To My Daughter...

Written by Lauri Leaf

I do not own any Star Wars characters.

To my darling daughter,

Little One, by the time you get this letter, you will have forgotten about your father, and your mother... you will have been raised by a good family, with little brothers, or sisters. I hope you grow up to look like your mother, with her flaming hair. I pray you grow up without any fear of the empire, without it touching you. I pray, and hope, that you, my darling daughter, live to be the best person you possibly can.

Daughter, I want you to know why I gave you up, why I could not raise you.

I am a Jedi, and the threat of death hovers over my head. I may not survive this dark rising, and neither will any force-born. A jedi's child is so rare, it is instant death, or a life of dark. So my child, you could not be raised by a jedi, not with this price on our heads. If your mother was here, she would have gone into hiding with you, at least you would have had her.

I will miss you, miss seeing your first steps, hearing your first words, I won't see you roll over for the first time, or crawl. I won't be able to sing you lullabies, or read you bedtime stories. I will miss your first scraped knee, your first cold. I won't be able so see you grow up, or to see you married, or to see your babies. I hope, that you never have to go through this my child, giving up your little one.

Mara, I know you won't remember me, or your mother, you won't remember us holding you, and rocking you to sleep. You may not even know who we are, we may just be nameless, or you may not even know we ever existed. If nothing else, look at these holos, and know we loved you.

With all of my love,

Obi Wan Kenobi



Obi Wan folded the piece of paper, and put it and the two holos in a small envelope. He put the envelope in the baby's basket, smoothing her short red hair. He bent and kissed his daughter's forehead, for the last time, knowing he would never see her again. "May the force be with you, my little one." He whispered, his voice breaking, his grief evident.

"Lenna, take care of my daughter, raise her well." He told the woman standing off to the side. She nodded, "General, Mara will be taken care of, and loved. I promise you this, I'd die for this child." She said.

"You must go now, they will will be hear soon." He said, taking one last look at his child, before turning to exit the ship.

"General..., Master, take care." She said, as the ramp retracted, and the door slid down.

Obi Wan Kenobi stood, and watched the ship take off, the future uncertain.

***

Lenna Jade rocked the little baby in her arms,

"Can we touch the soul of heaven

Can we unite a sacred lesson

Every child creates a skylight of beauty

Can you hear cathedrals falling

All the universe is calling

Cry a single cello

From your heart

Since the world has lost her way

Loneliness

Journey endlessly

Yet the promised chance remains

Gift of what could be

So let the children remember the sun

Let them dance, let them soar

For their lives have begun

Let the children engender the rain

As the river runs through fields

Forever subsiding their pain

Prayer

Every voice along the shoreline

Standing still within time

Spinning unresolved

Walking

As each season passes

Through wonderland of looking glasses

The secret garden shines, because you,

Gentle flower, don't fade away

Sweet innocence still harvesting

In the faith of golden dreams

Where one love lives eternally

Let the children remember the sun

Let them dance let them soar

For their lives have begun

Let the children engender the rain

As the river runs through fields

Forever's subsiding their pain

Prayer

Prayer

Prayer... prayer

Bless the children for they are the light

They are the truth of spirit in flight

Yes the children engender the rain

As the river runs through life

Healing their pain

You can trust with your heart but for time

Sweet angel, conceive you have

Forever and always believed

Prayer

Prayer

Oh

Prayer" She sang, rocking back and forth, until the child was peacefully asleep. She stood, and walked to the cradle, laying the infant down, and tenderly covering her with a sea green blanket. She rubbed the baby's stomach, as she moved, and settled into a deep slumber. Lenna turned, and left the child to sleep in her pale green room.

She across thick carpet, to the living area, and settled on the couch with a book. She read and soon fell asleep, book falling to the floor. As she slept, she dreamed...

Bang, bang. The knock on the door startled her. She jumped up, and walked over to the door. She opened it, "Can I help you?" And then she neither said, nor saw, nor heard anything ever again.

The men in the white armor walked in, stepping over the woman's body, and the blood pooling on the floor. A teenage girl followed, her warm blue eyes taking in the sight before her. Sorrow flickered in them, and then it was gone. She hugged her flight jacket close to her, and walked to the back of the house, where the child was wailing.

She sometimes wondered why it was her calling to bring death, why the force wanted her to raise this infant. She walked to the cradle, and picked up the baby, who stopped crying. "Hullo, little one. Little Mara Jade."