishing to get the subject off of his plight, Boba asked, “What became of the others?”
“Jabba’s dead. So were a lot of those on the sail barge. Bib Fortuna is alive. And so is Manaroo here…” he paused briefly to stroke her cheek “- and I believe Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, and the other rebels escaped.”
Damn. All that work for nothing. Boba thought harder. “Wait…” The random shot that activated his jet pack. Solo bleating out his name over and over. Abruptly, the truth hit him.
“Solo knocked me in!” he exclaimed, letting emotion show for a moment.
“Did he?” Dengar responded. “Well, I wasn’t there. No thanks to you. I arrived after the sail barge went up in smoke.”
Boba laid back in bed, frustrated at nearly being killed by his own bounty- a reckless Corellian smuggler.
“Well, the important thing now is that you’re alive.” Dengar continued after a moment.
“I’m in debt to you, Dengar.” Boba mumbled, the old Mandalorian honor coming back to him.
“Yes, we can remedy that, but until your bandages come off you’re staying right there. Manaroo”- he turned to her “Please get him some food. I will see to the future arrangements later.”
Manaroo grinned broadly and left the room.

****

Another Q- should I keep posting as I write more, or should I just shut up and write and then upload the finished story to a fanfic site?

When Ailyn woke the next day, her mother still wasn’t home. Ailyn stretched in bed; her knuckles met the wall, and her feet grazed the footboard. It’s my birthday. I’m sixteen. She thought. Somehow, her first day being sixteen felt exactly like the day before. Ailyn dressed and headed to the shop once again, picking up a pastry for breakfast along the way.
Her day at the shop passed uneventfully. Ailyn headed out at the same time. This time, she took the long way home that lead on the outskirts of town. The buildings spread out, revealing a bleak landscape set under the unforgiving moons.
The sun set in the purple sky above her. A precious few starships zoomed overhead- not many visitors came to Concord Dawn- as warm gusts of wind stirred Ailyn’s hair and fanned out her cloak.
Ailyn felt a faint prick of worry about her mother. She had been thinking about Sintas that day more than she cared to admit. Though Sintas was away more than she was home, she usually stuck to her schedule. It was unlike her to be late.
Ailyn turned back towards town, taking the road that would lead her to the back of the apartment complex. Up ahead, she caught sight of the landlord. He stopped her by yanking on her cloak, an action that annoyed her at the best of times.
“You mother’s late on the rent,” he snarled in his hoarse, disgusting voice. “She needs to pay in three days or I must evict the two of you.”
Ailyn nodded curtly and continued on her way. The mention of money suddenly made her think that she might have left her wallet in the shop. She stepped into an alley and dropped her backpack to the ground to check inside.
Her wallet was in the bottom, hidden under old school books and a few lengths of wire that she planned to use for repairing her mother’s equipment. Just as Ailyn was about to shoulder the pack again, Rejan the pawn shop owner and a creepy-looking character Ailyn didn’t recognize strode past the mouth of the alley. Ailyn caught one phrase from Rejan that piqued her curiosity:
“What amount of credits will her ship be worth, do you think?”
The creep cackled. “Who knows? It runs, yes, but it isn’t that fast or pretty.”
Ailyn raised one eyebrow and slowly started to follow after them. She dogged their steps a few meters behind, so that it looked as if she were simply idling in the street.
Rejan continued, unaware of the eavesdropper. “Yes. Sort of a pity that she left the girl behind. I wonder if Kan’ek will be able to collect the rent.”
Ailyn sucked in her breath. No, they couldn’t be talking about her mother, could they?
The other creature cackled again. “Ah, yes. What a pity. The bounty hunter gets killed taking a bounty, and her daughter must continue. Really, I’d just as soon see that Ailyn brat out of this town. She does nothing but make trouble.” He laughed once more.
Ailyn stopped dead in her tracks. This couldn’t be true. It had to be some sick, horrible joke.
She turned back down the street and ran all the way to the starship port. Please, let it be a joke, she thought with each pounding footstep.
She skidded to a halt at the main counter, nearly crashing into it.
“Can I help you?” The resident droid inquired in its mechanical voice.
“Did my mother’s ship come in?” Ailyn panted.
“Which ship? And who is it registered to?”
Ailyn spared the droid all the details of her mother’s ship. “Sintas Vel. It’s registered to Sintas Vel.”
The droid went off to check the docks. It returned a moment later to check the intergalactic databases. Ailyn watched its every move. Why is this taking so long? She’s here or she’s somewhere nearby. This is ridiculous.
“Ah, here we are.” The droid said. “The ship registered to Sintas Vel is under lockdown for pending seizure on Naboo. It seems that it was left at a port and the owner has not returned.”
What?? Ailyn straightened, despite her rampaging thoughts. “Thank you,” she said, and walked back out of the port. It can’t be.
************************************************

By the next day, reality began to sink in. Sintas was never this late. Something must have happened. Even if Sintas was injured, she would have tried to contact Ailyn by now.
On the way to work, Ailyn noticed people giving her sympathetic looks. They must know, she thought. News traveled fast in a small town.
Ailyn went back to the shop again and somehow managed to make it through an entire day of work. She made a small grocery run before going back to the apartment. Some instinct made her buy non-perishable nutrition bars.
She returned once more to the empty apartment, then walked out on the small balcony.
It’s all her fault. She could have found a different job than bounty hunting. Ailyn hunched over the railing. Despite her best attempt at a poker face, tears began to flow.
No, wait… it’s all HIS fault. Yes, my father could have actually showed up once and a while. If he sent us money, maybe we wouldn’t be struggling all the time.
Ailyn sobbed once, then she was loudly weeping over the railing, tears falling to the street far below. Her father probably didn’t have the slightest inkling on what happened. Where was he, anyway? Her only memory of him was when she was about three years old.
Isn’t a father supposed to provide for his family? It’s not fair! He should have done something!!
On second thought, to hell with the money. He should have at least seen me once. I wanted to see him. A long time ago, that is. I want to know I didn’t just come out of thin air. Why? Whywhywhywhywhy???
She looked up at the thousands of stars and planets in the azure sky overhead. Her father was probably out there somewhere, with a steady supply of money, his own ships, and a crowd of admirers.
“Damn you!!!” she screamed. "Daaaaaaaaamn you!"
Ailyn pounded the railing with her fist. Maybe I should just jump. It would take care of everything. My life is going to be pretty miserable from here on out.
Ailyn cried for almost an hour. All her frustrations about her broken family surfaced in a constant tide of tears. She didn’t remember going back into the house and to her bedroom.

*******************************************

Ailyn awoke the next morning fully clothed and laying on her stomach on top of her bedcovers, with both fists jammed into her pillow. She felt like hell.
Laying here feeling sorry for myself doesn’t get anything done.
Ailyn began to do battle with her own thoughts.
What will I do? What can I do?
You’ll get off this desolate planet and make a living for yourself. That’s what you’ll do.
But how?
Well, you can start by leaving this apartment! The landlord ain’t gonna miss ya!
Ailyn sat up and rubbed her puffy eyes.
Mom set the bank account to allow me to access it with my retinal code. But… I don’t know how much is in there.
Mass transport is the cheapest. I don’t know if I even have enough money for that.
Ailyn methodically picked up her backpack and started packing. It was big enough to hold a few days’ supplies… enough until she figured out where she was going. She put in a change of clothes, a full canteen and hydration filter unit, and the nutrition bars she’d purchased the day before.
She navigated the combination lock on the weapons closet and pulled out a small ray pistol. It was actually the only gun left at the house that worked, and it was small enough to tuck in the folds of her clothing. As an afterthought, she pulled out a hide bantha whip that was some sort of souvenir from Tatooine. The whip stretched almost 4 meters, and could be used for rappelling and defensive tactics.
She would the long whip into coils and tucked it in her belt. A small microchip on her necklace with the key ring held all her personal information and would allow her to access the bank accounts.
Ailyn took one last look around the apartment. She left. She slammed the door closed.
Instead of taking the stairs to ground level, she went used a small ladder that ran up the side of the building to take her to the roof. There, she removed the apartment keys from her neck cord, and with a shout of both victory and frustration, threw them as hard as she could out over the city. 
*****************************************************

Chandar didn’t seem too upset over the demise of the glass vase. They actually had another one quite similar that the customer accepted as a worthy substitute.
Ailyn kept working the rest of the day, organizing the inventory and writing things in the ledger books. She was a hard worker; she had known nothing else for all of her nearly sixteen years.
Chandar hired her when she was 12; it wasn’t exactly legal to hire someone so young, but he didn’t care, and Ailyn was desperate to be doing something. She fell in and out of middle and high schools. Her grades would remain steady for a while, then she’d be suspended, usually for fighting.
Chandar was frequently intrigued by his stoic, morose employee, but he didn’t question her often. He was content to live and let live- if Ailyn didn’t feel like sharing her past, he wouldn’t pry.
But how strange it was… a teenage girl that had almost no friends her own age. She never went out to party or shop. She seldom showed any emotion, or spoke at all for that matter. She never wore colorful clothes, only dressing in black or mute shades of gray. She had her mousy, waist-length hair pulled back from her face and streaming down her shoulders. Her light-colored hair must have been some sort of a throwback from her mother’s side. The only thing she couldn’t make plain was her face: high cheekbones with full lips and startling, sapphire blue eyes. With a little effort, Ailyn could have been quite pretty, but she didn’t have the time or the money to spend on herself.
Ailyn signed out of the shop at 5:15 and headed down the dusty street towards home. “Home” was a third-floor apartment in the rather questionable part of town. Painted ladies and street thugs eyed her as she shuffled past. She did nothing; only pulling her cloak further up her neck and quickening her steps slightly.
She got to the door and set to un-locking the five or so locks on the door. She had a key for each one, all of them hung on a cord around her neck. The door fell open, creaking slightly, to reveal a dark, silent apartment.
Mom wasn’t home, of course.
Ailyn’s mom, Sintas Vel, had been in the bounty hunting trade for all her life and wasn’t about to stop just to be a mother. It was the only way she knew how to live. Ailyn spent most of her days at the shop, at school, or home alone. She didn’t care one way or the other about her mother’s career. It put food on the table… most of the time.
Sintas was average sized, with dark brown hair that curled slightly at the ends. She could out-fight and out-gun many men in town. She was a mighty woman, but not a mighty mother. She loved her daughter, but seemed to have difficulty showing it.
Ailyn stepped into the barely-furnished apartment, flung her backpack in the general direction of the sitting room, and stumped over to the kitchen. Sintas had left some cooked meat in the steady-preservation unit. Fresh vegetables from a few days ago sat on the counter.
Ailyn fixed herself a meager supper and sat down at the wobbly table. Sintas was due to be home sometime tonight. She had left a few days earlier, after previously promising that she wouldn’t take a bounty so close to Ailyn’s birthday. Ailyn suspected that Sintas might be scraping some funds together to get her something for her birthday.
Ailyn smiled slightly at the thought. Things could be worse, I guess, she mused.