Chapter 42 – Relationships (Part 2)

Rebel Base, Yavin 4...

Ahsoka was busy helping co-ordinate rebel missions across the galaxy and hearing about some of Luke's early exploits she could only smile. He was so much like his father and she hoped he never lost that.

Her thoughts turned to her own family back on Shili, she missed them but she had been restless and her husband bless him had known it. He had said to her that it was her calling to help others and so to get out there and do what she had to do as long as she was there when they needed her.

She called up the hologram she kept of her husband and their two children, Kol Fragr had been persistent she thought with a smile, he had been patient and not taken her surface rejections as a challenge but instead a means of proving himself and he had managed to charm her with his warm and loving heart.

Then there were their two children she thought with a smile as she looked at them; Yin Fragr-Tano who was so like her in looks but instead had the warm and steady presence of her father while her son Zek Fragr was a dreamer, always looking to the sky with wonder for what lay beyond. She called them whenever she could but it wasn't the same as being with them. Zek was always asking for stories of her 'adventures' but she was worried a rift might form between them if she was away too long so she would be heading back home for a visit soon and who knows maybe see the rest of her family if there was time.

She missed them all so much she thought with an ache in her chest that was so bad from being so far away. She knew to give them a better future where they were free to experience their lives in peace and freedom then she would need to make sure it happened, fighting was the best way she knew how to do that.

Sorgan, Mandalorian Space...

Din woke up that morning and was in a good mood, his wife was sleeping next to him and she was as beautiful to him now as the day he had married her. He got up and went to see to their boys breakfast as they should be up soon.

He looked out of the window of their newly constructed home, a building that could easily house their small family and some guards while having all the facilities you could want. He could see the new spaceport taking shape in the distance, it was a great project, one that would secure prosperity for this planet for years to come. Given all the territorial gains that their people had made since the beginning of the war they needed a place where ships could go to refuel, repair or off load/on load cargo for this area of space.

He had never imagined that he would have a clan of his own one day or that a world and in fact one that was about to become very important would be his. He just thanked the fates or the force or whatever had given him this gift.

Earth, Wild Space...

Luna was leading her students on another trial of the spirit and to see if they were going to find their crystals, sitting outside while the students were inside she could sense the way the force flowed through this world and it was equal part light and dark, meaning the force was at balance here. She smiled as the energy invigorated her but then a familiar song reached her ears. Her eyes opening wide in shock before leaping to her feet and looking around for the source of it.

She turned to the large pile of stones that had once been one of Hogwarts towers and saw a pair of magnificent birds sitting there, singing to each other. She was speechless as she had never expected to ever see the sight of those incredible creatures again but a creature that can be reborn from its own ashes would be incredibly hard to kill.

She smiled especially as she saw a pair of younger Phoenixes with the older adults, a family he thought with awe that they were not only surviving here but seemingly thriving. They were the only non insect or plant life that they had seen on this planet so far, but it was a great sign she thought with a song in her heart.

She watched them fly away and wished them to have the best life before checking on her students, she would have to organise an expedition to probably look to see if any other magical creatures had survived but for now she was going to leave them in peace. This was their world now, and they deserved it.

Royal Palace, Hapes...

The last year had been a difficult one for the Hapes Consortium, the wedding of Prince Isolder to an outsider had been a hard pill to swallow but then to make matters worse only a month into the marriage, the Queen Mother had died meaning that their new foreign Queen Mother had taken the reins of power well before anyone had expected.

But apart from that things were actually going very well for the small independent nation, their trade and wealth was increasing due to their new alliances with the Rift Alliance, their fleet was being overhauled and made stronger than ever and the new Queen Mother was proving different from the arrogant and stuffy Ta'a Chume...the new Queen Mother Astoria was outgoing and doing things all the time to benefit the people while charming the nobles of the Consortium at the same time.

In short she had grown popular and a reassuring presence for the people who were excited as the day when the next heir to the throne would be born.

Astoria was at all times surrounded not just with the royal Hapes guards but also a squad of highly skilled Mandalorian warriors at all times, her father the Mandalore had insisted on it. He and Ara were here today to greet their first grandchild and so while Ara was in the royal sickbay helping Astoria giving birth, Haron was intimidating Isolder with every cry that came from Astoria.

But in truth he was as nervous as the young man in front of him, he couldn't help it as all the times he had been with Ara as she went through this same experience. The intensity of the process and all the worry that came with it followed by the incredible reward at the end.

But the waiting for it to be finished was slowly driving them both insane.

Finally though after what seemed like an eternity the door finally opened and Ara smiled as she emerged, sweat on her brow but Isolder didn't ask her anything before rushing into the room. Haron walked to his wife and kissed her on the forehead as he took her in his arms before both walked in and Haron saw his first grandchild for the first time.

The experience was an incredible for him as it had been for any of his own children, Astoria included who was sitting on her bed with sweat covering her body but the baby cuddled in her arms, a simmering red hair like her father on top of her head. Astoria looked up as she saw her parents while allowing Isolder to hold his daughter.

"Mother, Father...meet Constance." She said with a warm smile on her face as she turned back towards her baby who was completely entrancing her father without even trying too. Both Haron and Ara smiled as they came over and saw she was apart from the hair a mirror of her mother at that age. Gently Haron took Constance from Isolder as she started to get fussy and looking up at the same green eyes that she had the baby was confused for a moment before smiling and swiftly going into a relaxed sleep, feeling that she was safe.

Haron proudly held his granddaughter with a smile as Ara peered at her little face with adoration. Gently rubbing a finger across her small cheek as they marvelled at their first grandchild, it honestly was so heart-warming that they couldn't find words that expressed just how much they loved this little baby. She was a bright star in the universe and they would die to defend her in a heartbeat. She was perfect they thought and knew that she would be a real heartbreaker when she grew up but for now, they just didn't allow any thoughts of the future or the present to affect them and just lived in this one perfect moment.

The Maw Installation, Kessel System...

The hidden research lab established by Tarkin where the Empire's most dangerous weapons were created and the original Death Star prototype was held there. Bevel Lemalisk had been in competition with Galen Erso to make the superlaser work first but had been bested by the other genius by a matter of months, Tarkin had therefore assigned him to this facility to create the best technology under the watchful eye of his protege and possible lover Natasi Daala who he had made an admiral and given command of four Star Destroyers to see its protection.

A supply ship arrived with all the right clearance codes and off loaded five large containers, one to the Maw Installation itself and one to each of the Star Destroyers. They also were told that Grand Moff Tarkin would be arriving in a day or so for an inspection. So while Daala had her crew scrubbing the ships clean from bow to stern, each crate ejected a small spider droid that crept to the nearest computer terminal and used command codes that Tarkin had purposefully had installed into each of the ships and the station to take control of their systems. On the station they merely had all systems except life support shut down, leaving the crew and scientists blind and helpless to what was going on.

But on the Star Destroyers the droids kept the ships in orbit of the station but shut down all heat so it evacuated quickly, artificial gravity and life support without any warning.

The crew and especially Daala were caught off guard by this and despite frantic efforts to restart life support, they were all soon gasping for breath while freezing to death at the same time. Daala herself was struggling to breath, trying in vain to understand why Tarkin would do this to her, she could see his access code was used to shut down their systems. She fell to the deck, knowing she and her entire crew were about to die and had no idea why.

An hour later, after all the Imperial crew on the Star Destroyers were dead the crates opened and a team of Mandalorian warriors emerged from each one, sending the signal to their droids on the ships to reactivate life support once they were certain that there were no survivors left. Walking over the bodes of the dead they reached the bridges of each ship and Tyus on the Gorgon was smiling broadly as he marvelled at the prizes that they would be bring home today. Four fully intact Imperial class Star Destroyers and all the scientists and their research at the same time.

His sister called from the nearby Hydra called him up and smirking herself. Their bond letting them know how much they were both enjoying this.

"All ships secure." She told him and he smiled before saying.

"The occupying forces will be here soon, now we have four star destroyers and all the scientists and their research as a prize." Tyus said with eagerness, he was the youngest son of possibly the greatest Mandalore to rule their people since ancient times so the expectations on him were great, on all of his children Tyus thought with some nervousness at the weight that came from trying to live up to the family name. But today would be a good step in that direction Tyus thought to reassure himself.

- x -

Omwat, Outer Rim Territories...Same Time...

The planet of Omwat was a world that had never really had any impact on galactic events, Tarkin had used the planet as part of an experiment to create great scientists for his super-weapons projects and threatened the cities that the chosen children came from as motivation to succeed or they would be destroyed. He had wiped nine cities of hundreds of thousands of people just to achieve that end and only produced one scientist of note...Qwi Xux had ever been produced.

The sheer ego and foolish wastefulness of Tarkin was just staggering.

But the isolation he had kept Omwat in allowed the Mandalorians to take full advantage, Cera Ordo smirked as she oversaw the invasion and occupation of Omwat and began to institute the program that would make its people Mandalorians, many would call this cultural indoctrination or even brain washing but the Mandalorians thought long term and saw their potential as a species. Besides the Mandalorians would not wipe out entire cities like the Empire had merely because a talented child had failed to meet Tarkin's ridiculously high standards, not to mention the Mandalorians invested in the worlds that they held to make sure those that lived under them accepted the new status quo.

Codal, Mid Rim...

Once a planet with a thriving Jedi Sect with its own unique robes and lightsaber crystals Luke Skywalker had ventured to this planet in the hopes of finding an alternate source of Kyber crystals for the Jedi Order since this temple had been famous for them until it had been abandoned in the wake of the New Sith Wars and eventually forgotten. Hopefully the Empire had forgotten about it too as they needed new crystals and this was one of the few places where they might find some.

The temple was an old building, one that had been made thousands of years ago and was falling apart from lack of attention. He cautiously left R2 outside as he went in, the floor was too unsteady for him and inside he saw the elements had taken a toll on everything inside, statues were crumbling like the building itself and no trace of the Jedi seemed to be left that was recognisable.

Luke was wondering just where the supposed crystals were as this temple was supposed to have them but without the archive they had no guide to follow. But then he was shocked alert by the snap hiss of a lightsaber and swung around, pulling his own from his belt just in time to block the attack from a woman in dark leather armour. Her face was covered by a mask but the purple blade was all too clear and she pressed her attack against him, his blue blade meeting hers in a fierce flurry of jabs that resembled Form 2, Luke having been trained in Form 5 for years by his father knew it lacked kinetic energy and so fought back with a furious barrage of heavy cleaves and parries that she to his surprise recovered quickly from but their duel was interrupted when they both felt the floor give out from beneath their feet, leaving them both falling into the dark abyss below and losing consciousness.

- x -

Luke when he woke up felt a knife at his throat, looking up he saw that his attacker had discarded her mask and was glaring down at him but despite the fact that she was threatening his life he could not help but stare at her in awe.

She was easily the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen, her incredible red-gold hair hung in gentle waves around her head and shoulders, her skin was fair with a dusting of freckles here and there but what captivated him the most was her eyes, they were an amazing shade of piercing emerald green and staring at him with anger.

"Congratulations Skywalker!" The woman snarled at him with fury that he had never really seen in a woman. He was concerned that she might kill him with that much anger and the knife at his throat but he still snapped at her.

"You attacked me!" Luke said trying to stay calm. "I didn't know you were here! You could have just ignored me and I would have never known. Who are you anyway?" Luke demanded, not sure what had gotten into him but he would not allow her to make him the bad guy here!

She didn't like that but her hesitation allowed him to push her off of him with the force and spring to his feet but as he did he saw the broken hilt of his lightsaber nearby, smashed by falling rocks and hers was in a similar state not too far away. Now he understood the knife but as she looked ready to lunge at him the cavern they were in shook slightly, showing it was clearly unstable. The light around them came from rocks that seemed to glow and cast a cold blue light around the place which now he was able to see more clearly were clearly not natural, they must be in some catacombs under the temple he realised. Not wanting to risk them being buried alive Luke tried to reason with her.

"Look, this place is unstable so until we can find a way out can we avoid fighting? At least until we're somewhere which isn't likely to cave in on us?" Luke said, holding up his hands in a placating way which was followed by another tremor.

The woman was still angry and looked ready to attack him anyway but the shaking tunnels made her pause and with an annoyed sigh she slid her knife into her belt and told him.

"Fine Skywalker but the moment we get out of here I am going to kill you!" She said with a snarl and he didn't feel that she was kidding.

"What's your name? You know mine clearly so I should know yours unless you want me to give you one." Luke said and he had no idea why but this woman just got a rise out of him so quickly. She told him with a sharp retort.

"Don't you dare! My name is Mara, Mara Jade. Got it?!" She said, her hand going towards her knife again and he said with grim look.

"Crystal clear, now let's get moving." He said and making sure to walk beside each other as neither was ready to turn their back on the other, they walked through the seemingly endless tunnels with no luck or even any chambers. It seemed to go on forever and the silence was becoming unbearable so Luke finally asked a question to break it.

"So what are you? You're trained in lightsaber fighting and have the force but with those tools." He said looking to the belt that had pouches for all kind of gadgets on her belt. "You're not a Jedi, but you don't have full Sith training either. So what are you?"

Mara seemed to want to snap at him but instead she seemed to reel in her temper, not sure why this pretty boy seemed to make her so mad but the fact her heart had skipped a beat when she saw him made her furious at herself for such weakness, going all gooey for a guy. What was it about him that made her so giddy or even willing to answer his questions? She asked herself and could not come up with an answer.

"I serve the Emperor as his personal spy and assassin. I am the Emperor's Hand." She told with a sense of accomplishment for all the work and training that had gone into getting that title and all of the trust and care that the Emperor had bestowed on her. She had been sent here by her master to prove she was worthy of becoming his true apprentice by finding a relic he was interested in. Luke blinked for a moment before he remembered something that the Mandalorians had released to the Rebellion.

"You mean one of the Emperor's Hands? I know of at least two others." Luke said and Mara immediately got angry at that, she punched him with impressive strength.

"There is only one! I am the Emperor's Hand! Me! The most trusted!" She yelled but as she went to punch him again the world around them warped and a figure appeared that was tall and spoke to them but they could not make out anything about him.

"Mara Jade." The strange voice said as they could see a beard swinging as he moved. "Your life is nothing but a lie. See for yourself." He said as both Mara and Luke felt like they were falling again until they landed on a hard metal floor.

They got up and saw that they were in a space port where a man with green eyes like Mara's while a woman with the same red-gold hair were running from a squad of Death Troopers, the woman had a small child in her arms and was hugging her close to her chest before both were brutally shot, they fell down and the Death Troopers came forward and took the still breathing little girl from the dead woman's arms, both Mara and Luke watched in horror as they saw her being brought before Palpatine who sneered and used the force to make her forget the murder of her parents and be replaced with one where he simply took her from her home with her parent's blessing.

Luke turned to see Mara who was looking at the bodies of her dead parents in complete shock, not able to believe what was happening but then the visions continued, showing all the years of harsh training she had endured but this time seeing Palpatine praise himself for how he was turning her into his perfect little puppet. How little he truly thought of her and even laughing with how she thought she was up to being his apprentice.

Tears gathered in her eyes but she refused to let Skywalker see them, doing her best but he saw them all the same and he went to put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her but she shrugged him off, she was hurting but she would not allow someone to pity her...she just couldn't bare it!

But then to add insult to injury she saw other hands being trained when he had sworn to her that she was the only one. Her world honestly felt like it was ending but then to add insult to injury, one last vision came to her.

Palpatine was speaking with some of the scientists that worked for him, she and Luke both saw the throne room clearly and heard clearly what was being discussed.

"Once we have her ovaries it will be a relatively simply procedure your majesty." The scientist said with a cold and clinical voice. "The DNA from Vader can easily be used to impregnate the eggs."

"Good." The Emperor said with a cold shark like smirk. "She is powerful but I need a better and more powerful agent for the future, hopefully the power of Skywalker will make the next model more useful." He said with a sneer.

"YOU'RE LYING!" Mara screamed at the figure, not able to take it any more. "THIS IS A TRICK!"

"Sadly it is not Mara Jade." The figure said calmly. "You know this is true, you can feel it in the force and within yourself. Why if he wanted you as an apprentice has he taught you no powers of any consequence? Why do you hide in the shadows while he walks in the open? Here the truth is made clear, he wants the secrets myself and my children held to empower himself. He dreams of ultimate power but could never even conceive of the sheer depth of the force."

"You and your children? Are you the Father?" Luke asked, remembering the strange tale his father had told them about when he Master Kenobi and Ahsoka had gone to answer an old Jedi distress call and met three incredibly powerful beings that defied comprehension.

"Indeed I am young Skywalker. I see your father has taught you well." The figure said before finally coming into focus as a very tall humanoid with grey robes, an extremely long beard and strange eyes the likes of which they had never seen.

"But you died!" Mara said having heard much about them given Palpatine's obsession with them. It was a relic of them that she was supposed to find here.

"Death is not as much of an end as your kind believes young one." The Father said with a knowing smile before telling her with a more serious tone. "But here with some help from me, the bond to the foolish one can be broken. Will you free yourself and find your own destiny? Or stay a puppet forever?" He pressed her.

Mara was deeply torn, a part of her was still loyal to Palpatine and knew the danger of trying to break away from him but at the same time she knew that what she had been shown was true. Given all that Palpatine had done what would manipulating her mean to him?

The answer that she came too, absolutely nothing.

She knew what she had to do and took a deep breath before nodding. The Father smiled before placing his hand on her head and closing his eyes. Mara moaned with pain as she felt the bond being broken but surprisingly it was only for a moment and then she felt the absence of Palpatine in her mind as she felt him every moment of her life.

"That's it?" Mara asked in confusion. The Father nodded with a small smile.

"Given his current weakness he can no longer maintain such things, he hides this but the force is a living thing with a will of its own and his perversions of it are bringing its wrath down on him." Now go, and know that you will see each other again." He said with a knowing glint in his eyes that showed he knew something they didn't.

Then a flash rendered both of them unconscious again, Luke and Mara woke up separately on other sides of the temple next to their ships. Luke looked around and saw R2 looking over him making worried sounds he got up but didn't see any sign of Mara anywhere and then realised he had something in his hand. Opening it he saw a turquoise coloured crystal, like this planet had been known for once. He was amazed and it was just in time as his broken lightsaber was somewhere down in those catacombs and he wasn't going back for it he thought before getting to his feet and putting a hand on R2's dome to reassure him he was okay, but at the same time he was wondering if the Father had been right and he would see Mara again. A part of him hoped so as they were not done with each other, he could feel that.

Elsewhere Mara was taking off in her ship, a similar crystal in her hand and wondering just what life had in store for her now that she had broken away from Palpatine but a part of her also dwelled on Skywalker, like him she could feel they were not done with each other and a blush came to her cheeks before she suppressed it.

Exegol, Unknown Regions...

The lost bastion of the Sith Exegol was the sight of a Sith Cult that Darth Sidious had long ago taken control of. He had centred many of his efforts to clone himself here as it was a world that none of the Imperials knew about and would be his place to flee to if all else failed except for Byss which he was still counting on.

But the planet was in reach of another species, ones that had their own plans for it.

Ships of unknown origin had appeared above the planet and were bombarding the Sith buildings, blue skinned Chiss soldiers landed and began to systematically move from area to area, slaughtering all of the Sith cultists without mercy. They needed the planet as a base especially with the possible return of the Far Outsiders and these Sith cultists were in their way.

But a single shuttle emerged from the destruction, flying towards the Outer Rim region, doing its utmost to avoid the Chiss attack. It leapt to hyperspace just in time to avoid its own destruction.

On board was a single guard of the cloning facility who breathed a sigh of relief at his escape, turning around to see his five year old daughter Miramir clutching her blanket with a terrified look on her face but he smiled to reassure her while the other escapee an eleven year old boy named Dathan that had escaped in the chaos from the cloning lab looked out of the window at the lanes of hyperspace with amazement having never been out of the lab before. He set course for a planet he had learned of called Hyperkarn where he hoped they would be safe at least for the time being. He looked over at Dathan again and wondered why he and the other boys had always looked alike but that hardly mattered as Dathan was the only one still alive now. Who knew what the future held for them he thought with worry for all that might be lurking out there but they just had to go on he thought and went back to making sure they were on course before putting the two children to bed for their long journey.

- x -

Imperial Palace, Coruscant...

Palpatine was meditating when the shock through the force of what had happened on Exegol reached him, he gasped in shock as he saw the destruction of the cult and the usurping of the planet by the Chiss. The death of the cult did not concern him as much as the destruction of the clone operation there that was supposed to secure his immortality and the loss of the hiding place for him to flee too. True he still had Byss but the vision of what was happening on Exegol was accompanied by another vision, this one of the future...his own personal future.

He saw the galaxy, so many people rising up against him and as his fleet and palace burned around him he turned to see a blue lightsaber blade coming straight at him.

He broke from the vision before he could get any more details but his fear despite ruthless attempts to suppress it was tearing at him and he felt a cold sweat on his brow. This made the second Death Star all the more important he thought and ordered his people and Xizor to speed up the production as fast as possible, secrecy be damned they needed it! He thought with a terror of that blue lightsaber coming at him again.

Shumari, Outer Rim Territories...

Shumari was a barren and insignificant planet but it was for that reason that the Jedi had set up one of their hidden temples there, they had lived there in peace for many years but now the Empire had discovered them and Death Squadron under the leadership of Darth Vader was making sure that nothing was left alive on the entire planet.

While Stormtroopers used their seemingly endless numbers to wear down the Jedi defenders, Vader stood there on the field with Sidirri at his side slicing his way through the Jedi without a shred of mercy. Nearby his second apprentice Shira Brie was making use of her unusual new weapon, a lightwhip which Vader had given to her as it had once belonged to the stupid Nightsister Silri, it was an extremely dangerous and hard weapon to master but it suited Shira and it was so unusual that the Jedi that she came across did not know how to fight such a weapon.

When all the defenders were dead, Vader smirked in satisfaction before returning to his ship with his two apprentices and ordered Piett.

"Bombard the surface, leave nothing alive." He said and Piett, keen not to be meet the same fate as his predecessor bowed and said quickly.

"Yes my lord." Piett said with quick efficiency.

"Return to your quarters and meditate on your experience, let yourself feel the dark side to increase your ability to wield it." Vader said to his two apprentices who both bowed and replied.

"Yes master."

Solaest, Outer Rim Territories...

Solaest was in the middle of a fierce uprising against the Empire and the Rebellion was doing its best to equip and support the locals and weapons were being provided by the Mandalorians who seemed to have a massive stockpile all of a sudden.

Leia was here to do whatever she could to help the uprising, including leading several battles against the local garrison. Her frustration was growing at being here while Luke got to go off and have big missions either by himself or with Rogue Squadron while she was forced on this low priority missions. She couldn't even complain about it as her parents were working with Mace to over come his recent loss and adjust to having a mechanical arm.

So she was left on her own, her frustration growing with each small assignment but there was one upside she thought with a smirk as she lay on her bunk in the house she was using, wrapped in the arms of her lover who was gently running his hand along her face.

"I don't know how most of the galaxy has missed you. Chasing after others while you are here. It's criminal." Markus said as he held Leia in her arms, loving her soft skin against him, her warmth against his own.

"Few can keep up with me." Leia said with a teasing smirk as she kissed him gently which he returned, they were getting passionate again when the most unexpected person that her mother had forced her to bring barged straight in.

"Mistress Leia, your mother is calling...of my goodness!" C-3PO said as he came in and the pair immediately broke apart with Leia clutching the blanket to cover her nakedness. Markus reached her his blaster but Leia put her hand up to stop him while C-3PO made his escape to no doubt tell everyone what he had just seen.

"Well the loth cat is out of the bag now." Markus said as he pulled his pants on sat next to Leia, his arm around her shoulder. She leant into him now worried at just what her parents were going to make of this!

"Why did my mother make me bring him?" Leia asked with frustration as she reluctantly put her underwear back on, Markus got up and took her in his arms, his around her waist while hers went around his shoulders.

"Probably to keep an eye on you. My father made me go with others for years before letting me out on my own." Markus said with sigh as Leia rested her head against his chest. The steady beat of his heart was a reassuring thing in that moment as she was worried at just what the hell she was going to have to say to her parents. He saw her worry and kissed her forehead while holding her tightly in his arms. "We'll figure something out. Before your dad kills me for touching you." Markus said not liking the fact that Anakin Skywalker was certainly going to be after his blood for daring to sleep with his daughter.

"Or your mother for sleeping with a Jedi." Leia said, a chill running through her as she thought at just what Ara Ordo would do to her for being the Jedi hussy that slept with her son. "I think we had best tell them before C-3PO does. To try and cut this off at the knees." Leia suggested hoping to at least get some control of the story, Markus nodded in agreement before telling her. "Whatever happens I love you." Markus said that with resignation as they knew that things were really about to change. Leia smiled slightly and replied.

"I know." Before kissing him again.

Reluctantly they separated and made the calls they knew that they had to make but were dreading worse than anything.

Markus called Reijar and his mother was the one that answered.

"Mother, the girl that I've been hinting about...It's Leia Skywalker." Markus said before he became too nervous to speak.

His mother stayed silent for a moment which was somehow worse than her yelling at him although he was sure that would be coming soon enough.

"I'm waiting for the punchline." Ara said with cold calmness that Markus knew meant she was absolutely furious but keeping it under control for the moment.

"That's it, Leia is my girlfriend." Markus said, waiting for the explosion of anger that was surely building inside his mother over dropping this on them. But instead her eyes narrowed dangerously and she told him.

"Your father and I will be heading to Naboo to discuss this with you, Leia and her family. Be there, or I'll make you into putty." She told him with a cutting edge that scared the hell out of him before she cut the transmission.

"I'm a dead man." He said out loud with a nervous chuckle.

Leia was no better as she told her mother.

"Get back here now! Young lady we need to talk." Padme said with burning anger in her eyes before cutting the transmission.

Both of them looked at each other and sighed as they honestly felt that they were facing an execution squad.

Ghost, Rebel Base, Atollan...

Sabine had been hauled up in her room most of the time since she had been stripped of her armour, going on missions was rare as she stayed at base, feeling powerless as she had lost the thing that had made her strong and knew there was only one way to get it back.

She made the call, hoping that he would take it.

To her surprise the image of her uncle appeared and he frowned as he faced her.

"Sabine, this isn't a good time." Haron told her with annoyance. He had to deal with Markus and his girlfriend and to be honest he had expected to hear from her months ago.

"I know, and I know I don't have a right ask for my armour back. But please...I need it." She said desperately and Haron seeing her emotions sighed.

"Do you need it? Or want it? They are two separate things Sabine." Haron said wisely. "A Mandalorian is not defined by their armour. It is a part of our culture but it is not the only part, the heart of a Mandalorian is where they where true strength is found. Our passion, our drive, our loyalty to each other and to our cause. That is where true power comes from. This is not a lesson that can be taught but must be lived to be understood, to find that those parts of yourself can be a lifetime of searching but you can only find them if you really keep looking. I will not give you a quick route to your armour if you want it, you know what you have to do to get it back. So put the hard work in and do it now, before you really waste away." Haron told her before cutting the transmission.

Sabine sighed but smiled as the words of her uncle had been hard but she needed to hear them.

She got up and dressed before going to request a ship to take her to Krownest, she had to make things right with her family and rediscover just what it meant to be a Mandalorian. She needed to be away from her rebel family for awhile to see just who she was at her core.

She was a rebel she thought with a smile, but she was more than that. Like all of them she had another side to her that she had been neglecting...it was time to be a Mandalorian again.

Naboo, Mid Rim...

The transport arrived on Naboo, met by Rebel soldiers which was completely unnecessary as Haron and Ara exited their ship and walked the rest of the way to the palace.

Seeing Anakin would normally have been a good thing for Haron as they didn't meet very often but the circumstances poisoned that feeling. Haron and Ara could feel Markus was close by and so they didn't waste time with pleasantries and walked straight in, he was nervously standing there as he and Leia were being yelled at Padme who was almost incoherent with anger, she quickly turned that anger on them when she saw them.

"YOUR SON! DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE!?" Padme yelled at them but Ara silenced her with a wave of her hand, Padme kept yelling but now no sound came out of her mouth, making her clutch her throat in astonishment.

"Just a spell, wear off in about an hour." Haron said before anyone got any ideas and sighed as he looked at the two offenders. Shaking his head as she looked at them before he told them. "I'm not going to ask how long this is going on but I will ask you both just how serious is this relationship of yours?"

Anakin while wondering just what they had done to Padme was eager to hear this himself. Leia and Markus shared a look before admitting.

"It is, we were going to tell you...maybe even marry." Markus said not liking the fact that Haron and Ara were not wearing their helmets, meaning they wanted their faces to be seen. His parents did not do this often with non family members around which meant they were they were completely serious.

"Marry?" Anakin said with a strangled gasp as he had not wanted to imagine his daughter getting married. Ara was now the one that started yelling before Haron interrupted after letting her go on for awhile .

"You both need to think on just what that means. You are the heir to House Ordo and she is a Jedi. What will that mean for you both?" Haron said before he and Anakin left the room to talk in private while Ara was left behind with Padme, Markus and Leia took the opportunity to get away so they could talk in private.

Anakin and Haron went to the balcony that looked out over Theed, leaning against the railing as they sighed.

"How did we get here?" Anakin said with a tired expression as he and Haron both felt their years catching up to them. "I mean our children are grown and we've been fighting wars for twenty years."

"I just became a grandfather this year, Astoria my daughter just had a child of her own. I have six children biologically and two adopted but now the youngest is thirteen. I'm a father and a grandfather now." Haron said with similar exhaustion to Anakin's. They both were in the mid forties now and had spent many of those years fighting wars. They both sighed as they were getting to old for all this.

"And yet we know we're going to keep on going." Anakin said with resignation which Haron nodded in agreement with.

"Because we have no choice if we want even a vaguely peaceful universe for our families and then to maintain that peace when the next threat rears its head." Haron said and they both sighed, staying quiet for awhile as their situations sank in. But eventually they had to discuss Markus and Leia.

"We can't keep them apart." Anakin said especially he knew first hand what it felt like to have to hide a relationship. Haron nodded in agreement however much it pained him.

"The question is what will they do to be together. My son is the heir to House Ordo and possibly the next Mandalore if the force is willing. Leia is a Jedi Knight who serves the galaxy. If they want to be together then something has to give." Haron said with a frown as he didn't want to lose his son and force that burden on Corridan since Astoria had the Hapes Consortium to worry about.

"Leia has always struggled with the Jedi way." Anakin said with worry that had been building for a long time. "She has too much impatience even now."

"Sounds like the fruit didn't far from the tree then." Haron said with a smirk as he remembered another young Jedi who he had met long ago with similar issues. Anakin couldn't help but smirk back and then Haron made an admission. "The Akaan are focused much on the war but we could use someone to help us manage affairs inside our culture. Maybe a special class of Akaan, Leia could be the one to found it." Haron suggested.

Anakin thought about that and nodded in agreement.

"I don't want to lose contact with her." Anakin said but added. "Leia is a natural leader and she loves politics and things like that, gets that from her mother. She relishes a challenge."

"Don't worry about that." Haron said with a smile. "Family means a great deal to us and her family would always be welcome."

Haron and Anakin both sighed in relief as despite being a tricky situation, this was not as bad as they had once feared. Yes it would be hard to sell a Jedi Knight as the next Duchess Ordo but if she adopted their culture and proved herself then it would be accepted especially as Li'anna, Tyus and Siri were all involved with Mandalorian families and they had other connections through their extended family.

The question is whether Leia and Markus would be willing to make the sacrifices they needed to make this work.

- x -

Markus and Leia had fled to royal garden where thankfully they could be alone. They were just relieved and Markus took Leia in his arms, holding her to himself and she leant into him.

"I thought we'd never get away." Leia said with exhaustion while Markus just took held her.

"I know, and as much as we don't want it...we need to discuss if this is going to go on." Markus said before gently taking hold of her face and looking her straight in the eye. "I love you, I want to have you with me...but I am going to be the leader of my family some day."

"And I'm a Jedi." Leia said with the feeling of her heart breaking as she felt this could be the end of the most passionate relationship she had ever known.

"Would you accept being a Jedi for the Mandalorians? Becoming a Duchess?" Markus asked her with desperation not to lose her. "Leading our people? Having a family? Those are kinda important." Markus said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

Leia didn't know how to answer his question, it was big leap for her to join the Mandalorians but the idea of having such a voice after all her feeling like she was in the shadow of others it sounded like the opportunity she had longed for. She wanted a chance to make her own mark but was wondering if it was ever going to come, this could be her chance. She knew the Ordos would never cut her off from her family as that meant so much to them.

"Well, are you going to ask me to marry you or are you going to just stand there?" Leia asked him and Markus took a moment to accept those words before kneeling before her.

"Leia Skywalker, you hold my heart in your hand. I want no other woman to share my life with. Will you marry me?" Markus asked her and Leia smirked before telling him.

"Here's your answer."

Then she leapt on him, kissing him for all he was worth while pushing him so they fell behind a hedge row and did not emerge for some time.