Disclaimer: I own not Star Wars...

All songs are from Tecnolife: UVERworld and are from the BLEACH soundtrack.

Injured with pain and sadness, the you that cannot be healed
Shoulder the burden of the past that cannot be erased; don't throw away your will to live...

Chapter Two

A pair of glowing red eyes in the secretive base of Holocrof glanced at the hired furry alien spy. The antelope-like Shinimi swallowed and shivered across the spacious room.

The room was a precise copy of the interior of a command center aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer. But there was one thing different from this room and the bridge of the Imperial-class battleships. This room was void of soldiers, officers—void and somehow even more fear enspiring.

Iiriini had heard about the man, the alien, in front of him, and the tales about his brilliance and cunning made the fur stiffen into tight spines from his neck down to his back.

He reached a paw into his drive pack and retrieved a small, rectangular object.

"I have the chip, sir," he said in Basic. "Was it all you needed?"

The once believed to be dead Grand Admiral picked the chip up between his index finger and thumb, then wordlessly slipped it inside a datacard. His expression never changed. There was no twitching of the lip, no adding or lessening to the unblinking red eyes.

"Very good, Iiriini. Yes, this is all I need at the moment. You may leave."

Grand Admiral Thrawn waited until the alien was out of sight before switching on the transmission button. The New Republic was in an uproar about something. But even his espionage agents hadn't gathered sufficient detail. All they had gathered were rumors…

A holograph image was projected and he sucked in his breath.

Cecia Norvar.

I-I-I-I-I

Cecia stared up at the holo charts. Three weeks had passed since giving birth to Sorvan. In that time she found she enjoyed time spent with her child. Surprisingly, her nightmares of the child's violent conception had grown fewer and farther in between. She had expected the dreams to increase, not decrease.

Sorvan gurgled and cooed up at her, his eyes inquisitive. He was already able to hold his head up, and Cecia had witnessed him attempting to maneuver around his crib.

Three weeks. Didn't babies normally begin to crawl at six to seven months of age? Or was that cruel tyrant's species a short lived race?

Cecia frowned. She didn't want Sorvan to grow up too fast, though it seemed inevitable.

The door chimed and she instinctively had the crib pulled into another room. Out of sight. Since the infant's birth she had had problems with some groups of people who believed her son should rightfully die for his father's crimes. Leia Organa Solo had tried to open up negotiations with those individuals, but they were too stiff necked and filled with hate for Grand Admiral Thrawn to listen.

Already since Sorvan's birth there had been several attacks on her own life. Especially after the same said group of people found out she was trying to protect her child. Even when she went to work with the specialized bodyguards that were assigned to her, she could hear whispers of the word, "Traitor," in the air.

What had the child done? Sorvan was innocent in his father's crimes. But it seemed some individuals lived in hatred and intolerance for others.

Cecia Norvar hit the right keys in the door panel and it slid open to reveal Leia Solo standing outside it. Her brown hair was put up in a gold comb and she was wearing a long pink and white gown. The colors were pastel, light, and the material was airy.

"Hello, Cecia!" she greeted, a warm smile on her lips. But her eyes were solemn. She knew what effect the threats were having on Cecia.

"Hi, Senator Organa Solo," Cecia said, relieved to see the older woman.

"May I come in?"

"I don't mind, no. You may come in."

Leia told Cecia that it would be best to secret herself away to the distant planet of Naboo and change her name and identity.

She told Cecia Norvar that the action would be paid for entirely from the New Republic to ensure her safety.

Cecia glanced at the room the child was in. Yes, she needed to find shelter from the eyes of those filled with the most hatred.

"Yes. I'll leave. I have been very worried about Sorvan's safety."

I-I-I-I-I-I

Leia Organa Solo stepped outside of the apartment complex feeling as though the war would never end. With Grand Admiral Thrawn dead, she had naively believed the threat to her twin children and to Cecia Norvar's child, Sorvan. But it seemed the enemy was within the senate.

So many aliens were so embittered against the Empire that they didn't realize their hate could hurt an innocent. Norvar was an ex-Imperial, a New Republic citizen.

Something was following her down to the hangar where her speeder was stationed.

She kept walking, hand instinctively moving toward the lightsabre her twin brother, Luke Skywalker had given her.

She paused midstep, took a deep breath, turned around and—

There was no one directly in front of her, but she could sense someone was there. The speeders and guard rails disguised the stalker.

Leia picked up the sound of a couple talking, the lull of quiet conversation within the hangar bay. She was surrounded with people, yet the sense of danger was eminent.

Out of the corner of her eye she thought she witnessed an gazelle-like alien with twisting, curling horns sprint into a speeder, blending itself neatly in with the aerial traffic.

Whatever it was, the feeling of being stalked had been depleted by the Shinimi's escape.

I-I-I-I-I

Cecia held her son close to her breast, bottle feeding him the special concoction formed by the lead scientists of the New Republic. She had discovered soon after giving birth to Sorvan that he couldn't take human milk very well and so had relied upon certain specialists.

This had disappointed her, having been looking forward to breast feeding her baby. She was glad that Sorvan was safe, that he was still unharmed from the vicious attacks.

"Sometimes I wish I was still serving the Empire. No, even then the New Republic would have kept trying to kill me. It's a no-win situation," she said aloud.

Sorvan gave a whimper in protest as the milk ran out, then began to wail. Loudly.

There appeared to be no difference between this child and a human child. Both were annoying at times and for the same reasons.

"All right, all right. Mommy's gonna get some more."

She set him back down in his crib.

She searched through her cabinets to find the dry formula. Ah. There it was. Underneath the canned, shredded bantha meat.

She measured it out into a bottle, added water, shook well, then gave it to the hungry, crying baby. Despite the fact Sorvan was mostly cute and good, there were times when Cecia almost wanted to throttle him.

Satisfied when his mouth was over the nipple of the bottle, he contentedly began sucking it, becoming very quiet.

Sometimes I wonder what life was like without him, she thought. She thought of the threats and closed her eyes to the tears that built up in them. Losing Sorvan to those terrorists would be the worst case scenario. She instinctively held him closer at the thought, holding him tight against her chest.

He made a whine of protest and she lightened up on her grip.

I-I-I-I-I

The third-class freighter to Naboo streamed through space.

Cecia stared outside her port window, glad that so far all had gone smoothly. Sorvan was wrapped in blankets to ensure he remained hidden to the eyes of curious aliens and humans alike. With his glowing red eyes staring out from the shadows of the blanket it was a little bit of a challenge.

Beside her sat a family of Weeqays and across sat a menacing looking Devaronian, horned head bowed in sleep.

Cecia tried to remember her name was Elra Quantor now. Or, that was the name she wanted once she changed it. Hopefully someday she would be able to revert to the original.

The ship beamed out of hyperspace and a brass voice squawked over the intercom, "We are making landing on Platform 234 on Keren. Please stand by."

There was a roar from the ion jets and Cecia relaxed back, holding Sorvan protectively against her breast. She was very careful not to let him be seen by the aliens around her. She found out she needn't have worried; the other life forms were too excited about the landing to be interested in whether or not Sorvan was a genuine human baby. They could really care less.

It was hectic after landing to find a tansport to the large town of Moenia. The Minister of State had bought a private house for her on the outskirts of the town. It was supposed to be protected with specialized guard droids disguised as domestic protocal units. In case more fanatics against Grand Admiral Thrawn appeared they would be ready.

After getting a personal transport, Cecia Norvar looked below to watch the lands and forested valleys of Naboo move below her. After a period of time she saw the structures of Moenia. Her brown eyes took in the central art center, a place of focus in the city. Many artists lived in Moenia, as the city was known for them.

On the outskirts the transport made a landing outside a small house with the typical Naboo style green domed roof. The structure was surrounded by trees, partially obscuring it. Pruned bushes were around it, giving it a more domestic feel. Outside was one of the guard droids, appearing for all the world to be trimming the bushes.

"Will that be all, lady?" the driver of the transport asked politely.

"Uh-huh," Cecia said in affermative, "that will be all. Thank you."

She paid him and then entered the house, feeling relieved that the last of the attacks were behind her. She doubted anyone would be able to trace her in the area. And if they did she had her droids to protect her.

"Good evening, Miss Quantor," one droid said.

Cecia was glad to hear that the droids had had her new name written in their databanks. Now all she had to do was get used to being Elra Quantor.

Whenever she went anywhere she would have to leave Sorvan behind with a nanny droid, though it tore her up inside at the mere thought of leaving him alone even for a little while.

I-I-I-I-I-I

Iiriini sat across from Grand Admiral Thrawn. Had Thrawn not paid him large amounts of money, the special agent would have been tempted to blurt out the secret to the New Republic that the Grand Admiral was still living. Though, the Shinimi was still confused as to how he was alive. Didn't the rumors say that he had been assassinated by his bodyguard? Had he been able to recover even though the bodyguard supposedly stabbed him in the back, knife ripping through his heart?

Thrawn was leaning casually back in his seat, red eyes partially closed.

"Very interesting, Iiriini," he said after a moment of tense silence. Tense silence, that is, for the Shinimi. Then he sat up, red eyes fully open.

"Do you know fram what group the attacks were from?"

"Most notably resentful Imperial prisoners and a small group of smugglers and bounty hunters," Iiriini said.

"How many attacks were there on Norvar?"

"Five in a period of two weeks."

There was a brief silence as Thrawn mused over those words.

"What weapons were used?"

"Blasters. Slug throwers. Detanotors. I traced the origins of each weapon to the Carsh'ra Armament House," Iiriini said. He tried not to allow his voice display fear in the presence of the alien Grand Admiral, though he whistled between his words every now and then.

"Excellent. Your payment will be tripled," Thrawn said.

All fear seemed to leap out a virtual, mental window at those last few words. Iiriini would be rich. Very rich.

"Th-thank you, sir!" he breathed. Then, while the prospect of being very wealthy filled him wiped away pretence, he added, "Sir, why are you so interested in Cecia Norvar?"

Thrawn's facial expression remained the same, composed and cool. But his eyes seemed to have more of a fiery intensity to them.

"I understand your curiosity, Agent Iiriini. But. I cannot give out that information at this moment. In the meanwhile keep a close eye on Norvar. You know what to do."

"Yes, sir."

To be Continued…

Your hand that I held...

Will we lose it someday?
I want to protect you and that disappearing smile
The ringing voice that calls me dries out
Even if it gets erased by the wind along time I will find you...