Discaimer: I don't own anything Star Wars.

A/N: There is an explanation of how my calendar works in the original 'Flame of Hope' if you're curious.

Flame of Hope - Alrich & Ursa

Prologue:

D122/1 BBY, Krownest

Ursa watched the garishly painted red and black Kom'rk fighter land on the snow in front of her stronghold with a deft touch that spoke volumes for the skill of the pilot.

Despite her ingrained pride in her daughter's accomplishments, the frown on Ursa's mouth deepened and her eyes narrowed further. Her expression had been more or less stuck this way ever since she found out yesterday that Sabine wasn't fighting for the Rebellion anymore and hadn't bothered to tell her about it.

Her back was ramrod straight and her fists were clenched on either side of her thighs as she sat in the throne on the raised dais, now watching her son greet her daughter through the transparisteel windows that enclosed the great hall.

Alrich glanced at her and then did a double take, as his eyes had been on the scene outside as well. Sitting beside her in their throne, he placed a calming hand on her thigh. "Easy, Urs'ika," he murmured. "I'm sure she has a good explanation," he reassured for probably the hundredth time since yesterday.

Ursa glanced up at him, blinked once, and then took a deep breath, allowing her hands to uncurl. She took the hand on her thigh and laced her fingers through his, giving him a thankful squeeze for always being the one to see things in a positive light. "I have no doubt that her explanation is going to be good, Alrich. What I doubt is whether or not I'm going to like it."

Alrich's mouth quirked up and he squeezed her gloved hand in return, nudging her shoulder with his. "Just try not to lose your temper this time, my feisty Countess," he teased.

Ursa raised a sculpted brow at her husband. "Me? Lose my temper? Never." Her voice was drier than the frigid air outside.

Alrich snorted lightly and leaned over to nuzzle his nose against her cheek. "I love that you still deny it," he whispered laughingly.

Ursa's mouth quirked up in amusement before she pushed him away lightly and put on her stern face again. "Go on with you. How am I supposed to be mad at Sabine if you're making me smile?"

Alrich smirked at her before he primly placed his folded hands in his lap and moved to a dignified distance on his side of the throne. "That was the idea, my dear," he whispered as the door to the great hall all but crashed open and Sabine marched in, followed by Tristan, who gave his parents a, 'You are not going to believe this,' look before taking his place a step down on the dais from the throne on Ursa's side.

Sabine parked herself in front of her parents, looking like she was ready for battle with her shoulders back, her chin up, and a familiar stubborn look in her eyes. She raised a brow just like Ursa did and glanced around the empty great hall pointedly. "I see Tristan wasn't joking when he said you'd scared the rest of the clan into hiding, Mother."

Alrich shared a small smile with his daughter as Ursa's glare intensified. He'd also noticed that the clan had been giving their Countess a wide berth since the news had spread that she was in a mood, but he hadn't wanted to say anything; not wanting to risk having to sleep on the couch.

"At least my clan follows my orders, Daughter," Ursa said bitingly, leaning forward slightly in her seat, anger radiating from her.

Alrich looked at his daughter with sympathetic eyes. He knew what it was like to have Ursa mad at you firsthand. Not for many years though, as he'd gotten much better at anticipating her desires and moods the longer they were together. His Countess was not one to mess with when she was in this mood but he found her warrior persona just as hot as ever. Sometimes, he felt like he might be the only person who knew there was a loving mother and wife under the hard exterior she presented to the world.

Sabine crossed her arms over her armoured chest. "I didn't realize I was one of your minions to control."

Ursa huffed in exasperation. "You're not a minion, Sabine. None of my clan are. But you are my daughter and you still answer to me. Why is it that I had to forcefully extract your location from General Syndulla? Why are you camping out on Lothal instead of fighting with the Rebellion like I gave you permission to do? And why have you kept your location from my knowledge for the past three months?"

Sabine kept her expression neutral despite the bombardment of questions. "I didn't tell you where I was because I didn't want you to try and stop me from doing what my honour and heart tells me I should be doing."

"And what is that?" the Countess of Clan Wren said with a narrow eyed glare.

"Protecting Lothal and rebuilding the city and people so they can be great again," Sabine said firmly, proudly.

"And what of your own people? Your Clan?" Ursa said through gritted teeth. "You have a duty to your own family as well, do you not?"

"They have you and Tristan," Sabine said, her calm expression slipping towards impassioned. "And I did my duty to my people. I found Mandalore a new leader. I destroyed the weapon I designed for the second time. I rescued Father. I have atoned for the wrongs I did when I built the Duchess in the first place. I feel like I've done everything I've had to do. Yes, you are my Clan and heritage. But you turned your backs on me when I needed you the most. You disinherited me. You kicked me out. You made me DAR'MANDA!"

Alrich and Ursa both winced at the truth of her statements. And Sabine wasn't done yet.

"That is not something I'm ever going to get over," she said, her voice quieting slightly, the pain much to obvious in it. "I found myself a new family. One who always believed in me and TRUSTED me. Now my new family needs me elsewhere. I'm building a permanent home for us on Lothal; a planet that I helped remove the Empire from. And I'm keeping the Empire from returning, no matter what it takes." Sabine sucked in another deep breath and continued, meeting Ursa's eyes steadily.

What she said next made Ursa's chest hurt with regret. "When I was little, all I ever wanted was your approval and love. I tried so hard to do what I thought you wanted. But it was never good enough for you, so I tried to impress you in a different way. I want to that wretched Imperial Academy and was the best student there. And look what that got me. I'm done trying to please you, Mother. I don't want to be the Countess of a Clan that never stood by me. I don't want to live in a world where I'd be expected to marry for convenience because of my station. I know your marriage worked out with Father, but you were lucky. I've already found my cyar'ika and married him. I will not betray him." Sabine ended her speech on a determined look, clearly daring Ursa to retaliate.

Alrich glanced between his daughter and his wife, exchanged a look of alarm with Tristan, and waited for the inevitable explosion.

He wasn't disappointed.

Ursa gaped at Sabine for a good half a minute, her original stern expression lost in her shock that Sabine was already married. Her face slowly turned red as her anger rose to the surface. She surged from her throne and glared blaster bolts at Sabine. "It's that Jedi boy, isn't it? I never should have let you return with him to the Rebellion. I wish I could have married you off while I had the chance, but no one wanted you. You bring with you a stain of dishonour that has only recently been removed. And now you do this! Betraying your Clan yet again with a JEDI! How could you, Sabine?!"

Her daughter, of course, glared stubbornly back. "How couldn't I?! I love Ezra with all of my being. He entrusted me with the safekeeping of his planet and I will not let him down. Unlike SOME people, Ezra believes in me!"

"He left you!" Ursa nearly shouted.

"To save his planet and the WHOLE GALAXY from THRAWN!" Sabine shouted back. She sucked in a breath and spoke somewhat more quietly. "Thrawn was the best Admiral the Imperial Army had by far. His record of wins is unmatched. If Ezra hadn't ensured that Thrawn was removed from the picture, then the Rebellion would never stand a chance of winning. He had to do it and I applaud him for it even if I miss him something awful."

Ursa had to reluctantly agree with Sabine's assessment of the Grand Admiral, but that didn't change the fact that she'd been lying by omission to Ursa for months about her whereabouts. "I'm sorry, Sabine." She paused, her heart breaking at what she now felt honour bound to say. "But I'm afraid you've left me no choice but to disinherit you yet again. It was bad enough when you brought Jedi into our home and we had to be friendly to them. I would never live it down if I approved of your marriage to one, no matter how much he's done for our people or the galaxy. Our Clan would be disgraced yet again because of you. I'm sorry, Daughter, but I hereby banish you, AGAIN, from our home. You may not step foot on this planet until you give up on your foolish notion of guarding a planet for a boy who's probably never even coming back. He's gone, Sabine, and I hope you realize that sooner than later. When you come to your senses and apologize for your idiocy, I may forgive you. Until then, get out of my house."

Ursa sank back down onto her seat slowly, feeling painfully old right now, already wishing she could take back everything she just said as she stared into her daughter's heartbroken eyes that looked so much like Alrich's.

Sabine's hands were clenched in fists, but otherwise, she kept herself relatively emotionless. She didn't seem overly surprised at her banishing. And probably rightly so, because Ursa had reacted almost exactly the same way when she found out about the Duchess.

She inclined her head once to her mother. "As you wish, Countess Wren. But I must correct you on two things. Ezra is not a boy. He's a man. And he has more honour and love in his little finger than you do in your entire being." Ursa nearly reeled back from the hurt those words caused, but she held herself still out of sheer stubborn pride to not let anyway see her pain. And with every word Sabine spoke, her pain increased tenfold. "And I won't be crawling back to you ever again. It's you who will beg me to let you back into my life. There will come a day when you long to see your grandchildren and you'll realize that YOU are the only thing stopping yourself from doing so. When that day comes, I'll accept your apology for tearing my heart out twice."

Ursa longed to ask what about her own heart? Why was her daughter the only one who was allowed to be demonstrative? But Ursa was a product of her upbringing and those words would never cross her lips. She tightened her mouth to keep all her emotions in and stiffened her posture even further, refusing to say another word.

Sabine glanced at Alrich and Tristan, both staring at her with identical wide, pain filled amber eyes. "You're both welcome to come visit me on Lothal anytime. I hope you do, because you're still my family and I love you."

And with that, Sabine turned on her heel and walked out of the room, her boots nearly soundless.

"That… went even worse than I expected," Tristan said forlornly, looking at his parents with sympathetic eyes.

Ursa slumped back against the hard back of the silver marble throne, fighting back the urge to cry. "By the Mando, Alrich. What have I done?" she all but whimpered.

Alrich ran a slightly shaking hand through his hair even as he stood. "You did what you felt you had to, Ursa." He touched her cheek briefly with the back of his fingers before he quickly ran down the steps of the dais. "But I'm going to say goodbye to our daughter," he called over his shoulder. "Who knows when I'll get to see her again?"

Alrich hurried after Sabine, determined to tell her his thoughts before she left.

He called her name just before she could step onto the ramp of her ship. "Sabine!"

Sabine turned around and ran back to him, meeting him halfway as he opened his arms for her to rush into. They hugged each other tight for a minute as he pressed a long kiss to her soft hair and a few tears rolled down his cheeks.

Eventually Alrich pulled back, resting his hands on her shoulders, not quite ready to let her go. "I'm proud of you, Daughter. Keep following your heart and you'll be fine. And I'll work on your mother. You two are just so much alike that you repel each other like identical magnets. She already regrets her rash words. But you know how prideful she is. It will be a long time before she takes them back. And for the record, I approve of your choice of husband. I knew you two were destined the first day I met him and saw how well you worked together. He is a true friend and that is the best foundation for a marriage. I hope he comes home to you soon."

Sabine gave her father a watery smile. "Thank you, Father. Please come visit when you can. Mother's kept us apart more than enough."

Alrich kissed her forehead, smoothing the dark chocolate and purple strands of her hair. "I will. I promise. We'll do some painting together like we used to when you were little."

"I look forward to that," Sabine said, smiling at him happily. He shuddered in a sigh as she gave him one more quick hug and then turned and walked up the ramp. They waved goodbye when she reached the top, Alrich not taking his eyes off her until the closing ramp obscured his view.

As the engines of the ship roared to life, Alrich backed up a few dozen steps, but other than that, didn't move until the ship had disappeared into the evening sky.

Sighing again, he turned and made his way back into the stronghold to console his wife. He knew she'd be beating herself up about her temper once again, but at the same time, he couldn't see how she could have handled Sabine's ultimatum much differently.

Sabine had clearly made her choice in life, and it wasn't going to be as the next Countess of Clan Wren.

Ursa stared after her husband's slender but athletic form with rapidly blinking eyes, mentally tracing his steps through the hallway and then watching him run through the snow and hug Sabine tightly, wishing with everything she had that she was out there as well.

She didn't realize that she'd choked on a sob until Tristan stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder guard. "Is there anything I can do, Mother?" he asked softly.

She raised her arm and covered his hand with hers, shaking her head even as she pulled her emotions back together. She smiled at him wanly. "No, Tristan. But thank you."

Ursa closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, a steady resolve had settled in them. "Actually, Tristan, if you could round up our wayward clan and bring them here, I need to tell them the latest news."

Tristan nodded once, before backing down the steps. "Consider it done."

Ursa kept her eyes on her son's tall and broad form until he went through the door to the rest of the building. She sighed softly, thanking the Manda that at least one of her children was proud of his Wren heritage and was eager to learn everything there was to know about governing their people.

Not that she didn't love Sabine, she did. More than anything. Possibly even a little more than Tristan because of how strong willed she was. But she was just so frustratingly independent and too similar to Ursa in temperament for them to ever truly get along. Perhaps all of this was for the best. Sabine was too much of a leader and had too many of her own ideas for them to ever live peacefully in the same household.

But, stars, how it hurt to have to banish her daughter again. How was it possible that the second time felt worse than the first?

As she watched that cursed red and black ship that used to belong to Maul fly away, it felt like a large piece of her heart was flying away with it.

She was still staring at the dark twilight sky where the last hint of light from the ship had disappeared when Alrich came back into the great hall. He settled beside her on the throne and drew her unresisting form into his arms and kissed the top her head gently.

Ursa hid her face in the soft fabric of his blue tunic and wrapped her arms around his narrow waist. "I'm sorry, Alrich," she mumbled into his chest. "So very sorry."

He rubbed a soothing hand up and down her back and pressed his cheek to her hair, closing his eyes to hold back the tears he was tempted to shed in sympathy for his wife's pain, knowing she wouldn't appreciate them in the slightest. "It's okay, Urs'ika. I have faith that this will all work out one day."

Ursa pulled back as she heard the door open and footsteps enter the room. She sat up into a regal pose once again. "I hope you're right, Alrich, because I don't honestly know if I can bear to never see our daughter again," she said quietly, her tone laced with remorse.

He gave her fingers a quick squeeze as their clan continued to filter into the room, taking positions in front of the dais and looking up at them questioningly. "You'll see her again. I promise," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear him as Tristan walked up the steps and stood beside them again.

Ursa shot him a grateful look before standing and giving her clan her best Countess look. "My people, I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news…"

A/N: There is more written about Ursa and Alrich in the 'Flame of Hope - Everyone' chapter called 'Sabine's Reconciliation' if you want to find out what happens after this. :D

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