XI. Far and Away

Coruscant – 19 Years Before the Battle of Yavin.

If she had not given up her child to the Jedi, perhaps that day Leena would not have felt so restless.

Inexplicably restless – of course, no one could be serene with the turn the central government was taking.

But her anxiety came for deep within her. It was there when she had opened her eyes in the morning and it had never left her through the whole day.

Luckily, it was a slow day at the shop – Owen and Zyva were helping her, while Euan was at the astroport to discuss a shipping with a pilot they knew well.

"Perhaps I'm getting too old…" she wondered, catching her blurry reflection on the counter's polished surface.

Fifty-seven wasn't that old. Her children had virtually taken over the shop – she didn't work nearly as much as she used to.

She tried to think of lighter things – her grandchildren, yesterday evening's call from her daughter Gala – but the uneasiness was still at the back of her mind.

The beeping of a comlink broke the silence and startled her. Zyva or Owen's?

A quick glance proved that it was Zyva's. She saw her answer out of the corner of her eyes – and turned her head so fast her vision blurred for a moment when she saw all color's drain from her daughter's face.

She pushed herself up and reached her side just as Zyva closed the communication. Her eyes were wide in shock.

"Who was it, darling?" Leena asked, willing her voice not to shake.

"Mr. Aidan. T-the owner of The Bucket." Zyva bit on her lower lip. "He…he said there's something strange going on at the Temple." She hesitated, but the look in her mother's eyes forced to relay everything. "He said...it's full of Troopers. It sounds like…there's a battle going on…"

Leena felt all her anxiety drain from her. She suddenly felt cold, very cold – from her toes to the top of her head, her whole body was enclosed in ice.

Yet her blood boiled as if she had a fever.

"Mother!" Zyva gripped her arms worriedly, fearing the older woman would faint.

For a moment, they held on to each other in a whirlwind of emotions. Then Leena squeezed her daughter's shoulder and broke out of her embrace.

She strode to the other side of the room, pushing away her son without hearing a single word he said. She grabbed an old blaster from under the counter, then turned to her children.

"Stay here." She ordered in a voice they had never heard her before.

Owen tried to protest – Zyva only leaned against a shelf for support. The neon light caught on something on her cheek.

Leena belatedly realized what it was.

Tears. On her strong, stubborn Zyva's cheek.

She turned away and strode out. Owen moved to follow her, but Zyva gripped his shoulder and shook her head.

If she had forgotten her child, Leena wouldn't have stormed out like that.

She walked quickly, almost ran through the small streets, sustained by a feverish energy. She felt caught in a dream, yet more lucid than ever.

She didn't know how long she had walked – it seemed to her she had covered the long distance from her house in a few minutes when the tiny shuttle appeared, leaving a trail of black smoke in the sky.

It had been heavily damaged , but somebody was still attempting to direct its fall.

After a few seconds, it disappeared behind the buildings, followed by the loud noise of metal hitting metal.

Leena quickened her pace. There was a square up ahead – she was sure the ship had crashed there.

If it hadn't been for her son, she wouldn't have reached the square from that small alley.

The square was empty, save for the wrecked shuttle. The two occupants were getting out – one of them, a boy judging from his slight frame, was wounded: the other person, a woman, was practically dragging him.

Even from that distance, she could recognize their Jedi robes.

She looked on, hiding behind the corner of the street, and pulled the blaster out from its hiding place.

As she did so, somebody shot at the two Jedi – the blasts deflected by the older one, but just barely.

Holding tightly onto the wounded boy, she jumped on the other side of the wreck, covering behind it.

Other blasts. The Jedi's improvised refuge wouldn't hold for much longer. Two Clone Troopers advanced into Leena's line of vision, firing steadily.

They also had their back turned on her.

Calmly, she raised the blaster and switched from "stun" to "maximum energy." She aimed at one Trooper, steadying her right hand with the other, and pulled the trigger.

The clone staggered forward, while his companion turned to shoot at the unknown assailant.

Her back pressed against the wall, Leena watched the two blasts hit the corner of the building in a shower of sparkles.

Another sound – like a hiss – and the unmistakable thuds of two bodies hitting the ground.

Slowly, cautiously, Leena crept to the corner again and peered into the square: the two Troopers were dead, while the Jedi Master was helping the apprentice up.

Leena decided not to risk going out in the square, but signal her presence from the alley. "This way! Hurry!"

The Master hesitated for a second, then decided to trust her. As soon as they reached her, Leena made the boy lean on her as well.

"Come." She said, leading them away as quickly as she could.

Leena guided them through small, winding streets, trying to run into as many crossroads as possible. She had to get the Jedi to the shop quickly – but she didn't want them to trace her or her family.

She realized grimly that she didn't exactly know who "them" were.


Euan squeezed her hand as the holo of Palpatine's message – or should we say alibi – was broadcasted again.

Her hand was cold… He pulled it between his own larger ones, trying to warm it up.

He expected her to flinch at his touch – but she didn't. He almost wished she had.

Then, her fingers curled on his palm for a moment, like the shadow of a caress.

There were only them and Zyva – Leena had sent Owen back to his own family as soon as they had arrived home.

If they were found out, he could claim he didn't know. Perhaps it wouldn't be enough to save him – but perhaps it would.

At the moment, they were discussing how to help the Jedi escape Coruscant.

"We have a shipping to Z'trop tomorrow." Euan said. "It has been arranged for months – and I discussed the details over one week ago."

Zyva nodded. "Good thinking, dad."

"Very good." Leena said. "How do we smuggle them on board? It's a cargo ship."

"We could hide them in the bigger crates. There's more than enough space." Euan said.

"Two big crates more than specified?" Zyva shook her head. "That will look suspicious."

"Not if we split the cargo in big crates and smaller ones." Leena said. "If we redistribute the fabric and pack the smaller crates as much as possible…"

"It might work." Euan nodded and grabbed his datapad, beginning to calculate how to split the cargo.

"Do you think splitting it up like that will look suspicious?" Leena mused.

Zyva stood up with a glint in her eyes. "Not if our bigger crates were accidentally damaged."
Leena nodded slowly, then she stood up as well. "It's settled. I'll go and inform our guests."

She walked out of the kitchen and into Owen's old room – which happened to be far from the stairs and overlooking another back alley.

When she came in, Thalos Mor, the boy, was asleep – covered with all the bacta patches of the house. His Master was sitting at his side, watching him worriedly.

'Like a mother with her child.' Leena thought while pain gripped her heart again.

Ran Qa looked up at her, but Leena spoke before she could. "How is he?"

Ran Qa turned her gaze back on Thalos. "Much better. And all thanks to you." She looked into the older woman's eyes. "You saved us."

"You're not safe yet." Leena sighed. "We have a plan to get you out of Coruscant."

The Jedi Master listened silently as their hostess explained, then commented, "It sounds like a good plan."

"If it works, then it's good. But once on Z'trop, you'll be on your own. Have you considered changing your appearances a bit more?"

"Besides the robes?" Ran asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Zyva used to mess with her hair when she was younger, there must be some spray-on dye left. You could cut your hair – although your Padawan is the one who really ought to do it. That braid screams Jedi as loud as your robes."

"I doubt he will agree…" Despite the situation, Ran Qa smiled at her Padawan and ran a hand down his arm.

"In that case, he'll need something to hide it under. He can have Owen's old Spacehunters hat – unless he's a Comet fan."

She smiled at that attempted joke. "It will be fine. Thank you for all your help. You and your family are risking so much for our sake – and we have no way to repay you."

"You don't have to." Leena answered. She could feel the question hanging in the air.

She wrapped her arms around her body and turned away from them, leaning against the window-frame.

Perhaps Ran Qa did ask it out loud – or perhaps it was just an echo of her own thoughts.

Leena could barely make out the shape of the buildings in the dark. Heavy clouds covered the sky, hiding the stars.

"Thirty-eight years ago, I had a son. I called him Ben." She sighed. "He was with me for seven months and a half – then I had to give him up to the Temple."

A sharp intake of breath came from behind her, but Leena found she couldn't stop talking.

"You probably knew him. I don't know what his name is now. I had his news twenty years ago – we have had business with the Temple, I made sure we did, and his Master came to the shop to pay a bill. I don't know his name, either. It was all by chance."

Leena took a deep breath. "He talked to me about my Ben. He said he was happy." She swallowed hard. "When we gave him up, Ben was just beginning to talk. I had nightmares for years – I'd dream of my baby crying and calling for his mama…" she shivered. "...and I wasn't there."

"It must have been a great relief when that Jedi Master told you about him." Ran Qa murmured quietly, just to fill the silence.

Leena nodded slowly. "That was…the only time I ever heard about him. I never saw his Master again – but I wasn't expecting to." She leaned her cheek against the cold glass. "All these years… with all those Knights dying in the war…every time I told myself I couldn't be sure. My son couldn't possibly be dead. My Ben would surely live through the war. But now…"

Ran Qa saw Leena clench her fists so tightly her knuckles whitened.

"I hope he's dead. I hope he died years and years ago – I hope that he didn't have to see this, that he didn't have to die like this…" Her voice trembled, close to breaking point.

The Jedi Master did not speak – there was nothing she could say. She had realized who her son was only as Leena spoke but, really, it was evident once one knew where to look. What truly surprised her was that no one else in the family had ever noticed the resemblance with the famous general and war-hero. But perhaps they had unconsciously preferred not to.

She had no means of knowing if Obi-Wan Kenobi had survived the purge. It didn't seem probable.

"I must be such a terrible mother…"

Automatically, Ran Qa reached for Thalos' hand and held it tight.

"No, you're not." She said in a voice that didn't leave place for replies or doubts.


The starship left for Z'trop perfectly on time.

Leena and Euan stood on the dock, watching it slip away for Coruscant as slowly and as gracefully as a swan.

It drifted up at minimum speed, steadily growing smaller until all that remained was the flickering dots of light of the engines and then nothing at all.

Euan gently took his wife by the hand and lead her back to the cab parking.

She was probably wondering why he had agreed to help the Jedi even when it was clear it would have been dangerous.

But it was fine.

He too was wondering why she didn't flinch every time he touched her, why she still hadn't shouted at him.

In her place, he would have.

He felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart, but that was surely nothing compared to Leena's pain.

She had never stopped loving Ben.

But in the end, Ben was his son too.

He had kept a spot in his father's heart as well – Euan had just forgotten to look that way.

But it was there and now it bled.

It was all his fault.

He had agreed to give him up. He had assumed that it would be for the best, that Ben would be all right.

How wrong he had been.

Leena was quiet – too quiet. She sat by his side, hands folded in her lap, watching the buildings race by.

He realized she had not shed a single tear.

After paying for the taxi, he and Leena went into the shop. As she took off her hat and cape, Zyva came running down the stairs.

When she saw them, she stopped dead in her tracks, staring at her mother with wide eyes. "Mom – your hair…"

Her hair – her pretty dark brown hair – had turned white overnight.

Euan reached out and pulled her to his chest, holding her as tight as he dared.

In that precise moment, he realized that he would lose her soon.

He didn't know whether he was about to cry or shout when he felt her wraps her arms around his neck.

He just pressed a kiss against her forehead and held her close.

Five years, eight months, two weeks and four days later, Leena passed beyond the veil.


Hi everyone - I'm back from summer break! Hope you liked this chapter - it was one of the first I thought of, actually, even if it ended up being closer to the end.

As usual, leave a review and let me know what you think :-)