Chapter 82 - Purpose

Mara retreated back to her chambers. It wasn't something she did very often, retreat. The stalwart girl held her head high and endured most of her father's associates, even though she'd much prefer to stab them all. But when the latest one insisted on blathering on and on about the most boring of topics, she couldn't bear it anymore. When her Father was ready to meet with him, he wasn't finished and he promised to return to the dribble when he returned. Mara took the opportunity and ran back to her quarters, shutting the door so fast it clanged.

Beep, beep, beep. Her comlink went off.

Mara took a moment to catch her breath and she reached for it.

"Mara, there you are." The holo projection of her sister, Winter, came up. "I've had a hard day, and could use someone to vent to."

"Me too, sis. Where are you?" Mara asked.

"It's classified. Somewhere between Dagobah and Naboo. EER! It's just so frustrating. We had to go through a set of gates to get into an imperial compound. My general is all ready to waste our limited resources and manpower to break through by force. I point out that it's not our only option. It would be far simpler to bribe and sweet talk a few of the local workforce into opening the doors for us… But no! He dismisses my ideas as being too wishful and not practical with the current mission parameters." Winter used her hands as quotation marks, mocking her superior with her voice. She sighed. "I do envy you sometimes. All you probably do is look for peaceful solutions to the Rebellion's problems. And no one gives you flack for it."

Mara laughed at this. "Oh Winter, I would do anything to get to march on an empire compound and do destruction, instead of this endless prattle. I just had to sit for three hours to entertain one of Father's potential allies before he got out of another meeting. We could have talked about ANYTHING! The crumbling of political freedoms, Hunger on economically depressed worlds, Stars, even the Weather. But what does this one want to talk about? Dust. About how it bothers his equipment and makes it wholly impossible to bring out a quota of refined ore."

Mara paused to look up and noticed Winter's lips were struggling with a smile. She returned it with a glare, and her sister broke down in laughter. "Oh Mara. If only we were in opposite roles. I would gladly sit with the diplomats and you would enjoy the chaos on the battlefield."

"Yeah, if only." Mara cursed the stupid Alderaanian heritage laws. The ones that said that because she was legally adopted first, it didn't matter which child was older, or which would be a better queen, she was still saddled with the political responsibilities. "If only…"


After Winter's comm call, Mara tried to read a holonovel, but found she couldn't fully delve into the pages. Her mind kept complaining about how boring her life was. About an hour later she went to grab a snack. She wasn't hungry for much, and especially didn't want to risk running into any talkative politicians on the way, so she went to the smaller kitchen in the royal quarters. Bending over to look through a cabinet, Bail came up behind her. "Hello Mara dear."

Mara grabbed a box of crackers shaped like anthropomorphized wildlife, and turned to him.

"I wanted to thank you for keeping Senator Mon-Tac-Na busy earlier. I know he isn't the most interesting man to talk to," Bail said.

"Yeah, I think he'd bore a Muun." Mara pointed out. "No, I'm sure he'd bore a Muun. Best to keep him away to avoid diplomatic incidents."

"Hmm. Well, he is a good ally, and you'll learn, when you take up more of my responsibilities, that that is what is import…" Bail stopped when Mara rolled her eyes. He breathed with his mouth open for a few seconds, like he was trying to find words to say. Mara braced for a lecture. "You know your mother and I love you, right?"

"What?" Mara blinked. If anything she expected her disrespect to earn, a reminder of her parents affection wasn't it. "Yeah, of course."

"Because, we want what's best for you. You know that. We'd do anything for you. All you have to do is ask."

Mara breathed. Just what was he offering her? Did he mean to let her go from all Royal responsibilities, or just a few? Did she want that?

After a few minutes, when Mara didn't say anything, Bail reached out to touch her shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have to answer me now. Give it some consideration. There's a ball in a month's time. We can use it to make an official announcement, if that's what you want. Assuming Winter agrees, of course."

Mara nodded. 'Oh my gosh! That is what he's offering.'

"You'll always be my daughter, no matter what life you choose." Bail moved to get a mug from the overhead cabinet. "You know, Master Yoda and some Jedi are coming to Alderaan tonight. I know you enjoy their company more than most politicians. Why don't you take responsibility for getting them settled."

To that, Mara smiled and nodded again. "Yeah, I'll put them in one of the outbuildings. That way if we have any unexpected company, they can get away fast, or hopefully go unnoticed."

"Good, yes. East side will let them enter unnoticed from the kitchens. Give them a communicator, so I can alert them the minute we have any trouble."

Mara took note to grab a communicator from her father's office. "Thanks Dad." She hugged Bail before running off to find a servant to prepare the quarters for the Jedi's arrival.


Leia looked down at her Master's instructions. Yoda's scratchy handwriting left much to be desired. 'In the Force, Immerse yourself. For three hours or until I return.'

Leia sighed. "Alright, three hours..."

Knock Knock Knock, a sound interrupted her.

"Oh thank the Force!" Leia got up and spun around to go answer the door to the cottage. It was next to the Royal Palace on Alderaan. Bail Organa's people got them settled there after they arrived the previous night. "Princess Mara," Leia formally addressed her before she got to see that the girl was alone.

"Leia, I'm glad to see you. I've brought a communicator so we can alert you in case any imperials drop by unexpectedly."

"Oh, yes. Bring it inside." Leia turned to allow Mara entry. She figured the princess wanted to do more than deliver a communicator. Such a simple task could have been done by a servant, which the Organa's were not short of. Leia did feel remarkably at home on Alderaan. She supposed that, in another life, this would've been where she belonged.

"You are alone," Mara reached out with the Force.

"Yeah, Master Yoda is off 'Making Preparations.' He'll be gone for several hours." Leia used her fingers to denote quotation marks. "And Luke's still on Beskarn," she added teasingly.

"Oh," Mara looked down disappointed for a split second. "Preparations, what for?"

Leia shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. Master's been going off to prepare for something for a while now. Usually he goes off into the Jungle around the base on Beskarn. Sometimes he cuts himself off from the Force entirely. Other times he goes off like a great big boom! But he won't tell me what he's doing."

Mara nodded. "Well, tell him the Royal Family would like to help him, if we could. Ask him if there's anything he needs for these preparations. Could you, please?"

"Yeah, sure." Leia agreed. "He's got me working on these ridiculous training exercises. I've got to Immerse myself in the Force for three whole hours."

"Oh. Well, do you want company?" Mara asked nervously. "It's just that Ahsoka and I usually do that stuff together, and it makes it easier."

"Yeah. You know it would be nice to hear about how Ahsoka's training differs from my Masters. She was trained by my father, you know," Leia responded.

"Yeah, I know that," Mara sank down on the loveseat in the cottage, and Leia sat down next to her.


Later that afternoon, Mara left the cottage with a newfound purpose to her step. Through her meditation with Leia, and afterwards from her conversation with Master Yoda, she now knew what she wanted in life. And she knew the steps to get there.

Mara went back to her room and she used a very special comm number to reach Ahsoka in the field. "Mara, are you in danger? Where are you?"

"Relax, I'm on Alderaan, and we're all perfectly safe. No reason to go into Fulcrum mode," Mara teased. "I wanted to talk to you about something. There's a favor I need."

"Hmm?" Ahsoka's eyes closed and Mara felt her poke at their training bond. 'You are quite determined, little one.'

'I am,' Mara replied over their bond. Both Force-wielders opened their eyes. Mara rushed to speak out her next words like she had been waiting for forever to say them. "I want to join the Jedi. I want to be a part of the Order." She took a breath, relieved to have finally put it to words.

Ahsoka's smile turned serious. "That is a big decision. It will require a lot of commitment to achieve, and I am not sure I'm the best person to be talking to about it. I'd suggest you talk to Anakin, or Obi-Wan."

"I already talked to Master Yoda. He explained how they used to have strict age limits on new members, and all that. They don't do that anymore. But they still do require you to have been trained by another knight. Listen, all the steps to training, you've already taken me through. All they need is to acknowledge you as a knight, then I can be inducted as your Padawan."

"Whoa! Hold on." Ahsoka tried.

Mara was on too much of a role to stop now. "Please. Master Yoda says he's offered to Knight you already. You've more than earned it, he's said. You don't even need to stay for long. Just long enough to let me take my trials. Master Yoda said it won't take long at all. Pleeeease?" she begged.

Ahsoka looked down. "The Order requires a lot of commitment. It's more than a simple ceremony. I don't know."

"But Master, I'm sure this is what I want. I'm unfocused and hopeless as a politician. But using the Force, I'm good at. Father and Mother know this. He's already offered to give the position to Winter. But I didn't know what to say to him at the time, because I didn't know what else I'd do. Then I spent the day with Leia doing Force-work, and now I know, I know what I want to do," Mara knew that she was getting through. Ahsoka wasn't even looking at her anymore, resisting her was getting harder and harder.

"Mara. It wasn't easy to leave the order the first time. I w- I want to do this for you, but I don't know if I can." Ahsoka's voice was breaking.

Mara frowned. She didn't want to cause her teacher this distress.

"I will think about it." Ahsoka promised.

Mara nodded. "Thank you, Master."

"Quit it with this Master stuff," Ahsoka teasingly rebuked.

"Thought I'd get the practice in. In case you agree." Mara said.

"Well, if that's the case, Padawan, your training is about to get even harder." Ahsoka teased and Mara laughed.


We'll, looks like my storyline was hijacked again. Don't worry, I know what they have planned, and I'm kinda excited for it.

I intend this chapter to be some time after the last one. So they're all moved into the new Rebellion Base. The twins are about 21. Leo and Ella-Reese are 18.5. Eli-Jinn is 15. Mara is 19. And Mace-Ti Brood is 17. We're still chronologically before episode 5. Though I may be mentioning a 21st birthday in the next chapter, I'm not sure.

Next chapter will feature more Ashoka, for sure. And Mara. And maybe some of Luke and Leia, with Han Solo. Who better to celebrate a 21st birthday with?