Chapter Four

by Saber Girl Leia

AN: Sorry this took a while, but it's longer than the other chapters so far, so hopefully that makes up for it. :D

Ariapaige: Thanks soooo much for the review! You are the only constructive criticism I have gotten, I think. Sorry I didn't get the first one till now. Here's more. By the way, you should really continue your story "Holo'cordings." It started out very interestingly (is that correct grammar? :o)

I think I said it was about a month between the chapters... Sorry if that was confusing/didn't make sense. About the potty-training thing, that was still going on. If you meant that babies don't start toilet-training till long after a month, her body is an adult's, so maybe her body would at least have more control... slight blush

Yeah, it will be a while for her to learn to talk, but probably not much longer than the average 'normal' baby because her brain is a baby's; children pick up languages quickly. I suppose some pronunciations might give her problems (because of tongue/mouth-muscle habits), but I wouldn't think it would in any language Cray had spoken.

Everything about Ella I have to write with some artistic licensee, because, obviously, this hasn't ever happened.

Thanks for the advice about 'coulda.' I only meant to write like people talk. Most people I know use slang/contractions fairly often. However, you may be right about it bringing different assumptions about various characters into play.

Again, thank you very much for the opportunity to think about all that and the suggestions about it.

Other Author's Notes: To make this story work, I am going to need to have Ellie start out with a slightly more advanced brain than 'normal' infants. Some possible explanations I am working with for later chapters include that some small bit of Cray was retained in her body, or that Callista managed to teach her and/or she managed to mentally grow a little during the thirty years the were stuck in the Eye.

"Really, Leia, it's fine. I can deal with Ellie for a day. Go out with your kids. You guys don't have nearly enough time as a family."

"Neither do we," she sighed. "Fine, I just hope you got a lot of sleep last night-- raising a baby is tiring. There's a reason it's meant to be a two-person job." After saying goodbye, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the kids left.

Luke hoped Leia didn't realize how much her last comment had hurt him. He knew it had not been intended that way at all, but just the same...

Callie. He would still wake up crying, thinking of her. The attempt at a private family funereal had, if anything, made it harder. No one else had known her. No one else mourned with Luke. Ellie was too young to understand.

But when Luke was most ashamed was when he was disappointed in Ellie. He had no right to be. It happened rarely, but Luke always felt a traitor when he found himself wishing just a little that she could be a little more normal...

What place does a normal person have in this family anyway? he thought sarcastically. I have no right to be ashamed. I have been blessed with a child. He had simply not been blessed with a wife.

Ellie called out, interrupting her foster father's musings. "I'm coming sweetie!" he called. Once he was nearer to her, he continued in baby talk.

Threepio, pragmatic as always, interrupted. "I do think she may be hungry, Master Luke."

"Right, right, breakfast." Luke hurried to get out and heat up some leftovers. He continued a stream of "Is wittle Ellie hungwee? Is she gonna eat her yummy foodies?" All of which made Threepio insane, of course.

Luke brought her the plate of odds and ends from the past few days and began to spoon-feed her. He and Leia had tried to teach Ellie to hold a spoon, but she hadn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. Perhaps part of the problem was that they expected too much of her too soon, Luke wondered, being deceived by her adult appearance.

Unfortunately, Ellie did know how to throw food. Luke suddenly found his face covered in a glob of mashed topato. At that range, even he couldn't have blocked it. At least she hasn't figured out how to do it with the Force yet... Luke groaned at Ellie's triumphant giggle as some well-aimed noodles made their mark on the nearest wall. The spoon followed; it all finally coming to rest in a puddle on the floor.

As he surveyed the damage, Luke tried to pacify his daughter through the Force. She did calm down, but the damage was already done. And Threepio, not surprisingly, had the bad fortune to step in the mess and go sprawling.

Luke just put his head in his hands.

When Leia, already quite far from the house, 'heard' her brother's trouble through the Force, she let out a groan.

"Luke?" Han asked knowingly.

"What do you think?"

He began to usher the kids back in the direction they had just come from. Sad voices piped up, "Why are we stopping?" and "What's wrong, Daddy?"

Leia stopped her husband with a hand on his shoulder. "No. You guys stay out. I'll go help him. It's probably nothing major-- keep your comlink on and I'll join up again as soon as I can." Han looked disappointed, but nodded at her determined look. They quickly kissed; then Leia headed back towards home.

Mara was much closer when she felt it. Skywalker needs help again... He hadn't actually called for help... but it was easy enough to infer, wasn't it? Ah, well. It wasn't like she'd had anything special planned for the day. And helping the great Jedi cope with his foster daughter would be an interesting change from rescuing him from insane super-villains.

Here we go again...

From a distance, the house appeared peaceful enough. It was only when Mara was on the doorstep that she could hear a repetitive chorus of Threepio's usual nervous chatter combined with a baby's cries.

And, as she could tell through the Force, Luke was sleeping.

The woman could have screamed.

Instead, she demurely unlocked the door, and struggled to keep her head once she saw the mess inside.

Threepio was flailing in the corner; flat on his back in the mess which appeared to have once been a meal of noodle-soup. He and Artoo, who was pushing some sort of mop-like appendage around another part of the floor, were arguing in a combination of Basic and Droidspeak.

To the right, Mara could see Ellie in what passed as her 'high chair.' It wasn't actually raised at all, but she was strapped into it, and there was a tray attached to the front. The tray was, not surprisingly, covered in once-edible glop. Ellie was giggling as she mashed the mess around. When she reached out to wave at 'Auntie Mara,' it trickled down her arms to drip sickeningly onto the floor.

And Skywalker was asleep with his head on the table. And, it appeared, with topato on his head. Mara groaned.

"Why me? Why, why, why, why, why..." she complained aloud.

Threepio broke off his argument to answer. "I'm sorry, Mistress Mara, but I must say I don't know."

"Uh... Right Threepio," she helped him up. "Why don't you and Artoo go to the nearest repair shop and get washed up or something."

"Why certainly, Ma'am. That is the best idea I have heard in quite some time. A good cleaning will feel so good on my aching circuits..." the taller droid continued rambling as he left, followed by Artoo.

At least that's one problem out of my way, Mara thought. Not that there isn't plenty more to do.

First came Skywalker. He obviously hadn't been getting enough sleep. Mara used a little Force-trick she knew to prod his brain slightly so he would stay asleep while she washed his face.

It was rather disgusting. She decided to wash Ellie first, so the girl could not make more of a mess then she already had. After much squirming and squealing, Mara managed to return bits of Ellie's arms to their normal color. Washing her face was even harder.

Eventually Mara figured out that Ellie would behave better if her attention was on something else. The redhead tried tickling her and waving a small, shiny necklace just out of her reach. By the end, both were soaking wet but laughing. Mara got her adopted niece reasonably clean, then locked her in the playpen with some toys and a monitor, just in case.

The next article of business was Luke himself. Checking to make sure that her Force-prodding was still working, Mara got a damp washcloth from the bathroom and proceeded to wipe down her friend's face. To her dismay, the cold gunk was in his hair as well.

"How did this happen to you?" Mara mumbled allowed as she worked; "Couldn't you use your Jedi reflexes to block it or something?" she was slightly mocking. "Come on, the great Luke Skywalker's being beat up by babies, now?"

To her shock and slight embarrassment, Mara realized that Luke's face and hair were spotless and she was still running her fingers through his hair and stroking his face...

The woman pulled her hand back as if burned. She knew she was alone, but nonetheless gave a self-conscious glare at the rest of the house.

"Come on," she muttered, back to business. Mara stood up, dropping the washcloth to the floor, and lifted Luke; half physically and half with the Force. She carried him back to the bedroom, placed him on the bed, and pulled up the covers. "You are going to get some sleep, you hear me?" she admonished the sleeping Jedi.

Mara sighed and collapsed into a chair near the bed. She simply was not ready to face cleaning the kitchen. Mara Jade, cleaning up after a baby... she almost laughed the thought was so absurd. But it was bittersweet, as well. The whole thing was.

She knew Luke, having grown up an orphan and losing his aunt and uncle at eighteen, had always wanted a proper family of his own. And he really had not had the best of luck in family matters.

First there had been the shocking news of his father. When Anakin Skywalker had returned from the dark crevices of his own mind during the battle of Endor, Luke had found his true father-- only to see him die minutes later, knowing there was nothing he could do. Leia, Han, and their children had been a blessing, as well as Luke's few close friends, but Mara knew that sometimes seeing the children hurt him, too. He wanted his own.

As far as Mara knew, Gariel Capiston had been the only woman he even attempted to court between finding out that Leia was his sister and meeting this Callista. She did not know much of the matter-- only what Leia had told her in a rare burst of talkativeness and super-friendliness towards the ex-assassin. When Gariel more or less rejected him for their religious differences and jobs, as Leia said, Luke seemed crushed. He only wanted a companion... and though he was as inseparable from both Leia and Han, he often seemed to feel that he should not be taking their time from each other.

And then there had been Callista.

Mara did not know; even Leia did not know, much of the story. Luke had mentioned the mysterious woman only briefly, but it was clear that his mind was always on her, and even Luke Skywalker did not have control over his emotions all the time. So Mara knew a little of the incident.

Callista had been a Knight of the Old Order, who, dying, had somehow stored the very essence of herself inside a ship's computer, and stayed their thirty years. Mara supposed she must have been a very strong person to live like that, so alone, for so long.

But not completely alone. With her baby. Of whom Luke had apparently known nothing of until the note. Which was, in Mara's view, a rather rotten way to tell your so-called boyfriend that you were pregnant with the child of your dead lover. And had been so for thirty years. Though the last part wasn't so much rotten as just plain weird.

Had she ever wondered how her baby would turn out? Talked to her? Certainly. Perhaps even taught her some, if that was possible under the circumstances. But just as certainly Mara supposed that Callista-- Callie, as Luke referred to her, had never predicted what had happened.

In the end, she had given up her life for her child; as any true mother would if it was the only way. But by doing so, she had left the girl to Luke, a single, busy man who put himself in harm's way for others nearly every day. Which was darn irresponsible, in Mara's eyes.

Mara herself occasionally dreamed of a family, but knew in her heart how unlikely it was that those dreams would ever be realized. She was the Ex-Emperor's Hand; it was known publicly now, and even many of those who might once have been willing to date her nonetheless were probably now afraid of bad publicity. And most of them would have likely been Imperial jerks who still believed she had been just a 'plaything' to Palpatine. And most of them, she did not want anything to do with.

And much as she liked to think that she had turned her life around, which she had, Mara didn't think she really deserved anything for herself at this point. She had to work for everything she got. And a family was not something she knew how to work for.

Skywalker, on the other hand, deserved a lot. Funny, Mara mused, how her opinion of him had changed so much in such a short period of time. But at the moment he was landed with Ellie, which must be as much a burden as the fulfillment of his dreams. Luke loved Ellie, Mara knew, but she doubted even he was entirely without small feelings of frustration and even anger that the girl was as she was. It wasn't fair, how he always ended up with the hardest parts of life.

Mara's thoughts switched tracks somewhat, though she still could not quite bring herself to face the kitchen yet. Luke looks so peaceful in his sleep... She was glad they were friends, now. To think she had wanted; had tried to kill him... She didn't want to think about it. That she had not pulled the trigger when she had a gun to his head was one of the greatest blessings Mara felt that she had ever received. And one of the few she even classified as a blessing. Most things she attributed to her own smarts. Or lapses in thinking.

Why hadn't Luke and Callie and Ellie, in fact the whole family, been blessed with Callie's continued life? What higher power had denied the one Jedi her child and the two their love? And for what?

Mara had had her share of fun times with Ellie, and helping to rebuild the house, but not she nor Leia nor anyone else could replace the hole in the little family. Most of them had never met the woman, and they mourned her anyway.

It all would have been better if Callie had lived, Mara supposed.

Don't worry you all! I know Mar's all depressed and wishing Callie were with Luke (unnh) in this chapter (hey, I didn't say I agreed with it all) but they'll find each other pretty soon, I think. (I hope, it all depends on what my Master, er, I mean my Muse, dictates. Then again, I don't have to take orders from her if I don't want to! So... whatever.) Please review, even if you don't like it. Constructive criticism rocks!! (But do please take note of the constructive bit. ;) )