Family Found: Chapter Three

Mara Jade sat in the control center of the training room, watching her son and her husband as they fought each other. She glanced down at the console in front of her, noting that the room was set on a medium difficulty level, and then returned her attention to the two down on the floor. Silently, she watched as their blades probed in at each other–each attempting to get past the other's guard. The luminous weapons twisted around each other, one a wall of blue the other a serpentine of green.

She could feel the corners of her mouth twitching down into a frown, as she considered the past few months. The heartache and hassles, since that first mission to Corellia.

Since Luke told her what he had done to Tahiri.

To Noelani.

She dropped into the seat situated behind the console, and propped her elbows on her knees, hiding her face in her hands, allowing her hair to spill around her. It created a cocoon, a small haven where she could pretend to hide. Where she could pretend that she did not see Anakin's eyes every time that the girl looked at her. Where she could pretend that she was not partially responsible for destroying that little girl's innocence.

Where she could pretend, at least for a moment.

Never one to hide for long, she lifted her head, and once more looked out the window at her son and husband.

As she watched them spar, she had a new thought. One which sent a cold chill racing down her spine. An image. One of Ben and Noelani as they sat at the table together, laughing at something one of them said.

Could it be, she thought, clutching at her mouth with her hand. Could they like each other?

She sighed, not wanting to continue down that line of thinking. Not quite sure she was able to stop. She bolted out of her chair, and looked out the window once again, noticing that Ben and Luke had stopped their duel, and Luke appeared to be patiently explaining something to their son.

Deciding she needed to exercise some of those frustrations away, she upped the difficulty level on the console board, and strolled out of the room. Skipping down the steps which connected the training room with its control chamber she pushed open the double doors which lead into it, and noticed that Ben and Luke are still in the center of the room talking.

She walked the rest of the way towards them, and smiled for them both.

"My turn."

"What?"

Luke turned his blue eyes on her. And where she had once thought them filled with love and concern for the Knights that he had raised and trained. Now she had to wonder.

A part of her hated him for that.

And she had to wonder what type of person she was, to hide the truth from the girl, despite the promise she had made to Luke. But at the same time, she knew that she had given Luke her word that she would not tell.

A part of her hated herself for that.

"It's my turn to spar." She turned towards Ben. "Sorry, honey. But I need to steal your dad for a bit. See you at dinner time?"

Ben nodded his head, a flash of red hair that bounced down and then back up in quick succession. With near military precision he spun on his heel and confidently walked out of the room.

"Well at least GAG has given him good posture."

"Stow it, Farmboy. I'm still not happy with you."

She took a few steps away from him, and pulled out her saber. She looked down at the weapon, the lightsaber which he had given her. Which his mentor had given him. Which his father had built. She squeezed the hilt a bit tighter, pressing her thumb against the activator plate.

With a snap-hiss the blue-white blade flashed into existence.

She adopted a two handed grip on the hilt, holding the weapon low, hunching her back slightly.

His weapon ignited as well; its green glow discoloring his face giving him an unusually sinister look.

She attacked.

A hard strike at his stomach, he deftly knocked her blade away and twisted around her, snagging her leg with his foot, yanking it out from beneath her.

She smacked against the padded floor.

"You're distracted, Mara. You need to focus."

She climbed to her feet, glaring daggers at her husband.

Then she attacked again, her blade coming in from a high attack over her shoulder, and landing squarely against his. He started to drift to the side, and she body checked him, stopping his movement. Then she bounced forward, cracking the top of her head against his nose.

He let out a yelp of pain, and darted backwards, one hand grabbing at his nose. She grinned slightly as she could see blood running down between his fingers. Then she rushed forward to attack again.

A fan picked up, creating a wind that blew strong enough to pick her up off her feet and fling her towards the wall.

Cursing, she grabbed on of the cables which crisscrossed the room. She twisted her head to look for Luke, spying him hanging onto his own cable a few meters away. She pulled the Force to her, and released the cable, directing herself to land on the floor next to him, anchoring herself there with the Force. With a smile, she sliced away the cable he held onto, and watched as he slammed into the wall.

Then he was pushing himself up and jumping. She could feel the whirl of the Force as he drew it to him, and used it to sling himself forward. He landed in front of her as the fan died down.

He struck and she blocked.

She thrust and he parried.

Finally their blades locked again, each struggling to overpower the other. Through gritted teeth, Luke asked his question, "What's wrong, Mara. What's bothering you?"

"You have to ask? It's bothered me since you made me promise to not tell!"

Surprise flickered through his sky-blue eyes, and he extinguished his blade stepping backwards slightly.

"Is this still about Tahiri and Noelani?"

"Of course it is!" She knew she was yelling, and was suddenly happy that the training room had sound dampeners built into the walls.

Closing her eyes, she inhaled and then exhaled. Gathering her wits and getting control of her anger. She opened her eyes once more. "They deserve to know the truth."

"No. It's better this way. Tahiri was too young at the time. It was the middle of a war."

Mara could feel her anger–a tight knot settled deep in her stomach. She could feel it grow larger, and stronger as Luke attempted to justify his decision. "How can you say that? If nothing else, Noelani needs to know the truth."

"What has happened to bring this on now?"

Mara walked over to the wall, leaning her arm against it, and then pressed her forehead against her arm. "I saw Ben and Noelani having a meal together when I went to find him. You should have seen the way Noelani and Ben looked at one another while I was at the landing field talking to Tahiri and Tionne."

"We'll just tell Ben to stay away from her."

"He'll want to know why. And you can't expect him to keep something like this from people." Mara shook her head. " No. It's a bad decision Luke. And the only reason I can see for you making it is to hide your first bad decision."

She turned around to face him once again, noting that he had clenched his jaw and a hardness had settled into his eyes.

She stared at him. "Can you give me another reason?"

"Mara…I…"

"You're an orphan, Luke. You had no clue who your father was, but you found out. And recently, you even found out about your mother. You've forgotten just how painful and confusing being an orphan can be."

Luke bowed his head, refusing to meet Mara's gaze. "It's not just that. Ikrit told me once that Tahiri and Anakin were destined for something special – that together they had a power he had never come across before. Power that great, worries me, I'm not sure that either of them are ready for it."

Mara shook her head. "I don't think that's a good enough reason, Luke. You're scared of something nebulous and faded. A prophecy which has obviously not come true. Anakin died. There is no prophecy left there."

"'Together they are greater than the sum of their parts.' That's what Ikrit told them. Sounds like a child to me."

Mara sighed, and started to walk from the room. She paused at the door and cast a glance back towards Luke. "You're a selfish, karking rodder. You still don't understand – you can't see beyond your own nose. Don't forget, Farmboy that I'm an orphan too– and while we know who your parents are, I still know nothing about mine." As a tear escaped her eye, Mara silently cursed her own weakness before continuing. "What Noelani is going through is the same thing that I do. Every day. What type of people are we that we just let her suffer?"

Luke opened his mouth to reply, but Mara did not wait to listen. She just turned from him and strolled from the room. Her boots slapping confidently down the hall as she wrapped steel around her emotions to keep them from leaking out. Hiding the pain and anger behind the veneer of a Jedi Master.