Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars it belongs to Lucas and his company. I am not making any money off this it's just a simple bit of wish fulfillment for my own and potentially the amusement of any other fans.

Note: This is set in the same Alternate Star Wars universe as The Price she Paid. It takes place in the Year 35 ABY in that alternate Universe. This fic is seven parts focused on various characters during the lead up to and after the Wedding of Jaina Solo to Jagged Fel. There is also some groundwork laid for a longer Written in part that I will begin after this one is completed.

A Time of Celebration

Mara

Part one of Seven

Jedi master Mara Jade Skywalker stood quietly watching the students practice with remotes. She was careful to keep her presence light in the room so it wouldn't distract any of them. She was there to monitor for signs of frustration or anger as this group of students were all at risk of falling to the dark side for various reasons. Some like the Shistavanen student to her left or the Trandoshan across the room had to deal with their race's natural urges and cultures that weren't compatible with the Jedi way, and others like several of the humans in the room had to deal with being much weaker in the force than any of their fellow students.

She looked up to see Lophynn Tanat waiting for her at the door with a grave look on his yellow features. Moving quietly, she walked over to him to find out what had gone wrong now. If she remembered right, he'd been working in the communications room earlier. "What is it?"

"Master Katarn has found another slave ship full of force sensitives." He said simply and Mara resisted the impulse to curse. It was an unpleasant fact that for the last five years the slave trade had exploded in the wake of the vong war. The Jedi were part of an alliance effort to crack down on it but so far it continued to flourish and to make matters worse there was someone buying force sensitive slaves for some unknown reason. The first ship had been discovered three years ago and while the Jedi had tried to return them to their homes most had no home to go back to and had ended up as Jedi students. Since then several other ships full of force sensitives had been found but they were still no closer to finding the buyer. "He wants you to contact the council because he says that he has found something important."

Mara nodded and turned back to the class. "That's enough for today." She reached out with the force and hit the master control that deactivated the remotes. "Get some rest before your next class with Tionne." After the students said their good byes she turned and followed Lophynn toward the communications room. "Jaina, should be arriving in a few hours if I'm not available would you meet her at the space port."

"I'd be glad to meet her." Lophynn said with a smile. "It has been several months since I saw her last." Mara smiled slightly to her self, she was proud of Jaina for managing to train Lophynn to knighthood in just a few short years. They arrived at the communications room and Lophynn and everyone else left so she could contact the council in private.

She wasn't officially a member of the council and instead she kept the meeting records though she felt free to speak her mind whenever she felt like it. "Kyle, it may take a while to contact Luke he's attending the meeting between Omas and the new Emperor." She said to the waiting Jedi Master who had a grave look on his face. "I take it what you found is bad?"

Kyle looked at her for a moment and then said simply. "It's Blackhole he's the one buying them." Mara understood immediately why he was so grave and deciding to skip small talk she set about contacting the council members as quickly as possible. A large part of her had hoped that twisted old man was dead and gone. He hadn't been seen in decades and the last hint of his existence had been in the files recovered from the birth place of Lord Nyax. The things he had created for Palpatine were the stuff of nightmares and if he was the one acquiring force sensitives she didn't want to imagine what shape they'd be in if they found them.

She set quietly through the meeting as the council debated how to conduct the search for him. She privately agreed with Kyle that they should keep the search in house if Blackhole got word he would disappear all over again. She was pleased with the compromise Luke and the council reached they'd search for Blackhole on their own for a short while and if they couldn't find him then they'd bring in the Galactic alliance intelligence.

Once everything done and she had said goodbye to Luke she hurried to the landing platform she was a few minutes late but she could sense that Jaina was still there. She arrived to find Jaina talking with her former apprentice as the flight crew went over the x-wing that she'd come in. "Mara, it's good to see you." Jaina said when she saw her. She saw Lophynn nod at Jaina before slipping away to give her time alone with her.

Mara found herself being hugged by the younger woman. "So Jag didn't travel with you?" She asked once the typical family greetings had been exchanged. She found it slightly odd that on the eve of their wedding that Jaina and Jag would be apart.

"He had to stay behind to help his family with their preparation to attend." Jaina had a slight frown. "They don't like to all travel together." She laughed a bit. "Even getting the Baron to agree to them all attending the ceremony was hard." Jaina then asked her a similar question. "Where's Uncle Luke?"

"Attending a meeting of Cal Omas and the new Emperor." Mara still wasn't sure how she felt about the Imperial Remnant's decision to elevate one of the moffs to emperor after Pelleon's death. "Almost everyone in the Galactic alliance is convinced that he's just a figure head for the moffs."

"That's the feeling in the Empire of the hand as well." Jaina said with a slight frown. "I can't help but worry that we may be underestimating him somewhat." She sighed. "It's just a feeling." Mara knew that Luke had a similar feeling which was why he'd agreed to attend the meeting even though Jaina was due to arrive.

Mara nodded. "I think in time the nature of this new emperor will become clear." She smiled at her niece. "For now though let me s how you to room I'm sure you'd like to scrub off the grime from that flight." Jaina laughed and the two headed toward the guest quarters.

"How have the kids been?" Jaina asked as they headed through the tunnels. "Isn't it about time for Geith and Cray to begin their apprenticeships?" Mara nodded even though she was trying not to think about that much. "I wonder who'll end up with them." She chuckled. "I'm sure Ben will miss them."

Mara nodded, Ben had been young enough when his half siblings arrived to miss out on most of the awkwardness that came with the situation. "Before the council decided to have children trained by non family members, we were going to ask you and Anakin to take them."

"What was the reasoning behind that decision anyway?" Jaina asked after a pause. "I mean Uncle Luke handled Anakin and Jacen's apprenticeship." She paused "And you handled mine." Mara was glad the girl still thought that way even if privately she didn't agree.

"It's too easy for family members to over look problems." Mara said and saw Jaina frown. "Luke and I have come to agree with the council that it's best for family relationships to stay out of the master and apprentice bond." She could tell the girl wanted to talk more about it but they had arrived at her quarters. "I'll let you get cleaned up." She then smiled. "And be sure to join us for dinner after you are done I'm sure your cousins would like to get caught up."

Jaina nodded and headed into the guest quarters. Mara turned and headed toward her room. She needed to look in on the twins and Ben before she made arrangements for something to eat.

To be continued...