Beyond - Legends The Jade Chronicles - Jade Despair posted 1/15/16 (L/M, Tahiri)

Lovely installment. *sighs* There should have definitely been more scenes like this in the profic..so many missed opportunities

 

I love it! Beautifully written.

 

This would have definitely fit well at the end of the Corellian Trilogy. In fact the books felt incomplete without it.
I really like the way you write Luke and Mara. Very IC.

 

Thanks for the comments everyone. It's gratifying how positive the response has been here.

I've only got 3 more of these ready to go, so I suppose I'll have to finish up the few in progress and start writing some more soon. Figuring out how to shoehorn my ideas into the existing canon's framework is challenging sometimes.

 

Yeah it is tough....many authors here have re-written canon truth be told. I tend to stick more with canon myself, and just insert missing moments. As not happy as I am with what they did to Mara.....Oh well that's what my honeymoon story is for and the family one shots lol

 

Sorry for being late to the party, but these missing moments are great! Excellent work.

 

Thanks everyone.

I've pretty much been doing daily installments, so I'll continue the trend here. This one is rather long, though (10k words), so I'll wait a few days for the next update to give people a chance to work through it.

For me, this has probably been the story that was the most fun to write so far. There's a fair amount of humor, a lot of snark, and a few tender moments, which is generally how I picture Luke's and Mara's relationship anyway.

In the last part of VOTF, we jump from L/M on Nirauan to the Chimaera, and all of their friends/family already know about the engagement. Obviously, a lot happened between those points, so here is my attempt to expand on that.

A few notes. First, this story references a bunch of EU stuff, but also several of my previous stories, most significantly including Jade Apprentice and Jade Waltz. Second, I'm not one for writing sex scenes. Thus, I use the Stackpole method (think Corran/Mirax in the first chapter of The Bacta War) of building up to the moment and leaving it to the reader (or other fanfic writers) to fill in the details as they see fit.

Hope you enjoy it. As usual, constructive criticism encouraged.

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JADE REVELATION
19 ABY - Bracketing the final chapter of Vision of the Future.
Luke and Mara are getting married. First, they have to tell everyone.

The journey back to Coruscant from Nirauan had taken only a few days, with a brief stop at a New Republic outpost on the edge of the Unknown Regions for a quick shower and a meal. After departing the outpost for the galactic capitol, Luke and Mara had finally had time to talk about the future. Their future.

It had taken some convincing for Coruscant traffic control to let their clawcraft through the shields, but being Jedi Master Luke Skywalker opened doors across the galaxy. They had finally landed together on the planet, debarking from their fighter after the two day journey. Luke had reached out to grasp Mara's hand, only to have her pull away. He had briefly feared that she had returned to her old habits, as Mara had always been uncomfortable with physical contact, especially with him. She must have sensed his anxiety, though, and a brief wave of reassurance washed over him through the Force. Clearly, Luke thought, she just doesn't want anyone noticing the change in our relationship yet.

A quick comm call to Leia gave Luke a little information about the events at Yaga Minor, and the pending treaty between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant. Luke was also told that no intact copy of the Caamas document had been discovered, although no one but Mara and Artoo yet knew that there had been one on Nirauan. Luke quickly arranged to meet with Leia and Han in their quarters in the Palace, and was told that Karrde would be there as well. Good, Luke thought. He's on Coruscant too, so Mara and I can tell everyone at one time and can be there for each other for support.

On the walk to the Solo quarters, Mara and Luke agreed not to discuss their situation with anyone for at least a few days. The Caamas situation was still volatile, and turning over the document to Leia would probably exacerbate the matter for the immediate future. Luke did not doubt that it would help long-term, but the short-term effects were likely to approximate a supernova. Leia would need some time to call together advisers, and Luke and Mara did not want to divide Leia's attention.

Luke and Mara entered the Solo quarters together, but with a good meter between them once they passed through the door. Luke reflected wryly to himself that this was as far apart physically as they had been at pretty much any point since leaving the New Republic outpost. With a small sigh, he buried his thoughts of Mara deep behind his mental barriers, hoping to keep Leia from picking up on any of it. A brief glance at Mara told him that she was likely doing the same.

Leia came up to Luke for a hug. "Luke, I'm so glad you're back. So much has happened that we need to talk about." Turning to Mara, Leia smiled politely. "Mara, I'm glad to see you're ok." Mara just nodded.

Luke took a deep breath. "Leia, there's something we need to tell you. While Mara and I were on Nirauan…" Luke could feel a flash of apprehension from Mara through the Force, but she quashed the feeling admirably quickly, and he continued. "Here."

Luke pulled a datapad from a pocket in his robe, and saw Mara relax almost imperceptibly. Leia frowned slightly. "What is this?"
Mara surprised everyone with her somewhat snippy reply. "Just read it."

Leia's eyes went wide as she scrolled through the document. Finally she came to the end, and looked up at her brother. "Luke, where did you… how did you…?" She couldn't quite get the words out.

Luke smiled at her. "We found it on Nirauan. Or, rather, Artoo did. Never mind the circumstances. What is important is that Mara and I are quite certain that it is genuine. It could not have been tampered with, and the place we found it had not been accessed by anyone in at least ten years."
They had all-but-forgotten the other people in the room. Karrde had just stood by quietly, watching the proceedings, and Han asked the inevitable question. "Leia, what's all the fuss? What is it?"

Leia looked at her husband. "It's a copy of the Caamas document. Complete, and apparently unaltered." Luke smiled quietly as he watched the reactions of each man to the news. Both reactions were the same. A quick blink, followed by wide eyes and an open mouth, followed even more quickly by a return to an impassive look.
Leia looked back at Luke. "Luke, I need you to tell me everything. We need to verify the contents of this document immediately. At least some of the Bothans listed here are still alive."

Luke nodded. "I'm afraid I can't give you any details, Leia. At least not right away."

Leia realized he wouldn't be swayed from his decision and acceded, despite her desire to learn more about the document. "I'm sorry to run out on you all, but I need to go meet with some people about this. Luke, can I take this with me? Do you have a backup?"

Luke nodded, and Leia left immediately, comlink already in hand. No one spoke for a long moment, with Han and Karrde clearly still processing recent events. Finally, Karrde was the first one to speak. "Mara, if you're not too exhausted, we have a bit of business to catch up on. I know it's getting late, but it's quite urgent. Can you spare an hour before retiring for the night?"

Mara nodded at him. Han suddenly spoke up. "Karrde, do you have a place for Mara to stay tonight? We can have a guest room put together here if we need to."
Luke caught a flash of emotion from Mara, and clearly sensed her longing to spend the night with him. She had obviously let her guard down somewhat after Leia left, and Luke shot her a warning glance as surreptitiously as he could.

Karrde nodded. "We rented an extra room in one of the local places next to the Palace. We've been storing some stuff in there, but we can get it cleaned up for her quickly. Mara, ready to go?"

Mara stifled her sigh of regret. "Sure, Karrde. We'll check back in tomorrow?" Karrde nodded, and Mara continued. "Ok. See you tomorrow, Solo. You too, Skywalker." Luke caught her glance as she said this, and the slight shake of her head. Ok, we don't say anything to anyone tonight.

After they had left, Han looked at Luke. "Say, kid, feel like a drink? I'm sure you have some stories to tell, and I need to tell you all about my adventure with Lando on Bastion."

Luke blinked at that bit of information, as Bastion was the supposedly-secret seat of the Imperial capital. "Ok, Han, I'll stay for a quick drink. I need some sleep, but we can talk some more in the next few days before we leave for the peace accords."

* * *​

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Luke was just drifting to sleep two hours later when he suddenly felt a twinge in the Force. The twinge brought him fully awake, but the light tapping sound from the front door of his quarters moments later was what propelled him out of his bed. He got no sense through the Force of the person on the other side of the door, and was somewhat surprised when Mara shoved straight past him upon his opening it.

He stood there somewhat stunned for a moment, until Mara snarled quietly at him. "Blast it, Skywalker. Shut the door before someone sees me."

Luke blushed a bit as he quickly complied with her order. He turned back to his fiancée. "You're getting very good at masking your presence with the Force.

Mara shook her head. "I couldn't be sure who was around. And," she said, with a slightly mischievous grin, "I wanted to surprise you."

Luke arched his eyebrows at her. "Mission accomplished."

Mara snorted softly, then turned and walked straight into Luke's bedroom. Surprised again, he followed after her.

In his bedroom he found her rummaging through one of his drawers before she finally pulled out a white undershirt and blue pair of cotton shorts. He couldn't help but stare as she started stripping down in front of him, and blushed fiercely as she looked up to glare at him.

"Uh, Mara, what are you doing?"

She rolled her eyes, and snapped back a sarcastic response. "I've been sleeping in the same thing for weeks. I thought I'd try out something different, if that's ok with you."

Luke belatedly realized she was still wearing the same clothes she had worn on Nirauan. "I forgot that you lost most of your wardrobe with the Fire." Luke felt a twinge of sadness from Mara, and winced. He hadn't meant to remind her of the pain of losing her ship.

"Sorry, Mara. I'll go out to the other room and let you get changed." He turned to leave, but a sharp command from Mara stopped him.

"Hold it, farmboy." He turned to look back, and saw her smile impishly at him. "We are engaged now. You've won the right to see me naked, and you might as well start getting used to it." She quickly added, "Don't get any ideas. I'm far too tired for anything tonight, so you'll have to wait a while longer on that front."

Luke could only manage a slightly-embarrassed nod, and she chuckled at his discomfort as she stripped the rest of her clothes off. She was soon wearing his undergarments, and Luke nodded approvingly as he looked her over. "Those look better on you than they do on me."

Mara rolled her eyes, but her response was playful. "Of course they do."

The moment passed, and he again found himself slightly concerned. "Mara, are you sure it's a good idea for you to stay here tonight?"

Mara looked annoyed at the question, though her reply was forthright. "No, but I'll leave before dawn. Now, get over here. It's cold in this room."

With that, Mara pulled him down next to her on the bed and burrowed into his arms. Minutes later, both were sound asleep.

* * *​

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Luke was just waking up when he felt a twinge in the Force. This brought him fully awake in an instant, and he sensed Mara snap awake beside him.

There was some light coming in from outside the window. Mara groaned softly. "Oh, no. Luke, what time is it?"

Luke stared over to the chrono on the wall, and felt his heart start racing. "0830. Blast, I was supposed to meet Han at 0800."

Mara's head dropped. "Karrde was going to wake me up at 0800. Kriff." Luke was too caught up in anxiety to object to her profanity.

Luke heard his door buzz. Oh no. Stretching out with the Force, he sensed a familiar presence. "It's Han. He knows the code to the door, so I'd better go answer it before he just barges in here. Stay here."

"Right."

Luke hopped out of bed, and rushed into the next room to answer the door, taking the time to close his bedroom door in the process. Still in his underwear, which was pretty much identical to what Mara was wearing, he opened the door.

Han stood there looking at him. "Hey, kid, we were worried about you." He pushed past Luke into the common room, and Luke sighed as he shut the door.

"Sorry, Han, I overslept. I must have been more tired than I realized. Give me five minutes to get changed, and we can go."

Han shook his head. "No worries, Luke. Leia's been in meetings all night, and there's no end in sight yet, so we have some time."

Luke turned back towards his bedroom, but Han kept talking. "By the way, I just heard from Karrde that no one can find Mara. I assume she hasn't checked in with you? We're going to send some people out looking for her."

Luke turned back to Han, concentrating deeply on the Force in an attempt to control his desire to blush. He cautiously started to lie to his brother-in-law, but saw Han's eyes go wide and his mouth drop open before he could get any words out.

Luke couldn't help but look behind him, and saw Mara standing in his bedroom doorway, still wearing his clothes, her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face.

Her voice gave away her exasperation. "Forget it, Solo. I'm here. Call off the search party."

Luke couldn't contain his blush any longer, and it got worse when Han started laughing loudly.

"Excuse me just a second," Han said, with a twinkle in his eye and something devious in his voice. He turned away from Luke and Mara for a moment. Quickly fishing out a comlink, he thumbed it on and said, "Karrde? Solo. Can you come to Luke's quarters please?" Not waiting for a response, he shut the comlink off and turned back to Luke and Mara.

Luke felt a sudden burst of rage from Mara, and quickly called his lightsaber to his hands with the Force. The weapon had been sitting on a table across the room.
He saw Han's eyes go wide, and the older man took two steps back with his hands in the air. "Whoa, kid, no reason to go homicidal on me."

Luke shook his head, as he gripped his lightsaber as tightly as possible with both hands. "I'm not. This is the only weapon in here, and I'm trying to prevent Mara from using it to kill you on the spot."

He heard Mara swear softly behind him. "You're a lucky man, Solo." With that, she seemed to settle down some, and she walked across the room and sat down on the couch, crossing her legs. She let out a deep sigh of exasperation, clearly awaiting the inevitable.

Han sat down too, and Luke looked at Mara for a moment. "If you leave now, you might be able to avoid Karrde. I can try to convince him that Han's a liar."

Han gave him a hurt look, but suddenly laughed. "Believe me, you won't be able to convince him." Luke eyed him suspiciously, but Han only stared at him with a smug grin on his face.

Mara shook her head. "We might as well get this over with, Skywalker."

It took ten minutes before Luke's door finally buzzed again. Luke and Han stood while Mara simply sighed and remained seated. Luke started towards the door, but stopped when Han rushed to get there first. He opened it to admit the smuggler.

Karrde walked in the room and stopped short as he saw Mara sitting on the couch in Luke's clothes. His eyes remained surprisingly impassive as he glanced first at Mara, then at Luke, then back again. Luke and Mara both held their breaths as they waited for some kind of response.

Finally Karrde broke out into a huge smile. Unexpectedly, his first words were to Han. "About kriffing time." Han laughed before agreeing. "No kidding, right?"

It wasn't Karrde's profanity that caused shocked reactions from both Luke and Mara. Mara recovered first, but it wasn't much of a recovery. "What?!"

Karrde chuckled as he sat down in a chair, before looking over at Han. "How long have we been waiting for this to happen, Solo?"

Han shrugged. "Individually? About ten years. Together? It's been, what, almost two years since that Ball here at the Palace?"

Luke felt more anger welling up in Mara, and quickly sat down beside her, hoping to support her through what was likely to be a few more minutes of embarrassment for both of them.

Mara snapped at them. "So you've, what, been dreaming up some master plan to get us together for two years?"

Han shrank back, but Karrde laughed. "Our master plan was basically to get you two in the same place at the same time as often as possible, and let the inevitable happen, which it finally has. That reminds me. Solo, you can transfer those funds to my account at any time."

Mara was angry again. "You two had a bet going?"

Luke was more amused. "How much did he take you for, Han?"

Han winced. "Ten thousand. He bet me that the two of you would start dating within the year a few weeks ago here on Coruscant while Luke was off trying to find you, Mara. Provided you both returned alive. Leia's going to kill me."

Luke looked down for a moment. I guess it's time. "Actually, Han, Talon, we're not really dating." He reached over to take Mara's hand. "We're kind of, um… engaged."

He flinched as Mara punched him in the arm, rather hard. She responded with mock outrage. "Kind of engaged?" Her tone softened considerably, but her words were still forceful. "We're getting married. Soon. I'm not a patient person by nature."

Both Luke and Mara expected a strong reaction from the two men, but neither got quite the reaction they were expecting. Karrde grunted out "dammit!" while Han simply laughed victoriously. Luke shook his head and looked quizzically at the two men.

Han responded first. "Thank the stars for 'double-or-nothing'. I also bet Karrde ten thousand that you two would skip the dating phase and go straight for the big one, when you eventually got together." He looked sternly at all of them. "Leia never finds out about these wagers."

Even Mara chuckled at that, and everyone settled down a bit. After a moment, Karrde spoke up. "No need for a formal resignation letter, Mara. You're off the hook. It's not easy to lose an employee like you, but I can't begin to tell you how happy I am for you two." He glanced over at Luke. "Actually, Skywalker, I'm a little concerned for you, but you're probably the only person in the galaxy with a prayer at hanging on to Mara over the long term, and at keeping your sanity and your life intact in the process."

Mara was about to get angry again, but was honest enough with herself to realize that Karrde was probably right. Luke was the only man she'd ever met who had always accepted her good and her bad, and who had always supported her and cared for her no matter what she did or said to him. I don't know why I didn't realize this years ago.

So instead of snapping at Karrde, she thanked him. "I appreciate it, Talon. I half-expected to have to argue my case straight up to our wedding day to get you to let me leave."

Karrde smiled. "Like we said, Solo and I have both been expecting this day for a long time. I do hope you'll help with the transition over the next few months, as much as you can."

Luke and Mara both nodded, and Mara spoke. "Of course. You sound like you've already chosen my replacement."

Karrde shook his heads slightly. "I haven't, really. But I do have a pretty good idea who I'm going to ask…"

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An hour later, Karrde and Solo had finally gone, and Mara felt the last of the stress and embarrassment fade away. The Wild Karrde was scheduled to head out of the system that evening, and her boss agreed that she should stay behind on Coruscant with Luke. Karrde had promised to bring what little was left of her wardrobe with him to the treaty signing at Bastion in nine standard days, briefly saddening her with another reminder that her ship, and with it most of her possessions, was gone.

Han meanwhile had gone off to raid Leia's wardrobe for a few outfits that Mara could wear until she got a chance to purchase some new clothes. Mara was close enough in build and stature to Luke's sister that Han was likely to find something for her, but Mara was already itching to pick up some new outfits. For the moment, it would have to wait.

Mara and Luke sat in silence for a few minutes, both lost again in private thoughts. Finally Mara yawned, and stood up. "I think I'll grab a quick shower." Luke nodded at her absently.

She glanced at her fiancé, and suddenly got the strong urge to ask him to join her. With a sigh she quashed the impulse, although that was difficult to accomplish. Solo would be back soon with some clothes, and she had suffered enough embarrassment for one day. Besides, her first time with Luke should be… special. She didn't need a sweeping romantic gesture, although she knew from his proposal on Nirauan that Luke was certainly capable of making one. Regardless, a brief union in the shower in Luke's quarters was not the right way to go, this time. She again regretted her loss of the Fire on Nirauan, although now for a different reason. If they had only been in a ship with a little more space…

She caught Luke staring at her, and through the Force caught a vague feeling of the word soon coming from his mind. She narrowed her eyes at him. Stay out of my mind, Skywalker. Her unspoken thought obviously made it through, as he blushed and looked away. She was surprised to find she wasn't particularly upset at the unintentional intrusion for once, and she pulled him to his feet and kissed him.

He felt him stretch out in the Force to her, and mirrored his action. It was still hard to let someone in like this, but she nearly gasped as she felt the streams of their feelings merge into one. Like on the Chiss planet, she suddenly knew Luke, although the experience wasn't the same as that first time. She was amazed to find that she was learning new things about him, discovering new memories and new feelings. She had thought on Nirauan that she knew him completely, but she now discovered that she'd been very wrong. There was more, so much more of Luke that she would be able to explore, and for that brief moment she relished in the thought of the lifetime they'd have together to build that deeper connection.

The bond, and the kiss, passed altogether too quickly for Mara, and again she almost dragged him into the shower with her. With an internal sigh of impatience, she let go and smiled at him. Neither spoke, for no words needed to be said. With another sigh, this time audible, she turned and disappeared into the refresher.

Luke stood for a long moment, just staring at the door to the 'fresher. The Force bond between them had shocked him, just like it had on Nirauan. This time, though, it was because it had been different. There were new depths to Mara that he hadn't seen previously, and during the bond he had caught a glimpse of just how far those depths ran. For a brief moment he was again a child on Tatooine, looking up at the stars and yearning to explore them all. He knew intellectually that he could no more easily learn all there was to know about Mara than he could explore the entire universe. Life was too short. He vowed to himself then and there to explore as much as he could. Of Mara's soul. The universe, suddenly, was not so important.

A few short minutes later he was interrupted by a buzzer at his front door. Han's here. He aimed this thought at Mara, and felt an acknowledgment through the Force. It wouldn't do to have her walk naked out of the 'fresher in front of his brother-in-law.

Han entered the room carrying a small armful of clothes, and walked into Luke's bedroom to toss them in a pile on the bed. Returning to the main room, he grinned at his wife's brother, and shook his head.

"You finally made it, kid. You have no idea how many times I wanted to smack you in the head for not seeing all of this sooner."

Luke shook his head gently, and let out a vaguely wistful noise. "Right now I wish you had," he said softly. Then Han saw him tense up some. "Blast, Han. How am I going to tell Leia? What is she going to say? She's not exactly been Mara's biggest fan over the past ten years."

Han was suddenly more serious than Luke had nearly ever seen him. "Maybe. But she's started to come around a little. Centerpoint helped." Luke saw his friend frown slightly, and become even more serious still. "Luke, we've all known each other almost twenty years. In that time, I've seen Leia cry for you more times than I can count. Life hasn't always been kind to you, kid, since I dragged your butt off that ball of dirt all those years ago. When Leia realizes how happy Mara has made you, she'll be ecstatic too. I don't have the Force, but even I can tell how much difference these last few weeks have made in your life. Leia will feel it even more."

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Luke took a deep breath as he prepared to enter Leia's quarters. Han had commed him fifteen minutes earlier to tell him that his sister was finally out of her last meeting. Now that Han and Karrde knew, Luke wanted to get the announcement over with before Leia collapsed into bed after her all-night succession of meetings.

He had discussed with Mara about how they should handle the announcement to Leia. The greatest love of his life had not had much insight to offer him, and they had finally agreed to wing it. On the walk to the Solo quarters, though, Han's last statement about the Force started bouncing around in his brain. Whether it was a prodding of the Force itself or not, Luke couldn't tell, but nevertheless he finally decided how he was going to break the news.

He saw Leia smile tiredly at him as he entered the room. "Hi, Luke. Han told me you had something you wanted to tell me." Luke saw her stop short as Mara walked in behind him. "Mara, I didn't expect you." Suddenly her eyes narrowed, and she turned to look at Han.

Han chuckled. "Sorry, dear. Mara has exactly one outfit currently, so I raided your wardrobe for a few things. I hope you don't mind."

Leia shook her head and smiled again. "No, it's fine. Mara can borrow whatever she needs, of course. Luke, what did you have to tell me?"

Mara waited with bated breath. She still had no idea how Luke was going to do this. She reached out in the Force towards Luke, just enough to try to get a sense of what he was preparing to do. She flinched involuntarily when she felt his hand reach out to take hers. More significantly, she was forced to stifle a gasp of surprise when she felt his mental barriers drop away.

The instant Force bond between Luke and Leia was far stronger than she was prepared for, and she felt herself being dragged into its periphery. She stood paralyzed with sudden fear as she sensed the thoughts flowing between Luke and his sister, and braced herself for Leia's reaction to Luke's unspoken announcement. As it turned out, the reaction surprised both Luke and Mara.

Leia's squeal of delight jolted Mara, and she could only stand there as her future sister-in-law rushed towards her and threw her arms around Mara. Mara flinched and tried to shrink back as she felt Leia plant kiss after kiss all over her face, on her cheeks, on her forehead, even on her lips. Her attempt at retreat only made Leia hold on tighter, though. Finally the older woman broke free, and Mara turned to look at the others in the room with deep embarrassment.

Despite this, she laughed out loud. Han and Luke were standing there with wide eyes and gaping mouths, and Mara could feel nothing but shock emanating from Luke. Leia turned to her brother and hugged him too. Rather more sedately, Mara noticed with a slight degree of annoyance.

Leia finally broke her embrace, and Mara saw tears streaming from her eyes. Luke wrapped an arm around Mara's waist as Leia sniffled and wiped away the tears running down her face. Leia beamed at the couple. "Thank the Force. I'm so happy for you two. I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Mara narrowed her eyes a bit. Despite her own joy, her tendency towards defensiveness and suspicion returned. "I thought you didn't like me."

She felt a flash of annoyance from Luke, and was momentarily angry with herself for her reaction. Ever the diplomat, though, Leia took the rather insensitive statement with grace.

"We've not always gotten along, Mara, and we've never been close. We will be now." Leia glanced at her brother. "Even at the best of times, Luke has always had some sadness and loneliness in him. All I sense now is love and joy. That's all I've ever wanted for him. If you can make him feel that way, I will love you forever for that."

Leia was crying again, and Mara felt herself tear up as well. She let Leia hug her again, this time a little less hesitantly. Mara fought to control her tears, and succeeded, but briefly envied Leia for her willingness to weep in front of the others.

The embrace ended after a long moment, and Leia started gushing. "So, when is the wedding? I assume you'll have it here on Coruscant? Do you need help with the planning? Anything that I can do to help…"

As the deluge of questions poured forth, Mara found her apprehension starting to return. She looked over to Luke, sensing a flash of amusement from him. She narrowed her eyes threateningly at her fiancé. This is all your fault.

* * *​

​

Sitting alone in the Chimaera's forward visual triangulation site nine days later, Mara couldn't help but feel uneasy. Her previous experiences with this ship had been… adverse. Admiral Pellaeon had been surprisingly gracious to her and Luke, despite their role in the defeat of Thrawn, and had offered them the use of this room as an escape from the mass of beings currently on board ship for the treaty signing. They had not told him anything about the wedding, nor even their relationship, but Mara got the feeling that Pellaeon knew something about it anyway. The Admiral was a brilliant man, and some of Thrawn's insight had obviously rubbed off on him.

Unfortunately, Luke wasn't here at the moment. Off somewhere with his sister assisting with last minute preparations for the ceremony, he had left her alone for the time. She sighed quietly. We've spent more time together in the last month than we had in the previous ten years combined, and suddenly I get lonely when he's away for an hour. She was annoyed with herself, and of course blamed Luke more than a little for his part in making her feel this way. She sighed again. It's worth it. Probably.

A tap on the door startled her, and she knew without using the Force that it wasn't Luke. He would have just walked in. She called out for the person to enter, and wasn't particularly surprised to find Karrde standing there.

"Mara, I'm sorry to disturb you. Do you have a moment?"

Yes, please, drag me out of my ridiculous self-pity. She smiled at her former employer. "Sure. Luke's off somewhere. What can I do for you?"

The older man sat down. "I wanted to let you know that Faughn dropped off what was left of your possessions this morning. Chewbacca loaded them into the Falcon. There wasn't much left, but I think we got everything."

Mara nodded sadly. Almost everything she owned had been on the Fire. Fortunately, she had never been particularly sentimental, and almost everything she owned could be easily replaced. Almost everything.

She noticed Karrde take a deep breath before speaking. "Listen, Mara, I hope this doesn't upset you. I had Faughn send me an inventory of your belongings, so they went through the stuff you had packed away, too."

Mara narrowed her eyes at him. This did upset her, since she valued her privacy more than almost anything.

Karrde took a really deep breath this time. "Mara, I wanted you to have something. Call it an engagement gift." With that, he handed her a small box and held his breath.
She frowned as she opened it to find a small holo. Thumbing it on, she gasped, and immediately broke down. She turned away and buried her face into her hands for a long moment, fighting for control. Finally she was able to speak again, and turned back to him.

Her voice was the quietest whisper. "I thought I lost this. I thought it was on the Fire…"

Karrde nodded. His voice was quiet and kind. "It was, Mara. At least, I assume it was. Before we left Coruscant, I tracked down another copy. It took some doing. A few bribes, some highly illegal slicing from Ghent, and a few thousand credits for the holographer to let his copy of the file go. But I know how much it means to you, and I wanted you to have it back. I have a copy, so if anything happens to this one, you'll know how to replace it."

Mara stared at the holo, still trying to maintain control. The image was of her and Luke, just after he gave her his father's lightsaber on Coruscant. Luke had given the holo to her years ago, on Yavin 4, at a time that both of them now looked back on with pain and regret. Mara realized just how much she had loved Luke, at the time that holo had been taken. But that Luke, her protector, confidant, and friend, had been gone for many years. Rushing madly around the galaxy, making bad decisions, alienating his friends and family. She had caught only glimpses of the old Luke in the past few years. She knew he was finally back now, and that all was again right with the universe.

She looked up with tears in her eyes. "Karrde, how did you know...?" Her voice choked, ending her question early.

Karrde sighed. "It was an accident, Mara. You dropped off some stuff once when you were travelling around with Lando, and we broke the box when we were putting it away. We had to pack everything back up, and I saw the holo. That's when I realized how much you cared for Luke, just for the fact that you took the holo with you when you traveled. When I heard that you lost the Fire, I knew that it had been lost too. I didn't tell anyone what they should be looking for, but I asked Faughan to inventory your stuff to confirm, and I went ahead and tracked down the holographer anyway. I can't replace everything you've lost, but I wanted to do this one thing for you."

She was really crying now. She managed to get out, "Thank you, Talon," between sobs, but it was all the talking she could handle.

Her former boss was like a father to her, but he was not one for emotional displays, and she was already embarrassed to be crying in front of him. Karrde stood up, smiled at her, and said "You're welcome, Mara. See you later." With that, he patted her on the shoulder, and left the room.

It took several long minutes for the tears to stop, but they did, just in time. She was boxing the holo back up when Luke walked into the room. His brow crinkled as he saw what she was doing. "What's that?"

Mara smiled at him, hoping the tears didn't still show on her face. "A small gift from Karrde for our engagement. I'll show you later."

* * *​

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The signing ceremony for the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty had been brief, but the party threatened to continue for hours. Mara stood alone, leaning against a wall in the "ballroom" aboard the Chimaera, really a converted hangar that had been emptied for the occasion. She and Luke had agreed to split up for much of the night, so as not to telegraph their new relationship to the majority of the most important beings in both the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic. They had also agreed that they would individually break the news to their closest friends at the party.

Both Mara and Luke had overlooked the fact that she had very few friends at the party, while Luke had many. She sighed with some degree of vexation as she watched the festivities. Couples waltzed on the ballroom floor, while knots of senators and military leaders discussed developments in quiet tones throughout the hangar. Of her friends among Karrde's group, only Karrde himself was here, along with Shada D'ukal, and of course Karrde already knew about the engagement.

She and Luke had gotten only a single chance to talk to each other thus far during the evening, and so far neither had spilled the secret to anyone. Their brief reunion was cut short when Winter, Leia's personal assistant, dragged Luke out onto the dance floor. Mara watched with some amusement as they danced. Winter, she had learned several years earlier, had taught Luke to dance years ago after the battle of Endor. Luke had ashamedly admitted to her that Threepio had finished his instruction after Winter had been called away, and Mara earnestly wished that the droid were here at the party to demonstrate how that arrangement had worked.

Luke was now surrounded by a knot of Rogue Squadron pilots. Wedge Antilles, Gavin Darklighter, Wes Janson, Hobbie Klivian, and Tycho Celchu crowded around Luke, arms waving as they obviously engaged in some sort of discussion on the finer points of piloting. Winter, who was married to Celchu, hovered at the periphery of the group, listening intently and no doubt cataloguing the conversation with her holographic memory.

Mara sighed again as she heard Wedge yelp from across the room, and saw the older man wrap Luke up in a hug. I guess he told them. This was confirmed when she saw Winter look her way and smile, and she tried to hide her face a bit to avoid being deluged by Rogue well-wishers. She relaxed a bit when she saw Luke hold Wedge back from walking over to her. Clearly he didn't want a public display quite yet.

She sighed again as she looked around for someone with whom to talk. She realized with a start that one senior Rogue pilot had been missing from that group - Corran Horn. She looked around and finally spotted him talking to his wife Mirax and the Caamasi senator Elegos A'kla across the room. She took a deep breath. Ok, if Luke can tell all of the Rogues, at least I can break the news to Corran. Corran had been as close as she had gotten to a friend while at the Jedi Academy, and she knew Mirax reasonably well from occasional meetings on board her father's private Star Destroyer during work trips.

She saw Corran smile as she approached the group. Corran quickly introduced her to Elegos, then narrowed his eyes at her. "Mara, I heard you had something to do with all this, but no one could tell me what it was."

Mara gave him a conspiratorial smile. "Classified. Sorry." She turned to the other woman. "Mirax, good to see you again."

Mirax smiled back at her. "You too, Mara. I didn't realize you were here, or we would have dragged you over here a long time ago."

Mara waved away the comment. She took a deep breath. Ok, how do I do this? I need an opening.

Mirax gave her one. "I always meant to thank you for taking such good care of my husband on Yavin 4 while I was… indisposed. I'm not sure he would have made it through as much of his training without you, and I'm not sure he would have found me without that training."

Mara stared at her for a moment, and suddenly she knew what she should say. Proddings of the Force, perhaps. "You know, Mirax, when I got to know Corran I was so jealous of you." Her words were sincere. She saw Mirax's mouth drop open, and Corran turned ashen.

Mara laughed. "Relax, not like that. Corran's a decent-enough guy, but not my type. Besides, he would be dead within a week in a relationship with me." Corran laughed, and Mirax clamped her mouth shut and raised an eyebrow, so Mara continued. "What I meant was, I was jealous of the overwhelming love he had for you, enough for him to drop everything and risk his life to find you and save you. I couldn't imagine anyone doing something like that for me."

Mirax gave her a vaguely sad look, and Corran stopped laughing. It was he who spoke. "Mara, you'll find someone someday. There's someone perfect out there for you. Like I was for Mirax." He punctuated the last with a wink at his wife, who punched him playfully on the arm. "No one's perfect, Corran. Especially not you."

Mara took another deep breath. "That's why I came over here, actually. As it turns out, someone did drop everything and risk his life to come save me. In a few months, I'm going to marry him."

Shocked expressions immediately arose on the faces of Mirax and Corran, but Elegos simply stood there with a serene smile. Mara wondered briefly if someone had let him in on the secret, or if the famous Caamasi insight had allowed him to anticipate what was happening.

All Corran could manage was a single word. "Who?"

Mara had thought of a thousand ways to answer the question, most of them sarcastic. Elegos, however, beat her to the punch.

"Corran Horn, you should be able to answer this question for yourself. I think you will find the answer, with careful thought, somewhere in the back of your head."

The man looked puzzled for a moment, and Mara could see both him and his wife trying desperately to guess. A familiar voice from behind made both Mirax and Corran jump.

"I'm disappointed, Corran, that you've forgotten so quickly the riddles Elegos often uses to teach you your lessons. When he says you will find the answer in the back of your head, he does not mean for you to search your mind. He means for you to turn around."

Mara started laughing hysterically as Corran whirled around to come face-to-face with Luke Skywalker.

Corran's thoughts started turning at light-years per second. He was so shocked at the revelation that he couldn't speak, but at the same time was less surprised than he might have guessed. Through the Force he felt a wave of happiness from both Luke and Mara, and he closed his eyes for a moment. Luke had always seemed prone to melancholy, and Mara had always been hostile and sarcastic, but Corran felt only love and contentment radiating from them now.

Corran hugged Luke, then considered Mara. He wanted to hug her, but feared he might lose an arm in the process of trying to congratulate her. She had always been fierce about protecting her personal space. Her fitted formal gown left few places to inconspicuously hide a lightsaber, but Corran didn't put it past her to have figured out how to do so anyway.

Mirax, as it turned out, was much braver than her husband. She went straight for Mara and enfolded her in a hug, despite the fact that the two women were not much more than passing acquaintances. Mara flinched badly, but Corran saw Mirax whisper something in her ear, and Mara laughed and relaxed a bit. Once the women broke their embrace, Elegos congratulated Mara and Luke and quietly left took his leave to go and seek out Leia.

Corran decided not to try to awkwardly hug Mara. Instead, he did the next best thing. "Mara, would you like to dance? If that's ok with you, Luke."

Luke laughed at that. "Be careful asking my permission for something like that, Corran. I have no doubt Mara will try to kill you if you make that mistake again, but I do have some doubt about my ability to stop her." Luke's laughter trailed off a bit. "Mara can speak for herself. Mirax, may I have the honor of a dance?" He didn't bother asking for Corran's permission, and the whole exchange pleased Mara to no end. He might actually be learning.

Mara was tense as they danced, much as Corran had expected. He looked over to see Mirax and Luke laughing and dancing, and felt a brief twinge of annoyance at their ease together. He decided to try to break the ice with Mara.

"I think I'm still in shock, a little bit."

Mara narrowed her eyes at him as they danced. "Why, Horn? Wouldn't have put us together?"

Corran tried a weak smile. "Actually, I thought you two might get together someday, once we got to know each other at the Academy. It just seemed less and less likely as the years went by."

Mara rolled her eyes and sighed, but she relaxed a little bit. "I'm getting tired of everyone telling me that. It seems like everyone we've told so far has thought for years that we should be together. The only ones who didn't realize it were me and Luke."

Corran's smile brightened a bit. "Maybe so. Sometimes your friends and family know you better than you know yourself. All of that is in the past, anyway. You two are as good a match as any couple I've ever met. He's probably the only man in the galaxy with the patience and strength to put up with being married to you."

Mara snarled at him, and he quickly added to his statement. "And you're probably the only woman in the galaxy who can love him as Luke Skywalker and not as Luke Skywalker, most exalted Jedi Master."

Mara relaxed and smiled at the last bit. "Hero worship was never something I had very much interest in." Corran snorted. "You're not kidding about that."

With that, they danced quietly until the end of the piece.

* * *​

​

Hours later, Luke and Mara found themselves on the dance floor together as the party was beginning to wind down. Luke had spread the news to a handful of others, while Mara found herself spending most of the evening talking to Corran and Mirax, then to Karrde and Solo. Mara suddenly felt the urge to kiss Luke, right there in the middle of the dance floor, and had to push back against that desire again.

Luke smiled at her, and spoke in a quiet voice so as not to be overheard. "Do you remember the last time we danced like this?"

Mara snorted quietly. Her mind flashed back to that night on Coruscant. "You mean the only time, Skywalker? Yes, I remember. I might someday even admit to having enjoyed it."

Luke frowned at her. "You know, most of my friends call me Luke…"

Mara's eyes narrowed, but her tone was playful. "Friends? Taking a few steps backward there, I think."

Luke blushed a little. "I could have said lovers, but it seemed a little impolitic, given the situation."

Mara smirked. "All two of your lovers? That doesn't exactly fill me with burning jealousy." She chuckled at him.

Luke stared at her, and she sensed his amusement through the Force. It was her turn to blush. "Ok, fine, Skywalker, now it's three lovers. The point still stands. And you'll always be Skywalker to me. You can be Luke when you stop annoying me."

Luke laughed. "I won't hold my breath."

Mara laughed too. "A wise choice."

Luke felt a wave of contentment from Mara, and basked in the feeling for a moment while they danced. Finally he sighed and changed the subject.

"Leia has been making plans for the wedding."

Mara rolled her eyes. "Your brother-in-law told me. She wants to announce the engagement to the galaxy in a few weeks once everything has settled down. I okayed it, although I'm not quite sure now why I agreed."

Luke blinked. "Ashamed to marry me?"

Mara chuckled. "No, more worried about all the enraged potential suitors I'll have to fight off until I get you down the aisle. Solo's lucky he only had to deal with that Isolder fellow."

Luke smiled gently. "Actually, I thought we might get away for a bit. We can hopefully avoid the media frenzy that's sure to follow Leia's announcement. There's this place on Garqi I heard about…. Think you can get away from your work for a few more weeks?"

Mara beamed at him. "Sounds perfect. Karrde told me not to worry about work until after the wedding and honeymoon, so I'm in. Spending some time alone together and not getting shot at in the process would be a nice change of pace."

Luke began to respond, but felt a sudden wave of sadness from Mara. He frowned. "Mara, what's wrong?"

She looked at him, obviously startled. "Sorry, Luke. It's my problem. Don't let it bother you tonight."

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "Your problems are my problems now, Jade. Spill it."

Mara took a deep breath. "It's really not a big deal. I just realized tonight that I don't have any friends to stand beside me in the wedding party. Most of Karrde's top people are men, and I don't really have a close female friend in the galaxy who I can ask to be a bridesmaid. I just hadn't thought about it until I saw you talking and laughing with Antilles and the others."

Luke furrowed his brow. He hadn't thought about it, either. Finally he blinked and looked up. "You could ask Leia…"

Mara nodded. "I planned to. My relationship with your sister hasn't been exactly smooth, and I want that to change. But one bridesmaid isn't much of a start when I probably need five or so."

Luke thought some more. "What about Tionne?"

Mara considered for a moment. "We weren't the best of friends at the Academy, but she's not a bad choice, either." She stared at him. "Now, can the famed Skywalker wisdom come up with three more names?" Luke couldn't quite tell if she was being sarcastic or sincere.

He smiled. "We're starting a new life together. You may not have a lot of friends, but I do. My friends will be your friends, especially once they see how happy you've made me. Perhaps the wedding is the perfect time for you to make some new friends."

Mara frowned. "Perhaps. But if I'm going to have close friends, they'll need to be people I can respect and relate to. Not just people that my husband likes."
Luke went wide-eyed suddenly. "I just figured it out…" Mara just stared at him with raised eyebrows, so Luke continued.

"You want strong female friends who can keep up with you. I know just the three. Iella Antilles, Winter, and Mirax." He winced suddenly. "Incidentally, Corran and I agreed once that you and his wife should never become friends, because you're too much alike. It's too bad I have to break that promise now."

Mara narrowed her eyes. "Why did you pick those three?"

Luke laughed. "The perfect new friends for you are three women who are strong and confident enough to be in complete control of their relationships with their husbands, despite those husbands being hotshot pilots in Rogue Squadron. Wedge, Tycho, and Corran barely get a say in anything in their marriages. Especially Corran, if you haven't noticed."

Luke suddenly had a gleam in his eyes. "Just like you'll be the one in complete control of our marriage."

Mara snorted. "I can't imagine Luke Skywalker giving up control of anything, much less his marriage."

Luke's deadpan reply was perfect. "I can't imagine Mara Jade giving him any choice in the matter at all."

Mara giggled, and had to fight not to laugh too loudly. "Skywalker, you know me altogether too well." Her voice took on a playfully threatening tone. "Too well for your own good, perhaps…"

Luke smiled at her, but his face suddenly shifted into a slight frown. "I never thought to ask, but will you stay Mara Jade? Or will it be Mara Skywalker?"

Mara frowned, then grinned mischievously at him. "I don't even know if Jade is my real last name, but I think I will go with 'Mara Jade Skywalker'. That way I can keep my identity, but I can cash in on the recognition and awe that goes along with the Skywalker name, not to mention the fear."

Luke laughed, then leaned in to kiss her. Her eyes went wide, and he pulled back quickly. "Shavit."

Mara looked surprised at his profanity. "Skywalker, swearing? What new wonders will marriage bring me?"

Luke eyed her coolly. "It's become somewhat harder for me to keep myself from kissing you at every opportunity."

Mara looked around quickly, and saw no one looking their way at the moment. "Want to get out of here? I understand there's an empty room on the Falcon tonight. Pellaeon assigned Leia quarters aboard ship."

Luke blushed a bit. "On the Falcon, tonight? The past few days haven't been enough for you?"

Mara rolled her eyes. Farmboys. "We have ten years of missed opportunities to make up for, Skywalker. I'll let you know when I've had enough. Until then, you're on duty whenever I call. Oh, and don't expect a reprieve anytime soon. Now let's go. March."

Mara heard Luke chuckle, and felt a distinct sense of longing and desire emanating from her lover. Lover, and soon, husband. The idea still caused some wonder inside her.

Luke got in the last words. "Yes, ma'am. Lead the way."

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okay it took me a bit...but i finally finished this....this was written really well and i loved it

 

I can never get enough fics involving L/M spilling the beans after Nirauan. Never, not ever. I could read these fics all day long and still smile like an idiot at each one. That said, this was great fun (and yes, I'm smiling like an idiot) . I really loved Leia's reaction and that was the perfect way to tell her. I love that she was so happy to know that Luke was so happy. The banter was also too fun and I can just imagine Han's shavit-eating grin when he saw Mara in Luke's bedroom door. Very nice!!

 

I'm glad to hear this. I worry sometimes that all these missing moments stories can get to be repetitious and a bit cliched. I sometimes wonder if, for every person reading a thread like this, there are 10 people out there who see L/M in the title, roll their eyes, and ignore it.

I know I've read a few similar stories in the few shorts months I've been aware of the existence of all this fanfic stuff (or at least where to find it). I've no idea just how many of these types of stories might be out there, since I've not actively searched for anything like that, so I hope people aren't too tired of this type of thing.

There just aren't very many instances where one can write a plausibly-canon story with L/M set between 9 ABY and 20 ABY, which is leading me to try to write more in the NJO period. Maybe I can get a 10th anniversary story written for the SJRS challenge by the end of the month. That should be set somewhere around the time of TUF, so there's some potential there...

 

I say go for it. As for worrying about people who may roll their eyes at the L/M threads...I say don't give it a second thought...there are plenty of people that read L/M and love it...I could read about them all day...of course there are times I step outside my comfort zone and read a different type of story....if its good I don't mind it not being L/M centric

 

Love it! One of my favorite time periods as well. And never fear about writing sex scenes: that's what we have ginchy for!

Well done once again.

 

^^ My reputation has preceded me.

You should write for that challenge. I would enjoy reading it. As for the missing moment aspect, there are a lot of these out there, that's true. Angela Jade's "Mara's Missing Moments" comes to mind. But, you're right, given the scope of profic (if you're not writing AU) there are only so many moments to choose from and each author adds their own interpretations and background into their fics.

 

Wonderfulicious! Yummy! That was a super duper expansion. This needs to be incorporated into all future printings of VoTF I am serious. Talon's, Han's, and Leia's reactions were terrifically in character and L/M together -- snarky and tender in a sweet balance. !!!!

 

Ok, you all convinced me. A few minutes of research on Wookieepedia and a quick look at the end of The Unifying Force, plus an hour of writing and suddenly I'm 1,000 words in and through 2/3 prompts. Now I just need to figure out how to work in the gift and end the story...

 

Stang!

 

Ha! Love it! For some reason that scene where the lightsaber flies to Luke's hand had me cracking up. I can just see him holding on for dear life as Mara is trying to pull it out of his hand so she can kill a certain smuggler.

Very nice!

 

That was really great! It felt very natural and real, like it was supposed to be in the book.

On another point, when you're done with cannon missing moments, take a shot at AUs. I think you'll fikd them very liberating, creatively speaking.

 

Stone Jade -- I can vouch for what Hazel says; reading AUs is also liberating. You also tend to forget there was anything but ... !!!!

 

Oh you mean like the fact Mara.... *grumbles and lets sentence die off*

 

That is so EJF. The AU is well-plotted and there is usually some kind of emotional content, even if it isn't romantic, although that's my favorite Like TK in fanfiction, ff authors give her depth and Jag -- and Kyp LOL !!!!

 

Perhaps I will. Although given how many canon-compliant ideas I've got bouncing around in my head, plus half-written stuff (Mara's reaction to Anakin's death, a story looking at Luke's thoughts on Jedi marriage post-SQ, plus the aforementioned L/M, Corran/Mirax, Wedge/Iella novel), it might be a while.

I’ve avoided AU mostly because I have enough trouble keeping important EU details straight in my head without having to try to remember whether I read something in one of the novels or in a fanfic novel set at the same time. I’m sure I’m missing out on some great stuff, though…

This is a fact. (Actually, obviously I have no idea whether it is or isn't. It just seemed an appropriate thing to say...)

 

I personally liked Kyp...I think its weird Ta'a Chume (authors) tried to get Jaina and Isolder together after Teneniel is killed..I'm like wait.............If memory serves me correctly...in CoPL Luke and Isolder are around the same age....ewwwww

 

I’ve avoided AU mostly because I have enough trouble keeping important EU details straight in my head

I do that all the time...but I usually figure it out....Like Luke's kids..thanks to my fellow fan fic writers..I have to keep straight who wrote which child.

 

But the best thing about AUs? You can cherry pick your EU facts, or make up new ones.