A/N: odd... after the initial swell of reviews (6) for the prologue, I only
got 1 for chapter 1. Hah, well I guess I'm not being patient. I just hope
you enjoy read my stuff as much as I enjoy writing it. All comments are
welcome. Here we go...
Chapter II
* One month later *
"Good morning, stranger." Ruwee said as he invited the young man to take a seat next to him at the dining table. "It's good to finally see you up and about."
Since physically recovering from the accident, the Naberries had provided the stranger with a cybernetic replacement for the right arm he lost as well as a replacement for the leg Ruwee's droids were unable to repair. This morning, he had gathered enough strength to rise from his atrophic sleep in the guest room.
"Thank you, Ruwee." The stranger said.
"We really need to learn your name, or at least give you a temporary name until your memory comes back." Jobal said as she took a seat at the opposite side of the table. "I don't think it's appropriate for us to be calling you stranger like this."
"I can't say I don't agree, Jobal." Ruwee replied to his wife. "We should come up with a temporary name for you."
"How about Marko?" Darred suggested.
The stranger took a few minutes to think it over before nodding in confirmation. "Marko sounds good. I guess I'll take it until I can remember my real name."
"I figured it would fit you." Darred replied. "Marko was my best friend's name. At least he was my best friend until he died in the war."
"I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault, stranger. The Clone Wars was just a horrific time." Darred paused. "Did you fight in the war?"
"I-I can't remember exactly what happened to me before the crash."
"Just keep trying, Marko." Ruwee said. "I know it might be hard with us always asking you to try to remember something, but it's the only way your memory will ever come back. There still isn't a medical procedure for this type of thing; only the right external stimuli can help you to regain your memory."
"So all I really need is a sort of reminder for it all to snap back?"
"It won't all just snap back. It will return to you slowly." Ruwee said. "I also received word from the other nearby settlers. Nobody seems to be missing a son or husband, so I think it's possible that maybe you're not from around here."
"Maybe I'm an off-worlder."
The conversation seemed to come to a screeching halt as Padmé stepped into the room. She looked around the room with a certain expression of discomfort, pausing when her gaze met Marko's. The stranger blinked, a strange feeling coming over him as his gaze met hers. She was so beautiful... Padmé averted her eyes, looking away from the stranger as she hastily made her way upstairs to her room.
"You'll have to excuse my daughter." Jobal said. "She's been a bit temperamental since she returned last. And I can't blame her. She needs some time to recover from what happened."
"Why, was she hurt?"
"No, but what she saw was not easy for her to take." Jobal replied. "She was once a senator for Naboo, and she was in the senate chambers the day Palpatine rose to power. She witnessed a number of horrors there, and I know it must be hard for her to move on after that. The burden of those memories combined with the stress over the accident must be too much for her to take."
Marko nodded in understanding. He couldn't help but think about what happened to Padmé on Coruscant that was so terrible. His file of personal memories seemed to be empty, but there was something familiar about her, something... elusive. She was also so beautiful...
"Have you always lived out here in the country?" Marko asked. "I mean, I'd think that a senator's family would live in a place a bit more... public."
"We actually used to live in Theed, the capital of Naboo." Darred replied.
"What happened?"
"The empire happened." Darred answered. "When the emperor rose to power, we decided it would be best if we moved back to our secluded farm house in the country, away from public eye."
* A week later *
Marko completely stretched his arms and legs out. He held his ribs as he felt them fully healed for the first time. The atrophy was beginning to fade from his body, and his muscles were beginning to get into good shape. He only wished his mental atrophy would fade was well.
The mystery surrounding the stranger's missing memories had not gotten any better in the week that passed. Marko was lost, a stranger in his own mind. So unbeknownst to him was his real name that he had been forced to take on a provisional name.
Night had fallen upon the Nabooian grasslands, and the stars and moon provided their own pale illumination upon the meadow. Marko looked out to the horizon and began to wonder if he would ever relearn his history. What if he was to spend the rest of his life here on this farm, in hiding with the Naberries? Surely that couldn't be so bad, now could it? They were very good folks, who had healed him well. And there was that girl, Padmé- all week he could not help but think of her. But curiosity continued to nag the stranger, and he looked up the stars, wondering if the answers to his past were out there.
"Uncle Marko! Uncle Marko!"
Marko turned around to find a young, eight year-old girl running towards him. He smiled and embraced the girl. "Hey, Pooja? What's the matter?"
The girl frowned. "I had a nightmare."
Marko smiled. "You know, I'm sure that when I was your age, I had nightmares, too." Yes, theoretically that was probably true, but if only he could remember the nightmares. "I'll tell you what; I'll tell you a story. Maybe that can help you to sleep better. Does your daddy ever tell you stories?"
"Yeah, all the time, but I've heard all of them. I wanna hear your story, Uncle Marko."
-----
Marko smiled as the girl slowly fell asleep. He tucked her in gently as not to wake her and walked out of her room.
"For someone who has no memory, you seem to be pretty good at storytelling."
Marko froze in the dark corridor. He spun around. Padmé.
"You and I still haven't talked yet, have we?" She asked.
"I suppose that's because you've always been distant."
Padmé nodded. He was right. She led the stranger down to the living room. Padmé took her usual seat next to the window, the large, brilliant moon shining through the frame. Marko took a seat across from her.
"I've always been... a bit afraid to talk to you." Padmé admitted. The moonlight illuminated her face brilliantly. "Considering everything I've done to you..."
Marko scowled. "What are you talking about?"
"The accident."
"I don't remember what happened, but that couldn't have been completely your fault."
"It was, Marko. It was." Padmé sighed. "I completely stopped paying attention to where I was going, and when I looked up, it was too late... or maybe it wasn't." She shook her head. "I had a second to make my decision. I could have hit the brakes, I could have turned, and I could have done a million different things in that one second I saw you coming. Instead, I panicked and I jumped out. And my speeder plowed right into you."
"Padmé, you blame yourself to much." Marko replied compassionately. He theorized, "For me to have not reacted, I must have been distracted myself."
"But I saw it all happen before my eyes." She replied. "And I can't help but feel responsible for everything that's happened to you- your arm, your leg, the other injuries you've endured, and most of all your memory. I'm sorry."
Marko nodded slowly. "It's ok. I... I forgive you."
Padmé smiled. "Thank you." She said. "I feel a lot better about this now." There was a long pause as the two sat in silence. Marko looked up at the moon through the large window which sat adjacent to them. Padmé took time to analyze him more closely. He was definitely handsome, a trait which the accident had not robbed him of. His eyes looked to be a record more reliable and less damaged than Marko's memory- they seemed to reflect a very pained and traumatized past. As Marko averted his gaze from the moon, he realized that the former senator was staring at him.
"Yes?" He asked as he met her gaze.
Padmé quickly batted her eyes away, realizing she had nearly burned a hole through him with her intense stare. "That story you told Pooja. How... how did you come across it? Did you just make it up as you went along?"
"No." He replied casually. "My mother told it to me when I was about her age."
Padmé scowled. "You remember your mother?"
Marko froze in dead silence. He only now realized that he had somehow subconsciously accessed a lost memory. "I suppose I do."
"What do you remember?"
"Not much, just that she told me the story I told Pooja." Marko scowled as he struggled to recover more of the memory. "I remember her telling it to me, her voice, her every word..."
"What was her name?"
"I... I can't remember."
"Can you remember anything else about her?"
"She was... kind, but burdened, and always working." Marko frowned sharply. "I can't remember anything else."
A/N: Heh... this is certainly different from most any other fanfic I've ever done (almost no action, purely reliant on dialog) but in a way its refreshing to write. I hope to have some more soon. Please review!
Chapter II
* One month later *
"Good morning, stranger." Ruwee said as he invited the young man to take a seat next to him at the dining table. "It's good to finally see you up and about."
Since physically recovering from the accident, the Naberries had provided the stranger with a cybernetic replacement for the right arm he lost as well as a replacement for the leg Ruwee's droids were unable to repair. This morning, he had gathered enough strength to rise from his atrophic sleep in the guest room.
"Thank you, Ruwee." The stranger said.
"We really need to learn your name, or at least give you a temporary name until your memory comes back." Jobal said as she took a seat at the opposite side of the table. "I don't think it's appropriate for us to be calling you stranger like this."
"I can't say I don't agree, Jobal." Ruwee replied to his wife. "We should come up with a temporary name for you."
"How about Marko?" Darred suggested.
The stranger took a few minutes to think it over before nodding in confirmation. "Marko sounds good. I guess I'll take it until I can remember my real name."
"I figured it would fit you." Darred replied. "Marko was my best friend's name. At least he was my best friend until he died in the war."
"I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault, stranger. The Clone Wars was just a horrific time." Darred paused. "Did you fight in the war?"
"I-I can't remember exactly what happened to me before the crash."
"Just keep trying, Marko." Ruwee said. "I know it might be hard with us always asking you to try to remember something, but it's the only way your memory will ever come back. There still isn't a medical procedure for this type of thing; only the right external stimuli can help you to regain your memory."
"So all I really need is a sort of reminder for it all to snap back?"
"It won't all just snap back. It will return to you slowly." Ruwee said. "I also received word from the other nearby settlers. Nobody seems to be missing a son or husband, so I think it's possible that maybe you're not from around here."
"Maybe I'm an off-worlder."
The conversation seemed to come to a screeching halt as Padmé stepped into the room. She looked around the room with a certain expression of discomfort, pausing when her gaze met Marko's. The stranger blinked, a strange feeling coming over him as his gaze met hers. She was so beautiful... Padmé averted her eyes, looking away from the stranger as she hastily made her way upstairs to her room.
"You'll have to excuse my daughter." Jobal said. "She's been a bit temperamental since she returned last. And I can't blame her. She needs some time to recover from what happened."
"Why, was she hurt?"
"No, but what she saw was not easy for her to take." Jobal replied. "She was once a senator for Naboo, and she was in the senate chambers the day Palpatine rose to power. She witnessed a number of horrors there, and I know it must be hard for her to move on after that. The burden of those memories combined with the stress over the accident must be too much for her to take."
Marko nodded in understanding. He couldn't help but think about what happened to Padmé on Coruscant that was so terrible. His file of personal memories seemed to be empty, but there was something familiar about her, something... elusive. She was also so beautiful...
"Have you always lived out here in the country?" Marko asked. "I mean, I'd think that a senator's family would live in a place a bit more... public."
"We actually used to live in Theed, the capital of Naboo." Darred replied.
"What happened?"
"The empire happened." Darred answered. "When the emperor rose to power, we decided it would be best if we moved back to our secluded farm house in the country, away from public eye."
* A week later *
Marko completely stretched his arms and legs out. He held his ribs as he felt them fully healed for the first time. The atrophy was beginning to fade from his body, and his muscles were beginning to get into good shape. He only wished his mental atrophy would fade was well.
The mystery surrounding the stranger's missing memories had not gotten any better in the week that passed. Marko was lost, a stranger in his own mind. So unbeknownst to him was his real name that he had been forced to take on a provisional name.
Night had fallen upon the Nabooian grasslands, and the stars and moon provided their own pale illumination upon the meadow. Marko looked out to the horizon and began to wonder if he would ever relearn his history. What if he was to spend the rest of his life here on this farm, in hiding with the Naberries? Surely that couldn't be so bad, now could it? They were very good folks, who had healed him well. And there was that girl, Padmé- all week he could not help but think of her. But curiosity continued to nag the stranger, and he looked up the stars, wondering if the answers to his past were out there.
"Uncle Marko! Uncle Marko!"
Marko turned around to find a young, eight year-old girl running towards him. He smiled and embraced the girl. "Hey, Pooja? What's the matter?"
The girl frowned. "I had a nightmare."
Marko smiled. "You know, I'm sure that when I was your age, I had nightmares, too." Yes, theoretically that was probably true, but if only he could remember the nightmares. "I'll tell you what; I'll tell you a story. Maybe that can help you to sleep better. Does your daddy ever tell you stories?"
"Yeah, all the time, but I've heard all of them. I wanna hear your story, Uncle Marko."
-----
Marko smiled as the girl slowly fell asleep. He tucked her in gently as not to wake her and walked out of her room.
"For someone who has no memory, you seem to be pretty good at storytelling."
Marko froze in the dark corridor. He spun around. Padmé.
"You and I still haven't talked yet, have we?" She asked.
"I suppose that's because you've always been distant."
Padmé nodded. He was right. She led the stranger down to the living room. Padmé took her usual seat next to the window, the large, brilliant moon shining through the frame. Marko took a seat across from her.
"I've always been... a bit afraid to talk to you." Padmé admitted. The moonlight illuminated her face brilliantly. "Considering everything I've done to you..."
Marko scowled. "What are you talking about?"
"The accident."
"I don't remember what happened, but that couldn't have been completely your fault."
"It was, Marko. It was." Padmé sighed. "I completely stopped paying attention to where I was going, and when I looked up, it was too late... or maybe it wasn't." She shook her head. "I had a second to make my decision. I could have hit the brakes, I could have turned, and I could have done a million different things in that one second I saw you coming. Instead, I panicked and I jumped out. And my speeder plowed right into you."
"Padmé, you blame yourself to much." Marko replied compassionately. He theorized, "For me to have not reacted, I must have been distracted myself."
"But I saw it all happen before my eyes." She replied. "And I can't help but feel responsible for everything that's happened to you- your arm, your leg, the other injuries you've endured, and most of all your memory. I'm sorry."
Marko nodded slowly. "It's ok. I... I forgive you."
Padmé smiled. "Thank you." She said. "I feel a lot better about this now." There was a long pause as the two sat in silence. Marko looked up at the moon through the large window which sat adjacent to them. Padmé took time to analyze him more closely. He was definitely handsome, a trait which the accident had not robbed him of. His eyes looked to be a record more reliable and less damaged than Marko's memory- they seemed to reflect a very pained and traumatized past. As Marko averted his gaze from the moon, he realized that the former senator was staring at him.
"Yes?" He asked as he met her gaze.
Padmé quickly batted her eyes away, realizing she had nearly burned a hole through him with her intense stare. "That story you told Pooja. How... how did you come across it? Did you just make it up as you went along?"
"No." He replied casually. "My mother told it to me when I was about her age."
Padmé scowled. "You remember your mother?"
Marko froze in dead silence. He only now realized that he had somehow subconsciously accessed a lost memory. "I suppose I do."
"What do you remember?"
"Not much, just that she told me the story I told Pooja." Marko scowled as he struggled to recover more of the memory. "I remember her telling it to me, her voice, her every word..."
"What was her name?"
"I... I can't remember."
"Can you remember anything else about her?"
"She was... kind, but burdened, and always working." Marko frowned sharply. "I can't remember anything else."
A/N: Heh... this is certainly different from most any other fanfic I've ever done (almost no action, purely reliant on dialog) but in a way its refreshing to write. I hope to have some more soon. Please review!