Mara was young when she asked someone about how the darkness first touched the stars.
The question had been posed hours after a golden sun had dipped low beyond their sightline. While nestled among her mother's cerise skirt, the girl had watched a valiant display of colors bleed out of the horizon and be swallowed by an inky black sky. She was awestruck as the same constellations she'd seen a cycle ago once again became visible, sometimes mistaking the gleaming thrusters of passing transports and starfighters to be far off planets. Her mother corrected her with a gentle nudge, pointing out their intentional movements. Ships arced through the open air, entirely unlike the fixed points that were thousands of lightyears away. The explanation instantly enamored Mara, but it didn't answer her inquiry.
Which had come first? Were the twinkling lights stitched into the fabric of a darkened cosmos or had a blackness enveloped a vast galaxy that had never known the night before it drowned whole star systems out?
(Obviously, a three-year-old hadn't said that word for word, but it was how the girl meant it.)
Her mother had been silent for a moment as an evening wind prompted her daughter to shiver and burrow closer into the thick red dress the elder woman wore. While the child kept her gaze on the heavens, her mother reached an arm around her to absentmindedly trace across the scar under Mara's left knee. It was a practiced habit that the two had come to know well.
So the woman told a story she'd heard so long ago on a different planet's surface from her own mother; Darkness was the natural state of the galaxy. It existed as long as the stars had and as long as light ever would.
It was everywhere, creating every shadow and leaching its way into even the brightest points of an endless universe. It waited in every corner, casting itself just for someone to stumble upon. There were many ways to find darkness, to wander into it, perhaps even to fall straight into the trap. None of them are pleasant and not one was a nicer fate than the others.
The first way was being born in darkness. To have known nothing else in your life but fear of evil because it is ever-present. The demons that made a home inside them are always there because the enemy always is. That fear festers into anger and the anger becomes a need for control. Once you realize there is no possible way for complete control, that is when you lust for power beyond your reach and want it no matter the cost.
Then there are those born to darkness. These people grow up in the dark, sleeping in shelters built by the evil deeds of their forefathers without understanding their intent. They don't know right from wrong until it's too late and they are forced to look in the mirror to see what they were meant to become. Then there is a choice; to embrace, to blame, or to run.
The most common one seems to be those who are pushed into darkness. Wandering souls that were merely isolated, normal, or blessed with knowing the nature of light their whole life. They are thrown headfirst into the wild just as twilight sets in and must figure out how to navigate such a trial so they do not lose their own soul.
Then, the last, fall into darkness suspecting it's the hope of far-off stars. They reach out for something they believe is a divine purpose or a pure love, but only give into an abyss. It's not until it's too late do they understand what happened and most choose to stay in the dark because it was what else is there
Whichever way it seems, the darkness is always there. It is the light's greatest enemy, because without, what would light be? What would joy be without pain? What would love be without hate? Day without night?
In the most horribly twisted way, the light must have the darkness, meaning everyone will face it, whichever way it'll be.
Mara didn't like that story when she was young. She actually fell asleep on her mother's lap watching one-man starfighters dock on the hanger in front of them while the woman whispered about great dualities. The girl would not ask the question again and her mom never recounted the old legend after that night.
Time transpired on and a young girl became a troublesome woman. It would be years before Mara realized she was in darkness her whole life. She would grow to know all of its forms and take every path to get there. In a product of both foolishness and ignorance, she thought she could survive in the shadows when her efforts only ever plunged her further into disparity. All it did was leave her lonely and guilty. When the end of the line came, Mara ran to the place where there was no darkness or light.
Except for literally, because Jakku had a relatively normal solar rotation. And sand, lots of sand.
That was the first thing Mara noted about the place, but there wasn't much else worth mentioning besides the lack of water. It had been two days since she'd landed on this horribly hot planet. Two days without food or water with the truly wonderful present of sunburns she swore had permanently marked on her skin.
Why do all these stories have to start in a desert?
Mara was now barely trudging, contemplating if she should have just stayed instead of running. The back of her throat burned whenever she swallowed and her stomach ached as if her gut had been cut open. Her chapped lips had cracked and left a bloody ring around her mouth. The blonde's vision was fading as the dunes ahead of her swam hazily instead of standing eerily still. That had to be the overbearing temperature playing tricks on her. Sore muscles protested against her continued moving forward.
Then there was the sand. It stuck to her sweaty skin, itchy and irritating. No matter what she could scrape off her now coarse skin, more would be caked onto her burnt and reddened flesh. No matter how many times she'd scratch at the grime for it to come off, more would always be there.
Oh, and the heat. She wanted to physically shoot the sun with whatever left she had in her battered pistol.
Mara had been walking miles and miles through the desert, trudging and stumbling in hot sand. When night fell, it brought much-needed relief and a breeze that kissed her cool. Yet the sun would always come up and Mara would resume her death march in an attempt to find civilization. Two days and no sign of life besides herself. No ships in the sky, no moving figures, no wild animals.
Her feet stumbled and swayed underneath her. Despite her own will, the woman ended up falling to her knees. Already faulty vision was obscured by sweat and whatever intense dehydration did to your eyes. She was frustrated and tired, so tired. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
At the end of a dramatic collapse that had her face meet burning sand, Mara rolled to look up at a cloudless sky. Her lips ached in pain as her scratchy voice cried out to whoever was listening, or maybe just in general frustration at a luckless galaxy. She pounded her fist in the sand with what was left of her energy.
This is what she got for doing the right thing?!? This is what she got for finally freeing herself?! To die in a wasteland!
She should've just stayed with Dameron and his cute little droid.
Mara's eyes threatened to close and go to sleep, to ignore the heat and escape. For the countless time in the last few days, the idea tempted her. A defiant nature rose within her as it always did. If she slept now, the only thing she'd possibly see would be an untimely afterlife. She would become a skeleton out here in this useless place. The thought made her shudder. She had to get up.
Mara didn't know how long she stared staring at the sky deciding whether to let herself rest or simply get up before she heard footsteps behind her. They were quick and light, closing in fast enough to run her right over. Old instincts told her to find her feet and draw a weapon, but a battered body argued for staying right where she'd fallen. The nameless alien came closer, within ten feet of her head, stopping right before it would've hit her. At the last second, she reached for the worn blaster in her holster and gripped onto the handle in anxiousness.
Tantalizing moments passed as she tipped her head back, searching to put a face to the thing right behind her. A human figure looked over her, and Mara stared right at the fellow woman leaning over. Hazel eyes studied her bright blue as the blonde just waved using the last of her strength, uttering,"I come in peace."
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~ Author's Note from December 2015~
Hey guys, Rose here, otherwise known as the writer. So, The Force Awakens is coming out soon, and I have been a Star Wars fan the majority of my life(thank you Dad for practically shoving the original trilogy in my face when I was six, even when I didn't want to watch it), why not write a fanfic?
If some of you recognized the name Mara from the extended Star Wars universe(the comics and such), then you might remember Mara Jade, who ended up marrying Luke, and who also was a pretty awesome character. My OC's name being Mara is a sort of nod to her, because sadly I don't believe she is going to be in the new trilogy, let alone any of the extended universe being acknowledged.
Love you all and happy reading!