Mara was true to her word. Luke felt her make a conscious effort to shake off her anxiety.
She knew the answers were not going to come now, and she had to be prepared for when they
did.
     But until then, there would be little to stop Mara Skywalker from attempting to relax. Not
that she could do much, anyway. Already going into her seventh month, her doctor advised her
continuously to avoid heavy activity, and she obeyed, not wanting to take any chances. It was
hard for her, however, to just sit around all day. She was bored with the holonet, couldn't do
much of anything with the ship except give Artoo orders about what she wanted checked out,
and didn't dare touch her lightsaber. Luke tried to give her lessons about lifting objects with the
Force, but she had gotten pretty good at it and everything seemed redundant. 
     The only thing she had plenty of time for was thinking, and it was the last thing she wanted to
do. 
     Luke did everything he could to distract her. They talked more than they ever had in the
fifteen years they'd known each other. The big topic of discussion was the book of  memoirs that
Luke was compiling of his past in hopes that the many things he had experienced during the days
of the birth of the New Republic would not go to waste. He wanted to teach other Jedi not to
give in to too much power like he had---not to fall into the darkside on their own, like Mara had
said. He even kicked around the idea of building a holocron, but didn't think that he should
attempt such an edevor at the point of life he was in. The old Jedi Ood Bnar (see Dark Empire I
& II) had been a thousand years old when he'd made his holocron. Luke knew he wouldn't even
touch that many years, although the Force did extend the life of many Jedi. Perhaps it would
extend his as well....
     All this talk, however, got Mara thinking in a new direction. As the Emperor's Hand, she
knew many things about the galaxy. Even though she had served Palpatine's evil, the abilities she
had gained were neutral. It seemed a shame to let all her skills die with her. So she began to
make plans for her own memoirs, although knew they were quite different from Luke's. It just
seemed fitting, though, that she and Skywalker pass their knowledge down together. Historically,
they had been two of the most famous and infamous figures of their day. History deserved to
have a record of the truth.
     So as they started their hyperspace journey toward Endor, Mara started getting herself
together. It was similiar to what she had been trying to do before in her meditations--make sense
of her life--but this had a different purpose, and spread out much farther than just her suspicions
about the Emperor's plans for her destiny. This was every scrap of memory she could call forth.
And she barely dented the surface before they landed on Endor.
     Leia and Han were waiting for them on the landing platform when arrived. Leia smiled
sympathetically as she gazed at Mara in her not-so-delicate condition. "Good thing you're not
carrying twins," she said as she hugged her sister-in-law. 
     Mara let out a little groan. "Force forbid! Rancors and born-again Emperors and
Superweapons we can handle....but two kids at once? We'd fall in a month."
     Han played bellhop and grabbed their gear. Luke tried to get it away from him, but Han was
pretty fast for a non-Force-sensitive and was down the platform and into the speeder before Luke
could have even pronounced Thrawn's full name. Mara laughed as Luke shook his head at his
old friend.
     "Still the competetors," she murmured to Leia. Leia smiled.
     "Let's just try not to encourage them. Although I wish, just once, I could get Han to blush like
you make Luke do sometimes."
     Mara grinned wickedly. "We'll talk. If an old hard-ass like me and give a maidenly glow
every once in a while, I'm sure Han's gotta have his soft spot."
     The two women walked down to the speeder, their quiet conversation inaudiable to Luke and
Han, who were bantering so loud it echoed off the surrounding trees. "The only things I need to
lift something heavy are my own two hands, kid," Han gloated. 
     "I guess if it isn't heavy it can lift all by itself," Luke grinned slyly.
     "At least I don't need to Force it,"  Han returned.
     "Mara, have you and Han been conspiring again?" Luke shouted back to her.
     "Who do you think told me that one, darling?" Mara replied sweetly.
     "Wonderful. Everybody is a comedian."
     "You seem to be pretty cheerful lately," Leia commented to Mara as Luke and Han continued
their insult-tossing. 
     "The glow of motherhood, I guess." Mara ran a hand through her hair and let the wind toss it
about. "I guess when you were expecting you had to deal with a potential galactic war. Not
exactly a time for smiles, huh?"
     "Nope. And even with Anakin there was that deal with the Emperor." Leia cleared her throat.
"I'm just saying that I wish I had had more time to relax. I'm glad you and Luke are here."
     "It's not to late for another kid, Leia," Mara said, her face open. "I mean, you're not even forty
yet."
     Leia shrugged. "I know....it's just that we've had so much trouble keeping Anakin and the
twins safe. I almost wish we could live like you and Luke. No one would be able to find us."
     Mara's eyes narrowed slightly. "It's got its advantages and disadvantages." She paused. "I
promise we'll visit more after the baby is born."
     Leia started. "Oh, that isn't what I mean." She smiled. "But that would still be nice."
     Mara leaned forward a bit. "So...what's really eating you up, Madame Chief of State? You
know you don't have to be all diplomatic with me."
     Leia's eyes grew very serious. "Okay. I've been having these dreams lately about you and
Luke. I can't seem to figure them out. Luke's told me that you've been trying to sort some things
out about your past, and for some reason I think all of this is connected. Tell me, when you came
to Endor...did you experience a dark spot in the Force? Around where the Death Star used to
be?"
     "Where Palpatine died?" Mara's eyes grew distant. "Luke put in a course that took us around
that spot. I didn't feel anything from around it." Then her eyes cleared. "But really, Leia, he's
already come back twice. I think he's finally gone. At least, I've put him to rest."
     "Then what is it?"
     "I don't know. It's like....Palpatine was trying to prevent something. Maybe even prevent me
and Skywalker from ever meeting, or at least ever meeting on friendly terms. I used to think that
him wanting me to kill Skywalker was his way of getting revenge on Vader, but I have a terrible
feeling it was more than that. Like it wasn't just revenge--it was a way to hurt me as well, prevent
me from fulfilling some destiny that I can't even begin to understand. And the worst of it is, it
isn't just me, or even Skywalker. It has to do with our child." Mara's hand subconsciously went to
her belly. "Palpatine knew something. But Palpatine wasn't all knowing or all powerful.
Otherwise he would have forseen his own death." She paused. "Tell me about the dreams you've
been having, Leia."
     Leia opened her mouth to reply, but the speeder stopped and they were at the small resort that
had been built there shortly after the Empire had fallen. Endor had become quite a tourist
attraction as of late, with the twentieth anniversary of the events that had taken place there
coming within the next couple of years. Leia had gone to considerable trouble to make sure that
the Ewoks wouldn't be robbed of their forrest territory during the business expansion. She had
even invested some of her own money in the project to make sure she would have a direct say in
what went on there. 
     The resort was attached to a rather quaint museum, but Mara knew perfectly well that Leia
and Han only slept there. Most of their time was spent, Mara was quite sure, in the Ewok village
as an honored guest. She grimaced, hoping that she wouldn't have to endure too much three-foot
tall, fur-covered company. Although the Ewoks had a particular brew of alcohol that she found
to be rather good.
     *Not while you're pregnant,* Luke reminded her. She glanced up to see him looking at her as
he climbed out of the speeder. She got up to follow and exchanged a brief look with Leia that
clearly said, *We'll continue this later.* 
     Leia shot Luke a grin. So Luke had gone from protecting the Universe to protecting Mara
from herself. She wondered which one was the harder job.

5--Leia's Dreams
     "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."
     
6---Callista
     The next morning, everything and everyone was strangely silent. It hung in the air, even
stilling the breezed that usually played with the high-hung leaves of the forest canopy. It even
muffled the sharp sizzling sound of Luke frying the bluish-purple tinted eggs of the local
treika--a short, wingless bird that hid in the brushy floor of the forest. Mara had expressed an
interest in trying them during the trip, and he was anxious to please.
     Anything to get the feeling of foreboding to leave her. His conversation with Leia last night
wouldn't leave his memory alone. She had asked him about Callista coming back---but why?
Had Mara said something to her that she hadn't been able to ask him? Why would she do that?
Didn't she know she could say anything to him? She was his wife, for Alderaan's sake! 
     He swirled the fork through the thick batter, mixing in the cream and the local white cheese
the resort was thoughtful enough to provide. He'd considered attempting an omlette, knowing
Mara had a fondness for things mixed into her eggs, but didn't trust himself to not break it. They
were coming out nicely, really. Maybe he'd add some of that cured wild-boar meat he saw in the
hydro-cooler---
     And then he heard the sound of a ship land.
     Mara stirred in the bedroom, and Luke, in a sudden fit of farmboy nerves, shoved the eggs off
the burner and turned the heat off. He felt Mara appear in the doorway, and didn't even have to
turn around to know she was staring at him anxiously.
     "Someone's landed," she said.
     "So? Could be anyone. People come here all the time."
     "Then why did you stop everything you were doing?" There was just a hint of warmth in her
tone, as if she wanted him to know something. But his stomach started to do backflips. He had a
terrible feeling.
     "Well...you want to go check it out?" he asked, finally turning. To his utter astonishment, she
was actually giving him a slight smile.
     "No...but you do. I'll finish up. You never could make an omlette right, anyway."
     He gave her a puzzled frown, and then realized she was right. Strangely enough, her feelings
had pulled back from his, as if she were letting him go in more ways than one. "Are you sure you
don't want to come?"
     She touched his cheek. "I love you, Luke. Now go." She made a shoo-ing motiong with her
hand. "Hurry back."
     With a sigh, he turned and left the room.