Clone Wars Campaign Recap Extra: Birthday & Stefan's Turn

These two short stories (written by Arresta's player) are set during the last recap, as several months pass for everyone before they're reunited on Etti IV. It gives some really interesting insight into Arresta and Stefan's relationship, which is sometimes very sturm und drang when presented "on screen" but can also be quite touching.


BIRTHDAY

The nurse spoke encouragingly. “Here comes another one – just keep breathing!”

Arresta forced herself to smile through the pain and resist the urge to make a sarcastic retort to the irritating and obvious platitude.

Following her collapse after their arrival on Rhinnal, she had awoken in the hospital and a doctor had informed her that her ‘elevated stress level’ had brought on premature labour. She had almost laughed when the kindly physician asked her if she had been through anything particularly upsetting lately….

She had never felt so alone. Surrounded by doctors, nurses and medical technicians, Arresta was the centre of a virtual maelstrom of activity. Outside the door, she knew that Stefan and his coterie of guards were waiting; making certain that all was well. Yet, as the person at the epicenter of all of this attention, she felt as though her heart was breaking and that there was no one, anywhere, who could understand how she felt…

It had been a stupid, childish fantasy. The idea that Tarn would miraculously find his way to her was ludicrous. He was still incapacitated and had gone on his way to Coruscant with Doxen and Atel. Besides, until Arresta herself had arrived here, she hadn’t known that this was where Stefan was taking her. These facts alone would have made it preposterous, but even if he had made it here, he would never have gotten past Stefan and his guards. She should have known better.

Still, she wanted to believe that hat moment in the airlock, when he had reached out and taken hold of her arm was a sign that Tarn was coming back. That her love and need for him would be enough to draw him back from whatever abyss he was in. Foolish sentiment – but enough to provide some small measure of comfort during the waning days of her pregnancy.

The weeks following the departure of her friends had been a disaster. Stefan was furious – cold and distant – frightening even his long-time retainers. She hadn’t known how to fix that and she had been far too wrapped up in her own thoughts to realize how bleak things had become with her husband.

To be fair, Stefan had made an effort to be solicitous following her collapse. He had spoken some encouraging words, kissed her on the forehead and departed, leaving her in the ‘capable hands of her physicians’. For her part, she knew that she deserved the anger that he had unleashed on her since they were reunited on Endregaad. She was a failure…as a wife, as a mother and, if Tarn had awoken, likely he would have thought so, too.

As her body was wracked by another labour pain, she wallowed in the thought that likely, if their rescue attempt had been more successful and Tarn had been conscious, he would have turned away from her again, discarding any attachment to her or their child in favour of the great and powerful Jedi Order….

But then, his touch in the airlock had to have meant something. Hadn’t Atel, another Jedi, been unable to wake him? Why would he reach out to Arresta if there wasn’t something real between them?

“Doctor….she’s not handling the labour well…” She heard the whispered commentary from the Nurse and felt another wave of shame. Wonderful. Something else she was rubbish at.

Princess, you know we have a special connection…

Some spark of a memory drew her mind back to the night her child had been conceived. Things hadn’t gone according to plan – her attempts at flirtation having gotten completely out of hand – but did that make the night any less real? In her heart, she knew that yes, things with Tarn would undoubtedly have been a mess, but she could never really doubt that he would have cared for their baby. He would want her to fight…

Another wave of pain, more intense than the others washed over her and battered the spark of her resolve….I don’t want to be here…not like this….She concentrated on her breathing and held on through the contraction….from inside, a voice that almost sounded like the old, confident Arresta, sounded in her ear…Alright then, how do you want it to be?

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Part of her listened to the prattling instructions of the medical personnel to push, push while the rest of her imagined she could feel a hand gripping hers, another resting against her back. She could almost believe she heard whispered words of encouragement.

One last push and she felt a great lessening and a small sense of loss, far out-weighed by the surge of joy she felt seconds later at the sound of her baby crying. By the time they placed her daughter in her arms, she had herself under control. The baby looked up at her and in those eyes – Tarn’s eyes – she realized that whatever she’d lost, whatever might never be found again, here was something she could hold on to. A new reason to fight.

She could hear Stefan just outside the door and she knew that in moments, she would begin the great deception that would define life for the foreseeable future. But for now…

“Did you have a named picked out Mrs. Cassadine?”

Arresta looked at the nurse and took a deep breath. She had, some time ago, made a decision that she knew was going to be costly, as far as repairing her relationship with Stefan was concerned. Still, some things are worth the risk…

She gave the name to the Nurse for the birth certificate and double-checked the spelling. The woman smiled, promised to file the paperwork immediately and turned away, leaving Arresta alone with her little daughter.

“Hello, Allegra…”she whispered, “Mommy loves you. And you should know that wherever he is, wherever he really is, if he knew….your Daddy would love you too…”

STEFAN'S TURN

Jealousy is that pain which a man feels from the apprehension that he is not equally beloved by the person whom he entirely loves . . .

Arresta deliberately turned her back on the intelligence operative and made her way inside without another backwards glance. Returning to the nursery, she checked in on Allegra and, finding her daughter dozing peacefully, she settled into a rocking chair to think. Quite the little dilemma had been dropped into her lap…

She was loyal– always had been, and it was difficult for her to abandon any of the few friends she had in a time of need. A’tel had done a lot for her. Still, from what the intelligence rep had said, this was all part of a Jedi assignment that he had accepted – and by rights, the Council wouldn’t have assigned it to him if they didn’t believe in him.

Still, there was a part of her that longed for the action and excitement of getting out into the world again. Only a month on this peaceful planet and she was feeling a bit cooped up. But, there were compensations….

Glancing over at her sleeping baby, she felt a surge of affection. How could she abandon Allegra and leave her without a mother? What if something happened and her little daughter had to grow up without her?

Sighing, she admitted to herself that truly, there was only one Jedi out there that she would risk dying for, and that wasn’t A’tel. Not to mention, from everything she had learned, her previous disappearance – which had only been meant to be short term – had nearly driven her husband into a complete meltdown. If she vanished again, he might snap entirely.

Despite her love for Tarn, she still cared deeply for Stefan and it troubled her to think that she had caused him so much distress…If she left again that would place herself, Allegra and especially Tarn in danger. No, in order to keep the people she loved safe, sane and alive, Arresta needed to remain at Stefan’s side.

Regretful, but having reached her decision, she had gone immediately to Stefan and, finding him with Corinne, had sent her sister away so that she could speak with her husband alone.

Deliberately and simply, she laid out the facts of what had transpired that afternoon – the arrival of the intelligence agent, his proposal and the location of the shuttle that would be departing in just a few hours.

Stefan looked at her intently over the top of his glass. “Why are you telling me this?”

She returned his gaze, evenly. “A’tel is a friend, and I would like to help him – but my place is here. With you, and with Allegra. I wanted you to know I’m not going.

“I know you’re not.”

Despite her best efforts, the conversation that followed couldn’t exactly be called successful. They had fought, again, about why she had followed Tarn to Endregaad. Stefan had pushed her to promise that she would never see Tarn again. Her reluctance to make such a declaration had been obvious and he’d been furious. Ultimately, he’d backed her into a corner, threatening to kill Tarn if he ever saw him again. She’d sworn that would never happen – that neither she nor Stefan would ever see him again.

It was what he’d wanted to hear, but to claim that either of them was happy with the outcome of the conversation would be an overstatement….

Finally leaving him alone, she had spent the remainder of the afternoon fussing over the baby and pondering how best to resolve her next problem – how to make things better with husband.

Certainly, she knew that this was the best way to protect Tarn, but that wasn’t the only reason. As frustrated as their arguments made her, she felt terribly guilty – and she could see the hurt that lay, poorly concealed, behind his cold exterior. For the good of both of the men she loved, she needed to start making a life as Stefan’s wife…any other dreams were just foolish wishes that had to be put aside, even if it killed her to do so.

She waited until well after dinner, when Corinne had retired for the evening and Stefan had, as was becoming his custom, withdrawn to his private study. She seldom interrupted him during this time, so he looked up in some surprise as she entered the room. Her long, blonde hair was down and she was wearing a silvery grey dressing gown with matching robe. He paused, while sipping a rather superior scotch, to admire her.

“Did you need something, Pet?” His voice was pleasant enough, but if you knew him well, and Arresta did, you could sense the bitter undertones that gave away his true mood.

“I have some baby pictures that I was hoping you could send to that shuttle for me. I’d like my friends to know that I’m alright.” She placed the holo disk on the table.

She waited, but all he did was nod. “I suppose I can do that. And, thank you for the information on your visitor, dearest. I’ll look into upgrading our security.”

His eyes were still cold and he turned, intending to return his attention to the book he had been reading. It was clearly a dismissal.

She sighed. “Stefan – this has to stop.”

He looked up at her sharply but she hurried on. “I hurt you. I’m sorry for that – and I’ll tell you again – I had no idea that I would disappear for as long as I did. But it’s been two months – and I’m beginning to wonder if you’re ever going to forgive me.”

He spoke slowly, almost as though the words were being pulled forth, reluctantly. “You’ve said that before, but then we have an argument like we did this afternoon and it makes it difficult for me to believe you. How do I know you won’t disappear again, tomorrow?”

Her heart caught and she reached out, impulsively, and grabbed his hand. “I won’t. I promise.”

He idly stroked that back of her hand with his thumb and then he said something she hadn’t expected. “You loved him, didn’t you?” She looked at him quizzically so he continued on. “The boy…all this time, I wanted to believe he was just a mistake – a fling to distract you because I wasn’t there – but it was more than that, wasn’t it?”

She hesitated, hating to upset him again, but not willing to lie. “Yes.”

He didn’t release her hand and the moment stretched, achingly, between them. “And what about me, Pet – how do you feel about me?”

Tears sprang to her eyes and, not knowing what else to do, she knelt down beside the arm chair and kissed him. She rested her forehead against his. “I love you, too.”

He kissed her back, fiercely. Tugging on her wrists, he pulled her upwards, into his lap, the better to have her in his arms. They sat quietly together for long moments. Then, he gently drew his hand down the side of her face. Her breath caught and he looked at her, intently, seeking confirmation of signs he thought he recognized…

Running a thumb down her chin and collarbone to push her hair back, he tilted her head, providing better access to her neck, to more easily trail his lips down the path his fingers had cleared. Feeling her pulse start to race, he kissed her again, the kind of kiss he used to give her when they first met, making the world fade to a blur and the universe shrink to just the two of them…

When he suddenly pulled away, she made a small noise of involuntary protest. He grasped her chin with his thumb and forefinger and looked into her eyes. When he spoke, his voice was ragged. “Show me then, Arresta. Show me that you love me.”

At that moment, in her husband’s arms, finally sensing warmth again after weeks of slow-burning anger, Arresta didn’t hesitate. Her love for the absent Tarn didn’t burn any less brightly, but right here, in this moment, Stefan was all that mattered. Trying to heal the wounds that she had caused, was the least that she could do…and, after all, he was her husband…

Memories stirred, of illicit midnight trysts during her education, of the rare trips away when they had indulged themselves wantonly – times when she had believed that there could never be another man to make her feel the way that Stefan did.

She looked into his eyes and for right now, at least, he could imagine that there was no one else.

Eyes open, gaze locked on his, she kissed him gently, and then whispered. “Come to bed….and you won’t have to doubt it.” She stood up, holding his hand.
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Much later, she slipped into a robe, before kissing him softly and heading off to check on Allegra. Sitting up in bed, Stefan leaned back against the pillows, hands clasped behind his head, waiting for her to return.

She had surprised him tonight….but finally, for the first time since she’d disappeared on that accursed planet, he’d felt as though he had his wife back. He was no fool. He knew she wasn’t finished with the boy – he’d seen it in her eyes when she’d admitted her love for the Jedi – but tonight was proof that somewhere, deep inside, she knew who she belonged to.

For a time, following Tamarand’s little performance when leaving The Knife’s Edge, he’d almost wondered if he’d made a mistake – whether holding on to Arresta so tightly was an exercise in futility. Not anymore. Whatever it took - no matter the cost – he intended to be the only man in his wife’s heart.

Arresta returned and slipped into bed beside him. She was cautious, as though afraid that his anger would flare up and he would retreat from her. As she related some small tidbit about the baby’s latest adorable gesture, he put his arm around her and she smiled.

He was content for the moment. After all, destroying her remaining feelings for Tarn Tamarand and reducing his memory to ashes, was just another form of assassination – and in that art, he was unmatched.

With that happy thought in mind, he lifted Arresta’s hand to his lips and began to slowly kiss his way down her arm. She sighed. Deep inside him, a surge of rage flared. A man shouldn’t have to seduce his own wife. But, he had obligations and plans, and he needed Arresta by his side to achieve them. He hadn’t forgiven her for her betrayal in chasing after the boy, but her punishment for that – watching the boy die – would have to wait. And, if she behaved herself, came to her senses and lived up to his expectations for her, perhaps it wouldn’t be much of a punishment at all….

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