No Greater Plan

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this, nor do I own any of the official Star Wars Characters or any other character from the movies books etc. I do own the inserted Characters Zeeana, Teal, Nathaniel, Darien, Yale and Bathaden and any other randomly inserted Imperial soldier or character not belonging to the mainstream registered bits, that I so choose to shove in here ^_~

Pairings: Teal and Rukia. Darien and Zeeana… eventually

Rating: NC17.

Author: Armitage

Author’s note: This fic has been the bane of my existence for quite a few years now^^:; There has been so many different unfinished versions, (glances to the 15 different note books on her desk and sweat drops). I will admit I am not the greatest writer in the fandoms that I write in; I could be the worst for all I know, but this is the first time I have ventured into this realm of SW fics… ^^;; I started writing for just my own pleasure and fun. I write because I love to write and I decided to share it with others because I want constructive criticism. Just a main point though, I started writing this when I was a lot younger and this fic does not really follow the books or the movies etc, but it was written for a friend of mine and it’s just how it turned out. I still am writing some chapters that are not finished. So this posting of the fic will now ensure I finish the bloody thing ^^;; he, he, he.

Please be gentle with me and note that Mara may be out of character, as I haven’t really gotten to know her. I added her after Luke and she got married in the comics. Originally, I had Luke and Zee paired off.

Summary ~*~

The distant planet of Callen III is about to become part of the New Republic.

A treaty has been agreed upon by Coruscant’s Head of State Senator Leia Organa-Solo and when members of Callan III’s Senate go missing their youngest member, Zeeana Amaris, a young woman from the town of Maxilon Artica, is chosen by her Senate to represent the planet as their Senate elect to meet with Coruscant’s Head of State.

When Imperials arrive the night before the meeting Zeeana realizes that her brother is part of the faction that knows of the Senates troubles. As the adventure unfolds Zeeana discovers something about her past that will change her life forever.

No Greater Plan.


Chapter 2

The combined chores were exhausting enough, but whoever it was that had reached into her mind before had exhausted the girl even more so. Even just trying to shut someone out took a massive amount of her energy, Zeeana was physically, and mentally drained by the time she reached the front door of the homestead.

Taking off the cap she'd been wearing and wiping her brow with one hand, she reached into the pocket of her oil stained overalls and with the other, pulled out the key to the homestead, only to succeed in dropping it to the ground.

"Damn it all!" she cussed, not quite under her breath as she bent down to pick it up. As she did so a feeling of not being alone washed over her and she froze, noticing the shadows before her and brought herself slowly to a standing position, wary of what or who it might be.

"May I help you?" she asked a little nervously.

The woman to her right with short dark hair smiled at her and spoke, "We're looking for Senator Elect, Zeeana Amaris."

Zeeana remained frozen to the spot and her change in body language was easily noted as a defensive reply to those words. "May I inquire as to whom is asking?"

Putting forth her right hand the woman retained her smile, "Senator Leia Organa-Solo, Head Of State for the New Republic of Coruscant."

Zeeana swallowed. "You're kidding?" she blurted out without thinking. This was so embarrassing. Here she was in her grubby, oily overalls and the New Republic's Head Of State was standing there before her with three members of her staff.

The look on the girl's face, Leia noted, was one of surprise, shock and embarrassment, "I gather that means that you are Senator Amaris?" Leia began, already knowing that she had stated the obvious.

The girl offered a mournfully embarrassed sigh. "At this point in time, I really wish I wasn’t!" She looked down at her filthy overalls. "My apologies. This isn't how I imagined meeting you."

"A little oil can be quite flattering... on the right person of course."

Zeeana found herself blushing at the comment as she tried to avoid the gaze from the ice blue eyes of the youngest member of the group, his shoulder length blonde hair gently blowing in the breeze as it passed by.

*Thwap* "Shut up Lieutenant, you're embarrassing the girl."

“Well, it worked. She’s smiling isn’t she?”he grinned, winking at the poor girl whose cheeks had turned a darker shade of red.

Mara grinned. ”Forgive my friend, he has the brain of a Mulaka."

Zeeana laughed quietly, regaining a little of her composure. "I’m sure the Mulaka must be missing it badly then," she grinned back at them

Mara laughed. “Looks like it's one all, hey, Saunders?”

"Hey wait a minute. Conspiracies aren't allowed," he replied.

Luke rolled his eyes, shaking his head and Leia sighed a little impatiently.

"Well, um," Zeeana began with a blush tainted smile. "You're welcome to come in. I just have to get cleaned up and then we can get to work on getting acquainted once I'm a little more dressed for company," she suggested, glancing at the New Republic’s Head of State.

"That's fine. We aren't in any hurry. The meeting isn't until later this afternoon."

Zeeana held the door open for her guests as they walked inside. "I'm afraid the place isn't much," the girl apologized. "But it's home…"

The Lieutenant walked into the homestead following the others and smiled at the girl.” There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s a nice place. It feels like a home"

The girl met his honest gaze with a grateful smile. "Thank you. It's very sweet of you to say so. Please, all of you, make yourselves at home, I'll be as quick as I can,” she said, running upstairs.

Luke glanced around the room. His eyes closed and he was lost in concentration once more.

Leia walked over to him. "What's wrong? Is it the disturbance we felt before?"

Luke glanced up towards the stairs, "There is a strong presence here.“ He turned and swiftly walked over to a small shelf above the small fireplace to the left of them. Picking up a picture from the shelf he handed it to Leia. ”What do you see?”

She stared at the picture for a few moments, the other two glancing over her shoulder at it. "There are three strong powers here. The Senators, and these two."

He pointed to the older man. "He was a Jedi, strong in the force. He's passed on, but I can sense his presence still lingers even now.”

"I'd say he would be her brother then," Leia added, pointing to the younger of the two in the picture. " The information about him was in her profile.” She paused puzzled by something, "He would have to be her father wouldn't he, although, it mentioned nothing about him in the profile, and it only mentioned her mother briefly!"

Mara gave a questioning look. "Don't you find that odd?"

Leia looked back over at the pictures on the shelf. "That, and the fact there's more pictures of her father and brother, than her and her mother, and there's baby pictures of her brother, but none of the Senator. "

Darien frowned, folding his arms, "That is odd. Why, I wonder?"

Mara picked up another picture. "This seems to be the earliest picture of the Senator in here. It looks to be seven or eight years old."

Luke watched as Mara put the picture back into its place on the shelf. "Something's wrong here," Luke noted, glancing towards the stairs again. "And I don't like what I'm sensing."

~*~

Nathaniel looked shocked as he headed towards his own quarters. Teal's revelation had given him quite a headache. He was even more shocked when Teal told him of the Emperor's original plans which the Admiral had intended to complete.

He stumbled tiredly into his room and almost fell onto the bed. The scene with Teal and himself played in his head like a bad dream that wouldn't go away.

~*~*~*~ Flashback ~*~*~*~

“You and I are both to be part of these plans, Nathaniel,” Teal had told him. “And if Zeeana is the Emperor's true heir, she will be brought here to her fulfill her destiny as the Emperor foresaw before his death at the hands of Vader, and…" He paused looking straight into his friend's eyes, "you’d better brace yourself for this, Nathaniel.’

Nathaniel stared at him, a subdued look of apprehension spreading across his face, ”Go on, I’m listening.”

“The Admiral informed me it was my duty as your best friend to tell you that *you* will be the one to help Zeeana fulfill her destiny."

Nathaniel's heart raced. "Bu, but why me? I mean, surely the breeding experiments would be better off with a stronger male?'

“The Admiral knows of your long term relationship with her.”

Nathaniel glared at his friend. “You told him?”

“I apologize, but he wanted to know everything about her life and I wasn't going to lie to him, Nathaniel.”

Nathaniel sighed. “Good luck getting her near me then. She is still pretty mad at me. Although I thought I'd almost gotten through to her last night, but I was wrong.”

“Don't worry too much about it. The Admiral still needs to get a DNA sample from her to prove his theory, but that shouldn't be too hard.”

~*~*~*~ End flashback~*~*~*~

Nathaniel shook his head a little to clear his mind. If he had been a weaker man he would have been ill by now.

Breeding experiments?

What the hell were they thinking? There was no way Zeeana would agree to any of this; and he knew it. They had never even played around, let alone slept together. The whole subject was taboo, unless of course you were bonded by marriage. Not that he hadn't tried, but then, that was what caused their split in the first place.

The only way they would get her here would be to take her by force and that could prove dangerous if she decided to use her power. There was every chance that she could become unstable, but then again, she was pretty hung up on the promise she had made to her father, so maybe it would be a little easier.

“This is just too weird,” Nathaniel sighed to himself as he closed his eyes in the hope of a peaceful slumber, until a knock on the door stopped that idea in the making.

"Yes?" the boy called out.

"It's Ensign Maddison, sir."

"What is it, Ensign?"

"Admiral Yale wishes an audience with you immediately."

Nathaniel jumped off the bed and swallowed nervously. "Tell him I'm on my way."

"Yes sir!” the officer's voice replied through the door.

He waited for the footsteps to disappear and then, taking a deep breath, he left the comfort of his room.

~*~

Zeeana dried herself off and changed into her everyday clothes, choosing carefully what to wear. Normally she wouldn't have cared less and lazed about in her nightclothes until she had to get ready for the meeting, but that definitely wouldn't be appropriate today. Her hair, which was hidden by the work cap she'd been wearing, was now flowing freely over her shoulders.

She threw on a sleeveless top and a pair of dark pants. Then, making sure her hair was brushed and she looked neat and tidy, she took one last glance in the mirror before heading back downstairs.

Pausing just at the top of them, she sensed a strange aura emanating from the group. It wasn't threatening in any way, just a little disconcerting because they were the same as she; and that wasn't always good. She hated anyone knowing about her abilities, they were untrained and uncontrolled, and she hated them with a passion. So much pain and grief had entered into her life because of them, but she had always been forbidden to improve her skills.

A glance from the man in black made her shiver. She had let her guard down just a little too much and she felt him enter her mind. It was as before, out in the field. *He* was the one. She glared at him.

‘Don’t be afraid, Senator. We want to protect you, that's why we're here,' he smiled reassuringly at her, his thoughts gently intertwining with her own.

Zeeana understood, and sensing his intentions were sincere, her glare softened into a small smile and she acknowledged him with a slight nod of her head before descending the stairs.

"I'm sorry I took so long," she apologized as all eyes turned to meet her as she reached the bottom.

Darien stared as the young woman descended. His eyes not leaving the young woman’s until she broke the gaze. Her face calm and serene, she had a gentle air about her, but he could see that there was a determination in her eyes and a strength that flowed through her. Not to mention the fact that she wasn’t too hard on the eyes either. He swallowed as she walked past him.

“Something wrong?” she asked him coyly.

Darien picked upon her little game and grinned. “On the contrary, Senator; from where I’m standing everything is just, breathtakingly perfect.”

Zeeana found herself blushing. That little plan had backfired. The score was now, two - to - one and she rapidly changed the subject. "I hope you'll make yourselves at home. It’s not often my brother and I have this much company at any one time, except for the harvest dealers during harvest."

"You mean, this, really is the only social life you people have?” the young Lieutenant inquired of her.

Zeeana shrugged. "I’m afraid it’s all you have time for when you're running an entire food farm with just two people, or one when my brother goes away. The upside to it all is that at least we never run out of food."

”Yeah, that would be a bonus, but still, no social life has got to put a dampener on the old love life,” he returned with a wink.

Zeeana blushed but she still wasn't going to let him win. "Well, not really. I have the farm to see to and my Senate duties. I don't have time for romance I'm afraid.”

"Such a waste,” he sighed.

Leia stepped forward. "Alright Lieutenant. I think that's enough flirting for now!"

Mara grinned, elbowing him as he blushed this time. "Better luck next time, Saunders," she teased him.

“If you two have quite finished, I think it's time we introduced ourselves properly to the Senator," she reminded them.

Zeeana motioned towards the seat in front of them. Then seated herself at the bottom of the stairs.

“Firstly,” Leia began as the others seated themselves also. “Our apologies for just dropping in unannounced."

Zeeana smiled softly. “My only regret about that is my appearance when you arrived. Otherwise, I really don’t mind. It is nice to have company other than the traders. Anyway...” she offered, “...as you already know I am Zeeana Amaris, Senate elect, representative for Callen III.”

Leia bowed her head slightly. “And as you know, I am Head of State for Coruscant, Senator Leia Organa-Solo. This...” she pointed to Luke, “...is my brother, Admiral Luke Skywalker.”

Zeeana’s eyes lit up. “You’re that Jedi Knight who helped defeat the Emperor. You also run a Jedi academy on Yavin4.”

Luke glanced over at Leia. “I’m impressed.”

The young girl thought for a moment and a puzzled look fell over her face. “I can’t actually recall how, but I just seem to know some things, yet I can’t remember when or where I’ve learnt them!”

Leia exchanged concerned glances with her brother. This was getting stranger by the minute. “Heard it somewhere, from the traders maybe?” Leia offered as a momentary explanation.

"Could be. So many come through here during harvest, so it is possible."

Leia smiled as the young girl shrugged. "Any way, to my left, is Mara Skywalker, my brother’s wife and of course you already know Lieutenant Saunders.”

The Lieutenant nodded slightly, acknowledging the introduction with yet another wink. “My pleasure I’m sure.”

Zeeana nodded back, her eyes catching his again. “I’m sure it is, Lieutenant,“ she replied politely, with an air of playful sarcasm.

Luke threw his sister a commandeering look and she nodded. “Senator Amaris...”

“Please, call me Zee, it’s less of a mouthful,”the young woman requested.

Leia smiled at the young woman. “Very well then, Zee. There is something we would like to ask you about your family. That is, if you don’t mind?”

The young woman shook her head. “No, that’s fine. Please, go ahead. I know the reasons why you are here and I know that it’s not just about the treaty. I want to help in any way possible.”

Luke walked over to her and sat beside her. “That picture over there, “ he pointed to the one they had been looking at earlier. “Who are they?”

Zeeana stood and retrieved the picture that Luke had noticed. She handed it to him and pointed to the younger of the two. “ That is my brother Teal, he is one of the powers that you sense, and the other is my father, Micheal Amaris.” She turned and looked directly into Luke’s eyes. “Yes, he was a Jedi knight, he is the stronger presence you feel. Nathaniel is the other, weaker power, the other two stronger powers, I cannot see them yet as I do not know who they are, but I know they are there. The final power you sense, the untamed power, is my own.” She looked around at them all. “Is this what you wanted to know?”

Luke placed a hand on her shoulder. “You know then, that you could very well be in danger?”

The girl nodded. “I have known for a while that it might be so. My brother has joined with them and even now, I know he has informed them that I exist. With my powers unrefined and untrained, if I find myself in a crisis then things could get..." she shot Luke a serious look. “...a little out of hand.”

Leia sighed deeply before asking the next question. “Zee, we noticed that there’s only a few pictures of you in your later childhood; why is that?”

The young woman shrugged. “That, I’m afraid, even I don’t have a very clear answer for. I asked that question myself once and I was told that when I was born I was kept in hospital because I was very sick as a child. It was a very touchy subject.” She glanced towards the fireplace. “The strangest thing is though, I don’t remember much of my life before I came here. My illness was never spoken about and to this day I have no idea what was wrong with me. “

Luke folded his arms and walked back over to Zeeana. “Zee, from this moment on you will be under 24 hour guard. Darien, “ he turned to face the Lieutenant. “She’s in your capable hands.” He saw the Lieutenant grin and then wink at the girl, but before he had the chance to comment, Luke beat him to it, his own grin plastered over his face. “And I mean that in a professional way, Lieutenant.”

“I’m sure I can handle him.” Zeeana smiled sweetly. “If there’s one thing I can do, it’s protect myself from overactive hormonal men. I was engaged to one of those once.”

“Oh?” Darien asked inquisitively. “And what happened to him?”

“He was soon told where he could stick his overactive hormones.”

The Lieutenant found himself on the receiving end of a wink and raised an eyebrow. “Sounds painful.”

Zeeana turned her attention back to Luke and Leia. “So... what happens from here on in?”

“Firstly, I think you should come back to our ship with us.”

“But I…”

“Just until after the meeting, then you can return here with the Lieutenant. That way, you will still be under protection and I’m sure the Lieutenant will be more than happy to assist you with the maintenance and running of the farm until we get to the bottom of a few things.”

Zeeana nodded in understanding. “I don’t expect the Lieutenant to…”

“I don’t mind," Darien informed the young woman. “It would give me something to do other than be charming and nice all day,” he grinned

Zeeana smiled at him. “Well, if you’re sure, but I don’t expect it of you.”

“I am and it’s fine, really,” he smiled back.

“Luke will give you all the details of what the Senate of this planet and ourselves have been discussing on the return journey to our ship. Just bring whatever you need for the meeting with you and you can prepare what ever you need to from there,” Leia continued as the young Senator headed for the stairs.

“I thank you for your concern and your hospitality. It’s something I am not to used to experiencing, but I can tell you that it is very much appreciated,” she replied, running back up the stairs towards her room. “I’ll just get my things and then we can go if you like?”

“Then it’s decided, we’ll wait outside for you.” Luke motioned for the other two to head outside. As they complied, Luke turned to face Leia. “There’s something about her, but I can’t yet put my finger on it. When we get back to the Falcon I want to do some research about her father and brother."

"Don't tell me..." Mara smirked. "You have a bad feeling about this?"

Luke gave his wife a condescending look. "You know, sweetheart, you're beginning to sound just like Han."

Leia chuckled as she walked out of the door, a large 'I told you so' grin spread all over her face.

~*~

Nathaniel reached Yale’s office and stopped just outside. His hand reached out to knock on the door when a voice resounded from inside. “Forget formalities, Nathaniel, just come in.”

The young man swallowed nervously as he opened the door and walked in, shutting it behind himself.

Yale pointed to the seat across from him and Nathaniel sat tentatively down.

“I gather you know why you’re here, boy?” the Admiral asked seriously.

The blonde nodded in affirmation. “Yes sir. I am and please don’t think that I am going against the old Emperor’s wishes for this, but, I don’t know if I can go through with this. Zeeana isn’t the most cooperative person at the best of times and not only that, I’m not exactly her cup of anything right now; and as much as I appreciate you giving me the rights for such a great honor, I don’t think I can accept,” Nathaniel finished and waited with baited breath for the Admiral’s reply.

Yale looked the young Ensign in the eyes. He could see the young man was torn between his duty and his personal feelings. “My boy, I understand your predicament, but don’t just toss this opportunity aside. I can see that you are not so keen on the Emperor’s ideals and I also understand your feelings on this, but won’t you at least give it some more thought?”

Nathaniel sighed deeply. “I don’t think I’ll change my mind,“ he answered honestly. “Let me sleep on it over the next two nights, sir, and I will give you my final answer the day after tomorrow. If that is to your approval.”

“Nathaniel, you are an honest young man and I appreciate men like you, it is not often I find someone who will say what they really feel because they are afraid of retribution.” He stood, Nathaniel followed his lead “Bathaden is the ogre they should fear, that man can be most unmerciful at times, and I have to bring him back down a peg or two.” He walked around his desk and placed a hand upon the blonde’s shoulder. “Alright boy, you have my approval. I will expect your answer on the morning of the day after tomorrow. Dismissed.”

Nathaniel saluted, turned on his heel and left. He sighed as he shut the door behind him on the way out.

This whole thing was beginning to give him a headache.

~*~

Teal arrived back at the homestead to find that Zeeana had already left for the meeting. That was probably a good thing, save her getting on his nerves and besides; he had to retrieve something he’d realized he had left behind. His land hover already immobile, he jumped out of it and let himself into their humble abode. He stopped as he entered. “Strong, too strong…” He puzzled over the sensations he was sensing. He glanced towards the shelf. “Father?” he shook his head, confused. “No, it can’t be… Zeeana?” He was enthralled by the new sensations that echoed throughout the room.

He regained his composure, remembering that he was here for a reason and he headed up the stairs to Zeeana’s room. Walking over to her small bedside table he reached into his pocket and took out a small container, then he uncapped it and scooped up some hair from her hairbrush and using the end of it he prodded the hair down into the bottom of the container and recapped it.

Placing the brush back onto the table he then knelt beside her bed, reaching under it and feeling about for something. He smiled as he found the object he required, pulling it from under the bed. The box was small, made of cardboard and it was falling to bits. He carefully opened the lid and removed a scroll of paper from inside it. It was tied with a blue ribbon and Teal ran his finger over it lovingly. His mother had worn that ribbon when out in the fields and she had given it to Zee when she came to live with them. Teal’s feelings were mixed with anger, love, and hatred.

Love that he had for his mother, anger that her death had caused him pain and hatred towards the fact that if Zee had not of come to them, then their mother may have still been alive today.

Everything had been fine until she came.

As he held the scroll in his hand a feeling of guilt swept through him. All the memories of promises to his father that she had kept and he had broken flooded through him… and now, now he was about to betray the final trust, in more ways than one.

Shaking the feelings from his mind he jumped the balcony avoiding the stairs and landed gracefully onto the floor below. He looked around the place that had been his home for so long and sighed. He was no longer worthy to live in a place that had been ruled by love and devotion to family and land.

He shut the door behind him as he exited the building and with a deep, heart felt sigh the young man left without so much as a final glance.

~*~

The spaceport was huge, Zeeana’s eyes widened with awe. She had never been this far away from home before. She’d been to one or two senate meetings but they were held at the communal meeting place only a few miles from her home; but they were few and far between.

Darien sat beside her pointing to ships and naming them, explaining why they were there and what they were for. She had listened intently to the tales that he told her about his life and Luke had told her about some of their wayward adventures. Her head buzzed with the over load of information and the thrill of the excitement that she was feeling as they pulled up to a large ship and came to a halt.

Luke was the first out of the hover and offered his sister and Mara a hand down, Darien followed behind and held his hand out in case Zeeana wanted some assistance, but he wasn’t surprised to see her almost throw herself out of the hover, staring at the monstrosity before her before she’d even noticed him.

“This… this is your ship?” she asked absentmindedly taking his hand as she clambered off the hover.

“I’m afraid not,” he began honestly. “It belongs to Leia’s husband, Han Solo. I don’t own a thing I’m afraid. Except for the clothes I have on board and this. “ He tapped his light saber.

Zeeana smiled. “It doesn’t matter what a person owns or how much wealth they have, it’s what’s in here that counts,” she replied sincerely, pointing to her heart.

Darien gave her a hearty smile. “I like your attitude.”

“Alright Lieutenant, let’s get the Senator inside, there’ll be enough time for chit chat after the meeting today,” Leia commanded. “Mara, can you take her and show her to her quarters so she can get ready there? I think it would be more appropriate for now if we address Zee as Senator until after the meeting, then all formalities can be dropped.”

Mara nodded and picked up one of the Senator’s bags, which Saunders had just taken out of the hover. “This way if you please, Senator."

Zeeana quietly followed her up the ramp and disappeared into the Falcon’s hold.

Luke pulled Saunders aside as Leia headed off after the two women, debriefing Zee about treaty protocol as they left.

The Jedi Master folded his arms and looked up at the Falcon. “Darien, I’m counting on you to take care of her. There are lots of things that you don’t know yet about the Callanian race, so don’t interfere unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Saunders nodded. “Mara explained some of their customs, there’s a few details she said that weren’t too important, but that I shouldn’t get involved in anything unless invited.”

“Make sure you live, breath and eat by that custom.” He grinned. “I know all about your little escapades and jumping in to the thick of things.”

“Damn that Mara," the young man laughed. “Is nothing sacred anymore?”

Luke placed a hand over the Lieutenant’s shoulder, a wide grin spreading across his face as he led the younger man up the Falcon’s ramp. “With women my friend, nothing is sacred, especially those two. Leia may come across as very official, very serious, but on the odd occasion; trust me, you don’t want to be on the end of one of her practical jokes.”

Saunders quirked an eyebrow. “Now I’m scared.”

Luke laughed heartily. “Come on, let’s get ourselves moving, you need to get ready too.”

Like a protective father guiding his son, Luke ushered the young Lieutenant the rest of the way into the Falcon.

~*~

Leia had left Zeeana in Mara’s capable hands and headed into the cockpit to find Han. The young woman’s eyes flickered to and fro across the interior of the ship. This was the biggest vessel she had ever set foot on in her whole life, well... it was, considering how little of her past she could remember. “This is so exciting, “ she grinned nervously as Mara led her on to her quarters.

Mara laughed a little. “Exciting?” she questioned the girl.

“Well," she began, a little embarrassed, “This is the first time ever I’ve set foot in anything bigger than a land transport, as far as I can remember anyway.”

“You really have been shut off from the world haven’t you?”

Zeeana sighed, a tiny laugh escaping her lips as she realized just how confined she had been. “To tell you the truth, Mara, I had no idea that there was so much more to see out in the open world. I feel as if my father was hiding me from it, he was very protective and suspicious of any one who would even so much as take notice of me. “

They reached a room on the far side of the Falcon and Mara opened the door as she replied. ”Do you have any idea why he was so protective of you?”

Zeeana shrugged. “I guess it was because I was his little girl, his baby. It took him 6 months to trust Nathaniel around me.”

“Nathaniel?” Mara questioned.

Zeeana sighed. “He was my fiancé. “

“Was? What happened?”

Zeeana shrugged. “He became insensitive, secretive, void of any kind of humane ideals, pushy, jealous. He wasn’t the same man I fell in love with, so I fell out of love with him. Personally, I truly believe that both he and my brother are both with the Imperials.”

Mara bit her lip. “Maybe it is a good thing we’re around then, young lady. I sense trouble brewing.”

Zeeana acknowledged her sentence with a nod of her head. “I just can’t help but feel that this in some way is my fault, Mara.”

Mara threw the young woman a questioning glance. “Why?”

Zeeana sighed deeply. “I’m not too sure, it’s just this nagging feeling I’ve had for a long time. It’s as if I’m coexisting between two separate planes and I don’t know why. Sometimes I get these flashes in my mind of things happening that seem so foreign, yet so familiar.”

Mara placed Zeeana things onto her bed, “What kind of things?”

The girl sighed again, frustrated. “That’s the problem… there’s never enough time when I have them to keep them in my mind long enough to make any sense of it.”

Sitting on the side of the young woman’s bed Mara gave the spot next to her a pat with her hand. “Sit.” Zeeana complied and Mara continued. “Can you remember anything specific at all about these flashes?”

Zeeana thought carefully. “Well, only that a young child is present and someone else is there, but their back is all I see, never their face and something is happening, something is being said, but it’s not clear what. The child is sometimes afraid and in pain. I feel as if I should step in and do something but can’t.”

Their thoughts were interrupted as a tap on the door followed and the Lieutenant peeked around the corner. “Mara, Leia needs you to go through the supply list with her. She’s going to get Han to pick up some more supplies in town after the meeting."

“Tell her I’m on my way,” she said, turning her attention right back to Zeeana as the young officer went on his way. “Will you be alright?”

The young woman smiled and patted the holster she had lying on the other side of the bed. “I have this and I’m certainly no stranger to using it.”

Mara eyed off the small side gun and grinned. “Well just remember, I’m on your side... ok?”

Zeeana laughed a little. “I’ll endeavor to do so, as long as you stand in my direct line of fire you should be safe.”

It was Mara’s turn to laugh. “A crack shot, huh?”

“Only around corners,” Zeeana replied with a grin.

Mara stood laughing and moved towards the door, “Remind me never to let you cover me in battle. I’ll talk to you later. You get yourself ready and as soon as Leia and I are done with the list we’ll get ourselves ready and come for you.” She threw the young girl a quick smile as she headed out of the room in search of Leia.


TBC……