Mara cried out in her sleep as a sharp coldness pierced her body and she jerked awake. Her wide eyes stared into the darkness of her room as she breathed heavily. An ache grew within her and fear blossomed. Getting out of bed, Mara ran out of her bedroom, down the stairs and out the front door. The grass felt cold and wet against her bare feet as she took off at a run to where the Skywalker family was staying. When she was within a couple feet of the house, she stopped and turned to the left.
She ran through the flower filled field of grass and then froze. In the moonlight, Mara was able to come to a conclusion of what it was. She had heard Master Yoda speak of the Sumnii to her father. Leia had also told her of what she knew. That was not all, no matter how much she wished that was all. The Sumnii was bending over somebody with something that looked like a dagger in its hand. Mara gasped and took a step back as the Sumnii looked in her direction. The Sumnii blinked a couple of times before rushing off in the opposite direction.
Taking deep calming breaths like Master Yoda had taught her, Mara slowly approached the person laying in the grass. When Mara saw who it was a sob escaped her throat and tears came to her eyes. "Nonononononono…" She shook her head furiously, yet what she saw before her didn't change. "NO!" She screamed. She fell to her knees beside him and placed her hand on his chest, hoping to feel its rise and fall, but she felt nothing. She put her fingers near his parted lips to see if he was drawing breath, but he was not.
Tears ran down Mara's cheeks as she looked at Luke and then looked in the direction that the Sumnii had gone. Wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her nightgown, she followed the path that the Sumnii had gone. The hill began to decline as she walked until from her position she could see into the valley.
Eyes wide with fear at what she saw, Mara turned around and ran as fast as she could to the Skywalker's temporary home. Once she was inside, Mara shouted, "The Sumnii are coming! The Sumnii are coming!" She ran up the steps of the house and banged on the door of Padme's room.
Padme opened the door to see Mara's pale, tear streaked face. "What's wrong?"
Mara took several deep breaths of air before speaking. "The Sumnii are here, I saw them in the valley. They're coming!"
At that moment Leia came out of her room across the hall, her face as pale as Mara's. "Mom..." She slowly began, her voice trembling. "Luke's dead."
A loud explosion lit the night sky and rang through the air as the Sumnii used their ships to blast the ground. The house shook from the explosion, causing those inside to grab onto something before they fell. Even as the house trembled, Padme ran to her son's room and turned on the lights, only to find an empty bed. Mara and Leia watched Padme walk over to the window of her son's room and look outside at the burning landscape and the Sumnii ships flying around in the sky lit by the explosions.
Mara sensed her father enter the house and ran down the stairs to him and clung to him. "Daddy, I'm scared."
Nield gave his daughter a strong, reassuring hug and looked up the stairs where Padme and Leia were coming down. "The Sumnii are doing an air assault and have attacked two other cities on the other side of the continent. We need to get underground." He checked to make sure they were all accounted for and noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Luke?"
"Luke was outside before the attack started. The Sumnii had already killed him." Mara answered, fresh tears beginning to fall.
Leia slowly nodded her head in confirmation. "I saw him get killed in my dream. Our bond is broken."
Another explosion rang outside, this time much closer.
"Come on, we need to go now!" Nield told them and took them to a section of the house where he knew there was a trapdoor that led into some underground tunnels that the Young had used a long time ago. As they closed the trap door behind them, the Sumnii launched a pair of torpedoes at the house and it exploded into a ball of fire and debris...Whistling and beeping replaced the sounds and everything began to fade.
Mara's eyelids fluttered open as she slowly woke up. The beeping and whistling grew more persistent and something bumped against her leg. Still in a curled up position, Mara looked up to see a blue and white astromech droid. She glared at it and the droid backed away.
Sighing, Mara stiffly stood up and headed to her bedroom and entered the refresher. She turned the water on cold and looked at herself in the mirror. She could see dried tear tracks, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Mara listened to the water running and then scooped up a handful of water in her hands and washed her face.
The toots and whistles returned and Mara looked toward the doorway where the astromech droid was. "Will you stop following me!" Mara told the droid and turned off the faucet and grabbed a towel to dry her face.
The astromech made a forlorn sounding toot and moved out of her way as she left the refresher.
Mara went back to the cargobay and stood in front of the door, the droid stopped behind her. Shaking her head, Mara turned around and looked down at the droid. "I suppose I shouldn't be mad at them."
The astromech beeped in agreement.
"It's hard, you know? I mean, I wish things had been different, but wishing won't change anything. The past is the past. One of the things that Master Yoda taught me was that the future is always in motion and that even if a wish was granted that it would not ensure that the galaxy would be a better place."
The droid swerved his domed head to the side and made a sound that almost sounded like he was trying to comfort her.
A small smile managed to make its way onto Mara's face and she patted the droid's head. "I should let them out of the cargobay now. It's not the most comfortable place to stay in." Turning around, Mara unlocked the door and gestured for the droid to go in. "Tell them they can come out, I'll be in the cockpit."
Anakin came out of his meditation trance in time to see Artoo roll into the cargobay and then emit a series of beeps and whistles. "Really." Anakin answered and stood up.
Artoo whistled and made another series of sounds.
Anakin rolled his eyes and looked over to where Obi-Wan was sleeping and then back to Artoo. "Stay with Obi-Wan and when he wakes up tell him that I'm in the cockpit." Anakin told Artoo and left the cargobay.
A few minutes later he found the door to the cockpit and entered. The door slid shut behind him and he silently watched their rescuer adjust some controls on the console.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Mara remarked as she continued to adjust some instruments. "Sit down."
Anakin sat down in the copilot's chair and after a few minutes of silence passed and then Anakin spoke. "Thank you for helping us escape…."
"You can call me Mara." She told him, not looking at him.
"Thank you, Mara. What exactly happened after we disappeared?" Anakin asked, at the same time unsure if he wanted to know yet.
Mara stared out at the stars that streaked passed the cockpit window and took a deep breath. "Did you see inside the Temple?"
"Yes." Anakin answered, his stomach twisting into a knot as he vividly remembered what he saw.
"About two months and three weeks after Master Kenobi and you disappeared, the Council declared that you both were dead. Not long after that declaration, a Jedi team found Count Dooku's body. A week later Mace Windu found and destroyed General Grievous. Three of the Council members who were still on Coruscant, Master Yoda was away helping the Wookiees defend their home at that time, the council members went to the Chancellor to see to it that the Chancellor laid down his emergency powers. Palpatine revealed his true self to them and killed them all, and then he gave the clones the order 66. The clones turned on the Jedi that commanded them, and the clones that were on Coruscant attacked the Jedi Temple. Master Yoda and Master Windu, managed to escape and return to Coruscant, but by that time it was to late. They snuck into the Temple and found a security log of a conversation between the Sith Master and his apprentice. Yoda came to the conclusion that Palpatine was behind what had happened and went to confront him while Master Windu went to go see if he could find any possible survivors. Master Yoda confronted Palpatine and Palpatine revealed himself to be the Sith Master. They dueled and Yoda lost, but he escaped. Master Yoda found Mace and with Senator Organa's help, they got off Coruscant."
"When did the Sumnii appear?" Anakin asked.
Mara raised a red eyebrow and looked at Anakin. "You ask like you are familiar with them?"
Anakin nodded his head, his face serious. "Obi-Wan and I encountered them a lot in the galaxy that we were in."
"I see." Mara turned her gaze back to the streaking stars and was silent for a couple of seconds. "The Sumnii first appeared a few days after the massacre at the Temple. Since then there have been rumors that their numbers have been increasing. We don't know where they are coming from. The outposts in the outerrim have not reported any sightings of the Sumnii exiting the unknown regions but we don't have outposts on every outerrim planet so it is possible that they have been slipping by us."
"Do you know what happened to Senator Amidala?" Anakin slowly asked, afraid of what the answer would be if she knew.
"In other words, your wife." Mara responded bluntly. A small smile twitched at her lips as she felt Anakin's surprise through the Force. "Your secret is not a secret anymore, Anakin. Those on the rebellion's council know, a couple of Jedi knew, and various other people know." Mara let this information sink into Anakin's mind a bit before continuing. "When Master Kenobi and you were declared dead, Padme went to Master Yoda and told him about the marriage. That was not all though…." Mara paused abruptly and her eyes briefly glazed over.
Anakin felt the tiny tremor in the Force and stretched out with the Force to see if he could tell where it was coming from.
"Oh Sith!" Mara exclaimed, and without warning brought the ship out of hyperspace and punched in another set of coordinates while at the same time avoided a rather large asteroid directly in their path.
The ship had jerked backwards and then leapt forward so quickly that Anakin barely avoided crashing into the control console. "Are you crazy!" He exclaimed after he managed to get back into his seat and buckled up. "You don't take a ship out of hyperspace like that!"
Once the new course was set and the ship was at the jumping point, Mara pulled the hyperdrive lever and the stars once again began to streak past. "I know what I'm doing so calm down."
Anakin took several calming breaths and also used the Force to help calm him down. "Do you always fly recklessly?"
Mara rolled her eyes and checked the readings on the control console. "Those are odd words coming from you. I have heard tales of some of your own reckless flying."
"There is a fine line between being reckless and suicidal." Anakin retorted.
"We're still in one piece so quit your complaining!" Mara told him sharply. "I had good reason for changing our course like that."
"And what reason would that be?" Anakin asked, annoyance in his voice.
Mara waited a full two minutes before speaking. "Are you calm now?"
"Yes I am." Anakin responded in a calmer voice.
"Now, as I was saying. Padme went to Yoda and told him about the marriage and that she was also pregnant with your child."
Anakin's eyes widened and his heart leapt with joy within his chest. I am a father. I have a child.
"Master Yoda kept the secret and when he and Master Windu went to leave Coruscant for the last time they took Padme with them to safety. They met up later on with some Senators that were part of a movement to get the Chancellor to give up his emergency powers so that the Senate can operate like it should. When the Chancellor declared himself Emperor, that group of Senators formed a rebellion that will someday restore the Republic. The Rebellion was slowly and quietly formed and while this took place and after Padme had helped in part of its creation, Padme and Master Yoda went deeper into the outerrim where she gave birth. She gave birth to a girl and named her Leia. Leia is now one of the leaders of the Rebellion and is also strong in the Force. She also gave birth to a boy who she named Luke. Luke died eight years ago and Padme died two years ago."
Anakin felt the joy that had built up plummet at that news. Padme was dead. The son he never knew was dead. Even though he knew his daughter was still alive, it didn't lessen the sharp ache in his heart. He would never see Padme's smiling face again, never hear her sweet laugh. He wouldn't get to see his children take their first steps, say their first words. He would never see his only son. He would be able to see his daughter but he missed so much. Would Leia accept him? Will she be happy to see her father for the first time? What if she rejected him? What if she didn't want to see him? Tears began to form in Anakin's eyes and he swiftly left the cockpit before the tears could fall.
His steps led him into a small room where spare parts and broken pieces of machinery were and set to work fixing and improving the various parts he found. Tears clouded his vision and sobs escaped his throat. Tossing the part he had been trying to work on aside, Anakin curled up into a ball and wept.