High Heavens (Star Wars - Luke Skywalker)

XLI - The Truth, The Sun

Mara stepped back, surveying the packed bags sitting on her bed. 

Is this really everything? Ever since joining the Rebellion, she had always lived scarcely. But after spending so much time in a place so permanent, it was hard to believe this was all she had to her name here.

Seeing the reality of leaving Raada before her made her heart twist. It's the right choice, she told herself, not for the first time. Leaving Raada--and making a show of it--would give the village their best chance at success. 

Stars, even in her head, it sounded cowardly. But what were her alternatives? Face an inquisitor, and ultimately lose? She was even less good to the Raadans dead as she was off-planet. Not to mention that her being here put too large of a target on their backs. 

All things considered, the choice should feel easier than this crushing weight currently holding her back. 

Chatter outside made Mara glance out the window. Denit, Zotee, and Strata were walking by, faces bright and smiling despite the circumstances looming nearby. They, like most people, were still riding the high of the other night's victory and subsequent celebration. 

Mara had agreed with Delta and Dusty's decision in keeping the truth of the Empire's reinforcements quiet. The sheer amount of ships had brought panic enough. If the villagers knew the true danger those ships had brought with them... 

Zotee caught sight of her through the window, and grinned and waved at her. Denit and Strata followed his gaze, both hollering for Mara to meet them at Denit's for dinner. Mara managed a small smile and nod through the glass.

I'm going to miss them, she thought.

As the trio walked away, Mara turned back to her bags. All the belongings she had brought down from the Starbird were tucked inside. All but one. 

Her hand brushed over the hilt of her mother's lightsaber. It hung within the folds of her jacket, out of sight. It had become a familiar weight, by now. It was almost a comfort, always having it on her. Like a little piece of her mom was still with her. 

She wasn't sure when she started thinking like that; thinking of Jade Sunfall as 'Mom.' Maybe it was around the time she had accepted that she wasn't going to find the truth. Not out here on Raada, at least. Since arriving, she had ignored the feeling that she wasn't going to get it--from Dusty, or Delta, or anyone else. 

She had known that for a while now. Yet she had stayed. Stayed, because she had come to care about this place. These people. 

That was her exact reason for leaving. 

It was her caring for them that also ensured she did one last thing before departing. 

Leaving her guest quarters in Delta's abode, she trekked through the connecting hallway to Dusty and Lorelei's half of the structure. She found Tiernan right away, in the sitting room with a holopad in his lap, feet tucked under himself. She had been able to sense that he was close, somehow. Just like how she knew that Strata, Denit, and the others were nearby, gathering with each other.

"Tiernan?" She announced herself into the room. "Do you have a minute" 

Tiernan looked up from the holopad. Strata had loaned it to him, Mara was pretty sure. "Sure, Mara. What is it?"

Mara took a seat on the couch next to him, debating on how to approach the topic. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about. I got in touch with a friend... from back home." 

"From... wherever it is you came from before this," Tiernan surmised. He cracked a grin at her. "You know, whatever distant moon or supernova you must have popped out of, since you haven't told us a thing."