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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Beyond - Legends Seasons of Migration to the North - 50 titles challenge - L/M (Complete) (author's thanks and cover)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by divapilot, Mar 15, 2016.

  1. Irish_Jedi_Jade

    Irish_Jedi_Jade Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2007
    ITWILLALLBEWORTHITWHENIKNOWHATSGOINGON....ITWILLALLBEWORTHITWHENIKNOWWHATSGOINGON....UGH....divapilot. I love you, I love you love you....but you're killing both Briannakin and I!!!! I love everything about this. I'm not going to lie...I read the first bit and was like "dang...she's doing it again." But you changed this one so drastically, it felt like I was reading something new.

    Now...what are you doing? Breathing device...at first I thought maybe she was in a fighter that had a integrated oxygen system? Then I realized, oh no! There's something actually going on. And there were other people on the ship with her? And Luke's care of her--[face_love][face_love][face_love][face_love][face_love] So sweet!!! But then Ben's treatment of her, oh so heartbreaking! =(( But then the wrong door code makes so much more sense, because she was at the wrong one?

    But oh...all confusion. It breaks my heart. What's happening?? I'm left wondering which of these three views you've shown me is the true one, or if any of them are? I am flummoxed and hooked and confused and in love. Luke taking care of her, and his patience with her is so beautiful--exactly as I'd imagine him! And I love how she is still fiery, she also recognizes both that she needs help, but also realizes how much help she needs...ugh. You're the master. ^:)^

    Also...the scene of her walking to get the (now strangely empty) train...I noticed the mist in the trees. That tripped me out!! What is this mist and the blue lights!? Is she hallucinating? Also, the medication...why does it help her at first but then her headache comes back..is it not working? Is it getting worse!??! And the air tasting stale...first it was the environmental system and now it's her breathing device!?!? UGH!!!

    Will you tag me when you update, pretty please?
     
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  2. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    WHAT?! A breathing device? Medication? That she’s obviously fallen behind schedule with out of sheer (and understandable) displeasure? Add to that the fact that she’s no longer on her own ship, but on what seems to be some kind of multi-being transport, and the fact that Luke’s not being referred to as her husband, and the absence of Han and Jacen… things are migrating, for sure, and it’s not just Mara that it’s happening to.

    But most worrying, once again, is the change in the two youngest SkySolos in the story. Ben is now not just moody and solitary, but now destructive, breaking his toys as he plays with them. In fact, he is starting to remind me of a different Ben from a different canonicity… and oh my, that gives me a guess about one place this story might be going. :eek: This altercation between Han and Jacen doesn’t bode well either. What in the Galaxy is the “project” Jacen doesn’t want to do, that no one’s supposedly doing right? Is it related to my guess about Ben above?

    At least now we know what the Mysterious Artifact is and what it does. Redirecting the energy of the Force like a diverter in a river… that could mean all sorts of things, and it may or may not be a clue to what’s going on—and it too gives me a guess or two that I have no idea is anywhere close to what you have in mind, but I don’t mind waiting for the story itself to confirm or debunk them in its own time. :)

    Keep up the fab work, but don’t keep us waiting too long! :p :D
     
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  3. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    Mara definitely is in troule and what about the artifact?
     
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  4. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Oh dear, each divergence/migration seems to take the characters further from who we know and to much darker places! [face_nail_biting]

    I think this is one of the most unique and interesting fic concepts I've ever read.
     
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  5. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    I was on the edge of my seat mentally until I got around to being able to read this and wow, Mara seems to actually have a medical condition as a result of the artifact [face_nail_biting] And as others have said, Ben is more insular and destructive [face_worried] and Jacen - definitely something going on there but the diverter like a river - a very strong clue there I think. Interesting to find out how and why Mara seems to be the focus.
     
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  6. Irish_Jedi_Jade

    Irish_Jedi_Jade Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2007
    ...You should update super soon....Just saying....Not that I'm telling you what to do or anything...just...yeah....I'm just dying of curiosity! :p
     
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  7. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    OK, so...time to be absolutely nuts. This is a wild guess.

    The 'migration' is Legends becoming Nu-canon. The person who thinks she's Mara can be everybody from a random crazy bum to, say, Maz, the others will meld into their new counterparts and Luke won't be present in the last chapter because he will be on Ahch-To already. And hi, I'm mad.

    Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk
     
  8. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005

    Thank you so much! I hate to be so confusing but at the same time I love it that you are intrigued enough to keep going with this. That little pesky cough in the first chapter has grown to something more critical here, that’s for sure.


    Thanks! Sorry that I’m making you and Briannakin crazy but not sorry…:p

    Yes, she has trouble breathing. Her health isn’t good. And that’s not the Jade Shadow anymore, she’s a crew member on someone else’s ship. As for the door, her code didn’t work (or she didn’t remember it right) in the previous chapters, but now she isn’t even at the right apartment. :( Luke’s still there – but Ben is definitely onto something about her changing from each successive chapter.
    The weirdest thing about the blue lights and the mist is that nobody else seems to think it’s odd. Only Mara seems to even notice it. [face_thinking] Hallucination? Another presence? Hmmm.


    Coming right up. Two more chapters left after this one.;)


    Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful reply. Yes, Mara is physically weaker now. And she isn’t on her own ship but a subordinate on someone else’s ship. Luke is still there but he isn’t quite as openly affectionate toward her, and Han and Jacen weren’t at home when they got to Han and Leia’s home. [face_thinking] This migration affects everyone.




    Ben is pulling back from Mara much more strongly, telling her point-blank that she’s “not supposed to be here.”. He’s drawn her ship on fire, and now he’s crashing his toy ships into pieces. Perhaps he senses something about Mara that the others haven’t figured out yet. And Jacen is angry and belligerent, blaming others when things go wrong. (eh, the “project” is just something I gave Jacen and Ben to argue over.) :eek: Your hunches might be on to something.


    Mysterious Artifact is still McGuffinous. At least in this iteration Luke has some inkling as to what it does. That doesn’t mean Luke’s right, though.o_O


    Thank you for your interest! It’s going to take a crazy turn in the next chapter so hold on tight. Some things might be clearer, or else it’s going to be even more confusing.[face_thinking]


    Thank you for that generous praise! This is really a different story for me, but oddly I’m seeing parallels to another shorter story I wrote recently that looked at how one reality could conceivably leak into another reality. The story is getting much darker and the light banter that we saw in the first chapter is almost all gone. There’s physical pain, there’s anger, there’s resignation and sadness. But no migration or change ever comes without a cost.:(


    Thank you for your reply! Things are shifting and morphing all around her. She doesn’t seem to notice that she has changed, but she sees the changes in others. On the other hand, everyone else seems to think everything is the same as always and it has always been this way. The conflict comes when her perception of reality clashes with what everyone else accepts as reality. And yup, it’s all centered around her, and her proximity to the artifact.[face_hypnotized]



    Thank you for your comments, and they aren’t as mad as you think they are. Anything is possible.:eek:[face_whistling]
     
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  9. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    tags Findswoman and Irish_Jedi_Jade

    word count total so far: 10,377

    Chapter 4.
    Mara closed her eyes, reached out with her mind, and gasped as the ship settled onto its landing struts. The vessel secured, she listened as the engine’s hum began to wind down. She waited for the chime that announced disembarkation, and then watched as the other passengers made their way off the small shuttle and onto the landing area. Her mouth edged into an irked line as her vision confirmed her Force sense. No Skywalker to greet her.

    He must have gotten sidetracked, she thought as she unsnapped her safety webbing. I’ll see him soon enough. After all, it was Luke who had asked her to come see him. She couldn’t quite remember if he had told her why.

    With the transport nearly empty, Mara rose from her seat. She held onto the side of the seat for balance as she retrieved her duffel bag from the compartment over her head. With a thud, the bag fell onto the seat beside her. It occurred to her that the bag seemed heavy for simply holding her clothes and she wondered what else might be inside it.

    There was no time to open it to look, however, as she was quickly becoming the lone remaining passenger on the shuttle. She lifted the duffel bag and slung it across her shoulders.

    The walk from the landing bay to the central hub of the complex wasn’t long, but it took a toll on Mara. At one point she found herself leaning against the wall of the well-lit corridor, pausing for a quick use of her breather and to catch her bearings. She was sure her destination was straight ahead, beyond the bay where the x-wings were housed. When she looked up again, she noted a strange blue haze that flitted along the edge of the open bay doors. Probably some electrical discharge from the mechanic’s area, she thought, and she made a mental note to mention that to maintenance. She rested for a moment, then, once she regained her strength, she continued on her way.

    Since the start of the New Republic, some facets of the government had tried to find a way to integrate their sometimes divisive objectives in a harmonious way. However, as those voices of resistance grew louder, they found themselves unwelcome in the Inner Core planets and so they resettled on this Outer Rim world. As planets went, she mused, at least D’Qar was rather pleasant. Those who worked here included Resistance personnel and the occasional Jedi like herself, although the Jedi and the Resistance rarely intermingled.

    The whine of the ships and the ever-constant racket of repair work on their small fleet exacerbated Mara’s already throbbing head. Mara made her way to the rear of the hangar, past the glowing vertical white panels that illuminated the area, to where Luke kept his x-wing. Even at mid-day, the sun’s natural lighting rarely extended this far into the area. It was dusk now, and sky grew darker as the moonless night commenced, tinting the room with a bluish hue where the light faded. The breeze began to rise up from the nearby lake, and the temperature cooled enough to make Mara pull her jacket tighter.

    She looked around his vehicle. Where was Luke? He ought to have at least commed her if he was going to be late in meeting her. A quick reach through the Force bond failed to reveal his location, although she figured since his ship was here, he had to be close by. She retrieved her comm unit from her jacket pocket.

    The device clicked. “Hello?” Luke’s voice came through the speaker. “Mara?”

    “Of course. I’m here; where are you?”

    There was a brief silence on the other end. “I’m with Leia. Where are you?”

    She frowned. “Right where we agreed to meet. By your x-wing. Remember? We talked last night about this.”

    “No, we talked last night about your decision to take the government transport to Coruscant.”

    Mara rubbed her forehead. The throbbing was beginning again. “Why in the seven circles of Kessel would I be going to Coruscant? You didn’t forget, did you, Luke? It’s still under Vong control.”

    “Mara, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” There was a pause from Luke, and Mara heard a rustling noise. “Stay there. I’ll come get you.”

    Mara was silent for a moment as she tried to decipher Luke’s enigmatic words. “All right,” she said finally. “I’ll meet you at the hangar.” She said goodbye then switched off the comm unit. She shook her head as she put the device back in her pocket and glanced around, trying to remember the layout of the building. Luke must have gotten her arrival mixed up. That would explain it.

    True to his word, she saw him stride toward her, his brown Jedi robes gracefully flaring behind him. She walked over to him and opened her arms to greet him. He clasped his hand on her shoulder, but when she leaned in to kiss his cheek, he balked.

    “What’s wrong?” she said teasingly. “Can’t a wife kiss her husband hello?”

    Luke froze and she felt a sudden tightening of his mental shields. She tried to reach across their bond but felt his rebuff.

    “What’s wrong?” she asked again, her voice serious this time.

    Luke tilted his head toward her, his blue eyes locked onto hers. “Mara,” he said, his voice low and measured. “Do you remember me?”

    She looked at him incredulously. “Are you kidding, Skywalker?” She dropped the duffel bag to the ground and put her fists on her hips. “Is this some kind of a joke?”

    “No,” he answered slowly. “Mara, I need to know. What do you remember?”

    She started to laugh, then stared at him as she realized he was serious. “About what?”

    He looked around for a moment, then found a set of crates nearby. He gestured for her to sit, and he sat beside her. “Mara, what do you remember about any of this?”

    She took a breath. “Well, I remember that you and I have been married for years and our son Ben is three years old. I used to be sick with the Vong illness but now I’m better. I met you on Wayland and I tried to kill you, and if I don’t start getting a reasonable explanation for this nonsense I may go back and try again.”

    Luke sat back and ran his hand down his brown beard. He was quiet for a moment. “Mara, we are not married. We don’t have a son named Ben. I met you when you came to be trained as a Jedi. We are friends, Mara, and nothing more.”

    She began to laugh again, then stopped when she looked at him. An icy, curling doubt began in her gut. She reached out toward him and found his mental shields uncharacteristically tightly shut. “That’s ridiculous.”

    “It’s true. Look around. Sense it. You know it somewhere.” Luke shook his head gently. “You’ve been sick, Mara. Sometimes you forget things.”

    “No.” The curling doubt began to throb and writhe, its cold tendrils slithering around inside her. “No. I don’t believe it. We’re married.”

    “Look at your hand. Do you see a wedding ring?”

    “Of course. I never take it—“ She looked at her hand. It was bare. She gathered her thoughts for a moment. “But I remember –“

    “Your memory is faulty,” he said, gently placing his flesh hand on her shoulder. “Mara, I’m your friend. But not your husband.”

    Mara sat still, her mind whirling. She looked at Luke and saw concern, compassion – and little beyond that. Tentatively, awkwardly, she stretched out along their Force bond. The connection, once vibrant and abounding with shared memories and emotions, was hollow and empty. She swallowed. “You don’t love me?” she asked, her voice small.

    “Oh, Mara.” Luke looked pained. “I love you like a friend. Like a sister.” He slipped his hand into his pocket to retrieve a small holodisk. “I’m married to someone else, Mara. You must remember her; you two are good friends.”

    He activated the disk. The holo showed Luke with a pretty brunette. When Mara showed no sign of recognition, Luke spoke. “That’s my wife, Kira. We were all at a gathering last month.” He adjusted the holodisk. “You were there too. See?” Another image appeared, this time of Mara. She was smiling and standing next to the couple.

    Mara stared at the ground for a moment, then looked up at Luke. “What about our- my son?” she asked hesitantly. “I have a son, don’t I?”

    Luke’s lips thinned and he tilted his head slightly. “You don’t remember what happened?”

    The icy doubt crawled over her skin. “Just tell me.”

    Luke dropped his hand from her shoulder to take her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. She gripped tighter than she intended to. “Do you remember Jarid Aves?” he asked.

    Her memory went back to the blond, blue-eyed former second-in-command of the Smuggler’s Alliance. “Of course I remember Aves.”

    “You always did refer to him by his last name, didn’t you?” Luke said, smiling faintly.

    “What’s Aves got to do with anything?” she snapped. “I’m asking about my son.”

    “Your husband had something to do with your son, Mara.”

    Mara stared at Luke. “My husband?”

    “You were married to him. Your name is Mara Jade Aves. Your son was Bennan Talon Aves. Han and Leia named their own son after him.”

    “Was?”

    Luke sighed deeply and squeezed her hand. “You and Jarid were happy together, you know. And you both loved little Ben so much. But there was an accident, a terrible accident. Your ship lost power on approach, and though Jarid tried to reroute power and you did what you could to protect them, the ship caught fire and crashed. Ben and Jarid died. They found Ben’s body under Jarid – apparently he had spent his last moments trying to protect his son.”

    She sat silently for a long time. “Why didn’t I die too?”

    “You were protected by the Force. You deflected the shrapnel and softened the impact.”

    “For myself? Not for my husband and my own kid?” She shook her head fiercely. “That’s not possible. I wouldn’t do that.”

    Luke looked at her sadly. “Maybe it wasn’t your decision. Maybe the Force protected only you and you had no choice in the matter. Either way, you blamed yourself. You went very dark for a long time afterwards.”

    “So you’re telling me that my husband and my son died a horrific death and I came out unscratched.”

    “Not unscratched. You were alive but seriously injured. Broken bones, burns. The worst was the head injury. Your memory doesn’t work right anymore. After your accident, Leia and I took you into our family while you rehabilitated. You lived in her home, you shared meals with us. Your mind must be confusing that with actually being a part of our family.”

    Mara shook her head, gently at first, then more violently. “No. This can’t be.”

    She stopped for a moment and sat still. The tendrils of blue haze that snaked along the floor between them flickered, like cold fire around her feet. Then she closed her eyes. Her mind stretched out toward her son, praying to every god she could think of that she would feel his presence, like a bright and joyful star shining in the great constellation of the Force. But there was nothing. Not like the empty, untrodden place where Luke’s bond led. This was a blankness beyond emptiness. A void.

    Her son was not there. Her son was not anywhere.

    She closed her eyes tightly, clutched her hands to her head, and fought the rising panic. The blue wildfire haze blazed and crackled. Her breath came out in short gasps and she knew her control was tenuous. Faintly, she felt people approaching her and sensed Luke’s attention turn to them.

    A woman’s voice, calm and low, came through. “Mara, it’s Dr. Kalonia. I’m going to take care of you.” Mara sensed the woman turning toward Luke. “What does she know?” the woman asked.

    Luke’s voice replied. “She’s losing Ben again.”

    “And Jarid?”

    “No. She doesn’t remember him as her husband. She only remembers Ben this time.”

    The woman’s voice came as a whisper. “She always remembers Ben.”

    Mara felt their pity like a thick, oozing tar, and it infuriated her. But her rage at their reactions could not overcome the power of grief that clawed at her heart and demanded an escape. She pulled herself in and wrapped her arms around body. A guttural cry, the primal grief and anguish of a mother who learns of the death of her child, seared its way out of her throat.

    She felt the pressure of a hypospray against her arm, and a moment later her body relaxed, although her mind still burned. Luke helped her rise to her feet, and she unsteadily tried to shake off his support. The dark-haired human doctor discreetly took Mara’s pulse as she held her arm.

    “You should come rest at the medical center,” Dr. Kalonia said. “You’ll feel better.”

    They walked her the short distance to the infirmary. Dr. Kalonia entered a code with proficient skill into a terminal and the door opened. “You can have your usual room. The one with the view of the lake,” she said, turning toward Mara. “We know how the water soothes you.”

    Mara sat in the waiting hoverchair, her head bowed, tears slipping down her face and onto her jacket. Instinctively she reached her hand out to Luke, who took it in his and held it.

    They reached the private wing of the infirmary, a collection of three or four rooms. Luke escorted Mara into the room and he stood nearby as Dr. Kalonia helped her rise from the hoverchair. The doctor removed Mara’s boots and her jacket for her, placing the items on a nearby small table, and then helped Mara settle into the bed. Mara turned to Luke. “Will you stay with me for a little while?” she whispered, mustering as much dignity as such a request could allow.

    Luke glanced at Dr. Kalonia, who nodded. “I can stay,” he said. He settled onto a nearby chair as she got comfortable in the bed. Mara reached out her hand and Luke took it in his. Dr. Kalonia took a final reading and then, satisfied that her patient was safe, excused herself.

    The sedative was working powerfully now. Still clasping Luke’s hand, her face a study in grief, she turned into the pillow and cried silently. Luke stroked her hand. “Shh,” he said softly. “Close your eyes, Mara. Get some rest. It will be all right when you wake up.”
     
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  10. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    OK, consider my mind completely and utterly blown. :eek: I figured it would be as soon as I saw the mentions of D'Qar and the Resistance, because that showed me that the "migration" was nearing completion (and that some guesses of mine and Ewok Poet 's were correct). But as I read further my mind got blowner and blowner—and finally it got so blown that I had to read through this another couple times to make sure I fully understood things (which is a good thing in this case). So, we are to understand from this that...

    all of Mara's memories about her Legends life and family, right up to and including the scene at the very beginning of the story where she meets up with Luke and then goes to the Solos', are the result of her memory no longer "work[ing] right" following her head injury in that horrendous ship accident? As in, that whole entire Legends world kind of exists only in her head, and was triggered by the trauma?

    In that case, no wonder I had the impression about Jacen that I had a chapter or two ago, because...

    ...the "Jacen" of that chapter really IS Ben Solo of NuCanon, and he's becoming blurred together in her mind with the Jacen of her memories, who in turn is kind of an avatar of her own lost Ben: "she always remembers Ben." Arch-trippy in all the best ways!

    And that puts his "not supposed to be here" comment in a MUCH DIFFERENT LIGHT—yes, he has caught on to something, hasn't he? Because...

    she ISN'T part of his family, she's a friend that they've taken in to help recover—and to be fair, it's hard for a small child that age to grasp that kind of arrangement. And that clue was right under my nose all along! I was so dazzled by the writing and the concept I didn't even see it. Children are perceptive, aren't they?

    WOW all around to this—you just pull it off all so virtuosically, from

    the dovetailing of one Ben into the other Ben, and Jacen into yet another Ben (sort of reminds me of that medieval notion where biblical and historical who share names are all spiritually related somehow) to the dovetailing of Mara's Vong illness into her post-accident trauma to the gradual fading of Mara out of the Skywalker-Solo family unit (I am not a rabid shipper and STILL found that heartwrenching just from the wonderful way you wrote it).

    I had some guesses, and some of them were realized—but in a way completely different from what I expected and indeed in ways far cooler than what I expected. Truly amazing work here, m'lady. =D= Am I correct in guessing that there's still a chapter or two to go to make the migration complete? [face_batting]
     
  11. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Wow! Ugh! This is amazing, heartbreaking, and it's killing me! But with mentions of Leia's and Han's son named Ben and Dr. Kalonia, I'm hopping onto Ewok poet's and Findswoman's theory.

    But, UUUUUUGGGG. PLEASE SAY THIS WILL HAVE A HAPPY ENDING!
     
  12. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    What is happening here. Mara sure is in trouble.
    And Ben as Leia's and Han's son eeuw[face_praying]
     
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  13. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Well, fine. Now that Findswoman found all the "spot the difference moments", the ending I'm thinking about is...

    Luke and Mara fall in love within this universe, too. @};- It would be a lot like Bad Romance where Breha Amidala Solo does exist, but Blue does not in human form and instead of that, he's present in her surroundings...but better! The heights you are reaching with your 2016 work are WOW.

    And given that the story does not lose that much on the forum, you'll likely *just* hint it.

    The other option is that they are already together and that she's getting information from a different continuity, tuning herself into it in order to prevent Han being killed, or some such.
     
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  14. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Oh, divapilot -- when I think I cannot be more fascinated and intrigued and riveted, I am. =D= =D= Echoing what others have said, wow, I never in a zillion years expected or thought there would be a "migration" from Legends to NEU from Coruscant to D'Qar - and at the same time Mara as part of the literal family to "just friends." And not having her son at all by this point. :eek: Wow, just. It's like those interesting kinds of time travel things where you don't want to meet "yourself" or have two versions of history converging and conflicting. [face_thinking] So if we "fix" one version of history, one of these Maras and her "history" will "disappear." Hmmm. totally eagerly looking forward to which timeline wins out. :cool:
     
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  15. Irish_Jedi_Jade

    Irish_Jedi_Jade Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2007
    Well, color me blown away...

    THIS was a treat to wake up to! And then....you broke my heart so elegantly I can't even find it in me to be mad! =((

    Findswoman pretty much said everything I was thinking, plus like 15 more brilliant observations I didn't see. Holy Smokes...

    I feel like all I can really say is you're brilliant. Like, mad-genius-amazing-brain-crazy-awesome BRILLIANT. I don't even understand how a concept like this would even pop into your brain but I can only bow down to a really fascinating mind ^:)^ I think it's funny that the way you're structuring this would really only work on a medium like this, fan fiction/board stories. It wouldn't really work that well in a novel (I mean, if anyone could, it'd obviously be you). I think that it's breathtakingly original (as in, I love it but I also hate it ;))

    This whole concept of Legends Cannon being just in her head is super interesting, and heartbreaking. I like that you had Mara be indignant when Luke said that she lived and her family died...because I thought the same thing. That doesn't seem like a Mara thing to do--I'd think she'd protect her family more than anything.

    I'll echo Briannakin here and say OH MY GOSH PLEASE LET THIS HAVE A HAPPY ENDINGGGGGG!!!! [face_love][face_praying]:_|
     
  16. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005

    Thank you so much! The migration is indeed nearing its completion. Your ideas are intriguing and I can see where you’re going with it, the idea that her brain is damaged and so she made everything up in her head to justify what she wanted to be true. However, the explanation isn’t quite that good, I’m afraid. I kinda like your idea better…[face_thinking]


    Well, kinda sorta. Jacen and Ben are becoming blurred. There’s only one offspring in TFA and his name is Ben, so Ben Skywalker has to recede for Ben Solo to emerge. And the idea that little Ben recognizes that his mother “isn’t supposed to be here” is more literal than the fact that she is simply not family. Mara doesn’t exist in TFA. Ben Skywalker keeps play-acting the disastrous ship accident – the one in which he actually died-- and he recognizes that Mara is an anomaly here. He is the most perceptive one in the bunch.o_O


    There is the next chapter and then one more to make the migration complete. A lot will be explained in the next chapter. Mara is indeed fading away from the picture here. Her world as she knows and remembers it doesn’t exist anymore. :( Thank you so much for the kind words!


    Ewok Poet and Findswoman are definitely on the right track. Cighal has become Dr. Kalonia, Ossus is now D’Qar, and Ben Solo has replaced Ben Skywalker. Mara is weaker than she has ever been. Migrations are going on all over the place now. And as for a happy ending, well, I think I’ve given everyone enough trauma already. ;) Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply!


    Thanks! Everything is moving and reestablishing itself. The next chapter will explain why. Mara is definitely in trouble here![face_nail_biting]


    Thank you so much for those compliments! As for Luke and Mara falling in love in the TFA universe, that would be a nice idea but I wouldn’t use the same trick twice. Mara stands alone in this adventure. Her reality has changed, and Luke loves someone else. I guess I beat the “alternate reality” theme pretty much to death this year, huh.:rolleyes:


    Thank you! Yes, the migration is from Legends to NEU, and how it affects Mara. She is cursed to remember what the reality was for her before, while everyone around her accepts their new reality as the way it has always been.[face_hypnotized] And you’re exactly right, you can’t fix one version of history without changing other versions (“butterfly effect”), so Mara is trapped here.


    Thank you! I didn’t mean to break your heart (ok, maybe I did a little) but I’m glad you aren’t mad at me!:p


    I like the idea of the old Legends canon being in her (broken) mind, but that isn’t really where this is going. However, because she remembers what should be real and no one else does, everybody attributes her reactions to this reality as brain damage or mental illness on Mara’s part. She really isn’t insane, she really hasn’t damaged her memory; in fact, the tragedy is that it’s the opposite – she remembers every detail in excruciating detail because it was real and it did happen to her. It’s just that it didn’t happen to anyone else, so nobody else remembers it.=((
     
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  17. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    tags @Findswoman and @Irish_Jedi_Jade

    word count total so far: 11,857

    Chapter 5.


    Mara closed her eyes, reached out with her mind, and let out a deep breath. She listened as the hum of her own heart began to wind down. Her mouth edged into a thin line as she opened her eyes and her vision confirmed her Force sense. No Skywalker to greet her.

    Nobody at all to greet her.

    She raised an elegant eyebrow. Nobody anywhere.

    She stared down the corridor. The stark white walls flickered with an iridescent blue haze that reflected onto her skin and clothing. Vertical rungs of white light sped past her as she started to walk down the sterile corridor. Toward what? She couldn’t remember anymore.

    She sensed the presence of another. Distant, near – it was hard to tell.

    “Hello, Mara,” he said. She glanced to her right to see a fair-skinned older man, tall and thin, walking in step with her. He was dressed as a Jedi, but his garments looked as if they were cut from an earlier fashion. His features were sharp, his blue eyes intelligent and piercing; his long brown hair pulled away from his face and bound in a simple band.

    “Let me guess. You’ve been waiting for me,” Mara said.

    He smiled faintly. “In a way, yes. Waiting for you to understand.” His gravelly voice carried a regional dialect of a standard Coruscanti accent, and suddenly she knew who he was.

    They stopped. The blue haze enveloped them, the lights dancing and darting across them. “Luke told me about you. Since you and I are talking, I presume I’m dead?” she asked.

    “Well, that’s an interesting question.” Qui-Gon stroked his thin beard. “In fact, no. You are not dead. It’s a bit more complex.”

    There was a low shelf, a bench of a sort, against the white wall. Mara sat down and Qui-Gon sat beside her. “If I’m not dead, then what is this place?” she asked. “And where is everyone I know?”

    “This place exists because we need to have our conversation. As for your friends, they are still out there,” Qui-Gon replied, casting his hand in a cryptic gesture. “But you can’t access them right now.”

    “Why not?”

    “It’s complicated,” he said. “You see, the Force has been disrupted, like when a stone is thrown into a pond. Ripples bounce off each other until the pond finally calms again. Just like that pond, the Living Force finds ways to correct itself when that balance is thrown off. But there are inevitably consequences to that correction.”

    She looked off to the distance, although there really was nothing to see. “I remember an artifact. Was it real? Was that the stone thrown into the pond, as you put it?”

    “Yes, it was real. An ancient device, inconceivably old. A bauble discarded by the Celestials, never meant to be discovered. Although you were told it was a diverter or prism, it is much, much more than that.” Qui-Gon shifted in his seat and tilted his head. “There are multiple universes. It happens, rarely, that there are intrusions of one universe into another. The device you discovered was left by the Celestials to prevent those intrusions from happening. The object acts like a pin to hold the universes in their positions.”

    Mara scoffed. “Universes collide? And nobody notices? I’d think that would be a rather significant event to overlook.”

    Qui-Gon smiled at her reaction. “The intrusions are so subtle you barely notice what’s happening. That’s where the Living Force comes into play. This object is far more than a diverter of the Living Force: it actually reconfigures the Living Force around those who come in contact with it. In this case, when you and the archaeologists discovered it, you were all affected by it. The archaeology team did not have the strength in the Force to withstand the ripples. They were dissipated into nonexistence. Your power in the Force kept you intact, although the device sent you through numerous iterations of what your life might potentially have been in those other realities, like ripples in your existence.”

    Qui-Gon leaned in and peaked his long fingers. Thin lines of blue light traveled up his hand and sparked into the air. He looked intently at her. “You see, Mara, although the Living Force has no beginning and no end, everything else has a time and a season. The winds have their cycles of storms. The tides have their surge and ebb. The creatures have their migrations to cooler climates. That’s what you have been experiencing. Each time the Force shifts in its effort to restore balance, it causes an altered iteration to reality. This shifting then triggers another one of your realities – another cycle of your rising and lowering tides, another one of your seasons of migrations to the north. And now the ripples have finally expended themselves. It has become your time to leave your familiar physical existence and travel to your new one.”

    “So I’ve been migrated right out of the universe, have I?” she asked. Blue light glimmered around Qui-Gon’s features, blazing in his blue eyes. She felt the tingle along her own skin.

    “There are multiple universes, Mara,” he reminded her. “The life you remember is only one universe. The Force seeks balance, and as a result of this realignment these universes have been overlapping. Timelines have been intersecting; merging and diverging. You have slipped between the edges at the point of the overlap. You, my dear, are a paradox.”

    She laughed ruefully. “I’ve been called worse.” She stretched out her legs, always a dancer.

    “Usually, people who are caught up in the rebalancing simply cease to exist and no one notices their absence. But you, Mara. Your strength in the Force is so intense, so powerful – you cannot be erased so easily. Your existence is persistent. You, Mara, have become one of the rare few who can touch both the mortal and the immortal realms.”

    Mara stared at him. “And you? Are you one of those rare few, too?”

    Qui-Gon smiled warmly. “In a way. I have learned to harness the Living Force to transcend the boundary between life and death. But that is as far as my skill can take me. You made contact with the device - a device that was never supposed to be touched by anyone but a celestial - and it amplified the Force around you and within you. Because of your contact with the device, you can touch the infinite.”

    She considered this information to be simultaneously both a completely incredible and a completely reasonable explanation. She was quiet for a long while, thinking. Finally, she spoke. “Will anyone remember me? Will I ever see the people I loved again?”

    Qui-Gon shrugged. “In some universes, you never left. In others, you were never there. So it depends. But even in the remotest universes, there will always be traces of you. Your considerable power in the Force transformed you into something more than you were before. Instead of disappearing, you have transcended. Your spirit, your energy in the Force still resonates throughout all these universes. Your physical form may be gone, but your Force energy is never destroyed.”

    Mara sat beside him quietly. His words sank into her and she tried to absorb them. Eventually she turned to him. “I can never go home again, can I?” she said.

    He shook his head. Mara’s head dropped. She stared at the floor, at the misty blue lights that pooled around her feet. “So what do I do now?” she whispered.

    Qui-Gon stood up and folded his arms across his chest, inside the flowing sleeves of his tunic. “You have an eternity to decide where to go and what to do. You can learn to move in-between these universes, although no one can see or sense you for now.”

    “As a ghost.”

    “More like a tremor in the Force, or a wave that passes through. Another possibility is that your essence in the Force can be reborn. If there is another whose midi-chlorian level is high enough, your power in the Force may be able to transfer into that person to amplify their own natural abilities. Either way, I can teach you how to access the Force here and how to project into other realities. I’ll be your guide and companion.”

    She tilted her head, her gold-red hair falling to the side. “How long will it take to learn that?”

    He laughed gently. “Time doesn’t matter. You are beyond time. When you are done, you will have learned it.”

    She nodded her head. Then she stood up, the blue lights swirling like a cloak behind her. “Then let’s begin right now,” she said.

    Qui-Gon smiled. “Very good. Relax. Find your center,” he directed.

    Mara took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
     
  18. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Wow. So finally some answers and some very well written ones at that. Though perhaps not the answer we wanted at the end there. I hope you make this right.

    Also, I LOLed at this exchange. So very Mara!:

     
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  19. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Indeed, some answers! And ones that are way more interesting than any of my "all in her head" guesses above. The concept of a linchpin (and a physical one at that!) holding the various universes together is just too cool—it has a sort of Borgesian vibe to it, and it kind of loosely reminds me of the footnote at the end of "The Library of Babel" with Letizia Álvarez de Toledo's infinite book, rotating around a single spine—Mara's artifact playing the role of that spine, so to speak. It in a way is incredibly comforting to me (Legends somewhat-stickler that I am) to know that all her experiences, all her relationships, all the people she knew and loved really were real and weren't just an elaborate hallucination, and again being a Legends-nostalgic type I am now going to personally apply this principle to pretty much all the events and characters of Legends. :D Even so, the knowledge that she "can't go home again," that she can't rejoin those people and those relationships in the way she had expected to, is definitely bittersweet, though it is just possible tha Qui-Gon (more on him in a moment) is offering her something even better. We shall see, I guess, in the next chapter, when the migration makes it all the way north! :D

    Qui-Gon definitely is a very interesting and thought-provoking choice for this role as ambassador between universes, especially since his Prequels career (and particularly his non-disappearing death) almost seem to suggest he wouldn't be capable of it. But there too what you have is comforting, in a way, since it suggests that he actually was able to achieve a transcendence of a sort in the end, and arguably one that is more interesting and meaningful than the transcendence of just a "regular old" Force ghost. Though perhaps that concept will tie into this too? Oh, how cool and trippy that would be—though things will be (and have been) cool and trippy no matter what direction this will go! :cool:
     
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  20. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    love Mara's discussion with Qui-Gon and like to see where this leads
     
  21. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Wow...just wow. It all makes sense, and Qui-Gon is the perfect choice as guide.



    This is beautiful.
     
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  22. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    In before you post the last chapter on Sunday!

    This is a really odd kind of limbo, purgatory, crack in time, call it whatever you prefer. Brutal in the way the redemption original little mermaid has to go through, albeit different in a way that Mara did not deserve it. Then again, nobody said that the will of the Universe or any deity that we might be using to explain it and justify it was always on the good folks' side, right?

    But what it reminds me of even more is the books where existence is denied or disappearing at some point - Michael Ende's Neverending Story and Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World. The latter almost makes me want to ask if, while trapped amongst the ripples of the multiple universes (ha, I got that one right!), Mara, as well as everybody she converses with, could be a mere creation for somebody to play with? ...but after everything has been a major twist in this most recent chapter, having it twist further to that degree somehow seems improbable.

    The place where Mara converses with Qui-Gon is also interesting - it's like the Room of Necessity from the Harry Potter series - it exists when it's necessary, plain and simple. And, if nothing else, it gives Mara comfort in still being somewhat real - while it's implied that she is nothing but distorted energy at this point (and so is Qui-Gon himself), in this little encounter, they still look like they're a part of the material world.

    The idea that the artefact is a device that sent many beings before her to nothingness is chilling. But if she moved it, what if the whole world that she was a part of is disappearing, apart those who are as strong in the Force as she is and can transcend multiple universes? However, if the artefact itself travels with her each time then...all universes are (mostly) disappearing?! Are the things supposed to lead us to the good ol' Force mantra? When there is...nothing else?

    So.many.questions.



    And this was a masterful interpretation of the story title.

    Eagerly awaiting the conclusion! :)
     
  23. Onderon1

    Onderon1 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2008
    Divapilot: Well, consider me borked. :p

    This is as masterful as it is tragic ... and dare I wonder if Mara might just be reborn as ... *drumroll* ...
    Rey? :eek:

    Then again, maybe that's too spot-on. In any case, this is an excellent 'fic. =D=

    - Onderon1
     
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  24. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    That was the thing I wanted to suggest too, but I didn't know if it made sense.
     
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  25. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005


    Thank you! It will come to a conclusion in the next post, but whether or not I make it right, well, that depends on your point of view. Thank you for your reply and for following along with this story! :)

    Thank you! The artifact has been trying to go back home all along, and now she has been “migrated” far enough from her original reality that the physical device was never discovered. It is a bit like the infinite book, always turning, always returning.
    Mara’s experiences were just as real and as valid as they had been pre-legends; in fact, in a way, she never left. But other realities have shifted to assert dominance and her reality has to move aside to allow it. She is unique in that she realizes this has happened at all. It’s bittersweet only because she remembers. =((


    Thank you for your reply! The last chapter is coming up next, so that’s where this crazy ride is headed.


    Thank you so much! I appreciate it. Yes, I thought Qui-Gon would be a good call. Plus I think those two would really get along – they’re both snarky and smart, and incredibly devoted to their cause. ;)


    Thank you! Yes, no one said the Force was fair.:( Mara, of all people, would understand, especially given what she had gone through in this story. But I think Mara, like Qui-Gon, would accept the will of the universe as her duty.

    Lol – Yes, you guessed it right! Mara has been going through different versions of what her life might have been. The ripples have been pushing through the universe and she’s been dragged along with it. I guess philosophically everything is just a creation for the Force to play with, a rattle in a child’s crib, something that can neither define itself or its destiny if you think about it. The old Will of the Force to which we are all subject and can’t control. [face_hypnotized]

    I was hoping it didn’t come across as too derivative of the place where Morpheus brings Neo to show him the illusion of the Matrix! :rolleyes: But the Room of Necessity is pretty much exactly what it is. It exists because it is necessary for it to be there, and that’s it’s one function. You’ve got it exactly -- This is Mara’s last link to her physical life, and to her physical form. All other contextual background is gone now, and it’s just what she remembers her physical self to be. She’s more luminous than physical at this point, and Qui-Gon (who can’t really be the physical form he presents to her either) is there to help her adjust to this new existence.


    The universes aren’t disappearing but they are becoming less prominent. They will always exist in some form but they aren’t the dominant universe now. Mara’s physical exposure to the artifact has been decreasing throughout the iterations, and the blue haze has been increasing, signaling the artifact’s inevitable return to where it started. Eventually, by this most recent iteration, the artifact has gone back to where it was first discovered, its discovery forgotten by everyone who once saw it. In my headcanon, if a regular being came into contact with it, the artifact would have erased the person’s reality and everything would have shifted back immediately. But Mara’s strength in the Force pushed back against the artifact’s perpetual necessity to return to its original place, and thus the migrations.


    Wait no more, my friend. Thank you very much for this thorough reply. I appreciate it! :)


    This has been such a trippy story that anything is possible. o_O Thank you so much for your kind words!


    Why wouldn’t it? With a story this weird, anything is possible. :p

     
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