The shadows enveloped her warmly, like an old, comfortable, cloak. As she stood there, looking out at the activity of the busy spaceport that was at once familiar and different, she felt a presence near that she couldn't identify.
She pulled her tattered robe closer, uncertain why the presense felt so... familiar? Then a tenative voice spoke up from behind her. "Hello?"
Slowly, she turned to look... and smiled in recognition. "Jedi?"
Luke stared at her. "Vima?"
"Jedi! Is good to see you! Vima know!" Vima-Da-Boda looked down at the young boy who was openly staring at her. "Little Jedi."
"Daddy know?" Ben asked uncertainly when he found his voice.
"Yes, Ben, I know her. Vima, would you like to come with us? The Falcon is over there." He waved a hand in the general direction of the spaceport.
Vima nodded, and they set off for the Falcon.
Chewie was working on something underneath the ship when they arrived, and he waved them on.
As they boarded, Luke helped Vima walk up the ramp. "Han, you'll never guess who we found."
"I won't?" Han asked as he passed by the boarding ramp with a coil of wire. He stopped and stared at the woman in the tattered robes. "Vima? What are you doing here?"
"Family," Vima said simply. She smiled at Luke. "Thankyou, young Jedi."
"Family?" Luke asked. "You have family on Naboo?"
Vima nodded. "The force, it drew me here. Said family was here."
Luke wasn't sure how to reply to that, and instead turned to look at Han. He stopped short upon realizing something was missing. "Oh. Nevermind. You already did."
"Didn't want to get it dirty," Han muttered. He glanced at Vima. "Family, hmm?"
Vima nodded. "Force said there was need. Don't know what need is."
"Han? Mara said you could go back with us if you wanted."
Han shook his head. "No. I'm working on the ship. Tell her I said thanks, though." He looked at Luke quizically. "Anything interesting happen?"
"Lots. On top of everything else, her sister in law is having a baby."
"Huh? As in pregnant?"
"No. As in right now. She's in labor." Luke almost chuckled at the flummoxed expression on Han's face. "Still want to stay on the ship and do repairs?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Luke turned and herded Vima and Ben back down the ramp. "See you later, then."
Han waited until they were out of sight before snorting to himself and returning to repairs.
~*~*~*~
Widia watched as Mara took a surrepititious glance at Torath as he sat there, stony-faced. Finally, she sighed. "Would you just talk, already?"
That got Torath's attention and he looked over to see Mara looking at him. "Hi."
"Hi... we didn't exactly get to meet earlier," Mara started to say, and then stopped herself and looked away. "It's not important. It can wait."
Torath's frown deepened in confusion. "What can wait?"
"It can wait," Mara said again, hoping against hope that something, anything would save her from having to really talk to him. "I can't believe she was right."
"What are you talking about?" Widia asked, more confused than Torath was.
"A friend told me a long time ago that I had family out there somewhere. I... really didn't believe her. Having Luke around was enough for me." Mara shrugged and looked down at her hands. "It's all so much to take in, you know?"
Torath glanced at his mother, who nodded subtlety, and they both moved to sit next Mara, on either side.
Widia put her arms around Mara and let her lean into her. "It may be a lot for you, Mara, but I'm glad you're here. I am glad you found your way back here. Back home. Back to me."
"And me," Torath said, nudging her knee. "And I didn't even know about you until two days ago." Widia looked over Mara's head at him with a small smile, and he shrugged bashfully.
The moment was broken a minute later when a loud grunt was heard, followed by the tiny, mewling wail of a newborn.
Widia smiled at the torn expression that swam across Torath's features, then she motioned for him to go. "Go on. Your family needs you."
Jaelle was just coming out of the hallway when Torath brushed past her so fast she nearly got whiplash. She looked after him for a long moment, and then shook her head, and tried not to laugh.
Coming out into the living room, Jaelle sat down in a chair and looked at her mother and Mara. "They'll need a minute, don't you think?"
Widia nodded. "I think so. How is she?"
"Alena's great and the baby... is a girl." Jaelle waited a moment before smirking at the calm acceptance. "I'm surprised it wasn't twins, actually."
Widia stopped and looked at her funny, while Mara looked up from her hands in confusion. "What?"
"Just what I said. I wouldn't have been surprised in the least. Alena's family has a history of twins."
"They do?" Mara asked, intrigued by the notion. In the back of her mind, a thought formed. She quashed it, but the suspicion remained. It wasn't possible... right?
Jaelle nodded slowly, watching as her mother slowly stood up. "Go on, Grandma. Go see."
Widia turned to Mara, who waved her off. Widia nodded, and left to go see.
Mara leveled a look at Jaelle. "Is it always like this around here?"
"Well, no. But then, usually we aren't bringing babies into the world in the guest room or having missing family members turn up out of the blue."
"Funny."
"You asked." Jaelle let the silence hang there for a minute and studied Mara. "I didn't know what to expect..."
Mara looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I didn't know what to think when I read the records. About you." Jaelle shook her head in thought, trying to process what she wanted to say. "You were this enigma. Sure there were little things like your birth date, and your eye color, and pictures, but... that doesn't tell a whole lot about a person, really."
"It doesn't let you know them?" Mara offered.
Jaelle nodded. "Yes."
"You're one up on me, you know. I don't actually know when my birthday is." When Jaelle glanced at her with an expression of incredulity, Mara shrugged. "I was five. I didn't have it memorized yet."
"Oh." Jaelle got up out of the chair and left to find something. Mara frowned, wondering what that was about. Jaelle came back a moment later with a hardcopy folder and handed it to Mara. "Anything you want to know is in that."
"Why do you have these?" Mara asked, opening the folder to find a holo of herself as a child standing next to... her father as he was making notes and looking at a plant with familiar blossoms. "I remember that."
"I figured that it might come in useful at some point." Jaelle smiled as Mara picked through the file, occasionally stopping to study a holo. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?"
"Some." Mara looked up at her and smiled. "Can I keep this?"
Jaelle nodded. "I'm sure mom won't mind."
"Huh?"
"I copied that file from hers. She'll never miss it."
Mara chuckled. "Ah." She let the silence linger for a moment, then glanced at Jaelle. "It wasn't easy, you know."
"Hmm?"
"What you heard me say earlier, about... well, you know. That. It wasn't easy, learning imperial ways. It's just that... I forgot everything else." Mara shrugged and looked away. "I only mention it because I sensed the confusion you had."
Jaelle moved to sit next to her. "You don't have to explain yourself to me."
"Yes I do."
"Would you please look at me?" Jaelle waited for Mara to look at her, them smiled comfortingly. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Marani, and you need not explain anything to me. I just didn't understand how you could brush something like that off."
"It's over and done, and it happened a long time ago."
"But you still carry the scars."
"Scars are part of life. Stories to tell, though sometimes painful."
Jaelle couldn't argue with that.
"And..." Mara stopped at the sound of the door opening, and was treated to the sight of her husband helping an old, frail figure in a well-worn and tattered robe into the living room. "...Luke?" She glanced behind them and saw her son following along happily and breathed a sigh in relief.
"What in the world?" Jaelle wondered.
Luke helped the person in the robe to a chair and helped them to sit down, then he turned to face Mara. "You did say to watch for a person standing in the shadows, you know."
"I did?" At his raised eyebrow, she realized that she had, in fact, said exactly that. "Oh right. I did... Is that who I think it is?" She heard plenty about his mystery jedi woman that spoke backwards, but had managed to miss meeting her by less than a day.
Luke nodded. "Yes. Mara, this is Vima-Da-Boda. Vima, this is Mara..."
"Jedi's wife, she is! Vima happy to meet, she is." Vima looked out from under the hood of her robe, eyes glittering with interest. Her gaze settled on Jaelle, and she stared. "Family? Here? After so long?"
Jaelle frowned and looked at Luke. "What is she talking about?"
Luke shrugged. "She said she came all the way here from Dantooine because the Force called her here. And then something about family."
Widia came back into the living room just then and saw the figure in the cloak. "All right... what'd I miss?" Vima's head turned at the sound of her voice, and she struggled to stand. Widia saw the struggle and rushed to help her. "Steady, now, old timer. No need to rush." And then Widia got a good look at the old face under the hood and stared. "Aunt Vima?"
Vima stared back at her. "Widia?"
Widia tore her eyes away from Vima to stare at Luke. "Where'd you find her?"
"Spaceport, exactly where Mara and Ben said she'd be." He shrugged and sat down next to Mara, Ben getting into his lap.
"Oh." Widia looked back down at the woman in her arms and smiled. "Well now. Wasn't expecting that."
"Happy accident?" Vima asked brightly.
Widia snorted, then stifled a laugh. "There are no accidents, happy or otherwise. Come on. Let's see about getting you cleaned up, hmm?"
The four of them heard Vima protest as Widia was helping her out of the room: "But Vima safe this way!" Widia, wisely, said nothing to protest that assessment.
Ben turned to his mother. "Baby?"
Mara smiled at him. "What about the baby, Ben?"
"I see?"
Jaelle laughed and stood up. She held out her hand to him. "Come on, little man. I'll take you to see the baby."
Ben looked at Jaelle timidly, then looked at Mara in question. Mara nodded, and he got off Luke's lap. Ben took hold of Jaelle's hand and went with her.
Alone in the living room, Mara turned to Luke. "Where's Han?"
"He excersized his right as the husband of the Chief of State and chose to stay on the ship when I told him what was going on here." Luke shrugged, then smiled at her. "Personally, I think he's enjoying the quiet."
"How can it be quiet with a wookiee around?"
"Probably makes less noise than three kids."
"Cute."
"Thought it was." He nudged her arm, and she glanced up at him. "Feel better now?"
Mara smiled at him. "Somewhat, yes. Though, now... I think I have to have a talk with Renna."
"Why?"
"She has dreams. Had dreams. Bad ones. About me."
"What do you mean?"
Mara was silent while she gathered her thoughts, then looked at him again. "When I went with Widia to check on her, Renna blurted something about the baby, which we hadn't gotten around to announcing yet. She said it was going to be a girl."
"While she was awake?"
"Yes... and then Widia told me that, five years ago, when Renna was an active part of the reconstruction efforts, the project leader told her that Renna woke up screaming from nightmares more than once. For months... And you know what happened five years ago."
Luke nodded. "Vividly... Do you think she needs training?"
"Jaelle and Torath do, too. Jaelle had dreams as a child, and I don't know about Torath, but it would make sense."
"Yes, it would." Luke paused, something just now occurring to him. "We're having a girl?"
"You're the Jedi Master, you tell me," Mara told him playfully.
"All right, then I will." Luke reached out to her in the force and probed lightly. He saw it, yes, and was surprised at the accuracy. Before blinking it away, he felt something else. A suspicion. No, a question. Unasked, but there. He blinked open his eyes and smiled at her. "Girl, it is... What is this about a suspicion you're having?"
"Huh?"
"Something about twins and family lines?"
Mara blinked at him in surprise. "Oh. It's something I need to look up for later."
Luke wordlessly pulled her data padd from his jacket pocket. "Had a feeling you might need this."
Mara took the data padd from him graciously, and waited for it to boot up. "Thanks." She'd have told him more, but hadn't wanted to give him hope and then have it not be true. "Now, let's see..."
~*~*~*~
Widia stood in the doorway, watching her son and daughter-in-law sit on the bed with their newborn baby girl while Vima looked on, and couldn't help but be reminded of her husband...
Temaru sat on the edge of the bed holding their infant child while Widia laid back on the pillows and stared at the ceiling. "Widia?"
The concern in his voice made her blink and she took a deep breath before speaking. "She should be here. Here with us."
Temaru looked down at the dozing infant in his arms and sighed. "I know."
Widia looked at him, the pain still raw in her eyes. "Is it my fault she's not? Were we evil?"
"Widia, love... it's no one's fault. Not mine. Not yours."
"She wanted to be here so much, you know? Marani even picked out a blanket for the baby. For Jaelle. She wanted to be here, and she missed it." Tears began to make trails down Widia's cheeks as she let Temaru hand the baby to her, and she held the child close.
Temaru reached out to dry her tears and she looked at him. "It's not your fault that she was taken, Widia. Understand? You are not evil. We are not evil. The people that took her are evil for doing such a thing."
"I know that, Tem. I just..."
"Feel guilty?"
"Yes."
"I love you." He waited for her to look at him again. "Marani being taken Force knows where doesn't change that." Temaru gestured for the baby and she carefully passed her back to him. "Now, Jaelle and I are going to have some bonding time while you, dear wife, take a nap."
"But-"
"No buts about it." The serious tone in his voice made her smile and she sat up to kiss him softly on the cheek.
"I love you too, Temaru Jaden."
The baby cooed, breaking the moment.
Widia looked down at the baby and smiled at her. "Yes, you too, little one."
Widia blinked the memory away and moved to sit next to Alena and Torath on the bed. "Can I hold her?"
Alena smiled and handed the baby to her. "We named her Novami."
"Vima really like that name," Vima told Alena again. Alena smiled at her and nodded.
Widia chuckled softly. "Pretty name."
"Just like our little girl," Torath said proudly.
Widia held her a moment, looking down at the infant cradled in her arms, before glancing up at the two of them. "Do you mind if I take her out into the living room?"
"Not at all. After all, Mara hasn't seen her niece yet." Alena's eyes glinted with amusement as she spoke, her tone pleasant. "It's high time she did, hmm?"
Widia nodded. "It's high time for a lot of things."
Alena looked at Torath after his mother left the room with Vima in tow and sighed. "There's more there."
Torath nodded. "Always is."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Luke watched as she pressed her finger to the screen at times, sorting through information, and wondered where this was going. What did she suspect, and why? "You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"Not until I know for certain." She glanced at him with a teasing smile.
"Is it animal, fruit, or mineral?"
Mara rolled her eyes at him, and then turned her attention back to the data pad. Something was nagging her, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Finally, she put the pad aside and closed her eyes, meditating on it. A moment or two went by, and then she got a mental image of Leia... except it wasn't, not really. The woman had the same features, same set in her jaw, but it wasn't Leia.
Opening her eyes, Mara picked up the padd again and looked some more. Finally, nearly ready to give up on the wild bantha chase, she came across a holo of the young woman from her meditation. The woman was young, maybe in her early 20's, and staring up at her with an unreadable expression... and she looked like Leia. "I've seen her before."
"Can I see?" Luke asked gently, as she passed the padd to him. "Isn't this the woman whose portrait Leia has in her apartment? The one hanging on the wall?"
Mara thought about it, remembering the nagging feeling she'd gotten the last time she'd been in the Solo's apartment with Jaina, and nodded slowly. "I think so... Look, it could be nothing-"
"No," Luke interrupted her with a smile. "It's not just nothing. It's something."
"I didn't want to say anything until I had something firm. It could just be a coincidence, or..." she was silenced with a kiss. When he pulled away from her, she just looked at him. "What was that for?"
"You were babbling. I love it when you babble." Luke handed the data padd back to her. "We'll figure out what this means, Mara. And thank you."
"For what?"
"Being you."
At that moment, if she hadn't already married him, she'd have done it again in a heartbeat.
The moment was interrupted by an excited toddler joining them on the couch. "I see baby!"
Mara laughed and pulled Ben closer. "You did, huh?"
Ben nodded fervently. "Little and red."
"Just like you were," Luke told him.
"Momma's baby be little?"
Mara guided Ben's hand to her abdomen. "She's right here, Ben. And yes. She will be little."
"Little now?"
"Yes, sweet heart. She's little now, but growing all the time. Just like you."
Ben concentrated on where his hand was for a long moment, then smiled up at his mother. "I feel. Good feel."
Luke noticed Widia standing in the entrance to the living room and nudged Mara's arm. Mara glanced up, smiled, and motioned for her to come in.
Widia sat down carefully next to them on the couch and paused, looking down at the baby. Then she looked at Mara again. "I'm not sure if you remember it or not, but... you were excited about getting a brother or sister. You know... before."
"Widia?" Mara asked, confused.
"And you weren't here then," Widia continued. "...and I felt like an awful mother because... well, just because."
"Momma wasn't here?" Ben asked, looking sharply at his mother. "Why?"
Mara frowned at Widia before glancing at Ben. "I was... away, sweetheart."
"The bad man?"
"Yes, Ben. The bad man."
"With pudding on his face?"
They all paused, Widia and Luke first looking at each other in awkward silence, and then both turning to Mara and staring at her. "Pudding?"
"I was five," Mara said defensively.
Widia chuckled softly at that. "He deserved it." She handed the baby to Mara. "Here. Meet your neice."
Mara held the infant girl for a long minute, contemplating the small life in her arms that felt fresh to the world. New, as it were. Then she glanced up at Widia and saw the tears. "What is it?"
Widia smiled through the tears. "Everything is right."
"What do you mean?"
"Just something I needed to see, finally. You, like that." Looking away from Mara, Widia noticed an activated data pad on Mara's knee. She frowned at the old familiar holo of a Senator. "Studying Nubian politics?"
"Not exactly," Mara answered non-committaly.
