The Ship – Chapter 23

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

Coruscant – Solo apartment

“Come to bed, sweetheart.” Han sat up with a sigh, the sheet dropping to lie decorously across his lap.

“I just wanted to see if I could…”

“If you ‘could’ what?”

“Break these encryptions.”

He hadn’t seen this part of his wife for a while but it did still surface - the driven rebel leader, her mind not on herself but on others and the task she’d set out to complete no matter what the cost. He suspected that it would be a part of Leia that would never go away. He brought his hand up to his face and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He didn’t want to see that part of her go away. That was one of the many reasons he’d fallen in love with her - her selfless devotion to the plight of others, the determination to complete her self-appointed task - but it could be really irritating when he wanted his wife in his arms.

“Leia, we’ve tried every encryption known to the whole of the New Republic and quite a few that aren’t. If Ghent can’t do it, what hope do we have?”

“I might be able to think of something.”

“That you haven’t considered already?”

“Smuggler,” she shot at him. “Are you suggesting that I can’t do it? You wouldn’t dare do that, flyboy.”

“One woman committee,” he threw back, a smile teasing his lips. “Leia, be reasonable. You’ve thought of nearly everything Jedi or Force connected. It could be something you will never know about.”

“Nerf,” she added for good measure, her eyes never leaving the stream of data flowing across the viewscreen.

“You wound me,” he said theatrically, his hand covering his heart.

She did look at him then and her lips curved in an answering smile. He’d worn well over the years. He sat in their bed, his chest bare and she suspected the rest of him below the sheet might be the same way, considering the way the sheet dipped tantalisingly… A wave of heat swept through her body. “I’m… re-reading the old files. Just in case I missed something.”

“I’m missing something,” he complained, patting the empty place beside him. “And you couldn’t possibly have missed any data. You’ve read that file at least three times and found nothing.”

“I know.” She pushed the loose mass of her hair over her shoulder.

Han followed the shining length of it as it streamed over her shoulders and hung almost to the floor. He loved to run his fingers through her hair, it was so smooth, the dark, rich colour of fijisi wood. ‘Enough,’ he told himself and got out of the bed. His wife belonged in his arms tonight, he thought again. She was just delaying the inevitable and he was about to make the inevitable happen.

Leia turned and saw her husband stalking towards her without, as she had suspected, a stitch of clothing. Her mouth went dry and the pang of arousal bit into her mind. She turned and re-read the paragraph in front of her for the fourth time. “Han!” This time the information sunk into her brain.

Her husband’s hands moved aside the strap of her sleeping gown and his mouth skimmed across her shoulder in a sensual kiss. “Come to bed,” he whispered huskily. He dipped his head once again and began to tease her, his breath puffing across her skin in hot little gasps.

Leia’s toes curled at his touch. She wanted to give in, but couldn’t let him think he could get things all his own way every single time. Her steely determination and competitive nature made her hold out just a little longer. “Han, I think I’ve found something.”

“So?” He let his tongue taste the soft skin and felt a satisfying shiver run through her small frame. She was weakening; he could feel it. “It will keep until the morning.”

“’The ruler of Naboo is a democratically elected monarch. Before election the possible candidates serve as prince or princess of the major cities. King Veruna’s successor currently serves as the Princess of Theed’,” Leia read desperately, her voice turning breathless as Han continued his wickedly torturing ministrations. “My mother may have been a senator during that time. There could be information somewhere about her. Something… anything. I don’t care however small or unimportant it is. She may have travelled to Coruscant with the ruler. I remember being in the Theed palace throne room and there was a queen, but I don’t remember her name.” She leaned into Han’s caress, her powers of concentration deserting her rapidly. “This… queen wore elaborate face-paint and I think I thought her very grand. Much grander than my father.”

“By all you’ve said Bail Organa of Alderaan was a modest man. A small girl might well have been impressed by such finery. Remember how Jaina would stare at the guests at New Republic official functions?” Han paused in what he was doing. “Then she’d demand to be dressed just like you or Winter.”

Leia gave a wistful smile. Her daughter’s face had held such wonder. “She went about for days pretending to be this person or that.” She wriggled a little. She wanted to win this delicious temptation they were indulging in but she didn’t want him to stop.

“She’s growing up. All the children are. I see the changes every time we return from another trip.” His hands smoothed the soft skin on her shoulders, drawing her back against him.

“I thought I didn’t care about this - I had better things to do… I had to save the galaxy. Now I find that I do care very much. Luke has always wanted to know about his father and his mother and I haven’t.”

“You had a family who loved you and brought you up. The kid had Beru and Owen Lars on Tatooine. He knew they weren’t his real family. He had a real need to find his father and when he did…”

“He cut off his hand.”

“In Luke’s opinion, Vader died redeemed in his arms. I think he wanted his father to be more than the Dark Lord of the Sith. He’d heard of his bravery as a Jedi Knight and then his cruelty as Darth Vader. I’m sure he’s hoping this will complete Vader’s redemption.”

“Finding our mother will give us that link. Vader must have loved her once.”

Han reached out, his patience for this game they were indulging in over, and switched off the computer. “So, tomorrow we look for information on the Princess of Theed.” He then swept his wife into his embrace.

“We do?” Leia murmured as she forgot all about the Princess of Theed, Han’s lips and hands creating magic as he moved them both to the bed.

*******************************************************

Zathoq

The turbo lift stopped before they reached the upper level of the star ship. Mara could still hear Artoo twittering worriedly below. She was more concerned about Luke. He needed medical attention. Sure, he was the Jedi Master, but nonetheless he needed time to heal and the longer he continued without it, the weaker he got. He was just exacerbating any injuries he already had.

“I’m fine, Mara,” he whispered, leaning against one of the side panels which hadn’t bowed inwards. “I just have to know what it looked like. My mother flew in this ship. I had no memories of her until now.” Abruptly realising what he had said, Luke raised his battered head and stared at her in remorse. “I’m being selfish. How could I be so thoughtless?”

“You?” She shook her head.

“I’m droning on at you, full of self-pity for having no memories of my mother. You have none of either of your parents.” He reached for her hand. “I still think that Obi-Wan and Farae…” He let the words drift away as Artoo could be heard dimly whistling away to himself.

There were any amount of things she could have said, but she didn’t. He’d heard them all already. “Just take care of yourself, okay farmboy? Try not to do anything foolish. You’re not in any shape to try out any more heroics.”

The turbo lift shuddered to a halt. Luke had his saber in his hands before Mara even thought about going for hers. “Nothing dangerous, Jade,” he rasped. “We’re only half way up and the doors are jammed. Artoo can’t open them.”

“How do you know?”

“Artoo told me… on the comlink.” He indicated the tiny transmitter affixed to his collar. “Artoo’s a droid, Mara. I can’t communicate with him through the Force, but it would be better if I could.”

“Oh, so that’s what all that whistling was about. Does he know what’s blocking the lift?” she asked.

“He says the outer hull has buckled a little, right where the turbo lift shaft is located.”

“So how are we going to get the doors opened?” She held up the glow-rod to the door, her mouth turned down with disappointment.

“This way,” Luke decided instantly. He brought his saber smartly across the doors in a couple of sharp zigzagging patterns. The door buckled and the floor level could be seen, a couple of feet up. “Not far to go.” He cleared away more of the doors until the hole was big enough for him to push Mara through.

“I know Artoo’s a droid,” she muttered as his hands firmly covered her behind. “I just didn’t think you knew that.”

“I’m a bright guy… did well at school and all that. I even had the grades to get into the Imperial Academy.”

“Hah, funny,” she griped. “Could you please remove your hands?”

“My hands?” he questioned innocently.

“Yeah, farmboy.” She fixed him with a baleful green-eyed glare. “Your hands from my derriere. Something might happen to them otherwise. One of them isn’t the original as it is. I knew about your grades. The Emperor was quite thorough once he learned of your existence. You were a potential threat and he left no grain of sand unsifted on your home planet. My file on you included your grades. It even had the application you sent to the commandant in the Arkanis sector and then later cancelled.” Mara heaved herself through the gap in the door.

“You had all that on me. It didn’t make interesting reading.” Luke reluctantly removed his hands and followed her into the upper level.

Mara watched carefully as Luke eased himself through the large aperture he’d made with his saber, his breathing loud in the silence of the ship. He didn’t look well, but she knew he was trying to hide that piece of information and failing every time. She could almost sense his heartbeat with her own.

“Oh, Mara…”

The despair in Luke’s voice told her the story before she scanned the upper level properly.

“Look at it.”

The total destruction underlined the fact that the ship was definitely going nowhere. Great gashes punctuated the bulkheads, furniture and wires criss-crossed the passageways. Blackened areas where enemy firepower had scored direct hits were visible as Mara held the glow-rod up. The remaining lights on the ship were dying one by one, making little popping sounds. A tiny cabin with a couple of narrow bunks, the mattresses on the floor, the stuffing ripped out and strewn everywhere, drew their gaze. “It’s been a long time.”

Luke reached out and took Mara’s hand, his anxiety almost perceptible on his face. “I feel them pulling me in again. It’s as if they want me to know.”

Mara nodded, biting her lip.

Luke touched her cheek with a shaking finger. “Mara,” he whispered.

“I feel it too,” she said, her throat dry.

“I want to find out. I have to let the Force guide me.”

“Are you sure, Luke?”

“No,” he said softly with a wry smile.

Mara inspected one of the cuts on his face. “You should really…”

“Since when did you become the overprotective one in this relationship?”

“Since you decided to get beaten up so that I could escape. One of these days, Skywalker, they will get you for sure.”

“That may still happen. Whatever the outcome, I want to know.”

‘We have no time, Obi-Wan. No time left.’

‘I know, Farae. It is the will of the Force.’

‘No, it is the curse of the dark side,’ she insisted.

‘M’Lady wanted to come.’ She laid her bright head against the Jedi’s naked chest and his hand reached up to gently stroke her fiery hair.

‘It was too dangerous. He is tracking her.’

‘He’s probably tracking me. He knows I’m alive or at the very least he suspects that I am. He never saw me die. I made that mistake when we fought and he fell into the lava pit. I assumed he was dead… I was wrong. I’m going to disappear very soon and I hope for the boy’s sake that he doesn’t find me.’

‘Because you will return to Tatooine to keep watch over the boy.’

‘He is his father’s son. He has his strength in the force, his abilities…’

‘His weaknesses?’ Farae questioned. ‘How can you saddle such a tiny baby with all these…’

‘Hopes?’ Obi-Wan asked. ‘He is our only hope. He alone has the strength.’

‘What about Leia?’

‘Yoda says that she will take a different path. Her skills are Force based but she has inherited much from her mother.’

‘Don’t you think he said it more like… ‘A different path she will take, this one.’’

‘Lady Farae!’ Obi-Wan protested in mock outrage. ‘Are you making fun of the venerable Yoda?’

Farae smiled wearily. ‘I suppose I am, but I’m sure he would not mind. He knows I respect his judgement utterly. He will help us keep the children safe.’

‘He will.’ He twisted her around until she faced him and he covered her soft mouth with his own in a desperate kiss. ‘Oh, my love…’

They poured their hearts out to one another in the language of lovers, knowing that this would be their last goodbye.

‘Tomorrow we all meet at the third moon in the ring cycle.’

‘Yes, Bail Organa has sent several shuttles all over the galaxy in a bid to fool the Emperor’s spies.’

‘He is the Emperor, how can we fool him?’

‘We must. Leia is safe on Alderaan as the child of Organa and Lady Dormé. M’Lady will serve as her nurse.’

‘That will kill M’Lady. She has to lose her son, but she cannot be a true mother to her daughter either.’ Farae’s voice rang passionately in the small cabin.

‘There is no other way and you know that,’ he protested.

‘I’m sorry, Obi-Wan. It’s not your fault and we have so little time and I rail at you about things we cannot control. This is bigger than all of us. But the sacrifice M’lady has to pay…’

Obi Wan pressed Farae to him, his hands rhythmically stroking her bare shoulders. ‘I will take Luke myself. There are people on Tatooine who will care for him.’

‘You’re not going to care for him yourself?’

‘How can I, Farae? All I have known about bringing up children has been watching Jedi initiates in the temple. I know a childless couple who will care for him better than I ever could. I can better watch over him this way. Two Force sensitives in the same house?’ he asked without expecting an answer, his strange greeny-blue eyes seemed to look tight into her soul. ‘The power would soon draw other like users. It is too risky.’

‘Sabé has him tonight. She is my superior in the service of M’Lady but she was kind enough to give us tonight. I think she wanted to spend a little time with Luke. She says she will not see him again. How can she know this?’

‘She knows I love you…’ Obi-Wan whispered.

‘I thought she might.’ Farae’s eyes shone with the diamond glint of tears. ‘Because it’s true. I do love you.’

‘Did you say anything to her?’

‘I told her and M’Lady too, but it wasn’t a surprise to them. They knew I could no more fail to love you than the plains of Naboo would not grow wildflowers in the summer. She wept for us, Obi-Wan! And I wanted to spare M’Lady any more pain. She told me not to fall in love with a Jedi.’

‘What did you tell her, my love?’

‘I told her it was too late for me.’

The vision shimmered, wavered and then disappeared as Obi-Wan Kenobi pushed Farae of Naboo beneath him and began to kiss her. Luke and Mara stood transfixed by the sight until they realised that in front of them wasn’t the Jedi and the handmaiden but a small wrecked cabin.

“Mara,” Luke whispered. “There’s something glinting in the mattress.” He pointed at something.

Mara grabbed the glow-rod from where she’d affixed it to her belt and held it closer. “I’m just hoping it’s not the beady little eyes of some type of vermin,” she commented.

“Vermin don’t glitter gold.” Luke told her succinctly.

“This place smells fusty,” Mara muttered, gingerly reaching into the centre of the mattress. “It’s probably a spring and I hate to think what might be crawling in here.”

“Doesn’t look like a spring to me.” Luke was patient. “Strange,” he mused aloud. “Mara Jade scared of some little crawly thing. It’s very… female.”

Mara shot him a dark glare. “Watch your mouth, Skywalker. I can still kill you. No one calls me female and gets away with it.”

“But Mara, you’ve taken down many unsavoury types and yet you are shuddering over some harmless insect.”

“You don’t make me shudder, farmboy.”

Luke acknowledged her verbal dart with a small groan.

“I’ve got it… feels like a data pad. No, I don’t think it’s that. Could be an old-fashioned holo-imager frame – they’re a bit like data pads.” Mara pulled the object from its resting place. “How on Coruscant did you spot this?”

Luke lifted a shoulder in reply and then winced as it hurt. Blanking all expression from his face, he tried shaking his head instead. “Force probably,” he offered. “Just a hunch?”

Mara didn’t laugh in his face like she once would have done. She rubbed at the frame, polishing the dullness from the gilt edges. “Actually, Luke, it’s not a frame. It’s a holo-image storing device and it has data.” Her excitement caught at Luke through the Force.

“It contains holos? Let me see?” He stepped closer and suddenly a sound could be heard outside the ship.

“Sithspawn! What was that?” Mara’s eyes widened as she heard the commotion and the vessel was rocked by a shuddering jolt. Luke, already unsteady on his feet, crashed to the ground as his crutch shifted from under him.

“Luke!”

“It’s… ouch. I just landed on a very large, already existing bruise. I need to keep my concentration. I was too caught up in our latest discovery to pay attention outside. ”

“You can’t do everything,” she bit out, annoyance flaring at his continuing need to solve every problem that came their way. She helped him up, noting how he flinched with pain as he moved. “What do you suppose has happened?”

“It’s Parnello,” Luke said. “He’s either discovered that we’re inside or he’s going to get inside and doesn’t realise we’ve beat him to it. There’s nothing in here he can sell. At least I don’t think there is.”

“There might be some inner parts…”

“We need to get to the cockpit.” Luke said. “Something tells me that our time here is short and it’s not just Parnello outside with a vibrocutter or a laserknife. If we’re to see any more of the ship…” Luke sighed, the desolation at this realisation clear. “We’ve got to get moving.”

“I get your meaning. The Force right?” With a regretful look at the device in her hands, she stored it into her pack. “Where’s the cockpit?”

“Artoo says it’s just ahead.”

“I see it.” Mara made her way to the cockpit and gazed with envious eyes at the control panel and the layout, smashed though most of the diagnostic instruments were. Strangely enough, the internal lighting system was at its brightest in the cockpit whereas it had begun to fail everywhere else.

Luke closed his eyes and touched one of the damaged controls. “I can see them,” he whispered. “I can see my mother and my father. Young and vital, but unsure of their love for one another. “She’s all in white and looks like Leia. He’s…”

Mara moved to his side and touched his arm, but Luke ignored her, intent on his vision of his parents. Mara leant into him, her red-gold head falling on to his shoulder. “Tell me. I want to see it too.”

“Connect with me, Mara. We’ve got this bond tying us together so tightly. I don’t know if we will ever break free.” He stared intensely into her eyes. “I don’t want to ever break free from you, Mara Jade. If you leave me again it will cause me to become only half a man. I’ll be the Jedi Master but I’ll have forfeited the chance of being whole.”

“I never left you before…”

“Of course you did. I wasn’t ready for you, you see.”

“Luke, what is all this nonsense?”

“It isn’t nonsense, Mara, and you know it. We were meant to be together and it’s the best thing. I… I…” He gripped her shoulders firmly, swaying back and fore. “You flew all over the galaxy for Karrde. You even went on errands with Lando. Didn’t you know how jealous I was?”

“Luke, we have to get you to a decent medical base - you’re rambling.” Then his last comment hit her. “Jealous,” she murmured, her green eyes bright. “You were jealous of… Lando and me.” She stepped out of his grasp. “You were jealous of… of… Lando?” Mara took a deep breath. “How could you think that I would ever…? Words fail me, Skywalker.”

“I didn’t think you would. I mean… I hoped you had more sense than that. I like Lando but you and he wouldn’t suit. You’d eat him alive because all he would want to do is adore you, whereas you’re perfect for me. I would adore you too… but not all the time and I’d expect you to think for yourself. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. You do see it… don’t you?”

“Luke,” Mara mumbled. “You’re obviously in need of treatment.” His unaccustomed frankness both scared her and thrilled her. She didn’t know how to react.

Luke pulled her closer, his blue eyes continuing to bore into her. “I’m not in need of anything but…”

The ship rocked again. With a muffled expletive, Luke let go of Mara and grabbed the console to steady himself. As he did so - a long high pitched squeal through his comlink from Artoo Detoo alerted him to real trouble.

“Self destruct sequence commencing.” The bland, lightly accented female voice startled Luke and Mara into mobility.

“What!” she muttered incredulously as she began to press buttons and toggle switches on the control deck. “Oh, forget it. We’d better get out of here,” Mara stated, moving towards the turbo lift.

“Artoo,” Luke shouted into his com as he followed Mara. “What‘s happened? What did you do and can you undo it?”

There was a series of frantic hoots and whistles.

Luke turned to Mara, dread written all over his face. “Artoo suspects that he tripped some sort of security device and the self destruct has kicked in. He can’t shut it off. This thing is going to blow up in just over six minutes.”

The Ship – Chapter 24

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

Zathoq

Daylight had unwillingly shed its thin light on the outskirts of Zathoq City. Lek prowled around the motionless speeder in a wide circle like a hungry nek with its next meal being served up in front of it. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t like what?” asked Malyre.

“This waiting around.”

“You didn’t have to interfere.” Malyre cast his eyes towards Forrell, who was still in the speeder and talking enthusiastically into his comlink.

“I didn’t interfere,” he growled. “I… helped.”

“That’s what they’re calling it these days… help. They didn’t ask you to help.” Malyre’s furry features suddenly appeared shrewd. “Ah, I see,” he said.

Lek turned away, hunching his shoulders as he did so and scuffing his battered old leather boots on the dusty ground. “We’ve left them there,” he muttered.

“Pardon?”

Lek raised his voice. “We’ve left Luke and Merah back there. We shouldn’t have done that. They could really be in trouble and…”

“Luke told us to go. He needed a distraction and we were it.”

“He’d been beaten senseless,” Lek protested. “Jedi or no, I don’t know anyone who can think clearly in such a situation.”

“Perhaps he can,” Malyre said quietly.

“He’s a Jedi Knight, not the head of the whole order, for…”

“Keep your voice down, old man,” Forrell told him, and then returned to whispering animated orders back into his comlink.

“All I’m saying,” Lek hissed at Malyre after sending a vicious glare in the direction of the oblivious Forrell, “is that we’ve left Luke and Merah back there, and they could be in trouble.”

The old Selonian scratched behind his ear. “Yeah, I hear what you’re saying and it doesn’t feel right… but…”

“You agree?”

“I said that I did; we shouldn’t have left them. We’re now in the enemy’s territory and our guide has his mind on his own problems.” He stared over at the brooding figure of Barancz, his tired face gloomy beneath his shock of black curls. “It all looks as if it has been a little too much for the young one. He’s several systems away, I think.”

“He must be the same age as Luke and Merah,” Lek murmured.

“Perhaps,” answered Malyre. “But Luke and Merah have a battle weary air about them. As if they’ve been fighting bigger things than the likes of these… low lifes all their lives. Perhaps it’s because they are Jedi.”

“Who knows what they have seen,” Lek mused thoughtfully.

Malyre bared his toothy fangs in a smile and nodded towards Barancz. “The young one is a petty street criminal, but perhaps he has been a sheltered one, yes?”

“You know something, old friend?”

“What?”

“There’s still some brain matter underneath all that fuzz.”

Malyre straightened his shoulders proudly. “I was once the best Selonian smuggler in the business, even if it was a long time ago. I learned a lot flying around the galaxy before I ended up here.”

“It’s all catching up with him. He’s broken from his own people.”

“They weren’t very nice…”

“Doesn’t matter, Malyre,” Lek said. “They were his own people. He’s lived in their society all his life and now he cannot go back to them. They would kill him and he knows it. He’s made the first step to what for him should be a better life.”

“Doesn’t always work that way.”

“Don’t we both know it.”

“What on earth is Forrell telling spaceport security?” Malyre wondered.

They both stared at the voluble little security officer who was continuing to relay orders into his comlink.

Barancz moved from the wall he was leaning against. “I want to go back.”

“Are you sure this isn’t a bad idea?” Malyre asked carefully.

“I let Luke and Mara tell me what to do.”

“So?” Malyre said. “They are the experts.”

“I left them fighting against Parnello, Tobia and the rest. Luke and Mara have no idea what they’re up against.”

Lek gave a short crack of laughter, earning himself a glower from Forrell. “You sure about that? Luke and Merah…”

“I know what they are, but they have never faced Parnello,” Barancz muttered. “…and her real name is Mara.”

“Whatever her ‘real’ name is,” Lek grumbled. “Mara… Merah… does it matter? I suspect Parnello and your other ex-comrades are nothing to what these two have faced…”

“We still left them and there’s no way Luke was thinking clearly. He was unconscious for a time. They beat him so hard…”

“The Jedi can heal themselves quicker than ordinary folks,” Malyre said. “Luke knew what he was doing and Mara too.”

Barancz rubbed his face, streaking the dirt over it in increasingly haphazard patterns. “The old man didn’t want me to stay here. I understand that now, but he charged me to bring information to certain individuals. I would be failing in my duty if I were to let those individuals die at the hands of a bunch of petty criminals. I was one of them but no longer. The old man had faith in me. Do you know what it’s like when you realise that?”

Malyre placed his arm around Barancz’s shoulders. “Been there before, son. Luke is trusting us to do what needs to be done. We’ll do it.”

Lek limped smartly up to the speeder followed by the other two. “Whatever you’re telling your people, Forrell, tell them they have to do it without you.” He winked at Barancz. “And tell them quickly.”

“Excuse me, I’m not finished with my instructions to…”

“Finish them, change them… whatever.”

Forrell’s mouth dropped open until he pulled himself together. “What do you mean, Lek?”

“We’re going back.”

“But we just left and we have half the criminal population of Zathoq City after us,” he objected irately in high dudgeon.

“They’re not after us,” Barancz said soberly.

“I beg to differ,” Malyre chimed in his opinion. “They’re after you, certainly.”

“Good one, Malyre,” Lek said sarcastically although he could have groaned at the Selonian’s tactlessness. Barancz didn’t need that pointed out to him and then underlined in triplicate.

“Sure, they’re after me. I can handle it. I would never have been allowed to leave of my own free will anyway. This way - I go free or I go dead.” Barancz lifted a shoulder. He’d just said what he felt.

“Then it’s decided,” Lek said. “We go back.”

“Who decided it?” Forrell’s tone was plaintive. “I don’t want to go back.” He looked down and inspected his tunic. “This is ruined as it is.”

“Make sure your security guys know they should be on the look out for some undesirables. We’re going back to get Luke and Mara.” Lek stressed Mara’s name. He didn’t care what she was called; he reckoned if she was a Jedi he still owed her one.

************************************

Imperial Palace, Coruscant

Ghent woke up to find he was lying on a long couch covered by a soft blanket. In the first moments after awakening he didn’t recognise his surroundings. He hadn’t a clue where he was until he spotted the large carved desk in the Alderaanian style - the orderly array of pads, flimsi and writing implements. He hadn’t fallen asleep in the Lady Winter’s office – had he? He lurched to his feet, the soft bantha hair blanket falling in a heap on the floor by his feet. His stomach heaved with dismay - he had.

“You’re awake.” The calm cultured voice of the Lady Winter Celchu echoed in his still woolly ears.

“I… uh… yes. I think so.” Ghent shook his head to clear the lingering remnants of sleep from it.

“You should have taken time to rest. You cannot solve everything, you know.”

“I know… but…” Ghent opened and shut his mouth a few more times, nothing coherent coming to save him from his embarrassment. There was something about the graceful woman that intimidated the life out of him.

“It is best to keep your mind fresh to tackle new challenges rather than fail through lack of sleep.”

Ghent looked at the impassive controlled façade of the white haired lady before him. Her exploits as part of the Rebel Alliance during the war were legendary. She was far more than just a beautiful face – she had one of the finest minds in the entire New Republic and again he thought that she made him very nervous. Add that feeling to the one of embarrassment he was currently experiencing. “I’ve never failed to break a code before, Lady Winter. There are ones I thought I’d never crack but I did it in the end. These files… seem incomplete.”

“Incomplete?”

“It’s as if there is only part of the puzzle in place.”

“I see,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Councillor Organa Solo hoped you would also have a look at some old Senate records from before the Imperial order was in existence. She thinks her mother was a senator during that time but the records are badly damaged - probably deliberately by Emperor Palpatine.”

“Why didn’t he get rid of them completely?”

“That’s one of the many things we don’t know.”

“Maybe he didn’t have time, he forgot, or other things were more important and it didn’t matter any more,” Ghent said, considering the possibilities.

Winter rose gracefully to her feet, her tall, slender figure dressed in a grey flowing gown. “I have been privy to many secrets in my career in service to the Royal House of Alderaan, the Rebel Alliance and now as part of the councillor’s staff for the New Republic. I have never seen codes like the ones unearthed and I would remember if I had.” Her grey eyes gleamed warmly.

“You have another set of encrypted documents?” Ghent managed to stutter, pushing a stray lock of hair from out of his eyes.

“I do,” Winter answered, her composure as assured as ever. “These are Senate reports from the Old Republic. I don’t know if anyone has ever looked at these since they were taken.”

“May I see them? They might help me with the first set of encrypts.”

Winter laughed at the naked eagerness in the younger man’s eyes. “Of course you may.”

Ghent stretched his hands out, trembling at the thought of solving the puzzle he assumed he had failed in completing. Perhaps all he really needed was a good night’s sleep and a look at the files with fresh eyes.

Winter continued serenely, her poise undisturbed by Ghent’s eagerness to view the discs. “You may look at them after you’ve had a good meal, a shower and another few hours sleep. I have given instructions to that effect and everyone knows that is what will happen. If you do not do this then you do not get the data discs.”

“But… but… that is unfair,” Ghent protested in outrage, his previous diffidence vanishing at the threat that her ladyship might withhold precious information. “I demand…”

“Ghent,” Winter said gently. “You can demand all you like, it will not bring you any closer to the information you seek. I’d be surprised if you could solve an infant’s game at the moment. Rest a little more and your brain will be far more ready to tackle the problem anew.”

Ghent’s eyes shifted nervously. Lady Winter was indeed correct. “I will do as you suggest,” he said.

“I’m not giving away any state secrets when I tell you that I’m awaiting your findings with as much impatience as anyone else in the palace.”

Ghent cocked his head to one side and stared at the composed woman in front of him. “Pardon me for saying this, Lady Winter, but I find that difficult to believe.”

Winter’s laugh was low, warm and unexpected. “I’m just better at hiding my impatience, Ghent.”

**********************************************

Solo Residence, Coruscant

“Any word from Luke, Leia?” Han ambled into his wife’s study, hands in his pockets and his shoulders slouched.

Leia looked up from the documents she was reading. “Not a thing.” Her expression was worried. “I can’t even say this isn’t like him because it is like him and he’s getting worse at it.”

Han gave a short unamused chuckle. “That he is, sweetheart. He’s getting worse or should that be better at it?”

“You know something, Han? I’m very glad Mara Jade is with him. At one time I would have never said that about her.”

“She’s never really been serious about threatening Luke…”

“You know that’s not the case, Han. If Mara is serious, she’s deadly serious.”

“Deadly being the word – right?”

Leia sighed. “Right.” She fiddled absently with an ornate silver bracelet on her wrist. “I do like her, Han. I don’t understand her but, yes, I do trust her to keep an eye on Luke now.”

“So you wish that she had contacted you instead?”

“I don’t care who contacts me, I just want to be contacted and told that he’s okay. Does that sound ridiculous?” Stifled anticipation and concern warred with each other on her lovely face.

“Well…” he drawled. “I hope this isn’t a Force hunch.”

Leia’s face fell. “It does sound ridiculous.”

“No, sweetheart. If it is a Force hunch it’s not ridiculous. It’s not ridiculous at all.”

“Excuse me, Mistress Leia.”

The clipped metallic voice belonging to Threepio inserted itself into the brief silence that had fallen between husband and wife.

“Yes, Threepio,” Leia said graciously as Han made a face.

“I have received a communication from the Lady Winter. She is most anxious that you contact her. She tried to get in touch with you herself…”

“I switched off the com unit,” Leia muttered a little guiltily. “I just wanted a little peace to finish these reports for the senate high council.”

Han chuckled. “We’ll get on to it. Thanks Threepio.”

“It is my pleasure, General Solo,” he said before stiffly turning and leaving the couple alone once more.

“I wonder what Winter wants?” Han said thoughtfully crossing towards the large, overstuffed sofa Leia had in her study and plopping down on it thankfully. The cushions parted and a faint mist of dust rose into the air.

“Better find out,” Leia said, grimacing. “I wonder if she’s had any luck with the Old Republican Senate reports?”

“Could be.”

Leia switched on her com channel. “Winter…” Her mouth split in a wide smile as she heard the voice of her friend.

“Councillor.” Winter’s voice was formal.

“Winter?” Leia asked.

“Excuse me a moment, Councillor.” Winter’s voice was cool, but Leia had worked with Winter since they had been children and knew that her long time friend and aide was not alone.

“Of course.” Leia replied calmly in response, a smile forming on her face. She heard the muted, distant exchange of voices and then Winter’s low, cultured tones could be heard clearly.

“It’s okay, Leia. That was Senator Yannils Spaaren from the Obermarle system. He’s gone,” she finished with a soft chuckle. “Thank the Force, he’s gone. That man can tie up my time with the most trivial reasons.”

Leia immediately was all business. “Do you want me to speak to him? Perhaps I could….”

“No, no, Leia. I dealt with it. You are still on a few days medical leave…. remember.”

“But I feel fine,” Leia protested. “If there is a problem I need to know about it.”

“I think you should just do as the medical droid requested. There is no problem.”

“I don’t like it,” Leia capitulated unwillingly.

“You had me worried there, Winter,” Han called out cheerfully.

“What about, General?”

“You might have brought her Highnessness back and I can’t cope with that. Once she gets a little too formal I fear for my sanity. She was threatening to appear…”

“Ignore him, Winter. He’s being a nerf.”

“I am not a nerf.”

The indignation in Han’s tone reached Winter at the other end of the com and she laughed gently. “I’m switching to visuals,” she said clearly.

“Good,” answered Leia.

Winter’s groomed persona appeared on the monitor. “Ghent has just been to see me.”

“I heard he spent all night in your office,” Han threw in. “Does your husband know that you’re entertaining while he’s away?”

“My husband is away on manoeuvres that you instigated, General Solo.” Winter stressed his title. “I spend most of my time researching things for you, and Ghent happened to coincide with one of those little projects.”

“Is he okay?” Leia asked. “I’ve been told that he was really floored by his inability to break the encryption.”

“He was devastated. It has never happened to him before.” Winter grinned. “He hasn’t slept or eaten properly in a week. He kept saying ‘I’ll get it. I just need to try a couple more things.’” She smiled. “He was so distressed about it all.”

“Poor guy,” Han said sympathetically.

“I made sure he rested, washed…” She made a face, wrinkling her straight nose. “He really needed to wash.”

Leia screwed up her face. “As bad as the boys when they’ve been away on a men only jaunt?”

“Worse.” Winter confirmed Leia’s suspicions.

With another look at her husband Leia shuddered.

“Hey! I’m not that bad… am I?” Han wondered aloud.

“Well…” his wife drawled, a hint of mischief apparent on her face. “You know the times when I don’t let you in the front door because you smell worse than the Death Star garbage compactor and a wet Wookiee combined?”

“Oh… that bad,” Han said as he slumped deeper into the cushions.

“Please continue, Winter,” Leia said sending a smile towards Han.

“I was finishing off those documents for you this afternoon when my door slid open and Ghent practically fell through it with impatience.”

“He’d broken the encryption,” Leia said, her face lighting up.

“No.” Winter’s demeanour pulled her back down again. “He hadn’t, but he thinks he was right when he said that he didn’t have the entire message.”

“What made him so excited then… how did he know?” Han asked curiously.

“I gave him the data on the old Republican senate reports that you had found.”

“They were encrypted too.” Leia started to nod her head. “Of course they were.”

“It was a similar style of encryption?” Han asked, trying to sit up amongst the soft cushions.

“Practically the same. He’s no nearer to finding the primer code, but he says some of the shapes and patterns are beginning to look almost familiar when placed one on top of the other.”

“But he still doesn’t have the whole set of information so he’s nearer and yet he isn’t.”

“Why can’t we for once open up a data disc and it tells us exactly what we want to know? Why do we have to go through the old routine every single time?” Han complained loudly.

Leia turned and looked at her husband and found that he was now lying full length on the sofa with his hands over his eyes. “It would be far too easy,” she murmured.

Winter let out her rare full bodied laugh. “I have to agree with you on that one, Leia. It would be far too easy.”

Leia chuckled in return. “Yeah, since when did we have it easy?”

*****************************************

Zathoq

The lightly accented voice of the computer echoed in Mara’s head. “Self destruct in six minutes.”

“What!” She swung around and her eyes drilled holes into Luke’s demanding an explanation immediately.

“Artoo thinks he triggered something in the system. The self-destruct is set on a timer. Apparently it was stopped mid count all those years ago… probably a malfunction. The crew fled from this ship believing it was about to explode. This vessel shouldn’t even exist. It was supposed to have blown itself to bits, effectively destroying any last pieces of evidence.”

“But it didn’t…” Mara said, horrified.

“Five minutes to self-destruct.” The impersonal voice interrupted.

She leant across and snarled into Luke’s comlink. “Artoo! Fix it.”

“He can’t – he’s already tried.” Luke was tapping commands into a panel on the wall. “The turbo lift’s stuck.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“That we’re trapped. I suppose that is what I’m saying. The ship didn’t blow up when it was supposed to but it is going to very soon…”

Luke’s voice was still too placid for Mara’s liking. She growled at him. “Luke.”

The Jedi Master snapped to attention, his expression guilty. Mara would not tolerate him rambling on in such a situation and indeed, he should know better. “Yes, that is what I’m saying.” His voice had changed to the clipped, impersonal one she hated, but it was better if he was focused on what he needed to do.

“Self destruct in four minutes.”

Luke spoke into his comlink – the rebel commander of old reasserting himself. “Artoo, can you get yourself out? You can? Then do it.” The little droid answered with a worried stream of electronic gibberish but Luke knew what he was saying.

“It’s okay, Artoo. I have a plan. Mara won’t like it…”

Mara’s head shot up at his words. “What do you mean?”

Luke ignored her. “Yes, she won’t like it but we’ll be fine… Then again, you never know with Jade. She often surprises me. But Artoo - you go… now.”

“Skywalker!”

“Mara, I have a plan. It depends on your knowledge of explosives and ability to work quickly and under pressure but…”

“Now I’m really scared.”

Luke’s face was grim. “You don’t have time for that.”

The Ship – Chapter 25

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

Zathoq

The speeder drew slowly into the gates of the yard, belching smoke and other noxious fumes. The man inside smashed his hand against the dashboard before slowly emerging. The few remaining men and humanoids waiting nervously close by the office building backed away a little.

Somewhere someone’s comlink beeped and there was a mad scramble in pockets and under cloaks to find whose it was. Parnello leant against the vehicle, ignoring the toxic smoke drifting past his face as he brought his comlink close to his ear. Someone could be heard frantically yelling at the other end. Parnello’s face turned red with rage as he listened, his eyes disappearing into slits. The fleshy jowls quivered uncontrollably as he shook where he stood. With another howl of rage he flung the comlink onto the ground, stamping on it hard. It gave way with a clearly audible crack.

There was a stunned silence and then the men grouped together whispering in little huddles, sensing anger rolling off their leader and wary of approaching him. Finally one of them lost the bet. “Boss?” A timid human crept up beside him and stared at the flattened remains of the comlink. “What did you do that for? It won’t work now.”

“I did it because I wanted to,” he declared arrogantly.

The timid man grabbed on to his courage and ventured another comment. “Still no reason to do it…” He gulped visibly at the look on Parnello’s face. “Boss,” he added.

“The Jedi has spies at the spaceport. They’ve rounded up the others. That was Topper.”

“Did he get away?”

Parnello scowled, his lip curling in anger. “No, he ‘didn’t get away’,” he mocked bitterly. “He got the message out to me just before they disarmed him and took away his comlink.” He spat on the ground. “I don’t know how the Jedi managed to get spaceport security involved. They’ve never bothered us before.”

“We’ve never gone into port much. Just to do some business…”

“Yeah, so who knew we were after the Jedi and his woman?”

“Well, Barancz, but apart from him there was just the Jedi and we lost him… I mean, Topper lost him.” The skinny human gulped fearfully but proved to be eager to pin the blame on the unfortunate Topper who was unable to defend himself. “Barancz is helping the Jedi; he has to be.”

Parnello glanced around at what was left of his little band of followers. He realised that there was no cowed Jedi and his woman waiting for him to mete out his own form of retribution. “You lost him? How the devil’s spawn did you manage to do that? If I can’t have him I’m going for the ship. The old man owes me this much.” He grunted. “I stayed here when I could have been gone long ago.”

“But…

“Go and get me some cutting tools, Rule - a vibro-ax or a vibro-blade. Something that will cut through the hull. Don’t argue…”

“But… but…” Rule stuttered. “The curse?”

“Do it,” he ordered. “There’s no such thing as a curse and you know it. Stop all this superstitious nonsense. There’s bound to be something here of value. Why else did the old man protect this vessel? It’s not going to fly or he would have flown it out of Zathoq. The Jedi knew there was something but wouldn’t tell us. I want to find it.”

**************************************************

“Three minutes to self destruct.”

The lightly accented voice was beginning to grate ever so slightly on Mara’s tightly wound nerves. With a vicious Corellian curse she had picked up kicking around the worst parts of the galaxy before she’d met Karrde, she swiftly ignited her saber and began hacking violently at the bulkhead with limited success. “Sithspawn, Luke!” she screamed. “What do we do?”

Luke bit his lip, his blue eyes wild with a storm of swirling thoughts. “I said I had a plan and I do…” His eyes followed Mara’s pathetic attempts to cut through the ship. Her lightsaber stuttered a little and the blue blade flickered. “I don’t think that’s going to work. I guess there’s…”

“Cortosis ore… not as much as in the door seal but, yeah…” She kept scything away hoping that eventually she would cut through the bulkhead.

Luke quickly weighed up his options and he didn’t have much to balance. His plan was risky, but what else was new? They did not have time for careful. He sighed, his decision made. “Enough with the lightsaber. It’s a waste of time and will take too long.” He moved as quickly as he could to the command console. “Your backpack.” His voice was clipped – businesslike. “Do you still have the thermal detonators?”

Without wasting time in agreeing Mara delved into her carryall and rummaged through it, producing two silver cylinders.

“Class A or Imperial standard issue?” he asked breathlessly, tapping instructions into the nearest command console. “Okay, Artoo, free to go. I’ve managed to free the door locks from here. Surely if you got in you should be able to get out? Yes, I hear you. Just put down that third wheel and pretend you’re a pod racer.”

“Artoo?” Mara shook her head.

“He’ll be fine. Now those detonators - are they…?”

“Standard Imp issue,” she snapped back.

“Good.”

“But they’re not as powerful as class A…” Her eyes widened. “I’ve got a very strange feeling about this and I don’t think I’m going to like it. Luke, this isn’t part of your plan…?”

“I don’t want Class A. I need an imp issue detonator,” he returned sharply.

“Okay, okay… that’s what I’ve got,” she bit back.

“Can you rig it to emit a blast slightly less than its usual radius of five metres and a timer of ten seconds…?”

Mara closed her eyes and muttered something to herself. “Of course it’s your plan and yes, I can do what you want.”

“Do it now,” he said crisply.

“Two minutes to self destruct.” The computer again interrupted them.

“That’s all the time we’ve got. So move it.”

Mara’s eyes widened further. “Skywalker, if this doesn’t work…” She reacted quickly at the glare of impatience Luke sent her. “I’m doing it... I’m doing it,” she moaned, her fingers busy. “This is foolhardy, you know?”

“I know.” He gave a slight grin as he took the sphere from her. “Reckless to the last…”

“Yeah,” she returned his grin. “I hope this is not the last.”

“When this explodes I’ll put up a Force barrier to shield us from the effects. This will only last a few seconds. I can’t hold it for any longer… don’t have the strength, I’m afraid. With any luck there’ll be a big hole in the fuselage. As soon as this thing blows you move. Don’t wait. Get out of it any way you can and I’ll follow you. Any questions…? No…? Good.”

“Luke…”

“Self destruct in one minute.” The impersonal voice intoned.

“No time,” Luke shouted, pulling Mara back until they were next to the turbo lift, crouching just out of range of the blast. He flicked the switch on the detonator and tensed, ready to react. “On my mark after three. One… two… three… Now go!” He threw the detonator at the cockpit’s viewport and there was a brief flare of light as the charge went off.

With a last look at the Jedi Master, Mara grabbed her carryall and, slinging it onto her back, charged along the passage and somersaulted through the gaping hole that had suddenly appeared. She could feel the force of the blast buffeting the shields he’d set up to keep her safe. She only hoped he’d the strength left to protect himself.

“Force be with us and I hope Artoo got out,” Luke murmured as he prepared to make his own escape.

“Self destruct in ten seconds… nine… eight…”

Luke got awkwardly to his feet and began to run as the walls ahead of him began to shimmer.

**********************************************

Parnello stared at the once hidden ship. Someone had done quite a good job of removing much of the camouflaging debris. The entrance hatch was clearly visible and the outline of the vessel was almost recognisable.

“They’ve been here. I think they even managed to get inside,” he choked, too consumed with fury to do more than stand wielding his implements. “How did they manage to get inside? We’ve tried for years and no luck.”

“Boss.” An older man wearing faded combat trousers withdrew from where he’d been leaning up against the ship. “I can hear them,” he said excitedly. “They’re still inside.”

“Still inside!” He gave a short burst of incredulous laughter. “Impossible, Steffen.” Parnello ridiculed him brusquely. “The integrity of the hull would have to be pretty weak for you to be able to do that. Preposterous!”

“It’s true, boss. I can hear the power humming and I hear voices.” He waved his hands in a rapid beckoning motion. “See for yourself.”

Parnello placed his hand on the body of the ship. Immediately his countenance darkened and he swung the vibro-ax at the hull with a resounding clatter. He was a strong man and he wielded quite a lot of power. The whole ship shuddered.

“This thing is alive… it’s cursed,” cried one of the other men, backing off.

To their total amazement… the entrance hatch creaked open and with a burst of power a small rotund astromech droid hurtled down the man made ramp of soil and debris and shot off into the yard.

“A droid!” Steffen exclaimed. “It’s a nerf-loving droid.”

“A droid!” Parnello’s mouth dropped open stupidly.

“So the Jedi isn’t here, “Steffen shouted. “He couldn’t have come back. This ship has started on its own. It’s magic.”

“Someone stop it,” ordered Parnello as he stomped back to the ship and swung the vibro-ax against the hull once more.”

His followers glanced uneasily at Artoo who was making his way, with difficulty, as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

“It can’t possibly be cursed,” he shouted. “It’s a damn droid. Maybe it’s on a time switch. Maybe it contains all the secrets we need to know. Someone get that…”

“Boss?” A quiet voice at his elbow nearly startled the big man into dropping the weapon he was wielding. “The door is still partially open.”

Parnello turned and stared at Tobia, who gestured with his one good arm at the gaping door.

There was complete silence… and then they all could hear it. The silent thrumming of long dormant engines coming to life.

Artoo Detoo gave a quiet worried warble and slid as quickly as he could behind the nearest stack of piled engine parts.

“Come on!” someone shouted.

The frozen men came to life and with a loud cry, Parnello raced for the hatch, disappearing inside.

With a sudden flare of light that left the remaining onlookers shielding their eyes, an explosion rocked the vessel. A bright, burst of golden fire billowed outwards and through it came the slim form of a woman dressed in black, her hair matching the fire as it swung about her figure. It seemed as if she was fire itself, brilliant, mercurial and passionate. She came somersaulting through the flames like a supernatural being, her eyes blazing eerily green and surrounded by her swirling red-gold hair, and landed in the middle of the men scattering them like skittles as she immediately ignited her shining sword of blue light.

“Stand back,” Mara Jade snarled, her green eyes feral. “Don’t anyone come any closer or I’ll…” Where was Luke? He should have been mere seconds behind her, seconds that were turning into what felt like hours. Mara swung around, the saber gripped firmly in both her hands. “And no-one touch that… droid. Artoo - where the sith are you?” she called anxiously. A small, frightened warble sounded on her comlink. ‘Hurry up, Luke’, she thought into the Force. ‘Please hurry.’

************************

Luke launched himself into the air through the hole made by the thermal detonator. The walls of the ship began to glow and then buckle as the ship’s systems began to rapidly overload. Ahead of him he could hear Mara’s voice calling his name. ‘I love you,’ he whispered as with a thunderous noise, the vessel’s systems reached critical and finally exploded.

“Luke!” Mara screamed into the air.

‘I love you.’ His voice was all around her, the words whispering through her mind repeating over and over again. ‘I love you… love you… love…’

“Luke!” she keened and dropped to her knees, her saber falling from her hands. “No… it can’t be. It can’t be. Not when I…” Mara began to weep, great racking sobs, but without tears, her dry pain clutching and squeezing at her belly. “No… Luke”

Then, as if in slow motion suddenly gone into hyperdrive, Mara relived the whole experience again. She saw herself come flying from the wreck of the ship and then nothing until the air was rent with the sound of the huge explosion as the ship did what it should have done forty years before. There was almost a small silence until the rushing sound that denoted the proton torpedo-like figure of a man rocketing through the sky and landing in a crumpled heap in front of her with a dull thud. She winced as she was sure she heard something give in the man’s body. The ship continued to burn fiercely - a funeral pyre for all those lives lost saving two special children and Mara could spare no time to regret what it had once been as she crawled desperately towards the man who had become more important to her than both of them had ever suspected or hoped. With trembling fingers she sought for his pulse and gasped her relief by levelling the prone man with one of her deadliest glares. “Skywalker,” she gritted - at least he was alive for her to rage at. “I could really kill you this time. Why didn’t you go first? You’re the one ready for the medicentre, not me.” Her voice gave a slight quiver and she placed her head on his chest just so she could listen to his heart beating and reassure herself that he was going to be all right.

***********************************

“Hurry up, will ya,” Lek urged.

“He’s driving quite fast enough,” Forrell muttered.

“Not if we want to see Luke and Merah alive,” he frowned. “Mara, whatever her name is again.”

“Mara,” Barancz affirmed as he increased his speed.

They heard the first explosion and then saw and heard the effects of the second.

“We’re too late,” grunted Lek worriedly. “What the hell went up just now?”

“Luke’s ship,” Malyre said. “That’s what’s gone up. I just hope they were both on the outside and not on the inside.”

“You and me both, my old friend.”

Barancz pressed his foot down as hard as he could on the throttle and the speeder roared up to where the ship burned brightly. Then abruptly, he jammed his foot firmly on the brake bringing the vehicle to a very sudden stop, almost jerking out the occupants. Instantly he leapt from the speeder followed by Malyre and more slowly by Forrell and Lek. All they could do was stare at the burning wreck in total shock.

The rest of Parnello’s remaining comrades stood aimlessly waiting for something to happen and gawping stupidly at the smouldering ship. They fearfully kept their distance from Luke and Mara and offered no resistance. Their numbers had been hit hard - first by Luke then by the beings apprehended at the spaceport. They believed very strongly that the curse had indeed been real.

Tobia approached the strange, mismatched quartet cautiously and was met by a plethora of pistols. Malyre grinned wickedly, his pipe clamped between his teeth drifting the familiar pungent smoke and a powerful blaster pistol in each hand. He’d discarded his older weapon for something a little more impressive in the firepower stakes. “Go no nearer to my Jedi friends,” he warned, “or I’ll get rid of your other arm… even up the symmetry a bit.” He turned to Barancz. “This was a good idea of yours to stop in past your armoury. I prefer my old weapon, but these are very nice.” He waved them about and chuckled as Tobia shrank back in fear. Something told them that the old Selonian could be very easily roused for all his apparent amiability.

Lek stood with his trusty rifle keeping one concerned eye on Tobia but his other, equally as worried, was fixed on the old Selonian.

“Hey!” Tobia held up his remaining hand in an attempt at a conciliatory fashion, even though it shook nervously. “Parnello’s dead,” he tried to say clearly, but it emerged as a pathetic whisper. “He went inside before it blew. Never thought it could go up like that.”

“He’s…”

“Nothing of him left I would imagine - or not much anyway.”

Barancz stood dazedly, undecided at his next course of action, but Forrell was already on his comlink.

“What are you yattering on about now?” Lek asked irritably.

“I’ve sent for back up and medical assistance.” He nodded at the two silent Jedi. Mara had Luke’s head in her lap and was crooning something softly, rocking back and fore.

Lek looked ashamed. “Of course, Forrell. You’re right.”

Mara’s face was finally streaked with the tears she’d found so difficult to shed earlier. Luke was alive but unresponsive. “Come on, Skywalker,” she said gently. “Time to wake up.” She tapped his cheek tenderly. “I know you’re in there, farmboy.”

Lek limped over. “He doesn’t look too good.”

Mara jumped, her famous warning sense deserting her, so intent on Luke was she and her hand went automatically to the saber at her waist.

“I’m no threat, young one.” Lek’s voice was calm.

“I’m sorry.” She stroked the Jedi Master’s cheek. “You would tell me to watch my split concentration even though I was focusing it all on you. Not brilliant, Jade.”

“You okay, Mara?”

She smiled at the old man. “I’m fine. You know, he’s been worse before this, believe me. I’ve never met anyone else with the same propensity for landing himself in awkward situations.”

“You mean a bacta tank?”

“Yeah, and he hates them too. I’m convinced Coruscant medical centre has one ‘specially for him. The bacta cartels on Thyferra hold daily prayers to encourage his continued impulsive nature.”

Lek was impressed. “Coruscant – you live there?”

“Some of the time. I work for Karrde as you know. He has bases all over the galaxy.”

“That part is true, then?”

“I’ve not deliberately lied to you, Lek. Sometimes it’s better in our business not knowing exactly who people really are.” She held out her hand. “I’m Mara Jade, mechanic, trader and Jedi.”

Lek smiled and took her hand. “What about Luke?”

“He can’t do the introductions himself at the moment, but when he wakes up…” She leant close to the Jedi’s ear. “Come on flyboy, wake up.” She looked up at the old tapcaf owner, a resigned grin on her face. “I’ll introduce you when he does, Lek. If he ever does.” She fixed her attention on Luke once again.

The old man chuckled, but he was concerned at Luke’s condition. “Forrell has sent for a medical team. They’re on their way. You’ve got some burns, cuts and bruises yourself, young one.”

“I’m okay. Like Luke, I’ve been worse.”

‘I’m sure you have,’ he thought privately. He’d never seen her this vulnerable, this dependant on another living soul. Before, he’d thought her beautiful, efficient but hard. Seeing her now…, he could see the soft centre she guarded so fiercely. Lek suspected that Luke was the only man who could make her like this.

**********************

He was in a strange place. The moon he stood on was rocky and bare of much plant life. A few scrubby trees and brown wispy bushes framed a small clearing. Several small craft dotted the hillside behind them and several small groups of people stood waiting in the chill of the evening. He stood dressed in the familiar uniform behind the dark skinned man he now knew was Captain Panaka and facing the hook nosed man he recognised as Ric Olie. Luke put his hand in his pocket and was surprised to feel the cold, yet warm and smooth sensation of the grey stone he’d found among the things the old man had kept. ‘But I left it… how could I have it now?’ he thought.

‘We make the switch and then we run for the ends of the galaxy.’

‘Run we do not,” Master Yoda intoned. ‘Draw attention to ourselves we do if run we must. Want this we do not.’

With a start of surprise Luke saw the woman he’d never seen in reality but had always dreamed about knowing. She seemed frailer, helped by the Lady Sabé and another dark haired woman, their arms supporting her. Her flattened stomach told the story - she had given birth to her children.

Yoda stepped forward leaning heavily on his cane. ‘Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker,’ he announced. ‘Honour us you do with your presence. Warned you of the danger I did.”

‘I know I was advised to stay at home.’ She glanced at the stern dark face of Panaka and the beautiful, impassive faces of Sabé and Dormé. ‘I could not.’ Her voice still had the strong sound she’d used when she’d been queen of the Naboo. ‘Master Yoda, I had to see my children and hold them one last time together. I will not do so again.’

‘Grave danger you have placed us in with this recklessness. Understand I do,’ he said sombrely. ‘Condone it I cannot.’

‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘They may be our hope for the future but never forget they are still but children. They have no knowledge of the burden they carry.’

Yoda bowed his head. ‘It is their destiny.’

From the sleek, compact silver ship another two robed and hooded handmaidens brought out two small bundles wrapped warmly in shawls, for it was cold on the bare, grey moon. Involuntarily Padme’s arms reached out and her beautiful dark eyes began to weep as she gathered her children to her breast. Sensing something amiss, the children themselves began to whimper.

‘Oh my babies, my little loves. What I would give to have you with me always, but that cannot be. Our time has been all too short, but never forget that your mother loved you both.’ She turned seeking someone. ‘Dormé, take Leia and head for Alderaan. Your husband is waiting for you there. I will join you once I have visited Naboo.’ She stared down at the little girl and smiled sadly. ‘She’s sleeping. A moment ago she was crying and now she’s sleeping. I entrust my daughter to you and Bail.’

‘We will not fail you, M’Lady,’ Dormé said, tears rolling down her cheeks. She turned and headed towards a shuttle painted with the red colours of the Senate. It would go straight to Alderaan taking the infant Leia to be brought up as the only child of the Royal House of Organa.

Luke’s eyes were suddenly drawn to a Jedi standing next to a handmaiden in the traditional hooded robes, but he could see a red-gold curl escaping from underneath the hood. The look that passed between them was desperate but accepting.

‘Do it now, Obi-Wan. We agreed.’

‘Wait a moment, my love…’

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight.’ Padme’s voice called him to her. ‘The task you have taken is a difficult one. Will they accept him?’

‘They will. I am to keep watch but not have any regular contact with him until he is ready to train as a Jedi. I will protect him with my life. I promise you that, M’Lady. My oath as a Jedi.’

Yoda’s face was grave but he smiled. ‘Proud of you I am, Obi-Wan. A worthy Jedi Knight are you. Trust in the Force and beware of anger - a lonely life you will have, as will I. If to succeed we are, the only way it is.’

‘I know and accept the deal. It is the only way.’ He walked over to the fragile beauty who sat holding her son. The little boy’s eyes were fixed on his mother with an intensity that was frightening. He’d only seen that particular shade of blue on…

‘He’s got Anakin’s eyes, Obi-Wan. Do you know how that makes me feel?’

‘I couldn’t begin to guess, M’Lady,’ he said awkwardly.

‘I thank the Force every day and sometimes I want to curse it, too. I’m not going to be able to see his blue eyes ever again, never hold him in my arms.’

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if the Senator was talking about Anakin or her child so he merely nodded gravely. He watched helplessly as she bowed her head over the warm body of Luke. When she lifted it, her eyes were wet and she sobbed openly, her dignity and reserve as a former queen gone. She was just a distraught young woman who might never hold her baby in her arms again. To do so would mean certain death for both of them.

‘M’Lady.’ Captain Panaka was at her elbow. ‘It is nearing dawn; we must go. Darth Vader’s spies are always vigilant and we took a great risk coming out this far.’

‘I said quite loudly several times that I was going on a diplomatic mission. It’s something I do.’

‘Perhaps,’ Yoda said. ‘But linger here you must not. Captain Panaka is right. Time to go it is.’

Yoda moved slowly to his own transport, but not before he gave a curious look at the young woman who had been standing with Obi-Wan. She stood alone in the lighted entrance of Obi-Wan’s boxy shuttle; her hood had slipped to her shoulders revealing lustrous red-gold hair. ‘Clouded, your future is too, young one,’ he whispered.

Obi-Wan moved forward and kneeling in front of the former Queen of Naboo held out his arms. Carefully she eased Luke from her embrace into his. Luke immediately began to wriggle and his mouth opened and a piteous cry emerged. Padme was shaking, her fingers clutching on to the baby whose cries were getting louder and more desperate as time slid all too swiftly by.

‘M’Lady,’ Sabé entreated. ‘Let him go.’ She helped slide Luke into the Jedi’s arms and then enclosed her mistress in her own embrace shutting them all out. ‘Go now,’ she said in a low but firm tone. ‘Don’t draw this out any longer.’

Obi-Wan ran for his shuttle, Luke clasped close to his breast and at the entrance he bent and kissed the waiting Farae. ‘I love you,’ he said, his own eyes showing betraying moisture.

‘Are you ready? she asked.

‘I can’t wipe your memory of our time together. I can’t do it. Don’t make me,’ he begged, giving the wailing baby an anxious look.

‘You have to,’ she said, her green eyes resolute. ‘Hush, love,’ she whispered and dropped a kiss on the baby’s head. Luke’s cries dwindled to pitiful little hiccoughing sobs.

Yoda moved up behind them and overheard their conversation. ‘Do it, I will. It’s not a good thing to do with the Force - touches near the dark side it does. But handmaiden Farae is right. She cannot know about any of this and already too much she knows. All the handmaidens have agreed to have their memories removed about Amidala’s children. Go you must, Obi-Wan. The dark side is nearing us and safe it is not to remain.’ He gently touched the baby. ‘I will see you again one day, youngling. Now go, Obi-Wan.’

With a last tortured look at Farae, Obi-Wan moved half way up the gangway, then he hesitated, stopped and ran back. He wrapped one arm firmly around the now quiet baby and fumbled for a small pouch on a leather string tied round his own neck. ‘Here,’ he whispered, pressing it into her hand. ‘I want you to have this.’ Then he turned and without looking back moved resolutely into the shuttle and the hatch finally slid shut. The diminutive Jedi Master watched as the shuttle took off and vanished into the night sky, as did most of the others before they moved to their own transports.

‘It is agreed. I will pilot you to the planet of your choice, Master Yoda,’ Farae said deferentially, her eyes red with weeping. She still clutched in her hand the small leather pouch.

‘Respect you, I do, Lady Farae.’

‘I will do what is right,’ she said and carefully emptied the bag’s contents into her hand. With a confused glance at Yoda she showed him what Obi-Wan had given her.

‘His most precious possessions, young one,’ Yoda’s face shone with understanding. ‘A Force resonating stone given to him by his master, Qui-Gon Jinn.’ His gnarled hand lifted the small grey stone from Farae’s hand and smoothed it between his fingers. Then he touched the other objects. ‘Obi-Wan’s padawan braid this is. Cut off when the knighthood is achieved. Usually the Master keeps this. Before he could remove this, Obi-Wan’s master died in tragic circumstances. The boy felt this deeply.’

‘And the other?’ Farae held up the lighter braid.

‘Belonged to his padawan.’

‘Anakin Skywalker?’ She trembled a little at the knowledge.

‘Yes, Anakin Skywalker.’ Yoda’s face was impassive as he returned the cherished objects to her palm.

Farae stared out at the lightening horizon as she returned the things to the leather pouch. ‘We must go now.’

‘Good. Get my things and meet you in the shuttle I will.’

Farae nodded respectfully and left to prepare for takeoff.

Yoda moved towards Sabé who stood waiting beside the silver ship. ‘What have you decided?’

‘We are going to wait in this system for several days to draw the Imperials towards Zathoq. We have been here on several occasions already. M’Lady was representing the planet as it is one of the worlds linked with Naboo.’

‘Know that I do,’ Yoda said reflectively. ‘Much danger in this choice.’

‘Yes, but there is no choice. We have to draw the attention of the Lord Vader and the Emperor away from M’Lady. How can she have anything of importance to hide here when she is at home on Naboo? We had to have a reason for the ship to be in the system with or without M’Lady.’

‘It is the only choice. Diversionary tactic it is.’

Sabé hesitated a little, rocking lightly on the balls of her feet as if she might spring away.

‘What is it, Lady Sabé?’ Yoda’s face creased in an encouraging smile.

‘You’ll look after Farae? She loved Obi-Wan very much.’

‘Ah,’ he said, the breath escaping on a sigh. ‘Young Lady Farae. Guide her until we part I will.’ Yoda nodded his head slowly. ‘Our journey together is but a short one. She will be returned to you before nightfall. After that uncertain will be her future. Something unexpected is happening and dwell on what it could be I dare not. A vergence in the Force I sense – a shifting – a buckle in the fabric. Much your young friend could have to do with the fate of the Jedi.’

‘She already has,’ Sabé said softly.

‘As have you all,’ the wise old Jedi Master said sadly. ‘As have you all and it will be a long time in ending. Hope for the future these children are.’

Farae approached deferentially, her head lowered. ‘Master Yoda, we are ready to go.’ Looking at Sabé she said earnestly, ‘I will transport the Master to his desired location and then I will return to help clear up all lasting traces.’

‘No, Farae. You don’t have to do that. There is little evidence here. We picked this moon because it has no inhabitants and little in the way of life. There is nothing much to disturb. Return to Zathoq spaceport and we can transport back to Naboo with Lieutenant Olie.’

‘As you wish.’

‘Master Yoda, our memories?’ asked Sabé.

‘I can control those from afar. It will be done. And never Lady Sabé think that because there is no evidence there is no life.’

‘I understand, Master Yoda.’ Sabé touched her forehead. “Our memories… thank you. May the Force be with you.’

‘May it be with us all.’

*********************************

The rest of Luke’s vision was jumbled and confused. There was a pervasive sense of fear running through everything he saw even though none of it made sense. He heard again his father’s amplified breathing, the peculiar, musical sound of stormtrooper armour as they ran. He saw Yoda’s fingers resting on the temple of the handmaiden with Mara Jade’s face and her look of sorrow when he’d finished. Her bewildered return to the planet from a destination she could no longer remember. Luke knew where it was – Dagobah. Then the fact that they were discovered or betrayed. They had set the ship on self-destruct and ran for their lives, except it hadn’t exploded. The countdown had been prevented from going any further. It could have been a number of the things from a simple malfunction to the Force. All the way through this Luke could hear Mara’s voice talking to him, telling him to wake up – getting more irritable by the syllable. He didn’t need to. He was fine.

“Luke, spawn of Vader, would you open those damn blue eyes of yours?”

He tried to open his eyes; reality was seeping through into his consciousness. One thing was undeniable - he really hurt. He tried to say something but all that emerged was a faint groan.

“He’s coming round,” a voice said excitedly.

“About time too!” Mara’s voice was caustic.

Luke’s fist had been clenched tightly even in his unconsciousness, but as he returned to the world about him from a time in his past, his hand relaxed open revealing the small Force resonating stone.

The Ship – Chapter 26

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

“Luke, spawn of Vader, would you open those damn blue eyes of yours!”

He heard the voice – it was Mara’s and she didn’t sound too happy.

“He’s coming ‘round.”

That voice was excited and Luke struggled to identify it. He wanted to sink back into his dream and not face reality; in his own reality he really hurt. Then he remembered Wedge saying once that hurting was just another way of letting you know that you were still alive. He tried to chuckle but found that his lips would not co-operate. It did sound like something the Corellian would say. He hadn’t seen Wedge in a long, long time.

“About time, too.”

Mara, again – he would recognise her voice anywhere, even if she did sound annoyed with him. What had he done to upset her this time? He had no idea. Luke blinked in an attempt to clear what felt like half of Tatooine from his eyes. “Mara?” His vocal cords felt dry and unused, as his voice emerged reluctantly. Other sensations returned quickly – too quickly. He felt the ground beneath him, stones digging into his aching body. The sharp, acrid smell of smoke insinuated itself into his nostrils and made his eyes sting painfully. Yeah, he was definitely in the land of the living and, by the Force, he hurt… Everywhere.

He felt something soft graze his cheek in a gentle caress, making his flesh tingle and then a damp cloth covered the same territory. Luke knew he preferred the first option as it had been Mara’s hand. Mara touching him in any way was something he desired.

“Skywalker.”

The voice was now darkly threatening and Luke blinked open his eyes properly. “Mara,” he said again trying to locate her presence. Her voice had come from above him.

“Come on, lad.” It was Lek’s voice gently encouraging him.

“Don’t humour him,” Mara’s voice rebuked sharply. “Skywalker, it’s not bed time and I’m not your personal pillow.” She picked up the Force stone from the ground beside her where it had slipped from Luke’s open hand. With a small start of surprise she felt it pulse in her grasp and quickly she pocketed it.

Luke felt irritation run through him, but whether it was his or hers was difficult to say. He concentrated hard and opened his eyes. The light was bright at first until his eyes became accustomed to it. The first things he saw were the green eyes of Mara Jade, the woman with whom he was in love, with whom he had always been in love. He could not help the feeling and he was not entirely sure what she felt for him. He knew that she felt something for him. Their relationship had never been one of tepid indifference. He always seemed to pick up her emotions, whether happy or sad, blazingly furious or wickedly mischievous. She could be all of these things. Right this minute she was not happy. His head was pillowed on her lap - that could have something to do with it.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised and sat up… or tried to. His mission was to make her happy – that much he knew. His head swam and his face turned green.

“Easy, son.” Lek eased him off Mara’s lap and Luke was violently sick into a convenient hole next to him in the ground. A flask of water was thrust under his nose and the beleaguered Jedi drank gratefully.

“Easy there,” Malyre murmured. “Don’t gulp down the water; you’ll just make yourself sick again.”

“I’m fine,” he said quietly, trying to dispel the foul taste of his own vomit from his mouth as they helped him prop himself up. Luke tried to quell the continuing nausea induced by the herd of banthas as they jumped up and down on his stomach. “I’m fine… honest.” The banthas were one thing; the rancor rattling and roaring in his head was not so good either, but he didn’t want to worry Mara.

“Yeah, right.”

Mara’s voice was sardonic, but when he turned wary blue eyes in her direction, she avoided his gaze. Her eyes were red and her face white under its accumulated dirt and then Luke understood why she was so upset - she was worried about him.

“We need to get him to a medic,” Lek said. “I don’t like the look of those burns.”

“He’s got a cracked bone in his ankle and a couple of ribs, too,” Mara mumbled. “Plus a concussion. He’ll need to go visit the bacta.”

“No!” Luke protested. “I’m not going in the tank. I’m fine.” He really hated the claustrophobic feeling in those tanks and the sickly taste of the bacta that stayed in his mouth for days. He was getting too old to be dunked in the bacta tank with such frequency.

Mara picked up on his last thought. “Whose fault is it that they’re dunked in bacta so often?” She glared laser bolts at him. “And that’s not what you told me earlier – you said you would probably need to go in some bacta. Don’t argue. You’re going to the nearest decent medicentre and I’ll find their biggest bacta tank. If you don’t go quietly, I’ll put you in personally.”

She would do it, too. “You coming in with me?”

“No,” she snapped. “Thanks to you, I’ve only got surface cuts and bruises.”

Her voice and manner was a little distant but as Luke stretched out with the Force he picked up on her mingled worry and relief. He had been correct. “I’m sorry, Mara, but you needn’t sound so annoyed about it.”

“’Annoyed about it,’” she echoed, stupefied. “I’m not annoyed about that.” Mara could have shaken him, but he listed weakly to one side, with his face the most unbecoming colour Mara had ever seen on him. “What on Coruscant are you sorry for?” she asked.

“I didn’t mean to cause you…” Was he right? He felt so confused. “I… I can’t seem to move,” he whispered. “I don’t think anything’s seriously wrong but my body’s decided to give up for today.”

Mara leant over him and assessed his condition. He looked exhausted, the pain visible in the cloudy blue eyes and the hint of tension straining his well-shaped lips. She sent him a little of her Force strength and saw him relax just a bit. This whole adventure had taken its physical and emotional toll on the Jedi Master.

Forrell bustled up to them. “The medical team is here and we’ve taken the other men in for a little routine questioning - might only take a day or two and then we’ll let them go.” He grinned, his little round face glinting with merriment.

Lek shook his grizzled head. “Only you, Forrell, could get excited by questioning minor criminals. Are you allowed to do that?”

“Sure, what’s the point of achieving my position in Zathoq Security Services if you can’t tighten a few bolts now and then? They may have information security would find helpful.” He waggled his head from side to side. “It gets them out of the way. I don’t think Barancz wants to be around them for a while. However, I do want a word with that young man.” He trotted off in Barancz’s direction.

“You have a couple of nasty burns yourself, Mara.” Malyre pointed to a vicious looking red weal on her arm. “That looks painful.”

“Have I?” she said. “I didn’t notice.” Her whole attention was focused totally on Luke to the exclusion of all others.

“Here are the medics,” Lek said quietly and helped Mara to her feet. The old man wondered what she would say if she could see herself? He hadn’t seen an attachment so strong between two people in a long time.

Luke sat with his head lowered. He looked so forlorn and alone and Mara frowned at the sight. Luke always seemed to shroud himself with this air of loneliness and Mara recognised how much she hated him being alone. She moved closer to the Jedi and placed her hand upon his shoulder. “Luke – time to go. You need to see a doctor.”

“I’m fine,” he repeated again.

Mara sighed. “He needs to go,” she whispered to Lek. “The audio chip has stuck and is repeating itself.”

“Take Luke to the medicentre, please.”

“I’m not going.” Luke’s voice was flat.

Mara’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, yes, you are,” she said firmly, with a ‘do what you’re told’ expression on her lovely face.

For a moment he glared at her, his face truculent, but she held his eyes refusing to give ground. “Okay, I’ll go,” he capitulated easily. Luke lifted his head and gave a cautious nod whereupon the medics helped him onto a stretcher and carried him away.

“Oh, stars, he’s agreeing far too quickly. This means he’s really not well. I hate it when this happens to him,” she whispered to Lek. “Can I go with him?”

The old man nodded. “Come on, you need to get that burn looked at too, Mara. You can get it done at the medicentre.”

Mara smiled at him with relief.

“He doesn’t seem the type to be difficult, does your Luke.”

“You wouldn’t think it, would you,” Mara agreed musingly. “And he’s not my Luke.”

“If you say so.”

***********************************************

The main Zathoq City Medicentre was a surprisingly modern building. It rose out of the jumbled sprawl of run-down spaceport city buildings like a white curved spiral. Mara stared, impressed, despite herself and allowed medics to cart Luke off on his stretcher while her own minor cuts and bruises were attended to.

She sat on a repulsor bed while the medic finished tending to the nasty burn she had on her arm. Her lips tightened as her wound was treated and a dressing applied, but Lek could tell that despite being in some pain she wanted to be with the young Jedi. “I need to see Luke,” she insisted to Lek and Malyre.

“He’ll be well-treated here. Don’t worry,” Malyre chortled.

The medic moved to a computer console and checked. “Jedi Skywalker is being prepped for bacta immersion,” he said. “It will be a while before you can see him.”

“I want to see him now,” Mara’s voice began to rise.

“Medic Gianosi is right, Mara,” Lek intervened before things got ugly. He recognised the determination shining in her eyes and sought to appease her. “Luke will be under sedation for some while. You can do nothing more for him just now.”

“I can be with him. That is enough.”

Lek hid his grin. He didn’t think she would appreciate it just at this moment. He thought she had it bad for the young man but if he suggested such a thing she’d probably cut his throat with her lightsaber. “You should go back to your ship and rest. I will have my chef at the tapcaf prepare you a meal…”

“I would ignore that last part,” muttered Malyre. “You’d be back in here quicker than travelling by hyperspace, but in the critical ward. Don’t eat anything that chef prepares. He’s got to be on someone’s wanted list and that’s not for his cooking.”

Lek sniffed with annoyance. “There’s nothing wrong…!” he began and then calmed himself. “What do you want to do, Mara?”

“I’ll go back and have a shower and change my clothes,” she decided. “Then, I’m coming back and nothing will stop me from seeing Luke… is that clear? I don’t care whether he’s in surgery or in a bacta tank. I will see him.”

“Your little droid is with him,” Malyre said with a toothy grin.

“Artoo?” Mara had forgotten about Luke’s faithful astromech. “I should have known. At least one of us is with him.”

“He seemed most concerned,” the Selonian remarked with surprise. “Very strange for a droid to be so concerned with his master.”

“You don’t know Luke well enough; if you did you would see that it’s commonplace.”

****************************************

Artoo remained within whistling distance of his master as Luke was treated, stripped to his under-shorts, cleaned and prepared for immersion in the bacta tank. He sat waiting, his mind numb and his body aching. He had too many things to think about, but couldn’t do it just yet. He’d tried to put himself into a healing trance - he needed to do that - but his own mind’s disquiet gave him little time for peace.

“Artoo,” he murmured faintly. “Could you see if Mara’s okay?”

The little droid gave several sharp toots and beeps indicating that he was remaining right where he was.

“But I’d like you…”

Artoo interrupted with a defiant cascade of electronic sound. Mara Jade would want him to stay with his master and that was what he was going to do. He moved and extended one of his arms into a computer socket. Mara had been treated and was discharged in the company of Lek and Malyre. His master was to obey the medics and rest.

“You’re supposed to obey my commands,” Luke whined a little.

Artoo Detoo laughed and ignored him.

“Remind me to have your memory wiped when we get home.”

Artoo blew a raspberry.

“Jedi Skywalker?” The medic and his assistants surrounded the increasingly groggy man. “We are ready for you now.”

Luke gave a careful nod. His head was really hurting now, the rancor in his skull increasing in ferocity. His cloudy blue eyes were heavy with pain as he was helped from his remaining clothes and fitted with his breathing mask. When the hypospray hissed against his neck there was no disguising the relief in Luke’s face as he slid into unconsciousness and was placed in the bacta tank.

Artoo rolled forward and took the watchful position beside his master, tootling contentedly to himself. Things were going to be just fine.

**************************

Mara felt better after a leisurely shower and fresh clothing. She munched on a ration bar, staring at the objects Luke had been given by Barancz: the leather pouch with the braided hair, the small grey stone and the carved object. She stretched her hand out and picked up the latter object. Ignoring the feelings she received as she fingered the article gently, she could then see what it was - some sort of pendant. There was a hole foor a cord or chain to go through and it had been very carefully carved by hand. Mara’s experienced trader’s eye recognised the material. It had been cut from one half of a large nut - a japor snippet, that’s what it was. Whoever carved it had some skill. She placed it on the table and as her hand hovered over the item the feelings she’d been keeping at bay threatened to swamp her. Feelings of admiration, love and pain.

‘I made this for you so you’d remember me; I carved it out of a japor snippet. It will bring you good fortune.’

It was the voice of a child.

‘It’s beautiful, but I don’t need this to remember you. Many things will change when we reach the capital, Ani, but my caring for you will remain.’

The other voice was older but not yet fully grown - a young girl’s voice, not yet a woman but with maturity evident in her calm tones. The image of a face flashed in Mara’s mind. A beautiful face, framed with dark hair and with eyes like... like Leia Organa Solo’s, but the smile. Mara allowed herself a rueful grin. The woman’s smile was pure Luke Skywalker. Luke had inherited his mother’s smile and probably her height.

She now knew the source of the pain associated with that object. Anakin Skywalker had carved it for his wife. Mara hadn’t realised they’d met when he was a child, but that’s what her vision indicated. “Luke’s mother must have kept this and then lost it,” she murmured softly to herself. “Or maybe she couldn’t even bear to have it near her.”

Carefully emptying her backpack of its contents, she gazed at the second perfume jar in relief. It was still in one piece after all it had gone through. Perhaps this was a testament to its fine craftsmanship. Like the first one it was beautiful, but the designs etched upon the glass were different from those on its fellow. There’s something symbolic about this, Mara thought. She placed the vial with its twin and watched as the sun lanced weakly through the cockpit hitting both jars and filling the ship with gentle, swirling colours. They’re just like Luke and Leia - the same but very different. Where did Mara Jade fit in with the special twins, she wondered? Was she the child of Obi-Wan Kenobi and a Naboo handmaiden? If she was, the maiden part was rather inappropriate. Mara chuckled lightly. And I thought a Jedi knew no passion. It was all a little too convenient, but the Force did draw people together. Luke and Leia had found each other after all their years apart.

Her mind turned again to the Jedi and she called out to him through the Force. As their minds touched Mara felt all the warmth that Luke possessed burning through their bond. She withdrew quickly after the mental caress; he needed time to heal and distracting him was not the way she wanted to do it. Her mind turned again to the phrase ‘a Jedi knows no passion.’ Mara shook her red-gold head in disgust. Whoever churned out that one had not known Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi or Anakin Skywalker. All three had shown passion for something or someone. A ripple of heat scorched through her body as she recalled Luke showing her exactly why that sentence was a complete waste of time, making a lie out of the words he kept spouting. The passion they’d shared during their sexual converging had been more than she had ever experienced in her limited encounters with members of the opposite sex. He’d been bold, demanding and tender. He’d been all the things she’d ever dreamed about and more, except that the special, perfect lover she’d held in her arms had been a dream – a fantasy lover. The man in whose anonymous arms she’d reached the heights now had a face and a name. If that was to be the only time she and Luke ever made love, she would forevermore see his face in her dreams, feel his hands on her body, hear his voice calling out for her. Little guttural moans which fired her blood to fever pitch and then, as he reached complete fulfilment, let her name ring out as if she were the pinnacle of his wants and desires.

Mara sat down heavily, her face white and set. Force, what was she going to do? She loved Luke Skywalker. She, who had never loved anyone before in her entire life, loved Luke Skywalker. “And I thought that Skywalker messed his life up more than most. I’m as bad as he is. We could be well matched after all.” Her sardonic humour was still intact even if her heart was not and she could appreciate the strange irony.

With a mirthless laugh Mara pulled out the cloth-wrapped object Luke had found inside the ship. Carefully unwrapping the parcel, she held in her hands a simple, leather bound volume. The binding was plain but beautifully done and the leather felt smooth as she traced her fingers over its surface. As she opened the book, Mara glimpsed writing done in an elegant handwritten script such as was rarely used these days - even among the aristocracy. The name at the front of the journal made her feel as if she were prying into something that did not belong to her. The book had once been the property of Padme Skywalker.

Luke’s mother finally had a name.

With a sigh, Mara rewrapped the journal in its soft cloth cover and placed it with the collection of objects they were beginning to amass. Luke had to be the one to read this first. Once he was out of the medicentre they would leave for Coruscant. It was strange to think she had spent all this time with him and had enjoyed most of it. ‘Karrde will want me to start the trading runs again. I do work for him after all’, she thought wearily.

“Karrde,” she muttered. She checked her com to see if she had any messages from her boss and found there were two – none of them from the smuggler. One was from Artoo telling her that Luke was doing what he was told and was in the bacta tank and the other was from his sister.

His sister! Sithspit. What time was it on Coruscant?

Mara decided she didn’t care and returned the call. A few minutes later a very sleepy looking Leia faced the trader.

“Mara! Do you realise what time it is here?”

“No,” Mara said shortly.

“Where’s Luke?” asked Leia. “Can I speak to him?”

Damn, thought Mara sourly. Why does she always get to the awkward questions first? “How will I put this?” she wondered aloud.

“He’s okay, isn’t he?” Leia could see the indecision in Mara’s face.

“Yeah… sort of.”

Leia’s eyes flashed. “What do you mean ‘sort of’?” She suddenly felt wide awake.

Mara took a calming deep breath and decided to just let the whole story pour out. “Better get it over with, Jade,” she mumbled.

“Better get what over with?” Leia immediately began imagining the worst and with Luke she normally had good reason to.

Mara took another deep breath, expelling the words in a rush. “Luke’s in the medicentre, presently in a bacta tank as he has a cracked bone in his ankle, two broken ribs, various abrasions, cuts contusions and burns to various parts of his body…”

“What!” Leia’s mouth dropped open inelegantly.

“You heard me,” Mara grated irritably. “I think that’s all.”

“That’s all,” Leia echoed. “I think that’s quite enough.”

“Oh, no.” Mara bit her lip but knew she had to tell Leia the truth. “He also has a mild concussion. His head is hard otherwise it could have been much worse.”

“I’m afraid to ask how he got that way,” Leia muttered, “but he’s my brother and I’ve known him long enough. Mara how did he…?”

“Would take too long,” Mara returned sharply. “I need to go check on him anyway. Artoo’s standing guard.”

“Oh,” Leia said burning with curiosity. “Are you alright? You look… tired.”

“Been a rough couple of days. I don’t want to tell you over the holonet and without Luke with me. It’s his place to tell you, not mine.” She glanced at a bacta patch on her arm. “I was walking wounded so… they let me go. I didn’t want to leave him, Leia, but the old guys said I needed to change and catch some sleep. I can’t sleep.”

“He is okay?” Leia’s face showed her worry.

Mara nodded. “He’s no worse than he’s ever been before. We found some things which will prove to be of great interest to you, but the locals objected to us having them. They are Luke’s and yours I suppose. It’s the strange result from some rather weird visions.”

“I know all about those.” Leia’s voice was fervent. “I had an experience over Naboo that I don’t want to be subjected to again.”

“What was it?”

“False labour,” Leia replied succinctly.

Mara’s red-gold eyebrows arched towards her hairline. “I could imagine that would be unpleasant. Any more on the research front?”

“Ghent has been working at two sets of encrypted files regarding Naboo and so far has been unable to break them. He thinks he needs a third set to even start cracking the encrypt.”

“We’ve found a few data cards and things. We’ll be leaving here as soon as Luke can be moved. I’ll get one of Karrde’s people to fly Skywalker’s x-wing back to Coruscant for him. We’ll bring what we have with us on the shuttle.”

“Maybe we can patch together our stories.”

“No maybe about it.”

Leia smiled. “I worry about Luke so much, I’m glad you’re with him, Mara.”

“Yes, so am I… I think.”

Mara cut the connection and sat thinking for a moment. Things were coming together. It was clear that they needed all parts of the puzzle to fit it together, but she suspected there were some things she would never be able to find out.

******************************

An hour later she watched from the observation window as Luke thrashed about in the bacta tank.

“We’re very worried about him,” the medic had said. “We cannot give him any more medication; he’s at the limit right now.”

“He’s not in any more danger?” Mara asked.

“No… but he will prolong his recovery rate if he doesn’t calm down and we are worried that he causes himself permanent damage. His injuries will heal in the tank but not if he resists it.”

“He’s unhappy in there, Artoo,” Mara told the little droid by her side. “He told me he didn’t like it but he must be used to it by now! It’s not the first time he’s been immersed in bacta.”

Artoo gave a frustrated warble.

“He’s not healing himself by doing that.”

Artoo swivelled his head and then assessed the woman by his side through his photoreceptor. He gave a quiet toot and then beeped out a swift melodic phrase.

Mara blinked as she read his screen. “Talk to him! But Artoo, they sedated him before they put him in the tank. He’s unconscious.”

Artoo gave a derogative buzz.

“Don’t call me stupid, droid. You’re in danger of being deactivated right this minute. Skywalker has spoiled you…”

Artoo cut in once more.

“Talk to him through the Force?” Mara shook her head sheepishly and laughed softly. “I’m sorry Artoo, I am being dense.”

Artoo chuckled, then offered more advice on Luke Skywalker. After all he knew him better than anyone else.

“Make him good and mad? Artoo…” Mara’s lips curved into a wicked smile. “That’s perhaps not the best idea under the circumstances. However, I think I will try to talk to him. He needs to calm down.”

Luke floundered under waves of bacta and whatever drug with which they had sedated him. He wanted to control his rising panic and reach for his calm centre in the Force but his mind felt clouded, his senses dulled. He tried to call out for Mara but his mouth clogged with bacta and his dread threatened to rise to terrific proportions.

‘Hey, farmboy, you trying to swim out of that tank?’

‘Mara!’

‘Who else would it be?’

‘You’re all right?’

‘Of course, I’m all right. I wasn’t the one letting myself be used as a Jedi punching bag.’

‘I didn’t want to see you hurt.’

Mara could hear him clearly in her mind, his voice earnest as he sought to reassure her. ‘I’m not hurt, Luke. I’m fine and I’m waiting for you.’ She felt his mind still and his sense, so powerful – a bright true clear light – reach for her own. She opened to him keeping her own mind as tranquil as possible.

‘You’re really okay?’

‘I’m really okay.’ She felt him accept it and gradually the naked figure in the bacta tank ceased thrashing about and floated.

‘I love you, Mara,’ his voice sounded very tired and far away.

‘I… lo…’ she tried to say.

‘S’okay,’ he mumbled inside her head.

‘No, it’s not ‘okay’,’ Mara bit back. ‘Let me finish what I’m trying to say.’

‘Sure.’ His sense was finally calming down, he was becoming sluggish and his movements in the tank had stilled.

Mara swallowed, her heart beating so loud she was convinced Artoo and all the medics minding their own business could hear it. ‘I… lo… love you too.’

‘Nice,’ his voice threaded away almost to a whisper. ’Have to be in bacta ‘fore the girl tells me she likes me.’ His sense faded away as he gave in to the welcoming darkness.

‘Rest, farmboy,’ Mara soothed, her nerves inwardly jumping up and down. She’d done it now, hadn’t she?

The Ship – Chapter 27

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

Solo Apartment, Coruscant

“How is he, Mara?” Leia sat in front of her holo monitor for her now daily chat with Mara about Luke’s well-being.

Mara smiled. “He came out of the bacta tank yesterday looking a lot better than when he went in, but the medics were still a little concerned because he was so restless and fought the effects of the bacta for so long.”

“I thought they sedated him before he went in?”

Mara wrinkled her nose and expelled her breath noisily. “I don’t know what got into him. I suspect he has far too much on his mind as usual. They did sedate him and he knew he was going in. It seemed to me as if he’d accepted it but…”

“Once he was in there he fought like a drowning man.” Leia sighed in return. “I’ve seen him do that before. He’s never been easy in bacta since just after Hoth, but I swear he’s getting worse and he keeps needing bacta immersion time after time. What did you do?”

Mara shrugged. “I told Medic Gianosi that Luke needed to be out of that tank, but he said that with all his internal injuries, Luke required the bacta solution.” She gave the other woman a confused look. “I know I shouldn’t be able to speak with him through the Force if he is unconscious but...”

“It’s not usual, no.”

“But his mind was screaming so loudly at mine.” She shrugged again. “I had to do something to calm him down or those injuries would never have stood a chance of healing properly.”

“It’s never easy with my brother – never.”

“Tell me about it.” Her tone was wry.

***************

Mara had stood behind the transparisteel observation window. “Take him out of there and I’ll help him into a healing trance. He’ll self-heal far quicker.”

“We cannot permit…”

“He’s the Jedi Master for sith’s sake.”

“He will settle eventually,” the doctor stated calmly.

So there she had been, sitting by his bedside. How many times had she sat in this position watching him sleep? Too many times was the answer. She tenderly brushed a lock of hair from his forehead, her fingers lingering on his skin. It felt so good to touch him and know that he was going to get well. He had settled in the tank eventually, but not until she’d talked him into relaxing through their link in the Force.

“When will he regain consciousness?” Mara asked, never taking her eyes off Luke’s sleeping form.

The medic consulted the data screen hanging at the end of Luke’s bed. “I fully expect him to regain consciousness within the next twelve hours. I suggest you get some rest yourself, Jedi Jade. You, too, had some injuries.”

Mara nodded absently until the medic’s last comment registered. “It’s just Jade,” she said and continued to gaze at Luke. Her hand again strayed to smooth an unruly tuft of dark blond hair. “Contact me, when he does. I want to be here.”

*******************

“You holding up okay?” Leia voiced the question softly.

“Me?” Mara’s face showed her surprise. Normally people didn’t bother with how Mara was feeling. Luke did of course - he always had. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why she liked him a lot. Her conscience gave her a hefty nudge. ‘You more than like him, Jade.’ it reminded her. ‘You even told him that.’

“Mara!” Leia wondered what the other woman was thinking about. Mara’s eyes had taken on a glazed, far-away air. The Alderaanian struggled to identify the expression for a moment and then it came to her. Luke often drifted into his dreams and his face assumed a similar appearance.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised. “I was a couple of systems away there.”

She gave a small smile that, to the other woman watching across the galaxy, showed a certain vulnerability. Mara Jade had changed in some way. Leia couldn’t put her finger exactly on what was different but there was just something. “I just asked if everything was okay?”

“I know and I’m fine. I just had the odd scrape, nothing serious.” She lifted a shoulder dismissively, turning the focus away from herself. “They kept Luke under sedation after they took him from the tank. I’m awaiting the news that they’re going to wake him up. It should be very soon.”

Leia pursed her lips thoughtfully. She was certain that Mara wasn’t telling her everything and she hadn’t really answered her question. Mara had brushed her off with an evasive comment about a few easily treated abrasions. Even at the opposite end of the galaxy Leia could see that Mara had been through a difficult period mentally as well as physically. Something in Mara’s face told her now was not the time to pursue the matter. “You’ll let me know?”

Of course.” Mara changed the subject. “Any luck with the research?”

“Not really. Ghent has hit a dead end. Winter has checked just about every library on Coruscant for information and has found nothing.”

“You have to hand it to Palpatine. He sure knew how to hide or destroy the evidence.”

“You said you’d found something?” Leia’s eyes burned with curiosity.

“We have a little information. It may help with what you know already but I don’t want to spoil things for Luke. He wants to tell you so badly. If I were on Coruscant you might have wormed it out of me before now, but being on the other side of the galaxy is a bit of a deterrent.”

“Yeah, I would have sent Threepio after you.” Leia’s voice was smug. “Not even you could hold out on ‘goldenrod.’”

Mara shook her head, a smile appearing. “You’re probably right. I find these days that Artoo is fearsome enough, especially when it comes to protecting Luke.”

Leia laughed. “For all my brother’s abilities and experience why do so many people feel he needs looking after?”

“Probably because he just does.” Mara answered with a smile. “I’ve never seen anyone take up semi-permanent residence in a bacta tank before.”

Her com beeped suddenly, echoing across the galaxy, right into Leia’s office. The senator was amazed to see Mara’s normally impassive features twist into something strongly resembling anxiety and hope.

“Excuse me, Leia.” Mara tried to keep her composure.

“Mistress Jade, we are bringing Jedi Skywalker out of sedation within the next hour.” The stiff voice of Medic Gianosi gave her the news she’d been waiting for.

“Thank you. I will be with you as soon as I can.” She swivelled around to face the monitor again. “That was…”

“I heard,” Leia smiled warmly. “Go and see him, Mara, and tell him I love him.”

“I will.”

Leia found herself staring at a blank holoscreen. Mara had cut the link with almost indecent haste. Leia found that… interesting.

“Han,” she called.

“Yes, sweetheart?” He wandered into her office, his hair dishevelled, his clothes dusty from working on some imaginary problem on the Falcon and still the sexiest man she’d ever known.

“I love you.”

Han looked unsurprised but a little disconcerted by the timing of the phrase. “I love you too and you know it.” His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What have the kids done that I won’t like? What’s this about?”

“I can’t say that I love you without you being suspicious?” Leia’s voice assumed a mock offended tone. “It’s got nothing to do with the children.”

“For once.”

“Now, Han. Let me repeat my question. I can’t say I love you without you suspecting my motives?”

“Hell, no, sweetheart.” His expression softened. “You can say it to me any time.”

Leia gave him a loving smile, her dark eyes warm. “That was Mara on the holo.”

Han’s face changed to one of worry. “The kid….”

“Is coming out of sedation,” Leia finished, relief written on her features. “He’s going to be fine.”

“You know I would have taken you to Zathoq if you’d wanted to be with him.”

“I do know, and I want to be with him. I want to be with him very much. I worry that he’s more seriously hurt than Mara told me and that the medics might have missed something they could find here on Coruscant.”

“They have good medics on rim-worlds too, Leia.”

“I wanted there to be a familiar face when he comes out of sedation. I would rather he was home.”

“Mara is a familiar face.”

“She’s not family, Han.”

“No she’s not family, Leia but still, she’s a good friend to Luke and he trusts her. In fact, I don’t know of anyone else apart from us that Luke trusts more.”

“He does, and I’m glad she’s there. We wouldn’t have arrived until tomorrow anyway and I think Mara has things under control.”

“Like what?”

“One of Karrde’s people is flying Luke’s x-wing back to Coruscant.”

Han frowned. “So how’s the kid getting back?”

“Mara will take him in the Dignity.”

“Karrde still has that clunker?”

Leia nodded. “It’s the ship Mara has the use of while the Fire is in spacedock and it’s a ‘what did you call it’?”

“Clunker,” Han explained. “Old, small, slow and cramped.”

“Ah,” Leia said dryly. “Nothing like the Falcon, then?”

“Nope.” Airily Han plonked himself down on the comfortable sofa Leia kept in her office. “I wouldn’t like to see the state of Luke and Mara after a week alone in the Dignity - civil war on a grand scale. Better reserve another bacta tank for one of them.” He gave his wife a keen look. “You and Mara are getting rather cosy,” he observed. “Chatting away like old friends.”

“Mara and I…” Leia laughed. “Hardly - she’s just concerned about Luke, that’s all it is.”

“Mara Jade concerned about Luke Skywalker. I’ve heard it all now.”

“She’s his friend and I don’t think she has many true friends,” Leia remonstrated gently. “I don’t think Luke has many true friends either. This is Mara Jade, remember. Since when did you and I switch places? It is usually you who is telling me not to be so suspicious of Mara’s motives.”

“I think Luke has the hots for her,” Han joked.

Leia blinked in shock at the earthy suggestiveness her husband was showing. “Han Solo!” She drew his name out, making it last for several syllables.

“Well, I think the way he always stares at her - when he thinks she isn’t looking - would suggest to anyone that he has. Your brother,” Han continued, sure he was right, “has a yen for the beautiful trader Jade.”

“Luke and Mara?”

“Possible.” He shrugged his shoulders innocently, a twinkle in his hazel eyes. “They work well together.”

“Perhaps because there is no emotional involvement,” Leia reasoned. “No real, true emotional involvement. They’re not lovers like Luke and Callista were.”

Han let out a great belly laugh. “No emotional involvement? I never thought you of all people could make such a silly statement.”

“Why silly?” Leia bristled. “… and why me?”

Han chose to answer the latter question first. “You’re one of the most astute people I know. It could be your abilities in the Force which enable you to read and understand others so clearly. There is so much going on between them and there always has been from the very first moment they met. Sure, Luke doesn’t reveal very much, but he goes even more sabacc faced than ever when Mara’s around and she gets fierier, seething with… Oh, I don’t know what she seethes with,” he finished in exasperation. “She just does.” He leaned forward, his hands in the air ready to help explain his meaning. “You know the old analogy about the planetary core being hollow and flooded with water?”

“No, but go on.”

“The waters run deep and dangerous with many things lurking below the surface.”

Leia’s mouth dropped open. “I’d never thought of it that way. Mara can drive Luke to a temper tantrum faster than anyone. This is mister calmness and control. She does delight in disrupting his composure – shaking him up.”

“You’re seeing it my way at last. Callie, bless her, never did that to him. He was happy but he wasn’t in love with life the way he used to be. Mara has life battering at those Jedi rules he’s wrapping himself up in. However, all that seething in a very small ship and Luke being the Jedi Master at his most impenetrable… One of them will not survive the trip.” He sat back satisfied with his reasoning.

Leia arched an elegantly shaped eyebrow. “She… seethes?” She threw her hands into the air in an exasperated fashion. “Fine.”

“Yup, that’s about it. Remember that call when he pulled her onto his knee? A few years ago she would have blasted him.”

Leia pursed her lips and considered what her husband had said. “I just thought it was… funning.”

“Mara Jade funning?”

“Well, yes.”

“She has a maliciously wicked sense of humour, but funning… Nah!” Han disregarded Leia’s opinion blithely. “He fancies her. I would bet my old smuggler’s hunch that being together has softened them up a bit.”

“Han, you’re imagining things. Luke’s still unconscious and once he’s awake they’ll return to their usual behaviour. Him on one side of the galaxy and her on the other.”

Han tapped the side of his nose. “We’ll see.” With that, he pulled himself to his feet and began ambling from the room. He paused at the door. “Oh, by the way… Winter called. Said she picked up some information. Nothing much, unfortunately, but something.”

“Winter did?” I’ll call her back.” Leia’s dark eyes followed Han as he sauntered out. Her husband didn’t have the Force but he was surprisingly good at reading people too. She and Han made a good team, just like Luke and Mara did. Perhaps what Han suspected wasn’t so far-fetched after all.

*********************************

Zathoq Spaceport

“Mara!”

The voice caught at her ears as she exited her ship. Mara extended her Jedi senses and recognised Lek and Malyre’s vibrant presences in the Force. They were not Force strong themselves, but the Force, as Luke never tired of telling her, was part of all living things. Lek and Malyre just resonated more than most.

“Gentlebeings,” she greeted them.

“Why so formal?”

“I didn’t mean to be,” Mara said quietly.

“You coming to the tapcaf for a draf?” Lek asked.

Mara’s eyes brightened. “I’m going to the medicentre. Luke is finally waking up. The medics called to say that they were bringing him out of sedation.”

“Good. We were worried about him. Your young man was very badly injured. Such things can often lead to death,” Malyre commented sagely.

Lek rolled his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re not part of the medical profession. What happened to hope and trust in the skills of healing?”

“He could have died. He looked bad enough.”

Mara nipped the bickering in the bud before it got going because she saw Lek poised to answer Malyre’s comment. “He’s been worse, but Medic Gianosi said he was going to be fine. Sore.” Her mouth quirked in amusement. “That will serve him right for becoming the one man Jedi army again.”

“He does this often?” Lek asked.

“You don’t know Luke Skywalker very well. He has the desire to help everyone, protect you when you don’t want or require it and once you’ve been granted his friendship and his trust you have it for life and all that goes with it.”

“Like?” Malyre wondered.

“The annoying ability to make you believe things you never thought you should. To learn to trust, to dream and hope for a better future again and worst of all - to want to go and pull his sorry, idealistic butt out of every problem situation he lands it in.” Mara gave the two oldsters a horrified glance and shut her mouth firmly, a strange haunted shadow appearing in her darkening green eyes. “I’ve said too much.”

“Luke Skywalker,” Lek repeated as the familiarity of the name finally sunk in. “Luke Skywalker… you’re telling me that Luke is Luke Skywalker – the Luke Skywalker? I’ve heard of him.”

“Who hasn’t?” Mara quipped.

“It does sound familiar. He was the Jedi Master on the holonet news vid Forrell found.” Malyre recalled triumphantly.

“That Luke is our Luke?” Lek asked. “You sure? Or should I say your Luke?”

“He’s not my Luke,” Mara snapped.

“’Course he is,” Malyre beamed happily.

“You can try to convince yourself, young one,” Lek murmured softly. “But you’re not convincing anyone else here.”

“I’m…” She clenched her fists and her head went down.

The two oldsters watched as her shoulders shook slightly and a strange unexpected sniffing sound came from Mara.

Lek gave Malyre a panicked look. She was crying!

“Would you like a handkerchief?” Malyre asked courteously. “I do hope you haven’t picked up an infection?”

“No.” The sniff ended on something which sounded like a laugh. “I’ve picked something up.”

“Looks like you have.” Malyre’s voice held a chuckle. “Well you’d better go see if he’s going to wake up soon.”

“Malyre!” Mara’s voice rose in shock. “I hope you weren’t inferring what I thought you were inferring?”

“I would never infer, I might suggest, but I would never infer. Not to a lady.”

Lek groaned. “You are talking the biggest load of nerf bollocks I’ve ever heard and none of it is making sense to me.” He put his hand on Mara’s arm. “Come on, we’ll take you there.”

She looked up at the old man, his untidy hair a cloud of grey around his wrinkled face. There was strength and character in that face. “Thank you.” Mara accepted Lek’s offer with gracious dignity.

The medicentre was only a few minutes away from the main spaceport terminal. Malyre let the speeder slow gradually and drew into the vehicle waiting area.

“He’s a good man, you know.” Lek said seriously.

“You could do worse,” added Malyre helpfully.

“We don’t have that kind of relationship,” she said obstinately as she jumped from the speeder.

“Hell, you’re stubborn, girl,” Lek muttered. “And you’re not fooling me at all. The only person you’re deceiving is yourself.”

“You should have that kind of relationship, Mara. You and the young man match.” Malyre’s furry head nodded vigorously up and down.

Mara opened her mouth to argue.

Lek held up a warning finger. “Don’t deny it, Mara. It’s not good that you should be flying the galaxy alone.” He climbed stiffly out and stood beside her.

“I’m not alone – I’m free.” Mara’s words were familiar but somehow they were unconvincing, lacking bite.

Malyre took hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him as they stood in the entrance hall of the medicentre. “I was part of a den once on my homeworld – a Selonian Colony. All my clan died in an Imperial attack and I was the sole survivor. I should have died with them and I didn’t. I was offered a place in a new family but, bitter and resentful, I withdrew into myself and resolved to leave and never return.”

“What did you do?”

“I left and never returned.”

“But…”

“There was no tidy ending for me, young one. I left and travelled the stars instead. Many times I wished I had accepted the offer but I was too proud. I, too, thought that I was free. I discovered too late that freedom was not what I sought.”

Mara sighed. “I did wonder why a male of your species was travelling. It is contrary to type.”

“I’m contented now, but I don’t think you would be in my place.”

Mara gave a half-hearted shrug. “I’ll think about what you’ve said.”

“Don’t think too long,” Malyre said.

“Listen to him, he’s actually talking sense and that doesn’t happen very often. It makes it rather difficult to know when he is talking sense.” Lek grinned and then his face grew serious. “We’ll leave you to your reunion. At least you have a reunion. Luke could have died and he very nearly did.”

“He wouldn’t have… he couldn’t have…” Mara whispered, sudden agony on her face.

“He didn’t, but he could have done. He’s not immortal. Go and let him see you when he wakes.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. We want to know what Forrell is up to with the curly headed one. He may need rescuing.”

“We’re getting rather good at that,” Malyre inserted proudly.

Mara chuckled. “”I would tread cautiously if I were you.”

*********************************

Mara rubbed her eyes tiredly. She’d been by his side for well over an hour and there hadn’t even been the twitching of an eyelash. The Jedi Master was taking his time waking up. Luke lay peacefully on his flotation bed, his face calm, his eyes closed and the long lashes resting gently on his cheeks. “Luke Skywalker,” she sighed his name resignedly. “Why don’t you ever do things the way you are supposed to?” She brushed a lock of hair from his forehead, her hand lingering gently on his cheek, tracing round the contours of his jaw and lightly brushing over the cleft in his chin. She closed her eyes learning his face by touch alone.

The hand that suddenly gripped her wrist with surprising strength came unexpectedly. Mara gasped in shock at how unprepared she was for the feel of his strong, calloused fingers around her wrist. Immediately opening her eyes she stared down into Luke’s confused face, blinking away the tears that formed almost immediately.

“Mara,” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Luke,” she answered just as quietly. “Nothing’s wrong.” All her pride and anger vanished as she met the power of his gaze. Leaning down she covered his lips with her own in a gentle salute. His lips were hot and dry and clung. Pulling away reluctantly, she gave him a nervous smile. What would he do, what would he think? She said that she loved him. Did he remember her telling him that?

Moving his head slowly, Luke scanned his immediate surroundings and recognised that again he’d managed to find the local medicentre. “I feel better… I think.”

“You deserve to hurt, Jedi boy, for the scare you put me through.”

“Sorry,” he said, his face apologetic. “I’m so tired…” His hand dropped to the bedclothes.

The medic bustled up. “Excuse me, Trader Jade. Jedi Skywalker will make a full recovery if he gets plenty of uninterrupted rest.”

“I’ll see he gets it,” she promised.

“Stay,” he murmured sleepily, his eyelids heavy. “Love you…”

“Hey, Skywalker,” Mara chided as she tried to delay him slipping from her once again. “You’ve been sleeping for four days. Surely you don’t need more?”

Luke struggled to focus, but the waves of sleep came thick and fast dragging him under.

Mara smiled a little sadly. “Love you too, but what am I going to do about it?”

The Ship – Chapter 28

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

Somewhere in Hyperspace

Mara stared soberly out of the cockpit viewport watching the starlines go by at a speed she couldn’t begin to fathom. Behind her, lying on the small table in the crew quarters, burning a hole in her mind, were the objects they’d collected from Zathoq. The one that most intrigued her was the leather bound journal Luke had found hidden in the abandoned ship. She wanted to know what, if anything, was to be discovered inside. The most disturbing and dangerous thing in her ship lay fast asleep in the single cabin. She’d stood watching him sleep for a while marvelling at the strength and beauty of his features in repose.

An electronic murmur caught at her ears and she left Luke to his slumber, letting the door slide closed. She would have liked to join him but he needed peaceful rest and she had to monitor their entry into hyperspace and think.

Luke had slept off and on for another couple of days after coming out of his sedation, only awaking from the natural healing of a Jedi trance to eat. Mara had fooled herself into thinking he might be docile. Even before he was out of his bed she had started having problems with him. The Jedi Master was adamant that he left the hospital. She hadn’t seen him this truculent and un-co-operative in a long time. Of course he still wasn’t well and that only made him more stubborn. He was irritable and moody as he tried to compel his unwilling body to do things it wasn’t capable of performing. Eventually, Mara’s limited supply of patience had run out and she’d ordered him back to the cabin, with strict instructions not to get up again for at least another twelve hours.

*******************************

Outside Zathoq Medicentre

“He’s determined to go,” Mara had explained to Forrell.

“I could put a ban on the Dignity leaving the spaceport if you wanted?” the little man said. “I can do that.”

“You couldn’t keep him here if he didn’t want to be kept - not unless you had a couple of dozen ysalamiri and even then it’s doubtful he would remain in one place.”

“I don’t have a clue what those are so that idea is out.”

“I’ve tried everything I can think of,” Mara groused. “Stubborn son of a Dark Sith Lord. There is, thankfully, one thing he cannot do now.”

“What?”

“Fly home in his x-wing. One of Karrde’s people took it out yesterday.”

“I take it young Luke was less than happy?”

“You have it right. Artoo let Karrde have the codes because he agreed with me that Skywalker was not fit to fly,” Mara grumbled. “Luke won’t listen and I don’t trust ‘his obstinateness’ not to just take off. So Artoo and I took the decision from him.”

“Good luck,” Forrell chortled.

“There’s no such thing as luck where Skywalker is concerned,” Mara snapped uneasily.

“I’m not saying anything. You’re the one who sent his beloved x-wing off without him or his astromech droid.”

“Artoo refused to leave his master – doesn’t trust him not to do something foolish. He prepped one of Karrde’s R2 models for the journey.”

“Funny behaviour for a droid.”

“Tell me about it. Strange behaviour for a human to be so attached to a ship.”

“And you aren’t connected to yours?” Forrell pounced.

Mara looked guilty. “That’s different.”

“Ah!” the rotund security officer said. “So, if looks could kill, you would be well dead?”

“What?” Mara said shortly.

“I did notice he has a deadly glare.”

Mara almost laughed. “Luke!”

“Yes, of course.”

Luke had kept looking at her in ways she found disturbing. He had never been so bold before with his eyes. Those clear, blue eyes followed her every move, summoning her to experience once more the heights of the erotic feast she’d encountered only when wrapped in his arms. She slammed barriers around her undisciplined notions as she wasn’t convinced he wasn’t reading her every thought. Sure, the great Jedi Master would never stoop so low but she couldn’t help presuming that he was aware of what was in her mind. Luke was like that. Something in those wonderfully expressive cerulean eyes of his told her that he knew.

“Is he really the guy that rebuilt the Jedi?” Forrell’s beady eyes were alive with curiosity.

Mara pushed her disquieting thoughts into a far corner of her mind. “What?”

“Luke,” Forrell repeated. “Is he really the guy that rebuilt the Jedi? I saw a picture of Master Luke Skywalker and Trader Mara Jade on a holonet news report once. Never connected the two of you with the people on the monitor. You didn’t seem the same as them. The woman looked as if she’d never wielded a hydrospanner in her life and the Jedi Master was… ”

Mara shrugged. “Austere, remote, unapproachable, even boring?” But she knew that the real Luke was none of those things and she’d convinced herself he was that way to keep a guard around her heart. The real Luke Skywalker was electrifying.

“He seemed different, that’s all. Kind of closed in,” Forrell said simply.

“He is different… there.” Mara stood for a moment lost in thought. “He’s not too keen on those fancy affairs and only puts in an appearance because his sister asks him to.”

“Now, I would love them,” Forrell gushed enthusiastically. “I could wear my best uniform, the one with the gold braid and…”

“Have you seen Barancz?” Mara cut off the effusive little man quickly before he rhapsodised her into a catatonic state.

“I was just going to tell you about that young man. He is going to brush up on his schooling. It’s never too late to learn - is it? Then he’s thinking about coming to work for me in the security division. In my opinion, he has the aptitude for such a worthwhile and demanding career. Don’t you think?”

Mara blinked. “I guess…”

“Here he is… I’m going to the tapcaf for a mug of draf. I do expect you to join me, young lady.” He laughed, his portly belly wobbling merrily in time to his chuckling. “I can tell you more about my best uniform. It is particularly splendid and I am quite a target for the ladies when I’m wearing it.”

‘Target is right’, Mara thought, with fond amusement. She couldn’t help but feel anything else for the jovial little man. But she could see him dressed up, his outfit rivalling the Ringaali Shell Nebula itself. Mara bit back a smile; she could almost see the benefit of Skywalker’s never-ending parade of Jedi blacks. But she would never admit that to the Jedi Master. “I don’t think I can join you. Luke and I are anxious to leave.”

“Ah, pity.” Forrell beckoned Barancz over to join them. “I was just saying to this lovely lady here that it is such a pity she cannot join us for a libation at the tapcaf as she and Luke are leaving.”

Barancz gazed at Mara, his head cocked to one side, his grey eyes serious. “You’re going to be leaving soon?”

She nodded. “I’ve been here too long as it is but I couldn’t leave Skywalker. I promised his sister I’d keep an eye on him.”

“I wanted to say thank you.”

“Whatever for?” Mara said in surprise. “It’s Luke and I who have to thank you. If you hadn’t delivered that data card…”

“You’ve helped me find an identity for myself. I didn’t have one before.”

“I think the old man gave you an identity. It’s obvious he thought of you as his son. He certainly trusted you to do the right thing.”

Barancz flushed. “I hope so and I think he did regard me as his family. I certainly thought of him as mine and I miss him. He’s left me all his off-world financial assets.” His face assumed an amazed expression, his grey eyes full of child-like wonder. “I thought the yard was all he had - I was wrong. I have more money now than I’ll ever need. He touched none of it during his lifetime.”

“So you’re a wealthy man now, Barancz.” Mara smiled. “You don’t need to work for Forrell.”

“I know, but I want to do something with my life.” His face brightened as if it had only just occurred to him for the very first time that he didn’t have money worries anymore. “The first thing I’m going to do is to get some proper schooling and then work for Forrell for a bit. I like him and the other two. I’m not used to being alone. I did wonder about buying a ship and seeing some other worlds, but I’m not a great pilot.”

“What are you, Barancz?” Mara’s voice sounded odd.

“To be honest, I don’t know. I recognise what I was becoming but I have decided one thing…”

“Which is?” Mara asked carefully.

“I’m certainly better than a petty criminal.”

“You’ve never been away from Zathoq?”

“Only a flight to the edge of the ring system. I’ve never wanted to go very far but meeting you and Luke has made me want to see other places - perhaps for a holiday. Zathoq Spaceport isn’t very pretty but there are some smaller towns in the central continent that are pleasant. I have enough to travel a bit, then buy a nice home and live out a peaceful life. Sounds strange, that – a peaceful life - but it sounds attractive.”

Mara shook her red-gold head. “It doesn’t sound strange at all. You could come and see me on Coruscant or descend on Luke in his Yavin temple if you want? We owe you.”

“No, you don’t. The old man wanted me to do something and that’s what I did.”

Mara shook her head again, disagreeing with him. “No, you didn’t have to do it. Who would have known? No-one,” she finished quietly but firmly.

Barancz smiled and then saw Mara lift up her head as if listening intently to something. A scowl crossed her face and her shoulders stiffened. She didn’t turn round, but she knew he was there. Barancz looked across and watched as Luke limped out of the medical centre with Lek and Malyre fussing beside him. He wondered how she’d known Luke had emerged from the medicentre. It must be one of those Jedi things.

Barancz frowned at the blond haired man. “Is he ready to be out of there?” he asked Mara in an undertone. “He was half-dead only five days ago.” He gave Luke the once-over. “He seems a little better. He’s walking on his own for one thing.”

“He is a lot better.” Mara grumbled. “But not ready to be released yet. This is against my wishes and that of the medics.”

“But they let him go.” Barancz brushed a black curl from out of his eyes.

No, they didn’t let him go,” Mara ground out between clenched teeth. “Nerf brain signed himself out over an hour ago. It’s taken him that long to get this far.” She directed one of her fiercest glares towards Luke. “I refused to help him. If he wanted to be so stupid – be it on his own head.”

“Oh!” Barancz was nonplussed but he recovered enough to send a warning glance at Malyre and Lek as they approached with the Jedi Master.

Lek assessed the scowling woman in front of him and then turned and watched Luke as he continued to make his slow way towards them. “You’ve had an argument,” he stated.

Mara glared green laser bolts at Lek. “We did not,” she said. “He,” she directed another fulminating glare at the oblivious Jedi Master and gritted between closed teeth, “won’t argue. Do you know how annoying that is?”

Lek hid a smile. “I can imagine.” He watched the Jedi Master whose eyes were fixed firmly on Mara. ‘Perhaps, he’s not so oblivious after all’, the old man thought. Luke seemed well aware that he was making her blood boil.

“Hi, guys,” Luke said, smiling weakly. “Mara.” He lowered his voice a little, his blue eyes wary. “It’s good to be out of there. It doesn’t matter how up to date or comfortable they are I still hate being in medicentres.”

The trader narrowed her glare and had the satisfaction of seeing him bite his lip nervously. ‘Good,’ she thought. “You’ve been in enough to form an opinion,” she muttered under her breath and sent Luke a glare when he glanced at her sharply.

“I really wanted to thank you for all your help and friendship before we leave Zathoq. It means a great deal to us both,” Luke said seriously.

Malyre chuckled. “I want to thank you for spicing up this old slob’s life. Lek was getting too old and stuck in his ways. Weren’t you, old man?”

Lek raised a bushy grey eyebrow disdainfully. “Speak for yourself.”

“I try and keep him young and active,” Malyre confided. “It’s a difficult task. I’m not too old to have adventures.”

Luke’s smile dimmed. “A Jedi craves not such things,” he whispered.

“Maybe he doesn’t,” Malyre answered. “But I do.”

Everyone had laughed and the sombre moment had passed. But Mara found herself remembering it later.

“Keep in touch,” Luke said.

“We will.” Lek turned to Mara and held out his arms. Mara closed in and hugged him back in return. The pair of them didn’t know who was the more surprised – Lek or Mara.

“I’m getting soft,” she muttered.

Lek held her at arms’ length, his hands firm on her shoulders and said softly, “Be nice to him and look after him. Luke needs you, you know that.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

“He’s lonely, even though he hides it well. Call me an old romantic, but I’ve never seen two people more suited to one another. Even now, he’s watching you. His eyes follow you when you leave his presence. There’s a warmth in them when he looks at you – no one else.”

Mara nodded unwillingly. “I know. When did you get so wise, old man?”

“Forty years serving meals and drinks in a spacer’s tapcaf? It gives me a unique perspective on all lifeforms and their various problems. All some people need to do is talk. I just listen.”

“Luke and I…” She hesitated. “We have a long and difficult history.”

“But that’s a good thing, young one. ‘History’ means that it is past. Together you can have a new and better future.” Raising his voice he included the others in the conversation. “I want to see you sooner than three or four rotations next time, Mara Jade, and bring the Jedi Master with you.”

Mara grinned. “If the Force wills it.”

“Don’t kill each other unless it’s with passion, okay?” Malyre’s voice rang clearly through the air as he clapped a large talon on her shoulder.

There was an indrawn breath from someone, Lek wasn’t sure who. Mara’s eyes swept immediately to Luke’s and away again, both their faces flushing with embarrassed colour. He lifted his eyes to the sky above and exhaled noisily. “Oh, stars!” He pointed at the Selonian. “He may consider himself an all action hero, but he hasn’t yet learned any tact.”

Luke gave a low chuckle and Mara gave him one of her patented ‘you’re dead, Skywalker’ glares but as he continued to laugh she relaxed and joined in.

“Take him away, Lek, before I do something to him he won’t like,” Mara muttered through stiff lips.

“I hope you’re joking, young one,” Malyre had quipped.

Luke gave Mara a furtive glance. “She doesn’t joke about such things,” he confided ruefully.

It had been time to go and after another round of leave taking, Mara hustled an increasingly tired looking Jedi Master into a speeder ready to head back to the Dignity.

*********************************

It was dim in the cockpit. Anticipating an eventual Coruscant landing, Mara decided to set her chrono to Coruscant time and by her current reckoning it was the middle of the night but she couldn’t sleep. She normally loved this time, alone in her ship with just the stars for company, but tonight she had so many questions buzzing around in her brain.

The problem taking up most of her thoughts? It wasn’t difficult to guess what or rather who it was. As always it was just Luke. Her problem was currently flaked out on her bed in the single cabin that the Dignity possessed. By the time they’d managed to clear spaceport control Luke had been ready to drop where he swayed.

The lights in the cockpit had been dimmed to simulate night time and everything in the little ship was quiet. Even Artoo sat silently in a corner attached to a power charging unit. Occasionally he emitted a soft, reassuring beep while he contemplated whatever droids contemplate during their down time. She found his presence strangely comforting.

Mara sat in the pilot’s chair, her legs drawn up, her chin resting on her knees. To the man who stood silently at the door to the cockpit watching her, she represented all that was good with his world – the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. The faint lights from the console played over her features as she sat lost in thought. Eventually she would become aware of his presence but until she did, he was content to watch. Even if he’d never found out anything of his past he would always thank the Force that on Zathoq he had found Mara. He had loved her for a long time, he just hadn’t realised it. In his dreams he was sure she had said that she loved him too - that she returned his feelings - but it was a vague memory. He just hoped his wishes hadn’t induced in him a cruel hallucination. ‘Please,’ he begged silently. ‘Let this be real.’

Artoo twisted his domed head and gave a soft toot. Luke smiled at the little droid wondering if he’d gained anything from the Zathoq ship’s logs. His mother’s ship, he thought with awe and felt a fleeting regret at its destruction. Who knew what else they might have learned. Then he saw the objects arrayed on the table. Mara had told him that the cloth covered object was a book – a handwritten journal. He wanted to delve into its contents immediately but knew he was too tired. He gave a silent chuckle. He’d been sleeping for a week and he was still tired. Perhaps they could examine the journal tomorrow. He wasn’t ready to investigate its contents right this minute – no matter how much he wanted to.

Mara… she looked so peaceful sitting there and he wondered what she was thinking about. Cautiously he took a step forward and opened himself to the power of the Force.

“If you’re coming in, come in.” Mara said suddenly without turning round. Instantaneously she had sensed him.

He took a few more steps into the cockpit and she swivelled around in the pilot’s chair.

“You look better,” she said with a smile.

Luke grinned back. “I feel better. I still ache in places I didn’t know I had places.” He moved deeper into the cockpit. “Still, it’s nice to feel like a human being rather than one very large bruise.”

“You’re probably hungry,” Mara said, giving him an assessing look. She knew him well and a well-fed Jedi Master was a far less cranky one.

“Later,” he said.

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” Mara remarked. “I’ve never seen anyone put away the amount of food that you can. Even the rancor would be hard pressed to keep up with…” She snorted delicately.

Luke caught her gaze and held it the atmosphere between the two Jedi in the cockpit changing. “I’m not hungry just now… well, not for food.”

Mara turned away from him and checked a couple of the readings. That look was back in his eyes again – the one that disturbed her. The silence was awkward as Mara fought to busy herself and reduce the sudden tension. She bent her head and diligently studied the instrument readings on the console.

Luke felt her own sweet sense fill him and he closed his eyes focusing on her light in the Force. The desire slammed unexpectedly into his gut – hot and strong. He gasped aloud and noticed that Mara, too, had frozen in place, her breathing shallow and fast. He bent forward and swivelled the pilot’s seat around to face him and recognised his own feelings written clearly on Mara’s lovely features. Her eyes had widened, her pupils dilated and her lips had parted. A light flush covered her face as if the cockpit had grown exceptionally warm.

Arousal

The sound of their combined breathing was the only thing heard in the silent cabin. They were alone with no distractions this time. Karrde was on the other side of the galaxy and Lek, Malyre, Forrell and Barancz had all been left behind.

Luke pulled Mara from her seat and into his arms. He looked down at her and she raised her face for his kiss. They both thought that the kiss would be sweet and tender. Luke had meant it to be so. He’d gently placed his lips on hers and bang! Within seconds they were devouring each other, mouth open, tongues tangling and hands clutching desperately at each other’s bodies.

Mara tore her mouth from Luke’s. “Force, Skywalker!” she exclaimed, her voice hoarse. “What just happened there?”

Luke ignored her and turned to his little droid. “Artoo - keep an eye on the ship.”

“Luke…”

“Mara,” he countered mockingly.

“What…”

He gazed down at her, his face solemn, and something passionate blazed in his blue eyes. Mara felt her own sense answer in return. “You know ‘what’,” he said. “I know you do. It’s been waiting for us and this thing we feel is not going to disappear. You’re just being contrary from force of habit.”

Artoo gurgled something behind them and they both ignored him.

“Nothing’s wrong, Artoo. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Oh, we will, will we?” Mara spat.

“Yes,” Luke replied firmly. “We will.” He wrapped his arms around Mara and lowered his head once more to kiss her. Mara’s eyelids fluttered shut and she leaned into his kiss. As her lips parted, his tongue slid into her mouth and began to thoroughly explore its moist recesses. Luke’s hands found the fastening to the dark green jumpsuit she was wearing and began to slip buttons from buttonholes and lower the fasteners which hid her body from his eager eyes and touch.

His fingers sought their goal until he found the tips of her cloth covered breasts and nipped lightly. Her nipples sprang to painful life, hard little nubs sending messages all over her body. It wasn’t enough – Mara wanted more and let him know it.

“I know,” he murmured, reining in his passion with difficulty as she moaned low in her throat. “I want it too, but not here.”

Forgetting his aches and pains, he curved his arms tighter around her body and lifted her through to the cabin he’d been sleeping in alone for the past two days. The bedclothes were rumpled from his earlier occupancy with the warm light from a single glow rod lending a sexually charged intimacy to the small room.

Luke slid Mara down his body until her feet touched the floor, his heart racing as her slim form pressed against him. With a smile he reached for one of the simple pins holding her hair in place. “I like it down,” he whispered. “I like to thread my fingers through it. It is so soft, like spun vinesilk, and such a wonderful colour.” He wound the strands of vibrant red-gold around his fingers. “I’ve only seen that colour on one other and then only in my visions and my dreams.”

“Farae of Naboo,” Mara murmured in return.

“Farae of Naboo,” he echoed. A few more pins fell to the floor, each landing with a light ping. One by one he methodically released the mini-gaolers from their appointed task. Luke interspersed this activity with hot, deep kisses. Mara stood like one boneless and let him do it, her mind only on the sensations he was creating in her body with his lips and his hands and what she was going to do to him in return.

As her hair tumbled around her shoulders Mara reached out and began to strip off the black Jedi shirt Luke had returned to wearing. He was dressed in too much clothing. With a sigh of satisfaction she watched the black shirt fall to the floor to join the hairpins which had imprisoned her hair.

“Promise me you’ll never cut it?” he growled, his hands tangling in the fiery tresses. “Promise me.”

“I… I promise,” she acquiesced gracefully and then his mouth was on hers hard and demanding, and he was pressing his body against her - letting her know, as his hips ground against hers, exactly what he wanted to do.

The rest of their clothes were ripped from each other’s bodies until they stood in their undergarments.

“Force, Mara!” Luke gazed at her with undisguised lust evident in his eyes and in the bulge of his manhood. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

Mara gulped, her mouth dry. The desire was as evident on her own features and her body displayed her arousal for him to see. Her lips were parted, her face flushed, her breasts swelling to hard tipped points, trembling as she breathed.

Luke ran a finger over her bra and deftly unfastened the front opening, baring her shapely breasts to his hungry gaze. He then bent his dark blond head and began to kiss her neck moving down until he captured an aching, rosy nipple in his teeth. He laved one tightly thrusting bud with his tongue until Mara pulled his head towards lavishing some attention on the other.

When he raised his head, she nodded and he grasped her final item of clothing and pulled it down her legs, worshipping her strong thighs and taut calves with his mouth.

With a cry of frustration she pulled him back up and pressed her slim, naked body against him, winding her arms around him. “You’re still overdressed, farmboy,” Mara’s voice emerged sounding rough. She knelt before him and grabbed the edge of his briefs. As she tugged them down she kissed each area of skin as it was revealed. The small piece of cloth slid over the jutting evidence of his desire until it joined the rest of their clothing on the floor. Luke squeezed his eyes shut, threw his head back and let out a cry as her mouth found the tip of his masculinity. “Mara!”

His hands clutched at her shoulders and pulled her back up until she stood pressed against him. He gave her a quick possessive kiss and lifted her on to the bed, immediately following her there, covering her body with his own. Mara could feel him lying between her legs, hot and hard. His face was filled with longing as he lowered it to kiss her once more.

“Go ahead,” she said. “I love you.”

The rush of adrenalin and elation that filled him completely was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He hadn’t dreamt it. She had said that she loved him. “I love you too,” he whispered. “I always have.” With exquisite tenderness, he entered her slowly. Mara thought she might die at the beauty of the feeling. Then their world altered, the colours changed, became brighter, more vivid as Luke moved inside her body. The Force shifted and swirled, lights flashed and the planets circled around them. A blur of emotions, pictures, colours and sounds spiralled rapidly from their grasp and drew them upwards as Luke and Mara rode to the stars in each other’s arms.

Luke awoke gradually and shifted slightly in the bed. One of his recently healed ribs protested and he rolled onto his back. Beside him, her breathing soft and steady, Mara lay still deep in slumber. Luke rose up onto one elbow and gazed at her. She had curved herself into his side, her head burrowed deep under the bedclothes. All he could see were tufts of her glorious hair. He lifted a lock and ran it through his fingers. What would he do when she left him?

The figure shifted abruptly and he found himself peering at her surprisingly wide awake green eyes.

“Did I wake you?” Luke asked, his voice husky.

“No,” she said.

“I did. I was thinking too loudly again, wasn’t I? I’ll have to watch that.”

Mara smiled. “You will. How are you feeling?”

“I’m…”

“Don’t say you’re fine. Tell me the truth.” She grabbed the sheet and peeled it back from his body. Stifling a sympathetic grimace of pain, her eyes darkened as she viewed the many still-visible discolourations and recently healed scars liberally covering his firm torso. “I never noticed these last night. Perhaps we shouldn’t have…”

“I am telling you the truth. I feel a little stiff in certain places but apart from general aches and pains I am fine.” He waved his hand disparagingly over one particularly vivid bruise. “These look worse than they are and as for last night, we certainly should have.” He gave a smug grin. “In fact, I could be said to be fantastic.”

Mara narrowed her eyes warningly at her lover. He was the self-satisfied, all-conquering male. “If you’re sure?”

He saw the worry in her eyes recede and she curved herself back into his arms again. Luke lay back down, pulled the covers securely back up around them and stared up at the ceiling. “Mara.” He turned his head to look at her again. “I do love you.”

“I know you do - we went over this last night.”

Luke blushed and rose up on one elbow holding her gaze with his own. “That’s just it. I don’t want to be apart from you ever again. I understand that’s not always going to be possible, that you value your freedom and your independence but, sithspawn, Jade!” His voice began to rise. “I’ve had ten long, stupid, misguided years without you and I don’t want that to continue.” He stopped abruptly, the entire colour left his face and he slumped back down onto his pillow. “I’m sorry, Mara,” he whispered. “I’ve no right to ask.”

Mara stared open-mouthed at Luke. His pained apology did him more good in her eyes than many of the things he’d said over the years. He wanted her but he felt he had no right to ask her. Did he not know that if he’d asked her at any time over the last ten years she would have said yes to whatever he desired? He hadn’t asked before – not like this.

“I would travel with you.”

“Give up Yavin?” Mara pulled out of his arms

“Not entirely but, if you wanted it, I would follow you. I would reduce my time there so that I could be with you.”

Mara could hear the raw need in his voice and was astounded at it. “Luke…” She tried to formulate a coherent reply.

He gave a half-hearted chuckle. “I know - silly idea.”

Mara gave an abrupt twist in the bed and wriggled closer to him, if that was possible. “Okay,” she whispered shyly.

“You wouldn’t want to be lumbered with farmboy longer than…” He opened his eyes and peered hesitantly into the sparkling green ones so close to his own. “Okay?” he echoed.

Mara nodded and planted a kiss on his nose. “Okay. I don’t think it is such a silly idea.” And she didn’t. The feeling was strange, yet liberating. “We can make it work.”

Luke wrapped his arms tightly around Mara’s shoulders. “Where are the arguments?”

“There aren’t any.”

“Oh!” He bit his lip. “I was expecting some arguments.”

“They come after we’re married.”

The Ship – Chapter 29

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

Luke froze, his hoped for witty retort dying on his lips. “What did you say?” he asked carefully, his blue eyes vulnerable.

“I said the arguments come after we’re married. What do you think I said?” Mara rejoined sharply immediately going on the defensive.

‘Married! Sithspawn. What have I said?’ The words echoed inside her head.

She’d spoken without thinking but had inadvertently revealed her true feelings. Mara’s knee-jerk reaction was to limit any damage to her pride that she might have caused. This was not normal behaviour. Mara Jade kept her heart and her emotions strongly guarded. She’d admitted that she loved him but was she wanting more than that? Was she willing to grant him more?

There was no answer from the man by her side but she could feel waves of strong emotions emitting from him.

“Luke…” she began, not meeting his eyes, not wanting him to see the churned up thoughts tumbling through her head. He would know. He always knew.

“What?” His voice was flat… emotionless. This wasn’t Luke. Even when at his most Jedi, his voice was shaded with life.

Mara gave him a quick glance and found his eyes staring at her with all the power of a laser. As she bravely met his glance he looked away. She rolled onto her back, exhaling loudly, her doubts crowding into her uncertain mind and she did what she always did – pushed him away with a flippant phrase. “Stars, Luke. It was a joke.” She pushed him away aware that her carefully assumed casual tone had failed. Was he aware?

“I see.” His voice was very quiet – too quiet in fact. “I’m splitting my sides with laughter,” he said.

“Luke!” Mara sat up again and stared down at her silent lover’s drawn face. “What’s wrong? I didn’t mean it, honest.” She understood what was wrong - or she thought she did.

Luke lay, his face averted, without saying a word. Mara tugged at his chin, drawing his face towards her and worriedly peered into his eyes. Luke’s eyes - the windows to his soul. The clear, innocent blue had darkened almost to a wintry, troubled grey. What she saw shocked her. His sabacc face, the Jedi Master’s impassive serene expression, had gone. This man felt deeply. His beautiful eyes were wet with unshed tears.

Her stomach somersaulted. “Luke...”

“I hoped you meant it,” he said. “But I was going to ask you – call it a long dormant chivalrous gesture… I still…” his voice cracked.

Mara made a small sound of surprise. “Chivalrous?” Her temper ignited. “A chivalrous gesture – a gesture?” She jerked herself upright. “You mean the great, exalted Jedi Master sleeps with a woman and has to offer her marriage? How gallant of you – how noble.” Her tongue dripped scorn. “I somehow missed that one in the Jedi code. Is it next to ‘a Jedi knows no passion’?”

Luke’s jaw clenched. “Is that what you think of me?”

“What else am I to think?” she countered sarcastically, her heart dying inside her.

He scrubbed at his eyes with his fists like a child. “Stars, Mara. That’s not it. I love you. I want to marry you.” His whole heart was in his blue eyes. “I’ve wanted it from the moment we kissed for the first time. I think I wanted it the very first time we met. I just never thought I could have what I wanted – you wanted to kill me. I’ve never had what I wanted. Why should it be any different with you? The idea of marriage has never been a joke to me. Why does it have to be a joke with you?”

“It’s not a joke, Skywalker. It has never been a joke,” Mara screeched shrilly, her eyes searching out her clothes. It wasn’t easy to pick them out. They lay strewn throughout the cabin intimately tangled with Luke’s.

“Why treat it as a joke?” he ground out between his teeth, his eyes almost navy with the intensity of his feelings.

“I… don’t know,” she shot back, her green eyes spitting fire.

“You don’t know?” Luke gave a dry bark of laughter. “That’s most unlike you.”

“At least I admit to not knowing,” Mara gibed. “I’m not all-powerful and all-seeing.”

There was an icy silence from the Jedi Master. “You have a very high opinion of me, don’t you?” Luke’s voice rasped, the fires of his own temper beginning to rise despite his attempts to control them. “It must have been hard for you to lower yourself to sleep with… A joke! What a fool I was to hope for more.” He stared into her eyes and the passion vanished from his face, replaced by naked hurt and a desolation that clawed gouges from Mara’s suddenly defenceless heart. “I’ve always had hope and now even that has failed me.”

Mara’s senses fluttered and her own secret hopes began to crowd out of the strongly guarded secret place she’d crammed them into long ago. Marriage could never be for her. A home and a family? An impossible desire for the Emperor’s Hand. And there was the crux of the matter. No matter how hard she’d denied her feelings and had told herself with a sneer that cosy domesticity as the property of a man would fence her in and lose her any freedom she’d gained, Mara knew that she wanted the things that every other galactic citizen had the right to and she wanted them with the man by her side. Of course Luke wanted marriage. His sense of honour and respect would never let him offer her anything less, but only if he truly meant it. Luke would never offer her marriage as second best. He wanted her as his wife. Part of her quailed at the thought and the rest of her knew she could never settle for anything less. Luke Skywalker belonged to her. The difficult part was setting aside all her years of holding her feelings to herself, guarding her heart from anything that might hurt her, and telling Luke how she really felt.

She watched from between her lashes as Luke swung his feet out of the bed and sat facing away from her. His whole bearing spoke of his dejection, his tousled head resting in his hands and Mara’s own heart ached for him. Remorse flooded her. She was so wrong about him. He did love her and he would never love anyone else as deeply, as intensely – ever. If she rejected him neither of them would ever open their hearts to another. Mara loved him as deeply as he did her. “My one and final chance,” she whispered.

Luke heard her move but locked in his private misery he ignored it. Another woman had told him she loved him and then ultimately rejected him. He would find it truly hard to pick up the pieces and move on. You didn’t ‘get over’ Mara Jade. The first thing he felt indicating she had moved closer was the tiny butterfly kisses placed on his back and shoulders.

“Luke…” she said huskily as he stiffened. “Luke, I’m sorry.” Silently she let her emotions, her fear, and her love spill into the cabin but he remained unresponsive at the edge of the bed facing away from her. She sighed with frustration. “I find it hard to let go of my feelings. The Emperor didn’t allow emotions to interfere with his will. They were a luxury only for the weak and foolish. Ultimately they got you killed. Depending on another person was wrong because they would always betray you in one way or another. Love was not for me and I understood that. I even agreed with it. This is me, with all my faults, trying to apologise. Admitting I’m wrong is hard for me, but I’m willing to learn to be more open with my feelings. If you’re willing to let me start afresh?”

“Another joke?” he asked. His posture was rigid, the tension apparent in the set of his shoulders, his voice neutral. Luke had locked himself up tight and was giving nothing away but Mara could still sense his hurt. It leaked from beneath his shields. She didn’t want him to hurt any more.

“Of course not,” she said. “I let the old defensive Mara speak without thinking. I’m changing as a person and progressing as a Jedi but sometimes I fall back on my old bad habits. Could I… could we start again? I have this dream...” She bit her lip nervously and tasted salt. Bringing her hand to her face Mara was astonished to find that her eyes were wet too. Another barrier crumbled and the tears began to run down her cheeks.

He could feel her searching for cracks in his mind’s defences and something in him lightened. She was straining to feel his presence, her mind and heart calling to his own. “Go on.”

Luke’s voice still told her nothing and a probe at his tight shields now revealed even less. Gathering up her courage, Mara knew total honesty was what was required. “I always wanted a family - deep down I did - even though I would have resisted admitting it even under the ministrations of an Imperial torture droid. The Emperor was my family, then Karrde and his smugglers and now… you.” Mara let her hands caress the smooth skin in front of her and she pressed herself against him, moulding her lithe body into the curve of his muscular back, revelling in his nearness. “I never knew what I was missing until I met you.”

Luke flinched as a tear left her luminous green eyes and splashed onto his naked shoulder. Part of him wanted to immediately turn around and pull her into his arms but he resisted. He could feel her soft breasts against him, knew what happened when he let his fingers drift across a rosy nipple. Luke clenched his fists tightly and took a deep breath, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart.

“I love you, Luke.” Her soft voice caught on another sob. “I love you… I need you and if you would just let me try…? Can I try again? Can I ask you to marry me again? Would you permit me?”

‘Permit’. The old-fashioned word arrowed into his brain. Luke straightened his back as a new feeling stole over him. He carefully lowered his shields and reached out with his senses for their bond in the Force. He felt her open up and interweave her presence with his. She felt so warm and so loving.

Mara wrapped her arms around him and began to caress his upper torso. He felt her lips gently nip and kiss his skin. Luke’s breath caught in his throat as her fingers rubbed over his nipple teasing it to a little hard nub conducting darts of fire throughout his body.

“Mara…” he began.

“Ssh! Farmboy,” she soothed with another gentle kiss. “I never knew my parents, something we share. My family became whomever I was with. At first it was the Emperor until he died. Devastated at being so orphaned I drifted around the cesspits of the galaxy, my burning desire to kill one certain Jedi fresh in my mind. I eventually teamed up with Karrde, wary of being hurt again after I lost my master. Then there were my feelings of complete betrayal as I realised how Palpatine had abused my trust. Slow to give that trust, I decided it would never be given totally again. Finally there was you. I hated you, respected you, admired you and ultimately I fell in love with you, but I didn’t trust you.”

“I know,” Luke admitted.

“You knew?” Mara was surprised. “I suppose you must have.”

“I’m a Jedi Master, Mara. You are a Jedi. I cannot tell what you keep locked in your heart. I just knew that you had issues to deal with. I also recognised many of them concerned me. I was the one you thought had killed your master. I was the last person in the galaxy you were going to trust.”

“Oh,” she said.

Luke felt her soft cheek rub sensuously against his shoulder. “When you were ready…” He left his sentence unfinished.

“I can’t keep part of myself locked up any longer – not with you. Maybe once I could, but now I find that I cannot. I genuinely want to become part of you, Luke. If our relationship is to continue I want it to be as husband and wife. Can I ask you for the last time, Luke? Would you marry me?”

Luke took a deep shuddering breath and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. “You could,” he drawled slowly as he felt her move away. “But that would rob me of my right to ask you.” He turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder. The sight was breathtaking. She sat wrapped in the bedsheet, her creamy smooth shoulders rising from the material and surrounded by her glorious, tumbling, untidy, red-gold hair.

“You are such an old-fashioned relic at times, Skywalker.” Mara’s voice was mocking but there was no disguising the happiness and relief in her face. Once again Luke had miraculously managed to forgive her and Mara knew it was time she started repaying him for all the support and friendship he’d shown her over the years.

“Don’t think of it as repayment, Mara.” Luke read her thoughts. “Do it because you want to.”

“I want to make you happy,” she said sincerely. “Even if you have a serious wardrobe problem and talk to droids.”

Luke twisted around and bent to kiss her warmly. “But you do love me?”

Breathlessly breaking from his kiss, Mara’s eyes sparkled up at him. “Surprisingly enough I do. But I can’t wait forever for a proposal. If you won’t hurry up and propose I will have to do it myself. There are many misguided women out there who find you attractive,” she added, her lips twitching.

Luke laughed. “In that case…” His face grew serious and he pulled Mara firmly into his embrace. “Mara Jade, beautiful Mara…” Luke’s mouth trembled and taking a deep breath, he dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I love you. Please, would you make an old, sad, lonely Jedi Master happy?”

“You want me to resurrect Obi-Wan and…?” Mara teased.

“I want you to marry me,” Luke roared. “So just say ‘yes’ and we’ll be fine.”

“Yes,” she said.

Luke let out a whoop of joy and crushed her to him.

“Skywalker… could you let me breathe?” Mara emerged from his arms flushed and smiling. “I’m no use to anyone if I’m crushed to bits. I love you,” she whispered reverently, her green eyes dark and serious. “I don’t know when it began, but I knew I loved you the day we discovered the yard. I knew there was nothing I could do to change the way I felt about you when I left you in the medicentre. I don’t want to change the fact that I love you. I love you for your kindness, your friendship and trust.” She twisted in his grasp. “I mean, Skywalker – how many times have I had to leave you in some medical facility?”

“I kissed you,” Luke reminisced. “We’d been fighting and I left you alone in the speeder. I was sulking because we’d argued again and I wanted more than that.”

“You were hurt.” Mara’s hands found Luke’s shoulder and stroked the place where he’d been hit. “At first I thought it was because you felt vulnerable.”

Luke closed his eyes and slid down onto the pillows as Mara’s hands grew slower and covered more of his body.

“No,” he murmured throatily. “It was because I loved you.”

Mara’s lips parted as her breathing quickened. Her eyes drank in his muscular torso greedily. “I thought love made you vulnerable,” she whispered.

Luke managed to shake his head. “No,” he said, a shadow darkening his blue eyes. “Love makes you stronger.”

“I believe you,” Mara murmured. “I believe you because this time I can feel it.”

A small groan emerged from the Jedi Master’s mouth as her questing fingers and then her mouth found and teased his nipples into aching arousal. The bed creaked as Luke pulled Mara into his embrace and covered her mouth with his. There was no more conversation for some time.

*********************************************

“Where do we start?” Mara asked, her green-eyed gaze troubled.

Luke stared across the objects on the table into her face. “What?”

“Where do we start?” she repeated her question. “What do we look at first?”

Both of their gazes locked onto the slim journal and then they looked away.

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know.” He stretched out a hand, hovered over the strange collection of objects and finally picked up one of the braids of hair. “This is Obi-Wan’s. You can tell by the colour. It has hints of red in it. Anakin must have had hair like mine.” He gestured towards the other braid.

“It’s the same colour as yours, certainly,” Mara agreed.

“Here.” Luke slid the braid across the table. “This belongs to you… take it.” He could still feel the soul-deep anguish radiating from the braid.

‘I wasn’t ready for this – not on my own.’

“I can feel so much sadness associated with many of these objects,” Luke whispered, his eyes dark and haunted. “So much suffering.”

‘He should have been the one to do the honour. How could the darkness have grown so quickly? How could it have robbed me of the only father I’ve ever known?’

Mara shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said uneasily as she watched his eyes darken with pain. “Luke, I’m not totally convinced that Obi-Wan was my father.”

Luke bobbed his head decisively. “I know, but I have this feeling…” He dropped his head as if it weighed too much for his neck to support it. “I have this feeling that this is yours. It feels like yours. Take it.”

“It’s a little too neat,” she protested.

“I don’t agree,” Luke said persuasively. “’Neat’ would be you discovering that your parents are still alive somewhere in the galaxy and have been searching for you ever since Palpatine took you from them.”

Mara’s mouth curved. “You’ve been watching those happy-ever-after holodramas again.”

“Ah, but I know now that they’re make-believe,” Luke said with a rueful grin. “When I was younger I did think they were real.”

“Oh,” Mara muttered. “Last week then?”

“Ha ha, funny. I like a good happy ending every so often.”

“I think you’re imagining things, Skywalker.”

“No, I’m not.” Luke was adamant. “I know you’ve dreamt of finding your family – as have I but it didn’t happen exactly the way I wanted it to. I was raised a moisture farmer as far from my family as possible and you… You were raised by a monster who robbed you of a childhood and an identity. He made you unable to decide what, or who, you believed in.”

“Luke…”

“I know what you really are. A brilliant, beautiful, amazing woman, with a strength in the light side of the Force that is matched by very few.”

Mara ducked her head. “Okay… I get your drift,” she muttered irritably, uncomfortable at the fervent note of praise in the Jedi Master’s voice.

“Can’t you take a compliment?” Luke demanded, his blue eyes blazing.

“Yeah, yeah.” Mara was clearly unhappy with the direction the conversation had taken. “Can we look at something else?”

“Mara,” Luke’s voice was stern. “Learn to take a compliment. I never say things I don’t mean and I would never lie to you. I mean what I’m saying.” He reached across the table and clasped her hand, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “Come here,” he ordered gently.

Mara slid from her seat and curled into Luke, her head resting on his shoulders. For a moment they just sat drawing comfort from one another. “You’re my inspiration, Mara. Never forget that - my inspiration and my light in a dark universe.”

“I just feel uncomfortable…” Mara fidgeted in his arms.

“Not half as uncomfortable as I’m going to feel if you keep doing that, Jade.” The humour coloured his voice.

Mara blushed. “Skywalker,” she pleaded. “Look at something else… please.”

“Sure.” Luke picked up his father’s braid and the japor snippet. “I know I keep saying this and at the risk of becoming boring - I feel so much pain coming from all of these items. Did my parents cause each other so much heartache?”

“You said it yourself, Luke. There must have been love there once.”

Luke let the braid slip from his fingers and gripped tightly onto the snippet. His eyes slammed shut for a moment and then blinked dazedly open, the blue colour more vivid in his tired face. “There was love there once,” he said slowly. “But it didn’t remain. Love turned to possession, obsession and finally, to suspicion and hatred.” He rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Bitterness and regret when the love died.”

“I saw something the last time I touched that.” She placed her hands on top of Luke’s. “I think Anakin carved it for your mother when they were both children.”

“They knew each other as children?”

“That was the impression I got. The voice I heard was that of a child and was answered by a girl’s voice. She may have been older, but she was not an adult.

Luke gripped the snippet tighter. “I’m getting very adult feelings from this piece.”

“You are?” Mara opened her shields and let her sense join with Luke’s so she could experience what he was feeling. “I can feel the pain too.”

“Yes,” Luke agreed. “Pain, loss, love and betrayal.” He carefully placed the item back on the table. “It was hand-carved and if Anakin was like me, he was probably good with his hands. I can see him doing something like that for the woman he loved.”

“Vader would…”

“Not Vader,” Luke corrected firmly. “Anakin.”

“Anakin,” Mara echoed thoughtfully.

“She was like Leia after all – dark-eyed and beautiful - but unlike Leia, my mother was an unhappy woman.” A long ago memory teased him and he grasped it, plucking it from the air. A memory from a troubled time on a forest moon with Leia’s low voice describing their mother. ‘She was very beautiful, but sad.’

Mara reached for the perfume jars. “These must have belonged to your mother.”

“She was obviously a person of some importance to have owned such things.”

“The datacard did say she was a queen and then a senator.”

Luke’s mouth dropped open as if he had never considered the idea. “It did say that… but a queen? My mother was a queen?”

“Don’t you pay attention?” Mara shook her head mockingly. “An elected monarchy by the sounds of it. They do exist.”

“Like Leia’s tenure of the New Republic ‘Chief of State’ post.”

“Just like that. She would have had the best. It went with the job. Any leader has to entertain foreign leaders and act as the representative of her world. They would not surround her with shabby, second-rate things.” Mara nodded knowledgably. “As I said, these are quality items. I have databases listing origins and prices of such artefacts on the Fire. It could tell us where these are from. I have my suspicions.”

“Naboo,” Luke said. “They’re from Naboo.”

Mara didn’t ask how he knew. It was common sense and his reasoning didn’t feel wrong to her. “Of course. It wouldn’t do us any harm to check but yes, I think you’re correct. Someone somewhere will have sold something similar at one time or another.”

“What next?” Luke asked.

“The grey Force stone or the holoframe?” Mara answered. They both wanted to look at the journal, but something made them keep it until last.

“The holoframe,” Luke nodded decisively but his hand reached for the small stone and felt the Force pulse warmly through his whole body. Regretfully he let it go.

Mara stood up and moved to the tiny galley and grabbed a soft, damp cloth. Carefully she wiped the cloth over the holoframe emitting a sigh of satisfaction as forty years of dust and grime began to disappear. “This is pretty, but not especially valuable.” Mara’s assessor’s eye viewed the carved gilt frame critically.

“It’s probably priceless if there are any holos held within.”

With her heart thumping Mara felt around the edge of the frame until she located a small switch. “This may not work, Skywalker.”

“It’ll work,” he said with a nervous smile. “It has to work.”

Mara twisted her mouth at his naïve optimism. “You always hope for the best, don’t you?” Mara muttered as if she had just realised that fact.

“No,” Luke said, his eyes bleak. “I used to.”

“Luke…” Feeling uncomfortable at having returned the shadow to her lover’s eyes, Mara took a deep breath and activated the switch. At first there was nothing. “It’s not working,” she said, disappointed. Suddenly the screen flickered slightly and a gentle hum could be heard.

Luke sat up, his expression eager. “Come on,” he urged the viewer.

Mara’s eyes fixed on the object in her hand. “I think it’s warming up. It has been lying forgotten for all those years.”

And then the blank screen pulsed into life. The colours at first were fragmentary, little dots of coloured movement making up no discernible image.

“It’s not going to work.” Mara could have cried. The suspense was building her to an emotional high and she blamed this loss of her objectivity on the man opposite. Being intimate with Skywalker had left her far too sentimental. He was wrong, she thought. Luke Skywalker still had hope. It had been hot-wired into his DNA and if he lost it he would shrivel up and die.

“Give it time.” Luke willed it to work properly. “It’s doing something,” he remarked conversationally in a manner reminiscent of his brother-in-law’s.

The colours continued to swirl and dance before Mara’s eyes and then reluctantly began to form a recognisable picture. “It’s … Luke…” Mara’s mouth dropped as she stared at her own image. “It’s… me. Or rather it is someone who looks like me.”

Luke stretched his hand around the table and grabbed Mara’s. With a tug, he pulled her from her seat and onto his lap. “No, it’s not you and I think she came first so you resemble her.” He indicated the by now familiar orange-red robe of the handmaiden. “It is Farae of Naboo and…” A lump entered his throat and he stopped.

The young, bearded man standing behind Farae matched Luke and Mara’s vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He stood proudly behind Farae, dressed in Jedi clothing, his arms curving around her as if he were afraid she would break. The holo shifted and Obi-Wan bent his head, whispering something into Farae’s ear.

“What do you think now, my love?” Luke asked shakily. It saddened him, the futility of it all - seeing Obi-Wan so young, vital and in love with the woman in his arms – ultimately, a relationship doomed from its inception. The Jedi was determined not to let that happen with Mara. It wouldn’t be an easy path, the way riddled with obstacles, but Luke was determined to hold onto the beautiful woman he loved.

“It still isn’t proof,” Mara returned stubbornly.

“Maybe not, but she’s too like you to be anything other than your mother and I think you have his chin.”

Mara raised that chin defiantly. “How can you see his chin underneath all that hair? Don’t you dare grow one of those, Skywalker,” she threatened. “It’s still not enough proof for me. I can’t believe until I find something tangible.”

“And this is not?” Luke’s tone was solemn.

“It’s not enough for me.”

Luke grinned suddenly. “I can’t believe Obi-Wan ever had hair of that colour. He was completely grey by the time I knew him. His hair in that holo is almost the colour of the shiazna tree’s fruit.”

“Just because his hair is coppery doesn’t mean he is my father.”

“I know,” Luke grumbled good-naturedly. “You want a complete genetic profile with blood samples, a clone and documentary proof. Mara, my love, that’s probably not going to happen.”

Mara fiddled with a dial on the side of the frame and another scene appeared. A group of robed handmaidens flanked a richly dressed, serious faced young woman. With a regal dip of her elaborately coiffed head, she acknowledged the holo-imager over and over the moment caught in time.

“It’s an official portrait,” Mara said knowledgably. “This style was still in use during the Emperor’s reign. It’s the kind of holo the court imager would take on a regular basis.”

“I think it’s my mother.” Luke peered at the flickering likeness. “Although, it’s hard to tell with all that white stuff on her face.”

Mara erased her quick smile at the Jedi’s words. “Many cultures use something to distance the ruling classes from the rest of the populace. If your mother was once a queen she would be well-known and respected. She would also be in a position of some power.”

“A queen and then a senator,” Luke said. “Obviously she was someone with intelligence and integrity.”

“I think so. But then no-one suspected Palpatine for what he was.”

“No. The galaxy may have been a very different place if they had.”

“We will never know, farmboy.”

Luke frowned. “I want to see what she looks like. I know I’ve seen her in visions and that bad holo, but to have decent, recognisable holos of her…” He lifted a shoulder irritably. That face paint… I like skin to be natural – like yours.”

“It’s a disguise. Just as your Jedi Master face is a disguise.”

“I don’t have such a thing,” Luke protested indignantly.

“You do, when you don’t want people to know what you are thinking. Doesn’t work with me, farmboy.”

Luke acknowledged Mara’s hit. “Sure.”

“Farae’s not in it,” she stated, her voice heavy with disappointment.

“No, she’s not. I think she may have been too young or...” Luke peered at the faces. “These girls all look very alike. Farae was a similar build to my mother but does not resemble her as closely.”

“Decoys,” Mara pronounced matter of factly. “Bodyguards, in other words. It’s quite usual amongst the galaxy’s elite.”

Luke studied the holo intently and pointed to a slender girl to the right of the richly garbed central figure. “I do recognise this one though. She was in the visions too. Sort of a chief handmaiden type. What was she called again?” He chewed on his lip for a second. “Sabé, I think. Yes, that’s a younger Lady Sabé.”

Mara scrutinised the serious portrait carefully. “I agree with you,” she remarked and clicked on the device once more.

The next holo took their breath away.

Luke swallowed as he stared at the young couple before him. “Force,” he breathed hoarsely. “It has to be…”

Mara shook her head in amazement. “I cannot believe this is here – that it even exists.”

“Anakin and Padme together,” Luke said reverently.

“Their wedding day?” Mara wondered.

“I don’t know. It could be.”

The young woman was dressed in a gown and headdress of white lace. Happiness shone from her dark eyes as she stared up at the tall man by her side dressed in what appeared to be Jedi robes. He turned his head and smiled down at the diminutive woman by his side and then faced the holo-imager once more.

“He looks so young,” Luke said. “I thought I must resemble him in some ways apart from my lack of patience.”

“And your height,” Mara chipped in, her eyes alight with mischievousness.

“Thanks, Jade.” Luke muttered sarcastically. “How could I not miss the fact that Vader was twice my size, which even in my limited brain means that he was tall?”

Mara’s voice was contrite. “You have his eyes and colouring, but your smile…”

Luke turned her in his arms and directed the warmth of his smile at her. He knew she had meant no malice with her words. They had been gently teasing and he liked that she felt comfortable enough to do that. “What about my smile?”

“It looks like your mother’s smile.”

Luke clicked on the frame once more and the first image of Obi-wan and Farae appeared. “That seems to be all,” Luke commented, disappointment colouring his voice.

“Looks like it,” Mara replied. She fiddled with the frame for a moment. “There are some files in here, but they’re corrupted. I think they must have been hastily uploaded into the frame. It can’t hold much more data.” She gave the object a little shake. “Oh, wait… I’ve got some of it – oh, it’s only half an image.” Her disappointment mirrored Luke’s. “Babies,” she mumbled.

“Babies?” Luke peered at the frame. A ghostly outline of a woman with two babies in her arms could just be made out. “Probably Leia and I.”

“Probably. I think this device belonged to Lady Sabé.”

“Why do you think that?”

“If she was a handmaiden she has access to all the images within. Farae is not in the group holo as it is probably before her time as a handmaiden. I’m guessing here,” Mara murmured.

“Could be,” Luke agreed. “It seems logical.”

“Sabé may have been around during Anakin and Padme’s wedding and she certainly was with Farae and Obi-Wan.”

Luke took the frame from Mara, switched it off and laid it on the table. “This is a wonderful find.” He brought his face close to Mara’s and dropped a kiss on her lips. “It’s a pity it’s not one of the more modern imagers. They can hold ten times the amount.”

He thought a moment and seemed to make a decision before asking, “Do you have one?”

“Of course,” Mara answered.

“I want a holo of us together – now.”

Mara shook her head at him but climbed off his lap and raked in one of the storage lockers. “Aha!” she exclaimed with satisfaction. “Found it. It’s got a timing device,” she muttered as she set it in place and switched it on.

Luke grinned and pulled her into his arms, smiling down at her with love. “How many does it take?”

“One at a time,” she said dryly.

Luke laughed and brought her close for a kiss as the imager took holo after holo. But kissing Mara was not enough for the Jedi Master and soon his hands began to roam, slipping beneath layers of clothing and undoing fasteners.

“Skywalker!” Mara protested eventually. “These holos can’t be shown to anyone.”

“Why ever not?” Luke asked distractedly as he kissed Mara’s bare shoulder, sliding his lips tormentingly down the slope of her breast. “Is it still on?”

Mara indicated her state of undress. “I was fully clothed until you started this nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense,” he protested, his fingers busy. “How can I help it?”

“Help what?” Mara’s voice emerged reluctantly as her jumpsuit opened down to her waist.

“That you are so beautiful and desirable and when I get you close I have this deeply rooted need to…”

“Remove my clothing?” Mara’s voice rose as she helped Luke’s shirt escape his shoulders.

“You seem to have managed to dispense with quite a lot of mine,” he murmured contentedly.

“How can I help it if I have to check you over for new injuries?”

“New injuries?” Luke chuckled sensuously and let the shirt drop to the floor leaving his firm chest deliciously bare. “See any? You’d better make a thorough inspection.”

“Yes… No… them… and things.” Mara forgot her train of thought and moaned as his fingers peeled away the final piece of cloth covering her nipples. “Luke! The holo-imager!”

The Jedi Master tasted the pointed tip, suckling like a newborn and Mara’s fingers dug into his shoulders as a spear of fire lanced through her. He lifted his head, his eyes almost navy blue and grinned. “Perhaps we should switch it off?”

“Mmm,” Mara managed to wave the device off with the Force as he brought her head down to his.

“We’ll delete the incriminating holos… later.”

“Mm-hmm… later,” Mara echoed.

By mutual consent they took a passionate break from the finds.

**************************************

Mara moved away from Luke and sighed. “We have to read the journal.”

“I know and I’m dreading that there’s nothing in it.”

“I didn’t read anything apart from her name on the cover but there are pages with handwritten script on them. I just don’t know how many or what they contain.

Luke dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I can feel my mother’s journal calling to me.”

“We’ll eat first,” Mara decided practically.

“Good idea, my love. All this…” he coughed lightly, “…exercise is making me hungry.”

After a light meal they picked up the journal from its resting place and retreated to the intimacy of the cabin.

It was time.

The Ship – Chapter 30

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

Senator Amidala’s ship – almost 40 years previously

My spirit has grown weak and I, who never thought that she would ever feel the heavy weight of depression, have been dragged under by its cruel torture. I am keeping strong for the sake of the children and for my people. Obi-Wan says these children are the hope for the future. This is no burden to place upon such innocent heads. I find it very difficult to hope but I must. That is all I have left - hope. I loved him and I should not have done so. He was not ready to be a husband and I knew deep down that this was so. Anakin was too impatient, too temperamental, too angry at the way life had treated him. I saw all of his weaknesses - I recognised his flaws. Yet I married him because I loved him. Part of me hopes that he will return to me the good man that he was, but he has turned bitter and twisted. Darkness haunts those eyes and his anger frightens all who cross his path. He has grown very powerful and evil stalks his footsteps…

Padme Naberrie Amidala Skywalker, Senator of Naboo, dipped her pen in the antique inkwell. This was a strange way of putting her thoughts down on paper but it had grown to be a comfort. This was the way her ancestors had communicated with one another many centuries ago. It was a great risk writing down her thoughts but she knew that Anakin would never read these painful words. He had no patience for such things. He had no time for… her.

I loved him and I hated him as we lived a life apart. We could not reveal our marriage to the outside world and so we were living the lie I swore once that I could not. As our relationship foundered I turned my back on our problems and immersed myself in my work. I began speaking out even stronger against the corruption which manifested itself more and more in the form of Chancellor Palpatine or should I say Emperor Palpatine. As my opposition grew towards the new regime Anakin and I became more and more estranged from one another. He watched my every move, countered my every word with suspicion and anger. We were all deceived but my poor husband embraced his deceit with relish.

My dream has finally gone and my love has died.

Darth Vader - he will now never know his children…

The pen slipped leaving a blot on the page. Padme grabbed the journal and tore the pages from it viciously, her shoulders heaved as she sobbed, and limply the crumpled sheets fell from her shaking fingers to lie abandoned on the deckplates.

“Are you all right, my Lady?”

Padme turned her large dark eyes towards her handmaiden, swiftly blinking away the signs of her distress. “Yes, Dormé.”

“Captain Panaka thinks we are being followed.” The handmaiden’s voice was anxious, her face concerned. Her mistress had been crying again.

Padme’s face hardened. “Then we are being followed. The good captain has never been wrong before and this ship is equipped with the best tracking devices in the galaxy.” She gathered up her journal and wrapped it in a piece of soft cloth. “It seems my Lord Vader does not believe my protestations. I have reason to hide from him but not for what he suspects.”

“We should return to Alderaan…”

“No!” Padme replied sharply. “I want to hold my children together one last time before they are separated. It is my right and I cannot have Vader on my tail while I’m doing so.”

“Master Yoda said…”

“Master Yoda will understand,” the senator said firmly. “But we must lose the forces of the Dark Lord for the sake of the children and our Jedi friends. We must keep them all safe.”

“Of course, M’Lady.”

“The babies?”

“Are sleeping soundly.”

Padme twisted in her seat to face the solemn, dark-haired woman. “You have to promise to keep Leia safe, Dormé.”

“Of course I will, M’Lady. I promise to bring her up as my own child. Why can’t you let me take Luke too?”

“Yoda says it is too dangerous. If Anakin or the Emperor were to discover their whereabouts or even their existence, their lives would be in mortal peril.”

“Oh, M’Lady… Those poor children.” The genuine pity on Dormé’s face dissolved into a look of steely determination. “I’ll keep Leia safe.”

“I can ask no more.” Padme closed her eyes wearily. “For Luke’s well-being I have to rely on Obi-Wan and people I have met just once. Obi-Wan is sure they will help. I only hope he is right. He is taking Luke to the last place in the galaxy his father would ever go.”

“M’Lady!” Captain Panaka’s voice came through the intercom. “We are definitely being pursued. I suggest you go strap yourself in. We need to lose them before we head to the third moon.”

“As you wish, Captain,” she said formally. “Go, Dormé. I’ll follow in a moment.”

“Yes, M’Lady.” The handmaiden curtseyed and quickly left the cabin.

Padme rose and made her way to the carved head board, swiftly pressed one of the carvings and placed her wrapped journal in a small, hidden drawer.

*************************************************

Present time on board the Dignity

“Here goes.” Luke smiled nervously at Mara as he opened the book.

“I don’t think she wrote very much,” Mara commented quietly.

“I suspect she tore out a lot of what she wrote.” Luke pointed to a ragged edge which had obviously been ripped apart. “There isn’t an awful lot of paper left,” Luke said sadly.

“Don’t get defeatist before we even start, farmboy,” Mara rebuked sharply. “Find a page with writing on it and read, for sith’s sake. You can read?”

“Okay, okay,” Luke muttered and began to read aloud. The words leapt off the page at him and he stuttered.

“It’s okay,” she soothed. “You’re doing fine.”

I haven’t told any of my handmaidens but I suspect I am with child…

Luke lifted stunned eyes to Mara.

“Go on,” she whispered.

Anakin and I have been living apart for several months now. At first I attributed my lethargy and feelings of nausea to the strain of continuing in a relationship with someone who had changed beyond recognition from the man I married - although I haven’t been with him since the last time we made love, I consulted my desk chrono and a date caught my attention. I have missed a number of my monthly courses. I had never considered the possibility of a child before. We were using repress medication as I was unsure about Anakin and I did not think we were ready to shoulder the responsibility of parenthood. Something, somewhere failed. These methods never fail – why now?

What am I to do? If what Obi-Wan says is true, and I have no reason to doubt him, Anakin has gone willingly to the side of the Emperor. He has let the dark side rule his path and it will forever dominate his destiny.

Still, this could be the one thing that brings him back to the good side. This could be stronger than any hold the Emperor has over him. Anakin could have a son of his own. We could have the family we dreamed of.

He never laid a finger on me before but I could sense him wanting to lash out when he didn’t get his own way. I do not have the Force, but I know my own Ani… or I thought I did. Our last evening was full of some kind of portent. We made love and then out of nothing, from nowhere, we started to argue. We said such things to each other – things that are not easy to take back or forgive. Anakin knows I suspect Palpatine of great evil and he doesn’t agree. He is blinded by the malevolent duplicity of the man he now serves. He thinks I’m too heavily influenced by Obi-Wan and the rest of the feeble-minded, alien-loving Jedi. ‘I should listen to my husband, the chosen one. Not some inferior Jedi’, and he meant Obi-Wan, ‘who thinks only of weak appeasement.’ I turned to storm out of the room, but he stopped me...

“Oh, sweet heaven,” murmured Mara, appalled.

Luke put down the book with shaking fingers. “He… he couldn’t have done that – could he? Leia and I were the result of…”

“No, don’t think of it like that,” Mara said, tears running down her cheeks. “She writes about making love. Luke, they made love. I feel her agony so clearly and yet she has hope.”

“She still loved him.”

“She hated him too.”

“No.” Luke was definite on this. “She could never hate him. She hated what he had become but she could never hate him. To her, Anakin was still there inside the shell.”

“She hated the Emperor’s servant,” Mara realised. “She hoped that one day he would repent and return to her.”

“I know he turned to the good side at the end of his life – but I don’t think he could have been saved back then. He had Vader waiting inside him. All the foundations of his dark anger were there, nurtured by Palpatine and finally let loose by that final cataclysmic battle with Obi-Wan. At first my mother still hoped the news of her pregnancy would turn him back to the good side.”

“She must have been like you,” Mara observed thoughtfully and kissed him on the cheek. “You always had faith that there was good in your father.”

“Yes there was, but I think the dark side and Palpatine had a strangle hold on him. When I gained knowledge of my heritage there was something that happened in the fabric of the Force. It loosened Palpatine’s hold on my father – it allowed Anakin to come towards the light.” Luke dropped his eyes to the journal. “I don’t know if I can read on. I don’t know if I want to know any more.”

“You must.” Mara was his voice of reason and courage.

He then took me in anger. I resisted for as long as I could and then my senses betrayed me. He has only to touch me and I crumble. Oh, he was sorry when it was all over but the damage was done. I turned away from him ashamed and curled into a ball. I felt so low, so degraded. What had I become to let him use me like this?

It was then that I ordered him to leave. I flung hateful words after him and he responded in kind. I haven’t seen him since, but I know he watches me. He knows where I am and what I do. He is aware that Obi-Wan has become a constant companion. Obi-Wan is my friend and my rock. Yoda is my guide. They cannot know about my child… can they?

“The next few pages are blank,” Luke said quietly, still shaken at what he had read.

Mara moved from the bed and disappeared from the cabin. Luke could hear her searching for something in the galley. He was only aware of her return when the bed creaked and a cold glass of something golden was pressed into his hand.

“Drink it,” Mara ordered. “You need something.” She gave a wry chuckle. “I’m joining you. I need a good whiskey to ease my heart. It’s pounding.”

Luke swallowed the draught like an obedient child and gasped as the fiery spirit caught at his turbulent senses. “Thanks.” He passed the journal to Mara. “You read the next bit. I don’t think I could right this moment.”

Mara nodded. “Her writing is very elegant but there are places where it looks as if tearstains have made the ink run.”

“Is it unusual to have handwritten things?”

“Very. Real parchment which this journal is made from…” Mara ran her thumb over the crisp material, “…was only used by the upper classes and the nobility.”

“So you were trained in this art?”

“Of course, as would Leia have been.”

Luke chewed at his lip for a moment. “I think I’d like to try it myself when we return to Coruscant. I mean I can write, but not elegantly in this script.”

“They used special pens. It was considered an art form among the upper classes.”

“I would smudge everything, but I’d like to try.”

“Well, farmboy, we arrive in Coruscant in two days. So just say the word and I’ll teach you.” She peered at the looped script. “Here goes. This is dated just a week later than the last entry.”

My father sent one of his most trusted servants to me last night to tell me that my mother was ill and was asking for me. When I got to my parents’ summer retreat I noticed they were acting strangely and then I discovered they were hiding Obi-Wan. He was in a terrible state. Bloodied, bruised and marked with what I recognise now as the marks of a lightsaber. My mother was bathing his cuts, tending to his needs and I could tell she was frightened and worried about him. He didn’t want to stay here on Naboo. He kept shivering and stammering apologies - for what I couldn’t make out at first. He was putting us all at risk, but he’d come to give me information. Then he told me exactly what his news was.

“Anakin is dead, Padme, and… and… I… I killed him.”

I froze at first. It wasn’t true – it couldn’t be true. Numbly I stood up and went to get a cloth to help my mother bathe Obi-Wan’s numerous abrasions. The words kept hammering over and over inside my head. Anakin is dead… is dead. I kept dabbing at one of Obi-Wan’s cuts as if I were in a trance. He kept repeating those awful words over and over and over. He was babbling frantically, tears pouring from his eyes. Anakin was the nearest thing he had to a son before his turn to the dark side. It was then I felt sick. I ran to the refresher and was terribly, terribly sick.

Anakin is dead. My poor, misguided, ill-fated boy. All that promise gone in a heartbeat.

I sent for my youngest and newest handmaiden. Farae cannot act as a decoy as she does not resemble me closely enough, but she has a deft and gentle touch, is good in a fight and I suspect she has a liking for Obi-Wan and he for her. She will help my mother heal the Jedi. I need my other handmaidens to travel with me. I have to travel to one of the outlier worlds I represent. I cannot stop my work – especially now.

Obi-Wan came to see me before I left. His battered and bruised expression was filled with the mental pain of being so much a part of Anakin’s fate. He has aged so. “I know you will not want to see me again and I understand, M’Lady but…” His face took on a strange cast. “I have suspected this for a few weeks and now I’m certain. You are with child,” he hissed. “I can feel its presence - it is strong with the Force. Have you told anyone?”

“No,” I managed to whisper. “Obi-Wan, I don’t blame you for Anakin’s death. Anakin had travelled too far down the dark path. He was not the man I married. He wass not my husband any more. I don’t hold you responsible for something neither of us managed to stop.”

“The child… no,” he gasped. “There are two children – twins. You are carrying twins. If you cannot bear to let me near you – go to Yoda or Mace Windu. They will know what to do.”

This was news to me. “I have told no-one, not even my mother.”

“You cannot – must not, let the Emperor know about this.” Obi-Wan was almost hysterical. “He will have you and the children you carry, killed.” He limped over towards a chair and collapsed wearily into it. “I must contact Yoda.”

“No!” I cried. “I don’t want anyone to know yet.”

“Yoda needs to know about this development and sooner rather than later. You have to tell somebody but only tell your closest and most trustworthy staff. The fewer people that know about this the better – even your family...” His face twisted with anguish. “This will be hard for you but it would be better for you, and for them, if your family did not know. If you tell them you put them at great risk. For the moment try to carry on as if nothing has changed, but Yoda must know. Please promise me that you’ll tell Master Yoda. If you don’t I must.”

All I could do was nod weakly. I was the one who told people what to do. I was the one who made the decisions. Now I had no clue what to do. What would I do with two babies?

Mara put the journal into Luke’s hands. “The next entry is dated at least two months later, Luke.”

“She’s not a regular correspondent,” he mumbled.

Mara scanned his face. “You’re tired, farmboy. Perhaps we should leave the next few entries until you’ve had a rest.”

Luke shook his head. “I might as well continue. I don’t think I could sleep.”

Something is wrong. Someone is hunting the Jedi and destroying them. The temple has been demolished and the Jedi are running for their lives. An Imperial decree decrying the Jedi as corrupt and traitorous to the New Order has gone out. They are to be placed under immediate arrest and brought to Coruscant for trial at special courts the Emperor has set up. Yoda has gone into hiding. Obi-Wan is still with me because he feels responsible for my safety - especially in the light of my condition. I fear he is putting himself in grave danger but part of me feels safer when he is near.

He has been gone this past week. He has set off to find Yoda’s location. Obi-Wan says Yoda is still alive. I trust this is the case. I’m not the only one missing the wise Jedi Knight. My handmaiden, Farae, has moped around after me. I told her to keep away from the devilishly attractive Jedi – it was a joke but I don’t think it came out sounding that way. She is young; she’ll get over him. I don’t suppose he thinks of her in a romantic light. He is a Jedi after all and not supposed to love. But Anakin was a Jedi and he could be romantic and so tender…

I have been hiding my increasing figure under voluminous formal gowns and extra decoy duty. My handmaidens do not complain and serve me well. No-one outside my immediate circle suspects, not even my family.”

Mara leaned against Luke, curving her body into his. The Jedi Master furtively wiped his eyes. “I cannot believe what I’m reading is so close to my imagination. I had pieced together a lot of the story in my mind. There was no other way it could have happened.”

Mara sighed. “Of course not.”

Luke dropped a loving kiss on her forehead. “Your turn, my love.”

Mara felt the warm glow at Luke’s words spread through her body. “Stop it, Skywalker,” she chided affectionately. “All that mush will turn my nerves of steel to those of a pitten.”

“Never,” he said. “I’m counting on you to be the first one to save my sorry hide.”

“That’s all too possible where you are concerned, Jediboy.” Mara thumbed through the rest of the journal. “We don’t have much left to read and then I insist you get some rest.”

“Only if you stay with me.”

“Of course.” Mara picked up the book from where it had been discarded on the bed. “I’m not going anywhere right now.”

Obi-Wan brought me back the news. I cannot decide if it is wonderful or terrible. Anakin is not dead. He fell into a pit of lava but somehow managed to crawl to safety. The Emperor, with the aid of the dark arts, has kept him alive. Darth Vader they are calling him – this new servant of Palpatine’s. Anakin Skywalker, as I knew and loved him, is truly dead – he is not this monstrous creature. My husband had a generous heart and now that heart has turned to evil. Darth Vader is the threat to the Jedi. He is hunting them down and killing them all. None can withstand his dark power. Anakin has started to hunt down and destroy his own kind.

My hope is at an end. I have two babies in my womb who are both strong with the Force. Unless something is done it is only a matter of time before they are discovered. I have only two months to go before I’m due to give birth. How can I keep my children out of the clutches of their father and the evil tyrant he serves?

Obi-Wan is still with us. He wants to go into hiding but considers that his duty is to protect my unborn children. I worry for his safety but I must admit I am glad to have him as my defender.

Obi-Wan has another, more personal reason to remain by my side. I thought he was largely unaffected by my handmaiden, Farae, but I see him look at her with the same expression on his face that Anakin used to look at me. His feelings for her have grown strong. I have spoken to Obi-Wan about this as I am concerned for my young employee. Dormé and Sabé have tried to speak with Farae, but she is stubborn and has made up her mind to do exactly as she wants. I feel so old as I watch them. Obi-Wan knows I am right, but he is too much in love. “We know we only have a short time together,” he says. I feel the shivers run up and down my spine as he speaks. The words sound prophetic. The Jedi can see the future even if Yoda says that it is still in motion. Perhaps Obi-Wan is seeing one particular future. All of mine look bleak.

I spoke to the being known as Darth Vader today for the first time. He is too far away to sense my fear, but he knew that I recognised him. “Anakin Skywalker is dead,” he said coldly. There was no trace of my husband in that mechanical voice and harsh breathing. “I no longer acknowledge that name.” He wanted Obi-Wan’s whereabouts. He is watching me and knows I have seen his former master recently. I denied it, of course. Obi-Wan was actually in the next room.

We are heading on a diplomatic mission to talk to the leaders of certain worlds sympathetic to my views on Palpatine and his empire. Bail Organa of Alderaan was on my side before the Clone Wars. Yoda suggests he may help us now. I cannot keep my children if they are to remain alive. Yoda thinks they are the only hope for the Jedi. What a burden to place on innocent heads.

My son and my daughter – Luke and Leia Skywalker – as strong in the Force as their father and doomed because of it. Yes, I will give birth to a son and a daughter and I have given them their names. I may not be able to give them much else. Leia’s name has several meanings depending on where in the galaxy the name originates, but some are appropriate. One meaning is ‘light bringer’ which ties in with her brother’s name. Another means ‘weary’ but the one I like best means ‘meadow’. I can still see the field of wild flowers where Anakin and I spent some rare free time just as we were falling in love. Luke means ‘light’ and I think my son will bring light to a world in darkness. I cannot keep my children and yet, I cannot give them up. To do such a thing will kill me. Kill me or kill them. My choice is no choice at all.

The Emperor has declared that I am a dissident citizen of the Empire. I will not be allowed to serve my homeworld unless I follow current Imperial thinking.

I cannot.

I am constantly monitored. The Emperor’s spies try to keep a watch on my every move. I am a lover of aliens and of Jedi. Two crimes that Palpatine will not forgive.

So be it.

Bail Organa married my former handmaiden Dormé in a secret civil ceremony yesterday. Dormé and Bail have agreed to bring up one of my children as their own. It will give me a chance to see one of them grow up. It is a marriage of convenience – not a love match - as they have done this to help save my Jedi children. The children of Anakin Skywalker are seen as the only possible threat to Palpatine’s power. I suspect Bail might have been a suitor for my own hand once upon a time.

“The entries have grown very concise. Only a sentence or two, if anything at all,” Mara commented.

“It must have been near her time to give birth,” Luke said thoughtfully. “A lot has happened in a very short period. Vader was healed rather quickly.”

“Dark side of the Force,” Mara muttered. “Plus they created that whole breathing system with the shiny black helmet. Practicality and style.”

“Oh yes,” Luke said quietly.

Mara frowned. “I didn’t mean to mock. The whole story is sadder than anything.”

“Sadder than your own?” asked Luke seriously.

“I never think of my own story as ‘sad’,” Mara answered soberly.

“I think it was.” Luke rubbed his cheek against hers.

“Vader’s story was tragic.”

“He could have been healed properly if they’d done it right,” Luke said. “Taken time, used the light side of the Force and had no evil despot wanting you desperately to serve as their totally subservient, soulless killing machine.”

“I think he was too far gone by then.” She briefly covered his hand with her own. “Come on, farmboy,” Mara urged, flipping through the remaining few pages in the journal. “Last part.”

“Okay.” Luke took the book from her and began to read.

It is decided. Leia is to go to Alderaan and Luke to Tatooine. I begged Yoda and Obi-Wan to reconsider but to no avail and they are right in this. My head tells me so, while my heart breaks.

I have grown big and clumsy. I live in this ship and fly from world to world. My handmaidens pretend to be me, so that the Emperor and Vader think I’m as I was.

My children have been born- the pain of childbirth was indescribable. I think the pain of letting them go will be a thousand times worse. I held them for a short time and then they were taken away. My waters broke on the edges of my home system. I had gone there to ask my old friend the Queen if my children could be born there, but she didn’t want the danger for Naboo. We landed instead on one of the worlds I represent – Zathoq. There’s not a lot there, but Obi-Wan did say the Force was unusually strong. Yoda has been shielding the babies and will continue to do so.

The spies of Vader have caught up with us. They think I’m hiding something. I was, but no more. My children will soon be at the opposite ends of the galaxy from one another. Then I must return to Naboo, even though my ship is being fired upon.

I know now why I am under attack. Lord Vader demands I tell him the whereabouts of Obi-Wan Kenobi. I have been in league with a Jedi outlaw and must pay the price. I told him that I had no knowledge of his former master, that I hadn’t seen him in some weeks. I told him I hadn’t time to hide Jedi. My duty was as always to my people. Something is happening on Naboo that I do not like. I suspect there are dark deeds behind it.

“Ah,” Luke said.

“Ah, what?” asked Mara.

“The stormtroopers were hunting for Obi-Wan.”

“What Stormtroopers?”

“The ones I saw in one of my visions. Remember when we returned to the yard. I saw Stormtroopers.”

“If your mother had been there, they would have taken her in for… questioning.”

“It’s a good thing that they did not. Padme Amidala of the Naboo was keeping a lot of secrets from the Empire. By ‘questioning’ I suppose you mean interrogation?”

“You suppose correctly.”

My people have grown sick. A mystery virus has swept through the Gungan population and now it has mutated and is affecting humans and non-humans alike. The old suspicion and enmity we abolished when we first fought the Trade Federation has returned and fighting has broken out between the Naboo and the Gungans.

I have accepted the post as an Ambassador to the Alderaan system but I’m torn. The crisis on Naboo leaves me in a dreadful quandary. I have to return to do what I can for my people yet I must stay where I can see one of my children. I have been a mother to my people and now I must deny myself the chance to be a mother to my child. I have always worked for the good of my people. The future looks bleak for us all.

“That’s all there is. Anything else has been torn out.” He closed the journal and placed it back inside the soft cloth cover. “Leia will be glad to see this too.”

Mara smiled tiredly. “I’m sure she will.”

“Mara…” Luke hesitated, his blue eyes concerned. “I wish…”

“I know what you wish. There was nothing in the diary to say that Farae and Obi-Wan’s love affair produced a child. I can live with that.”

“But I thought that when my early visions were linked with you, that Zathoq had some meaning for both of us.”

“Oh, my love…” Mara blinked to hide the tears forming in her bright green eyes. “You must be the most unselfish man in the galaxy.”

“Only that I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy, Luke. I’ve never been so happy.” The tears trembled on the brink of her unusually dark lashes.

The Jedi ran his thumb across her cheek, catching one of the crystal droplets before it fell. “Tears?”

“You’re the only man who can drive me to them,” she whispered, her eyes bright.

“I just wanted you to find out where you came from.”

“If you say Obi-Wan Kenobi is my father and Farae, my mother, I’ll try and believe you, but…”

“I know…” he murmured. “You still need that proof. Oh, Mara, I’d give anything to find it for you. Can’t you hope that they are?”

“They are nearer than any other candidates. There are still avenues open for research now that we have names.”

“As ever, the practical one.”

“Perhaps, Skywalker, you saw me in your visions because you wanted me in them.”

“I wanted you in more than just my visions, lady.” Luke kissed her. “Maybe, you were meant to be here so we could find each other.”

“I like that idea.”

“I love you,” he said.

“I know.”

The Ship – Chapter 31

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections.

Solo Apartment, Coruscant

“Mama!”

Leia raised her head wearily from her ever-present pile of official pads.

“Hello, sweetheart. You should be in bed.”

Jaina tugged a little self-consciously at the neck of her nightdress and produced a datachip. “This is from Winter.”

“Is she here?”

Jaina shook her neat brown head. “She sent it round because she’s doing… stuff for the General.”

“Which General?”

The little girl thought hard for a moment, scrunching up her face in concentration. “The nice one with the white hair and the green eyes.”

“General Cracken. That makes sense. Winter does a lot of work for him. He’s head of intelligence.” Leia put down what she was reading and stood up. “I think it is time for bed.”

“Daddy says so,” Jaina informed her mother, her face showing exactly what she thought of her father’s idea.

Leia tugged on one of her daughter’s shining braids. “Well, if Daddy says so, then bedtime it is.”

“Uncle Luke will be home soon.” Jaina placed her hand in her mother’s and squeezed.

Leia’s smile dimmed a little. She knew Luke was recovering his strength in the medicentre - Mara had told her he was - but she worried about him. He was so far from his family – injured and alone. “I hope so.”

“No, Mama,” Jaina insisted, her dark brown eyes earnest. “He will be home soon. Anakin told me that Uncle Luke was ‘coming home’ and he’s always right.”

“We know he’s coming home, sweetheart. Mara told me that as soon as he got out of the medicentre they would return to Coruscant immediately. She wants him properly checked over by a Coruscant doctor and so do I.”

“Yes, but Anakin says he will be home v-e-r-y soon.”

Leia shook her head and laughed. “And Anakin’s always right.”

“Yup, you know he is.” Jaina scrunched her face into the manner of an elderly senate delegate from Chandrila she’d seen once. “It’s very annoying sometimes,” she confided disdainfully.

“Bedtime,” Leia ordered, laughing, and bent to give her daughter a kiss. “I’ll be in to check on you and the boys shortly.”

“Goodnight, Mama.” Jaina grinned her smaller, but by no means less potent, version of Han’s lop-sided smile and raced from the room.

Leia shook her head. Her daughter would either become a con artist or the chief of state. There would be no middle ground.

“Hey, Threepio, out of my way. I gotta go to bed.”

Leia chuckled as she heard the metallic clatter of a droid hitting a wall and then that same protocol droid’s flustered words. “Mistress Jaina… droids are not supposed to bend like the wind. Do you have to go to bed at exactly that speed?”

“Sorry, Threepio. I have to go to bed right now.”

“Threepio!” Leia called softly.

The golden droid rocked awkwardly on his feet, still trying to regain his balance. “Mistress Jaina moves quite swiftly for a small person and, alas, I failed to remove myself from her path quickly enough.”

Leia took hold of Threepio’s arm and steadied him. “There, Threepio.”

“You are too kind, Mistress Leia.” He hesitated, turning his perpetually bewildered face towards her. “Have you heard anything from Master Luke and Artoo?”

Leia shook her head. “I spoke to Mara Jade a week ago and she was waiting for Luke to be let out of the medicentre.”

“Master Luke has damaged himself again?”

“He’s managed to do that, yes.”

“I will have words with Artoo when they return. I told Artoo to look after our master.” Threepio turned towards the kitchen. “My, oh my, oh my,” he muttered to himself as he went. “My, oh my, oh my.”

“Threepio,” Leia called, halting the prissy droid in his tracks. “Could we have caf in the lounge?”

“Of course, Mistress Leia. I will see to it directly.”

“Thanks, Threepio.” Leia palmed the door controls and sighed, the tension leaving her body as her gaze took in the warm bronze colours of the room and the slightly shabby furniture.

“Hey, sweetheart!” Han lounged on the large sofa in front of the holoviewer. “What have you there? Not some more of the data reader Anakin took apart yesterday? Bones of old Palpy, I was furious with your son. It worked before he took it to ‘fix’.”

“My son!” Leia shook her head and glanced briefly down at the datachip in her hand. “He’s not just my son. When he does that I think he’s more like you.” She held the small object up so he could see. “Winter sent it – it’s a datachip. I wonder what she’s found out?”

“Senate stuff or our little investigation stuff?”

“I don’t know.”

Han pulled himself from the sofa with a groan and took the datachip from his wife. “I’ll stick it in the player.” He headed towards the desk.

Leia heard the careful shuffling outside the door and went to receive the tray of caf from Threepio.

“I’m going to power down for the night, Mistress Leia, General Solo.”

“Of course, Threepio.”

“Night, Goldenrod,” Han said wickedly.

Threepio stopped dead and swivelled to stare at the closing door. “Well, really!” he said in his precise tones.

*****************************************

“Anything?” Leia asked as she handed Han a large, steaming mug of caf.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He looked at her over his shoulder as he curved his hands around the mug. “It’s a selection of galactic newsnet snippets.” He turned back to the reader. “It’s the kind of thing no-one pays much attention to because it has nothing to do with them. I rarely read them today.”

“I see,” Leia murmured. “The kind of thing that might be easy to overlook – if you were censoring material. I don’t read them myself, I must admit.”

“Winter says Ghent found these.”

“So he still hasn’t managed to break those encrypts.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“All right, flyboy. Get reading.” Leia poured herself a caf and subsided thankfully onto the comfortable sofa.

Han chuckled and then stopped as the words on the screen registered. “The first item is a headline detailing events surrounding the coronation of the Princess of Theed.”

“Han!” Leia sat up, her brown eyes sparkling. “Just what we wanted.”

“Fourteen-year-old princess ascends the throne of Naboo,” Han read carefully. “The current Princess of Theed, Padme Naberrie, ascended the throne of her homeworld in a glittering ceremony yesterday. She will serve a four-year term as Queen Amidala.” Han stopped reading and gazed at Leia for a reaction.

“She was even younger than I was when I was elected to the senate.” Leia’s dark eyes sought the lighter hazel ones of her husband. “I was so scared and unsure when I first entered the senate and I was at least two or three years older.”

“The Princess of Theed was raised to do her duty as were you.”

“Do you know how it feels, Han, to find out something so important that you never knew? We’re on the brink of discovering so much.”

“I think so.”

“Anymore, or is that it?”

“It’s newsnet snippets, Leia. That’s usually all there is.”

Leia exhaled irritably. “No, nerfherder. Is that the only piece of news Ghent and Winter managed to uncover? My mother has to be involved there somehow.”

“Oh no, there’s a whole page of these things. I don’t know if there will be any clues about your mother. These have all got something to do with Theed.”

“Han!”

The Corellian grinned. It was still easy to rile his wife; he still had it where it counted. “Sure, honey.”

“Han Solo!” Leia said sternly.

“Yes, dear,” he answered meekly.

“You don’t fool me for an instant.”

Han chuckled. “I know and that’s one of the reasons I love you.”

“I’m dying to know what else is there. Come on, continue reading.”

Han scrolled the reader down to the next snippet. “Supreme Chancellor Palpatine returns to Naboo to attend celebrations. The new Supreme Chancellor returned to the world he formerly represented to attend the celebrations. The Trade Federation’s blockade and invasion of Naboo had been successfully countered and a new treaty signed.”

“He had to be involved,” Leia muttered darkly. “So far I don’t think we’ve learned anything new.”

“We know who the Princess of Theed is.”

“But nothing about those in her employ and there are no holos. I know I would recognise my mother if I saw her.”

“Look, sweetheart, Palpatine has let very little slip through. The fact that this has, tells you something.”

“I guess it does, although it’s more like a trickle than a slip.”

“Here’s another one…” Han paused as he read the information. “Uh… Leia…”

“What?”

“This is more interesting.”

“Well tell me what it says.” Leia felt her palms begin to sweat and she rubbed them nervously over her tunic. She had a strange feeling about what Han was going to say.

“Queen replaces court with Senate.”

Leia froze. “Go on,” she whispered.

“After two terms as ruler of Naboo, Queen Amidala has stepped down and will take her place as Naboo’s representative in the Galactic Senate. Senator Amidala will be succeeded by the new Queen Jamillia.”

Han gulped loudly in the strained silence. “Your mother was a senator…”

“Yes, she was.”

“And a queen. Quite a heritage you and the kid have.”

“Force,” Leia muttered. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “It’s amazing the way things just connect…” Suddenly she saw a young woman, her face covered in ceremonial paint and a heavy elaborate crown on her head. Exact replicas of her own dark eyes gazed out at a vast sea of rejoicing people. Leia opened her eyes and stared at her husband. “What else is there?” she asked urgently.

Han read the next item in a subdued voice. “Tensions escalate between Human and Gungan population on the planet Naboo. Since the end of the Clone Wars relations between the two species have been strained. The Jedi have been called in to mediate.”

“This is looking like the work of Palpatine more and more.”

“Senator Amidala assumes position of ambassador to the Alderaan system and adjacent worlds of Camaas, Ralltiir, Rhinnal, Esseles, Brentaal and Chandrila.

“I wonder if that might have been around the time of your birth.”

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised,” Leia drawled. “These are also key worlds in the early establishment of the Rebel Alliance.”

Han gave a dry chuckle. “Nothing happens by chance, does it? I once might have said it was luck.”

“Remember, a wise man said there was no such thing as ‘luck’.”

“He did.”

“Read, flyboy,”

Han continued soberly. The information he was reading was made all the worse for its cold, bald statement of the facts. “Reports of mystery virus on Naboo hints at rumours of biological-warfare. Fighting has broken out between the human and Gungan population. The mystery disease has proved especially virulent and has mutated into several incurable strains.”

“The Empire at its worst,” Leia burst out bitterly. “The plagues on Dentaal, the metridonai outbreak and the krytos virus. All engineered by the imperials to create the greatest amount of suffering.”

Han moved from the desk and crossed over to kneel in front of his wife. “It’s over, Leia. These things happened long ago.”

“But they’ll happen again and again and there’s nothing I can do.”

“You can try.” Han soothed.

“Better not let Luke hear you saying that. Jedi ‘do’, not ‘try’.”

“Have you heard from the kid?”

“Not a word. He was still in the Zathoq medicentre under sedation last time I spoke to Mara. I think they’re on their way here and that’s why we haven’t heard.” Leia relaxed her hands, she hadn’t realised she’d been clenching them so tightly. “Have you finished reading?”

Han rose from the position he had assumed and returned to the data reader. “Civil War breaks out on Naboo. Emperor Palpatine is crushed at the conflict on the planet he once represented. ‘Naboo was a centre of art and culture - a place where beauty once thrived. Now it has fallen into the hands of dissident formalists and I can see only ugliness.’”

“I bet he was laughing the whole time he was saying that little speech.” Leia’s voice was ironic. “Civil War,” she sighed. “I bet the Naboo had very little to do with any of it. Poverty and disease follow any conflict but the disease was almost certainly already there.”

“In what way?”

“When lines of supply break down and the fabric of a society disintegrates, things like decent plumbing are often casualties. Then because waste is not being treated properly, people are often living in very close conditions due to loss of homes – disease spreads quickly.”

“You’re very knowledgeable, sweetheart,” Han murmured.

“I saw it all the time when I was young working with my father for the Rebellion. I often went from world to world dispensing medicines and such. Disease would have been likely to strike on Naboo under normal conditions but it was already in place – a manufactured strain much worse than anything nature could produce.”

For a moment there was total silence in the room. Neither of them knew what to say

“Ambassador returns home to help mediate in Naboo conflict.” Han blinked a couple of times at the headline. “Lady Padme Amidala returned from her position as ambassador to the Alderaanian system to mediate in the current dispute which is wreaking havoc on the world she once governed as queen and represented in the senate. Lady Amidala has been living and working on Alderaan for the past three years and has returned to try to bring a peace to a world devastated by war and disease.”

“My mother believed in keeping herself busy. A queen, then a senator and now an ambassador. This is all beginning to tie together.”

“That it is, sweetheart. That it is. She’s very like you and the kid in that respect.” Han cleared his throat and took a swig of the cooling liquid in his mug.

Leia left the comfort of her chair and joined Han at the desk. “Naboo system quarantined while Imperial Medical investigators seek cause and solution,” she read slowly. “The disease ravaging the planet has now mutated in form, attacking plant and animal life. The planet has been declared a disaster zone and all traffic off the planet officially halted after an outbreak was discovered amongst travellers returning from a trip of mercy to Naboo. All those infected died.”

Han raked his fingers through his already untidy hair. “Look at the next one. It was inevitable, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.” Leia’s mouth moved stiffly. “Imperial troops cleanse Naboo but it is feared to be too late for a once beautiful planet.”

“I guess cleansing wasn’t a gentle process?”

“Fire-storming more like. They termed it purification. Decontaminating a diseased world.”

“Many died.”

“The whole world died.” Great tears began to slip from her dark lashes. “Every time I read or hear about these atrocities – it doesn’t matter when they were committed – part of me shrivels inside.”

Han opened and shut his mouth helplessly before deciding on action and enfolding her in his arms. “Ssh, sweetheart. I know… I know.” He brought out his handkerchief and wiped his wife’s eyes. “We’ve not much left to read. Might as well finish it off.”

Leia gave a quick nod, her head bobbing up and down. “I’m okay. Let’s read this last part.” Her brow furrowed in disbelief. “Emperor saddened over death of Naboo.”

Han pulled her closer. “Okay, my love, breathe.”

“Sorry, Han.”

“It’s okay – I know this is hard for you. I presume Winter has read this?”

Leia frowned. “That’s probably why she didn’t bring us this information herself. Han, Winter relives this as if it just happened every day – it’s too like Alderaan. For us time dulls our pain; for Winter, it will ever be fresh in her memory.”

“Stars!” he muttered. “The memory thing?”

Leia nodded, her lip trembling.

“And I thought having the Force wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be – but a perfect memory…” His voice trailing off, he swallowed around the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat. “How does she…?”

“Cope?”

Han nodded.

“Most of the time she does.” Leia blinked away a tear. “As we all do. Let’s get this over with, flyboy.”

Han gave a weary lop-sided grin. “Imperial investigators reluctantly revealed that the government of Naboo had been experimenting with bio-warfare. This tragedy happened when a breach at a lab resulted in the escape of a virulent virus. The virus mutated faster than a cure could be produced and attacked anything living. This government which once had the support of the Emperor, the world he loved above others, had turned on our beloved leader questioning his plans for peace and stability in the galaxy.”

He switched off the machine with a sharp click and for a moment in the room there was complete silence. “We have a lot of our answers.”

“We do. When we first started reading I didn’t think there was anything at all.”

“We got the sanitised version, sweetheart. We didn’t hear about the gruesome details.”

“My mother went to Alderaan to be near me.”

“Bail Organa was someone she could trust and Alderaan, a place where she could hide in plain sight. She didn’t stop her work. She just did it where she couldn’t really be harmed and could be with one of her children. She was still a threat to Palpatine – something that could destroy all his plans. She was still married to Anakin.”

“I’ve come to the conclusion their marriage wasn’t commonly known.”

“Maybe, but she was still his wife and could turn him back to the good side if he loved her enough. There was also the possibility that if she bore Anakin a child…”

“Luke told me something once.”

“Just once? Doesn’t sound like the kid.”

Leia gave him one of her stares.

“I’m listening,” Han protested.

“The Emperor had foreseen that if Anakin produced a son that child could destroy him.”

“He wasn’t wrong then - that son did destroy him.”

“Very little frightened the Emperor, but the idea of a ‘son of Skywalker’ did.”

“With good reason. The kid has frightened me many times. Why do you think my hair has these grey strands in it? I asked the barber-droid to cut all the grey bits out but he said he didn’t have all day.”

Leia gave him another wifely glare.

“Okay, sweetheart, enough joking from me.”

Leia snorted delicately, as befitted her upbringing at the royal court of Alderaan. “Palpatine would no doubt have known about the marriage. He had to prevent Padme having a child at all cost.”

“Even destroying a planet to do so?”

“That meant nothing to him. She was safer on Alderaan because Bail Organa was a hero of the Clone Wars, so he threatened my mother’s people on Naboo instead. She must have returned and caught the virus or died in the cleansing process. That’s the only explanation I can think of.”

“It’s rather drastic.”

“This was Palpatine, remember. I think as long as she was still alive she was a threat to him.”

Suddenly the com beeped. “Yes,” Han answered, reaching for the voice activator.

“Incoming message - private line.”

“Luke!” Leia gasped as Han grinned widely.

“Switching to visuals,” the anonymous voice intoned.

“Thank you,” said Han, switching on the monitor and muttering aloud to himself, “about time too, buddy.”

The screen came to life and the composed face of a slender woman with red-gold hair and sharp green eyes came into focus.

“Mara! Where the hell are you? Haven’t heard from you in more than a week.”

“Nice to see you too, Solo.”

“How is Luke?” Leia interrupted the trader.

“I’ve been busy,” Mara replied. “He’s…”

“I’m fine.” The grinning face of the Jedi Master appeared over Mara’s shoulder.

“He’s fine,” the red-head said drily. “Although not as ‘fine’ as he could be. He should still be resting.”

Leia stretched a hand out towards the monitor as if she wanted to touch him.

Luke’s face lost his little boy grin. “Honest, sister. I’m okay.” His voice was serious.

Leia’s face lost the faint expression of worry it had carried ever since her brother had disappeared off to the Outer Rim. If you didn’t know it was there you would never suspect. Han knew.

“You can stop worrying, Leia,” Luke said quietly, his smile heartfelt.

“Hey kid!”

“You ever gonna stop calling me that, you old pirate?”

“Nope, told you before.”

“When are you coming home, Luke?” Leia asked.

“Soon as Captain Jade gets me there.” Luke gave Mara a warm smile.

“We should be entering the system in a matter of hours,” Mara concluded, checking instruments. “So as long as this crate keeps going, expect us tomorrow afternoon.”

“You’re that close?” Leia couldn’t keep the joy from her face or voice. “Why didn’t you call us sooner?”

Luke gave Mara a small secret smile before turning to face his sister. “Yes, we’re that close. I must admit to being a little tired when we left…”

Mara gave a bark of sardonic laughter. “He shouldn’t have been out of the medicentre. The journey from the medicentre to the ship had him moving like an old man. Straight into a healing trance as soon as he was aboard. So I powered up the engine and took off. The peace and quiet was very pleasant.”

Luke ignored her. “Can’t you sense me yet?”

“No, not yet, but I should have known you were nearly home.”

“Why?”

“Anakin.” Leia’s mouth curved into a warm smile. “He told Jaina you would be home v-e-r-y soon.”

“He’s usually right, too,” put in Han.

“Leia,” Luke’s voice changed.

“Yes?”

“I don’t need the entire staff of a Coruscant medicentre lined up to greet me when I step off the ship.”

“But…”

Mara stifled a laugh. “Told you,” she crowed triumphantly. Leia was looking most put out.

Han chuckled. “I think you just stopped her doing that.”

“I still think he should be checked over thoroughly,” Leia protested. “I did alert the Manarai practice. As soon as Master Skywalker returns…”

“I agree.”

Leia stared. Help from Mara Jade wasn’t quite what she expected.

Han lifted an eyebrow. His brother-in-law had gone a rather interesting shade of pink.

“Mara!” Luke’s voice rose several notes in pitch. “I told you I was fine. They let me go from the Zathoq medicentre. I have spent at least four whole days in a healing trance on this trip.”

“Ah, yes, but they didn’t let you go. You walked out… or rather limped out very slowly. They wanted you to stay a little longer.” Mara’s voice was tart.

“He didn’t?” Leia’s eyes were wide. “I know you’re not overly fond of medics but, Luke, you didn’t…”

“He did, Leia.” Mara smiled smugly at the blond man by her side. “Stop pouting, Skywalker. It doesn’t suit you.”

“It’s not fair. Women are ganging up on me. Han, you have to rescue me,” Luke declared dramatically.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, kid. If your sister says 2-1-B, then it’s the medicentre for you.”

“How long do we have, Mara?” Luke sighed theatrically. “Before we arrive on Coruscant.”

Mara rolled her eyes. “About twelve hours, why?”

“I’d better spend them in another healing trance.”

“I thought you might have throttled each other by now, Red,” Han commented watching closely. “You and the Jedi Master… alone?”

Mara hesitated. They had discussed telling Han and Leia about their relationship but she didn’t want it to be over the holonet. Even a secure, private line could be hacked into. “It’s been close a couple of times – but he’s grown up a lot and I can control myself.” Han Solo was one of the shrewdest people she knew… him, together with Talon Karrde. They’d fooled Talon but somehow Mara guessed fooling Han Solo was going to be a lot harder. There was something in his eyes that told her he was adding things together inside his head.

‘You couldn’t last night.’

The softly spoken comment in her head took her by surprise. “Oh! Skywalker!” she bit out between gritted teeth. “That’s it. See you tomorrow. Leia… Han… I’m sorry, the Jedi Master might not make it.”

The Solos were left with their mouths agape.

“She keeps cutting me off abruptly,” Leia complained.

“I think he said something she didn’t like.”

“Yes.” Leia twisted her mouth expressively, showing her irritation. “Through the Force.”

“You’re just inquisitive. You wanted to know what he said to get her mad.”

Leia smiled. “Of course I did. I must admit the things you said about them are making me look at the way they act towards one another differently.”

“He sounds well,” Han commented slowly.

“He did, didn’t he? He sounded happy.” Leia’s voice was surprised at the realisation. “I don’t think I’ve heard him sound this happy for a very long time.”

“Mara wasn’t as grumpy as usual either,” Han said, lifting an eyebrow.

“I’m still not forgetting your assessment that my brother likes her.” Leia stood up and started dimming the lights in the room. “She has been worried about him.”

“From what she said he’s lucky to be alive. I think it’s more than just worried. I was watching them carefully. Body language can tell you quite a bit about people.”

“I’m a politician and Jedi. I can read the signs.”

“Yes, but sometimes I don’t think you always read brother Luke correctly.”

“And you do?”

“What can I say? I’m a Corellian.”

“I think I’m going to my bed.” Leia covered her mouth as she yawned.

“They look right together, sweetheart.” Han threw a cushion into the sofa and followed his wife from the room.

“I know, Han, but how do we get them to admit it?”

“I’m not that brave.”

“It’s something to ponder.”

“We’ll see them tomorrow.”

***********************************

“Skywalker! Come here,” Mara ordered.

“Can’t.”

“You afraid that you’re not going to last until tomorrow… Oh!” Mara’s voice petered out.

Luke was lying in bed, the covers drawn up to his chin, looking about as innocent as he could. Blue eyes wide, his hair was slightly tousled as if he’d just smoothed his hands through it. His clothes lay in an untidy heap on the floor. The undressing process had been speedy. “I’m ready to be thoroughly checked over.”

Mara’s lip twitched. “We have no medic on board.” She pretended to think hard. “Would Artoo be able to do it? He has some diagnostic equipment included in his programming.”

“I think it’s self-diagnostic equipment.” Luke tilted his chin challengingly. “You’ll have to do it instead.”

“Why should I have to do it when your sister will have a proper medic lined up to poke and prod you as soon as you get off this ship?”

A bare arm snaked out from underneath the cover and tugged at the hem of Mara’s dark green tunic. “I’d rather you did it.” He gave her a look from the corner of his eyes. “I trust you.”

“You do, do you? Are you wearing anything under that blanket?” Mara enquired briskly.

“You’ll just have to check me thoroughly and find out,” the Jedi Master replied airily, still looking as innocent as a child.

“That means no, I take it,” Mara said, exasperation colouring her voice.

The hand which had been tugging at the hem of her tunic as she stood next to the bed began to rub gently up and down her thigh.

Appearing unaffected by his manoeuvrings Mara pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Maybe I’d better. You are beginning to look a little feverish.” She placed her hand on Luke’s forehead. “Mmm,” she said.

“I do feel warm,” he admitted. “Perhaps I’m having a relapse?”

“Your pulse is racing,” she commented seriously, picking up his hand, her fingers on his wrist.

“That’s because you’re next to me,” his voice dropped seductively, “…touching me.”

“I’d better move away, then.” She gave him an impersonal pat on his sheet-covered chest.

“Mara!” Luke howled as Mara dropped his hand and walked away, her hand raised to press the door release.

She looked back at him over her shoulder, seemingly unconcerned that he might be having a relapse. “I’ll get you a glass of water,” she said laconically, one eyebrow raised.

Swiftly, the Jedi master acted. He threw back the covers, leapt from the bed and grabbed Mara, pulling her back against him. Within seconds Mara found herself flat on her back on the bed with a naked Luke on top, his blue eyes sparkling down at her.

“I let you,” she muttered snippily, her mouth shaped into a delicious pout.

Luke dropped a kiss on her nose. “I know.” Then he groaned as she wriggled her hips against him. His eyes darkened almost to a deep cobalt as he lowered his head and let his lips touch hers lightly.

Mara wound her hand around his neck, her fingers finding the edges of his slightly over long hair, and let the silky texture of an errant curl run through her fingers. Luke’s kiss intensified, his mouth exploring hers, slowly and deeply. Mara felt the world start to spin around her. Luke was doing this to her with his mouth and his hands. He was her focus and she loved him.

“Maybe you do need to lie down,” Mara whispered breathlessly after his mouth had left hers.

Luke began trailing burning kisses over her smooth cheek, sipping at the corner of her soft lips. “I think I do…”

******************************

“Transmitting clearance codes,” Mara announced crisply to the Coruscant Spaceport control.

“Codes accepted. Please direct your transport to docking bay 52-E.”

“Thank you.”

Mara turned to Luke. “Very cordial. You should give me your codes more often, Jediboy.

Luke laughed. “Solo private docking area.”

Mara peered out the transparisteel cockpit viewport. “I can see the Falcon.”

“The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.” Luke took a deep breath and let his sister’s presence entwine with his own once more.

Mara gave him a mock glare. “I can feel all that now, you know.”

“Feel what?”

“The family bonding thing. If I can feel Leia – she may be able to sense me.”

Luke’s mouth dropped open. “I hadn’t thought about it. You are so much a part of me now – our bond is so strong. I never considered how you’d feel when I let Leia in.”

“There’s always part of her with you,” Mara mumbled as she activated the landing gear. “But I never felt it so strongly before.”

“Because you’re part of me,” he emphasised steadily. “I’ve always felt your presence strongly but now you’re in my mind, in my heart and in my soul. We are one soul, Mara”

“I feel that way too, but…”

He nodded. “I’ll put up some shields. No sense letting my nosey sibling find out anything until we’re ready to let her into the big secret.”

“Do you think…?”

“She’ll be happy for us.”

“If you’re sure.” Mara’s tone was doubtful.

“I’m sure, love. How can she not be?” Luke beamed at her and then let out a whoop of joy. “I can see them.”

“Han and Leia?”

“Yeah!” He leant back in the co-pilot’s seat. “They’re home for me,” he explained softly. “I’ve never had a real home since I left Tatooine, unless I was with Han and Leia. They’re my family. Home is where the heart is after all.”

He stretched out a trembling hand and touched Mara’s soft cheek. “And now you. If I’m with you I’m… I don’t care where…” His voice wavered.

Mara blinked away the moisture that kept forming in her eyes. She’d never been so sentimental since she’d taken up with the farmboy. “I have to land, Skywalker,” she muttered gruffly. “But I think I understand now.”

“We belong together, Jade.” He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Leia’s like a constipated bantha on a tightrope,” Luke commented with a wicked smirk.

“Eeow! Farmboy. Where did you get that comparison? I hope your sister never hears you liken her to that!” Mara exclaimed. “Not a pleasant thought.”

“I can feel her excitement and anticipation.”

“I can feel yours,” Mara bit out and then finished lecturing him with the air of a long-suffering school teacher. “Now sit down properly and strap yourself in for the landing. I do not want to explain to your sister why you picked up another case of concussion.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Luke said meekly. “Strapping myself in immediately, ma’am.”

“Skywalker, don’t overdo it.”

“Yes, ma’a…” He gave her a mischievous wink.

Mara gave him a glare but it lacked the power of her usual ones. He had her and there was nothing she could do about it.

*******************************************

The small but excited party waited for the small boxy shuttle to arrive. Han watched critically as the vessel executed a perfect landing in its allotted space.

“You know something, sweetheart?”

“What?” Leia was straining to be allowed near the Dignity.

“I can’t tell if Luke or Mara is flying that thing.”

“It’s Mara,” Leia answered.

“You’re no fun, princess,” he griped.

“Luke was told not to fly for a few days because he had a bad case of concussion. I know he has a hard head, but it is one of Karrde’s ships and Mara is the employee. Plus I felt it through the Force.” She smiled and placed a hand on Anakin’s shoulder. The small boy was hopping up and down with impatience. “Anakin,” was all she needed to say.

“I know, Mama, but Uncle Luke…”

“Calm down,” Han ordered. “Or you go back to the apartment and stay with Threepio.”

“But Papa…”

Han opened his mouth to say something else that would quell Anakin’s fidgets but with a hiss of escaping steam the door opened and the figures of Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker walked carefully down the ramp.

The little greeting party stood immobile for a moment and then they all rushed forward. Luke gave Mara a warm smile.

“Go on,” she whispered. “Go greet your family.”

“They’re your family too now. Don’t forget that.”

“Yes, but they don’t know it yet, do they?”

Luke limped slowly forward and was immediately engulfed by his sister and the three children. Han wandered towards Mara, held out his hand and shook her hand cordially. “Thanks for getting him home, Jade.”

Mara gave a little shrug. “No problem, Solo.” She turned to watch Leia hanging on to Luke’s arm and then saw her head in for a hug. “Watch out!” she said sharply.

The Solos turned and gave her a curious stare.

“His ribs haven’t quite healed yet,” she said by way of explanation.

“Oh.” Leia retreated a little and gave her brother a gentler embrace. “Watch Uncle Luke’s ribs. The silly Jedi went and broke some of them.”

“And it wasn’t my fault.”

Jacen tilted his head to one side and assessed his uncle. “That’s what Daddy always says. ‘It isn’t his fault’.”

Han began to bluster. “Now see here…”

Luke held out his arms. “Your father is a totally blameless individual.”

“That’s not what Mama says,” Jacen argued.

“Enough,” Leia said quietly and the children stopped their wrangling.

“If my ribs break again I don’t care,” Luke said. “Come here… all of you. I still want a hug.”

With a cheer the children attached themselves to their uncle all chattering away like little birds, but Leia noted with a smile that they were careful not to hurt him.

Mara and Han stood awkwardly waiting until Luke was allowed a chance to breathe.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” Leia murmured.

“But Mara….” Luke said.

“She’s invited too,” Han interjected quickly. “We want to know what you found out.”

“Oh, Leia.” Luke’s voice broke. “It’s the most wonderful and the saddest thing both.”

“I understand,” his sister whispered. “We managed to find some information too.”

“We should be able to piece together much of our history.”

“The most important part is that we found each other long ago. It’s good to have you home, Luke.”

The Ship – Chapter 32

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections – they know who they are. Especially at the end of another of my mammoth undertakings.

“You’re staying with us,” Leia told her brother firmly.

“Ah, Leia, I don’t know,” Luke prevaricated as he gave Mara a sideways glance.

“You’ve not been to your apartment in nearly a year.”

“I have someone come and air it out regularly,” Luke said.

“You do?” Leia blinked.

“Yes, I left instructions with Threepio and Winter. She doesn’t forget and neither does Threepio.”

“You’re just out of the medicentre… you need looking after.” Leia was getting desperate.

“I’m fine,” Luke countered.

Mara smothered a chuckle. She had no doubt that Leia would get her way.

“You’re still limping and you have ribs…”

Han laughed. “Everyone has those, sweetheart. What did they teach you at that fancy school you attended?”

“Yes, but his are mending.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “They’ve mended.”

Jaina sidled up to Mara. “Don’t worry, Mara. This is quite usual.”

“Is it always as bad as this?” Mara whispered.

“Oh, no,” Jaina replied seriously. “It’s usually much worse. Uncle Luke will give in eventually.”

“Leia…”

“Not good enough, brother.”

“Leia…”

“He can be very stubborn,” Mara spoke in a low voice in the little girl’s ear.

“Mama can be stubborner,” Jaina replied with a very adult look on her face. “Only Daddy wins against her and sometimes even he doesn’t.”

Mara opened her eyes and tried to appear suitably impressed.

“Leia,” Luke’s voice rose whiningly. “I don’t need to see another doc-droid. I want to go home and sleep in my own bed for once.”

Mara had had enough. “Let her fuss, Skywalker.”

“I want to go home,” he maintained obstinately, a scowl crossing his handsome features. He turned challengingly to Mara. “Besides, Jade… Where are you going to go?”

Leia looked surprised. “Luke, Mara has her own apartment she probably wants to check up on.”

“I loaned it out,” Mara mumbled before she could think and then looked guilty. She hadn’t meant for the Solos to know that she was temporarily homeless. “I could almost certainly stay at Karrde’s.”

“She has nowhere to go,” Luke stated loudly, unknowingly sending a desperate glance in the direction of his sister. “You can stay at my place, Jade. I have plenty of spare bedrooms.” ‘And they’ll remain spare, too. You’ll sleep with me,’ he told her through their link.

‘I will, will I?’ she replied frostily in his mind.

‘Yes.’

“Luke…” Leia interrupted their silent duel.

“You’ll both stay with us tonight.” Han finished the discussion once and for all. “We also have plenty of spare bedrooms.”

“That’s a good idea, Han. After all, we have a lot of information to share with one another,” Leia agreed contentedly. She had got her way and her beloved brother would be under her watchful eye for tonight at least. He was getting far too independent for his own good.

Han ushered his family from the docking bay and herded them in the direction of the Solo family airspeeder. “Kid, you’re practically asleep on your feet,” he said to Luke.

Mara stared at the Jedi Master in dismay. Solo was correct. Luke was well on the road to recovery but he still tired easily. “Why didn’t you tell me you were tired?”

“I’m fine, Mara. Yes, I’m a little tired, but…”

“And Jade, here, doesn’t look much better,” Han added. He carefully scrutinised the couple. Mara’s face was white, but still beautiful. It was then he saw it. Mara had a faint bruise on her neck about the size of a man’s mouth – Luke Skywalker’s mouth. His own mouth twitched and Mara gave him a sharp look.

“What is it, Solo?”

“Nothing, Jade,” he replied swiftly. The lady wouldn’t take too kindly to him laughing at her. Well, well, well. It hadn’t been all saber fights and healing trances on the way home. His eyes began to sparkle. No wonder the kid didn’t want to spend the night at his sister’s place. He wanted to add to Mara’s interesting little collection of marks. ‘Go Luke,’ he thought to himself with a grin.

He lifted Anakin into the front of the speeder and strapped him in firmly. His youngest son liked nothing better than leaning as far as he could out of a hovercar. “Of course, you both must stay with us.”

Luke turned to Mara for confirmation and Han saw that as even more proof.

“You are very welcome to stay, Mara.” Leia’s face lit up with happiness.

“Please, Mara,” Jaina pleaded. “We want to hear about what you found.”

Mara gave an unwilling smile at the beseeching dark eyes of the child. “If you’re sure?”

Anakin wriggled in his straps and twisted around. “Uncle Luke will be happy if you do.”

Mara pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Will he behave?” she asked mock sternly. Anakin Solo looked more like his uncle than either of his parents. She was staring into twin replicas of Luke’s blue eyes.

Anakin grinned. “Does he ever?”

“Hey, I resent that,” Luke protested cheerfully. “I can tell a few stories about you, Anakin Solo, and don’t you forget that.”

“You wouldn’t, Uncle Luke… you promised.”

“Got you.” Luke sat back in the speeder and folded his arms across his chest. “I am a Jedi Master. I would never tell tales.”

His nephew breathed an audible sigh of relief.

“What tales?” enquired Leia in her best mother’s voice. “Is there something I should know?”

“This is between Anakin and myself and it happened a long time ago. Nothing important.”

Mara gave the two similar faces a suspicious stare as she climbed in beside Luke. Inside she was nervous. She’d been a guest of the Solos on several occasions, but never before had she stayed. Never before had she visited as a prospective member of the family. Mara Jade was worried how the most important people in Luke Skywalker’s life would feel about her becoming such an integral part of it.

*************************************

“A real bed, eh kid?” Han winked at him and deposited something on the dresser.

“Yeah, old buddy. I should be used to sleeping in a starship by now, but it’s never the same.” Luke wearily dumped his carryall on the bed in his usual bedroom. “Mara, I think you’ll be next door?” He glanced at his sister as she bustled in behind him with a set of clean towels.

“Oh, yes, Mara, this way. I’ve put you in here, next to Luke. This is the quieter end of the apartment, believe me. You won’t be disturbed.”

“Thank you, Leia,” Mara replied quietly.

“Now come and eat – everything’s ready. Then you can get some rest.”

“Oh, but don’t you want to…”

“It’s waited for nearly forty years. I think it can wait another day until you and my brother get a good night’s rest.” Leia’s dark eyes were kind. “You both look exhausted.”

“I am tired,” Mara admitted.

********************************************

“What did you find out, Uncle Luke?” Jacen asked eagerly.

“We found out quite a lot…” Luke began to reply.

“But he’s not going to tell you any of it until tomorrow,” Leia interrupted. “It’s supper time and your food will get cold if you don’t eat it now.”

There was a chorus of protests from the children.

“Your uncle is tired. He needs some rest and so does Mara.”

“We’re not tired,” begged Jaina.

“We wait,” Leia said firmly.

“It’s not a happy story, kids,” Luke said gravely. “There wasn’t a happy ending for a lot of the people.”

Anakin lifted his head from his meal. “We know, Mama told us that this morning.”

“A lot of people died so that your mother and I could live.”

The children all nodded seriously. They had already experienced war and danger in their short lives.

“We understand, Uncle Luke,” Jacen said, glancing at his brother and sister. “We wouldn’t be here either.”

**********************************

Mara slipped into her sleeping shift and eyed the large bed happily. A real bed instead of the substitute the Dignity called a bed. She would sleep tonight. Suddenly a light tapping alerted her to the fact that there was an adjoining door between her room and Luke’s.

“Yes?”

The door slid open and Luke grinned at her from the other side. “I thought the key for this door was lost actually,” he muttered.

“So how did you…?”

He held up a key strip of plasti. “Han laid this on the dresser. I think he knows.”

“About us?” Mara sighed. “I agree.”

“He doesn’t know everything,” Luke announced with satisfaction.

“And he’s not going to know everything,” Mara warned.

“Absolutely,” Luke agreed fervently. “Some things are best left…” his eyes darkened and his voice dropped to a whisper, “…private.”

Mara eyed her lover. He had just stepped out of the shower, his hair fell across his forehead in gentle waves, his chest was bare and his lower half dressed in soft sleeping pants.

“Those bruises are persistent,” Mara observed.

“They’re fading slowly,” he said. “They don’t hurt… much.”

“Better not let Leia see those or you will be in that medicentre under armed guard with ysalamiri,” Mara commented.

“Which bed?” Luke changed the subject.

“I beg your pardon,” Mara replied, not sure if she heard the Jedi Master correctly.

“I said…” Luke repeated. “Which bed?”

“There are two”, Mara replied stupidly. “We can have one each.”

“If you think I’m sleeping alone, Jade, you can forget it,” Luke declared.

“Oh, no, farmboy.” Mara backed into her room waving her hands in front of her. “I’m not doing anything with you in your sister’s house where there are four other Force-sensitive people. Three of those are children.” She fixed him with a baleful green-eyed glare. “You stay in your bed and I in mine.”

“I just want to sleep with you in my arms tonight.” Luke fixed on her a pathetic expression. “I can’t sleep without you.”

“’Course you can,” Mara shot back.

“I’ll rephrase it.” Luke began to advance into her room. “I’m not sleeping alone. Mara… sleep, that’s all I want. I’m too tired for any other activities and you did say there were all these extra Force sentients in the apartment. It doesn’t feel right without you being beside me.” His arms surrounded her, and he gently pulled her through the dividing door. “We’re telling my family about us tomorrow. So what if Han suspects? He doesn’t know that we’re getting married as soon as it can be arranged. He will tomorrow.”

“Luke…”

“Just sleep,” he whispered and pushed the covers down so they could both get in the bed. “I’m too tired…”

With a yawn, Mara pulled the covers over their bodies and curved herself into Luke’s arms. “Luke…” she murmured, but the Jedi Master was already asleep. Mara gave him a quick scowl, for old time’s sake and clicked off the lights with the Force before following Luke into slumber.

**********************************

“What are you grinning about, Han?” Leia asked her husband as she stared at his smug expression in her reflecting glass.

“Me?” he replied innocently.

“You’re up to something.”

“I’m testing my theory.”

“Not Luke and Mara?”

“Yes.”

“They didn’t seem very different from their usual.”

“Mara smiled several times,” Han pronounced.

Leia put down her hairbrush. “So?” she said.

“At Luke.” Han nodded a number of times as if this was something of major importance. “She’s also very concerned about him.”

“Mara has always been concerned about Luke.”

“This was more than mere concern. She was upset that we’d noticed how tired Luke was and she had not.”

Leia laughed. “Han Solo, I sometimes wonder what’s in that head of yours.” She shed her robe and climbed into the bed beside him. “What did you do?”

“I left the connecting door key on Luke’s dresser.”

“I thought that was lost.” Leia switched off the light.

“Anakin found it last week.”

“I suppose he had it all along.”

Han chuckled in the darkness and pulled Leia into his arms. “Probably.”

“How are you going to test this theory of yours?”

“I thought you could go and see if Luke was settled for the night.”

“Han!” Leia protested. “I’m in my bed, I’ve just got warm. I am not getting out to see if my brother is sleeping with the most dangerous woman in the galaxy.”

“Aw, come on. You could go and peep.”

“No, and that’s final.”

“Could you check with the Force?”

“I said no.”

“You never let me have any fun.”

“Goodnight,” Leia said firmly and kissed him.

“Admit it, you’re curious.”

“I’m tired.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“Goodnight!” Leia closed her eyes and ignored him.

************************************************

The sun had arisen high in the Coruscant sky and the room was filled with light. The two occupants wrapped together in the large bed had barely stirred since they’d fallen asleep the night before.

Mara came to consciousness with the impression of being stroked. Hands had crept under her sleeping shift and were caressing her naked back. A low moan started way back in her throat and, unbidden, her own hands began to smooth their way over the bare muscular torso of the man sleeping next to her.

She opened her eyes to find sleepy blue orbs trained on her.

“I could get used to this.” His voice was husky from sleep as he moved in to kiss her, but the gleam in his eyes showed that he was waking up fast. His mouth hovered over hers and then dipped lightly to snatch a brief taste. “Good morning.”

Mara stared back into his eyes. “Good morning. I fear we may have overslept.”

“Maybe. Does it matter?” Luke smiled at her gently.

“Perhaps not.” Mara wound her arms around his neck, teasing the edges of his overlong hair with her fingers. “You need a haircut.”

“Looking scruffy, am I?”

Mara dropped a kiss on his cheek.

Luke began to move his hands over her body with more deliberation and his eyes darkened with intent.

“I thought you were too tired for… this.” Mara’s breath caught in her throat as Luke’s fingers found a particularly sensitive spot.

“That was last night and this is not.”

“Skywalker, there are still four Force sentients in the vicinity.”

“So?” He moved over her and covered her mouth with his own. As Luke explored her mouth slowly and deeply, they both began to feel their world spin about them.

************************************************

Han eyed the closed door of his wife’s office with misgivings. Leia had told him to leave Luke and Mara alone until they surfaced from the sleep they both so obviously needed. Still, a good Corellian scoundrel never let his wife dictate to him if he was on a serious fact finding mission. He set off towards the guest wing of the apartment and was almost at Luke’s bedroom door when Threepio passed him.

“Good morning, General Solo. The children’s breakfast is almost ready. Will you call them or shall I?”

Han gave an irritated sigh. “You get them, Goldenrod.” He moved towards his goal.

“But General Solo…” Threepio’s voice was carrying.

“What…”

“The children’s breakfast?

“Do I have to deal with it right now?” He answered his own question. “Of course I have to deal with it right now.” Han cursed under his breath and followed the protocol droid to the kitchen. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Very good, Sir.”

Han turned and headed back the way he had come. He had to think of a good excuse. Something that wouldn’t alert Luke and Jade that he was checking to see if they had spent the night together. He had to admit that they were very impressive in maintaining their cover, but he thought there were just too many little clues hinting at a greater intimacy between the two than previously. Now, he would prove it.

His hand reached out for the door control and he listened carefully, his ear pressed against the smooth wood. Han frowned; he couldn’t hear anything. Maybe they were still asleep.

“Whatcha doing, daddy?” The blue eyes of his youngest son regarded him curiously.

Han jumped. He hadn’t heard Anakin approach. “Go away, Anakin. Go get your breakfast,” he hissed, frustration evident in his face. The great Corellian detective had hit a slight hitch.

“You wanting to wake up Uncle Luke? Mama won’t be very pleased.” The small boy’s head moved deliberately from side to side.

“I… er…just wanted to see if your uncle was awake.”

Anakin lifted a small, dark eyebrow. “Should I ask Mama if you have to bother Uncle Luke? She said…”

“No!” Han blurted out with gritted teeth but allowed himself an appreciative smirk at his son’s sense of timing. ‘Gets it from his old man,’ he thought. “Go and get dressed, then get your breakfast. Otherwise you’ll be late.”

“What will I be late for? We don’t have school today, daddy” the little voice piped cheerfully. “I think you’ll be in trouble if you disturb Uncle Luke.”

“I won’t be in trouble,” Han almost yelled as if he was more of a child arguing with his older brother than father with son. “Go and get your breakfast. Now!”

Anakin made a face and sulked back up towards the kitchen. “Uncle Luke is awake… I can feel it.”

Han gave a deep sigh, how hard is it to just gather a little information around here. Sneaking into the Death Star was easier. With a shake of his head, the old pirate composed his face into a cheerful expression. “Hey, kid. Do you want breakfast?” he practised quietly a couple of times into a carved, ornamental reflecting glass that hung on the wall. He swivelled around and raised his hand to tap smartly on the door when it opened.

“Han!” Luke stood smiling in front of him.

His brother-in-law lowered his hand, feeling foolish. “Hey, kid. Do you want breakfast?” The earlier jocular tone he’d practised with had vanished and the whole question came out sounding rather feeble, although Luke didn’t seem to notice.

“That would be great. I am looking forward to something more exciting than ration bars.”

“I think we can manage that. Where’s Mara?” Han tried to see past Luke and into the bedroom.

Luke peered along at the door further up the corridor. “Want me to go and check? I think she may be in the shower,” he said innocently.

Han gave an exclamation of disgust and headed back up the hall. “I’ll see if the caf is ready.” He didn’t notice the Jedi Master watching him with a hint of a smile on his lips before returning to his room.

********************************************

“Leia!” Luke called gently.

Leia lifted her head from the docu-pads she was studying. “Morning, brother. Did you sleep well?” She checked her wrist chrono. “You slept late.”

“Like a dozing dewback,” Luke said with a smile.

“Mara?”

“She’s in the shower… Nope, sorry.” His face lit up as Mara wandered diffidently into Leia’s study. “Here she comes.”

“Good morning, Mara,” Leia offered pleasantly.

“Morning,” Mara replied and gave Luke a quick glance from underneath her thick lashes.

“Where’s Han?” Luke asked.

“In the kitchen feeding the children – why?” Leia answered.

Her brother shrugged. “He was acting kinda strange earlier.” Luke turned his head a little and seemed to be asking Mara something. The trader gave a quick shake of her head and Luke bobbed his chin up and down.

“Could you go and get him, Leia… please.”

His sister gave him a mystified stare but did as he asked.

“You’re going to tell them now?” Mara asked, a faint hint of panic evident in her face and voice as soon as Leia had left the room.

“Why not?” he countered. “It’s as good a time as any other. You know I can’t keep things from Leia. I want to tell them.” He grabbed her hands in his, brought them up to his mouth and kissed them tenderly. “I don’t want to hide us.”

Mara stepped closer and gazed deep into his mesmerising blue eyes. “You’re right, farmboy. I don’t want to hide us either.”

Luke sighed with relief. “They’re my family – without them I would have been totally alone. Now I have you, but I want them to share in my happiness.”

“I understand, Luke.”

“It means even more to me now after Zathoq and finding my mother’s journal.”

Mara nodded and entwined her fingers with his. “Okay,” she whispered nervously. “Let’s tell them.”

“So what’s so important… kid?” Han’s eyes began to gleam as Luke and Mara sprang apart.

“Luke?” Leia’s mouth dropped open at the guilty expression on the couple’s faces.

“Mara and I…” Luke gave a nervous cough and then moved closer to the red-haired trader. “Mara…” he began again, slipping his arm around her and facing the Solos with a half proud, half defiant look on his face.

Leia glanced at Han, her eyes wide. So the old smuggler was right after all.

The Corellian’s face was wreathed in a smug smile. “Finally.”

“We thought you might have guessed,” Luke muttered darkly. “It might have been the reason for the pantomime this morning.”

“You guessed?”

Leia groaned. “Han…”

“It’s me,” Han offered unrepentantly. “What took you so long? I thought you could have hooked up together nearly ten years ago.”

“Now he tells us,” said Mara.

Luke gave Mara a tender smile. “I love her and we’re getting married.”

“You’re what?” Han’s face went slack-jawed with shock.

Luke drew himself up proudly. “We’re getting married and the sooner the better.”

“I love him too,” Mara whispered. “Very much.”

Leia suddenly launched herself at her brother and his fiancée with a happy squeal of excitement and gabbled, “A wedding… married? I’m so happy, Luke. I can feel it… The Force within you – it’s… This feels so right. Welcome to the family, Mara. Congratulations to you both.”

Mara and Luke stood a little overwhelmed at her enthusiasm but bore her attentions with good grace.

“How… when… I mean…?” Leia continued to bubble delightedly. This was the best news she’d had in years. Her beloved brother would finally be loved as he was meant to be loved. As she calmed down she noticed Han still standing in stupefied shock.

“Close your mouth, buddy,” Luke said, a wide grin on his face.

“You managed to surprise me with that one, kid.” He turned to Mara and deliberately held out his hand. Tentatively Mara placed hers in Han’s and then uttered a small shriek of surprise as he pulled her into a rib crunching hug. “I’ll echo my wife’s words. Welcome to the family, Mara Jade.” He patted Luke on the shoulder. “I would do this to the kid, but I remembered that he has ribs mending.”

“So you crush mine instead. Thanks,” Mara grumbled good-naturedly as Han let her go.

Leia stepped forward and took Mara’s hands, her eyes wet with tears. “Thank you, Mara. He’ll be good to you. Make him happy.”

Mara’s lips trembled and she pressed them together. “You’re as bad as he is,” she muttered.

“What?”

“He’s normally the only one that can drive me to tears.”

Han chuckled. “Makes a change from drink.”

“Hey!” Luke gave an indignant exclamation. “I don’t think you need to be driven towards that substance, Solo!”

“Hey, kid. You want to wear that flight suit of yours on the inside?”

They all laughed, the tension in the air gone. Luke moved back to Mara’s side and lifted a finger to touch her soft cheek. “See, I told you it would be okay. They love you already.”

Mara buried her head in Luke’s shoulder, partly to hide her own tears and partly because the warmth and love she could feel around her made her want to cling to Luke and never let him go.

“Mistress Leia!” The agitated voice of the golden protocol droid was heard as he shuffled along the hallway. “Mistress Leia!”

“In my study, Threepio,” Leia called. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Artoo Detoo. There is something wrong with Artoo.”

“What’s wrong with Artoo?”

“Master Luke! Thank the maker.”

“What is it, Threepio?”

“He’s going round and round in circles babbling about his ship. He said it was destroyed and what happened to Lady Padme and the children.”

“What?” Mara gasped.

“I don’t understand, Mistress Jade. He’s malfunctioning.”

Luke turned and hurried to the droid station. “Artoo!” he called.

A cacophony of anguished wails and toots met his ears.

Threepio had been correct. Artoo was traversing round and round in circles, his little domed head twisting from side to side, smoke beginning to emit from his seams.

“Artoo, settle down. Artoo!” Luke spoke sternly. “Artoo! Stop it! You’re going to need maintenance if you keep that up.”

Artoo twisted his head from side to side. A young man knelt before him, his blue eyes pleading. He recognised him… no, he didn’t… yes, he did.”

“Artoo!”

The man’s hands grasped his cylindrical body and held him in place, wheels spinning.

“Artoo, what’s wrong?”

The little droid beeped furiously and opened a compartment revealing a small blaster. “Artoo! No!” the man commanded. No, it wasn’t any man – it was his Master.

Artoo gave a horrified squeal and shot backwards, finally banging into the wall, the blaster disappearing inside his squat little body.

“What is it, Artoo?” Luke asked gently. His patience was reward by a tale of sobbing, electronic notes.

“You keep seeing other people from another time?”

The droid moaned an assent.

“The babies you saw – were myself and Leia?” Luke bit his lip, his eyes staring into space. Artoo had been given a memory wipe at some point but it hadn’t worked. Some of the information was still stored within.

“It was your ship… the one that we found, wasn’t it?”

Artoo answered with a soft beep and, twisting his head to one side, shone his holographic imager into the air in front of his Master. The holo of a sleek, silver ship shimmered and twisted in front of Luke’s gaze.

“It was beautiful wasn’t it? I dreamed about it, Artoo. I dreamed about it for months and months before I decided to leave Yavin to find it.”

“And you did find it.” Mara’s voice echoed behind him.

Luke shook his head. “No,” he said softly. “We found it.”

“We found much more,” Mara murmured kneeling beside him.

The ship held their gaze for a few moments more until the image began to fracture and finally, to disappear.

“Han and Leia?”

“Are finishing feeding the children. If we need them they will come. They’re also going to contact Winter and Ghent.”

Luke sent a Force tendril to his sister. ‘Artoo’s fine. Give me ten minutes or so.’

‘I’ll make some more caf,’ Leia answered with a smile.

Mara assessed Artoo thoughtfully. “You know, he’s been like this before.”

“When? You never said.”

Mara shrugged. “I forgot, with one thing and another. It was on the ship on Zathoq. He managed to enter the ship before I did. Artoo had the entrance code.”

Luke searched his memory. “I remember now,” he said. “So much happened.”

“Yes. You nearly didn’t come home.”

Artoo aimed his photoreceptor at Mara. An amazed toot escaped him.

“What did he say?” she asked Luke sharply.

“He didn’t say anything… it was more like an astromech gasp… I think.”

“So what is he gasping about?”

“Artoo?”

The droid beeped and Luke heard a whirring sound as another holo was projected in front of them.

The holo was short – a group of laughing girls playing next to a small waterfall. Then one of them turned to face the holo-imager. It was unmistakeably the young handmaiden, Farae. She gave a small wave and then returned to the game she was playing.

“She looks very young.” Mara moved closer to Luke

Artoo tootled a sentence and then began playing another holo, but this one was in very poor condition. A young bearded man kissed a red-haired girl and then strode into the distance.

“Everything else he has isn’t in good condition,” Luke said. “Artoo seems to think the pictures are degrading in quality.”

“We could send for Ghent or one of Karrde’s other techs. They could try and save what Artoo has. I’m not surprised the holos are poor. He hasn’t had a memory wipe in all the time you’ve had him and then several substandard ones before that. All that information is taking up space. Could be to Artoo’s detriment.”

Artoo moaned.

“It’s all right, Artoo,” Luke soothed, patting his little droid affectionately on the head. “It will be okay. Can you download all the stuff you got from the ship’s computers on Zathoq and anything else you think might be useful? I’ll get Threepio to come and help you.”

Artoo beeped an agreement and extended an appendage into the correct socket on the Solo’s droid station.

“Help me up, Mara.” Luke sat on his knees on the floor. “I think I’ve seized up.”

Mara shook her head and helped him up. “You should get 2-I-B to check you over.”

“I’ll be fine.” He drew her to him and kissed her sweetly. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

*****************************************************

The meeting took place that evening in the Solo’s lounge. Leia had read the journal and had wept again as she thought of all the suffering that had taken place. The children had been told of the story of their grandparents’ lives and the birth of their mother and uncle.

“Is there any more, Mama?” Jacen had asked.

“We don’t know. We have some files to try and read and Artoo has some information, but I don’t think it will add very much. However we are keeping an open mind.”

“I think it is really weird that Artoo belonged to your Mama,” Jaina offered.

Luke chuckled. “It’s not so strange. The really weird Force part is that Artoo found me. Artoo belonged to our mother who went to live on Alderaan. Your mother grew up on Alderaan. It just so happened Artoo and Threepio survived.”

“Bed time.” Han came in with Anakin hanging off his shoulders.

“Can’t we stay?” Jacen whined.

Leia shook her head.

“But Winter’s coming and Ghent…”

His mother was firm. “No. If there is anything else we will tell you tomorrow.”

“I think you’re mean,” Jacen said.

“Tough,” Leia stated. “It is still bed time.”

She had called Mon Mothma and General Bel Iblis, and had delivered their data cards to them, but as Luke had suspected they contained little more than genetic proof of the Skywalker twins’ identity and their secret locations. Mon Mothma had been amazed that Senator Amidala had been married to Anakin Skywalker.

They had also contacted Winter and Ghent. They had both arrived and were sitting in the lounge making polite conversation with Luke and Mara.

“I hear congratulations are in order?” Winter smiled at the couple.

Luke grinned bashfully. “I can’t believe she accepted me. She could have had anyone.” His arm tightened around his fiancée as if by letting her go she would disappear in a puff of smoke.

Mara rolled her eyes. “I’m sitting right here and for some reason…” her voice faltered and she stared Luke straight in the eyes. “For some reason I want you.”

Luke bought a shaking hand up and cupped her cheek. “Oh, my love,” he whispered.

Winter wiped a surreptitious tear from her eyes. She had grown extremely fond of the Jedi Master over the years. He deserved this happiness and so did Mara Jade. Winter knew exactly how many times Mara had saved what she considered to be her family.

Han wandered slowly into the lounge followed by Artoo and Threepio. “They are finally in bed. I’m not saying they’re asleep, but they are in the place designated for such things.”

Leia smiled and searched for their presences in the Force. “Nearly asleep. Fighting it but…”

Luke grinned and gave Mara a wink. “Some things are inevitable.”

His fiancée punched him lightly on the arm and laughed as Luke went into his dying mynock routine.

Han quirked his lop-sided smile. This Mara Jade was not the one they were used to seeing. This lady was softer – more human. He passed them all a drink. “First a toast… to Luke and Mara.”

“Luke and Mara.”

Luke chuckled and raised his glass to the others. “Mara and I have quite a tale to tell. For all of my life I’ve had the desire to know who I was, where I came from and who my family was. When the Force first started to send me dreams of a silver ship I had no idea that it would give me my history.” He looked at his sister and Han. “I had already found my family.”

Leia’s eyes were wet.

Han groaned. “You’re turning your sister into a fountain, kid and we’ve just started here.”

“Sorry, Han.” Luke sent his sister a wordless apology through the Force. “I’m not certain why the Force decided now was the time. Why it decided Mara needed to be there too…”

“Probably to pull your butt out of trouble… again,” Mara interposed. “Fate, destiny – call it what you will.”

“After all these years there were clues to who Leia and I really were – our history – our heritage. We knew we were the children of Anakin Skywalker. We did not know the name of our mother. The Force and others had always kept it from us.”

“I was so worried when you disappeared. None of the Yavin Jedi knew where you had disappeared to,” Leia murmured.

“Forgot to tell them,” Luke muttered shamefacedly. “Well, I told them I had something to see to.” He stared down at his polished black boots. “Just didn’t tell them where or for how long.”

“Last time you do that, kid,” Han told him reprovingly.

“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “Mara won’t let me.”

Han chuckled wickedly. “Under the thumb already.”

“I am not… Well…” The Jedi Master winked at his fiancée. “I want to be.”

Mara laughed. “It will never happen.”

“I don’t know about that. You have me helpless.” Luke gave her a kiss. “At first I didn’t know what my dreams and visions were telling me but there were always constants. I always saw a silver ship flying recklessly through a complicated system of planets and then…” He smiled at the red-haired trader next to him. “There was Mara.”

Mara continued. “I visited Zathoq on a semi-regular basis but I hadn’t been for a few planetary rotations. I decided, without speaking to Luke at all, that I needed goods which I could only obtain there.”

“I arrived in time to meet Mara and see an old man die.”

“Perhaps that’s why you had to go. It was his time to die and he had information you needed to obtain,” Han mused slowly.

“I considered that,” put in Luke quietly, “and yes, that was the conclusion I came to.”

“But why did we find him so late?” Mara wondered. “Why didn’t the Force tell us sooner?”

“We may never know,” Luke muttered. “The way of the Force can be so frustrating sometimes. It only gives us hints and clues. Why did it let that man carry his burden for most of his life without relief?”

“He had his task to perform. He was able to die knowing that he had protected his queen until death.” Mara lifted her head slowly. “He died in my arms,” she whispered.

Leia reached out and took Mara’s hand pressing it comfortingly. “We’ve all read the holonet snippets and the journal. It gives us a very sketchy account of the happenings of that time.”

“I’ve never seen any reports on this before,” Winter stated with certainty.

“I haven’t either. I can’t get any of these data cards to work on the encrypted files. I think they may be totally corrupted.”

Five stunned faces turned to stare at a dejected Ghent.

“I’ve never failed to break an encrypt before.”

“You’ve tried everything?” Luke questioned.

“I’ve tried everything I can think of. It hasn’t worked.”

“What about these data cards?” Mara held up the pile they had brought from Zathoq.

“Give them here.” Ghent’s eyes glowed with renewed hope as he retreated to the computer and started tapping furiously away.

Winter smiled. “That will be him for the next three weeks.”

“What! “ Leia exclaimed. She did not want Ghent in her lounge for an unlimited period of time. “He can’t stay here that long.”

But after ten minutes the code breaker returned, his face downcast. “I’ve made some progress, but I’m not going to get any further.”

“What do you have?”

Ghent passed them a pad. “There are several files there…. The rest - I could get nothing from.”

Han whistled. “It’s orders for the containment of the Senators of Naboo and Alderaan.”

Luke took the pad from Han and scrolled down the list. “Yeah, and then there’s a rescinding of that very same order.” He looked at his sister. “Just following the election of the Royal House of Organa to the throne of Alderaan.”

“Perhaps, my adoptive father was too public a figure.”

“Whereas our mother was a more pressing matter.”

“It’s conceivable.” Leia considered the matter.

Luke continued to scan the files. “There’s not a lot here… Wait!” One heading caught his eye.

Mara felt Luke’s tension. “What is it, Skywalker?”

“I’m not sure,” he mumbled slowly. “It’s detailing the capture of a ship and a lone occupant. The ship was targeted because it was thought to contain a Jedi. It did not. The ship was scanned by Vader. He was involved with the hunting and killing of the Jedi. The ship was found to contain a Force strong being. It was fired upon, damaged badly and the sole occupant left comatose.”

Mara froze. Something curled inside her stomach.

“It was a woman and she was heavily pregnant. The baby was Force strong, not the mother.”

“Does it say what happened?” Mara asked breathlessly.

Luke shook his head. “No… the rest of the file has been lost or damaged irretrievably.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye but she shook her head at him.

“Another innocent killed,” Leia murmured sadly.

Luke got up and returned the pad to Ghent. “That one…” He pointed to one of the files.

The younger man tapped several commands into his console. “It’s not clear, Jedi Skywalker, but…”

“That will do for now, thank you, Ghent.”

“The child survived, the mother did not.” Luke gave Mara a searching glance.

Mara knew what those looks meant. “Skywalker…”

“It’s possible, Mara. The ship was of Naboo origin and craftsmanship.”

“What’s this about, Luke?” Han asked.

“Just something Mara and I were working on. We’ll explain later.”

Han narrowed his hazel eyes but accepted Luke’s words for the moment.

“Is there anything about Naboo? Anything at all to say how our mother died?” Leia enquired.

“Not that I can find,” Ghent replied. “Just the ship the pregnant woman was found on.” He switched off the monitor. “I’m so sorry, councillor, that I can’t do any more but that doesn’t mean to say that I can’t do more in the future. New technology is being developed all the time and I could just think of something one day and it would be the primer we need. I suspect, however, that these files are too far gone to decrypt.”

“You’ve done your best, Ghent, and we’re grateful.” Leia rose gracefully from her seat, followed by Luke, and escorted the young crypt chief from the room.

Ghent hesitated nervously, before asking, “If it is at all possible I would like to take a look at Artoo Detoo?”

Luke nodded. “If you could. I don’t want to give him a memory wipe, but there are files clogging up his ‘rusty innards’, as Threepio might say.”

Artoo rolled from his station voicing his opinion vehemently.

Ghent wandered towards the display screen next to Artoo’s diagnostic station. “There are the holos of the ship you found. I know the military would love to view those schematics.”

He peered at a diagram as the droid rolled back to and plugged himself into the computer socket.

“Can I transfer these?”

Luke hid a smile as Ghent asked Artoo, not Luke. “Take Artoo with you. We’ll pick him up tomorrow.”

Artoo twisted his head from side to side and happily agreed in little warbling tones.

Ghent grinned at that and turned to face the Jedi Master. “Artoo tells me that was all he managed to download from the ship’s computer before it blew.”

“I suspected that was the case.” Luke couldn’t quite hide his disappointment.

“I’ll see if there’s anything else,” Ghent promised, his pale face alight with anticipation.

“Threepio,” Leia said. “Could you show Ghent to the door? He and Artoo are returning to headquarters.”

“Of course, Mistress Leia. May I accompany Artoo?”

“Certainly, Threepio.”

The door hissed shut and Leia turned on her brother. “Right, Luke. What was all that about in there and don’t start dodging my questions?”

“As if I would?”

“Are rancor’s fussy about what they eat?”

“Well…”

“I saw the dialogue between you and Mara. Something you’re not telling me?”

********************************************

The Ship – Chapter 33

By Ash Darklighter

Disclaimer: The characters and situations used in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am making no credits from this, Imperial or Republican. My thanks to the girls as always for advice and corrections – they know who they are. Especially at the end of another of my mammoth undertakings.

Zathoq

“When did they leave?”

“Yesterday, you old furry fool,” Lek grumbled irritably. “You were there.”

“Just checking, old man.” Malyre rested his head on his hands for a moment. He raised his head, wrinkling his nose as he did so. “Things seem very quiet around here.”

Lek stared around the tapcaf at his security droid who was in the middle of breaking up a rather violent fight between two members of a species he’d never seen before in all his years knocking around the rim planets. They both came equipped with claws and very sharp teeth. The trail of devastation they’d left in their wake was impressive. “Yes,” he said calmly, taking a sip of his draf. The larger of the beings let out a huge roar and managed to decapitate the security droid and knock his opponent unconscious. “It does seem… dull.”

Malyre gave a deep sigh and stood up. “’Scuse me,” he muttered and headed into the fray. With a couple of swift moves he had the remaining being by the throat, a feral grin on his face. “Call security,” he instructed languidly.

“They’re on their way.”

The tapcaf door burst open and Forrell danced in on his little stubby legs followed by half a dozen enormous security guards. In a matter of minutes the place was cleared and the remaining patrons returned to whatever they’d been doing before the fight began. A cleaning droid clucked as it began to tidy up the mess.

Malyre wandered back to his table sheathing his claws and yawned. “As I said - it’s quiet around here. Almost boring.”

“Was that wise?” Lek asked.

“What?”

“You are not a youngster.”

“I handled it, didn’t I? It was nothing.”

“What if they’d flattened you?” asked Forrell, waving his squad of security men away with a deft little snap of his wrist.

“I was sick of the noise and you were taking your time coming.”

Forrell bristled at the implied insult. “I had to go through procedure and we were very quick.”

Lek nodded. “You were, Forrell. It’s just that ‘action Selonian’ here, wanted to clean-up himself. He’s sees himself as a…”

“Agent for the preservation of the Jedi order,” the voice was ironic.

“Hey, young one!” Malyre exclaimed as Barancz came up to the table. “Did you see me handle those Fareesians? I was bored and that security force you’re thinking of joining was taking its time.”

Forrell scowled. “He still forgets how old he is. He was lucky this time. They were youngsters.”

“I would agree with that,” Lek added.

“I sorted it,” Malyre insisted and took a sip of his draf. “And they were fully grown.”

“Yes, I guess you did ‘handle it’ and you were lucky this time.” Barancz’s grey eyes warmed. “They were adults, granted, but they grow at least another foot.” He’d spent so much time looking out for one old man he had found it frighteningly easy to do the same with the odd trio who had adopted him as their new friend. “If you’re bored I have a small proposition for you.”

Three oldsters looked at each other. Lek took a long slow swig of his draf, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand when he’d finished. “Okay, we’re listening.”

******************************************

Coruscant

The door hissed shut behind Ghent, and Leia turned swiftly round to face her brother. “Okay, hotshot, spill it.”

“You’ve been hanging around with Han for far too long,” Luke observed with a grin.

“What?” Leia asked.

“I said…”

“I heard you.”

Luke thought he’d better explain before he got into more trouble with his strong-willed sister. “I only meant that the diplomatic language instilled in a member of the Royal House of Alderaan has vanished.”

Leia arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow and waited for her brother to continue.

“Where did you learn to speak such excellent Corellian slang?”

His sister tapped her foot, her arms crossed, waiting for Luke to cave in. “I’m waiting, smart…” she muttered.

“On what?” Luke countered evenly, but with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

“I saw all those little messages passing between you and Mara. You wanted to say something but she didn’t want you to say it.”

“So you think that I would immediately tell you?”

“We’re twins.”

Luke frowned. “Yeah, but some things between Mara and me remain exactly that.”

“What?”

“Between Mara and me.” He smiled infuriatingly. She might work it out eventually, but he wasn’t going to wrap everything into a little gift and hand it to her. He loved his sister dearly but he was marrying Mara and she had to learn to back off. Now was a good time to start or he didn’t need to be a Jedi Master to foresee difficult times ahead.

“Luke…”

“Leia…” he responded, his blue eyes cooling. “I love you but there are things I cannot tell you. If Mara agrees then I will divulge the matter, but not until then. I’m going to marry her as soon as she agrees to set a date and no one… the New Republic, an uprising of the sith or even a wampa stampede… is going to stop me.”

Leia smiled at him. “You’re quite a man, Luke Skywalker. I hope Mara Jade appreciates what she’s got.”

“I do.” Mara stood behind the pair of them. “Most of the time I’m ready to throttle him but now and again I think of something that makes me want to keep him around.”

Luke walked towards her and held out his hand, love shining in his eyes for anyone to take notice of.

Mara’s face lost its cool expression and the reserve in her green eyes melted away. “I trust him,” she said reaching for him and letting her fingers clasp his. “Leia…” She hesitated for a moment and then ploughed on. “It’s difficult for me to let go of my hostility and my anger. They have kept me alive over the years. I’ll never become what sentient beings call ‘sweet natured’.”

Leia smiled. “Luke loves you the way you are. Never forget that.”

“I won’t and… I love him too.”

“Hey,” Han’s voice called from the lounge. “I thought it was only Ghent who was leaving. You three going with him?”

Leia turned and glared at her husband who was now leaning against the door, his arms folded and an annoying smirk on his face. “Ghent has been accompanied by Threepio and Artoo…”

“Great!” Han exclaimed. “Peace.”

Luke whispered something to Mara and sped along the corridor to his room.

“Where’s he going?” Han asked as he poured drinks for all of them.

“He’s gone to collect a few more things we brought back from Zathoq.”

“More things?” echoed Leia.

“I was most impressed with the journal and the data cards” remarked Winter. “The other objects…”

“Are worth waiting for.” Mara returned lightly.

The door to the lounge slid open and Luke entered carrying a small holdall. “These pieces are fragile,” he said as he carefully laid them out upon a small table.

“These are perfume jars.” Mara picked one up and held it up to the light. “Look at the decorative features inlaid or etched within the glass itself. I’m not exactly sure how this finish was achieved.”

“I remember something like this in your adoptive mother’s quarters, Leia,” Winter said with surprise. “Not exactly the same but probably from a similar source. I believe such things are very rare.”

“These are beautiful,” Leia murmured slowly. “I think I remember…”

A woman’s hands, soft and elegant, reached for the stopper. ‘Here, little one, just a touch and you will smell beautiful…’

Leia blinked and was back in her own lounge and in her own time. Her eyes lit up. “I saw something. It was long ago and I was still a child.”

“A vision?” Mara asked.

Leia shook her head. “No,”” she whispered, a bittersweet expression crossing her face. “I think it was a memory.”

Luke gave her a sympathetic grin. “Now you know how I felt. I kept seeing little flashes of someone else’s past. My own was never that interesting. I know that you had the unsettling experience of going into sympathetic labour over Naboo. That is a little extreme even for us and you’re welcome to that one but we’ve discovered many times that some occurrences can leave an emotional bloodstain in the Force.”

“It happened to me at Endor, too,” Leia said, with a sideways glance at Mara. “It was where the Emperor died.”

“Perhaps one of your strengths in the Force is the ability to pick up emotional resonances,” Han commented wisely.

“Seems that way,” Leia answered. “That’s at least twice it has happened.

“You usually can tell when Luke is in trouble,” Han added.

Mara rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t take any great skill. Just assume the worst and with Skywalker that will be the right thing to do.”

“Hey!” Luke protested. “I resent that.”

Mara chuckled. “Got you there, farmboy.”

“Very funny, Jade.” He turned to his sister. “Perhaps that is what makes you such a good diplomat. You are more sensitive to the way people’s feelings transmit through the Force.”

For a moment there was silence. Each member of the group was busy with their own thoughts until Winter motioned towards the bag at Mara’s feet. “Is that all or are there more treasures for us to see?”

Mara turned her head to face Luke. “Well?”

“These are perhaps not so spectacular, but infinitely more precious,” Luke murmured as he carefully untied the drawstring around a soft leather pouch. First came a small grey stone.

“It’s a stone!” Han observed stupidly.

“This was among Obi-Wan Kenobi’s most treasured possessions.” Luke whispered, awe colouring his voice.

“He left it on Zathoq?” queried Winter.

Mara shook her head. “He gave it away to someone for safekeeping.”

“You going to tell us who?” Han raised an eyebrow enquiringly.

Luke and Mara stared at each other for a moment and then shook their heads simultaneously. “No, but it was among Ric Olie’s things when he died. His adopted son gave it to us along with the data cards bearing our names.”

“We can show you,” Mara said quietly and brought out the holo frame. With another glance at Luke, she unwrapped it from a cloth she’d placed around it to keep it safe. “This was found on the ship itself, imbedded in an old mattress.”

Leia leant forward. “A holo frame?”

Luke moistened suddenly dry lips. “Yes,” he murmured.

“There are pictures stored within.” Mara took a deep breath, nerves fluttering in her stomach.

Luke, sensing her anxiety, placed a comforting hand on hers, squeezed gently and nodded encouragingly.

Mara’s lips widened in a tremulous smile and she turned the device on. The first picture was the one of Obi-Wan and Farae and it was passed around the company in total silence. Han was the first to speak. “She’s very like you. It’s uncanny,” he pronounced slowly.

“It’s a big galaxy,” Mara said shortly. “Lot of people in it. There’s bound to be one or two with similar combinations of hair and eye colour.”

“There’s more,” Luke said and twisted the hidden switch in the frame. The holo of their parents appeared.

“Is that who I think it is?” Han asked quietly.

Luke nodded. “Anakin Skywalker and Padme Naberrie Amidala of Naboo, we think, on their wedding day. We have no actual proof but…” he shrugged lightly. “There is the matter of a family likeness.”

At first, none of them noticed the small child standing at the door dressed in a pair of fluffy blue pyjamas, but his signature in the Force soon registered with his mother.

“Anakin!” Leia exclaimed, rising to go to her youngest son. “You should be sleeping. Go back to bed.”

“I can’t sleep. Can I see?” He slipped past his mother and stopped in front of the articles laid out on the table.

“I suppose so.” Leia’s voice was grudging. “Watch that you don’t break anything.”

Anakin surveyed the items on the table with an intense look of concentration on his face and then immediately went for the small seemingly insignificant river stone. Feeling it pulse in his hand, he exclaimed, “Wow!”

Luke grinned. “You felt it?”

“Uncle Luke…” His blue eyes were wide. “That is amazing… It’s just a stone but it throbs. Like it’s talking to me.”

Luke chuckled. “You can feel it pulse in your hand because it conducts the Force.” He stared at Han and the three women but they were all looking at the pictures in the holo frame. He lowered his voice. “It makes things seem clearer somehow. I saw things that had happened long ago.”

“Like in a dream?” Anakin whispered.

Luke grinned. “I think so.”

His nephew picked up the stone and squeezed his eyes shut. After a moment he opened them, his face mirroring his disappointment. “I couldn’t see any pictures.”

“They don’t always come when you want them to.”

“That’s a Force thing, right Uncle Luke?”

Luke chuckled. “Right. The Force will tell you things when you’re calm and at peace. You have to listen very carefully and you cannot try too hard.”

The child nodded gravely. “I understand but it’s hard when you want something so much.”

Luke ruffled the child’s hair. “You have to relax and let things happen.”

Mara felt a pang deep in her heart as she saw Luke with his nephew and to cover the feeling emptied the leather pouch of the last of its contents. “Luke would like you to keep this,” Mara told Leia, gesturing towards the pendant. “We think that your father carved it for your mother. It’s a japor snippet.” Again in her mind she heard the childish voice. ‘It will bring you good fortune.’

Leia picked up the small object and traced it gently with a finger tip. “Thank you. I have nothing in my possession that belonged to my mother…”

Han smiled warmly at the communication between Leia and Mara. He could tell that Mara was making an effort to interact with Luke’s family. As for Leia, she was only glad that Mara had fallen in love with her brother and Luke wouldn’t have to be alone any more. His attention wandered from the women and fell upon the items residing on the table. He leant forward trying to make out exactly what some of the items were as they had fallen out of the leather pouch and coiled untidily together.

“Hair!” Han said incredulously, interrupting Leia’s thoughts of the beautiful woman she barely remembered. “This pilot kept a stone and pieces of braided hair?”

His attention caught by Han’s exclamation, Luke tilted his head to one side. “People keep locks of hair as a sentimental gesture, Han. You have a lock of Leia’s, I suspect.”

Han flushed. “I do not…” He flushed as Luke stared at him with a small smile on his face. “Okay, okay… I do. So it’s not so weird…”

“Han!” Leia’s voice rose.

“Just a small piece. I cut it off when you were sleeping, once. You never noticed.” He crossed over and brushed a gentle hand over his wife’s head. “I love your hair, you know that,” he whispered in her ear for her to hear alone.

“Oh, Han…” A tear trembled on the tip of an eyelash and fell down her cheek. The Corellian enfolded her in his arms and kissed away the tiny drop of moisture.

Anakin turned to Luke and Mara with disgust. “Why do they have to do that – the kissing thing? Mine do it more than most. I never see my friends’ parents doing that.”

Luke stifled a smile. “They’re in love,” he said.

“You and Mara don’t do that.”

“Give us time,” Luke promised with a wink at his fiancée. “You’ll want to do it too, one day.”

Mara made a face at Luke. “We’ll try not to be that bad,” she said with a wicked grin.

Anakin shuddered. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Mara echoed and smiled at the look of disappointment on the Jedi Master’s face.

Anakin’s attention shifted to the two pieces of braided hair his father was now ignoring, all his consideration concentrated on his wife. “Who do they belong to?”

Mara pointed to the lighter of the two braids. “Your uncle says that one was your grandfather’s. It’s almost the same colour as his own hair.”

“So grandfather must have looked like Uncle Luke. And the other?”

Luke’s voice betrayed continued pain. “That braid belonged to my first teacher - Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He shrugged. “We think that long ago Jedi learners grew their hair like this and when they became knights, these were cut off.”

“Do I have to do that?” Appalled fascination coloured the child’s voice.

Luke shook his head. “No, not if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t want to.” He grinned with relief.

“Then you don’t have to.”

Mara curved into Luke’s side. “Apparently your uncle is head of the Jedi order.” She glanced at Luke as if she couldn’t quite believe it and nodded at Anakin as he giggled. “So if he says you don’t have to, then you don’t.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “He has his uses, believe it or not. I think he would have looked quite nice with a braid.”

“He would have looked silly…”

Han interrupted the conversation. “Anakin Solo…”

“I know, I know… bed time.” Anakin held up the two braids and inspected them. “This one is redder than the other. Grandfather’s is just like yours, uncle…”

Han interrupted his son. “You’ve spun it out for long enough and you do have school tomorrow.”

The child rolled his eyes in a manner so reminiscent of his father that the rest of the company just laughed.

Anakin wished the adults goodnight and as he placed the braids back on the table an odd look crossed his face. At the same time, Winter also rose to leave. Leia ushered her out of the door as Han picked up Anakin and placed him high on his shoulders. The door hissed shut leaving Luke and Mara alone.

“You didn’t say anything,” Mara said quietly.

“You didn’t want me to. I still think Farae and Obi-Wan are your parents but we have no real proof.”

“I need proof,” Mara said, a pained expression on her face. “I don’t need to know who my parents are, but I don’t want to hope when I could be wrong.”

“I know, my love.” He tipped up her chin with his finger and kissed her warmly. She was soft and trusting, her lips parting beneath his.

Suddenly the door hissed open and Anakin ran back into the room followed by a bellow from his irate father. Reluctantly, the lovers ceased their kiss.

“Mara!” he exclaimed picking up something from the table. “This is yours…” and he pressed something into her hand. “It is… This belongs to you.”

“Anakin… this belonged to…” Mara gave Luke a helpless glance from her brilliant green eyes and, caught in the snare of his blue ones, they lingered.

“It’s yours. The Force told me.” His nephew tugged on Mara’s sleeve distracting her away from Luke.

“Anakin!” Han’s voice could be heard down the hall.

“I really better go. Dad sounds kinda cross.” The child gave Luke and Mara a shrewd stare. “You are as bad as the parents. Better go or I’m in trouble – stiff as carbonite trouble.” He grinned and dashed out of the room leaving a bewildered Luke and Mara alone again.

He watched Anakin as he raced from the room, his shoulders beginning to shake. Luke began to laugh helplessly. “’Stiff as carbonite trouble!’” He choked and coughed as Mara pounded him on the back.

“Skywalker, are you sure that child is your sister’s?” Mara muttered as she stared down at what the child had pressed into her hand. It closed reflexively, almost protectively, around the item held there.

“Yes, quite sure… Why?”

“Because he acts like you do,” she mumbled distractedly.

“I’m not like that.”

Mara closed her eyes briefly. “I think you’re worse, if that’s possible?”

“You can be really funny sometimes, Jade. I didn’t appreciate the depth to which your humour could sink.”

“It has to descend to meet yours,” she quipped.

“Ouch!” he exclaimed turning to her. Mara’s facial expression still held shock and a little awe. “What did he give you?”

Mara opened her hand and revealed its precious contents. “Luke… he gave me this.”

In her hand was Obi-Wan Kenobi’s padawan braid.

**************************************************

Coruscant Spaceport – several days later

“How do we get in contact with Luke and Mara?” Forrell trotted along the walkway, staring with unabashed interest at the sights of the city planet’s spaceport.

“We could ask,” Malyre said.

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Lek snorted. “How about I go up to the first guy I see and say, ‘Excuse me, please. I want to see Luke Skywalker. How do I get in touch with him?’”

“That’s a good idea,” Malyre beamed.

“Remember, Malyre. Our Luke is ‘the Luke Skywalker.’” Forrell brushed an imaginary wrinkle from his immaculate, if a little ornate, uniform.

“I know.” The Selonian wrinkled his nose disdainfully. “It could work. People know him.”

“Yes, but he’s the Jedi Master,” Lek said his voice beginning to rise.

Forrell nodded wisely. “Ah, yes. He will be surrounded by security.”

Malyre grunted, his smile fading. “He wasn’t on Zathoq. He came on his own.”

“That was Zathoq; this is Coruscant and on this world – he’s important,” said Forrell firmly.

“What are you three arguing about now?”

The oldsters turned around and looked at the speaker. Barancz ran a hand through his unruly black curls and narrowed his gaze on the trio. “When I told you I wanted to see some of the galaxy I didn’t expect immediately.” He looked bemused as if he couldn’t believe the change his life had taken.

“It’s as good a time as any,” Forrell offered.

“Luke said we could come and visit him on Coruscant,” Malyre said.

“Yes, but maybe he was just saying it,” Barancz muttered a little desperately.

Lek sighed. “I would like to see Merah.” He slipped back into using the name he’d always known Mara by. “I grew fond of the girl.”

“She was rather fond of Luke,” Malyre chipped in.

“She’s in love with him,” the old spacer said sadly. “But I don’t know if she’ll ever tell him that. She needs to be with someone, not flying the galaxy alone.”

Something dimmed in the Selonian’s gaze – a remembrance of past sorrows. “We’ll tell him,” Malyre decided.

“We will not,” Forrell snapped.

“Why can’t we tell him?” asked Malyre. “Lek is right. Luke would be good for Mara and vice-versa.”

“Because it’s none of our business,” Forrell snapped.

“We could make it our business,” the Selonian argued.

“We can’t,” Lek murmured. “Forrell is right. It is none of our concern.”

“When has that stopped you before?” asked Malyre.

Barancz lifted weary grey eyes into the sky above, noting idly that the traffic was non-stop. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. See a bit of the galaxy and take the three oldsters for company. Now he was beginning to have his doubts.

Malyre lifted a careless shoulder. “When do we see Luke?”

Barancz frowned. “I don’t know. I’m not even sure if he’s on this planet.”

“He was heading to Coruscant. Mara told us that was where she was going. She wanted him looked over by a doctor who knows his medical history and then they were going to see his family.”

“His sister is high up in the government,” Forrell said. “We have no chance… Malyre… Malyre…” He looked around hurriedly. “Where’s he gone?”

Barancz whirled around scanning in every direction until he spotted the Selonian’s lanky form heading towards a docking bay containing an x-wing.

**************************

“Luke?”

The man checking over his x-wing lifted his head at the sound of the unfamiliar voice.

“You’re not Luke,” the voice continued accusingly.

Wedge Antilles pushed a grubby hand through his dark hair and turned around. A six foot plus Selonian stood glaring at him.

“No, I’m not Luke.” The Corellian pilot’s dark eyes stared at the alien bemusedly. “Luke who?”

The alien gave an exasperated sigh. “We came all the way to see him and how do we find him?”

“I… eh…” Wedge stammered. “Find…?”

“Luke Skywalker. Who else would I be looking for?”

‘Tourists!’ Wedge thought. ‘Somehow they recognised me and think that I can introduce them to the hero of the Rebellion. Well, they’re going to be disappointed. I can’t remember the last time Luke was even on planet.’

Suddenly three figures came up behind the lanky creature. “We’re very sorry, sir,” Lek apologised. “He’s old and doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“I do too,” Malyre argued. “Standing around won’t help us find Luke. I’m the only one with enough brains to stop gawking around them like a bunch of outer-rim tourists.”

“You’re searching for Luke Skywalker,” Wedge couldn’t resist checking, hiding his smile with difficulty. “The Jedi Master? That Luke Skywalker?”

“And Mara,” added the shortest, roundest man Wedge had seen in years.

Wedge straightened. “Luke and Mara?” he questioned casually, although the casualness was deceptive. Rogue Leader had gone to red alert without blinking. ‘Okay, it wasn’t the first time someone had connected the pair of them. The newsnets had been speculating about their relationship for years. Wouldn’t we all like to know what’s going on.’

“Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade,” Forrell said brightly.

“We met them on Zathoq and Luke said if we ever wanted to visit we would be most welcome. So here we are and we don’t know how to get in contact with him… I don’t suppose you know him do you?”

Wedge blinked. “I… ah…”

“He could be in the medicentre as he was in quite a mess by the time those thugs were finished with him. He wasn’t ready to be out of the Zathoq medicentre and Mara wasn’t happy with him, but he limped out of there. If she could have tied him down she would have. Probably collapsed on the flight home. He certainly looked terrible.” Forrell burbled cheerfully on.

“Of course, he knows Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, you dimwit,” Lek roared. “They’re famous.”

“I…” Wedge wondered if he was ever going to get a word in instead of stammering like a half-wit for an hour.

“He might not. He could be from off-planet,” Forrell replied indignantly.

“He has an x-wing. Luke flies an x-wing,” Malyre stated as if that tidied things up. “They’re in love with one another but will never admit it.”

Wedge blinked again. These… people had lost him. ‘Who was in love with whom?’

Barancz closed his eyes and groaned.

“You don’t tell that sort of things to strangers,” Lek cautioned his old friend. “Just because he has an x-wing doesn’t mean that he is personally acquainted with Luke Skywalker.

“He has a kind face,” said Malyre.

“There are vibro-shiv murderers who have kind faces,” Forrell interrupted. “I work in security and I know this for a fact.”

“Excuse me a moment,” Wedge murmured, finding his voice at long last. “I’ll see what I can do. I can’t promise anything.”

*************************************

Wedge returned to the cockpit of his ship and activated the com control, his shoulders shaking with suppressed mirth. “Han, old friend. This is Wedge.”

“Wedge? What can I do for you?”

“Where’s Luke? Is he, by any chance, on Coruscant?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“So he is on planet. You’ve been keeping that very quiet.”

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the com. “Well… He is… actually. Just arrived a couple of days ago. We’re trying to keep it away from the holo-reporters.”

“You succeeded. How bad was he hurt? Is he in the medicentre?” Wedge grinned to himself as he heard Han’s startled intake of breath. This was interesting.

“He wouldn’t go.”

“Sounds like Luke.”

“What’s all this about? You’re remarkably well-informed about something no-one is supposed to know anything about.”

“I’ve just been accosted…” Wedge peered out of his cockpit. “By four very strange beings… no, make that three strange beings and one rather embarrassed looking human.”

“It could be the guys that helped Luke and Mara on Zathoq,” Han mused aloud.

“Zathoq,” Wedge repeated reassured, his suspicions confirmed. “They did mention Zathoq.”

“Luke’s just returned from there.”

“What in the name of Nal Hutta was he doing in that hell-hole?”

“It’s a Jedi Force thing.”

“Oh. Tell Luke he has visitors.”

“Luke and Mara, you mean?”

“Funny you should mention that, Solo. Mara has been put into the equation also. Is there something going on between Luke and Mara?” There was a choking sound on the other end of the link. Wedge really wished he could have been privy to the expression on Han’s face.

“They’re both staying with us,” was all that the other Corellian would say.

Wedge gave a dry chuckle. “Both of them! You’re talking about Luke and Mara in the same building for more than a day? You’re braver than I thought.”

“Call yourself a Corellian?” Han retorted.

Wedge laughed again. “I think there are four individuals who would like to see him. If they’ve come from Zathoq, they’ve come rather a long way.”

“Hold on a minute, Wedge. Luke’s just in the next room. He’ll be able to confirm the identity of these people.”

“Wedge!” Luke’s voice came over the comlink. “Han tells me there is a… group from Zathoq looking for me. I’m glad you found them. Force knows what they might have got up to otherwise.”

“I didn’t find them, boss. They found me. Luck?”

“There’s no such thing as ‘luck’,” Luke quoted Obi-Wan’s maxim with a smile on his face. “I’m at Leia’s…. if you wouldn’t mind…?”

“Escorting them there?”

“You got it.”

“And they are?”

“I would guess at Lek, Forrell – as round as he is tall - and Malyre. He’s the Selonian…”

“There is a Selonian,” Wedge uttered, surprised.

“And the embarrassed human… that would be Barancz. About our age with dark curly hair and a worried expression. Even more so if he’s been with the oldsters for a while. They are unique.”

“The descriptions match perfectly. Luke… what have you been up to?”

“Oh, the usual.”

“That’s why Han thinks you should be in bacta.” Wedge heard Luke give a derisive snort. “Okay, Wedge out.”

The Corellian pilot slid from the x-wing and faced the dubious looking quartet. “You’re unbelievably lucky, guys. It just so happens I’m an old friend of Luke Skywalker’s from way back. I was… just er… corroborating your story. Turns out Luke is on planet and would like to see you. I’m to take you to him.”

“Hold on a minute. How do we know you’re on the level?” Lek challenged suspiciously, bushy eyebrows bristling. “You could arrest us and we would disappear never to be seen or heard from again.”

“That’s easy to prove,” Wedge answered carefully. “My name and rank is General Wedge Antilles of the New Republic.” He held out his identification chip. Forrell examined it thoroughly.

“This is for real, guys,” he announced. “I can recognise a forgery instantly. Being in security you know.”

“Wedge smiled cordially. “I take it I have the pleasure of escorting Lek, Forrell, Malyre and Barancz.”

Malyre bared his toothy fangs. “You do, young man, you do.”

Barancz’s mouth dropped open. The old guys were taking it in their stride but he knew how incredibly fortunate they had been. You didn’t just land on a planet like Coruscant and suddenly find the person you were looking for. Bewildered, he followed the dark haired pilot. He’d even known their names.

***********************************

Solo Residence

“Do you know where we are?” whispered Forrell loudly.

Barancz shook his head, too overawed by the sheer size and scale of the buildings, the amount of traffic and how many people must live here.

“This is the Imperial Palace.”

“Are they arresting us?” Barancz asked.

“Goodness me, no,” uttered Forrell.

“Another security check?”

“Luke is important.”

Wedge grinned as he overheard the comment. “Actually the security is really for his sister and her family. We are heading for her residence.”

“She lives in this building?” Barancz questioned cautiously.

Wedge nodded and held out his identification chip for inspection by the grey suited guard. “We’re expected. Luke and Mara know that you’re coming.”

“They do?” Malyre grinned.

“They’re looking forward to seeing you. This way,” Wedge ushered his party towards a sleek looking turbolift.

***********************************

“I can’t believe they all just got on a ship and came to Coruscant,” Mara said.

“It’s the sort of thing they would do, sweetheart,” Luke murmured.

“But they haven’t been off Zathoq in years. Barancz has never even left the system and they come all the way here.”

Luke pulled her close and kissed her lips gently. “They can come to our wedding. If you’ll still marry me?”

“Do I have to do that?” Mara teased, a twinkle lighting her green eyes.

Luke began to nuzzle the soft skin on her graceful neck. “Oh, yes. Otherwise I’ll have to resort to Corellian tactics.”

Mara pulled away from her fiancé. “Corellian tactics,” she echoed.

“Yeah. Kidnapping and Dathomir.”

Mara still looked blank.

“Han and Leia,” he explained with a warm, throaty chuckle.

Mara’s insides turned to fire at the warmth in his voice. “Your idiot brother-in-law kidnapped your sister?”

“It worked.” Luke began to kiss her again.

“Less of the ‘idiot’”, a voice shouted from outside the room.

“Leave them be, Han,” Leia’s voice replied faintly.

Mara pulled away from Luke. “He’s still listening at doors. I told you there’s no privacy in this establishment.”

Luke’s blue eyes darkened almost to navy. “So you admit to wanting… no, needing,” he stressed, “…a little privacy?”

“I want to be alone with you,” Mara confessed, almost surprised at herself.

“That can be arranged,” he whispered low in his throat.

“I don’t want to be interrupted by droids, children or Corellian smugglers.”

“When will you marry me?” Luke pressed.

“I… I…”

The door opened and Leia peered cautiously around the frame. “Am I interrupting anything?” A twinkle graced her expressive brown eyes.

“Yes!” Luke snapped.

“No,” Mara murmured, flushing a little under the amused gaze of the other woman. ‘Or sisters either,’ she added to her list.

“You are about to have guests.”

Luke’s irritation vanished. “The old ones are here already?”

“It helps to be me.” Leia brushed a non-existent wrinkle from her deep blue robe.

“She’s speaking the truth.” Han stood behind his wife, his tone dry.

The door chime sounded and they could hear Threepio, returned to the household, shuffle his way to answer it. “If you would come this way, good sirs. General Antilles, might I say what a pleasure it is to see you again?”

“Thank you, Threepio.”

Luke grinned at Mara. “Come on,” he said, heading towards Leia’s reception room.

“Guys!” he shouted and strode forward, his hand outstretched, clasping Barancz, Forrell, Malyre and finally Lek by the hand.

The two men regarded each other solemnly. “Your debt has been repaid,” Luke said quietly.

Lek stood unsure of what to do and then he pulled Luke into a back slapping embrace. “You’re looking well, young one, and I’ve never considered it to be a debt. I got the best of the bargain.”

“I understand.”

“Where is she?” Malyre asked.

“I’m here,” Mara replied as she walked into the room and suffered being hugged by Forrell, Malyre and finally Lek. Barancz stood a little stiffly to one side until Mara held out her hand. The younger man shook her hand and then sat down on one of Leia’s plush sofas.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Luke said.

“We just decided to come and so we did.” Forrell was matter-of-fact about flying from one end of the galaxy to the other.

“You’re looking better, Luke,” Lek observed.

“He couldn’t have looked much worse,” Mara chipped in. “He deserved to suffer.”

“Mara!” Luke’s eyes widened.

“You left the medicentre too early.”

“I did not.”

“You did.”

“Did not…”

“See, Malyre, there is no way these two would ever admit they were in love with one another,” Forrell announced loudly.

“They might if we told them it was clearer than transparisteel viewports to everyone around them.”

Barancz rubbed his forehead. His head was starting to ache.

Mara and Luke turned to each other and blinked. ‘We’ve been found out, Jade.’ Luke sent to her.

‘You’re telling me,’ she answered.

Lek cleared his throat. “I know we’ve just arrived but these two could never keep their mouths shut.”

Mara glared at the oddly assorted quartet. “You’re saying that Luke and I are in love with one another?”

“Mara…” Luke began.

“Why on Coruscant do you think that I could be in… love with him?” She wrinkled her straight little nose disdainfully in the direction of the Jedi Master.

“He matters to you,” Lek said simply. “No one else ever has in all the years I’ve known you.”

The fire in her eyes died immediately and a strange expression crossed her beautiful face.

“You cried when he was hurt,” Lek continued.

“She did, eh?” said Luke.

“Skywalker!” Mara warned.

“Merah, girl. You trust no one and yet you trust him? That tells me quite a lot.” Malyre’s face was quizzical. “Give him a chance. You’re too young and pretty to fly the galaxy alone.”

“I can look after myself,” Mara answered.

“Of course you can, but we’re not so sure about Luke. We think he needs you to look after him,” Forrell added.

“Hey!” Luke protested, but a smile crossed his face.

He walked towards Mara and held out his hands and with a warm smile she took them in her own. “You’re not far wrong, guys,” he confessed softly. “I’m in love with her and she’s even admitted that she loves me back. I’m trying to get her to marry me… Well,” Luke shrugged his shoulders lightly. “She did agree to marry me on the journey back from Zathoq. It’s just that… I’d like to get married now – as soon as we can.”

Barancz jumped to his feet. “What are you waiting for, Mara?”

Lek turned and stared at his younger friend in astonishment.

Barancz gave a nervous half-smile. “Just trying to help.”

Malyre winked at Luke. “He’s more like us than he thinks he is.”

Mara grinned as Luke pulled her close by his side. “I’m waiting for farmboy here to get well,” she murmured.

“I’m fine,” Luke almost howled. “Mara!”

Lek took a step forward and stood in front of the couple. “Please, for your own sakes. Be together and be happy. The people you were investigating…”

Mara’s eyes glistened with unexpected tears. “They didn’t get the chance to be happy. They were happy for a short while and then it was taken away from them.”

Luke placed a finger under her chin and tipped her face up to meet his warm, steadfast gaze. “Don’t let that happen to us, Mara Jade.”

“Luke, I…”

“Obi-Wan never got to grow old with Farae. My mother lost her husband, her children and her life. Ric Olie spent half his life waiting, hoping or dreading for something or someone to come. We’ll never know the whole truth about what happened. Those files were too corrupted – even Ghent admits they are useless.”

The door slid open and Han Solo stood with a tray of refreshments in his hands. “Drinks anyone?”

Luke gave Mara a hunted look and suddenly pulled her out of the door almost sending his sister flying. Only her Jedi reflexes saved her and the plate of snacks she was carrying from disaster.

“’Scuse us a moment,” he muttered.

“Skywalker!” Mara protested.

The door hissed shut leaving the bewildered company standing like Hutts in a shoe store.

“What was that about?” asked Forrell.

Han shrugged. “Not a clue. Luke is a Jedi,” he said as if that answered everything. “I’m his brother-in-law, Han Solo and this is my wife, Leia.”

Malyre bowed formally. “Councillor,” he intoned.

“We owe you our thanks,” Leia said. “I don’t know how my brother does it, but he finds friends in many places.”

“He is a true gentleman, Councillor,” Lek offered.

Leia smiled, her dark eyes warm. “I know.”

The door opened once again and triumphantly Luke dragged a flushed Mara Jade in after him. “She said yes. She really said yes,” he crowed. “We’re getting married and we’re doing it now.”

“Luke!” Leia stepped forward, dismayed. “But there’s no time to plan a ceremony…”

“Even better,” Mara muttered. “If I have to marry him, the less fuss the better.”

“But…”

“I love her and I’m not taking the chance that she’ll change her mind.” Luke stuck out his chin with determination.

“I won’t change my mind,” Mara snapped.

“I won’t let you.”

“I’d like to see you try…”

“No problem.” Luke grinned.

“Oh yes?” Mara’s green eyes met Luke’s defiantly in challenge.

“Yes.” The Jedi Master pulled Mara into his arms and kissed her firmly – kissed her until she was red, breathless and shaking.

“Uh, kids,” Han muttered. “You have company.”

Luke and Mara separated to find Jacen and Anakin looking at them with something akin to disgust and Jaina, with fascination.

“Finally they’re seeing sense,” Malyre crowed triumphantly.

Lek gave a tired smile. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“Yes.” Luke blushed but held his ground. “I want to get married now.”

“I’m not marrying you in… those.” Mara pointed at Luke’s well worn Jedi uniform of black tunic and pants.

“It’s an old one, Jade and it’s comfortable against my skin.”

“If you’d gone to the medi-centre those abrasions would have been healed by now.”

“I am healed.”

“Well, I’m still not marrying you in those.”

Leia summed up the situation and stepped in. Organising was one of her strengths. “Shall we set a date for two days away? Karrde is on planet, Mara. Most of the Rogues are on Coruscant, Luke, and one or two of the Jedi are, too. That gives us time to do things right.”

Luke held up his hand. “Leia…”

“If you have to get married in a hurry, I want it to be a decent affair and not a rushed ceremony in some grubby little office as if I didn’t approve of the pair of you getting married. I won’t have that.”

Mara frowned but gave a grudging nod. Something told her that to give in gracefully would be the best option; otherwise, Leia could and would make their marriage a full state occasion.

“Luke?” Leia asked.

“Okay.”

“Your best uniform, brother,” Leia told him. “And Mara…”

Mara screwed up her face. It was clear she wasn’t going to get off without some sacrifice on her part.

“You and I are going shopping.”

“But…”

Leia battled on. She hadn’t fought against the Empire for years for nothing. Ten minutes later and all the family had tasks.

**********************************

Mara sat in the lounge feeling almost forgotten as Leia, Winter, Mirax Horn and Iella Antilles rushed around with piles of lacy fripperies, flowers and data pads. She’d been dragged from shop to shop in a whirlwind tour of Leia’s favourite designers. Clothes had been pulled on and off her until she no longer saw what she was wearing.

“Enough!” Mara protested.

“But Mara…”

“One more and then I’m going home. I’ll get married in my leather suit if I have to.”

Leia capitulated unwillingly. Mara’s eyes boded ill for anyone crossing her on this. “What about this?” she said.

Mara shook her head. “No. It’s not what I want.” She closed her eyes and moved in a trance to a rack at the back of the shop.

“Mistress,” the shop proprietor said quickly. “These are not my own designs. This is a collection of antique clothes.”

Mara’s eyes snapped open. “This,” she said. “I’m wearing this.”

“It may not fit you,” Leia said, her eyes taking in the soft fabric encased in its protective sheath.

“It will,” Mara whispered. “I know it will. It’s perfect.”

That had been yesterday and with the wedding set for the following day, the madness in the Solo apartment had almost reached Mara’s breaking point. “Can I do… anything?” Mara asked.

Winter paused in her assignment and shook her perfectly coiffed white head. “Just sit and rest. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

Mara nodded. “Where’s Luke?”

“Han took him to his apartment to check over his clothes. They will stay there tonight.”

Mara’s shoulders slumped. So not even farmboy to take out her frustration on. ‘Who are you fooling?’ she asked herself. ‘You just want to see him.’

****************************

Luke sat on his balcony and watched the Coruscant traffic move past. The noise coming from inside his apartment made him smile but didn’t make him want to join in. Han, the old guys, Wedge, Corran and Talon Karrde were indulging in a sort of party for Luke but the bridegroom was the only one not taking part.

“Luke!”

“I’m out here,” he called.

“What’s wrong, son?” Lek limped slowly out to join him and handed the Jedi a glass of port from Chandrila.

“Nothing.” Luke smiled at the old man and took a sip of the rich drink. “Hey!” he gave a silent little whistle. “This is quality stuff. Where did Han procure this? Or maybe Talon brought it with him?”

“General Solo found it in your cupboard, Luke.”

“It’s in my cupboard? Luke gave a wry grin. “I might have guessed. I don’t drink much. Although…” he took another appreciative sip. “If I’d realised this was there. I might have started on this a long time ago.”

“Don’t drink too much of it,” Lek advised patting Luke on his black clad shoulder. “Mara wants you at your best tomorrow.”

“I won’t.”

“Come inside and join us.”

The noise in Luke’s lounge had reached deafening proportions. “I will but I think I’ll just sit out here for a while longer. I’m enjoying the peace.”

Lek grinned and wandered slowly back inside where he was met with ringing cries. Luke wondered if most of them knew he was there. He was never one to be the life and soul of the party but most of his friends would swear that he was its heart.

He leant on the balcony rail and stared out into the sky. Coruscant’s sun was just beginning its slow descent and the evening was still bright but beginning to take on the change between light and dark.

A graceful silver vessel flew past him heading out towards the horizon. It couldn’t be – could it…? It wasn’t, but for a moment Luke could have sworn that he’d seen the ghost of his mother’s silver ship flying proudly the way it should have. His eyes followed the elegant ship until it vanished. The ship… finding it had brought him Mara. He had to see her. He couldn’t wait until the following day. He had to know that she wanted this as much as he did.

Keeping an eye on the party in his main reception room, Luke entered the apartment from the balcony door into his bedchamber. He picked up his Jedi cloak where it lay abandoned on his bed and crept out into his hallway, bypassing the raucous revelry. He hoped Han wasn’t too drunk because Leia would kill him otherwise.

****************************************

Mara sighed as the ladies fussed around her. They meant well but she just wasn’t used to all this female bonding. All of these ladies weren’t people you tangled with lightly. They could look after themselves but as far as Mara was concerned, they all seemed to have lost rational thought. She got to her feet and wandered along the hallway to her room and examined her wedding dress as it hung against the wardrobe. The dress would fall to her feet and form a train behind her. The lace it was made from was old and soft, almost a creamy yellow in colour, long wide sleeves came to a point at her middle finger and a soft cap would cover her hair. It was uncanny but it could almost have been the same as… Mara froze. The holo picture was still in the lounge. She closed the door to her room and sped back along the hallway. Just as she was about to enter the lounge again, the main door opened quietly and a figure entered making almost no sound.

“Luke!” Mara whispered, her senses immediately singing into joyous life.

“Get your cloak,” he murmured softly.

“But…”

“Do they really need you?”

Mara’s eyes began to shine. “No,” she answered and grabbed her cloak.

With a conspiratorial smile the lovers slipped from the Solos’ suite and headed to the roof of the Imperial Palace. The sun was low in the darkening sky and lights had sprung up across the continual city. Only the dark shadow of the Manarai Mountains contained no dots of brilliant colour.

“I love you,” Luke said as he kissed her gently.

Mara curved herself into his side and leant her head on his shoulder. “I know and I love you too but what’s the matter?”

Luke opened and shut his mouth unable to formulate what he was thinking into something coherent.

“Skywalker I’ve known you for too long and too well not to know when that torturous mind of yours has something nagging inside it.”

“I just hope you really want this,” he said slowly, moving away from her side, his fists clenched over the railing, knuckles white. “I want to know that I’m not pressuring you into something you don’t want or are not ready for. I want this so much that my insides are twisting themselves into knots. I worry that I could have done anything you weren’t happy about.”

Mara’s eyes widened. He really had to learn to trust them both. Part of this was her fault. She’d held him at bay for so long that he was uncertain of this rapid change in their situation. It wasn’t rapid at all. They’d had ten years to learn to love one another. They were lucky to have had the luxury of time. “Luke…” She crossed to him and placed her hands over his. “Relax. I’m not going anywhere and tomorrow I’ll marry you because I love you. I want this… so much.” Mara lifted her hand and turned Luke’s handsome face towards her. His blue eyes were shadowed with remembered pain. “We have so much to look forward to, farmboy.”

Luke gave a deep sigh and some of the tension left his body. “Thanks.” His hand caught at hers and he brought it to his lips kissing it. A little shiver ran through her. “I wonder if Han and the boys have even noticed I’m missing.”

“That bad?” Mara grinned.

“It was pretty loud. A whole herd of banthas could have rumbled past them and I don’t think they would have noticed.”

“The women were up to their necks in frills. Not really my thing.”

“No, I suppose not.” Luke’s mouth quirked into the little smile she loved. “I never get tired of the sunsets. Wherever I am I always try to see them.”

“You’re strange at times, Skywalker,” Mara said smiling.

“I see your hair colour in the sky every time I see another sunset. It is so beautiful. You are so beautiful.”

Mara blushed.

He wrapped his arms tightly about her and brought her in close to his body. Mara could feel every hard sinew and she pressed herself against him, moaning softly. Luke dipped his head and covered her mouth with his. This kiss started sweet but soon developed into something passionate. They didn’t speak for some time, just the sighs of lovers. Their communication was by touch and sense alone.

*************************

“Hey, Wedge!” Han called. “Have you seen Luke?”

Wedge Antilles pulled himself from the corner of Luke’s comfiest chair and searched the apartment. “He’s not here,” the Corellian pilot said in amazement. “He’s skipped the party and gone elsewhere.”

There was a beep from Luke’s communications centre. “Han!” Leia’s face appeared on the screen. “Can I speak to Luke?”

Han shuffled his feet. “Well… eh… He’s not here.”

“Do you know where he is?”

Han shook his head. “Nope. What’s this all about?”

“Mara’s skipped off somewhere.”

Han grinned at his wife. “They’ll be together somewhere.”

“I thought so.” Leia was not amused. “They’re getting married tomorrow.”

“Stating the obvious, sweetheart.”

“I just didn’t want to think Mara might have got cold feet.”

“Yeah, but somehow I don’t think so. She really loves him.”

“Yes, she does.”

“I’ll try his comlink.”

“Good idea.”

Han switched on his com and called Luke’s frequency. “Hey, buddy.”

Luke fumbled for his comlink. ‘Sith! Where was it?’ With a sigh of relief he located it and cleared his throat before speaking. “Han! You still sober? I can hardly believe it.”

“I’ll forget you said that. You’d better back be here and return the bride to my wife’s tender care or there’s no way Leia will let you two marry tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Up on the palace roof, lying on their Jedi cloaks, Luke dropped a kiss on Mara’s forehead and trailed a gentle finger down the naked flesh he held in his arms. Her breath caught as his fingers toyed with a rosy taunting nipple.

“The sun has almost set, my love.”

Mara sat up reluctantly and pulled on her clothes. Luke did the same.

“That was Han,” Luke explained adjusting his belt with his lightsaber at his waist.

“I thought it was probably one of them. Took them a while to notice we’d gone.”

“It did, didn’t it?” Luke picked up Mara cloak and placed it around her shoulders. “Come on, I’ll walk you back down.”

Mara nodded and held out her hand. “Come on, farmboy.”

******************************************************

Coruscant – 6 months after the separation of the Skywalker twins

The Grand Corridor in the newly renamed Imperial Palace on Imperial Centre was busy at that time of the day. Bright morning sunshine poured through the shaped and coloured panes of glass set high in the vaulted ceiling. Beautiful Ch’hala trees lining the walkway added splashes of ever changing colour as it rippled up and down the slender trunks.

Lady Sabé of Naboo carefully picked her way through the throng of people but did not marvel at the spectacular beauty of the Grand Corridor. She hadn’t wanted to come to Coruscant, but Padme was on Alderaan with her daughter and there was no one else that Queen Jamillia trusted to take Padme’s place as senator. ‘An empty position,’ thought the graceful woman. The senate had become something controlled by Supreme Chancellor or Emperor Palpatine as he had recently styled himself. There was nothing that anyone could do.

A small hooded and robed figure slipped from behind one of the many emerging statues to the new Emperor. “Lady Sabé.”

“Yes, Farae. I am surprised to see you here on Coruscant.”

“M’Lady sent me with a message, but I had another more pressing reason and you are the only one who can advise me. I do not want to burden M’Lady with this. I had to see and speak with you on a private and personal matter.”

A sunbeam caught Farae’s face under her hood. Sabé noted that her face was pinched and pale.

“You are not well or something has upset you,” the senior handmaiden pronounced, peering at her younger companion’s face.

Farae bit her lip and looked about her. “Is this area monitored?”

Sabé nodded gracefully. “Of course.”

“The gardens then.”

Sabé led the way, a frown marring her usually calm features. Something was very wrong with Farae. She’d been worried about her when her youthful colleague had fallen for the young Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Since he’d left her, Farae had slipped into a depressed state even though she’d known all along that there was no future for them.

“I have a sound disrupter. It will stop our conversation from being intercepted. Even outdoors one cannot be too careful.”

Farae nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered and sank down upon an ornamental stone bench.

“What’s wrong, Farae?”

“The situation on Naboo has reached critical. Since the death of Boss Nass, the relations between the human and Gungan populations have deteriorated rapidly. Investigators think that the situation is being stirred up as fighting has broken out on several occasions.”

“I suspect the Emperor,” Sabé admitted. “His new servant, Darth Vader, strides around as if he owns everything. Lord Vader has it in for Naboo and for M’Lady in particular.” The new senator sighed. “We should have expected that.”

“We have new problems. A mysterious virus is threatening the planet. As yet no cure has been found. M’Lady is threatening to return to Naboo. The Viceroy and Vicereine want her to stay where she’s safe.”

“She will want to be with her people.”

Farae pushed down her hood angrily, her red-gold hair shining brightly in the sun’s glow. “What about her ch…”

“Ssh!” Sabé peered around her. “Do not mention such things.” She stared critically at Farae. “I thought the Jedi were supposed to have…”

“Removed my memories? Yes, they were. For some reason mine have returned.”

“Force!” breathed Sabé worriedly.

“I remember there were children and I know they were split up and sent away. Leia is on Alderaan with Dormé and Luke has gone…” she trembled. “With Obi-Wan.”

“Oh, Farae.” Sabé’s arm crept around the young handmaiden’s shoulders and was shocked to feel through her cloak how thin Farae’s frame was.

“Jedi children,” she whispered. “Only hope.”

“You said you had something else to tell me?” Sabé pressed gently.

Farae stared at the ground. “I should have said something long ago but I could not.” She took a shuddering breath. “I too… am with child.”

Sabé swallowed past the lump which had appeared in her throat. “But you swore to serve…”

“I did not mean it to happen,” Farae cried, her green eyes frightened.

“Obi-Wan?”

Farae nodded, her lips trembling and opened her cloak to reveal a body that was no longer reed-slim. “Another Jedi child.”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“At first I didn’t know and once I realised… I thought you might take it away.”

“I would never…”

“This baby is in danger too. I don’t know if it is a Force sensitive child, but considering who her father is…”

“It’s a girl?”

“I think so. Don’t ask me why I’m so sure but I am. I don’t want her to go away from me. I don’t want to have to let her go.” Farae buried her head in her hands. “Obi-Wan would want to know he is to be a father but I cannot tell him.”

“No,” Sabé agreed softly. “You cannot.”

“He could not take Luke himself… Two Force users in one house. A beacon to the Jedi hunters. Vader is picking the Jedi apart - knight by knight. He has placed Padme’s son with a childless couple and remains nearby to watch and protect him. He never told me where it was and I did not ask. The temptation to go and be with him would be far too great. It is somewhere in the Outer Rim on the edge of Wild Space but that’s all I know.”

“It’s enough,” Sabé muttered tartly. “You cannot give birth on Coruscant. We are all watched so carefully.”

“Because of M’lady?”

“Of course. Though the spies might not be so aware of your identity as a handmaiden to the former Queen of Naboo.”

“Because Queen Jamillia assigned me to M’lady’s service late.”

“M’Lady continues to defy the Emperor and speak out,” Sabé confided. “She won’t hide what she feels.”

“The other handmaidens say that is why Naboo is being punished.”

Sabé’s face hardened. “Perhaps.”

“What am I to do?” Farae’s eyes begged her companion for an answer. “If my baby has the power of the Force, Vader will come and take her away and kill her. I do not want to let her go. I do not want to lose her. She is all I have of Obi-Wan.” Farae began rocking back and fore on the bench, her hands clutching her stomach protectively.

Sabé closed her eyes. This wasn’t a situation she’d prepared for. “We’ll think of something.”

***************************************************************

Luke and Mara wandered slowly back to Leia’s apartment. “How do you feel about tomorrow?” he asked.

“I feel many things,” she answered carefully. “There is hope for us, for our future, but somewhere I feel sadness. Not about us, but for the people who brought us together…”

“Our pasts?” Luke queried with understanding. “My parents, the Jedi.” He pressed a little. “Your parents?”

“Whoever my parents were,” she said dryly. “I feel sad that they cannot see us today.”

“Maybe they can,” Luke countered and pulled her close, once again for another series of soft kisses.

Mara pulled away a little. “Maybe they can,” she echoed and lifted her wrist, glancing at her chrono. “Skywalker! Have you seen the time?”

“No,” Luke said.

The Solo apartment door flew open.

“Mara Jade - inside. Luke Skywalker - goodnight.” Leia stood frowning, her arms crossed. “Where have you been?”

“Oh… around,” her brother replied vaguely, his blue eyes full of laughter and hidden secrets.

“Well goodbye. You need to go to your apartment and Mara needs to go to her bed.”

“Leia!” Luke whined.

Mara laughed and kissed him sweetly. “Go, Skywalker. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Just as he walked away Mara seemed to see another figure alongside him. The figure turned and Mara’s hand flew to her lips. She couldn’t be sure but it looked like the picture of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi. The image stopped and the vision’s hand reached out to Mara, yearning in his gaze, then he turned to face the departing figure of Luke and shimmered away into the air.

*****************

The wedding of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade was a private, intensely moving ceremony witnessed only by family and their closest friends. Leia stood flanked by Han and her children - all the love and hope she felt for her brother and his wife-to-be shining in her eyes. Talon Karrde smiled genially at his former second-in-command, beautiful in her cream lace gown. Malyre grinned a toothy smile and nudged Forrell, whose gold braid trimmed uniform threatened to outshine everyone there. Although nothing could outshine the bride. She was radiant.

She’d appeared on Lek’s arm and Luke’s jaw had dropped. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. Mara was dressed in an almost identical gown to the one his mother was wearing in the holo. The cream cap covered her red-gold hair which hung down over her shoulders almost to her waist.

“You look beautiful,” Luke murmured. “I can’t believe you wore a dress like that. I knew you’d look wonderful whatever you wore.”

“It was chance,” Mara whispered. “You look very smart, farmboy. I could even fall in love with you all over again.”

“You could, eh?” Luke smoothed his hand over his Jedi styled tunic, but at his neck Mara could see a hint of vivid blue, just the colour of his eyes.

All their barriers had gone and the love flowed between the Jedi Master and his bride like the unbroken thread of the Force itself. As the ceremony progressed Luke gave thanks that he had a chance to be with his loved ones.

‘I love you,’ he sent to Mara.

Her green eyes sparkled into his. ‘I know and I love you. What made us take so long?’

‘Stubbornness… I don’t know. Spare a thought for my parents and yours.’

‘Now, remember it’s not entirely certain,’ Mara told him.

‘I know,’ Luke’s head descended and his lips met hers to the cheers of family and closest friends. So they didn’t know everything, so the files were corrupted, the tragedy long past that they and their families had gone through to get to this point couldn’t be rewritten. They had each other and they had their love. Trust in the Force.

**************************************

**************************************

“My Emperor!” The black masked and cloaked figure knelt in his holographic image of homage before his master.

“Rise, Lord Vader and report.”

“We have captured a shuttle heading for the Sluis Van sector.”

“Any particular reason?”

“There was a strong Force presence on board.”

“Indeed. It is a strange direction in which to be heading… or perhaps not. The Outer Rim has long harboured our enemies.” The Emperor rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Another Jedi captured. Excellent, Lord Vader.”

Vader’s modulated voice changed slightly. “Yes,” he said slowly. “That’s what I thought. The presence was certainly strong enough.”

“And…”

“We crippled the vessel and then drew it into our docking bay via a tractor beam. Unfortunately the occupant was fatally injured during this procedure.”

“You have not told me everything, Lord Vader,” divined Palpatine.

“The occupant was a pregnant woman. The shock brought on a premature labour and she died giving birth.”

“Which of the Jedi was it? Who did we destroy?” Palpatine cackled malevolently.

“There were no Jedi on board.” Vader said slowly, his harsh mechanical breathing steady. “The Force strong presence belonged to the child.”

Palpatine’s wizened face brightened. “A child!” He then turned towards the holographic image of his faithful servant. “A child – how could you confuse…?”

“The Force runs very strong in this one.” Vader’s image moved from the spot in front of the holoprojector and returned carrying a small wrapped bundle. All that was visible was a tuft of reddish hair. Vader’s massive black gloved hand was almost tender as he smoothed the hair against the baby’s head. “Will I have it killed?” He waited, the perfect picture of obedience.

The baby yawned and opened her eyes. They were bright green.

Palpatine thought for a moment. “No,” he said.

**********************************************

The End

My thanks as always to my lovely beta reader Mona, to Niqella, Michele and the girls on the lists for encouragement and support.

Ash Darklighter