❝ i knew, i always did. ❞

―

— LUKE GROANED SOFTLY, pulling himself up from the nursing bed as Leia watched him closely. R2 let out a distressed beep, letting the blonde Skywalker know what the droid was stressed about.

"We'll get her back R2, we have to."

Leia didn't bother masking the pure worry she held for Carina, "You don't think they'll kill her, do you?"

Luke swallowed thickly, his thoughts wandering off the last moment he saw the brunette. He visibly remembered the look in her eyes, and the boy felt stupid for not realizing earlier the pure look of love and concern she held. His mother, for years he had his true mother right before him and he never knew.

The thought made frustration grow within the Skywalker boy, he wished she had told him the truth. He wished he would've been able to spend time with her knowing the truth, but he also understood why Carina hadn't told him.

Especially after seeing how the empire was desperate to get ahold of them both. Now she was in their hands, being held as a prisoner while he roamed free. Luke hated it, hated knowing she was taken because of him, because he hadn't been strong enough to take Vader, leaving his mother to pay the price.

"No, they would have killed her on sight if that was their intention. They need her." Luke grimly spoke, hiding the uncertainty in his words. The young boy was terrified for his mother, afraid what they would do to her if she did not comply with whatever they would ask of her.

The second Darth Vader had revealed himself to be Luke's father, it was as if everything had clicked into place. All the pieces clicking together as everything began to make sense.

Carina's words suddenly rang in his ears, "It's my fault he is who he is now."

Algora blamed herself for his fall, carried the guilt of Vader being corrupted by the dark side of the force. Luke finally understood why she had always been against teaching him the ways of the Jedi, the ways of the force. She was scared of losing another the way she lost her lover.

He wouldn't disappoint her, he couldn't. He would do everything in his power to make the woman proud, he would do what his father could not.

Luke ran his hand over his face, he needed to get his mother back, and he would.

―

Carina groaned loudly, her hand immediately going to her head as a sharp pain pulsed in her mind. The mother hissed through her teeth before slowly blinking, adjusting to the light before slowly sitting upright.

Algora glanced down to see a blanket draped over herself. The woman pulled her brows together in utter confusion before lifting her gaze to take in her surroundings. Carina took notice of the dim lights, the table and chair stationed at the far end as black and red were the only colors visible in the room.

Realization settled onto the brunette's features as she remembered what had happened. She was in the star destroyer. The mother licked her tainted lips, her mind wandering off to her children, hoping and praying they were safe and far from the empire's reach.

Carina tossed the blanket away, swinging her legs to the edge of the bed, a heavy breath slipping past her lips as chills rippled through her spine.

He was near.

A muscle tensed in the woman's jaw, her hands rubbing together as the door to the room clicked open. Boots hitting the floor echoed loudly as Vader appeared before the brunette.

Carina kept gazing at her lap while the male exhaled rather loudly, "Skywalker got away."

Algora didn't make any move to show she had heard him, but her eyes shined a little brighter, all her worries flushing away now that she knew her son was safe.

The Sith Lord pursed his lips, not bothering to hid his true expression that hid behind his mask. The man tilted his head slightly, "Carina."

His wife didn't make a single move to acknowledge him, staying still as she merely gazed at her shoes. Vader shuffled on his feet, irritation growing within him before turning abruptly away from her, heading back out the room before closing the door shut, making sure to lock it.

Darth glanced over at the squad of troopers he had assigned to Algora's cell, "Any movement and you alert me, make sure she eats as well."

The stormtrooper stood tall as he gave the Sith a single firm nod, "At once, Lord Vader."

The male continued down the hall, he knew his wife wouldn't be speaking to him anytime soon. A small part of him didn't blame her though.

Carina scoffed loudly as she stood from the bed, clenching her fists with such strength that her knuckles had gone pale. She didn't know what to do with the pent up anger she held, every single ounce of frustration she'd bottled up threatening to spill at the mere sight of her husband.

She remembered the time she mourned him, assuming he had been killed from what Obi-Wan had told her all those years ago. She spent every single night after that horrid day weeping for him. Crying to the point where she'd gasp for breath.

The first year was the hardest, especially since she was on her own. Carina struggled with learning to live with the loneliness, she hated to admit it but it cost her greatly. No one was by her side to console her, understand her pain, there wasn't a soul near that even knew the girl.

That year she grieved more than she ever thought she would have to. The loss of her home, her husband, and her children. The emptiness she felt knowing her twins were elsewhere in the galaxy haunted her everyday.

She always wondered what her little ones were doing, if they were crying, giggling, sleeping, eating, perhaps playing as a child would. But the thought only served to pain her, knowing she was not there to share those special moments with them.

The part of motherhood she had always dreamed of had been ripped away from her too quickly.

Carina would have given up her life at the Jedi order if it had meant she would have raised her twins, sharing those first steps they ever took. Cheering them on when they finally spoke their first words, taking time to teach them to read.

But Carina knew Leia was elsewhere, calling another person mother while Luke spent his time with his extended family. The greatest pain of all for the brunette was thinking about if her children assumed she had abandoned them, left to be cared by the hands of others.

That assumption caused a heartache all too familiar. Having to carry the burden of knowing your own mother abandoned you, left you to raise yourself. It had always been the one thing she swore her twins would never experience those few months she was pregnant, but she hadn't been able to keep that promise.

Her children had to live years of their life wondering why their parents weren't around, thinking if it was that they'd been left.

Carina blinked a few times, pulling herself out of her venomous thoughts as she reminded herself of the current situation she was in. The mother inhaled sharply while rubbing her tired eyes.

Carina immediately straightened up, her stone expression going back onto her features. A moment passed before the door to her room-like cell inched open. Algora narrowed her eyes slightly as a trooper treaded inside, holding a tray of was she imagined was for food.

Carina watched the soldier place it down on the table before quickly making their way out once more. The brunette heard the door lock and she stood from the bed she was sat on, her eyes carefully examining the food she'd been left.

Carina breathed quietly, tapping her nail on the hard surface before turning away from the tray. She pulled her jacket closer to herself, her brown locks framing her face as she planted her back against the wall. The mother closed her eyes, chewing the inside of her lip before slowly sliding down the wall to dwell on the utter silence that plagued the room.

The only company being her loud thoughts that only served to remind of her painful memories.

The days would grow irritable longer from then on.

―

AUTHORS NOTE,
im going to be writing a lot about how carina felt the last twenty years so enjoy