Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Part One: A Family and A Secret Rebellion

Some would call it terrible timing. Some would call it providence. It really all depended on who you asked. And who was to say it couldn’t be both, from a certain point of view. It had happened when a little girl on another planet had been kidnapped, it had happened when an old hermit had been off trying to save her. It had happened, that a certain Sith lord had been out of comm reach on his way to the outer rim to oversee rumors of potential rebellion and thus did not receive the call that his former master was once again on the Empire’s radar. It had happened when the Tuskan Raiders had decided they had had enough of the little farms on the outskirts, encroaching on their deserts. And perhaps it was his proximity to the planet that had caused so much of his pain, perhaps it was the fact that he was coming up on an anniversary, an anniversary that had meant death. Perhaps it was that the shielding presence of the old master was no longer there to protect the boy. But whatever the reason, when the fires burned and the blasters scorched, Darth Vader on his ship had felt the anguish of a little boy. Though he had vowed never to return to that sand infested planet. He did, he followed the call like a tether tied to his heart. He had not been there in time to exact revenge, but he had been there to pull the child from his hiding spot, to ask his name and hear the words he had never expected.

Luke Skywalker.

Of course, Vader recognized his family when he saw him. Of course Vader saw in that face so much that was familiar. There was the face of the little boy from a shop in the desert for sure. But also the face of an angel, his angel. And Vader vowed in that moment to never, ever, let him go. But that begged the question, what to do about him?

Vader thought about the Emperor, he thought about what he would think of a child born of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. He thought about other things too. Things like lightning and red sabers and lava and suffering. And that is when the cracks in his armor started to form. He would need to do this carefully. He would have to be sure about his next moves. He would need allies. And it was that realization that shocked him in the end. He hadn’t needed allies in years. People he used, sure, but people he could trust? No. But he needed them, for Luke, anything for Luke.

And so Vader made his plans.

When Vader brought Luke back to Coruscant, it was with triumph. He had found the boy, his son, and brought him back to the Empire as his true son and heir. Even if the son part was kept secret. Certain question might be raised if Darth Vader showed up with a son with the last name Skywalker.

Emperor Palpatine, to the cameras anyways, was ecstatic. Finally, an heir, a charge that would serve his purposes. Vader brought the boy before him, and oh how eager the Emperor had been. Until he sensed the boy, or rather, sensed what was not there. No connection to the force, no potential. None whatsoever. It was like looking into a void. And Palpatine recoiled. His first instinct was to have the boy killed, then and there. He was useless after all. No gift, a complete lack of gift. It was something even he had never foreseen. Any offspring of Anakin should have shone twice as bright! But perhaps, perhaps something had gone wrong? Could it have been when he had removed the life force from Amidala to save Vader? It wasn’t like there was a lot of evidence as to what happened when a force wielder as strong as Anakin was had a child. And perhaps there could be other uses for the boy…

Palpatine was not one to throw away perfectly good resources. A puppet figurehead could be just as useful as a real one. And of course, that would mean the rule of two would be satisfied, at least for now. It was a fitting conclusion. One he could live with. One he could hold over Vader’s head. And that, at the moment had been good enough for him. So let Vader have his son. Let the boy live and grow up in the courts. He could always kill him later. So the problem could remain.

Vader had opted to take the boy to Naboo, some misguided trip down memory lane. But Palpatine knew his hold over his apprentice. Let the memories twist their way into his heart, let them work their pain on him. Perhaps it was all bad timing. Perhaps it was a girl who got kidnapped at the wrong time and a boy who was orphaned and found by his father. Perhaps though it was other things too. Perhaps it was the sun dragon in Anakin’s heart that told him to protect his son, perhaps it was Palpatine’s arrogance that took what he saw at face value. Perhaps it was the Force’s way of putting things in action just a little bit sooner than perhaps you may have originally thought. As Vader stepped off the transport on Naboo, he finally let himself breathe. Away from his master’s presence he was free to remove the mask and run a gloved hand through his thin, ragged hair. He looked then for the first time on his son, his own son, with his own eyes. Above them, stars were aligning in ways none of them, not even the Emperor, could have predicted.

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Luke missed his Aunt Beru. He missed the way she would brush back his hair and kiss his forehead at night and read him stories. He missed the way she would sing while she worked and make the best food, even with the few ingredients they could get their hands on in the desert. He missed his Uncle Owen too. He missed the rough hands guiding his through droid maintenance and the way he would tell him about Tatooine and how their names were written in this land, this desert sand that was their home. He missed the farm and his life before. But even so, his ten year old heart could not help but marvel at the vast sparkling water that was the lake district on this new planet. The man in the mask, the man who had taken off the mask and called himself Luke’s father, had told him it was called Naboo. Naboo. The name sounded funny in his ears. He shivered a little in the chill of the wind. He had thought spaceflight was cold, and sure it was, but he thought once they landed it would be warm. Of course he knew not every planet was like Tatooine. Aunt Beru had told him stories of other planets at night. But never had he really thought that other planets would be so…so different.

He still felt fuzzy around the edges. His father had given him something, something that one of the ship doctors had used. It had hurt a little and after that, it was strange, like walking with one eye closed. He still felt fuzzy, but the fog was clearing and that other eye was opening and he could see the world with clarity again. He wasn’t sure what it was. But whatever it was, his father said it had kept him safe from the strange man on the black throne that had stared at him with golden eyes. In truth, Luke remembered little of that interaction. He shivered again at the thought. Perhaps it was a good thing to have felt fuzzy then.

The warm light of the single sun, which was still weird by the way, shone down on him, giving some comfort from the cold. He could smell the smell of growing things and dampness and earth, scents he had been slowly identifying since his and his father’s arrival here. Yes, he missed his Aunt Beru, and he missed his Uncle Owen. He missed his friends and he missed his life. But standing here, surrounded by growing things, he felt a little better, maybe. However as the fuzziness wore off, the memories came back. The dreams came back. He had had them the first night on his father’s big ship (he had called it a star destroyer, why would anyone want to destroy stars anyways?). But ever since the fuzzy feeling, he had not felt those emotions so strongly. And with it being gone, the feelings came back.

The sun was setting, touching the water and sending out what looked like fire through the sky. He wondered if the water was warmer where the sun dipped below it. He didn’t want to go to bed. But he didn’t want to be out here at night either. He knew in his head that there were no Tuskan Raiders out here. But in his heart, he couldn’t quite let go of Uncle Owen’s warnings about going out after dark. Even if his father said it was safe. So he scurried back up the steps into the porch and into his room.

His room.

It felt weird to call it that. It was nothing like his room back on the farm. He had never been anywhere fancy, so he had no frame of reference to know if the things in his room were considered fine or not. He just knew they were very different from his own things. Luke was grateful for them. Aunt Beru always said one should be grateful for the things which they were given. But he wasn’t sure he liked them. The bed was big, bigger than Uncle Owen’s and Aunt Beru’s had been. The walls were high and weren’t sloped at the top. There was wood furniture that was soft, not rough like stone. And the sheets on his bed were too heavy. He felt like they might smoother him if he wasn’t careful. But without them, he was too cold. The floor was tile, smooth and soft and slick under bare feet. Perhaps he could have looked past all of that, if only he had a few of his things. Things like the model ships or droid parts he kept on his desk or even his school work maybe. Or the light, but sturdy blanket Aunt Beru had made for him herself. But that was all gone and he knew it.

It was quickly getting dark and long shadows stretched from too high windows across the too big room. Luke dove for cover amongst the too many sheets and pillows on his too big bed and tried to make himself small. He missed his Aunt Beru.

Absently, he wondered where the man who said he was his father was. Luke had a hard time believing him until he had taken off that strange black helmet he always wore around everyone else. But after taking it off when they landed, Luke had seen eyes ringed in gold, eyes that if Luke looked hard enough at, could have been his. One day, Luke would be a shining star, a sword outstretched in protection of those he loved, he would understand all that had happened and come to a peace with all that would come. But right now he was scared and he was ten and he missed his Aunt Beru.

As the fuzziness went away, so had an awareness crept inwards. And with the awareness, his thoughts, his feelings, flowed outwards. If Luke had known this, he would not have been surprised when the door to his room opened hesitantly, or when a soft light poured in from that door to show the tall form of his father standing there.

Vader didn’t sleep much these days, in truth, he hadn’t slept since Mustufar, maybe since before. But Vader didn’t let himself think about before much either. To think about before meant to think about Anakin. And to think about Anakin meant to think about…to think about…well to think about her. And that was the last thing he wanted. So Vader didn’t sleep and he didn’t think about before. Not until recently, not until he met a boy with his coloring from childhood and her face. Her face. His angel’s face. And in the Force, he felt that boy afraid as the sun dipped below the horizon. Vader shouldn’t be surprised. Fear was a natural response to what the boy had been through. In time, Vader was sure, the boy would come to learn that from fear, there came strength, he just had to learn how to wield it in his favor first.

But as these thoughts snaked through his brain, Vader felt as if he had been electrocuted, and oh did he know what that felt like. This was his son, not just a boy, his son. And a memory, a memory from before, sprang forward. Gentle hands and a soft voice in a thick Core accent.

“It’s alright, Anakin.” Said the voice.

“But I thought I heard something Obi!” a child’s voice replied.

“I know little one.” Said the kind voice, sitting on the edge of the bed. “But the Temple is a big place with lots of new noises, you will grow accustomed to it, I promise.”

“Stay with me?” the child worked up the courage to ask.

There was a hesitancy in the reply, but it came at last, sure and warm and strong. Protecting. “Of course. Do you like stories?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright then. Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away.”

Vader snapped back to the present, blinking hard. He tried to remember the story. He found he couldn’t. He tried not to think of himself as the child. He tried not to think about who exactly that other voice had belonged to. But he did remember. He remembered what it felt like to be scared and alone and small. He remembered what it felt like when someone had been there. Normally, such a memory would burn in him with an abiding, deep rage. But now, now it felt like someone had taken a bucket of water from the lake and splashed it over him.

The boy in the other room was his son. And he was scared and alone right now. But no. Vader thought purposefully. His son was not alone. And he strode towards the room, ready to walk right in. But the memory of the little boy in the strange new place persisted. He hesitated but a moment, and opened the door with care.

“Luke?” he said, hoping his voice sounded kind and refusing to think of the kindness of the voice from his memory. “Luke are you alright?” It was a stupid question. Vader knew this. Had he been alright when the Tuskan raiders had killed his mother?

A stuttering quick intake of breath came from under the mound of blankets on the bed. “I-I’m fine, sir.”.

Vader felt frustration at the timidness, the smallness in the voice. This was his son, cowering in his room. His son should never have had to cower before anyone, ever. He should be free and confident and…and…and he was ten. And his Aunt and Uncle had just died…but he was not alone.

“It’s alright if you are not fine, son.” Vader said. It felt strange to hear his own voice outside of the suite.

Stay with me?

“Would you like me to- I mean, would it help if I stayed with you?” Vader felt strange, unsure. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt unsure of himself.

But sandy hair and blue eyes popped out of the blanket mound, regarding him. In those eyes was something Vader had not seen in a long time. It looked something like hope.

“Y-you’d stay?” the hesitancy in that voice physically hurt.

Vader let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding and said, “Yes son, of course. Always.” He came to sit at the edge of the bed, his son scooting up so his back was against the headboard.

They regarded each other, just for a moment. And his son said “You knew I was scared, didn’t you?”

Vader tilted his head under the scrutiny so intense in such a way only a child can manage. “Yes, yes I did. I knew you needed help.”

And suddenly they were no longer speaking of just tonight. Luke understood. At all of ten, Luke understood stars bless the boy. Vader felt another crack form in his armor as the boyish voice said, a little more confidently. “Do you know any stories?”

Vader wanted to smile, he hadn’t wanted that in years. He wanted to smile and be able to say yes, but his mind went blank. The only stories that came to mind in that moment were not ones a little boy, especially one who was scared might like to hear. He thought of the Inquisitors and the Tie Pilots and the Emperor and the bloodshed. So much bloodshed it had turned his very saber red.

“Uncle Owen used to tell me you were a pilot.” Luke said softly. “He said you’d travel all over on a freighter.”

“Your Uncle spoke of me?” Vader asked in genuine surprise. In the whirlwind of the past few days, he had not given it much thought how Luke, his son, had ended up with his step-brother in law. Somehow his mind had written it off as some bizarre coincidence, maybe adopting a child and giving them some nostalgic last name. But the DNA had proven that false aboard his ship. And then there hadn’t been time to think. Had local authorities, wherever Luke had been born just located the closest next of kin they could find? He knew that Anakin Skywalker had been reported dead, along with the rest of the stars blasted Jedi. No one would have thought to look for the father. But Padme’s family? His mind was brought up short. Padme. Luke’s mother. Luke’s mother who had lived long enough to see him safely into the world at least. Palpatine had lied. There was no surprise there. That creature would lie about anything. But about Padme, about his angel, about the one he swore to help Anakin save…He felt the rage boiling inside him. But then Luke spoke up.

“Uh huh.” He said still staring at his father. “Not much, they said they thought you were dead. That’s why I lived with them. I guess they didn’t know.” His hands were playing with the blankets now, the thought of his lost family weighing on his shoulders like a thick mantel.

Vader wanted to stop that train of thought, to distract his son. A story. He needed a story. A good story, one about a pilot. One where there was something other than bloodshed. “Uh, alright.” Vader began scratching his head, “Have you ever heard of the Twilight?”

Luke perked up at that. “No, what’s the Twilight?”.

It had been a long time since Vader had used his voice consistently for something other than threats or ominous sentences or commands. It took a moment to find the balance, to try and make his voice sound like something a child might like to hear and not be frightened of. “Only the best ship there ever was.”

“Really?” Luke asked and Vader knew he had him in the story with him now, that his mind was distracted, that it wanted to be distracted. And even though it hurt, pain was an old friend to Vader. So he delved into the memories, he felt the pain, and he spun his son a story.

“Oh absolutely, it was the best ship in the galaxy!”

“Did you fly it? Did you have a crew?” Luke was now sitting up, eyes shining like twin stars.

“Yeah.” Vader said, and as he thought of the picture in his mind, of his crew, of a little Togruta girl and a shiny silver and blue astromech, of Padme’s smile and of Rex’s painted helmet, he felt the tears in his eyes, but in his heart, he felt a warmth he had almost forgotten. “Yeah, I had the best crew.”

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After that first night, time seemed to move at lightspeed and at a Corellian Snail’s pace all the same. Luke flourished on Naboo. It was slow at first. His grief, Vader knew, would always be with him. But in time, maybe for Luke anyways, it would fade. There were problems that still needed to be solved. His son, his beautiful, perfect son, the son that was born of all the best of him and the entirety of his mother’s heart, was strong in the force. He still wasn’t sure how he had convinced the Emperor otherwise. The Force suppressant should have been an obvious giveaway. But perhaps it was the other thing, the Light pouring in from that first crack in his armor and the fervent wish over and over in Vader’s mind as they had stood there. Don’t see him, don’t see him, please for all that is good do not let him see him. It had been a wish, a dream, a prayer. But somehow, it had been answered. And Palpatine had all but declared Luke useless. Vader knew that wasn’t entirely true. He had declared Luke useless as an apprentice anyways. But he would soon find a use for him, and that frightened Vader. And what would he do when that day came? What would he do when he could no longer shield Luke from him? What then?

The answer was clear. The Emperor had to go. But how?

It wasn’t like Vader hadn’t considered it before. It was every Sith Apprentice’s dream to one day grow up and defeat their master. To become the master themselves. But Vader, for the first time, considered it in earnest. What would that look like, how could he do it? Vader knew he was not strong enough, not on his own. His past had left him scarred. The loss of his legs and his arms in his last duel with…well, that other former master, was enough to slow him down. Maybe Luke…the thought bloomed like a rising sun in his mind. Luke was strong, Vader knew this. If he could train him, perhaps…perhaps together…the idea was one that held promise. But it raised the question as to how to go about doing it. The Emperor would surely know if he felt Luke grow strong with the Dark Side. There would be no hiding him then, no matter what. So, what now?

These were questions to be answered in time, Vader knew. For now, he had his son. Education was a priority. He started out with online examinations, testing the boy’s knowledge. He was surprised to find him well read and on par with his age average statistics. Vader had just assumed that by Luke having spent his life up until now on Tatooine he would have had the same education Anakin did at that point, which was to mean none at all in the formal sense. But Luke had been born free. For whatever other shortcomings Vader harbored hatred for in his heart at the idea of Luke not being with him all this time and potentially worse, on the backwater that was Tatooine, he felt a stab of gratitude that Luke, if nothing else, had been born and raised free. His son had never known the rule of another. He had been free to learn and grow under the care, as it was becoming evident that that was just what it was care, of his Aunt and Uncle.

The boy showed an extreme interest in all things mechanical. He loved ships, droids, all sorts of things. Vader ordered in model ships by the transport load and had a broken mouse droid from his ship brought specifically for Luke to try his hand at repairing. It was with pride that Vader saw Luke run into the dining room a few nights later, grease stains on his hands and forehead and a smile as bright as the sun on the water on his face, a repaired Mouse Droid in his hands.

“I’m calling it Mousy!” He exclaimed happily.

It was a few weeks later that it was with dismay that Vader entered the porch overlooking the water to find Luke playing with what appeared to be a rough, hand-built model of an X-Wing, making it fly and dip through the air.

When asked what he was doing, Luke beamed up at him, “The rebels just liberated Mos Eisley. They fought back against the Hutts, freed all the slaves.” His face, young though it was, became a little grimmer in that moment, “it’s going to be safer there now.”

Vader wanted to snatch the model from his hands, snatch it away and scold him. But besides the shock of it all, of his son, Lord Vader the Emperor’s right hand man’s son idolizing the Rebellion, was what he had said.

Freed all the slaves.

A pinprick of memory wafted across his brain and with it came a realization. The Empire hadn’t freed anyone, not any slaves at all had they? Tatooine was still dangerous, the Hutts were still hurting people, the Tusken raiders still killed and destroyed. Hadn’t he been filled with rage once at the Republic letting such things continue? And what had the Empire done? It was just another reason that the Emperor had to go.

When his father didn’t say anything, Luke held up the X-Wing for his inspection. “I think I got the wings right on this one.”

Vader took it carefully, the delicate craft feeling fragile in his mechanical hand. “It’s, uh, very good son.”.

“Have you ever flown one?” Luke continued on. “I want to, they’re so cool!”

Vader’s head felt like it was spinning. Did-did Luke not realize who he was with? Perhaps not, his son, his excitable, talkative son, spoke little to none about their brief time on Coruscant. Sure, it had been a painful time so shortly after Luke’s traumatic loss. He thought Luke just didn’t want to mention it. So Vader didn’t. But perhaps there was more to it. Maybe the Force suppressant made it so he didn’t remember or didn’t understand? But there would be time for that later.

Vader left without another word, leaving Luke on the balcony. In his mind, he thought of the Rebellion. They wanted to see the end to the empire too. And Vader was reminded that he needed allies. He needed them badly. But how badly? And would the rebellion really be a good place to find them? He had spent the better part of the last year hunting them, searching out rumors of them. No, he couldn’t just go to them. But perhaps he could use them. Make things a little easier for them. If nothing else, they could act as a destabilizing influence, help keep the Emperor distracted. Any distraction away from Luke was good in his mind.

But their enclave of peace in the lake district of Naboo was not meant to last. The Emperor had found a plan for Luke. He would be a political puppet, a figurehead, a Crown Prince for the crowds to adore. So they were summoned back to Coruscant and it was all Vader could do not to take Luke and run that very night. He had to use the Force suppressant again. He didn’t like to think about what it might mean for Luke if they had to stay on Coruscant long term. But maybe there were other ways to go about it. He focused his energy on shielding the boy, drawing on old reserves of strength he had forgotten. In time, perhaps Luke could learn to shield himself, to live as light unseen in the face of darkness.

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Luke felt fuzzy again with the return to the glittering planet. There was a haze about it, like a fog he longed to see through clearly. He heard the speeches and the dinners and he participated, he participated with one eye open and the other closed. His father mentioned that he was working on something, and slowly, slowly, he felt less fuzzy, he felt more clear, but still a haze surrounded him. It felt strange, he could not explain it. But then he was standing before the Emperor at the palace, at the Imperial Palace. Luke swallowed past dread in his stomach. His father had explained about the Empire, about his place in it on their journey here. Luke had hated it. He had felt fear and anger and sadness all bundled up in one big twisted ball of emotion.

But his father had held him through it, whispering words like promises into his head. “I hate it too.” His father had said. “I promise you that I am no longer a part of it.”

“But you serve the Emperor, you said so. Uncle Owen said they hurt people. I’ve seen it happen!” Luke had wailed.

“I know. And one day you will have to know all that I have been Luke, and I am sorry. I was so blind, I am so sorry.” They had cried together.

Luke had never seen his father cry, not once, not when Luke had been in the desert with him or when he woke up from a nightmare. Luke knew his father had nightmares like he did. But he had never seen him cry until now. And in that moment, something had changed between them. A bond, an understanding, forming there.

They were in this together.

It was easier now to think about standing in the Imperial Palace, not far from the Emperor himself. But he was not with the Empire, not him and not his father. They were on something like a secret mission together, secret rebels, his father and him. And one day, one day they would bring freedom and safety to the galaxy, just like he had always dreamed. But the haze surrounded him still and he was still ten. However the thought of one day, that kept his spine straight and tall as he stood beside his father in the strange mask and the Emperor.

After that, after being announced the official heir to the Empire, the next year of Luke’s life passed in a blur. He spent his time on more planets in that year than he would have thought possible in the year before. He spent time on Coruscant, attending a school the Emperor thought appropriate for a young prince, a place where he was surrounded by other promising young Imperials. Luke was, in short, not a fan.

He spent time on Naboo, his favorite time, in the green grasses and rolling hills. In dismay, his father learned that the young boy didn’t know how to swim. So a swim instructor was hired and Luke spent his summer basking in the cool water of the lake districts. He spent time on all sorts of other planets too, as the official Heir to the Empire should, so the Emperor said. In reality, he suspected that the Emperor just wanted him to be seen by others, to through others off course in whatever game they played behind the scenes.

But his favorite time, his absolute favorite time, was the time he spent with his father.

It was their secret rebellion meetings he liked best. His father had also explained the fuzzy feeling Luke had been getting on Coruscant, and everything started to make sense from there. He explained about the Force, about how people could use it and how it gave people great abilities. Luke ate up the teachings like a starving child would a meal. But Luke’s father also imparted another valuable lesson. The Force, and Luke’s connection to it, must remain a secret. Luke wasn’t sure why at first. “If the Emperor’s a Force user, and you’re a Force user,” he had said one day during their lessons, “what does it matter if I’m one too?”.

His father had just given him a strange look, a sad kind of strange look. “Because,” his father began at last, “power is something that people fear.”

“So…” Luke said, running a hand through his hair, “people would be…afraid of me if they knew? I don’t want to scare anybody. I just want to help people!”

His father hugged him then, drawing him close. “Oh my son, my angel’s son.” He whispered, and Luke wondered what he meant. But it had made his father sad, it had made him not look at Luke quite the same after. So he never mentioned it again.

He just said simply “I promise I won’t tell. I promise I’ll keep it secret.” And so the Force became just another element to their secret rebellion. And his father taught him how to hide it, how to shield it, and the fuzziness was gone. Luke saw more clearly now than ever, and he was surprised by how light and warm it felt, even deep inside the Empire.

Luke’s eleventh birthday was a quiet affair. It was not celebrated amongst the Empire in a public way. But Luke’s father ensured that it didn’t go unnoticed. At first Luke thought he might. Luke had been on Naboo for the past month, on a holiday from school. His birthday, by galactic standards, had never been a grand thing as he was coming to know them through his schoolmates. But he had always liked it. His Aunt Beru, and it still hurt to think of her, would make a cake. It was so good. It would be frosted thickly and the frosting would be sticky in the heat, but she would sing and laugh and kiss his cheek and Uncle Owen would then always pretend to have forgotten the gift. But Aunt Beru would give him that look and he would laugh and pull it out of its hiding place, a new one each year as Luke always tried to find where they hid the presents. And there would be laughter and cake and family. Luke missed that dearly.

The house on Naboo was quiet. His father kept a few serving droids that cared for their needs. But other than that, they were alone up here in the Lake district. He sat with Mousy on the cool tile floor of his room. His father had been on a mission for the last two and a half weeks. Luke had spoken with him on holo calls, but that wasn’t the same as seeing him. He had hoped that maybe, his father would be there when Luke got up, that maybe he might find him in the kitchen with the droids holding a cake or pulling a present from some surprise nook. The image that conjured, of his father holding a cake like Aunt Beru had or hiding presents like Uncle Owen had made him laugh, just a little. But no, when Luke woke up as an eleven year old, it was still just him and the droids.

But around mid-day, when the sun was high above the lakes, his father came back. Luke sensed him almost as soon as his ship broke atmosphere. Their bond had grown this last year. Luke jumped up from where he had been changing the treads for Mousy and raced down the stairs. His father met him at the door moments later, sweeping him up in his arms and holding him close.

“You came, you came!” Luke grinned.

“I’ve missed enough of your birthdays my son.” His father said. It had not been lost on Luke the hard time his farther had had at first making his voice sound comforting and soft and gentle. But it made Luke smile all the more now as he heard the affection come with ease.

His father put him down soon after and stood. “Alright.” And he had a grin on his face. “Come with me.”

Luke followed his father with an excited spring in his step to a waiting speeder. They rode it a ways away from the house until they came to the hangar. There, sat what for all appearances, was an old clunker of a ship, dented and scored in areas. But to Luke, it looked like the most amazing thing in the galaxy. It was a Corellian G9 Rigger-class Light Freighter. “The Twilight.” He breathed, stopping short so his father had to put his hand on his shoulder or run into him.

Of course Luke had asked about exactly what kind of ship filled most of his father’s bedtime stories. And of course, Luke had researched that class of ship extensively afterwards. “Not quite.” His father said behind him. “The one from the stories isn’t exactly around anymore. But this one’s pretty close. And it’s yours, son.”

Luke craned his head backwards to look up at his father. He could see the lines of pain around his father’s face, the kind he got when Luke asked certain questions, or said something about the lakes on Naboo, or said something about the Force that his father couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. But he often found redirection worked best in those cases, so he tried it here now too. “It’s mine, really?”

And his father smiled down at him. “Yes, my son, she’s all yours.”

Luke grinned and took off towards the ship. He ran his hand over the hull reverently, eyes sparkling. “What’s her name?” he asked. Luke knew the stories. All good ships had a name.

“She doesn’t have one yet.” His father explained, coming to stand beside him. “You’ll have to give her one.”

Luke thought a moment, but the names that came to mind either already belonged to other ships or just didn’t seem to fit the strange little craft. Behind him, his father chuckled. “You’ll think of one in time. For now, let’s see how she does in the air.”

Luke’s classmates had said he didn’t know much about birthdays, as they had never been the grand parties his classmates spoke of. Luke wasn’t sure how to spend this one, the first without his Aunt and Uncle. But Luke was learning other things. He may not know how other kids in the Empire spent their birthdays. But he knew he liked how he spent his just fine. And it may be the first birthday without his Aunt and Uncle, and he knew those milestones would always bring back the pain, but it was also his first birthday with his father. And perhaps there wasn’t a little cake or a hidden present. Perhaps there wasn’t a grand gala or party. But sitting, with his father’s arms around his at the controls of his own new ship, shooting up into the stars in time to see the sun crest around the planet, Luke thought that birthdays were still okay. And he had a name for his ship.

The Solar Sunrise.

Chapter Text

Luke’s birthday may have gone unnoticed by the Empire. But the anniversary of him becoming its official crown prince did not. He was summoned back to Coruscant where a grand party was to be held just for the occasion. Luke was dreading it. Something he had learned about himself in the past year was that he did not like crowds. Not one bit. Not to mention the Force shielding his father had been teaching him was exhausting. He just hoped he could make it through. His father couldn’t come with him to Coruscant this time. But he was assured by the aid that his father had sent with him that he would be joining Luke soon. They would just be traveling separately. Luke sighed and watched the starlines streak past.

The arrival on Coruscant was with more fanfare than any of his previous arrivals. There was a full media crew, there were members of the court, there were members of the military. Luke tried not to shrink back from them all. The Emperor would be mad, he knew that, if Luke did not play the part right. And oh how the past year had been about getting that part right. But it was hard. He was eleven now, practically a grown-up, Luke thought. That didn’t mean that all of this wasn’t what felt to him, a monumental effort. However, he did his best.

He wasn’t scared after all. A member of a secret rebellion against the very Emperor himself was never scared.

Even so it felt like an eternity before they finally entered the confines of the palace, away from the prying eyes of the galaxy. The Emperor himself was busy, much to Luke’s relief, so he didn’t have an audience with him. Luke wondered what there was that kept the Emperor busy. Surely he had underlings to order about and do his bidding. But that left Luke much to his own devices.

His quarters were in the private wing of the palace reserved for dignitaries and members of the Emperor’s inner circle. The atmosphere felt oppressive to him. Not at all like the cool, clear air of Naboo or the glowing deserts at sunset of his home planet.

Sighing, he felt at his shields, making sure his Force signature as his dad called it, was still hidden. Luke liked to think about it kind of like wrapping a cloak around him, a cloak that was warm and safe and kept him hidden from all else. But the process was draining. He flopped on his bed with a sigh, breathing deeply the sweet sent of the carved Fijisi wood all around him. He had a headache.

However, he had only lain there for a minute or so when he felt something, something almost imperceptible, brush against his shields. And after a year of training with his father, Luke recognized the sensation instantly.

Another Force user.

It was not so much as an acknowledgement of his presence, though similar to how the birds in Naboo flitted by a window. Whoever it was, they were aware of it, just not seeing it. It wasn’t like how the Emperor’s presence slithered around those before him. It wasn’t like his father’s presence strong and purposeful and all encompassing.

This was something new.

Forgetting his headache for a moment, Luke stood, making his way towards the door, following the sensation. He looked one way than the other down the hall. But he didn’t see anything. Yet still, the sensation remained.

Then he glanced up. Directly up. Staring down at him, through the ornately filigreed vent grating above his head, a pair of jewel green eyes shone brightly. Luke jumped a little, stepping back into the doorway. The grate swung down with a creak and from it a blur of red, gold, and green, in the form of a girl swung down without a sound. She flipped over gracefully, tucking a long ponytail of red gold hair behind her back and regarded him with a stare that made Luke think she could see right through him.

“Who are you?” Luke asked at once not sure what to make of the stare, or the way she crossed her arms eyeing him like he was the intruder. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same questions.” She said. Her words were spoken like one of the officers on his father’s ship. But she was small, shorter than him and Luke guessed younger too, by maybe a year.

“I’m supposed to be here.” He said exasperatedly,

“So am I.” she replied, maintaining her level stare and folded arms.

Luke ran a hand through his hair, trying to think as to why another kid would be here. He didn’t recognize her from his school. And most of the higher-ranking officials sent their children there. So, who could she be? And for that matter, why had she been in an air vent?

Her eyes narrowed into slits, studying him, evaluating him. Luke could only guess for what. Just then, he sensed the familiar presence of his father nearing the corridor. He did not sense her as a threat, but that was the weird thing, he couldn’t get much of a read on her one way or the other. But he saw something change in her quickly. The way her head tilted towards the door, the way her eyes snapped back to him before she took off down the hall in the opposite direction of the presence and direction where he had sensed his father.

“Hey, wait!” he called after her, but he had turned his head towards his father’s approaching presence. And when he turned back, well there was no trace of the girl. It was like she had vanished. For a moment, Luke wondered if she had ever been there at all.

Just then though, the door at the other end of the hall opened and Luke’s father, in his full mask and suit, strode in.

“Luke, what’s the matter?” His father asked, his voice distorted through the vocorder, sensing the disquiet in his son.

“There was a girl!” Luke exclaimed gesturing with his hand in the direction she had gone, “she was just here and then she left.”

“A girl?” his father asked, helmeted head turning to look where Luke had indicated.

“Yeah, she was up in the vent, I’m not sure why though. I mean, she’s got to be some general or something’s kid if she’s here, right?”

Luke felt his father’s demeaner palpably change, a gruff, almost annoyed presence taking the place of his usual demeanor. He wordlessly ushered Luke inside. They didn’t speak of the incident any more and Luke wasn’t sure they would again.

Of course that was until he ran into the strange red head again and again. And again. Of course though he could never prove that. And he never actually saw her for sure. Luke had wondered for a bit if he was going crazy, what with having to keep his guard up at all times, tip-toeing around his father whose mood seemed to grow worse with every passing day on Coruscant, and then some. But he could have sworn he saw flashes of red gold out of the corner of his eye at random intervals.

He may have left it alone if he had been on Naboo, or even his father’s ship. But no, he was on Coruscant which effectively meant that Luke was bored. He had never been here, specifically in the palace, this long. Most of his school was distance learning and he only had to attend in person a few days out of the term. But with the anniversary of his official status being recognized, Luke had been forced to endure the Coruscant social life for going on two weeks now. That meant no secret training meetings with his father, no flights on the Solar Sunrise, he hadn’t even brought Mousy with him, choosing to spare the droid the fate that he himself had not escaped. So sure, any other time Luke may have chosen to ignore the strange happenings. But he was eleven now and he was on Coruscant and he was bored. So he made it his mission to find his red headed shadow.

He started out by just searching or picking areas and being still and waiting. This produced few results. He may have tried reaching out with his feelings, trying to sense her presence. But doing so may cause his shields to drop and Luke wasn’t willing to risk that so close to the Emperor. Luke had only been in his presence a handful of times, but the memory of those times sent a shiver down his spine and the feeling of phantom pain through his nerves, like electricity. He had no desire to alert anyone to his abilities now, even without his father’s warnings. So he sought to find her the old fashioned way.

He assumed, or at least he potentially imagined, that she had caught on. She was making a game out of it. He thought at this point she was doing this deliberately. Making a slight noise here, dropping a piece of lint or something on his uniform on purpose from a vent somewhere. It was her subtle way of letting him know that she knew that he was searching for her. It was infuriating.

And then it stopped all together.

It was his third week in the Imperial Palace and Luke was sick and tired of it all, not to mention exhausted. He longed to drop his shields, to just give his mind a rest. But he couldn’t not for a moment. It was impacting his sleep. His father had offered the Force suppressant. But Luke had refused, even though it was tempting. Looking for his shadow was still fun though. However, the little signs she had been giving him stopped, the presence at the back of his mind had vanished. He wondered now if she really had been a figment of his imagination. Or worse yet, he recalled where he was and wondered briefly if something had happened to her.

That all changed of course when it was finally time to leave. He was thrilled, though trying and failing to contain his excitement. They were finally going home! They would stop on a few planets along the way sure. His father had said something about Chandrilla then maybe Alderaan. Luke was especially intrigued by the last one as he had not been there before and he at least had stopped on Chandrila with his father once last year. But then he got the news.

The Emperor himself would be giving them their send off.

And Luke’s stomach dropped. Why would he do this? He never had before. Had Luke given something away. He didn’t dare voice his concerns, not even to his father, not even in private. But his palms were sweaty, and his breath came in uneven intervals as he tried to focus on his breathing, tried to calm himself. It was hard without centering his mind in the Force. But as tired as he was, Luke didn’t trust himself to try it.

They came to the landing pad where the shuttle would meet them to take them back to his father’s ship. They had arrived separately, but they would leave together. A droid carried their luggage behind them as they emerged onto the sunny roof of the Imperial Palace.

There stood Palpatine, black robes stark in the mid-morning Coruscant sun. His hands were outstretched, encompassing father and son as they approached.

“Greetings, old friend.” The Emperor said in that voice that made Luke want to shiver, despite the already warm day. “And Young Skywalker.” He nodded his head towards Luke.

“Excellency.” Luke hoped nothing showed in his voice, that his fear wasn’t evident. He didn’t hear his father’s reply for behind the corner of the black robes, he saw the faintest glint of red gold.

“Ah, yes, Lord Vader, I trust I am not imposing when I add a last minute charge to your journeys.” And he beckoned with his left hand, “come forward, my child.”

For the first time in three weeks he stood face to face with his shadow again. She was not dressed in green to match her eyes anymore. Her clothes were simpler. Black and grey, reminding him of an officer’s colors though the cut was much more practical. Something easy to move in that would allow her freedom to run or jump or climb in an air vent, he thought with a hint of rueful amusement. He tried to meet her eyes, but she stared ahead before bowing politely to his father, and then, to his surprise, to him.

“This mission was to be diplomatic, for the celebration of Luke’s return to us.” Vader said and Luke sucked in a breath between his teeth. He had never heard his father challenge the Emperor directly like that.

The Emperor scowled, his yellow eyes hollow with disapproval. But his voice was the same it had been before “And she is to practice diplomacy along the way. Her bags are already on board, and she will be no trouble.” He gave a pointed look at the girl before saying, “you have my leave, all of you.” Turning and sweeping his robes behind him as he went to the lift that would take him back into the heart of the palace, his attendants following close behind.

Then it was just Luke, his father, the loading droids, and the strange girl.

“Lord Vader.” The girl inclined her head again, though not in a bow this time, her young voice bordering on prim. Luke could not see his father’s face behind the helmet, but he could feel the displeasure, the contempt flowing off of him. Luke was no stranger to his father’s rage. He had felt it directed at officers he called incompetent and plans falling apart due to avoidable, or sometimes even unavoidable issues. But Luke had never sensed it like this, directed towards practically a child, someone almost Luke’s age. Again he wondered who she was.

Well, as his Aunt Beru had told him, nothing obtained is gained without giving a little first. So as his father stalked towards their shuttle, cape billowing behind him, Luke stepped forward with an outstretched hand. “Hi, I’m Luke.” He said.

She leaned back a little, eyeing the hand as if it were a sand snake ready to strike. But Luke was persistent, and eventually, her eyes lifted from his hand to meet his gaze. He gave her a little smile and she slowly, reached out and touched her fingertips to his. Her voice was quiet, different from any other time he had heard her speak as she said at last “Mara”.

She quickly spun on her heels then and turned and walked the way his father had gone. Luke glanced down at his hand where their fingers had met, barely a handshake, barely anything. Then why did it feel like touching a star just then? And he smiled a grin growing as he spoke quietly after her retreating form, “It’s nice to meet you, Mara.”

Chapter Text

His father didn’t say a word the entire journey back to his command ship, the Executer, and neither did Mara. The silence was so heavy he felt he could slice it with his father’s saber. And the strangest thing was the heightened sense of animosity in the air seemed to be mutual. Mara was all outwards respect, but the coldness in her green eyes, a look that should be foreign on one so young, was telling. And his father made no effort to hide his disdain for their traveling companion. His Force signature radiated anger, annoyance, and distrust. Luke, for all that he tried, could hardly understand it. Mara could not be any older than him. What could she have done to earn his father’s, who had only ever been gentle with Luke, ire? Luke didn’t want to admit that he could guess how the reverse could be true, and how Mara could have come to despise his father. Though, that being said, it would be nice to have a reason all the same.

They arrived at last, all three of them finally having an escape from the oppressive atmosphere of Coruscant and the tension of whatever was at play here that Luke could not see. The droids unloaded their belongings and as they did so, the trio was met by one of the officers, one Luke didn’t know very well. His father barked an order for accommodations to be made ready for ‘Mistress Jade’, as he called her as he stalked off towards without another word. Luke did a double take to realize he meant Mara.

Jade must be her last name, Luke mused. The officer saw to it at once and Mara followed the gray clad imperial away as Luke followed his father.

His and his father’s shared quarters were spacious as far as ship standards went. He had his own room and even a little study. There was also a communal area where they could eat or just relax during the voyage. At last, here in the privacy of their rooms, his father stopped being Lord Vader and was just his dad again, removing the heavy mask with a clunk and setting it on the table.

He began to pace, gloved hands running through his hair to free it from the shape it had taken under the helmet.

“Father?” Luke asked, venturing to intrude on the man’s thoughts.

Vader’s eyes snapped to Luke and for a moment, Luke recoiled in on himself, he had never seen his father’s eyes so gold. They reminded him of the Emperor and that made Luke afraid. His father saw this and pulled back, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself before approaching.

“I’m sorry, my son.” His father said, crouching down to be at Luke’s level. “It has been long indeed since I have been on Coruscant for such a duration, the time is…draining.”

Luke let out an exaggerated sigh. “Don’t I know it. Those shields are exhausting.”

Now Vader snapped back, full attention on Luke and he gripped the boy’s shoulders with both of his hands. “And you mustn’t let them down, not now. Not yet.” His father ordered. “Do you hear me, Luke?”

Luke blinked, stunned a little at the vehemence of the response before nodding, not even sure why other than it just seemed the right thing to do. His father let him go and resumed his pacing. Luke let his silent query hang in the air between them, knowing his father would sense it.

At last, Vader let out an exasperated huff, taking the bait to the line of questioning Luke had silently thrown. “It’s that girl. She’s Palpatine’s creature if ever there was one.”

“Mara?” Luke asked, knowing he sounded surprised in spite of himself. The idea of her being anything in the Empire seemed strange at the mere thought. Afterall, she was his own age, or younger at most. The Emperor didn’t recruit that young, right?

Vader turned his gaze back on him with an almost pitying look, a sorrow behind that golden stare. “Trust me, son, he’s got her in the palm of his hand. She reports directly to him and only him. No doubt she’s part of his long game. But I won’t let her interfere, not with you, never with you.”

Luke felt the anger return in the Force, mounting up within his father and a shudder filled him. He didn’t know of a lot of things that went on when his father was away, but he knew the reputation the man had with his crew. Luke had heard the whispers. And an image sprang unbidden to his mind. A red saber, the kind he had seen only once on that night on Tatooine, that night he tried so hard to forget. In his mind, the image played, Mara with her red hair reflecting the light, the saber raising…he blocked the image in its entirety from his mind and asked, “You won’t hurt her…right?”

His father continued to hold his gaze, shoulders tensing, a coldness emanating from him. “Son, she may hurt you. I will not let that happen.”

“She’s just a kid!” Luke exclaimed, hands clenching into fists of their own, shoulders squaring slightly as he faced his father, summoning a courage he had felt before in times when he had seen the younger kids bullied back at school or in the spaceports of Anchor Head. “She’s probably younger than me!”

“And she’s in the service of Palpatine!” His father snapped back. “He is no doubt using her this very minute to spy on you, on us, to make sure we are loyal subjects of his order! He will use her and kill us if given half a chance! Tell me Luke, do you want that?”

Luke had never heard his father so angry before, not at him. He bit his lip and tried very hard not to cry. All the righteous anger he had felt slipping through his clenched hands like it had turned to water. He was eleven now. He was a big kid, a member of a secret rebellion. He told himself he shouldn’t cry. “She’s a girl. She’s just a kid.” He said quietly.

His father stopped. Coming once again to kneel before his son. “Luke…Luke look at me.” His voice was gentle. “I’m sorry I scared you; I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that. Listen, she is just a child, and that makes her dangerous, people underestimate her because of that. Make sure you don’t.”

Luke studied his father’s face for a long, silent, blurred vision minute before he nodded and then left for his room, shutting the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn’t see Mara for the rest of the trip to Chandrilla. He suspected that she saw him, but he didn’t see her once. He didn’t try either. His father’s warning still reverberated through his head. She’s the Emperor’s creature. What had his father meant by that? Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t see her like that. He had seen the Emperor’s creatures before, aids and advisors surrounded by an inky cloud that seemed to cling to them. Mara wasn’t like that at all. In the long hours alone in space flight, his mind kept going back to when she had reached out and taken his hand. She was like a star, a brilliant but isolated star burning bright into space, cold and alone, but shining still. There was an intensity he thought he could sense there too, something more, something below the surface. Like a small candle of light, a flickering, pulsing, dancing flame that Luke somehow knew to be her heart.

Chandrilla was mostly boring. He had been there before and while it was interesting to be back, he mostly stood and listened politely as his father discussed recent mining efforts there. Behind his father, Mara stood at a quiet attention, unobtrusive and listening. Luke did his best to appear half as attentive. When she caught him at it, she cast him a quirk of a smile. Again Luke wondered at his father’s words.

The Emperor’s creature.

The girl who had teased him from afar, dropping pieces of lint on his uniform from vents and playing what appeared to him to be the most elaborate game of hide and seek he had ever known all around the Imperial Palace just to what, get at him? He wondered if it was her way of making friends. But of course, then it had all stopped. He had never once bothered to wonder why. What had stopped what Luke was beginning to think now, was her way of an introduction, of making friends perhaps. Perhaps the answer had been staring him in the face all along. The Emperor’s Creature…the Emperor. He just couldn’t reconcile it. But Luke knew whatever had stopped her from approaching him outright on Coruscant had begun and ended with that man wrapped in dark cloaks and stared out at the world with his yellow eyes.

He didn’t have the chance to prove his theory until they had left Chandrilla and were on their way to Alderaan. He couldn’t sleep again. It was getting harder, masking his signature in the Force. It reminded him of that time he had tried to climb a rock face near Beggers Canyon back on Tatooine and had almost fallen. He had held onto that rock for so long he thought his arms might fall off until help finally arrived.

His ship though, the Solar Sunrise sat in the smaller hangar aboard the ship. So Luke figured he could sneak down, maybe work on it a bit. There were always people awake aboard ship and there were always lights on. But no one paid much mind to Luke’s nighttime expedition. They were used to seeing him and, even if they didn’t know the full story behind his relationship to their leader, they knew better than to stop and ask him questions or try and keep him from going somewhere he wanted to. So Luke had no trouble reaching the out of the way hangar bay that was meant for just him and his father. It was deserted. A few night guards at the door nodded at him as he entered. A lone, somewhat haggard looking technician was looking over a manual for something in a side room, and all in all it was quiet. In the hangar, he was alone and a sense of peace filled him at the quiet of solitude combining with the deep scent of fuel and oil.

Luke made his way to the corner where his ship sat. It looked actually better than when his father had gotten it for him. It was a fixer upper, as his dad had called it, a ship to fly and also a project to keep his active mind busy. That is what his father said and Luke couldn’t agree more. He kept a tool kit nearby and was starting to reach for it when a little noise gave him pause, a flickering sense buffeting at his shields, unknowing and unseeing but there nonetheless.

It was high pitched, the tone kept quiet, but Luke could almost make out a sound that was something like a voice. He figured, even with what his father had said about being careful, that it wouldn’t hurt to reach out just a little with his feelings.

And that is when he sensed her.

The presence of the shining star, burning bright and cold in the sky that was the Force. There were layers there, layers beyond the cold that belayed a brighter fire. But to see it all, Luke would need to remove his shields. And that was not a line he was willing to cross in regards to his father’s orders.

But she didn’t know he was here. Not yet. And if Luke was being honest with himself, maybe there was a little bit of smug satisfaction there as he realized he, for once, had a chance to sneak up on her. He approached cautiously, watching his steps to make sure he didn’t make a sound. He didn’t know what he expected to find, maybe her snooping in the private hangar for flight reports, maybe her clacking away at some clandestine report about him and his father to the Emperor. What would it even say?

Boring meetings on Chandrilla concluded. Luke Skywalker had trouble staying awake through one?

But he leaned his head around the support pillar and saw something entirely unexpected. She was dressed in a light grey, nearly white, linen shirt, darker grey pants that looked like a soft sweatshirt material, and her red hair hung in a loose braid. Around her shoulders drawn closely under her neck, was her familiar tan cloak. She was crouched, barefooted on the metal floor before a grouping of three mouse droids, in one hand she held an oil can, in the other she held what looked like the diagnostic tools the techs used.

She spoke to them in low tones as she worked, commenting on a tread here or a scanner check there, her voice soft, caring even. He realized then that this was the first time he had ever seen her actually act like a kid. Maybe that was why, despite all his father’s warnings about the girl, he stepped forward and spoke openly, though quietly “You like droids too?”

She jumped, the oil can clutched in her hand like she intended to use it as a weapon, and perhaps she did. The mouse droids scattered, save for one whose tread she had been working on and was as such, unable to flee. Her face was white, and her eyes locked on him. He held his hands up, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me.” She replied with a snap. Glancing down at the mouse droid still spinning and trying to get traction on the slick floor. She glared at him, blaming him for either scaring away the droids or being able to sneak up on her, he wasn’t sure. “What are you doing up this late anyways, doesn’t the Empire’s golden boy need sleep too?”

“Golden boy?” Luke asked with a laugh, “Where did you get that idea?”

She huffed, shrugging her shoulders as she relaxed from her previous fighting stance. “As if you didn’t know the court adores you. The Emperor knows it too.”

The last bit, she added more softly and Luke was reminded of what his father had said.

The Emperor’s creature.

“The court barely knows me. I’m hardly ever there. But you…you,” he ventured framing the question he wanted to ask, “work for him? For the court?”

Her eyes darted away, landing on the poor mouse droid, who was now beginning to beep in concern. Luke spent enough time with his father to know a touchy subject when he met one. So rather than forcing the issue, he gave her a small smile before bending down and scooping up the little droid, running a gentle hand over its casing.

“Hey now, let’s say we get you all fixed up, what do you say?” He spoke to the Mouse Droid as Mara herself had done, in low gentle tones.

Mara watched him, watched him like she expected him to crush the little droid with his bare hands.

Luke patently ignored her. “Hand me some of that oil, would you?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the droid. Wordlessly, Mara did so.

Luke applied some to the gears. “There should be some spare tread pieces in that tool kit by the freighter.” He nodded his head in the general direction of his tool chest.

He didn’t watch as Mara walked past him and began to rummage through the kit. She came back moments later carrying the treads. Glancing up at him she said, “This one’s were broken. I was trying to fix them.”

“Yeah,” Luke replied, handing the droid back into Mara’s hands and watching as she expertly repaired the tread pieces with a careful touch. “they can get worn out. Maintenance doesn’t always notice. I tend to keep a few spares in my kit. I may, well…actually have a mouse droid at home, so it helps to keep a few.”

Mara looked at him then, a spark of genuine curiosity in her green eyes. “You have your own droid?”

“Mhmm.” Luke hummed as a response. Mara set the mouse droid back on the floor. It beeped happily once, then twice as it tested out its new treads before zooming off with a few more beeps of gratitude. Mara watched in silence as it went.

After it was gone, she turned her attention back to Luke, tugging slightly at her cloak. But the hardness in her eyes had disappeared, replaced with the softer light of curiosity that was reflected in her voice when she said “So really now, why are you up? I’m guessing you didn’t come down here just to fix mouse droids?” she gestured with one hand after where the little droid had gone.

Luke figured that in this case, honesty was the best policy, even if he didn’t dare tell her everything. “Couldn’t sleep all that well.” But honesty didn’t mean he couldn’t ask his own questions. “What about you?”

She drew herself up, shoulder’s straightening, head tilting upward ever so slightly “I had things to do.”

“Things to do?” Luke asked bewildered. “Like what, more spying on people in vents?”

She didn’t look ashamed, she didn’t even look sorry. She just met his gaze with that level stare. “Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean I get to stop training.”

Training? Luke added it to the mysteries that were Mara. But he took in her appearance. The clothes she wore were not training clothes. She looked like she had been ready for sleep. So why was she still up? Luke wondered if it was along the same lines as why he was too. For all her attempts to seem strong, older than she was, and brave, Luke knew an excuse when he saw one, especially when it mirrored his own a little too well. Maybe…maybe they weren’t so different as his father would like him to think.

“I should be going.” She said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” Luke suddenly called out, he couldn’t explain it, but he didn’t want her to go. He saw the way she held herself, the way her eyes darted as if she were looking for danger. She was a child, but he wondered if she knew that. He had known kids like her before, kids back home on Tatooine. Kids who seemed to be kids in name only, with years and cares settled on them far too early in life. He couldn’t help but feel that if he let her out of his sight, someone, with that someone being the Emperor, would hurt her and despite all that his father had said, that didn’t sit right with him. And aside from all of that, he was pleasantly surprised to find he was actually really enjoying her company.

“You like droids. How are you with ships?” At his words, he saw a light in Mara’s eyes, a want, a want for something that she didn’t dare voice. He knew what that was like. Growing up, it was no secret that while they were not poor, he and his family had not been rich. He remembered looking at catalogues of pod racers and droids and knowing they were beyond his reach. The Emperor had called Mara ‘his child’ on the landing platform. What was out of her reach? He didn’t know. But knowing how the Emperor treated those he called his, Luke was beginning to guess the answer was quite a lot.

She hesitated a moment, just a moment, before walking off and out of the hangar without another word. Luke didn’t bother to follow, but there was an ache of something like worry and something like curiosity in his chest as he turned once more to face the long night alone. But his mind lingered on their short and baffling conversation. It was with a small smile he wondered if perhaps, perhaps just maybe, this was the start of something truly wonderful.

Around the edges of his shield, the Force practically hummed with its own assent, a hum a little girl walking barefoot down a metal corridor in a tan cloak sensed like a half forgotten melody and for a moment, she looked back on the hangar before pulling herself away. No, it wouldn’t do to make friends. She had reports to finish. But space was vast and nights were long. Perhaps, perhaps there would be other nights to return to the hangar. Comforted by such thoughts, the boy and the girl listened to the hum of contentment in the Force not even beginning to understand or know how destiny stirred around them, if only Vader could have heard that too. For none of them, not a one, could have known all that was to come or all that the future had in store.

Chapter Text

The next night, Luke returned to his ship. They would be space bound for at least a week due to a few shorter stops at stations and such along the way. His Force fatigue wasn’t getting any better. And so since sleep was out of the question, he figured he may as well work on his ship. And he couldn’t deny that he hoped he might see Mara too, just maybe.

He didn’t see her approach, but she came up silently beside him as he worked. She had her usual woolen cape around her, tan and soft looking, and her hair was not currently braided but other than that she looked much the same as she had that first night.

“This is your ship?” she asked by way of greeting.

Luke looked up at her from where he worked. “She’s called the Solar Sunrise.” He said with no little amount of pride.

Mara sat down beside him on the low crate where he had been balancing to reach part of the engine. “What kind of core has it got?” she asked, and Luke positively beamed as he replied.

It had become something of a nightly routine on the voyage to Alderaan. Luke would sneak down and work on his ship, sometime during that interval, Mara would appear and they would work together. She would hand him tools sometimes, talking in low tones about which methods of boosting the hyperdrive were better than others, why certain compressors could be beneficial and why others were the bane of a pilot’s existence. Sometimes she would work beside him, her hands smaller than his and with an eye fine-tuned for detail. Sometime during those nights, Luke thought that perhaps, just maybe, they were becoming friends.

His father never mentioned it, which Luke took to mean he either didn’t know or was letting it go for now. But the words his father had said to him at the beginning of their trip remained in the back of his head, the Emperor’s creature. When he looked at Mara, he just couldn’t see it.

He liked to think he was starting to figure out when she was asking questions for a purpose and when she was asking questions as just Mara. There was a quietness to her that crept in when she was just being herself. Luke hadn’t really figured out what that other purpose could be, but he knew when she wasn’t keeping to it. Just as he knew when she asked a quiet question, “So tell me, why can’t the Golden Boy sleep at night on a starship?” Her words might have held a bite to it at any other time, but now there was a softness to her tone as she set her gaze firmly on the tools in her hands.

Luke of course knew the answer, and even if he was starting to see Mara as more of a friend than some mystery shadow, he couldn’t let this one secret go, not like this, not yet. Maybe not ever. So, he shrugged, “Guess I just have too much energy.”

“You’re tired though.” Mara said and the way she said it opened a window of insight for Luke. She understood. Mara was tired too, yet Mara didn’t sleep. He asked her why.

She withdrew shaking her head, “I’m not tired.”

“I’m not either.” He retorted. She rolled her eyes like the ten year old she was.

They had taken an extra detour; they would be in space another two days. That made it a solid three before they reached Alderaan. Internally, Luke groaned. His father said he could let his shields go more planet side. More people made it harder to pinpoint a Force User. But on the ship…he sighed and tried to not let the fatigue creep in. He thought of the Force suppressant. He could ask his father for it, but Luke dreaded that fuzzy feeling now that he knew about his powers. He hated the idea of losing them, even temporarily.

Maybe that is how he found himself down in the hangar bay a little earlier that night. It had been happening that he and Mara would arrive closer to the same time now. But he had arrived early. Maybe it was for that same reason that, without her presence to help keep him awake, he fell asleep, hunched over his tool chest. And maybe that is why, when a firm, but small hand tried to shake him awake, he reacted the way he did. He had not been sleeping much in the last few days, and when he didn’t sleep, when he let himself get this tired, the memories returned, the memories of that night. That one singular, dreadful night.

So the shields fell like a collapsing AT-AT, He reached out on instinct and pushed with all his might. He could smell the smoke, he could hear the blasters. He could see Mara where she had been thrown at a supply crate.

Luke jumped up, scrambling towards her, trying to help. But she withdrew. Withdrew from him. Luke remembered what his father had said when they had first started training. Power can make people afraid. And Luke saw it on Mara’s face, she was afraid.

“Mara,” he gasped, “Mara, I’m so sorry.”

“What did you just do?” She demanded, her tone low, her eyes wide and urgent as she scrambled to her feet and rushed towards him eyes so intense and so afraid at the same time.

“I don’t know!” He knew his voice was growing frantic. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean too.”

“You can’t do that again, Luke you can’t!” And now it was Luke’s turn to be surprised. He had never heard her that scared before, never seen her this off balance. “Luke, do you understand?” She asked, “no one else can know about that.” She had stepped forward, taking both his hands in her smaller ones, her frame all but shaking.

Luke looked at her bewildered, eyes shining as realization dawned, she wasn’t afraid of what he did, she was afraid that he did it at all. She was not afraid of him, she was afraid for him. She was afraid because of one simple fact. She knew. “You know about the Force?”

“What is the meaning of this?” It was his father’s voice, booming above the hangar.

Mara froze, her face becoming a blank mask, but her eyes pleading with Luke. He heard it then, a silent entreaty clear as day within his mind. Say nothing.

“Lord Vader.” She turned and bowed as he made his way down to the main level and strode towards them in long, sweeping strides, his cape billowing behind him.

Vader took in the scene, the displaced crates, the look of confusion on Luke’s face, Mara’s complete lack of visible fear.

Luke tried to step forward, but Vader spoke, stopping him. “I sensed it, the disturbance in the Force, I sensed the fear, I sensed the pain.”

“Lord Vader,” Mara repeated subtly pushing Luke behind her and Luke felt sick at the action. She was younger than him and here she stood trying to protect him, but from what? From his father? “My apologies for the disruption.” Her wording was beyond her years, sounding strange in such a young voice. “I was getting in some late night practice when-”.

Vader cut her off with a wave of his hand. “By attacking my son!” He roared at the same time Mara whispered “Your son?” before giving a strangled cry as his father lifted his hand into a fist, Mara’s feet left the ground and she gasped for breath, hands flying to her throat.

“Father, wait please that’s not what happened!”

“Luke, don’t.” Mara hissed between strained gasps.

Images flashed through Luke’s mind like a fire blazing across dry brush in the desert. Red sabers arching high, pain, suffering, many lights going dark, one by one. A shimmering obsidian tower surrounded by a murky darkness. Golden eyes staring into his soul. Glittering palaces and swirling colors all overshadowed by an inky haze. And in his mind there was a voice, a quiet voice of a little girl and the image of a mouse droid held in her careful hands. Say nothing.

“Luke, go back to your room.” Vader ordered.

Luke’s eyes scrunched shut against the tears, ignoring Mara’s pleas, his father’s commands. It was too much, too much and all at once when his shields had come tumbling down. He felt the blaze that was his father’s mind and soul, he felt the candle that was Mara, a bright flame at the heart of a cold star, deep in its warmth but surrounded by a buffeting wind. It would go out. Luke knew this. It would go out and she would be no more.

“She was trying to protect me!” Luke screamed at last and that got through to the armor-clad figure. Vader released his grip and Mara dropped hard on the metal floor.

Luke ran to her, helping her up.

“Explain.” Vader commanded. “Now.”

“I was asleep, it’s been so, so hard father keeping the shields up and everything.” Luke said it all in a rush, glancing over to Mara like she could support his statement one way or the other. Of course, she couldn’t. “But, I guess I tried too long, I-I,” he faltered here, his voice catching at the memory, “I had the dream again, about the farm, about Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. She tried to wake me up. I was scared I thought I was back there.” Luke didn’t need to tell his father where there was. He knew. “I threw her into the crates. I’m so sorry, please don’t hurt her.”

“Is that all you were doing?” Vader turned his gaze on Mara once more, but the blaze it had been before had died. The hatred was diming and so was the pain. “Were you trying to wake him?”

Mara opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off again, “Don’t even think about lying to me.”

Mara was silent, closing her mouth, adjusting her stance before she continued. “Yes. He was having a nightmare when I came in.”

“See, it’s all my fault, please don’t hurt Mara.” Luke interjected. Vader, his father, stumbled backwards as if Luke had physically struck him, a shaking hand coming up to grip his mask where his forehead should be.

“I almost did it again.” He whispered under his breath. “Force forgive me, my angel, forgive me.”

Mara glanced at Luke out of the corner of her eye, but he couldn’t provide her with answers any more than he could give them to himself. He had lived with his father for over a year now. Yet still some of the things he did, some of the things he said, remained a mystery. Slowly, Vader reached up and removed the clasps that connected his mask to the rest of his suit. He removed it with a hiss, letting it drop to the floor.

Both children stared back in shock. Luke because his father never, ever removed his mask in front of others and Mara, well, because she probably didn’t know that it could be removed.

“And what happened after?” He asked, and it was just his father now, addressing them both quietly. Vader and his rage, had dissipated.

“What do you mean?” Luke countered, it was his turn to look to Mara for answers, but her eyes were transfixed on his father’s bare face, her eyes wide, her expression blank.

“There is more to the story, what happened next?” His father continued.

Another look at Mara told Luke all he needed to know. She was providing no further information. “She told me not to do it again, she was trying to help me though. I know she was, she just wanted to protect me.”

“Jade.” His father snapped, his voice harsher than he obviously meant it to come out, for he moderated it then, “Mara, why did you tell Luke not to use the Force again?”

She hunched her shoulders, the way Luke was beginning to realize meant she didn’t want to answer, like she was waiting for an attack if she didn’t. In that moment, Luke wondered if she was. “Tell me, Mara.” His father commanded, but his voice was still softer than it had been. “And remember what I said about lying.”

“It’s not safe to do what he did.” Mara said at last, choosing her words carefully.

And Vader sighed at her response pinching the bridge of his nose with the fingers of his right hand. “Why would you say that?”.

“He- wait.” She snapped interrupting herself, and the pretense was gone from her face. “You know about the Inquisitors. You lead them!” she exclaimed, a fire burning in her jewel green eyes “You know why!”

“The Inquisitors?” Luke glanced at his father, but kept his eyes on Mara.

“What do you know of the Inquisitors?” Vader all but growled, his own anger bubbling again.

“That I was spared that fate.” Mara met Vader’s gaze stare for stare, crossing her arms over her chest. In that moment, her fear was gone, only a righteous fury remained. “The Emperor saved me.”

There was a hush that followed those words, one so complete Luke thought it might never end. The Emperor’s creature. He thought now, just maybe, he might understand what his father had meant.

“Is that what he calls it?” Vader shook his head. “So, you would see Luke share your fate rather than join the Inquisitors? Answer me Mara, the choice is yours.”

He could see the moment Mara shrank away at those words, but it was less visible as it was internal, like a candle flame sputtering in the always cold winds that surrounded it. Something his father had just said had shaken the bedrock of that righteous anger to its core, exposing some deeply rooted hidden crack in its foundation.

“Answer me, Mara, you decide his fate right here, right now. Do we send him to the Inquisitors or to the Emperor? What would you do?”

Luke felt like he had been covered with ice. What was his father getting at? He pushed and he pushed, stepping forwards towards the girl, but Luke saw no more of the anger in his father, It had been replaced with something else. Pity? No that was too strong a word. Maybe sorrow? No, it was empathy. Vader had seen something in this girl that reminded him of himself. Mara gave no ground, her stance set. What was going on?

“He shouldn’t have either!” Mara finally shouted, before gasping, both her tiny hands coming to cover her mouth as if to force back the words she had said, her own private betrayal. In her eyes, he saw tears. She hadn’t meant to lose her composure. Luke knew instinctively then that that was something Mara Jade was seldom allowed in her life. But she had, and she had done it for Luke.

At last, she ended, her own quiet absolution. “He’s just a kid.”. The last part was spoken in a whisper, a distant echo of another child speaking to his father not a few days prior now.

His father’s face softened then, and he stood before Mara now, regarding her intently, but with a look that reminded Luke of that first night he had been at the lake house, when his father had told him the story about the Twilight. There was a hesitancy to his actions, a sense of unsure footing to the way he stood. He was playing at something, and Luke didn’t know what.

But his next words covered them all in a blanket of so much hurt and so much history. A lifetime of pain, generations of anguish, that neither Luke nor Mara still in the tender years of childhood, could begin to comprehend or encompass. “So are you, Mara, you’re just a kid too.”

“I’m not.” She still had tears in her eyes, but there was fire there still burning brightly like the stars above. She shook her head vehemently, gold red locks loose around her face where they had come out of the braid. “I’m not.”

“You are, and you weren’t given a choice.” His father’s voice was sad. He stood, studying her for a moment. And in that moment, Luke thought that maybe his father was seeing Mara, really seeing her, for the first time.

At last, though he said, “I’m sorry I hurt you. I thought you were trying to hurt my son, I thought that was why Palpatine sent you here.” Mara was still glaring at him, as if the fire in her eyes could burn right through his chest plated armor and into his heart. “And I will have you know Mara that anyone, anyone, that tries to hurt him will feel my wrath. But you were just trying to protect him. So, you were not deserving of it.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. Instead, he stretched out his hands, “Come, its late and we could all use something warm to drink before we sleep.”

Luke dashed forward to grab his father’s hand. Mara still stood, like a statue watching, always watching.

“Are you coming?” His father asked.

“Do I have a choice?” she snapped.

“You are not a slave Mara,” his father replied with a heaviness to his words that Luke did not understand, “you always have a choice.” Taking Luke by the hand, he began to walk away. A few moments later, on feet as silent as a Loth Cat, Mara followed.

Chapter Text

Somehow, they ended up in the private kitchen that was reserved for cooking food for Vader and his son. It was empty at this time of night. But there was a small counter, and he ushered the two children to sit on the stools by it. He had never been much of a cook. That department had been reserved for Padme. Or more like she refused to let him near her kitchen after one too many incidents. She had always been the culinary wonder, baking breads and sweet smelling things. It was easier to think of her now, now that he had Luke back. His son. His wonderful son. But tonight it was hard. He could picture the look she would have had in her eyes if she could have seen him tonight, seen the way he had flown at the girl now seated next to his son, a hardness in her that had once been filled with tears, a hardness that he remembered in the eyes of children he had known on a sandy planet so, so long ago.

He was taking his time, studying the girl now in a way he had never bothered to before. It ate at him, the picture that was the story of Mara Jade the more he thought about it in the context of the golden haired boy beside her. It had been easy, back when could just see her as the Emperor’s creature, his Hand, as he knew Palpatine liked to call her. But now…now it was harder. Now he saw a child, a child the same age Luke was when he had returned to him.

He found himself wondering about her. Where had she come from? Where had Palpatine found a Force sensitive child? Did she have a father waiting for her, thinking her dead as he had thought Luke? Had she been stolen from her rightful family?

He poured two glasses of Blue Milk and heated them slightly before handing them to the children. Mara refused to touch it. Luke began to chug it like a pod racer after a meet. He wanted to make amends, if he could. He didn’t think he had to worry about Mara reporting Luke’s Force sensitivity to the Emperor. Not after what she had said.

He thought about his previous dislike for the girl. He thought about her own original apprehension in their earliest meetings, and then the anger he had felt from her in their later ones. He wondered how long Palpatine had been playing them off one another and how long he would have continued to do so if not for tonight. He thought about the Inquisitors. They had their purpose, but he knew their brutality. And really, did they have their purpose for him anymore? He thought about his stop on Chandrilla, the subtle feelers he had put out with a few bounty hunters, the reports that he planned to pick up from them at their extra stops to Alderaan. There had been no word about any Jedi. The Inquisitors’ work had been thorough. His eyes returned to the two very Force sensitive children sitting in his kitchen.

Very thorough.

Looking at Luke, he felt the pit that that knowledge had been making in his stomach for the last year grow. Luke had to be trained. It had not been an easy decision, but he knew it had to be done. And it had to be done in the Light. If he were to train Luke in the ways of the Dark Side, the Emperor would surely feel it and know. But in the Light, in the Light there was a chance. The Jedi had once had their vision shrouded by the dark. Perhaps the Emperor could be blinded by the Light? Perhaps Luke could be safe long enough to grow strong and bright. He had to put his own hatred for the Jedi aside, for like Mara, sitting silently next to a chattering Luke, he knew in his heart what choice he would make for his son. But it was looking like his Inquisitors had done their jobs too well.

“Mara,” he began, again being sure to keep his voice as soft as possible “are you alright?”

She looked away stubbornly, “I’m fine.”

“You were thrown into a lot of crates and nearly choked.” Luke’s voice was small but powerful in its insistence. “I wouldn’t call that fine.”

“I said, I’m fine. It could be worse.” She glared at Vader as she spoke. The Inquisitor thing was going to be a problem, that he knew. And he was just too tired to address it tonight. But why did she keep bringing it up? Did she think he would really send Luke to them? Or her? Maybe that last part, he admitted to himself. She had no reason to trust him.

They left after a little while, Luke with his shields down now was growing tired. A few times when Luke had first come into his life, Vader had had to carry him back to bed. That had not happened in months. But even at eleven, there were only so many reserves to call on. So he hefted his son into his arms, marveling at how big he was even now compared to a year ago. He walked with him, Mara at his side, steeling occasional glances at Luke, as if assuring herself he was okay. Vader rubbed a hand protectively on his son’s back, feeling a sense of awe that he, his dear child, had won over this girl so quickly, made a friend out of one practically raised to be his enemy.

That would be your influence, my darling. He thought of his Padme with a smile.

They had reached the guest quarters, where Mara had been staying. She turned to him before entering. “Are you going to send the Inquisitors after me now?” She asked, head held high and for all accounts looking very brave for only ten.

Vader was surprised that the sight created another crack in his armor in a way he had thought only Luke could have done before. Perhaps, he thought to himself, maybe it was because he was seeing Mara now through the eyes of his son. The boy who had befriended this girl. And perhaps it was that he saw her through the eyes of another, distant memories of a young girl with a warmth in her eyes and a fire in her soul, a girl who had stood before a senate and saved a people. His heart ached and he wondered in a flash of perception what it might have been like to have a daughter, if the girl before him maybe had soft brown curls and the same upturned nose and eyes that smiled but could brew a storm just as easily. He shook his head, focusing instead on the red gold child before him, the steel in her green eyes and in her spine trained into her practically, Vader knew, since birth.

He was a little surprised by her question, but knew it was best to put it to rest now, even though he doubted his reassurance would do much good. Somehow, he knew Mara to not be the type to be placated by mere words. She would want to see those words backed up by action. Still, he said, “No, Mara Jade. Nor am I going to report what you have done this night to the Emperor.”

He caught the look of shock on her face before she caught it herself and schooled her features. She was strong, Vader realized, and he wondered for a moment what she might become, what she might be capable of, if left in Palpatine’s care. She would be a force to be reckoned with regardless, but in that moment, he caught a glimpse of the assassin he knew his master hoped for. She wasn’t there yet, but such control over oneself, at such a young age…

And yet another possibility loomed. He recalled a distant recollection of Jedi warriors of the past, Bastilla Shan, Revan, others from the archives. He recalled the stories of their strength, their brilliance. What an ally such a person could make. He glanced once more at the sleeping Luke and back to Mara. Yes, there was another possibility. And it would call for care and precision. Two things he had never been particularly skilled in. But it had to start somewhere. He would need allies, and so would Luke.

“You protected my son from one I know you perceive as a threat, even though you had no cause. For that, you have my thanks. If you need for anything, you are resourceful. I’m sure you can figure out how to contact me.”

With that he left her, his son still asleep in his arms as he continued on to their own rooms. Behind him, he felt a ripple of something in the force emanating from the girl. He felt emotions, distrust, disbelief, lingering fear, uncertainty, but at its last there was a single ray of glistening light. And he knew what it was called.

Hope. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke didn’t think he would see Mara the next day. He had half wondered if she would be mad at him, maybe even blame him for what had happened. He was sitting in the cockpit of the Solar Sunrise contemplating these things, an oversized sweatshirt from his school was big enough that he could tuck his legs up into it as he sat in the pilot’s seat. When she came though, he heard her coming, and Luke knew that to be deliberate.

It wasn’t much noise. Soft footfalls on the metallic floor. But he turned and saw her there, red hair in its usual braid but not in sleep clothes. She wore an outfit similar to the one he had seen on the landing platform back on Coruscant. She still wore her tan cape though. Luke was now beginning to wonder about that. Was it a part of her daily outfit? But then why hadn’t she worn it planet side at all?

She stood in the entrance way, looking uncertain as to how to proceed. He had seen Mara afraid, he had seen Mara angry, he had seen her at least somewhat happy, even shy, but he didn’t think he had seen her uncertain.

He gave an encouraging smile. “Hey there!”

Whatever test she had been posing to him, Luke obviously passed because her shoulders relaxed and she walked towards him with her usual ease. “Permission to come aboard?”

Luke rolled his eyes fishing a snack from the bag in his hand and popping it into his mouth. “Would you listen if I said no?”

She chuckled, taking the co-pilot’s seat and looking out over the hangar bay. “Probably not.”

They were silent in each other’s company then, letting the coolness of the hangar lights bathe them in its glow. But it wasn’t a tense silence, there was a steady peace to the quiet that Luke was beginning to associate with Mara’s presence. Now that he could fully see her in the Force, he felt like this was just…well, a part of her.

Luke would have been happy to let it last, but he needed to talk with her, preferably before they landed on Alderaan in two days. So he fished out another snack bag and handed it to her. She took it with a smile, opened it, and only after she began to eat the salty contents did he say what was on his young heart.

“I’m sorry about last night.” She didn’t change at all, not outwardly. But in the Force Luke felt the palpable shift in her emotions. Her guard went up like a blast door slamming on its barring. She said nothing, so he continued. “I’m sorry too if my dad scared you. He…well, I would like to think he’s not normally like that, but maybe just not with me? I don’t know.” Luke ran a hand through his hair, absent mindedly spreading crumbs in his wake.

He didn’t think she would respond with the length of time that passed. So he was a little startled at her quiet answer. “I didn’t know he was your father.”

There was no accusation in her tone, not like Luke might have thought if he considered the question. Then the reality of her words sunk in and he visibly jerked in his seat as it hit him. “Wait, you didn’t?”

She shook her head. “You were declared the Heir to the Empire.” Mara stated matter of factly. “No one said who your father was. I assumed the Emperor put Vader as your personal body guard or something while you went around the Galaxy.” Here her brow furrowed. “I should have known.”

Luke had not considered people in the upper levels of the court, which Luke assumed Mara was, not knowing that the Emperor’s second in command was his dad. But then again, it made sense if he thought about it. No one ever referred to them in a familial sense, except maybe some of the serving droids back on Naboo. Even here, his title was used and nothing more.

“I assumed,” Mara continued, waving her hand in the air as she spoke, “that you must be the son of that famous Clone War’s general at first, but I would have thought that would make you pretty strong in the Force…maybe.” She didn’t say she did not know, but Luke found himself wondering now how much about the Force Mara really knew. “It was a surprise when the Emperor told me you weren’t. And then to have you through me into those crates.” Her eyes narrowed as she said this, making Luke look a little sheepish until her glare relaxed and he knew she was just teasing.

“Clone Wars General?” Luke asked, and now it was Mara’s turn to look visibly surprised.

“You’re saying he’s not him?” she quipped.

“I’m saying I don’t know who that is.” Luke replied, turning in his seat to face her directly. She followed suit and soon they sat cross legged in the two too large seats studying one another.

“General Skywalker, the Hero Without Fear?” Mara said it, drawing out the words as if that might jog a memory.

“Mara,” Luke leaned forward, hands planted at his sides on the seat. “I have no idea who that is.”

Mara leaned back, tapping her fingers against her cheek as she thought. “I guess it could be a coincidence, maybe.”

“Yeah.” Luke answered a little breathless. His father, a general, in the Clone Wars? Luke had studied the Clone Wars in school. But he had never heard of a general with that name. Luke wondered now. Maybe that was how his father lost his arms and legs?

“That being said, it’s not like Skywalker is that common of a name.” She fixed him with a pointed look.

“Why would you think some kid of this general would be strong in the Force?” Luke asked, leaning back in his seat so it rocked and letting it spin him in a lazy circle.

“Because generals for the old republic were Jedi, duh.” Mara replied, leaning back in her own seat to copy Luke. “Don’t they teach you anything in those schools?”

“Not about the Jedi.”

Mara huffed a breath of air, causing hair to dance around her forehead. “Figures. I guess I am lucky with access to the Imperial Databases.” The latter bit was said more quietly.

“Father doesn’t like to talk about before the Empire.” Luke said by way of answer.

Mara planted her feet on the ground, stopping the spinning. “Not even about your mother?”

“My mother?” Luke asked letting his chair continue to bob until it circled back to face her.

“Yeah, you’re mother. Surely he’s told you something about her, right?”

Luke ducked his head, golden locks flopping into his eyes. He would need a hair cut soon. “I-”, he began unsure where to go. “I don’t ask."

Mara watched him waiting, but for what, Luke didn’t know. “Why not?”.

“Because it upsets him, I can tell it hurts. He doesn’t talk about before the Empire right?”. Luke said drawing out the last part, making his point, “And I’m eleven.”

“And so is the Empire.” Mara concluded, nodding her head.

“Was,” Luke sucked in a breath, a little afraid of the answer he would receive, “was that General Jedi guy married?”

Mara shook her head, “not that I could find records of. But a lot of stuff was lost back then, and people don’t have to be married to have kids with the father’s last name.”

Luke squirmed, he could feel heat rising to his cheeks, “Uh, yeah, right.”

“You did know about that right? You’re the Imperial Crown Prince, the Court’s Golden Boy, and you don’t know about some of the basic tenants of court intrigue?” She was grinning now, “I could tell you about half of your classmate’s parents aren’t their actual ones.”

“No.” Luke actually gasped. Was that what life in the courts was like? “It’s not like I was always the Golden Boy as you put it.”

Mara nodded, “I know. You weren’t raised in the courts. But, even before?”

“My father would have married my mother.” Luke said furrowing his brows as he spoke. “He wouldn’t have not, right?” It was hitting Luke in this conversation with Mara that there was a lot about his father that he didn’t know.

Mara was quiet again, but when he could finally meet her eyes, she gave him a strange look, nodding to herself as if she was surprised by her own next statement. “Yeah, I think he would have.”

Luke let out a whooshing breath. “My Aunt always said it was the honorable thing to do if one could in that case, like when it happened with our neighbors back home.”

Mara tilted her head curiously in a way that reminded him of the birds that perched in the tree outside his bedroom window on Naboo. “Aunt?”

“Yeah, my Aunt Beru.” Luke smiled as he said her name, though the memory of her still hurt as it brought with it the memory of her death. He hadn’t realized how much he missed talking about her. His father listened of course, but he didn’t seem genuinely interested in his aunt and uncle, not in any way other than how it related to Luke.

But Mara had seemed interested, really and truly interested. And Luke was happy to oblige. He leapt into his little story, telling about what it was like growing up on a moisture farm, about how the twin suns glowed in the sky at sunset, and how the heat was enough to kill but how his aunt made the best cooling drinks at mid-day, he talked about his Uncle Owen and how he learned to fix droids. He told her about Beggar’s Canyon and learning to fly. He had thought she might grow bored, disinterested even. But Mara listened with a rapture that he had never seen in her, or really anyone else, since Tatooine.

It warmed his heart.

 About four snack packs each later and a quick trip to the Pilot’s Lounge off the hangar for juice, they were still in the cockpit of the Solar Sunrise, Mara sitting cross legged on the floor and Luke hanging upside down on his chair. “What’s your family like?”

Mara glanced away, her shoulders hunching, she pulled her tan cape closer around her. “The Empire is my family.” Everything about her tone, the conviction in her voice, told him she believed that. She was resolute, but Luke felt he was starting to know her well enough to see the gaps in her disguise, to see where Mara Jade, Imperial Agent in training (as his father told him) ended, and Mara the girl began.

“You’ve got to have parents.” Luke said, coming to sit right side up in his chair.

“I’ve been given a home in the Imperial Palace, I have training and people to guide me, I am luckier than a lot of kids my age.” She said with as much conviction now as she could muster.

Luke didn’t know that the next question would stick with her for the rest of her life, but it did. “But do you like it?”

Her green eyes snapped up. “What do you mean?”

“Do you like it?” Luke asked again. At her continued confused stare, he elaborated. “Do you like training? Do you have friends? What do you do for fun?”

“Fun?” Mara asked, glancing downwards at her hands.

“Yeah, fun.” Luke continued, growing more concerned about his friend by the second. “I have to do all of those boring court appearances and go to school and wear a uniform. But I also work on this ship and I repair droids and I go for swims in the lake at my father’s and my house on Naboo.”

“I like to dance.” Mara said simply, and Luke wondered if the waver in her voice meant she wasn’t sure she liked to dance or if she wasn’t sure she should voice that there was an aspect of her training she enjoyed.

Luke knew absolutely nothing about dancing. Not a thing. But it was the one thing she said so he grabbed hold of it. “What kind of dance?”

And now Mara grinned, “the kinds that you see at the balls. Ballet’s good too. I like the gymnastics of it.”

Luke was hoping she might elaborate, continue onwards to carry the conversation in which Luke was way out of his depth. But Mara, he was finding, was a girl of few words when she was unsure of herself. “What about friends?” He asked though when it seemed she was done.

“Well, networking and making contacts is all very important in my line of work.” She drew herself up, straightening her spine with evident pride.

Luke rolled his eyes, “I didn’t mean contacts. I meant friends, people you just…hang out with.”

Mara glanced around the ship, thinking about his statement, forming her reply. “You mean, something like what we’re doing now?” her core accent slipped through he noticed when she was nervous. The rest of the time, she sounded a little more like him. But he could hear the Coruscant style she spoke with planet side if he tried.

“Yeah.” Luke replied with a smile. “Like this. Because we’re friends, Mara.” But then he caught himself and wondered. Would Mara want to be friends? “That is, if you want to be friends.”

A pleasant little smile crossed Mara’s face, she didn’t hold her cloak so firmly in her hands anymore. “Yeah Luke, I think I’d like that.”

“Good, me too.” Luke replied with a grin and held out his hand to her across the small room. “Friends.”

She took it with that same little smile, her voice soft, “Friends.”

Chapter Text

Being friends with Mara was probably, Luke mused, one of the best things to happen to him in the last year. He wasn’t sure his father was totally pleased with the new development. But he didn’t try to stop it, which was good enough for Luke and Mara. The rest of the trip to Alderaan, they talked about everything and anything. He told her about Tatooine and Naboo and what it was like to go to school. She told him about the Imperial Court, the senate, and fortunately for him, helped him understand the politics of it all.

And perhaps best of all, they got to discuss the Force.

Luke could talk to his dad about it, but that wasn’t the same as having someone his own age to talk about it with. Mara was amazing, he would go with her to the training rooms and they would practice together. Little things mostly, levitation, meditation, Force assisted jumps, but with her, it could be a game. Who could run the fastest, jump the highest, even meditate the longest?

If his father had any misgivings about Luke’s friendship with Mara Jade, he began to put them aside as the friendly rivalry that had developed between the two started to produce results. Luke was growing stronger. And that was good in Vader’s book. The sooner he did the sooner they could be rid of the Emperor. With such thoughts though, Vader began to wonder what that would mean for Mara. What was life for an Emperor’s Hand in training with no Emperor to serve? Or worse yet, would she stand in their way in some misguided bid to protect the one she saw as her rescuer? Neither he nor Luke had yet mentioned their secret plans to her.

Their games turned to other areas too. Mara had been teaching Luke espionage. Slight of hand, how to take something from a crowded room and not be noticed. They played hide and seek all across the Executor too, with Mara teaching Luke the strategy of not being found when one chose not to be. Though Vader had to put a stop to it when they tried, and succeeded, to break into the data vault aboard ship.

Mara even ended up joining Luke and his father for meals sometimes. There was still a heavy animosity between her and Vader, though Luke sensed more of it came from Mara now rather than his father. Even so, the dinners were cordial, and Mara even seemed to enjoy them by the time they arrived on Alderaan.

Alderaan was a jewel of a planet in the Empire’s crown, Mara had explained to Luke as their shuttle landed. She was back in her regular day clothes, her hair braided securely. Her cloak nowhere to be seen. Luke was in his uniform, trying not to squirm, which was getting harder as Mara had kept finding ways to make him laugh.

He sensed that there was something she wasn’t exactly telling him about Alderaan, but he didn’t push. Mara would keep her secrets. That was just the way things were sometimes, he was finding.

When the shuttle landed, they emerged, his father first, Luke second, and Mara coming in third. He watched her where she stepped just out of the corner of his eye and tried to mimic her. Head high, steps purposeful and long as he could make them without looking like that was what he was doing. She smiled a little smirk as he did, puffing out her chest a little and he followed suit.

On the landing platform there stood a man Luke had not met before, but he seemed familiar somehow. Maybe from the holonet? Luke couldn’t recall. Beside him, in brilliant white and silver, a woman stood finely arrayed in silks. Her rich brown hair was done up in braids atop her head and she smiled graciously as they approached. But there was a tenseness to them both that Luke did not quite understand. He felt the man’s eyes on him in particular and Luke tried not to stare back. He hoped Mara was studying the situation with her infiltrator’s eyes and that she would give him a breakdown of the situation later. She had done that last night about their visit to Chandrilla. It had been very informative. He tried now to see a little more with her eyes, but it was proving difficult.

“You honor us with your presence, Lord Vader.” The woman said, inclining her head in a way that was almost a curtsy. Luke wondered how the braids didn’t tumble down from her head in the process.

“My company shall require quarters. I trust sufficient arrangements have been made?” Vader more ordered than asked, his voice distorted behind the mask in a way that Luke was never fully comfortable with.

“I assure you,” the man stepped forward this time with a slight bow, “everything is in order. If you would like to follow my aid here, he will see you to your quarters.”

“The children may go, I have further business to attend to here.” Vader turned and nodded to Luke and Mara. It was not lost on either that he addressed Mara in this statement too. Typically, Vader either referred to Mara as Jade or not at all and never before in the same company as Luke.

“Of course.” The man said.

Luke glanced towards Mara and another change brought about by their friendship was made evident. Before, she might have just glared at him or not acknowledged him in the slightest. But now she gave a half upturn of her mouth, not quite a smile and a little tilt of her head in the direction of the aid. Luke felt a knot in his insides beginning to loosen. Maybe with Mara’s help, navigating these court meetings would go better.

His father never cared for politics or if he was even appearing polite. But Luke had been raised to be kind if not courteous to all. Maybe Mara could help him fill in the gaps.

They followed the aid to their quarters, a whole wing that had been reserved just for them. Luke and Mara both had suites to themselves. He grinned at the marble arches, high ceilings, and sweeping balconies. The aid had been explaining Alderaanian architecture as they walked but Luke had long since tuned him out. As soon as the door to his room was open and Luke caught a look at that view, he grinned and raced towards the edge of the balcony beyond.

The aid made an exclamation of concern, reaching for Luke but it was lost on the boy. Alderaanian air was fresh, with a smell that reminded him of mint and something almost fresh and spicy all at once. Mara later told him it was something called Alpine, a type of tree that was prevalent here. Having breathed nothing but recycled air for the last several days, letting the breeze blow down the mountain, over his curls, and into his nose was as good as sliding into clean clothes after wearing the same for days on end or sinking into a soft mattress after a long day. It was beautiful.

“Check out this view.” He breathed; the scent of pine pricked his nose.

“Uh, thanks.” He said to the aid, realizing the man still stood there. He wished Mara was here to tell him what he should do now. But she had entered her own room. “You can, uh, I guess go now?”

The aid looked unsure, his eyes shifting about the room a moment longer before he simply bowed and backed out the way he came. Luke heard his feet clicking on the floor and then the door to their wing closing. Luke walked back to the open door to his rooms and tried to remember which one was Mara’s.

He didn’t have to wait long, because the door that was across from his opened slightly as her red gold head popped out from behind it. “Yeah?” she asked coming to stand in the hallway. “You were broadcasting your thoughts pretty loudly that you were looking for me?”

“Oh right.” Luke remembered to reinforce his shielding a little. Mara had been working with him on that. It was something she had been taught since her arrival at the Imperial Palace, which Luke took to mean basically since she was born. He grinned again, happiness bubbling in his chest, “you’ve got to see this view.”

He beckoned her through his open door and rushed back to the balcony. The sun glinted off the mountain tops beyond and Luke breathed in that fresh, fresh air. It really was great to be planet side again. Mara also grinned as she came to join him, shielding her eyes from the glow of the sun as it hung suspended almost before them. It was a little past this planet’s mid day cycle, which meant Luke’s apartments would give him a wonderful view of the sunset.

But that was not what had captivated his attentions. “Look, Mara.” He grinned, “Mountains.” Mountains were a thing on Tatooine. But there was a difference, in Lukes’s mind anyways, between sand on level ground compared to sand on higher ground, and green sloping fields that gave way to purple and grey peaked heights. “What do you suppose that white stuff is?” Luke asked. “It looks like clouds.”

“That’s snow, Farm Boy.” Mara smacked his shoulder lightly. He chuckled at the nickname. She had taken to calling him that after he told her about Tatooine.

“But it’s not winter.” Luke protested.

“Not now.” Mara replied. “But it feels like winter up there.” And her hand reached out, fingers spread as if she could sweep the snow with her fingertips. “There, where the air is thin, it is always winter.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night they were treated to a state dinner with all the trimmings. The grand dining hall in the palace of Alderaan was beautiful to Luke as the mountain air was beautiful. It was equal parts elegant, modern, and yet traditional in all the hallmarks of the Alderaanian style. Luke was seated near the head, close to the senator and the queen. His father was sat directly across from him, to the right of the senator himself. Mara was a seat removed from Luke, an advisor or aid or something taking the seat between them. Luke didn’t really care. He would have preferred to be able to spend the evening talking with Mara. But a glance at her, lifting her soup spoon with an elegance that rivaled the queen’s and a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Luke knew that she was in her ‘operative mode’ as he called it, taking everything in.

In all reality, Luke was only taking in portions of the conversation, such as between his father and Bail Organa.

“I was disappointed to hear that the princess would not be in attendance tonight.” His father spoke through the rasping technology of the mask. Luke’s ears pricked up at the mention of a princess. He remembered Mara talking him through the Alderaanian court, he just couldn’t remember exactly what she had said. How was one meant to pay attention after the fifth cousin of the royal house was named in the fourth of his line? Really, Mara.

“Ah, it is such a pity, especially with the presence of the Heir to the Empire with us.” Organa replied, sipping a purplish red liquid from his crystal goblet.

“What could have detained your daughter given such an occasion?” Luke tried not to visibly wince. Really, couldn’t his dad make anything sound nonthreatening with that mask? For the first time Luke wondered if maybe he couldn’t.

“A special academic trip, one that had been arranged now for quite some time. I extend my own deep sympathies though on her missing this occasion.”

“It seems you put much stock in your daughter’s education.” Vader drawled. “seeing as she was absent from the festivities on Coruscant as of late.”

Luke did not have time to pay attention to any reply that came as a question was broached to his side.

“We hope you have found your rooms comfortable, young prince.” A woman’s voice spoke very near. It took Luke a moment to remember that the queen sat basically in the seat to his left, which was the head of the table. He tried not to drop his own spoon in his soup in his haste to turn and respond. In the Force, he felt a burst of amusement and knew it had to be coming from Mara.

“Uh, they’re very nice.” He said, trying to hide his discomfort by smoothing the napkin in his lap.

If the queen was offended by his informal reply, she didn’t show it. She smiled at him, a tender smile, but one that was sad in a way. It stirred something in Luke, like the whisperings of a half remembered dream. Something he could sense but something that was out of his grasp. He wanted to hold on to the sensation and chase it where it led. But the queen was speaking again.

“And how are you enjoying your trip? It was a momentous day for the Empire when you were brought home. You must have had quite the year.” Her words were kind, her voice soft and low as if they could have been talking in a quiet living room rather than a grand dinning hall. But Luke didn’t miss the way her emotions seemed to flutter a little as she said home. Did she disagree with him coming to live with his father? But why should she?

Luke didn’t know. He stored the question away for later. Maybe he would ask Mara. “It’s…it’s been an adventure your Majesty.” He replied, thinking of all the planets he had had the chance to see and the people he had met. His mind chose that precise moment to finally recall some of his lessons in diplomacy and he continued. “It has been an honor to serve the people.” Even with all his lessons, Luke could not bring himself to say ‘Empire’.

That earned him another of her half smiles and he felt the sadness a little more clearly. “I am not often at court.” She replied and he knew he meant the court on Coruscant rather than Alderaan. “But I imagine it is quite the place. You must be learning so much!”

She said it like a compliment, but he felt the question lingering there. However Luke could not guess at what kind of answer she expected, so he chose not to answer at all. She hadn’t worded it like a question anyways.

Seeing as she was getting no response, Queen Breha tactfully maneuvered the question to other topics. She asked him about his knowledge of Alderaan and answered questions from him about the culture with an amused, but happier quality than she had before. He asked what it was like to be a queen and she had asked what it was like to be the imperial heir. Neither seemed very interested in answering the other’s questions, so it moved back to safer topics like starships and industry and what kind of fish were native to the lakes he had seen.

The dinner was over soon enough, though not soon enough for Luke. He bolted just as soon as he could do so politely and still keep some level of decorum. He had excused himself and the court of Alderaan had smiled in sympathy and cooed about how children needed their sleep.

He arrived back on their floor as the stars began to shine in the heavens above. Mara’s door was open, which was a strange sight. On Chandrilla, he had not even known where she was staying. But on the starship, her cabin door was always bolted fast. He poked his head in and found her dressed for sleep, her tan cloak settled on her shoulders and seated on the floor in the middle of a great circular carpet the color of the night sky. There was an array of datapads spread before her.

He wondered how long she had been here and felt a stab of jealousy when he realized that he could hardly recall seeing her at all after the dinner. She had been able to sneak away. He had had to endure all the politics. He was beginning to understand why his father hated that word.

“You can come in.” She said, not even looking up from her work. He entered and came to sit beside her on the rug, his ceremonial wear feeling scratchy with every movement.

“What’s all this?”, he asked, reaching for a datapad. But before he could pick one up, Mara’s hand darted out fast as the darting fire flies that dashed over the surface of the lakes on Naboo and snatched the datapad away. “Hey!” he protested.

“Luke.” She turned to him, green eyes intense and focused. “Remember when I asked about your father?”

Luke’s mind easily recalled the casual afternoon they had spent in the cockpit of the Solar Sunrise. “Yeah?”

She flicked her gaze away now, down turned towards her hands where she held the datapad she had pulled from him. “Well, since my report to the Emperor is going to be…different…then it might have been, I decided to turn my attention elsewhere.” She was speaking primly and properly, more of her core accent slipping through. “I’ve been trying to find out who your mother might be.” Still she did not meet his eyes.

Luke let her words settle around him like rain falling gently from the sky, soaking him through. He had wondered, of course he had wondered about his mother. All his life he had wondered. His Aunt and Uncle told stories about his father. But details about his mother were few and far between, if they ever came at all. And here sat Mara, surrounded by datapads, up late and using all that infiltrating, spy in the making training, that she had been given to try and put a stop to that wondering. “Really Mara?” he felt the warmth settle in his chest as he reached now and took her hand in his. “Thank you.”

It was only then she dared to meet his gaze and it was in that instance that he realized that Mara had been unsure of herself in those moments before. Had she been afraid he would reject this action, this gift? Luke could not fathom that.

“But, you’re not mad?”. She asked.

“Mara, family means everything to me. I thought I had lost all that I had. But then my father found me.” His grip on her fingers tightened ever so slightly then, smiling at her, “then I found you and now you want to find my mom. How could I be mad?”

Mara looked at him as if he had just announced that the Emperor was dead and he himself had just been coronated at the dinner.

“So what have you found?” Luke asked when it became clear she wasn’t going to respond. He reached for a datapad and this time, Mara didn’t stop him.

A quick glance told him a lot of this was about Clone Wars history. He skimmed through battle reports, news headlines, and more. “You really think my father was some sort of Jedi General?” he asked skeptically.

Mara was back in her operative mode when she answered, entering a key command on her own datapad. “Maybe. Or perhaps someone affiliated close enough with him to take his name. There are many possibilities. Jedi had apprentices. People they taught. Maybe he was one of those.”

In his mind, an unspoken sentence was shared between the two, yet clear as day as if Mara had actually said the words aloud. You are strong enough in the Force to be.

“Did this General Skywalker guy have an apprentice?” Luke asked, thumbing through a news report that spoke of a battle on Chistophsis.

“Maybe.” Mara replied. “A lot of those records are lost most of those generals don’t even have reliable surviving pictures for identification.”

There was something in the way she said that that made Luke wonder, he glanced at her out of the corner of his gaze. “Most?”

“Call it all.” She replied. “Except…” and Luke knew that that exception had been coming, “those that survived the initial rise of the Empire. There are wanted posters. Wanted posters that an Imperial Agent could access quite easily and cross reference with the archives here on Alderaan.”

“Or an Imperial Agent in training…” Luke grinned, as a sparkle danced in her eyes. She had spoken about her work before. Brief mentions here, a slip of speech there. But never had she seemed to enjoy what she spoke of. Not like this. And even though a nagging in the back of his mind spoke of danger, the less sensible side, the side that was forever a child, was excited at the idea. It was like she was part of their secret rebellion! But now she and Luke were their very own rebel cell. And they had a mission, a mission to find his mother. Luke was ready for this, he had been ready for a long time. And he couldn’t wait to get started.

“I have a free hour for studying tomorrow after lunch.” Luke spoke, his voice low.

“And there is no better place to study than in one of the best libraries in the sector.” Mara grinned back. They were in this together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep in the palace, in the private quarters shared between the Queen of Alderaan and her husband, Bail Organa took Breha into his arms. “My love,” he spoke into her hair, “you’re shaking.”

And she was, the armor of queen discarded in favor of the reality that hid underneath. The reality of a scared mother. “He’s here.” She whispered into her husband’s chest, drawing strength from him.

And Bail tightened his grip around her, thinking of the darkly clad figure, and not just in regards to his fashion choices. The haze that had seemed to come over the palace at his arrival had been tangible. “I know.”

“And that poor, poor boy.” A dampness entered her voice, staining the front of his shirt.

And for this, what words did Bail have? The boy, that sweet innocent child, Padme’s child, in the clutches of a monster. All evening his wife had sat with Luke, asking him about his life, looking for the signs they both knew must be there.

Obi-Wan had said Luke was strong in the Force, surely someone like that would not be spared the brutal training that the Emperor would no doubt inflict upon him in the hopes of a new apprentice. Breha had found him guarded, not open to talking about his life and both knew that did not bode well.

“He’s here.” She pulled back from her husband now, a steel in her eyes. “Luke,” she said meaningfully, “is here.”

And Bail understood the resolve, had felt the same fire his wife now felt the moment that shuttle had touched down on the landing platform of Aldera. But in his mind, he saw a girl with chocolate curls and a laughing smile as she played with her droid under the summer sun. He saw a Padawan fall, gunned down where they stood and blasters held against the innocent. He thought of the boy with the sunlight of two suns still wreathed into his hair, and he forced his mind to turn away.

“No, Breha, we can’t”

She pulled back now almost out of the circle of his embrace. “We may never get another chance.”

Bail shook his head. “We don’t have a chance now. If anything happened, the Imperials would know. There is already suspicion cast on our people. We cannot risk more, not here on Alderaan, not in the palace, not like this.”

Breha looked like she wanted to argue, but his wife was a brilliant politician and queen. She understood her argument was mute before she even gave it voice. “They will destroy him.” She allowed herself at last to be taken into his arms again.

Bail sighed, nodding. “But not her, not our Leia.” He said and felt Breha’s arms tighten around him and heard the strength return to her as she answered back.

“No, they won’t.”

Chapter Text

Ever since coming to live with his father, there had been no secrets between him and Luke. Well, that was how Luke liked to think of it anyways. He knew in reality his father had to be keeping many things from him. But those were things that they never spoke of to begin with, so Luke had found his way of compartmentalizing them by pretending that his father just didn’t know about those topics either. Even if that wasn’t true. But there was nothing in Luke’s life that his father didn’t know. There had been things they had not spoken of, like his meetings with Mara early in their voyage. But this was different. This was about Luke’s mother. And Luke knew the topic caused his father pain, Luke knew that to ask would be to tear open a wound that had festered far longer than Luke could imagine. So he didn’t ask. But that didn’t mean Luke didn’t want to know.

So, Luke rationalized, this wasn’t a secret. Absolutely not. This was just gathering information. Information that Luke had every right to know. Gathering that information with Mara was just a smart way of going about it. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to involve his father, it was just that his father had more important things to do with his time right now than reliving painful memories when Luke could answer his own questions. It wasn’t like his father would be disappointed if he found out.

His palms were sweaty though, as he pushed open the massive doors that led the way to the room that held the archives on Alderaan. It wasn’t even like he wasn’t supposed to be here. Why was he nervous? Queen Breha had been so nice to him at dinner that when he ran into her after breakfast, he felt he could ask if he could use the library to study during his study hour. She had knelt to his level, smiled and ran a hand over his cheek even as she did, telling him that he was more than welcome. Of course, Luke realized, she probably didn’t think that eleven year old Luke would know how to access or slice into anything with higher authorization than he currently had. But she didn’t know that he planned to meet up with Mara and he highly doubted that even if she did know, that she would know Mara could get into most any system she wanted to. Or at least, Luke hoped Mara could. It would be a wasted trip probably if she couldn’t.

Taking one more breath he steadied himself, letting the Force soothe and surround him, before entered the grand royal library on Alderaan. Datapads lined most every wall in towering bookshelves that swept towards the ceiling. Little tables, nooks, and comfortable looking chairs were interspersed here and there. Tall, floor to ceiling windows curved before him, letting in the midday light diffusely as if through a frosted pane. Luke wasn’t sure he had ever seen so many datapads in his life. Of course, he had never bothered stopping by the library in the imperial palace.

Luke shook himself from his awe and walked further in, a satchel on his shoulder, presumably containing his school work, should he be stopped. But no one stopped him. There was hardly anyone. An elderly curator was at a large central desk close to the center. But Luke avoided him and he was either content to not bother the young boy or had not noticed him entirely. This suited Luke just fine. He had agreed to meet Mara near the east wing of the archives and he did so.

She was already waiting for him, dressed in a pale white tunic that made her red hair stand out vividly in its twin braids that were twined together down her back. The clothes were nicer than ones he typically saw her wear and looked a little familiar even. It was with a start that Luke realized that her clothes were of traditional Alderaanian cut and resembled the clothes he had been seeing on many of the locals. He didn’t ask where she had gotten them, for all he knew she had brought them with her and had just never worn the set before. But he smiled a little at the cleverness. Unless anyone knew her on sight, they would likely assume she was a local girl herself, some member of the palace staff or household.

She nodded at the satchel on his back and Luke slung it over, pulling out one of her own datapads that she had given him last night, and they set to work. The library was quiet, so talking was hard to do freely. But Mara’s fingers flew over the datapad. Luke had not noticed the cord around her neck until she tugged the long strand of what he had originally thought to be some corded necklace free and reveled it to be a connection cable. She plugged it neatly into the datapad before accessing the port near their nook. And suddenly her datapad was alive, pouring in vast quantities of dates and files. Mara’s eyes were electric as she took it all in.

“This is incredible.” She breathed. Luke squirmed, coming to sit closer to the edge of his seat, attention rapt. “Most of these aren’t even in the Imperial Databases.”

“And?” Luke asked, “are you finding anything.”

Mara shook her head, “there is mention of some kind of court preceding here. A one ‘Anakin Skywalker’ was mixed up in it. Mentions of evidence tampering. Some kind of bombing in what’s now the imperial palace. There is mention of an apprentice to a high ranking general, but most of these files are missing key components. A presiding senator acted as legal council.” Here, Mara turned the datapad to face him, “Padme Amidala it says. Have you heard the name before? Maybe your father mentioned a case with a senator as legal counsel?”

Luke stared at the name and shook his head mutely. A name, two little words. Yet words had power, names had meaning. Somehow he felt drawn to this one, he wondered about the senator who would choose to stand up for some apprentice. They must have been really special. “What do we know about the senator?” Luke asked at last.

Mara keyed a query into her datapad, her brow creasing. “It’s strange, there’s a fair amount of information here, but it’s skewed, like someone went through and took out pages in her autobiography.”

“What makes you say that?” Luke asked, rubbing his thumb across the wood of their table.

“Lots of erratic information for one.” Mara continued. “There are reports of her showing up all over the place. Like Geonosis, Mandalore,” her eyes met him, “Tatooine. Says here she was instrumental in rescuing Jabba’s son when he was kidnapped years ago.”

Luke tried not to think much about Tatooine these days, especially the Hutts. He wondered why this senator would work to help them. He wondered what she had thought about that planet and all that happened there.

“What about a connection to the general? Anything?”.

Mara shook her head, “That’s what I mean, half of these missions she is reported to be on were not strictly diplomatic, she would have had a military escort. But there are few, if any reported names. The 501^st division comes up a lot. And guess who their general was.”

Luke didn’t have to answer, it just felt too convenient. It all felt a little like it made too much sense and yet not enough. His father couldn’t have been a Jedi, could he? And if he was a Jedi, a Jedi that fought as general for the Republic, why would he help the Empire? It made no sense. Luke voiced these concerns to Mara.

“It is a little too suspicious, the missing information, the lines cut out of the stories.” Mara admitted. “If I could find a picture of this general, would that help?”

Luke wanted to say no, that there was no way this Jedi Hero was his father. But He glanced once more at the name of the senator. Padme Amidala. He pictured Queen Breha, her gentle, almost sad smile, he felt Aunt Beru brushing back his hair with the tender words ‘Love you Luke’, he tried to correlate these images, tried to wonder how they might relate to the woman who had given him life. The name somehow seemed to click, it resonated with him and it sang in the Force, a sad and distant melody. But there were undertones, within the discord, he knew somewhere, there had once been joy. He couldn’t bring himself to answer Mara out loud, but he nodded.

He would have thought Mara’s line of questioning would continue. But in a fluid movement, one Luke was quickly realizing was made to look natural, she had brushed the datapad into her lap under the table where she and Luke sat, hidden and out of sight from a blue and silver astromech as it came around the corner.

Luke watched in fascination as the droid trundled up towards their table, whistling a greeting. Luke grinned back, his love for droids abating any questions that might have arisen from this one’s inexplicable presence.

“R2-D2, huh? It’s great to meet you, I’m Luke Skywalker.”

Under the table, Mara kicked him and he spun to her, annoyed “Hey, what was that for?”

Mara, whose face had been fixed in a glare just sighed, shaking her head but before she could speak the droid was back to its beeps and whistles of binary language that Luke had spent so many hours painstakingly learning over the years. He wondered fleetingly why this droid was here. Did Alderaanians use them as archivists? It was a puzzling thought.

“No,” Mara replied to the droid curtly. “thank you but we have everything we need.”

The droid, R2-D2 beeped a string of indignant tones as Mara made to stand and he blocked her way. “Cut it out!” Mara tried to side step but the droid was surprisingly agile.

In a moment, the droid had plugged into the terminal and there was nothing either Luke or Mara could have done to prevent it. And then in a moment more, the droid was gone, out of sight with nothing but the distant sound of treads against marble floor and trilling whistles to be heard.

“Okay…” Luke looked after the strange little droid. “That was weird.”

“Yeah,” Mara replied, but her voice was distant, she had pulled the datapad back out from under the table and plugged it into the terminal where the droid had been moments before. Her eyes flashed fire at what she saw, an electric intensity like the snap hiss of a lightsaber glowing green rather than his father’s red. The image it cast in Luke’s mind spoke to him, evoking an image of a sleek blade of light and the design of a hilt. He shook his head, storing the details of the schematics that had burned across his mind for later.

“I think…” Mara shook her head, “it doesn’t make any sense but I think that droid may have just helped us out.”

“What?” Luke leaned across the table, “how, why?”

Mara tossed him a glare from over the rim of the datapad, “Keep your voice down.” But she turned the datapad around to face him.

On the screen, a holo played, showing what must have either been the setting or rising sun. over an eerily familiar lake. Two figures stood, silhouetted against the radiant light, their features lost in the long shadows they cast. But it was obvious what this was.

A wedding.

“Are there names?”Luke asked, barely above a whisper, barely able to breathe.

Mara shook her head again in the negative. “Not for the man. But for the woman…”

There, next to a time stamp in the lower right corner of the screen, was the name Padme Naberrie.

Luke felt suddenly light headed, like the archives were spinning about him. A wedding, the senator with no official marriage licenses on record was married. She had been married in the Lake district, and oh stars did that balcony look so familiar. If he closed his eyes, Luke could step into the holo and right onto the cool marble floor to walk down all the way to the lake without once opening his eyes to see where he was going. “Does this mean…” his voice sounded small and far away.

“It doesn’t mean anything. Not until we know more.” Mara said, switching off the datapad and reaching across the table to take his hand. “Hey,” she spoke, compelling him to look up at her. “We don’t know what this means yet. We have to be careful.”

“Right…” Luke nodded, eyes fixing on the top of her red gold hair. Had his father been a Jedi? A hero? What had his Aunt and Uncle known about this, if anything? And his mother…Mara had described it like missing pages being taken out of the senator’s file. But Luke realized, maybe fully realized for the first time, that there were missing pages in his story too. So, so many, and the places they had been ripped out ached.

“Come on, if that droid reports what we were doing, or what we just saw, we could be in big trouble, we need to get out of here.” Mara was speaking, gently pulling him to his feet and guiding him out of the Archives. But all Luke could think in the back of his mind was of a secret wish he had harbored in his heart since he was a child, right next to wanting to be a pilot. He wanted to be someone who protected the galaxy, defended the innocent, like that hero he and Mara had just read about. At last, that childhood dream had a name, and it echoed in his head like a clarion.

He wanted to be a Jedi, and now he couldn’t’ help but amend the dream and think, a Jedi, like his father before him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke and Mara both would have liked to have said that the remainder of their time on Alderaan was informative if not fun. But unfortunately neither could say that either were true about their remaining days planetside. They didn’t get a chance to go back to the archives but Mara promised to look into the holo the strange droid had apparently left for them. Her urgings of caution always followed each such promise, a quiet entreaty that so echoed the one from that night back on the Executer that Luke couldn’t help but listen.

Say nothing about what we saw.

So he didn’t and the unanswered questions tugged at his soul. But it was obvious the answers they sought were not on Alderaan, but a road was laid before them, pointing to the stars, pointing towards Naboo. So it was with some relief that the children boarded the shuttle that would take them back to the Executor and once more into the stars.

It was a relief echoed by one Bail Organa as he waved a hearty wave next to his brilliant, beautiful wife. They watched together, hand in hand as the shuttle rose into the sky, became smaller and smaller, and all at once winked out of view.

It was only then that he felt like he could breathe again. His shoulders visibly slumped and suddenly Breha was at his side, supporting him, loving him, in ways he could only hope and pray he was doing for her in return.

“They are gone, my love.” Her gentle words held a fire behind them and it warmed him inside out. But still the cold lingered on his skin. The cold resided in every memory of a hopeful smile on a young face with blonde hair half covering blue eyes. The cold resided with the sensation of hair rising on the back of his neck at anything that even remotely sounded like that breathing he could hear even now in his mind if he let the memory come. The cold resided in the enigma of a red haired child standing resolute beside the boy.

The boy. How had he failed so much?

No. Bail Organa told himself emphatically. He had not failed. Not entirely. And he would not. For this reason he waited a total of a standard day and night cycle after the departure of their imperial guests before making the all important comm call.

It spun, it beeped, it twirled the blue connection light before him three times, three agonizing seconds as he imagined the worse. And then there was a connection! “Hello my friend.” Organa released the last of the breath he had been holding the last seven days.

“Hello there.” A still thickly accented core voice responded under the hood of his cloak. “I trust all is well?”

“As well as it can be. How do you find the valley lakes this time of year? Breha and I long to see them ourselves. Soon.” It was a pass phrase, one prearranged and preset the meaning preordained.

A smile formed on the face of the one on the other side of the comm. “Thriving, in these beautiful climates. I know you will see them soon. I have to go now.”

Organa saw the other person reach to flick the comm off, but he spoke before the other man had a chance to complete the action. “My friend, I thank you for your help once again. I knew you would find the perfect retreat.”.

The man on the other end of the comm understood the words perfectly. He nodded and bowed, “Of course. I know you will love seeing what I see very soon.” And with that, the transmission ended.

Slumping into the plush chair in his office, Organa scrubbed a hand over his face, down his nose and over the skin that was growing rough in need of a shave. The fingertips that had traced over his eyes came back wet, but he felt the smile that had caused the tears to curve around his cheeks.

He understood the words perfectly too. Leia, his Leia, would be home and safe in his and Breha’s arms tonight. In that, he comforted himself, he had not failed.

The peaceful silence that had fallen over him in those moments was shattered by his comm beeping and not just any comm. His encrypted comm. The channel that only two people in the galaxy had. And since he had just hung up with the one…his heart clenched as he picked it up, knowing the conversation he had been dreading for the past year was finally at hand.

He thumbed the connection open and said the appropriate pass phrases and received the appropriate return ones before it began. He had expected a storm, instead, he got a whisper.

“His name is really Luke Skywalker?” The quiet voice he hadn’t heard much from in the past few months came over the comms.

Bail allowed himself a moment to breathe before he answered what he knew would be an unsatisfactory response. “Yes.”

There was a much longer pause, a shuddering feeling that even Bail Organa could understand without the Force and heedless of the distance as the voice responded finally “He was on Alderaan.”

Bail sighed, grateful at least Breha wasn’t here for this. This conversation that promised to be nothing but difficult. “I know.”

“He was on Alderaan. For three days.”

“I know.” Bail replied. What else could he say?

“Why in the name of all things good didn’t you call me?” And there it was, the built up hurt and anger, the pain this caller had channeled for so long into helping others now breaking over them.

Bail could practically hear the crashing waves. “Could you have promised me you wouldn’t have tried to take him back? Could you have promised not to risk everything, put my people in danger, my family in danger?”

There was a moment of quiet static once more over the line. “I could have found a way. You know if anyone could it would be me.”

And Bail didn’t have a retort to that. A small voice in the back of his head nagged at him, saying that she was right. There might have been a chance. And he could very well have doomed them all by not taking it, all because he was afraid.

A longer pause followed by a sigh and then, “Just tell me if it’s true.”

Bail closed his eyes, picturing the blonde hair and the bright blue eyes that still smiled. How long would those eyes keep smiling? “You don’t need me to tell you, anyone who has seen a holo of him could know.”

And the storm was back. “Not anyone who’s seen a holo knew his parents. I need to hear it. From you.”

Bail wanted in that moment to lie, like he had convinced himself to lie to this one friend so many times before. But no, not with this, not when there was nothing anyone could do now. “Yes, he looks so much like them both.”

“You should have called me!” The voice on the other end spoke with their conviction not in volume, but with a growl behind their words and that was almost worse.

And suddenly Bail was afraid. What if the caller decided to take matters into their own hands? What if they tried something very, very foolish in an attempt to sway their grief? “Whatever you’re thinking,” he began, gripping the comm, “it’s no use. The Empire has him. You would be throwing yourself at an army.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” The response came back as a quip with a bite at its edges.

“You’ll get yourself killed. People are counting on you. The Alliance is counting on you.”

“And who is Padme counting on to protect her son?”

Bail felt like he had been slapped and couldn’t bring himself to respond before the caller continued, a fire in their voice. “Tell me I’m wrong. I was at her funeral; she was pregnant when she died. That is her son that was in your house…and Anakin’s.”

Bail heard the wetness creeping into that strong voice and it nearly broke him too, memories of that night playing back in his mind in a flash. “Their legacy,” And it hurt to say ‘their’ knowing what Anakin had become even if the caller did not. “is more than their child. We protect that legacy by keeping the Rebellion alive.”

“I can’t accept that he is lost.” The voice conceded. But Bail wasn’t foolish enough to see this as defeat. He could almost hear the planning taking place right now.

“If you do this, the Alliance cannot support you. We are not ready for a full front attack on the Empire. And that is what this would be.”

A huff of annoyance came clear as daylight over the comm. “You’re not the only ones who hate the Empire.”

Bail felt his heart breaking. This sounded suspiciously like goodbye. “Don’t do this.” He pleaded again. “You’ll get yourself killed. You’re my friend, the galaxy needs you. The Alliance needs Fulcrum.”

There was a lingering pause, the words striking a chord, but Bail knew his words had not had the impact he had hoped for as the caller finally replied. “And my teacher needs me to save his son. I have to try.”

The call disconnected.

Chapter Text

Back in the swirling blue of hyperspace, it was with a somewhat heavy heart that the children aboard the Executor continued their travels amongst the stars. For it was nearing the end of their voyage. Luke would be returning to the lake district with his father for a few short weeks before returning to school, at least part time, in person. Mara, on the other hand, was Coruscant bound for the foreseeable future. And they both knew that once she was gone, there was little hope of contacting the other. Not, that is, if they didn’t want the Emperor knowing every spoken word. She would travel with them to Naboo and then catch a shuttle the Emperor had prearranged out of Theed, the capital city.

Luke was sprawled in his usual chair in the Solar Sunrise, Mara in what had become hers near the comm panel. She was wrapped in her tan cloak, flicking absently through a datapad. Luke stared up at the ceiling, the only sound made between the two was the creaking of their respective chairs.

He wanted to ask what Mara was working on. But the deep knit of her brows and the way her eyes became focused like lasers as she read told him she was working. He knew better by now than to interrupt. But his father, on the other hand, had no such qualms.

“Luke, Jade, I know you are in there.” His voice through the helmet reverberated and made Luke jump. Mara stilled, her hand freezing over her datapad, but that was the only visible representation she gave to being at all startled.

“I should go see what he wants.” Luke said, rising to his feet.

Mara followed in kind, “He asked for both of us.”

So side by side they shuffled out of the cockpit and down the ramp onto the hangar floor. Vader stood there, imposing in his armor, arms folded and for all intents and purposes looked as if he might be about to scold the children. But Luke knew the suit was designed to intimidate and the sense of the Force flowing from his father was more resigned than angry. He hoped Mara was picking up on this too. She seemed fine, despite the usual animosity she always projected around Vader.

“There has been…a change of plans.” Luke’s father began.

Luke bounced on the soles of his feet, eyes flicking to Mara. “Yeah?”

“The Emperor has contacted the ship and told us that Jade’s shuttle has been delayed due to a hyperdrive malfunction.” Luke tried not to role his eyes at the way he said Jade. In private or when they were in smaller crowds, his father had taken to calling her Mara. But there were appearances to maintain, or that is what his father said. If the Emperor was to suspect the status quo (whatever that meant, Luke had wondered when his father explained this to him) remained, his dislike of Mara had to appear to still be an issue too.

His father continued, “As such, he has requested that Jade be permitted as a guest at the lake house.”

Luke dug his nails into the soft part of his palm, biting his lip to repress the smile that threatened to spill over and split his face. Mara wasn’t leaving right away once they got to Naboo! He would be able to show her his home and the lake and his model ships and the books his dad had gotten for him, oh and the hangar where they could work on the Solar Sunrise some more! Maybe they could even go swimming!

A glance to Mara on his left showed well, almost perfectly schooled features. She bowed at the waist towards his father and as she did Luke caught the glint in her eye. “You are a gracious host, Lord Vader.”

Vader made a noise between a grumble and a snort. “The Emperor requests you contact him directly, but has instructed me,” and he said these words as if they were bitter in his mouth, “to tell you not to expect the shuttle for a minimum of four days.”

Now Luke was openly smiling. Four days. They had all the time in the world!

“Then I best be doing that. With your leave?” She asked, inclining her head as she straightened.

“You may go.” Vader huffed, sweeping his cloak behind him as he marched between his son and the girl before ascending the bridge into the Solar Sunrise itself.

Luke looked after Mara then back where his father had gone. Mara was already maneuvering out of the hangar bay but she tossed her head back once more, their eyes meeting for a second. We’ll talk later. She said in his mind before leaving his line of sight.

Luke turned and followed after his father.

The blast shields were up by the time Luke reentered the cockpit. His father, shielded from any potential outside views by the shields covering he window, had removed his helmet.

“I know you are happy by my news, my son.” His father said in a quiet voice, one gloved hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I am.” Luke let himself relax, feeling his emotions rather than suppressing them. “I’m happy to have more time with Mara.”

Now his father met his gaze. It was a heavy stare, one laced with meaning that made Luke stiffen.

“She’s my friend.” Luke said in retort to the silent communication. “Whether she’s the Emperor’s creature or not. You admitted yourself she wasn’t who you thought she was!”

Vader shook his head. “My son, your heart is bigger than you know. I don’t want to see it broken. Mara…she may not be all that I thought, but that doesn’t mean her loyalty is to you exclusively. She was raised by the Emperor and he has fostered fear, distrust, and animosity in her towards me.”

Luke bit his lip, frowning at his father’s words. “She said he rescued her from becoming an inquisitor?”

Vader looked away, out towards the blast shielded windows. “She would never have become an inquisitor. They do not recruit children.”

“What are they?” Luke asked.

“A mistake.” Vader snapped, hand gripping his mask so tight Luke feared the plastoid may snap.

“She seemed…she seemed…not afraid of them, but something.” It was a matter Luke had not really puzzled out.

“Remember when I spoke to you, about the Force, about the Jedi?” Vader turned back to his son. Luke nodded eagerly in response.

“The inquisitors are made to hunt them, kill them, or turn them to their own ways.” The way Vader spoke was harsh, blunt, and unforgiving.

Luke sucked in a breath. How could this be? A personal force of his father’s trained to kill Jedi. But his father said he would walk in the Light and that Jedi walked in the Light. Did that mean they would kill him? Mara said Vader led the inquisitors. What did that mean for them then?

“They served a purpose as objects of my anger. Back when I saw through the lies of the Jedi and knew them to be corrupt. But that can change, you have shown me that, Luke. And so they have outlived their purpose.”

“Are you going to kill them then?” Luke’s voice was small, he hunched his shoulders, his eyes on the floor. This trip had taught him much, much about the galaxy, the Empire, and those that lived in it. But it had also told him much about his father. He was learning, learning by how people reacted to him, responded to him. He knew his father to be dangerous. He was now learning that to many, he was someone to be feared and not in the way that Uncle Owen had said when talking about loving respect.

A gloved hand came under his chin, tilting it gently to meet his father’s gaze. “Is that what you think I should do?”

Luke thought about it a moment. Mara was afraid of so little. She wasn’t afraid of the dark when they played hide and seek. She wasn’t afraid of heights when they had practiced jumping together. She was not afraid of the Force or his power to wield it. But she was afraid of the inquisitors. That he knew. He recalled the flash of vision he had felt in that moment between Mara and his father. Jagged red blades framed against an inky sky. Pain and suffering, so much suffering, and finally broken pieces of what once had been something more, never to be the same. The dark tower looming above the water. Maybe it would be better if they were gone. Maybe it would be better for everyone. But they were people right? A little reminder said. Maybe they could be helped. Maybe he could help change them from whatever that twisted image had shown him. Maybe Mara could help him. After all, it was Aunt Beru who told him he had to face his fears when he had been small and afraid of the dark as a little boy sleeping in his own room for the first time.

He remembered back to how Mara had called that Clone Wars general. The Hero With No Fear. Maybe he could be a little like that. “I think you shouldn’t hurt them anymore.” Because Luke knew behind Mara’s fear of the inquisitors’ brutality was a fear of their leader. And Luke didn’t want that for his father.

Vader stiffened, stepping back a little from Luke. “Maybe they can do good, find Jedi and other Force sensitives and give them somewhere safe to go, like you did for me?”

Vader smiled a little, running a hand through his hair as he regarded his son. “Maybe, maybe that could work.” Now his face clouded again as his mind returned to the original topic of their conversation. “You, my son, know our end goal. Mara’s may be different. She may not understand how the Emperor has used her.”

Luke wanted to protest, to defend his friend, but in his heart he did wonder. Mara may have voiced disagreements with members of the court, even the Imperial Navy. But never the Emperor. But in that moment, Luke couldn’t bring himself to even imagine a future that didn’t have him and Mara on the same side. Even against the empire. Only time would tell though and Luke determined in that time to be the best friend to her he could be. And in time, maybe that would be enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her name was Mara Jade and she was ten and on her first real mission. Sure she had had smaller ones, into the court, even once into the upper sections of the great city planet on her home world, Coruscant. But this was the first time that she was on her own, trusted with a real mission. And she had already failed. She had been sent to observe and report back. A simple enough mission really, she had done it before to several high ranking members of the court. It shouldn’t have even been a problem. But that had all changed with one small encounter, one that should have barely stood out in her mind. But in her heart, a quiet corner of it where she remained a memory of something long forgotten, buried under tutors and training and practice and the ever present demand for perfection. A little corner of her still pulsed with the heartbeat of a person that had once been and maybe still was.

Mara Jade was a child of the Empire, taken in by the good graces of the Emperor himself. She had the best schooling, access to the best libraries, tutors to teach her the complexities of court life and the skills to navigate them. At ten she was good enough to spar with the guard in their flowing red capes. She really did have everything. That is what she told herself when she was woken by another nightmare.

She had always hated the color red, not red like her hair. No, that she liked, it was not an overly common color in the galaxy and even though she was taught to blend in, she liked the little part of her that made her uniquely her. Uniquely Mara. But when she rose from her bed, shaking and shivering and pulling for the tan cloak she always kept with her, she reminded herself that she really should be grateful. Knowing she wasn’t going to fall asleep again, she had made her way to the hangar deck. Ships were something in which to take comfort and refuge. You could go anywhere with a ship. If you wanted to go back somewhere or away from someone, you could. A ship meant freedom.

Mara really did have everything. So why did her nightmares fall under a backdrop of deep crimson? Why did her memory begin with a scream? They were questions that went unheeded, shoved firmly back into the little corner of her heart that refused to remember. She was on a mission. Her first. And before it had begun, it had failed. And it had failed the moment she met him.

When she met him, met Luke Skywalker on that first night, she felt the same as she had since meeting the boy in person, or well, observing him through the ventilation shaft. That, well…that hadn’t been a mission. It had been practice, that is what she told herself, but it hadn’t been ordered practice. But the feeling of enigma still remained as she watched him. He felt blank, like a polished silver box. The surface was glassy, but there was something underneath, something she couldn’t quite see.

Her master had told her that he was not sensitive to the Force like she was. But she wondered if he doubted this, she wondered if that was why he had given her this mission. But reaching out to him now, she felt the same glassy reflection of herself come back to her. A blank slate, not just blank, a deflection. Which should have been her first warning. It should have told her to stay away.

But she had taken what she had seen at face value. A prince, but a malleable one. One she knew her master would seek to mold and create along his own designs, despite his lack of skill or perhaps because of it.

And then came that fateful night. And his shields had dropped and Mara felt like that time she did when the Emperor had ordered live ammunition be used in her training and that time a flashbang had gone off to close. She was blinded by his light, blinded by the brilliance and the noise, like a floodgate being thrown open. She wondered after how he could have possibly contained it all for so long.

And then he had come. In all his state, black billowing cape and all and she had thought in that moment only of Luke. Memories of red played across her mind, memories of when her master had ordered her to observe the inquisitors for a day’s training. Memories of crimson blades and crimson blood, armor streaked in red in stark relief against black. Memories of guardsmen and frantic cries, an echoing scream, and something dear fading away so fast. She had shaken the memories back, one word penetrating her thoughts.

Luke.

It couldn’t happen to Luke.

Kind Luke, funny Luke, the boy who helped mouse droids and loved ships. And in that moment Mara didn’t think, she just acted. It went against everything she had been taught, everything she had been meant to do on that mission. But it was pure instinct born of a part of Mara she herself barely recalled and would not think about again until Luke would ask her that one fateful question.

What’s your family like?

And in that moment she had failed. She stepped in front of Luke, ready to defend him from the looming figure that she had thought to be the monster under her bed all this time, the reason she and Luke shared so many sleepless nights. But it wasn’t until she stood there and faced him that she saw the memories, the emotions, didn’t line up. He might have been the shadow in her corner, but he wasn’t the monster under her bed that plagued her dreams. He was just another glimpse of something worse, but standing before him Mara Jade at ten knew there were things beyond any of them all, things that were much, much worse.

And then miraculously, she lived through that night, she had faced her fears and found, of all things, some strange ally. Or at least an offer of one. Mara didn’t think she would ever trust Darth Vader enough to take him up on it. But she had gained a friend in Luke and she had failed her mission. For one impossible choice made for one impossible boy. When Vader had posed his question to her she had been forced to question everything. Her training what she knew of the empire, everything. And she knew the fate she’d chose for Luke in a split second.

So now here she stood, Mara Jade at ten in a place she never should have been, on the lake shores of Naboo under a crystal blue sky. A green hill sloped before her down towards the water where it became sand and then soft as it was kissed by the waves. Luke had run ahead of her, sun glinting off of blonde curls, bouncing as he kicked off one shoe, then the next.

“Come on, Mara!” He grinned, stumbling a little as he ran backwards for a second, beckoning her onwards with that smile on his face.

A serving droid appeared, collecting the shoes and overcoat that Luke had discarded before coming over to Mara herself.

“May I take your bags, Mistress Jade?” It inquired of her.

Mara blinked a moment, feeling the presence of Darth Vader behind her, watching her. “You know my name?”

“Of course, Mistress Jade.” The droid replied. “I was alerted to your presence and told to ensure your comfort. Please, if you require anything, you need only ask.”

Mara did not turn back, did not look at the dark presence behind her. But she nodded, and handed her bags to the droid. But she wrapped her tan cloak around her.

Behind her she felt the presence of Darth Vader moving towards the house, still watchful, still careful. Before her Luke was now knee deep in the waves, trouser legs rolled up as far as they would go and still wet at the hems. “There is a place we can watch the wading birds down a ways!” He shouted when he saw her watching him “you in?”

Mara glanced once at the droid as it trundled its way up the walk, towards the sweeping patio that looked over the lake, and then back towards Luke. It was high summer on Naboo, and there were no wild flowers in the fields at the moment. All around her was the blue of the sky and the green of the grass and the tan of the stone that made the house behind her. She could still feel the presence of Vader at the back of her mind. But here, for this moment, there wasn’t any red to hang over the world and the memories were dim again, but not in the way they were when she trained. This was different. There was a darkness here, she felt it seeping at the corners, a pain so deep it might as well have been built into the stones. But there was also light, a light so bright that it made the darkness feel small and far, far away. Mara couldn’t explain it, but for the first time since she could remember, she felt the light surround her, like the arms of someone kind embracing her in a hug. Unbidden to her mind came the name of one Padme Amidala and her mind darted back to the research she and Luke had done on Alderaan. Eyes glancing back towards the patio, a flicker of recognition swept gentle fingers over her mind, overlaying with images she had seen in the holo of a wedding after that strange Astromech droid had shown up. Wasn’t this Padme person from Naboo? It was a good question.

But one for another day.

Right now there was the sun and the sky and the glistening water before her. She undid the clasps of her tan cloak, letting it fall behind her and the wind caught it as she ran, hair coming out of her braid. She shouted after Luke on the beach, “Hang on a minute, I’ll come with you!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late the following night that Vader sat in his home, the one he shared with his son. His son who had spent the day playing in the lake with the girl the Emperor himself was raising in the palace. He was trying not to think of her like that anymore, and to Vader’s surprise, it was getting easier. The more he saw her with Luke, the harder it was to see the assassin Palpatine so desperately wanted. He wondered at his master’s plan here, in keeping the girl in the Lake District of Naboo for a few days. He knew it to be a plan, there was nothing else it could be. There wasn’t any other shuttle that could take her back to Coruscant? He knew that the Emperor had been trying to get eyes in here ever since Luke arrived. But there was a tenuous balance between his master and him. At the moment, they needed each other, and so he couldn’t just send in a spy and be done with it. Except he had done it. He had sent Mara.

What was his end game here?

As if on cue, he felt the brushing of a quiet whisper at his mind. He turned to the doorway of the kitchen in which he sat at the table. She stood there, her tan cape around her shoulders, dressed for sleep but wearing her boots. Vader wondered if she was seeking him out directly or had planned to go outside.

If she were seeking him out, it would be a first. As far as Vader knew, Mara still despised him. It surprised him as it had since his revelation of her that the feeling was not mutual.

What she said in her strange, quietly confident way that seemed misplaced on one so young, caused him to stand so abruptly that his chair fell back.

“You’re Anakin Skywalker, aren’t you?”.

His hands clenched into fists at his side. It was hard to see Mara as the assassin in training anymore. But that just meant it was easier to see other things, and that name on her lips brought images to mind of another red head with a core accent and a way of saying things like they knew better and best. But he reminded himself that she was just a girl, and Luke’s friend at that. It took great effort to reign in his temper. And yet his voice still came out as a growl.

“How do you know that name?” Had the Emperor told her?

In her defense, she didn’t flinch back from him, she stood her ground like the night he had found her defending Luke. “There are reports of Anakin Skywalker acting as a guard to a senator from this planet.”

Her words, every syllable felt like a knife to his soul. But still she continued “They stayed together here for some months. Records on Naboo are mostly encrypted, but a records check shows a marriage with fake credentials around the same time, taking place in this very house. I couldn’t think why else someone like you would choose to raise their son here.”

He was silent, hands clenched into fists. How dare she mention his angel, his Padme? How dare she even be looking into her past? His past? Their past? But her next words doused the flame of rage.

“Luke wants to know who his mother is, he deserves to know.”

Of course. Luke, his Luke, his angel’s Luke. He felt cold at the thought that the boy knew nothing about her, that her precious son didn’t even know her name. And here stood the girl with hair the same color as the one who had turned his angel against him, the girl being raised by the Emperor to be all that could vex Vader. And it all felt like the Force was laughing at him. He sucked in a breath.

“You are Anakin Skywalker.”

“That name,” Vader seethed through clenched teeth, “no longer holds any meaning for me.”

“It does for Luke.” She said it so simply, like that could turn back the clock and change anything.

“Another thing to put into your report to the Emperor?”. He turned in time to see her flinch. And a pang of guilt, a concept that was starting to become less foreign every day, stabbing at him.

“I-I wouldn’t, I’m not going to do that.” And Vader knew as she said those words that she wasn’t lying. And for all the things he had felt surrounding Mara Jade, anger, fear, distaste, and then with her friendship to Luke fear of her and the hope to secure her as an ally. All had been emotions shaped in thoughts of how she stood in his way, one way or another. But now a new emotion was added. He feared for her. If the Emperor ever found out what happened on this trip, in this Lake House, Luke would likely be killed, or worse. And it was something he and Mara shared in their knowledge of the galaxy at large. There were things much worse than death, things they would neither of them like to witness Luke suffer. And if the Emperor ever found out…

He shook his head. Luke was all that mattered. He shouldn’t care what happened to the girl. But an echo of her words resonated in his mind. She mattered to Luke too. And it was with a blaze in his mind the Force sang. He was going to have to protect her too. He would have groaned with the irritation of it all. Why had things had to become so complicated? When had he ever asked for this?

She remained silent through his own internal struggle before turning on her heels and marching from the room, saying one more parting remark over her shoulders. “Luke deserves to know who his mother is.”

Vader was silent for some time after she left, he wasn’t sure how long he sat in the kitchen. But after a while he rose and made his way towards the fresher off of his own chambers and faced himself in the mirror. There were scars there, scars from sabers and from blasters and from fire. Streaks like lighting traced part of his face and he traced them then with a mechanical hand, wincing at the memory they held.

Anakin Skywalker.

The name felt strange in his mind. He felt it like one might feel an old coat. It didn’t quite fit anymore, it grabbed in places it shouldn’t have and hung loose where it should have fit well. It was a cover on a book that it didn’t belong to anymore. It held no meaning or context to the pages within. It was a sham, a weakening covering, a remnant of a story that had been a life that didn’t exist anymore and never would again. It held no meaning.

It does for Luke

Force, that girl, why had it seen fit to throw her into his and Luke’s path? He could not escape the feeling that she was a balance for their futures, a choice she would make might very well hinge the outcome of the galaxy as they knew it. The choices of one could very well be what they would all live or die by. She was just a child now, but he had been just a child once too and the galaxy was forever changed by his choices. She would perhaps play a subtler role than storming a temple or waging a war. The name Mara Jade might never even appear in an official record, but Vader knew that there would be a choice one day, and Mara would have to make it and it could spell the end for them all.

But right now she was a child, he reached out with his mind and confirmed she slept in the room in the guest quarters not far from his own son, his son who slept securely. Their fates were intertwined whatever may come. And whatever may come, Vader knew that until that choice presented itself, he would have to protect them both.

Ever in motion, the future is. Those words made bile rise to his throat as he remembered the one who had spoken them.

He was done trying to force the future to meet his will, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t work to shape it just a little. And he knew if it was to work, it had to come from the Light. Let Palpatine mold the girl, shape her into what he wanted her to be. Vader smiled as a plan formed, yes let her training continue. She was strong in the Force and under the Emperor’s careful gaze would surely grow stronger, more resourceful. A wonderful ally. But let her be the Emperor’s supposed eyes and ears into Vader and Luke’s lives. Let these be the little stolen moments that maybe, just maybe, he could carve out for the girl who had never been allowed to just be a child. There would be the Lake House and there would be other trips too. He mentally laid plans to take both children into Theed tomorrow. He saw how she had smiled, how she had played with Luke. She would have more moments like that one, even if it irked him to share his son. Vader told himself it was all for his plan, an ally at court for Luke, his own eyes and ears as it were. But memories were resurfacing through cracks in armor, memories of a golden haired boy who had longed for the simplicity of a childhood he never knew, the quiet longing of a once gentle heart. A wish that had never been granted.

Yes, the Emperor would have his assassin, but here, maybe just here, she could be a kid, and maybe that kid would grow in time to realize that she had a choice before that all important choice. And perhaps she would choose differently than a boy who hadn’t done the same.

And the Force sang as Vader sought sleep in a way it hadn’t by the Lake in many, many years.

Chapter Text

It was near the end of midday and nearing the afternoon when Vader gathered the children near the garage where the transports were kept. He had not spoken to either all day, their meals taken care of by the serving droids and left to their own devices the rest of the day. He felt the curiosity from Luke, both at his father’s absence and at the abrupt summing. He felt in equal measures the trepidation from Mara, rippling through the Force. She still didn’t trust him, a part of Vader doubted she ever would. He hoped maybe what would transpire in the rest of the day would help that just a little. But his focus was not on the girl, but on his son. This was for his son, he reminded himself as he steeled himself for the pain to come.

“We are going out.” He said, choking back the emotions. “Strap in securely, this will be a fast ride.” He gave his instructions, entering the driver’s seat of the speeder, not even looking back to make sure he was obeyed. He knew he was.

It was a few hours by transport to Theed and even farther into the heart of the Capital where the palace sat in all its splendor. Green mixed with gold and glass shining from the domed roof pricked at Vader’s heart. He had been through Theed many times since Luke came into his life. But he never allowed himself to look, never gave himself that small ounce of a memory of happier times. He couldn’t bare the pain, or allow himself to sink into the comfort of the warm memories of a happier time. He focused on the drive and the traffic. When he could, he avoided the city altogether.

But today was not that day. Today was not a day for avoidance. Vader needed to face the memories, sink into them and dive deep. For his son, for their son.

He spared a moment to glance in the rearview mirror. Luke’s eyes were filled with rapturous wonder, staring with the sun in his eyes out at the glittering city shining as prettily as every as they sped past. It was as if all of Theed knew that the son of its most beloved leader was coming home, coming to know it fully, and focused all of its energy on making itself resplendent before him. Mara, of course, was watching Vader and Luke simultaneously.

It wasn’t like someone could stop Darth Vader and his company from landing anywhere they wanted. But today, he went through official channels, actually parking the speeder some distance from the castle. The walk to the palace itself was quiet on Vader’s part. And though the city was noisy with the clang and bustle of machines, transports and speeders, droids and the voices of organics mingling as one on the streets, a hush had settled on the little party. Vader, his dark cloak flowing around him like an inky Corellian Shark swimming in a sea of tropical fish. Mara and Luke trailed behind, dressed in their Imperial Grey and talking in low voices to one another. Heightening his senses in the force, he heard Luke asking questions in rapid fire about the city and Mara answering in hushed replies as best she could.

He shrugged his shoulders in his coat. Luke, asking questions about the city, the city he should know well after a year. The city that a woman with dark curls and a warm smile should have been able to share with him.

She had loved this place, this whole planet.

He subconsciously increased his pace. He should have done this sooner. Why hadn’t he done this sooner?

They entered the palace with little fanfare. It wasn’t like they were expected. So, there was no one to great Darth Vader and the two children when they arrived. But that also meant there was no one to stop them. The guards hadn’t even tried.

Of course that meant it was now known that they were in the palace. But Vader knew where he was going, and shook off the quickly scrambling aids who tripped over themselves trying in vain attempts to offer directions.

There was a hall, one filled with holo images of the queens of the past. He strode with purpose, saying not a word to anyone, either the guards or the startled servants he passed.

At last, at long, long last, he came to stand before the one he sought. He knew exactly where it was. Padme…she had brought him here once. A lifetime ago.

Now he stood before it, the image of her, his helmet heavy on his head and tinting the world in red. He couldn’t even look at her now without the reminder of how much had changed. A fist clenched around his heart and he felt a rage bubble inside him. It shouldn’t have been this way! She should never have died! If only he had been stronger!

A small, gentle hand slipped into his mechanical one, the owner stepping forward towards the painting, there was a look of awe on the young face. Blue eyes never leaving the picture of the queen, he asked in the unobtrusive, unassuming voice of the young who just wanted to know. “Who is she?”

“She was your mother.” He said, the rage dying like water tossed on a fire, it fizzled, turning into steam, condensing into a moisture he felt in his voice, in his throat, and behind his eyes. “She was your mother.”

Luke’s gaze, wild and electric and hopeful turned back on him. “My mother?”

“Yes,” Vader answered, voice low, “she was a queen, a fearless leader who would have done anything, anything at all, for those she loved.”

Luke had turned back to the portrait, hand reaching out towards the visage of his mother. “She looks kind.” He said, his own voice strangely wet.

“She was.” It was all he had in him to say on the subject. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t impart one portion of wisdom to Luke, one gift Vader needed him to have. “And you are all hers, you are her son more than mine, Luke. Please never let that change.”

Luke hadn’t looked back at him, Vader wondered if he had even heard. “She was sad wasn’t she, when she died. I don’t think I knew that until now.” Luke’s voice came small and quiet in the grand hall of portraits.

Vader gasped, choking at the thought of his darling sad at death.

But Luke continued on.  “She was sad, but she was very beautiful and…and…” Luke’s eyes were scrunched as if trying to reach for something long past his reach and the effort was hard, “she loved me.”.

“Yes.” Vader said, letting the emotion culminate in him. “She would have loved you so much, my son.”

“She did.” Luke said at last a certainty in his voice as if he had actually known her, had had a chance to feel her love, “Thank you for bringing me here.”

It would have been easy to take all the credit, but Vader knew that things needed to change and change started in small ways. “You are a prince of Naboo, my son, your mother was a queen, there is no palace from which you will be barred. And you should also thank Mara, for reminding me that I was not the only one your mother loved. That I was not the only one that lost her.”

Luke whirled around, seeking his friend. Vader hadn’t realized she had wandered away, and was currently engaging a member of palace staff in conversation. Vader realized with a sharp eye at once the woman who Mara spoke to was a palace Handmaiden. An attendant of the current queen, dressed in robes the color of sunset at its most golden, flames of orange leaping into crimson. And she was currently not happy about being detained by Mara’s questions.

A spark of appreciation for the girl’s skill flowed through Vader. She had bought him and his son privacy, the ability to talk without extra eyes or ears. Her eyes met Luke’s and he saw the way they widened fractionally as his son, already becoming lanky with growth bounded over towards her, wrapping her in a tight hug, whispering, “Thank you, Mara, thank you so much!”

The Handmaiden took the distraction to sidestep the children and approach Vader himself. Very brave, he thought. But so they were, so they always were.

“Lord Vader,” she said in a soft voice, curtsying so that her flame colored robes shimmered in the last light of the day. “You honor us with your presence. The queen would like to extend her welcome to you and the young prince.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Vader said, his voice returning to the one he used when talking to particularly tiresome members of the imperial court. “We were just leaving. The Imperial Heir required research for a project.”

“If the palace staff may provide aid?” She said, turning to walk after Vader as he returned to Mara and Luke’s side.

“No, we are leaving.” Vader swept out of the room, Luke and Mara following behind.

He heard Luke call out, “It was nice to meet you!” To the woman as they left.

Vader knew there was more his son needed to see, the throne room, the royal libraries, the tomb where Padme rested. But this, and he looked back once more on the picture of his beloved wife, this was all that he had in him for now. However, in time, they would be back.

The flight back to the Lake district was silent, but not in the way it had been before. Luke was quiet in the Force, contemplative as he watched the darkening countryside slip by them. Mara was wrapped in her shields and Vader made no attempt to bypass them. As if a visual representation of the inner workings of her mind, she had wrapped her cloak around herself and tucked into her side of the back seat, eyes full of stars.

When they arrived back at home, it was late and past all of their bedtimes. He had picked up food in the city before leaving. It was good timing, stopping before coming directly home. It allowed Luke to have his undivided attention and allowed Vader to answer his questions in places that didn’t carry such pain. Mara, for all her own part in all of this, remained a quiet observer, occasionally asking her own questions, but mostly watching.

In time, he went to say goodnight to Luke. But when he entered his son’s room through the partially open door, he found Mara sitting in the window seat overlooking the starlight on the lake past the gardens with his son.

“I know you went and talked with him.” Luke was saying, studying his friend where she sat. “You don’t even like him. Why did you do it?”

Vader waited, he himself curious to hear her response. “Everyone deserves to know where they come from. You wanted to know about your mother. Now you do.”

She rose to her feet in a fluid motion and began to make her way towards the door. “Your father is here.” She said, halfway across the room.

Vader emerged from behind the door entering the room himself, helmet gone and regarding the two children. Mara didn’t stop until she was at the door Vader had vacated and turned once, calling over her shoulder, “Night Luke.”

Luke, smiled, giving her a sleepy wave, “Night Mara.”

And she was gone, closing the door behind her.

Luke was alone with his father, eyes becoming suddenly serious. “Mara had been helping me research my mother.” He said, his tone holding an edge of defiance and determination that reminded Vader of the red headed girl.

“Yes, she told me.”

“I know.” Luke replied. A heavy silence lingered between them, Luke picking at the fabric of the blanket across his shoulders and pooling onto his lap. “So, you are Anakin Skywalker? The Guy from the Clone Wars?”

It shouldn’t have felt like a slap to hear that name spoken allowed again after Mara had said it just the night before. But hearing it from his son, his own son, was something else. “Did Mara tell you that?”

Luke shook his head, “No, not really. She suspected, and his name came up a lot with a senator from Naboo, my…my mom.”

“Yeah.” Vader said, running a hand through his hair and coming to sit by Luke in the space Mara had occupied.

“Did you marry her?”

“I did, and I loved her very much.” Vader answered, the wet feeling returning to his eyes.

Luke just nodded, not looking surprised. “So that wedding the droid showed us was yours.” It was said quietly, as if more thought than an intentionally voiced sentiment. And before Vader could question it, he continued, “Did you know about me?”

Vader glanced at him at this question, out of the corner of his vision. Did Luke think he didn’t.

“When she told me she was pregnant, I don’t think I had ever been happier.” Vader admitted, but in truth, he also remembered the fear. He had been so happy, but never had he been so scared either. “Trust me when I say if I could have been there for you, Luke, I would have.”

“Mara said Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi. But you killed the Jedi. That is what people on Tatooine said about Vader.” Luke’s voice was quiet and far away as he gave this confession. Vader hadn’t heard him like this since the early days of their relationship. And in that moment Vader realized he hadn’t just been avoiding telling Luke about Padme because of the pain her memory brought. It was also because of this moment; the questions Luke would have about his father.

Vader had to tread carefully here. “Luke,” he began, “A lot happened in that time, a lot you wouldn’t understand.”

“But I would!” Luke insisted, “I’m not some little kid.”

Vader sighed, a sigh of long suffering that parents the galaxy over would know and sympathize with, “No perhaps you are not, perhaps you are growing up. But that was one of those times you couldn’t understand unless you had been there. You don’t know what it is like, Luke, to stare down the future and know you can change it but every change you make leads you to one terrible outcome and nothing you do matters.”

Luke’s starship models rattled on their shelves. “I’m sorry.” Vader forced himself to control his emotions, breathing deep of the smell of wood polish and flowers from the garden below. “Sometimes, you are faced with an impossible choice. I would have done anything to save your mother.”

“But I want to be a Jedi, to follow the Light.” Luke’s voice was not as much a statement as it was a question, and a part of Vader died at the unspoked query. Would Vader kill him too?

“Luke, my precious son, I…I thought what I did was right then,” but no that wasn’t quite right was it? “I thought it was the only way, but I see now there are multiple ways for things to be done. If I could change the past, I would. But there is only the future. I promise you Luke I will do everything in my power to ensure you have the future you deserve.”

Luke was quiet for a moment, fiddling with the blanket before finally, finally meeting his father’s gaze. “No.”

“What?” Vader asked, stunned.

“No, don’t do everything in your power. Not if it involves killing like that. I don’t want that for you, I don’t want that for me.” It wasn’t a plea such that one might be, it was an expression of a fact. A window into Luke’s soul.

Vader couldn’t speak, could barely breathe. He wrapped his arms around his son and held him close. His son, his angel’s son. Had she wanted what Luke wanted? It was a terrible creeping horror that told him she did. She wouldn’t have wanted what he did. He remembered when she had confronted him on Mustafar that fateful day. The fear and disbelief in her tone as she gave voice to his crimes.

He could still hear the way she had spoken of the one that had disgusted and made her fear him the most. And in a flash of dreadful memory he could see the act in his mind’s eye, the act that she had spoken of with such horror taking place in what should have been one of the safest places in the galaxy. But instead of the young faces of children he had never known taking refuges behind the chairs of the masters, it was Luke and it was Mara, Mara with green eyes filled with betrayal and yet the taunting knowledge that she had really expected nothing less. In Luke’s there was only hurt, hurt for himself and for Mara, but hurt for his father at what the action would do to him.

He shuddered at the thought, half memory half nightmare, and held Luke all the tighter, wet drops falling from his eyes. He sucked in a breath as the tears soaked his son’s hair. He hadn’t realized he could still cry, not so fully, not like this.

But pain was an old emotion now, an old ally if not a friend. He used it to plunge those emotions deep within his heart until Luke was settled, if not totally reassured, and he made his way to his own room. There, and only there, Vader finally after so many years, cried the tears that had been kept so long at bay. He cried for Padme and the life she never got to have with their son. He cried for Luke who should have had his mother with him. Even a part of him cried for Mara and the life she never got to live, either in the temple as a youngling herself to grow into the strong knight he knew she would have been in those old golden days of the Republic or to live her life with her parents, wherever they may be if they even still lived.

And at last, perhaps the part that had eaten at him the most, he cried for the temple and those he had killed or had been killed by his men and for his actions. And he cried most deeply then at last for those that had mattered so much in those last days.

He cried for a Togruta Woman, barely out of girlhood who he had told himself wouldn’t, couldn’t be hurt, not by her men, not by their friends and had. He stood at her grave and hadn’t cried. Now he did. He choked on the tears that came next. But nonetheless they came. He cried for a man with hair like Mara’s and tears in his eyes as he said he loved a man who screamed he hated him. He cried for them all. And perhaps most importantly of all, he cried for Anakin Skywalker, the boy, the knight, the husband, who never got to truly be free, free to love free to dream, free to walk away from the powers that held him.

He cried until the night stretched into the darkest part. And when the sun crested the horizon, there was at long last rest.

His eyes popped open in the morning light, a thought half forgotten in the emotion of last night forcing its way to the forefront.

Wait, what droid had shown Luke his wedding?

Chapter Text

The days until Mara’s shuttle arrived passed swiftly after that. She and Luke spoke often about Padme, but never about Anakin. At least not that Vader ever heard. Whatever missing piece Luke had sought to reconcile in his young life had at least been partially restored, granting him a level of peace the boy hadn’t had since his Aunt and Uncle had died. But on the contrary, Mara’s unease only grew.

She didn’t sleep most nights. Vader, when he checked on each child and the security of the house with the Force each night, sensed her awake, either in her room or in the library. Sometimes she was outside on the patio, staring up endlessly at the stars above her. He once found her in the hangar where Luke’s ship rested under a tarp until he could work on it once more, with her cloak wrapped around her and her knees tucked up under her chin. He didn’t ask her why the long sleepless nights, never invading her privacy.

That changed when he found her talking with Luke in the early hours of her second to last day with them. She had dark circles under her eyes and despite both children receiving plenty of food and sunshine and all the happiness of a childhood that could be offered in their unique circumstances, her appearance was weary beyond her years.

“He knows everything about me, Luke. How am I supposed to lie to him?”

Vader nor Luke had to ask who he was. The Emperor. Mara would keep her word and it could mean her death. And the Emperor may very well find out about Luke regardless. Vader knew this probably better than Mara knew it herself. Indeed, the dark lord of the Sith knew this better than the girl whose upbringing, while it had not been kind, had been carefully crafted by the Emperor such that she only saw exactly what he wanted her to see in his Empire.

“Keeping secrets isn’t as hard if you know how.” Vader said, entering the training room. Mara jumped a little, a moment of fright passing through her jade green eyes. The fact that she hadn’t sensed him was testament enough to her exhaustion.

“What do you mean?” She asked, her voice snapping with its usual bite when she addressed him, but he heard the hope underneath.

“How do you think the Emperor hasn’t learned about Luke from me? How do you think the Jedi didn’t know it was him that set them up all along?”

Luke visibly flinched at the mention of the Jedi, Mara squared her shoulders and faced him.

“He didn’t want them to know.” She said resolutely.

“And you don’t want him to know about Luke.” Vader replied simply.

She ducked her head, a curtain of red gold hair obscuring her features, but she quickly schooled her expression into one of neutrality. “He is my teacher.” Was her reply and Vader understood the depth of what she was saying and not saying. The control exerted by the Emperor’s training ran deep. It left its marks and its scars. Mara, for all her careful upbringing, knew this still. Yet she had an ace in her hand that life had dealt her that Vader did not possess.

“Which is why he won’t suspect you of using the Light or the Dark. You are something in between Mara. But you can lean a little on one side.” Vader knelt before the children where they sat on the floor of the gymnasium where he and Luke practiced the Force. “The Jedi could not see into the Dark because it went against their nature. You, Mara, walk a line between two worlds. You can see into both. You can hear him anywhere I was once told.”

Luke gaped at her at this revelation. She merely nodded. Vader continued, “Yet you knew what and who Luke was almost on instinct. You felt his connection to the Light.”

“It was like looking into a supernova.” Mara admitted. Luke reached out and took her hand, squeezing it in reassurance.

“As the Jedi could not see into the Dark, the Emperor…and me,” the last part was added in a hush, “cannot see into the Light. But you can, Mara. Lean into it, feel it, you know how.”

Mara shook her head, “It’s not like that for me!” she protested. “The Force is just another tool, something for me to use. It’s for missions.”

“And is this not a mission?” Vader replied. “The most important mission of all, protecting my son.”

Mara bit her lower lip, eyes darting between father and son. He felt the hesitancy. But it wasn’t fear. Mara was at that age where fear of the new had a different meaning. She was open to the Light, drawn to it in her very nature. It was why the Emperor did not seek to corrupt her fully. Her draw to the Light, manifest in her communication skills, a deeply empathic ability, made her useful. And it might just be her saving grace.  “How do I do it?” she asked at last.

“Close your eyes.” Vader said and Mara did, Luke did too, following his father’s example. “Feel the Light, it has always been there.”

A moment of silence followed by a shift in the air around them, like a cool breeze flowing through a newly opened window, or the face of a yellow petaled flower turning to face the shining sun.

“It’s so deep, so cold.” Mara shivered, pulling her cloak around her, eyes still clenched shut.

“It’s not.” Luke replied, his voice filled with wonder, eyes closed, having fallen into meditation alongside his friend, but brows raised and mouth slightly open, his expression like when he had seen rain for the first time. “It’s like…like a glittering rock or something, just below a surface of ice.”

Vader stiffened at that. Memories of a boy from a desert planet on an ice world listening to the song all around him fill his mind, a glowing crystal in his hand.

“Break the ice Mara, break it but just a little. Remember, you walk between the ice and the storm, the light and the darkness. You can reach it.” Vader coached, forcing himself to look away from the glittering light below the ice that his son described so freely.

“It’s too hard, too much ice.” Mara whispered, brows creasing in concentration and a bead of sweat forming on her forehead.

“You’ve got this, Mara. I believe in you.” Luke’s soft sincerity reaching her in the Force as his hand reached for hers in the physical world.

It is hard to explain all that happened in the moments that followed, when Luke took Mara’s hand. Vader had never been a teacher. Once, once in another lifetime, someone who bore a different name had been. But never Vader. Another fracture formed in his armor as Mara reached out with her senses, with shaking hands and a hopeful heart, she broke the ice. Warmth flooded her being and Mara reached for the Light. Her eyes flew open and she gasped in a breath of fresh air from the Naboo Lake district.

“It’s- Luke it’s like you!” She smiled, genuinely smiled for perhaps the first time that either Luke or Vader had ever seen, turning towards her friend. “It’s incredible!” She was effervescent, almost appearing to glow in the soft shine of the morning light as the sun crested into dawn. “It’s not cold at all, it’s alive and bright. It’s beautiful!”

Vader allowed himself to smile too. “Good, now take whatever you don’t want him to see, and pour it into the gap in the ice. Let it pass the cold until there is nothing but the warmth of those memories to encompass it.”

Mara did, concentrating on the memories and it was easy to do. Vader and Luke and Mara together, a flood of experiences. Laughter on the banks of a sunny river. Soft grass beneath bare feet, stars and a cool breeze wafting over the water, warm food and silent careful hands building a Mon Cala Star Cruiser across a table passing paint and glue between each other, arms around her in a hug in the midst of a shimmering palace. Mara’s memories, flooding past in a wave of light, filling where the ice had once been. It glowed in all their minds. Luke was positively beaming by the end and the edges of exhaustion around Mara had eased.

“That was beautiful, Mara.” Luke was grinning ear to ear; Mara wiped the sweat from her brow, but her eyes were shining.

“You saw it?” She asked, “the memories?”

“He did.” Vader replied, voice far, far away like his memory was. This meant something, something important. And perhaps if it were not for the changing emotions of the last several days, if it were not for the fear of losing Luke and the gratitude to Mara for what she had just done, perhaps Vader would have realized all that had truly transpired. Perhaps it would have helped warn him of the things to come.

But he didn’t. And that was just another part of the story, another will of the Force. In that moment, the future could now wait a little longer, in that moment there was the light shining through the icy darkness, a cold outer layer formed in the birth of the Empire. But just as the golden haired boy with a light in his heart hugged the girl with a sparkle in her eyes that had never been there before proved in there very existence and the first steps they had just taken hand in hand, the death wrought by the empire could never fully be complete.

The light you see, it hadn’t died with the Jedi. It lived, it lived, and it lived and it grew and it grew and never would those who searched for it not find it under the cold layer that was the sorrow of its lost children. Perhaps…perhaps in time…there would be enough children with light filled eyes once more that the cold would be a faded memory. But again, we get ahead of ourselves and time must move at the pace it must.

The future would wait.

For now there was the light and a boy from a desert planet next to a girl whose heart had been covered by frost, and together they shone brightly and all seemed right with the galaxy then. If only for a moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke accompanied Mara to the landing pad where the shuttle waited to take her away. His feet felt slow and heavy as he walked beside her, almost as heavy as his heart. He had had friends back on Tatooine, school mates and neighbor kids to play with. Even though he hadn’t lost them the same way he had lost his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, he had lost them in a different way that night. He could never go back.

And he had schoolmates now back at the academy, but none he would really call friends. They either looked down on him in disgust or in jealousy or up at him or in awe as the Imperial Heir. None of them just saw him for who he was.

But Mara did. And she was going back to Palpatine now, the Emperor’s own court, carrying his secret. He couldn’t help but feel like he was letting her go to her death. Even with all the practice his father had put them through in Force shielding and hiding memories, it was hard not to worry. Luke’s existence had been marked by great happiness, joy, and life, but it had also been marked by death. Even at his young age, Luke understood loss on a deep and personal level. And he couldn’t bear the thought of losing Mara too.

As if sensing his thoughts, she reached out and squeezed his hand. “It’ll be alright. You’ll be back on Coruscant soon. Maybe we can see each other.”

Luke heard the waver in her voice, he knew she didn’t truly believe that that would be possible. But the thought of it made him smile. “Yeah, yeah that would be good!”

He looked back towards the house. His father hadn’t come and had said his goodbyes before now. He had explained to both Luke and Mara that for all their safety, nothing could appear to have changed. Vader had to be just as annoyed by Mara’s presence and distasteful of the favor the Emperor granted her as ever. Luke though, was under no such constraints.

“Just in case though, something to remember me by.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little gold pin.

Mara’s eyes widened, as he deposited it into her hands. It was small, perfect for holding back the fringes of hair around her face or tying back the edges of her cloak under her chin. The metal was golden in the light, brushed and polished but obviously not of the finest make. The design was simple but done with care and obviously hand made.

“It’s from scraps from the Solar Sunrise, so you can remember the time we spent working on it.” Luke explained, rocking on his toes eagerly.

Mara merely blinked at it a moment biting her lower lip and Luke was worried she didn’t like it at first. But then she smiled and did something she had never initiated herself. She hugged Luke. Luke grinned, closing his eyes and hugged her back.

“It’s a starbird.” He continued, pulling back and watching as she pinned it in her hair. “My Aunt used to tell me the legend. About a bird who lived in a star and it was strong and it was brave and it was very kind and filled its home with light. It reminded me of you.”

“Sounds more like you if you ask me.” Mara retorted but there was no heat to her words. With her right hand, she traced the curve of the wings. “Thank you, Luke…for everything.”

And with that, she turned on her heels and marched up the ramp of the ship. Luke watched as the hatch closed and as the engines flared. He watched as it rose into the sky and ran after it on the ground as it flew up, up and away into the brilliant blue of the Naboo sky. He reached out his hand, waving as he ran and shouted after it, “Goodbye, Mara, see you soon!”

Until all at once it was gone from sight and so was she. He felt her leaving, going farther and farther away until she winked out into hyperspace.

Luke’s breaths came in heaving gasps, fresh air burning against his throat from the exertion of chasing after a starship. I will see her again and she will be alright. He told himself as he straightened and walked back to the house, willing his thoughts to be true. Looking back into the brilliant blue, where the shuttle could not longer be seen, Luke whispered, “Until next time.”

End of Part One

The Adventures of Luke, Mara, and Vader Will Continue In Part Two: Gathering Allies

Chapter Text

Part Two: Gathering Allies

The night that Mara left, Vader woke to the sound of his son screaming. He leapt from his bed, hand reaching instinctively for his saber, reaching out with his senses in the Force. An intruder, surely it was an intruder.

But there was no one, no one but him and his son and the serving droids. He calmed, but only fractionally. It was a nightmare, it had to be. However that troubled him nearly as much. Luke had had plenty of nightmares in the early days and some even still lingering. Nevertheless, it had been a long time, a long, long time indeed since he had last woken to Luke’s screams. Most times now the boy tried to handle such things himself, not wanting to disturb or distress his father. But now, something was different.

Vader entered his son’s room, awareness alert in the Force, sensing for any possible threat. There was none. Luke shivered where he sat on his bed.

“My son.” Vader spoke, soft and low, approaching the bed. He felt the fear in the Force, he felt the way it trembled and shook about his son. “I’m here, it’s alright.”

Luke didn’t speak, which was also strange, usually when it was bad enough, Luke would say it all in a rush, the onslaught of memories, the pain or the fear. But there was none of that. His eyes were wide, and as Vader reached for him, pulling him into an embrace at the edge of the bed, Vader felt how he shook, the perspiration forming on his brow.

“I’m so cold.” Luke gasped out at last, fingers spasming around his shoulders.

Using the Force, Vader called to himself a blanket that lay discarded on the floor near the bed. In one deft movement, he wrapped it around his son.

“Was it the farm?” Vader hated to even ask. But he knew Luke enough by now to know the child needed to talk out his fears, to let them go.

He expected a shuddering nod, or perhaps a cry. But Luke shook his head instead. And then it all came out at once. “There was no time and so many people and then it was all red.” Luke was almost sobbing. “I tried to reach back, I did, I really did but I couldn’t and they…the people in red, and the people with red sabers, they were stronger and I wanted to go back to…back to…”

Luke’s eyes were wild, he clung to his father. “Back to who?” Vader asked, brow knitting in confusion.

“He wouldn’t let me go back. There was so much red. And yellow. It was all red and yellow” Luke sobbed. “And then it was cold and quiet and I was alone, so alone. It was so, so cold.”

Luke wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. “I didn’t know how to get back.”

Vader studied him, wondering at the story Luke had painted. Yellow and red, red and yellow. The colors swirled through his mind. It didn’t make sense. The dream, whatever it was, didn’t make any sense to Vader at all. When Luke dreamt, he often dreamt in memories as Vader was learning, especially those dreams that were more lifelike. But this couldn’t be a memory from Luke, could it?

He watched as his son shrugged the blanket tighter, hands wrapping to clasp it firmly under his neck, like a cape. No, Vader realized with a stab of understanding, like a cloak. A flash of memory danced before his eyes, Luke reaching for Mara’s hand as they had broken the ice together and reached for the Light as one. He knew that Luke would not be going back to sleep again that night.

“Let’s go see about some hot chocolate.” And he ushered his son out of the room, the distant thought of what had occurred this night still pricking the back of his mind. Distantly, through the fog of worry for his son, he worried also for Mara Jade and what this meant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a shuttle, somewhere nearing the Coruscant sector, a girl with red hair slept. The dream began as it always did. Red swirling in a haze of light. Golden yellowish eyes staring back at her. Let me stay, let me go back.

But right as the dream reached its icy hands around her, it was gone. She was somewhere else, plunged into a hot night with the stars shining above her and something gritty beneath her feet. There was fire, so much fire, and the smell of blaster burns filled the air. All around her she heard the battle cries of some people she didn’t know.

Tuskan Raiders? A foggy part of her mind supplied. A sudden terror that wasn’t her own gripped her and she ran. Don’t let them find me, please don’t let them find me! Her heart pounded a litany of thought. She hid, she hid and she felt the death around her. It was too much, too much. And then came the breathing and that she did know. Dark and foreboding and standing over her hiding spot.

She let out a scream and woke.

There was no one there, no one in the little cabin that was hers. She felt hot and sticky as if she had just run through the desert. Rising on shaky feet, she went into the fresher and splashed cold water on her face, once then twice. Then she cupped some in her hands and splashed it on her arms and neck, anything to get the smell of blaster fire from her nose.

She took several shuttering breaths, gripping the edge of the sink. For a moment, she worried that someone would have heard her scream and come and start asking questions. But no one did. If anyone had even heard, they would know the shuttle to be secure. They would not bother to check on one girl when they had the important task of transporting her safely back to the Emperor on their minds.

She longed then for something she hadn’t let herself want in a very long time. She remembered the way it had felt to hug Luke, to shake his hand, to hold his hand. That simple act of contact with another person. She wanted it then, to have someone hold her in that instance. A deep pang formed in her heart under an emotional scar that was so scabbed over that it was almost forgotten.

But as her mind cleared and clarity of thought returned through the haze of fear, Mara worked through the dream with a precision that would have made the Emperor proud had he been around to witness it.

The dream, it had been too real, too fraught with all the senses of a memory. She could not recall ever being on a desert planet though or one sandy enough to have that kind of terrain. And why the Tuskan Raiders? With a gasp, hand flying to her mouth, memories returned, little things Luke had said, things she had seen in the news. The violent deaths of his family.

She staggered back to her bunk, cloak discarded in a corner and tucking her knees up to her chin. What did it mean?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The former apprentice listened to the voice on the other side of the comm before she spoke herself. “Look, I know we’ve had our differences. But I’m asking this as a friend. You know why.”

There was a long pause before the gravely voice replied. “I do. What I want to know is why your precious Alliance isn’t helping.”

The former apprentice bowed her head. “I asked, they said it was too risky, that there could be too many casualties. I know you don’t have such concerns.”

“I get why you care, but you are asking me to risk my own men, my fighters. I need to know why.”

The former apprentice thought before she spoke, taking a moment to form her arguments. “Hope.” She said at last. “He could be the last hope for the galaxy.”

There was a scoff on the other side. “Hope, you sound like my sister.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

Another long pause. “She would have thought like you do, like your Alliance does.”

“Listen,” the former apprentice continued, “I know you get it. My contacts tell me you have a daughter. You understand the need to protect a child, especially the ones you care about.”

A sigh like static came over the comms. “You really want to do this?”

“Yes.”

She could picture the look on his face on the other side of the comm, across a galaxy as he replied. “Alright then, it will take time. Even we can’t storm Coruscant. And my sources say he is guarded by a shadow.”

The former apprentice shivered at the mere words and the dissonance they crafted in the Force. “Leave the shadow to me. If we play this right, we won’t even have to fight him, it, whatever he is.”

She wasn’t totally convinced yet that the rumors of the black clad figure behind the Emperor and always at Luke’s side wasn’t a droid.

“When are you thinking?” Asked the other person.

The former apprentice felt the relief wash over her at his words. She had an ally in this and it suddenly felt all the more plausible. “It will take some time, I need to find out where he goes besides Coruscant. Tracking his movements shouldn’t be hard, it will be finding a pattern. And then something will have to be done about that shadow to get them out of the picture. I will be in touch once the required recon is done.”

“I understand. I hope you will too when I say the recon is up to you.”

Her shoulders slumped slightly. She had anticipated this. But her time would have been cut significantly if she could have relied upon the network the other person had built over the years. But this wasn’t a mission that could be thrown together in a day. The time may be extensive. But she was determined to cut it back as far as possible. Every second Luke spent in the Empire felt like a personal betrayal to Padme…to Anakin. But she knew that it would do neither of them any good if she or even he got killed trying to get him out.

“I understand.”

“Good.”

She paused a moment, knowing it was time to disconnect the call. But a part of her didn’t want to, didn’t want to disconnect the lifeline to another person. So much time had been spent in solitude this last decade. When she remembered before and how many others there had been…it hurt and the solitude grew all the more painful.

“How’s your daughter?” She asked instead.

The surprise that came with the fighter’s voice was pleasant and she could hear a smile as he spoke. “She is thriving. A strong fighter. If we get this Luke kid,”

“When.” The former apprentice amended.

“If,” the fighter persisted stubbornly. “maybe we can introduce them. She could use some friends her age…I…worry sometimes…her growing up so isolated.”

The former apprentice hummed, leaning her head against the window of her ship that looked out over glittering stars. “You adopted her a few years ago. What’s her name again?”

There was another long pause and then, “Jyn.” He said the name fondly.

“Jyn Gerrera.” The former apprentice said to herself. She hadn’t met the girl, but Bail had. She was of no two minds about what she was doing. Rescuing Luke would mean a life on the run, hiding, escaping, staying one step ahead. But still, she told herself it had to be a better life than growing up surrounded by the inky darkness.

Yes, it would be good for Luke to have friends.

She closed the comm and her eyes, shielding them from the stardust outside and when she dreamt, she dreamt of children laughing and Kyber crystals singing. In her dreams, it was all stardust.

Chapter Text

Despite best intentions and what Mara and Luke had told one another back on Naboo, it would be over four months before they saw each other in person again and nearly a year before they actually got to spend real time together, away from the courts and the academies. But that didn’t mean they were as far apart as at first it might have seemed. At night, Luke’s dreams took on a new dimension. He dreamt of training with rifles he didn’t recognize and by night felt his arms ache with the weight of them. He dreamt of the vaulted walls and splendor of what he knew to be the Imperial Palace. He heard music and saw luxury with light in his eyes and a song to his step. That didn’t mean he understood what was happening. But maybe, just maybe, he was starting to guess.

And who was to care if while he practiced with the Force on the lake shores near his home, his movements had a more rhythmic quality. When he worked on the Solar Sunrise or on his homework assignments, perhaps he hummed the bars of a half remembered song. But it was very distant and very far away, an emotion only partly realized.

Perhaps then maybe there was a girl in a glittering palace ornately designed and held as a fortress who dreamed of the desert and the lake, two elements that should never have met but did. Perhaps she found it easier to take apart and reassemble droids and blasters and even encryptions with the precision of a mechanic. Perhaps she found it just a little easier to find that balance between the Light and the Dark. And if her teachers wondered, they attributed it to her past success growing with her in age. If her teacher, her primary teacher wondered, he attributed it to giving her more freedom on her first mission. She had succeeded in his eyes after all. Reporting back on the discovery of Luke’s parentage was quite a success in her research skills. Even if the information was already known to him.

So time moved on and the seasons changed. The clock ticked and the chrono turned and the suns rose and set above a desert on another planet somewhere far, far away. In quiet, the children grew, in quiet they learned, and they learned from each other.

It was strange, Luke often found himself thinking in that nearly half a year that stretched since he had seen her since their last meeting at a court function. Half a year without seeing Mara after spending nearly a month in her company and fleeting interactions at court and even once or twice with her undercover at his school, it was perhaps strange one might think that he should not ever really feel far from her. But it was stranger still when he thought about it, when he saw her in dreams or felt maybe a stab of pain that wasn’t his or a thrill of joy on a random midday, that there was still something missing. Something important. He thought it would be resolved, that lingering tug he had always felt in his chest, when he found out about his mother.

But it wasn’t. Luke tried to find out why, reaching back into the recesses of his memories, researching everything he could on Padme Amidala and even Anakin Skywalker, without involving his father of course. Some things, Luke knew, were just still too painful. He searched and searched and reached and reached, but still the ache, the tug on his heart, remained unanswered.

But there was school and there were imperial diplomacy matters to attend to and all the regular things that fill a now nearly thirteen year old’s mind, so the ache receded. He wondered when he would see Mara again, in person this time rather than in dreams. Maybe then they could puzzle it out together, like they had before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time moved and the galaxy moved with it. And time moved once again to see the paths of Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker intersect. Why she had been kept secluded to her training on Coruscant for so long, no one could readily tell you. Vader had his suspicions, so did Luke, and really so did Mara. It was a test, a test of loyalty and a test of skill. Plus her surprisingly increasing Force abilities, which her teachers had not accounted for.

Palpatine grew troubled by this, as he watched the young girl move through practice katas in the training rooms. Her increased apparent adeptness in the Force had been…a new development. One notably accompanied by her return from her first mission. He had searched her emotions, searched her mind as best he could without taking unnecessary measures for a reason as to why. It wouldn’t do to cause damage to the mind of his precious future hand.  But he had found nothing out of the ordinary, like gazing into a smooth lake. It was almost disturbing and the paranoid part of Palpatine’s heart, such that it was, would have worried that the girl had somehow had her loyalties changed in her short time away from him. But she was ever herself, the loyal child he had raised her to be.

Loyal and strong. And such strength too. He could sense it now, a flowing current like electricity in wires in the walls. Steady and strong, but cutting out at times. With time, she could be even stronger, that Palpatine knew, that he feared. Strength was something sought after by Dark Side users in their quest for power, for control. But when one had it, they held it with a tight gripped greed.

He watched her, her red gold hair darkened by the dark grey and black walls, only partially illuminated by red and deep yellow lighting. Her green eyes flashed and he knew she sensed him watching her. His lip curled down in displeasure, like one might watch a prized Nexu they had raised since infancy, only to see it eye you as more than a care giver, but rather something it may turn its claws on.

His hands moved towards his own lightsaber where it rested on the balcony ledge. It would be easy, so easy. A flick of the wrist, a red arc flying out, red gold hair flickering in the light as she fell. It would be easy to end the threat here and now. A filmy, slippery thought skirted his brain, a whisper.

Do it.

It would be so easy.

But power was an addictive thing and he sensed power in the girl he had raised to be unquestioningly loyal to him. Could he give up such a source?

So much power, unlike the Skywalker boy.

The sudden, unbidden thought about the child of Anakin Skywalker jerked Palpatine from his thoughts with disgust, the same recoiling disgust he always felt when he allowed his mind to go to that useless boy.

Such a waste, such an utter waste of the potential in the Skywalker bloodline.

The Skywalker bloodline…

Palpatine’s eyes returned to Mara. She had moved on from katas and was now running the obstacle course her trainers had set for her.

Mara…strong, capable, loyal Mara. With the Force in her veins and the strength of it in her heart accompanied by a determined sense of justice and the ambition to see justice through. As long as it was his justice of course. With disdain the irony was not lost on him that she would likely have made a fantastic member of that groveling, pathetic order that had once been the Jedi. But she was his and in her blood, there was the Force, strong and there.

His mind returned to the boy, to the child that had so much potential only for it to, in some cruel twist of fate, choose not to manifest. But perhaps there would be another…The Force was known to skip a generation or two even. It could happen.

He had heard his shuttle pilot’s report as to the friendly embrace shared by Mara and the Skywalker boy on her departure. It was said they appeared as friends, talking together on the way, sad to see the other go. The boy had even chased after the shuttle on launch.

Friends, childhood friends, Palpatine knew, could become more one day. It had been that way for another young boy from the Skywalker line not too long ago. Yes, he thought, watching as Mara neared the end of the course, dodging a laser and slipping over a ledged wall, it would require patience, but he hadn’t become Emperor out of haste. He was good at patience, he could wait, and he would have his knew apprentice, however long it took.

The thought pleased him. And even if it didn’t work out in the end, he would still have his assassin, his Hand. And if her training continued well, he may even be able to give her the order one day to take out the Skywalker boy once and for all and she would do it without hesitation. Yes, he liked his plan for the future, not to mention it would irk his current apprentice to no end. It was a source of amusement for the Emperor to watch the antagonism and disdain between the two, a loop he planned to foster for many years to come.

But he could make this work. Plans within plans formed in his mind, plots forming plots around one another. He could start by encouraging the friendship between Mara and Skywalker. It wouldn’t take much, even if Mara, who seemed to have no interest in friends as a proper assassin in training should, was reluctant to the idea. He would tell her it was a mission to befriend the boy as the Heir to the Empire of course. Skywalker himself seemed open to the friendship. So it would just be a matter of encouraging more time spent between the two. He could perhaps, in time, once she was older and better trained, he could even give her more standing in the court, an official role as her cover to stand at Luke’s side one day as consort. All the while she would be the strings which he would use to maneuver his puppet prince, to control the boy that was so useless in all other respects. By then, the groundwork should already be well established.

Mara finished the course, her eyes flicking up to meet his. He forced the frown from his face and gave her his usual, approving smile. She nodded back, almost in a bow, but it wasn’t lost on him the coldness that had crept into her eyes when she regarded him. And he felt the power flowing through her, and even though he wondered at the change he had noticed in the girl, he had a plan now for the future, a plan that would one day be his ruin for he could not see beyond it.

He couldn’t have known that Mara was seeing the palace through new eyes these last few months or known her new nightmares of the Emperor as seen through another’s eyes. He couldn’t have known the changes that were occurring in her heart, for as she walked in two worlds, it was easy to cast a shadow with the Light, a shadow to hide what one did not want another to see.

But he felt the power, he saw the strength.

In another life, in another universe, Palpatine may have seen her strength and weighed it in the balance of threats to find it lacking. Yet, this was not another universe, and Mara Jade would live.

A wicked grin twisting over his face, Palpatine called for his apprentice, the one he had crafted and molded for so many years. “Lord Vader,” he waved the man forward from where he stood in the shadows.

“Yes, my master.” Vader replied, head bowed in deference, just as it should be.

Palpatine quirked a finger towards his hand, “Teach my young Hand what saber work really looks like. You are in charge of her dueling technique.”

He felt the rage boiling off his apprentice but a flick of lightning was all it took. His apprentice obeyed.

Yes, Mara Jade would be very strong indeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a long, difficult term for Luke at his school. So it was with a lighter heart than he had had in quiet some time that he made his way to the shuttle that would take him home, home to Naboo and the Lakes and time with his father…hopefully. He hadn’t seen his father much more than he had seen Mara of late. He was away on missions more and more. Increasingly words of Rebel Cells were spoken about in hushed whispers.

Luke was, admittedly, excited about the prospect. Hie and his father shared their secret rebellion, but it was just theirs. And even knowing his father’s strength in the Force, and Luke beginning to understand his own place in it, he still doubted just the two of them could do it all alone. It was the Empire after all. Maybe once he had thought just the two would have been enough. But having lived it, lived on Coruscant, gone to school there, seen the courts and the shipping yards and the navy…even Luke was starting to have his doubts.

So school bag thrown over one shoulder, he walked to the hangar bay the school’s headmaster had instructed him to report to. He always had guards when he was on Coruscant and his father wasn’t with him. But they were impersonal, hanging back. If Luke focused on not focusing too hard on it, he could almost forget they were there.

And then he felt it. He felt her. It was her usual candle presence in the Force, a flame buffeted by the dark. But where had once been a sputtering candle over a year ago he felt a strong, and steady flame.

Luke’s pace picked up, the permacrete flying beneath his feet. Living with so many people on this planet, it was hard to distinguish one from another, even though Luke knew in theory she lived on the same planet he did during the school year. So to be able to sense her like this…she was very close.

He rounded the corner and there stood the shuttle, and there stood Mara, hair slightly longer, stance slightly taller, her growth matching his in the past year, and the tan cloak around her shoulders. In her hair, pinned as it had been the day he had said goodbye to her, the last time they had really been able to talk, she wore the Star Bird pin and he knew she was still his friend.

“Mara!” He said with a shout, running towards her.

She smiled, her usual small smile which Luke knew to be the equivalent of a face splitting grin, “Hey, Farm Boy.”

He tackled her in a hug, laughing as she hugged him back. Around them, the Force sang. “It’s been so long!”

“You’re taller.” She remarked, pulling back.

“You too!” He was shrugging his back pack on his shoulders where it had slumped off partially in his rush to see her. “Are you coming with me to Naboo?”

“Yep.” Mara said, he watched as she waved the guard off, who nodded before leaving rather quickly. No doubt, Luke thought, pleased to be rid of what he must have thought to be a boring assignment.

“Come on, shuttle’s all prepped.”

They entered together, side by side, up the ramp and into the sitting area. Mara pressed a comm key connecting to the pilot and spoke, “All aboard, go for takeoff.”

“Copy that.” The shuttle doors sealed shut with a hiss and they began to ascend.

Neither child spoke to the other until they were well into the sky and Luke felt the telltale jolt that told him they were now in hyperspace.

Mara herself seemed to uncoil at the action, her shields dropping just a little as Luke’s own fell free. They were leaving Coruscant behind them.

For a moment, they merely studied each other, reacquainting one another with the other’s presence. It had been over a year, since they had last been alone like this, free to talk, free to be. And yet, somehow, it felt as if those days on Naboo had been just yesterday.

“You seem…” Luke tilted his head as he regarded his friend, “different somehow.”

Mara tilted her own head in a mirror of his, crossing her arms, “Oh yeah? Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“No, no it was.” Luke’s hands shot out in front of him, waving them as if to ward off her statement. He settled back as she gave him another of her small smiles. “But really, you seem different, more sure of yourself maybe? Yet conflicted. It’s strange. You feel warmer.”

“Warmer?” She tucked her cloak closer around her shoulders.

“Yeah, like when you sit by a fire after the rain.”

Mara’s head ducked slightly, a hand coming up to brush the pin in her hair. “You seem the same. Same bright, sunshiny Luke.”

Luke grinned. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“You still build model ships?” She asked, leaning back into her seat.

“Do Jawas still steal droids?”

“Fair enough.” She reached by her seat and pulled out a kit for a Star Destroyer, the same class as the Executer.

Luke’s eyes grew wide with excitement.

“It’s a long flight back to Naboo.” Mara offered in way of explanation and they immediately set to work.

Outside the window, starlines stretched to infinity. Sitting across from each other in the shuttle, a table between them and a model ship to build, Luke felt lighter than he had in months. Yeah, term break had finally begun and it was better than he could have hoped for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Out in the farther reaches of space, stretching like shadows cast long by the looming and imposing figure of the empire, a ship’s comm light pinged.

“This is Fulcrum.” The voice on the other end said, answering the receiver.

“I have received word that the boy is enroute to Naboo as we speak.” The voice of one who had been and always was brave, came over the comm.

Fulcrum sighed, a little puff of air carrying with it so much relief. Over a year of planning, of watching, of waiting. She had her moment. “And the palace?”

“On guard and ready should an opportunity present itself. We are ready.”

Fulcrum nodded, feeling again the gratitude for the one on the other side of the comm. Without her, she would never have been able to do the recon she had had to do all these months. If it weren’t for her, she would not have known how much time Luke spent on Naboo or that he was often in the palace. “What about Vader?” The name took effort even to speak. But she did. It had to be asked, it had to be done.

“His movements are unpredictable. But our sources say that the Executer isn’t due back to Coruscant for another week at least, which should buy us time. However, the gala that is to take place in the coming days may prove difficult. He may be there regardless of where his ship is. There is no way to confirm.”

The former apprentice let out a sigh “It may prove to be for the best. The reception planned at the palace is supposed to be a grand one I take it?”

Her friend’s voice replied. “Yes, some kind of promotion ceremony. Festivities will be going on all week.”

“A large crowd means more cover. Gerrera’s men can work up some way to work the crowd to stop any pursuit. That’s what they are here for after all.” Despite Saw’s promise of help, Fulcrum had her…concerns…about those he had sent her. The nearly dozen men he had spared were rough around the edges to say the least. But appearance aside, there was an anger to Saw’s men that was unsettling to Fulcrum. Keeping them on mission these last few weeks of preparation had been a challenge. They were brewing for a fight.

“There is another matter.” The agent added, Fulcrum could hear the edge of concern.

“Oh?”

“According to our sources Coruscant side, a girl was seen leaving the landing pad with him. Our sources cannot confirm her identity. It is suspected she is a member of the imperial court in some capacity. But repeat, no ident confirmation.”

Fulcrum took a moment to simply breathe, recalling that plans changed all the time, that this one would likely change twice and twice again before it was completed. And it had to be completed.

“If she is with the imperials, it should be assumed that she is dangerous, or at least valuable. Could be an officer’s daughter or someone within the Emperor’s inner circle. Either way, she could be a liability.”

There was a pause on the line. “Should we consider her…a loose end.”

Fulcrum heard the disgust in the voice, heard the distaste to even think it. It hurt in a way, hearing a voice that was so similar to a voice she had once adored, who had taught her and trained her in so many things away from the Jedi order and in ways her master never could teach her. Fulcrum took a steadying breath and forced herself to remember that the speaker was not that friend. It was time to turn her attention to other things, like saving that friend’s son. Like that girl that had left with him.

She conjured an image, a girl with dark curls standing beside a blond headed boy. She had no way of knowing what the girl who was accompanying him looked like. It was natural to picture a daughter that might resemble the mother as the boy most likely resembled the father. But even without the mental image, the thought of following through the actions that the agent implied were more than reprehensible, especially to Fulcrum.

“No, we will take the girl too if we must. A child in the imperial court cannot be any safer than Skywalker is. She is not the priority. But if there is no other way, bring her too.”

“Acknowledged.” Said the voice that wasn’t, the friend that wasn’t, and the agent that was. “So, is it plan waterfront?”

Fulcrum shook her head, Lekku flicking slightly with the movement as she answered. “Hold for now. If we move in there, it would be too obvious, too exposed. Recon suggests the Lake House is locked down tight regardless. His last few trips to Naboo have him visiting the palace at least once and more than likely he will be involved with the gala happening there. We will wait as long as we can for that. If you haven’t heard from me in three standard, proceed with Project Waterfront. Is the rest of it a go?”

“Affirmative.” The person on the other end spoke. There was a pause, static floating over the line in the absence of anything else. Fulcrum thought the agent had perhaps hung up, but then they said, “Fulcrum…may the Force be with you.”

Fulcrum closed her eyes, picturing what was to be done, what had to be done. Within the week, the son of Skywalker would be safe at last. Closing her eyes, she moved her finger toward the switch to end the call, replying simply before she hit it, “With all of us.”

Chapter Text

It was fall by the lake shore of Naboo when Luke and Mara’s shuttle touched down on the little landing pad near the house. The sun was shining through leaves who had given up their bright green for the vibrant colors of the waning year. Mara stepped out, bag in hand, and breathed deep the scent of the air over the water mixed with the leaves. If you have ever been on Naboo in the fall, you know exactly what smell I am referring to. However, if you haven’t, it smells something like falls on other well forested planets, but the air has a deeper sense of chill to it, like that first burst of spring in a clean and clear and crisp back drop of autumn mixed with lake water. It was like someone had gathered the sparkles on the water in summer and chilled them before infusing them into the air all around you.

Mara had never been to Naboo in the fall. She didn’t believe in magic either. But at just twelve, with the wind combing her hair and the water sparkling against a backdrop of golden leaves, she was pretty sure that this was it.

Luke came to stand beside her, closing his eyes, his chest expanding with his own deep drinking in of the air.

“It’s good to be home.” He said with a sigh, opening his eyes.

“Come on,” Mara nodded down the path, beginning to walk towards the house, the late season grass crunching beneath her half boots. “let’s go put our stuff away before the droids come and find us.”

Sun glinting off his curls and accenting the suddenly mischievous smile, Luke said, “Race you!” and took off like a wild tooka.

“Oh you’re on Farmboy!” Mara shouted, legs lengthening with a recent growth spurt still slightly ungainly but making up lost ground quickly.

“Last one in is a Wamp Rat!” Luke shouted over his shoulder with a laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Through the trees far on the lake’s other side, all of this was observed through a pair of binocs, eyes focused on the two children. With a grunt barely above the sound of the creaking branches overhead, the owner sat back on his heels as the children disappeared into the house.

He still thought this whole idea was insane. The Partisans and the Rebels didn’t work together often and for good reason. The last few attempts had not gone…well they hadn’t gone well. And that was all he would say on the matter, even to himself.

But this…a chance at the Imperial Heir himself. It was too much to pass up. He just hoped those foolhardy idealist Rebels wouldn’t go wasting this opportunity. According to the intel Saw had given them, it had been over years in the making.

His hands clenched into fists at his side. When he thought of all that the Empire had taken from him…

Inwardly he cursed at the memory of Saw telling them to treat this like a rescue mission and not the hostage situation it so clearly should be. And he knew he wasn’t the only one that had come with them that felt this way. But Saw called the shots. Who was he to argue?

Then again…Saw wasn’t here…said that little voice in the back of his head.

Silently, he stored the binocs, rising and clearing the evidence that anyone had ever been there, he made his way back along the two mile trek to where he had left his speeder.

Yes, this was too good a chance to pass up. Who knew if or when they would ever have such a chance again? He just knew it couldn’t be a waste.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mara sat at the grand dining table with Luke, dinner past and on their second (or was it third?) helping of desserts. The serving droids were there to take care of them, but their programming only went so far. So with Vader away, that meant unlimited Alderaanian Forest cake.

The house was quiet, a certain stillness falling with the loss of light early in the afternoon now. The sound of cutlery and friendly chatter. Luke had spent the better part of the dinner catching her up on all she had missed in his life during their time apart.

Luke, bless him, had asked her and she had told him what she could about her own time and appreciated his understanding when her story reached its limits. Though his brow creased in concern over the parts she left unsaid, and he knew that whatever she said about not minding, that regardless she was still troubled by some events.

“So why did the Emperor send you here?”

Mara snapped back to the present at Luke’s question. “Excuse me?” She asked, picking up her fork and scooping up a helping of the fluffy white icing on the cake.

Luke, unperturbed, was diving into his cake like some kind of military general leading an attack against desert. “I mean, not that I’m not happy to see you, but the Emperor doesn’t let you off Coruscant for just anything. He would have had a reason.”

Mara ducked her head, folding her napkin. “He knew you were getting off school before Vader,” she caught herself, “your father could get here, I think he wanted to make sure you weren’t alone.” Infusing humor into her voice, “Probably to keep you out of trouble.”

Luke snorted a laugh, picking up his glass of blue milk and taking a long sip before setting it down, blue eyes locking on hers. “I’ve spent lots of time here on my own, Mara. What aren’t you telling me?”

When Mara didn’t answer, he continued, “Is it because…is it because of the dreams?”

At this, Mara who had been trying to avoid his gaze, snapped her head up. “You’ve been having them too?”

Luke nodded, uncharacteristically solemn. “Yeah, it’s like what I saw that first time I used the Force around you. The red, the sabers.”

Mara gaped at him, finally finding her voice, “I see a farm, there are blasters and it is so hot. Luke, it’s terrifying.”

Now it was Luke who ducked his head. “I didn’t know you saw all of that.”

“Did you hurt your knee?” Mara asked suddenly.

“When?” He replied, quizzically this time but he had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“Like five months back. The left one.”

Luke nodded, “Yeah, I tripped playing a game with some of my classmates. Bruised it really bad.” His eyes scrunched, “Did you hurt your arm about two weeks ago?”

Mara’s hand instinctively went to her left arm, rubbing at the spot where she had accidentally cut it in training. It was almost all healed, just barely a scratch now. But Luke had known.

“What do you suppose it all means?” She asked by way of answer.

“I’m not sure. Something. It started when we both reached for the Light, close to your last day here, remember?”

“Yeah,” Mara nodded, “it felt like, like we did it together.”

“That’s because we did.” Luke replied, “We worked together to reach for the Light, like me reaching out with one hand and you with the other.”

“Do you think,” Mara allowed herself to approach the problem with the logical mind of a tactician, as her teachers would want her too. “that that somehow…connected us?” She knew about her Force connection with the Emperor, but that was different, rooted in something different. It wasn’t what she shared with Luke.

“Maybe.” Luke replied, “I’d have to ask my dad.”

Mara stiffened at the thought but voiced no complaint. Vader was a tough subject for her, she suspected he always would be. “Does he know about the dreams?”

Luke shrugged, “He’s asked, I’ve talked to him some, but I don’t know if he’s put in the context of you know…us.”

Us, Mara liked the word. It was strange, but this last year had been one of the hardest in Mara’s life. She had never thought much about her upbringing before meeting Luke, never questioned if it was strange or out of the ordinary. It just was. It was what it was.

But then there had been that trip through space and the late nights. And those days by the lake. Leaving had been like leaving a part of herself behind. For the first time, Mara Jade, the Emperor’s Hand in training, knew what it meant to have a friend. And this realization put everything in a new light. Ever since then, she hadn’t been able to see her old life quite the same.

All of that to say though, Mara knew she hadn’t answered Luke’s original question. “I don’t think the Emperor does either, not about us. He knows about us being friends that is.” She said hurriedly.

“He does?” Luke’s jaw dropping, a spoon full of cake halfway to his mouth “And he’s…okay with that?”

Mara nodded, “He wasn’t at first, but a few months after I got back, he seemed to actually be happy about it. He was the one that gave me credits and even let me go buy a model ship with them to build together on the flight back here. But I don’t think he knows about the dreams or the shared feelings sometimes. But to be fair, I wasn’t sure I wasn’t just imagining things until just now.”

Luke nodded, humming in agreement around his food, swallowing and asking again, “So why did he send you now?”

Mara sighed, sitting back in her chair and pushing away her plate, not able to eat another bite. “There have been rumors, rumors about certain groups seeing you as a more vulnerable target.”

“What, because I’m a kid?” He asked, sounding suddenly surprised by this knowledge, “Wait, does my father know about this?”

“I don’t know.” Mara replied. “He didn’t tell me, just told me to come here, keep an eye on things.”

“No offense, Mara,” Luke began, “but unless you have a secret army stashed in your bag you brought with you, what does he expect you to do against some groups of people determined to get me?”

Mara huffed, “You’re awfully calm for someone who has just been told they might get kidnapped.”

“Well, you’re awfully tense for something that will probably never happen, not if my father hasn’t even been told.”

Mara chuckled, but soon grew serious again. “No, really Luke, we should try and think more practically about this. Plus, if you don’t think I can do much, then maybe whoever it is that is after you will think that too, it may very well buy us time.”

It felt strange to Luke to be having such conversations, such grown up conversations. He sometimes remembered the things he used to talk about with his friends back on Tatooine, back when he had just been Luke Skywalker. It had never involved possible kidnapping and Imperial Training or troop movement.

“You’re right, Mara, sorry.” Luke’s shoulders slumped as the droid cleared away the cake. He didn’t ask for another helping.

“Hey,” Mara said after a moment, her tone softer and when Luke looked at her again, she had changed from the tactician to the girl again. “It’s going to be okay. And we still have a little bit before your dad gets here tomorrow morning. Let’s have some fun in the meantime. You pick.”

That brought a smile back to Luke’s face. “Anything?”

Luke could feel the wariness that now was creeping over Mara in the Force.

“Well then, Mara Jade,” Luke stood, planting his hands on the table top. “I challenge you to a very serious, very practical game of hide and seek!”

Mara’s nose scrunched “Hide and seek? Really?”

But Luke saw the moment she began to understand as he stepped around the table, “Come on, let’s go see how well this Force bond thing works.”

Mara’s eyes glinted like stars, “Oh now this, is going to be fun.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vader arrived late that night, or early the next day, depending on how you looked at it. He had stopped in to check on Luke, but found his son not asleep in his room. A moment of panic took over at that, but a quick check through the Force found his son, in a fort of blankets and pillows with Mara Jade, asleep hand in hand, in the library of the lake house, a large picture book on native birds spread open next to a book on ship mechanics. In the corner of the fort was a completed Mon Cala star cruiser. So the Emperor had sent the girl after all. Vader tried not to think what his master was planning, and despite his annoyance at having to share Luke with this girl, he shifted his mind back to his former resolve regarding the Emperor’s Hand in training. He would do his best to see she got to be as normal a child as ever while she was here.

And Luke, based on the pillow fort and empty plates of what looked to have once contained Alderaanian Forest cake, was doing his best to achieve just that. Vader left them and made for his own chambers. There was a long day of celebrations tomorrow for a promotion ceremony that was being held at the palace. He was dreading it, the boring pomp and circumstance. But it must be done, and at least Luke would be there too.

Chapter Text

“And now we thank Officer Jordo Flant of Coruscant for his bravery in reporting the suspected rebels.” The Master of Ceremonies droned on to polite applause.

Luke stifled a yawn from where he stood in his itchy uniform, watching the proceedings with bored indifference.

“And now we thank Lieutenant…” Luke tuned out the boring man in boring imperial grey and search through the crowd of boring imperials. Really, whoever decided grey equaled formal in the Empire should be brought up on criminal charges. They were in the heart of the Naboo palace, surrounded by towering glass windows and shimmering marble. Which brought them to the question, how many imperials did it take to make even the most grand building in Theed look gloomy? Luke scanned the crowd again. Probably about a couple hundred.

Oh, they were clapping again. Luke clapped politely. As the Imperial Heir should, watching as his father pinned a medal on yet another honored officer or another. It was amazing just how many promotions took place in such a large military, really. At least there was a celebration dinner tomorrow. The promise of food was probably the only thing keeping him sane at the moment. Well, that and Mara.

She was seated on the other side of the stage, dressed in the same uniform as his school, no doubt posing as one of these people’s daughters. As there were so many imperial officers here tonight though, he doubted any would actually bother to wonder whose kid she was supposed to be. It was strange, seeing her in the same outfit of his classmates, though she had gone undercover, as she liked to call it, in his school a few times already. Those had been the high points of his semester.

Reaching out a questioning thought, he tentatively tugged at their Force bond. What had first appeared a strange occurrence had turned out to be a truly marvelous gift. Being able to communicate any time anywhere made boring functions like this at least a little less boring.

Her jade green gaze flicked towards him and she smiled a little, sending back a mental image of a mouse droid in a chef’s hat baking Alderaanian forest cake, which made him snort with laughter. He had to turn it into a cough, which only made him want to laugh more.

Politely, he excused himself, stepping away from the celebrations. In the quiet of the back hallways, Luke found a moment to relax, feeling the weight of nearly a thousand pairs of eyes lifting from him. He wondered how long he could stay away without causing an issue. The palace was a big, beautiful place, and it wasn’t somewhere he had got the chance to explore very much. He wished that that were different.

Perhaps it could be!

He reached for the bond with Mara again, and felt her own bored disinterest in the proceedings. You alright there? You got pretty choked up by all the pomp and circumstance.

Oh hush. Luke thought along the bond. Can you get away do you think?

He could practically see the way her eyes narrowed as she scanned the room. Definitely. Why?

Everyone at the palace is at the ceremony. Let’s say we do some exploring.

He felt a spark along their bond and knew she was smiling. I’ll be there in a minute.

And she was, her skirt and high stockings as grey as ever against the backdrop of tan marble.

Luke grinned, “Come on, we can be back before anyone even knows we are gone.”

Mara nodded, but her eyes clouded slightly as she glanced behind her at where another round of applause was taking place in the great room. “Alright, just let’s stick together, okay, remember what I told you.”

“Mara,” Luke shook his head with a grin, “we are in the palace with thousands of Imperials including guards, my father, and I’ve got you, what could go wrong.”

Despite the teasing tone meant to disarm her fears, Mara’s brow crinkled in the middle in that way that told him she was worrying. “Still, we can’t be too careful.”

Luke began walking with her in step beside him down the corridor away from the droning on and on of it all behind them. “Sure, we will. Hey, hasn’t my dad been helping you with your training? I think he mentioned something about that.”

Here, it was Mara’s turn to look perplexed. “Yeah, but he never tells me why the extra training besides what the Emperor told him to do. If he wants me to be an Inquisitor, it’s not happening.”

Luke linked his arm through Mara’s. “Hey, none of that. That’s not going to happen. Now let’s go exploring!”

Mara gave his arm a squeeze and she smiled at him as they skipped down the hall together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The palace was a strange old place, he hoped there would be secret passageways and tunnels they could explore, despite Mara’s warnings that they would likely be hard to find. They were in a hall filled with statutes and busts made of marble with large marble pillars all around them. Luke had wandered off a little ways, staring at a thickly hung ancient looking tapestry that depicted the lake district of Naboo in vividly colored threads.

There was a hush over this wing of the palace they had meandered too, as if he and Mara were the only two creatures alive in it, everyone else being at the ceremony. Perhaps they were?

“Whoa!” Luke breathed, pointing a glow rod he had acquired up at a large marble pillar with intricate vines carved into it. “Check this out, Mara. Mara?” Luke turned, suddenly realizing his friend was nowhere in sight.

They must have gotten split up somewhere. “Mara?” He turned about, flashing the glow rod around the chamber only lit by the filtered light coming through the stained glass windows on the far side of the room.

Dropping his shields a bit, Luke tentatively began to reach out, but something stayed his thoughts. A swirling of…of…of something. It was hard to pinpoint, anticipation, fear, relief maybe? But the thoughts were distant. Behind him, he heard the faint whooshing of air being displaced, and when he turned, a section of wall that had once held a long mirror now stood ajar, a black portal in its place.

“Mara?” Luke asked, stepping back away, hands gripping the glow rod with a new strength. “If that’s you, it-it isn’t funny.”

A shape began to emerge from the inky depths of the once hoped for secret passage.

“Stay-stay back!” Luke called, edging away. Then they came into the light and Luke’s hands began to shake, the arm raised with the glow rod fell at his side. It couldn’t be, it just couldn’t be. But what other explanation was there.

“Luke?” The woman’s voice was soft and warm, low and sweet like the warm memories of Aunt Beru, the wish of Queen Breha so soon after the loss of his aunt, and the half recalled dream of another he had never known, never dreamed he would be able to know…until now.

“Mom?” The glow rod fell from his hands forgotten.

“Oh my darling boy!” The woman stepped from the portal, taking tentative steps into the room, eyes sweeping left then right before she approached him. “My dearest one.”

“Mom.” Luke stared into her face, unbelieving. He must have fallen asleep, wandered into a dream. She looked like the portraits he had seen, though she was less done up, no thick makeup of elaborate hair style. She wore a simple blue dress, a silvery over jacket shimmered in the half light. Her hair was down in curls. The same chocolate curls he had seen in the pictures. Her eyes were a bit different, but he supposed that must be how it always was. No one ever looked exactly like their holo. But though they were different those eyes held a light and warmth, love even, in them that Luke had craved so dearly since the loss of his Aunt Beru.

She stepped up to him, cupping his cheeks in her hands, looking him over. “Are you hurt, are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.” Luke stammered. “Are you…are you real?”

She smiled a tender smile, brushing back a lock of stray hair. “My dearest Luke, of course I’m real.” A deep sorrow flowed over her in the Force, echoing the one memory Luke had ever been able to conjure of the woman who had given him life. “I wish I could have been there for you sooner. Oh my love, I am so sorry.”

Luke broke at the words, the pain, the sorrow, the missingness of it all. Something in the back of his mind, where the Force hummed and flowed through all of him pulled back, but Luke surged forward, falling into the woman’s outstretched arms. “Mom,” he cried, “I’ve missed you so much!”

She wrapped her arms around him, stroking his back, his hair, placing a tender, motherly kiss onto the top of his head. And then all at once she pulled away. “I know my dear, I’ve missed you too, but we must go, it’s very important.”

“Go?” Luke asked bewildered. “Why? You just got here, my father-”.

His mother placed a finger to his lips. “Hush my son, I know. Your father…I’m he loved you dearly. But I am here to keep you safe now. You must come with me.”

She had taken hold of Luke’s arm and was now leading him towards the secret passage. “But…” Luke protested. “He would have told me you were alive!”

The woman looked at him sharply then, not at all the tender looks she had given before. This was calculating, shrewd, and perceiving. “Your father couldn’t have done so.” She said decisively, “Because he didn’t know I lived either. Come, I will explain everything once we are safe.”

Luke felt that pinprick in the back of his head clamoring for attention. “Are we in danger?”

“The one’s who tried to kill me will try and hurt you too. I must get you away from here.” They were almost to the portal now, but Luke put on the breaks.

“I’ve just got to tell my friend, we were exploring together…she could come with us, she was the one that helped me find out about you!”

The woman shook her head, “I’m sorry, but there is no time, Luke. I’m sure your friend will be fine. And soon you will have new friends.”

“Wait.” Luke stilled completely, forcing his arm free of the woman’s grip. She hadn’t expected it, so she hadn’t held tightly enough to prevent the sudden action. “You’re trying to take me. You don’t ever want me coming back here.” They weren’t questions. They were statements. And looking at this woman, the way the Force danced around his, an illusion, a secret, a friend, but one thing for certain. “You aren’t my mother.”

The woman sighed, shoulders dropping. “I’m sorry, Luke, I’m really sorry.”

Luke opened his mouth to scream just as a lightening fast hand jabbed the needle into his arm. There was no time for sound, no time for the cry that died on his lips. But there was time for thought, one desperate call.

MARA!

And the world went dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mara’s Imperial Preparatory Academy standard issued shoes clacked with every step she took. It was near impossible to walk silently in these things. The whole outfit felt rather ridiculous. But undercover was undercover. It would seem a bit odd if a random child in Imperial Navy dress kept showing up at Luke’s side. One other school girl wasn’t supposed to draw as much attention. It gave her the perfect cover to stick close to Luke. Which was just the problem, where was Luke?

The last she had seen of him, they had been standing in the portrait gallery by the private library that they were totally not supposed to go into but had anyways. She had been gazing at a picture, an oil painting of Naboo Lanterns floating into the night sky. It sparked something in her, like a deep sense of longing looking at it. A memory of a very young girl’s happy laughter echoed after a man and woman’s gentle voices.

She shouldn’t have let herself get distracted. There were a few doors leading out of the gallery so Luke must have taken one of them. One, the one that led to a hall of pillars and statues, Mara found to be locked from the other side. No issue, just meant Luke hadn’t gone through that one. There was another locked one, and then a third besides the one they came in, that was unlocked. Mara poked her head through it to find a sitting room, sans Luke.

Huffing, thinking about what she’d say about wandering off when she found him, and began to reach for their bond. It would be quicker than searching the regular way for who knew how long.

But as soon as she reached, she heard him, like a yell in her mind:

MARA!

Flashes of imagery played through her thoughts, a door in a wall, a mirror that wasn’t a mirror and a woman who wasn’t a queen…standing in a hall of marble pillars.

“No!” Mara gasped, darting for the door that was locked from the outside. How had she been so foolish, how had she slipped up so spectacularly? She worked through the lock without a second thought or care for if someone could tell if the lock had been picked or not, sprinting into the room. It was empty, of course.

Kicking off those ridiculous shoes, Mara sprinted on sock feet towards the place she had seen in Luke’s mind. There, she found a discarded glow rod. Picking it up from the ground, Mara found herself looking at her own reflection in the mirror.

“Well, I guess you were right about the secret passageways, Luke.” Mara gulped and stepped forward, touching the mirror frame. Nothing happened of course, but there must be a way to open it.

Closing her eyes, Mara drew on the reserves of that sparkling warmth under a layer of ice. Breathing deep, she concentrated her energy towards the mirror. “I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.” Mara repeated the saying Vader of all people had taught her. The mirror clicked free.

Mara hesitated only a moment at the threshold. She knew she should tell Vader somehow. She didn’t have a bond with him though like she did Luke or even the Emperor. She wasn’t sure she wanted to try opening one. But, and here she reached for the metal cylinder she had kept hidden under the ends of her shirt, he had…not necessarily been kind to her recently, he had been helpful, and nothing more. With a slightly trembling thought, Mara opened her connection with the Emperor, but broadcast it wide, opening her communication along another bond she knew the Emperor shared with the dark lord of the Sith.

Master, someone’s grabbed Luke, I’m in pursuit.

The mental answer came back with pride and encouragement. Good my child, good. Do not fail.

Stepping into the passage, Mara turned to face the darkness. I won’t

The connection ended and a snap hiss echoed down the corridor moments before it was filled with a violet light.

“Hang on, Luke. I’m coming.” She could only hope Vader had heard too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The comm chimed at the waiting ship and the one who had been waiting practically pounced to answer it. There had been no word since her agent’s call to say she had managed to get Luke alone. “Sabe? Tell me you’ve got him.”

“Ahsoka.” The voice came back strained. “It worked, I have him.”

Ahsoka felt like tight bow strings had been holding her up this whole year had finally been cut. Luke was safe, he was going to be safe. She wasn’t naive enough to think that just because Sabe had him that they were out of the woods, but it was the closest she had ever been. “I can’t thank you enough for this.”

There came a huff over the line. “Don’t thank me. I did this for Padme as much as for you or for him. You don’t think I haven’t wanted to do this since I saw him on that news feed two years ago? If anything, I owe you and Saw one. I take it his men have cleared my escape?”

“Yes, once you are free of the palace, they will make sure the roads are clear.”

“I’m already out. Haven’t seen his men though.”

Ahsoka felt a twinge of concern at that. Saw’s men should have been there to help Sabe the rest of the way in case she ran into trouble. They also happened to be their backup plan in case they needed more of a distraction than clearing the roads. The palace was full of imperials, Saw’s men weren’t above going in there and starting some chaos to give Sabe a chance to grab the prince and run. Or at least, that is what they discussed at the briefing.

“If they gave you up or if they had been caught, you’d be surrounded already. Focus on getting here. The edge of the meadow lands, by the forest. You know the place. And Sabe…thank you.”

On the other end there was the sound of a speeder powering up. “Again, don’t thank me. I get why a Togruta couldn’t sneak into the palace these days. With any luck, it won’t always be like this.”

“Maybe not luck.” Ahsoka grinned, feeling lighter and happier than she had in years. “But maybe Luke.” Perhaps with Luke, there would be a new hope for the galaxy after all. They just had to get him here safe.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t hard to follow Luke, even drugged as he must be. His Force signature felt fuzzy, but it was still distinct along their bond. Mara traced them into the back ways of the palace near where the speeder bikes of palace staff were often parked. Thankfully, hotwiring speeders had been part of Mara’s training this last year. Piloting them…well, that was another story.

But how hard could it be?

Pretty hard, Mara found, but the controls were simple enough even if they weren’t designed with a nearly twelve year old human child in mind. Still, it was for Luke. So she did what she did best, learn and learn quickly.

She let herself fall into the Force, enveloping the Light around her like her cloak which she sorely missed right about now. The farther Luke got, the harder it was to trace him and whoever had him was moving fast. But they didn’t know a Force sensitive was on their trail, let alone a Force sensitive who had a Force bond with their captive.

Mara worked to keep her distance while not falling too far out of reach of Luke’s presence. She knew it would never do if the kidnappers saw her following them. It wouldn’t be wise to give up her element of surprise, because Mara Jade was currently doing what her trainers had always told her to avoid at nearly all cost. Going in blind.

She didn’t know who she was up against or how many. The impressions she had gotten from Luke had just been one person, who looked like his mother, which was concerning enough as it was considering Mara and Luke both knew her to be dead. But Mara would bet her lightsaber that the kidnapper, Padme Amidala look alike hadn’t come alone. So, Mara had to be prepared for that.

They sped away from the city, which made sense, hard to escape a city as large as Theed with any due speed. Not if you didn’t want to get shot out of the sky. So they made towards the edge of the forests. Mara shuddered, recalling reading about a mission back in the Clone Wars that took place somewhere close by. Something to do with a horrible plague. Some said it still lingered in these woods. Though Mara was sure that was just superstitions.

She ducked low over her speeder and prayed to the Force that she knew how to stop the bike, that she would know what to do when the time came about more than just stopping speeder bikes. For all her training, it had never prepared her for this, the kidnapping of her best friend. She figured it out, stopping the speeder, hopping off and continuing on foot. She missed her shoes now, but the thick socks still served better than nothing as she padded over soft early autumn grass in the direction she had felt Luke’s presence last under a canopy of auburn and orange leaves.

It was a little ways away, towards a ship. And Luke’s senses were steadily growing clearer and clearer. Whatever they had used to knock him out must be wearing off. Small mercies, Mara thought. There was no way she was going to be able to carry him out of this.

Mara ducked behind a tree, spying a small shuttle craft in the clearing ahead. The speeder bike with the palace staff markings she knew must be stollen was parked a little distance away and a woman in a blue dress and silver cloak was helping a swaying Luke walk towards the ramp of the waiting ship. If he boarded that ship…it would have to be now or never.

Mara reached out with her senses, there were others nearby, but she had no way of knowing if they were with the kidnappers or just local Gungans out in the meadows. But the Force moved strangely around some of them, like it did sometimes around the Imperial Guard, or even Vader. She wasn’t sure what it meant and she honestly didn’t have time to care. They were not an immediate threat as far as she could tell.

The two figures, the one in the blue dress and the other one on the ramp, a Togruta woman, had Luke, and that was all that mattered.

But what to do? Mara gripped her saber, watching the slow progress they made with Luke stumbling. She felt the metal in her hands, cold and somewhat sweaty against her damp palms. These were people. Sure, she had fought against training droids, severed mechanical limbs and stabbed through metal chest plates. But those…those were droids. These were flesh and blood. People, those she could feel in the Force.

And she was probably going to have to kill them. But surely these kidnappers wouldn’t let Luke go so easily, surely they didn’t care about the distinction between alive or not.

Closing her eyes tight and sucking in a sharp breath, Mara called upon the Force right as the blue dressed woman walked under a perfectly placed hanging tree limb. It was as if the Force itself had placed it there just for her. Somewhat weak from an autumn storm, easily snapped, and heavy enough to knock the blue dressed Padme imposter out cold, while angled perfectly not to hit Luke as Mara called it down.

That just left the Togruta woman who sprang towards Luke as he wavered, eyes scanning the tree line. Mara didn’t have time to think before she leapt into the clearing. If she had she would have known that her little trick with the tree branch hadn’t fooled the older woman. Her play was known before she had even made her move.

A snap hiss, and Mara was sprinting into the clearing, air flowing past her like ripples of water, she raised her saber, stealing herself to take the blow, when it met in a clash and a hum. Mara opened her eyes to see amethyst clashed on white. An orange face with white markings and set with Hyperspace blue eyes filled with wonder and bewilderment.

The older woman threw her back easily. And for a moment, both were shocked enough to stare at each other, Luke flopped groggily in the middle.

“Who…” The Togruta with the shining white twin sabers leveled her gaze on Mara, “are you.”

“The person whose best friend you are trying to kidnap.” Mara retorted, changing her stance, breathing hard. “I-I won’t let you.” Her resolve was faltering ever so slightly. She needed to protect Luke. But now that the initial rush, the adrenaline that had forced that one desperate attack was over, she was once again faced with the reality of having to take a life. It was with a pang of self awareness that Mara realized, she didn’t want to.

She planted the balls of her feet firmly in the loamy soil, the smell of meadow grass and earth mixing with the dampness of autumn leaves and the scent of lightsaber polish and ship fuel. “Get away from him.”

The older warrior considered the girl, and after a moment, her sabers extinguished. “You don’t have to fight me, young one. There is bravery in your heart. I sense your concern for your friend.” And she was stepping down the ramp, closer to her, closer to Luke. “You don’t have to be separated from him. Tell me, where did you learn to build that saber?”

Mara gulped, eyes shifting. She sensed those other presences, those other beings in the Force edging closer, the Force around those strange other presences continued to swirl darkly and thickly and wrongly. “No, I’m warning you. I will fight if I have too. You aren’t taking him!”

As if sensing the intentions of the other, knowing and gauging in a way neither expected, but the Force in both of them anticipated, their sabers again ignited and collided as one. Despite the older warrior being short by most organic species’ standards, she was still taller than Mara and she was stronger too. Where the girl had only had a year’s training in saber combat, the Togruta with the white sabers had had decades.

It was strangely exhilarating, and if she were not afraid in the moment for her own life as well as Luke’s she might have enjoyed the gymnastics and sheer style of this duel. The older lightsaber wielder fought with an elegance and skill Mara had never fully seen before. It wasn’t the raw power of Vader, nor was it the brutal efficiency of the Inquisitors. It was like dancing, spinning, deflecting. In that moment, Mara learned something valuable about her opponent. She wasn’t aiming to kill. Her blows were meant to disarm or deflect exclusively. But why? Surely this must be a rogue Jedi or Rebel or maybe even turncoat Inquisitor. And yet, she didn’t feel the overwhelming darkness from the older woman that she had felt from other Force users. It wasn’t the blinding Light that was Luke either. This woman was something different. Something in between. Not unlike Mara was herself. She felt the balance, the dance between the ice and the storm. This woman walked it too.

It was never supposed to be a fair fight, they were nowhere near evenly matched. But then again, Mara never planned on it being fair either. Her mind flashed to her training with Vader, the way he had pushed her through the exercises again and again. His words ringing in her ears.

If you want to take down a larger opponent, use their advantages against them.

So, use their height against them too. Mara spun and flipped, kicking her opponent in the face and rebounding off a nearby tree, landing close to the ramp near Luke.

The warrior stumbled back, drawing a shaky hand across her jaw.

Stunned. Mara thought to herself. She didn’t think she had hit the warrior that hard. But either way, good.

Mara hurried to Luke’s side, he was blinking sluggishly up at her. “Mara?”

“Luke, come on, we are getting out of here.” She began to heft him up, swinging one arm around her shoulders when the Togruta woman spoke.

“Your technique…where did you learn to fight like that?” Her voice sounded distant, yet serious, a storm brewing in her deep blue eyes and echoing in her words, like the sound of thunder heard echoing over the lake.

Mara ignored her. But then she heard the snap hiss of the saber. “I said, where did you learn to fight like that.” An edge had crept into that voice, not a deadly one, no, but something else. Maybe a desperate one? A disbelieving one?

Mara, still trying to hold on to Luke, faced her again, trying to balance Luke and still hold her saber at the same time. “A master duelist, my best friend’s father taught me.” She didn’t know why she said it other than she hoped it would buy her time, edging backwards towards the speeder the other woman had brought. If she could just get to it.

“Impossible. It’s not possible.” The woman was saying in almost a daze, stepping closer. “You’re too young, You’re not even ten.”

“She’s almost twelve.” Luke chose that moment to chime in.

“Aside the point.” Mara glared, they were almost there. But just then the forest seemed to erupt. Mara cried out, stepping back towards the center of the clearing dragging Luke, who was nearly steady on his feet, along with her.

The woman was suddenly at her back and Mara had a sinking feeling that they had just been caught, surrounded by nearly a dozen men. But a hand came to rest on her shoulders and a white blaze of light came to cross in front of hers and Luke’s chests dazzling and of all things protective. “I was beginning to wonder where you all had wandered off too. Saw’s not going to be happy when he hears how you abandoned your mission.” A tone of command had crept into that voice, her combatant, the wielder of the twin blades was someone used to speaking and being listened to in a way that spoke of command and respect.

A tall, rough looking human man sauntered forward, a blaster in hand. “We’ve not abandoned anything, unlike you, Imp lover.” He spat. “Treating this like a rescue mission. Did you even listen to the news coming out of Kashyyyk this morning? Do you know how members of our Cadre were slaughtered there? Or were you two focused on the Imps?”

Mara’s eyes glanced quickly up at the warrior and then the man with a blaster in his hands. He held it carelessly, loosely, almost spinning it lazily. This was not a man that cared about who lived and who died. And the Force moved darkly about him and the others who were most of them nodding in solemn, angry agreement. Some didn’t look so convinced. But they were obviously in the minority.

“Don’t you see, this kid is our ticket to getting the Empire to back off for good. Let’s see how long the politicians last once their precious Crown Prince is treated no better than any of our captured friends.”

Mara’s grip tightened on Luke’s arm. It was then she noticed he was standing mostly on his own now. His Force signature was clear though a deep sadness had crept over him. “The Emperor won’t bargain for my life. If you killed me, the Emperor wouldn’t care.” His tone was quiet, serious in a way that wasn’t like him, his blue eyes clear of the drugged fog, but now filled with that deep sorrow.

“Hah, that’s what the whelp says.” Barked the ring leader, laughing cruelly. His gaze turned to Mara. “And what of this sweet little thing? Some Grand Moff your papa then?” He taunted. “Fetch us a fine credit in ransom I bet. Might just buy us off this world.”

The hand on Mara’s shoulder tightened now, a wave of reassurance flowing from the taller woman and towards both her and Luke in the Force. “I won’t let you harm these children. Whatever the Empire has done, these two are innocent.”

The man’s eyes turned cold, he raised his blaster and leveled it. “Give it up Fulcrum, you are out numbered. And we both know, there are no innocents in war.”

“You’re wrong.” That commanding voice held a ringing resound of steel in it, a conviction deeply and strongly held. “There are heroes on both sides of any war just as there are innocents, those that do their best against impossible odds. You shed that blood then you are no better than the Empire you hate.”

The blaster fired.

Fulcrum, whoever she was, deflected the shot easily and soon multiple weapons were trained on them, blasting and firing. “Deflect the shots!” Fulcrum shouted, and it took Mara a moment to realize she meant her.

Raising her saber, Mara wove an arch of light around her as Vader had taught her to do.

When you are faced with multiple opponents, don’t get bogged down. It’s okay to run once you get an opening.

Mara kept Luke at her back, the taller Togruta weaving her twin sabers above them both. Heros on both sides…

Why was this rebel Jedi protecting them? Why not do exactly what those other men said? It’s what Mara would expect from rebel scum. It is what she had always been told they were like. She swung her saber wide, deflecting a volley of shots.

She felt Luke move behind her, turning her head slightly, she saw him grip the side of his head, eyes scrunching shut.

“Luke?” She did her best to divide her attention between the immediate threat ahead and her friend.

“My father-” Luke groaned, “he’s coming. And he’s very angry.”

Mara felt a weight drop in her stomach. Luke’s father was coming. Vader was coming. And there were people trying to kill them. No one in this clearing, with perhaps the exception of herself and Luke, was going to survive what came next.

She felt it, the wave of cold sweeping towards them quickly. She wished for her cloak, shivering in the cold. And her distraction was costly. A stray bolt found its way through, grazing Fulcrum’s arm but it was only at her gasp above hers and Luke’s head that Mara realized something.

It wasn’t her distraction. It was Fulcrum’s. Fulcrum, had faltered. She had felt the cold too. Craning her neck up, Mara was able to see a haunted look in the older fighter’s face, a disbelief, a horror, that Mara had never seen before. But she recovered in an instant, and was now fighting with a renewed vigor, the Force was at her side as her sabers blurred together.

Luke realized what Mara did in that exact same moment. If they were leaving, it had to be now.

He reached across their bond, opening it fully to her. She struggled not to lose her focus again at what she felt there, Luke…to put it plainly, didn’t feel like Luke. His presence free of the sedative felt like the mind after a migraine, bruised and sore, painful from a hurt so deep it blurred one’s vision. He shook off her concern, I’m fine. The thought came clear as day.

Before Mara could retort that he wasn’t she saw his intentions before they happened. Feet running across grass, a speeder on the far side of the clearing.

“Luke, wait!” She called a moment too late as Luke bolted from the protective cover of the twin white sabers and Mara’s own violet. She took off after him, bolts coming fast and furious along with shouts from the men.

Fulcrum had turned too, and it was only then that Mara’s mind recalled that mere moments ago, this woman hadn’t been the protector at their backs. She had been trying to kidnap Luke too. Mara couldn’t allow herself to get so sloppy, turning, she tried to cover their retreat, spinning her violet blade in an arch.

Luke was at the speeder, starting it up. He paused a moment, the crumpled form of the woman Mara had taken out at the start still resting there. In the Force, Mara felt her steady beating presence that spoke of life. But the deep hurt in Luke’s eyes as he gazed at her, his hands flying over the controls with a finesse that Mara had lacked, made her wonder if she should have taken the shot she had hesitated from. Whatever pain the blue dressed woman had caused went deeply.

Climbing on the speeder, saber still raised, Mara felt the cold continuing to come, closer now. “Hurry, Luke.” Mara urged. But then there was another presence, a shifting song in the Force that reminded Mara of what Luke had mentioned about the absence of something. It was like a harmonic line that was lost in a song before coming into the forefront. The hyperspace blue eyes of Fulcrum met the gaze of the two children and for a moment, time seemed suspended.

A hundred emotions existed in that moment. Greif, regret, fear, pain, but also hope, wild and unspeakable hope. Mara knew she didn’t want to lose them, she didn’t want them to go, but she felt what was coming too, and Mara knew that somehow, this woman understood that in a way that neither she or Luke fully did. She looked at them both for one fraction of a moment suspended in time with a clarity in her eyes, she was letting them go as much as there was little to be done in that moment to stop them as there was much that could be done by Fulcrum, whoever she was. With the two children out of the way, the need to protect no longer there, Fulcrum nodded once to Luke and Mara and turned on their attackers, covering their escape.

But not before the speeder turned, barreling into the forest in the direction of the cold and one man turned, blaster raised, eyes sharp, and a shot found its mark. Mara slumped against Luke’s back and she never heard his cry of alarm or felt the hands that held her on the speeder as she fell.

Chapter Text

Luke raced the speeder as fast as he dared through the trees, towards the cold, cold presence that he knew must be his father, though he had never felt such rage before. His mind, his heart, it was a jumbled mess. And then Mara had cried out, he felt her weight on his back and had scrambled to grab at her arms that had been wrapped around his neck, holding them in place. Most of her weight had fallen into him, and he could only pray she would stay on long enough to get away. They had to get away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vader was seething, anger flowing through him like he hadn’t felt in years, perhaps ever. He had thought he had felt anger before. But this was on another level. His son, his precious son, had been taken from the very heart of the Naboo palace, under the noses of nearly a thousand imperials, troops and all. He had heard Mara’s message like a whisper over his bond with the Emperor. The girl reaching out like that was as deliberate as it was unexpected.

But he promised himself he would be sure to thank her for this action once he got his son back. This was twice she was risking her life for Luke, if one didn’t count the countless times she stood before the Emperor and lied. Yes, once Luke was safe and those wretched beings who weren’t worthy of the breath they drew were dead, he would make sure to do something nice for Mara as a thank you.

He had followed almost immediately, though it had been harder than it had been for Mara. He had been deeper in the palace and the closest exit had taken him right into the middle of a speeder crash on the main road. No doubt the kidnappers had caused it to block any chance of pursuit.

But Vader was strong in the Force, strong with the Darkside and nothing could have stood in his way for long. Soon he had acquired his own speeder and following the same path Mara herself had taken.

With every moment that passed without Luke in his arms, the rage only grew. He knew he was close, very close when he saw that a speeder bike, one that looked like the ones used by the palace staff, was racing towards him at head long speed.

His heart nearly stopped at the two figures aboard it. The one at the controls, dressed in Imperial Grey and with blue eyes standing starkly out against the backdrop of green and autumn gold was flying with one hand, the other was desperately trying to secure the limp figure whose red gold hair fluttered in the air behind them like a signal fire.

“Father!” Luke cried out, both of them bringing their speeders to a screeching halt.

Vader was out of his speeder car in an instant, his long strides eating up the ground as he went to meet his son. Alarm spread through him when he saw the red staining against the grey of his son’s uniform. It took his mind only a second to realize that his son was animated, almost frantic and Mara…Mara law motionless.

Luke struggled to get out from under the dead weight of his friend, and Vader came back to himself, taking the girl’s shoulders and moving her so Luke could come to standing.

“We have to get her to a med center!” Luke exclaimed, hands fluttering over her limp form as Vader hoisted her into his arms, resting her head against his shoulder hoping she could breathe easier nearly upright.

Vader saw the scorch mark that tore through her mid left side, leaving blackened edges to her fake school uniform, the same school uniform worn by students at Luke’s school. As he held the girl in the forest, Luke’s pleading eyes staring up at him, all Vader could think was this could very easily have been Luke he was holding.

“Your attackers,” Vader began, the rage still there unforgotten. “who did this? Where are they?” Luke looked back the way they came.

“There’s no time!” Luke exclaimed. “Mara’s hurt!”

He said the words like Vader didn’t know. This girl, who had saved his son before Vader himself even got there, was hurt. Luke was shaking, his presence in the Force skewed with pain, hands trembling, shirt soaked through with the blood of his friend. Whoever did this needed to pay.

“She will be fine.”

“She won’t!” Luke was almost crying now, but a determination in his voice was keeping the tears at bay. “Please father!” At the same time he gasped himself, reaching for his side, the exact place Mara herself was hurt.

In his arms, Mara began to cough, eyes shut tight and then opened blearily, “Luke?” She asked, words slurred with pain. Before Vader could answer, despite his rage making it near impossible to work his voice into anything close to reassuring, she spasmed, coughing again thickly. To both Vader and Luke’s horror, red the color of Vader’s saber, trickled from her pale lips, staining Vader’s black armor with it.

He recoiled from the sight, the wound Mara sustained must go deeper than he thought. Luke was right, despite his rage blinding him to the fact at first, Mara was hurt. Very hurt. And she would die without care. And Luke, his precious son, somehow felt it too. Vader wanted in that moment to let the rage out, to decimate those that had put that look in Luke’s eyes and the blaster burn in Mara’s side. But a voice seemed to whisper, like a gentle touch on his forehead.

Let it go.

It was all he could do. Vader turned, physically forcing himself, to turn away from the kidnappers and back to the speeder. “Get in.” Vader bit out.

Luke scrambled into the back seat, and Vader laid Mara down, with her head in Luke’s lap, grateful he had brought a bigger speeder than the speeder bike his son had come on. There was no way they all would have fit.

“You aren’t hurt? You are alright?” Vader finally found the voice to ask his son as he turned the speeder on and sped back towards the city.

“I’m fine.” Luke’s voice was shaky, but Vader didn’t sense any physical hurt coming from him in the Force. “It’s Mara I’m worried about.”

Vader felt the boiling rage, it would need an outlet and soon. But if he didn’t want Mara Jade to die as his thank you for saving his son, he had to get her to a med center, and he had to get Luke to safety.

Vader didn’t trust the palace after what happened with Luke so he went to the Imperial Garrison instead. They would have a top tier med center and Luke would be literally surrounded by stormtroopers. When he brought the speeder to a stop, Luke was already opening the doors and trying to pull Mara out. Vader took over instead, taking the girl back into his arms. Had she grown paler in the short drive?

“This child requires medical attention.” Vader snapped at the first aid he saw.

“Right away, Lord Vader!” The poor officer, too lowly to have been at the celebrations at the palace stammered, literally running down the halls shouting for a medic as he did.

Within moments, Mara had been handed off to the medical staff who swarmed her with Bacta and bandages, only taking a moment to listen when Vader said. “If she dies, you die.” Before he swept his cape around him and stormed from the room.

Luke had wanted to stay with Mara, but the medical staff wouldn’t hear of it, so Luke scrambled after his father. “Where are you going?” He cried, hand outstretched as if he meant to stop the darkly clad figure.

“To go after the ones that did this, my son. They will answer for their crimes against you.”

Luke was shaking. “Don’t go. Please don’t leave me. Mara…” Whatever strength had sustained Luke this long was leaving him. Tears were welling up in his eyes and Vader recalled for all Luke had been very brave this whole time, he was still just a child. Almost a teenager, but a child still.

Vader came and knelt before his son. “Mara will be fine. Those doctors will see to it. You have my word.”

Luke shook his head. There was something more going on here. Luke was obviously distraught and unsettled in the Force by his friend’s injury and his almost kidnapping. But there was something more to this, something deeper. And it ate at Vader. What had happened in the few hours it had all taken to be over?

“Don’t leave me.” Luke said in a whisper.

Vader felt the conflict within him, the need to let out his rage, the need to make the kidnappers pay, and the knowledge that they were probably long gone, and here stood his son, begging him to stay.

Closing his eyes, Vader breathed in deeply, once than twice, then opened them again. Picking up his comm, he gave orders into it for someone to go to the clearing he had pictured when he had reached for Luke. Then he clipped the comm to his side, beside his saber, and held his arms out for his son.

Luke fell into them, sobbing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vader pulled the blanket up over his son where he slept on the extra hospital bed that had been brought in. Luke had been restless for many hours, tired but refusing to sleep, not touching the food he was offered. At long last, after holding on to Vader’s hand for hours, his eyes had slowly, slowly, drifted shut. And now he rested, bathed in the blue glow of Mara’s Bacta tank.

Vader’s eyes found the girl, looking almost peaceful where she floated suspended in blue liquid. She had been in surgery until the sun had sank below the horizon and then immediately put into Bacta. If Vader concentrated, he could feel her presence in the Force, she too was disquieted, even in sleep. But she had calmed significantly when Luke had been brought into the room. That was the only reason the medical staff had allowed Luke to stay. The children, despite their collective heightened fear in the Force, were seeming to draw comfort from the close proximity of the other, even in their slumbers.

Vader caressed one hand over his son’s hair, with the other, he hovered it above the glass of Mara’s tank. He hadn’t used his powers for comfort, not in many years. However, a memory persisted.

“I’I’m fine, Master.” Said the girl when he had found her, curled up in a corner of one of the hangars after the battle.

“Come on, Snips, you should have been in bed hours ago, we rendezvous with Obi-Wan in twelve standard. It’s important we get sleep when we can.”

Her eyes had flickered, a fear dancing in them at the mention of sleep and he had stilled, recalling that this girl was, after all, just a child. And despite her bravery, she had just seen some of her first combat with serious casualties.

“Come on.” He held up his hand and she took it gratefully. “It’s okay to sleep.” He said, laying a hand on her shoulder. “Rest,” he let the Force flow through his words, “and sleep well.” Behind his words, he had infused a memory, a memory of the room of a thousand fountains. The girl had smiled a sleepy, unsure smile, he had walked her to her door and given her a hug before she went inside, a settled peace having fallen over her like a blanket. That night, the girl slept after the battle and her dreams were sweet.

Vader pictured the Lake District and summer air tinged sweet with flowers. Around him, Luke and Mara both settled into the memory made dream and Vader knew they would sleep peacefully for the next several hours.

He left the chamber, nodding to the creatures that stood at the door with their long noses and grey, shadow like appearance. “Stay here. None but the medical professionals are allowed in. No one.”

“Yes, Lord Vader.” The gravely voice spoke softly, the creatures bowing in unison.

Vader left, sweeping from the room to the speeder. It was night, the moon had climbed high into the sky, full and bright, casting enough light to see by.

He knew his likelihood of finding anything in the clearing other than what his agents had already reported was next to useless. A few dead humans had been found. Their own shots had been deflecting at them by a lightsaber. He wondered if Mara had done it. Luke hadn’t mentioned, but then again, there wasn’t much Vader had been able to get from Luke on the topic yet. He could only hope that time would resolve the matter.

One positive note, they had a responsible party now, thanks to the killed men. They were identified as members of Saw Gerrera’s freedom fighters, as they liked to call themselves. Saw Gerrera had done this.

He walked through the clearing, seeing scorched grass and trampled areas where multiple figures had stood. Small footprints, Luke’s and Mara’s, next to larger ones.  Someone had stood at Luke’s and Mara’s back. Someone had protected them. Vader wondered who and why. Was it a dispute between the kidnappers? Had something gone wrong in their plan?

He felt nothing, but there was a trace of something, something distant and long forgotten. Once again, his mind was drawn to one Anakin Skywalker had known, the one whose dreams he had eased in those early days of war. Why was he thinking of her now? He hadn’t allowed himself to do so in so long. It hurt too much.

In one of the trees at the edge of a clearing, a bird called. He looked up through red lenses at a convor, green and white, perched amongst the trees. It flapped its wings at him, regarding him with an almost knowing stare. He had seen a similar bird before, circling a snowy scene, littered with graves.

“Leave me.” Vader growled at the bird. “Go torment someone else.” The bird just continued to regard him for several long moments. At once though, it took flight and Vader felt it meant him to follow. He didn’t know why he did, but a curiosity had over taken him so he did.

The bird flew along the path that Vader knew Luke had taken to run into him. He could picture it, his son’s frantic flight, Mara flopped against his back, bleeding from the wound in her side.

The bird swooped low, wings almost skimming the forest floor, before it took off, soaring into the night. Vader watched it go, before a gleam of metal in the grass caught his eye. A silvery hilt reflected in the moonlight.

Vader knelt, picking it up and brushing dirt and leaves from it. Mara’s saber. He knew it well after so many hours spent training her to use it. She must have dropped it when she had been shot. Giving it a once over for damage, Vader clipped it to his belt and looked once more about him. It was quiet, not even the gentle calls of the convor up above could be heard anymore. Only the gentle sounds of the night remained.

There was nothing for him here. It was time he returned to his son. He should be there when he woke up. And he had to return Mara’s saber to its rightful owner.

Chapter Text

When Luke awoke again, the sun was still pale and rosy with the light of the morning. The memories of the day before came creeping in slowly, drawing attention to themselves unobtrusively. He was grateful for this, for them not all crashing back at once, just as he was grateful for the deep and restful sleep that had mercifully found him. He blinked a few times, opening his eyes, and sitting up slowly.

There, sitting next to his bed, was the black clad shape of his father. Noticing that Luke was awake, he turned to him and asked “My son, are you alright.”

“I’m fine, father.” Luke replied, shocked in that moment though by how small his voice sounded, even to his own ears, in the medical room. It had been an automatic reply, one born of a desire to see the worry taken from his father’s presence. Luke hadn’t really allowed a moment yet to take stock of how he felt. He did so now. His mouth felt horribly dry, and his tongue felt odd and a little heavy, as did his limbs. His head felt stuffed with Bantha wool, and it ached when he looked towards bright lights. But other than that, it really felt no worse than that one time he had had a mild cold one winter back on Tatooine.

His father visibly relaxed, hands unclenching, sighing in relief. Before he could speak again though, Luke asked, “What happened? What about Mara?”

Vader’s head turned and there Luke saw Mara, resting in a cream colored linen shirt that made her hair stand out vividly against her shoulders where it lay, the slickness of the Bacta having been washed out and dried, tucked into a grey bed that matched his own. As if she could sense the scrutiny, Luke could see her nose scrunch and her brow furrow, eyes squeezing. For a moment, Luke thought she might wake up. But the moment passed, and her face eased back into the blank nothingness of unconsciousness, not even broken by a dream.

Luke could feel it in the Force, when someone was about to tell a lie. Mara was particularly skilled in that area and she had been teaching him since they had been back together. He could feel the conflict in his father then, the weighing and the balancing and at last the giving in. It was the truth then. “She sustained a blaster to her side and required surgery and a Bacta treatment. It left its mark, but she should be fine.”

A blaster shot…Luke shivered at the thought. And she had done it for him. He knew that if it were not for her, that shot would have hit him. Mara could have run. She was fast, agile, she could have easily made it out if she had abandoned him to do it. She didn’t even have to come in the first place. And yet she had. When she had had the chance to run, she hadn’t. He remembered the blade in her hand, the fierce way she had swung it out, the smell of something burning and the pain radiating through the Force. He remembered the arc of light she had spun for them.

“She saved me.” Luke’s voice was at a whisper now. Images, sharp and hard darted over his mind. A blaster not set to stun, a charring hole through flesh, angry cries in the night, hot sand under bare feet.

Sensing his son’s distress, Vader moved in a motion as fluid as mechanical limbs would allow and scooped Luke into a hug. “She’s alive. And she saved you from those that would have taken you from me. That is all that matters.”

Luke shook his head against the hard plating of his father’s armor. “I’m tired of people getting hurt to protect me.” A blaster bolt hitting an unprotected side the thud of something heavy hitting the sand, the weight of his friend hitting his back. “I hate it, I hate it!”

Luke was crying now, crying like he hadn’t in over a year. His father held him all the tighter. “You can use that hate,” His father spoke now, almost hesitantly, pulling back to look into Luke’s eyes, “you can use it to make you strong. You can use it to protect yourself.”

Luke felt a slithering cold at those words, at what his father meant. He felt it, like an oily slickness over the brightness he could feel around him. There were lives beyond the walls of the garrison, living breathing beings. Their life forces shone brightly. But he could also feel that oily sense too, like an invasive vine growing over a ledge and cracking it down. And new images darted through his head. Blaster bolts suspended mid air, turned back on those responsible for them, his Uncle Own never hitting the sand, his Aunt Beru not locking him in the panic room before going out to protect him, Mara, never being hurt. Could he have saved them?

 He felt the edges of the storm like Mara did, when she talked about Coruscant. But he wasn’t like Mara, was he? When Mara felt things, she felt them intensely, but she reacted to them softly. She felt her way through each emotion and each decision like a dancer moved across a stage. Sometimes her movements were full of slow grace, other times they were energetic and striking. But always calculated. When Luke felt things, it was with his whole heart, with his whole being, there was no pulling back. He was like a starship in a hyperspace lane. Once he was headed in a direction, there was no stopping until they reached the destination. To not do so was to go against his very nature. He knew, he knew if he were to reach out and touch that storm, he would not stop at skimming its surface, he would be pulled into it, sucked into the winds and the currents, until he was at its very center, with all the rage and destruction around him.

And where would that leave the ones he loved? On the outside, out of his reach, out of his sight, unable to reach him and him unable to reach back. Luke recoiled from it. “No, no I can’t!” He cried, unable to form his feelings into proper words.

But Vader understood. He sat there, rubbing circles into Luke’s back, letting the emotion roll over him and through him until it finally rolled out of him and beyond him. “Then let it go, my son. Let it out. It’s alright.”

That is how Mara found them sometime later when her eyes fluttered open. In her mind, she had been drifting, a little skiff tossed at the edges of a hurricane. She wasn’t sure if she could make it, she wasn’t sure if it would pull her in in the end. But she knew, if she could focus on the guiding star, somewhere there, in the glittering of the ice, she could make it. She just had to follow its light. And when she woke, she saw Luke, smiling at her like the lake after the rain.

It was going to be okay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The medical staff insisted on Mara staying another night for observation, just to be safe, they said. Mara wondered at this and the nervous ways they seemed to hover about her and check on her nearly constantly. She wondered if her wounds were worse than she had been originally led to believe, if she were not in fact dying. But she felt fine, steadily growing stronger in the Force.

The Emperor had contacted her, as she lay in her hospital bed, infusing his words with praise, hope for a quick recovery, and promises that he would teach her how not to let her guard down and get hit like that again. Mara rested in the praise, but a part of her mind was still working over all that had happened. The Togruta woman…Fulcrum…she had protected her and Luke from those other kidnappers. But why and what did it mean? Was there honor among rebels after all?

Her musings were broken by the door opening. Luke came in, smiling at her his usual sunshine smile, though she still saw the edges of distress there that she had noted since the attempted kidnapping. “You’re awake!” He said, pulling something from behind his back and handing it to her.

Mara took it a little bewildered at first. It was a stuffed creature, large enough to take up most of her arms, brown and furry with curly horns and a stitched on smile and shiny black button eyes. Around its neck was tied a jade green ribbon. “You…got me a Bantha?” She asked, turning the stuffed animal over in her hands.

“It’s a get well soon Bantha.” Luke corrected in all seriousness and, meeting each other’s eyes, both burst out laughing. It wasn’t because it was necessarily funny, but because they both needed it. The knowledge of what they went through was still sinking in. They both knew they had faced a grave danger, but had survived it. And there was something cathartic about the sheer knowledge that the other was alive and able to give such a simple gift.

Luke sat down at the edge of her bed, resting his hand on her knee. “Mara…” he began, all laughter gone from, his voice now. “I’m sorry, I should have listened. We should never have gone off alone. If I had stayed with you, or listened and not left in the first place, none of this might have happened.”

“Hey,” Mara quickly laid her hand atop his. “we can’t know that. Whoever tried was going to try anyway. If not then then some other time. At least we got away.”

Luke was nodding, “I guess. But you still got hurt protecting me. I-I don’t know how I would live with myself if you died.”

Mara gave his hand a squeeze. “But I didn’t.”

His eyes met hers again, that strangely solemn look still on his face. “No, you didn’t.”

“I’m guessing your father was the one to find my saber?” She asked, eyes glancing to the vase of hothouse flowers sitting at her bedside table, the silver saber hilt that she had woken to find, polished and oiled, tied with a silken bow the color of her blade resting beneath the colorful petals in the early hours of the morning.

“Yeah, I think it’s his own way of saying thank you. You saved my life.”

Mara shook her head. “It wasn’t me, Luke. I’m not…I’m not that good with a saber yet.” She took the get well Bantha in her arms and gave it a little squeeze, “If not for Fulcrum, we both wouldn’t be here right now.”

A shiver ran through Luke. “If not for Fulcrum, we might not have been in that situation to begin with. The…the woman who took me from the palace was working with her.”

Mara picked a little at the brown fuzzy fur. “True. But she saved us in the end…and let us go.”

Luke’s gaze became distant. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ve felt,” Luke continued slowly at first. “that something’s still been missing, since finding out about my mom. But I wasn’t sure. I thought maybe my dad had an apprentice or someone, something like that that might explain the missingness. When I faced Fulcrum, it was like…”

Mara interjected, voice soft and far away, in the clearing in the woods. “Like a portion of a missing part of a song being played.”

“Exactly!” Luke really appreciated the Force bond they shared.

“You think she was your father’s apprentice?” Mara asked a little skeptically. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Luke, she had felt it too. And Fulcrum most obviously had been a Force user. And then there was the eerily familiar way she had fought…

“I don’t know.” Luke sighed, letting his feet swing over the ledge of the bed.

“Luke,” Mara began the question she hated to ask but had been worrying her since she had seen the lady in the blue dress with Luke. “about the other one, the woman who took you.”

Luke flinched as if Mara’s words had struck him, ducking his head. “I’m alright.”

“That’s a lie.” She said gently, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you need to talk with your father about all of this. If you thought, even for a second, that she was still alive, you need to talk to your father.”

“She wasn’t my mother.” Luke said barely above a whisper. “She looked like her, but she was all wrong in the Force. She wasn’t lying exactly. Whoever she was, she cared about me. But she wasn’t my mother.”

“I know.” Mara answered, for what else could one say to such a heartache, a dream thought impossible, made possible for one shining moment, only to have the illusion shattered was almost crueler than never having dreamed the dream at all. Giving his hand one more squeeze, and hugging the Bantha to her chest with her free hand, she spoke once more, “Talk with your father.”

Luke nodded, sighing in defeat. Mara, like most times he was finding, was of course right. He stayed with Mara through lunch, which they ate together and then left her with the plush Bantha curled up in her arms as she slept.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke found his father outside the garrison in the shining sunlight of the Naboo day. He washed his palms against each other, trying to think how best to start the conversation that had to be had. He knew it would hurt, both him and his dad. However, Mara was right. He wouldn’t feel peace again until it was done.

“Father?”

His father’s helmeted head turned towards Luke. The man hadn’t removed the mask once since Luke’s almost kidnapping and Mara’s injury. “My son.”

A silence fell between them like a chasm Luke didn’t know how to cross. Thankfully, Vader met him halfway. “You want to ask me something.”

Luke nodded, ducking his head, eyes finding the scuffed stones beneath his feet. “It’s about, about what happened.”

Vader straightened, standing and drew Luke to his side, ushering him away from the garrison and towards a little park that the Imperial forces had taken over as a place for the officers to relax on their break. He led Luke to a bench beneath a large tree with its autumn leaves in full color, the smell of damp air promising rain that night. “Tell me, my son.” Vader compelled.

Luke had been reluctant, unable to speak on the events until now. And Vader hadn’t pushed him or let others push him for answers. In the moment, Luke was safe and that was all that had mattered. But he knew his father wanted answers as to what had transpired.

So Luke began the story. He told about him and Mara going exploring, getting separated, the secret passageway, then the woman in the blue dress. “She…” the words stuck in his throat, “she looked like mom.”

Vader’s arms tightened around his shoulders. “What do you mean?”

Luke dashed his hands against his blue eyes, “She pretended to be her, but I knew she wasn’t. She talked like you were dead. I don’t understand who she was, why she did it.”

Luke could not have known the inner workings of his father’s mind in that instance, the memories playing of girls that his beloved angel had been friends with, who had helped her, had laughed with her, and protected her. He had never bothered to find out what happened to them. Would it be so strange that members of their number would have joined the rebellion?

Instead, the only reply Luke received was a gentle hum, “I am so sorry my son. To see her face on another, to think her alive, I can imagine that devastation.” And in his voice Luke knew he bore an understanding deeper than empathy.

“My mother is truly dead.” Luke felt the tears flowing anew. “If she were alive, she would have come for me, right?” His head tilted back, causing the tears to form rivers on his cheeks which a careful gloved hand wiped away.

“Yes, oh my precious son, yes, she would be here with you if she could.” There was a long pause, a sense of turmoil coming from his father before he spoke again. “Luke, I must show you something. Come with me.” He rose to his feet, beckoning Luke after him.

Luke followed, hand wrapping in his father’s. They took a speeder back to the palace but Vader led them to a part Luke had never been to, a little ways away. There were many stone buildings, erected in groupings, taller than they were wide in most cases. All around it was as if they walked through what must have been a practical garden of flowers in spring. Right now, late autumn blooms filled the walks near little bubbling fountains. Vader came to one building, opened the grated door and let them both inside.

It smelled a bit musty, but not damp, more like a cave. The smell of cool stone infused with that of flowers. On the walls were intricate designs, mosaics and stained glass letting in the light, which fell on a lone place, a resting place, made of stone.

“What is this?” Luke asked in a hush, but he thought he knew. No, he knew he knew. He knew just as he had known that woman in the statue halls was not his mother.

A trembling gloved hand brushed against the stone. “This, this is where your mother was laid to rest. This is her final resting place, this is where…this is where family comes to remember her. I…I’m so sorry I never brought you here, my son.”

Luke came to stand at his father’s side, resting his hand atop the stone as well, gazing up at the stained glass visage looking down on them, a woman regal but kind. His mother.

Luke bowed his head. Tears dropping on the cool stone, staining it darker before drying quickly. But in a way he hadn’t expected, a peace washed over him here. His mother was dead, but she had loved him. And she hadn’t tried to take him, she hadn’t been the reason Mara was hurt. He wanted her back, he wanted her in his life so dearly. Though standing here, he thought maybe he could tell that she was happy, happy that he was safe. She was sad in her death, but maybe in the after, maybe she was happy now. Luke thought she was.

He breathed deep the air and tucked his hand into his father’s. “Come on, let’s go back.”

Hand in hand, father and son left the crypt where his mother lay, Luke looked back once more, and knew the grief would always be with him, just as he would carry the grief for his Aunt and Uncle, but as they climbed the stairs, there was light above them, shining on his head and reminding him that there was a future. In the back of his mind, he heard an echo like a word spoken there, toneless and unbidden but not foreign to him. The words, were a part of him.

There is no death, there is the Force.

Whatever may come, Luke knew he was and always would be loved. And in that love, there was life.

“Let’s go check on Mara.”

Chapter Text

Fulcrum rubbed the bridge of her nose as she sat on her ship. She had dropped Sabe off with a group of rebels who would protect her. It was best they weren’t seen traveling together. Word surely would get out with a description of Luke’s would be kidnappers and then they would be in worse danger than they were already. As for the remainder of Saw’s men…she had sent them on their way, with a warning and a promise that if they tried to hurt an innocent child like that again, they would be hearing from her. Her resulting conversation with Saw hadn’t gone any better. He had not been happy to hear about what his men had done, but he had not disagreed with their assessment of the situation. He, deep down, felt Luke would make a more valuable hostage than a rescue. It was needless to say that the call had not ended with them on great terms.

And at the end of the day, Luke was still in the hands of the Empire.

She had heard along her channels the beginnings of the outcry over what she had done. The disappointment at missed opportunities by some, the fear over the new scrutiny this had brought to the Rebellion at large, and then by those she was closest with, the disappointment at the loss of Luke, potentially forever now. But they could not understand the depths of her own stinging disappointment. Fulcrum was a planner, a preparer, one who made decisions carefully, tried to plan for all outcomes. She hadn’t survived this long without those skills. In the back of her mind, she could remember a child that would have laughed at the woman who now called herself careful. But those were different times. Very different times.

In all honesty, she was barely paying any attention to the comms at all anymore. She knew she should. Not to mention Bail Organa was already furious at her for this attempt. There was a reason she had gone to the Partisans rather than the Rebellion with this. And that, she knew, had been her first problem. If she saw Saw Gerrera in person again…she wasn’t sure what she would do but she would give him something to think on for sure.

There was a lot that had to be done now. The rebel cell that had been operating out of Theed would likely need to go to ground for a while, if not be scraped entirely. Reports flooded her terminals, Vader was on the ground, the palace was on lockdown, as was much of the city. She had done what she could, moved people out that she could, given orders to hide to those she couldn’t get out. And cut the codes for those she had already lost contact with. There would be time for that grief later. Right now, she had larger, more pressing griefs clamoring for attention in her mind.

Skywalker.

It was a name, it was an ideal. It was so much to so much of the galaxy. Or at least it had been…once. To her…to her it was a memory, a loose end, an unanswered question at the top of a list of many unanswered questions. And there was a boy now who bore that name, and he had almost, almost been in her grasp, after years of careful planning. And now he was gone. She knew the likelihood of getting another chance was slim. And at the heart of it, she knew, she had been the one to let him go.

She wondered at all that had gone wrong. Sabe and the Partisans had worked their parts beautifully at the start until it all went wrong. Getting there and getting Luke out of the palace had all gone too well. That should have been her first clue that something was going to go wrong. And then the branch that fell, knocking Sabe out cold, then the fight in the clearing. She had prepared for much, even Vader. But another lightsaber wielding combatant, one that came in the form of a young girl, that was not something she had expected. That posed its own…interesting question. The color of the blade, the way the girl had wielded it…That is what had troubled her originally. Sure styles could be similar, but the way the girl had moved, it was familiar, it was like reading the handwriting of a family member or seeing the stride of a dear friend. She moved like herself, but also like someone else. At first she couldn’t place it, but then she knew, in one quick motion, Fulcrum knew. This girl, obviously of the Empire was no Sith, but she wasn’t a Jedi either, and she moved in the style of the most powerful duelist the old Order had ever known. She should know, he had trained her too after all. So where had this girl, no older than the Empire itself, learned to move like that?

And puzzle pieces had only started further falling into place from there.

A boy with her former master’s last name and the shared features of an old knight and a senator. A girl with a saber the color of the evening sky and the influence of a master in her form, what had become of the lingering question that was Skywalker was proving to be nothing good. The first thought that had run through her mind was that Anakin must be a captive somewhere, being forced to teach these children under the threat of his son’s life. But then Luke had said those words.

My father is coming and he is very angry.

His father.

She had felt the cold down to her soul. If she thought about it too long, it caused her to shiver anew. And suddenly a captive Jedi was not the worst thing she could picture as a fate for Anakin Skywalker. Suddenly she knew, there was much, much worse that could have happened to him. She couldn’t admit it in that moment though. And there had been so much else to focus on, like keeping herself and the two children alive.

In the end, she had had to let them go, to a fate unknown, but to a fate nonetheless. They lived, and she couldn’t help but feel that because they did, she, Sabe, and the remaining Partisans did too. Yes, there was something over the horizon, something shrouded in darkness, but behind it, maybe, she thought she caught the glimpses of a rising light, rays of sunlight piercing the dawn.

She wanted Luke safe, she thought he never could be in the Empire.

But maybe, just perhaps, he was exactly where he was supposed to be. All is as the Force wills after all.

And what of the shadow that guarded him? What of the girl with fire in her hair and in her eyes that stood beside him? She didn’t know. But she knew there was work to be done, repairs to be made for her actions. She trusted that in time, the answers to her lingering questions would come.

Her comm light blinked and barely thinking of the action, she flicked it on. “This is Fulcrum.”

“Fulcrum listen.”

She startled at the voice, sitting up a little straighter. “Senator Organa, I didn’t expect to hear back from you so soon.”

She could practically see the twitch in her former friend’s eyes, the frustration she heard in his voice. She had damaged their friendship out of loyalty to another friendship, but he had called her. Perhaps there was a chance.

“Look, I may not have agreed with your most…recent actions. But what matters is still the Rebellion. We can’t afford to be at odds with one another and I may very well need to call upon you again soon.”

Breathing deep, steadying her emotions, Fulcrum leaned against the comm panel. “I am probably at the top of every most wanted list, but if I can I’ll help.”

“That’s just it, the other rebels in your group are, but there is no mention of you. Not even as a description.”

She sucked in air between her teeth, processing his words as the shock they were. “How is that possible?”

“Either you were never reported, or someone is keeping things very quiet. One of my sources say there are stirring from an imperial base on Nur, forces that were being martialed almost within hours or the kidnapping attempt.” She heard a distant drumming over the comm, like someone tapping their fingers against wood. “You are likely still in danger, perhaps more danger than the others, but either way your name doesn’t appear to be out there for the moment and so we need Fulcrum.”

“What’s the situation?”

“The Empire is up to something.”

She forced herself not to roll her eyes at the response. “Aren’t they always?”

A huff of air not quite a laugh came over the comm. “This is different, some kind of building project. Saw…brought it to my attention before you two…joined forces. But he’s obviously not sharing now. Its barely whispers, hardly talked about. But the Rebellion needs Fulcrum’s networking listening. If what they are building is even close to the scale Saw seemed to imply, we can’t afford to not to investigate.”

Fulcrum nodded. “Understood, I can have my people on that, but I sense…” She closed her eyes, bridging her fingers before her. “there’s another reason you called. Something else is troubling you.”

A long pause, Fulcrum thought he may not answer at all, until “We may very well have a situation brewing with one of our Rebel Cells.”

Fulcrum’s eyes opened once more in mild surprise, the Rebel Cell’s hardly interacted these days “Where?”

The reply came, a simple one word response. “Lothal.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This had been a very, highly successful plan. Palpatine, in his dark throne room actually allowed himself to smile after being given the report of the attempted kidnapping of the young Skywalker. It really was such a success, a glowing success. Sure, the Skywalker boy still lived, but that wasn’t actually a bad thing. He had anticipated both outcomes, planned for both outcomes, ensured that both outcomes would have met his needs. Alive really was preferable. He wouldn’t have sent his precious Hand in training if it wasn’t. In fact, after this, he wasn’t sure she would even need the disclaimer of ‘in training’ with her title. His Hand had performed exactly as he had hoped, if the reports were to be believed.

She had defended the Skywalker boy, thus showcasing her abilities, her resourcefulness, and of course, the brilliance of his training. Years of careful planning finally coming to fruition. Was there anything quite so sweet? The reports of course had also included reports of her being injured, but that was of little concern. The girl lived, no limbs had been lost in her first real fight with a lightsaber, and even if they had, that too was easily remedied. Anything else, she would recover from soon enough. And why not let her recover on Naboo? Vader wouldn’t do anything to the girl who had saved his son from those wretched Partisan Rebels or whatever they called themselves these days. And Luke would no doubt be grateful to the girl, bringing the two closer together.

Really, this was a brilliant plan. A truly wonderfully successful plan. Those rebels actually thought they had a chance? Oh the thought of it! Who did they think had allowed the travel plans of the Imperial Heir to become known? Who did they think had allowed them access to the palace uncontested? Who did they think started to sow the seeds on unrest amongst those loathsome Freedom Fighters as they called themselves? He knew who pulled the strings. And it was all going according to plan. It was just exhausting that there were no easier ways to test abilities and loyalties, or to further pull the strings of his current apprentice. Kidnappings were rather delicate things to arrange after all. But there was nothing quite like a job well done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mara had recovered enough to leave the med center pretty much after her Bacta tank treatment. Even so, the medical staff had insisted on a full three days of observation and physical therapy as a precaution. But finally, finally, she was being let go.

She balanced the Get Well Soon Bantha under one arm, clipping her saber to her hip with the other while tucking a tote around her shoulder with a literal stack of get well cards, all of which were from officers and officials present at the promotion ceremony, that, in light of what had happened, had had to be cut short. It had somehow gotten out that the schoolmate of the Imperial Heir had witnessed the kidnapping and not only bravely alerted the authorities, but personally led Lord Vader himself to the kidnappers.

Mara rolled her eyes. Not even the gossip magazines could get it right. At least her identity was kept out of them under the auspice of not wanting to expose an innocent child to public scrutiny. She suspected most of the cards and flowers she had been sent were out of gratitude for the never ending, and unyieldingly boring, ceremonies being cut short, as instead, all in attendance got compensatory time off for their troubles.

The flowers had already been piled into a speeder and sent to the lake house where she was told the droids had spent much time arranging them. “Ready to go?” Luke asked, picking up another tote of get well cards.

“Never more so, I never want to see the inside of a med center again.” She smiled as she said the words, coming to stand beside Luke. As they walked through the doors hand in hand. The Emperor had given her a whole month to recover, stating that it was only right after she had done so well. Mara had preened under the praise, a more cathartic healing agent than all the laying around had been.

“You told your father everything then I guess?” Mara asked as they walked.

Luke nodded. “Yeah, it took some time, but I did, even about Fulcrum. I don’t think he knew what to make of her any more than we did.”

Mara hummed, turning the question of Fulcrum over in her mind as they walked. “I didn’t see her name in the wanted posters that went out after, not a description either.”

Luke just shrugged, “He said something about having to take care of it personally, whatever that means.”

Mara chuckled at his Vader impersonation before becoming serious once more. “If that’s the case though, that does actually support the idea that she was once his apprentice. He would probably want to be the one to bring her in, he must have cared for her at some point.”

Luke’s eyes were fixed in the far distance, contemplative. “I suppose. He seemed upset, almost angry when I told him.”

Vader was waiting for them at the speeder, saying not a word as they all piled in, Mara still holding onto the Bantha and Luke taking the seat beside her in the back.

They were away at once, speeding into the countryside, with the brilliant colors of the fall laid out in all their glory. Upon arrival, Vader helped unload their things, but stopped the children before they could reach the house.

“There is something I must tell you both.” Vader said, and both children stilled, suddenly serious under his attention. Once he realized that they were well and truly listening, Vader continued. “With all that had happened, I have been made painfully aware of the need for stronger security. As such, you are to have new bodyguards.” He said this to Luke. “They are to protect residence of the house while they are here. This includes you too, Mara.”

Mara, still holding the Bantha, somehow made herself look as obstinate as ever. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

Vader leveled his red lensed stare at her. “Even so, you will have one. You are still recovering from your injuries. While you are here, you are not an agent, an Emperor’s Hand, or anything other than Mara Jade. Your job, as is Luke’s, is to be safe.”

She was stunned speechless by these words, eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar. It was so foreign to anything she had ever heard in her life.

Vader continued. “They are not human, and are of a species most are not familiar with. So I did not want either of you to be frightened when you saw them.” He waved a black gloved hand and out of the shadows of the house emerged a shadowy figure, long nosed with sharp teeth, grey and moving silently even over the crunchy late season grass.

Luke jumped despite himself and Mara reached instinctively for her saber with her free hand. But they were both stilled in an instant by the soft gravelly voice. “It is an honor to serve, the offspring of Lord Vader and most honored guest, Mara, Clan Jade.”

“Clan Jade?” Mara gasped out, between shock and confusion.

“I will leave you to introductions.” Vader spoke dismissively, paying no more attention to the strange grey creature than he might have an insignificant droid, entering the house.

Luke, ever the one for making friends, took a tentative step forward, extending a partially shaking hand out in friendship. “Uh, hello. I’m Luke Skywalker.”

The creature then did something very unexpected, it took Luke’s palm in his hand, raising it to that long nose and sniffed deeply, before rising. “Indeed you are of the line of Vader. It is an honor to serve and protect.”

Luke glanced back at Mara uncomfortably for a second and she, on shaky legs, stepped up and followed Luke’s example. “I’m Mara Jade.”

Their strange guard repeated the proceedings. “Clan Jade, you will be remembered by the Noghri and protected also.”

“Noghri?” Luke asked. “Is that your people.”

“Yes.” The Noghri replied in that strange gravelly voice.

“What’s your name though?” Luke persisted, growing more at ease as the unknown became known.

The Noghri looked taken aback at this, as if no one had ever bothered to learn his name. Luke wondered if perhaps they hadn’t. “I am called Cakhmaim, of clan Eikh’mir.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Luke inclined his head at Cakhmaim. “Thank you for protecting us, Cakhmaim of clan Eikh;mir.”

Cakhmaim seemed to smile a little then, revealing the sharp teeth. “Cakhmaim is fine, Son of Vade and Clan Jade.” He nodded to both Luke and Mara in turn.

“Only if you call me Mara then.” Mara spoke up, she herself feeling more brave. This new person, frightening as they might have first appeared, was on their side. And if she was as taken aback by him at first as she was, perhaps anyone that tried to hurt Luke again would be too.

“And you can call me Luke.” Luke chimed in happily. And peace reigned.

Chapter Text

The hand of time moved and lives shifted and rearranged themselves. On a cold and crisp afternoon, looking out over the distant snow capped mountains, a queen and her husband stood worrying, a tension between them born of love and in the shape of a girl with chocolate colored curls and her father’s determination shining in her eyes. He had heard about what had almost happened on Naboo. If it had succeeded, perhaps things might have been different. But now the Rebellion was under more scrutiny and pressure than ever. A distant thought, a distant hope, had died the day Fulcrum had returned to them, returned after a failed mission that he himself had refused to help with. Perhaps if he hadn’t been so stubborn…but no, the past was the past, the now was the now and there were more pressing matters that required his attention.

“Having her trained is out of the question, Breha.” The husband said and was thankful to turn to see his queen nodding.

She was rubbing at her forehead, eyes shut. “I know, I know. But what are we to do? Pretend nothing is different? Send her to junior council? Train her up to be a politician?”

Bail crossed the room to her, gently running his hands the length of her arms. “Wasn’t that our plan all along?”

“But that was before…” Her eyes grew distant and he knew she thought of the boy with the blonde hair and kind smile.

Bail shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. What matters is protecting our daughter. There is nothing more that can be done for the boy.”

A steel formed in his queen’s eyes. “We cannot let her fall into the hands of the Empire, not like he did.”

“We won’t.” Bail said, matching her conviction.

Just then, the door slid open and a new presence entered, head bowed, a deep sorrow seeming to radiate off of them. “I take it it is decided then?”

 Bail felt a stab of regret. But he wasn’t about to put this man’s feelings above his daughter’s wellbeing. “It is.”

“Please, I ask you to reconsider.” The fight was not out of his old friend quite yet, he believed in what he had spent nearly the last two years doing and Bail and Breha could very well be putting an end to it all.

“We cannot do that.” Bail said, taking his wife’s hand. “Do you want her to be taken from us? To end up in the Empire? Have you forgotten,” here he lowered his voice, pitched to a whisper, “have you forgotten Luke so easily?”.

He saw the impact of his words written not on the man’s face, ever the schooled master of his own mind and negotiator, but in his eyes, in the set of his shoulders, in the small way his hands curled inwards. It had been a low blow and Bail knew it.

“Of course I have not forgotten. But she is not just to be a Jedi, she is to be a galactic leader, a hope for the galaxy. Perhaps its only hope.” He said this last bit quietly, the sorrow returning to those eyes.

“And she will be.” Queen Breha spoke, her voice leveled to be gentle, yet firm. She understood what they were asking in all of its implications. But there was no softening this blow to the old man with whitening hair but a smoothness of gait that betrayed his years, years that had not been kind. Yet his eyes still smiled slightly when he spoke these past few years. Bail was afraid they were taking the last of that smile away.

“She will lead them in what matters most.”

The old master visibly deflated. He knew his argument was lost. But still he said, “She has learned much already.”

“And for that, you have our thanks, old friend.” Bail said and truly meant it. Master Kenobi had been invaluable, teaching his daughter to shield her mind, her presence, even how to better defend herself. But to go further would require much more than either he or his wife were willing to ask of her, to demand of her. And he wouldn’t risk it, not when her rise in strength could very well equal a rise in the threat to her life. “Can you tell me if she grew stronger in the Force that she wouldn’t draw more attention to herself, that…others…wouldn’t be able to sense it?”

A fire flashed through Master Kenobi’s eyes. “I would protect her.”

And Bail doused that fire. “Like you protected Luke?” Sighing, Bail continued. “Look, I know you would have if you could. I know if you had been there, things might have been different. But I cannot take this chance. You cannot ask it of me.”

Master Kenobi turned, facing the window of the mountains beyond. “So that’s it then? What hope for the galaxy is there?”

Breha looked to her husband, weighing their options carefully. Finally, it was Bail who spoke again. “You told me Yoda himself fought the Emperor, you…you fought Vader. If two of the greatest masters the galaxy has ever seen couldn’t stop them, why do you think Leia can?”

“It is her destiny.” The simple, matter of fact way, that Master Kenobi said it made Bail see red.

“You would ask a girl a quarter of your age to do what no Jedi master could? You would through her at him like a wall of troops to die? I won’t let you. If it is her destiny, are you saying it is her destiny to die? Like those children in the temple, like that padawan?” His mind flashed, a saber drawn in defense, a blaster finding its mark, a young child falling without so much as a person to mourn them save for the one they had given enough time to get away.

“Bail, I-” Master Kenobi began.

“No, enough. This will not happen.”

Breha stepped in then, the queen, the mother, the leader of a world. “Master Kenobi, you are welcome in our home of course, but these are our terms, you must abide by them. Leia is to be a leader in her own right, not as a Jedi. That is final.”

The hurt on the older man’s face was evident. “I can understand you not trusting me to be the one to teach her, but perhaps another can be found.”

Breha shook her head. “No one is blaming you, Obi-Wan. However, we must protect our daughter. You have done enough already. Her mind is protected, her presence is shielded. She will be safe enough if she stays as she is, safe as she can be as a daughter of a rebel world and a rebel herself. If you can tell me she won’t be in greater danger than that which she already is if you train her, then we may discus that. But otherwise, it is final.”

The old master turned away, there was nothing he could do to argue that. The fire in his eyes died fully. “I believe in her training. I believe she has the makings of a great Jedi. It is the destiny of a child of…a child of…” he choked on his words and it about broke both the Organa’s hearts to see it. “A child of Anakin’s to restore balance. But nevertheless, Leia is our only hope, she must be protected.”

“Then we are in agreement?” Bail asked.

The master shook his head. “No. But if this is what must be done, then I trust her to your care. My presence may only prove a greater danger. With your leave, I will depart Alderaan before sundown.”

Breha gasped, extending her hand. “Master Kenobi-”

But he shook his head. “I do not mean this to say that I am no longer your friend. Nothing could ever be further from the truth.” He gave them a sad smile. “And if you need me, you need only call. I will be there.”

Bail nodded, steeling his heart. “Perhaps it is for the best.”

Later that day, after the old master had departed the planet, Bail sought out his daughter. She was sat in the gardens under the statue that she had loved since she was a little girl. He looked up at it, the carved visage of a young queen, dressed in full Naboo royal regalia, taking a deep breath, he approached the girl dressed in white, reading a holopad.

“Leia?” He asked, coming to sit beside her.

She smiled as he approached, setting down the holopad. But the smile soon vanished when she saw the concern on his face. “What’s wrong father?”

“You know that Old Ben… he had to leave.” He said the words measuredly. Obi-Wan had taken the time to say goodbye to Leia at least, though he had not granted Bail the same courtesy.

Leia’s eyes darkened stormily the same way Bail remembered another’s doing. “I don’t get why he has to go.”

Bail tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, pulling her into his side in a hug. “My dear princess, sometimes people have to leave us so we can become who we are meant to be. Like you, you are growing up, and you are finding your place in the world, learning how you can make a difference.”

Large brown eyes met his, an unguarded hopefulness reflected there. “I want to do good. I want to help others, just like you do, father.”

He smiled back a weary smile, feeling the weight of responsibility of what she had just said. With Obi-Wan, there had been an excuse if Leia had not turned out to be the leader for freedom and justice in the galaxy that he hoped she’d be. But now it was him, him and Breha alone, who were to be her role models in this fight. “You will be better, my darling. But only if that is what you truly want. You know…you know what I do in the senate, and…away from the senate, is dangerous work. You remember when Aunt Mothma had to go into hiding?”

Leia nodded.

“There are risks. People can get hurt. But if you learn how to work within the system to change it, even while you work against it, you can change the whole galaxy such that not even the stars will see you coming. It can be dangerous, doing what we do. It may not mean you are always here and safe on Alderaan. It may not always be safe at all.”

Leia met her father’s stare holding it for a long measuring minute before speaking “I never thought it was. So, when do I start?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere in space, while an old relic of a bygone age departed to journey amongst the stars and a girl with a fire in her veins stepped into the world of politics and rebellion, an imperial ISB agent typed a report with a heavy hand and a heated anger. He couldn’t believe those, those rebels! It was bad enough that they had gotten away, but to take the Wookies with them? It wasn’t as if he really liked the idea of slave labor in the Empire, but he trusted that they wouldn’t have been there if they hadn’t done something. At least, that is what he told himself at night.

He tried not to think about the youngest Wookie that had been there too along with the adults and instead on the Rebels that had saved him. That was perhaps the most interesting factor in his report. He remembered being a boy, hearing tales of the Jedi. Who hadn’t? But to actually see one? He hadn’t shown it, but he had been a little afraid. There was no telling what those traitors were capable of.

He tried not to think of the boy as he saved the child Wookie. He tried not to think of the man that had saved the boy. He tried not to think.

So, he filled out his report and sent it off with special instructions to see it delivered via a special channel to an agency designed just for this. He would be back on Lothal soon enough. The ISB agent clenched and unclenched his fists, banishing thoughts of bravery and child Wookies who were given a death sentence from his mind. Let the Inquisitors make of this what they may.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vader sat in the library, which doubled as his office when he was in residence on Naboo. Outside the window, on the terrace, under the careful gaze of Cakhmaim and his fellow Noghri, he could hear Mara explaining to Luke for the second time, “No, right over the middle, then left.” As she taught his son to braid her red gold hair in the golden autumn light.

It was their third attempt.

Vader shook his head with a bemused smile and returned to his datapad. Mara would be leaving soon, in two days. He was glad they had moments like this. As he scanned the contents, a scowl began to form. His reports were mostly futile it seemed. The search for any surviving Jedi was coming up empty. Again.

He got several false reports sure, but none were actually real and it was beginning to appear to him that the Inquisitors may actually have outlived their purpose, though thoughts still flicked through his mind at the words Luke had told him in the early days after the kidnapping attempt.

She was a Togruta, they called her Fulcrum and she had two lightsabers, oh and they were white! You never mentioned white ones before…

No, Vader squelched the thought. It was impossible. He had seen her grave, he had personally been there. This must be some other Togruta, some clever twisting of the Force to bring him more pain. If she were alive, she would have come to him, she would have. And she hadn’t. So the person in the clearing with Luke and Mara hadn’t been her. Still, that didn’t mean he hadn’t sent word to the Inquisitors to keep their eyes and ears open for reports of her. Though, with each new report he read, it just served to reinforce the idea, the Inquisitors had been thorough, the galaxy seemed as devoid of Jedi as the Force had felt devoid of Light in those darkly dawning days of the Empire. Once such a thought might have made him feel satisfied at a victory over that nearly forgotten order. But now…

He heard Luke laughing along with Mara as she looked in the hand held mirror at his latest attempt. There was so much more at stake. Luke needed a teacher and so did Mara for that matter, if they wanted to keep hiding from the Emperor that is. Besides, Luke deserved a real teacher, a better teacher. Not just the trifling’s of half remembered lessons in the Light that he could offer.

Just then his datapad beeped. Another flagged report on Jedi.

What would it be this time? Some traveling storyteller performing magic tricks for children? A fanatic trying to spark rebellion?

His eyes scanned the report, and his heart took on a staccato beat.

He read it once, then twice, then a third time just to be sure. A Jedi sighting, an actual Jedi sighting! It had been made by an ISB agent, which wasn’t an impossible occurrence. There had been a time in the Empire where, “I saw him use the Force, I swear!” Had been a popular way of trying to remove troublesome coworkers or those standing in your way of promotion. But a quick stop had been put to that, and an ISB agent was typically known to be reliable in their claims.

The report spoke of a man wielding a blue lightsaber.

Again, not an impossibility. Lightsabers were always coveted on the black market, but now so more than ever. It could be possible this man, whoever he was, had gotten one from there. But the report spoke of more, it spoke of how he stood to battle, dodging blaster fire almost casually. It spoke of how he took out squadrons of stormtroopers with barely any effort. And it went on.

There was another.

A boy, young, probably about Luke’s age by the description, maybe older. He had been with the rebels, not such a surprise. Rebellions seemed to be recruiting young these days. And he had helped free the Wookie prisoners. And he had taken out a few stormtroopers even. And he had jumped several feet in the air.

A master and an apprentice.

Vader could hardly believe his luck. Not only had he found a Jedi, but one willing to teach! Vader actually laughed at that and caught himself. What was this feeling? With horror, he realized it was joy. He had felt joy since Luke returned to his life, but only directed towards interactions with his son. This was different. This was brought on by the discovery of a living Jedi. It should have made him angry. Once upon a time it would have.

But that had all changed. Schooling his emotions, he returned his attention to the report. This was for Luke, he wasn’t grateful some Jedi had survived for any other reason. None whatsoever.

But what to do about it?

He saw the code put in to have the report forwarded to the Inquisitors. This ISB agent showed promise in their initiative. But it wouldn’t do to have Luke’s future teacher turned to the Dark Side or killed. No, that wouldn’t do at all.

But it wasn’t like Vader could just go off chasing a random Jedi himself. If this person had connections to someone he…no…someone Anakin, had once known, perhaps he could make an argument. But the physical description didn’t match anyone he, no Anakin, had known from that time. Which didn’t make him feel disappointed, not at all. It was better this way, for Luke. A clean slate.

The description had the man in his late twenties to early thirties. Which, having done the math, told him that the man now would have been a padawan or a very young knight at…well at the end of the war. This was a little disappointing, but Vader had never really thought he could find a true master, not after all this time. Not after the trail of that one headache of a former Padawan by the name of Kestis and that troublesome Cere Junda he seemed to continuously get into scrapes with, had gone cold the same year he had found Luke. But still, this new Jedi would know something or two, master or not, and that was better than nothing, better than what he could offer Luke.

Which brought him back to the question of how to get to this Jedi. Vader doubted finding him would be easy. If he had managed to avoid detection this long, the man was good at hiding. And even if Vader did find him, he doubted very much that this Jedi would be fine just scheduling a time to talk with Vader, the one known to kill Rebels and Force sensitives alike.

So, capture it was then.

He could order the Inquisitors to do it. Make it a capture and not a kill order. He could use the excuse that they needed to buffer their numbers and so turning the Jedi would be the preferable tactic here. It wasn’t a bad idea. Yes, Vader rather liked it actually.

It would raise no wrinkled eyebrow with Palpatine if he sent his Inquisitors after a reported Jedi and then went personally to oversee the turning of him. He could even give the order to have the Jedi transported to Mustafar upon capture without raising any suspicion. From there, he could talk to the Jedi, convince him to train Luke. Smuggling him to Naboo would be no trouble at all.

It was such a neat little plan and Vader was feeling downright pleased with himself as he input the comm codes for the Grand Inquisitor personally.

Luke would have his teacher and all would be as it was meant to be.

Chapter Text

So apparently sending your very own Grand Inquisitor wasn’t enough to capture a Jedi these days. Weeks went by, months, nearly a year, and still no progress. Sure they had come close, several times actually. But never close enough.

And as infuriating as it was, Vader soon had other things to occupy his thoughts.

He had been summoned once more to Coruscant and now entered into the throne room of the Emperor, just as Mara Jade was giving a report. The girl had grown tall and strong in the time since he had seen her last several months past. She must be thirteen now.

He felt her flicker of acknowledgement as she felt his presence enter the room, but her focus remained on the figure seated at the dais which she stood before, hands clasped behind her back as she spoke with a level of confidence beyond her years.

To speak so in front of the Emperor…it spoke of his confidence in the girl. A confidence Vader had been beginning to hope was misplaced. But had Vader been wrong about the changes he thought he had been perceiving in Mara in the time she had shared with Luke? Had he missed something? Did the hold the Emperor have on her run so deep as to dispel any question of her loyalty? Was this why he had ordered Vader now? It wasn’t like the man to mix two meetings, especially with his hand in training. Could he even say that of Mara anymore? Or was she just his Hand now?

“Director Krennic’s reports are consistent with the work output reports coming in from Eadu.” The girl’s clear tone spoke, no data pad before her. She gave her reports from memory.

“And your thoughts?” The Emperor questioned in his rasping voice, though his tone was surprisingly gentle in a way it never was with others.

Vader mentally recoiled from it. This wasn’t gentleness brought forth from caring. It was a possessiveness. He wondered if Mara knew the difference too.

Mara was silent a moment, gathering her thoughts. Smart child. “Evidence is showing delays as well as requests for more funding to overcome delays. Primary requests are being made by the Chief Scientist on the project. Galen Erso.”

“Speak your mind child. Don’t let Lord Vader’s presence stop you.” The Emperor didn’t even acknowledge Vader’s presence with a glance, he kept his golden gaze solely on his precious Hand.

Vader’s hands clenched into fists. The Emperor was deliberately making him wait, the ever played game he was setting up with him and Mara as the game pieces.

Mara herself glanced back at him now where he stood a silent sentinel near the center of the great room. Her green eyes held a question, but neither dared to speak it.

Luke was back on Naboo, safe. And Vader wondered about the girl. Was she safe? Last he had seen her, her head had been thrown back laughing, standing knee deep in water during Luke’s summer vacation, holding a water lily in her hands. What a different picture she posed now.

“I believe someone on the team may be deliberately stalling.” Mara said at last, turning back to the Emperor. “Perhaps one of the other scientists maybe even Dr. Erso or even Krennic himself. It is hard to say.”

“Hmm…” Palpatine stroked his chin, eyes closing deep in thought. “And your assessment of Krennic.”

Vader could feel Mara’s signature in the Force stiffen, like a sheet being pulled taught. “Krennic is…Krennic is a valuable asset to the Empire, my lord.” Mara said, her words chosen with care.

“And your opinion of him?” Palpatine asked, opening his eyes. He dared her to speak, all but willed it. It was a compulsion, it was a command, it was an invitation as much as an order. Vader felt sick.

Mara did not seem to notice, but a slight pallor came to her cheeks, stark against her red hair as she gave her answer in full. “He is a man without honor save his desire for power. I believe he is toying with Dr. Erso. Though I am not sure why. This,” she ventured to say more, “may be directly influencing the delays.”

Palpatine nodded, a smile on his face. He had been expecting such an answer. Vader scowled under his mask. Palpatine knew very well what kind of man Krennic was as did Vader. Power hungry and  loyal as long as it served his purpose. The question never even needed to be asked. This was some kind of test for the girl.

“Very good, my child.” Palpatine’s praise oozed like a slimy oil over the room and Mara bowed in deference. “You have done well. Report to the guard for your training and then rest. You are dismissed.” He said the final bit with a wave of his hand.

Mara bowed once more, walking backwards towards the door for three paces before turning and walking out. She strode past Vader, barely making eye contact with the red lenses of his mask.

“Emperor’s Hand.” He used her title now for the first time and saw the way her eyes widened just a fraction, a slip of a mask, a glimpse of her as he knew her last, young and unafraid, on the lake shore and smiling, though her stride never broke.

“Lord Vader.” She said simply exiting the room.

Palpatine hummed again to himself after she had left. “A talented girl.”

Vader stiffened. Palpatine did not often speak to him of Mara. But when he did, it was always for a purpose. This was no different. “Suited for her purpose.” Vader let a tint of annoyance creep into his voice. “I’m sure.”

Palpatine grinned, “And unquestioningly loyal.”

Vader forced himself to think nothing. For Mara’s sake and for Luke’s, think nothing.

“A child of the Empire.” Was all he could bring himself to say.

“Yes, yes.” Palpatine replied. “And your son,” he spat as he said the word son, “I hear they are still quite close.”

Vader had known for a while now that whatever angle the Emperor had for Mara now somehow involved Luke. But even though he had his guesses, Vader was not sure what end game the sith had in mind.

“My son forms his attachments too freely.” Vader hated to speak any form remotely ill of his precious child. But he could not appear to approve, not for a moment.

“Ah, attachments.” Palpatine latched onto the word like a desert cobra. “A gift he is able to give and receive so freely thanks to the hard work of you and your Inquisitors. Tell me, I hear reports of Jedi in the outer sectors.”

Vader had to suppress the sigh of relief that threatened to escape at the change in topic “My inquisitors are handling the situation.”

Palpatine rose from his throne and gestured for Vader to walk with him. “I trust that they will. In the meantime, there is another matter.”

Vader waited in silence and when it was clear he would give no reply, Palpatine continued. “There have been…delays, to my project.”

“And which project would this be, my master?” Vader did his best to keep his patience. He had better things to do than play guessing games with this man.

“Project Stardust.” It was simple, two words. But they sent a shiver through the Force when Palpatine spoke them.

Vader ran quickly through his memories, recalling in passing mentions of projects and plans currently in action. Project Stardust rang a faint bell, but there was no context behind the name other than a planet. Eadu. The same Eadu in Mara’s own report?

In the midst of Vader’s own musings, the Emperor had continued talking “I believe it would, shall we say, benefit moral, to have an Imperial visit to Eadu to remind the scientists of their importance to our glorious empire.”

“Of course, my master.” Vader replied, inwardly seething. He was going to be sent to grandstand and put some fear into some scientists? They could send anyone for that!

“You will report directly. I want this project back on track as soon as possible.”

“At once.” Vader nodded, feeling the sense of the conversation wrapping up as Palpatine returned to his throne and Vader made for the door.

“Oh, one more thing,” Palpatine said with a casual air which told Vader what was coming would be anything but. “Take my Hand with you. She had been investigating Director Krennic’s handling of the project remotely and her insight may prove useful with an in person investigation of the matter. You may go.” And with that, there was no room for argument.

Vader, hands clenched into fists, departed the room without another word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He wasn’t sure how he was going to find Mara. Then he realized he probably wouldn’t have too and after such a realization, was not surprised either to find her waiting at his shuttle, as she had been the first time they had traveled in the same party. She was quiet in a way that might have appeared as sulking on another child. But Mara was not another child. And Vader knew that whatever the strangeness of Mara’s upbringing in the Imperial Palace, it did not allow for sulking.

She was just keeping her distance, as she tended to around him. But Vader noticed with more than a little gratitude that her awareness towards him in the Force held less of its usual hostility. He wondered again about what he had felt in the throne room. If he had been Luke, he might have asked her how she was doing, how she was really doing. But he wasn’t Luke and he did not pretend to share a closeness with the girl, even if he had taken on the burden of concerning himself about her wellbeing as he might have for Luke, as much as he could given the circumstances. Even so, he was gratified at her more relaxed Force signature. If she could trust him, even just a little, it would make looking out for her so much easier. But progress was progress.

In fact, once they were safely aboard the shuttle and out of Coruscant’s orbit, he watched as she seemed to now visibly relax, like a weight being lifted off her shoulders. Was it possible she was beginning to find the place as oppressive as he and Luke did?

Furthermore to his surprise, she spoke first.

“How is Luke?”

Vader had been so taken aback by her unexpected overture that he took a moment before responding “Well, he is very well. He is safe on Naboo.”

Mara nodded, slumping back a little in her seat and crossing her arms so her cloak fell closer about her shoulders, and she said no more for the remainder of the flight to his ship.

Almost immediately upon boarding, Mara practically disappeared. Vader did not see her again until they arrived in orbit around Eadu. He had considered going to look for the child, to ensure she was alright. But he remembered her tendency to go off on her own before, which was how she had ended up being friends with Luke, strangely enough. So, he thought it best to give her, her space. Her presence in the Force did not seem unusually distressed, though her shielding techniques had improved. So really, it was hard to tell. Protecting her, Vader was starting to realize, was going to be more of a headache potentially than protecting Luke.

At least the boy asked for help most times when he needed it.

Mara was there though and ready for the shuttle to the planet’s surface early and looking ready for anything. She wore her grey uniform, long sleeves with the cuffs turned in in the Imperial style. She wore her cloak too, pinned back with a pin tucked into the excess fabric, hiding it from sight. At her hip, a silver cylinder gleamed. He recalled the hours spent teaching her to use it, ensuring she didn’t accidentally cut off one of her own limbs and in time, training her to be more than just proficient. He hadn’t gotten the chance to check on her progress with the blade in months and he wondered who had been overseeing that in the meantime, recalling moments when Luke had said his arms were sore and tired, the way his son would mention Mara more in her absence around those times. Whoever was teaching her, Vader felt a stab of worry and the strange sensation of hoping whoever it was, they were kind. Given that it was likely the guard with which she sparred now, he doubted it.

He had no time to ask and he wasn’t sure Mara would even answer him truthfully if he did. They soon boarded the shuttle and were making their way towards the planet’s surface. As soon as the shuttle ducked below the cloud layer a distinct thrumming sound could be heard over head.

Mara’s head tilted upward for a moment, just listening, and then turned to glance out the view port that was over Vader’s shoulder.

Vader had hardly noticed the sound or what exactly it meant until he had seen Mara’s eyes widen and felt a gentle warmth emanating from her in the Force. All of the sudden memories came back of water droplets falling onto a lake like diamonds and Luke laughing as he ran in it. He remembered Mara, still so hesitant on Naboo in those days standing to the side, under the overhanging part of the roof. And then she had joined him and they had spun and splashed and laughed until they couldn’t anymore because they were so filled with laughter and so soaked through with fresh rain water.

And such memories sparked other memories.

Blonde hair and wide blue eyes and a warmth emanating from wonder. Red hair glinting in the light coming through the window.

“What is it, Ani?”

Silence and wide blue eyes and then, “What is that, Obi?”

A beat and a moment more and a gentle hand resting on a small shoulder. “That’s called rain, Anakin. It falls on Coruscant every few months.”

“We don’t have it on Tatooine. Why is no one gathering the water? Won’t we need it?”

A longer silence and a heavy sense of pain. “There will always be enough water here, just like there will always be enough food, Anakin. You don’t have to worry about that anymore. There are some planets where it rains all the time.”

Wide blue eyes staring at a red haired man turned back to the rain. “I love it.”

Narrowed gold tinted eyes stare through a red tinted visor at a red haired girl. “You like the rain?”

Mara sunk into her seat, arms crossing. “We don’t get it very often on Coruscant. Only every few months.”

“Yes.” Vader nodded. He felt the engines shift telling them that they were on their final approach for landing.

“It’s almost always raining on Eadu.” She added, eyes returning to the window over his shoulder.

Looking at Mara, that old now familiar pain welled up in him. He could still remember exactly how he had felt when Padme, his angel, had given him that all important, galaxy changing news. And from that moment, in the moments not plagued by images of her death, those moments he could have pictured a happier future, he was ashamed to admit now the child he had seen hadn’t been Luke.

He had pictured a girl, a girl with all that was the embodiment of good in her, that meaning she was all her mother’s. She would have had her dark hair and sparkling eyes and quick wit and compassion. Padme had always insisted it was a son, and of course she had been right, though she might have guessed the temperament wrong. She had guessed a boy with his father’s fire in his veins and the need to protect and love. Mara, Mara had become in many ways the flickering piece of memory in his heart that would have loved his daughter. And that would have surprised him and maybe even Padme both.

Ever since finding Luke, he had never wanted for anything more. But he couldn’t help but wonder about a girl, a daughter. Thanks to Mara, a lot of those questions had been answered. Watching her now, her defiance, her spirit, and above all else, her devotion to Luke, he knew that Padme would have loved her like a daughter. It was such a truth that every time he looked at Mara, it hurt.

The ship landed with a thunk and then the hatch was opening, exposing them to the sound of rain directly. Mara rose on silent feet, walking towards the hatch but stopping before exiting.

Vader exited first, protected from the pelting rain by the overhang of the shuttle. Mara exited behind him, and he could all but feel her sizing up their welcoming party that was already soaked through after just a few minutes.

Director Krennic himself was front and center, thin hair plastered to his face, making his features stand out sharply under the glaring flood lights that illuminated the landing pad. Behind him were arranged several haggard looking figures in lab gear, equally wet but shivering slightly as their attire was far less suited to the elements than Krennic’s. The only ones of the party that seemed oblivious to the rain were the death troopers in their armor, the rain making it gleam with a sinister shine under the lights.

Vader marched out with confidence towards the party, feeling the steady plunk, plunking of large rain drops on his helmet. Mara followed not far behind, and he winced inwardly a little, now regretting not staying below the protective shielding of the ship as she had no such protective armor to shield her from the rain.

But she didn’t show a sign of discomfort, either from the rain or the cold. She was a statue, a picture of imperial discipline. He mentally suppressed memories of sunlight glinting off of red hair and a bright smile lit up as the owner spun in a summer rain next to a golden haired boy. There was no sunlight here, it was only grey.

Director Krennic stepped forward at once, inclining his head in an almost bow so that water droplets rolled down his cheeks and nose and chin. “You honor us with your presence, Lord Vader.”

It was all Vader could do to keep from choking the man where he stood. It was the same feeling he always got from self-serving, power hungry, imperials, which was to say most of them. He settled instead for “It is an honor then to have your…mistakes…acknowledged, Director?” Krennic visibly blanched under the bright lights. “I trust that once my investigation is completed that perhaps you will have proper perspective as to what constitutes an honor of this kind.”

Krennic straightened, squaring his shoulders. “Any help in routing out traitors is always appreciative.”

Vader smirked under the mask. So, this is how this tiresome little man had risen to such state, such as it was, in the Empire. Cowardice disguised as bravery, guilt cast as blame, and cleverness being nothing more than ambition.

Vader acknowledged him no more, deciding it was best to get him and Mara both out of the rain. He swept down the walk, scientists going unintroduced jumping out of his way.

As he passed, Vader felt a flicker, like a head glancing up in a crowd of terrified people, like eyes glittering in the fog of fear. There was defiance here. If Vader had taken the time to focus on it then, he might have found it. But as quick as it had come it had vanished and Vader knew there would be time enough for all of that later. He wondered briefly if Mara had felt it too and wondered if he would get the chance to ask her.

In his time of hunting rebels, one thing he knew, they never stayed hidden for long. Which also meant, he had realized not long after Luke came into his life, his clock was ticking too. For the man who had once hunted rebels was now a rebel himself, at least, from a certain point of view.

Perhaps this sense of unrest would prove to be another ally to his cause. Or perhaps it would be his doom, he thought as the Emperor’s Hand marched a half step out of the rain behind him.

Chapter Text

An aid showed Mara to her guest quarters which were down the hall from Vader’s own rooms. Eadu was a small base, perched on the side of a mountain. All night long, the rain hammered the roof and Mara laid awake to listen to it.

She had always loved the rain, just as she had always hated the cold of space but loved the idea of ships. It was something Mara knew to be true. So naturally, it was a part of a game she had been playing in recent months with herself.

The rules of Mara’s game were simple, like untangling a ball of yarn was simple. The goal was to sort the threads of her thoughts into categories, one for things she had been told, one for things she really thought were true but hadn’t been able to confirm independently, and one for things she knew to be true.

She tucked her cape around her as she lay on her bed and realized how small that third set of threads was. Even so she listed them one by one.

She loved starships, specifically small ones built for small crews. Not star destroyers or anything that big.

She hated the cold of space and how it kept her up at night.

She loved the color red like the color of her hair and the color of the leaves on Naboo in autumn or the color of Luke’s homemade model X Wing (even though it was a rebel ship).

She hated the color red, the color of the Imperial Guard and the color of the Inquisitor’s lightsabers.

She loved the rain and it kept her up at night, listening, listening, always listening. Even after standing out in it, she hadn’t felt cold, not really. She loved the memories of playing with Luke by the lake and watching as the drops make ripples and the ripples made waves. She liked also coming back in from the rain where it was warm and there would be hot chocolate, Luke’s favorite, and a spot on the carpet by the fire in the library just for her, and a green blanket woven with the colors of the sea…

No, that wasn’t quite right. She knew that the blanket had been knit, but Luke didn’t have such a blanket and neither did she. But instinctively, a part of her wanted that blanket whenever it rained. A sense of warmth and comfort was in the memory. But as much as Mara pulled on that thread, there were just some knots that wouldn’t come loose. So that was a thought for the unsure pile. Fact, there had once been a blanket, but where was it now? What had happened to it?

There were others, other memories and thoughts Mara Jade wanted desperately to add to her “for sure” pile. Like that the Emperor cared for her for who she was, something she hated to even think was not true. To think that he wouldn’t hurt Luke ever and to think he would never hand either of them over to the inquisitors. But Mara knew in her heart if the Emperor were to ever, ever find out about Luke, it would be game over. She didn’t know how she knew, but that was another thought for the “for sure pile”, right next to the knowledge that Luke was her friend.

Her best friend.

And she was thirteen and on a mission and far away from home. And that one thread would always inform everything she did, from here on out. That, Mara Jade knew to be true.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Vader and Mara were given a tour of the facility. Vader questioned and demanded, Mara was quiet and observant. But both knew the other to be running their own operations. And even if there was still some dislike, at least on one side, there was a mutual trust in a mutual mission.

Project Stardust.

Vader had heard whisperings of it, but had paid it little mind. Mara, had never heard of it before her most recent mission. Now they had a director who was trying too hard and showing them rooms for laser testing, and mineral refining, and even a room dedicated to Kyber Crystals. Vader gave no visible reaction to this room. But Mara stood, staring, expression unreadable behind the safety glass looking into the room where the scientists worked.

One met her gaze briefly and Vader took note of him. Brown eyes, hair greying around the edges. He looked old, old beyond his years with bags under eyes that darted away quickly.

“I require to speak with the lead scientists on the team.” Vader spoke to Director Krennic at last.

“Of course.” Krennic nodded, glancing at the scientist that had been watching Mara, “I will arrange the meetings personally.”

“See that you do.” Was the only thanks the man got as Vader swept out of the room and onwards with the tour.

The whole tour was a combination of very informative and very opaque. And the picture it was painting was creating a pit in Vader’s stomach. It was the Kyber Crystals that bothered him. He could hear them, hear them crying and so many in so small a space, it was almost overwhelming. Also, it served as an explanation for his poor night’s sleep. He hadn’t inquired about Mara’s own rest the night before, but judging from her reaction to the crystals, she knew.

There was something terribly wrong in the Force at work here. In a time gone past, Vader might have paid this as much mind as he paid the sense he got on Mustafar or in the Fortress Inquisitorious. But things had changed. Something this steeped in the Dark Side had the Emperor’s personal interest. And that was enough to concern Vader. Because if the Emperor was involved, it was likely a danger to them all.

He met with the head science teams while Mara went off with one of Krennic’s underlings to no doubt begin her own investigation. The interviews with the head scientists bore little fruit. And Vader was disappointed. He had not once felt that same rebellious spark in any of them. Fear for sure, even some of that power hungry slimy sense from Krennic. But not rebellion.

Of course, that was when Krennic informed Vader that there were some scientists not present in the interviews. “We had tests scheduled for today. You must understand, there are still schedules to meet. Our chief scientist, Dr. Erso will be in tomorrow’s round of interviews course.” Krennic had tried to placate.

Vader had barely dignified him with a response.

By this point, night had fallen again and it was the time he should have been resting. But rest would not come.

Project Stardust.

 It haunted him like a waking dream. The Dark Side was a familiar feeling after all these years, and yet, something here lingered that made even Vader feel something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Fear.

He had to know what it was. He felt for Mara’s presence in the Force but pulled back at once from what he felt. He had expected to find her asleep, or maybe awake and working on her report. This was different.

She stood like a figure in the center of the worst sandstorms on Tatooine. Her Force presence was buffeted. Whatever was happening, it was powerful, and Mara was at its heart.

Long strides took him towards her room. The door was locked shut and though it would be easy to slice through with his saber, the evidence that might leave and cause others to question was too great a risk.

He activated the chime.

No answer.

The storm continued, shielding Mara from him. And then it was all at once gone. And it was just Mara beyond the door.

He hit the chime again.

A few moments later, Mara herself answered. She was tugging on her cloak, eyes somewhat dazed. “Lord Vader?”

Her surprised tone told him he was the last person she had expected to see. The honorific she used worried him. She only called him ‘Lord Vader’ in the presence of the Emperor.

A sense of understanding formed. “Emperor’s Hand.” He responded, “Your report to the Emperor is complete?” The Emperor had always boasted the Mara was the very instrument of his will, that she could respond to him and carry out his commands faster than anyone, or at least she would, once her training was complete.

Vader was starting to understand what that meant.

She blinked, eyeing him with narrowed eyes, “He sends his regards.”

Vader gritted his teeth. Was the girl to always be at the Emperor’s beck and call? Could she communicate with him anytime, anywhere? And what did this mean with her connection to Luke?

“I require a report as well.” Vader said, arms crossed, “Tell me what you have found.” Mara did not question this, though he felt the question at the edge of her mind. “Tell me about project Stardust.”

Mara shrugged, stepping out into the hall with him, her door swishing shut behind her. “It is a weapon’s development project.” She said at last, keying in commands on her datapad.

“We knew this.” Vader replied. “Why is it that the Emperor has a personal interest in this one?”

Here, Mara hesitated again. Her hand wandered briefly to the pin still secured on her cloak, tracing the starbird design Vader knew to be there. “He said it would bring peace at last to the galaxy. He said it would save lives in the end.”

That chilled Vader to his core. If the Emperor thought it would save lives…What kind of catastrophic level could this weapon operate on?

“I have been running a scan of the systems here, file transfers.” Mara was saying, returning her attention to her datapad. “The schematics show a super structure for housing the weapon.”

Vader at once turned his attention to the datapad, taking it from her hand, “Schematics you say?” It had been a long time since Vader had looked over technical documents and design schematics. But there was still a part of him that recalled his love for engineering, a part that bled through the cracks in his armor.

It wasn’t obvious to the untrained eye. He doubted that Mara or even Luke would have known what they were looking at if they were handed these blueprints. But Vader knew and for a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

His respirator took over, he felt Mara’s mind brushing his in something almost like concern. Light years away, he felt Luke doing the same. What he felt had been intense enough to reach them both.

It surely wouldn’t escape Palpatine’s notice.

It was this thought that forced Vader back to the present. His eyes glanced at the watermark on the blue prints, eyes catching the name of the chief scientist. One Dr. Galen Erso.

Clutching the datapad so hard in his gloved hands that it cracked along the edges, Vader turned, cape flaring behind him, leaving Mara in his wake.

He heard her comm ping, he heard her answer quietly as he made his way down the hall. “Yes, Luke?”

And then he was out of range and heard no more. Vader kept one thought in his mind. Find out if what he had seen in these schematics were true, find Galen Erso. The thoughts repeated like a litany. It was all he could do to keep from tearing the place down around them. A passing guard in the hall was the unsuspecting target of this ire. Vader seized him with the Force, lifting him in the air.

“Where is Erso?” Vader seethed, watching the terror behind the man’s eyes with little emotion.

“I-in th-e, the-lab. Thir-d, l-level” the man choked and Vader released him in a heap on the floor before storming off.

It took little time to reach the lab the guard had said, the halls were quiet save for the perpetual thudding of rain. The night cycle of the planet had brought with it an even heavier rain if one could believe it.

He entered the master control codes he had seen Krennic use into the control panel and entered the lab with little more than the whisper of cape on air. But the feeling of rage, of hate, of pain, swirled around him so heavily that even those not attuned to the Force would have felt him like a walking cacophony.

The lab had a single occupant. The older man from earlier, greying hair and wrinkled eyes, dark circles growing darker. The one who had been watching Mara in the Kyber Crystal Testing Chamber. His head whipped up as Vader entered.

Vader saw the fear there, but it wasn’t the same fear as seen on the face of the guard. This was the fear of someone who knew they had done wrong and knew that the game was up.

Erso scrambled to his feet as Vader strode into the room, turning a small equipment table over, sending tools scattering and clattering across the floor.

“Lord Vader-” Erso had begun to say but Vader grabbed him with the Force, shoving him hard against the wall several feet behind the man, and cutting off his words.

“Tell me…Dr. Erso…tell me about Project Stardust?”