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

Beyond - Legends Dawning (2.0) - Luke/Mara, Ben - AU repost & revamp - Completed August 12th

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by Briannakin , May 22, 2013.

  1. Catsmeow

    Catsmeow Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 2012
    I hope little Han makes it. I would be so depressed if he were to die. :(

    Can't wait until the next update!
     
  2. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    AN: Thanks for reading guys. As I said before, I had plans to continue the Solo/Fel story line in a spin-off short fic, I may still write something, probably a just one shot, to bring closure to the story line. Because of that there is no more mentions of the Solos or Fels in Dawning.



    Chapter 14

    "Ben, I am your father!"

    "Shut up, Dad."

    Mara sat in the armchair in her living room, sipping her caff as she checked her mail on her datapad one weekend morning. Her husband, supported by a million pillows, and son were sitting on the floor, playing "Galactic Heroes: Jedi and Sith" on the XiIi, a video game console. She glanced up to see a computerized Darth Vader slice a computerized version of her husband in two. A large KO appeared on the screen.

    "Ha! I win again!" Luke announced, rising both arms in victory. He had been playing as his father.

    "You suck," Ben announced, he had been playing as his own father. "Both you and the video game version of you."

    "Want to try again?"

    "Only if I get to play as mom," Ben said as he selected ‘Mara Jade (Skywalker)' from the character selection menu. "Now I can use a lightsaber and blasters."

    "Fine," Luke huffed. "I'm being Yoda," he announced as he selected the Jedi Master.

    "DAD! THAT IS NOT FAIR AND YOU KNOW IT!"

    Mara rolled her eyes but chuckled as she returned to reading her mail. The chuckling immediately ceased as next piece of mail popped up on her screen.

    To: Mara Jade Skywalker
    From: Shern Mosar
    Subject: Information

    Mara gasped. Dr. Shern Mosar was a man few people knew. He had been Emperor Palpatine's personal physician. Mara had met the man a few times, briefly. His identity and job had been kept top secret during the Emperor's reign for Palpatine's safety and for his own and, to her knowledge, he had slipped into oblivion after the Emperor's death. It baffled Mara why he was contacting her now. Even though his name hadn't entered in mind in years, decades even, she figured the man must be long dead by now.

    "Mara?" Luke asked, pausing the game as he sensed her uneasiness and confusion. He did his best to turn his head to look at her. "What is it?"

    "Just a letter from someone odd," she replied as she opened the message and started reading.


    Dear Mrs. Mara Jade Skywalker

    I am Doctor Shern Mosar and I am sure you remember who I am, even though our handful of meetings were short and over four decades ago. To make this simple: I am dying and I do not want to die with some things on my conscience. I've already made my peace with the galaxy for keeping the Emperor alive when I had so many chances to kill him by donating my fortune to building a med-center in one of the poorest provinces of Ryloth. But I want to cleanse my heart the most hideous crime I believe I committed. I know who your father was. If you come to
    Chandrila, I will be able to give you this information.

    -S. Mosar


    "Mara?" Luke asked again. She was too shocked to hear him. She was too shocked to form coherent thoughts.

    "Mom?" Ben got up from the floor and sat at her side. He wrapped an arm around her as he read over her shoulder. He then took the datapad out of her hands and handed it to his father as he wrapped her in a hug.

    "Mara, do you want to go to Chandrila?" Luke asked once he was done reading.

    After a few moments of stillness, Mara nodded.

    . . .

    After the twelve hour trip to Chandrila, Luke felt horrible. Both Ashlana Tano and Cilghal were wary about letting him go into hyperspace, even if it was only a half of a day, but they had let him. His body, especially his joints, hurt more because of the strain of hyperspace on his still weak body.

    "I'll give you a nice massage once we are back on the ship and a long hot ripple bath once we are home," Mara promised him as they made their way through the halls of the nursing home where Shern Mosar was being cared for.

    "Thank you." Luke was not only thanking his wife for the promise to relieve his aches, but also for not putting him in a nursing home. Death bogged down the Force here, even though the atmosphere was otherwise pleasant.

    They entered Shern's room to see a very elderly man sitting in a bed, being tended to by a woman in her mid-30's. They both looked up and smiled kindly.

    "Mara Jade Skywalker," Shern said with a smile. Although they had not met in forty years, they felt, somehow connected. Both had served the Emperor willingly and they had both sought to be forgiven by the galaxy.

    "Dr. Mosar, it's a pleasure to see you again. I'd like you to meet my husband, Luke, and my son, Ben."

    "Hello," Shern greeted them. "This is my granddaughter, Neilani."

    "Hello, it's an honour to meet you all," Neilani said as she held her grandfather's hand.

    Shern then got right to business. "Mrs. Skywalker, I wish I were delivering you better news, but I want to thank you for seeing me and lifting this crushing weight from my chest."

    Mara nodded. "If the identity of my father is coming from you, it can't be good. He was one of the Imperial Guards, wasn't he?"

    Shern gave her a sympathetic look. "If it was only that simple. Please, sit down. I should start
    from the beginning."

    She did as she was told, sitting at his side, allowing him to continue.

    "As you know, Palpatine attempted to create a child," Shern began.

    "Triclops," Mara nodded, telling Shern he did not need to waste his time with explaining that convoluted story.

    "Yes. After Palpatine sensed that the attempt failed, seventeen years before the Battle of Yavin, Palpatine came to me about creating a child in a more typical way. He wanted a Force sensitive heir in case he died and was unable to come back again."

    Mara nodded. "Yes, and four years before the Battle of Yavin, Ensori was born."

    "Ensori?" Ben asked, confused. He had been following the conversation up until that point.

    Mara turned around to face her son. "Ensori was Palpatine's bratty son. Not many people knew about him. His mother died giving birth to the hideous thing and he was raised in the Imperial Palace by nannies and the occasional unfortunate Emperor's underlings that got put on ‘Ensori Duty' until the Emperor died. After that, no one knows what happened to him. I always assumed that his nannies knew what danger he was in if his parentage was discovered by the Rebel Alliance and later New Republic, so they gave him a new identity."

    "I assume that is what happened to him too," Shern nodded. "But, he was not the only child born to a woman whom I fertilized with Palpatine's seed."

    Mara stared at him, wide eyed. "Palpatine had more children?"

    Shern nodded, sadly. "He only had one other child created by in vitro fertilization. Eight years before his death was the second time he asked me. The first was twenty-one years before he died. I'm sorry Mara. You were Palpatine's first child. You were raised by surrogate parents before he took you to begin your training."

    Like the assassin and the Jedi Master she was, Mara betrayed no outward emotion, but inside she was bursting with confusion, anger and sadness.

    "Your mother was a concubine, like Ensori's and like his mother, I have no idea what happened to her after you were born. I regret not knowing her name, but she was a beautiful woman. You have her eyes."

    After a few moments of silence, she finally mumbled to no one in particular, "I probably killed her. I killed her with the dark side when I took my first breath…. He was my father. My father?" She then addressed Shern again. "I… I have to go," she said, on the verge of crumbling as she got up. "Goodbye Shern." She then bolted from the room.

    "Thank you for telling us this Dr. Shern," Luke said still shocked and uneasy. He just wanted to go see his wife. "I know it looks like she is taking it bad, but she is a strong woman. Knowing may hurt now, but she will adjust in time."

    "I'm sorry to have caused her that much pain, but I thought if she knew, it would explain why she felt like she had to love him when she was a child. Tell her I owe her much gratitude, I just could not die with that deed on my soul."

    Luke smiled. "I thank you for that deed. It might have given Palpatine an heir, but it also gave me the love of my life. Now if you'll excuse us, we'd better go see how she is. Goodbye Dr. Mosar."

    Shern tipped his head. "Goodbye."

    Luke and Ben were then quickly making their way back to the Jade Shadow in Mara's wake. When they got there, they sensed Mara in the locked cockpit.

    "Mara?" Luke called. He tried to sense her emotions but her mind was shielded by thick walls.

    "I'm starting the ship up. Go strap in," came her bland, emotionless response.

    Luke let his wife have her privacy but sent her waves of love in the Force. He then turned to Ben. "Come, I need you to strap me in," he said, leading the way to the main hold.

    "What do we do?" Ben asked once they were both strapped in.

    Luke sighed. "We let your mother have her privacy. She needs to organize her thoughts and feelings. She will open up to us when she is ready, with a bit of encouraging."

    Ben nodded.

    "What do you think about all this?" Luke asked.

    Ben shrugged. "To be honest, I don't see how it changes anything, for me at least. My heritage is messed up to begin with."

    Luke nodded. "After having one Sith Lord as a grandfather, finding out you have another doesn't seem like a big deal."

    "Exactly. It doesn't change who I am or who I will become. I feel bad for Mom, and you and everyone else hurt by him but Palpatine being my grandfather has little effect on my life. He's still just some dead dude in the history holos. I just happen to be related to him now."

    Luke groaned. "Spoken like a true eighteen year old. Now I feel old."

    "Dad, I hate to break it to you, but you are old."

    He glared at his son. "Thanks," he said, dripping with sarcasm. "Is that who I am? Some famous old dude you are related to?"

    Ben smiled. "You are much more than that. You're my dad. Because you raised me and are such a good father, I am honoured to say that you're my dad." He then kissed his father on the forehead, filling Luke with joy. His eighteen year old son was not ashamed to kiss him. "Now, tip yourself back and I'll start working those pains out of your legs."

    . . .

    Two hours into the flight back home, Luke was in agony. He was tired, his body ached, despite the fact that Ben was doing his best to try to relive the stress on his body, and Mara still hadn’t come out of the cockpit.

    "Ben, why don't you go get some shut eye? We're both tired. I'm going to try to get your mom out of her hiding spot."

    "Alright," Ben said, placing his father's feet back on the hover chair's footrest. "If you need help, just call me."

    Luke nodded, then made his way to the cockpit door. "Mara? Mara?" he called. "Come to bed with me, please?"

    A few moments later the door slid open, and Mara walked out, emotionless and icy. She led the way to their cabin in silence and dressed and prepared them for bed without saying a word.

    When it was time for him to be transferred to the bed, he parked himself beside the bed and waited for Mara's help. She came over and put her hands on his hips as he gripped the arms of the hover chair and pushed himself up. Over the past few weeks, they had been trying a new transferring method, which created less strain on Mara and got Luke using his arms to move his body.

    Luke gasped from the weight being put on his sore arms and both gave out half way through the transfer process. Mara had been off in her own world and had not been ready. Both tumbled to the ground, Mara underneath Luke.

    "Luke, I am so sorry. Here I'll get you up," she said in a hurry.

    Luke disagreed with her plans. He pinned her down with the Force. A very, very necessary use of the Force. "No. I'm just getting comfortable," he said with a sly grin as he brushed Mara’s hair out of her face. He knew what Mara needed at this moment: a good laugh, then they could talk with ease.

    Unfortunately, he wasn't rewarded with one. "Luke, please."

    "Please what? Kiss you? Alright." He did just that.

    "Luke, you're intolerable," she huffed.

    "That's why you married me," he said with his best Solo lopsided grin impression.

    She rolled her eyes. Okay, so it wasn't a laugh, but it was close. She then lifted him up and put him on the bed, chest down. She then walked around to the other side and sat beside him.

    "You didn't hurt anything, did you?" she asked, rubbing his back. Luke was glad that he temporarily got her mind distracted, but he needed to know how she was dealing with the new discovery.

    "Nothing that didn't hurt before. Ah, that feels good," he said as she rubbed a knot out of his back. "You didn't hurt anything, did you?"

    "No, I'm unscathed."

    Silence fell over the room as Mara continued to rub Luke's pains. He gingerly reached his arm out to put it on her knee. He gave it a firm squeeze and looked into her eyes. "Mara, just listen. I know you aren't ready to talk, I respect that and even though I have the urge to help you, I won't until you are ready. Just remember that I have been through something similar to this before and I'm here to help. Most of all, remember that both Ben and I love you. We will always love you."

    Mara nodded, but did not say anything. A few minutes of massaging later, she broke down into tears. She hadn't been acting life herself all evening and this was even more unlike her, but Luke could understand why.

    "Come here," he said softly. Within moments, he was on his side and she had her arms wrapped tightly around his torso. He gently rubbed the back of her head and she got them under the blankets as she continued to soak his tunic with her tears.

    "I'm here, just let it out and don't worry about a thing," he said, quoting the comforting words Leia had said to him after Darth Vader had uttered those words: I am your father.

    "He was my father. My father!" she half wept, half shouted into his shoulder. "He tortured me. I was his tool. Just a tool! He never showed me any love, Yet I loved him..." the rest of her rant became sobs. Her tears were that of anger, sadness, confusion and a million feelings running threw her heart.

    "Hush. It'll be alright," he said, trying to calm her.

    "I don't deserve you," she sobbed.

    He brought his hand to her cheek to wipe away tears and to make her look into his eyes. "Don't you dare think that again," his voice had an edge to it. "You are not your father. If you are then that means I'm my father, then that means we still deserve each other. I love you and don't you dare ever doubt that." He then put her head back on his chest and held it close to his heart.

    Slowly, her sobs became silent and she faded into sleep still clutching to his tear-soaked tunic.

    . . .

    Although he was tired, Luke meditated while Mara slept peacefully in his arms. Although her hair was messed up and tears stained her face, she had a look of deep serenity that sleep gave her. He needed to be alert when she woke.

    When she started to stir, he brushed his knuckles along her cheek. She opened her eyes to a caring smile and kind blue eyes.

    "How are you doing?" he asked.

    "Just peachy," she said, sarcastically, but without malice. The truth was, she was feeling much better.

    Luke let out a small chuckle. "There's my beautiful wife. I've missed you. Can we talk about this?"

    "I thought you were going to wait till I was ready."

    "You know I jump at the chance to help people. Now that I'm physically dependant on you and Ben, those chances are few and far between."

    "Are you saying if I let you help me, I'll actually be helping you?"

    "Yup. Sneaky, right?"

    "No, not at all," Mara said bluntly. "But I suppose I'll reward you for trying. Where do you want me to start Dr. Phille? I just found out that my father was Emperor Palpatine: killer of billions and lover of nothing. I'm now going to have daddy issues and a PR nightmare."

    "First of all, I'm not some Holoshow psychologist. Second, the public does not have to know about this. We won’t even tell Leia if you don't want to."

    "No. I'm perfectly fine with the public not knowing but we'd better tell Leia. She is way too snoopy and you suck at keeping secrets from her."

    "Alright. Third. It's alright to have daddy issues, I have them. I have lots of them. It's fine, as long as you talk to me. Don't keep things bottled up. Just talk to me, promise?"

    Mara rolled her eyes. "I promise."

    "Good. Can we snuggle now?"

    "Of course," Mara said, taking him even closer.
     
    Nyota's Heart likes this.
  3. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Briannakin, I love Ben ... he's so real first in the video game with his dad [face_laugh] and then after they got the shocking news. He's right though. It doesn't change who his mom is or how they feel about her. It, however, does/would change how she sees herself. [face_thinking] Luke was a true and utter darling to Mara, but what's new. [face_love] !!! Pookie bear [face_laugh] :*
     
  4. newdawn12

    newdawn12 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2013
    That was a great chapter, it shows the bond between the three of them, I hope you enjoy your trip.
     
  5. ginchy

    ginchy Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 25, 2005
    It's good that Luke was there to help Mara through that revelation.
     
  6. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    A/N: First of all, I would like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing. I leave first thing Wednesday morning for my vacation, so I’m posting the rest of this now. I had no idea where this rewrite was going when I was asked to repost this, but I am happy with the result. Of course, with the whole paralysis change, the sequel “Home” no longer fits with this version. I probably won’t be revising/reposting that story (because I hated that fic and if I were to revise it, I would have to completely re-write it and my muse doesn’t want to do that) so don’t even ask. I may one day re-write a new sequel, but chances are slim.

    Chapter 15

    “Skywalker, I gotta get going.”

    “No. I don‘t want you to go.”

    “Skywalker. Come on, move your arm.

    “No,” he repeated. Luke was in bed, with his wife. She had to leave for Kesh at an unholy hour this morning on official Jedi business to welcome the planet into the New Empire. She would be gone for three weeks and he couldn’t go with her because he couldn’t spend the week in hyperspace needed to get there.

    “The faster you let me leave, the faster I get back. Now move your arm so I can go have a sanisteam.”

    “Fine,” Luke muttered.

    “Oh, stop sulking,” Mara groaned as she rolled out of bed.

    . . .

    After her sanisteam, Mara came back into her room to get her bag and to kiss her husband goodbye. He, of course, was sound asleep, snoring away. She didn’t want to wake him; even a few months after he woke from his coma Luke still had exhaustion issues. So she kissed his cheek in his slumber and left.

    . . .

    Veri never let an opportunity slip through her fingers. So when Ben called her, asking her to get his father up and feed the old geezer breakfast while he dealt with Master Durron‘s latest fiasco, she, of course, had said yes.

    Quickly dressing in the early dawn light, she slipped a vial of poison in her pocket. The poison; clear, odourless and tasteless, would mimic the effects of a massive seizure, stopping the heart of whoever drank even a drop.

    She also slipped another vial out of her hidden cubby in her room. With this one, she poured the red liquid into her eyes. They absorbed it quickly and the Ysalamiri blood went straight to her brain. It would block her from the Force for about a day, but now, no Force-user could read her thoughts or sense her intentions. She used Ysalamiri blood whenever dealing with Mara Jade Skywalker, her father’s enemy… and half-sister.

    . . .

    Luke woke when he felt a strange presence enter his room. He opened his eyes to see Veri Kayn walk in.

    “Good morning, Master Skywalker,” she said with a bow. “Ben had to leave for a few minutes, Master Durron got into some sort of trouble.”

    “Again?” Luke asked. Ben was often rushing off to bail Kyp out of something stupid. Luke knew the girl was not lying to him, he could sense both Ben, annoyed, and Kyp, embarrassed, in the same area across the planet. Still, Luke couldn’t help but be suspicious of this girl. He could get nothing off of her from the Force.

    “Again,” she confirmed. “So Ben asked me to come and get you into your chair once you woke and get you your breakfast.”

    He was wary of her but he did not let her see this. “Alright. Thank you,” he said, pushing blankets off of himself, revealing his night-pants and under tunic clad body. She helped him slide his body into his hover chair and positioned his feet.

    “I made caf,” Veri offered as she followed him out into the kitchen. She got the caf pot and poured him a mug. Oddly, there was just enough caf in the pot for one mug. She immediately put the pot in the washer. “What do you take in it?”

    “Blue milk,” he replied, playing along. He actually hated caf in the morning. He was a hot chocolate guy.

    She prepared his caf for him and set the mug in front of him on the table. “Um… Do you need any help? I noticed at the ball a few weeks ago, Mara was feeding you.”

    Luke waved her off with an overly shaky hand. He was playing his tremor up. “No, no. But could you get me a nichi-nut bran muffin. Mara has me on this horrible bran diet. They are in that container on the counter.”

    “Sure,” she said, turning her back.

    As soon as Veri turned her back, Luke heard a voice in his head: don’t drink it. Luke listened. Making it look like he was trying to pick up the mug with his shaking hands, he spilled the boiling liquid all over himself.

    Veri gasped when she suddenly turned around.

    “Useless arms!” Luke cried, keeping up his act. Then he noticed the burning hot liquid eating his clothing. Either the girl made some bad caf, or she had put something into it.

    Ben then came rushing into the apartment with a box and a tray of drinks from the Stone Leif Café, which he put down as he rushed to his father’s aid.

    “Dad, Dad. It’ll be alright,” Ben said as he picked up and stripped his father. Thankfully the caf had barely touched Luke’s skin. Ben now held his dad, only clad in his underwear, in his arms. “I’m going to put you in the ripple bath.”

    “I am so sorry Ben,” Veri apologised.

    He flashed her a smile. “It’s alright. It isn’t your fault. My father and I were planning on going to the museum later. Would you like to join us?”

    Veri smiled. “Sure. I’ll make up for this fiasco there,” she promised.

    Something sank in Luke’s gut. Could he really tell Ben that his girlfriend was out to kill him?

    . . .

    “Ben?” Luke asked his son as the two made their way across a long walkway, hundreds of meters in the air. After Luke’s impromptu ripple bath, Ben had dressed him in his typical Jedi robes.

    “Yes, Dad?”

    Luke cringed. He knew how much Ben like Veri. “Do you know much about Veri?”

    “Of course. We have been dating for almost six months. She’s protective of her past, I don’t know much about her family life but that isn’t unusual. She really is a sweet girl, isn’t she?”

    “About that. I don’t think she actually likes you. I think she is using you.”

    Luke felt the annoyance and anger roll off Ben. “Kyp and Uncle Han said the same thing when I started dating her. You guys have no right. Just because she isn’t an open book does not mean she has evil intentions,” Ben fumed, trying to stay calm.

    “Ben. I’m only asking because-” Luke then felt immediate danger in the Force. They were in the center of the walkway. Letting the Force take control of his body, he Force-shoved every being off the walkway to safety. That was when the bombs detonated beneath him.

    . . .

    Everything happened in an instant. One second, Ben was defending his girlfriend’s honour, the next, he felt his father shoving him and the rest of the crowd to the safety of the building at the end of the walkway. Ben managed to catch his father’s eyes, blue and full of pain, before everything went to hell.

    Fire and smoke filled his vision.

    He knew he must have screamed for his dad, but everything was muted.

    Then a flash of tanned skin caught his eye on the other side of the fireball.

    Veri.

    Damn. His father was right!

    Father.

    Ben rushed forward and jumped off the end of the burning walkway. Slowing his decent as much as he could, Ben landed on another walkway, fifty metres down.

    There, his father had landed. Luke and his bright blue hover chair had landed on their side, both were singed and broken. Blood flowed from his father.

    Ben rushed to his father’s side.

    “CILGHAL I NEED A MEDICAL SPEEDER HERE, NOW!” he screamed into his commlink.

    He then got his father out of the hover chair and cradled him in his arms.

    . . .

    Mara instantly dropped to her knees inside the Jade Shadow as terrible pain coursed through her body.

    “Luke!”

    She had to get back to Corucant. She had to get back there now.

    . . .

    There was smoke, fire, pain and screams, but Luke didn’t notice any of it. He only felt the hands of the Force and the love of those lost surround him as he fell. He must have blacked out because the next thing he knew, he was in Ben’s arms, looking up at his son.

    “Dad! Dad! I’ve got you. You’re going to be fine, alright? You have to make it. Just stay with me, Cilghal is on her way, just stay with me,” Ben pleaded.

    Luke tried his best to smile. “I love you Ben,” he whispered as his head lolled back and darkness took over.




    Chapter 16


    Waiting was of the Dark Side. Ben knew this for a fact. He had been allowed in the medical transport when the healers had arrived, and had held his father’s hand all the way to the Jedi temple. Once they arrived, however, he had been forced to wait in the waiting room.

    None of his family had arrived yet, thankfully. It was easier to pace like a madman when you were alone.

    "Ben?" Kyle Katarn said, entering the waiting room.

    . . .

    Ben snapped to attention, allowing the master to continue.

    "I’ve been assigned the investigation into the bombing attack on your father. Several witnesses say they saw a girl matching Veri Kayn’s description fleeing the scene just after the bombs went off. Can you confirm this?"

    Ben closed his eyes and sank back into one of the chairs. This couldn’t be right. Veri was a nice girl. He loved her. He paled when he remembered his conversation he was having with his father when the bombs had gone off.

    "Ben? Was it Veri? I need to know," Katarn asked.

    Then, another being entered the room, Cilghal. "Ben. Your father is out of surgery. He is too weak to be put in a bacta tank so we have him wrapped in bacta-bandages and he is in one of the recovery rooms, you can see him once you tell Master Katarn what you know."

    Great. Now he had two masters interrogating him. This couldn’t be happening. Veri was a nice girl. She had no reasons to kill his father.

    "Ben," Cilghal urged. "I don’t want your father waking to find that he is by himself. He will worry and your father’s body cannot take any stress right now."

    Ben closed his eyes. "It was Veri. But she is a good girl, there is no way she did this on her own. Once you obtain her, could I see her?"

    Master Katarn nodded. "I’ll see what I can do. But your first concern should be your father."

    Ben nodded. "He is. May I see him?" he asked as Katarn hurried off.

    Cilghal nodded. "Yes, but before we go in there, you should know that, while your father may look in bad shape, he actually fared pretty well considering what happened to him. He has several minor burns, a few broken ribs on his left side and his left arm is broken in several places. Because of this, we have immobilised his left arm and it is to stay immobile. He also has a hairline fracture on the left side of his skull, so he may be dizzy and he will have to stay here for a while. Come, follow me."

    Cilghal led Ben to one of the recovery rooms. It had a large window so that the healers could monitor his father without disturbing him. Ben’s heart sank when he saw that his father was hooked up to so many machines again. His entire arm was in a brace and he was covered in bacta-bandages. Ben felt like it was all his fault.

    He kept his calm as he entered and sat by his father’s side, holding his hand.

    "It’ll be awhile before he wakes," Cilghal informed him. "He has a concussion and needs his rest, so when he does wake, talk to him for a little bit but urge him to sleep. I’ll be checking on him every once and awhile." She then left.

    . . .

    That afternoon was a long one for Ben. He could sense his entire family comfort him in the Force, and Uncle Han and Aunt Leia had even come to check on him, but they were ushered out. His father wasn’t allowed too much stimulation when he woke. If he ever did.

    Ben started to become fearful but his fears were all washed away when his father started moaning just after dinner time.

    "Dad?" Ben stood up so that his father could see him clearly but still held his father’s unharmed right hand. When his father opened his eyes, Ben smiled. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

    "My head is killing me."

    Ben continued smiling. "Well, you did fall fifty metres. Get some more rest. I have to go deal with something but I’ll be back within an hour and Mom is expected to be back soon."

    "Alright," Luke said, settling back into his pillow and closing his eyes. "Get the lights on the way out please."

    "Yes Dad," Ben obediently replied, making his way out.

    "And Ben?"

    "Mmmhmm?"

    "I’m sorry about Veri. I know how much you liked her."

    . . .

    Ensori Kayn, son of Palpatine, grumbled as he switched off the holonet. It seemed that his daughter’s attempt on Luke Skywalker’s life failed miserably.

    Skywalker was still very much alive and his failure of a daughter was in Jedi hands. He knew his daughter was too soft.

    Standing up and smoothing back his auburn hair, he clipped his lightsaber to his belt and headed out from his apartment.

    He would have to kill Skywalker as revenge on his half-sister.

    . . .

    Ben felt icy cold as he walked through the bleak hallway of the detention center. He was following Master Katarn to Veri’s interrogation chamber.

    "Why are there no Ysalamiri?" Ben asked.

    "That seems to be the one thing we have been able to get out of her. She told us she took Ysalamiri blood. I had Tionne research it and apparently if a Force sensitive gets Ysalamiri blood to their brain, either by ingesting it or another method, it will cut off their mind from all other Force users but it will also cut them off from the Force for about a day."

    "Handy trick," Ben muttered. When they got to the interrogation chamber, Ben turned to the master. "Could I have some time alone with her?"

    "Certainly. I will be behind the mirror, in the next room." Katarn then let him in.

    Veri’s hair and robes were dishevelled and she was stun-cuffed to her chair.

    "You have to help me Ben!" she pleaded. "They think I had something to do with the explosion that almost killed your father." It was obvious that she was trying to salvage their relationship so she could get close to him again.

    "Quit the act, Veri," Ben spat, surprised by his own words. Instead of sitting in the chair across from her, he paced the room. He would get her to admit it all. No one almost kills his father and gets away with it.

    "It’s not an act Ben! You have to believe me," she begged.

    Maybe if he told her that she succeeded in her goal, then she would ’take credit’ for it. She had no way to tell that he was lying.

    "He’s dead!" he shouted at her. "He died in my arms after the healers realized there was nothing that could be done for him! You didn‘t almost kill him. You did!"

    A sickly smile formed on her face. "Good. That means I can stop this performance. I was getting sick of acting like your mother so that I could seduce you. She’s a pathetic woman. I’m glad to have ripped out her heart for my father."

    "Your father?!" He knew Veri wasn’t completely evil, she had been working for her father.

    "Ensori Kayn. Born simply Ensori, son of Emperor Palpatine."

    Ben could have vomited, and not only because he had kissed his cousin - thank the maker that their romance hadn‘t escalated.

    Then he realized that Ensori, his uncle - or half-uncle, was still out there. His father was still in danger.

    With a flurry, he started to run back to his father.

    . . .

    The soft sliding of the door woke Luke from his slumber. He could sense someone in the far corner of his room. Someone with evil intentions.

    "Hello?" he called out softly as he reached out to turn the lights on with the Force. As soon as the overhead lights came on, a black figure lunged forward, activating his burning red lightsaber. In that same instant, Luke called his own lightsaber to his hand and blocked the blow with his one good arm.

    It was then that Luke saw who it was. A tall white man with auburn hair and yellow eyes. Palpatine’s yellow eyes.

    Luke reached out into the man’s mind and retrieved a name.

    Ensori.

    Luke knew he physically could not defeat this man, but all he had to do was fend him off until someone came to his rescue. It shouldn’t take long, he hoped. Ensori wasn’t that bright. They were in the Jedi temple! Someone would come to his aid.

    Buying himself time, he pushed Ensori back with all his might and flipped off the bed, landing on the ground, suppressing a cry of pain. Luke then flipped the bed over, giving himself some cover.

    Then, Luke heard the three most beautiful sounds in his life: the door hissing open, the snap-hiss of a lightsaber and his wife’s voice.

    "Hello there," Luke could hear the smirk on her face. "Nice to see you again, little brother. I see you have met my husband."

    "So," Ensori said, turning to face her, "You found out about your heritage."

    "Indeed," Mara said, keeping her guard up. "How do you know about our relation?"

    "Our father told me days before your husband killed him."

    Mara gave him an annoyed look. "Is that what this is about? Vader killed our father, it isn’t just propaganda."

    "Which Skywalker killed our father isn’t important to my reason for being here. You, Mara, are the reason. You denied your destiny. You left me to be raised by nannies when you could have taken care of me. We could have ruled the galaxy together as brother and sister. Instead, you married Skywalker. For that, your heart shall suffer."

    Mara rolled her eyes, but did not waste her breath in defending her position: she hadn’t even known that they were siblings.

    The dance of the lightsabers began and it was obvious that Ensori was not an experienced lightsaber combatant. Mara easily blocked his awkward blows, she had been, after all, trained by the great Luke Skywalker.

    It wasn’t long before the door opened again and Ben rushed in with several other Jedi, including Masters Katarn and Durron.

    As a last ditch effort, Ensori turned his blade off, faking a surrender to which all the Jedi did the same, when purple lightening started to crackle in his hand.

    Ben knew what was coming next. Before Ensori could electrocute the bed and the frail Luke Skywalker beneath it, Ben jumped in the way catching the bolt in the stomach.

    Ensori was restrained within the second and was dragged out.

    Mara clipped her lightsaber to her belt and knelt at her son’s side. "Is my baby alright?" she asked as she pulled him into her lap, stroking his head.

    "Yes, Mom," Ben said, weak but still strong enough to be annoyed by the babying.

    . . .

    Mara soon found herself between two medcenter beds. Her husband lay in one, not looking too bad for a man who had survived three assassination attempts in one day. Her son lay in the other. Ben had insisted that he was fine, but Cilghal had made him get into a bed and hooked him up to a drip anyways.

    "Mara? Could you hand me my blue milk pouch?" Luke asked. The lights were dimmed, but none of them were asleep. They were simply enjoying a quiet evening.

    "Sure," Mara said, handing him the pouch as she smiled. She then turned to Ben, "Do you want anything to drink?"

    "No. I think I’m going to be sick."

    "I thought you were ‘alright’," Mara said.

    "I was. Then I realized my cousin tried to seduce me and I even made out with her," Ben groaned.

    Mara snickered.

    "Shut up, Mom."

    "I’m not laughing at you," Mara explained. "I’m laughing at the fact that you truly are your father’s son."

    Luke knew where this was going. "Shut up Mara," he groaned in a warning tone.

    "Oh Farmboy. I think it’s time for you to tell Ben about you and Leia."

    "Shut up Mara," Luke repeated. "The boy has been through enough today. He doesn’t need to know what happened between Leia and me before we found out we were twins."

    "What happened between you and Aunt Leia before you found out you were twins?" Ben asked genuinely curious.

    "They made out a few times," Mara blurted.

    "Gross!" Ben moaned.

    "We kissed three times. There was never any ‘making out’," Luke said, defending himself.

    "That’s not what Han told me what happened on Hoth," Mara taunted.

    "MOOOOM!"

    "MARA!"

    . . .

    "Mara?"

    It was late at night, and both Ben and Mara were fast asleep in the bed and chair, respectively, next to Luke.

    Like the assassin and mother she was at heart, she woke in an instant.

    "What do you need?" Mara whispered back.

    "Come here," he said. She then stood up and looked down at him. "Closer," he
    instructed. She leaned over him, starting to get annoyed. "Closer," he said again. She glared at him as she moved to be millimetres from his face. He then, even though it hurt, wrapped his arms around her. She was then home.





    Epilogue

    Luke looked out of the window at the setting sun over the Coruscanti skyline. He reflected on the past few months. Personally, he was thankful for the coma. It made him appreciate both Mara and Ben more than even he thought imaginable. He still smiled every time Mara walked into the room and listened intently to Ben every time he blabbed on about something. He was grateful for every time he reached out for Ben’s hand or wrapped his arms around Mara. He was thankful for every moment.

    "Credit for your thoughts," Mara said as she sat down beside him.

    "You’d be wasting your money, Jade. I know you can read my mind."

    "It’s Jade Skywalker," she reminded him. "Are you almost ready to go? You are the guest of honour." Ashlana Tano was opening her own rehabilitation center for veterans, for both Jedi and non-Force-sensitives alike and she was naming it after her grandmother.

    "If I must," Luke sighed.

    Mara chuckled. "Ever the humble farmboy, aren’t you Skywalker?"

    He rolled his eyes. "I only agreed to this because Ben is taking Tegwen and I want to annoy both Ben and Tegwen’s father."

    Mara powered up his hoverchair.

    "You go easy on poor Tycho. Your son is dating his little girl," Mara said. "Besides, it’s my job to annoy them." Ben had started dating Tegwen Celchu, daughter of Tycho and Winter Celchu, a few weeks after the ‘Veri incident’. Veri and her father were safely locked away. Tegwen, much like Ben, had been a blessing late in her mother’s childbearing years and had her father wrapped around her pinkie ever since her birth. Although all parents like annoying each-other, Mara, Luke, Winter and Tycho couldn’t be happier. “Besides, you have another stem cell injection tomorrow. The doctors want you rested.”

    Before they got to the door, Luke blanked out.

    "Farmboy?" she asked, concerned.

    He slowly drifted out of his vision of the future and grinned like a madman.

    "What?" she asked, annoyed slightly.

    "It’ll take a few years - thank the Force and Skywalker timing - but I’m going to be a grandpapa!" he said, proudly as he wrapped his arms around his beautiful wife.
     
    JediFalcon and Nyota's Heart like this.
  7. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Loved getting a big chunk of chapters at once. =D= Super action and a wonderful conclusion in the epilogue. =D= Thank you ever so for revamping this. :)
     
  8. EmeraldJediFire

    EmeraldJediFire Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 23, 2012
    *claps* Bravo...thanks for the big update! this was a beautiful story
     
  9. Hazel

    Hazel Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2010
    Great rewrite Bri! :)
     
    Nyota's Heart likes this.
  10. Gemma

    Gemma Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 25, 2013
    I'm only up through Chapter 4 ---but what I have read so far has my interest and I love your portrayal of Mara -- she's dead on and then some. Loved her opening thought on Corran Horn in Chapter 1 -- made me laugh. And Luke's remark about no sucking jokes and her pouty face - just precious.

    From Chapter 8: "You pointed to those damn slippers that you just put by the bedroom door and said, and I quote: 'those had better be there when I get back, hot-stuff'."

    Lines like this are so small -- but emotionally can be so big in our hearts. BTW - I like that the hoverchair is bright blue. Nice choice on Mara's part. I also enjoyed the quips about getting to see her in a bathing suit in the pool therarpy - nice.

    I thought it very heart warming that friends and family helped them celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. And I like how things are progressing for Luke.
     
  11. RandomChick842

    RandomChick842 Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2011
    4 years later and I finally find this story again @__@ i remember vividly loving this story because it was drastically better than what the authors put me through following Mara's death :_|