"Only in the darkness can you see stars."
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It has been six years since Ben Solo succumbed to his fate and betrayed the Jedi Order after being seduced by the Dark Side. With the aid of his immense power, the First Order has cast a shadow over the g...
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26 years earlier
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It was the evening rush hour by the time Fabian Escara finally returned to his dwelling after a long day of rigorous work. It required a certain level skill to avoid the numerous speeders that whirred past and kicked up dust, rendering the streets of south Coruscant almost hazy. He had only recently grown accustomed to his home, having moved there mere months ago.
Since he lost his single mother as a boy, Fabian hasn't had a specifiable place to call home. But after retiring of his former career, he knew he was ready to settle down, and the slums of south Coruscant proved to be the best location in all of the galaxy that he could afford.
Just as every day, his dog Wolf was at the door to greet him as he went inside. He approached his stove to make dinner, Wolf at his heels.
"Read me some news, J3. Anything." He addresses his droid, J3T7, one his older brother had helped him to construct a long time ago. Before Fabian found the line of work he was destined for, he and his brother constructed droids to sell on the black market, a means of survival for the pair of orphans.
He wasn't very old, but he had experienced more than others did in their whole lives.
"There isn't much, Mr. Escara. Today marks the third anniversary of the signing of the Galactic Concordance." J3 replies, wheeling itself directly behind the weathered man. Fabian eyes his dinner as it begins to boil, something telling him that today holds more significance than the official end of the Galactic Civil War, but he can't put his finger on it.
Persistent pounding on the door tears him from his contemplative stupor. Wolf barks defensively as Fabian orders J3 to answer it.
"I'm here to see your master," says an unfamiliar voice.
"What's in bantha's name are you trying to ram my door in for, huh?" He shouts, scrutinizing the hooded figure as they take a step inside at J3's invitation. Their cloaks are expensive and lined with black furs, not the kind any native of Coruscant would be caught wearing at any time of year.
"You and I made a mistake, Fabian. I'm here to fix it." The figure explains, and Fabian decides the voice is familiar, and that it belongs to a woman.
"Show me your face, then." Wolf sniffs at the stranger's feet, likely trying to decipher if she poses any kind of threat.
She takes her hood from her face with one hand, revealing the beautiful face of the woman he often spent extensive time with when he made deals with her boss. He was a particularly large client of his when he used to work as a smuggler.
Months ago, when Fabian delivered on a deal that earned him a significant amount of credits, he made the decision to walk away from smuggling forever... to quit while he was ahead.
The woman pulls open her cloak, revealing a lovely evening gown which hugs her curves, and a bundle of burlap and blankets held ever so carefully in her opposite arm. Once exposed, the bundle lets out a wail, and the woman meets his eyes as realization dawns on his face.
"She's yours. Her name is Lyra. She's a couple of months old." She peers at the baby's face, and a little hand reaches out to grab at her nose. A mixture of emotions crosses over her face, including adoration and what can only be discerned as despair.
"So why are you here with her, then? I suppose you never planned on telling me." Fabian demands, still awestruck at the recent revelation that he was, in fact, a father.
"I planned to keep her a secret... it worked for some time. But my leader found out, and made me choose between having us both killed or getting rid of her. I thought it only right I find her her father, because I can no longer care for her." Tears fall over her clean face, eyes never leaving her darling daughter. She had only known such loss once before; she wasn't sure how she would handle having her heart ripped from her chest once again.
"You're leaving a baby with me?" Fabian stares at her incredulously, unsure of how he would even care for a baby or if he were even the right one to raise her.
"You're her father! I couldn't bear to sell her to some lowlife in the Outer Rim. Please, Fabian!" She touches the baby's cheek, her lower lip wobbling as she pleads with her former lover, the father of her child.
Fabian regarded the baby skeptically, having yet to have seen her face while he was currently being asked to claim her as his own.
"So you'll give 'er to some lowlife in a core world instead?" His dinner boils over as he says this, and J3 rushes to clean up the mess.
"Please." The woman begs. Fabian grunts, finally approaching her and the child. He peers down into the bundle to find an adorable little face, a baby with large, ethereal eyes of jade, and tufts of soft chestnut hair.
The woman leaves moments later, bidding her child a tearful goodbye, and Wolf and J3 are no longer the only ones in Fabian's care.
He raises Lyra from then on, filling her young mind with stories of his adventures, of the rebels and the Galactic Civil war, and most of all, the stories of the heroic Jedi, and the Force that surrounds them all.
And for their short time together, they are happy.
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WELCOME TO THE SEQUEL TO COVET!
I'm so excited for this story!
This prologue serves as a back story for Lyra, and will come into play later. Who do you think her mother is? (if it's not obvious)
Fabian doesn't know what's so important about that day, but did you guys get it? Let me know in the comments!
I will be updating again soon, with the first chapter!
