103 Chapter 93

Seela glared at her Parents and felt a cold anger burning in her chest.

Her parents who had been abusive, neglectful, and outright cruel to her when she had been growing up. Causing her to cry herself to sleep more often than not.

Her parents who had tried to sell her into slavery when she was only seven years old to pay off their own gambling debts.

She had managed to run away from the Hutt gangsters who would have forced her into a life of fear and misery before they could implant the slave tracking chip in her and had then ended up living on the streets of Mos Espa.

That had led to her meeting Shae, a fellow victim of terrible circumstances, and then together they had met Renn finally found happiness.

Then her parents had tried to take that away, tried to blackmail her and destroy her new life. Still not caring about her and only wanting to use her to make their own lives slightly easier.

Seela hadn't been sure how she should deal with that. Some small hidden part of her still longed for some form of parental affection and she didn't know how she'd react when she final confronted her parents.

But then they had met Dia.

Seela had known instantly that the girl must be her sister, but she subconsciously tried to deny it in the vain hope that the happy and innocent young girl wasn't being exposed to the same grim childhood that she had been through.

Those thoughts had vanished when she had been outside her childhood home though and she had heard the pained cry from a little girl.

Her body had moved on autopilot, smashing through the door as her mind flashed back to the times, she had let out similar cries in this same house and wished someone would come and help her.

And now this little girl, her little sister, was gazing towards her. Hope flickering in her tear-filled eyes as she clutched one hand to her injured cheek, that was now turning an angry red from the recent smack.

Seela's gaze hardened as she glared at her still surprised parents, and she felt any remaining spark of longing for her parents' love vanish instantly.

"Renn dearest, please take my sister outside. I need to have a little chat with my parents." she said in a tone so cold that even the oppressive heat of the Tatooine suns seemed to chill momentarily.

Seela cracked her knuckles as she stalked forwards, and her mother began backing away from her in fear.

Her father was still slumped on the sofa watching what was happening in some sort of daze and Seela didn't know if it was because of fear, the alcohol, or if her father had taken one of the many illegal drugs that could be found across the galaxy that her parents were fond of taking.

Either way he seemed like processing what was happening was a bit too taxing for him, but that didn't really matter. Things were about to become really simple.

"H-how dare yo---!" Seela's mother began stammering in rage as a sudden self-righteous anger replaced her fear.

But Seela never found out what she had dared to do, as instead of waiting for her mother to continue yelling she steeped smartly forward and sent a vicious right hook into the side of her mother's face.

Her fist connected with her mother's jaw with an audible crack and her mother was sent hurtling to the ground.

Seela watched her mother's crumpled form writhe in pain but didn't feel her rage subside at all.

-

Renn had heard the anger in Seela's tone and decided it was best to give her some privacy for what was about to happen next, so he obeyed her request and scooped the scared little girl who had been staring hopefully at her sister up into his arms and backed out of the house.

Shae and Opal were both waiting for Renn outside, and both girls looked furious.

Opal looked ready to use the force to level the building in front of her and Shae was gripping her blaster pistols so hard that Renn thought she might break them.

But both girls softened slightly when they saw Dia in Renn's arms, but only slightly.

Opal rushed forwards as she saw the red mark on Dia's cheek and began fussing over the small girl, while Shae looked murderously towards the house, but seemed satisfied by the sounds of violence that Seela was committing inside it.

"Aww, you poor thing! Here let me help you with that." Opal said as she began using the force to heal the young girl, who watched in amazement as the pain began to vanish from her cheek as if by magic.

"Wooah!" Dia gasped in amazement as she poked her now healed cheek, "Are you a sorcerer or something? Oooh, Is my sister one as well? Ohhh, and I have a SISTER?! She's soo cool! What's she like? Is she amazing? I bet she's amazing."

Even Shae paused her angry observation of Seela's childhood home to join Renn and Opal to stare in surprise at the little girl's rapid mental recovery.

They watched the girl for a few seconds as she pivoted her head curiously between the surprised face until they broke out into a fit of laughter.

Dia, still held in Renn's arms, puffed out her cheeks and blushed slightly in embarrassment from the laughter before studying Renn critically.

"Are you and my sister married? Does that make you my big brother?"

Dia's questions caused Opal and Shae to erupt in a renewed fit of laughter, while Renn just looked away a bit awkwardly.

They continued chatting and joking trying to keep the little girl from thinking too much about what was happening in the nearby house, but Renn, Opal, and Shae were subtly monitoring every noise to try and keep tabs on what was happening inside.

There were shouts, crashes, and the sound of some kind of whimpering for several minutes until a sudden silence fell over the house.

Renn and the others turned to watch the house and waited for something to happen. They didn't need to wait long as a few seconds later a grim looking Seela emerged in the doorway.

Seela walked slowly out of the house, her expression slightly vacant, and her knuckles covered in blood.

As she began taking slow and careful steps towards Renn and the others, Renn noticed that the blood on Seela's knuckles wasn't just that of her parents.

She'd obviously been punching something with enough force to break the skin around her knuckles, not an easy feat given that the force had enhanced Seela's body beyond that of a normal person.

Renn handed Dia to Shae and walked over to Seela before wrapping a comforting arm around her.

Seela stiffened for a fraction of a second then melted into Renn's embrace and began sobbing softly into his chest.

Renn tightened his arm around Seela and began moving her hand in gentle circles across her back.

"I-I… I couldn't do it…" Seela said between sobs and Renn just continued rubbing her back.

"It's okay," He repeated softly to her as Opal and Shae moved over to them and stood protectively around Seela protectively.

They didn't rush her and were content to let Seela process her emotions in her own time.

Opal reached out gently and took Seela's hands one at a time and softly cleaned the blood from her knuckles while using her force healing to mend the damage.

Even Dia, still in Shae's arms, looked at her newfound sister with concern and tried to pat her on the shoulder to show her support.

After a few minutes Seela managed to calm herself down and smiled up at Renn, before turning to look at Dia.

"Hi… I guess I'm your sister…" She said awkwardly, almost hesitantly, unsure what she should do next.

"I KNOW! it's amazing!" Dia exclaimed in excitement and the small girl leapt out of Shae's arms to rush over and embrace her sister.

"I always knew I had a sister, but the way our parents talked I thought you were dead." Dia said quietly and looked down before looking up again.

"But I always dreamed that you where out there and that one day you would come for me. Then when our parents stared talking about you being alive, I started to hope… and then when I saw you guys on the street, I thought that maybe you really had come to save me." she said before looking slightly worried.

"…You are here to save me… Right?" Dia asked quietly.

Seela barely waited for her sister to finish talking before picking her up and hugging her tightly.

"Of course." Seela said but didn't let go or loosen her embrace.

"Yeah, your gonna live with us now," Opal cut in from beside as she smiled at the sisters.

"And nothing bad is ever going to happen to you again." Seela finished, and Dia beamed up at her.

The five of them then started walking back towards their ship, leaving Seela and Dia's childhood home behind forever.

-

Seela had left her parents battered but alive.

Their continued existence the only kindness they would ever receive from the daughter they had never shown any kindness to themselves.

But that hadn't stopped Seela from inflicting enough pain on them that the mere thought of trying to cause harm to her or any member of her family, a family that no longer and probably never did include them, would keep them awake at night in fear for years to come.

If that was, they managed to stay alive that long, and that wasn't looking like it was likely to happen.

They hadn't even recovered from the beating Seela had given them or fixed the damage she had done to their house when a few days after Seela had left with Dia a group of mean looking men turned up at their absent door.

The men worked for Jabba and who had grown tired of Seela's parents not paying their numerous debts.

So, Jabba, or one of his assistants who dealt with smaller problems, had sent a group of thugs to reclaim what Jabba owed or to send a message to warn others about crossing the Hutt.

The men had only needed one look at Seela's parents and the state of their house to know they wouldn't be getting their money.

So instead, they dragged them roughly back to Jabba's palace so that they could be 'introduced' to Jabba's new Rancor.

None of their neighbours tried to help them, no one even cared as they were pulled screaming out of their house and into a waiting speeder.

No one mourned them after they were torn apart by Jabba's pet monster, as far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned, they had just disappeared.