( 29 BBY )
The demon was waiting outside the window, and if Madalee looked at it, it would get her. Red skinned and covered in spikes, the demon sneered at her, unlatching the window slowly. It was coming through the window, creeping up to her bed, but if she screamed it would hurt her again.
She tried not to move or make a sound, but the snot in her nose made her breath whistle and bubblet. The demon was coming through the window, and it was going to see she was awake and it was going to get her. It was standing over her bed now, and she was too scared to turn or look at it, and she knew it would hurt her again. She wanted to call for mommy, but was too scared to move. If mommy came the demon was just going to get her too.
The demon touched her shoulder, and Madalee couldn't stop herself. She screamed and thrashed, working her sheets into a bundle as warm fluid ran down her leg. "Don't touch me! Don't touch me! Mommy! Mommy!"
The demon's hands grabbed her, pulling her close, and Madalee couldn't fight it. It was so strong, pulling her to it, and crushing her to its chest. She screamed, and screamed, until finally she gave up. She trembled in the demon's arms, until slowly she heard her own name.
"Madalee, it's okay. I'm here, it's okay."
She rubbed at her eyes, clearing her gaze just enough to see that it wasn't the demon holding her, but daddy. A sob escaped her, then she clung to him, burying her head in his chest. "It was the demon. He came back."
"...It wasn't the demon, it was just me." Daddy said, but he was wrong. It was the demon, standing over her bed, every night.
"He's coming back. The demon's coming back." She drew in a long shuddering breath. "He always comes back."
He stroked the back of her head, until finally the trembling stopped. "Are you ready to get changed? You're wet."
Madalee swallowed. "Can you stay here?"
Daddy looked down at her again, he looked unhappy. Angry, but Madalee didn't think he was angry at her. "Yes, I can stay here while you get changed."
Madalee changed her pajama's and underwear, then watched as her father lifted the bedsheets up with the Force, and replaced them with fresh ones from the closet. He took the wet clothes and sheets, and passed them to a droid waiting in the hallway.
"Can you stay here?" She asked again.
"You need to go back to bed, Madalee."
"The demon will come back." She sniffled. "I want to stay with you."
"...I can take you to your mother."
Madalee shook her head. "...Mommy can't fight the demon." She didn't know how she knew that, but somehow she just did. "Please, daddy."
He stared at her for a long time, before finally sighing. "Alright. You can stay with me, but tonight only."
Her breath caught with excitement, and he scooped her up to rest her against his hip. He carried her down the hall, past a pair of armoured House Guard. They both stopped to salute her father, and Madalee copied the gesture back to them with one hand, as she rubbed her eyes with the other.
Out one of the windows they passed, Madalee saw the increased numbers patrol the grounds beyond the window, illuminating the hall in the glow of speeder headlights. She swallowed, pulling closer to her father as she imaged the demon crawling over the side of the palace again.
Her father's room was simple, with a large single bed, and no decorations. His sheets were made of the same shiny, smooth cloth as his pajamas, and he lay her down before laying on his back next to her.
"Comfortable?" He asked.
She nodded.
"Good. Now close your eyes." He instructed her, and when she did she felt him lay back down as well.
Slowly she began to drift to sleep, and as she did she felt Ideon's mind with hers, just as sleepy. He must have woken up as well, because right now he was going to sleep with Mommy. They both drifted off around the same time. The last thing she felt was her father shifting slightly, the tension leaving his muscles as he finally relaxed as well.
...
If nothing else, Tan'ya was at least glad the trip to the New Temple had left her with a lightsaber she could legally use. The ancient sith's saber was at last locked away in her father's vault, where maybe one day it would find a place as part of a history museum exhibit when suspicion towards her family had died down.
The ship that she and Asajj shared had only just landed last night, well past midnight, so the two of them went to bed straight away. When Tan'ya woke up in the morning, she immediately felt her father in the Force, out in the Palace grounds, working on his forms. Tan'ya poked her head out her window to look, and realised she was mistaken. He wasn't working on them, he was demonstrating them for Madalee. Her sister was standing there in a very small set of training robes, clutching the young Tirra'taka to her chest.
Well, Tan'ya supposed now was as good of a time as any to talk to her father. She ducked into her bathroom to wash her face, and for a moment she was about to jump from her window, but caught herself before doing it. So soon after Maul's failed assassination the House Guard were on high alert. Jumping from the window might save her a few minutes of walking, but it was a foolish way to get shot.
After taking the long way down the central staircase to the ground floor and out to the garden, Tan'ya strolled over to where her Father just finished explaining Form 1. From the expression on Madalee's face, Tan'ya found herself doubting the child had really understood.
"Perhaps Madalee needs another year or two before she starts her Jedi training?" Tan'ya suggested.
"No, I want to!" Madalee interrupted, insistent.
"She's been unsettled lately." Dooku explained. "I thought that at the very least with something to work on, she might regain some confidence."
Somehow, Tan'ya doubted that it would work, but she doubted her father had much experience with toddlers. For that matter, she didn't either, so maybe it would prove to be exactly what Madalee would need?
"Well, don't keep us in suspense." Dooku continued, looking to Tan'ya's new lightsaber.
She took the weapon out, holding it out for her father to see. Unusually for a lightsaber, it had a circular guard, and was coloured black with sacanium durasteel to help represent her connection to her homeworld. It had a curved handle, like her father's saber, and when she ignited the blade, it burned with a bright golden light.
"A fine weapon." Dooku said, gazing upon it.
"Can I hold it?" Madalee asked, eyes wide. The scars on her face were less prominent after being treated with bacta, but only slightly so. Her left cheek and chin were peppered with burns and cuts from the surgery to remove the pellets, and pock-like bullet wounds. Worse still, she was noticeably missing teeth. Even at her young age, Madalee noticed Tan'ya staring at her scars, and turned away sharply. Marmaidu the dragon seemed to immediately realise what was wrong, and wiggled up her neck to lay flat against her cheek, blocking Tan'ya's view.
Swallowing sharply, Tan'ya looked away, and when she glanced she saw that her father's guilty expression matched her own.
"I'm sorry, Madalee." Tan'ya said. "I didn't mean to stare."
Madalee nodded once, but didn't answer, running her hand down Marmaidu's scaled neck repeatedly.
"Uh…" With a few movements, Tan'ya removed the powerpack from her lightsaber, and handed the deactivated blade to her sister. "You wanted to look at this?"
The hands that had been stroking the dragon stopped, and Madalee reached out to hold the lightsaber. For a brief moment she seemed to struggle with the weight, and the dragon had to crawl out of her hand and curl around her neck so she could hold the weapon with both arms. After a few moments of examining it, Madalee practiced swinging it in a clumsy replication of the forms her father had just shown her. After a few swings a smile crept over her face, and even if it was gap toothed, Tan'ya was happy to see it.
"Very good." Dooku said after a moment, watching his daughter play with the weapon. He turned to look at Tan'ya. "She's been having severe nightmares for some time."
"Can't you calm her mind with the Force?"
...
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