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.
Slipping out was not the easy task Vaiya had thought it was going to be. Mara's new memories of her childhood made her want to go to Durran much sooner than Vaiya thought was wise, but Luke only offered encouragement and began making preparations to go before Leia could come up with enough jobs to keep Han from fulfilling Vaiya's request. In the end, Vaiya gave in to her parents' wishes not because she thought they were the best thing, but because, in the end, they were her parents. She had a new respect for them, and wished to honor that respect.
The feeling was mutual. The entire trip was filled with strange conversations that Vaiya did not really feel she was ready to have. Luke had already heard about all the things Vaiya had learned about on Durran, but Mara, fresh from her ascent to the status of Jedi Master, wanted every detail. In spite of her new level of self-knowledge, Mara was rather skeptical about the things Vaiya told her, and many hours were spent in rutting debate, going in circles and accomplishing only splitting headaches.
It was only a day before they came into Durran space that Mara finally began to feel the first sparks of faith. But it was not so easy for her to accept, because Luke had taken up Vaiya's new religion and run with it.
In their bedroom on the Jaded Sky, Mara sat and watched the starlines float past her from her favorite chair, an emerald-green velvet padded curved throne-like seat that was a little too firm for anyone else's taste. Mara said that it was the best thing to relax against because it gave such resistance. She was attempting her relaxed state in order to bring her mind to a more meditative mode when Luke interrupted her.
"Going somewhere?" he asked as he entered the room, turning on one light that cast its soft yellow glow over Mara's back. It made the entire room feel warm.
"I was." She looked up at him, feeling disturbed. Luke felt it and straddled the footrest before her, reaching for her hands.
"I know that I encouraged you to come on this trip," Luke began, "but I'm beginning to question my own judgement."
"Big words from the great Jedi Master," Mara said, her voice soft as she leaned closer to him. But her brow was not cleared of the troubled lines that marred it.
"Are you sure you're ready for all of this, Mara? I mean, you've been through a lot. What Vaiya has told us of Valeris, the things the man believes in and lives by and has passed on as the true teachings of the Force...it's a lot to take."
"Yes and no," Mara said thoughtfully. "When Vaiya was born, and I thought I was going to die...when I saw Callista die and become one with the....light...I saw the Light, Luke. I know that was Vaiya tells me is true. I just don't know how I feel about it."
"You mean you don't know if you like it?" Luke gently pointed out.
Mara gave a very slight shrug, and her head bowed, a genuine act of humility. "Perhaps that is so."
Luke reached out for her and caressed her hair, pulling the great crown of it to his lips and kissing it, a comforting guesture. "You never cared much for the Force, either, or for Jedi Knights. And yet you served Palpatine with such loyalty, and he was the worst of them."
Under other circumstances, the words would have cut her to the quick. She would have snarled back something nasty and then made a derrogatory comment about the new order of Jedi Knights following a God they didn't even know not being much better. But instead, she frowned thoughtfully. "Perhaps it was because of that that I don't like this idea much. Palpatine demanded not just loyalty, but worship. Most sith lords were like that, from what I understood from history. Power denied was power wasted. Palpatine sought absolute power. The idea of a creature with this absolute power, coming sheerly by its nature...it makes me uneasy."
"But this is not a creature we're talking about. Palpatine was a mortal, flawed man. He was capable of failure. What a God is supposed to be is an archetype. A Supreme Being, a peak of all existence, even existence itself. Incapable of wrong, but not indifferent to what It has created. It is not flawed. It's very essence is perfection."
"Then explain all the little gods we've run across in all the different cultures we've seen," Mara challenged. "What makes them different from this real God you talk about? Aren't they supposed to be better than us?"
"You can easily tell that they were made up because the gods are as flawed as the humans who worship them. A true God is not flawed. And there can be only one. That is why It has so many faces and names."
"How do we know this God isn't made up, too?"
"Faith."
The answer startled her. Mara pulled back. "Luke, you're scaring me."
"Mara, it isn't so different than what we already believe. We sought the Force as our guide, as our maker and our ally. We have merely been shown that the Force it also a creation, its purpose to bring us closer to its Master. The essence of what we seek to be, the definition we hold of goodness and light, hasn't changed. We still seek to be selfless, to serve. That is what we thought the light side of the Force asked us. We have merely found out that it is not the Force itself, but the Maker of the Force."
"But how do we know that there isn't something still higher than this God Vaiya talks about? How do we know that we're going in the right direction? What if something bigger comes along and says it made the Maker of the Force? What then?"
Luke shook his head, trying not to show his amusment. "You're scared, Mara. It's okay to admit that you're afraid."
"Damn right I am!" Mara said, her voice rising a notch. "Do you know what you're asking me to do?"
"To not let your fear stop you. Mara, you have never given in to your fear. Why are you fighting this now?"
"This is different. This is beyond me. I can't do this alone." She paused. "And I'm scared that you'll leave me behind," she said softly.
Luke smiled, his blue eyes dark and soft. "Mara, you are my wife. I love you more now than on the day we were married. I will continue to love you even more as we go on, because I will not be loving you just with my own heart any longer, but with the grace of this God who has finally shown Itself to us. We will gain everything, if only we are willing to lose ourselves. Can you see this?"
"I want to," she whispered. "But I'm scared."
"Then pray," Luke said as he held her close. "Pray for grace to accept it. Because I know in your heart, you do believe."
"I do," Mara said, her voice strained with distant pain. "I just hope I can live up to it."
Luke smiled. He knew the day would come when he knew Mara better than she knew herself. "We just need time," he soothed. And they had time. They had all of eternity.
They dropped out of hyperspace a good several hours distance from Durran. The planet appeared as little more than a very bright star in the distance. Mara was in the pilot's seat, carefully considering the situation. They had joined together and felt through the Force for any sign of Cal, and had found nothing, but still they hesitated. The Durranians must be tired of their offworlder interference, even though they had disturbed nothing but the sands of their desert, where they sent all they banished. But Mara didn't like sneaking in and out like criminals.
This was also the first time she had gazed upon her homeworld with the knowledge of its idenity. Luke could sense that she didn't like the fact that she felt so rejected by it, simply because they would call her an Offworlder. She wanted to make some sort of contact with them, but had little idea how to do so.
Vaiya sat in the copilot's seat, her thoughts following the same manner, although for different reasons. She just didn't want to be chased away. She wanted to reach some kind of peace with this people, rather than sneak in and out like a criminal. And after all, she was half Durranian. She had a right to be on her homeworld. Surely there had to be something they could do.
Then, as she gazed out into the peaceful dark, she said, "Maybe we should head in slowly."
From behind her, Luke shifted. "But keep our distance in case they get hostile."
"They won't get hostile," Mara said, her voice taking on a strange quality, as if she were speaking through some sort of distorted commlink. It had a hallowed tone, and it made both her husband and daughter look at her. "Trust me," she said, the tone vanishing as quickly as it had arrived. "Let's just let them know that we're here."
So they slowly made their way toward the planet. It took a full hour before they could make out its face, filled with rich green and blue lines that faded into black where its sun did not send its rays. Toward the lower half Vaiya could see a great patch made up of different shades of white. As they got even nearer, she could see a particularly bright white spot, and her heart told her that it was where Valeris was, waiting for her to return.
Suddenly, Mara brought the craft to a halt. They weren't so far now, close enough to be easily detected by the simplest radar. They were far from orbit, however, and both Vaiya and Luke looked to Mara in hesitation, wondering what she sensed that they did not.
Within a few minutes, the small craft started to come. They were seven of them, all painted bright blue and green, streaked with the red and white symbols of their government. There was one larger than the others, and it slowed to hover a rather close distance before them.
"Unidentified craft, please state your intention."
Vaiya felt her eyebrows raise. Mara was right, they weren't going to be hostile. In fact, they seemed to be slightly hesitant as they confronted the Jaded Sky.
"This is the Jaded Sky," Mara said, her voice smooth and confident without any of her cold harshness that she had been known to use to intimidate those who were new to her. "My name is Mara Jade Skywalker."
There was a static pause. "Jade," came a new voice, this one much older. "As in Valeris Jade?"
Vaiya felt her heart leap into her throat. "Yes," Mara said, still calm. "I am his granddaughter."
The captial city of Durran was known as Reyan, and it was a beautiful city. It reminded Luke a bit of Coruscant, but not so large, and the buildings were more pointed and less square. As they neared the landing port, the buildings began to look like pyramids, framed with a heavy slate grey stone that was nearly black in color. The Jaded Sky approached a wide plane of open space that was flanked with small blue lights, as if to inform the pilot of its location. Surrounding them were more buildings, and everything was plated with mirrors in some way. Many of the glass panes had a distinctive color--red, blue, gold, even irridescent. The main building was adorned all in the silver glass, and the panes had all been etched with a frosty white substance. Luke used his Force-enhanced senses to get a better view, and noticed that there were figures of all types, set up as if to tell a story.
Part of their escourt landed before them, and Luke noticed that the Durranian craft had wheels on their landing legs and had to roll across a bit of the open plane before they came to a halt. The Jaded Sky set itself down delicately, like a bird coming to roost on a flat rock. A few more of the small craft slid to a stop around them.
Vaiya was first down their ramp, and there was an ornate guard surrounding their spacecraft. They were looking at it as if they were trying not to notice it, but they had not seen something like the Jaded Sky in a quite a long time. It was rather fascinating to them to see something familiar, but at the same time unknown. Vaiya, dressed in a simple grey flight suit, nodded at them, taking in their metalic clothes with their plates of glass placed here and there, looking more like a suit of armor than decoration. Maybe it wasn't glass, Vaiya pondered, or maybe it was a kind of glass that was far from delicate in nature. It was braced around their knees and their elbows, and they wore wide collars of it, exposing necks covered with what looked like metal cloth. The same cloth covered their arms and then hung down before them like loincloths, front and back. High boots of shining black and matching gloves contrasted the rich silver, and they wore helmets that looked more like silver crowns with the same metal cloth draped down their backs.
The guard parted and someone approached, someone important. She wore a rather plain white cotton material, with long sleeves and trousers, but the same loincloth design as the guards. The cloth was set off by a silver belt, collar and boots. Her thick hair hung over one shoulder in a braid shot through with the same silver material. Her hair shone with bright red streaks, but toned down to a rich brown when she stepped into the shade. On her head was a silver circle of a crown with a single red jewel in the middle of her forehead.
She spoke in a polite tone, but her words meant little to Mara or Luke...Vaiya, however, understood the gist.
"Welcome....I am Iyala, Aide of Reyan, and Liason of the Senate. I greet you."
Slowly, hesitantly, Vaiya answered. "Many thanks, Aide Iyala. We thank you for your greeting."
From behind her, Vaiya felt her mother's mind begin to whirl. Apparently, she had managed to retain some of her native language, or else it had all been upheaved in her memory with her recent experience. "I think you repeated yourself," Mara whispered.
Iyala stepped closer to them, her expression heavily guarded. "You claim to be from Durran," she said, her tone patient, "and you speak our words, but you do not know them. What is your purpose for coming here and risking our wrath by breaking our ban against offworlders?"
"We are not offworlders," Mara said, broken but understandable. "We have Durranian blood. I was taken...from my home here when I was only......ten and four years of age. I have only now been able to return. I ask to be permitted to visit my homeworld. It is the place of my birth, and I...respect that."
Iyala came even closer. She gazed at Luke, and then at Vaiya, her eyes focused hard on the pale color of their hair. "This is your husband and child," Iyala said. "You have made family with offworlders."
"Yes," Mara said, stepping closer to Iyala, putting her hands before her over her chest, a sign of respect she just barely remembered. "When I was taken, the ban had not been placed. I did not know of the laws, but these are my family."
"It was not your will to leave," Iyala said.
"No."
"But it is not your will to remain."
"It is my will to know of my home," Mara said, a bit more feeling in her voice than she expected.
"Your home is not here. Your home is with them." Iyala faced her, her face a mask. Vaiya could sense that this was some sort of a test. "What do you hope to gain from this risk?"
"My home is with them, and their home is with me. I have lived on their worlds and know of their history. I wish to let them have knowledge of mine. Do your laws prevent this? Must I break with my family in order to know my homeworld again?"
Iyala's mask-like face shifted slightly. "Such a situation would make it difficult."
"A Durranian never breaks with family for any reason," Mara said, "It is against the code. It would be as wrong for me to desert them to remain here as it would for me to desert here to be with them. But if you asked me to choose, I would leave. I wish no disrespect to the laws of my people."
Finally, the mask fell away, and Iyala smiled. Then she turned to Vaiya. "Child of offworlders, your mother speaks wisely. But now I ask you, as you are the blood of Durran and of this stranger, where does your loyalty lie?"
"My loyalty lies in the Will of Yejion," Vaiya said with grace she had obviously inherited from Leia. Luke felt himself smile as Iyala's face seemed to glow.
"You invoke the name of God," Iyala said. Then she backed away. "Then this is not the place for you. You must appeal to the Church of Yejion for protection. They will not deny you." She bowed, and then gazed at Vaiya again. "I ask the honor of your name."
"Vaiya Jade Skywalker."
"Life of the soul, your name means. Did you not know this?"
Vaiya cast a quick look at Mara and raised a delicate brow. Mara simply stared back, mildly astounded.
"I know little of my people outside of their religion, and my knowledge of that is limited as well," Vaiya replied. She sighed, feeling weary. She didn't want all this attention. She just wanted to see Valeris.
"Grana Vaiya," Iyala said, and Vaiya assumed the word "Grana" was a term of respect, "Perhaps you would grant me an introduction to your father."
Finally, Iyala's eyes rested on Luke. The expression in them was pure wonder. Vaiya turned. "This is my father, Luke Skywalker. He is what is called a Jedi Knight."
"Jedi," Iyala said, turning the word over. "Such a beautiful word. He holds himself like a priest."
"What did she say?" Luke whispered.
"She said that you hold yourself like a priest." Vaiya's mind began to whirl in spite of her exhaustion. "Valeris told me that the Yejion Priests were trained in the Psyenergy. They're almost exactly like Jedi."
"Forgive, Grana Vaiya, for I know that your father does not speak our language. But perhaps you could tell him that if he wished, he could learn from the Yejion Priests. If he is strong in the Psyenergy, he could learn in a short time."
Luke cocked and eyebrow. "I think we need to appeal to the priests," Vaiya said, and then turned to Mara, who was looking around her, her face nearly glazed over from the effort it took to take everything in. "Iyala said they would be able to grant us protection."
"I hope they're friendly to offworlders," Mara said, and then smiled at Iyala. "Would you take us there?" she asked.
Iyala smiled and nodded. "Gladly. The Priests have been trying hard to have the ban lifted and bring offworlders to Durran once again. They will be joyful in your presence." Iyala turned and gave a few orders, and within a few minutes an oval shaped car floated down to them. Iyala guestured for them to enter, and she followed, taking the controls from the back. She sought out Vaiya's eyes, and then gently lifted her silver band of a crown to reveal a tiny tattoo on the very peak of her forehead. It was a triangle with its sides concaved in toward the center. She smiled. "My uncle is priest of Yejion. He consecrated me when I was an infant." Then she paused, as if embarrassed. "Perhaps I might ask, have you been consecrated?"
Vaiya puzzled over the word, "consecrated." "I do not believe so," she said apologetically.
Iyala shook her head. "Do not worry, Grana Vaiya," she said. "All that is needed for salvation is a willing and repentant heart. Everything else comes from that, and the Will of Yejion. In your heart, you are already His." The craft lifted into the air, and Vaiya watched as the grand buildings began to drift past her, wondering when she would get to see Valeris.
Patience, a soft murmuring voice soothed her. All things in patience.