The Young Republic | A Star Wars Story

Chapter 10

Hello, Maul is here

"Ignore your instincts at your peril"

Satine can't stop sweating. She must have gone through two showers and dug a trove in her bedroom floor from all the pacing. With too many missed calls from Xena, the comm device was nearly crushed in her sweaty palm. Satine did not mean to ignore the calls; she had been busy with maybe one of her life's longest and most difficult meetings. When she tried to call Xena back and did not have the girl answer, Satine felt she was indeed a horrible mother.

She kept her cool about it tho, going to bed and waking up the following day. If Xena so desperately needed Satine, she would call again.

Then a messenger came to her room. News of the attempted murder of the Chancellor on Naboo spread to all Senators, even those who weren't part of the Republic. The Chancellor was saved again by Anakin Skywalker, his Padawan Tano... and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

That had spurred Satine into a frenzy. Obi-Wan was alive! And Satine would have jumped in joy if she had not thought of her daughter's millions of missed calls seconds before the news broke. As Satine paced her room, some critical questions popped up in her head. All of them concern the relationship currently between Obi-Wan and Xena.

Xena, her genius little girl, had quickly figured out who her father was. But Obi-Wan was utterly oblivious to the matter. He did not know that Xena and Satine were directly related. He could not even begin to think that Xena and himself were related, never mind father and daughter. Without the explanation of time travel (which was a madness in itself), it would never even make sense how Xena could be the child of Obi-Wan and Satine. Xena was much too old for that. Satine would have just started her cycles to consummate Xena to be the age that she is. And at that age, Satine had not even met Obi-Wan yet!

But the slow gnaw of guilt was chewing at Satine's conscious. It was a feeling she had lived with her whole life, but it stung even more now. Satine felt wrong for deceiving Obi-Wan by keeping Xena from him. The only comfort Satine had was that she kept Xena a secret for the sake of Obi-Wan's role and reputation as a Jedi. And for the safety of Xena. Too many things would shatter and break if Xena's identity were found. And yet, the maternal instinct to give her daughter all the love she was starved of kept spilling out. It almost outweighed Satine's logical thinking. Almost.

So as Satine paced her room, she kept thinking of her daughter and lover. And how in the name of the Force, she will help them both without destruction following behind her family.

***

In the days she was still hospitalized, Xena had many visitors.

One of the first ones was Rex.

"Rex, for the last time. You don't have force powers," Xena had said, pushing her food around her plate. It wasn't nearly as appetizing as the food Obi-Wan would make for them in their chambers. Xena was sure the food was extra squishy and mushy to warn you away from the healing halls. An effective strategy, Xena must admit. She will be avoiding severe injuries at all costs in future missions.