Chapter 7: Past

Luccii was speechless for the first time in ages. She looked over the man who looked so much like her. She looked into his eyes again, eyes that perfectly matched her own. This man... he was her father. She could tell.

"I... how... why..." was all she could say. How did he find her? How did he even know about her, when she'd never heard anything about him? How did he meet her mother? And why did he leave?

"I have my own share of questions, believe me." The man said, giving her a sympathetic look. "How about we go somewhere we can speak in private?"

"Not leaving." Torian spoke now, placing his hands firmly on his cyar'ika's shoulders.

"I never asked you to. I'd very much like to speak with you, too, young man." the man conceded with a gentle smile. "Shall we?" Luccii glanced up at Torian. His jaw was set firmly in a way that told her he was none too happy about this stranger making bold claims like she was his daughter. It was cute, he was being protective.

"Fine." Torian finally agreed when he caught Luccii's pleading stare. She wanted to talk to this man... she knew, deep down, that his words were the truth. This really was her father...

Ten minutes later found the trio in a nearby cantina. They ordered a round of drinks and sat down in a private booth to talk. But no talking happened. Luccii stared at the man, Elileo he'd said was his name, and he stared back. Torian shifted uncomfortably, keeping himself between the strange man and his c'yare.

"I don't even know your name." Elileo finally said, breaking the ice.

"Luccii." Luccii told him. He smiled.

"A beautiful name. You look so much like Leisa, it's not even funny." he told her. "How is she, by the way?" Luccii looked away from him now.

"I was thirteen the last time I saw her." she let him know. "And she was telling me what a disgrace I am to the Echani people."

"Oh? What... what happened?" Elileo asked with a frown. He'd never known Leisa to be so cruel, especially not to family. Torian perked up at the man's question. He wanted to know, too. He still didn't know that much about Luccii's past, a fact he was rather ashamed of. She was going to be his wife, he needed to know everything about her.

"I... it's a long story. I don't feel like sharing right now." Luccii looked away. Torian's hand rubbed her thigh soothingly. This topic obviously caused her distress.

"Well, we have plenty of time to talk." Elileo smiled apologetically. "I bet you have your own questions. Ask away."

"Who, exactly, are you?" the question came without her thinking about it first.

"Ah. Well, I'm a jedi... sort of..."

"Sort of?" Luccii raised an eyebrow at this.

"I've kinda been kicked out of the order for not following the code. Part of that had to do with your mother." he smiled sadly. "Jedi aren't supposed to love, you see, and I broke the rules when I fell head over heels for Leisa. When the council found out that we were lovers, I had my title stripped of me. I've been... a wanderer ever since."

"Why didn't you stay with mother?" Luccii found herself asking now. Echani weren't against interracial marriages, especially not with humans.

"She... didn't love me." Elileo deflated now, taking a large swig of his whiskey. "I loved her with all my heart, but I was just a plaything to her. You know how royalty are." Luccii tensed when he mentioned this, and she glanced at Torian. He was giving her a serious look, and she knew they would be having a long conversation later. "Anyways, when I asked to live with her she pointed this out, quite publicly, and made me leave. I left with a broken heart. I... I didn't even know she was pregnant. I never knew you existed until today."

"That... explains so much." Luccii frowned, remembering how harsh her mother had always been towards her. As if she had something against her. As if she never wanted her. "So what do you do now?"

"I wander. Taking odd jobs here and there. I'm not a jedi anymore, but having a light saber and the skills to use it gets you a few decent jobs." her father said with a light smile now. "And you? What do you do? I see you're a mandalorian..."

"Uh, yeah... I'm a bounty hunter. I only became a mandalorian recently." Luccii scratched the back of her head, and the man smiled.

"You get that from me." his words surprised her. When she looked at him strange he just grinned. "Scratching your head like that... It's something I do all the time. Leisa hated it."

"Oh." Luccii didn't know why, but she blushed at this. "She still hates it, as far as I know... A-anyways, I sort of just go around taking bounties."

"Don't be modest, c'yare." Torian spoke.

"Oh?" Elileo looked interested now and Luccii found herself scratching her head again.

"I'm kind of... a big deal in the bounty hunting world." she mumbled. Why was she so flustered? Usually it was the first thing she boasted about. But this was her... father. She didn't want him thinking she had a big head. "I'm the Champion of the Great Hunt. And Mandalore's adopted daughter." She finally came out with it, watching as her father's eyes went big.

"My, that's quite impressive." he said with a smile. Then he looked at Torian. "So, am I right to assume you two are... married?"

"Close." Torian gave a wry grin.

"We're... courting." Luccii told her father with a blush.

"Ah. Congratulations." he smiled widely. "I can't believe I'm old enough to have a daughter that's of marrying age."

"I can't believe I have a former jedi for a father." Luccii smiled back. "Does this mean I have, like, force powers?"

"Not necessarily. You would have noticed by now if you were force sensitive." Elileo explained. "But you sensed me earlier, and that in itself is impressive. I could probably teach you a few things, but I don't think you took after me, in ways of force sensitivity." Then he smiled. "But that's quite alright. From what I saw in Krayt territory, you can sure hold your own. You two are quite a sight when you fight." They fell into an awkward silence after that, all three of them sitting there, looking around at random things until a comm went off.

"Ah, that's mine." Luccii mumbled, searching her pockets for the comm. Elileo just smiled and stood.

"I'll leave you to it, then. Here's my contact information. I hope we stay in touch... daughter." he gave her a warm smile as he handed her a small chip with his contact information on it. Luccii blushed and gave him a small smile.

"We will. I promise. I still have questions." she swore, happy to see him smile back. He nodded to Torian, and then left the cantina calmly. She watched him go, forgetting about her comm until Torian grabbed it from her pocket and answered it for her.


"C'yare..." Luccii frowned at the tone in his voice. He was serious. They were about to have a very long talk, she could tell. She slowly turned to face him, not expecting the kiss he gave her. Nor did she expect him to push her against the wall as he kissed her. She was thankful they'd both changed out of their armor, or his rough movements would have hurt. She let out a soft moan as he trailed kisses down her neck, then back up it to her ear. "Now that I have your attention..." he suddenly pulled back, grinning at her pout. "Want more?" She nodded eagerly. "Then talk."

"About?"

"You know what." He dragged her over to the bed and made her sit down. She just pouted. "I know you don't want to talk about it, c'yare, but if I'm going to be your husband I need to know everything about you." Luccii looked up into his eyes and sighed softly. He was upset that she hadn't already told him about her past, she knew, but it's not like it was something she could just bring up in random conversation.

"Alright." she sighed. "You already figured out I didn't know my father was even still alive." Torian nodded. "Mother refused to talk about him whenever I asked. I had no idea who he was or where he was or if he was even alive. The only reason I figured he wasn't Echani was because of my eyes."

"And what he said, your mother being royalty..."

"It's not the way you think." Luccii looked away. "My mother is a princess... but Echani do royalty different than most cultures. The strongest are promoted through the ranks, and the strongest of the strong are considered royalty and given the wealth and power that comes with it. My mother's father was the one who was actually considered 'royalty' but it was passed down to her when she became strong enough to defeat him in a spar. I... am not royalty. Not in Echani law, anyways."

"What do you mean?" Torian asked, sitting down beside her.

"Echani are masters at hand to hand combat, and sometimes use a vibrosword. You... know my skill with both." She frowned, looking away in shame. Torian nodded at this. Luccii was a distance fighter, and while she could hold her ground in hand to hand combat, and did love fighting that way, she got overwhelmed easily. Her skills with a blaster, however, were top notch; her aim... fatally precise. "I'm perhaps only average strength, as far as Echani see me. It's part of the reason I was exiled."

"Go on."

"I'm the daughter of one of the strongest fighters on the planet. I'm supposed to be just as strong, or stronger. Even from a young age a lot was expected of me." Luccii sighed heavily. "When I was thirteen... I was assigned to guard a general during a drill where other children my age tried to assassinate him. It was a test, and my last chance to prove myself worthy of my Echani blood. A rite of passage, so to speak. I guess you can figure out how well that went." Torian squeezed her thigh soothingly, seeing that the memories were rather painful to her.

"My mother was publicly humiliated by my failure, and it was the last straw for her. She... disowned me, and ordered that I be exiled from Eshan because of my incompetence as an Echani. I was given enough credits to get to Coruscant, and a local gang took me in. Taught me how to use blasters. Braeden found me on a trip there. I... tried to kill him for his credits. He was impressed with my aim and tenacity... and offered me a chance to rise to power and make a name for myself, to prove my mother wrong, to prove that I wasn't worthless. I took it... and entered the Great Hunt. And now I'm here."

"C'yare... why have you never told me this?" Torian frowned as he pulled her onto his lap with a gentle kiss.

"I... it's just a sensitive subject for me..." Luccii buried her face in his chest. "And I didn't want you to think less of me for such a big failure..."

"Cyar'ika..." Torian kissed her again, cupping her face in his hands. "Ever heard of cin vhetin?"

"What's... that?" Luccii questioned, still learning mando'a slowly but surely.

"Clean slate. When you join the mandalorians, your past becomes irrelevant. Only what you do from that point on matters." He told her with a smile. She smiled back. Torian was a man of few words, but he always knew what to say. She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"You're right. And I should have told you a long time ago. Forgive me?" She was answered with another kiss as Torian pulled her ever closer to her.

"Forgiven." he smirked, then rolled his hips up against her, making her blush. "Now, c'yare, you promised me a reward..."


Another chapter wee! Okay hopefully that's enough jumping around like that lol. Sorry about that folks. It should start to be more detailed again in the next chapter.

Tell me what you think!

Mando'a:

Cin Vhetin: Clean slate. Literally a white field. Used mostly in terms of joining the mandalorians, where your past becomes irrelevant and you will only be judged on your actions from that point on.

Note: There's not a lot of info on Echani... so the whole royalty think is sort of my own depiction of how a warrior race could even have royalty. Don't hold me to it, and don't expect me to change it.

Thanks for reading!

-Zora