Prologue IV

(8 ABY)

"Now take the last one and place it on top," Serina instructed her daughter, watching carefully over her newest attempt at completing the exercise. Dara sat cross-legged several feet away from her. Between them, a mid-sized pyramid had formed. The largest of the rocks was about half a meter in width and was hovering about a handbreadth above the beige foam-carpet that had been sprayed onto the floor of the rear portion of the backroom. The large couch, the oblong coffee table in front of it and the few sitting-pillows, that had once formed a cozy lounging corner, had been removed in favor of a large training room. The overhead light bathed the empty space in its warm light. It was already deep into the long Taanabian night.

"Watch out! Don't let your concentration slip!" she advised her daughter when the top three rocks started a slight wobble. "Allow the Force to flow around them, caress them into place, steady the whole structure." For a moment, the top rocks stabilized, all six rocks forming a layered pyramid about one-and-a-half-meter high.

Suddenly, the door was flung open and Ben hurried into the room as fast as his little stubby legs would carry him. "Mommy, mommy, come quickly. Caaroq is back." As he flung himself into his mother's lap and wrapped his arms around her neck, Serina's attention was diverted from the rocky pyramid.

But only for an instant. "Mother," her daughter's anguished outcry brought it quickly back into focus. The bottom rock had tilted slightly in her direction with the other rocks above it starting to slide toward her. Although the effort of regaining her control over the wobbly construct was writ large in Dara's face, it was clearly a struggle she was going to lose. With a gentle smile on her lips, Serina reached out her right hand and used the Force to support her daughter's efforts. For a moment, the rocky pyramid hung suspended in midair, then, while keeping its formation, it tilted toward Serina's right until all rocks were hovering horizontally above the floor. Slowly, they sank the remaining few inches and came to rest on the soft carpeting.

"Oh, mother, am I ever going to learn how to do that?" Tears had started to form in Dara's eyes and were at the brink of spilling over.

Serina picked up Ben and set him back on his feet. "Go to Caaroq and tell her, I'll be coming in just a moment." Then she directed him with a little shove toward the door.

When he was gone, she turned to her daughter. "No one was ever born a master, not even famous Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi or Qui-Gon Jinn." She favored her with a knowing smile. "They grew up in the Jedi Temple and started their training much earlier than you did. And despite that fact, they had to work hard at gaining the mastery over the Force and it took them many years to do so. So, don't get discouraged. Your potential is great. But you need to learn some patience with yourself. Do you remember the old Jedi Code?"

Dara nodded slowly. With a slightly quivering voice, she recited,

"There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no death, there is the Force."

"Learn to trust the Force and you will be able to overcome any obstacle life will throw into your path."

Again, her daughter's head bobbed thoughtfully up and down in quiet consent. Then, Serina felt another thought flash through Dara's mind as her body suddenly tensed up. "Mother, Obi-Wan Kenobi, wasn't that the Jedi that brought me to Aunt Marisa and Uncle Kayv?"

"Yes, Dara, that was him," Serina confirmed, not certain where this question was leading to.

"Where did you meet him?"

"That's a long story, Dara," and not necessarily one, she wanted to get into quite yet. After all, it would certainly lead to more probing questions as to how she had ended up giving birth on a planet so far away from Imperial Center, that some had nicknamed one of its prominent cities the armpit of the universe. "But I met him the first time on Tatooine."

"First time? So, you did meet him again later on?" Obviously, her daughter's curiosity was now piqued for sure. "But didn't he die on the first Death Star? At least, that's what I heard in school."

With a sad smile on her face, Serina confirmed, "Yes, he died on the first Death Star, shortly after the destruction of Alderaan. And it was Lord Vader who killed him if that's your next question. But the strangest thing was, that there was no body. He just vanished."

"He vanished?" This certainly gave the young girl some food for thought. For a long moment, Dara mulled the information over. Then, she lifted her head and looked her mother straight in the eyes. "And how do you know all that?"

As she returned her daughter's gaze, memories rose from the depth of Serina's mind, scenes replayed that were forever burned into her soul. "How I know it?" she finally replied. "I know it because I was there."