Here's chapter 7. I hope you like it. There is basically a huge summary of Episodes 1 and 2 along with a small summary of Kida's life afterwards. I'll alert you when the explanation begins so you can skip over if you wish. Enjoy.
Chapter 7
Many years later found many changes from the time Bail Organa took Leia as his daughter. Kida's children had grown up into adults, Luke and Leia were working with the Rebel Alliance, Ben had been destroyed by Anakin like Kida had foretold, and Luke became the Jedi Master. At the same time Mara-Jade had been working for Emperor Palpatine until he was destroyed by Anakin who had been helped to return to the light side of the force by Luke.
Anakin had died soon after he destroyed Palpatine and became one with the force. When Anakin had died, Lando Clarission had destroyed the second Death Star, the rebels were celebrating the destruction of the empire with the Ewoks on Endor, and Luke was watching his father's empty 'Vader' suit turn to ashes on a blazing funeral pyre.
While Luke watched the fire Kida stood in the shadows, watching the pyre and Luke, the hood of her Jedi cloak covered most of her face with a strand of graying, golden brown hair swirling out from underneath it. The long wide sleeves of the cloak also covered her clasped hands as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Sensing someone nearby, Luke looked away from the pyre, saw Kida standing in the shadows, readied his light saber in case it was necessary, and asked, "Who are you? I don't ever remember seeing you before."
Kida smiled warmly and replied, "You've seen me before, but it was a long time ago when you did. I didn't think that you'd remember me. The last time you saw me you were only a year old." Luke nodded slightly, still on guard as he said, "You're right I don't remember you. But who are you?"
Kida pulled her hood back as she said, "My name is Kidakakash Horato. I knew and worked with your parents, Obi-wan, and Master Yoda." Luke smiled and quickly walked over to her as he said, "Really? You knew them?" Nodding, she said, "Yes I did." Curious, Luke asked, "How well did you know my mother?" Kida smiled as she replied, "I spent several years watching over her. I took care of her from the time you were born til the day she died."
Excited to hear this he said, "Really? What was she like?" Kida smiled a bit sadly at the memory and said, "She was a very kind, caring, and loving mother, and like your sister she was very adamant about what she believed in." Letting the words sink in Luke then said, "Wow. I wish I could have known her."
Kida nodded as she said, "I wish you could have too, Luke. But it wasn't to be." Luke nodded sadly as he replied, "Ya, I guess so. Kida, can you tell me about her? I may not have gotten to know her personally, but maybe I can get to know her if I know about her life." Kida nodded once more and said, "Sure, I'd be honored. But we might want to sit down."
::Episode summary begins::
Luke smiled and replied, "Of course." After they sat down on the grass with the burning pyre glowing behind them, Kida began the tale of the starcrossed lovers, "Well, let's see. She started out in the political realm at the age of 12 as the 'Princess of Theed' on the planet of Naboo. Two years later she was elected to the role of 'Queen Amidala of the Naboo.'
"It was at this time that an organization called the 'Trade Federation' organized a trade boycott against Naboo. Soon after they started the boycott they invaded Naboo, taking it over. At this time Ben was still a padawan of a Jedi Knight named Qui-Gon Jinn. The two of them had been sent to the Trade Federation to work out a settlement of the boycott by the then Chancellor Valorum.
"They landed on Naboo hidden in separate invasion ships. From there they traveled to the capitol city of Thebes to try and warn your mother about the invasion but they were too late. Nute Gunray, leader of the Trade, had already taken over. Obi-wan and Qui-Gon were able to free your mother from droid captors of the Trade. They then left Naboo with her, her handmaidens, some pilots they freed, and the captain of her army in the royal cruiser.
"They sustained damages to the ship as they were escaping and were forced to land on the planet of Tatooine for repairs. Qui-Gon left the ship to go to one of the nearby cities to find the parts needed to fix the ship. He left with R2-D2 and your mother who was disguised as one of her handmaidens. They went into one of the smaller junk shops, which, consequently, was owned by a creature named Watto.
"Watto just happened to own your father, who was only 9 years old, and his mother, a woman named Shmi Skywalker. It was then that your parents met. The first thing Anakin said to her was, 'Are you an angel?' because he thought she was absolutely beautiful. And she was. Your father was an exceptional pilot and mechanic. He was very good at fixing things and even competed in pod races." Hearing this, Luke cut into her narrative and said, "Really? So that's why I'm good at fixing things and flying ships!"
Nodding patiently, Kida continued, "Yes, I guess it is. It was love at first sight when he saw your mother. From that day on he held a crush on her. A crush, which never went away. Your father was able to win his freedom and the parts needed for the Royal ship to be fixed by winning a pod race at Mos Eisly. He then left with them to go to Corusant to speak with the Jedi Council about becoming a Jedi.
"When they got to Corosaunt your mother went to the senate to plead the case of her people against the Trade Federation, ending up with electing a new Supreme Chancellor—Palpatine. Since the Senate wasn't doing anything about the blockade at Naboo your mother decided to go and take back Naboo. Qui-Gon, Obi-wan, and Anakin all went with her.
"When they arrived they gained the help of an army Gungans who lived in the swamps. There was a great battle between the droids the Trade Federation and the Gungan warriors. This battle was a diversion so that your mother, the pilots they had rescued, her captain, Ben and his mentor, and your father could sneak into the palace and capture Nute Gunray who had occupied it after he had taken over.
"During the beginning of the capture attempt Qui-Gon told Anakin to find a place to hide and stay there—which Anakin did by hiding in a starship with R2-D2. As the group was trying to get into the main part of the palace they were confronted by a Sith padawan named Darth Maul. Ben and Qui-Gon battled Maul while the rest of the group took a more roundabout way to get in.
"It was in fighting Darth Maul that Qui-Gon was killed. In retaliation, Obi-wan killed Maul. During the fighting, Anakin accidentally started the ship he was sitting in and it flew right to the main droid control ship, which the rest of the pilots were trying to destroy. Using his pod racing experience Anakin was able to safely land inside the main hanger of the control ship when his ship overheated.
"He accidentally shot a couple of major blasts from his ship and they hit the main reactor, blowing the ship up from the inside. He got out of the ship just before his ship was destroyed and headed back to Naboo. Your mother and the rest of the group were able to capture Nute, ending the invasion. The Jedi council made Ben a Jedi Knight and allowed him to take your father as his padawan, even though he was technically too old to be trained.
"About 10 years later your parents met again. This time your mother was acting as the Senator of Naboo. Your father and Obi-wan were assigned as her bodyguards because there had been some assassination attempts on her life. After one more attempt on her life, Chancellor Palpatine ordered that she secretly go back to Naboo and stay hidden until her attacker was found.
"Your father was assigned the task of watching over her while Ben looked for the mysterious assassin. They hid out on a small island on Naboo. There, Anakin fell more in love with her than ever. Your mother also started to fall in love with him. One night, several weeks after they first arrived on the island, Anakin had a nightmare about his mother being in pain.
"The next morning Padmé came upon him meditating on one of the balconies and he spoke with her about his dream. He told her that he had to help his mother, even if it meant that he had to go against his mandate to protect her. Padmé quickly told him that she was coming along; refuting his complaints by saying that by going with him he wouldn't be going against the Jedi counsel's orders.
"When they arrived on Tattooine they went to Watto's shop, where the little blue creature was working, and after introducing themselves, Anakin asked about his mother. Watto told them that he had sold her some time before to a farmer in a different city. He also said that Shmi had been freed and married by the farmer who had bought her. Watto then gave them the address of the man who had bought her and they then went to the place where they found a droid Anakin had built years before when he was a slave.
"The droid, also known as C-3PO, brought the two into the homestead and introduced them to a man named Lars, his son Owen, and his son's then girlfriend, Beru. Lars then explained to Anakin that Shmi had been taken by Tusken raiders about a month before when she went to get some mushrooms. Hearing this Anakin left soon after to hunt down the raiders and get back his mother, leaving Padmé with Lars and his family.
"When he finally found and freed her from her bonds, Shmi died in his arms, content to have seen her son before she died. When she died something in him snapped and he killed everyone in the camp, including women and children. After doing so, he wrapped up Shmi's corpse and took her back to the farm where she was buried the next day.
"Soon after they buried her, R2 came to them from the ship with a message from Obi-wan talking about what he found out about a man named Count Dooku and his dealings with several organizations. Count Dooku was the leader of a rebellion against the Republic and was amassing a droid army with the help of the Trade Federation and a group called 'The Techno Guild'.
"When the message ended, showing Ben being attacked by something, the Jedi counsel told him to protect Padmé at all costs. Wanting to go and help Ben, Padmé and Anakin left to go to Geonesis, where Obi-wan was being held by whatever had attacked him. They snuck into the underground Insect city of Geonesis through a steam vent and tried to find the main area where Obi-wan was being held captive.
"Unfortunately they were captured by a bounty hunter named Jango Fett and several Geonesisions. They were then taken to Count Dooku and his allies who had them imprisoned and sentenced to be killed in an arena later that day. When they were taken to the arena and chained to separate pillars in the middle of the arena, they found Obi-wan likewise chained to a pillar.
"After having to take down three alien beasts the three of them finally got themselves unchained only to have to battle an entire droid army with the help of the couple hundred Jedi who had hidden themselves among the insect-like aliens. After much fighting the numbers of Jedi dwindled to about twenty or so, Ben, Padmé, and Anakin being among them.
"Only with the help of Master Yoda and an army made up of my own father's clones, were your parents and the rest of the Jedi able to survive the attack. After a long and hard battle between the clone army and the droids the Jedi were able to return to Corusant for a time. It was that battle which began what's now called the Clone Wars and the many years of suffering for many since then.
"Instead of going to Corusant with the Jedi, your parents returned to the island on Naboo and secretly got married with only C-3PO and R2-D2 to witness it. A few months later your mother became pregnant with you and your sister. With the help of me, Obi-wan and the council she was able to keep her pregnancy a secret from your father.
"When she was 8 months pregnant I moved in with her so that I could keep an eye on her till you were born. About a year after she gave birth to you and your sister, Obi-wan came and took you to Tatooine to live with your Uncle Owen and keep you hidden from your father who would have destroyed you.
"A few years later Palpatine killed your mother and I buried her on Naboo. From there Bail Organa took Leia to live with him as his daughter in order to keep her safe from the emperor. After they left Naboo I took my own children to Marro where we've been living ever since." Luke leaned back slightly as her words sunk in and whispered, "Wow, I wish I could have known her."
::Episode summary ends::
Kida nodded in sorrow as she said, "I wish you could have too, Luke, but it was not to be." He then looked over at the gracefully aging woman before him and said, "You said that you knew Ben as well." Once more Kida nodded as she replied, "Yes, I did."
"How well did you know him?" She looked down at the grass and began to fiddle with it as she said, "I knew him very well. Not only did I know him before he knew me but I also worked with him on a mission once, while your father was still his padawan." Quite curious Luke asked, "Really? What was the mission?" Kida shrugged and said, "Nothing much, it was after your parents got married and I was officially a Jedi knight. We were trying to settle some inner tensions on a planet, which was on the verge of civil war." Luke cocked his head as he asked in curiosity, "Other than that mission, did you have any other contact with Ben?"
::Kida's life summary begins::
Kida smiled at the memories as she replied, "Oh yes. As I said earlier, I knew him before he knew me. When I was younger I watched him as he learned the ways of the Jedi under his master, Qui-Gon Jinn. We never met in that time though. It wasn't until we met on the planet of Setack that we actually made contact. I had been in love with him for as long as I can remember but my mother thought that it was just an infatuation that would go away when I got older. My mother told me this, but she was wrong. It never went away, still hasn't, and never will.
"My mother's name was Mitaka Moslee. She was a former Jedi and had once been Yoda's padawan. She eventually married my father – whom I will call Geearoo Horato, the name my mom and I knew him by. His parents were they themselves former Jedi. Unlike his parents, my father had become a bounty hunter – not a Jedi's friend. My mother knew what he was but she loved him anyway.
"My father hated Jedi, as do all bounty hunters, but he made exceptions for his parents and my mother. When I was about a month old my mother took my midicloran count. When she found that it was higher than even Yoda's she consulted my father about taking me to the counsel to be trained as a Jedi but he forbade it. Nevertheless my mother was determined that I would receive training as a Jedi because of my strength in the force.
"So when I was old enough she began training me. When I was about five years old I began to have visions of the future, but I never knew when I would have another. As time went on and I got older I began to gain control over them. So much so that by the time that I was nineteen I had complete control over them. When I have a vision it's not like looking at a picture. Instead it's like it's actually happening right now—plus I can choose who's future I will see.
"When I was nineteen my mom died from an illness. A couple months later my dad was killed on the planet of Geonisis in a battle that became known as the beginning of the Clone Wars. I didn't see him die because I was heading to Corusant to speak with Yoda about becoming a Jedi knight at the time. Nevertheless I still felt his death as a dark wave of sadness and pain that washed over me. It wasn't until I got to Corusant that I realized that he had died. I was able to talk to Yoda and a couple months later I became and official Jedi.
"It was then that I was able to warn the council about the imminent threat from the Sith and tell them about you and your sister's eventual birth. I only told Obi-wan who your mother was. I also told him how much I loved him. After I told him this I left Corusant to find my father's parents whom I had never met. After I met and spent a few months getting to know them I returned to the temple and took on a few missions. The last one I took on was with Obi-wan and your father.
"It was on this mission that Obi-wan told me that he had fallen in love with me. We had a romantic night in a cave that he and I had been forced to make camp in when we got caught in a winter blizzard. It wasn't until after the mission that I found out that I had become pregnant with twins. By this time your mother was eight months pregnant so I went to Naboo, where she was staying, and helped her when you and Leia were born. Like I told you earlier, Obi-wan took you a year later to Tatooine.
"By that time my children were three months old but I never told him about them because I didn't want him to be torn between staying with his children and me and doing his duty and protecting you from your father and the emperor. After Palpatine killed your mom several years later, I buried her on Naboo. Bail Organa then took Leia as his own to protect her from Palpatine, who would have killed both you and her if he had known you existed. Afterwards I took my kids to my grandparent's place where we've been living ever since, while Obi-wan has been watching over you."
::Kida's life summary ends::
Luke sighed and looked at her curiously as he asked, "Can you tell me what my mother's name was? I've always wondered that." She smiled warmly upon Luke as she replied, "Your mother's name was Padmé Amidala Nabierre." Luke sighed happily and said, "What a beautiful name." Kida nodded in agreement and said, "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman." Luke smiled as she said, "Thank you for telling me all this."
She once more nodded and replied, "Of course." Luke sighed again and asked her, "Mistress Kida, do you think you could talk to Leah about what you've told me? I'm sure she'd want to know as well." Kida smiled once more and said, "Of course I will. The sooner the better." They then rose from the grass, with the pyre beginning to die down.
I hope you liked this chapter. I enjoyed writing it, especially the explanation part - at least for my own knowledge (it helped me get the story straight, as I know it, in my brain.). I'm going to begin work on chapter 8 soon, probably tomorrow if I remember it. Because of school, I probably won't have it finished and up for a few weeks. I'll try to get it up A.S.A.P. Please Review - I really would like to know what you think. - jediprophetessSchag