So she has decided to leave Onderon with Saw, but what if Onderon still needs her...

It is often the practice, the privilege even, of the elderly after a long life of collecting trinkets and mementos to bestow various of these items on the members of their progeny whom they deem as the most deserving before they pass on to their rest. Such was certainly the case with one Lady Emma Flint, known to family and friends alike as Grandmother.

Grandmother Flint's most prized possessions however were not antique porcelain or crystal dishes. Nor were they intricate embroidery done by her own hand. No, Grandmother's life work compiled something altogether more precious.

Her choice of beneficiary was also a surprise. She could have chosen to leave the lot to her favorite great granddaughter, but Lady Dalla Blackwell daughter of Lana Flint Blackwell was inheriting enough trouble from her Lord father. She might have passed on her passion to Shara Rupingwood Blackwell who was herself descended from southern Flints and had married into the north and devoted herself to the northern traditions two decades back. But as much as Emma enjoyed her time spent conversing with the former beast rider about raising children and animals and the plants in her greenhouse, Shara was still too busy making memories to be burdened with keeping them.

No one knew why Grandmother, in her final days, bundled up all of her datapads and flimsy chronicles and infocubes and sent them south to Iziz. Perhaps it was only the uniqueness of the name of the recipient.

…

"Werda!" Her mother had stubbed her toe on the immense crate that had been landed on the porch of their too small house not far from Malgan market.

She didn't need to call again. Even though Werda Flint no longer claimed the place as her home, preferring the ladies' dorm to the noise and chaos of her family's domicile, the shadow girl always seemed to be aware of everything that went on above and below the streets of Iziz. She appeared at her mother's elbow and gave the woman a placating kiss on the cheek. "Yes, Momma?"

It worked. Cresha Flint smiled indulgently at her daughter and gestured with her dishtowel at the delivery, "What is all this?"

"I don't know." Werda bent to squint at the packing label. "It's from Grandmother."

"Aww that poor, sweet woman." Cresha shook her head. She had never met the matriarch but Grandmother's legend was larger than the North Sea and likely to enlarge in the retelling. "I meant to send my condolences to our kin up north. You knew Lana's girl during the war, didn't you? Well, when you send up a thank you comm for your gift, whatever it is, please tell them they have our deepest sympathies for her passing."

"I'll do that, Momma." Werda promised, though she was sure no one up north expected such a thing and she was certain that whatever this box contained it wasn't that sort of gift.

She couldn't quite believe what she had in front of her when Werda finally had the crate brought to a quiet place where she could delve into it. It only took her a moment to do just that, diving head first into the meticulously recorded history of not just the Flint clan or just the peoples of the northern sea region. The information she had been given seemed to cover the social history of the entire planet of Onderon.

Curiosity sent her first to her own recent family line: Werda Flint middle child of twelve born to Wyman and Cresha Flint. Cresha was a survivor of the Dalgos Flu and was taken in by the Flints after her own family died.

That much Werda already knew. Everyone from her parents' generation lost family and friends in the Flu epidemic. She went on to read more about them.

Wyman was one of 14 children fathered by Klint Flint. His mother died in childbirth with the youngest. And after that, it said here , there were betrothal negotiations. Klint was supposed to remarry a girl named Hadassa Cornel. Beneath her name there was a spot left open. She was pregnant at the time of the negotiations but Klint wasn't the father. He was planning on adopting the child.

There was a footnote to another page. Hadassa Cornel broke the negotiations with the Flint family and married the father of her child, Kason Rupingwood. Their daughter was… Shara Rupingwood Rash Blackwell.

"Osik! She really could have been my aunt!"

But then if it was important enough to mention that Hadassa's child wasn't blood related to the Flints and that their betrothal had been broken, wouldn't there be something in the records about Dane Bonteri's attempted alliance with the Rash heiress?

And there it was: Dane Bonteri was betrothed to Melaana Rash but a couple of months later he was married to Mina Skelari. Their only son Lux was born six and a half months after the wedding.

Melaana Rash was married to… Lord Bremon Kira. There was a spot left open beneath her name as well. She was expecting a child, a Kira child. But the child's name was never listed. The official records stated that Melaana died nine months after their wedding in a freighter crash on the planet Concord Dawn.

But that meant that Dara's father wasn't Dane Bonteri. She was a Kira! She was the princess of Onderon!

Werda decided next to refresh her memory on the succession to the throne of Onderon and why the Kiras stopped being royal. So she went back through the Kira line and found out that a little over a thousand years ago a Kira Heir was supposed to marry a Blackwell to unite the north and south and end the feud between the houses.

She remembered a snatch of song about the king waiting for his bride, ready to present her with a tame dalgo, a bride who never came. The king's name was Modon Kira and his bride was… Dina Blackwell. Werda searched for more information about the event. She discovered that Modon, after coming upon the bridal barge that washed up at the port of Iziz with all souls aboard murdered by the Shechel Clan, couldn't stand the idea of staying on the throne. He just wanted to go back to the jungle. He left the care of the planet to his friend and advisor Horus Dendup.

The Dendup and Skelari families had been Wardens of the throne ever since, just keeping the seat warm until the rightful Kira heir came back to reclaim it. That heir was Dara Rash… no Kira! And the journal said her mother had wanted to name her Sanya. Sanya Kira was the heir to the throne and if she was unable or unwilling the wardenship fell to the last member of the Skelari family, the grandson of Ramsis Dendup's cousin… Lux Bonteri! They weren't siblings at all but they were connected in all of this.

Werda shut the book. If this was true, then she couldn't just sit on it. She had to tell someone who had the power to set things right. Someone who could and would install the rightful ruler. Well, that boiled down to exactly one person.

…

In the comm room of the royal palace King Dendup was just shoring up some business with the Lord of the North.

"When should we expect the next shipment? Within the next week?"

Lord Marlon Blackwell gave him a nod. "It left the harbor this morning."

Thank the gods. Dendup didn't know what he'd do without the food imports from the north. After the Empire burned down the jungles and the fields along with them the north was near single-handedly feeding the planet. Thanks to the good fishing season bellies stayed full, his rule remained popular, and the Blackwell coffers swelled tremendously.

"It's a pleasure as always, Lord Blackwell."

Marlon allowed one of his small smiles. Dendup would have smiled too if he'd secured this massive a payday. "The pleasure's all mine, your highness."

Dendup changed the subject. "How is your daughter? I haven't heard from her since the ball. She was a great help here in Iziz."

"Dalla's at sea, doing quite well. From what she's told me I wish I should have joined my family in Iziz. You surely know how to throw a party."

"I always make the most of celebrations. Know your presence and that of your family is always welcome in Iziz. I may be old, but I can summon some energy for old allies and friends."

"I don't doubt it. I'll keep the invitation in mind, your Highness. Maybe someday we'll have the chance to enjoy it." He laughed humorlessly.

Dendup did too. "I'll let you know when the shipments arrive. Good day, Lord Blackwell."

Well that went … alright. He certainly wasn't complaining about the food or Marlon's continued cooperation. He'd need them both while the fields still baked under ashes, and while House Blackwell became the richest and most powerful family on Onderon. They were nothing to sneeze at before (as his predecessor had fatally learned) but now, well, the amount which the crown handed over with every shipment was nothing to sneeze at either.

That was why he'd decided to throw a ball instead of making a formal address naming Lux as his heir. He'd planned to use the occasion to encourage Lux into thinking differently about his best friend. Lux and Dalla were the same age, they worked together well, and a marriage alliance would unite the planet and make sure the people of Iziz were fed. That and Dendup could just imagine the babies who would arise from such a union, with Lux's dark hair and Dalla's sweet smile.

He hadn't expected them to attend with different escorts, and after the debacle of the poor girl in her serpent dress Dendup kissed any hopes of matchmaking for the evening goodbye.

He'd have to get creative and invent another occasion to bring them both to Iziz.

…

Soniee knew he didn't want to leave Onderon. Even stepping outside of the house into the now sunny street had been a struggle. Sawyer Gerrera had been remembering the adolescent dreams he had dreamed while he still lived under his parents' roof of bringing a pretty girl into his bed. He could have done it, wasted a few more hours in her passionate embrace before they had to be parted for who knew how long.

She had said that she loved him, that she would go with him when she had finished her task. Making that decision had eased her mind. She had a plan. That didn't make it any easier to convince him that 'doing something Rash' right now would delay those plans.

He had worked out passage off Onderon. The freighter pilot would want to keep to his own schedule. This could be the last time that Saw ever set foot on his beloved planet.

They took advantage of the relatively Imperial free streets and decided to forgo the tunnels or any kind of mechanical or beast transport. When would they ever have the chance again to simply walk through Iziz hand in hand?

He told her he would miss the rupings and dalgo more than he would miss most of the people. She shoved him playfully. He pointed out places from his childhood and from the Clone Wars. The memories, the emotions, they were nearly overwhelming both to Saw firsthand but also to Soniee emphatically through the Force.

"We'll come back someday," she told him but there was no way she could promise that.

"You're leaving?"

They both spun around to face the young woman with her arms full of datapads and notes scrawled on flimsy.

"Werda!"

She looked back and forth between them. She had caught them once before wrapped around each other. She hadn't imagined that would lead to their running away together. They couldn't leave now. Onderon needed them! "I never told anyone about what I saw down in the tunnels, about the two of you! You can't leave!"

"Really, Werda, it's for the best," Soniee attempted to explain without really explaining anything.

Saw sniffed trying to cover his emotions with bluster. "And I'd better get there before they leave without me."

"So just Saw is going?" Werda asked, taking in their linked hands and the looks they gave each other.

"For now." Soniee admitted. "I'll be joining him later."

He squeezed her hand tighter and swallowed hard. "Come on."

Soniee gave Werda a nod of farewell and then hurried her footsteps to keep up with his pace.

When they reached the space port Zal was already waiting for them with a boy Soniee had seen hanging around the tunnels with some of Saw's other acquaintances, some of the rougher bunch, some of those who hadn't come back from the fight with Kallus's troopers.

"I got your stuff," said the boy who couldn't have been any older than Shara's Emoth. He patted the handle of a hovercart that was piled with luggage.

Saw tossed him a credit. "Thanks, Reece. You did good."

"Hey! You made it!" Zal grinned his wolfish grin and called in at the freighter's hatchway, "Our third is here."

Soniee looked to Saw. "You went ahead and booked my passage too?"

He shrugged, "it was worth a try."

"You're not coming with us?" Zal asked her, his big purple shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Not yet." She conceded. "I've got some family business I need to take care of first."

"Ah! Gotta talk to the old man, make sure you've got his blessing before the two of you can…"

"Not exactly," said Soniee at the same time that Saw exclaimed, "something like that."

They all laughed.

The boy, Reece, piped right up, "Saw, if she's not goin', can I come?"

"Sure kid," Saw patted him on the back and he ran up the gangway calling to the captain that there were three passengers after all.

Soniee watched him go with a frown. "Saw, you can't. He's just a kid."

"His big sister died in the clone wars trying to save me and she was all he had. It's the least I can do to look after him." He turned to her and smiled disarmingly "'Sides, you'll be there in a few days to watch out for both of us."

She sighed and submitted to his kiss.

Zal chuckled uncomfortably, "I'll let you two have a minute."

Soniee stepped away from Saw and gave the Lasat a hug. "See you in a few days. Take care of him for me till I get there?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He saluted and then bounded up the gangway into the freighter leaving Saw and Soniee relatively alone in the busy spaceport.

"I know you can handle yourself." He spoke after a few moments silence.

She nodded. "Elek, I'm pretty sure I know what I need to do. It shouldn't take long. Then I want to make sure Papa will be alright and…"

"You gonna ask him about that blessing?" He took her hand in his.

"Saw I…" she began and then threw him a look of pure annoyance. "I thought it was traditional for the groom to ask the father for his daughter's hand?"

He laughed. "I think Uncle Brem knows my intentions." Slowly, he drew her close and kissed her tenderly. The kiss deepened so that she couldn't possibly mistake those intentions.

"Saw…" She breathed.

"I love you, Nya."

"It's only going to be a few days."

"A few days too long, in my opinion."

…

"Your Highness, there's a girl demanding to see you," a guard said ending Dendup's daydream of holding potential great-grandbabies. "She says she has critical, time-sensitive information."

He wished he hadn't heard that before. Usually his guards were good at sorting out the crazies. "Who is it?"

"She says her name is Werda Flint."

"Werda Flint? Red hair, thin as a rail?"

"That's the one." The guard looked confused at his description.

"Send her in." Werda Flint had helped the rebels escape from the execution through the tunnels. She wasn't crazy and she wasn't one to cry loth-wolf. If she said she needed to speak to him, she did.

To her credit Werda wasn't distracted by the splendor of the palace when the guards showed her in. Instead she zeroed in on him and blurted out "I found the rightful heir to the throne and she's getting away!"

"Say that again, young lady?" Slower this time , he hoped.

Werda looked down at the book in her arms and then repeated herself, much slower. "I found the rightful heir to the throne. I found Sanya Kira."

Sanya Kira. He'd heard that name before, when Lux was explaining the ball debacle to him in private and they'd come up with the "Dara Rash-Bonteri" story. Hearing it from Werda was a completely different story. Someone had seen through the deception that kept Sanya Kira safe.

Luckily Werda sensed the need to explain. "Grandmother Flint sent me all her research." She held up the book as proof and sure enough Dendup recognized the late Flint matriarch's handwriting on the cover. "I was looking through it when I found the Kira line. Your Highness, she's the true heir! She really is the lost princess of Onderon. And with the Empire coming, she's just what Onderon needs. There can't be any excuse for them to put one of their own people on the throne."

He couldn't agree more. And if this Kira girl agreed to take the throne, then Lux would be relieved of the burden he desperately didn't want. At the very least, he needed to speak to her. Sanya Kira had the right to know who she really was. "Where is this young lady?"

"She's going to leave the planet with Saw Gerrera. We might be able to catch them if we hurry."

Panic seized him. "She's going where?"

…

Soniee pressed the her heels of her hands to her temples. The closer she got to the B-7 and the items she had stashed there that she was now going to retrieve, the more her head ached.

It would have been so simple to step aboard that freighter with Saw and leave all this behind. She was sure the more distance she put between herself and Onderon and her responsibilities the more the pressure would ease. But it would never truly go away. She had to face it.

The hold of her own ship was so familiar. It should have been comforting. The minds of a thousand million beings however swirled around her like the trackless blue of hyperspace.

She reached her droid LEP-1K0 and without activating the unit opened the hatch. Soniee didn't want to put the necklace on again. She lifted it from the secret compartment. There was no broken clasp to focus on the mechanics of the repair.

And there was the dagger lying beside it. So much pain and fear and sorrow had been wrought by these objects.

She wanted to slam the hatch closed at run. She forced her hands to wrap the piece of jewelry around her throat and…

Just as the blue streaks of lightspeed condense into the pinpricks of individual stars, so did Soniee's vision of the Force focus into laser sharp clarity. Along with this coherence came a single voice, They're coming .

"Who's coming?" but she didn't search in the void for her pursuers. Instead her mind went straight to the one consciousness she had always fought so hard to protect. He wasn't on Manda'yaim and he wasn't on Concord Dawn where she was sure she had last felt his presence when she was on Dxun. Korkie was on his way here!

"No!" She was up in action with the dagger in her hand before she gave it a second thought. It wasn't because she had just made the decision to let him go and move on with someone else. It wasn't that guilt that pressed her forward. She couldn't have him here. She couldn't put him in danger again, not with what she had to accomplish.

She had to go down to the chamber. She had to finish the work and be gone, off this planet before she could hurt him again.

"No!" she screamed again as she ran out of the B-7 and looked up into the sky at the unmistakable wing structure of a Kom'rk coming in for a landing only a few docking bays away in the space port.

She hurried toward it and then slowed her pace. No, it wasn't Korkie, but it was plainly a Mandalorian ship. It was here for her.

They're coming . The voice echoed in her mind again, Grandfather's voice.

It wasn't Korkie but the presence was familiar. It had been a long time since she'd felt it. She couldn't place it. She became aware of the dagger drawn menacingly in her hand and tucked it into the back of her belt. She would be ready but not overtly hostile.

The gangplank lowered and out stepped Prime Minister Almec.

"You," Soniee breathed in utter shock.

"Representative Ordo, it's so good to see you alive and well." He wasn't the commanding figure he had once been when she had first met him as a student at the Academy. Neither was he the quivering shell he had been in the presence of his Sith overlord Maul.

"How did you find me?"

"You must not have hidden your trail as well as you thought. Dara Rash, is it now?"

"What if it is?"

"A new name for a new era." He shrugged his aristocratic shoulders. "Not surprising."

"What's in a name?" she quoted the Bard, which earned her an eyebrow raise. "What do you want with me?"

"I simply do not wish a Royal Academy education to go to waste. Your position in the Imperial senate has yet to be filled."

"Imperial Senate?" If that wasn't an oxymoron she didn't know what was.

"Times are changing and we must change with them." He took a few steps closer to her. "You have proved yourself malleable in all of the circumstances in which you have found yourself up till now. I am sure that you will bare up under this new regime."

"And what if I decide I don't want to resume my former occupation?" She took a step back not out of fear, more out of revulsion of everything this man stood for, or more like laid down and allowed to march over him.

"Then perhaps one of your fellow cadets would be up to the challenge."

He couldn't mean… She acted nonchalant. "You have the records of those sent home after the lockdown. Take your pick." She turned and started to walk away.

"I was more interested in those who weren't sent home with the rest."

She stopped.

"The three who stayed with you in Sundari?"

"Amis and I were the only cadets who chose not to go home. He died. I haven't kept up with any of the others." She lied.

Almec nodded. "Then it would surprise you to learn that your former roommate Lagos Jerec is alive and well."

"Is she?" Soniee turned back to look at him with a nostalgic smile to hide the knot that was tightening in the pit of her stomach. "I haven't thought about her in ages."

"She's married now, has a son and a daughter."

"A family? Isn't that something?"

"Cadet Lagos all but completed her education. We could invite her finish to her exams as you did or award her a graduation certificate like the one you declined."

"Why don't you?" Soniee asked with mock curiosity.

Almec shook his head. "It's a matter of… her husband, the father of her younger child. He is a clone trooper who went missing in action during the siege."

She let her breath out as a mirthless laugh. "Ah. Not exactly Imperial Senate material then."

"It's a good thing that there is another option."

She didn't speak but she noticed that Almec glanced back over his shoulder before he continued. Soniee only thought now to wonder that he didn't have a visible guard. He knew what she could do and he was bating her. He must believe he had a powerful ally or a more powerful enemy.

"This last candidate is well qualified." He cleared his throat. "Born to the position you might say. His… mother held the highest political position in our government, after all."

Soniee didn't care if he had an army waiting behind him in the ship. She felt the power coursing through her from the crystals at her throat to the deepest part of her being.

He must have noticed the change in her demeanor. He faltered and looked back to the open hatchway once again. "Of course we needn't disrupt their happy lives if you would only agree to come back with me and take up your office."

"That would seem to be the easiest solution for everyone." She smiled and Almec sighed with relief. "I'll go with you. But you have to promise me that my friends will be safe. Does anyone else know about them?"

"No." He smiled and almost laughed before he began to gasp for air. His hands clawed at his throat in an effort to remove the unseen garrote.

Soniee's raised hand clenched tighter around his windpipe a meter away from actually touching him. "And no one ever will."

She made sure that he had completely stopped twitching before she let his lifeless body fall to the ground and then she addressed the figure in the shadows of the Kom'rk's hatchway, "I know you're there. Show yourself, whoever you are."

a comment? just a itty bitty little comment for little ol' me? pretty please?