Tallie sat outside on the front porch of the family home on Pippip 3. According to Grandmother Scout, the house was built by her own grandfather when he escaped with his Jedi bride from Coruscant after Order 66. It had been expanded on as the Lintra Family grew, but there were still reminders as to the true age of the home.

If Tallie sat under the railing, her arms draped over the first plank of two guarding the front porch from the wanderers, she could see where her mother had carved her and her father's initials into a heart.

J.P. + D.L.

There was an addition her father added when Tallie was born.

= T.L.

Seeing the letters brought a smile to her face. They reminded her of a time when her father was much happier. Then again, she was always sentimental on this day, over all others.

"Are you sure about this?"

Tallie turned her head and internally groaned when she saw her Aunt Deila standing in the doorway to the Lintra homestead.

"I've wanted this since Dad promised me I could," Tallie said. "That was six years ago."

"I just worry that you haven't thought this through," Aunt Deila said as she sat on one of the hammocks on the porch. "A tattoo is for life, you know."

Tallie bit her full bottom lip to keep from snapping at Aunt Deila. This wasn't the first time they'd had this very conversation. But it was as if Aunt Deila's mission was to act as Tallie's impulse control.

"It's to remember Mom," Tallie said. "And Dad's had this lined up for years now."

"I just don't want you ruining your pretty skin," Aunt Deila said. "Just because your mother liked to use tattoos in place of her memory doesn't mean you have to."

"I know that." Tallie's voice rose in pitch with her frustration. "That won't change my mind."

"Is everything alright out here?"

Tallie and Aunt Deila looked away to see Doran Lintra standing in the doorway. The widower had bright twinkling blue eyes and a clean-shaven face from his military days. His hair had grown-out a little since then, but Doran preferred it short.

Even with his more subdued energy, compared to Tallie's mother, Doran was bright in a way that Aunt Deila wasn't. Tallie couldn't quite put her finger on it, as they did have the same coloring.

"I was just reminding Tallie of the permanence of what she's doing," Aunt Deila said, sitting up straighter as her tone grew more haughty.

"You know what's also permanent?" Tallie snapped. "My mother being dead!"

There was an awkward silence on the front porch.

"Sorry, Aunt Deila," Tallie said. "Sorry, Dad. I shouldn't've said that."

Doran sighed in a way that made him appear ten years older. "It's alright, Tallie. Today is hard for all of us."

The silence drew on for a moment. Then Doran smiled again, despite how forced it looked.

"Come on, Tallie," he said. "Let's go get that tattoo, shall we?"

Tallie smiled, but her expression was more genuine. "We shall. Thanks, Dad."

As she got up, however, she heard footsteps, and out burst a small girl, who looked as frail and light as a bird.

"Why can't I have a tattoo, Dad?" Jaina whined.

Doran sighed. "You can in three years. Tallie's stopped growing, so it won't be a problem. Besides, the way I remember it, you got plenty of special outings and presents last week, for your birthday. It's Tallie's turn."

"She was my mother, too," Jaina protested softly.

"And don't worry, I have something special of hers for you," Doran said with a sigh. "Just be patient, Jaina."

"Alright," Jaina sighed. She sat down in the hammock, and screwed her eyes shut as she reached her hand out. A datapad left on the table floated into her hand.

Tallie rolled her eyes. "Show-off."

"Be nice," Doran said in a warning tone.

"Sorry," Tallie mumbled.

"That's better," Doran said. "Come on, let's go."

As the artist used his needle to put the Rebel Starbird and her mother's callsign on her right shoulder blade, Tallie thought of her mother's tattoos. Jayce Pulastra had a total of seven on her body. It was one of her many reasons that she wore such revealing clothing. Ever since Tallie could remember, she could trace the shapes imprinted on her mother's body, even though she knew some of them weren't there when she was born.

For instance, the tattoo on her mother's ankle, was done two months after Jaina was born. It was a rose with their first and middle names in the center of the bud. She designed it herself. Tallie learned how to spell her name from tracing the Aubresh letters of her full first and middle name on her mother's ankle.

Tallissan Rhiannon Lintra.

Tallissan was after her Grandma Scout. Her real name was Tallissan Esterhazy, and she had been a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars. Since she was still alive, Doran was insistent that his firstborn child be named after his mother. But Rhiannon was the name both her mother and father wanted.

On her left shoulder-blade, she had a constellation imprinted, that was supposedly her parents' favorite. Her mother let her trace the pinpoints of ink on her skin as she recounted the story of Rhiannon the River Queen, a famous Corellian myth. It was her mother and her father's favorite constellation.

But throughout the whole process of the tattoo, Tallie couldn't stop thinking about the day she learned her mother had died.

Tallie was only nine years old. She was playing with her dolls on the floor with her little sister. Doran was working out in the fields with the crop-duster and farming droids, and Aunt Deila, Grandma Scout, and Tallie's cousins were sitting on the couches and talking.

Then the holo console beeped.

"Sera," Grandma Scout said, speaking to one of Tallie's cousins, "would you be so kind as to take that for me?"

Sera flipped her long light-brown hair over her shoulder and gladly accepted. She crossed the room and pressed the little green button to accept. The translucent blue head of Commander Wes Janson appeared.

"Is this Doran Lintra's residency?" Janson asked.

Tallie sat up straighter. Wes Janson, one of the heroes of the war, was her mother's commanding officer. She'd met him every once in a while, and he was always willing to make jokes with his partner, Hobbie Kilvian, and entertain the children of the pilots at official banquets and the like.

He looked tired in the holo, Tallie remembered that. He wasn't laughing that day.

"Yeah, he's out in the fields," Sera said. "Can you leave a message?"

"I'm afraid it's urgent that I see Doran Lintra immediately," Janson said.

Another cousin, Esme, stood up. "I'll go get him."

At that moment, Jaina blinked, as if she saw something far away. Her face fell.

"What is it?" Tallie hissed. "Jaina, what's wrong?"

Jaina shook her head ever-so-slightly, and her face grew serious, unblinking even.

The three minutes before Esme came back in felt like an infinity of awkward silence. Jaina refused to speak, and even Grandma Scout went silent. Aunt Deila kept opening her mouth to speak, before thinking better of it. Janson shifted, looking so exhausted and sad.

A cold crept in Tallie's skin, a cold she couldn't get rid of, even as she rubbed her arms. She knew something was wrong, something had happened to her mother. But she had to hope for the best, that it wasn't at all what she thought.

Esme burst in, practically dragging Doran along. He was covered in crop-dust and sweat, and the dark earth of Pippip 3 was smudged on his hands and cheek. Esme let go of him, and he stumbled in front of the holo-console.

"Commander Janson, sir," Doran said, mustering a smile. He gave a little bow. Then he paused, an expression of hope lingering in his eyes. "Where's Jayce? Is she alright?"

Janson swallowed. "Jayce was on patrol in one of the stations in the Outer Rim, close to where we believe the remnants of the Empire went. There was a signal from a ship, and she was one of the few soldiers on-duty at the time. She raised the alarm and fought bravely in a skirmish against strange ships. She was killed in the attack, allowing everyone else to survive and escape."

Tallie realized what that cold was. It was a sadness, and the realization that she knew. Somehow, she knew that her mother was gone before then, but she hadn't wanted to admit it to herself.

"Who did it?" Doran's voice was as cold as Tallie felt, and contained an anger Tallie had never seen in her father before.

"We're still looking into it," Janson confessed. "We're lucky just to be live, Mr. Lintra."

"I understand," Doran said. "Thank you for telling me, Wes."

"I'm sorry," Janson said hoarsely. "The New Republic will help cover the costs for her funeral."

"Thank you," Doran said.

He turned off the holo-console, and simply walked away, back into the fields. It was only then when Jaina started crying.

With the bandages over the black Rebel Starbird on her shoulder blade, Tallie felt closer to Jayce Pulastra. She remembered how her mother wore her tattoos with pride. Tallie only hoped that she could do the same.

"Thanks, Dad," she said as she followed him out to the speeder.

He smiled. "You're welcome, Starshine."