sheepish look* Sorry! Please, read this one!

Well, here it is, my very first fic posted to this list. I owe heaps of thanks to Lori for the beta and suggestions she's offered. This is a humor piece, and I'll give you a spew warning right now. What ever you're drinking - put it down! If you laugh *half* as hard as Lori told me she did, you'll have quite a mess on your hands, and I don't really want to be responsible for it! :-)

And without further ado, I present "Bookmarks"!

*crosses her fingers and hopes the html turns out okay* If it doesn't, I'll resend it from the groups site.

Crysta

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Bookmarks
Author: Crysta Novelli spacecase_7@yahoo.com
Characters: Luke and Mara
Category: Humor
Rated: R
Archive: Sure! Just ask me first though, so I can experience the short high of knowing someone actually wants it. :)
Feedback: Oh, yes, please... Feedback's a wonderful thing!
Disclaimers: Luke belongs to Mara and Mara to Luke. I don't own any of them, and I'm not making any money. Believe it or not, I do this for fun!
Thanks, cute Jedi, and handsome smugglers to my wonderful betas, JediGirl and Gillian!

Summary: Luke discovers something interesting on his computer.


Luke Skywalker sat at the computer console in his office, busily entering finance information for the Academy into a database. He hated keeping track of funds, and usually let Mara do it, since she was better with numbers than he was, but today she was out working with a group of students who'd requested special weapons training. He didn't mind too much though, since several of the students he normally worked with had taken off on an overnight camping trip, and Kyp and Kam could handle the rest of the lessons. Besides, it wasn't fair to Mara to always have to handle the finances... It was his academy, after all.

Reaching out with the Force, he felt along his bond with Mara and found her patiently explaining how to handle one of the more dangerous weapons she'd picked out.

After a moment, she noticed his probe. //Aren't you supposed to be working?// she asked curiously, a raised eyebrow the only indication that her concentration had split.

//I'm bored,// Luke answered, his fingers still entering numbers into the computer.

//Awe, I'm sorry, Skywalker...// Mara replied with false pity. A student asked a question then, and she concentrated on answering it, then continued, //Now you know how I feel when you make me do your dirty work!//

//But I always make up for it later on,// Luke returned, smiling at the screen in front of him.

//Mmm,// Mara responded, her thoughts flashing to how he'd made it up to her the last time, //that you do, Luke, that you do.//

Luke smiled again, then suddenly closed his eyes and inhaled sharply as Mara sent him a powerful image of her straddling his lap on the chair he was currently sitting on. She wore nothing but her belt, lightsabre, and blaster.

//Get your work done like a good little Jedi...// she sent with the image, //and then we'll play.//

Luke inhaled deeply before responding, trying to calm his racing heart. //You expect me to be able to finish work with an image like that?// he asked, incredulous.

Mara smiled. //Yes. Now leave me alone, Skywalker. I'm trying to teach!// she sent back, and abruptly severed their connection.

Luke laughed, shook his head to try and clear the image she'd placed there, then sighed and went back to entering numbers. He worked for a while, taking a break to visit the 'fresher and get some hot chocolate, then worked a little while longer. The whole time, his mind kept drifting back to the image she'd sent him, causing him to lose his place in the long lists of numbers. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer, and decided he needed another break.

Saving the work he'd done, Luke exited the finance program and logged onto the holonet. He didn't use it much, but Tionne had informed him of a collection of Jedi lore someone had gathered, and he thought now would be as good a time as any to check it out. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite remember where she'd said it was located. He hadn't gotten very far in his quest to find it, however, when he accidentally discovered a group of links that had been added to a list called "bookmarks".

Curious, Luke paused. The list before him was quite substantial, but he knew he hadn't put any of them there. He was also pretty sure they hadn't been pre-installed in the computer when he got it.

He scanned through the titles of the links - "Antique Weapons Sales", "Corellian Engineering Manufacturers"... Most dealt with ships, weapons, martial arts, and various periods of history. As he neared the bottom of the list, however, his curiosity sparked. "The Art of Sensual Massage", "He May Be The One, But...", "Sexcapades", and finally, a site titled simply "Mara and Luke".

Without hesitation, Luke chose the last link on the list. These were obviously items Mara had bookmarked, since she was the only one allowed to use his personal computer. While he waited for the content to load, he wondered what it could be. Maybe a project Mara was working on? It occurred to him suddenly that it could be a diary of some sort; a collection of information she was putting together for one reason or another. But then he realized that if it had been something she didn't want him to find, she shouldn't have bookmarked it.

Finally it loaded, and Luke found himself looking at a community page titled "Mara and Luke". He sat there in silence, staring at the screen in confusion. What was this?

His gaze followed the words on the screen before him, trying to figure out what he was looking at. Finally, he saw the group description.

"This group is dedicated to the most controversial couple in the Star Wars Universe: Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker. Fanfic and RoundRobins welcome! You must be 17 or older to become a member."

Luke eyes opened wide, and he stared at the words in astonishment. Taking a deep breath, he urged his eyes to continue reading the screen.

There was a holonet message group, dedicated to talking about he and Mara?? And it had HOW many members??? he thought, staring at the number in shock. This was just too wild! No wonder Mara had bookmarked it... But why hadn't she told him?

His finance work completely forgotten, Luke entered the message database for the community group. He scanned through the recent discussion topics, his eyebrows growing higher and higher the more he read. They were discussing everything from their wedding, to the academy, to Rogue Squadron, to.... WHAT??

Luke blinked rapidly and sat up straight in his chair. This couldn't be what he thought it was.... Could it?

He opened the message, afraid of what he would find inside. They couldn't possibly know this, could they? He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep, calming breath, then exhaled slowly. Once his heart had calmed slightly, he opened his eyes and began to read.

He scanned it quickly at first, then slower, as he realized it wasn't what he'd thought it was. It wasn't even close to the truth! Part of him relaxed immediately, while the rest of him was still stunned that people were actually thinking about him in such a way. The surprise grew into disbelief as he continued to read... The further and further he read, the more he couldn't believe his eyes. Who had written this, anyways??

Scrolling back up to the top of the message, he saw that it was sent by someone named Mary Sue Skywalker. Who...?

Returning to the message list, Luke scanned the names of people who had sent messages. As far as he knew, he, and now Mara, were the only Skywalkers in the universe. But there were 3 on this mailing list. Then one name in particular caught his eye.

Mara Jade.

There was no way... As Luke pondered the possibility of his wife posting on this community forum, his eyes caught the name a few messages down. Mara Jade Skywalker. Confused, he continued to scan the names on the messages. Angela Jade. Rogue Sith. JediGirl. Leia-Wan Kenobi. Darth Iceheart. Kimarasky. Mara Solo. There were endless combinations of names that he knew very well, as well as several he'd never heard before. Finally, he had to conclude that these must be nom de plumes, and not the posters' real names. Which was understandable, given what he'd just read by the one named Mary Sue Skywalker! It was a little disturbing to see so many variations of his and Mara's names, however.

His curiosity overwhelming him, Luke began randomly opening messages and skimming their contents. Most were just discussions, or questions and answers, or what they seemed to be referring to as feedback. The last kind always managed to confuse him, as posters would comment about how they liked it when he did this or that, or said one thing or another. As far as he could remember, he'd never said or done most of the things they were talking about. Finally, he opened one that cleared up his confusion. It was something the poster called a "fic", which appeared to be a story about him and Mara.

He scanned the words at the top, which included the author's name, a request for feedback, a rating, a summary of the story, and some sort of disclaimer that said he and Mara belonged to someone. This particular one was written by Rogue 13, and was rated NC-17, whatever that meant.

Intrigued, Luke relaxed into the chair and began to read. After 10 minutes, he was completely absorbed into the story. He was amazed that someone could take his life and play with it like this, but truth be told, he was captivated by the story. It was a little disconcerting how much this stranger seemed to know about them, but this was definitely a wonderful fantasy.

By the time he'd finished reading it, Luke was so aroused he knew he'd never be able to finish his work now. He closed his eyes, imagining himself and Mara up on a cliff high above the tiny town Rogue 13 had written about, doing the things to her that the author had described. Then he imagined the author knowing he'd done those things to Mara, and blushed a deep shade of crimson.

It took a moment for his embarrassment to subside, and then Luke returned to the message archive, scanning for something else that sounded interesting. There was so much, he didn't know where to begin, and knew he would never be able to read all of it.

After a few random searches, he finally found a subject line that leapt out at him.

"Luke and Mara's first time"

Luke opened it without hesitation, wondering if it implied what he thought it did.

It did.

The author was curious as to when the other posters thought it had occurred, where it happened, and how it happened. Luke smiled, remembering exactly when, where, and how. Like he could ever forget that moment...

His work now completely forgotten, Luke opened the first reply. Then he opened the next, and the next, and the next. There were so many of them! Most were just short opinions, but some people had embellished and written short stories. Some of those were downright hilarious, and left him laughing so hard his sides hurt. Some were gruesome; some were extremely romantic; some were quite sensuous. One completely disgusted him. As for when it happened, opinions ranged from when they were lost in the forest on Myrkr, to a secret tryst while he was dating Callista, to the cave on Nirauan, to not until after they were married. Some even went so far as to suggest that they'd slept together as teenagers, long before they'd even met! Luke had to admit that he sort of liked the last kind, though. How wonderful it would have been for them to have been each other's firsts!

The locations were just as diverse as the times, and ranged from outdoors, to in the Jade's Fire, to a hotel room in the middle of nowhere, to his quarters on Yavin IV, even going so far as to suggest Han and Leia's bedroom. The mere idea of taking Mara in his sister's bed turned Luke a soft shade of pink.

Suddenly, Luke sat straight up in his chair, staring at the screen in astonishment.

Someone had nailed it. It wasn't overly descriptive, like some of the others had been, but they named the exact when, where, and how. Slowly, Luke backed up and read it again.

A lucky guess? Possibly... A few of their close friends knew, of course... It wasn't full of details, like some of the posts had been, but it covered everything important and got it right. It had to be a guess though. A very good guess.

Still curious, Luke scrolled through the next few posts. He didn't find any more stories, but did find several comments on the one that had gotten it right. A couple of people loved the idea, 3 wanted more details, 2 agreed that it might have happened that way, and 4 said there was no way it could have happened then, or there, or that way. Luke had to laugh at one response.

"Very interesting, but I have to disagree. I don't believe one bit that Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master and total gentleman, would ever do something like that! I don't care how sexy Mara Jade may be, a Jedi would not behave in such a manner. I suggest you do a little more reading to get a better handle on these wonderful characters, rather than belittle their honor like this.

Sincerely,
Mr. Luke S. Wannabe"

Finally getting his fill of the first time ideas, Luke returned to the message archive once again to begin another random message search. A few minutes later, he discovered a round robin entitled "A Day at the Academy."

Luke had a vague idea what a round robin would probably be, and decided to read it. The posters had numbered their messages, which made finding the beginning and following it along very easy.

After the first 5 entries, he had managed to be amused, shocked, horrified, disgusted, and aroused. To say the authors were creative would be a definite understatement!

The sixth post made him stop dead in his tracks, half-way through one paragraph.

He stopped, went back to the beginning, and started again.

He'd read that correctly. This time he kept going, the intense feeling of deja vu he'd just had getting stronger and stronger, until he was certain that it wasn't deja vu.

Luke remembered some of the younger students playing a practical joke on Kyp several months back, but until he'd finished the entry he wasn't sure it was describing the event he remembered. When the post got to the part where Kyp entered the training room he and Mara had been sparring in, sputtering, drenched, and bright purple, Luke was finally more than convinced that it was an exact recount of Kyp's unfortunate mishap.

But who had posted it?

Luke returned to the top of the entry, read the name, and froze. He sat there, staring at it for a moment, then returned to the message archive. A very brief search returned the responses to the first time opinions, and he found the one that had described it perfectly.

Both had been posted by Mara Jade.

He stared at the monitor in absolute disbelief for several moments.

Suddenly he heard laughter, startling him from his daze.

"Close your mouth, Skywalker," Mara grinned, closing the door to his office behind her before crossing the room towards him.

Luke stared at her, completely speechless, while she took a seat on the edge of the desk.

"Well, they had it so completely wrong," she explained, rolling her eyes dramatically, "I just couldn't resist setting them straight. I mean, you read some of their ideas," she pointed out. "Don't tell me you didn't want to set some of them straight," she argued, her expression still one of amusement.

"But... but..." Luke stammered.

"But what?" Mara asked, raising her eyebrow, daring him to continue.

"But that's our personal life, and they're a bunch of strangers!" Luke managed. "A bunch of weird strangers!"

Mara started laughing, and Luke glared at her.

"I can't believe you would do something like this, Mara," he exclaimed, clearly not as amused as she was.

"Oh, relax!" she replied, still chuckling. "Do you honestly think they believe that someone posting as Mara Jade is really THE Mara Jade? Half the time they can't even tell me apart from Mara Jade Skywalker, Myra Jade, Mara Jane, and the half a dozen other combinations of Mara, Jade, and Skywalker that are out there."

Luke considered that a moment. She did have a point...

"Besides," Mara continued, "I just had to share that little incident with Kyp!"

This time her laughter was contagious, and Luke chuckled, despite himself.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "So, is there anything else I should know about you and this list?"

Grinning, Mara hopped off the desk and sat on his lap, facing him. Leaning in close to kiss him, she replied, "Remember that image I sent you earlier? Check out post number 5251977."

* fin *