Disclaimer: All characters in this story belong to either George Lucas or Timothy Zahn. I am not making any money from this work.
Special thanks to HanSolOKisner3 for giving me this story idea.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
The Navigation computer disengaged the hyperdrive of Callista's small spacecraft bringing it into real space near the newly named planet of New Coruscant. It was a luscious green planet with expansive blue oceans, quite unlike its namesake.
'Well, its not like the Coruscant of old', Callista thought, 'Of course, I don't know about now'.
She was told that the Vong had made some major planetary changes during the war. They had gone to great lengths to depurate the planet of its once thriving cities and extensive structures of duracrete and steel.
Because of the overwhelming destruction of Coruscant and other worlds such as Yavin 4, a temporary location was needed to house the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances governing body and the New Jedi Academy. New Coruscant, an uninhabited and previously unnamed planet near the Perlemian Trade Route was chosen as the ideal site. Callista had made some discreet inquiries and discovered Luke was currently residing on the planet.
'He is going to be surprised by my return.' She thought to herself, 'But I think he will welcome me with open arms when he realizes what I have brought for him.'
A broad grin spread across her face. She glanced over to her backpack that lay on the copilot seat to her right. Inside were data chips from one of the many Old Republic archives that were once scattered throughout the galaxy during the heyday of the Old Republic. She had always known of the archives, but she had assumed they were all destroyed during the Jedi purge. Fortunately she was mistaken. After years of searching she found one that remained somewhat intact. The information stored there was priceless, not only the New Jedi Order, but to her and her quest. Well, it was crucial in one of her quests.
Callista wrapped her arms around her shoulders and hugged herself tightly. She always wanted to be part of a family and now with Luke's help, that dream might just come true.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > >
New Coruscant—Temporary location of the Jedi Academy.
The persistent call signal of the communication station woke Luke from his deep slumber. He quietly slipped out of bed so not to wake his wife, Mara. Wrapping his bathrobe around his nude body, he stumbled into the next room.
"Who could be calling this early in the morning?" He mumbled to himself.
Half asleep he settled down in front of the communications unit and punched the "Answer" button. The image of a blond haired, gray-eyed woman appeared on the screen before him.
"Hello Luke." She said.
In his fatigued state, Luke initially did not identify the woman. But soon a flood of recognition surged through his mind.
"Callista!" Luke choked. His stomach clenched in anguish as the pain of their last encounter flooded back to him. Realizing grief was radiating off of him in waves he quickly slammed up his mental shields. He hoped to the Force that Mara did not feel his discomfort. The last thing he needed was for her to walk in and see him talking to his former lover in the middle of the night. He was about to speak when he looked down and realized that his robe was open. He blushed fiercely as he quickly tightened his bathrobe around his body and tied it secure. Seeing Callista had suddenly made him very self-conscious.
"It has been a long time, Luke." Callista said casually, "I am sorry to wake you so early in the morning, but I just got back from a the planet Kapish and I wanted you to be the first to know of what I found."
"And what is that, Callista?" Luke asked cautiously.
"An Old Jedi Order Archive." Callista said excitedly, "It was housed alongside the Old Republic Genetics Research Laboratory on Kapish. Not only did it house information on Jedi lore but it maintained the complete genetic DNA codes of almost every Jedi that passed through the Academy for over five hundred years."
Luke sat up straight. His drowsiness quickly dissipated with the news of her discovery.
"That is amazing, Callista. We at the Academy would welcome any information on the Old Jedi Order and I am sure our scientists would want to look at the genetic data." Luke exclaimed.
Callista glanced down nervously as if she was bracing herself for her next words. She looked up at Luke and then leaned forward and whispered, "Luke, I was able to locate the DNA data for me and my old lover Geith."
Even without the Force, Luke could sense her excitement over her discovery.
'I am not sure I like where this is going.' Luke thought. The idea that Callista would want to clone her old body or that of Geith briefly crossed his mind. Luke wondered if losing the ability to sense the Force had finally pushed Callista to madness?
"Callista," Luke said hesitantly, "why is it important for you to have Geith and your DNA information?"
Callista gazed into Luke's bright blue eyes and smiled. "Why, to find our daughter, of course."
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
"What!" Mara exclaimed from behind Luke. Luke jumped up from his seat clearly startled by her entrance. Mara stalked over to Luke in rage. "You and Callista have a daughter?!" She yelled accusingly.
Luke was genuinely flustered. He felt guilty over talking to his former lover without his wife's knowledge. He realized this was ridiculous since he did not initiate the call, but the feeling persisted.
"Calm down Mara!" Luke implored his wife. "Callista and I do not have a daughter." Luke hesitated a moment and then turned back to the video screen. "That is right…isn't it Callista…?" Luke hoped he did not misunderstand Callista's last statement.
"Of course not, Luke." Callista laughed. Luke noted that she appeared to be getting far too much pleasure out of seeing him squirm. "Geith and I had a daughter. We had left her behind at the Academy when we went on the mission to find the Eye of Palpatine."
Luke and Mara both let out a sigh of relief.
"I was hoping I could do a search for my daughter." Callista continued, "With the DNA information there is a possibility I could locate her if she is still alive."
Callista sat back in her chair and ran her hand through her blond hair. "I am sorry that I did not mention this to you before Luke." She hesitated for a moment and then continued, "I hate to come back into your life out of the blue only to ask you for a favor...but I guess that is exactly what I am doing. I was hoping you could help me. I would like to run my and Geith's DNA profile through your DNA data banks at the Academy and the new government to see if I locate my daughter. I was hoping you and your sister could help make this possible."
> > > > > > > > > > > >
Three Weeks Later:
"Did she say why she wanted to see us in person?" Mara asked irritably.
She was sitting on the family room floor playing a game of catch with their 3-year-old son, Ben. Luke sat down next to Ben and joined in on the game.
"No she didn't." Luke said as he tossed the ball back to Mara. "She just said that her DNA search was successful and she wanted to come over and share the results with us personally."
"Well, I don't like it Luke." Mara confessed." It is not that I am jealous of her, it is just...well I hated the way she hurt you Luke. It was just as painful for me to see you suffer after she left. Plus I never was completely comfortable with her occupying Cray's body. It just seems creepy to me. Like she was some body snatcher."
"Don't worry Mara." Luke assured his wife, " I am sure she just wants to thank us for facilitating her search. Once she tells us her good news she will be gone from our lives once again."
"You swear?" Mara asked anxiously.
"Jedi honor." Luke said with a smile.
The front door chimed. "I guess that's her." Luke commented. He stood up and offered Mara his hand to help her to her feet. "The faster we get this over with, the sooner she'll be gone." Luke promised.
Mara bent down and scooped Ben into her arms. They moved to the living room couch as Luke went to open the front door.
"Come on it Callista. Please sit down." He said while motioning to and empty space on the couch next to Mara and Ben.
"I would prefer to stand." Callista replied quietly. Luke could not sense Callista through the Force, but her body language gave him the impression that she was very nervous about something.
Callista looked at Mara and Ben for a long moment before she turned back to Luke. "I wanted to show you the results of my search in person." She said hesitantly. "We were successful in locating my daughter. In fact she is one of your former students." With trembling hands, Callista passed a small datapad to Luke.
"Ahh....great." Luke said cautiously.
'What in the world is going on?' he thought.
Luke activated the datapad and read the DNA search results. As he read the name listed in the report the blood swiftly drained from his face. His was suddenly feeling quite nauseous and weak-kneed. Mara immediately felt her husband's distress.
"Luke! What's wrong?" Mara asked frantically. Luke opened his mouth to say something, but he discovered the words would not come. He did the only thing he could do, he handed Mara the datapad. Mara took the report and began reading in apprehension. She shuttered as she read the results and then glanced up at Callista with panic in her eyes.
Callista just smiled and kneeled down in front of Mara and Ben. "I was hoping you would let me hold my Grandson for the first time." Callista asked quietly.
Fin