Beyond - Legends Goes On and On | Kessel Run Challenge 2024

Title: Goes On and On
Author: Gabri_Jade

Genre: I suppose we’ll find out together
Timeframe: Depends on prompts; probably mostly Legends New Republic era
Characters: Mara Jade, Luke Skywalker, Jade/Skywalker family OCs, possibly others. If they’ve appeared anywhere in the Renewal!verse, they may show up. Maybe some new faces, too; I’m at the mercy of the prompts here

Summary: Every wrong will be made right as the Jade family goes on and on.

Author’s Notes: Like the last two Kessel Runs, this will be part of my Renewal!verse series. I generally recommend reading Renewal first. It’s not strictly necessary and I do try to make each installment in this ‘verse workable as a standalone, but things will probably make more sense that way. If you haven’t read Renewal, here’s a quick summary to help set the scene:

Spoiler: Renewal summary

When Palpatine took Mara from her family, her parents, Ronan and Nadira Jade, survived despite Palpatine ordering their execution. They spent years on the run out of fear that Palpatine might be searching for them, during which time they had two more children, Nico and Corissa. They reached out to Mara approximately six months after The Last Command, after seeing mentions of her in news reports about the new Smugglers' Alliance and its liaison. Now Mara faces the challenges and rewards of reuniting with the family she never knew.

The rest of the Renewal!verse so far:

Renewal
Fragments of Jade
Fractured
The Story So Far
And They Danced
From the Ground Up

Title is from Sleeping At Last’s song of the same name, suggested by @Mira_Jade, title finder extraordinaire

For Vi

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Index:

Week One: Belonging | Kaela and Mara Skywalker, 30 ABY
Week Two: Disclosure | Corissa Jade, Nico Jade, Mara Jade Skywalker, 13 ABY
Week Three: Becoming | Mara, Nico, Corissa, Ronan, and Nadira Jade, approximately 10 ABY
Week Four: Ruminations of a Saucepan | a saucepan , Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke Skywalker; sometime post 11 ABY
Week Five: Seeing Light | Mara Jade, the Jade family; 2 ABY
Week Six: Turning Pages | Mara Jade, Luke Skywalker; 9-14 ABY
Week Seven: No More Yielding But a Dream | Mara Jade Skywalker; 27 ABY
Week Eight: Resolution | Nico Jade, Mara Jade; approximately 4 ABY
Week Nine: The Alternate Universe Chronicles of a Saucepan | a saucepan ; sometime post 11 ABY
Week Ten: Contention | Corissa Jade, Nico Jade, Mara Jade Skywalker; approximately 12 ABY
Week Eleven: Better Together | Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker; approximately 17 ABY

 

Week One Challenge: Write a story between 100 and 1,000 words that begins with this sentence: “The rain hadn’t let up in days, and all I wanted to do was scream.”

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1: Belonging (Kaela and Mara Skywalker; approximately 30 ABY)



The rain hadn’t let up in days, and all I wanted to do was scream.

It didn’t help that the rest of the family was just fine with the situation. I felt like the odd one out often enough anyway, and this stupid weather wasn’t helping.

I wandered around the house, peering out of each fogged up window and noting resentfully how absorbed everyone else was in their own pursuits, before finally heading to the kitchen.

Mom was at the island counter, with bowls and measuring cups and flour and stuff, holding a mixing spoon as she frowned at her datapad, but she looked up as I entered. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I muttered back, passing her to rummage in the conservator for a cheese stick. I plopped down at the kitchen table and peeled the wrapper off.

I didn’t need to look at Mom to feel her looking at me. “Something wrong, Kaela?”

“No.” I kicked the table leg a few times, just because it was there.

“Hmm.”

I waited a few minutes before sneaking a look at her, but Mom was reading the datapad again. Usually I thought it was funny that Mom always looked way more serious when she was trying to cook than she ever did with actual serious things—just the opposite of Dad, who could be so solemn and earnest about Jedi history and Force lessons and all that but was always cheerful and joking in the kitchen—but today I was positive that I was going to go crazy stuck in this house and no one was even going to notice… I gave a heavy sigh and bit into the cheese stick.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mom look over again. “You’re sure there’s nothing wrong?”

“No,” I said around my mouthful of cheese, and kicked the table leg again.

“Don’t kick the furniture, please,” Mom said, and turned to frown again at the datapad before beginning to scoop flour into the biggest bowl.

I kept swinging my leg back and forth, as close to the table leg as I could come without actually kicking it, and watched Mom as she finished scooping the flour and started pouring sugar into a measuring cup. “Only everything.”

Mom looked over at me, eyebrows lifted. “You don’t say.”

“There’s nothing to do,” I informed her.

“What about your brother and sister? Can’t you do something with them?”

“They’re busy,” I said, kicking the table leg again, a little harder than before. “Nakari’s reading again, and Ben’s working on that mechanic kit thing that Grandpa gave him.”

“Ah. What about Dad?”

“He’s studying something.” Thud went the table leg. “I don’t even belong here.”

Mom set down the sugar container. “Of course you do. Why would you say something like that?”

“Because it’s true. I’m not like anyone else in the whole family. I don’t want to read or do mechanical stuff or dance or paint or whatever. If I’m nothing like everyone else, then where do I fit in?”

“That’s not how families work, sweetheart,” Mom said, leaning forward, elbows on the counter. “First of all, you have plenty in common with everyone in the family—being alike doesn’t mean being the same. Secondly, we all love you because you’re you. No one earns a place in their own family. It’s just yours, always, no matter what.”

“Whatever.” I took another bite of cheese.

Mom straightened up, reaching for the sugar. “This existential crisis wouldn’t have anything to do with the general frustration of a rainy week, would it?”

“I’m serious,” I told her, scowling.

“I know you are,” she said, starting to pour again even though she was still looking at me. “I also happen to know something about how little things build up until they feel impossibly huge—”

“Mom.”

“—and how feelings aren’t always reality—”

“Mom.”

“What?”

“That’s the salt.”

Mom looked at me, then at the container in her hand, then at the measuring cup of sugar topped with salt, then sighed. “Case in point: Grandma loves me even though I never get one of her recipes right, doesn’t she?”

Despite my bad mood, I couldn’t help but grin at that, and Mom smiled back. “Better,” she said. “Come on, let’s get our raincoats.”

“For what?”

“What do you think?” Mom retorted, setting the salt down. “We could both use a change of pace, and a little rain isn’t going to stop us, is it?”

I grinned again and shoved the rest of the cheese into my mouth, following Mom to the coat closet. She was fussy about making sure mine was fastened all the way and my hood was up, but then we were outside and the rain was pelting us with fat, cold drops and it didn’t matter because we ran and jumped and climbed trees until we were hot and steaming in the chilly air, and we fought a mock duel with fallen sticks because Mom said you couldn’t always choose your battle conditions and it was good practice but it was also fun, so much better than the boring things that everyone else was doing back in the house.

It was almost dark when we finally went back inside, soaking wet but laughing, and ran into Dad as he was passing through the living room. “Hello, my wild girls,” he said, looking amused. “Couldn’t sit still any longer, I take it?”

“Something like that,” Mom said, shoving her wet hair out of her face before taking my dripping raincoat. “Go get dry and warm, you. I’ll get Dad to make us some hot chocolate.”

“It’s a sacrifice,” Dad said, “but one I’m willing to make.”

“Uh-huh.” Mom hung up the coat. “Meanwhile, I have to throw away the would-be cookie ingredients in the kitchen.”

“Again?” Dad asked, grinning.

“Don’t start,” Mom told him sternly, and I laughed and hugged her tight before running off to get dry as ordered, knowing there was nowhere else in the galaxy I’d rather be.

 

Love her muttering and talking to mom. But she has to go out into the rain. Sitting still isn't something for wild girls.
Great first entry to your Kessel Run 2024

 

GABRI!!!


(I'll be back soon with more )

 

I love this @Gabri_Jade as you knew I would!

Kaela's bored stiff and doesn't have the same hobbies as her siblings.
I love this exchange:
“That’s not how families work, sweetheart,” Mom said, leaning forward, elbows on the counter. “First of all, you have plenty in common with everyone in
the family—being alike doesn’t mean being the same. Secondly, we all love you because you’re you. No one earns a place in their own family. It’s just yours,
always, no matter what.”

Mom straightened up, reaching for the sugar. “This existential crisis wouldn’t have anything to do with the general frustration of a rainy week, would
it?”

“I’m serious,” I told her, scowling.

“I know you are,” she said, starting to pour again even though she was still looking at me. “I also happen to know something about how little things build
up until they feel impossibly huge—”

“Mom.”

“—and how feelings aren’t always reality—”

Mara would especially know this because of not literally knowing her family until she was grown and having her entire personal world view turned upside down and sideways by Palpatine.



Yet since day one, the marvelous Ronan and lovable Nadira and her own siblings made her feel she belonged.



And Mara put in the salt instead of the sugar! And yet you cannot blame Kaela for it because from what Luke said at the end it's not the first time.

I love how Mara and Kaela had 'fun in the rain.'

Mara is a great Mommy.

 

Always glad to see more of this 'verse, and the mother-daughter bonding here was really wonderful! I enjoyed the mix of gentle humor and more serious undertones that don't quite dip into angst.

Such drama! Odd one out indeed; she's a Skywalker (and a Jade) through and through. But that frustration with feeling like she doesn't share the interests of the rest of the family is a very relatable feeling.

Aww, this is all just adorable; I really love the warmth of the connections that Mara and Luke have with each other and their kids in your version of things.

I can just picture that sullen almost-kicking of the table, and Mara's expression. I really like how we get such a strong sense for how they interact right from the beginning.

Loved this bit; it's such a hard-won lesson for Mara and something that she's careful to pass along as a bedrock foundation to her kids.

And I really like that she's the one who is most able to understand Kaela's yearning to be doing something more active than all of the rainy day indoor pursuits around her. Though she doesn't say as much, I get the feeling that this is a part of Mara's personality too and part of why she's able to see that what Kaela really needs in this moment is a bit of an adventure (rain or shine).

This bit just makes me smile so much. Luke knows them well!

It was really nice to see this rainy but happy "day in the life" of the Skywalker-Jades.

 

Oh, I love this. It's like being in a warm, cozy kitchen with people you love.

I love this detail, and Luke cooking and being all joking and cheerful is just an adorable image!

Awww! This sounds like a great time (and I don't even like cold, muddy, rainy weather ) and it's just so lovely to see mother and daughter bonding and having fun like this.

A lovely start to your Run!

 

When you said you'd be writing this from Kaela's POV, I was so glad because even though she has featured in several of your other stories, I still felt like I didn't know her quite as well as Nakari or Alaine or Valeria, and I wanted to see more from her perspective. Plus, you know I am all about the Skydaughters!

I still say it should be Rainy Day Women :bobdylan:

(jk, it's perfect )

Omigosh this is so my life. I'm completely forgetting how old Kaela is supposed to be here, but this feels perfectly in line with my two middle kids' behavior.

This is so perfectly Luke and Mara in a nutshell, and I love everything about it.

Kaela's got a little bit of the Skywalker drama in her, doesn't she? But I love this for how authentic it feels just as much as for the adorableness (and relatability) of Kaela's frustration. Kids.

I SWEAR MY CHILDREN DO THIS ALL THE TIME. Not kicking the table leg specifically, but just barely stopping whatever it is I've told them to stop doing. Although they've probably kicked the table leg like this, too. So, you know, well done capturing a child's behavior once again.

This is stellar wisdom all on its own, but omg it resonates even more because it's Mara, and because of everything she's gone through to get to this point with her own family.

lololll

Love the detail of Mara being fussy about fastening the coat all the way, that sounds like her. And I could just feel the love and joy radiating through Kaela's words here; this really was just what she needed, and Mara is a great mom for not only recognizing that but taking the time to act on it.

That's right. Kaela is far more like her family than she realized, and hopefully that one-on-one time with her mom will help her see that... but even if it doesn't, she knows she's dearly loved, which is ultimately the most important thing for her to understand and feel right now.

Of course.

I love it all so much, Gabri! Thank you for sharing this sweet and funny story, and for always supporting this wild challenge. I can't wait to see what you'll write next!

 

@earlybird-obi-wan

No, it's not. It's really not

Thank you!

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

The voice of experience indeed

No one can be good at everything, and Mara has yet to conquer the kitchen

@Kahara

Aw, thank you! It's always nice to know that others enjoy this AU And I didn't really get a chance to write Mara-as-Mom with last year's KR, so I was happy to be able to do that here

Right? She absolutely belongs in this family But everyone feels like they don't fit in at some point, and she's one of those very active kids who'd rather be climbing trees than staying inside, so a rainy week is frustrating, especially when it looks like the rest of the family is just fine with the situation

Thank you! It's nice to write them as living at least a relatively ordinary life after everything they went through in the EU

This is really nice to hear, because I find that I never fully discover who an OC is until I start writing them, regardless of what character notes I might be working from. Sometimes they absolutely jump out at me, like Corissa and Julian and Alaine, and sometimes it takes a while to figure out, like Ronan and Nico and Rielle. Kaela's somewhere in the middle, and I'm glad that she comes across so well even though she's newish

Exactly. And I think that because she actually went through such a dramatic version of this realization herself, that makes it easier for her to not only understand it but also to be able to articulate it to her own children.

It definitely is. Mara's perfectly capable of being patient and doing research and other such more sedate activities - after all, we saw in Allegiance and CoO that a fair amount of her work as Emperor's Hand involved research and study and observation - but at heart she'd rather be doing more active things as well. My initial intention was just to give Mara a parenting moment like Luke had in last year's KR, but I quickly realized what a good match Mara and Kaela were for this moment. It's always so nice when writing accidents work in your favor

He does Honestly, Luke is very emotionally intelligent. In the OT we see him when he's still young and impatient, but when he's written well in the EU *coughZahncough* we can see more of his thoughtful side that's come to the fore with age and maturity, and he's very insightful and empathetic. And of course there'd be no one he'd know and understand better than Mara and their children

Thank you so much!

@Findswoman

Aw, that's kind of you to say I hope you know that I certainly don't expect you or anyone else to read all of this 'verse; I've wound up writing an awful lot for this particular one, with more to come But I appreciate you stopping by to read any of it, and I'm glad you liked this installment! I borrowed a bit of inspiration here from Vi's own 'verse, with the differences between bookworm Dorian and Veeran who would rather be running and jumping. It seemed like a child with Veeran's more active tendencies might indeed want to scream after a long string of rainy days Plus she's got the whole middle child thing going on, and she is part of a family where a lot of people have very strong specific interests, like Luke and Han with flying, or Corissa and Julian with dancing, or Ronan and Nico with mechanics, so I can imagine that if she doesn't especially want to do any of those things, she could feel out of place. Fortunately Mara does indeed understand a lot of those feelings very well, and can both say what needs to be said and just go fight mock duels in the rain :mara:

I think it might have been in the annotated HttE (though it could easily have been in one of his many interviews as well) where Zahn says that he was surprised to get a fair amount of fan pushback over the inclusion of hot chocolate in the book, so it's always amused me that he doubled down on it in VotF, and I kind of just like to follow in the footsteps of the greats, especially when I'm writing happy ordinary family stuff where it fits perfectly anyway. But I think that Luke might have to take over with the cookies Thank you again!

@amidalachick

Aw, thank you!

The assumption that Mara has no idea how to cook is one that I've really run with in this 'verse, but it makes sense to me. She was raised to be a spy and assassin whose social circles, such as they were, were among the highest that Imperial society had to offer; there was no real reason to teach her anything domestic like how to feed herself. She would have had servants to do that for her while the Empire was in place. On the other hand, Luke was raised by Beru Lars, and you can't tell me that anyone raised by Beru wouldn't know how to cook a good meal - plus Luke is very much a caretaker sort of person who would enjoy doing things for the people he loves, so I imagine that cooking for his own family would make him happy In this 'verse I do have Mara trying to learn to cook, first from Luke and then from her own mother, but it's something that she never takes to naturally and has to concentrate hard on. And still sometimes forgets to confirm she has the right ingredient before she starts pouring

Heh, I live in Phoenix, so I quite literally thought while writing this, "Raincoats exist, I know they do, so people must actually wear them, right? This all makes sense that they'd have raincoats at the ready, right?" I'm not used to rain at all, let alone cold or muddy rain But I can imagine that roughhousing outside in the rain would be so much fun for an active child who's going stir-crazy indoors, and Mara would definitely take that opportunity to teach about dueling techniques for inclement weather

Thank you so much!

@Mira_Jade

Aw, shucks

I forgot to say it, but that's courtesy of Vi, cleverly bringing the title source material into the summary as well

I told you last year that you'd named my 2024 Run as well, didn't I?

I thought she'd be a good POV character for this prompt both because she's the middle child and therefore might well have some of the usual middle child angst at times, but also honestly because in my original character notes for her, she didn't happen to share any of of the rest of the family's deep and abiding interests, and I kind of wanted to lean into that a bit because people can't be summed up by a hobby or a profession, you know? And I knew that I actively didn't want to just slot everyone off into convenient shorthand categories that way, "a pilot like Luke," "a dancer like Corissa," "a mechanic like Ronan," etc. So this prompt that starts off with frustration was a good chance to explore all of that.

I really think she would be. She fought so ferociously for Ben's sake in the EU and loved him so fiercely. I wish we'd seen more family moments in the books. Guess I'll just have to write it myself

I'm getting a lot of mileage out of it in Renewal

I'm getting a lot of mileage out of that one, too

Ordinary life stuff is my specialty

Aw, yeah I'm always excited to get the kids right. It's been a long time since I was that age

Someone's got to keep the kids from kicking the furniture

Or try, anyway. Kaela's pretty stubborn

She really would be, wouldn't she? And it's a nice parallel since, so far as I remember, I got the idea for Renewal while thinking about how Mara would naturally think about her lost parents once she had a child of her own. In-universe, I imagine that hearing her child say something like that would send Mara right back to that moment where she first met her parents in Renewal and pulled away from them, and how Nadira must have felt, seeing that Mara didn't feel like she belonged in her family. Of course Mara knows that Kaela's comments here aren't coming from a place anywhere near so deep and angsty as her own reaction once was, but she's not going to let it pass without some serious reassurance.

Salt and sugar have very similar weight and pouring properties; if Mara wasn't looking at it, it would still feel right

Look, just because she's taking her daughter out into the cold rain doesn't mean she's not going to make her put her coat on properly first

It's a companion piece the to first installment of last year's Run, tbh

Luke will probably take over with the cookies after he sorts the hot chocolate and Mara can scoop them out onto the tray; it's harder to mess that part up

Aw, thanks

@ViariSkywalker

I felt like I didn't know her as well, so it was a really good opportunity to sort out who she really is! I think this leaves only Nakari and Rylan (and Rielle) who haven't gotten a full mini-story to themselves. I wonder if I can fit them in this year

Heck yeah, Skydaughters

You have no idea how close I came to using that

Twelve, and I'm so relieved that I managed more realistic kid writing

Yay!

She does At her age, Luke probably would have been the exact same way. Maybe he was, just during dangerous heat waves instead of steady rain. But yeah, these things can feel very big sometimes even to adults, let alone kids.

I'm not touching yoooouuuuuu

Like I told Mira, can't you imagine that when she heard her daughter say she didn't belong, Mara must have instantly thought, "this is what Mom felt when we found each other again and I pulled away"? She means every word of this from the heart, and she understands that Kaela's frustration is more surface-level than it is really deeply felt, and she managed to do the calm, reassuring Mom voice, but she also must have had a moment of real pain herself here.

And of course Kaela responds like a classic 12yo When my sister and I were around that age, my mother tried to ban that word from the house. Unsuccessfully

Mara got distracted

Mara is the sort of mom who will both teach her children how to handle deadly weapons and also make sure their coats are fully fastened, darn it And it's kind of like Found You: in some ways, Mara gets to have the childhood she missed out on through playing with her own children

Exactly She'll probably understand those deeper similarities a little later on in life, but right now she knows that her family loves her for who she is, and her place with them is secure

I feel like Luke would get such joy out of being Dad. I wonder if I can work up some worthy dad jokes to include in some of these stories

Awww And to think that I wasn't going to do the first one and only gave in because I am very contrary and wanted to turn a somber prompt into a comedy In all seriousness, it would have been my immense loss to not participate in this, and I'm so glad I thought of a bug funeral and got roped in

Week two coming up!

 

Week Two Challenge: Write a story between 400 and 800 words in which a character admits a secret to another character without directly speaking to them. Indirect means of communication are fair game.

This week's installment works as a standalone, but for those who've read earlier works in this 'verse, it's also a sequel of sorts to The Art of Flirting, from last year's Kessel Run. Thanks to Vi for pointing out that a certain narrative thread there had yet to be resolved onscreen, as it were, and would suit this week's prompt

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2. Disclosure (Corissa Jade, Nico Jade, Mara Jade Skywalker; 13 ABY)


“I’m home,” Corissa called as she stepped through the door, out of habit more than anything else. Without Mom and Dad’s speeder outside, it seemed likely that she was the first one back for the day—but as the door closed behind her, she thought she heard a voice toward the back of the house. Tugging her jacket off and tossing it over a chair, she headed toward the kitchen.

Nico was sitting at the dining room table with a cup of caf and the flatscreen comm unit before him, but he glanced up from his conversation as she entered the room. “Hi, Cor.”

“Hey,” she said, raising her eyebrows and lifting her chin toward the comm. Nico turned it so that she could see who he was talking to, and Corissa felt a smile spread across her face. “Mara!”

“There’s my baby sister,” Mara said, smiling back. “How are the rehearsals going?”

“Good.” Corissa blew her sister a kiss, then continued toward the kitchen, still talking. “The techs fixed that lighting issue I was telling you about. What are you up to?”

“The usual,” Mara’s voice came from behind her as Corissa filled the kettle with water and pulled a container of her favorite tea from the cupboard. “Training, research, occasional babysitting. We think we might be able to visit next month.”

“Yay!” Corissa measured the tea leaves, then poured them into the infuser, waiting for Nico to resume the conversation she’d interrupted with her arrival.

Rather to her surprise, for a long moment he didn’t. She snuck a look as she turned on the kettle and caught the slight tilt of his head toward the kitchen, where she was. She frowned, but then he spoke again, with a studied air of casualness that would have raised her suspicions even without any other gestures. “So, yeah, dinner was good.”

Dinner? Corissa knitted her brows, wondering what that meant. Why would Mara care about a specific meal she wasn’t part of? Anyway, Nico hadn’t cooked dinner all week. He’d actually missed a couple of dinners—

“Glad to hear it.” Mara’s voice again, with a lilt of faint amusement. “She liked the restaurant?”

She? Corissa whipped her head back around to fix her gaze on Nico, who kept his own eyes firmly on the screen.

“She did,” he confirmed. “It was a good choice. Thanks for the recommendation.”

“Happy to help,” Mara said. “The reviews on the HoloNet were all glowing. I’ll have to go there myself one of these days.”

“You and Luke should definitely take an evening from your next visit to do that,” Nico agreed. “Great atmosphere—soft lighting, private tables, live classical music.”

Was he describing—no, Corissa thought, surely not. Nico hardly ever dated, despite her best efforts in that area. The idiot girls in his social circles didn’t know what they were missing; her brother was about the kindest person she knew, not to mention smart and responsible. And good-looking, she assumed, though it was hard to judge one’s own brother that way. But he looked a lot like Mom, and Mom was beautiful, so Nico was probably handsome. By all rights he ought to have girls falling all over him.

Still, he’d always been so quiet and reserved, like Dad. Honestly, it was a good thing that Mom took some initiative when the two of them had met, or the rest of them would never have been born. Maybe Nico had gone out with a group of friends? Though it really didn’t sound like a group thing—

The kettle beeped, and she had to pull her pointed glare from Nico to turn away long enough to pour the boiling water into her mug.

“Our next visit will likely fall near our anniversary, so that’s definitely a possibility,” came Mara’s voice, and Corissa nearly dropped the kettle as she spun around.

“You have a girlfriend,” she almost shrieked.

Nico finally looked over at her, and she could see the grin he was trying to suppress. “I didn’t say that.”

“Sure you didn’t,” Corissa said, rolling her eyes as she set the kettle down. “And all of that was just, what? Some sort of performance art?”

From her angle, she could just see Mara’s knowing smirk on the screen. “Maybe I should let you go so you can handle this.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Corissa snapped, grabbing her tea and heading for the table. “You’re not getting off that easy. Keeping secrets from me, the both of you, you—you—”

“Sleemos?” Nico suggested, his grin breaking free from concealment.

“You’re not funny,” she informed him, pulling out a chair to settle in where she could clearly see both him and Mara, wrapping her hands around her steaming mug, and beaming at both of them despite her accusations. “Tell me everything.”

 

Was he describing—no, Corissa thought, surely not. Nico hardly ever dated, despite her best efforts in that area. The idiot girls in his social circles
didn’t know what they were missing; her brother was about the kindest person she knew, not to mention smart and responsible. And good-looking, she assumed,
though it was hard to judge one’s own brother that way. But he looked a lot like Mom, and Mom was beautiful, so Nico was probably handsome. By all rights
he ought to have girls falling all over him.

This is so perfectly a sisterly thought. She recognizes that Nico would be a great find for any lady based on his personality.

I love that Nico asked Mara for a recommendation to take a special girl out to, and it sounds like a terrific one, with excellent food and a super romantic ambience.

Sweet that Corissa, despite her teasing, is happy for Nico.

 

Aww! Another fun, lovely domestic moment.

I love how they're all just so happy to be talking to each other. I haven't read as much of this 'verse as I'd like but from what I have read, the entire Jade family has gone through so much to get to this point and it just makes me happy to see them being so close and having such strong bonds here.

The "she assumed" bit makes this line perfect.

Oh, I love the reveal!

Aww, again! A wonderful response to the prompt.

 

Romance for Nico. And fun how Corissa gets to know that. A fun response to the prompt

 

Playing catch-up here, don't mind me...

Belonging

It was nice to see more of Kaela; as far as I remember she only appeared peripherally in your KR last year and boy does she have a personality! I can imagine that, in a family where everyone has rather specific interests, the "wild girl" who can't sit still would find it difficult to understand her place, but Mara was there to sort things out not only in words but also in actions. I could imagine them, sopping wet and muddy, having a mock duel in the garden, and for Kaela that was probably the best day ever.

Also, I'll never get tired of Mara messing things up in the kitchen!

Disclosure

I remember The Art of Flirting very well, and I actually remember that one of my questions, after reading that story, was how Corissa would find out – and here we are! It seems that Mara did keep the secret for Nico for a while after all, if he's missed "a couple of dinners" and has reached the stage where he's taking Rielle in fancy romantic restaurants. I absolutely love what you did with the prompt here, up to and including the meta element of "I didn't say that" It looks like that comm call is going to last much longer than Mara expected!

 

Week One: Belonging

I just loved that Mara was so invested in reassuring her daughter that she does belong and that families aren't cookie-cutter. Everyone has a place, even if it doesn't look like someone's else's. Wonderful story.

Week Two: Disclosure

Spoken like a true sister! Not really willing to come right out and say her brother is good looking, but knowing that he is. Perfect, and I loved that Mara was the one to give him the recommendation for his date.

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Thank you! Corissa is pushy, but she's her family's biggest cheerleader. As far as she's concerned, her brother is amazing and deserves everything good in life. Mara, meanwhile, has become Nico's partner in crime

@Findswoman

I'm glad that anniversary connection made sense; these word limits are rough sometimes Corissa knows her quiet introvert brother well most of the time, but he surprised her here He definitely wanted Corissa to overhear; I'm pleased that a bit of that came through as well Mara was around for Nico's first meeting with Rielle, but promised not to let on to Corissa until Nico wanted to. It's not an easy thing to make clear from Corissa's POV, but basically Nico called an audible when Corissa walked in and changed the subject entirely so as to drop hints until she caught on, and Mara just played along, because she's a good big sister that way Thank you! It was a tricky prompt, and I'm glad it's done. Even if Vi did make me write drabbles next

@amidalachick

Aw, thanks Anyone who clicks on one of my stories hoping for dogfights or lightsaber duels will be sorely disappointed, but if you want slice of life character studies, I'm your gal

You know, I was always firmly in the "better not to know about Mara's family of origin" camp. I didn't even really think that I'd want Zahn himself to write that story; I definitely never expected to write about it myself. After the ST, though, I kind of tossed canon out the window and decided that anything went (though to be fair, DN, LotF, and FotJ had already laid the groundwork for that mindset for me) and here I am, and once I did start thinking seriously about a realistic way for Mara's parents to have survived and reunite with her, yeah, there was a lot of inherent trauma involved, for everyone. But once I sorted the worst of that and got into parts of the story where they were comfortable with each other, all of them being so happy to be reunited just turned out to be the natural thing to write, and honestly, it makes me happy, too. Whether in the old canon or the new, it often feels like the characters we love just can't catch a break for anything, and I'm really enjoying my little side 'verse where everyone is happy for once. Just out here writing fanfic as therapy, that's me

You can see why poor Nico might not want his nosy, pushy baby sister knowing about his new relationship until he feels relatively secure in it

Corissa firmly believes that her family possesses every good quality, but it's just too weird to think very hard about the attractiveness of one's own brother

Yay, I'm so glad it worked!

Thank you so much!

@earlybird-obi-wan

Nico can only keep his romance a secret for so long Thank you!

@Mira_Jade

I love it too One of these days I'll manage to get around to the "Palpatine never takes Mara" 'verse and have fun writing them actually growing up together, too

SLICE OF LIFE IS MY JAM, MIRA

(Honestly, I don't know Downton Abbey, I had to look up the cast list to name the character in your gif, but you're an expert at deploying that gif and judging by the assortment of gifs on offer, Violet Crawley gets the best lines in the series )

In line with what I established with The Art of Flirting, Corissa really does mean well, and she mostly does understand and respect her brother's introvert ways, BUT ALSO how is anyone supposed to recognize how amazing he is if he never puts himself out there so clearly she needs to push him a little Which, quite naturally, is why Nico didn't want her to know anything about it when he found a girl he really liked until it was more of a sure thing, because how embarrassing

I aim to please

Heh, I'm honestly so pleased because this was not an intuitive prompt for me

She's very snarky, Mira

I GOT MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM, MIRA

EXCEPT NOT THIS WEEK BECAUSE DRABBLES

100 WORDS ISN'T MUCH ROOM FOR BANTER

BUT SOON

Corissa's just so happy for him, Mira Nico was totally right to begin with that no one wants their baby sister trying to set them up and it's embarrassing to have her trying to praise him to girls he thinks are cute, but obnoxious though all that was, she really did just want him to be happy, and if he's found someone who makes him happy, then she is thrilled. And predisposed to like whoever was smart enough to see how awesome her brother is

Awww I can't believe Vi finally got me to write drabbles

@Chyntuck

Yup, I had intended to spotlight the grandkid generation more last year, but some of the prompts worked better for that than others, and Kaela didn't get a real turn. I was pleased to rectify that here, so I could get to know her better myself Luke and Mara both have such strong personalities themselves; that's quite a gene pool their kids are coming from. At least one of them was bound to be a little wild. And while Mara can definitely relate to that, so can Luke. He matured into quite a calm, assured, mostly sensible person, but he was still the kid who recklessly raced in Beggar's Canyon and went against the Death Star his first time in a fighter. It's a bit of that age-old thing where a 12yo just sees her parents as Mom and Dad, not the kids and young adults they once were - Kaela thinks she doesn't fit in because she never saw her parents at her age But yes, that probably did turn out to be the best day ever for her

I never get tired of that myself

I checked my master timeline, and I think that Nico and Rielle have been dating for about two months at this point. Corissa's just so pushy that he didn't want to let on until he felt secure about the whole thing Fortunately it turns out that Nico is capable of being sneaky, and Mara keeps her word, and is very good at keeping secrets I really am pleased that this fic's execution worked, because I spent a few days wondering what exactly I was going to do with this prompt Mara will probably put all the blame for the secret-keeping on Nico and enjoy every minute of the good-natured squabbling that follows

@JediMaster_Jen

Aw, thank you! That can be a hard thing to learn and accept, which Mara knows from personal experience in this 'verse, so she'd be all the more invested in reassuring her children and hopefully sparing them from the painful uncertainty she once felt.

lol, exactly Corissa adores her brother, but saying he's handsome might be a step too far Meanwhile, Mara's busy being a supportive sister in slightly less obnoxious ways than Corissa often manages I do enjoy writing this sibling dynamic, I admit Thanks so much for reading!

Week three coming up!

 

Week Three Challenge: Write a set of 5 drabbles with the following prompts: midnight, endeavor, inheritance, disaster, horizon

Author's Notes: I can't believe she finally got me to write drabbles Thanks to Vi's husband, the mechanic, for some help with terminology on Inheritance

---

3. Becoming (Mara, Nico, Corissa, Ronan, and Nadira Jade, approximately 10 ABY)



Midnight


It was the middle of the night when Mara crept out of bed and slipped downstairs.

Corissa was waiting in the living room. She lifted the blanket that was draped around her and Mara joined her on the couch just as Nico emerged from the kitchen with a huge bowl.

“Snacks,” he declared, handing it over as he sat beside her and arranged the blanket around them, then turned on the holounit.

“Tradition,” Corissa explained. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad tomorrow; it’s our secret.”

And Mara settled in contentedly to watch a late night movie with her brother and sister.



Endeavor


“You just need to be taught,” Luke had told her, the first time they had prepared a meal together and he’d—rather annoyingly—picked up on her self-doubt.

Mara hadn’t believed him, not really. She knew so many varied things about so many varied subjects, yet every time she had tried to cook a meal, something had gone very wrong. Somehow cooking remained incomprehensible, a bewildering challenge with infinite pitfalls lying in wait.

And yet…this was a part of her lost life waiting to be reclaimed.

You just need to be taught, Mara told herself, and joined her mother in the kitchen.



Inheritance


Fixing things, on the other hand, had always come naturally.

As Emperor’s Hand, Mara had been taught the basics of starship repair, but there had been no need for deeper knowledge. Her primary duties lay elsewhere, and all the Empire’s vast resources were at her disposal, from the droids and mechanics of Imperial crews and bases to the funds to hire civilians when necessary—

—but when the post-Empire opportunity for a mechanic’s job arose, she learned so quickly and well that she was soon repairing hyperdrives on her own.

Watching her father do the same work, she now understood why.



Disaster


Mara could never forget how badly her first encounter with her brother had gone, and how close she had come to losing everything because of that.

Which made it all the stranger how dear he had become to her.

In Nico she found a kindred spirit, someone whose thoughts she instinctively understood, with similarly deep emotions and equally deep reserve, and a sense of humor as dry as her own.

As their eyes met, silently laughing over Corissa’s latest bout of indignation, Mara felt the friendship they should have had all along echo within the unbreakable bond they had now.



Horizon


With her little sister, Mara had always seen the possible.

They were so very different: Corissa was effervescent in a way that Mara could never replicate, let alone embody; she danced through life, sparkling and joyous and endearing, while Mara was quiet and methodical and forever vigilant.

But it had been Corissa’s openhearted acceptance that first cracked Mara’s reserve and then her heart, allowing her to dare to envision a future she’d never dreamed of.

It was only fitting that her first visit to the family she had once believed forever lost began with being wrapped in her sister’s arms.

 

If this is your FIRST foray into drabbles, it's a marvel!




"Midnight"

I just love this mental image of siblings enjoying snacks and a 'movie', and that it's a family tradition that Mara settles into.

"Endeavor"

I like how Mara takes up the challenge of learning to cook as she has any other hard skill prior.



"Inheritance"

Mara's natural way with fixing things, I love how she realizes it literally comes naturally through Ronan.

"Disaster"

Beautiful how this draws the similarities between Mara and Nico as to their sense of humor and underlying reserve and how they've grown closer.

And this particularly:
As their eyes met, silently laughing over Corissa’s latest bout of indignation, Mara felt the friendship they should have had all along echo within the
unbreakable bond they had now.

They're laughing silently over Corissa's indignation but you can sense they are doing so lovingly.

"Horizon"

I adore the description of Corissa as effervescent and joyous. I am struck by her ebullience and openheartedness. This is spoken of as in contrast to Mara's qualities of being forever vigilant, methodical, and quiet. Yet, Corissa does share with Mara an outspokenness, which is also undeniable.



This ending part is beautiful:
But it had been Corissa’s openhearted acceptance that first cracked Mara’s reserve and then her heart, allowing her to dare to envision a future she’d
never dreamed of.

It was only fitting that her first visit to the family she had once believed forever lost began with being wrapped in her sister’s arms.

 

Your first set of drabbles is perfect for showing what Mara can do and doesn't do with her family and Luke