DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc, 20th Century Fox, Timothy Zahn, Barbara Hambly, YKW and the other writers of the expanded Star Wars Universe. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
"Surprise!" Leia shouted as she stepped first into Mara and Luke's suite, turning and throwing her arms wide. She enjoyed their reaction, well-deserved after all the work she had put into it.
Presents covered the room. They spread over the bed, flooded the chair and littered the carpet. Each in a different wrapper, some small, some large.
"What is this?" Mara asked.
"Well," Han explained, "Leia just couldn't resist the idea of thrown you a baby shower. However, I reminded her that you are not exactly the type of person who wants to sit around with a bunch of women for three hours, all of them trying to kiss your butt and outdo each other with the next gift."
"And that we didn't want everyone to know about the baby," Luke added, giving Leia a confused look. "I thought we talked about it."
"We did," Leia assured him, "and don't worry, the secret is as safe as it can be. Although from what I've been hearing, everyone already knows."
"She's right, Luke," Mara said, squeezing his hand. "The boy who blew up the Deathstar can't possibly expect to keep the birth of his child a secret."
"Right. So all these presents started pouring in, and I've just been saving them up, waiting for the right time." She grinned. "Few people will resist a chance to kiss-up to the Chief-of-State simply by giving her sister-in-law a baby-shower gift."
"I hope there's some useful stuff in there somewhere," Han muttered.
"Looks like there will be enough useful stuff in here for us to use on three worlds," Luke murmured, looking around. "Well," he grinned, "shall we just starting tearing things open at random, or do you want to get some Force-practice in on this?"
"Oh, wonderful!" Han said, whirling around and stomping down the hallway. "That's all we need---three Force-users showing off by tearing up paper!"
"We're not going to tear it!" Leia cried. "We have to take it off carefully so we can save it!"
Han let out a loud groan. "Enemies of the New Republic, beware! The Jedi Knights are saving wrapping paper!"
"So, you were going to tell me something earlier," Mara said, leaning heavily into the thick pillows of the couch, putting her feet up on the footrest in front of her. Luke and Han were off somewhere--probably on one of the nearby trails--reliving old memories. It was funny, the way the two of them could get when they were together and were not on a mission to save the world. They could actually act like human beings.
Leia caught her thoughts and smiled. "Yes, it's strange, isn't it? Fatherhood seems to have loosened them up. Luke was never like that before. Han would try and bait him but he'd always ignore it." Her eyes met Mara's meaningfully. "I guess I have you to thank for that."
Mara just shrugged. "Skywalker had it in him somewhere. I don't even know if I'm the one who brought it out. I guess he wasn't like that with Callista."
The princess sighed. "Not really. He was so concerned about her being so upset over her Jedi powers. It made me wonder if Han had difficulty with me being a Force-sensitive. But then again, Han was always able to take care of himself. If anything, I wound up needing protecting."
Mara laughed. "I've never needed protecting. And from what I've heard, neither have you. Luke has captured the memory of your voice quite well---'This is some rescue. When you planned to get in, didn't you have a plan for getting us out?'"
The memory of standing in the halls of the prison, blasters firing all about her, and the look of total annoyance on Han's face as she snarled at him made Leia smile. "I guess I've been able to hold my own in a fight pretty well."
"So what have you been dreaming about, Princess?"
"They're not the same. Not every time. The one that's the most vivid is that you're in a cave somewhere, I don't know where. And Luke is looking for you, but he's nowhere near where you are. You're lying on a rock, about to give birth, and there's....there's blood everywhere." Leia grimaced as the worry-line on Mara's face started to appear.
"No, go on," Mara said, her voice low.
"You're getting ready to give birth, but you're trapped in the cave. You're trying to hold back, but the blood gets thicker. And that's when Callista appears."
"Why is she there? Is she hostile?"
"No, on the contrary. In the dream, Callista has her Force powers back. And she's telling you to hold on, just hold on for a few more minutes and you'll be found. And then she seems to come apart, like she's returning to the spirit that she once was. And then I wake up." Leia paused. "It's very brief, but the most vivid. The others are of a girl who looks like you and Luke, and a boy whose face I can't see clear enough. But it's almost as if he looks like me. Not one of my children, but Callista's child."
"What's she doing?"
"Who, Callista or the girl?"
"Either one."
"Callista isn't in that dream. As for the girl....nothing. She just appears. And she keeps calling for the boy, but I can never make out the name."
"Maybe Callista had a child by Luke and never told him." Mara looked away, out the window and into the deep forest night of Endor. She was silent for a long minute, her eyes deeply disturbed.
Finally, Leia said, "Mara? I didn't mean....."
"No, you didn't. I know. I just....all of this is going to begin very soon."
The one of Mara's voice was other-worldly, and for a moment Leia was slightly afraid. "How soon?"
"Days...weeks. Could be tomorrow." And then Mara was back. "At least some questions will get answered. Although I don't think it will get anyone anywhere for a long time."
When Luke came back that night, he found Leia sitting alone in the lounge. It had been a while since he'd had some time alone with his sister, so he sat down beside her. To his surprise, she actually started.
"Oh, Luke. Sorry," she added, "I was kind of lost in thought."
Luke nodded. "I could see that. Is something bothering you?"
"Sort of. Luke, I hate to ask you this, but....you and Callista. Have you two ever had any sort of contact since that day on Nam Chorios? Just a message, a goodbye, anything?"
Luke shook his head. "No, I just sort of...let it all go. And then Mara came along, and I pretty much forgot about it. I mean, not Callista...but the thought of her ever coming back." He got the same funny look in his eye that Mara had had earlier. "I'm not worried about her coming back, Leia," he said, his voice cool and smooth. "If she does, it will just give me a chance at some closure. But if she doesn't, that's fine."
"Are you sure?" Leia touched his mind with her own.
Luke was more than sure. "Yes."
Leia cocked her head to one side, the memories of Callista from Nam Chorios coming back to her. "Do you think it was possible that she was pregnant when she left?" she practically blurted out, but it was in such a soft voice, Luke didn't even flinch.
"If she was, she never said a word. And if she had a child, she's made it pretty clear the kind of contact she wants me to have with him."
"Him..." Leia murmured. "You do have a feeling, don't you."
"Not until five minutes ago." His voice was a near a growl as she had ever heard it. "I see Mara's made you her confidant. And I thought she had put all that stuff aside for now."
"They're my dreams, Luke. I brought it up. I keep dreaming about your children--at least, I think they're your children. As if they're important somehow."
"Of course they're important. Yours are important, too!" Luke cried softly.
Leia shook her head. "That's not what I'm saying. Mara told me that she's been remembering her past, the lengths the Emperor went through to keep you and her separated. He foresaw something bad enough for him that he had to prevent your children from ever being born. He failed, and now that reason is going to reveal itself."
"If the Emperor wanted to prevent it," Luke said slowly, "then how could it possibly be a bad thing for us?"
Leia jerked her head back a bit. "You know, you're right. But if that's the case, then why is it causing all this disturbance in the Force?"
"That's what's been bothering me," Mara said from the doorway. Both twins turned to see her in her nightshirt, her hair matted around her head from the way she'd been tossing and turning in her bed. She entered the room and Luke stood up.
"You said you were going to try and let this go for now," he chastized her.
"I am. But what I do about this isn't going to change anything. Don't you get it, Luke? Something big is coming. It might not happen for another twenty years, but it's coming, and in the age of the Universe twenty years is a passing heartbeat. Something so big the Emperor tried to prevent it and it's worrying all of us. What could be so big that it would put us and the Emperor on the same side?"
"Maybe it isn't," Leia offered. "Change is never an easy thing. It always causes pain, whether for better or worse."
Luke followed Leia's line of reasoning. "Then whatever this change is...it's going to affect us all. And maybe we're not going to entirely like it."
"Or like it at all." Mara put her arms around Luke's shoulders and he held her close. "Like when we became Jedi Knights. We had to sacrifice something very close to us. A sacrifice is coming, Luke. And I'm just afraid of what it might be."
Luke looked deep into Mara's eyes. She knew about Leia's dream, about the child. But it was so late, and he just couldn't talk about it right now. "Let's go to bed," he said huskily. "There's plenty of time tomorrow to worry ourselves raw over this."