DISCLAIMER: Mwahahaha! Finally! I have my own One Ring of Unlimited Copyright Privileges, which grants me exclusive rights to all things Star Wars related! YES! *Obi-Wan Kenobi tackles me and steals the Ring* HEY!
I own not. Dammit!
I KNOW I'm supposed to be working on Castaway, but... the muse has decreed that I will start a new project. It isn't even giving me anything for NLM! On that note... This story will be Cin/Zara centric. And yes, I think it will be a romance. If that bothers you with the twelve-year age gap, you don't have to read this- I'm just throwing that out there now. (Although, there's a good chance there'll be Cin!torture at some point... *evil grin*)
A/N: I'm not sure what Lavisar's government system was, or what it thought of Force-sensitives. Wookieepedia tells me nothing- so, I'm making this up as I go. Be warned.
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PROLOGUE
The ground shook under her feet as she stumbled along the rough terrain, struggling to remain upright. The wooden staff in her hand did almost nothing to aid her trek across the rocky ground. Her feet were torn up and bloody, the boots she had been wearing torn to shreds by the thorn bushes and sharp, jagged rocks that she had fled through. Countless other cuts and scrapes marred the skin on her arms and face.
Yet she did not heed her wounds. Her focus only alternated between her destination, and the small bundle tucked into the sling against her breast.
She could never let her precious bundle be harmed. Her burden was the only thing that kept her moving, despite the throbbing aches in her body and the seemingly-endless stretch of land she had yet to cross. She had to get to safety, if only for his sake. Gripping her staff in her hand, she pressed on.
Another explosion ripped through the night. She went down with a gasp, twisting her ankle between two rocks. The baby in her grasp cried from fright.
"Shh, little one. Everything will be all right." Making sure her newborn son was still secure in his sling, she painfully got back up, but collapsed again due to the burning pain in her ankle. Glancing down, she blanched when she saw the blood, and the painful way in which her ankle was twisted. Kriff- I'll never be able to run on this!
Snuggling her still-fussing baby close to her chest, she looked through the night, desperate for any sign of relief. Yet everywhere she looked, she could see the fiery lights of the explosions, sounding as close as a standard mile away. The rocks she was sprawled on offered her no protection against incoming missiles. Her ankle throbbed, reminding her that she would never be able to run. She and her son would-
Wait. A light gleamed in the distance, not disappearing like the fires of the explosions. She started crawling, holding her baby close with one hand. She had to make it to the light- she had to, for his sake. Glancing at her infant son, she planted a kiss on his just-visible blond hair. "Shush, little one. We need to get there without being seen."
Whether it was because he was too scared to cry anymore, or because some mystical deity warned him, the baby ceased to cry. He cuddled closer to his mother with only a whimper.
"Shh... we'll be safe soon." The woman kept crawling toward the light, hope slowly growing in her heart. Soon, he'll be safe from any harm and-
Shouts. The sounds of motorized vehicles approached. The woman gasped. No! They'd found her, and they would take and kill her baby. She was distracted enough by the sounds of the approaching enemy to not notice the dropoff in front of her until her hand met empty space. With a strangled squeak of fright, she caught her balance before swinging herself over the ledge, dropping onto a mound of moss-covered stone a few feet below her. She barely managed to stifle a scream as her wounded ankle took a good portion of her weight, dropping to her knees and attempting to quell the bile rising in her throat. She pressed herself flat against the stone wall, not daring to breathe. The baby was quiet, although she could feel his trembles through her loose shirt. She snuggled him close, anxiously listening to the sounds above her.
The voices came up to her hiding place, paused for a moment, before the sounds of footsteps marching away drifted to her hiding place. She sighed in relief before pulling the baby out to examine him. He seemed none the worse for wear- highly upset, of course, but that was to be expected. She kissed him on the forehead. "Oh, I'm glad you're all right, little boy," she whispered, before reaching into her jacket pocket for a piece of flimsy. Re-reading the words she had scribbled onto the flimsy, she nodded in satisfaction before tucking it into her son's blanket. "You'll be all right, no matter what happens." Sliding the baby back into his sling, she carefully crept out of her hiding place, set on reaching that warm, welcoming glow a few hundred metres away.
It seemed like an eternity before she made it to the light. It was a fairly small building, most likely a house. No one appeared to be home. Hoping to whatever power existed that this was a safe place, she pulled her son out of the sling again, wrapping him warmly in the soft fabric. After a moment's hesitation, she slid out of the shadows into the light, using the opportunity for one last glance to look at her son.
He cooed up at her, now much more relaxed that his mother wasn't panicking. With a sad smile on her face, she stroked her hand through the blond fuzz on top of his head, tracing his features with her finger. You look so much like your father... You'll be a very handsome boy when you grow up. I wish I could watch it... Sliding one hand behind her neck, she fumbled with the clasp of a locket for a moment before tucking the necklace into his blanket. "I hope that one day, you'll know who your parents were, little one," she whispered, a tear starting to slide down her cheek. She planted a kiss on her baby's nose. "I love you so much..."
Something inside the house moved. She jumped guiltily before setting the baby on the doorstep. The infant cooed at her once more as he snuggled into the blankets around him. Choking back a sob, she disappeared into the shadows, staying close enough to watch what would happen to her son.
Less than a minute after she left, the baby started to cry, missing the warmth of his mother. It took moments for more lights in the house to come on, and for the door to open. The woman saw two people, an elderly lady and a young man that could have been her son, open the door and look around before noticing the baby. Their voices drifted back to her hiding place.
"What do you make of this, Knight Jinn?" asked the woman, picking up the baby. "Where is your mother, little one?" The last question was spoken to the baby, who was now snuggled close to her, hiccoughing and still fussing.
The man, Knight Jinn, gently touched the infant before looking into the darkness. "I imagine he came from the capital city. I can sense that he's Force-sensitive, which may be why he's here. But I don't understand where his mother could be... He can't have been here very long."
"Very odd," agreed the woman, snuggling the baby. "There's a piece of flimsy here, along with this locket." She handed the man the flimsy. "Can you read that, dear? My old eyes don't see as well as they used to."
Knight Jinn unfolded the sheet, looking at it in the light. "It says 'My name is Cin Drallig. My parents are dead. Please get me off-planet and to Coruscant when you find me.'" He carefully touched the baby. "Cin Drallig, hmm?"
The woman frowned. "I don't recognize his last name... But then, I am just an old hermit. You can take him back to Coruscant when you leave, Knight Jinn. It's not safe for a Jedi here anymore- you'd best leave tonight."
"Indeed." Knight Jinn carefully took the baby in his arms, snuggling him. "Little Cin and I will leave for Coruscant now. My thanks for all of your assistance..."
She didn't need to hear more. She knew that her son would be safe in the hands of the Jedi. Pulling her jacket close around her, she set off back to the capital city, refusing to look back once.
She made it only half a mile before the rebel soldiers found her. Her dying scream as the blaster bolts found their targets echoed through the hills, bouncing off the rocks and into the ears of Knight Jinn and the infant Cin Drallig.
"Shh... it's all right, little one," soothed Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, trying to calm the upset baby in his arms down, unaware that the child had just sensed his first death through the Force, thanks to the Force-sensitivity that would make Lavisar demand his death.
To Be Continued...
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Many thanks for reading!
Xaja