Chapter Thirteen: Answers

At 18:00, Anakin finally called for an end to their training. Mara had done her best to stay focused but the lingering thought of flipping through a datapad full of information kept her mind occupied. Her father had left master and apprentice to their own devices which had left a considerable amount of silence in his wake.

"Master Yoda would be impressed with your commitment," Anakin noted and Mara wished she could laugh at him. She was nothing if not resourceful and she had orchestrated the entire afternoon to go in her favour. She felt slightly annoyed that the little green know-it-all hadn't even shown up to supervise their training.

However, without Yoda looking over their shoulders, Mara had managed to feign concentration with her Master. And it had certainly paid off.

"Thank you," she replied cordially. "The Force has certainly helped guide me."

She wasn't sure that last comment had convinced him, but Anakin looked relieved anyway. "Are you staying in the Temple?"

Mara thought back to her two weeks away from the Temple. She had stayed in a low-key hotel, not far from the Skywalker private residence. The Council hadn't required her to stay on-site and she had certainly taken advantage. Now that she was back in training and she had developed a truce with her father, she supposed that moving back to their quarters in the temple was the next step.

"Yes," she replied simply.

Anakin nodded enthusiastically. "I'm sure your father will be happy to hear that."

"I'm going to have to move out eventually," she reasoned with him.

Anakin held up his hands in defeat. "That is between the two of you. I'm still getting used to not having the twins underfoot at our place so I can't image he wants to get rid of you that quickly."

Anakin summoned his meditation mat from the floor and it nestled perfectly into his outstretched hand. "I have it on good authority he will be attending a meeting until late tonight though, Mara, so I wouldn't wait."

Mara summoned her own meditation mat and bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Master."

"I'll see you in the morning," Anakin gently reminded her and with that, Mara was free.

o0o

The first thing Mara noticed when walking into the Kenobi quarters was the distinct lack of mess. The kitchen was tidy and there were no caf cups scattered around the lounging area. The Holonet looked like it hadn't been touched. When Mara finally got to her own sleeping quarters, however, it looked exactly the same as when she had left.

Her bed was messy and her own Holonet terminal was dirty. Many of her tunics sat where she had left them before going on the mission to Serenno, atop a chair, still unwashed.

Now, she felt like home. Knowing that her father would be late, she dug out the datapad from the depths of her tunic. She had kept the datapad on her person at all times, wondering when she would have the strength to search for the information. Ever since she had been presented with Yoda's vision, the datapad had been burning a hole in her pocket.

She sat on her rumpled bed, and dug out the object. She half expected the voices in her head to return, but her mind was thankfully silent. She exhaled air that she didn't know she was holding.

She quickly logged in and noted that the remote location the information was uploaded to was at half capacity. With the courage of a Jedi, Mara finally logged into the search parameters.

With all the knowledge of Dooku at her fingertips, Mara was suddenly hit with the urge to take the datapad in front of the Council. She was only just a padawan—she was definitely in over her head. But, as the search parameters blinked back at her, she was overcome with the same overwhelming desire she had felt during her vision.

Whatever secrets the datapad held, she needed to know.

Before she could even comprehend what she was doing, her fingers moved seemingly of their own accord. Marali-Ketana Jade.

She had viewed the brief report but something was telling her there was a lot more information to be viewed. Even now, knowing that Dooku was her maternal grandfather, she was still wholly uninterested. Of course, there might be information about his motivations about turning to the Dark Side or some kind of examination of his involvement in the Clone Wars but the only thing that Mara could consider was her mother.

As Mara sent the request through several hits came up. Each entry was logged chronologically and the only logical explanation Mara could come up with was that her mother had somehow logged journal entries in Dooku's archives.

Which meant that after the incident the Force had shown her, her mother had actually gone back to that wretched place. Somehow, this news didn't actually shock Mara. That place was filled with ghosts and while Mara certainly didn't want to ever go back there, she couldn't deny that some part of her, the same part as her mother, called to her.

With determined hands, she clicked on the earliest entry. Instead of a hololog, Marali-Ketana had written only in text.

Entry 1: Despite my earlier misgivings, it seems that I have once again entered this place. My mother brought me here, once and I simply ignored her. If I had known then what I know now, I might have lingered here longer. Perhaps it would have prepared me. It is my intention to transfer these entries to the mainframe so that there may be a record of what has happened to me.

My father is the devil. Ever since I have been here, words have been speaking to me inside of my head. I have told Mama and she simply said that is part of a gift.

I call it a curse.

This place speaks to me. I cannot escape. When I am sitting down to tea with Mama, the voice reminds me that she is a traitor. It tells me that I wasn't born for this life of servitude and within these walls is the answer.

Beyond these walls, I cannot see. Inside of here, they stop but it is more than this that shrinks my bones. When I am in here, I read. I can see entries made by Dooku himself, I can see various writings he and that that wretched man have done. There are schematics of all kinds, most importantly he has left me the way in which to build a weapon, like his.

What reason would I need a weapon for? For the Counts? Mama? If I built it, he would be the only one I would strike down. But, as long as I am here, in these walls, the voices stop and maybe I can find myself again.

Everything about that entry spoke to Mara. The voices—the ones that haunted her every step, were a result of contact with that place. Not for the first time, the idea of telling the Council crossed her mind. If the chamber held schematics, perhaps they could be of some use. The New Republic was at war, but they still had a standing army and in any case, she was sure the Archives at the Temple could probably use the information.

But that opened a door that Mara was unwilling to go through. Telling the Council meant admitting that she had taken the information and she had been concealing it thus far. And the last thing she wanted was to be grounded longer than necessary.

The last time she had faced Council had been a bloodbath. So once again, the notion of confessing was buried deep down. She clicked on the next entry.

Entry 2- I have been coming down here more often than I like. Dooku is rarely here and I am not sure which side is winning. The Palace is sombre and there are too many whispers of the Jedi. So, Mama and I do our work and in my free time, I am here. The voices continue but I still seem to have peace in the chamber.

I have managed to supply a vial of blood so I don't have to keep cutting my hand every time I want to be here. Mama asked me about it the other day. The voice nudged me to lie, so I did. I'm not sure if she believed me.

The hologram of my father frightens me still. I'm not exactly a child anymore but the sound of his voice and the way he has programmed it to track my every move is unnerving. I want to leave but I can't.

I have tried to sort through the amount of information in the terminal. I've found my registry of birth and some other documentation to prove I am Dooku's heir.

I intend to burn the flimsiplast. He doesn't own me. But he's got me intrigued.

The entry ended abruptly and Mara could feel the approaching signature of her father. In a way, Mara was thankful that she had been interrupted. Her mind was still reeling from the personal information she had read in just two short journal entries from her birth mother.

So, to preserve her own peace of mind, she stashed the datapad away in her room. With a sigh, she attempted to fix her bed coverings and was in the main room of the apartment when her father walked in.

"Dad," Mara greeted, eyeing the package of delicious smelling food he had in his hands. Obi-Wan gave her a tight smile.

"Hello, young one."

She spied the logo on the package. "Dex?"

Obi-Wan held it up for her to see clearly. "My meeting finished early. I thought we might eat, watch something on the Holo and gossip about boys."

She raised her eyebrow as she relieved her father of the delicious smelling package from Dex's Diner. "Like how Corran Horn is so dreamy?"

Obi-Wan chuckled and removed his utility belt, placing it on the kitchen bench. "Now I know you're pulling my leg, young one. You seem to only get pleasure from beating him in lightsaber duels."

Mara found herself laughing along with her father, the stress of the previous two weeks slowly fading away. She pushed the thoughts of her birth mother far into the back of her mind as she organised their plates and sat with her father in front of the Holo.

As her Dad laughed at the sludgenews on the holo, Mara relaxed in her favourite chair. And as quickly as she had pushed it to her mind, the same voice rose up through the ashes of her thoughts.

She said he didn't own her. She lied.