(Wow. It's been a really long time since I updated this. Never got around to moving it to my own website, though. The only reason I'm updating this is because so many people seem to be running loops, "Who is she? Where did she come from? How does she fit in with all of this?" Well, I'm sick, so I have time to write right now. Lucky you, and lucky me, I get to torture you with another chapter, MWUAHahahahaaaaa! For reference, Nikki is pronounced like normal, but her full name is pronounced 'Neek-o-lie-ary Moor-ronda.' Hope this finds everyone well, and I hope everyone finds this chapter to be just as good, or better then the last, though I guess it could be called 'J.K. Rowling syndrome,' writing something amazingly excelent, and then having people wanting more, and better, and praying you'll be up to the challenge. Well, God willing....)
Chapter 7 (As if I could top 5 & 6!)
After Nikki had fallen asleep on the medical gurney, covered in several self-heating blankets, Mara and Anakin had gone to lunch, leaving Luke to sit with her, in case she woke up.
Luke sat down on the edge of the gurney, and leaned over her, studying the young face he had known his entire life.
"Who are you?" he whispered, too low, even for him to hear.
She breathed heavily, and turned over on her side. He slid off the edge of the gurney, half sitting, half kneeling on the floor. He brushed a stray lock of damp, dark hair away from her face. "Ben... I wanna go home... I want my family back togeth..."
She was not quite talking in her sleep, more of a musing aloud. Luke wondered for a moment if he would be able to hear her without being a Jedi. Probably not. "... Ben.. wanna go back.. he won't follow... Ben, let go... no choice.."
"Nikki?" Luke hoped talking to her while she was asleep might help her get into a better dream, or at least memory, that would let her rest easier. "Nikki, do you hear me?"
"... I can hear... I know you're there... can't find.. where's the...?"
"Nikki, it's alright now, everyone is just fine. You need to rest now."
*()*()*()*
"So who do you think this girl is?"
"I'm not quite sure." Anakin answered. "I mean, I have an idea, but I'm probably wrong anyway, so it doesn't really matter. Why, who do you think she is?"
Mara shrugged. "A friend of Anakin Skywalker's? Maybe even Luke's mother, your grandmother. I don't know. She does look like a blood-relative."
Anakin pulled Vader's journal out of his flight suit, and put it down on the table. Mara picked it up. "What's this?"
"Vader's personal journal. I found it in his rooms at Bast Castle. He was looking for an eight-year-old girl named Nikki, and said that she was given growth enhancers to keep him from finding her, and when he did find her, she was much older then she should've been. He doesn't say much about who she is, but that Obi-Wan taught her to hate him, and he swears to kill him for it."
Mara began leafing through the synth-paper pages. "Sloppy handwriting..." she muttered.
She stopped suddenly, close to the back of the book, much further then Anakin had read. "What is it?"
"A list of names and dates. Looks like a family tree. Look at this, Anakin Skywalker, his mother, Shmi Skywalker, no father listed for him, but a step-father... Lars?"
Anakin half-stood to see better, but it wasn't the Lars branch that caught his eye. "Look, that's where Uncle Luke and my mom should be."
In place of Luke and Leia's names were the words 'Nikkolayari Moorronda Skywalker,' and 'Unknown.'
(Stay tuned! Already writing the next chapter, which will be mostly be compiled flash-backs.)
Chapter 7 (As if I could top 5 & 6!)
After Nikki had fallen asleep on the medical gurney, covered in several self-heating blankets, Mara and Anakin had gone to lunch, leaving Luke to sit with her, in case she woke up.
Luke sat down on the edge of the gurney, and leaned over her, studying the young face he had known his entire life.
"Who are you?" he whispered, too low, even for him to hear.
She breathed heavily, and turned over on her side. He slid off the edge of the gurney, half sitting, half kneeling on the floor. He brushed a stray lock of damp, dark hair away from her face. "Ben... I wanna go home... I want my family back togeth..."
She was not quite talking in her sleep, more of a musing aloud. Luke wondered for a moment if he would be able to hear her without being a Jedi. Probably not. "... Ben.. wanna go back.. he won't follow... Ben, let go... no choice.."
"Nikki?" Luke hoped talking to her while she was asleep might help her get into a better dream, or at least memory, that would let her rest easier. "Nikki, do you hear me?"
"... I can hear... I know you're there... can't find.. where's the...?"
"Nikki, it's alright now, everyone is just fine. You need to rest now."
*()*()*()*
"So who do you think this girl is?"
"I'm not quite sure." Anakin answered. "I mean, I have an idea, but I'm probably wrong anyway, so it doesn't really matter. Why, who do you think she is?"
Mara shrugged. "A friend of Anakin Skywalker's? Maybe even Luke's mother, your grandmother. I don't know. She does look like a blood-relative."
Anakin pulled Vader's journal out of his flight suit, and put it down on the table. Mara picked it up. "What's this?"
"Vader's personal journal. I found it in his rooms at Bast Castle. He was looking for an eight-year-old girl named Nikki, and said that she was given growth enhancers to keep him from finding her, and when he did find her, she was much older then she should've been. He doesn't say much about who she is, but that Obi-Wan taught her to hate him, and he swears to kill him for it."
Mara began leafing through the synth-paper pages. "Sloppy handwriting..." she muttered.
She stopped suddenly, close to the back of the book, much further then Anakin had read. "What is it?"
"A list of names and dates. Looks like a family tree. Look at this, Anakin Skywalker, his mother, Shmi Skywalker, no father listed for him, but a step-father... Lars?"
Anakin half-stood to see better, but it wasn't the Lars branch that caught his eye. "Look, that's where Uncle Luke and my mom should be."
In place of Luke and Leia's names were the words 'Nikkolayari Moorronda Skywalker,' and 'Unknown.'
(Stay tuned! Already writing the next chapter, which will be mostly be compiled flash-backs.)