Alone Once More - Chapter 3

Chapter 3
“Mara, lunch is ready. It’s on the table.” Leia stood behind her sister-in-law, waiting for an answer. “I’m fine, thanks, Leia. I’ll be there in a minute.” came the choked reply. Mara still did not turn her head, but Leia could hear the younger woman crying. She sat next to her brother’s wife on the window-seat and put her arm around her. “Leia! Are you coming here or not? We’re getting hungry!” Leia heard Han shouting to her. Obviously they were getting hungry. “You can start yourselves! Mara isn’t feeling so good!” To Mara, who was now sobbing, she said in a soothing voice, “There, there. You’ve been hurt. You take as long as you want, you can stay here as long as you need to, and remember, we’ll always welcome you.” Leia let Mara lean on her and cry her eyes out. It was a bit hard; Mara was taller than her. It pained Leia to see her sister-in-law like this; she’d only ever seen Mara Jade as an incredibly strong woman with a will of steel.
She was furious at the thought that the selfishness of one man, her own brother, could reduce his wife to this. She knew that betrayal ran in the family; her father, Luke’s father, had been Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, the man who led down the entire Jedi Order of the Old Republic, who had tortured her, who had tortured Luke and Han, but she also knew that he had never cheated on his wife. He had loved Padmé Amidala too much, and that brought about his downfall. Leia thought about herself; she had never been unfaithful to Han, even when he turned to alcoholism and briefly left the family after Chewbacca died.
Leia’s thoughts were interrupted when she realised that Mara had fallen asleep, her face still streaked with tears.