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.
Tomorrow was her 16th birthday. Curiously, Vaiya didn't really give a Hoth-frost. After all, it was just another day for Derrin to ignore her. She had started to ignore him, too--in that juvenile, I'm-pretending-not-to-look-at-you-but-I-really-am sort of way. She'd managed once or twice to get Derrin's attention a few days ago, during lightsaber practice. But like a compass pointing North, Derrin's eyes had gone right back to Drianna.
Vaiya spent most of her not-watching-Derrin time watching Drianna. It had given her the only successful idea for getting Derrin's attention over the last two months. Mother had taken Father's place that day for lightsaber practice because Father had a special task for Anakin to complete. With her teal-blue lightsaber-- the color of Vaiya's eyes, she thought with pride--Mara had taken on Drianna, who had a bad habit of being smug about her dueling talents. Mara hated smugness in students. It never led anywhere good. It was time to take Drianna a step down or two.
They had started out innocently enough, sparring here and there, no heavy clashes, the buzz soft in the symphony of the noises coming from the jungle. They were outside, enjoying the day, in a wide clearing behind the main temple. Mara had taken off her button-down shirt that she always wore to reveal only a black tank top and leggings underneath. She was well muscled and smooth-skinned; Vaiya was inclined to believe that it was not really her mother she was looking at, but some look-alike two decades younger.
Mara was holding back for Drianna--even Vaiya could see that. She was testing her weaknesses, finding her strengths. And just when Dria was least expecting it, she was going to----
The strike came hard on Dria's left side. Dria barely countered it, and gave Mara wide-eyed look that didn't need a Force sensitive to be translated into, "Are you really trying to kill me?"
Mara struck again, twisting Dria's lightsaber in her hand. Dria barely held onto it and managed to counter with a wide arch, forcing Mara a step back.
The fight was on.
Vaiya watched as her mother's blue blade clashed back and forth with Dria's lime-green practicing saber. The fight lasted almost fifteen minutes, and they took the entire circle. For the first half, neither one spoke, but when the side of Dria's blade grazed Mara's hand, and Mara pulled it back in pain and brief shock, Dria stepped away and lowered her blade.
"Jedi Skywalker, I apologize!" she cried, her eyes wide.
"DON'T!" Mara roared, charging again. Dria caught her but not without considerable effort. "Don't...let...your...guard...down!"
Vaiya's eyes passed over the wide burn on the back of her mother's hand. She could smell the faint stench of burning flesh mingling with the crackling ozone. The jungle sounds now seemed far away compared to the buzzing and crashing of the lightsaber blades before her. Her mother had trained her in how to use a lightsaber, something Father said she had worked long and hard on learning herself. Mara had an instinct for fighting that bested even Luke, but Luke was always quick to caution that she easily slipped into fighting from anger if she let herself get too caught up in it.
She wondered what her father would think, to see Mother like this, her eyes shining and her body covered with a thin layer of sweat. Her hair flew around her shoulders in its thick pony-tail, like a whip. Drianna, however, was not faring so well. She didn't have the spirit Mara did. She was calmer than Mara, and more at peace with the battle, but there was a worry-line forming on her brow, a frustration that was starting to grow. Any more, and she would make a mistake.
Tearing her eyes away from the scene, Vaiya looked and saw that Derrin and Jaid had both joined the crowd of lookers-on. Jaid gave her a brief glance and smile. Derrin's eyes were wide as he was mezmerized by the battle.
At once point, Mara did a nifty little backflip onto a nearby set of exercise bars, balancing herself perfectly as she caught her breath. Drianna watched her, her lightsaber pointed right at her.
"Impressive, Drianna," the older woman announced. "But as my father-in-law once said, you are not a Jedi yet."
Drianna gave nervous litte laugh and let her lightsaber shift off to the side. "Thank you, Jedi Skywalker."
That was when Mara hurled her lightsaber at Dria, using the Force to guide it to just brush against Drianna's right hand--tit for tat, Vaiya thought dryly. Drianna yelped with the pain and dropped her saber to the ground. Mara jumped down from the bars and kicked the practice saber away.
"Never let your guard down, no matter who you are fighting. I know that Master Skywalker tells you not to fight from fear, agression, or anger. Those are the dark side. But while we must be a peaceful as (Alderaanians), we must also be as sharp as Nighori. Understand me?"
Drianna rubbed her hand as she nodded.
Mara gave the girl the gift of a smile. "I've given you a present today, Dria," she said. "Anyone else would have taken off your hand. Now you have a reminder to help you." She looked down at her own hand. "If it makes you feel any better, I haven't been burned by a lightsaber by one of my students since I first started teaching Vaiya."
Dria's eyes widened. "Vaiya burned you with her lightsaber?"
Mara looked at her daughter over her shoulder. Vaiya just grinned. "It was an accident," Vaiya said. "I got a little overexcited."
"I almost lost a leg," Mara muttered. "But it was a beautiful move."
"I didn't know that," Derrin said, his eyes on Vaiya.
Jaid spoke up. "I did." He grinned at Vaiya. "Why don't you show me that move?" he said, pulling out his own practice lightsaber.
Vaiya held up her hand. "I don't think so, Jaid," she said, but it wasn't at all convincing. "I don't know if you can take me or not."
He gave a little laugh. "Find out," he challenged.
Showing reluctance, Vaiya unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and ingited the glowing yellow blade. She was the only one at the school who had her own lightsaber. It had been one of the things Derrin had been interested in when she first met him. He would especially like hearing the story about---
No, wait...she hadn't told him...what story? Behind the lightsaber? As Vaiya gazed down at it, she felt a strange tremor in the Force. This was part of her parents' secret, she realized. There was a story behind this saber, behind everything. Some big secret they were keeping from her, only to be revealed when she was 16 and (Force help them) old enough to understand it.
"Vai?" Mara's voice came through a fog which Vaiya pushed aside. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." She turned her eyes to Jaid, who was watching her knowingly. How did he always seem to know? she wondered. But instead of saying anything more, she lifted her blade to meet his. "Ready when you are."
Of course, they battled for fun, and Vaiya trusted Jaid to never try and hurt her. She didn't worry about getting a burn on the back of her hand, but kept herself on guard from it anyway just to put on a good show. But sometime during the fight it took a serious tone, with Jaid hacking away at her with a new fervor which pushed her back into a corner.
When pushed back into a corner, Vaiya had a bad habit of turning into her mother. She counterattacked rather than defended herself, catching Jaid's grey practice saber easily and nearly knocking it out of his hand. Jaid was thrown by this, and had to quickly compensate by going into a tuck and roll, the tail of his short cloak catching against Vaiya's yellow blade with a hiss as he went under her. He lifted both legs and caught her in the back of her knees. She fell but didn't land on her face. She managed to keep her balance on her knees and siezed Jaid as he made it back to his feet to haul herself up, clashing her saber against his to keep it away.
It was at that moment that their eyes met. Something happened. As Jaid's deep blue eyes gazed down at her, Vaiya felt the heat rush to her face. What was going on? Was it merely the hormones that her parents were so worried about? It had to be more than that. This was a feeling she only had around Derrin, but this feeling was much more physical, more raw. As her eyes dropped to her mouth, she realized that she wanted him. It was a shallow feeling that made her feel empty inside, but on the outside her body betrayed her.
Trembling, she broke away, and her eyes flew to Derrin, who was frowning at them. Dria looked on knowingly, and Vaiya didn't even want to look at her mother. She had had no desire to see the expression on Mara's face.
Vaiya snorted as she flopped into her bed. So much for getting his attention. Next day, it was like it had never happened. But she would never forget the look of jealousy on Derrin's face.
Or the look on Jaid's.
She shut her eyes and rolled herself into a more comfortable position. After running through a Jedi calming technique, she tried to focus herself on what was really bugging her. She glanced over at the nearby table where her lightsaber lay. Maybe that was it--that flash of intuition into her parents' dark secret. Whatever it was, she snorted again, it would wait until tomorrow. Or whenever she was ready. If she even cared by then.
She shut her eyes and feel instantly into sleep.