Melee / Legends Melee was a Human female slave who found herself in the service of Gardulla the Elder and Bryyn Woolery on the remote desert planet of Tatooine . She was a particularly adept mechanic , and her skills were tapped by both her masters . Growing up on the harsh streets of Mos Espa , Melee aspired and clamored for a life of freedom , but she covered her feelings with a tough and cruel demeanor . Teaming up with Seek , another young slave , she became one of the resident bullies of Slave Quarters Row , crushing the hopes of other slaves with stinging remarks . At an early age , she found herself attracted to fellow slave Anakin Skywalker , but she kept her feelings hidden and was devastated when he was later freed . When Gardulla was fed to her own canyon krayt dragon , Melee fell into the hands of Woolery , a machinery merchant . Though Skywalker had left Tatooine , Melee still visited his mother , Shmi . She and her droid , C - 3PO , taught Melee to read and write . Woolery eventually moved to the more lucrative city of Mos Eisley , where business was strong enough to allow her to free Melee . Melee remained in Woolery ' s employ , however , putting her mechanical skills to good use . Biography . In the service of Gardulla the Elder . As far as Melee could remember , she had been a slave . Early in her life , she was sold to the Hutt Gardulla the Elder , who initially assigned Melee various cleaning duties . The Hutt , however , soon realized that Melee ' s small hands would be better served in maintenance and put her to more suitable work . In time , Melee became an adept mechanic , viewing the tasks as nothing more than children ' s puzzles . She became familiar with the workings of podracers as well during her work . Living at Slave Quarters Row , Melee had bright hopes for the future , but she played her aspirations down in favor of a tough and gritty demeanor . She teamed up with the local bully and fellow slave , Seek , and began berating other slaves for their lofty hopes and dreams . The pair would mercilessly tease the other children , among them Anakin Skywalker . Skywalker was secretly building a podracer , which drew fire from Seek and , apparently , Melee . However , she secretly harbored an affection for Skywalker , which she chose to cover with disdainful comments . On the eve of the Boonta Eve Classic podrace in 32 BBY , in which Skywalker would be competing , Melee joined Seek and several friends to inspect his self - built racer . However , she eschewed helping him in favor of playing ball with Seek . When the day of the race came , she sneaked away from Seek ' s presence and entered the Mos Espa Grand Arena grandstand to watch the race . She was elated when Skywalker finished first , but she was soon met with the news that a tall outlander had spirited him away to a better life . Though she was bitterly disappointed , Melee found solace in the fact that he had been freed and was moving onto better things . Seek , however , thought that fortune would not smile on the Mos Espa slaves twice . In the service of Bryyn Woolery . When Gardulla was later fed to her own canyon krayt dragon by the bounty hunter Jango Fett in 32 BBY , Melee fell into the service of merchant Bryyn Woolery . She also visited Anakin ' s mother , Shmi Skywalker , from time to time , who taught her to read and write with the help of the protocol droid C - 3PO . Melee continued to reside in the Slave Quarters until Woolery moved to the larger spaceport city Mos Eisley in pursuit of more lucrative fare . As a result , Melee fell out of touch with the elder Skywalker . In Mos Eisley , Woolery turned enough of a profit to free Melee , but the young woman decided to stay in her former master ' s employ as an errand girl . Freedom . Using a dilapidated old landspeeder , Melee would make deliveries to remote settlements around Mos Eisley . Many years passed , and in 0 BBY , upon delivering a shipment to Tosche Station outside the town of Anchorhead , she heard word of a Luke Skywalker and decided to inquire , thinking she may have found Anakin , the subject of her affections . Traveling to Skywalker ' s home , the Lars homestead , she was met with nothing but the smoldering remains of the Lars ' moisture farm . She never discovered that this Skywalker was in fact the son of Anakin , her old friend . In the following years , Melee enlisted the services of a spacer , hoping to have a gang of scavengers outside Mos Eisley eliminated . Personality and traits . Born a slave , Melee was an ambitious person , with dreams and aspirations that looked far beyond her post . Since such thoughts were often frowned upon or scorned by other slaves , she kept her intentions and ideas private , veiling them with a harsh and mean - spirited demeanor . Her attraction to fellow slave Anakin Skywalker was also kept secret , as she felt it would test her friendship with Seek . In reality , she did in fact doubt his mechanical skills , as she was experienced in that particular field . In her later life , Melee stayed on Tatooine , despite being freed , and was relatively ignorant of developments in the galaxy as a whole . Behind the scenes . The character of Melee first appeared in George Lucas ' s , wherein she was portrayed by Megan Udall . The character ' s backstory was later developed by Alex Dishal , " Ghent the Slicer , " " Cockroach King FS , " and James Floyd through the StarWars . com feature " What ' s The Story ? " The information from the resulting Databank entry was later used in 2008 ' s " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " . Although Melee ' s Databank entry states Gardulla the Elder was killed by Jango Fett during the events of 2002 ' s " " video game , the 2010 episode " Hunt for Ziro " revealed that the Hutt had in fact survived the incident .