Beyond - Legends The Rising (Jaina, Ben, Mara, H/L and many old friends and OCs) - Chapter 29

So, this is my story about finding "The One" or otherwise at least it is going to be so, if you stick around for long enough, which might take some sequels... It's the first time I post something so be kind on me. I hope you enjoy.
Timing: It starts roughly fifteen years after Legacy of the Force and sticks to canon up to about Sacrifice.

Disclaimerf course I don't own Star Wars, or I would not post in the Internet. I would have some shiny book covers in some store. But here no money is being made and all ideas belong to George Lukas.

PM-List:
ImperialSolo
jedimasterjsa
Kailene
jaina-Fett

The Rising

Prologue

It?s all a matter of perspective. Over the years he had learned that lesson well. They all had. Looking over the great jungle of the fourth moon of the gas planet he could not help but feeling a great deal of nostalgia.
The jungle had weathered its own storm, more than twenty years back when the Yuuzhan Vong tried to alter it for their own ends. Here, where he lost a lot that was dear to him. Maybe even his childhood. But he?d been back for a long time now. Being here was not what had made him climb the highest of the remaining temples. He knew what had made him wake up in the middle of the night.
His master was dead now and came to counsel with him. Not like he had told him his own Master had done it. Not as a transparent figure illuminated by a faint blue glow. No, his Master was just there in the flow of the force suggesting futures that might arise, dwelling on the past with his pupil, bidding him to take care of his responsibilities in the present. But there was no need for words. His Master had been a Jedi-Master for over thirty years, maybe even longer, for who could judge those things. He had seen the end coming and had prepared for it. But some things always remain - wife and a son, a sister and her family, they where more concern for the ghost that visited him tonight. And the pupil assured he would look after them, listened to all advice given and bid farewell until they would meet again in the never ending flow of the force.
The pupil did not morn or miss him. He rejoiced for the great spirit that was finally released from the binds of this live and rejoined the force. He did not morn, because he had been there.

He came back at dawn. His wife was up now. He knew she had felt the death too and she knew that he had. All it needed was one look in each others eyes.
?The girls woke up this morning?, Tahiri started to speak, ?telling me, he came to their dreams to say good bye.?
He nodded in acknowledgement. ?Are they all right?? he asked thoughtfully.
?Better than I thought they would be,? she answered. ?Do you think he came to every Jedi?? she asked then.
?He might have, it would be like him,? he answered.
?Did he come to you?? She shrugged. ?I?m not sure. I guess he did.?
Tahiri stepped closer to him, to examine his eyes closely. Her hands gently placed on his chest, she asked, ?How are you?? He gave her a little smile. ?Better than I thought I would be.?
She returned the smile and moved away from him to the computer terminals housed in this room. She pushed a few buttons and the headlines came up. ?According to broadcasting he was killed in a massive attack that was aimed at the high chancellor,? she explained. ?They let him come down as a hero.?
Stepping beside her, he had a look. He couldn?t hide the dismay from his face, as he skimmed through the articles. ?He would have hated this,? he exclaimed quite disgusted.
She placed the side of her head gently on his shoulder. ?I know,? she whispered. ?But what do we do next? I mean, do we do anything??
The smile came back to his face. ?Yes, we are doing something,? he answered, while he typed commands in the computer to show her the plan. ?We spread.?

 

That sounds like Yavin 4...

Interesting difference between the traditional Force-ghost and the way the Jedi Master is communicating here.
That's Luke, right?

But, you're being mysterious about who the character who's watching the sunrise is. He's married to Tahiri, which is a good start, and they have daughters, which is nice. He also says he's "been there", with reference to Luke, which could mean Anakin, literally, or Jacen, metaphorically...

Hopefully it's one or other of them, though...

And it sounds like they're hiding out on Yavin 4, not part of any organized Jedi group, but underground - surviving?

This is a good start, both because of what you reveal, and because of what you DON'T.



IS

 

Well, nice to see that at least one person is reading my secret, published story - cool that you like it
But let's move on with the story. As you will see there are some right assumptions you made there. But I won't say much more at this point and let you read the first chapter instead...

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It came as a blow in the night. Jaina woke up, panting. The vision had been clear and forceful. She was sweating. She needed a moment to realize that she was not home and another to remember where not home was. Then she sat up. Taking a moment to consider what had been dream and what was real, she went to meditating stance. She remembered her dream before the vision well, or had it been part of the vision?

?They have slain me,? he had said. ?As they brought me down, they have brought down themselves I dare to hope. The circle is closing now. What I know now is that the One has not been found up to today. He must be found or it will never end. I rely on your generation to do that. And I rely on you, Sword of the Jedi to lead them. When the deed is done, you shall be renamed and have peace. I need you now to leave the place I asked you to stay in. Mondanor shall be your destination. You shall find Masterhood there.?

That had been the dream. The vision had followed. The sound of lightsabers humming remained in her ears. She would make him proud. Her uncle and her master had been killed today. To honour him she would make them remember the Jedi and make them realize what they had done.

She was done here. So she stood up. The ray shields in front of her, where too easy to take out to be a real obstacle. The generator was located in her sight. It was like an invitation, but she had checked it in the days before. They were just not aware, that she could take the generator down from where she was. It had been part of Luke?s tactics to cloud their judgement of what the Jedi where really capable of. The problem would be the guards, for there would be many of them and she wanted to hurt them as little as possible. She had told the guards over and over that she stayed out of courtesy more than any other reason they?re assumed. She had told them that they could put the weapons away, for when she wanted to get out they would be better off without them. The guards had laughed at her.
Jaina located three guards in the floor. Their attention was engaged in something, gambling would be Jaina?s guess. She wandered past them and touched the other force sensitive mind in the building. Her padawan was awake, calm, but an unknown sadness tainted his otherwise so cheerful feelings. So he knew - that was good.
She told him to get ready. He acknowledged and tried to transmit a question. Jaina guessed and sent him a negative answer and an urge for him to remain where he was. Again he acknowledged, though this time a little unwillingly.
Now she shut the generator down and the ray shields came down. She reached out looking for an alarm to be set of but there was none. She left her cell, still waiting for an alarm, but nothing. This seemed too easy for her taste. She was a Jedi-Knight. Did they expect her to sit here without any encouragement? She stepped to the door. She reached out and touched the three guards with the steel mantled cloth of sleep. She counted to five hearing one, two, three men drop to the ground. So she opened the door and carefully slipped into the floor. She made her way safely to the room, where her padawan was kept. He was sitting of his bulk when she entered. His clear, blue eyes smiled at her for a moment. Then grief overcame the joy to see her.
?He?s gone, isn?t he?? he asked, when she had closed the door.
?No, he is not ?gone?,? she corrected her student. ?He joined the stream of the force. He may be dead, but he will be with us until the end of the Jedi.?
He nodded solemnly at her, but did not seem convinced. Jaina gave him a warm smile. He was only twelve years ol

 

There are actually two of us. We're just worried about revealing our secret identities!

Anyone else reading should speak up, too!

Tease! We hope for secret hints in the PM, then!

Enjoyed the way that you used the confusion at the start of this scene to make the reader ask two questions at once: what did Jaina just see, and where exactly is she? You are hinting at things, rather than revealing them directly, and that is a great way to draw readers in.

As you might suspect, this turns out to be Jaina's view of what happened to Luke. But, once that question is answered, there are more! Is it deliberate that it is so different in tone than in the prologue? And why is "the One" so important?

And what else did we learn here? Jaina was a government prisoner - but the government does not trust the military. There is a Dark Lord with young, scared trainees - the brownish blade was a VERY nice touch.

... and Jacen is the Dark Lord - but maybe he didn't kill Luke. Well, this means that Jacen probably isn't Tahiri's husband, but there may be surprises left in store...

And Jaina has an intense, twelve-year-old apprentice, with the implausible but very heroic name of Keith Windu.

IS

 

I have to agree with ImperialSolo on the fact that you have done a very good job at drawing in your readers. With the prologue, you presented some questions to us and didn't reveal hardly anything except for Tahiri being married and having daughters. With the first chapter you answered just enough questions to keep the reader interested, but then you present a whole lot more. So now you have left me consumed with curiosity and waiting impatiently for the next chapter!
Now for some speculation. I don't think that Jacen is the husband on Yavin, because it seems that Jaina started the "jail break" right after Luke died. That would not have given enough time for whoever it is on Yavin to get back to Coruscant in time to confront Jaina. But it seems a little too amazing for it to be Anakin. But seeing as he (whoever he is) is married to Tahiri, Anakin would be the most "logical" option, wouldn't it?
And what about this "Keith" boy. After he reveals his name, you make it sound as if "Keith" is just an alias. But you never put Windu in that same category. Is it possible that he really is a Windu? Or is this just me bringing up some wild conjectures?
Just want to know if you're doing a PM list? Could you add me to it if you are? I'm reading a lot of stories at the moment and I'm afriad I'll lose track of this one in all the jumble. If you aren't planning on doing a PM list, then don't worry about. I don't want you to feel I pressured you into it!
Can't wait for the next update!!

 

Great start so far. Love it. Lots of mysteries, you seem to answer one question vaguely and then leave us wondering with many more.

Can't wait for more. If you start a PM list, can you add me. I'd like to follow this story and see where it goes.

 

Yes, well, I confess, the first part of the prologue was heavily influenced by Stephen King, as I was reading a book of his at the time I wrote that part. The rest of the book is more "star wars style", I think. But I like the style for the prologue. I hope I'm not the only one.

The One is going to be a red thread, a theme that will gain importance as we go along. But I promise more answers in the next chapter.

Nice to know, you liked that.

No, Tahiri didn't marry Jacen, but I think the name of her husband is dropped in the next chapter. If you really want to know already how or why PM me. But I promise, everything is explained as we move along.

His real name is even more heroic

New Chapter should be up tonight.

 

Well, I'm sure if somebody would find a way to do the trick it would be Jacen. But you are right Jacen is not Tahiri's husband. And as I already said above his name is mentioned in the next chapter. The how I confess is releaved in a chapter a little futher down. But if you can't wait feel free always PM me. I just can't explain too much at once in the story. It would be boring I think.

His real name is in the next chapter as well. So I can reveal that Jacen was right: He picked the name himself. He picked Windu to link him to his twin brother, who's name is Mace. So that is where the Windu is coming from.

There is a PM list, you are hereby added to.

Well, in that case I better hurry!

 

Thanks, I'm glad to hear you liked it. I added you to the PM list, hoping it stays that way.

 

Ben Skywalker looked out of the window and watched the rain. He was glad it rained. He could not stand the sun right now. The building he was in was old and dirty in one of the worst parts of Coruscant. The interior though was tasteful and pleasing. It belonged to Talon Karrde, who still did business from here, which Ben found quite amazing given the circumstances. But he did not want to think about that right now. He did not want to think at all. He just wanted watch the rain and forget his life and all the rest that went with it. But then he heard the wheelchair behind him.

He turned. Talon?s face was grave. ?She?s stable now,? he said solemnly. ?I think your healer gave her some pretty strong sedatives though.?

Ben nodded, unable to link this information to any specific thought. ?I think she wants to see you though,? Talon added then.

Ben nodded again and started to move. He felt numb, somehow sedated as well. Tekli was getting her stuff together, when he entered the room. ?I?ll be just outside, if anything comes up,? she told him as she left. His mother was awake. At least she had stopped mumbling. No tears anymore either. When Ben had felt the blow his father had taken he had instinctively shot himself away from the force. His mother however had not. In consequence his father?s death had dragged her into a physic breakdown. Well, maybe a mental breakdown as well.

He went to the bed and knelt down in front of it, to look into his mother?s eyes. She gave him a tiny smile when their eyes met. ?I?ll be alright,? she managed. Her voice was just a whisper.

?I know.? He tried hard to sound very confident and reassuring. The truth was that he was afraid, that his mother, as he had known her, would never be back again. Dead as his father was?

He put on a smile. ?But you should take some rest,? he said softly. Then he stroke his mother?s head and kissed her forehead. He settled himself in a more comfortable position in front of the bed.
?You could use some sleep yourself,? she said, a little more like herself. Maybe there was hope?
?I?ll be fine,? he answered. ?I?ll go when you?re sleeping.?
?That is a promise, I take,? she demanded. More voice, less whisper. He nodded, unwillingly, but he did. She nodded as well then and closed eyes. Sleep came to her fast, which was probably due to the sedatives.

Ben got up and left the room silently. He meant to honour his promise but he felt his cousin?s present close to the apartment. She arrived as he entered Karrde?s gallery. He had not imagined how good it would be to see her.

?So you got out,? he greeted her and her Padawan, as she set down an unconscious young man, maybe a little younger than himself. He gave both of his cousins a smile. ?And you brought a souvenir,? he had to add.

Jaina grimaced. ?At least you?re still making jokes,? she said as she got up. Then she was very serious. ?How are you??
He stopped the reflex from saying, he was alright. And look at her for a moment. ?I?m not sure actually,? he said then. ?Maybe I?ll know tomorrow.? Jaina nodded, she seemed satisfied with this answer.

?So what about him,? he asked pointing at the man that now lay in front of them.
?Present from my brother,? Jaina answered.
?Since when are you taking them home??
Jaina just smiled. ?I felt sorry for him,? she explained. ?Besides I don?t think he is as dark as the others. He?s so not dark, he?s not even grey.?
?Then why bring him to you?? Ben asked her. Jaina looked at her Padawan, who had followed the conversation very quietly. That was not his nature, but since he looked stone tired, Ben assumed that was the reason for his silence.
?I think he wanted to switch him with my Padawan here,? she said thoughtfully.
?So he was there himself?? Ben asked quite surprised.
Jaina shook her head. ?He sent the clone with the odd sense of humour.?

Then she turned to her Padawan. ?You did extremely well tonight, Han,? she said. ?I want you to get some sleep now. We?ll go over everything when we?re on our way again. But I want you to know, that

 

Wow, lots of answers there. But now I'm a little confused on the timing. You said it's about 15 years after DL, but I have no idea what you mean by DL. You also said it sticks to canon up to about Sacrifice. So if that's the case, and Jaina now has a son who is about 12 years old, then this must be about 13-15 years after about Sacrifice, right? Is that what you meant by DL?
Anyways, this is definitely taking some huge turns. Anakin either survived the Vong War, or was somehow reborn or maybe cloned. Ben is obviously out of Jacen's influence by now. The Jedi are back in hiding because Jacen has pretty much taken control of the Republic. And Jacen himself has a clone?
All I can say is wow! Again you have answered just enough questions from before to keep me interested, but you have presented a whole lot more. But it is nice to know that Anakin has married Tahiri and that Jaina has a son (he does belong to Jaina, right? Or is it Anakin or Jacen?).
Thanks for such an intriguing story! I hope you run with it all the way. I'm excited to see where you might take this!

 

So sorry to confuse you. I edited it now. For some reason I meant to abbreviate Legacy of the Force with DL. No clue what happened there.

You got the timeing right.

But I'm afraid Jaina is only Han's aunt, not his mother as hinted by the last name of Solo All will be explained in time. For example in the next post, which should be ready by tomorrow I hope.
And thanks for the praise. I hope I can keep up.

 

Hi everyone,

here's the deal, I meant to post some more today, in order not to confuse you guys too much. But I fear my beta is not quite ready with that piece yet. So I fear you guys have to do with the confusing bit. I hope you'll enjoy it anyways. I'll try to post the other part tomorrow, to get you some answers.
And if you have any comments at all... well, you know I'd love to hear.

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First ray of light in the morning. It woke her. Were the ships sailing today or was it tomorrow? Or was today tomorrow? What if tomorrow had been yesterday? She supposed it did not matter much, because she did not participate in time anymore. That had been her choice. She had examined time and decided that it did not keep its promises. She had waited for those ships too long. But what if she had missed them?

Her head started to hurt again. It always did when she thought too hard for too long. She examined her ray of light. It came in at the top of the window through the little gap between the curtains. Curtains of wine red and gold. Reminded her of blood on the floor. That blood that had made patterns on that rough stone floor ? her blood. Years went by. She would always remember the blood and his face, so altered. But the sun had not been there with her in those dark days. That was how she could be sure, it was past, everytime she thought it might not be over after all - her rays of light.

Soon the girl would be here. The girl came every morning and washed her, dressed her and combed her hair. Then they would eat. The girl had shown her, how to hold the spoon. She could hold it all by herself and bring it to her mouth too. She had been very proud, when she had managed it the first time. Spoons were very hard to hold. They were so small. The girl had cried a little. She remembered wondering, whether the girl had been sad, that she had managed it. Maybe the girl had liked the practise so much. But she never practised with her again.
The girl would talk to her. She liked her voice. But she could not remember the words the girl used. Everyday she listened to the girl?s pretty voice and tried to remember, but could not. At the beginning it had frightened her, that she could not understand the people around her. But it had been different faces then. She had not liked the other faces. They had hardly spoken. Normally they had not talked to her at all. The girl started to come at one point. She had a lot of trouble to tell time. It must have been some time now, for the girl had grown a great deal and was on the verge of being a woman now.
At some days she had the feeling she almost understood, she would lean in close and think hard. But then her head always started to hurt and she would lean back again and watch her rays of light. The girl would look very sad when she did it and she would feel sorry for not understanding - very sorry. Sometimes she thought if the girl tried so hard to tell her something it must be very important. But she could not tell.

After eating, the girl left which was good, because eating with the spoon was very exhausting. So was concentrating on the pretty voice of the girl. So she slept a little then. Later the old man came. He had always come. He talked to her too in his deep voice. But he did not talk as much as the girl. He sat with her for some time in the evening when the rays of light were dying. When they were dead, he touched her forehead with his lips and left and she would sleep again. There were days though when he did not come. She did not like those days. To see the rays die alone frightened her. The curtains looked much more like the blood when she was alone when they died. Every time she thought those times between the then and the now would have been some weird dream. She did not like the then.

They were two other persons who came to her. They talked a little to her. One was an always smiling round woman and the other a very thin and serious looking old man. She gave her more fo

 

So here what I promised yesterday. I hope I can shed some light with this bit. Enjoy! And please let me know what you think...

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Tahiri always knew, when she saw her husbands eyes drift of to that far distant place she would never reach in this life, that he needed some reminder of why he stayed. Ever since Anakin came back from that dark place ? for her it was dark, because it was beyond her imagination ? he had always felt more like a visitor to life. He knew that she had noticed.

At the moment he was sitting in that chair with his datapad in his lab and his gaze fixed on some random point on the wall. She just wanted to look after him when their youngest daughter Silene came to her. She was holding her favourite, new toy, that she had gotten for her eighth birthday. Her face showed the typical signs of utter desperation.
Tahiri bent down to her.

?What?s wrong, love?? she asked. Silene fought with tears, as she explained, how she had dropped the toy into the river outside.
?Well,? Tahiri said. ?Why don?t you go to your dad and ask him to try and repair it with you??
Silene nodded gravely and walked over to her father. He did not look up, until Silene put her toy in his lap. It looked like he woke up with a start. Then he looked at Silene with the same look he had had on his face, when he had seen her for the first time. He smiled at her. He listened to her story, while Tahiri left the house.

Tahiri had just made it outside when the Millennium Falcon passed over her. She made her way to the ?landing field?, which was not much more than one lane of concrete and stone left over from one of the Massassi temples and a bigger clearing of the jungle.

But at the moment it experienced an unknown amount of traffic. Days before he died, Luke had dispatched some requests to the so called Outcast-Jedi. All of them had been ready to abide to those requests. To some government members that fact might have been surprising, because the Outcast were thought to be rouge Jedi, that had making a point of disobeying Skywalker?s and the senate?s orders.

The truth was, that the Outcasts where the most trusted Jedi of the more or less secret Jedi counsel. The fact that there where not answering to the Alliance direct orders was the reason Luke sooner or later send them away in order to keep them saver from assassination attempts from corrupted senators or even the prosecution of the government itself. Over the years a whole network of ?rouge Jedi? had been built up and the fourth moon of Yavin was their base once again.

Originally Tahiri and Anakin had meant to get away from it all - the politics, the warfare, the insane Sith brothers. But as the situation went from bad to worse they could not turn Luke down, when he had asked them to hide some Jedi that had been in grave danger of being sentenced for life for actually saving the life of the senator of Nabu.

Luke had gone to them, because only a hand full of people knew that there where Jedi on the moon of Yavin again. Now more people knew, though only very few more Jedi where here. That was because, after they joined the Outcasts, the first step was to go to Yavin to find ones new direction. The Jedi would either find an assignment on ones own or wait for an assignment from the Jedi counsel. But since they were rouge, everything the counsel said, was a request. No one though had ever declined.

The new counsel was made up of six Jedi, three of them Outcasts, and Luke had never been one of them. He had been asked and had told them it was time they worked without him. Today Tahiri understood why ? why the first counsel had evidently failed. All of the Jedi of the first counsel had been more or less Luke?s students, so as long as he had been on the counsel they had screamed at each other, waiting for him to put an end to it. They had been waiting for the word of the teacher. Maybe Luke just had not been the type to have the last word?

Without L

 

Sorry that this reply took a little time. We've been busy!

So I see...

Firstly, I was very impressed by the way you wrote Ben's reactions. Everything seemed to indicate the unmentioned fact of what happened to Luke, the unmentioned effect on Ben himself, without ever directly addressing it. Interesting details, especially Karrde protecting Mara and Ben (how I WISH that had been in canon).

And then, everything we thought we knew about the previous scene gets changed... Jacen was a clone (or is that a joke?), and "Keith Windu" is actually called "Han Solo", and he's Anakin/Tahiri's son!!

I liked the practical, tough rapport between Jaina and Ben (that, too, was missing in canon).

The next update, as you say, was "confusing": it's obviously someone who's been damaged, and in canon, the best candidate would be Ta'a Chume - but of course, this isn't canon, so it's impossible to know; and it's also hard to tell from the descriptions whether the visitors are anyone we know, but that's appropriate, as well... like Ben's grief, it's a very understated, and powerful, portrait of an event.

It's quite horrible, but also quite impressive, and intriguing: are there hints there of who that character is, which we - and she - can't see at that particular point?

The most recent part gives answers, but not ones for that scene: I really enjoyed the glimpse at Anakin/Tahiri's family life, the perfect balance between complete incomprehension and utter understanding, which is at once what they've always been and something oddly new; the kids are cute, and Anakin having to repair his daughter's broken toy both looks back to his own childhood, and shows that he's now older...

That was pretty good. The information on the new Jedi Council, and the division of the Order into open and concealed parts, seen and shadowed, was a rather clever idea.

But, again, you tease: how did Anakin return? Is that even relevant to the story, or just him being effortlessly awesome in the background? And just where are the battle-lines here, since the government is led by the Sith, and yet Jaina's supposedly working for them as a Jedi (even though they put her in a jail)...?

It's enjoyably complicated and confusing!

(And I'm amused that Kyp's ship is called the Wise Guidance! )

I

 

Wonderful update! It does make more sense that Han and Mace are Anakin/Tahiri's.
How did Anakin come back from that "dark place"? You just insist on keeping us on the edges of our seats, don't you?
I wonder who the woman in the first half is. My first impression was Mara, or maybe Tenel Ka, but I can't be sure.
Thanks for the PM!

 

Great update. Soooooooo many questions, can't wait for more to try and get some answers.

 

I'm glad you're still interested and that you seemed to like it too.

No that was not a joke... there are a couple of problems ahead, I couldn't mention allready.

I agree, I think a little cousin connection can do wonders sometimes... But that's what family is all about I guess.

I'm so reliefed you seemed to have liked it. I know it is a little... unconventional part, but I liked the idea so much. Let her wake up slowly though. I bet you can guess soon.

Sorry? It is explained in a couple of posts, I promise. And well, it is relevant in the sense that it is the past of a character... Though I guess the first part of the main characters are Jaina and Ben. But if you bear with me, there's more Anakin to come.

The battle-lines a long and zick-zacked I guess. But I guess life is complicated. And I wouldn't say that the Sith lead the government. Let's say they are succeeding in meddling with the government. The Sith are much more in hiding than the Jedi are. But you'll see that soon.

Why is that? He's a senior, experienced Jedi Master, with apprentice and everything.

Thanks for your comments!
JS

 

I'm very glad you still like the story. The how is explained later on, as I keep promising I fear you'll have to keep reading

I won't comment on the identity at this point. I don't want to spoil the fun of guessing. But I think it's interesting whom you are thinking of...

Thanks for reading & espeacially commenting!

Thank you so much! More questions coming up tonight (local time), or do I mean answers... Well let's see.

 

I hope you guys enjoy! Please comment

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Mara was already awake, when Ben woke up. She looked a bit better than the day before. She gave him a smile, when she realized he watched her.

?How are you this morning?? she asked, obviously trying to sound cheerful.
This time Ben did not think about the answer. ?Fine,? he lied. ?Just fine.? She nodded as if acknowledging that the opposite was quite true for both of them.
?We need to get going,? he stated and got to his feet. ?The government and Jacen are probably already looking for us??

Mara?s gaze drifted into nothingness. It worried Ben, so he stepped closer to the bed. But the moment passed and her eyes focused again. She looked up at him.

?Please tell Jaina I need to talk to her, before she leaves,? she said. Ben was taken back for a brief moment. He had not told his mother that Jaina was here. That she knew nonetheless was a good sign. At least Ben hoped so.

He nodded and left the room to get Jaina. He found her in the lobby, where she was busy tying the young men from last night, who was still not conscious, to a chair.

?He did not wake up?? Ben asked her as he came in.
Jaina turned. ?I didn?t want to let him wake up tied to something and I couldn?t risk him running off, for Karrde?s sake,? she explained. ?So I had Tekli sedate him more or less continuously. Can you take him with you to the Outcasts?? Ben took a moment to study him and nodded then. ?Sure, though I don?t even know how we?re going to get there. Walking to the Jade?s Shadow and take off does not seem a fail-proof idea under the circumstances.?

?I agree,? Jaina said. ?So I arranged a charter for you guys through Karrde. If you want me to, I can take the Shadow form Coruscant with Han. I?ll bring her to Yavin as soon as we?re done.?
Ben nodded. ?Done with what anyways?? he asked. ?Something your farther wanted me to find,? she answered after a brief silence.
?I had a vision of him. I am not sure what exactly he wanted. He spoke of old legends and masterhood?? Ben felt anger rising in him ? old anger, he should have surrendered long ago.

?Mom wants to talk to you,? he said changing the subject. Jaina studied him for a moment. Then she seemed to decide to let it go? for the moment at least. She left for Mara?s bedroom. Ben left too, but to find some caf and have some fun talk with Han. He needed a laugh badly ? right now.

Mara was making the bed as Jaina walked in. Jaina could see how weak she was. Her movements were slow and laboured. Now Jaina understood the constant worry and despair she could sense waving of Ben. But Mara actually felt better than Jaina had expected.

?Good you?re here,? Mara greeted her. ?We need to sort some things out.? Jaina nodded. Mara?s strong resolve was a little confusing, when one considered her appearance, but it suited Jaina?s aunt much better than her current state.

They sat down on the bed. ?I know where you are heading,? Mara started.
?Then you do know more than I do,? Jaina shot back. Mara?s eyes dropped.
?Not much more,? she said. ?I knew what he knew.? Jaina fixed her eyes on Mara.
?Did he see?? Jaina trail off.
But Mara finished. ??see the end coming?? She took a deep, steadying breath. ?Yes, he told me some time ago to get prepared...? Jaina blinked. ?He told you some time ago he would die?? Mara shook her head. ?He did know that we were going to be separated some time in the near future.? Tears came to her eyes. ?He couldn?t find who it was, that was leaving. I hoped it was me.?

Mara covered her eyes for a moment. Then she collected herself again. ?But for now there are other things you need to know,? she started anew after a moment. ?Luke was having a lot of visions in the end. He used to say that he was collecting prophecies from the old days.? Mara made a pause. ?How old?? Jaina asked.

Mara shrugged. ?Some from the beginning of the Jedi, some rather recent, like shortly before your grandfathe

 

Hmmmm, so is Jaina the One? That doesn't seem quite right. Because the Sword and the One aren't the same are they? Maybe the One is someone who will use the Sword? I don't know. I think Ben reaction to Jaina's statements was interesting. Is he resentful that Jaina is the Sword and not him? That doesn't seem quite like Ben, but I can't think of any other reason for his anger.
Thank you for the PM and the update!

 

Oh, I like this story. Very intriguing plot, I'm happy you didn't kill Mara. It pissed me off that they killed her in Sacrifice.
So will we be seeing a little bit of Jag in this story?
Can't wait for the next update, and if you are going to do a PM list, could you add me to it ?


Jaina/Jag Forever !!!!!

 

I agree, so no Jaina is not the One... But it'll take some time until we get there

Interesting idea... But I always thought someone who is supposed to balance can't be too bias.

Actually I think he has a generell resentment of destinies, visions and masterhood. Partly because of Jacen, partly because of the big footsteps.

Thanks for the comments. I hope you keep enjoying.

Thanks for the praise.

I'm glad you agree with me on that point as well.

He is featured later on, but I'm afraid Jaina and Jagged both settled to marry different people. I hope you'll bear with me all the same.

You are added (I hope you're still interested, despite of the statement above.) I hope I can keep you interested.

Next update should be up tomorrow.

 

And here is the new piece as promised. Please comment!

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Jaina and Han arrived at the spaceport, when it was around dawn at this part of the planet. They were dressed in expensive coats, that Karrde had provided. Jaina had a blond wig on her head that were arranged in curls. She hoped she would attract enough attention with the coat and the hair, so people would pay less attention to her face. In order to distract further she had put on very interesting make-up. Of course that would not work long. But no Jedi, Knight or Master, could hope to distract more than fifteen people at once. So she had decided that she was the distraction herself ? though of course she really did not have time or resources for anything else.

But the disguise worked pretty well. No one held them as Jaina strode ahead into the lobby of the spaceport. She saw holos of Mara, Ben and herself in the hand of the security man. Then he looked into her face. Jaina reached out with the force to monitor his reaction as she gave him a promising smile with the dark green lipstick, she wore. But then she had to keep herself from laughing, when she felt his rather romantic reaction. Jaina quickened her steps anyways, to keep him from getting any ideas. She headed straight for the refreshers. She had instructed Han to go to the male refreshers and work his way through the ventilation to the hangar, where Mara?s ship, the Jade?s Shadow, was.

In the meantime Jaina went into the cabin and got out a communicator with a function to write messages. She had tried to reach R2 from Karrde?s apartment, but with his emergency protocols in action, R2 probably calculated the risk of detection of anything but short distance transmissions as to high. Or so Jaina hoped. It would be a lot of trouble to free the little, very recognizable droid, if he had been caught. But she would, if she had to, since R2 was a member of the family for generations now.

She asked for a status report and was very relieved, when R2 answered. He had sealed of the Shadow, as she had expected. But he also said, a reinforcement had arrived. That note puzzled Jaina, but she decided that she could trust R2?s friend/foe evaluation and told him to scan for Han and her and open a hatch, when he picked them up.

Then she put the coat and the wig into the ventilation hatch, for one of Karrde?s employees to pick up. Now she wore the security uniform of the spaceport. Her hair was still blond, because she had temporarily coloured it. But now she wore a ponytail, which a lot less extravagant, than the wig. Then she washed off the make-up and left the refresher with quick strides. At the hangar of the Shadow she found just what she had expected. It was crawling with security personal as well as people from intelligence and the local police.

She walked up to the highest ranking officer she could see. She hoped he had studied Mara?s and Ben?s face for the last couple of hours, and not hers. She flashed him a smile and gave him the good forgery of orders.
?They just came in,? she told him. ?The office told me to take them down here.? She scanned for suspicion, but found none.
?Thank you,? he answered absently. ?You?re the new one, aren?t you?? he added.
?That?s right,? Jaina said lightly as she gave his mind a tiny nudge. ?We met the day before yesterday,? she added, after she had consulted his memory.

He nodded and looked over the orders and asked her to tell the people in the back to clear the hangar, just as the orders said. Jaina gave him another smile and left still monitoring his mind. As she realized that there was no suspicion in him, she just got a couple of names and the faces that went with them and let go of him.

With that knowledge it was a lot easier to tell the higher ranking officers in the back of the hanger that they needed to go back to the front of the hangar and consult their superiors. Once that was done, the Shadow blocked the view for any unwanted watcher. Han dropped from the ceiling. ?Good, you?re quick,? she smiled.

 

RD's reaction to looks death was so sad.

So, Kyp Durron has a daughter. She sounds pretty awesome.
I suppose I will be fine about Jaina and Jag being married to other people, just as long as Jaina isn't married to Zekk. I was never a big fan of that paring, and it didn't help that I read a story were he goes to the Dark side and ruins Jaina's life. No offense meant to anyone who likes that pairing, I'm just kinda picky about Jaina's guys.

It kinda throws me every time I read the name Han, cause I think of the wrong one.
I am really looking forward to the next update.