Fate, So Beautifully
A Star Wars Romance
Written by: Nehru_Amidala
Inspirations: the myth of Hades and Persephone, Sailor Moon, Edward Scissorhands, The Nutcracker, The Thrawn Trilogy, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, Downton Abbey
Pairings: Thrawn/Jaina (Main!), Luke/Mara, Han/Leia, Jacen/Tenel Ka, Anakin/Tahiri, Ar'alani/Paelleon, Eli/Vah'nya
Author's note: Please do not nitpick with the ideas presented here. I will not change my stories to make you happy. Also, big thanks to Pashatemur for answering my questions about Chiss society! This makes chapters 12 through 15 easier to write!
Tropes used in this story and trigger warnings: time travel, true love conquers all, earning a happy ending, grey vs gray morality, miscarriage, premature birth, abandonment, redemption, rising to meet your fate, to see with eyes unclouded
Timeline: Mix of Legends and Canon
Voice cast list: Thrawn- Benedict Cumberbatch, Jaina- Anne Hathaway, Luke- Mark Hamill, Mara- Karen Gillam, Han- Harrison Ford, Leia- Carrie Fisher, Jacen- Elijah Wood, Tenel Ka- Renee Felice Smith, Ar'alani- Angie Harmon, Paelleon- Joe Spano, Eli- David Tennant, Vah'nya- Stephanie Sheh, Ysanne Isard- Lucy Liu, Supreme General Bak'if- Mark Harmon, Ar'alani- Angie Harmon, Al'iastov- Liv Tyler, Che'ri- Jessica Brown Findley, Thurfian- Dan Stevens, Aristocra Formbi- Allen Leech, Captain Niriz- Antonio Banderas, General Covell- Michael Weatherly, Lieutenant Tschiel- Art Parkinson, Captain Voss Parck- Matt Smith
Author's notes: Bolygó is the Hungarian word for planet (apologies for not fixing this!) since I imagine Csaplar to be an intergalactic version of Budapest. In the Parliament building's dome, there really are statues representing the former rulers, and yes several are looking at the statute of Maria Theresa. Also, the CS is pronounced as a CH, and the S is pronounced as an SH. (i.e. Maris(h)ka Hargitay, Budapes(h)t.)
(Birthday- Joe Hisaishi)
Stave 15: Homecoming, Part 4
Thrawn and Jaina may have slept well during the night, but Vader hadn't. Sure, he had slept well enough at his main base, Bast Castle on Mustafar (he a fortress with the same name on Vjun). While yesterday's podrace return had been a coincidence in broadcasting times, the feelings it reminded him of were eating away at what remained of his withered, decaying soul. He could not remain on Csilla, Thrawn and Jaina had to move forward without him. His destined meeting with his son awaited. Comming Bak'if, Darth Vader commandeered his own shuttle and headed back to the Death Squadron. He had mountains of paperwork to fill out, not to mention bounty hunters to greet.
The young couple were still pleasantly abed, and only vaguely aware Vader had departed when the raspy cackle of a corvid broke the early morning silence…before crashing into the window. THUD! Jaina peaked out from under the covers and yawned. She knew birds ran into windows all the time on Yavin IV, but when she opened the blinds- there was blood on the window! From the bed, Thrawn inquired as to what was going on, and Jaina told him. Curious, he got up to examine the crime scene splattered on the window.
After the lights were switched on, the bloodied outline of a large bird stained the weatherproof glass. Rentorian ravens were a diurnal species, and among the most intelligent of bird species. They only divebombed windows if had brain parasites or poor vision. Jaina wanted to investigate, and Thrawn made the suggestion they do so after eating some breakfast. They had quite the day ahead of them, early dinner, and a ball for all of the couples from the Forty Great Families and the Nine. These balls were held every 2-3 months and were personally hosted by an Arsitocra who had no personal connections/sway with any of the Nine, in order to avoid playing politics. Dinner was at 5:30 and it would all be over by 11 PM. This was because all the attendees had day jobs, and Thrawn and Jaina were scheduled to return to the Chimaera. Under Isard's strict orders, the Seventh Fleet was receiving new commanding officers from the Eighty Third Fleet, stationed outside of Sluis Van.
Once they were in their pajamas and dressing gowns, they meandered out to the back patio, with it's stone and brick floor. The ex-raven was not pining for the fjords, it had joined the choir invisible. Talons up in the air, Thrawn poked it with a trowel, but what caught his eye was something caught in it's beak. "You have to see this, Jaina," he informed her.
Going back inside for a first aid kit, and a butcher knife, Jaina chopped the bird's head clean off. The knife made a clinking sound. Lodged in the bird's throat was a strange looking crystal. It looked a quartz crystal you would see at a science museum, but it had a strange amethyst hue to it. It felt strangely cold and heavy, and Jaina could tell this was no ordinary kyber crystal.
She and Thrawn talked about it, and the decision was made to take it back with them and have it tested in one of the onboard science labs. They had tested plenty of kyber crystals before.
The rest of the day went on as about as normally as possible, with the main event creeping closer. The ball and dinner called for what they had worn at the betrothal ceremony, so once everything else had been packed and ready to go after breakfast tomorrow morning, Al'iastov picked them up and drove them to a smaller cavern on the southern outskirts of Csaplar, where several of the Forty Great Families has their manor houses and attached acreages.
(Downton Abbey Theme- John Lunn)
Formbi's family estate was old, over 800 years old and it was a veritable castle, hewn from a light yellow stone common in the asteroids sitting outside Ascendancy space. It was a fine old house, bordering on what many considered to be an outright aping of the grandeur associated with the Nine, dating from the earliest days of the Ascendancy's foundation. Formbi himself was proud and cold, politics was his life. He thought very little of outsiders, and less of those who were fluent in Sy Bisti. He was neutral to his peers who served in the CEDF, and wasn't exactly thrilled Mitth'raw'nuruodo married a human, but one who happened to use the Force as easily as one piloted a Clawcraft. Then again, Mitth'Jai'nasolo's grandfather was Emperor Palpatine's right hand, and the girl herself was heir apparent to the late planet Alderaan, and from what was understood the refugees had claimed a planet christened New Alderaan. The exiled had returned to engaged to an honest to goodness princess. He had been there when Jaina had made her presentation and while what she had shared had frightened him, but he could not deny her information was important to heed. Anyone foolish enough not to heed her warnings would come to a bad end.
Al'iastov had dropped the couple of, and as they were the first there, the butler showed them into the well-lit front hall. Servants were taking coats from the men and placing bags and purses into set aside closets. They were wearing a nondescript livery as the Forty Great Families did not have the family crests the Nine did. Formbi walked down the stairs, and bowed to the couple. Thrawn gave a small bow and Jaina curtseyed.
"Bun'zan'i ch'at ch'eo bean'i, K'on'bah Ch'abcesit Mitth'raw'nuruodo vim Nunaten Tiri catazib. Ch'ah bun'zan'i vah veah ch'a k'ein's'ehn tir csei s cas." (Welcome to my estate, Rear Admiral Thrawn and Lady Skywalker. I welcome you as a betrothed couple this evening.)
"Nah bin'vi sir veo ch'itizisas csei s cas, Ch'asercuvsici Formbi. Ch'acniuh Jai'nasolo vim Ch'ah csarcican't cart sasco ch'at tisut na bah vah ch'at to ch'atah K'icetei." (We thank you for your generosity this evening, Aristocra Formbi. Both Jai'nasolo and I will be sure to speak well of you to the other Families.)
Satisfied with this response, Formbi left them to find their way to the ballroom overlooking a great swath of forest. Sitting down to dinner, it was clear this was expensive to put on from the host's perspective. A five-course meal (soup as appetizer, salad, sorbet for cleansing the palette, main course and dessert), booking the local orchestra, not to mention hiring all the servants to prepare everything, from the decorations to cleaning up afterwards.
More couples joined them, and as the evening progressed, Jaina got a good deal of talk about the interhouse rivalries, and this did not surprise her at all. It seemed that wherever she went, people were still the same, no matter the species. Dinner was delicious: cream of tomato soup, Caesar salad, lime sorbet, and then roast beef with oven roasted asparagus and sliced apples glazed in a brown sugar and red wine sauce, with slices of chocolate cake for dessert
Once the dishes had been cleared, Thrawn led her to the dance floor. It was tradition for the first dance to be a pas de deux, and as the couples joined the dance floor, Thrawn pulled Jaina close and kissed her forehead gently. Of all the couples waltzing on the floor, there was a natural grace to Thrawn and Jaina. There's was not the arranged marriage involving dowries and long conversations between the older generations of both families. There's had been willed by the Force, a chance meeting via time travel, and a mutual respect and true affection built over time. The older chaperones could see this a mile away, that marriage would be a strong one.
(It's Hard Work- Spirited Away)
Thrawn and Jaina enjoyed themselves immensely and went to bed in high spirits. The following morning was an early one, they had to be back on board the Chimaera by 2 PM local time, and it was a tight arrival window, even with a point 5 hyperdrive. Luckily for them, Vader had one installed on one of the CEDF's deep space shuttles. The Chimaera landing crew and all senior officers had been informed by Lord Vader about this, so they would not be blasted into oblivion.
Thrawn was reading over the changes in the officers' roster and mentioned the names to Jaina. She knew some of them from her readings. Freja Covell lived for ground battles and was single mindedly devoted to the Tarkin Doctrine. In private, she had confided in Thrawn it had been Covell C'baoth had used his mind control tactics on, and this had led to the former's death upon approaching Mount Tantiss. Niriz was by the books, and didn't believe something would work unless he saw results firsthand. Voss Parck, who had been the captain who had taken Thrawn as his prisoner over 12 years ago, was cold and proud. It was said he resembled the ancient kings of the Core Worlds and had very little understanding of the ways of officers who were from further out on the fringes of the Empire. Last but not least was Lieutenant Tshchiel, who was Parck's errand boy. He was a new recruit, and not very well trained. He ran everywhere and seemed to fumble when given basic instructions. He had no known learning disorder or physical disability, he was a young man who just happened to always be in a hurry.
"Well, what do you think," Thrawn asked Jaina as the ship raced along the hyperspace lane back to the Seventh Fleet. Jaina said she thought they sounded like the new officers were devoted to their jobs, and if she kept maintaining the masquerade, she would get along. Kissing her softly, Thrawn told her that was a good plan to have.
The ship landed in the docking bay, where they were greeted by the new officers and Paelleon. Lyste and Eli were on bridge duty, and were slated for promotion at the end of the month. While Thrawn and Jaina had been away, the duo had gone undercover to track down a ring of illegal rank plate forgers. The criminals had been sloppy with trying to cover up their activities, and been hoping that familial contacts within COMPNOR would shield them from any sort of legal trouble. This plan (half baked at best) was carried out by a couple of bored teenagers who felt the galaxy owed them a great deal more than they had been given. Despite the pleas of their parents, the teens were forced to ten years hard labour on Wobani.
The landing ramp slowly lowered, and Thrawn strode out, quickly followed by Jaina, tapping away at her datapad. Thrawn greeted each of the officers and formally introduced Jaina as his fiancée, and Parck balked at Jaina wearing a cloak. "According to Imperial Uniform Protocol Subunit A, Section C-3: Should a Senior officer propose marriage to his aide or eligible junior officer, the young lady (or man) is allowed to adopt a cloak or external piece of clothing approved by Imperial Uniform Code Acceptance Protocol Beta, subsection 1138," Tschiel reminded everyone. Parck's cold grey eyes looked over Jaina and Thrawn. He still held anti-alien views, even though Thrawn had risen through the ranks at a meteoric speed, even if the Chiss had a better grasp of the larger picture. He nodded, of course.
With the meet and greet over, it was back to the bridge and into the afternoon routine. Thrawn observing everything and Jaina taking notes. Covell, while uncomfortable being in space, was pleased to see Grand Admiral Thrawn ran a tight shift, and he wouldn't need to worry about direct commands being mucked up. Niriz could see Thrawn and Jaina worked well as a team, and he (Thrawn) was more sure of himself, confident. Parck could not see why Jaina was marrying Thrawn. In his mind, Jaina should be marrying a human, not a Chiss. It was too late for that, as Lord Vader had signed the marriage contract, and there was no way he would dare cross the Dark Lord over something so trivial. Furthermore, from what he could see, Jaina Antilles was the kind of woman who would never have some sort of affair.
Once the main day shift was over, the night shift officers took over, and everyone headed for the officer's canteen for dinner. A delicious menu awaited them; egg salad, tip-yip vegetable soup with rice, and churros for dessert. "Been a long time since churros have been on the menu," Niriz commented casually as he came back from getting a second bowl of soup. He had not been a fan of the salad offering, so that's why he was going back for more soup. Parck said he had heard about the Bacon Rebellion; Isard was mad to think anyone was going to agree with the vegetarian option. Covell argued if it came from Isard's mouth, then it might as well be considered an executive order from Palpatine himself. Tschiel, on the other hand, had eaten as though he was starving, and everyone tried to ignore his poor manners. "Were you raised in a barn or something," Eli complained. Vanto had grown up in a farming town, but even the poorest people knew how to behave at a dining table. Tschiel said no he hadn't, but he had not eaten lunch. "That's still no excuse," Parck cut in, before excusing Tschiel to finish unpacking everyone's luggage. The younger man nodded and burst through the doors.
Dinner was much more pleasant after this.