The Bride
About This Story:
This is the back-story of Nori, Rupert' mother, told mainly from the point of view of a fellow camp survivor named Gen. This story has not been previously published on fanfiction.net
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Star Wars franchise or any of its characters. I have not been paid for any of the stories posted on FanFiction or elsewhere. What you read here are simply the products of my own imagination based on the universe created by George Lucas. Any characters not in the SW universe (e.g., Rupert, Nori, Gen, etc.) are entirely my own.
Trigger Warning: This story contains scenes of rape, and explores the theme of women used as breeding stock rather than being seen as individuals and human beings. I have struggled a bit with my own Dark imaginings as I wrote it, but it is also, ultimately, a story of survival and friendship..
Log-Line:
Gen, an inmate at one of Palpatine's breeding camps, befriends a Creature-Empath child named Nori, and the two struggle to survive through the Emperor's repeated rapes and abuse.
This is the back-story of Nori, Rupert' mother, told mainly from the point of view of a fellow camp survivor named Gen. This story has not been previously published on fanfiction.net
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Star Wars franchise or any of its characters. I have not been paid for any of the stories posted on FanFiction or elsewhere. What you read here are simply the products of my own imagination based on the universe created by George Lucas. Any characters not in the SW universe (e.g., Rupert, Nori, Gen, etc.) are entirely my own.
Trigger Warning: This story contains scenes of rape, and explores the theme of women used as breeding stock rather than being seen as individuals and human beings. I have struggled a bit with my own Dark imaginings as I wrote it, but it is also, ultimately, a story of survival and friendship..
Log-Line:
Gen, an inmate at one of Palpatine's breeding camps, befriends a Creature-Empath child named Nori, and the two struggle to survive through the Emperor's repeated rapes and abuse.
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Prologue
The woman, perhaps a couple of decades Luke’s senior, gestured to the inside of her humble dwelling, and the two men entered. She closed the make-shift door behind them, and indicated the shabby couch. “Please sit,” she said. “I’ll have some tea made in a minute.”
“Thank you, but I don’t need any,” the younger man, the one called Rupert, told her.
“It is mostly for myself,” the woman said, moving to her cooking area. “But you are welcome to share.”
Luke made a subtle settling gesture, and Rupert bit back his impatience. He was eager to learn what he could, but Luke’s gesture had reminded him that they were guests in this woman’s home.
After some long moments, the woman returned, bearing a tray holding three mis-matched cups and a pot filled with steaming liquid. The tray wobbled, and Rupert was immediately on his feet to help her with it, but she refused to let him take it. She set it on the small table between the worn-out sofa and the equally worn out chair across from it, and poured. The weight of the pot caused her hand to shake, and Rupert waivered in offering to help, remembering her refusal a moment ago.
She saw the waiver, took pity on the boy enough to explain. “I haven’t many days left,” she told him, “and I prefer to do things for myself while I still can. The day I can no longer do for myself will be…a little like the old days.”
“I could send a ‘droid to help you,” Rupert offered. “Fix things up for you here, make you more comfortable, hire a servant or two—
The woman’s eyes flashed. “I want no servant, not even a ‘droid. Servants, even ‘droids, are like slaves. I will have no slaves in my house!”
Rupert was about to reply that accepting help was not the same thing as owning a slave, but Luke laid a hand on his arm to stop him. It was clear that the woman would not take charity, and the one thing she had plenty of, in this shabby small home, was pride.
Luke took the cup that was meant for him, motioned for Rupert to do likewise, and waited until the older woman had taken her cup, had sat down in her chair, and had taken a sip. He took a sip from his own cup—a weak tea, probably brewed from leaves that were re-used—and spoke. “You said you would share the story of the woman who was called Nori.”
The old woman nodded and set her cup back down. “I hardly know where to begin. I suppose one must know something of my own story in order to understand hers.”
“Tell us your story,” Luke said, setting his own cup down.
The old woman cleared her throat, picked up her cup to take another sip, and set her cup back down.
Rupert pressed his hand into his leg, irritated at the delay, but said nothing. The woman seemed to be studying the boy. Luke suppressed a smile, feeling that the delay was on purpose, perhaps to test Rupert’s patience. He met the woman’s eyes, saw an almost imperceptible twitch to her mouth, and knew that he was right.
“Very well,” the old woman said finally. But then she looked at Rupert. “But do not interrupt me. I have not told this before, except once, and that has been many years ago. So forgive me if I do not tell things in the right order, or if I linger too long in the wrong area, or if…some parts are difficult for me.”
Luke nodded, and settled back on the couch to listen.
Without looking at him, Rupert also nodded acquiescence, but sat forward eagerly, anxious to learn whatever he could about his mother.
The woman took a deep breath, then began. “I was a called ‘Gen’ back then. I had been a student at the Jedi Academy—”
At Luke’s and Rupert’s matching startled expressions, she chuckled. “Oh, yes! But I was not a very good student. I was a failure. Oh, not because I got into trouble, as you might think. I was a failure because I was a coward. A coward of the worst sort. I saw what would happen to me, and I was afraid. As I had a right to be! My teacher, Master Chen, was also a Seer, and I think maybe he understood a little. Maybe it was because our names were so similar. Gen. Chen. Almost the same. Master Chen, too, saw what would happen to me. He saw what would happen to himself, too, but he faced his own destiny with far more courage than ever I had. As I said, I was a failure. Master Chen told me I could no longer stay at the Jedi Academy. I had hoped that by leaving, I could avoid the future I saw for myself. But actually, by leaving, I was running towards it.
“Master Chen took me back to the orphanage where he had found me. It was there that we received word that a Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker—”
Luke started at the name ‘Anakin Skywalker,’ and Rupert had looked at him sharply, but neither one interrupted the old woman, and she had not been looking at them, but at the cup in her hands, now empty.
“—had betrayed the Jedi, and killed all the students who remained at the Academy. If I had remained there, no doubt I would have been killed, too. That might have been better. At least, it would have been over quickly. Skywalker became a Sith Lord, and changed his name to Darth Vader. Ah! I see that you have heard of that name. I have heard it many times. Vader tracked Chen and myself to the orphanage where he was trying to return me, and from there to the place where we were hiding. And that is where my story truly begins.”
The woman, perhaps a couple of decades Luke’s senior, gestured to the inside of her humble dwelling, and the two men entered. She closed the make-shift door behind them, and indicated the shabby couch. “Please sit,” she said. “I’ll have some tea made in a minute.”
“Thank you, but I don’t need any,” the younger man, the one called Rupert, told her.
“It is mostly for myself,” the woman said, moving to her cooking area. “But you are welcome to share.”
Luke made a subtle settling gesture, and Rupert bit back his impatience. He was eager to learn what he could, but Luke’s gesture had reminded him that they were guests in this woman’s home.
After some long moments, the woman returned, bearing a tray holding three mis-matched cups and a pot filled with steaming liquid. The tray wobbled, and Rupert was immediately on his feet to help her with it, but she refused to let him take it. She set it on the small table between the worn-out sofa and the equally worn out chair across from it, and poured. The weight of the pot caused her hand to shake, and Rupert waivered in offering to help, remembering her refusal a moment ago.
She saw the waiver, took pity on the boy enough to explain. “I haven’t many days left,” she told him, “and I prefer to do things for myself while I still can. The day I can no longer do for myself will be…a little like the old days.”
“I could send a ‘droid to help you,” Rupert offered. “Fix things up for you here, make you more comfortable, hire a servant or two—
The woman’s eyes flashed. “I want no servant, not even a ‘droid. Servants, even ‘droids, are like slaves. I will have no slaves in my house!”
Rupert was about to reply that accepting help was not the same thing as owning a slave, but Luke laid a hand on his arm to stop him. It was clear that the woman would not take charity, and the one thing she had plenty of, in this shabby small home, was pride.
Luke took the cup that was meant for him, motioned for Rupert to do likewise, and waited until the older woman had taken her cup, had sat down in her chair, and had taken a sip. He took a sip from his own cup—a weak tea, probably brewed from leaves that were re-used—and spoke. “You said you would share the story of the woman who was called Nori.”
The old woman nodded and set her cup back down. “I hardly know where to begin. I suppose one must know something of my own story in order to understand hers.”
“Tell us your story,” Luke said, setting his own cup down.
The old woman cleared her throat, picked up her cup to take another sip, and set her cup back down.
Rupert pressed his hand into his leg, irritated at the delay, but said nothing. The woman seemed to be studying the boy. Luke suppressed a smile, feeling that the delay was on purpose, perhaps to test Rupert’s patience. He met the woman’s eyes, saw an almost imperceptible twitch to her mouth, and knew that he was right.
“Very well,” the old woman said finally. But then she looked at Rupert. “But do not interrupt me. I have not told this before, except once, and that has been many years ago. So forgive me if I do not tell things in the right order, or if I linger too long in the wrong area, or if…some parts are difficult for me.”
Luke nodded, and settled back on the couch to listen.
Without looking at him, Rupert also nodded acquiescence, but sat forward eagerly, anxious to learn whatever he could about his mother.
The woman took a deep breath, then began. “I was a called ‘Gen’ back then. I had been a student at the Jedi Academy—”
At Luke’s and Rupert’s matching startled expressions, she chuckled. “Oh, yes! But I was not a very good student. I was a failure. Oh, not because I got into trouble, as you might think. I was a failure because I was a coward. A coward of the worst sort. I saw what would happen to me, and I was afraid. As I had a right to be! My teacher, Master Chen, was also a Seer, and I think maybe he understood a little. Maybe it was because our names were so similar. Gen. Chen. Almost the same. Master Chen, too, saw what would happen to me. He saw what would happen to himself, too, but he faced his own destiny with far more courage than ever I had. As I said, I was a failure. Master Chen told me I could no longer stay at the Jedi Academy. I had hoped that by leaving, I could avoid the future I saw for myself. But actually, by leaving, I was running towards it.
“Master Chen took me back to the orphanage where he had found me. It was there that we received word that a Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker—”
Luke started at the name ‘Anakin Skywalker,’ and Rupert had looked at him sharply, but neither one interrupted the old woman, and she had not been looking at them, but at the cup in her hands, now empty.
“—had betrayed the Jedi, and killed all the students who remained at the Academy. If I had remained there, no doubt I would have been killed, too. That might have been better. At least, it would have been over quickly. Skywalker became a Sith Lord, and changed his name to Darth Vader. Ah! I see that you have heard of that name. I have heard it many times. Vader tracked Chen and myself to the orphanage where he was trying to return me, and from there to the place where we were hiding. And that is where my story truly begins.”
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Chapter One
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Chapter Two
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Chapter Three
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Chapter Four
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Chapter Five
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Chapter Six
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Chapter Seven
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Chapter Eight
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Chapter Nine
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Chapter Ten
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Chapter Eleven
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Chapter Twelve
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Chapter Thirteen
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Chapter Fourteen
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Chapter Fifteen
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Chapter Sixteen
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Chapter Seventeen
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Chapter Eighteen