Family Found Chapter 16

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Ben stormed closer towards his mother, anger pulsing off of him. He stopped a few paces from her, staring hard.

"What's your problem with Noelani?" He yelled at her. "Every time you see her, you stare at her so coldly. She thinks you hate her, you know."

His mother shook her head. "I don't hate her…" then she looked over at his father for a moment, before looking back at him. "It's… It's complicated."

Tahiri's voice came from behind him, her voice cold and hard. "Why don't you uncomplicate it for us then? Or is that my apprentice just isn't good enough for your son?"

"He just can't do that. Not with her." Mara said, her face falling slightly.

Ben barked a laugh. "I think I can do that with whoever I want to."

Mara shook her head, and replied, "But she's family."

"Mara!" Luke called out, near panic in his voice.

Tahiri brushed past him, a scowl on her face. "You know who her family is? And you've kept it from her all this time? Tell me. She deserves to know."

Mara looked towards her father again, her face pinched in a scowl. A single tear slipped from her left eye, and then she turned back to Tahiri.

"You're her family."

Tahiri rocked back on her heels, her eyes opening wide. "But… I… I don't have any family."

Luke laid a hand on Mara's shoulder, and said, "That's enough."

Her hand shot out, and caught Luke just beneath the curve of the jaw. The Force flared with the impact of her punch, and Luke crumpled.

"Yes, that's enough," she said as she spun around to stand over him. "I'm guilty enough just covering for you these past few months. All the lies end now."

She exhaled, her body shaking slightly, and then she turned back to Tahiri.

"Tahiri… you do have family. Noelani is your family."

Tahiri frowned and shook her head. "But how? In all my searches, I couldn't find any records of either of my biological parents having any living relatives."

Mara's face darkened slightly, her eyes falling away from Tahiri's face.

Ben felt a niggle in the back of his head as he worked through his mother's words. He couldn't kiss Noelani, because she was related to him. But, she was Tahiri's family. Ben blinked, and his head snapped up to look at his mother.

"Mom, who's her father?"

She closed her eyes, and answered in a soft voice, "Anakin Solo."

Tahiri's skin paled, and her mouth opened and closed a few times. Her eyes were as large as saucers as she stared at the Jedi Master.

Finally, color seemed to seep back into her cheeks, and anger flooded the Force. "Anakin? My… My Anakin?"

Mara nodded her head.

"And… and she's thirteen… What? How?"

Mara sighed, and glanced down at Luke again. Then she turned once more towards Tahiri, and replied, "You were pregnant when you came back from the Myrkr mission. Sometime after Ebaq 9 you disappeared and Luke found you on the Outer Rim, having just given birth. He erased your memory, brought you to Mon Calamari, and took your daughter to Huff to raise. His plan was that you would never meet her. You were never supposed to be her Master."

Ben watched, as Tahiri looked between his parents, her jaw clenched as tightly as her fists. Finally, she spun around, and ran back towards her ship.

He watched his mother, as she first stared at the starship, and then turned towards Luke, looking down at him.

After a short eternity, she spoke. "It's over now." Then she turned back to Ben. "Come on son; let's go back to the Temple. I'm sure you have some questions."

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Noelani felt as if she were flying. She was kissing Ben Skywalker. She was ecstatic, happy. Those and a thousand other emotions were flying through her head.

Then her world shattered. His mother, Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker, scream broke through the desert air. "No! Stop!"

She jumped apart from Ben, and turned to look at Mara Jade where she stood on the steps that led into the Jedi Library. Guilt and embarrassment quickly replaced the joy.

No one moved for a heartbeat, the only sounds were the echoes of Mara's scream and the distant caws of a desert bird.

Her mind was still bouncing from one emotion to the next, all her thoughts a confused jumbled mess.

She blinked hard a few times, and then felt the first of her tears as it sliced down her face. The embarrassment faded, leaving only pain and rejection. I'm not good enough for him. Master Skywalker doesn't think I'm good enough for her son.

Tears, hot and wet, flowed freely, and she turned from them, towards the Stolen Star and ran. She almost knocked over Tahiri and she bolted up the ramp, and then darted into her cabin and flung herself on her bed.

Soon, the door shifted open, and Tahiri stepped into the room, tears flowing down her face, the Force whirling around her. She dropped into the chair beside Noelani's bed, watching her.

"I, I don't believe I missed it," she muttered. "It's so obvious, now that I know…"

She leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees, and cradling her head in her hands. Her body shook with tears.

"I'm sorry, Noelani. I didn't know. When I asked you to be my apprentice, I didn't know. I wasn't told. If I had… I-I would have told you."

Noelani brushed the tears from her eyes, as she watched her Master. "Told me what?"

Tahiri lifted her head. Sorrow and pain and joy warred for dominance in her green eyes. "The truth. The truth about your family."

Noelani bolted to a sitting position, tossing her legs over the side of the bed so that she was closer to Tahiri. "My family? You know who my family is?"

Tahiri nodded, her tears still flowing down her cheeks. "Mara just told me. You must believe me, they kept it from me. Luke, he… he erased my memory. I had no idea. No clue."

Noelani blinked her eyes a few times as she processed Tahiri's words. "You knew my parents?"

Tahiri's body shuddered, as she nodded her head and sobbed.

"Who? Who are they?"

"Me. I'm your mother. They took you from me."

Noelani opened her mouth, but for the first time in her life, realized that she did not have anything to say. She blinked, and clamped her mouth shut again.

Standing, she began to pace. Finally, she stopped in front of Tahri. She watched her for a moment, as she cried into her hands. Her body shuddered with the tears, and the Force sang with her pain.

"Mast-… Mom?"

Tahiri lifted her head slowly. Their eyes locked, and Noelani forced a smile to her lips. Tahiri's shoulders hitched with a hiccup, and a small smile stretched her lips.

"Who's my father?"

Her voice was weak, hoarse from her crying. "Anakin was."

"Oh," Noelani said as she dropped back onto her bed. "So… so that's why Master Skywalker…"

Tahiri nodded her head. "Yeah, Ben's your cousin."

"Does, does this mean Jedi and Captain Solo are my grandparents?"

Tahiri nodded her head again.

Noelani brushed more tears away from her cheeks. "Why? Why is it this way? Why was I raised an orphan?"

Tahiri shook her head. "I… I don't know Noelani. I didn't wait around to get all those answers. As soon as Mara explained why she didn't want you to kiss Ben, I came straight in here. You needed to know."

Noelani scooted back into the corner, where the bed was pressed up against the wall. Tahiri stood up, and got on the bed beside her, pulling her into a hug. She leaned into Tahiri's grip, and allowed the tears to come again.

"How come everything seems to get piled on all at the same time?"

Tahiri laughed through her tears. "That's because you're a Solo."

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