Flashback (4 Years Ago)
Location: Kalevala
Aurora's Age: 16 Years Old
Satine sighed as she paced back and forth on the balcony that overlooked a courtyard, wondering where her daughter currently was. Satine, Aurora, Korkie, and the Prime Minister of Mandalore, Almec, were currently on Satine's home planet, Kalevala, to attend a gathering of the Council of Neutral Systems. Satine thought that it would be good practice and a great learning experience for Aurora, as in a few years' time, per Mandalorian Royal custom, Aurora would become the Grand Duchess on her 25th birthday. There was no doubt in Satine's mind that Aurora didn't look the part. Aurora was stunning, she was always dressed in not a hair out of place and followed royal protocol somewhat well when it came to proper attire, Satine made sure of that. But did Aurora act the part…no.
Aurora had a tendency for acts of defiance, and she had them since she was a child. She loved to explore, get dirty, speak her mind, and break royal protocol…all which Satine had been instructing her since birth, not to do. Aurora however, had a lack of authority, in other words, everything her mother said to her went in one ear, and out the other.
'She's so much like her father.' Satine thought to herself as she continued to pace.
"My lady." A voice from behind her said.
Satine turned around to face one of her personal guards.
"The princess has returned." He explained. "She is walking through the gardens now.
"Thank you." Satine said with a nod and walked past the guard and began heading toward the gardens at the back of the palace.
Satine hoped in the back of her mind that none of the members of the Council were in the gardens because she feared at what her daughter's appearance may look like. Aurora could be dressed flawlessly…or she could be covered in dirt…she has seen both sides. Aurora was rebellious, many people who worked within the palace and for the Mandalorian Royal Family had begun to call Aurora 'The Rebellious Princess' as she always went against her mother's wishes. As Satine walked into the gardens, she was met with two figures walking towards her. One she could clearly tell was Aurora's personal Handmaiden/close associate Zara.
Satine could tell it was Zara as Zara was about half an inch shorter than Aurora. Satine was glad that Aurora was with Zara, as Zara has been with Aurora since they were small children. Zara was a few years older than Aurora and was placed into the care of the royal family with the idea of her being a body double, if something were to happen. In other words, Zara knew everything about Aurora, and Aurora knew everything about Zara. She looked over Zara's appearance and realized that Zara's gown was completely clean…which was never a good sign because Satine knew if Zara was clean, then Aurora was most definitely dirty.
Satine then glanced over to look at Aurora and upon looking at her appearance she sighed. Unlike Zara, Aurora, whose beautiful light blue gown was in pristine condition a few hours prior was now covered in mud from head to toe. Her hair, which was pinned up neatly, was now messy with stray hairs flying everywhere as she walked. She had little specks of dirt on her face and arms, as the dress was sleeveless, but for some reason, Satine could see she was angry at something.
As the two girls came up to Satine, Zara stopped and curtseyed.
"My lady." She said warmly before walking past the Duchess and heading towards the palace. Aurora however came to a stop in front of her mother and unlike Zara, did not curtsey or acknowledge her mother, she simply just looked down at her feet.
Satine sighed. "Do you care to explain yourself? Do you know how worried I was?"
Aurora said nothing in response and continued to look down at her feet.
"If your father were alive, he'd be endlessly disappointed in you." Satine said with anger.
Aurora's head then snapped up to look her mother in the eyes. From the look in her daughter's eyes, she could tell that all she was feeling was rage.
"Maybe if you actually told me who my father was, I wouldn't be so rebellious…half of the people in the Senate consider me as your illegitimate child anyways!" Aurora yelled back in fury. "The entire system thinks I'm just another Foundling that was taken in since I'm nothing like you! I will never be nothing like you!"
Aurora turned on her heel and furiously walked away from her mother and walked into one of the garden mazes. Once she was out of her mother's sight, she broke out into a run, and began to run through the gardens until she reached her 'secret hiding spot' she found when she was a child. During the time when her grandmother, Boyana, (who was the main resident of the palace on Kalevala) was still living, Aurora would run and hide in the gardens quite often when she was younger. It was during these adventures, that she found a small clearance spot underneath a large tree, that she claimed as hers. No one knew she was there…and no one could ever find her. The place was peaceful, tranquil, and far far away from all royal responsibilities…it was her own special place of nirvana.
She laid down underneath the tree and closed her eyes…she didn't care if she was dirty, and she didn't care if she made her mother angry…she needed to think.
"How did I know you'd be here?" Her mother's voice asked.
Aurora opened her eyes and sat up and leaned her back against the trunk of the tree.
"How did you find me, and how long have I been gone?"
Satine sighed as she sat down next to her daughter. "A couple of hours…and I knew about this place for a long time…this use to be my hiding spot when I was just about your age…maybe a little bit younger."
"I'm sorry for disappearing today, I haven't been here in so long…I wanted to go into town." Aurora explained with a small sigh.
"I know…Zara told me, she also told me how you broke royal protocol and decided to visit an orphanage…but treaded through a sewer leak to get there." Satine replied and Aurora looked down.
"I'm sorry mother." She said in sorrow.
Satine put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not mad at you for going out into town to go and visit an orphanage…I'm disappointed in you because you went in public without a guard, especially when you know there is many people who do not like the New Mandalorian way."
Aurora sighed and looked up at the sky, and even though she would never admit it, her mother was right. She was her mother's only daughter, and the heir to the throne…her mother had a right to be slightly overprotected.
"Do you know why I named you Aurora?" Satine asked making Aurora turn her head to look her mother in the eyes.
"You named me after your grandmother, that's what you always told me." Aurora replied.
Satine shook her head. "No. I named you Aurora after the dawn broke on the morning you were born. You filled my life with a light it hadn't seen in a long time…I had been in a sorrowful state for so long, and you allowed for light to come into my life again."
Aurora looked down at her hands.
"Aurora," Satine began. "I am only strict on you because I love and care about you. You are my only daughter, my flesh and blood, trying to measure the love I have for you, is like trying to measure the stars across the universe."
Aurora smiled before looking to her mother. Satine leaned over and kissed the top of her daughter's head.
"Now come along darling, if you hurry, you can accompany your cousin, Almec, and I to dinner." Satine said as she stood up.
Aurora smirked and rolled her eyes as she stood up. "As long as I get to decide on what I can wear."
Satine smiled. "Deal."
Present Day
Aurora's POV
"There you go." I said with a smile. "Both of you are as clean as I can make you."
Artoo and Geenine both beeped happily as I had just given both an oil bath. I had opted to wait on the Resolute in the hanger while Anakin and Ahsoka went to go speak with Chancellor Palpatine. I decided not to go based on the fact I'm still without a helmet and I really didn't want to go on a three-hour excursion with the two idiotic Jedi I've come to know. Since he knew me rather well due to my royal status, I couldn't risk him seeing me as he could relay the fact that I am pro-war instead of anti-war like I was raised to be to my mother.
"Did you give my droid an oil bath?" I heard a familiar voice ask from behind me.
I rolled my eyes before turning my head around to see Anakin looking down at me and the two droids.
"He was filthy." I explained as I stood up. "I don't know how he survives with your leadership. I've never seen a happier Astromech when I gave him a bath."
Anakin nodded. "Thank you."
I smiled. "You're welcome. How did the meeting with the Chancellor go?"
He sighed. "Alright. We're going to double check Bane's ship if you want to help."
"Not really." I responded honestly. "But I'm guessing I don't have a choice, do I."
"Nope!" Ahsoka called from her position a few feet away from the two of us.
I rolled my eyes again before walking over to Bane's ship. The three of us then began to inspect the ship in silence.
"Well, the piloting systems are clean." Anakin stated after a while. "Check the landing gear?"
"Double-checked it." I called from my position alongside the ship.
"I have the feeling Master Windu and Obi-Wan could've used our help." Ahsoka said with a small sigh from her position underneath the ship.
"I don't like being out of the action either, but somebody's got to do this job." Anakin replied.
"And it always ends up being us." Ahsoka huffed.
"They must not like you guys that much." I said with a small smirk as I touched the side of the ship. That's when I noticed the volcanic ash that covered my bare hand. "Bane picked up a lot of volcanic ash on his travels…my hand is coated in it."
Artoo then beeped as he was trying to tap into the ship's internal mainframe.
"What have you got, Artoo?" Ahsoka asked as she stood up.
"Looks like Bane erased his navigation records, but not his fuel computer." Anakin smiled.
"So?" Ahsoka and I both asked at the same time.
"If we cross the list of planets we know he visited with the distance he traveled…" Anakin began.
"We may be able to calculate where else he went. That's a new one." Ahsoka said in surprise.
Anakin sighed. "It's an old Jedi trick we use to track down smugglers."
"Good to know in case I come on your radar for smuggling anything…though I haven't…yet." I said with a slight head-tilt.
"Okay, let's see." Anakin began as he looked at the ships fueling computer. "Glee Anselm, Rodia, Mustafar, Naboo."
"Wait." I interjected. "Mustafar, why would he go to Mustafar? According to your Jedi magic act, there were no children reported there…plus it's a mining world, and quite remote."
"Probably stopped there to refuel." Anakin interjected.
"That explains the ash." Ahsoka replied.
"But what's odd is that it's six systems out of his way." I explained.
"Maybe he met up with whoever he's working for." Ahsoka nodded in agreement. "It's worth a look, isn't it?"
Anakin nodded before jumping out of the cockpit. "Anything to get out of this hangar."
Sure enough within the next few minutes, the three of us were on our way to Mustafar. We left the Resolute behind and took the Twilight instead since what was the use to bring an entire fleet. I was sitting next to Anakin in the co-piolet's seat, while Ahsoka was in another portion of the ship with the droids. I continued to stare out at the blue tunnel of hyperspace until Anakin snapped me out of my thoughts.
"So how does a Princess become involved with a terrorist organization?" He asked.
I sighed. "I'm guessing during your trip back to Coruscant, your little sidekick did her research?"
He smiled and glanced to me. "She might've."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course, she did. Well since you know everything about me, what do you need clarification on?"
"Why?" He asked in all honesty.
"Truthfully?" I asked and he glanced at me again. "I wanted to be my own person. My mother committed a genocide on my planet's culture, practically alienating it. I didn't even know the half of it until I was thirteen when I went off-world for the first time by myself. That entire trip was the happiest I had been in a long time. My mother gets frustrated with me all the time…saying I remind her too much of my father."
Anakin frowned but continued to look forward. "What happened to your father?"
I shrugged. "She didn't tell me, and every time I asked when I was younger, she'd change her answer. Eventually she just told me he died a few days after I was born, and after a while, I started to believe it…though I'd never fully get the full true answer from her."
Anakin was about to interject but Ahsoka came onto the bridge of the ship with the two droids following her.
"We're coming up on Mustafar." She said warmly.
"Artoo, began the landing cycle." Anakin instructed.
I sighed and leaned back in my seat as we came out of hyperspace as the red and black planet came into view. I slowly got up from my seat and walked out of the bridge. I walked into the small medical port that was on the ship and sat down. Geenine, who had followed me, was right at my side. She let out a slow sorrowful beep.
I half-smiled and put my left hand on her bronze dome. "Yeah, what the hell have we gotten into?"
She beeped again and I sighed. I knew in the back of my mind, that what Death Watch was doing was wrong. I have been realizing that for the past few months since Pre and Bo-Katan allowed for my services to be used by my new employer, but the realization has become more prominent in the last few days since I had met the Jedi. The Death Watch didn't care about me, all they wanted was to get close to my mother…and by having me on their side, I allowed for it to happen.
All this time…since I was a little girl, I had been nothing but a pawn in their game. But the same can be said about my mother. All she wants is for me to be the Grand Duchess and to rule over Mandalore with a pacifist regime…but I don't want that either. I don't want to be a terrorist by burning villages, destroying families, and murdering innocent people like my aunt, and I didn't want to be sitting in a throne room on my ass all day long bringing pacifist ideals to the people like my mother. I wanted to be something different…something new…something good and working for the Jedi within the past few days made me realize that. I had done some horrible things in my life, but starting right now, I'd start to do good.
And to officially start my new mindset I had two main objectives, the first was to kill Bane…as that never really left my mind, and the second, was to get those damn kids home. I would get it done, and nothing was going to stand in my way. Hell with the holocron, bringing those kids back to their families was way more important.
