Title: Mara's Beginning
Author: Princess Leia Solo
Spoilers: If you know who Mara is, you're good.
Rating: G
Summery: This is my thought as to how Mara got taken by the Empire.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognize. Mara belongs to the almighty Tim Zahn.
Distribution: FF.net.... anywhere else, please ask.
Author's notes: I read a bunch of "Mara's past" stories and I decided to try my hand. As always, I apologize for any spelling errors or any other incorrectness. The same friend who hated "Then the Tears Came" hated this one, so, from the response of "Then the Tears Came" this one is probably better than he says. Also, I've been told that a lot of people don't like the Mara past stories b/c the fact that we don't know about her past is what makes her so interesting, but I still like to write whatever comes into my head :) Enjoy! And please R&R.
Mara's Beginning
The two year old girl played with her doll on the floor as her parents sat on the couch in their Couruscant home. The small girl's red-gold hair fell in front of her face and she pushed it away. Her mother was reading a book and her father was reading through some reports.
The young girl's mother had red hair and green eyes and her father had blonde hair and blue eyes. They lived a very peaceful life. A Jedi had once came to their home and informed them that their daughter had special Force powers. He begged them to let him train her, but her parents thought she was to young, and they didn't want to lose their little girl.
"Mara, why don't you go put your doll away and get ready for dinner," her mother suggested.
"Okay, mommy," Mara said smiling. She got to her room and opened up her toy chest. She thought about putting her doll in there, but then shut the lid. She put her doll on her bed instead.
Mara went in the kitchen and sat down at the table. Her father sat on one side of her and her mother sat on the other. They said their prayers and then passed around the food, just as they did every night.
The family finished their food and her mother put the dishes in the cleaner. Mara and her mother went back out into the main room and her father went into his den.
Her father picked up his comlink and dialed in the number. "Yes, we just finished our meal... I understand... I am willing to make the sacrifice... No, my wife is not in on the decision, but I think it's what's best for our family... Yes, I believe it'll be good for someone in our family to be trained in the ways of the Force... Alright, thank you." Mara's father turned his comlink off. He closed some of the files that adorned his desk and stood up.
He went into the main room and saw his daughter playing on the floor, again, doll in her hand. He closed his eyes and prayed to the Gods that he was doing the right thing and that this man, Skywalker, was telling the truth. He had done his research. According to the files he received, Anakin Skywalker was a good man and Jedi. He had a wife and was trained by one of the best Jedi.
There was a knock at the door and Mara's mother looked up at her husband. He motioned for her to sit and he went to answer the door. What he saw was not what he expected.
A man in black walked in the door. His black armor and helmet shinned in the soft light of the house and his black cape trailed behind him. He stood with one hand on his belt, the other on his Jedi weapon, the lightsaber. His breaths were almost mechanical.
Mara's father's eyes widened. "Who are you? You are not Anakin Skywalker! Get out of my house."
Vader looked down at the man standing before him. He tapped into the Force and the man flew across the room to land on the couch next to his wife whom had started screaming. She got down on the floor and put her body over her daughter's. Mara held her doll close to her and looked up, over her mother's arm, and stared at the man in black.
Vader turned to the three stormtroopers who had come with him. "Pull the mother away from her, but don't kill her." The stormtroopers moved to separate mother and daughter. "That's my job," Vader muttered.
Mara's mother clung to her fiercely and tried to defend herself and her daughter as best as she could unarmed. Soon, though, her fight became useless and she was pulled away from Mara. Two of the stormtroopers carried her over to the couch while the other picked up Mara. She started to cry for her parents and she struggled against the trooper. Vader could feel the power flowing through this child.
Vader stepped toward the two parents and looked them over. He pulled out his lightsaber and slashed the blazing red blade across the woman's stomach and the husband let out a small cry of surprise and pain for his wife. The woman's eyes widened and her mouth gaped open as the pain spread through her body and her husband put his hands on her large cut as though he could close the wound or put pressure on it. Vader was running out of time, so he reached his hand out to the man and, with the Force, strangled him slowly. As the man's wife succumbed to the darkness, her mouth opened, gasping for air, and when his lungs couldn't find any, he, too, succumbed to the darkness that was death.
Mara was screaming at the top of her lungs as she saw the blood around her mother and her father. Vader turned to the trooper carrying the child.
"When we get to the ship, put her in one of the bunks and seal the door. She can not escape in any capacity."
"Yes, Lord Vader."
Soon enough they were off and heading toward the Emperor's ship which was orbiting Couruscant. Vader went in to get Mara, who was sitting on the bunk in her room, her arms wrapped around her legs and her doll clutched in her hands.
"You will soon meet your master, child, you must be presentable. You will not play with toys." He took the doll and threw it down the garbage shaft. The child screamed for her doll, but when Vader faced her again, she was silent. He signaled a young teenage woman into the cell. He turned to her. "Dress her in robes. She will be presented to the Emperor as soon as you finish."
"Yes, Lord Vader."
As the woman dressed Mara in her robes, Vader told the General to make the arrangements to meet with the Emperor soon. The man nodded and hurried off.
Vader returned to Mara's room and saw her dressed in a black Jedi robe. He nodded to the woman and she hurried out of the room.
Vader took the small girl's hand in his black gloved one and led her to the door in front of the Emperor's court. He looked down at her again and opened the door.
The Emperor Palpatine sat in his chair waiting for the potential Jedi. He smiled a crooked smile when he saw her. Against her black Jedi robes, her hair seemed to be on fire. "Excellent, Lord Vader."
Vader bowed before his master and said, "My master, I present my suggestion as to whom should carry the role of your Hand." He paused as the Emperor leaned forward. "I present to you Mara Jade." The Emperor smiled and the young impressionable girl bowed her head in respect.
As Vader helped to sign away a young girl's fate, his "wife" was saying good-bye to her children. Her twins, a boy and a girl, Luke and Leia.
"Good-bye, my precious children," she said softly. "I pray someday we will meet again. I will always be with you. May the Force Be With You." She looked up at OBI-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa and finished, "All of you." The two men bow their heads.
"And to you, Pademe," Bail said respectfully.
Pademe Amidala smiled at her friend. She handed her son to OBI-Wan and her daughter to Bail. She turned to the Chairman and said, "I will try to join you soon, but if I don't, please raise my daughter in your love and support."
"You have my word," Bail said.
She turned to OBI-Wan. "Please watch over him while he lives with your brother. And make sure that he doesn't have contact with you until it's necessary."
"Of course."
"To both of you, Luke and Leia must never know about one another. It would be safer to keep them separated. They must also never know about their father. OBI-Wan, Anakin won't know he has children, correct?"
"Yes, your highness."
"Good. Then I wish you my best and hope everything works out for the better."