Beyond - Legends "My True Love Gave to Me" (L/M holiday challenge) Day 12

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! I just love this. I am not sure I have adequately expressed how much I LOVE THIS FIC. As for the bows, I'm just wondering who all Luke was kissing under those bows at the Rogue party. And I love Mara's gift idea. That bow on the side of the neck. She had ginchy at hello.

I hope that in the extra extension to this chapter that Mara does braid one into his hair, just cause. And, um, yeah. I can't wait for those extra scenes. Ahem.

PERFECT. My goodness. I love L/M. I LOVE THIS FIC.

 

I will do replies later, but just to let those who are interested know that I have posted Day 3 with NC-17 content over at A03. Enjoy!

 

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

Oh yay! I just loved Day 9 with Jaina!

AND now I'm off to AO3

 

I've read the Day 3 in NC-17 version and I have to say, that this whole fanfiction makes us fangirls extremely jealous of Mara. Right girls, or that is just me?

 

The talk between Jaina and Mara was so cute!

 

No, srsly, I just kept thinking of "Pretty! What do we blow up first?"

 

Awesome! Gotta love a guy who gives his wife a gun array for the holidays. Just what she wanted, too.

 

Thank you! Jaina's a smart kid, and she knows what's what. I don't think Luke's general dissatisfaction with life prior to VOTF was unknown to those kids.

Heh, yes, there is a bit missing... As for baby-related gifts, well, the fic ain't finished yet!

I just really wanted to make that joke, although I think it works on a romantic level as well - Luke gave her a ship to replace the Fire, that's great, but this is him saying "yeah, I completely trust you and want you to defend yourself and don't ever think you would misuse this power" - which for Mara, is a pretty big deal.

Although Mara probably appreciates Luke's guns more!

Wait...are you saying that you love the fic? You know I have to write in that hair braiding to the bonus part, right? I can't not Who Luke was getting all his kisses from will probably be in some bonus content as well

Thank you! I love Mara and Jaina's relationship, so liked writing an aspect of it here.

Indeed! And thank you!

Thanks! Mara and Jaina are totes adorbs together

Mara wouldn't be able to wait to try and obliterate something with those things!

A gal loves her weapons Thanks!

 

Merry Christmas Eve to all! I hope that those who celebrate enjoy the festive season, and my best wishes to all of you and your families.





10

When Luke returned to their apartment in the evening after being ordered by Mara to keep away and allow her to prepare that day's gift, he was assaulted with the mouth-watering scent of roasting meat. He made his way immediately to the kitchen where Mara was waiting, a smug smile on her face and a waiting plate of food on the counter before her.

“Tomo-spice ribenes?” Luke asked, approaching the counter and pulling the plate towards himself for a closer look.

“Very observant, farmboy,” Mara smiled. “And they’re not from Dosha’s Spit, either,” she added, referring to their local Trandoshan take-out place. “I made these myself.”

“Really?” Luke was impressed, since authentic ribenes were slow-cooked and painstakingly seasoned. “That must have taken hours.” Luke was touched by the effort, and ate one of the ribenes eagerly, closing his eyes and allowing the tender meat to melt on his tongue, enlivened with tomo-spices he loved so much. Perhaps it was the freshness and quality of the ingredients she’d used, or perhaps it was the fact that she’d taken the time to prepare them herself, but Luke decided immediately they were the best ribenes he’d ever tasted, and told her so.

“Never underestimate Jade determination,” she told him, walking around the counter and rubbing his arm lightly. “Just don’t tell anyone, I wouldn’t want to ruin my reputation as a bad cook.”

Luke chuckled, but couldn’t stop himself from taking another ribene and eating it with relish. “It will be our little secret,” he promised her. In fact, he rather liked the idea of that.

“So do you think you can eat all ten?” she asked teasingly.

“Never underestimate Skywalker determination,” he told her and picked up another ribene.

Mara gave a pearly laugh. “Never underestimate Skywalker appetite, you mean.”

Luke laughed, and then proceeded to prove just how big his appetite was.



_____________________________________________________________



11

On Midwinter Eve Mara and Luke attended what the sludge news had dubbed the social event of the season - the Calrissian Festival party. No expense had been spared as Mara took in the huge ballroom filled with Festival decorations and the enormous thorn tree which spanned the height of the room, twinkling with thousands of lights. People dressed in elegant attire stood in small groups across the room and at the bar, with some couples dancing as the orchestra played a beautiful waltz. Leia and Han Solo were one such pair, twirling gracefully around the dance floor while their children played around the Festival tree. The Horn and Antilles kids were also there, although of course Corran and Wedge were at the bar with a gaggle of Squadron buddies.

Mara surveyed the room, trying to decide where to focus her attention as she sipped her champagne. Iella and Mirax were chatting to Winter and Tycho Celchu, and they seemed the obvious choice. However Kyle Katarn was on the other side of the room with his wife Jan, and Mara had not seen either of them for some time. However, the decision was soon made for Mara as she was approached by Tendra Calrissian.

“Hello, Mara,” Tendra said warmly. “It’s so lovely to see you.”

“You’ve certainly thrown quite the party,” Mara congratulated her, for as extravagant as the event was, it maintained a level of class and sophistication. Since Mara knew that Lando was prone to excess, she could only assume that Tendra was responsible for the restraint shown.

“Thank you,” Tendra beamed, surveying the room with a proud smile as she drunk her emerald wine. “It’s so nice to catch up with friends, Lando and I barely get to see any of you. I think your wedding was the last chance I had to talk you.”

Mara smiled to herself, warm memories of her marriage to Luke flooding back to her. She’d spoken to more people that night than she could remember and was unable to place a conversation with Tendra, although she must have had one. But the memory of herself and Luke dancing under the moonlight she would never forget.

“How is married life treating you?” Tendra asked.

“It’s great,” Mara answered. “When we’re actually together.”

Tendra smiled at her kindly. “A little distance isn’t always a bad thing,” she observed. “I know when I married Lando, I was so keen to get away from Saccoria and live my own life it didn’t occur to me at the time that I was leaving my father’s house for my husband’s. If it was true independence I was seeking, I probably should have made a different choice.”

Mara looked at her curiously. “Do you regret it?”

“With anyone else, I think I would have, but Lando? I don’t regret a second,” Tendra said firmly. “But it helps that we each have our own business interests, so that we’re not living out of each other’s pockets the entire time. It makes the time we spend together all the sweeter.”

“To the sweet times, then,” Mara lifted her champagne in salute, and Tendra smiled warmly as she clinked her glass against Mara’s. Both women drank, and Mara decided she rather liked Tendra. Despite her caustic attitude towards him, Mara genuinely thought of Lando as a friend, and she was glad that he had found someone as shrewd and capable as he was.

“What have we here?” the rich voice of the man in question cut through the air as Lando approached them. “My two favourite women sharing secrets about me?” he asked playfully and kissed his wife’s cheek.

“I doubt there’s anything Tendra doesn’t already know about you, Calrissian,” Mara told him. “Unless it’s about that incident on Sullust which honestly, is just embarrassing for you.”

Lando’s easy charm faltered for a moment, but Tendra simply rubbed his arm affectionately. “Oh, I know all about that.”

“Really?” Lando seemed surprised and a little uneasy.

“Mara’s right, I know everything about you,” Tendra said sweetly. “I did my research.”

Mara laughed at the mixture of shock and awe on Lando’s face. Yes, he had definitely met his match, she thought to herself. Tendra looked smug, and then something across the room seemed to catch her eye.

“Darling, I need to check on the hors d’oeuvres,” Tendra kissed his cheek. “Why don’t you ask Mara to dance?” she suggested, and then fluttered away with purpose.

“My wife,” Lando said, lifting up his hands and shrugging his shoulders in what could be confused with exasperation, but was really pride. Then Lando reached out his hand to her, and Mara took it with a resigned but playful sigh.

Lando led her to the floor, where the orchestra was playing a ganther dance. “Who’d have thought we’d end up here, Mara?” he said wistfully as he led her through the flowing movements of the dance. “Two people with such sordid pasts, married to such perfect specimens of humanity.”

“Once you would have said I was perfect,” Mara reminded him with a smile.

“Ah, but you were too clever to believe me,” he said with a pearly-white smile. “I’m not sure I’ve ever said it before, so I will now,” he added a touch more seriously. “I’m so glad you and Luke finally came to your senses about each other. I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of you so happy.”

Mara didn’t answer, but Lando knew her well enough not to expect a response. She’d heard his words, appreciated and reciprocated them. It made her think back to the Corellian Crisis a few years ago, when Lando had first met Tendra, not that Mara had been aware of it at the time. She and Lando had drifted apart since their business interests had no longer intersected, and of course their so-called relationship has been all for show. She’d seen him briefly on the Bakuran destroyer before the final battle, and had been surprised and pleased to hear him speak about the woman he’d met on Saccoria. It had seemed obvious then that Lando was ready to settle down, and it has struck Mara in a way she hadn't expected.

Not about Lando, of course, for her feelings had always been strictly platonic towards him. But rather towards the man who, when he'd shown up in his X-Wing on Selonia with his rumpled flightsuit and shaggy hair, had made her heart skip. He'd only had to greet her in his easy and genial manner, and she had realised that things had changed. Or rather, she had realised that they had changed long ago, and she'd only then been forced to realise it.

“The musicians tonight are wonderful,” Mara said conversationally. She glanced to the stage where the string orchestra was set up - she loved the sound of strings, the stirring of emotion they could cause with such fine and precise movement.

“I’m glad you like them, Mara,” Lando answered, and smiled secretively. “But I’m afraid I can’t take credit.”

“Oh, I’ll have to mention it to Tendra then.”

Lando chuckled. “Ah, I love getting one over on you, Jade.”

“What do you mean?” Mara asked, brows knitting together. But before he could answer, Lando was tapped on the shoulder, and they stopped dancing to see Luke appear at their side.

“May I cut in?” he asked, giving them a formal half-bow which was perfect protocol. He must have been taking lessons from Leia.

Lando kept hold of her only long enough to press a kiss to her cheek and squeeze her shoulders lightly. “Happy Festival, Mara,” he said warmly as he pulled away. “Luke, my friend,” Lando vigorously shook Luke’s hand and patted him on the back. “Enjoy your wife, while I try and find mine.” Then he walked away with his trademark grin, cape fluttering behind him.

Luke took Mara in her arms and they began to move together as the music changed to a slow dance. “Count the musicians,” Luke said as his warm hands slid over her back. Mara looked at him curiously but did as he asked, counting four violins, three violas, two cellos and two double bass. Then she mentally kicked herself for not figuring it out sooner.

“Eleven,” she acknowledged. “You did this.”

“I know how much you love music,” Luke smiled, still leading her around in the dance.

“And they’ve been playing Neoclassical pieces all night,” she shook her head and looked at her husband wondrously. “My favourite period.” It had been the music she had grown up with in the Empire, the only part of her old life that was untainted by her service. The music could simply be enjoyed, even now, without the bitter tang of regret.

“They’ll get to some outer rim folk later on,” Luke promised her. “When the crowd gets a little drunker and more receptive to such backrocket tunes.”

Mara laughed, and kissed him firmly, her arms winding around his neck and not caring who saw. “You keep surprising me, Skywalker.”

“I have one surprise left,” Luke told her, and nodded his head towards the stage where a group of singers were arranging themselves and setting up their music.

Mara counted them quickly. "Eleven voices to accompany eleven musicians," she said and could not stop herself from smiling. “I think that’s cheating, Skywalker.”

“I’m just bending the rules,” he shrugged. “Not breaking them.”

“Ah, yes,” Mara said sarcastically. “A true Jedi philosophy.”

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes,” he countered, and Mara laughed.

She leaned in to kiss his cheek and let him put an arm around her waist as she turned back towards the stage where the music had started. It was a familiar tune, and Mara knew at once the reason behind adding the singers to that day’s gift - it was all about the two of them, sharing this moment together, almost the culmination of the Festival events and their first year of marriage.

The choir began to sing in unison. “On the first day of Midwinter, my true love gave to me, Preeni Pi in a Thorn tree…”

"Very good, Skywalker," she murmured to him, and Luke’s hand squeezed her waist affectionately as they listened to the music and voices raised in joyous song.

By day 3 of the tune the Solo children began to sing along with the choir, soon joined by Syal, Myri, Valin and Jysella. As the song continued, more and more of the assembled crowd began to join in, as if the spirit of the Festival was infecting them one by one.

“I don’t sing,” Mara said before Luke could say anything. She liked to leave such things to people who were the best skilled so she could properly enjoy their superior skills, not taint them with her own sub-par ones.

"On the tenth day of Midwinter, my true love gave to me, ten Wookiees climbing..."

"I much preferred the tomo-spice ribenes," Luke whispered to her, and Mara laughed. Then he began to sing with the assembled crowd, counting down the days in his robust voice. The Rogues at the bar had joined in, swinging their arms in a joyous and perhaps drunken manner. Leia and Han were in each others arms, singing directly to each other as if they were the only people in the room. Lando was twirling Tendra around in a makeshift waltz as they sung in harmony and gazed adoringly into each others eyes.

And finally, all of Mara’s barriers had crumbled and she joined in with everyone in the room for the final round, filling the hall with music and singing as Luke’s arms tightened around her.

“On the twelfth day of Midwinter,” they all sang, “my true love gave to me...

Twelve Jedi duelling

Eleven Ithorians singing

TenWookiees climbing

Nine starships flying

Eight Ewoks dancing

Seven Corellians drinking

Six droids calculating

Five gold rings

Four reeho birds

Three si-hens

Two bantha cubs

And Preeni Pi in a Thorn tree!"

 

Wonderful conversations and final gifts. You can really feel Mara's getting into the emotional swing, not just for the current festivities, but overall.

Thanks for sharing this. All your L/M is pure toppers.

 

I love the song.

Two bantha cubs would be a hell of a gift, though! LOL

 

Preeni Pi in a Thorn Tree-eeee-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! I love the song. I love the gifts. I love, love, love it. I LOVE IT.

 

Love it! The gifts are perfect. Nice to see everybody together in one room, too!

 

I can't believe you re-wrote the whole song! That's so cool.

I love the idea that Mara's cooking will be one of their secrets!

 

I would think that it would be pretty difficult to get beyond the seven Correlians drinking.

Love that you added Lando to this. After all Luke went through for Lando to help him out with his private life, I am not surprised that Lando has returned the favor. And I bet he does throw the best "Keeping Up With the Calrissians" parties!

 

Oh! I love the song and I loved Lando's appearance. I've always enjoyed how you have depicted him and Mara.

 

Did I tell you, that this fic is a gift to us on it's own?Thank you sooo much!I love this fic, I love you, LM shippers!

 

I'd like to see who in the galaxy could actually get all those things for somebody, LOLZ.

*looks over at Lando*

Oh, wait...

 

What a present and I nearly missed it?

Thank you and a merry Christmas.

 

Thank you! Mara is certainly getting into the festival spirit a bit more each day.

Thanks! Two bantha cubs is probably a gift only Jacen would love

Thanks gal!

Thank you! I just really love the thought of everyone getting together for a holiday party - those folks need some good times together!

I never really liked the Mara-can't-cook thing, so fixed! The song actually took much longer than I thought to come up with

Someone needs to write the fic "Keeping up with the Calrissians" - Lando gets his own reality show and keeps showing up on his friends doorsteps trying to get them on camera, but of course they want nothing to do with it...

I really loved the Luke and Lando sections on the Corellian trilogy - their friendship often gets overlooked which I think is a shame.

Thank you! I really enjoy Lando and Mara's friendship, which again is often overlooked, especially in the later Legends canon.

Aw, thank you! The L/M community here is so wonderful

I bet he would, too!

Thank you - Merry Christmas!

 

Thank you to ginchy for all of her encouragement and gift ideas, and to ThreadSketch for general insights which I use for story fuel, and for the fanwanking of the anti-redhead comment in LSatSoM.

Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!




12

It was the morning of Midwinter Day and Luke and Mara, still clad in their sleep clothes, sat around the Festival tree exchanging gifts.

“This is your official gift for today,” Mara said, handing him a rectangular-shaped parcel. “So open it last.”

“And those?” Luke indicated the remaining gifts under the tree.

“I got a few extra, since I knew you wouldn’t be able to stick to your allotment.”

“Leia told you, huh?”

“Yep.”

They opened their gifts together, occasionally stopping to exchange thanks yous and kisses. Luke received a very large hamper of chocolate delights from the Chai Ghar, a new pair of shiny black boots, a slimline belt and saber holster where the saber hilt could be concealed from view, and a few other small trinkets. One box contained a Preeni Pi costume, and the tag claimed it was from the Festival Fairy herself. Mara smirked and promised that she would make him forget about any other Preeni Pi.

He enjoyed watching Mara open her own gifts; orchid-scented hand cream, tickets to the Mon Calamari opera, a bottle of fine Corellian brandy, a selection of teas he’d sourced from the planets he’d visited in the past year, a range of small holiday-themed gifts and a framed holo of himself and the Solo family for Mara to put in her stateroom on the Sabre.

It was only then that Luke was permitted to open the last gift, and he ripped off the paper eagerly. It was a holodisc set, one of the fancy boxed versions which claimed to contain an entire series of holothrillers. Luke looked up at his wife incredulously, and then flipped the set over.

“Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?” Luke read from the blurb on the back. “Join Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker as he embarks on a series of dangerous and exciting missions across the galaxy.” He gave Mara another look, and she could not contain her glee.

“This limited edition set contains all twelve episodes of The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight,” he continued. “Including Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, Luke Skywalker and the Witches of Dathomir, Luke Skywalker and the Ancient Fear, Luke Skywalker and Love’s Union and many more, all penned by award winning screenwriter Lorz Geptun.”

Luke sighed. He’d known that they’d kept producing holothrillers loosely based on his exploits, but had done his best to pretend he didn’t. None of the stories people tell about me can change who I really am. That had been his mantra ever since he’d first said the words to Geptun after Mindor.

“What are you doing?” Mara asked at his scrutiny of the case.

“Trying to find the fine print where they claim that any actual resemblance to my life is purely coincidental.”

“Come on now,” Mara laughed. “I’m sure they get some things right.”

“I guess we’ll see,” Luke said, choosing the holodisc emblazoned with the title Luke Skywalker and the Hand of the Emperor. “I gather this is one you’re in.”

Mara smiled, seemingly happy that he was playing along. “Well stick it in, Farmboy, and let’s see how the galaxy thinks we met.”

They settled down onto the couch and began to watch the holofilm. Surprisingly, the production values were quite high, and the opening space battle rather exciting. However, things went downhill very quickly when a tall, broad-shouldered man entered the frame. Luke ran a hand over his eyes and groaned. “Oh, no…”

“Oh yes,” Mara needled him in the side.

It was as if someone had taken only his basest physical attributes - brownish-blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and decided to forget everything else. The man on screen was called Luke Skywalker, but he was as far from how Luke saw himself as possible. A storybook prince, as he’d described it to Geptun. He’d despaired, then, about the situation, unconvinced by Geptun’s argument that such holothrillers could help spread the light the Jedi were meant to represent.

But he was older now, and took himself less seriously. And he found that Geptun had kept his promise that he would be telling the right kind of stories, for the holothriller actually seemed to depict more or less the events of the Thrawn crisis - amplified and over-dramatised, of course.

“Ugh,” Mara commented as her character appeared on screen, the redheaded actress decked out in skin tight black leather. “Look at that bodysuit. So impractical.”

“Come on, Mara,” he teased her, happy that the tables had turned. “I’ve seen you wear something like that before.”

“Fulfilling your fantasies doesn’t count, Skywalker,” she replied. “And maybe as the Hand I wore one once or twice under a costume, but I certainly didn’t prance around with nothing else on, and not during that time of my life. A good smuggler doesn’t draw attention to themselves like that.”

“Well look at my costume,” Luke complained. “His pants are so tight I’m worried he’s going to pass out from lack of blood circulation.”

“They should have called it Luke Skywalker and the Tight Pants of Magnificence,” Mara suggested and kissed his cheek. “Or Luke Skywalker and the Mystery of the Smooth Chest,” she offered, as the on-screen Luke was wearing a shirt that only appeared to have three buttons.

“At least his fighting technique isn’t too bad,” Luke commented as the character made use of hid lightsaber and backflipped over his enemy. “He’s actually pretty good.”

“Before you go inviting him to the Academy, remember it’s probably good editing,” Mara said.

Luke stroked his chin in contemplation. “Maybe I can hire him to play me at official events,” he said jokingly. “Then I wouldn’t have to go to the stupid things.”

“Ugh, look at that woman’s breasts,” Mara complained as the holo’s version of Luke and Mara crash-landed in the Myrkr forest. “They’re huge! She’s going to knock herself in the face as soon as she starts running - although she probably can’t in those ridiculous spiked-heel boots.”

“They seem perfectly fine to me,” Luke commented innocently.

“They would,” Mara snorted.

They watched for a while longer with much rolling of the eyes at the dialogue between the on screen Luke and Mara.

“I don’t remember this much sexual tension,” Mara commented, as their alter-egos made camp in the Myrkr forest. There was quite a long scene in which the on screen Luke and Mara spied on each other washing in a lake, and Luke wondered if his earlier charitable thoughts towards Geptun had been misplaced.

“I promise, I never did anything like that when we were on Myrkr,” Luke told her.

“It’s a good thing, too, because I wouldn’t have hesitated to fulfill the last command,” Mara said lightly, although Luke noticed that her eyes were on his on screen alter ego during the prolonged scene in which he was shirtless. Luke chuckled to himself at the amusing sight of both the holothriller Mara and his true wife ogling the holothriller Luke. After all, he wasn’t exactly repulsed by the holothriller Mara whose private areas were covered only by shadows and strategically placed props.

“Oh, she’s put on another sleeveless shirt,” Mara sighed as her alter ego finally got dressed. “The poor woman must be so cold.”

“I can tell,” Luke agreed, tilting his head to the side as he stared at the screen. “But not by looking at her arms.”

Mara smacked him lightly on the chest. They lapsed into silence, broken only by the occasional wry comment or correction of the film’s errors. That was, until the scenes set on Wayland with fictional Luke and Mara ready to confront C’boath.

“I’m not sure I’ll be strong enough to resist, Luke,” the screen Mara said tearfully, and the real Mara beside him scoffed. She’d been slightly emotional at that point, Luke remembered, but she certainly hadn’t batted her eyes at him as the screen Mara did.

“I’m so afraid I’ll fall back to everything you’ve helped me break free from,” Mara trembled, her voluptuous cleavage heaving. Beside him, the real Mara rolled her eyes.

“I won’t let that happen,” Luke said firmly, backlit against the setting sun which made his hair shine like a halo around his head.

“I still hear my Master’s voice inside my head,” Mara insisted. “Ordering me to kill you - I don’t want to, but what if I can’t stop myself?”

“You can,” Luke declared. “And you will.” Luke grimaced at his counterpart’s confidence - at the time, he hadn’t been nearly as sure.

“How do you know?” Mara asked, a solitary tear falling down her cheek. Instead of answering, Luke took her face in both her hands and kissed her.

Luke’s jaw dropped, and he turned to Mara at his side who appeared similarly shocked. On screen the music swelled and the camera swept around the couple locked in a romantic embrace. Then the scene switched to another space battle.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Mara commented, reaching for the holovid cover and examining it. “This was made about seven years ago,” she added and then gave Luke a playful look. “Think the producers knew something we didn’t?”

“Actually I think it was Gepturn having a little joke at my expense,” Luke said as he recovered from his shock. “I once told him I don’t like redheads.”

“Oh?” Mara quirked an eyebrow. “So you love me despite the offensive colour of my hair?”

“It’s a long story,” Luke ran a hand over his face. “It was less than a year after Endor when I met Gepturn. At that point in my life the only redhead I’d been involved with romantically was Shira Brie, and you know how that turned out. You’ll forgive me if I was still a little sensitive about it.”

Mara rubbed his leg sympathetically, for once resisting the opportunity to make a wry quip about one of his past lovers.

“I’m surprised he would add something like that, though,” Luke continued. “He’s always at least claimed authenticity in this trash, and that’s easy to discredit.”

“Well I know that we only get married in the most recent thriller,” Mara informed him. “It’s only just been released.”

The confusion was addressed at the end of the film, when the characters of Luke and Mara stood atop a building on Coruscant. Luke gave Mara his father’s lightsaber, although the tension between them was thick - much more than it had been in real life. That moment on the roof had been one of Luke’s happiest and most treasured memories for many years, and it was odd to see an outsider’s version of it, made heavy with subtext that hadn’t existed in real life.

The fictional Luke and Mara agreed that the moment on Wayland had been the result of heightened circumstances, and that they would pretend that it never happened. The film ended with them both watching the sunset, not-so-subtly sneaking glances when the other wasn’t looking.

Luke turned off the holoprojector and sighed. “Interesting.”

“I guess they had to make sure you were single for future episodes,” Mara said, leaning her head on his shoulder as Luke put an arm around her. “I bet you have a new love interest in every one.”

“I look forward to your critique of them,” Luke responded dryly. They sat in silence for some time, listening to the crackling of the fire and watching the lights on the Festival tree flash in a twinkling cycle. It was the perfect end to a perfect fortnight, Luke thought to himself, since he lived for these quiet moments where he could finally relax and enjoy his life without the worries of the galaxy weighing on his mind. Soon they would have to leave for dinner at Han and Leia’s, but Luke was more than willing to take a few moments to be with his wife alone.

“Happy Festival, Mara,,” he whispered and kissed her temple.

“Happy Festival, Luke,” was Mara’s soft reply.


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

Midwinter night was cold and dark, but Luke and Mara had stayed awake to make the most out of their dwindling time together. The Festival dinner with family had been enjoyable but exhausting, and they had climbed into bed almost as soon as they arrived home. Mara didn’t think she’d ever been so full, but the roast nuna bird Leia had cooked was the best she’d ever tasted and as a consequence had three helpings. Luke, of course, had managed many more.

They lay in bed through the long night, talking, making love, watching more of Luke’s holothrillers or simply holding each other until the sun rose. The darkness had lifted and the Coruscant winter more than half gone. The days would start getting longer and warmer as the planet headed towards spring - not that either of them would be there to enjoy it.

Mara watched the creeping sun spread it’s pale light across the room, and was finally able to voice what she’d been wondering for two weeks.

“So what was all this foolishness really about Luke?” she asked, still held tightly in his arms. “It was fun, but I’m not sure I could do it every year.”

She felt him smile against her hair. “Well it’s our first year together Mara, even though we haven’t actually spent that much time with each other. I wanted this holiday to be special.”

“But why?” she pressed, turning in his embrace to regard him, her chin propped up on one hand. “Why Midwinter Festival?”

“It just resonated with me,” he said softly, stroking her hair. “They say that to get through Midwinter is to be halfway out of the dark – and that’s what the past year with you has been like, Mara. The long night has ended, and my life begins again.”

In any other moment, she would probably chide him for his sentimentality, but this Mara completely understood. “I know what you mean,” she said softly, her gaze cast downward.

He tilted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “I love you,” he said softly, his blue eyes bright in the morning sun. Mara crawled up his body to press her lips to his.

“I love you, too,” she whispered back, the words for once falling easily off her tongue. “In fact,” she added as she sat up. “I have another gift for you.”

“Another?” he questioned. “Mara, we gave all of our gifts yesterday.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” she teased as she retrieved a carefully wrapped package from her side table. “It’s symbolic more than anything.” She handed him the gift, and Luke looked at her curiously before unwrapping it. Curiosity turned to confusion as he held a small rectangular blister pack, with all of the pills removed.

“That’s the last of my repress meds,” Mara told him. “And I haven’t ordered any more.”

Luke was silent for several long moments, looking down at the blister pack in his hand, and finally raising his gaze to hers. His eyes were wet, and when he spoke it was with barely-repressed emotion.

“Are you saying...that you want to try to have a baby?”

“I’m saying that we should see what happens,” Mara said, covering his hand with her own and squeezing lightly. “All my life, Luke, I’ve tried to control everything, because that was what I was taught. Living was nothing but compartmentalised time - a time for study, a time for training, a time for work - everything planned to the last detail. Structure and order and nothing left to chance.”

Luke nodded, and Mara opened herself up to him through the Force so he would truly understand. It had been brewing in her mind the entire Festival, whether she was ready to take that next step - whether she wanted to take it at all. But then she had been able to open herself up to Luke’s closest friends, had spent that wonderful day with Jaina, had felt Luke’s all-encompassing love for her through the gifts she had received from him, and known that she could handle it. More than that, she wanted it.

“I want to relinquish control over this,” she told him, squeezing his hand which held the empty medication. “To let nature takes it’s course, to leave it to the will of the Force, and whatever other cliche you can think of. It’s like you said - we’re out of the dark now, and so what is there to be afraid of?”

“Nothing,” Luke grinned, a true smile of great joy as he pulled her into his arms.

 

Ohhh, that was perfect. All of it.

 

Echoing Taramidala from first to last. The line in this happy puddle starts behind me.

 

“I guess we’ll see,” Luke said, choosing the holodisc emblazoned with the title Luke Skywalker and the Hand of the Emperor. “I gather this is one you’re in.”

Mara smiled, seemingly happy that he was playing along. “Well stick it in, Farmboy, and let’s see how the galaxy thinks we met.”

They settled down onto the couch and began to watch the holofilm. Surprisingly, the production values were quite high, and the opening space battle rather exciting. However, things went downhill very quickly when a tall, broad-shouldered man entered the frame. Luke ran a hand over his eyes and groaned. “Oh, no…”

“Oh yes,” Mara needled him in the side.

It was as if someone had taken only his basest physical attributes - brownish-blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and decided to forget everything else. The man on screen was called Luke Skywalker, but he was as far from how Luke saw himself as possible. A storybook prince, as he’d described it to Geptun. He’d despaired, then, about the situation, unconvinced by Geptun’s argument that such holothrillers could help spread the light the Jedi were meant to represent.

But he was older now, and took himself less seriously. And he found that Geptun had kept his promise that he would be telling the right kind of stories, for the holothriller actually seemed to depict more or less the events of the Thrawn crisis - amplified and over-dramatised, of course.



People can end up blind watching those I bet!



A seven year old holodrama. And they both have to watch it now. What a treat!